CrossFit Citadel

A young man finds passion, purpose and a way out of the dark with CrossFit. Rosemary Campbell reports.

Paris Edward Little walked into CrossFit St Kilda (CFSK) in Melbourne, Australia, nearly two years ago. It was a weekend, and we were doing the CrossFit Total.

Soon, Little became a regular at the 7 a.m. class. He would jog down the driveway into the gym, rosy cheeked, hair tussled, straight out of bed. He would smile and politely greet everyone. His boyish good looks and impeccable manners were a direct hit to our hearts, and we loved him instantly. As the weeks passed, we gathered snippets of information about him: he was 20 years old, he had recently returned to Australia, he worked part time at a call center. He usually diverted conversation away from himself and ended up chatting about the WOD and training, then he’d jog off back down the driveway.

As we learned even more about him, we learned he represents what a community can do for an individual. CrossFit offered him a fresh start, a daily challenge where he could see and monitor his own progress and equally enjoy the success of others.

WOD
"Team Annie"
50-40-30-20 and 10 rep rounds of:
Double-unders
Sit-ups

3 person partner WOD: "Catch 22"

With a 22 minute clock counting down: You and your partners must complete a total of 200 double-unders, 90 pull-ups, AND 90 thrusters (95#/65#). You can all work at the same time but only one partner can do double-unders at a time. Same for the pull-ups and thrusters. Each partner has to do a minimum of 20 double-unders, 20 pull-ups, and a minimum of 20 thrusters. Once that is completed, each partner must be 2-man carried for 200 feet. With the remaining time, you and your partners will row for calories and do burpees. Your team's score is the sum of calories and burpees that you complete. You can trade off as often as you like but only one teammate can row at a time.
Post sum of calories and burpees that your team completes. Team with the highest sum wins!

Why is form so important?
"Using the proper form when exercising is vital for a number of reasons: to prevent injuries, proper use of energy, use the right muscles, and have effective exercises. Proper form when exercising makes for a more rounded workout from which you will get more effective training."

Click to watch "Fight for form" video

WOD
As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:
10 Wall Balls 20lbs
10 KB Sumo Deadlift High-pulls, 1.5 pood
10 Ring Push-ups
10 Double Unders

Post total rounds.

WOD
As many rounds as possible in 12 mins of:
150 10 ft Wall Balls 20 lbs
90 Double Unders
30 Muscle-ups

Post total rounds.

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WOMEN - includes Masters Women up to 54 years old
150 Wall balls (14lbs to 9' target)

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MASTERS MEN - includes Masters Men 55+
150 Wall balls (20lbs to 9' target)

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MASTERS WOMEN - includes Masters Women 55+
150 Wall balls (10lbs to 9' target)

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This workout begins from the standing position with the medicine ball on the floor and the Athlete standing tall. Using an additional ball, box or other object to check for proper depth is not allowed. If the ball is not caught between reps, it must come to a full stop on the ground. Bouncing the ball off the floor is not permitted.

Box jumps are mainly about jumping onto a box. Simple, right? But like any CrossFit movement, you can always add a good dose of virtuosity for increased speed, efficiency and grace.

Kelly Starrett and Carl Paoli explain exactly how to set up for efficient box jumps, and they say it all starts with foot position and body position. As all supple leopards know, great body position takes work, so Starrett offers up some mobility drills to get you ready to bounce.

The experts also explain how the standard of landing on top of the box and opening the hips usually results in good positioning, while the landing on the ground is sometimes less than graceful. Often the knees go into bad positions on the ground landing, which creates what Starrett calls a “torque dump.” To prevent this, Paoli recommends keeping the feet quite close together during ground contact.

By preparing your joints and tissues properly and then using solid positioning during reps, your box-jump efficiency will improve instantly.



Watch the free video here

WOD
2 partners will complete the workout below. Only one partner can workout at a time, but the work may be divided between the two partners as desired (half and half, one person does more ring dips - the other does more DUs, etc). The only exception is the 200m sprint, each 200m sprint must be completed by one person (no dividing them up into multiple 100s for example).

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
50 Double unders
30 Ring Dips
Two 200m Sprints

Record who your partner was and total rounds for the team.

WOD
For time:
25 Handstand push-ups
50 Toes-to-bar
Run 800 meters
75 pound Push press, 75 reps
150 Double-unders

Post total time.

WOD
Eight rounds for time of:
10 Burpees
15 Jumping alternating lunges
20 Double-unders
25 yard Shuttle sprint (5 x 5 yards)
Rest 90 seconds

Post total time.

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"For those of you who don’t know, Westside Barbell is the strongest gym in the world.

It’s difficult for me to express the significance of this in one line so allow me to reiterate while using italics (we all know italics emphasize importance):

Westside Barbell is the strongest gym… in the world!!!!

To give you a better understanding of how strong Westside really is, here are some concrete numbers to work with.

Westside is currently home to:

•  33 men who have bench pressed 700+lbs
•  8 men who have bench pressed 800+lbs
•  2 men who have bench pressed 900+lbs
•  17 men who have squatted 1000+lbs
•  6 men who have squatted 1100+lbs
•  18 men who have deadlifted 800+lbs
•  and 13 men totaling 2500+lbs, 7 men totaling 2600+lbs, 2 men totaling 2700+lbs and 2 men totaling 2800+lbs

So, yea…they’re pretty damn strong."

The Westside-Barbell Conjugate Method: A Users Guide

Using the conjugate system

_ WOD
For Time:
300 Double Unders
100 Burpees

Post total time.