From my family to yours!

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WOD 12/25/2009

Rest Day
 

During the tecnique lecture at the level 1 cert there sometimes is a live display of the role intensity plays on technique. The speaker will bring a trainer up and have them do "Grace"(30 clean & jerks @ 135# for time).

The point is to display small technical faults that happen when an athlete is pushing their physical threshold. If the athlete is moving with flawless technique, no matter the time or score it is too slow. If the athlete is moving wrecklessly with obvious technical flaws in everything he/she is doing, no matter the time or score it is too fast. Jimi, the trainer in the photo above, went through the 30 reps looking solid for the most part while showing some flaws in technique here or there. When this happens the athlete is moving at the right pace while maximizing the intensity.

Threshold training where accuracy and speed are important occur in many different competitive arenas. Race car driving, combat shooting, chess, typing. To excel at any of these require both high levels of technique and speed.

Technique must be developed at slow pace first and done so with consistency. Then intesity should be introduced to the point of your threshold. From there it's a constant teeter totter with improving technique to improve speed to push that threshold to the next level.

So what's more important to Crossfit, techinique or intensity? The answer is both.

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Here's a video Dal sent me of the latest and greatest fitness equipment. Now that's intense..he turns red!!

My favorite part is "concentrated range of motion"...what??

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Reminder there is only one class Thursday at noon. No classes on Friday or Saturday.

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WOD 12/24/2009

4 rounds for time of:

10 burpee cleans(m135#/w95#)
5 pull ups(strict)
10 deadlifts(135#/95#)
5 inverted burpees

programmed by Dal
 

Megan did 5 rounds for time of:

1 Back Squat 185#
2 Thrusters 110#
3 Cleans 100#
10 C2B pull ups

Her time was 8:57

Pretty impressive. I'm a proud coach right now. I've seen her continue to grow as an athlete and continue to push herself while working out alone.

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WOD 12/23/2009

Overhead Squat 2-2-2
Front Squat 2-2

rest...

max rounds in 3 mins of:

7 burpees
7 pull ups

rest 2 minutes and repeat totaling 3 cycles

The On Rampers were introduced to the med ball clean and wall balls today. It was an interesting and fun workout. The group is moving along at a stellar pace and will be ready to join group sessions in Jan.

Our next on ramp starts Jan 11 and there is still space available.

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When you are 90 years old, would you rather have the ability to phyically live independently(walk, sit and stand, pick things up, go up stairs, etc) with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and a high resting heart rate... OR ... have those three health markers at an extremely healthy place and not be able to live without 24/7 physical help?

Post your answer to comments

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WOD 12/22/2009

"Filthy Fifty"

For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

Same loads and heights for men and women. Scale as needed.
 

I visited Team CrossFit Elite Fitness Academy over the weekend. The place is beautiful and Eric, who runs it was an incredible host. When I walked in one of the first things I noticed was their skills list posted on a white board in the gym. I thought I would post a picture of it to give you guys an idea of some of the stuff that’s out there. Are you a well rounder beginner? an intermediate athlete? not there yet?

Where ever you are on the list I'll bet that you all looked at it and thought about your numbers. You gave yourself some sort of assessment. Maybe even went as far as to set a new goal. If so, that's exactly yhe point!

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**Schedule This Week**

We will have a normal schedule Monday through Wednesday. One class Thursday at noon. No classes Friday or Saturday. Regular Sunday class at 10am.

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WOD 12/21/09

Rest Day

Clean+1 Jerk 2-2-2(This is two cleans plus one jerk)
Hang Snatch 2-2-2

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WOD 12/20/2009

Angie

100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats

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I'm currently working on putting together our skills list for the level 2 testing. On top of the physical tasks you will have to accomplish, there will be a short written test. The written test will have very basic questions about a few of the foundational movements, the squat, the deadlift, and the shoulder press. You will also need to know your personal bests for the following barbell lifts:

Back Squat
Front Squat
Overhead Squat
Deadlift
Shoulder Press
Push Press
Jerk
Bench Press
Clean
Clean & Jerk
Snatch

If you keep a journal and pay attention to the technique review in class this won't even be a test for you, it'll be that easy.

The final physical skills list will be posted in mid-Jan and we will begin testing Feb 20, 2010. We will have scheduled testing days posted each month. During the testing days you can go for any tasks on the list and a coach will sign off on ones you accomplish. You do not need to finish all the tasks on one testing day. Once you complete all the tasks needed to pass you will be given the written test and become an official CFU level 2 athlete. Over time we will add a level 3 which will be much more demanding than the level 2. I'm super excited for these changes and can't wait to see your excitement when you work hard to pass this test and do!

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WOD 12/19/09

Row 1000m x 5

rest 3 minutes between efforts

Megan did a great job picking out our tree for the CFU holiday. She went through a tedious process which included overhead squatting hundreds of trees to determine balance and weight until we finally found the right one for our party and yes she did it for time.

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**Accomplished Athletes**

Over the next week I will be taking some pictures of our newly inducted accomplised athletes. We have a large group who have made it in over the last few months and I have been slacking on getting them up on the page, I appologize. Congrats to all of you who have made it!

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**Affiliate Throwdown Saturday Jan 9**

There will be an affiliate team competition hosted at Brethren CrossFit in celebration of their 1 year anniversary. Post to comments if you are interested in competing.

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WOD 12/18/2009

Weighted Pull up 4-4-4(strict)
Weighted push up 4-4-4

rest...

21-15-9 reps for time of
toes to bar
dumbell thruster(m35#/w20#)
 

I picked up the brochure and it has some interesting stats. The shoe increases muscle activation 28% in the glutes, 11% in the hammies, and 11% in the calves. Wow, are they serious? How was tested? I can't believe this is an actual product for sale. There is still a part of me that thinks this is some kind of joke.

The truth is these shoes will end up doing more damage than good. This shoe will jack up your knees and hips and lead to back pain. That's just my humble opinion. Check out this article about the painful truth of running shoes.

What shoes do you WOD in? Post to comments.

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WOD 12/17/09

Rest Day

For a lot of you today was your first exposure to turkish get ups. Post your thoughts on the movement to comments.

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**NorCal Sectional Qualifiers**

The date of the qualifiers has been moved to March 27-28 and the venue has been moved to Mitty high school.

Why should you sign up to compete? We have our fire breathers who have aspirations of landing one of the 20 spots. Most of us wouldn't dream of being able to this and that's okay. You should still compete. The reason is to give you a purpose for your training. When you are training for something like a competition, it gives you a purpose. When you have a purpose, you are more committed. When you are more committed you push yourself harder. When you push yourself harder you get more fit. When you are more fit your life is better. Follow me?

If you are in the cell daily, just register and compete. You will not be sorry. Registration will be open Monday December 21.

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WOD 12/16/2009

Front Squat 4-4-4
Zercher Squat 4-4-4

rest...

Max rounds in 10 mins of:
7 burpees(6 count)
3 push jerks(m135#/w95#)
7 pull ups