Thursday, 5 August 2010

Meeting the Bar from Patrick Cummings on Vimeo.

Sunday, 1 August 2010

Free CFJ Article: CrossFit and the FM 21-20

Throughout my time in the Army, I have seen the Army’s physical-fitness training program from several perspectives. I have seen it as a follower, as a leader and as someone responsible for its implementation. I can only describe my experience with the Army’s program as frustrating. I have found that the vast majority of self-motivated leaders and soldiers have to substantially supplement their unit’s physical training with additional workouts to stay at a high level of complete fitness. Too many soldiers and leaders come out of their daily morning physical training complaining of “wasted time.”

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Rest Day - 18 July 2010

Some really interesting videos about overcoming the body's natural reaction to fear and training one's instincts to ensure they react correctly in an emergency.







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Thursday, 15 July 2010

Rest Day.

Spend some time considering your home defense Pre-Planned Responses (PPRs). The following video should help get you started.




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Are You a Survivalist?

Below is an excerpt from an article by Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast.

The survivalist community is often perceived as a bunch of gloom and doom types sitting on a pile of MREs, ammunition and guns in some far out corner of the North West. Of course the survivalist is also typecast as expecting TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it) to occur any day now, in fact he is actually hoping for it. Honestly it is time for this stereotype to die a deserving death. Modern survivalists are many things but very few are actually concerned about the infamous black helicopters or FEMA Camps. Most instead are simply realists who understand that sometimes things do go wrong and it is better to be prepared than to expect someone else to solve your problems.

Read the rest of the article HERE.

How long will YOUR preps last? Post thoughts to comments.

Rest Day

When was the last time you checked your home for fire hazards? I'm not just talking about changing the batteries in the smoke detector. This video shows how badly things can get...and quickly.

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Rest Day

Let the first 8 second clip play, then when you're in the playlist, select the video from May 26 about oil spills in the top left corner.
Sorry about the wierdness of getting the video to play...it's MSNBC, what do you expect. But it's 8 minutes of your day well spent

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"Fallen but Never Forgotten"

Love to Run? Want to make a difference? Click HERE for more info on The Disposable Heroes Project

For many CrossFitters, the Hero WODs are more than just a workout; they represent the spirit and sacrifice of those that have given their lives for our freedom. Russell Burger wrote an outstanding article for the CrossFit Journal which explains what some may wrongly consider a superficial tribute.

Click HERE to read the entire article!

For those of us who undertake these physical tests, the psychological effects of performing a Hero workout are tremendous. It’s easy to treat these prescriptions as any workout of the day, but for those who take the time to learn about the heroes they honor, the WODs can become as spiritual and emotionally demanding as they are physically grueling.

When keeping the stories behind the real-life heroes in mind, slowing down during a Hero workout becomes harder to justify. When the pain of pushing harder becomes too great, I am reminded of the sacrifice these men made for my freedom, and my struggle becomes laughable. And when I compare my temporary suffering to the lifelong sorrow felt by the grieving families of these men, dropping the bar becomes an embarrassment to my country.

With tomorrow being Memorial Day, take a moment to remember.

C.E.R.T.

What do you do with your fitness? Would you like to get involved in the community? CERT is a great way to give back and also put your fitness to the test. It's also a great stepping stone towards other volunteer opportunities such as Search and Rescue. Even if you don't want to volunteer, the training is FREE and could someday save you or yours. From the CERT webpage:

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help.

For more information, or to find a team near you, visit the CERT webpage at http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/index.shtm

Rest Day

Unfortunately, they're not all this stupid

As many of you may know, Radical Islam has been around for a VERY long time. In 1784 and 1785 several US vessels were captured by Moroccan and Tripolitan forces (piracy anyone?) and the sailors onboard were put into slavery. The Continental Congress approved funding to pay ransoms to have the ships returned and the sailors freed of their slavery. In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, US Ambassdors to France and Britain respectively, met with Tripolitan Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja in an attempt to negotiate a peace agreement. After their meeting, Jefferson and Adams reported to Congress the following:

“It was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every Mussulman [Muslim] who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise.” (James, 1872, p. 413)

This is eerily similar to what we are seeing and hearing today. The individuals who practice their radical version of Islam are following in the footsteps of their fathers, and their father's fathers. No amount of reasoning, debate, or negotiation will ever change their outlook or belief that we are infidels and that it is their DUTY to do us harm-and in doing so-are ensured a spot in heaven.

Reference

James, C., (1872). Jefferson, American Minister in France. The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 0030 Issue 180. Retrieved from http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=atla;cc=atla;rgn=full%20text;idno=atla0030-4;didno=atla0030-4;view=image;seq=00419;node=atla0030-4%3A1

Rest Day Rant

Since I've definitely been lacking controversy recently I thought this was an especially appropriate discussion topic considering the fact that we did a complex a few days ago. Head over to THIS LINK and watch the last video, "Ferruggia Complex." I have 2 thoughts:

1) If I ever see any of my athletes moving that shitty on the o-lifts with just the barbell, with more than a week of experience, I will probably stab myself in the eye with a soldering iron. I mean, really, you're doing a video for millions to watch on a website called TESTOSTERONE Nation, and you can't do an OHS with 45 fracking pounds without cringing? Really?! Maybe it's time to stop whatever bro-science program you've got going on and actually train. Like, with weight. And not the oh-so-cute sky blue DBs that you bought at Tar-jay.

2) I thought Olympic lifts weren't supposed to be done for high reps? It's supposed to be dangerous right? Or that they are supposed to be used ONLY for developing explosive power since there are just so many other, and better apparently, ways of getting in the cardio? Or was it that they should only be practiced perfectly otherwise bad motor patterns will be ingrained that will be difficult to overcome later? Or do those criticisms only only apply when CrossFitters use high-rep O-lifts with our dangerous and sloppy technique (Hint: Refer back to #1)?

This seems to be a reoccurring pattern that is becoming more and more evident every single day across teh internetz. Bash CrossFit, then take the exact same aspects that you bashed and say, "Psh, people have been training like that forever. I've been doing complexes like this for years..." while utterly disregarding the fact that EVERYONE was on the bandwagon just a few short months ago. I didn't hear anyone stepping up to the plate and saying that they use high-rep O-lifts in their training too when the haters came out. I mean, legit training should be legit training. But instead of defending something that they've been "using forever," they just let it go so as not to get roped in as a CrossFit fanboy. Now they just look like jackasses, at least to those of us who actually pay attention to such meaningless drivel. While I certainly agree that there are very few legitimately new training ideas in the world of weight training, that has very little to do with my point. And if you don't see the point, then I guess you can go back to your uber-safe and "fat shredding" O-lifting complexes now.

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Chains and Bands

OK, lets talk about Accommodating Resistance. Louis Simmons of Westside Barbell brought the use of bands and chains to the forefront of the powerlifting world in his gym and the results speak for themselves.

Accommodating Resistance is achieved by adding heavy resistance bands and/or chains to a weighted barbell during strength training. Empirical evidence suggests that the use of bands and chains with lifts such as the squat, bench, and deadlift build tremendous explosiveness in athletes. As an example, Louis Simmons often has football players come train in his gym and over the course of 8 weeks of training, without having the athlete run a single step, the athlete's 40-yard dash time improves, often dramatically. Another example would be Joe DeFranco's comment that "deadlifting with chains is tremendous for improving your vertical jump and first-step quickness."

So how do we use them for our purposes. During the strength portion of the CFBF WOD, you will almost always see a prescription for some form of accommodating resistance, whether it be Box Squat with Bands, Incline Bench Press with Chains, etc...

Instead of explaining things out, I'll let Dave Tate guide us through a few things.




OK, so you understand why we do it, and how to set everything up, but you're still not sure where to find the proper equipment. As with anything in life, there are many good choices, so I will simply lay out the path that I took.

Bands:
Go to Rogue Fitness and buy some Iron Woody resistance bands. Most people will need a pair of purples (mini), blues (small), and greens (medium). Unless you squat over 500 lbs, you won't need anything bigger.

Chains:
I simply went down to a local industrial hardware store (Home Depot doesn't carry anything larger than 3/8" chain) and bought everything that I needed:

- (4) 5 ft. lengths of 1/4" chain
- (4) 5 ft. lengths of 5/8" chain
- (4) 5/16" spring snaps
- (4) 1" spring snaps

Total was around $300. Not exactly cheap, but considering the longevity of chains, I definitely consider it a positive cost-to-benefit ratio. If you're in the continental US, you could also buy sets of chain from EliteFTS, I think the total works out to be around the same.

Here are a few pictures of how I set the chains up for squatting and benching.



Implementation:
OK, so now that we have the basics down, let's talk about tailoring Accommodating Resistance to an individual athlete. Weights listed are for an athlete's 1 Rep Max for the core lift.

Squat:
250-315 lbs - Use the Blue Bands or 1 set of Chains (40 lbs).
315-405 lbs - Use the Green Bands or 2 sets of Chains (80 lbs).
405+ lbs - Use Purple Bands around the plates and Blue or Green Bands around the sleeve; or 3 sets of Chains (120 lbs).

Bench Press:
185-225 lbs - Use the Purple Bands or 1 set of Chains.
225-300 lbs - Use the Blue Bands or 2 sets of Chains.
300+ lbs - Use the Green Bands or 3 sets of Chains.

Deadlift:
315-405 lbs - Use 1 set of Chains
405-495 lbs - Use 2 sets of Chains
495+ lbs - Use 3 sets of Chains

NOTE: If your numbers are less than what is outlined above (for males), then you are better off simply doing sets across 3x5 for the given core lift (i.e., squat, bench, or dead) and utilizing linear progression until you reach the appropriate strength levels and proficiency in the core lifts.

Rest Day - 13 December 2009

2010 CrossFit Games information has been posted!

The major change this year is that there will now be an additional step in the Qualification process. Athletes must pass through Sectional qualifiers before moving on to the Regionals to qualify for the 2010 Games.

Also of note is that this year's Online qualifier will only be available to deployed Armed Forces...therefore, those of you in Bahrain that can't make it to CrossFit Asia to compete (our region), then you'll still have the opportunity to qualify.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that this year's winner will be taking home $25,000?! Bring your A-game people!

The new URL is http://games2010.crossfit.com Be sure to head over there to get the most recent updates and accurate information.

Sandbags and Odd Objects

How to Make your very own sandbag!


Left: Contractor Bags and a 10 lbs double-bagged "filler bag" ready to go into the duffel.
Right: Play Sand.



Left: Military Duffel Bag.
Right: An assortment of canvas duffel bags makes up our fleet.


Required Items
- Play Sand (50 lbs bags run for about $3.00; where else can you buy 200 lbs of weight for $12?!)
- Contractor Bags (3- or 4-mil)
- Canvas or Duffel Bag

Steps
1. Take a contractor bag and fill it with your desired weight of sand. NOTE: I chose 10 lbs so that I can more accurately match the total sandbag weight to the skill and strength levels of various trainees. You may decide that 20 or 25 lbs filler bags work better for you.
2. Tie off the bag and put it into another contractor bag. Twist this bag closed then "double" it back on itself before tying it off. This will help prevent leaks and breaks.
3. Take your "filler bags" of weight and put them into the duffel bag. Clip or tie the duffel bag closed.
4. Many duffel bags often come with backpack-type straps. For safety and training difficulty purposes, I recommend that you cut these off.
5. Voila! You're done! Now go lift heavy shit!

More Information
Click HERE for a great video by San Francisco CrossFit which demonstrates how much more difficult a WOD can become when a sandbag is utilized instead of an evenly-weighted barbell.

Odd objects in general are simply GREAT for strength training: sandbags, kegs, logs, beach balls filled with water, etc... all make great implements to add a different stimulus to your training. Seek out and add these items to your collection! Pick a CrossFit WOD and use an odd object instead of a barbell for loading! To replicate similar metabolic demands, use 50-75% of the Rx'd loading. To make the WOD more strength biased, use the Rx'd weight and prepare for a grueling, grip-intensive grind.

For more information, head over to the CrossFit Journal and do a search for additional information regarding sandbag training. As always, at $25 per year, the CFJ is an amazing resource at an even more amazing price; if you don't have a subscription, head over there RIGHT NOW and get one...you won't be disappointed!

(PS: You might see some sandbag stuff come up towards the...ahem...end of the month, so it might benefit you to go make one and start practicing...)

Rest Day, 3 September 2009

WOD:
Go out and scour the internet for interesting articles relating to CrossFit, fitness, nutrition, training, etc... Post links and your thoughts to comments.

Rest Day - 13 August 2009

Starting this week, we are going to be experimenting with a 3 on 1 off / 2 on 1 off cycle, in an attempt to help bump up the recovery a bit and make this type of programming more sustainable for the long term. Feel free to throw in an extra CrossFit Endurance WOD every few days if you don't feel like the 3/1/2/1 is taxing you enough.

I need everyone's feedback regarding how you feel after 2 or 3 weeks to let me know if we should stick with it or switch back to a straight 3/1 cycle. But remember: it's not about how much you CAN do, but how much you NEED to do in order to force an adaptation and move your fitness to the next level. So, please keep the crack addict behavior to a minimum and enjoy those days off!

Monday, 1 June 2009

Rest Day

Don't shoot the messenger:
5 Reasons Why Alcohol Will Destroy Your Muscle Gains

Now, I'm well aware that as CrossFitters, muscle building isn't (necessarily) a top priority. However, this article is still important to us because these same mechanisms also lead to a decrease in performance. In other words, unless you're Randy "Beast Man" N., don't expect to set any new PRs the day after a drinking binge.

Thursday, 28 May 2009

Rest Day

A little light reading:
- Learning the Olympic Lifts: The Stance
- CrossFit in Yosemite
- Parkour Basics: Part 2

Rest Day - 20 May 2009

In the development of a new athlete, CrossFit advocates the following progression:

Mechanics--->Consistency--->Intensity

Mechanics, also refered to as technique, is achieved when the athlete can clearly demonstrate proper fundamentals of a given movement.

Consistency refers to two separate topics, 1) demonstrating the ability to consistantly complete movements under increasing levels of stress, and 2) demonstrating the dedication and ability to adhere to the prescribed scheduling (i.e.: 3 days on, 1 day off).

Intensity is where the magic happens. It is often expressed in power- and weightlifting as a certain percentage of a 1 Rep Max (i.e.: the higher the percentage, the greater the intensity), but this also applies to 3s and 5s (or any other rep range that you chose). In CrossFit, intensity is most often expressed as Power (which, we all remember from high school) as Force * Distance / Time. Therefore, the faster you do a WOD (or with a greater load), the higher the power output, and therefore the higher the intensity.

Read more about Mechanics, Consistancy, and Intensity in the CrossFit Journal article Consistensy Before Intensity.

If you want to play around with Power Output, head over to Catalyst Athletics and check out their Power Output Calculator.

Enjoy your rest day...don't forget to hit up the foam roller!

Rest Day - 12 May 2009

CrossFit's Theoretical Hierarchy of Development

A theoretical hierarchy exists for the development of an athlete. It starts with nutrition and moves to metabolic conditioning, gymnastics, weightlifting, and finally sport. This hierarchy largely reflects foundational dependence, skill, and to some degree, time ordering of development. The logical flow is from molecular foundations, cardiovascular sufficiency, body control, external object control, and ultimately mastery and application. This model has greatest utility in analyzing athletes’ shortcomings or difficulties.
We don’t deliberately order these components but nature will. If you have a deficiency at any level of “the pyramid” the components above will suffer.

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