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Wednesday, September 30, 2009


"Helen"

3 rounds for time:

400m run

21 KB Swings (55/40 lbs.)

12 Pullups



If you missed the wagon on donating for FGB, there's still time to donate. We're $235 away from reaching $3000.


Just wanted to take the chance here to tell everyone they did a fantastic job with the snatch yesterday. It's an incredibly complex movement, and one that is very hard to do heavy. It's one of those movements we'd prefer to see more often but only comes up every 3 months. We've often encouraged you to put your goat in your warm-up, the same applies to any of the difficult barbell movements. Get sound mechanics, build to a consistancy with the movement and then we can work on intensity, whether that means more reps or more weight. Warm-up with a few snatches and cleans after your Dynamic Range of Motion (DROM). Get in a few presses. Do some push ups, ring dips, handstand holds. I try and do double unders ever time I workout, because that's what I need to work on the most. The more familiarity, and frequency, you have with these movements the better the technically difficult days are going to be.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Karin after her date with 65.

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

"It doesn't take a lot of education to check things out. All it takes is access to resources and a minor distrust of everyone else on the planet and a feeling that they are trying to put something over on you." -Kary Mullis, Nobel Laureate.

Monday, September 28, 2009



Mike: "Hey Chris, Do you have any mice?"
Chris L.: "No, Mike I don't. Why?
Mike: " 'Cause I got to feed these pythons."

Sometimes the fetal position is the only one that really makes sense.


CFHQ
Rest Day

-or-

CFSS Make-up Day
"Angie" or "Date with 95"


We'd like to thank everyone who helped out with FGBIV. Thanks to all the competitiors for fighting like hell for every rep and for the all the spectators for supporting them. Special shoutout goes to James and the members of Crossfit Addiction, who came out to throw down. We managed to raise $2535 which is well above our gym goal, FGBIV riased $1, 012, 732. I've got about 550 pictures to wade through and then those will be up on Flickr in the coming days. Once again thanks to everyone, we'll see you in the gym.


Congrats to Jonathan on getting his Level 1 Cert this weekend in Belfast. See if you can't find him on the mainsite pictures today.

-Paul Siegel

Friday, September 25, 2009

135 lb. Squat Clean 10 reps
50 GHD sit-ups
135 lb. Squat Clean 8 reps
40 GHD sit-ups
135 lb. SquatClean 6 reps
30 GHD sit-ups
135 lb. Squat Clean 4 reps
20 GHD sit-ups
135 lb. Squat Clean 2 reps
10 GHD sit-ups


There will be no 8,9 and 10 a.m. classes tomorrow. Why?

'cause Fight Gone Bad is the only show in town. Heats start at noon, get there early to get a good spot. For those not competing make sure to bring $5 for brazilian barbecue and beer afterwards.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

CFHQ
Rest Day
-or-
CFSS WOD
400m Run
21 KB Swings
15 K2E
9 Ring Dips
3 rounds
FGBIV. 2 Days and $100 Dollars. 10 people kicking in $10 will get us there.
"Who are You Working Out For?"
There has been a lot of attention given to the Fight Gone Bad fundraiser and the actual workout over the last few months. We have talked about your old P.R.'s and coming in to compete against each other and yourselves, but I do not feel as if there has been enough attention given to why we are doing this. Doing FGB on Saturday should be more than just another workout for all of us. Our concerns and motives should not be only for ourselves this time around. The money we raised is not for our own pride or feelings of accomplishment, it is for the people in our lives who are fighting a battle with cancer or with aftermath of injuries incurred while fighting for our country. We need to put aside our own selfish reasons for being out there on Saturday and instead think of all those souls who are having their own fight with an unimaginable enemy. So, I ask that all of us show up for FGB with them in mind. Think of someone in your life that is in this struggle and do it for them. Your P.R. isn't as important as simply showing support for those who need it. If your on the fence or simply scared of competing, change your mindset and be there for our friends, family or colleagues who need you.
-Chace

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

5 rounds for max reps:

Body weigh bench press
pull ups
Body weigh back squat

score is all reps for all exercises in all rounds

CFSS
W.O.D.

3 Rounds of:

15 Burpees

21 Pull-ups

30 Goblet Squats, 70lbs(50lbs.)

There has been a lot of attention given to the Fight Gone Bad fundraiser and the actual workout over the last few months. We have talked about your old P.R.'s and coming in to compete against each other and yourselves, but I do not feel as if there has been enough attention given to why we are doing this. Doing FGB on Saturday should be more than just another workout for all of us. Our concerns and motives should not be only for ourselves this time around. The money we raised is not for our own pride or feelings of accomplishment, it is for the people in our lives who are fighting a battle with cancer or with aftermath of injuries incurred while fighting for our country. We need to put aside our own selfish reasons for being out there on Saturday and instead think of all those souls who are having their own fight with an unimaginable enemy. So, I ask that all of us show up for FGB with them in mind. Think of someone in your life that is in this struggle and do it for them. Your P.R. isn't as important as simply showing support for those who need it. If your on the fence or simply scared of competing, change your mindset and be there for our friends, family or colleagues who need you.



Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Dead lift
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

FGBIV. This Saturday at Noon. We're $130 short of our goal.

We're still open and dry after all this rain.

Just to re-iterate for Saturday:
Who: You, Friends and Family
What: FGBIV.
When: Saturday September 26th. Heats start at Noon so come early.
Where: Crossfit Sandy Springs (270 carpenter drive)
Why: To support Wounded Warriors and Athletes for a Cure
Cost: $5 per person for those not working out. This'll be for BBQ and beer after the workout.


Monday, September 21, 2009

Press
1-1-1-1-1
Push Press
3-3-3-3-3
Push Jerk
5-5-5-5-5
We're $165 short of our Fight Gone Bad goal. 6 days. Donate while you can.
I posed the question on here a few days ago "Can you ever be strong enough?". This weekend I learned the answer to that question. For crossfit you can only be strong enough as long as your seeing increases in work capacity across broad time and modal demains. When you stop seeing returns on this strength, than you are truly strong enough.
Of course the same thing applied to any of the 10 physical attributes. Cardiovascular fitness is only good as long as your seeing increases in work capacity across broad time and modal demains, beyond a certian point for Crossfit there's not a return on the investment.

Tonight's classes will run as scheduled, despite the rain.

Saturday, September 19, 2009




Sunday CrossFit at 11:00

(21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps of)


Handstand Pushups


L-Pullups

Friday, September 18, 2009







Chad's Absolution

5 rounds for time:

30 GHD Sit-ups

25 Back Extensions



See this demo area for the difference between a Hip and a Back extension. The demo is under "Hip and Back Extension"



N.B.: If you have not been doing regular sessions of GHD sit-ups in workouts or your warm ups you won't be doing them in this workout. If you'd like to know why, read this article.







We'll be running a task priority test session for Fight Gone Bad on Sunday at 11 a.m. regardless of the posted workout. Basically if you have a certain Fight Gone Bad score in mind (300 points) we'll set this up so you know exactly how long and how much work it took you to get this score within the rest scheme prescribed. It's hard to describe on here, it'll make more sense when you come in.


Starting Monday we'll also be reviewing a different movement in Fight Gone Bad and perfecting your form on each of them.


If you can't tell we are really excited about this. You should be to.




I've also noticed a lot more people writing comments on the blogs. I really like this and want to encourage all of you to do this or at least check 'em out. At the bottom of every day there's a link to "Comments" if you click on it will take you to a new page with the post and the comments. Jonathan, Nate and myself consistently post up our workouts but there's also other banter on there. If we haven't see you in a while (or at all for those cyber lurkers) leave us a little love.



-Paul Siegel

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Nate and Chuck destroying "Diane"

"Daniel"

50 pull ups

400m

95 lbs. Thruster 21 Reps

800m

95 lbs. Thruster 21 Reps.

400m

50 Pull ups

FGBIV. We're still $240 short. Please Donate.

Who: Crossfit Athletes (that be all of you) and friends and family.

What: FGBIV workout and Grand Opening Celebration.

When: Saturday September 26th at Noon.

Where: We'll be doing the workout in heats inside and the party will be outside depending on weather.

Why: To officially open our new space and raise a little money for Wounder Warriors and Athletes for a Cure.

Even if you haven't signed up on the Fight Gone Bad page you're more than welcome to come do the workout.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

CFHQ
Rest Day

-or-

Max Box Jump Competition

Standing or Running Start

then

3 rounds for time:

30 box Jumps 20"

25 Dumbbell Push Press 50 lbs.

20 pull ups

FGBIV. $240 is all we need. Donate.

Proprioception -N, Physio. from the latin Proprius meaning one's own. The ability to sense the position and location and orientation and movement of the body and its parts.

The reason we don't have any mirrors in here is because we are trying to establish prioperception. We're asking you to develop a sense of how your body moves in space, for example asking you to imagine what your lumbar curve is doing when you can't look at it. When you lose tightness across your shoulders in a front squat but you have no idea you did it, that is a loss of Proprioception. It's an easier skill to develop than a muscle up and one that is very necessary. All you need to do is notice how one position varies from the other and when they change. If you have a butt wink in your squat or drop your hips in the pushup, you have to have some idea that your doing it to fix it. Do a few reps with poor form, then do a few reps with exacting form. Try and notice the difference in which muscles are tight and which aren't, what parts of your body need to be where to get it right . Once you can notice the difference that is prioperception. Now extend that sort of testing to every movement we do in here and you'll begin to get closer to perfect form. -Paul Siegel

Tuesday, September 15, 2009





Front Squat


3-3-3-3-3


FGBIV. $230 short of our goal. Still plenty of time to donate. We'll be doing Fight Gone Bad at Noon on Saturday 26, 2009. We're going to have multiple heats going through so come early and we'll get you scheduled in. Afterwards if you can eat we'll have Food and Drink since it's also our grand opening.


Weightlifting Notes:



  • Shoes: I still see plenty of people lifting in tennis shoes. We've discussed this before and talked about ills of lifting on a marshmellow. But here's a great video from VS Athletics showing exactly what we see when you lift in tennis shoes. Barefoot, Chucks or lifting shoes, anything else and you're really missing pounds on a heavy day. Next time your warming upa heavy day take your shoes off and really pay attention to your body. If you don't feel more stable than put 'em back on.

  • Jumps: The only way to get really good at figuring out where to make jumps in weight is plenty of experience under the bar doing the kind of lifting we do in here. And even then it is never a sure thing. There are a host of factors that influence our decisions in making jumps. From how you feel that day to your form on the lift to a certain something in the air that's not second hand smoke, everything has an influence. It's important that you communicate with us how the lift felt (more than just "heavy") and that you have faith in us where we tell you to make jumps. That's what you pay us for.

  • Mindset: 75% of heavy lifting is mental. A strong mind can make up for weaker muscle, but a weak mind (that's scared of the weight, unsure or what not) can overpower strong muscles everytime, especially at a Rep Max (RM). Approach that bar liked it call your mom a dirty name and be aggressive with it. Fake aggression if you have to. But know that you're going to make that lift. I've heard it termed white hot focus. You have to go to a very deep and quiet place mentally to lift heavy weights well. Use whatever you need to get there.

  • Missing: You're going to miss, it happens quite often especially if you're doing progressive jumps trying to get to a Rep Max for the day, which is how we treat strength days in here. The important thing for a miss is that you fix what you did wrong and then forget about the missed rep for the rest of the session. Don't let it weigh you down (pun intended).

Monday, September 14, 2009

"Annie"
50-40-30-20-10
Double Unders
Sit-ups
FGBIV. We're $270 dollars short of our goal. Now's the time to really dig deep so we can make our goal. 11 Days and then it's go time.
We haven't talked about eating on here in awhile. For those of you doing paleo, the bountiful summer harvest is coming to a close with fall right around the corner. If you're doing Paleo, you should be trying to eat as local and as close to the season as possible. That way you're getting fruits and vegetables at the peak of freshness. Most of us forget that fruit shouldn't be available in the winter. Supermarkets have destroyed the idea of growing seasons, why worry about seasons when you can get fresh fruit from Australia, Chile, Brazil? Mainly because the nutritional profile of these imported foods are not as good as local food in season. Not to mention the environmental damage of all that transportation. So what's a smart Paleo crossfitter to do? The answer for most of us, who don't own working farms, is that we comprise. You're guiding question on eating Paleo is "What would a cave man do?". The answer is probably not popping down to Publix for something fresh. If you been used to eating berries and other citrus start thinking about switching to apples and pears. If you'd like to keep that fresh taste through the winter, most fruit freezes very well. Other tree fruit will be coming into season throughout the winter, keep an eye out for them. Remember it's just a few short months of winter, so go ahead and try some other stuff out there. Root vegetables will usual be available for a large part of the year and are mainly in season. A great book to look at on this subject is Barbara Kingslover's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle".
On another paleo note, I've been looking into buying some grass fed beef (which is available throughout the year). It's much cheaper the more you order. However I don't have the space to store half a cow. If anyone else is interested in getting an order together, talk to me a the gym or post on the blog. I'm just judging interest right now and not talking specifics.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

CFHQ
Rest Day
-or-
Make-up Day
-0r-
3 rounds:
400m run
9 Burpee Clean and Jerk (4olb-20lb Dumbbells)
12 KtE's
15 Sumo Dead lift High Pull (75lbs -45lbs)
We don't use scales in here. Never have, never will. I'd gladly destroy ever scale I get my hands on. Jon Gilson states it more eloquently than I can. Weight is deceptive. 200 pounds on the bar is 200 pounds but what you weigh one day may not be the same as the next. You may weigh more at night than you do during the day. If my car was as unreliable as a scale, I'd have sold it long ago. Simply stated muscle weighs more than fat. Most people (especially women and those already lean) will gain weight as they get stronger especially in here.
Ask yourself the more important questions: How do I feel? How do I look? Am I more capable today than I was yesterday? Do you really need the validation of a scale for your success in here? Or is moving up to the next band, putting 10 more pounds on your deadlift or running a 400 faster enough?

*Sunday Class at 11 a.m.*

Friday, September 11, 2009




Barbara
5 rounds of:
20 Pullups
30 Pushups
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats
Rest exactly 3 minutes between rounds
FGBIV. Edging closer everyday to our goal . We still need your help.
9/11. Never forget those who gave their lives for our freedom.
"The workout of the day (WOD) represents a challenge that has been issued to the athlete; "Complete this task, if you can. Complete it better than anyone else and you win". Completing the challenge, and gaining respect for doing so, is only possible if all requirements of the challenge are met. Some requirements, such as the exercises, sets, reps and loads, are stated in writing. Other, often missed requirements, are implied, and assumed to be a standard set of requirements for all workouts. The implied considerations are accuracy (correctness of movement and range of motion) and honesty (completing all of the work and correctness of score). Failing to meet the implied requirements is a failure of no less magnitude than failing to complete the specified reps. Real progress comes when the athlete accepts the complete challenge and gives equal importance to both implied and stated requirements." -Crossfit Brisbane

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Krissi making a 20lb. vest look easy.



Congrats to Big Mike P. on putting up 1005 on his total. This is 465. (make sure to watch the very end of the video)



Push Jerk



3-3-3-3-3



Fight Bone Bad IV. Thanks to everyone who's already donated, but we're not there yet. We're in the final stretch of funding now and still need everyone's support.

We've always been anti-glove in here. Simply the stated the glove is a hindrance to develop great grip strength. It changes the way your hands hold the bar( whether it be barbell or pull up bar) and it makes it harder to hold by increasing the effective thickness of the bar. What you can't hold you can't pick up. The only reason you should ever wear gloves is to cover an injury, which was probably caused by wearing the gloves, not developing calluses and then forgetting the gloves. If they have wrist straps it's even worse, because not only are you making your hands weak but also you're wrists weak as well. Some of you have suggested you want to avoid calluses. That's just not going to happen. Calluses protect your hands from everyday abuse and let you work harder in here, they are a natural by-product of barbell and gymnastic work. This doesn't mean you have to have hands like a longshoreman. Filing down and moisturizing your calluses keeps them smooth, supple and still helpful in the gym. A good way of easing into callus development is using gloves for half a workout, and gradually decreasing the amount of time spent in glove. Jonathan keeps a can of Burt's Bees Hand Balm in his car and uses it every time he drive anywhere. Just remember, If you're going to wear gloves make sure they match your purse.


Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Don hitting 1000 on his total.
"A Good Walk Spoiled"
4 rounds for time:
100ft Walking Lunges with 30 lb. Dumbbells
24" Box Jump 30 reps
30 lb. weighted pull ups 20 reps
FGB IV. If you don't want to donate online you can bring Chace, Jonathan, Nate or myself cash or check and we'll see that it gets in there.
I've mentioned foam rolling in passing, and showed a few of you how to do some of it. But today I want to talk more about it.
Technically speaking foam rolling full name is Self Myofascial Release. We can learn a lot from the name here. The important part is Myofascial. Muscle are made of fascia, individuals layer of muscle fibers that glide smoothly when working properly. Think of them as pages in a book or a ream of paper. When you damage your muscles they develop adhesions between the layers and as such don't work as optimally or efficiently. This damage can be felt as pain, soreness or tightness in some muscle and can be transmitted to joints. In worse cases these adhesions can develop in tendons and connective structures causing more pain.
What we want to do is release these adhesions, and we do this by rolling on the foam roller. Prescriptions vary but essentially you want to roll back forth ont the foam roll near a sore area. When you find a point of pain (and it will be excruciatingly painful) hang out there for as long as you can take, back off and then go into that area again. What's happening is that your releasing the adhesion's developed by working out, causing the muscle to work better by letting them slide more easily. If you start experience joint pain look up or downstream of the joint for tightness in muscles. When my knee acts up and it's not weather related I'll look for soreness in either the Quad, Hamstring, IT band or Soleus and Gastrocnemius. And then I'll go after them with the foam roller. Sometimes the foam roller isn't enough to really dig deep into the adhered muscles (or to get past the superficial muscle) so you'll need to move to the lacrosse ball, the ball is especially useful for places like the piriformis, the shoulder girdle, and hip musculature.
I try not to foam roll till at least 4 hours after a workout, but I'll hit it before a workout and throughout the day especially if I'm really sore. And if I am immediately sore, than those 4 hours go out the window. If you cant get to your masseuse for some trigger point therapy or Active Release Technique, than take a roll on the foam roller. A good foam roller costs between $10-$30 and are available from numerous resources, lacrosse balls are available for around $3 at any sporting good store and last essentially forever. Make sure to get one that is fully 6" around and no more than 36" wide. Now, no one says you have to be foam rolling( not yet anyways), but you'll feel better, you'll move better and it'll increase your performance.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

CFHQ
Rest Day
-or-
CFSS
"TOTAL"
Back Squat 1RM
Press 1RM
Deadlift 1RM
Best of 3 attempts in all lifts. Score is combined pounds for all 3 lifts.
Fight Gone Bad IV. 18 Days. $1205 to our goal.
Thanks for everyone who came and participated in yesterdays Labor Day Fun. Ya'll left everything out there on the track. Including some skin from your tail bone. Thanks to Jonathan for hosting the after party.
It's very easy to avoid the heavy days, just as it's easy to avoid the long grinders and steady state 5k's. But it's all a part of a whole. Everything you avoid, because you're afraid of putting weight on the bar, because you're afraid of a 5k is a detriment to your fitness. Ultimately the increased work capacity you develop in here will ward off the rest home down the line. You put in your pain and work now to keep you healthy and active later.

Saturday, September 5, 2009


Kristen (on the L in the lower picture) and Ryan (on the R in the top picture) working through their last workout "The Chubby Ribeye". We'll miss you both so much and hope your travels are safe, the wind is always at your back and the road rises to meet you at ever step. Keep in touch and come back when you can.
Clean and Jerk
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
Fight Gone Bad IV. Donate. 22 days.
* The Gym will be closed Monday September 7, 2009. We'll be meeting at Dunwoody High School at Noon.*If you didn't get the email about the labor day fun leave a comment and we will get it to you.
" She's recently taken a part-time job teaching Crossfit, a strength and conditioning program that she does on her own and which she calls "her secret weapon" that helped her excel in the Olympic year. Cafaro loves lifting very heavy weights, something she attributes to the program. " I feel like a lot of rowers are scared to put a lot of weight on the bar and push themselves to their limit in the weight room," she says. "I felt like that was the enticing part about working out with this group. They encouraged me to open up my power output by just adding more weight to the bar, rather than just doing 4x40 reps of a lighter weight, which is the usually rowers workout." -Rowing News September 2009.
Erin Cafaro won gold in Beijing as bow seat (that's the very front of the boat) of the women's eight.
From Olympians to Kelly Clarkson to your Grandma, Crossfit is growing every day. Are we (ever) in danger of going mainstream? Is this growth good or bad?
*Class Tomorrow at 11 a.m.*

Friday, September 4, 2009

Mike notching a 15-second PR (and a gym record) on Elizabeth.
CFHQ
Rest Day
-or-
"Glass Menagerie"
Backwards Run 137m
3 rounds
21 DB Swing 55lbs/35lbx
Crab Walk 40ft.
33 Sit-ups
Bear Crawl 40ft
Backwards Run 137m
-or-
5 rounds
15 Power Snatch 95lbs.
Run 400m

Fight Gone Bad IV. We've raised $1005 so far which is great, but we've still got $995 to go. The clock doesn't stop until you cross the finish line. 23 days to go.
Discussion question ('cause it's Friday and we all need intellectual stimulation): Can you ever be strong enough? Is there a limit where you see that you don't need to be any stronger?

Thursday, September 3, 2009

This post is about how to take your hands from the above, to the below.


Today will be a special post, separate from the everyday WOD stuff (if you'd like to see todays WOD stuff it's below this), on exactly how to tape your hands. Nothing like this really exists out there in the blogosphere, so pass it on to all your crossfit friends and acquaintances.
We've found a method that works for very well for protecting torn palm calluses and also for the prevention of tears. All you need for this is some 1.25" or 1.5" cloth athletic tape. Cloth tape is better than anything else we've found. It's cheap easily found and not slippery.



1. Measure with tape from the top of your longest finger to several inches past the base of your wrist.

Your going to then double this measurement in tape. We find that around 16"-18" works very well for even the largest of hands.



2. Double the tape over in half lengthwise


3. Smooth the tape out, smooth it over an edge or something sharp, try and get all the air bubbles out.



4. Double it over on itself so that the two ends meet. And the same side of tape is facing up. This will leave a loop for your finger to fit through.



5. Place another strip of tape on the bottom of the strap you made above, this holds it together and adds another layerof abrasion resistance. Fit it on the necessary finger above to cover your palm. Note how far past the wrist it goes. Before you tape it to your wrist, stretch your wrist out backwards so that there is enough slack in the strap. Now take one wrap around your wrist. Double the wrist strap back on itself and trap it with another loop of tape. We've found that only one loop around the wrist the strap will pull loose. If the strap pulls free it will still protect your hands but, it's annoying and not something we need.

Now get to work.


The straps are reusable just throw away the wrist loops and keep 'em in your notebook.


Run 5k


4, 5 and 6 p.m. will meet at Column's Drive (the official CFSS 5k and 10k route). Nate and I will be in the gym in the afternoon if you'd like to come on and try something else.


Directions From our current location:
Head up Roswell Road to Johnson's Ferry and take a left
Take Johnson's Ferry over the river
Columns Drive is on the left at the first light over the river
Head all the way down Columns til it dead ends in a gravel parking lot. (this will seem like a long ways).
Chace will be there with his shirt off.
Make sure to bring $3 dollars for parking.
Go for a new PR.
It is for very good causes
Haiku is not easy.
No seriously, donate what you can when you can. We've passed our halfway mark, but we've still got pretty far to go.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Congrats to Karin, Jeff and Nina and everyone who competed on their great showing at Crossfit Woodstock's memorial WOD "Mr. Joshua".

Fran's Boat Race was a nasty little number

Elizabeth
21-15-9

135 lbs. Squat Cleans

Ring Dips




Fight Gone Bad IV. We're almost half way to our fundraising goal but we still need your help. Donate soon!


If you didn't get the email about the Labor Day fun leaves us a note in comments and we'll make sure you get the email.
Body weight movements are some of the biggest parts of what we do in here. Look at workouts Like Murph, Angie or Cindy these workouts are some of the hardest in crossfit and they are completely body weight. Improvements in body weight movements come very slowly if they are not worked constantly, so I'm going to talk today about two things you can do to improve your body weight movements.
Grease the Groove. Grease the Groove is a basic procedure first enumerated by Pavel Tsatsouline (incidentally the man who brought kettlebells to America) and used to great success in his program. What GtG says you should do is to increase the specificity and frequency with which you work body weight movements. The article specifically states pull ups, but you can also use this for push ups, squats and dips. Throughout the day when you think about you knock out small sets of 5 or 10. What has worked well for some is putting a pull up bar in your home and knocking out a few every time you pass under it. The amount of exposure to the movement forces a quicker adaption and an increase in the overall strength of the movement. Meaning that by doing more over a longer period, when you need to you can do more when you need to.
Negatives. This is another method that can be used to quickly build strength in body weight movements. Essentially what a negative means is forcing the body into a weighted eccentric movement, where a given muscle is forced to lengthen under tension. In plainer terms this means jumping up to the top of a pull up and lowering yourself slowly (3-6 seconds) to the bottom of the movement. The same can work for full push ups, dips and squats in some cases. I've used this method with ring dips to some small success. This is a very potent methodology ad should be used very carefully, start slowly with negatives and never use them during a workout. This is skill work for before or after a workout. Start out with 3 sets of 5 reps and work up to around 3x15, but never more than this. I'd be surprised if you'd weren't able to do a normal (non-negative) body weight movement before you got to 3x15.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009


Jared mid "Jarabeth"



Fran's Boat Race


1000m Row

21 95 lb. thruster

21 pullups

750m Row

15 95 lb. thruster

15 pullups

500m row

9 95 lb. thruster

9 pullups

If rowers are not available than the running sub is 1 mile, 800m and 400m.

Have you donated to Fight Gone Bad 4 yet? A prize package for the most money raised is still out there for the win. 26 days left.

Your brain thinks you can do less than your muscles actually can. Ignore your brain. Or, you know, try to. Thanks to Rob for sending this to Nate and for Nate bringing it to my attention. If you find an interesting article or topic you'd like covered post it to comments.