The Chemex Coffee Maker. Andy Stumpf was the “flow master” at my CrossFit Level 1 seminar.  Basically, buy he explained what each block of instruction was about and answered a lot of questions.  When Andy was presented with a question about pre-workout energy drinks, no rx he suggested coffee.  The athlete told Andy, store “I don’t drink coffee.”  Andy looked at them for a second and said, “You don’t drink coffee?  And you call yourself a CrossFitter?” Andy was joking.  I think. The Chemex Coffee maker makes and excellent cup of coffee in a very simple way.  You fold and place a filter in the glass container, build water and grind your beans.  You put your grind in the filter, and pour the water after if has cooled a bit to “bloom” the coffee.  Once everything is soaked, you pour water over the beans, and it drips into the basin....Read more

Ephron: From “Silkwood” to “Sally”, case a Singular Voice.  What does a great filmmaker and writer that died yesterday have to do with fitness?  Nothing.  And everything. I was driving home from teaching the morning class when this piece came on the radio (yes, # I’m a rabid NPR listener).  I found myself sitting in my driveway with tears in my eyes at the end of the piece.  Ephron’s thoughts on nearing the end of life, more about the importance of memory and enjoying life as it comes was profound to me. Just wanted to share.   Workout of the Day 5 RFT 40 Doubleunders 30 Box Jumps 24/20 20 Kettlebell Swings 53/35Read more

At least 2 pretty cool CrossFit Competitions on the horizon:  the Lalanne Fitnees Summer Throwdown and The Level 10 Fall Strength Challenge in Oroville. The Lalanne Throwdown is August 25th, buy and Louis and Chance (better be) going.  I would absolutely do this one, there but I need to heal up.  Spots are going quick, so if you’re interested, get on it!  Chris puts on a great, challenging event. I’ve always wanted to do the L10 FSC, and if I’m healthy, I’m making the trip.  They always have tough, “out side the box” strength biased competitions.  Think strongman kinda stuff. The Moxie Madness was in September last year, and was a ton of fun.  This year the team event is September 1.  I’d like to do this one. Finally, I got an email from Terry at CrossFit Excel about an Affilate League, with weekly head to head team workouts.  I’ll...Read more

I forgot to post this the other night, order but we transitioned from 4 weeks of “Being upside down” and now we are into “Hanging and Pulling”.  Expect lots of pullups, T2B, knees to elbows, hollow work and more.  Be prepared to work from the rings.  And take care of your hands! K-Star has posted a 3 part series on breathing.  Part 1 is here.  I haven’t watched it yet, but I am excited to.  Imagine with all our breathing what happens to our diaphragm and abdominals.  Can you breathe well?  I bet you can, and if you can do it well, you can also do it poorly.  I know a few of you have experienced Bowen therapy, and things get crazy when they start messing with my diaphragm and abs.  Like the world goes upside down kind of weird.  If I can take measures on my own to fix...Read more

The Huberty family is making the long trek up the Eastern coast so we can eventually make our way back to the friendly confines of CrossFit Oakdale.  I’m typing this post from a Chipotle in Fairfield, information pills CT.  I went to high school in this town.  I just drove by the rugby field and small hill that my wrestling team would do sprints and hill work on in the fall lead up to the season.  The hill looked small, information pills but I bet if I stood at the bottom, more about it would feel just right.  When hard work is concerned, you can always go home again. For your planning purposes, this weeks strength work is Mon – Front Squat, ME Wed – 3 Position Clean Fri – Snatch (from the hang and snatch balance) Sat – Heavy Thrusters and big box jumps in the advanced class.  ...Read more