My First Chipper at CrossFit NYC
I did my first chipper at CrossFit NYC today. A chipper is any series of exercises done once through for time. This particular series was the one done at the CrossFit Games sectionals this weekend in New Jersey. (Yep. CrossFitting is also a competitive sport.) The chipper went as follows:
30 Overhead Squats
30 Pull-ups (chest to bar)
30 Power Snatches
30 Feet to Bar
30 Sumo Deadlift High Pull
30 Air Squats
30 Kettlebell swings
(Videos of the moves can be found here.)
At sectionals, competitors were cut off at 17 minutes. In class today, we were told to aim for 25 minutes. I came in at around 23 minutes, but I needed some serious modification to get there. The prescribed weight for women at sectionals was 55 lbs for the squats, snatches and sumo deadlift high pulls and 16 kg for the kettlebell swings. I used 21 lbs for the squats and the snatches, and 31 lbs for the sumo deadlift high pulls. I went with a 12 kg kettlebell. I also used a band (the blue one) for the pull-ups, and did knees to elbows instead of feet to bar. Basically, the only thing I did as prescribed was the air squats!
In retrospect, I should probably have had more weight on the lifts. It was the first time that I'd done snatches as part of a timed workout, though, so I was nervous. (I spent a lot of money putting my head through law school; I'd like to avoid clocking it with a bar!) Also, my form on the overhead squats is terrible and I really want to get that better before I start adding on heavier plates.
At the end of the workout, I was a little disappointed with myself. Considering the light weights I used, I just didn't push hard enough in terms of speed. I took too many breaks that were longer than necessary. To be fair, I'm really still figuring things out. There's a pretty steep learning curve in the beginning, both in terms of learning the skills and assessing your strength.
So how did it all play out at sectionals? CrossFit NYC kicked some serious butt. Sara Carr, who placed fourth overall for women, killed this workout in 12:34. Congrats all the CrossFit NYC competitors at sectionals this weekend! You guys are seriously inspirational.
-Gym Belle-
3 Comments
Reader Comments (3)
Whoa, this is HARD CORE. I've been wanting to try CrossFit for a while, but it seems so scar-Y. Are there different levels of classes? I need to do it though, I know it's the push I need. HELLO BIKINI SEASON!
http://www.firednfabulous.blogspot.com/
wow--that sounds like a serious workout! Great job on getting it done! (and try not to be so hard on yourself!) :)
Thanks, Ellen and Workout Mommy!
Ellen, all of the CrossFit workouts are scalable, so you can work at your own level. Check out CrossFit NYC's website, for example. Each day, they post the workout of the day ("WOD") "as prescribed" on the main page, and then in the comments they give you options for scaling. You can always scale more than that, too, or come up with your own variations. The trainers help you figure all that out, and they teach the classes so that everyone gets in a good workout at a level that's appropriate for them. I've seen people of really varied fitness abilities all doing the same WOD at the same time. CrossFit's never easy, but you'll surprise yourself with what you can do.