Happy October! Time to put on your sweatshirts and head outside for some CrossFit workouts! Then before you start to sweat too much, lose the sweatshirt and go back to the ugly t-shirt you have on underneath. So this year go for another PR every workout, and don’t drop your sweatshirt in a puddle.
Today’s WOD:
“Barbara”
5 rounds for time of:
20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats
Why I Love Meatheads
I was leading a client out of the freeweight area at the local globo-gym the other day after doing about 10 minutes of practice on her push-jerk, we passed a rhinoceros very strong man sitting in the hip sled machine (which incidentally had all but I think three of the 45lb plates in the entire gym on it). He watched us walk by with a disgusted look on his face, and then in a voice obviously loud enough for us to hear, said to the rhinoceros next to him his lifting partner, “THIS shit’s gonna get old…FAST.” I smiled and pretended not to hear, because even though I bet my “Fran” time is WAY better than his, somehow I don’t think he would have been impressed. [sigh] I can’t wait to get my own box… then at least I won’t have to hunt for the 45lb plates.
Today’s WOD:
“Fran”
3 rounds of 21-15-9 reps for time of:
Thrusters (95lbs for men/65lbs for women)
Pull-ups
Post times and any scaling to comments.
There is a conversation in the movie “A League Of Their Own” that in addition to describing the appeal of baseball, also, in my opinion, describes the appeal of CrossFit (at least for me). Tom Hanks is asking Geena Davis why she quit the team, to which she replies that it all just got too hard. Tom Hanks then responds, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy everybody would do it. It’s the ‘hard’ that makes it great.” Amen, brother.
Today’s WOD:
“Elizabeth”
21-15-9 reps for time of:
135 lb Clean
Ring Dips
Post times to comments.
One of the things I have learned through doing CrossFit is more often than not the concept of “can’t” and “don’t wanna” are very much the same thing. All of us have been in the middle of a workout and thought to ourselves at one time or another, “I can’t do anymore,” only to discover an untapped energy reserve when the leader of the class comes over to suggest, in a voice that can be heard at least three blocks away, that you could be trying a little harder. So clearly there is a redefinition of terms which needs to occur, or at the very least a little self-honesty. When you tell yourself (or worse, others) something such as “I’m unable to…” you imply a physical inability when none exists. It would be better to replace the “I can’t” cop out with what you really mean, “I don’t wanna.” That way you are being completely clear with yourself about your abilities, and will reach deeper next time you’re going for a PR and come up short because “you couldn’t”.
Today’s WOD:
“Murph”
For time:
1 mile run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile run
Break up the pull-ups, push-ups, and squat however you’d like.
Post times to comments.
Today’s “Walk in the Park” workout will be taking place as usual at the Ridge Road Recreational Park in Germantown at 8:30am, but the 10:00am class will be cancelled so that I can participate in the national Fight Gone Bad event fundraiser for the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
For those of you who missed it, the 10:00am class this morning is canceled, but the 8:30 class is still on.
According to the weather forecasters it may or may not be raining during our workout this morning, but since I know literally DOZENS of people who have gotten wet as a direct result of being outside in the rain and EVERY SINGLE ONE of them survived, the 8:30am workout will go on as planned.
So to those of you for whom a little rain is a less than terrifying event, I’ll see you soon. To the rest of you, remember that small furry woodland creatures are less afraid to get wet than you are!
“Anyone who says that full squats are ‘bad for the knees’ has, with that statement, demonstrated conclusively that they are not entitled to an opinion about the matter.” -Mark Rippetoe
There is a common misconception among personal trainers, physical therapists, orthopedic surgeons, athletic trainers, and the public in general that performing a full deep squat (where the hips drop below the knees so that the thigh is below parallel) is dangerous to knee health and should be avoided like CrossFitters avoid elliptical machines. On the contrary, if you have you bad knees then squatting deep (with your weight on your heels and your back arched) is amazingly rehabilitative. I suffered from bad knees for years, limping for weeks after a 1/2 mile run or 20 minutes in a volleyball game – and then I learned how to squat correctly and deeply. Blammo – knee problems resolved. It may sound counter-intuitive, and it may go against everything your medical professional is telling you, but hey – you’ve had bad knees this long and NOT squatting deep certainly isn’t helping them any.
Today’s WOD:
With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute… continuing as long as you are able.
Use as many sets each minute as needed.
Post number of minutes completed to comments.
How much is too much? When should you put the weights down and call it a day? Many people think it’s when you’re tired and don’t want to go on anymore, but I think it’s somewhere beyond that point. There is definitely a point where the smartest thing to to is to stop lifting before you get seriously injured, but I think most people stop way before this point having convinced themselves they can’t do any more. In CrossFit you become much more aware of your actual physical limits, and in every case I’ve seen, when someone stops making the “I can’t do it” excuse and endures the discomfort, oxygen debt, and downright pain that accompanies their first ever honest-to-God maximum effort, suddenly they get it.
Today WOD:
10 rounds for time of:
135lb Back Squat – 10 reps
20″ Box Jumps – 10 reps
Post time to comments
“Constantly varied functional movement executed at a high intensity brings about an increased work capacity at broad time and modal domains.” -Greg Glassman
Today’s WOD:
Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3
Post loads to comments.
It seems like one of the favorite things for new affiliates to do is to dream up new and clever t-shirt slogans to put on the backs of the thousands of t-shirts they all think they will be selling. Here at CrossFit Rampant Fitness, we are doing something completely different (and by “completely different” I mean “exactly the same”). I’ve been having a ball with t-shirt slogans, and I thought I’d post some here to get some feedback on which ones I should actually create. Post your feedback to the comments.
I’m cocky because I’m better
Strength is its own reward
My workout can beat up your workout
You wouldn’t like it – it’s hard
Jump, throw, lift, run, push, pull, climb, grunt
No longer a wussy
If it were easy everybody would do it
My work capacity is bigger than your work capacity
Today’s WOD:
For time:
50 Wallball shots (20/10) 10′ target
50 Pull-ups
35 Wallball shots (20/10) 10′ target
35 Pull-ups
20 Wallball shots (20/10) 10′ target
20 Pull-ups
CrossFit is about getting better at everything – not just the things you like to do. If you look at the workout and groan because there are 50 handstand push-ups in it, then you absolutely have to do that workout. Since I hate handstand push-ups (because I suck at them), I need to practice them as much as I can – I may need to scale them back a little (for example, I could put my feet on a bench so I’m pushing less than 100% of my body weight), but I want to fill in as many holes in my abilities as possible. Every exercise can be scaled back to almost nothing so that anyone can do them, but once a suitable level of scaling has been determined they still should try to do whatever the workout calls for. In CrossFit, there is no room for whining, excuses, or giving up just because you’re tired.
Today’s WOD:
“Diane”
21-15-9 reps for time of:
Deadlift (225)
Handstand Push-ups
Post time (and scaling) to comments.
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