post by The Dragon Lady

Wow! That sounds really harsh. Let me unpack this statement. I am here to support you. As your coach, I am here to cheer you on as you fight for that first pull-up or your last rep.

The issue of “student to coach” friendships isn’t as cut and dry as you might think. It can be tricky to maintain the professional distance required to coach you if we’ve become “buddies” in the gym. Other affiliates think this is okay and don’t see a problem with it, but the problem is it can create cliques or a subculture which is divisive and is the exact opposite of the community environment we work hard to facilitate at CFM Krav Maga. These types of friendships inside the gym can be perceived as favoritism and this usually leads to people feeling left out.
I like you. I really do. I am excited to help you identify and achieve your goals. It is so cool to watch you discover strengths and abilities you only dreamed you’d someday have. But you hired me to be your coach and I intend to be the best coach I can be.

We want everyone who joins our school to feel welcome and included every time they walk in the door. CFM Krav Maga is not about one person. It’s not about Mike or me. It’s not the Erika Show. We don’t have any star athletes or people to place on a pedestal. We don’t have a second class student community and we won’t think you are weak if you don’t choose to compete.

I’m not your buddy, I am your coach...now pick up that bar.





Weighted Knee Ups
5 Sets of 10 Seconds Each

Strength
Shoulder Press

3 sets of 5 @40%
use a 3-1-5 tempo on warm up sets
Then
3@70% - 3@ 80% - 3+@ 90%

MetCon
4 Rounds Of:
5 Clean & Jerk @85%
10 pull Ups
15 Squats

High intensity workouts are lots of fun and you can reap great
benefits from them. It’s these high intensity workouts that has
given CrossFit such notoriety. Unfortunately there is also a
dark side to this kind of training. High intensity workouts
especially if they last more than fifteen minutes, can take a toll
on ones body without proper rest intervals.

Sometimes that rest needs to be just that, a complete break
from exercise but usually just slowing things down a bit will
suffice. You could do a slower paced strength workout or a
workout that has rest periods between short medium intensity
work periods also works nicely. I recently posted just such a
workout and it was not scored or tracked on the white board
except for names, everyone was able to relax a little and
slow down a bit.
I was actually surprised at how many students commented
that they enjoyed being able to slow down and
not feel like they needed to leave everything on the floor. I
actually had a coach tell me that they felt everyone should
be crushing themselves five days a week in CrossFit, I
think most people should be doing CrossFit four to five
times per week but not crushing themselves everyday

How about injuries? Well going to high on the intensity
meter before developing the proper skill and basic strength
can be a recipe for disaster. We encourage our clients to
learn the basic skills and continue to develop those skills
so they can get as much out of CrossFit as possible. I
encourage everyone to take advantage of all of the
supporting classes offered at CFM. We have a world class
Olympic lifter behind our Olympic lifting program and our
Kettlebell program is headed by the most qualified Girevoy
coach in the central valley. Starting next week our
beginning will be basic strength and skill development
classes, be sure to check the schedule for times and
keep an eye on this blog for the posted strength / skill
WOD’s.

Patrick Mcaninch Showing Off His Mad Magician Skills

Workout Of The Day

Weighted Dips (ring or bar) 
  5-5-3-3-1

  MetCon:
50 Sit Ups  
Karen:150 WallBalls
50 back extensions

We do a lot of squats in CrossFit. If you’ve been in the Olympic Lifting class with Alan or I, you’re doing a lot of front squats either slow-count or as a part of the squat clean. In this article (http://www.theironsamurai.com/2011/06/30/are-back-squats-really-necessary-the-legs-hips-and-ass-issue/) the author argues that back squats are a good exercise, but they aren’t exactly GREAT. He says it’s a jack-of-all-trades sort of a lift and I have to say after reading it, I just might agree with him. Read it and post to comments what your thoughts are on the matter. P.S. I’m not so sure about how I feel about those weighted hip thrusts...

Now, to the second point of this article: if you’re doing a lot of squatting, you better be doing a lot of mobilizing and recovery. For those of you who attended the Mobility and Recovery Skill Clinic, the COUCH STRETCH we showed, is a GREAT stretch for those tight hip flexors and sore quads. Another good thing to do is to take a lacrosse ball, lay on top of it, and work it into the hip flexors. It’s painful, but it definitely loosens you up.

For more mobility tips, tools, and tricks, visit http://www.mobilitywod.com.


Lola Showing Her Jump Rope Skills
If you want to learn to jump rope like Lola then you might want to come to the Jan 30 Jump Rope skill Clinic

Skill:
Side Plank Hold
3 Sets 1min on 30 sec rest each side

Strength:
Dead Lift
warm up 3x5 @ 40-50%
3@70% - 3@80% - 3+@90%

MetCon;
3 Rounds Of:
15 DeadLift @ 50% 1RM
15 box Jump 24/30”
200 meter Sprint

We have had several changes at CrossFit Modesto over the
past few months and it seems that some of those changes
allowed for new growth. We have successfully launched a
Kettlebell program as well as an Olympic lifting program.
Both have been met with open arms by the current clients
who see the value of these new classes and are enjoying the
new skills they are learning. Guess what? We have more
coming soon. We will be adding several basic strength classes.
These classes will focus on building the foundational strength
needed to perform CrossFit workouts with greater efficiency.

Our newly expanded skill clinic series schedule has also been
a huge success with clinics filling up every week. This week
was no exception with a packed house taking notes on
nutrition as CrossFit Modesto coach Erika Bucheli explained
the nuts and bolts of the Paleo, Primal and Zone eating plans.
We will also be starting a new Paleo challenge in a few weeks.
This challenge will have more to offer than fat loss and improved
performance. All participants will have the chance to win CASH
and some very cool prizes. How cool? Way cool! I won't give all
of the details but there will be several hundred dollars in
training gear up for grabs.


5PM Kettlebell Class


6:30 Nutrition Skill Clinic

10 min Foam Roll
Quads - hams - Calves

With a constantly running clock

3 min DBL Unders
2 min Rest
3 rnds max rep KB Swings
2 Min Rest
3 Min Toes To Bar
2 Min Rest
3 rnds max rep Push ups

Foam Roll

By: Erika Bucheli

Billy and I had the opportunity to help out at The Garage Games at Lalanne Fitness in San Francisco on Saturday. We woke up at 3:30, left at 4 and arrived bright and early in San Francisco at 6 am. From there, Billy and I did not stop moving until 1:30 pm, when the competition ended. It was an action-packed day and really awesome to work behind-the-scenes. Maribel and Chris LaLanne really know how to run a great event.

Among the competitors was Annie Sakamoto, a CrossFit Original Nasty Girl and also the recipient of the Spirit of the CrossFit Games award in 2011. I had the honor of judging/coaching her through one of the events and Billy got to stack her 25# plates in the final workout. Annie is a great representation of what a true competitor is. She carried herself with grace and humility. About five minutes before the workout started that I judged her on, a young kid came up to her to say hi and tell her good luck. At a time when many athletes might be irritated that some was "breaking their concentration", Annie beamed at him and thanked him for coming out. She danced to Kanye West, she even joked during the precious 2 minute rest before the 2000 meter row event. She looked comfortable and made EVERYTHING look easy. You could tell she was having fun.

If you'd like to experience the thrill of competition, The CrossFit Games Sectionals will be happening in a few short weeks. We will dedicate one day a week to the Sectional workouts so that even if you're not interested in competing in CrossFit competitions, you can still participate in the workouts. We have a few surprises up our sleeves for the people who participate. We'll keep you updated on it

REMINDER: The Nutrition Skill Clinic is tomorrow at 6:30 pm. PLEASE, if you plan on attending RSVP to the event. There are only a few spaces left and I am only bring enough materials for those who have RSVP'd. You will miss out if you show up without RSVPing first. So don't miss out! Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to claim your spot.


Ladies Max Snatch Heat; Photo Courtesy of Maribel LaLanne

January 16th, 2012

Skill:
Strict Pull Ups
3 sets of 5

If unable to do strict, use bands or the negative

Strength:
Front Squat
3x5 @ 50% [warm up sets]
3@70%-3@80%-3+@90%

MetCon:
21-15-9
OH Squats
Lateral Bar Burpees

*DON'T GO HEAVY ON OHS*