You don't neeed to "get in shape" before you get in shape!

I have heard this several times this week so I'd like to address it.

You do not need to "get in shape" to try CrossFit. CrossFit is how you get in shape! All of our exercises are completly scalable to any fitness level. Our current members are of all ages, shapes, sizes and fitness levels and they are all getting stronger, faster and capable of more sustained activity. The human body is wonderfully created. It adapts to being asked to lift something heavier by making the muscles and their associated nerves stronger and more efficient. If you never pick up something heavier than you have before your body has no reason to change. If you ask your body to run faster or longer than it has before it will make the necessary adaptions to allow you to do that, but if you never do more than walk around the block that is all you will be able to do.

At CrossFit we do not weigh and measure people. Our entire focus is on what you can do because we think that form follows function. In other words.....if you are capable of lifting 200# and can do 10 pull ups you will feel and look like a person who can lift 200# and do 10 pull ups.

You never need to worry about feeling out of place here. This is a supportive environment where all of our athletes encourage eachother. You will be greeted warmly when you walk in the door and when you are struggling with a workout every one will encourage you! We have a great community here. You will work harder than you probably ever have before, but you will also have more fun than you have ever had exercising!

You must read this post on the CrossFit Allegience website. This article was written by one of their new members and states better than I have above what CrossFit is like for a beginner!

Some testimonials from Geneseo Crossfitters:

Karen got asked to sub for her bowling league and needed to get a heavier bowling ball after one month of CrossFit.

Lynn discovered that she could lift her grandson over her head, something she had never been able to do before!

Vicky has lost over 20#, 10% body fat, got a resounding endorsement of CrosFit from her doctor and can do a real push up!

Marsha jumped the tire this week. She couldn't do it 2 weeks ago.

Great things happen here!

Got Squat

"There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that produces the level of central nervous system activity, improved balance and coordination, skeletal loading and bone density enhancement, muscular stimulation and growth, connective tissue stress and strength, psychological demand and toughness, and overall systemic conditioning than the correctly performed full squat." Starting Strength, Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore

Ya gotta love a hot chick swinging a dumbbell!

I love the barn.....but it has been so nice to take some of the workouts outside the last couple of weeks!

I have heard a lot less "I can't" lately! You guys are great!

We did burpee pull ups yesterday and almost everyone did real burpee pull ups! I'm so impressed!

JP after "Linda" aka "Three Bars of Death"

And Chase made sure we completed all of our reps with good form. He is quite the little task master!

We did some running and some OHSing this morning! The weather couldn't be better today and it is so nice to have Neil back with us!!!

No Sunday Workout this week

Both JP and I have other committments. We will resume next week May 3.

Also there will be no Sunday workout on May 24th. Crossfit Geneseo will be closed Friday afternoon May 22 - Monday May 25 (Memorial Day). JP and I will be judging at the Northeast Qualifiers for the CrossFit Games in Albany that weekend. Good friend and occasional Geneseo CrossFitter Stash Merritt will be competing along with several other guys from our friend CrossFit Rochester!!

Beginning in June Sunday workouts will be at 8 AM.

Excuses

The self spotted muscle up.

Check out this article on Kyle Maynard, owner of No Excuses Athletics, a CrossFit Affiliate in Georgia. This guy is amazing! He is a quadruple amputee and is competing in his first MMA fight this weekend!

Any more excuses???

Chase stopped by for a WOD today

And got his first pull up!!! Damn! He's cute!

Fun afternoon crew!

I'm pretty tolerant of all kinds of tomfoolery

Jessica demonstrating todays workout. She makes it look easy!

You can swear, drop barbells, burp, laugh and goof off....but what I don't want to hear anymore is "I can't". Why set yourself up to fail? I rarely ask you to do something that I'm not fairly sure you can do. You won't know until you try and you will often be surprised at what you can do! I don't want to hear "I can't" until you have already said "I'll try" and prove to me that you can't :) (Like George did yesterday! Sorry George!)

You won't make progress unless you do more, or something different from what you've done before! So let's work on it together and if you say "I can't" you can drop and give me 10 Burpees!

What a beautiful weekend!

I hope everyone got the chance to get outside and do something fun!

We spent some time this morning measuring some distances around the property and came up with a couple new 200 and 400 meter loops to run. So much more fun than running down and back!

We had a great workout at 2:00 PM with Tom and Coop! We did burpees, clean and jerk, pull ups, tire jumps and of course tried out our new 400 m loop.

Great article by Lisbeth Darsh at CrossFit Watertown.

This is a great example of the clean performed by our own Jessica Clarke. In this picture she has completed her full extension and is beginning to pull herself under the bar. It also looks very fantastic done in a skirt I must say!

Something to try at home

From the lovely and never to be outdone Mistress Krista of Stumptuous.com:
Try this at home!
5 rounds for time!

This is actually pretty good info found in mainstream news! Same myth busting I am always harping on!

Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful early spring day!

Diana was in for a workout today and her ankle is much better thanks to some antibiotics. Thank you Marsha...sharp eye!

Marsha is doing so well with Crossfit that she is actually considering a second career as a hockey player!

Just kidding Marsha...but you COULD do it!

Being out done by school girls

Sent over by kickboxing instructor extraodinaire Patti Barrett....check this out! The video is a little long but amazing! I think we all need to set some new goals for our jump rope skills ;)

Happy Friday!

Finally some environmental conditions in which we can flip some tires, and some new faces around here!

This nice little inspirational video sent to me by Sandy.

And this little video on nutrition sent in by JP.

Swingin'

The afternoon crews doing some swinging! Boy, did we have fun yesterday! LMAO!

Make sure y'all come back for more today!

Cliff, sometimes you're just goofy!!

But we all love you anyway! The afternoon crew wouldn't be the same without ya!

I don't know about anyone else but that scaled down Seals WOD made me spectacularly sore. A little reminder to myself as well as everyone else:

Stretching, proper rest, good nutrition, and adequate hydration will go a long way in easing the soreness. Other things to try are warm baths and massage. Ibuprofen if you are desperate!

Navy Seals Rock

Coop and Marsha doing a little Fight Gone Bad

Check this out! You just might see a scaled version of this one if you stop by today ;)

Way to go Navy Seals!

Hope everyone had a great Easter and didn't go too overboard with the peeps and chocolate!

Good Stuff

There will be no Sunday workout tomorrow. The Wadsworth's will be celebrating Easter.

Got a text from JP. He is enjoying Arizona.

Happy Easter everyone!

We did a few deads yesterday

Deadlifts just make us strong and are super fun while teaching our bodies how to safely lift a heavy object.

"The deadlift builds back strength better than any other exercise, bar none. And back stregth built with the deadlift is useful: while the bar is the most ergonomically friendly tool for lifting weights, a 400 lb. barbell deadlift makes an awkward 85 lb. box more manageable"

-Starting Strength 2nd Edition, Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore

This girl is going to kick some

Courtney started Crossfitting a couple of weeks ago. Since then she has gotten her first pull up and yesterday she did 80# presses! She is going to breathe fire! Nice John Deere sweatshirt Court! Way to bring a little redneck to CrossFit Geneseo!

JP is on vacation in Arizona for a week! He plans to visit several Arizona Affiliates while he is there and I expect him to be sporting some new tee-shirts and have some new ideas when he gets back. Have a great time JP and Sam...and little Chase too!

Tough, tough workout today but so far everyone has loved it! Painful in a good way ;)

If you want to get stronger.....

.....you have to challenge your muscles to get stronger. You need to try a workout with a heavier weight than you've tried before. You need to try those pull ups with a smaller band. You have to try to get one more rep than you've ever gotten before. You need to dig deep, give it everything you've got, make the most of your time here! Vicky and Dede both went to a smaller band today!

Guess all those push ups are making him stronger

Cooper gets a 135# Press. A PR by 15#! Wow!
Coop has been crossfitting here since before we were crossfit...in between his busy sports seasons and achieving an excellent academic record. His college choice will be largely based on the school gym's policy on dropping weights or vicinity to a CrossFit Affiliate. :)

Mark Rippetoe Quote of the Day-
"You must wear socks or workout pants on the deadlifts, we don't want your DNA on the barbell"

Craig and I were going over the summer project list the other day. Priorities are: outdoor pull up bars, changing room and leveling the floor...so there's going to be some construction going on.

We need to make another t-shirt order. Please give me your suggestions...sizes, design, etc.

A Real CrossFitter

I have so many people tell me that they can't start CrossFit until they "get in shape". CrossFit IS the most efficient way to GET in shape. No one is expected to be able to do everything we do the first time they walk in the door. All of our exercises are completely scalable to any athletic ability. It is a very rare athlete who could walk into a CrossFit gym and complete the workout as prescribed! There are some workouts I may never be able to complete as prescribed, but that is what I will strive for. The desire to work hard and improve is what makes a real Crossfitter.

Found this nicely stated description of a "real Crossfitter"on the Affiliate Blog this morning.

Happy Hour

Just partying and feats of strength! We all had a great time!