June 2009

M.C. Escher's Relativity

The first six workouts of the Nasty Nine are done with, and it's been an interesting experiment thus far.

I wanted to step away from the results of the competition for a moment, though, and talk about the importance of perspective when it comes to things like the Nasty Nine. When every other post of late is about the CF Games or the Nasty Nine, it's easy to get caught up in it all. Competitions can be a fun way to energize people's workouts, but it's almost always just a temporary thing.

CrossFit is a skill-based fitness program. Both of those pieces--the skill part and the fitness part--are critical.

The skill component is huge, yet more often than I care to admit, it's pushed aside, or even worse, ignored altogether (and this is my fault, in case you're wondering). In the pursuit of a time or number on the whiteboard, technique gets compromised, or even worse, people resort to the minimum standard required for a movement to be considered legitimate. Although this is often necessary in CF competitions, is it really the most legitimate path to getting stronger, faster, and fitter over the long term? And will it address weaknesses (and ultimately eliminate them)? If someone has issues with depth on the squat, will barely getting down on the squat, sometimes achieving proper depth, sometimes not, be the best way to address said depth issues?

For the competitive types out there, who would you rather be: the guy who practices a squat over the longest range of motion possible, and is pleasantly surprised when competition standards are easier than his own personal standards, or the guy who does the opposite, who always tries to skirt the edges, and is caught off guard when competition standards are made tougher?

CFHQ trainers often describe the following model for CF skill acquisition (and ultimately fitness itself):

Mechanics
Consistency
Intensity

In this model, you first have to develop solid mechanics (or movement patterns). You then have to be able to repeat those mechanics until they become rock-solid after repeat exposure. And then, and only then, do you add intensity (either speed of movement, increased load, or both).

You'd do well to understand where you are on this spectrum of development.

The second part of the CF equation is that it's a fitness program. Fitness, as it's defined in CF, is a hedge against sickness. See this picture for a visual of what I'm talking about (from CF Ventura). And this means that CF is ultimately about your own health and fitness. I'm going to say more about the health-and-fitness piece in a follow-up post, but let me just give you a couple quick take-aways:

* Emotional health is just as important, if not more important, than physical health.
* The CF workouts you do at our gym should directly and positively contribute to your emotional health, just as surely as they do to your physical health.

And finally, keep this in mind: Your workout is your workout, regardless of what others have to say, and no matter how good their intentions are.

It's past my bedtime, and I've really jumped all over the place on this one. I'll consider it a success if just one sentence I've written resonates with you.

Comment away.

*******REMINDER*******

We're holding a free "Community Day" workout this Saturday June 6 at 11am. We'll be doing the workout at our new gym here on 5741 Doyle Street. All are welcome!

Just one of the pull-up bars Daniel has built for us

Although many of you have been thanking Daniel for his outstanding work on our pull-up bars via comments on other posts, we thought it was time to do a proper thank-you and highlight his work in a stand-alone post.

By the way, my photo does not do his pull-up bar justice (I'm no TomC, Melissa, Alex, Megan, etc.).

So let's give it up for Daniel in comments (and thank him in person if you run into him at the gym, too).

Tomorrow's Nasty Nine WOD

I've been receiving comments here and there about how short the recent workouts are, wondering why there haven't been as many long metcons lately...

Careful what you wish for.

"The Devil Does CrossFit"

5 Rounds for Time:

21 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls @ 75#/55#
21 DB Thrusters @ 40#/25#
21 Burpees

*****REMINDER*****

We're holding a free "Community Day" workout this Saturday June 6 at 11am. We'll be doing the workout at our new gym here on 5741 Doyle Street. All are welcome!

The 6am class chipping away at the second-to-last workout of the Nasty Nine

Today was the last workout of the Nasty Nine, but CFO programming is not done with.

For the next couple of months, we're going to continue with the experiment. We're going to be entering into a phase of hybrid programming. Basically, over the next couple of months, on any given day, you could be doing a CFO-programmed workout, a CF.com workout, or even a CF Football workout. Also, in the spirit of the CF Games, expect there to be some team workouts on a regular basis as well.

And then, every third month or so, we'll do a month straight of CF.com workouts as a litmus test of sorts.

Since many of you are coming off of the Nasty Nine, tomorrow will be a rest day. You can do the CF.com WOD, make up any missed WODs, or work on skill development (in other words, the standard rest-day fare).

For those of you who didn't know already, Justin is the man behind the skull-and-crossbones logo on our lifting platform. It's hella sweet!

Let's give it up for Justin, our firefighting and CrossFitting fiend, in comments.

Tomorrow's Double WOD

Workout A:

Push Press 3-3-3-3-3 Reps (work up to a 3-rep max)

Rest 5 minutes, and then...

Workout B:

Max Pull-Ups in 5 Minutes

Your score will be your 3-rep max in the push press multiplied by the number of pull-ups you get in 5 minutes. And then we divide it by 1,000 so that the number's a manageable one.

We'd like to keep the new gym looking as new and spacious as possible. Believe it or not, it's already starting to feel crowded on some nights and weekends! The more things change, the more they stay the same, I guess.

In order to make everyone's training experience a pleasant one, please observe the following housekeeping rules:

1. Always re-rack all of your weights and return your barbell to either a rack or the barbell stand. This also applies to dumbbells.

2. Return rowers to the wall in the upright position.

3. Return medicine balls to their appropriate spot on the wall.

4. Use the cubby holes to store any of your gear.

5. Return wrist wraps, jump ropes, kettlebells, etc. to their appropriate place.

6. Especially in large classes, take advantage of our lounge for post-workout conversation, banter, and unwinding. That lounge is for all of you and we want you to make the most of it (we might even throw a TV in there if you use the place enough)! This will help clear up space for those coming into the next group class.

Thanks, everyone!

Tomorrow's WOD (6/12/09)

"Fat Lynne"

Five Rounds for Max Reps:
Bench Press at 1.1 x Bodyweight
Pull-Ups at 0.25 x Bodyweight

Rest as needed between bench press/pull-up supersets.

Pull-ups are strict, chin-over-bar weighted pull-ups (no kipping).

The participants in the Pull-Up Progression Clinic from earlier today

Thanks to all who came in to work on their dead-hang pull-ups today. Several people will be getting full dead-hangs very soon.

Here's the progression we worked on, in a nutshell. It was inspired by a CF Journal video article featuring Adrian Bozman (of San Francisco CrossFit and CFHQ fame) on pull-up progressions.

The Progression:

1. Lock off and hold at top of pull-up (chin over bar) for 10-20 seconds.

2-3 sets of 3-5 reps (rest ~2 minutes between sets)

2. Lock off at the top of the pull-up and then at various points along the descent.

2-3 sets of 3-5 reps (rest ~2 minutes between sets)

3. Lock off at the top of the pull-up and then perform a slow, controlled negative.

2-3 sets of 3-5 reps (rest ~2 minutes between sets)

4. Work band-assisted pull-ups, starting from a complete dead hang for each rep (no bounce at the bottom between reps).

2-3 sets of 3-5 reps (rest ~2 minutes between sets)

Do this progression two times a week and be smart about your pull-up volume in workouts.

So...are there other strength- or skill-related progressions you're interested in? If so, post them to comments.

Tomorrow's WOD (6/14/09)

"Cindy"
Max rounds in 20 minutes:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

Birthday wishes to our favorite whole-milk-drinking CFOer in comments!

Tomorrow's WOD (6/17/09)

Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5 Reps
Shoulder Press 5-5-5-5-5 Reps
1 Max Set of Dead-Hang Pull-Ups (Chest-to-Bar)

Keep the warm-up focused and brief so we can get through these work sets in an hour.

A quick reminder: Body fat testing will be happening next Tuesday, June 23 from 12pm to 8pm. There are still some spots available; just send us an email or sign up at the gym.

Tomorrow's WOD (6/19/09)

Rest Day (and a well-deserved one after today's WOD)

If you don't regularly read the SF CrossFit Blog, you should. It's one of the best ones around.

There are a few posts that have been done lately that are worth posting here:

The Finisher

A nice summary of the ground rules for establishing smart finishers that complement your workout, rather than overtake it.

Quality

An ode to not gaming workouts.

Read both of the entries above and post up your thoughts.

Tommorrow's WOD (6/21/09):

For time:
Run 1 Mile (4 Vallejo loops)
50 Power Cleans @ 135#/85#
50 Burpees

****REMINDER****

Prather Ranch beef will be delivered Wednesday, June 24. We need to have payment for the beef from you by Monday, June 22. The cost is $231.61, and there's still one box left for purchase.

Rolling and Falling

This Saturday, June 27, from 11 to 1, I will be teaching a class in basic rolling and falling. No prior experience or practice is necessary. I will cover back falls, side falls, front rolls, and back rolls. The instruction should take about an hour, then I will supervise practice for an hour for anyone who wants to work on the skills.

Why learn to roll and fall?

I learned to roll and fall as part of my martial arts training (Danzan Ryu Jujitsu). Most of the training we do is partner-based, and frequently involves throws and takedowns of various kinds. Learning to take falls when being thrown (referred to in general as ukemi) is one of the first things we teach, and is absolutely fundamental to continuing safe and effective training in our art. I have heard many stories of people escaping and minimizing injury in accidents of various kinds, in bicycle and motorcycle wrecks, falling off of ladders and roofs, and just tripping and falling down, due to the reflexes gained from steady, continued training in ukemi. It has saved my butt a few times, mostly by protecting me from my own clumsiness.

Even if you aren't planning to take up a sport or martial art that involves falling (such as judo or jujitsu) as part of the practice, rolling and falling are important and useful in other ways. CrossFit lists ten physical skills that define fitness, the last four being coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. Rolling and falling will help you develop these skills. In my personal experience, I've gone from being completely uncoordinated and clumsy to somewhat less so, a marked improvement.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, rolling and falling are fun. As adults, we tend to avoid falling down whenever possible, because it can hurt and it's undignified. Being able to take a fall or roll gracefully gives you another way to be comfortable in your body as you go through life, something I think most of us can use.

--Sam Larson

Post your R.S.V.P to comments.

Tomorrow's WOD (6/23/09)

Rest Day

CrossFit's High Performance Shoe

In your opinion, is there such a thing as an all-purpose CrossFit shoe? What would you recommend to a new Crossfitter and why?

Tomorrow's WOD:

As a 2-person team, Max Reps in 10 Minutes:

Rope Climbs
Push Presses @ 135#/85#

In order for the score to qualify, a team must complete a minimum of 10 rope climbs.

Only one bar for push presses. No rack. Only one person can be push-pressing at a time.

Post to comments.

Sam Larson will be teaching a FREE seminar on rolling and falling tomorrow from 11a.m. to 1p.m.

Tomorrow's WOD:

Rest Day

Post to comments.

Brandon "PSR" Banks-CFO Team Captain

The CrossFit Games are upon us! Our Affiliate Cup Title will be defended by Team CFO: Audra, Journey, MJJ, Brandon, Manwell and Steven.

The Team Competition will take place on Friday, July 10. The top five teams from Friday's competition will compete on Sunday in the Finals for the Affiliate Cup Title.

Both of our individual competitors (Tamara and Candace) will be competing either the 11th or 12th (or both).

We will be setting up "Camp CFO" with enough room for competitors and spectators alike. Look for the sign-up on the white board at CFO for those of you who want to pitch in for meat, snacks and beer.

Post your ideas for the best "send-off" party you can imagine for our athletes.

Tomorrow's WOD (6/30/09)

For time:
100 Burpees
3 L-Pull-Ups every minute

Workout is done once 100 burpees are finished with. Number of L-Pull-ups will vary depending on how long it takes you to get through the WOD.