Quality before Quantity

Amelia reaching full extension.

One the most common faults we see with high rep squatting is not completing the squat at the top. Too often athletes "short room" the squat for the sake of speed. Don't forgo quality for the sake of quantity. In the photo above we can see that Amelia has reached the top of her squat and is poised for another quality rep. Remember... faults in these basic movements will lead to glaring mistakes with more complicated movements such as the clean.  "Don't be that guy".

Workout: 3 rounds of:
2 minutes of "Double Unders" (max reps)
25 Pull ups (for time)
Rest 3 minutes

Score is total "Double Unders" minus the time for pull ups (in seconds)
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Don't forget to sign up for "Training the Injured Athlete"
with Kelly Starrett. This one day event is for both coaches and athletes
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Humanity

Busted...

CrossFit's motto is "Forging Elite Fitness."  In this spirit, everyday we are working towards a better self through fitness and nutrition.  Once in a while, however, we have to be human and allow ourselves to eat things that are totally delicious (and bad for us) and do things that may be bad for us.  Both zone and paleo diets allow for a "cheat day" or a "cheat meal."  When you work hard and eat well every day of the week, its nice to have a deliciously un-nutritious cheat meal once in a while.  What's your favorite cheat meal?

- Heather Mac

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By the way, the Leaderboard is up!  Don't forget to sign up and log in as a memeber of CrossFit Santa Cruz. 
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Workout (from crossfit.com):
How many rounds in 20 minutes:
95 lb push jerk - 15 reps
30 squats

Team Work

The boys working together.

With the CrossFit Games approaching there has been a lot of talk and speculation about the Affiliate Cup. Who to send? What will the workouts be? How can we train for it? All very good questions with no simple answers. As is it looking now the answers are... We will send and all female squad to represent us (Coach D, Heather, Amy, Olivia, Cara and Hannah). The workouts will be unknown and untried. We will train as we always do (With intensity and integrity).

Post thoughts to comments.

1 Rep

Ken finishing strong.
"Real men, real women clean and jerk. That is how you become big, strong, powerful, quick." Coach Mike Burgener
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Athlete Achievement
Leif's 220 pound Clean & Jerk
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Legitness

Matty B working the ring dip

Range of motion is king. Strength is his queen. Before we can get strong we must have the range to use it. In the ring dip for example getting the shoulder just below the elbow is a minimum requirement. Getting your thumb to your armpits will get you a muscle up. Range of motion before strength, consistency before intensity and quality over quantity are great mottos to follow.

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Training the Injured Athlete with Kelly Starrett
 March 14th; 9am-4pm; $200
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Workout: Clean and Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Every Body

The 10am Crew

CrossFit Santa Cruz believes that anybody who is willing to work hard and stay humble can make progress. We believe in an Evidance Based Fitness program where every athlete improves relative to their start point. We are joining CrossFit Vancouver and other affiliates on the CrossFit LeaderBoard. Register now and start tracking your data.
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Athlete Achievment
Pat PR's his Deadlift
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Instructional Videos
 Coach D teaches the Medicine Ball Clean
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Workout "The Gauntlet"
1 minute on: 1minute off:
Handstand Push Up
Forward Roll
Dip
Pull Up
Pistol
Hollow Rock
Box Jump
GHD Sit up

Count Total Reps

Instructional Videos

Double-unders with Mikko Salo at CrossFit Santa Cruz - video [wmv] [mov]

Rope climbing with Mikko Salo at CrossFit Santa Cruz - video [wmv] [mov]

"The Active Shoulder" with Kelly Starrett - video [wmv] [mov]

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3183166&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1
.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2588519&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1

Training Injured

Brent still working hard.

What happens when we get injured? Do we stop training? No! Our training will need to modified so we can work around the injured limb. Brent aka Wounded Buffalo has been a CrossFit athlete for more years than most and has been injured before. He knows what it takes to stay fit. Avoiding workouts all together will create more issues than it solves. Finding a good PT is an essential part of our recovery. When one joint must be immobile it takes hard work and often a second set of hands to keep the surrounding joints from getting stiff. The injured limb will take time to heal and we do not want to stress it before it it ready. We do however want to stress the rest of the body in the meanwhile. The next time you see Brent he will probably be hitting a workout as hard as usually, if slightly modified.

LOVE the OHS

Coach D

We love the overhead squat. Nothing tests us like the OHS. It tests our flexibility. It tests our midline stability. It tests our balance. It will mercilessly reveal all of the weakness of our squat. It magnifies any deficiency that is present. Tight hips, tight shoulders, weak midline... it doesn't matter the flaw... the OHS will slap you in the face with it. The beauty of learning the OHS is that it will repair the air squat. Nearly every athlete that can overhead squat their own bodyweight has a beautiful air squat. In addition to helping our air squat, perfecting the OHS will allow us to progress to more complicated movements.

Workout: 
Complete as many rounds as you can in 20 minutes of:
10 Pull up
10 Dip
10 Overhead Squats, 95 pounds

Staying Together

Raffa and Peter

After spending the weekend in Austin at the Affiliate Gathering I was struck by how tight the CrossFit Community truly is. People from all over the world came and shared a common story. Work Hard, Eat well, Get fit. The bonds we form in the CrossFit community are true and hard to break. 

Workout: 4 rounds of:
15 Kettle Bells Swings
25 meters under water
15 Push Press
25 meters under water