Hurt So Good

Stephen enjoying his WoD

We are looking to become more comfortable with discomfort. Almost everything we subject ourselves to at CrossFit causes some kind of pain.

Moving heavy loads long distances in a short amount of time does not feel good. Not eating at your friends wedding because they are having lasagna, garlic bread, and chocolate cake is uncomfortable, rolling out your tight muscles hoping it will make you a little better is no joke.

Most importantly we do it because it works, we are happy that we get better all the time, and we are glad there are other people there to do it with us.

Yea Discomfort!

Workout:

Five rounds for time of
15 135lb Hang Squat Clean
30 Push ups

Rest Day

Gilly and our burpee standard

We program workouts for the gym on a 3 on 1 off schedule. Some people love the rest day, some dread it, some ignore it and others relish in it.

What is your rest day ritual, bad food, a different physical activity, a day with the family, sit still?

Workout:

Rest Day

Buy Local

VS Brand weightlifting shoe and Hannah in her Do'Wins

You have probably seen many of us go change our shoes prior to deadlifting, squatting and especially cleaning and jerking and snatching. The olympic style weightlifting shoe is designed to give you a stable lifting platform and hard landing surface. To optimally receive heavy loads, you do not want to be wobbling around. The shoes also help you keep your weight in your oh-so precious heels.

Do you need to have olympic style weightlifting shoes to do CrossFit?  No, but you don't need chalk to do pull ups either.

Until recently, oly shoes had to be ordered online.  Now, thanks to our friend Tom Frankl at Play It Again Sports, some of these can be purchased locally.

Workout:

With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute... continuing as long as you are able.

Use as many sets each minute as needed.

Plan ahead

Jesse and his athletes

The best strategy for keeping a on a good nutrition plan (which the in turn leads to better performance, I guarantee it) is to plan ahead.

When you make dinner make enough extra to pack your lunch for the next day or two.

For example; tonight I cooked up 6 burgers (grass fed ground beef) on the grill. Each Burger was roughly 5oz raw which cooks down to about 4.5 oz (3 blocks) of protein. That will feed the two of us for dinner and then lunch for the next day.

To complete the meal I threw an apple, some carrot and some celery in with some mixed greens for an easy dressing and broiled some brussel sprouts. Total cook and prep time was less than 20 minutes and fairly easy. but the best part is that tomorrow morning at 5:30 I will grab a burger, the left over brussels and an apple and be set for lunch.

Always have protein cooked and available and you are most of the way towards a zone/paleo day.

Please share your strategies for staying on the food plan. What keeps you going.

-Coach D

Workout:

:30 ab mat sit up :30 plank hold x4

Run 800m for time
rest 2:00
Run 2x 400m for time 2:00 rest between efforts
Rest 2:00
Run 3x 200m for time rest 1:00 between efforts
Rest 2:00
Run 4x 100m for time rest 1:00 between efforts
rest 2:00
Tabata L-sit

My Very First Muscle Up and Midlife Crisis

Daina focused.

Last Saturday we celebrated my son's 4th birthday.  I had never been so scared to go bowling.  Next month, it's mommy's turn and I turn the big 35.  As I head into the full bloom of being a middle aged woman, I was having hints of a midlife crisis.  The questions that would sometimes plague my mind are, "aren't I supposed to be married by now with 2.5 kids, and in a house with a white picket fence?" 

My reality is that I'm a single mom with a beautiful son that I adore and his father is one of my best friends but not my husband.  Regarding love, I'm still trying to figure that department out.  But I've come to a conclusion that as I hedge closer to 35, I'm not going to obsess over societal or family pressures.  Instead, my goal is to get my very first muscle up. 

Crossfit has become such a positive influence in my life.  It is a community filled with truly diverse clientele and a varied exercise regimen.  Only here do you see women do pull ups along side with muscled men who do cartwheels, which is one of my personal favorites to watch.  I have never met so many smart, strong and independent women.  There are mothers who work out with their sons, wives and girlfriends who compete, and sisters who keep their brothers on their toes.  I know you're getting that I am woman, hear me roar feeling.  

I promise you won't catch me speeding past you on the freeway in a red convertible anytime soon.  But you'll probably see me on the rings, either saying a small prayer or cursing as I try to get myself up and between those rings.  One thing I've learned is that Crossfit is anything but typical, so why should any of us strive to be? 

-Diana

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Athlete Achievements

Diana PR's her deadlift.

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Workout:

Workout:
3 Rounds of:
Body-weight Back Squats, Max Reps
Rest 5 minutes

Hope

Amy legitimizing the burpee.

Gone are the long days of summer and fast approaching are cool days of winter. With less fair weather temptations, now is the perfect time to set a goal.  Amy and Diana have both mentioned there goal to get a muscle up.

What's your goal?

Post thoughts to comments

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Workout:

Rest Day

Nice Rhomboidei

Tyler and his overhead squat.

The human body is a complex machine.  Although knowing every bone and muscle is not required to be a crossfit athlete, it is helpful to have a basic understanding of how everything is connected.   Equally, if not more, important than knowing what your muscles are called, is knowing what they do.

What are the rhomboidei and what do they do?

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This workout was adapted from OPT's website.

Workout:
Take 4 min to find your 1RM shoulder press
rest 10 seconds
Tabata Push Up for total reps
rest 10 seconds
Complete as many reps as possible in 4 minutes of kettle bell swings

Push

Dave and Gilly Competing

Saturdays post talked about better technique making you faster. After your movement is solid, intensity becomes the cornerstone of CrossFit training and philosophy. The harder you go the more you are going to get out of it. Imagine if we took the scoreboards down, stopped timing you and didn't care how many rounds you got. Everything would change.

Competition drives intensity and intensity drives your results.

Workout:

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

3 Overhead Squats 115lbs
6 30' Box Jumps
9 Chest to bar Pullups

Idols

Coach Burgener circa 1972 

Who is your idol?

Post thoughts to comments.

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Workout:

With a running clock,
115 pound Power Snatch, 12 reps
Double Under the rest of 3 minutes.
Rest 3 minutes.
Repeat for a total of 3 rounds
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Reminder
Sage Burgener, daughter to legendary Coach B, will be sharing her expertise next weekend at CrossFit North Santa Cruz.  She will be teaching a one day seminar on the Olympic Lifts. Contact Robin for details

The Pattern

Stacey practicing stability.

Learning to squat well takes more than just repetition.  Focused attention on the small details at slow speed helps develop consistently good patterns and proper technique.  Learn better movement, get better times... it is that simple. 

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Workout: Rest Day