WOD

Athlete Profile – P-LANE

Hometown: Born Texan–Atlanta raised
Age: 33
Occupation: Wholesale Employee Benefits Consultant
When did you start CrossFit?: May 14, 2012
When did you join CFM?: The week before they opened. I attended CFM’s first-ever class!
Favorite WOD: anything power cleany
Least Favorite WOD: FRAN or similar cough-inducing moments of Hell.
Three words to describe you: Fun, Honest and Loyal–all to a fault.
Tell us about your sports & fitness background: High School Football taught me that above average athletic ability, a ton of heart, and a bunch of hard work could earn you one of the finest spots on the bench at one of the best high school football programs in Georgia–but also, later learned, that being part of that team taught me a lethal blend of how to be a winner and charming humility that has brought me much success and happiness in life.
From there I soared to become the timeless anecdote of my fraternity softball team; learning at bat (while holding a bat for the first time since third grade) that intramural softball has only two strikes and that ‘taking a pitch’ wasn’t really a good game plan.
Following my rise to collegiate intramural sports, I searched for my athletic self in CrossFit predecessors like UGA Army R.O.T.C.. Excelling, and resulting in some of the cadre’s fastest disassembly/reassembly times of an m16 and speed times for assembling a rope bridge, I was also noted as one of the slowest on foot especially amongst those who appeared to be even moderately in shape (who wasn’t in shape in college?).
Realizing mounting tensions in foreign policy and my distaste for bullets flying in my general direction, I appreciatively thanked those serving our country and decided I’d rather dodge the sting of rejected sales in the civilian world. And here I am ten years later…
How did you first get exposed to CrossFit? After trying one WOD in Charlotte, not long before being relocated to Atlanta, I could tell I’d lost sight of an accurate self-perception of my then physical prowess but remember thinking, “this could be cool–if I liked the way dying felt”.
Take us back to your first WOD… what was it, and how did it feel?My only WOD in Charlotte was an incredible time-stamp of self suck! As I boastfully entered the gym with my female neighbors–fellow wine club members and also fellow yogis who’d invited me–I saw the weight racks and thought–“I got this.”…a mental throwback to my days as a back up defensive lineman.
What a great testament to the delusion of the male psyche. I thought, “yeah I can hang with these gals in hot yoga–I’ll crush ’em in the gym.”
Enter team WOD: exit my ego. That WOD included all the items I thought I had mastered (albeit ten years earlier and prior to thousands of poor diet choices that followed). Those neighbors of mine covered my failed reps and undone sets as I heaved to catch my breath and melted into pools of sweat. It was a wake up call I slammed to voicemail; not to be acknowledged until nearly a year later when I relocated back to Atlanta and heard Lis, a dear friend from college, was opening her own gym.
What sort of changes have you seen in your body, health and fitness since starting CF (before/after)? Feeling in-control of my health, and my body and how it looks, for first time in years. The re-discovery of my Adam’s Apple! Lowering body fat to under 30%, then to under 25%, and beyond that to normal ranges for any male.
What sort of changes in your life have you experienced out of taking on something like CrossFit that were totally unexpected? Making transition from thinking about diet food to a change in lifestyle around food. Learning Paleo–discovering how I’d been ‘starving’ myself with the wrong diet and how MORE of the right stuff means LESS of me.
Please share with us any favorite CrossFit / CFM moments: Forgotten gym clothes + slacks + scissors + deadlifts = Caveman WOD
Any advice for people just getting started? Give yourself the chance to be amazed with the positive attitudes and unexpected cheerleaders you’ll find; even during workouts where you are sure no one, even yourself, could be proud of how you are doing.
What are your hobbies, interests and/or talents outside of CrossFit? Friends and Family, anything automobile, avid whistler, and master general of overly drawn out stories
What did you eat today? Eggs fried medium-2, Order of bacon-2, Sliced tomatoes; Grilled chicken mixed greens salad; Grilled chicken spinach salad; A couple vodka sodas
Do you follow the paleo or primal lifestyle? What is your nutrition philosophy? Yes! Give it a shot– learn your body and you’ll be amazed at how things you thought weren’t a a good fit for your body aren’t actually a problem at all.
Previous daily heartburn medicine needed, suspected lactose disagreements have proven to be more likely a gluten allergy with little issue surrounding dairy, no heartburn ever –except when indulging on gluten.

Holiday schedule

This week CFM will hold all classes as regularly scheduled, including Class #4 of our gymnastics series tomorrow night at 8 with Aimee, and yoga on Thursday night at 8:15 with Monica. Next week, we’ll close a few days for the holidays, and run a skeleton schedule in between, so that Lis can take a week off to visit family and take a short vacation.
Next week’s schedule:
Mon, 12/24 Christmas Eve – Closed
Tues, 12/25 Christmas – Closed
Wed, 12/26 – classes at 12n & 6pm ONLY
Thurs, 12/27 – classes at 12n & 6pm ONLY
Fri, 12/28 – classes at 12n & 6pm ONLY
Sat, 12/29 – Open gym 10a-12noon
Mon, 12/31 New Years Eve – Closed
Tues, 1/1 New Years Day – Closed
Wed, 1/2 – Return to regular schedule

Holiday training specials with Lindsay

Good through the 31st! Many of you have met crazy Lindsay B, who will soon become part of the CFM coaching staff. I first met Lindsay when we worked together as trainers at FitWit. Her enthusiasm is contagious! Lindsay is a personal trainer, former UNC track star and child gymnast.
This holiday season CFM is offering special one-on-one training packages with Lindsay. Work with Lindsay on your CrossFit basics, gymnastics or track/running skillwork. All packages include a preliminary email consultation and goal-setting. These packages can be purchased for yourself or as a gift for anyone (someone curious about CrossFit but leery of hopping right into group classes, perhaps???).
Packages are $200 for 8 one-hour sessions, $250 for 12 one-hour sessions, and $300 for 16 one-hour sessions. Email us for more details.

Workout of the Day:

A. Max effort box jump in 15min
B. Hang Power Clean 3 sets of 5, rest 2min
C. 5 rounds for time:
6 hang power cleans 95#/65#
9 burpees

And coming tomorrow…

A. Back Squat: 5 sets of 4-5 @3010, 3min rest
B. 60 Turkish Get Ups (not for time)

AWESOME WEEKEND! Thanks to everyone who joined us for the CrossFitmas Party!

Congrats Monica L!

A note from Monica:
“This past November I hit a HUGE fitness goal for myself by running the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon. I supplemented my running training schedule with CrossFit workouts. I can say without a doubt that adding in weight lifting and additional muscle endurance exercises from CrossFit helped me achieve my goal. I could have never ran those 13.1 miles as well as I did without the strength I had built from CrossFit. I absolutely love CrossFit and how strong I have become since I have joined, and I can’t wait to make some more goals and crush them with CFM! Thanks Lis!”

Workout of the Day

A. Close-Grip Bench Press: build to max, rest as needed
B1. External rotation: @3010, build to 8RM in 2-3 sets, rest as needed

B2. DB Powell Raise: @3010, build to 8RM in 2-3 sets, rest as needed

C. 5 rounds for time:
1 rope climb
2 handstand push ups
3 wall climbs
20 double unders OR 60 singles

And coming tomorrow…

A. Power Clean: Work to a heavy set of 5 in 15min
B. 50 Front Squats for time – (Males- 75% of 1 rep max; Females- 85% of 1 rep max)

TWO MORE DAYS…HOLIDAY PARTY IS SATURDAY AT THE GYM FROM 7 TO 10!

Give the crowd what they want

What’s your gym persona? Are you a positive, energetic, focused athlete who people enjoy training with? Or are you a complainer? Do you work hard or do you give up easily?
At Tuesday night’s gymnastics class, a few students became frustrated while struggling with headstands and pistols. Regarding a tripod-into-headstand movement, I overheard someone say: “I can’t do this. I never did one before and I’m not going to get one tonight.” No. Not with that attitude, you’re not.
Why do we even do CrossFit? For the challenge, right? I’d rather gouge my eyes out than spend another mindless hour on an elliptical machine to get fit. So instead, I do CrossFit because it challenges me every day. If we let that negative inner voice win, or give up every time we struggle with a skill/lift/movement, where does that get us?
Instead, challenge yourself to remain positive during training sessions. Rather than beating yourself up for not running faster, lifting more or mastering a certain skill, congratulate yourself for being in the gym at all. This time of year, many people are putting their health and fitness on hold until the new year rolls around. Give yourself a pat on the back for training through the holidays.
Help us make CrossFit Midtown a positive place and let’s squash negative talk in the box. Give the crowd what they want by making CFM a fun, positive place to train!

Oh, and the 50-burpee penalty for saying CAN’T is back in effect. BE POSITIVE!

Welcome to new member Gracie, a GT freshman whose whole family does CrossFit. Her mom Jeanne (background) joined her for Monday’s class while visiting from Connecticut.

Workout of the Day

A1. Press: 3 sets of 6-8 @2211 tempo, rest 60sec
A2. Weighted Pullup: 3 sets of 2-3 @2112 tempo, rest 2min
B. For time: 9 thrusters 95/65#
5 manmakers* 44/26#
7 thrusters
4 manmakers
5 thrusters
3 manmakers
3 thrusters
2 manmakers
1 thruster
1 manmaker
*Man Maker – with a kettlebell in each hand, drop into push up, push into top of push up position, perform a 1-arm row per hand where the elbow travels much higher than the back; pull legs in, perform a squat clean thruster with kettlebells… that is one rep. Here’s James demonstrating:

And coming tomorrow…

A. Back Squat: 4 sets of 5 to 7 reps @3010 tempo, rest 3min
B. “Karen”For time:
150 wall balls 20/14

USA Powerlifting American Open recap

CrossFit is a hybrid of so many different sports – the one I excel at most is powerlifting so one of my goals was to compete in a powerlifting competition. My friend Cam is a former competitive powerlifter and world record holder, so when he told me a competition was coming up, I looked into it and decided to register. Cam agreed to coach me through it. So on Saturday morning I competed in my first powerlifting meet.
Competitors are required to wear singlets. On four days notice, I was hard-pressed to find one. Apparently sporting goods stores don’t carry them. Luckily, CFM member Derek had an old singlet from his freestyle wrestling days, and it was just my style:

I competed in the 148# weight class, which meant I had to drop five pounds last week. I didn’t eat or drink anything from 3pm Friday afternoon until after I weighed in, Saturday morning at 8. SUCCESS! I weighed 146 (DISCLAIMER: this is not nutrition advice. I don’t recommend you try this just to fit into a pair of skinny jeans). Then I HOUSED a plate of french toast, banana bread, biscuits and gravy and lots of coconut water to refuel/rehydrate before lifting. Nerves + gluten bomb = bad idea.
There are three lifts at a powerlifting meet – back squat, bench press and deadlift. You get three attempts at each. It turns out there are lots of rules at these events. On back squat, to make a good lift, you unrack the bar, wait for the judge’s command to SQUAT, then squat to depth (below parallel), then stand and WAIT FOR THE JUDGE’S COMMAND TO RERACK THE BAR. Simple, right?
On my first squat attempt, at 245#, I did it with ease but forgot to wait for the judge to tell me to rack the bar. NO LIFT. Two more shots to get a good lift in.
For attempt #2, we decided to make a jump in weight, to 259#, even though I hadn’t made my first attempt:

My belt wasn’t tight enough and I didn’t breathe right. FAIL. No pressure Lis. One more fail and you’re out of the meet. That’d be a really cool story to go back and tell everyone. NOT. So I had a mini-panic attack. Cam and my new friend Laura (co-owner of CrossFit Johns Creek) talked me off the ledge. Lifting in a quiet ballroom is weird. I told myself to go out there and pretend I was lifting in the gym with Woody & Dyer, with Rack City blasting in the background. I tightened my belt, held my breath, waited for the judge’s command, squatted the weight, waited for the rack command, and then re-racked the bar. BOOM! Successful lift. I got to stay in the meet. Way to make it dramatic.
The next lift was bench press – by far my least-experienced lift. Luckily Woody was kind enough to bring in his fancy bench from home last week and coached me on some technique. He made me promise that if I won the meet, I would never speak ill of his bench again. That bench is awesome.
On bench press, there are three judge’s commands. The spotter helps you lift off, judge tells you to START, then at the bottom of the rep, you pause until the judge tells you to PRESS, then at the top of the rep, you pause until the judge tells you to RACK the bar. I opened at 121#:

Easy weight. For attempt #2, we went up to 130#:

Two-for-two. Let’s put some weight on the bar. Final attempt, at 149#:

I forgot to wait for the judge’s PRESS command… I faltered when I remembered, and failed the lift. Pesky rules.
Going into the deadlift, I was already 50# ahead of my competition. My opening weight was 20# more than hers, and easy weight for me at 60# less than my PR. There’s also only one judge’s command on the deadlift, so less stuff for me to mess up. First attempt – 280#:

Second attempt – 308#:

After each lift, you have 30 seconds to inform the judges of what your next attempt will be. Cam handled this for me. So after my second deadlift, we discussed how much weight I’d pull for the last attempt, and agreed on 336#. He came back from the judges’ table and told me he’d only increased the weight to 319#… for a minute I was angry, but I figured he thought I couldn’t pull more and trusted his judgment. I was just relieved the meet was almost over. Then when I got out to the platform and they announced my final attempt was at 336#, I realized he’d tricked me. Sneaky devil. Final attempt – 336#:

Yaaaaay, three-for-three! I earned a celebratory vodka-soda for surviving the meet:

I swear it had nothing to do with the tray of glasses I knocked over 20 minutes later back in the ballroom. Bull. China shop.
I knew I’d done well but had no idea where I stood against the competition. Cam said I was sitting pretty, so we hung around to wait on awards. Turns out, I won the Open in the raw (unequipped) division.
I learned a lot and had fun. My big take-aways from the event:
1. Lululemon should make singlets.
2. I’m bad at following directions.
3. Next time, I’ll extend my meet preparation beyond just four days.
Thanks to Woody for the bench press coaching, Derek for lending me that amazing singlet, and to Cam for answering all my silly questions leading up to the meet and for coaching me through it.

CFM Holiday Party IN FIVE DAYS!

FIVE days left! It’s the week we’ve all been waiting for…PARTY TIME! Join us Saturday from 7 to 10 pm, right here at CFM. We’ll provide the main course and beverages. You bring your favorite appetizer or dessert to share (paleo optional!). Lindsay is bringing her grandma’s Better-than-Sex cake (that’s right, I just said grandma and sex in the same sentence). What are you bringing???

Me & Coach Cam

Workout of the Day

A. Split squat:8 rep max at 3010 tempo
B. As many rounds & reps as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Power Clean 145/100
10 Toes to bar
15 Wall balls 20/14