CrossFit Ocean City

FRIDAY HAPPY HOUR

2009-07-11T22:28:01-04:00

Awesome attendance and great performance is making "Girls and Heroes at CFOC" the place to be on Friday night. Our new Friday, 6pm class is a hit! Make an appointment with yourself and register for class now. That way, you'll have all week to ponder which "Girl" and "Hero" will come out of the hopper. This is a great opportunity to take on one of the benchmark WODs.

WHAT IS AN ELITE ATHLETE ANYWAY?

2009-07-10T10:46:07-04:00

What makes athletes elite? Does an elite athlete have to be a champion to be elite? There are many out there who do not look favorably upon CrossFit training. One of the reasons for this is the claim by CrossFit that we create, or forge, elite athletes. These detractors say that if this claim is true, where are these elite athletes? I think the naysayers have confused champion athletes with elite athletes. That’s okay. They just don’t understand the program, either because they have their own agenda within the fitness industry, or they fear the type of hard and intense training we do. I don’t knock their programs, but they go to great lengths to knock CrossFit. Other complaints about CrossFit include the lack of focus, people could get hurt, the unconventional certification methods, or they just don’t like Coach Glassman, the founder of CrossFit. Rather than give CrossFit a try, or at least make an attempt to understand the science behind the training and the true benefits of it, the detractors continue to bash. Perhaps, as I suspect, they’re concerned that CrossFit is producing exactly what it claims: elite athletes.

DEFINING ELITE CROSSFIT TRAINING OVER CONVENTIONAL METHODS

Elite is defined as being in a class by oneself, the select few, the cream of the crop, the best. If that’s the definition of elite, then the category of elite athletes should encompass all CrossFitters. Why? Because what we do for training cannot be matched by any other training methodology. While others use specialized or periodized training methods to isolate training in one modality over a period of eight to twelve weeks, CrossFit avoids both specialization and periodization. One coach might have his athletes do eight to twelve weeks of strength training with slow lifts just to build mass and isolated strength at the expense of stamina, endurance, and functionality. After that period is over, perhaps the coach moves on to plyometrics and, later, running at various distances to rebuild the lost stamina and endurance. This is done on the false assumption that the body needs these long periods of training in one modality in order to improve performance overall. What tends to happen is that the body quickly adapts to the changing stimulus, improves in that one modality, and the fitness gains made earlier revert to what they were prior to the first period of training. It becomes a vicious cycle, repeated year after year by coaches who just don’t know any other way to train. Periodized training has its place, but only if the coach and athlete have a long term goal of specialization for an event for which the athlete stands a good chance of becoming a champion. This isn’t to say that CrossFitters can’t become champions, or that champions aren’t made through CrossFit training. The point is that CrossFitters are elite because of the way they train for the unknown and unknowable rather than for a specific event.

WHERE ARE THE ELITE ATHLETES PRODUCED BY CROSSFIT?

Those who claim that we do not forge elite athletes should look no further than to those who participated in the CrossFit Games and the regional qualifiers for the games. These athletes are certainly the top performers when measured against CrossFit’s definition of fitness: increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains. These athletes can, and do, move large loads, long distances, quickly. I would definitely call these the elite among elite athletes. Unlike champions in other sports, these games competitors did not quite know what they were training for, so they trained for multiple types of events and combinations of events including high rep, low load weightlifting; running; bodyweight/gymnastics movements; plyometrics; low rep, high load weightlifting; with all workouts performed at high intensity. I don’t think anyone training for the Tour de France would train like that, but, again, that’s the difference between elite athleticism and specialized athleticism.

Those new to CrossFit, when they push hard enough on the workouts, experience gains unlike any program they’ve ever encountered. Some come to CrossFit with a background in another sport, believe they’re in awesome shape, and get crushed on their first workout. Others come to CrossFit with zero athletic ability, or they’ve been a couch potato and need to get back into shape again. The appeal of CrossFit is the ability of the random training to capture the imagination, inspire the soul, and produce an athlete where there was none before, or transform a specialized athlete into an elite athlete. Young, old, champion, housewife, former college athlete – they all benefit from CrossFit training and they all become elite athletes when they train using the CrossFit method.

ELITE TRAINING, NOT SPECIALIZED TRAINING

The randomness of CrossFit training and the intensity put out by CrossFitters in the workouts scares most outside the CrossFit community. Sure, if you want to be the top 5% in any given specialized sport, you must focus solely upon that modality. You’re expected to. CrossFit can help, but if you want a 900 pound back squat, you aren’t going to get it doing CrossFit. Likewise, you aren’t going to be the top Olympic champion in the snatch and clean and jerk by doing CrossFit over working the Oly lifts almost to the exclusion of CrossFit. The top Olympic champion and the top powerlifters, as well as the top runners, bikers, rowers, etc. must focus on their sport in their goal to become the champion. Again, CrossFit training can help these athletes, but it cannot replace the specialized training required to be number one.

What CrossFit’s detractors don’t understand is that CrossFit isn’t about specialization. It isn’t about running 120 miles per week. It isn’t about getting massive, bulky bodybuilding muscles. It’s about training for whatever life may throw at you. This is where elite athleticism comes into play. Given enough tasks, the elite athlete will always outperform the specialist, or the champion - and that’s what makes an athlete elite.

ANOTHER ZONE SUCCESS

2009-07-09T07:39:19-04:00

Mendy was one of our Ultimate Gift success stories, but she did it her own way. Yes, she stuck to the additional workouts - training 4 times per week, but the Zone Diet was a real challenge for her. Despite not quite staying in the Zone, Mendy lost 14 pounds! Just goes to show that even without a strict diet, making better choices, limiting intake of carbs, and training with high intensity can work for you.

Mendy before (left) and Mendy after (right) - 14 pounds lighter! (NOTE: click on each pic to enlarge and you can really see the difference.)

SCHEDULE UPDATES FOR UPCOMING WEEKEND 7/10-7/12

2009-07-07T17:17:39-04:00

Friday, 7/10 - Classes at normal times. Friday evening class, 6 -7 pm, will be held AT THE GYM. No cookout this Friday. Sorry! (We had previously advertised a cookout, but we're delaying that by one week due to an out of town commitment that Steve has to attend to that night.)

Saturday, 7/11 - NO 7 a.m class. The 8:15 a.m. class is still on.

Sunday, 7/12 - Right now it is still a go, unless fewer than 4 people sign up by Friday noon. Otherwise, we will cancel it. Go online and sign up there.

BEACH PATROL AND ELITE ATHLETICISM

2009-07-07T09:25:00-04:00

Who would you want to save you or a family member if you got caught in a rip current? I want someone with incredible stamina and endurance who won't quit until the rescue is complete. I want someone from the Ocean City Beach Patrol.

I've had the pleasure of training a dozen or so members of the Beach Patrol for the past 4 weeks. They continue to amaze me with their competitive drive, never-give-up attitude, and eagerness to learn new movements and push themselves beyond their limits. When I think of how CrossFit forges elite athletes, I put the Beach Patrol in that category, because CrossFit will only improve the work capacity of these strong and determined athletes.

Dana, Liz, Randy, and Jenelle pushing hard at the end of a 400m run. Check out the POSE running form! Running in the sand requires you to pull your leg to get your feet up and go fast.

Liz (left) and Phil (right) work front squats. Elbows up!

A 10K RUN WOD?

2009-07-06T09:07:00-04:00

Why would CrossFitters do a 10k run for a workout? Why not? Part of CrossFit training is increasing work capacity across broad time and modal domains. Running, a modal domain, will help to improve stamina and cardiovascular endurance in the oxidative pathway that is necessary to complete the work output for a given time domain. A 10k is the perfect distance for this, not too short and not too long, with times for our CrossFitters ranging from 48 minutes to an hour and twenty minutes. Last week, we pushed the limits of our boundaries just a bit and went for it as a regular class workout!

Eric B. (top) recovers after finishing his 5k run. Ann, Holly, and Val (bottom) pushing near the end of their 10k.

"Have the confidence in your ability to push beyond your boundaries." - S.R.

JULY FOURTH WOD - A DIFFERENT WOD

2009-07-05T09:03:00-04:00

As CrossFitters, we pride ourselves on training for the unknown and unknowable. We don't know what workout we'll do tomorrow, or the next day, or the next week. Once the workout gets posted on the web, or even on the white board at the gym, our minds begin to strategize and scheme on just how to go about tackling the WOD. Do you pace? Do you scale? Do you go hard and die? It's human nature to think about all of this. What if all you know about the workout is that it will contain five rounds of one monostructural metcon component and a rep scheme of 21-15-9 for other movements within each round, but you don't know what movements you'll do in the next round until you complete the current round? Well, we did just that for the Holiday WOD and it rocked!

The WOD was revealed round-by-round as follows:

Round 1: 400m run, 21 deadlifts, 15 hang power cleans, 9 handstand pushups

Round 2: 1000m row, 21 walking lunges, 15 pullups, 9 thrusters

Round 3: 400m run, 21 box jumps, 15 pushups, 9 sumo deadlift high pulls

Round 4: 500m row, 21 wall balls, 15 burpees, 9 front squats

Round 5: 800m run, 21 kettlebell swings, 15 double unders, 9 med ball cleans

CROSSFIT OCEAN CITY CRUSADERS RAISE FUNDS

2009-07-04T08:36:05-04:00

Throughout the summer, our CrossFit Ocean City Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk team, the CrossFit Crusaders, will raise over $25,000 for the charity. From October 8 to 10, the team will walk a total of 60 miles as part of the larger fund-raising venture. Yesterday, the team raised over $1000 when it held a combined carwash and bake sale at the local Wal-Mart on Route 50. A big "thank you" to Wal-Mart, the drivers that stopped by, the volunteers, and all the people that honked and waved in support of the team's effort.

JULY 4TH WEEKEND REMINDER

2009-07-03T22:59:18-04:00

NO classes on Saturday or Sunday. Enjoy two rest days, or go for a long run.

JULY FOURTH WEEKEND HOLIDAY WOD AND NOTES

2009-06-30T19:59:14-04:00

What: Special Holiday Workout

When: This Friday, July 3rd, from 6 to 7 PM

Where: At the gym, of course

Who: For all current CrossFit Ocean City members (sorry, no visiting CrossFitters or guests for this workout. But they can come and watch! Also, this WOD may be in addition to your other WODs for the week, or as a sub for one you missed.)

The WOD: This will be a WOD unlike any you've done before! Don't miss out! (Don't worry, it will be easier than "Eva"!)

Other Notes: NO CLASSES ON SATURDAY OR SUNDAY.