Archive for the ‘Media’ Category

CrossFit Blog Central: 4/26/11

Posted: April 26, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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I’m not even going to try and come up with a clever little intro to this post.

Lisbeth (creator of the CrossFit Lisbeth Blog) does it again.

I know I share a lot of the same messages over and over again on my blog, but they’re motivating to me, and help try to keep ME honest and inspired through life. Hopefully you guys enjoy these, too.

Recovery ~ By Lisbeth

Recovering from a bad start is not an easy thing to do.But it’s a skill you have to learn — in the gym, in your relationships, at work, in life.

Sometimes, you start your WOD and everything just sucks. Everything. Your hook grip feels funny, you smack your chin with the bar, and your chest-to-bar pull-up catches . . . only air. WTF.

Life sucks. You suck. And then you die.

Or so it seems.

In reality, though, you have basically two choices: You can get bitter or you can better. You can quit or you can make something of this piece of sh** day you’re having. That’s always your choice. Nobody makes it but you.

So, decide. Reset your jaw and come right back at that WOD, and life.  Make it — WILL it — to get better. Finish your rep, finish your round, finish what you started. Do what you said you would do.

Or be a p**** and go cry about it. Quit something else in this life. Give up. And then convince yourself that you never really wanted it anyhow. Because that’s just how you roll.

Your day, your choice, your life.

Recovery isn’t a drink after a workout. It’s the entire way you approach life.

The Numbers: 4/24/11

Posted: April 26, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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Easter Sunday Funday!!!

I took a LOT of videos today, and I’m going to post them all. Why? Because for the folks who were there, this will be a lot of fun to relive! I decided to make a hop-tastic Easter Sunday Funday workout, and today we did burpees, jumped rope, stick jumps, broad jumps… I mean, it was fun!

We also changed things up a bit and did a team workout today. I told you guys once the crew started to grow a bit that we’d be able to do this, and we had 9 people show up today! On Easter Sunday!

Orion and Greg did a workout yesterday, and took the idea right out of my head! I left their set-up for class today, and appropriately called it… THE HOPPER!

The workout today was three rounds, but after each round, we had a little “Intermission”. The first one was Wall-Sit Med Ball Passes… we started with 14lbs, and passed it back and forth three times.

After that I asked, “How heavy was that ball?” When I heard it was “only 14 pounds” we decided to up the weight and try it again. And we did this for every weight all the way up to the THIRTY POUND Ball! I was pretty impressed with the team holding that ball for 1-second each and making it down and back!

We had a few people absolutely crush the Burpees in the workout today! It was Mike’s first time ever doing them, Alon turned on a new gear of speed I had yet to see in him and Heather flew threw her 10, too!

Our second “Intermission” featured a little competition between teams. Everyone had to do a Wall Sit just holding their own med ball for as long as they could. The last person standing got their team out of a “Penalty Set” AND got to choose the movement that the other two teams needed to do 15 reps of before the final round of the workout.

Here’s the EPIC battle between Jamie and Kip at the end! By the way, Jamie chose for them to have to do Slam Balls 🙂

As tough as the workout was, I think everyone had a really good time today. Right, guys? Right? 🙂

One last look at “The Hopper!”

It was such a fun day with the growing Sunday Funday Crew! Thanks so much for everyone for making it a really fun Easter Sunday class!

CrossFit, CrossFit Lakewood, Smashby Training, Easter, Sunday Funday

Easter Sunday Funday Crew!

Moment of Awesomeness: 4/25/11

Posted: April 25, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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Pure talent.

Thought of the Day: 4/25/11

Posted: April 25, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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Know your place.

Maybe that’s a bit more intense of an opener than what you wanted to read on my “Fitness Blog” this Monday morning, but I’m serious. You may be the most important person in the universe (in your own mind), but even with that, it’s important to know your place. In the office. At the store. In the gym.

My friend Megan shared this article with me today that really hit home. While I was born in New York, I spent a majority of my life in Pittsburgh, PA, and this writing made me stop and think about a quality of the ‘Burgh that I appreciate more and more with each passing year.

Personally, I feel there is something to be said for a firm handshake and some good of eye contact (and dare I say a smile on occasion) to even a complete stranger, yet it’s pretty easy to not get much of that “out in the world.” The manners, or lack thereof, that we are faced with sometimes makes me wonder where some people out there learned how to treat their fellow human. Now let me qualify this… this is all coming from the guy, who at nearly 27 years of age, still calls his friends’ parents “Mr. and Mrs. so-and-so”, but c’mon.

Remember The Gold Rule? Do unto others as you would have others do unto you? Treat people the way you’d like to be treated? To rephrase and quote Will Ferrell imitating Harry Carey, “It’s a simple concept… A child could understand it.”

Megan said something when sharing the article with me, and as we enter the last full week of this month, I couldn’t agree with her more: “This article will fit in well for the rest of Accountability April.”

Take a minute to read the article below, and give yourself a minute or 10 to reflect a little bit.
(And know your place. Seriously.)

Local Dispatch: It’s hardly polite to be outside Pittsburgh ~ by David Conrad

CrossFit Blog Central: 4/25/11

Posted: April 25, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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If you’ve ever worked out with me at CFLW, you’ll know that sometimes I yell during my workouts. Not at people (coaching and cheering is not yelling), but at things, the bar… myself. Greg Walker called it my “War Cry”.

Lisbeth seems to agree with my logic there, and her post today is awesome. Get some, let it out… and then move on. The gym is an incredible place to “de-stress” and let out some aggression in a productive way. When you’re done, pull yourself together, walk out the door, put a smile on your face and go on with your life with a little bit less weight on your shoulders (literally and figuratively).

Yell At Your Bar ~ by Lisbeth

Go ahead, do it.Yell at your barbell.

Or your kettlebell. Or your jump rope. Or your sandbag.

Give it some horrible swearword name and tell it to go f*** itself.

Why?

Because it feels good. Because you’ll dump some stress. And because I’d rather have you yell at your barbell than have you yell at your spouse or your kids or your partner or the guy giving you change at the gas station.

That’s half the reason we go to the gym anyhow. Yes, we want to get fit. Sure, we want to be healthy. But, ultimately, we want to be happy. And it’s really hard to be happy with the weight of the world on your shoulders. At some point, you have to dump some of that weight or it will crush you.

So start now. Start dumping the stuff in your life that just doesn’t matter. Learn to say “no” to unimportant sh** and “yes” to stuff that really matters — and to the people that really matter in your life.

So, yell at your barbell if you need to. Glare at it, scowl at it, get good and mad at it. Drop it, manhandle it, call it bad names. (Just don’t drop an empty barbell or you risk the wrath of the Ghost of Weightlifting Past and/or your affiliate owner.)

And then leave all that behind you. Beat your anger and pain into the metal and the rubber and the platform and leave it there.

Walk out of the gym with a lighter spirit. And go and do good things in the world.

Charles Barkley at CrossFit North Atlanta

Posted: April 24, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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As promised, here’s a video of Charles Barkley performing the 5th workout of the 2011 CrossFit Games Open. This workout rocked me more than any other workout in recent memory. Maybe part of it was because I did it twice in one week, but it was really challenging for me.

We’ll see if Charles decides to stick with the program, but if nothing else, here’s proof that he at least tried it once.

*****UPDATE*****

Well, it looks like Sir Charles has already drank the Kool-Aid. He sounds as crazy as ever, but clearly plans on giving CrossFit a shot. There you have it, folks!

Trainer’s Workout: April 2011

Posted: April 23, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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Back in January I posted a video of me and Orion working out, and asked if you guys enjoyed watching the Trainers WOD together. The feedback was yes, so here’s April’s video!

I have footage from a February and March workout, too. So look for those to surface soon!

The workout was a 15 minute pyramid featuring three movements: Wall Balls, Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups and Ab-Mat Sit-Ups. That means that once the clock starts you do one rep of each, then two reps of each. You continue climbing as high as you can until the clock hits 15:00, then you’re done!

***NOTE***
Orion used a THIRTY pound medicine ball. I only used a 20 pounder.

Good stuff. Let me know what you guys think of the video.

The Numbers: 4/21/11

Posted: April 23, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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The day started off pretty cold and rainy, but by the time the 6pm class rolled around it was a beautiful day! What better way to start another amazing CrossFit class then by doing the…

Best. Warm-Up. Ever. CROSSFIT DODGE BALL!!!
Regular dodgeball rules apply, but if you get hit, you need to do either Burpees or Air Squats.

A little bummed I missed Orion getting tagged in the face with one (he was fine, relax), but still an awesome time!

This one might look more complicated than it really is, so let me just explain it.
There are three exercises, each of which requires 21 reps. The are KB Swing, Goblet Squats and Pull-Ups. Run 100m before each one of those. Do all of that three times!

3 Rounds for Time
100m Sprint / 21 Kettle Bell Swings, 24kg/16kg / 100m Sprint / 21 Goblet squats, 24kg/16kg / 100m Sprint / 21 Pull-ups

Swing!

Squat!

Pull-Ups!

Holly is Awesome!

Posted: April 22, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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I know… you all knew that already… Holly is awesome!

But for those of you who aren’t lucky enough to train with us at CrossFit Lakewood, here’s one of the MANY reasons why Holly Rosen is so awesome.

Holly is pretty sure her 1-rep max Power Clean was around 115lbs. Well, lucky for her… the last workout of the 2011 CrossFit Games Open had 100lb. Power Cleans in them… 5 reps… PER ROUND! Some people probably would have thought, “There’s no way I can do that many of them at so close to my 1RM.” Not Holly, though!

She got an amazing score on the workout AND fought for every single Power Clean. GREAT JOB, HOLLY!

Also, today’s her birthday… so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HOLLY!

2011 CrossFit Games: WOD 11.5 Advice

Posted: April 21, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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I’ve already done this workout once, and I will share my personal advice on how to approach it. I would love your feedback as to whether or not you guys find this input valuable or not! If you think it’s helpful to hear how someone walks up to one of these workouts, let me know. If not, let me know, too!

First, my final score on the workout was: 9 full rounds + 1 power clean

Power Cleans (145lbs):
I don’t know how some people said this didn’t hurt their grip. By round 6 or 7, I was having a hard time getting power cleans 4 and 5 off of the ground without losing control of the bar. The final round I dropped the bar for a second, but aside from that, was able to do these unbroken.

Toes to Bar:
I made it through, I think, the first 7 rounds unbroken on these. But then on the final round, I did singles. Definitely not a deal-breaker, but I can’t break them up that much, even if I am le tired.

Wall Balls:
Shut up and pick up the ball. Seriously. We all want to stop tossing that thing because it hurts, but really, this station is the “break”. I missed probably 6 or 7 reps by not hitting the target, and that just frustrated me. Then, on my last round I dropped the ball.. on the last rep! In the words of GOB Bluth…

C’mon!!

Overall Verdict: GRIP KILLER

Strategy for next time:
Bigger Jump and more effective Power Cleans (warm up the wrists a bit more)
Toes to Bar just need to fight and spend less time BETWEEN sets if I need to break it up. Get back up on the bar!
Wall Balls “must” be unbroken. Like I said before… I need to shut up and keep going. Rest after #15.

Then Pat Barber was at it again, sharing his pre- and post- workout advice for CrossFit Games Open WOD 11.5. Check it out:

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