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Who's ready for the #crossfitopen?! We sure are! Make sure to get your #muscleup #practice in this week! Check out some of our tips and strength building exercises to help you get and stay #efficient! #CrossFit @crossfitgames #muscleups #hollowbody #intheopen Muscle-Up Transitions -Rings to Sternum Position yourself below the rings. Grab the rings and establish active shoulders and a tight midline. With a slight lean back, pull the rings toward each other and to your sternum (bottom of chest). Variations/extensions to this exercise could include a static hold at the top of the pull and/or employing a tempo on the eccentric (lowering) phase, like a negative. -Toe-nail Muscle-up Transition Position yourself below the rings. Similar to the rings to sternum drill,  but with the top of the feet touching the floor. Grab the rings and establish active shoulders and midline. With a slight lean back, pull the rings toward each other and to your sternum. Pushing through the toes, utilize as much assistance as needed to maintain proper pulling mechanics. Once the rings are to your sternum; continue the pull tracing the bottom of your chest until the rings are at your armpits, with shoulders over the rings. Variations/extensions of this drill could be done the same way with toes on a box. -Band Assisted Hip Extension with Pull This drill can be used to help understand hip extension while maintaining good body position as well as reinforce the proper timing of the pull. Set-up a band on the rings as you would in a banded ring dip. Place the band at the crease of the glutes, as if sitting on a swing. Starting point will be approximately parallel to the ground, in a hollow body position . From this position, you will squeeze your glutes and drive your heels down, eliciting an extension of the hips. The band will assist in the rise of your center of gravity. At the apex of the rise, you will practice the timing of the pull by driving your elbows behind you toward the floor and bringing the rings to your torso. Begin by focusing on one good rep at a time. Stringing these together can take time and is not necessary to receive the benefit of the drill. -Band Assisted Hip E

A video posted by CrossFit Austin (@crossfitaustin) on Feb 22, 2016 at 9:48am PST

We are 5 short days from our Night of Champions competition! As promised, below are the WODs we’ll see this Friday with Rx and Scaled weights listed below. Get yourself a partner and get registered! Remember, only 1 team member must register through the online system ($50 per team). We’ll email you to get your partner’s name and which division you’ll be competing in.

REGISTER HERE

Event 1

Max Deadlift

Each team member will find a max deadlift.  Teams will be grouped on bars together by announced opening weights and each bar will move up in weight every minute. Teammates best lifts will be added together to give the team a score.

Event 2

1200 M Run
50 Burpee Box Jump / Step-up
40 Hang Cleans
15:00 Cap

Rx 
M: 24” box, 165 lb barbell
W: 20” box, 105 lb barbell

Scaled
M: 20” box, 115 lb barbell
W: 12” box, 75 lb barbell

Athletes will run a total of 1200 meters between them. This can be split into an 800 and a a 400 or two even 600s. The athletes will then proceed to the burpee box jump / step ups where the reps can be split anyway they see fit. Athletes may jump or step onto the box at their own discretion. Teams will then move to the hang cleans where they may split the reps however they see fit. Hang cleans must start between the knee and the hip and can be received in muscle, power, squat or split position.

*15:00 Time Cap

Here's part 2 of our chest to bar series. This time around, focusing on the kip. These can also help with regular pull ups! Check out more videos at www.youtube.com/channel/UCJz-dOyuDWguw1OoRCkaq_w #kipping #chestobar #ctb #c2b #crossfit #intheopen #crossfitopen2016 #austin #tx #shoulders Traditional Kip – Muscle Kip Swing This drill is used to reinforce using the shoulder to initiate the swing. The lower body and hips should not swing at all. The athlete will push himself into a tight hollow position, and pull themselves into a tight arch position. The goal is to be as controlled as possible. – Arch / Hollow Kip Swing A tight compact kip swing is important to correctly perform dynamic gymnastics movements. The swing should be initiated with the shoulders, the elbows must remain locked out, keep the belly tight in both the arch and hollow position, and keep the heels together and toes pointed. – Skips This drill is an extension of the Arch/Hollow Kip Swing, with a more aggressive finish. The ’skip’ helps to develop straight arm strength/power, reinforces necessity of tight midline, and can be used as a tool used to understand/develop the timing of when to pull. – Pause at top with Push Away This is used to improve the athlete’s ability to connect pull-ups. The athlete performs a kip pull-up and stop and hold their chest against the bar. The athlete will then push themselves away from the bar and into another swing to pull. This is also a good test of actually pulling strength, if you can perform kip pull-ups but can’t hold the top position for longer than 5 seconds the athlete should work to improve strict static strength in the pull-up. – Full CTB Pull-ups The full CTB pull-up should look fluid and rythmic. Common faults include athletes losing control of the core in the “arch” phase of the swing, leaving the feet behind the bar while pulling the chest to the bar, and allowing the knees to bend or elbow during the “arch” phase of the swing.

A video posted by CrossFit Austin (@crossfitaustin) on Feb 11, 2016 at 1:55pm PST

Push-up women and men! This week, we’re back with another series of movement videos to help you prep for the Open. This time around, it’s Chest To Bar Pull Ups. These are a tough challenge for athletes new and old, alike. Be sure to practice these movements and you’ll be sure to see improvements! #crossfitopen2016 #crossfit #CTB #C2B #pullups #strict #negatives #intheopen #gymnasty #gymnastics Strict Strength – Scap Pull-ups Begin the movement with shoulders and arms completely locked out and maintain a hollow body position with the glutes and core.  Pull the scaps down and back and do not bend the elbows, then relax your shoulders to return back down into a fully extended position. The goal is to develop the ability to perform 3 sets of 12-15 perfect, controlled reps. – Passive Range Lift off In prone position (face down): while trying to maintain a neutral cervical spine lift your hands (or PVC) off of the ground with focus on squeezing your shoulder blades down and together toward the mid spine. As control improves, you can continue to increase the range by elevating your starting position. Again, purpose is for control of the range, so we are not just slinging are hands up behind us. – Banded Face Pull This is an auxiliary exercise that develops and strengthens the rhomboids, external rotators, and rear delts. Strengthening this group of muscles will help athletes develop a full and proper “finish” of pulling the chest all the way to the bar with retracted scaps. In doing so the face pull helps to prevent athletes from rolling the shoulders to the bar during the “finish”. This exercise can be performed daily, goal is to accumulate 20-40 reps in a row. – Horizontal CTB Pull-ups Focus on maintaining a tight “arch” position by staying fully engaged in the glutes and core. Only raise the feet to a level that allows perfect pulling mechanics, do not try to reach the chest to bar position by rolling the head and shoulders forward to the bar. Goal is to develop the ability to perform 5 perfect controlled reps for 5 sets. – Negatives Jump your chest to the bar and hold the chest to the bar for 2 seconds. Then, slowly lower from the bar for 5 seconds.

A video posted by CrossFit Austin (@crossfitaustin) on Feb 9, 2016 at 9:57am PST

Check out our final segment of the toes to bar series as we prep for the Open (Feb 25). Make sure to tune back in on Tuesday for our next series: Chest to Bar.  #toestobar #crossfit #intheopen #crossfitopen2016 #strict #upperbody #activeshoulders Straight Arm Strength In our final video of the toes to bar series, we focus on straight arm strength. Improving straight arm strength will make the kip swing more powerful and increase strength endurance for all “hanging” gymnastics movement.  These exercise are shown in order of least difficult to most difficult, and can be performed concurrently with the kip swing and core drills in previous videos. 1. Band Straight Arm Press Downs This can be done with the band set up you see in the video or with an old school cable pulley system if found at globo gyms and hotel/apt. gyms. Keep the arms straight as you press the bar to chest level. Maintain a tight core, and glutes similar to the hollow position. Only move up in band tension or weight when you can successfully complete 12 reps without breaking at the core. 2. Ring Fall outs This exercise integrates core stability and straight arm strength. The goal is to maintain a hollow body position throughout all phases of the movement. The tendency will be to allow the back to overextend, if this is happens shorten the length you extend the arms away from the body at the bottom. Work perfect set of 3-5 reps until you can hold your arms in line with your ears in a perfect hollow position at the bottom for 5 reps. 3. Strict Knees to elbow and Toes to bar These variations simply remove the swing and any momentum it creates from the full movement to force the arms, shoulders, and core to do more work. If you’re not strong enough to do these variations, use a spotter to help get your knees to your chest and toes to the bar. Then, slowly lower your legs for 3-5 seconds. The straighter the legs are the more demanding the exercise will be. Athletes of all ability levels benefit from increasing strength and strength endurance in the “strict” variations of bodyweight movements. Goal here is to develop the ability to complete 3 sets of 5 strict toes to bar with straight

A video posted by CrossFit Austin (@crossfitaustin) on Feb 6, 2016 at 8:04am PST

As promised, here is part 2 of the toes 2 bar series, aimed at helping you prep for the Open. Enjoy! #toes2bar #t2b #open #core #hollowbody #intheopen #CrossFitGames #CrossFit #2016CrossFitOpen Compression / Core Drills In the first series we focused on the swing and how to maintain a compact rhythmic kip swing to string TTBs together. Our second series we’ll focus on developing the ability to flex and compress at the hips while strengthening the core abdominal muscles. 1. Hollow Hold (Tuck to Long) This is the fundamental position for all gymnastic movements. Being strong in the hollow position allows for better control of the kip swing and stronger transfer of power from hips to the upper body. Start by keeping the knees tucked and the arms straight by your side. The low back should be in contact with the floor, with the hips and shoulder off the floor. To make the position more difficult move the hands overhead and straighten your legs. Try to develop the ability to hold this for a solid 60 continuous seconds in the tuck version, and then do the same in the “long” version. 2. Hands Flat Knee Raises Focus on using the core to pull the hips off the ground, and keep the knees tucked as close to your body as possible. Return the hips and feet slowly back to the ground so you can feel the core working. 3. KB Knee Raises Similar to the previous drill, with the hands straight overhead holding a kettlebell or dumbbell. Focus on using the core to pull your hips off the ground, and keep the knee tucked as close to your body as possible. Return your hips and feet slowly back to the ground so you can feel the core working. 4. Toes to KB Focus on using the core to pull your hips off the ground, and keep your knees tucked as close to your body as possible, at the last second extend the feet to the handle of the KB. Return your hips and feet slowly back to the ground with straight legs so you can feel the core working. Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps of these drills to develop adequate core strength for the toes to bar.

A video posted by CrossFit Austin (@crossfitaustin) on Feb 4, 2016 at 10:31am PST

Our first #Open #movement post includes one of the most notorious bad boys in the #crossfit world…duh duh duh…#toestobar…eeeekkk Check out Coach @txtim3 as he walks you through some skill building #exercises and #progressions of the swing portion of the movement: Swing Progression 1. Arch / Hollow Kip Swing A tight compact kip swing is important to correctly perform dynamic gymnastics movements. The swing should be initiated with the shoulders, the elbows must remain locked out, keep the belly tight in both the arch and hollow position, and keep the heels together and toes pointed. 2. Kipping Knee Raise Small Swing Initiate the movement with a tight compact arch/hollow kip swing. On your back swing (hollow) drive hard against the bar with straight arms and pull your knees up above your waist.  Practice connecting knee raises until you can successfully connect 8-10 reps consistently. This will help you learn the rhythm of connecting kip TTBs 3. Kipping Knee to Chest Initiate the movement with a tight compact arch/hollow kip swing. On your back swing (hollow) drive hard against the bar with straight arms and pull your knees up as high as possible. Work mastering singles and doubles of the knee to chest before trying to string more together. Once you can consistently connect 2-3 reps getting your knees to your chest you’re ready to start focusing on TTBs. 4. Kipping TTB Initiate the movement with a tight compact arch/hollow kip swing. On your back swing (hollow) drive hard against the bar with straight arms, pull your knees up as high as possible and kick your toes to the bar. Initially, focus on being consistent with singles then work to set of 2-3 at a time. The key to connecting TTBs is a great arch/hollow kip swing, so continue to practice kip swings and kip knee raises even once you accomplished your first TTB.

A video posted by CrossFit Austin (@crossfitaustin) on Feb 2, 2016 at 11:16am PST