Workout of the Day – Underwood Park CrossFit
CrossFit WOD – 08/28/17
“Elizabeth”
21-15-9 (for time)
Clean (135/95)
Ring Dips
Ahhh what’s not to love about a benchmark workout?!
Elizabeth is a classic CrossFit workout sequencing weightlifting and gymnastics together in 3 rounds of diminishing repetitions. This benchmark workout really tests an athlete’s total fitness as you’re tested in two distinct domains – if the moderately heavy cleans don’t challenge you then the ring dips may force you to slow your pace! This workout should be completed in under 10 minutes so scale accordingly! Read on for further scaling advice and how we handled the workout.
We had a busy week in upstate New York as we explored Jay’s old stomping grounds in Albany. Despite the late nights & busy social schedule, we showed up at Underwood Park CrossFit excited to hit a wod.
After a thorough group dynamic warm-up lead by owner and coach Michael Plank, we took 15 minutes to work up to a heavy set of 3 back squats. my body was pretty achey and I was just enjoying moving so I kept it reasonably light working up to 105 lbs. When you show up I believe in putting in 100% effort, but I’m also smart enough to listen to my body and check my ego at the door. Today was not a day that I needed to go crazy heavy.
Because we basically live out of our car, I brought our cooler bag into the box. It basically acts as our portable pantry! I thought about putting some items in the fridge but this box has got it’s priorities straight. Fridge is for beer and wine only 😉 Obviously we were going to need to teach these guys about how to track their alcohol!
On to the workout. I was unsure what to do here. The wod on the board called for power cleans which I actually feel more confident with at a heavier weight – I’m just not comfortable sitting deep in my squat, my balance is all off from super tight hips. After a quick chat with Jason I decided to load up the bar to 85 lbs. Knowing that I could move reasonably quickly with the cleans but would likely slow down on the ring dips, Jason told me to scale the rep scheme for the dips to 12-9-6 rather than modify by doing assisted dips with a band. It turned out to be a great scaling option as I was able to get through all the ring dips without too much rest!
My final time was 8:31 while Jason got 5:54.
It was a fun workout and mentally exactly what I needed. I just didn’t have the mental capacity for anything long that day so a quick 3 rounder was perfect!
Further scaling options could be reducing the load on the barbell for the cleans or even using dumbbells if you don’t have a barbell available. For the dips you could use a matador or even two boxes so that you’re not also having to stabilize the rings. Give it a go and let us know how you get on!
After class we got underway with our nutrition seminar. We had an amazing group of people – and I’m not just saying that because Heather baked us cookies! Heather you rock girl!
Some of the participants had been following our program for quite some time with great success and there were also some attendees from the Tribe (shout out to Riley for making it down!) We always love meeting our Tribe members and clients in person. It makes those seminars even more special! The cookies weren’t the only big hit at the seminar though, we also had a run on our apparel and books!
That face Jay makes when he tells people they can eat more! Haha!
Such a fun night and such a fun group of people to work with. We look forward to continuing to support you all on your journeys. Thanks for having us Michael & Lauren! 🙂
