The CrossFit Open is all but over. Congratulations to those Centurions who participated. For those who didn't, challenge yourselves to register next year. Regardless of where you finished in the rankings, the true reward lies in the fact that you were able to test your fitness against the rest of the global CrossFit community. And you survived!
So your body is sore and bruised from the never-ending burpees and you're already wondering how you can improve your fitness for next year's open. Here's a timely challenge for the mobility-minded among us (if you read the 'Supple Sundays' then yes, you are mobility-minded!):
The Liberated Body 30-Day Challenge is kind of like an elimination (or detoxification) diet but for movement. The idea being to remove the stuff that hampers healthy ranges of movement and healthy tissue- i.e.: the stuff that causes chronic pain, physical dysfunction, mobility issues, and erosion- and add in the “whole foods” of healthy tissue: understanding how to be best supported in basic movements, how to add in more diversity in your movement ranges, and how to un-glue your glued up bits.
Who's it for?
The person who loves to lift heavy things but is starting to wonder if ignoring their shoulder/hip/knee pain is really the best idea.
The person who is currently healthy but is looking down the road and doesn't want to get bunion surgery and a knee replacement like their parent did.
The person who sits for work 12 hours a day and has maddening back pain.
The person who is over-busy and raising a young family and is tired of tuning out their own discomforts due to sheer overwhelm
Its for you!
What exactly is it and what do I have to do?
Go to 30-Day Liberated Body Challenge to read all of the details. It's broken down into 4 weeks segments designed to help you getting moving better.
Does it cost anything?
Yup, $12. But that's so much money! Is it really? It's the cost of about 3 lattes, Centurion has no monthly membership fees, and if you want to improve how you move (in and out of the box), then make this investment in your body.
Hopefully, you sign up for the challenge and get moving better. Even if you don't, think about your movements and getting better at them. When was the last time you held the bottom of your squat position for more than 10 seconds?
400m run/ 500m row
15 air squats with 3 second pause at bottom
15 pvc shoulder pass-throughs
15 pvc good mornings
front/back leg swings
left/right leg swings
WOD:
3 Attempts to establish a 1 Rep Max Back Squat
3 Attempts to establish a 1 Rep Max Shoulder Press
3 Attempts to establish a 1 Rep Max Deadlift
Score: Combined weight of heaviest of the 3 movements.
Centurions, we'll continue today's Supple Sunday with our focus on the back. Today we are going to talk about how to get organized prior to moving or lifting heavy things. Your spine is best loaded in a low strain (legs or ribcage not already pulling your spine into a rounded or over extended position) environment, like when you are NOT already under the bar. Poor pre-lift positioning is like lost potential. When it comes to your spine, we want to organize and brace that thing first, then load your hips and hammies. Probably the best example in the world of this is World Record Smasher Donnie Thompson. Heck watch any of the best strength athletes in the world take load off the ground or out of the rack and you will always see them prioritize spinal position first, then load the primary engines (shoulders and hips) next. Welcome to the concept of “load ordering”. If you have to fight to reclaim your neutral spine during a set up, you are not using your trunk musculature to brace, you are using it to triage a poor position. Good luck with that.
Get Organized when there are few external tissue strains on your positioning AND when you are not yet under load or movement demands. I like what Louis Simmons says; “Start where you finish”. If you want to finish in a crap position, start in a crap position.
Mission: 2 min each anterior hip mob/hip extension mob. Click for video
Test/retest: How hard you can squeeze your butt and lock yourself into your finishing position.
MEN - includes Masters Men up to 54 years old Complete as many rounds and repetitions as possible in 14 minutes of: 60-calorie row 50 toes-to-bars 40 wall-ball shots, 20 lb. to 10-foot target 30 cleans, 135 lb. 20 muscle-ups
WOMEN - includes Masters Women up to 54 years old Complete as many rounds and repetitions as possible in 14 minutes of: 60-calorie row 50 toes-to-bars 40 wall-ball shots, 14 lb. to 9-foot target 30 cleans, 95 lb. 20 muscle-ups
Notes This workout begins seated on the rower with the monitor set to zero calories. At the call of “3-2-1...Go,” the athlete will grab the handle and begin rowing. If you finish the 20 muscle-ups and return to the rower, you must reset the monitor to zero before rowing.
Your score will be the total number of repetitions completed before the 14-minute time cap. You will enter your result by the total number of reps completed plus your tiebreak time (see below).
Special Tiebreak In this workout, we are using a special tiebreak method. At the end of the set of cleans and the set of muscle-ups, time should be marked. When you submit your final result, your score will be the number of reps completed. There will be another field in which you will enter the elapsed time at which you completed the 30 cleans or the 20 muscle- ups, whichever was last. If you do not get through the 30 cleans you will not have a tiebreak time.
For example, a male athlete finishes all the reps up to and including 10 calories of rowing in his second round, for a total of 210 reps. This is his score. He finished his 30th clean at 10:05, and his 20th muscle-up at 13:10. In this case he will enter 13:10 as his time in the tiebreak field. This athlete would be ranked above someone who got 210 reps and a tiebreak time of 13:20, but below someone with 210 reps and a tiebreak time of 13:00.
Note: All tiebreak times must be reported in elapsed time, not in time remaining. If you are using a countdown timer, you must convert to elapsed time before reporting your score. For this reason, it is recommended you set your clock to count up.
Equipment • An indoor rower with a monitor that measures calories • Pull-up bar • A medicine ball of the appropriate weight for your division • A wall mark or target set at the specified height • Barbell • Plates to load to the appropriate weight for your division • A set of gymnastic rings hung so you can successfully perform a muscle-up
*The official weight is in pounds. For your convenience, the minimum acceptable weights in kilograms are: 9-kg ball and 61-kg clean for the Men, 6-kg ball and 43-kg clean for the Women, 9-kg ball and 52-kg clean for the Masters Men, 4-kg ball and 29-kg clean for the Masters Women.
The athlete performs the following movements 3 rounds for time: (2 minute rest between each round)
500 m row
40 Air Squats
30 Sit Ups
20 Push Ups
10 Pull Ups
Another week, another benchmark. This week, we'll take a look at CrossFit's "Baseline" workout. base·line /ˈbāsˌlīn/ - Noun: A minimum or starting point used for comparisons.“Baseline,” as written, is a short chipper of a 500m row, 40 Air Squats, 30 Sit Ups, 20 Push Ups, and 10 Pull Ups. “Baseline” is performed at an all out sprint to measure your level of fitness and your cardio endurance. Just like “Fran” and “Helen”, “Baseline” is another benchmark CrossFit WOD (Workout of the Day). These benchmarks are used as tests and measurements to see how far you’ve progressed since last performed. If you are improving at the benchmarks, you’re getting fitter and developing athletically. Use “Baseline” as a measure of fitness now and as a benchmark that can be monitored over time to record an increase in power.
Standards of Movements: Squats – Squat below parallel. This means getting your hip crease below your knee crease. Full extension of the hip.
Sit Ups – Your shoulders must start on the ground, sit up and touch the ground in front of you, and returning your shoulders to the ground.
Push Ups – Chest to deck and full extension at the top. Enough said.
Pull Ups – Chin over bar. Full extension at the bottom.
If you scale any of the movements at any time you will drop at least one level below where you finished.
Log results and come back again in 3 months and see how much better you’ve gotten.
Fitness Level Charts:
Men / Women - Must be below each of these for all three rounds. If any round is less you fall to the next level down.
Elite - 3:45 / 4:40
Pro - 4:30 / 5:35
Expert - 5:15 / 6:30
Collegiate - 6:15 / 7:30
Intermediate - 7:15 / 8:30
Novice - 8:15 / 9:30
Beginner - 9:15 / 10:30
Cut-Off - 10:00 / 11:00
Warm-up
400 m run / 500 meter row
2 rounds of the following:
10 air squats
10 jumping jacks
10 push-ups
butt kicks down and back
knee highs down and back
10 ab mat situps
Samsun Stretch
5 Baby Elephants
For time, each member of the four-person team must complete the following:
25 Wall balls (20 / 14 lbs)(14/12)
25Chest to bar Pull-ups (scale down to banded c2b or jumping c2b) 25Pistols (scale to banded pistols or use a box to help)
1 partner completes:
1000 meter Row
(45rx, 30, 15) Thruster, 50 reps
30 Pull-ups (scale to banded or box pull ups)
Then, the other partner completes
1000 meter Row
(45rx, 30, 15) pound Thruster, 50 reps
30 Pull-ups (scale to banded or box pull ups)
Notes
At the
call of "3-2-1 … Go!" the 1st member grabs the handle, begins rowing
and rows 1,000 meters, then gets off the rower and moves to a designated
area to perform 50 thrusters. After the 50th thruster, they move to the
pull-up bar and performs 30 pull-ups. Once the 30th pull-up is
complete, the 2nd athlete will
move to the rower, and begin rowing. Then will proceed through the same
sequence the female performed. Once the 30th pull-up is complete the workout is complete.
Warm up
From 1 side of the box to the other: Punters kick (alt legs) baby elephant side lunge (alt legs)
Today's post focuses on your spine. Your spine is a masterful piece of biomechanical engineering! It's the bony armor that houses and protects your spinal cord. It bends forward, backward, side-to-side, and rotates. Without getting too "sciency," you need to know that your spine starts at the top of your neck (about ear-level) down the bottom to your tailbone. Your spine has three main regions of consisting of 24 articulating (moveable) vertebrae.
The Cervical spine has 7 vertebrae (C1-C7), that you know as the neck bones. If you touch your chin to your chest and put your hand at the bottom of the back of your neck, the bump you feel sticking out is your C7 vertebrae.
The Thoracic spine has 12 vertebrae (T1-T12). T1 is at the top of your ribcage and T12 is at the bottom of your ribcage.
The Lumbar spine has 5 vertebrae. You know this region as your lower back.
I use "Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner," to help me remember the numbers. You have breakfast at 7, lunch at 12, and dinner at 5.
Sorry for the anatomy lesson, but you need to understand how your body is built if you want to improve its performance. You'll often hear your coaches mention "neutral spine" or "flat back." As you can see from the picture above, each region of the spine has its own curve. The picture shows what a neutral spine is supposed to look like. When a coach tells you "flat back," they don't want you to have a perfectly flat spine, because your spine naturally has these curves. That being said, you should not have any change in you spinal position when you are performing your WODs. Watch this MWOD video about the "One Joint Rule." Basically, there should not be any change within the curves of your spine.
Your spine is the chassis for the two main movers of the body, your hips and shoulders. If your spine is in a bad position, then your hip and shoulder power output will suffer accordingly. Get your spine organized first, and you will set up your hips and shoulders for better performance. Watch the video below to get a better understanding on how a properly organized spine affects your performance. When you go back to the box, try to get into, and maintain proper spinal position when performing your WODs.
Those athletes who are registered open, will have the opportunity to be graded at 0900, or after the conclusion of the 1000 class. For the newer athletes, consider scaling, as Deadlifts take time in developing form.
Centurions, we're starting a new weekly post (every Sunday) that will hopefully educate and motivate you to learn about moving your body, understanding the mechanics behind that movement, and offer some techniques to help fix any limitations or issues you may have.
The majority of the information posted on Supple Sundays will come from MobilityWOD. It has hundreds of videos that you can watch that cover movement, mobility, flexibility, and stability of every joint, every muscle, and the body's fascial system. Go there today and search the videos for the joint, body part, or movement that is either causing you pain or you struggle with performing at the box.
We're in the second week of the CrossFit Games Open, with WOD 14.2 having the overhead squat at a moderately heavy weight. The overhead squat is the ultimate core exercise, the heart of the snatch, and peerless in developing effective athletic movement. The overhead squat also demands and develops functional flexibility, and similarly develops the squat by amplifying and cruelly punishing faults in squat posture, movement, and stability.
Bottom position of the overhead squat.
Some athletes have a problem getting into the bottom position of the overhead squat, some don't. For those that do, don't be disheartened. You CAN improve your overhead squat, you just need to put in the deliberate practice to get there. The foundation to a good overhead squat is a really good air squat. That's why the air squat is the very first movement we teach at the Foundations class. Master this movement, and you've got the keys to the kingdom. If you struggle with your air squat, you will struggle even more in the front/back/overhead squat.
Many moons ago, your air squat looked this good without even trying!
So let's go back to beginning. The picture above shows the major points of performance for the air squat performed by someone who can't even spell the word "WOD." No matter how bad (or how good) you think your squat may be, chances are, you can make it better. Some athletes may have pre-existing medical conditions (surgery) that may constrain them in one way or another, but for about 98% of us, the inability to achieve and maintain a rock solid bottom position in the squat is something that we can address with mobility work and practice.
So if you want to have a rock-solid bottom position of the squat that would make junior up there jealous, you actually need to spend some quality time IN the bottom of the squat. Yes, it's probably going to be uncomfortable, but if it were easy, then you wouldn't walk into the box day after day. So here's your homework for today: Watch the very first MobilityWOD video ever made:
Then practice spending some time in the bottoms of the squat (we encourage you to start today!). You WILL start to notice increased range of motion in your hips, your knees, and your ankles!!
Here are some things to remember:
You can include some mobility elements in your warm up, but not in place of warming up.
Get sweaty before you start doing mobility work. A good 500m row works great.
You'll want to leave anything that hits deep for after your workout. Don't do a 10-minute squat test before a WOD!!
Yes, you can do mobility following your workout or at a completely different time.
You can hit different things at different time throughout the day.
As you are working with an area you will see the benefits last longer. In the beginning the change may not last as long as you think it should. As you work with it and your body learns the new position/movement pattern it will stay longer. After things get worked out and the area isn't as tight any longer it will be more maintenance and staying on top of it.
If you have any questions, please comment on the blog, on FaceBook, or ask any of your Centurion coaches. Additionally, take a look at the mobility posters that are hung over the bumper plates. There's a plethora of information there!!
Etc., following same pattern until you fail to complete both rounds
Notes Each 3-minute section begins from the standing position with the
barbell on the floor and the Athlete standing tall. Using a ball, box or
other object to check for proper depth is not allowed. Every rep counts
in this workout. You will enter your score as the total number of reps.
See the Scorecard for assistance in calculating the rep total.
Time Bonus
This workout begins as a standard three-minute couplet of two rounds of
10 overhead squats and 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups. If you complete all 40
reps (two complete rounds) before the time cap you will rest until the
three minutes is up before beginning the next segment. In the second
segment, minute 3 to minute 6, you will attempt two rounds of 12
overhead squats and 12 chest-to-bar pull-ups. If you complete all 48
reps (two complete rounds) before the time cap you will rest until the
six minutes is up before beginning the next segment. In the third
segment, minute 6 to minute 9, you will attempt two rounds of 14
overhead squats and 14 chest-to-bar pull-ups. If you complete all 56
reps (two complete rounds) before the time cap you will rest until the
nine minutes is up before beginning the next segment. You will continue
in this pattern for as long as possible. Sixteen reps of each during
minutes 9 to 12, 18 reps of each during minutes 12 to 15, etc.
Your workout is over whenever you do not complete two full rounds of
the couplet within the time cap and your score will be the total number
of reps you complete.
For example, if you complete the first two rounds of 10s (40 reps) in
2:30, you will rest until 3:00 before beginning the rounds of 12s. If
you then complete one full round of 12s plus an additional 10 overhead
squats (34 reps) by minute 6, your workout is over. Your score will be
74 (40 reps from the first segment plus 34 reps from the second
segment).
Class will begin at 1000. If you are a registered games competitor, starting at 0900, you can be judged on 14.2. There will also be time after the 1000 class (approx 1030) to continue being judged. Expect judges to be present until 1100. If there are questions, please
bring them to the attention of a coach prior to the start of class.
(may sub rowing 2k per mile, scale for new athletes 1k per mile)
In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005.
This workout was one of Mike’s favorites and he’d named it “Body Armor”. It was renamed “Murph” in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is.
Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you’ve got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.
