Today's WOD

CrossFit East River – WOD

MINDSET
The Marshmallow Experiment

The experiment conducted decades ago began by bringing children into a room, one by one, sitting them down in a chair with a single marshmallow in front of them.

The researcher offered a deal. He said he was going to leave the room, and if the child didn’t eat the marshmallow while he was away, then a second marshmallow would be rewarded. However, if the child chose to eat the marshmallow while he was away, they wouldn’t get a second. What he didn’t say was how long he’d be gone. The choice was simple – one treat now, or two treats later. Some of the children ate it right away. Some squirmed around for a bit, and gave in after a couple of minutes. And some of the children managed to wait until the researcher came back. The research team followed the participants for 40 years afterwards. The children who ate the marshmallow immediately… struggled in life. They didn’t have careers they were proud of, and they didn’t live lives they were happy with. The children who held out went on to live as highly successful individuals.

The ability to delay gratification is a critical component in life. Whether we want to go to the CrossFit Games, be the best spouse we can be, or propel our career forward, we must have the willpower to stay the course with the longer term in mind. Even when we’re tired, hungry, beat up, and starving for a bite of that marshmallow… we’re tough enough to hang on.

Metcon

1: Metcon (Time)

Long Haul

2 Rounds:

20 Push Presses (115/85)

30 Single Dumbbell Box Step-ups

40 Burpees

50/35 Calorie Row/Bike

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CrossFit East River – WOD

Weightlifting

1: Deadlift (Build to Heavy Set of 5)

Metcon

2: Metcon (AMRAP – Rounds and Reps)

AMRAP 13:

60/45 Calorie Row/Assault Bike

Directly Into…

5 Deadlifts (245/165)

15 AbMat Sit-ups

25 Double Unders

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CrossFit East River – WOD

Metcon

Foot Locker (Time)

5 Rounds:

9 Toes to Bar

15 Wallballs (20/14)

Directly Into…

5 Rounds:

9 Power Snatches (75/55)

15 Overhead Squats (75/55)

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CrossFit East River – WOD

DAILY MINDSET
“Adversity causes some to break. For others, it breaks records.”

Adversity can really, really hurt. Let’s not create an illusion that it’s all sunshine and rainbows. It will try our values, test our patience, and challenge who we are as human beings. It’s no warm cup of cocoa on a winter morning.

But a warm cup of cocoa doesn’t make us better. A picture perfect day doesn’t make us better. We learn when we make mistakes. When we miss, trip up, face plant, and get caught off guard. At our very basic biological level, this is how we adapt. It’s encoded in us… and it’s seriously like a secret sleeping super power.

That is, of course, if we use them to our advantage. The nature of a mistake is not to tell us we suck. That we failed. That we’re not good enough. The nature of a mistake is to educate us. To give us the ammunition we need to become better. To take the challenge to earn greatness, out of something that once was not.

Adversity is not in the way of greatness.
Adversity is the way the way to greatness.
This is the championship mindset.

Metcon

1: Metcon (AMRAP – Reps)

“Dead Sea”

Teams of 3

4 Rounds:

4:00 Row for Calories

3:00 Lateral Burpees over Barbell

2:00 Deadlifts (225/155)

No Rest Between Rounds

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CrossFit East River – WOD

DAILY MINDSET
“Most of the time we feel tired not because we’ve done too much, but because we’ve done too little of what makes us come alive.” – Jim Kwik

We’re not going to pretend the hard times go away. And that we won’t need to do things that we’d rather not. We have commitments, obligations, and bills to pay. But when we find ourselves in a daily loop of non-stop “work”… we won’t feel like ourselves.

But it’s not the time we put in at work that causes this. It’s the time we don’t put in on the other things. Our passions. The reason why we get out of bed in the morning. Yet in the furious pace of our lives, we let it fall to the wayside because we need to get “back to work.”

The times where we are the most unhappy, are the times where we are the most untrue to ourselves. Redefine to ourselves what sets us on fire. What makes us come alive. And literally schedule it on your calendar as if it’s a life-saving doctors appointment. Because in truth… it is.

Metcon

1: Fran (Time)

21-15-9
Thrusters, 95# / 65#
Pull-ups

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CrossFit East River – WOD

DAILY MINDSET
“Trade your expectation for appreciation, and the world changes around you” – Tony Robbins

Routines and habits become part of the norm. Morning coffee, listening to the radio, the drive to the field, taking the kids to practice. We appreciate healthy habits, and let’s continue to reinforce them. There is however much to be said about taking a pause to our routine, to appreciate the fortune in our lives. The absolute abundance we are so lucky to have.

In a world where comforts are the “norm”, we want to consciously remind ourselves how good our lives are.

The thought of losing those precious parts of our day is a sobering one. But despite it being a morbid thought, we will. There will be a final cup of morning coffee for us. There will be the last chance for us to listen to the radio. And if we are lucky enough to have kids, there will be a last time we get to wait in traffic as we drive them to soccer practice.

As Tony Robbins quotes, “if we can remove expectations from the norm, and replace them with a sense of gratitude, our entire world changes.”

Metcon

1: Metcon (AMRAP – Rounds and Reps)

“Venti”

AMRAP 20:

20 Wallballs (20/14)

20 Single Arm Dumbbell Power Snatches (50/35)

20 Box Jumps (24/20)

20 Single Arm Dumbbell Push Presses (50/35)

20/15 Calorie Row

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CrossFit East River – WOD

DAILY MINDSET
“To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone.” – Reba McEntire

As we start our day, let’s think about these three.

Wishbone – Nothing is too great, or out of reach. Faith and doubt are both self-fulling prophecies.

Backbone – The unbreakable will to give our best, regardless of the circumstances. Through the lens of the growth-mindset, every outcome is an opportunity to become better.

Funnybone – We do life for one reason: to enjoy it. If we aren’t enjoying what we’re doing, we need to find something else. As Oscar Wilde writes, “Life is too short to take things seriously.” Let’s enjoy the ride.

Weightlifting

1: Bench Press (Build to Heavy Set of 3)

Metcon

2: Metcon (AMRAP – Reps)

“Swole Cycle”

Tabata Intervals:

Strict Pull-ups

Bike Calories

Push-ups

Bike Calories

Tabata = 8 Rounds of :20 On, :10 Off

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CrossFit East River – WOD

DAILY MINDSET
“How much do you care about getting better?”

Sounds like a silly question, but most don’t think about this.

When we are truly care about getting better, our view on things change. We see events as a means to grow… true chances to improve ourselves. The opposite is when we view everything as a test.

When we find ourselves comparing against others, and stuck on the thought of viewing “X” as a measuring stick against our goals, remind ourselves of this question. How much do we care about getting better?

Weightlifting

1: Hang Clean (Build to Heavy Hang Squat Clean Single, good tech!)

Metcon

2: Metcon (AMRAP – Rounds and Reps)

4 rounds, 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off

30 Double Unders

1 Hang Squat Clean (135/95)

30 Double Unders

2 Hang Squat Cleans (135/95)

30 Double Unders

3 Hang Squat Cleans (135/95)

….. Pick up each round where you left off in the first round

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CrossFit East River – WOD

DAILY MINDSET
“Hope and despair are both self-fulfilling prophecies.” – Ernest Hemingway

If you are in the market for a blue Honda, all you see on the road are blue Hondas. It’s as if they are seemingly everywhere. In every intersection, passing us on the highway, and at the gas station.

Yet, they were there the whole time. We as humans have what’s called the “Reticular Activation System”, which helps us see more of what we’re actively thinking about.

It’s actually a survival mechanism. If we needed to look for food because we were about to starve, we prime our senses to find it. Or if danger was close by in the form of a man-eating predator, we’d prioritize our senses to be very aware of where the threat was, or where it could be hiding. It’s an incredible level of focus that we don’t realize we’re using, bringing what is on our subconscious mind into the conscious world.

Are we focused on what might go wrong?
Or are we focused on what will make it go right?

Metcon

1: Metcon (Time)

“Steel Toe”

Teams of 3

For Time (30 Minute Cap):

3 Rounds:

1,000 Meter Row

30 Toes to Bar

Into…

21 Burpee Box Jump Overs (24/20)

21 Clean and Jerks (135/95)

21 Burpee Box Jump Overs (24/20)

21 Clean and Jerks (155/105)

21 Burpee Box Jump Overs (24/20)

21 Clean and Jerks (185/135)

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CrossFit East River – WOD

DAILY MINDSET
“I would rather die of passion than boredom.” – Vincent Van Gogh

There are times in our lives, whether it be during training, at work, or at home, where we question the choices we’ve made. They arrive shortly after we make an important decision. A form of “buyers remorse”, where we wonder if we’re on the right path. As humans, that’s what is safe to us, and we seek it out… knowing with certainty, in uncertain times, that we’re on the best path forward.

But… do we really?
Think back to a moment of uncertainty. Think of the first day we first talked to our significant other. The first time we went on a roller coaster ride. The first time we walked into a CrossFit gym.

Uncertainty makes us feel alive. Those moments are etched into us forever, and are some of our fondest memories. If everything was known, expected, and pre-determined, life would be so horribly boring. It wouldn’t be a life at all. Where others may run from uncertainty, let’s embrace it for what it is, and create the life of memories we’ll look back on with pride.

Metcon

1: Metcon (AMRAP – Rounds and Reps)

“Stranger Things”

Teams of 2

AMRAP 25:

3 Wallballs (20/14)

3 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)

3 Calorie Assault Bike

6 Wallballs (20/14)

6 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)

6 Calorie Assault Bike

9 Wallballs (20/14)

9 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)

9 Calorie Assault Bike

…

Climb By 3’s Each Round

*Athletes Switch After Completing Full Rounds

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