Wednesday Aug 5th, 2009
Back Squats, Front Squats and The Gauntlet
Today was the first time Rob K attempted a 5-rep max for Back Squats since joining CFSP, and he crushed it! Rob set a new PR of 225 for 5, beating his old record by 30 pounds! The evening class did front squats instead because we didn’t have enough racks for the large class that came. In the evening, Goose broke his PR in the warmup. Talk about a huge improvement.
Strength
Back Squat (Morning)
5 – 5 – 5
Front Squat (Evening)
5 – 5 – 5
WOD
“The Gauntlet”
For time:
- 35 Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (M:20k / W:14k)
- 30 Squats
- 25 Kettlebell Swings (M:24k / W:16k)
- 20 Jumping Ball Slams
- 15 Dumbbell Push Presses (M:30lb / W:20lb)
- 10 Pullups
- 5 Burpees
The Gauntlet is meant to be performed at 100% intensity – it’s an all-out sprint from start to finish.
We talk a lot about intensity, but how exactly does one achieve that level? Jeff Martin from Brand X CrossFit has some great tips here.
Post your thoughts to the comments!
| Name | Max Squat | Gauntlet 1 | Gauntlet2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rob K | 225 (Back Squat) | 5:25 | |
| John | 225 (Back Squat) | 6:16 | 6:49 |
| Kim | 95 | 8:47 (Red Band) | |
| Lesha | 115 | 6:43 | 7:37 (Purple Band) |
| Rob S | 105 (PROM) | 12:22 (Jumping PU) | |
| Hendrick | 115 | 7:36 | 13:13 |
| Jason | 155 | 4:49 | 8:23 |
| Jim | 175 | 7:03 | |
| Goose | 115 | 6:10 | 8:15 |
| Pete | 175 | 8:40 (Red Band) | |
| Lee | 195 | 5:08 | 6:24 |
| Brendhan | 145 | 6:20 | 9:14 (ROM) |
8 Comments Posted by Eric
Alright first I want to say the site looks great, interested to see all the other link. Second, how come I did not make the board??? My performance was that poor? (LOL!) Finally, I read that article by J Martin, and I like and understand what he is saying, (I am not sure I would consider myself a P**** though).The furture WODs I want to try to go at it with a plan of attack. I need to pace myself and definitly take shorter breaks, I know that.
Oops – seems I always screw something up when there is a lot of you. You’re up now! No Jim, definitely not a P****. You just need to remember to breathe.
The new site looks great Eric, love the testimonials!! Good job everyone!!
Thanks Kim! Thanks to you and everyone else who made the testimonial page possible.
One tip for keeping intensity up that Jeff didn’t mention in the article is “getting a few reps in”. If you rest when transitioning between exercises, you have a tendency to rest longer than you would in the middle of a set.
So, if you’re doing Fran (for example) – when you finish your thrusters you should jump right up onto the pullup bar to get “at least a few reps” before you have to take a break. From there it’s much easier to stay in the “3 breaths and go” mindset.
When did Obama start working out with us???
That was spam which was deleted, Kim. My mistake – i reopened unregistered comments but forgot to hold them for moderation. Fixed now.
I figured that.