New Year!

Due to public outcry, the New Year's Day workout will be held at noon on Thursday, Jan. 1st. Spread the word!

If we don't get a chance to see you, Happy New Year and we look forward to seeing you all in 2009.

-Boz

New Year's Schedule

Hey Gang,
We have a few changes to the week's schedule.

1) Normal classes Wednesday (New Year's Eve) except there will be no 7pm class.
2) New Year's Day will only be 8:30 am all levels.

Coach K-nothing-is-cool-or-sacred-anymore-Slice

Christmas Family

Family denotes a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some anthropologists have argued that one must understand the notion of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts rather than through genetic distance.--Wikipedia 08

Metaphorical family aside, I'll take this group of misfits as my own anytime.

Thanks for joining us. Those SFCF athlete family members that HAD to be somewhere else, we missed you.

Merry Christmas all.

Coach K, Coach Boz, Coach Di, Coach Carl, Coach Angel.

Doode, Where's My Quads?

The Couch Series: Part 1--Quads

The problem with working on your flexibility and mobility is that it's hard to squeeze it in to your already busy life. It's hard enough already to just get in some legitimate daily work capacity training, and eat right, and hang out with your family as it is.
Add some flexibility training too? You ask too much.

Oh, but you can.
Your Couch is the answer. The couch is the greatest mobility prop in your life and we are going to show you how to use it properly. (As a platform to launch first person shooter game campaigns it is not, Adrian)

The majority of the dysfunction I see in my daily physical therapy practice is pretty much preventable. A great deal of patella based pain for example, is simply related to quads (and rectus femoris) that are simply too tight. Is this an over-simplification? Of course. But, most of the people in my clinic that have knee pain also have tight quads and hips.

So quads meet couch, couch quads.

Make it a point that every time you find yourself on the coach, you commit to performing some kind of flexibility training.
Start tonight with your quads.

1) Place your knee in the back corner of the couch where the back cushion meets the seat cushion.
The cushions should sufficiently protect your knee cap from undue compression, but try anyway to make contact with the thigh side of your knee on the cushion.



2) Get ready to suck it up.

3) Keeping your pelvis in neutral and your back straight, try and bring your other leg up onto the couch, closing the distance between your bottom and your heel.

4) The tendency is to let your pelvis tilt forward, thereby unloading your hip, but don't be that guy. Stand in there and take the hit.



This is a great place to work on your contract relax stretching, or just simply enter the pain cave and don't come out for at least 90 seconds.

Happy hunting! (it's a legitimate strategy Adrian)

Reminder: No evening classes Christmas eve, morning and noon classes are still on.
The First EVER SFCF Christmas Day noon workout.

Coach K-you know what's funny about tight quads? Nothing is funny about tight quads-Star

Holiday Biz-nas!

Gang,

Just a reminder on a few things:

1) We will be having a Christmas day workout at noon on Thursday. Spread the word. Remember how much fun T-day was?





2)I just got word from Jon Gilson of Again Faster that there will be a Rowing seminar put on by Concept 2 rowing January 9th and 10th at Rowbics in Long Beach CA. This two day seminar will cover indoor erging technique the first day. The second day you will be taken out on the water where you will learn to scull in a real-deal racing boat. If you are at all interested in rowing this will be a great weekend! Details here.

3)Have an outstanding holiday season!

-Boz

Cake Walk

Just a few photos from the Trans-Bay Holiday Party/Cake Walk workout held yesterday night. Nothing says holiday cheer like a walk with your (new) best-friends-forever holding some heavy-ass weight. Aneel's sweater doesn't hurt either. And a case can be made that burpees are pretty close to mistletoe: rarely does anyone want to participate, it's kind of awkward, but in the end you're better for it, and, admit it, you enjoyed it.

To make things even better, the powers that be here at ol' SFCF have decided that Christmas day will be a fine day for a workout. Coaches will be on hand at noon to help you get your fix. Spread the word!












Happy Holidays!

-Adrian 'This-Nog-Rocks' Bozman

PS Big thanks to Tom Campitelli from CrossFit Oakland for taking the pictures!! You can see more here.

'Tis the Season

So:

It's finally starting to feel a little like winter in our neck-o-the-woods. Surely you've all tasted the frosty-morning/evening-bite that the bay breeze has been bringing.



This is a good thing! True fitness is not something that can only be expressed in climate controlled comfort. Exposing yourself to something as simple as a temperature change can add a little extra something to your workouts (spice?). Mentally, it is good to know that you are good to go regardless of the environment you find yourself in. The fortitude developed and required by showing up in the dark and cold at the beginning/end of your day is just as important as the physical improvements your workout will bring. Just make sure to layer-up so you can get warm initially (don't worry, we'll help you with that). Self improvement is rarely comfortable anyway, so the cold ain't no thing.

Adrian:
"But what is best in life?"

Billy Biceps:
"The open elliptical, four-minute abs, cable-cross-overs at your wrists, and the air conditioning in your hair"

Adrian:
"WRONG! Kelly! What is best in life?

Kelly:
"To Crush your PRs, regardless of climate, and hear the lamentations created by your contrast shower".

Adrian:
"That is good! That is good!!"

Besides, it's easier showing up knowing that all your comrades-at-arms will be there too...





-Adrian 'All-Day' Bozman


PS let's make sure to put the plates back a little nicer...stack similar weights on top of each other to avoid the leaning tower of rubber pictured below!

Trans-bay Holiday Party This Wednesday (CHPA)

Here's the low down on the Coolest Holiday Party Around (The CHPA)

Where: Special Top Secret Cool Kid Workout: SFCF 6pm
Sportsbasement Shopping After Party: 6:45-9pm

What: All Crossfitters and family get 20% off shopping at the Sportsbasement, 5% of total sales goes to a charity of our choosing.

Food: Amazing drinks and Killer Paleo/Zone creations by CFO master chef; Lance

Look: If you are a Crossfitter in the greater Bay Area, we'd love to have you. And, bring a friend!

The 7pm class will be moved to the portable bar (think wine/beer/vodka) in the Sportsbasement (no formal class but drinking for time is encouraged, or power shopping, whatever.)

And to get you in the mood, photos of cool kids lifting heavy things:











Alex for 435


.
Coach Di with the "PR and Chat"


Big Poppa Steven pulling 425.

Coach K-Do I ever have some horrible planned for Wednesday CHPA- Star

Community

Yesterday all of the open classes at SFCF were subjected to a hideous, hideous workout. Now, you might ask what's the difference between yesterday and any other day we meet?






Our friends down south (San Clemente, and San Diego) in So-Cal lost a good friend over the weekend. Miguel Flores, 22, was involved in a car accident that would take his life. I had met Miguel several times over the last few months and he was one of the most genuine, funny, and warm-hearted individuals you could ever know. Because Miguel also possessed freakish work capacity, his friends and family put together a workout that he would be proud of. Apparently Miguel had quite the taste for a good ol' McDonald's McFlurry, thus McFlurry was born (as done yesterday):

Run (Hydrant and Back)
21 Cleans @ 185 men/135 women
21 Thrusters @ 50lb DBs Men/30lb DBs Women
21 Pullups
Run
15 Cleans
15 Thrusters
15 Pullups
Run
9 Cleans
9 Thrusters
9 Pullups
Run








Many of you never knew Miguel, but this was still an opportunity to take a step back and reflect. Our community and the CrossFit community at large is a powerful thing. It's not something that most associate with a fitness program, but it is integral to what we do. Each one of you are a part of this whether you are near, far, consistent, casual, or anywhere in between. For that, I know all the Coaches at SFCF are grateful. We are lucky to be able to do the things we do with such quality people.

So while this workout was brutal, I can think of no better way to truly celebrate the liberty of life than smashing on something this difficult. We all make the choice every time we step up to the bar to participate for no other reason than 'we can'. Don't forget that at some point, the option will be taken from you. Don't take that choice for granted.

For those of you who knew Miguel, our thoughts are with you.
-Boz



Post thoughts to comments. If you happened to do McFlurry yesterday, post time and experience to comments.

Snapshot

If, in the middle of your workout, someone took a snapshot and judged the quality of your effort and movement, based on that representative piece of time, what would they say? What if we scored the workout based on the average height of your burbpee jump? Or the range of your push up? (I'm not talking about form deviations that occur at the limits of human performance.)

Remember Crossfit is not about going as fast as you can. It's about performing as much work as you can, as fast as you can.

Why does it matter if I don't really reach full extension on my box jumps you say? Or achieve true overhead in push press?

It's all about performance. That's the point. Hot dirty nasty performance. Performing more work through a greater range of motion is the gateway to the next level.

So next time you find yourself loafing a little, take a snapshot.

Coach Kstar


Here's a snapshot: Poseidon's Fist Elite: Lucas, all in.

Choose Your Own Adventure!

When the experience of working out with semi-technical elements is still new to the individual, it can be expected that coaching will be a major part of the process as this set of external eyes can see more from their vantage point. Many times it is easier in the beginning to do what is best when told by those with more experience, instead of first having to decide what is best on your own.

There comes a time, however, that the individual must start forming his or her own opinions about what 'best-practice' is for his or herself after having enough instruction and familiarity with relevant concepts. This is a good thing! It is also the time that the individual must take stock of his or her own weaknesses and address them accordingly.

Today the morning crew had a 'Choose your own Adventure' workout, with a few similar, but different, skills that could be chosen. For those needing more of a challenge, the option was there. For those working the basics, the option was there.

When performing your next workout, think beyond increased weight, reps or box jump height and see what ways you can come up with to modify a workout to meet your particular needs. Barbell Fran is getting pretty fast? How about Dumbell Fran, or Clean and Jerk Fran, or Bar-Muscle up Fran? Find a skill that needs work and incorporate it in your favorite workout that has a similar skill. Look ahead to the next step/challenge/layer. Only you can truly decide what's best.

Adrian 'Stagnancy-Sucks' Bozman

PS Here are some long over-due photos of Arts-n-crafts/Grill-o-rama day:

Emergence and Year Four

December 5th marked the start of year four for San Francisco Crossfit. Anniversaries are clearly times of potential reflection, and turning three left us in a mood to ruminate on who we are and how we've come to be so.

And, no three year old's birthday would be complete without at least some cursory examination of the phenomenon of emergence.
So here goes:

An emergent behaviour or emergent property can appear when a number of simple entities (agents) operate in an environment, forming more complex behaviors as a collective. The processes from which emergent properties result may occur in either the observed or observing system, and can commonly be identified by their patterns of accumulating change, most generally called 'growth'.

For example: Think of a line of ants walking across a yard. No ant knows how long the line is, or even that its a line. The ant just follows a scent or taste and the emergent behavior is dozens of ants following what looks like a long organized line.

Is SFCF our programming?
Is SFCF the sum of our great coaches?
Is SFCF our brilliant athletes?

No. And yes.

Disparate, diverse, eclectic people comprise our extended family of coaches and athletes. Each shows up in an attempt to perform a simple task. Namely to increase their ability to perform work. The algorithm is simple. And yet the resultant community is complex, unique, and rich. While the ant model may not perfectly reflect the depth and breadth of our community, it does illustrate the unique beast that SFCF is as a function of a simple organizing paradigm.


If Crossfit isn't an experiment in Emergent behavior I don't know what is.

So here's to accumulating another year of "change" and "growth".
I'm quite fond of our little ant hill.


Go ahead, chew on that again as you sing happy birthday. Can't wait to see what we look like in another year.

Coach Kstar



To celebrate, Coach Angel Pr'd with and easy 265 pound clean and jerk today.

SFCF Out and About

Just a little eye-candy from the road....

Can you name the places?

Ross:



Nick:


Ian:


Storm (Ian's Dog):


Ryann (one of Steven's):


See you all back in SF on Monday,

-Boz

PS send in some SFCF out and about pics if you've got 'em! adrian @ sanfranciscocrossfit.com

Get Out of Your Hea...I Mean, Common, Perfect Recruitment Pattern

Many of the movements performed in CrossFit are quite linear. This is not a bad thing as they are based off of some very useful and essential basics (think squatting, pushing, pulling, deadlifting etc.).

These are all fine movements, but occasionally it behooves one to get out of the habit of only performing movements and motor-patterns that allow for an ideal set-up or condition. Barbells, kettlebells and dumbells are nicely balanced and relatively comfortable to use. They are designed and optimized for this purpose.

Finding some 'austere work' to do can fill in some gaps that may be present in your more conventional conditioning. It also serves to keep things fresh in terms programming and just plain ol' fun factor. Basic movements become anything but with odd-objects and 'additions'. Check out how many 'additions' Coach A.O.D. has on his person:



Of course all your regular lifting mechanics apply as much as can be expected (spine extended, abdominals braced etc.)...ask your coach for some movements to play around with!


-Adrian "that-really-sucked-so-right" Bozman

Answer the Demon

Can't is the word that is foe to ambition,
An enemy ambushed to shatter your will;
Its prey is forever the man with a mission
And bows but to courage and patience and skill.
Hate it, with hatred that's deep and undying,
For once it is welcomed 'twill break any man;
Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying
And answer this demon by saying: "I can."--Guest




Coach Kstar

Turkey Chipper Fest '09

First, Happy Thanksgiving and many thanks to all those that made this year's Turkey workout the best ever.
Our resident Pathologist (Dr.Dr) was able to quantify the pie/time concept.
She noted that this obscure measurement (calories Pie per second) is known as the "gourd". I'm pretty confident new gourd (input?) records will be set later on today.
Great efforts all!

It was a big day for several other reasons too.
We at SFCF are thankful:



Thankful for this box. That unicorn has blood in its eyes. Of course. If we could have had a 12 sided die, we would have painted it. Coach Boz has Dragonforce rocking on his internal soundtrack. +8 for awesomeness.


We are thankful for our great community of let's face it, amazing, generous, brilliant, crazy people.









We are thankful that Molly is marrying Corby on Saturday. Our goal the past week was to cripple the bride. Miracle Molly has confounded us again.
Congrats you two!







And we are 364 days thankful that Meghan Kearny is finished Chemo.



But who cares? Because today she stuck her first pull up ever (and we mean ever.)
And it counts, because it was done on film




See you for regular classes again tomorrow!
Don't worry, we're going heavy.

Coach Kstar