Jacob hitting a solid box jump.

Workout
5 sets of 5 box jump practice
10 x 1 reps of depth jumps (landing then jumping) practice

then,

Kibbles Birthday Workout
3 Rounds for time:
20 Box jumps 20″/16″
30 Lunge steps
400 meter run

The next couple of days are going to involve a lot of squats and C2B pull ups. And you are going to be judged. When your friend calls you out for a no rep, here are some friendly reminders why. We value integrity, quality, and measurability at MBS. Most of you do an awesome job of getting the job done the way the workout prescribes. But if we’re honest, it’s awfully tempting to short change movements at times. Especially in the heat of a competition moment. Rushing, panicking, and caring more about the score than the work will make fluid, full ROM movements questionable, if not blatant “no reps.” The Open is a chance to rise above and challenge yourself to hit every single rep right. Let’s commit to that as a community. Let people call you out. That’s why you are here and not at a globo gym. Friends don’t let friends squat above parallel.

Range of Motion (ROM)
Range of motion refers the distance a joint can be moved through. Full or functional ROM is the entirety of the distance a joint can move. For example, full ROM of the elbow is the distance allowed between your arm fully flexed where forearm touches bicep, and arm fully extended where elbow is completely straight.

Functional ROM
The CrossFit protocol is 1) constantly varied 2) functional movements 3) across broad time and modal domains. We like to think of functional as being a movement that can be applied “out there” in your everyday life. If you are a police officer and you only ever squat to half depth on the back squat, what is going to happen if you have to squat down to a deeper depth to pick a fallen comrade onto your shoulders? You are going to be in a pretty compromising situation if you haven’t trained squatting down low. The aim of CrossFit is to make you more functionally capable and that is only done through using our joints to their full or functional ROM.

ROM increases flexibility and work capacity
In addition to increased functional ability, working joints to their full ROM maintains flexibility. For members that spend the majority of their time at a desk, doing full-depth squats and pushups to the floor will maintain the flexibility of the hips and shoulders. For athletes that have old injuries that have led to decreased flexibility (the shoulder is a common one), working the joint to its fullest ROM will often increase the flexibility. Just ask any physical therapist what they do to recover patients from hip, shoulder, and knee surgery – they rehab with increasing ROM exercises!

The Last Friday Night Fights at 6 PM tonight!

BBQ at MBS following workout on Saturday! Bring a sidedish and your own drinks. RSVP to comments!

We are working on the posterior chain today: posture, hammies, lumbar curve. I often get asked how to mobilize the lower back. This is a hard question because your back pain is usually caused by something else. Has your back ever hurt after doing deadlifts? Or box jumps? This might not be because of direct impact on your back, but of an elusive little booger called your psoas. You have to mobilize it through the torso, so it may be counterintuitive to the posterior chain although it's anatomical connections can yank on lots of stuff. Get to know this guy because it can contribute to rotated/tilted hips, back pain, and worst of all, overextension. Overextension is the reason you can’t get into THE position, the hollow. Loading your body up day after day in a compromised position can do some damage over time.

We are going to stick with posterior chain basics in classes today. But consider mobilizing your psoas as well. Now everyone will know you're mobilizing, not humping the floor. So have at it!

Spring has sprung, and we are cleaning up our act. We have done some work on the hips and shoulders so far. Today, it’s all about those joints: ankles, knees, wrists. (Insert painful groan here.) These little guys can have a major impact on the rest of your anatomy, affecting your movements in the gym. The video above provides some insight into how ankle impingement can cause problems in your squat.  Be careful to pay attention to the less obvious culprits. The foot affects the ankle that affects the knee that affects the hip, and then finally the back. Follow your pain/impingement to see where the trigger is, and attack!

 We are here to coach CrossFit, guiding you to the most efficient and safest movements possible. There is one caveat though…we are not you! You feel your pain, your impingement, and your aches. That’s yourself talking to yourself. Our hope is that these mobility tools we are presenting to you will become habit, even outside of class. We may not hit your mobility needs in each class, so take on the challenge to treat your body right with some foam roller, lax ball, and band treatments at home.

We are also fortunate to have a couple docs in the house! Mary Finck, PT, has been a huge help in this week’s programming.  If you need further attention to anything, she’ll have valuable insight:  dolm32v@aol.com

Dr. RJ Gelinas has been Team MBS’ faithful chiropractor. Check out his website for more info.

Jacob hitting a solid box jump.

The next couple of days are going to involve a lot of squats and C2B pull ups. And you are going to be judged. When your friend calls you out for a no rep, here are some friendly reminders why. We value integrity, quality, and measurability at MBS. Most of you do an awesome job of getting the job done the way the workout prescribes. But if we're honest, it's awfully tempting to short change movements at times. Especially in the heat of a competition moment. Rushing, panicking, and caring more about the score than the work will make fluid, full ROM movements questionable, if not blatant “no reps.” The Open is a chance to rise above and challenge yourself to hit every single rep right. Let's commit to that as a community. Let people call you out. That's why you are here and not at a globo gym. Friends don't let friends squat above parallel.

Range of Motion (ROM)
Range of motion refers the distance a joint can be moved through. Full or functional ROM is the entirety of the distance a joint can move. For example, full ROM of the elbow is the distance allowed between your arm fully flexed where forearm touches bicep, and arm fully extended where elbow is completely straight.

Functional ROM
The CrossFit protocol is 1) constantly varied 2) functional movements 3) across broad time and modal domains. We like to think of functional as being a movement that can be applied “out there” in your everyday life. If you are a police officer and you only ever squat to half depth on the back squat, what is going to happen if you have to squat down to a deeper depth to pick a fallen comrade onto your shoulders? You are going to be in a pretty compromising situation if you haven’t trained squatting down low.  The aim of CrossFit is to make you more functionally capable and that is only done through using our joints to their full or functional ROM.

ROM increases flexibility and work capacity
In addition to increased functional ability, working joints to their full ROM maintains flexibility. For members that spend the majority of their time at a desk, doing full-depth squats and pushups to the floor will maintain the flexibility of the hips and shoulders. For athletes that have old injuries that have led to decreased flexibility (the shoulder is a common one), working the joint to its fullest ROM will often increase the flexibility. Just ask any physical therapist what they do to recover patients from hip, shoulder, and knee surgery – they rehab with increasing ROM exercises!

The Last Friday Night Fights at 6 PM tonight!

BBQ at MBS following workout on Saturday! Bring a sidedish and your own drinks. RSVP to comments!

Alright Gang-get pumped for the 5th and final workout of the 2011 2012 CrossFit Games/MBS Open! Yep, this the exact, same, final WOD from last year's Open. You can find your scores here.

CrossFit Games Open 12.5:

Men
Complete as many reps as possible in 7 minutes following the rep scheme below:
100 pound Thruster, 3 reps
3 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100 pound Thruster, 6 reps
6 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100 pound Thruster, 9 reps
9 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100 pound Thruster, 12 reps
12 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100 pound Thruster, 15 reps
15 Chest to bar Pull-ups
This is a timed workout. If you complete the round of 15, go on to 18. If you complete 18, go on to 21, etc.

Women
Complete as many reps as possible in 7 minutes following the rep scheme below:
65 pound Thruster, 3 reps
3 Chest to bar Pull-ups
65 pound Thruster, 6 reps
6 Chest to bar Pull-ups
65 pound Thruster, 9 reps
9 Chest to bar Pull-ups
65 pound Thruster, 12 reps
12 Chest to bar Pull-ups
65 pound Thruster, 15 reps
15 Chest to bar Pull-ups
This is a timed workout. If you complete the round of 15, go on to 18. If you complete 18, go on to 21, etc.

MBS Open 12.5:

Men RX
Do the same as CF Games

Women RX
Do the same as CF Games

Men Scaled
Complete as many reps as possible in 7 minutes following the rep scheme below:
90 pound Thruster, 3 reps
3 Chin over bar Pull-ups
90 pound Thruster, 6 reps
6 Chin over bar Pull-ups
90 pound Thruster, 9 reps
9 Chin over bar Pull-ups
90 pound Thruster, 12 reps
12 Chin over bar Pull-ups
90 pound Thruster, 15 reps
15 Chin over bar Pull-ups
This is a timed workout. If you complete the round of 15, go on to 18. If you complete 18, go on to 21, etc.

Women Scaled
Complete as many reps as possible in 7 minutes following the rep scheme below:
55 pound Thruster, 3 reps
3 Chin over bar Pull-ups
55 pound Thruster, 6 reps
6 Chin over bar Pull-ups
55 pound Thruster, 9 reps
9 Chin over bar Pull-ups
55 pound Thruster, 12 reps
12 Chin over bar Pull-ups
55 pound Thruster, 15 reps
15 Chin over bar Pull-ups
This is a timed workout. If you complete the round of 15, go on to 18. If you complete 18, go on to 21, etc.

We will be hosting and juding the WOD on Friday during all classes and Saturday at 9 AM.

After you smash the Open one last time, LET'S CELEBRATE! You've worked hard, so it's time to grab your brew, your foam roller, and a friend. As a special treat to you WOD Mongers, James will be playing the tunes during WOD 12.5 from 9 am to 11 on Saturday. After everyone completes, we will hang out and grill some burgers for lunch. Bring a sidedish and your own drinks.

Finish Strong, MBS!

The group getting limber on the tarmac. This photo was taken by Kenneth during last Friday's evening classes as they hit the 12.4 WOD. Check out the rest of his album here.

If you saw last Monday's post, you are probably looking forward to next week's spring cleaning project. We are going to be slowing down on the workouts in order to refocus on proper movement and mobility. After hitting 5 weeks of hard workouts during the Open, this will probably be perfect timing for many of you. So, here's what you can look forward to so you can plan your schedules accordingly.

Our coaches will cover each joint/area and instruct a handful of stretches and self-massage techniques to help mobilize the area. We will also follow up with a movement/workout for us to test our capacity.

Monday: Hip mobility and squats.

Tuesday: The shoulder and pullups/muscle ups

Wednesday: Ankles, knees, wrists and the front squat

Thursday: Posterior chain and the deadlift

Friday: Soft tissue, nerve glides and running

MBS Open
Men RX
1. Doug F.-249
2. Scott N.-247
3. Hoss-246

Women RX
1. Sherrie Pasko-240
2. Rachel K-220
3. Cheryl Falbow-182

(NOTE: We have been trying our best to keep track of the MBS Open Scores via the whiteboard and the judging slips that get filled out on Friday and Saturday WODs. Please make sure you and your judge fills those slips out so we can read them. Also, if you scaled or modified any of the Open WODs, you will be competing in the scaled division of the MBS Open. We will post the current scores for scaled division as soon as we get the list together.)

We are offering a couple new opportunities for you CrossFit gluttons! Keep reading!

Lunch crew enjoying MBS' newly expanded strength digs.

For months you poor saps in the AM have only been subjected to the regular, old, workout of the day…It's finally here, what you have all been waiting for:
 

MORNING STRENGTH CLASS!
Tuesdays and Thrusdays
6:00 and 7:00 AM
All abilities are welcome.
No sign up necessary.

Strength class is not just for the competitive or burly. Strong core and Olympic lifts are imperative to strong WODs. CrossFit is about increasing work capacity. Strength training is part and parcel to making that happen. Also, gaining insight on technique and form will be a lot easier in a class dedicated to strength. You will see the whole gamut: power lifting, Olympic lifting, dynamic efforts, and accessory work.  The impressive heavy-lifter himself, Sean, will be coaching the AM classes. Watch out afternoon/evening, AM beast-making is underway!

Contact: sean@mbscrossfit.com
 

Our lovely Carissa, a CrossFit convert, thanks to her hubby.

Women Only Class
Ladies! Here is a new kind of happy hour. Get your sweat on with other women in a comfortable environment. No introductory class required. We will stick with the basics and learn as we go. Intensity and fun will be the perfect combo to great results!
Class is limited to 12 spots.

Starts April 2^nd
Mon, Wed, Fri
9:00-10:00 AM
$150
*$50 off for spouse of current member
*$25 off if you sign up with a friend

Members, this is the perfect opportunity for those family members and coworkers you’ve been wanting to see in the gym!  Feel free to print out a flyer-hang it around the workplace or give it to your wife, sister, mother, etc.

Contact: leah@mbscrossfit.com

MBSers and guests rocking the open this weekend!!

Congratulations and great job to everyone who took on WOD 12.3!

We have tried to compile, organize, and rank results. Unfortunately, we are missing quite a bit of info. We apologize for any misinformation and ask for your help in filling out your scoresheet with all the pertienent information next time. Based on what we have these are the final results:

CF Games Open
Men:
1. Dan-397
2. Pat-392
3. Rich-371

Women:
1. Leah-357
2. Yo-355
3. Sam-288

MBS Open
Scaled Men:
1. Nick-231
2. Dwight-220
3. Airrus-217

RX Women:
1. Shirley-238
2. Kindra-216
3. Sherrie-195

Scaled Women:
1. Megan V./Melia-217
2. Jurney-207
3. Cheryl-200

Spring Cleaning Week: March 26-30

Spring is in the air! This is the time of year when we may clean our houses, start working on the garden, or plan summer projects. In a sense, Spring is all about getting your ducks in row, and gearing up for a new season full of action. Many of our schedules will heat up with mountain biking, climbing, races, and such, putting more stress on the body. What if Spring cleaning included your mind, body, and soul (M.B.S.!!)?

We will have our special rendition of Spring Cleaning March 26-30. No, we aren't going to make you clean our toilets (unless you really want to). But, we are going to encourage you to clean up YOUR MBS a bit. All classes, Monday through Friday, will be included.  Our aim is to refocus, mobilize, and share some knowledge about how to treat your body right. Workouts will be shortened and/or reduced to single-modality WODs so we can spend adequate time on mobility drills. The recovery will be refreshing, and we think you’ll gain more ideas about how to stay healthy, mobile, and injury-free through the year.

SCHEDULE CHANGE (AGAIN)

Sorry for the confusion on the CF1 Class. We are back to 5:30 PM on Mondays and Wednesdays and will remain there. We only tried the 5:15PM last week and found that 5:30 will be a better fit. Thanks for your patience!!
 

Stu edged out Michael to win last week's FNF.

Tomorrow we host Open WOD 12.3 and Friday Night Fights! Last week, competitors toughed out snatches, handstand holds, shuttle runs, and finally the monkey swings. Stuart ended up being our fearless winner. But we saw some pretty cool action from everyone. For example, Julie held a handstand for over 2 minutes, beating out all her fellow competitors in that event!

The more competitive environment the last few weeks has rendered some awesome results. Last week, many of you thought that snatch weight was out of reach. But when you got to rep 61 of that workout, you smashed that weight and hit a PR. Maybe even a few times or more. We hope this little extra nudge has given you some confidence. We can’t wait to see what you do with WOD 12.3 in the next couple days.

 I've also noticed that FNF has taken on a little character of its own. We are seeing a pretty similar crowd each night and, while it's just a small, fun, thing to do on Friday nights, we are building community. Our community is bad ass. How would fill in the blank?

Our community is ___________________.

NEW class at MBS: Morning On Ramp

For all you early birds!! We have added a morning On Ramp class! Classes will meet three days a week for two weeks. This program is designed for the individual who wants ultimately to excel in our ongoing group CrossFit classes. We will expose new CrossFitters to our movement curriculum in a group format. After completion of the six classes, you will have the confidence to complete MBS CrossFit WOD classes, know the proper way to scale for your skill level, and  how to take the leap into proper nutrition… allowing you to exceed your goals faster than you thought possible! The next available start dates are Monday, March 12^th and Monday, April 9^th.  Classes will run Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 6:00-7:00 AM. See our MindBody schedule online to register! Join with a friend or family member and save $25!