BRAND X WORKOUT!! 7-17-08

Well I had an unforgettable day.  It was my first time working out at a Crossfit Affiliate.  And none other then Brand X!  I got there in the early afternoon and had the entire place to myself as I worked out with Coah Jeff Martin.  How cool is that?  He's a great guy, truly a monster CrossFiter, and an absolutely top notch coach!  I did the pack version WOD of:

AMRAP in 20 min of

15 pushups

12 bar dips

95# Push Press, 9 reps

I did 7 Push Presses shy of 5 rounds.  This WOD addressed a couple of my weaknesses: Dips and Presses.  So much for trying to do an Rx'd WOD with Jeff.  My goal is now that the next time I visit Brand X it will be doing the WOD as Rx'd, no matter what it is.  I'm not sure when the next time I'll be down in this area, but probably not for a while, so I'm hoping this will be an achievable goal.   

But wait...there's more.  After the WOD, Jeff coached me on some squat technique.  I got to work with him on my air squat, back squat, front squat and overhead squat.  I got some great feedback and after a few adjustments my squats were looking good.  I'm stoked!  I now feel confident that my squat numbers will improve and improve with correct form.  The motion feels tighter and more powerful.  I'm looking forward to putting some real weight on the bar and trying out my new technique.  I'll be sure to give an update when that happens.  Jeff then put me through a more skill based, scaled down WOD, to practice the squat technique.

3 rounds with 95#:

3 Overhead Squat

6 Front Squat

9 Back Squat

12 40" tire jumps

Normally Jeff said he does this as 5 rounds for time.  That would have been an absolute killer.  Luckily he scaled it down to 3 rounds for me and gave me as much time as I needed in between rounds.  I rested about 10 min in between rounds.  I really liked this one.  I've never done a big tire jump like that before.  Now it looks like I need to get another big tire so I can add them into my home gym arsenal.  

I also got to meet a bunch of other Brand X'ers because I hung around for a while that evening.  I met Coach Dan Strametz (Big D from the Brand X forum), Mikki Marten, Keegan Martin, Travis Martin, Debbie Rakos (thanks for the Brand X shirts!), Laura Rucker, Cyndi Rodi (Go Irish), Marla Singer, and TMoney to name a few.  

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that I had a great time and man I wish Brand X was in my neck of the woods.  I'd be going there for certain!  Awesome facility, great community, outstanding coaching..... what more could you ask for?