Blog Archive

I’ve seen a fair share of massage therapists in my day. Some good some better than others. 

Lately I have been seeing our very own CJ Castro. If you didn’t already know he recently became a certified RMT. Anyway, I just thought I would send a shout his way and let you all know that the dude knows whats up. 

As a CrossFitter himself he knows the movements, he knows the type of stress I put on my body and he knows where to look for problems. Just because your wrist is nagging you doesn’t mean that your wrist is the trouble spot. He can move up and down stream to diagnose any issues you may have. 

He has adjusted my hip for me as well as worked out more than a few knots in my calves and forearms. 

CJ is stationed at Evoke Integrated Medicine downtown. Address is #312 – 1030 WEST GEORGIA ST. Fill out the form here – http://www.evokemedicine.com/ – if you would like get a hold of CJ or grab him on the floor. 

He’s good folks. 

Tom

Warm Up:

Coaches choice of

elbow prep
pec stretch
scap stability

Skill:

EMOM 20 min pick one of each and pick a number from 3-10. try and add one rep to last weeks numbers. 

1. strict pull up/ring row/bent over row
2. pike push up/ring push up/handstand push up
3. ring dip/dip/push up
4. transition drill/hollow rock/v-snap/muscle up
5. t2b/k2e/ghd situp/30 sec plank hold

Workout: the dream team

9 min time cap
50/40 cal row
1 min rest
40 burpee box jumps 24/20

Coaching points:

Controlled pace on the row even though you get the minute of rest, controlled pace for the first 30 bbj then time to hit the pedal. Step up and across the box rather than jumping every rep. 

Everyone around the world has World Cup fever of late. I personally haven’t been to involved. Although once I heard Em tell me that all of the teams that were banned from having sex during the tournament had been eliminated I became a little more interested. I initially thought she was lying but I did a good old google search and it happens to be true. 

Of the 4 teams remaining, none of them were banned from the bedroom. Some were even encouraged to fornicate more with some rules. Brazilians were asked to avoid “acrobatic” sex but were encouraged to do the deed. 

Which leads to my inspiration for todays post. To bang or to abstain?

Do you think sex before a sporting event is a good or bad idea?

Do you think it helps performance or hinders it?

Do you know from experience? Just kidding. 

But in all seriousness, post your thoughts to comments and share any theories in which having sex or abstaining from may help or hurt an athletic performance. 

Warm Up:

5 rounds of
10 cuban press – barbell
10 behind the neck push press-snatch grip

Skill:

4 sets increasing weight of
3 snatch balance+3 OHS

Workout: pie

12 min time cap
21-15-9
power snatch 75/55
pull up

Coaching points:

Stay light in the technique, groove the movement pattern. This practicing positioning, not load. The workout is hard and fast. COMP members try to stay unbroken in the snatch. Everyone else try and break it up in to a minimum of three sets in the 21s and 15s and one set in the 9s during the snatch portion. Pull ups should be the same but always leave two reps in the tank folks. 

This past weekend several of our members took part in the annual Rocky Point CrossFit competition PentathaWod. 

It is a two day event consisting of one day of CrossFit workouts and events, and a second day in which athletes partake in track and field events. On day 2 they were required to perform a long jump, shot put and javelin throw. As well as a zig zag ball run and a final workout where the classic steeple chase was turned into a CrossFit event. 

Natalie and  Kermit represented as a team finishing 2nd overall. Ryan aka Goose Willis finished strong as an individual and Richard Basford competed on a team as well.  

Monday

Warm Up: 

Coaches choice

Skill:

A. for 8 min cycle through

10 weighted sit ups
10/10 pavlovs press
5 high box jumps (step down, no touch and go) (pick your own height)

then

B. 1500m row increasing intensity every 500m 

Spilt up part and A and B then switch. Or run it all together in small classes. 

Workout:

500m row

Run heats if needed. Make sure the rower is set for 500m and counts down to give the most accurate time.

Coaching Points: 

Yep, a good old 500m row for time. What else is there to say other than it’s short, it’s hard and it’s going to suck. Long fast pulls will be key. Use every inch of your length when pulling and keep good rowing technique by always keeping the knees out of the way of the handle. Efficiency is key. 

Here is an engaging talk by Adam Kreek about failing forward.
Embrace non attainment.

Andy

Friday’s Warm up: 

6 rounds of
10/10 banded x walks
20 sec squat hold

Friday’s Tech:

back squat
10 sets x 2 reps
increase the weight each set

Friday’s Workout:

helen

3 rounds
400m run
21 kb swings 55/35
12 pull ups

Coaching points: 

No fails on the back squats at all. every fail is 25 burpees.
Helen: pace the first two rounds and then hard as possible on the last round. We have all done this workout before. 

Saturday’s WarmUp:

elbow prep

pec stretch

scap stability

Saturday’s Tech:

EMOM 20 min pick one of each and pick a number from 3-10. Same rules as Wednesday.

1. strict pull up/ring row/bent over row
2. pike push up/ring push up/handstand push up
3. ring dip/dip/push up
4. transition drill/hollow rock/v-snap/muscle up
5. t2b/k2e/ghd situp/30 sec plank hold

Saturday’s Workout:

With a partner, one partner holding a locked out deadlift 95/65 while the other partner performs burpees. once both partners reach 60 burpees they are done

Coaching points:

Stay tall in the locked out position, avoid slouching or gripping the bar in your fingers, get it in the meat of your hand. Break up the burpees into small sets to avoid burnout on the lockout hold. Make sure you communicate with your partner.

Great video about last year’s Nutts Cup. Lots of happy sweaty people.

Nutts Cup 2014 Registration is NOW Open!

22 spots are up for grab. First to email Emily at [email protected] with their team name and members, as well as pay their registration fee below, will be competing at this year’s Nutts Cup on August 16th. After those 22 spots are filled, the Cup is full!

Warm up:

coaches choice

barbell flow

Tech: 

3 position clean + jerk
3 times

ground-hang-high hang-split jerk

Workout: 18 reps to freedom

Rx’d 

3 min on 1 min off 5 rounds
3 power cleans 135/95
6 front squats
9 bar over burpees 

Comp Team

3 min on 1 min off 5 rounds
3 power cleans 165/115
6 front squats
9 bar over burpees 

Coaching points: 

Move steady. When rest is called stop moving, take long slow deep breaths. Once go is called begin exactly where you left off. Stand up tall after your third power clean and then show a front squat. A squat clean is not permitted. If the weight is heavy do your first two power cleans as single and then use the third to set up for the front squat. Two foot take off and two foot landing on each burpee is ideal but not a standard. 

Holy crap! Watch octogenarian Johanna Quaas on the parallel bars. At 00:30 she holds a sick bent-armed planche. She’s been named the World’s Oldest Gymnast at the age of 86 (in 2012).
Very Impressive!

Warm up:

Coaches choice of:

elbow prep
pec stretch
scap stability

Tech:

EMOM 20 min pick one movement from each category and pick a number from 3-10 to hold for each movement. The number does not have to be the same for each movement. 

min 1-6-11-16. strict pull up/ring row/bent over row
min 2-7-12-17. pike push up/ring push up/handstand push up
min 3-8-13-18. ring dip/dip/push up
min 4-9-14-19. transition drill/hollow rock/v-snap/muscle up
min 5-10-15-20. t2b/k2e/ghd situp/30 sec plank hold

Workout: ridin’ dirty

Rx’d

7 min time cap
2-4-6-8-10-12-14-16-18…
wall ball 20/12
box jump 24/20

at 3:30 mark perform 25 double unders or 50 singles

Comp Team

7 min time cap
2-4-6-8-10-12-14-16-18…
wall ball 20/14
box jump 24/20

at 3:30 mark perform 25 double unders or 50 singles

Coaching points:

Keep a steady pace through out the whole workout, do not sprint out of the gate. Slow and steady through the whole workout. Resist the urge to fly out of the gate for the small, early rounds. In rounds 2-12 try to stay unbroken on the wall balls. After round 12 is the right time to break them up into two sets. 

First off, shout out to Em and Kerm for June’s programming. Lots of new things (dimmel deadlifts, arm bars, quake bar bench press and lots of stability drills and abdominal holds) and lots of old things (CF total, Badger, Hidalgo and Grace). The mix of old school and new age was solid ladies. 

Moving forward into July, TBear and I will be exposing you all to a lot of gymnastics over the next 30+ days. We will be using volume training to build up gymnastic strength. The same way we use EMOM’s (every minute on the minute training) to train the barbell moves we can use them to train gymnastic moves as well. 

Twice  a week you will see a technique piece that looks just like the one posted below. The intention is to gain practice with the movements in a controlled and less intense manner. We all want to string together pull ups but without a solid baseline of strength and stability the chance of this happening is much lower. 

Also expect to squat, deadlift, snatch and clean once a week. Outside of the gymnastics volume training focus we will be testing you guys with basic CrossFit movements and some classic workouts as well. There will also be a few retest workouts from January. So be sure to look back in the pocket coach and compare your old and new score. 

EMOM 20 min pick one of each and pick a number from 3-10

1. strict pull up/ring row/bent over row
2. pike push up/ring push up/handstand push up
3. ring dip/dip/push up
4. transition drill/hollow rock/muscle up
5. t2b-k2e/ghd sit up/30 sec plank hold

How this works is pick one of the three options from each number (1,2,3,4,5). You can pick a different rep scheme for every movement but the goal is to hold the same number each time you cycle that specific movement. Since the EMOM is 20 min we will cycle through the movements 4 time each. 

For example: Note this is not the workout for tomorrow

Min 1-6-11-16. 5 reps of strict pull ups
Min 2-7-12-17. 3 reps of HSPU
Min 3-8-13-18. 8 reps of ring dips
Min 4-9-14-19. 2 reps of muscle ups
Min 5-10-15-20. 9 reps of GHD sit up

In every daily workout expect to see some coaching points at the very end and also expect to see two, even sometimes 3 levels of workout posted daily. Comp Team, Rx’d, and 6 months or newer. 

Mondays Lesson Plan

Warm up:

4 rounds of
10 cuban press – barbell
10 behind the neck push press-snatch grip
10 snatch balance

 Tech: 

every min for 10 min

1 snatch-pick your own weight (squat or power is fine)

 Workout: sweaty snatch

Six months or newer

12 min AMRAP
5 snatch balance 
400m run

Rx’d

12 min AMRAP
5 snatch 115/75
400m run

Comp Team

12 min AMRAP
5 snatch 135/95
400m run

Coaching points:

Focus on the snatch, clean crisp movements. Hit the run at about 80%, but not so hard you need to recover before your first snatch. Once you come in the door, address the bar, think about lowering your heart rate and try to develop a routine for each lift. Every snatch should look the exact same. Singles are the best option on the snatch, unless you can snatch 165+ or 115+ touch and go is not for you. 

I attended a very interesting info session (oddly enough at work) this week titled “Managing the Impact of Caring for Aging Family”.  The session delivered a powerful message and put a lot of things in perspective for me.  The presenter began with a very heart-felt story on her relationship with an older family member (in this case her father) and the transition that it made as aging took its toll on the mind.  The presentation was fantastic and it hit many people in attendance quite hard, including myself.  Today’s elderly population is living longer now than in any other previous time in history.  This comes, however, with the added risk of mental illness.  

She made reference to Dementia, and how it isn’t a disease, but rather a group of symptoms that accompany disease such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, MS, or Stroke to our aging loved ones.  Not to scare you but she also mentioned that these diseases often come in pairs.

Ali_Fox

At the end she provided ways of tackling some of the very hard, yet very real discussions we are forced to have with our parents about aging, prevention, illness, and eventual passing. As depressing as this might sound, the presentation was in fact a real eye opener and made me realize that these real discussions have to happen with family.

To help, she provided reference to a few books such as  “I Only Say This Because I Love You” and a wealth of information on the AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) website. 

I took a quick glance at the information on the AARP website and found a few articles that dive into some of the topics/issues that she touched on:

• Help for Alzheimer’s Caregivers
• Easing Aged-Based Sibling Rivalry in Caregiving
• Caring for the Greatest, Muhammad Ali
• And mention of local, Margot Bentley

I’m no expert in family matters, and by no means a councillor, but I thought this was a very real and very probable issue that is going to touch all of us at one stage of our life or another.

Maybe some of our resident Health Care guru’s could also comment on any additional resources  

Thoughtfully,
Richy

Friday

Warm-up: Andy’s Choice at 6 am

Strength: Cleans (2, 2, 2)

You can either touch-and-go or take one quick pause (no more than 5 seconds between the two lifts). How heavy can you go for a double?

THEN

Every 30 seconds for 7 minutes: 1 clean (Go heavier than you did Grace earlier this month)

Workout: Quake Bar Sprints! (Budget 20 minutes)

East Van Barbell Club dabbles with quake bar bench press a lot. It’s great for both muscular endurance and stability.

5 rounds:

15 unbroken Quake Bar Bench Press (16 kg for men, 12 kg for women)
200 meter sprint

**Share benches. Rest as needed (1 to 2 minutes between rounds). The idea is to do the bench press unbroken and hit the 200 meter hill sprints hard.

Here’s a video of how to set up with Quake Bar with bands attached to the KBs.

 Saturday

Warm-up:

5 minutes dynamic warm-up lengths
20 band pull aparts
10 Dislocates
10 ring rows
10 pull-ups
5 minutes to warm up squat clean

Workout:

Badger

3 rounds of:

30 squat cleans (95 lbs/65 lbs)
30 pull-ups
800 m run

40 minute time cap

If you’ve been here for less than 6 months, do a smaller version:

3 rounds:

20 Squat Cleans
20 Pull-ups
600 meter run

Sunday

Make up day, but prioritize CrossFit Total!

Three things to talk about today:

1). If anyone is interested in doing CrossFit HQ’s Weightlifing Trainer Course this weekend, there are still spots available. It’s at Studeo55 downtown and runs from 9 am until 3 pm on both Saturday and Sunday. Details can be found HERE.

2). Check out this dude: He broke the Guinness World Record for the longest plank hold. 4 hours plus!! INSANITY. Read more here.

3). As the morning people know, my pet peeve is people who have NO clue how much they can lift. These folks never seem to bother counting up the plates on their bars so they waste time every class figuring out what kind of weight to lift during both the strength and workout sessions. TODAY is your chance!! CrossFit Total will allow you to establish a one rep deadlift, back squat and shoulder press. LOG THESE SCORES IN THE RECORDS SECTION OF THE POCKET COACH BITCHES! So even if you forget, you’ll have it logged FOREVER!!

That is all.

Thursday

Warm-up: (10 minutes)

10/10 Bowler Squats
10/10 T-Spine Bridges
10 Yoga Push-ups

Then with an empty bar:

20 Good Mornings
10 Back Squats
10 Front Squats
10 Shoulder Press

Workout:

CF Total

Back squat – 1 rep max (15 minutes)
Shoulder Press – 1 rep max (10 minutes)
Deadlift – 1 rep max (15 minutes)

Score is total poundage

Finisher

50 Unbroken Wall Balls (if 50 is easy, use a heavier ball than you normally do or use a 12 foot target!)

**If you cannot do 50 in a row, see how many you can do in one max attempt!

10 months ago I was in the hospital recovering for a ruptured appendix and was given a Special Edition of Maclean’s magazine titled ‘100 Ideas, Inventions & Discoveries that will Change the World’.

The Food section of the magazine was pretty scary as there were articles with a positive tone on genetically modified salmon, chemical fertilizers and in-vitro meat.  The chapter on transportation on the other hand was pretty cool.  I was especially intrigued by the article on Cooking-Oil-Powered Planes.

In 2009, KLM airlines completed the first passenger flight that was powered by 25% cooking oil.  The refined cooking oil comes from restaurants in Louisiana (famous for its fried chicken) and in its new state the fuel is indistinguishable, on the molecular level, from regular jet fuel.  In 2012 and funded by the Canada’s National Research Council, the first civilian jet powered by 100% unblended biofuel (made from an oilseed crop) flew over Ottawa.  Next year KLM aims to have 1% of its flights powered by sustainable biofuel!  Ah, science…you are cool!

-CFP

Warm-up:

10/10 KB arm bars
Go over single-armed KB complex movements with a light KB (2 rounds of the workout with a light KB)
6/6 Light Turkish Get-ups

Strength: Turkish Get-ups (2, 2, 2, 2) – Two PER side

Workout: Part 1 is immediately followed by Part 2

Part 1: KB Complex

5 rounds per side: One KB each!

10 1-armed Russian KB swings (each arm) (24 kg/16 kg)
5 squats with KB racked (each side)
3 KB push press (each side)

See this video for KB push press tips:

Part 2: Swings and Snaps

5 Rounds:

10 Russian Swings (2 arms like normal)
10 V-snaps

Time Cap: 16 minutes