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

  8:30am Kids Class 9am Free Bring a Friend – Wall Ball Shots and some sort of pulling. The weather forecast does not look great for tomorrow, buy more about so it may be a bit close quarters at this time. 10am Advanced – WOD 12.4 11am Potluck! Happy St. Patty’s Days! The Games WODs have been taking a little longer then an hour to run through, so this may start a little later.Read more

The Go Nowhere Generation from the New York Times.  Depending on your views, salve many of us are a part of the generation described (I’m either Generation X or Y, price not that I care about these distinctions).  Some of the stories described bear a striking resemblance to people I am close to.  Side note:  I wanted to define, more about in my mind, the different generations.  I spent a few minutes looking at generations (The Greatest, Silent, Baby Boomers, X, Y, Millennials, and more.  Kind of interesting stuff.)   What is a “Cluster”? A Cluster is a Squat Clean into a Thruster.  The Cluster is in my top 3 favorite CrossFit movements.  It taxes the central nervous system, moves weight (bar, dumb bell, medicine ball) fast over a long distance, and requires great midline stability (core tension).  You may power clean, front squat, then thrusters.  BUT…I want you to...Read more

* I wrote this this morning before 12.4 was posted…with Muscle-Ups.   The muscle up is one of the coolest skills to learn in CrossFit.  The ability to pull yourself up and over an obstacle is functional and primal.  It is also one of the most difficult gymnastic skills for CrossFitters to learn and master.  The muscle up is accurately described as the biggest pull-up you’ve ever pulled, search and the deepest dip you’ve ever done.   I want to start integrating muscle ups into our regular training, # buy but that doesn’t mean you have to have them to complete the WOD.  The transition, pulling from the chest into a dip position (an essential component of the MU) can be taught to anyone.  We have many ladies that have, or are close to developing, a full, kipping pull-up.  What about the dip?  For many, the dip will require real...Read more