Blog Archive

The Canadian Affiliate League (CAL) is a nationwide league where local gyms go head to head in weekly matches. The league is divided into divisions. We are in the Metro Vancouver division.

This is the second year they are running the league. The first year was a huge success! It’s an incredible opportunity for members who aren’t going to qualify for regionals or aren’t ready for high level competition, to get a taste of competing. Teams are comprised of 4, ideally 2 men and 2 women and there is no limit on the number teams a gym is allowed. 

I know we have been hosting in house competitions to prepare and show people it’s not all that scary but if you have been enjoying those and are interested in participating in this league email me at [email protected] or grab me in the gym.

The requirements as stated by the league are as follows. There are two leagues. An Rx’d league and a scaled league. So even if this doesn’t quite seem doable there is a spot for you.

If you can complete 7 or more of the following movements, you are an Rx athlete:

Wallballs: 20lb / 14lb
Kipping Pullups: 5 / 3
Thruster: 95lb / 65lb
Clean and Jerk: 135lb / 95lb
Handstand Pushups: Rx (kipping OK)
Double Unders: 5+ unbroken (single/double OK)
Snatch: 115lb / 75lb
Box Jump: 24″ / 20″
KB Swing (american): 24kg / 16kg
Toe to Bar: 3 / 1

The link to the leagues page is here Canadian Affiliate League with all the other information you may want to know. 

Tom

 

Warm up:

10/10 Bowler Squats
1 Length Lunge buffet
20 Good Mornings
20/20 Side Steps
20 Empty Bar Dimmel Deadlifts
10 Shoulder Press
10 Push Press
10 Push Jerk

Strength: Week 3 Dimmel Deadlifts

1). 3 x 25 Dimmel Deadlifts (5 more reps than last week)

2). 10 seconds on, 10 seconds off Glute Bridge Holds (2 sets with 2 minutes rest between sets)

See week 1 explanation for more details here.

Workout: Navy Seal V2

1000 meter row
50 Shoulder to overhead (95/65 lb)
30 Burpees

If you’re not going to get finished in 10 minutes, do a half version instead. I want everyone to get to the burpees and I want everyone done within 10 minutes.

Half Version:

500 meter row
25 shoulder to overhead
15 burpees

“That was the most fun I’ve had at a competition yet,” Mike Fransblow said after Saturday’s Nutts Cup Qualifier, moments after hitting a personal best clean and jerk (195 lb.).

Personal Bests are indeed a beautiful thing. Although we certainly don’t compete just for the personal bests, they do make us feel good inside. They give us the validation that we’re improving.

Yesterday’s final workout – 9 minutes for your team of three to each hit their best Clean and Jerk was full of PBs. Moments after the event finished, every other person was walking around looking over the moon with their lifts.

Here are a few PBs that I remember:

Afghan – smiling ear-to-ear after his huge 20 lb. PB of 255 lb.

Baby Nat – getting more and more legit each day. She hit 185 lb.

Dexter – making 215 lb. look EASY!

Fernando – Hitting 195 lb. with one of the prettiest jerks I saw all day!

I’m sure there were many, many more. Post to comments if you PBed yesterday afternoon!

Once again, THANK YOU TOM for giving up your Saturday to run the event. MUCH appreciated!

Monday:

Warm-up: Tom’s choice at 6 am. Get em ready to snatch!

Strength: Hang Snatch

*Work your way up to an appropriate weight and then do:

EMOM in 7 minutes: 2 Hang Snatch

Workout: For Time:

200 meter run
5 Rope Climbs
400 m Run
4 Rope Climbs
800 m Run
3 Rope Climb
400 m Run
2 Rope Climb
200 m Run
1 Rope Climb

*Progression for rope climb is 5 ring rows per climb plus 5 V-Snaps per climb.

25 minute time cap

That’s right…  Think of any type of professional athlete out there in the world.  If we took any and/or all of them then who would win the 2014 Regional Tournament?

Would it be a defensive end from the NFL like Michael Strahan?

Probably absolutely kill anything with a barbell in it.  Thinking those strict HSPU would be then end of him.

How about Tyga Tyga Tyga Woods??

Athleticism has improved dramatically on the PGA Tour since Tiger came along.  I’ve read that Tiger really like O-Lifting as well.  However, I doubt he would have the lung power for Event 6.

How about a speedy little point or 2 guard from the NBA?

Iverson had lungs and will all day.  However at 6 foot and 165 lbs I think he would have trouble with the load.

How about a professional gymnast? Six time Bulgarian Olympic Gymnast Lordan Lovtchev?

Or an Olympic Weight Lifter?  Hongli Li competed in the 77 kilogram weight class (169 lbs).  His Oly Total was 366 kilograms (807 lbs).

They would both have their huge advantages.  If I had to pick one I’d give it to the gymnast but here’s the problem…  These sports are all mainly done in the Phosphagen metabolic pathway. Ok maybe some Glycolitic for the longer gymnastic events but you get the picture.  They would crumble under anything highly Aerobic.

I could go on and on but I’d love to hear your best guess.  Any professional athlete would benefit from CrossFit but which kind would win the 2014 Regionals?

Special thanks to Matt Chan for giving me the idea for this post.  :-)  Here is a pic of Matt and 4 time Canada West Regional Champion Lucas Parker.

Cheers!

The House of Shepherd

Friday Workout:

Warm-up: Grab some light DBs and go through workout movement sequence 5 times

Strength: Core Work (Break up as needed) (Budget 15 minutes)

a). 3 x 30-60 seconds: Supine GHD Holds (or regular plank holds on the floor if the GHD is too advanced)

b). 3 x 30-60 seconds: Prone GHD holds (or hollow body position hold on the floor)

c). Log 100 total Russian Twists with a KB or medicine ball

Here’s a supine hold video. Prone is the same thing but facing the floor.

Or, for large classes, find a buddy and hold em down…

Workout: The Bear

Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes:

5 dumbbell deadlifts
5 dumbbell hang power cleans
5 dumbbell thrusters

Score is number of rounds completed. Choose your own weight!

Saturday’s Workout:

Warm-up: Coaches Choice

Strength: Back Squats (3, 3, 3, 3, 3)

Workout: Atrium of Pain V2

*Note the more advanced version in brackets

25 squats (Pistols)
20 sit-ups (GHD or weighted sit-ups)
15 push-ups (HSPU)
10 pull-ups (Chest to bar)
800 m run
10 pull-ups
15 push-ups
20 sit-ups
25 squats
800 m run

Score is total time

House of Eunice

Welcome to our first ever Madlab School of Fitness online sports pool!

If you’re a soccer fan, or better yet if you’re not a soccer fan and are looking for a way to become invested in the WORLD CUP, this gives you a reason! And if you do well, a chance to win some cash!

We’re using pooltracker.com to keep track of the pool. You’ll be able to login and see how you’re doing was the tournament unfolds. Our pool’s name is MADLAB SCHOOL OF FITNESS WORLD CUP POOL

This is a three-step process:

1). Copy and paste this link into your browser: http://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=95473

2). Pick your teams! You must pick your teams before the tournament starts this Thursday at 1 p.m. Pacific time. The website won’t let you pick after that.

3). Pay your $20 via the pay pal link below:

The website does the work for us and at the end – cash prize to the winner!

If you have friends or family members who aren’t part of CrossFit Vancouver, they’re allowed in, too. Just send them the links to the website and paypal.

Go Netherlands!

TUESDAY

Warm-up: Dynamic Warm-up lengths followed by empty bar Clean and Jerk work

Strength: Clean and Jerk

Work your way up to your Grace weight and slightly heavier, and then do:

EMOM in 7 minutes:

1 Clean from the high hang, 1 clean from the mid-hang, 1 clean from the ground plus 1 jerk EMOM for 7 minutes – slightly higher than Grace weight.

Workout: Grace

30 Clean and Jerks for time (135/95 lb.)

Friday June 14th we will be hosting an In House Competition/Nutts Cup Qualifier. The top 12 teams from the Competition will receive early access to Nutts Cup and will be given a spot in Nutts Cup. These teams must be made of 1 woman and 2 men. 

Now, if there are folks out there who are just looking to compete for the fun and are worried about the Nutts Cup aftermath there is an option for you as well. If you are interested in doing the In House Competition with a few friends for the laughs and the good time then you’re in luck. We will open the remaining spots to teams in either scenario. Nutts Cup hopefuls or weekend warriors. Teams for the weekend warrior side can consist of any mix of genders, 3 women and 3 men are fine for example. 

The workouts for the Nutts Cup qualifier have been posted at the gym for some time now, but just incase you have missed them I will post them below. I will also post the workouts for the Weekend Warrior division as well. They will similar in length but the movements will be altered slightly. 

Workout 1. 

One partner working at a time, switch as needed.

Nutts Cup Qualifier

15 min AMRAP 

100 Wall balls 20/12

50 T2B

100 Wall balls

25 Muscle ups

Weekend Warrior

15 min AMRAP 

100 Wall balls 20/10

50 T2B

100 Wall balls 20/10

25 ring dips

Workout 2. 

12 min time cap

Nutts Cup Qualifier

2 men complete 30 deadlifts at 235 while woman does 40 cal row

2 men complete 30 front squats at 185 while woman does 40 box jumps 20″

2 men complete 30 thrusters at 135 while woman does 40 burpees

Weekend Warrior

2 partners complete 30 deadlifts while one partner does 40 cal row (195/125)

2 partners complete 30 front squats while one partner does 40 box jumps (145/95) (24/20)

2 partners complete 30 thrusters while one partner does 40 burpees (95/65)

Workout 3.

One round each relay style. 10 min time cap

Nutts Cup Qualifier

400m run

21 kb swings (55/35)

12 chest to bar pull ups

Weekend Warrior

400m run

21 kb swings (55/35)

12 pull ups

Workout 4. 

Nutts Cup Qualifier & Weekend Warrior

9 min to establish 1 rep max clean and jerk

the buy in to attempt a clean and jerk is 25 double unders (50 singles for weekend warrior is acceptable)

Lets get some new and old faces out on June 14th. 

Tom

[email protected]

Saturday

Warm-up:

4-6 Dynamic Warm-up lengths
20 Dowel Dislocates
20 Band Pull Aparts
12 Scapula Push-ups
12 Scapula Pull-ups
2 minute Goblet Squat

Strength: DB Snatch Tech

**Work your way up to one heavy single on each arm.

Workout: The Chieftain

5 rounds of:

3 minute AMRAP of:

3/3 DB Snatch (choose your own load)
6 Push-ups (HSPU for those who can do them)
9 Squats (pistols for those who can do them)

Score is total rounds and reps. Begin the next round where you finished the round before – just like the Chief.

June is brought to you by Eunice and Kermit.

I’m hoping that Kermit and I will bring a balanced month as we come from very different mindsets.

I have been highly influenced by two things:

1). Since I work with Andy every morning, I have seen the value of his “less is more” philosophy. As we learned in April, sometimes all it takes is to lean and loiter. Andy gives people what they need – with safety and longevity utmost in his mind.

2). I have been influenced by my own training, which this last year involved a lot of supplementary work – strength work, technical skill work, often incredibly repetitive work, that is required when you’re training and competing in CrossFit as your sport.

Kermit, on the other hand, likes to please the people and give them what they want! She has been around this place for a long time, and for her, many workouts contain memories and emotions. She remembers the feeling of making it through that giant chipper and that classic benchmark workouts back in 2007 with the Pup and company, and she remembers the value – emotionally and physically – these workouts gave the people around her.

So together, I’m hoping we’ll provide a nice balanced month.

A couple of our focusses include:

1). We’re working out way up to a CrossFit Total at the end of the month. In light of this, we’ll be back squatting once a week, pressing once a week, and deadlifting once a week. Deadflifting will be in the form of high rep Dimmel Deadlifts (video to be released on Wednesday). I’m talking sets of 15, 20, and 25. This will be combined with some weighted glute bridges. We’re hoping these four weeks will help everyone get a couple PRs on their CrossFit Total at the end of the month. If you come on Sunday and missed the deadlift day, please prioritize your dimmdl deadlift and glute bridges.

2). Core Work – I’ve noticed huge gains improving my core strength this last year, so we’re sprinkling in some of this throughout the month.

3). Classic Benchmarks – you’ll see Fran. You’ll see The Bear, and a couple Hero workouts that always provide an emotional satisfaction just to get through them.

Enjoy June!

Monday

Warm-up:

20/20 Bowler Squats
20 Cassak Squats
20 Deadbugs or Supermans
20 Hollow Rocks
20 Goblet Squats

*Then go through the KB work that you’ll be doing in the workout. 10 reps of each movement you’ll see in the workout.

Strength: Back Squat (8, 6, 5, 3, 1, 1, 1) (Heavy but not maximal)

Workout:

KB/Pushup Complex (2 pood/1.5 pood) **Use DBs for large classes

20 min AMRAP

8 KB deadlift
8 push-ups
8 KB high pull
8 push-ups
8 KB swing (Russian)
8 push-ups
8 Goblet squat
8 push-ups

Score is total number of rounds

Welcome to the new CrossFit Vancouver Madlab website!

We’ve been working hard on this for a while and it’s finally up!

Speaking of new, we have a lot of new and exciting things in the pipeline – INCLUDING THE LAUNCHING OF THE POCKET COACH – and we’ll be talking about everything that’s going on tomorrow tomorrow night at the Town Hall meeting. It starts at 7 pm. Refreshments will be served.

Friday Lesson Plan

Warm

5 minutes Elbow/Wrist Prep

2 x 8 Forearm Wall Slides
2 x 8 Burpees
2 x 8 Jumping Split Lunges

Strength

A1) Bottoms Up KB Reverse Lunge 4 x 6/6 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIG2fF7D3gQ)
A2) Push Ups 4 x 10

* Substitute KB Rack Reverse Lunges

Workout

5 Rounds of:

3 Rope Climbs
1 Minute Max Ball Slams
Rest 1 Minute

Saturday Lesson Plan

Warm

Coaches Choice

Deviled Eights

3 Rounds with a Partner:

8 minutes on. 2 Minutes off.

8 Box Jumps 24/20
8 Knees to Elbows
8 Russian Kettlebell Swings 2p/1.5p

*Trade off exercises