Category Archives for CrossFit

Admit It – You’ve Dropped F-Bombs At The Box

F-Bombs At The Box

Btw, I don't take credit for the f-bomb...whoever made it, good job.

Maybe It’s The Increased Testosterone?

It most likely is. For a while, I didn’t get to lift heavy shit or do anything really physical, so the strength portions of recent WOD’s have been really good to me. A few days ago, we were doing sets of 3 for power cleans. I didn’t know these weren’t touch-and-go, so I really struggled once I got up to 205#. If I did some pausing between reps, I would’ve had it.

So my first attempt of 205# for my last set of 3, I did rep 1 fine. Rep 2 was okay, although things were a bit sketchy with a Rob Orlando-like foot stance during the catch.

Rob Orlando Wide Foot Stance Catch Power Clean

For those worried about form, this is a BIG no-no.

Rep #3…I failed.

Upon dropping the bar, this surge of rage went through my whole body. I felt it in my veins. I felt a rush of blood to the head (no, not the Coldplay album lol). In a split second, the only word to come out of my mouth was a loud…

fuck

I Don’t Look The Part

Okay, I’m the kind of person who’s always joking around with people in class and smiling/laughing during (some) WOD’s. For me to drop an F-bomb like that is really out of character.

EVERYONE at the box basically stopped what they were doing and looked in my general direction. All I did was look up, smile, LOL (literally), and went for another attempt. The owner of the box was in between sets for his own workout, and in his surprise and I guess happiness of seeing me get at it, he shouted out, “YEAHHHHHH (insert nickname)!!!!”

Man did that feel good. That’s why I love the environment of my box. When you’re really feeling it, you just let it out. Sure, some of the newbies might get scared or a bit judgmental, but that’s understandable. It’s best to leave my rage at the barbell and the workout rather than take my temper out on friends and family when times get tough, right? I leave all those feelings at the box. I’m actually pretty chill and laid back elsewhere, although my natural tendencies are to be impatient.

CrossFit helps me fight against that.

And for the women in my class, I apologize for my potty mouth 😛

Yesterday…

Beatles Yesterday AlbumAll my troubles seemed so far away? Nah…we were doing some really roughhhh front squats. I was feeling the t-levels again. And no, I don’t do roids 😛 The rep scheme was 6-6-4-4 with a down tempo of 3 seconds and a 1 second pause at the bottom.

Between the rep scheme and the tempo, you knew this wasn’t going to be some easy walk in the park. My max from a few months ago was 245#, so I guestimated that I could do weights of 155# and 175# for the first two, then finish the 2 sets of 4 with 185#. Knowing my body, I tend to crap out on heavy sets after the 3 rep threshold. That’s just me lol. The first two sets were fine, but that last one…

…I didn’t think I could do 3 at first. The first two reps were fine. I had that perfect posture that made it look like I was sitting on a chair. Then for the 3rd rep…uh oh. For a split second, it seemed like I’d be stuck at the bottom position, but I just had to muscle through it.

Any of you into positive self-talk? Well, I am.

I just shouted out to myself…C’MONNN!

Got rep #3.

Rep #4 was even more of a struggle, but I had it. Done.

Not As Big Of A Scene

Yesterday, I didn’t make as big of a scene with my shouting. I just wanted to write about it because I find it interesting. You know how they don’t like grunting at gyms like Planet Fitness?

Planet Fatness

More like "Planet Fatness"...

If you’re not shouting or making any weird noises while lifting heavy, you’re doing it wrong. You’re not lifting anything worth shit. Of course, this is applicable if you already have your form down and can move up in weight safely.

And “No Commitments”? Yeah, no commitments from your gym goers. My dad was one of them. He joined a few years ago and went once lolz…

Getting back to what I was saying…I just find it interesting how all that power surges through your body when lifting heavy like that. It’s like something takes over and you can’t control the shouting and grunting.

Have any of you had this feeling as well? I hope I’m not the only one.

By the way, from my observations, women do this as well. Although when some of them grunt and yell, it sounds like…ha. You can put 2 and 2 together.

I’ll never forget when the sound system at the box broke down during a 20 minute AMRAP that induced many grunts from both men and women.

It was an interesting 20 minutes…

Starting Strength Taught Me To Be A Creep

Thanks Mark Rippetoe…

So the other day we had deadlifts in the strength portion of our workout. Being away from heavy lifting for a while made these sets of deads a bit uncomfortable. After these past few years, I’ve pretty much built up the muscle memory to just get in that zone and rip the bar off the floor. So the other day, I was off with my form and overall vibe. I actually had to think of some details regarding form to lift that bar.

According to Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength:

If the floor is your gaze point, look about 10 feet in front of you.

Starting Strength Mark Rippetoe Deadlift Eyes 10 Feet

Legit stuff, Mark.

I’ve been following that since I read the book 3 years ago, so of course, I was going to do that. However, it doesn’t help when something else is in that same vicinity of your gaze.

Hot Ass Deadlift

Now this is awkward...

Sure, she can’t see me staring at her ass, but I’m sure the people next to me would notice. And you know those random things that girls can just sense? I feel she’d know I was looking at her ass.

What was I supposed to do? I thought I was pretty far in front of the class, but since it was pretty packed, she set her bar up around 10 feet ahead of me. For realz? I had no choice but to just go along with things and focus. Ha! Focus…for my first warmup sets, my mind was thinking of lots of different things, so luckily I wasn’t pulling anything heavy.

I’m not complaining. Oh not at all…it’s just that…I wanted to get some decent lifts in without hurting myself, especially since these were my first deadlifts in over a month.

But all I could think of was ass.

Fortunately, we were alternating between deads and another lift, so everyone ended up lifting at different times. Phew. I was able to view that area of the floor 10 feet away from me in peace.

But all I could think of was ass.

By my last set, I was in the zone, ripping that bar off the floor in good form with my back safe. I was really happy hitting 325# for a set of 2. Next time I’ll definitely beat my 2 rep PR of 335# as long as my back is healthy. I have a tendency to really strain my back with really heavy or high rep deads. That’s why I’m always cautious with this lift.

Finally, I got all those dirty thoughts out of my head. Then I realized…shit. We have an AMRAP with SDHP’s…and she’s still in front of me. The first 9 seconds of this song came to mind:

I just couldn’t resist a few times during that AMRAP…

Does Ben Bergeron Really Know What He’s Doing?

Check Out The Q&A

Pat Sherwood Ben Bergeron CrossFit New England Q&A Interview

Screenshot from games.crossfit.com. Click image to watch the interview.

Pat Sherwood just did a great interview with Ben Bergeron, CrossFit New England co-owner and husband to Games vet, Heather Bergeron. As many of you know, CFNE’s team is stackeddddd, hence their dominating win last year in the affiliate cup.

You gotta give Ben a lot of credit. It’s no easy feat running one of the most prominent boxes in the sport, programming for your normal athletes, and designing workouts for elite competitors. Oh and let’s not forget he’s manning the programming for Chris Spealler, one of the most elite and most efficient athletes in the CrossFit Games. He’s the only athlete to compete every year of the CrossFit Games so far.

Chris Spealler

So basically, Ben’s got his hands full while making a name for himself and his box, CFNE.

Forging “Elite” Fitness

I really enjoy learning that there really are coaches like Ben out there who truly know what CrossFit is about. There’s a reason for the tagline “Forging Elite Fitness”. The issue with CrossFit that bothers me is standards. Pretty much any guy or girl can drop $1k for a weekend cert and can open up their own box.

Fortunately, coaches like Ben really take these standards seriously. It’s just annoying seeing all these people opening up these boxes with no clue on how to program or what the staple WOD’s really are. Those people might just be rushing into the opportunity of opening a box in their area before anyone else because of the money.

Hey, you can’t knock the entrepreneurial spirit, as I’m all for that. So for those of your really considering opening up a box, please protect the standards of our sport. Watch the interview so you get an idea of what’s required to run a CrossFit box properly. It’s not for everyone. For those who were meant to do it, though, can truly change lives.

I’ll Leave The Legit Stuff To The Experts

I’m No Expert

Yes, we’ve all read Robb Wolf‘s The Paleo Solution. Yes, I felt like an expert after reading it. Am I an expert on Paleo? Hell no. Keeping up with good nutrition habits is my weakness, which is one of the reasons I started this blog. Who the hell would listen to some out-of-shape blogger?

What about lifts and CrossFit movements? Sure, I got my squat down thanks to Rippetoe’s Starting Strength, but I’m definitely not qualified to instruct people on that stuff.

I’m just your everyday CrossFitter who likes to have fun at the gym and put on a “sick fuck” type of smile in the middle of a WOD. That’s just me. Maybe I’ll post some reactions to what other people write about in regards to nutrition and lifting techniques. That’s pretty much it. I’m leaving that legit advice to the REAL experts.

I’m more of a for-fun, motivational CrossFit blogger. During a WOD, it’s always fun to get the guy or girl next to you all pumped with some words of encouragement. It seems simple, but many times, they’ll be so happy that you got them all amped to get some last few reps in.

That’s just my style.

The class environment also gives me time to goof off in my day. Oh, the coach wants us all to step closer to him and the white board? I’ll stop a few inches in front of him with a straight face, looking at the writing on the board, as if nothing’s wrong.

I love trolling like that haha. Expect random Photoshop jobs and videos trolling all things CrossFit. And don’t worry, I’m not like your typical internet troll. The general definition of an internet troll goes along the lines of an internet bully, which is definitely something I’m not. If anything, I’ll make fun of myself just to get you guys to laugh and smile.

Life’s too short. That’s why I try to smile and laugh as much as possible.

Rich Froning Diet Yolo

Original Picture from DSLR Inspirations - Sevan Matossian (http://blog.sevanmatossian.com/?p=1333)

CrossFit And The X-Games

A Bit Of Nostalgia

I’ll never forget 1999 when Tony Hawk was the first person to land the 900 in the X-Games. You just knew it was gonna happen. Everyone, even though they were competitors in the same even, was cheering Tony on, hoping he’d be the first ever in the history of skateboarding to land the trick.

And he did.

I thought about this recently because I saw a video a few days ago of Tom Schaar, a 12 year old, who just landed the 1080 for the first time.

The X-Games Remind Me Of CrossFit

Seeing that video again of all those people crowding around Tony and cheering him on that whole time reminds me so much of your typical CrossFit experience. Whether you’re in a competition at your box or simply in a normal class, there will always be someone cheering someone else on. Maybe an athlete might be struggling with a certain movement or a PR is about to be set on Fran. Either way, you have that support from other people in the box to get you to finish those last few reps or to step it up a notch for that last minute.

Where CrossFit Helps You Break Barriers

You’ll have your physical barriers slowing you down, but there’s nothing like your mental barriers. What a bold-hearted bitch lol. That’s where the whole mental game gets to you. However, when you’re sooooo amped from the adrenaline of a whole crowd or even one person cheering you on, you do ridiculous stuff your mind didn’t think your body was capable of. Out of nowhere, you become a machine. Your rip weight off the floor like it’s nothing. You sprint like there’s no tomorrow.

It’s a beautiful thing.