What a great team WOD today. It seems that everyone really had a good time with this one. And, as I always say, having fun is one of the keys to giving it your all.

Remember, NO CLASS FRIDAY AT 12, 430, 530, OR 630. The gym will be open during the evening for open gym time, but no instructors will be available to teach class.

Here are some times to keep in mind over the weekend if you plan on attending. We don’t know what specific heats we’re in, but we’ll have those written up on our whiteboard in our Camp CSA for everyone to see so we don’t miss anything….

Friday AM

• 7:00-7:30am Athlete Check in (Athlete Entrance)
• 8:00-8:30am Athlete Briefing (Athlete bleachers in the warm up area)
• 8:45 Announcement for spectators to take seats
• 8:45 am Judges Staged (Lined-up at the rear of warm up area under the lane #’s)
• 8:50 am Athletes Staged (Lined-up at the rear of warm up area under the lane #’s)

*Lane #’s on fencing is where athletes will check-in 15 minutes prior to events throughout weekend.

Opening Ceremony

• 9:00 Opening Ceremony
• 9:15 Athletes led onto field and will remain on field, call for audience to rise
• 9:20 Presentation of Colors
• 9:25 National Anthem
• 9:32 Athletes exit back through competition tent (reverse order)
• 9:35-9:45 Judges and athletes assemble for Heat 1
• 9:59:57 3-2-1 Go
• 10:00 Heat 1 begins

Team WOD #1 (10-11am)

Jackie’s WOD #1 (11:12-11:48am)

Team WOD #2 (1:24-2:24pm)

Jackie’s WOD #2 (2:34-3:34pm)

Saturday…

Team WOD #3 (9:00-9:45am)

Jackie’s WOD #3 (10:58-11:34am)

Team WOD #4 (11:54-1:24pm)

Jackie’s WOD #4 (3:54-5:24pm)

Sunday….

Team WOD #5 Women (8-8:45am)

Jackie’s WOD #5 (8:50-10:05)

Team WOD #5 Men (10:15-11:00am)

(Finals)

Team WOD #6 (1:00-1:30)

Jackie’s WOD #6 (1:45-3:15pm)

Family and friends may enter the Fairgrounds at the Gate B, Gate D and Gate F. They should follow the signs to General Parking. Venue gates open to the public Friday at 8:00am and on Saturday and Sunday at 7:00am. Please direct your family and friends to follow signs to “Tickets” and “Will Call”. If they have pre-purchased a 3-day pass from the CrossFit Games website, their name will be on a list and they should check-in and receive their wrist-band at Will Call. They may also purchase a 3-day pass for $25 or a daily ticket for $10.

Day Camping will be allowed and we have a space that is in excellent proximity to the venue. A couple things that we need to share about Day Camping. Spectators will not be allowed to bring alcohol into the venue. Small amounts of food ok.

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Workout – “Josh”

21 Overhead Squats (95/65)

42 pull-ups

15 Overhead Squats

30 pull-ups

9 Overhead Squats

18 pull-ups

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Week 2 starts today with…. Deadlift
Warm Up
70% x 3reps
80% x 3Reps
90% x 3+ reps (amrap)

Asst:
Glute Ham Raises 5 sets of 10-20
Barbell Lunges 5 sets of 10-20
ABS- Hanging Leg Raises 5 sets of 10-20

Here is a very good example of two of our athletes (Michelle & Nancy) who have focused on their “power output” during their CrossFit journey and are now doing some awesome RXing.. How is that possible you ask? These girls are lightweights (from a body size/weight perspective) compared to what we see often in BIG sports and athletics… It’s in the simple math of Power= Speed + Strength. In the article below Gilson from again faster breaks down the math of how CrossFit is about Max Power Output and scaling isn’t necessarily non Rx-ing. It is a way to find an Athletes Max power output. He then goes on to address that this dynamic effort ( he, he, something power lifting has used for quite sometime) combined with consistent strength work benefits anyone. Some of you may read this article and say to yourself,”I may need to take a step back and do some math in order to make some faster gains” Please, do that math and people remember the word Scale isn’t such a bad word after all

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Zatsiorsky, Scaling, and Power
Jan. 13, 2012, by Jon Gilson
Imagine speed and strength on the see-saw together, and strength is the fat kid. The really fat kid. In fact, he outweighs speed by a factor of ten. The see-saw stays stuck, and no one has fun at recess. Escaping my metaphor, if the load is too large and speed is too small, power is zip, much like multiplying by zero always gets you zero.

Now, imagine speed and strength are balanced, each kid weighing about the same. This parity allows them to act in concert with each other, and the see-saw really flies. We get power.

“Heavier” isn’t the answer. Balance is the answer.

On page six in The Science and Practice of Strength Training, author Vladimir Zatsiorsky posits that maximal power output occurs at approximately 30% of maximal velocity and 50% of maximal load. I’m in love with page six, and simultaneously dumbfounded by its mathematical exactitude.

Applied to CrossFit and our never ending pursuit of power, this unforgettable page states that we’re looking for a load that you can move with 30% speed, one that tends to occur somewhere around your 50% of one-rep maximum.

Of course, CrossFit won’t ask you to move the bar once, but perhaps ten or twenty or fifty times. To maximize your power across this broad spectrum of work, you’ll want to load to less than 50% 1RM, and continue to try to move the hell out of the bar.

Holy shit. A formula for scaling.

For too long, we’ve focused on strength bias this and power animal super athlete that, when this entire program is predicated on power. Stop thinking of scaling as something to keep Grandma in the game. We scale to the physical and psychological tolerance of the athlete for one reason: it enables the individual to produce as much power as possible.

Following Zatsiorsky’s formula, if you can’t thruster at least 190 pounds, you shouldn’t be doing “Fran” with 95. If you can’t clean and jerk 270, don’t do “Grace” with 135. You’re blunting your power output. Scale that weight down; it will make you more powerful.

I did not just tell you to abandon heavy weights. In fact, I want you to lift heavy. A lot. Just not in the middle of your WOD.

If you increase your 1RM, through any number of methods, your 50% 1RM will go up as well, and you’ll climb into the Rx’d echelon via this prescription. You thruster 150, you do “Fran” at 75 pounds or less. You thruster 200, welcome to the Big Leagues.

In other words, don’t strength bias your WODs—strength bias your strength, and scale your WODs to your current strength level.

Proof? Take a look at the strongest men in the world, not by fiat, but by actual numbers lifted, the gargantuan boys of Westside Barbell. Their program regularly calls for moving 50% 1RM as fast as possible. In fact, it was a conversation with Louie Simmons, the founder of the Westside Method and its Dynamic Effort Days, that persuaded me to pick up a copy of The Science and Practice of Strength Training in the first place.

I’m sure he’d be disappointed I never made it past page six, but I bet he’d love it if you stopped trying to do Fran with 65% of your 1RM.

The successful implementation of scaling demands a simple recognition: there are an infinite number of weights that can be loaded on a barbell, and every one must be removed from ego and firmly affixed to power. When this mental shift occurs, we’ll get more powerful athletes, guaranteed.

Jon Gilson is the owner of Again Faster.

Well we’re in the home stretch as far as the Regionals are concerned. People have been inquiring when exactly we’ll be competing, and all I can say is the heat schedule will be released real soon. Opening ceremonies will be Friday morning around 8-9ish. As soon as the specifics are told to us, I will post on both our blog, here, as well as our Facebook Page.

For those interested how they can contribute to our camp that we’ll have set up, please ask Mari Roman, as she is the main person heading up the equipment that’ll be brought to our camp.

Just be prepared to have fun, and watch some amazing athletes you’ll find anywhere going head-to-head. I’m somewhat stingy with my approval and tend to over think every nuance of every workout to gain our team the edge. I have to tell you, our team is ready. Be sure to wear your red/black to show your support for our team.

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I had some really nice discussions today with some members and how their goals are coming along, as well as the challenges they’re facing… Please know that my focus is 100% on you guys. The heart and should of our gym lies in ALL of you. I’m always there to help out with a meal plan, a different approach to the challenges you may be facing in life, anything to help you achieve physical and mental fitness. All you have to does ask, and I’m in. I’m interesed. I want to help.

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Team WOD!

Teams of two; co-ed; one partner is running 400m while the other hangs back and works on the reps until your team completes the following reps:

-75 Burpees

-300 double unders (or 750 singles)

-50 Clean & Jerks (135/95)

-75 Burpees

“CrossFit Total”

Find your 1-rep max in:

-Deadlift

-Back Squat

-Shoulder Press

*This workout is deceptively long, so come prepared to ramp up accordingly. If you’re giving your true max effort in each lift, especially the squat and deadlifts, you should be resting around 3-5 minutes between attempts to fully recover. If you blow through this in 30-45 minutes, i can almost guarantee you those were not true max attempts, certainly not enough rest time. Only the top totals will go on the board, as there’s not room for everyone. So bring your journals, take notes, and be prepared to attempt this again in the near future.

Training Rule of Being Awesome #2 – I will commit myself to increasing my strength in the basic lifts (squat, press, bench, deadlift, and powerclean) as I believe that these lifts have a great carryover to all areas.
Lift:
BenchPress
Asst:
Go down to 50% of lift and perform 5×10
Dips 5×10
Chins 3 sets to FAIL

ANNOUNCEMENT!

NO CLASSES THIS FRIDAY, SATURDAY, OR SUNDAY. ALL INSTRUCTORS WILL BE DOWN AT THE SANTA CLARA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS COMPETING AGAINST THE BEST IN THE WORLD AT WHAT WE DO.

THE GYM WILL BE OPEN TO TRAIN AT YOUR LEISURE, WITHOUT INSTRUCTION, FRIDAY EVENING DURING REGULAR CLASS TIMES.

IF YOU COME DOWN AND SUPPORT US, PLEASE WEAR YOUR CSA SHIRTS AS WE FLOOD THE STANDS WITH A SEA OF RED & BLACK.

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Let’s kick off the week right with a good ol’ fashion benchmark WOD…

Part I: 1 mile run

rest, then….

“Cindy” 20 min AMRAP of:

5 pull-ups

10 push-ups

15 squats

Lift:
Mrs. Squat

Asst:
Kettle Bell Hell = 5 rounds 1 min on 1 min off
Plankalicious= 5 rounds 1 min plank 1 min off
100 lunges
Hypers