shoes. get them.

Watching people do the olympic lifts in running shoes, sandals, high heels, whatever you people are wearing these days hurts my soul. This is like watching soccer players run into a game in their tennis shoes. Or tennis players running onto the court in soccer shoes. Or runners going for a run in olympic lifting shoes! Hopefully you get the point. The shoes exist for a reason. They work. I have heard the argument, "I'm not good enough at the lifts to justify buying the shoes!" Well guess what, you will never be great at the lifts WITHOUT the shoes. You might have the technique down, sure, but you are limiting your abilities and even flirting with injury. Doing a clean in running shoes is like standing on a pillow and being asked to clean.

What's that? You don't want to listen to me? Well then, take it away, VS athletics narrator guy:



One thing the video doesn't mention is the raised heel. The heel height varies a little in certain shoes, but the purpose of the heel is to make the bottom position of an olympic-style squat (upright torso, think receiving position of clean/snatch) easier to obtain. The raised heel lessens the need for ankle mobility to comfortably get in that position. It is absolutely possible to achieve good bottom positioning without a raised heel, but it's certainly easier with it. Why not take that advantage?

These are helpful not just for our heavy lifting, but also for any metcon where there is lifting and no running or box jumps. This is quite a few, actually.

You can't buy these shoes at Wal-Mart or Sports Authority, however. Unless you have a kickass gym supplier in the area, you are more than likely forced to order them online. Don't worry, here are a few of the places that sell the shoes:

http://vsathletics.com/

http://www.againfaster.com/weightlifting-shoes/

http://www.dynamic-eleiko.com/products/shoesFR.html (Adidas, and my personal preference)

http://www.ristosports.com/ (handmade and customizable)

http://www.roguefitness.com/store/weightlifting_shoes.php (Keith has some of these if you want to check them out)

http://www.muscledriverusa.com/wesh.html

If you can't find a shoe after all those links, you're hopeless. There are subtle differences between the different shoe brands (sizing, heel, firmness of sole), so if you have a specific question, I might be able to answer it, but probably not. I'm helpful like that.

UPDATE: Ryan asked a good question in the comments, here is my reponse:

Good question, Ryan. I wouldn't recommend maxing your back squat in them or even doing any of the strength work in them, but there are definitely shoes that are "better" for cf. The common themes are mostly minimalist shoes, low profile, not much cushioning, light weight, flat soles. Here are a few options:

Chuck's are the default and work great: http://www.converse.com/#/products/collections/specialcollection7 (the only reason I don't wear these is because my feet are entirely too wide for them)

http://store.dcshoes.com/home/index.jsp (Skate shoes work well because of the flat sole and they are designed to help you "feel" the ground)

http://www.terraplana.com/evo-p-1263.html?colour=76 (these are on the extreme end. a lot like "five fingers, but without the ninja turtle toes)

http://inov-8.com/Products-Detail.asp?PG=PG1&L=27&P=5050973060

http://inov-8.com/Products-Detail.asp?PG=PG1&P=5050973021&L=27 (my current choice)

http://inov-8.com/Products-Detail.asp?PG=PG1&P=5050973023&L=27

http://www.adidas.com/campaigns/performance/ru_ss10/content/products.aspx#grid (I have used Adizero's quite a bit and love them)

holy crap

Well, not every post needs to be entirely about training...right? And since I'm a dork, I thought this video was pretty stellar:



I can remember making Rube Goldberg machines in middle school for science competitions...ours were, uh, simple.

And what off-topic post would be complete without some animals?

Animals catching treats in slow motion.

Keep the music nominations coming!

training music

The music being played in the box is a constant topic of discussion, catalyst for fights, and source of amusement when MJ comes on and Chauncey flips his lid. I have heard just about every damn thing possible at the gym. I have heard more Black Eyed Peas than I would care to admit, but I've also heard some funky circus music, country, metal, rock, reggae, hip hop, whatever Barry Manilow is (adult contemporary?), and everything in between. I think there are as many opinions about "good" training music as there are genres of music. I am going to present you suckas with what kind of music I like, and why. Buckle in and and get ready to disagree.

(actual picture of Chauncey the last time The Jackson 5's "ABC" came on)

Training music is not as simple as "blast AC/DC bitches!"...at least for me. I want different things playing when I'm lifting heavy than I do when I'm fumbling through a metcon. I like certain songs when I'm warming up, when I'm cooling down, whatever. I'm weird. At the same time, I should note I rarely hear the music during an actual workout. Once the clock starts or the lift begins, anything in the world could be playing and I wouldn't care. I just prefer the music to get me in a proper state of mind. Sometimes it does help bail me out of a meltdown, but I try to avoid those times.

First, for metcons, I like relatively calm music. WHAT?! Heresy!! As much as I like Disturbed, it makes me feel like crashing through walls and punching children. If I am going to have a good metcon, I am already pumped up and ready to go, so I want music that will help calm me down if I start to freak out because I can't breath and there's a hundred pounds crashing on me. Sometimes I like Rage Against the Machine or something to get me ready for a metcon, but usually that means I don't want to do the metcon in the first place, so that's a whole other problem. My current favorite metcon song is kind of embarrassing. It came on Pandora one day during one of my metcons and I totally dug it. Later I found out it was by Limp Bizkit. Sigh.... anyway, here is that song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEGI9NbH-mk . Don't ask me to explain it, it just works for me. I don't even listen to the lyrics. Here is another favorite metcon song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS4OAK-v6Zg . I'm less embarrassed about that song, but most people wouldn't dig it for Fran.

For heavy lifting, I like things like U2's "Numb" . For some reason I also like STP's "Loungfly". Why? It played one time when I PR'd my snatch, so now I like it. I think Reggae is legit lifting music too. If you disagree, you're wrong. A decent amount of good hip-hop belongs in there too.

As you can tell, I like pretty random music for training. I want anyone and everyone to post some favorite songs in the comments and I'll start collecting them onto a playlist that we can have at the gym. I doubt everyone will like every song, but I also doubt that I care. Nominate songs and we'll play them! Probably.

sharks and quads

I have a couple posts in the works, but in the meantime I'm going to leave you with two things: 1) A killer stretch for your quads/hip flexors and 2) A killer animal video.

Read, perform, reap the benefits:
http://sanfranciscocrossfit.blogspot.com/2008/12/doode-wheres-my-quads.html

And,

drink that water

A little over a week ago there was a link to a video on the main site about hydration. It was eye opening:

Hydration for quicktime

Hydration for lesser media players

I seriously doubt any of you are drinking as much water as your body wants. Start doing so. Side benefit: you'll have to go to the bathroom often enough that you will always have an "out" in any situation. Example: "I think I love you...!" "Ohhhh....I...um...drank 77 oz. today, I HAVE to run to the bathroom..." Or something like that.

I recommend the always classy gallon jug filled with water. Drink the whole thing throughout the day and you're more than likely good. What's that? Too lowbrow? Too slow?

(can also be used to get in your 100 oz. of...liquid)

Have any of the bodyweight challenge participants been practicing their movements? Anybody try out the programs?

names and some "get-some challenge" ideas

All right suckers. A blog post. Hooray for us. First things first, we have some class names! The winners are:

6am is now "Bitch Slapped Before Breakfast". BSBB was dominant in the polls and you can thank Bruce for the solid name suggestion.

6pm is now "Six Shooters". I'm not exactly sure what that means or implies, but it squeaked out a win so we'll take it!

Maybe we'll make some shirts...and then wear them and bully the other classes. I think that sounds like the appropriate thing to do. Not unlike a gang. What of it, 5:30pm?! Punks.

I have had a couple requests about strategies for the bodyweight challenge. What follows is my blanket answer. If you need any further help or are completely confused, let me know.

Way(s) to get better at bodyweight movements:

practice. A LOT. You are trying to get better at moving your body through space and the best way to get better at that is moving your body through space. Fortunately your body goes with you everywhere (I hope) so there is no excuse for not finding time to practice these movements. You can practice at work, at home, at the grocery store, in a house, with a mouse, whilst eating a grouse. Proper use of "whilst"? Probably not.

I would recommend doing all different versions of the movements. Jumping pullups, pullups, band pullups, negatives (lowering from above the bar), pushups, knee pushups, negatives, planks (holding top pushup position for time), squats, jumping squats, lunges, etc.

I went out and scoured the internets for a few ideas on how exactly to practice these movements. I have personally used some of these, they work.

Pavel's Ladder : this is legit. I've used it. It works.

NASA program (no, I don't think it's THAT NASA): it's in comment #7 in this thread. Read, follow, succeed.

One Hundred Pushups: can't really vouch for this one, but people seem to dig it.

Any one of these will work. The biggest thing to remember when working on movements like this is CONSISTENCY. This is the case with all training, but it really is true. If you do one of these programs for two days and give up I assure you it won't work. You'll lose to Betty and I'll cry. Even if you don't follow one of these programs, consistent practice is the key. Be relentless about it. Make these movements your bitches. Put them under your heel and grind them into the ground.

If you are learning the kip, the same applies. Practice before and after class. Ask questions. Look dumb on the bar, don't be afraid. Watch other people do them, watch videos, be persistent.

Also, when practicing your situps, be sure you know where your cats are:



crafty bastards...

let the naming begin

I gathered all of the nominations I could find and put them together in the polls at the top of the blog. Clearly the 6PMers were a little more inspired to name their class. I imagine it has something to do with the 6AMers not giving a shit what I call them at 6AM in the morning. If any of your 6AMers come up with a nomination you want to add, throw it in the comments and I'll put it in the poll.

ANYONE can vote for these. I don't care if you're Tyler (who?) or a Nigerian prince who stumbled upon this blog ready to ask for some money...VOTE! You can vote for more than one choice if you wish. Your future is in your hands. I think I'll let South Park and Diddy (or Puff Daddy, or Sean Combs...) take this one:





On an unrelated note, everyone did a fantastic job with the double metcon today! There were some killer performances in both classes. The two workouts tend to expose different weaknesses in CrossFitters. Have a hard time with the heavy weight in "Grace" but crushed the 2nd metcon? Or kill "Grace" but have a hard time with those gymnastic movements? Or maybe you killed both. Or maybe you got rocked by both. Use them to determine which thing you want to focus on. For the ladies in the bodyweight challenge, I will give you a suggestion...focus on the gymnastic movements. Before and after class, at home, in your sleep, whenever you can, practice! I'll talk more about this in the future.

If you're feeling fired up and angry about the "Vote or Die" campaign, here is arguably the cutest puppy ever:



If you're not smiling right now, call your emergency contact. You're dead.

importance of fun

I'm about satisfied with class name nominations. I want a couple more for the 6am class and then we'll have a poll. Get crackin!

Screwing around and playing with things in the gym is important! An affiliate is basically a playground for adults. Treat it as such! Beg your trainers to let you play on the ropes, or throw medballs, or try the band sprints. Expose yourself to new challenges. Flip around on the bars, just be (relatively) safe about it!

Yesterday Mike Heinz and I were screwing around in the gym during our workouts and decided to try something screw around with the resistance bands. The night before I had introduced my 6pm'ers (name voting coming soon!) to partner band resisted sprints. They are brutal! With those fresh in my mind, Mike and I decided to attach some bands to the anchors in the floor for the slackline and see how far we could sprint with the bands around our waist. It was a blast! Mike, however, quickly made it a workout by setting up a target dumbbell on the floor and doing tabata sprints out to the dumbbell. We both decided to do this after doing our lifting and our own separate metcons. It was a blast until Mike made it look easy and I ended up getting pantsed by the bands and wrecked by the workout.

The anchored bands offer a pretty unique feeling. You start out sprinting as hard as you can and within 10 feet the band is pulling you back hard enough that you have to fight for every step forward and barely move. Once you reach the target you have to try to control yourself going backwards with the band yanking you back. Recipe for good times! I was pretty surprised at how tough it was, my legs were smoked afterwards.

As a testament to Mike's badassery, here is a video of our efforts. It shows Mike's 1st and 8th rounds on the tabata interval, then my first two, and my implosion at the end of round 7... Note the difference in how we look at the end of our respective efforts! Mike ended up with 25 total sprints and I got 23.



We need to get a harness to prevent the 'ol losing of the shorts phenomenon...

UPDATE:

Sometimes I make my classes have fun, whether they like it or not. As you can see here, Chauncey takes some liberties in the band sprints and harnesses Mike G...not unlike a sled dog.

state of mind

ATTENTION: I am underwhelmed by the class names "6am" and "6pm". You should be too. In the comments post your nominations for class names. Once nominations are in, I will post a poll and we'll decide on the future names, shirts, tattoos, and such for the classes.


As I said a week ago, I have been wanting to do a post on focus/state of mind during WODs. Well, here we go. In light of the Winter Open, I thought I would post a couple strategies that have worked for me and others to achieve better WOD times. The first one we'll talk about is composure.

You know that feeling when, if you're like me, you get 3 reps into a workout and go "oh fuck no. no no no no no!" It's this voice that creeps into your head and starts reminding you how many MORE reps you have, how much it already hurts, how impossible the task is. This voice is a bitch. You have to ignore it. Put it under your heel and grind it. Every workout, no matter how simple looking, is going to hurt. You might do better or worse at workout, but they all hurt. So accept it, and get going with those reps! It is important to remain calm, or at least look like you're calm. When you're in a lot of pain and you start scrunching your face up and yelling and whatever else you do, it sends a signal to your brain to settle the fuck down. You don't want this to happen! Don't let your reactions freak your brain out. Stay as calm as you can, clear your head, and only think one rep at a time. Liz was kind enough to demonstrate the two extremes of composure during the Winter Open (courtesy of Aimee's rocking photography):

(my name is Liz, and I will eat your children)

(my name is Liz, and I'm crushing you in this WOD)

If you can remain calm and (relatively) relaxed during a WOD, your body will reward you for it.

The mental part of WODs that I struggle with is clearing my mind. I'm the guy who gets 3 reps in, panics, and starts calculating how many more reps I have, how long it will take, how I'm off my goal speed, if I paid my electric bill, am I retarded for doing this, etc. My friend and coach, Dutch, has more than once got on me about getting out of my head. One of the things he said that stuck with me was to not worry about breathing and just do the work, the breathing will happen. One of my continuing goals is working on my ability to "suffer". Easier said than done.

Finally, along the same lines as clearing your head, don't waste time between exercises! When you come in from a run and start thinking about how many power cleans (or whatever other exercise) you have to do, time passes FAST as you sit there and stare at the bar. Just grab the bar and start doing a few reps. Catching your breath is a waste of time, I promise you won't feel better until 15 minutes after the workout is finished. I find that starting on the next exercise actually calms me down and helps to regulate my breathing. Try it out. Start the next exercise before you're ready. Then don't stop.

hell yeah, aimee

Aimee (pictured below) got her first kipping pullup this morning! I think she's about to rain pullups on the 6am class, so bring your umbrella.

(raise your hand if your name is Aimee)

Also the pull-up front, that asshole Keith beat me to 50 pullups. Last week during class Keith said he was "feeling it" so he just hopped up on the bar and 50 pullups later I had lost our competition, some self respect, and the will to live. I actually haven't tried a max set since I did the 43 about a month ago, but it's part of my training today, so we'll see.

If you see Keith congratulate him, that's a great accomplishment! Here he is not dominating me:

and back

Between moving, losing internet, and christening my new bathroom with a night of hurling, I have been waaay behind on my posts. Never fear! I have a bunch of great ideas brewing. A few of them are even useful. What's that? You don't care?! All you want are animal videos?? FINE! Have at it:



That bastard of a dog is a better dancer than I am.

I'll accompany that video with this one, just in case you were feeling strong today:



You're not. That guy is. Triple bodyweight? Triple bodyweight. If this whole USA vs. China thing ever gets out of hand and we go to war, I really hope this guy has something going on that weekend, otherwise we're hosed.

Next post: Focus during WODs.

consistency

A double post? Indeed. I'm moving this weekend so I probably won't post again until Monday, so why the hell not.

After the first two weeks of closed classes, I reviewed the attendance this morning. We have 5 "winners", if you will. Steve, Midori, and Adrian have made it to EVERY class. That's gangster. Great job guys. Tony at 6pm and Cassie at 6am have each missed one class, so they get a close second place. Ok, maybe that's 3 winners...

Consistency is the single most important thing you can do for your training. Sure intensity matters and all that other stuff, but it all begins and ends with consistency. If you are puke-in-your-shoes intense but only come once a week you won't see the results of someone who is slightly less CJP-like, but consistent. Additionally, if you show up often, I will like you more. No really. I won't like you less as a person (....maybe....), but it makes training you and progressing you as an individual more difficult, so I'll like you less as a data point in my world of programming. We can tell if the programming is working much more reliably when we look at a consistent performer's results. We will alter or continue the programming based off of these consistent performers. The more data you give me, the better I can make the programming. Data? You know it. Louie Simmons said in a recent CFJ article, "This is mathematics. Lifting weights is mathematics, physics, and biomechanics. That's all it is. It's not chalk, dumbbell, or Muscle & Fitness." I don't think our kind of training is as cut and dry as that, but he has a point. Or I might just like that quote because it makes me feel good about having a physics degree. Here is a sample of the programming:

(excuse me while I Taylor expand your last set of 3 on push press)

Ok, so maybe that's an old problem set I found while packing yesterday...and I barely understand it anymore. But we don't just randomly give you tasks. The more often you come (when you're supposed to), the better the world is.

stretching, 6am'ers, and you

26 followers. That's pretty sweet. Moving right along, Matty Thrash--as I want to call him from now on--brought the rain yesterday when he busted out the Ed McMahon "Hiyooo" in the comments. Well, this isn't my first dance around the internets, so I will one-up you Matt, and present you with a slightly more direct version of what you offered: Hiyoooo. (Click on him) Yes, it's spelled with 4 o's next time you need to visit the site to accentuate a burn.

On the topic of entertaining myself, I am posing yet another challenge. Keith and I are still locked in a battle for 50 pullups and we suck, so it might take a while. To keep things spicy, I will come up with a quality prize for the first two people to pull this off before/after class at the gym:



I'm looking at you, affiliate team.

For those of you that are in the 6pm class, you know I like to defer stretching to Tony most of the time because I feel like he is an untapped resource of crazy Yoga names and moves, some of which I pretend to care about. More importantly, I want to learn his secrets so I can beat him in flexibility in 6 months. Tony and Ashley G are my mobility opponents. This is what I have to compete with:

(you're going down)

I think that Skynyrd shirt is my favorite piece of workout attire. If any of you see Tony around before or after class ask him about stretching and some moves to do if you have any tight spots. He might ignore you, but it's worth a shot. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't benefit from some additional stretching outside of the gym. Once a day after training isn't enough to improve your mobility. Want that overhead squat? Stretch. Want that air squat? Stretch. Work on them. All the time. Whatever is tight, attack it.

I finally remembered my camera this morning at the 6am class. It's on now, 6am'ers. This morning's WOD was a bitch slap to the legs, but April and Linda were solid on their runs the whole time.

The key to interval WODs like this one is to go as hard as you possibly can for that short period, even if you fall over dead at the end. That's what the rest is for. These are MISERABLE workouts. Part of their use it teaching you intensity, so take advantage of that rest and go nuts during the work intervals. It's a struggle for me to keep my eyes open at 6am, let alone put in the effort to do a WOD, so I have much 'spect for the early risers.

winter open, ya'll

Ok, word on the street is that the competitor spots for the CFW Winter Open are completely filled! We will more than likely end up with a little over 50 competitors doing the two WODs on the 23rd. If you aren't registered as a competitor, please please please (or I will punch you in the stomach) sign up to volunteer or be a judge! Want to help out and have some beer afterwards? Volunteer. Want to be the Alpha and the Omega of an athlete's world for two workouts? The only person that matters in their life? The omniscient JUDGE?! Of course you do. Sign up! You also get beer.

The more people we get there who aren't competing, the better. Here is a clip of one of my sister's WODs from last year's Rocky Mountain Regionals. The camera angle doesn't give you a sense of just how many people were packed into that gym, but it was a verifiable "shit ton":



If that doesn't get you pumped up for the 23rd, check your pulse, you're probably dead. Speaking of which, can I have your tv? Great.

Get excited!

what do you want?

All right, everyone, it's time for your input. What do you want to see on this blog? It's for you, after all. Well, you and to entertain me. Anyway, do you want advice, stories, information, more animal videos, technique, highlights of our class members, goal setting (I'm look at you, whoever hasn't posted a goal yet!), feedback, physics news...? All of these things? None of these things? You can't stop me from linking to things like SharkBear, but you guys have the power here. It's for you!

I think Midori deserves some special recognition after she revealed to me (and herself) last night that she ran the full 400m on each round of the WOD on Monday! This is huge! Before the WOD we talked about how she didn't think she could finish all the runs so we decided to go for 200m per round. Without realizing it, Midori went to the 400m turnaround every time and finished the WOD in just over 25 minutes! Beast.

This post brought to you by more talking animals:

always better

The motivation that always brings me back to training day after day (aside from the reasons mentioned in the "why" post) is the desire to get better. Better than the day before, the week, month, year before. I like to look back and wonder, "Could I kick past-Dave's ass?" and unless present-Dave says, "Ah hellll yeah!", I'm not satisfied. Can you kick your own ass from a month ago? 6 months? 1 year? 10 years?

"Better" in the world of crossfit doesn't just mean stronger or faster. It also means more proficient with the movements, more proficiency with MORE movements. This is me training from this weekend, doing 5x3 hang power snatch. This set is at 150lbs, decent for me:




When I did these lifts I thought, "Ok, better than last time. Good day." When I had my coach look them over I got three more things to work on. Is that discouraging? Um, kind of, but only because it's ALWAYS three more things. Trust me, that never stops. But it's encouraging to me because that means next time I have the chance to do them better and lift more weight.

Always try to improve. Even if it's a single rep performed better or a small fix in your technique. Take it. It's what makes this whole training thing fun. While you think about this I want everyone in my classes to start thinking of some goals they want to achieve. Realistic ones. Finding the SharkBear, taming him, and taking over the world doesn't count. That's more of a 12 month goal. I'm looking for 3-6 month goals. Mine is to be more flexible than you. I don't care who you are, I want to be more flexible than you. What? Quit glaring at me, you're going down, sucker. I'll even beat this guy. My dominance will wipe that smile off his face.

What are your goals? Post 'em to the comments.

it's monday, that means it's time for another animal video

Without further adieu, I present "Paper Planes" remixed with dog and cat sounds and some of my favorite viral animal clips. Why? Oh shut up, it's my blog.



More useful posts to follow!

Amazing job this morning 6am. I was super impressed with everyone. 6pm'ers, don't worry, it's an easy workout. Or not...come on in and find out!

followers!

11?! Are you kidding me?! I might have to start treating this blog like people actually read it. This is about a 300% increase over the readership of my last blog, which was really just a training log. I'll remember you guys when I'm at the top of the blog world. Welcome Luciana and Chauncey!

Edit: Sonofabitch! Somebody (*cough* Jenny *cough*) unfollowed me right after that post went up. Make it 10 followers and color my day ruined.

Double(?) Edit: She's back! Day is back on track and it's lookin sunny! Or something.

hooverball and deadlift lessons

Last night at 6pm we played hooverball for part of our warmup! I don't know how heavy the ball was, or how high the rope was, but we threw the ball over and dammit, it was fun. We played because Prof. Steve has wanted to play, but I think the person who got into it most was Tony. Exhibit A:

Tony lives and breathes intensity, even in a fun game used as a warm up. Not only did he bring the pain, he brought the finesse. Exhibit B:

This was two points before he Tomahawk-dunked it on Chauncey like it was '93 and NBA Jam was still the best game of all time. Or maybe he did a granny-style wallball that I unfortunately missed with the camera. You decide.

The final bit of throwdown was dished out by Midori. She can be seen just below airing it out while Mike looks on...with some sort of expression...:


On a serious note, I want to provide a safety lesson to our members and anyone who stumbles across this blog. When deadlifting for a PR, celebratory jackassery, douchebaggery, stupidity, etc. will result in you passing out and wrecking your face on some dumbbells. Don't do it. No really, observe:


Dude Deadlifts 329 Pounds Then Passes Out - Watch more Epic Fails

Ok, so maybe the celebration isn't the lesson here. But it still applies. Rather, the lesson is take a breath and hold it for your deadlift, but don't take such a MASSIVE breath that you get lightheaded and start seeing white clouds halfway through the lift. The breath is to fill your diaphragm, not your chest. Take a good breath and hold, then exhale when the lift is finished. Done and done. Too big of a breath? Bad.

Extra credit to anyone who can post to the comments at least 3 faults with this deadlift, other than the spectacular conclusion.

Why

I don't want to write down and argue why crossfit works from a physiological perspective or why it's better/worse than P90X or whatever it is people sell late at night these days. Bottom line, CrossFit works. But so does bodybuilding and LSD (long slow distance). Not as well, of course, but it works. So I'll try and explain why I do crossfit, and why I love it.

Before finding CrossFit I always enjoyed sports and training (minus running!), but the experiences I have had with CrossFit workouts have been something else entirely. I have loved to push my limits for as long as I can remember. Anyone who has known me long enough can attest to this fact and also how it results in me regretting it as many times as not. Wanna jump off the house onto the trampoline? Sweet! Oh, well that was easy. Let's try a backflip off of the house onto the trampoline. Better. (True story) It would often go this way until a near-death experience slowed things down.

I'm not particularly great at it, but the notion of pushing yourself as hard as possible and finding your limits resonates with me. You can learn more about a person--or yourself--in a 5 minute workout than you can from years of conversation. No, really. You won't learn what their favorite color is or when their last bowel movement was (well, maybe...you might learn what they had for lunch), but you get a rare chance to see someone stripped of everything else in life and truly see what happens when they're backed into a corner.

(Nowhere else I would rather be)

I love it. I get pumped the fuck up when I get to see someone push harder, longer than they thought possible. That includes myself. Standing up out of the hole on my Snatch PR was one of the best feelings I've ever had.

There is something spiritual about training. I don't feel it every time I train, but once in a while I do. Those are the times when there is absolutely nowhere else I would rather be. Except maybe on the space station, but only if I was doing the same workout there. Workouts turn into 3 hour vacations from life where time doesn't matter, where you don't have to think about anything but what's going on at that exact moment. Putting significant loads overhead while your heart is racing and you are seeing stars has a potent way of keeping you focused on the task at hand.

Why do I do CrossFit? Or more generally, why do I train? Because NOTHING feels better than completing a lift or finishing a workout and knowing that you gave everything you possibly could. Does this happen every time? Hell no, I'm a pansy when my muscles start to burn and I start to sweat on my fancy clothes. But it DOES happen and I train for chance that it will happen that day.

(Success)

animals? animals.

So since this is my blog and all, I am taking the opportunity to post things that have nothing to do with training, crossfit, lifting, etc. Most of these posts will take the form of youtube videos featuring animals. Yes, animals. Dogs, cats, I don't care. If it makes me laugh, it's getting on here one way or another. I bring the entertainment.

If at least one part of this video doesn't make you laugh I don't think we can be friends:




More relevant posts to come.

50 pullup watch: Keith attempted it today and got 43ish. Mike H. jumped in and got 51. Fine, whatever. Nobody asked him anyway, dammit. When I man up and stop whining about my knees I'll try for it. By the way, Keith doesn't mess around with his range of motion. This is about 20 pullups into his set:

Professor Steve watch: This man will come into your house and drink your milk. From the jug. He killed it today.

The How and the Why

I am going to write on this blog with the understanding that about a dozen people will read it and 10 of them will be from CFW. When Jen and Carl said we needed to start keeping blogs and actually updating them I was all for it, but having something to say...that's a different beast entirely. After thinking about it here and there I have decided to use this blog to post my thoughts about crossfit, olympic lifting, programming, training in general and whatever else jumps into my head. I will also use it to highlight members of the gym who warrant some recognition...this might be Liz getting her muscle-up (soon!) or Keith losing to me on the quest to 50 pull-ups, or Raymond's dodgeball cannon of an arm that he unloads on people with extreme prejudice. Pretty much anything that strikes my fancy.

To kick things off, I am going to give anyone with the stamina to read it all a brief history of how I found crossfit and functional training and why I love it so much.

Here goes: I first started reading seriously about fitness and training my last year of high school ('03-'04). I say "seriously" because I was moving beyond the bodybuilding magazines and starting to stumble across coaches who actually believed in squatting and functional movements, not body part splits and 3x15 for 2 hours. I was interested in training because I was all of MAYBE 155lbs, probably 150. At about 6'1". If I turned sideways people would lose sight of me. If a strong wind kicked up I would find myself three blocks away in an instant. I was constantly injured while playing soccer and snowboarding/skiing growing up, and looking back I think it was a combination of me having no inner voice saying, "You probably shouldn't try that..." and being too weak to protect my body. I wanted to get bigger and stronger and so I started learning how that should be done.

In the first year of college (maybe a big before) I found Alwyn Cosgrove and thought his ideas and programs were something worth following so I read as much of his stuff as I could. I also read anything ever written by anyone else who thought he was quality. I was unknowingly working my way through most of the editors of what T-Nation. Around this time I learned who Dan John was, who Bill Starr was, stumbled onto Ross Enamait, Mike Robertson, Eric Cressey, the list goes on. I started collecting books on training and diet and reading them all. I became fascinated with programming and got a hold of Cosgrove's program design manual and ate that up as well. I learned what tempo was, the history of "good" training, what "super squats" was, the difference between eccentric and concentric, what a mesomorph is, what hypertrophy is, etc. Looking back, these couple years of reading were when I taught myself enough to actually have a conversation with someone or understand any given article on training.

During this time I was, of course, still weak and small. I remember searching for "pull-ups" or something similar in 2006 and coming across crossfit's main site. The workout was something with L-pull-ups and the picture was of Brendan Gilliam cranking one out. Shirtless. With a hat on backwards. I immediately thought, "What the fuck is this??" and back pedaled quickly to google search to find another site. I never thought about it again.

While sucking up Cosgrove's stuff I saw somewhere that he required his trainers to read Rip's "Starting Strength" so, of course, I bought it. One way or another this lead me back to the crossfit main site in spring of '07. This time I gave it a shot. For me, that doesn't mean I jumped in on the WOD that was posted, but instead read every journal article I could find. I read EVERYTHING. A week or two later of reading for literally hours a day, I gave it a whirl. I was sold. I did "Cindy" and got something like 5 rounds. Other than the occasional focus on olympic lifting, I haven't looked back since.

That's the "How", more or less. Next post will be the "Why"...

It's coming...