Remember Barni Böjte? He is the guy that completed the Open by making all his own equipment. Now training with Lacee Kovács and Weightlifting 101, he is smashing out PRs like this! Check out the pure determination on his face. This is a man on a mission of self-improvement, and THIS is what Crossfit is all about
Sometimes your plans for the day evolve in a totally different way than you had excepted or planned. The 2 hours you planned for the journey, warm up and training, have been cut down by long hours at the job, a traffic jam on the way or the class before overrunning again. Do not despair, here are 10 Crossfit WODs that you can do in under 10 minutes.
10. FRAN
3 rounds, 21-15-9 reps of thrusters and pull-ups for time:
21 Barbell Thrusters, 95/65lbs (43/30kg)
21 Pull-ups
15 Barbell Thrusters
15 Pull-ups
9 Barbell Thrusters
9 Pull-ups
Check out this video for a few more tips on how to have a great date with Fran.
Being fit without being bulky, manly or losing femininity is a major concern for many women new to CrossFit. They ask for ‘tone’ or ‘leanness’ which in my view are the code words for the socially acceptable forms of muscularity in women. I want to encourage women that strength isn’t something to be afraid of – your body will change but it won’t turn into a man’s body. That’s an irrational fear fed by those out there with small minds and big mouths who would only allow women to aspire to one form of attractiveness and would restrict us from the range of ‘femininities’ we can identify with – including ones that include a bit of muscle!
HERE’S A FACT: NO MAN OR WOMAN BECOMES A BODYBUILDER BY ACCIDENT
The truth is that if women can get past the largely irrational fears about bulk and focus on getting stronger, they develop better body image and a healthier relationship with their bodies.
The concerns evaporate and are replaced by a pride in what a woman’s body can do! We women who lift know that we are women, and we are happier with our bodies than the average population. We don’t shun femininity. Actually, we ooze it!
Sara Sigmundsdottir working hard in competition
But it’s a different brand of femininity than your average pink Barbie doll fluff. It’s a femininity that doesn’t break under pressure. It’s not about waiting for doors to opened for you or being shielded from the grit and grind of life. It may not be the femininity that every woman aspires to, but it is the sexiest kind there is. It’s like the difference in sexy between Cinderella and Elektra. Both arguably beautiful, but which would you rather be?
If you don’t see yourself as a Waiting-for-Prince-Charming kind of gal, you might want to read on for a selection of the other great bits about being a woman who’s not afraid to lift heavy.
1. FUNCTIONALITY – KNOWING WHAT IT’S FOR AND HOW TO USE IT
Lets cut to the nitty gritty. Lifting requires a greater knowledge and deeper respect for the body. You learn your limits and you fight to break through them. Along the way you discover how to move better, think more confidently and take pride in what your body can do. And to lift, you learn how to tap into a raw, primal more passionate self.
Destroying WODs in style
These characteristics don’t get left in the box – they follow you home! I don’t think I need to draw you a picture to explain how these qualities increase your attractiveness, appeal and even ability in the bedroom. Outside the bedroom, a functional, strong female body usually houses a pretty awesome personality. Double bonus, not just for your significant other, but also for friends, family and children. Ladies who lift just have more energy for everything.
2. LIFTING LADIES BE LIKE, “SCREW FASHION, LET’S HAVE FUN!”
Is there anything more tedious than the fashion-obsessed? I can think of scarce things less sexy than someone more worried about what they wear than what they do. That’s not to say that lifting women leave their homes in the morning without some preening. It’s just less of an obsessional worry. Lifting women love to express their personalities in their lifting gear and gym clothes. Bright colours or plain black, they rock it! But the focus is totally different. It’s about what fits, what’s functional and what’s fun.
Doubtlessly, there are brand name junkies in the fitness wear arena, too. But you wouldn’t catch a self-respecting CrossFit woman more worried about messing up her gear than messing up her workout. Besides, the better the body is underneath, the less the outer cover really matters!
Laura Faulkner from the UK
3. LIFTING AND LONGEVITY. SEXY FOR THE LONG HAUL
We are all getting older. Stop denying it and start thinking about how you’d like to age!
One of the physical changes that defines the problems experienced in old age is the decline in muscle tissue. Forget for a moment, what this means for appearance. Just consider how sexy you can feel when you need help up and down from the toilet! You need a good foundation of muscle to keep you moving and independent for longer. The older we get, the harder it becomes to build muscle, so there’s no sense in waiting until there’s a problem to start. In case you are still worried about how you’d look with more muscle, be advised that more muscular, leaner bodies look younger through the years, too. Get lifting or look like a granny, basically.
4. SHELLAC AND CHALK! WE LOOK GOOD UNDER PRESSURE
Dedicated female lifters and Crossfitters have a great style. It’s reflected in their workouts with styles that will hold up under sweat and hard graft. Outside the box, this looks like real beauty. The kind that isn’t overly concerned with keeping our makeup pristine. Just because a woman can be gritty and strong doesn’t mean you should underestimate her power to wow. Maybe not in ways that you’d read about in Vogue, but with simple, sexy ways that can’t be easily imitated.
Train hard, have fun, make friends.
Lifting women are queens of the sporty yet hot up-do and even short-nailed, chalked up hands are often celebrated with a coat of shellac. In the effort to lift, we learn to work with what we’ve got – making the most of our good bits and working on making the rest better. Translation: lifting women might not be caught up in cultural ideals of femininity, but they also won’t scare you when then have no makeup on and can rock their flannel pjs just as well as their party frocks.
Warning: Strong women can only be matched by strong friends and strong partners! Not saying that your partner or friends will need to be muscular, but they will certainly need a strength of character to match your own. Sometimes, as women get fitter and healthier, their new found confidence rubs some people up the wrong way. Particularly machismo men, jealous people and the plain, old superficial types. If you refuse to be a play-thing, you’ll soon find out who really respects you. Your strength might start in with lifting, but it’ll end up in your character and your spirit.
Reflect back to summer 2016. The Open was a mere fairy tale a million miles away but you were feeling strong. You were telling yourself how you would be going all in for 2017! Now 2017 is here and the Open is on the Horizon.
PUTTING THE CROSSFIT OPEN 2017 INTO PERSPECTIVE
It is 5 workouts over 5 weeks which equates to roughly 2.5 hours (based on 5 30min wods) of judged physical action (more if you repeat workouts). It can consume Athletes for this period, and not always in a positive way mentally or physically. Ok, so not everyone will be feeling the Open fear or feeling nervous, but for those who have high expectations or pressure being put upon them could mentally talk themselves down or burn out before the competition even begins.
“The 11th Competent of CrossFit is Mental” –Rich Froning
You’ve gotta set goals and achieve them to become the best athlete you can be right?
Goal setting is an absolutely indispensable part of the sports training process. Proper goal setting enables you to get real with yourself and your expectations. Goal setting alone is a tool for motivation It can build confidence and self-trust, which are important skills for when you are training and competing. By setting goals it can keep you both grounded and focused at the same time. This is one hell of a combo for enhancing your dedication to training and competition.
But even with our Goals in place we can still find ourselves putting our focus and energy into ‘Uncontrollables’.
These are elements and events that can zap the energy, passion and motivation right out of you. Just by changing your focus and working towards your daily goals makes a massive difference both physically and mentally.
We have put together a Diagram highlighting the most common uncontrollable that have cropped up. Check it out and see where your focus and energy currently resides.
Stay in your lane
With the CrossFit Open 2017 starting on feb 23, now is a great time to analyse your own mental game. There is still plenty of time to apply mental techniques alongside your physical training. The good news is that for every Uncontrollable there is a Controllable that can be used to counter any negative effects. Below are 3 controllable elements.
1. SLEEP
Make sure sleep is a part of your regular training schedule if it isn’t already.
Sufficient sleep is hugely important to athletic performance so find a routine that works and try to make regular sleep a priority.
Valerian root is a good natural herb that helps people sleep.
There are also various digital tools and sleep monitoring apps to assist if you have trouble sleeping.
Try drinking less caffeine or reduce it completely from your diet. If this is a problem, use 15:00 as a cut off point.
2. PROGRAMMING
You may be following a specific program but are you staying in your lane with it? Programming is a controllable of your training. Therefore it’s important to stick to the plan, trust the process and the coach.
Focus on what you can and cannot control
Watching what others around you are doing outside of your lane (social media, conversations with other athletes etc) and allowing that to influence your programming could be a conscious decision that may hinder your physical goal.
For example, say you have a bad shoulder and have been advised not to do any bar work. You should stick with the program and your coaches advice. Your conscious on the other hand tells you to try that workout with bar muscle ups that you just watched on youtube (through fear of not doing enough, and thinking that others are getting stronger than you based on what you’ve seen on social media). This could set you back in training and preparation or even cause more injuries.
You can’t control how others train, but you can control how you let it affect you. Staying focused and trust your own process, it will be much more beneficial long term.
3. TRUST
Most people wouldn’t think that trust can be a mental tool Because it isn’t something you actually perform, unlike meditation, visualization or routine.
Trust involves having confidence in the basic belief that you have prepared yourself well enough to achieve your goals, and your body will do what you have trained it to do when it counts. It also includes a fundamental faith that if you give your best effort and trust the process, then good things will happen. Trust enables you to approach competitions with confidence, commitment and courage without fear, worry or doubt.
Having a go to word pre-comp and during a workout is a great way to instill trust in yourself: “Why not me?”, “Lets Go”, “We’ve got this”
Training is a great way to apply rituals that will instil trust mentally and physically
Acknowledging your progress and reminding yourself its progress not perfection
Taking the small wins every training session
Take time out to remember why you do your sport and why it is your passion.
The Open is something amazing to be a part of and for most it’s about community, having fun and participating. For the elite, it is this and much more, but the truth is all levels benefit from physical and mental training and everyone benefits from participating in the test of fitness that is the Crossfit Open.
Early morning workouts, meal prepping, dragging yourself to the Box even when you feel beat and tired, all of these things have one thing in common – they require a lot of willpower! Consistency is one of the most important aspects of training, but how do you train yourself to be consistent and stick to things? The good news is that willpower and self-discipline can be trained and turned into habits.
1. SET SMART GOALS
If you want to be disciplined, you need a “why”. Getting out of bed at 5.45 am for the early morning class takes a lot of willpower, so being able to quantify EXACTLY what this is going to help you achieve will make it much easier to do. You need targets to aim for.
SMART goals are a great way to define your goals, which in turn will give you a ‘why’ for each action you have to do.
SMART goals must be:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Timely
2016 CrossFit Games champion Mat Fraser – Sets goals and sticks to them!
For example, say you want to nail a 200kg Deadlift, a bodyweight snatch or your first pull up. These are all specific, easily measurable, attainable (relative to ability) and relevant to Crossfit. If you speak with your coach, work out exactly what you need to do, how often you must train etc, then you will be able to estimate a date for when you should be able to hit this goal by. Next step is to give yourself a deadline and get on with it.
However, it can often be more complicated than this. What if your new year’s resolution was to “become fitter” or “eat healthier”? As an exercise, try to turn these resolutions into SMART goals and see how you end up describing them. “Become fitter” might mean making sure you go to the Box twice a week. “Eat healthier” may mean stopping eating chocolate from Monday to Friday, or it may mean cutting out refined sugar from your diet. It is up to you to decide.
2. WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS
Once you have identified your SMART goals, write them down and put them on your wall. Keep writing them down. Even buy a notepad and write down your goals every day. It will only take a minute, but will turn this action into a habit, and ingrain these goals into your life.
Snatch accessory exercises are a great way to attack your lift and technique from new angles, strengthen weak spots, and break through plateaus. Use these variations to become a better lifter.
SNATCH HIGH PULL
The snatch high pull is a great way to develop strength, speed, power, posture and balance. You will be able to handle heavier weights than in the snatch, which in turn is great for improving explosive power. Generally the snatch pull should be done for 2-5 reps per set anywhere from 80%-110% of the lifter’s best snatch depending on the lifter and how it fits into the program. The weight should not exceed what the lifter can do with reasonably proper positioning and speed in the final extension. As a strength exercise, it should be placed toward the end of a workout, but because it also involves some speed and technique, it’s generally best place before more basic strength work like squats.
(@mattiecakesssss)
#weightlifting101 #europeiscoming #barbellmobility @theprogrm
@theprogrm #weightlifting101 #europeiscoming #barbellmobility
@reebok @xendurance @crossfitgames
(@mountainman_cf) on 
