Home of CrossFit ATM, the first CrossFit in the Brazos Valley

This week our Saturday class will be closed.

We are moving our Friends Day to next weekend! Spread the word! 

Super Set the below:

Pull Ups 5×5 weighted or 5×3 negatives

Tall Box Jumps 5×3

Followed by,

“Chief”

5 Rounds

3 Min AMRAP

3 Power Clean

6 Push Ups

9 Squats

1 min rest

Health-bent.com’s Maple, Mustard Chicken! 

Photo Credit

• ~2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1/3 c Dijon mustard
• 3 T  Maple Syrup
• 1 stem fresh rosemary, chopped

In a large zip-top bag, add the mustard, maple syrup & rosemary, including the rosemary stem. Smush around to incorporate. Add the chicken and let marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Heat a large saute or grill pan (obviously a grill would work too) over medium-high heat. Melt a few tablespoons of fat (butter, ghee, duck/bacon fat), and sear the chicken thighs, about 4 (undisturbed) minutes per side. Be sure not to overcrowd the saute/grill pan, as you want the chicken to develop a nice char on the outside.

While the chicken thighs are cooking…

Pour the marinade in a small saute pan (minus the rosemary stem). Let it come to a simmer and keep it there for about 4-5 minutes, whisking occasionally. If you find the sauce has gotten too thick, add a little stock to it. And bam…you’ve turned the marinade into a sauce. Yay.

You can either serve the sauce on the side or brush it over the tops of the grilled thighs.

Group Classes:

Deadlift 5×3

3 RDS

8 OHS

400 m sprint

2 min rest

Weightlifting:

Power Snatch Heavy

Power Clean Heavy

Tonight is Marshall’s going away party at La Bodega. We will meet up there around 8pm!

Come wish him luck on his new adventure! We will truly miss him!

Hang Clean 6×2 @ 85%

Followed by,

“Diane”

21-15-9

Deadlift

Handstand Push Ups

Back Squat 3×5 @80%

Followed by,

3 RDS

8 Power Clean

200 m sprint

Then,

3 total min L-Sits

Today (Thursday, that is… I feel like I must put what day “today” is, mainly, because the blog post usually uploads a day early) is Retro Day at the gym! Dress from your favorite decade! 20′s,30′s,40′s, 50′s 60′s, 70′s, 80′s, 90′s, whatever your heart desires!

Are you punk at heart? Do you have those leg warmers and shinny spandex that you secretly put on, only in the comfort of your own home? Do you miss big puffy bangs, with aerosoled crimpy hair? Are there ripped t-shirts from your glory days hanging in your closet that you just can’t think of any place to wear and don’t have the heart to throw them away?

Well people of BlackBox, the day has come. You can dust off those old sweat bands, Air Jordan’s, and knee highs. Retro Day at BlackBox is here to stay! All classes on today will be Retro themed. The best dressed, male and female, will get a prize.

Something to keep in mind for this special day: Go big or go home.

Group Classes

Pull Ups 5x max or 5×3 negatives

+ Tall Box Jumps 5×3

Followed by,

3 RDS

1 min Push Ups

1 min TTB

1 min Slam Balls

1 min rest

Curry Fish Chowder with Plantain Crunchies

From Health-Bent.com

For the Chowder

• 2 T coconut oil
• 1 t cumin seeds
• 1 t brown mustard seeds
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger, finely minced
• 1 yellow onion, diced small
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 t curry powder (sweet or hot)
• 1 t garam masala
• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• 2 lbs white, flaky fish (we used cod)
• salt
• juice from 1 lime

For the Crou-tains

• 2-3 green plantains, diced small
• 3 T coconut oil
• salt

For the Chowder

“In a medium sized soup pot, melt the coconut oil over medium heat. Add the cumin and mustard seeds. Let them dance around the pot for a minute or two and then add the ginger, garlic and onion. Saute until the onion is cooked through. Add the curry and garam masala powders. Dump in the can of the coconut milk. Stir everything around to combine.

Now add the fish. Just toss the whole fillets in there. Stir them around in the pot, every so often, until they’re cooked through. Take 2 forks and pull the fish into flakes (just like if you were pulling apart a chicken breast or beef brisket). Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the lime juice.

For the Crou-tains (Paleo Croutons)

In a large saute pan, melt the coconut oil. Add the diced plantains. As always, the smaller the dice, the faster they’ll cook. Let the plantains fry until they’re cooked through and have a nice crust on the outside. Shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes.

Just like regular croutons, the crou-tains taste better the day they’re made. Not that they’re inedible the next day, they’re just not as crispy.”

Group Classes:

Deadlift 3×5

Followed by,

5 RDS

10 KB Swings

10 Cross Chops

10 Goblet Squats

1 min rest

Then,

2×90 sec Prone Cobra

Weightlifting:

Snatch Heavy

Split Jerk Heavy

Back Squat 5×5 @85%

5 RDS

Max reps DB Press

Max Pull Ups

Rest

Then,

3×1 min wted planks

April 26th will be Retro Day at the gym! Dress from your favorite decade! 20′s,30′s,40′s, 50′s 60′s, 70′s, 80′s, 90′s!

Are you punk at heart? Do you have those leg warmers and shinny spandex that you secretly put on, only in the comfort of your own home? Do you miss big puffy bangs, with aerosoled crimpy hair? Are there ripped t-shirts from your glory days hanging in your closet that you just can’t think of any place to wear and don’t have the heart to throw them away?

Well people of BlackBox, the day has come. You can dust off those old sweat bands, Air Jordan’s, and knee highs. Retro Day at BlackBox is here to stay! All classes on Thursday will be Retro themed. The best dressed, male and female, will get a prize.

Something to keep in mind for this special day: Go big or go home.

Group Classes:

RDL 3×5

Press 3×5

Followed by,

10 min AMRAP

5 OHS

30 Double Unders

Then

3 total min Handstand Holds

Weightlifting:

Power Snatch Heavy

Power Clean Heavy

Just another day at the Box!

Snatch 6×2 @ 80%

Then,

Deck of Cards:

Hearts=Pistols

Diamonds=KB Swings

Clubs=Burpees

Spades=Toes To Bar

Followed by,

30 Total TTB/GHD

One thing I love about our trainers at BB is that they are always in the business of learning more. They are hungry for more information on the whys and the whats of health/fitness. Our aim is to give you the best information out there in all aspects of nutrition, sleep, stress management, weight training, sport/performance development, anything and everything that has to do with living well. With researching certain areas of health/fitness, I think you may all know by now, that there most always seems to be opposing, even controversial information out there. For example, I could find all the research in the world on how ice baths are beneficial for recovery and then turn around and read something on how they can have a negative effect and the results of that article may recommend hot showers/compress.

Now with all of our researching and learning, even something as simple as a weight belt, we want to bring to you what we find and what we think is true. Now, again I think I’ve said this over and over, but what may work for one person at one stage of their life, may not work for another person.

With that said, let’s talk about the usage of a weight belt. Jack has written a great article on why he uses a weight belt when lifting (heavy weights). I on the other hand have mixed thoughts about people using a belt, we both agree that people should NOT use belts at light weights, but I’m even more extreme in my thinking to say that I don’t think you should use them even when lifting heavy weights. So, we wanted to bring to you both sides of our thinking/researching. And you can decide on your usage or non-usage of the weight belt.

Why I Wear a Weight Belt

By Jack Gaines

*A note before I begin: I am not promoting weightlifting belts for everyone, I am just providing my own personal reasons for recently choosing to use one.*

I have considered using a belt for a while, and I have used a belt in the past.  I researched the benefits and decided FOR ME, they outweighed the possible downsides to lifting with a belt.

First and foremost, I am a strength athlete (I use that term very loosely), and being such my goal is to be as strong as possible within the confines of the rules of my sport.  Belts can be used as a tool for accomplishing this legally by the rules of weightlifting.  Belts wrap around your midsection, it should sit just above your hip bones, and they should be snug.  When lifting we teach you to take a big breath before each rep and this is to increase intra abdominal pressure using the Valsalva maneuver.  This stabilizes your spine and helps in maintaining proper form.  Going back to high school physics/chemistry, when you have a container, you can increase the pressure in it one of two ways: increase the temperature (we DON’T want this to happen), or decrease the volume of the container.  A belt will do the latter if it is tightened appropriately.  By tightening the belt you are decreasing the volume of your midsection, which increases the effect of the Valsalva maneuver, which provides even more trunk stability under loads.  Because of the increased stability you should be able to lift more weight.  This is a benefit, but I don’t care if it adds 5-10 lbs to my max squat today, I care if those 5-10 lbs increase over time.  If I can squat more, the weight I use based on percentages goes up. This makes my legs stronger over time, more so than what they could become without a belt, which is my ultimate goal.

I have read and been told that wearing a belt will weaken a couple of the muscles in the core.  With my personal experience I don’t find this to be true.  When you wear a belt you contract your abs, just the same as if you weren’t wearing a belt.  Opponents of belt use will say you push your abs into the belt and it trains you to push your abs out instead of contracting them in.  I find this to be absolutely wrong based on my experiences.  Put a belt on and push your abs into it and see if you feel more stable, you shouldn’t because you have to CONTRACT them in order for it to work.  While wearing a belt you contract your abs just the same as you would without one, the only difference is the belt is also constricting the abdomen and this produces a stronger overall contraction which could lead to a stronger core.  Doing extra core work helps to prevent the possible degradation in core strength.

A couple of don’ts related to belts:

• Based on the physiology of the belt, having a tapered belt makes absolutely ZERO sense.  You want an equal thickness all the way around to provide more resistance across the abdominal wall where the belt is actually working.  The additional material in the back is a waste and does nothing to provide extra support to the spine.
• Belts should only be worn at ≥80% of your 1RM.  It can be used on the last warm up set, but is unnecessary at less than that.  Even if you use a belt, you should still practice without one when you are below a working set.
• Belts should be used for their chronic effects on overall strength, not just momentary assistance on a max day
• Do not leave the belt tightened between sets.  This will significantly restrict your breathing and will cause a longer recovery between sets, or it could potentially cause you to become light headed or black out.

I’ll leave you with this video of Konstantin Konstantinov deadlifting 937 pounds without a belt.  By the way, he trains with a belt and it undoubtedly helped him become one of the strongest men in the world.

Back Squat 3×5 @ ~ 80%

Followed by,

10 min AMRAP

5 Ring Dips

10 Weighted Lunges

15 Wall Ball

At BlackBox, because we do have a lot of families, I wanted to plug a new website to our members. Even though Danny and I don’t have any babies (right now), this website has been such a great resource for us. It’s great for those people wanting to be more involved in the community. The Brazos Valley has so many wonderful organizations and events, sometimes it is a challenge to know when all of these great things are happening in the area. This website, BCS Families, always has fantastic giveaways, current information for families, and is a great resource for events going on in the BCS!

Here is a post from Heather, the website founder, about why they do what they do:

“Welcome to BCS Families.  As a couple trying our best to raise a house-full of boys in Bryan-College Station, we know families don’t always have time to search the internet for meaningful, family-friendly activities in our area.  So how about we bring local, upcoming family events and news right to your doorstep?

BCS Families hopes to lighten the load a little for parents.  Parenting is already challenging enough, isn’t it?  Anything that makes parenting a little easier is a welcomed gift in our home.  We know that your time is valuable, and you want to spend it with the ones that matter most.  The Brazos Valley is overflowing with beautiful parks, creative festivals, nature trails, museums, and so much more.  We hope to inspire families to make lasting, beautiful memories right here in our community.

May our kids look back and cherish the memories of growing up in the Brazos Valley.

From our family to yours….”

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Ribbon Cutting!

Group Classes:

Deadlift 3×5

Followed by,

5 RDS

2 Strict Pull Ups

2 Strict Press

100m sprint

2 Strict Pull Ups

2 Strict Press

30 DU

Then,

3×1:00 min Weighted Planks

Come out to the Mobility Class tonight, no Oly Class!

Everyone meet Jyl! She is such an amazing athlete and wonderful friend!

We have been blessed at BlackBox to have her with us!

Group Classes:

Strict Pull Ups 5xmax or 5×3 negatives

+ Tall Box Jumps 5×3

3 RDS

3 min AMRAP

4 HSPU

50m Farmer’s Walk

1 min rest between rounds

Weightlifting:

Snatch Heavy

Clean/Jerk Heavy

Today is our Ribbon Cutting!!! Come out and show some love at BlackBox at 11:30am! See you guys soon!

Lauren.

Press 3×5

RDL 3×5

Followed by,

3 RDS

8 Front Squat

400m sprint

2 min rest

3×90 sec Prone Cobra

This week we will be having our Ribbon Cutting with the Chamber of Commerce. Spread the word and come on out to the gym on Tuesday at 11:3am to show some love! Enjoy today!

Carisse.

Week 1 of  4 on Jack’s 4 week program:

Group Classes-

Back Squat 5×5

5 RDS

3 Power Clean

10 Ball Slams

Weightlifting - 

• Snatch – 5 x 3 (~70-80%)
• Snatch pull – 4 x 4 (~100-110%)
• Pause back squat – 4 x 3 (3 second pause at the bottom)

Bring your family and friends to the gym today (Saturday) for a FREE Workout!!

Val and Maite.