Starting Monday we will begin a new strength cycle.  It will last 9 weeks.  We will focus on the deadlift, bench press and back squat.  There will be 3 sessions: a 5 sets of 3 day, a 3 sets of 8 day and a max rep set day.  This is very similar to “The Cube.” Previously, we would perform the same lift on a given day – like Monday was deadlift day.  This cycle, Monday’s will be heavy day, Wednesday’s will be muscle endurance day, and Friday will be max rep set day.  This week, it will be Deadlift, bench and squat. For each lifting session, you will be most successful if you have a plan for your warm up lifts.  If you are strong, be close to the weights. Tuesday and Thursday will be conditioning workouts.  I have some mashups of the this years Open workouts that I am...Read more

I took this workout from CrossFit Mayhem, Rich Froning’s gym. It looks challenging to say the least. But it is Saturday AFTER the Open, why not do thrusters and rowing?   Workout of the Day Row 2K At the top of every minute death by thrusters. So the first minute you do one thruster, then row. At the top of the second minute, you will do 2 thrusters then resume rowing. Your meters accumulate until you hit 2K.  There is a 15 minute cap. Something tells me that this will go from manageable to extremely difficult at the drop of a hat.Read more

Your Mind is So Strong; It lifts All The Weights I love hearing about people’s goals at CFO- they span across both the two ideas of wants and needs- but none the less, they are all important.  Attending class at CFO is definitely the first step to achieving  most of the goals I hear of, but there is another aspect that is just as important: mentally priming yourself for success. There is a quote that I found by Buddha that says it all and unlike me, about it the guy is way more efficient in delivery: “What you think you become”.  How sweet is that?  How real is that? We get bombarded by images, words, and ideas every day- especially if you’re plugged into social media- and it does have the opportunity to altar the way one thinks or one feels.  Think of what you surround yourself with on the...Read more

2 notes on lifting: Tomorrow will be an attempt at a 20 rep max on the Back Squat.  Say what?  Yes – a 20 rep max.  Please, be conservative here.  If you squat over 300, you will likely attempt something around 200 pounds.  A good target is 60% of your 1RM.  Use sets of 3 or 5 to get warm,load a weight and go for 20.  Have someone count for you.  We will work on this over the coming weeks, building slowly, so there will be room to grow. Second, we will be working the bench press in the coming weeks.  The goal is to carry this into the classic CrossFit workout “Linda” also known as “3 Bars of Death.”  This is a BW Bench, 3/4 BW Squat Clean and 1.5 BW on the Deadlift in a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 rep scheme.  The workout takes quite a bit of time, space and...Read more

Trick or Treat Yo Self So I think it’s safe to say that I get a raging sweet tooth once a month- and we will leave it at that.  Now I could go buck-wild and eat all the chocolate in the house, and the bag of powdered sugar, but instead I primarily stick to Nature’s desserts: fruit.  Now, I don’t deprive myself of the real deal, I definitely “treat” myself- but if I treated myself for how long the sweet tooth rages for I’d have real problems… and probably some acne issues.  So as I trick myself and my unrelenting need for sugar, I hit a certain point where just peeling a banana or biting into an apple doesn’t quite cut it.  And that’s where the real trick lies- step the fruit game up! First we have ice-cream wannabes and they are a blast to be creative with!  Blend some...Read more