Ok, so this all started with an innocent little question from Carlos E. “What is your favorite Crossfit WOD and why?”. Folks commented, but one comment stuck out… Martin H. with “@Carlos, in all seriousness, I’d like to go head to head with you on your favorite WOD. Let’s set it up! Loser pays the winner one beer for every 5 seconds they finish behind.”. The challenge was accepted, and a date was set. Today Sunday July 25th at 3:30pm was the showdown. The workout? 2009 CrossFit Games Nor Cal Qualifier Event A. 500m Row, 30 burpess, 10 reps 165 lbs shoulder to overhead. Looking at the competitors it was pretty clear that Martin would be to the bar first, but would he have enough of a lead to keep ahead of Carlos’ massive shoulder strength. 3..2..1… GO! The row began. Martin was clearly conserving on the row to ensure he wouldn’t hit a wall on the push jerks. Carlos finished the row about 5 seconds ahead of Martin and got to work on the burpees. After about 10 it was clear he was going to have to slow his pace a bit. Martin got to the burpees and set to work. Martin finished the burpees at about the 3:30 mark and set to work on the bar. Failing his 3rd rep it was clear this was going to be a tough 10 reps. Carlos finished the burpees around 4:30 at which point the game was over. Once he picked up the bar he was able to power through the 10 reps unbroken. Carlos finished in 5:37 a full minute faster than his previous PR. Martin came in at 7:02. Fantastic efforts from both, and a fun challenge. Who do you want to challenge doing what? Throw out a challenge even if you know you will be beat. This is a great way to increase motivation and have some fun. We’ll support and host any such behavior.
Archive for the ‘CrossFit Games’ Category
The Gauntlet Was Thrown
Sunday, July 25th, 2010The Fuzz (No not the cops)
Sunday, July 18th, 2010
The Fuzz between muscle tissue and fascia
Ok, so what is “the fuzz”? The fuzz is a build up of cottony tissue that forms between sliding surfaces in your body. This stuff forms while you sleep. When you move, it goes away. That impulse to stretch every time you get up from being stagnant helps it pull apart. We are designed to move. When we don’t move it causes problems.
The fuzz is a part of the creeping onset of stiffness over time. If you don’t move and get this stuff broken up it will build up day after day, eventually leading to the tissue being frozen in place and severely limiting mobility. At this point it will take pretty dedicated work, massage, rolfing, etc to get it to free up.
Sarah F. brought in a video from Gil Hedley that discusses the fuzz and goes into detail on what it is. He also has cadaver tissue to show exactly what it is. If you’re squeemish about body tissue then you may opt out on viewing.
So make sure you get moving in the morning. Try to get in the habit of doing a lot of range of motion movements. The more you can break down the fuzz first thing, the better you will move overall.
Oh, and a games update. The final affiliate team competition involved an obstacle course with rope climbs. Bummer, we would have done well at this. I guess we’ll just have to qualify next year.
Here are the final individual workouts:
Event 5
7 rounds for time of:
3 cleans (205/135 lb.)
4 ring handstand push-ups (men)/4 handstand push-ups (women)
12-minute cap
Event 6a
3 rounds for time of:
30 push-ups with hand release
Over the wall
21 overhead squats (95/65 lb.)
7-minute cap
Event 6b
Three rounds for time of:
30 toes-to-bar
21 ground to overhead (95/65)
7-minute cap
Event 6c
3 rounds of:
5 burpee wall jumps
3 20-foot rope climbs (men)/2 20-foot rope climbs (women)
12-minute cap
BTW no one completed all 3 event 6 workouts within the cap times.
Games Update
Saturday, July 17th, 2010
Sandback carry up stairs
There have been some great events so far in the CrossFit Games. The venue is huge, the competition is far more fierce than it ever has been. Here’s a run down of the individual events of the day. You can get more at the CrossFit Games Site. Take some time to watch the stream, or some of the archived footage. The team competition is good to see as well.
Event 1
9-7-5 Muscle up/ 135/95 lb Squat Snatch
Event 2
2A
HELL-en
1200m Run
63 KB Swings (1.5/1 pood)
36 Pull ups
800m Run
42 KB Swings
24 Pull ups
400m Run
21 KB Swings
12 Pull ups
Then establish a max shoulder to overhead in 90 seconds
Event 3
7 minute AMRAP
7 Deadlift (315/205lbs)
Sprint across stadium
14 Pistols
21 Double unders
Sprint back
Event 4
Move 600/370 lbs of sandbags down stadium stairs, over a wall, into a wheel barrow, across the field, over another wall, and up stadium stairs.
Let the Games Begin!
Monday, June 14th, 2010Those of you who frequent the CrossFit Main Page have undoubtedly seen this.
I haven’t been following the competitions leading up to this year’s games very closely. However, this trailer has me both completely excited about the Games and highly disappointed that I won’t be able to attend this year. I envy those of you who are going.
So, who are the crowd favorites?
Old Guys (and Gals) Rule
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
Always Happy To Teach and Train
Being a spectator for the masters division at the Southwest Regionals was a blast. There were some impressive performances put up by the 50+ crowd. Our very own Bill Berry has competed in several open category competitions and finally had his chance to compete in his own age group. Though we don’t have final results we know he did pretty well. Here’s a highlights video. You’ll see what the “old folks” are capable of. Just remember that all of these folks are 50+. They are doing workouts that most people half their age could not complete.
Team Finals Are Complete
Sunday, May 9th, 2010-
- Log Squat Practice
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- The Logs and Tires Awaiting Victims
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- Final Discussion on The Plan
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- 3...2...1... GO!!!
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- The Tire Moving Along
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- Pure Misery of 40 Log Squats
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- Returning
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- Crossing the Finish Line
Day 3 is complete. We were told today’s workout last night as we left the site.
Each team has a 350lb tire and 140lb log. The tire must be flipped 100 yards and the log must remain with the tire throughout. The flips and log carry can be done however the team wishes. Once the 100 yard line is reached all 4 team members get under the log. The team must then do 40 squats with the log and then 20 shoulder presses. The shoulder presses were to be from one shoulder to the other for all team members simultaneously. Once the presses were done, the tire must be flipped back 100 yards to the start line with the log remaining with the tire throughout.
Final team heats were not decided until very late Saturday night so we did not know when we’d be competing Sunday until 6:30am Sunday morning. We found out that we were in the first heat. Fantastic, check in was at 7:50. Everybody got moving and tried to start warming up as we got ready to head over to the site. Once on site we had a little bit of time to play with the tire flip and log exercises and work out our team strategy (critical to a good performance on this workout). We headed over to the workout checkin station and were told that there had been some delays and the first head wouldn’t start until 9:00am. Ok, so now we had another hour to warm up and plan…
Once 9:00am rolled around, we set up with Roger and Emily on the tire flip and Andres and Amanda on the log carry. 3…2…1… go. Roger and Emily heaved the tire up and forward while Amanda and Andres cleaned the log. This continued until about the 50 yard mark at which point Emily relieved Andres on the log and Andres came to assist Roger on the tire flip. This continued until about the 80 yard mark at which point Roger relieved Amanda on the log and Amanda helped Andres finish out the tire flip. Once at the 100 yard mark all hit the log and started squatting. 40 reps. This was miserable. Additionally we had 7 reps that were not counted. 6 for not completely extending on the top, and 1 for a depth violation. By the way the execution judge watched the tallest member of the team, so Roger got the honor of being scrutinized. Once the squats were complete the shoulder presses were blazed through, this was a piece of cake for this team. Now, back to the tire, Emily and Roger start it off again. About 50 yards in the same cycle as the first pass was done, Andres in, then Amanda in to finish out. From the start of the final tire flip there was one other team ahead of ours. We pushed to try and pass them, but ended up finishing about 5 seconds behind. Our final time was 7:39 which ended up being one of the better times of the day. This was a fantastic effort by the team. Our strategy was mimicked by many other affiliates throughout the day.
You can see much of our event on the CrossFit Live site. Go to: http://live.crossfit.com/ then select Sunday, May 9th / 08:55-09:55 PDT
Team Competition Day 1 Complete
Saturday, May 8th, 2010-
- Roger Starting the First Sprint
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- The Team Running Together
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- Emily Doing 1 of MANY Snatches
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- Roger Contributing to the Snatch Count
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- Amanda Hitting DU While Andres Recovers For His Next Batch
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- Andres Banging out Pullups
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- Amanda Hitting a Pullup
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- The Aftermath
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- A Team Happy To Be Done For The Day
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- Roger Starting the First Sprint
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- The Team Running Together
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- Emily Doing 1 of MANY Snatches
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- Roger Contributing to the Snatch Count
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- Amanda Hitting DU While Andres Recovers For His Next Batch
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- Andres Banging out Pullups
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- Amanda Hitting a Pullup
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- The Aftermath
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- A Team Happy To Be Done For The Day
The second team workout is done. This one was interesting, and a metabolic nightmare. This started with a 4X100m relay. The field started off FAST. Roger held his own finishing 3rd in the group. One guy came around the outside and was clearly faster than the rest. Then Amanda brought up the next segment followed by Emily. Once Andres had the baton he had to run a fast 200m to pick up Roger, their next 100m was a sprint, then picked up Amanda, and finally Emily. Once Amanda was picked up Roger ran ahead to claim a spot for the snatches and double unders. The team had to run another 400m after all team members were picked up. Once at the dumbells and jump ropes the team had to complete 500 double unders and 250 one arm DB snatches (50/30lb). Only two people could be working at any given time, with one on each exercise. This is where Emily’s strength was an invaluable contribution. She performed nearly half of the snatches by herself. Everyone contributed to every exercise. The pace slowed as the team gassed with the work. The double unders were completed shortly before the snatches and then all moved on to the pullups. Cycling through Roger, Andres and Amanda the pullups were completed in short order.
We do not have heat assignments yet for tomorrow. More updates to come.
First Team Event, Masters Final Complete
Saturday, May 8th, 2010-
- Bill Hitting His Chest To Bar Pullups
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- Bill In One Of a Couple Hundred Squats
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- Bills Shredded Hands Post Cindy
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- Mioko In The Midst of Stuck Up Cindy
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- Amanda, Rosanna and Roger Showing Off T95
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- Amanda Finishing The Run
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- Rosanna Turning On The Shuttle Run
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- Rosanna Hitting Her Thrusters
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- Andres Finishing a Thruster
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- Shane With Jaden
The Masters finals are complete. Bill completed 11 rounds and through to 13 squats. Just shy of 12 rounds. A good effort. He hit his workout plan right on the mark. Hit virtually every chest to bar pull up that he attempted. We don’t yet know final standings overall because there are still other masters competitions coming. Overall he ended up somewhere in the middle of the pack. We’re proud of him.
Our first team event was the shuttle run-thruster-ring dip. We had some doubt coming into this one due to everyone having to do legit ring dips. Amanda hit her first ring dip about 20 minutes before the event. Our order was Amanda, Rosanna, Andres then Roger. Amanda started out well, hit the run and got through the thrusters. Rosanna was off on the run as Amanda headed on to the ring dips. She got through her first 4 solid then started to fatigue. She finished 5 before Rosanna got back from her run-thruster and Andres was off on the run. She finished 1 more before Andres got back and Roger headed off on the run. This was 14 minutes into the workout with a 20 minute cap. Roger completed the thrusters with a minute remaining, enough time to finish the ring dips. By then Amanda had completed 8 ring dips and couldn’t make another. A valiant effort. Many teams did not complete this workout. Our next workout is at 5:20. Emily, Amanda, Roger and Andres are our team for this one. We will keep you posted.
Masters Second Event
Friday, May 7th, 2010-
- Bill With a 175 LB Thruster... Later To Make 180
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- Mioko Hidden Behind a Plate
The second master’s event is now complete. There are some strong 50+ athletes here. These results are what we know now, it is before the final tally. The women’s category was won with a 128lb thruster. The men’s was won with a 250lb thruster. Bill started his set with 155lb, a load he knew he could hit solidly. Then he jumped to 175. He missed the clean at 175 twice due to his forearms being fatigued from the first workout. Choosing to play it a little safe he dropped down to 165 which he hit solidly. Back up to 175 for a solid thruster, and then bumped up to 180. Success, and a new PR!
Also a reminder that KNO (Kids Night Out) is this Saturday. If you haven’t signed up you still can. Bring your kids and drop them off at CFM.
Let The SouthWest Games Begin
Friday, May 7th, 2010-
- Bill Getting The Rundown With His Judge
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- Bill Starting His Double Unders
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- Bill Swinging a Bell
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- Bill Banging Out Pullups
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- Mioko On Her Pullups
Quick update. The first event of the masters is complete. Some great 50+ competitors were present. Bill started his event out great. He was tied for first in his heat through 2 rounds of the 3 round workout. Heat exhaustion set in during the last round of double unders and he ended up finishing 8 reps shy of completing the workout. This puts him about middle of the pack going into the second event.
Mioko Schinner (Seraphina’s mom) also competed. She also DNFd, but was 3rd or 4th out of the women present.
I will post the results of the thruster workout later.