04 March 2010 - This week at Crossfit

We don't actually work out.  We just play on the equipment.  I hope the owners don't see this.

This week we changed up our schedule somewhat by meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday instead of Mondays.  No problem.  Two good WODs, accomplished.  Just in time for Saturdays Big Day.  Kirkwood RFC V. Parkway.  Spring 2010 season opener!

Tuesday we hit it hard with a team WOD, however, this time teams were decided based upon the results of a Mini-WOD, composed of a two minute max effort air squat.  Teams were then selected by pairing top Mini-WOD ranks with lowest and working towards the middle of the pack.  The WOD then consisted of two rounds of row for max calories, max KB swings, and max Cleans in two minute periods spaced by one minute of rest.

Tuesday's 2minute max routine & results

For Wednesday, lifting heavy things was mood of the day; Crossfit Total was the result.  The Crossfit Total calls for max lifts in three exercises: Deadlift, Back Squat, Overhead Press.  We tackled the WOD in that order, and I would like to say, I am definitely pleased with the form, attention to detail and instruction, and willingness to Go Heavy.  It may seem like a straightforward WOD, but maxing out is no easy task.  After all, the idea of maxing out lends itself to just that, get your hands on the bar, and give it all you have, drop the weight, and feel the pump! (Reference to Pumping Iron w/Arnold, check it out on google video if you have not seen it, really quite a stomp to watch)

CF Total Results: Note the #325 Crowd on the Deadlift!

Come Ready to play Saturday for it will be a glorious day!

To check out more pictures from the gym, check out Kirkwood Coaches on Facebook

04 March 2010 - Season Kickoff

Kirkwood RFC V. Parkway United

Saturday 06 March 2010

Forest Park Central Field (Jewel Box)

Kickoff 10:30 am

STL Bombers V. Ramblers

To follow immediately following

So, this is how it begins.  The 2010 High School Rugby season begins with an energetic match up, proceeded just as much by the exuberant excitement of an approaching spring and season as by the weight of tension and nervousness.   Parkway, in its first year of existence and also having beaten Kirkwood in a preseason tournament match [Tin Cup], is headed by a former Kirkwood rugby coach, looks to make its case as a developing power in St. Louis high school rugby.  Kirkwood, enjoying it's third year after rebirth with its largest depth chart yet, looks to bring it all together and never look back. 

Only now to wait and see!

01 March 2010 - February Recap

I have been remiss in my writings.  So lets get to it.  February was an eventful month, and, further, we have much to look forward to in March and beyond.  Working backwards, this weekend Kirkwood Rugby, in a last minute scheduling success, traveled to our wonderful state capitol of Jefferson City to take on... well, Jefferson City Rugby.  The game was set up as a friendly, and as such, we played three 30minute halves on a marvelous pitch, and under a warm sun - albeit the wind was quite brisk.  To Kirkwood, I was proud of y'all before the match even started;  For showing up hardy and in good spirits and most importantly for showing up in numbers.  Give yourself a hand for traveling at the last minute and being able to field two sides; A validation to our clubs success as a program.  Keep the numbers coming and the quality of play will only increase.

Very well, I have gotten a bit off topic.  Our boys travelled and played - quite furiously I might add - and ended this friendly as we should.  With increased experience, knowledge of our strengths and weaknesses, in good health and with enthusiasm for the upcoming spring season.  Play was dynamic and for the most part continuous, with some dashing runs and reverberating hits, however, I must make a few points.

• Although we kept toe to toe on the scoreboard, we were dominated possession wise and thus were on defense far too much.  No possession, no sustained offense
• Further, our rucks were not consistent or tactical enough.  Those were some big boys out there and they liked to keep it in the pack.  When we rucked we were inconsistent on the numbers we committed, speed to which support arrived, and most importantly, when the former were in place, we were often not resilient enough to secure the ball and give our scrumhalf clean ball

Rucking, in my opinion, is where we can see the greatest improvement.  Keep it simple: Hit the rucks hard and fast; immediate support, show good and stable form, blow by and over the ball, secure it and hold until balls out.  Keep working and we'll get there and be fearsome.  Also, a big thanks to Jeff City for the hospitality showed to us post match.  Always the pleasure to socialize with ruggers.

We have thus played Jeff City in a well fought match; enjoyed the festivities of the Tin Cup tournament the week prior; and endeared the snowy ice fields of Priory proceeding.  In addition, Crossfit workouts have continued - a brief respite in mid-Febraury as I had some business to attend to in LA & Vegas - and we will continue to kick it up a notch, and then some, as we head into the heart of our season.  Stay committed and keep the work rate high.

Our training schedule has changed slightly and so we will now have training on Mondays and Thursdays 4 - 6pm and Crossfit on Tuesdays and Wednesdays 330 - 5pm (two sessions still).

Later,

Brett

04 February 2010

Explosive!!!

Brilliant, I hope everyone enjoyed todays workout, I sure did.  We have built up over the past month a familiarization with many different exercises.  I have been saying quite repeatedly, just about all of the movements we do in the gym... explosive hip extension is key.  Squats, Swings, Jumps... Cleans & Jerks... Powerful quickness... Tackling, Rucking etc.  Clean & Jerks are one of the best exercises to develop this and the WOD today demanded development.  I am very proud of the execution and intensity everyone had today with the workout. 

Partner WOD:  Four 3minute Rounds w/1minute Rest in between rounds of...

9 Deadlift

6 Cleans

3 Push Jerk

One person performs the above and upon completion he rests while the partner performs the exercise reps.  When both members complete their reps this counts as one round.  Perform as many rounds as possible within each three minute round. Scale as necessary. 

The prescribed weight was 95#, well done for those that completed as prescribed!

The Tally

The First Crew: Post WOD

Lets hope the hard work pays off; First match this weekend...

KWRFC V. Priory

Nothing To It!

01 February 2010

Just some work on Cleans & Jerks today.  Let it be known that these movements - when form is achieved and can be incorporated into WODs - are just about the best exercises we can do along with Rugby.  Strength, Explosiveness and Athleticism are required to great degree.

We will be focusing more and more on these movements as the season progresses.

If you are curious to see some Olympic lifting, just search YouTube - for Clean & Jerk, Snatch, Olympic Lifts - and you'll find a plethora of great videos.

27 Wednesday 2010

Wednesdays WOD

This week we have begun a new format by breaking up gym time into two back to back sessions; So far I am happy with the way this is working.

Todays workout consisted of Sumo Deadlift High Pulls and one are cleans using Kettlebells and box jumps.  See picture for the details and times.  #35 was the recommended Rx weight.  All three of the movements involved are facilitated by explosive hip drive; that is what we are trying to develop in addition to overall Rugby fitness.

Mondays WOD: Sweet Cindy

Push Ups - Pull Ups - Squats - 20minutes.  Thats it.  Nothing To It.  For those that did this work out Rx (prescribed - unassisted pullups on the bar) a very Well Done!  For those of you that did Ring Rows among other modifications, no sweat, just remember this time around, keep working on improving your limiting areas, and next time kick it up a notch.

This weeks two class format seemed to work out well, so far.  Let me know what you think about it or if you have other ideas.  Post to comments. 

20 January 2010 - Thrusters & Burpees

Left My Phone at the Gym so... Pictures Coming Soon!

Today was our biggest group yet, which is great, though it did cause a bit of confusion to start off.  I am experimenting a bit with the format and flow of class time due to the large numbers.  In the future we may have to break off into two separate groups - we'll figure that out this Saturday at training - as supposed to going in heats for the WODs - which actually worked out alright other than the down time while out of the current heat.  

Since we ran two separate heats for the WOD, today we got straight into the warm up, did a brief overview of the Front Squat & Push Press to lead into some Thruster practice and then hit the WOD.  We handled this WOD in two heats. 

WOD:  7 Rounds For Time

7 Thrusters 

7 Burpees

Scale as Necessary 

1st Heat: Ely 5:48, Christian 7:05, DScott 7.20, DustinR 8.26, DSly 9.25 #65, DWhite 9.05 #65

2nd Heat: Carrot 7.14, Daniel 8.45, Jorge 9.21 #65, Gummie 9.30, Dan? 9.40, Anthony 9.52, Mikey 10.16 #65, DanG 12:01 #65, DustinH 12.01#65

3rd Bonus Heat: DSly 5.47 

Unless otherwise noted, recorded weights for thrusters are #45 (empty bar).  Defined as the lowest weight WOD was finished at. 

Attention:  I do have two points to make; Y'all have been doing a great job so far, but for the future please consider the following...

• Watch your shoes and don't track mud into the gym
• Bring your own water or reusable container, paper cups are for emergencies only

These points come from the gym owners - which is not you and is not me - so lets keep them happy

Until next time!

Rowing on the Rings!

Small group today, what gives... the school holiday is most definitely not an excuse.  For those of you that did make it out - Well Done - for today y'all tackled your first Crossfit Benchmark WOD Helen - She is a sweet thing! (If that link does not work for you... Get a Mac! or you can just google Crossfit and Helen and see what you get).

Pretty straight forward day for the most part; Some skill work on Front Squats (5x5) following a warm up and then...

WOD: Helen - Perform Three Rounds of the Following for Time

400m Run

21 KBS (#35)

12 Pullups (sub Ring Rows if necessary)

This workout is short but relentless; if you push yourself as you should, it will never let you breathe.  Think about this workout and your performance - how and where you can improve.  If you did all Ring Rows then next time throw in some Pullups.  If you did some Pullups then do more. Try a heavier Kettlebell.  Just remember that we all are starting at different levels of ability, some will have more strength at certain things and others at others, the only thing that really matters to our Team is that each session you push yourself a little more and improve.

Take Dustin R. and Dan W. for instance, after we wrapped things up they got themselves into a 500m Sprint Row competition.  Dustin was the challenger, and the challenger lost.  Better luck next time.

One last thing, after the session someone - I believe Coach Charlie - brought up the Paleo Diet which in short is the Eat Like a Caveman Diet.  I began a thirty day experiment with this just last week and I must say that so far I am pleased with it.  I will look to post something relevant on the topic soon, however, if you are interested in checking it out just google Paleo and you can quickly find a plethora of information and I can answer some questions at practice or the next time we meet.

Post Thoughts to Comments Below!

13 January 2010 - Team WOD Chaos

Hands on the hips with long faces of Agony, Yes! Count it out, take a deep breathe and get right back to work!

So Wednesday, 13 January, marked the now second Crossfit workout for Kirkwood Rugby. I was very happy to see the gym seemingly almost reach a capacity with 13 ruggers making it out for the workout. It was a little chaotic yes, but as time goes on, I'll be able to figure out the programming and set up to better accommodate everyone. I was also equally pleased to see all those that came out Monday for our first workout (four of you) returned for more after what was a total Leg Drain workout. Perhaps it was a bit much for an intro WOD, but as you can see, even if a bit shaky, your still standing.

The format of this most recent workout followed the same format as last. Warm up, Stretch, Skill and WOD. For the skill everyone got their hands on the bar for some Deadlifts. This movement, as simple and slow as it may seem, is a pillar to developing power and explosive strength, and is a lift we will often work with in order to master the technique and and become vastly superior beings. Although we jumped into the lift rather quickly, I must stress that proper technique is critical to your safety as the load increase.

And now for the...

WOD: In Teams of Five or Four, Complete the Following for Time...

Row

Ring Dips (sub w/Push Ups if necessary)

KBS (kettelbell swings)

Situps

Pushups

Each team will have one member at each station complete thirty reps (or cals in the case of the rower). Once all team members have finished the reps at their station all team members rotate to the next station and complete thirty reps. Once the team has rotated through all stations they repeat doing 20 reps at each station, and then once more performing ten reps at each station.

I have to apologize, I messed up the timer deal so the finish times got skewed a bit, however The Dans were first to finish. Well Done!

Don't forget, first practice of the season is this Saturday, 10am @ Steger. See y'all back in the gym on Monday.

11 January 2010 - Kirkwood Rugby Vs. Crossfit

The Rugby Crew: They're legs must be achin' (Ely, Christian, Dan, Dan #2, Dan #3)

Today, Monday 11 January two thousand and diez, a few members of Kirkwood Rugby got their first dose of the koolaid. Crossfit Kirkwood has graciously opened their doors to the Kirkwood Rugby club, and a demanding first workout of the season will hopefully spur not only greater fitness for all committed athletes, but also contribute to an exciting and successful upcoming spring season.

The workout session started light and cheerful. How can you not walk into a Box and not immediately want to play and throw medicine balls at people. A little warm up on the rowers, a bit of a stretch, skill instruction on Squat and Press technique and soon enough we were getting under the bars.

Press and Push Press were the skill lifts of today and were tackled in a 5x5 and 5x3 format, respectively. Yes, we jumped right into these lifts - its more fun that way - and in any case, form was good and the lifts well executed. Power stance, full range of motion, lock out shoulder directly overhead.

Now it was time for the WOD (Workout of the Day). Turn up the trance.

WOD: Perform the Following for Time

50 Squats

50 Wall Ball

then... 40, 30, 20, 10

It's not an easy workout, and getting the hang of the Wall Ball requires practice, something this WOD well afforded, ha!

Dan Sly: 13.17

Dan Scott: 14.25

Ely: 15.40

Dan Smith: 17.46

Christian: DNF (due to some weird neck muscle twinge... he's alright)

Well Done! Really excited about the work that went into this session. Crossfit can be eye opening and overwhelming when thrown into the mix, Well Done, the next session may not be any easier - and may in fact be much harder - but you will be better prepared.

Post thought and comments below!