Read please

Drop That Spoon!
Is breakfast cereal the best way to start your day?
>> RossTraining.com

Remember these?

Nutrition 102: Furthering "Eat Real Food"
Scott dives deeper into the statement and catagorizes foods to make it easier.
>> ModernForager.com

Support your local farmer's market.

Sleep! More Important Than...
If you were to list the importance of various things and how fast we would die without them, where you place sleep?
>> RobbWolf.com

Homer sleeps a lot, therefore he's obviously healthy.

RIDICULUS*

DJ Hyphen sent me this video:

LL Cool J working out with DJ Envy



His trainer has some nice tricks up his sleeve (figuratively speaking as he rocks the bodybuilder tank): KB sumo deadlift high pulls (NO SWINGS?!), "ring" pushups, sledgehammer situps, bungie sprints..

Methinks Mr. Ross Enamait would have a fun time with Mr. Todd Smith and give his current trainer a run for his money.

It's good to see more people leaning towards the HIIT philosophies of exercise. The bodybuilder physique is one society came to idolize because how big and defined someone's muscle could grow. You could watch that person squat huge amounts of weight and bicep curl dumbbells weighing as much as a junior high student. Is that functional? How hard did one have to train and look that way? What does one have to eat? How would I stay looking that way? How long?

Mmm.. fake tans and veins!

If that's your goal, go for it! But if you're a regular joe you might want to think twice about trying THAT route. Long workouts. Strict dieting. Too many supplements. What are your goals? You want to be built bigger? Harder? Better? Faster? Stronger? (c) Daft Punk

If we were robots, we'd never have to workout. But then where's the fun in that?!

If you want to look more athletic (see 10 General Physical Skills) then become more athletic. How? By improving EACH and EVERY one of those skills: strength, endurance, flexibility, stamina, power, speed, agility, coordination, balance and accuracy. That's a lot, I know, but we can tie it together. We improve work capacity over broad and modal domains by using highly varied, if not random, functional movements performed at high intensity. The end result is you being harder, better, faster and stronger. And once you clean up your nutritional habits, you'll look good too. Form follows function, so to look more athletic become more athletic.

* brownie points for those who get it

Kettlebell Hell

I believe today was XVIII

5 minutes max kb swings
waiter's walk to stoplight and back (approx. 400m)
2 minutes max kb swings
waiter's walk to stoplight and back

Dorian 172/74, 16kg
Gilles 163/44, 16kg
Jason 145/51, 16kg
Andrew 122/53, 24kg

Huge welcome to Jason! Hope you enjoyed your first little taste of CrossFit!

Here's Foundation CrossFit's new workout log on the official CrossFit boards. Start posting!

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from last week's Donkey Kong workout @ Harbor Steps

Killgrip

5 rds for max reps:

deadlift, 185lbs or 95lbs

pullups

Nick 72/31, 185lbs
Adrian 69/24, 185lbs
Andrew 97/75, 185lbs
Gilles 109/107, 95lbs
Sammee 52/113, 95lbs
Sheena 67/114, 95lbs

Coverage

Coach Dave Werner of CrossFit Seattle has a cool little article with Erin Covey of KIRO 710

READ IT HERE!

The Firecracker 5k Run/Walk

Click here for more info.

The Butterfly Kip

A tutorial video by the awesome folk over at CrossFit Evolution

Danny Are You Okay?

Dan came by for his first workout today and did:

• Tabata Squats along with Coy (Welcome dude!)
  
• a 10k Row
• "Cindy" alongside Sheena and Elizabeth (Awesome ladies!)
  

He also ripped a callus in his 2nd round. Great job man. I have video of him putting New Skin on his open wound. Classic footage.

----

Saturday we'll have another free workout at the Harbor Steps in downtown Seattle @ 11am.
We'll be meeting here. The Harbor Steps are right next to Ipanema Brazilian Grill on 1st which will also be the joint we'll have lunch at afterwards. We're gonna do The Donkey Kong workout.

Glisten

Warming up is essential to any physical activity.

Movement pattern warmups

Dynamic movements

You know the official CrossFit Warmup as this:

3 rounds, 10-15 repetitions of

1. Overhead Squat
2. Situp
3. Back Extension
4. Pullup
5. Dip
6. Samson Stretch

I was influenced to post because of Rainier CrossFit's wonderful and in-depth Warm-Up article. They confirm the suspicion to do some some short-range cardio first (400m run, 500m row, 150 rope skips) and THEN go into the warm up. The motions go like this: squat, bend, straighten, pull, push, stretch.

• CARDIO - run/sprint, row, bike, jump rope, swim, airdyne, jumps, movement patterns
  
• SQUAT - air squat, front squat, overhead squat, sumo squat, lunge, pistol
• BEND - situp, crunches, v-up, knees-to-elbows, ghd situp
• STRAIGHTEN - back extension, supermans, good mornings, stiff-leg deadlifts, kb swings
• PULL - pullup, ring row, bent-over row, rope climb, rope pull, the Burgener warmup, clean, snatch
  
• PUSH - pushup, dip, ring pushups, press, pushpress, push jerk, benchpress, handstand pushup
• STRETCH - anything that stretches major muscle groups

Usually the athlete is considered warmed-up when they've got a light sweat (or "glisten") going.

GlistenED.

So there, you can now create your own warm-up. Congrats! I hope some light was shined on something we all do without any thought to why. Here's mine (when I feel like going all the way through):

10 or 12 reps of each:
ROUND 1 - broomstick ohs, situps, back ext, strict pullups, dips, samson stretch
ROUND 2 - ohs w/ 45lbs, knees-to-elbows, kettlebell swings (Russian style), gymnastics kip pullups, strict ring dips, samson stretch, upfacing dog, prayer pose
ROUND 3 - alternating pistols, straight leg raises, kettlebell swings (American style), rotary/butterfly kip pullups, kipping ring dips, samson stretch, dynamic stretches

POST YOUR OWN TO COMMENTS!

In your honor

Happy Memorial Day!

What better way to celebrate than by doing a CrossFit Hero workout?


"MURPH"
for time:
1 mile run
100 pullups
200 pushups
300 squats
1 mile run

Partition the pullups, pushups and squats as needed. If you have a weighted vest WEAR IT!

The AM crew: Elizabeth, Nate, Feng, Grant and Gilles

Andrea 52:40
Andrew 63:03 w/ 25lbs body armor
Dorian 55:07
Elizabeth 64:17
Feng 36:46
Gilles 71:19
Grant 46:21
John 65:30 w/ 20lbs backpack
Nate 56:23

*plenty of notes in comments

The body armor and the backpack wearers

Ripped early!

Great job everyone, especially Feng our visitor from Michigan! The PM crew went to the Ram afterward for twenty pints of beer! Just kidding- we were waay to tired to drink.

See you all during the week and for our RAINSTORM XV: Wet T-Shirt Contest this weekend!

Dopplewalk!

Today's RAINSTORM was run by John, our one and only "Trainer-at-Large"! He came up with this fun little ditty:

2 teams with one person working at a time, for time:

200 pullups
250 pushups
250 box jumps
125 med ball "thrust & throw", 20 lbs
800m run where one person must be carried the entire duration

Team Awesome (Adrian, Dorian, Elizabeth, Marc and Mike)
23:45

Team Badass (Andrea, Andrew, Gilles, Nate and Nick)
23:52

Team Awesome won by 7 seconds and tore themselves up in the process. Every one of them was injured (3 falls, 3 rips and plenty of skin ripped off) by the end of the event! That's giving 100%, folks.

Pictures of the aftermath coming soon...

Machines are cheap and easy.

Figuratively speaking.


"Machine training is often hyped as the thing to do for beginners because free weights are harder to control. The novice beginner must be taught from a base of mobility to progress to stability, just as an infant learns to stand by moving, staggering and exploring the environment"

FIGHTSTORM 2

Boo Boo said we're doing Fight Gone Bad!

From the CrossFit FAQ:

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. We've used this in 3 and 5 round versions. The stations are:

1. Wall-ball: 20 pound ball, 10 ft target. (Reps)


2. Sumo deadlift high-pull: 75 pounds (Reps)


3. Box Jump: 20" box (Reps)


4. Push-press: 75 pounds (Reps)


5. Row: calories (Calories)

The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of "rotate," the athlete/s must move to next station immediately for good score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

Andrew 283
Dorian 253
Gemma 198
Justin 280
Marc 216
PJ 194
Ryan 320

We finished up with sandbag carry sprints around the building. Awesome jobs to both first-time CrossFitters Gemma and Ryan! Welcome to the family!

Check the previous FGB/Fightstorm results here.

Here's a hint!

Find as many WA state CrossFitters as possible in this video. There are six.

Drive!

"You’ve got to drive the body to the last inch of energy then go on! You gain nothing by just going up to where your body says you’re tired. The body will build and grow only to fit the demands the mind makes upon the lazy body. If all you do is exercise until the body is tired, the body will get lazy and stop a bit shorter every time. You must go to the point of exhaustion, then go on. That way the body figures out, “We’ve got to build up more strength if that crazy mind is going to drive this hard!” If you always quit when you are merely tired, you will never gain. Once you let the body tell the mind when to quit, you are whipped for sure. You can not gain by listening to the body. We can become much stronger if we drive the body. We use about one-tenth of the available strength of our bodies and less than that of our minds."

- General George Patton

RIPPED!

chalk and tape don't do enough

30 muscle-ups for time:

Marc 10:00
Dwinson 9:58
Andrew 5:52

RAINSTORM XII: ¡Mucho Fuerte!

Bottom-to-bottom Tabata squats

THEN

as far as you can get in 20 minutes:

100m sprint
25 burpees
30 pullups
40 situps
50 kb swings - choose weight
60 sec L-sit
70 pushups (MV, NS, DB)
800m run (NA, MD)
90 sec active hang (DN, PB)
100 box jumps (DC, JN)
Waiter's walk uphill - use kb weight

our 800m is awesome because it's uphill

Warm welcome to newcomers Darcy and PJ! Hope you ladies had a lot of fun. We'll see both of you more often, yes? Great job to all the other dudes!

la gente

If you didn't come out this week TRY IT ON YOUR OWN!

Yay updates!

Come by Saturday @ 11am for our free weekly RAINSTORM workout. We're going to Gordito's on 85th and Greenwood for lunch afterwards! Have you tried their infant-sized grande burrito yet? It's amazing. Don't forget to bring your luchadore mask because the WOD will have us wrestle... with weights that is!


Tammy and Adrian are going on vacay soon. Boo. [not to be confused with Boo Boo]

We are going to test out the 'open gym' format next week, SO PLAN TO SHOW UP. I'll update everyone again as to the specific details, but know now that it's heading your way. If it sticks, we'll keep it!

Check your emails for the rest. Wanna be added to our super duper, fitness-erific, hot off the press (but not), non-spam mailing list?! info@foundationcrossfit.com

The weather is slowly, but surely, getting better. Time to play outside!

PEACE

Open your hips!

Daniel, Marc, Amy, Adrian, John and Jessie

Along with the practice and performance of the "explosive hip" exercises- cleans, snatches, push presses, push jerks, kipping pullups, kettlebell swings, etc- you also need to open them up constantly by stretching those muscles that allow those actions frequently. Samson stretches and other hip and pelvis stretches will help you in range of motion and recovery of your iliopsoas, psoas major and minor, iliacus, piriformis, and posterior chain muscles (hamstrings, glutes, and erector spinae).


Some of you may have learned these already!

Article with Videos: 7 Dynamic Stretches to Improve Hip Mobility

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Results from the CFT @ Local's!

It was Adrian's idea!

Not mine.

"NATE KILLER"
5 rds for time:
10 hang power cleans
20 pullups
30 kb swings

Adrian 24:22 (135lbs, 20kg)
Nate 25:32 (65lbs, 16kg)

Nice work fellas. Nate- did it do the job?

----

Went heavy overhead today.

Press
6-6-3-3-1-1

Sammee 45-45-50-50-55-60
Mikey 75-75-70-75-80-90 (first two sets needed work on form)

Great job! Make sure you've got your eyes set on a good goal. Refer to this Strength Standards chart [PDF] for all your 1RM lifts.

CrossFit Total Meet @ Local's Gym this Saturday at 1pm!

Our Mikey

Continues to be our "best workout face" champion [click to embiggen!]:

Example A:

Example B:

Example C:

Example D:
Example E:

As he reigns as champion, I will continually put up pictures of Mr. Vu's workout faces.

RAINSTORM XI

Finally Washington is having some springtime weather. A big welcome goes out to Jason- thanks for stopping by!

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:
6 kb swings
4 broad jump burpees
2 laps around the building

Tammy 8 + 6, 4, 1
Nick 7
Jason 10 + 6, 4, 1
Dorian 9 + 6
Andrew 9
Adrian 9 + 6, 4, 1

Great job everyone! Remember- no RAINSTORM next week because of the CrossFit Total Meet at Local's Gym!

BE THERE!

Don't try this at home (or in public)

Chain Surfing - My oh my, how good is this guy's sense of balance?!

CrossFit puts balance in the 10 General Physical skills and defines it as "The ability to control the placement of the bodies center of gravity in relation to its support base." So whether it be holding the top position of a press (GOOD!), standing on one foot with your eyes closed (BAD) or standing on a bosu or swill ball (UGLY!) your body is constantly looking for it's center of gravity. One of the best examples of elite balance is the handstand. Try it. It also develops your proprioception, or the ability to sense the position, location, movement and orientation of the body and its parts.

An easy proprioception test:

• Stand shoulder-width apart with your arms wide open so that your body looks like a cross from the front.
  
• Close your eyes and tilt your head up so that you'd be looking at the ceiling.
• Without opening your eyes, take your non-dominant hand and touch the tip of your nose.
• Try it again with your dominant hand.

Could you do it on the first try?

"PULL!"

That's one of the cues I'm constantly yelling to athletes doing Christine which is a fantastic WOD. She takes three types of posterior chain movements: rowing, deadlifts (aka "clean pulls") and jumps. This is how I see the breakdown:

• Rowing is performed by aggressively pressing your heels down, opening the hips and straightening the back from an almost fetal position repeatedly to complete your assigned distance. Because it uses a number of major muscle groups in a rhythmic fashion it is oxidative, or aerobic.
  
• Deadlifting requires an identical movement (with exceptions), but because you are dealing with heavier loads and have less duration during the exercise you are now using the phosphagen energy pathway, which leaves your muscles feeling weaker lifting the heavier load repeatedly.
• Box Jumps find a happy middle ground with the glycolytic energy pathway. Yes, you are doing explosive work but it's "easier" to do higher repetitions. With an explosive snap of the hips with major assistance from the legs and posterior chain, you start from the ground and end up 20" or so flat-footed on a higher surface

Combine all three of these movements and you have some work ahead of you. Watch a video here [Windows Media Player]

Nate in his starting position

"CHRISTINE"
3 rds for time:
500m row
12 deadlifts, BW
21 box jumps, 20"

Nate 15:37*
Tammy 14:50*

Change!

We have changed our schedule. Most members already know what's up- we're just putting it up in better terms for everyone else. See it all here on the Schedule & Prices page!

Also, Saturday is our last RAINSTORM for April! The following weekend (Saturday 05/03) will be the CrossFit Total Meet at Local's Gym in Lynnwood. So make sure you head out, regardless of the weather, because good times are to be had.

----

Daria and Gilles running around the corner

Big congrats to Gilles, Daria, Sammee, Adrian H., Nick, Adrian D., Tammy, Nate, and Andrew for all their hard work today! Rowing, snatching, sprinting and back squatting are no easy feats!

And another big thanks to Jesse over at Local's for an awesome workout this past weekend!

DOMS

Make sure you stretch multiple times daily! Stretching "sessions" aren't necessary, but make sure you get in some stretches throughout your day. If you're at work, take a couple of seconds to open up those hips, do some squats, throw your arms for some dynamic stretches (chest, shoulders), etc. It's important to keep moving even when you get that soreness a day or two after a workout.

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) mean you've built some muscle. Think of a getting a new broom. The bristles are new and stiff but after time and use, it becomes flexible and works well. Same thing goes for your body. That soreness is you breaking your new "bristles" in.

KEEP MOVING!

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7 Random Objects Sold As Exercise Machines

"Any idiot can build a better mousetrap, but it takes a special kind of individual, a genius if you will, to look at the existing mousetrap and figure out semi-plausible ways in which it could be used as an all-purpose exercise system."


[Read more.]

No RAINSTORM this weekend

We'll be up at Local's Gym playing Hooverball! We'll return to our normally scheduled week, uhh, next week!

Also happening this weekend: The Seattle Healthy Living Expo. Maybe all the WA CrossFits should start attending these kinds of events and show everyone up.

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Jon puts the bar overhead

Midline stabilization is essential to properly pressing something overhead. Without a strong foundation, buildings are weak if not already broken. It's the same with your body! Too many times in a "big box" gym you'll see dudes doing seated shoulder presses. Yeah, they might put up some impressive weights, but it's with crap range of motion and no midline stabilization aka "core strength". If you really want to better your body and gain real strength try standing and using a barbell (NO SMITH MACHINES). Go light until you're form is correct. Abs, glutes, hips, and low back contracted throughout. At the top of the movement the barbell, your elbows, ears, shoulder, hips, knees, and heels should be aligned. Try this workout:

7 rounds for time:
12 (strict) presses, 95lbs
21 situps

See how you feel the next couple of days!

NEW WORKOUTS?!

for time:
30 bear complexes, using your wife as the weight.



*note: Foundation CrossFit does not advise you to do this workout more than once. Dropping your wife is dangerous and risks the following (but is not limited to): her health, your marriage, your sanity, the children (if any), that big bed you have, your car, as well as all of your other prized possessions. And let's not forget that bank account.

----

So if you've haven't heard already, CrossFit HQ posted up a new WOD yesterday

"Quarter Gone Bad"
5 rounds for total reps:

15 seconds of thrusters, 135#
45 seconds Rest
15 seconds of weighted pullups, 50#
45 seconds Rest
15 seconds of burpees
45 seconds Rest

Hmm. Dwinson was our guinea pig! We subbed weight for the obvious intimidation factor. His score was 71. We'll see how this one ages.

RAINSTORM X: Electric Boogaloo

Again this Saturday we're inviting EVERYONE out to our free weekly workout! We're gonna do this ... with kettlebells!



Come dressed in red and black- don't forget your berets! Although the forecasts say we'll see some sun, we know that WA has been a bit unpredictable, so bring the necessary warmups. WE HAVE MOVED THE TIME UP TO 11 AM! TAKE NOTE AND SHOW UP EARLY!

By the way, we're canceling next week's RAINSTORM in favor of Lynnwood Crossfit's Surrender Your Sweat Saturday!

----

The Dalai Lama is here in Seattle for the weekend!

His presentation will be broadcast on Kong 6/16 @ 1:30pm

Cleaning House

Wonderful work done today. With persistance and determination you folk will be putting up WAAAAY more weight sooner than you think!

"ELIZABETH"

Tammy 5:05*
Jessie 5:13*
Nate 9:38*
Mike 6:10*

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Ross Enamait put up a fantastic new article on his site: Sledgehammer Training II



What a beast. He looks so animated when he moves. Like some CG rendered graphic put on repeat!

The Muscle-Up

The Muscle-Up is truly a hidden gem. You sometimes hear of them, but you rarely hear about people doing them. Why is this? First, the mainstream fitness crowd does not like to be challenged. The muscle-up requires patience and dedication to master. Second, they require rings (note: they can be performed on high bar, but it's a bit different and harder) and rings have not been a part of the mainstream training community since the early 1900's. Back then, gymnastics was not just for kids and professionals. In fact, the old training gyms of the past looked like gymnastics facilities with weights.

In the past few years though, the muscle-up has come back in a big way. Training programs such as CrossFit make regular use of the muscle-up. According to the CrossFit Journal, written by Greg Glassman, "The muscle-up is astonishingly difficult to perform, unrivaled in building upper body strength, a critical survival skill, and most amazingly of all, virtually unknown."

[SOURCE]


Congrats to Dwinson for getting his first muscle-up today! He "definitely" thinks that the tradeoff (the skin off the bottom of his palm) was well worth it. Well done dude.

I wasn't going to say it

But our RAINSTORM workouts usually bring out good weather, even if it starts out cloudy and rainy.

21 deadlifts
15 presses
9 squat thrusts
farmer's walk around building
21 presses
15 squat thrusts
9 deadlifts
farmer's walk around building
21 squat thrusts
15 deadlifts
9 presses
farmer's walk around building
sprint to stoplight

Adrian 13:28, Weight Plates 35#
Daria 20:54, Dumbbells 15#
Dorian 13:05, Weight Plates 25#
Gilles 20:50, Dumbbells 30#
Kathy 18:19, Dumbbells 25#
John 17:00, Weight Plates 45#
Justin 12:45, Barbells 45#
Mike 20:40, Weight Plates 35#
Nate 14:25, Kettlebells 35#


----


And guess who was on the main site looking uncomfortable as hell?


Nicole was putting us through the wall dip drill. We don't mess with that much sun up here in Washington.

El Oso

The Bear Complex is a work of art- starting with a bar in the high hang position, an athlete executes a power clean. From the rack position they perform a front squat and then a push press. Next the athlete carefully places the bar onto the traps in back squat position to, well, back squat! Complete that movement and another push press is done. Rinse, wash and repeat!

Demo Video:
The Bear Complex WOD [Windows Media] or [Quicktime]

Grant 14:29 (95# x 5)
Adrian 15:02 (115#, 95# x 4)

Work and Relaxation

Great work done by everyone this week! Heavy front squats, lunges, pullups, a million knees-to-elbows and sandbag carries while wearing the flac jacket couldn't stop you!

In honor of your hard work, and my apologies for such a late notice, after this week's RAINSTORM at noon we will meet at Banya 5 at 4pm sharp for some rest and much needed relaxation!


from Banya 5.com:

Banya 5 is an urban spa and health facility which offers a unique blend of old world wellness rituals in a friendly contemporary environment. A series of relaxing wet heat and dry heat experiences coupled with exhilarating pool plunges produce a vivid circulatory experience with numerous mental and physical health benefits. Banya 5 is an environment which promotes wellness, vitality and rejuvenation of the soul.

...

In Russia, sweating and health are virtually synonymous. From 1877 to 1911, more than 30 medical dissertations were published in Russia about the healing powers of the banya. Even today the attitude of the banya as a panacea is found in remote villages where traditional folk medicine prevails.

DISCOUNT FOR EVERYONE WHO COMES WITH US! Meaning $20/person (vs. the normal $40 entrance fee). Only thing you have to bring is some water-wear (board shorts, bikinis) because they provide towels and flip flops if you don't want to bring any. The best part is that you can stay as long as you like! They also have a tea service upstairs and other things like massages, body wraps and scrubs, waxing and facials. Check out their website for more info.


And hey! CrossFitters everywhere are invited- you don't have to be a member of our gym to come! Call or email me Andrew@foundationcrossfit.com for anything you might need. We'll need RSVPs for a head count.

SEE YOU SATURDAY!

RAINSTORM VII: FIGHTSTORM

A big thanks to all who came out today! You all knew the weather was bad, but somehow during the workout the weather cleared up so that we could enjoy our fight in the sun.

Saturday's Crew

FIGHTSTORM I
(run FGB style)
1. Goblet Squat
2. Wall Ball
3. Press
4. Box Jump
5. Pullup

Adrian D. 258
Adrian H. 293
Andrew 326
Dwinson 276
Jed 238
Jesse 267
John 304
Laura* 298
Marc 267
Marlon* 228
Mike 205
Nate 230
Nick 192
Shelle* 169
Tammy 251

Jed, Nate and Nick

Congrats to Laura, Marlon and Shelle for their first CrossFit workout! Also Nicholas, who had the best kipping pullups for the day! Big thanks again to Jesse and John of Local's Gym for coming by and bringing some toys. My bad about that shadow!

SEE YOU NEXT SATURDAY!

Clean & Jerk

James Fitzgerald (aka OPT, the 2007 Male CrossFit Champion) said something across the lines of "Train smart, not hard". Ego gets the best of us and we sacrifice actual progress for the sake of having the bigger balls. KNOW HUMILITY!

"Grace"
for time:
30 Clean & Jerks

Adrian 3:25*
Andrew 3:10*

Today's finisher was a 'pinching farmer's walk' around the building.

----

RAINSTORM THIS SATURDAY!

Rainstorm

Let's get it on! The next in our ongoing series of free Saturday workouts is almost upon us. Come to Foundation CrossFit this Saturday at noon for a Rainstorm of epic proportions.

Be there!

The Overhead Squat

If the squat is the king of all exercises (and functional movement), the overhead squat (OHS) is the emperor (I know, I know, but follow me). Required are CrossFit's 10 general skills condusive to fitness: cardiovascular endurance, strength, flexibility, stamina, power, speed, coordination, agility, speed and accuracy. The athlete gets the bar overhead with active shoulders and decends into a squat while keeping the bar in the frontal plane. Midline stability is the name of the game.

Elite level athletes can squat 15 reps with their bodyweight overhead.

Tammy warming up

21-15-9 reps for time:
OHS, 95 lbs
Pullups

Tammy 5:55*
Nate 8:09*
Mike 4:07*
Andrew 4:13

HQ did an experiment with this. Watch the video here (WMV).

----

Article:
"This. Is. Sparta's Workout." - The Bachelor Guy

Impossible is nothing.

Sometimes in life we need some inspiration. People will always talk you down from your goals. Here's a video to keep you going.



Think about a time when you held yourself back. Don't you usually think "Damn. I could've done better,"? Don't let there be a next time.

RAINSTORM VI: Rain Harder.

Actually, it was quite sunny out. Welcome back Dorian! Greetings Danielle and Eric! Y'all did a great job for your first RAINSTORM. Too bad I forgot to bring a camera.

5 rds for time:
30 kb swings
sprint to the stoplight and back (~300m)

Adrian 14:23
Danielle 13:44
Dorian 14:58
Elizabeth 16:02
Eric 10:55
Jessie 16:08
Mike 17:40
Nate 13:24
Tammy 13:04

Rainstorm VI

Friends, come and join us this weekend for another Rainstorm! We'll be hosting a FREE workout at noon, March 22nd. Bring a friend and come out for some serious fun, Prince-style. Afterwards, why don't we purify ourselves in the waters of Lake Minnetonka?

----

The other day a bunch of folk tried Roxanne for the first time. A few who've met her before worked for PRs.

Elizabeth, Jessie, Nate

Great job to everyone. I expect to fill up our "Trophy Case" with everyone's names in all the posted workouts within the next month!

Mike and Marc

The 22nd Annual Big Climb for Leukemia

Our team!
Adrian, Tammy, Marc, Mike, Andrew, Amy, Charlotte, and Nate

We also saw CrossFit Eastside, CrossFit Seattle, Rainier CrossFit, Mt. Baker CrossFit and Northwest CrossFit being represented at the event.

Big congrats to Amy for placing 115 out of 2650 overall (placed 8th in ladies alone, 2nd in her age group!) and to Nate- I owe you lunch! See the rest of the results here.

Great people, good times, wonderful cause. See you next year!

RAINSTORM V

Didn't want to hurt the legs today... so we warmed up with tabata squats!

5-3-1 min for reps
push press
pullups

Great job to Jed, Mike, John and Marc for being crazy!

Big Climb tomorrow! DONATE HERE! (=

The 10 General Physical Skills

1. Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance - The ability of body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen.

2. Stamina - The ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy.

3. Strength - The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply force.

4. Flexibility - the ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint.

5. Power - The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply maximum force in minimum time.

6. Speed - The ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.

7. Coordination - The ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement.

8. Agility - The ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another.

9. Balance - The ability to control the placement of the bodies center of gravity in relation to its support base.

10. Accuracy - The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.

The first four are improved through training. The last four are improved by practice. The middle two are improved by BOTH training and practice.

Training: the process of bringing a person to an agreed standard of proficiency by practice and instruction

Practice: to do or perform something repeatedly in order to acquire or polish a skill

The difference is INSTRUCTION!