CrossFit Oakland

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September 30, 2006

CFO Team Spotting Method for Heavy Squat

Here we see a nice spotting method for squats, assuming four people of reasonably close strength are working together.

Spotters shadow the bar up and down and assist if athlete fails in the bottom of the squat.

The third person watches the athlete from below and calls "go" when the athlete breaks parallel (when the fold of the hip crosses below the knee). On the call the athlete goes back up.

Pictures are of Jonathan, Franklin, Max and Sam doing the WOD from the CrossFit National Site.

Max Lifts:

Franklin 255x2 (1.2x bw)
Jonathan 255x2 First time with no belt (1.2x bw)
Max 235x2 (1.25x bw)
Sam 235x2 PR (1.4x bw)
Sharon 110x2 First time heavy (.8x bw)
Nicole 110x2 First time heavy (.8x bw)

Note that the weights don't tell the whole story, pound for pound Sam has significantly more power than anyone else. He has much less inert metabolic material than anyone else in this lineup too.

The next goals for each athlete, taken from the CrossFit North Standards List, are as follows:

Franklin, Jonathan, Sam, Max: 1x1.5x bw (level 3: advanced athlete)
Nicole, Sharon: 1x1x bw (level 2 intermediate athlete)

Since these were doubles it is conceivable that at least Sam might be able to pull this off: He needs 252 pounds.

There is an interesting tradeoff here: for Me, Sharon, Nicole, Jonathan and to a lesser extent Franklin, getting rid of metabolically inert material (fat) with no other adjustments is going to put us pretty close to this goal. For example, if I go from my present bw of 188 down to 175 I only have to put another 27.5 pounds on this lift to meet the standard (262.5 pounds).

On the other hand, Sam has no (or very little) fat to lose, so it is possible he might need to go up in weight to meet the standard, perhaps getting 255 pounds at a bw of 170.

By the way, the Level 4 standard (elite athlete) is 2x bw, or 420 pounds for Franklin and Jonathan at the weight they are at now. Achieving this standard for any of us would be a 3+ year undertaking and would involve having more muscle, less fat (except Sam) and vastly increased neuromuscular efficiency and technique (skill). And, of course, to truly be in the CrossFit elite we would need we would all need a five-minute mile and a bunch of other stuff too. I for one am looking forward to pushing towards these goals.

Some minor form notes for real geeks:

Picture one, top left: bar is slightly too high on back, lordotic curve too shallow (Max).
Picture two top right, bar is much too high on back, almost on neck (Sam).
Picture three bottom left, not bad, do it like that! (Jonathan)
Picture four bottom right: feet too wide (Franklin)

Posted by Max Lewin at 12:45 PM | Comments (2)

September 29, 2006

Get That @#$%^& Camera Out of My Face!

James does his best Sean Penn as I annoyingly snap photos of him right after Fight Gone Bad. He's got a reason to be knocked flat on his back: 276 reps @ 65#! Nice!

Posted by Max Lewin at 4:11 PM | Comments (1)

September 28, 2006

These Guns are illegal in 50 States!! FGB @ CFO

Shira, perfect form in top of push-press: active shoulders, full elbow lockout, full hip extention.

Workout: Fight Gone Bad
# = poundage for Push-Press and SDHP (65 and above, used 20 lb Dynamax ball, Nicole used 14 lb Dynamax ball, others used 11 lb med ball).

* = First time doing workout

1st Max 250 75#
2nd James 276 65#
3rd Carlo 241 65#*
Joe 219 35#*

1st Candace 221 65#
2nd Shira 210 65#
3rd Nicole 256 55#
Sharon 312 35#
Megan 248 35#*
Kerry 232 35#*
Joanne 230 35#*
Aminta 220 35#*
Melissa 214 35#*
Pat 225 10# db* (2nd week of CrossFit, awesome!)

World Record 435: Greg Amundson 75#
CFO Record 327: Mike Minium 75#
2nd Place: 287 Max Lewin 75#
3rd Place: 236 Sam L. 75# (pretty sure he got shortchanged about 20 seconds)

Women's: Too hard to calculate because of the variable weights that have been used. The "official" Women's weight is 55# for PP and SDHP and a 14 lb Dynamax ball. Candace, Sharon, Shira and Nicole all have respectable scores. Sharon probably has the best score so far, 267 w/ 55#. We will have to put them head to head with the correct weights. The 14 lb Dynamax is in the mail.

Posted by Max Lewin at 2:40 PM | Comments (2)

September 25, 2006

CrossFit Cert at CrossFit HQ

Thanks to everyone at CrossFit HQ for an amazing weekend at the Cert!

Max L, Mike M, Nicole O

Can you find us in the picture? Click for bigger pic. Bonus points for id'ing Coach, Nicole C., Eva T., and Fudgie.

Hint: "Gilligan!"

Posted by Max Lewin at 6:26 PM | Comments (3)

September 18, 2006

New Women's Deadlift Record Holders @ CFO

Unfortunately I did not get a picture, but Candace and Felica both Deadlifted 185 pounds with good form today. So excuse the crappy cartoon, I'll replace it as soon as I get a good picture.

We plan to start keeping track of various records on the white board in the back room, this being the first one. Any challengers on this one?

Posted by Max Lewin at 6:18 PM | Comments (4)

September 16, 2006

CrossFit Oakland: "Smoke You Like Cheap Crack".

What more can we say?

Posted by Max Lewin at 3:54 PM

September 12, 2006

Now THAT'S Intensity!

Tim working out like a savage beast! The ability to generate intensity is important in many athletic pursuits. It can be defined as explosive power, or exerting the most possible force in the least possible amount of time, but there is also a mental component, which Tim expresses nicely here.

Posted by Max Lewin at 11:33 AM

September 8, 2006

Sharon Push-Jerks 115 Pounds

Here Sharon Push-Jerks 115 lbs, coming close to her own bodyweight.

To see the CrossFit movies and slide show of this lift click HERE.

This lift is a precursor to the Clean and Jerk, one of the Olympic Lifts. Like many CrossFit exercises, this builds full body power.

Posted by Max Lewin at 12:15 PM

September 6, 2006

Labor Day Workout at Lake Merritt

A fine time was had by all, with a guest appearance (or two) by pukie. Attention: link is gross, you have been warned! We did a team workout consisting of various hops, squats, buttercup burpees, pull-ups and band-assisted sprints.

This was fun and we plan to do more park workouts. The tentative plan is to have one on the last Sunday of the month at 10AM. These will be free workouts open to the public.

Posted by Max Lewin at 6:16 PM | Comments (1)

September 5, 2006

World's (even more) Youngest CrossFitter

Niko's Little Brother Enzo (age one and a half) demonstrates a nice static hang. He is even pulling a bit. No trick photography: he really is hanging high above the tarmac (with spotter at the ready, natch). This little guy is growing up around CrossFit, and can be seen doing his own versions of deadlifts (9 lb medicine ball), pvc cleans, box jumps onto 2" "box", etc. Very cool.

Posted by Max Lewin at 11:37 AM

September 1, 2006

What The "L"?!?

Here Franklin demonstrates a CrossFit Standard, the "L" Pull-Up.

Simple in design, difficult in execution, the "L" Pull-Up works the core and the upper body at the same time.

A. Jump up to bar.
B. Make like an "L"
C. Pull Chin above bar.
D. Repeat.

Yesterday's WOD (workout of the day) from the CrossFit national site had 150 "L"s in it!

From Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia.

The chin-up (also known as a chin or pull-up) is a strength training exercise in which one hangs by the arms from a horizontal bar and pulls oneself up vertically until the chin reaches the level of the bar. Chin-ups can be performed with the palms facing towards the body (i.e., with a supinated grip), with the palms facing away from the body (pronated grip), or gripping parallel bars (semi-supinated grip). The term pull-up is traditionally used when the exercise is performed with a pronated grip; however, the terms chin-up and pull-up are often used interchangeably.

Chin-up exercises involve the sternal portion of the pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, teres major, posterior deltoid, the rhomboids, the middle and lower portions of the trapezius, and the elbow flexors. There is considerable involvement of the biceps, especially with the supinated grip.

A chin-up specialization program builds width and thickness to one's back, as well as promoting growth on one's biceps, brachialis, brachio-radialis and pronator teres. Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics, Andreas Wecker, is particularly noted for the results he has achieved from chin-ups.

Posted by Max Lewin at 12:16 PM