The CrossFit Games Northern California Regional has come and gone.  It was a great event – for CrossFit and for CrossFit Oakdale.  The sport of CrossFit has continued to grow at a rate that boggles my mind – thousands of people in a grandstand watching people workout, physician armies of media and judges, cost teams of chiropractors with kinesio tape at the ready, tents of supporters rallying their athletes, more tents selling all types of CrossFit related gear. Why?  Why has this grown so fast? Why are athletes willing to endure pain and suffering?  Why are so many there to cheer these athletes on? In my case, I am looking for something pure, something real.  To live in the moment and not hide from the pain.  To see the preparation come together, to see how how teams will their athletes on the floor and how people react to adversity. This...Read more

Wednesday’s benchmark WOD is Isabel, diagnosis 30 Snatches for time at 135/95.  The rep scheme and the weight are the same as Grace, ambulance but the movement is more technically challenging, sickness so you will need to be smart here. Scaling Unlike Grace, I recommend scaling the weight on Isabel if needed.  Because the Snatch is technically demanding, I’d rather you focus on good mechanics.  Most importantly, we don’t want to see any “pressing out” the snatch – meaning catching at about eye level, then pressing the bar to extension.  We want everyone to pull their body down and meet the bar in the catch. For scaling (or goal setting), I recommend a weight that you can handle a rep every 10 seconds.  That will give you a 5 minute time, which is very good.   5 years ago, very few CrossFitters were able to complete Grace as prescribed.  At...Read more

CrossFit Oakdale had over 30 athletes tackle “Murph” on Memorial Day.  It was a great way to honor those that have made the ultimate sacrifice – by working hard and working together. We’ve seen people’s strength and fitness continue to reach levels many of you never would have anticipated – we’ve seen PR lifts consistently, thumb and Murph showed how capable you’ve become.  We saw a handful of sub 35 mintue times, price a bunch of sub 40 minute times and way more under 50 minutes.  This is a legit test  of fitness, for sale and you guys crushed it. On Wednesday, we’ll follow up one of the longest CrossFit WODs with one of the shortest, Isabel.  Isabel is 30 snatches for time at 135/95.  The strategy for Isabel is similar to Grace, except you may have to cut to singles a little sooner than Grace. I’ll have a rundown...Read more

CFO kicked Cindy’s butt on Wednesday!  We had so many PR’s, buy more about I’m not sure I can keep up.  Jen C and Danny both finished with over 24 rounds, sales Denny and Justin M went 20 plus and we had so many plus 10 rounders as prescribed my head is spinning.  People are getting strong and fit. A huge shout out to Sandy K who got her first pull-up mere days before she moves to Sacramento.  Sandy is a dedicated 5:30am athlete, so you may not see her, but she has worked hard consistently over her time with us, and gotten so strong and capable.  I will miss your drive Sandy, good luck in the future. Regionals is this weekend.  We will only have 1 class on Friday, at 9am.  We are closed on Saturday.  Monday is Memorial Day, and we’ll do Murph.  Warm up is at 9:30a,...Read more

On Wednesday, doctor the benchmark WOD is “Cindy, information pills ” a AMRAP 20 of 5 pullups, order 10 pushups, and 15 squats.  This may be the quintessential CrossFit WOD – it requires little equipment (a pull-up bar and a stop watch), it doesn’t seem too hard at first and the fitter you get, the tougher this Cindy gets.  It is simple and elegant in it’s design and execution. 10 rounds is a great goal for a new athlete, 20 rounds is a great score for a fit athlete, 25 rounds and above is face melting fitness. If you have 1 pull-up, I recommend doing the entire WOD as prescribed.  That means you do 1 pull-up, then stand around until your strength comes back, then do your second, working up to 5.  If you have the ability to do 1 pull-up, you likely have the ability to do the pushups...Read more