Well, the Crossfit Games took it to another level. The swim event has become a 200m Ocean swim to start and finish a "Murph"-esque event. People have been very critical of the event. Fair or unfair? Personally, I love it. For anyone that has done some ocean swimming (and for many of you being from Cali, you're lucky) know there's a big difference between a clean pool and the ocean. If this accomplishes anything, it shows that you can challenge the human body in such interesting, but simple ways. The Crossfit Games have shown us that not only are the barbell, dumbbell, etc ways to build your fitness; but a wheel barrow, a choppy ocean, a sandy beach or a sledge hammer can accomplish that task.

Any interest in a Crossfit team event at Crossfit Moxie? September 10th (the week before the Tough Mudder) in San Jose.



Workout Of The Day
21 Deadlift 225/155
21 Hand Release Pushups
150 Yard Shuttle Run
15 Deadlift
15 Hand Release Pishups
100 Yard Shuttle Run
9 Deadlift
9 Hand Release Pushups
50 Yard Shuttle
1 "lap" of shuttle run is 25 yards.

Swim Test! The Crossfit Games start Friday, and on Wednesday night, the athletes have to perform a swim test to demonstrate "competency in the water". It's hard to argue against the inclusion of swimming in a test of the fittest man or woman alive. Swimming is the main event in the first week of the Summer Olympics, and the triathlon considers swimming to be as important for the endurance athlete as running or biking. We have some pretty good swimmers at CF Modesto. Have any of you swimmers integrated Crossfit-style workouts into your pool work? Post experiences to comments.

Higher Standards from 70s Big. This article is for the ladies, but the thoughts are applicable to all of us. Don't measure yourself against the weak or mediocre!

Freddy C. of Crossfit One World explains the proper spotting for a back squat.

How to spot the squat. from crossfitoneworld on Vimeo.

Workout Of The Day

Strength
Back Squat
5-3-3-1-1-Heavy 5

Metcon
5 RFT
15 Medicine Ball Cleans
15 Wall Ball Shots
Men - Red, Ladies - Blue

The Crossfit Games have announced the workouts for the Master's Divisions. These workouts look like they are no joke. In particular, WOD 4 looks memorable. Keep an eye on the Crossfit Games this weekend, for the workouts alone. This is when Crossfit drops their most interesting and challenging tests. It's gotten better every year, as the guys and gals at HQ have better defined their ideas of fitness, and how to test it.

We'll be working with the Sumo deadlift today. The "sumo" refers to the wide stance used for the lift. The hands are inside the legs. Generally, you can sumo deadlift more weight than you can deadlift conventionally. As far as I can recall, we have never used this lift in the gym. I would like to familiarize ourselves with this version of the lift, as it can help train the body to move more weight.

Below is a video of Dave Tate (from Elite FTS) explaining deadlifitng technique. Among other things, Tate shows the difference between a conventional deadlift and the sumo deadlift.

Pay particular attention at 1:30, when Tate explains a common deadlift fault. We see this fault, which I call a "back lever", mostly in hip rep deadlift workouts. It's a less efficient way to move the barbell. And it can leave you very sore. ESPECIALLY if you return the barbell to the ground using the "back lever"!

Workout Of The Day

Strength
Sumo Deadlift
5-5-5

Metcon
AMRAP 10
10 Sumo Deadlift Highpulls (SDHP) 95/65
15 Pullups
20 Situps

2 epic posts from James Fitzgerald, aka OPT. James fashions himself and his followers as higher level fitness thinkers. I tend to agree, but his grammar and punctuation are worse than mine!

The first is basically a list of every diet that he may recommend, and why, for a client.

Second, James does a tremendous job programming for "the sport of fitness". After the Games, he will start breaking his blog into 3 phases, which means 3 different workouts will be posted depending on goals and ability levels.

Forearm pain is one of those nuisances that we hear about a lot. With all the gripping, pulling and racking we do, our forearms take a beating. Just recently, I've talked about forearm tendinitis/athletes elbow a handful of times. Since I've started mobilization, I intuitively used the lacrosse ball on my forearms (but probably not as much as I should). But check out this video, then starting digging objects into your forearms, move your wrist on fingers, and mobilize your tissue.


Workout Of The Day

Strength
Clean
1-1-1

Clean Pulls
3-3-3

Metcon
AMRAP 9
15 Cleans 135/83
40 Walking Lunges
15 Jerks 135/83
40 Squats
Use your "Grace" Challenge weight.

The Crossfit Games are this weekend! Expect some mainstream attention…like in the Economist? I used to read the Economist, but not so much anymore. Any Economist readers out there? Post to comments.

Forbes follows up on the Games, and the growth of Crossfit as a sport and a brand, this year.

The Games will be streaming on the Crossfit Games site, but ESPN3 will be streaming them as well.

We're going to change up some of the Olympic Lift training, starting this week. As a gym, we are pretty damn good at pulling the barbell. Now is time to start getting good a getting UNDER the barbell after we pull it. I don't know if the there is a better way to practice this skill than the Snatch Balance.

You may get to the Snatch Balance 2 ways.
1. From the rack. Just like a back squat. I prefer this when I am trying to move largest loads, as you are not expending too much energy getting into a position to lift.
2. From the floor. You'll need to get the barbell to your back, either by snatching or cleaning, jerking, and moving to your back. I like doing this from time to time, as it requires more work.



Workout Of The Day

Strength
Snatch
1-1-1

Snatch Balance
3-3-3

Metcon
AMRAP 11
7 Snatch 95/65
14 Pushups (Standard)
21 Lateral jumps over barbell