Smashby's Training Blog

Happy Presidents’ Day, everyone! Many of you had the day off… I hope you spent it… celebrating President’s.?.?

Coach Orion getting the group warmed up

Tonight’s workout started off with some Overhead Squats (OHS). The OHS is a lift that rewards those with hamstring and shoulder flexibility, and really tight cores. If you lack even one of those, you will be able to tell pretty quickly! With the risk of sounding like a broken record, there were even more breakthroughs tonight. Most notably (since I was working closest with them) Wes and Pete absolutely crushed their sets. For the first time I saw FULL range of motion from both of these guys, and it seemed like something just “clicked” in their heads to wear form looked awesome. GREAT JOB, gentlemen!

The main workout included a nice combination of simpler movements and more complex ones. Knees to Elbows are a full-body movement that require coordination and strength, but thankfully there are many modifications that can be made to sub for this. Tonight, one of the more common mods we made were “Leg Raises”. Remember, in CrossFit it’s about constantly varying what we do, so if you subbed with Leg Raises today, try something else next time! Our goal is to build up the capacity to eventually get to do Knees to Elbows!

After those it was onto the Push-Ups. We’re getting a lot stronger with these, and it’s great to watch so many people go all the from their chest to the decks to locking their arms out at full extension at the top! Finally, we did some Pistols. These are definitely a more complex gymnastics movement, and as you can see CFHQ Trainer Adrian Bozman demonstrate, the key is to keep your weight back on those heels the entire time, and not let yourself rock forwards. The modifications we used for these were either squatting back onto a box, using rings to support ourselves, or simply hanging onto the pull-up rig to support our getting out of the “bottom” position.

Throughout the workout form really improved after folks heard some “key words”, so great job, team!

Greg is so good at these, cameras can't even see him!

Workout of the Day:
3 Rounds for Time
10 Knees to Elbows / 20 Push-Ups / 30 Pistols (15 each leg)

Sunday Funday was more like Sunday Full House tonight and I loved it! I can’t think of the last time we had 7 people in for a Sunday class. It was a lot of fun!

After warming up, I explained the workout to the group. I wish I could say everyone was excited, but there were definitely some groans when I announced that Med Ball Tosses and Box Jumps would be a part of it! What we did was a workout similar in structure to Fight Gone Bad. We had 4 stations set up where the athletes spent 1:00 at each one. After all 4, there was a 90 second rest period. The cycle is completed 3 times, leading to “only” 12 minutes of actual work. I’d like to think the athletes there tonight would still say it was a challenging one, though!

Finally, we ended the day with a 3-minute test. How many Slam Balls could you complete in 3 minutes? Instead of having everyone work alone, we paired most people up with a partner, and only one person could work at a time. It was incredible to watch, because nobody stopped for the entire three minutes. Great job, everyone!

Athlete Results:
WOD
Ben (6lb Med Ball / 16″ Box)- 61+76+68= 205 Reps
Lesley (10lb Med Ball / 20″ Box)- 81+85+88= 254 Reps
Mel (10lb Med Ball / 20″ Box)- 82+79+73= 234 Reps
Andy (14lb Med Ball / 20″ Box)- 101 (missed a station)+107+92= 300 Reps
Casey (14lb Med Ball / 20″ Box)- 73+77+70= 220 Reps
Jamie (20lb Med Ball / 24″ Box)- 66+74+64= 204 Reps
Wes (20lb Med Ball / 24″ Box)- 73+64+23= 190 Reps

3 Minute Slam Ball
Ben (6lb Med Ball / No Partner!)- 53 reps
Lesley and Mel (20lb Slam Ball)- 60 reps
Andy and Casey (30lb Slam Ball)- 59 reps
Wes and Jamie (50lb Slam Ball)- 50 reps

Talk about a close one! Can’t wait to see you guys next time!

The best crew in the land!

Once the group was warmed up, we started today off with Shoulder Presses. The goal was 5 sets of 5, and it was great to see the drills we did before with just PVc pipes, translate into the weighted bar bells! Backs were tight and locked in, weight was driving through the heels and heads were poked through “the window” during the lock-out at the top. Watch Jamie fight to get that last one! That was 105 pounds for 7 reps…. with a fight like that, I’ll count that last rep 🙂

The workout consisted of two movements in ladder form, one decreasing, one increasing in totals. Kettlebell Swings would start at 10 and work down to 1, and Burpees started at 1 and went up to 10. Here’s how the workout looked completely written out.

Workout of the Day:
Strength
Shoulder Press 5×5

WOD
10 KB Swings / 1 Burpee / 9 KB Swings / 2 Burpees / 8 KB Swings / 3 Burpees / 7 KB Swings / 4 Burpees / 6 KB Swings / 5 Burpees / 5 KB Swings / Burpees / 4 KB Swings / 7 Burpees / 3 KB Swings / 8 Burpees / 2 KB Swings / 9 Burpees / 1 KB Swing / 10 Burpees

Athlete Results:
Shoulder Press 5 x 5
Jamie- 105lbs x 7 reps

WOD
Jamie (16kg KB)- 11:08

Once the 6pm class was done, it was my turn to try the workout myself. Special Shout-Out to Ms. Polk for her awesome coaching! 🙂

Today was one of the first BEAUTIFUL days we’ve seen in Denver in some time! That meant we got to go outside and run during our workout!! Today’s workout was a simple triplet (three movement), with running, pull-ups and balls slams. The rep scheme was that of Helen, where you ran and then did 21-12, respectively.

Workout of the Day:
3 Rounds for Time
400m Run / 21 Pull-Ups / 12 Ball Slams

Casey did Ball Slams for the second or third time ever tonight, and her form is improving more and more each time! Way to use those hips, instead of just your arms, to get that ball off the ground and in the air!

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Now meet Karen.

Karen is one of the classic CrossFit “Girl” Workouts, that consists of 150 Wall Ball Tosses. You read that right. To do it at the prescribed weight, you throw a 20 pound ball to a 10 foot target… 150 times! It’s a pretty brutal workout since you’re just doing one full-body movement that many times. Personally, my shoulders get fried from supporting that weight at those speed, but maybe that’s just me. I’ll let you tell me what hurts the most during “Karen” in the comments section!

Just to show you what Karen SHOULD look like.. check out B-Boy (one of CrossFit’s original monsters!) absolutely destroy this workout!

The day started off with Back Squats, where everyone completed 5 sets of 5 reps each. Jamie absolutely crushed the sets, and we know next time he can go way up in weight. Chest was held high, weight back on his heels, knees were pushed out… it was a thing of beauty!! Great job, Jamie.

Workout of the Day:
Strength – Back Squat 5 x 5

WOD
Karen
150 Wall Balls for time

Jamie did a great job during the workout of keeping his weight back on his heels during the wall balls as well. Many times when we start to fatigue that’s one of the first things to happen, but it really stops us from being able to drive our weight down and produce the most force out of the hole when we stand to throw that ball!

Athlete Results:
Back Squat 5 x 5
Jamie- 155 x 10 (made it look EASY!)

WOD
Jamie (14# Wall Ball)- 10:14

Jamie and Andy rocked the workout tonight! It was a pretty simple 3-rounder, but we added in a new movement for these guys with walking lunges. Another main focus for the workout tonight was stretching and mobility work. We normally spend a good amount of time before the workout getting nice and loose. But then tonight, we also spent 15 minutes AFTER the workout getting our stretch on. I’d like to say I made friends showing them some of the methods that a baseball can loosen up your hamstrings and hip flexors, but all I got was, “And I get to throw this at your after, right?” through grimacing faces! 🙂

Workout of the Day:
3 Rounds for time
10 Kettlebell Swings / 20 Ab-Mat Sit-Ups / 30 Air Squats / 100ft. Walking Lunges

This workout was particularly fun to watch because these two were neck and neck the ENTIRE time. At the very end Jamie pulled away a little bit and had the fastest time, but it was really close. Great job pushing each other!!

Then on Tuesday, Mel came in for a Skills Class, and did this same workout!

Athlete Results:
Andy (12kg)- 9:53
Jamie (16kg)- 10:00
Mel (8kg)- 11:14

Walking in the door today, I knew it was going to be one of those workouts where people are laid out on the ground afterwards. Squat Cleans are one of the most full-body movements out there, and can be very taxing. At the prescribed weights for today (135 and 95 pounds), that is no easy task for a workout with “As many rounds as possible” in the name!

Workout of the Day:
As many rounds as possible in 15 min of-
5 Squat Cleans (135lb/95lb) / 10 Ball Slams (50lb/30lb) / 15 Sit-ups (Ab-Mat)

Tonight was a big night for the athletes in the gym, as far as I was concerned. I know I mentioned in a recent post about how great form was looking lately, but today mid-workout I was blown away. You can see in the video the form folks were using. It’s one thing to do a Squat Clean when you’re rested, but to do them (and do them right) when you’re fatigued was AWESOME to see!

Athlete Results:
Jamie (85lb Squat Clean / 50lb Slam Ball)- 4 Rounds + 8 Ball Slams

Today’s workout was simple. Quick and dirty. Get in, WOD, get out. You get the drill.

After some stretching/mobility work and warming up with the deadlift, we got right to the workout.

Workout of the Day:
3 Rounds for time-
10 Deadlifts (275#/185#) / 50 Double-Unders (150 Single Jumps)

I feel like the form across the board on this workout was more solid for every single person than I’ve seen in a while. We spent a bit more time going over technique before/during/after the workout than usual, and I think it’s really starting to pay off. Great job, team!

Video of the group to come soon, but for now, here’s me doing it!

**WOD NOTE**
My grip was shot for final round! I could barely hang onto the jump rope. Next time, the deads will be unbroken, too!

Athlete Results:
Jamie (135# / 150 Single Jumps)- 9:01

Full house again tonight! I know the gym gets crowded, but I LOVE having this many people in class at once. The energy is through the roof, and even mid-workout the support is loud and nonstop. Thank you guys for that! Added bonus tonight, Coach Orion joined in for the workout, too!

For strength, we spent time working on a 5-rep max for the Overhead Squat. Check out CrossFit Rockwall’s awesome post on the Overhead Squat. It’s great to hear your coaches say certain things to drive home some points, but sometimes watching someone else say it helps drive the point home even more!

Today’s workout came to us from the CrossFit Main Site back on January 25th, and was a good one! A simple couplet (two movement workout) with one not-so-simple exercise (the Muscle-Up). For those of you who are not familiar with what a Muscle-Up is, it’s a movement that CrossFitters generally perform on the gymnastics rings. The athlete starts at a dead hang with arms fully locked out, goes into a pull-up, and the shoots their shoulders forwards on top of the rings, before finally performing a dip above them. Here’s an example of Ricky and Joe, two of CrossFit Omaha’s monsters, performing 100 of these things for time. It’s super cool to watch these awesome athletes!

If an athlete doesn’t have this complex movement, the sub will generally be pull-ups and dips separately until strength is developed to put the together! You end up doing more reps, but it should definitely make you stronger!

Workout of the Day:
3 Rounds for time of-
12 Muscle Ups / 75 Air Squats

Athlete Results:
5×5 Overhead Squat
Jamie- 100lbs x 5

WOD
Jamie (25 3-Banded Pull-Ups / 25 Box Dips / 25 Air Squats)- 19:33