Don, Nik, Helen, CJ and Ellie, doing wall balls

Reset your idea of what a gym should be like.  CrossFit Sweat Shop is nothing like a regular gym.  Here are a few of the differences.

• No treadmills.  If you are going to run it should be outside, the Sweat Shop is located on the Contra Costa Canal Trail and this allows some of the workouts to include a short 403 meter run.
• There is a shower at the Sweat Shop, however, there are no plasma televisions in the shower room, nor are there a bunch of naked dudes walking around the locker room, or sitting in a jacuzzi talking about the price of oil.  What you will find are members giving one another words of encouragment after a tough workout.
• No need to bring your headphones.  The Sweat Shop has music, it’s upbeat, and it’s played loud during the workout.  Another reason not to bring your headphones is because you’ll be receiving feedback on your technique throughout the workout.
• You are more than welcome to drop the weights!  The floor is rubber and the weights are rubber, drop the weights… everybody is doing it.
• No shoes, no shirt, no problem.  If you get really hot during a workout and want to take your shirt off, go ahead, it’s no big deal, no one will look at you funny.  If we are working on squats or deadlifts, and you happen to be wearing shoes that have a squishy soft sole, or a running shoe with an elevated heel, I may ask you to remove your shoes while you perform your lifts.  Often times, lifting barefoot helps to solve many of the improper techniques commonly experienced during deadlifts and squats.
• The only mirrors are in the bathroom.  It’s not about how you look at the Sweat Shop, it’s about how you perform.  Focus on working as hard as possible, not how you look while you are working.  Take away the distraction of mirrors and you’ll get a much better workout, and in turn, your body will look even better.
• Have some direction.  Unlike a regular gym where you may show up without a plan and just end up dabbling on some cardio equipment and maybe do a few exercises with weights, every workout at the Sweat Shop is lead by a trainer.  Each exercise in the workout is explained, practiced and then performed.  Every member is also given a log book upon enrollment, which they use to record the details of each workout allowing them to accurately measure their results, and stay motivated.
• Sometimes we throw things.  It’s not because we are upset, it’s because we are human and it’s a fundamental movement.  Most of the time it’s medicine balls we throw, sometimes they scuff the wall, no big deal, it’s all in the name of fitness. 
• Often times we have field trip workouts, monthly challenges, or local competitions (some for money, others just for fun).
• There is no smoothie bar to load up on high fructose corn syrup after your workout.  However, often times we’ll go to the The Counter in Walnut Creek, for a burger, after the Saturday morning classes.

CrossFit Sweat Shop fosters a fun, challenging, supportive, and learning environment for people of all ages and fitness levels to get in amazing shape, and have an awesome time doing so.  Regardless of how upscale a Club may be, all they can Sport are ammenties that raise your membership dues, but do nothing to help you achieve top level fitness.  The real Renaissance is in the completely different approach that CrossFit takes to helping people get fit, and live healthy, active lives… no matter how hard they try, big commercial gyms will never be able to replicate the CrossFit community.

_______________________

Legitness of the Week

CJ 205×3 Squat Clean (PR)
Tammy 115×3 Squat Clean (PR)
Nathan 205×2 Squat Clean (PR)
Brenna owns 55lb. Thrusters on Tuesday’s WOD 

_______________________

Thursday’s WOD:

A.) Squat Cleans
3-3-3-3-3

B.) 8 minute limit:
403m Run
Front Squats for REPS at 70% Max Load A.)
403m Run

results:

Few things are cooler than hitting a new PR on your dead lift and walking away with your spinal cord still attached to your pelvis.  And nothing can ruin that high more than watching some guy use the squat rack to hit his 15th set of bicep curls because he doesn’t want to pick the 65 lb. bar from the ground. Another thing that can ruin your high after deadlifting 2.5x your body weight, is taking a shower at your gym where the only option of soap is some generic, unisex scented soap, that was designed to be as unoffensive as possible to both sexes, but that very process has made it extremely undesireable to either gender!   That’s why now that the shower at CrossFit Sweat Shop is up and running you’ll find an assortment of name brand cleaning options that best fit your needs.

Pictured above are two of the men’s soap options: Old Spice Red Zone Double Impact is for guys who are serious about getting clean. The back of the container even describes one of the features, “Advanced Cleaning - removes the toughest dirt…” Clearly this soap isn’t for your average dirt. And when you squeeze some out of it’s container you’ll see that it resembles laundry detergent, only much thicker and more concentrated. This stuff is so strong, some guys have reported it helps to even clean their driving record and credit history!

Axe Snake Peel has attitude written all over it!  When you think of warrior plants, you think of the cactus…right?  Snake Peel contains cactus oil… it doesn’t get much more manly than that!   Snake Peel is also about confidence.  The type of confidence it takes to pull an all-nighter at the bar when you’ve got your biggest presentation of the year at 7am the next morning.  Or perhaps you’re at a local CrossFit competition, the rules of the workout state you must take 155lbs. from ground to overhead “any way possible”, for 30 reps.  While the entire field of competitors performs a clean and jerk, there is that one guy who knocks out 30 snatches at 155lbs.  Check his gym bag… it’s not steriods, its not fish oil…. it’s Snake Peel.

Don’t worry ladies, women’s soaps are also available.

________________________

Friday’s WOD:

3 Burpees, 6 Pullups, 9 Thursters = 1 Cycle
After completing 3 cycles run (1) 403 meter.  This completes 1 Round.
Workout consists of 3 Rounds

(6am class performed 4 rounds… afterwards I decided the 4th round caused a large drop in intensity… all other classes performed 3 Rounds)

results:

Saturday’s WOD:

As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes:

8 Summo Deadlift High Pulls (Rx’d weight: men 115#, women 75#)
10 Pushups
15 KB Swings (Rx’d weight: men 53#, women 35#)
5ea. Single Arm KB Push Press (Rx’d weight: men 53#, women 35#)

results: