• Open Men: Yoke+100lbs; Open Women: Yolk+40lbs
• Scaled Men:  Yoke+60, Scaled Women:  Empty Yoke
• Novice Men:  Farmers’ Carry 70lb KBs; Novice Women:  Farmers’ Carry 53lb KBs
• Master’s Men:  Yoke+60lbs

Every 5 yards the Yoke or Kettlebells are carried, the athlete is awarded a point.  The course is a 25 yard course so a maximum of 5 points is possible on any one pass.  Turning with the Yoke is not permitted.  Once an athlete reaches the end of the 25 yards they must clear the back pegs past the line, drop the yoke, turn around to face the opposite direction, pick up the yoke, and start carrying back the other way.  This continues for the 1 minute duration with the athlete accumulating as many points as possible.  A 1 minute rest period follows the 1 minute Yoke Carry.

Here are a few previous posts to help with the Yoke Carry. Most importantly make time to work on this and get your height settings before Saturday.
“Fun with Yokes”
“Yoke Walks”

Part 2:  Agility Course for Time

A short agility course follows the Yoke Carry.  The first part is Double Unders/12″ Lateral Parallette Jumps.

• Open Men & Women:  20 UNBROKEN Double Unders
• Scaled Men & Women:  20 Double Unders
• Novice Men & Women:  30 Lateral Jumps over a 12″ Parallette
• Master’s Men:  20 Double Unders

The Open Men and Women must perform 20 consecutive double unders without stopping or single unders in between.  If an athlete stops or messes up before the 20th double under they must start back from the beginning.  Scaled Men, Scaled Women, and Master’s Men are allowed to stop or perform single unders if necessary between double under reps.  Failed attempts do not count towards an athlete’s total count. Novice Men and Women will jump laterally over one of our white PVC parallettes that are 12″ tall.  Every time the athlete jumps over the hurdle will count as one rep.  Upon completion of the double unders or parallette jumps, the athlete must complete the rest of the agility course as quickly as possible.  Course details will be revealed on Saturday, but the finale is overhead walking lunges with a slosh pipe.  The slosh pipe is a very thick PVC partially filled with water.  To prevent damage to the slosh pipes, they are not available for use prior to Saturday.  In order for the Overhead Lunge to count the back knee must make contact with the ground and the pipe must be held overhead the entire duration of the step.  If either of these criteria are not met the judge will make the athlete return to the previous location before they can continue walking.  Novice Men and Women will hold the slosh pipe on the upper back as they perform the walking lunges.

Here is one previous post that may be of help for the agility course. One hint is that the entire workout will take place in the street, so practicing inside the gym can help but the surface will be different than the rubber mats or the slick concrete in the back.
“Sprint Mechanics”

Happy Birthday Katie M.! You may remember reading about Katie M. in a recent post as she successfully passed her California Physical Ability Test (CPAT), a huge step in the right direction towards fulfilling her goal of becoming a Firefighter Paramedic in the state of California. A regular in the noon and early afternoon classes Katie continues to work hard and make progress. Have a great birthday Katie!

I’d also like to wish Michael L. a happy birthday too. Mike has been a regular in my morning Barbell classes and after a hiatus away from CrossFit and lifting, has found his groove again. I apologize for a lack of a photograph, but if you’re one of the morning folks you’ll likely see him around Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings for Barbell. Happy Birthday Michael, and keep up the great work!

WOD 9.16.13

Back Squat 3×5/Wendler

3 Rounds for Time:
Three “Cindy” Rounds (5 Pullups, 10 Pushups, 15 Squats)
240m Run

*Upon completion of the WOD athlete has done 9 total “Cindy” Rounds*

This Saturday come on down to Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson to cheer on our 2 teams competing in the Dynamic Duo Quest, the first ever CrossFit competition of its kind.  The teams are 2-man teams of the same gender.  Strawberry Shortcake consists of Ruth and Holley, and Los Borrachitos consists of Jake and Brian.  Throughout the course of the day, teams will compete in 4 events, 3 of which are appropriately named after famous iconic duos.  The first event, “Who’s on First?” is the wreck of a WOD we did on Monday with 100 front squats (135/95), 100 chest to bar pull ups, 100 burpees, 100 box jumps (30″/24″), partner wheelbarrow, and 100 shoulder to overhead (135/95) with a 15min time cap.

The second event, “Yogi and Booboo”, is another one you are already familiar with if you were here last week on Wednesday.  That WOD consists of 7 ground to shoulder (165/115), 14 toes to bar and 5-10-15yd shuttle runs for 3 rounds per partner relay style with a 9min time cap.

The last two events are Floater WODs where teams will sign up for their time slots the morning of the competition.  ”Ren & Stimpy” has a 5min time cap where partner A builds to a 1 rep max ground to shoulder, shoulder to overhead (basically a clean and jerk) then with the remaining time partner B builds to a 3 rep max deadlift.  ”Starsky & Hutch” is an 8min row for max distance.

Team Strawberry Shortcake are in Women’s Rx Division Heat 14

Who’s on First @ 11:41AM

Yogi and BooBoo @ 4:38PM

Team Los Borrachitos are in Men’s Rx Division Heat 20

Who’s on First @ 1:23PM

Yogi and BooBoo @ 5:44PM

Once the teams have signed up for their Floater WODs, we’ll post those times to our Facebook page.  There is a $10 fee for spectators which can be paid at the door.  Several of us will be leaving right after the 9am and 10am classes on Saturday to support our athletes so we could probably get a carpool together for those interested.  Good luck Intrepid Teams!  We know you’ll represent well!

*CFI Games Announcement*

Did you know that there’s only 1 week left before CFI Games???  We will announce the WODs on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday next week but until then, we’ll be posting clues on our Facebook page!  We hope you’ve been working on your goats!

WOD 09.13.2013

Clean 2-2-2

In teams of 3, perform 3 rounds of:

• Row 500m
• AMRAP Bench Press in the time it takes your teammate to row 500m (135#/95#)
• Rest (Spot your teammate bench pressing)

The 2013 CrossFit Intrepid Games are less than two weeks away and we are ironing out the workout details, logistics, and schedule.  For those of you who find that CrossFit competitions are something you want to do more often, I encourage you to try the Randy Simmons Fitness Challenge on Saturday, Oct 19th at the LAPD Academy.  The Fitness Challenge is held in conjunction with a 5K Challenge Run and a 26 or 50 mile bike ride.  Most participants choose one event, but I’ve seen some also successfully do both the 5K run and the CrossFit style Fitness Challenge workout afterward.

For those not familiar with Randy’s story, he is the only LAPD SWAT officer to have lost his life in the line of duty.  It is the person that Randy was and what he stood for that this annual event commemorates, and donates the proceeds towards the Randal D. Simmons Outreach Foundation (you can read more in this older post).  The event started 6 years ago, but it wasn’t until 2011 that they added the Fitness Challenge.  CrossFit Marina has graciously run the past two Fitness Challenge events volunteering their time to plan and set up, their equipment, and coaches to help judge, and we hope to see them again this year.

Fitness Challenge participants can register as an individual or as part of a 4-person team.  Registration is $25/person until Sept 30th, after which it goes up to $30/person.  The 2011 workout was a “Fight Gone Bad” style of a workout and the 2012 event had two AMRAP 7 workouts, so there’s no telling what they have in store this year.  Teams can be mixed gender teams as the female weights will be approximately 70% of men’s weights.  If you’re interested in participating as part of a team please let Ruth and I know.  The event is a well run event and takes place at the scenic LAPD Academy near Dodger Stadium.  You can sign up for the 5K Run, 26 or 50 mile bike ride, and the Fitness Challenge online here.

2011 Team took 1st Place!

Men’s and Women’s Teams in 2012

WOD 9.09.13

Legendary Competitor Dynamic Duo Competition Workout #2

“Who’s On First?”
In Teams of 2, one person working at a time,:
100 Front Squats (135/95, 105/75)
100 Pullups (C2B, Chin Over)
100 Burpees
100 Box Jumps (30″/24″, 24″/20″)
30yd Partner Wheelbarrow Walk
100 Shoulder to Overhead (135/95, 105/75)

* Front Squat and Shoulder to Overhead – Once the barbell is lifted off the ground it may not return to the ground until all of the reps are completed. The team may hold the barbell in front rack, on their back, in the hang or hip crease. If the barbell is set on the ground there is an immediate 5 rep burpee penalty for each team member. Each team member will complete the burpees at the same time.

Happy Labor Day Intrepids. This past Saturday Intrepid Nation travelled to Red Wolf CrossFit in Huntington Beach, CA for the 2013 Summer Shakedown team CrossFit competition. In short, Intrepid Athletics had a fantastic showing and a huge thank you goes out to the 20+ Intrepids who personally came down to support our competitors. Your support and encouragement was invaluable. Here’s a quick recap with the final standings and highlights of the day’s events:

Asian Invasion – Placed 57th of 70

Mike K., Michael H., Alia, and Nicole (from Karma CF) put up an impressive showing.  Asian Invasion chose to perform WOD 1 first with Axle bar thrusters at 135/95, Toes to Bar, and Double Unders with a weighted rope.  Their teammwork was evident right from the beginning.  Just a couple of hours later they tackled the Floater workout with 2 minutes on the Ski Erg followed by 2 minutes of snatches. Finally they set the bar high in WOD #2 getting 13 muscle-ups in on the final part of the workout.  Kathy’s video clip below captures the amazing effort by Michael H., Mike K. (first time linking consecutive muscle-ups!), and Nicole’s buzzer beater muscle-up as time expired.

Grade A Boloney – Placed 41st of 70

Jake, Brian, Holley, and Avelyne were veterans having done this competition together a few times before. Despite a few communication miscues and nagging injuries, Grade A Baloney held nothing back. They chose to attack the floater workout first and performed very well on the 2 minutes of snatches, placing 23rd overall. The weight of the Thrusters in WOD #1 proved difficult, but they made up for it in WOD #2 where I thought they put forth their most impressive performance. I was particularly proud of Holley, seeing the improvement in her ability to do muscle-ups really helped her team. She was able to grind through the final muscle-up allowing her team to finish the last workout with time to spare.

Dirty 30s – Placed 23 of 70

Ruth, Anna, Jon A. and myself made up Team Dirty 30s. Overall I felt our team was well-rounded and at the end of the day we were all proud of our performances. We were the very first team to do the Floater Workout, and were the very first team to break in the ski ergs. Not having used a ski erg we weren’t sure how hard to push ourselves but managed a respectable score, and our snatch total was respectable too. Jon A.’s 40 snatches in 2 mins using 75# was an impressive score that not many other competitors were able to beat. In WOD #1 the Thrusters were heavy but Ruth made them look easy carry the team on her back during the Thrusters. The toes to bar were easy enough for us and I didn’t have much trouble doing the double unders with a heavy rope. I felt wrecked after WOD #1 and thankfully had about 5 hours to rest up before our next workout. WOD #2 was challenging but again I thought we put together our best performance and were able to finish in large part to Anna’s domination of the lunges and Jon A.’s impressive muscle-up effort at the end.

At the end of the day everyone was all smiles, and while the competition had its ups and downs, I think everyone thought it was a positive experience and could hold their heads up high knowing they gave their best. Look for Ruth/Holley and Jake/Brian to attack the Legendary Competitor Dynamic Duo Competition in two weeks just down the 405 a bit at CSU Dominguez Hills. Details to come as the time draws closer but the first workout has already been announced.

Happy Beleated Birthday to Mike S. Hope you have a fantastic birthday weekend!

Also, Happy Birthday to Renee! Renee has been enjoying her summer traveling and preparing for an upcoming marathon. We hope to see you back in the gym soon.

REST DAY

Today is game day! If you remember from Monday, Sean gave the details for the 2013 Summer Shakedown. In his post he mentioned the 3 teams that will be representing Intrepid as well as the floater workout. Since then, the last two workouts have been released.

The second WOD, named The Crucible, consists of a buy-in of 10 partner synchronized thrusters (axle bar) followed immediately by 20 toes 2 bar and 50 double unders. After the first round of toes 2 bar and dubs, one partner goes back to thrusters while the other partner holds the bar over head. Same concept goes for toes 2 bar, while one partner does work the other must hang from the bar. The thrusters and toes 2 bar increase every set by 5 and the dubs stay consistent at 50 total. One thing that the video mentions is that all teams must use the issued RX jump ropes from Red Wolf Crossfit. This is somewhat of a bummer for the athletes that have been using the RPM jump ropes.

The last WOD is Star Destroyer. This workout is 3 different AMRAPs in 4 minutes, 6 minutes, and 8 minutes. All teams will try and complete as many reps starting with 40 bupee pull-ups, 40 clean and jerks (135/95), 30 front lunges (135/95), and 20 muscle ups. The goal is to go as far as possible in all three AMRAPs.

Hope to see you all down there and we will do our best to keep the gym updated with our performances.

GYM IS CLOSED FOR SHAKEDOWN!

Not too long ago, Holley posted about having a Training Buddy.  Someone that you could train with, learn from, someone to help motivate you to be better or help give you a different perspective on a particular movement.  In the case of the Top 2 Fittest Women on Earth, Sam Briggs approached Lindsey Valenzuela to be her training partner before Games 2013.

“She comes from a strength background, I’m more endurance, so I thought what better person to train with than  someone who’s my complete opposite.” -Sam Briggs

Awesome concept, right?  As you start prepping for the Intrepid Games, this might be something you would like to do.  Partner up with someone whose strengths are your weaknesses.  Find out what makes them so great at pull ups, snatches, running, etc…  Are they focusing on something in particular?  Do they have a specific breathing technique?  Are they doing auxiliary lifts, working on skills, or mobility work before or after class?  Their willingness to get in that extra work to achieve their goals may be a great motivator for you to put in that extra work as well.  How ever you and your partner balance each other, as Holley said before, make sure the partnership is one that benefits the both of you.

As coaches, we can teach you how to properly execute a lift and give you tips on how to improve your range of motion but it’s your peers that will give you that extra confidence boost.  It’s the cheers from your training partner that will keep you pushing through that next rep.  It’s your training partner that’s out on the floor gutting along beside you.  Watch the interview of Lindsey Valenzuela and Sam Briggs partnership below.

WOD 08.30.2013

Back Squat 3 x 5 or Wendler

Partner WOD

As a team, complete:

1200m Row

80 Pull ups

50 Kettle bell swings

50 Ring push ups

50 Overhead walking lunges

50 Medball sit ups (tossing to each other)

* One person working at a time

* Must complete each movement before moving on

This coming Saturday, Aug 31st we have three teams competing in the 2013 Summer Shakedown CrossFit competition. Saturday’s competition is being held at Red Wolf CrossFit in Huntington Beach, CA. Teams for this event consist of two men and two women and our teams are scattered throughout the different heats. Team Asian Invasion consists of Mike K., Michael H., Alia, and Nicole (from Karma CF). They are in Heat 5 working out at 9:12am and 2:04pm. Team Dirty 30′s is Ruth, Anna, Jon A., and myself. We are in Heat 10 and our workout times are 10:42am and 3:59pm. Our final team is Grade A Boloney with Brian, Jake, Holley, and Avelyne. Grade A Baloney is in Heat 13 which works out at 11:36am and 5:08pm. These two workouts have yet to be announced so check back later in the week.

Saturday is shaping up to be a long day for our athletes since we all have to check-in before 7:30am. There is a third workout known as a floater workout because teams sign up on a first come, first serve basis when they’d like to complete this third workout. We won’t know our third workout times until the morning of and can keep everyone up to date on our Facebook page. All we know at this point is each team member will have to perform 2 minutes of something then right into 2 minutes of Snatches for max tonnage. The video posted is pretty vague.

Intrepid has been involved with the Shakedown competition since it began, and we’re excited to put our best effort forward on Saturday. Please come down and support our athletes this Saturday and enjoy the exciting atmosphere of the 2013 Summer Shakedown!

A big CONGRATULATIONS to Katie M. who is a relatively recent addition to the Intrepid family for passing the California Fire Fighter CPAT (Candidate Physical Ability Test) this past Saturday! Katie joined Intrepid with the primary goal of passing the CPAT and take the next step towards her goal of becoming a Fire Fighter Paramedic, and in the one month she’s been with us she accomplished just that. If Katie’s been a part of your class you may have seen her after class dragging sandbags around the gym, running with her weight vest, and putting in extra work that helped her reach her goal so quickly. Keep up the great work Katie!

WOD 8.25.13

Press 3×5/Wendler
Deadlift 1×5/Wendler

Cash Out: 150 Double Unders

I have a feeling I sound like a broken record at this point, but this Friday is your last chance to sign up for the Intrepid Games that takes place on Sept 21st, so if you haven’t yet, get on it! I really don’t think I can say enough to encourage anyone who meets the minimum novice requirements (or maybe super close, there’s still a month!) to participate. Competitions are great opportunities to PR and surprise yourself with your abilities. I have yet to participate in a competition where I didn’t surprise myself with a PR in strength or skill. More importantly, and you can ask everyone who participated in last year’s competition, you get to experience the support of the Intrepid community.

I came across a Games article today that really hit home to me on the community aspect of CrossFit, even during competition. The CrossFit Games website posted an article covering data from the results of the Games, called By the Numbers. There were some cool stats, like 7: the number of masters athletes that finished Nancy sub 11 min, 6:33.6: how much faster Val Voboril finished the event “2007″ that the original winner at the Games in 2007, Jolie Gentry, and the list goes on. The last number was the most inspiring, 210,000: the difference between first and second-place prizes. They then went on to say that on Sunday of the CrossFit Games with many events still to go, Lindsey Valenzuela (2nd place) and Sam Briggs (1st place) were spotted in the hallway going through each others bags to make sure neither had forgotten anything. With over $200,000 on the line, they still remained training buddies first and competitors second.

While we don’t have a Reebok level prize purse (sorry guys, the $35 entry fee is just to cover costs), as you can imagine, the attitude of your fellow competitors will remain the same. We are Intrepid family first, competitors second (or maybe third or thirtieth). There is no need to be anxious or nervous about this event, everyone there is supporting you and will be cheering you on 100%. So get a sign up sheet from you coaches in the next couple of days and do it! I promise you won’t regret it! If you have already signed up, make sure you get your goals up on the goal board and get after them, 30 days left!

We can still use more volunteers, so please either sign up at the gym on the board on the office door or email me @ [email protected]. Thanks!

Coach “Jake at Intrepid” is famous! Val Voboril mentions him in her chat with the guys from WODCAST PODCAST. Listen to episode 76 at about 1:13. He may not have recognized her at first, but she did say “he was great!”

WOD 08.22.13

Skills Day

Mobility: Pecs, hamstring, or hips
Yoke and Farmer’s Carry

Optional WOD:
NFT (Not for time)
6 x 15 yd Yoke Carry

Or

Row 2k
30 Burpees

I’m currently in conversations with RPM Fitness about hosting a jump rope clinic here at Intrepid. I’m pushing to get the clinic in prior the in house competition, but we don’t have a lot of time left. They are almost done outlining the details of the clinic, so to finish discussions more quickly, I need to hear from all of you. Please post to comments these two things:

1. If you’re interested in attending the jump rope clinic

2. What you hope to learn at the jump rope clinic. Do you just want to learn dubs? Are dubs proficient? Maybe you want to learn some more advanced skills like triples, quads, other tricks, or double dutch).

The coaches on the RPM fitness team are incredible jumpers, they put my skills to shame. They sold me on the jump rope at CrossFit Regionals and gave me pointers to improve my triples at the Games. After just 5 minutes of coaching, I hit a new triple under PR. If you’d like to see a sampling of their jump roping abilities, check out the 1 minute of double unders from my original post about the RPM rope. However, if 161 double unders wasn’t enough in 1 min, he beats his record here with 164 dubs in 1 min! He also does some pretty cool tricks in this video also found on the RPM website.

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m very excited to learn from the best in the world! As they say at RPM, don’t double under angry!

Also, the 2013 Intrepid Games are a little more than a month away and now is the time to sign up (just 9 days left)! There is a lot of planning that goes into the event, so the sooner we have and idea for number of competitors, the better! If you’re debating about what division to sign up for, we encourage you to sign up for the more challenging division. It will give you the drive to push yourself for the next month to get a handle on those last couple of pesky goats that have been following you around. We’re also in need of more volunteers, thus far we only have two. Remember, you can compete and volunteer. The volunteers won’t be busy for the entire event, we try to plan plenty of breaks for people. If you want to be busy for the whole event however, we can find something for you to do! Thanks in advance!

WOD 08.15.13

Shoulder and Calf Mobility

Running Skillwork

5 Rounds:
170m run
1 rope climb

I’ve touched on the subject before, but having a competition on the horizon helps you focus and prioritize your training, recovery, and nutrition…three things that find their way to the back burner oftentimes without you even realizing it.  Our goal with the Intrepid Games is to stimulate progress, and what better way than by putting yourself and your performance on display for your friends, family, and peers.  Sure it makes you nervous, but I’m here to tell you that nothing lights a fire under your ass like giving something your all in front of others.

Six weeks left, and if you’re like me you’re looking at Alia’s previous Intrepid Games post and looking at some of the categories trying to figure out what needs the most work leading up to the games. Once you’ve narrowed it down to a short list of 2-3 things, follow Alia’s guidance from yesterday’s “Goal Getter” post.  Hold yourself accountable to not only yourself but to your peers and coaches by listing specific goals on the new goal board. I took the initiative and started the list with two goats I’ve struggled with for as long as I can remember, Overhead Squats and Running. Although I’m not competing in the Intrepid Games, sometimes I need a reminder and the peer pressure to put in a little bit of work every day towards those movements I feel I struggle with the most. What are your two or three goats, and what are your goals leading up to the 2013 Intrepid Games?  Make them known on the Goal Board and get to work!

Thursday Night Yoga is back in full effect this week. Lauren and I have shifted the focus of Thursday’s Yoga session to be more restorative focusing primarily on stretching and relaxation to help balance the lifting and challenging workouts we do multiple times a week. If you’re goal is to improve or maintain your flexibility then Intrepid’s Thursday Night Yoga is the place to be. Sign up now using our online scheduler.

WOD 8.05.13

Overhead Squat 2-2-2

Chipper For Time:
50 Pistols
40 Pullups
30 KB Snatches (70/44)
20 Handstand Pushups
10 Ground to Shoulders (185/125)