Name that squatter.
Name that squatter.

1 round of:

Bod pod for percent

Post numbers to comments if you'd like.

Remember we will be closed for working out tomorrow and open from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. for Bod pod and other tests.

Jarrett on the b-day WOD
We had a great turn out for the Paleo lecture. Thanks to everyone who showed up.

10 Minutes Handstand Push-ups

5 Minutes Squats

2 minutes Pullups

1 minute push-ups

Total reps for all exercises.

Reminder there will be no classes or work outs this weekend. We are open Saturday from 8-All test are finished, strictly for the Bodpod. We won't be doing the WOD. We will not be open Sunday. You would be well advised to take this weekend as a rest weekend.

For the Bodpod:

Avoid eating a meal two hours beforehand

Avoid exercising two hours before hand

Don't uses caffeine two hours before the appointment

Men should wear single layer compression shorts (like bike shorts with no padding) or speedo type swimsuits.

Women should wear spandex-type swimsuit, or Single-layer compression shorts and sports bra (NO padding or wires).

-Paul Siegel

Daily Nutrition Links:
The Definitive Guide to Dairy - From Mark Sisson, Author of The Primal Blueprint
Calories in the USA(via AnaerobicInc) - Interactive charting of consumption between 1970 and 2007

We miss ya Sheri.

Back Squat

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

Sheri Hofherr, one of our Crossfit family is going into the Hospital tomorrow for a double mastectomy. We want to wish her the best with her surgery and recovery and ask you all to keep her in your thougths and prayers tomorrow. She tells us that she intends on being back in the gym as soon as she can. And that she wants to get her pullup soon. To her this is only a hurdle to be overcome.
-Paul Siegel

Paleo Update

Thanks to everyone who came out the lecture last night. I enjoyed it, and I hope you did as well. For those who couldn't make it, we were unable to videotape as the camera didn't work but you can see the slides by going here: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AVhbYzUU-UW8ZGdocmtndDZfMzVoazI4c3djaw&hl=en If you click the mouth in the bottom right corner, it will open the speaker notes which I will go back and update with more details in the coming week. So there are probably about a thousand things I forgot to hit upon in the lecture, so I will be doing some guest blog posts in the coming weeks on nutrition, and providing lots of links to data and such that people have asked for. Also, I invite you to tell us what you have been eating, or have any ideas when it comes to Keys to Success and Common Pitfalls in the comments. My first is: Plan ahead. Take the time at the beginning of the week to figure out what you will be eating all week, and possibly cook a bunch of food to have around the house. Grilling a couple pounds of chicken breast on Sundays, and boiling maybe a half dozen eggs really helped me stay on course.
- J

Grumpy old man hour at CFSS.
Paul " Bean Dip" Seigel squatting like a true professional.

CFHQ

Rest Day

-or-

3 Rounds of:

400m. Run

21 DB Swings, 55/40lbs.

24" Box Jumps, 15 reps

-or-

Say "Happy Birthday" to Karin, Becky, and Amy with this little nugget of birthday love.

3 Rounds of:

30 DB Swings, 55/40lbs.

30 GHD Sit-ups

30 Burpee-Box Jumps, 20"

800m. Run

-or-

Make-up Day

When we first started thinking about this challenge I realized I needed to educate myself, so I went out to buy a few books. When I arrived at the diet section I was presented an overwhelming number of options, hundreds of books all purposing to do the same thing. How was I to tell good from bad. And I thought wouldn't it be great if someone would just tell me what I was supposed to eat and then maybe the why.

Luckily for you Jonathan will be doing that very thing at 7 p.m. tonight. He'll be presenting a lecture and then a Q&A afterwards. Paleo snacks may be provided.

-Paul "Bean Dip" Siegel

Awesome job on thrusters, Tyler.
Ryan and Roger racing on the rowers.

Clean 1 rep max

Bench Press 1 rep max

Overhead Squat 1 rep max

Clean is from the ground, power or squat.

We will treat this like Total, with a 3 attempt limit at each lift. Work steadily through each lift with enough rest to ensure good reps. And make sure to finish to keep an eye on the clock so you finish in time.

Met-cons hurt. There I've said it. Fran, FGB, really any workout that you huff and puff for in some way will always cause a little bit (or a lot) of pain. That's the dirty little secret of crossfit, that at some point we except and understand that to improve ourselves (whether for sport, or for life) we must endure the pain, even come to embrace it. We must endure torn hands, "Fran Cough" (which in actuality are burst micro-blood vessels in the throat normally only seen in race horses) and pain in all it's myriad and diverse forms.

And we understand that this will make us better. It may not be macho to admit it, but I enjoy the workouts after it's done more than when I'm doing it, or getting ready to do it. Yet still I come back everyday-and you do too.

What does that say about you, about us? Perhaps it is evidence of a lingering insanity. Instead I would argue that simply coming through our doors everyday (with the expectation of everything we discussed above) is evidence of a fortitude beyond measure. And that is something to be truly proud of.

L to R Eric, Roger, Vilas, Amy, Jason, Craig, Carl, Blake in the Red, and Nara on the end.
Amy turning downhill on the 800m. Excellent work!

5 rounds for time of:

500m Row

135 lbs. Thruster, 7 reps

Re-cap of Saturday's meeting:

We'll discuss the two separate contests. The first we'll discuss is the nutrition contest. This judging is done purely in body fat lost. We are pushing the Paleo diet but this is by no means the only diet you can do. We think it is the most effective and the diet that you can carry on doing after the contest. Your first test is on January 30th and then again on March 13th. Cost is $35 for each time. On the 30th there will be no workout and we will be closed that Sunday. Sign up here. If you have questions about Paleo come on the evening of the 27th for Jonathan's lecture. I've also put up some good links on the sideboard to the right of the daily blog posts. If you've got any good resources let us know about them.

The second test is more akin to the "Cherry" test and re-test we do with the on-ramp. Everyone will be doing 4 workouts starting on the week of February 1st. THE FIRST PERFORMANCE TEST, FROM FEB. 1 TO FEB. 5, IS MANDATORY FOR EVERYONE. WE WANT TO HAVE A BASELINE FOR EVERYONE. We know what the four workouts are and we won't tell you till a day or two before hand. So you can stop asking us. Everyone will retest after approximately 43 days. Now if you think you can have the best improvement relative to your own time then it is $20 to compete. I will not attempt to describe the formula here, and hopefully Jonathan will chime in with a description.

We would strongly recommend that everyone get at least the first Bodpod test. We would also recommend everyone try the performance competition especially if you've needed some push in here to really succeed. $20 is not a lot of money but it is enough to motivate anyone.

If you have any questions post to comments, email Nate or ask us in the gym.

-Paul "Eagle's Perch" Siegel

Kiersten with the effect of double unders
400 lbs. deadlift 3 women. Will it go?

No worries. Even after 150 hip extensions.

CFHQ

Rest Day

-or-

CFSS WOD

Gut Check Challenge info meeting at 11 am-12 p.m.

We'll be discussing both the contests so come with any questions you have about that. We'll also have our sign-up sheet for the Bodpod. So you can do that before or after the meeting. If you can't make the meeting we'll recap everything on here on Monday.

Sunday class at 11:00

Nate really going after that PR on the snatch, but falling seriously short in the moon bounce. Those 5 year olds can be some tough competition. 6 a.m. class from the 100 Burpee Pullups WOD. These guys and gals are consistent, intense and fun. (L to R) Georgia, Jarrett, Curtis, David, Chris (?)
Amber notched a 3:00 pr on her re-Cherry last night! 11:28 to 8:28.

Three rounds for time of:

50 Double Unders

50 Back Extension

Many of you have expressed how much you love the foam roller, I too am enamoured with this simple yet very effective tool. For some time, and a good bit of pain, you can increase range of motion, decrease soreness, improve muscle efficiency and general increase overall well being. What the foam roller does, the lacrosse ball simply amplifies and adds too. Add in a healthy dose of stretching and movement dysfunction should be very limited.

And here's the tough love: you have to put in your time. And I can't tell you how long to spend. But a 10 second pass is not sufficient. You need to stay on the roller, in the stretch, or with the ball for as long as it takes to feel change. Has the pain, range of motion or whatever stopped, gotten better or gotten worse? Can't tell? Get back on there and hang out till something gets better or you can't stand the pain.

Much of what we do as coaches is diagnosing limits and accommodating these faults. These range from simple inexperience to more complicated physical faults often involving past injuries. However if simple inflexibility is your limiting factor than you should be actively and aggressively fixing this. It will hurt, but it will also be better for you.

-Paul Siegel

Wade midway through a jerk. Nate's creative photography

Yay Burpees!

3 rounds for time of:

135 Clean and Jerk, 10 reps

30 GHD sit-ups

Some details about the Bodpod:

Go here to schedule an appointment and to pay. You must sign up with them and in here with us.

In order to make your test as successful as possible please follow the following directions:

Avoid exercising 2 hours before the tests.

Avoid eating a meal 2 hours before the tests.

Avoid the use of stimulants such as caffeine at least 2 hours before your tests.

Men should wear single-layer compression shorts (without padding) or Form-fitting Speedo© or Lycra© / spandex-type swimsuit.

Women should wear spandex-type swimsuit, or Single-layer compression shorts and sports bra (NO padding or wires).

We're going to do our best to provide privacy for those of you taking the Bodpod test.

Last Thursday Dinner before the Gut Check Challenge. Teela Taqueria. 7 p.m.

Christopher the chalk burglar.
Mike on deadlifts and Paul on inquisitive look. Nice job both of you guys.

100 Burpee Pullups for time

Ideally Pullup bar is 1 foot above standing reach

Usually I will confine myself to technical recommendations or common motivation. However for this post I will leave my comfortable bailiwick for ruminations for which I am singularly ill equipped but one I have attempted to write again and again. If I err or offend it is neither my intent or desire.

The three most common complaints we get from women in the gym are as follows (in no particularly order):

1. "I can't lift this weight, do a pull up..."

2. "I don't want to get all big and muscle-y..."

3. "I think I still have a few more pounds to lose."

The last one is by far the most common, although we hear the others a fair bit as well. Rather than approach each of these as symptom of a distinct neurosis I believe these to be a systemic reaction to societal pressure. What I mean by these is that these three reactions can all be traced to negative body images and ideas. These concepts are further re-enforced in popular culture through literature, film and other media. This filters down to fitness and beyond.

What we do in Crossfit is so out of touch with the normal working out "recommended" to women as to be almost unrecognizable to the common globo-gym goer, especially if she was not an athlete. No routine for abs that can be done in 5 minutes ? No useless 50 minute spin on the ellipitcal? No counting calories down to each grape? Treasonous!

Yet here you are.

Crossfit women have callused hands from pull-ups, holding bare metal and working on the floor, scraped shins from deadlifts and bruised collar bones from cleans, and who fight through every workout like it's a battle rather than a jazzercise class! Crossfit women love being strong, Crossfit women appreciate the challenge of a new movement or new workout, Crossfit women recognize that they are beautiful and confident. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

If any of y'all have anything to add please post to comments.

-Paul Siegel