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Can you dig it?!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Putting the "FUN" back in functional

Monday, January 26, 2009

This last weekend at Disney was just as great as I hoped it would be; great weather, fun rides and lot's of quality time with my wife and daughter.

At the end of 12 hours, however, you definitely start feeling a little punchy and are looking forward to getting back to your motel to get a good night's sleep.

As fate would have it, my 6 year old daughter, Sonnie, konked out just as the park was closing and the real fun began, as she went from fully functional to 50 lb's of added weight for ol' Dad to lug.

I kid you not when I say that from the time I picked her up and started walking till the time it took to get back to our car, I must've walked a total of a mile and a half, as well as having stood in line holding her waiting for the shuttle for almost a half hour.

You laugh, but I was thankful for all the functional work that I do with my Crossfit training, otherwise that could have been a rough way to end a beautiful weekend.

Speaking of functional training, one of our favorite exercise to curse is the Turkish Get-up, being demonstrated beautifully in the picture by Ceila Perez, my very own mother in law.

It's a tough one, as it requires you to go from a prone position on the floor to a standing position and back down again, all the time holding a heavy weight straight above your head.

As with all these workouts...it's harder, (but also more rewarding) than it looks.

Live With Passion,

Roy
 

Today's Workout: "BARBARA"

5 Rounds, each one timed, 3 minutes rest between rounds.

20 Pullups
30 Pushups
40 Situps
50 Air Squats

Don't Quit

Monday, March 23, 2009

In the bottom of a clean, quads burning, you’ll want to quit. Pulling deadlifts, the skin on your hands blistering, you’ll want to quit. Your body protesting, crying for relief as your veins pump waste, you’ll want to quit.

Your mind will scream from its high perch, commanding you to stop, lest you break, crash, and burn. Feeling the outer limits of your capabilities, it will hit every physical and emotional alarm in the arsenal, rocketing pain, misery, and doubt into your thoughts.

It would be easy to give in to the hot rush of your brain’s emergency brake. To drop the bar. To get off the rings. To let your knees collapse as panic breaths heave through your chest. Don’t.

Superhuman performance is separated from mere fitness by the undeniable need to persist, to never give up. Those who achieve are resilient. Standing when you want to fall, punching when you want to tap out, and running when you want to walk are the necessities of elite athleticism.
High intensity compound movement, performed with moderate loads, will bring you face-to-face with this crux—quit or continue—faster than anything else on earth. Unique in its ability to elicit pain, this combination of distance and weight will expose your character with every repetition.

When the knurling scrapes your shins, and your traps bunch into knots, you’ll make a decision, one that will affect every aspect of your life. Give in to the agony, and you will always give in. Cave to demands that crush you, and you’ll always cave. Roll to the floor, and you’ll always exist beneath those who choose to stand.

Remember that the walls of the gym are nothing more than physical barriers, meant only to separate us from the elements. What you do within those walls will echo in your daily life, and you would do well to choose your actions wisely.

Push for one more repetition. Live through one more pull. Get to your feet one more time. This decision will accumulate momentum with each iteration, and you will move into the realm of greatness. Like a boulder rolling downhill, you will become unstoppable, undeterred by the falsehoods of your weak mind. Next time the demons of hardship come rushing forward, push them back. When your muscles bellow for relief, carry on, and smile at the sting. You will become more than an athlete, and you will be amazing.

Live With Passion,

Roy

 
Ready...Aim...          Fire!                   

Workout Of The Day
3 rounds for time of:
400m Run
21 Pull ups
21 KB Swings

Dirty Cash...I Love You!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

I'm always asking my clients, "Could you have (run faster, lifted more, pushed harder, etc) if the motivation was big enough? Put something on the line, and if that carrot is big enough, you may just surprise yourself and set a new record. It's all mental, true, but having a cash prize never hurt either, right?!

So today, in the noon class in which I also participate, one of my clients, John, bet me I couldn't finish the WOD in 8:21 or less, with the prize being the contents of his wallet, which at that moment, he wasn't sure of. Long story short, I took the challenge, summoned up every bit of game I had in me and took home the prize...one hundred and seventy three buckaroos...yeah baby!!!

So it got me to thinking, who's up for a big challenge WOD? We'll put up some big coin in different categories (beginner, intermediate and advanced) to give everyone a chance to score and then we'll have some fun and see what happens.

 I'm open for suggestions...: )

 WOD
I Am CrossFit
3 RFT
1/4 Mile Run
15 Pullups
7 Hang Cleans 155lbs/95lb
Warmup
100 Sledgehammers on tire
 

Pick a Fight...With a Barbell?!!

Monday, February 21, 2011

For those of you who train hard and regular, some of the most honest and real moments in your life will be spent going one-on-one against the iron in the gym. Free weights don't care what your problems are; whether you're sore, depressed, moody, tired, anxious...it doesn't matter. They just sit there being heavy and cool...taunting you...daring you to pick them up and test not only your strength and ability, but your mental tenacity, your guts, your determination...your desire to win the day.

On the other hand, you can't really say that about exercise machines, because they're full of sh*t. They make you feel strong, like you're really making progress, but then at some point you have to move some real weight out in the real world and you either get hurt or you can't do it, and at that moment you realize you've been had...that your fake muscles hold up in real life about as well as a suntan gotten in a tanning bed holds up outside in the real sun...not too damn well.

I don't like want to see cables and pulleys and cams moving when I train...I want to exert force and have the immediate gratification of seeing the weight go where I put it...that feels more organic to me. To me, training on machines is akin to being 12 years old at your family reunion and sneaking into the woods to french kiss with your hot 3rd cousin; it's full of promise in the beginning, but ultimately leading nowhere fast while leaving you disoriented and with a disturbing metallic taste in your mouth. (lol)

So next time you train, declare war on the weights...pick a fight with them and give it everything you've got. Understand this, though; you can't beat them...the best that you can hope for is a draw. The real victory will be in stepping up and giving it a 100%, understanding that adversity does not build character, but reveals it.

WOD
DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE
Power Clean Ladder - 15 MInutes
* 1st minute do 1 x PC, 2nd minute do 2 x PC, 3rd minute do 3 x PC all the way to 15 PC at minute 15.

- Rest 7 Minutes, then...

15 MIn AMRAP of
5 Pullups
10 Pushups
15 Squats

The Tornado

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

WOD
The Tornado
For Time:
50 Hyperexts 45/25
75 Pullups
150 Sledge
75 Wheelies
50 Twisters 45/25

To RX or Not to RX...

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

This Post is Courtesy of Nate Peo.  

The first thing most of us look at when we come into the gym is what is the WOD and can we do it as prescribed or “as RX”. We get excited when we can RX the entire work out. The clock starts and 3.2.1 go…and shortly after we’ve completed the WOD as RX. We tend to put a lot of focus on doing the WODs as RX but is this really getting us the most out of our workouts?

If you've been CrossFitting for awhile then you've probably heard CrossFit described as “increased work capacity over broad times and modal domains”...but what does this mean? It means increasing our intensity or in other words, our Power Output. If you want to get the most out of your workout, then you need to strive to have the highest power output you can possibly do for that workout. This is where the as RX is not always the best.

When a coach is programming a WOD, they have a goal in mind of what they want to achieve out of the workout and the athlete. This is where “as RX” comes from. The workout is designed to achieve the most power output for the time or modal domain for an ELITE athlete and scaled down from there for everybody else. The key point is this is for the top level athlete, and just because you may be able to do the RX weight or movement doesn’t mean you should.

Take the workout Diane for example. Diane as RX is deadlift at 225lbs and handstand push ups in a rep scheme of 21-15-9. I had a client do this workout a while back whose time was 14min 36 sec. Not real great but he produced 39.33 ft-lbs/s of power…not to bad right…WRONG! Top times for elite athletes are in the 2 min range producing 144 ft-lbs/s of power. This shows that the WOD Diane can produce a lot of power and should be completed in a lot faster time therefore increasing power output.

If top Crossfitters are doing it in 2 mins, then you should have a goal of doing it a lot closer in time to theirs…say a 4-6 min range. But how am I going to get there…ah the dreaded SCALE THE WOD. Lets take a look at two ways to scale…load and reps. We can decrease the load on the deadlift to make the wod easier or we could reduce the reps (there are other ways but I only want to look at these two for this example).

Because the deadlift weight wasn’t as challenging for him as the HSPU, he should scale the HSPU down to 9-6-3 reps (deadlift reps are still at 21-15-9), and retry the WOD (hypothetically for now).  His new time on the WOD is 6 min…pretty good improvement and now his power output is 85 ft-lbs/second, more than double than before…talk about improving his intensity!

But you say, “I’m a bodyweight freak, and HSPU are so easy”, well then let’s look at scaling the Deadlift weight to 185 lbs. It may sound like it would be too light but finishing it in 8 mins. instead of 14 min plus creates 64 ft-lbs/ sec. It should also be noted that even slightly scaling the WOD per the above examples, and improving his time by only 2 min, that still creates more power output than RX at the slower time.)

These examples are here to show you that “as RX” should not be the most important thing you focus on during crossfit. You should have a goal to have the most intensity you can for every WOD. The way to do that is to find the time or the reps that you should be at and then scale to get there. There is a great online resource called "Beyond The Whiteboard" that over a million CrossFitters use, so it is easy to log on before you come in and see what the top times/reps are for the Crossfit community as a whole.

If the fastest times are around 4 mins, you want your time to be in the 4-6 min range, not 12-18 min and conversely if Mikko Salo’s (big name in CrossFit) time is 15 min, we don’t want to scale so low that we finish in 8 minutes. Think about what you need to do to hit that time and figure out if you need to scale and how. Proper scaling should be used by all crossfitters, from beginners to even the experienced crossfitters that can RX most WODs. Scaling is not a bad word. Remember its not always about the RX, and focusing on your intensity will lead to better and faster results.

 The latest in organic gym equipment...human weight racks.

WOD
Burnt Puppy
5RFT
20 Walking OverheadLUnges w/ Plate 45/25
10 90 Degree Rotational Box Jumps (10 on each side)
10 Strict Pullups (no kipping)
45 Seconds mandatory rest between each round

Are You Getting Some FIVE TIMES A Week?!

Friday, July 15, 2011

So I'm having a conversation this morning with a client who believes that upping her frequency of training  from 3 to 5 times a week would be impossible to do, laying out for me in great detail every reason she could think of to support her premise; "kids, family, work", etc. I hear this sort of thing a lot, and honestly, it normally wouldn't be my concern; I mean, after all...it's their life, right?

The problem becomes mine however, when said person starts complaining of a lack of results. Okay, so now I'm going to take it personally, because you've got to do the work if you want the results...I can't do it for you.

Listen; three times a weeks of training is just fine if you're looking for a mediocre level of fitness and a mediocre body. Sorry if that stings a little, but I've got 34 years of experience that says that statement is true about 95% of the time. 

So unless you fall into the genetically gifted category, if you want the total package, the price you're going to need to pay is 4, preferably 5, days of training a week. To put this into perspective for you, there's a 168 hours in a week, so eight hours a night sleep  plus a 40 hour work week takes away 96 of those hours, leaving you 32 hours left to fit in 5 hours worth of exercise.

Being that those 5 hours of training a week combined with proper nutrition will give you the abundant energy and strength to truly go out and enjoy those remaining 27 hours a week of life with the people that you love to the highest level possible, I'm thinking we need to look very closely at our schedules and find a way to MAKE THOSE 5 DAYS A WEEK HAPPEN...don't you?!!

Any brave souls out there want to contribute some of the creative ways that you've arranged your life to make exercise and eating right a priority...let's hear it! ; )

"The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night." - Longfellow

Yesterday Greg gave ne $500 to hold him accountable, today he shows up and kicks some ass...coincidence?!

WOD
Blasted
For Time:
50 Dips
50 Pullups
2 minute rest, then 3000M Row or 2 Mile Run
Warmup 7 Mins Mobilty Drills
Skill Work Headstands - acuumulate 2 minutes of time holding position. Modification - tripod

Today's To-Do List: Human Synchronized Flying!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Sometimes I think to myself, "Am I living my life to its fullest potential?" I'll be watching TV, surfing the net or working in my yard and suddenly think to myself, "If I wasn't doing this, what could I be doing instead?" and then my brain starts thinking of all kinds of cool stuff like jumping out of a plane, scuba diving in underwater caves, learning to surf, enrolling in the mile-high club or learning  origami ...the list is endless

There are just so many cool things to be done in this lifetime, but it's really important to remember that they're only going to happen if we make time for them...actually take a time-out from our chore-routine-checklist riddled lives and decide to live. We must be careful not to fall into the "Someday" trap...someday I'm going to go on a cruise, someday I'm going to start my own business, someday I'm going to get in shape, lest we find ourselves at the end of our lives looking back and wondering whatever happened to all those cool dreams we had when we were young.

 As the saying goes...

"The Road Of Someday Leads To The Town Of Nowhere"

Dream big.    Believe big.    Live big.    3-2-1...GO!! 

                I want one of these for my house ; )

WOD
Big Kahuna
For Time
Pullups 30-20-10
Push Press 115/75  10-20-30
Then, run to 1st stop sign carrying 45/25lbs and lunge all the 
way back to our front door while carrying it.
Warmup
Find 1 Rep Max Squat

Wait For It...

Friday, August 26, 2011

The unknown and the unknowable. Yup, according to the gospel of CrossFit, this is what we train for on a daily basis; to prepare our bodies to be able to deal with any obstacle that has the audacity to place itself in our path. Move thousands of pounds of weight in just 20 short minutes...HA!...a walk in the park! Run a 5K with a keg on our shoulders...yawn...sounds like a warmup to me!  

But today we changed all that: We knew that we needed to think outside the box, hell...we needed to get rid of the box and just stop thinking altogether!...and so that is how we came up with the perfect challenge...wait for it...wait for it...

To do a workout while we're drunk! Here's how it all went down:

Everybody did a shot and then began the workout, which in this case was the legendary deck of cards workout. I don't want to give away any trade secrets about how this workout is performed, but it is fast and furious and centers around all bodyweight movements.

Burpees come up in this workout at four different times, and each time they did, everybody would stop and do another shot, then quickly resume the workout. It's brilliant...I know, I know!

Now I'm sure that some of you reading this may not approve of our innovative behavior, (you probably hate the 3 stooges too...you rat-bastards) but before you start judging, just hear me out: where is it written that all of the hardest things that may ever happen to you in life are always going to happen when you're wide awake, sober, in a good mood, in air conditioning, or even while you're nourished and hydrated? Navy Seals go through "hell week" to prepare for worst-case scenarios that could occur while at war and though we're just civilians, we need to be prepared too, dammit!

Burpees, tire flips, power cleans, kettlebell swings...it's all become too predictable. We need to blaze new trails and stop trailing the blazers! I want all of you to start contributing new and fresh ideas for challenging workouts just like the one we had here today.

I'll get you started ; )

Tonight when you're at happy hour with you compadres, here's your 1st new CrossFit Body Construction challenge: Get everybody in your group (hell...in the whole bar for that matter) to down one beer, stuff their mouth with as many chicken wings as possible and then, while holding the wings in their mouth and not swallowing, do 100 pushups for time. This workout definitely has real life applications, I'm sure, though I can't think of a single one right now.

Okay, my work here is done. The weekend is upon us and I'm officially on vacation as of right now. I'll be back with a new blog on Tueseday Sept 7th. I may post something here and there in the meantime, but it's highly doubtful, as I'm sure that I'll be busy speading the gospel of the drunken workout during my travels across the Midwest ; )

You snooze - you lose. We're kicking ass and taking names by 6am!

WOD
VACATION
For Time:
30 Snatches 115/75
500 Rope
100 Pullups
500 Rope
50 Wheels of Death
Warmup
1 Mile Run with Red Stripe Keg and 20lb Weight Vest

What Are You Chasing?

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

In CrossFit we talk about chasing performance as our primary goal, with looking better naked as a nice side benefit. But when I really started to consider that as it applies to myself I had a bit of an epiphany...and that was that the looking better naked part was equally important to me. 

At first I felt a little bit uneasy about that, as if I was almost letting my fellow CrossFitters down, but no matter how many different ways i looked at it, I always came up with the same answer; that the nice body was an equal motivator for me.

In all honesty, I can't imagine eating and training the way that I do day in day out if I only got really strong and fast, but without the visual benefits, and I'll bet most CrossFitters, if they really thought about it, would feel the same way.

To quote a famous line from an old Seinfeld episode: "Not that there's anything wrong with that!"

Ultimately, if it keeps you plugged in, training hard and eating right day after day, it doesn't really matter...it's all good!

How bout' you guys...how much motivation to train hard comes from the quest for the killer body?

Sure, we've got  Daycare!

WOD
Slap It Up
In 2 person teams for time:
500M Row
150 Bench 165/85
500M Row
150 Pullups
500M Row
150 Box Jumps
* The row must be completed by each partner before you can begin the exercise.
** Only one person at a time can be lifting
*** Same order for rowing each time...

If I could Be a Super Hero...

Thursday, September 22, 2011

by Steve Lazarowitz

I don’t think I could be Superman
I’m sort of scared of heights
I’d sort of like to be Spiderman
But I’m afraid of spider bites

I suppose I could be Wolverine
But I’m afraid people would stare
I’d consider being the Incredible Hulk
But radition’s bad for your hair

The fantastic four, now there’s a thought
But I’m not sure that’s for me
Ben’s too ugly, Johnny too hot
And Sue I just can’t see

Maybe though I could be Reed
And lead the other three
Well maybe Reed’s a bit of a stretch
I can barely take care of me

Captain America, him perhaps
I love his mighty shield
But I fear I’m not brave enough
When things get rough, I yield

If I could be a superhero
I wonder which I’d be
Or maybe it’s time I tried to find
The hero inside of me

 
My boys, Ace and Maverick, just got accepted into Super Hero school...
the mandatory cool pose (seen above) is what you learn in week one...

WOD
Superman
Buy In - 50  Bench Press for Time - 135/75
- rest 5 mins -
For Time: 100 Commando Pullups w/ 10 Second L-Sit every time you stop
Cash Out - 100 1 Leg Small Box Jumps

Bone Marrow...It's What's For Dinner!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

From The Caveman Gourmet
My favorite culinary curmudgeon, Anthony Bourdain, doesn’t call roasted bone marrow “Butter of the Gods” for nothing. It is one of my absolute favorite dishes and incredibly simple to make at home (and much cheaper than getting at a restaurant!). Bone marrow is rich in fat and protein and has a soft and gelatinous texture. I wouldn’t recommend eating it morning, noon and night, given it’s fat content but I think it’s great on occasion – especially since most of the fat in marrow is monounsaturated fat (one of the good fats). When you take your first warm and buttery bite, it’s a slice of heaven.

Ingredients:
Makes 2-3 servings 6 three-inch pieces of marrow (approximately 3-4 pounds)

1 bunch parsley leaves
6 oz cipolline onions
6 oz cherries
1 teaspoon lemon juice
course sea salt
pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Directions Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line your baking pan with aluminum foil because the marrow and fat will leak out during the roast! Place the bones standing upright. Add the onions as well since they’ll be sweet like candy when they’re roasted. Place in oven and roast for 20 minutes. (That’s right – you don’t have to add/season/do anything to the bones!)

While the bones and onions are roasting, mix the parsley leaves with chopped cherries. (I know that Anthony Bourdain’s favorite meal includes parsley salad with capers but I didn’t have any when I was making this so I included cherries to add some tartness. It worked great but feel free to add capers instead.) Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and course sea salt and pepper to the salad.

After 20 minutes, your marrow should look softened and loose (shouldn’t be liquified or you’ve gone too long). Take the bones out and set up standing on a plate. Take your onions and chop up 3oz and add to your salad and mix. Set the remaining 3oz on your plate. These are a bit challenging to eat if you don’t have the right utensils so make sure you have a slender spoon (or chopsticks!) so you can scrape the buttery goodness out. Enjoy!

WOD
Lap Dance
For Time:
500 Rope
5 Rounds of...
30 Alt Lunges 65/45
15 Pullups
Finish with 500 more rope

CrossFit...Cougars?!

Monday, October 03, 2011

A couple of CrossFit Cougars warming up before hitting the town in full-blown Show Pony mode...you gotta love it! From the looks of it, I think that they're getting ready to show us their snatch (FYI, I'm referring to the exercise, of course...lol!)

WOD
The Razor
5-8-11-14-17-20
Thrusters 95/65
Pullups
Box Jumps
Warmup
100 Sledge - 10 Pushups after every 20 strikes

Compromised

Thursday, October 06, 2011

This is a great article by fellow crossfitter Becca Borawski and I couldn't have said it better myself...enjoy ; )

Our brains are finely tuned compromise machines. They are designed to avoid failure and danger and avert risk. When we say we want something, our brains immediately kick in to assess the situation. It comes up with reasons we should not try something. It sounds very reasonable and logical when it does so.

Our brains frequently make a lot of sense. But, tragically, our brains are not designed to make us happy. Happiness takes risk, courage, daring, chance and a fair bit of unreasonableness. When we are picking our goals in the gym, we can pick a reasonable target and insure our success.

We can tell ourselves it would be dangerous or irresponsible to go for more. We can tell ourselves we are too old, too busy, too injured, too tired. We can pick something easily achievable. Or better yet, we can just not try to begin with. Our brains love that. Or we can choose something totally off the map.

We can tell everyone about it and we can risk looking "silly," "stupid," or "crazy." And which do you feel better about in the end? A successful, safe step that really didn't result in progress? Or something crazy that maybe didn't even work, but took you to a new place, both mentally and physically?

How many choices do you make in the gym based on what your brain says is good for you? How many choices do you make in your life this way?

WOD
Compromised
7 Rounds of:
30 Sec Amrap Bench Press 155/95
30 Sec Rest
30 Sec Amrap Burpees
30 Sec Rest
30 Sec Amrap Calories on Rower 
30 Sec Rest
Warmup
Work on Pistol Progressions - 10 Minutes

The Paleo Challenge is Exploding!!

Friday, October 07, 2011

Lot's of buzz going on around here about the upcoming Paleo Challenge; a lot of people already signed up and ready to get crazy lean and healthy over the next month, I'd love to see you participate too! Anyway, here's some details on it: Mark your calenders, as Saturday December 3rd will be the day when we determine our winners! The party starts at 10am and we're going to have food, prizes and and some cool surprises that I'm in the process of lining up, so you're going to want to be here.

To ensure optimal success, a big part of this process will require everyone keeping a food journal throughout the challenge. It is mandatory, and I must see everyone's each week throughout the challenge or you will be disqualified, so there you have it...you've been warned.

I'd also like to ask everyone to bring a Paleo (or non-paleo if you like) dish to both the kick-off and results parties. I think this will be a good idea because it will get everyone to start going online and looking at paleo recipes which will benefit you directly as you go through this process. It also allows me to keep the cost down and put most of the sign-up fees back into the prize money rather than having to spend it all on catering.

Speaking of sign-up fees, remember, the buy-in is only $25 per person, but after the 12th it goes up to $35, so thank you to everyone who has gotten their money to me already, and remember...the last day to get me the money will be October 25th, after which I will not be accepting anymore challengers...so don't procrastinate...show me the money!!

For those of you who missed the initial blog on this challenge and what it's all about, go back to my September 28th blog for more details!  ; )

WOD
Cheap Fun
Every Minute On The Minute For 20 Minutes:
2 Back Squats 225/155
4 Pullups
6 Wheels of Death
Warmup
10 Air Squats
10 Pushups
10 Jacks
10 Hypers

As If You Were Going To Take A Punch...

Monday, October 17, 2011

A great little ditty from fellow crossfitter and games competitor, Sarah:

A common misconception among CrossFitters is that midline stability comes from back strength, rather than core strength. Increasing back strength won’t keep your back straight in a squat, deadlift, or anything else. Increasing core strength will. I’m not talking crunches, I’m talking about hollow rocks, plank holds, and, most effectively, NOT… EVER… letting your core give out when you lift.

Think about the physics:  Trying to pull a weight up by using your back extensors is extremely difficult. Even doing a “superman” exercise on the floor, trying to raise just your body weight a few inches gets exhausting quickly. Now add 300 pounds and use those same muscles to keep your back straight as you lift… get the idea?

Instead, create a solid block by tensing your abs as though someone is going to punch your, or as you would in a stability game where the goal is to not let someone else move you. The strength in this case is dramatically different. Your ab muscles create a solid midline such that not even that crazy heavy Deadlift bar can pull you over. Get the idea?

Do not let your back round when you lift. Stabilize it by creating a pillar of massive force in your abs. Trying to compensate for collapsed abs with your puny extensors is a recipe for disaster. You may (and probably do) have plenty of leg strength to get that heavy barbell off the floor, but if your back is rounding you have no business trying.

Can’t keep your back stable? Use lighter weight with perfect technique – heavy weight is not an option for you yet (if you want to stay healthy). Focus extra energy on those abs as the limiting factor – do plank holds (with your back in a good, stable position – no cat back or sway back!), and hollow rocks every day.

Abmat situps and GHDs are not helpful in this case because you are working to develop static strength, not dynamic strength. If you need additional ideas ask your coach – we can suggest other exercises catered to your specific needs.

WOD
Chelsea
Ever minute on the minute for 30 minutes perform:
5 Pullups
10 Pushups
15 Air Squats
* Score is total number of rounds completed ONLY...no partial rounds.
Warmup
3 Rounds
20 Rotaters
20 Hollow Rocks
20 Hypers
20 Second Samson Stretch Each Side

Last Chance!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Just in case you've been in a coma or trekking through vietnam for the past few weeks and have missed all of my recent posts, I just wanted to give everyone one more reminder that this coming Saturday the 29th will be our first ever

PALEO CHALLENGE!

Here is a quick re-cap of the details:

• Location: CrossFit Body Construction
  
• Time: Start promptly at 10am...be here 15 minutes early!
• Buy-in: $35 and Wednesday is the last day to sign up.
  
• Purpose: To lose fat, pounds and inches while gaining muscle, improving health and performance and looking better naked!
• Requirements: "Before" pictures and body-fat measurements to be taken, as well as "The Baseline Test" Also, everone will be required to bring a notebook and track all of your eating and drinking for the entire contest. Failure to do so will automatically disqualify you!
• Male and female winners will be determined by best overall improvement in fat loss, muscle gain, physical transformation and overall improvement in "The Baseline!"
• First place male and female winners will split a cash prize of 80% of the total buy-in plus 8lbs each of grass fed meat from Rosas Farms.
• What's Included: mini-seminar about what the paleo diet is and how to follow it as well as some great paleo food provided for us by a local caterer for munchies after The Baseline!

• The challenge officially ends at midnight on Sunday Dec 4th and everyone participating must come in on either Monday Dec 5th or Tues Dec 6th between 8am &10am or 1pm &3:30pm to get their "after measurements and pics taken.  On Dec10th at 10am we'll have the after party here to announce the winners, do a fun team wod and then mingle, eat and drink for what will essentially be our Christmas party!

UPDATE: As of now we have several local businesses that have offered to donate their goods and/or services which means that in addition to the cash prizes and the grass-fed meat, we will also be giving away in excess of a thousand dollars worth of local products and services.

Lastly, since this is all kicking off 2 days prior to Halloween, everyone is encouraged to wear a costume, keeping in mind that it still needs to be something that you can train in!

WOD
Shweddy Balls
21-15-9 For Time
KB Snatch Right Arm 53/36
KB Snatch Left Arm 53/36
Pullups
Warmup
3 Rounds
20 Rotaters
10 Hypers
10 Pushups
10 Jacks

The Bar Just Got Set A Little Higher...

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Okay, so when I started CrossFit 3 years ago I could do 10 pullups Max.  These days I can get almost 40 straight, and then this video comes along and now I have a feeling that I'm all the way back to sqaure one. Oh well, the journey's what it's all about, right? So what about you guys; what's the one or two movements that you would really like to learn or get better at?

 

 Holy Schnikes...that is some seriuos core strength...wow!!

WOD
Sledges Gone Wild
For Time:
1/2 Mile Run Holding Sledge By Handle / 1 Hand Only Can't Switch Hands
Walking 1 Arm Overhead Sledge Lunges / Dwn-n-Back P-Lot
50 Box Jumps Holding Sledge In 1 hand
150 Sledge On Tire
100 Karate Kid Punches w/ Sledge (50 each arm)
1/2 Mile Run Holding Sledge By Handle / 1 Hand Only Opposite hand
Note: Hold onto sledge whole workout, never touch ground, must remain standing while resting,the sledge hip level or above. Failure to do so = 10 burpees.

Every Other Friday...

Thursday, October 27, 2011

A few weeks ago I decided to start taking every other Friday off from work. My goal was to make no plans, to just let my day be serendipitous and spontaneous...to just go with the flow. My reasons for doing it were simple: to spend more time with family and to see how my work would hold up without me there. 

When you own your own business it's easy to create a universe that revolves solely around you, which is good from a control standpoint but really bad from a "having a life" standpoint. So anyhoo tomorrow will be my 3rd Friday off in 6 weeks and I'm happy to report that the world is still revolving and nobody's told me to F-off and die yet, so it's looking pretty good, 

The first Friday I took my kids to school and they asked me to stay...so I did...all the way through lunch. I had a blast...I'd forgotten how much fun Kindergarten was! The second Friday my kids didn't have school and my wife was helping a friend move, so again it was just me and the kids all day goofin'off and being crazy. I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

Any way you cut it, a 3 day weekend is awesome, and really, as long as you're gettiing your work done, I'm not seeing any downside. And, amazingly, when you know you have less days to get your work done you actually start managing your time better...who knew?! (well, probably a lot of you already knew, but hey...it's new to me!)

Lastly, since I'm going to be off tomorrow they'll be no post, so this is my last reminder about The Paleo seminar on Saturday. Officially, the last day to register was yesterday, but we've had a flurry of last minute sign-ups, so I'm thinking what the hell...if you want to come just show up at 9:45am on Saturday with your $35 in cash and we'll get you plugged in...the more the merrier, right?! Have a great weekend!

WOD
The Lucky Seven
Warmup
10 Minutes Active Stretching
Strength
Push Press 3-3-3-3-3 
Do 3 warmups first, then go as heavy as possible all 5 sets, try to set a new PR
Work Capacity
7 Rds For Time
7 Push Press 70% of your 3 rep max - round off to highest number
7 Pullups
20 Double Unders