Mile High Snatch Fest - Crossfit Elevation

Hi Everyone  - So I was in Denver, CO for a couple of days and made plans to visit my friends Matt Benti and Erika.  If you don't know who they are, they were members at Crossfit SW Beaverton and well liked by everyone.  I hadn't seen them since March so I was really excited to catch up with Matt and Erika. Matt had recently completed his Level 1 Certification and was one of the trainers at Crossfit Elevation.

The box was located in the art district in Denver just west of the city.  It was about a 10 min walk to the box but Matt was nice enough to pick me up.  As you can see by the pictures or maybe you can't, the box was in the shape of a rectangle and was a  fairly good size.  They have plently of equipment, 4 or 5 ropes, 3 GHD machines, 4 squat racks and much more. 

Matt showed me the warm up and WOD and all I could think was.....Crossfit Bend winter games again?  How many times am I going to  have to do one arm KB snatches?  Damn!  see below.  As an added bonus I took some video of Matt and I and the start of the WOD so you can see how brutal this one was.

WOD
30 One arm KB snatches - 55lb
800 meter run
30 One arm KB snatches - 55lb

They are also doing some great warm up exercies, Bergener warm up and Skill transfer and what they called Dynamic Range of Motion exercises (DROM), there are a few pictures attached but I put them here as well.

DROM
1 - arm circles
2 - hip circles
3 - knee circles
4 - ankle circles
5 - wrist circles
6 - neck circles
7 - samson stretch 3/3
8 - leg swings - 10/10
9- pass throughs
10 - doorway overhead squats 20

Then we went into the warm up
Run 400 meters
10/10 Toy soldiers
10/10 toe touches
30 second squat hold
5/5 spidermans
15 HRPU
10 kipping pulls ups / or bar taps ( kipping pull up progression)
5 wall climbs
10 GHD sit ups

Bergener warm up
1 - stance and hook grip
2 - down and up
3 - high and inside - scarecrow
4 - turnover
5  - muscle snatch 2", 4", 6"
6 - hang squat snatch

Skill transfer
1 - Slow snatch balance
2 - heaving snatch balance
3 - snatch balance

So, after we finished this warm up and believe me I felt warmed up and sweating, we did skill work which was

5 x 3 back squat 90% of 1 RM
rest 90 between sets

According to Matt, I learned the difference between a high back squat and low hang back squat and why the low hang is better.  According to Jason the owner and Matt, doing a low hang back squat where the bar sits just on the top of shoulder blade and you push the bar with your hands into your back.  You also need to lean just forward slightly.  This type of squat works the glutes, hamstrings, and most of your posterier chain in the back. 

As you can see from a couple of pictures ,Matt is doing 225 and since starting this type of back squat has increased his strenghth with his snatch, OH squats, thrusters.  They do a lot of squating each week.

And now for the WOD....321 Go and we were off and as you can see from the video, I started out good but these quickly took their toll on me.  I think I did 10-15 unbroken but then had to drop it. I noticed that I am much stronger and have better control with my right arm but struggled with my left ( this is very noticable from the video).  You can also see that Matt is crushing it, he did all 30 unbroken and he was soon off on the run.  Once I started the run, I felt the elevation hit me hard but I pushed through and finished off 30 more.  Matt finished in just about 6 minutes and I finished in just under 8 minutes, humbled again!

After the WOD and some coconut water, Matt and the owner Jason helped me with my form on the snatch and lets just say that their constructive yet very honest comments made a huge difference and I wanted thank them both!

Matt and Jason said that I could WOD again on Wednesday so that is what I decided to do.  6 am and Matt would be the coach.

The 10 minute jog to the box was nice, and got there just at 6.  The warm up was the same but the WOD changed......I did 65 lbs simply becuase I needed to work on form and get this right.  Sometimes its more important to put your ego aside and do the lighter weight to become more efficient at the movement and this was one of those times.

AMRAP -12 min
50 DU
7 hang power snatchs 65/95
7 snatch balance 65/95

Before this WOD we did 10 minutes or more of snatch warm up to get ready for the WOD which would prove to be very helpful.  So 321 Go and we were off, I forgot to mention it was only me and 2 others at the 6 am class.  My DU's were ok, a couple of breaks but not too bad but once again like the run seem to gas me in a hurry, the snatches went good as well, but Matt was on me about activating my shoulders which is another weak spot in my snatch but glad he pointed it out.  I finished 4 rounds plus the DU's and 12 reps, just shy of 5 rounds and for me I consider this a success.

Thanks again to Jason ,the owner of Crossfit Elevation and to my friend Matt Benti. I was so happy to see that he is doing what he loves and doing it well and enjoying Denver with his lovely girlfriend Erika.  It was so nice to see you both! 

Untill we WOD again..........

Crossfit Belltown, Seattle WA

Hey Fellow Crossfitters -

After my trip to Vancouver, BC Canada I was up in Seattle and was heading to Crossfit Bellown, right in heart of downtown Seattle.  I have actually been there before and have been welcomed back each and every time by the owner Nadia Shatila.  She is a wonderful person and always allows me to visit the box without a drop in fee.  If you don't know who she is look her up, she is an amazing crossfitter, placing in the Pac NW Regionals just about every year and she is on the staff at Crossfit, she travels around teaching Level I Certifications, (more on this topic in my next blog).  Also you gotta see this location, its a nice mix of a wine bar and typical crossfit box, not kidding it is the nicest one I have been to!  See the pictures below to see for yourself.

Because of my schedule I almost always seem to go to the 6 am WOD and this trip was no different.  This is also good because there is typically a smaller number of people at this time slot increasing your chances to have a good WOD. 

As always before heading up to Seattle I sent an Email to Nadia, asking if I could join a WOD and like every other time the answer was "sure Steve no problem" and I all was set.  She also told me that I would be doing some squats as they were in the middle of a strength program but there would be other stuff as well.  Honestly, I was a bit bummed out because it wasn't your typical WOD but decided to go away, besides I could use a strength day after the recent WOD's at our box.

So I got up bright and early and did a nice mile run to the box and as usual Brandon was there, he is the instructor at 6 am and a very good one.  What I like about Brandon is his brutal honestly during the class, he tells you exactly what you need to do and does it in his own very loud way( BTW, he is not shy about dropping the F***bomb or other expletives about your form, so better get used to it, cause I like it.  Way to go Brandon, you are awesome!

The WOD went like this

5 minutes of squat therapy, basically getting you ready to squat

2 rounds (not for time)
10 push ups
10 dynamic toe touches
10 lateral lunges
10 ab mat sit ups

Back squat
1x4 @ 70%, 1 x4 @75%, 1 x4 @80%, and 1x4 @85% of your max
Front squat
1 x5 @ 60%, 1x5@ 65%, 2x5 @ 70%

Lastly, 3 sets of 5 L pull ups

So what this means is that you do 4 reps at each percentage for both back and front squat and then some L pull ups!  

This strength program is called Hatch, named after Gayle Hatch and if you google her you will find her website with tons of information. 

When you get right down to it, this program provides a full workout, by the time we did the exercises to warm up and then do the program add in the L pull ups, there was just enough time to stretch out at the end.  Also, during the WOD, I got to talk with the others about this program and they all really liked it, they said that you find your max and then during the program you work over your max ensuring that you will hit your PR.  Net, net, everyone is getting stronger!

Thanks again to Nadia, Brandon and all the others at 6 am in Belltown, you are strong!

Crossfit Vancouver BC, Westside Location

June 20th, Wednesday,Vancouver, BC

Hey Everyone - After a bit of a break from blogging about my visits to various Crossfit locations, I have decided to start this up again!  There are a few pictures below and I have also done a video so you can see what the box looks like, how they have configured their equipment and get a better feeling for this specific CF.  So here we go.

I was up in Vancouver BC for a couple of days and I first contacted Crossfit BC but they were insistent on charging me a "drop in" fee of $20. I asked them if I could purchase a T-shirt in lieu of the fee but the answer was no, so I looked elsewhere.  That is when I found Crossfit Westside which was about 9 blocks from my hotel in the neighborhood called Yaletown in downtown Vancouver.  I did not contact them, instead decided to attend the 7 am class and assume the sale, no drop in fee.  So that was the plan.

It was a great morning to jog down to Crossfit Westside which took about 10 minutes, quite a beautiful city.  It was also located near my other favorite store, Starbucks so that was a real bonus.  I gotta have my coffee after the WOD.  I walked in and met one of the trainers, Taunya who was doing some personal training with a client but she got me set up with a release form and guess what...no drop in fee!  The trainer that day for the 7 am WOD was Morgan, he was super cool and did a great job with the WOD movements and the warm up. 

We did a really nice warm up of about a 400 meter run and then the following exercises two times.

10 - pass throughs with the dowel
20  - leg swings total
10 - inch worms
10 - wall angels

All of these I knew except for the Wall Angels which turned out to be very good.  Here is how to you do it.  Stand against the wall with your knees slightly bent and back flat against the wall.  Then place both arms on the wall like a scarecrow and move them up and down without letting them come away from the wall, while keeping your back flush against the wall. This is supposed to improve core strength, flexibility and mobility.  Try it.

Then we did a short training on the movements in the WOD which was named after one of their members who was leaving the box, a guy named JF.  Here you go.

10 - HSPU
20 - Alternating 1 arm KB snatches ( 53lb)
30 - Box jumps 20/24
200 meter run
6 rounds

When I first saw this, I though, oh no, 1 arm KB snatches????  Brings back memories of the games in Bend! So...321Go and were off, HSPU were ok, but the KB snatches took it out of me in a hurry, then we had 30 Box jumps and after round 2 or 3 I was feeling this one.  Finished in 33:13 and I felt great and very happy to be done! 

Thanks again to Crossfit Westside in Vancouver, BC, to Morgan and the others who worked out

at the 7 am class that day!  Great job.

Nashville Go Crossfit

In my recent travels, I was in Nashville for a few days and would you believe it, there was a Crossfit location 1/2 block from my hotel....nice!

This was a very special location because not only was it a certified crossfit location,  it was also a 24 Hour workout facility, so there was a separate location just for Crossfitters.  They had 2 certified trainers, Kate and Ben both were fantastic to work with.  Since there were only a couple of times offered to do the WOD, they said that I could come in and do it when ever I liked, so that is what I did. 

Here was my WOD
5 Rope climbs
10 KB ( 53lb)
15 Wall ball shots (20lb)
20 DU's

5 rounds.

It was and is always nice to do something like the rope climb and this WOD was a gasser, I mean that in a good way of course.  Here are some pictures that shows that you don't need much space to do Crossfit.  They had lots of stuff, 2 or 3 ropes, rings for dips and muscle ups, KB, bars, weights and even a short track for running sprints, if that is your thing.

Thanks Nashville and see you again when I am in your city again!

Crossfit Walnut Creek - Sweat shop

Hey Crossfitters - Welcome to 2012 and a new year filled with new adventures to new crossfit locations.

First up is Crossfit Sweat shop which is in Walnut creek, CA.  The best thing about this location other than the WOD was that it was literally right behind my hotel, a 2 minute walk, very convenient!

I emailed the owner about a week ahead of time and he welcomed me to the box anytime during my stay and the trainer, James was fantastic to work with.  I showed up for the 6 am class on the 6th of Jan.  Being that it was a friday, it was jam packed, I think 15 people and these crossfitters did not know the WOD of the day!

Check out the picture of the community box for doing box jumps, pretty nice!

Here is the warm up which really got you going.

200 meter row
elbow to instep
7 hindu pushups
5 pull ups
10 KB swings
15 airsquats

Here is the WOD and what I liked best about this was that there were 3 small WOD's all with different exercises!  Total time was about 20 min.  This one was a real gasser!

7 min AMRAP
7 pull ups
10 single arm DB thruster 45/25
10 box jumps
90 sec rest

6 min AMRAP
10 pistols
15 KB swings 70/44 - I did 5 of the 70# and the rest at 53#
90 sec rest

5 min AMRAP
10 wall balls - i did one round of the 25# ball - Bonus points!
5 burbees

Well that's all for now!  Thanks for checking in all Stay Healthy!

Crossfit Monrovia - I wuv the Push Press!

Hey Followers - Late in getting this out to everyone but I did an awesome workout at Crossfit Monrovia, CA.  I have been here before but this is the first time I am blogging about it.

I did the 530 PM workout on a surprisingly chilly and rainy day in SoCal but the WOD was good, see below.  This location is big with tons of equipment and plently of room and the people there are very nice!

AMRAP
10 push press
30 DU

As you know I am not such a big fan of the DU, but my practice has gotten me a bit better and so I did enjoy this workout and too up the ante a bit, I did 100 lbs on the push press for my friend Paul!

I did 6 rounds and was happy with that! 

Catch you next time someplace at another Crossfit location!  SU

Crossfit - Edmonton Canada, eh?

Hey Crossfitters - I was up in Edmonton Candada recently and got to visit a Crossfit up there.  This was another crossfit located in an industrial area about 30 minutes from downtown so yes a bit of a cab ride at 5:30 in the morning to get to the 6 am class.    Fairly good size class, 10 people and all really nice people.

The location itself was not very big but they had all the nescessary equipment for a great workout.  Up at this location, we did a full 20 minutes of warm up from box jumps to inch work push ups, to air squats and some yoga moves.  We did a full 10 minutes of light shoulder work to get ready for the WOD.  The workout was as follows

15 min AMRAP

10 body rows
9 box jumps - 24 inch.
8 push press

I really liked this workout, I only did 95 lbs on the push press and got 9 rounds and for me this was good.  I guess I could have done the 115lbs but form is really importand to me so I will work on more weight as I get stronger.  See you next time at another Crossfit