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Posted by Andy Petranek :
Friday, Mar 30, 2012
Should physical training be limited to just your body? What about your mind? Remember my post from a couple weeks ago about CrossFit Math? In athletics, we work a lot with neurological improvements... decreasing the speed at which sensory neurons sense things (touch, proprioception, balance, etc), send a signal to your brain, which sends a signal to motor nerves which tell muscles to move. This improves reaction time and helps you learn to do complex movements quickly and sequentially (like the snatch). But what if there were a way to work on this outside of the gym, where you could specifically work on things like speed, mental acuity, memory, attention, etc.
Well, there is... and it's a website called Lumosity.com. I've been a member now for about three months and have consistently improved my scores on all my tests since then. I spend very little time on it, yet feel it is helping to keep me fresh and on top of my game. If you've been and have gone through enough of it to get your Brain Profile, post it in comments. My profile is below:
Overall 899
Speed 746
Memory 955
Attention 843
Flexibility 852
Problem Solving 1102
Pete & Alyssa get OVER the bar - their FIRST Bar Muscle Ups!
Today's Workout
Complete three rounds:
As many reps as possible in 6 minutes of:
3 Burpees
6 Sit-ups
9 Squats
- Rest 2-minutes between rounds.
- Start the next round exactly where you left off in your previous round.
Posted by michael stanwyck :
Thursday, Mar 29, 2012
Last week we started a really exciting new program with a brand new partner, Estancia Beef. As a result of our new relationship we can bring exclusively to members of the CFLA community great deals on some really fantastic grass-fed meat -- delivered right to the gym!
Any way you cut it, grass-fed beef is healthier for you and the planet than CAFO, grain-fed beef. Aside from being fed a diet that includes corn, soy, spent brewery and distiller's grain, candy (including wrappers), citrus pulp and peanut shells, CAFO cows live among the sick and the dying, with no healthy separation between their living area and their waste. Their nutritional profiles are completely different, as well. CAFO beef is not only high in omega-6, but missing almost any trace of omega-3. Trying to avoid soy? If you are eating feedlot beef raised on soy you are still exposing yourself to high levels of soy estrogen when you eat their meat.
Grass-fed beef is rich in vitamins B, beta-carotene, E and K along with minerals like magnesium, calcium and selenium. The cattle just ate healthier food -- the food it was designed for. Grass-fed animals eat a huge variety of grasses, with a wide variety of nutrients. You are what you eat and so are they. Did the animal you are eating consume healthy, vital and varied pasture-land or did it eat genetically modified soy and corn raised in fallow land replete with petroleum fertilizer?
For those of you who have purchased our beef or those of you considering it, I have provided 2 videos today. One of them explains how to cut up some of the simple primal cuts you will see, like rib-eye or New York steak. The second demonstrates how to take apart and cut up the top sirloin, a "multi-layered" piece of meat.
Happy eating!
Today's Workout
Complete As Many Rounds As Possible in 12 minutes of
100 Double Unders
10 Handstand Push-ups
Posted by Becca Borawski :
Wednesday, Mar 28, 2012
Why do you work out? What's the point?
Do you do it to lose weight? To get ready for a competition? For longevity? To better yourself at your sport of choice?
What's the point? Can you answer that question? And if not, maybe you should stop and think about that. Would you ever go on a road trip without having at least a general idea of your destination? Maybe you take side trips and unexpected turns, but you have a general idea of why you got in the car to begin with.
Do you know why you showed up in the gym? Maybe you knew on day one, but you haven't thought about it in a while. Do you have a purpose and does your training have a purpose?
Or maybe, and this is what I've discovered over the last six months, the purpose you've always functioned under isn't the right one anymore. Maybe it's time to reassess the end point to see if it still matches the rest of your life. Are you training like you're competing, even when you're not? Did you say you wanted to lose weight and then forgot all about the nutrition part?
Think about why you show up in the gym. Think about your general direction. Does it all make sense? And what's the point?
Today's Workout
Max Effort Box Squat - work up to a heavy single
“Cookie”
500m row, for time
Posted by Andy Petranek :
Tuesday, Mar 27, 2012
ATHLETE PROFILE: Leland A.
Hometown: Hampton, VA
Age: 39
Occupation: Writer
When did you first start CrossFitting?: May, 2011
When did you first start training at CFLA?: June, 2011
Favorite WOD: All of them
Least Favorite WOD: Any one I can't finish
Tell us about you sports & fitness background: Prep school stud, i.e. slightly faster, stronger and more coordinated than the soft, middling offspring of my social betters. From a family of academics so organized sports were frowned upon. A few thousand man hours of pick up basketball through my college years and early 20's. As I got older I moved to yoga and stuck with that for about 7-8 years then kind of fell into a state of general disrepair. Then my stupid friends tricked me into CrossFit so now I'm doing that and I'm swimming and playing tennis and hiking and I don't know what's wrong with me.
How did you first get exposed to CrossFit? Take us back to your first WOD... what was it, and how did it feel? Someone I thought was a good friend suggested I come by and look at a Fight Gone Bad. I was leery but I went and despite seeing what a FGB was I decided to try a class anyway. It was... challenging. I made it about a block down the street after the warm up and I had to take a knee, two actually. "How did it feel?" Hmm, it was more an absence of feeling really as by that point a good deal of my central nervous system had shut down out of sheer self-preservation. That I was unwilling to continue was moot as I was also unable to continue. That pretty well sums it up.
What sort of changes have you seen in your body, health and fitness since starting CF (before/after)? Once I hit my stride, I definitely had a Wolverine type sensation going on. I convinced myself I was stronger and had greater endurance. People have commented that I'm an even more impressive physical specimen now but I couldn't really say. CrossFit definitely made it easier to incorporate a higher level of fitness into my lifestyle. It's helped me realize how much I enjoy being active and physically capable and how my outside activities can complement my CrossFit training and vice versa.
What sort of changes in your life have you experienced out of taking on something like CrossFit that were totally unexpected? The biggest change I've noticed is the ability to push through pain or discomfort or good old fashioned "I don't fell like doing this". As I lifelong disciple of the Church of Whatevs it's a great feeling to know that your body can keep going even though your mind is telling you to quit.
Please share with us any favorite CrossFit / CFLA moments: The end of any class where I just finished doing something that sounded impossible at the beginning of class. I love walking into class and reading some strange new acronym on the board and learning what fresh hell is about to be unleashed. And running down the street carrying a 25lb plate under my arm like a Christmas ham. That was hilarious.
Any advice for people just getting started? Doesn't matter who you are or your current level of fitness. You can do CrossFit and if you put in the work you too can do as a warm up what a sane person would call a week's worth of exercise.
What are your hobbies, interests and/or talents outside of CrossFit? I play tennis and Call of Duty religiously with my girlfriend (jealous?). I love to swim. I like old movies and comic books. I like food and watching shows about food. Oh and beer. I like beer. A lot.
Today's Workout
Squat Snatch 5-5-5-5-5 (135/95)
- Start each set of 5 reps every 2:30.
- At 11:30 on the continuously running clock, start a 1 Mile Run for time.
Posted by Andy Petranek :
Monday, Mar 26, 2012
Something marvelous has happened each year for the past two right around this time. Our community has come together, committed together, trained together, fought together, bled together, failed together, succeeded together. We've been well, been sick, been healthy, been injured, been strong, been weak, been invincible, been human. And through it all we've stuck together as a group of committed people, moving in one direction, each living our own lives while coming together each week to do something extraordinary. For the second year in a row, by the skin on our teeth, Team CFLA has qualified for the 2012 CrossFit Games Regionals!
And by TEAM, I mean ALL of us... all 350 CFLA members, 78 who registered for the CrossFit Games Open, 52 who have been participating as part of our Team since September... we couldn't have done this without ALL of you! We finished the Open in 28th place (one place better than last year). The top three male and female scores counted for our team score/ranking each week, and over the course of the five-week Open, we used a combination of scores from 15 different athletes (8 men and 7 women), including Zach, Lacie, Logan, Shirley, Sam, Annita, Danny, Tanya, Jonesy, Lauren, Eli, Lindsey, Kenny, Hacker, and Andy. And of course, none of this would be happening quite the way it is were it not for our Team CFLA Coach - Kenny Kane!
Big shout out to our sponsor, Original Nutritionals, and the place our athletes and members go to keep us in top shape - the International Sports Performance Institute.
See you at Regionals - May 11-13, Pomona Fairplex!
Coach Kenny Kane
Today's Workout
20-minutes of muscle up skill work
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Five rounds for time of:
3 Muscle Ups
6 Deadlifts (315/225)
9 Weighted & Anchored Situps (25/15)
Posted by Andy Petranek :
Friday, Mar 23, 2012
I had the most incredible experience last week at Disneyland. Being the fifth week of the Whole Life Challenge, and not wanting to "waste" my 3 precious nutrition points on crappy Disneyland food, I decided at about 8pm Thursday night to create a plan. Mind you on any "normal" Disneyland jaunt, I wouldn't dream of planning... I'd just go, and make the best all the bad choices. So at 8pm that night, I hopped in my car for a quick trip to Whole Foods - THAT was my plan... get there and hope to be inspired.
Upon walking in, I thought to myself, where will my protein come from. Got it... rotisserie chicken (one with no added sugar listed as an ingredient). Next up... fat. I found a bag of cashews and then remembered how much I love avocados. OK... one of those too. Then last but not least, carbs... grabbed two apples and a medium container of a mixed cucumber/tomato/onion salad. Voilla! I also picked up an insulated bag to keep things cold for at least half the day, plus a gallon of water to make sure I stayed hydrated.
After a great breakfast the next morning, we arrived at Disneyland around 9:30 am. By 6 pm, after two trips on Splash Mountain, two adventures on Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Teacups, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Autopia, and a walk through Snow White's Castle, I was still going strong. THAT was something really different! My visits to Disneyland in the past had always resulted in a gradual decrease in my energy over the course of the day so that by dinner time, I was totally wasted... wondering how in the heck I was going to drive home. Not today. In fact, I recall several times during the day feeling almost super-human. I had this strange sensation that I was somehow cheating... that I had an unfair advantage over the thousands of "poor folks" around me that were eating all sorts of junk Disney food and feeling like crap.
So if you're taking a trip to a place with poor food choices, get yourself to Whole Foods no later than 9pm the night before, and create a plan for the next day. It's actually really easy... and the payoff is huge! If you've had a similar experience, please share in comments.
Today's Workout
Part 1: TASK
Complete as many rounds as possible in 7 minutes of:
5 Burpees
10 Box Jumps (24/20)
7 min rest
Part 2: TIME
Complete the number of reps from your score in Part 1, for time.
- For example, if you completed 6 rounds and 5 burpees in Part 1; in Part 2, you will race against the clock to see if you can complete the 6 rounds and 5 burpees from Part 1, in less time.
