CrossFit Portland

Almost 50,000 participants registered for the Open so far. That’s DOUBLE last year and still 4 days to go…Oh, the deadline to register is Sunday, February 26th!

We are at 48 on the CFPDX Open team! Four more days for us coaches to hound you about signing up and it still makes sense to do so.

This evening, around 5 pm ish, the first Open workout will be released on games.crossfit.com. Please crash the server.

Potluck this Saturday at Noon. Drop a note in comments if you are coming and how many. Bring a side dish and your own liquid refuel, we got the meat covered.

Warm Up

1) 2 rounds:
Jump Rope 2 min
10 Pass-Thrus
10 OH Squats
1 min/side Band Lat Stretch

2) Bar Complex, snatch

Mobility

Thread the Needle Rolls
Death Stretch

WOD

A. Power Snatch: 10 x 1, EMOM Use 80-85% 1RM
B. Overhead Squats: 21-18-15-12-9-6-3 rep sets for time.
Each “rung” of the ladder must be unbroken, rest as long as you need.
Use half of your best weight from “A”.
C. Tabata Situps

Potluck at noon after the first Open workout! We got the meat, you bring side dishes and the liquid refuel.

Oh, feel free to invite your friends to come watch you during the CrossFit Open. CFPDX is open to all of your fans and supporters.

Jessica is currently 1 of 45 CFPDX registered teammates for the Open. I want you to be #46!

I “encouraged” her to sign up (some would say incessantly badgered) because I wanted her to experience the 5 weeks of the Open. Few things motivate like having your back against the wall and knowing you have to do it. It’s very different than just training day-to-day at the gym!

I joined Crossfit Portland about 5 months ago after moving to Portland. I’ve never been very athletic; I ran cross-country and swam in high school because I wanted to be active and those were the only teams without a cut to make the varsity program. I exercised inconsistently after high school until 2011, when I started a consistent strength training program.

When I joined CFPDX, I was in the best shape I’d been in for years but still had trouble doing most of the movements. I’ve made good progress since then. From being unable to hang from the pullup bar for 30 s, I am working up to a 30s chin negative (currently 28s!).

I cut 30 seconds off each of the Cerebus benchmark 2 and 3 workouts. I still have a long way to go; I have to scale almost all of the weights and movements, but I am coming to the gym 3x a week and making it a part of my life.

When XX asked the Dinner Club to sign up for the Crossfit Games, I asked him why I should sign up especially if we’d be doing all of the workouts anyways. I wasn’t sure I would be able to complete any of the workouts and didn’t know how I would help the team.

There are a few reasons that I decided to sign up for the Games, even at my level.

For my own interests, joining the team and competing in the Open is only going to push me to achieve my goals. The more I connect with the community and with Crossfit, the more committed I get with my own workouts and diet.

I am inspired by all of the athletes that I see training for the Games; I watch them in the workouts and start to realize what’s possible. Plus, I enjoy the fun of being on a team (like going to the potluck dinner and watching as a spectator).

I can also contribute to the team, even if it’s not on the scoreboard. I can support my teammates, cheering them on. I can help make a fun and competitive environment that will elevate the performance of everyone. Everyone participating will further bond this gym as a community that lasts beyond the Games.

Plus, what is there to lose? I chip in my $20, push myself in the workouts, and know that I’m a part of the team. There’s no downside, only upside.

Great job everyone on implementing the whiteboard yesterday!! Take a look at what everyone did.

Warm Up
1) 4 min – your choice

Mobility
None, in workout.  If extra time, instructor’s choice.

WOD
Custom Goals Training
+
10 min CF Skills practice – efficiency/pacing/breathing
+
Complete the following tasks in any order, constant movement:
30 (15/15) Turkish Get-Ups (light)
30/30 T-Planks (no pushup)
30 Kip Swings (staying tight)
30 Ginga Lunges/side, touching heel
30 PVC OH Squats, narrowing grip into stretch

Just like the Force, there is a light and dark side. Use the board wisely

We are bringing back the WOD results board and making it better. For some of you, this is nothing new. For others, this is a new concept.

Coaches will be putting your names and your WOD results on the board. The coach will write it up, the results will stay up for the week, and then we reset on Monday.

Certain WODs intentionally do not have “for time” or “max weight” results. For example, part 3 of today’s workout. This is for your own good.

Going on the board – Best effort. Honesty.

RX or scaled. Finish first, middle, or last – your results are helpful to you and the gym as a whole. It helps you to have a goal to shoot for. It helps motivate others to train harder. It makes you more accountable to the training.

Best effort is giving it your all – No sand bagging! Can you lift 5 more lbs or get two more reps with good form? If “maybe”, then best effort is trying it. Madoc has more on that later.

Best effort is not only pushing yourself but pushing others to succeed. You finished first? Great – now go make someone else finish strong.

Honesty is not cheating yourself or others. Always perform to the best standards possible, the best range of motion, the best of your ability.

Staying off the board – Ego. Hubris. D-bag attitude and behavior.

CFPDX is an environment for anyone with an appetite for self-improvement and helping others do the same.

There is no place here for ego, hubris, thievery of other’s honest achievements, and misrepresentation of personal results. You will be politely asked to leave.

Dark Side of the Board

The competitive instinct is an incredible motivator. Later classes in the day try to beat earlier classes and it pushes everyone to work harder.

The competitive instinct can quickly turn ugly too. If you’ve been around competitive sports, you can relate. I’ve seen it happen at CrossFit before.

Here are some examples of how people let their competitive instinct get the better of them. Here are the excuses I’ve heard over the years when members forsake movement standards to get a faster time:

1) “Well, he/she wasn’t doing it so why should I?”

2) “I can’t do it.” (Regardless that they just did in the warm up!)

3) “No one told me I was doing it wrong.”

I have had discussions with athletes that basically brought them to the conclusion that every workout in the gym should be judged and verified or they didn’t trust it.

At the time, I said something diplomatic to calm them down. What I really wanted to say was…

Hey, its Monday 6:30 PM at CrossFit Portland and not the finals at the Olympics. We are not judging every single rep or verifying their times with instant replay. Chill out.

Finally, please grow up. Always perform to the best standards that you are fully aware of. No one here wants to babysit every one of your reps just because you are not willing to do so. Now put your weights away…

The board is a tool – don’t become a tool because of it!

Warm Up
1) Jump Rope – 3 min
2) Shoulder Seq

Mobility
Instructor’s choice, relaxed stretches

WOD
A1. Weighted Chin-Up: 3 x 3,2,1  Rest 2 min
A2. Bench Press: 3 x 3,2,1  Rest 2 min
+
15-12-9 rep rounds:
Thrusters 75/53lbs
Pullups
+
Run, Row, or Ride @easy pace for 10 min

Warm Up
1) Jump rope 4 min, mxd patterns
2) Shoulder Seq

Mobility
Downdog calf stretch + to Cobra
Pigeon focus

WOD
A. Push Press: work up to a heavy single
B. Push Press: 1 x amrap @70% of today’s max
C. High Handle Prowler Pushes: 4 x max distance in 30 sec, rest 3:30′  Males-150lbs; females ~100lbs