Melissa PR’s her deadlift at an incredible and mind boggling 325#!
Check that board and check all those PR’s today! Good grief people we are getting the water tested soon. Deadlifts were flying up, and hopefully the building was not shaking too much! Congrats to everyone who PR’d today, be it the deadlift or the 2k Row. Melissa deadlifted 325# and Jeremy O. deadlifted 455# while Pat and Mark B. rowed to submit video before the deadline for the Again Faster “Beat the Team To Win” competition. Both Pat and Mark got some pre-row coaching from Lucy and then had insane times (Pat 6:36 and Mark 6:49). The unedited video is posted here and is being submitted tonight to Again Faster to see how they rank. I did see there were men’s times of 6:19 and 6:25 today but Pat’s is still top 5 I believe!
Melissa and Steph – Set and Pull:
Pat and his rowing coach:
Notes:
Squatch had his own TV Show! Check out the mad CrossFit skills:
Today I thought we would mix it up, have fun, and everyone could go for broke. Since it was a rest day I am looking forward to making this one up soon! Watch the video, then read the post below I borrowed from a friend. It is right on, well written, and worth reading.
For those working on double-unders, watch Chris Spealler show you how it’s done:
1. Have fun – Whether it be in CrossFit or your favorite sport or shopping with grandma, make sure you try and have fun. Honestly, you can do CrossFit just about anywhere with anyone or by yourself. You choose to come to us for a reason, because we’re awesome.
2. Show up on time – Actually show up early and leave late. Foam roll, stretch and get rid of all that junk in your lower back and shoulders. Showing up late will only cheat you out of a sufficient warm-up. Without a good warm-up, your chance of injury increases exponentially. If you show up early you have two options, cheer on the class that is finishing or start warming up.
3. Don’t whine – It’s okay to cry, just make sure that we can’t see or hear you and remember to clean up your tears when you’re done. Maybe the song that comes on isn’t your favorite, in the immortal words of Josh Everett “If you need music to motivate you, go find something else to do”. Be careful of asking me to change the song, I might just put on Miley Cyrus’ Party in the USA on repeat. I’m your coach, not Mix Master Mike. You have a task to accomplish, so do it. Yes I know that every workout is hard and I know that you hate running and I know that the bar hurts your delicate hands, but there comes a time when we have to nut up or shut up…or both. CrossFit is constantly varied, so the odds are that you will see some workouts you hate. That’s why it’s CrossFit and not alltheshityoulikeFit. When you come to CrossFit, be ready to work. Come prepared to face all those pains and things you hate head on. Accept the suck.
4. Give it all – More than strength, speed, flexibility or endurance, effort is what matters most. I don’t care if you’re Joe Thruster with a sub 3 minute Fran, if you half-ass a workout, you’re a poser. Grandma doing jumping pull-ups and thrusters with a PVC kicked your ass because she gave everything she had just short of a stroke. Times and weights matter, but they fail in comparison to effort. Keep pushing yourself to your most extreme limits. I don’t care if you have a 500 lbs or 50 lbs deadlift as long as you put forth the effort and don’t sandbag.
5. Listen to your coach – We are here to help you get more fit and accomplish your goals. When we say things like “you’re lifting with your back, use more hips” don’t act surprised when your lower back is sore. When we tell you that the foam roll and lacrosse ball works, we aren’t just being sadistic. We tell you to rest because you need rest, just as we tell you to get in the gym more because you need to be in the gym more. If you want to get better at something, you have to practice it. Plain and simple. Yes there are some of you who are naturally good at some things, but why not get better?
6. Fail sometimes – The unique thing about CrossFit is that the only way to achieve excellence is through failure. The strength portion of our workouts are designed to where you may fail at a set. If you don’t fail you aren’t trying hard enough! CrossFit is an environment where no one will laugh at you or put a permanent letter in your file for dumping an overhead squat. Don’t be afraid to fail, there’s always next time. Pushing yourself to fail is more of a mental thing than it is a physical thing. We have conditioned ourselves to think that failing is bad and therefore don’t push ourselves in fear of failure. Take that fear away and see what you can accomplish.
7. Eat good food – The short answer is eat Primal. If you don’t want to eat like that, just eat meat, some fruit, vegetables, little starch, no sugar, no grains. If you’re low on energy, then you’re not eating enough. I remember a lot of people starting off on Paleo complain of low energy then proceed to tell me that they didn’t eat anything all day because they didn’t know what to eat. Is it that hard to eat meat and vegetables these days?
8. Count it – Tracking your workouts matters.
9. Be nice – CrossFitters are notorious for making fun of people who go to globo gyms (present company included). People achieve their personal fitness goals in their own ways. Instead of pointing out their propensity for douchiness on the elliptical, try introducing them to CrossFit. You’ll get a better reaction and won’t come off like a jerk. You were once that guy on the squat machine or that girl on the elliptical. If someone made fun of you and then said CrossFit was the way to superior fitness, you would tell them to go *F themselves.
10. Get involved – CrossFit is more than just an hour of working out. We are a family and you can get as involved as you like. Just like anything else, you get out what you put in.”
This is Moe’s favorite WOD. After today I would bet it’s several people’s favorite WOD. Why? Because we had 19 total PR’s! (I went and checked the past performances since not all of you knew or wrote it on the whiteboard). That’s insane! Either faster times, heavier KB’s, different bands or RX pull-ups were the norm for almost everyone. This is making me think it’s almost time for “Fran”…
“Needs more Kettlebell”:
One other notable performance happened today in the box; Nan paid up on her Apple Cup bet with Jeremy O. The bet was 100 Burpees for the loser of the Apple Cup and Nan cashed out after “Helen”. The cool thing was she ended up with a support crew that served as her “Burpee Peloton” to get her through.
“I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don’t do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results.” ~ Michael Jordan
The theme of last year’s CF Games was “Unknown and Unknowable”. Well, I assumed we would have Sectional Qualifiers this year for the 2011 Games. You what happens when you assume…
So in the wake of the development around the elimination of Sectionals and the evolving format for this year’s online/local “Sectional” qualifiers for the CrossFit Games I have been doing some thinking (and ranting but that is maybe not a good topic for this post). Amid my disappointment over the change in format and doing away with Sectionals as we know it, I have heard and read many different pros and cons and decided the most important thing to take away from this is that it will not change how I train. For the 14 other SRCF athletes who were planning on Sectionals I hope you won’t either.
Competition is a great thing. It makes you have purpose in your training. It forces you to push harder, rest less, go heavier, practice more, and dial it in. It makes you feel alive and allows you to accomplish goals and learn about yourself in the process. For those who want to compete for the Games in whatever format they announce then keep focused and prepare to do the online or local host qualifiers when the dates and details come out. If not then there are several other avenues out there:
USAW/CrossFit Weightlifting competition: Not sure when it will be but likely there will be another one in 2011
Local Oly Lifting competitions: Thrush Sports Performance Center regularly hosts competitions
Mt. Rainier Strongest Man and Woman Event: Rainier CrossFit hosts this annual event and competition each summer
Local and Regional CrossFit Throwdowns and Challenges: There are plenty! Like the “Grace” Challenge or annual “Fight Gone Bad” Event, we can find them and point you to them. Or we can even organize one.
Bottom line is this: If you are an uber-competitive CrossFitter, there are outlets for us all. As your coaches and affiliate we will do our best to uncover them, help you train for them if you desire it, and then push you to go forth and dominate!
Interesting announcements, developments, and information on the direction of CrossFit HQ in the videos linked below. The most eye opening is the upcoming yet to be detailed format for the qualifiers to the Games. In the part 2 video the answer on Sectionals and Regionals format is that there will be no Sectionals as we previously knew them. There will be a 6 week video online qualifier for athletes and boxes to participate in to get to the Regional level.
While I am pretty disappointed by this announcement for a host of reasons we will do everything to support every single athlete that is interested in competing and trying to get to Regionals. If you want to compete, and want to complete and film the WOD’s required then I will personally make it happen for each of you. We will post any new information as soon as we hear it. More to come.
From Wikia Sports: Metabolic conditioning or “metcon” refers to conditioning exercises intended to increase the storage and delivery of energy for any activity. The first thing that comes to mind for most people when training to improve endurance is conditioning the cardiovascular system to improve transport of blood to the working muscles. Concurrently, metabolic conditioning is conditioning the muscles to better use the fuel delivered to them by improving the efficiency of the different metabolic pathways (phosphagenic, glycolytic, and oxidative pathways). While it was once believed that only aerobic conditioning served to increase cardiovascular health, studies have now shown that anaerobic conditioning may also condition the heart to a same level as aerobic training alone. Dr. Izumi Tabata successfully produced excellent improvements in anaerobic and aerobic conditioning in a group of accomplished athletes using interval training. It is of note that Tabata’s four minute high intensity group experienced better V02 max improvement than the control group, which followed a 60 minute moderate intensity regimen.
The premise behind this type of conditioning is to condition the phosphagen and glycolytic pathways adequately (with enough volume to create significant improvement); it is much easier to accumulate volume in “aerobic” training (oxydative) because it requires less energy. Using the phosphagen pathway for example: when performing exercise at an intensity that requires energy to be supplied through the phosphagen pathway, the intensity is so high that the work can only be sustained for 10-30 seconds. In order to continue training at this intensity (to “metabolically condition” the body to work in this pathway), one must follow this by resting from 30-90 seconds before repeating the process. This is why high-intensity interval training is the principle method of metabolic conditioning.
Notes:
Welcome to Melissa who is new to the box and relocated from Central WA CrossFit!
We all must never forget that working out should be fun. Brutal? Yes. Brutal fun? Definitely. This post is well worth the read for all CrossFitters:
You can run faster than me. But you cannot run truer.
I will learn to sprint. And to slow my pace for recovery.
You can post higher PR numbers than me on every whiteboard that exists in this world. But your weights really only mean something to you, not to me. You can lift more than me. In rubber or iron. Today. But not in life. I am my own yardstick.
I will breathe deep and take this burden from the ground to my shoulders. And then over my head. But I will put it back down and walk away from it. It does not own me.
Although we pen our efforts for everyone to see, I was never competing with you to begin with. I am trying to be a better version of me, every single workout and every single day. You only help me to get there. Thank you. I hope my efforts drive you harder too.
Today was a day to get strong! Definitely lots of weight moving around. Mixing it up and working solely on strength helped everyone find a 3RM on their Front Squat and then be properly warmed up to transition towards 1RM Overhead Squats. The key challenges for many on the overhead squat remain flexibility, maintaining a solid midline during the up and down of the squat, armpits forward and elbows locked out, and learning how to send the hips back while staying on the heels. Got all that? If OH Squats are not your favorite thing; keep working them in warm-ups with a PVC or bar, stretch and you will learn to groove them in no time. If you have the movement down but going heavy is the problem, then master it with a relatively light weight before piling the weight on. The technique is what’s important and the key to getting heavier. It’s a taxing lift. Always stay light if you don’t have it down, PRACTICE, work hard and fight for it. You will get better at them. As you master the movement and get stronger the bumper plates will add up. Remember, looking like sh*t with a heavy bar isn’t all that impressive. It’s just looks like a bigger pile of sh*t!
WOD Demo of Rich Froning on OH Squat/Front Squat/Back Squats progressive 1RM [wmv] [mov]
Starting in January we will be kicking off the New Year with a Nutrition Challenge for anyone interested! Clean it up and focus on quality food. The results will speak for themselves. Stay tuned for details.
One of the Again Faster “Beat the Team to Win” Series WOD’s, this bodyweight couplet combo is fast yet effective. Good to see an emphasis by all of you on fully open hips on box jumps and the progress tonight by either moving to a band or a new color, a higher box, or going RX’d. Pretty cool after the WOD to realize you just did 100 box jumps and 100 pull-ups.
Wednesday 8am Class is cancelled tomorrow due to a schedule conflict.
Do you travel? Do you CrossFit? Do you have an iPhone? When you travel do you search for a CrossFit Affiliate to hit up for a WOD? If yes then check out this cool new iPhone app to help locate a box, contact info, and website (I checked and we are in it, thus it is “cool”):
Wednesday 8am Class is cancelled this week due to a schedule conflict.
Shout outs, high fives, chest bumps, and good games to Moe, Cristin and Laura who all ran the Seattle 1/2 Marathon on Saturday! It was Moe and Cristin’s first 1/2 and Laura’s second. Laura PR’d by over 3 minutes and said she felt great the whole run! Stay tuned for a 5k or 10k race that we will hope to get great participation in from everyone in the box.
