Empower Weekly WOD: Week Beginning August 18th 2025
Monday, August 18th 2025 Make Up Day
See last week’s menu
Tuesday, August 19th 2025
50-40-30-20-10 Alt DB Snatch @45/70#
5-4-3-2-1 Rope Climbs
Love this couplet. Rope Climbs are one of my favourite things in CrossFit and though I have low regard for the benefits of light dumbbell snatches, the heavy dumbbell snatch is a great upper back developer.
That said, 150 reps at 70lbs is a bit heavy for me so, here’s what I did: I performed the first 50 reps at 55lbs, then 40 at 60lbs, 30 at 65 lbs, 20 at 70lbs and 10 at 75lbs. It was a great way to develop my capacity with heavier loads without overdoing the volume.
The rope climb volume is low so it is a perfect day to practice this skill.
Have fun!
Wednesday, August 20th 2025
5 Rounds:
20 steps OH Lunges @135#
20 GHD Sit Ups
20 Hip Extensions
Talk about bottlenecks! Never mind how heavy the overhead lunge is, the movement takes up a lot of real estate. This is best done with stationary lunges on the lifting platform but be careful navigating the space with all those heavy bars overhead!
Double Kettlebell or Dumbbell overhead carry is a space-saving option. Because of the unstable load, you will need to go significantly lighter. This will make the movement more joint (ankle, knee, hip, spine) friendly while remaining subjectively challenging due to the increased need of core and shoulder stability.
With so many reps on the GHDs there is no way we can all get on it in a big class. V-Ups and good mornings are suitable alternatives if you find the GHD occupied.
I did this before sunrise in our back laneway. Having no barbell I performed overhead lunges holding a 25lb beer keg. Don’t be fooled by the light loading, the way the water sloshes about creates a great deal of instability challenging my midline nearly as much as the Rx’d load would.
For the GHD sit ups I laid out our tractor tire, hooked my feet in the far side and leaned back as far as I could. Even though I was only a bit past parallel, it totally cooked my core leaving me sore for days after. For those of you uncomfortable with full extension on the GHD sit up, I recommend going only to parallel as it seems almost as challenging and effective as the full range of motion.
I used good mornings in place of the hip extensions since the tractor tire does not provide the range of motion required to perform these correctly. The good morning is a weak substitute for the far superior hip extension.
Thursday, August 21st 2025
20 min AMRAP
400m Run
7 Ring Muscle Ups
Another classic couplet of running and gymnastics, this time in an AMRAP format.
If you have strong pull ups and ring dips, this is a great day to work on your muscle up transitions. Otherwise a pairing of pull ups and ring dips are a good substitute.
Friday, August 22nd 2025: Make Up Day
See previous workouts
Saturday, August 23rd 2025: Team Workout
Come try a team version of CrossFit Open WOD 15.5
Do you remember when the CrossFit Open used to be 5 weeks long? What a slog!
While the longer format was great for well-rounded athletes giving us more opportunities to set ourselves apart from the competition, it felt like a battle of attrition. It would take my body a month or more to recover from the five weeks of intensity. It was also hard by weeks four and five to maintain the enthusiasm that we started the competition with. While the current three week Open format does not let me express the full complement of skills that I have painstakingly trained, it is without question easier to manage.
Sunday, August 24th 2025
G.I. Jane
100 Burpee Pull Ups
This is where it all started for me. As an owner and instructor at Delta Kaigan Judo Dojo and a Judo competitor myself, I was always researching the training methods of professional fighters to find useful tips for my own training and for the Judo athletes I trained. One day in 2005 I opened a pro fighter’s training video to see two guys doing 100 burpee pull ups.
“Can I even do 100 burpees or 100 pull ups?” I wondered to myself.
Intrigued and more than a bit intimidated I followed the link to CrossFit Norcal, at the time owned by Robb Wolf, and from there, continued down the rabbit hole to CrossFit.com.
Incidentally, one of my earliest group class memories from CrossFit Vancouver circa 2008 was my first time doing G.I. Jane. About 25 burpees into the WOD, my hands were a bloody mess. Walking over to the coach, I showed him my torn flesh and asked what I should do.
“Tape it up and keep going,” he snapped.
“Oh,” I thought, “So that’s how we do it here.”
I threw on some tape and completed 75 more burpee pull ups. Bloody hands have never slowed me down since.
But that’s not what I want for you! Take care of your hands!
If you don’t have unassisted pull ups, use a lower pull up bar or our adjustable pull up bar so that you can perform a burpee into a jumping pull up. If you have unassisted pull ups, competition generally sets the pull up bar height between 6-12 inches above your reach.
