Congratulations

The 10am aftermath.

Yesterday's post was about strong CrossFit women. Today we add an addendum because this afternoon Hannah Halpern got her first muscle up! We posted back in December that Hannah was hunting for this CrossFit right of passage. Clearly, her dedication and perseverance has paid off. As K-Star says "It doesn't count unless it is on tape." We have the video to prove it. Good work Hannah.

Workout: Pick a weakness and work it.
Post weakness and practice to comments.
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Don't forget to log in for the accountability challenge each day

Real Women

Amy and Heather

There are many slogans for 'real women'. I am sure you have heard them before. Real Women have curves is a commonly used slogan. Coach Burgener uses one of my favorites, "Real Men and Real Women Clean and Jerk." What about, "Real Women CrossFit." It is simple and to the point.

Our female athletes as of late, have been absolutely killing it. Amy and Heather have been examples of technique leading to great athletic prowess. Cara is in the lead on the Accountability Challenge and Olivia just pulled 208 pounds off the floor for a new PR in her dead lift. Not to mention Coach D can rep out the pull ups and Carie has need to buy a new wardrobe. CrossFit has always been filled with talented strong women. Why is that? Post thoughts to comments.

Workout:
Tabata Dead lift, body weight
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Push Up
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Front Squat, body weight
Rest 1 minute Tabata Pull Up

The Muscle Up

Cara getting close.

The muscle up is one those CrossFit milestones, that once it is achieved it is greatly appreciated. There are many firsts. The first tabata squats. The first Pull up. The first Rx'd workout. The first Muscle Up however, holds a certain prestige. Cara has pledged to get a Muscle up by March. Chances are looking good, considering she is leading the Accountability Challenge.  We are now two weeks into the challenge.  How do you feel? Post thought to comments.

Today's video is of "Randy"
75 pound Power Snatch, 75 reps
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Accountability Challenge Week Two
 CLICK HERE for results

He's Back

Olin back in the saddle.

After more than 6 weeks of vacation he is back. Can you imagine taking 6 weeks off? How do you think your body would react to a WOD? Olin may need some encouraging words over the next few workouts. If you have the chance, remind him that his weakness will leave and his strength will return.  We're so glad you're back Olin!

Workout: 3 rounds for time of:
200 pound tire, 15 flips
12 Ring Dips
3 Rope Climbs
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Accountability Challenge Reminder.
LOG IN progress before 10pm.
 Results will be posted on Monday.

Dynamics

The group

Working out in a large group is common in a CrossFit gym.  What makes a one group class better than another?  Are team workouts the best, or individual events so you can test your skills one on one?  Post thoughts to comments.

Workout:
5 Rounds for time of:
95 pound shoulder press, max reps
Rope Ascent, max reps
Rest 3 minutes
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Accountability Challenge Reminder:
Make sure to have all of your days logged in before Sunday night 10pm.
Results for week two will be posted Monday.

Go Hard

Jonji Barber in the middle of "The Bear"

Intensity is one of the cornerstones of what we do. There are the physical components. How much do I weigh, how much does the object weigh, how far do I have to move it? Then there is the mental side. How bad is this going to hurt, how long is going to hurt, can I endure the hurt? The line between 'productive stressing' and 'beating down' is sometimes hard to find. The problem is, if the intensity of either the physical or mental side is too low the program doesn't work. If the intensity is too high, the athlete won't work. High Intensity in high doses is like pavlovian shock therapy, you shock an athlete over and over again, they will soon learn to stop showing up.

Workout: CrossFit Coronado WOD

After warming up, complete 1 x 200 Meter Sprint at Max Effort, then:

WOD 1 x 200 Meter Sprint every minute on the minute...

If it takes you 40 seconds to complete the sprint, you will have 20 seconds to rest. Continue until you are unable to complete the sprint in the 1 minute alloted. Once failure is reached, add 20 Seconds to the rest interval and again continue until failure (1 x 200 Meter Sprint every 1:20 until failure). ___________________________
Accountability Challenge Reminder
Log your progress for each day of the challenge.

Patience

Leif getting ready for the first pull.

When talking about Olympic style weightlifting, we often ask our athletes to jump. What we are looking for is momentum and elevation on the barbell. During the clean or snatch taking the bar from the floor to the thigh is about getting into position to jump. The jump does not happen until the bar gets past the knees. The common error is to jump to early. To often we see athletes try to jump from the ground in an effort to make the lift. What is needed is Patience. Patience to wait for the bar to get into position before jumping it up. Watch the lifters in this video and post thoughts to comments.

Workout:
5 rounds for time of:
30 Box Jump
7 Should press, 115 pounds

Gregs Temp

Hollis Molloy | Strength and Conditioning Coach 831-421-2065 hollismolloy@gmail.com I started doing CrossFit in the summer of 2005 and quickly fell in love with it. After my first six months, I had lost over seventy pounds, got my first muscle up and attended my first certification seminar. Once I was certified as a trainer I moved to Hawaii to help start Crossfit Oahu and coach high school water polo with my sister, Danielle. I returned to Santa Cruz in 2006 and spent the next year coaching classes and traveling with Crossfit HQ staff. I attended and coached at several Crossfit Level I and Crossfit Olympic weight-lifting seminars. I pride myself on teaching my clients proper mechanics and I am relentless when it comes to mastering the basics. "His ability to break the movements down...is how I finally was able to get a pull up.... I just could not have done it without his help." —Theresa B. “Hollis got me to pass my firefighter physical test. I will always be grateful to his dedication to preparing me to reach my goals” —Celeste S.

Danielle Mulford | CrossFit Strength and Conditioning Coach 831-345-7779 Danielleh2osport@hotmail.com After playing water polo and swimming in high school I earned a scholarship to play Water Polo at the University of Hawaii. In the off season in addition to swimming I tried running, yoga, spin class, and kickboxing to stay fit. I knew there was something missing from my fitness program but I did not know what. I started doing Crossfit under founders Greg and Lauren Glassman as part of my off-season training program as a senior in college. It has been the biggest influence in my life ever since. I took my new passion and knowledge about Crossfit back to Hawaii and became the team’s strength and conditioning coach. That year my team went to the NCAA’s final 4. Now, a few years after competitive sports, Crossfit is my sole strength and conditioning program. I workout less than 10 hours per week, I can do 30 pull-ups, Deadlift 1.5x my body weight, and am leaner, faster, and stronger than ever before in my life. I passionately believe that the movements done at Crossfit are the best tools for health. My coaching philosophy is one of support and enthusiasm. I help my clients gain better overall physical and mental health. I have experience coaching people with varying degrees of fitness levels and goals. I have studied nutrition and have an understanding of those struggling with food issues. I can help my clients eat right to stabilize mood swings and provide easy strategies to eat in the ZONE. I am passionate about helping people become, strong, vibrant, healthy and mentally tough. I am also the head coach of the Men’s and Women’s Water Polo teams at UCSC and the only woman in the country coaching men’s collegiate Water Polo. Therefore I am available to do swim lessons at the pool on campus as part of your CrossFit training. “Danielle can motivate you to go harder than you thought possible. She is kind and compassionate when you need it and shows no mercy when necessary.” —HB

Patrick Barber 831-234-7776 patrick.crossfit@gmail.com

Hannah Halpern 707-529-2105 hannahh@onemain.com

Heather MacDougall 909-289-7546 macmtngirl@gmail.com

Jesse Bazarnick Crossfit Level 1 certified Crossfit Kids certified Cell: 831-252-1316 nex2be@yahoo.com Growing up in a very athletic family and playing so many sports growing up; I had always thought I was in great shape and a level above most of my peers. I didn’t even lift weights regularly until I joined UCSC’s men’s volleyball team as a walk-on starting setter my freshman year. I felt like the weight lifting I was doing was making me stronger but I still felt that the strength and conditioning aspect of my sport was largely underdeveloped. It wasn’t until this past year that I truly found what had been missing in all of these (mostly) wasted years in a normal gym doing little isolated movements like bicep curls or running around the gym for 28 minutes as we did before practice my senior year on the UCSC men’s volleyball team. Crossfit has changed my outlook on what it means to be healthy and fit. Crossfit has opened up a whole new world and level of fitness that goes beyond physical capabilities. While one’s physical capabilities do grow immensely; a committed Crossfitter also develops great drive, will to succeed, concentration, and self confidence. I have seen these adaptations take place in people all across the board…from young kids to adults of all ages; from an elite athlete to an overweight and de-conditioned couch potato. My philosophy as a trainer is to develop great focus and patience in learning the fundamental movements in the beginning. I feel safety and comfort is crucial at first in order to develop the confidence to move on to bigger and better things. I want to create the muscle memory that is needed in highly coordinated movements so that one feels comfortable performing them in the more intense workouts that I will give once I feel an individual is ready. I think many people aren’t as in touch with their bodies as they think they are and by breaking down the highly dynamic movements and repeating them consistently one learns how to control their body’s motor recruitment patterns. As my clients adapt to these challenging movements both physically and mentally, their workout programs begin to grow in complexity and intensity. As this begins to happen, clients naturally begin to start setting greater goals for themselves and it is my job to help them reach their goals. In turn, their strength in character grows and they want to achieve much more than they ever thought they could accomplish. Mallee  Sato 831-239-7003 malleejs@gmail.com

Tony Budding tony@crossfit.com

Greg Amundson amundson@crossfit.com

Nicole Carroll nicole@crossfit.com

Serious Business

Coach D, Coach Barber and Olivia taking it serious.

CrossFit can be dangerous. Pushing the limits of the human body has its hazards. It is like driving a race car. You are not going to learn how to drive fast unless you flirt with the possibility of crashing. Obviously care must be taken to limit risk. Cars have role cages, CrossFit has intelligence, technique and scalability. We all know that fire is dangerous, yet we all use it right?

Workout:
Learn a new skill, game, sport.
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UCSC Men and Women's Water Polo Fundraiser
Tonight 5:00pm - 9:00pm,
Woodstocks Pizza
710 Front Street (Next o Trader Joe's)

Strong

Jaisy and Amy looking strong.

Yesterday's video gave us a look at our past. Today we are looking at the next generation of coaches and athletes. In the photo above we have one of our veterans, Amy and one our college athletes, Jaisy. Amy may not have noticed, but she has become one of our assistant coaches. When we have large classes Amy is one of our athletes that has the ability to assist others. Jaisy one our dedicated water polo athletes has shown steady improvement over the past few months. Where will these two be in another year is anybody's guess.

Workout:
225 pound back squat, 21 reps
500 meter row
225 pound back squat, 15 reps
500 meter row
225 pound back squat, 9 reps
500 meter row
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UCSC Men and Women's Water Polo Fundraiser
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 5:00pm - 9:00pm,
Woodstocks Pizza 710 Front Street (Next o Trader Joe's)