In one of Dan John’s books (Dan John is one of the Fathers of strength and conditioning programs) he mentions that Chinese lifters consider the Abs to be the “second backbone”. I love this concept. We were discussing this very issue in Raw Strength last Wednesday. We were focusing on deadlift positioning and technique and drawing our attention to the fact that although the back takes most of the focus when we deadlift, our lack of attention to the abs can set us up for serious problems. Weak “second backbones” or lack of proper engagement of the abs can cause serious problems in the deadlift (or any other pulling lift off the ground). This morning in the Blueprint class where we practised the hollow rock position as part of our kip swing on the pullup bar, we discussed the fact that lack of stability and strength in the abdominal region can create a situation where there is hyper-motion in the shoulders setting us up for shoulder injury in kipping pullups. Learning to maintain and use the hollow rock position and a stable midline can preserve our shoulders. You won’t get any argument form me on the fact that abdominal and trunk work is b..o..r..i..n..g. Yes, we can work the frontal plane of our trunk secondarily in almost every CrossFit movement or lifting movement that we do, but we can also hurry along this process by simply doing some targeted abdominal work. Today’s Blueprint classes will be found working the V position with major engagement of the lower abdominal muscles as the foundation of the position. Who doesn’t need a second backbone?
One of our athletes used the phrase “toxic thoughts” today and after mulling it over I realized it is the theme of the season!! Life experiences often come in waves and the last month or two our community has experienced a wave of athletes coming to grips with their “toxic thoughts”. My guess is that every one of us, no matter how new to CrossFit or strength and conditioning we are, has toxic thoughts that impede our progress. I think our community is in this season right now because we have a bunch of people entering some pretty hot competition environments. And then, of course, all our non-competing athletes, all you guys who do this for health and longevity rather than trophies, often wonder if you are cut out for this fitness program. In fact, I think the competitive athletes are a few steps behind the non-competitive athletes in this case!! At any rate, all of you have toxic thoughts or you wouldn’t be a regular human, you’d be a Bodhisattva (or your religion’s equivalent). Since we are bound together by our strength and conditioning program, let’s check out the toxic thoughts surrounding our lifting and our CrossFitting.
There are two major categories of toxic thoughts that are common, and while they might seem different, they are really just manifestations of the same toxic thought process. All the following are real, true things told to me over the last year.
The first category is self-directed: “I don’t think I’m good enough” ”I don’t think I’m strong enough” “I don’t think I have the support system to do this” “I don’t think I can eat the way I need to” ”I’ll never be as good as So-and-So” ”I am letting down my coach” ”I am letting down my team” ”I am letting down my gym” ”I am not doing as well as I know I should” ”I should be able to make that lift” ”I should be able to get more reps in this workout” ”I should be skinnier” ”I need to be bigger” ”I should give this up and take up something I am better at” ”I should have done better at that” ”I’m too old for this”
Then there is another category of toxic thoughts that is other-directed “If only the people next to me in this CrossFit class weren’t so slow I would have a better workout” ”If only the people next to me in this CrossFit class weren’t so great I would have a better workout” ”If only my coach didn’t have such high expectations” “If only my coach didn’t underestimate me” ”If only my coach was more fun and took things less seriously” ”If only my coach took me more seriously” ”If only my coach gave me supplements to take” ”If only my coach didn’t have such specific nutrition beliefs” ”If only my coaches were more detailed regarding exactly what I need to do” ”If only my coaches weren’t so controlling” ”If only my coaches and teammates made competing more fun for me and didn’t take it so seriously” ”If only my coaches and team mates took this more seriously” ”If only my coaches gave me more skill work and less strength work I would be better” ”If only my coaches gave me more strength work and less skill work I would be better”.
OK, we could add to this list almost indefinitely, but the details of the thoughts aren’t important. What is important is the process of having a thought about your performance or your ability to perform, and how you respond to the occurrence of that thought. Thoughts are not the same as reality. Thoughts are simply thoughts and they may or may not reflect something true. As a CrossFitter or strength athlete you have to grab onto thoughts and look them objectively in the eye. You have to give it the once over. You have to decide whether the thought that popped into your head is serving you or sabotaging you. You might have to ask some one for their perspective. Thoughts are your judgement of a situation. Now, I’m pretty fallibly human still at this point in existence, so I won’t even begin to suggest that you not judge yourself and your situations. However, I would offer up that you might be open to the fact that you are wrong in your judgement. That your thought about your performance might be incorrect. Try tracing the roots of your thoughts. Why did that specific thought pop up for you? Sometimes toxic thoughts originate in crazy expectations of ourselves. Did you set an expectation that was out of whack? It can go both ways: did you expect something of yourself that was off track or did you expect something of someone else that was not appropriate?
Toxic thoughts don’t always have to be “bad”. It might be that toxic thoughts are the seed you need to plant for your next personal goal. This would be a case in which a thought that could be toxic actually ends up serving you.
As coaches, our job is simple. It is easy for us to watch and see that you are digging deep. That you brought your A-Game. That your performance was perfectly compatible with where you, as an athlete, are in this moment. Sometimes it is easy to see that you had an off-day, but as coaches, we see that all the time, because…that’s what happens with athletes. They sometimes have off-days. Newer CrossFitters hardly ever have off-days because part of being able to even have an off-day is establishing a baseline of consistent performance. Being consistent in attendance is establishing consistent performance.
As athletes, your job is much harder. It is so much harder to know whether or not you are “doing well”. Whether or not you are “doing well” is dependent upon the stage of your athletic development. For some of you, like I mention above, consistency is “doing well”. For some, holding on to the coaching corrections in the hang power clean from week to week is “doing well”. For others, PRing on the back squat each week is “doing well”. And then, for some, making the podium in a competition is “doing well”. This assessment of your expectations of yourself and your training program and your performance is constant. It never ends. Participation in this continual check-in is what your coaches and your fellow CrossFitters and athletes are here for. This, truly, is the difference between a results-based training program like CrossFit, and a hop-on-the-hamster-wheel-with-your-cell-phone training program.
If you notice that “toxic thoughts” are arising for you about your training, explore them. Explore them with other members of your gym. Wrestling these toxic thoughts is as much a part of your training program as cleaning up your diet or dialing in your deadlift position. It has been most gratifying to see a big group of folks in this gym who are ready and willing to wrestle with their toxic thoughts. It isn’t easy. It can be really scary. But it can lead to making room for sustainable and nourishing thoughts. Growth thoughts. Building thoughts. Getting-to-the-next-level thoughts. Rather than being a weakness, the ability to articulate and confront toxic thoughts, is a sign of real strength.
I know of a few CrossFitters who already have their corned beef and cabbage fix all planned out! Happy St. Patrick’s Day. St. Patrick’s Day makes me homesick for all things green, wet, misty, cold, rainy, windy and sea-worthy. I also miss Boston’s Irish bars and fields of clover. While some of the Catholic Saints are remarkably, deeply inspirational I’m not a huge fan of St. Patrick, and the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day is more American than Irish anyway. The Irish celebrate all the Saints. But, the eating of corned beef can certainly be a good enough reason why followers of CrossFit and primal food ways should get excited about every restaurant in town serving up corned beef today. The term “corned” refers to the coarse grains of salt that were traditionally used to make corned beef. Curing meat in salt was one of the very first meat preservation methods and has been practised by humans for at least 4,000 yrs. Other spices such as peppercorns and celery seed also act as preservatives and fight the growth of pathogenic bacteria. Another traditional, post-agricultural, contribution to the preservation of meat was the addition of whey to the curing solution. Whey adds lactic acid and the associated lactic acid-loving bacteria. Both salt, lactic acid, and lactic acid bacteria act to preserve the meat, but also to pre-digest it. In addition, meat preserved without refrigeration undergoes autolysis which is the breakdown of the cells in the meat by their own enzymes. All this creates a tender, meltingly delicious, easy-to-digest piece of meat: brilliantly perfect for lean, sometimes tough cuts of grass-fed beef. Store-bought corned beef, of course, has been hit with the wrecking ball of commercial food preparation. Saltpeter (potassium nitrite) is added to the meat to assist in preservation, but also to maintain the pink color of the meat. If you make your own corned beef it will be gray, not pink.
If you would like to try this amazingly delicious method of preparing your paleo-legit grass fed beef I highly suggest following the instructions written by Sally Fallon in her book Nourishing Traditions. You can find these recipes at a blog called The Nourished Kitchen as well.
As I’ve mentioned before I think that watching Olympic Weightlifting videos is greatly enhanced if the commentary is in a language that is completely undecipherable. In order to sync up my mind with our USA Weightlifting team who is currently on their way to Fullerton, CA I watched a few videos of Armenian lifters. Here you go:
Ahhhh! Back in the world of technology. Quick notes: don’t forget about mobility, Wed nights 5:30-6:30pm and please take note that for the next six weeks the front Barbell Club area will be very full from 6-7:30 on Mon and Wed nights with Raw Strength. We have a big group.
Thanks for the super-artistic photos January!
Our new gym is shaping up so beautifully. What with all the fancy TV ads for CrossFit, and the fancy CrossFit gyms opening up, it is with real satisfaction that we put together a Roots-type, original CrossFit, Garage gym. Heavy hard work under extremely knowledgeable eyes is what we are all about. I personally believe that as soon as you begin changing the vibe, you change the approach, you change the clients and you change the results. One man challenged us recently with the notion that he could have access to the VIP lounge at a nearby corporate gym, so why should he train with us? Obviously, he shouldn’t, because as the owner of this gym, I don’t even know what you DO in a gym’s VIP lounge, so we don’t have one. We will have a loft upstairs so you can watch your fellow trainees from the top down though.
The push-pull last weekend was a lot of fun. Thanks to Shawn Bellon, MHP rep, for judging. Thanks to Martin and James for loading and spotting and Sam S. and Jen B. for the table-work. We had delicious food, a beautiful cake in memory of one of Gary’s friends and former lifting partners, and saw some great lifts. Christian put up some great numbers, 550lb bench, I think, and a 625 deadlift. We saw Renee L. pull a 315 deadlift and a fantastic bench from Lisa Mendoza. We were also joined by a couple of Tucson’s strongest guys and it was excellent fun to see them lift so effortlessly. Aaron C. was in the house and he will be hosting a Grip Strength event in our gym, this Saturday. All our normal Saturday Open Gym and 11:30 workout stuff will happen as planned, but come check out the Grip Strength event too. More information at AZ-Grip.
This week is the penultimate 2012 Reebok Open Sectional CrossFit Games workout. Our team is remaining consistent in their excellent performances with perfection in adhering to the movement standards. Most of them will take on the workout this Friday evening at 5:45pm, however Chris G., Renee L., Liz B. and Sam S. will be on their way to Fullerton, CA for the USA Weightlifting Collegiate National qualifying meet. Wish them the best of luck. We wish Chris good luck too as we all know that traveling to a weight lifting meet with three nervous young women might come with an inherent set of challenges all its own!! Don’t worry Girls…he can be Team Mom, and weight lifting coach simultaneously, I promise. It is with absolute joy that I watch, and sometimes participate in, the amazing development of these three young women athletes. This week especially has seen them find really solid ground to approach this Meet. Louisiana here you come!!!
This Crew of spectacular breakdancers also happens to be IT when it comes to moving a gym. Much thanks from all your admirers at CrossFit Works!
The blog has been quiet…because so much is happening in real life (and because my computer currently is visiting its place of origin, the Mac factory, for some much needed TLC. We have begun our life in earnest in our new home at 244 S. Tucson Blvd, half way down the parking lot from our previous home. This building has been calling to us for a long time and we finally decided to completely relocate. While it was hard to give up the space where we have been coaching and training for nearly four years!!, this new building affords us, and you, some truly special opportunititees. Some of the things that I find most exciting about this new space are: the gorgeous, wood-framed high ceiling. This ceiling is absolutely beautiful, quite rare in Tucson, and will allow for full height rope climbs. It also allows for a very large open space because the construction method avoids the need for load-bearing interior walls or upright posts.
There is also space for you all to have a loft to hang out in and to be able to watch what goes on in the gym from a cool vantage point. We have a large outdoor yard, and a ground-level, ramped roll-up door.
Barebones Barbell Club will also have its own, delineated space. In our previous space the barbell club was often overtaken by CrossFitters who sometimes forget to appreciate the safety and concentration required for heavy lifting. We much appreciate everyone’s patience during the move and during our setup. We especially appreciate the assistance with the paint color choices and overall design of the space from those of you who have brilliant ideas on these kinds of things. You know who you are!
On another note, this Saturday we are hosting a Push-Pull event. It is going to be a really fun day, a sort of inaugural event for the new home of Barebones Barbell Club. It is all about having fun and lifting heavy and maybe getting your hands on a keg…that isn’t full of beer! We will have the grill set up. All lifters get to eat free and everyone else can eat for a small fee. I did hear Jen B. mention something about cupcakes…stop by and say hello, watch the lifting and have a burger. Due to the Push-Pull the 11:30 Saturday workout will be cancelled. If you have a burning desire to get your open gym time in, feel free, but you will have to work around the Push-Pull.
Our team is performing heroically in their quest to head to the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games Regional competition scheduled for early May. Last week’s workout was a tough one. The snatches got heavy really fast especially for those of the crew who are on the small side of the evolutionary spectrum! It was pretty amazing to see everyone reach DEEP for an extra one or two reps. We near the top 30 after week #2 which means we are holding tight to our quest at Regionals. The team has three more workouts to get through. They will find out this week’s workout tonight at 6pm along with the rest of the world! Come by, Friday night at 5:45pm if you’d like to see them do the workout.
Also on the horizon is a qualifying meet for USA Weightlifting Collegiate Nationals. Barebones Barbell Club will take three lifters to this meet in Phoenix on March 17th. They have all been working extremely hard to rpepare for this competition. When you see them give Renee L, Liz B. and Sam S. a high five and we’ll check in on them in a little over a week.
Raw Strength begins Monday March 12 at 6pm and it is FULL to the brim. Seriously looking forward to this one!!
And, finally, I’d like to really recognize the 5:30am Class and the Women-Only Class. In all my years of coaching CrossFit I have never seen entire classes performing workouts and movements with such attention to form. Both these groups are progressing at a rate that is unlike any I have seen for group classes. Because of the focus on responding to cues and moving with precision that these athletes are showing it is literally possible on a week-to-week basis to see their bodies change and their relationship to various strength and conditioning movements improve. I am enjoying these two groups immensely!
The photo on the left shows hollow body, on the right, not hollow.
This time, the photo on the left is not hollow and the one on the right is.
This little nagging body position called the hollow rock, or globally flexed position, just keeps coming back at us from every direction! As we were working on our handstands Saturday we were reminded of it. The photos show Chris teaching how to gently spot at the hips, in a straddle position, while encouraging engagement of the hollow rock positioning. When we learn the proper motion for the kipping pullup (so that we can do them more injury-free, more on that in a minute) we practice the hollow rock, and even for some of you today with the push press, we look at trying to keep your mid-back under control (not letting it arch into hyper-extension). Many of us have such an imbalance in our abdominal strength (spinal stabilizers in the frontal plane) vs our spinal erectors (spinal stabilizers in the back plane) that we cannot maintain a hollow rock position at all. Many women especially cannot avoid hyperextension (or a lower lumbar arch) in planks, presses over head, or kipping pullups (the awful “scorpion” effect). Sometimes we simply do not have neurologic control enough to (the ability to make our body do what we want) activate the muscles that create a hollow rock position. If you cannot engage the hollow rock position in the kipping pullup you are likely to overuse the shoulders because you are not controlling the movement, but simply bearing the full force brunt of your entire body weight flinging around. This is the Jekyll and Hyde of the kipping pullup: yes, you can learn to do a kipping pull up early in in your training, but because you don’t have the muscular strength and control to do them safely, you set yourselves up for shoulder injuries. There is something to be said for laying a SOLID foundation with upper body, upper back and trunk strength before you go flinging down too many kipping pullups. Being able to control your swing with your trunk is vital to your safety.
WHAT ABOUT THOSE HANDSTAND PROGRESSIONS!! Thanks to Chris Pinedo and his apprentice coaches! Andrew L. was clearly the CrossFitter who has a future in any sport upside down (as well as any sport involving 7 minutes of burpees, Andrew has one of the best scores in our region on that one). My take aways for the day were: some of us fall harder than others, we all need stronger upper abs and creating a shoulder girdle that can support different balancing positions does not happen without serious focus on the gymnastics movements. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
I want to say a special shout out to all the folks who came and did the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games Open on Friday night who are not officially registered for the competition. I won’t mention you by names but there were seven of you (I think). It is really something to know yourself well enough to be true to yourself and your personal goals. As the head of this CrossFit gym I have had a steady stream of people through my office who claimed they wanted to compete and then melted away when the going got tough, the coaching got serious or they weren’t easily the top of the heap anymore. I’m used to having people tell me they want to compete. What is so much rarer are the folks who do all the hard work with no desire for the glory (I know glory might be a little bit of a stretch but bear with me). These folks do all the programming, take in all the coaching, and daily/weekly/monthly throw down with a bunch of CrossFitters who frequently, but not always, beat them. They simply LOVE the process, the scene, the hard work and the self-progress (they probably have other reasons too that I don’t know about). Some of these folks are quite quite good, but just prefer to do their own thing. To the seven of you who came to do burpees with the registered athletes, you made that night a truly fun time and you are the subject of much much admiration and general goodness around the gym. See you next Friday night!!
Well. After a couple days to ponder it, I like the 7min of burpees inaugural 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games Open workout. Everyone can do it. It is the CrossFit version of an All Ages Hardcore show. It will be rude, loud and rough, but appropriate for all. Come on in to the gym tonight at 5:45pm if you want to do 7min of burpees!
Speaking of all ages and strength and conditioning and longevity and health (what?, you weren’t speaking of that? well, now you are), I had a chance to head out into the desert with south Tucson’s 4th graders. About 50 4th graders and their associated parental chaperones went on a hike in the desert. I couldn’t help but think about one of the founding CrossFit Works coaches, Bryon Lichtenhan and also my partner in the Primal Plan nutrition course, Ryan Koch. Bryon and Ryan could have spent the week in that desert with nothing but themselves and they could have carried any collapsed 4th grader back to civilization with nary a drop of sweat. I also thought about every single member of CrossFit Works on that hike. The parents, by-and-large, were overweight and struggled with a little two mile desert walk. The kids, by-and-large, were overweight and desperate to run, climb the rocks and impale themselves on cacti. Watching the parents I felt a renewed appreciation for the functionality of all the bodies in our gym. While you all may not be heading to the CrossFit Games this summer, you all could have helped anyone on this hike up over a little rock face. You are all functional folks. You all know your bodies and what they can do. Your work in our gym separates you from so much of our society. You are special (awwwww), but it’s true.
Also, I believe you all have a tolerance for physical experimentation. This is such a rare quality nowadays. These poor kids didn’t know if they could climb over a 3 ft rock face with their lunch in a back pack. Seriously, one 4th grade boy asked a parent to hold his backpack so he could climb up a 3ft rock!!! Guess what that parent responded with “Ummm, no. You can handle it.” (obviously he should have asked someone other than me). The kids were constantly reprimanded for climbing, touching, and running. My head still echoes with cries of “be careful!!!”.
And…the lunches. I don’t even know where to begin. Cheetos, Pringles, purple high fructose corn syrup drinks. My own son actually requested that I try to be “normal” and not bring a “curried brussel sprout salad” (which I will have all of you know has never been served in my house). ”Can’t you just bring a sandwich like normal people?” he asked. ”My friends will think you are weird.” ”yeah, well your friends can’t climb over a rock with a back pack on” I counter. ”My lunch makes me the only parent who could have run that hike carrying one of your unhealthy classmates”. ”Ugghhh.” says my 9 year old. ”Can’t you just be normal?”
No. No, not at all. I will never be normal. I am surrounded by people who eat well and are strong and brave and functional. I am not normal, but I am extremely fortunate.
We have three events this week designed to keep you fresh, sprite-like and kick a**. Keep learning. Keep experimenting. Keep playing.
The first event is our Wednesday night Chris Gartrell Mobility hour from 5:30 to 6:30pm. These are the tricks of the trade that allow us all to stay in the gym until we can’t remember where the gym is anymore! Don’t turn into one of those lifters who has to drape their arms over the barbell because your shoulders are too jacked to hold onto it properly. Fight the power, while increasing the power! Stay mobile and useful.
The second event is our lecture on eating well. Last night the Primal Plan crew got a little primer on the thyroid/fat-soluble vitamins/bone health connection, but they are kind of advanced at this point. This Wednesday at 6pm we will toss around the basic foundation of a clean, yet nourishing diet. Your body simply cannot maintain it’s youthful rambunctiousness on spinach and chicken breasts. Get the whole picture. Free and open to the public.
The third event is a little workshop on Saturday designed to take you seriously out of your rut. Don’t leave all the fun stuff to the kids. Chris Pinedo (someone teach me how to make the tilda over the n on my computer because he has one in his name) will share with you his secrets to balancing upside down and other cool stuff. Chris is a gymnastics coach and breakdancer (and teacher of breakdancing). He can do amazing things with his body and because he teaches movement all day, every day, he can break it down for you (hahaha, pun) too! This Saturday, Feb 25th from 11:30 to 1:00pm Chris will be in the gym to help you all with your CrossFit-related gymnastics movements. We will have a sign up sheet in the gym for Chris. This workshop is free, but space will be limited. It makes sense for you to attend Chris’ workshop if you are comfortable kicking up into handstands and playing around and falling. If you aren’t quite there yet, head over to Open Gym, and do your thing, then stick around to watch. It is magical. 50m handstand walk in the Open Sectionals? Done. You can read more about Chris and his students and their current project right here: imnotyoursteppingstone. The videos are of Chris and his project from last year.
The 6pm class warms up…word is they all have a 40″+ box jump!!
This has been a superlative Raw Strength crew. 35lbs on the deadlift for Anne B. putting her at 250lbs, Jen C. also added 35lbs. Melanie added 40lbs to hit 315!!!, Sarah added 17lbs for 275. On and on. Huge shout out to Manny who hit 405lbs easily and Brian N. who got 275 on his bench. We lifted heavy for six weeks using a Rep Max program which gave us plenty of heavy time under the bar. The perfect recipe for Novice and intermediate, non-geared lifters. Special thanks to my coaching partner Gary who provided these lifters with an excellent eye and motivation. Gary takes all the lifters he coaches seriously while providing a much-needed sense of safety too. The next session begins March 12. Registration is already open and filling up! Great great work everyone. Take those new lift numbers and keep going!!!
This is the final week for Raw Strength and last night we tested the 1 RM squat. Some folks come in to Raw Strength without a solid knowledge of their 1Rm back squat. It might have been a long time since they tried it, or they may never have tried it. Of the 7 people who tested last night, and had a reliable starting point, a total of 260lbs was added to their squats. This is on a six week, twice a week program. Notable increases were Brian who added 90lbs!!!, Manny who went from a questionable range of motion squat at 315 to a rock solid depth at 350, Jen C. and Melanie made it to the 200 Club, Jen C. with a squat of 205lbs (body weight under 120lbs). Anne B. is over the mental hurdle and went 185lbs. Everyone made remarkable gains in technique, consistency with the application of technique, and brute strength. We have three more to test still and Wed we will test the deadlift and the bench. Such a great group of lifters this session!!
Remember, this Wed from 5:30 to 6:30pm Mobility for CrossFitters, PowerLifters, and Olympic Lifters with Chris Gartrell.
This weekend up at Captain CrossFit in Prescott, AZ we put on The 2012 Life As Rx’d Winter Open. It was, as always, a day full of amazing performances and inspiring people, but there is time to talk about the athletes later. Today I want to talk about the source of success for a competition that hosts nearly 200 athletes…The A-Team. The volunteers and judges that literally “do the work”. Without attentive judges, diligent scorekeepers, and an on-the-ball judges-table/registration crew a day like Saturday falls apart. Check out this video to see many familiar faces walking out the final heat of the third workout.
Our A-Team was the lovely and talented Jessica B. (you can find her lifting heavy during Raw Strength this week!), Kai P., Sarah D., Jen C., Anne B., Renee L., Liz C., David M., Elizabeth B., Mark L., Jen B., Tim and Lucy S., Ben T., Bryon L., Sam C., Chris L. and the youngest and best-looking members of the Gartrell family. I hope I didn’t forget anyone here, if I did I apologize profusely. From my perspective it is seriously the above crew of people who made the day. Once Chris got behind the camera for SicFit, once I got on the microphone, and once Carl is answering every single question asked, the above-named folks were the ones running the day. We also had amazing volunteers and judging help from Katie and Kathy, Corey and Bryon M., Nathan, Michael, and all the great folks who call Captain CrossFit home.
February 15th, Wednesday 5:30-6:30pm Mobility for CrossFitters, Olympic Lifters and Power Lifters resumes. It will occur each Wednesday night from 5:30 to 6:30pm. You do not need to sign up on line for this class.
Kelly Starrett, originator of the CrossFit-oriented Mobility Program
Feb 22nd, Wednesday from 6pm to 7pm we will have an introduction to Paleo Basics. If you are new to our Programs or simply ready to focus on cleaning up your eating this is the conversation for you. We will cover the whys and hows of laying the foundation for super clean, wellness/performance-oriented nutrition. This lecture is free and open to the public and you do not need to sign up to be there. Just show up!
The Open Qualifiers for The 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games will run five weeks from February 22 through March 23rd. The Open Qualifier process is a world-wide event. Anyone and everyone can register to participate. Each week CrossFit Headquarters will release the qualifying workout. Your performance can either be videotaped and submitted for confirmation or watched, judged and verified at an Affiliate, like ours! We will run our Open Qualifer workouts on Friday evenings as the Performance CrossFit workout. All gym members are welcome to do the workouts. We will have sign up sheets in the gym the week of the workout and you will need to sign up so that we can have judges ready. If you would like your scores to be “official” you need to pay $20 and register at the CrossFit Games website, but you are welcome to come and do the workouts without going through that process.
The next six week Raw Strength session will begin Monday March 12th and run through April 18th. Registration will open this Sunday, February 12th at 5pm.
