WOD-News

WOD – “Moguls” 

20/15 cal Ski
20 Box Jump (24/20)
3 rounds for time
Rest 3 min

5 rope climbs for time
Rest 3 min

3 rounds for time
15/10 cal assault
45 DU

WOD Brief

Today we continue to build our engines and increase our work capacity. These days transfer to all areas of life by delivering more energy to the tasks at hand. We’ll warmup with a classic structure and then prepare for this nod to the Winter Olympics.

Moguls builds on our work : rest programming structure and is a perfect opportunity to go hard with no regrets. As you finish each body of movements, use the rest for deep belly breathing, hydration, and then prepping for the next effort.

Athletes will complete 3 rounds of 20/15 cal ski + 20 box jumps. When you finish you’ll then rest for 3 minutes. The pace for this first effort should be aggressive, these two movements compliment each other and going fast in one won’t hurt the other – stay disciplined.

Rest for 3 minutes – hydrate, belly breathing (rib cages shouldn’t be going up and down here, a common fault). No complaining, no whining, just reset your mind. That first bout is over and you move on – regardless of your score or thoughts in the effort.

5 rope climbs should be again aggressive, for most the 3rd or 4th rope climb will be challenging. Take a pause when you need and use those legs to stand up on the rope. Focus on your breath during the climb – this will keep your heart rate manageable.

Again – rest 5 minutes, be disciplined and get your mind right. No negative thoughts now; clear the mind for the task at hand. Get your rope, lay it out, give it a couple jumps and set the bike height.

Last 3 rounds of today for some will be fast. Don’t rush the DU, get a pace, catch your breath, and then back to the bike.

Today requires mental discipline to stay focused, positive, and free of any worries. Put your best effort in for the day and then savor the success of huge day of training.

• 18.1 Saturday February 24th 5:30pm – 8pm (Drinks, fun, and we’ll do the workout together!)
• 18.3 Friday March 9th time 5:30-8pm

Nutrition Program is ongoing at this time – if you are interested in leaning out, this is your program. Free weeks are still remaining to get you started, no commitment.

Have you ever looked back at a workout and thought you could have gone faster, or the opposite – “wow, I went out way too hot”? This boils down to simply hitting a workout with just the right intensity, but how do you know what the right intensity is for a workout? In this brief we break down the concept, science, and perspectives from NBK and from the CompTrain team.

Additionally, in the video, Coach Jimmy breaks down a third level of detail that isn’t covered in this article. You can connect with us in the comments below, or even better in person at NBK.

You will often see in our WOD Briefs where we break down the intention of a workout – specifically HOW you should feel in the workout. In every day of training, our NBK coaches share WHY we are programming the day’s workout, through both the WOD Brief online and our pre-WOD explanations in class. This information is designed to help elevate your competency in CrossFit, but more importantly, to help you tune your intensity accordingly. When appropriate, we also include pacing guidelines and goals to help you achieve this careful balance. This style of programming and guidance is aligned to how the best in the world train. In fact, Coach Jimmy spent time with Ben Bergeron on program design and maximizing fitness in 2015 at his CompTrain weekend immersion program up in Boston.

Now you know the why, how, and purpose. Let’s get right into addressing the concept of “pacing” a workout against your lactate threshold. We will start with highlights from the CompTrain article from their mindset series.

Great question. Here’s a little bit of science. Don’t freak out.

Everyone has a lactate threshold (LT). It’s different for everybody—it depends on your level of fitness—but generally it is between 75-85% of your maximum power. When exercising at or below this threshold, any lactate produced by the muscles is removed by the body without it building up. When you work out above it, lactate accumulates in the blood at a faster rate than it can be removed. As the unbuffered acid is added to the blood, you start to feel really bad. At this point, no amount of mental fortitude will save you. It’s biology. You have to slow down.

In other words, your lactate threshold is your maximal sustainable pace. If you go faster, it becomes unsustainable. If you go slower, it’s no longer maximal. It’s the exact point at which you cannot go any faster without slowing down later. At most, you can only spend up to 3 minutes above your lactate threshold. After that, you explode.

However, if you manage your intensity you’ll dance along your lactate threshold and then surge at the end, as is highlighted below.

If you go too hot, you fatigue too fast and then end up training slower and slower through every round to the point where they’re training at 40-50% of their max pace. This strategy looks like this:

The area below each curve represents work. It’s easy to see that Athlete 1 got significantly more work done than Athlete 2. This is the magic—not only did Athlete 1 get a better score than Athlete 2, she got fitter.  

As the article above explained so well, training at that LT level delivers the best results, but duration matters. If you only train at it for a short period of time, than you are not getting the stimulus designed for that training period, and are not getting fitter. So, to maximize your fitness you must go hard enough to hit the workout at max speed relative to the workout itself. Specifically, you want to work at or right below the LT level for you, and then go for gold at the end.

Based on our coaching observations and review of the whiteboards, we know that each of us can improve on hitting the right pace, and thus our programming includes carefully designed and placed tasks you need complete in a particular workout + rest. This methodology includes workout structures such as AMRAPs with blocks of rest. These allow us to hit a workout with an intensity and if we planned correctly, to keep that pace. But, if we messed up, we can then use the rest to reassess and try a different intensity level. This is why you see workouts with varied work periods and rest periods. These allow us to build an awareness to our personal LT levels and the intensity with which we can both kick butt AND sustain throughout a workout. In addition by changing the work vs rest ratio and duration, we change the stimulus and results.

So — to become a mature athlete, we adopt this programmatic training method, just like the best in the world do. If you are a numbers-minded human, you can get a heart rate monitor + Vo2Max measurement to see your precise LT level. If not, use each training session and each planned rest as a chance to learn, adjust, and maximize your potential.

Bottom line – Fitness (intensity) for everyone of us is unique, but by applying these lessons and opportunities in our programming to adapt your fitness WILL improve and you WILL be fitter.

So, let’s go out and hit the next workout smarter, hard, and you will hit new personal records more frequently.

•  Brooke Wells’ performance of DT without pacing in the CrossFit Games, she wins heat but incrementally took longer every round and placed 7th which was the difference in placing on the podium and not for her.
• CompTrain original article from Mindfulness series, quoted text and images belong to CompTrain

Skill

Toes 2 Bar efficiency (lats, ground, and bar work)

WOD Prep

Dead Lifts, Snatches, and C&J

WOD – “15.1 + 15.1A” 

15.1

AMRAP 9
15 TTB
10 Deadlifts (115 / 75 lb.)
5 Snatches (115 / 75 lb.)

Directly into 15.1A

6 min to establish 1 rm C&J

Score is rounds + max weight for C&J

WOD Brief

Skill will be to dial in our Toes 2 Bar with plenty of rest and small sets. We are focused on developing efficiency here and not enough time under the bar that we create fatigue in our grip. Focus on good movement patterns and not volume today.

The WOD prep is designed to get the barbells moving before we hit this 15 minute benchmark workout. We will lead these movements, demonstrate, and work with athletes to reach our best positions today. Take time and build up weight across each movements. We will use the same bar through the entire workout today.

Scaled modifications if you are comparing against a previous Open score – 15 hanging knee raises, 10 deadlifts (85 / 55 lb.), and 5 snatches (STOH) (85 / 55 lb.)

The AMRAP should be an all out effort – with sets broken out appropriately. Unless you are an athlete that can do 25+ unbroken t2b, please break these immediately. This is a WOD that will assault our grips, and the best approach is fatigue management. On the toes to bar consider a 6, 5, 4 or 5, 4, 3, 3 or even lower reps like this: 5, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1 as your grip goes.  Again, the key is to avoid going to failure, especially at the beginning of each new round (at least until you get to a minute or so left on the clock, then go bonkers). The dead lift is a fairly light bar and should be unbroken or split in half. Switch grip at the beginning may help realize long grip endurance – but please do swap hands if you approach this style. If you have a history of bicep issues, do not switch grips.

These workouts begin with the athlete standing under their pull-up bar with the barbell loaded to the appropriate weight. After 15 toes-to-bars (sit-ups or hanging knee raises for scaled divisions) are completed the athlete will move to the barbell to perform 10 deadlifts followed by 5 snatches. After the last snatch is completed the athlete will move back to the pull-up bar and start their next round.
Your score for Workout 15.1 will be the total number of repetitions completed.
As soon as the clock reaches 9 minutes and Workout 15.1 is complete, Workout 15.1a will begin with the same running clock. The athlete will have from 9:00 to 15:00 to complete Workout 15.1a.

• 18.1 Saturday February 24th 5:30pm – 8pm (Drinks, fun, and we’ll do the workout together!)
• 18.3 Friday March 9th time 5:30-8pm

Nutrition Program is ongoing at this time – if you are interested in leaning out, this is your program. Free weeks are still remaining to get you started, no commitment.

Strength

Supersets – DB Bench Press & Strict Pull-ups

WOD – “Hip Hop” 

40 alternating jumping lunges
30/20 cal Row
20 Hand release push ups
5 rounds for time

WOD Brief

Strength is designed to be challenging. As in any strength movement, get the pecs and shoulders warm before hitting the bigger sets. We have up to 120# so these should be challenging. Good reps must show control at bottom and top. The pull-ups are strict. If 8 is easy then bump up to strict C2B. Strict = no kip and you start at the bottom in a static position.

The WOD is a fast and dirty effort on movements that allow the body to work without causing damage. Athletes will need to reach full extension and be in the air for the lunges.

The rest of the week we will hit C&J, Snatch, and Dead lift tomorrow … another burner on Thursday, and then back to a moderate bar with a power clean. Dig in this week is designed cyclical – if you miss a day, please go for an easy run or something to keep the blood flowing.

• 18.1 Saturday February 24th 5:30pm – 8pm (Drinks, fun, and we’ll do the workout together!)
• 18.3 Friday March 9th time 5:30-8pm

Nutrition Program is ongoing at this time – if you are interested in leaning out, this is your program. Free weeks are still remaining to get you started, no commitment.

Strength

70% 1RM Back Squats E2MOM

WOD – “Quattro” 

4 Rounds

3 min AMRAP
15 wall balls
10 DB Snatch (50/35)
Rest :60

*2 burpee penalty during rest if you drop Wall Ball during set

WOD Brief

Back squats today at sets and reps to build strength. The sets should be tough where the programmed rest is greatly desired. Pair up and go get it.

This workout is designed to be done in manageable chunks without pause or breaking up anything. At 3,2,1, GO … Athletes will pickup wall ball and complete 15 unbroken and then move straight to dumbbell snatches (5 each arm, alternating). Good reps are hip crease below parallel and the wallball hitting the 10/9ft line. For the DB snatch, DB must start on ground and finish in one smooth movement above head with full extension at knees, hips, and elbows.

This will tax your hip flexion and so be sure to really mobilize those thoracic spines and if you need it – lifting shoes will help relieve some of the tension.

The stimulus should be nothing short of gnarly. The wall balls unbroken is your absolute goal – avoid the penalties. You are strong enough, have developed the engine, and muscle endurance is ready! Know you can do it and go. On the DB snatch, keep those arms locked out as long as possible on the pull – this will ease the power transfer and keep you flying through the reps.

• 18.1 Saturday February 24th 5:30pm – 8pm (Drinks, fun, and we’ll do the workout together!)
• 18.3 Friday March 9th time 5:30-8pm

Nutrition Program is ongoing at this time – if you are interested in leaning out, this is your program. Free weeks are still remaining to get you started, no commitment.