ALBANY CROSSFIT

The one with no name...

Tonight's workout was challenging to say the least.  Everyone's grip and forearms were just about ready to explode after ten rounds of knee to elbows immediately followed by pullups.  A few rips and tears but nothing too drastic.  Make sure to take care of those paws.  File, shave, cheese grate those calluses, and moisturize!  Is this a salon or a gym?

 

We are about to complete our 4th week of the new programming...what is your opinion?  We have been hitting a strength component before every MetCon, working with percentages during our WODs, and keeping the WOD to usually under 20 minutes.  Are you enjoying it?  Do you see an increase in your strength?  Is your performance improving?  We want feedback and everyone's opinion is important.

Tracey is doing absolutely fantastic!  We can see such an incredible change in her body.  All after only 4 weeks.  But, hey, that's what happens when you hit the Paleo Challenge at 100%, push yourself during the CrossFit WODs, and throw in some kettlebells for good measure.  Great job Tracey, looking awesome!

Our 10am class will be moving to 9am beginning Monday, July 20th.

Check out Morning Mayhem - Ladie's Night!

"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go."  --William Feather

Two girls in Two Days!

Great job with scaling tonight.  Just about everyone was able to finish "Diane" in under eight minutes.  That means we did a good job with 55% of our Deadlift and a nice job choosing the appropriate scaling for the HSPUs.

Two of our newest women are doing fantastic!  Linda and Mary Pat have been coming in about two weeks now and are already starting to make some tremendous progress.  They have been coming in consistently and challenging themselves more and more on a daily basis.  We look forward to some exciting improvements from these two!

We are just about halfway into our Paleo Challenge and now we are really seeing some improvements.  Performance, physiques, moods, attitudes, is the Paleo Diet the cure for everything?  Here is a list of the athletes we have as registered and paid for the Paleo Challenge, if you don't see your name, let us know ASAP.  Nicole C., Buzz, Rich, Deja, Nicole H., Jared, Jackie, Bert, Katie, Kai, Jen C., Tracey, Kim, Ali, Adrianne, Anne, Nicole R., Fuji, Chris, mark, Jason, Amanda, Dave W., Mike Mc., TIm, Sasa, Laura, and Camille.

Check out Brett's Link of the Day...a fun trip, who is interested?

 

Everyone is looking more confident with their HSPUs.  Still a movement we need to work on to get more people hitting it as prescribed.  Two questions:  1.  What is the movement you feel you need to work on the most?  2.  What movement do you think you have improved the most on?  Post your thoughts to comments.

 

"Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can." --Richard Bach

CrossFit does not correlate to dizzybat skills

Matt Kull is a badass.  He tore through "Candy" today in just under 25 minutes completely rx'd including chest to bar pullups, perfect pushups, and beautiful air squats.  Matt will be leaving us August 1st but has become a complete firebreather during his time here and it is our pleasure to watch him destroy WODs.

Great to meet Ben from LA as he stopped in for a quick PR on the clean and jerk and a domination of "Candy"!  He scored the second best time of the day, as he was narrowly beat by our bodyweight WOD wrecking machine Shye by 2 seconds with a 19:00.

Things have quieted down a bit with the Paleo challenge.  How is everyone doing?  We are constantly hearing, "I have lost weight", "I feel better", "I'm stronger", "That's a PR".  Let's post some of these thoughts to comments.  Give something for people to read and believe, so everyone stays motivated.

Oh yeah, not sure if the above title matters to anyone, but it was mentioned by Dave Walker, so we thought we would inform anyone thinking of playing dizzybat.

Link of the Day

Check out this great article about the CrossFit Games.

All those weirdos with Vibrams might be right...read here.

"I want to have a good body, but not as much as I want dessert.'  --Jason Love

Athlete of the Week

"Is it possible to already be addicted?"  Once we heard these words from Sarah Johnson we knew it was already too late...yes, you are officially a CrossFitter.  In just a few short weeks Sarah has blossomed from a skinny girl into a strong CrossFitter.  Usually with her father Arnold by her side Sarah has been setting PRs left and right, as well as banging out some of our standards for the first time.

Sarah has already showed the dedication and determination it takes to be a true CrossFitter.  Showing up consistently 5 times a week and putting out her very best every time.  Sarah is always all smiles, super friendly, and a big part of why our community is so amazing.  Already she has become friends with so many of our other athletes and has been spotted cheering, hanging out, and being a complete social butterfly.

A Paleo Success Story from Jackie:

Just wanted to tell you that I feel like I'm "turning a corner" with my workouts.  It's got to be the Paleo.  Plus, when I watched that CrossFit movie, one guy said you have to go no place you've been before when it comes to the workouts...so I'm trying to do that.   I almost feel sick when I'm done, but I notice my form it totally improving.   I have cheated just a few times on Paleo, but am sticking to it as best I can...chicken for breakfast, etc., etc.  I'm excited!!!  Thank you!!!!

Stay up to date with all things Albany CrossFit:

Our nutrition blog is a great source of information for all things paleo.

Do people really workout at 5:45am?  Read about the crazy folks that do on Morning Mayhem.

Need more CrossFit?  Check out our Link of the Day.

Follow us on twitter!

Who is the fittest man and woman on the planet?  Check out the 2009 CrossFit Games.

 

“If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with.” --Michael Jackson

It doesn't have to be fun to be fun!

When is an intense, grueling, punishing workout fun?  When it's a team workout on a Saturday morning at Albany CrossFit!  Starting with 2 miles or running, Wall Balls, Push Presses, Jumps, Rowing, Swings, and finishing with deadlifts, is not your average person's idea of a good time.  But, at Albany CrossFit we are not average people, and everyone was sweating, bleeding, and smiling!

We were so proud of Andrew V. during today's WOD.  More then anything he wanted to give up as he felt he was letting his team down.  But, we encouraged him to continue and helped him understand as long as he was giving his all and doing his best that's all we can ask.  It was really great to see his team of Jen G., Kwame, and Theresa rally behind him and push him to finish the workout. 

John Marro has been really picking up his performance these last few weeks.  John was the first one back from the run and then came back super fast from his team's one-mile run.  After the workout he had a quick run-in with "Pukie" and was heard saying, "Jay, that was the first time you made me puke in like 5 years"...where else can you hear this stuff?

Thanks so much to Camille for organizing and picking up our meat order! 

Don't forget to check out our all new Blog - Link of the Day...stay informed!

Are you on our "athletes" page? 

Who is in the July Challenge?

"We must all hang together, or assuredly, we shall all hang separately." --Benjamin Franklin

Mass Hysteria

At Albany CrossFit not only do you have to work hard...you need to think hard.  For many of you, the working out is actually the easier part of the WOD! 

"Red Rover" was an exciting workout for a beautiful Friday.  Teams of 3 got together and worked cohesively to see how many point they could score while sprinting, swinging, and hitting burpees.  Strategies were definitely in play, but often lost as teams were cracking under pressure.  The team of Coach Matt, Marine Mike, and the Red Devil had a strong plan going into the workout but once things got started they were in a tizzy and just did what they do best and busted their butts!  

6:30pm class celebrated "Happy Hour" the right way, with a KBs, Burpees, and running.  The women (Kari, Angie, Katie, Kia) represented at they kept up with the men (John M., John N., Alex, and Ernie), all while swinging the 55 pounder.  Ultimately they fell two rounds behind, but put in a phenomenal showing.

We are super excited for tomorrow's team workout.  Show up ready to go as close to 10am as possible.  We will do a quick recap of the event structure and rules and be set to go.  Since equipment setup is part of the workout we should be set to get pretty quickly.

 

Check out our all new blog - Link of the Day.  Coach Brett is going to be posting a cool CrossFit related link every night. 

 

Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night. --Woody Allen

Read Carefully - Be ready for Saturday!

There will be only one class on Saturday at 10am and it is going to be a blast.  Pay attention, there will be rules and you will be required to have read and understand them.  Sue, Marie, Anne...you may want to read this twice!

We will break into teams of 4 athletes.  Each team will consist of two men and two women.  In the case of an odd number we will work it out.  If possible, please post to comments that you will be attending class so we can start to create the teams.

There will be two parts to the workout for every team.

General Rules
1. Each workout will be performed by two men and two women from the team.
2. The movement standards are typical of Albany CrossFit unless otherwise stated.
3. Teams will benefit from strategies that consider the relative strengths of their athletes, particularly in terms of the work/rest demands of different positions in the workouts.

Run Workout
3200m (approximately) run relay

Rules:
1. The first athlete will run one lap (approximately 400m) carrying a short piece of PVC.
2. At the completion of the lap, there will be a well marked transition area in which to pass the PVC to the second athlete, who runs one lap with the PVC.
3. This repeats until all four athletes have run one lap with the PVC.
4. The team then runs one final mile together.
5. When the last athlete crosses the finish line holding the PVC the team can then move on to begin the stadium workout.  The team cannot begin Part 2 until all 4 members of the team are back from the run.

Stadium Workout
30 Wallballs (20lbs/14lbs)
Row 300m
30 Box jumps (24")
30 KB swings (24kg/16kg)
30 Push press / Push jerk (95lbs/65lb)
30 Deadlifts (225lbs/135lbs)

Rules: 

1. The workout will begin with a 3...2...1...Go.  At this point each team is required to set up their equipment in a safe orderly fashion.  When they believe they are set and ready to go, they will find a coach that will "ok" them to start the exercises.  With the exception of the row, all movements will be completed outdoors.
2. The wallballs are performed one athlete at a time, starting with the women. When all four athletes have completed the wallballs, they move on together as a team.
3. The middle four drills are then performed together in "Annie R U Ok?" format, meaning all four team members start at different stations at the same time. They rotate in the order listed once all four athletes have completed the rowing and reps. When all four athletes have completed all four drills, they move together to the deadlifts.
3. The barbell will be pre-loaded with 225lbs. Both men will perform 30 deadlifts each, and then the team will be responsible for removing 90lbs. Both women will then perform 30 deadlifts each.
4. The clock stops when all the movements are completed and then the equipment is returned neatly and safely to it's proper place.  At that point the team will get a coach and their time will be recorded.

 

“To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, Hey, can you give me a hand? You can say, Sorry, got these sacks. - Deep Thoughts (Saturday Night Live)”