Shooters Choice

Back Squat 5RM or 1RM
*Set a PR

4 Rounds
45 on 15 off of:
Wall Balls (20/14#)
Russian Twist (16/12kg)
Double Unders

Post 5RM or 1RM to board- and total reps.

Press

Strict Press
5-5-5

8 min AMRAP
3 Push Press (115/75#)
5 Ball Slams (18/9kg)
7 Weighted Sit Up *Scale up T2B

Post heaviest 5 and rounds to board.

Swinging in the rain

Hang Power Clean
6x2 @ 90% of 2RM (22/2)

Scale down Deadlift 5RM (add 5#)

OTM for 14 min
Even 10 Sledge Hammer Swings
Odd 10 KB swings (32/20kg)
Sprint 50m

Why do the Olypmic lifts (snatch, clean & jerk)?

Why do we do the Olympic lifts?  Yes, they are fun and challenging, but what else are they good for?

If you are interested in general fitness, strength, and conditioning, the Olympic lifts are an excellent way of developing strength, speed, agility and balance -- four keys to being fit, and remaining mobile and health as you grow older.  They are technically challenging -- which can be initially difficult, but brings with it its own intrinsic rewards as you slowly develop mastery and speed. 

Pui with a successful jerk cheered on by Miriam...

The Olympic lifts require good overall mobility, as they involve our hips and shoulders -- two of the most important joints in the body -- but it is mobility coupled with control and strength. As CrossFit athletes, we want to develop strength AND mobility -- being strong and lacking mobility isn't good, nor do we want to be mobile or flexible but weak.  The Olympic lifts help develop both these key aspects of fitness.

If you are involved in other sports -- from basketball, ultimate frisbee to golf or running -- the Olympic lifts and their variants can be tremendously helpful as well.  Jace Derwin has a great post up on Lift Big, Eat Big on Olympic weightlifting that is worth a read: Olympic Weightlifting For Sports Performance:

Olympic Weightlifting is not only an incredible sport in and of itself, but its use as a training aid to other sports may be the most transferable form of time spent in a weight room.  The point of emphasis for athletes shouldn’t have to be within the competition standard (though it doesn’t hurt) but instead on the RATE OF FORCE DEVELOPMENT.  RFD simply means the speed at which force can be produced.  Stronger athletes can produce more force, but the SPEED at which this takes place is the more important figure, specifically in sports where sprinting, jumping and throwing are used.  This is where O-Lifting reigns supreme, for it is the best way to move the most amount of resistance in the fastest way possible.  You have to train fast to be fast...

If you are involved with a form of competition outside the world of strength sports, consider adding in Olympic variations to your training to help optimize your performance.   Whether you are a high school athlete, weekend golfer, or just want to experience running faster and jumping higher, use Olympic lifting to help maximize your athleticism.  Don’t treat O-lifting as a means to an end, but choose to get better at it and develop the skills of the sport to reach a new potential.  Weightlifting is one of the few skills that nearly every top athletics organization uses with its best athletes.  To be very clear, being good at weightlifting won’t make you and all-star at any sport, but it will give you more tools to work with and open your potential to be better at what you do as an athlete. 

Squat Volume

Back Squat 5x5 @ 80% of 5RM

For time:
50 Burpees

Post time to board.

Cashout:
4 Position Pull up

Saturday - Run For Relief

This Saturday, Feb 23rd, there will be no Saturday WOD.  Join us at Huay Tung Tao for the 5k Run for Relief.  You can find details for the run here.  Registration begins at 7am and the run starts at 8am.  Stick around after to help clean up.

At 11:30 we'll be meeting back at CrossFit Chiang Mai for a BBQ and potluck.  Bring some meat to throw on the grill and a dish to share.

See you guys Saturday!

Hang Cleans

Hang Power Clean 2RM

8 min AMRAP
2 Power Clean to Push Press (115/75#)
10 Russian Twists (45/25#)
20 Double Unders

Post 2RM and rounds to board

Floor Press drop sets

Floor Press 3x5 @ 90% of 5RM
(Feb 4th)

4 Rounds 30s on 30s off:
Burpee
Calorie Row
Med Ball SU (Scale up T2B)

Post total reps to board.

Snatch Skill

Hang Snatch
2-2-2-2-2

**Scale Down**
Snatch Grip DL
3-3-3-3

EMOTM for 10 min
3 OHS (AHAP)
6 Ball Slams

Post loads to board.

Football Gone Bad

"Football Gone Bad"
(Dec 21)

3 Rounds of min 1 stations:
Thruster (Dumbbell/Barbell/Kettlebell) (M: 95/20kg W: 65/12kg)
Box Jumps (20")
Push Ups
Double Unders
Calorie Row

Post total reps to board.

“You guys squat a lot'

This is what I hear from many of the drop-ins who come to Crossfit Chiang Mai, and they are right.  I personally love to squat heavy, and there are a plethora of reasons you should too.

If you want to achieve the 'toned' look, you need to get stronger.  One of the best ways to get stronger is to squat heavy and often.  Squatting light weights doesn't force adaptation; thus, you don't get stronger. 

Squatting is one of the major aspects of strength training, as is the dead lift, press, and pull up.

The CDC lists the following benefits of strength training:

[Strength training]...can be very powerful in reducing the signs and symptoms of numerous diseases and chronic conditions, among them:

Arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, back pain, depression

And, [remarkably]... "Strength training can provide up to a 15% increase in metabolic rate, which is enormously helpful for weight loss and long-term weight control."

This is not ‘Joe Bro Biceps’ without sources, this is the Center for Disease Control with empirical evidence.  [As an aside; there are far too many articles/blogs/whatever with people spouting off information and people blindly accepting it as factual.  Always be sure to check the sources and look for facts to back up the claims]

You can read for yourself here:  http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/growingstronger/why/index.html

I understand it is hard to train some days; maybe you feel you just 'don't have it.' It’s important to persevere on these days.  If you want results they come with consistency and hard work.  There are no short cuts.  There have been many days where I've felt terrible, but still set PRs.  Of course, injuries and other limiting factors are exceptions, and in these cases, pushing yourself is not an option. 

But why squatting/deadlifting/pressing? Because these are the fundamental, multi-joint, compound movements for strength training.  Movements that will be your greatest asset in combating the chronic ailments previously listed on the CDC website (If done consistently and properly).  You can't clean if you can’t dead lift, you can't snatch if you can't overhead squat, you can't over-head squat if you can’t back squat... You catch my drift.  It's all about progression.

(http://community.crossfit.com/article/dissecting-fish)

As you can see, the variety of movements (blue) needed as a beginner is almost non-existent (and this is for 36 months!).  That is why we do what we do.  You see many of the same movements because they are the fundamentals [push up, pull up, sprinting, and jumping...etc].

From all of the books I have read on training, I’ve discovered that programming strength is as much of an art as it is a science.  When in doubt, I use K.I.S.S. ‘Keep it simple stupid.’  This graph reinforces that theory.  You can progress considerably by keeping it very basic.  By working on the fundamentals consistently we can start to build confidence and reinforce proper movement and technique.

Also, within this graph, notice the rate of improvement (purple).  Within the first year, an enormous amount of improvement in flexibility, strength, speed, and conditioning can be observed.  This is why, as a beginner, it is beneficial to keep it basic - variety isn't necessary.  By-products of increasing one's ability in these areas will include body recomposition, weight loss (diet abiding), and looking better naked.

Lastly, the rate of adaptation, (green) is at its highest the moment you walk in the door for the first time. As a beginner, becoming familiar with the movements and their names can be confusing and maybe frustrating.  The good news is, this will get much easier as you progress.  Meanwhile, your body is quickly adapting and creating better proprioception (i.e. agility ladder without staring down) and increasing muscle recruitment (i.e. squatting heavier weights).  Embrace being a beginner because your body is ready to adapt!

Here are three different members of our gym with very different body types.  They have been consistent with our protocol of three sets of five on squat and one set of five on the deadlift.  There has been some other forms of testing through these cycles (i.e 3RM or 1RM/max effort) but the work load is consistent.

The first is Mike Riley who started his very first 3x5 at 195lbs.  From July till January he has increased his 5 rep max to 305lbs (also note his 1 rep max being 300lbs on October 1^st).  Second, is Esther Wakeman who started her first 3x5 at 30lbs.  From here we worked on technique and took a step backwards in weight.  Notice, how this took place in late September, we then progressed to squatting without a box in October.  Just recently she performed a 5 rep max at 65lbs and 20 rep max with 50lb.  Lastly, Shelly Vander Molen Faucett started her deadlift 5 rep max at 85# in July of ’12.  In November she deadlifted 200lbs for a 1 and December she deadlifted 180lbs for 5. 

The programming is very simple and works.  Trust it.  I’ve done this with myself and experienced enormous gains.  Variety is great and that is what we do at Crossfit but some things won’t change.  The fundamentals are incredibly important.  Stay patient and work hard- the results will come.  

OTM KB

Strict Pull Ups x 5
Scale up 3RM weighted pull up

EMOTM for 12 Minutes
10 KB Swings (24/16kg)
Sprint 50m

White Board 11 Feb - 15 Feb

DL + distance

3 RFT

800m Run (2 loops around tennis court)
10 Deadlifts (185/115)
10 Toes to Bar

Post time to board

BS 5RM + blast from the past

Back Squat 5RM
*Set a PR (Jan 24th)

12 min AMRAP(Jan 3rd):
20 OH lunges (45/25#)
10 Ball slams (18/12kg)

Post 5RM and rounds + reps to board.

FP 1RM

Floor Press 1RM

10 min AMRAP
5 Pull ups *scale up to strict pull ups
10 Push ups
20 Double Unders

Post 1RM and Rounds + Reps to board.

Drop sets

Power Clean 3x3 @ 90% of 3RM (8/2)
Scale down to DL 5RM

10 RFT
10 KB Swings (32/20kg)
5 Burpee Box Jumps (24/20")

Thrusters

Max Strict Pull up x 3
*Scale up WPU w/25# x 3

OMT for 14 minutes complete:
Even minutes: 30 second max rep Thruster (95/65#)
Odd minutes: 100m Sprint

Post total thrusters to board.

January PR Board

Crushing Helen

Power Clean 3RM

"Crushing Helen"
8RFT
100m Run
8 KB Swings (32/20kg)
5 Plyo push ups

Post load and time to board.

Widow Makers

Back Squat 20RM
Use 65-70% of 1RM
***Extra credit: increase weight and go for new 20RM
(if you do not have a 1RM- perform a 5x5 @ 85% of 5RM)

Tabata:
Burpees
Rest 1 min
Ball Slams (18/12kg)

Post 20RM and total reps to board.

Mandatory Cool Down:
500m jog
Couch stretch x 2 min.

Broad Jump retest

Broad Jump test

Max distance of 3 standing broad jumps (must stick the landing)
*Aug 1st*

5 Rounds of:

45 seconds on 15 seconds off

Push press (115/65#) ***Scale up HSPU***

Box Jump (24/20")
Ring Row ***Scale up to strict pull ups***

Post distance and total reps to board.

DL 5RM

Deadlift 5RM
(Jan 8th)

In teams of two complete:
120 Toes to bar
20 Band Sprints (20m)

Post 5RM and time to board.

Fee Information

Just a reminder that our new fees start this month. It is now 2600 baht a month for unlimited or 2100 baht a month for basic (2 times a week).

For the month of February we will extend the old rates for those who pay 3 months in advance. For basic membership that would be 5400 baht for 3 months and for unlimited membership 6750 baht for 3 months.

Floor Press retest

Floor Press 5RM
*Dec 14

Team Row:
Max distance 20 minutes.
Switch every 150-200m depending on team size.


Post 5RM and distance to board.

Register for the games!

Registration for the CrossFit Open is LIVE!

It is only $10 to register, and is a fun way to compete with others worldwide.




Go to https://games.crossfit.com/competition to sign up!