Maybe I have World Cup fever or maybe it's because Vision Quest was one of the great sports movies of the 80's (in my mind, anyway), but this is one of my favorite speeches about the power of sport. If you've never seen the movie here's the rundown: Louden Swain, played by a young and pretty fit Matthew Modine, is about to wrestle the match of his life against "The Schute". He's been building it up for months, and using Elmo, a cook at the hotel where Louden works, as his sounding board. Louden is starting to doubt himself. Enjoy!


Crossfit makes me feel this way.

Workout Of The Day

Strength/Skill
Front Squat
5-3-3-1-1-Heavy 5

Metcon
AMRAP 12
6 Thrusters 95/65
12 Pullups
24 Double Unders

I recently had my 5 year anniversary with Crossfit. I found out about Crossfit from my brother on July 4, 2006, and did my first WOD on July 5, 2006. I was given a couple of warnings by my brother: you'll have to squat a lot, do pullups where kipping is allowed, and you'll never bench press again. He was right about the squatting and the pullups. But if you review my first month, bench pressing came up 4 times! This is a ton of benching for a Crossfitter! It was probably good for my entry, as I benched a lot at the time and was pretty good at it. I did Crossfit at a "globo-gym" in Brooklyn, NY, following the mainsite to the best of my ability, for 2 years by myself before I moved out to Modesto.

More important to when I started Crossfit is why. On July 3, 2006, Alison and I took our two young kids to a Thomas the Train fair in Amish country in Pennsylvania. We had spent the last 2 years living in, and enjoying NYC. We ate different foods at great restaurants. I was working a lot, traveling the world through work, drinking after work with colleagues, and generally enjoying life. I was still training, but my consistency was not there, and truthfully, I wasn't working that hard. Generally, I'd lift heavy stuff, then I may or may not get on the elliptical. I was getting fat. In May of that year, my doctor told me at a physical that I should think about losing 5 pounds.

I decided that I would start running to lose weight. The only problem is I hate running, and I didn't really want to be a skinny, weak runner guy. So I didn't really attack my new fitness plan with the vigor I should have.

That day in Amish country was close to 100 degrees with probably 80% humidity, with no shade in sight. I'm not going to speak for Alison, but I was a hot, fat, sweaty mess. My energy levels were all over the place. The only relief was some lemonade they were selling, and I probably drank 3 of em in 3 or 4 hours. For those of you that are educated on the effects of insulin, you have an idea of what was going on here. My kids were running around, I was realizing I was having a hard time keeping up. At the end of the day, I was exhausted: from the heat, the walking around chasing kids, and the insulin roller coaster.

The next day, the 4th of July, my brother got into town. He was going through SEAL training, and he explained to me that Crossfit was what they were doing. He showed me the website, kind of explained the workouts (that they were timed, with a focus on full body, compound movements) and explained that they'll post a new workout everyday. I went back to the gym the next day and did the row/bench WOD posted (my gym had 1 Concept 2 rower that no one ever used). Like many of our first experiences with Crossfit, I was a sweaty mess, and my vision was messed up. It was awesome! I was hooked right there, and decided this was my new fitness program.

I had some rudimentary knowledge of the movements, and no real concept of nutrition. All that stuff has come over the last 5 years

This week, I took my kids to Yosemite and we spent the day running, climbing and exploring one of the most beautiful places on Earth. If I would have continued on the road I was on, I'm sure I would take the kids to places like Yosemite. I'm not sure I would have participated in the fun the way I would have wanted to.


Back in July 2006, 2 days before Crossfit. We're all a little heavier looking.


Five years later.

Workout Of The Day
5 RFT
15 Sumodeadlift Highpulls 95/65
Barbell Overhead Walk
15 Box Jumps

The Bamboo Cage - Immobilization and Muscle Pain. A different take on why we need to mobilize and move our muscles.

The Science of Toning Shoes from NYT. I've posted on these type of shoes before. The claims these shoe companies make seemed dubious from the start, and later reports (coming from lawsuits) claimed the shoes caused greater damage. This article tempers both sides of the argument. My $.02: these type of shoes do not enhance athletic performance, help strengthen muscles or burn more calories. The instability they provide makes an unsafe platform for your feet. Leave em alone.

The End of the Line. Worldwide consumption of fish is one the rise. And the oceans might have a tough time with the demand. That makes me think of this. Are you a fish eater? Post to comments.





Workout Of The Day

5 RFT
Run 400m
20 Deadlift 145/95
20 Pushups
10 Deadlift 145/95
10 Pushups
Pushups are standard. Chest to deck, press to full extension.

Our "strength" session will be a little different today. Once again, many of your strength numbers are going through the roof. On Tuesday, a relatively slow day, we had several 300# plus back squats. On Monday, we had several 200# plus Cleans. Great numbers! I want to make sure we are getting the gymnastic and body control training to go with our huge, and constantly improving strength numbers. Second, I want to give the body a break from the barbell, but still work the body.

For Thursday's session, we'll work on Turkish Get Ups and Handstand positions. Np pressure of a clock. Take your time getting into the positions, and get comfortable with them. For the handstands, use the wall if needed. Try parallettes if you're feeling froggy.

5 Barbell Rules. Even though we're not messing with the barbell today, it's important to respect it's power.



Workout Of The Day

Strength/Skill
For 20 minutes, practice the following 2 movements
Handstands (Practice the position, HS pushups, HS walks. Cartwheels. Be creative)
Turkish Get Ups (TGU), work on sets of 3-5, try to build weight from last session

Metcon
AMRAP 15
30 Double Unders
20 Walking Lunge Steps
10 Getups (w/ plate, 25#/10#)
1 Rope Climb
(Sub 3 body pulls for 1 rope climb)

The Cortisol Connection by Shawn Talbot. Cortisol is the "stress hormone". Cortisol is good for you, but needs to be kept in check, much like cholesterol or insulin. My knowledge of cortisol is basic, but simply: cortisol is good before an effort, and bad after. The "stress", or anticipation for an event (be it a WOD, a public speaking engagement, etc) prepares you and readies your body. After the effort, elevated cortisol levels can lead to other maladies.

Michelle Vieux of Crossfit Invictus explains here experiences with IBS and how controlling cortisol levels helped her.


Bob W snatching. Bob is a tall dude, and has to move that bar a long way…

Workout Of The Day

Strength/Skill
Snatch
1-1-1
Build to a heavy single

Snatch Pulls
3-3-3

Metcon
"Randy"
75 Snatches for time
Men - 75, Ladies - 55