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

It’s a busy day on the training board with Snatching in the strength skill and Muscleups (MU) in the conditioning portion, so have your “game face” on.  These are 2 of the more technically challenging movements in CrossFit,  but the speed, power and mobility requirements are similar. I have rarely put MU in WODs.  I have not included them for a few reasons, but the 2 main ones are we didn’t have enough rings and we didn’t have enough athletes that had MU.  Well, now we have 4 sets of rings ready for MU, so that excuse is out. Second, and probably more importantly, I want to put them in WODs to “demystify” them.  We have over a dozen athletes with MU.  If you have the ability to do, say, 3 Chest to Bar Pullups, you likely have the pulling power required to perform a MU.  You just have yet...Read more

Reminder: Saturday is rafting down the Stanislaus.  The cost is $25.50 per person. Directions for booking your trip: 1. Log on to www.riverjourney.com 2. On the right hand corner is a box that says “Add to existing trip” Type in the group code 201305130006 and click submit. 3. Your trip date and discount will show up automatically. 4. Type in the number of guests 5. Fill in your customer information 6. Pay with your credit card 7. Receive your confirmation and liability sheet The gym will be closed on Saturday. On Tuesday, abortion I will program Muscle ups in the WOD.  It will be done so in a way that will be easily scaled.  We won’t have enough time to fully review the Muscle up on Tuesday.  If you have them, # dosage or think your are close, review videos and practice on Monday.  I will talk more about muscle ups in...Read more