The Numbers: 10/4/10

Posted: October 4, 2010 in Training
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Workout of the Day:
5 Rounds for time of-
100m Sprint / 15 Wall Balls / 20 Knuckles to Toes / 25 Jumping Jacks

Before we got into the WOD, we did some drill/strength work.  First was some running drills outside to try and work on that speed.  Carolyn is still making that ankle stronger, yet still held a great running speed. Then, we went back inside and did some deadlifts.

Today was the first day that we really spent some time on a Barbell Lift and some strength work before the main WOD, and I think it went well.  Deadlifts are a lot of fun when done right, and all of the athletes looked great.  With practice, these get a lot easier and more comfortable!

After that, it was time to hit the main workout.  Carolyn was first out of the gate, and held that position for the entire workout.  Kristin, as usual, did an awesome job of finishing strong, and ALMOST reeling her in at the end, but Carolyn held on and finished the workout first.

Tossin' those Med Balls HIGH in the air!


Clayton also did an awesome job, breaking down the sets into more manageable numbers when it was necessary.  I know I’ve said this before, but when he gets tired, he holds form beautifully. That is something to really be proud of, so great job tonight!

Athlete Results:
Carolyn (10# Med Ball)- 13:09
Kristin (10# Med Ball)- 13:11
Clayton (14# Med Ball)- 17:48

Moment of Awesomeness: 9/30/10

Posted: September 30, 2010 in Uncategorized

My friends at CrossFit Invictus in San Diego had this post on their blog last week.

I thought that only a few days after such a horrible accident (that thankfully ended about as well as it could have) it was amazing that the CrossFit name came up. What do you guys think about stories like this? Please post your thoughts to the comments section.

I’m looking forward to the discussion.

Here is a link to the post.

The Numbers: 9/29/10

Posted: September 29, 2010 in Training
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It was an awesome night at CrossFit Lakewood!

There were seven people that showed up to my third class in the new gym, and it was so much fun! Three of the athletes were first-time CrossFitters, three were returning regulars, and last but not least was Kristin. What an awesome group!

Workout of the Day:
Run 400m / 20 reps / Run 300m / 15 reps / Run 200m / 10 reps / Run 100m / 5 reps

The way this works is after running the distance listed, athletes complete the number of reps of the following exercises, in this order:
Squat Jumps / Push-Ups / Overhead Squats (w/ pvc) / Wall Sit Shoulder Press (w/ pvc) / Box Jumps / Burpees

Look at how high Johnny's jumping on those burpees!


Nothing about this workout was easy, but the way that everyone pushed and encouraged each other the entire time was inspiring. I hope to see all of you guys again!

Athlete Results:
Kristin – 25:30
Darcy – 29:08
Ashley B – 29:08
Clayton – 29:13
Karla – 29:24
Andy – 29:43
Johnny – 32:08

I’ve never done this before, but I think tonight’s workout deserves a “Moment of the Night”. As you can see on the video below, even at the end of a nearly 30-minute workout, Clayton’s form on his push-ups was absolutely perfect. For a second-time CrossFitter, I’d say the future is bright with this one! Great job to you, and to everyone else tonight!

The Numbers: 9/27/10

Posted: September 28, 2010 in Training
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Workout of the Day:
7 Rounds for time of-
7 Deadlifts (45#) / 10 Hand-Release Push-Ups

This workout is a modification of the workout posted on the CrossFit site from today, and I thought it was a good one.  Since yesterday’s workout was such a crusher, I decided to have today’s be much lighter and faster, with some technique and core-specific work thrown in.  Keeping your workouts constantly varied is key for the most effective all-around fitness in my opinion!

Some of you may have been wondering what a “hand-release push-up” is, so I took a video of Kristin doing them during the last round of her workout.  It just means that when your chest is against the ground, you literally remove your hands from the floor.  I saw them for the first time during this summer’s CrossFit Games.

Today I also did something for the first time… I did the “Pre-Test / Re-Test”.  This is where I will have the athletes perform some task (usually a max effort of some sort) prior to the workout.  Then, without their knowledge, I will have them re-test and complete the same task following the day’s main workout.  Why will I do this?  The easy answer is that I am trying to prepare athletes for the “Unknown and the Unknowable”.  There may be times in life where you need to give 100% of your effort, and then be asked to it again.  Since life will not always give you fair warning as to when this will happen, I won’t always do it either.  While this won’t happen often, don’t be surprised if you encounter this sometime.

Athlete Results:

Kristin – Main Workout – 7:50

 Today’s “Pre-Test / Re-Test” – 500 Meter Row

Pre-workout result – 2:03

Post-workout result – 2:06

Great job today, Kristin!

The Numbers: 9/26/10

Posted: September 28, 2010 in Training
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Tonight was the first workout in the new gym at CrossFit Lakewood and I could not have been happier!

Kristin showed up, and definitely got her moneysworth with this one, because it was not an easy workout at all.

Workout of the Day:

5 Rounds for time of-

200 Meter Run / 20 Wall Ball Tosses (10#) / 15 Ball Slams (30#) / 10 Push Press (45#)

Now I be very easily amused (and I am), but one of my favorite parts of the new gym is that we have a “real” clock on the wall that we can use for our workouts, not just my iPod.  Listen how excited Kristin gets when she hears that it *beeps* the “3, 2, 1…” too.  Yeah, celebrate the little things in life, people!

The other new toys the gym purchased last week were Slam Balls.  So I added those into this workout, too. 

Great full extension at the top!

I know I’m getting video-happy these days, but for me, they’re the most fun way to share how the class went with everyone.  Also, on this particular day, even with a super-long workout, the form was perfect.  As a coach, I love seeing that!

On the Wall-Balls, I look for the quick pace from rep to rep in order to maintain the efficiency of the movement.  With the range of motion, she goes into a full squat before standing up full and hitting the target with the ball.  On the Push Press, the clean to get the bar up looks great, and the hip drive to throw the bar overhead with the lockout looks awesome!  I think these two videos each deserve a BOOM!  So… BOOM… and BOOM! (one for each video… you know?)

Athlete Results:

Kristin- 31:11

The New Home! 9/26/10

Posted: September 28, 2010 in Training
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Starting this Sunday, September 26th, 2010, I’m working at a new gym.  CrossFit Lakewood!
It’s owner, Orion Tulchin, and I have been friends for a few years, so when we talked one day and he said he would love to have me join his team, I jumped at the chance!

The website to the gym is http://www.crossfitlakewood.com.
You should check it out, there’s a great group of trainers and athletes there!

For all of my athletes, new and old, I figured it would be fun to give you a little tour of the new space so you know what to expect.  I can’t wait to see you guys here!

In the video I mention that the pull-up bars are going to be put up soon…. well they already are installed!  The space is constantly getting even better 🙂

The Numbers: 9/22/10

Posted: September 23, 2010 in Training
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Today was Bring Your Friend to the Gym Day!

Tonight was amazing. That’s all I’m going to say to start. Amazing! The group that came was so enthusiastic, the workout was really fun, and the result was incredible! Enough of my rambling, let’s get to the details.

Workout of the Day:
TEAM WORKOUT
-One Person Rows for 2:00-
While they row, the other person/people on the team complete reps of the following exercises in order for the entire 2 minutes
Sit-Ups
Push-Ups
Squat Jumps
Wall Balls
Single Jumps

The goal for this workout – In a 20 minute time period, have your team complete the farthest distance possible of ROWING.

So while one person is rowing as fast as they can for two minutes, the other person on the team (or people in the case of one team) are doing as many reps as they want of the exercise they’re on. The only thing that matters at the end, though… how far did your team row!?

Since we had 7 people in class tonight, we had two teams of two, and one team of three. While that meant that they had to row less times than the other two teams, it also meant that they were completing other exercises for twice as long before moving back to the rowers (meaning they were potentially more tired for their rowing portions?).

What an amazing group we had tonight!

Andy and Clayton were two first-timers to my class tonight, and they did an incredible job! Josh and Hannah came back again, and it was so great to see them. Sarah and Timbers, my regular athletes, put on a clinic on rowing form, and that was awesome to see. Last and certainly not least, Ashley BOOOOOMer came to class again. She’s starting to make herself a regular at the gym. We would LOVE to see her more often!

At the end of this 20 minute workout, I never could have imagined the results being what they were!! The first guess I had was that the group with three rowers would have been ahead by a landslide because they all would have been less fatigued. What ended up happening, though, is that they pushed themselves so hard during the other stops that they were even more tired when they were at the rower.

The other two teams had one first-timer to CIA each, so I thought maybe their rowing would not have been as effective. Andy and Clayton did an amazing job of holding form and pulling some big numbers during their turns, though!

How fun do these guys look!? Such a great team!

At the end of the workout, there is no one that could have predicted THIS outcome!!!

Team HH won by 69 Meters!!! SUCH a close race!!

I am so proud of all of you guys. Thanks for making tonight’s class so much fun!

The Numbers: 9/20/10

Posted: September 21, 2010 in Uncategorized

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIMBERS!!

Workout of the Day:
400m Run
26 KB Swings
26 Walking Lunges
26 Dips
26m Sprint
26 Squat Jumps
26 Ball Tosses (wall)
26 Jumping Pull-Ups
400m Run

In case you didn’t notice, there was a theme of the number “26” tonight. That’s because it was Kristin’s 26th birthday! Where did she choose to spend her evening? With us!!

With me, that means you actually get some say in how the workout is going to look. Don’t worry, you don’t HAVE to tell me your actual age for that to work. Just the day!

There were 7 people here tonight, so the house was packed. It seemed to me like everyone had a great time!

Athlete Results:
Birthday girl (Timbers) – 9:27
Carolyn – 9:54
Doug – 10:06
Bari – 10:31
Sarah – 10:44
Dave – 12:20
Jan – 14:59

You guys pushed really hard to get through that last run. Great job!

Feel free to post your comments to how you think tonight went, guys!

The Numbers: 9/15/10

Posted: September 21, 2010 in Uncategorized

Workout of the Day:

200m Run
Followed by –
40 Air Squats
30 Jumping Lunges
20 Shoulder Press
10 Burpees
(Twice through)

The way this workout went, is the athlete runs a 200m distance, then does ONE of the exercises above immediately following. Round 1 is run then air Squats. Round 2 is run and then lunges, Rd 3 run then press, and round 4 is run then burpees.

Whenever you finish your reps that round, the remaining time in the 2:30 is your rest. The faster you work, the more you rest…. But the more tired you are. I love workouts like that! After the team went through that once, they did it all again!

Everyone did an amazing job tonight of pushing through the fatigue. Keep up the good work, ladies!

The Numbers: 9/14/10

Posted: September 21, 2010 in Uncategorized

The Workout:
Death by Kettlebells

In this workout the athlete starts with one rep of the exercise the first minute, two the second minute, and they continue for as long as they can while completing the round. Therefore, as you start to fatigue, you need to do MORE reps. It starts to get fun usually around the double-digit rounds, and Caro and Kristin did a great job!

Athlete results:
Caro (12kg kb) – 16 rounds + 11 reps
Kristin (16kg kb) – 11 rounds + 11 reps

The more violent the hip extension is on the kettlebell swing, the more efficient the movement becomes. Workouts like this are a great way to experience that!