Posted by Andy Petranek :
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
We've all experienced at one point or another in our life the huge gap between having a good idea, and taking action that leads to results. Take the food you eat for example. It's probably safe to say that all of us at one time or another have had the idea to 'EAT MORE VEGETABLES'. Right? Be honest... unless you're a vegan, there is a very high probability that you're not eating 'enough' veggies.
Now, it's one thing to have the idea. It's quite another to set an intention and take action. That is exactly what a group of researchers studied and published in the British Journal of Health Psychology. They studied the likelihood of people to take action (working out) and get results based on three different groups - a control group, a motivated group and a motivated group that was intentional about creating an action plan (to read more about the study click here)
You know what they found? The people in the group that set the intention and created an action plan were 3x more likely to follow through and be in action!
So, do you wanna eat more vegetables? Do you REALLY want to eat more vegetables (and this works for ANYTHING you want to accomplish)? Try filling in the blanks in this sentence...
'Next week I'm going to eat ____ meals on ____ different days that are composed of at least _____% vegetables'.
And if this sentence doesn't work for you - write one that does... for anything you want to accomplish. Lets hear your sentences in comments (CAUTION, this really will work, so if you don't really want to be in action, don't write a sentence!)
TUESDAY'S WORKOUT (CAP)
PRACTICE
A) For time:
400m run
B) BS (Back Squat) in 10 min:
3,3,3 - 90-92.5% of 1RM by 3rd set
C) EMOM 8:
3x PJ (Push Jerk) - From Rack, increase wt. ok
D) AMRAP 4:
5 strict pullups
10 butterfly situps (no abmat)
E) For time:
400m run
AND COMING WEDNESDAY (CAP)
PRACTICE
A) EMOM 7 (no drop, increase wt.):
1 Power Snatch
1 H. Squat Snatch
1 OHS
B) For Reps - 4 sets on :90 of:
5 OHS (@ 65% of top EMOM wt.)
Max Chin ups
C) For Distance and Reps:
5 rounds on 3 of:
1 min row
1 min ring dips
Posted by Andy Petranek :
Monday, May 20, 2013
Quick question (please answer in comments): If your health and fitness were a game, would you be winning? If yes, fantastic! If not, why not?

Cameron
MONDAY'S WORKOUT
COMPETITION
A) Individual comp for best costume.
-voted on by class
- winner gets choice of drink of choice: coconut water, smart water, etc.
B) Team Chipper.
Teams of 4 - 2 people working at a time:
DL 20,000 lbs (beg 14,000)
300 butterfly abmat situps (beg 200)
Hang Squat Clean and Jerk 6,000 lbs (***beg 4,000)
100 TTB (beg v-up)
2 mi run (beg 2K total)
AND COMING TUESDAY (CAP)
PRACTICE
A) For time:
400m run
B) BS (Back Squat) in 10 min:
3,3,3 - 90-92.5% of 1RM by 3rd set
C) EMOM 8:
3x PJ (Push Jerk) - From Rack, increase wt. ok
D) AMRAP 4:
5 strict pullups
10 butterfly situps (no abmat)
E) For time:
400m run
Posted by Andy Petranek :
Friday, May 17, 2013
You're slipping. Yup... you're currently slip-sliding down an invisible and imperceptibly gentile slope toward your eventual and unavoidable demise. Awesome way to start Friday - huh? Well there is SOME good news in all of this... although you can't avoid being on the slope and sliding, you can control the steepness of the slope, and hence the speed at which you're slipping.
You see, every choice you make every single day of your life has an impact... the more obvious ones like how many hours of sleep you get each night, the quantity and quality of the food you eat, the frequency and intensity of your exercise, and the amount of sugar you consume. And then the not-so-obvious ones like the way you handle the stress of your job; the intensity, speed and pressure you put on yourself to succeed and 'win' at life; the height of your high heels and the amount you wear them (and your posture at your desk), the quantity and quality of the 'me time' that you give yourself (or don't give yourself), the frequency and quality of your conversations with your mom and dad, the amount of kindness, love and joy you feel and express in your everyday life. And that list can go on and on and on...
Now - all of these things have an impact of the steepness of your slope. The real question is, do you REALLY want to know which have the most? And once you do, are you willing to do something about it? Or would you prefer to just continue sliding without looking or knowing since it's slow enough that you don't really notice each day anyway? Here's the thing - at some point you WILL know, when you get far enough down that slope - and it probably won't be nice and gentile (nope, life will probably give you a smack if you're looking the other way).
The choice is yours, and whether you knew it or not, you're making it every day. What's it gonna be?
FRIDAY (CAP)
PRACTICE
A) EMOM 10:
alternating movements:
3 Clean below knee (no drop) @ 70% of 1RM
:30 max dips (ring, bar, or box)
B) :45:30:15:30:45 of:
Hollow rocks
Arch rocks
C) 4 rounds for reps (:90:90) of:
:30 max pushups
:60 max du’s
:90 seconds rest
AND COMING MONDAY (NO CAP)
COMPETITION
A) Individual comp for best costume.
-voted on by class
- winner gets choice of drink of choice: coconut water, smart water, etc.
B) Team Chipper.
Teams of 4 - 2 people working at a time:
DL 20,000 lbs (beg 14,000)
300 butterfly abmat situps (beg 200)
Hang Squat Clean and Jerk 6,000 lbs (***beg 4,000)
100 TTB (beg v-up)
2 mi run (beg 2K total)
Posted by michael stanwyck :
Thursday, May 16, 2013
What if the future was a done deal? Not written by an outside force that you have no control over, but written by you?
As I see it, there are pretty much two ways to look at tomorrow. It's either completely random and shaped by influences beyond your control or you say how it's going to be and do the things that someone would do if that's what the future already looked like.
It's kind of like being on a roller coaster. Once you're on you don't wonder where the tracks are going to take you. Sometimes it looks like you're headed back the way you came, sometimes you're upside down, sometimes fast and out of control feeling, and sometimes really...really...really...slow. But that it's going to be a wild ride, that you're going to get out of it what you came for, and that you're going to end up at the station in one piece, electrified, thrilled, and excited isn't in doubt.
What if the tomorrow was like that? What if you knew where you were going to end up and started doing the things that took you there. Like the roller coaster simply unfolds from the end of the ride to where you are and was built to thrill you, freak you you, put your stomach in your throat, and make you scream, the road to tomorrow might be built the same way. A road already carved by your say-so through the wildness and vastness of time and space.
And when you are heading in all sorts of unexpected directions -- upside down, back from the direction you came in, plummeting towards the ground -- you will know that this is what it looked like to get there. Of all the things ever screamed on a roller coaster, I don't think anyone's ever screamed "It's going the wrong way!" Everyone there knows that this is what it looks like to have a great freakin' time. If you doubted it, you'd definitely wish for an emergency stop button or an ejector seat. How often you do that on your personal roller coasters? Start ready to have a great time and then scream "It's going the wrong way!" and pull the rip-cord.
Now here's the thing. That roller coaster thing is just a metaphor. It's not actually true. I could just as easily have created a metaphor of billiard balls, clicking and clacking off of each other, paths predestined from the moment they started moving, that could have been just as convincing. The question here is, given that neither are true (or BOTH are true), which one would give you not just the tomorrow you want, but the today you want as well?
THURSDAY'S WORKOUT (CAP)
PRACTICE
A) In 15 min - Deadlift 3x5 @ 87.5%
B) AMRAP 5:
5 Overhead Squat @ 77.5% 1RM Sq. Sn.
10 Toes to Bar
C) 5 rounds for reps and distance:
:30 strict chin ups
:30 rest
:60 row
:60 rest
AND COMING FRIDAY (CAP)
PRACTICE
A) EMOM 10:
alternating movements:
3 Clean below knee (no drop) @ 70% of 1RM
:30 max dips (ring, bar, or box)
B) :45:30:15:30:45 of:
Hollow rocks
Arch rocks
C) 4 rounds for reps (:90:90) of:
:30 max pushups
:60 max du’s
:90 seconds rest
Posted by Becca Borawski :
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in rules and trends. You dive headlong into paleo and you get all super strict. Or you do crazy things like put butter in your coffee. (Seriously, people, you're killin' me with the Instagrams.) And you do these things, and maybe you feel some benefit from it, but really you're caught up in rules and concepts. And I'm not making you wrong for doing that. I'm saying we're all human, and sometimes we get excited, and it's okay to take a step back and ask yourself, "Why AM I doing that?" and "IS this useful to me?"
And maybe the answer is "yes" and you keep going exactly how you're going. But also know it's not "wrong" for someone to eat rice sometimes. And it's not wrong to put cream in your coffee. And, in fact, you can even do those things and be healthy. And you can do these things and still be "cool."
Each body is different. Literally, each human body works differently. And each human brain works differently. So to imagine that we all have to eat the same way or we all have to respond the same way to a food, supplement, or stimulus, is kinda crazy. So it's okay to not follow the "rules" of paleo and it's okay to drink your coffee however the heck you want to drink your coffee. These ideas are just starting points from which to experiment. Maybe for your body and your sport you need it a little different. And maybe for your emotional well-being you need cream in your coffee. Or maybe you actually really like the butter!
None of it is wrong. And to experiment, to go to extremes and come back and refine, is actually fantastic. But make sure you come back to YOU. Your choices should reflect what's best for YOUR body and YOUR mind, rules and trends be damned.
Becca Borawski served as Program Director at CFLA for seven years and is now part of the extended coaching family. She is the managing editor for Breaking Muscle, a website designed for real athletes and real coaches. She lives in Portland, Oregon and is most likely preparing a paleo meal at this very moment.
WEDNESDAY'S WORKOUT
COMPETITION
“CrossFit Total”
In 45 minutes, exactly 15 min per lift:
1RM Deadlift
1RM Press
1RM Back Squat
AND COMING THURSDAY
PRACTICE
A) In 15 min - Deadlift 3x5 @ 87.5%
B) AMRAP 5:
5 Overhead Squat @ 77.5% 1RM Squat Snatch
10 Toes-to-Bar
C) 5 rounds for reps and distance:
:30 strict chin ups
:30 rest
:60 row
:60 rest
Posted by Andy Petranek :
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
So, have you tried it yet? You know, the article you saw on Facebook last week from the NY Times about a 'magical and perfect' 7-minute workout (this one here). I wonder of the MILLIONS of readers of this article, how many people actually gave the 7-minute workout a whirl? Were you like everyone else that looked at it for a second decided you knew better, and moved on? After all, you do CrossFit, right?
Well, I tried it. And here's what I thought... it was great! For a 3-5x/week CrossFitter, it will feel like a good warm-up - and I think on a day you're taking as an easy or rest day, if you want something quick and complete - this is great (maybe sub burpees for jumping jacks). But I know that for MANY people out there, it will feel like a good workout. It moves well through the body (hits everything except pulling - which without a pull-up bar or barbell is almost impossible to do), is as intense as you make it (since each movement is a 30" max effort.)
Go ahead... give it a shot. And let me know what you think... AFTER you try it.

Clearly that barbell WILL move if I just think about it enough.
TUESDAY'S WORKOUT (CAP)
PRACTICE
A) EMOM 8 @ ~ 77.5% of 1RM Sq. Sn
2 PP
2 Snatch Balance
B) 10 minutes Dip position/skill work
C) Max rep dips (adv kip): 1:1
:60
:45
:30
:15
D) For time and reps:
At start of clock:
400 run for time
At 5:00: 2 Min max reps strict pullups
At 10:00: 400 run for time
AND COMING WEDNESDAY (CAP)
COMPETITION
“Crossfit Total” In 45 minutes, exactly 15 min per lift.
1RM DL
1RM Press
1RM Back Squat





















