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

The Numbers: 1/23/11

Posted: January 25, 2011 in CrossFit, Training
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Jamie came in after a weekend of friends in town and was ready to get back to CrossFit! After a warm-up we were off to hit Overhead Squats, working towards a 5-rep max. We’ve been working on Jamie’s flexibility, and even with room for improvement, when he gets down in the hole, his shoulder strength really helps him push that bar all the way up in the air! It’s looking better every day, Jamie! (Just make sure we keep that weight back on our heels, as that helps improve everything… Chest Position, Knees Out, Bar Overhead, etc)

The workout for the day would be a new variety for Jamie! There were three rounds, each one lasting 5 minutes. The goal was to complete a 500 meter row (with the Damper/Resistance set at 10!) as fast as possible. Let’s say that took 2:00, then he would have the remaining 3:00 of the 5 minute round to do as many Wall-Balls as possible. The goal of the workout is to complete as many Wall Ball Tosses as possible! I’m not sure if you’ve ever hopped off of a rower (hard “pulling”) and ran straight over to Wall Balls (hard “pushing”), but it’s a pretty gnarly combination. Great job, Jamie!

Workout of the Day:
3 5:00 Rounds of-
Row 500 meters / As many Wall Balls as possible in remaining time

Athlete Results:
Overhead Squat – 5 rep max
Jamie- Final Set 80lbs

WOD
Wall Ball Tosses by round-
Jamie- 27 / 25 / 38!

2011 CrossFit Games: Qualifying Information!

Posted: January 24, 2011 in CrossFit, Media, Training
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The first announcement, of what will surely be many in the coming weeks, has been released!

From the CrossFit Games website comes the following news:

“The CrossFit Games Open is a six-week competition that will begin Tuesday, March 15th at 17:00 PDT. This competition is the first step in qualifying for the 2011 CrossFit Games. Each week, one event will be announced each Tuesday, and everyone has until the following Sunday at 17:00 PDT to complete the event and record their scores.”

There are two ways that people will be allowed to qualify:
1. Compete at a Registered Affiliate: Attend a workout session at a registered affiliate and submit your score for the affiliate to validate.

2. Compete Anywhere: Perform the workout as prescribed anywhere you can or want, and videotape it. Submit your score and upload your video.

It’s crazy to most CrossFitters to imagine how they’re going to organize, validate and report back on what could be hundreds of thousands of entries from around the entire planet, but I’m sure they’ll find a way!

I’ll keep you posted, as always, when more information is released. Until then, keep training…..

The Pursuit of Paleo: “On Being Strict”

Posted: January 24, 2011 in CrossFit, Nutrition
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My friend Herm “Old School” Blancaflor shared a pretty awesome article from the “Paleo Chronicles” blog.

The article is called “On Being Strict”, and the author discusses the mental implications of telling yourself that you “need” to maintain a “STRICT” Paleo diet in order to gain results or to be healthy.

At no point is it suggested or encouraged that we deviate from a clean diet in order to see optimal results. However, (and this is a huge point) what ends up happening when we approach eating Paleo like this, is we tell ourselves that if we “cheat” on the diet, we are bad people or that we are doing something wrong. We approach our diet, and the “concept” of food, as something that can so easily become riddled with guilt. I don’t know about you, but I know for a fact that I’ve been there (and still am there sometimes). “Oh man… why did I eat that? I messed up. I’m bad. I have no self control.” Those reactions may be a little drastic, but I think you know where I’m going with this. A great quote from her post:

“I suppose it is the motivation behind the words that bothers me. Strict implies discipline. Strict implies willpower. And strict implies compliance. You are forcing yourself to NOT do something, and that PRESSURE is not sustainable. Because it is motivated by FEAR… Fear is not a sustainable motivator. If it was, no one would smoke. There are labels on cigarettes that tell you they will KILL you.”

Don’t approach your diet, or your nutritional choices as I prefer to call them (as “diet” just sounds too temporary), as a system based on punishment and limitations. My advice is to simply learn what foods are good to eat, and have every meal you eat consist of those foods as often as possible.

I’ll refer you to the CrossFit website for a minute. When giving people advice on how to start the program, they’ve had a little “saying” for years. They call it “World Class Fitness in 100 Words.” The CrossFit program starts it’s most basic instruction of all, by addressing diet first. Greg Glassman (CrossFit Founder) says:
“Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.”

That’s it. Don’t tell yourself how “strict” you need to be for every meal you ever eat. I’ll leave you with one more quote from the post:

“You don’t need to discipline yourself, I guarantee that what you really need is to love yourself. Then when you are deviating, if you even do so at all, you do so with a clear conscience: no baggage, no guilt.”

What do you want from me?!?

Posted: January 23, 2011 in About Tom, CrossFit, Media, Nutrition, Training
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Ok, maybe that post title is a little dramatic….

But I’m serious!

I want this blog to be a place you want to visit! My goal is for the material to be informative, relevant and FUN!

Let me know what types of things you would like to see more of, less of, and everything in between!

Consider this post your “Comment Card” that you get at the end of a course. I’m always looking for honest and constructive feedback!

Ready… go!

Oh, and as a thank you for your participation, here’s a pretty awesome demonstration of ALL of the 10 Physical Skills (Cardiovascular/Respiratory Endurance, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Accuracy and Balance) we improve through CrossFit training! Amazing stuff.

The Pursuit of Paleo: Breaking It Down

Posted: January 23, 2011 in CrossFit, Nutrition
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Ricky Frausto Jr. is the co-owner of CrossFit Omaha. He is an elite-level CrossFit athlete, the affiliate team from his gym (which he was on) finished in 2nd at last summer’s CrossFit Games and he is also a writer for SicFit.com. Basically, Ricky is someone that when he talks, it probably wouldn’t hurt if you listened!

Last week he posted an article entitled “Health, Happiness, and Food for Thought” on the SicFit blog, and it’s a very good read.

He does a great job of breaking it down in this post. We could talk for hours on what food to eat, how much of it to eat and why you want to eat that specific food. I also think there are times when it’s appropriate to do that. Sometimes, though, you just need to break it down into it’s simplest form.

Eating right, working out, and being happy is supposed to be fun learning experience. What do I mean? I mean, explore. Learn about what is allowed and not allowed. Learn what others, who have come before you, have learned by reading about their stories.

He’s right, you know. I try to share links to wonderful blogs with you guys so you can see how different people think, hopefully get some fun ideas for recipes and hopefully make eating well a lot easier! Some great resources (just to name a few) are Robb Wolf’s blog, Mark’s Daily Apple, Everyday Paleo and Whole 9.

Add those links to your “Favorites” and check them out every once in a while. You’ll have “constantly varied yet constantly delicious” ways to keep the fuel you put in your body as clean as possible (go ahead and borrow that slogan, it’s free)!

Another great message from his article:

You are not a rabbit. Don’t eat like a rabbit. You’re not a bear either. Don’t eat like a bear. Eat like a human. A human should eat as much food as they want so long as it is clean. Meats and veggies, oils, some nuts and seeds, very little fruit, and no starch or sugar. That being said, that is quite the variety contrary to what you may think. If you only see boring then how do you ever get by with a few movements in CrossFit? Mix and match in as many ways as you can think.

Great post, Ricky! Thanks for the great information!

CrossFit Blog Central: 1/23/11

Posted: January 23, 2011 in CrossFit, Media
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Alec Hanson is hilarious.

If you saw some of the posts I’ve put up about Alec Hanson and his blog in the past, and if you’ve watched any of those videos, you’ve already see what this guy is all about. (there was this post when I posted an article he wrote, and then this one where we had a little back-and-forth dialogue on Self Worth. They’re both awesome, trust me.)

Well, a video he posted the other day, “Drive Time #97”… made me laugh out loud. You may have A.D.D. Alec, but you are also hilarious. I hope that some of the people who check out my blog go out and subscribe to your YouTube channel. There, I said it. Happy now? I just blatantly plugged your blog.

And now… I will call you out. MAKE AND POST THE “50-Subscriber Drive Time Lovefest” VIDEO ALREADY!
(and let’s go ahead and not mention “the word” on the blog again, please!)

Next discussion on Drive Time? I’ll give you a topic:

CrossFit Games Training
Most people will never make it past the first round of qualifiers for the CrossFit Games, yet thousands of people from around the World still train for it. For me, this is different from training to run a marathon (which I have done) or complete a triathlon (which I have also done) because in my opinion, most people set aside a specific training period for these events. I hear “I’ve got my 12-week Marathon plan” a lot more than I hear “I’ll start training for Sectionals in a few weeks.” For most people I know who want to, or who do, compete in CrossFit events, there is no off-season. Why are people devoting so much time, in and out of the gym (regular training, proper nutrition, etc), for something/an event that they’ll probably never win? I have my theories, but I’m interested in what other people think.

Discuss.

Not just you, Alec. Everyone chime in. Why do you think that is the case? Do you guys even agree with me?
Alec’s reply can be seen below!

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