Deadlift 2×5 (65%)

20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2 rep Round of

• Pull-ups
• Lunges
• Push-ups

*do 1 burpee on the minute every minute until completed

. . . . .

Life is not a Spectator Sport

           We are constantly being warned to check with our physicians before beginning athletics. Play and games evidently can be risky business. What we are not told are the risks of not beginning athletics-that the most dangerous sport of all is watching it from the stands.
           The weakest among us can become some kind of athlete, but only the strongest can survive as spectators. Only the hardiest can withstand the perils of inertia, inactivity, and immobility. Only the most resilient can cope with the squandering of time, the deterioration in fitness, the loss of creativity, the frustration of emotions, and the dulling of moral sense that can afflict the dedicated spectator.
           Physiologists have suggested that only those who can pass the most rigorous physical examination can safely follow the sedentary life. Man was not made to remain at rest. Inactivity is completely unnatural to the body. And what follows is a breakdown of the body’s equilibrium.
           When the beneficial effects of activity on the heart and circulation and indeed on all the body’s systems are absent, everything measurable begins to go awry.
           Up goes the girth of the waist and the body weight. Up goes blood pressure and heart rate. Up goes cholesterol and triglycerides. Up goes everything you would like to go down and down everything you would like to go up. Down goes vital capacity and oxygen consumption. Down goes flexibility and efficiency, stamina and strength. Fitness fast becomes a memory.
           The seated spectator is not a thinker, he is a knower. Unlike the athlete who is still seeking his own experience, who leaves himself open to truth, the spectator has closed the ring. His thinking has become rigid knowing. He has enclosed himself in bias and partisanship and prejudice. He has ceased to grow.
           And it is growth he needs most to handle the emotions thrust upon him, emotions he cannot act out in any satisfactory way. He is , you see, an incurable distance from the athlete and participation in the effort is the athlete’s release, the athlete’s catharsis. He is watching people who have everything he wants and cannot get. They are having all the fun: the fun of playing, the fun of winning, even the fun of losing. They are having the physical exhaustion which is the quickest way to fraternity and equality, the exhaustion which permits you to be not only a good winner but a good loser.
           Because the spectator cannot experience what the athlete is experiencing, the fan is seldom a good loser. The emphasis on winning is therefore much more of a problem for the spectator than the athlete. The losing fan, filled with emotions which have no healthy outlet, is likely to take it out on his neighbor, the nearest inanimate object, the umpires, the stadium or the game itself. It is easier to dry out a drunk, take someone off hard drugs or watch a three-pack-a-day smoker go cold turkey than live with a fan during a long losing streak.
           Should a spectator pass all these physical and mental and emotional tests, he still has another supreme challenge to his integrity. He is part of a crowd, part of a mob. He is with those the coach in The Games called, “The nothingmen, those oafs in the stands filling their bellies.” And when someone is in a crowd, out go his individual standards of conduct and morality. He acts in concert with his fellow spectators and descends two or three rungs on the evolutionary ladder. He slips backward down the development tree.
           From the moment you become a spectator, everything is downhill.

. . . . .

“The difference in winning and losing is most often…..not quitting.”

Walt Disney

Rest Day

Are You Over-Training, or Under-Recovering?
Written by Calvin Sun, published on CrossFit Invictus

Are you really over-training? Sure, you might be experiencing some of the symptoms of over-training but are you really training that hard? Michele’s post on over-training suggests that working out without rest leads to the condition. I agree with Michele that people who do two workouts everyday under the assumption that more is better will quickly hit a point of diminishing returns. However, in my experience, I think the larger problem for the majority of our athletes is not training enough. Let’s be honest, on average, how many days a week do you train? If you only manage to get in 3 or 4 days a week, you are not over-trained. Yet you complain of fatigue, altered sleep patterns, mood swings, increased frequency of illness, persistent muscle soreness, and weight loss. Have you ever considered you might be under-recovered? You might not be doing too many WODs, instead you probably aren’t doing enough to make sure you are properly recovered from your training. Rest is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to recovery. There are many aspects to proper recovery:

Nutrition
Nutrition is the biochemical foundation that fuels our bodies. You can’t repair muscles without adequate intake of high-quality protein. Chicken, fish, beef, and eggs are all great choices because of their complete amino acid profiles. Carbohydrates are stored in your muscles and liver as glycogen. You need to eat some quality carbohydrates in order to replenish yourself. Vegetables, fruits, and some starchy tubers (i.e. sweet potatoes) are all good choices. Don’t forget to eat some healthy fat as well. Besides serving as an energy source, fat helps you absorb fat-soluble nutrients like vitamins A, D, E, and K. Read The Paleo Diet for Athletes by Dr. Loren Cordain for more information.

Sleep
Get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night. During sleep, your body releases a chemical cocktail that will help enhance your recovery and give you the greatest benefit from your training. Muscle tissues are repaired and the central nervous system is rejuvenated allowing for you to train at peak performance the next day.

Rest Days
As I mentioned earlier, Michele is spot on with this one. If you are training hard enough, you will need to rest once every 2 to 3 days. Following a 3-on/1-off schedule or even a 3-on/1-off/2-on/1-off schedule would serve to benefit you. Active recovery is great, go for a swim, a quick jog, or even a round of golf.

Myofascial Release
The repeated micro-trauma from training everyday can take its toll on your body. Adhesions and trigger points can lead to all sorts of pain in both your muscles and your joints. Grab a foam roller and start rolling out your muscles. Lats, pecs, traps, glutes, quads, and hip flexors are the hot spots you’ll definitely want to hit everyday. Lacrosse balls are great for calves and glutes as well. The taped balls are perfect for rolling the thoracic erectors as well performing t-spine mobilization. Feel free to schedule a massage but you’ll want to make sure you are doing some damage control on a daily basis.

Stretching
Do not save the stretching for rest days. Tight hamstrings, tight calves and tight hip flexors are often to blame for the pain and injuries experienced by athletes. Do yourself a favor and stretch out after every workout. You don’t have to stretch out immediately after the WOD. I realize people have to get to work or get home for dinner, just make sure you do stretch sometime between the completion of your workout and your 7 to 8 hours of sleep.

NSAIDs
Lay off the Motrin. There is a normal healing process that occurs after an injury. The first 2 to 4 days are the inflammatory response phase. This phase is essential for initiating the healing process. When you take a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, like ibuprofen, the entire healing process is halted. Read more in Kelly Starrett’s article.

Cryotherapy
Instead of drugs, use ice as it can help with the inflammation associated with the muscle soreness experienced after training. Use ice packs, ice baths, ice cups, ice massage, just not ice cream.

Fish Oil
Supplementing your diet with fish oil can reduce inflammation as well as help lubricate your joints. Read Mark’s post here. Dietary supplements should always be the last thing to add to your recovery program. Make sure your nutrition is solid before adding other supplements.

Having an effective and comprehensive recovery program in place is essential for your continued success as an athlete. Failing to do so will inevitably lead to training plateaus and/or injuries. You should strive to combat under-recovery with the same persistence and dedication that you have in your training. Remember, elite human performance requires an equally high level of maintenance and care.

Rest Day

WHAT DAY ARE YOU ON???

by Josh Everett

Detraining Calendar

Days 1 – 2 After last day of training

Adrenaline and beta-endorphin levels drop. Your mood is affected negatively, but your body stays intact. Aerobic and power capabilities are the same.

Days 3 – 5

Your muscles become tight from disuse and your flexibility is decreased. Touching your toes and other activities involving flexibility become more difficult and are often painful. Your aerobic capabilities are decreased 5% by fifth day off.

Day 6

You feel out of breath when just walking up a flight of stairs

Days 7 – 9

You begin to have trouble sleeping and your attention span is shorter. Paying attention in class becomes more difficult. The body’s ability to use oxygen (your V02 max) drops by 10%. Less oxygenated blood is pumped with each heartbeat.

Day 10

Your body’s metabolic rate has begun to drop. You see added pounds.

Days 11 – 12

Your maximum heart rate and cardiac output is falling. Your ability to perform endurance activities declines by 15%. Your muscle tone is disappearing.

Day 13

You feel sluggish and unable to perform normal daily activities as well as before.

Days 14 -16

Mitochondrial activity (energy production) in your muscle cells decreases. This causes you to feel lazy and without energy. This decreased cellular energy production also causes a continual drop in your metabolic rate. Your body feels soft.

Days 17 – 19

Your body becomes less efficient at sweating and cooling itself off. You can not get rid of excess heat as easily and your body gets tired just trying to stay cool. Your muscles are getting less oxygen and your heart pumps less blood with each heart beat.

Days 20 – 21

Your V02 max has dropped by 20%. Your body’s ability to use oxygen has decreased by a fifth and simple aerobic tasks now leave you breathless.

Days 22 – 25

With the decrease in aerobic conditioning by 25%, you are also experiencing a decline in your anaerobic capabilities. Activities that involve short bursts of energy, such as weight lifting or sprints, become increasingly difficult and painful. You have lost 15-20% of your muscle mass and that lost mass is replaced with fat.

Day 26

You notice very obvious loss of muscle mass and your once hard muscles are soft.

Days 27 – 28

It would now be impossible for you to perform the aerobic and anaerobic activities that were a regular part of your training. Huge decreases have occurred.

Days 29 – 30

Your muscle strength has now declined by 30% and atrophy has set in. Loss of muscle mass means lower resting metabolism. Lifting previous weight is impossible.

…And beyond the first month

Within 2 – 4 months, practically all gains from V02 max training are lost. Your sports-specific skills deteriorate and the rowing motion now feels awkward. Your muscle strength erodes by 40% and all muscle definition is gone.

The Breakdown Rate The exact rate at which you slide down hill to baseline (sedentary fitness level) is determined by your genetics, the shape you were in when you stopped exercising, and how long you had been fit. It may not seem fair, but the fitter you are, the faster you loose the benefits of working out. On the other hand, fitter people don’t fall apart quite as much or to the same degree as sedentary people (couch potatoes). Moderately fit people show little change in the first weeks, but their capacities do decrease in subsequent weeks to a higher degree that the fitter athletes.

AGAIN…I ASK…

WHAT DAY ARE YOU ON??

Rest Day

MindSet

By CrossFit Wilmington

Why are some athletes better than others? How can that one phenom do all those WoDs so much faster? Why does athlete “a” get better results from CF than “b”? How can some girls and guys post the fastest times and highest scores day in and day out? What is it they are doing differently? It’s simple. Just watch one of them. They all have things in commom.

Just before the count of 3, 2, 1… go! They change. Some may give a nod and slight smirk. Others stare directly ahead with no measurable emotion showing. But each has a visibly notable change in demeanor just before the WoD begins. All anticipate the command of “Go” as they hope to shave even a tenth of a second by starting the WoD on the “guh” sound of go.

During the workout, they don’t mess about… they push themselves and spare no effort. They waste no time on water. They know it’ll be over before they’re dehydrated. And you’ll not see them going for more chalk either. They are confident their grip will last. They do not waste energy on motion that does not contribute to the end.

They push themselves to the point of collapse, and then maintain that pace. It’s at that pace they’ve learned intensity can be optimized. If at this pace they push any harder, they will have to slow for a break. Any slower and they’re wasting time. This pace is uncomfortable and painful.

These athletes induce upon themselves extreme physiological stress. The perceived lack of oxygen and the heart beating at near maximum rate elicits signals from the brain telling the body to slow or stop. But the athlete ignores the signals and tells his/herself that it’s only a warning, not a mandate, from the brain and they do not have to adhere.

At this intensity, the lungs produce fluid to be coughed up while rolling around on the floor after the WoD. Add in blurred vision, auditory exclusion, numb fingers, hands, and even arms. And let’s not forget degradation of fine and often, gross motor skills. And when he or she is done they’ll deal with the blisters and bleeding.

The discomfort and pain of this threshold dissipates quickly and are replaced with the rewards of accomplishment. And the reward is worth it.

The lowest common denominator, the one common characteristic that all the champions and elite of any sport, competition, military unit, MMA, and CrossFit is mindset. In these athletes, exists the ability to put aside the unimportant and go focus on the goal. And then do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. But not just acheive it, exceed it and to make the goal insignificant and only a stairstep to the next.

So the next time you finish up a workout, presumably today or tomorrow at the latest, and walk out of your training facility, to get into your car and drive away. Ask yourself this… “am I ok to drive”. If it’s an easy “yes”, then one of two things happened at with your workout. Either you took ample time to cool down and recover. Or you didn’t give it your all.

Think about it.

Rest Day

Yesterday I made reference to the squat and speed, now I am going to reference form.  I have coached everyone on proper squat form, and I preach it again and again in our workouts; “butt back and down, weight on the heels, knees out,  chest up, lower lower lower!”.  I’m sure I sound like a broken record, but it is for your own good.  Every once in a while someone new will come in and be hesitant about the squat.  Saying crazy things like “I heard you are not supposed to squat below parallel” and “isn’t squatting bad for your knees?  Well here is some information on form and injury.  Enjoy.  

“I can’t squat – I have bad knees…”

Needless to say, we’ve heard this one a few times before.  We’re not saying that this statement doesn’t hold some validity, rather people often simply reiterate what they’ve heard or what an uninformed doctor has told them.  The fact is, squatting is not only excellent for strength training, it is also a fantastic exercise for both rehabilitation and for injury prevention.  The squat builds muscle, increases leg strength, increases hip felxibility and strength, and increases knee stability through strength.

On the flipside, if you only perform partial squats where the crease of the hip doesn’t sink below the depth of the knee, the majority of the force is placed on the tibia as it sinks down and forward.  As the tibia is pulled forward, the hamstrings fail to reach full stretch.  This puts the ligaments of the knee (where the quadricepts connect to the front of the tibia) in shear and often result in patellar tendonitis.

The often injured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) works alongside the hamstrings to prevent the tibia from moving forward of the femur.  Because of this, some ACL injuries can be attributed to underdeveloped hamstrings.  By maintaining healthly hip mobility and practicing full depth squats, you can squat without any stress being placed on the ACL.  Instead, you are strengthening the posterior chain and stabilizing the knees, rehabilitating old injuries and preventing future ones.  The key is to squat correctly with proper depth.

-Adapted from “Starting Strength” by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore

Make-up day.. Pick a WOD that you missed during the week.

“Good judgment comes from experience, and experience usually comes from bad judgment”

-Anonymous

Here is a great article written by Jeff Martin (owner of Brand X and CrossFit Kids)

Intensity by Jeff Martin

This is key: How much pain can you eat? When the misery index rises, what do you do? Having a plan helps. Before getting to specifics, here are a couple of general things to do to up your intensity.

The General:

1. Go to an affiliate. I know we are all too expensive and generally not worth it. The workouts are free and we should be too. Sarcasm aside, if you are doing the workouts of the web, the quality of your movement probably is not what it could be. A certified trainer will make sure that you are at least hitting the proper Range of Motion. ROM suffers, right along with you, under duress.

At an affiliate, the trainer will help you maintain ROM, whereas alone in your garage you would let it slide. A certified trainer will teach you the proper mechanics of the movements. Doing the movements correctly is more effective, efficient, and safer. In doing the movements more efficiently and effectively, you will go faster, move heavier weights, and be able to sustain the movement longer. This is both a blessing and a curse.

2. Workout with a group.CrossFit turns fitness into sport. 3-2-1 GO! has a different meaning alone in your garage than it does in a park with a friend or at an affiliate. You want intensity? Do Fight Gone Bad at an affiliate. Men will die for points. There is something about the group dynamic that automatically doubles the intensity.

3. Go to a cert.I remember reading a post from a guy who had been doing the WOD for over a year. He wrote about the cert experience that he had knocked three minutes off his Fran time and discovered what intensity meant.

4. Watch affiliate videos. Look at some of the affiliate videos for inspiration, to see regular folks giving it their all.

5. Resolve not to be a big baby.In our box, we have guys who have been blown up working out next to guys who complain when they stub their toe. Folks who have been shot, next to folks complaining about a hangnail. Who do you think works harder? Who do you think brings the most intensity? Don’t be a big baby; it doesn’t help. We all hurt. Resolve to move forward without complaint. We have a large bottle in our box marked YBF. Spray some on and continue: You’ll Be Fine.

The Specific:

1. Have a plan for each WOD. Look at each WOD. Try to decide how long each round should last. Shoot for that.

2. Think about breaks.Have a plan for your breaks going into the WOD. Say you are doing Fran and your pull-up max is 10. Plan to break the first round 7-7-7 and rest 15 seconds before getting back on the bar. This will help you avoid muscular failure. If you hit muscular failure, it will take 30-40 seconds before you are able to get back on the bar and do anything meaningful. That’s a lot of time spent staring at the clock spinning.

3. Work specifically on a plan to minimize break time. Using Fran as an example again, say that 95# Thrusters are not heavy for you and that the limiting factor is cardio-respiratory endurance. In this case, your heart is hammering when you reach 11 reps, but the bar speed is the same as rep number one. Now you can put the bar down and acknowledge that it’s okay to be a pus** today, or you can continue. If you do put the bar down, have a plan: I’ll pick the bar up in 15 seconds, I’ll take three big breaths and pick the bar up, etc.

4. If you are working with a class, pick someone that is close to you in their fitness level. Before you start the WOD, tell yourself that you will watch them and break only when they do. Resolve when they put the bar down you will do one more rep than they did. When they look like they are going to pick the bar up, grab your bar and do at least one rep before they get started. Be aware that eventually they will realize what you are doing and the game will be on. Who will drop the bar first? Again, “Men will die for points.”

5. NEVER walk away from your bar! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!

6. Understand that every time you put your bar down, you can chalk 20 seconds onto your time. Is breathing really worth that 20 seconds? I don’t think so.

7. Just finish it. When most people set the bar down, they wait until they feel better before picking the bar up again. This is a mistake. You will not feel better until the thing is done. Might as well get back on the bar and finish the work required. Little known fact: working helps regulate breathing. The hard part of Fran is the transitions. You’re gasping for air staring at the bar. Surprisingly if you clean the bar up and start doing your thrusters, your breathing will regulate. Keep that in mind while the clock spins and you stare.