Raising the Bar(and its weight)

Jeremy and I were having a bit of fun the other night by seeing how much weight we could get up above our heads from the standing position. We were using the Jerk technique as the weight increased above 225 pounds. We were having great success until the weight got to 265 lbs. That took each of us a couple tries a piece. Once the load got up to 275, I had to tap out as I could hardly get the bar to rise a few inches. Jeremy had just enough power and good enough form to get the load up with a slight press to extend the bar. Pretty or not, we counted it. We have set a goal for 300 pounds which is no easy task for any Crossfitter. I'll keep you posted when it happens. In the meantime check out the video of Coach Bergener teaching the proper way to do a Push Jerk.

More info for Olympic Weightlifting.
www.mikesgym.org

BootCamp to CrossFit

Becky and Allison have been 2 very loyal bootcampers for several months now. Each of them have experienced great results from their 2 day a week program. A month ago they each thought they would like to have an extra day of workouts to take themselves to new heights. They began asking me about the indoor class and if I thought they could do it. Of course I thought that they could do it, but because Crossfit is more weight intensified, I let them know that it would be a different type of challenge.
They did great in their first month. I know that they are experiencing different types of soreness now and their bodies are starting to respond to the new style of training. I've actually been so impressed with their stamina, I've decided to start going to the bootcamp that they attend with Jeremy to improve that element of my fitness. The bootcamp and the Crossfit Class are 2 entirely different animals. Both great independent programs, but also a tremendous compliment to one another.

Commited

Working with clients can be very tricky. I spend 2 or 3 hours a week with a majority of the people I train. That is very little time to make a huge impact on somebody as far as helping them achieve their fitness goals. I know that each person I train is willing to work hard in the time in which I have with them. It is the other 165 hours a week that I have no control, when I hope they are doing more for themselves.
Dave Re has been the Man when it came to downright making a decision to change his lifestyle. In the last 8 weeks, Dave went from hardly being able to do a couple sets of squats, to an absolute fitness freak. He's made more changes in his eating habits and his activity habits than most make in a year. It is for this reason that he's lost 15 lbs and 8 percent bodyfat. That is about 25 lbs of fat loss. This man is a night and day transformation of his former self. Soon I believe he will be just as fit as our best Crossfitters and just as ripped as me!
Great Job Dave. It's been a pleasure working with you so far. Enjoy the new atmosphere in Crossfit Class.

One of those Days

CrossFit workouts are designed so that anyone can complete them. There is a sence of accomplishment that comes along with the completion of everyone of them. Sometimes when you look at the exercises and the number of reps written underneath those 3 Letters W-O-D(Work out of the Day), it can seem very deceiving. Yesterday was like that in the fact that all of the movements were relatively quick in easy. The rep numbers were all 30 and below. Most of the workouts are meant to be completed as quickly as possible. 3... 2... 1... Go! Today's WOD by initially seemed to be one that we would be able to move 100 miles an hour throught the whole thing. 10 minutes into it, and we realized that we were nowhere near being done. 15 minutes, and we wer wondering why we were moving so slow. 20 minutes, uncertainty of wanting to finish crossed our minds. 25 minutes, our hearts racing and doing all we could to keep our breathing under control. How much longer? Can I finish? Will our bodies keep going?

Being a Crossfitter will definitely challenge you in ways that you have probably never experienced before. If it wasn't hard then we wouldn't love it so much. Every now in again though, I believe there are those workouts that it is ok to say, "Lets never do that one again!" Thank you Carey for your kind heartedness putting this one together. I think we should name this one after you.

"Crazy Carey"

30-25-20-15-10-5

Kettlebell Swings

Push-ups

Med Ball Cleans

Pullups

Squat Jumps

Dips

Pics: 6:15 pm class showin what there made of. Good job to you all!

This past Saturday was a great learning experience for me. Fit and Fearless Krav Maga held a seminar at their facility in South Austin. I've always been one to take for granted the fact that anyone would ever try to attack me. I never feared that type of circumstance. After attending this seminar though, I realize that I would have been clueless if a situation like that would have ever occured. Jeff Levine and the rest of the trainers do an outstanding job of instructing the methods of Krav Maga to the avererage Joe or tactical training professionals. Just like Crossfit Central, Fit and Fearless takes pride in what they do so that every individual who attends their programs leaves knowing that they've learned and accomplished something new. This seminar's purpose was to raise funds and awareness towards breast cancer. I'm truly glad I attended and look forward to another opportunity to attend one of the classes.

First Time for Everything

Every one knows this. Very rarely do we accomplish a challenging task in one attempt. If a baby didn't try to walk again after falling flat on its tail, or keep trying after 2 steps and smack on its face, where would we all be? We'd be crawling around looking like a bunch of babies. But we aren't babies so we'd really just be crawling around looking silly. Fortunately though, we didn't quit trying. Neither will the babies quit. So just like we get up and walk every morning, they too will be walking soon right along next to us. I'm no expert in babies, but I’m guessing from the time they start to try walking to the time they are actually able to walk very well is around the 4 to 5 month frame. Jenny Ervin has been working out at Crossfit Central now for about 6 months. When she started, pulling her body up an inch was an accomplishment. Not even close to doing a pull-up. She had a goal in her mind though that she was going to be able to do a pull-up. Last month I told her that she was going to get one by the end of the month. Almost with no help of mine, she finally got her first 2 weeks ago. chin to the bar. I had to count it because the pic looked so good. Now, she can do 5 in row. In 2 weeks, she will do 10 in a row. Not only is she doing them, but she has perfect technique. A lot of woman come to our gym with no prior experience of pull-ups. It's always the same "I don't think I will do those" or just "yeah right". Here is the deal. At Crossfit, women are strong and confident. This is the place where women do pull-ups. So when you come expect that you will be doing them before long. Congrats Jenny. You are now among the few.

Training is for everyone!

When I first got into training others, I had an amazing blessing to be able to work with youth between the ages of 12 - 18. I've trained this age group for 6 years now. Now that I've decided to make do this as a full time profession, I've had to break away from many of my narrow minded ways of thinking. I was always so sure that I wouldn't be able to work with anyone who wasn't by nature or by practice a highly athletic individual. I thought that it would only be worth training people who were trying to rise to a very high level of ability. That's before I realized the power of relativity. Now that I understand that no matter what level of fitness and athletic ability somebody is at, there is no difference in the excitement level of conquering a benchmark in which they couldn't achieve before. It is entirely the same for a high school athlete to Jerk 250 lbs as it is for somebody who hasn't attempted to squat in 20 years to get their butt below their knees with there feet flat on the ground. Abilities can and need to be improved for everyone. I will no longer subject myself to thinking I will only train one type. I am opening myself up to any individual who is in need of improved performance and mobility. The relationships I develop are really the one and only thing that matters most.

Monsieur Bill Brooks has made great stride in his last 5 week of training. Most of which has been completely reteaching the body how to move with more function. "I used to do these movements as a young child, and now I feel like I've never done them before." Functional movement is about training your body in a way that it is designed by nature to move.

Fight Gone Bad II

Photos by Dave Re Www.DaveRePhoto.com


Wow! I'm not sure we could have asked for this weekend's event to turn out any better than it did. I woke up at 4:45 am and was just eager for the entire day to get started. We had been planning things out for close to 2 months for this event. About 6 months ago Jeremy and I were having breakfast at Whole Foods and we decided to go up on the Pavillion to see if putting on a bootcamp there would be a possibility. Thats the day the idea to do the Fight Gone Bad Fundraiser spurred. We were up there thinking how it could be set up. Its amazing that the actual event was set up almost entirely identical to how it was visuallized in our minds. Beyond that, the amount of individuals who were actually there to show support was mind blowing. Everything we needed came together to make this a great turnout.