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CrossFit Games Australian Regional Time Table

COMPETITION DATES: MAY 16 – 18, 2014

Mandatory athlete check-in will take place at the competition venue on Thursday, May 15. Hours to be announced.

FRIDAY MAY 16, 2014

Team Event 1: Muscle-up and clean and jerk
9:00 – 9:20 a.m. Heat 1
9:20 – 9:40 a.m. Heat 2
9:40 – 10 a.m. Heat 3
Team Events 2 & 3: Hang squat snatch & handstand walk
10:20 – 10:40 a.m. Heat 1
10:40 – 11:00 a.m. Heat 2
11:00 – 11:20 Heat 3
Men’s Event 1 & 2: Hang squat snatch & handstand walk
11:30 – 11:45 a.m. Heat 1
11:45 – 12:00 p.m. Heat 2
12:00 – 12:15 p.m. Heat 3
12:15 – 12:30 p.m. Heat 4
12:30 – 12:45 p.m. Heat 5
Women’s Event 1 & 2: Hang squat snatch & handstand walk
1:00 – 1:15 p.m. Heat 1
1:15 – 1:30 p.m. Heat 2
1:30 – 1:45 p.m. Heat 3
1:45 – 2:00 p.m. Heat 4
2:00 – 2:15 p.m. Heat 5
Men’s Event 3: Nasty Girls V2
2:40 – 3:00 p.m. Heat 1
3:00 – 3:20 p.m. Heat 2
3:20 – 3:40 p.m. Heat 3
3:40 – 4:00 p.m. Heat 4
Women’s Event 3: Nasty Girls V2
4:10 – 4:30 p.m. Heat 1
4:30 – 4:50 p.m. Heat 2
4:50 – 5:10 p.m. Heat 3
5:10 – 5:30 p.m. Heat 4

SATURDAY MAY 17, 2014

Team Event 4 & 5: Thruster and rope climb
9:00 – 9:24 a.m. Heat 1
9:24 – 9:48 a.m. Heat 2
9:48 – 10:12 a.m. Heat 3
Team Event 6: Strict handstand push-up, hang power clean, burpee
10:35 – 11:00 a.m. Heat 1
11:00 – 11:25 a.m Heat 2
11:25 – 11:50 a.m. Heat 3
Women’s Event 4: Strict handstand push-up, front squat, burpee
12:00 – 12:24 p.m. Heat 1
12:24 – 12:48 p.m. Heat 2
12:48 – 1:12 p.m. Heat 3
1:12 – 1:36 p.m. Heat 4
Men’s Event 4: Strict handstand push-up, front squat, burpee
1:46 – 2:10 p.m. Heat 1
2:10 – 2:34 p.m. Heat 2
2:34 – 2:58 p.m. Heat 3
2:58 – 3:22 p.m. Heat 4
Women’s Event 5: Sprint and legless rope climb
4:00 – 4:15 p.m. Heat 1
4:15 – 4:30 p.m. Heat 2
4:30 – 4:45 p.m. Heat 3
4:45 – 5:00 p.m. Heat 4
Men’s Event 5: Sprint and legless rope climb
5:00 – 5:15 p.m. Heat 1
5:15 – 5:30 p.m. Heat 2
5:30 – 5:45 p.m. Heat 3
5:45 – 6:00 p.m. Heat 4

SUNDAY MAY 18, 2014

Team Event 7: Row, double-under, deadlift, and toes-to-bar
9:00 – 9:25 a.m. Heat 1
9:25 – 9:50 a.m. Heat 2
9:50 – 10:15 a.m. Heat 3
Team Event 8: Pull-up and overhead squat 
10:40 – 11:00 a.m Heat 1
11:00 – 11:20 a.m. Heat 2
11:20 – 11:40 a.m. Heat 3
Men’s Event 6: The 50s
12:00 – 12:25 p.m. Heat 1
12:25 – 12:50 p.m. Heat 2
12:50 – 1:15 p.m. Heat 3
1:15 – 1:40 p.m. Heat 4
Women’s Event 6: The 50s
2:00 – 2:25 p.m. Heat 1
2:25 – 2:50 p.m. Heat 2
2:50 – 3:15 p.m Heat 3
3:15 – 3:40 p.m. Heat 4
Men’s Event 7: 64 pull-ups and 8 overhead squats
4:00 – 4:10 p.m. Heat 1
4:10 – 4:20 p.m. Heat 2
4:20 – 4:30 p.m. Heat 3
*5:30 – 5:40 p.m. Heat 4*
Women’s Event 7: 64 pull-ups and 8 overhead squats
4:40 – 4:50 p.m. Heat 1
4:50 – 5:00 p.m. Heat 2
5:00 – 5:10 p.m. Heat 3

Don’t forget to come and say G’Day to The WOD Life!

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Open Workout 14.4 – Tips & Tricks

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Yesterday’s Workout 14.4 announcement was incredibly exciting, with all eyes on Scott Panchik and Josh Bridges as they battled out the 14-minute long AMRAP. It’s clear from this workout that the Open designers are hoping to challenge competitors with an intense combination of movements. Consistency is key in this workout!

Here’s the chipper that the Games announced last night:

14.4 workout

The WOD Life wants you to be successful on this AMRAP, so we’ve compiled a list of tips and tricks for you. Good luck!

Before the workout…

  • Spend plenty of time on shoulder, ankle, and hip mobility. This workout is very similar to last year’s 13.3 and 2012’s 12.4. There are great mobility resources out there for these workouts, including Kelly Starrett’s MobilityWOD for 13.3.
  • Determine how you’re going to break up the sets of exercises. Very few people can muscle through this many wall balls and toes to bar at once. If you do, you risk blowing out your calves or Achilles on the wall balls, and tearing up your hands.
  • Take care of your hands! Just like on 14.2 the condition of your hands will be very important as you move through this workout. Breaking up the toes to bar will give you an advantage in your grip strength, which will be essential as you move to cleans and muscle ups.
  • Practice your breathing. Some athletes focus on exhaling every time they release the ball and inhaling every time the ball is in the air. Try some breathing techniques out in your warm-up and determine what method works for you. It’s key in this workout to make sure that you stabilize your heart rate.

During the workout…

  • Don’t go all out on the rower. Here is a movement where you can sacrifice a few seconds in time because if you don’t, you’ll be smoked before you even start the toes to bar and wall balls. Keep a good pace, but don’t try to go as fast as possible. Throughout this whole workout you should be performing with the idea of keeping a little gas in the tank.
  • Adopt a wider stance for the wall balls, and stay on your heels as much as you can. Taller athletes will be able to accomplish this much better than those who are shorter – but short people, remember you had an advantage last week on the dead lifts! No matter how tall you are, put a conscious effort into keeping your heels on the ground and avoiding going up on your toes. This will protect both your calves and your Achilles.
  • Stay consistent in your starting position of the clean. This is the moment when you will be afforded an opportunity to rest – don’t let your form go out the window because you are fatigued. You want to be able to recover and hit 14.5 hard, right? Keep your hips loaded behind the bar, keep your torso angle consistent, and make sure your shoulders are forward of the bar during the lift-off phase. If you eliminate inconsistency in this movement you will set yourself up for a much cleaner and efficient lift. You want to be as smooth as possible – we’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again… keep some in the tank! You will need it for the muscles ups.
  • Resist the urge to rest in the standing position of the clean. Get the bar in the front rack position, stand up, and repeat. You will waste energy and fatigue your muscles much more quickly when you rest with the bar in the front rank position. You will compromise your shoulder strength if you rest too long in the “up” position. You need all of the shoulder stability you can get when you transition to muscle ups!
  • Grind it out in the last few minutes. If and when you get finished the muscle ups, head back to the wall balls and do as many as you can possibly do. These reps will only help your score – now is the time to push yourself and give it everything you’ve got!

After the workout…

  • Hand maintenance… again! Make sure you are taking care of your hands. They’re essential to your workouts, and to your everyday life. You won’t be prepping for 14.5 if you’re hands are torn up.
  • Recover. This workout is, without a doubt, a grinder. Apart from the physical fatigued you experienced during the workout you will no doubt be experiencing some mental fatigue. No matter how hard the reps became, you kept pushing through the workout and no doubt exceeded your expectations. Mentally recovering from a difficult workout is just as important as physical recovery. As we said last week, there’s no better time to look back on your progress –because no matter if it was a rep or a thousand reps, we’re sure you’ve made great strides.

Check out these videos:

14.4 – The Training Plan Strategy Tips

14.4 Breakdown – Athlete Cell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbdzLv8jY8Y

CrossFit Open 14.4 WOD Tips and Strategy

14.4 Reebok CrossFit Games Open Workout

We’re excited to see our readers on the leaderboard for 14.4! Keep up the fire!

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Three Simple Recovery Tips for 14.3

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This is the first WOD of the 2014 Open we’ve seen with heavy weights, and no doubt you pushed yourself so hard that you’re feeling it now.
It’s important to plan out your recovery as much as you planned out how you attacked this workout. The WOD Life has outlined some recovery drills you can do to help ease the discomfort you might feel in the coming days. Follow these tips and you’ll be back at again for 14.4!

TIP 1  – Roll out your back, hamstrings, and calves

Your lower back was taxed on this workout, and it often takes longer to heal than other parts of the body since it’s working all the time to stabilise your spine. Take extra care with this area! Check out Dr. Mark Cheng’s article and video about foam rolling for lower back and quad pain here.

Also, check out this video from Athlete Cell about 14.3 Posterior Chain Recovery – we all know you need a bit of that!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTohgufqB7o

TIP 2 – Cool down actively

I went for a short jog after I finished 14.3, and it made a world of difference. Swim, bike, walk, or row… any active movement directly after the workout will allow you to break up some of the lactic acid that built up during the workout. Do the same thing the day after your workout – the worst thing you can do is sit around all day after this one!

TIP 3 – Don’t forget other muscles!

You may be feeling 14.3 in your lower back, hamstrings, and glutes, but don’t forget about the other muscles you worked hard. Your external hip rotators, abdominals, and ribs will all be fatigued as well. External hip rotators are important to keep your knees tracking over your feet, and increasing your mobility here will help ease tension in your hip flexors. Kelly Starrett’s MobilityWOD has a great guide to help you unlock your hips and improve your mobility. Your ribs and abdominals both support and connect to your back, so it’s important to keep them mobile in order to decrease the amount of strain that’s put on your spine and the surrounding muscles post-workout.

If you follow these three simple tips you will be back in the game in no time! Don’t forget to stay hydrated, and we’re looking forward to seeing your scores on 14.4!

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Open Workout 14.3 – Tips & Tricks

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This week’s workout gets heavy! This workout should divide up the truly talented athletes from the rest of the pack with two classic movements: deadlifts and box jumps. Each movement can be daunting on its own, but the real challenge this week comes from balancing the two exercises, pacing yourself, and make your transitions smooth and quick.

workout 143

Weights in Kgs:

Men: 61, 84, 102, 125, 143, 166 kg
Women: 43, 61, 70, 84, 93, 102 kg
Masters Men 55+: 29, 43, 52, 61, 70, 84 kg
Master Women 55+: 43, 61, 84, 102, 125, 143 kg

The WOD Life has put together some tips for you as you prep for and perform 14.3. Get after it!

Before the workout…

  • Eat! Your body needs to have ample fuel to translate into power, especially since this workout expects you to perform a high volume of heavier reps. Don’t skimp on your pre-workout meals!
  • Set up your station. Make sure that you are poised for a fluid transition between the deadlifts and box jumps. Set up your station so that you are comfortable with it – you want to minimize transition time between the box jumps and the deadlifts since you will be committing a lot of time to rigging your bar.
  • Lay your plates out. Instead of stacking your plates, line them up in the order you will be putting them on your bar. This will minimise the amount of time that you need to transition between weights in the deadlift ladder. Think about putting an extra plate in front of your weight that you can roll your bar onto, similar to putting a car on a jack. This will allow you to slide weights on quickly and efficiently, without the added stress of picking up the bar and attempting to jam the plates on.
  • Warm up your Achilles.  Rowing is especially good for ankle mobilisation, so hit the rower for a few minutes at the beginning of your warm-up. Then transition into some dynamic stretching to warm up the rest of your body and activate your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back.

During the workout…

  • The faster you get through the light rounds, the more time you’ll have to focus when the bar gets heavier. When lifting in the first few rounds, be especially focused on good form. Your lumbar, t-spine, and glutes will be taxed in this workout. To avoid injury in the later stages make sure you are keeping your core tight, your spinal cord intact, and your back unbowed. Keep the bar close to your body, keep your shins vertical, and engage your hamstrings to power through the lift. Try to mix up your deadlift grip throughout the workout to avoid blasting your forearms.
  • Use your transitions. The time spent building your bar is the perfect time to focus on your breathing and repeat your personal mantra, motto, or motivational phrase… whatever you need to tackle the next movement with renewed vigour.
  • It’s about the deadlifts. Any intermediate CrossFitter should be able to successfully complete all of the box jumps; the real crux of this workout is how well you can perform the deadlift ladder. Similar to 14.2, your success will be based on how you break up the movements into sets. If you go too hard from the get-go, you risk burning yourself out and no-repping in the later rounds. Worse than that, you can put yourself at risk for a back injury that could sideline you for the rest of the Open.
  • But don’t forget your box jump form! Use your arms for momentum. Land softly on the top of the box – the lighter and softer you are, the less force will be exerted on your body, and the more energy you will have to commit to the deadlifts.
  • And don’t be afraid to step down. Ideally, the rebound method would be used in order to quickly roll through the box jumps, but if your legs are feeling like jello it’s better to slow down and step down. This will save your Achilles, and prevent you from catching your shins on the box due to fatigue.

Check out these great videos from the experts at Barbell Shrugged, Train Heroic, and Athlete’s Cell!

Athlete’s Cell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q2doMt-4yM&feature=youtu.be

Barbell Shrugged

Train Heroic

Carl Paoli

After the workout…

We’re three weeks in, and you should have a good recovery rhythm down by now. Take some time to congratulate yourself and your fellow competitors on their performance, eat and drink as necessary, and work some mobility. Most importantly, take some time to look back on your progress throughout the last three weeks. You’ve no doubt made great gains both mentally, physically, and emotionally – so leave the Leaderboard behind for a minute, and really reflect on your personal growth and development. We’re sure you’ll be amazed!

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Fitness Lonnie’s 14.1 WORLD RECORD!!!!

Life asRX sponsored athlete Fitness Lonnie, destroys CrossFit Games Open Workout 14.1. Lonnie sets a WORLD RECORD with an unbelievable 642 Reps, surpassing Rich Froning’s 444 reps by almost 200.

Looks Legit? Will we see Fitness Lonnie a top the podium at the CrossFit Games in 2014?

Watch Fitness Lonnie’s 14.1 WORLD RECORD!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK8kHTAOl8Y&app=desktop

Hit up The WOD Life, for everything you need throughout the CrossFit Open!

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7 Tips to Maximise Results of Weightlifting for CrossFit

firstpull

The WOD Life welcomes back JP from First Pull.  With experience in coaching weightlifting, JP walks us through 7 Tips to Maximise Results of Weightlifting for CrossFit.

The growth of CrossFit is not to be under estimated. CrossFit is the Starbucks of fitness as in there is a CrossFit box on every corner of every major city. Many weightlifting coaches or trainers criticised CrossFit for what it is – a mix and match of pretty much everything. They also criticise CrossFit for its goal, meaning that the participant’s aim is to become average at everything rather than being a specialist. I have stated in a previous article that a strength and conditioning coach does not have to like the sport the athletes he is training are participating in.

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The truth is that most CrossFitters need weightlifting guidance and coaching, and they will seek coaches out. That’s good for us, weightlifters. If they do seek you out and you see potential in them, it’s your duty to educate them about a possible future in weightlifting rather than criticise them for what they do (CrossFit). Personally I will train anybody that is willing to take what we do seriously. All I ask is dedication, seriousness and will, which many coaches will agree are the most important traits when starting weightlifting.

Anyhow, the lack of information about how to maximize the result of weightlifting training for CrossFit is obvious. I have done extensive work with CrossFitters as well as participants of other sports – like rowing. In both cases, I highly disagree with the randomized programming of the lift as I believe in highly individualized training sessions where your very own weaknesses are being worked on.

If you are a CrossFitter and you are serious about being a great CrossFitter, I believe you should plan some weightlifting-only training sessions. This leads me to the following list of considerations that should make your learning easier. The following are a collection of basic tips that will really maximize your results – given the reality of your sport (you have many other training sessions where different variables are being trained and you have limited time to learn).

1. You need a Session where you train the snatch and clean and jerk only

Want to get better at something? Practice that something! Many CrossFitters I have trained or know have a backsquat or deadlift of over 136kg/300lb, yet most can’t clean 100kg/220lbs to save their life. CrossFit is good at improving people’s general strength since a lot of work is being put in compound movements like squats and deadlifts. You don’t need to work more on those during your lifting sessions because you really need to put work on your weaknesses which are your lifts.

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2. Wear pants.

I am not a clothing dictator and I understand the fashion associated with CrossFit. I respect your choice of clothes but allow me to make this statement: For the men, I find that board shorts mess with the pull because it subtly ‘’block’’ the bar. For the ladies, I know that shorts are only getting smaller and smaller, but the bar has to touch your legs (that’s not optional) and most women CrossFitter I have worked with do not do so because it ‘’hurts’’ or it cut them open. Wearing pants/leggings/yoga pants solves it all. Funny trick, but it works.

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3. Learn to rest.

Pretty much all CrossFitter I have worked with had trouble staying put in between sets. Most weightlifting gyms are equipped with chairs where the lifter sits for 1-3 minutes between each sets. Whenever you are training weightlifting for other sports – be it CrossFit or football or anything else- the same principle applies. You need the rest to be mentally prepared for the next lift as well as to allow your central nervous system to be in top shape.

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4. Control your emotions

Many people will put tremendous psychological and physical stress over themselves by getting angry at a missed lift, trying it at least 10 more times and then rant about it all day. These people are all of us – we all do that at some point. The difference between us and high level weightlifters is that they almost all of them exert incredible control of their emotions. It is important to do so because it does not cloud your judgment and you will limit the risk of injuries. Stay calm and lifting heavy bars will be the norm for you, pal.

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5. Don’t cling on certain cues too much.

A cue has a limited shelf life. I have used about every cue out there, even created some of my own. Some cues I have used are completely illogical from a technique perspective but they worked because the trainee could relate to it at that moment in time.

Thus, a cue is used at one point in time to correct a mistake. Some will be used for longer periods of time, others will last one workout. However, people tend to cling to those cues as if it’s the universal truth. For example, most CrossFitters were told to really put lots of effort in driving the bar up through the use of different cues such as Jump, Shrug, Pull high, Bang it up, High, Throw it in the ceiling, etc. Some people argue that such cues are detrimental to the development of weightlifters but I am not willing to enter this debate.

However, what I have found is that most CrossFitters cling on cues that represent bar height, yet they were never cued about how to transition under correctly. Upward movement is important, but it’s half of the movement. Clinging on a cue that does not address the second half of the movement seems illogical to me. Put another way, In CrossFit, the lifts are often described as a triple extension (hips, knees and ankles). Just remember that it’s also a movement of triple flexion (hips, knees and ankles) and the timing in switching from extension to flexion is where skills matter.

snatch-triple-extension

6. Approach the lifts for what they are.

I don’t know where the idea that the lifts are just a dead lift and jump came from and how it became accepted as truth, but it is a very simplistic description of what the lifts are about. A deadlift is a very slow movement whereas the Olympic lifts are by nature extremely fast. In fact, speed of the bar – but also of the body (speed of muscle contraction and speed of change of direction)- is necessary for successful lifts.

Also, the deadlift is done by using a different stance in which the back and hips are predominantly recruited. It is done this way because the deadlifter does not need to think about upward movement of the bar which only the knee extensor could do. Hip and ankle extension contributes just as the shoulder griddle to this upward movement, but for the most part the clean stance allows the lifter to use a lot more quadriceps. In a clean, a lifter has his butt lower than a in deadlift for this reason. Thus, the starting position is of extreme importance to the success of the lifts. I challenge you to find an elite lifter who pulls with an horizontal back.

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7. The bar has to touch your legs

I know I just talked about it, but really… it has to touch your legs. I have written an entire article on this matter but let’s just say that the closer it is, the more you benefit from a mechanical standpoint.

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Keep training smart.

Jean-Patrick

Firstpull.net

JP

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The WOD Life – Christmas Gift Guide

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Here is a perfect opportunity to do your Christmas shopping online, avoiding the long lines and the endless amount of ‘stuff’ that you get suckered into buying.  Here is a list of some fail proof Christmas Gifts for the avid CrossFitter, whether they are just starting or have been living the CrossFit life for a while.

$10 or under

These are the perfect stocking filler, small gift for a friend, or maybe even a little gift for yourself while you’re shopping for others!

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$30 or under

All three of these gifts are a hit, there are so many choices in the Strength Wraps that you can personalise it for that someone special.  And what better way to be a ‘Super Friend’ than with the gift of a Compression Voodoo Floss Band – there’s no other friendship like mobility friendship!

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$60 or under

Getting a little more serious and spending a little more, these are the things that people won’t always buy themselves but you can buy it for them!  Starting Strength is a great book which will help you on your strength journey. We all know we need higher lifts to be competitive, this book shows you how!

startingstrength

Make your own Gift Pack, here are some suggestions.

I Love Bacon Pack

Bacon lovers are hard-core and to wake up to Bacon Socks and a Bacon T-Shirt on Christmas morning would be a perfect compliment to a bacon breakfast.

bacon

Travel Pack

You can mix and match anything from this list.  I travel a lot for work and would recommend the essential pieces being a massage ball and the resistance band.  They also makes it through the security checks and are small enough for you to take as carry on and you can use the massage ball on the flight.

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CrossFit Girls Manicure Pack

Us CrossFit girls are different, when we think of hand care we think callus shavers and pumice stones not your usual manicure and nail care.  All the guys are now on board and understand the importance of taking care of your hands.  In order to keep up your hand maintenance there are some essential items you need:

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If you are really stuck The WOD LIfe have a huge range of T-shirts and tank tops all at great prices, and if they don’t like it – keep it for yourself!  No, I’m joking, t’is the season to be giving!

But don’t forget to take the time to appreciate the small things, hold the door or elevator for that next person, take an extra moment to help someone, see the good in people, spend some time with your mates and family and take time to reflect on everything you have achieved this year.

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Inside The Strong Room – Home of CrossFit Chadstone

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As one of the elite facilities in Australia, there is no doubt The Strong Room, home of CrossFit Chadstone is the product of a significant amount of work and sweat. The WOD Life caught up with Murray Ballenden to learn more about this premier facility, it’s coaches, community, programing and goals for 2014.

Can you tell us more about the Strong Room and CrossFit Chadstone?

THE STRONG ROOM is a dream come true. It’s a space to call our own. It’s a vehicle through which we get to share our philosophies on training, nutrition, and health, and how to bring it all together to make to most from our programs. It’s a state of the art facility that allows us to emphasize our fondness for Olympic Lifting. Importantly, THE STRONG ROOM is home to CrossFit Chadstone, the lifeblood of our facility, our passion, and purpose for existing.

Where are you located?

We are located at 14 Dalgety St, Oakleigh. Amusingly, like all the other businesses around us, we’ve chosen to adopt the name from one of Australia’s shopping mecca’s, Chadstone Shopping Center. Being so close to such a sort after destination, so close to two major arterial routes, we can’t complain!

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As soon as you walk in, you get the feeling that this is an elite facility. How long was this in the works for?

THE STRONG ROOM has been in planning for a little over a year. Not that long when you think about it but it felt like an eternity! Sometimes we have to step back and let ourselves take it all in. When setting up a box, your gymnastics needs to be better than it does for a WOD. The amount of red tape and hoops we needed to clear has made it all the more rewarding. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. Setting up THE STRONG ROOM has been a mission, but it’s worth every second when we see the look on peoples faces when they walk through the door. Jaws drop!

 How long have you been open?

We’ve been running CrossFit and Olympic Lifting classes now for eight weeks, and are in to our ninth. We have a fantastic bunch of foundation members, who from a culture perspective, we couldn’t be happier with. Eager to learn, a desire to do things right, taking it at their own pace, and making sure they put in the best effort they can each time they walk through the door. More like you guys please!

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You mentioned this has been a dream come true for you. Can you give us some light as to why you wanted to open this facility?

Our reason for opening is no different to anyone else who has started a business based on a passion. You want to share it with others and hope to affect them in a way that makes them feel more alive, like they have more to give, aspire to, and be. CrossFit is an inspirational paradigm that allows all of this and more.

How about your name ‘The Strong Room’?

In terms of our name, would it disappoint you to hear we just thought it sounded good? J Honestly though, all of us here love the strength arts, and wanted an emphasis on this within our CrossFit program and extra classes from the outset. We hope to make a point of difference with that. The name portrays that desire.

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How about a run down of the people behind The Strong Room and CrossFit Chadstone. Who are the owners, coaches and people involved? Can you give a quick run down of their background, skills and experience?

Pete and I (Murray) are the two owners, and Lester is our handsome Olympic Lifting Coach. Our skills and personalities are very complimentary and well suited here. We’re also lucky to have such similar thought processes and approaches to training, and are all comfortable with our roles. Pete is definitely the visionary behind the place and without his organizational skills and tireless research we’d be The Mediocre Room for sure. He also has a great eye for correct movement and is great at picking up flaws in technique. Always impressed with how he gives the young guys a run for their money in WOD’S!

My own background is Martial Arts based, mostly Brazilian Jiu Jitsu where I was heavily involved in coaching and competing for a decade. I’ve run my own PT business for a decade and spent the last few years as the S&C Coach at Dominance Mixed Martial Arts. I enjoy identifying the true cause behind people’s inability to move well, approaching things holistically, and giving lasting solutions. Close enough isn’t good enough, I want our members to nail it!

Lester is a ninja. His PhD is on the Snatch, it goes without saying he lives and breathes Weightlifting. But he’s not just a geek J he’s a geek who lifts, does it very well, and passes on instruction beautifully. We couldn’t be happier to have him on board. For a more detailed profile of our coaches, please visit our site.

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What classes and sessions do you offer? E.g. Fundamentals, Mobility, WOD, Olympic Lifting etc.

Right now we offer a relatively full timetable of CrossFit classes and Olympic Lifting classes. Whilst these will be our mainstay, as we expand we aim to include kid’s, Yoga, and strength classes where Powerlifting, Strongman lifts, and Gymnastics strength movements will be taught. We also plan to host regular specialist sessions where experts, from our already developed network, will be brought in to enlighten us on all things health and well-being related. Being a new box, it’s just a matter of time, but this’ll give you an idea of where we’re heading.

Can you give us a feel for the programming and focus?

Our two main programs, CrossFit and Olympic lifting, are run independently, but in a complimentary fashion. Focus in both areas in on technique. Form is paramount.

Our Manifesto, which can be found on our site, will give you all a great idea of what we stand for and how we approach training. That being said, the core belief that drives all programs is that technical efficiency and perfect practice will get you results. So the belief that drives the CrossFit is a mirror of the Olympic Lifting philosophy and vice versa . People often talk about creating mobility, stability and then strength, but don’t deliver. We believe in strength as a foundation. To build proper strength in the movements required in CrossFit and Olympic Lifting, mobility, and stability are a must, yet we continue to come across experienced athletes moving to our box who’ve never had their issues addressed. With the number of PR’s that have been set here by various people already, it’s obviously working!

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How about an example of a WOD and an Olympic Weightlifting Session?

As an example, a recent WOD went like this:

  • Skill: Sot’s Press
  • Strength: Back Squat 1×5/5×5
  • Supplementary: BSQ 4×8/s otmem
  • WOD: HSP, T2B 10-1 for time.

Coaches Call: This section is often left intentionally blank, so that coaches can pick on issues that were highlighted during the WOD – Were there control (stability) issues? Were there force generation related issues? Once identified, if time permits, exercises will be picked based on findings. This ensures people’s weaknesses are regularly assessed and developed.

With shorter WODs like the above, we often involve a second, though this gives a good idea of general structure.

Today for Olympic Lifting we did the following:

  • Work up to a heavy Snatch (what ever you’re able to reach with good form)
  • Then drop set of 8 singles at 85%
  • The same for Clean and Jerk, but only 6 singles for the drop set.
  • Back Squat1x5/3×5

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The great thing about CrossFit is that every box and training facility is different. What sets The Strong Room and CrossFit Chadstone apart from other facilities?

None of the following may necessarily be differences, they are just points of focus that we have and that drive our actions.

A few people surprisingly haven’t actually taken kindly to us prefacing CrossFit Chadstone, with, THE STRONG ROOM. Possibly they see it as a distancing effort. They couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s merely an effort to express our core values and intention. If you leave us stronger in body, mind, and spirit, we succeeded! You reading this all know CrossFit is a superb way to achieve this! As we said at the beginning of the interview, CrossFit is an inspirational paradigm. It’s a vehicle for change, and development, and the one we’re passionate about utilizing to its full effect.

One of our main points of focus, is our skill in not just teaching you how to move based on your current abilities, but in identifying why you can’t move the way you should be able to. And more to the point, giving you valid and effective solutions to take care of it. Our members are visibly better off because of this approach.

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Culture is hugely important to us, and again is driven by Our Manifesto. At least 50% of our members have never tried CrossFit before, some have never exercised! This is nice in a way because we get to set the culture early on with very impressionable people. Helping us with this are the amazing attitudes of the experienced athletes who’ve joined our ranks. We’ve been very lucky, they’re helping mould our new members and setting the tone for other experienced athletes who join in too.

Importantly, the purpose of our trial sessions is not a one sided affair. It’s not solely so potential members can try out THE STRONG ROOM and decide if they like what they see, hear, and are offered. It is also gives us a chance to do the same with you. We need to be as sure as you do, that you’ll benefit from our coaching and what we offer as a package. We only want the best for you, if we don’t think we can help you with that, we’d rather suggest another team better suited.

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What are your plans for the future? Next 6 months, 12 months?

As a way to continue the type of recruitment we mentioned above, we plan on holding some Bootcamps for the locals, and any beginner who’d like to try CrossFit, and we aim to have a weekly trial session suitable for and aimed at beginners, but open to all levels. As we said before, this is important, because it gives athletes the chance to decide whether they will fit in at THE STRONG ROOM and whether they like what we offer, and it gives us a chance to make the same decision too.

Obviously we can’t wait for our grand opening, or likewise, to begin holding competitions where the greater community can come and christen our equipment and hopefully enjoy our space! J We, like most boxes plan on developing a competition team. This is one of the best ways in our eyes to further the sport of CrossFit and give back to the community as a whole.

At the end of the day, there is no rush. These early stages are allowing us to iron out many kinks, so we are thankful for that, and want to take it one step at a time.

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Where can people get in contact with you if they want to learn more about The Strong Room, CrossFit Chadstone come and check out the facilities, hit a drop in WOD or sign up for fundamentals?

The easiest way to contact us is through our site:

www.thestrongroom.com.au

All and any information you’d like is on there. Otherwise you can check out our FaceBook page: www.facebook.com/CrossfitChadstone

We advertise all our seminars and free trial session dates on FaceBook, so keep an eye out or drop us an email. We’d love to have you come and test drive THE STRONG ROOM!

…If you would like YOUR box featured, drop us a line at info@thewodlife.com.au

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Top 5 Mobility Tools for CrossFit

5mobilitytools

“Mobility is about improving your capacity to be in a good position during movement to improve performance and avoid injury” – Kelly Starrett

If you’ve been doing CrossFit for quite a while now, you would know the importance of mobility. If a stiff shoulder is bothering you, PR-ing those snatches and cleans would be even harder, and while you can still WOD through with a tight hip, the feeling is just really uncomfortable. The human body is an awesome machine capable of doing many things, but it can also break down if it’s not mobile enough

Here are the Top 5 Mobility Tools for  your gym bag: Continue reading “Top 5 Mobility Tools for CrossFit”