WOD

Saturday CFM Schedule

8a- Instructor Training Program meeting
9a- Beginner CrossFit with Cassie
10a- All Levels CrossFit with Cassie
11a- All Levels CrossFit with Lis
12n-2p- Olympic Lifting Open Gym with Cheryl

Sunday CFM Schedule

9-11a- Hooverball at Piedmont Park Active Oval
10a- Free Park WOD at Piedmont Park Active Oval
12n- All Levels CrossFit with Dyer
1-2p- Open Gym with Dyer
6p- Yoga with Monica
Coach Beka & ITP student Ian posing at the Anniversary Party.

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. Front squat: 3×3 @80%
B. Karen:
150 wall balls for time 20/14#

And coming tomorrow… TEAM WOD!

In teams of 3 or 4, complete 4 cycles for time (4 visits to each station…don’t advance until all teammates finish reps):
Station 1: 20 lateral box jumps (10 each side)
Station 2: 20 overhead walking lunge steps
Station 3: 20 burpees
Station 4: Rest

FRI 07.05.13 Karen today & team WOD tomorrow Read More »

I’m proud to be a CFMerican!

Thanks to all of you who serve/have served to fight for our freedom. Have a safe & fabulous holiday! CFM is closed for the 4th but we’re back open on Friday for the 12n, 4, 5 & 6p classes (no early AMs). See you Friday!

Open Gym Saturday with Cheryl!

In addition to the Beginners class at 9a, and All Levels classes at 10 & 11a Saturday, we’re also having another Olympic Lifting Open Gym session with Olympian Cheryl Haworth from 12n-2p. Come clean up that technique & get strong!

Workout of the Day (WOD)

CLOSED FOR THE 4th!

And coming tomorrow… BENCHMARK FRIDAY!

A. Front squat: 3×3 @80%
B. Karen:
150 wall balls for time 20/14#

THURS 07.04.13 Happy 4th of July! Read More »

Have a fun & safe 4th of July!

If you’re running the Peachtree, look for us on the Cafe Intermezzo side of the street at 11th & Peachtree. Run on by & grab your choice of a Vita-Coco or a beer (Jim H insisted!) to hydrate you for that last mile!
Everyone else, join us at 7a at the CFM cheer station to cheer on our runners and celebrate CFMERICA! DO IT.

Reminder that CFM is closed Thursday in observance of the 4th of July holiday. No AM classes Friday. Join us Fri at 12n, 4 5 or 6p to get your WOD in.

Monica & Tiff at the Anniversary Party. Monica celebrates a BIG birthday tomorrow! She’s been doing CrossFit for over 5 YEARS & is a great example of how functional fitness can help you age with grace AND basically help you kick more a$$ in life :). I hope I look that amazing when I’m 40. Keep up the great work hot stuff!

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. Press: 5@70%, 3@80%, 1@90%
B. 3 rounds For time:
Run 400m
Rest as long as 400m run takes you
21 kettlebell swings 53/35#
Rest as long as swings take you
12 pull ups
Rest as long as pull ups take you

And coming tomorrow…CLOSED FOR THE 4th!…
BUT coming Friday:

A. Front squat: 3×3 @80%
B. Karen:
150 wall balls for time 20/14#

WED 07.03.13 CFM’s Peachtree Road Race Cheer Station! Read More »

Carl Paoli’s Movement Connections Seminar recap

by Coach Beka
One of the things I love most about CrossFit is the fact that there’s always something to learn and improve on. As a coach, I’m always interested in finding new ways to teach students how to improve on techniques, movements and their strength. One of the biggest names in CrossFit video how-tos, progressions/movements and overall badass-ness is Carl Paoli.
He recently hosted a one-day workshop at CrossFit East Decatur. Carl’s main focus on coaching is the position->movement->purpose framework to help dissect each movement to help you train efficiently and safely. His videos are always great, so seeing him in person and getting the hands on experience with him was amazing. He used lots of demos from the attendees and was extremely hands-on. All around, this was a great class and I’m so glad I not only got to learn some new things, but also was able to meet Carl himself. Here are a few pics from the day:

Practicing hollow body. Looks easy, but definitely takes practice!

Pistol progressions. It’s always cool to see new ways to do this one.

Having trouble with handstand pushups? Maybe it’s a mobility issue. Carl helps this athlete to open her upper body.

More hollow body practice from our very own Carlos Tapia. This movement is a crucial building block for so many other movements we do in CrossFit, it’s essential everyone masters this one.

Reminder: Tonight is gymnastics class with Cassie at 8p!

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. Deadlift: 5@70%, 3@80%, 1@90%
B. Split jerk: 2-2-2-2-2
As many rounds/reps as possible (AMRAP) in 8 minutes of:
5 toes to bar
3 burpee broad jump*
*Jump as far as you are tall each time (mark the floor w chalk for your height).
*For each broad jump you do not jump at least as far as your height, add a 1-burpee penalty after time expires.

And coming tomorrow…

A. Press: 5@70%, 3@80%, 1@90%
B. 3 Rounds For Time:
Run 400m
Rest as long as 400m run takes you
21 kettlebell swings 53/35#
Rest as long as swings take you
12 pull ups
Rest as long as pull ups take you

TUES 7.2.13 Beka’s Carl Paoli recap Read More »

Time to reflect on June & prep for a fantastic July!

Congrats to everyone for making it through another stellar month. The weather has changed and you may have noticed as the humidity rises, it’s tougher to breathe through those tough metcons. Factor the weather in as just one more challenge added to each workout, pace yourself as necessary, and do the best you can. Be proud of yourselves for continuing this tough training as the weather makes it harder!
What accomplishments are you proud of in June?
Mine include:
1) settling into my new apartment
2) making big strides in developing the CFM team & delegating responsibilities
3) kicking off the new version of our Instructor Training Program
4) beginning to train with my new powerlifting coach in preparation for my July 20th meet
5) officially registering for USAPL Raw Nationals
6) starting work with a new naturopath/acupuncturist to help improve my health & well being
And now it’s time to set July goals…here are a few of mine:
1) Set PRs (personal records) on back squat, bench press & total at USAPL Raw Nationals on July 20th
2) Continued focus on recovery to stay healthy & make the most of the training sessions I have left before the meet, to include: sleeping 8+ hours a night, twice a week chiropractic adjustments & ART, 6x a week foam rolling/mobility work, drinking plenty of water, eating clean, limiting alcohol, taking epsom salts baths, continuing supplementation with fish oil, nighttime recovery, pre-workout Muscle Fuel, post-workout SFH Recovery & Fortified.
3) Gain three pounds of muscle before the meet (through regular lifting, LOTS of protein & NO metcons/cardio)
4) Work hard through 7/16 so I can enjoy the rest of the month OFF on vacation 🙂

What were your high points of June? What are your goals for July? Let’s keep this blog comments momentum rolling…share in the comments!

July programming

This month’s programming is focused on preparing all of our CFM athletes for Quarterly Progress Checks at the end of the month (the week of July 22nd…mark your calendars!) AND on training our participants in CFM’s Summer To Helen Back challengers to improve on their Helen times… stay tuned for a longer blog post tomorrow with details on what to expect from July programming.

PEACHTREE ROAD RACE!

Good luck to all our CFMericans running the Peachtree Road Race! If you’re not running but still want to join the CFM community to cheer on our team, join Lis & Jeremy…(who else is in?) Thursday morning at 11th & Peachtree to celebrate CFMerica this 4th of July!
What a good-lookin’ bunch of peeps at CFM’s 1st Anniversary Party back in May!

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. Back Squat: 5@70%, 3@80%, 1@90% (of 1-rep max… if you don’t know your max, we’ll help!)
B. 5 rounds for max reps of: 1 minute max rope climbs or rope climb skill work or ring rows), rest :30
1 minute double unders, rest :30
1 minute hollow rocks, rest :30

And coming tomorrow…

MON 7.1.13 Whatchu got, JULY?!? Read More »

It takes a village

The CrossFit Midtown community is growing. And as our student body and programs expand, so does our need for a strong team.
I’m so proud to announce, as we build that team, that Beka was promoted this month to Assistant Operations Manager at CFM!
If you train in the mornings, you know Beka well already as she coaches the early birds four days a week. She’s also added a few noon classes to her coaching schedule, as well as some intro sessions. Beka will also be helping with some event planning, accountability & nutrition coaching, and she’ll be taking the CFM reins while I’m on vacation next month (Amen :)).
Beka came to us from another local CrossFit gym, with some CrossFit & boot camp coaching experience. She heard about our Instructor Training Program (ITP) last fall & contacted me to learn more. We met a few times, and soon she was active in ITP, then coaching classes, & now she helps run the program along with Cassie!
Along with Cassie & Carlos, Beka also recently attended Carl Paoli’s Freestyle Connection Movement Seminar. We’ll share more of her tips from that workshop on the blog next week.
Congrats on your new role Beka, and thanks for all you do!
As always, let any of your CFM coaches know how we can help improve your training & quest for better health & fitness.

Beka competing at a spring 2012 Garage Games CrossFit event.

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. Max reps chin up: 3 sets, rest 5 min between sets (DO MOBILITY WORK DURING BREAKS)
B. Rope climbs: 10 min of skillwork
C. Time trial: 2k row

And coming tomorrow…

A. Front squat: 3-3-3+
B. Nancy:
5 rounds for time –
400m run
15 Overhead squats 95/65

THURS 6.27.13 Congrats to BEKA, our new Assistant Operations Manager! Read More »

Schedule updates

This Saturday’s 10 & 11a classes will be cancelled for the To Helen Back Summer Challenge Prelims. if you’re not doing the Challenge (you can still register!), your only training option Saturday will be in the 9a class.
CFM will be closed on Thursday, July 4th. Friday, July 5th AM classes are also cancelled… So your training options on 7/5 will be 12n, 4p, 5p & 6p. Sat & Sun, 7/6 & 7/7, will be a regular schedule.
We’re discontinuing Ninja Training for the time being. But stay tuned for details on a few running workshops to help your Helen times!

Gymnastics class is tonight at 8:

Skill: Handstand Review – Holds, Push-Ups, Walks
Workout: For Time, 10-8-6-4-2 reps of –
Air Squat
Burpees
Superman Rocks
Push Ups
Candlestick Pistol Rolls

Krystol crushing cleans at last fall’s AAL competition.

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. 3-position clean: 10 rounds, every minute on the minute. Use last week’s high hang clean weight OR 50% of your clean one-rep max.
B. “Elizabeth”
21-15-9
Cleans 135/95
Ring dips

And coming tomorrow…

A. Back squat 3-3-3+
B. 6 rounds for time –
5 Handstand push ups
5 Lateral box jump L (step down)
5 Lateral box jump R (step down)
Rest 1 minute between rounds

TUES 6.25.13 Schedule updates Read More »

Happy Friday!

Join the CFM community this weekend for several active options:
Saturday classes 9 10 11a
Saturday Olympic Lifting Open Gym w Cheryl, 12n-2p
Sunday Hooverball at Piedmont Park Active Oval, 9-11a
Sunday Free Park WOD at Piedmont Park Active Oval, 10a
Sunday class at 12n & Open Gym w Dyer 1-2p
Sunday yoga with Beth at 6p
Have a great weekend!

Carl Paoli - muscle up prog. — Beka, Carlos and Cassie attended Carl Paoli’s Freestyle Connection Movement Seminar a few weeks ago… here are a few photos of Carl teaching the muscle up progression. Focus on driving your hips up!

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. Front Squat: 3-3-3+
B. 10 min snatch skill work
C. Amanda:
For time – 9-7-5
Snatch 135/95#
Muscle Ups

*Sub 3 ring dips & 3 chest-to-bar pull ups for each muscle up.

And coming tomorrow…

A. Strength: Make up a lift you missed this week.
B. Team WOD: In teams of 4, rotate through all stations 4 times… Don’t rotate until all teammates are finished:
1. 20 box jumps
2. 20 wall balls
3. 200 meter row
4. 20 hand-release push ups

FRI 6.21.13 Happy Friday! Read More »

Grab a Kelapo coconut oil sample at the box this week!

The generous folks at Kelapo sent us some coconut oil samples to share with the CFM community, so come & get ’em!
If you’re new to the Paleo diet or haven’t yet attended a Food as Fuel workshop, you may not realize that CFM recommends you eat a diet of meat & vegetables, nuts & berries, some fruit, little starch & no sugar. That, my friends, is the Paleo diet in a (coco)nut shell.
But seriously, if I have to retrain one more former low-fat dieter’s brain that THE RIGHT FATS ARE GOOD FOR YOU, I’m gonna scream. Eat more fat, people!
And coconut is one of the best fats for you. It’s my favorite cooking oil. And for the CFMasseuses out there, it also makes a lovely massage oil. Hubba hubba.
Read more about it from Dr. Mercola here, or for the click-thru lazies out there, I’ll bring an excerpt directly to you:
According to Nubo Beauty, coconut oil is also nature’s richest source of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), also called medium-chain triglycerides or MCTs. By contrast, most common vegetable or seed oils are comprised of long chain fatty acids (LCFAs), also known as long-chain triglycerides or LCTs.
LCTs are large molecules, so they are difficult for your body to break down and are predominantly stored as fat.
But MCTs, being smaller, are easily digested and immediately burned by your liver for energy — like carbohydrates, but without the insulin spike. MCTs actually boost your metabolism and help your body use fat for energy, as opposed to storing it, so it can actually help you become leaner.
That’s right, fat can help you get leaner! So snag a sample at the box and sauté up some veggies with it… Or give that lucky someone a massage. Thanks Kelapo!

Lee M crushing Fight Gone Bad back during Bring-A-Friend Days

TONIGHT: Ninja Run Club at 7 & Gymnastics class at 8!

Gymnastics class –
Skill: Handstands & handstand walk progressions
Workout:
4 rounds for quality of :
10 chin up L-hold on bar
5 push ups
6 rope pull ups (3 each arm)

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. High hang clean: 2-2-2-2-2
B. As many rounds & reps as possible in 12 minutes:
5 Kettlebell snatch R
5 Kettlebell snatch L
10 burpees

And coming tomorrow…

A. Weighted pull up: 3-3-3+
B. Goat work: 10 minutes to work on a skill of your choice
C. 5 rounds for time:
3 wall climbs
10 pistols (5 ea leg)

TUES 06.18.13 Free coconut oil! Read More »

Food as Fuel recap

We had a great showing for last night’s Food as Fuel session. The basis of the paleo diet: eat meat & vegetables, nuts & seeds, little starch, some fruit and no sugar.
After you master those basics, I shared my TOP 6 NUTRITION RULES TO REACH YOUR GOALS:
1. Drink more water.
2. Drink less booze. When you do drink booze, stick to red wine or clear liquor mixed with with club soda or water. Sawwwwwy beer snobs. DISCLAIMER: alcohol is still broken down as sugar in your body. And it’s a neurotoxin, so if you wonder why you’re so depressed/anxious/ADD after a bender of a weekend, MAYBE it’s the booze (But maybe it’s also all the $ you spent. I digress).
3. Sleep 8 hours in a cool, dark room. If you have trouble with this, try winding down earlier, turn off the TV/computer/smartphone, turn down the lights and try a natural supplement that includes magnesium sulfate, melatonin, zinc and/or GABA… different stuff works for everyone.
4. Eat breakfast. It doesn’t have to be “breakfast food.” I often eat dinner for breakfast. Eff all that breakfast for dinner noise. Unless it’s bacon. Bacon goes with every meal.
5. Then throw in a few supplements: fish oil, vitamin D3, probiotics & digestive enzymes.
6. Post-workout is NOT the time to skimp on calories. Get some protein into your system within 45 minutes… preferably a high quality supplement like SFH.

Rowing class is taking the summer off

We’re gonna give Uran a few months off to make way for you guys to take advantage of our Tuesday Ninja Training & Gymnastics classes. But we have a super fun rowing event in the works for the fall, so stay tuned for details!

FREE PARK WOD SUNDAY AT 10a!

Join the Instructor Training Program students for a free park WOD in the Active Oval at Piedmont Park on Sunday morning.

Matt C won these abdominal muscles in last year’s Summer Challenge. You could be CFM’s next abtastic member. Register by Monday & you also get an awesome new CFM shirt!

Workout of the Day (WOD)

A. Deadlift: 3-3-3+
B. 10 min goat work
C. Grace:
30 clean & jerks for time 135/95#

And coming tomorrow…TEAM WORKOUT

Team Chipper:
20 hands-behind-head abmat sit ups (strict: don’t swing arms for momentum)
20 supermans
20 air squats
20 double unders (sub 20 burpees)
20 kettlebell swings 53/35
20 pull ups
20 hand-release push ups (MODIFY WITH BAND ON HIPS)
20 mountain climbers
20 walking lunge steps
200m row
Teammate 1 starts at station 1. Teammate 2 goes to station 1 once teammate 1 moves on to station 2. Teammate 3 goes to station 1 once teammate 3 moves to station 2 and teammate 1 moves to station 3. Teammate 4 moves to station 1 once teammate 3 moves to station 2 and teammate 2 moves to station 3 and teammate 1 moves to station 4. Athletes cannot advance stations until station in front is clear.

FRI 06.13.13 Food as Fuel recap Read More »