Rest Day.....
get ready for Bellingham Throwdown...Go Team Everett!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Shari - Long Time Crossfit woman
A concern ladies can have upon spotting bars, bumper plates, kettle bells and dumbbells in a gym, is getting "big and muscled up". Once they hear we do "Olympic" style lifting the fear increases that Crossfitting will make them strange looking and odd. Too much exposure to "body building", through steroid laden TV and print material about this has made us nervous. Correctly so. Few women desire a physic that is un-natural and masculine. And for good reason.
Shari is an old school, dedicated and strong Crossfitter who shows the long term effects of Crossfit on the female form. She came to Crossfit "skinny and weak" and you see her here 4 years later. Shari has the genetics she was born with. Beyond that, hard, hard work over the long haul produces good results.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=75976&id=1636404519
Shari is one of many examples. Long, lean and strong depending on genetics is the long term result of Crossfit. So, do it with gusto!
Photo used with permission.
Shari is an old school, dedicated and strong Crossfitter who shows the long term effects of Crossfit on the female form. She came to Crossfit "skinny and weak" and you see her here 4 years later. Shari has the genetics she was born with. Beyond that, hard, hard work over the long haul produces good results.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=75976&id=1636404519
Shari is one of many examples. Long, lean and strong depending on genetics is the long term result of Crossfit. So, do it with gusto!
Photo used with permission.
Interview with Coach Glassman of Crossfit Inc.
Follow link to a short interview with Coach Glassman, the founder of Crossfit . This is the Coach behind CFE's "coach." He and his wife manage the main web site and run the entire organization including the support of over 800 affiliates like CFE, worldwide.
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFitJournal_GregSevanPittInterview2Pre.wmv
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFitJournal_GregSevanPittInterview2Pre.wmv
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Work Out of the Day
45 reps - double unders
45 reps - full squat cleans - 135lbs
45 reps - ring dips
45 reps - double unders.
Head WOD
As a result of a few discussions over the last few weeks.....regarding training and life, I'll offer three thoughts that might be helpful. If so: good. If not: fine. Here you go.
Change, Contentment and Commitment.
Change: We must accept what we can not change and fight like our hair is on fire for what we can. Just make sure the fights we are fighting are Good ones. Fighting for what one can not change is a fools mission. Fighting for Good Change is worth the fight regardless of the outcome. Let's be sure it is Good change before we burn our hair off going after it.
Contentment: A popular mantra is: "be content with where you are". Hum. To be content with mediocrity and slothfulness? This seems both foolish and lazy. It is a dangerous and tricky trail to navigate what is appropriate contentment and what is excuse making. I am so glad people before us were discontent with Polio or genocide. On a lesser scale, I am happy that my children were not content small minds and a small view of the world, but choose to educate themselves. On a CF level, being content with weakness and belly fat is something the majority of us can choose to change and should get committed to changing. Contentment here is often confused with laziness, whether one can afford the money or time for a gym or not. If one is working hard, making honest and noble efforts at improving ones world and self (not just pretending they are) then the art and discipline of Contentment is something to develop.
We cannot change our parents. We cannot change genetics. We cannot change our history. We cannot change others thoughts about us. Learn contentment here.
We can change how we view our parents, embrace the mystery and creational design of our genetics and to face our history boldly and make it into something that inspires hope in others. Content people have learned how to do these things. There can be a practical and wise beauty in a healthy discontentment however. Those who are discontent with weakness and lack of health will make the changes.
Commitment: Another tricky idea, fraught with land mines, that can serve us, but can also bleed over into areas of life that harm us. Some say: "Never Quit!". I say: "Idiots!" But I say it without judgement as I have embraced the idea without limits in my teen years. It worked in controlled athletic environments and in survival situations where staying alive was the big idea of the moment. However, I and my climbing partners are alive today, in part, because we knew when to quit and abandon the summit effort. It can be healthy to quit a hobby or change plans on a vacation when it is clearly not working out. There are many dead today because the mantra drove them like a thoughtless false god. It is better ask: "What am I committed to and is it Good"? Then follow that up with: "Is my commitment to what is Good preventing me from being/doing something that is Better"?
Being committed to fitness is a good thing clearly, but, we should look inside and ask: is it blocking a higher and possibly more noble idea, such as good parenting, less stress or being a more available and engaged husband?
Make good Changes. Be Content with what we cannot change. Be Committed to high and noble ideas.
There you go....I am going off to be content with what I said here and with all that could be said, and wasn't. Feels nice. However, I am not content with my lack of training these days.....so I am about to change that and get committed to some more regular WOD's.
Change, Contentment and Commitment.
Change: We must accept what we can not change and fight like our hair is on fire for what we can. Just make sure the fights we are fighting are Good ones. Fighting for what one can not change is a fools mission. Fighting for Good Change is worth the fight regardless of the outcome. Let's be sure it is Good change before we burn our hair off going after it.
Contentment: A popular mantra is: "be content with where you are". Hum. To be content with mediocrity and slothfulness? This seems both foolish and lazy. It is a dangerous and tricky trail to navigate what is appropriate contentment and what is excuse making. I am so glad people before us were discontent with Polio or genocide. On a lesser scale, I am happy that my children were not content small minds and a small view of the world, but choose to educate themselves. On a CF level, being content with weakness and belly fat is something the majority of us can choose to change and should get committed to changing. Contentment here is often confused with laziness, whether one can afford the money or time for a gym or not. If one is working hard, making honest and noble efforts at improving ones world and self (not just pretending they are) then the art and discipline of Contentment is something to develop.
We cannot change our parents. We cannot change genetics. We cannot change our history. We cannot change others thoughts about us. Learn contentment here.
We can change how we view our parents, embrace the mystery and creational design of our genetics and to face our history boldly and make it into something that inspires hope in others. Content people have learned how to do these things. There can be a practical and wise beauty in a healthy discontentment however. Those who are discontent with weakness and lack of health will make the changes.
Commitment: Another tricky idea, fraught with land mines, that can serve us, but can also bleed over into areas of life that harm us. Some say: "Never Quit!". I say: "Idiots!" But I say it without judgement as I have embraced the idea without limits in my teen years. It worked in controlled athletic environments and in survival situations where staying alive was the big idea of the moment. However, I and my climbing partners are alive today, in part, because we knew when to quit and abandon the summit effort. It can be healthy to quit a hobby or change plans on a vacation when it is clearly not working out. There are many dead today because the mantra drove them like a thoughtless false god. It is better ask: "What am I committed to and is it Good"? Then follow that up with: "Is my commitment to what is Good preventing me from being/doing something that is Better"?
Being committed to fitness is a good thing clearly, but, we should look inside and ask: is it blocking a higher and possibly more noble idea, such as good parenting, less stress or being a more available and engaged husband?
Make good Changes. Be Content with what we cannot change. Be Committed to high and noble ideas.
There you go....I am going off to be content with what I said here and with all that could be said, and wasn't. Feels nice. However, I am not content with my lack of training these days.....so I am about to change that and get committed to some more regular WOD's.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Ladies do Fran
Erin and Tami not only get after their first "Fran" and post fantastic times.....they accidentally match doing it. Or was it an accident really? Hum.
Lifting Shoes
Mark Rippetoe on: the first piece of equipment in your gym bag.
Shoes are the only piece of personal equipment that you really need to own. It only takes one set of five in a pair of squat shoes to demonstrate convincingly to anybody who has done more than one squat workout.
A good pair of squat shoes adds enough to the efficiency of the movement that the cost is easily justified. For anywhere from $50 to $200 for the newest Adidas weightlifting shoes, a pair of proper shoes makes a big difference in the way a squat feels. Powerlifting squat shoes have relatively flat soles, and Olympic weightlifting shoes have a little lift in the heal that makes it easier to get the knees forward just in front of the toes. Your choice will depend on your squatting style and your flexibility. Most squat shoes have metatarsal straps to increase lateral stability and suck the foot back into the shoe to reduce intra-shoe movement.
But the main feature of a squat shoe is heel compressibility.
The drive out of the bottom starts at the floor, where the feet start the kinetic chain. If the contact between the feet and the floor is the squishy gel or air cell of a running shoe, a percentage of the force of the drive will be absorbed by the compression of the cell. This compression is fine for running, but when squatting it reduces power transmission efficiency and prevents foot stability.
Unstable footing interferes with the reproducibility of the movement pattern, rendering virtually every squat a whole new experience and preventing the development of good technique. Squatting in running shoes is like squatting on a bed. Many people get away with it for years, but serious lifters invest in squat shoes. They aren't that expensive, especially compared to brand new name brand athletic shoes, and they make a huge difference in the way a squat feels.
Shoes are the only piece of personal equipment that you really need to own. It only takes one set of five in a pair of squat shoes to demonstrate convincingly to anybody who has done more than one squat workout.
A good pair of squat shoes adds enough to the efficiency of the movement that the cost is easily justified. For anywhere from $50 to $200 for the newest Adidas weightlifting shoes, a pair of proper shoes makes a big difference in the way a squat feels. Powerlifting squat shoes have relatively flat soles, and Olympic weightlifting shoes have a little lift in the heal that makes it easier to get the knees forward just in front of the toes. Your choice will depend on your squatting style and your flexibility. Most squat shoes have metatarsal straps to increase lateral stability and suck the foot back into the shoe to reduce intra-shoe movement.
But the main feature of a squat shoe is heel compressibility.
The drive out of the bottom starts at the floor, where the feet start the kinetic chain. If the contact between the feet and the floor is the squishy gel or air cell of a running shoe, a percentage of the force of the drive will be absorbed by the compression of the cell. This compression is fine for running, but when squatting it reduces power transmission efficiency and prevents foot stability.
Unstable footing interferes with the reproducibility of the movement pattern, rendering virtually every squat a whole new experience and preventing the development of good technique. Squatting in running shoes is like squatting on a bed. Many people get away with it for years, but serious lifters invest in squat shoes. They aren't that expensive, especially compared to brand new name brand athletic shoes, and they make a huge difference in the way a squat feels.
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