 You guessed it! Today's Femme Fatale is FRAN. Of course, we just couldn't ignore the most difficult and alluring of all the CrossFit women. We hope you survive the pain-storm that today's workout is notorious for causing. Fran is meant to be fast, intense, and brutal. It is meant to leave you laying on the floor, gasping for air, looking up at the sky wondering what the heck just happened to you. Coach Glassman tells how he created this workout and how he decided to name his workouts after women. He was so impressed by the devastating simplicity of this workout, he named it using the same convention that the National Weather Services names hurricanes. In fact, today's workout is named for one of the most powerful hurricanes. There will never again be a hurricane using this name. The damage caused by the storm was so severe that the National Weather Service retired the name. We hope you survive the pain-storm that today's workout is notorious for causing. What do you think about Fran? How's your Fran Time? Think you can beat Miranda Oldroyd's time of 2:16, or Garret Fisher's 2:09? What if you scaled it so you could? Fran was introduced to the CrossFit community on November 21, 2004. Mental Toughness - The importance of Scaling It is necessary and expected that most of the time, nearly all of us will scale a workout. We don't really give a second thought to scaling or modifying a movement we are not yet able to do. For example, today pull-ups are on the menu, and many folks in the gym will scale them to ring rows. It's just what we do.
Have you considered scaling the load of a workout to be more specific for your bodyweight, or a percentage of your 1 rep max? It surprises the coaches when we hear folks fret over the prescribed weight of a workout. We prescribe weights based on the strongest 10% in the gym. Therefore, on any given day we expect at least 90% of you are going to scale the load. If you don't scale the load and it takes you twice as long to finish the workout, then something was lost in translation. You always have the coaches' permission to scale the load. A great way to do that (so that you get the same training adaptation as the prescribed load) is to define for yourself a scaling modifier. For example, Monday we did Diane (21-15-9 Deadlifts 225/155 + Handstand push-ups) Coach Amanda did it in less than 5 mins as prescribed. Coach Amanda's 1rep max deadlift is 265. That means she did Diane at 58% of her 1 rep max. What if you scaled Diane to 50-60% of your 1 rep max? You could probably do it in less than 5 minutes and have the same physiological adaptation (maximizing the phosphgen-creatine and glycolytic pathways without going into the oxidative pathway) as Coach Amanda. If you decide not to scale and it takes you twice as long as the folks who did it prescribed, then you missed the desired training stimulus. Next time you see a load prescribed, try scaling it to a percentage of your 1rep max or your bodyweight. Ask a coach for assistance. You might be pleasantly surprised at the training stimulus. Read this free CrossFit Journal article on scaling workouts.
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You often hear us Coaches talk about the difference between training, practicing and competing. In class, everyday, you are training and practicing. This means you're scaling complexity, managing load and volume for a specific stimulus, and working on mechanics and consistency.
Training and practicing are what make you better, more efficient, and ultimately faster, stronger and more fit. If you're competing in class by comparing your times/score to others you are missing a HUGE opportunity to work on your own fitness. If you are competing in class you are letting your ego get the better of you. Your ego is not what's going to make you faster, stronger and more fit. Your ego only cares about right now. It doesn't care about the progressions, the process, the mechanics, or the consistency. But, you need the progressions, the process, the mechanics, and the consistency to get faster, stronger and more fit. The time for being competitive is when you're in an actual competition like Row'd Royalty, The Open, or Festivus Games. We LOVE competition. Competition reveals our character, our grit, our fortitude. Competition is the culmination of months of training and practicing. And, competition season is upon us. The CrossFit Games Open starts February 22 and we are, once again, hosting an Intramural Open during our "Friday Night Lights" class at 5:30pm. Everyone in the gym can compete and participate in the Intramural Open. We have divided all of your into two teams, the Early Birds are all of you who attend 6 and 9am classes and the Night Owls are all of you who attend the 4:30, 5:30 and 6pm classes. Our Nooner group will be divided to even out the two teams. You earn points for your teams in the following ways: PRE-SEASON POINTS 1 point if you officially register for the Open 1 point if you use the CrossFit Games Open Facebook frame app 5 points if you complete the CrossFit Games Judges Course INTRAMURAL POINTS 1 point if you do the CrossFit Open Workout 1 point if you do it during Friday Night Lights 3 points if you finish in the top 3 Scaled or Rx 2 points if you do something for the first time or get a PR 5 points to the team with the best SPIRIT You have the opportunity RIGHT NOW to earn 7 points for your team. Get after it! Before we do the Intramural CrossFit Games Open we do Femme Fatale Week
Allison and Nate develop speed, power and strength in the 4:30 PM class.
I am a voracious reader. I love good books, good short stories, good essays and good blogs. I was reading the blog from a "Profit First" accounting group with whom I'm involved about their recent adventure at an Improv class. The idea of a bunch of accountants (even ones who CrossFit) at the improv is pretty hysterical! However, the lesson they learned is not. The one fundamental agreement for good improv is that everyone must work with the "Yes, and" principle. Someone comes up with a zinger of an idea and hands it off of to someone else. That person continues the story with, "Yes, and." Here's the (actually) funny example from these CrossFitting accountants: "So you worked out today in a speedo?" "Yes I did. And now I need a skin graft on the back of my thighs from the lashings I took from my speed rope." I absolutely love this mental toughness skill! What if you improvised your next thought? What if you say, "Yes, and" to whatever pops into your head? Think of how much more fun and positive your life would be! I hate burpees. Yes, and I hate wallballs more. I had a terrible day at work, I deserve some cheesecake. Yes, and that cheesecake is 10,000 steps sideways to my goal of losing 5% bodyfat. I don't want to go the gym today. Yes, and I want to fit in those jeans I bought last year more than I want to binge watch Netflix. You get the idea. Developing mental toughness means developing a big tool kit of coping skills. The "Yes, and" principle validates your feeling and empowers you to find an alternative thought. It challenges you to get clear on your motivation. Once you crystal clear on your motivation, it's much easier to make healthy choices. There's no way around it. Being healthy mentally and physically is hard work. It is made so much more manageable with a motivated cadre of folks with common goals. Have you RSVP'd for Femme Fatale Week yet? Yes, and I'm looking forward to doing every one of those ladies. I'll give a special prize to whomever writes the best "Yes, and" response to that question. Leave your best "Yes, and" response in the comments. 
Heather U. shows her grit with a heavy back squat.
When I was a competitive athlete, no matter the sport, my coaches always put us through a Hell Week. Hell Weeks are increased training sessions where your sessions are longer, more intense or perhaps you do 2 workouts a day. These crucible training cycles always led into our competitive season. In CrossFit, The Open is our competitive season. We emphasize training and practice in our daily workouts, and when The Open starts at the end of February your Friday workouts will be competitive. You will use different strategies or use a different pace or lift more weight to earn points for your team. To get us ready for The Open we have our own unique Hell Week, we call it Femme Fatale Week. Femme Fatale Week is a special training cycle of increased intensity and frequency. We challenge you to workout 5 or 6 days. We challenge you to workout 2 or 3 days in a row. We challenge you to try something Rx'd for the first time, or to try something you've never done before. Femme Fatale Week is a crucible and it can teach you a ton about yourself. You've heard me say that you are 20% stronger than you think you are. Everyone who completes Femme Fatale Week learns just how strong they are. You will do workouts you didn't think you could do. You will be inspired by your fellow athletes. You will be motivated to move better. You will be encouraged to try your best. Hell Weeks teach us about our limits and our tolerances. Femme Fatale Week is our Hell Week training cycle that will get you fired up and ready for The Open. Femme Fatale Week will teach you about your mental toughness and offer you a chance to find out just how awesome you really are. Your coaches know that you're a badass. Join us for Femme Fatale Week and learn it for yourself. |
Special EventsFeb 22 CrossFit Open Begins
Feb 27 FREE OCR Info Session at 6:30 PM March 13 8-Week OCR Training Course starts March 22 The CrossFit Open Closes March 27 6-Week OCR Training Course Starts April 27 Festivus Games May 4 - 5 Montana Spartan Race May 10 Baseline & Beers May 11 Montana Craft Beer Week BEER OLYMPICS at TSCF June 22 OutWOD June 28 - July 12 Anniversary Throwdown July 14 5th Year Anniversary Party Record your WOD on Beyond the Whiteboard.
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