I couldn’t think of a name to give this post, so I think since I try to always get in some CrossFit training when I “leave town”, I’m going to start this series called: “On The Road”

Most of you know I am spending two weeks in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, visiting my family. While I was walking along Ipanema Beach last night, I stopped by the rock at the end called Arpoador. While sitting down and watching the surfers who are always out there, I looked to my left and noticed something for the first time ever…

There was a gym just off the beach, complete with pull-up bars, parallel bars, benches, etc. Here’s the kicker, though… the weights that they had there were barbells with ROCKS as the weights!! I can’t even put it into words how awesome it was, so I told myself I would go back the next day, camera in hand (of course!), and get in a workout to capture this place.

Gym Rules: Translated into English. Amazing.

It’s 100% free, and people are working out there all the time. Check out the pictures!

The Outdoor Rock Gym at the Arpoador in Rio de Janeiro!

This gym may or may not have been started by Fred Flintsone

CrossFitters: We like lifting heavy things

*FYI*
The workout I did was:
3 Rounds for time of-
3 Squat Cleans (80kg or 176lb bar) / 6 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups / 9 Burpees / 12 Double-Unders

This was the first workout I did in 9 days after “vacation eating” for the last week and a half! I should have been staying more paleo down here 🙂

This was the coolest outdoor workout I've ever done!

This morning I’m hitting you guys with some Free-Running action. I guess I can stop making it seem like it’s not going to happen again, huh?

As I’ve said in the past, the self-awareness and -control these guys have over their position in space is more than admirable in my opinion. We may never want to jump from building to building, but if we find ourselves in a place where something more than just walking or running is required, would we even know what to do? (stranded somewhere, looking for an escape from a negative scenario)

Check out this awesome video below, and after you watch it, answer me this:

Do you think it’s relevant to (or would you like to) add similar types of gymnastics movements in the safety of our gym in order to improve our overall athleticism?

I cant think of a time where I would be included in the Moment of Awesomeness… until moments like this come along.

Just like “learn and play new sports” is one of the fundamental statements that CrossFit believes in…. “travel and visit new places” is something that I believe in very firmly as well.

I am visiting a cousin of mine in a place called Porto Seguro, Brazil (where she has lived for the past 15+ years), and this is the city where the entire country of Brazil was founded. Its a pretty amazing place!!

There will be many more pictures to share once I get back, but for now, I just wanted to show you guys one of the places that you can visit in this world. Its amazing here.

If you want to visit, just let me know!

The goal for tomorrow… get in a nice CrossFit workout before starting the day. Ill let you know if I get there!

I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving!!!

The Numbers: 11/21/10

Posted: November 24, 2010 in Training
Tags: , , ,

Yesterday was a big day for us, as Clayton and I competed in the “Earn Your Turkey Challenge” at MBS CrossFit. You should see the posts on the event below, as there were a lot of pictures taken and posted!

Today for Clayton, he just came into the gym to do some active recovery. Brian MacKenzie, of CrossFit Endurance, stresses that in order for the body to recover faster, an active warm-down following a big event, or the day after, will aid the muscles faster than taking the next day off. So he came in and just went through the prescribed workout at his own pace. It seemed he was more recovered the following day, which was great!

CrossFit Lakewood, Smashby Training, CrossFit in Denver, Clayton doing pull-ups

Clayton getting through some pull-ups to help recover

For Kristin, even though she was there all day to cheer on the CrossFit Lakewood team yesterday, she was ready to lift at speed. We started off with some Deadlifts, working up to a 5 Rep Max. Kristin made her way up to 115lbs for 5 reps, which is only 10lbs shy of her 1 Rep Max. Great job, Kristin!

CrossFit Lakewood, Smashby Training, CrossFit in Denver, Kristin Deadlifting

Strong lift, Kristin. Especially for 5 reps!

For her main workout, Kristin completed a 10-minute WOD, where the time left-over each minute was used as rest before going into the next round.

Workout of the Day:
Every minute on the minute for 10 minutes-
4 Squat Cleans / 6 Wall-Ball Tosses

Athlete Results:
Kristin- 45lb Squat Cleans, 10lb Wall Ball

As you read about in the post summarizing the event, it was an amazing day of competing for the “Earn Your Turkey Challenge”!

Here are links to the photo albums that are available on Facebook!

Album #1

Album #2

Just to get you ready, a few sampler photos:

All of us that competed from CrossFit Lakewood!

The Cheering Section that came to support us!

Clayton locking out that Shoulder Press

My Personal Best Deadlift! 425 pounds

This is what 3 workouts in a day does to you!

Brain Power: 11/21/10

Posted: November 21, 2010 in CrossFit
Tags: ,

Quick post today:

Checking one of my favorite CrossFit Blogs over at CrossFit Lisbeth’s page, I came read one of her more recent posts, entitled: “Where Are Your Feet?”

Click here to read the entry

As humans, we tend to over-complicate things. At the end of the day we’re strong enough to handle practically anything and we continually to prove our own strength and resilience to ourselves. So why do most of us keep over-thinking and worrying about things that may not warrant that much attention?

Try to improve that habit in order to simplify your thought process. This frees up more time to be positive, constructive and creative:

What is something you over-stress about in your life?

Post your answer in the comments section, and let the discussion begin!

I can’t even put into words how awesome of a day it was yesterday!

There were 6 athletes from CrossFit Lakewood who competed in the “Earn Your Turkey Challenge” at MBS CrossFit, and it was a full house all day long!

The event began with an outdoor 5k (~3.1 Mile) Hill run through the industrial park by the gym. The run wouldn’t have been as bad if the entire 1st half wasn’t downhill, and then the entire 2nd half uphill! All said, though, the weather being on the cooler side made this run much more tolerable. Many runners were out of the gate fast, and by the end, there was quite a spread of finishers. I think it ended with 100% of CrossFit Lakewood athletes setting 5k PR’s, some by MINUTES. How awesome is that!?

After that was the CrossFit Total Event. That meant each athlete had 35 minutes to complete 3 attempts at their 1 Rep Max for three different exercises. In order, they were the Back Squat, the Shoulder Press, and the Deadlift. The way they broke down the event was with 9 platforms, and 4 athletes at each one. While one was lifting, another two were spotting (if necessary) while the 4th athlete prepared to lift next. Setting up and changing weights was a team effort, and you instantly bonded with the other competitors there with you. It was one of the coolest things I’ve been a part of, for sure. For the CrossFit Lakewood athletes, almost every single lift ended up being a PR. That is unheard of, and awesome!

After the Totals were completed, they opened the huge airplane hangar door, and rolled in huge wooden boards. Well, it turns out that they BUILT A WALL right in the middle of the gym, and also lowered 10 15-foot ropes from the ceiling. Yeah, the last workout was going to be nuts! CrossFit prepares us for the unknown and unknowable, and while some people may have guessed that rope climbs would have been a part of the workout, I don’t think anyone would have guessed that we would have had to climb a 5-ft wall 22 times with a burpee on either side!

Earn Your Turkey Challenge 2010, MBS CrossFit, Wall Construction, Smashby Training, CrossFit, CrossFit Lakewood, CrossFit in Denver

Yeah. They just built a wall!

Once the wall was built, Pat Burke (owner of MBS CrossFit) gathered all of the athletes together and announced the Final Workout. It was called the “Deep Fried Turkey.” For the Elite Group it was 15 Ground-To-Overheads with 115lbs. That meant just to get the weight overhead with arms locked out however you could; clean and jerk, snatch, didn’t matter. Next came 10 Burpee Wall-Jumps – Drop to the ground for the burpee part, jump over the wall, that’s one rep. After that was the game changer… 5 ascents up a 15-foot rope. Once those are done, it’s back to 10 more burpee wall-jumps, and then another 15 ground-to-overheads. For the other classes of competitors there were only a few modifications made, but it was basically the same thing. Quite the workout. Here’s the kicker…. there was a 10 minute cap on it. That meant if you didn’t complete all of that stuff in 10 minutes, your total score would just be the total number of reps you did complete.

Earn Your Turkey Challenge 2010, MBS CrossFit, Deep Fried Turkey, Smashby Training, CrossFit, CrossFit Lakewood, CrossFit in Denver

The Final Workout!

At the end of the day, we spent about 10 full hours at MBS CrossFit, and even though it got really cold at the end of the night, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

It was so amazing to be part of the CrossFit Lakewood family, and seeing what we were all capable of was so much fun! On top of that, the spirit of camaraderie that all of the competitors showed towards one another was so incredible.

GREAT JOB to everyone who competed, and THANK YOU for everyone who was there to support us!

Onto the next competition!…. you’ll know when that is as soon as I do!

“I don’t have time to cook…”
“Healthy food is so expensive…”

Those are just two of the reasons we give ourselves to delay trying to adjust our way of eating in order to improve our fitness, and quite frankly, our overall quality of life.

I have not met a single person who feels worse in their day-to-day functioning when their nutrition is cleaned up, even a little bit. One of the things I’ve been trying to say to you guys is to start small…. but start.. and start now.

Does that mean eating one less meal at a fast-food place per week? Does that mean replacing pastas with veggies once per week? It doesn’t matter how big the change, but you can start the change now.

My usual breakfast when I make something at home will be eggs and a few other things. Ideally, I’ll pair 3-4 eggs with 1/2 of an avocado and maybe some veggies cooked in with them, but that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes, for my fat source I’ll throw in some walnuts or mixed nuts. Others, I’ll have some fruit instead of veggies for my carbs. Today I didn’t have fruits or veggies, but I did still have a jar of Rosa Mexicano Kitchen Salsa from a sample pack that my friend who works for them sent me (thanks, Maddy!). Magically, I was able to sub that in for my carbs! Crisis averted.

Check this out, though… a jar of salsa costs what, $3-4? A dozen eggs, let’s guess high and say $3. A single avocado, $2 for a nice one, I’ll guess. So for a single meal, it’s going to cost me less than $2. You know what else? 4 eggs, some big spoonfuls of salsa, and a cut up avocado will fill me up a lot more than a $3-5 breakfast burrito or a $5+ “Value Meal” at a drive-through place.

Paleo, CrossFit, Smashby Training, Eggs, Pursuit of Pale, CrossFit Lakewood

Delicious AND Nutritious! (and easy to make)

What about time? How long did it take me to make this delicious meal pictured above?
Let’s figure it out:
Getting pan and spraying with Pam- 7 seconds
Grabbing 4 eggs, cracking them in pan, throwing away shells- 15 seconds
Cutting avocado in half, scooping out 1/2 onto plate- 20 seconds
Check on eggs 2-3 times while cooking- 15 seconds
Moving cooked eggs onto plate- 10 seconds
Placing a few scoops of salsa on the eggs- 20 seconds

So what am I saying? For less than $2 and less than 2 minutes of your time, you can have a delicious and healthy breakfast in the comfort of your own home.

Obviously that’s just one example of one possible meal, but doing that for lunches and dinners can be just as easy to break down. Eating better food just takes a little bit better planning at the beginning, and then just like anything else, it becomes habit!

Check out this video that was posted on the CrossFit Journal a few days ago. It’s less than 7 minutes long, but it shows about what one woman was able to do in 8 weeks, just by cleaning up her diet, and CrossFitting 3-4 times per week. Eight weeks. Yet another inspiring story of someone who decided it was time to change their life for the better. I love stuff like this.

Click here to watch the video

The “Earn Your Turkey Challenge” is only three days away, so today was Clayton’s last workout before his first ever CrossFit event! He wasn’t alone, though, since Jamie came back for his second CrossFit workout as promised!

As I’ve been saying for the last few weeks, we’re putting a much stronger emphasis on stretching and mobility nowadays, so the first 10/15 minutes of class were spent stretching and foam rolling. I’m hoping in the coming weeks that athletes start to notice significant improvements in their performances due to our increased range of motion!

We finished stretching and then worked on Back Squats for sets of 5. Clayton kept the weight light because of the event this weekend, and Jamie was working on form since it was his first time doing Back Squats with us. Both went to full depth and kept their weight on their heels with their chest high on every rep. Full range of motion every rep….
That attention to detail gets a BOOOOOOM from me!

Clayton and Jamie, CrossFit, CrossFit in Denver, Smashby Training, CrossFit Lakewood

Awesome job tonight, guys!

Workout of the Day:
5 Rounds for time of-
200 meter row / 15 Knuckles to Toes / 10 Squat Jumps / 15 KB Swings

Check out Jamie crushing his last set of Kettlebell Swings. Awesome hip extension, even when he was tired!

Athlete Results:
Clayton (Damper on 3 / 5 Jump Squats / 12kg KB / 3 Rounds)- 9:24
Jamie (Damper on 10 / 10 Jump Squats / 12kg KB / 5 Rounds)- 19:26

For a couple of months growing up I had a fascination with Parkour, or free running. I spent hours watching videos online and wishing I could do some of the things these amazing athletes were accomplishing just with their own body, balance, strength, and courage.

There was actually another post I wrote back in August that also featured a Parkour video, but this stuff is so cool, I thought I’d post another!

Enjoy the video, but please….

Don’t try this at home!