elementcrossfit.com

Event 1a - Skill Set - 10 minutes for completion

• 20 Pistols (10 each leg)/45 Squats in 60 seconds
• 10 Consecutive Muscle Ups/5 Consecutive Muscle Ups
• 25 Consecutive C-2-B Pullups/COVP Pullups
• Ring L-Sit hold 30 seconds

Info:
All Team Members
This is for completion and can be completed in any order You will have 60 seconds to perform each attempt
Each team has only one attempt per skill
Scoring: # of items completed

Event 1b - Thrusters & Burpees - AMRAP 10 minutes
Thrusters 145#/95#/65#
Burpees
Info:
Four Team Members
One bar, two members can work at a time
Teams are responsible for changing their own weights from male to female.
Each team member must complete a minimum of 10 Thrusters.
Scoring: Total Poundage Lifted x Burpees

Event 2 - Super Top Secret Event at a Super Top Secret Location - 20 minute cap
Info:
Four Team Members
Teams must complete the assigned work as quickly as possible
Event 2 is outdoors and will be running rain or shine, please come prepared accordingly
Scoring: Fastest time wins.

Event 3 - Deadlift & 1 Mile Run - 15 minute cap
Max Reps Deadlift
225#/135#/95#
then
1 mile Run
Info:
Four Team Members
Two bars, two team members can be working at a time
Teams can accumulate as many reps as they like and are responsible for deciding when to stop lifting and begin the run
Failure to complete the run before the cap expires will result in a DNF for the event
You cannot return to deadlifting after the run
Scoring: Total reps.

Event 4 - "The Championship" - To Be Announced on the day of. Info:
Four Team Members
Only the top 6 teams after 3 events will be competing in event 4.
Scoring: To Be Announced on the day of

Notes:

• Alternate weights or exercises are denoted by a '/'
• When there are two alternates the meaning is Rx'd/Scaled
• When there are three alternates the meaning is Male Rx'd/Female Rx'd+Male Scaled/Female Scaled
• Rx'd and Scaled divisons may perform the workouts in different orders.

Eating and training with a purpose is tough. Conventional people will tell you not to do it. Conventional people are also often skinny-fat or obese. 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you're serious about getting lean or about seriously bulking up you need to nail down your diet and your training. If you've gotten out of the globo-gym and started CrossFitting I'll assume that your training is more or less on the right track and have been exposed to 'normal CF' vs 'Strength Biased CF' vs 'Strength Programs' like Starting Strength. If you haven't been down the rabbit hole and you still think 3 sets of 12 on the tricep extension machine is the path to true fitness you've got a lot of work ahead of you.

If you're looking to improve your body composition, a strength biased CrossFit program will yeild awesome results when coupled with a solid diet.

If you're looking to add some mass, good old Starting Strength is a fantastic place to start. 

Despite what people think there is no right or wrong answer to the 'should I lean out' or 'should I get big' question. It's all a matter of personal preference - but if you're interested in competitive CrossFit, your strength to weight ratio is something you should seriously keep in mind.

Most times everyone I talk to has no problem committing to a diet at the beginning of a program, but eventually the same thing happens. It gets hard. That's when the excuses start. 

"It's too hard to squat 3 times a week, I'm sore all the time" I've been told from people trying to gain mass on Starting Strength.

"I don't like met-cons with weight, I want to do all bodyweight met-cons," say the people trying to improve their body composition. 

 The excuses I hear most often, aren't always about training. Often they're diet related. 

"I don't have time to eat well, I'm a busy person always on the go!"

"I have a birthday party every weekend this month, there's no way I can stick to this diet right now, I'll just stick to it from Monday to Wednesday and then wing the rest of the week".

I'm telling you right now, all these excuses right here are the reasons you're not reaching your goals. All these excuses are the reasons  there aren't more lean people in the world walking around with flat stomachs. All these excuses are the reasons there aren't more guys walking around north of 200lbs squatting 400lbs for reps. 

People look at those who have accomplished their goals, and think that they had some sort of special help or extra motivation to get there. When the reality is it sucked just as much for them as it would for anyone else. 

Sure stick with what you're doing now. Cherry-pick your workouts to target your strengths, take time off for whatever reason. Change your program every other week. Let 'life get in the way' of your progress.  You can stay exactly the same as you are right now.  Everything else is too hard anyways, right?

Pull-up vs Chin-up
The pull-up is characterized by an overhand (pronated) grip, while the chin-up by an underhand (supinated) grip.

These exercises are as different as they are similar. New trainees will generally have an easier time with the chin-up than with the pull-up due to the more comfortable wrist position and greater inclusion of the bicep to the pulling motion.

Women vs. Men
A lot of people stay away from the pull-up because they believe pull-ups are too difficult. Many trainers believe that pretty much anyone in the weightroom (male or female) should be able to perform 12 pull-ups, and I'm not talking kipping either.

When it comes to the pullup, pound for pound women are capable of about 85 percent of men's numbers. If you've been training for more than a few months and still can't knock out 12 pullups you've got some serious work to do.

Improve Your Pull-up
You should be working on your pull-ups at least twice each week. If you are a CrossFitter and your WOD has pull-ups in it, switch your pull-up work to another day.  In my opinion CrossFitters should avoid doing kipping pull-ups even with bands until they can do AT LEAST 4 strict pullups. Tell your ego to take a hike and do strict band-assisted pullups in your met-cons, and if you're concerned about your time being ridiculously slow, scale your reps/rounds appropriately. For someone without the ability to do a strict pullup you'll get more benefit from doing them strict than from kipping the hell out of them.

Assistance for Beginners

Jump Stretch Bands
The use of bands is prefered to the use of machine assistance and immeasurably better than the assitance of a friend holding you up by the legs. The friend generally ends up doing all the work and you have no real way of measuring improvement.

The Road to Pull-up Domination
Incorporate some of these and your quest to rule the pull-up bar at your gym will be shorter than your training partners'! Remember to always only count quality reps when your chin is clearly higher than your hands at the top of the rep and when your arms extend fully at the bottom.

Negatives (Eccentrics)
Negatives are especially useful for beginners that can't do even one pull-up because we can all lower more than we can lift. Finish up each of your pull-up workouts with a few sets of negative-only pull-ups. Stand a box or chair, and jump up to the top of the bar with your chin over and try to hold that position as long as possible. Squeeze the bar as tightly as possible, tighten your biceps and back, and don't let go of the bar. Fight it for as long as you can and lower yourself slowly to the bottom position. Once fully extended release the tension on your arms gradually. Done correctly these should leave you feeling exhausted. 

10 Sets of 50% Max
Say your max number of consecutive pull-ups are 4, start with 10 sets of 2. Increase your numbers until you can do 10 sets of 4. Once you can do 10 sets of 4, your max should be around 8. Test your max and then start it over. 

Increase Time Under Tension
If your max pull-ups are 5 do your 5 and perform a negative (lower yourself for 30 seconds) on the way down from your 5th rep.

30 Pull-ups For Time
See how long it takes you to do 30 pull-ups. Try to lower your time and number of sets each time you repeat it.

Weighted Pull-ups
Once you can perform 12 pull-ups it's time to add weight. Use a dip belt or weighted vest and stick with 1-5 reps, and keep adding weight on a weekly basis. Play with different set x rep schemes, 8 sets of 3, 5 sets of 5, etc. There is no excuse to avoid doing weighted pull-ups on a regular basis until you're one of those freaks that can easily do 3 reps with 66% of your bodyweight hanging from a belt.

Different Grips and Grip Training
Once you get pull-ups, you'll benefit from training your grip in a variety of ways. Pull-ups are incredibly taxing on your finger, hand and forearm strength. Switching your grip, and doing pullups on odd objects will allow you to continue to develop your grip strength.

• Extremely wide or narrow pull-ups/chin-ups
• Mixed grip pullups (similar to a mixed grip deadlift)
• Parallel grip pullups (palms facing each other wide or narrow)
• Fat Gripz Pull-up, Towel Pull-up, Legless Rope Climbs

A Sampling of Bad Ass Pullups
Think only skinny dudes can do pull-ups? Check out Konstantinovs 55 pull-ups (with a little kip) at a bodyweight of 268!

Are you a girl that thinks you'll never get pull-ups? Watch 44-year old Crystal West perform 39 pull-ups here! For the dudes that aren't impressed by a chick with pull-ups, check out her freestyling pull-ups!

Tips to Remember

• Your road to pull-up domination requires training your pull-ups at least twice per week
• Stick with sets of 3-5 reps and aim for about 25 reps total volume
• When it comes to assistance Bands > Machines > Eager Friends
• Don't let your ego stunt your strength development - don't worry about kipping pull-ups until you can do at least 4 strict pull-ups

Neglecting training your pull-ups is just as bad as neglecting your squats. Pull-ups make your deadlift, press, and yes even your squat improve. Remember, the parts of your body you can't see in the mirror are actually responsible for more of your strength than the parts you can see, the anterior is the shiny hood, the posterior is the engine. Form without function is a waste.

These ads are from 2005 or so, but they will be relevant forever. Check 'em out!

My shoulders aren’t dainty or proportional to my hips. Some say they are like a man’s. I say, leave men out of it. They are mine. I made them in a swimming pool then I went to yoga and made my arms.

My knees are tomboys. They get bruised and cut every time I play soccer. I’m proud of them and wear my dresses short. My mother worries I will never marry with knees like these. But I know there’s someone out there who will say to me: I love you and I love your knees. I want the four of us to grow old together.

My butt is big and round like the letter C and ten thousand lunges have made it rounder but not smaller. And that’s just fine. It’s a space heater for my side of the bed. It’s my ambassador. To those who walk behind me, it’s a border collie that herds skinny women away from the best deals at clothing sales. My butt is big and that’s just fine. And those who might scorn it are invited to kiss it.

I have thunder thighs. And that’s a compliment because they are strong and toned and muscular. And though they are unwelcome in the petite section, they are cheered on in marathons. Many years from now I’ll bounce a grandchild on my thunder thighs and then I’ll go out for a run.

My legs were once two hairy sticks that weren’t very good at jump rope. But by the time I reached the age of algebra they had come into their own. And now in spin class they are revered. Envied for their strength, honored for their beauty, hairless for the most part. Except that place the razor misses just behind the ankle.

1. The shorter the workout the longer the warm up and vice versa. You should warm up significantly longer for a 5-minute effort than you should for a 35-minute one.
2. You can PR consistantly for your first year in the gym as long as you are consistant with your training and you don't eat like a moron. After that some form of periodization works best.
3. Eating Real Food (unweighed and unmeasured) works best after you've struggled with figuring out "The Zone" and "Blocks" only because you now have the ability to eyeball food amounts.
4. Eating Real Food in reasonable quantities is much simpler and will lead to better performance than starving yourself will. On the other hand, don't ask why you're not losing weight if you're eating 3 cups of almonds a day.
5. It all starts with breakfast. If you refuse to start eating breakfast, or skip meals because you 'feel full', you're in trouble.
6. There is no such thing as a 'Paleo Dessert'. Paleolithic man didn't have agave nectar, or vanilla extract.  Just call them low-carb desserts and stop lying to yourself.
7. If you have dreams of competing in CrossFit, regularly scale up your workouts, whether with weight or with difficulty. Do some workouts with strict pullups instead of kipping ones, add weight to your deadlifts, and sprint your runs instead of jogging them.
8. Always train hard, but don't stay redlined in 6th gear everyday, you'll wear yourself out.
9. If you're not a runner and want to get better at running, you've got to run more. Learning how to pace is something that can only be gained with experience.
10. If your grip has ever been a limiting factor, train your grip more often. Pick up odd objects, hold heavy barbells, etc.
11. You need technique and strength work more than you'd like to admit. 
12. Don't cherry pick your workouts. Regardless of what cool workout you saw on a website or in a video somewhere, following a solid stream of programming is the best way to make progress. Constantly varied is the key. Random is NOT.