Love/Hate

Diana working for a great pressing position.

Variety is a fundamental aspect of what we do. As athletes we want as many functional movements in our arsenal as possible. Burpees, Muscle Ups, Handstands, Clean, Jerk, Snatch... With the variety we inevitably run into the things we love, along with the things we hate. The things that we love are usually the things that we are good at. The things that we hate are usually... well, you know... Attacking our weaknesses lends more towards improving our fitness than does going after our strengths. Let's not allow our weaknesses to limit our growth. Attack them with focus and enthusiasm.

-H

Post your loves and hates to comments.

Workout:

Tabata Squats
10 Muscle Ups
Tabata Squats

(Workout taken from CFHQ)

Burpee Challenge: 24 burpees today. 300 to buy-in. Tomorrow is the last day to buy-in.

Get Strong

Jason and the deadlift

One area of our fitness that is sometimes scary to work on is our strength. To get strong we must lift heavy. There is no way around it. No amount of 15 pound dumbbell thrusters and 400 meter runs is going to do it. Lifting heavy weights is potentially dangerous and should be treated with respect, but with proper mechanics lifting is relatively safe, and more importantly essential in getting strong.

The mechanics we teach at CFSC are taken from Mark Rippetoe. He is our strength guy. He is a respected coach in our community and many others. CFHQ posted that he recently relinquished his CSCS certification for cause (pdf) He is however continuing his support of CrossFit and is coaching a cert at CFSCC.

-H

Certification or not? What makes a good coach?

Workout:

Box Squat
2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2

In the Box Squat, sit on a 15" box, momentarily relaxing the hip flexors, re-establish peak tension and rise. The use of a box increases the athlete's ability to focus on the muscles of the posterior chain.

Burpee Challenge: 23 burpees today. 276 to buy-in.

Applications

Ryan and Peter

The productive application of force... What do we mean? Simply put; what can you do with your fitness? Who cares if you look good, don't look good, run a lot, swim a lot, sit on the couch, the question is what can you do? Can you use your fitness in a way that is useful. The overhead squat is a beautiful test of our ability to apply force. Holding an object overhead is useful, but limited. Being able to move while holding an object overhead is entirely different. In the photo above, Peter is proving his productivity.

We believe that CrossFit prepares us for the the unknown and the unknowable. It builds our capacity to attempt new activities with not only physical competence, but mental confidence.

-H
______________________

"It wasn't my idea to learn a pull up or muscle up but I'm glad Hollis got me there, 'cause there is something gratifying about the simplicity of being able to do something that you couldn't do before. I guess that's what keeps us coming back." -Olin

What keeps you coming back?

Workout:

Clean and Jerk, 15 reps

The goal is to go as heavy as possible. The rules are "tap and go," two hands anyhow, from the ground to overhead. The bar may not rest on the ground. Re-gripping the bar must be done off of the ground, either on the shoulders or the hips. There is no time limit.

Post loads to comments

Burpee Challenge: 22 burpees today. 253 to buy-in.

Day 25, August 7th, is the last day to buy-in to our Burpee Challenge.

Flexibility

Kim stretching out.

Why stretch? The answer is to not only to make us feel better, Tight muscles=sore muscles, but also to increase performance. Mobility of our joints is important for proper movement. Athletes often run into problems due to tight or immobile joints. Tight ankles will prevent any forward inclination of the shin and will impair and athletes ability to squat. If the hamstrings are tight the issues increase. Stretching is crucial for proper articulation of the joints.

-H

1 Week Stretching Challenge: Try to increase your flexibility
Spend 10 quality minutes stretching after each workout.
For extra credit add in 10 minutes either in the morning or just before bed.

Workout:

Play day.

Try the 1 minute Pull up. Take thirty seconds to reach the top and thirty seconds to lower to full extension.
What about 1 minute squat, back extension, dip...

Burpee Challenge: 21 burpees today. 231 to buy-in.

Day 25, August 7th, is the last day to buy-in to our Burpee Challenge.

Legitimacy

Allison and Peter are at the Right Place, and at the Right time!

There is a CrossFit saying: "The magic is in the movements, the art in the programming, the science is in the explanation." When performing the movements we want virtuosity. Quality movement with full range of motion. Here is a video of our very own Pat Barber doing "Nate" MOV. We want all of our athletes to go as fast and make it look good. Nice work Pat!!!

-H

How far should we diminish the quality in sake of a faster time?
Is too much quality a problem?

Workout: "Nate"

Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
2 Muscle Ups
4 Handstand Push Ups
8 Kettlebell Swings
_________________________
Burpee Challenge: 20 burpees today. 210 to buy-in.

Day 25, August 7th, is the last day to buy-in to our Burpee Challenge. I suggest you start your own Challenge at Day 1, if you like the idea of the Challenge and want to do it after this date. Part of the idea behind the Challenge is to slowly work your way up from 1 to 100, so buying in a quarter of the way into the Challenge defeats the purpose. If you would like to buy-in before Day 25, let me know. malleejs@gmail.com. Thanks to all of you who are participating.

Power

Casey has some serious power as he prepares to receive the bar in this power snatch!

Workout:
Row a 500 meter max effort and record your time.

On five minutes rest, perform two more 500 meter efforts and try your best to hold within 10 seconds of your first effort. Who can row a sub 1:35 and get the same time on the next two attempts with exactly 5 minutes rest?

Burpee Challenge: 18 burpees today! 190 burpees to buy-in.

Sweat:Good Workout!

Lucas during the workout we posted yesterday.

Sweating during CrossFit is part of what we do. For some people, how much they sweat during a workout is an indication of how hard they trained, or maybe even how much they got out of their workout. After a difficult workout, I think we CrossFitters find some sort of twisted gratification in knowing that what we just completed was so demanding on our bodies, that we are now sprawled out in a pool of sweat! If nothing else, being comfortable sweating profusely with a group of other people says a lot about the trust and friendship within CrossFit!

Workout:

21-18-15-12-9-6-3
Pull-up
Overhead squat (Men use 95 pounds, women use 65 pounds)

Burpee Challenge: 18 burpees today! 171 to buy-in.

Group Therapy

Casey and the Boys

Overcoming a difficult workout is rewarding in itself, but there is
something special when you have friends around to share.
Yesterday at the gym, a couple of our heavy hitters showed up at
the same time. Pat, Jonji, Brent, Casey and Lucas. The competition
was fierce. The pressure to not be DFL was palpable.
The workout was "Ms. Sage." Thank you Coach Mike Burgener.

-H

Do you have a workout partner? A workout nemesis?

Workout: "Ms. Sage"
5 rounds for time of:
110 Pound Snatch, 10 reps
15 Pull-ups
35 Pound db thruster, 20 reps

Burpee Challenge: 17 burpees today! 153 burpees to buy-in.

Hanging Ten

Cindy split grips.

How we grip the pull-up bar is not of large importance. Reaching full lockout at the bottom and clearing the bar with your chin at the top is our standard. The bear grip, the monkey grip, the split grip, are all acceptable. Is there a preferred CrossFit grip? NO! If there is a grip you are comfortable with, switch grips and use a different one.
Can you switch grips in the middle of a workout? Next time "Helen" is the WOD, use each round to try a different grip. Make it not matter, just grip it and rip it.

How do you grip it?

-H

Workout:
5 rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
25 Burpees

Burpee Challenge: 16 burpees today! 136 burpees to buy-in.

The Jerk

Amy and her Jerk.

Why do we Jerk?

There are many reasons, but here are two:

Reason one:

The productive application of force. CrossFit gives
the athlete the ability to use their fitness. Elite Fitness
demands among other things, coordination, balance,
agility, and flexibility. The skill set required to learn
the Jerk is the reason to learn the Jerk.

Reason two:

An increase in work capacity. A well integrated
athlete will be able to Jerk 30% more than they
Push Press, and Push Press 30% more than they
strict Press. The Jerk could be considered the
weightlifting equivalent to the kipping pull-up. The
hips generate the lions share of the load and very
efficiently and elegantly pass it to the arms.

-H

Workout:
3 rounds for time of:
Run 400
15 Push Jerk, 3/4 bodyweight

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Burpee Challenge: 15 burpees today! 120 burpees to buy-in.