VOLUME
A – Power Snatch EMOM 6 x 2 (70%)
B – Deadlift 3 x 5 (55%)
TECHNIQUE
3 Position Power Snatch Complex (High hang, Hang, Floor)
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups
10 Wall Balls (20/14)
15 Kettlebell Swings (1.5/1 pood)
Post load and time to comments.
This time last year… Dane made us New Plyo Boxes.
Drew’s Farewell
-Drew Beller
I arrived in Chicago in November of 2010. I was a just starting to get serious about Crossfit in my hometown of Brighton, MI when I was transferred out to the Windy City. As a guy who has played many sports, I was not a stranger to the weight room. But the structure and community of Crossfit is something that really pulled me in. After leaving several phone messages, I finally got an e-mail back from Kelly to come in and do the base line workout. I rocked it (except for the row, of course) and my career at CFC was underway.
Like an idiot – I started regularly attending the 6 AM classes three times a week.
Back in Brighton – there was maybe a handful of athletes that would beat me in the WOD’s (and all of them ex-NHL or semi-pro hockey players). At CFC, I had to bust my butt on a regular basis to finish in the top 5. I’ve always been a competitive guy…and I’ve gotten my ego checked on a weekly basis. There have been two defining moments for me at CFC that have really pushed me to take it to the next level.
#1 – seeing the “Member of the Month” plaque for the first time. I remember looking at it and seeing “Carp”s picture there when I was still doing my 6 AM routine. I remember thinking “I wanna be on that.” So I committed myself to trying to beat Carp in every workout and catch and surpass him in weight. This started a long line of CFC athletes that I would benchmark myself against (Matt Jones, Brett Raz, B-Dub to name a few….Alex obviously being the unicorn you’re never going to catch).
#2 – absolutely killing myself to ensure that I finished a workout before Elisabeth Akinwale. I beat her (by like two seconds) only to look over and see that she had 10 more pounds on her bar than I did. Ego = checked….and then checked again…and then again.
Somewhere around the time that Kelly asked me to defect to the Noon class, I thought it would be funny to post a quote from the late great Randy “Macho Man” Savage on the blog along with my regular weight/time post…I think it was because I started wearing the shirt I made at Strange Cargo to the box. Rudy was the one who called for me to make my moniker “Cream of the Crop” (a quote used in my favorite promo) and the rest, as they say, is history. You want to talk about someone picking up that moniker ball and running with it? I wonder how many times I’ll have to explain why I have “COTC” embroidered on my shoe (in pink).
I had big plans for CFC in 2013. But my employer had other things in mind. And so I have to say goodbye to all of my friends at Crossfit Chicago. I can truly say that there is nothing that saddens me more than leaving this community. There is not one person I’ve met at CFC that I didn’t like. And it gave me a place where I felt so at home – that I was able to bring back a certain side of myself that most of the world doesn’t get to see. I’m sorry if I got on some of your nerves with the way I carried myself at the box – I was just trying to make it fun.
Oh…and I never made “Member of the Month”…
So I’ll try and close this eulogy up by giving you all a big THANK YOU. Thanks for the memories…thanks for the lessons in humility…and thanks for putting up with me these past two years. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find my way back here someday…and never forget: Space is the place, sky’s the limit! Ohhh yeeeeeeah!
Drew, We will see you at noon tomorrow, right?!
If not, safe travels and stay warm out there.
And remember: “Expect the unexpected in the kingdom of madness.”
Aww! This is sad. I feel like I was just getting to know you! Good luck wherever you are going and I promise to save a giant wave and big smile for you when you come back to visit!!
Drew, Hopefully will make it in to catch you at noon! If I don’t, Keep in touch.
Recipe will go up tomorrow.
Drew, so sad to see you go. For the short time I’ve gotten to know you I must say that you are one class act. Safe travels and best of luck, it’s not goodbye but see you later. Ooooh yeah!
Drew my man take care of yourself and don’t be a stranger. As an old WWF fan I enjoyed the nostalgia of your daily quotes from Macho Man and others. You’ve done the Ultimate Warrior, Ricky the Steamboat Dragon, Papa Shango, Mr Perfect, The Undertaker, the Legion of Doom, the Bushwackers, the British Bulldog, Bret the Hitman Hart, the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels, Andre the Giant, Mankind/Cactus Jack/Dude Love/Mick Foley, the Nature Boy Ric Flair, the 1-2-3 Kid, Degeneration X, & of course Hulk Hogan – among others -proud. Snap into a Slim Jim and make sure to post on the blog from time to time to let us know how you’re doing….
Drew as I told you last time I saw you your times are Ninja. Wishing you all the best in your future job and with wherever life takes you,
Best, Dougie.
Drew we hate to see you go! Best of luck to you and your wifey on your new adventure! It was nice chatting with you during the last paleo challenge and your blog posts are always a HOOT!
Drew, The nooner will not be the same. We’ll miss ya buddy :)
Drew the best of luck. You will be missed.
Sad to see you go Drew…. We’re not neighbors anymore!
Best wishes in your future! Hope to see you around
Still in MI… Couldn’t run because of the snow that hit yesterday
5×10 dl
5×10 kbs
1 k row
1mile run
1 k row
19:15
Transitions were hard, especially when my hamstrings felt like jello off the row
Being the box dinosaur, I usually did not pick up on the pop culture quotes (thanks, Alex!), but I did pick up what a classy guy you are. Sad to see you defect from the 6am, but at least I got to see you on the occasional weekend. Good luck to you and your wife in your new place. COTC has left the building. Boo hoo! Safe travels.
Power Snatch 70% EMOM 6×2 @ 2×105, 4×115
DL 55% 3×5 @ 205, 205, 225
Metcon – 9rds & 2ctb
No band first 4rds and used orange band for last 5rds. Also, had to switch from Rocky kbs to Drago kbs because of a pinching in my shoulder, went up to 2pood though.
Drew, enjoyed the few workouts. keep your head up and don’t take NO for an answer.
COTC – you were one of the first people I met at CFC when I started in the 9am class and you quickly became one my benchmarks (that I have never caught). I always appreciated the energy and sense of humor you brought to the box – you’re a character that we’ll miss around here for sure. Best of luck on the next phase in your career!
A – Snatch work, 3×115, 3×125
B – 3×5 @225
Conditioning: 9rds 7 Wbs Rx
Didn’t like my effort on this one. Took a lot of breaks between movements, and those Rocky KBS (I like that name Chris L) seemed endless. Never good when you look up at the clock gassed and see only 8 minutes have expired.
So sad to see you go Drew, but you’re the reason I’m now at CFC so thank you so much for getting me introduced! I’ll never forget the sacrifice you made in our partner workout holding a plank for me for what felt like minutes as I struggled through wall balls. HA! You’re a beast. Come back and visit me and Mags!
Drew. Sorry to see you go. I aspired to be like you in strength and speed levels, but not in any other way in terms of your goofy personality. There literally be a huge void in the blog without your WWF rants. Best to luck to you wherver you go. Make sure to pour some of your 40 oz. for some of your homies at CFC!
Power Snatch 85# 6×2
DL 215# 3×5
Met: 9 rds + 6 WB. Walked away from this wondering if I could’ve gamed it better i.e. pacing out the initial rounds and conserving energy for a better finish.
Is Drew brown-bagging a 40oz in that picture?
Sad to see you go Drew – It was always a pleasure working out (and getting smoked) by you when you’d drop into the 9AMs. Best of luck to you and your wife and hope to see you again soon.
6×2 Power Snatch – First two at 95#, last 3 at 105#. Felt good throughout… still trying to break the 135 barrier.
3×5 Dead Lift @ 175 – Haven’t deadlifted in a while but felt solid.
Metcon – rx’d – 7 Rounds + 10 WB
Not happy with this one at all. Way too much time wasted on transition and too long of breaks during WBs.
Below are the following people that haven’t picked their CFD Shirts up yet. Shirts can be picked up from the front desk. If you’ve already picked your shirt up, please let me know:
AmyA
AshleyN
BillyS
DavidK
JasonK
JoeM
JohnO
LouisC
MathiasD
MatthewB
MikeAg
MikeCo
NickG
TerryL
ToddF
And AlexiM
No work today, so made it to the 9am. Nice small class for a change. Got some good snatch work in with Jonny before the Metcon.
Worked on some snatch pulls. Good points to remember include…
Set up close to bar. Lead standing up with my chest. Don’t just crank my neck back. Make contact at the hip and throw the bar behind me.
Worked up to 115# without any problems.
Metcon Rx’ed: 11 rounds + 5 CTBs
Steady pace throughout. Wall balls and CTBs unbroken. Broke up Kettle bells 10-5 the last few rounds.
Good luck Drew!
@ Jonny,
Glenn and I haven’t picked up our shirts yet either.
Sound like no xs were ordered so i may or may not take the s based on how it fits
Drew, always fun competing with you in the noon wods! Take care of yourself, you will be missed.
And hey don’t worry about that member of the month thing, you have to be over 5’8” in order to qualify.
@ Anjali: The small shirt is a little baggy on me, so you may not like it. It’s fine with me because I usually wear stuff under it.
@ Drew
Normally I would post here on how I constantly competed with you (albeit silently) and tried to beat you at being good at exercise, and would consistently lose to you, sometimes on accident and sometimes by choice.
Then I would continue and point out that due to your smaller stature you are more “Crossfit inclined” since you wee little bastards seem to be quite adept at certain movements.
Finally I would mention some inside joke that we had (it would have been hilarious, trust me on this) and wish you good tidings.
Again, those are things I normally would have done.
Instead, I am going to simply say:
“Good luck, wish you and your wife the best, you leaving makes this place slightly less special.”
@ Josh B
Members of the month under 5’8″
Kate Mikelsons
Andrea Grostern
Dane Stevenson
Teresa McQueen
Meg Raz
Brian Clarke
Jean J
Jo-El
Karen Cason
Best of luck Drew ! We will also miss your COTC banter on the blog. Missed the noon class.
Incline Bench Press: 3x3x275
DL: 1×2@475 (supposed to be more sets, soft low back)
Weighted Pull-Ups: 6-6-5-4
Conditioning: 10 Min AMRAP one hand KB snatch: 150 total (low back conditioning was an issue)
3 position power snatch complex – up to 62#; failed on the 3rd from the floor @ 67#; these weren’t really working for me today from the floor – my 1 RM is usually 75#
20 min AMRAP
5 pull-ups with orange + blk bands
10 wall balls @12#
15 kbs @ 1pood
8 rds + 5 kbs
I realized something didn’t look right as I was finishing my kbs quickly in the 1st round, so good thing I walked up to the board and checked. Only did 10 kbs 1st round so I did 20 in the 2nd
I’m not quite sure if the 300 air squat blog on Christmas was meant to be a joke or not, but I did it last night. It made the wall balls excrutiating today though. I have to hold onto things any time I need to sit!
A1. Deadlift, 3×5 w/trap bar @ 275#
A2. Db push press, 3 x 5 reps @ 40#
B. 20 min amrap:
5 pullups
10 db thrusters @ 10#
15 db swings @ 55#
ROUNDS – 12 + 3 thrusters
Had to modify as necessary due to doing this one at a globo gym. No chest to bar, no med balls or target for wall balls, no kettlebell. Db swings were easily the worst part about this one as they seemed to take forever and holding the end of the db was awkward at best
C. 500 double unders for time – 6:11
Will have to check the records but I think this was much faster than the last time I did it
D. 3 x 25 reps, banded good mornings/back extensions. 2 sets w/rounded back and 1 w/straight
Feels like I’m getting used to wodding at altitude now so it’s time to build up super work capacity so that I’m unstoppable at sea level. Plan to swim tmro among other things
Noon’er with Coach Kelly……
Strength:
A1: 6 x 2(emom) power snatch @ 110
B1: 3 x 5 Dead Lift @ 155
Metcon: the “COTC” @ 3rds and 20 boxjumps
-was aiming for 4 rds full but the last 2 cycles of box jumps took way to long.
-got some good reps of my butterfly pullups…no showing some consistency
-I was never allowed to watch the WWF as a young Indian lad. So, most of the COTC banter wasn’t up my alley……however, I found it inspiring like JoeP’s hair!
Post: Bye Bye Drew. All the best in FSD! Safe travels!
Day 2 at CFKB
Pre WOD
A bunch of stuff I don’t remember! But I was sweating pretty good so it worked.
WOD (this was insane brutality)
4 Rounds of:
400m run
20 DB squat cleans into thruster with 35# each arm
20 walking lunges with 45# plate
3 wall walks
29:58
I was hacking and coughing up a lung! I was wrecked and then they informed me we had a post WOD!
Post WOD
3 rounds 20 seconds on 10 seconds off of
Butterfly sit-ups
Flutter kicks
Hollow holds
Planks
Post post WOD
15 slow walk back to the hotel
Stopped by Reebok Crossfit Miami
Nice place.
Strength:
EMOM for 10 mins
3 Front Squats @ #115
Tweaked my back on the warm up rounds. Stayed really light weight to not mess it up more.
3rds 3 min AMRAP of
5 kb swings 1.5 pood
10 box jumps @ 24″
20 double unders
1 min rest in between rds
7 rds + 1kbs
Time to ice up this back and hydrate.
@COTC
Sad to see you go man. Wish you the best. Come back soon and often.
Good Luck Drew!
Snatch work: up to 60#. Issues with high snatch.
Metcon: 10 rounds. Orange/Red band, #14 ball. Had unbroken rounds from 1-5, then needed to split the wall balls for the remainder of the rounds.
@COTC Drew
You will always be member of the month, you shouldn’t be denied because of your height. I’m with you, as far as being short, there has to be something against this in the geneva convention.
You will be missed, go chew bubble gum and kick ass and I hope you run out of bubble gum, Rowdy roddy piper style.
All the best, Drew! Keep kicking ass!
@ Drew COTC
Farewell, my trusty paleo partner. The best of luck to you and your wife on your new journey!
No work, so hit the nooner to say arvoire to the COTC.
EMOM snatch 6×2 @ 105#. Moved well, felt good. I am definitely getting better and stronger with these.
Dead lift @55% 185#
Did the COTC WOD today for drew
22 pull-up
40 sit-up
22 wall balls
40 box jumps 20″
I guess those were your jersey numbers from your past……why couldn’t you be a normal kid and have 3 or 9…….Jesus man, 40!!!!
3 rds + 27 pull-ups…..yes 27. I was so friggin exhausted, I couldn’t think on the last minute and totally forgot that it was 22…..
Finished and then gave drew 10 bucks for gas…..this WOD sucked. Especially the sit ups.
Be good, bro! Later days
Day 3 at Lahaina CrossFit: Vacation Fran!
Warmup was 3 rounds of 10 pushups, air squats, situps and ring rows.
Goal for Fran was unbroken pullups and one quick break each on the last two sets of thrusters. Achieved the latter, came pretty close on the former. Time 4:16.
Thrusters: 21, 8-7, 5-4
Pullups: 21, 14-1, 6-3
34-second PR from two weeks ago, but I did that Fran on little sleep, so was hoping for better this time. Apparently 9 hours of sleep per night and 10 slices of bacon each morning for breakfast (post-WOD) does a Fran time good.
Not sure if Kacey will take a break between napping, reading and napping to post later, so I’ll go ahead and tell y’all that she crushed Fran today with a 55-second PR (5:45). This means if I had cut two more seconds off my time we’d have a combined Fran time of sub-10… which means I’ll have to rendezvous with Fran again sometime soon!
Best of luck, Drew. Always enjoyed your blog posts and chasing your times in WODs!
Finally back after two weeks of random stuff coming up (travel, sick, tweaked neck, etc).
Recovery Program Day 2.1
15min mobility work
A1. DB Stepups 5×10/leg, 16″, 35#
A2. Single leg squat on box 5×5/leg, 15# plate
5 Rounds:
10 Russian KBS, 1pood
1 Down and Back EZ Slide on hands
200m Row
Time – 9:08
C1. Reverse Hyper 3×12 @ 35#
C2. Hanging Chair Sit 3x30sec
Stepups and single leg squats were tough. Took a lot out of my legs. Left leg is still significantly weaker than my right–feels like I’m waking it up from being dead. But I do think it’s gotten a lot better since this past month or so. Conditioning felt good. Nice and quick.
Safe travels Drew, take care buddy.
Debacle today.
A1) 6×2 snatch 145# 1-3, 155# 4-6
B1) 3×5 DL @ 235#
Metcon–Debacle. 9 rounds + 6 Kbs. Did 4 in around 4:30 trying to keep up with Anthony, and then my lower back went out after round 5. You would think I had never done a 20 min metcon before. Pace properly if you haven’t done this yet. Lesson as always, I’m an idiot. Moving on.
D1) 3×15 back etensions on GHD
D2) 3×12 2 pood goblet squats.
Rude return from Christmas, back at it tomorrow.
Good luck Drew!!! Glad I was in to give you a little sh** before you head out.
Worked out with Kare and Kate M; still following some new programming, into week 2. Liking it, but definitely different.
Session 1
A. Clean and Jerk technique
Clean Pull Under 10 reps with barbell per movement
B. Clean Pull under 4 x 5, by feel (more than barbell)
85-95-105-105
C. Push Press 4 x 5, by feel (more than barbell)
55-75-75-95
Session 2 – maintain +/-5 bpm HR
A. 6 min. AMRAP max distance row
5 minutes of mobility (1407m)
B. 6 min. AMRAP
250m Row
8 CTB Pull Ups
8 lunges with barbell in front rack (55lbs)
2+4CTB
C. 6 min. AMRAP
200m Run
7 KB Push Press
7 Toes To Bar
3+200m
Then practiced bar muscle ups in the back. Was able to string two together, my shoulders were a bit fried. Gonna need to practice those the next two weeks.
Got my butt kicked at the noon with Kelly’s “COTC” special WOD.
Worked on snatches (technique) up to 80#. Not a great day. No speed. Got some good tips from Kelly though.
Metcon: 3 rounds + 5 pull ups
When I finished round 2 I was praying it was 21:58 on the clock, but it was only 10 min in. My calluses are really painful, so 71 pull ups was not so much fun, even with tape.
Fun to work out with Drew though. Best of luck to you! Always a bummer to lose part of our CFC family.
Gonna miss you Drew. You always lightened things up and the noon class won’t be the same without you. Best of luck up north and I hope you drop in whenever you’re in town.
9 rounds
CTBs
10# WB
1 pood Russian KB swings
Good luck to you Drew, I hope we will still get random Macho man quotes every so often on the blog.
Technique day on the snatches. Actually felt a little better with some good cues from Bryce.
Metcon: 7 rds + 7 KB
Worked out right next to AllDay so tried not to look to my right to not get discouraged. Wanted to keep a pace to bang out 8 rds, and just fell off the wagon after round 4. Don’t know if I had bad form in the KB swings, or if Holiday cookies were the culprit. Especially in the last couple rounds had mental breaks in the movements where I’m sure I could have gutted it out. At least it was good to be back in the box.
Not the best day but was fun to workout at what ended up being a Men’s Only with BDub and Kelly at the 4pm.
A – Power Snatch 6×2 EMOM @ ~70%
Sets #1-3 @ #145, Sets 4-6 @ #155
B – DL – Skipped as my back was a bit tight
Metcon, Rx’d: 10 rds + 10 WB
Knew this was going to light up my back but I needed a long grinder. Decided to go out guns blazing and see where my ammo would run out, which occurred around 12 minutes. First four rounds were under a minute each, while the last two probably took 2:30/rd. Always a fun adventure trying to pace off of BrettRaz.
Post: Banded back extensions and reverse hypers, hung out and watched the 5′pmers.
Drew, CFC will be without its resident COTC but best wishes to you and your family. I will miss your eloquent blog posts and the MMA holds you enjoy putting me in before weekend classes. Hope to you see you back soon!
Beller a.k.a Drew, sad to see ya go bud. You made a huge impact on my life by introducing me to Crossfit and more importantly to CFC… So a huge thank you for that! Additionally, it has been a pleasure playing on the same hockey team and line as you for the past year. Best of luck out in Sioux Falls, and hopefully we see you and Justine back here before to long.
COTC METCON:
2 rounds + 30 Box Jumps
Snatch work up to 205
20 min amrap – 12 + 3 pullups
Best of luck to you Drew. Hope to see you again soon buddy.
A – PS 6×2 EMOM @ 70% – stayed at 115 and tried to work on full extension and bar contact above the hip.
B – DL 3×5 @ 55% – 225
Metcon: 9 rounds and 3 swings. Conditioning is not what is used to be and had to take some big breaks between movements starting around the 10 minute mark. All movements unbroken except for one slip off the bar on the Pullups..
Drew, best of luck! It was fun to work out with you when I got the chance.
A: power snatch EMOM 6×2, 105# for all
B: deadlift 3×5 at 165#
Metcon:
10 rounds even
Figured out how to butterfly CTB pull-ups for more than 1or 2 reps!
We’ll miss you Drew!! Come back soon! You were always fun to coach! An absolute pleasure.
As everyone has stated, I’m sad to see you go Drew. You’re a great competitor as well as a great guy…best of luck to you! Keep kicking ass!!
A1: EMOM 6×2 Power Snatch @145#
B1: DL 3×5 @275#
AMRAP Rx’d @10rds+10KBS
I think the walk across the room to do WB and KBS kept me at a decent pace to keep everything unbroken. My shoulder blade felt better, but I’m still trying to shake this congestion.
Solid performances from a lot of you tonight. Let’s keep up the good work!
Best of luck Drew!
Power Snatch: EMOM 6×2- 3@88#, 3@93#
Dead lifts: 3×5 @ 198#
Metcon: 9 rounds and 1 pull up. Paced it so I could focus on form. quads and back were really tight.
Post: 3×15 orange banded good mornings
Experimented with bar muscle ups and got 3 of them. Now just need to work on stringing them together. I wish it was that easy on the rings :(
Drew :(
Metcon 11 rounds + 5 CTB
Felt so great to be back after a week of being sick and a week of holiday eating!
Snatch work up to 195. 205F-205F-215F. Pulls felt ok just wasn’t finishing and missing out front.
AMRAP – 10 + 9 WB
First workout in 2 weeks and eating shitty.
Technique: 3 Position Power Snatch Complex (High hang, Hang, Floor)
kept it light and did lots of reps at 20#, 45# and 55#. felt like i was getting some good momentum from my hips. much better snatch work then previous weeks.
Metcon: 20 min AMRAP of:
5 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups (reg pullups w/ gray & black band)
10 Wall Balls (12#)
15 Kettlebell Swings (20/25#? not sure)
8rds + 12kbs
wallballs were the worst. everything else unbroken. scaled the KBS because of back pain.
big ups to Angie tonight! She did the entire WOD r’x and managed to complete more rounds then all of us that did scaled it. hats off to you!
Technique: 3 part power snatch technique worked up to 65#
20 min amrap
5 pull ups (orange/red)
10 wall balls (8#)
15 KBS 25#
8 rounds + 5 wbs