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

How did everyone like today's workout? If you didn't see the
facebook post, that little gem of a tabata workout was
affectionately referred to as "Tabata I Wanna Puke" by Adele.
Nice work to everyone who completed it. It was very cool to
see the effort everyone put forth. Hope you all went home and
had a nice breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

In other news, CrossFit Modesto has some announcements:

**WE WILL BE CLOSED THANKSGIVING WEEKEND**
**NO CLASS THANKSGIVING DAY**
**OPEN GYM ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25TH 10 AM - 12 PM**


Turkey Gone Bad - Wednesday, November 23rd at 5:30 PM
Morning Classes, Only Afternoon Class

12 Days of CrossFit - November 28th - December 31st
Celebrate the Christmas Season with 12 Mystery Benchmarks!

Holiday Brunch at the Houchens' House - December 11th 2 PM - 4 PM
Sign up at the gym for a dish to bring!

The 12th Day of CrossFit - December 31st 10 AM
Celebrate the last day of the year with us!


Monique's been with us for about three weeks now. Look at that great swing!

Workout Of The Day

Strength
Push Press
5@ 40% - 5@ 50% - 5@ 60%

MetCon
21 Dead Lift
200 Run Meter
21 Hang Pwr Clean
200 Meter Run
21 Push Press
200 Meter Run

"80% of success is just showing up." - Woody Allen

I don't particularly like Woody Allen and I have never liked his
movies, but this quote is excellent.

How do you motivate yourself to train when you don't feel
like it? I have asked myself this question many times and
I think that I am not alone.

There have been many times and many reasons I "fell
off the CrossFit training wagon". Some of those reasons
include: health issues, injury, and overtraining. Sometimes it was gym and/or
family obligations. In some instances, I needed to push
through a challenge and didn't. And I am an affiliate
owner and a coach! It happens. If you feel you are
disconnected from your training, don't lose hope and
don't beat yourself up.

There are going to be seasons in your training when you
feel everything is spot on. Training is great, you're making
progress on your athletic skills, you are excited,
getting stronger and staying motivated seems effortless.
On the flip side, there will be times when your training
routine becomes stale, you're bored and boredom is a
motivation killer.

Let me suggest a few ways to motivate yourself if you
are in this situation.

Ask a Coach: As a CrossFit Modesto student, you have
coaches here to help you reach your goals. If you are
stuck, ask them to help you.

Create a new Goal or Challenge: Sign up for the
upcoming Mud Run in Lathrop, enter a competition, run
in Knight's Ferry, get out of your day to day environment
and try something new! Put your CrossFit training to
good use.

Review your Goals: What? No Goals?
If you don't have a definable Goal in mind and the steps
necessary to get there, you aren't going to stay motivated.
Most of you had a goal when you got here. Maybe it's time
to review the old and set some new goals. That in itself
can be very motivating.

Need more help? I recommend the Mind Gym - An athletes
guide to Inner Excellence, by Gary Mack, or if you like a more
hands on experience, Check out the new CrossFit Goal Setting Course developed with
Greg Amundson the original firebreather. If you aren't
familiar with him, check out some of his articles in the
CrossFit Journal.

At the very least, just show up. Remember: Woody says
that's 80% of the battle. Expect good things to happen.
Get out there!

Workout Of The Day

8 rounds Tabata Kettlebell Swings 20 sec on, 10 sec off
rest 1 min
8 Rounds Tabata OH Plate Lunges
Rest 1 min
8 Rounds Tabata Toe 2 Bar
Rest 1 Min
8 Rounds Tabata push ups w/ hands on plates