After a group warm-up and about 15 minutes of Mobility Work with Foam Rollers and Baseballs, (thanks for the motivation, K-Starr!), we had Clayton and Kristin complete a 500 meter row, as fast as possible.
The trend continued today with having a Classic Main-Site WOD, and with the original work-out rep count to be 150. Yesterday Kristin tackled “Annie“, today, the two of them took on “Karen“. Karen is 150 Wall-Balls for time.
There is nothing easy about this workout, as it does quite a number on your lower back. But as a precaution to ensure they were going all the way down to full squat depth on each rep, we had both of them squat back to touch their butt to a med-ball each time. Clayton did the workout as prescribed, using a 20 pound med-ball, and throwing to a 10-foot target. Kristin threw a 10 pound ball to an 8-foot target.
Full hip extension makes the movement more efficient!
Athlete Results:
500 meter row~
Clayton- 1:45.0
Kristin- 2:07.0
Reading some other CrossFit Blogs is a really fun way for me to feel more “connected” to this community of people from around the world. Every once and a while, there are blog posts that stick out more than others.
The one I want to share with you today will probably mean more to CrossFitters than other athletes, but it’s still something we can all relate to on a personal level. The article is from the CrossFit Lisbeth blog. What is this blog? Here’s a quote straight from the page:
“CrossFit Lisbeth is a repository for the CrossFit writings of Lisbeth Darsh, Director of Social Media for CrossFit, Inc.”
Yeah. CrossFit, Inc. has a Director of Social Media. And she has a blog. She writes about whatever she thinks might strike a chord with CrossFitters to make this “fitness program” register as more than just a daily workout with us. I would LOVE to work with Lisbeth at some point!
~ “Hey, what do you do for a living?”
~ “I try to help people put more meaning behind the impact that their dedication to physical and mental fitness has on every aspect of their life. I help people see how much they’re helping themselves on a level far more important than just being able to lift more weight, faster and more efficiently.”
As a coach, that’s my dream every day, and Lisbeth is writing some great stuff to help people visual that.
The post from today is entitled: “What If the Whiteboard Was Blank?”
After you read the post, I want you to think about the “Whiteboards” in your life. What outside forces or expectations of others are you using as measuring sticks to your own life, merit and success?
My message for you:
Start setting some goals and expectations for yourself… that were made by YOU. That’s why I am getting so much into “Goal Setting” with you guys. I want your success to be based primarily on the expectations you have set for yourself. Put less importance on what other people do, what they have, etc. Life should be about achieving goals that mean something to you. Worry less about conforming to someone else’s standards, and be comfortable in your own skin.
A video from the CrossFit Main Site that was posted yesterday hit that same chord for me. This video, featuring some of the most elite CrossFitters in the world, shares their perspective of how they view working out, the balance between CF and their personal lives and how they try to manage the expectations of others. It’s a fascinating video, and something that hits me for sure.
Put things in perspective, and do what it takes to get where you want to go, and do more things in life for you.
Post your thoughts on this post in the Comments. I want to know what you guys think.
Kristin was the lone ranger tonight, so after warming up, we spent some time working on pull-ups. Her goal is to be able to do unassisted pull-ups, and we’re going to get her there. When that skill work was done, it was onto the Workout of the Day!
Most of the time the workouts we do are original, however, I love finding great workouts from other affiliates from time to time and throwing in a Main-Site Classic every once and a while is key! Tonight I wanted Kristin to work on her ever-improving double-unders, so her workout was a slightly modified “Annie“. The prescribed “Annie” is 50-40-30-20-10 of Double-Unders and Sit-Ups. That means you do 50 Double-Unders (jump rope where the rope passes under your feet twice per jump) and then 50 sit-ups. After that, 40 Doubles and 40 sit-ups, and so on.
The only modification I made was to eliminate the round of 50. 150 Double-Unders is a lot, so making sure that Kristin only counted her successful doubles as jumps was more important than her doing a full 150.
Either way, look for yourself, and tell if you think she’s getting better at them. Amazing job, Kristin!
Tonight brought another newcomer through the doors of CrossFit Lakewood. Jamie and I had been talking about getting him in for a while, and tonight was finally the night!
We started today with some basic form on squats and really focusing on keeping our weight back on our heels, and Jamie picked it up almost immediately! Once that work was done, we got into the workout.
Workout of the Day:
4 Rounds for time~
15 Box Jumps / 15 Wall Balls / 15 Push Press / 15 Weighted Sit-Ups
Athlete Results:
Kristin (20″ Box / 14lb Wall Ball / 45lb Bar / 10lb Plate for Sit-Up)- 15:26
Jamie (20″ Box / 14lb Wall Ball / 45lb Bar / 10lb Plate for Sit-Up)- 18:43
Looking good, you two!
For a first-time CrossFit workout, Jamie did better than most people I have ever seen. It was so great to watch how he broke down his reps in order to maintain form when he was tired. Great job, Jamie! Hope to see you again soon!
For those of you who may not know, I am entering my 5th season as an avid snowboarder since moving to Denver in September of 2006. Just like I remember my first CrossFit workout, I remember my first day on a snowboard.
Oh… we were just kids back then!
Yesterday was my first day of this season, and it was amazing. I know a few of you are heading up to start your seasons tomorrow, so I wanted to just share a little video with you to get you fired up.
CrossFit training makes you stronger, it gets you in better cardiovascular shape, and yes…. it makes you a better snowboarder or skier, too!
The video I am going to post below is not my favorite video of all time. However, for those of you who have been with me since the beginning, it means a little more to us.
Today we started with strength, focusing on working up to a 3 Rep Max Back Squat. Clayton is competing in the Turkey Challenge in less than two weeks, so I wanted to focus on some strength work a few more times before the event.
Athlete Results (5 sets of 3 reps Back Squat):
Kristin- 85lbs for all 5 sets
Clayton- 155 / 165 / 185 / 195 / 205lbs
After that, we did a 15 AMRAP. That means in 15 minutes you get through the following list of exercises, in order, as many times as you can.
10 Ball Slams / 20 Back Extensions (on GHD) / 10 Push-Ups / 20 Ab-Mat Sit-Ups / Run 100 meters
Athlete Results:
Kristin (30lb Slam Ball, catch on bounce)- 4 Rds + 10 Ball Slams + 3 Back Extensions
Clayton (50lb Slam Ball, catch on bounce)- 4 Rds + 5 Ball Slams
After a quick group warm-up, tonight’s class started with something I have been trying to schedule in for a long time; Stretching and Mobility work! CrossFit Subject Matter Expert Kelly Starrett has created a daily Video Blog called the Daily MWOD, (or Mobility Workout of the Day) where he gives athletes ideas for increasing their flexibility and range of motion, in turn making us all more effective athletes and stable human beings, and also helping us prevent injury.
His daily blog can be found by clicking here, and I highly recommend adding it to your daily hits. In 5-10 minutes per day, if you follow his suggestions, I can assure you that you will be hitting Personal Records more regularly, but more importantly, you will be feeling more comfortable in your own skin and your range of motion will increase *significantly*.
So we started today with Foam Rolling for our legs and Band Stretching for our arms and shoulders. I’ll tell you what, I haven’t seen this many strained faces in a long time! I promise that by doing these exercises more often, your overall fitness will improve, guys and gals. Trust me 🙂
Clayton and Kristin Foam-Rolling
After that we did a 3-person WOD. After 1 person flipped a tire two times, a second person did a burpee after jumping through that tire. The third person did 3 Goblet Squats with a Kettlebell after every 2 flips. Once this was done 10 times, every did 10 Jump Squats (with a bar on their back) and 15 Dips each. This entire sequence was done 3 times, so each person had the opportunity to flip the tire, do the burpees, and complete Goblet Squats.
Athlete Results:
Clayton (12kg KB squats / 45lb Bar for jump squats / Dips w/ feet elevated on box)
Kristin (8kg KB squats / 15lb Bar for jump squats / Dips w/ hands on box, feet on ground)
Nichole (8kg KB squats / 15lb Bar for jump squats / Dips w/ hands on box, feet on ground)
This workout took the team 10:45 to complete
As soon as this was done, we went straight into a THREE-Tabata exercise circuit.
That meant , of each of these exercises:
Jumping Pull-Ups / Sit-Ups / Air Squats
While I gave athletes 1 minute rest between exercises, this was still a killer way to end the workout.
My brother sent me the link below last week, and I have read over it a few times trying to decide whether or not to share it with you guys. The article is from the blog over at mint.com. Basically it is telling us some of the most common things (or lies, as they word it) people tell us in order to “protect” us from failure before going off to pursue out true passion.
Ultimately I am deciding to post it because I think many of us have identified a dream or passion in our lives, and maybe more than a few of us have been too afraid to follow it. At least so far.
One message I took from this article (and there are many more like it in circulation) is that there are risks out there that are worth taking. Another thing I’ve realized for myself, is that many (if not all) of the people who have ever given me advice like that were not always happy themselves (either personally or professionally).
My point is this:
We are responsible for our own actions. Going out on a limb and taking a huge leap of faith can lead to negative consequences. But it doesn’t have to. Don’t associate “risk” with “failure”. They don’t always go together.
One of my favorite quotes comes from legendary coach Vince Lombardi:
“It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get back up.”
Taking a chance and either failing or succeeding merely means you have the opportunity to learn from what happened, and choose to repeat your path, or make changes to try and get a different result. While I am not advising that anyone quit their job and sell the house to try and make your “Homemade Pog Stand” business take off (seriously, don’t do it)…. but I am asking that you take a second to think about what you really want to do or accomplish in life, and start doing the research and taking the steps to make it more of a reality.
I know a lot of people who thought they wanted 6-figure salaries. And I know a lot of those people who reached that point. What has surprised me, though, is how many of those same people walked away because they were miserable in their jobs. Instead, they found careers that were much more gratifying and in line with their passions and interests… and they’re much happier today.
Read the article below, and leave your thoughts in the “Comments” section. I’m looking forward to some good discussion!
Yes. Yes, yes, yes! I love the two videos I’ve posted below for today’s Moment of Awesomeness.
Too often we go through life making excuses for things. Have you been telling yourself you want to train harder? More often? Eat better? Sleep more? Be more healthy in general? Happier or more positive? Guess who controls these things? WE do. Each and every one of us. Until the day we die it is NEVER too late to make changes in order to improve our quality of life. You don’t need to change your entire life overnight. It’s ok to start small. The best part of all is that we can start right this very second, too. If there are changes we want to see in our lives, we can start making some. Right now.
It is never too late, and you can do just about anything you put your mind to… because we are amazing. You are more powerful and more capable than you have ever even imagined. Trust me. All you need to do is try, stay persistent, and not let anybody stand in the way of your goals and dreams.
Don’t ever forget that. If it were easy, anyone would be able to do it. It’s not easy, but you guys are not just “anyone”, either.
As the video above says: “The clock is ticking …. let’s see what you’ve got.”
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