CrossFit Montgomery County

First and foremost, congratulations to Justin who got his first muscle-up yesterday! While you can’t watch his ACTUAL first muscle-up (since he couldn’t wait for me to get the camera ready) you can revel in the wonder we call Justin in this video of his second muscle-up. This is yet another example of his awesome progress with us. Congratulations brother – well done!

On to the schedule for the weekend:

Thursday 7/1/10: NO NOON CLASS. All other classes as normal.
Friday 7/2/10: NO MORNING CLASSES. All other classes as normal.
Saturday 7/3/10: Normal schedule
Monday 7/5/10: 4th of July WOD at 10:00am – CLOSED THE REST OF THE DAY

If this doesn’t make any sense, read it again. If it still doesn’t make sense, check the Schedule page.

Buy-In:

Deadlift 5×5 (@ 78% of your 1RM)

WOD:

400m Run
21 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (75/53)
21 Ring Dips
400m Run
15 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
15 Ring Dips
400m Run
9 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
9 Ring dips

Cash-Out:

Self-Myofascial Release (SMR) on the foam roller

Before I go on and forget to mention it, there will be NO NOON CLASS ON THURSDAY this week. In totally unrelated topics, here are a few articles you need to read. Seriously. Read them now. If you’re at work, tell your boss that your coach is going to quiz you on the content later, and that there are 100 burpees at stake. If that doesn’t work then just pretend to open your Excel spreadsheets and give your boss the finger when they walk away…like you normally do.

Kelly Starrett shows you how to cause an inordinate amount of pain in the interest of self-improvement in “Stretch Your Psoas, People!”

Andy Petranek of CrossFit LA talks about why he trains in his blog post from the other day, “Perspective.”

I don’t believe anyone has described what CrossFit really is better than its founder Greg Glassman. If you haven’t read his CrossFit Foundations article from the April 1, 2002 edition of the CrossFit Journal yet, you need to.

Buy-In:

Weighted Muscle-Ups

1-1-1-1-1

(If you can’t do muscle-ups, you’ll do weighted pullups)

WOD:

As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:

5 Push Presses @ 65% of body weight
10 Push Ups
15 Box Jumps

Cash-Out:

50 V-Ups (this is not a misprint)

Look, if you want to be in shape, you have to pay the price. That’s how it works, right? You have to work hard and suffer to look good – isn’t that just the way it is? It has to be, because there’s no magic pill that will give you 50 consecutive pullups, no magic potion that will make you an Olympic Lifting champion…you have to work your ass off for it, and that’s why you’ve come to CrossFit Montgomery County: to pay the cost of admission. So ante up, my dainty little wannabe’s – it’s time to pay the piper and I’m here to collect. If you want to be awesome, you have to pay. Right? Wrong.

See, you don’t pay the price to be in great shape, you pay the price to be in crappy shape. You enjoy the benefits of being in good shape. It’s a perspective thing, and it’s one of the most important aspects of your success with CrossFit (or with anything really). Having a positive mindset makes all the difference in the world on your experiences and on your results, and framing your efforts better will give you more motivation to push yourself so that you can succeed.

CrossFit is hard – there’s no doubt about it, and I couldn’t be happier about it (see my “Yes, Thank You” post) because if I give it 100% each and every time I work out I’ll continually get better and stronger and faster (which are all good things, IMHO). So enjoy the badassery of having used CrossFit to get you into continually improving unbe-friggin’-lievable shape, and enjoy every sweat angel, bruised shin and torn callus you “suffered” along the way.

I’m glad it’s not easy, because what would that get you?

Buy-In:

Front Squat 3-3-3-3-3

WOD:

For time:

3 Rounds for time:

400m Run
30 Wallballs
20 Pullups

Cash-Out:

50 Good Mornings with a 45 lb. barbell

I’ve been a trainer for almost 11 years now, and one of the things that I get asked about the most is some version of, “what’s the secret to getting in good shape?” Sometimes people ask because they honestly don’t know, and other times they ask because they’re afraid that they do. The answer, of course, is to work hard for it and don’t ever stop.

Fitness is not expressed in an instantaneous situation like most of the country believes – you don’t get 20 minutes of having a great body for every 50 situps you do. Most people seem to think that by using this “exercise for aesthetics” barter method they can expertly plan for those 20 minutes of their inner supermodel body to manifest when they’re at the altar reciting their vows, on vacation in their bikini, or during some other moment when it might be important that they appear to be in better shape than they really are. This, of course, is crap.

Being in good shape is a lifestyle – it’s a journey, not a destination. Health and fitness is an ongoing condition that we all desire, yet few of us are really committed to doing what is necessary in order to make our lives better. Mostly we’re more dedicated to our yummy treats than we are to achieving this simple goal – we’d rather have the cupcake than washboard abs.

Remember, living healthy is a choice, not a right. Make the right choices, and then act on them. And then send me pictures of you in your bikini.

Buy-In:

Strict Pullups – 5 sets for max reps

WOD:

As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:

5 Kettlebell Snatches (24kg/16kg)
5 Squat Box Jumps
5 Handstand Pushups

Cash-Out:

50 V-Ups

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got and you’ll always feel what you’ve always felt. It’s a cute little cliche and certainly isn’t anything I can take credit for, but I’ll be more than happy to explain how it applies in the gym. I’ll leave it up to you to apply it in the rest of your life…

In the gym we do lots of things that you do everyday – you get down and back up, pick stuff up, put stuff up over your head, etc. But unlike the stuff you do every day, we’re going to push your limits of your abilities each time by adding weight to the load you’re lifting, adding reps to the workload, or purposely combining movements in such a way as to be so confusing (both to your brain and your body) that stopping to think about what you’re doing means stopping what you’re doing.

Since I didn’t get a chance to work with all of you from the time you first started to perform functional movements on purpose, you’ve all developed horribly inefficient habits and movement patterns that feel perfectly normal to you. It is my job as the coach to rob you of what you know as comfortable and re-educate your body to move efficiently. And no, “comfortable” and “efficient” are not the same thing.

So back to that cute little cliche that started this soapbox rant in the first place, the point is that if you’re doing a new movement (or one I’ve been desperately trying to get you to fix), if it feels right, then you’re doing it wrong. You have to step outside your comfort zone and let yourself be taught something new. This means that it will feel weird, wrong, and uncomfortable, and that’s a good thing.

My job as coach is to show you the right way (a.k.a. safest, most effective and most efficient way) to perform the movements and to hammer better movement into your soul so it’s a natural part of everything you do; your job as student is to follow directions so that your natural and instinctual movement becomes “efficient” and not “comfortable”. Just remember that if it feels wrong, you’re probably doing great, because doing something the same way over and over doesn’t make anyone better at anything.

Friday WOD:

5 Rounds for time of:

400m Run
20 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)
30 Pushups
40 Double-Unders

If CrossFit were a video game…

-It wouldn’t be available at Best Buy – you’d have to get it from someone’s garage.
-The first time you play it you’d die after 2 minutes, and then you can’t play it again for at least a week.
-It would make you better at every other video game, whether you’ve played it or not.
-You’d chalk up the game controller.
-Constantly varied, high intensity, realistic animation.
-You’d have to play it with a group.
-Video game enthusiasts who’ve heard of it say it’s too hard and dangerous, refuse to try it themselves, and then tell everyone they meet never to play it.
-You’d stop playing your other video games because they’re too boring.
-You’d tell everyone when you beat your high score.
-Your video game console would be built out of grass-fed components.

Feel free to add your own entries to the list by adding a comment!

Buy-In:

Snatch Practice (95 lb. cap)

WOD:

“Elizabeth”

21-15-9

Squat Cleans (135/93)
Ring Dips

Cash-Out:

Handstand practice

Tripod (knees on elbows) -> Frog stand -> headstand on wall -> Headstand -> Handstand on wall -> Free Handstand -> Pirouettes -> Press to handstand on parallettes -> Press to handstand on floor

Work to master each part of the progression

Here are some recommended articles and videos to help you expand your CrossFit horizons. Wanna get awesomer than you are? Check this stuff out.

“High” by Lisbeth Darsh of CrossFit Watertown. Lisbeth is a fantastic writer (but she cheats, since she was a former adjunct professor of English), and shares some wonderful philosophy on the CrossFit lifestyle.

“Be Nice, Your Wrists Work Hard” by Kelly Starrett from San Francisco CrossFit. If you ever have wrist problems from doing cleans, overhead squats, or anything where your wrists get pushed to the limits of their flexibility, read this. From here on out I will point you toward this article whenever I hear you complain about wrist pain.

Midline Stabilization by Matt Swift. If you think you’re strong now, you’re right. Just imagine though, how much stronger you could be if you learned to stabilize your midline. Stronger is good, right? You betcha – watch it explained quickly (about 3 minutes) and effectively, and with an Australian accent.

Buy-In:

Snatch Grip Deadlift

5-5-5-5-5

WOD:

Tabata Intervals

20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest repeated 8 times for each of the following movements:

Kettlebell Thrusters (16kg/12kg)
Box Jumps
Knees To Elbows
Burpees

Cash-Out:

All with PVC:

5 Rounds:
Pressing Snatch Balance
Sotts Press
Overhead Squat

5 Rounds:
Heaving Snatch Balance
Sotts Press
Overhead Squat

5 Rounds:
Snatch Balance
Sotts Press
Overhead Squat

For the most part, trying to get someone to change their diet is like trying to convince them to change their religion, and is about as successful. You’re going to eat what you’re going to eat, and there’s little I can do about it, right? Considering I’m not the world’s foremost expert on diet and nutrition nor am I in control of your eating habits, I’d have to agree with me. Convenient, isn’t it?

Ok, so here are a couple of very basic reasons you should eat Paleo-friendly foods.

1. Your car doesn’t run very well when you urinate in the gas tank.
2. You’re allergic to gluten and dairy. Yes you.
3. Abs are sexier than grains.
4. Your next “Fran” PR could be a few seconds faster or it could be unbe-friggin’-lievable.
5. You don’t give fish food to your dog, or dog food to your fish – you feed them what they’re supposed to eat.
6. If you fed yourself the foods your body is genetically coded to use as fuel, you wouldn’t believe how much better your life would become.

Ok, I’ll end my diet and nutrition rant there for now. Do a little research yourself, and check out the Paleo Diet Page. One of the most succinct articles describing what the Paleo Diet is all about and how/why it’s significant is Intro to the Paleo Diet, by Dr. Ben Balzer.

Buy-In:

Snatch Balance – 5×3 (95 lb. cap)

WOD:

“Nasty Girls”

3 Rounds for time:

50 Squats
7 Muscle-ups
10 Hang Power Cleans (135/93)

Cash-Out:

1 mile run

I find some downright goofy stuff on Google Images. Last night I discovered this photo of “Captain Barbell”, the name of a superhero on television (and movies) in the Philippines. You’d think it would be someone like Louie Simmons or something, but apparently they have a different idea of barbell strength in the Philippines since they chose this kid. At first I thought this was a joke, but he’s a real hero over there. Check him out at http://www.captainbarbell.org. My guess is that Captain Barbell isn’t all that successful, since their domain name uses the suffix (.org) designated for non-profit organizations…

Buy-In:

Using 75% of your 1RM Shoulder Press, complete 3 rounds of the following sequence:

4 Shoulder Presses
3 Push Presses
2 Push Jerks

Rest as needed between rounds, but do not put the bar down during a round.

WOD:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of:

Pullup
Pushup
2 x Situp
150 meter run

You only run one 150 m run per round. So round one looks like 10 pullups, 10 pushups, 20 situps, 150 meter run. Round two is 9 pullups, 9 pushups, 18 situps, 150 meter run, etc…

Cash-Out:

25 Snatch Drops*

*move deliberately and land solid on each rep

Sometimes you come into the gym and have a bad day. You go to lift the barbell and it seems glued to the ground. Your pullups feel like you’ve got a 2 Pood kettlebell strapped to each foot, and your airsquats feel like a 1RM attempt every time. It happens to everyone, and sometimes the feeling hangs even around for a few days. How should you react to that? Stop coming in to the gym? Nope, instead just say “thank you.”

Miss your deadlift PR by 15 lbs? Yes, thank you. Add three minutes to your “Fran” time? Yes, thank you. Tear the skin off your hand again? Yes, thank you! Lats so sore you can’t lift your arms over your head, and now you have to do more pullups? Yes, Thank You! Wallball come down and hit you in the face (again)? YES, Thank You!! Kettlebell snatch leave a *really* big bruise on the back of your forearm? YES, THANK YOU!!!

You should be the most thankful for these things, and everything else that you struggle with in the gym too. Without them, you wouldn’t learn how to improve your deadlift technique, push yourself harder during “Fran”, get stronger hands, break your PR for consecutive pullups, improve your coordination when dealing with incoming objects, or have any reason to improve your kettlebell technique! These things are the things that make you better! Whenever you’re presented with something that (apparently) sucks, simply greet it with YES, THANK YOU!!! Because it’s yet ANOTHER opportunity to make yourself better.

And when you come into the gym today, I promise to give you another opportunity to say YES, THANK YOU!!!

Today’s WOD:

5 Rounds for max weight (not time) ofThe Bear Complex

1 Round of The Bear Complex consists of 7 sets of the following sequence:

Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Push Press

Rest as needed between rounds. No resting during a round – bar must touch the ground but may NOT be re-gripped.