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Posted by Sam Martin :
Tuesday, Jan 10, 2012
When I was back home for the holidays, I had the chance to work out in Eastern Michigan University's Varsity weight room. I've been there before, and I was amazed by the changes I saw this past visit. The isolation machines (lat pull-downs, leg press, cable crossovers) had given way to kettlebells, TRX straps, bumper plates, tires, sledgehammers, and ropes!
The influence that functional training has had on the world of fitness is massive and undeniable. At EMU, they still use some isolation stuff (mainly to strengthen the neck & shoulders to prevent contact injuries), but the bulk of the training is stuff that you've seen--olympic lifting, powerlifting, and high-intensity interval training using free weights & odd objects. EMU isn't alone--college weight rooms everywhere are starting to resemble more & more...a CrossFit gym!
It's pretty cool to know that the type of training we do here is just like what's used to train Division I athletes. Your workout today isn't that different from what a starting linebacker is doing!
Today's Workout
“Diane”
For Time:
21-15-9
Deadlifts (225/155)
Handstand pushups
Posted by Andy Petranek :
Monday, Jan 09, 2012
Keeping current on exactly where you are and exactly where you want to go in relation to your health and fitness is something that most people won't do if left to their own devices. It's also something that is extremely valuable for your training and progress. That's why this week, we'll be using the first part of class for this... looking back over this past quarter at where you've been and where you are currently, and looking forward at where you want to be three months from now. If you have your quarterly review from Q4 of 2011, it will be helpful for you. I encourage you to bring it with you to class this week.
The other fun thing about this week is it will give you an opportunity to check in (some of you for the first time) with some of the infamous CrossFit Girls, as well as the CFLA Baseline WOD. Today it's "Jackie"!
Today's Workout
“Jackie”
For Time:
1,000m Row
50 Thrusters (45/33)
30 Pull-ups
Posted by Andy Petranek :
Friday, Jan 06, 2012
When you walk into the doors at CFLA each time you check in to class, how would you describe yourself? Are you just a dude / chick goin' to the gym for a workout? Are you showing up just to drop a few pounds, feel a little better in those skinny jeans you've got in your closet? Are you just trying to get in some cardio to shed some of the pound you gained over the holidays?
I invite you to try something else on... something that is unique to CrossFit. Something for which there is not context for at local globo-gyms or spinning/yoga studios. I invite you to look at yourself as your walking in the door of the gym, carrying your gym bag with your chalk, wraps, jumprope, tape, shoes, workout clothes, water and think - Athlete. I AM a CrossFit Athlete. In spite of what the rest of the world might say about you if they got wind that you were referring to yourself as that... do it anyway... I AM A CROSSFIT ATHLETE. Try it on. Say it a few times... and then try it next time you walk into the gym...see how the context of your training changes.
Today's Workout
2011 Games Open 11.2
Complete as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:
9 deadlifts (155/105)
12 hand-release pushups
15 box jumps (24/20)
Posted by michael stanwyck :
Thursday, Jan 05, 2012
Everyone knows how they feel when a New Years resolution doesn't stick. You know, 6 weeks later, when the excitement has worn off and everything seems like more work than it's worth? It's become drudgery, and the results don't show up daily to keep you motivated. You feel crummy and wonder what's wrong with YOU that makes it impossible for you to make a real change. There's nothing wrong, there's just something missing!
Enter something beyond resolutions - CrossFit Los Angeles's Whole Life Challenge 2012! On February 11, the rubber meets the road. Rather than hoping your resolution lasts, you will put yourself into real, intensive, hard-core ACTION around making a solid and visible change in the way you choose, the way you look and the way you feel. You will play a game with a couple hundred of your closest friends that will put your feet to the fire and your money where your mouth is. You will find out that all your choices matter and your will power will grow through real work rather than hopes and wishes. You will do it all with the support and excitement of your community and experience results like you've not yet seen.
Questions? Talk to any of the CFLA staff or coaches -- or better yet, someone who's played before! Registration starts soon...
SPIRIT
Today's Workout
8 Rounds
5 Overhead Squats (135/95)
10 Toes-to-bar
Posted by Becca Borawski :
Wednesday, Jan 04, 2012
It’s amazing how fast your mindfulness of what's important can go. One week I’m doing so well with my “semi-retired” mentality on life, taking everything as a vacation, and having a blast. Next thing I know I’m stressed, tired, and annoyed. Nothing in my life changed – my perspective about it changed. My mindfulness...disappeared.
It turns out mindfulness is a thing to be practiced like anything else. It's a muscle. It gets stronger with use and atrophies without attention.
Our default setting, as human beings, is our lizard or animal brain. Our default is to "survive" our day. In our animal sense that means dodging danger, finding food, defending ourselves, and getting home safely. It doesn't mean feeling fulfilled and self-expressed. It doesn't have anything to do with kinship or love. It means expecting the worst and looking out for ourselves. It most likely has little intersection with happiness.
It turns out enjoying the day in a relaxed state of mind actually takes effort and a bit of consciousness. It takes a mindfulness of where one's head is at - checking in with ourselves to see if it's the lizard brain acting or the real-you-brain acting. It takes knowing you even have these two brains and sensing the difference in their reactions to the world.
I can survive the day on instinct, no doubt. But, I can enjoy every moment of my life with a little mindfulness.
Today's Workout
Advanced / Rx+
3 rounds, for time:
6 muscle ups
12 burpee-pullups
18 pullups
800m run
Beginner/Intermediate
3 rounds, for time:
25 pullups
25 dips
800m run
Posted by Andy Petranek :
Tuesday, Jan 03, 2012
Well if you haven't been to our website in the past two days, take a look at it today... a brand new look. Don't worry - all of the essential stuff is still there, things just look a bit different - check it out... see if you notice.
I hope you've had as great a holiday as I have. I've been diligently doing my handstands (although find myself about 5 minutes behind - which I will be making up over the next couple days), and after reading a book by my friend Roy Wallack and Barefoot Ken Bob, Barefoot Running Step by Step, have gone on three fully barefoot runs over the past week. Other than that, have done nothing but sleep, eat and read. Oh - and I'm getting ready to jump into a new hobby for 2012... gardening. I got my raised bed garden built in our back yard and have started reading Square Foot Gardening to give me a place to start.
I'm really pumped for the start of 2012 and the exciting things we have coming up at the beginning of this year - Next week's Quarterly check-in week, Bring a Friend Days later in January, the Whole Life Challenge part deux coming at the beginning of February, and the 2012 CrossFit Games Open. I hope your rested up... it's going to be a fast and furious start to the new year!
How have you spent your holiday? What have you learned? Are you ready for the start of the New Year?
Today's Workout
Take 45 minutes to find:
3-rep Max Push Press
1-rep Max Weighted Pullup
-----------------------
"Cookie"
In five minutes, accumulate as many seconds/minutes in an L-sit as possible.
