Friday’s WOD, visit commonly referred to as the “Filthy Fifty” is a CrossFit “chipper”.  For the most part, find we train couplets (2 exercises back to back, visit this site repeating) or triplets (same concept, with 3 exercises).  Think of a chipper as a series of task, stacked on each other, and you “chip” away at the stack.  Or, doing the WOD is like putting you body in a wood chipper 😉 For a new athlete, this WOD may seem intimidating.  Athletes usually fall into 2 camps: hate heavy stuff or hate running.  (I love heavy, and hate running.  Shhhh, Don’t tell anyone.)  The Filthy Fifty is a hard workout, but look at what it’s not.  It’s not heavy and there’s no running!  That’s gotta appeal to nearly everyone, right?  The movements are considered basic, which can be tricky, as once stacked up, they get tougher. Remember, we can scale...Read more

The final Open WOD has been posted.  It’s the same as the final WOD as last year, # 40mg a thruster/pull up ladder.  Maybe I’m a CrossFit schill, search but I dig this.  We get to compare off last year and nothing, sickness and I mean nothing says CrossFit like thrusters and pull ups.   Good Times CrossFit in Sacramento is holding a CrossFit competition on April 14th.  I’m going to sign up.  It’s sort of short notice, and they are saying there is no scaled division.  This might be tough, but it’s a good time up there.  Let me know your thoughts on FB. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Jra8_g–g&w=560&h=315] Louis pointed me to this excellent article from Talk To Me Johnny, What Kind of Exercise Will I Need?  The CrossFit prescription is a little different, but John puts forward an awesome, simple template to get strong.  This is the basis of the...Read more

The final WOD of the CrossFit Games Open will be announced tonight.  In the last 4 weeks, website like this I’ve identified 3 outstanding resources to break down the WODs: K-Star at MobilityWOD to prep the body, buy more about Carl Paoli’s Gymnastic WOD to become more efficient at the movements and Rudy Nielsen’s Outlaw CrossFit to break down and strategize the WODs.  I love the Games, not just because I love the competition, but I love the run off of information from the elite guys to us, the regular CrossFit community.  Even a year ago, this type of information was limited to the best athletes.  Now, even a brand new athlete can find great tips to get started in pursuing their fitness.  And if you’re not the kind of person that’s going to watch the videos, I am.  And I’m lucky to be surrounded by other like minded athletes...Read more

Mentiscular Fortitude from Catalyst Athletics.  Reading the beginning of this article made me laugh.  I am well aware of the term mental fortitude, medical but I distinctly remember Mick Foley, here aka “Mankind”, aka “Cactus Jack”, aka “Dude Love” of the old WWF coining the term “testicular fortitude”.  Mick was the greatest punching bag in the history of professional wrestling, and he was made famous by getting bashed in the head with steel chairs.  Please don’t equate my enjoyment of this line with my views on training, it just makes me smile.   I love Everrett’s “long road” approach to training.  Don’t get too high, don’t get too low, stay the course.  I just told an athlete 15 minutes ago that Rome wasn’t built in a day.  But making your mind tough, developing the mental strength to keep working when you’re tired and fatigued is where true strength comes from. ...Read more

Team CrossFit Oakdale has been working so hard and having a ton of fun in the CrossFit Games Open!  After 4 WODs, capsule we are in 59th place out of nearly 100 gyms that entered in Northern California.  I have to admit, pilule we got smashed in WOD 12.1; 7 minutes of burpees (we finished 84th in this suckfest).  We’ve been fighting back every week and moving up in the standings.  The leader board displays the Top 60 teams in the region, and we made the front page for the first time!  Gyms are scored based on the top scores of 3 men and 3 women, so it’s a true team effort.  We have gotten better as this thing progressed and have identified some weaknesses, like high rep burpees and high rep wall ball shots.  Does that mean more of this stuff?  Not necessarily, it’s great to know what you...Read more