Sandbag Construction
The first of 40 mini sandbags is done. I spent a few hours in the sun on Friday, constructing mini sandbags that we will place into larger bags for various exercises. The 2 1/2 lb mini-bags will make the sandbag micro-adjustable to the exercise and person. A big job, but worth it! A great sandbag construction guide can be found here.
Monday night, the Level 1 class took the bag for a test drive around the block @ 33% of bodyweight.
Level 2!
Congratulations to Aaron Schmidt, who passed the final Level 2 challenge Tuesday morning. He did “Helen” in 9:14′. Strong work, and good luck on the next level!
“V” Sits
The next progression from a “L” sit is the “V” sit. Jason does rounds of “V” sits for time instead of “L”s.
Compress your knees to your chest as much as possible, then straighten them out into the V. Excellent flexibility will be crucial.
Debut of the Slosh Pipe
Wednesday night, we wrapped up with a trial run at the slosh pipes. Unstable PVC pipes filled 2/3rds with water. Brutal. Team Zercher carries were on the menu tonight, following some Turkish half ups and planks.
Afterward, we played around with them some - here Aaron gets an overhead squat with the beast.
Parkour Saturday
Here is a quick video of some Parkour fun from the Wallace Park area in NW Portland. Great fun, and a very functional application of fitness. Nothing too fancy, but keep in mind that this was only the first or second time trying this stuff for any of us. We will be doing more of these in the future!
Friday Fun
Team 6pm Friday night. Friday 7 am and 6 pm did the following team interval workout:
8 round races of
Sprint 20m
3 pullups (clap if possible)
3 burpees
3 pushups
3 V ups
rest as your partners run take a turn.
Going very quickly between the exercises was the key to a good time. Here, Bill spins quickly between pushups and V ups.
Team 7 pm.
Team 7 did overhead squats heavy for doubles. We had 5 athletes get doubles with just under bodyweight.
We wrapped up with precision jumps and L sit holds.
Level 1
As of Wednesday night, we have two new CrossFit Level 1s- Eric Zoerner and Jess Chang. Congratulations! The 7:30 pm Monday night class and 7:00 pm Friday night class will be limited to CF level 1 and above starting October 22nd. This will allow us to have classes of similar ability levels which will mean faster progress for everyone.
Here David does kettlebell swings as he works thru the skills on level 1.
We wrapped up with a pinch grip plate carry - how many trips in 2 minutes?
Back from San Diego
We’re back from a great trip south. We both went to the Performance Weightlifting Cert in Fallbrook, CA. It was very well done, and both Rochelle and I came away with plenty of practical information. It was great fun, as well. If you are interested in Olympic Weightlifting, I’d recommend getting to one of these. Be prepared for lots of work on the Olympic lifts this winter!
Lifting at the seminar.
Camp CrossFit Portland. We stayed at the Dripping Springs campsite east of Temecula, CA. Only 10 minutes out of town, but on the edge of a wilderness area. It felt like you were in the middle of nowhere. We got in a hike into the wilderness on Friday.
Greg Everett is the guy behind the Performance Weightlifting Seminars. On Saturday night, we went up to Coach Burgener’s house for a barbecue. While there, Greg hits a PR in the power clean and jerk - 132 kg.
After the lifting, time to cook. We were in charge of the desserts. Here, Paleo sweet potato pie goes into the oven alongside herbed sweet potatoes. Thanks to the Burgeners for the hospitality, and to everyone at the cert for a great weekend!
Off to San Diego
Rochelle and I are off early Friday morning to San Diego for the Performance Weightlifting Seminar/cert, and to take a mini vacation. Classes will still run as normal. See everyone next week!
Here are a few lifts from an impromptu session last Saturday. I need to work on that second pull!
Monday Night
We have been working thru CrossFit Seattle’s skill levels over the last few months. Bill’s level 1 list went MIA, so Monday night he completed all of the tasks in under one hour! Here he is about to start the final round of “Christine” to complete the level. Strong work!
Here, Sue does kettlebell cross chops in a quick finisher workout:
3 rounds:
10 Overhead situps
10L/10R KB cross chops
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CFPDX to Host Performance Menu Olympic Lifting Seminar
CrossFit Portland is excited to be hosting an Olympic Lifting seminar put on by Greg Everett and Aimee Anaya of Catalyst Athletics/The Performance Menu on Saturday & Sunday June 7-8, 9:00am - 4:00pm
The Olympic lifts develop unparalleled explosiveness for athletes of all types, but because of their relatively great technical complexity, they are often performed incorrectly, limiting their effectiveness, or even avoided entirely.
For more information and to register, visit the Olympic Weightlifting Seminar page at the Performance Menu.
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