15. December 2008 by samrad.

Davis pressing.

Davis jerking.

In this age of sports superstars, it is hard to conceive of an athlete like John Davis. Davis was an American Olympic champion. A gold medalist in weightlifting in the 1948 and 1952 Games. He probably would have won the ‘44 Games too, if they hadn’t been canceled due to World War Two. Among his many feats, he was the first lifter to jerk 400#, and this was at a bodyweight the hovered near 200#. Davis also competed before the squat clean and snatch had been invented, and the bar was not allowed to brush or touch the thigh on any lift.

Davis was self coached. No coach, no trainer, no nutritionist, no masseuse, no sycophants, no agents, no posse, no video analysis of his lifts. He trained alone in a church basement on an old standard weight bar without revolving sleeves. Imagine Davis training day in and day out, year after year (he won his first world title in 1938), alone, on a concrete floor, lifting near world record weights over his head with the most primitive of equipment.

I don’t know about you, but I think it’s pretty inspiring.

Here is a pretty interesting video of Davis clean and jerking the famed Apollon train axle and wheels. The wheels weigh 366#, but also have a diameter of nearly 2 inches (that’s about as thick as the sleeve on an Olympic).

Please post thoughts to Comments.

Workout:

Find your highest box jump.

Then:

Snatch

7 sets of 3

Do the Burgener warm up, demoed here.

Then 3 progressively heavier warm up sets and then 4 working sets with all the weight you can handle for 3 reps.

Post weights to Comments.

Posted in WOD, CrossFit West Santa Cruz | No Comments »

14. December 2008 by samrad.

Vero on top of 45 inches of box and bumpers.

At CF West Santa Cruz, we like the high box jump. It is a great tool for developing explosivity, power, agility, hip flexion, and, not least, confidence. We have had several posts on some of the high box jumps done by guys at CFWSC, but never by a woman. No specific reason why, we just haven’t had a female athlete match the lads jump for jump yet. Until today. Vero landed a 45″ box jump.  In the picture above, that’s five 45#, two 10#, and one 25# bumper on top of a 24″ box.

Vero, a big congratulations to you. It is a pleasure to have you here at CF West Santa Cruz.

Workout:

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Deadlift 225/155#

Push Press 135/85#

Post time to Comments.

Posted in WOD, CrossFit West Santa Cruz | 5 Comments »

13. December 2008 by samrad.

Molly and Kyle making it look easy.

“Why front squat?”

I was asked that question today by a CFWSC athlete. And, this being CrossFit–remember the adage “The magic is in the movements, the art in the programming, and the science is in the explanation,” I actually knew the answer. Let’s see if I can do the front squat justice without getting sciency.

The front squat is performed for two big reasons, among others. First, it is an integral part of the clean, and the clean is virtually unmatched at building explosive power. It’s a simple yet convincing equation–the bigger your front squat, the more you can clean, the more you can clean, the more powerful you are.

The second compelling reason is that the front squat builds tremendous midline strength. There is really nothing like it. The barbell on a front squat is held way out in front of the body’s weightlifting centerline, which stretches from the middle of the foot up through the scapulae. The further in front of this line the weight is, the more pressure there is on the back to ‘break’, thus increasing the need for midline stability. A lifter rarely fails on a front squat due to insufficient strength to lift the weight, but rather due to lost of midline stability.

There are several cues to help maintain midline stability. They are all, as one might imagine, inter-related. The most important is high elbows. A coach is constantly exhorting his or her lifters to get those elbows up up up. High elbows mean triceps horizontal while deep in the hole. Any downward loss of high elbow integrity means that the back must take up the slack caused by the elbows dropping, and on heavy loads it simply cannot.

A lifter deep in a front squat must also keep his or her weight from coming up on the toes. If the knees come forward excessively, the lifter’s weight will transfer forward, off the heels and onto the ball of the foot. Again, this usually results in a missed lift as the back cannot cope with the increased demand for midline stability. This also happens when the elbows drop.

Another important cue for the front squat is to push the knees out. If the knees drop in towards each other, the lifter’s weight usually shifts to the inside of the foot and towards the ball. Again resulting in a missed lift as described above. Pushing the knees out not only preserves knee health, but it recruits more muscle to help with the lift, namely the muscles on the inside of the thigh.

For a much more scientifically, but quite articulately, written post from one of the CrossFit greats, Kelly Starrett, about the front squat, click here.

If you want to see what strong looks like, check out Reza rather casually front squatting 607#.

What are your experiences with the front squat? Please post to Comments.

Workout:

Front Squat

Do two very light warm up sets of 5 reps, then:

7 Sets of 3 Reps, with the final 3 or 4 sets being working sets with 3RM weight.

Then:

5 Rounds

100m Row Sprint

30 seconds rest between each sprint in which time do 10 pushups.

Post squat weight and row times to Comments.

Posted in WOD, CrossFit West Santa Cruz | No Comments »

12. December 2008 by samrad.

Big Matt working his way through Christine.

Yesterday saw the return of big Matt Schwartz. Matt was out for several months due to sickness and a string of consecutive injuries culminating in elbow surgery.

Matt first set foot in a CrossFit box years ago. He has trained with Coach Glassman, Amundson, and other top CrossFit coaches. In addition to CrossFit, Matt is an expert in kettlebell training, having received his RKC certification from Pavel Tsatsouline himself, at a time when such luminaries as Cotter, Mahler, Martone, and others where grouped under his banner. Matt knows more about strength and conditioning than most trainers, CrossFit or otherwise, and we feel that it is quite an honor that he has chosen CF West Santa Cruz as his CrossFit home.

As a neat aside, Matt somehow has in his possession the original 20kg bumper plates from the 1984 LA Olympics. Imagine the energy he is channeling when lifting those bits of history.

Welcome back Matt.

Workout:

Clean Pulls

sets of 3 reps

Put a stick across the uprights of a squat rack and keep adding weight until you can’t touch the bar to the stick. Go heavy.

Then:

Work up to a 1RM deadlift.

Then:

Ring play.

Work on your muscle up, forward roll to support, backward roll to support, inverted hang, front and back levers, skin the cat, etc. Have fun.

Post loads and movements worked to Comments.

Posted in WOD, CrossFit West Santa Cruz | 4 Comments »

11. December 2008 by samrad.

The noon class warriors.

Grace met her match today in Jocelyn. Jocelyn and Grace. A match made in heaven.

Jocelyn turned in an absolutely stunning time on Grace today. 1:44! Not only was it a 22 second improvement for her, it is also the fastest time on logsitall.com, the CrossFit record keeping website, making it one of the fastest times in the nation. And, it was only her third time doing Grace. No telling what her limit will be.

Congratulations Jocelyn. We are very proud on you.

And congratulations to Vero on her CF West Santa Cruz record Christine time today.

Workout:

Grace

30 Clean and Jerks 135/85#

Post time to Comments.

Posted in WOD, CrossFit West Santa Cruz | 3 Comments »

10. December 2008 by samrad.

Jess and Eva

Molly and Kathleen

Samantha

Thank you all for your t-shirt and hoodie orders. I am sending it in tomorrow, so if there are any changes or more orders, please let me know.

By the way, zip up hoodies are more expensive, in case anyone wants one.

I think most colors are available, but black, black like the color of Kyle’s heart, is our favorite.

These are the orders I have so far:

Kyle H- XL hoodie

Desmond- L shirt

Cliff- M hoodie

Molly- M hoodie

Derek- XL shirt, XXL hoodie

Jocelyn- S hoodie

Please post to Comments.

Workout:

AMRAP in 20 Minutes

10 Thrusters 75/55#

10 Pullups

10 GHD Situps

Post rounds completed to Comments.

Posted in CrossFit Community, WOD, CrossFit West Santa Cruz | 4 Comments »

9. December 2008 by samrad.

Cliff and Molly, reaching deep on today’s sprints

It happens all the time. An athlete bangs out a rep with a stack of bumps on either end of the bar and I ask how much weight it is, only to be answered by “umm…I don’t know.” This is not acceptable. I know that it seems like a small thing to be bitching about, especially in light of the athletic achievements that take place regularly at CF West Santa Cruz, but it is more important than you might think.

Firstly, there is the safety angle. You should always know how much weight you are attempting. To not know is simply dangerous. More importantly, however, is that not knowing how much weight a barbell is loaded with is a lack of awareness. And lack of awareness runs counter to the teachings of CrossFit. Let me explain.

How many mirrors do you see at a CrossFit gym? Usually none or very few. There certainly weren’t any at the old HQ, which was run by Coach and Lauren Glassman themselves. Why? CrossFit engenders self-awareness. Not in the Descartes/Hal sense, but in the sense of understanding your body and your movement. The absence of mirrors forces one to draw their attention in upon themselves, forces one to be aware internally rather that externally. You learn to feel whether a movement is correct or not, to critique yourself. A CrossFit trainer takes that idea one step further when he or she coaches another athlete. The trainer’s awareness and understanding of the movement and the physics underpinning the movement coupled with the ability to communicate it is a large part of what makes a good coach.

Thus, not knowing how much weight is on the bar is emblematic of a greater lack of awareness, of not being self-aware.

A huge congratulations to Jocelyn on her 128# overhead squat and to Derek for his smoking 7:52 Christine performance today. Both are new CFWSC records.

On a much more tragic note, the CrossFit community is deeply saddened by the passing of Miguel Flores from injuries sustained in a car accident. He was just 22. From all of us at CFWSC, our deepest condolences to Miguel’s family and friends, and all of our brothers and sisters who trained and sweat with him. Our hearts are with you, Miguel.

Please post thoughts to Comments.

Workout:

3 Rounds

250 Row

20 Double Unders

3 Rounds of Cindy (5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats)

Post time to Comments.

Posted in WOD, CrossFit West Santa Cruz | 3 Comments »

8. December 2008 by samrad.

This kid gymnast knows the meaning of short duration high intensity exercise.

It saddens me when I look around the gym and I see a lot of people trying hard to workout, but just not getting it. The worst may be the cardio machines. The stairmasters and ellipticals and recumbent bikes and all their ilk. In fact, stepping away on the elliptical machine for half an hour is making you fat. You see, we were hunter gatherers for the vast majority of our existence. Our last genetic adaptation took place a good 50,000 years ago. Hunter gatherers walked everywhere. These means that for the majority of our existence as homo sapiens, we walked, a lot. Our bodies are made to conserve energy during light exercise. Such as seasonal migration, or pedaling a recumbent bike while watching television or reading a magazine.

Short duration high intensity exercise is the name of the game.

I think that bears repeating.

Short duration high intensity exercise.

CrossFit.

Workout:

5 Rounds

2 100m Sprints

5 Deadlifts 80% 1RM or 5 Clean and Jerks 80% 1RM

10 Windshield Wipers

There is no time component to this WOD.

Post exercise and load to Comments.

Posted in WOD, CrossFit West Santa Cruz | 2 Comments »

7. December 2008 by samrad.

Derek and Sam, 1 hand Isabel.

Beto and Ed, pullups.

Jocelyn and Heidi, split jerk.

Jessie, PR deadlift.

Nuts. You had all better be eating them. Why? Because they are a great source of fat. And fat intake is pretty important for health. And, even more importantly, it is very important for performance. I was speaking with a new client yesterday about diet and, as usual, she remarked that she ate very healthily. I mentioned that we really aren’t worried about health and that we concern ourselves with performance. That’s right. CrossFit is not concerned with health, but with performance. CrossFit fitness is so far above health that a CrossFitter needs to be sick to be considered healthy by medical standards.

Here is an example. Last spring I contracted some sort of infection that manifested itself as shortness of breath, a hacking cough, and some pretty ghoulishly colored expectoration. After ignoring it for about a month, I finally went to the doctor. After performing a bunch of tests, including checking how much air I could bring into my lungs, the doc informed me that I wasn’t sick but actually quite healthy. I was finally able to convince the doc that I was sick and needed antibiotics.

In its quest for fitness, CrossFit coupled with the Zone builds health, serious health.

As mentioned above, fat is important for performance. Too little body fat will adversely affect both your strength and especially your stamina. Too little body fat and you will bonk, just gas on a WOD. Amundson keeps himself at about 12% body fat. Remember, CrossFit is about performance. CFHQ trainer Pat Sherwood spells it out in this video.

Another good reason to eat nuts is that they are a satiate. This means that eating nuts makes you feel full, therefore you will eat less at meals. This article explains it in more detail.

Workout:

Freddy’s Revenge

5 Rounds

5 Jerks 185/125#

10 Burpees

Post time to Comments.

Posted in WOD, CrossFit West Santa Cruz | 5 Comments »

6. December 2008 by samrad.

Friday afternoon is one of my favorite times at CF West Santa Cruz. Friday being Friday and all, Friday afternoon class seems to have a certain air of levity and fun about it. In fact, all the classes today seemed filled with confidence. I think maybe it was the 100 kettlebell swing WOD.

Sometimes a WOD comes along that seems kind of impossible and the completion of it seems to trigger…well, for lack of a better word, growth. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true. Killing a WOD that you didn’t even think that you could finish can fill one with confidence.

And here we come to what I believe is one of the main, yet unspoken, attractions of CrossFit. The feeling of empowerment that it gives. It’s not talked about a lot, especially among male CrossFitters, but it is undeniable. CrossFit is so hard, often so seemingly unrealistic, that it forces you to look at yourself in a new light. In the spirit of the adage, “How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight” (from which movie, folks?), CrossFit forces you into a fight with yourself. With your nerves, with your abilities, with your own perceived limitations. And it forces you to surpass them.

Nothing like a shot of confidence. CrossFit style.

Thoughts? Post them to Comments.

Workout:

One Hand Isabel

30 Snatches with 1 hand 75/45#

Alternate hands every 5 reps or as needed.

Or

One Hand Grace

30 Clean and Jerks with 1 hand 75/45#

Alternate hands every 5 reps or as needed.

Post WOD and time to Comments.

Posted in WOD, CrossFit West Santa Cruz | No Comments »