Monday March 15th 2010

THERE WERE A FEW OF YOU THAT SAID THAT YOU WANTED A ROWING/RUNNING CLINIC WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT 7:30. WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE ATLEAST 8-10 PEOPLE THERE SO IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BECOMING A MORE EFFICIENT RUNNER/ROWER POST TO COMMENTS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COME AND TALK TO YOUR FELLOW CROSSFITTERS TO RECRUIT THEM.

WE WANT TO HAVE A CROSSFIT DRAPER AFFILIATE TEAM TO GO COMPETE IN WASHINGTON STATE THE END OF MAY IF YOU ARE INTERESTED WE ARE PLANNING ON MEETING AS A TEAM ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK TO TRAIN TOGETHER; THEN WHEN THE TIME DRAWS NEAR PICK THE THREE MEN AND THREE WOMEN TO GO TO COMPETE. WHOS IN? We are looking for a teams that will have 4-7 members, with a minimum of two men and two women, a maximum of six athletes, and one optional non-competing coach. The cost: $300/team. Each team member will be able to assign a guest spectator at sign-in. Let me know soon so that we know if we even have interest so that we can register our team before all the slots fill up.

Not only does Melanie have great dead lift form she also loves to run. Come teach us your secret as to why you love to run.

WOD

Three sets of:
Skills: Power Cleans 3 reps
Rest 90 seconds attempt to go up in weight each set.
Ring Push-Ups x 12-15 reps
Rest 2 minutes

Then:
Three rounds for time of:
Deadlift x 12 reps (with weight used for power cleans)
Run 400 Meters

scale as needed.

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stretching – Hold and Relax
Written by George Economou

This post has been a long time coming. Too often an athlete has asked how PNF stretching works after they’ve seen seemingly miraculous gains in mere minutes. A common response: “We’re tricking your muscles.” While that’s true, the intent of this post is to get you to understand how that trickery is occurring.

Flexibility, much like strength, isn’t solely based on the physical mechanics of a muscle – how the tissues and fibers are connected. For example, if you were to do a dissection of my “tight” hamstrings, you may find that the muscle tissue is plenty long enough to accommodate a straight-leg-raise to 90 degrees while lying on my back…but that’s simply not the case. So if the muscle is long enough, why can’t I do it? As it so happens, my brain isn’t functioning at optimal levels; or rather, there’s a miscommunication between my muscles, my brain, and everything in between – the neurological mechanics. To read more click here.

Saturday March 13th 2010

Everytime I come across other CrossFit blogs and see all the wonderful things that other box’s are doing I get so excited to continue to improve CrossFit Drapers program. I also realize that being part of a great CrossFit box is simple and basic by nature.  Daily, I run through a check list of all the great things that already exsist at CrossFit Draper: We have fabulous devoted like minded clients, we have a positive, enthusiastic, experienced training staff, we have an awesome facility to train in, and we learn something everyday we come and we have a lot of fun doing it, what else do we need? You see we have everything that we need to make CrossFit Draper successful.  We are so grateful to all of you who make CrossFit Draper such a great, positive place to be and hang out. We are so lucky to be apart of something that not only enhances our health and fitness but transcends into every other aspect of our lives. Thank you for helping us grow and there is no greater compliment then when you refer your friends and family to experience CrossFit because we know that when they try crossfit they get hooked. You know you are a CrossFitter when……. There are days you have to talk yourself OUT of going to the gym because it’s a rest day and that means you are suppose to rest, right? You are confused at this and ask your coach if you can still go for a run. When they tell you rest means rest, still confused, you ask if that means you should do nothing or could you do…? Click here to read more about you know when you are a CrossFitter when. 
Post to comments your thoughts: What makes a good CrossFit Coach? 

What do you think Jerry and Julie are talking about? Post to comments. We love you guys!

WOD

 In teams of four: As many reps as possible in 20 min

PUSH PRESS 55/75

WALL BALLS14/20

PULL UPS   

20 Stationary Lunges 15/35 with a plate over head stepping out in front and back to starting position. 

Even though your in teams of four, you are competing with your team members. You are being scored on your own personal overall score so count every rep of the push press, wall balls, and pullups. The faster you go on the lunges the less time your team mates get on the other exerices to get reps.

“You know you’re a Crossfitter when your body is so sore that you can barely move and when a non-crossfitter asks why on earth do you do that to yourself, you say “Because it HURTS SO GOOD!!” Tracy

Friday March 12th 2010

CrossFit Kids today at 3:30 pm

Who wants a Row/Running clinic Wendesday March 17th at 7:30 pm? Post to comments your interest. 

Open Gym time today at 4:30. Come makeup a WOD, do a lift, run/row, or keep me company that would be nice!

Red Rock Relay Who wants to put a team together? This challenge consists of teams of 12 people running in an all day-all night 180 mile race. This race will consist of two vehicles of 6 people each taking shifts of running and racing and non stop fun.  The event takes place on September 10 and goes on through the night to finish on the 11th.

Give it a shot on a rainy day, March is sure to have plenty. You won’t be disappointed.

WOD

Skills: Two rounds each of:

Handstand holds shooting for 60-90 sec. rest 2 min between sets.

12 reps unbroken of jumping squats with a 12,23,35,45lb bar on back. rest 90 sec between sets.

6 reps of Evil Wheels Watch Video rest 60 sec between sets.

Then As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
10 Kettlebell Swings
10 Box Step-Ups with your Kettlebell (5 each leg)
10 burpess

Cashout run 4×200m, rest 60sec between intervals or row 4×250m, rest 60sec between intervals. Go all out when working.

Paleo-Friendly Curried Squash Soup (CrossFit Invictus)
10 oz pureed winter squash (I used acorn, but any winter squash is fine)

Thursday March 11th 2010

There is no 6am WOD Today.  There will be open gym time Friday at 4:30pm Come make up a WOD or do a lift or run/row!

WOD

 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 Reps for:

Front Sqaut 135/75 (Front Squat WOD [wmv])

Pullups

Row/Run Cash Out go for 15 min and try to cover as much distance as possilbe.

 

Before starting the challenge I thought that it was going to be too easy. I had it in the bag. Little did I know that it was going to be one of the
hardest thing I have had to do in my life. Basic training was nothing
compared to the mental challenge I was facing each day eating right. Maybe that’s a little of an exaggeration. But it was really tough. Many times I wanted to break down and just erase my name off the board and the sad thing is, is that the only thing that kept me going was my pride and not wanting to erase my name of the board. Looking back though, I am glad my pride kept me in. It has made me mentally, physically and emotionally a stronger person.Never thought eating right would do that for a person. It did that and so much more. I could go on and on about what the challenge has done for me, but no one would want to read all that. Last but not least I wanted to thank everyone at CFD for the extra push and encouragement. I could not be where I am as person without each and every one of you. Also, without the support of my family on the challenge there is no way I could of lasted those 30 grueling days. I love you all and could not thank you enough.

Understanding CrossFit by Greg Glassman the aims, prescription, methodology, implementation, and adaptations of CrossFit are collectively and individually unique, defining of CrossFit, and instrumental in our program’s successes in diverse applications.

Aims: From the beginning, the aim of CrossFit has been to forge a broad, general, and inclusive fitness. We sought to build a program that would best prepare trainees for any physical contingency—prepare them not only for the unknown but for the unknowable. Looking at all sport and physical tasks collectively, we asked what physical skills and adaptations would most universally lend themselves to performance advantage. Capacity culled from the intersection of all sports demands would quite logically lend itself well to all sport. In sum, our specialty is not specializing. The second issue (”What is Fitness?“) of the CrossFit Journal details this perspective.

Prescription: The CrossFit prescription is “constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movement.” Functional movements are universal motor recruitment patterns; they are performed in a wave of contraction from core to extremity; and they are compound movements—i.e., they are multi-joint. They are natural, effective, and efficient locomotors of body and external objects. But no aspect of functional movements is more important than their capacity to move large loads over long distances, and to do so quickly. Collectively, these three attributes (load, distance, and speed) uniquely qualify functional movements for the production of high power. Intensity is defined exactly as power, and intensity is the independent variable most commonly associated with maximizing favorable adaptation to exercise. Recognizing that the breadth and depth of a program’s stimulus will determine the breadth and depth of the adaptation it elicits, our prescription of functionality and intensity is constantly varied. We believe that preparation for random physical challenges—i.e., unknown and unknowable events—is at odds with fixed, predictable, and routine regimens.

Methodology: The methodology that drives CrossFit is entirely empirical. We believe that meaningful statements about safety, efficacy, and efficiency, the three most important and interdependent facets of any fitness program, can be supported only by measurable, observable, repeatable facts, i.e., data. We call this approach “evidence-based fitness.” The CrossFit methodology depends on full disclosure of methods, results, and criticisms and we’ve employed the Internet (and various intranets) to support these values. Our charter is open source, making co-developers out of participating coaches, athletes, and trainers through a spontaneous and collaborative online community. CrossFit is empirically driven, clinically tested, and community developed.

Implementation: In implementation, CrossFit is, quite simply, a sport—the “sport of fitness.” We’ve learned that harnessing the natural camaraderie, competition, and fun of sport or game yields an intensity that cannot be matched by other means. The late Col. Jeff Cooper observed that “the fear of sporting failure is worse than the fear of death.” It is our observation that men will die for points. Using whiteboards as scoreboards, keeping accurate scores and records, running a clock, and precisely defining the rules and standards for performance, we not only motivate unprecedented output but derive both relative and absolute metrics at every workout; this data has important value well beyond motivation.

Adaptations: Our commitment to evidence-based fitness, publicly posting performance data, co-developing our program in collaboration with other coaches, and our open-source charter in general has well positioned us to garner important lessons from our program—to learn precisely and accurately, that is, about the adaptations elicited by CrossFit programming. What we’ve discovered is that CrossFit increases work capacity across broad time and modal domains. This is a discovery of great import and has come to motivate our programming and refocus our efforts. This far-reaching increase in work capacity supports our initially stated aims of building a broad, general, and inclusive fitness program. It also explains the wide variety of sport demands met by CrossFit as evidenced by our deep penetration among diverse sports and endeavors. We’ve come to see increased work capacity as the holy grail of performance improvement and all other common metrics like VO_{2 max,} lactate threshold, body composition, and even strength and flexibility as being correlates—derivatives, even. We’d not trade improvements in any other fitness metric for a decrease in work capacity.

Conclusions: The modest start of publicly posting our daily workouts on the Internet beginning six years ago has evolved into a community where human performance is measured and publicly recorded against multiple, diverse, and fixed workloads. CrossFit is an open-source engine where inputs from any quarter can be publicly given to demonstrate fitness and fitness programming, and where coaches, trainers, and athletes can collectively advance the art and science of optimizing human performance

Wednesday March 10th 2010

Why do you come to CrossFit? For some people they’re not just getting a workout, they’re training.  What’s the difference?  Crossfit is our sport and there are local, regional, and national competitions as well as a World Championship.  Every training session is an opportunity to improve, get better, and ultimately be more competitive next time.  For some of our runners and multi-sport athletes CF is a way to develop the strength to express the stamina they’ve developed.  Regardless, We encourage you to pick some form of sport and train for it.  A 5K, a Tri, a Crossfit Comp, O-lifting, an adventure race, the possibilities are limitless.  CrossFit Drapers trainers are here to help you. You’ll find a new sharpness and focus to your training that’s an entirely different level than just working out. (Wasatch CrossFIt) Click to see local races

Lo-and-Behold here are the details to our next challenge. Row Row Row or Run your butt off! You got it; it’s a rowing/running challenge. This is completely voluntary and motivated strictly intrinsically (meaning there is no prize at the end other than the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve done it and are better for it.) We do want to have a  party at the conculusion of the challenge (its a surprise but its going to be way cool) and we will get back to you with a save the date. The challenge starts today and ends April 10th. If you would like to particiapte here is what you need to do. First set a rowing/running distance goal to be completed by the end of the 30 days. Then write your name and your goal on the right hand side white board. We will post row/run cash outs daily on the blog that you can do anytime during your day. When you set your goal think about what will be a difficult yet attainable daily distance for you and calculate what that would total for 30 days. Also watch for tips on how to become more efficient runners and rowers on the blog. 3,2,1, GO! 

WOD

Conditioning:Complete three rounds for time of: 400m run/500m row Rowing Mechanics, Pose Running Method

Training Tips: A rack jerk means the bar starts behind the neck. You can push jerk or split jerk. In the conditioning workout, you can start with either the run or the row

Art, is CrossFit Drapers Client of the Week not to mention one of our more mature clients and an example of the many benefits taking care of your body has. Thank you Art for working so hard and always emparting wonderful thoughts and education on us! Post appriciation comments to Art.

Tuesday March 9th 2010

Monday March 8th 2010

Who is ready for another (not nutrition) CrossFit Draper Challenge? Stay tuned; details to come on Wednesday’s post.

The Nutrition Challenge has been over for a month now and we know that most of you have been keeping up with it and continuing to see great results. Post to comments how this last month has been for you struggles, triumphs, AHA moments, or anything else you would like to impart to the rest of us. Thanks in advance.

 WOD

Strength: Bench Press  5/5/5 You will have 15 min to complete 

Conditioning: Complete 3 rounds for time of:

5 overhead squats @ 60% of 1 rep max Overhead Squat Elements [wmv][mov]

7 burpees

15 jumping pull-ups.

Rest 90 seconds after each cycle. 1 cycle consists of three rounds.  Repeat for a total of 3 cycles. 

The best thing about work/rest cycles is that it gives you the opportunity to give an all out effort at the work. The key to being able to give that all out effort is to maximize your rest. The very first time I did a work/rest cycle workout, Austin told me to experiment with the recovery. So I played around with it. I tried laying down flat on my back. I tried standing upright and leaning against the wall. I tried walking around the entire rest period. I tried curling up in the fetal position and whimpering, but that definitely got me nowhere. After a few weeks, I found that just taking a seat worked best for me.
However you decide to position yourself for your rest period, you must concentrate on your breathing. Oxygen into the body! The first thing to concentrate on is that your spine is in the neutral position. If you are slumped over with a rounded out back, you are compressing the chest cavity which constricts the amount of oxygen you can intake in a single breath. You can test this out on yourself right now. Place a finger tip at the top of your sternum and a fingertip at the bottom of your sternum. Stand upright and take in a long big deep breath of air and exhale. Now slump over, essentially rounding out your back. Notice that your fingertips are closer together. Your chest cavity is now compressed. Try to take in the long big deep breath. Not so much air now huh?  — Courtesy of CrossFit One World

 A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.
Steve Prefontaine 

Joe exhibiting his Jedi mind tricks by lifting this bar off the ground without even touching it. Who can touch that? Joe is one of the hardest workers we have here at CrossFit Draper. Thanks for setting the bar so high Joe! (No pun intended)

March 6, 2010

Attention: There will no longer be a 6:00 am WOD on Thursdays.

Tanya focusing on form during her half moons!

WOD

In teams of 2 two will complete:
100 Box Jumps or Step-Ups
200 Squats
300 AbMat Sit-Ups

Here is the catch, you must complete all the movements while holding a Sandbag!
You can do the movements in any order you choose!

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

Michael Jordan

March 5, 2010

Heather, working hard on her Handstand Push-Ups!

WOD

“Diane”

21-15-9 reps of:
225/155 pound Deadlift
Handstand push-ups

Future CrossFit Kid!

CrossFit Kids today at 3:30!

“One-half of life is luck; the other half is discipline — and that’s the important half, for without discipline you wouldn’t know what to do with luck.”
Carl Zuckmeyer

Link Between Obesity in Mothers & Their Children

Overview

According to the American Obesity Association, pediatricians are seeing more children with obesity-related diseases like Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and asthma. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that obesity is a serious issue, increasing from 5 to 12.4 percent in children ages 2 to 5 years old, and from 6.5 to 17 percent in children ages 6 to 11 in surveys taken from the 1970s to 2003. Some contributing factors in overweight children include demographic factors, formula feeding as an infant, diabetes during pregnancy, parenting style, and food choices. Parental obesity is also a factor in children becoming overweight, especially when the mother is obese.

Pregnancy

Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is associated with increased birth weight and increases the chances of a child being overweight as an adult, according to the American Obesity Association. Obese mothers are more likely to have conditions or diseases related to weight like Type 2 diabetes which also leads to an increased birth weight and children becoming obese themselves later in life.

Eating Habbits

Obese mothers are more likely to eat diets high in sugar and fat and eat less fresh fruit and vegetables, contributing to their obesity. In turn, the children of obese mothers are not eating healthy meals and are more likely to follow in the footsteps of their mother by becoming overweight.

Exercise

Mothers who exercise during pregnancy and continue a healthy lifestyle after giving birth are more likely to have normal weight babies. Obese mothers who do not exercise and do not eat a healthy diet put their children at risk for being overweight, as children look to their parents as role models. Inactivity promotes obesity in mothers who then pass this habit on to their children.

Genetics

Children of obese parents are at increased risk for becoming obese and inherit factors such as gene mutations in which children are more likely to become overweight, according to the American Obesity Association. Genetics may play a role in obesity in children, but it is not such a significant factor and should not be blamed if a child of an obese mother becomes overweight.

Environment

Children living in an environment in which one or both parents are obese puts children at greater risk for being overweight themselves, according to a 2004 article written in the Standford University News. Parental obesity may be a reflection of the family environment that promotes overeating and lack of exercise or physical activity within the household. If a child comes from a family who eats unhealthy foods, does not exercise, or promotes a unhealthy lifestyle in general, the child is more likely to become overweight.

Article by William Peterman for livestrong.com

March 4, 2010

WOD

Josh B. smoking his Double Unders!

You will complete as many rounds as possible in
20 minutes of:
5 Thrusters 95/65
7 Hang Power Cleans 95/65
10 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls 95/65

Click here to watch a highlight video of the Sectionals!

“The ultimate is not to win, but to reach within the depths of your capabilities and to compete against yourself.”

Billy Mills