Friday 100226

'IF'
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat these two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you've given your life to, broken
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a man, my son!
-Rudyard Kipling

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
'Death by Pull-ups'
Do one pull-up the 1st minute, two pull-ups the 2nd minute, three pull-ups the third minute, etc., continuing as long as possible until you are unable to complete the prescribed amount of pull-ups in that minute.

Post rounds completed to comments.

Thursday 100225

"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable."
- Christopher Reeve

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
Straight-arm Plank Hold
3x Max Time Holds

WOD:
5 rounds for time of:
10 Burpees
10 Push-ups
10 Mountain Climbers
10 Sit-ups
10 Prisoner Squats

Post times to comments.

Wednesday 100224

You'll Be Fine - an article from Again Faster.

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
3 rounds for time of:
10 Pistols, Left Leg
15 Knees-to-Elbows
10 Pistols, Right Leg
15 Push-ups

Post times to comments.

Pistols. Use a wall for balance if necessary.

Tuesday 100223

"There is no limit to what a man can do so long as he does not care a straw who gets the credit for it." - Charles Edward Montague

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
Rotating stations between sets, complete the following for time:
100-75-50-25 Squats
5-10-15-20 Burpees
10-20-30-40 Double Unders

Substitute Tuck Jumps for D/Us if required.

Post times to comments.

Monday 100222

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will."
- Vince Lombardi

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
Squats
Work on perfecting form and getting as deep as possible.

WOD:
3 rounds for time of:
50 Squats
15 Handstand Push-ups
15 L-Pull-ups

Post times to comments.

Friday 100219

"Those who do not find the time for exercise will have to find the time for illness."
- Earl of Derby

Warm-up:
2 rounds of:
10 OH Squats w/ broomstick
10 Supermans
10 Sit-ups
10 Dips

3 rounds for time of:
21 L-pull-ups
21 Push-ups

Post times to comments.

Compare to 090806.

Thursday 100218

"Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles." - Alex Karras

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
10 rounds of:
30-second Handstand Hold
30-second Squat Hold
30-second Plank
30-second Dead Hang from Pull-up bar

Post impressions to comments.

Wednesday 100217

Any idiot can get on a treadmill and watch TV and then take great pride in the fact they’ve ‘exercized’. — Coach Mark Rippetoe

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill development:
Chest-to-ground push-ups
3x Max rep sets

WOD:
'Annie'
50-40-30-20-10 rep rounds of:
Double-unders
Sit-ups

Substitute tuck jumps for double unders, if required.

Post times to comments.

Tuesday 100216

"Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them."
- Ann Landers

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
Handstand holds (against wall)
3x max time

WOD:
21-15-9 reps for time of:
Burpee Pull-ups
Overhead Squats with a broomstick

Post times to comments.

Compare to 100113.

Monday 100215

Happy Family Day!

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
4 rounds for time of:
50 Squats
15 Pull-ups
15 Dips

Post times to comments.

Friday 100212

Performance is directly correlated with intensity. Intensity is directly correlated with discomfort. — Coach Greg Glassman

Warm-up:
2 rounds of:
10 Pull-ups
10 Supermans
10 Sit-ups
10 Dips

WOD:
Broken-down Burpees
For time:
50 Squats
50 Sprawls
50 Push-ups
50 Jump Squats

Post time to comments.

Thursday 100211

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible." - Arthur C. Clarke

Warm-up:
As always.

Skill Development:
Kipping Pull-ups
Work on form and getting a good strong kip in.
Use this link and watch all the videos on kipping to help learn.

WOD:
4 rounds of:
1 minute Straight-Arm Plank Hold
1 minute Push-ups
1 minute Straight-Arm Plank Hold
1 minute Sit-ups

Post total reps of Push-ups and Sit-ups to comments.

Wednesday 100210

BETTER THAN YESTERDAY!

(http://www.againfaster.com/articles/better-than-yesterday.html)

Warm-up:
Same as always

Skill Development:
Straight-arm Plank Holds
3x max time

WOD:
'Tabata Things I Suck At'
Pick 4 things you HATE to do. Your 4 WORST exercises.
Do a Tabata cycle of each, resting 1 minute between each exercise.
(A Tabata cycle is 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8 times)

Post exercises and total reps for each to comments.

Tuesday 100209

"To every man, there comes in his lifetime, that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered a chance to do a very special thing, unique to him and fitted to his talents. What a tragedy if that moment should find him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour."
- Sir Winston Churchill

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
21-15-9 rep rounds of:

Pull-ups

Handstand Push-ups

*use appropriate progressions for HSPUs if you can't do them (i.e. decline push-ups, trying to walk up the wall as high as you can)

Post times to comments.

Monday 100208

"There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to meet them." - Phyllis Battome

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
3 sets of max reps Double-Unders
If you get less than 10 per set, continue until you have done at least 30 total.

WOD:
30-25-20-15-10-5 rep rounds for time of:
Double-unders
Burpees
Jump Squats

Substitute tuck jumps for double-unders if needed.

Post times to comments.

Friday 100205

"There’s always something.

The bright lights. The Top 20 pop. Someone wanting to talk to you about the something about the time you did the thing.

Ignore them. Not nasty. Not with distain. Because now is the time, the moment when you concentrate on the task ahead, on the never-ending belief that what’s about to go down will go down, that you can’t be beaten.

Every ounce of psychic energy you’re about to bring to bear; it’s easy to disrupt, easy to kill. You have to protect it, feet on the ground, head down, focusing on the simple mental images of success.

Your next personal record, better than last time, better than ever, it’s right here in front of you, ready for the taking.

There is great power in the singular sight, the sole goal, the only reason you came here. Your next personal record, better than last time, better than ever, it’s right here in front of you, ready for the taking.

And now, you have to take it. Two words, three words run through your head, a tight, concise, pithy description of the end state, the moment right before the chest bumps and high fives and screams like a fifteen-year-old’s cracking voice.

When they try to distract you, jump in on your bar, talk about the suck, borrow your 5s, cure your stress, just stop. Look up, make eye contact, not angry but ready, and look back down. This isn’t about Community. Not now. This is about winning, succeeding, making yourself believe that what’s about to happen will happen, must happen, that nothing else can happen, the intellectual certitude followed by physical reality.

And then, get ready to go. Grip the bar. Chalk up, and remember that your momentary lapse in social nicety will be rewarded with what you wanted, the moment of apex. Your short, pithy phrase repeats until there is nothing else, no sound, no Top 20, no mats, no platforms, no nothing except a bar and a goal, the universe bent around you in a cocoon of now.

Don’t think heels down, chest up. Don’t think at all, because you don’t need to. You already did it, and miracle of miracles, what was supposed to happen happened. It’s over your head. It’s locked out.

And now, they fade back in. The sound of volume slow marching to full blast, clapping, screaming, backslapping rah.

You can give in, or you can go back. Sit down, shut your eyes, and bring pithy back. Because it’s not over, and you can shut it out again. Accept that this is just a step and not the end, and it will happen all over again. Another record, not a defining moment, but an ephemeral glimpse at where you were, the shallow footprint of an athlete who’s moving forward faster.

Ignore them, and bring it. Because there’s always something more."

- Jon Gilson, www.againfaster.com

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
3 sets of max reps Double-Unders
If you get less than 10 per set, continue until you have done at least 30 total.

WOD:
30-25-20-15-10-5 rep rounds for time of:
Double-unders
Burpees
Jump Squats

Substitute tuck jumps for double-unders if needed.

Post times to comments.

Thursday 100204

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." - Calvin Coolidge

Warm-up:
As usual, minus the push-ups

Skill Development:
Strict Pull-ups
3x Max reps

WOD:
For time
150 Perfect Push-ups
Each time your form fails, it counts as a fault.

When your push-ups are completed, do 5 pull-ups for each fault.

(A perfect push-up is chest-to-ground, and full lock-out at the top.)

Post times and number of faults to comments.

Wednesday 100203

"Most of the problems with the bodies and minds of the folks occupying the current culture involve an unwillingness to do anything hard, or anything that they'd rather not do. I applaud your resolve, and I welcome you to the community of people who have decided that EASY will no longer suffice"
- Coach Mark Rippetoe

Warm-up:
As usual
Add in 3 max time holds of Third World Squats

Skill-Development:
Max height vertical jumps
5 attempts

WOD:
AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
5 Burpee Pull-ups
10 Dips
15 Sit-ups

Post rounds completed to comments.

Tuesday 10201

Read this article.

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill development:
Third World Squats
3 x 1 minute holds (use something to balance if necessary)
...read the article and it will make sense...

WOD:
21-15-9 rep rounds of:
Burpee Tuck Jumps
Pull-ups
Sit-ups

Burpee Tuck Jumps are a Burpee, that finishes in a Tuck Jump.

Post times to comments.

Monday 100201

"I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids. With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. I will act now for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the person." - Og Mandigo

Warm-up:
As usual, minus the pull-ups.

Skill development:
Snatch balances (As seen here: http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/cfj-nov-05/snatch-balance.mov)
3 sets of 5 reps each. Focus on perfect form.

WOD:
'Death by Pull-ups'
Complete 1 pull-up the first minute, 2 pull-ups the 2nd minute, 3 pull-ups the 3rd minute, etc., continuing until you cannot complete a round.

Post rounds completed to comments.

Compare to 100126.