Thankfully, no one lost their head at the end of the workout on Thursday (although I don’t really have any pics to prove it sadly).
However, after a few heavy workouts, and with a lot of people going for some new 1 rep maxes this week, class took on a few body weight exercises for Thursday’s class for a change of pace.
Things started off with a quick review of the hollow-position progression, with class holding each variation for 20sec. The progression went as follows:
– legs bent with feet pressing into the floor, with the arms OH and shoulders up;
– knees pulled into chest, with arms OH and shoulders up;
– 1 knee into chest with the other leg extended, with arms OH and shoulders up;
– as above, but with legs switched.
After the skill session, class was split into two groups, with one tackling Met-Con #1 and the other Met-Con #2. There was a brief intermission, and then the groups switched places to finish off the evening.
Kipping was allowed for the pull-ups, with scaling options provided by a variety of bands.
After a few minutes of rest, everyone hit the floor for a few rounds of Hollow Rock work, just to see if people were really paying attention at the beginning of class. A few more minutes of rest, and it was time to switch.
Push-up scaling was to whatever would give you full ROM (chest to floor), whether it be on the knees, to boxes, to tables, or to the wall. Overhead was prescribed for the KB swings (“American” style), but were scaled to eye-level swings for anyone uncomfortable taking the weight over-head (“Russian” style).
Good luck to everyone participating in Amazing Grace tonight (Fri, Oct. 28). If you’d still like to participate, feel free to check out the info from Sunday’s blog post – I know there’s still room, and, honestly, the more the merrier, right?
Also, a huge congratulations to Dan and Lizzy who got engaged over the past weekend:
Also, best of luck to MacKenzie who’s running the Marine Corp Marathon this Sunday. This will be MacKenzie’s first marathon, but she’s been training hard and I know she’ll do great. If you want to see how she’s doing during the race, you can track her through this website (her bib number is 8444).
Both classes this Sunday will be outside as the gym will be closed for a church function. Sunday’s predicted to be warmer than tomorrow (40!?!), but not by much (47), and certainly not by 10AM. So please dress appropriately, and be sure to bring plenty of water as we may not have access to any outside. Don’t worry, once you get there, we’ll be sure to raise that body temp.
The plan is to meet at the gated entrance to the parking lot, and then walk over to our designated workout spot as a group (Mitchell Park is a possibility, but we’ve been known to take over Rock Creek before as well).
Feel the need to get your recovery on, but don’t like paying gobs of money for a massage? Well, our own Joanne Goodwin has a solution. If you didn’t know, Joanne just graduated from the Potomac Massage Training Institute up in Friendship Heights, and passed along this information regarding massages offered from the school:
The school, Potomac Massage Training Institute, has two clinics where people can get cheap massages.
In the student clinic you can get a massage from a second or third term student (there are 3 terms total) for $37. A massage from a second term student will be Swedish, which is great for recovery and relaxation. A third term student will incorporate some deep tissue work into the session. When you sign up, you can’t choose which you’ll get.
In the graduate clinic, all massages can include deep tissue massage. Practitioners have graduated from school. Some have been working in the clinic for a while; others just graduated in July. These sessions are $55.
The school is located at 5028 Wisconsin Ave NW, suite LL, near the Friendship Heights metro stop and about half a block from Rodmans. The phone number is: (202) 686-7046
If anyone has any questions, they can contact the school or ask me.
Also, here’s a link to the school’s web site describing the two clinics: http://www.pmti.org/index.php?id=31
There you have. Now get your massage on!
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10 Comments
My strengths and weaknesses were on full display last night. Pull-ups and box jumps are about as good as it gets for me, whereas heavy kettlebell swings and push-ups are about as bad as it gets for me. Last night might have been the first time I’ve swung the the 70# bell (a.k.a. “the big donkey”) since the my days at CityFitness. I scaled down to Russian-style swings, though, because I didn’t feel comfortable taking the big donkey overhead.
Going back to Chris’ discussion on Tuesday regarding scaling, I definitely should have scaled down the number of push-ups. 15 was too many for me, and I lost the intended benefit of the workout by sitting on my knees waiting for my arm strength to return. 8-10 would have been a more appropriate number or reps and would have allowed me to maintain intensity.
Looking forward to braving the cold on Sunday. Will we have access to the bathroom, or any bathroom for that matter?
Do the bushes count?
For me they do. Not sure about our female counterparts.
Congrats Lizzy and Dan!!!
no polluting of the bushes!
WRT bathrooms: I thought CFDCers did the hardcore marathon runner thing and just let it happen? My bad.
Lots of firsts for me this workout – kettlebell swings, box jumps, and pull-ups. My shoulders are feeling it today. I used a 16 kilo kettlebell for the swings; the toughest part was keeping it controlled. 12″ box for the box jump (and I stepped down) — I was a little hesitant to do box jumps (particularly after seeing the carnage last Sunday), but I did it and was getting the hang of it by the end. I used the thick resistance band for pull-ups and I was struggling to get my chin above the bar by the end. I scaled with push-ups on the table — these felt great, I was able to get full ROM, but my arms were still shaky by the end of 15 reps. Much better than the slight elbow bends I get with knee push-ups, and clearly I worked hard enough because my muscles feel it today.
One of the things I was most concerned about starting CrossFit was the scalability — I thought I wouldn’t be able to do most exercises at all. I had heard it was “infinitely scalable” but doubted that; my first few weeks has really shown me how true that is. I guess one benefit of starting at a lower level of fitness/strength is getting used to scaling.
Congratulations to Lizzy and Dan!
Congratulations to Lizzy and Dan!!!
And good luck Mackenzie!!!
Congratulations to Lizzy (my Thursday warm-up partner) and Dan!
This workout was an ass-kicker. I started with the push-up/kettlebell swing combination. I used the 24 kg kettlebell and did “American-style” (overhead) swings. Thanks to Coach for the technique tips for the overhead swings (drive the head through, keep the chest out, squeeze the glutes on the up-swing). In hindsight, I do think that I could have used the 28 kg (or maybe even the 32 kg) kettlebell. My push-ups were competition-style for the most part. I completed 5.5. rounds.
I’m glad that there were hollow-rock holds in between the two met-cons. It gave my forearms a breather…
…but it was not enough. The box jump/pull-up combination killed me. 🙂 I completed only 2.5 sets rounds here.
A good workout, yes, but still an ass-kicker. 🙂
“Not too bad for an old man.” – CFDC’s own ODB