Archive for the ‘CrossFit’ Category

Smashby Training Challenge #1 Winner!!!

Posted: January 31, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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Alec Hanson has done it. He promised an epic video when he reached his 50th Subscriber to his Drive Time with Alec Channel on Youtube, and he has not only delivered, but he has exceeded any and all expectations I had for it!

What is this “Smashby Training Challenge” you ask? Back on December 16th of last year, I wrote a post on Perfection. I discussed that “a lot of times perfection is something we think we need to reach. My goal is to always be: “Better than yesterday”. That means that you’ve worked hard, and improved an area of your life; hopefully helping to make you become a more well-rounded human being.”

Then I ended the post by challenging any reading my blog to attempt to recreate one of the closest things to “Perfect” I have ever experienced…. the DOUBLE DREAM HANDS VIDEO!!!

Well I won’t ruin the surprise, but let’s just say that even though the “video submission” is 31 days late, as the Competition Organizer, I have accepted a late entry.

ALEC HANSON WINS!! Congrats, Alec!! Your prize will be mailed to you by the end of the week!
If you haven’t subscribed to his channel yet, you really should by clicking here and then subscribing. His material is fun and he has some great opinions on topics that are relevant to either life, CrossFit or both!

Without further ado…. enjoy your Smashby Training Challenge’s first Winner’s video entry!!!:

Moment of Awesomeness: 1/30/11

Posted: January 30, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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I’ve talked to a lot of people who say they’ve seen or heard about crossFit, but won’t try it because they’re scared, or because it looks too intimidating. CrossFit Milford put together a really awesome video about “Fear”. I like it because I know a lot of CrossFitters will understand the message behind what fear was, and what fear has become.

At first we fear CrossFit because we don’t know if our bodies will physically be able to complete the work asked of us for the day’s workout. We don’t know if we’ll even be able to do it… or if we’ll fail. Once we experience the program, once we start to learn more about ourselves and what we are truly capable of, once we see how many areas of our lives improve through this enhanced fitness, we then begin to see the true realm of our own possibility. At that point, many of us no longer fear our ability levels at all… we just fear the workout of the day.

Given the choice of fearing failure in my life, or fearing a single day’s workout on a board… I think you know which I’d choose.

Have you wanted to give CrossFit a shot? Have you considered trying to do it more often? Let go of the fear… You just might become fitter/healthier/happier than you’ve ever imagined, so give it a shot. Just try.

Fear from Patrick Cummings on Vimeo.

Athlete Results: Post Timeliness

Posted: January 30, 2011 in CrossFit, Training
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Team, athletes and friends,

These last few weeks have brought a few instances where posts containing workout results (aka “The Numbers” posts) have been delayed by a few days.

The reason for that is the time it takes me to create the video masterpieces that are your workout movies.

I decided today that while that is hopefully a great perk to training with me, it’s also a “fluff” and “fun” benefit. At the end of the day, you’re training with me to increase your fitness level and become a better athlete and/or healthier person. In my opinion, your results (the numbers themselves) are priority number one.

What does that mean?
While I will continue to do my best to complete the videos as soon as possible following your workouts, starting this next week, I will try to have no more than a 1-day delay from at least posting the actual workout and it’s results.

I hope this more timely feedback will help keep the workouts fresher in your minds when you see your weights and times, and help you plan more effective improvement goals for the next time we see the lifts/movements!

Constantly striving to be “better than yesterday”, hope this helps!

-Tom

2011 CrossFit Games: “Open Sectionals” Information

Posted: January 30, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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CrossFit Founder Greg Glassman took some time to speak with several people last week and share more information as to how the 2011 Sectional Qualifiers will look. He also shared his opinion as to why he thinks his “Open” structure (where literally anyone from anywhere in the world will be able to submit their times for the workouts) will work just fine.

Gym owners and athletes have surely been wondering how crazy these workouts are going to be for the athletes. Here’s a quote directly from Glassman:
“So I would expect that first round to have a very classic “CrossFit” flavor to it.”

Then he gives a clue that it will likely be at the next round of qualifiers, one of the 17 Regional Competitions around the planet, where he would expect there to be an “urge to get outside of the box.” Glassman jokes that we could expect “moats and alligators,” and everyone laughs. Let’s be honest, though… is it really even a joke? I wouldn’t put it past those guys!

Several times during the video (which can be seen here) he reiterates the two goals of this type of event (the Open Sectionals).

1- “To find, mine, develop, watch and point to the world’s fittest man and the world’s fittest woman.”
2- “… and along the way, we want the process to be as inclusive as possible. So even those that feel like they don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell, will play… to maximize participation.”

Here’s the entire post on the CrossFit Games’ web site! March will be here before we know it, guys and gals!

The Numbers: 1/28/11 *Special Edition*

Posted: January 28, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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Many of you know my class schedule:

Sundays- 5:30pm-6:30pm
Monday / Wednesday / Thursday- 6pm-7pm

This week, however, was a special circumstance. Friend and past CrossFitter Melissa moved back to Denver for her next rotation! She had some friends in town with her and they all wanted to get in a CrossFit session to see what it was all about. If that wasn’t enough, Pam (friend from college) moved to Denver YESTERDAY and wanted to check it out. Now if that’s not motivation, I don’t know what is… these folks wanted to work out, and who was I to tell them no!? So, I offered a special Friday class for the four of them.

After spending quite a bit of time warming up, explaining what CrossFit is, and going over proper form for some basic movements, we were ready to hit a variation of the “Baseline” workout. Tom Nugent, friend and owner of SnoRidge Crossfit told me that they do the “Official Baseline workout” twice. Here’s what he shared with me:

Baseline is a great eye opener. We program 2 rds rather than 1 simply because anyone can complete 1 round with relative ease. The 2nd round becomes the test, teaching relative intensity and perseverance. Completing that challenge then really exposes someone to CrossFit.

That definitely made sense to me, so from now on, I am going to adopt his theory! What is “Baseline”? With my modifications from the original, our workout for today was:

Workout of the Day:
2 rounds for time of-
400 meter Run (or 500m row) / 20 Pull-Ups / 30 Push-Ups / 40 Sit-Ups (Ab-Mat) / 50 Air Squats

You all did a great job today! For the “out-of-towners”, I really hope you check out your local CF gym, you’d both be great at it!

Athlete Results:
(All athletes used banded pull-ups and Ab-Mats for sit-ups)
Pam- 19:30
Ashley- 20:18
Mel-Mel- 20:46
Mel- 21:51

Moment of Awesomeness: 1/28/11

Posted: January 28, 2011 in CrossFit, Training
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Why train with me? Why use the CrossFit method?

Simply put — Don’t you want to be able to do this?
(Hint: The answer is yes.)

See you in class on Sunday? I thought so.

Moment of Awesomeness: “Inspiration” 1/27/11

Posted: January 27, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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I have absolutely no idea why I was looking for inspiration today. I also have absolutely no idea why THIS video came to mind. But I’m very glad it did. When I watched this video for the first time, shortly after learning about and getting into the Crossfit program, I new I’d never forget it.

Back in 2008, a 14-year-old girl named Kallista Pappas competed in that summer’s Crossfit Games. She weighed 103 pounds, and was working out with women who were much older and much stronger than she was at the time. She didn’t care. The last workout came up, and it was 30 reps of squat clean and jerks for time. The weight used was 100lbs.

I’ll say this again in case you don’t understand. A 103 pound 14-year-old took her own body weight from the ground, and put it over her head 30 times. Oh, and at rep 23, that entire weight fell on her shin. And she still finished. She picked up that barbell, let out her war cry, and completed the workout. This is one of the most inspiring performances I have ever seen.

The moral of the story — You can do so much more than you think. —
Don’t be afraid to dream big in ANY part of your life. Work hard to do whatever it takes to reach your goals, and you never know what might happen — you just might reach, or dare I say, surpass them. I’ll leave you with a quote that I like:

Aim for the moon, that way, even if you miss you'll still be amongst the stars! - W. Clement Stone

Thank you for this performance, Kallista! It will always serve as an inspiration to me.

Kallista C&J Finals from CrossFit Newcastle on Vimeo.

The Numbers: 1/26/11

Posted: January 26, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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Today’s workout was a good one! The primary focus of the WOD was a movement that most athletes at the gym had never done before — The Turkish Get Up. The video below shows a well-executed lift… WITH A PERSON! We decided to stick with kettlebells for tonight. We’ll use people next time 🙂

Workout of the Day:
5 Rounds for time of-
5 Turkish Get Ups (each arm) / 15 Weighted Squats / 20 Double-Unders

Athlete Results:
Jamie (8kg kettlebell / 15lb weighted squat / doubles!)- 28:43
Clayton (12kg kettlebell / 45lb weighted squat / doubles!)- 32:04

The Pursuit of Paleo: One way to start.

Posted: January 26, 2011 in CrossFit, Nutrition
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I am always trying to share different perspectives on proper nutrition, and today, Alec Hanson wins again to have his voice heard by the 17 million people who check out my blog… per hour.

Watch the video below, and hear what advice the “crazy little weird person on the phone” (HIS words, relax!) gives us advice on how to function for 8 hours per day and maintain our energy levels. His approach is very direct, hilarious, and….. painfully true for most of us. To no fault of our own, it’s very hard to plan a day of healthy meals if you don’t know what you can eat! There are very simple adjustments to make, so hear some new ideas!

“Today… Tuesday… you want more energy, you want to be more productive at work, have more focus… just please stop eating the bad carbs… eat meat and nuts all day. Good start right there.” ~ Alec Hanson

p.s.- Subscribe to his YouTube channel “Drive Time with Alec”. Maybe if he gets to Drive-Timer #100 before he posts his special 50th video, he’ll pay all of us $20 or something.

The Numbers: 1/24/11

Posted: January 26, 2011 in CrossFit, Training
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Another full house for the 6pm class! Since Jamie did Overhead Squats yesterday, the rest of the group went through them tonight. (Jamie focused on form with simple Front Squats)

The workout for tonight definitely put a high level of importance on more “Skilled Movements”. It was a workout that has been posted on http://www.crossfit.com a few times, most recently last week on 1/21/11.

The first movement was an L-Pull-Up. That is exactly what it sounds like, a regular pull-up, where your legs are out in front of you in the air. Very hard to do, especially in the event that someone has limited range of motion in their hamstrings.

The other movement was a One-Legged Squat, aka the Pistol, (demonstrated here by Adrian Bozman who works at San Francisco CrossFit and for CrossFit.com) is a very challenging movement that requires not only strength, but increased balance and flexibility as well!

Denver CrossFit All-Star (and all-around nice guy!), Kevin Montoya, shows us how to do this entire workout properly. He is one talented athlete!

So since these movements are so challenging, there were plenty of ways to scale or modify the movements as you’ll see in today’s video. The important thing, though, is to spend time working on these movements so you can IMPROVE them. Even over the course of this workout, people were improving their form by seeing what did and didn’t work for them. Great job, guys and gals!

Workout of the Day:
21 L-pull-ups / 20 One legged squats, alternating legs / 18 L-pull-ups / 16 One legged squats, alternating legs / 15 L-pull-ups / 12 One legged squats, alternating legs / 12 L-pull-ups / 8 One legged squats, alternating legs

Athlete Results:
Overhead Squat 3 Rep Max
Clayton- 135lbs
Jamie- Worked Front Squat Form, same weight)

WOD
Clayton (Dead-Hang Pull-Ups / Pistols back to stack of weights)- 12:45
Jamie (2-Banded Pull-Ups / Weighted Air Squats (15lbs)- 13:11

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