It was Adrian's idea!

Not mine.

"NATE KILLER"
5 rds for time:
10 hang power cleans
20 pullups
30 kb swings

Adrian 24:22 (135lbs, 20kg)
Nate 25:32 (65lbs, 16kg)

Nice work fellas. Nate- did it do the job?

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Went heavy overhead today.

Press
6-6-3-3-1-1

Sammee 45-45-50-50-55-60
Mikey 75-75-70-75-80-90 (first two sets needed work on form)

Great job! Make sure you've got your eyes set on a good goal. Refer to this Strength Standards chart [PDF] for all your 1RM lifts.

CrossFit Total Meet @ Local's Gym this Saturday at 1pm!

Our Mikey

Continues to be our "best workout face" champion [click to embiggen!]:

Example A:

Example B:

Example C:

Example D:
Example E:

As he reigns as champion, I will continually put up pictures of Mr. Vu's workout faces.

RAINSTORM XI

Finally Washington is having some springtime weather. A big welcome goes out to Jason- thanks for stopping by!

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:
6 kb swings
4 broad jump burpees
2 laps around the building

Tammy 8 + 6, 4, 1
Nick 7
Jason 10 + 6, 4, 1
Dorian 9 + 6
Andrew 9
Adrian 9 + 6, 4, 1

Great job everyone! Remember- no RAINSTORM next week because of the CrossFit Total Meet at Local's Gym!

BE THERE!

Don't try this at home (or in public)

Chain Surfing - My oh my, how good is this guy's sense of balance?!

CrossFit puts balance in the 10 General Physical skills and defines it as "The ability to control the placement of the bodies center of gravity in relation to its support base." So whether it be holding the top position of a press (GOOD!), standing on one foot with your eyes closed (BAD) or standing on a bosu or swill ball (UGLY!) your body is constantly looking for it's center of gravity. One of the best examples of elite balance is the handstand. Try it. It also develops your proprioception, or the ability to sense the position, location, movement and orientation of the body and its parts.

An easy proprioception test:

• Stand shoulder-width apart with your arms wide open so that your body looks like a cross from the front.
  
• Close your eyes and tilt your head up so that you'd be looking at the ceiling.
• Without opening your eyes, take your non-dominant hand and touch the tip of your nose.
• Try it again with your dominant hand.

Could you do it on the first try?

"PULL!"

That's one of the cues I'm constantly yelling to athletes doing Christine which is a fantastic WOD. She takes three types of posterior chain movements: rowing, deadlifts (aka "clean pulls") and jumps. This is how I see the breakdown:

• Rowing is performed by aggressively pressing your heels down, opening the hips and straightening the back from an almost fetal position repeatedly to complete your assigned distance. Because it uses a number of major muscle groups in a rhythmic fashion it is oxidative, or aerobic.
  
• Deadlifting requires an identical movement (with exceptions), but because you are dealing with heavier loads and have less duration during the exercise you are now using the phosphagen energy pathway, which leaves your muscles feeling weaker lifting the heavier load repeatedly.
• Box Jumps find a happy middle ground with the glycolytic energy pathway. Yes, you are doing explosive work but it's "easier" to do higher repetitions. With an explosive snap of the hips with major assistance from the legs and posterior chain, you start from the ground and end up 20" or so flat-footed on a higher surface

Combine all three of these movements and you have some work ahead of you. Watch a video here [Windows Media Player]

Nate in his starting position

"CHRISTINE"
3 rds for time:
500m row
12 deadlifts, BW
21 box jumps, 20"

Nate 15:37*
Tammy 14:50*

Change!

We have changed our schedule. Most members already know what's up- we're just putting it up in better terms for everyone else. See it all here on the Schedule & Prices page!

Also, Saturday is our last RAINSTORM for April! The following weekend (Saturday 05/03) will be the CrossFit Total Meet at Local's Gym in Lynnwood. So make sure you head out, regardless of the weather, because good times are to be had.

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Daria and Gilles running around the corner

Big congrats to Gilles, Daria, Sammee, Adrian H., Nick, Adrian D., Tammy, Nate, and Andrew for all their hard work today! Rowing, snatching, sprinting and back squatting are no easy feats!

And another big thanks to Jesse over at Local's for an awesome workout this past weekend!

DOMS

Make sure you stretch multiple times daily! Stretching "sessions" aren't necessary, but make sure you get in some stretches throughout your day. If you're at work, take a couple of seconds to open up those hips, do some squats, throw your arms for some dynamic stretches (chest, shoulders), etc. It's important to keep moving even when you get that soreness a day or two after a workout.

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) mean you've built some muscle. Think of a getting a new broom. The bristles are new and stiff but after time and use, it becomes flexible and works well. Same thing goes for your body. That soreness is you breaking your new "bristles" in.

KEEP MOVING!

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7 Random Objects Sold As Exercise Machines

"Any idiot can build a better mousetrap, but it takes a special kind of individual, a genius if you will, to look at the existing mousetrap and figure out semi-plausible ways in which it could be used as an all-purpose exercise system."


[Read more.]

No RAINSTORM this weekend

We'll be up at Local's Gym playing Hooverball! We'll return to our normally scheduled week, uhh, next week!

Also happening this weekend: The Seattle Healthy Living Expo. Maybe all the WA CrossFits should start attending these kinds of events and show everyone up.

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Jon puts the bar overhead

Midline stabilization is essential to properly pressing something overhead. Without a strong foundation, buildings are weak if not already broken. It's the same with your body! Too many times in a "big box" gym you'll see dudes doing seated shoulder presses. Yeah, they might put up some impressive weights, but it's with crap range of motion and no midline stabilization aka "core strength". If you really want to better your body and gain real strength try standing and using a barbell (NO SMITH MACHINES). Go light until you're form is correct. Abs, glutes, hips, and low back contracted throughout. At the top of the movement the barbell, your elbows, ears, shoulder, hips, knees, and heels should be aligned. Try this workout:

7 rounds for time:
12 (strict) presses, 95lbs
21 situps

See how you feel the next couple of days!

NEW WORKOUTS?!

for time:
30 bear complexes, using your wife as the weight.



*note: Foundation CrossFit does not advise you to do this workout more than once. Dropping your wife is dangerous and risks the following (but is not limited to): her health, your marriage, your sanity, the children (if any), that big bed you have, your car, as well as all of your other prized possessions. And let's not forget that bank account.

----

So if you've haven't heard already, CrossFit HQ posted up a new WOD yesterday

"Quarter Gone Bad"
5 rounds for total reps:

15 seconds of thrusters, 135#
45 seconds Rest
15 seconds of weighted pullups, 50#
45 seconds Rest
15 seconds of burpees
45 seconds Rest

Hmm. Dwinson was our guinea pig! We subbed weight for the obvious intimidation factor. His score was 71. We'll see how this one ages.

RAINSTORM X: Electric Boogaloo

Again this Saturday we're inviting EVERYONE out to our free weekly workout! We're gonna do this ... with kettlebells!



Come dressed in red and black- don't forget your berets! Although the forecasts say we'll see some sun, we know that WA has been a bit unpredictable, so bring the necessary warmups. WE HAVE MOVED THE TIME UP TO 11 AM! TAKE NOTE AND SHOW UP EARLY!

By the way, we're canceling next week's RAINSTORM in favor of Lynnwood Crossfit's Surrender Your Sweat Saturday!

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The Dalai Lama is here in Seattle for the weekend!

His presentation will be broadcast on Kong 6/16 @ 1:30pm

Cleaning House

Wonderful work done today. With persistance and determination you folk will be putting up WAAAAY more weight sooner than you think!

"ELIZABETH"

Tammy 5:05*
Jessie 5:13*
Nate 9:38*
Mike 6:10*

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Ross Enamait put up a fantastic new article on his site: Sledgehammer Training II



What a beast. He looks so animated when he moves. Like some CG rendered graphic put on repeat!

The Muscle-Up

The Muscle-Up is truly a hidden gem. You sometimes hear of them, but you rarely hear about people doing them. Why is this? First, the mainstream fitness crowd does not like to be challenged. The muscle-up requires patience and dedication to master. Second, they require rings (note: they can be performed on high bar, but it's a bit different and harder) and rings have not been a part of the mainstream training community since the early 1900's. Back then, gymnastics was not just for kids and professionals. In fact, the old training gyms of the past looked like gymnastics facilities with weights.

In the past few years though, the muscle-up has come back in a big way. Training programs such as CrossFit make regular use of the muscle-up. According to the CrossFit Journal, written by Greg Glassman, "The muscle-up is astonishingly difficult to perform, unrivaled in building upper body strength, a critical survival skill, and most amazingly of all, virtually unknown."

[SOURCE]


Congrats to Dwinson for getting his first muscle-up today! He "definitely" thinks that the tradeoff (the skin off the bottom of his palm) was well worth it. Well done dude.

I wasn't going to say it

But our RAINSTORM workouts usually bring out good weather, even if it starts out cloudy and rainy.

21 deadlifts
15 presses
9 squat thrusts
farmer's walk around building
21 presses
15 squat thrusts
9 deadlifts
farmer's walk around building
21 squat thrusts
15 deadlifts
9 presses
farmer's walk around building
sprint to stoplight

Adrian 13:28, Weight Plates 35#
Daria 20:54, Dumbbells 15#
Dorian 13:05, Weight Plates 25#
Gilles 20:50, Dumbbells 30#
Kathy 18:19, Dumbbells 25#
John 17:00, Weight Plates 45#
Justin 12:45, Barbells 45#
Mike 20:40, Weight Plates 35#
Nate 14:25, Kettlebells 35#


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And guess who was on the main site looking uncomfortable as hell?


Nicole was putting us through the wall dip drill. We don't mess with that much sun up here in Washington.

El Oso

The Bear Complex is a work of art- starting with a bar in the high hang position, an athlete executes a power clean. From the rack position they perform a front squat and then a push press. Next the athlete carefully places the bar onto the traps in back squat position to, well, back squat! Complete that movement and another push press is done. Rinse, wash and repeat!

Demo Video:
The Bear Complex WOD [Windows Media] or [Quicktime]

Grant 14:29 (95# x 5)
Adrian 15:02 (115#, 95# x 4)

Work and Relaxation

Great work done by everyone this week! Heavy front squats, lunges, pullups, a million knees-to-elbows and sandbag carries while wearing the flac jacket couldn't stop you!

In honor of your hard work, and my apologies for such a late notice, after this week's RAINSTORM at noon we will meet at Banya 5 at 4pm sharp for some rest and much needed relaxation!


from Banya 5.com:

Banya 5 is an urban spa and health facility which offers a unique blend of old world wellness rituals in a friendly contemporary environment. A series of relaxing wet heat and dry heat experiences coupled with exhilarating pool plunges produce a vivid circulatory experience with numerous mental and physical health benefits. Banya 5 is an environment which promotes wellness, vitality and rejuvenation of the soul.

...

In Russia, sweating and health are virtually synonymous. From 1877 to 1911, more than 30 medical dissertations were published in Russia about the healing powers of the banya. Even today the attitude of the banya as a panacea is found in remote villages where traditional folk medicine prevails.

DISCOUNT FOR EVERYONE WHO COMES WITH US! Meaning $20/person (vs. the normal $40 entrance fee). Only thing you have to bring is some water-wear (board shorts, bikinis) because they provide towels and flip flops if you don't want to bring any. The best part is that you can stay as long as you like! They also have a tea service upstairs and other things like massages, body wraps and scrubs, waxing and facials. Check out their website for more info.


And hey! CrossFitters everywhere are invited- you don't have to be a member of our gym to come! Call or email me Andrew@foundationcrossfit.com for anything you might need. We'll need RSVPs for a head count.

SEE YOU SATURDAY!