FREE RANGE CROSSFIT

Workout specific strength:
A1. Back squat, x5 add weight
A2. Rope pin practice
-OR-
A2. Handstand walk, x24ft
Every 3:00 (x4)

WOD:
Every 3:00 for 6 rounds:
Rope ascent, x1*
Burpee, x7
Toes to Bar, x10
*pick the hardest variation possible (seated L > seated no feet > jump to no feet > feet).
Your score is the total number of seconds it takes you to complete each of your rounds added together.

What rope ascent? How about a pole ascent? (ok, don’t attempt this without supervision, but it’s still rad) Watch out for Kelvin Miranda, he’s got his CrossFit Level 1 Certificate, and a determined attitude. Look for him at Free Range, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with. Challenge him on the next workout and see where you stack up!

How about some tips from Jason Khalipa on rope ascents! Notice a correlation between rope climbs and toes to bar? Tell us your preferred method of making an ascent, what works best for you?

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Workout specific strength:
A1. Bench press, x5 (185/115)
A2. Double under, x15
Every 4:00 (x4)

“Kimura”
1:30 on/ 1:30 off. x5 rounds
30 kettlebell swings (russian), max double unders
25 kettlebell swings, max double unders
20 kettlebell swings, max double unders
15 kettlebell swings, max double unders
10 kettlebell swings, max double unders

*Each round starts with kettlebell swings. If you finish the swings, your score for that round is the total number of double unders completed. If you do not complete the swings, no score will be awarded for the round. Tally up all the DUs for your final score.

(Photo courtesy of Matthew Wegner’s FB page. Yes, that is him!)

At Free Range, we have a community of very discipled folks that make it part of their lives to come into the gym each day and expose themselves to the different styles of movement we program for you. Some have a little extra curiosity and stick around for a few hours to play with other movement concepts. The gym is our playground, and serves as a great venue for experimenting and learning. But, how do you apply these concepts outside the gym? Or, more directly, how to you move through your day?

This question intrigued me a while back when someone plainly pointed out that the 23ish hours we spend away from the gym dwarf the 1-2ish hours we spend working in the gym. The habits we build outside the walls of Free Range strongly impact what we are able to do inside them.

Here are some ideas to help include a bit more movement in your life:

Take 10 minutes right when you wake up to complete a quick head-to-toe mobility circuit. We’ve done these in class countless times. Start with the neck, then shoulders, then hips, legs, ankles…etc. It doesn’t take much time and has a very powerful effect to wake you up and invigorate your morning.

Take the stairs at work. Better yet, take each flight with only one leg…might get a little sweaty, but hey, most offices have A/C right!? (they already think you’re weird for doing CrossFit and/or paleo, why not give them some more material!)

If you’re a TV watcher (first off check this link out: Kill your TV, more on that later), how about developing your squat during commercials. See how many commercials you can stick in a rock bottom squat. (Hint: add a rolled up bath towel under your heels if you’re falling over). Then, during the episode try stretching instead of lounging the entire time.

What are some of the ways you move throughout your day?

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Hang, muscle clean
Hang, power clean
Hang clean
Split jerk

WOD – Every 2:30, x6 rounds:
A1. Clean, x2-3
A2. Jerk, x2-3
A3. Slam ball shot put, for distance
OR
A3. Single leg double under, x10 (total)

It’s summer time!!! (Well for those at ASU it is…). So that means pool time sunshine, awesome paleo potlucks and a great opportunity
to get more Vitamin D!

Vitamin D is an essential vitamin for your health but most people are deficient! It is important for a wide range of functions including stamina, blood pressure regulation, insulin regulation, immune function, heart function, regulating your calcium and phosphorus levels (ie preventing osteoporosis), etc. Humans have historically gotten most of their vitamin D from the sun, as we have the ability to transform the suns rays (mostly between 11am-3pm) into a pro-hormon which our bodies are then able to change into active vitamin D. Most people now a days lather on the sun screen though because we all want to avoid skin cancer, right? Unfortunately, sunscreen above spf 8 inhibits the body’s ability to make vitamin D. If you want to reap the most benefits from moderate sun exposure lay off the spf 50, include lots of antioxidants in your diet to avoid sun damage and enjoy the bliss of being in the sun!
There is also moderate amounts of vitamin D in certain foods, notably salmon, sardines, eggs (to name but a few of the paleo options) as well as numerous vitamin D supplement options for those sun weary folks out there.

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 Workout specific strength:
A1. Back Squat, x5 add weight to last week
A2. Shoulder circuit
Every 3:00 (x3)

“Jackie”
For time:
1200m run (ash mill loop)
50 thrusters (45/35)
30 Pull ups

Muscle soreness is part of everyone’s practice.

7 Biggest CrossFit Mistakes

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Skill Work:
A1. (Skill for next week) Ring dips
A2. (Skill for this week, quick review) Kipping pull ups

“Barbaric Armstrong”
4 rounds for time:
Push ups, x25 unbroken (modify as needed)*
Sit ups, x25
Jump rope skips, x200

*The round does NOT count if the push ups are broken. You can rest at the top, but hands and feet must remain in contact with the ground at all times. Modify to knees if you need in order to ensure unbroken sets. Yes, this means guys too! I would recommend resting as needed after the skips to ensure no sets require a restart.

Check out Coach Luke in a fully locked out position overhead. This is a great example of excellent external rotation. Congratulations Luke on becoming the first full time coach at Free Range! Keep inspiring the rest of us!

External Rotation
You might hear these phrases spouted out during the warm up or skill work; “point that palm toward the ceiling” or “exteranlly rotate that arm”. You know the “wonderful” feeling of using a band on the rack to torque your arms into postions you thought were just for the circus. So why do we emphasize this motion so much? Well, let’s think about it and take a look at some of the ‘bread n’ butter’ movements of our program:

The Turkish Get-Up- Probably one of the most important moves that we do that requires excellent mobility and flexibility in your rotator cuff.

The Snatch - Great external rotation of the shoulders allows us to get into a good receving position and lock that weight out overhead while staying rigid.

The Clean - A badass rack position is the product of continually working on mobilizing those external rotators (i.e. those muscles on the posterior side of the shoulder that work together to pull the shoulder back and retract the scapulas (aka the infraspinatus, teres minor and supraspinatus)).

The Jerk - Getting into a stable, locked out overhead position doesn’t happen if your shoulders are tight (most guys can attest to this), and forget about keeping that weight inline with your body.

The Pull-up (strict, kipping, butterlfy) – All of these require strength in the external rotators to keep the shoulder stable while it works through different ranges of motion and contract to pull you up towards the bar.

The Ring-dip – Externally rotating your hands or pointing your palms out infront of you, while in the locked out position, will help to maintain shoulder stability and keep the load and stress off of the joint itself.

KStar and Carl Paoli discuss this in a few videos below. Continual work on your external rotators can yield huge improvements in your movements. Take a look and think about incorporating some of this into your everyday life.

External Rotation Mobilization
Ring Dip & External Rotation

Take a few minutes with the videos above and do your own test/retest. Notice a difference? MOBILITY MATTERS!

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Workout specific strength:
A1. Power snatch, x2, TnG (135/95)
A2. OHS circuit, x1
Every 3:00 (x4)

“Triangular”
Every 2:30, x8
Power snatch, x1
OSH, x2
Burpee over bar, x3 AFAP

*score is average of highest weight + lowest weight. You take a zero for the round if you don’t complete the reps.

These two sisters (Brianne and Whitney) have been making huge improvements and don’t mind squaring off toe-to-toe.

Wednesday’s have become our test days in the Box, but are you looking for something else? Are you looking for competition outside of Free Range, but don’t know where to look or how to sign up? Check this out! It has events that will be coming up later this year. They are a few months out, so hopefully it can give you guys another reason to keep training as hard as you all have.

This week we will be hanging a board in the gym of upcoming events so that everyone can have a better idea what’s going on; from Crossfit competitions, triathlons, running races, biking races, and to everything in between. So, if anyone in the gym knows or hears of anything coming up please let me know, Coach Luke, so that we can make everyone aware it!

For all of you endurance junkies here is another Triathlon coming your way!

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Workout specific strength:
A1. Power clean, x1
A2. Front Squat, x5
Every 3:00 (x5)

“Mutant module”
5-4-3-2-1 reps for time:
Power clean, TnG, unbroken (155/105)
Shoulder to overhead, unbroken (155/105)
Muscle up

Inflammation, I think I know what that is… Wait, tell me… !?!
It is a term we often hear thrown around the gym especially after a hard WOD. What is inflammation? Is it good/bad? Should we care?

YES!! Inflammation is the body’s attempt at self-protection; the aim being to remove harmful stimuli, including damaged cells, irritants, or pathogens and begin the healing process. The cardinal signs of inflammation are redness, heat, swelling, pain and immobility. It is beneficial in the short term (acute inflammation), as it it the body’s response to protect and heal the injury. In fact, infections and injuries would not heal without it. With long term (chronic inflammation), however, the body is unable to eliminate the cause of the inflammation so further damage to the body ensues. Aka no bueno.

So for injuries that persist or acute inflammation that your body is being overloaded by here’s a list of few natural remedies and supplements. These can be taken daily or when our training is particularly heavy to help combat inflammation. They work primarily by inhibiting the body’s production of inflammatory agents by shifting the balance in favor of the anti-inflammtory pathways (ie reducing your inflammation).

Omega 3 Fatty Acids – Fish is your key source of two key omega-3 fatty acids – eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA). These are major anti-inflammatories that help shift the body away from a pro-inflammatory state. Mackerel, salmon, trout, sardines and tuna are good sources of these fatty acids… or some Omega 3 capsules.

Curcumin – Curcumin is the active ingredient of the Indian spice turmeric. Curcumin has the ability to halt or prevent certain types of cancer, stop inflammation, improve cardiovascular health, prevent cataracts and kill or inhibit the toxic effects of certain microbes including fungi and dangerous parasites. (Arora RB, Basu N, Kapoor V, Jain AP. Anti-inflammatory studies on Curcuma- longa (turmeric). Ind J Med Res 1971 Aug;59(8):1289-95).

Green Tea – The antioxidant polyphenols in green tea have anti-inflammatory properties by inhibiting Cox-2 and TNFa (part of the inflammatory pathway).(School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 80, No. 6, 1558-1564, December 2004).

Ginger – The popular herb ginger contains over 500 different compounds, many of which have anti-inflammatory properties. Suppression of inflammation is attributed to suppression of pro-inflammatory agents. (Setty AR, Sigal LH. Semin. Arthritis Rheum. 2005 Jun;34(6):773-84.

Vitamin C – Vitamin C has long been recognized for its anti-inflammatory properties. In a study published in the March, 2006 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, High blood levels of Vitamin C reduced signs of inflammation by 45 percent. (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Vol. 83, pp. 567-574).

Still confused? Come find coach Alex, your resident baby doc.

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