Know what happens when the WODFather is trying to "save your legs"? Any guesses? He makes your arms complete jello! Just keep telling yourself, "this is how we get sexy shoulders in our tank tops!"

4 rounds for max reps of:
:60 push press (40/30kg)
:60 rest
:60 pull-ups
:60 rest

Did anyone else have to look at their bar in the 2nd round to make sure that a leprechaun didn't come add 5kg's? I know I was looking. Sometimes that sneaky bastard gets me.

Everyone, meet Dan. He's new to the Fort, and he's REAL strong! He has a passion for the Oly lifts, and likes long walks on the beach. (Ok, I made up that 2nd part) What I'm NOT making up is that he has my "beast radar" going at full blast, especially since he can move serious weight, and rock some amazing kipping pull-ups! Welcome to the Fort!

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We welcomed back a full Fort on Thursday with some heavy cleans.

AMRAP in 6:00 of
3 Cleans (can be power cleans) (85/55kg)
7 clapping push-ups
6:00 rest
2:00 Wall Ball shots (20/14lb)

Wow, 85/55kg's on the cleans? That tells me Bill wanted those to be HEAVY. For those of you who have been with us for a while, and are comfortable with the movement, I challenged you to go heavier than you originally wanted to. Fortunately, you all survived, and you did a fantastic job!

Gabe has liked some of the workouts this week so much that he came back in the evening to try it for a second time. I told him yesterday that he is becoming a Crushthewodapotamus.

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How's everyone feeling after Barbara? I wouldn't be surprised to hear that some of you have sore abs, legs, and possibly...well...sore everything. That's a monster of a WOD that you kids tackled, and again, I'm super proud of you guys!

The workout yesterday was a treat for those of you who weren't taking a much needed rest day.

3 rounds of:

30 walking lunges
30 sit-ups
300m row

I know, I know....your abs are sore. But sometimes we have to just suck it up and push through even if it hurts a little. What most people find is that if you have a sore spot, it sometimes helps NOT to baby it. Sore legs? Grab a few squats. Sore arms? Maybe a few push-ups will fix you right up.

IMPORTANT: We have the Chicago Indoor Rowing Championships this Saturday, therefore we will not have any of our regularly scheduled classes. Your CrossFit Fire rowing team will be heading downtown to check in at 7:10 AM (YAWN). We are hoping to make you kids proud, and maybe even bring home a medal or two! We have 22 competitors, wish them all luck!

Ben shows us his Jedi mind trick squats

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So I guess if Zach forgets to log out of the google document, the WHOLE FORT finds out what the WOD is going to be, right? I mean, there were people asking about yesterday's WOD before I even knew what it was. Sheesh! Good news travels fast.

Barbara
5 rounds for time:
20 pull-ups
30 push-ups
40 sit-ups
50 squats
3:00 rest

This workout is a DOOZEY. It could only be done on a mega metcon Tuesday because it takes so long. Again, despite the fact that the whole gym knew that this was on the whiteboard, you all came anyways. I was especially glad to see our maiden voyage of the Tuesday 4PM class was a success! Full class!

Now, let's talk about some of the performances from yesterday. Prior to yesterday, the only girl's name on the whiteboard was mine...and that's a shame. It just goes to show how far our little Fort has come! KTUCK smashed this workout. We should actually just consider naming it "KTUCK". Her time was so fast that she beat the old top spot on the MEN'S side of the board! ATTA GIRL! Our old top men's spot was just over 23 minutes, and now our top spot is 16:55 (Tranimal). Sitting at #2 we have RTL and Ryan Z tied at 17:29, then we have Jeremy at 19:06, and Chris T at 22:26. On the ladies side we have KTUCK 22:35, Hannah 26:29, Kinsy 30:19, Steph 30:23, and Jennie 36:37.

I'm proud of every single CrossForter for tackling this super hard WOD yesterday. Some of you feel like you over-scaled, but that's ok. You'll kill it next time.

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For those of you who knew what the WOD was yesterday, but you came anyways, BRAVO! I know that the thought of burpee box jumps sends people scattering like cockroaches when the lights come on. But not you guys! NO WAY. You're too tough for that.

3:00 burpee box jumps (24/20")
2:00 rest
2:00 burpee box jumps
2:00 rest
1:00 burpee box jumps

Yeehaw! Nothing like BBJ's on a Monday to start the week off right! For our strength work, we worked our way up to a new one rep max on hang power cleans. We saw some pretty darn impressive numbers! Dan, who is fresh out of ramp-up HPC'd 115kg's! WOWZA! Great, great job everyone. There were so many amazing PR's, you should all be proud!

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You're ready. I promise. Do you know why you're ready? Because the things we do day in and day out have made you ready. Through consistent effort and preparation, you have ensured that no matter what life throws at you, you'll be waiting to snatch it out of the air in your teeth, and finish with a fancy spin move.

You probably don't believe me. You know what? That's ok. Because I believe in you, and we'll get through this together. Just take a deep breath. Eliminate the thought of failure. Stop comparing yourself to everyone around you, and just go. There is nothing that is too hard. No challenge too daunting. No task insurmountable. I'm here for you...we're ALL here for you.

Take that first step, and believe in yourself. Believe in the strength you have inside you, and the rest will be easy.

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Ok kids, let's try and have at least one Team Saturday where I don't have to hear people whispering about how they think other teams cheated. There's no cheating in Team Saturday!! There is only fun, friendly competition among some of the coolest damn people I know. Mkay?

Just to clarify one point that seems to be the hot topic, let's talk about burpees. At its core, a burpee is basically falling to the floor, and standing up and clapping as fast as you can. There are people who do them fast, and people who do them slow, but everyone goes chest to the deck, and claps over their head. If someone doesn't quite stand it up all the way, are they really gaining THAT much of an advantage?

Just to be very clear, here's what we want your burpee clap position to look like. Hips are open, hands are over your head, and you have a huge smile on your face. (Ok, the smile is optional)

This is a demonstration picture taken from the 2008 Games on what your burpees should NOT look like. (his hips are closed even though he's jumping) As a secondary point, if you can somehow manage to get your hips all the way open without your body being vertical, your burpees still count. It kind of makes you a super hero if you can do burpees with your hips all the way open and hoovering at a 45 degree angle. Closed hips = bad burpee. Open hips even if not totally vertical = still ok burpee.

Now that we got that out of the way, hopefully you're all clear on what constitutes a full burpee.

The workout yesterday was done in teams of 2, and I  was glad to see everyone working together so marvelously!

5:00 row as many calories as possible
12:00 AMRAP
10 push-ups
15 sit-ups
20 squats
3:00 as many burpees as possible

Our winning team was a combination of brute strength, and nimble athleticism. Nick and Pete did a GREAT job working together and utilizing each other's strengths. In case you're wondering, yes, this is Nick, "the kid with the 200kg back squat".

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