Smashby's Training Blog

Workout of the Day:
Two Rounds for
Run 200 Meters
25 KB Swings
10 Tire Flips
25 Double Unders (50 Single Jumps)
15 Overhead Squats w/ Med Ball (16# / 10#)

These guys always work so hard. I'm so proud!

Athlete Results:
(6:30 class)
John- 9:14
Sarah- 9:15
Dave- 12:31
Jan- 13:46

(7:00 class)

Timbers (single jumps, 8kg kettlebell)- 9:26

Carolyn (single jumps, 8kg kettlebell)- 9:29

Kristin crushing the tire flips and making them look easy!

Caro doing KB swings with great range of motion!

The first class did an amazing job of pushing each other to the end of the workout.  It’s very cool to be working with a group of people who have trained together for a while.  The dynamics between you guys, and how you encourage each other even in the middle of the workout, is very cool!

This was the first time I had done tire flips with the 7pm class, and while they were a little nervous about doing them, their technique was amazing!

After the workout was over for the 7:00 class, the two girls hung out for a few minutes to work on their double-under technique.  The outcome:

BOTH of them got double-unders down!  The next workout we do, they’ll be doing doubles instead of single jumps.  Great job, girls!

Workout of the Day-

FIGHT GONE BAD!

This is one of the classic CrossFit workouts that once you complete, you will never forget!  I will use the description that CrossFit.com uses so know can see exactly what the workout entails.

“This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. The event is in the 3 round format. The stations are:

• Wall-ball: 20 pound ball, 10 ft target. (Reps)
• Sumo deadlift high-pull: 75 pounds (Reps)
• Box Jump: 20″ box (Reps)
• Push-press: 75 pounds (Reps)
• Row: calories (Calories)

The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of “rotate,” the

athlete/s must move to next station immediately for good score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point. (http://www.crossfit.com)”

There were three people in my first class, and we decided to start everyone at a different station.  Sarah started with the Wall Balls, Brandon at the Sumo Deadlift High-Pull, and David at the Box Jumps.  It was great to have Brandon back with us, too!

The only thing we did differently in this workout, since it was the first time I had taken the group through it, I gave everyone two minutes rest after round 2, not just one.  Next time we’ll do it as prescribed, but I wanted to make FGB a good workout today, not a soul crusher!  Carolyn came to the later class, so that’s why she’s not in the picture below.

What impressed me most about you guys tonight, is that ALL of you put up some of your highest numbers in the LAST round!  That’s just amazing on a workout like this.

Sarah, Dave and Brandon starting their final round of Fight Gone Bad!

Athlete Results-

The pictures show each round by exercise.  Caro is on the left of the first picture, Brandon on the right.  In the second picture, Sarah is on the left and Dave on the right.

Carolyn's scores to the left, Brandon's to the right. Great first FGB!

Sarah's results on the left, Dave's on the right. Way to push, guys!

Total Scores-

Carolyn: 236

Sarah: 200

Dave: 173

Brandon: 172

Workout of the Day-

“Helen”

Three rounds for time of:

400 Meter Run

21 Kettlebell Swings

12 Pull-Ups

Athlete Results-

Carolyn (8kg KB, Red Band for Pull-Ups): 12:54

Kristin (8kg KB, Green Band for Pull-Ups): 14:00

Tonight was the first night that we got the girls over to the pull-up bars to work on some assisted pull-ups!  It certainly takes a bit of getting used to, but they’re going to pick it up in no time.  This workout pretty much went like this:

Carolyn would finish the swings just before Kristin, then she’d pull away and complete the pull-ups first to start on the next run.  Kristin (who is training for a marathon!) would then catch Carolyn (who, again, is rebuilding her foot after breaking it a few months ago) on the run, and the sequence would repeat.  These two really push each other well, it’s fun to watch!

Great job ladies!

Usually I start the “Numbers” posts with what the workout of the day was, but today was a unique day so I’m going to change it up a bit.  Tonight was the largest class I’ve had to date, and it was awesome!  There were a total of 7 people in the class, and had the weather not turned really bad late in the afternoon, there may have been 3-5 more people show up.  It was so awesome to see that many people there and excited for CrossFit!

The way I decided to break it down, given who was there, was to do a “Girls v/s Boys” competition.  There were 4 girls and 3 guys, and depending on the event it may have given an advantage to either team.  What I did tonight was present the first workout, have the teams complete it, and only then would I share what the second workout was going to be.  Yeah, I ran these guys through three workouts.

Girls Team- Kristin, Carolyn, Betty, Jenna

Boys Team- Brandon, David, Mike

Workout of the Day-

“Welcome to the Jungle”

Part 1-

“As a Team, Row 2000 Meters for time”

The only rule here was that each athlete needed to row AT LEAST 500 meters.  Obviously that meant the girls had to each do that distance, and the guys had a bit more wiggle room.

Part 2-

Twice through:

“20 Wall Ball Passes

50 Sit-Ups

100 Air Squats”

The Wall Ball Passes were cool because you had to throw the ball up to your target, and quickly get out of the way so your partner could catch it, and do the same for the person behind them.  The boys used a 20lb ball, and the girls used a 12lb ball.  The sit-ups were done on a mat, and your partners were able to hold your feet for you.  Air Squats are self-explanatory.  The only catch was that only one teammate was able to complete reps at a time.

Part 3-

“While one partner runs 400 meters, the remaining team members complete Jumping Pull-Ups

While the next partner runs, the remaining team members complete Burpees

Next partner runs, remaining folks to Box Jumps

Final runner takes off, remaining team completes Push-Ups”

Scoring for this was unique.  Each rep completed would count as a one second deduction from the total TIME it took the 4 runners to complete their 400 meter runs.  That means if it took the team 60 seconds to complete the workout, and their team completed 30 reps, that team’s score would be 30 seconds.  The goal of this workout…. have the fastest end time possible.

The group getting ready for their third and final workout!

Athlete Results-

Part 1- The guys won the first event:

Boys – 6:57 / GIrls – 7:57

Part 2 – This workout came down to the last exercise and was super excited to watch.  Winner was the guys by a tiny margin:

Boys – 7:28 / Girls – 7:42

Part 3 – Girls ended this workout with a bang and took home the win

Girls – 433 total seconds for the 4 run laps – 301 total reps = 2:12 for the workout

Guys – 408 total seconds for the 4 run laps – 215 total resp = 3:13 for the workout

So here’s my take on why I think this 3-part workout was good.  The guys had less transitions to worry about on the row if they went straight through, so they probably had a bit of an advantage in this one.  Plus, David had a MONSTER pull on that rower.  The 2nd part of the workout I think was very evenly matched.  The 20lb medicine balls can get heavy really fast, but both teams need to worry about the throwing and catching portion of that, which is new to most people.  In the last workout, I need to give the advantage to the ladies.  They only each had to run one time, whereas for the guys, Mike had to run twice.  Not only must that have been tough on him, but while one guy is out running, there are only two guys left to do reps.  That can leave you tired pretty quickly!

Bottom line, though, the group did an amazing job, and really pushed through the pain to turn in some impressive numbers.  Hope to see some of you guys again!

The Largest class to date. Great job, guys!

Workout of the Day-

Row 1000 Meters for time

THEN go right into

4 Rounds for Time of:

10 Ball Slams (20lb ball)

10 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (12kg Kettlebell)

10 Burpee Jumps (at top jump HIGHER than a regular burpee)

Athlete Results-

Carolyn: 4:08 on 1000m row, 14:08 Total Time

Melissa: 4:16 on 1000m row, 14:31 Total Time

Kristin: 4:20 on 1000m row, 14:25 Total Time

This workout allowed for form to break down pretty fast if you let it, but the girls did a great job of keeping it together.  The ball slams get really hard because the last thing you want to do after throwing a 20lb ball to the ground is to drop with it and catch it on one hop, but you guys did a great job.  On those burpee jumps, though… be careful!  The point is to jump higher than usual.  I’ll let you guys get away with it this time!  Great job pushing through.

Award of the day goes to Timbers, though!  At the end of both the row and the 4 round workout, she really turned it on and finished fast.  We’ll assume since it was the first time I’ve seen it, that she wasn’t sandbagging and just had a rush of adrenaline to catch the other girls.  Right, Kristin?

Great job, and fun pictures below!

Powering through 1000 meters for time!

See? All smiles again after the workout!

Workout of the Day-

Tabata Something Else:

To explain this one, I’ll reference CrossFit when they post this classic workout on their website.  They go through it the best-

“Complete 32 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest where the first 8 intervals are pull-ups, the second 8 are push-ups, the third 8 intervals are sit-ups, and finally, the last 8 intervals are squats. There is no rest between exercises.  Post total reps from all 32 intervals to comments.” (www.crossfit.com)

Now most athletes, especially those new to CrossFit, can’t complete non-stop pull-ups for the majority of a 4-minute period.  I almost always have my athletes who can’t sub in jumping pull-ups.  May sound easy, or at least easier, but I assure you that you are taxing plenty of other muscles in the time that you’re moving, don’t worry!  This workout is no joke, yet most people underestimate it due to the fact that it’s comprised completely of body-weight movements.  However, by the third of fourth round of push-ups roll around, most people are gasping for air and shocked at how tired they are already.

Tonight was Dave DeHart’s first CrossFit class, and I was so glad he came down to give it a shot!  Dave just finished the entire P90X program, and I can tell you with complete honesty, it worked really well for him!  He lost a ton of weight, is noticeably more fit and active, and just seems happier with life in general.  I was so proud that he stuck to that program almost to a “T” for the full 90 days.  He kept telling me that once he completed it, then he would come down and give my gym a shot.  He is a man of his word, so thanks for coming down, Dave!

Athlete Results:

Jumping Pull-Ups- 21-21-21-21-18-18-18-18= 156

Push-Ups- 10-10-6-6-4-3-4-3= 46

Sit-Ups- 10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10= 80

Air Squats- 12-11-12-10-10-12-10-15= 92

Total Score: 374

Not bad at ALL, Dave!  Those last few sets of Air Squats were inspiring, too.  He pushed through a TON of pain to round out the workout with his highest round of that exercise.  So cool to see!!

Dave powering through one of the last sets of push-ups like a champ!

Now I just need to pressure him to come down and give the gym 30 days to see how he thinks it compares to his last routine.  See you next week, Dave?

Workout of the Day-

For time:

20 Thrusters

40 Jumping Pull-Ups

60 Ball Tosses

80 Walking Lunges

100 Double-Unders

Sunday Night’s drop-in class can be a good one, I think this was no exception.  Caro came to class tonight and really did a great job!  For someone who is rehabbing their foot, she is maintaining proper form on all of her lifts, and I can already tell that she is gaining more and more strength and stability by the week.  That is exciting, to watch someone gain more and more physical independence, by actually using the body part they’re trying to recover.

CrossFit preaches “Technique, Consistency, then Intensity” which means that we’ll scale the workouts for anyone until they can perform movements safely enough to not injure themselves!  First learn the form, then do it right often, then we can ratchet it up a notch.  Caro is following the prescription perfectly.

For this workout, here’s how we broke down the movements:

Thrusters- A Thruster is a front squat that goes from a Front Squat straight into a Push Press.  Caro used a PVC pipe.  The goal was get proper depth on every single front squat, and then hold the bar overhead so one could see your ears in front of your arms from the side view.  It may sound complicated, but it’s really not.  Here is a video from Crossfit (www.crossfit.com) on how to perform the movement properly http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_BBThrusters.mov

Jumping Pull-Ups- Just make sure that your chin goes over the bar, and that your arms reach full extension at the bottom.  The movement should be FAST!

Ball Tosses- Grab a medicine ball, turn so you’re about 3-5 feet from the wall, with your feet perpendicular to it.  Turn your hips and throw the ball against the wall, only to catch it and do it again.  Should involve aggressive hip turning, your arms are just kept straight, and are used to throw and catch the ball.

Walking Lunges- Take a lunge forwards, the back knee touches the ground, that is one step.  The section is 40 steps with each leg, 80 total.

Double-Unders- We are sticking with single jump rope jumps for a while, so she did 100 of these.

The goal is to get through all of the movements as fast as possible.

Athlete Results-

Carolyn’s time for the workout today was 9:53.

Well done, Caro!

Workout of the Day-

Triangle Tree Run:

In teams of three – All team members must start with their hand on the tree, and all three must touch the next tree before beginning on the following rep schemes:

Tree to Tree run – 150 Push-Ups – Tree to Tree run – 150 Air Squats – Tree to Tree run – 100 Burpees

After we did that once, we rested for about 4-5 minutes… then did it AGAIN!

The only rules of this workout were that:

All team members need to touch the tree where they start, and then the one they’re running to before reps can begin.

Only one person can be performing reps at a time.

Athlete Results-

Team 1 (Mel, Caro, Tom): Rd 1- 12:32 / Rd 2- 12:38

Team 2 (Jenny, Edy, Brooke): Rd 1- 12:35 / Rd 2- 13:44

Team 3 (Kristin, Danielle, Jamie): Rd 1- 13:42 / Rd 2- 14:44

(Did I get the teams right, everyone?)

We had 9 total people show up to Wash Park for this one!  What a blast it was, too.  Of the 9, three were CIA CrossFit newcomers!  I love seeing these new faces, and every single one of you did SO well!

Needless to say, we got some stares from people while we furiously did burpees and cheered each other on, but it was definitely worth it.  I’ll probably do the free Saturday sessions at least a few more times, so bring your friends who are looking for a good workout with great people!

Next time we need a group picture, too.  Someone remind me!

Workout of the Day-

The “Heel-Toe Special”

3 Rounds for Time of:

40 Double Unders

30 Overhead Squats

20 Tire Burpees

10 Wall Balls

Athlete Results-

Carolyn Nairn (40 single jumps/PVC pipe for Overhead Squats/Jumped over jump rope for burpees/10lb Ball): 19:59

Melissa Onstad (40 single jumps/PVC pipe for Overhead Squats/Jumped through 2nd biggest tire for burpees/10lb Ball): 23:19

Wow.  That workout was super intense.  I don’t think any of us expected those tire burpees to hit so hard, but did they ever.  Carolyn is still recovering from her broken foot, so we didn’t want her jumping too much, leaving the jump rope on the ground for her to clear every time.   That meant Mel got the big tire all to herself.  It was the 2nd largest one we have at the gym, and she did a total of 60 jumps through it, followed by a burpee on the other side.  GREAT JOB, girls!

For the first time, I implemented the “butt-to-ball” technique here in class.  That meant that for every single Overhead Squat and Wall Ball, there was a medicine ball behind each of the girls.  When they went down for each rep, they would know they went deep enough when their butt lightly tapped the ball.  It’s a great way to keep people honest, and their reps looked great.

By the second round, it was all about finding an easy way to break down the sets, and each of you two did an awesome job at sticking to your numbers.  4-5 burpees at a time, 5 wall-balls at a time, jumps all the way through!  It was really inspiring to watch you guys push through, and do it with proper form, too.

I thought of calling this workout the “Heel-Toe Special” since for the jumps and burpees you spend a lot of time on your heels, and a lot of time on your toes for the Overhead squats and burpees.  Not super clever, but it certainly sums it up.

I did this right after you two left, and it was a brutal workout for sure.  Great job, and I hope this was a good way to start the weekend for you guys!

Workout of the Day-

Team WOD #1:

For 16 Minutes, One person at each station at a time of:

• 400 Meter Run
• Kettle Bell Swing
• Push-Ups
• Rest

The way this workout goes is person 1 leaves on the 400 Meter Run. While they’re out, person #2 is performing as many reps of KB Swings as possible, person #3 performs as many Push-Ups as possibe, and person #4…. ready for this… RESTS!  That’s right, I intentionally gave you rest!  You’re welcome 🙂

One thing I love about this workout is the fact that you are only working at the Swings and the Push-Up stations for as long as it takes your teammate to run their 400 Meters.  Compete with someone who runs faster, and you have less time to workout.  If your teammate is a slower runner, prepare to do more.  It’s great motivation for you to not let your teammates suffer… at least that what it sounded like tonight! (“Hurry up and get back in here!”)  The goal of the workout is less about getting through more rounds, and more about trying to complete as many reps as possible at stations 2 and 3.  Results are in the order from the first person who ran, down through  the person that started at station 4, and numbers will alternate from KB Swing rep totals to Push-Ups totals.  All girls used an 8kg KB.

Athlete Results-

Carolyn Nairn (started w/ the run, first number is a Swing total): 36 / 31 / ? (she didn’t count!  let’s say 30) / 35 – 4 Run laps – Total Score for Reps – 132

Kristin Timbers (started w/ the swings, first number is a Swing total): 38 / 28 / 39 / 28 / 25 – 3 Run laps – Total Score for Reps – 158

Melissa Onstad (started w/ the push-ups, first number is a Push-Up total): 26 / 30 / 23 / 30 / 15 – 3 Run laps – Total Score for Reps – 124

Katie Mathison (start w/ the rest station… mostly because it was her first day!  First number is Swing total): 34 / 28 / 17 / 16 – 3 Run laps – Total Score for Reps – 95

THEN

60 Seconds of Max Rep Sit-Ups (2 at a time, partners held feet down)-

Carolyn: 42

Kristin: 38

Melissa: 39

Katie: 40

Another newcomer today in Katie Mathison who put on a strong showing!  Running is obviously a strength for her, and her teammates definitely appreciated it when she was back inside in no time after her 400 Meters.  Everyone, remember on those Swing to have a VIOLENT extension of those hips.  The arms are just ropes carrying that weight up and down.  Let’s not make it harder than it is, and each of you had a lot of perfect reps!

The sit-ups, like everything else it seems, turned into an amazing race between athletes.  The first team of people to go only finished one rep apart, and the second team 2.  Way to push each other.  Tonight was awesome!