I Have a Dream.

One Man, One Erg.
No child in America growing up without a two erg family.
The only thing we have to fear, is the erg itself!



Hey Gang!
SFCF will be receiving TWO new ergs next tues! If rowing is fun, then more rowing is more fun! Imagine the new programming options!

Coach K

Learning the Ropes

Just a note on learning new skills:

Often when confronted with new movement patterns, we instinctively cut range of motion short. This leads us to believe that we are comfortable with greater loads/volume than we can handle correctly. This is especially true for difficult bodyweight exercises. Next time you are trying something new, take a step back in weight, or ask for a spot, and experience the movement first before jumping in with weight. Often just wrapping your head around the way something feels, without having to worry about load, will allow you to build stronger, more confident technique. Try it!

Above: Mike and Tess are finished with the lesson.

Enjoy,
-Bozman

Tomorrow

Class is going to be at 7am tomorrow! See you all then.



Here's one of me getting some on Saturday.

Enjoy the extra hour of sleep,
-Bozman

Hackleman

As promised, here's a pic from the Seminar that Kim, Pam L, Christy and Juliet attended last weekend:



That's Kim with John Hackleman of The Pit, Coach to UFC Light-Heavyweight Champ, Chuck Liddell.

See you Saturday,
-Bozman

What if?

There have been many, far too many (Adrian and I chief amongst them), whom have wondered, "What if I had found Crossfit when I was a younger athlete?' "What could I have accomplished?" It's not a stretch to understand this yearning given that most of us have accomplished a level of fitness we never dreamed possible as younger, more foolish athletes. So what happens when you expose a set of young, nationally ranked athletes to world class programming three days a week? Simple.

You get mosters who don't think in terms of "what if".

Check out some of the Varsity Monsters from the Marin Rowing Association.

So...We have a few athletes returning from the most recent Crossfit Seminar in Union City. Pam L, Juliet, Kim and Christy survived a great weekend! Look forward for a few pictures to come. Way to represent our little corner, ladies!

Also look forward for a new tarp to keep all of us dry in the near future. Unfortunately, things haven't been looking much like this lately...





-Bozman

The Rain and Mastery

It is difficult enough to master any task. Many that claim mastery can only perform under ideal circumstances with the right set up. It is often the case however, that we are forced to perform in less than ideal circumstances and under less than ideal conditions. In less than perfect conditions we can assume that our performance will wane, but training FOR this, assures us that we will be better prepared to handle the unknown. And we get closer to mastery.

Check out the Wed. Crew testing the limits of their mastery.

Angels

Lazy morning at SFCF today...mostly just lounging...

The Big Man Stepeth

Just a quick shot of Kelly playing 'Four Square'. Show up Saturday to find out how you can have as much fun as Kelly!



See you then,
-Bozman

Graduation

The idea of the graduated warm-up allows one to experience, or practice, multiple skills in a condensed period of time.

The group performed this simple graduated warm-up on Wednesday night:

Squat----------->Lunge----------->Pistol Or Box Jump
Pushup---------->Dip------------->Handstand Pushup
Back Ext.------->GH Raise-------->Swing Or Dumbell Snatch
Pullup (Dead)--->Pullup (Kip)---->Muscle up or Fat Pullup Practice

The idea is to run down the first column, which are all relatively basic exercises, then proceed to the 2nd and 3rd columns. The second and third groupings increase the complexity of the basic movement and add a degree of variation and practice that may not otherwise be present.

Next time you're warming up, see if you can take a basic movement and make it more complex as you get warmer. Almost any 'basic' works. Let's look at jumping rope:

Jump Rope------>Double Unders------>CrossOver

How about Dumbell Deadlifts:

Dumbell Deadlift------------->DB Swing--------->DB Snatch

Try it! You'll get a little bit of practice on things we might not be focusing on for the day. In the big picture, that little practice adds up to familiarity with many movements, which leads you to physical dominance!

Enjoy,
-Bozman

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

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

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

Happy Friday

Have a great weekend if we don't see you!

-Coaches A & K

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

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!

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.

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

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

New Year's Day Workout (Monday)

Hey Crew,
We will be moving our Monday workout to 7pm. This should eliminate any reasons why you can't get your year started off right!

And, be thinking about what you want to accomplish physically this year. We are going to have an informal sit down and make those goals public!

Happy New Year Monsters!

Kelly and Adrian