Smashby's Training Blog

New movement day! New movement day!

I’ve been a trainer at CrossFit Lakewood for over 6 months and had never seen the Sumo Deadlift posted as the exercise to focus on during the “Strength” portion of the day… until today!

It was also the first time that many people had ever done the lift, and I’ll tell you what, people did an awesome job!

Highlights of the day:

• Will pulling 335 off of the floor 3 times! (I’m pretty sure that’s more than his regular deadlift! Must be the new haircut!)

• CC…. are you ready for this? He pulled 455 pounds 3 times. AND, made it look easy. That is a STRONG man.

The main workout was a good one, too. Over the last few months, Orion has programmed a few workouts with Ascending v/s Descending rep schemes, and every single one has been an absolute crusher! That’s where there are only two movements involved. You do ten reps of the first and one of the second. Then immediately into 9 reps of the first and 2 of the second. This pattern continues until you’ve reached 1 rep of the first and up to 10 of the second. Brutal stuff!

Workout of the Day:
Strength
Sumo Deadlift – 6 sets of 3

WOD
Front Squat 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Pull-ups (Chest to Bar if you can) 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Athlete Results:
Sumo Deadlift
Jamie- 265lb x 3!

WOD
Jamie (95lb Front Squat / 1 Banded Pull-Up!)- 17:59

Andy and Jamie came through for today’s Sunday Funday. Today’s workout would consist of Rowing, Kettlebell Swings and Ball Slams! All three of those movements, when done most effectively, require a very “violent” extension of the hips in order to move whatever the stimulus, as efficiently as possible.

With rowing, really leaning back to reach full extension ensures that the fan is spinning for as long as possible, is key. On the ball slams, keeping that chest high when picking the ball off of the ground (like a deadlift), guarantees that we’re “deadlifting” the ball and not lifting it with a rounded back. Finally, for kettlebell swings, getting full extension on the hips helps to send that KB overhead through momentum. When that happens, we really don’t need to “pull” the weight up in the air at all. The best part about these “cues” is that almost every single athlete can instantly tell when they do these movements “right” v/s “wrong”. The right way is simply easier!

Workout of the Day:
1000m Row / 21 Ball Slams / 21 Kettlebell Swings / 500m Row / 15 Ball Slams / 15 Kettlebell Swings / 200m Row / 9 Ball Slams / 9 Kettlebell Swings

Now, as you watch the videos from today, before anyone loses their mind… USUALLY the expectation is to catch the Ball Slams on the bounce in order for the rep to count. Today’s workout did not require that portion of the movement, so they were both doing them correctly!

Athlete Results:
Jamie (40lb Ball / 16kg KB)- 16:17
Andy (30lb Ball / 12kg KB)- 14:41

Today should have been called “Main Site Monday.” Orion liked the workout that was posted on the CrossFit website yesterday, so he let all of us give it a shot. Simple movements (wall balls and pull-ups), ten reps each, a seven-rounder. Ready, go.

Workout of the Day:
Strength
Overhead Squats

WOD
7 Rounds for Time-
10 Wallball shots / 10 Pull-ups

Athlete Results:
Strength
Jamie- 115lbs x 3 reps

WOD
Lucas (10# Ball / 2 Bands)- 12:52
Jamie (20# Ball / 2 Bands)- 13:04