Monthly Archives: October 2009

Tabata Something Else
Complete 32 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest where the first 8 intervals are pull-ups, the second 8 are push-ups, the third 8 intervals are sit-ups, and finally, the last 8 intervals are squats. There is no rest between exercises.

The Flu
Whether it’s Avian flu, Spanish flu, Hong Kong flu, Asian Flu, H1N1, H1N2, H7N3 or some mutated version of any other flu, the bottom line is it just isn’t any fun to have the flu. While it can certainly help you in your quest to lose weight it’s still best to avoid getting sick. I don’t see the doctor when I get the flu because there isn’t anything they can do about it. I also don’t get flu shots. Why do I avoid these conventional practices? Here are a few links that will hopefully spur a little critical thinking while you consider what to do this flu season.

CF Snohomish: How to best avoid the flu (Funny. That’s what we keep advocating for good health!)
Free The Animal: A statistical look at flu vaccines

Junkfood Science: A look at the predictions for swine flu versus reality

The Atlantic: Does the Vaccine Matter?

I’ll give Sandy Szwarc from Junkfood Science the final word: </br>

Rather than let fears get the better of us and spend gobs of money and believe that spurious products are keeping us safe, the most effective thing we can all do to help protect from getting sick is use plain old-fashioned common sense and soap and water. Wash our hands. Not nearly as glamorous, but a whole lot more effective.

Mike goes big

Get a one rep max Jerk
Max box jumps in 1 minute 24” box

An interesting read on painful joints and what to do about them. An excerpt:

When you sustain an injury, the first impulse you have is to rest it. You’d avoid movements that hurt in attempts to give the injury enough time to get better, hoping that things will work out at some point. Well, while it’s important to manage pain, decrease swelling, and allow enough time for your body to repair itself, the reality is that you can’t avoid usage of your joints (at least, not unless you plan on consigning yourself to complete bed rest).

Problem #1: By avoiding usage of the joint, you impair the joint’s function.

Problem #2: By impairing the joint’s function, you allow the joint to get weaker.

Problem #3: A weaker joint is less capable. So you end up either using it less (see problem #1) or continuing on as if nothing happened and risking further damage to the joint (see problem #2).

In physical therapy literature, this sequence is referred to as “the downward spiral of pain” – by limiting function as a response to pain, a patient gets worse and worse until he’s virtually non-functionally.

Read the whole thing

Colleen pulling in squat clean/push-up WOD

This weekend I was going through a few boxes of stuff that I have been packing around with me for most of my life. The boxes are full of memories from my life to date. My college Track & Field letter, pictures from trips I took in high school, letters from my (then) fiancée, big projects I did and various awards I have won. In the box are three trophies that I have always hated. I would like to talk about them.

I was given a trophy for each of the three years I played little league baseball. I loved playing little league even the teams I were on were terrible, if my teams won more than 7 or 8 games in the three years I played I’d be surprised. But they gave us a trophy anyways. After my first season we had an awards ceremony in a rundown VFW type hall where all the teams congregated, sat at a table and waited to receive their trophy. I remember walking into the hall and seeing several tables packed with the blue trophy you can see in the picture above. I knew at the age of 10 that what was happening was just plain wrong. And stupid. So my team who won all of 2 (TWO!) games that season received the same trophy that everyone else did. The same thing happened the next two season. This had an impact on me and is a life experience I think of quite often.

CrossFit isn’t the West Seattle Little League. When you train at CrossFit Redmond, or any of the other great CrossFit gyms in our area, you will only be given what you earn, what you deserve. The slogan we use is “Hard. Earned. Fitness.” What does that mean? It means that what we do is hard, and that we earn the level of fitness we have obtained. Our fitness is hard earned. You will only be rewarded when you put in hard, dedicated, committed work. We don’t strive to be average and we don’t accept average results. We see and interact with people everyday who have accepted that fat, weak and tired is normal and that as you get older you just slow down, stiffen up and eventually lose your physical abilities. I got news for you. As I approach 40 it blows me away at how much more fit I am than when I was “in my prime” and working with nationally recognized coaches. My workouts now are harder, shorter, more intense and infinitely more effective. I have earned my max lifts, my max pull-ups, my work capacity and my ability to perform in daily life. Think for a minute (and comment about it please) about what you have gained since beginning your CrossFit Training. I have been mentioning to several of you how proud I am of your gains. You didn’t earn your increased fitness level with Pilates, yoga or power walks. You got under the bar, ran another step, did another push-ups and came to the gym when you were tired and sore. You started eating new stuff and stopped eating stuff you really liked. It was hard and you earned it.

I’m going to keep those trophies in their box and remember what it felt like to be rewarded for a job poorly done.

CrossFit Redmond is a place where you can earn a higher capacity to do whatever you do day to day and to perform well when life decides to test you. Don’t blame me, your parents, the government, your boss, your spouse or anyone else for where you are. Whatever your current condition. You earned it.

“Tyler”
5 Rounds for time
-7 Muscle Ups

-21 Sumo Deadlift Highpulls, 95/65

If you aren’t careful the 70lb kettlebell will swing you.

5 Rounds
-15 Hang Squat Cleans, 60kg
-30 Push-ups

What on earth are these people doing?

5 Rounds
7 Deadlifts 140kg
21 Double Unders

What would you do if I told you that at a weekend CrossFit competition three competitors collapsed and died and that in the last two months 3 other participants in CrossFit events had similarly died? What would be your reaction to this news? Well that is exactly the news from the world of distance running.

Is running dangerous? It doesn’t have to be. The typical training for runners is to get a “cardio” base by running 30-70 miles a week. This form of training has the added benefits of decreased muscle mass and strength, higher stress hormone levels, increased inflammation and it takes hours to complete. This doesn’t even mention the high carbohydrate diet that is usually recommended for those training at high mileage. We aren’t talking good veggie carbs either. So the prescription is to run yourself into the ground while eating an insulin demanding diet. What couldn’t go wrong!

Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t run long distances, in fact I think it’s a great idea to run a 5k or half marathon. CrossFitters are even known to run 100k or 24 hours races. They train for strength and the shorter WODs give them as good a base as you would ever need. Lower miles, more strength (speed, power, agility…) and better nutrition are the future of training the distance specialist or the distance hobbiest.

This picture just made me laugh…

OVERHEAD

It’s one of the non-negotiable standards of CrossFit. The bar starts touching your chest, travels upwards, stays close to your face (which needs to stay back until the bar goes though!) and then ends up over your head. Think of having the bar directly over your ears and you will be about right. Your arms need to be straight (elbows locked out) and have active shoulders (push them up too!) One of the best ways to make a good impression on other CrossFitters is to lock your presses out fully overhead with active shoulders. It works well the opposite way as well. When we have visitors in our gym the first thing I usually notice is how exacting their overhead position is. Don’t be judged poorly as a CrossFitter because of a few inches of bar movement.

Some examples of overhead from this week…