Some scaling options from the Brand X forums along with some advice for the movements completed in this workout:

Big Dawgs:
as rx’d

women 1 pood KB

The Porch:
20 Handstand push-ups
30 Pull-ups
40 Kettlebell swings, 1.5 poods
50 Sit-ups
60 Burpees

women 1 pood KB

Pack:
20 Handstand push-up progressions
25 Pull-ups
30 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
35 Sit-ups
40 Burpees

women 25# dumbbell or Kettlebell

Puppies:
15 Handstand push-up progressions
20 Beginner or assisted pull-ups
25 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
30 Sit-ups
35 Burpees or squat thrusts

Handstand push up progressions:
http://www.brandxmartialarts.com/videos/HandstandPushups.wmv

A couple of other helpful hints:
It would be not uncommon for a Big Dawgs to do this workout with unbroken sets. Keep that in mind when choosing your scaling!

Handstand Push ups--ROM requires that in the bottom position you touch your nose to the floor and in the top position your elbows are extended and your shoulders are activated.

Sit ups can be anchored or unanchored just make sure to note which you choose. What they cannot be is a crunch. The ROM for the sit up requires your shoulder blades to touch the ground and coming to a seated position. At BX the Big Dawg version requires the butt stay on the ground, feet unanchored and hands flat on the ground, arms not being used for momentum.

Burpees--when you bring your feet and prepare to jump it is a good idea to:
a. Jump your feet to the outside of your hands
b. rock back on your heels
c. Extend your Thoracic and Lumbar regions (straighten your back)
You will find if you do this that you are in something that approximates the bottom of the squat. It is much safer and more efficient to jump from that position than the usual position people find themselves in.

Legs started spasming in the night. Haven't had that since 2 days after my first "dose" of Crossfit via Tabata Squats.

Looking forward to every part of this WOD save standing-up from burpies! Hopefully the tree-trunks hold up.

See you animals at 6.

JO

Regarding HSPU ROM, I've discussed with other CrossFitters that it would be wiser NOT to touch nose to floor. Doing that would bring your neck out of its neutral alignment and would cause over-arching in your back. If you were striving for a regular static handstand, this is not something you'd do.

IMO, a better way to increase ROM would be to simply do them on a slightly raised surface (paralletes, push up handles, yoga blocks, cinder blocks, phone books, stacks of weight plates, etc.).

Re: the dancing article: I find this to be even more true of actual couples dancing. Although most people have been up on a dance floor (either of their own volition or pushed into it by the whiskey demon and his cousin, peer pressure), very few people actually know how to do an established social dance (swing, waltz, tango, salsa, etc.). Part of the problem is that there are fewer places to do this, outside of some weddings and a few speciality clubs and part seems to be a lack of interest. It's sad, as dancing is a great way to blow off stress and have fun with friends. On top of that, it allows the severly rthymically challenged, such as myself, to have a little confidence on the floor if we know some of the steps before hand.

FYI, everybody, I moved Gabe's comment that was posted above over to yesterday's post and re-opened the comments on yesterday's post so that if anyone has anything to add to yesterday's discussion, they can do so there.

And if one would rather prefer to ignore yesterday's discussion, they can now easily do so.

So please, if you have any comments relevant to yesterday, please leave them on yesterday's post and not today's.

Thanks!

Jeff,

Thanks for you comment in re: HSPUs. I agree with your assessment--definitely better to keep the neck neutral.

Another great workout with the morning crew!

For this one, I racked up a time of 22:24 (20Kb, handstand pushups on a box).

Kudos to Lisa who busted through this workout with amazing intensity that I'll try to match next time this one comes up!

Jeff,
I agree 100% on HSPU. Arching my head back never felt quite right. Based on what I've read from Coach Sommer and others, doing HSPU with hands-to-shoulders ROM on rings or parallettes would be ideal:
http://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1406&sid=999965c9f6f74fa1a2509dde3b94b7fa
Yikes!

On the subject of dancing, does anyone have any experience with Salsa dance classes/lessons in NYC? Any recommendations? I need a serious break from all this power snatching as of late.

Speaking more to the whole dancing issue, I want to extend an invite to anyone who'd like to check out some dancing on this Sunday night, Aug. 31st. I'm putting a group together to go to one of my favorite spots. If you'd like to get the invite, drop me an email at allison AT crossfitnyc DOT com with "dancing" in the subject line and I'll add you to the email list.

I've loved dancing my whole life and I really feel like when Coach tells us that part of the CrossFit prescription is to learn and play new sports, that dancing should fall under the broad definition of sport.

It definitely releases just as many endorphins as "Fran" does, if not more, and it's a great way to meet people.

Regarding the head/neck/nose-to-the-floor issue. I think the real issue is in the arms. Proper alignment of the arms will help resolve many of the issues in the neck and spine.

Consider first doing HSPU on parallettes. This will cause your elbows to come in towards each other (like an upside down front squat rack position). Most often people will place their hands on the floor and when they bend their elbows will point out laterally.

Second, consider that the elbows should remain over the wrists and thus at the bottom of your HSPU the shoulders should be in front of your hands. Again most people will keep their hands wide, their elbows out and their shoulders will lower between their hands.

Third, try to do them with your stomach facing the wall and maintain a tight hollow position. In the bottom position you should look like a italicized lowercase "l" instead of a parenthesis ")".

The point is that the range of motion is important but also important is that you have the correct body position in the bottom and top portions of the movement. I have seen far too many poor handstands and poor handstand pushups and far too many people think they can just fake their way through it. Seems like a recipe for failure.

The HSPU is similar to a squat with your arms. If your bad leg positioning or poor posture forces you to cut your squats short, then you should fix your leg and back problems instead of just resolving to do half-squats. No? So if you cannot maintain good posture and proper arm positioning going all the way down to the bottom of your handstand pushups, then you should consider doing something to fix your arms and posture, not resolving to do half-reps.

Watch the arm positioning of this guy. He lets his legs flop around too much but he's pretty solid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjgCZ3HF3Qk

Google Dominic Lacasse and you'll see some great examples of HSPUs

Yoon,

Have a question re: Lost Battalion. If you read this, can you email me at jalgera AT gmail DOT com? Basically wanted to ask a question about your programming and programming in general there. Thanks!

Regarding the post about the Fight Gone Bad Connecticut affiliate matchup - I would be happy to represent the Box (or the Brooklyn Box) if my scores are good enough! Anyone else thinking of going?

The post was on yesterday, posted by sa if anyone missed it.

OT--that CT FGB post was by me, sorry I didnt try to be anonymous but for some reason my FULL name didnt go thru!!

It was great working out with the lunchtime crew today. Some of you guys I never really get to see.

Thanks, Allison for accomodating my special request.

Elizabeth
10:30, probably a PR

I was aiming for sub 10, which I think I could have gotten if
a) I had less distance to walk between the barbell and the rings
b) I hadn't rushed through my "warm up", which was already inadequate (3 95# cleans, 2 155# cleans)

Thanks to all this recent barbell work (since the CF Games)and the oly seminar, the cleans felt easier than ever.

First time I did this in June 07, I got 7:46 doing 115# power cleans (hanging too? not sure).

32:37

Subs

HSPU - Box
Pull ups - last 10 Jumping
KB Swing - 1 pood
Burpees - very ugly burpees

25:33

subs..

HSPU - feet on box
PULL UPS - green band
KB swings - 16kg (1 pood?)

There I was this weekend, trying to relax and enjoy a family vacation in South Beach... and then I made the decision to check the WOD on my blackberry... and of course there's no way I'm skipping Murph...

So I took leave of the fam for a bit, found the "fitness center" at the hotel, withheld the urge to ask the staff if they had a weight vest or body armor, and for the next 53 minutes proceeded to scare the crap out of the other guests.

I have to say, it was nice to be able to jump in the pool after doing Murph. Also, I shaved 15 mins off my time since the last one in May.

ISOMETRICS

This is what I found online so far:
http://www.westside-barbell.com/Articles%20Top%20Ten/PDF.Files/06PDF/isometrics.pdf
by Louie Simmons

It's probably not the easiest article to follow, but I'll keep looking.

Also, please be aware that you shouldn't do isometrics if you haven't reached puberty yet.

Meritorious
as rx'd

16:45

Hi Justin,
Just checked back and saw your message. I'll shoot you an e-mail after practice. FYI, Joe is opening late today (maybe around 6:30 or 7:00) in case anyone was planning to stop by.

Re: HSPU's and head/neck angle. My experience with coaching beginners and even advanced athletes at my level or above, it is best to remind the trainee to look straight ahead or with a neutral head positioning. Craning the neck upwards can put pressure on the disks in the neck and upper back as well as cause arching sometimes. Arching may not happen all the time if the trainee is well coordinated and is keeping a tight hollow position but it is better safe than sorry. However, when people fatigue [or are lazy] and are looking at the ground, then that's when the handstand loosens up and the "body follows the head," arching. If you have a neutral head positioning then everything remains in a straight line and the spine remains in it's normal curvature.

When a trainee shows excellent competency with a neutral head position then I would allow him or her to look at the ground as long as the hollow body can be maintained. This is the strongest and safest position while in a handstand and I would prefer to see no other.

Durden
If you're doing the wall-facing/hollow handstand to practice static handstands, and you can no longer overbalance (that's falling towards your fingertips, right?), is the best/only way to bail out to just roll?

Great job 1230 crew you guys were amazing

23:30 as rx'd

Did these elevated with my hands on 45lb bumpers. That wasnt a very good idea I realized when I couldnt crank out more than 5 reps off the bat.
Didn't help that my shoulders and tri's were totally trashed from Murph and the Burpee challenge.
I was fatiguing really quickly and was down to singles fast. Last 5 reps were negatives. I think HSPU took at least half of my total time. Everything else save the burpees (when will the shoulder torture end?!) went pretty quickly.

17:17 as rx'd - This one should have been a lot faster, but I was doing it at the hotel gym.

HSPU - against an uneven brick wall
PU - on square bar of a smith machine
KB Swings - used 55# DB
SU - feet anchored
Burpees - per normal

HSPU & PU took way longer than they would have at a real gym (i.e. The Box). Does anyone know how hard it is to hold onto a square bar? My forearms are fried.

Don't think banana fritters (it was all the client served), although they were delicious, for breakfast helped.

To add to my earlier post:

Situps, feet unanchored, hands and feet flat on the ground.

28:30

Box HSPU, 40lb dumbbell swing.

13:01 RX'd

13:01 RX'd

18:45

legs are so fried from this cycle. feet unanchored for situps. last 10 HSPU were slightly shallow

Where can I get that barbell wanker T-shirt F-ing brilliant!

i love today's blog. so clean and pretty! i, unfortunately will not get to do todays wod being that i am so jet lagged (left work at 4:30 straight to the airport to catch 7am flight. "slept" on the plane and my sister and 2 kids picked me up.)i'm pooped. check in tomorrow when i think "picking up a 30# toddler for time" is my wod :)

22:24

28:12 subbed 1 pood and used 45lb plate for hspus.

my last 30 burpees were pretty crappy too. josh said next time i will add some pushups to them.

lots of blisters popping. bloody hands. excellent fun. 6 pm crew rocks again. now that juan is all thin fit and cut he has given up his dfl lunchtime class title of many years ago to me. thanks Juan. i wear it proudly.

haha, michelle you horrible woman. Rock on with your new title belt.
:)

(hurry up and pass the along to someone else.)

23:21

Jeff
Yes, when doing handstands or HSPU facing the wall the best exit strategy is a forward roll. That is why I rarely showed that variation at the Box because I would first have to teach forward rolls and the floors are unforgiving.

If you look at Crossfit.com today you'll see another great way to practice HSPU: with jumpstretch bands. This is something I used at the Box often.

juan post ur speedy time!

27:19