Musical chairs

1) 8ct, HighSkip, ShoulderPU, HipExt, DBSwing, Locomotive, SideHop, FloorWipers, Lunge/Press, SideHurdle, HelloDolly, BoxDrill

2) 8ct, DBSwing, Locomotive, HighSkip, SideHop, FloorWipers, Lunge/Press, SideHurdle

3) 8ct, DBSwing, FloorWipers, SideHurdle

Skills: Fast hands/feet (partners)
30 Running step ups
Step PU, Handwalk

Tuesday Attitude: Imagination

"There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds."

- G.K. Chesterton

Signing Up for the Weight Loss Challenge? By Mon. Sept 6th...

1) Put name/email on list (need email for Livestrong invite)

2) Take packet, Weigh-In

3) Sign/tear off waiver on bottom of packet front page.

4) Behind desk...pay buy-in, insert waiver, write down weight.

Fast then Slow: The basics

Jump PUs, PushUps, Pikes, Curls, Squats, Dips, Wtd SitUp

Monday "Did you know...?" Kettle-calorie

KBs the most effective/efficient fitness modality!
A recent study by ACE (American Council on Exercise) of a KB Snatch workout:

-burned approximately 20 calories per minute!

-equal to running a six-minute mile pace, or cross-country skiing uphill at a fast pace.
-HR ranged from approximately 86 to 99 percent of max HR.

-attributed to fact that KB Snatch is full-body-workout (power & cardio!)

See full ACE review .pdf here. Keep on swingin'!

Sunday CF-ing: Practice day

Look out Double Unders...it's Double Dutch!
Refining and correcting KB exercises, double unders, KTE, kipping pull-ups, texting...good work and dedication (and coffee!).
Also, a small WOD option for those who stayed.
Box Jump, Push Up, Goblet Squat, or,
Sit Up, Slam Ball


PS. Weight Loss Challenge (Sept 7 - Oct 17) Sign Up Sheets are up (big whiteboard).
Motivated people only:
Not willing to dramatically change diet?
Think you can exercise off calories?
In training and still believe in carbo-load?
Uninterested in tracking diet on Livestrong?
Then please do not sign up.

Committed folks sign up (must have email--print clearly), weigh in & buy in (folder behind desk). The game is afoot on Sept 7!

Thursday Updates

1) August 29: Sunday Special Kettlebell Instruction
9-930 Swings; 930-1000 Pulls; 10-1030 Snatch
(Please stop by to refine your KB moves. This is also open-skills-work time for any exercise. Make the most of the workouts by being proficient in all movements...ie, avoid "learning" it on the fly...workouts are time to workout at high intensity, not to learn the movement...perfect practice makes perfect.)

2) September 6 Labor Day Special: 8am Run (start Wyo Pool Parking), 9am Combined Class (@ CF)


3) September 7 Weight Loss Challenge begins (look for sign-up instructions, meetings next week)

4) Saturday Sept. 18 IM ABLE Duathlon

5) Sunday 11/7 Call-To-Action Challenge

****Look for Fall Schedule changes starting Labor Day week****

Wednesday Form: Shoulder the burden

Flexible, mobile shoulders are critical to performing properly and avoiding injury. We've seen how tight shoulders can compromise just about every functional movement...yes, even a good squat (especially a close grip overhead squat!). Active shoulder, active shoulder, active shoulder!
Here's what you can do:
1) Shoulder Dislocates
2) Shoulder Scarecrows
3) Doorway Stretches (any variation, open up the pecs)




Try it for 2 weeks and see how that close grip OH squat improves!

Tuesday Attitude: Playin' your cards right

Let's say with a deck of cards my goal is to create 4 equal piles. When placing the first card down, I have the most freedom I can possess in this scenario. I can place the card anywhere; do whatever I want to. Notice, after this, freedom in placing cards becomes progressively more limited. All the way until the last card, where I have zero degrees of freedom. This card MUST go in the only pile left with 12 cards.

Is your health/fitness more like the first card: open to opportunity, liberated, free to participate fully in life? Or, through blind repetition, have you conceded degrees of freedom in your health/fitness, feeling like that last card ... trapped and limited because of how you've played your previous cards?

"Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.” -J. Nehru

Strike a pose.

1 min & 30/30sec
Double Under
PU/PU Hold
Air Squat/Hot Seat
MB Side Shuffle
PushPress/OHHold
Mod Plank/Plank
Beck's Burpee
JumpPU/NegPU
Pike/Lsit
Bear Crawl

Did you know? Use your brain, lose the grain.

Check out these 10 reasons to give up grains.

With the CF Weight Loss Challenge coming up in two weeks, some sort of calorie restriction/reduction will be in order. And of the possible food options -- meat/seafood, veggies, fruit, nuts/berries, grains --Grains looks like the best culprit...drop the grain calories, drop the pounds, and gain the health, nourishment benefits!

Eat less, clean, fresh, natural. Stay light.

Sunday CFers: Blasphemy & Madness...

This is Corps Fitness!"300"
25 PullUps
50 DL
50 PushUps
50 Box Jumps
50 Floor Wipers
50 Clean/Press
25 PullUps

Fine turn-out for this Sunday Special. Note, next Sunday Aug 29, 9AM, Kettlebell Instruction & Practice (mostly focused on Swings, Pulls, Snatches). If you need to learn or work on any KB moves, show up!

Also, feel free to stop by to practice any skills (OH Squats, Double Unders, Pull Ups, Rope Climb, Muscle Up, anything....Beginner or Advanced). Mastery/proficiency with the exercises only allows you to go that much harder during the workouts.

Pod-i-licious

Pod1: DropPU, Alt SS, StepUp/KB
Pod2: Skaters, ACPress, Wtd SitUp
Pod3: Dips, Hack Squat, Dot Drill
Pod4: Curl/Press, Box Jump, T-PU
(Box Drill w/i pod after every exercise)

Sunday Special: Tomorrow (Aug 22) 9AM:

Tri Hard!

Good luck to Ktri at the Timberman Ironman 70.3!

Friday KB:
MuscleUp Dips, Fig. 8, Quick Step, Renegade Rows, Steam Engines, 1Arm High Pull, MB Squat Throw, Swing, Step PU, OH Lunge, Ladder

Skills: High Pull/SDHP

20 min. AMRAP

10 Broad Jumps

10 KTE

100' Bear Crawl
10 B&T
4 Jingle Jangle

End: PushUp, Crunch, PullUp Pyramid

Awesome Pull Ups ladies!

Thursday Updates

1) August 22, 9AM: Sunday Special "Tonight We Dine in Hell" (300 Workout)

2) August 29, 9AM: Sunday Special KB Instruction/Practice

3) Monday Sept. 6 Labor Day: 8am Cadence Run (park Wyomissing Pool); 9am Combined Class (CF)

4) Tuesday Sept. 7 – October 17: Weight Loss Challenge II -- Boys vs Girls! (weigh-ins and info from 8/29-9/6)


5) Starting Thursday Sept. 9 Time Change: THURSDAYS ONLY....9:30AM class moves to 8:30AM...THURSDAYS ONLY 9:30 moves to 8:30AM starting Sept. 9!

6) Saturday Sept. 18 IM ABLE Duathlon

7) Saturday Oct. 23 Halloween Party!

8) Sunday Nov. 7 Call-To-Action Challenge

Wednesday Form: Form of Fitness

The Burpee...without argument the ultimate exercise...when executed to perfection and at rapid-fire speed (as shown by scottd). Squat thrust, push up, legs back in, squat jump high overhead clap.


Completing 150 proper burpees would be hard. Our daily exercise prescription ought to simply be 150 burpees, no?

Tuesday Attitude: Take a hike.

"Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling." - M. Runbeck

Monday Night Football

Coincidence? Rainbow on the night Tennis Karen returns? You decide.






Football Warm Up
15 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 60 sec exercises: (Hello Dolly, Box Jump, JJ/StarJump, Hang Run, Scissor Lunge, Burpee, MBClean/Slam, Squat Jump, DB Press, ToeTap, Honeymooner, Swing TriExt)

Monday "Did you know...?" Sit on it, Potsie.

What do you do when you're sittin' around thinking, "How can I relieve some of the muscle tension, adhesion, soreness, knots from all the high intensity exercise?" Standbys at our pad are the stretching stick used like a rolling pin and a lax ball (hit the piriformis with that baby and...whoo-boy!).

Anyway, here are some links to using foam rollers, balls, etc effectively. Stay loose!

CrossFit Invictus describes "How We Roll" (scroll the page for good pics).
Again Faster has a video for the foam roller.

Sunday CFer: 'Content' w/ these results?

Tonto!

PS. Totals from Hero Week (using an ave. McGhee rds)
421 Pushups
300 Squats
275 Pullups
239 Deadlift
154 KTE and Box Jumps
112 Swings
105 GHD Situps and Back Ext
90 Squat Cleans
49 Burpee, HSPU, Thrusters
4.25 mile run

A dirty dozen

3mtn climb/3thrusts, Toe Tap, Locomotives, 3crunch/3crossover, JJ2BT, Lunge, Squat Front Raise, Sprint, 3shoulderpu/3arm hauler, Bag Punch, Wall Ball, Leg Raise

Hero Week Make-Up

Last workouts are in. Incredible turn out for Summer Hero Week. Rest up...we go again in late December!
Completed all 6: Sam, Rhonda, Meredith, Melissa, Madeline, Catharine, Nick, ScottD, LisaW, Dan-Oh, Livewrong, Natalie, MattM, Gretch, Van, BobL, JanD, MattD
Very, very nice! Also, here's a quick vid.

Take a kettle-break

After the workouts put in by the Hero Week folks, Friday's going to be some easy movin'...5 on a side style...basic Corps Fitness.

B&TSideJump, Dying Turtle, MB Slide, High Pull, Alt. Side Step, TGU, Tuck Jump, Divebomber PU, Alt. Swing, Dynamic V (Handwalk or Bunny Hop across)

End: 3-2-1
3 min Step Ups, 2 min Plank Variations, 1 min Lunges


****Remember: Tonight make-up a Hero WOD between 5-6:30****

Hero Week Finale: Murph & a Goodbye

Hero WOD Murph seems to rile this group up, every time, to find out what's deep inside!
Who's that gal with the weight vest? Thanks Sam for a great summer. You've been a great asset to CF and your positive contributions to the gym have been appreciated by all. Way to blow it out on Murph!


Thank you everyone for coming out to any of the Hero WODs you were able to attend. And, of course, congratulations to everyone who completed all 6...suffer, sacrifice, honor!

Prize awards (pick up your bags at the gym):
Madeline B.: Beginner Effort (all 6? are you sure you're a "beginner"?)
Catherine L.: Best Injured Effort (bionic knee and all)
Meredith G.: Dedicated Come Hell or High Water (enough said....well maybe a few whispered "f-bombs")
Scott D.: Proof is in the Pudding Award (get his recipe, 'cause he ain't makin' instant!)
Melissa H.: Best Single Effort WOD (heavy swinging Helen...after 2 warm-up rds!)
Livewrong: Effort Best Honoring the Spirit of Hero Week

Everyone who completed all 6 will receive a t-shirt. Mark your size. Orders placed early next week.

Thursday Updates

1) Murph Day: "Despite the intensity of the firefight and suffering grave gunshot wounds himself, Murphy is credited with risking his own life to save the lives of his teammates. Murphy, intent on making contact with headquarters, but realizing this would be impossible in the extreme terrain where they were fighting, unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his own life moved into the open...""This deliberate and heroic act deprived him of cover and made him a target for the enemy... At one point he was shot in the back causing him to drop the transmitter. Murphy picked it back up, completed the call and continued firing at the enemy who was closing in."
1 mile Run, 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 squats, 1 mile run (partition reps as needed)

2) HERO WOD Make Up Day: Friday Aug 13, 5-630PM. If you need to make-up 1(one) Hero WOD, do it then.

3) IM ABLE Duathlon Sept. 18

Stephen day

"Third Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry member Corporal Stephen Bouzane, 26, was killed by an IED strike June 20th, 2007 in the Panjwaii district in Afghanistan. He is survived by his parents Fred and Moureen Bouzane and his sister Kelly." (www.crossfit.com)



Improvise, adapt, overcome.
Anyone who still thinks you get abs by "doin abs" never completed Stephen. Tighten the waist...by the backside!

Tomorrow Hero Week 2010 Finale: Murph

Typically we end with one big blow-out class. But tomorrow there are 3 times (530A, 930A, 530P). WITH THAT SAID, if you are able, make it to the 530P and make the last class of the last day of HERO WEEK 2010 a big raucous crowd! Either way, put the hammer down, every second counts, do something special...and great job this week!

Wednesday Form: Bottoms up!

Hittin' rock bottom on squats!
(Cleans...elbows up, weight back please)

Also, check out this Clean...Dip, Push, Pull, Float, Catch...but no Curl! Really very nice illustration of what this entire thing (full body, functional movements for real people in the real world) is all about, no matter the exercise. Do not lift weights....ACCELERATE WEIGHTS. Good timing, fluid, powerful, athletic.

What the Hel...en?!

****SPECIAL HERO WOD MAKE-UP TIME****
Friday 8/13 5-630PM
If you missed a Hero WOD and would like to make it up, show up. Know what your WOD is, set it up, and 3-2-1-G0.


High intensity quick hitter! 3 rds (400m run, 21 Swings, 12 Pull Ups)

Everyone worked on doin' something special! Awesome push!
AM shout outs:
MikeK: 28kg, 9:56
MelissaH: 20kg swings & Pull Ups! Drawin' a line in the sand!

Tomorrow:
Stephen (30-25-20-15-10-5...GHD SitUp, Back Ext., KTE, SLDL)

Tuesday Attitude: Music to your ears!

"Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.” (either Nietzsche or Angela Monet)


The primal CF holler...licences a certain intensity for the upcoming hour. What's this "music" signify to you?

Today:
Helen (3 rds: 400m run, 21 Swings, 12 Pull Ups)

McGhee: Fallen not Forgotten

Special thanks to guest instructor, Ben, leading the warm-up.





30 min AMRAP
5 DL
13 Pushups
9 Box Jumps




Tomorrow:
Helen...3 rds...400m run, 21 Swing, 12 Pull Ups

Monday "Did you know...?" Tear it up!

Today: McGhee (530A, 930A, 530p...AMRAP, tear it up!

And if you have been tearing it up...Do you know how to treat ripped callouses?

Check out the hand care series at Crossfit Virtuosity.

Sunday CFers: Badger

Sorry no pics of the AM group....word, or course, is that you blew it out!

3 rds.: 30 Squat Cleans, 30 PullUps, 800m Run




Several shout-outs today: To everyone who pulled through ripped up hands (is that a theme for the entire week?). To Chris for kranking 26 miles....and to Gretch for swimming 1 mile at the Steelman Triathlon for the IM ABLE team (on little to no swim training)! Which harkens a classic Coach G quote, "We do your stuff nearly as well as you do, you can't do ours very well at all, and we do everything that we both don't do much better than you can. Not very humble, I know, but true." Be a better, truer athlete!

Tomorrow: McGhee (530A, 930A, 530P)

Hero Week #2: Badger

Badger (9AM or 4PM):
"In honor of Navy Chief Petty Officer Mark Carter, 27, of Virginia Beach, VA who was killed in Iraq 11 December 2007." (http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/faq.html)

3 rds:
30 Squat Cleans
30 Pull Ups
800m Run

***If you are completing all 6 (or anticipate completing all 6) help us keep track by writing your name and checking off the workouts as you do them (on the workout board by the check-in desk). Thanks.***

The Sevens

"A suicide bomber killed seven CIA officers and one Jordanian officer at a remote base in southeastern Afghanistan on December 30, 2009 after posing as a potential informant reporting on Al Qaeda. Seven new stars will be etched onto the memorial wall at the CIA where every star represents grieving friends, family and colleagues dedicated to fight against the enemy, forever in their name.Killed in the attack were CIA officers Jennifer Lynne Matthews, 45; Scott Michael Roberson, 39; Harold E. Brown Jr., 37; Darren LaBonte, 35; Elizabeth Hanson, 30; and security contractors Jeremy Jason Wise, 35, and Dane Clark Paresi, 46." (www.crossfit.com)

7 rds/7 reps:

HSPU, Thruster, KTE, DL, Burpee, Swing, PullUp

Huge props to everyone that completed this workout! Major congrats to Melissa H. for bringin' the salt...49 pullups unassisted!

Tomorrow:

Badger 9AM, 4PM

3 rds.: 30 squat cleans, 30 pullups, 800m run