“It is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit.” — Socrates
The SOGO challenge has come to an end! Congrats to everyone who worked so hard through all of the challenge and tracked points. How did you stack up?? Remember, these are the totals to look at after the final day of the challenge. If you have any questions, please let us know!
225-300 = I kicked some serious butt at life and fitness! (changes in my body and fitness should be very obvious)
190-224 = I did pretty well but see where I can still build some better habits.
125-189 = I should prioritize ME and my fitness more and learn to use tools like Travel Workouts and Meal Prepping to make it happen!
< 125 = I would like to sit down with a coach and learn what I can do better. I’m here for a reason and need some guidance.
Get ready for Murph!
Murph is here tomorrow! Remember, this is a great workout, but it’s about more than just the workout. If you’ve got a chance, go watch Lone Survivor to see the story play out.
We will be performing the workout at 9 a.m. at both locations on Monday! Please show up a little early so we can get started right away and get everyone warmed up and into the workout!
We posted this last week, but here is your summary of Murph again
1 mile run
100 pull-ups
200 push-ups
300 squats
1 mile run
All performed with a 20lb weight vest if you have one.
We don’t go straight through and have several recommendations for breaking up the rep scheme.
We do have some preferred scaling options:
Let’s talk about pull-ups…
Pull-ups may be the bane of your existence. If you did Murph with ring rows last year, but still don’t have pull-ups this year, did you work with the CFK pull-up program? Did you focus on nutrition over the last year? This may be very similar to the Open. Don’t just drop the CFK Pull-up program after Murph. Keep after it! And if you do get to a plateau, talk to a coach!
Why don’t we allow other assistance options?
Quite frankly it’s for safety and logistical reasons. We’re planning for some big crowds for Murph and we LOVE IT! The energy is crazy high and everyone wants to work their hardest possible. With pull-ups, it’s not the up but rather the down that gets us. This is the eccentric loading portion of the movement and where the majority of muscle breaks down, particularly if slow and under control. This is great in a controlled setting and why we do use negatives for pull-ups and handstand push-ups, but no more than 3 reps at a time, and only for strength, not metcons. So with 100 pull-ups on the day and fatigue from all different angles, we don’t want to see people getting hurt from slowly lowering again and again with banded or jumping pull-ups.
For kipping pull-ups we suggest at least 3-5 strict pull-ups before doing kipping. If you want to give it a go this year, have the requisite pull-ups, but are still a little unsure, pick one of the lower rep schemes and do 1/2-3/4 Murph, or even partner Murph! We love partner Murph because you get with a battle buddy and you get some rest after you do a set.
Let us know this week if you have any more questions!
The Week
Monday – Murph!
See above!
Tuesday – Bear Complex
This is a classic! One of the original CrossFit workouts performed with a barbell. Many think of the Bear Complex as one cycle through a power clean, front squat, push press/jerk, back squat, push press/jerk. And that’s a great complex.
Today we do the original which is actually 7 rounds without setting the bar down. Re-grip occurs in the hip or on the shoulders, but not on the ground. 7 touch and go reps. Check out this video to see an example!
Wednesday – Anchored Down
Five rounds on the 4:00 mark, which means the faster you go the more rest you get! 20 step-ups, 20 calories, 10 later burpees over the rower!
Thursday – Snake Bite
21-15-9 of full snatches and chest to bar pull-ups! Looking for a weight that you can get 15+ reps without dropping the bar. If you’re not into full snatches or the slow you down, we’ll go 15-12-9 of power snatches, overhead squats, and pull-ups.
Friday – Boat Race
Row-run-row-run repeat! 3 rounds of 500 m row and 400 m run. But you get rest! 3 minutes off between rounds. Let’s push that cardio today.
Saturday – Bike Drop
Work in a team of 3 to sprint, snatch, and thrust! Sprint 200 meters each, then break up reps of power snatches and thrusters. The reps go down as the weight goes up, so pick your partners wisely!