Started as a maverick gym in Santa Cruz, CrossFit has spread worldwide, becoming the principal strength & conditioning program for police academies and tactical op's teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, & hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide. Why? Because CrossFit works...FAST.
CrossFit delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. CrossFit's specialty is not specializing. Daily life, like many sports and professions, (and even combat) requires broad levels of fitness. CrossFit's program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. The needs of Olympic athletes and our grandparents differ by degree not kind.
Click Here and Here for two great articles if you think CrossFit is too hard for you or beyond your ability.
To find out more about the principles and belief behind CrossFit, click here.
I went from a very scrawny 163 to a much stronger, although chubby 180. My strength improved a bunch but I really do not consider 5×5 efforts “strength” work. Too much fatigue, too little neuro activation and specificity. That considered, I think I have a shot a really increasing my strength levels with some focused work in this area. . .
Some volunteers were asked to complete three 50-minute sessions a week of moderate physical activity, such as walking, for 24 weeks. Others were not asked to increase their exercise levels.
At the end of the study, the people in the exercise group achieved better scores in tests of their cognitive function, and lower scores in tests to determine signs of dementia.
Follow-up showed that the benefits persisted for at least another 12 months after the exercise programme was stopped.
(I do think it is interesting that the 21 year old "man" has been using steroids for a "while", and as far as muscle mass goes, it doesn't look like was actually that big. But it is bad news when you mess with your endocrine system. . . also, the pictures are pretty graphic, you have been warned -jj)
"Almost no-one gets the recommended 40 minutes to an hour per day of exercise - for these people, if there was a way to mimic exercise, it would make the quality of exercise they do more efficient."
40 minutes to an hour a day!? Where did they get that statistic? That is a lot of working out. -jj
Some of you might have noticed a little link in the upper left of the main page that says "DCF Records". Go up and find it. . .good.
Logs It All is a website for logging things, and they have a whole database for CrossFit workouts (the ones that reoccur like the Girls and Heroes, as well as each and every CFmainpage one that shows up). Bill Patton who runs logs it all even posts the top 20 in the comments section many times a 'regular' shows up on the CrossFit mainpage.
For example from "Helen" on Tuesday:
median all (391 reporting):10:30
median women (29 reporting): 12:11
top 20 all:
Position Total Time Gender Approx. Age Bodyweight CF Gym Affiliation
[1] damon stewart 7 mins 10 secs M 31 168 WasatchCrossfit.com
[2] Ricky Frausto 7 mins 11 secs M 30 150 CrossFit Omaha
[3] Phillip (Raze) Pound 7 mins 24 secs M 25 245 The Body Lab
[4] Darren Ellis 7 mins 30 secs M 33 174 CrossfitNZ
[5] brendan gilliam 7 mins 35 secs M 31 190 Crossfit North Santa Cruz
[6] Tyson Patrick 7 mins 44 secs M 22 172
[7] Stavros Kalogirou 7 mins 44 secs M 32 180 Diablo Crossfit
[8] Darren Rosten 7 mins 47 secs M 28 213 Diablo Crossfit
[9] Jonathan Burns 7 mins 49 secs M 30 205 Northwest Crossfit
[10] josh jorgensen 7 mins 51 secs M 20 195 diablo crossfi
Notice anything?
We are doing pretty good, but I want to blow up Logs It All with Diablo CrossFit athletes. So go get an account, and make sure you update it when you do one of the workouts available there.
Some of the regulars might have noticed some little green and black striped rollers and balls being used at The Shed from time to time. I found out about Trigger Point Technologies back in January at the first CrossFit Running and Endurance Cert (a very informative seminar I might add). Jeff Alexander from Network Fitness introduced me to these wonderful little torture devices that allow you to massage yourself at an intensity people pay big bucks for.
Because CrossFitters push themselves harder than any other group of people when working out, they need a rest and recovery tool that pushes them just as hard. Utilizing these tools and techniques an athlete can increase the intensity and frequency of his/her workouts, while also reducing pain and injuries - and that's something every CrossFitter can appreciate.
I know that most of the DCF visitors to the Games stopped by the TPT booth to get some pain/healing, but even Darren got a mention in Jeff's Newsletter:
. . .
4. Tight Quads -- Devilishly tight quads
Diablo CrossFit is represented at right. Rolling the quads can be your own private hell if you've never done it. These massive muscles can carry numerous knots within the muscle fibers and still perform at very high levels of output. If you'd like to take a roll and see how tight your thighs are, grab a quadballer and get to work. You just might be surprised how much easier your squats can be once you clear hidden trigger points and adhesions.
And here is a video from the games of these things in action:
Check out both the TPT site as well as The Network Fitness sites for some great info.
Rodil not only did a great job of cheering on 'Team Firebreathers' at the CrossFit Games, he also won the drawing for a set Ironmind Vulcan Racks! (and nice work with the DCF shirt and devil horns).
Ironmind is a great company that makes great products. In the past I bought two books by John Brookfield from them, and when they were at the games I went ahead and picked up two of their "Captains of Crush" Grippers (Number 1:140lbs and Number 2:195lbs). Craig liked them so much he picked up another Number 1 for The Shed! Try to close the thing when you get a chance. You'll earn a new respect for grip strength and the people who can close the Number 3 (at 280lbs), and the four people in the world who can close the Number 4 (with a skull crushing 365lbs)!
10 snatch grip deadlifts 185 lbs for men, 135 lbs for women
10 knees to elbows
1 rope climb (15 feet)
200m farmer carry 45lb dumbbells for men, 35 for women
Shed Music - This is your chance to listen to what you want.
Please post in comments some songs you wish to hear at The Shed when you are working out. I need artist, and song (and version if there is multiple versions). Just the artist or album won't work.
If the songs are appropriate, I will purchase them to play at The Shed while everyone is working out.
If you don't make any requests, you can't complain about what comes on during your workout.
Raw power:
Craig is training for the Concept II race at the games. He is trying to be able to row a 2:50 or less 1000m sprint. Currently he can pull a sub 3:10, which is in the top 20 rankings (and WELL into the 90th percentile at 3:18.4) According to the Concept 2 website, the #1 time is 2:50.5 - The equivalent of two 1 minute 25 second, 500m sprints back to back.
I think he has it in him. Everyone should ask him how his training is going. -jj
Workout:
Four 500m sprints on the erg (rower).
Rest between sprints as needed.
++ NO OLY LIFTING CLASS TODAY ++ FitDay is a free online food log you can use to track your diet. It requires that you do some weighing and measuring of your fuel intake, but it does have the nutritional information of most foods as well as a "create your own" for foods that you eat all the time and can't find on their database. Each day the macro content (fat, protein, carbs, alcohol. . . yes alcohol is a macro nutrient! - at least in my book), of what you have been consuming (for what it's worth, alcohol counts as carbs for the zone).
You can also create reports showing your the overall macro content of your foods over a period of time as well as track your calorie intake and expenditures - among many other things I have not figured out yet.
I have been using it now for a couple of weeks, and I like the results. I discovered that my "paleo - ish" diet has been starving me! I don't consume nearly enough calories even to maintain my body weight let alone put on a few pounds of muscle.
Check it out if you are looking for some new gimmick to make the boredom of weighing and measuring your food more interesting. And yes, you have to weigh and measure. It doesn't do you any good to lie to the machine (many studies have shown that we all underestimate how much we are eating).
"Probiotic supplements reduce the number and length of infections suffered by long-distance runners, Australian research has found."
". . . Over the four months, all 20 received two month-long courses of pills - one containing the bacterium Lactobacillus fermentum, and the other containing no active ingredients.
All the athletes then recorded any days in which they were suffering from symptoms such as coughs and runny noses.
They then compared the toll of illness across the group, finding a total of 72 days in which people taking the "dummy" pills complained of symptoms.
When the same number of "probiotic" days was examined, only 30 were hit by illness. "
Too bad they only studied endurance runners. They are notorious for being overtrained and under rested (leading to injury and illness), and Professor Jeremy Nicholson does make the good points at the end. But I do hope they are able to do more studies using a more diverse (and larger) pool of athletes in the future. -jj
Back in November of 07 CrossFit One World and Diablo CrossFit went head to head in an impromptu lunch workout. Freddie and Jolie beat Craig and I handily (although there is some debate on the number of additional reps completed by the DCF crew. . . and yes we are sore loosers).
The original workout was completed as a team workout where only one person at a time is allowed to do that particular exercise, but the exercises can be completed in any order the team wants.
Original - 2 person team, completed for time:
12 rope climbs
50 thrusters with dumbells totaling bodyweight
100 deadlifts with bodyweight
Here is the epic video:
To make this workout for one person we cut the reps in half and call it
"Diablo's Shame" - For time:
6 rope climbs
25 thrusters with dumbells totaling half bodyweight
50 deadlifts with bodyweight
If your rope breaks like ours did (see below), then sub 60 pull ups for the rope climbs.
Post time to comments.
Our rope was attached to a sheet metal beam using multiple loops of nylon tubing (2100lbs test strength). The nylon was abraded by the beam and it snapped when I was about half way up. Other than some bumps and bruises from the fall, the metal 'eye' at the top shredded my thumb (as well as spraining it pretty good). I guess I am just lucky the thing didn't hit me in the face.
"On 1 Jan 2008 I walked 6.5 miles in freezing weather"
It is interesting how a little bit of competition can get people moving, and coming from a CrossFit background, I totally understand where this guy is coming from (as should the rest of you CFers). "Men will die for points."
I applaud Nike not for the device (not very revolutionary), but for adding the competition aspect. Great idea, and something that the Concept 2 rowing people have been doing for years. Check out the Concept 2 website for details. -jj
The boxes are irrigation boxes you can pick up a any major hardware store. These are about 13" high, and cost between $25 and $35 a piece. They are pretty solid and should be able to handle just about every client you can throw on them.
The Kbs were bought locally at "Play It Again Sports" for roughly $1.00 per lb! The handle shape and finish seems as nice as the premium ones(Dragon Door Kbs on the left). These "Apollo" ones also come with a rubber base. I am not sure if this will change the quality of the 'bell' itself (deterioration etc), only time and reps will tell.
Row 400m or Air dyne (record time for row if doing this by yourself)
Wall Ball - 20lb ball, 10 ft target
Box Jumps
Sit ups
Back Extensions
When doing this with others, their time on the row is your time to do as many reps of the other exercises as possible (The lower your time on the row, the less time they will have to complete their reps). If you are doing this by yourself, use your own time to 'pace' your other exercises.
Post total number of reps and total time to comments.
Fitness Has Fallen Since The Days Of Ancient Greece
"By comparing these findings to classical texts that record details of their endurance, he realized that the rowers of ancient Athens – around 500BC – would had to have been highly elite athletes, even by modern day standards."
Possibly another argument for the "Paleo" diet. . . and I wonder how CrossFitters would compare to the ancient rowers.
If you are completing this by yourself, you have to use your own row time as the 'pace car'. Time the row, and use that as your time to complete each round of the other exercises.
This is a team event. While one person rows 500m, the others complete as many reps of the designated exercises as possible. The faster they row, the less time you have to complete the reps. Everyone gets at least 1 chance on the rower.
Jeremy with a homemade 10lb grip ball, using a palm down grip. (Click Continue Reading below for more information about the balls).
Workout:
Go to the steepest hill you can find (the steeper the better), measure out 40 meters, and see how many times you can sprint up it in 15 minutes.
If you are stuck working out in a gym (I feel sorry for you), set the treadmill on it's highest incline and crank up the speed to your max. Leave the hamster wheel running while you complete as many 20s sprints as possible in 15 minutes.
Many people have caught on to the 'core' strength training craze (possibly because they still believe in 'spot fat reduction' - and their 'cores' look less like an apple core and more like an untouched pear).
While true 'core' (aka 'trunk') strength is important, an injury to this area can be very debilitating. As I combat a back injury that has yet to be diagnosed for 3 months and is still causing pain, I have looked to my extremities as an area to develop new capacities.
Today's picture is a mini basket ball bought at Target for approximately $9.00. Using Pierre's (From Capital CrossFit) method for making medicine balls (drill hole, fill with sand, plug with car tire repair plug and rubber glue), I was able to make a great 10lb mini ball for scaling workouts and is a great grip strength training tool. You can see the little nubs where I patched the holes in the picture By tossing the ball and catching it palm down, the hands and fingers get a great amount of work in the wide open position (a place where most grips fail).
If this type of training is familiar. You are probably familiar with things like block training and John Brookfield (hand strength guru and strongman athlete). His book "Mastery of Hand Strength" is a great resource for training your fingers, hands, and wrists. While the book is brief, it has great ideas on making your own implements for hand strength, as well as training methods, and a little bit of the history of hand strength.
Hopefully I can turn this halt of my regular training into something positive and develop my hands and wrists, so when I do get back to full shape, the time will not have been waisted. -jj
