Pullup work

Teams of 2, each partner does ALL once, then switch:
50 Double-Unders/100 single skips
25 Knees to Elbows
30 Box Jumps 20″
35 Med Ball Toss Situps ~6-10lbs
25 Burpees
50 double Unders/100 single skips
+
Handstand skill work: practice
Wall Handstands
Handstand walking
Free Handstands
Frog Stands

Mobility:
Wrist Pushups x 10
1st Knuckle Pushups x 10 + 10sec

CrossFit Games Affiliate Challenge – Outline of Team rules for 2011

Everyone at CrossFit Portland can be on the affiliate team and contribute. Wait, how does that work??? Honestly, I’m not sure because many details are still missing. If you are curious, just visit the link above. Read comment #25 and what follows…its the best explanation of what’s going on so far.

The 6 weeks of Open Sectional workouts start in mid-March. Don’t be surprised if you have the option of doing the Open Sectional workout every week

3 Rounds for time, keep a steady pace-no redlining:
Run 800m
50 KB Swings 36/36lbs
50 Situps
+
Cuban Presses: 3 x 5 @ 4010, rest ~ 90 sec

Mobility:
Pass-Thru Stretch x 10+10″”
+
25/25/25 Toe lifts, back against wall.
25 each – fwd, outward, inward

Announcement: In preparation for the move, please start to take your belongings home with you. This includes lost and found, WOD books, water bottles, and any other odds and ends. When the move happens (sometime in February) we will donate anything left behind to Goodwill. Did I mention that includes water bottles?

Pullup Work

A. Power Snatch: work up to a moderately heavy single.
+
“Isabel”
30 Snatches/Power Snatches for time. 135/95lbs

Mobility
Thread the Needle x 10 + 30 sec hold
Spinal Rocks x 30

I’m sad that this picture exists but happy I got to see Brock off for his finale workout at CrossFit Portland. Brock lives up in Vancouver, WA and is a skip away from CrossFit Fort Vancouver. He’ll be continuing his daily training and beating those younger at him, without the heart condition, in WODs up there. Brock’s impression on CrossFit Portland will live on in our hearts and minds, but especially our shins. Why shins? Most of the boxes for box jumps are handmade by Brock and if you ever missed a box jump, say Hi to Brock. Also, when we move, you can thank Brock for making the kettlebell/wallball shelf heavier than everything else in the gym put together. Brock the Builder does not cut corners. We’ll miss you, we’ll see you at potlucks, and drop a comment now and then!

5 Rounds:
3 Squat Cleans (use 85% 1RM)
10 Burpees as fast as possible
20 Double Unders
rest 3 min
Post low and high round times & wt. used.
+
Cuban Presses: 3 x 5 @ 4010, rest ~ 90 sec

Mobility:

1-2 rounds:
Ginga Lunge x 10+10″”
Bridge Holds x 10+10″”

How were you introduced to Crossfit?
When I first moved back to Portland in February one of my out-of-state friends told me about this new Crossfit gym he joined and recommended it to me. He knew that I was bored of regular workout gyms and said it would really kick my ass. I blew his recommendation off at first, but then watched some crazy clean & jerk videos on YouTube and said, yea… let’s do this. I came in for an intro and after getting hammered by the baseline workout, I joined. Nothing has held my interest like this before.

Favorite WOD/lift:
I enjoy rowing and deadlifts the best. Probably because the first 1RM I got doing a deadlift surprised the crap out of me!

I have always wanted to
Fly. I’m currently working on getting my hang gliding license.

1 word people use to describe me:
Wholehearted.

Outside of the gym I like to
Ride my bike — I cycle everywhere and in any season. I also enjoy dancing, meditation, hiking, making new clothes out of old ones, and laughing with friends.

Something nobody knows about me or would be surprised to know about me:
I have a motorcycle license.

Favorite physical activity outside of Crossfit:
Bicycling along the waterfront. For me, it’s active meditation.

Favorite place to eat in Portland:
Jam on Hawthorne

Song that gets me pumped up for a workout:
Lyrics Born – Callin’ Out and just about any other hip hop.

Proudest accomplishment:
On the most beautiful night in June of this year, during the lunar eclipse, I climbed Mt Hood. It was tough and totally character-building. I saw myself as raw as I ever had, climbing for hours, tired and uncomfortable. I realized a new sense of self-confidence after that night, for sure.

The Athletic skill levels were originally created by Dave Warner of CrossFit Seattle (then CF North). These skill levels have been adopted in various capacities by many affiliates around the country, though they are not part of the official CrossFit HQ material. Some affiliates have modified the original skill levels. In creating these, I used CrossFit Seattle’s original charts (the updated versions), CrossFit Oakland’s excellent modifications of the Seattle levels, and CrossFit Los Angeles’ addition of a plethora of other skills and abilities. Our new levels are a blend of these three, but with numerous additions or changes only found here at CrossFit Portland.

You’ll see that each level has mandatory skills and abilities, plus a certain number that must be done choosing from the optional ones. As you advance thru the levels, you must complete more optional skills.

The levels have all been modified to be more accessible. For example, to my knowledge, no one in the world has ever completed level 3 in the original Seattle levels, much less level 4! Many advanced athletes can fairly easily do most of the things on the original skill level 3, but there are just a few skills that put completing the whole thing out of reach for almost all. As an example, the 3/4 bodyweight added pullup is a FAR harder strength goal to achieve than any of the other strength standards of the level. Another deal breaker for many was the 6k row time for men…just to do this one skill, one might have to train as a distance rowing specialist for quite some time. This would likely make keeping up your other abilities very difficult. We have had a few former and current collegiate 6k rowers training here who cannot make this time!

I wanted the levels to be something to motivate and help our athletes work toward correcting any weaknesses. I made levels 2 & 3 possible with plenty of hard work. Very dedicated trainees could even get to level 4. You will see that some of the skills that were on level 2 have been bumped to level 3, and some from level 3 to 4.

Also taking a cue from both CrossFit Oakland and CrossFit Los Angeles, I differentiated the run times and upper body strength abilities between men and women. This reflects the different genetic potentials between the sexes. As lower body lifts are relatively similar between men and women (in relation to bodyweight), the standards there have remained the same.

Numerous gymnastic skills are now in the levels, as mastery of one’s own bodyweight, plus the coordination and confidence that comes with it, is essential to well rounded fitness.

We have a few flexibility standards in our levels; this is unique to us as far as I know. These will be a work in progress, we may update or change these as needed. A couple of notes here: these 4 tests are by no means a complete picture of athletic flexibility needs. That is really beyond the scope of the skill levels. Some of the essential ranges of motion are covered in the strength or gymnastic standards already. For example, the ability to properly perform an overhead squat, or hold a long “L” sit, require both flexibility and strength. The flexibility tests in these levels just make sure some of the basics do not fall thru the cracks. They are not really dynamic tests, as it is very difficult to measure this in a simple, accurate way.

Remember that these levels are just to help with goal setting, and assessing where your weaknesses lie. For the upcoming advanced classes, one will need to complete at least Level 1, or have instructor’s approval while actively working to complete Level 1.

What if you have already completed CrossFit Seattle’s Level 1 or 2? (the ones we used previously) You’ll only need to knock out the things that are new.

Good luck, and have fun with them! I’d also love your feedback on the new levels and skills. They will continue evolve as experience dictates.

For Christmas my mom sent Anton and I a pullup bar that we put in the doorway. During the holidays I had a couple of kipping pullups but felt no where near a dead hang pullup. That wasn’t even in my vocabulary. So I decided to grease my pullup groove. We also have an exercise band because dead hangs were not happening without a band (you can’t kip with the portable pullup bar). I did about 8 band pullups, 3 times a day, with the occasional negative. I was mainly working on them for my kipping pullups. But then I realized my dead hang pullup was starting to become a possibility.

This pullup groove helped me improve all around. I have hit two huge milestones recently. Early in January when we did Fractioned Fran I did the whole workout with kipping pullups – NO SUBS! This was a first for me as I had never done a WOD with real pullups. And then Monday night I got my first dead hang pullup ever. WOOHOO!

Pullups! from CrossFit Portland on Vimeo.

The point is it’s easy and cheap to do stuff at home, to work on your goals and improve your skills. A Tabata sequence with any exercise can be great to get the blood moving during a long day at work. Or one of the mobility chains from the Mobility Class on Monday nights. Or grease your groove with pullups, pushups, squats, dips, handstands, and more! Think of your goals, and decide what you need to help improve them.

Maybe a jumprope? Or rings? Maybe a gym mat, or pullup bar! Ross Enamait is a great trainer and home gym innovator. He has several articles and tips about doing stuff at home. Check them out below:

• Budget Training
• The Home Gym

Also check the Home Workouts post on the forum, and add to it! What do you do at home to get a WOD in or to work on your goals?

The vast majority of cycling training resources around are fairly conservative and old school, prescribing many miles of boring (and largely ineffective for my purposes) base training. Seeing near constant improvements in General Physical Preparedness from two years of crossfitting and after bouncing some ideas off of Scott, I knew that I’d deviate from standard periodization training on the bike. Spending months riding and not being allowed to get my heart rate above some magic number would likely burn me out and make me able to ride far, but slowly. ‘Cross races are 45 minutes of pure hell maximal effort bike riding, jumping over barriers and running up muddy hills. Explosive power is an advantage.

I just got done with a CrossFit-esque workout that I adapted from The Cyclist’s Training Bible. The protocol, after a warmup:

On a 6-8% uphill grade
-60″ of 90% effort in a medium-high gear
-30″ of 100% effort in a high (hard) hear
-4′ rest

My intention was to do 8 intervals. I only did 5. Why? Well, you know how in the middle of some CrossFit workouts you feel hypoxic and your whole body feels like it could fall apart? Take that same winded feeling but concentrate that full body burn directly into your quads. Yow! There’s no doubt that CrossFit workouts are super intense, but having that intensity largely in one muscle group is super intense in a different way. I *could* have done three more sets, yes, but my performance was quickly degrading (and I’m guessing becoming less effective since I wasn’t able to express power in the same way) and I knew I’d be going on a nice long cruise tomorrow.

For some balance, I finished my workout with 5 sets of 5 pushups and pullups. To be honest, these didn’t go too quickly. After spiking my heart rate so severely multiple times on the bike, it shot up again right away during my first set of pullups! The entire thing took me a total of one hour, door-to-door.

I plan on coming up with some more CrossFit workouts for the bike as well as using the great CrossFit Endurance site for some inspiration. After racing last season with plenty of crossfitting but minimal bike training I’m interested to see how I feel with more sport specific training.

Now for some fuel!

We followed this with light/high rep one arm snatches to windmills, with a focus on shoulder stability.

Kamal works up to a max load in the one arm snatch to windmill. This is a great test of strength, power, mobility, stability, balance and coordination.

This question comes up often: is it appropriate for young sprinters and athletes in sprint-interval team sports to establish an aerobic base with long, slow distances?

With few exceptions — perhaps professional athletes recovering from an intense season — the answer is “NO,” for the following reasons:

Read the rest on Functional Path Training

I really liked the following bits:

If marathoners do too much long distance training, they establish a comfort zone, running below their anaerobic threshold. To improve times, they must run faster, of course, above their threshold — and there are quite severe respiratory and cardiovascular consequences. This is a physiological habit, not a psychological one, and “speed” work must incorporate intervals to elevate the comfort zone.

Patterns of slow strides are imprinted just as “permanently” into our neuromuscular memory as the quick strides that a sprinter would like to record. Just as a golfer would not intend to include repetition after repetition of “bad” swings when he practices, neither would a sprinter.

…

the mistake made by many fitness coaches is to “compartmentalize” the training into separate workouts — aerobic endurance, anaerobic power, anaerobic endurance, skill, agility, strength, etc. etc. etc. Of course in a game, all of these attributes are required at the same time, so we should be looking for more ways to incorporate the various elements into “integrated workouts.”

Compartmentalizing the metabolic training is analogous to isolating each muscle separately in our strength workouts, and it is just as non-productive.

…

Furthermore, anaerobic interval training is highly aerobic, and can be a more intense cardiovascular workout than what fitness gurus would call a “cardio” workout. College hockey players doing six weeks of dryland training composed of “anaerobic intervals” for quickness and power made greater gains in aerobic and cardiovascular measures than if they had trained with aerobic distances for the same period

CrossFit for the win!! Don’t abuse your body with LSD training. Go hard!