CrossFit NYC

So we've decided to opt against a park workout for tomorrow (Saturday, May 10) because of the rain and cold.

Tomorrow we'll be having our free Beginner class at 10am and our regular workout of the day class at 11am. Josh will be teaching both.

(Please note, we're still waiting on electricity and water for the gym, so do consider yourself warned. We'll be sure to let everyone know when each of those is up and running in case you're waiting for those amenities before coming by for a workout.)

And you thought we were going out of business.

Tomorrow, we'll be moving into our temporary space (the 'Cardboard Box'?), a concrete floored (drop from overhead to your heart's to content), roll-doored garage at 817 Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn, a block from the Graham St. stop on the L Train.

Move In: Thursday May 8th

12:00pm-6:00pm: Truck Unpacking. If you're free, swing by 817 Metropolitan and help us unload.
6:00pm & 7:00pm: "Brooklyn Gone Bad", our inaugural workout, featuring everything we couldn't do in our prior space.

Full Schedule in Brooklyn: Friday, May 9th, and Onward

That's right. As of Friday, we'll be holding WOD classes at 817 Metropolitan at 7am, 12:30pm, 6:00pm and 7:00pm (plus, shortly, open gym from 8:00-10:00pm) every weekday, plus Saturday at 11:00am and Sunday at 10:30am.

Come on down.

Central Park Workouts

It turns out our Brooklyn space isn't nearly as much of a pain in the ass to get to as I would have thought. (And I have a long-standing record of referring to Brooklyn as 'Manhattan's waiting room'.)

Still, it's probably further than some of you lazy bastards are willing to go. So, in the short term, we'll be holding classes in Ross Pinetum in Central Park, Monday evenings at 6:00pm and 7:00pm, Wednesday evenings at 6:00pm and 7:00pm, and Saturday morning at 11:00am.

And, to re-clarify, these are on top of the classes in Brooklyn.

For Beginners

Beginner's classes are on: Wednesday at 6:00pm in Brooklyn, and Saturday 10:00am in Central Park. Both are free, and open to anyone who wants to stop by.

As soon as we're settled in, we'll also be kicking back off our Elements classes - Monday and Friday evenings, and Sunday mornings, in Brooklyn. If you're interested, and not already on the waiting list, shoot us an email.

And, Finally

We're still pushing ahead full speed on our Manhattan space, shooting for move-in late this month.

At the same time, if enough of you guys like it, we're also considering keeping the Brooklyn space longer-term, as a foothold in northern Brooklyn, and a first step towards world domination.

As ever, let us know if we can answer any questions, and see you at the Box.

Good news: wrecking apparently begins Thursday in our permanent space.

Bad news: still no keys for our LIC temp space. And, even stranger (though not necessarily worse), it appears we may be temping at another space owned by the same landlord in Williamsburg.

I'm being told we're getting those keys tomorrow, though by now I have as little a clue as any of you. Please direct any wrath about the delay at me, and check back in for any and all news as it emerges.

josh

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Hey, kids. Just got an update from Josh that he's expecting to get a hand-off of keys to the new, temporary space in LIC at 5pm. So it looks like the soonest we could possibly have classes would be tomorrow (Tuesday, May 6th) in the evening. Hopefully sooner, possibly later, but most likely in about 24 hours from now. Unloading of the equipment will go extremely quickly as it's just a matter of backing up the moving van into the space (which is ground floor and has a garage door) and pulling stuff out. We won't wait to have all equipment set up before we start teaching classes. We want to get things up and running ASAP, so we'd do some sort of modified WOD if need be until assemblage of the pullup bar, etc, can be done.

P.S.: We want to resume our regular schedule of free beginners' classes (Wednesdays at 6pm, Saturdays at 10am) as well as Elements Workshops, so please keep your eyes here on the blog for info on both of those things. Once the LIC version of the Box is open, we'll definitely resume free beginners' classes. Scheduling Elements may be a bit more complicated but do check here periodically for info and/or email me at allison AT crossfitnyc DOT com if you want to be added to the email list for info about Elements. Danke shein.

Doug, Katie, Audrey, Moon, Sarena, Paul S., Hari, Alex, Brian, George, Tom M., Brendan, Justin, Leslie, Josh R., and Gavin--thanks for helping the move go so well.

Mike, Josh, and I could not have done it without your hard work, patience, and strength. It sure was nice to put all that training we've done over the past year to a good purpose.

Tomorrow we will be setting up at our temporary Long Island City location which is just 2 blocks from the Vernon-Jackson station (the first stop the 7 makes in Queens, just 3 minutes via subway from Grand Central). So no classes tomorrow and check here on the blog for updates. I haven't been able to extract the exact address yet from Josh (details, details) but as soon as I do I'll make sure it gets posted here or in the comments.

Thanks to all of our members for your patience and good will through this challenging time. We appreciate your support!

Some LIC Links:
Wikipedia on Long Island City
New York magazine on LIC & Astoria
The Long Island City cultural alliance
New York Times on LIC
Gantry State Park (a block away from the gym)
P.S. 1 MoMA

Tomorrow, Sunday, May 3rd, we'll be moving our stuff into a moving van starting at 10am. Please do come down and help, even if you can only stay for a bit and even if you can't get there at 10am. There's a lot of heavy stuff that needs to go down 4 flights of stairs and the more hands to help, the easier it'll be.

We'll be doing the pizza and beer and eternal gratitude thing again, and I just wanted to thank those who made it out today (from memory, although I'm sure I'm forgetting somebody): Moon, Sam F., Erica, Leslie, Justin, Dan R. (photographing for posterity), Dan Def, Brian D., Ewen, Hari, Marisela, Audrey, Jonathan R., Martin, Jacinto, Coach P, and Rick Deckard. Keith was there in spirit, texting me to make sure all the "knuckleheads" could handle the packing job. Well we did a great job packing but obviously moving stuff takes a bit more effort, but seeing as we're all big and strong because of CrossFit, what better way to honor that than by lifting heavy shit and moving it, for time?

See you tomorrow!

P.S.: In other good news, it seems we've got a new temporary location for the month of May out in Long Island City, Queens. Before you freak out and tell me how far away that is, let me assure you how quick and easy it is to get to. LIC is the very first stop on the 7 train in Queens, putting it a mere 3 minutes away from Grand Central Station. You can catch the 7 train at Times Square, 5th Ave & 42nd St., and Grand Central. Josh has been working on this and hasn't given me the address yet but I do know it's just 2 blocks from the Vernon-Jackson subway station, which is the first stop in Queens. As soon as I know more I'll post more. CLASSES ARE CANCELLED FOR MONDAY MAY 4th because we'll be moving our stuff in on Monday (we can't move it in tomorrow) but hopefully classes should be up and running on Tuesday. Keep your eyes on the blog for more info. Also, all those interested in taking Elements Workshops, we're going to try to get those scheduled ASAP, so keep checking here for more info and if you're not already on the email list for Elements info and want to be, email me at allison AT crossfitnyc DOT com.

Saturday 080503

Compare to 080408.

10am is the last free beginners' class at the Black Box 1.0.
11am is the last WOD class, Version 1.0.
Noon is time to pack up for the move.
Sunday move time is 10am.

All-

The moving process seems to be going about as smoothly as we anticipated, which is to say, it's a total mess.

We're still waiting on a change to the Certificate of Occupancy for our new space (with a special permit to be a 'Physical Culture Establishment') so we can move our stuff in and start knocking down walls. As odds are good that won't happen today, our Sunday move will be to put our stuff into temporary storage for a couple of weeks. We still need your help, so join us at the Box starting at 10:00am on Sunday.

After that, we're still scrambling for temporary space for workouts starting on Monday, so very worst case scenario will be a few days of working out in the park before we lock down an indoor temporary spot.

And, following that, we're still gunning for a mid- or late-month move into the new, large, permanent space at 30 W 37th. Hopefully, 5000 square feet of our very own will make the couple weeks of mess worthwhile.

Apologies to all, thanks for your patience, and if we can answer any questions in the meantime, certainly let us know.

josh

Friday 080502

Compare to 071012.

To add to the ongoing thread regarding torso position on squats:
My argument is that Olympic weightlifters and everybody else who squats to get as much muscle as strong as possible should use the low-bar position to do it most effectively. It affects more muscle mass, it allows the lifting of heavier weights, and it therefore gets us stronger. And stronger is why we squat. Strength is a general characteristic, one that is trained as opposed to a specific skill that is practiced. Therefore strength can and should be developed in as general a way as possible, because greater strength can be better produced by as many muscles working together as possible. Skill practice and development takes that strength and applies it through the specific motor pathways used in the skill. The lowbar back squat is a perfect example of a way to develop general strength, through training, which can then be applied to a specific skill like a squat clean, through practice. If we rely only on the clean itself and the front squat to develop strength for the clean, we lose the opportunity to develop greater strength with an exercise more capable of allowing more of our bodies to lift more weight and thus become more strong more generally. The front squat is specific to Olympic weightlifting; the low-bar back squat produces posterior chain development and greater strength. Choosing to squat with a high-bar position is choosing to train less rather than more muscle mass.
--Mark Rippetoe, Low-Bar vs. High-Bar Squats, CF Journal May '08

All onboard the pullup train

Thursday 080501

Rest day on the main site. Come down for one of the last days of Black Box Version 1.0 to find out what's cooking.

Remember:
We're planning to have a breakdown party on Saturday afternoon, May 3rd after the WOD. Come help us pack all of our stuff up and get it ready for moving on Sunday.

Details of the Sunday, May 4th move will be posted here on the site as soon as we know more.

And most importantly: PLEASE REMOVE YOUR PERSONAL BELONGINGS (BY FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE LATEST) FROM THE BOX OR THEY WILL BE THROWN AWAY.

Mr. Durden at the Black Box before we spent a year's worth of blood, sweat, tears, and scuff marks there

Sprinting technique drills from our very own Brian D.
Obama? More like Air Bama!
Is estrogen testosterone for women?
Why your elbows must be in front of the bar on the overhead press
A too-good-to-be-true nutrient?