Full Mission Profile – “Up in Smoke”
Full Mission Profile – OPERATION: “UP IN SMOKE”
This is a Direct Action (DA) mission that will require speed and violence of action to succeed. Once you begin this mission, you have to keep your eyes on the target of pushing all the way through to the extraction.
As part of a small elite unit, you owe it to your team mates to push the pace. Do not let them momentum falter or you will be forced to go on E & E (escape and evasion – not fun).
Remember the FMP Rules of Engagement:
- Do it right! Accuracy matters more now than ever. In a mission you would not disregard the way you have been trained to clear a room or shoot with your eyes closed. So it is with the elements of the workout.
- Fire teams move together. It is OK to get ahead of the rest of the team while in a phase of the operation, but one member cannot move on to the next phase until all members are finished and can move together. (That means that if you’re the last to finish a phase, you are putting your teammates and the mission in jeopardy.)
- Mentally work from the perspective that it’s a mission, not just another workout. Your enemy is waiting for you to stop to catch your breath in order to take advantage of you and your team.
- The time line cannot be modified. Maintain awareness of where you are and how much time you have. If you need to pick it up, do it!
Full Mission Profile – OPERATION: “Up In Smoke”
Post your time and comments below.
_________________________________________________
- Warning -
This workout is for elite athletes.
Not there yet? Check out the Training Programs
Full Mission Profile – “Chimera” Redux
In last week’s Full Mission Profile – Operation Chimera, two fire teams entered a camp to rescue an American hostage.Each fire team had a specific and unique mission objective to accomplish. ALPHA Team had a fast paced surgical objective that required fast movement and extremely high energy. BRAVO was tasked with creating as much havoc as possible with heavy weapons and mass destruction. The mission window for success was 30 minutes.
If you did the FMP last week, it’s assumed that you chose your fire team, at least in part, based on your strengths. If your strengths are in areas more suited to the ALPHA FMP Workout, chances are that you picked that one. Same goes for BRAVO.
The real beauty of being CrossFit, though, is that you develop competency in all areas of operational fitness. So this week we are going back to the camp to do it again, except this time you will be on the other Fire Team. If you had mission success last week by finishing in under 30 minutes, but you fail this time (or vice versa), make a note of the areas that you are weak, then develop a plan to fix the problems.
Remember the FMP rules:
- Technical proficiency is required. In a mission you would not disregard the way you have been trained to clear a room, haphazardly fire your weapon in any direction, or shoot with your eyes closed. So it is with the elements of the workout. Do it right!
- If you’re doing this with a team, you must move together. It is OK to get ahead of the rest of the team while in a phase of the operation, but one member cannot move on to the next phase until all members are finished and can move together. (That means that if you’re the last to finish a phase, you are putting your teammates, and the mission, in jeopardy.)
- Mentally work from the perspective that it’s not just a workout, but a life or death scenario that punishes those that stop to catch their breath.
- There is a maximum time limit of 30 minutes for time on target. Failure to complete the workout in that time is failure of the mission.
Full Mission Profile – Opration Chimera
Post your time and comments below.
- Warning -
This workout is for elite athletes.
Not there yet? Check out the Training Programs
Listen To Your Body
Have you ever noticed that your right quad is stronger than your left?Are you more flexible on one side than you are on the other?
Does it matter to you?
Balance and Symmetry
Most people intuitively know that one side of the body being stronger is not the ideal. But why is that? What benefits exist, other than pure aesthetics?
The “beach body” look aside, there are very real benefits to symmetrical muscles and equal flexibility in both hip sockets or both shoulders. In this article, we will explore how and why you should strive for balance in strength and flexibility in your body.
Imbalance
I know someone that has a terrible time with the muscles between her left shoulder and her neck, near the spine. The muscles get so tight that they put her in a good deal of pain. The discomfort is aggravated by stress and eased by ibuprofen, massage, and heating pads. Not ideal, but it is how she’s coped.
To see if I could help her with this, I asked her to lie down on the floor, reach her hands over her head and with straight arms try to touch her hands to the floor. We’re talking about functional flexibility here, not circus flexibility.
Just as I had suspected, her right arm immediately laid flat on the floor, but the left side was another story. It took nearly five minutes of conscious relaxation and stretching to get the left arm three inches from the ground. It was not a pleasant experience.
The imbalance in her shoulder flexibility is obvious. This almost always corresponds to an imbalance in functional strength as well.
It’s All Connected
Have you ever traced a muscle from your neck all the way down your back with your fingertips? Open this link in another window so you can read along and study the picture. Look closely at the muscles in this picture. Follow the muscles from beginning to end. Notice how the muscles on the left side extend all the way from the base of the skull to the top of the shoulder.
(Please note that the picture shows the outer layer of muscle the left side and the underlying layer of muscles on the right side).Now just imagine how smaller, weaker muscles on only one side of your body could affect your spin/neck. Imagine how a single area of inflexibility or a lack of strength can affect the whole picture.
The Window Washer
Imagine the way old-time high rise window washers worked. Two men stand in a little metal cage with ropes on both sides of the cage. The ropes are looped through pulleys, 30 stories up. Two men of similar size stand on either side of the window washer’s cage and they each pull one of the ropes to move up the building.
If one of them is stronger than the other, this is going to be a bumpy trip. The one on the left might pull harder, faster, and more rope than the one on the right. The left side of the cage will go up faster and farther than the right side, causing imbalance, and an unstable condition.
What does this have to do with you? Let’s apply that analogy to your shoulders. If your right shoulder is stronger, more flexible than your left, the muscles in your back will be off balance. The right shoulder will be pulling stronger and faster than the left shoulder, and your poor spine (the window washer cage) will be off-balance.
Our bodies are a mass of interrelated tissue, which for the most part, can be divided right down the middle (the spine). The skeletal and muscular aspects of the right side should be a mirror image of the left side. If you divide yourself front to back you will see that while the muscles are not the same, they are “equalizers” that have to work together to produce movement. The more you equalize your strength and flexibility – front to back, left to right, top to bottom – the more “in balance” you will be. The more you will minimize the impact on your spine, your joints, and your overall musculoskeletal body.
What can you do to balance yourself out?
Start by introducing functional training and stretching into your daily routine. A program like Brass Ring Basic Training is perfect for the individual whose musculoskeletal balance is all out of whack. With the development of competency in technically sound functional movement, the body will begin to build balance into your strength and flexibility.
Beware of isolated movements (like bicep curls) and training that is dominated by a limited range of movement (like running). These are two of the main culprits of muscular tightness. In a healthy program, strength and flexibility are developed together. Full range of motion in functional exercises, as well as a balance of various stretching routines will result in the healthiest adaptations of your body.
Listen to Your Body
Your body speaks to you in many different ways. One of the most obvious is through the language of “discomfort”.
Pay attention as you go about your stretching and workouts. Notice what seems to be tight on one side and not the other. Notice your limitations in movement, like not going deep enough in the squat or inability to completely open the shoulder in the overhead press.
Conscious Stretching
As the name implies, conscious stretching requires that you are able to fully focus. In a quiet room, stretch a muscle until you feel it. If there is sharp pain, stop and back off until you don’t feel the pain, but not so far that you feel nothing. Stretch to the point where you “feel the stretch”.
Once you feel the stretch, stop for a moment. Hold it. Now pay attention. Which muscles are affected? Feel the shape of those muscles (not with your fingers, but with your mind). Feel the dimensions. Feel the energy in the muscles. Is it a solid energy or is it pulsing? Can you feel where the muscles connect? If you are stretching your Trapezius muscle (from the anatomical drawing), do you feel the connections in your shoulder socket or neck? Do you feel anything in your back?
Hold the stretch until you relax a little.
Next, stretch the other side of your body, with the same position. How are the muscles in this stretch? Are they stronger or weaker? More or less flexible? If this side is weaker, can you imagine why? Is one side of your body stronger than the other? Is one side injured?
The more you experiment with this form of conscious stretching, and the more you learn about the human body by looking at anatomy pictures, the more you will begin to understand where your personal strengths and weaknesses lie.
The Next Step
If you’re not doing it already, begin an exercise program where you can learn the basics of functional movement and train at your skill level. Build competency by using the principle of crawl, walk, run. Work with someone who is able to help ramp you up in a safe and effective way.
Start building stretching into your daily life. It’s something that is so easy to do, almost anywhere. We will be adding a stretching page to this website soon; but for now, check out this website for some very basic stretches.
Pay attention to the signals and messages your body is sending. Balance function and flexibility with determined patience to achieve your best you.
.
.
| Some anatomy links for further study: Abdomen Back & Neck Pecs, Shoulder, & Upper Arm Underlying Muscles of the Shoulder Thigh & Pelvis Leg |
FMP Chimera – Debrief
The FMP Workout ‘Operation Chimera’ was conducted at CrossFit HEL (Human Evolution Labs) yesterday morning with six extreme warrior-athletes. This was the first time Brass Ring CrossFit and CrossFit HEL joined forces to provide this kind of workout. Here’s how it went.
Mission and FMP Workout Brief:
After a short warm up workout, members were assigned positions with one of two fire teams. Rob and Kevin briefed the mission scenario from the perspective of the mission workload requirements, and then assigned the workout to each phase of the mission.
ALPHA Team was a light and fast surgical strike force.
BRAVO Team was a hard and heavy demolition crew.
Fire Team Rules:
- Technical proficiency is required. In a mission you would not disregard the way you have been trained to clear a room, haphazardly fire your weapon in any direction, or shoot with your eyes closed. So it is with the elements of the workout. Do it right!
- Fire teams move together. It is OK to get ahead of the rest of the team while in a phase of the operation, but one member cannot move on to the next phase until all members are finished and can move together. (That means that if you’re the last to finish a phase, you are putting your teammates and the mission in jeopardy.)
- Mentally work from the perspective that it’s not just a workout, but a life or death scenario that punishes those that stop to catch their breath.
- A maximum time line of 30 minutes for time on target was established for both teams. Failure of either team is a failure of the mission.
OPERATION CHIMERA – FMP Workout
Here are a few shots from the FMP workout yesterday.
ALPHA Team working together
BRAVO Team working together
Great KB Swings - Jennifer ALPHA Team
Hard and Heavy - Jerome BRAVO Team
Awesome climbing technique - Nigel BRAVO Team
High intensity Burpee - Junkyard ALPHA Team
Unfortunately the mission went over the allotted time (34:17). Both teams worked together extremely well though, and pushed their limits to grow both mentally and physically from the experience.
Good Job CrossFit HEL Warrior-Athletes!
Full Mission Profile – “Chimera”
Situation:
An American Civil Engineer was captured 8 weeks ago by a militant Islamic group while traveling with his Afghani business partner in Kabul. Both men were initially taken hostage; however the partner was released after a ransom was paid. There has been no mention of the kidnapping to the media in order to keep publicity from endangering the American’s life and making him more difficult to find.
The kidnappers have consistently moved from location to location, making a rescue operation impossible. Recently, however, reliable intelligence data has come in that places the kidnappers and their hostage in a training camp near Kabul for an extended duration.
The camp is located at about 8000′ in a mountainous region in Easter Wardak Province. It is heavily fortified and approachable only from a lower elevation. There are expected to be a large number of enemy forces there, which is presumed to be the reason they are not planning on moving their hostage.
Objective:
Deploy two separate fire teams under the cover of darkness to:
- Safely rescue hostage.
- Capture any enemy combatants (who were not killed in the raid)
- Destroy camp with incendiary grenades and high explosives
Insertion:
Fire Team ALPHA
Approach on foot and set up surveillance positions outside of camp to determine location of hostage and enemy guard movement patterns. When hostage location is reasonably determined Alpha will call in Fire Team Bravo. Alpha will then move in to camp to secure hostage.
Fire Team BRAVO
Insert via fast rope from helicopter after Fire Team Alpha has moved to secure hostage.
Actions at the Objective:
Fire Team ALPHA
Quickly move to expected location of hostage. Expect enemy resistance in close quarters combat fighting. Locate hostage and prepare to move out.
Fire Team BRAVO
Conduct high intensity raid to distract enemy focus from Fire Team Alpha, while destroying enemy camp. Use organized “violence of action” in the form of heavy fire and incendiary grenades to inflict as much damage as possible in a short time.
Extraction:
Fire Team ALPHA
Move hostage to a safe location within close proximity of camp. Call for helicopter pickup. Load hostage and extract entire fire team.
Fire Team BRAVO
Round up and take into custody remaining enemy forces. Destroy any remaining structures with high explosives and/or incendiary grenades. Call for extraction of prisoners and team.
Timeline:
From the time Alpha begins execution of mission, the total time on target, all the way up to extraction for both for teams should not take longer than 30 minutes, in order to ensure adequate fuel for helos to safely return to base. Anything longer than 30 minutes should be considered mission failure.
FMP Workout
ALPHA
Insertion:
3 Rounds of:
Run 400 Meters 25 Burpees
Actions at the Objective:
30 – 20 – 10
Squat Jumps Pull Ups Kettlebell Swings (35lbs)
Extraction:
Run 1 Mile carrying 45lbs
BRAVO
Insertion:
3 Rounds of:
10 Deadlift (185 – 225lbs) Rope Climb (or 20 Dead Hang Pull Ups)
Actions at the Objective:
21 – 15 –9
Thruster (75 – 95lbs) Knees to Elbows 24″ Box Jumps
Prepare for Extraction:
2 Rounds of:
Run 200 Meters 10 Clean and Jerk (95 – 135lbs)
Note:
Pick one workout only.
ALPHA is a fast paced high energy workout that pushes the cardio-respiratory limits.
BRAVO is a hard and heavy workout that requires lots of strength and stamina.
*Mission is fictitious
See Operation Chimera Debrief.
- Warning -
This workout is for elite athletes.
Not there yet? Check out the Training Programs
Full Mission Profile – “Mountain Rescue”
Situation:
A group of 4 back country climbers missed their scheduled rendezvous with their pick up approximately 24 hours ago. About 4 hours ago an emergency call was received from the party via sat phone that was garbled and cut off short. Fortunately it was clear enough to determine that all of the members were alive, although three of the members had fallen and were severely injured. The climbing party tried to continue to move, but with several vertical pitches of decent in their way, they decided to hunker down and call for assistance. The exact location of the climbers was unable to be determined, and before any more information could be passed, the call was lost.
The national weather service has issued a severe snow storm approaching within the next 4 hours that will make aerial approach and extraction impossible. It is expected that all members of the team have suffered cold injuries based on existing weather conditions and duration of exposure.
Objective:
Load 3 person Search and Rescue (SAR) party into helo and conduct aerial search to locate climbers. Once climbers have been located, move to safe extraction point and medevac via helo to local medical center.
Phase I – Locate Climbers
Aerial locate climbers by using known routes of ascent/decent. Drop SAR party in via reppelling ropes from helo to base of vertical wall where climbers are stranded. Ascend rock wall to provide aid and prepare for evac.
Phase II – Rescue
Assess condition of each member and treat any life threatening injuries. Package and move climbers to location at bottom of rock wall via ropes.
Phase III – Evac
Move each of the injured members to location approximately 1 kilometer away where helo can land for pickup. Call for helo and load for transport.
Timeline:
Time is of the essence if helo extraction is going to be possible. Rapid aerial location must be successful to allow time for assessment, treatment, and movement of climbing party. From location to evac, assume that you have 45 minutes. Anything after that risks everyone’s life due to the impending storm.
FMP WORKOUT
Phase I – Locate Climbers
50 – 35 – 20
Phase II – Rescue
4 Rounds of:
- 10 Deadlift (135lbs)
- 10 Back Squat (95lbs)
- 10 Renegade Rows (each arm with 25lbs)
Phase III – Evac
Carry 50lbs 1000 meters. Drop for 25 push ups every minute.
Notes:
It is vital that there be efficient use of time. If it takes more than 45 minutes to accomplish all phases of the operation, everyone’s life is in danger due to approaching whiteout conditions.
Mission is fictitious.
- Warning -
This workout is for elite athletes.
Not there yet? Check out the Training Programs
Balance = Work Hard + Play Hard
Creating BalanceNo matter how far you stretched it, the fact of the matter is that the Thanksgiving holiday is over. Now it’s time to get back to the duties required to making progress in life. It was good to take a little time off. To spend quality time with family and friends. To put away the kettlebell and dumbbells and pick up the wine glass and fork. With Christmas right around the corner though, there’s not much time before you’ll be doing it all over again.
If you’re like me you have more than just your memories of Thanksgiving, you also have a pound or two around your midline. That’s OK though, within a couple days of hard workouts and good eating you’ll be right back where you need to be.
Work hard & Play hard. That’s the balance that makes life worth living.
Of course some baklava and milk help too!
