If you were looking for CFS gear in sizes that we were out of, look no longer.  We just got a new shipment in.  Make your purchases at the desk in Southie Orange.  We accept cash, credit or we can even throw it on the account.

WOD
1 mile Run
10 hang squat snatches (95,65)
10 pull-ups
10 burpees
800m Run
10 hang squat snatches (95,65)
10 pull-ups
10 burpees
400m Run
10 hang squat snatches (95,65)
10 pull-ups
10 burpees
200m run
10 hang squat snatches (95,65)
10 pull-ups
10 burpees

Level 2 (75,45) 800m, 400m, 200m, 100m
Level 1 (45, 25) 800m, 400m, 200m

Displaying Lexi's fine photography skills

*CrossFit Route 1 is having a local competition on the 18th of February,  teams of two, one male and one female (teammates do not need to be a couple).  For standards, fellas must be able to power clean 135 and ladies dead lift 135 for reps.  Fellas should also be able to hold 115 locked out overhead and both men and women should be able to do double unders and pull ups without any assistance.  If you are interested in taking part, let us know!*

Strength
Back Squat
5-5-5-5-5

WOD
Double alternating tabata
Swings (1.5/1)
Pushups

Adv (2/1.5)
*Score is the total number of reps

I will never forget the day that I jogged over to my doctor’s office for a check-up, proudly got up on the scale, and weighed in at 113lbs. Up until this point I weighed around 130lbs (I was a  similar size in 7th,8th and 9th grade as I am now, minus the muscle). Stepping off the scale my Nurse Practitioner sat me down and diagnosed me with anorexia. I was 15, and had just taken up eating nutritous foods and running, I thought I was just being healthy. 113lbs for me, meant a size 0 in even the “juniors” section, and I was obsessed with being thin and becoming thinner. I am a pretty logical person (even at 15), and the stigma of being an anorexic girl was not something I was going to live with, so after being told the news I immediately made adjustments. I never again was obsessed with food and my body image to the point the of drastically compromising my health, but my desire and ongoing effort to be thin continued for years.

Run, run, run. Running was the answer. I would come home, eat way too many rice cakes (probably equivalent to 3 bowls of pasta), then I would feel guilty and run 3 miles and probably at a 9.5 minute pace. I told myself I loved to run, but I still always needed to talk myself out the door. High School lunch was always an experience. All of my friends would make fun of me, I would have a banana, dannon yogurt, and kashi cereal everyday for lunch, while my friends ate pb&j and fritos. Most of them were the same size or smaller than me, I would just laugh with them when they would tease me about my food choices. I probably would have been better off eating the same as them, I would just end up going home and binging on rice cakes or cereal because I was starving. I would eat anything that was fat-free in excess. Fat-free is what makes you thin, right? Now, I know you all know that answer to that.

College was better, although I would order cheesy bread at 4am with my roomies and then strip the bread of the cheese and think that I was really doing something for myself. What a whacko! It didn’t exactly help that James Madison University was 70% women, and there was a statistic that said about 80% of the female population had eating disorders….awesome. We were all obsessed with how we looked, it was normal.

The point of this tell-all blog post is to express my point of view of what CrossFit does for a woman. I danced, ran, cheer-leaded, was chairman of prom committee, student council VP, and yes a Delta, Delta, Delta. I never went anywhere without my hair done nicely, make-up, and very rarely without heels. Before CrossFit, my dad referred to me as twinkle toes, and would have never considered me an athlete. However, I always have loved fitness, or at least my idea of being fit. Some of us were born to run, others end up with overuse injuries. I ended up with overuse injuries, starting when I was 15 up until I found CrossFit. If I had kept running in those Asics, stability running shoes, that I was so very loyal to, I really wonder if I would even be able to walk at this point, never-mind run. CrossFit has also given me the the guidance on how to eat correctly. Paleo/zone balances my food intake  in a way that feeds my body the right amount of protein, greens, and healthy fats that will help my performance and keep me lean. No more binging on cardboard.

For women there seems to be this ongoing fear that they are going to get “big” by doing Crossfit. Will you develop muscle? Yes. Will you become bulky? Absolutely not. Most individuals lean down significantly when CrossFitting. I know personally, for my body type, I am going to stay the same weight regardless of what type of exercise I am doing, with a normal diet. I can be 135 lbs of muscle, or I can be 135 lbs of fat. Typically your body likes you at a certain weight, and to get down to less than what your body prefers, you will either need to run yourself into the ground (sidenote: I am not speaking to endurance athletes, I am referring to my personal situation of running to be thin as I know many women do) eat nothing, or both. In doing this, you get sick more often, injured frequently, and even things like your skin and hair become much less healthy. I feel much better in my clothes than I have in a long time, and that is only because I am able to maintain a much lower level of body fat, because of my increase in lean body mass.

Muscle is awesome and being strong is sexy. Ask anyone of our studly male coaches, they will tell you the same. CrossFit will help you maintain a healthy body weight as you age, after having kids, and when you go through ups and downs in your work and personal life. It is empowering and consistent….and not to mention fun. If you or one of your friends has doubts due to the thought of becoming to muscular, don’t! CrossFit has changed me from an image obsessed hungry person, to an athlete that is finally comfortable in her own skin. I will be a CrossFitter for life, and when I want to put the heels back on, do my make-up, get my hair did, and strut my stuff, I will do so feeling confident that I am not just a pretty face….but that I can also kick your ass ; )

Double WOD
10 minute AMRAP
10 Ring Dips
30 Double Unders

Level 2- 15 Double Unders
Level 1- 10 attempts

Rest 10 minutes

Every minute on the minute for 10 minutes
7 Toes to Bar
7 box jumps

Level 2/1- Treat as an AMRAP
ADV- (30,24)

Every minute that is missed row 500m.

Hollow Body Progresions Part 1

When most of us think of a solid core or core strength we envision someone with a rock hard six pack. Although an individual may have visible muscles within the abdominal region, it does not necessarily mean that they possess core strength. CrossFit, in and of itself, is a core strength and conditioning program. Mid-line stabilization is essential for functional movement and part of the goal is to develop athletes from the inside out, from the core to extremity. “Much of our work focuses on the major functional axis of the human body, the extension and flexion, of the hips and extension, flexion, and rotation of the torso or trunk. The primacy of core strength and conditioning in this sense is supported by the simple observation that powerful hip extension alone is necessary and nearly sufficient for elite athletic performance.” (CrossFit Training Guide) We can see the importance of hip extension implemented throughout nearly every movement whether it be a push jerk, power clean, snatch, sumo dead-lift high pull, etc. The more power we use from our hips and mid line, the more weight we are able to get up overhead.

That being said, how do we develop our core strength? Think outside the box. Instead of doing endless sit-ups with the abmat, use the GHD machine over in Southie Green, or work on plank progressions by doing them tabata style. Ring push ups are also an amazing way to develop mid line stabilization. The most awesome aspect in striving to develop core strength is that we can work on it within the comfort of our home by simply mastering v-ups before bed, doing plank holds for time, or getting in the weekly dose of hollow rocks while watching our favorite tv episode.  We just recently started a hollow rock challenge on Wednesday’s during class time at CFS.   We started with 10 on January 4th, and we will be adding 10 every Wednesday of each week until we get to 100.  Hollow rocks can practiced multiple times a week to master the movement, which in turn will help you build efficiency in weight-lifting as well as the gymnastic movements. Remember, lack of core development often leads to a predisposition to injury. When the core muscles are weak, we have to work twice as hard when we are engaging them. Do your part. Don’t let your weak mid line hold you back from getting a PR on one of your lifts or from doing a wod rx. Get after it!  To read more on midline stabilization, check out a previous post by Amy here.

Hollow Rock Challenge
40 Hollow Rocks

Strength
Squat clean thruster
3-3-3-1-1-1

WOD
Open WOD 11.3
5 min AMRAP
Squat Clean and Jerk (165,110)

L2 (135,95)
L1 (95,65)

There is an online scoreboard and a scoreboard in Southie Green. When you are logging your points online make sure you are just putting +1, +3, -10 ect as your daily point total. Do not add in the 100 points, Pete will keep track of this for you. If you miss an entry your points will be completely thrown off, so please make sure you go back and make sure that they are all there. If you are someone that has 17636 points right now, please revise…

In Southie green there is a whiteboard with the benchmarks, and a place to put your weekly totals. Get your scores up there!! This is just another way to hold yourself accountable, it takes just a minute to write is up there. You cannot win unless you write your score in. It is fun for people to see how it works that are new to the gym, or who are not participating. Please be a team player and display your weekly totals.

Andrea Cooke is the embodiment of the CrossFit Southie culture.  She is extremely modest, she doesn’t take herself too seriously and she is infectiously fun to be around.   You can find her frequently running past you during WODs, throwing around impressive weights, aggressively working on her goats, and laughing it up around the box.  We are very fortunate to have her as a part of our community and proud to present her with the Belt!

How did you get involved in CrossFit?  What was your first WOD/experience?

When I graduated from college, I moved home (Hartford) for a brief amount of time and found that my parents had developed a new obsession, Crossfit. I initially refused to go, claiming that I pushed myself enough on my own, and that I was already in good shape (looking back now, I would love to know what my definition of “in-shape” was) . After a couple months, I became very bored and grew tired of the same routine. I went to a class with my mom and attempted “Cindy”. Even though I used a big, green band, and did my pushups on my knees, I had never been so exhausted from a workout that took only 20 minutes. I love it!  The crossfit community also intrigued me, when I looked around the box, everyone there was pushing their limits, and physical capabilities, but was smiling while doing this! Unfortunately I was only able to go to my parents box for a couple weeks before I got a job in Boston. Once I moved, it took me awhile to settle into my new life. But after a couple months, I found myself craving crossfit, and so I set out to find one.

I am an extremely competitive person. Sometimes that may get me into some trouble, but that is why crossfit is so perfect for me. I love driving myself to beat an old score or time. The white bored can be my best friend, but can also be an enemy.

When did you start coming to CrossFit Southie?

I started coming to Southie in March, 2011. I can honestly say, that I am so proud to be a member of CF Southie. I travel a lot, and have been to many boxes in the past year. And Southie has an amazing reputation in the crossfit community. The coaches, programming, facilities, and community of Southie is one that cannot be beat. I love rocking my awesome new crossfit apparel!

What are you short-term and long-term CrossFit goals?

Short term- Understanding the snatch movement, 5 ring dips in a row, 125×5 for OHS.

Long term- Competing at the regional level.

What is your biggest accomplishment?

When Goose asked if I would compete at the Team Garage Games with him, Amy, and Maze this past October I tried playing it cool, but was so ecstatic and excited.  To be competing on a team with three of most amazing and talented athletes felt like an honor. I was nervous as hell, and my nerves definitely showed come game time. Coming back after that weekend I made the decision to approach CF differently. I decided it was time that I dedicate the time needed to try and be the best that I can be. And this means working hard on my weaknesses, even though they can be so freaking frustrating!

What is your favorite / least favorite WOD/movement?

Favorite movement is the squat clean, and I like a WOD with running.

Least favorite movement is the snatch or OHS. Those don’t seem to ever agree with me.

What do you do for a profession outside of CrossFit?

I work at Germaine Lawrence, a residential treatment center for adolescent girls with behavioral issues. Needless to say, Crossfit is needed for my sanity’s sake.

What are your hobbies outside of CrossFit?

Love playing soccer, traveling, and currently trying to kick the habit of going out like I am still in college, but that may take awhile…(not helpful for the next question though).  And hanging out with all the amazing people I have met through crossfit!

Do you eat Paleo or Zone?  What is your favorite paleo/non-paleo meal?

Started Paleo-zone this past week. So far, so good, but chocolate now seems to pop up EVERYWHERE I go! I have started making very tasty tomato, veggie, meat sauce, that I put on spaghetti squash. This is my new favorite meal.

WOD
Run 800m

Then 4 rounds

• 10 Burpee pull-ups
• 10 Kettlebell snatches (5 each arm)(1.5,1)
• 10 Alternating pistols (5 each leg)

Run 800m

ADV weighted pistols(1.5/1)
You may sub 1000m rows or 2400m bikes for the runs.

Strength
Deadlift
3-3-3-3-3

WOD
“Diane”
21-15-9
Deadlifts (225/135)
Handstand Push-ups

L2 (185/105)
L1 (135/75)

Strength
Power Clean
5-5-5-5

L1/L2 – Getting comfortable with the OHS during this time insead of working power cleans as a strength.

WOD
“Nancy” on a boat/bike
5 Rounds
500m Row/1200m bike
15 Overhead Squats (95,65)

Level 2 (75,55)
Level 1 (65,35)

WOD
“Filthy Fifty”
50 Box Jumps
50 Jumping Pullups
50 Kettlebell Swings, 35lb
50 Walking Lunges
50 Knees to Elbows
50 Push Press, 45lb
50 Back Extenstions (supermans
50 Wallballs
50 Burpees
50 Double Unders

Level 2- Dirty 30
Level 1- Terrible 20

We dropped a lot of knowledge on you this week, make sure to go back and read through if you missed the last few posts.

Strength
Push-Jerk
5-5-5-5

WOD
12 minute AMRAP
1 Clean and Jerk (155, 105)
1 Wall Climb
2 Clean and Jerk
2 Wall Climbs
….and so on

Level 2 (135, 85)
Level 1 (95, 65)
ADV (205,135), Rope Climbs 15 feet (Unless you need more work on wall climbs)