I would like to thank everyone in the BBCF community for being such an inspirational and die hard group of people. I truly understand what is means to be part of something bigger than myself and feel like I am taking a little part of you all with me in my journey.
I am leaving BBCF as a stronger person in the physical and mental aspect of training and life. Everyday we push ourselves past boundaries we otherwise would not have crossed and we do it together as a team helping each other along the way. No one is ever left behind and there are so many people willing to go the extra mile.
Thank you all for allowing me to be part of something so great and inspirational. It has been truly a pleasure coaching and working out alongside each and every one of the amazing members of the BBCF community. I have seen so many outstanding transformations in our members, both physically and mentally.
-Scott is one that will always stick out in my mind. When he started, I was literally squatting under him to help him finish his pull-ups during an FMP and now he is a monster killing WODs everyday.
-Mel and Alena you will always be the two who were just as crazy as I am. No matter what you were always willing to do anything that sounded cool and even things that didn't. Like a three way call at midnight to do some burpees.
Thank you Alena and Jason for taking the box over and putting your heart and soul into each and every member of our community. And thank you to all the members of the BBCF community who come in everyday and give everything they've got This is what makes BBCF so successful, keep up the good work and stay in touch
"The greatest victory is the victory over ourselves. Remember, it's always too soon to quit.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Monday 31, May 2010
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!! Thank you to all the men and woman who fight for our great country daily, and a special thank you to all who have fought in the past, lost a life, or lost someone you love! You are all in my thoughts and prayers...
It is not necisarilly my story to share, but yesterday we did "The Seven" at BBCF, and we were lucky enough to have Dominique Alexander in to share this workout with us, and in passing she said "Glad you were having this workout today, one of my girlfriends husband was one of the seven." WOW - WOW is all I have to say - THANK YOU is my next statement! THANK YOU!
Today we skipped our normal cycle, with strength etc. and did my birthday WOD. :) Yes, we are a few days late but we have had ass kicking HERO WOD's to complete.
"36"
3 x
5 kettlebell deck squats - AHAP
28 kettlebell Russian V-twists - AHAP 14 each side
then right into
6x
19 row for calories
74 air squats
YAYAYAYAYAY it's my birthday!
It is not necisarilly my story to share, but yesterday we did "The Seven" at BBCF, and we were lucky enough to have Dominique Alexander in to share this workout with us, and in passing she said "Glad you were having this workout today, one of my girlfriends husband was one of the seven." WOW - WOW is all I have to say - THANK YOU is my next statement! THANK YOU!
Today we skipped our normal cycle, with strength etc. and did my birthday WOD. :) Yes, we are a few days late but we have had ass kicking HERO WOD's to complete.
"36"
3 x
5 kettlebell deck squats - AHAP
28 kettlebell Russian V-twists - AHAP 14 each side
then right into
6x
19 row for calories
74 air squats
YAYAYAYAYAY it's my birthday!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Sunday 30, May 2010
With the Memorial Day weekend we have another new HERO WOD...
"The Seven"
Seven rounds for time of:
7 Handstand push-ups
135 pound Thruster, 7 reps
7 Knees to elbows
245 pound Deadlift, 7 reps
7 Burpees
7 Kettlebell swings, 2 pood
7 Pull-ups
A suicide bomber killed seven CIA officers and one Jordanian officer at a remote base in southeastern Afghanistan on December 30, 2009 after posing as a potential informant reporting on Al Qaeda. Seven new stars will be etched onto the memorial wall at the CIA where every star represents grieving friends, family and colleagues dedicated to fight against the enemy, forever in their name.
"The Seven"
Seven rounds for time of:
7 Handstand push-ups
135 pound Thruster, 7 reps
7 Knees to elbows
245 pound Deadlift, 7 reps
7 Burpees
7 Kettlebell swings, 2 pood
7 Pull-ups
A suicide bomber killed seven CIA officers and one Jordanian officer at a remote base in southeastern Afghanistan on December 30, 2009 after posing as a potential informant reporting on Al Qaeda. Seven new stars will be etched onto the memorial wall at the CIA where every star represents grieving friends, family and colleagues dedicated to fight against the enemy, forever in their name.
Saturday 29, May 2010
New Hero WOD:
"Arnie"
With a single 2 pood kettlebell:
21 Turkish get-ups, Right arm
50 Swings
21 Overhead squats, Left arm
50 Swings
21 Overhead squats, Right arm
50 Swings
21 Turkish get-ups, Left arm
Los Angeles County Fire Fighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones, 34, was killed in the line of duty on Sunday, August 30, 2009 during the Station Fire. His emergency response vehicle went over the side of the road and fell 800 feet into a steep canyon during fire suppression activities protecting Camp 16 outside the City of Palmdale, CA. He is survived by his wife Lori and daughter Sophia Grace, born three weeks after his death.
A fund for Arnie's family has been established by the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
"Arnie"
With a single 2 pood kettlebell:
21 Turkish get-ups, Right arm
50 Swings
21 Overhead squats, Left arm
50 Swings
21 Overhead squats, Right arm
50 Swings
21 Turkish get-ups, Left arm
Los Angeles County Fire Fighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones, 34, was killed in the line of duty on Sunday, August 30, 2009 during the Station Fire. His emergency response vehicle went over the side of the road and fell 800 feet into a steep canyon during fire suppression activities protecting Camp 16 outside the City of Palmdale, CA. He is survived by his wife Lori and daughter Sophia Grace, born three weeks after his death.
A fund for Arnie's family has been established by the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Friday 28, May 2010
Posting early because we have a new Hero WOD - there are some "nuts" rep counts on some movements so I want everyone to know that we will SCALE accordingly. Would like it to be known, that not Mother Nature screwing with my running today, we were going to run no matter what, but Hero WOD's always replace.
Strength:
Bench press
5-5-5
and some other light technique movement I think of. :)
"Nutts"
For time:
10 Handstand push-ups
250 pound Deadlift, 15 reps
25 Box jumps, 30 inch box
50 Pull-ups
100 Wallball shots, 20 pounds, 10'
200 Double-unders
Run 400 meters with a 45lb plate
Lieutenant Andrew Richard Nuttall, 30, from the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (1 PPCLI), based in Edmonton, Alberta, serving as a member of the 1 PPCLI Battle Group was killed by an improvised explosive device that detonated during a joint foot patrol near the village of Nakhonay in Panjwaii District, about 25 km southwest of Kandahar City on December 23, 2009. He is survived by his parents, Richard and Ethel Jane Nuttall.
Strength:
Bench press
5-5-5
and some other light technique movement I think of. :)
"Nutts"
For time:
10 Handstand push-ups
250 pound Deadlift, 15 reps
25 Box jumps, 30 inch box
50 Pull-ups
100 Wallball shots, 20 pounds, 10'
200 Double-unders
Run 400 meters with a 45lb plate
Lieutenant Andrew Richard Nuttall, 30, from the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (1 PPCLI), based in Edmonton, Alberta, serving as a member of the 1 PPCLI Battle Group was killed by an improvised explosive device that detonated during a joint foot patrol near the village of Nakhonay in Panjwaii District, about 25 km southwest of Kandahar City on December 23, 2009. He is survived by his parents, Richard and Ethel Jane Nuttall.
Thursday 27, May 2010
So this morning, and the rain = :( that would be a sad face. Screws my entire week of programing up for the metcons.
Strength:
Back squats - add 5+ kilos (find your failure point)
5-5-5
Rack jerk
1-1-1-1-1
Metcon:
10 pull ups
20 hang cleans 42.5/30kg
250m row sprint
30 burpees
40 push jerks 42.5/30kg
500m row
50 air squats
60 weighted sit ups
250m row sprint
Strength:
Back squats - add 5+ kilos (find your failure point)
5-5-5
Rack jerk
1-1-1-1-1
Metcon:
10 pull ups
20 hang cleans 42.5/30kg
250m row sprint
30 burpees
40 push jerks 42.5/30kg
500m row
50 air squats
60 weighted sit ups
250m row sprint
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Wednesday 26, May 2010
So of course I had this amazingly great awesome running and rowing workout scheduled, but noooo it has to be some weird kind of sun shining drizzle like sprinkler rain - yes that is my description. So, I switched it to an in door metcon.
Strength:
Deadlifts
3-2-1-1-1 add 2.5 to 5kg from last time for new PR
3 med weight - good warm up
2 heavy weight - still warming up
3 HEAVY singles - failure on the last one is a beautiful thing
Metcon:
3 rounds 1 minute on each movement, 1 min rest between rounds - think Fight Gone Bad
wall balls 20/16lbs
ground to over head anyway 42.5/30kg
box jumps 20in
row for calories
HSPU
Keep a total count of your reps - calories on rower for a total score.
Strength:
Deadlifts
3-2-1-1-1 add 2.5 to 5kg from last time for new PR
3 med weight - good warm up
2 heavy weight - still warming up
3 HEAVY singles - failure on the last one is a beautiful thing
Metcon:
3 rounds 1 minute on each movement, 1 min rest between rounds - think Fight Gone Bad
wall balls 20/16lbs
ground to over head anyway 42.5/30kg
box jumps 20in
row for calories
HSPU
Keep a total count of your reps - calories on rower for a total score.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Tuesday 25, May 2010
Once a week, we will be hitting "benchmark" workouts, so on those days I want you to be sure you log your results either on your card, or we also use an online program called Beyond the Whiteboard where you can track your results as well. The only problem with this, is that if you come in for a workout, and use BTWB you may not be able to have a previous record to view like our cards. :-)
Strength:
Hang clean
3-3-3-3-3 take it easy on strength today to save yourself for the WOD
Glute ham raises
12-12-12
Metcon:
"Fran"
21-15-9
thrusters 42.5/25.5kg
pull ups
Ahhhh she is a dirty pirate hooker of a lady WOD - she will leave you laying on the floor with that blood taste in your throat. Yes, those butterflies in your stomach are normal - if your not nervous before Fran, you have never experienced her!
Strength:
Hang clean
3-3-3-3-3 take it easy on strength today to save yourself for the WOD
Glute ham raises
12-12-12
Metcon:
"Fran"
21-15-9
thrusters 42.5/25.5kg
pull ups
Ahhhh she is a dirty pirate hooker of a lady WOD - she will leave you laying on the floor with that blood taste in your throat. Yes, those butterflies in your stomach are normal - if your not nervous before Fran, you have never experienced her!
Quote - from Chandler
This is a great saying from the book Mind Gym:
If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think that you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't, it's almost certain you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost.
For out in the world you'll find success begins with a fellows will.
It's all in the state of mind.
Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man; but sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.
We are going to start a book of the month club at the gym - meaning, every month we will post the title of a book that has helped any or all of us in one way or another. it does not have to be about working out, but pertain to something that has helped you become mentally, physically stronger.
This is a great idea from Chandler before he goes, and I'm sad we didn't think of it sooner.
I will post June's book on the 1st, but if you want to start early it is:
Mind Gym
Gary Mack
If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think that you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't, it's almost certain you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost.
For out in the world you'll find success begins with a fellows will.
It's all in the state of mind.
Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man; but sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.
We are going to start a book of the month club at the gym - meaning, every month we will post the title of a book that has helped any or all of us in one way or another. it does not have to be about working out, but pertain to something that has helped you become mentally, physically stronger.
This is a great idea from Chandler before he goes, and I'm sad we didn't think of it sooner.
I will post June's book on the 1st, but if you want to start early it is:
Mind Gym
Gary Mack
Monday, May 24, 2010
Monday 24, May 2010
Strength:
Over head squats
3-3-3-3-3 we are shooting for heavy, but we will do our 1 rep max in a few weeks so get comfortable with the movement, think about the drawing; active shoulders, tight stabilizer muscles, deep breath, sit in the chair, hip crease below knees, drive out of the hole, stay in control.
3 sets of max rep STRICT pull ups
Metcon:
AMRAP 15 mins
8 clapping push ups
12 goblet squats - AHAP
16 kettlebell swings - AHAP
Fish Oil Calculator link
For those of you who need to start your fish oil - here is a great tool so you know how much. We are only taking Omega-3 Fish oil, NOT 3-6-9 combo.
http://whole9life.com/fish-oil/
http://whole9life.com/fish-oil/
9 things to do when you're ALL BANGED UP
9 things to do when you're All Banged Up
by Dallas Hartwig, PT, MS
As a physical therapist and strength and conditioning coach, I’ve spent a good portion of my professional career talking to people about recovery, either in the clinic following an injury or in the gym following a high-intensity workout. Since I believe that brief, high-intensity exercise is the most productive in terms of maximizing fitness and minimizing risk of overuse injury and excessive oxidative stress on the body, I prescribe exercise programs that look a lot like CrossFit, with a heavy emphasis on strength movements and gymnastics.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of information out there about how to exercise, but far less information about the application of proper rest and recovery techniques. I see more sub-acute and chronic injuries resulting from inadequate recovery from exercise (especially with high-intensity programs), than resulting from an acute or traumatic incident. The primary fault lies with inadequate or improper recovery from exercise, not the type or intensity of exercise. (To put it another way, it’s not that you’re hurting yourself doing pull-ups – more often than not, it’s because you’re not properly recovering from those pull-ups.)
I believe that a high intensity exercise program is both effective and sustainable life-long, when combined with good nutrition and recovery practices. So I find myself educating my PT patients about nutrition, sleep, active recovery techniques, and stress management practices as often as I do about the physiology of connective tissue healing, lumbar stabilization, or biomechanics. It was this experience that, in part, led Melissa and me to develop a comprehensive and integrative practice (Whole9) to help our clients continue to aggressively chase health and performance without being hindered by nagging pain and injuries.
At some point in our lives, we’re likely to find ourselves over-trained, under-recovered, under-fed, under-slept, over-caffeinated, and (eventually) actually injured. Ideally, the early stages are the time to pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you, and take immediate action to ensure those nagging aches and pains don’t become a seriously limiting chronic injury. So here are the Whole9’s recommendations for what to do when you’re All Banged Up.
1. Take extra rest days. I’m not talking about swapping your rest day from Wednesday to Tuesday – I’m telling you to skip a bunch of workouts. I’m a proponent of taking an entire week off once or twice a year from hard training – and can think of no better time to do so than when you’re banged up. And once you go back to intense training, you also need to give that injured body part another week or three of rest. Yes, really – rest it longer than you think you should. Trust me, you’d rather take three weeks off from all pulling exercises than be plagued with chronic injuries (and sucky performance) for the next six months. Finally, don’t even think about doing two workouts a day or a long met-con to “make up for” your extra rest days. The whole point is extra rest.
2. Get felt up (or feel yourself up). Seek out a good massage therapist. Cyclic compression of muscles after intense exercise reduce swelling and muscle damage. Massage can improve muscle function, resulting in less swelling and fewer signs of inflammation after exercise. Too busy to book an hour long massage? If you’re beat up, no you’re not… skip today’s workout and hit the massage table. Too broke to see your massage therapist every week? Luckily, there are cheaper and still-effective alternatives. Spend enough intimate time with your foam roller to make your significant other jealous. Buy a Stick and use it. Work with a tennis ball or lacrosse ball for some self-myofascial release.
3. Keep moving. Low intensity exercise can protect and enhance the immune system, even when you’re banged up or sick. It also helps with injury prevention and recovery. Moving your body increases blood flow and the number of cells that eat up “debris” in the injury. It also increases oxygen levels to speed up healing, and increases circulation to remove the debris out of injured areas. Finally, exercise prevents stiffness and decreases the formation of scar adhesions. Stay active with movements different from those you normally perform during workouts, but remember to keep things light and easy. Think dynamic warm-up drills, kripalu yoga, an easy swim or a brisk walk. And people… stretch.
4. Use thermal modalities (heat and ice) appropriately. If you have an acute injury (less than 5 days old), ice is your best friend. I prefer crushed ice (in a plastic bag inside a pillowcase) instead of those commercial gel packs – they warm up too fast. Apply the ice to the injured area for 20-30 minutes, at least 3 times daily. Or you could apply ice directly to the injured area with ice massage (as pictured above) for 8-10 minutes. Most importantly, don’t put heat on an acute injury. The inflammatory process is biochemical, and heat literally speeds up that process. Heat vasodilates and promotes the accumulation of interstitial fluid (edema), and the last thing you want with a fresh injury is to add to the swelling. If you really love your Tiger Balm or Icy Hot, that’s okay – but these products have no real thermal effect. (You might get the sensation, but it doesn’t actually heat or cool your tissue.)
Chronic injuries (anything that persists for longer than 2-3 weeks) respond best to heat, which improves blood flow to the healing tissue. So once you’re into the 5-plus day range, you can use contrasting hot and cold, alternating every 2-5 minutes for a total of 20-30 minutes, especially post-workout.
5. Remove inflammatory dietary factors. This should be a no-brainer around here. If you’ve been slipping back into old (poor) eating habits, now’s the time to clean up that mess. Get rid of grains, legumes, and dairy altogether. Need I even mention cutting out booze? And though it’s controversial, I’d also recommend eating less saturated animal fat (especially egg yolks and fat from feedlot-raised, grain-fed animals) as it can increase pro-inflammatory compounds in your body.
6. Boost your vegetable intake. Alkaline foods, especially richly coloured vegetables, help to offset the negative effects of acidic metabolic waste. Vitamin C and polyphenols, like those in broccoli and dark leafy greens, are essential for the repair of connective tissue and to reduce inflammation. Vitamins E (found in sprouts, avocado and dark, leafy greens) and A (found in green and yellow vegetables) are also important nutrients for connective tissue and cell repair. In summary, eat more veggies, especially green leafies… but not more fruit. (I’m wary of fruit’s impact on insulin levels, which, when elevated, increase inflammatory markers in the body). Go easy on carbohydrate-dense root vegetables for the same reason.
7. Calm down (your inflammation). The ratio of omega fats in your diet help dictate the “inflammation status” of your body. If your diet consists of mostly omega-6 fats, your inflammation response will be unbalanced and damaging to your cells. To that end, per Robb Wolf’s recommendations, bump up your fish oil supplementation to 0.8-1.0 gram of DHA + EPA per 10 pounds of body weight. The additional omega-3 fatty acids can help tip the balance in your body away from an inflammatory state. Also, avoid concentrated sources of omega-6 fatty acids, such as “industrial” vegetable oils like peanut, safflower, soybean, and corn oils. You could also consider a GLA (gamma-lineolic acid) supplement. (GLA, while in the Omega-6 family, is not converted to the pro-inflammatory arachidonic acid (AA), but rather to dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA). DGLA competes with AA and prevents the negative inflammatory effects that AA would otherwise cause in the body.)
And it may sound weird, but… don’t forget to brush your teeth and, just as importantly, floss daily. Periodontal disease can contribute to systemic inflammation in the body just like grains, legumes and dairy.
8. Get more and better sleep. This article explains how sleep contributes to a whole host of health and fitness factors, including injury prevention and recovery. During this time period, avoid caffeine, which can disrupt the quality of your sleep even if it doesn’t actually keep you awake.
9. Ditch the Advil. While I don’t purport to be smarter than your doctor, here is one area where I disagree with his recommendation to scarf the Vitamin I (ibuprofen) and other NSAIDs (non-steriodal anti-inflammatories). Sure, NSAIDs suppress the inflammatory process and help with pain control. But research has shown that they actually slow down the overall healing process, and cause the “healed” tissue to be less strong. So allow your body’s healing process run its natural course, and don’t band-aid it with Advil.
by Dallas Hartwig, PT, MS
As a physical therapist and strength and conditioning coach, I’ve spent a good portion of my professional career talking to people about recovery, either in the clinic following an injury or in the gym following a high-intensity workout. Since I believe that brief, high-intensity exercise is the most productive in terms of maximizing fitness and minimizing risk of overuse injury and excessive oxidative stress on the body, I prescribe exercise programs that look a lot like CrossFit, with a heavy emphasis on strength movements and gymnastics.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of information out there about how to exercise, but far less information about the application of proper rest and recovery techniques. I see more sub-acute and chronic injuries resulting from inadequate recovery from exercise (especially with high-intensity programs), than resulting from an acute or traumatic incident. The primary fault lies with inadequate or improper recovery from exercise, not the type or intensity of exercise. (To put it another way, it’s not that you’re hurting yourself doing pull-ups – more often than not, it’s because you’re not properly recovering from those pull-ups.)
I believe that a high intensity exercise program is both effective and sustainable life-long, when combined with good nutrition and recovery practices. So I find myself educating my PT patients about nutrition, sleep, active recovery techniques, and stress management practices as often as I do about the physiology of connective tissue healing, lumbar stabilization, or biomechanics. It was this experience that, in part, led Melissa and me to develop a comprehensive and integrative practice (Whole9) to help our clients continue to aggressively chase health and performance without being hindered by nagging pain and injuries.
At some point in our lives, we’re likely to find ourselves over-trained, under-recovered, under-fed, under-slept, over-caffeinated, and (eventually) actually injured. Ideally, the early stages are the time to pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you, and take immediate action to ensure those nagging aches and pains don’t become a seriously limiting chronic injury. So here are the Whole9’s recommendations for what to do when you’re All Banged Up.
1. Take extra rest days. I’m not talking about swapping your rest day from Wednesday to Tuesday – I’m telling you to skip a bunch of workouts. I’m a proponent of taking an entire week off once or twice a year from hard training – and can think of no better time to do so than when you’re banged up. And once you go back to intense training, you also need to give that injured body part another week or three of rest. Yes, really – rest it longer than you think you should. Trust me, you’d rather take three weeks off from all pulling exercises than be plagued with chronic injuries (and sucky performance) for the next six months. Finally, don’t even think about doing two workouts a day or a long met-con to “make up for” your extra rest days. The whole point is extra rest.
2. Get felt up (or feel yourself up). Seek out a good massage therapist. Cyclic compression of muscles after intense exercise reduce swelling and muscle damage. Massage can improve muscle function, resulting in less swelling and fewer signs of inflammation after exercise. Too busy to book an hour long massage? If you’re beat up, no you’re not… skip today’s workout and hit the massage table. Too broke to see your massage therapist every week? Luckily, there are cheaper and still-effective alternatives. Spend enough intimate time with your foam roller to make your significant other jealous. Buy a Stick and use it. Work with a tennis ball or lacrosse ball for some self-myofascial release.
3. Keep moving. Low intensity exercise can protect and enhance the immune system, even when you’re banged up or sick. It also helps with injury prevention and recovery. Moving your body increases blood flow and the number of cells that eat up “debris” in the injury. It also increases oxygen levels to speed up healing, and increases circulation to remove the debris out of injured areas. Finally, exercise prevents stiffness and decreases the formation of scar adhesions. Stay active with movements different from those you normally perform during workouts, but remember to keep things light and easy. Think dynamic warm-up drills, kripalu yoga, an easy swim or a brisk walk. And people… stretch.
4. Use thermal modalities (heat and ice) appropriately. If you have an acute injury (less than 5 days old), ice is your best friend. I prefer crushed ice (in a plastic bag inside a pillowcase) instead of those commercial gel packs – they warm up too fast. Apply the ice to the injured area for 20-30 minutes, at least 3 times daily. Or you could apply ice directly to the injured area with ice massage (as pictured above) for 8-10 minutes. Most importantly, don’t put heat on an acute injury. The inflammatory process is biochemical, and heat literally speeds up that process. Heat vasodilates and promotes the accumulation of interstitial fluid (edema), and the last thing you want with a fresh injury is to add to the swelling. If you really love your Tiger Balm or Icy Hot, that’s okay – but these products have no real thermal effect. (You might get the sensation, but it doesn’t actually heat or cool your tissue.)
Chronic injuries (anything that persists for longer than 2-3 weeks) respond best to heat, which improves blood flow to the healing tissue. So once you’re into the 5-plus day range, you can use contrasting hot and cold, alternating every 2-5 minutes for a total of 20-30 minutes, especially post-workout.
5. Remove inflammatory dietary factors. This should be a no-brainer around here. If you’ve been slipping back into old (poor) eating habits, now’s the time to clean up that mess. Get rid of grains, legumes, and dairy altogether. Need I even mention cutting out booze? And though it’s controversial, I’d also recommend eating less saturated animal fat (especially egg yolks and fat from feedlot-raised, grain-fed animals) as it can increase pro-inflammatory compounds in your body.
6. Boost your vegetable intake. Alkaline foods, especially richly coloured vegetables, help to offset the negative effects of acidic metabolic waste. Vitamin C and polyphenols, like those in broccoli and dark leafy greens, are essential for the repair of connective tissue and to reduce inflammation. Vitamins E (found in sprouts, avocado and dark, leafy greens) and A (found in green and yellow vegetables) are also important nutrients for connective tissue and cell repair. In summary, eat more veggies, especially green leafies… but not more fruit. (I’m wary of fruit’s impact on insulin levels, which, when elevated, increase inflammatory markers in the body). Go easy on carbohydrate-dense root vegetables for the same reason.
7. Calm down (your inflammation). The ratio of omega fats in your diet help dictate the “inflammation status” of your body. If your diet consists of mostly omega-6 fats, your inflammation response will be unbalanced and damaging to your cells. To that end, per Robb Wolf’s recommendations, bump up your fish oil supplementation to 0.8-1.0 gram of DHA + EPA per 10 pounds of body weight. The additional omega-3 fatty acids can help tip the balance in your body away from an inflammatory state. Also, avoid concentrated sources of omega-6 fatty acids, such as “industrial” vegetable oils like peanut, safflower, soybean, and corn oils. You could also consider a GLA (gamma-lineolic acid) supplement. (GLA, while in the Omega-6 family, is not converted to the pro-inflammatory arachidonic acid (AA), but rather to dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA). DGLA competes with AA and prevents the negative inflammatory effects that AA would otherwise cause in the body.)
And it may sound weird, but… don’t forget to brush your teeth and, just as importantly, floss daily. Periodontal disease can contribute to systemic inflammation in the body just like grains, legumes and dairy.
8. Get more and better sleep. This article explains how sleep contributes to a whole host of health and fitness factors, including injury prevention and recovery. During this time period, avoid caffeine, which can disrupt the quality of your sleep even if it doesn’t actually keep you awake.
9. Ditch the Advil. While I don’t purport to be smarter than your doctor, here is one area where I disagree with his recommendation to scarf the Vitamin I (ibuprofen) and other NSAIDs (non-steriodal anti-inflammatories). Sure, NSAIDs suppress the inflammatory process and help with pain control. But research has shown that they actually slow down the overall healing process, and cause the “healed” tissue to be less strong. So allow your body’s healing process run its natural course, and don’t band-aid it with Advil.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Quote that really struck me
"It takes three people to make you into the best person you can be. Somebody better than you, somebody equal to you, and somebody less than you. People hear this and get freaked out, because they want to be better than anyone, or at least equal. The goal is actually to put yourself as the last person, even if you're the guy in the lead. You can always find something other people are better at. So teach me, show me, let's work on that. If you can accept the humility and understand why it's important, you'll grow so strong in every way. Imagine if you did that to every person you came in contact with? You put yourself underneath them to learn? I always stay a student." Frank Shamrock
The Fighter's Mind - Inside the Mental Game
Sam Sheridan
The Fighter's Mind - Inside the Mental Game
Sam Sheridan
Sunday 23, May 2010
Ahhh we all know when Coach Chandler is in the house, and we are quickly approaching his last days of making up some great workouts. :0(
21-15-9
Clusters 42.5kg (that is a squat clean thruster)
Burpee pull ups
Ughhhh, those are two moves you never want together. :-)
21-15-9
Clusters 42.5kg (that is a squat clean thruster)
Burpee pull ups
Ughhhh, those are two moves you never want together. :-)
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Saturday 22, May 2010
I freaking love Saturday's!!!! It is like the best day of the week - you all still come even though you know it could or will be a tough long workout! I love you guys!
1 mile run
10 tire flips
10 box jumps
10 wall balls
800 meter run
8 tire flips
8 box jumps
8 wall balls
600 meter run
6 tire flips
6 box jumps
6 wall balls
400 meter run
4 tire flips
4 box jumps
4 wall balls
200 meter run
2 tire flips
2 wall balls
2 tire flips
TA-DAAAAAAA!
1 mile run
10 tire flips
10 box jumps
10 wall balls
800 meter run
8 tire flips
8 box jumps
8 wall balls
600 meter run
6 tire flips
6 box jumps
6 wall balls
400 meter run
4 tire flips
4 box jumps
4 wall balls
200 meter run
2 tire flips
2 wall balls
2 tire flips
TA-DAAAAAAA!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Friday 21, May 2010
Ahhhh the end of the work week - and another wear sunscreen one day, use an umbrella the next kind of week. Man, we must of really pissed off mother nature some how!
Strength:
Deadlifts
1-1-1-1-1
Hit a new PR today!
Metcon:
AMRAP 15 mins
7 thrusters 40/30kg
9 KB swings - AHAP
12 chest to bar pull ups
Strength:
Deadlifts
1-1-1-1-1
Hit a new PR today!
Metcon:
AMRAP 15 mins
7 thrusters 40/30kg
9 KB swings - AHAP
12 chest to bar pull ups
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Thursday 20, May 2010
Well we can tell the weather is getting nice - the flowers are blooming, the sprinklers are on, and I sweat like a pig when running. HAHA
Strength:
Back squats
5-5-5-5-5
Strict press
5-5-5
Metcon:
3x
15 SDHP 40/30kg
30 burpees (shhhh)
200m sprint
Strength:
Back squats
5-5-5-5-5
Strict press
5-5-5
Metcon:
3x
15 SDHP 40/30kg
30 burpees (shhhh)
200m sprint
Sexy for the SUMMMER Program!
What: New challenge for the summer sexy beach ready body!
When: June 5th 2010 to August 28th (wanted to go full 3 months, but that falls on Labor Day)
Why: Well we all need to look and feel great, and I got a new TOY!!!!
Details: So, June 5th at 7am to 9am I will be at the gym, we will take pictures, and I will use my new scale - the scale comes with a software program that allows me to enter each and every one of you into the program, and track your changes. It measures weight, body fat, lean muscle mass, internal water hydration, and a few other really cool things. Once I put your info into the computer we can not only chart your changes, but we can print it out for your reference.
This challenge will be different in a few ways...
1. It is not a Paleo challenge, though I do promote and feel that this will result in your best performances both physically, and body composition, I am leaving the nutrition choice up to you, and am always available to help you with the plan youmay want to try.
2. There is a buy in fee for this challenge, it will cost $20.00 per person. $10.00 of every persons $20.00 will go to the winners of the challenge - one man, one woman. The other $10.00 of each entry will go to the gym to help pay for the scale, and the software program, and the two hours once every two weeks I will be at the gym for the sole purpose of tracking every ones results.
3. The results will be judged by your peers - this will go off of the pictures, and the total results from the scale.
4. We will not have a benchmark workout, but we will hit a "main" site Hero or Lady WOD weekly, and these are definitely when you want to be at the gym, and we will be on a constant strength gaining program during this time - all numbers will make changes during this challenge, up or down they will all be good!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Wednesday 19,May 2010
Middle of the week and I bet you thought we might run huh? Well not today - yesterday was a good run day for all!
Strength:
Power cleans (add 5kg to last lift)
3-3-3-3-3
Weighted chin ups
3-3-3-3-3
If you are using a band, lowest band you can use and 3 sets of max reps
Metcon:
5 x
8 kettlebell snatch right arm
10 burpee kettlebell swings
8 kettlebell snatch left arm
AHAP - as heavy as possible for both movements
Strength:
Power cleans (add 5kg to last lift)
3-3-3-3-3
Weighted chin ups
3-3-3-3-3
If you are using a band, lowest band you can use and 3 sets of max reps
Metcon:
5 x
8 kettlebell snatch right arm
10 burpee kettlebell swings
8 kettlebell snatch left arm
AHAP - as heavy as possible for both movements
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Fittest of the Sierras video
This is so freaking cool - what a great video!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmU9H8wHc6o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmU9H8wHc6o
Tuesday 18, May 2010
Ahhhhh, I may be starting to feel human again - oh no, I am joking. I tried to do a "recovery WOD" last night - yes I know, WTF??? You all know me though, so why not just see how the body is feeling, well half way through 40 push ups, and I still had 60 more to go I realized this may not be the smartest move I had made - oh well did it anyway.
Strength:
Power snatch
2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2
(you will notice that we are increasing weights on all of our movements to get stronger, leaner, and fitter, but you will not see that on the snatch lift. Very technical movement, and I want everyone to be comfortable before moving on)
Glute ham raises - ahahahahah another new move, and I love this one - will have to be demonstrated for you.
12-12-12
Metcon:
"Michael" log your times!
3x
800m run
50 back extensions
50 sit ups
Strength:
Power snatch
2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2
(you will notice that we are increasing weights on all of our movements to get stronger, leaner, and fitter, but you will not see that on the snatch lift. Very technical movement, and I want everyone to be comfortable before moving on)
Glute ham raises - ahahahahah another new move, and I love this one - will have to be demonstrated for you.
12-12-12
Metcon:
"Michael" log your times!
3x
800m run
50 back extensions
50 sit ups
Monday, May 17, 2010
My recap of the Crossfit regionals
Hello Everyone,
This is Jerad posting under Alena’s name, because brothers can be cool like that.
Super long post warning!!!!!!
I wanted to give everyone a comprehensive rundown of the events that happened before and after this weekend in lovely downtown Puyallup Washington with Alena, Travis, Travis’ wife Laurie and myself.
We set the pace early by me running late to the airport as I thought we were leaving later than we were so about 20 mins to take off, running through the airport like chickens with our heads cut off rushing to the plane. Luckily there was no one in line for security and we made it just under the gun.
When we realized what plane we were going to be on we all couldn’t help but laugh and cry all at the same time as our flight to Seattle was a small two prop engine plane. This was going to be an interesting two hours.
After Alena and I made multiple jokes on how we didn’t think we’d ever make it to our destination on this fine piece of aviation wonderment, we all made it safely to our destination.
We arrived in Puyallup to our hotel around 9pm, and after settling in found that our beds were about as soft as a piece of plywood on top of a piece of concrete. Needless to say we were all a little stiff in the mornings.
Check in for the event was at 8am so off to the fairgrounds we go. After wandering around for about 10 minutes looking for the event. We came to a barn building that looked like the livestock event center.
Alena and Travis checked in and found out what heats they were going to be in and started to loosen up. Alena was in the 2nd Women’s heat, and Travis was in the 3rd Men’s heat, which was nice because they alternated heats between Men and Women, so they were competing right after each other.
The first Wod of the weekend was 3 Rnds of 10 Overhead Squats and 50 Dbl Unders. Doesn’t sound like much, but I’ve come to find that the WOD’s that look good on paper are never, EVER easy! There was a 12 minute cap on the WOD, meaning if you were not finished in 12 minutes you had DNF (Did not Finish).
Alena was up first. Overhead squats have always been one of her strong suits and the weight was light enough that it wouldn’t giver her issue. Unfortunately Her left shoulder has been bothering her for a few weeks now, and the judging was incredibly strict on hip crease and it was mandatory for her to have her elbows locked on both sides for the rep to count. First round gave her little issue, even with the double unders she was doing well. But the motion of the double unders, and the strict over head squat judging caused problems for her in the second. She probably ended up doing about 15 overhead squats in the second round and most of them they would not count because her elbow was not locked. She gutted out the squats and if memory serves got through the second round of double unders, got a few more squats in the final round in and at that point her shoulder could not take anymore and the final bell was called. She was disappointed in herself that she got her first ever DNF. However this was a difficult WOD for most of the women in this qualifier, as ½ of the women in the competition also DNF.
Next up was Travis who was pretty confident in both of these movements. But again due to the strictness of the judging, they were calling many of his squats “no rep” because they could not see his hip crease with his shirt hanging low on his waist. After he tucked it in he was good to go, and had no other issues after that. He put up a final time of 6:44. Though had the judges realized he was in fact breaking parallel and counted all of his reps, I believe he would have shaved at least a minute or more off his time. After the first event he was 48th overall.
(In a side note the winner of this event was a site to see. Chris Spealler (who is a long time crossfit games competitor) put up a simply amazing time in this event of 2:39. Watching him I was in absolute awe the entire time, I think he only caught his feet in the jump rope once in a 150 total double unders, and at the end he just seemed to get even faster doing them. Incredible site to see.)
Up next was as many reps as possible of deadlifts in 90 seconds. The catch was that the deadlift bar was two inches in diameter all the way across, and your hands had to come off of the bar at the bottom of each rep. Alena and Travis both did well in this event as they both put up 30 deadlifts a piece for a cumulative total of 7,890 (Travis) and 4,671 (Alena) I’m not sure as to what weights they used, but I believe they were both called on no reps at one point for not removing their hands when the bar was on the ground. Alena Came in 24th in this Event, and Travis came in 40th.
(Side note….The winner of this event was a beast of a man named Jerome Perryman. At 6’5” 220, this guy is a solid muscle, and had a cumulative total in 90 seconds of 10,908 lbs. In his sectional qualifier, I heard he put up a 606lb deadlift. There is video online, but I have yet to watch. He also used to play football for the University of Oregon.)
This put an end to the first days events, but not before they announced the events for Sunday. The first event was a 5 mile hill / road run that the first mile was straight up. Travis said that the elevation change in a mile was probably 800 feet. Most of the contenders were not very happy to hear this, but our Warrior Athlete duo did not even balk at the concept of having to run 5 miles. (Thanks Coach Ord!!!)
After a good nights sleep and a prescribed dinner of meat and potatoes from Dr. Mel it was off to bed.
We decided it was going to be a light breakfast and we’d head out for check in, showed up a few minutes late, but no worries. They explained how the timing for the run would work, and how the course would go. I was excited because I was hoping I would be able to run along with them so I could get a workout in, and help motivate along the way, but the event organizers said no non-competitors on the course. Bummer….
The run kicked off and they began up the horrible rolling hill. Laurie and I lost site of them after about the first 1200 meters until they came back around to circle back up the hill. Travis was doing very well, he was somewhere in the middle of the men and Alena was near the mid rear of the women. (By Mel’s advice of course) the next time we saw them Travis had moved up a little more and moved for his final sprint to the finish line. As Eminem was guiding him to the finish line he put up a very impressive time of 36:40.
As Laurie raced through a shortcut to try to catch Travis at the finish line. I stayed and waited it out for my sister and ended up running (sprinting) the last 800 meters with her trying to will the last bit of energy out of her. She put up a dead sprint for the last 400 meters, and finished at 46:00 even. She was very impressed with her time and they both attribute their strong performances to the running of the warrior athlete program, as well as the altitude that we train in. Since we were at sea level it was a benefit to both of them.
Travis Finished 23rd in the Run, and Alena 36th.
(Side Note, Chris Spealler turned on the after burners at the end of the race and crossed the finish line at 33:35)
After downing some free Chocolate milk,
lounging in the lawn
and getting some carbs in them, the heats were reorganized so the top athletes / leaders would be in the final heat gutting it out together.
Now the final WOD was one of the most horrible things I have even seen or heard of.
It was as follows;
For Time:
30 calories on the Concept 2 Rower
30 Thrusters with 95/65
3 Rope Climbs 20'/15'
30 Kettlebell Swings 1.5 pood/1 pood
20 calories on the Concept 2 Rower
20 Thrusters with 115/75
2 Rope Climbs 20'/15'
20 Kettlebell Swings 1.5 pood/1 pood
10 calories on the Concept 2 Rower
10 Thrusters with 135/95
1 Rope Climbs 20'/15'
10 Kettlebell Swings 1.5 pood/1 pood
There was a 25minute cap on the WOD to prevent people from completely destroying themselves trying to finish. Travis and Alena were both in the second heats. So they got to spectate for the first rounds. What we saw was a scary site. Men were falling of the ropes from 15-20’ in the air, they would lift up for thrusters, and their knees were giving out, and as far as the women, one woman went for a thruster at the start of the rounds, and the bar either fell out of her hands and hit her on the head, or the weigh coming down made her fall over, either way, the poor girl was on the ground for about 15mins and was taken out in an ambulance. Needless to say this scared all of us pretty bad, but being the competitors they are, Alena and Travis decided they were going to gut it out. No Regrets!
Travis came out first, and started his row strong,
and moved right along to the thrusters. But again the judges were saying he was not going deep enough. After he took his shirt off, he stopped having those problems. But he ended up having to do about 5 extra thrusters.
On to the 3 rope climbs, and he was pretty exhausted after those. KB were intense and the standard for the games was that the KB had to go over the crest of your head and past your ears for it to count.
Once back on the rower Travis’ ankle was already bloody and burned from climbing the rope.
What happened next was very hard to watch as the exhaustion from the workouts as well as the mental exhaustion from the whole weekend overtook him. Screaming from the bleachers Laurie and myself were trying to shout motivating phrases, and even complete strangers were pulling for him. (I think a few of my phrases almost got me the finger) Unfortunately he did just not have enough gas in the tank, and was unable to finish the WOD in the 25min time limit. But it was clearly nothing to be ashamed of at all as 23 men in total were unable to complete the WOD.
(Travis I hope you dont take this as a negative thing. you're ability to compete at such a high level is incredibly inspiring, and I only hope that next year I can compete next you, as it would be an honor to do so. WELL DONE BROTHER)
Next up was Alena’s heat. She knew before hand (thanks to Tommy V) she was not the most effective rope climber, and we duct taped the living hell out of her ankle so as to prevent the rope burn during the WOD. She started strong in her heat and was the first woman off the rowers. She began her Thrusters and did a pretty good job on them.
On to the 3 rope climbs, she did the first one really well and walked away from the rope, forgetting there were 3. back up the rope 2 more times,
and then to the KB Swings. The first swing overhead almost took her right along with it. As she ended up taking about 4 steps back to reset herself before continuing. The second round took a lot out of her, and there was a lot of “resting in the hole” and the judge screaming at her to get her elbows off her knees. (I think she was going to throw the bar at the judge at one point lol) in the 3rd round Alena dug really deep to a place few of us ever have to go and everyone in the stands were screaming for her to finish. As her brother seeing her struggle like that was a difficult thing to see, as all I wanted to do was help her with the thrusters, or throw her up the rope. But all I could do was what everyone else was doing, just scream for her.
Before Alena went out, she told me, “I don’t care about time….just finish” I can’t help but wonder if those were the words going through her head when the judge said over the intercom “1:15 seconds left” she had a rope climb and 10 kettle bell swings left. She scurried up the rope as fast as she could, touched the top, and dropped down probably about 8 feet to the ground, grabbed the kettle bell and she had to swing 11 times (the judge called no rep on one) and dropped to her knees in exhaustion. She finished with :24 seconds left. And came in 35th in the event.
Afterwards multiple people came up to her and said that her performance was inspiring, and that they were pulling for her.
They are both battered, bruised and broken and beaten. They were both taken to the point of exhaustion, they were both taken to the point of failure, and felt extreme high’s and lows over the weekend. But one thing is for sure, they both walked away with amazing memories and experiences.
Overall Results:
Travis – 47th
Alena – 36th
I’m glad that I could be a part of this experience as well, and be a part of such an amazing community of athletes. I met so many incredible like-minded, fit people this weekend. This has inspired me to continue and train harder (not that I was at any risk of quitting crossfit lol) And I myself may even take a crack at the games next year for the experience alone. I don’t expect to make it far if I do, but it would be an amazing thing to be a part of.
Congrats to Alena and Travis. And thank you both for the memories.
Lets do it again next year.
-Jerad
This is Jerad posting under Alena’s name, because brothers can be cool like that.
Super long post warning!!!!!!
I wanted to give everyone a comprehensive rundown of the events that happened before and after this weekend in lovely downtown Puyallup Washington with Alena, Travis, Travis’ wife Laurie and myself.
We set the pace early by me running late to the airport as I thought we were leaving later than we were so about 20 mins to take off, running through the airport like chickens with our heads cut off rushing to the plane. Luckily there was no one in line for security and we made it just under the gun.
When we realized what plane we were going to be on we all couldn’t help but laugh and cry all at the same time as our flight to Seattle was a small two prop engine plane. This was going to be an interesting two hours.
After Alena and I made multiple jokes on how we didn’t think we’d ever make it to our destination on this fine piece of aviation wonderment, we all made it safely to our destination.
We arrived in Puyallup to our hotel around 9pm, and after settling in found that our beds were about as soft as a piece of plywood on top of a piece of concrete. Needless to say we were all a little stiff in the mornings.
Check in for the event was at 8am so off to the fairgrounds we go. After wandering around for about 10 minutes looking for the event. We came to a barn building that looked like the livestock event center.
Alena and Travis checked in and found out what heats they were going to be in and started to loosen up. Alena was in the 2nd Women’s heat, and Travis was in the 3rd Men’s heat, which was nice because they alternated heats between Men and Women, so they were competing right after each other.
The first Wod of the weekend was 3 Rnds of 10 Overhead Squats and 50 Dbl Unders. Doesn’t sound like much, but I’ve come to find that the WOD’s that look good on paper are never, EVER easy! There was a 12 minute cap on the WOD, meaning if you were not finished in 12 minutes you had DNF (Did not Finish).
Alena was up first. Overhead squats have always been one of her strong suits and the weight was light enough that it wouldn’t giver her issue. Unfortunately Her left shoulder has been bothering her for a few weeks now, and the judging was incredibly strict on hip crease and it was mandatory for her to have her elbows locked on both sides for the rep to count. First round gave her little issue, even with the double unders she was doing well. But the motion of the double unders, and the strict over head squat judging caused problems for her in the second. She probably ended up doing about 15 overhead squats in the second round and most of them they would not count because her elbow was not locked. She gutted out the squats and if memory serves got through the second round of double unders, got a few more squats in the final round in and at that point her shoulder could not take anymore and the final bell was called. She was disappointed in herself that she got her first ever DNF. However this was a difficult WOD for most of the women in this qualifier, as ½ of the women in the competition also DNF.
Next up was Travis who was pretty confident in both of these movements. But again due to the strictness of the judging, they were calling many of his squats “no rep” because they could not see his hip crease with his shirt hanging low on his waist. After he tucked it in he was good to go, and had no other issues after that. He put up a final time of 6:44. Though had the judges realized he was in fact breaking parallel and counted all of his reps, I believe he would have shaved at least a minute or more off his time. After the first event he was 48th overall.
(In a side note the winner of this event was a site to see. Chris Spealler (who is a long time crossfit games competitor) put up a simply amazing time in this event of 2:39. Watching him I was in absolute awe the entire time, I think he only caught his feet in the jump rope once in a 150 total double unders, and at the end he just seemed to get even faster doing them. Incredible site to see.)
Up next was as many reps as possible of deadlifts in 90 seconds. The catch was that the deadlift bar was two inches in diameter all the way across, and your hands had to come off of the bar at the bottom of each rep. Alena and Travis both did well in this event as they both put up 30 deadlifts a piece for a cumulative total of 7,890 (Travis) and 4,671 (Alena) I’m not sure as to what weights they used, but I believe they were both called on no reps at one point for not removing their hands when the bar was on the ground. Alena Came in 24th in this Event, and Travis came in 40th.
(Side note….The winner of this event was a beast of a man named Jerome Perryman. At 6’5” 220, this guy is a solid muscle, and had a cumulative total in 90 seconds of 10,908 lbs. In his sectional qualifier, I heard he put up a 606lb deadlift. There is video online, but I have yet to watch. He also used to play football for the University of Oregon.)
This put an end to the first days events, but not before they announced the events for Sunday. The first event was a 5 mile hill / road run that the first mile was straight up. Travis said that the elevation change in a mile was probably 800 feet. Most of the contenders were not very happy to hear this, but our Warrior Athlete duo did not even balk at the concept of having to run 5 miles. (Thanks Coach Ord!!!)
After a good nights sleep and a prescribed dinner of meat and potatoes from Dr. Mel it was off to bed.
We decided it was going to be a light breakfast and we’d head out for check in, showed up a few minutes late, but no worries. They explained how the timing for the run would work, and how the course would go. I was excited because I was hoping I would be able to run along with them so I could get a workout in, and help motivate along the way, but the event organizers said no non-competitors on the course. Bummer….
The run kicked off and they began up the horrible rolling hill. Laurie and I lost site of them after about the first 1200 meters until they came back around to circle back up the hill. Travis was doing very well, he was somewhere in the middle of the men and Alena was near the mid rear of the women. (By Mel’s advice of course) the next time we saw them Travis had moved up a little more and moved for his final sprint to the finish line. As Eminem was guiding him to the finish line he put up a very impressive time of 36:40.
As Laurie raced through a shortcut to try to catch Travis at the finish line. I stayed and waited it out for my sister and ended up running (sprinting) the last 800 meters with her trying to will the last bit of energy out of her. She put up a dead sprint for the last 400 meters, and finished at 46:00 even. She was very impressed with her time and they both attribute their strong performances to the running of the warrior athlete program, as well as the altitude that we train in. Since we were at sea level it was a benefit to both of them.
Travis Finished 23rd in the Run, and Alena 36th.
(Side Note, Chris Spealler turned on the after burners at the end of the race and crossed the finish line at 33:35)
After downing some free Chocolate milk,
lounging in the lawn
and getting some carbs in them, the heats were reorganized so the top athletes / leaders would be in the final heat gutting it out together.Now the final WOD was one of the most horrible things I have even seen or heard of.
It was as follows;
For Time:
30 calories on the Concept 2 Rower
30 Thrusters with 95/65
3 Rope Climbs 20'/15'
30 Kettlebell Swings 1.5 pood/1 pood
20 calories on the Concept 2 Rower
20 Thrusters with 115/75
2 Rope Climbs 20'/15'
20 Kettlebell Swings 1.5 pood/1 pood
10 calories on the Concept 2 Rower
10 Thrusters with 135/95
1 Rope Climbs 20'/15'
10 Kettlebell Swings 1.5 pood/1 pood
There was a 25minute cap on the WOD to prevent people from completely destroying themselves trying to finish. Travis and Alena were both in the second heats. So they got to spectate for the first rounds. What we saw was a scary site. Men were falling of the ropes from 15-20’ in the air, they would lift up for thrusters, and their knees were giving out, and as far as the women, one woman went for a thruster at the start of the rounds, and the bar either fell out of her hands and hit her on the head, or the weigh coming down made her fall over, either way, the poor girl was on the ground for about 15mins and was taken out in an ambulance. Needless to say this scared all of us pretty bad, but being the competitors they are, Alena and Travis decided they were going to gut it out. No Regrets!
Travis came out first, and started his row strong,
and moved right along to the thrusters. But again the judges were saying he was not going deep enough. After he took his shirt off, he stopped having those problems. But he ended up having to do about 5 extra thrusters.
On to the 3 rope climbs, and he was pretty exhausted after those. KB were intense and the standard for the games was that the KB had to go over the crest of your head and past your ears for it to count. Once back on the rower Travis’ ankle was already bloody and burned from climbing the rope.
What happened next was very hard to watch as the exhaustion from the workouts as well as the mental exhaustion from the whole weekend overtook him. Screaming from the bleachers Laurie and myself were trying to shout motivating phrases, and even complete strangers were pulling for him. (I think a few of my phrases almost got me the finger) Unfortunately he did just not have enough gas in the tank, and was unable to finish the WOD in the 25min time limit. But it was clearly nothing to be ashamed of at all as 23 men in total were unable to complete the WOD. (Travis I hope you dont take this as a negative thing. you're ability to compete at such a high level is incredibly inspiring, and I only hope that next year I can compete next you, as it would be an honor to do so. WELL DONE BROTHER)
Next up was Alena’s heat. She knew before hand (thanks to Tommy V) she was not the most effective rope climber, and we duct taped the living hell out of her ankle so as to prevent the rope burn during the WOD. She started strong in her heat and was the first woman off the rowers. She began her Thrusters and did a pretty good job on them.
On to the 3 rope climbs, she did the first one really well and walked away from the rope, forgetting there were 3. back up the rope 2 more times,
and then to the KB Swings. The first swing overhead almost took her right along with it. As she ended up taking about 4 steps back to reset herself before continuing. The second round took a lot out of her, and there was a lot of “resting in the hole” and the judge screaming at her to get her elbows off her knees. (I think she was going to throw the bar at the judge at one point lol) in the 3rd round Alena dug really deep to a place few of us ever have to go and everyone in the stands were screaming for her to finish. As her brother seeing her struggle like that was a difficult thing to see, as all I wanted to do was help her with the thrusters, or throw her up the rope. But all I could do was what everyone else was doing, just scream for her. Before Alena went out, she told me, “I don’t care about time….just finish” I can’t help but wonder if those were the words going through her head when the judge said over the intercom “1:15 seconds left” she had a rope climb and 10 kettle bell swings left. She scurried up the rope as fast as she could, touched the top, and dropped down probably about 8 feet to the ground, grabbed the kettle bell and she had to swing 11 times (the judge called no rep on one) and dropped to her knees in exhaustion. She finished with :24 seconds left. And came in 35th in the event.
Afterwards multiple people came up to her and said that her performance was inspiring, and that they were pulling for her.
They are both battered, bruised and broken and beaten. They were both taken to the point of exhaustion, they were both taken to the point of failure, and felt extreme high’s and lows over the weekend. But one thing is for sure, they both walked away with amazing memories and experiences.
Overall Results:
Travis – 47th
Alena – 36th
I’m glad that I could be a part of this experience as well, and be a part of such an amazing community of athletes. I met so many incredible like-minded, fit people this weekend. This has inspired me to continue and train harder (not that I was at any risk of quitting crossfit lol) And I myself may even take a crack at the games next year for the experience alone. I don’t expect to make it far if I do, but it would be an amazing thing to be a part of.
Congrats to Alena and Travis. And thank you both for the memories.
Lets do it again next year.
-Jerad
Monday 17, May 2010
Heard it was a great weekend in the gym, some great workouts, some great athletes, and an overall great performance by all.
Strength:
Back squats
5-5-5 (add 5 pounds to you last heavy squat) we are on for some serious strength
Push press
5-5-5 (same as above)
Metcon:
30 GHD sit ups
20 pull ups
400m run
30 push jerks 60/35kg
400m run
20 pull ups
30 GHD sit ups
Strength:
Back squats
5-5-5 (add 5 pounds to you last heavy squat) we are on for some serious strength
Push press
5-5-5 (same as above)
Metcon:
30 GHD sit ups
20 pull ups
400m run
30 push jerks 60/35kg
400m run
20 pull ups
30 GHD sit ups
NorthWest Qualifiers
Just wanted to first of all say thank you to everyone in the BBCF family for supporting Travis and I this weekend. Your thoughts, calls, texts, and emails were a huge help in our mental game!
Laurie and Jerad as our support crew was also a huge help, looking up from the arena floor with my hands on a bar, digging deep to find the inner self, seeing a big smile on Laurie's face, and hearing my brothers yells of support. THANK YOU GUYS!
Workout's were different, and programming of the workouts were a little different than I would of done, but it was a good venue, the crowd and other competitors were amazingly supportive of everyone. I left this weekend with a clean feeling of hope and support for our CrossFit family across the nation.
Day 1 -
WOD #1 Three rounds of 10 OHS at 135/95lbs 50 double unders 12 min time limit - hip crease below knees, elbows must be locked and in control over head
WOD #2 90 seconds AMRAP deadlifts with an strongman bar (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter) you had a choice of three different weights, and it was total reps x weight for a total pounds score.
After the heats were all done they announced day two's workouts, and I sat there feeling a small doubt of why I was even here.
This was the end of day 1, and we left knowing that the next day was going to be way more intense and mentally challenging as compared to today. We ate, and walked, and tried to sleep with the anticipation of what a interesting day Sunday would be.
Day 2 -
WOD #3 Five mile run, with a hill that was super intense twice. Travis and I figured it was about 800 feet elevation change in the first mile, let me tell you the booty lock was intense on the second trip up this hill. This for me was the first time I have ran a distance like that and did not think "This is fing stupid", HAHA.
WOD #4 First all I can say is when we heard them announce this workout, the word we heard most was "oh fuck"... Looking at the roof of the arena, and the ropes hanging down some were scared, some were not, but all were intimidated. The workout was
30-20-10 row for calories, thrusters (weight increasing every round) rope climbs drop the 0 on the #, so 30 was 3 climbs, 20/15 feet, kettlebell swings full extension over head, so you and the KB were in one straight line and if the KB drooped at all your rep did not count, with a 25 minute time limit. So Travis and I sat and watched the first few heats, we watched men fall from 15 feet, knees twist, ankles roll, people pass out to where they needed to be carried off in a chair, and at least half of every heat DNF. WOW is all I could think watching this, that and "oh shit I am scared" never been scared before a workout, nervous not scare - and this one scared the shit out of me. Well, workout #2 that I had to dig deeper than I ever had to find that "warrior" inside me - I didn't have my guys on the floor with me, cheering me on, I didn't have my gym, my comfort, I was in an arena on the floor with 10 other woman, and 500 people watching and yelling. It was fucking hard and rates up with one of the worst workouts I have ever done, maybe because of the 5 mile run, maybe because of the area, maybe because I am a sissy. LOL
Anyway, all and all we had a great time, my body is destroyed, but my mental game jumped higher than it had ever been this weekend, I found something I didn't know was there, and learned that I am OK without winning, and just giving it my all. Funny the lesson I have taught my son since day 1, but could never grasp it and put it into my own life. I aways felt I was letting someone down if I didn't win - this weekend I didn't win a spot, didn't come close, but I know I didn't let any of you down, and I didn't let myself down,I went and gave it everything I had, and that does show that I won.
Laurie and Jerad as our support crew was also a huge help, looking up from the arena floor with my hands on a bar, digging deep to find the inner self, seeing a big smile on Laurie's face, and hearing my brothers yells of support. THANK YOU GUYS!
Workout's were different, and programming of the workouts were a little different than I would of done, but it was a good venue, the crowd and other competitors were amazingly supportive of everyone. I left this weekend with a clean feeling of hope and support for our CrossFit family across the nation.
Day 1 -
WOD #1 Three rounds of 10 OHS at 135/95lbs 50 double unders 12 min time limit - hip crease below knees, elbows must be locked and in control over head
WOD #2 90 seconds AMRAP deadlifts with an strongman bar (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter) you had a choice of three different weights, and it was total reps x weight for a total pounds score.
After the heats were all done they announced day two's workouts, and I sat there feeling a small doubt of why I was even here.
This was the end of day 1, and we left knowing that the next day was going to be way more intense and mentally challenging as compared to today. We ate, and walked, and tried to sleep with the anticipation of what a interesting day Sunday would be.
Day 2 -
WOD #3 Five mile run, with a hill that was super intense twice. Travis and I figured it was about 800 feet elevation change in the first mile, let me tell you the booty lock was intense on the second trip up this hill. This for me was the first time I have ran a distance like that and did not think "This is fing stupid", HAHA.
WOD #4 First all I can say is when we heard them announce this workout, the word we heard most was "oh fuck"... Looking at the roof of the arena, and the ropes hanging down some were scared, some were not, but all were intimidated. The workout was
30-20-10 row for calories, thrusters (weight increasing every round) rope climbs drop the 0 on the #, so 30 was 3 climbs, 20/15 feet, kettlebell swings full extension over head, so you and the KB were in one straight line and if the KB drooped at all your rep did not count, with a 25 minute time limit. So Travis and I sat and watched the first few heats, we watched men fall from 15 feet, knees twist, ankles roll, people pass out to where they needed to be carried off in a chair, and at least half of every heat DNF. WOW is all I could think watching this, that and "oh shit I am scared" never been scared before a workout, nervous not scare - and this one scared the shit out of me. Well, workout #2 that I had to dig deeper than I ever had to find that "warrior" inside me - I didn't have my guys on the floor with me, cheering me on, I didn't have my gym, my comfort, I was in an arena on the floor with 10 other woman, and 500 people watching and yelling. It was fucking hard and rates up with one of the worst workouts I have ever done, maybe because of the 5 mile run, maybe because of the area, maybe because I am a sissy. LOL
Anyway, all and all we had a great time, my body is destroyed, but my mental game jumped higher than it had ever been this weekend, I found something I didn't know was there, and learned that I am OK without winning, and just giving it my all. Funny the lesson I have taught my son since day 1, but could never grasp it and put it into my own life. I aways felt I was letting someone down if I didn't win - this weekend I didn't win a spot, didn't come close, but I know I didn't let any of you down, and I didn't let myself down,I went and gave it everything I had, and that does show that I won.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Friday 14, May 2010
So many emotions running through me today - hard to stay on track with everything, the gym, EVan, work, the sectionals, friends leaving - holy cow, I am going to need a vacation or something after the next few weeks.
Strength:
Really just focusing on proper technique for the Snatch today - nothing to crazy, lots of skills to be learned.
Metcon:
150 kettlebell swings for time AHAP (as heavy as possible)
* oh the joy here is that every minute on the minute we do 3 burpees
Everyone have a great day, a wonderful weekend, and see you all on Monday!
Strength:
Really just focusing on proper technique for the Snatch today - nothing to crazy, lots of skills to be learned.
Metcon:
150 kettlebell swings for time AHAP (as heavy as possible)
* oh the joy here is that every minute on the minute we do 3 burpees
Everyone have a great day, a wonderful weekend, and see you all on Monday!
Daily Horoscope
May have to actually start reading these things - this one is perfect! Thanks Dan!
Be disciplined about all areas of your body. Take extra care to eat healthful, balanced meals. Make sure you get enough sleep. And even though you gripe about having no time, get out there and exercise. Don't wait for an emergency before you take action. You and you alone control how you feel. Your health is essential to your well-being, not to mention your life!
Be disciplined about all areas of your body. Take extra care to eat healthful, balanced meals. Make sure you get enough sleep. And even though you gripe about having no time, get out there and exercise. Don't wait for an emergency before you take action. You and you alone control how you feel. Your health is essential to your well-being, not to mention your life!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Thursday 13, May 2010
In looking at my calendar - I realizes we didn't do some silly dress up thing for Cinco de Mayo, man that would of been freaking hillarious! A bunch of people trying to do burpees in a sombrero. HAHHAHA the vision makes me giggle.
Strength:
Deadlifts
3-3-3-3-3
L-Hangs
3 x max time
Metcon:
Diane hearts Fran
21-15-9
Deadlifts 102.5/70kg
HSPU
Thrusters 42.5/30kg
Pull ups
WOW, I bet your not giggling now are you? More than likely at the name I got the big "ohhhh F her, that B is crazy!"
Tell me I'm wrong - lol
See ya in the gym for some deads and thrusters!
Strength:
Deadlifts
3-3-3-3-3
L-Hangs
3 x max time
Metcon:
Diane hearts Fran
21-15-9
Deadlifts 102.5/70kg
HSPU
Thrusters 42.5/30kg
Pull ups
WOW, I bet your not giggling now are you? More than likely at the name I got the big "ohhhh F her, that B is crazy!"
Tell me I'm wrong - lol
See ya in the gym for some deads and thrusters!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Wednesday 12, May 2010
Middle of the week - little nicer outside - hmmmmm, what is she going to throw at us today? Running, rowing, sprints, outside walking lunges?
Strength:
Back Squats
3-3-3-3-3
HEAVY on these squats - push your limit, keep good form, hip crease below the knees, drive with those hips, stabilizer muscles tight, knees tracking the toes. If you can not break parallel, drop the weight until you can and it is a struggle to get out of the hole!
Metcon:
Tabata Something Else
16 mins of pure joy!
20 seconds on 10 seconds off completing each 4 min cycle before moving on to the next movement.
Pull ups
Push ups
Sit ups
Squats
And you thought we would run today didn't you??? :0)
Strength:
Back Squats
3-3-3-3-3
HEAVY on these squats - push your limit, keep good form, hip crease below the knees, drive with those hips, stabilizer muscles tight, knees tracking the toes. If you can not break parallel, drop the weight until you can and it is a struggle to get out of the hole!
Metcon:
Tabata Something Else
16 mins of pure joy!
20 seconds on 10 seconds off completing each 4 min cycle before moving on to the next movement.
Pull ups
Push ups
Sit ups
Squats
And you thought we would run today didn't you??? :0)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Tuesday 11, May 2010
Well, since Mother Nature has once again decided to not be a very nice "woman" (she should have some screwed up WOD named after her) we will not be running today - yayayayay Coach!
Strength:
Squat Cleans
3-3-3-3-3
Strict chin ups (full extension)
3 x max reps
Metcon:
Heavy 50 in the Clip
50 burpee clean and jerks 50/32.5kg
This is a ball busting WOD, can be quick, can be a little longer - key here is pick a rep scheme "I'm going to do 5 reps before I take my hands off the bar - then 3 deep breaths and go again." Something like that, or this one can stretch out.
Strength:
Squat Cleans
3-3-3-3-3
Strict chin ups (full extension)
3 x max reps
Metcon:
Heavy 50 in the Clip
50 burpee clean and jerks 50/32.5kg
This is a ball busting WOD, can be quick, can be a little longer - key here is pick a rep scheme "I'm going to do 5 reps before I take my hands off the bar - then 3 deep breaths and go again." Something like that, or this one can stretch out.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Run aMuck Pics - and stuff from the weekend
Hey guys, just going to post random pics as I get them from people - I know everyone posted them on facebook, but send me some of your favorite ones so I can get them on the blog as well - yes, that would mean I'm to busy or lazy for some of you :0) to copy them off facebook and post them here! LOL
Add your comments, and stories from this years events!
On a side note - we as a whole had no injuries, and Matt wore goggles.
Monday 10, May 2010
Good Monday morning to you all! The weekend was a fantastic time, with a great turn out for the Run Amuck, the Kick Ass BBQ party, and Moms on the Run. Pictures to be posted ASAP. Thank you to everyone who came out, and everyone who could not make it but thoughts were with us. ;0)
With all that said, I hate to bring the mood down - but today we have a new Hero WOD...
"Jerry"
Run 1 mile
Row 2000 meters
Run 1 mile
Sgt Major Jerry Dwayne Patton, 40, died on 15 October 2008 during High Altitude High Opening (HAHO) training while assigned to Army USSOCOM preparing for deployment to Afghanistan. Jerry is survived by his wife Molly and his sons Chad, Cody, Chase and Connor.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Weekend Reminders
Saturday:
8am Odyssey meeting
9am class is at Virgina Lake
2pm Run Amuck
3:30pm BBCF BBQ - Idelwile Park
NO 4pm CLASS!!!!!!!
Sunday:
NO CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8am Odyssey meeting
9am class is at Virgina Lake
2pm Run Amuck
3:30pm BBCF BBQ - Idelwile Park
NO 4pm CLASS!!!!!!!
Sunday:
NO CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday 7, May 2010
HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE it's later in the afternoon, so if you don't show we all know why!
Strength:
You pick the move and we will work on it.
Metcon:
5k run!!!!
Strength:
You pick the move and we will work on it.
Metcon:
5k run!!!!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Thursday 6, May 2010
It was Wednesday yesterday, and I tricked you with an endurance based metcon. AHAHAHAHAHAHA anyway, as you cn tell there was really no rhyme or reason to the strength this week, but I wanted to chancge it up to keep you guessing.
Strength:
Over head squats
3-3-3-3-3
3 sets max rep pull ups - want lots of attempts with no or very small band today.
Metcon:
AMRAP 15 mins (all movements performed with a kettlbell)
3 turkish get-ups (switch arms each round)
5 deck squats (completely new movement)
7 swings
9 uneven push ups (one hand on kb, one on ground - switch every round)
Strength:
Over head squats
3-3-3-3-3
3 sets max rep pull ups - want lots of attempts with no or very small band today.
Metcon:
AMRAP 15 mins (all movements performed with a kettlbell)
3 turkish get-ups (switch arms each round)
5 deck squats (completely new movement)
7 swings
9 uneven push ups (one hand on kb, one on ground - switch every round)
Wednesday 4, May 2010
Well as we can see, Jason did not come through with posting his days on the blog... LOL Easy Coach....
Today we had some Olympic lifts to get you started on a great workout.
Strength:
Clean and jerk
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
Skill snatch
Metcon:
Death by 20m sprints
just like death by anything and everything, every minute on the minute complete the number of sprints = to the minute number.
Today we had some Olympic lifts to get you started on a great workout.
Strength:
Clean and jerk
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
Skill snatch
Metcon:
Death by 20m sprints
just like death by anything and everything, every minute on the minute complete the number of sprints = to the minute number.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Tuesday 4, May 2010
I am totally screwing with the schedule of lifts and endurance to throw you all off. Muahahahahaha
Strength:
Snatch grip deadlifts
3-2-1-1-1
L-sits 3 x max time holds
Metcon:
800m run
100 push ups
50 body weight deadlifts
800m run
Compare to 12-1-09
Strength:
Snatch grip deadlifts
3-2-1-1-1
L-sits 3 x max time holds
Metcon:
800m run
100 push ups
50 body weight deadlifts
800m run
Compare to 12-1-09
Bragging Rights
OK, so I am totally pulling the bragging rights, and the mom card all in one fell swoop. These are some of the pics of Evan kicking ass at the Fittest of the Sierras competition, and then Travis and I's place winning videos. Thanks for all the pics and videos lil brother and Evan with lil brothers camera. Oh and if you want to see the longest drop in the world on an OHS, just ask me for the video of me - its freaking funny to watch. :0)Monday, May 3, 2010
Monday 3, May 2010
For the next few weeks expect to see a "bench mark" workout at least once a week if not twice. We want to see how everyone is progressing, and for those of you who have not done these workouts before, make sure you keep record of them with weight, as RX'd etc to watch your performance sky rocket.
Strength:
Back squat
5-5-5-5-5
Push press
5-5-5
Metcon:
Helen
3 x
400 m run
21 kettlebell swings
12 pull ups
Strength:
Back squat
5-5-5-5-5
Push press
5-5-5
Metcon:
Helen
3 x
400 m run
21 kettlebell swings
12 pull ups
Rock N River Marathon
Like I said today, I completed a goal that I did not even know was a goal! HAHAHA
Great job to everyone who showed up and ran today as part of the BBCF clan.
Jackie
Jenny
Art
Ashleigh
JB
Mel
Adam
Chandler
and great job to those friends and family who ran as well,
Marj - Mel's beautiful wife
CJ - CrossFit Initiative
Deb - CrossFit Initiative
Louis - JB's friend ran the Odyssey with us last year
Was a beautiful day for a run, the weather, the people, the atmosphere was great! Thanks to everyone from the volunteers to the runners for making my first half marathon so exciting!
Sunday 2, May 2010
For those of you who decided not to join us in the "fun" of running 6 1/2 to 13 miles today, we have a quick but effivent ass kicking workout for you.
20 of each of the follwoing movements for time :0)
Pull ups
Box jumps
Kettlebell swings
Push ups
Wall balls
Med ball sit ups
Dumbbell thrusters
Burpees (had to finish it this way)
Great Great workout!
20 of each of the follwoing movements for time :0)
Pull ups
Box jumps
Kettlebell swings
Push ups
Wall balls
Med ball sit ups
Dumbbell thrusters
Burpees (had to finish it this way)
Great Great workout!
Saturday 1, May 2010
Holy crap it is May 1st already! WOW, time flies when your having fun! This next month is packed full of super fun events to do - so keep your eyes and ears open, I will be posting stuff here and at the gym to let you guys know what exciting things are coming up!
Today we have a good ol chipper type WOD - should be done when this one is all over. 20-25 minutes of all out push = great start or end to a Saturday!
50-40-30-20-10
Kettlebell swings
Box jumps
Sit ups
Lunges
Woot Woot!
Today we have a good ol chipper type WOD - should be done when this one is all over. 20-25 minutes of all out push = great start or end to a Saturday!
50-40-30-20-10
Kettlebell swings
Box jumps
Sit ups
Lunges
Woot Woot!
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