Using the Athletic Skill Levels in the gym

Last week gym members tested their strength and endurance by doing a max set of push-ups, one of many drills that make up the Athletic Skill Levels. For example, Level 1 requires 10 push-ups (on toes, not knees). We'll test a skill every week and record the results for all gym members on the appropriate Skill Level sheet. Recording the max sets is intended to show people where their strengths are, where they need work, and what skill level they're at over all; help them define goals to work on; and track progress over time when the same skills are tested again.

This week we're testing the "core" exercises (exercises for the core of your body, that is): sit-ups (Level 1), V-ups (Level 2) and overhead squats (Levels 3 and 4).

The week before last was the first testing week and the exercise was the squat.

The Pommel Horse arrives at CrossFit Seattle

The (HEAVY) pommel horse successfully made it's trip to it's new home on Leary Way NW. We are very grateful to Keith Mitchell, Jackson Wang, Tom Whalen, Justin Davis, Dave Dunkin, Tom Corrigan, Sean Nordquist and Scott Takenaga for making the beast a lite load. Special thanks to Keith for the transport.

The Signs are Up, Plumbing is Coming!

Soon there will be water!

You can now sign up for Coach Burgener's Olympic Weightlifting Clinic on our website: here

Level 4 CrossFit Seattle: "Fight Gone Bad"

Level 4 CrossFit Seattle opened last night at 5:00 for the inaugural workout, "Fight Gone Bad." The big signs weren't up yet, so we were worried about people driving right past without seeing the place. Nancy and I stood outside on the corner of Leary Way holding big hand-painted signs on sticks -- "CrossFit Here!" Besides trying to make sure people who were looking for us found us, we had fun waving at complete strangers driving down this busy road. One guy gave us a very confident thumbs-up, which looked to me like somebody who already knows CrossFit. Other than that, we think we exposed a lot of people to the word CrossFit for the first time.

We had some impressive Fight Gone Bad results. At least four people scored over 300, at least one of them female. Great job!

Fight Gone Bad is (quoting crossfit.com):

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. We've used this in 3 and 5 round versions. The stations are:

1. Wall-ball: 20- or 12-pound ball, 8-ft high target. (Reps) (Our target was 10 feet)
   
2. Deadlift high-pull: 75 pounds (Reps) (we used kettlebells of 16, 24, or 32 kilos)
   
3. Box Jump: 20" box (Reps) (our box was 18"
   
4. Push-press 75 or 55 pounds (Reps)
5. Row (for calories)

The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of "rotate," the athlete/s must move to next station immediately. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.