Move you body! That is what is was made for!

Functional Training.... Why do we need to do it?

Why the Hell do I care if you perform pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups and squats or just walk and run everyday? Isn't it adequate to exercise doing the same thing everyday?

The short answer to this is no.

Our bodies are designed to move in a variety of different ways and have the ability to do allot more outside work than simply shuffling paper and step on the gas peddle.

The complexity to our development is essential to the importance of a true healthy and fit body. Fitness is an absolute component of being healthy over the long hall in general.

Some people think that exercise is all about looking good. Once they get to looking a certain way of maybe even achieving a certain goal (feel better, meet somebody, etc.) they stray away from these movements and workouts.
It is a much different mindset. These movements are functional when taught to perfection will enable the body to achieve levels of strength, coordination, flexibility, balance, agility that can be achieved in no other manner.
Watch a child when in as it grows. I cannot count the times I've seen Stone push himself away from the ground to move about the floor or Savannah and Jackson squat deep just to look at something on the ground.
Functional movements are a part of our DNA and should never be neglected. If they are for long enough your body will forget how to do them and become disabled for the avoidance. The 4 pillars of movement in, which I've learned from Juan Carlos Santana , promote a lifetime of moving well and living with ability. Having you body fall apart as you age is an avoidable occurrence. Training these movement patterns is something you owe to yourself and to all those around you who would rather not push you around in a wheel chair for not being able to walk in your future.

Where are the Good Trainers at?

 

Ever since I have been out of highschool, I've gone into different gyms numerous times to get in a solid workout. I've seen many of people going through the silliest routines of excercise and I could never understand why. What drives me the most crazy though watching so many trainers who get paid to put clients through some type of nonsence workout all while they themselves are almost oblivious to the fact that they really are supposed be training the individual. All I can say to those trainers is "Thanks for the new clients!"

In the last Couple of months more and more people have been hearing about Crossfit in and around Austin. I keep hearing about the "Crossfit buzz". This new buzz has a lot more trainers outside of Crossfit Central attempting to sell there product as Crossfit. I'm amazed to hear somebody who has never even been to a Crossfit gym or much less attended a certification teaching something that they have no right to teach.
I also want to point out that there is more Crossfit affiliates aiming to open up in our area to make claim that their program is Crossfit. I welcome this competition openly. We have no intention on slowing down with bringing the outreach of Crossfit to more and more people because this is what we all live for. I will say however that if you are going to make claims that Crossfit is what you teach or Elite fitness is what your program brings to the table, then you better be able to back it up.
My mission is to be the best trainer and effect as many people as I am able. Our coaches do and will not stand around and watch our clients do things incorrectly. We also will not incorporate any type of Powder puff program and Label it Crossfit just to try to pick up a couple clients.
If you aim to coach Crossfit especially in Austin, you better really be doing it. If you are not the people will indeed find us and know that we are giving them exactly what they deserve!

3...2...1 Go!

Doing all you Can

How many things can you do for yourself to ensure a future of good health and fitness? I have to say a lot! I am a true believer in taking care of myself physically so that I am able to maintain a long term active lifestyle. I am continuously blown away by people who neglect their own health even though the evidence is all around us of what we will look like by doing so. People who take care of themselves end up so much better off after the age of 40 than people who do not.
I have recently found out that I have an issue with my Spinal Cord that has been causing me some problems in my lower back. This makes me realize where even I've been slacking myself. Understand that every bit of your physical appearance can be altered by how you take care of or neglect your body with your day to day routine.
I have done very well for myself my doing functional training and challenging myself with it. I also have maintained eating habits which are better than about 98 percent of the population. However there are things that my body also are in major need of for recovery that I have managed to neglect.
My sleeping patterns are inconsistent for one. Our bodies need a minimum of 8 hours of sleep and are most benefited with up to 10. I have managed to allow myself 6 and less numerous times. We also need to stretch often at which a am fairly well at doing. The main priority that I've seemed to neglect the most is Massage therapy. This is something that we need as often as twice a day. I will wait several weeks to do.
For my neglection in these things, I am now experiencing the consequences. I have made a new commitment to myself for improving at my weaknesses because I've chosen a life of no limitation. I will continue to learn and understand ways in which will allow me to improve my present state. I know for a fact that by doing little things consistently day in/ day out, large benefits occur. We have desires to achieve certain thing and progress forward so that we may obtain them. I will let you know when my spine is corrected and I am free of pain in my lower back.

Staying true to my roots

Every time somebody ask Jeremy or myself how long we've been doing Crossfit, our answer is this: "All my life".

Although Crossfit has been on the web only since 2002 and we have been following the workouts of the day since 2005, the methods of training that we incorporate into our workouts and pushing intensity is truly something that we learned at a very young age.

By its own definition described by Coach Glassman, Crossfit is constantly varied functional movement that is performed at high intensity. This means that we don't do things in the same order ever and we push ourselves to our maximum ability all the time. Your body can never adjust this way and your performance and function will only improve. I am grateful to Crossfit.com for showing me safer ways to do these types of workouts as well as help give me a better understanding of why this is the way we should train.

I do however have to give credit the people who showed me early on when I first entered the world of athletics who gave me reason to work so hard and developed the ability to push myself more than I ever though possible. Starting when I was in grade school sports of running sprints over and over to become conditioned and going into Jr High sports where I learned a little about lifting weights to become strong, I thank all you coaches for motivating me.

High School I learned much more about Strength and Conditioning methods in which I still apply today. These years and the people I spent them with have truly shaped me much into the person I now am. The picture above shows a man (James Morton - Head Football Coach Lubbock Monterey High) who taught me more about hard work, commitment to excel, and teamwork than I ever would have learn without. Also a crew of guys that I fought, bled and shed tears for many of time who I would still do the same for today. I will never forgot the first time I did a workout that made me think I was going to die for the next 5 hours. These guys were all there. I sure am glad I didn't quit!

Crossfit is for everybody, but usually only the Strong can last. --- RESPECT PAIN (Click)

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.

The Irreplaceable Handstand

For some reason or another, the handstand has be mostly abandoned and almost forgotten in all of training. There is no good reason for why this has happened and every athlete should begin to incorporate the handstand back into their training. Obvious reasons for this would be to increase shoulder and arm strength, but really the most important reasons are core stabilization and becoming accustomed to being inverted for increase blood and oxygen circulation to the brain.

The Wayfit Kids

WayFit is a program that is done twice a week at West Austin Youth Assosiation (WAYA) for children between the ages or 10 and 13. Just like all other Crossfit programs, this one is meant to challenge each one of these youngsters to their individual levels of Fitness. Through this program, we also offer up an opportunity for these children to learn leadership, teamwork, self-developement as well as hard work. Working with children is what inspired me to become a professional trainer, and will always be the times I enjoy the most in all my training opportunities. New session starts tomorrow. Click the Wayfit link above for more info.

One Hard Worker

Eric Ditmer has been attending Crossfit Central's Bootcamp programs for about a year now. He is one the the stronger runners that I know and is over all in great shape. In the last couple months, he has takin interest in our indoor programs as well. As most of the clients that come indoors, Eric was very unfamiliar with a majority of what we do. None the less he has stepped up and been ready to take in all he could about becoming a better all around athlete. I am honored to work with such hard working and highly committed individuals such as this man. It's easy to see why he has achieved great levels of success in his career. With continued effort against the physically demanding challenges CrossFit brings, he will surely be right up with the best of them in this new sport.

Eric is pictured here performing the Olympic style Split Jerk at 100% effort. In my opinion... pretty damn good!

How do you know when you are Fit?

Large scale Crossfit events are a great opportunity to compare yourself to others who are about as fit or more fit than yourself. These workouts have always made me realize how much I am lacking in my training, or how much more I can push myself to raise my abilities. There is truly something powerful about seeing somebody who should by no means be able to out perform you, do it anyways. This past weekend, we put on the Fight Gone Bad workout at the gym. This is one of the more physically challenging workouts that we do in Crossfit. The competitiveness that this workout drives in individuals is obvious. Participants who do the workout are almost always concerned with their performance and very motivated to improve on the exercises the workout entails in attempt to better their scores. For me, I am forced with the challenge that Jeremy Thiel and the CrossFit A&M crew are all able to out perform me in this workout. I am saying now that these are the people who I am looking to chase down on the 29th when we do our Fight Gone Bad/ Athletes for a Cure/ CrossFit Prostate Cancer Fundraiser. Beyond all that, the events that we do that have up 40+ people show up are always a great time for everyone. Again, I am looking forward to seeing and meeting all who decide to come out for the workout on the 29th. Crossfit Journal - How Fit are you?

Complex

I've noticed several times that when people are introduced to Olympic style weightlifting, they become concerned that they cannot get the hang of it. I can't stress enough that only through practice that accuracy, coordination, balance and agility can be maintained. Uncomfortable movements are directly tied to the fact that your body is simply not used to the movement itself. It isn't that you physically cannot perform the movement, but that you need to first learn it, then practice it over and over again. Eventually what will happen is the feeling will become more natural. I especially love the times when I'm working with somebody who will say, "I used to do this when I was a kid! Why can't I do it now." Your body was created to be able to move specifically the way in which Crossfitters train. Most of the time, we are merely reteaching our bodies how to do things that they have been capable of since we were children. Don't ever say you can't. Just keep trying until you can!

Don't quit! Ever!

Sometimes the weather doesn't always cooperate with us during the workouts. Last week the rain began to come down hard in the last round of rowing during the evening class. This causes the seats and foot hooks to get slippery and hard to stay on. Rather than calling a stop or making adjustments to the workout to keep from getting wet, everyone stayed outside for the finish. Once again Crossfit Central is representing what it means to be a Crossfitter!

Friday Night Lights

I had an awesome opportunity to go check out Austin Westlake play Lake Travis this past Friday night. I prefer to watch these games from the sideline and thats exactly where what I did for this game. Working with athletes in this age group is something that I am very passionate about. Their eagerness to get better and learn more is extraordinarily higher than any other group of individuals I've work with.PowerPlant Athletics has recently signed on to do a strength and conditioning program for the Westlake's female basketball program. This is the first opportunity for us to get involved in the high school communities in Austin, and we are looking forward to more of this to come. Congrats to Westlake High for holding on to win this one as it came down to the last play. Westlake 28 - Lake Travis 21.

Fitness Program or Sport?

I was speaking to my class at 6 PM on Thursday explaining the revolution that is occurring in the fitness industry. Crossfit is not only about getting in better shape. I know several trainers who can help any individual get in better shape. Our program is about performance. We strive on being able to get the most work done in the short amount of time we train. Crossfitters are fierce competitors. We don't want to be people who just look the part, but people who can flat out get it done and be ready for more. We don't just do a fitness program... we dominate the fitness arena? Anyone who thinks their program is better... Prove it!

Women who Crossfit!

There is a really interesting phenomenon that occurs any time people hear anything about fitness programs. Men seem to discard them and women get involved in them. This is common all over and in my opinion, is very humorous to think about. Before CrossFit, I never would've considered joining a group program. In fact, I thought it was ridiculous to do any workout with a female. Males are stronger, faster and just down right better athletes than women are right? Well about 2 years ago I was at my computer and I got a email from a friend with a video link attached to it. Not really expecting anything I clicked on it only to have my mind blown by what I saw. 3 women doing a workout unlike anything I've ever seen by far nothing I've even considered attempting. My jaw was literally dropped open. This was my first experience of CrossFit. I new that I had to implement these workouts to my training. The 3 Sic Fit women inspired me so much, that I dropped my way of training to convert to the CrossFit way.
5 days ago I finally developed the ability to do more than one muscle up in a day. 3 days ago, I attempted the workout I saw 2 years ago. Today, my whole body is still trying to cure itself from it. This workout is without a question, one of the toughest ever put together and I give many props to all the females who come into CrossFit. This is a program surely designed for men, but being conquered my women all over the country. To all the men out there, it is time to change the way you think about a group fitness program. If you need a challenge... step up so these women can teach you a thing or two. Nicki Hall from CrossFit Central is just beginning her journey to Elite Fitness. So far, so good girl. Keep it up!


Enjoy the Video Nasty Girls Video

Fight Gone Bad 2007

We are fast approaching September 29th which is the date for the second annual Fight Gone Bad Crossfit Fundraiser. Teaming up with Athletes for a Cure, Crossfitters all across the country will be taking part in this Fundraiser in order to raise money towards finding a cure for Prostate Cancer. The Workout is one of those that anybody who takes part in is sure never to forget. My first time doing it was last year in Austin. I thought I was in decent shape, but after I got about halfway into this workout, I realized that I was simply just not Crossfit. Elite fit individuals score in the 320 to 350 range. That is my goal this year. This would be an improvement for me of about 130. I'm really setting the bar high for myself because I do want to become a top notch Crossfitter.

Please show your support and help us fundraise. Each person who participates needs only to raise $150. You can registrar at Athletesforacure.org to join us at Whole Foods at 5th and Lamar for the big event or you can donate any amount to the cause and sponcer those who would like to participate.

1 Year Gone

It's hard to believe that I moved here a year ago. The way time goes by is amazing and every time I think back I realize more and more how precious and valuable my time is. There is leaps and bounds of difference in my life today compared to when I first moved the this gorgeous city. I am so grateful that I didn't let my fear of change or what I was moving away from stop me from coming. I don't even consider those things anymore and every time I am driving around this town I think about all the things that I can do around here. I am so inspired by this city and especially the people who live in it. I don't know how many people experience these kind of feelings, buy a good friend of mine and I were hanging out the other night discussing how awesome it is to be able to go to places like Whole Foods. This city has so much to offer and I'm eager to get in where I fit in. I'm sure I will be saying the same thing at this time next year.