Last Sunday, Suavek, Chris, and I participated in the Spartan Race Sprint which is a 5km course with obstacles. Last year I ran in a group but this year I wanted to run it as fast as I could. Since this was my second race, I knew that having people in front creating a bottleneck would slow down my time. Thus, we got to our starting line nice and early and we were the first racers in our heat at the front of the line. Being a veteran at this, I refused to waste my energy by participating in the chants the announcer tried get us hyped up with.
Suavek and Chris ran off to a faster pace at the start than I was comfortable with and I chose to pace it since this would take at least half an hour. This would lead to my downfall as I was expecting them to slow down similar to other workouts I’ve done with them in the past. I was able to catch Chris around the 10 min mark and kept Suavek in my line of sight for the first third of the race. Suavek pushed the run portion and didn’t let up the pace.
I only failed one obstacle and that was the spear throw. This was also the only obstacle I failed last year as well. Failing an obstacles means a thirty burpee penalty and this time I knew I had to throw the spear as hard as I could to hit the haystack target. However, this time I didn’t realize I was stepping on the rope that the spear was attached to. Although I gave it a hard throw, the rope got caught around my leg and caused the spear to not have enough distance to make it to the target.
Most of the obstacles were really easy including the monkey bars, tire flips, stone carry, and climbing. I thought the hardest obstacle was the one where we had to grab a gymnastic ring and swing to a rope and then swing to a bar and shimmy ourselves over and repeat going onto a ring, rope and bar again and then ring the bell. All this while hanging and we couldn’t allow our feet to touch the floor. What really made this obstacle difficult was that the objects were really far apart from each other and you had to keep momentum and swing yourself to each object. I barely hit the bell to clear the obstacle.
Being a strong runner was key to this race. There was so much running that even if a strong runner failed obstacles and had to do burpees, he would still be in the lead. Suavek finished the fastest even though he failed 2 ostacles and had to do 60 burpees. I was in the middle and failed once. Chris was in the rear even though he didn’t fail any obstacles and didn’t have to do any burpees.
Results – Spartan Sprint Open Division:
Name Time Overall
Slawomir Litwin 44:51 17
Harvey Woo 46:53 27
Chris Krahn 47:25 29
-Coach Harvey
This is where we recap the the picture or video that got the most views, likes, or comments of the week. “The Life of @Coachninja” went viral. It became our most liked picture in Shinobi Instagram history with over 350 likes!
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This week the spotlight is on our newest coach, Suavek. He has a thirst for knowledge and is constantly trying to improve his skills. His unique warm up drills bring a fresh take on getting warmed up and has been enjoyed by our members.
This month alone he has had personal records in his snatch, clean, and back squat.
Suavek will be improving his knowledge of the olympic lifts as he is taking the Crossfit Weightlifting course this weekend in Boulder Colorado.
You can read more about Suavek on our coaches page.
This week I had an extra large serving of humble pie. After struggling a few times to hit a max clean, Chris, coming in with no warm up walks to my bar and easily gets the weight up. This just shows the phrase that “somebody somewhere is warming up with your max” is not a lie.
Here it is for your amusement:
-Harvey
This is where we recap the the picture or video that got the most views, likes, or comments of the week. “Team Building Drills at Shinobi” showed how having a partner during a workout can make the experience more enjoyable.
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We’ve known Dwayne for a while now and we are pleased to have him at Shinobi. He is starting to train again after coming back from knee surgery. If you see his Flame & Comfort truck in the parking lot, you’ll know Dwayne will be in and looking to crush a WOD.
Dwayne
Meet
The most difficult exercise for me this week was Wednesday’s “1 1/4 Front Squats 5×3 @ 70%”. Some of you might be surprised that I didn’t pick one of the conditioning parts as the hardest. There are a few reasons for that. First off, front squats are my weakest movement. I’ve always had problems getting the weight up from the bottom. I think its a combination of front rack mobility and weak quads. Secondly, during conditioning workouts, if it gets difficult, I can slow down. During a 3 rep front squat, there is no where to hide.
I loaded the bar with 170 pounds and each set was a struggle. I wanted to quit after every set but I knew I had to work on my weakness for the full 5 sets. The feeling of not giving up was well worth the short moment of difficulty.
Front Squat Struggle
-Harvey
This is where we recap the the picture or video that got the most views, likes, or comments of the week. “The Ladies of Shinobi Showing Their Strength” was this week’s hit. We have a beautiful group of ladies who value their health and are tough as nails in a workout.
Jorden is a single mother who works multiple jobs and still has time for fitness. She values the importance of health and fitness and is a great role model for her teenage daughter. With her busy schedule, Jorden is all business at the gym. Often she’ll come in, knock off an intense workout and while everyone else is still sitting down recovering, she’ll be out the door already.
Even with a bad knee, she doesn’t quit during a workout. Sometimes we will modify a movement for her but that doesn’t stop her ferocious intensity.
Coach’s Comment – “Jorden is one of the most focused members at Shinobi. She doesn’t quit” -Coach Harvey
Shinobi Performance of the Week is sponsored by Ninja Wraps
On Wednesday we saw this workout on the board:
“Woo”
3 RFT
15 Deadlifts (155/115)
15 Pullups
15 WallBalls
No, I did not create this one as some of you thought. I don’t think that would be proper etiquette. If I were to create one there would have to be burpees in it. This one turned out to be a classic triplet movement workout and to get a really good score it forced you to get as many reps unbroken as you could. The other way to get a better time was to minimize the transition time between movements. As usual both of these strategies were a lot harder in practice than on paper. I was able to go unbroken on the pullups the first round but subsequent rounds were broken in 5s. I didn’t have to split up the deadlifts or wallballs. I finished in 5:29 and I don’t think I would have imagined ever saying this, but the wallballs turned out to be were the “rest” was in this wod.
Our Canada Day team workout was a great success. Coach Suavek designed a workout that saw our members split into pairs doing some strong man movements including tire flips, farmer’s carry, prowler push, sled pulls and a sprint. We even saw Coach Rich hop in there to break a sweat.
Canada Day Team
-Harvey
This is where we recap the the picture or video that got the most views, likes, or comments of the week. “Super Dad Kyle” was this week’s hit.
Having long term fitness related goals are a key way to keep yourself motivated. When you aren’t feeling like doing a workout, you just have to think of your goals and why you are training and that often gives you the drive to get out and exercise. By publicly sharing your goals, it will force accountability for you to complete it. We are excited for our members’ goals at Shinobi
Ashley is training for the Prince Edward Island Marathon on October 16, 2016. She has ran shorter distances before but this will be her first full marathon. Coach Rich has set a goal for Ashley to finish under 4 hours and 19 minutes.
Ashley Running
On the same day October 16, 2016, JD will be running in the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Half Marathon and trying to finish it under two hours
JD ball slam
Dee is one of our members who has probably been the most consistent workout attendances. She usually trains bright and early at 6am five days a week. She is recovering from a lower body injury and for the last few weeks she had been modifying workouts around her injury. Even with an injury she realizes that coming in and training on something she is able to do is much better than not doing anything at all. This week we saw Dee starting to hit some harder training sessions as she was recovering and feeling better this week.
Coach’s Comment – “We are delighted that Dee is recovering from her injury and is back on the right track” Coach Harvey
Dee overhead squat
Shinobi Performance of the Week is sponsored by Ninja Wraps
The “Rico Suavek” workout this week was a memorable workout that challenged us to keep us in the front rack position when tired. Congrats to everyone who didn’t drop the bar.
Congrats to Matt, MD, JD, and Colleen for running in the Manitoba Marathon. Here are some pictures from that event.
JD and Colleen
Finish Line
Rich and JD
Matt and MD
-Harvey
This is where we recap the the picture or video that got the most views, likes, or comments of the week. Chapstick, Gum and Lifting with Jose was this week’s hit.
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This week we posted the quote “nobody is too busy, it’s just a matter of priorities” on our Instagram feed. Anesa is a single mother of two kids, works multiple jobs, trains in boxing and competes in Salsa competitions and still finds time to train at Shinobi three times a week.
This week she set a personal best on her back squat at 140 pounds and participated in the Winnipeg International Salsa Congress.
Coach’s Comment – “Anesa’s PR squat she fought for that out of the bottom. It was full depth and legit.” Coach Harvey
Anesa Tire Flip
Shinobi Performance of the Week is sponsored by Ninja Wraps
This week Coach Suavek and I donated blood for the first time. I have always been a bit scared of needles but the process was actually quite painless. We encourage our members to roll up our sleeves and donate.
We are approaching the summer solstice already. With your new found fitness, try new sports, get outside and stay active!
Looking at the programming for the week coming up we see a couple of named workouts. “Mortal Kombat” is making a return and we will see on Tuesday a workout called “Rico Suavek”. Looking at the movements in the workout I’m guessing Suavek had no input in the design of this one.
-Harvey
This is where we recap the the picture or video that got the most views, likes, or comments of the week. We call this picture “mobility gainz”.
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We want to highlight JD and Colleen this week for racing in the Manitoba Half Marathon. They have been training for this since at least the beginning of the year. Each week they would push each other in their workouts. At Shinobi they did their strength and conditioning workouts and they did running specific training outside.
Coach’s Comment – “I ran with JD and Colleen on one of their runs. I trailed behind them the entire time and couldn’t keep up with them. They are great runners.” Coach Harvey
JD and Colleen
Shinobi Performance of the Week is sponsored by Ninja Wraps
Last year’s Spartan Saturday was such as success that we decided to bring it back. From now till July 16, the 9am class on Saturdays will be focusing on training for the Spartan Race Sprint event Sunday, July 17. It will be a 5km event that should take around 30-70 mins to complete. There is a Groupon for this for $49 and is good for another 5 days. Regular price is $90. Team Shinobi will be running in the open division at the 10:30am heat on Sunday.
Members who aren’t interested in participating in the Spartan Race can still train with the class on Saturdays.
Spartan Race 2015 where yours truly is beating out coach Suavek at the rope climb
-Harvey
This is where we recap the the picture or video that got the most views, likes, or comments of the week. Ashley, MD, and JD all hitting PRs together.
The hardest metcon this week was no doubt Monday’s lactic acid building, row, clean, burpee-kettlebell grindfest split into 3 minute intervals of pure suck.
Everyone except Chloe had partners in their heats to pace off of and to take the attention and pressure off of them. Chloe was the odd one out and had to go solo in her heat. Going in the last heat, and competing when all eyes are on you can be scary and intimidating, especially when burpees are involved. Chloe’s mental and physical toughness came through like a champ. She focused on her task and grinded the burpees on her own while not giving in to the pressure. Quitting was not an option for her. That earns her Shinobi Performance of the Week. Congrats Chloe!
Coach’s Comment – “She hated doing burpees on her own but she did it anyway. It was awesome. She grinded it out.” Coach Rich on Chloe’s performance
Chloe with the sledge
Shinobi Performance of the Week is sponsored by Ninja Wraps
This week we saw the Crossfit hero workout called “Murph” programmed. To refresh your memory this is the workout:
“Murph”
For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run
Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you’ve got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.
It was named after honor of Lt. Michael Murphy, who was killed in duty in Afghanistan. We do this workout to honor the fallen soldiers who sacrificed their lives protecting our freedom. Crossfit Hero workouts are the most grueling workouts we do.
In my seven years of training in Crossfit I have never attempted this workout. I don’t think I have been specifically avoiding it, but we don’t celebrate Memorial Day in Canada which is typically when this workout is done. This one didn’t need much warm up. I did a couple of activation drills and some dynamic stretching and then strapped on the 20 pound vest and headed outside for the run. I knew this would be a long one so I paced it slow and steady from the start. The first run took just over 10 minutes and I went inside for the main course of the workout.
From doing previous workouts involving the weighted vest I knew I could bust out a couple of sets of 10 on the pushups but I knew that wouldn’t last. I know I can do 5 pullups and 15 squats no problems without stopping so my plan was to do 20 rounds of 5 push ups, 5 pull ups, 5 pushups and 15 squats. The strategy for this one was to always keep moving and to hopefully go unbroken on all the reps. The breaking up of pushups into 5’s turned out to be a good plan since I didn’t have to break any reps the entire time. I only took breaks during the transition of movements and even then, most of the transitions I didn’t need to rest.
The last run was much harder than the first. After doing so many squats my legs felt like Jello. I thought to myself that as long as I kept moving I will finish it. I didn’t want to stop at all otherwise that would have given me an excuse to quit and not finish. After a slow run coming back, I completed the workout in 49:14.
We don’t do long ones like these often. When we do they tend to be more mental than physical. It was a grueling one, but my mind will want me to quit long before what my body is capable of. I did take a few rest days after to recover. Hopefully it will not be another seven years before I attempt it again. The next time I know I can push myself even harder.
This week we saw a lot of personal records smashed. Floyd, JD, Jem, Suavek on the deadlift. Kyle on the press. I’m sure I am missing a few people here and I apologize in advance. There were just so many PRs this week and I’m getting old and my memory wasn’t what it once was.
-Harvey
This is where we recap the the picture or video that got the most views, likes, or comments of the week. The voice that said you can’t do this is a liar. You can do this. Watch it again for inspiration.
This week we want to highlight Jem. She set a new personal record on the deadlift at 235 pounds, but what amazed us the most was her performance Monday on Murph. In Crossfit, there is a saying where we train for the unknown and unknowable meaning we prepare ourselves for anything life throws our way. Jem did exactly that on Monday when she came in not reading what the workout was beforehand. This was one workout that could have scared off a lot of people.
Jem came in a bit late and saw us running already. She thought we were warming up and started to run as well. We told her to run the 8 laps which was a mile and she did that. Going back inside she finally read what the workout was and chipped away at it with no complaints. She didn’t have a strategy and didn’t realize the bottle neck in this workout would be the push ups. She knocked off the pull-ups and squats pretty easily but ended up with lots of pushups left. Not giving up she finished the pushups and just had the last run left. It was hot outside and she could have easily stopped at that point and called it a day. But she is tough as nails and didn’t quit. It took her over an hour to finish and we are proud that she never gave up. We know that looking back on workouts, the memorable ones are not necessarily the ones where we finish first, but are the ones where we never quit.
Jem front squat
Shinobi Performance of the Week is sponsored by Ninja Wraps
This week I want to talk about accountability. Many times I will see athletes not hitting their wall ball target and counting it as a rep. As a coach, it doesn’t matter if you can’t hit the highest target with the heaviest ball. What matters is that you pick a target and weight that is challenging for you and you stick with it for the workout. Coaches shouldn’t have to no rep athletes when they are training. If I see you miss a rep, I expect you to not count it. Sometimes I will see athletes not even touching the wall on the last rep of a wall ball and trying to move onto the next movement. Well that makes it easy for me to see you clearly aren’t setting a standard for yourself to follow. If you want to see results, the first step is to make yourself accountable for your actions. Be accountable in the gym. Be accountable in life.
-Harvey
This is where we recap the the picture or video that got the most views, likes, or comments of the week. Team sit-ups won this week.
We had quite a few great performances this week, but we want to recognize Floyd’s 305 pound back squat on Wednesday morning as the Shinobi Performance of the Week. He had no problem with 295 and jumped an extra 10 pounds on his last lift. He made this one look easy. We had to stop him from adding more weight as we ran out of time. Congrats Floyd for joining the 300 club!
Floyd
Shinobi Performance of the Week is sponsored by Ninja Wraps
Welcome to this belated edition of the wrap up. I want to start off by discussing about full effort. We believe “full effort” is so important in our training that we have that phrase written on our wall. There is a huge difference in performance and results when you train at half effort compared to giving it your full 100% effort. Yes, training at full effort is hard. It is even scary at times as you have to mentally force yourself to go to an uncomfortable place. One of the scariest workouts for me is the 500m row. It takes only about a minute and a half to complete, but for me to give full effort while my legs are burning and my lungs are screaming for air is incredibly challenging. This is why we do short, high intensity workouts. We see maximum benefit with minimal training time. Having said that, you will notice that sometimes we will program training sessions that explicitly say 50%, 70%, or 90%. We use these sessions to prioritize recovery or skill, but the majority of our training will be at maximum effort. If you haven’t been seeing results lately, you should ask yourself whether you truly gave it your full effort. Full effort means full results.
Floyd had no problem giving full effort on Friday morning. He was the only person in at the 6am class. Every time he is the only one in the class, he would joke that we should cancel the class and go for pancakes. This time I surprised him by making a bet with him that if he completed the workout within the 15 minute time cap, I would finally take him out for pancakes. Now Floyd normally doesn’t need motivation for workouts, but this time he came flying out of the start and didn’t slow down. He was close to finishing but I used my sneakiness and enforced a wall ball target of 10 feet while he normally shoots at the 9 foot target. That was the game changer and pancake day has been postponed indefinitely for now. Sorry Floyd!
I want to thank JD and Colleen for allowing Chris and I to join in on their 5k run on Tuesday. JD and Colleen are training for the Manitoba half marathon and so far their training is doing well as I was trailing behind them the entire time struggling to keep pace.
-Harvey
This is where we recap the the picture or video that got the most views, likes, or comments of the week. Friday night coach karaoke is the winner this week and will be a strong contender for the Shinobi social media award of the year.
This week the award goes to our husband and wife duo, Matt and MD. They prove to us that couples that train together, stay together. This week they traveled to Fargo for their run. MD completed the 10k in 1:23:55 and Matt completed the full marathon in 3:56:28. Great job!
