CrossFit describes itself in a number of ways. If you read the mainsite, CrossFit Journal or other affiliate sites you probably run across terms like work capacity, power, modal domains, functional movement, evidence based fitness… The list goes on and on. These phrases do have meaning. They help define our first-principles are which guide our philosophy which expresses itself in our methodology. In other words, it’s for the geeks among us. I won’t hold it against you if piles of data and an Excel spreadsheet don’t excite you, but there is so much to learn by digging into the numbers generated by your workouts. I think it makes workouts more interesting, just like I think it makes baseball more interesting. Nothing makes this interesting.

We start by listing a few of the more popular phrases and define the terms… CONTINUE READING AFTER THE BREAK


Lauren obviously thinks Chuck is pretty great

Read the rest of this entry »

“Is it the Shoes? Is it the Shoes? Is it the Shoes? … Money, it’s gotta be the shoes.”
Mars Blackmon

If you don’t remember the commercial it’s probably because you are either young or didn’t watch enough TV in the late eighties.

Shoes are a funny thing. I recommended that people look into lifting shoes (way to go John!) and see if you don’t like lifting from a stable platform better than a squishy shoe filled with gel, air or other mush. Holly has been lifting sans shoes a few times but other than that… I LOVE using my lifting shoes.

(Tina, you can stop reading now,) You runners are about to start more seriously training for your summer races. Do you know why so many runners end up limping around, in PT or on the orthopedic cutting table? Running isn’t a brainless activity. Watch some runners, or take notes of your own running style. Arms moving side to side cause rotational pressures, excessive bouncing (watch their heads) results in a loping impact, and heel strikes are just a nasty habit.

More on barefoot running including a Harvard study. It’s from Harvard so it HAS to be true. Right? [Editor’s note:
You can’t bash all the Harvard grads you have worked with so I deleted
that section.]

Drills, better running form and a slight tweak in your programming can make for a successful, fun and injury free racing season. Talk to me people.

HEY RUNNERS! Check out this blog post from North Scottsdale CrossFit. One of theirs got the chance to run the Rock & Roll Half Marathon (link to Seattle half) and had an entire day to train. He trains CrossFit and had a great run. (Thanks for SnoRidge for bringing the post to our attention)

With the running season approaching it’s time to gauge interest in a race training program. If you want to train for a 5k, 10k, half marathon or even a full marathon let me know. We can put together some specific training (and special workouts) for those of you who want to train for a race. You DON’T need to run 50-60 miles a week to train for a marathon and you don’t really need to run much distance at all to train for a 5k or 10k. Save your knees!

(BTW: LSD stands for Long Slow Distance)

I linked this article a few days ago but suspect you didn’t get all the way through it. Please try again.

Not only is dairy fat unlikely to increase heart-disease risk, Dr. Krauss and others have learned, but reducing saturated fat in a way that increases carbohydrates in a diet can shift a person’s LDL profile from safe to dangerous. That’s pretty much what happens whenever some well-meaning person with “high LDL” starts eating “low-fat” frozen dinners filled out with corn-derived additives, all the while engaging in the customary ravaging of a basket filled with dinner rolls.

and…

[..the] surest way you can reduce your numbers of the LDL that matters is to rely on time-tested advice. Eating fewer carbohydrates, losing weight, and engaging in more physical activity have all been shown to reduce small LDL. Weight loss, in fact, has been demonstrated to reverse the dreaded pattern B all by itself. In other words, worry less about eggs or butter and their effect on LDL, and focus more on eating fewer processed foods and staying in motion.

If you have high cholesterol (or are carrying around extra weight) I bet your diet isn’t too far off the typical low-fat diet described above. Maybe you don’t eat rolls but eat cereal and bagels. Maybe pasta with a low-fat sauce is your regular standby. Why not try it for 30 days and see if it doesn’t improve your health? If you don’t like the weightloss, lack of energy crashes or you can always go back to your current diet.

Maybe the Paleo diet is at the end of a double rainbow…

I end up seeing links to silly stuff. Today I followed a link to a yoga site aimed at getting guys to do yoga. There was a list of 10 reasons why guys should try it including:

3. Yoga gives you a boost of self esteem
“There’s nothing like seeing yourself improve day by day and that’s what happens every time you step onto the yoga mat. You see, performing yoga helps you learn more about your body, in order to better yourself as a whole. And when you are doing yoga you learn to get out of your own way, and let your body learn and explore like it was meant to do. With this comes new, pleasant surprises and a better you. Bam! Instant self esteem builder.”

[editorial comment not displayed]


That made me chuckle. Just to clarify, I don’t intend our programming to “give you a boost of self esteem”; as if it were a supplement or something. What I do intend is that by lifting heavy things, doing more work in less time and trying stuff that makes you a little nervous you will be challenged, fail from time to time and come back and try harder the next time. When you are not in the gym, I expect that the strength you build in the gym will set you apart from the people you hangout with. Whether it’s an impromptu game of football, lifting a heavy couch or looking good in your jeans I want you to outperform them. Then, you can be thankful that you are strong and the let self esteem crowd watch Oprah.

Keep in mind that I tend to get cynical (which really is an ugly quality) and don’t have a lot of time for touchy feely.

9. Yoga can make you enlightened!
Diligent practice in the 8 limbs of yoga can help you on the path to enlightenment.

Diligently getting under a loaded barbell will make you strong. And with that said, I need to stop now.



As an aside: I bet Sara felt pretty darn good when she climbed the rope last night. I bet all the PR deadlifts felt nice on Monday (Bret-287, Marilee-232, Cara-232, Debra-210, Steph-210, sorry if there were more!) all felt really great.

Lifting a barbell overhead is easy. In theory. I have been paying extra attention to overhead positions lately and see that in many cases, in an effort to get the bar overhead, we tend to overdo it and the bar travels not just to a vertical position over the shoulder but ends up precariously cantilevered (is that the right phrase?) behind your back.   Watch for this and you will see it slightly in the shoulder/military press and a more exaggerated version in the push press, jerk and thruster. The worst example tends to be the mid-WOD jerk or thruster when you are exhausted.

Andy was having some pain in his back during a pressing session so we used the camera to look at what was happening at the top. Unfortunately the middle picture is at an angle so the line has to be interpreted a bit. The first and third pictures are straight on from the side (?!?) and the line shows a nice line between the barbell at the top and the mid-foot at the bottom. As the bar moves further out of alignment you are forced to adjust your body to keep from toppling over. Even a little over extension can tweak you in the back when using a sizable load. Andy felt no pain when he was in good alignment. Nice work Andy.

New WOD sheet is posted. After a couple of heavy, high volume weeks you will see fewer total reps though the weights will increase. Each day will have 12 total reps in the 3-3-3-1-1-1 scheme meaning 3 sets of 3 reps and then 3 heavy singles. Come to the gym with a tough mindset and get under some heavy bars.



WEIGHTLOSS
I have heard a bit of discussion about weightloss, calories and such. When talking about calories, keep in mind that the type of calories you eat are as (if not more) important than the number you are eating. Two book are listed in the left margin of our site. Read them and consult the info on the CFR Nutrition page. You can lose weight and it doesn’t need to involve starving yourself! Watch the linked message from Mark Sisson and then buy his book. It’s common sense.

Please buy the book and read it.




SPOTTING
Last week we worked on spotting the bench press. It’s probably not the most exciting thing you will do in the gym but spotting is a vitally important part of training so we should learn to do it. A couple comments on spotting. Only if the bar starts going down after the lift is attempted should you touch the bar. Touching the bar means the lift doesn’t count. If it’s a max attempt only the lifter can be in contact with the bar until it is being racked. If you are the lifter remember that the bar is your responsibility. Don’t you dare bail out and leave the spotters holding the bar. Lift with everything you have until you have guided the bar back into the rack. Spotting is assistance.



NEW ROPE
Tell me what you think of the new, thicker climbing rope. If you like it I will get another of the same width.