3 Rounds For Time:
Bear Complex #135/#95 (7 times through, no bar resting on ground)
10 Chest To Bar Pull-Ups
10 Burpees

Our Workouts Today Are At 9:30am

A Day to work on a few skills:
Hand Stands
Muscle-Ups
OHS (Overhead Squats)

Our Workouts Today Are at 6:00am, 7:00am, Noon

Scale This…An excerpt from The Performance Menu Volume 20

A Various Variety Of Variables
When we talk about exercise, whether running, lifting or, God forbid, cycling, we are usually concerned about some aspect of intensity. The classic death-wish aerobicizer tracks what % VO2 max they are training whereas the Everetts of the O-lifting world (both skinny and studly) track what % of their one rep max they are training on any given lift. Knowledge of these relative percentages or intensities proves vital to effective planning of the training stimulus.
For those of you new to the game, Training Stimulus is analogous to Level of Ass Kicking. Want a big ass kicking? Dial the intensity up and do a bunch of it. Now the term Do a bunch of it is code for volume, and in this case it means a heap’n help’n of volume. There are a few terms that are related to intensity and volume and the relative level of fanny kicking that activity produces. These terms are loading or mass and range of movement or distance.
Here are a few mathematical considerations of these variables:
Work = Load x Range of Movement
Power = Work / Time
Other than being a geeky survey of mechanics, what’s the point? Well, in the context of scalability, increasing mass (load) or distance or decreasing the amount of time an activity is performed increases the intensity. In simple terms, lift a heavier weight, move it farther, move it faster, or in the case of running, swimming, rowing etc., get where you are going faster, and you have increased intensity.
As you recall, if you raise the intensity, you raise the ass-kicking-potential (AKP). So when someone asks “How do I scale a workout for my 56 year old mother?” they are really asking “what is a reasonable AKP for Mom?”
Let’s look at the squat as a generic example for these concepts and then delve into some of our clinical examples.
If you check out the CrossFit Journal on the squat, you will get a very thorough exploration of the movement and the common form errors. In its purest form, the squat involves moving from a standing position to a position in which the hips are below the knees and then returning to a standing position. That is the ideal. But what if our hypothetical mom is 5’ 2” and 267 lbs? Well… unless she has been competing in Strong Woman competitions, she is likely very deconditioned, weak and severely overloaded by her excess bodyweight. Is she still a candidate for the squat? You bet! But you must limit both range of movement and intensity to levels that allow for perfect form. How do you do this? Put a box behind her that is about 2” shorter than her bum. Get her squatting PERFECTLY to this box. How many reps and sets? If she is frail, perhaps only a set or two of five or ten repetitions in the first session. More than that if she is hardier. As she becomes stronger, you can incrementally decrease the height of the box, thus increasing her range of movement and consequently the amount of work performed.
Here is a good spot for a digression. The serious student of the training game might be asking the question, “What about Rhabdomyolysis?” How do I avoid killing dear old Mom? Well, in a word, that comes down to FAILURE. If you drive someone to failure you are creating an environment quite conducive to rhabdo. Why is that? Exercise causes some muscular damage, which is an element of rhabdo. Driving exercise to failure depletes ATP completely. This triggers enzymatic changes in the cells that allow calcium to enter the sarcoplasm, and this greatly exacerbates the damage caused to the cell. If you have a new trainee and you drive him or her to failure on a movement, you are guaranteeing this person will be sore. Do some serious loading on those same muscles in a few days, and you may be priming the person for a trip to the hospital or worse…..

There’s lots more to read on this and many other great subjects at: The Performance Menu

4 Rounds For Time:
Run 400m
50 Push-Ups
Run 400m
50 Sit-Ups
Run 400m
50 Lunge Steps
Run 400m
50 Double Unders

Our Workouts Today Are At 6:00am, 7:00am, Noon, 5:30pm, 6:30pm

5 Rounds For Max Reps:
#95/#65 Thrusters
Pull-Ups
Up to 30 second rest between exercises
Rest as needed between rounds
This is one to experiment with a little. Maybe try some thrusters heavier or lighter than RX’d. Try either exercise first. What we are looking for is maximum work output today…move the most weight possible, including body weight each set. Power, sure but time is not of the essence for today.

Our Workouts Today Are At 6:00am, 7:00am, 5:30pm, 6:30pm

Power OutPut Calculator A fun tool from our friends at Catalyst Athletics

4 Rounds On the 7 Minute Interval
400m Run
400m Row

Track Total Time, Row + Run.  Once you’re done with the run you get the rest of the 7 minutes for rest.

Our Workouts Today Are At 6:00am, 7:00am, Noon, 5:30pm, 6:30pm

“The CrossFit Denver Buzz”

In addition to great athletes we have lots of very intelligent, critically thinking, objective people at CrossFit Denver. Each week, beginning next Sunday 3/7/10 , we are going to post a BLOG focused on one singular subject. That subject is open for anything, but will likely lean towards improving health, fitness, diet, performance and life. During the following week, we hope that we will create “A Buzz” and a venue both online and in the gym for discussion, dialogue and debate of that week’s subject. Your input is welcomed and appreciated…ultimately it will be your ideas that create THE BUZZ!

Soy Vey!