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Weightlifting Shoes from VS Athletics.  I have no connection to this company, people have been asking me about where to order shoes.  I've heard some pretty good feedback about them.  They are comparable to the Do-wins, which are normally $90-$125.

Jon Gilson at Again Faster has another great video series, this time on foam rolling.  I use the foam roller for recovery between workout sessions on an almost daily basis.


Foam Rolling: Part I from Patrick Cummings on Vimeo.


Foam Rolling Part II from Jon Gilson on Vimeo.

"To A Greater World" by Jon Gilson, Again Faster

We're bringing personal responsibility back.  You can't do what we do while shirking your load, depending on other people, or otherwise passing the buck.  Your WOD time is yours and yours alone. You cannot turn in a fifty-minute "Fran" and then scold your classmates for the result.  Blame is not cast in the gym.

Conversely, I can't count the number to times I've seen an athlete turn in an epic time and then thank everyone in the room for making it happen.  Adulation is shared.

I view the gym as a microcosm of the moral world, one in which control of success and failure ultimately lies with the individual.  There is no fatalism in the gym.  Your maximum pull-up number is not preordained by some higher power.  It is determined by speed, strength, coordination, accuracy, agility, and mental fortitude, all qualities that are within your domain and solely within your control.  Others can give to the effort through correction, encouragement, and support, but they cannot make your chin clear the bar.

Link to continue reading: http://www.againfaster.com/articles/to-a-greater-world.html

Jamie sent this to me this morning.  She works out at the Y in the morning and then comes to Crossfit class at night.

 I was at the Y this morning when a group of dudes came in to do some weightlifting. I was apparently in their way. Not trying to be the poop-stirring stick, I decided to finish up the set I was in the middle of and hop on the treadmill so they could get their lifting on. I am nice at 6 am.

 Pure crap. These guys were coming up on their toes, not fully extending, totally unstable and just flat out sloppy. It was like watching baboons lift weights. It took a lot of restraint for me not to jump off that treadmill and hit all of them over the head. But then I realized that these guys obviously don't have the solid training that we get at our gym. Their form stunk.  An injury is just around the corner.

 I decided not to be bullied out of my workout by a bunch of choads who didn't know how to lift. I hopped off the treadmill, grabbed a couple of weights and went back to doing my renegade rows, one-arm snatches, and split-jerks.  Yeah, I got some sideways looks and heard some mumbling, but you know what, it is MY workout and I know what I am doing.

 I guess my point is that we don't always feel confident in our form or weight we use, but having the opportunity to see what bad form really looks like, it made me very proud to be a part of our group. Yeah, some days we are off, but all–in-all, you guys do a fantastic job and are very disciplined. I am not sure if all of you realize how good you really are. I'd put any one of you up against all of the guys I saw at the Y this morning. That isn't to say that we don't all have room for improvement or that we have mastered anything, but man, we are a kick-ass group.

 Love ya,

 Jamie

Audio Interviews

Many of the Crossfit affiliates are generating great content.  I'm going to start posting this content so that everybody can check it out.

Jerry Hill at Crossfit Oldtown has been doing audio interviews with several outstanding coaches.  He poses the question:

"If your athletes life depended on getting in top-shape in record time what would be the most important thing you would do?"


The responses have been varied and incredibly informative.  His last interview was with Robb Wolf of the Performance Menu  According to Jerry:

I got Robb Wolf to unveil some real gems about Nutrition in an interview; it’s killer content with several great take-aways!

Access the audio here.

We will resume classes starting Wednesday, January 2.  Happy New Year!

I've decided to change up the training format for the classes.  I'm doing this for a few reasons:

• I'm not satisfied with our current levels of strength nor our current progression.
• I'm not satisfied with our competency on some of the more technical lifts.
• Overall I feel like things are stagnating a little bit.

I don't blame this on anybodys' lack of effort or motivation.  Far from it.  You guys have been giving 100% when you come in.

To counteract this, our workout days will fall into 3 general formats.

• Metabolic conditioning only (what you think of when you think of a Crossfit workout)
• Pure strength days.  I'm changing this so that we will do 2-3 lifts on these days instead of just one.
  
• A mix where we start off w/ 2-3 lifts and then do a quick metcon at the end, like we did for Wednesday's workout.

I've gotten my ideas for this from Coach Reeve at Wake as well as the Performance Menu.  I've been following the WOD there for the last few weeks and have been pretty happy w/ things.  You can go there to see more examples of a mixed workout.

Let me know what you think.