CrossFit Engineering classes for the next phase are here:

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In our last post we started to define the movements of toes-to-bar (TTB) and establish an awareness of mobility and stability factors that can impact an athletes performance.  In this post we are calling in the skills of our resident Yoga expert Alice to share her 5 best Yoga stretches to improve your toes-to-bar.

If you stop and think about the movement you should consider the flexibility of the shoulders, the lower back and the hamstrings. 

1. Downward Dog

Start in a high plank position. Initiate the movement by gently bracing your midline – keeping the bottom ribs down – slowly lifting you tailbone towards the sky.  Your heels should be drawing down to the ground as you remain long through the spine.  Press away from the ground and create space and length in the traps and upper back. Your arms must remain straight as you gently press your head through your arms to gain openness in the shoulders – think like an overhead press.

With your spine and head/neck aligned, broaden your upper back, externally rotate your upper arms, reach your tailbone up and back and work on pressing your heels towards the floor without losing shape of the spine.

Scale:  Work the range of motion that suits your flexibility. Play with bending your knees and straightening them slowly.

Where you should feel the stretch:  Calves, hamstrings, shoulders and triceps

Make it Dynamic: Switch between the high plank push-up position and the downward dog position. Inhale to come into plank, exhale to press into downward dog. (more…)

Week 1 of 16 Juggernaut

COACHES COMMENT:

The Juggernaut phase is here and its time to build some raw strength again.  I strongly recommend you all downloaded the CrossFit Hackney Juggernaut spread sheet to calculate and record your numbers.

week 1 is all about the 60% (of your working weight) intensity and focusing on building both mental and physical toughness. The aim is to AMRAP in the last set, and during the 10’w wave most of you will be doing more than 20reps in the final set.  Have a goal in mind and tell you coach or your training partner what this goal is.  Don’t just step up to the bar and see what happens, set yourself a target and then hit it, or beat it.  In the first week the aim is to finish 2-3reps of failure.  Do not go until complete failure.

The weight may seem a little light in the first 2 weeks of each Juggernaut cycle, remain patient and work on increasing the number of repetitions.  Volume is the key to the strength improvements in this system.

Record your weights on the whiteboard.  There will now be 2 separate sections on the whiteboard in the gym to record your Juggernaut  weight and repetitions of the AMRAP, and the WOD time.

 

RECOMMENDED WEEKLY READING:

For the Love of Toes-To-Bar – Part1	This month the CrossFit Hackney programme will include much more than just the Juggernaut strength programme. We are going to dedicate some time to quality skill movements, starting with Toes-To-Bat (TTB) and the Push-up
What Is The Best Way To Set Goals For Strength Development	Your about to build some solid strength, but do you have a goal in mind.  Just doing the reps in not going to deliver the best results, you need movtivation and a drive to achive an end goal.  What weight could you life when you first started CrossFit?  What can you lift now?  What are your goals at the end of the next 16-weeks?
The Good Intestinal Strategies	As many people can attest, solving chronic intestinal issues can be a very complicated process. Identifying food allergies (IgE and IgG) and food intolerances (lactose or fructose) can help some, but it is often a long, difficult, expensive and sometimes  inefficient proce
How to NOT suck at CrossFit	No a week passes without somone asking us “hw do I get better at ….”  You want to know how toget better, set a goal, train what your suck at, eat a healthy diet, lower your booze intake, improve your sleep, take rest DAYS, hydrate, be consistent, do mobility, and most important of all LISTEN TO YOUR COACHES!!
Get a Better Rack	Do you struggle with your front rak position?  Some simple mobility drills might hold the answer.
CrossFit Hackney Levels Spreadsheet CrossFit Hackney Juggernaut Spreadsheet

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During April ‘15, the CrossFit Hackney skillz and drills sections of the classes will include a major focus on Toes-to-Bar (TTB).  If you’re still trying to get your first set of TTB, or you’re looking to become more efficient at TTB, this blog series, and this month’s classes are the nuts and bolts!

TTB is a movement designed to test your abdominal and grip strength, your flexibility, as well as your hip and shoulder stability.  Generally the smaller athletes will be better at gymnastics movements, but this is not always the case as skill has a large role to play.

The CrossFit movement standards for TTB are:

“In the toes-to-bar, the athlete must go from a full hang to having the toes touch the pull-up bar. Both feet must be in contact with the bar at the same time, inside the hands.”

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In the last post we talked about your working max and detailed the sets, reps, percentages, and goals of the next 16 weeks. This blog post is all about a simple little spreadsheet designed to help you remember and record your numbers.

You can download your very own copy of this spreadsheet from either DropBox or Google Drive.

When you open the spreadsheet you will need to enter your personal maxes for Squat, Bench, Deadlift and OHP (the cells with the red text “?” to the right of the “Actual Max (kg)” heading for each, in this example I’ve entered 130 as the actual squat max).

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