5 rounds:
10 ring dips
5 ground to overhead (135/95)
10 burpees

Chad during the Colorado Open row/burpee/snatch/slam ball workout.

One Week Off

“Annie“

50-40-30-20 and 10 rep rounds of:
Double-unders
Sit-ups

Apart from the two cleans that flew out of her hands, Emily powered through all 42 cleans! 105 what?!

Time to Rest, Recover, and Reflect

There are most likely two schools of thought floating out there in the Roots world from athletes prepping for the upcoming week off at Roots.  There are those that are planning to make the best of this break as they transition from one season to the next.  And those who are sad or depressed at the thought of an entire week away from Roots.

We want to take a second to discuss the responsible mature athlete approach to next week.

At Roots, we demand a lot.  We expect you to train hard, train tired when life leaves no other options, and never let excuses for workouts or missed workouts exit your mouths.  Some days this is easy, other days it’s a giant effort.  The sum of these training efforts and day in/day out efforts are fantastic measurable results that are personal to each of you.

But like many things in life that we dedicate considerable time and energy, sometimes you need to walk away to be able to come back stronger, with more focus, perspective, more zeal, and increased dedication.  There are things to be gained in the dark day in day out that is CrossFit, but there are also many things to be gained by looking back into the tunnel you’ve just come through.

We, your coaches, challenge each of you on this break to not do a single CrossFit workout, nothing that remotely resembles CrossFit.

Take a hike, sleep an extra hour, go to yoga, take an afternoon nap, make a fort with your kids, clean out your garage, call up a friend, or go play at a park.  Or, address nagging injuries that have been holding your back.

AND at the end of the week, when you’re rested and chomping at the bite to get back in the shop, sit down and make a goals sheet for the next six months

Winter is coming and those gorgeous fall days are in limited supply.  Get some.

For time:
7-6-5-4-3-2-1
thruster (95/135)
burpee

Lori on pull-ups during the Colorado Open. As noted in comments and posts this week, Lori had a breakthrough weekend!

Reminder – CrossFit Roots’ annual one week closure will take place from Monday, September 6th through Friday, September 10th. Classes will resume Saturday and the Parkour Seminar will take place that afternoon.

During the closure the shop will get some updates including new equipment and a sound system.

Not sure what to do with yourself next week?  Check back here tomorrow for our idea of your week away from Roots!

Work up to a 1 rep max snatch
then:
As many rounds and reps as possible in ten minutes of:
6 Squat cleans (55/30kg)
12 Pull-ups
24 Double-unders

Lawrence at the Colorado Open. How much do you think that tire weighs? Post to comments.

Weighted pull-ups 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

This girl can squat! Molly racks up back squats during the first event of the Colorado Open.

The Parkour Seminar at Roots

Announcing the September 2010 Parkour Seminar at Roots!  Parkour is the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one’s path by adapting one’s movements to the environment. This 2 hour seminar will be held at Roots and taught by Ryan Ford and his staff at Apex Movement. Come learn the basics of Parkour including vaults, jumps/balances, handstands, muscle ups, flags, dive rolls, and more!

When: Saturday, September 11th from 1-3pm
Where: Roots
Who: Taught by none other than Ryan Ford of Apex Movement and his staff
Why: Because you should learn to play new sports
How: Sign-up here!

“SQT“

Three rounds for time of:
95 pound Ground to overhead, 10 reps
200 yard Shuttle sprint, 50 yards there and back twice

Scott power cleans 165 at the Colorado Open.

The Colorado Open Wrap-up

Congratulations to Scott, Chris, Chad, Lawrence, Lori, Molly, and Emily who competed at this weekend’s Colorado Open.  We are so very proud to have you represent Roots at this weekend’s competition.  Also thanks to everyone who came out to cheer on and support the crew!

There were some significant differences in our athletes in this weekend’s competition vs. the Sectional in March.

Lawrence showed a poise that we did not see back in March.  Stronger and with more awareness of form under his belt he stayed collected through out the workouts.

Molly showed heart that we knew she had in her but that is rarely tested.  Coming off of a wrist injury that put her out for two weeks and then nursing it with scaled back workouts over the past three weeks she powered through the power clean/run workout with a lot of physical baggage.  Competing after a less than ideal month prior can bring about the worst mental game imaginable; however, Molly won the battle.

Emily showed us once again that weights are just a number and competition is different.  She power cleaned 105 pounds like it was her job and paced the workout in a manner that I am certain enabled her to make the cut-off.

Chad demonstrated the true CrossFit will.  Going into the second day his hands were mangled chunks of flesh held together with tape (no seriously, they were messed up).  He put the pain aside and edged out his competition to win his final heat of the weekend.

New to the competition scene was Lori, Scott, and Chris.

Lori rocked it!  After Emily offered some friendly (and wise) advice that Lori should go for the power clean/run workout as prescribed Lori warmed up to 105 and with a little hesitation in her eyes left for her event. This workout was hard for her, that was obvious, but her determination was tremendous as she chipped away and finished the workout with a few seconds to spare.  As a side note, this is 35 pounds more than Lori has ever cleaned in a workout.

Scott’s performances were both breakthroughs and we will now hold him to a higher standard at the shop:) Scott left nothing in the tank for every event and his dedication to preparing for this event was evident in his composure and approach to the entire weekend.

Chris showed us that competition is in his blood.  His antsy and jittery pre-competition habits transferred into some unleashing of the beast once the clock started.

Overall results for the event can be found HERE.

8 rounds for time:
Sprint 50 yards
5 right arm KB power snatch 2 pood
5 left arm KB power snatch 2 pood
7 pull ups

The next generation of Roots Crew.

The Colorado Open – TODAY!

CrossFit Roots has seven athletes competing at this weekend’s Colorado Open!  Follow the weekend’s results at the Front Range CrossFit website!

Five rounds for time of:
135 pound Squat clean thruster, 5 reps
10 Chest to bar pull-ups

The 1 rep max board has now been updated with everyone's numbers from The Total. We'll add this week's Clean & Jerk 1 rep max as well. Here, Zac warms up for the press during The Total.

CrossFit Roots Back-to-School Happy Hour – TONIGHT
5-7pm at the shop
Bring your own Paleo(ish) alcohol.

Three rounds for time of:
Row 500 meters
30 Box jumps, 24 inch box
25 Goodmornings (65/45)
Kettlebell swings, 20 reps (24/16kg)

Chris joins us from DC. Since Chris is the 4th Chris at Roots, his nickname is Caps, as in the Washington Capitals. Welcome!

How to Stay Up to Date on Everything Roots

Did you miss The Total or did you not know it was going on until you showed up?  Not sure of when happy hour will take place?  And what is this Fight Gone Bad thing?

At Roots we exercise a number of different avenues to communicate with our athletes.  It is your responsibility as a Roots athlete to keep an eye on or read through THREE different places.  Yes, three!

1. The Daily Blog 
No, you don’t have to check it everyday, but once a week scroll through the week’s blog posts to get detailed information on upcoming events, happenings at the shop, new policies, class additions, etc.

2. The ‘upcoming events’ column on the righthand side of our webpage
Once an event has been announced we will post it on the ‘upcoming events’ list on the website.  If you see an upcoming event and are not sure what it is about, use our Search box to look for posts that detail that event.

3. The Newsletter
The Newsletter comes out once per month and details upcoming events way in advance.  It also notifies athletes of any changes to the class schedule, seminars to be offered, and wraps up the prior months happenings.

Work up to a 1 rep max in the clean & jerk.
Suggested warm-up:
5 reps with bar
1xtriple
2xdouble
seven singles to get to 1 rep max effort

LT sets up for a heavy dead during the total last week. Lori, exactly how tall are you and exactly how much did you deadlift? Just asking:)

Friday Happy Hour!

Don’t forget about happy hour this Friday from 5-7 at the shop!  Bring your own Paleo alcohol and come mix, mingle, and jive at the shop with your fellow Roots.  Spouses, significant others, and kids welcome!

YOGA

Reminder, BYOYM tonight.  That’s, bring your own yoga mat, if you’re coming to the class tonight!