Empty rings….. Looking for a pupil..

Still can’t quite get the muscle up? Still can’t find a rhythm for double unders? For kipping pull-ups? We’ve all been here before in coming up short of mastering an exercise. For some exercises, it can be annoying enough to where you feel being “content” with not being able to perform them. As obvious as it sounds, the only solution to get over the hump of any deficiency is PRACTICE. If you wish to get better at something, it stands to reason that practicing will help build your proficiency in that something. But what type of practice? At times, we focus strictly on verbal cues and “secret” techniques to make an exercise “click”. This can severely limit us. You can’t talk your way through muscle ups, or butterfly kipping. When what you’re trying to master is physical, you must physically perform the movement for it to “click”.  Practicing the COMPLETE movement is also important. Too many times we bail midway through a movement because we “think” we are doing it wrong or “think” we can’t do it. By performing the complete exercises consistently , you will have a better feel for what mistakes you are making while doing the movement, therefore, allowing your body to adapt.

Feel free to work on these exercises before the class. If you show up early and/or finish the warm-up early, don’t hesitate to ask Nabil and I which exercises you feel you need help on.

This is the beauty of CrossFit, the desire to perform things well. But with this, comes a process. A fun process. Even the best athletes need something to work on.  Start learning to enjoy it, because it should never end.

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Tuesday’s WOD:

4 Rounds

90 seconds: Row for Calories
90 seconds: Bench Press for REPS
90 seconds: Double Unders for REPS

* 2-minute rest between rounds*
* Calories count double*

results:

Here’s an excerpt from an excellent article by Andrew Weil M.D. on why plants are much better than pharmaceuticals.  It also exemplifies the often misguided Western approach of taking things for face-value and over-simplifying, for the sake of productivity, and thus, profitability.

For four decades, I’ve been skeptical of a prevailing belief in Western medicine: when a plant shows bioactivity in humans, we must attribute that effect to a single, predominant compound in the plant. We label that the “active principle,” isolate it, synthesize it, and make a pharmaceutical out of it. Then, typically, we forget about the plant. We don’t study any of the other compounds in it or their complex interactions.

Read full article here.

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Monday’s WOD:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Thruster
Pullup
KB Swing

results:

Pushing through Thursday’s tough kettlebell workout.  Nima is never one to be down on himself, he just keeps working hard, and thus, keeps improving!

Sweat Shop members often ask things like, “why am I unable to do chest to bar pullups?”, “why are handstand pushups so tough?”, “I suck at double unders, I’ll never get one.”, “I’m just not any good at overhead squats!”  What most people don’t realize is that these things take a ton of practice, LOTS of frequency and in the case of chest to bar pullups, handstand pushups, and muscle ups, a great deal of strength, none of which magically just happens after one week, one month, or even longer depending on the exercise. If it were easy, everyone would be doing CrossFit.  And if it were easy, you wouldn’t like doing it because it would not be nearly as rewarding.

Below is the post from Shoreline CrossFit:

I see it happen on almost a daily basis.  It tends to be especially on days when there are handstand push-ups, double-unders, muscle-ups, or pistols in a WOD.  People who can do the movement, but haven’t yet mastered it, begin to do something that is very destructive.  Athletes begin the process of self abuse.  They say they, “suck,” that they’re being “[babies]” (we’ll keep it PG on the blog), that they’ll “never” master the movement…they say that they “don’t know what [their] problem is.”

This is all self-abuse and it is very destructive to your development as an athlete.  I suppose we forget how it felt to learn to roll-over (naturally), crawl, walk, use a fork to eat, be potty trained or ride a bike without training wheels; but I’d venture to say that it didn’t happen overnight.  If you have children in your lives, watch them master these life skills.  I’m willing to bet you wouldn’t allow them to beat themselves up if they missed their mouths with the fork, or stumbled into the coffee table, so why are you so hard on yourself?

Mark M. posted a comment to our blog today that just about read my mind.  He talked about his habit of scaling weights and movements to maximize power and then he said something poignant:

“Remember, just being at this box puts you above just about everybody else.”

• What percentage of society do you think tries to master a new sport in adulthood?
• What percentage of society do you think practices gymnastics, power lifting, and olympic lifting on a weekly basis?
• What percentage of society do you think voluntarily challenges themselves daily?
• What percentage of society do you think does something that scares them daily?

I think the answers are obvious.  Be proud of yourself for walking through our doors on a daily basis.

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Legitness of the Week

Deadlift PR’s
Nima 270×2
Donna C. 165×2
Michelle 145×2
Katherine 135×2
Nathan 338×2
Ellie 195×2
Bill 225×2
Joe W. 315×2
Nik 355×2
Criselda 100×2
Jin 295×2

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Friday’s WOD:

Alternating TABATA

Ring Dips
Box Jumps

Pullups
Burpees

results:

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Thursday’s WOD:

403m Run
25 Box Jumps
25 KB Swings
20ea. Single Arm KB Squat
20 Pullups
20 Single Arm KB Walking Lunges

403m Run
15 Box Jumps
15 KB Swings
10ea. Single Arm KB Squat
10 Pullups
10 Single Arm KB Walking Lunge

403m Run

results:

Nabil resting after a gruesome set of “side-planks” while on the velvet grassy knoll of Maui.

As the holiday season comes near, many of you will be traveling to visit family and friends. Personally, it is my favorite time of the year because I get to catch up with old buddies and family I haven’t seen all year. Unfortunately, this “reunion” comes with some not-so-healthy diet and exercise habits. First comes the turkey and pie coma followed by a December of “cocktail” parties, all the while, being too sluggish to exercise. We all know the repercussions for these choices and we all know how horrible it feels when we do our first workout after returning from vacation.

Don’t make “travel” as an excuse to avoid exercise. There are plenty of workouts you can do with little or no equipment. Check out this 22-page list of TRAVEL WODS compiled by Shane Skowron, that you can do while on your travels. Having this list with you will definitely help ease the stress of trying to think of which workout to do without having do design one. Even better, get a couple of your friends and family members to one of these WODS during vacation. It will make it much more exciting! Plus, you just might persuade a family member to start exercising more!

You can download the Travel WODS here.

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Wednesday’s WOD:

A.) Deadlift (pause at bottom)
2-2-2-2-2

B.) 2 rounds for time:
15 Handstand Pushups
30 Knees to Elbows
60 Double Unders

** Perform 3 burpees for every break on any set**

results:

These two guys will both be competing in the Fran Off on Saturday.

**PLEASE NOTE**  8AM CLASS ONLY THIS SATURDAY DUE TO FRAN OFF

Fran Off Athlete Profiles

Name: Larry Pastor
Gym: CrossFit Silicon Valley
Years CrossFitting: 2
Stats: Favorite cheat meal, Zachary’s Pizza in Berkeley (plan on going straight there after Fran Off)
Plan to buy friends drinks at Zachary’s with prize money.

Name: Jamie Lee
Gym: CrossFit Burn
Years CrossFitting: 1.5
Stats: Grace 1:30

Name: Dusty Sulon
Gym: CrossFit San Ramon
Years CrossFitting: 2
Stats: Snatch 209
“Takes me at least 1 hour to warm up for Fran!”

Name: Nathan Brammeier
Gym: CrossFit Adventure
Years CrossFitting: 1.5
Stats: Thruster 200×1
Recently opened CrossFit Adventure

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Legitness of the Week

Deadlift PR’s
Chris G. 391×3
Jessica 210×3
Valerie 120×3
Boie 373×1
Steve 250×3
Jim D. 285×3
Joe W. 300×3
Cheryl 155×3
Bill 219×3

Joe W.  MUSCLE UP!!!
Jessica 14:26 “Nancy”  – Sweat Shop Record

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Friday’s WOD:

“Nancy”

5 Rounds
403m Run
15 Overhead Squats (95#/65#)

results:

________________

Thursday’s WOD:

A.) Deadlift
3-3-3-3-3

B.) 4 Rounds
2 minutes each:
15 Pushups (men release hands at bottom)
200m Run
Air Squats for REPS

results:

Aaron continues to raise the Sweat Shop deadlift record.  Nice job!

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Monday’s WOD:

4 Rounds

Every 7 minutes complete:

403m Run
Bench Press MAX REPS
Ring Rows w/ towel grip MAX REPS
Toes to Bar MAX REPS

results:

Plyometric Pushups – Justin has a good balance of competitiveness and sensibility

Many of you may have noticed, James and I rarely write or announce what a prescribed (Rx’d) weight for any particular workout is.  This is because we feel that often times people will try to perform a workout with weight that is much too heavy for them.  Instead, when we design workouts, we have an idea of approximately how long the workout should take.  Then, bearing this in mind, along with the demonstrated strength level of any particular member, we take time during the warm up to help members select a weight that will elicit the desired effect from the workout.  Selecting a weight that is too heavy, and thus dramatically extending the length of a workout, will often times change the workout entirely.  The inverse of this also holds true.

Equally important, regardless of weight, is proper form and full range of motion.  There is no better way to reduce the efficiency of a workout, impede your overall progress, and increase your risk of injury, than by sacrificing form or range of motion, in the interest of time or weight.  Hundreds of pullups can be performed, but if the chin is not FULLY clearing the bar, very little progress will be made.  Squats are the same, lots of strength can be developed above parallel, however, this will do nothing when the athlete is required to drop below parallel during a heavy clean, snatch, or even thruster.

When learning a new movement, especially one that requires skill, proper weight selection becomes even more important.  Poorly executed cleans, snatches, and overhead squats, regardless of how much weight is lifted, will do very little for overall progress.  James and I are extremely passionate about teaching, and we want, more than anything, to see progress from our members.  Sometimes that means we may recommend, urge, insist, demand, you use a lighter weight… don’t take offense to it, our goal is your long-term improvement.  There are times when we may recommend you use a heavier weight, this is the case when we see that you are demonstrating excellent form with the warm up weight, as well as, we as trainers, have a good understanding of what the demands are for that particular workout.  Lastly, I hope everyone realizes what a great asset it is to be a members at a CrossFit gym that has just two trainers, that know you well, and are able to help determine what will yield the best workout for you.

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Saturday’s WOD:

9:00am

A.) 21-15-9
KB Swings
Burpees
Pullups

B.) 403m Run
REST 2 minutes
403m Run

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10:00am

A.) Back Squat
5-5-5-5-5

B.) 3 Sets Max Reps Ring Dips

C.) 403m Run
REST 2 minutes
403m Run

results:

Aaron swings a kettlebell at the Lyon St. stairs last fall

Great health is about more than just exercise and eating right.  A recent post from Mark’s Daily Apple address this to some detail.

Excerpt:

But my journey didn’t stop at diet. It wasn’t enough. My physical activity had to change, too: resistance training; sprints; hikes, walks, and other long, easy movements; and a marked de-emphasis on Chronic Cardio.

Then I started thinking about sunlight. I’d always felt better when I had a bit of a tan going, and sunny days are invariably happy days, so maybe there was something happening to our physiology. Maybe it wasn’t just “psychological.” This suspicion was confirmed by the production of vitamin D in our skin in response to sunlight. Hmm.

This really got me thinking. Sunlight, nutrition, exercise – what do they have in common? They’re all environmental factors. Bear with me. You’ve got to think about these things a little differently that usual; the classic connotation of “environment” refers to one’s physical surroundings; stuff like trees, buildings, forests, the composition of the atmosphere, or climate. But really, if you’re going to be technical about it, environment refers to an organism’s temporal, physical, spatial, cultural, nutritive, hormonal, and psychological surroundings. Anything that affects or impacts an organism’s physiological or emotional development can be said to be an environmental factor.

Check out the full post here.

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Wednesday’s WOD:

3 Rounds

constantly running clock
1 minute at each station

5 Burpees
Power Cleans for REPS

5 Burpees
Wall Balls for REPS

5 Burpees
Pullups for REPS

5 Burpees
Box Jumps for REPS

REST 2 minutes after completing entire round

results:

When I was in college I had an economics class that was on the 8th floor of a 10 story building that housed hundreds of classrooms and labs.  The class was at 9am on M,W,F, so it was an extremely busy time and the lobby was always packed with students trying to get on one of the six elevators.  Within a couple of days I grew tired of waiting in line to get on an elevator.  Even more frustrating was being on a packed elevator, only to find that at least half of the people were only going up one floor, two at the most, all of which were perfectly healthy young adults!  I vowed never to take elevator and took to the stairs from then on.  Walking up the eight flights of stairs was boring, so I began to sprint them each day.  I also began timing myself, trying to beat my best time on each attempt.  Soon I began bringing less and less to class in an attempt to break one minute from bottom to top.  My morning stair sprint was far more important to me than the class that awaited.  This was long before my CrossFit days, but each time I sprinted up those stairs I always got a since of accomplishment for choosing, and embracing, the route that was not as convenient.

Here is an excerpt from a post on convenience from Kitsap CrossFit:

Life is work and we need to do the work. Our health and all-around well-being depends on it. I’m not saying that we should never be comfortable or never take the easy route, but it shouldn’t be the only option. We have to think about the repercussions and results (or lack of) that come from embracing easy.

CrossFit is not convenient; it is not comfortable or easy. It is not convenient to be sore. It is not comfortable to have ripped and bloody hands or rope burns. It is definitely not easy to lift that heavy load, to sprint hard all 400 meters to the end, or stay steady through a 2K row. Sticking to the Zone or going Paleo is not convenient. For some of you the trek to the box is not convenient. What CrossFit is: incredibly hard work, lots of sweat, maybe some tears and above all commitment. So why do you do it?

Read full post here.

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Tuesday’s WOD:

A.) Overhead Squat
3-3-3-3-3

B.) As many rounds as possible in 9 minutes:
3 Burpees
6 Pullups
9 KB Swings

results:

Photo courtesy TomC

The Ultimate Painkiller

Often times, during daily struggles and strife, we are so tempted to quit.  How strong is your tolerance for problems in life’s many struggles?  With so many things weighing heavy on our shoulders these days, our tolerance is tested. The Sweat Shop WODs test us daily.  It builds the mental fortitude to conquer struggles and push through pain.  We want to see every struggle, suffering and the workout of the day as an opportunity to breakthrough and not bail out.

More importantly, we go through this TOGETHER. This is another great reason why a Crossfit gym is better than the lonely, self-motivating Globo Gyms.

Dr. Steven M. Platek, believes that the camaraderie in CrossFit can get you through the nastiest WOD. In this article, He draws some science and social history that shows us why pushing through pain “together” in a workout is easier to alleviate than doing so alone.

In the article,

“ We embrace the feeling of team support, and when our support system is threatened, our brains respond using the same exact systems as those used when we are physically injured. This occurs in order to motivate us to get back into the group.”

In my 2 weeks at the Sweat Shop, I’ve noticed this camaraderie. How do you not get pumped up when you are dog tired, sweaty, wanting to quit, and hearing Tammy yell, “Come on push it!! Let’s Go!” at the top of her lungs. KEEP IT UP!!

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Tuesday’s WOD:

21 Wall Balls
21 Pullups
21 Box Jumps
403m Run

15 Wall Balls
15 Pullups
15 Box Jumps
200m Run

9 Wall Balls
9 Pullups
9 Box Jumps
50 Double Unders

results:

 Courtsey CrossFit.com

11 Tips for CrossFit Athletes-
Brought to you by Jon from Potomac CrossFit: 

1. Breakfast is everything. If I can convince you to eat meat and eggs for breakfast, the other meals are usually OK. If you negotiate with me about having probiotic yogurt instead of meat and eggs, we’re in trouble

2. I can get someone 70% of the way there in the Olympic lifts in about 3 hours. At that point, the limiting factor for men is usually shoulder and hip mobility. For women, its front squat and overhead squat strength out of the bottom.

3. If you aren’t a total idiot with what you eat, you should set a PR pretty much every time you step in the gym for the first 2 years.

4. The shorter the workout, the longer the warmup should be. You need to warmup for 35 minutes for Fran. You need to warmup for 5 minutes for Murph.

5. Unweighed unmeasured Paleo eating works best if you’ve done “The Zone” first. Your Zone experience will give you a ballpark idea of how much you should be eating. If you don’t come from a “Zone” background, you’ll likely do things like sit down and eat 85 Macadamia nuts and wonder why you aren’t losing any weight.

6. As you get better, you need to take a back off week about every fourth week (not because of injury). You can still come in and workout, but take some more rest days and just chill out.

7. You don’t need to learn to butterfly kip. Seriously, stop it. You are going to hurt yourself and you’d be much better off working toward a bodyweight press.

8. Dumbbells are the most under appreciated piece of equipment in the gym.

9. Prior runners do not need supplementary running to improve their run times. People without a running background do. I think this mostly has to do with learning to pace correctly.

10. You can’t just train weaknesses. It’s too depressing. Every now and then, pick something you are amazing at and crush it.

11. You can get away with a lot of inefficiencies if you’ve got a strong grip. Do more farmers’ carries.

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Friday’s WOD:

5 Rounds

3 1/2 minutes to complete:
250m Row
15 Overhead Squats
Double Unders for REPS

REST 90 seconds between rounds

results:

________________________

Saturday’s WOD:

A.) Deadlift
3-3-3-3-3
with pause between each rep

B.) 500m Row
40 Squats
30 Situps
20 Pushups
10 Pullups
403m Run

results:

 Charlie, a 6am regular who pushes himself each day because he likes the challenge.  Charlie is also just a couple of months from his 50th birthday and regularly puts in performances equal to or better than guys half his age!

Here is an excerpt of a good post on perspective, from the guys and girls at CrossFit LA.

“Here’s the thing… I definitely don’t love training. I can just as easily sit around, watch movies, surf the net and watch TV for weeks at a time, as I can go to the gym. So the way I look at it, is that every time I work out, I “get the opportunity” to see just what I’m capable of doing. Strange perspective, huh? “Get the opportunity”… to put myself through…”

Read full post here.

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**Legitness of last week that got missed**!!

Aaron 225×2 Overhead Squat (Goal Exceeded)
Alex 315×1 Overhead Squat (Sweat Shop Record)

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Monday’s WOD:

5 Rounds
3 minutes each:

200m Run
12 Front Squats
12 Knees to Elbow
Burpees for REPS

results:

Post workout breakfast at the Sweat Shop

Great post from Practice CrossFit… check it out.

When your questioned about where you workout at, what do you say to explain CrossFit? Try some of these the next time someone asks.

-I train in a box. It has walls…sometimes. Sometimes we go outside. Sometimes we meet elsewhere. Its not the location I value, its the people.

-I train in an open space, because bars and my training partners fly everywhere. There is not equipment in the way, only my friends near me as we all struggle together, and are rewarded all the same.

-I train in a warehouse with no air conditioning and big garage doors. If you didn’t know where it was, you would never find it. There is no sign outside. The signs of training are all inside, working, or helping one another.

-I train where advertising is sacrilege. I train where I am a walking advertisement.

-I train with people I truly enjoy, and would do anything for, not where I need to put ear phones in to block out all the annoying banter. When we go, we hear yells, trainers instructing, or loud ass music making us go even harder…not elevator bullshit. Real music.

-I train in a place where if I am negative, I will be addressed by at least one person about my stupid ass attitude, and if I am unlucky enough on that day, I may be asked to leave, and come back when Im better, because I am effecting the core by my stupid ass baggage that is meant to be burned at the door.

-I train where if I want to keep my shirt on I can….but there are no rules saying I have to. Where I train if someone disrobes to any level, wears short ass shorts, or is quasi naked after a WOD thats fine…no attention will be paid, because its all about the training, not about meat markets. If you want a pick up joint, look elsewhere.

-I train where Im valued and truly appreciate for showing up and putting forth true, real, demanding effort.

-I train where I am judged on my movements and attitude everyday. Not because my friends are assholes, because they truly want to make me better at life, and want success for me not injury. A piss poor performance means someone will care enough to help me make it better, and find out why it happened to begin with.

-I train in a place void of gossip. Rumors are unwelcome at all times and if I was stupid enough to ever spout anything negative, or even just not positive about one of my training partners, or any other training location for that matter, I would be crucified on the spot, by any and all in ear shot. Drama queens are eaten alive where I train.

-I train where everyone applauds when I do well, and I applaud for them.

-I train where justification is lucifer, and honesty is gospel. For if I lie, I only fail myself.

-I train where I am confronted everyday by food Nazis who wont allow me to eat shit and call it gold. Where I train we call bad, bad, quality, quality and everything in between sub-par. Where I train life happens, the difference is, here I have to confront my downfalls and improve not hide them away for tomorrow.

-I train to be better at life. The unknown and unknowable. To one day be able to help someone less fortunate than I. To be able to be moving on my own when I’m old and gray, not being moved.

-I train because I want the mirror to be an outward reflection of how I feel inside, which is pretty damn good, and I want it to stay that way.

-I train because laziness sickens me, and preventable disease is exactly that…preventable through effort, not medication.

-I train to be different than those before me. To go out swinging, not resting. To live valiantly, not cowardly.

-I train where the floor could double as a pool at times because people actually work hard. I don’t care, that’s how it should be.

-I train with football players, grandmas, kids, housewives, doctors.

 -I train with people of every walk of life, and if I cared about status…someone would make me leave.

-I train where education daily is paramount, and if I’m not a constant student, I will fail quickly.

-I train where we are all equal, because we truly are. The only thing that separates people is the attitude to believe this is true or not. The ones who believe they are better than others, are so much better….they aren’t allowed to train with me.

-I train with people that make my day better.

-I train in a place where I want to be, not a place I feel I have to be.

-I train under expectations. Expectations to be better than yesterday. 

-I train in a community dedicated to the whole. The success of the many. this is the reason we all change and progress so fast. Where I train its not about “I”….its about “us” 

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Wednesday’s WOD:

A.) Deadlift
3-3-3-3-3

B.) 3 minutes:
25 Box Jumps
Row for max meters

results:

Brandon during NorCal Sectionals.  Photo courtsey Tom Campitelli

Awesome post that everyone can relate to.  Check it out.

The voice in your head that has always been with you, right from the early days. It tells you that you can’t do this, that you’re not strong enough, fast enough, smart enough, skinny enough, pretty enough, or sexy enough. It tells you to stop, to wait, to slow down, to quit.  Kill that f*****.  I mean it. Kill it. Today, in your WOD, stomp that voice. Stomp it good and hard so it never wants to come back. 

Read full post here.

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Thursday’s WOD:

4 Rounds
7 Squat Clean & Jerk
18 KB Swings
200m Run

results: