The CrossFit Games Open starts in 14 days…you still have time to sign up!  It only costs $20 and you not only get to test your own fitness against the rest of the WORLD, but you can also potentially help our affiliate team make it to Regionals.  We encourage EVERYBODY at CFSB to participate.  You are coming to the gym to work out anyway…might as well make one of your workouts for the week an Open WOD.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out last week’s post on the CrossFit Games here.  In summary…5 workouts, 5 weeks, everybody in the world can compete, scores submitted online, several divisions, best advance to Regionals, etc.  You can start by creating your CrossFit Games account here.  Here’s the link one more time:

Register for the CrossFit Games Open

Some of you may have noticed the sweet montages that popped up on the CFSB facebook page this past week but if you didn’t, eight athletes from CFSB threw down at Laguna Hills High school for the first event of the Next Level Invitational Summer Series, themed “Iron Will”.  After successfully completing all three events of the Winter Series this past fall (err…winter), Danielle B, Andrea B, Gus, and I were back for more.  Amanda L and Sara C also brought their “A” game, while Hollie P and Matty S were ready to make their mark in their first CrossFit competition.

The first workout of the day, appropriately named Lucifer’s Loop 2.0, was a new and improved version of a past NLI workout from their inaugural series back in 2010.  This WOD involved a series of different movements around a track, starting with 50 double unders, 20 air squats, 30 pull-ups, 20 air squats, and 50 more double unders.  That was just the beginning.  After completing all that, competitors picked up a sandbag and starting “running” around the track…backwards.  At 100m, they turned around and ran forward, only to go backwards again at the 200m mark.  When they were 3/4 of the way around the track, they dropped their sandbag and proceeded to complete 30 power cleans.  If they managed to complete all 30, they picked up their sandbag one more time and ran the last 100m forward, dropped the sandbag, and finished with one full lap around the track to complete Lucifer’s loop.  Weights and standards varied by division and with an 18-minute time cap, many competitors failed to finish.  Needless to say, it was pretty brutal.

Faced with 30 chest-to-bar pull-ups and 105 lb power cleans, Andrea downright killed this WOD, finishing in under 14 minutes and taking 1st place for Division I Women.  With a time of 15:06, Amanda had a solid 10th place finish in Division II.   Matt and Gus led the way in DIvision III, both finishing well under the time cap, with times of 14:44 and 16:53.

The 2nd WOD was the much anticipated agility course, something that we had not yet seen in local CrossFit competitions.  The event began with a standing broad jump, in which competitors started from a static standing position and jumped as far as they possibly could for each of 3 attempts in a 2 min time period.  Following the broad jump, they transitioned to an accuracy throw, which involved 5 sandbag tosses at stationary 5-,3-, and 1-pt targets varying in size.  Finally, they moved on to the actual agility course.  Starting in a seated position facing away from the course, competitors were required to negotiate several “obstacles” that included forward and back pedaling coupled with burpees, tire running, side shuffles, bear crawls, and hurdle jumping.  All three events were scored separately, with various time penalties applied for hitting cones, skipping tires, and knocking down hurdles.

All of our athletes put forth a solid effort in this event.  Representing CFSB in Division III, Hollie took 1st place on the agility course and 5th on the broad jump.  In division II, Sara also destroyed the agility course, earning her 1st place in that event.  Amanda showed off her arm in the accuracy throw as she tallied 6 points, winning that event as well.  Repping in Division I, Danielle and Andrea took 1st and 2nd place on the agility course respectively, completing the trifecta for the ladies in all three divisions.  Danielle also took 1st place in the accuracy throw with a whopping 15 points and 2nd in the broad jump.  Finally, I took 1st in both the broad jump and the agility course and 2nd in the accuracy throw for Men’s Division I.

The final event of the day was simple, yet debilitating.  With loads varying by division and each movement scored separately, it all started with a 2 minute AMRAP of overhead squats, followed by 2 minutes of rest, 2 min AMRAP of burpees, 2 minutes of rest, and finishing with a 2 min AMRAP of thrusters.  With just enough rest to hit each 2 minute interval all-out, it was deceivingly difficult.

Hollie and Matt made the overhead squats look easy, completing over 40 reps each, in two short minutes.  Gus smoked thrusters, with a total of 26 reps.  Amanda was no slouch either, finishing with 37 burpees and 26 thrusters.  Sara was right there with her.  She managed to complete 36 burpees and 24 thrusters.  Andrea and Danielle were neck and neck on their burpees, taking 1st and 3rd place respectively, with 39 and 42 burpees each!

Overall, it was another successful competition for Team CFSB.  Across all divisions, we had 4 athletes in the top 10 and 6 athletes in the top 15.  Not too shabby.  But more important than rankings is the fact that we all went out there as a team, cheered for each other, and had fun.  It takes a lot of courage to step foot out there in front of a judge and screaming fans, only to go head-to-head with other elite athletes, knowing you are about to push yourself to your utmost physical and mental limit.  I can truly say I am proud of every one of of our athletes who competed this weekend.  Great job guys!

THANK YOU to Karine for, once again, sacrificing her Saturday to be a judge…and a damn good one.  Without a doubt, she spent more time in the blazing sun than we did, and without judges, we could not compete.  Also, thanks to everyone who came out to support us and thanks to Andrew B who took a ton of great pictures of all our competitors.

Workout of the Day 2/09/12

A. AMRAP 30
30 Kettlebell Swings (1.5/1)
30 Burpees
30 Pull-Ups
30 Push-Ups

Cody – 4 Rounds

B. Spend 2 min. rolling each Lat
Spend 2 min. doing the wall stretch on each side

Fundamentals

A. Hill Sprints 5 Rounds

B. AMRAP 6
5 V-Ups
7 Wall Balls
Rest 2 min.

AMRAP 6
5 Pull-ups
7 Burpees
Rest 2 min.

AMRAP 6
5 Push Ups
7 Squats

Our old school whiteboard. Look at that ballin' ass time at the bottom. Boom!

Back when I used to listen to Third Eye Blind on my way to the gym (Ok fine, it was back in the 90’s, but I still listen to Third Eye Blind.), I used to pick 3-4 different exercises and do 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps of each and call it a day. When I got to college, I began researching different strength and conditioning methodologies. Tried those and got bored. Then I moved on to bodybuilding programs. Tried those and got bored. Then moved to something I found in Men’s Fitness magazine. Tried that and got bored. Then went back to the boring old program that I started off with and accepted that I would be stuck in a boring workout purgatory forever.

The future

One day I discovered CrossFit. It was some new stuff and some familiar stuff. What made it exciting was that it added a little bit of game theory to a normal workout. I tried it and was immediately hooked. This concept of programming these random gnar gnar workouts to give you general physical preparedness was just so crazy that it might work.

We used to have a very scientific, thought out approach to programming workouts. The person who would open up the gym would write up a workout that he/she picked. That was it. No rhyme or reason. We split our strength days and our conditioning days. We basically screwed around for 20 minutes during our “warm-up” and then did a 15-20 minute metcon and went home. No foam rolling. No skill practice. Just badassedness.

This guy crushing the double narrow grip preacher iso stability precor hammer pyramid negative row technique. Thanks for sending over the video Sergio.

Eventually we found that method didn’t produce the best results. I thought there had to be a better way. I reached out to some programming gurus at the time for some help. I found Dutch Lowy, CJ Martin (of CF Invictus), OPT, Greg Everett and John Welbourn (CF Football). These guys recommended programming a month in advance of constantly varied workouts consisting of strength and conditioning. Weird. So I create a spreadsheet of what I thought at the time was a perfect month of WODs. They thought differently…

Not bad for 56 years old. Ron the PT also provides us with some great prehab exercises.

Them: Why are you squatting so much?

Me: Because I like it?

Them: So you’re going 3 weeks without an overhead squat?

Me: I suck at overhead squats

Them: You are doing over 300 pull-ups in 4 days. Everyone’s hands are going to rip.

Me: Kipping pull-ups are so CrossFit. Ripped hands are dope, bruh.

Them: Four 45 minute metcons without rest is defeating the purpose.

Me: Murph is sweet. Unknown and unknowable, brah.

Them: What do you plan to do for prehab and mobility?

Me: Last time I checked foam rolling for time wasn’t an event at the CrossFit Games, broseph.

Welcome our newest On-Ramp class. They graduate next week.

Overall I learned that I had a lot of learning to do. I spent the next few years developing my skills in programming. Learning my lessons from both the good and bad months. I observed a variety of athletes’ long-term progressions toward their goal of overall fitness. One thing that has remained constant with programming was that there was always room for improvement.

Our next cycle of programming begins on February 13^th and lasts for 6-weeks. The 6-week cycles will alternate between Cody and me. One will program and the other will spot check to make sure we aren’t programming only things we enjoy doing. Each cycle will have a slight bias in a particular area or two where we feel like our athletes as a whole can improve. I have take some methodologies from a lot of the leading gurus and mixed them together for our next cycle. Below is an example of the programming:

Level 1 & 2

We used to think that scaling was enough, but then we somehow grew to over 300 members and realized that two programs will benefit our athletes much more. Each day, you will see two different workouts posted. You are not obligated to one or the other, but they are scaled so that the novice athlete can build a foundation, the intermediate athlete can overcome plateaus and advanced athletes can refine their skills. Ultimately the decision will come down to what will benefit you the most. Do not cherry pick the WODs, but instead pick one and stick with everything assigned for the day. We can still scale the WOD down or up from either level.

Prehab & Warm-Up

Warm-ups will be more group led and have a variety of new movements in them. Thanks to Missy, we will also be incorporating more prehab exercises pre and post WOD. These exercises are meant to compliment the exercises performed in the WOD. Classes will start with the prehab and warm-up exactly on the hour. If you need extra time to warm-up (like me who needs about a day and a half), try to come in slightly early and start your routine.

Strength & Skill AKA Part A

Our untimed portion of the workouts will change as well. Level 1 won’t be doing 5 sets of 3 at 85% of the 5RM because they have no clue what that even is. The focus will be on developing a foundational base of strength through efficiency of movement while allowing athletes to gradually build strength in both musculature, tendons and ligaments. Most of the lifts will be complimented with a skill or transitional movement. There will be about 30 seconds rest between the movements and about 15 minutes to complete this portion. Level 2 will be similar, but have higher loads with lower volume. Their skills will be slightly more focused on improving biomechanics than building foundations. Another thing we are adding are tempo lifts. For example, these lifts will be performed with a certain count down, up and at the bottom and top. You can thank OPT for those.

Conditioning AKA Part B

While most of these will still be for time, some may not have a time factor associated with them. The clock makes CrossFit fun, but is not mandatory every single day. Our conditioning will be split up by levels as well. The workouts will be similar, but scaled so both levels of athletes can see the maximum amount of benefit during the workout. There won’t be complex movements performed at high intensity for level 1 since we want to see consistency in movement before we increase intensity. Some of the workouts will have dictated rest and perceived levels of intensity. For example, you will complete round 1 at 60%, 2 @ 75%, 3@75%, 4@85%, 5 @100%. Each day there is an unconventional style workout, the intent of will be posted below.

Optional Work AKA Part C

That’s right, there will be a part C for every day. This is not mandatory, nor should you feel like you have to do it. It will be the recommended closer for the day. The movements will be chosen to either compliment the main exercises or prepare the nervous system for the next day’s movements. These will be untimed and performed on your own, out of the way of the other classes. Doing this will provide a super charge to your progress. The point is to get maximum benefit from your movements in an untimed environment to reinforce efficient mechanics in a timed environment.

Start with the very first MobWOD. Best 10 minutes spent out of your day.

Mobility and Flexibility

It will be extremely important in the next few months to make sure you are mobilizing correctly. This next cycle will provide new challenges and your body will react accordingly. Coaches will place a heavy emphasis on prehab and mobilization. If you don’t know how to mobilize a certain area, ask a coach or fellow athlete. Don’t just grab your keys and go home.

I’m excited to get this program going and hear all the feedback and see the results. Post questions to comments.

Workout of the Day 2/8/2012

A. Front Squat 4-4-4
B. 4 Rounds for Max Reps:
30 seconds Wall Balls (20/16)
15 seconds Rest
30 seconds Ring Rows
15 seconds Rest
30 seconds Row for Calories
15 seconds Rest

Fundamentals

A. Deadlift
10-10-10

B. AMRAP 5
20 Mt. Climbers
10 Push ups
10 Squats

C. Death by 10 meters Intervals
First round run 10m, every minute on the minute add 10m.
Second round run 2 lengths, third round 3 lengths, etc.

Announcement: Ever try outrigger canoe paddling? Think Hawaiian war canoes with the outrigger or float on the left side. They are an absolute blast and a great way to test your core strength! You have a chance to try to paddle a 6-man, 2-man or 1-man canoe. You must be able to swim or at least not sink. Lanakila Outrigger Canoe Club and CFSB are getting together for a Redondo Beach CrossFit Paddle Day: 2/18, 10:30-12:30.

I plan to place a large order from US Wellness Meats on Friday 2/17. Please have your order to me by 2/15. I will have the shipment sent to CFSB, and will notify you when your order is ready for pick up. Send me (mariessa@crossfitsouthbay.com) your detailed order (in Excel if possible) with the following info:

• Full name of product
• Quantity
• Size (weight, count, etc)
• Price
• Comments (optional)

Wellness meats or Grassland Beef offers fully pastured or mostly pastured meats and wild caught seafood. All animals have regular access to pasture to ensure optimal health. Stock up on beef, lamb, poultry, pork, bison and rabbit. They also sell wild caught seafood. All meats contain an excellent Omega 3:6 fatty acid ratio. This is key in reducing inflammation in your body.

Beef
The beef is pastured from birth to slaughter. The cows are constantly rotate through fresh pastures for fresh grasses and optimal grazing. The animals graze until snow no longer permits. They are then fed grass that was harvested, and freshly vacuumed-packed. These cows are getting optimal nutrition year-round.

Pork
The pigs are offered outdoor access as much as they desire, and shelter for harsh weather. If an animal has a need for antibiotic treatment, that animal is treated to health and then removed from the program. None of the pork sold at Wellness meats has been given growth stimulants or hormones or antibiotics.

Poultry
While Wellness Meats is moving towards selling 100% soy-free chicken, they currently have both options available. The chickens have access to fresh pasture every 24 hours. They eat grass, grubs and insects. About 50% or less of the chicken’s diet is supplemental feed.

Lamb/Bison
Both are 100% grass-fed and finished.

Seafood
Most seafood is sustainably caught off of the west coast. The shrimp is caught off the coast of Mexico.

Dairy
All dairy is from Amish dairies, and is from 100% grass-fed cattle.

I prefer to buy as much meat as possible locally (Torrance Farmers Market is an excellent source of beef and bison). My staple buys from Wellness Meats include bacon, pemmican (see my post on pemmican here), liverwurst, braunschweiger, and beef snack sticks. I have never tried the rabbit. Although, I admit that I am intrigued.

Workout of the Day 2/7/2012

A. Gymnastics Testing
Handstand/Headstand – For max time both on & off the wall
L-Sit/Ring Support – For max time both on & off the rings
Max Skin-the-Cats/Muscle-Ups – For max reps without coming off the rings Frogstand/Frog Tuck – For max time
Pistols – Max reps on a single leg
Hollow Rock – Max rocks

Fundamentals 2/7/2012

A.Front Squat 15-15-15
Between each set, perform 5 strict pull-ups

B.AMRAP 10
100m sprint
8 Burpees
8 Knees to Elbows
8 Air Squats

I’ve noticed everyone stretching more at the gym recently and it’s so great to see people spending extra time to take care of their bodies. Stretching is really good for you, especially when you’re doing exercises that require good flexibility like CrossFit. A big thing that I want to touch on today is WHEN to stretch. Timing is everything in order to make the stretch effective.

Basic types of stretching:

1. Static: slow and constant with the end position held for a period of time, where the muscle relaxes and elongates

2. Dynamic: uses sport specific movements to improve flexibility

Here are a few general rules to follow when stretching:

• Most static stretching should be done post-WOD. This can help to decrease muscle soreness and improve flexibility. You should never stretch a cold muscle, so make sure you get that muscle warmed-up….either with a jog, row, foam roll session, etc. The reason static stretching is not preferred before exercising is because it usually relaxes the muscles and tells them to turn-off. We want our muscles on and working to their best potential when you hear the 3-2-1-go!

* There’s a catch though (which is why I said most static stretching should be done post-WOD). Everyone is learning cool mobility stretches, whether you have attended the mobility class or been through the Functional Movement Screen. These are still good to do, but you want to make sure that you follow-up any static stretching with a warm-up to wake the muscles up again.

For example:

Everyone likes to do the 1/2 kneeling stretch to improve their squat depth. This is great. All you need to do is follow the stretch up with some air squats and then you’re ready to hit your max squat….or take off for part B.

• Dynamic stretching is the best way to warm-up before a workout. These types of stretches are included in the warm-up on the board and are specifically chosen based on the workout that day. This is why it’s so important to follow what’s on the board! Examples include: samson stretch, inch worm, boot strappers, etc.

Ideal pre -WOD ritual:

• Check-in and say hello to everyone
• Grab a foam roller and roll out some areas you know are tight
• Take a look at the board and start your warm-up
• If you have specific mobility issues to work on, do these after a little jog/row (whatever is on the board)
• Then start going through the dynamic stretches and exercises on the board
• Kick butt on part A and B. If you end up doing mobility for Part A, make sure you add in some movements to get your body warmed-up for part B
• Take some time after the workout to do some static stretching

Sometimes I’m guilty of the chit-chat-warm-up too……so let’s all make an effort to really prepare for the workout. Your body will thank you!

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Workout of the Day 2/6/2012

“FRAN”

21-15-9

Thrusters

Pull-ups

Fundies

A. Push Press
10-10-10
200m run between each set

B. 4 Rounds 30 sec on, 10 sec rest
Box jumps
Push ups
Squats
Push press
Abmat sit ups

Also, it is important for me as your coach to be able to address, alleviate, and avoid pain, so it is much more helpful to be able to describe your pain before telling me “your shoulder hurts”. (There is a reason that your doctors, Missy, and I start by questioning you about the pain’s history, what have you tried, what makes it worse, what helps it, etc. before suggesting things to do) Therefore, this will be the first in a series on pain, injury, and how to address it for the general CrossFitter.

Baer in the mental version of pain, Kalsu Rx in 27 minutes...

First, we need to define some terms, so you can realize what kind of pain you are experiencing so we can begin to address its causes. Because most types of pain comes from different nerve types, pain will often be distinguished as hot, cold, sharp, or dull:

• Dull: A dull pain is one that is a low-level, often chronic, pain. It can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint the exact source of a dull pain. Often, a dull pain is one that does not demand immediate attention, but you should monitor it to see if it increases or decreases based on your activity level, stress level, nutrition, etc. If the pain worsens or lasts longer than a week, make sure to ask a coach or seek out a professional for help.
• Sharp: A pain is referred to as “sharp” when it has a sudden and intense onset, and is usually your body’s way of getting your attention. This means that a sharp pain will occur very quickly and will be very painful, similar to being stuck with a sharp object. Sharp pains can vary in intensity as well (imagine getting a shot vs. getting poked with a kitchen knife). Often, sharp pains are signs of serious injury and should be addressed immediately. The causes can vary from pulled muscle to broken bones to simply dropping a weight on your foot. However, these types of pain need to be addressed  to determine the severity of the issue before continuing with exercise.
• Hot and cold: I think you guys know what hot and cold feels like, so I won’t go through the description of these two.

Please don't drop the kettlebell...

• Tingling, numbness, or shooting: A tingling pain is one that is similar to the “pins-and-needles” feeling when you arm or leg falls asleep. Numbness is the feeling that you no longer have a sense of tough in the affected body part. Shooting is a sharp pain that “shoots” away from its source in a certain direction. Since tingling, numbness, and shooting pain are often caused by nerve problems, these types of pain will often radiate away from their source towards your extremities along the path of the nerve. As these three are indicative of nerve pain, it is important to address their cause before continuing with exercise.
• Throbbing: Throbbing pain is pain that increases and decreases intensity in a rhythmic way. This means that one second, your pain will be moderate, and the next it will be intense, and will alternate between the two with a set pace. Throbbing pain will often be felt to increase and decrease with your pulse. Again, throbbing pain is possibly indicative of serious injury and should be addressed immediately.

Workout of the Day

A. 4x 250m Row
*the first two will be at 75% with a focus on rowing technique, the last two will be at 90% intensity

B. AMRAP 15:
500m Row as a buy-in,
then,
AMRAP of Cindy as possible in remainder of time

Cindy:
5 Pull-Ups
10 Push-Ups
15 Squats

Fundamentals

A. Pull-up technique – 3 Rounds
Max reps, attempt lighter band
Between each round, perform 20 squats

B. Hill Sprints
5 x 200m
Between each heat, 10 push-ups

Reminder to sign up for your Functional Movement Screen this Friday 2/3 from 3-6pm…..just click on the banner to the right. Make sure you don’t work out before your scheduled time slot. **If the scheduled times don’t fit into your schedule, contact me at mkalbrec@gmail.com and we can try to set something else up! Slots are also available already for Friday 2/24 from 3-6pm.

Next Level Invitational Summer Series – Iron Will I

Some of CFSB’s fittest are at it again this weekend.  Danielle B, Andrea B, Sara C, Hollie P, Gus, Matty Stew, Amanda L, and I will be kicking off the NLI Summer Series – Iron Will with Event 1 this Saturday at the Laguna Hills High School Stadium in Laguna Hills, CA.  Please come show your support for our athletes!  Spectator tickets are $8 online and $10 at the door.

For detailed information on the event, including workouts, heat assignments/times, driving directions, parking info, and to purchase spectator tickets, go to the NLI event website  here.

2012 Reebok CrossFit Games

It’s official, registration for the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games is now open!  What are the CrossFit Games, you ask?  In short, they are the premier test to find the fittest individuals on the planet.  2012 marks the 6th year in the event’s history and as CrossFit continues to grow, this year’s competition is guaranteed to be bigger and better.

The official CrossFit Games season consists of three stages, all of which are broken down into several categories, to include Individual Men and Women’s divisions, a team competition, and several Masters (45 and older) age categories.  The first stage, known as the Open, begins Feb 22nd and consists of five workouts over five weeks. Everyone in the WORLD is invited to compete at this stage…yes, EVERYONE.  Participants can choose to have their performance validated at a CrossFit affiliate, or submit a videotape of their performance to the Games website.  Scores are submitted online and at the end of the Open, the top competitors in each division will advance to Regionals, the second stage of the competition, in which eligible athletes go head-to-head in a three-day on-site competition, with judges, screaming fans, cameras, and some killer workouts.  From there, only a small number of men and women will advance to the third and final stage – The CrossFit Games, right here in sunny Southern California at the Home Depot Center July 13-15th.  In an effort to avoid plagiarizing the whole CrossFit Games website, I provided a pretty abbreviated description but for more detailed information, just click here to check out the official 2012 CrossFit Games website.  Click around.  You can find tons of info, cool videos, and articles all about the Games.

2011 SoCal Regionals - Cody, Jeremiah, Danielle, and Courtney Straight Crushin' It

What does all this mean for you and CFSB?  Good question…everybody and their mom should register for the Open.  This is not only a great opportunity to be part of the growing CrossFit community and the sport of fitness, but also an opportunity to test your own fitness and see how you stack up against the rest of the world.   But that’s not all.  It only costs $20 to participate and doing so could potentially help our Affiliate Team make it to Regionals. Here’s how…

Chris R. Fresh On The Competition Scene

Everybody registers and competes as individuals, but will also be registered as part of CFSB’s affiliate team. When scores are submitted for each Open workout, the top three scores (both men and women) from our box will go towards our team’s overall score in the region (SoCal).  Yes, your score on any given workout can potentially get our team to Regionals. There are 17 regions in the world, many of which encompass several countries, states, or entire continents.  SoCal, however, is a region in itself and is, by no debate, the most competitive region in the world. We need your help!  You can start by creating your CrossFit Games account here.

Ron's Training For Masters

I know what you’re thinking, “My scores will never be good enough to contribute to the team’s score so why should I even bother registering.”  First of all…BS.  I’ve seen all of our athletes perform and I know many of you are closet “fire breathers” that have some serious talent/fitness that can definitely contribute to our team score. Second of all, on any given day or any given workout…it’s anybody’s game.  Get my point?  Have you registered yet? Oh, I almost forgot…the team with the most registered athletes in the each region will also win free tickets to Regionals, equal to the number of registered athletes on the team.  So you not only get to help our team make it to Regionals, but you could also get a free ride to watch them compete in May.  And if, by some miracle, we also get the largest registered team in the world, we will get the same number of tickets to the Games in July and also get affiliate fees waived for life.  Forrey likey…

Suzie Ready To Destroy The Female Masters Division

If you have any questions about the CrossFit Games or competing in general, just ask me, Forrest, Cody or any of our seasoned competitors.  We’ll do our best to answer any of your questions.

Future Games Competitor...Clearly

Important Dates/Locations

CrossFit Games Open Registration begins
Feb 1
Online Registration

The Open
Feb 22-Mar 25
Your local affiliate (CFSB)

SoCal Regionals
May 11-13
Orange County, CA

The Games
Jul 13-15
Home Depot Center – Carson, CA

Time to start preparing…do you have what it takes?

Workout of the Day

Courtney, beating my pull-up PR. Maybe it was the grip tape

Precious, precious hands – think of all they do for you all day long: typing, pointing, clicking, cleaning, jerking (a barbell). Proud of your tears though you may have been the first one, maybe two, times you tore your hands doing pull-ups, it gets old. Fast. Tears, the hand injury, not the salty stuff from your eyes, do not lead to stronger hands or skin (maybe better pain tolerance though). With a tear, you’re pretty much starting over with that little missing patch.

Tears prevent you from doing most of the stuff we do in every day and not just what we use our hands for in the gym. Starting out with hands not used to the movements we door coming back from a workout hiatus may mean an inevitable tear, especially if your grip has worsened. However, tearing should not be a regular occurrence, even with repeated high-rep pulling-motion workouts.

How do you avoid tears? There is only one answer: hand maintenance. Not gloves, not chalk, not tape, not even an entire roll of tape will effectively prevent tearing.

Hand maintenance includes: 1) skin maintenance 2) grip improvement

1) Skin Maintenance

This means using a pumice stone as your first line of defense, a Ped Egg or callus shaver when necessary, and lotion on a regular basis to ensure that skin doesn’t bulk up on the palms. Any excess callus skin has the potential to turn into a tear. Dry skin caused by overuse of chalk or frequent hand washing, or other, can result in skin cracks which are as painful as tears. Put on lotion before bed if you don’t like having it on while awake. This is a great 4-part series from CF Virtuosity in NY on hand maintenance. Here’s a great inspirational quote from it:

Your hands tell the truth about you. The strength of your handshake sends a signal of confidence. The calluses reveal your work ethic. Soft weak hands are the hallmark of a weak spirit. Putting your hands on that hard, cold steel transforms the hands and by extension the person attached to those hands.

When it does happen, know what to do so that you can continue training while the wound heals quickly. The CF Virtuosity Part II has some good suggestions.

2) Grip Improvement

The only thing that’s going to significantly reduce friction on the bar is a better grip. The only way to improve your grip is more grip-demanding exercises like the ones we do every day. With this, grip technique is also very important. Check out this video from Coach Rippetoe on grip.

Much like when Forrest hears an unweighted bar clang to the ground, or when Mariessa sees clouds of chalk, I cringe when I see people willy-nillily mummy wrapping their hands in tape or slipping on their globo-gloves. The mummy-wrapped hands make it look like you’re about to go punch your Pantera-poster-covered walls. The gloves remind me of the big, sometimes bedazzled (I’m not joking – I used to go to a globo in West Hollywood) globo-men that wore the string-T, neon short-shorts, the fanny pack and toted the gallon of water around through their 45 min circuit of 2” hacksquats and bi curls. To be fair, if you went back into some CrossFit Hollywood picture archives, you’d surely find a picture of me in my first couple weeks of doing CrossFit wearing my blue Pearl Izumi biking gloves before I got wise.

Gloves may be useful if your skin is very soft or if aren’t coming in often enough to build up your grip to reduce the risk of tears sufficiently. Check out this parable from CrossFit Fire.

Tape may be useful if you’re already injured (torn) or near-injured (cracked calluses or partial tears), but usually it represents the failure to maintain your skin (see #1). There’s a great tutorial for making tape grips efficiently here. I’ve got a great way that I learned and I’d be happy to teach you if you ask me.

“I don’t want man hands” or “My hands need to remain soft” are not really good excuses for using the grip-tapped bars or for wearing gloves. Taped bars and gloves increase friction and gloves allow slipping between your hand and the bar/barbell if your grip isn’t really solid (most people’s grip is not, especially at high reps). Coach Mark Rippetoe said, “…gloves are a completely useless piece of material that create an unecessary moveable surface between your hand and the object being lifted/pushed” (Starting Strength 2ed., 2007).

Also, taped bars may make it easier to hold on now, but that isn’t exactly helping you prepare for the unknown and unknowable (I mean, in the Appocalyse, okay or something more realistic, how likely is it that when you’re gripping on to something for dear life it will be wrapped in nice grippy, pretty pink grip tape?…).

For those days when you’re just feeling tape-y, or if mummifying is your latest way to get wound up for the WOD (pun intended), you now have the option to purchase your tape. That’s right, tape will no longer be free. Each roll of tape will cost you. After you pay, Forrest will cut off a sliver from the tip of your finger, and on your second roll, you will have to sign over a small chunk of your soul (his words, not mine). So, I suggest you 1) maintain your skin and 2) keep a-cleaning and a-jerkin’ to improve your grip and if you must, 3) learn how to efficiently make grips if you are one of the tape-happy and reuse them as you can.

WOD 2/1/2012

A. Power Snatch 3-3-3-3

B. 4 Rounds for Time:
5 Power Snatch (115/75)
20 Walking Lunges
35 Lateral Jumps

Fundamentals

A. 3 Rounds for time:
10 Thrusters
5 Burpees
100m Sprint

B. 3 Rounds: 45 sec on, 15 sec rest
Crab Walks
Box Jumps
Wall Balls

Freestyle Technique- Notice elbow bend and hand placement of the pulling arm, and again with the recovery arm. This shows great arm and head placement, but not enough body/shoulder roll.

The Pull/Recovery:
One arm is reaching forward while the other is pulling back. Your pulling arm starts from the forward position and pulls underwater with a bent elbow greater than 90 degrees. Your fingertips run down the centerline of your body. The pull is finished when your fingertips meet your hip. The pulling arm should then start its recovery forward to the reaching position. Starting straight at your side with your fingers by your hip, the recovery arm will come out of the water elbow first. Your elbow will continue to lead and rise until it is in line with your shoulder. Your fingertips should be almost dragging in the water by your side during the recovery. Once your elbow is directly above your shoulder and your fingertips are next to your armpit, start to reach your hand forward until your arm is straight again. Your fingertips will enter the water in front of your head just before your arm straightens. The opposite arm will begin to pull just before the recovery arm starts to reach forward.

The Kick:
The freestyle kick is also known as the flutter kick. Legs are straight, but unlocked; and lower legs are relaxed. The kick initiates at the hip naturally causing the knee to bend slightly and whipping your foot downwards. Pretend you have scuba diving or snorkeling fins on your feet. Your feet are relaxed leaning towards the pointed position. The kick should be short and quick. You don’t want a huge splash, but a little is ok. The point is to kick more water than air. Shoot for 4-6 kicks per stroke.

Flutter Kick - start from the hip and whip your foot downward

Posture:
The freestyle stroke is done correctly by rolling from side to side. The bottom arm or reaching arm is closest to the bottom of the pool keeping your stroke long, and streamlining your body. The pull propels you forward as well as helping you to roll to the opposite side. At the end of the pull the pulling side should be at the surface allowing for an out-of-water (low resistance) recovery. The high elbow prevents dragging the arm in the water, and also helps to get your body completely on its side. Think of making yourself as long as possible, and trying to get as long of a reach as possible. The

Reach!

Your head sits in line with the spine, and angled slightly up so your eyes see the bottom 2-3 feet in front of you. If your head is too low (burying your head or looking too far down), your body will follow and end up too deep for an efficient stroke. If your head it too high (staring at the opposite end of the pool), your feet will sink.

Shoulder/Body Roll: Notice how the swimmer's back is to you (3-6), and then the pull rolls his body so his front is facing you again (7-12).

Breathing:
To breathe you will turn your head to the side. Your chin will follow the shoulder of your pulling arm. As the arm pulls backwards, pretend your chin is attached to your shoulder. Follow your shoulder back, take a breath and then follow your shoulder through the recovery back to the forward reaching position. Once your technique becomes somewhat efficient, your forward momentum and the flow of the water will create an air pocket right at your shoulder.

Breathe!

Make sure to keep the ear on the side of your reaching arm in the water the entire time you are breathing. You may breathe on the same side every time or you may breathe on alternating sides. You should be exhaling slowly while your face is in the water. Time it so that your exhale is complete just before you turn your head to inhale.
Give yourself some time to get the details and the timing correct. The kipping pullup is similar in that it takes a while to master, but at least you get to breathe freely. The ocean offers a whole host of variables that will slow progress: waves, lack of visibility, cold temperatures, etc. I suggest starting in a pool, and working on your technique first. Then you can jump into open water – so much fun!!

Workout of the Day 1/31/2012

A. 3 Rounds
3 Push Press
10m Handstand Walk

B. 4 Rounds for Max Reps:
30 seconds Kettlebell Swings (2/1.5)
15 seconds Rest
30 seconds Push Press (85/55)
15 seconds Rest
30 seconds 10m Shuttles
15 seconds Rest

Fundamentals 1/31/2012

A. Power Cleans 10-10-10-10 (safely bring bar from ground to shoulder)

B. 4 Rounds
20m OH Walking Lunges
1 min Plank Hold
15 Ball Slams

Muscle Spotlight: Pectoralis (pec) minor

Location: This little guy hides behind the pectoralis major, connecting from the front of your shoulder blade to your ribs

Function: it basically helps stabilize the shoulder blade, while also helping with small little movements

Detailed Function: stabilizes, depresses, protracts and downwardly rotate the scapula

Why is this muscle important?

This is not really a muscle that we spend strengthening or focusing our workouts around. It usually works without trying when we work on shoulder stabilizing activities (planks, push-ups, ring dips, OH squats, etc.). The reason why this muscle deserves spotlight is because it’s usually the culprit to a lot of dysfunction in the shoulder and/or neck. This muscle commonly become tight and short because of poor posture. When we sit with our shoulders rounded forward, this muscle just continues to stay tight. When it’s tight, the shoulder blade is put in a very very bad position. It causes the shoulder blade to be tilted forward, which then causes problems when we try to move our arms over head. Pec minor tightness alters the normal mechanics of the scapula-humerus rhythm and can lead to shoulder impingement, rotator cuff tears, etc. There are also a lot of nerves and blood vessels that run underneath the pec minor muscle which get compressed when it’s tight. This can lead to problems such as thoracic outlet syndrome that cause numbness/tingling into the arms.

How to we prevent/correct this problem with the pec minor?

Have good posture!!! It’s such a simple recommendation, but very hard to actually do. Just imagine your shoulder blades sliding down into your back pant pockets as you read this:) Good posture can help, but if your pec minor is already really tight you have to work on stretching it. Here are some good stretches to try to target the pec minor. Most of them target the pec major as well, but this is good too because your pec major needs to be pretty stretched out before you can even target the pec minor.

Add the foam roller underneath for a more intense stretch. You can also move your arms up and down like you're making a snow angel, while trying to keep your arms relaxed on the ground.

Similar to the scorpion stretch that we doI haven't tried this one but it looks creative!

The pec minor is actually really challenging to stretch because it’s hard to get in the correct position (hence the millions of various stretches I shared). So it’s probably best to tackle your pec minor with the lacrosse ball as well as stretch it. This way you can really target the muscle and break up any adhesions that have been created from years of poor posture. So give your pec minor some love this week, either with the lacrosse ball on the wall or on the floor if you feel like you can tolerate the pressure from the weight of your body. Try putting the ball on either the wall or one of the racks, and move your arms up and down (or side to side) to do give yourself some active release.

*You may feel some numbness/tingling into your arms with these stretches because there are a lot of nerves and blood vessels under the pec minor! So take frequent breaks to shake out your arms. No need to push the stretch until your arms are numb.

** It’s always important to take big breaths while you stretch, but it’s especially helpful with this muscle because of it’s attachment to the ribs. So think of your rib cage expanding as you take breaths in and out during the stretches or with the lacrosse ball.

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Workout of the Day 1/30/2012

A.  3-5 Rounds: 90 seconds rest
(to build strength for Muscle-Ups:
<1 strict pullup and <1 strict dips = 5 strict pullups + 5 strict dips with the lightest band you can do for 5 reps in a row
<5 strict PU and <5 strict dips = max strict PU + max strict dips every round
>5 strict PU and >5 strict dips = 5 chest-to-bar PU + 5 bicep-to-ring dips
>5 strict c2b PU and >5 strict b2r dips = 5 muscle-up transitions + 5 false-grip pull-ups
<5 Muscle-Ups = 5 Strict Muscle-Ups with the lightest band possible and false grip work if necessary

B.3 Rounds, each for time:
10 Box Jumps (30/24)
10 Burpees
400m Run
Rest 1 minute

Fundies

A. 5 Rounds
10 DB Push Press
20 Squats
45 sec Chair Pose

B. 3 Rounds:
B. Single leg Back Kick w/extended DB Press
Hanging Ab Twist
Knee Tuck Jumps

Why the heck am I rambling about this? 1. Because I did a research project on it and learned a lot about how important the awareness of this topic is 2. Because no one seems to know about it and it is relevant to all populations (even CrossFitters!). DRA occurs in about 30% of women, and these women end up visiting a physical therapist years later to fix all of the problems that occurred from having weak abdominals. My goal is to increase everyone’s awareness about DRA  so that you know that it’s possible to fix AND possibly prevent it from happening in the first place.

It doesn’t seem like a lot of doctors test for DRA, so make sure that you ask about it after having a baby. Especially if you are having trouble regaining your abdominal strength, or if you start to have any of the complaints listed above after pregnancy. There is an easy test that can be done to measure for the separation (read more here). Sometimes the DRA will resolve automatically on it’s own. However, some do not resolve this easily and require some specific exercises to help the abdominal muscles work together again. A small percentage may require surgery, depending on the amount of separation, but most of the research that I read stated that it’s possible to regain abdominal strength after a separation.

So beautiful!!!

What to take home from this post:

1. DRA is treatable!

The basics of treatment involve abdominal exercises where you actually pull your abdominals together as you do a crunch. This helps the 2 bellies of the rectus abdominis grow back together as you strengthen them. In cases where the separation is large, an abdominal brace may be recommended to help speed up the healing. It also important to improve the coordination of all four abdominal muscles working together……so also strengthening the transverse abdominis, external oblique and internal oblique. It’s actually recommended to avoid normal sit-ups if you have an abdominal separation because this can actually make it work! Breathing is also an important aspect of re-training the abdominal muscles to work together because if you hold your breathe you are cheating!

2. DRA can be preventable!!

The stronger you are before pregnancy the better your body will bounce back from the pregnancy. This doesn’t mean just doing sit-ups. Over-doing normal sit-ups actually increases your risk for abdominal separation…..so you gotta mix it up and include exercise like I discussed last week. Your abdominals are made up of 4 different muscles, and It’s important to work all 4!

So I’m sure I’ve lost all the guys by now at this point……..BUT abdominal separation can happen to you too! Here are some other common causes:

• Excessive sit-ups!! This is why balance between all abdominals is key.
• Excessive use of the valsalva maneuver during weight lifting!! Keeping your core strong to help you support your spine during lifts will help you avoid “bearing down” too much.
• Obesity

Click here for some more info on this topic

Working on the ab balance....

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Workout of the Day 1/27/2012

A. Split Jerk 2-2-2

B. 5 Rounds for Time:
5 Shoulder to Overhead (155/95)
400m Run

Fundies

A. 4 Rounds for time:
10 Push Press
10 Abmat Sit-ups
10 Box Jumps (go higher than usual)

B. Run Intervals
Rest 2 minutes between intervals
6 x 400m