Monday, January 29, 2007

Secrets

Everybody who wasn't in attendance this morning missed the mission!

Putting our fitness to practical use, we scaled the wall to the fortress, found the bounty hidden within and returned from whence we came, after the deed was done. Obstacles placed before us amounted to nothing!
Well done, well done.



...a secret message was found inside Bernard's sweat angel...

Nice work Team 6,
-Bozman

Friday, January 26, 2007

Taking it to the home front...

Hey Gang!

Something that always seems to come up is the ol' 'what can I do when I'm not at Crossfit?'. A valuable exercise is to practice writing down movements you can do with what you have. Even if you don't have any equipment, I'll bet the list will surprise you.

Here's a start:

Burpees, Pushups, Dips between chairs, Handstand Practice/Pushups, Squats, One Legged Squats, Lunges, Jumping Lunges, Sit ups, Overhead squat with broomstick...

Once you've established what you can do, decide how you're going to do it. A great way to start is pick a benchmark workout that we do and create a variation based on it.

Let's take Jackie
1000m Row
50 Thrusters
30 Pullups

This is esentially a big 'cardio' piece followed by a weightlifting exercise, followed by a bodyweight movement. You might decided on something like this:

75 Burpees Sub for Rowing
50 OverHead Squats with Broomstick Sub for Thrusters
30 Dips between Chairs Sub for pullups

Looks tough! I'm sure you'll get a good workout, even with Jackie's less afluent little sister.

Start a list of things you can do and keep it handy. Even if you can't make it in to Crossfit, you can still stay fit. No Excuses!




Another great idea is to buy a minimal amount of equipment. Here is an example of a great mini home gym. Total investment: Under $100 (get a dumbell instead of a Kettlebell and I'll bet you could do it for under $30). See how many combinations you can come up with using this equipment...

Stay Strong,
-Bozman

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Mobility Matters



In the current fitness/training exercise-osphere, there is much lip service given to the bastard fitness components of mobility and flexibility. And, in spite of how much talk there is about "stretching" and "yoga", ask yourself; "Am I serious about my flexibility?"

Chances are you are not alone if you answered by saying, "yes, I can stretch more."

But let's put the dirty chore in terms to which you can relate. I'm talking about performance. Hot, dirty, nasty performance. Wanna be faster, lift more, be more explosive? Of course you do. Taking your mobility and flexibility a little more seriously will get you there.

Take Whiskey here: She is able to generate more force with less effort because of her ability to maintain this difficult, flaw exposing position.

Coach K

Friday, January 19, 2007

Thursday, January 18, 2007

A Word on Nutrition

Exercise, sleep, stretch, hydrate, and eat right, right? Well, on how many of these things can you score yourself as an "A". Our good friends at the Performance Menu (see the link on our main page) have done some pretty extraordinary thinking about the "eat right" part. Check out the attached link, then once your mind is blown, subscribe to the P-Menu. By the way, the kids at the P-Menu are amazing.

Coach K

http://performancemenu.com/resources/proteinDebate.php

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Got To Get up to Get Down

So, the Olympic lifts can seem a little daunting, but proficient technique is not that complicated. The Medicine Ball Cleans we've been doing are a prime example of how to 'suck' yourself under a weight once you've created upward momentum. With you moving in one direction (down) and the object moving in another (up), the object will be virtually weightless, relative to you, for a split second. This is really the goal behind cleaning or snatching any object. To Recap:

1)Create force to get object moving up. (The jumping motion of the clean)
2)Once the object is moving up, move YOURSELF down to create weightlessness.
3)Squat that heavy thang back up!

Try it with various odd objects you have around and see if you can get them all to 'feel' relatively similar.

We also saw the return of Adam tonight! Welcome home, Adam!

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Thoracic Extension Limiting (your rib cage is tight)

Hey Gang!
It is far too common amongst athletes to be stiff between their neck and the bottom of their ribcage (the thoracic spine or T-spine.) Most often, lack of mobility in this region is expressed by a resultant lack of shoulder flexion (raising your arms up over your head.) In most daily activites, poor t-spine mobility is hardly a limiting factor, but... In positions requiring overhead support like a press or overhead squat, positions of dynamic shoulder loading like the kipping pull up, and in positions of static strength like the front squat, it becomes painfully clear that lack of mobility of the T-spine leads to overall decreases in applications of strength and power throughout the kinetic chain. That is your overhead squat, the speed of your tennis serve, or the amount of glide you get during each swim stroke is likely a function of your t-spine mobility. The good news is, that mobilising this region of the spine is relatively easy and will lead to immediate, meaningful changes in functional status. So, ask your coach about how you can do something about your stiff rib cage.

Coach K


Excellent Thoracic Extension is one reason K Graves is so strong overhead.

Monday, January 15, 2007

You Gotta Learn to Jump

Learning to Jump. Easy right? Think about it. In nearly every sport, applying force by extending the ankle, knee, and hip is the key to efficiency and power. But, time and time again, we see athletes with poor mechanics, poor motor recruitment, and poor jumping results. This is why we practice this univerally applied pattern everyday at Crossfit. You gotta learn to jump.
Check out these kids getting their jump on.

Coach K


Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Canopy Death....(moment of silence please)

Hey Crew,
The tarp is dead, long live the tarp. The latest windstorm destroyed our much loved covering. To celebrate it's life, enjoy some 2006 highlight photos!

Coach K