CrossFit Evergreen – CrossFit

“Trade your expectation for appreciation, and the world changes around you” – Tony Robbins

Routines and habits become part of the norm. Morning coffee, listening to the radio, the drive to the field taking the kids to practice. We appreciate healthy habits, and let’s continue to reinforce them.

However, there is much to be said about taking a pause to our day, to our routine. To appreciate the fortune in our lives. The absolute abundance we are so lucky to have.

In a world where comforts are the “norm”, we have to actively remind ourselves how good our lives are.
The thought of losing those precious parts of our day is a sobering one. Despite being a morbid thought, we will.

There will be a final cup of morning coffee for us.
There will be the last chance for us to listen to the radio.
And if we are lucky enough to have kids, there will be a last time we *get* to wait in traffic as we drive them to soccer practice.

As Tony Robbins quotes, if we can remove expectations from the norm, and replace them with a sense of gratitude, our entire world changes.

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Metcon

Jack Squat (Time)

For Time:

21 Front Squats, 21 KB Swings, 400m Run

15 Front Squats, 15 KB Swings, 400m Run

9 Front Squats, 9 KB Swings, 400m Run

Rx Barbell – 135/95

Rx Kettlebell – 70/53
Stimulus wise, we are looking for a loading that we are very confident we can complete that first round unbroken on. If our personal strategy calls for a break in the 21’s, we can do so, but if we had to, we are confident we could complete it unbroken. We are looking for all athletes to complete all sets with at most, a single break. This will preserve the conditioning stimulus.

In “Jack Squat”, we are again looking to complete all sets with at the absolute most, a single break per set. Modifying the loading to ensure that stimulus is met will bring about a conditioning-based 21-15-9 that we are after today. Let’s make this about our lungs and stamina, versus our absolute strength.

From a macro-level, we recognize that “stopping” is the last place we want to be in this workout. Stoppages will take place as we break on the barbell, or if a transition stops. To mitigate those, our first controller would be the runs. With only three 400’s, we naturally want to push our pace here, but not at the expense of stoppages. In other words, if we push the runs to the point where we need to break the round of 15 front squats due to metabolic reasons, we will likely be mismanaging our effort. We are looking at the runs as the “pacer” to ensure we have large, if not unbroken sets on the squats and swings. Once we have those sets dialed (stoppages minimized, or even eliminated), then we look to push the runs.

For a rough starting point on where this running pace should be, let’s start by visualizing what our 2 mile time trial run would pace like. It’s an aggressive pace, but one that allows us to continue to move inside the gym on the squats and swings.

Strength

Metcon (No Measure)

3 Giant Sets:

Max Dumbbell Bench Press (70’s/50’s)

12 Chest Supported Rows Dumbbell Rows

12 Lateral Box Step-Ups (6/side)

Rest 2:00 between.
On the DB bench press, we are looking to use the above load only if we can find at least 8 repetitions per round. We want a challenging weight here, but not to the tune of 3-5 reps per set.

On the following chest supported rows, this implies that our chest is propped against an elevated bench. Stacking the legs of a bench on plates, we can get some weight off the ground so that at extension, the dumbbells aren’t touching the ground. For this movement, we are looking to be completely horizontal.

On the final movement, we have lateral box step-ups. Here, athlete’s choice on loading and height. We are looking for six straight repetitions, completed with sound technique, before transitioning sides. Only load if we are feeling very strong in the movement.

CrossFit Evergreen – CrossFit

“To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone.” – Reba McEntire

As we start our day, let’s think about these three.

Wishbone – Nothing is too great, or out of reach. Faith and doubt are both self-fulling prophecies.

Backbone – The unbreakable will to give our best, regardless of the circumstances. Through the lens of the growth-mindset, every outcome is an opportunity to become better.

Funnybone – We do life for one reason: to enjoy it. If we aren’t enjoying what we’re doing, we need to find something else. As Oscar Wilde writes, “Life is too short to take things seriously.” Let’s enjoy the ride.

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Strength

50 Strict HSPU (Time)

For Time:

50 Strict Handstand Pushups

*10:00 Time Cap
Scale to DB Shoulder Press here. Record weight in the comments.

Metcon

Lead Foot (3 Rounds for reps)

“Lead Foot” Part 1

AMRAP 4:

27 Calorie Row

27 Burpees

27 CTB Pull-Ups

Rest 4:00

“Lead Foot” Part 2

AMRAP 4:

21 Calorie Row

21 Burpees

21 Toes to Bar

Rest 4:00

“Lead Foot” Part 3

AMRAP 4:

15 Calorie Row

15 Burpees

15 Pull-Ups
The row matters in this workout. We do not want to empty the tank by any means here, but we want to be out of our comfort zone here. In the short window (4:00), we want to maintain what we feel effort-wise to be our approximate 2K pace. We however are holding back enough so that we can fall right into our first burpee upon completing that row. Recall that when rowing for calories, they accumulate exponentially when we put additional power into it.

To feel this example as this is worth talking about, try this 3 minute practical application:

Row 5 calories slow. Then change the units to meters, and remember this number.

Reset and row 5 calories fast. Change the units to meters, and compare the two.

What you’ll find is that when we push on the calorie row, we actually have to do less work. We need to row less meters. Where 27 calories may take us ~300 meters to row slow, it may only take us ~200 if we did it fast. Now of course, this does not mean we should empty the tank on the row by any means, but it gives us an edge when we understand how calories accumulate differently than meters.

On the burpees, slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Practice the breathing burpee here. Take a breath after each rep, affording you a half-second to a full second of rest at the standing position, and then drop into your next rep. At rep ~22, slow your pace a touch. Use the last 5 burpees to recover with a slightly slower pace. The separator in this workout is the following station, the work on the PU bar.

Following the burpees, we are going to want to take a break. Take a chalk break, shake out the arms, maybe even a sip of water. Train with this thought today: “Just Start”.

The truth of the matter is that we do not need that rest. We don’t need the chalk. All we need to do is just start. Jump to the bar and get your first set in. It doesn’t have to be unbroken, nor does it have to be the majority of the set, it just has to be something.

CrossFit Evergreen – CrossFit

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Strength

Back Squat

4 @ 75%

2 @ 81%

4 @ 75%

2 @ 85%

4 @ 75%

2 @ 89%

Metcon

Isabel (Time)

For Time: 30 Snatches, 135# / 95#
To find the right stimulus of the workout, it’s less about going Rx. More about, finding a load that we can cycle for 10+ repetitions unbroken, when completely fresh. If we are beneath that, completing “Isabel” with 115/85, or even 95/65, is far better than grinding through a “heavy” workout. In the coming weeks and months, there will be plenty of heavy, grinding sessions where we want that feel. Not today however. Let’s preserve the sprint.

Strategy wise, as we started to talk about earlier, it’s often not the best idea to open up big (like we do in “Grace”). Moving straight to singles is a very common approach for many athletes, but there is no right or wrong here. The best way to think our strategy is to visualize the final 10 reps. This is the workout in “Isabel”. We can grind out the last 10 in “Grace”, but here, we are at risk of far more seconds lost in these final 10 power snatches.

The aim is to finish strong. To get the final 10 reps in the workout to be our most aggressive. It may not be our fastest (likely the first 10), but if we can back in to this workout, with those final 10 reps in mind as “the workout”, we naturally start to gravitate towards an appropriate breakup scheme early.

Some example rep schemes, purely for thought. 5-5-4-4-3-3-2-2-1-1 (30 reps) 9-7-5-3-3-3 (30 reps) 5-4-3-2-1 (15 reps… and move right to singles starting with that final 1) 3-3-3-2-2-2 (15 reps), and move right to singles following)

CrossFit Evergreen – CrossFit

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“Baby you can drive my car” (AMRAP – Reps)

In a Tabata workout, 20/10, complete 8 rounds of each of the following:

– floor wiper 65/55

– rollout

– get up sit up 25/15

– bumper curl 25/15

– bumper tri 25/15

– bumper steering wheel 25/15
– We will do 8 rounds of each before moving to the next exercise.

– total of all reps = score

CrossFit Evergreen – CrossFit

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Metcon

Metcon (Time)

5 Rounds:

7 DB Clusters 55/35

7 C2B Pull-ups
This version is Rx for today. Lucky 7’s will be the Rx+ workout today.

Lucky 7’s (Time)

5 Rounds:

7 DB Clusters 70’s/50’s

7 Bar Muscle-ups
Inside today’s workout, we have the dumbbell cluster. In full, both dumbbells start on the ground. The movement is a ground to overhead movement, passing through a squat. In other words, a “squat clean thruster”. Stimulus wise, it is a loading that we are confident we could complete 10+ repetitions unbroken, when fresh. Heavy and challenging, but not a load where we are reduced to slower singles during the workout. We feel confident that we can move through all sets with one break (4-3 as an example).

Standard wise, only a single head of the dumbbells need to touch the ground (if we are completing touch and go repetitions).

This combination will become grip intensive. Although pacing our met-con is a natural place for us to hone in on, movement and technique here today is critical. The dumbbell cluster is a movement that demands mobility and sound positioning. “Muscling” our way through repetitions early in this workout is exponentially more costly than with a barbell, given the need to stabilize two objects versus a single. Take extra time in our preparation phase to dial in this movement, as we can’t afford to muscle the reps today.

In the many parts of the dumbbell cluster, the focus is the rack position. In the receiving of the bells, it is paramount to find the back head of the dumbbell on the shoulder. In other words – to rack it. With dumbbells, we’ll naturally need to work more in the front rack position than compared to a barbell, but the better we can get that weight on the shoulders… the better we preserve our strength for the bar muscle-ups. And we need that to find our best time today. Despite the weights being on the heavier side, slow things down a bit if we need to during the receiving and squat portion. Priority number one, over an explosive squat our of the hole, is finding the weight to the shoulders. Otherwise, our upper body will be in for a long ride.

Strength

Metcon (No Measure)

5 Rounds:

5 Deadlifts (70%)

8 Bench Press (70%)

CrossFit Evergreen – CrossFit

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Metcon

Metcon (Time)

1,000 Meter Run

5 Rounds:

8 Hand-Release Pushups

30 DU

12 Supermans w/ 2 second hold (Rx+= Hip Extensions)

1,000 Meter Run

3 Rounds:

8 Hand-Release Pushups

30 DU

12 Hip Extensions

1,000 Meter Run

1 Round:

8 Hand-Release Pushups

30 DU

12 Hip Extensions