Two Classes on Saturday -- Gym Closed Monday but...

I will hosting a CrossFit Lite class at Lululemon Park Royal Village at 7:30pm on Sunday night. All are welcome to attend. We will do doing gymnastic style movements but as usual I will make sure its a kick ass hit.

9am and 10am tomorrow morning. If you can make the 9am then do it as the class will be bigger and this workout will be more fun with a bunch of people. Also like to welcome Sarah B....aka Marrisa's sister to the Den. She owns a CrossFit gym in Florida and is here visiting for a few weeks. She seems like a great coach and I'm even going to try and convince her to teach a class for us while she is here. Its always a good idea to get a different perspective on our movements.

Saturdays WOD:

2 rounds for time:

150 double unders or 300 single skips

med ball throw back and forth outside

30 wallballs with that same medicine ball

3 rope climbs

20 KB Clean and Jerk (this is in total not per arm....this should be a heavy weight)

20 KB SDHP (with the same KB as the Clean and Jerk)

20 Pullups (Chest to Bar if you got em)

20 GHD Situps (Both hands touch the ground)

Thrusters and Running

WOD:

5 rounds for time:

10 thrusters

1 building lap

What does everyone think about doing a workout next week at Ambleside Beach....it would involve a swim? I might even think about doing it on Saturday for fun. Please give feedback on the comments.

Again this will be a short workout and I'll do my best to get you in and out as quick as I can. I know the Den is hot right now but fuck so is everywhere.

New Pool at CrossFit Lions

It has never been hotter in Vancity than it was today, therefore I bought the gym a pool....trailer park style. Crazy. Congrats to all who got in today and braved the heat.

I am going to keep the workouts short the next few days and it will give us a chance to focus in on some strength work and the Olympic lifts. No sense in having people do long burners in heat like this.

Thursday WOD:

Snatch Max Single

Back Squat 5x5

Sorry for not mentioning that we were on Shaw cable last night. I will be getting a copy of it and posting it on the website for everyone to view shortly. It will also re-air quite a bit so I'll let you know when it does.

New 500m Record

Congrats goes up to Marrisa for dropping down a 1:44 on the 500m row, breaking the old record held by Hatty by a full 4 seconds. She really put it all on the line to hit that, which was shown by her 5min of recovery spread eagle on the ground. If you want to hit a personal best on the row that is the type of work effort you need.

Wednesday Tech: Pistol (aka a single legged squat)

Wednesday WOD: "Mary"

rounds in 20min

5 HSPU

10 alternating pistols

15 pullups

Lets lift heavy today

Tuesday's WOD:

Front Squat

5x3

Bench Press

5x3

Strict Pullups

5x max reps

At the end of this we are going to row 500m for time.

New Exercise for Today

We are going to do the Saturday WOD for Monday's Workout. For all those that came on Saturday don't worry I'll have something else for you to rip. The reason why we are repeating this workout is that it caught me by surprise and I think I stumbled upon a really good hit that I want everyone to try.

Tech: Box Squat 5x2

Wod:

10 rounds:

bar starts on the ground, you squat clean it up, jerk it overhead and then put the bar on your back. You will then step up onto a 20" box with one leg come to full extension and do the same with your other leg. Drop the bar and then do 5 burpees.

5 min break

3 rounds:

30 jumping pullups

30 jumping ring dips

30 jumping squats

This video is of Andy Swartz of CrossFit Vancouver during the 2009 CrossFit games. Sorry for the shit camera work.

The Monk 2009 CrossFit Games WOD 3 from CrossFit Lions on Vimeo.

9am class only on Saturday

Sorry guys...Chelan has work again tomorrow which means I have to get down to the boat rentals asap so their will only be a 9am class tomorrow.

Almost everyone who hit Murph today set a personal best or did really great for their first time.

Saturday WOD:

Its a surprise....I just got home and have to put some thought into it. It will not be as long a hit as we normally do because of Murph but we will have fun with it.

Time to go long

A Big shout out goes to Marrisa who set the new gym record with a 115# squat clean and jerk today. Fantastic work. Really proud. Dimples got a century overhead today as she clean and jerked 100 pounds even. Boomer also did very well with 65# overhead. Nice work ladies.

Friday WOD:

"Murph"

1 mile run

100 pullups

200 pushups

300 squats

1 mile run

You can break up the pullups, pushups and squats anyway you like. Its Murph today as we went short and heavy on Wednesday, Strength on Thursday and now its time for long and bodyweighted movements.

Clean and Jerk

Thursday WOD

Clean and Jerk

Do a few Warm up sets. Get up to approx 85% of your 1 rep max and try and do 10 singles of that weight.....offcourse these are squat cleans. If you fail more than once at that weight bring the weight down. At the end I want 10 make Clean and Jerks.

After the workout I want everyone to put in some good time on their "finisher"

CrossFit Games Highlights Video -- Wed WOD

Check out this video of the CrossFit Games. I want to put out a big congrats to Egypt (Yehia) who really took his game to a new level tonight in the WOD. It was truly inspirational watching him battle through the wallballs and Snatch. Today was the first time he actually came into the Den rested. He also kickboxes and has been doing two a days pretty much his whole time here. Lesson to all of us; rest and recovery is critical to your fitness.....however that doesn't mean you shouldn't be in working out 4-5 days a week.

Also it was hilarious this morning watching Reagan take a phone call that her sister is in labour and hang up the phone and come back and continue her workout. That is dedication. Great to see.

Wednesday WOD:

5 rounds for time:

5 Deadlifts

15 pushups

1 building lap

Wednesday Tech/Strength: 5x3 Front Squat

Last CrossFit Game Workout

This was the fifth WOD of the day for those crazies. This workout is serious and it crushed a lot of monsters. Lets have some fun with it.

Nice work on the ropes today. Tomorrow workout is extra hard as todays was kinda slack so each of us could get better at the rope climb. If you didn't get a chance to get on them today ask me next time you are in to give it a shot.

"The Couplet"

3 rounds for time:

30 wallballs

30 hang squat snatches (75#,45#)

Time to use our new ropes

Monday Tech: Rope Climbs

WOD: Rounds in 15min:

1 rope climb

5 ring dips

Bring a set of long soccer socks or leg wraps for today. This workout should allow everyone to comfortably get used to the ropes in a WOD environment. Please take care when you are using them. If you can't do a rope climb than 3 towel pullups are used as a sub. Those of you who don't have pullups yet, don't worry I have a sub which will allow you to get your hands on the ropes.

See you in the Den.

The Hardest WOD Ever

CrossFit Games Final workout

15 Squat Cleans (155#, 115#)

30 toes to bar

30 box jumps (24",20")

15 muscle ups

30 DB push press (40#,25#)

30 double unders

15 Thrusters (135#,95#)

30 pullups

30 burpees

walking lunge with weight overhead (45#,25#)

Okay, obviously a lot of people are going to be scaling this workout and you shouldn't hesitate to do so. I think this will be the hardest workout I will have done to this point in my life. We will find out tomorrow. 45min time cap for each athlete. If you can't do a musle up than its 3 pullups 3 ring dips. Also if if you aren't doing muscle ups you are going to have to be really careful on ripping your hands as the toes to bar are just as hard on the skin as the kipping pullup.

Tabata Something Gross

Lots of PB's in todays lifting. Great work to everyone who did. We saw some pretty dramatic improvements. To all of you getting fat and enjoying the summer time the people in here training daily are the ones who are pulling ahead. To make the gains you want to make 4 days a week is the minimum.

Fridays Workout

Tabata Something Gross

8 rounds per exercise of 20 sec work 10 sec rest. No break between exercises

Thrusters at 45# for men 35# for ladies

Knees to Elbows

Push ups

Squats

We haven't does a fored rest workout this week so here we go. I thought the thrusters should be in there to really set the tone for the WOD.

As you can see in the picture the climbing ropes are up and rolling. I guarantee you will have a love hate relationship with them. Mostly hate.

2/3 CrossFit Total

Really great work by those who came in to rip today. Big shout out to Dimples who put in full pullups into her first workout. She did 10 at the beggining and 10 at the end, big step forward. Nice work. Also a holla to OZ who is now consistently putting in bad ass times on the "cardio" WOD's. The rest of us need to watch out now for the big guitar wielding, earing wearing maniac known as OZ.

Thurdays WOD:

Max Deadlift

Max Press

We aren't going to do the back squat of the total because today workout was so squat intensive. Now I know we pulled a lot today but the hit the max deadlift gives you I want everyone to get a piece of. Max press is there because its a more practical pushing exercise than the bench press.

Clean and row

Wednesday WOD:

30 pullups

500m row

21 hang squat cleans

400m row

15 hang squat cleans

300m row

9 hang squat cleans

30 pullups

Rx for squat cleans are 95# for men, 65# for ladies. I want this weight to be relatively light compared to your max clean. If you 95# or 65# is going to be heavy for you than scale the weight down. We are looking for a hard metabolic conditioning workout today and I don't want your whole time spent slugging through heavy cleans. The pullups before and after are there to tear down your ability to row hard and fast through that first 500m. The ones on the end are just for fun.

The picture is of the top 16 men and top 16 women who were competing in Sunday's finale workout. There are 3 men from Western Canada and 1 women from Western Canada which was a great showing for our region. Remember if I haven't seen you Monday or Tuesday I want you to get me what your weakness is you are going to be working on the next month.

First CrossFit Games Workout

Alright. We are going to do the first of 4 workouts from the CrossFit games, held last weekend. We are not going to do it exactly as rx'd because I want you to work a little longer tomorrow than what was prescribed for Aromas.

Rounds in 15min:

4 HSPU

8 KB Swings (rx for men= 73lbs)

12 Full GHD Situps ( two hands much touch the ground each rep).

If you don't have HSPU than you will be strict pressing. Scale the KB swings as needed.

Reminder that I want each athletes to let me know what weakness they plan on working on starting tomorrow.

That picture is of me owning the best arm wrestler in the world. Travis arm wrestled for three days straight against so massive dudes and nobody came close to beating him.

Back From The Games

So sorry for the late post on todays WOD but my flight was delayed and I didn't get in till 12:30 last night. More to come on the games today.

Tech: Bench Press 5x5

WOD: 4 rounds for time:

4oom run

50 squats

See you at the Den. Its nap time for this kid right now.

Repeat WOD -- Heading to CrossFit Games

Howdy Y'all. First off a note about scheduling while I am away at the CrossFit games. There will only be the 9am class on Saturday. The rest of the schedule stays the same. I will be teaching the morning classes and Garth will be teaching the afternoon classes on Friday. Check out http://games2009.crossfit.com/for info on the CrossFit Games. It is going to be a sick weekend and I can't wait for the individual competition. They are having to do 5 f*cking workouts on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. I am going to try and post updates on our twitter page as well as on this blog so check back often.

Also starting Monday I want everyone to chose a weakness that they would like to work on. We are going to call it a finisher. For one month each day you workout you are going to work on that weakness at the end of our workout...by end I don't mean right after the WOD but give yourself five minutes or more to recover and then do it. Leave what you want to work on in the comments of this post so I can put together a plan for each athlete. As an example I am going to be working on my rowing because each time its in a WOD it kills me. So for me I am going to be doing sprint rows at the end of each session. Once a month past if that weakness is now a strength or at least much improved you will move on and pick another one.

Tech: Agility work = running, jumping, side shuffle etc.

Fridays WOD:

25 jumping squats with 45#

21 Pullups

21 situps

25 jumping squats

18 pullups

18 situps

25 jumping squats

15 pullups

15 situps

25 jumping squats

12 pullups

12 situps

25 jumping squats

9 pullups

9 situps

25 jumping squats

6 pullups

6 situps

Compare times with workout done on Friday Feb 17th. Situps are anchored with Dumbbells.

Thursday -- Max Split Jerk

First off would like to say what a trooper Raegan was today. She was the first victim of the dreaded box jump and to be honest I don't think you could hurt yourself anymore on them then she did. She was like "I think I might pass out if I look at it" and I was like "me too, lets not look at it....here's some ice.....now finish your workout LOL. Honestly I think I was more worried about the whole thing than she was. Starting tomorrow I would like everyone who has an extra pair of soccer shin pads that they no longer or rarely use to bring them into the gym. I will also be picking up a few pairs. They won't be mandatory for you to wear but if you are at all sketching on box jumps (and by that I mean if I am sketching on them for you)than I want you to wear them. Raegan was the first, but she won't be the last. So glad to hear you are feeling better Raegan. Look forward to having you back in here asap.

Time to lift heavy today kids. These max lifts days are just as important as the heavy cardio metcon's we do. We are going to do a quick hit at the end for fun but the most important part of Thursday is the Split Jerk.

Strength: Max Split Jerk

WOD:

3 rounds for time:

10 clapping push ups

10 medball cleans

10 second free standing handstand or 30 second against the wall

You are going to police yourself on the time for the handstands. If you don't have a clapping push ups than do a regular one.

Wednesday WOD -- Christine

First off big ups to Cam for getting his first muscle up today and Shadi aka dimples for dropping down her first pullup. Life has began a new chapter for both of you. So pumped for ya.

Wednesday WOD:

Tech: Overhead Squat 3x3 ...this should be heavy. Work your way up to a heavy triple and stay at that weight for three reps.

WOD: "Christine"

3 rounds for time:

500m row

12 bodyweight deadlifts

21 box jumps 20" box

Zoe -- 30 muscle ups for time

Tech: Muscle Ups/If you don't have a pullup or are struggling with the kip then we will work on that.

WOD: "Zoe"

30 muscle ups for time

if you don't have a muscle up than 1 muscle up = 3 pullups, 3 ring dips. The muscle up is one of the most challenging exercises we do in CrossFit and its a great upper body accomplishment to get one. For those of you who are still working on your first, tomorrow is the day. Check out the video of this guy below. He has great form on his kip and puts up a pretty bad ass time.

OPT WOD -- Steven Bunches Video

Optimum Performance is OPT, 2007 CrossFit games champions, gym in Calgary. He also runs CrossFit Calgary with Brett Marshall. Todays workout comes from his OPT blog. Should be a fun one. He is pretty big into force rest workouts which allow you to push the sprint drives harder on each rep.

AMRAP wall balls in 3 minutes
rest 6 min
AMRAP HSPU in 3 minutes
rest 6 min
AMRAP Row Cals in 3 minutes

Saturday WOD -- 9am class only

Note there will only be a 9am class Saturday. Come one, come all. This one should be a challenge. Its a longer WOD that combines similar body group exercises coupled with three different anaerobic tools. Thrusters and SDHP will be a medium weight depending on the athelete.

1 mile run

30 Knees to Elbows

30 Thrusters

600m row

30 Pull ups

30 Wall balls

200 Skips

30 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls

30 Burpees

Randy

Fridays Tech: Snatch. We are going to work up to a heavy single in the snatch.

WOD: "Randy"

75 Power Snatches for time

rx = m: 75lbs, w: 35 #

Enjoy this video of the snatch. The WR I believe has since fallen but good lord. Remember that weight is in KG. Pay attention to how fast they are able to retract their hips after extension. That explosion and power output is absolutely critical to become a good Olympic lifter. Get in the Den and lets lift some godamn weight!!