The Hard Fight

The people in todays society find it hard to do anything without any incentive, such as working out. Unless your impressing someone or training for a fight in my case, there is a deeper goal in mind. Always remember going to the gym for the fact that its good for you should be in the back of your mind... always. There is nothing more important in my mind then the fact that getting healthy could lead to many more years of life. In these years you could accomplish so much, think of it this way. 3 extra years with your loved one is 1,576,800 minutes! i think i could find some things to do in that amount of time. Even being fit for a longer portion of your life allows you to be more mobile and therefore able to enjoy your time. Think of it.

WOD

"Helen"

Three rounds for time:
Run 400 meters
1 1/2 pood Kettlebell X 21 swings (or 55 pound dumbbell swing)
12 Pull-ups

"i do believe it is time"

The world is what you make of it, if you want darkness you stay inside. If you want to rule it, you rule your world and it becomes that easy as soon you notice the way to. By controlling your life you can take control of your own little world. Just because you may have some sense of stability doesn't mean however that you cant be fluid in your decisions and spontaneous with your actions. Being about to react and change is half the battle of full enjoying

everything there is to offer.

WOD

"move with punches"

take today as it is, and live it.

Crossfit Mansfield

I wish there was a crossfit gym in my little college town but to my disappointment there isn't, oh well. I guess i could stop working out and just wait till winter break to get back into it, or maybe go run on a treadmill? OR i could take what iv got here and do my best. I choose the last option. As posted before Crossfit can be done ANYWHERE, even on the streets of this town. Check out the main website and see what you can do with what you have.

WOD 1

3 sets of max pull-ups

"add reps to get a total"

I did this workout this summer at CC on june 19th,

I completed 54 reps.

Doing the same workout today i completed 75 reps. Progress

WOD2

-michael-

Run 800m, 30 second superman, 50 sit ups

"this is edited from its original format to fit

what i have available here as of now"

Time: 18:10

Lets go for a run.

Being able to be very strong in your lifts and then go outside and run an AWESOME mile time or 5k, or 10k even is a major goal for me of being fit. But what if you combined both of those into one workout. hmm.. lifting some heavy weight how about a 35 pound sandbag, NO.. TWO sandbags. Since crossfit is for time how about make it a sprint for a good distance, lets say 170m. Flat ground would be to easy so lets make it up hill. Ok so this workout has 70pounds of sand, 170m uphill full sprint.. no one in their right mind would do this. Folks, this workout has been completed at the 2009 crossfit games and it was amazing. Check this video out of the mens run up this hill. UNBELIEVABLE.

Mens Uphill Run

WOD

REST DAY, dont be surprised at this. Rest days are

completely needed to heal the body after training.

Without the repairing of the body muscle growth wont happen

properly and injuries may occur. Sit back, relax

and practice some zone paleo meals.

Muscle Up thursday

yes this post is on friday but the FIRST muscle up for me happened yesterday. It took me a day to get this post up, "sorry". Someone asked me about the progress so i figured i mention something about it. I started working on it with perfecting the form. Use some rings and work on the movement of the transition which is the hardest part. When it comes to the muscle part of the movement you have to work on your rings exercises. obviously doing some ring dips and pull ups will help. If rings are out of the option for you but still want to work on this just do dips on what ever you can and get some good chest to bar pull ups. Honestly you just have to keep working at it again and again. Enjoy this clip of my muscle up. and yes, the form isn't the best.

WOD

5 rounds

5 heavy snatches

15 toes to bar

time 9:47

Stength for life

Some people go to the gym to just build muscle, look good for the ladies/or guys, have the "beach body" look. While others do it so they can grow older and still be able to run a sub 6min mile, pick up their children, carry the groceries into the house. If your training to prepare for life then you should do movement related to life. Im not saying all the heavy weight and doing 30mins on the elliptical wont help you in the long run, but you can do a more effective workout. Google to find the local crossfit and give it a try! You wont regret it.

Crossfits website has so much information i promise you cant possibly go through it all in one day.. or 1 week! check it out. Crossfit.com

working ALL day

Im going to be stuck in zone paleo hell at papa johns from 10am-2am.. a nice 16 hour day. BUT its slow in the afternoon so a crossfit workout will be completed. Stand by for more infoo.

Fitness anywhere

"Dutch Lowy and I.. and kristen"

This is the first installment of many of me being able to do a fitness exercise anywhere! and i think i set the bar sorta high with doing 25 pushups in the office at edward jones. I know what your going to say and it goes like this, "25 pushups is NOT a workout", my response, "why stop at 25! do 250!!". What i mean is, if you can do 25 pushups you can surely up the reps and do other similar movements such as air squats , or walking lunges. You technically don't have to be in the gym to be active so do a simple movement workout in your living room, kitchen, backyard.. even your local edward jones investment firm. Don't believe i did the pushups in an edward jones?? think i was just using it as a extravagant example of how fitness can be done anywhere? this is for all you haters.

WOD

3 rounds

24 weighted box steps - 40#'s 24" box

9 - 95# push presses

Completed in 6:16 as RXed

I cant workout, i forgot my gloves...

Someone going to the gym wanting to look all big and buff for the ladies has to skip the workout because he forgot his lifting gloves. OR someone who goes to the gym and used the tough skin he/she has been building up over the past few months with hard work in the gym. If after you gain your strength and in the moment of need you cant use it because your weakest link forces you to fail then your stength means nothing. Find your weakest link during your training and work at it and make it as strong as the rest of your body then you will be a stronger individual then when your start. the moral of this story?? take care of your hand with sand paper and proper care after workouts and you wont ever think of using gloves again, some good ol' chalk will do just fine.

just a shout out to a baddass girl i met at crossfit coastal. check her blog outs! its GREAT!!

http://tstormbecomesbadass.wordpress.com/2009/

WOD

21-15-9

24" box jump

1.5 pood KB swing

75# sumo deadlift highpulls

My time was 8:52 at RXed weight, pretty hard one after fran yesterday!

Crossfit Santa Cruz - hand care

Stop reading for a moment and take a look at yours. Wiggle your fingers a little. Watch the muscles contract in your forearms as you do this. It’s pretty cool, huh. Yep, our hands are a marvelous thing. How much time do you spend taking care of them? Probably not a lot. Sure, you foam roll your glutes and legs. You carefully stretch your shoulders in various planes everyday. I know people that never walk outside the box while wearing their fancy lifting shoes. But how much respect do you give your hands? CrossFit doesn’t have many downsides, but sore hands and wrists are one of them. We subject our handses to a lot, a seriously large amount of stress. O-lifts, kettlebell work, muscle ups, overhead squats, and, of course, the kipping pullup, all combine to tear the hell out of our hands. So how can we take better care of them? First off, there is the callus. A callused palm is the sign of a CrossFitter, but a big thick callus will tear and a torn or blistered palm is nothing but a pain in the ass. If you can pinch a callus it is too big. There are a couple of tools out there that will help you care for your calluses, and I will talk about them, but the key to callus care is a little bit all the time. You need to be like a little monkey, constantly grooming your calluses. If you wait and do it only periodically, not only do you risk a tear, but you also risk making them too sensitive. A little bit constantly will keep your calluses flat and hard. There are a bunch of ways to trim calluses, but none of them are overly dignified. You can use regular nail clippers or small cuticle scissors. A butter knife (I would dedicate one for the task that will stay out of the silverware drawer) can be used to scrape down the callus after a hot shower. A dull razor blade is another option and I even know of affiliates that have a Dremel tool at the box that is used to grind them little buggers down. A fancier approach is a corn shaver from a beauty supply store. These things look like little cheese graters and are sharp so use with caution. Lotion. Get a big bottle and lather up your hands every night. Nothing dries out hands like lifting chalk and, trust me, your significant other will thank you. Be sure to stretch your wrists in flexion, extension, and any way they move. Fingers as well. This will not only cushion your wrists against poor racking on a clean, but will strengthen them too. And finally, massage your hands. A little massaging will go a long way towards keeping them healthy. It will encourage blood flow, loosen little knots, and it just plain feels good. Actually, it feels even better if you can get someone else to massage them for you.

This is YMCA workout stuff, right?

Crossfit workouts could be done anywhere with very little to no equipment. But because the workout can be done anywhere doesn't mean that going to the Crossfit gym isn't important. Having a certified trainer and experienced athletes helping you/cheering you on is a major plus. Doing a full on Hero WOD at a YMCA will get you a lot of funny looks and maybe kicked out when your dropping 135# from overhead. The Crossfit gym is almost like a home to me even has a little family that im proud to be a part of. If i could i would do every workout there but going to college away from here makes it hard. 2 weeks left before i leave and when im gone i will be ready to be back to this world of Crossfit i throw myself into.

- Crossfit Journal -

"How to get Kicked Out of Your Gym in 10 Days or Less"

Day 1

Bring your own music – use a boom box – and turn

it up to inspiration levels and start working out. AC-

DC’s “Thunderstruck” should do the trick.

Day 2

Set up a circuit like one of the typical CrossFit

“Workouts of the Day” and put a sign up at each

station advising others that this equipment is

reserved for accurate timing of your effort.

Day 3

While practicing the Olympic lifts drop a max load

from overhead. This may do it right here.

Day 4

Find a twenty-inch platform and perform box

jumps. Try three sets of two minutes of max jumps.

Bizarrely, this one irks the shit out of most gym

management.

Day 5

Take a pair of dumbbells out into the parking lot to

do walking lunges. You may be accused of theft.

Day 6

Bring several powerlifting buddies to do some super

heavy deadlifts. Don’t forget to grunt, scream, and use chalk!

grunting, sweating, yelling, or dropping weights

allowed.

Day 7

If the gym has support poles climb them. If

not find something to climb; sling a rope over

a beam or rafters, attach some climbing holds

to the wall and use them. You won’t get to the

climbing part if you need to attach anything.

You may get stopped at the door coming in

with a twenty-five foot coil of two-inch rope.

Day 8

Workout with your shirt off. If you don’t get a reaction

have your girlfriend or wife take hers off.

Day 9

Walk on your hands, or do handstand push-ups or

some other basic gymnastics stuff.

Day 10

If you’ve gotten this far, this one is the clincher.

Record your efforts by writing them on the wall.

If after day ten you are still allowed in,

you belong to a great gym. Let us know

where it is; we’ll feature it on our site. If

you’re asked to leave before or during

this experiment it’s time to clean out the

garage!

AMRAP

what is AMRAP you ask?? simple, "as many rounds possible", this seems easy enough but do you really have what it takes to finish strong? If someone told you to work REALLY hard for 20 minutes and your score would result from how many rounds you did would you pace yourself? or would you work really hard at the beginning and then tire out and have to quit. The goal is to find the middle ground, start strong, perform strong, end strong. If you can do what i just mentioned then the next time you perform an AMRAP in a workout the score you finish with will have been the most work you could possibly have done in the time given.

Heres a quick demo on how to do double unders

WOD

AMRAP in 20mins

9 pull-ups

15 pushups

21 jump rope double unders

my score was 8 rounds in 20mins.. not bad.

Hard Work

After a discussion at the gym last night i feel its important to post the conversation. Setting goals is an important part of a good gym experience but your goals need to be based on your own experience. If you watched the 09 crossfit games and you decide oh.. i want to do the same weight and form of those guys! Next time your in the gym and you cant perform to their level dont let it get you down. Look at what weights you can do and with hard work gains will be made and eventually you will be at a higher weight then you started. Be sure to check you workout log and see where you came from, Doing this will remind you how much work you've put in and how good progress that has been made. Remember where you came from!

2009 CrossFit Games Final Event Highlights - video by CrossFit by Overload [wmv] [mov]

That was harder then i thought..

Never treat a workout like you would a long car ride. On those long trips on the highway your just going through the motions trying to get where ever your going. Being mindless during a workout get you no where. With the right diet and rest your basically resting and healing as a warmup to the main part of the day, "the workout". If you eat properly and rest with the right focus on working out gains will be made. Treat the workout with respect and intensity you'll get what you were looking for in the first place, "fitness".

WOD

100 ring dips

as soon as you fail on your

set of dips grab a 45# plate

and run 100m. 15min max

for the workout.

i finished 63 dips in the 15mins.. with LOTS of running.

P.S there is no good way to carry 45#

Growth

When learning an instrument you practice your scales and songs still they are perfect...over..and over.. and over. When training your body to be perfect you practice perfect.. over and over. You want to gain muscle?? Protein, Carbs, Fats in amazingly huge amounts. Gains wont be made by eating skimpy meals of lettuce and a few pieces of chicken. Eating a whole chicken, pounds of vegetables, and a gallon of milk a day is the norm. The point to this post?? If your lifting heavy and want gains, they wont happen without eating heavy. End of story.

WOD

"Invisible Fran"

21-15-9

Air Squats and Push ups.

A day to remember.

A bad diet is the same as bad training. if you look at the way you eat the same way as the way you do an exercise in the gym success is almost guaranteed. There is many ways to diet from all the miracle diets to the two week all juice diets among many others. But most of those diets are short term. Look at this from a fitness stand point, a two week miracle diet would be the same as being fit for two weeks. when would you ever only want to be fit for only two weeks? Fitness is a life long goal needed your diet to be able to be a life long habit. So cut all those diets and infomercial promises of losing X amount of weight in X amount of days and follow this one simple rule.

" Eat Real Food".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htSDNG0Opmk

WOD

8 rounds

100m sprints

8 2pood kb swings "70lbs"

5 pull ups

i finished in a slow 12:36, work harder next time.

When did your fitness begin?

When did you decide to go to the gym and start lifting some weights? When you where in high school, College, maybe when you decided it would help you get the ladies. I choose to lift when i was in college and saw it as a way to be more "impressive" as a Male, boy was i wrong. Getting big is nice, getting Fit and Big is a lot better. The first time I got my ego checked was when i attempted FGB and it opened my eyes to how weak i actually was. Since then iv changed my workout habits and my mental thought about what being fit actually meant. This blog will document the day to day life of someone striving to be the fittest individual possible.

WOD

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

pull-ups

50m suicides

burpees

my time was 24:17 and this WOD was one to remember.