Blog

A Look Back…

Today’s Workout:
Strict Press
3 Reps 70% WM
3 Reps 80% WM
3+ (max reps) 90% WM

Working Max (WM)= 90% 1RM

Then:

Alternating Tabata
Pull-ups
Burpees

—————-

Open Athletes:
Deadlift
3 Reps 70% WM
3 Reps 80% WM
3+ (max reps) 90% WM

Working Max (WM)= 90% 1RM

Tyler and Eddie crushing the first WOD in the new box.

Opening Ceremonies for The 2012 CrossFit Open

Today’s Workout:
Work Up To A 1RM Clean In 12 Minutes

Then
EMOTM for 10 Minutes
3 Cleans at 75% 1RM
10 Sit-ups

The first workout will be released tomorrow. We will be attacking it as a group this Saturday morning at 9:30AM. Afterwords we will have the grill going and crack a few adult beverages to celebrate the beginning of CrossFit season (NO 10:30 Class). We will need help judging and running things, so even if you are not participating you are welcome to attend. If for some reason you are participating, but can’t make a Saturday it is your responsibility to contact me and figure out a way to make it up another time.

I am really stoked about the amount of participation we have so far and want to encourage anyone on the fence to join in. All of the athletes who represent team CFG this year will have their memberships upgraded to Unlimited for the duration of the Open (and through Regionals and the Games if you make it). This means you have open gym privileges as well to come in and work any relevant skills during Open gym hours. You will also be allowed to come in on Fridays to any class to row and mobilize. I will offer a significant discount on personal and small group training to our team for any fine tuning you need. I want you all to succeed as much as possible so please let me know how I can help you. Good hunting.

Happy President’s Day

Today’s Workout:
Back Squat
3 Reps 70% WM
3 Reps 80% WM
3+ (max reps) 90% WM

Working Max (WM)= 90% 1RM

Then:
1000m Row Time Trial

The Minarets from Chair 24 taken by Luke.

President’s Day Schedule

Today’s Workout
Deadlift
5 Reps 65% WM
5 Reps 75% WM
5+ (max reps) 85% WM

Working Max (WM)= 90% 1RM

Then:
10 Rounds For Time
15 Deadlift 135/95
15 Push-ups

We will be open during our regular group class hours Monday. Please don’t make me get up early just to have no one show up to the 6:30AM class.

WTF is this Open thing?

Today’s Workout:
2011 Open WOD 1:
AMRAP 10
30 Double Unders
15 Power Snatch 75/55lb

It has come to my attention that I have not done a proper job explaining the Open so I want to rectify the situation. The Open is the initial pool for the 2012 CrossFit Games. Anyone can participate, but you must have your scores judged and validated at and affiliate or film your workouts. Workouts will be released every week starting February 22 and ending March 25th. If you are one of the top athletes or teams in the Open you move on. The next stage is Regionals. There are 17 regions throughout the world; ours is Southern California. Last year Pappas made it to Regionals, crushed it, and took 9th. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the top 3 finish required to move on to the Games. The CrossFit Games is the big show. The top athletes from across the globe battle it out for a cash prize and the chance to earn the title of Fittest Man or Woman On Earth (or at least out of the tens of thousands of athletes who participate).

The Games started when a bunch of crazy exercise hippies decided to throw the “Woodstock of Fitness” at some dude’s ranch in Aromas. It was about going hard and having fun. Over the years it has grown exponentially into a hot new marketing opportunity for some shoe company. Despite all the fanfare, the essential spirit of the Games lives on in any athlete who is willing to embrace the rage. The soul of the Games is not the money, publicity, or inappropriate compression pant usage. It’s not winning or losing. Competition pulls something out of athletes that they simply cannot produce alone. Whether you are in the Home Depot center in the final heat, falling down the hill on Castro’s ranch, or are in your home box crushing Open workout 4 competition itself will inspire you to work harder. There is no better motivator for increased fitness. You will learn your strengths and weaknesses, do things you have never done, feel the stress of impending performance and the joy of dropping to your back after a hard effort, but in the end you are just hitting a workout like we do just about every day around here. Even if you know that you have no chance of winning the value is in the growth from the experience. 20 bucks is a small price to pay for the motivation that having a weekly public checkup on your fitness can help you bring into your next WOD.

One More Week…

Today’s Workout:

Strict Press:
5 Reps 65% WM
5 Reps 75% WM
5+ (max reps) 85% WM

Working Max (WM)= 90% 1RM

Then:
3 Rounds For Time
Run 400m
21 Box Jumps 24/20″
12 Push Press 95/65

In 1 week the first workout for the 2012 CrossFit Games Open will go live (barring any technical difficulties like last year). One workout per week will be released until March 25th. We will be hitting the workouts every Saturday during the 9:30AM Class so whether you sign up or not you will be participating. This is a great opportunity to try out some more competitive CrossFit within the comfort of our home gym. If you want to step up and join team CFG please go to http://games.crossfit.com/ and register. Team CFG is already larger than last year and I would be filled with Glee to send our team to Regionals. We have some solid athletes and if we work together I am confident that we will all grow from the experience whether we qualify as a team, individually, or not at all. You never know what competition can drive you to do until you experience it, but there is truly no better motivator. Whether you think you will take down Froning or you have only been CrossFitting for a few months and the thought of competing still terrifies you I highly encourage you to join in the fun.

Mobility WOD

Today’s Workout:
Tabata:
Hollow Rock
Kettlebell Swing 1.5/1 Pood
Handstand Hold
Row For Calories

When it comes to training with functional motions positioning is everything. For this reason we are opening up a new class in our Saturday morning schedule. Starting at 9:00AM before the 9:30 Group Class we will be holding a regular half-hour Mobility WOD. It will be a great opportunity to get some of the creaks out of your body after a long week of workouts while improving your understanding of movement. If you like preventing injuries, alleviating pain from past ones, all while making yourself stronger then this class is right up your alley.

Full Effort Is Full Victory

Today’s Workout:

Back Squat:
5 Reps 65% WM
5 Reps 75% WM
5+ (max reps) 85% WM

Working Max (WM)= 90% 1RM

Then:
AMRAP 12
12 Goblet Squat
6 Strict Pull-ups

I asked Paulo to share his experiences from last Saturday’s St. Valentines Day Massacre. It was a great time and I am proud of all our athletes who participated.

Saturday’s St. Valentine’s Massacre at West Coast Strength and Conditioning was both a humbling and inspiring experience. Having participated in only 2 prior Crossfit competitions (Raging for Nina and Fight Gone Bad6), both of which held at Crossfit Goodland, I can definitely say I was not prepared for a high-volume Rx competition. Laura ended up having to step in and to carry most of the burden in our team. Despite our hard effort, we ended up dead last (35/35 by 1 point) in the Rx competition. We did gain something that for me was more valuable than 1st, 2nd or 30th place: more self-confidence and the thirst for new challenges. The truth is that we have to continuously (and responsibly) take risks to reach higher performance levels. Competitions make our weaknesses more evident (one of mine is upper body strength) and allow us to make note of them and take actions to improve them.

I was also able to witness and be inspired by incredibly phenomenal performances in both the Rx and modified heats, and by the young and old, girl and guy athletes. You don’t have to be a winner to inspire fellow Crossfitters, you just have got to rage to be best of your ability. The winners of the competition happened to be in our heat and happened to be in the lane next to ours. When they finished, we were still doing the last couple of exercises. They cheered us on until the finish and congratulated us on our effort. That’s the spirit of this wonderful sport. Every movement counts and you can count on everyone to cheer you till the finish!

I am itching for the next opportunity to challenge myself!

Paulo

The New Deadlift Champ of the Goodland

Today’s Workout:
Banded Speed Deadlift 10×2 EMOTM 55-65% 1RM

Then:
4 Rounds Not For Time:
8-10 Box Jumps (High)
5-7 Weighted Pull-ups (Heavy but controlled)
20-25 Hip Extensions

We are just about half way through our powerlifting emphasis in our training and the strength gains have already been tremendous. Last week Caitlin took the top spot on the women’s deadlifting boards with a 265lb PR (but I was too excited to remember to get a picture). She has been working hard and hitting all of her lifts every week and I am excited to see how much more we can add to her lifts before our in house CrossFit Total Competition. Congrats to Caitlin and everyone who has moved more weight than ever before!

Remember we will be CLOSED tomorrow for the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre at CFV. I encourage anyone who is on the fence about competing to come on down, check it out, and support team CFG.

Heart

Today’s Workout:
5 Rounds For Time:
Run 400m
15 Thrusters 95/65
Rest 1 minute

Heart is what separates athletes from great athletes. Heart refers to an intangible quality combining deep love with an ability to be dedicated and steadfast no matter how dense the shitstorm or how serene the precipice. Heart is not merely a love of victory, it is a love of all the blood, sweat, and tears shed along the journey. I once had a rugby coach who would remind us, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” Athletes with heart still experience fatigue, fear, and pain, but they refuse to let it prevent them from working as hard as possible to achieve their goals. They do not always win, but they never quit. The beautiful thing about heart is that no matter how athletic you think you are or aren’t you can earn heart. Heart gives us great power, but also burdens us with the dedication that is required to produce this power. There are few better venues to earn heart than on the training we do here at CrossFit Goodland. Each of our workouts requires a certain amount of heart to be done properly. Every time you come in a little banged up from the day(s) before, every time you hit that extra pull-up because you know your chin didn’t get all the way over the bar, every time you continue to push even though your world is crashing in you in a 500m row are fostering its growth. Earning it is exactly like earning mobility, strength, or any other skill. It is a matter of practice, and it is well worth the effort. The benefits of this trait extend far beyond the tiny world of CFG. Learning to embrace heart makes a competitor indomitable, but embracing it as a human being leads to finding fulfillment.

If you don’t get it watch the video.