Zone Competition Winner: Kristy Amory!

Kristy during the 2008 CrossFit Games.

Choosing our Zone Competition Winner was a very difficult task for us at CrossFit Santa Cruz. There were many people who participated and who had amazing results. Measuring gains in CrossFit can be challenging, and because the commencement of the competition corresponded with the week of July 4th and the CrossFi Games, it was more difficult to test people then we anticipated it was going to be.

However, Kristy's dedication to the Zone and to training for the Games was something that none of us needed testing to tell us was absolutely phenomenal. Her husband Scott and her strictly followed the Zone while most of us eventually gave in to the cravings of our favorite non-zone foods, they only splurged and ate ONE meal that was not in the Zone during the whole six weeks! Now, she is blowing through workouts without modifications, her times are improved, her form is great, her clothes fit differently and her body is looking stronger and more toned. Kristy was also a huge motivator to us all both at the gym and in her daily comments on this site. Kristy's weight dropped from 139 pounds to 132. Her wasit went from 29 inches, to 26.5 inches, and her hips were 39 inches and dropped to 37.5 inches. But, most impressively, her Fran time dropped in just seven weeks from 13:47 to 10:25. She used a rack on the first Fran, but not on the second one. As you can see, she improved her Fran time by 3:22! That is amazing! I wish we had more improved times for you, but we wanted her to rest the week before the Games, and her hands were torn up the week following, so we will have to post more times as she continues to get them. However, anyone who works out with her can see that she has made huge gains and we all know that it's because of her commitment to the Zone. Great job Kristy, you are an inspiration to us all!

Stay tuned this week as we highlight other people who made amazing gains during the last six weeks on the Zone! Thanks everyone for participating.

And now for our new challenge....

THE BURPEE CHALLENGE!
Beginning today, Monday, July 14th, we are going to start doing one burpee a day until we get to 100 burpees on the 100th day!

The Rules:
1. Use Burgener's burpee standards for form (see examples below)
2. You can complete each day's burpees all at once, or broken up and done at different times throughout the day
3. If for some reason you miss a day, you have to make up all the missed burpees the following day
4. If you don't start the challenge with us today, you can "buy-in" at any time by doing ALL the missed day's burpees on your first day
5. Any burpees you complete during your regular workout can count towards that day’s Challenge burpees, if you want them to
5. Have fun doing burpees and getting stronger doing it!

Burpee Challenge Form Standards:
One

Start with hands on the ground in front of your feet. Keep your back straight.

Two

Kick feet out behind you into the top of the push-up portion of the burpee. Your body should be straight and tight in a flat plank.

Three

Lower your body into the lowest part of a push-up. Your chest and thighs should ultimately touch the ground at the same time. Remember to keep your whole body, especially your midline, tight. While throwing your body on the ground and therefore touching both chest and thighs to the ground is acceptable by some standards, we feel that more is to be gained from doing a strict push-up in this Challenge.

Four

Push up into the top of the push-up position again.

Five

Jump your feet up to your hands into your starting position.

Six

Jump into the air and clap your hands overhead so that your ear is exposed in front of your arms. Your feet should leave the ground.

I first heard of this Challenge from The Serrano Family of CrossFit Marina. They recently completed the Challenge and all swear that they are so much stronger and have better wind because of it. They loved the burpee part of the CrossFit Games! Denise Serrano originally got the idea from CrossFit Long Beach and loved the idea so much that she started the Challenge before they did. Crossfit Long Beach is on day 96 today! I don't know where they got the idea, but maybe someone out there knows and can fill us in.

My goal with The Burpee Challenge is to do what I dislike the most! We all know that there is no better way to work your weaknesses then to just do it. Please post if you are interested in joining us in this Challenge. As far as I know, Greg A, Hannah and I are starting today. Anyone else? Greg and I both did 100 burpees yesterday so we would have something to compare to the time we get on 100 burpees completed after the Challenge is over. I'm guessing we will get a lot faster.

Comments

[angel s.]

yay kristy! you kicked ass and took names, my friend. good job and keep it up! =) they just hooked up the internet at our apartment (thank you comcast and the nice cable guy, randy) so i'm back online and ready to keep in better touch. this has been the longest week ever. it feels like i've been gone for 3 weeks or something. i miss all of you and i miss the box. i just miss it all. but, andrew and i are trying to do our thing here and stay on top of things. thank you so much for the workout ideas. they will help a lot. my biggest fear is that my squat will go to crap without the watchful eyes of hollis and danielle. *smile* i'll just keep doing my best to remember all the stuff i need to do and come back soon for some training (hopefully not too much re-training). i'm going to start a blog of my own to keep track of my training and zoning. i am open to feedback and all that. i'll post the address when i get it going. today i think we are going to do 7-7-7 of dumbell cleans and knees to elbows. we'll see how that goes. cheers!

[angel s.]

p.s. i just did burpee #1. =)
p.p.s. breathing at altitude is a challenge in and of itself...much less doing CrossFit. good times. hopefully i'll be adjusted by Aug. 16th when i'll be doing the local sprint triathlon. word.

[Scott A.]

Way to go Kristy!! Watching you kill that Fran yesterday was awesome. Shaving 3:22 off your Fran time just 1 week after the games (probably not even fully recovered) is just stunning. I also love how your practically floating in mid air in that shot of you above. I can't wait to watch you crush even more of your old PRs. Keep up the great work!

As for the Burpee Challenge, count me in. I did my 1 burpee today. Looks like this Challenge will be going into the end of October if I calculated it right. Just in time to celebrate the end with some Halloween candy!

[angel s.]

yay for internet at home! i'll never take it for granted again. =) anyway, i just watched the video of last week's monday noon workout. hollis, you need to make more videos of CFSC people killing it. we all look good (crying or not) and we are all LEGIT. again, awesome video, i miss you guys even more, and hollis, you have mad skills on so many levels. i think i miss you the most. *smile*

[Kristy A.]

Thank you everyone! I really, really appreciate it! I certainly don't think I am the only winner, though. All of you who have zoned and made gains (in performance and strength) and losses (on the scale and with the tape) are phenomenal and inspirational to me. We are stronger and fitter athletes because of the zone, our hardworking trainers, and each other. My husband Scott has been the little devil on my shoulder helping me through the zone. He is my driving force.

Through Fran yesterday, I was just thinking "Danielle would be done by now" and that thought and the screams of Hollis and Scott pushed me beyond my limits. But I know I can do better. Now that sub-10 time is calling me... That is Crossfit: the drive to become a better athlete, never settling, always reaching. Thank you to everyone for supporting me and pushing me through the hard workouts (if there are any that are easy--guess you aren't doing it right or with enough intensity! ;)).

Overall, our gym is the big winner: look at the competitors we are developing for the next Games!

[Kristy A.]

I must also admit that it is funny to win after having a blow-out cheat day yesterday :) After Fran, Scott and I had a heaping lunch at Cafe Brazil, gorged ourselves on prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches for dinner, and split a pint of half baked ben and jerry's for dessert :) It was a well-earned cheat day--our first real cheat day in 2 months!

But seriously, I think it is part of the equation to make the zone work. A cheat day per week is prescribed, and perhaps Scott and I would have made better gains by cheating once in a while. Crazy, but I think the insulin spike works. Last night, I kept waking up early and wanting to get up. Today, I feel rested and more energetic than I have been in awhile. Some of it passed through my system in a not-so-nice way, but energetically, I feel better.

I also think there is a mental component to cheating. Just doubling fat increased my satisfaction with the zone ten-fold. It definitely improved my quality of life to feel like I am giving myself more than the bare minimum. Cheating is also a mental safe-guard. I had a hard day on Saturday and was in tears with hunger by dinnertime. That isn't always the case, but I think cheating once a week will set a goal for me and help me stay strong until I reach it. Let me know what works for you too. Is the zone challenge staying with you? How have you adapted the zone to make it more livable?

[Daniel Olmstead]

Hey,

I hope you don't mind, but several of us on the CF National forums have decided to join you on the Burpee Challenge (what a great idea!). I created a log thread for everyone to sign up and keep each other honest: http://www.board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?p=351892

Thanks for providing the inspiration. And congratulations, Kristy!

[Steph]

I'm starting the burpee challenge today, so I just did 3...it's hard to imagine doing more than what I'm use to which is maybe 15-20.Let's see what happens??? I'm not a cross-fitter but my sis is and she is awesome! Hi Jamie! :)

[Steph]

oops!I did the math wrong...I need to do 3 more today! Here I go! :)

[Mallee]

Steph,
I'm so glad you are joining us! Jamie would be proud!