CrossFit Brisbane

Strength/Skills Session
Power Snatch, 5×5
Snatch 1-1-1-1-1
Front Squat 5×5
Prone Bridge 3xmax

Met Con Workout
10 rounds for time:
15 Dead Lifts (M60kg/F40kg)
5  HSPU (or scale to incline pike PU)

O-Lift Session
Power Snatch, 5×2
Power Clean & Jerk, 5×2
Front Squat, 4×5
Snatch Pulls, 4×5

Strength/Skills Session
Jerk from Rack Position 5×3
Front Squat 5×5
Snatch Deadlift 3×5
Practice Kipping Pullups

Met Con Session
One round for time:
30 Burpees
40 Jumping pullups
30 KB Swings, 16kg
40 Lunge walk
30 Knees to Elbows
40 Push Press, 20kg
30 DB Squat Clean, 15kg DB
40 Wall Ball
30 V-Ups
40 Double Unders

O-Lift Session
Power Snatch 5×3
Clean & Jerk, 5×3
Back Squat, 5×5
Snatch Pulls, 5×5

Strength/Skills Session
OH Squat 5×3
Snatch Balance 3×3
Hang Power Snatch 3×5 (light)
Clean Pulls 3×5
Met Con Session
Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

10 thrusters (M30kg/F20kg)
5 pull-ups (or 10 jumping pull-ups)
10 kettlebell swings (M24kg/F16kg)

O-Lift
rest!

Strength/Skills Session
Back Squat 5×3
Deadlift 3×5
Push Press 3×3

Met Con Workout
“Blackjack”
Complete the following for time:
20-1 reps / 1-20 reps pushups/situps, where
Pushups descend to 1 and Situps ascend to 20

O-Lift
Snatch, 3×3
Power Clean & Jerk, 3×3
OH Squats, 3×5
Clean Pulls, 3×5

Saturday detention

1 minute Ring Rows
1 minute Thruster, 20kg
1 minute Box Jumps
1 minute rest

5 rounds for max total reps.

It is time to lift our standards.  In general our pullups are not up to the standard set by the CrossFit community.  It is becoming too common to see forehead to the bar, or bent arms at the bottom of the hang being counted as a rep completed.

Lets make no bones about it.  Pullups are hard.  That is why you rarely see them being done in commercial gyms.  CrossFit does a lot of pullups.  That is one of the reasons why CrossFitters are strong.  But really, the main reason why get strong is because we do things poperly.  Full range of motion, correct movement patterns, accurate form and technique are essential components of the program, not optional extras that can be conveniently discarded as soon as the WOD has a lot of reps.

Let’s have some pride and set the standard where it should be.

A pullup is only a valid rep if it starts from full hang with arms extended, moves through full range of motion until the CHIN is above the bar (not the eyes) and then returns to a full hang. 

Ultimately, if you are cheating form, you are only cheating yourself out of improvement. 

Here are some things that suck …

• doing hyper-kips, getting hairline to the bar two reps in a row, getting your chin over the bar on the third attempt and then counting 3 completed reps (this should be 1 rep counted)
• getting chin over the bar then dropping to the ground from the up position and counting a rep (this is only a half rep, doesn’t count)
• jumping up to the bar and continuing to chin over the bar position, descending and then completing a pullup and counting 2 reps (the first is a jump pullup, it should only be a count of 1 rep)

Don’t train to suck!  One of the truisms in life is how we practice is how we perform.  If you are not strong enough to get your chin consistently over the bar, then continuing to perform half reps will not magically make you strong enough, it will just make you very good at half reps.  Do it long enough and you will actually start believing that half reps are all you can do, ie, you are somehow special.  Pullups are hard for everyone.  If you are not strong enough, then that is the problem not the excuse.  Get stronger and fix the problem.  How? slow descends, band pullups, partner assisted pullups, quality kipping practice, deadlifts, cleans, ring rows, high pulls, hanging.  How else? ask your trainer.  How else?  practice the suckers EVERY warmup.

As trainers we see very few people do the specified pullups in the warmup and very many people do dodgy pullups in the workout.  One day, I hope to see everybody doing pullups in the warmup and nobody doing dodgy form in the workout.

Here is some homework reading …

http://www.crossfit.com/journal/library/pullup_Apr03.pdf

http://stronglifts.com/how-to-do-pull-ups-and-chin-ups-with-proper-technique/

http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=51

Let’s lift the standard!  If your rep sucks, don’t count it.  If you are counting reps for someone and they don’t get over the bar, don’t count it.  If you are doing pullups and the trainer tells you to get your chin over the bar, that means your last rep sucked.  If getting told that your form is not good enough gets up your nose and makes you want to tell the person to “get f*****” then maybe you should take a step back and remember that you are here to get better, and that person is trying to help you get better.  Let’s not shoot the messenger.  Also, If you think trying hard somehow justifies bad form, I would like you to have a rethink.  Everyone is trying hard.

Strength Session
Back Squat, 5×5

Weighted Pull Up
5-5-3-3-3-2-2-2-1-1-1-1

Met Con Session
‘Nancy’
5 rounds for time:
400m run
15 OH Squats 42/30kg

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