It was all fun at Crossfit london Uk today, as double unders and ring dips merged with the olympic lifts in a power clean and push press fusion: all under the watchful eyes of “snoppy”, the latest addition to the Dixey household.

So we had a quick mini tutorial on double unders followed by 200 of them ( for the better skippers), or try , and end up in  a tangle for the ” double unders are work in progress” brigade.

This was followed by 3 x 5 front squats ” cleaned” as opposed to lifted off the racks.

Then it was wod time

5 x power clean/push press

5 x ring dip

Amrap 8 minutes.  This does not sound too long, but with weights of 60/70 kilos, thats long enough.

Some great performances from the bigger boys

We kicked off with a bit of DOME and DISH.

No explanation. You needed to be there to enjoy the most competitive team game ever! In Cians words, “the victor was ……fun”.

On to  a vraiety of fun skills. Muscle ups, knees to elbows, Toes to Bars and Handstand push ups, with a focus of driving out of a headstand into a handstand. cool if you can do it without falling over.

All mixed in with snatch preparation drills leading to a series og group snatches of 2, 2, 2, 2, followed by high pulls, 2, 2, 2,

Followed by 4 minutes of squat thrusts (aiming for 100 reps)

An interesting evening: we started off with : “Woodland Fun”. A mix of wheelbarows, back to back squats and leap frog , prompting our Kate to exclaim ” It’s surprising how attendance at a catholic convent  school for girls doesn’t prepare you for leaping in the air with your legs apart – over boys”

Who knew!

Anyway, in response to popular demand, everyone sneaked off to find out their back squat PB’s, but sprinkled in weighted chins for variety (it’s the spice of life you know!!).

Then, it was Grace.

30 Clean and Jerks for time!

The thing about all Crossfit workouts, sometimes you just have  to look at the bar

Cian has a moment with the bar

A fabulous mixed group of “normal people”, trainers, and physical therapists got together in Bethnal Green to try out the world famous Crossfit London i-course: the one-day course that gets you practicing most of the essential Crossfit basics (squat, clean, snatch, ring work, handstands, muscle ups)

As always, a phenomenal Crossfit London team, led by Andrew and Steven, with superb support from Kate, Phil, Alex, Kirsty and Sevan; taught, inspired, problem-solved and target-set for an anxious-to-learn audience.

The Crossfit London i-Course is an ideal way of covering those basics, and can be a great way of preparing for your CrossFit Level 1 Certification. For “normal people” without regular access to a Crossfit gym, it’s a great opportunity to get some feedback and pointers from the Crossfit London multi-skilled team.

Well done everyone, especially to Sammy for coming first in Thumb Wars, Jo for a great handstand push-up performance, and Tracy for that pull-up with a band demo. You are on the road of the righteous!

Some great effort in the L-Sit practise

A special muscle-up festival from the “big tough boy group”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7u17QtsUiw

Wondering what all the fuss is about? Book your place in the May i-Course and come and find out!

In spite of what they say, planning does not always work, neither does a focused ‘goal orientated” session objective mean success.

On paper Wednesday night’s workout plan was perfect. Introduction of the bar roll out,  followed by 3 x 85% of 1rep max  squat clean with max strict pull ups, at a ‘leisurely pace’, followed by a handstand push up ladder. What’s not to like?

During the cleans the focus was on quality, dealing with whatever problems came up. For some it’s failing to catch the bar on the shoulders, hence we videoed the Nisha Roll.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh3-uhOUShs

For others it was speed, others it was using the ankles and knees to drop into the squat rather than being bum led.

It was a great opportunity to look at peoples strict pull up performance and to remind ourselves that kipping pull ups are “powerful” but, if you have to walk into someone else’s gym, you need to beat them on their own terms. So you need some stricts in your bin. Great to see Amelia and Cindy “pulling for the girls”. And well done Tom and Jas: shows that some of your previous  training will be of use.

The real problems began in the handstand pull up ladder. we went through the progressions, and  set this as the workout.

1 handstand press up, minute 1, 2 in minute 2, etc, with the following guidance

Try as many of the hardest progression that you can, then drop down through the substitutions to finish the required amount of work: in my fevered brain, this meant at minute 5 , for example,  some had  tried 3 full handstand push ups, have done an L handstand push up, and maybe are  starting  the first on their knees substitution.  This was part of a very logical, “let’s bring handstand push ups back, big time.” The problem is, too many had to start off from their knees which mean the ladder became ineffective. Sure, we had an impromptu handstand practice session, but no real WOD, except for Troopers Niam and Liam who bashed out loads of full handstand push ups.

So the session lacked “pace” ( except for Liam and Niam) Sorry!!

Well, nothing’s perfect!

So it all begins with some Crossfit London burpee philosophy:

Whats in a burpee? Surely a burpee, by any other name, would still be as sweet (thanks to Juliet for the inspiration for this line…shame about the dying thing)

Because it has a (heels down) squat,

We actually came up with some interesting names for this position: Angry Gorilla or Happy Alsatian. But whatever the name, and whatever coaching points used,  top marks go to Carolyn, Sophia, Kirsty and Kate for some beautiful lumber curves and proud chests. And to be truthful, a few “cough-cough’s” go to some of the boys, who need to be watching less mobility videos and focusing more on enforcing proper squat form. We had a few people deciding to book a place on the forthcoming mobility workshop.

Then it’s a simple jump back into the perfect plank.

Then a perfect push up (everything to then floor), a jump back to a squat position, then a hip-extending drive into the air with a shoulder mobilizing clap above the head.

A burpee is one thing! It’s the opportunity to express perfect movement, co-ordination and mobility, time and time again.

On to “Team Grace”: 60 clean and jerks (30 each). Some great efforts: the Superman award goes to Tom Henry, who was recently promoted to the Crossfit London Coaching team. More of him later!.

Sophia, Kate, Carolyn and Kirsty all cleaned and jerked beautifully. A mention in dispatches has to be made of Cian and Matt, while Efe and Alex threw the bar around as if it was a rag doll (a 60kg rag doll of course).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOnvzyO1NJY

After that is was muscle-up drills with box push ups, the muscle-up push ups, armchair muscle-ups and Frenchies: then some full muscle-ups by Simon, Efe, Alex, Tom and Ruarie.

Fabulous!

Another  fun night at Crossfit London UK, where we focused on the split jerk,

and muscle up drills, resulting in Cians first muscle up, caught on video. (Sorry for the Tourette’s-style commentary)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glrEIZ4W5uk

Everyone seemed to enjoy the Tabata pull ups that rounded off the session.

Correct positioning before your final explosion in the Olympic lifts is crucial. Mike Burgner gave us the concept of pockets, that the bar must be around mid thigh,before you launch into your final hip drive  and shrug. The idea behind “pockets” was an easy to relate to queue. Imagine the bottom of your pockets ( or put your hands in your pockets and press down). That’s where the bar should.

A great group coaching point, but on a refined level it may not work for everyone. ( pocket sizes, arm lengths, thigh lengths vary… they do really!) Some are happy to experiment, others need drills to guide their learning.

Here is a box jump drill that could help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ6p-yccjQc

Friday night is Olympic Lifting night at Crossfit London UK . Tonight we focused on the split jerk and jerk balance .We worked it from the racks, and then combined it with an attempt at a max clean and jerk.

A very technically orientated evening.

Well done everyone!

Friday night as normal is Olympic lifting night. Tonight it was the dreaded snatch, so we kicked off by a quick drill refresher session, then cracked through with a few sets of “Efe’s Revenge (aka Sott’s Press)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnR1gZ1oG-s

This was followed by 6 -8 (ish)  single rep sets of the full squat snatch, followed by a few sets of high pulls. And nicely topped off with some snatch balances. The aim of this selection of drills was to identify your weak spot in the snatch: is it shoulder flexibility, the pull from the floor, or is your problem “getting under the bar”? All through this session we stressed proper squat form in the receiving position: bum back, weight on your heels.

You have to remember what joint to bend first on your legs when carrying load. You have three joints, which should move first? Think of it this way; whatever joint moves first, takes the whole weight of the move upon it. So think it through: should you move your ankle joint first? Have  a look at that tiny, dainty joint– not really that good a choice. How about getting the infamous injury-prone knee to be the focus of all the stress your body and a bar can generate? Or how about, initially, using your massive hip joint? (a tennis-ball sized joint buried in a secure acetabulum,  supported by a a massive bum muscle. ( And of-course, I’m not saying your bum is too big).

But here’s the “thing”: God knew you would be confused as to which joint to use, so she “flagged it” with a giant arse-shaped “post it note” in case you forgot. This is the joint strong enough to take all the grief when you begin to squat. Hence  we say “bum back” first..

Anyway, after that it was the Sorensen Test

The race has always been on to firstly predict,  then inoculate against,  back pain. A test known as the “Sorensen test” based on the work of Hansen in 1964, has been popular since 1984.

According to Demoulin et al 2006  ”The test consists in measuring the amount of time a person can hold the unsupported upper body in a horizontal prone position with the lower body fixed to the examining table”

The test is accepted in its discriminative validity, reproducibility, and safety. However debate continues to surround its ability to predict low back pain. No firm explanation, beyond “women rock” , has been offered as to why “chicks” can hold it longer than guys.

Naturally motivation and discomfort tolerance are confounding factors.

A interesting review is available in PDF form at Isometric back Extension tests: a Review of Literature Maureau et al Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics Volume 24 • Number  2001, But in essence,this report says this….(yawn….)

“For men, the mean endurance time is 84 to 195 seconds; for women, it is 142 to 220.4 seconds. For subjects with LBP, the mean endurance time range is 39.55 to 54.5 seconds in mixed-sex groups 80 to 194 seconds for men, and 146 to 227 seconds for women” whether thats remotely useful lm not sure, but if you suffer or are prone to lower back pain, (you tend to know by your appalling posture), im going to suggest you move this figure up.

References
Demoulin C, Vanderthommen M, Duysens C, Crielaard JM.  2006.  Spinal muscle evaluation using the Sorensen test: a critical appraisal of the literature. Joint Bone Spine. 2006 Jan;73(1):43-50.

Are still awake! Then all that remains to say is: good job everyone!