Early Rest

Athletes VS CrossFit Football WoD

Starting this week we have started following the CrossFit Football website for our workouts. These workouts are very similar to what we do on a normal day. The differences are that the CFFB WoDs have two components. There is the strength piece and then there is a heavy met-con WoD. The goal of following this program is to focus on learning how to safely lift heavy weight.

"In any case it must be understood that the CrossFit Football workouts are extremely demanding and will tax the capacities of even the best players. You would be well advised to take on the Strength workout and WOD carefully, cautiously, and work first towards completing the workouts comfortably and consistently before "throwing"yourself at them 100%. The best results have come for those who've started at the beginning levels by reducing weights and poundages and not endeavoring impressive times for a month before turning up the heat. We counsel you to establish consistency with the Strength WOD and WOD before maximizing intensity." CrossFitFootball.com

Workout:
Rest Day

Vernacular

The 5pm crew.

The running joke is that we don't do the three C's. The three C's are Core, Cardio, and Carbs. These words have been so overused and misused in the fitness industry that they have lost their meaning. Does it matter what words we use to get our message across?  Is their a difference between a 'client' and an 'athlete?'  Can we separate a 'trainer' from a 'coach?'  At CrossFit Santa Cruz we think it does matter. The words that we use influence the very nature of our training. We don't talk a lot about the 'core,' but the importance of a stable midline, the ability to maintain a neutral spine while under load is understood. We don't talk about 'cardio' but we often gas out during workouts like Fight Gone Bad or Fran. With all the media and political hype, 'carbs' have become a nexus of confusion and contradiction.  So instead of obsessing about carbs, we avoid grains, and eat mostly meat and veggies, nuts and seeds, some fruit and no sugar.  

Workout: CrossFit Football WoD
For time:
20 Thrusters 135 lbs
Sprint 20 yards
15 Thrusters 135 lbs
Sprint 40 yards
10 Thrusters 135 lbs
Sprint 80 yards
5 Thrusters 135 lbs
Sprint 100 yards

Renaissance

Dietrich pre Fran

What we eat directly affects how we perform. What we eat directly affects our body composition. What we eat directly affects our psychology. We can not benefit from CrossFit unless we are concerned about our nutrition. Robb Wolf is our nutrition guru and has a great website that can and should be used as a resource to better understand and manage food intake. His most recent video on the Zone can be seen on the CrossFit main site and the CrossFit Journal. We all know that it is not easy to get a handle on the nuts and bolts of eating well. We often hear people say, "Just tell me what to eat", or "If I could hire someone to cook for me I could do it."

Starting Saturday there will be now excuses left. Why this Saturday? This Saturday we will be hosting a FREE FOOD TASTING with our resident Chef Noelle. This will be a rare opportunity to sample Zone/Paleo food and find out how it was made. 11:30am Saturday will mark the launch of Noelle's newest business venture FUERZA FOODS.
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Workout:
21 Deadlifts
Rest 3-5 minutes
21 Shoulder Press
Rest as needed

100 Chest to Bar Pull-ups for time.

The deadlifts and shoulder presses should be executed in the same fashion as our back squat program. All 21 reps must be completed in a single set in less than 2 minutes. We will continue this program for 6-8 weeks every Tuesday.

Team Effort

Lucas finishing overhead.

Onething I have come to learn in the last 2 months and especially this last weekend is how powerful staying calm and composed was in my moment of truth. I don't think I have ever been so relaxed in a match, game or competition then I was during the NorCal qualifiers and it helped me tremendously. When I competed last weekend in the sport of fitness, finding a little oasis of peace in my head turned out to be just as vital as my body's physical readiness. I saved all my focus only for what had to be done and NOT how I'm doing. As soon as that question started creeping into my head again (it did a few times), the workout started to hurt more. Keeping my head in the game has been just as difficult for me to train and develop just like all the other exercises we find in CrossFit and there will always be room for improvement.

Last year I didn't have that mental peace in the 30 Clean and Jerks for time at the 08 Games and it dropped my total time greatly! My anxiousness ate up all my strategy and I wasted a lot of energy. During that time I put too much weight on my shoulders about what should be expected of me and it created a horrible downward spiral of 5 premature attempts at my 30th C&J that could have added 2 minutes to my time! 

So how have you been handling your mental game during your more feared WODs? Have you been calm and composed or a bit over anxious?

-Dave

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This week we sign up for the CrossFit Games 2009 Affiliate Team Challenge. The team is yet to be decided. The team will most likely consist of three women and three men. The rules state that only four athletes compete for each team at a time. In the coming weeks we will be holding some team competitions and challenges to train and select our team.

Post thoughts to comments.

Workout: Rest Day

Appreciation

Kai and Diana enjoying a 7k race along west cliff.

Thank you to all of you who made it out to the race in support of Every Child Outdoors!

Congratulations to Rebecca and Kai who were the top fundraisers at $1,400.00 and $1,385.00 respectively. They are truly the heaviest lifters for this "WOD." There is still an opportunity to donate if you are interested. www.humanracesc.org then click on "List of Teams" and "Every Child Outdoors." This page will also show you the amazing efforts and accomplishments from the CFSC athletes!

At over $5,500.00, we raised enough money to award grants to over 240 local students to attend the Santa Cruz County Outdoor Science School. There is no doubt that our community is so much more than just Fran times and Fight Gone Bad scores. We have so many reasons to be proud!

Workout:
Main site WOD
Back Squat 5-5-5-5-5

Growth

Laurie working her muscle up.

Laurie came to CrossFit with a legitimate list of credentials. We often refer to her simply as 'our gymnast'. She brings a calming energy to class, although she suffers the pain that we all feel, it rarely shows. In the photo above you can see her calm demeanor while she struggles through the transition of the muscle up.

CrossFit West Santa Cruz is having a Grand Opening Workout/BBQ today. After the Human Race let's head down and show our support. They are having a workout at 11:00am and BBQ at 12:00.

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Workout:
7k Run
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Saturday Schedule Notice
7:00am meet at the gym to carpool to start line
8:00am race start
9:00am meet at finish line carpool to the gym
9:00am Egg and Bacon breakfast.
10:00am Coach D's mobility and maintenance class.

12:00 Meet at CrossFit West Santa Cruz for their grand opening/BBQ!

Support

CrossFit Santa Cruz supports the efforts of Every Child Outdoors. We are raising funds and awareness in an effort to help support kids that can not afford the tuition to the Santa Cruz County Outdoor Science School. With the help of our community we have already raised over $5,000.00 which is enough money to support 3 schools in Santa Cruz County!  

Huge love and thank you for Scott, Dave C, Stacey, Christa, Hannah, Kai, Amelia, Rebecca, Hollis, Amy Diana, Matt and Carole who have joined the team and raised a lot of money!  A very special thank you to Kai and Rebecca who both raised over $1,000.00!!  Rebecca is not only our top fundraiser, she is the fifth top fundraiser out of the hundreds of people participating!  It is not too late to join and/or donate.  Go to the Every Child Outdoors Team Page at www.humanracesc.org. 

You can also register for $25.00 on race day.  We will be meeting at 7:00 at the gym on Saturday morning.  There will be coffee!  We can then walk or carpool to the registration area at Natural Bridges.  Registration is open until 7:45.  The race starts at 8:00.  We would love to see the rest of you along west cliff cheering us on!

Free Santa Cruz County Outdoor Science School Tshirts to all participants.  Post on this blog your size (sm, med, L, XL) and color (navy blue, forest green, grey, black) and I will bring it on Saturday morning. 

-Heather Mac

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Workout:
Grace
30 clean and jerks for time - 135 lbs

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After the race on Saturday we will all be meeting at the gym for a post run cool down. All are welcome to join.

Represented

Dave getting it done.

This past weekend at the NorCal qualifiers a few of our athletes put it all on the line and represented our box.  If you weren't lucky enough to be there to witness it check out the video below.

Post thoughts to comments.
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WoD Videos
2009 NorCal Qualifiers
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Workout: Rest Day

Community

The noon class keeping close quarters.

CrossFit has always been about community. This Saturday CrossFit Santa Cruz will be closed to support Every Child Outdoors. We will be running the Human Race in support of the Santa Cruz County Outdoor Science School. Anyone who would like to join us on the run is encouraged to show up. Those of you who not interested in running the race, could act as a cheering section, anywhere along west cliff would be a good place for refreshments and signs.

Workout: Main site WoD

Push Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Rest

Alex at the qualifiers.

Most athletes that competed this past weekend will need to take a few day off. Let the body rest and repair, while the mind calms down. The intensity put out by the body needs to be off set by equal amounts of rest. So the harder you work out the more rest you need. To all the athletes that gave it their all this weekend, enjoy the time off.

Workout: Main Site WoD
Ten rounds for time of:
3 Weighted Pull-ups, 45 pounds
5 Strict Pull-ups
7 Kipping Pull-up

For weighted pull-ups place a 45 pound dumbbell between the legs above crossed ankles and jettison the dumbbell after third rep and continue with strict pull-ups and then the kipping pull-ups. Coming off the bar or going to ground constitutes termination of a set. Post time and number of sets to completion.