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

CFHQ

Rest Day

-or-

CFSS

"Fight Gone Bad"

3 rounds of:

1 minute Wallball (reps)

1 minute Sumo Deadlift Highpull 75 lbs. (Reps)

1 minutes Box Jumo 20" (Reps)

1 minute Pushpress 75 lbs (Reps)

1 minute Rowing (Calories)

In this workout you move from one of 5 stations after one minute of work. After 5 stations there is a one minute rest. Repeat for 3 rounds. Scoring is based on total reps for each movement and calories on the rower in all 3 rounds.

Diet Tips and Tricks:

One of the best things Nate had me do when I first started my diet was to write everything I ate down. The accountability of that small note book was an omnipresent check on my diet. Knowing that I would have to look back, and show Nate, my transgressions was a huge help in getting on the right track. Plus it allowed me to look back and see where I had erred and what I had done right. It also allowed Nate to see the same things. We are more than happy to help anyone with diet but we need something to look ate, some record of what you ate. If you're doing Paleo we don't really need weight and measures but if you're doing Zone or otherwise we'll need numbers as well as type of food.

In the decidely liberitarian bent that is Crossfit we've not specified a diet for the Gut Check. We will recommend the Paleo diet because we think it's the best. But we are not forcing anyone to do that specific diet. Do whatever works best for you. However, if you come to us looking for advice we're most likely going to offer you the paleo take on it.

Newb, Ryan, giving us a thumbs up on box jumps.
Who is getting yelled at in this picture for bad form?

Deadlifts

3-3-3-3-3

Dates to Save for the Gut Check Challenge:

January 23 Gut Check Challenge Info Meeting at 11 a.m.- 12 p.m.

January 27th 7 p.m. Paleo Lecture and Q&A

January 30th Bodpod testing

February 1st Performance test starts run through February 5th

March 13th 2nd Bodpod test/ Body Fat challenge ends.

March 15th through 19th Final Performance testing

Deadlifts anyone?

Walk it out.

With a continuously running clock, squat for 60 seconds. Subtract the number of

squats completed from 60, and do that many pull-ups in

minute two. In minute three, squat again, subtracting the number

completed from 60. Do that number of push-ups in minute four. Minute

five is squatting again, and minute six pull-ups.

The pattern is squats, pull-ups, squats, push-ups, squats, pull-ups, etc.

The goal is to stay within the workout's formula for as long as possible.

Don't do more than 60 squats in any round.

In any case, stay moving for 12 minutes.

Dates to Save for the Gut Check Challenge:

January 23 Gut Check Challenge Info Meeting at 11 a.m.- 12 p.m.

January 27th Paleo Lecture and Q&A

January 30th Bodpod testing

February 1st Performance test starts run through February 5th

March 13th 2nd Bodpod test/ Body Fat challenge ends.

March 15th through 19th Final Performance testing

Sunday class is canceled.

Nara and Becky doing yesterday WOD RX, freakin' badass.

Chace improving his work capacity across "board" time and modal demains.

CFHQ

Rest Day

-or-

CFSS WOD

3 rounds for time of:

15 Deadlift (55% of 1rm)

20 Double Unders

25 Situps

400m run

"Iron"

by Henry Rollins

I believe that the definition of definition is reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself.

Completely.

When I was young I had no sense of myself. All I was, was a product of all the fear and humiliation I suffered. Fear of my parents. The humiliation of teachers calling me "garbage can" and telling me I'd be mowing lawns for a living. And the very real terror of my fellow students. I was threatened and beaten up for the color of my skin and my size. I was skinny and clumsy, and when others would tease me I didn't run home crying, wondering why. I knew all too well. I was there to be antagonized. In sports I was laughed at. A spaz. I was pretty good at boxing but only because the rage that filled my every waking moment made me wild and unpredictable. I fought with some strange fury. The other boys thought I was crazy.

I hated myself all the time. As stupid at it seems now, I wanted to talk like them, dress like them, carry myself with the ease of knowing that I wasn't going to get pounded in the hallway between classes. Years passed and I learned to keep it all inside. I only talked to a few boys in my grade. Other losers. Some of them are to this day the greatest people I have ever known. Hang out with a guy who has had his head flushed down a toilet a few times, treat him with respect, and you'll find a faithful friend forever. But even with friends, school sucked. Teachers gave me hard time. I didn't think much of them either.

Then came Mr. Pepperman, my advisor. He was a powerfully built Vietnam veteran, and he was scary. No one ever talked out of turn in his class. Once one kid did and Mr. P. lifted him off the ground and pinned him to the blackboard. Mr. P. could see that I was in bad shape, and one Friday in October he asked me if I had ever worked out with weights. I told him no. He told me that I was going to take some of the money that I had saved and buy a hundred-pound set of weights at Sears. As I left his office, I started to think of things I would say to him on Monday when he asked about the weights that I was not going to buy. Still, it made me feel special. My father never really got that close to caring. On Saturday I bought the weights, but I couldn't even drag them to my mom's car. An attendant laughed at me as he put them on a dolly.

Monday came and I was called into Mr. P.'s office after school. He said that he was going to show me how to work out. He was going to put me on a program and start hitting me in the solar plexus in the hallway when I wasn't looking. When I could take the punch we would know that we were getting somewhere. At no time was I to look at myself in the mirror or tell anyone at school what I was doing. In the gym he showed me ten basic exercises. I paid more attention than I ever did in any of my classes. I didn't want to blow it. I went home that night and started right in.

Weeks passed, and every once in a while Mr. P. would give me a shot and drop me in the hallway, sending my books flying. The other students didn't know what to think. More weeks passed, and I was steadily adding new weights to the bar. I could sense the power inside my body growing. I could feel it.

Right before Christmas break I was walking to class, and from out of nowhere Mr. Pepperman appeared and gave me a shot in the chest. I laughed and kept going. He said I could look at myself now. I got home and ran to the bathroom and pulled off my shirt. I saw a body, not just the shell that housed my stomach and my heart. My biceps bulged. My chest had definition. I felt strong. It was the first time I can remember having a sense of myself. I had done something and no one could ever take it away. You couldn't say shit to me.

It took me years to fully appreciate the value of the lessons I have learned from the Iron. I used to think that it was my adversary, that I was trying to lift that which does not want to be lifted. I was wrong. When the Iron doesn't want to come off the mat, it's the kindest thing it can do for you. If it flew up and went through the ceiling, it wouldn't teach you anything. That's the way the Iron talks to you. It tells you that the material you work with is that which you will come to resemble. That which you work against will always work against you.

It wasn't until my late twenties that I learned that by working out I had given myself a great gift. I learned that nothing good comes without work and a certain amount of pain. When I finish a set that leaves me shaking, I know more about myself. When something gets bad, I know it can't be as bad as that workout.

I used to fight the pain, but recently this became clear to me: pain is not my enemy; it is my call to greatness. But when dealing with the Iron, one must be careful to interpret the pain correctly. Most injuries involving the Iron come from ego. I once spent a few weeks lifting weight that my body wasn't ready for and spent a few months not picking up anything heavier than a fork. Try to lift what you're not prepared to and the Iron will teach you a little lesson in restraint and self-control.

I have never met a truly strong person who didn't have self-respect. I think a lot of inwardly and outwardly directed contempt passes itself off as self-respect: the idea of raising yourself by stepping on someone's shoulders instead of doing it yourself. When I see guys working out for cosmetic reasons, I see vanity exposing them in the worst way, as cartoon characters, billboards for imbalance and insecurity. Strength reveals itself through character. It is the difference between bouncers who get off strong-arming people and Mr. Pepperman.

Muscle mass does not always equal strength. Strength is kindness and sensitivity. Strength is understanding that your power is both physical and emotional. That it comes from the body and the mind. And the heart.

Yukio Mishima said that he could not entertain the idea of romance if he was not strong. Romance is such a strong and overwhelming passion, a weakened body cannot sustain it for long. I have some of my most romantic thoughts when I am with the Iron. Once I was in love with a woman. I thought about her the most when the pain from a workout was racing through my body.

Everything in me wanted her. So much so that sex was only a fraction of my total desire. It was the single most intense love I have ever felt, but she lived far away and I didn't see her very often. Working out was a healthy way of dealing with the loneliness. To this day, when I work out I usually listen to ballads.

I prefer to work out alone. It enables me to concentrate on the lessons that the Iron has for me. Learning about what you're made of is always time well spent, and I have found no better teacher. The Iron had taught me how to live. Life is capable of driving you out of your mind. The way it all comes down these days, it's some kind of miracle if you're not insane. People have become separated from their bodies. They are no longer whole.

I see them move from their offices to their cars and on to their suburban homes. They stress out constantly, they lose sleep, they eat badly. And they behave badly. Their egos run wild; they become motivated by that which will eventually give them a massive stroke. They need the Iron Mind.

Through the years, I have combined meditation, action, and the Iron into a single strength. I believe that when the body is strong, the mind thinks strong thoughts. Time spent away from the Iron makes my mind degenerate. I wallow in a thick depression. My body shuts down my mind.

The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it's impossible to turn back.

The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you're a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.

-Paul Siegel

Blake rockin day-6 of the onramp
Noah on today's soiree

Three rounds for time of:

Walk on hands, 100 feet
Hold handstand against wall for two minutes
15 Handstand push-ups

Post total time to comments MINUS the six minutes of static handstands.

This WOD on paper looks like a 2% WOD, as in 2% of the population can do it. But remember Crossfit is infinitely scalable, there will always be a level everyone can do. Be brave and be ready to be upside down.

Here is an excellent introduction to Paleo. If you've got general questions about Paleo checkhere to see if it answers any questions. If you've already moved towards a Paleo diet and are looking for some idea for meals here is an excellent resource. Here is a shopping list to support the Paleo diet. If you never strayed from fast food and pizza, print it out and bring it to the supermarket with you. Thanks to Chad for pointing these out!

Around Passover Jews around the world must cleanse their house of what is called chametz. Technical speaking chametz is one of Five grains or one of these five grains that has been combined with water and let stand for more than 18 minutes. But the minutiae of Halakha are neither here nor there, the important part is that they have removed all grains from the house. Once we begin our Paleo challenge you would be well advised to do much the same thing, either eat or remove anything with grains in it, or do as the Jews do and burn it. Out of sight out of mind, and out of temptation. Perhaps a complete purge is more than you bargained for or your significant other/children/roommates will allow, than a quarantine of everything forbidden on Paleo will make it easier to identify and avoid. This is just one of the little tricks that will make the transition to Paleo easier.

N.B. Thursday Night Dinner will be at the Tacomac in the Prado just across I-285 on Roswell road Join us around 7 p.m. there for some good food and good times. Sorry for the late announcement.

-Paul Siegel

What the F*#! Curtis!
New On-Ramper, Adam.

"Lynne"

Five rounds for Max reps:

Bodyweight Bench Press

Pullups

So as expected there have been some question with the Gut Check Challenge (GCC):

1. Is 45 days enough? Yes. Most paleo lock down are 30 days. Most of you will see results in around two weeks. However the variable is how closely you adhere to the diet principles you follow. Those of you who eat strictest will see the best results.

2. It will be $35 per test session for the Bodpod. This may seem a bit pricey but is on the low end for truly accurate body fat analysis. You'll have to sign up ahead of time with us and with the Bodpod. We'll have more info on this in the coming days.