Isa pulling "under" the bar.
Jarrett again setting the bar high beating his own 5k record at 18:10

Row 5k

With a row of this distance it is less about sprinting and being strategic than holding on to a split. We say burn the number into the screen. What we mean by that is that we would like to see your 500m split (how long it would take you to row 5oom at that pressure) be the same from stroke to stroke. Say I can pull 2:00, I want to pull 2:00 every single time at a stroke rate of around 28-30 and a Damper of 1. Ideally it would be a sustainable pressure, though this will often be a little lighter (slower) than you expect. Always, always, always think about your workouts ahead of time. And not just dreading them. Have some initial plan, and have a back up plan for when things go wrong. For equivalent times by specialists look here.

-Paul Siegel

Snatch

1-1-1-1-1-1-1

The snatch-the fastest lift in the world- is perhaps one of the hardest and most dynamic movements that you will come across in any sport. It will test your aggression, speed on change of direction, as well as flexibility, strength and co-ordination.

Watching the above video we can see that perhaps the two most important "thoughts" in the snatch are this: the first is an aggressive pull with straight arms from above the knees. This pull is initiated like a vertical jump with a violent hip extension. Some coaches recommend thinking about leaning back slightly at the very top of the movement, it can help to make sure you get full extension. The second is a very quick pull under the bar. Pulling it as high as you can only do so much. You have to get underneath it. This is as much a mental as a physical movement. It is highly irrational to put 135 lbs (or more!). overhead in the rock bottom position of a squat. You must know, even if you're not sure that you can stay tight and safe at the bottom of that squat. No suspicions or doubt should entire the mind. This is another aspect of the movement.

The snatch is an extraordinarily complicated movement. It can be extraordinarily frustrating to learn and progress on the snatch. Make sure you laugh and have fun with it. There is nothing in here that is life and death, nothing worth getting that worked up about. Come ready to learn!

-Paul Siegel

Lucy dog
New member Fred on day-4

CFHQ
Rest Day

-or-

CFSS WOD

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Power Cleans 85% Bw

Pull-ups

Hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Keep an eye out for Sunday times.

Things you may now do as a Crossfitter, that you didn't do before:

You will begin to talk about Crossfit all the time with a fervored intensity reserved for religious conversions. Your friends will think you have joined a cult.

All foods will be reduced into paleo or not. Or as fats, carbohydrates and protein if you Zone. Taste becomes a secondary measure of success.

Talk about the "snatch", and not have it be dirty!

Squat more than any of your friends and with better form.

Have shins that become mangled and scraped from deadlifts, so you invest in tall socks. Partially to protect your legs and partially 'cause it looks bad ass.

You can discuss the relative merits and problems with both the High Bar and Low Bar back squat for hours. And don't see this as a problem.

Judge the success of your workouts by how close you came to vomiting and by how large of a sweat angel you left. Alternately by how long it toke till you walked normally or could straighten your arms again.

If you've got anymore add them to comments!

-Paul Siegel

Sunday's WOD will be at 11:00.

Who's that squatter?
Cannon on deadlifts.

Bench Press

1-10-1-20-1-30

Same scoring as yesterday

We're closed today but open tomorrow

!Merry Christmas!

Deadlift

1-10-1-20-1-30

Same scoring as yesterday

I'd like you all to take a look at this article by Melissa Urban (formerly Byers). Perhaps the allure of the Sexy Metcon will strike home with some of you. Everyone enjoys a huff and puff workout, but it is rare for someone to truly enjoy/embrace the benefits of lifting heavy at first. Some of you out there are still leery of them when there is nothing to be afraid of. I'm not asking you to specialize, I'm just reminding you not to miss workouts you don't like.

Think of it as eating your vegetables (which you should be doing anyways). You've got to eat your vegetable (strength and 5k's) before you can have desert (Fran, Diane and Filthy Fifty). Strength and muscular endurance are the foundations upon which our fitness is built.

A whole lot of "Diane" latley. Great job yesterday Wade.
Russ and Lucy hanging out after the WOD.

Front Squat

1-10-1-20-1-30

Score is weight on barbell for 6 lifts added together.

High rep squatting is mostly mental. As long as you're form stays safe and correct (Elbows up!) you just have to put your head down and push through.

Part of our jobs as trainers is mechanical. We deal in angles and movements, of fixing physical disorder and ensuring performance with correct standards. We compare every movement in our arsenal to an ideal standard and then ensure we help our clients to reach these ideal standards. All this analysis must happen quickly and efficiently, moreover it must then be communicated in a clear concise manner. This, surprisingly, is the easy side of our job.

The other side is much less concrete. This is the psychological side of coaching, or of getting the most from our clients through encouragement. It is much harder to know what to say, what not to say, and when to say it than what is wrong in the squat. Because of this we stick to general platitudes and encouragement. We have noticed, as of late, that we are tending to repeat ourselves. If we've noticed than you all must surely have noticed. So instead of merely turning up the music and screaming, we'd like to hear what you want to hear. Whether it is different music or specific encouragement let us know tomorrow or post to comments. Help us, help you.

Holiday Hours

Chirstmas Eve Day

Morning: 7, 8, 9, 10

Evening: Closed

Christmas Day

Closed

!!!Happy Holidays!!!

Jarrett fightiing with the handstand push-ups.

New CF'r John showing up on time for some deadlifts.

CFHQ

Rest Day

-or-

Make-up Day

-or-

200m. Plate Carry, 45lbs/25lbs

50 hip Extensions

40 Box Jumps, 24in.

30 Goblet squats, 70lbs

20pull-ups

10 Burpees

Crossfit is ultimately a solitary pursuit, although we train in a group environment. When it comes down to it, it is you and the barbell in "Diane". No one can help you lift it. It is you versus gravity and gravity never gives in. This sort of battle, one so personal and so elemental, it is almost extraneous to boast about it. Merely finishing that workout is something to boast about. We are a community of people who celebrate each other, rather than tear each other down. Ego has no place in our gym. Racing against a clock can cause us to shorten range of motion, to "miss" reps and to scale too low. We want competition but we want healthy competition, where everyone puts out their best honest effort and accepts where the chips may fall.

Another point: it is never acceptable to tear yourself down in the gym. Everyone struggles in here; you're not special, sorry. Have confidence in your abilities and aptitude to learn new movement, absolutely nothing is written in stone*. Everyday we create new fitness and that is something to be proud of. You may not have used as much weight or gone as fast but you can make sure your workout was just as hard as the twenty-two year old fire-breather. It's all about learning to push yourself.

-Paul Siegel

*"Nothing is written in stone except that you have to squat." -Mark Rippetoe

Great job everyone, on Saturday's WOD. K-Bird finishing a thruster with great form.
Our newest CF'r looking fresh after "Cherry". Wlecome to the family Melissa.

"Diane"

21-15-9 reps of:

225 lbs. Deadlift

Handstand Pushups

As some of you may have noticed we are in the middle of winter. In the mornings especially it can be brutally cold. I've pulled together some tips and tricks that might help stay warm when working out . If you've got a good idea I didn't cover post it to comments.

For cold weather especially you want to think in layers of clothes rather than one penultimate insulting layer. If I have one big coat and a t-shirt and my friends has 5 layers of clothes on who will have the more variability in his wardrobe? My friend can choose from any number of combinations of layers to fit any condition. I would advise y'all to think in light layers combined. These layers can be any material, although I would advise against cotton. If you've got a mile run to do in a cotton t-shirt with weather like we've been having (rainy and cold) you're going to shiver through the entire workout after that no matter how warm you think you are. Synthetic insulates whether wet or dry, where as cotton absorbs heat when wet. Capilene from Patagonia is excellent, Under Armour is pretty popular, I like JL Racing stuff and Smart Wool stuff is really nice but heinously expensive. Really anything synthetic is going to insulate better than cotton.

When choosing insulating garments it's not what they keep out but what they keep in. We are looking to trap body heat to keep us warm, rather than to exclude cold air. However we also need some ventilation to prevent dampness from that hot air condensing, beyond sweat obviously. The easiest way to do this is to wear a long sleeve t-shirt (or the like) and when running outside throw on a hat. 40% of your body heat will escape through the head trapping that will immediately make you warmer. When I lead camping trips I really wouldn't listen to someone saying they were cold unless they had a hat on. It's pretty easy to keep a hat near the door and grab it on the way out if you're doing a run in a workout. It is certainly much easier than a jacket.

When it's especially cold outside the tendency is to bundle up and then to strip layers once you've gotten hot. In Crossfit most of our workouts are against the clock so saving time where ever possible is highly recommended. Warm up with a good bit of your layers on, you'll warm up quicker for one and you can judge how you're feeling that day. When getting ready to start strip down so that you are a little cold going into the workout, especially if it starts outside and then moves inside, i.e. "Helen". By starting a little cold it gives you room to become warm. If you start out warm then you immediately go to hot and sweaty, before you've even had a chance to really workout. No need to get hot and sweaty before you really have to.

It is important to expirement with your layering and clothing system to achieve the optimal mix of insulation, breathability and comfort. What works for me is not neccesarily going to work for someone else.

-Paul Siegel

We are now a karate school.
HHHIIIIIII-YA!!!!!!
Guess who's butt print. Winner gets a free dinner for taco thursday.


3 Rounds for Time of:

5 Rope Ascents, 15' or 30 Pull-ups

21 Ring Dips

50 Squats

Vilas working his way through "Vilas". Yay BURPEES!!!
Nina and Don join Vilas for the WOD.

5 rounds for time of:

135 lbs. Thruster 15 reps

400m run

Holiday hours: Christmas Eve we will be open 7, 8, 9 and 10 a.m. No evening

Closed Christmas Day

Closed New Year's Eve and New Year's Day

Beginning in the New Year Thursday Night will be CFSS dinner at Tila Tacquiera and other Sandy Spring establishments. These dinners will occur after the 6 p.m. class. You don't have to go to the 6 p.m. class to attend the dinner. This will be a great chance to meet other Crossfitters.

Sunday's class will be at 11:00.