Today is day One of the Twelve days of CrossFit and
what does CrossFit Modesto have in store for you? well
all I am going to say is it's a Hero WOD and it lasts for
Twenty minutes. If you want to know more then you will
have to come in and be prepared to do the workout.

What is the Twelve days of CrossFit?
Between today and December 31st we will program a total
of Twelve CrossFit benchmark WOD's, we won't tell when
they will come up or which benchmarks will be programmed.
On the last day, Saturday December 31st we will do our 12th
benchmark and then have a little get together with food and
drinks . We will also be giving out prizes for those that make
it to the most days.

Why do this? Simple December is typically a month when many
people slack off in the gym and we are just trying to create a
little extra motivation.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I would have to
say this was the best Thanksgiving our family has had for
several years. For me it was the first time it really felt like
Thanksgiving since the passing of my mother. Hopefully
Christmas will be just as enjoyable. Mia has informed me she
wants a cornet and roller skates with flowers on them, the
skates I understand but I was a bit surprised about the cornet.

Ok, everyone should be well rested, so lets knock out this hero
WOD and move forward.



A picture from the archives

Well it’s that time again.  This will be the third year we have
held Turkey Gone Bad. I think that makes it a CrossFit
Modesto tradition. For those of you who have not attended
Turkey Gone Bad before, all I can say is it’s Fight Gone Bad
meets pumpkin pie. Sound like fun?

On another note we have gone over the data from the
performance testing WOD’s we performed on October 23
and then again on Monday. About 90% of those who
participated in both had an increase of performance. With
those results along with the 10 back squat PR’s
from Tuesday, I would have to say that last months programing
has been a success. We will be starting the next programing
cycle next week and conducting another performance test.
The next performance test will be more of a strength biased
test.

 

Workout Of The Day

Fight Gone Bad

3 rounds of:
1 minute of Rowing for calories
1 minute of Push Press 75/55
1 minute of Box Jumps
1 minute of SDHP 75/55
1 minute of wall balls
1 minute rest

add up all reps

Over the course of the past few months I have been testing various compression gear for different reasons. Some of these reasons are: recovery, injury prevention, and increased physical performance. Shin splints are really where it all started for me though. My solution was to give this compression gear fad a try.

Compression gear cuts down the amount of vibration in your muscles as you workout. Muscle vibration, or oscillation, is a major cause of fatigue during workouts. Since wearing compression tights, socks, calf sleeves, and/or arm sleeves, I don't fatigue as fast and wearing them both during and after working out, I have noticeably less soreness in the following days of a tough WOD. Most of the items I have bought are all available on Amazon, just make sure that you visit the manufacturer's websites and take the proper measurements so as to get the proper fit.

My quest for more compression gear has not ended...you don't want to see my Amazon Wish List!

Some brands Chris has tried:
CEP
2XU
CW-X
SKINS

If you're interested in knowing which products Chris uses or have any questions, feel free to email Chris at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Does anyone else use compression gear? Let us know!


Chris testing his compression gear during Saturday's WOD

Workout Of The Day

Strength
Back Squat - Find one rep max

Warm up with 3 sets of 3-5 reps at 40-60% of your previous one rep max. Take plenty of rest in between each set.

Metcon
7 Rounds:
7 Thrusters
7 Burpees

This workout should take LESS THAN 10 MINUTES. Choose a moderately heavy thruster weight.

For those of you wondering where my name has gone
on the whiteboard, I have taken a break from the CrossFit
metcons to increase my strength and work on my
gymnastic/miscellaneous skills in preparation for the CrossFit
Games Sectionals coming up in February. If you thought I was
slacking off, no worries, I’m training 6 out of 7 days of the week.

Because of this, I have made mobility and recovery a PRIORITY.
How many of you eat at least three times a day, every day?
That’s how much time I dedicate to helping my body recover.

Recently, I have made soaking in EPSOM SALT
(the scientific name is “magnesium sulfate”) baths
something I do almost every night. Did you know that soaking
in epsom salt can reduce inflammation, relieve stress, and
“improve formation of joint proteins, brain tissue and mucin
proteins”? Sounds good, right?

I have noticed that combining the epsom salt baths with
yoga stretches (3x or more a week), rolling with my foam
roller and using my stick that I bought from ONTHERUN,
that I'm not sore and feel fantastic. I do A LOT OF SQUATS in
the form of hang squat cleans, hang squat snatches, back
squats, front squats, box step ups, lunges, etc., and my hips
and legs feel great. When I’m not sore, I’m able to perform
better, squat better, lift heavier weight, and get stronger.

Epsom salt is CHEAP and EASY TO USE. I picked up two bags
at Wal-Mart for about $8. I bought lavender and peppermint
scents, but for you manly-men, there’s also just plain old
epsom salt that doesn’t smell like anything. Once you get it
home, you pour some in the tub and soak. It’s that simple!

For more information on the benefits of using Epson Salt

For info on mobility:
www.mobilitywod.com
or (Thank Patrick for this one!)

Anybody else using epsom salt in their recovery? Got
another mobility habit you’d like to share? Post to comments
or on the CrossFit Modesto facebook wall. We love to read
what others find.


Bryan and Gabriel of ONTHERUN with mobility tool "THE STICK" and a cool pair of New Balances

Workout Of The Day



400 Meter run
60 KB Swings
200 meter run
50 Box Jumps
100 meter run
40 push ups
50 meter run
30 thrusters 45/33

Yes if this looks familiar it's because we did this a month
ago, we are redoing it to see what kind of improvement
or lack of we have seen in the last month. The data from
these test WOD's will help us to improve programing
based on the results.

Have any CFM crossfiters woke up the morning after crushing
Murph, or grinding out Grace, only to discover that you can’t
pick up a coffee cup? The outside of your elbow hurts like the
dickens, and if feels like someone stabbed you there with an
ice pick. Welcome to tennis elbow hell. AKA lateral
epicondylitis. If you’re not careful, this could deteriorate into
a 6-month crossfit-limiting injury. Not good.

I’ve been experimenting with a few training aids and tools to help
actively recover and strengthen my forearms, with an emphasis
on grip strength. Disclosure: Based on my (limited) personal
experience, nothing beats (crossfit) ring work and rock climbing
for improving your grip strength. These training aids are just
intended to augment crossfit work and help with active recovery
of your forearms.

1: I can’t recommend highly enough the Thera-band Flexbar
Hand Exerciser. You do 3 sets of 15 reps each day (I do it as
part of my daily stretching routine), and it really actively
“massages” your elbow tendons and forearms. Different colors
represent different tension strengths, so choose carefully. Be
sure to do both types of flex-bar stretches demonstrated here,
the exterior elbow option and the ‘golfers’ interior elbow option.

2: Gripmaster. I like this option because I can work with and
alternate hands while driving/commuting, and it’s the only one
that allows each finger to operate independently, so you can
really work your weak fingers.

3: Captains of Crush Hand Gripper Pure brute force. They
scale up to over a hundred pounds of pressure, which I think
means you can crush a canned ham with your bare hands or
something.

4: Wrist roller. You will reallllly feel this work your forearms.
Don’t cheat on the release back down to the floor, rumor has
it that is the most important part of the exercise. I built mine
for about $4.99 with pvc. One interesting option with this tool
is to use in conjunction with your rings,

If possible, I always do these exercise with my arms fully
extended, as that is the position my arms are in during
pull-ups most of the time.

If your injury is acute, use the Styrofoam cup ice massage
trick, and follow KStar’s advice on NSAIDs. (5 minutes of
active ice massage = 20 minutes of static ice pack application)

Elbows, forearms, tendons…really important to crossfit
effectiveness, so perform regular maintenance accordingly.
Good luck!

Thanks to Steve Walker for this post

Workout Of The Day


Strength
Power Clean
5@ 40% - 5@ 50% - 5@ 60%

MetCon
5 Rounds Of:
5 Pull Ups
10 Push ups
15 Med Ball Cleans

Level 2 Class will do the following workout from WOD Fest

Build Up
5 Rounds for Time :

5 Clean Thusters (weights listed below)
7 Toe 2 Bars
9 Hand Release Pushups
11 Kettlebell Swings 55/35

FB Men 115, 125,135,145,155
Open Men 95, 105,115,125,135
FB Women 65,75,85,95,105
Open Women 40,50,60,70,80