You may notice some new items floating around the gym.  They may not be huge, find but I hope they add to you experience.   First, this we have a stripe!  What’s a stripe you ask?  It’s the blue line that starts at 8 feet and ends at 10 feet.  In my opinion, this is the best, and most versatile wall ball target.  Ladies shoot to 8 feet; you should see blue under you ball every time for the shot to count.  Dudes, you shoot to 10 feet target; you should see grey under the ball on every shot.  I hope you used it on Friday, but there will be plenty of opportunities in the future 😉   Second, we got rubber!  What’s rubber?  We have a bunch of colored elastic bands of varying tensions.  The can be used for many things: mobility work, additional tension on lifts, or...Read more

“Annie” and Couplets. Like the writer, remedy my favorite WODs for developing fitness are couplets: 2 exercises back to back. Usually, buy the classic CrossFit couplets are short (2-6 minutes), malady have a major push/pull or pull/push component, require HIGH power output, and require deep mental focus. It takes some training and experience to “learn” how to maximize your effort, and make couplets become the best WODs for you. Nearly everyone will get sweaty and winded from today’s WOD. As CFO grows, we will hit one benchmark couplet per week. The goal is to pack ALL your effort into these 2-6 minutes WODs. This requires so many things: developing the techniques and skills required, a thorough warmup, the mental focus to push through pain as lactic acid builds, an understanding of your limitations and how to push them, and more. This stuff takes time, and it’s a big part of...Read more

Barleans Fish Oil. I talked about this stuff at the Nutrition Seminar. It’s an excellent Fish Oil, visit this with very high levels of DHA and EPA. I buy the pharmaceutical grade bottle at Sunflower in McHenry Village. The 8 Oz bottle lasts me 2-3 weeks, and costs $25 at regular price. I have probably bought it 5 or 6 times, and it is normally on sale for closer to $20. I wanted to post a Fish Oil Calculator that Whole9 provided, but it looks like they pulled it from their site. In it’s place is this excellent FAQ. It looks like the are in business with Stronger Faster Healthier (SFH). I think it says something that even though they are selling fish oil, they are not telling you to take more of it. SFH makes my favorite fish oil and whey protein supplements. We’ll begin stocking SFH products in...Read more

Coming off the Nutrition Seminar, view we want to remind you of the importance of fats in our diet.  Don’t be afraid of fat!  Cooking with fats and lipids from CrossFit Invictus. CrossFit for Skiers.  It hasn’t been a great year for snow, sickness but there’s plenty of ski season ahead.  CrossFit is a great training program for so many sports and activities, but skiing may top them all.  Sitting in an air squat, hamstring engaged, keeping a tight core, with your upper body guiding you as you speed down a mountain?  CrossFit baby! RMF…or why you can’t breathe during a WOD.  Breathing during a WOD, or even a lift, is very important.  Proper breathing during a lift can set your body and put you in the necessary tension to execute the lift.  How you breathe during a lift is a very individual thing, but it’s also intuitive.  You’ve been...Read more

Nutritional Seminar is at 6:30pm. CrossFit classes at 4:30 and 5:30pm. The Talent Code review. Once again, page talent is important, rx but there is no substitute for hard work and persistence. I’m interested in the “Martinez-isms” that Tom Brady carries around. Coyle describes the path to skill in the steps, I really liked the part on Total Concentration. Coyle observes this as being deeply focused, getting into the zone when you can make the small corrections. Near the end of the video, they talk about the stressing of the skill circuits. Coyle describes the “Golden Second”, where an error is made, a realization occurs, and a correction is made. Coyle also describes the feelings of stress and frustration as essential to making us better. It’s never easy, is it? Mike N. not only can move the barbell, but ripped off 8 consecutive kipping pull-ups for the first time during...Read more