CrossFit Benchmark workouts are awesome! Tonight’s workout was one entitled Helen. It’s a classic WOD for all CrossFitters, and today was the first time that many in our CrossFit Lakewood family where able to give her a whirl. Not only that, TONS of people did it with prescribed weight. THAT is awesome!

CrossFit, CrossFit Lakewood, Smashby Training, Helen, KB Swings

Kettlebell Swinging Machines!

Workout of the Day:

Strength
Front Squat 3×3 warm-up, 10×1 @ 85% or add 5-10# from last effort.

WOD
Helen
3 Rounds for Time
400m Run / 21 Kettle Bell Swings (24kg/16kg) / 12 Pull-ups

How many of you did this workout AS PRESCRIBED for the first time ever!? Let the world hear you 🙂

SUNDAY FUNDAY IS BACK!! We had two full weeks off from our incredible Sunday Funday Classes, and let me tell you…. I missed you guys! 🙂
It was so great to see how strong the crew came back to start the week!

I promised it would be a great day. How do you guys think I did?

We started off by getting right into it after the group warm-up. Introducing the concept of “POSE” running hopefully has some of you starting to think about running more “forwards” instead of doing the classic “heel-strike” running. Don’t worry, we’ll be spending a little bit of time here and there improving technique, but I just wanted to show you guys so you had an idea of what I was talking about.

Once we ran a little it was time for something we’ll be doing every now and again… a TIME TRIAL!

Today’s event: 400 Meter Sprint Run

CrossFit, CrossFit Lakewood, Smashby Training, Sunday Funday, 400m Run

GREAT job, everyone!

Then, since it was our first day back for two weeks, I decided to open up what the WOD would be for today to the group. The options were whether to do a TEAM Workout, or keep it down to the individual level. I knew what you guys were going to pick! 🙂

The workout we did tonight was similar to one I did at my Level 1 Certification, and I really liked how it worked. In teams of 5 Athletes, each person works at one of the different stations (running, swinging, push-ups, wall balls and rest). Since one of the stops is a 200 meter run, that person is the one that sets the pace for that particular “round”. Whenever their 200 meters are up, they tag their partner and the entire group rotates. The faster you run, the less work your teammates have to do. That is the part of the workout that is simply “as fast as possible.” Now is the catch… not only do we want to work FAST, but we also want to get in as many reps of the middle three stations as possible. Therefore, the goal today was to get the entire workout’s 3 rounds done as QUICKLY as possible… but also complete as many reps as a team as possible!

The one thing I had the two teams do before we started was create team names. I give you the workout and results for:
Team GET SOME!!
and
Team RAMROD

You guys are hilarious and did an awesome job! I hope you had fun.

Workout of the Day:
3 Rounds for Time
Run 200 Meters / Kettlebell Swings / Hand-Release Push-Ups / Wall Balls / Rest

You guys all looked so strong! Note how Megan is using the GREEN Kettlebell now…. BEAST MODE!!

Then, after the workout was done and the score was written on the board, our very own numbers man (Ben Sappey) decided that having “Total Time” and “Total Reps” on the board wasn’t enough. He wanted to know “WHO WON?” Well, it’s pretty obvious to any half-way intelligent human being that the clear way to answer that is to equate the “Total Reps Per Second” between the two teams. Therefore, the team with the highest “Reps Per Second” was clearly the winner.

Go ahead and check out the results below. Ben, you’re awesome!

CrossFit, CrossFit Lakewood, Smashby Training, Sunday Funday

Who won in YOUR opinion?!

The top team finished the workout FIRST, but in turn, completed fewer reps. So, is Ben right in saying that the team who scored more reps PER SECOND is the true winner?

Let me know what you think!

No strength training today. After our warm-up, we just got right to a Tabata workout with two different movements. That wasn’t it, though. You did both movements TWICE! Brutal.

Great job fighting through this one, you guys.

Workout Of the Day:
2 Rounds for time of Tabata
– Row for calories
– Wall Ball for reps

Tabata Rowing machines

And then of course the Wall Balls. GREAT JOB to Mike for using a 20-pounder today!

Lisbeth strikes again.

If you don’t know what that means yet, welcome to my blog. CrossFit Lisbeth’s author, Lisbeth Darsh, is amazing.

Simple message. Yet SO powerful and true. Regardless of your role at work, at home or in the gym… think about this.

Every Single Time you interact with someone in your life… please just TRY to think about this message.

Teaching Moments ~ By Lisbeth

Teaching moments aren’t easy, for the teacher or the student.

You might be the member, thinking “Oh man, he’s picking on me.” Or you might be the coach, thinking “How the heck can I get this point across? How can I get her to change that movement?”

But you’re both in a situation that could be so illuminating, if you allow it to be.

Let go of your ego and your fears. Let go of the idea that you have to be the best in every single moment of your life. Open your heart, open your mind . . . and learn.

Apply the student mentality everywhere you can today – just for a day — and see what happens. There are a lot more experts in your world — on so many subjects — than you realize.

They are in your gym, in the coffeeshop, in your workplace, and in your neighborhood. And often the loudest voice is not the most educated, so learn to listen to the quiet ones too. Seek out those who would share their secrets. Become enraptured by the truthtellers and just smile at the blowhards. But learn. Always learn.

No Sunday Funday Tonight

Posted: July 10, 2011 in Uncategorized

Friends, there will not be a Sunday Funday class tonight. I am lucky enough to be back on the East Coast visiting my family!

On Friday, I realized that I hadn’t seen most of them in almost a full year. It’s so nice being here, and I hope you all have an amazing weekend, too!

As I write this post I can say with certainty that today’s workout was a lower back FRYER for me! First some heavy deadlifts with a twist (where instead of letting the weight down fast, you lowered the bar to the ground on a 6-second count each rep), followed by a Tabata Workout with deadlifts AND burpees. Wow. My lower back is already sore from the deadlifts, so tomorrow is going to feel great!

Some of the incredible highlights today came from the weight that some of our athletes were pulling off of the ground. Brooke Pendergraft pulling 295 for her deadlift and still lowering it down… made it look EASY. Are you all going to stop getting stronger? Or do I just need to get used to this? 🙂

Workout of the Day:
Strength
Dead Lift 3×3 Warm-up. Then 5×1 @ 85%, 5×1 @ 90%-100%+
6 Sec control on the way down

WOD
Tabata
Deadlift (185#/115#) / Burpee

8 Rounds each station of 20 sec on 10 off, alternating between deadlift and burpee. Score is total reps

You guys are the best.

Below is a post from CrossFit Lisbeth. This woman is amazing. Thank you, Lisbeth, for another gem.

Those of you who know me have hopefully seen that I feel having “Faith” in life is incredibly important. We control so much more than we want to admit sometimes, and that can be really scary. Having some faith in yourself, in your choices and in your hopes and dreams… and then working towards them with 100% of your heart and soul is such an empowering way of life. It’s one that I’m working on every single day.

I’ve made some major changes in my life recently (in terms of following my passions), and I’ll blog about those another time, but there are also some changes I haven’t made yet. Mostly because I’ve been afraid of “not knowing” what would happen next. Like I said, I’m working on it. But if you’re willing to put 100% of your being into those things that are important to you, then all you have left to do is believe, have faith and know that whatever happens next was meant to be.

Love this post, Lisbeth.

Faith – by Lisbeth

Faith: you got to have it.

I’m not talking about “throw your hands up to Jesus” faith. You can have that or not, I don’t really care — that’s up to you.

I’m talking about faith in yourself. In the person next to you. In your loved ones. In what you’re doing here. In your life.

Faith that if things are bad, they’ll get better. Faith that if you work hard, dreams will come true. Faith that love is out there, waiting for you in so many ways — you just have to open your eyes.

Without faith, life is kind of mean. You look over your shoulder all the time. You expect the worse. You prepare for the letdown. And so the dark dreams come to pass. Your life feels hollow and dry and interspersed only with random points of happiness. Joy eludes you and seems always to sit in other people’s pockets.

Without faith, the bar is always too heavy, the kettlebell is too much, the pull-up bar is too high, there are too many muscle-ups in the workout. You’re not a gymnast after all, right?

You can feel this way. You can be this way. It’s probably valid.

Or you can just say “F**k it.”

Life isn’t perfect. The bar is heavy, but I’m going to lift it. The pull-up bar is too high but I can get there. The other guy got this promotion but I’m getting the next one. That spot on the x-ray? F**k it: I can beat that. So he left me? Yeah, there are a million other fish in the sea. F** it all.

I‘m here. I’m strong. And I’m not going anywhere. I got faith.

Your life. Your choice. Your ending is happy or sad, your life is happy or sad, your day is happy or sad — depending not on the circumstances in it, but on how you view things.

So don’t come to me with your stories of woe. Don’t come to me with your self-pity and your Poor Me Syndrome. Come to me with your victories of the spirit, with your smiles and joy. Same breeds same. With every breath and every thought, you decide what you want more of. Choose darkness, or have faith. Of this you can be certain: Life will reply.

My good buddy Jack Cerchiara is the founder of the website ApresPowder.com and is always posting really cool content on skiing, snowboarding and other cool sports and awesome events!

The post he shared with us today was too cool for me NOT to put on my blog. The crew at Matchstick Productions produces incredible winter sports films year after year, and coming off of a record-breaking winter of snowfall in many places around the world, we knew that their next film was going to be just as amazing!

Check out the trailer for “Attack of La Nina”, and remember to keep breathing as you watch it. I forgot a few times, myself.

Thanks for the share, Jack, and I hope you guys enjoy this!

Attack of La Niña Trailer HD from MSP Films on Vimeo.

We’re not caught up on past days yet, but I am getting back to Results post right now.

It was the first day back from a long Holiday Weekend, and I was very curious to see how people reacted to being back at the box! It felt like the first time seeing people from CrossFit Lakewood in a long time, so walking into the gym brought a huge smile to my face! (as usual)

The workout today started off with some Push Presses and the hit the WOD, which was Cindy today.

Workout of the Day
Strength:
Push-press 3×3 warm-up 5×1 @ 85% 5×1 @ 90%-95%

WOD:
“Cindy”
As Many Rounds as Possible in 20 minutes:
5 Pull-ups / 10 Push-ups / 15 Squats

I love it when we have a full house!

No Sunday Funday Class Today!

Posted: July 3, 2011 in CrossFit

It’s 4th of July Weekend! Go out and have a great time with family and friends today.

Happy Birthday, America! Sending a heart-felt thank you to all of the men and women who protect our freedoms in this amazing country.

I am proud to be an American.

CrossFit, Smashby Training, America