Wednesday

Workout:

10 Deadlifts (1- 1.5 body weight)

100 squats

30 pushups

10 DL

50 squats

20 pushups

10 DL

25 squats

10 pushups

A Good Warm Up......

...is essential to a good workout. A warm up prepares the muscles for work. We use the crossfit warm up (CFWU) most days - 10-15 reps of pull ups, sit ups, push ups, hip/back extensions, pvc overhead squats. If the work is going to include cleans or snatches sometimes a set or two of those lifts with PVC is a good warm up. An easy 1/4 mile to mile run is a good warm up for some workouts. When the workout is heavier lifts such as max deadlift a set or two at lighter weights is a good warm up. The point is to get blood flowing to the muscles that are about to be working. Often times when I go to workout I feel like my body just isn't capable of performing the workout, but after a good warm up I'm ready. A good warm up will improve the effectiveness of your workout and decrease the chances of injury. Don't skip the warm up!

Workout:

4 rounds

run 400M

5 Clean-push press-push jerk (ladies 35-65#, gentlemen 95-135#)

25 sit ups

Monday

That workout yesterday was so much fun that everyone here today that wasn't here yesterday is going to do it! Love, love, love having the extra space upstairs! Thanks Craig!

A lot of you are concerned about your abs. You can develop fantastic abs but if you are one of those "lucky" people (like me) who tend to put on weight in the mid-section you won't be able to see them unless you get your body fat % down. Remember that the CrossFit method focuses on functional movements. The primary functional job of the abs is midline stabalization, not trunk flexion, so you won't see many crunches done here. Exercises such as overhead squats, GHD sit ups, squats and deadlifts use the abdominals as stabalizers. In fact, most of the exercises we use are abdominal exercises even if you don't feel the "burn"! Here is a good article on abs training.

http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=3

Sunday

We had a great workout today. Our local celebrity Amber Elizabeth was here and I want to give a special thanks to Brenda and Connie who took the pictures today! We did 5 rounds of 9 burpees at the bottom of the driveway, 15 pull ups in the barn and 21 DB swings on the 2nd floor of the barn. Cooper and Amber completely lapped the rest of us...completing 6 rounds before the rest of us got through 5!

Sunday

It's a beautiful day and we are working out at 2:00PM. Sunday's are when we play and have fun. It's usually a pretty darn good workout as well!

Craig finished the upstairs railing yesterday! Just some flooring and we'll have quite a bit more space to use in the barn!

Saturday

I love deadlifts! And it's really nice to have the moral support of your dog while doing them!

Workout:

5 rounds

15 hang power snatch

400m run

Em and I are going shopping with a friend today. My second favorite sport! My stamina for power shopping has really improved since I started crossfitting! ;)

Excellent CrossFit journal article link below.

http://www.crossfit.com/journal/library/Foundations.pdf

Yeah! It's Friday

Time to give some kudos to Sandy! This week she got a PR on the deadlift. 170#! Pretty darn good for a tiny female distance runner!! Sandy also got the hang of the clean and jerk this week!! If you see her give her a high five!

Workout:

60 Overhead Squats

60 split jerks

60 cleans

Good short article by Jon Gilson, Again Faster CrossFit I would like you all to read.

http://www.againfaster.com/articles/a-case-for-the-upright-squat.html

Thursday

Find your max deadlift
then run 5K


Make sure you check out Amber's picture at http://www.oxygenmag.com/ and on the cover of June 2008 Oxygen magazine!

Wednesday

Workout:

8 rounds

10 SDHP

10 Push Press

CrossFit is hard work. Sometimes during a workout you think that you just aren't going to make it. Your mind starts trying to convince you to stop. At those times remember that pushing yourself this hard is good for you. You are giving a wonderful gift to your "future self" by working hard today. In the immortal words of Steve Perry...."Be good to yourself....'cause no one else will"

Tuesday

Workout:

5 rounds
10 back squats

20 KTE

I finally learned how to kip those KTE's! Thanks Coop!

Stash- Thanks for the motivation! I did the back squats and the weighted pull ups this morning.

Monday

Workout:

3 rounds

15 clean and jerk

We had a great Vegas workout yesterday. The weather was absolutely beautiful. My sister Nancy and her daughter Becca (visiting from Philadelphia) joined us for their first ever CrossFit workout! They both did great! In fact, Becca and Cooper were the winning team!

Sunday

Free group workout at 2:00 PM! Come try out a CrossFit workout! We have FUN on Sundays! The weather is great and we have the big barn doors open!

Jack is Michelle's son. He visited today while his Mom was working out and proved you're never too young to start crossfitting!

Wow! What a beautiful day!

Went out early and ran 4 miles this morning. It was beautiful and running is actually more comfortable than walking or sitting right now!

Workout:

Get a friend and split a deck of cards where diamonds are pull ups, hearts are tire flips, clubs are sit ups and spades are push ups, and Aces are 400 m runs.

Friday

Ok ladies and gentleman, I'm just a bit sore after the walking lunges yesterday! Just went for a run and it was ugly, but it did loosen up the glutes a bit! I know from experience, however, that when that soreness goes away I will be stronger! But just so you all know....I'm feeling your pain!
Congratulations to Katie who got her first unassisted pullup yesterday! If you see her give her a high five! After just 7 weeks of training! Awesome!

I'd rather you came here.....but if you have to work out at home today try this!

4 rounds
50 squats
40 DB swings (if you don't have a DB any heavy object you can grip well with 2 hands will do)
30 sit ups
20 push ups
10 turkish get up (same heavy object idea as above)
UPDATE:
Wendy (who happens to be Katie's mom) got her first unassisted pull up today! Woohoo!! They are probably off somewhere celebrating!!

Thursday

Workout:

5 Rounds

run 400 m

15 overhead squats

or

put empty bar on your shoulders behind your head. Do 5 walking lunges, stop and do a shoulder press. Continue for 200 m.

Is CrossFit dangerous??

Article by Lis Darsh/CrossFit Watertown

http://crossfitwatertown.typepad.com/index/2008/04/crossfit-is-dan.html

Wednesday

Work out:

5 rounds for time

20 DL (body weight or as close as you can get)

10 Turkish get ups

April 15

Hopefully you won't be waiting in line at the post office and will have time to work out today!

Had great reviews on yesterdays workout!

Today

21-18-15-12-9

Overhead Squat

push ups

Mind over matter

Our body is capable of so much more than our mind usually allows it to be. I know this because when I'm doing the warm up I sometimes have difficulty completing 15 push ups. I found out this past weekend that when properly motivated I was able to do 66. I am always able to do more pullups in a competative group workout than when I'm alone. Clearly there is a mind-body connection here! We need to train our brains too. We need to question that small voice that is telling us we can't do another rep because we probably can.

Today's workout:

5 rounds for time:

21 DB thrusters

15 Overhead Walking lunges (same DB's)

9 pull ups

Sunday

Free group workout at 2:00! All are welcome!

Found this picture of the "barn" the way it used to be. We've come a long way!

I think they might be getting it!

It looks like mainstream fitness is beginning to take a look at CrossFit. It is hard to ignore for too long a training method that can take a woman who flunked gym class to a woman who can do 15 perfect pushups, deadlift 115# 60 times and do these beautiful hanging leg raises! And she got her first unassisted pull up yesterday! You rock Luanne!

Check this out! Crossfit featured in May issue of Muscle and Fitness!

http://www.muscleandfitness.com/training/139?page=1

And Men's Journal http://www.mensjournal.com/healthFitness/0602/workout_20minutes.html

Constantly Varied

CrossFit workouts are constantly varied. Why? Because a varied training stimulus is clinically proven to provide the greatest human adaptions.

If you do the same workout every day your body will quickly adapt to it. You ask it to do something different and your muscular, neurological and endocrine systems respond in order to perform the task you've asked them to do. If you do not vary your workout your body will stop changing because it has already made the required adaptions needed to perform the task. Until you ask it to pick up something heavier or move faster it will not need to change. If you do the same thing every day that is all you will be able to do. We vary our workouts in order to create a broad and general fitness. A body that is ready to handle whatever challenges life might present. Constant muscular, neurological and endocrine adaptions require alot of energy and generally result in decreased body fat in a person who is training consistently and not overeating.

Functional Movements

The CrossFit method uses constantly varied functional movements executed at high intensity.

I use the CrossFit method to train my athletes(we are all ahtletes here) because I am absolutely convinced it is the best, most efficient method for increasing overall fitness. You will not get stronger, faster, better more efficiently with any other method.

What are functional movements?

Functional movements are prehistoric and natural. They are the movements required for independent living -(squatting, sitting up, pulling yourself up). Functional movements are multi-joint and elemental and involve a core to extremity wave of muscular contractions. In other words....functional movements are the way our bodies are designed to work. All of the muscles and nerves working together to perform the actions that life requires. We do not isolate muscles and train them one at a time...they need to work as a team! Life requires that our muscles, nerves and joints work together to perform tasks. At Crossfit that is the way we train them.

Wednesday

Took advantage of the nice weather and Kate did her workout outside today!

It is so nice to be outside running! It was a long winter.

4 rounds of 400 meter run; 25 box jumps; 25 wall balls.

Time Warner lets me down again!

Serious internet problems today. Might take me all day to post a picture with dial-up!
It's warm and sunny! Please go outside and do something active!
After my workout I took the dog for a loooong walk! He needed it!

Just keep doing it!

What do you do when you are forced to interrupt your workout routine due to illness, injury, or life just getting in the way? What about when you don't seem to be making progress?

Don't get discouraged and give up.

If it is an illness or an injury, you wait until you are better and then you immediately resume your workout schedule. Often you can make great gains after a forced rest. If life is getting in the way you need to look at your priorities and change your schedule in order to fit your workout in. If you're not making progress, change your routine, improve your diet. Staying fit for life simply requires that you keep going back to working out. Consistently working out over time will result in a stronger, healthier, better looking you!

Congratulations to Katie who had an illness last week, but came back!

Congratulations to Jessica and Erica who got their first unassisted pull ups last week!

Congratulations to Will who did 10 pull ups in a row yesterday!

And...as you can see I got my first L pullup this morning!

Sunday

Group work out at 2:00 PM!

Group workouts

Sometimes it's good to work with an individual one on one, for example if there is a fault in technique that needs to be corrected or someone is learning something very new.

Why do I encourage group workouts?

I have found that working out in a group dramatically improves the workout experience! Sharing the experience with others makes it more fun! Let's face it....if it's fun we are more likely to look forward to our workouts. Group members cheer eachother on. Individuals work harder with someone right next to them working hard and I find everyone's times improve in a group workout versus an individual workout. People push themselves further if someone (other than me) is watching! I take a lot less breaks if someone is working out with me! We tend to give a little extra to the workout if we think we might be able to beat someone elses time. There is a bit of a competative streak in almost all of us even if we don't see ourselves as competative. Ultimately what really matters is that we improve our own times or lift more weight than we did before, but having someone by your side, doing the same thing as you are will help you meet that goal of beating your last time.

Our youngest athlete

Crossfit works for anyone! We scale the load, intensity and movements to any fitness level. With consistent effort everyone eventually achieves more than they ever thought possible!

Connor is my youngest athlete. This is a pretty nice squat and you can see he is working hard. Connor is also a runner and is training for a long distance race.

Today's workout

5 rounds

10 Burpees

10 KTE

10 Back squats (choose a weight that is very challenging for 10 reps)

Thursday

Looks like it's going to be a little warmer and sunny today! It's been a long winter. It will be so nice to open up the big barn doors and go outside and flip some tires!

The 5 AM crew works so hard!

Wednesday

WOD

right off the main page today!

5 rounds

25 hip ext.

30 GHD sit ups

Abs will be sore tomorrow!

Tuesday

April Fool's Day

I wonder how many times today someone will "get me" with an April Fool's joke. I'm not a very suspicious person so I am very vulnerable to these types of attacks!

Most of us did Fran yesterday. 21-15-9 of thrusters and pull-ups. I did 7 minutes better than my last time and did it as prescibed for the second time (65# thruster and unassisted pullups) Craig turned in a 8:08 Fran time as prescibed (95# thruster and unassisted pullups) which was a 5 minute improvement over his last one! Not bad for an old guy!

The weather is warm today and the crossfit.com WOD is 4 800m (1/2 mile) sprints. If you're not going to make it here today give this one a try! Record your time for each run. You may rest long enough to recover between runs.

Diet Challenge: For the next week make sure you get 3 servings of low-fat dairy each day!