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September
Throwdown Showdown
Two of the three people pictured above will end up being our September Throwdown champs (hint: one of them is Candace)
For those of you who either followed or participated in our CFO Throwdown that happened during the first two weeks of September, you probably know that Daniel and Brandon ended up tied for first place in the men's division.
We've decided to break the tie with a one-on-one workout between the two arch rivals tomorrow night at 6pm. The workout: Grace (30 clean-and-jerks @ 135# for time).
This will be a tight battle. The last time the two of them did the workout, they were separated by 4 seconds (Daniel at 1:49, Brandon at 1:53).
Touch your gloves and keep the fight clean, gentlemen!
Post your prognostications to comments.
Connie Moreno: CFO's Nutrition Trainer
Connie has become our official Nutrition Trainer! She will be a regular contributor to our blog and will also be offering private sessions for anyone interested in understanding more about the role of nutrition for body composition changes and/or performance enhancement.
Connie has been gathering knowledge about Zone and Paleo eating for a few years as both a member and a trainer. A few months ago, she started her own nutrition blog detailing her intake and performance and in the process inspired a lot of other members to do the same. She is currently completing a Holistic Nutrition Educator Program and will shortly be a certified Nutritional Educator as well as a certified Dietician.
This Sunday we will feature the first of many nutrition focused entries by Cave Connie and we'd like to know what kinds of topics you'd like to know more about and see covered in detail. Post your ideas to comments.
Bring Your Bike to CFO on Sat Oct 4!
Stacy Marple in action during this past year's race season
We've arranged a special event for anyone who wants to come this Saturday, Oct 4 at 11am.
We've arranged to have professional cyclist Stacy Marple (she rode for the Cheerwine Cycling women's professional team during the 2008 season) come and take everyone on a ride through the Oakland hills (Tunnel Road and the surrounding area). Prior to the ride, Stacy will be answering questions on what to look for in a good road bike, bike gear, and anything else you want to know about bicycles or the sport itself.
After the Q&A session, everyone will head off for a ride. Stacy has mapped out multiple courses according to skill level. So whether you're a bicycling enthusiast or a raw beginner, there will be a course for you.
And best of all, this event is free of charge. This is an opportunity you won't want to pass up.
It all begins at CFO at 11am. So bring your bike and come ready to ride!
Congratulations CFO!
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$11,483
You guys rocked it!
We raised a total of $11,483 today for the Prostate Cancer Foundation! Thanks to each and everyone of you who was there to participate, cheer, and just plain support the amazing people of CrossFit Oakland who came out and gave Fight Gone Bad all they had! The money we raised today will go directly to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
ANONYMOUS DONORS, thank you for helping us make this happen...the gratitude we have is enormous!
What is Prostate Cancer?
Prostate cancer occurs when the cells of the prostate begin to grow uncontrollably. When caught and treated early, prostate cancer has a cure rate of over 90%. Yet being diagnosed with prostate cancer can be a life-altering experience. It requires making some very difficult decisions about treatments that can affect not only the life of the man diagnosed, but also the lives of his family members in significant ways for many years to come. More than 186,000 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and each and every one of them will need to make very personal and individualized decisions about treatment options and diet and lifestyle changes. Most importantly, each and every one of them will have to find a strong, knowledgeable team of physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers to help guide him through the process at each step of the way.
What is Athletes for a Cure?
Athletes for a Cure, a program of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, is a fundraising and awareness program to assist individual athletes in their quest to raise money for better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer. Every dollar raised from the program goes directly to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
What is the Prostate Cancer Foundation?
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world's largest philanthropic source of support for prostate cancer research. The PCF has a single, yet urgent goal: to find better treatments and a cure for recurrent prostate cancer. The PCF pursues its mission by reaching out to individuals, corporations and others to harness society’s resources – financial and human – to fight this deadly disease.
Founded in 1993, the PCF has raised more than $350 million and provided funding to more than 1,400 researchers at nearly 150 institutions worldwide. The PCF has been a pioneer in the grant making process, simplifying paperwork for grantees, leaving more time for researchers to conduct needed scientific research. The PCF also advocates for greater awareness of prostate cancer and more governmental resources, resulting in a 20-fold increase in government funding for prostate cancer.
Post your FGB experience to comments.
Weekend Reminders!
Rowing is just one of five stations in Fight Gone Bad
***Fight Gone Bad Fundraiser***
Fight Gone Bad is upon us!
And the most important thing to say is congratulations, we did it! We passed the $10k mark today in donations. A big thank you needs to go out to our anonymous donors who made this happen (we have more than one set of anonymous donors). And a big thank you also needs to go out to all of you who stepped up for this worthy cause. Let's keep the money rolling in.
The first heat goes off tomorrow at 9:30am. Those who registered for a particular time slot will have priority tomorrow. If you did not register for a time slot, you'll be folded into the mix on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Let's get it on!
***Olympic Lifting Sundays***
Just a quick reminder that our 2-hour Olympic lifting Sunday session is now under way. The drop-in rate is $20 for a single session, or $15/session if you prepay for an entire month.
In order to participate in the Sunday sessions, you must have either been through one of Angela's clean or snatch clinics or taken a private lesson with her.
Contact Angela at angela_lim@pacbell.net for more information.
Fight Gone Bad III: Saturday, September 27, 2008
We are in the last few days of the fundraising efforts for Athletes for a Cure 2008! We are encouraging everyone who is participating in FGB to solicit friends and family to sponsor your soulful efforts on Saturday. Get out there and raise as much money as you can in these final days!
Prostate Cancer Facts: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Detection/early-prostate
Athletes for a Cure:http://www.athletesforacure.org/
Also, be sure to sign up for the heat you intend to participate in.
Heat #1 will be at 9:30
Heat #2 will be at 10:15
Heat #3 will be at 11:00
Post your fundraising goal to comments.
Performance, Standards, and Form
Lau at the correct bottom and top of a squat
Every so often it becomes necessary to step back and take a look around. Having done that in the last couple of weeks, I've noticed two extremely gratifying developments at CFO:
1. There are more and more people training at CFO every day.
2. The performance of CFOers is increasing at an impressive rate (across all levels of performance).
These two facts are important and the two of them are interdependent to a large degree (the larger the pool of athletes, the better the chance of seeing above-average performances--this is for several reasons, by the way, but that's the topic for another post).
But as performance increases (whether in a competitive sense or on an individual basis), the margin for improvement becomes smaller and smaller and improvement harder and harder to attain. This is known as the law of diminishing returns. And as such, if you're a competitive type, it gets harder and harder to beat Joe CFOer, even though you handily beat him a month ago. And if you're not the competitive type, you notice that it gets harder and harder to get a PR in the back squat, to shed that last pound, or do whatever it is you're trying to do in relation to your health and well-being.
So what does this have to do with the pictures of Lau above, or for that matter, standards? Well, quite simply, as it's gotten harder and harder to shave a second off of Fran or Michael, I've seen a diminution of movement standards. Understand first and foremost that this type of occurrence is my fault and not the fault of anyone who's cutting a squat short, or missing the touch of chest to bar on a pull-up. I haven't been as diligent of late in enforcing said standards and it's a disservice to all those who train (and especially those who fail to complete a movement through its full range of motion).
So it's come time to revisit movement standards, both here on the blog and on the training floor. Over the next few weeks, Nicole and I will be taking pictures of each of our trainers demonstrating our standard bevy of moves, illustrating a full range of motion, as well as a partial range of motion. We'll be discussing these photos in depth on the blog, and we'll be posting larger versions of these photos on the walls of CFO, so that everyone who walks in to train with us will have a clear picture of what a proper squat, pull-up, push-up, shoulder press, etc. looks like.
Why does this matter? It matters whether you care about competing or whether you don't.
If you care about competing, then you want to make sure that you're on a level playing field and that the competition is fair. If I were to challenge someone to a 400m run and then run 300m while my competitor runs 400m, then our performances aren't really comparable (to say nothing of the fact that I cheated). In the same vein, if I challenge someone to max number of push presses in one minute, and then proceed to do push jerks while my competitor does push presses, then once again, our performances are not comparable. It's apples and oranges. I wanna level the playing field.
If you don't care about competing, but you do care about making improvements in the movements we do, then you'll want to take note of our movement standards as well. If you have it as a goal to squat 250 lbs, you'll want to know what the correct bottom of a squat is so that you can get it. If you load 250 lbs on the bar and then go down into a half-squat and come back up, then you really haven't done a squat.
It's also easy to confuse standards with form, even though they are completely separate matters. One can have crappy form and still meet the standards for a given movement. Good form (not perfect) will often be the most efficient path toward meeting our standards, however (if you have to yank a deadlift off the floor 21 times using back and arms as your prime movers, you're gonna be a lot less efficient when it comes to finding the correct top position of a deadlift).
It's best to think of movement standards as being very similar to the strike zone in baseball. Assuming the batter doesn't swing and miss, the only way a pitcher can throw a strike is to get the ball within a specified area (over the plate, and somewhere roughly between the batter's knee and sternum). In the same way, there's a strike zone for every move we do in CF. For example, in order for a squat to be valid, we have to get down to a position just below parallel (where knee is just above the crease of the hip) and up to a position where leg, hip, and torso all form a straight line.
So over the next few weeks (it won't be every night on the blog--how boring is it to read about movement standards!), we'll be detailing a move or series of moves, discussing what constitutes a proper range of motion, talking about some tips on form that will lead you to some efficiencies in movement, and generally beating each of these moves to death.
In addition, look for the "Standards Police" or "Standards Refs" (we haven't yet decided on the proper attire) to be out in full force during this Saturday's FGB Fundraiser. Don't worry, it's just our attempt to inject a little humor into this otherwise dry topic.
The first move we'll be detailing (as previewed in the pictures of Lau above) is the squat. So stay tuned.
In the meantime, post to comments your top five list of moves you want to see explained, defined, and described.
***FGB Fundraiser***
Only two more days until our Fight Gone Bad Fundraiser Workout! If you haven't registered for Team CFO yet, get onto our page and do it now! And if you are registered, get out there and do your best to help us meet our $10,000 goal. Hit up friends, family, whoever and ask them to donate for this worthy cause! We've raised just a little over $8,000 thus far, and if we get 50 of you to jump on board, we only need each of you to raise $40 to get that additional $2,000. Totally doable!
Fight Gone Bad Fundraiser on Saturday the 27th!
The Fight Gone Bad Fundraiser is happening on Saturday, September 27th beginning at 9a.m.. WE WILL NOT HOLD THE REGULAR 9 AND 10 A.M. CLASSES! 4 PM CLASS AS USUAL!
For those of you who are participating in FGB here are the details:
For efficiency sake we will be running three heats:
Heat #1 will begin at 9:30
Heat #2 will begin at 10:15
Heat #3 will begin at 11:00
All participants will be responsible for signing up for one of the three heats (first come, first serve). The sign up sheet will be on the Event Board in the back of the gym by Wednesday. As per usual, we will be doing FGB in teams of two (athlete:coach), so pick your partner and get signed up for Heat one, two or three!
Each FGB participant will be responsible for getting themselves warmed up and ready to go!
***After FGB there will be a post-workout meal from Everett and Jones!***
We send a huge THANK-YOU to our anonymous donors for their generous donation!
Post the FGB score you're going for to comments.
Julie Gets Her First Kipping Pull-Up
Give some congrats Julie's way on her first kipping pull-up. She even followed it up with a second one.
Way to go!
***FGB Fundraiser***
Reminder, our FGB fundraiser workout is this Saturday, Sept 27, with the first heat running at 9:30 am.
Go to our Team CFO page if you want to take part in the workout and contribute to this worthy cause!
CrossFit Marin's Gymastics Seminar
A few of us just returned from a fantastic Gymnastic Seminar put on by Andres de la Rosa and Roger Harrell of CrossFit Marin. It was four hours of intense work, followed by a gymnastics inspired WOD. CrossFit Marin will be offering the Gymnastics Seminar on a regular basis and we highly recommend that all CrossFit Oakland members attend.
What is the most cherished skill you have learned from CrossFit? Post to comments.
Another Zone Dinner Get-Together
A few pictures from the Zone Support Dinner earlier this evening
A big thanks to all who came to our little get-together this evening, bringing delicious food for all to share.
And a bigger thanks to TomC for allowing us to crash his place and host us.
Let's do it again!
***FGB Fundraiser Reminder***
If you haven't gone to our Team CFO page yet and registered for the FGB Fundraiser going down next Saturday, Sept 27, get your act together and do it now! Tell your friends, tell your family. We're opening up the gym to anyone who wants to do the workout, and we want at least 50 people to step up and support this worthy cause.
Olympic Lifting Sundays!
REMINDER!
OLYMPIC LIFTING SUNDAYS
We will be holding dedicated Olympic Weightlifting sessions from 2pm to 4pm every Sunday beginning on September 21st!
Our very own Angela Lim will be running these sessions, providing coaching, feedback, and programming input for all lifters who participate.
Here are the details:
Olympic Lifting Sunday Session
When: Starting Sept. 21 and every Sunday afterward from 2pm to 4pm; to be held every Sunday thereafter.
Who: Open to participants who have taken the Clean Clinic or Snatch Clinic or who have had a session with Angela and have received a workout plan from her.
Why: This session is for participants who want to practice Olympic lifts on a weekly basis and get basic feedback and coaching. Only Olympic and auxiliary lifts can be practiced at this time.
Fees: $20 drop-in fee per day; $15 per day if prepaid on a monthly basis.
If you need to contact Angela, please do so at
angela_lim@pacbell.net.
For those 4 p.m. CrossFit participants, please do not come onto the
workout floor during the Olympic Lifting Session or engage in loud
talking until Olympic Lifting time is over. Thanks!
Everyday Heroes Among Us
Tamara in action
Many (most?) of you who read this blog or go to the gym regularly know of Tamara's CrossFit prowess. Many of you may even know she's a firefighter for Oakland Fire Department.
What you may not know is that she's also a member of OFD's search-and-rescue team. Tamara, along with others from OFD's s&r team, was sent out to Texas earlier this morning to help in the Hurricane Ike response effort.
[Sacramento Bee article on the emergency personnel sent by the State of CA to Texas]
Send good vibes Tami's way via comments, as she helps out those who need it most.
***FGB Fundraiser Reminder***
If you haven't done so yet, please go to the Team CFO page and register! We want 50 people (min) to participate in the FGB fundraiser workout, which will benefit prostate cancer research and treatment.
***Evening Class Heads-Up***
The workout tomorrow is Run 5k. As is our policy, we'll be giving you the option of running the Lake Merritt loop or doing a workout at CFO for tomorrow's evening classes. There will be a trainer at both locations. If you're running the lake, go to the columns across from the library near Grand Avenue (the columns are right on the lake, and part of the loop).
We have Sponsorship for ANYONE rising to the challenge!
We have been gearing up for the Athletes for a Cure on September 27th, and out of nowhere arrives an anonymous donor who is willing to sponsor ANY CrossFit Oakland athlete participating in the Athletes for a Cure fundraising event for $150/athlete. We need your commitment no later than Friday, September 19th in order to register as Team CrossFit Oakland!!! Please include your full name and the best email address to contact you.
Athletes for a Cure is a fundraising and awareness program of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. It is designed to assist individual athletes in their quest to raise money for better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer.
Rise to the Challenge CFO! This is an excellent opportunity to put that hard earned fitness to work for an excellent cause!
Fight Gone Bad Challenge will take place at CrossFit Oakland at 12p.m. on Saturday, September 27th!
Athletes for a Cure 2008: http://athletes.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=275345
TEAM CFO IS NOW REGISTERED! GET ON THE WEBSITE AND SIGN YOURSELF UP AS PART OF OUR TEAM HERE: https://www.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=275345&lis=0&kntae275345=674DD43637984D5BB0AC0BF5A1372290&supId=0&team=3195258&cj=Y
Sprint Saturdays!
The world's fastest man
We'd like to roll out Sprint Saturdays beginning with the first Saturday of October, which means Saturday, October 4 will be the first session. We plan on holding 10am workouts at the Piedmont High Track every Saturday through the month of October. After that, we'll assess if it's worth holding the sessions every Saturday, or if we want to do it on a less frequent basis, or do away with it altogether.
Let's be clear about what the intent of these sessions: peak power.
They're akin to going for a 1-rep (or maybe 3-rep) max on a clean. This isn't going to be quick intervals with little rest; the intent is to be able to work technique enough to be able to get you working up to a few all-out max effort sprints with plenty of rest in between efforts. This might not happen the first session (just as we wouldn't wanna take someone up to their 1-rep max the first time they've ever done a clean, back squat, deadlift, or any other kind of lift aimed at building--or contributing to--peak power production).
We'd also like to get some of the CFOers who have some experience with the sprints to offer up their expertise (Nabil, Connor, etc.).
So the obvious question is, of course, why?
A few reasons:
* The ability to generate peak power is a very real part of fitness. And generating peak power isn't confined to the weight room. Sprints are a great method for this kind of power acquisition.
* The training effect is profound. The growth hormone release from maximal sets of sprints has been documented in the sport science literature repeatedly.
Examples:
* It's fun!
Post to comments if interested.
CrossFit Happenings in September!
ZONE POTLUCK DINNER
Saturday, September 20th at 5p.m.
Tom C has graciously offered his house for our Zone Potluck Dinner, his address is 436 Bellevue Avenue, Apt 3 (near Lake Merritt). Please let us know if you plan on attending and bring your favorite dish along with 15 copies of the recipe!
GYMNASTICS SEMINAR
Sunday, September 21st from 5:30 to 8:30
Andres De La Rosa , of CF Marin will be hosting and coaching a Gymnastics and Parkour Seminar on Sunday, September 21st from 5:30pm-8:30pm with an optional “skill request session†from 8:30pm-9pm at Gymtowne Gymnastics in San Bruno, California.
Attendance will be limited to 32 athletes! Among the events covered will be floor (basic gymnastics positions, skills, and tumbling), pommel horse (mainly swinging elements and leg cuts), beam (basic jumps, mounts, & balance drills), bars and rings (swings, glide-kips, back-hip circles, strength moves), parallel bars (swings, walks, kips, etc), vault (run, hurdle, squat-ons, handsprings), and basic parkour (shoulder rolls, side/speed/Kong vaults).
Gymtowne Gymnastics features approximately 9,300sq ft of space and gymnastics equipment, including but not limited to; a full size gymnastics floor, vault runway, 5 beams, 2 ring towers, 3 uneven bars, 2 High bars, 3 sets of parallel bars, and a couple of pommel horses.
The cost is $70/person. To secure your spot contact Andres here:Amadraeus@CrossFitMarin.com
OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING
Sunday, September 21st 2pm to 4pm
We will be holding dedicated Olympic Weightlifting sessions from 2pm to 4pm every Sunday beginning on September 21st!
Our very own Angela Lim will be running these sessions, providing coaching, feedback, and programming input for all lifters who participate.
Here are the details:
Olympic Lifting Sunday Session
When: Starting Sept. 21 and every Sunday afterward from 2pm to 4pm.
Who: Open to participants who have taken either the Clean Clinic or Snatch Clinic.
Why: This session is for participants who want to practice Olympic lifts on a weekly basis and get basic feedback and coaching. Only Olympic and auxiliary lifts can be practiced at this time.
Fees: $20 drop-in fee per day; $15 per day if prepaid on a monthly basis.
Want to Make Fitness Gains? Do Less.
Kettlebells, just one of many tools employed in our training
I'm a regular reader of Robb Wolf's excellent blog.
One of his most recent posts is timely, since I'm seeing some of the same trends occurring in our little box. It usually occurs with newcomers who've quickly made gains (the blessing of being a newbie) and who've at the same time developed a greater work capacity (the ability to do more without getting as fatigued--or laid out--as when they first started). So the usual thinking is that if some CF is good, even more is better.
I'm not going to restate what Robb has already written in the post I linked to above. I suggest you read it. The bottom line is that you need to structure your workouts in such a way that each time you hit the workout you're going at it with a chance for a PR (it may not happen, but you need to be in a physical state where you're optimizing your chances for such an occurrence). In other words, I'd rather have you doing a little bit of great work (nailing the WOD) than a lot of mediocre work (slogging through a so-so performance in a WOD, and then doing another longish workout following the WOD, and then finishing with "core" work--the kind of work that won't lead to increasing your back squat by 10 pounds, and is questionable, at best, for giving you those six-pack abs, anyway).
So the bottom line is hit the WOD hard a few times a week (for some people that means three times a week, for others it means six times a week) and then take care of yourself! Eat good, real foods most of the time and get your sleep in order. Eating right and sleeping well will lead to fat loss (if that's what you're after); don't be fooled into thinking more exercise will lead to fat loss. And strong trunks are best developed with big back squats, cleans, deadlifts, and the like, as well as sprints (just try running eight 100m sprints and check in with me about your abs a day or two later).
And all of this may be perfectly obvious to everyone. But then again, it may not.
Post to comments the most important metric or gauge you use to assess how you're doing in terms of health and fitness.
Berkeley Fire Department Health and Wellness Progam
CrossFit Oakland has just kicked off the first phase of a Peer Training Program developed specifically for the Berkeley Fire Department's Health and Wellness Program! The City of Berkeley has joined the ranks of several cities around the country who have recognized that conventional PT has not adequately prepared firefighters for the demands of the job.
The process began a little over a year ago in collaboration with the Union President and a handful of CF advocates as 12 Berkeley Firefighters were certified as Level I CrossFit Trainers. CFO will continue to oversee these Peer Trainers as they complete the implementation of Phase I (Fundamentals) and move on to Phase II (A 12-week Ramp Up Program) and Phase III (daily CrossFit WOD's). The entire Berkeley Fire Department will train at their 2 fully-equipped fire station gyms utilizing the CrossFit method as their primary fitness regimen.
A huge "thank you" to everyone who helped us get this program off the ground and especially our Health and Wellness committee members for their hard work and continued support. CFO is incredibly proud to be a part of this exciting project!
Post your well wishes to the Firefighters beginning CrossFit training to comments.
Reminder: Zone Support Potluck Dinner
Just a reminder that we're one week away from our Zone Support Potluck Dinner. It's going down Saturday, Sept 20 at 4pm (we'll be holding our Sat class at 3pm that day).
Rumor has it that it's gonna be held off-site at the residence of a CFOer to be named later.
As with our last ZSPD, bring your favorite Zone meal along with 15 copies of your recipe to share.
Stay tuned for details on the location.
Athletes For a Cure: Saturday, September 27, 2008
Athletes for a Cure is a fundraising and awareness program of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. It is designed to assist individual athletes in their quest to raise money for better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer.
Rules of Engagement
The CrossFit workout will be 'Fight Gone Bad'. In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. This event calls for 3 rounds. The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of 'rotate,' the athlete/s must move to next station immediately for good score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point. The stations are:
Wall-ball, 8 ft target (Reps)
Deadlift high-pull (Reps)
Box jump (Reps)
Push-press (Reps)
Row (Calories)
To compete in the workout, all participants must complete each of the following:
Register with their local CrossFit Affiliate Center by Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Register with Athletes for a Cure at http://athletes.kintera.org/faf/home/waiver.asp?ievent=275345&lis=1&kntae275345=78BF26E751A9453B99994C723413B021 by Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Raise $150 or more in pledges by 5 pm PDT on Saturday, September 27, 2008
All donations counting toward the awards must be received by 5 pm PDT September 29, 2008.
The four divisions are:
Class A: Standard Men = 75 lb PP and High Pull, 20lb Wall Ball and 20in Box
Class B: Modified Men/Standard Women = 55 lb PP and High Pull, 14lb Wall Ball and 20in Box
Class C: Intermediate = 35 lb PP and High Pull, 8lb Wall Ball and 20in Box (step ups are okay)
Class D: Beginner/Kids = 15lb PP and High Pull, 4lb Wall Ball (can be lowered 2in from standard height) and 10in Box
Awards
Any participant who raises $150 or more will receive an official event T-shirt.
High Score Individual Awards: Highest score in each division (male and female)
Top 3 national scorers in each division will receive a Custom Sterling Silver, Hand-Stamped Dog Tags set with the winner's name and facility on one tag and their score, location and FGB III on the other tag, with a sterling chain.
Each facility must designate one male and one female as their potential high scorer in each division. These will be the participants in the scoring division.
Facility owners of the winning high scorers will also receive Custom Sterling Silver, Hand-Stamped Dog Tags.
To be eligible for the individual scoring award the facility must submit an uploaded YouTube video of the designated scorer's September 27th FGB no later than 7 days post event. Winners will be judged by an anonymous panel of Crossfit judges. Any potential winner who fails to meet the Crossfit standards for FGB will be ineligible for awards.
Highest Fundraising Facility Awards
More than 25 participants: $2500 gift certificate to Bigger, Faster, Stronger
25 participants or LESS: $2500 gift certificate to Bigger, Faster, Stronger
If a smaller club raises more funds than the larger highest fundraising facility, we will grant them the entire $5000!
Any owner of a facility that raises more than $10,000 will also receive Custom Sterling Silver, Hand-Stamped Dog Tags.
Post to comments if you intend to participate.
Variance
CrossFit's workouts can be as random as bingo numbers drawn from a hopper
CrossFit is based on three key principles:
Functionality
Intensity
Variance
We'll be getting a heavy dose of variance, if not complete randomness, in tomorrow's WOD: Hero Workout of Choice.
While those of you not participating in the CFO Throwdown will get your say in the choice of Hero Workout, I'm afraid those participating in the CFOT will have no such luck. We're gonna leave it to good ol' lady luck to determine the workout. We'll be doing a live draw from a hat tomorrow morning before the 6am class. All twelve hero workouts will be in the hat, and whichever one gets drawn, that's the workout that all those in the CFOT will be doing.
Post your favorite and least favorite Hero Workout to comments.
Running Workouts: The Ground Rules Revised!
After processing some good feedback from several clients we will offer the option to run either Lake Merritt or Piedmont High Track AND offer the regular group class schedule at CFO!
Here's how we'll determine which location:
* If the run is less than 5k, we'll be taking it to the Piedmont High Track.
* If the run is 5k or greater, we'll be running at Lake Merritt.
Both of these locations are ideal, since there are pull-up bars at both spots, which gives us the option of setting up an alternative workout for anyone who can't do the run. So no matter what, we'll have a workout for you (we can also transport some of our basic gym equipment as well, such as slam balls, kettlebells, dumbbells, and maybe even rowers).
Again, though, this only applies for our night classes, and due to popular demand, possibly the 6am class.
Post thoughts to comments.
Fast and Tasty
***IMPORTANT UPDATE***
The 5pm, 6pm, and 7pm classes will all be held at the Piedmont High Track tonight. There will be an alternate workout for anyone who can't do the runs, so have no worries.
Directions:
Spinach Soup and Meat
Here's the quick recipe:
8 Cups spinach blanched (hot water for ~1 minute
1 Cup Milk
Salt and pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Water
Blend
Meat;
Any cut of semi-lean beef
Cut in small bite-size pieces
Cook until browned
Salt
Pepper
Post your current favorite Zone recipe to comments.
Coming Soon: Olympic Weightlifting on Sundays!
Starting with the last Sunday of this month, we'll be holding dedicated Olympic Weightlifting sessions from 2pm to 4pm every Sunday.
Our very own Angela Lim will be running these sessions, providing coaching, feedback, and programming input for all lifters who participate.
Here are the details:
Olympic Lifting Sunday Session
When: Starting Sept. 28 and every Sunday afterward from 2pm to 4pm.
Who: Open to participants who have taken either the Clean Clinic or Snatch Clinic.
Why: This session is for participants who want to practice Olympic lifts on a weekly basis and get basic feedback and coaching. Only Olympic and auxiliary lifts can be practiced at this time.
Fees: $20 drop-in fee per day; $15 per day if prepaid on a monthly basis.
The Posterior Chain
The Posterior Chain
Training May Curb Some Sports Injuries In Women: Create a WOD that relies entirely on the posterior chain and post it to comments.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93309486
MJJ Hits the Summit
MJJ at the top of Mt. Rainier
As many of you know, MJJ is back to training at CFO after his trek up Mt. Rainier.
As you can see from the photo above, he had CFO on his mind (among many other things, I'm sure) during his climb. As he moved up the mountain, the temperature dropped to ten degrees, with winds gusting above 50 mph.
Give it up to MJJ for making it up and down Mt. Rainier in one piece.
Mark Rippetoe
We're riding a 3-day strength cycle of descending complexity (Push Jerk, Back Squat, Deadlift). In theory, the effort should be about the same and the loads should increase with each exercise. In other words, as the lifts lose complexity the loads should increase.
Much of the CrossFit strength programming originates from Mark Rippetoe's theory and practice. For example, here's a good video of Rip coaching the deadlift starting angles:
Mark Rippetoe, owner of Wichita Falls Athletic Club, is an author of Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, Practical Programming for Strength Training, and Strong Enough? Thoughts on Thirty Years of Barbell Training.
For those of you who have read any or all of Rippetoe's books post your reviews to comments.
Hannah Gets Her First Kipping Pull-Up
As everyone in the 6am crew knows, Hannah's been working really hard on her kipping pull-up, and had been on the brink of getting her first one for weeks.
Then last week, something suddenly clicked and she got her first one, with many to follow.
Post props to Hannah in comments. Sometimes good ol' fashioned hard work does pay off.
[Also, for those of you either participating in the CFO Throwdown or following along, check out the blog for updated results.]
Andres De La Rosa , of CF Marin will be hosting and coaching a Gymnastics and Parkour Seminar on Sunday, September 21st from 5:30pm-8:30pm with an optional “skill request session†from 8:30pm-9pm at Gymtowne Gymnastics in San Bruno, California. The skill levels of gymnastics will range from complete and utter noobies, to intermediate athletes (a “noob†is considered a level or two below a “rookie†and has perhaps never done a roll in his/her life). There will be several guest coaches in attendance, including CrossFit Marin’s Roger Harrell and Russell Bruel, SF Marin's resident “Kinesthetic Freakâ€.
Attendance will be limited to 32 athletes! Among the events covered will be floor (basic gymnastics positions, skills, and tumbling), pommel horse (mainly swinging elements and leg cuts), beam (basic jumps, mounts, & balance drills), bars and rings (swings, glide-kips, back-hip circles, strength moves), parallel bars (swings, walks, kips, etc), vault (run, hurdle, squat-ons, handsprings), and basic parkour (shoulder rolls, side/speed/Kong vaults).
Gymtowne Gymnastics features approximately 9,300sq ft of space and gymnastics equipment, including but not limited to; a full size gymnastics floor, vault runway, 5 beams, 2 ring towers, 3 uneven bars, 2 High bars, 3 sets of parallel bars, and a couple of pommel horses.
The cost is $70/person. To secure your spot contact Andres here: Amadraeus@CrossFitMarin.com
Gymtowne Gymnastics:http://www.gymtowne.com/
Post to comments if you're interested in carpooling to the event.
