The “Earn Your Turkey Challenge” is only three days away, so today was Clayton’s last workout before his first ever CrossFit event! He wasn’t alone, though, since Jamie came back for his second CrossFit workout as promised!
As I’ve been saying for the last few weeks, we’re putting a much stronger emphasis on stretching and mobility nowadays, so the first 10/15 minutes of class were spent stretching and foam rolling. I’m hoping in the coming weeks that athletes start to notice significant improvements in their performances due to our increased range of motion!
We finished stretching and then worked on Back Squats for sets of 5. Clayton kept the weight light because of the event this weekend, and Jamie was working on form since it was his first time doing Back Squats with us. Both went to full depth and kept their weight on their heels with their chest high on every rep. Full range of motion every rep….
That attention to detail gets a BOOOOOOM from me!
Awesome job tonight, guys!
Workout of the Day:
5 Rounds for time of-
200 meter row / 15 Knuckles to Toes / 10 Squat Jumps / 15 KB Swings
Check out Jamie crushing his last set of Kettlebell Swings. Awesome hip extension, even when he was tired!
After a group warm-up and about 15 minutes of Mobility Work with Foam Rollers and Baseballs, (thanks for the motivation, K-Starr!), we had Clayton and Kristin complete a 500 meter row, as fast as possible.
The trend continued today with having a Classic Main-Site WOD, and with the original work-out rep count to be 150. Yesterday Kristin tackled “Annie“, today, the two of them took on “Karen“. Karen is 150 Wall-Balls for time.
There is nothing easy about this workout, as it does quite a number on your lower back. But as a precaution to ensure they were going all the way down to full squat depth on each rep, we had both of them squat back to touch their butt to a med-ball each time. Clayton did the workout as prescribed, using a 20 pound med-ball, and throwing to a 10-foot target. Kristin threw a 10 pound ball to an 8-foot target.
Full hip extension makes the movement more efficient!
Athlete Results:
500 meter row~
Clayton- 1:45.0
Kristin- 2:07.0
Kristin was the lone ranger tonight, so after warming up, we spent some time working on pull-ups. Her goal is to be able to do unassisted pull-ups, and we’re going to get her there. When that skill work was done, it was onto the Workout of the Day!
Most of the time the workouts we do are original, however, I love finding great workouts from other affiliates from time to time and throwing in a Main-Site Classic every once and a while is key! Tonight I wanted Kristin to work on her ever-improving double-unders, so her workout was a slightly modified “Annie“. The prescribed “Annie” is 50-40-30-20-10 of Double-Unders and Sit-Ups. That means you do 50 Double-Unders (jump rope where the rope passes under your feet twice per jump) and then 50 sit-ups. After that, 40 Doubles and 40 sit-ups, and so on.
The only modification I made was to eliminate the round of 50. 150 Double-Unders is a lot, so making sure that Kristin only counted her successful doubles as jumps was more important than her doing a full 150.
Either way, look for yourself, and tell if you think she’s getting better at them. Amazing job, Kristin!
Tonight brought another newcomer through the doors of CrossFit Lakewood. Jamie and I had been talking about getting him in for a while, and tonight was finally the night!
We started today with some basic form on squats and really focusing on keeping our weight back on our heels, and Jamie picked it up almost immediately! Once that work was done, we got into the workout.
Workout of the Day:
4 Rounds for time~
15 Box Jumps / 15 Wall Balls / 15 Push Press / 15 Weighted Sit-Ups
Athlete Results:
Kristin (20″ Box / 14lb Wall Ball / 45lb Bar / 10lb Plate for Sit-Up)- 15:26
Jamie (20″ Box / 14lb Wall Ball / 45lb Bar / 10lb Plate for Sit-Up)- 18:43
Looking good, you two!
For a first-time CrossFit workout, Jamie did better than most people I have ever seen. It was so great to watch how he broke down his reps in order to maintain form when he was tired. Great job, Jamie! Hope to see you again soon!
Today we started with strength, focusing on working up to a 3 Rep Max Back Squat. Clayton is competing in the Turkey Challenge in less than two weeks, so I wanted to focus on some strength work a few more times before the event.
Athlete Results (5 sets of 3 reps Back Squat):
Kristin- 85lbs for all 5 sets
Clayton- 155 / 165 / 185 / 195 / 205lbs
After that, we did a 15 AMRAP. That means in 15 minutes you get through the following list of exercises, in order, as many times as you can.
10 Ball Slams / 20 Back Extensions (on GHD) / 10 Push-Ups / 20 Ab-Mat Sit-Ups / Run 100 meters
Athlete Results:
Kristin (30lb Slam Ball, catch on bounce)- 4 Rds + 10 Ball Slams + 3 Back Extensions
Clayton (50lb Slam Ball, catch on bounce)- 4 Rds + 5 Ball Slams
After a quick group warm-up, tonight’s class started with something I have been trying to schedule in for a long time; Stretching and Mobility work! CrossFit Subject Matter Expert Kelly Starrett has created a daily Video Blog called the Daily MWOD, (or Mobility Workout of the Day) where he gives athletes ideas for increasing their flexibility and range of motion, in turn making us all more effective athletes and stable human beings, and also helping us prevent injury.
His daily blog can be found by clicking here, and I highly recommend adding it to your daily hits. In 5-10 minutes per day, if you follow his suggestions, I can assure you that you will be hitting Personal Records more regularly, but more importantly, you will be feeling more comfortable in your own skin and your range of motion will increase *significantly*.
So we started today with Foam Rolling for our legs and Band Stretching for our arms and shoulders. I’ll tell you what, I haven’t seen this many strained faces in a long time! I promise that by doing these exercises more often, your overall fitness will improve, guys and gals. Trust me 🙂
Clayton and Kristin Foam-Rolling
After that we did a 3-person WOD. After 1 person flipped a tire two times, a second person did a burpee after jumping through that tire. The third person did 3 Goblet Squats with a Kettlebell after every 2 flips. Once this was done 10 times, every did 10 Jump Squats (with a bar on their back) and 15 Dips each. This entire sequence was done 3 times, so each person had the opportunity to flip the tire, do the burpees, and complete Goblet Squats.
Athlete Results:
Clayton (12kg KB squats / 45lb Bar for jump squats / Dips w/ feet elevated on box)
Kristin (8kg KB squats / 15lb Bar for jump squats / Dips w/ hands on box, feet on ground)
Nichole (8kg KB squats / 15lb Bar for jump squats / Dips w/ hands on box, feet on ground)
This workout took the team 10:45 to complete
As soon as this was done, we went straight into a THREE-Tabata exercise circuit.
That meant , of each of these exercises:
Jumping Pull-Ups / Sit-Ups / Air Squats
While I gave athletes 1 minute rest between exercises, this was still a killer way to end the workout.
I had a really fun time going through today’s class and hope you all did, too! After a warm-up which included quite a bit of stretching (which is something we’ll be doing more of), we spent a very good chunk of time working on our squatting position. The “Air Squat” is a critical stance in most of our power movements as we discussed, (air squat, back and front squat, clean and jerks, snatches, wall balls, etc.) so becoming very comfortable down in that position is critical for CrossFit…. and for life!
The other reason we were going through a lot of squat work was because the skill we worked on today was the Squat Clean. While we only used PVC pipes today, in the 15-20 minutes we spent breaking down the parts of the movement and then combining it, you all improved significantly! After that, it was onto the workout!
(Side-note: One of the movements we used tonight in our workout was the Ab-Mat sit-up. He started all the way with his shoulders touching the ground, and came up to where his chest touched his quads. Well done, sir!)
Perfect form on those Ab-Mat Sit-Ups, Andy!
Workout of the Day:
15 Ball Slams / 20 Ab-Mat Sit-Ups / 25 Wall Taps / 800m Run
10 Ball Slams / 15 Ab-Mat Sit-Ups / 20 Wall Taps / 400m Run
5 Ball Slams / 10 Ab-Mat Sit-Ups / 15 Wall Taps / 200m Run
(The Wall Tap we used was simply standing in front of the wall and jumping high on the balls of the feet to reach a certain target height. No squat was necessary in this movement.)
The best part of the workout tonight was that everyone ended up using a slam ball! In the past we had scaled this movement to a Medicine Ball to make it easier, but today, no one needed that scaling. Can you say…. “We’re becoming better athletes!!” So cool.
Clayton and Andy each used a FIFTY pound slam ball. If you haven’t picked one up yet, give that a shot. The ladies all used 30 pound slam balls, also no easy task, and 500% heavier than the medicine ball she used for the same exercise last month. FIVE HUNDRED PERCENT!
One of the highlights was that last round, when both Clayton and Kristin were in from the run before their final 5 ball slams, I suggested that Kristin catch the ball on one bounce like Clayton had been doing for the entire previous 25 during the workout. She did, he did, and it was awesome to watch. Check it out!
Athlete Results:
Kristin (30lb slam ball, caught them on the last 5)- 13:18
Clayton (50lb slam ball, caught them all)- 13:23
Andy (50lb slam ball, no catch)- 14:01
Nichole (30lb slam ball, no catch)- 15:21
Boomer (30lb slam ball, no catch)- 15:40
I can’t express enough how impressive it is that you all stepped up your game on those slam balls. That is such a full-body movement, and the speed with which you guys learned how to perform the movement was great. That’s how we increase our performance, by becoming more efficient while trying to create more power! Great job!
Today before the main workout, we did a few running drills outside, then came back inside and worked on learning the “Kettlebell Snatch” movement. After that, it was straight to the workout.
Workout of the Day:
2 Rounds for Time of-
400m Run / 30 KB Swings / 30 Mtn. Climbers / 30 Push-Ups (Hand Release) / 30 Squat Jumps
As always, perfect extension overhead!
This workout proved to be more of a bruiser than expected, but both athletes did a great job pushing through. I’d say at a lower rep count per round, Kristin is pretty close to doing all full-plank push-ups, too. Especially on hand-release sets!
While today was supposed to be a crazy costume contest, the plans were changed when “many” of our regular athletes went out a little too hard the night before 😉
It’s alright, though. Kristin and Clayton still dressed up in a team costume, and I think they looked amazing! Needless to say, they were this year’s Costume Contest winners. Congrats you two!
Check out their entrance into the gym for class. It was pretty awesome.
Then once they got ready to work out, Clayton says… “We should just work out in our costumes.” And they did! Double win!
The Fighter and the Ring Girl, rowing like champs
Workout of the Day:
5 Rounds for time of-
10 Ring Push-Ups / 10 Burpee Stick Jumps / 10 Overhead Squats / 20 Double-Unders (50 Single Jumps)
For both of you guys, the Overhead Squats are starting to look MUCH better. Weight is on your heels, chest is staying high, great job you two.
Athlete Results:
Clayton (45lb Bar / 50 Single Jumps)- 21:13
Kristin (15lb Bar / 20 Double-Unders)- 21:36
Kristin is becoming more and more comfortable with the Doubles. Even though she broke a jump rope today, they’re starting to be much more consistent. Clayton, it’s your turn to learn ’em. Can someone say “upcoming skill work”?
Today was a BIG day for us here at the gym! There were a couple of HUGE Personal Records set, and the workout also went really well. Let’s get right to it:
First, we started off with Heavy Deadlifts, working up to our 1 Rep Max weight. The huge moments here were when Ashley Boomer pulled 135lbs off of the ground, and then Clayton getting a solid 305! Both of these guys can do even more, but these accomplishments were awesome to see! Check out the picture and videos below!
After that we did a workout that consisted of mostly body weight movements. (Just an FYI, it ended up being cut short because of how long our deadlifting session took, it WAS going to also have a round of 10. You’re welcome 🙂
Workout of the Day:
30 reps in order, then 20 reps all the way through of-
Wall Balls / Push-Ups (staggered hand grip) / Sit-Ups (your choice) / Air Squats
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