New Year, New CrossFit Prep Course, New You

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2014 has officially begun. How are you going to be different this year? How are you going to make a big positive change? A year from now you’ll wish you joined today!

Become part of the best CrossFit community in Dallas by signing up for our first CrossFit Prep Course of 2014! The Prep Course is your gateway into the community of East Dallas CrossFit. Each Prep Course is small in design to give you the personal attention necessary to foster the the development of the skills needed to join into our regular CrossFit classes.

The Prep Course consists of eight separate one hour sessions over three weeks. Classes are from 8:30-9:30pm. The schedule is as follows:

  • Monday 1/6
  • Wednesday 1/8
  • Thursday 1/9
  • Monday 1/13
  • Wednesday 1/15
  • Thursday 1/16
  • Monday 1/20
  • Wednesday 1/22

—–>Sign up by clicking HERE<—–

Have a scheduling issue with the course? Contact us HERE to discuss the private Prep Course option.

A new Prep Course starts every four weeks. Space is limited.

Repeated Programming, Increased Results

You might notice from week to week that the strength, skill, or conditioning work might look similar on some days. This is not by chance or lack of creativity. Our program is meant for our athletes to adapt yo just enough to see progressive and linear changes and increases in strength, skill, and conditioning.

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Right now we are in the midst of microcycles of front squats, close grip bench press, power cleans, and power snatches. This means that you will see most of these each week. For example, two weeks ago we did a power clean cluster of 2.2.2 x3 sets while last week we progressed up to 1.1.1 x3 sets to increase load. Also we have moved from doing 4-6 reps of front squats at 30X1 for 3 sets to doing 4 sets the next week to increase volume. Progressions in both load and then volume are the two most important factors in increasing overall strength and power.

We also apply this to conditioning through interval work. This is less about specific movements and more about changes in energy system works. Look at todays piece. Three rounds of a 400m row, 20 UB wallballs, and 20/16 HR push-ups with a 3 minute rest performed at 80-90% of aerobic capacity. This is taking people around 3-4 minutes per round. to complete. Next week you might see a piece that is similar in structure with differing movements. For example, 3 sets of a 400m run, 10 pull-ups, 12 KB snatches, 14 box jumps with a step down with a 3-4 minute rest at the same aerobic capacity. This will take people around 4-6 minutes to complete (most likely). The movements are different but there is the same affect on the aerobic endurance energy system. We are stressing the system around 2 minutes more with the same amount of rest. This is where progress is made.

Holiday Hours

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Please take note of our schedule as we finish out 2013!

Christmas & New Year’s hours:

12/24 – 10am only
12/25 – closed
12/26 – 10am only
12/27 – regular schedule
12/31 – regular schedule with no 6:30 or 7:30pm classes
1/1     – 11am only
1/2     – regular schedule

*All new group Prep Course starts on Monday, January 6th. Need a gift idea for the holiday? Reserve a spot for friends or family and you will recieve $30 off the normal prep course price (members only)!

4 Ways To Help Keep Your New Year’s Resolution

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4 Ways To Help Keep Your New Year’s Resolution

1. Be Goal Specific – You might be thinking “I want to lose weight” or “I want to get stronger”. Great! How much weight do you want to lose? How much stronger do you want to get? Making your goals quantifiable gives you a way to check your progress. Weekly weigh-ins or setting up a strength cycle outside of class (with the help of a coach) are ways to track progress by the numbers. Start thinking more along the lines of “I would like to lose 10lb. in 2 months” or “I would like to add 15lb. to my back squat and 10lb. to my clean”. This way sounds much more realistic and attainable.

2. Keep Track Of Progress – Before you get started, map everything out week by week. Write out diet plans, make grocery lists, keep charts, and track you strength gains online. By seeing how far you have come, you will stay determined and positive throughout the rest of your journey.

3. Prioritize – Make time for your goal(s). If you need to skip a couple of your evening shows to get in another workout or prepare food for the week, then so be it. If you need to block off your schedule ahead of time to get something done, then do it. Being healthy and happy should be a priority in your life.

4. Get Some Help – Having a partner is great. This is someone who will make you feel accountable if you misstep on the way to your goal. If you are not easily self motivated, find someone who is. They will rub off on you and you will try hard to not disappoint them. The more your goals match up with those of your partner, the better.

The new year is just around the corner. Try putting some of these into action as you plan your own resolutions!

Time To Shave The ‘Stache

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We are so proud of our community as we come off of our annual competition, Barbells and Handlebars. Seeing everyone come together, competitors and volunteers both, to make this event happen is what the spirit of CrossFit is all about. We are tallying up the money raised for Movember and will let everyone know as soon as possible. Check out the scores from Saturday along with some of the pictures from Instagram that you all took. If you took any pictures of the event, please add a #bbhb2013 for them to end up on the Barbells and Handlebars website and we can all enjoy them.

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Holiday Hours

Holiday Hours

Wednesday: Regular hours
Thursday: No class
Friday: 8am & 12pm only
Saturday: Barbells & Handlebars @ Lakeside Baptist Church (No Saturday class)
Sunday: Regular hours

Barbells & Handlebars Volunteer Meeting:

Excitement is building as Barbells & Handlebars is set to go down this Saturday. We are still in need of volunteers and judges to help the event run smoothly. This event is on a bigger scale than last year with more competitors, sponsors and event. In order for it to run smoothly, we all need to be on the same page.

We will be holding a volunteer meeting this Wednesday at 8:30pm. Please plan on attending if you know you can help out this Saturday. If you can’t come on Wednesday but still would like to help out on Saturday, please let us know and we will fill you in as best we can.

Volunteers and Judges Meeting

Excitement is building as Barbells & Handlebars is set to go down this Saturday. We are still in need of volunteers and judges to help the event run smoothly. This event is on a bigger scale than last year with more competitors, sponsors and event. In order for it to run smoothly, we all need to be on the same page.

We will be holding a judges and volunteer meeting this Wednesday at 8:30pm. Please plan on attending if you know you can help out this Saturday. If you can’t come on Wednesday but still would like to help out on Saturday, please let us know and we can fill you in as best we can.

BBHB 2013 Workouts 13.1 & 13.2 Released!

Working out for a good cause will help it grow too! Join us on November 30th for Barbells & Handlebars. Join in or volunteer to judge!

Here are the first two workouts…

Workout 13.1 The Clean Ladder

Intermediate

Clean ladder

Women’s Weights:

65, 75, 85, 95, 105, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135

Men’s Weights:

115, 135, 155, 175, 195, 205, 215, 225, 235, 245

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Advanced

Clean + hang clean ladder

Women’s Weights:

85, 95, 105, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145

Men’s Weights:

135, 155, 175, 195, 205, 215, 225, 235, 245, 255

At the start of each minute, athletes have 45 seconds to perform the movement(s) at the specified weight. If completed within the 45 seconds, the athlete will then have 15 seconds to move to the next bar.

Intermediate:

All intermediate athletes will have to perform a clean from the ground. The bars will start at 115/65 and build to 245/135. This can either be a muscle, power, or squat clean. The bar must be in a controlled front rack position with knees and hip extended and elbows out in front for the rep to count. The movement must be completed before 45 seconds is up.

Advanced:

All advanced athletes will have to perform a clean followed by a hang clean WITHOUT dropping the bar and WITHOUT letting the bar pass below the knee. The bar must be in a controlled front rack position with knees and hip extended and elbows out in front for BOTH cleans. The bar must be in a controlled front rack position with knees and hip extended and elbows out in front for the rep to count. BOTH movements must be completed before 45 seconds is up.

*If an athlete misses on any bar, they may attempt that bar as many times as they want in the 45 seconds. For the bar to be completed, the hang clean must be finished within the 45-second time frame. If an athlete misses a bar and does not wish to attempt again, they may perform AMRAP deadlifts with the remaining time (these will be used for tiebreaks).

——————–

Workout 13.2 – The 6 minute AMRAP

 

1k Row

then in the remaining time perform max reps of:

– 3 shoulder to overhead

– 3 over the bar burpees

– 6 shoulder to overhead

– 6 over the bar burpees

– 9 shoulder to overhead

– etc…

—–

Intermediate Weights:

115/75

Advanced Weights:

155/105

*At 3,2,1 Go! All athletes will start into a 1,000m row. After the row is complete, the athlete will then hop straight into 3 shoulder to overheads and three over the bar burpees. The sequence will increase by 3 reps for each round forming a 3-6-9-12-15 (and so on) rep scheme. There will be a 6 minute time cap. Score is number of singular reps completed in 6 minutes.

Shoulder to Overhead: The standards for shoulder to overhead start with the bar in the front rack position. The bar can then be taken overhead in a variety of ways including and limited to a strict press, push press, push jerk, or split jerk. If the athlete decides to do a split jerk, both feet must return side by side before the weight can be lowered again. There must be an extension of the knees, hips, and shoulders with the weight overhead for the rep to be considered good.

Over the Bar Burpees: The athlete can line up however they want to perform an over the bar burpee. Parallel or perpendicular to the bar are both acceptable. The jump over the bar must be performed with two feet leaving the ground at the same time (no step-overs). The feet can land at separate times. The hips DO NOT have to extend all the way while traveling over the bar. 1 burpee + 1 jump over the bar = 1 rep.