Bear-ish complex in da Burgh

Had an awesome time at CrossFit Pittsburgh this morning. I felt so nostalgic driving around my hometown, and then it was a crazy juxtaposition to go do some CrossFit. Fun times. :)

We did a bear complex kinda thing, with good mornings added at the end. Jenn said it was the CF Football version of the bear. Honestly, the good mornings freaked me out because I've only ever done them with PVC. So I started with a much lower weight - an empty women's bar -- than I would've without that added on.

WOD:

Complete 4 rounds of:

Complete the cycle 7 times per round:
Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Good Morning

Results: 17:11 -- 33-43-48-53

So, not only did I go light, I went really, really SLOW. Disappointing. I know I need to go easy on myself when I haven't done a movement before... But I've been wanting to try the bear complex for a while, so it's a bit of a letdown to have done it with such a light load.

I'll get some next time - heavy, hard and fast. :)

After the WOD we went through a fun little cool down with Jenn. Three static holds per round: handstand, wall sit and plank. 1st round - 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off; 2nd round - 1 minute on, 1 minute off; 3rd round - 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. It was great! That is exactly what I need to do on my own to develop my handstands, and getting comfy upside down.

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CrossFit Pittsburgh has a great vibe -- I really liked the space they're in (cool climbing hold on one wall!), and I met the owners Jenn and Mike and two other trainers and several members and they were all super-friendly and welcoming.

No group warmup -- this is the first box outside of CF Camden that I've been to that doesn't do the group warmup. I agree with the concept that Mike explained that each person has their own preferred way to warm up... but I also agree with Bryan from Ultimate that sometimes people don't do the best job getting warmed up on their own... Maybe the best strategy is to just go class-by-class, or person by person. Group warm ups for the less experienced, self-directed warm ups for the more experienced.

For some reason I was loving their pull-up bars. The width or the height maybe? I asked, and they're 1 1/2 inches wide. I just felt super stable in my grip -- that's the best way I can describe it. The height was just slightly above my reach, which I love love love love love.

Good news for the day -- I did 2 kips in a row that took me the whole way up over the bar, instead of my usual "most of the way there, then PUUUULLL" style. Woot! Progress!

One more note on their pull-up setup -- they have two bars setup at the height needed to do jumping pull-ups. What a great idea. Jenn explained that for beginners, it's so much easier for them to do the kip-jump from the floor. I totally agree, because I've seen how learning to do pull-ups and also standing on a box that you're afraid you might miss coming back down can complicate the learning process. And she made the point that Filthy Fifty calls for jumping pull-ups, and they're good for that too.

That's a perfect example of why I love my CrossFit fieldtrips -- those cool little adaptations that each affiliate discovers.

Next trip home I will definitely be back in the box for another WOD. For sure! And I will probably be hitting up Jenn with more training questions too. :)