Michael Aaron

Quarterly Progress Checks:

It’s time again to retest some CrossFit & CFM classic workouts… here’s the lineup for next week. Get to the box or plan your Open Gym training accordingly! Choose your battles… which days do you REALLY want to give your best? Be sure to rest & sleep accordingly leading up to those workouts.
Mon: 5 rounds for time: 7 handstand push ups, 14 pistols, 21 double unders
Tues: Oly total: Find your max FULL squat snatch & then max FULL squat clean & jerk*
*NOT power clean & power snatch… we’ll be maxing on those lifts in February.
Wed: A. Find 1 rep max weighted pull up, then B. For time: 250m row, 15 kettlebell swings 2/1.5pd, 25 burpees, 15 kettlebell swings, 250m row
Thurs: As many rounds & reps as possible in 20 minutes- 20 thrusters 135#/95#, 20 pullups, 20 burpees
Fri: CROSSFIT TOTAL- In this order, find your 1 rep max back squat, then 1 rep max strict press, then 1 rep max deadlift
Sat: Makeup day (all classes, make up one of the M-F sessions you missed)

Upcoming Events:

Next Thurs 1.30* is CFM Shop Night at lululemon athletica Howell Mill from 6:30-7:30p then Ormsby’s afterward!
They’ll have special deals for CFM members & coaches only.
And the FEBRUARY Bring A Friend Day is Thurs, 2/20.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS & JOIN THE FUN!
*Correction: original blog post listed the date wrong as 1/31. The shop night is THURS 1/30 instead!

Thurs 7a crew: Joe A, Darcy & Kerry

Today’s schedule

6a: All Levels CrossFit- Dyer
7a: All Levels CrossFit- Dyer
8a: Open Gym- Jason
12n: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
4p: All Levels CrossFit- Amy
5p: All Levels CrossFit- Amy
6p: All Levels CrossFit- Amy

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. Deadlift: 3-3-3-3 @ 80%
FOCUS ON FORM. If form breaks, drop weight.
B. Recovery day: 50 Turkish get ups (25 ea side) not for time
OR
5k row for time
OR
20min AirDyne for calories

And coming tomorrow…TEAM WOD

“Three’s A Crowd”
In teams of three, complete the following for time:
3 Rounds of “Kelly”-
Run 400 meters
30 Box Jump 24”/20”
30 Wall balls 20/14#
Then…
“Fran Lite” –
21-15-9
Thrusters (75/55)
Pull ups
Then…
“Randy”
75 Power Snatches (75/55)

*No rest between Kelly, Fran & Randy… split work among teammates however you choose.

Get to know Coach Kelly

Kelly coaches the 12n class on Tues & Thurs, and Tues nights at 6, 7 & 8, and some Saturdays.
Name: Kelly Becker
Age: 32 years young
How long coaching CrossFit: I got my Level 1 cert in June 2011 & I start coaching in early 2012
Other coaching certifications: CrossFit Kids
Athletic background/achievements: I grew up playing tennis. During college, I took up recreational running & after college, I continued running, including a handful of 10k races each year. In 2010, I started CrossFit by way of bootcamp. I planned on doing CrossFit ‘for 2 months’…..and apparently I’m a huge liar!
Favorite CrossFit movement or workout:I’m a body weight/cardio lover (I love burpees…I really do), but I do love me some shoulder-to-overhead.
Favorite workout or movement to coach: Fight Gone Bad is a goody – I love the energy in the gym during that WOD!
In my spare time I enjoy: Hanging with friends & attempting to catch up on sleep…4:50am wakeups hurt my night owl soul!
Favorite quote: I actually came across this one yesterday & I find it very applicable: “You are where you are in your life at any given point and time for a reason, though you may not know it yet”
Advice to new CrossFitters: Don’t worry about anybody else’s numbers on that whiteboard. As CrossFit cliche as it may sound, it really is just you against you! Also, once you learn your ‘skill set’ in the gym, have a rough strategy going into a workout. In addition to strategy, I typically set 2 goals for myself before a workout: my ‘lofty goal’ and my ‘realistic’ goal – and, on great days, you can bet I hit that lofty one!

Coach Kelly

Today’s schedule

6a: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
7a: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
8a: Open Gym- Lis
12n: All Levels CrossFit- Kelly
4p: Open Gym- Lis
5p: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
6p: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
7p: All Levels CrossFit- Carlos
8p: Open Gym- Carlos
8:15p: Yoga- Samantha

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. Skill work: Handstands (handstand push ups, holds, walking, wall walks & climbs)
B. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, reps of:
Power Cleans @ 75% of body weight
Pull Ups

And coming tomorrow…

A. Deadlift: 3-3-3-3 @ 80%
FOCUS ON FORM. If form breaks, drop weight.
B. Recovery day: 50 Turkish get ups (25 ea side) not for time
OR
5k row for time
OR
20min AirDyne for calories

Supplement advice

We sell several different supplements at CFM, check our natural products here, and people regularly ask me what they should be taking. There are a few supplements I encourage every CrossFitter to take (post-workout protein, fish oil, vitamin D) trying to stick with natural vitamins is the best for your body.

Supplements are meant to SUPPLEMENT a clean diet and good recovery practices like good stress management, plenty of sleep, mobility work & foam rolling.
Let’s go back to basics. You can’t crush a double-bodyweight back squat if your air squat form is crap.
I’m not saying don’t take supplements. I’m just saying consider making some other changes to your routine and the supplements will help even more. All that exercise got you run down? For an energy boost, reach for a morning cup of stimulating cordyceps coffee. This medicinal mushroom is shown to help the body utilize oxygen more efficientlyTrusted Source and increase blood flow, making cordyceps a great mushroom for athletes. mushroom coffee amazon offers you an experience nature’s most potent superfoods.

-Do you sleep 7 to 9 hours a night in a cool, dark room?
-Do you lead a relatively low stress life OR have a good stress relief routine? (yoga, meditation, daily devotional, etc)
-Do you eat a clean diet & drink plenty of water?
-Do you refrain from binging on sugar & alcohol?
-Do you do extra recovery work daily like stretching, mobilizing, foam rolling and/or yoga?
-And if you have a nagging injury, have you seen a doctor, chiropractor or physical therapist?

Just a few things to consider when deciding which supplements to take… it’s just one piece of your health & fitness puzzle. Take care of your whole health, you could start with the best male enhancement pills since they contain a unique combination of potent ingredients that delivers several benefits.

Anna E. (left) & Mary Pat doing Bear Complex. Belated Happy Birthday to Mary Pat who turned 60 on Saturday!

Today’s schedule

6a: All Levels CrossFit- Rebecca
7a: All Levels CrossFit- Rebecca
8a: Open Gym- Jason
12n: All Levels CrossFit- Amy
4p: Open Gym- Jim
5p: All Levels CrossFit- Jim
6p: All Levels CrossFit- Jim
7p: All Levels CrossFit- Raul
8p: Open Gym- Raul

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. Dips: Weighted dips (work ups) or unweighted dips (ring, stationary or box)- 4 sets of 10. 3 min rest (MOBILIZE or foam/lax roll on breaks)
B. Death by burpees: Perform 1 burpee the 1st minute, 2 the 2nd minute, 3 the 3rd minute, and so on, until you can no longer complete the designated amount of burpees in a minute.
Score= last round of burpees you completed within the minute.

And coming tomorrow…

A. Skill work: Handstands (handstand push ups, holds, walking, wall walks & climbs)
B. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, reps of:
Power Cleans @ 75% of body weight
Pull Ups

Regular schedule today

CFM is on a regular schedule today, so if you’re off work for Martin Luther King, Jr holiday, get to the box for the noon class! Or take advantage of the Open Gym hours you may not usually get to use… 8-9a, 4-5p & 8-9p.

Bridget & Jason

Today’s schedule

6a: All Levels CrossFit- Rebecca
7a: All Levels CrossFit- Rebecca
8a: Open Gym- Rebecca
12n: All Levels CrossFit- Carlos
4p: Open Gym- Jim
5p: All Levels CrossFit- Ben
6p: All Levels CrossFit- Ben
7p: All Levels CrossFit- Kelly
8p: Open Gym- Kelly

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. Pull ups: 3 sets of 5 weighted pull ups (work ups) or strict pull ups or pull up negatives. 3 min rest (MOBILIZE shoulders during breaks)
B. For time: 30-20-10
Wall balls 20/14#
Lateral box jumps 24/20″
Hollow rocks
C. Cash out: Accumulate a 4:00 plank hold

And coming tomorrow…

Bear Complex:
Do FIVE rounds of the following-
7 cycles of:
Power clean
Front squat
Push press/jerk
Back squat
Push press/jerk

Don’t let go of the barbell until each round is complete (7 cycles w/o letting bar go!).
Rest as needed between rounds.
Add weight each round IF POSSIBLE.
Your score is the max weight with which you were able to complete a full round.

Hang out w the CFM crew on Thurs, Jan 30!

The fine folks at lululemon athletica howell mill are hosting a shop night for us on Thurs, Jan 30th from 6:30-7:30pm! AND THEY’RE OFFERING SPECIAL DISCOUNTS ONLY FOR CFM STUDENTS!
Details:
-CFM students get 15% off all full-price items & 20% off markdowns
-One hour of shopping… discount is good for CFM members only.
-To receive the discount, you must only be shopping for yourself and be present that night to receive the discount.
-We’ll head over to Ormsby’s nearby after shopping, from 7:30 to 9p for some dinner & games!

Registration for the 2014 CrossFit Games Open started yesterday. Our CFM team will be registered later today. You don’t have to register/pay to play in order to do the Open workouts, Saturdays during the Open here at CFM. But if you do register, you can compete for a spot at Regionals & get to see your score on the worldwide leaderboard to see where you stack up!

Today’s schedule

6a: All Levels CrossFit- Dyer
7a: All Levels CrossFit- Dyer
8a: Open Gym- Jason
12n: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
4p: All Levels CrossFit- Amy
5p: All Levels CrossFit- Amy
6p: All Levels CrossFit- Amy

Workout of the Day (WOD)

Open WOD 13.2
Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
5 Shoulder to overhead, 115/75#
10 Deadlift, 115/75#
15 Box jumps, 24/20″

And coming tomorrow… PARTNER WOD

In teams of two, with one teammate working at a time, complete three sets for max reps of:2 Minutes of Hang Snatch (95/65 lbs)
Rest 1 Minutes
2 Minutes of Front Squats (95/65 lbs)
Rest 1 Minutes
2 Minutes of Burpee over Barbell
Rest 1 Minutes
(repeat two more times for three total rounds)

Today is Bring a Friend Day!

Today is our January Bring-A-Friend Day, so if you have a friend who’s curious about CrossFit, bring them along to class!
I’ve heard a few of you say your friends won’t sign up or aren’t sure they want to commit to CrossFit. Invite them anyway!
THEY AREN’T OBLIGATED TO JOIN OR SIGN UP FOR AN INTRO OR ANYTHING!
This is just a chance to have an Open House & show your friends what CrossFit is all about.
So bring a guest (or send them without you… you don’t have to escort/chaperone them if you can’t make it) & if they’ve never been here, have them show up 10 minutes early to fill out a waiver.

Danny, Mrs. Flader & Ellen at last summer’s Bring-A-Friend Days

Today’s schedule

6a: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
7a: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
8a: Open Gym- Lis
12n: All Levels CrossFit- Carlos
4p: Open Gym- Lis
5p: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
6p: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
7p: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
8p: Open Gym- Lis

Workout of the Day (WOD) – BRING A FRIEND DAY!

A. Back squat or goblet squat: 3×10 workups
B. Partner Cindy*:
As many rounds & reps as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats

*:30 on, :30 off… you work for 30 seconds, then your partner works for 30 seconds.
One partner works while the other rests.
Pick up where your partner left off.

And coming tomorrow…

Open WOD 13.2
Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
5 Shoulder to overhead, 115/75#
10 Deadlift, 115/75#
15 Box jumps, 24/20″

USE THE SAME BAR FOR SHOULDER-TO-OVERHEAD & DEADLIFT REPS.

Kettlebell swings- American or Russian?

Some CFMers have asked about the kettlebell swings in the programming lately…LOTS of Russian swings.
The reason for that is to work on mechanics, and to give the overhead (American swing) position a break when some students are unable to maintain proper form on the American swing. So we’ve just been focusing, over the past month, on the Russian swing’s shorter range of motion, to get those mechanics down before moving on.
So in today’s conditioning work, you can choose which swing you’d like to do – the Russian swing (chest level), the American swing (overhead), or a hybrid of the two (somewhere in between).
Before deciding which version is right for you, read this post from CJ Martin at CrossFit Invictus, and/or try his following range of motion test to determine which one you can do properly:
Step 1 – Lay down on your back with your chin and spine in a neutral position and your hands down at your sides.
Step 2 – Squeeze your bum and belly and at belly button level interlock your thumbs with your knuckles lined up – mimicking the position of your hands on the kettlebell.
Step 3 – Have a partner place their hand between your back and floor. (If you train alone, you can also stage your camera on the floor beside you and videotape this drill.) It’s likely (desirable, in fact) that there will be some space between your lower back and the floor. The more impressive your glute development (think Olympic-caliber sprinter), the larger that gap between back and floor will be.
Step 4 – Slowly begin to raise your hands from hip level to chest and eventually overhead until your knuckles touch the ground. Your partner will be there to determine if you change positions at any point. If the pressure on their hand decreases as you raise your arms (i.e., the space between your back and the floor increases) they will stop you. That is the height to which you should swing the kettlebell until you improve your thoracic mobility and/or midline stability.

Dan & Rugo on kettlebell swings

Today’s schedule

6a: All Levels CrossFit- Rebecca
7a: All Levels CrossFit- Rebecca
8a: Open Gym- Jason
12n: All Levels CrossFit- Amy
4p: Open Gym- Jim
5p: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
6p: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
7p: All Levels CrossFit- Raul
8p: Open Gym- Raul

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. Skill work: Rope climbs
B. For time:
21 Kettlebell Swings 70/53
21 Knees to Elbows
21 Lateral Hops*
18 Kettlebell Swings
18 Knees to Elbows
18 Lateral Hops*
15 Kettlebell Swings
15 Knees to Elbows
15 Lateral Hops*

*Jump over cone or parallette. Scaled: jump side to side. OVER AND BACK equals one rep.

And coming tomorrow… BRING A FRIEND DAY!

A. Back squat or goblet squat: 3×10 workups
Partner Cindy*:
As many rounds & reps as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats

*:30 on, :30 off… you work for 30 seconds, then your partner works for 30 seconds.
One partner works while the other rests.
Pick up where your partner left off.

Pro Shop sale is coming!

This week we’ll be putting several Pro Shop items on sale to make room for new gear & treats! Get to the box Wednesday to check out the deals on some of the “vintage” CFM apparel & a few of our snacks.

Coach Cassie’s mother passed away Sunday on Cassie’s birthday. Please keep Cassie & her family in your thoughts and prayers. WE LOVE YOU CASSIE!

Today’s schedule

6a: All Levels CrossFit- Dan
7a: All Levels CrossFit- Dan
8a: Open Gym- Lis
12n: All Levels CrossFit- Carlos
4p: Open Gym- Jim
5p: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
6p: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
7p: All Levels CrossFit- Lis
8p: Open Gym- Lis

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. Snatch: In 12 minutes, work up to a heavy double
B. Clean & jerk: In 12 minutes, work up to a heavy double
C. Double unders: 10 min max reps or 10 min skill work

And coming tomorrow…

A. Skill work: Rope climbs
B. For time:
21 Kettlebell Swings 70/53
21 Knees to Elbows
21 Lateral Hops*
18 Kettlebell Swings
18 Knees to Elbows
18 Lateral Hops*
15 Kettlebell Swings
15 Knees to Elbows
15 Lateral Hops*

*Jump over cone or parallette. Scaled: jump side to side. OVER AND BACK equals one rep.