Crossfit - Armoury - Edmonton, Canada

Hey Fellow Crossfitters - So after the WOD at Crossfit Calgary, I was lucky enough to be in Edmonton which is about a 3 hour drive from Calgary.

Crossfit Armoury is located in a business park in a similar location to CFSWB.  Easy to find and plenty of parking.

I had also emailed them to let them know I was coming and Jason one of the trainers was super nice on email and said to please stop by and WOD with them and there would NOT be a drop-in fee!  I wanted to buy a shirt but nothing really caught my eye so I passed.  Here was the warm up and WOD ( note no pull ups or push ups because if there was I would not be WOD'ing with them)

Warm up
Knee highs
butt kicks
jump skips
DU - 25
OH squats with dowel - 15
pull ups 10

Then
10 x 200 m sprints EMOM.  I knew that this would be a challenge and it was.  After just 3 rounds I was feeling the burn, it didn't help that Edmonton is about 2K feet above sea level so the elevation was tough on my lungs as well

WOD
21-15-9
Deadlifts - 225lb
Front squats - 135lb

So after the sprint work, it was time for the WOD.  I was actually very excited to do this WOD for the simple fact that I could do the weight but how long it was going to take me remained to be seen. So, we went through a series of warm ups with both deadlifts and front squats so that the trainers could see that we could do the weight and I was ready to go.  Oh yeah, one more thing, we were only allowed to use one bar for this workout, so you started on the deadlift at 225 and when you finished the 21 reps you removed a 45# plate from each side and did 21 reps of front squat with 135# and the same for 15 reps and 9 reps.

OK, it was 3-2-1- Go and we were off.  The first set of deadlift's went well,not as fast and I wanted to go but not bad.  I managed to get through the first set of front squats fairly well, but it was the second set of 15 reps where I really began to feel this one.  The weights really began to feel super heavy and after 15 reps where done, I moved on to set of 9.  I was almost 8 minutes in the WOD, but it felt much longer and I heard that voice in my head telling me to pick up the bar, but my body wasn't responding.  I was just standing over the bar sweating and finally something clicked and I reached down for the final reps of the deadlift and soon after I was finishing the front squats.  What made this WOD tough was changing the weights back and forth from 225 to 135.  Also, the deadlifts felt good but it was more the front squats because I had to clean the weight and do the front squat and it felt like I was lifting a F*$#ing house. 
I finished with a time of 12:35 which I felt was respectable, it felt good to be done with this one!

Hope you get a chance to do a WOD like this with the heavy weights, it certainly takes you to the outer limits of your comfort zone but allows you to find that place inside of you to dig deep and persevere!

Good luck!  SAU

Crossfit Calgary - That wasn't very nice....eh?

Hey Crossfitters - Before I headed up to Calgary, I did some research and found Crossfit Calgary . I gave them a call and spoke with Ally.  I told her that I was going to be up there soon and would it be OK to WOD with them?  She said that they loved having visitors and to stop by anytime.

So, there I was in Calgary and heading to their location and as you can see from the pictures, they are located in a very populated area with lots to stores and shops.  It actually looked like this location was formally a Oil Can Henry's or something similar.  Anyway, lots of equipment, pull up bars, C2 rowers, but no built in squat racks, they were the portable ones like we have at CFSWB.  However, they did have bathrooms with a shower in each, a very nice idea!

I was there for the 6 pm WOD and walked in the door and the person who met me was Colin, who was one of the trainers there.  I introduced myself to him and Ally was there as well.  They were all very nice and welcoming.  I signed the wavier and got started on my warm up,  plus they did not charge a drop in fee!  However, before that Colin ( who was 56 and in amazing shape showed me how to tape my hands as we would be doing a bunch of pull ups)...  See below:

Warm up
500 m row, 30 seconds fast and 30 seconds slow and keep alternating
10 box jumps
10 arm circles in various directions (forward, reverse, ext)
10 air squats

WOD
15-30-45 - Push ups / pulls ups
mandatory 5 min rest, then....
45 - 30-15 push ups / pull ups

Yes, that is correct, it is 180 of each.  The trainer for this class was Erin who made it very clear what she expected from everyone on push ups, chest must touch the floor and elbows must lock out every time and the same went for pull ups.  Full ROM and if you needed to modify either the pull ups or push ups by all means do so.   She had some very good advice as well, do not start this WOD fast, it was a chipper.  Other than Colin teaching me how tape up my hands to avoid ripping, this would prove to be great advice.

Then after a bit of stretching, it was 3.2.1. go time.

I started by doing 15 of each the push ups and pull ups in the first round of 15, then to sets of 10 in the round of 30, then I forget how many I was doing in the round of 45, but it wasn't much and all I was thinking about was the 5 min rest that was coming. I just kept telling myself to keep moving and get as many reps as I could muster.  The 5 min. rest was nice but then this WOD got tough on the second round of 45-30-15.  This is where you had to dig real deep and just keep chipping away.  I finished the first set in 7:55 and finished the entire WOD at 22:15.

Overall, this WOD looked like Hell and that is exactly what it felt like but it is what we do as crossfitters, enjoy the SUCK and this one did that!  Thanks to Erin, Colin, and everyone at Crossfit Calgary.  You are great and very welcoming!