Sleep or Die.  I recently had a minor, cheap work induced sleep depravation period.  Nothing crazy, but enough to mess me up for a couple of days.  Looking back on my days in the Army, we would go weeks with less than 4 hours a day.  It was like a badge of honor.  Poop. What is a “Hang Clean Ladder”? A Hang Clean Ladder (this can also be used with the Snatch) is an evil little beast that will help you jump the bar hard and get under into a power position fast.  It will also develop explosive grip.  One ladder is: deadlift the bar, come to a complete stop (the hang), and perform a hang power clean.  Drop the bar, deadlift the bar, come to a complete stop in the hang, and perform 2 hang cleans.  Repeat this, doing 3 cleans, dropping the bar at the end.  Again, 4...Read more

Cindy and Mary are 2 of CrossFit’s great, adiposity simple triplets.  Normally, ed when CrossFit posts Cindy as a WOD, drug Mary goes with it as an option.  These are both great options, because they only require a pull-up bar. Which one should you do? Cindy is 5 pullups, 10 pushups and 15 squats for 20 minutes.  A great, simple yet challenging workout.  I would recommend most Athletes do Cindy with a goal of hitting 20 rounds.  20 is a great score.  The first time I reached it, I would do a round at the top of each minute, and rest the rest of the minute. I am going to tell you up front, I haven’t done Cindy in 4 years.  In my first 2 years of CrossFit, I did it once a month, every month.  That’s 24 Cindy’s.  I’m not kidding about this. Even if you only have 1...Read more

Alison and I are back east, clinic and we have visited 2 CrossFit gyms: CrossFit401 and Ocean State CrossFit.  We’ve done 2 longish WODs, and it’s been fun visiting other gyms.  The last time were were here, there was only 1 CrossFit Gym in Rhode Island; 2 years later there are 6. 2 quick stories.  First off, let me say I try to be a good guest: I abide by the rules, keep my mouth shut and try to set a good example.  But dammit, the coach comes out sometimes.  At CF401, I was watching a female athlete row a long piece.  Towards the end, she was grinding, but her movement had really broken down.  She was swinging her head like a bobble head, trying to generate more force.  I walked up next to her, and warned her I had some cues.  She listened nicely, but I think she thought...Read more

Saturday Bring a Friend Day is ON! 9am is a free Bring a Friend WOD. 10am is Team CFO time, this site baby! Melinda doing pullups with the band…you won’t see it in person because she doesn’t need it anymore:) Great Job Melinda!!! Workout of the Day 9am Kettlebell Swings, # 100mg Squats and Double Unders 10am Team CFO trainng Strengh Snatch, 65% of 1RM 5 sets of 2, rest 60 seconds after each set.  These are NOT touch and go.  Ensure proper set up on each rep. Snatch Pulls 3×3 Load heavy, close to, over even over, 1RM Metcon 3 RFT 20 Ring Dips 50 DoubleundersRead more