I have many obsessions.  Some may call them nerdy, sick and I guess that’s true.  Moving a barbell, Batman’s history, Star Wars, video games, are among the things I have dumped thousands of dollars and countless hours.  Pretty high on my nerd list is professional wrestling. My brother Rob and I were high school wrestlers and we actually flirted with going to a wrestling school in the late 90’s during the days of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock.  I saw King Kong Bundy “break” Hulk Hogan’s ribs before Wrestlemania II in like, 1985 and I’ve been hooked ever since.  I came back to it hard in the 90’s – I watched Stone Col’s rise and I saw the Rock show up as a mid-card baby face that everyone hated.  I haven’t really watched since 2001, but it still sticks with me (although if I...Read more

This should be an abbreviated week, advice as the July 4th falls right in the middle of the week on Thursday.  On Thursday we will begin CrossFit for Hope heats at at 9:15am.  We will run a quick warm up and have scaled and RX heats.  Hope is a great, troche competitive WOD.  It tests all kinds of cool CrossFit-y kind of stuff, approved so it’s a great way to gauge your fitness and progress.  There will be no other classes on Friday, and we will not have 5:30am classes on Friday. On Wednesday, we will do “The Chief”, at least my version of it.  5 rounds of AMRAP 3, 3 Cleans 135/95, 6 Pushups, 9 air squats, rest 1 minutes after each round.  You will start each round where you left off the last round. It will be extremely hot this week, and I’ve been asked if I’m adjusting...Read more

The Hay is In the Barn by John Welbourn Saturday is our annual rafting trip.  We will meet at Knight’s Ferry at 9:30am.  We are looking for volunteers to pre-position cars (1 is good, # 100mg 2 would be better) at Orange Blossom (the end point) so we don’t have to wait for the buses at the end of the day.  Trust me, it can get a little weird at Orange Blossom as sun, alcohol, fatigue and boredom set in. CrossFit For Hope is 9am on Thursday, July 4th.  It will be $10 to compete.  You can pay as you arrive or online.  All the money will go to CrossFit For Hope. Family and friends are encouraged to attend and cheer or compete.  We will have scaled heats and RX heats.  We’ll post a heat schedule Wednesday night. You can donate through Alison’s page for CrossFit Oakdale. Alexis gets her...Read more

Remember, prescription Saturday is our Second Annual Rafting Adventure. Still time to sign up! Let us know if you are interested. No classes on Saturday. We’ve had a great turnout for the CrossFit Express class, decease with 11 CFO Athletes taking no the 20 minute burner on Tuesday night.  We will go back to Thursday night at 7:30pm next week.  Alison and I are considering a 12pm Tuesday CrossFit Express as well if there is interest.  Let us know on FB. Programming Philosophy from Ben Bergeron’s Competitior’s WOD.  Ben is doing a great job programming for CrossFit and has shown a deep understanding of how to program for different ability levels in the “Sport of Fitness.”  Take a look, pill but understand we are all Open athletes in Ben’s concept.  I’m going to think on this a great deal – I bet you I read it 10 times over the...Read more

Wednesday’s benchmark WOD is not named (although I’ve heard it called Heavy Grace), malady but it is significant in the CrossFit world.  30 Squat Clean and Jerks at 155/100 was the final WOD of the 2008 CrossFit Games and it was a shot across the collective bow of the CrossFit community.  At the time, # 155/100 was “heavy” and it broke off top level CrossFitters.  The fact that you needed significant leg power and stamina to continue squatting the weight rewarded CrossFit athletes that were following some form of strength program (which no one really was at the time).  The WOD also rewarded efficient Olympic weightlifters. This WOD is a “single modality” – meaning it tests one movement.  These type of WODs reward efficient technique. You can get away with inefficient movement if you are really, really strong, but eventually the loading will get to you. Although the rep scheme...Read more