Robin gets over the Bar!

Robin has been coming in early and staying late to work on her pull-up...

She hit a tough circuit today and smack dab in the middle of it she got her first chin-up!

Congrat's Robin!

Hard earned and well deserved!

CrossFit Affiliate Primal Fitness in Washington DC featured on Fox

Our CrossFit Friends over at Primal Fitness in Washington DC were featured on the local Fox Station this morning!

Check Out the Video

New members to the Muscle-up Club

Chriss poured a lot of heart, energy, and quality coaching into todays Muscle-up instruction...

Thanks a ton Chriss!

We are now a more skilled team thanks to you brother!

We all walked with a better understanding of how to Muscle-up; a few even walked away with some personal records...

Chris - First Muscle-up!

Melanie - First Muscle-up!

Elizabeth - First Muscle-up!

Mike - 5 Consecutive Muscle-ups!

Danny - 5 Consecutive extended MU's!

Joel - 11 Consecutive MU's!

A few really close attempts and some greater understanding by all who participated!

My thoughts are to have a follow up Skill day in a couple of weeks where we work both the Handstand and Muscle-up!

Video of Chris, Elizabeth, and Joel!

23.33, "Wall Alarm", "Hard Flop", "Ryan", "Callus"

Kara hit "Cindy" and finished with 50 pullups today!

More Pics

An amazing day of output and Quality movement!

Chriss set a new class record and did it with Amazing Range of Motion Standards...

He was Poetry in Motion while hitting 23.33 rounds!

Lots of big numbers and huge efforts across the board...

So very impressive!

Everyone who hit Cindy stepped UP one level, Congrats!

Our "Wall Alarm", "Hard Flop", "Ryan", and "Callus" Crew hit it Hard also!

###

We started the session with some overhead strength work:

Strict Press x 3 top sets x 10reps

Then a 4 workout shuffle

PICK ONE

20 minute time limit

“Ryan”
5 Overhead Dumbbell Lunge
10 Burpees
15 KB Swings
20 Squats

“Cindy”
5 Chins
10 Pushups
15 Squats

“Callus”
10 Pushups
15 Situps
20 Jumping Slamball

“Hard Flop”
5 Rounds/20 minute:
5 Get-ups
10 Pushups
15 Jumping Slamball

“Wall Alarm”
5 Rounds/20 minute:
30 WallBall – 20 Box Jump – 10 Burpees

Final OutPut

3 workout shuffle: "Sunnydale", "Schlitz", "Teeter"

Che is dialing in!

A 1:58 500 meter row!

A much improved overhead position of support!

More Pic's

WOD Members Choice:

1. "Sunnydale"

21,18,15,12,9,6,3

W=55lbs - M=75lbs

For Time

Front Squats - SDLHP - Chins

2. "Schlitz"

5 Rounds for time:

30 Wall Ball

30 Jumping Slamball

30 Situps

3. "Teeter"

500 Meter row

10 Overhead Dumbbell Lunge (each arm)

30 CrossFit Kettlebell Swings

Final Output

Mike, Jack, and Chriss went for a PR 500 Meter Row:

137.3

137.3

and

136!

The Poisoning of America for profit!

Skip Chase from CrossFit Mt Baker writes an eye opening article about Sugar in our Food.

Skip pulls no punches, read it!

The Poisoning of America for profit!

Callus Care Tips

Callous Care Tips:

Buy a Callus shaver – Not a stone or a file or some other product…get a callous shaver! Make sure you shave ONLY after a shower. The calluses need to be soft. If you shave calluses while dry it will cut too deep and you’ll have as big a problem as if it tore. BE SURE to shave 24 hours before a workout. You can get away with 12 hours if the next day is NOT a high volume chin/deadlift /KB workout…I have found my hands feel too soft if I shave right before a workout. I like to shave once a week.

Tears usually happen near the end of a high volume workout when you are sweating a lot. Keep drying your hands and using chalk liberally.

If you tear; go home and clean it thoroughly. Cut away excess callus and expose to air…it needs to dry out a bit at first….BUT not too dry…generally after 24 hours you’ll need to start applying ointment so it does not dry and crack (more problems). Bacitracin and Neosporin work well. Be careful of hydrogen peroxide use; you can use it once to clean after soap but after that it will dry the wound too quickly and lead to cracking.

Everyone will have their own advice; I can only tell you what I have seen work 100% of the time…proper prior planning!

In Strength,
Jerry

Kipping Pullup

Two Great Videos to help Master the Kip:

Cara's first Pullup and some Tug-of-War

Tug-of-War could perhaps be the toughest 30 seconds of exercise available!

Grip, Core, Arm, and Leg Strength...

A good "Finisher" after high volume Chins and weighted squat jumps!

The exclamation on another amazing week of training here in Old Town Alexandria was...

Cara's first Pullup!

She worked HARD for this...Congrat's Cara!

Chin's, Pull's and more Tug-of-War Pictures

Lunge to Handstand

Video: Andrea Coaches the Lunge to Handstand

Video: More coaching AND Handstand Pushup Modifications

Andrea kicked-butt coaching the Lunge to Handstand and everyone kicked-butt in learning it!

A great day for skill training CrossFit Old Town Style...

I'm excited to see our continued progression with the handstand as our core strength and conditioning goes through the roof!

In our continuation of Skill Training we will cover the Muscle-up this Wednesday!

Chriss has put together a great learning progression for us...

I think we'll see a whole lot of Team Members join the Muscle-up Club!

Jack takes a quick break before finishing off his birthday workout!

"Jack is 30!"

For time

(30 minute time limit)

30 reps each

Chins

Kettlebell Swings

Squats

Jumping Slamball

Pushups

Situps

Knees-2-Elbow
Kettlebell Swings
Squats

Jumping Lunge (each leg)
Pushups
Situps

Burpees
Kettlebell Swings
Squats

Dumbbell Thrusters
Pushups
Situps

Happy Birthday buddy, all 3 classes suffered...

I mean celebrated!

4 got through it under 30 minutes, a nasty one!

CrossFit: "Karen", 2K row, Muscle-ups...

We concluded 2-days of Benchmarks and some Fun!

We hit 2 circuits each day, the first was either a benchmark 2,000 meter row or "Karen"

The second was members choice; there was a smorgasboard of Workouts posted. Some were simple but brutal, others took more skill and strength. It was fun to offer so much variety and to see what you picked.

Leslie smoked through "Karen" at 6:38!

Pat speed through a 2K row in only 7:14!

2-Days of in-action photo's

Our Muscle-up club even put up a benchmark workout

30 Muscle-ups for Time!

Chriss 5:26

Joel 10:52

Danny 12:14

"Karen" Output

All time Output for 2K Row

CROSSFIT CERT IN ALEXANDRIA, VA

This will sell out today!

CrossFit Cert at Bolling AFB, Washington, DC

Meet the Spartans a 300 parody workout

Meet The Spartans Movie Trailer:

There is a new movie due out this week, it's a parody on 300 called “Meet the Spartans”

I was inspired by Vinnie to look into this movie after he mentioned it in class…

Well, I dug deeper and found that similar to 300 the actors in this movie also went through a rigorous training regime to get in top shape. Much of the training is double top secret and hush-hush. I called my connections and manged to get a hold of their Rite of Passage Workout.

The rest of their training was also top notch and perhaps I'll reveal it later in a special report.

Apparently it's a new style of training called SloshFit
Here in the "Blue Room" we put it to the test:

"Meet the Spartans"
For time:
Floor Wipers 0
Pullups 25
Pushups 50
Push Press x 75 (55lb=W, 75lb=M)
Squats x 100
SDLHP x 75 (55lb=W, 75lb=M)
Pushups 50
Pullups 25
Floor Wipers 0

Yep, no irritating Floor Wipers...and apparently to prove their superiority they went to 400

Critics are saying it’s possibly the worst movie ever made…

Some might say the same about the workout!

Prescribed:
24:53 Joel (Faster than King Leonidas himself)
25:59 Andrea (Stronger than Queen Gorgo!)
30:00 Danny
31:00 Vinnie
31:50 Karen
38:11 Katie
52:53 Keturah

Scaled:
27:51 Pat
29:05 Katie H
30:58 Noelle
34:43 James
35:04 Elise
37:10 Aaron
38:44 Vivek
41:27 Cara
43:20 Kara
45:33 Robin
47:34 Che
49:00 Andrea T

A fun day of Training, enjoy the Holiday!

Team Work in Old Town Alexandria, CrossFit Style

One person can create a spark of inspiration to light a fire…
How high the fire burns depends on the Team…
We got us a bonfire here in Old Town!

More Action Pics of CrossFit Old Town Alexandria

20 Minutes of Practice

Chins:

L-Sit

Weighted

Dead Hang

Kip Work

Top Half

Negatives
and

Handstands - Wall Squat - L-Sit

WOD

2 Teams

Captain Mike - Captain Jack

Round One

12 minutes

Slamball

Burpee

Bullwhip

Jumping Dip

Round two

12 minutes

Wallball

Jumping Lunge

Kettlebell Swing

Jumping Rope Pullup

Output

Dead Tie

4-4

Tie Breaker= average total points per person

Jack's Team=22.1

Mike's Team 22.3

It was THAT close!

Another Fun day of Training!

Remember Only One Class on Monday for the Holiday

0730

Sumo Deadlift

Video of our Sumo Deadlift

It was great to see everyone make adjustments during the course of the Sumo Deadlift workout today. Efficiency of movement, muscular tension, and proper body mechanics are critical here. Even though I only captured a few of you on Video, be sure to study it so you can spot cues and body position. I gave enough feedback in class today that you should be able to see yourself in the video example.

The Deadlift is one of those Black Box movements that has a high carryover to everything else we do. The better you get at the deadlift the fitter you become (unless of course you miss ALL of our other workouts!). I have been putting an emphasis on strength and efficiency this winter; improvement in these areas is whats going to help take many of you to the next level. Your hard work in these areas was evident in the some of the strong "Fran" times posted earlier this week.

Another key to our continued success has been our dedication to The Zone!

Everyone in class is improving their fitness level, some are improving at a faster rate, and they are our Zoners. The majority of our team is now zoning, if you need help getting started ASK! Remember we now have a Forum, there already is some great information posted there and there are plenty of people who are willing to help you and share in their experience.

As inspiration I'll tell you what Chriss has done in only 3 weeks in The Zone:

Dropped 5 pounds and 3.4% bodyfat!

Chriss is already one of our top athletes; he is going to go through the roof this year!

###

WOD:

Sumo Deadlift x 10 reps x 6 rounds

Work heavier each round if form is dead-on

Tabata:

Squat

Push Press OR Push up

Situp

Some notable T-Squat numbers were Leslie's 21, Steven's 20, and Elise's 20!

Final Output from today

Day 2 of Epic Pain: "Chindy" "Back Splash" "Keep Keel" "Crucible" "Sidney"

Jumping Chins

Pull those fists to your chest and get your chin above the bar/rings

Anna keeps the standard on rep #20

Pushup Standards are even across the board

Men, Women, Veteran, Beginner

Awesome Work Keturah!
Karen "Kept Keel" and added 150 Kettlebell Swings to the Workout!

Andrea smoked through 12 rounds of "Chindy"

120 Chinups!

180 Chest to Deck Pushups

240 Butt-to-Calves Squats

Check the Slideshow for more...

Chriss was in Full Sprint Mode Today!

22:05 on "Keep Keel"

Sometimes Ya gotta jump that WallBall to hit the Proper Height!

Elise took on "Crucible"

Vinnie is a Pushup Machine and hits Range of Motion every single Rep!

Another Great Day here at The Challenge!

We concluded our 2-day Smorgasbord...

Awesome effort...

Todays OUPUT is in RED

Flickr Slideshow...

Epic Pain: "Boot the Bull" "Keep the Keel" "Crucible" "Back Splash" "Rightous" "Sidney" "Washboard"

In only his 5th Workout here at CrossFit Old Town Alexandria Aaron left one of the biggest pools of sweat Ive ever seen!

He hit "Keep Keel"

I think we'll keep Aaron around!

Welcome to the Team brother...

Speaking of Keepers...

In only his 3rd workout here at The Challenge Devon took on "Crucible"

Awesome!

Steven is our 0600 Psycho

He took on and destroyed the Epic Pain workout called

"Back Splash"

Melanie demonstrates the Standard for Knees-2-Elbow

Anything with less range of motion is scaling

If you can't hit this ROM yet, that's OK...but strive for Melanie's Standard

She hit 50 this way while crushing the workout called

"Washboard"

Cara hit some really impressive triple extensions during

"Boot the Bull"
Jack is one of our best squatters and top athletes
A Squat barrier inhibits the proper range of motion for a really good squatter
Not everyone can hit this rock solid Thruster position (yet)...that is OK...we will keep working on it
To master the squat consider ditching the barrier and going Butt-to-Calves
Joel during "Sydney"
The workout demands Strength and Power...

More In-Action Photos

Final OutPut

Fran and Muscle-ups: Including a new class record!

We hit our benchmark workout "Fran" today!

I also prepared a special workout for our Muscle-up club!

Incredible overall effort that saw a lot of personal records and a new class record for the women!

Team 0600 really stepped up

The vets led the charge and our new members followed suit

This was a first Fran effort for many of us

Katie became the 4th women to ever attempt Fran with pro weights

Laura and Robin stepped up in thruster weight

Chris went Pro and put up a sub-9 Fran

Kara went with full chins!

All of our New members put forth a huge effort and logged in a benchmark number today!

Team 0645 saw THREE women hit pro level weights!

Adrienne hit a new class record at 7:09!

Andrea hit the 2nd fastest time in class history at 7:50!

Karen took a huge leap and hit a Pro 9:54!

Chip pushed pro weights

Che bumped up a level to Pack

At 0730 Elise gave full chins a ride and bumped up to pack level!

Final Fran Output

The Muscle-up Club hit a special workout instead of Fran

"Muscling Fran"

*5 rounds for time*

95lb Thrusters x 9

Muscle-ups x 6

These guys are STRONG!

These guys are STRONG!

Chriss 10:22!

Vinnie 14:09

Joel 16+

Danny 14:39 3 rounds at 75lb Thruster

More Pictures on Flickr

57 inch box jump

It's always fun to play!

Check out these 57" Box jumps by Danny and Chriss

Overhead Squats and Vivek Muscle-ups!

In my opinion the Overhead Squat (OHS) is the CrossFit Squat! Mid-line and shoulder stabilization is critical in our OHS work. Any minor deficiencies in our air squat is magnified with the bar overhead. Time spent perfecting the OHS is well worth it; your efficiency of movement and self realization of how the body becomes one unit in this lift will sky-rocket your overall progress. Effort spent striving to improve your 10 rep max in the OHS will pay dividends in your core strength and conditioning. Remember, we do have fractional plates; if your Rate of Perceived form is at least a 9 be sure to challenge your top-end number during your next effort...when I start seeing fractional outputs I know you are pushing!

Vivek and I had a conversation about taking some time tomorrow to really dial in on getting him his first muscle-up...he took matter into his own hands and got some practice in after our 0600 class resulting in his first muscle-up! Awesome work Vivek! We captured it on Video along with some of our OHS work...

Warmup: Snatch grip Highpull/Power Snatch x 3 sets

Workout: OHS x 10 reps x 6 rounds

Metabolic Conditioning: 10 rounds or 15 minutes

10 Big Box Jumps

10 Jumping Slamball

10 Kettlebell Highpull

Flickr Slideshow

Final Output

10 Months of work

There is so much to blog about today that I'll break it up in different posts throughout the day.

Our Overhead squat work, the 57 inch box jumps, and Viveks first muscle-up!

I'll start though with a thank you to Rob G for his commitment and hard work here at CrossFit Old Town Alexandria, today was his last day with us...

Rob was one of the first to join our program almost 10 months ago and because of his continuted dedication he walks with measurable results. You will be missed brother!

Rob exits our program with a personal record of 29 pullups...he told me to burn this old photo, but I gotta do it buddy...here is Rob last April hitting chinups with a band;

And today...

Jerry,
My last day will be this Monday @ the 0600 class. Thank you for the last 11 months of coaching, it has truly been the best workout program I have ever been involved in. I am 35 now, and I am in better shape than I was at 22, when I was prepping for Ranger School. When I started, I beleive there were only six or seven of us in the 0600 (may have been the only class?), and it is amazing to see how much you have grown this program - a true testament to your professionalism. My wife and I will be doing the Bullfit Program in MD, but I hope to sneak down when my job and family allows.
Thanks again.
Rob G.