Remember in January 2019 when CrossFit.com started posting all those pictures of older athletes doing scaled versions of the WOD with water jug deadlifts and L-Sits on a retro recliner? Many questioned Coach Glassman’s sanity then but 15 months later and those pictures and videos seem spookily prophetic. These days we’re all lifting jugs and cans and sacks of rice in our living rooms, dining rooms and car ports. I’ve often wondered if Glassman spends nights viewing the future in a crystal ball.
Lost in all the post 2012 Reebok marketing hype in the era of Rogue bars, Nike Metcons and the celebrity CrossFit athlete is the fact that the thrust of CrossFit from its very inception was to be a do-it-wherever-you-can, DIY fitness movement that yielded superior results because it is the training methodology, not fancy gyms with fancy toys, that makes you fit!
Every day since March 15th I get calls, texts and emails from strangers looking to rent or buy equipment because all the fitness stores are sold out and nothing is available online anymore anywhere in the world. They are envious when they hear that we have lent all our equipment out to Empower members. While I’m happy that our equipment is getting used but make no mistake, none of it is required in order to improve your fitness. I haven’t used a lick of equipment since we closed our doors and my improvised workouts are still moving my fitness forward. In fact, the necessary modifications may be forcing me to address fitness gaps that I was previously able to hide because of technical proficiency with our training tools. I expect to return to the gym a much improved, better rounded athlete.
Today group classes performed SLIPS and clean & jerks. Few of us could max out the weight with the tools available to us but it was an interesting technical lifting day nonetheless.
Feeling depressed by current circumstances? Turns out you are not alone. And yet you really are (except for those frequently annoying people you have to share a household with ALL day AND night). As we contemplated the imperfection of our present reality I asked group class participants to identify one good thing that has come out of this unprecedented self-isolation experience. No one’s saying they don’t want things to go back to normal but, in the midst of our difficulties there turned out to be a startling number of bright spots!
| Benefit | |
| Slow Down Life | DK |
| No School | Riot |
| No commute | Venom |
| More Time Outdoors | Intrepid |
| Improved Environment | Road Warrior, Hard Rock |
| Family Exercise | Smokey, DT, WOD Father |
| Realize Priorities | Dr. T, Doc Disc |
| Connecting with people | CPA, Rowdy, Pepper |
| Home Cooking | Crusher, Motor, G-Money, Doc Disc, Iron Dam |
| Time to accomplish More | Sprite, Julia, FeProf, Master Dray, Iron Dam, Jo |
| Family Time | Yeti, Boomer, Dauntless, Auto, DT, AV, Venom, Gymkata, Electric, Riot |
Tuesday Zoom WOD
QOD: What is your favourite scary movie?
Notes:
have something to deadlift
Have something to keep track( I like to cross off rounds as I go)
Scaling options after cool down
Warm up
3 rnds
1 min handstand hold
1 min skipping or penguin claps(su,du,tu)
1 min plank hold ( L,M,R)
Tech
3 rnds
3/3 RDL’s
5 bent over rows
Then
Test TU option and GHD option (V sit ups)
WOD
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
TU
Ghd sit ups
Deadlift 185/125#
Cool down
Calf drops
Hip cross overs
Pull overs
Happy baby
Scaling options:
Tu= 2x DU, 3x SU, or triple clap penguin claps
Ghd sit ups= V sit up progression or sit ups.
Deadlift= odd object deadlift, suitcase deadlift, log deadlift, etc
Beach Triplet
It’s funny, we’ve already got our go-to places for improvising WODs. Pull ups? Tree branch in Almond Park. SLIPS? Acadia Beach East. GHD Sit Ups and Deadlifts? Acadia Beach West. It’s too convenient not to. The log formation offers a perfect GHD set up AND there’s an appropriate weight deadlift log right beside it. Why would we even go looking elsewhere for that unlikely set up?
That left only the triple unders. Sure I have my own rope but I’ve no surface to skip on that won’t destroy it. Solution: jumps with triple claps. It’s a decent way to develop the timing and was sufficiently taxing, especially since I was doing this in the sand.
In round two my right leg, the one with a history of sciatica, was bothering me in the deadlift because of the slope so I turned 90 degrees to even out my stance. This required some twisting of my upper body but it was much better on that nerve which has been giving me some warning signs in these stressful times. A tough but satisfying repeat WOD.