Deadlift

1-10-1-20-1-30

Same scoring as yesterday

I'd like you all to take a look at this article by Melissa Urban (formerly Byers). Perhaps the allure of the Sexy Metcon will strike home with some of you. Everyone enjoys a huff and puff workout, but it is rare for someone to truly enjoy/embrace the benefits of lifting heavy at first. Some of you out there are still leery of them when there is nothing to be afraid of. I'm not asking you to specialize, I'm just reminding you not to miss workouts you don't like.

Think of it as eating your vegetables (which you should be doing anyways). You've got to eat your vegetable (strength and 5k's) before you can have desert (Fran, Diane and Filthy Fifty). Strength and muscular endurance are the foundations upon which our fitness is built.

A whole lot of "Diane" latley. Great job yesterday Wade.
Russ and Lucy hanging out after the WOD.

Front Squat

1-10-1-20-1-30

Score is weight on barbell for 6 lifts added together.

High rep squatting is mostly mental. As long as you're form stays safe and correct (Elbows up!) you just have to put your head down and push through.

Part of our jobs as trainers is mechanical. We deal in angles and movements, of fixing physical disorder and ensuring performance with correct standards. We compare every movement in our arsenal to an ideal standard and then ensure we help our clients to reach these ideal standards. All this analysis must happen quickly and efficiently, moreover it must then be communicated in a clear concise manner. This, surprisingly, is the easy side of our job.

The other side is much less concrete. This is the psychological side of coaching, or of getting the most from our clients through encouragement. It is much harder to know what to say, what not to say, and when to say it than what is wrong in the squat. Because of this we stick to general platitudes and encouragement. We have noticed, as of late, that we are tending to repeat ourselves. If we've noticed than you all must surely have noticed. So instead of merely turning up the music and screaming, we'd like to hear what you want to hear. Whether it is different music or specific encouragement let us know tomorrow or post to comments. Help us, help you.

Holiday Hours

Chirstmas Eve Day

Morning: 7, 8, 9, 10

Evening: Closed

Christmas Day

Closed

!!!Happy Holidays!!!

Jarrett fightiing with the handstand push-ups.

New CF'r John showing up on time for some deadlifts.

CFHQ

Rest Day

-or-

Make-up Day

-or-

200m. Plate Carry, 45lbs/25lbs

50 hip Extensions

40 Box Jumps, 24in.

30 Goblet squats, 70lbs

20pull-ups

10 Burpees

Crossfit is ultimately a solitary pursuit, although we train in a group environment. When it comes down to it, it is you and the barbell in "Diane". No one can help you lift it. It is you versus gravity and gravity never gives in. This sort of battle, one so personal and so elemental, it is almost extraneous to boast about it. Merely finishing that workout is something to boast about. We are a community of people who celebrate each other, rather than tear each other down. Ego has no place in our gym. Racing against a clock can cause us to shorten range of motion, to "miss" reps and to scale too low. We want competition but we want healthy competition, where everyone puts out their best honest effort and accepts where the chips may fall.

Another point: it is never acceptable to tear yourself down in the gym. Everyone struggles in here; you're not special, sorry. Have confidence in your abilities and aptitude to learn new movement, absolutely nothing is written in stone*. Everyday we create new fitness and that is something to be proud of. You may not have used as much weight or gone as fast but you can make sure your workout was just as hard as the twenty-two year old fire-breather. It's all about learning to push yourself.

-Paul Siegel

*"Nothing is written in stone except that you have to squat." -Mark Rippetoe

Great job everyone, on Saturday's WOD. K-Bird finishing a thruster with great form.
Our newest CF'r looking fresh after "Cherry". Wlecome to the family Melissa.

"Diane"

21-15-9 reps of:

225 lbs. Deadlift

Handstand Pushups

As some of you may have noticed we are in the middle of winter. In the mornings especially it can be brutally cold. I've pulled together some tips and tricks that might help stay warm when working out . If you've got a good idea I didn't cover post it to comments.

For cold weather especially you want to think in layers of clothes rather than one penultimate insulting layer. If I have one big coat and a t-shirt and my friends has 5 layers of clothes on who will have the more variability in his wardrobe? My friend can choose from any number of combinations of layers to fit any condition. I would advise y'all to think in light layers combined. These layers can be any material, although I would advise against cotton. If you've got a mile run to do in a cotton t-shirt with weather like we've been having (rainy and cold) you're going to shiver through the entire workout after that no matter how warm you think you are. Synthetic insulates whether wet or dry, where as cotton absorbs heat when wet. Capilene from Patagonia is excellent, Under Armour is pretty popular, I like JL Racing stuff and Smart Wool stuff is really nice but heinously expensive. Really anything synthetic is going to insulate better than cotton.

When choosing insulating garments it's not what they keep out but what they keep in. We are looking to trap body heat to keep us warm, rather than to exclude cold air. However we also need some ventilation to prevent dampness from that hot air condensing, beyond sweat obviously. The easiest way to do this is to wear a long sleeve t-shirt (or the like) and when running outside throw on a hat. 40% of your body heat will escape through the head trapping that will immediately make you warmer. When I lead camping trips I really wouldn't listen to someone saying they were cold unless they had a hat on. It's pretty easy to keep a hat near the door and grab it on the way out if you're doing a run in a workout. It is certainly much easier than a jacket.

When it's especially cold outside the tendency is to bundle up and then to strip layers once you've gotten hot. In Crossfit most of our workouts are against the clock so saving time where ever possible is highly recommended. Warm up with a good bit of your layers on, you'll warm up quicker for one and you can judge how you're feeling that day. When getting ready to start strip down so that you are a little cold going into the workout, especially if it starts outside and then moves inside, i.e. "Helen". By starting a little cold it gives you room to become warm. If you start out warm then you immediately go to hot and sweaty, before you've even had a chance to really workout. No need to get hot and sweaty before you really have to.

It is important to expirement with your layering and clothing system to achieve the optimal mix of insulation, breathability and comfort. What works for me is not neccesarily going to work for someone else.

-Paul Siegel

We are now a karate school.
HHHIIIIIII-YA!!!!!!
Guess who's butt print. Winner gets a free dinner for taco thursday.


3 Rounds for Time of:

5 Rope Ascents, 15' or 30 Pull-ups

21 Ring Dips

50 Squats

Vilas working his way through "Vilas". Yay BURPEES!!!
Nina and Don join Vilas for the WOD.

5 rounds for time of:

135 lbs. Thruster 15 reps

400m run

Holiday hours: Christmas Eve we will be open 7, 8, 9 and 10 a.m. No evening

Closed Christmas Day

Closed New Year's Eve and New Year's Day

Beginning in the New Year Thursday Night will be CFSS dinner at Tila Tacquiera and other Sandy Spring establishments. These dinners will occur after the 6 p.m. class. You don't have to go to the 6 p.m. class to attend the dinner. This will be a great chance to meet other Crossfitters.

Sunday's class will be at 11:00.

Noah, Jarrett and Curtis in the middle of "Vilas". I re-wrote this sentence 5 times and there is no way not to make it awkward sounding. So, yeah.

Georgia rolling on the 20" box.

Turn your volume down and wait till the very end.

(Chace has informed me this is from a movie. Way to kill the magic.-PAS)

CFHQ

Rest Day

-or-

Make Up Day

-or-

CFSS WOD

My father is a wonderful baker. He can turn out an excellent carrot cake but his talents extend far and wide, especially in this holiday season. This past weekend we made fruitcakes and stollen, a German yeast bread with candied fruits. These delectable treats sit out on the counter, permeating the air with delicious smells. Am I strong enough to not eat these treats? No, no way in hell. I'm going to have more than one slice and I'm going to enjoy it. What you may ask does this have to do with Crossfit, performance nutrition and leading a successful life?

Part of enjoying life is making sure that you take some time away from dieting, working out and daily stress. Enjoy time with your family, eat the fruitcake and don't worry about the calories. The holidays are a busy time of the year and sometimes its hard to get into the gym; workout if you can, when you can. Most importantly don't get to caught up if you slip up or don't make it to the gym. It is nothing to dwell on.

-Paul Siegel

Kiersten in the middle of yesterdays workout.

Ray, of our on-rampers, working through Day 3. Ray and Blake are champion powerlifters and coming along quite well in the on ramp. Most on-rampers wouldn't have done this workout with 165 lbs. on the bar. Nice form, Ray!

Squat Clean

1-1-1-1-1-1-1

squat cleans are as much technique based as they are strength based. Sure you can muscle some heavy weight up there (well I can't but some of you can) but ultimately with sterling technique you'll be able to move more weight easier. Squat Clean start in a position similar to the dead lift, lifted slowly to the hang and then exploded upwards. When the bar reaches it apogee, ideally at this point the lifter dives under the bar and catches at the rock bottom of the squat with a tight core. At this point the lifter racks the bar on her shoulders like in a front squat. Stand up. Now you've down a squat clean.

A few nutrition tips:

If you're trying to do paleo now is a great season to stock up on nuts and various other essentials Grocers put out bulk nuts for baking now which can be frozen quite easily. I bought a pound each of walnuts, pecans and almonds for $13. Any other time of the year, and outside Costco, it would have been much more than that.

Speaking of, Costco can be a paleo-ites mecca. I highly recommend the flash frozen salmon, tilapia and other fish. This works great for singles or families. Each filet is individually vacuum sealed and frozen. Toss 'em in a sink of cold water they'll defrost in an hour or two. Perfect to be doused with any number of marinades, rubs and spices. Much of the same can be said for any of the quantities of meat that can be found at costco. Knowing how to freeze and/or process foods can save you quite a bit of money.

Speaking of cuts of meat, I'm going to recommend a spiral cut ham. For around $25 you can get at least 7 pounds of healthy, relatively lean meat. It works for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not that I'd recommend it for all meals but you know there it is. Stock your larder with healthy foods and you'll be forced to eat healthy food.

Another great find in Costco is that it has pretty decent fruit and vegetables in quantities that boggle the mind ("3 lbs. of Asparagus, well sure"). This and your local supermarket may be the only place you can really find fresh fruit and vegtables in the winter, but make sure to check out your neighborhood for a farmer's market or farm stans. I have no science to prove it, but local food grown to a local schedule instead of push processed in hot house 1000 miles away has got to better for you. If anything I'm pretty sure it taste better. And often it is cheaper (tax free!) than it commercial relatives. Eat with the season, eat locally, eat healthy.

-Paul Siegel

Name those squatters!

Who is picture A?
Who is picture B?
Who is picture C?

21 Pull-ups

21 Handstand Push-ups

18 Pull-ups

18 Handstand Push-ups

15 Pull-ups

15 Handstand Push-ups

12 Pull-ups

12 Handstand Push-ups

9 Pull-ups

9 Handstand Push-ups

6 Pull-ups

6 Handstand Push-ups

3 Pull-ups

3 Handstand Push-ups

Handstand push-ups are "nose to floor" and pull-ups are "strict" or non-kipping.

Yesterday I mentioned specialization. This is often a word considered to be anathema in Crossfit-land, powerlifters are seen as muscle bound specialists, marathoners as weak. (not my words-PAS). I think that this line of thinking is false and insulting to the specialist. Anyone who can run 26.2 miles has my admiration. Same goes from any person who can squat, bench and deadlift really heavy. Even if we don't want to do what these people do we need to learn their ways, what tools they use and how they get to were they are. Which is why encourage the use of weighlifting shoes, belts and knee sleeves. Why we vary our running distance and intensities. Crossfit is a novel combination of old elements gleaned from experts in their field. Don't take my word for it, empower yourself to learn the techniques, do the research and read everything you can get your hands on and you're interested in. Crossfit is open source, you show us a better way to get as fit and we'll implement it.

Those of you who have been doing Crossfit for awhile undoubtedly have a favorite element. Why not explore this element more in depth? Perhaps you're interested in rowing, why not get out on the water?. Or you really like the power or olympic lifting we do. We know excellent resources to get more in depth for both of those. One part of the crossfit prescription is to learn and play new sports. So, have you? You have created this great foundation of metabolic condition, strength and endurance, go put it to use.

-Paul Siegel

Krissi (upside down) and Mari going through some front lever drills.

Mackenzie doing Day 4 of the On-ramp.

Back Squat

3-3-3-3-3

A great workout to get strong with. Remember that HQ isn't looking for a 3 rep max, but rather a 3RM for the day. Lift as heavy as you can for the day.

One of the poorly understood aspects behind Crossfit is the physiological response elicited by the stressors (WOD) Crossfit prescribes. With constantly varied time and modal domains it is nigh on impossible to accurately test improvements from one workout to the next. With a singular modality sport such as rowing or weightlifitng an input exhibits a certain output and the variables are so simple that a coach can accurately predict what worked and what didn't. They can then replicate this stressor and see if it keeps working. This is impossible in Crossfit.

Yesterday we did "Helen". The combination of stressors leading up to this (looking back two weeks or so) will have to be accurately replicated for another test of "Helen". Or for that test to be considered scientifically relevant. But what we see is that there are far too many inputs to accurately define one as causing the specific desired output. Next time we see "Helen" it is very likely that the workouts leading up to it will not be the same, indeed that is the hallmarks of Crossfit. Can we then consider this a true test of "Helen" or just our "Helen" for the day? It is this variability that precludes scientific testing, instead we must rely on anecdotal evidence as to the efficency of Crossfit.

And the anecdotal evidence says it works. How many of you hit a PR on Total? Or some improvement in weight moved and distances covered faster in one of the many workouts we've done? Rather than consider Crossfit as a mix of stressors, we must consider the program (the unique mix of constantly varied functional movement at high intensity performed across broad time and modal demains) as a single stressor. In this we lose scientific specifics, but gain an answer to our general question "What works?": Trust the program, but do all of it. Don't skip the heavy days and don't skip the distance days. Everyone loves a kick ass metcon, but a lot of the real work happens in those distance and strength days. Who knows you might like the specific work more.

-Paul Siegel