Overhead is...OVERHEAD!

I thought we did an incredible job going overhead on the strict press today! We stayed super-tight, drove the bar straight up, and powered our core forward.

Our core strength is through the roof – please tell me that your abs are tight, strong, and (eh hem) in summer shape…cause I see the improvement in the first 2, if the 3rd is in question we need to step up the zone.

As great as a job we did on the strict press we got a bit loose on the push press.
Our problems were part hip extension, softening the core, and shoulder stability.

We need to continue to work on mastering the wave of contraction from hip to core to extremities. A better venue to discuss and practice is in the blue room…

However, I’ll leave you with something to think about; if your first move in the push press is to lean back with the torso instead of dip with the hips you are more likely to lock out in front of you with extra arch in your back verse locked out overhead. Be sure to look at the push press pictures closely to see if you can spot this tendency. Is this muted hip function, core strength, shoulder mobility?

“Back in the day” I used to Rx overhead barbell walks to my athletes with an incomplete lockout perhaps its time to re-instate this medicine…

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(below)

Adrienne gets back on the bar, Awesome!

Alyce ditches the band and gets over the bar, congrats!
Melanie is feeling good and in a groove!
Harold dials in on his Kip
Mike powers through his ring dips
Bryn goes Pink!
Shelly goes Pink!

Flickr Pictures

Several personal records on the strict press
Be sure to mark a "pr" next to your press number when you record it on the white board!

Stacey set the new CrossFit Oldtown press record at 105lb!

Danny presses 155lb at 130lb bodyweight, are you kidding me?!

Team 5p Snatch Form, Presses and more!

First off, several personal records for 5p tonight!

The opening show was watching Cheryl hit her first pullup...oh, she then hit 5 in a row!
Laura B had a previous best of 4 pullups (established 4-weeks ago) she hit 14 today!
Yes that's right, she went from 4 to 14 in 4-weeks! WOW!
Melissa popped out 12 solid chinups joining the double-digit club!
Jeremy got on the record board with 24 and Mickey with 21, congrats guys!
There were plenty of other PR's...congrats to all!

The Strict Presses looked rock solid also...great progress 5p!

Skill Work: 30 Minutes

Burgener warmup

Barbell Snatch x 5 reps

WOD:

3 rounds no time limit

Max reps Strict Press

Max reps Pullups

Pro: 55 W, 95 M

Pack: 45 W, 85 M

Porch: 35 W, 65-75 M

Then...

Tabata squats

Output/Score:

(Total reps of strict press + total reps of pullups)

X

Lowest Tabata squat interval

Good Stuff!

Pro:

Pack:
Leo 1392
Jeremy 1064
Melissa 1020
Laura B 840
Richard 715

Porch:
Mickey (75lb) 864
Robin 380
Cheryl 380
Brenda 742 green
Brian (65lb) 392 green

Pictures that are worth a look

Take a good look at todays pictures it might help you with your strict press form. Note Elbow and torso positions. The goal is to get those elbows under the bar! Note the pictures with elbows not under the bar and how the torso then tends to arch back. This elbow and torso position also pushes the bar further away from the body.

On another note, I saw some really good adjustments today that led to plenty of extra reps. Did you feel the difference when you took a huge breath, squeezed the glutes, locked in the core, and then pressed the weight?

I'll upload some more comments and content later...

Pictures that are worth a look

More CrossFit Old Town Personal Records

Hey Stuart,

A whole series for you...

There were a lot of Personal Records in the strict press x 3reps today!

A few off the top of my head:

McCall +10

Bryn +10

Melanie +10

Magoo +10

Terence +10

James +10

Brandon +10

Charlie +20

Plus many more...

We finished with a sneaky little RFMC (Rapid Fire Metabolic Conditioning) circuit

RFMC

*5 rounds for time*

9 Burpees

15 CrossFit Swings

21 Jumping Pullups

CrossFit Oldtown:

Strong, Skilled, Highly Conditioned Athletes who thrive in the Chaos of daily life

A lot of Great Pictures From Today

CrossFit Oldtown 200lb Strict Press

Brandon Sets a new CrossFit Oldtown record with a 200lb strict press!

Crossfit in Alexandria; strict press and bodyweight circuit

Congrat's to those who hit some personal records in the 3 rep strict press...

Laura +11lb

Gar +7

Elise +7

McCall +7

Jessica +5

Mike M +5

Terrence +10

Charlie +20!

Stacey set the new high mark for women at 95lb x 3!

Matt D and Brandon tied Vin's 3 rep class record at 165lb!

Aaron P and Craig were close behind...

Potomac CrossFit was in the Blue Room representing a New Tee!
Charlie leaves a sweat track...

A look at some squat angles...
Some good, some with flaws...
We have discussed but a picture is worth 1,000 words









So...
We spent the first 20 minutes of class working on our overhead strength.
Then finished with some high intensity bodyweight interval training:

Amrap in 5 minutes
4 Chinups
8 pushups
12 squat

Rest 90 seconds
Repeat for 4 total rounds

CrossFit OT Alexandria; Ring Dips and Strict Press

I love the strict press

It teaches us so much about how our body functions

Understanding and perfecting the movement of the strict press will go a long way in improving your physical dominance over everyday life tasks - It breaks my heart to see fitness folks in gyms around the Nation sit down and press a machine weight overhead...

Now how about how far we've come with ring dips?!

Awesome work!

Keep challenging yourself to new progressions

Jumping ring dips to band ring dips

blue - pink - floss

Full depth (hands in arm-pits)

Full lockout (arms and torso straight, head back, chest up and shoulders back and down)

Kipping to strict

Strict to rings turn out

Rings turned out to a Bulgarian dip (A Danny Challenge!)

Absolute and Relative bodyweight Strength

A special Mention to Aaron and Vinnie who both hit bodyweight Strict presses today!

Strict Press - Warmup and work up to your 1 rep max, once the full lock is complete the timer starts its countdown of 1 minute and 30 seconds - run to the pullup bar and get as many pullups as you can in the remaining time - Multiply the Max load in your strict press by the number of chinups you were able to hit.

(above) Murderers Row For The Kettlebell High Pull - Gar has been man-handling the 88lber, time to get a heavier one?

(above) Stacy puts in the effort day in day out and continues to progress - today she became our first 100lb strict presser, last week she churned out a 1:45.9 500 meter row - She is an amazing athlete and like many on our CFOT team inspires us all to strive for more and Rest Later...

(above) Steven is as tough as tough gets...

(above) Pat has really dialed in all-around - a Solid press to go with an impressive kip

(above) Georgia is witty and inspiring - this girl is legit-CrossFit too

(above) Katie is enjoying her spring break and getting her CrossFit groove back - a solid 75lb press with a close miss at 85lb!

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After the "Strictpull" Test we burned through this little gem

AMRAP in 20 Min:

5 Strict press with 70% your max (just lifted)

10 Burpees

15 Kettlebell High Pulls (go heavy)

Strict Press Circuit and the Beast

Raining Pain

Cara does a great job keeping her elbows in and creating a frame to drive her core through

The Strict Press is a nice example of how tight you need to flex your abs, legs, glutes; everything!

...in order to stabilize your body to properly lift a load

Understanding and mastering this stabilization will have a HUGE carryover in everything else you do

Terence put together some excellent strict presses; there is a nice 3 picture sequence in the Flickr Slideshow...

Awesome work!

Flickr Slideshow of the Last 2 Days!

We started our training with some skill work:

Hang Power Clean and Elbow whip!

The Workout was lightly attended this morning due to the freezing rain

(Although I rode my bike in with no problems...)

Those who made it quickly found it was raining pain in the Blue Room!

"Rain Pain"

5 rounds for time

12 repetitions Each

Pullups

Kettlebell Swings

Jumping Slamball

Dumbbell Walking Lunge (12 steps each leg)

Strict Barbell Press

Load:

20lb - 25lb Dumbbells for Lunges

55lb - 75lb Barbell for Strict Press

Scale load as needed

This workout was SOLID; we might see it again!

It was a true test of our strict press form while under fatigue

I like how you held up under duress!



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Tuesday Feb 12

We shot a few more members through our Bodyweight Baseline and a handful of others through a solid Strength Baseline Workout!

See the previous post for Bodyweight Baseline Output

News and Notes:

Katie set a New Women's 500 meter row record; 1:53!

Andrea T hit a 1:59

Georgia hit a 1:58

Jen hit a 1:56

Any other Personal Records I failed to mention?

Shout em' Out!

Our Strength Baseline workout was another great test...

Strength Baseline:

5 Rounds for time:

6 Ring Dips

9 Deadlifts

12 High Box Jumps

Load for Deadlifts:

Pro: W=155lb, M=225lb

Pack: W=125, M=185

Porch: W=100, M=145

Box Jumps:

W= 26 inch, M=33 inch

Sell Out Tabata with a Mash-Up

What is a Sell Out Tabata with a Mash-Up?

-Click Here-

I saw some amazing effort today and quality output as you continued to push your Strength and Conditioning Levels!

It was another sneaky workout that unfolded with twists and turns and you forged right through...

Awesome!

We'll continue to work the strict press regulary in class, the initial results and feedback has been outstanding. I like the overhead position of support you are able to maintain with this movement and what this will mean to our continued progress.

Check Your Email Inbox, I'll post directions on how to input your workout into our new data base...this is a work in progress!

Also, see our community forum for upcomming events!

Finally, this Thursday Adrienne will teach class and coach some in-depth techniques on the Kettlebell clean and jerk!