Doing your own thing.

The last few days I've had a great opportunity to train a student that attends UT who has been doing Crossfit on his own for the last several months. I know that a whole lot of people are doing this now more and more. I believe this is a great thing and is in a very large sense, one of our main objectives. We want to see as many individuals stepping out of the way of the big mirrors and the silly cadio/ calorie burning classes at the big Globo Gyms and start doing efficient functional exercise in there homes, at parks or neighborhood schools.
Everything about what we do is to enhance the quality of peoples lives through better mobility.

With that in mind, there is a major component of Functional exercises that is a must when a person is performing the movement that is called technique. Crossfit.com is attracting a whole lot of attention from a whole lot of arenas especially in the fitness industry. Unfortunately some of this attention is negative because of the thought that our workouts are unsafe.

I must admit, when people who are not well taught in our training styles and understand the importance of our safety first approach, will likely risk injury through inefficient technique.

The young cat I have been working with had some serious red flags with some of these movements, especially as he attempted heavier loads. Without my guidance he could have been up shit creek by over challenging himself to do something he is not yet ready for. Luckily he knew this possibility and decided to come in for the training to get him in the right track to success.

My job is not to run around the gym and call everybody a pansy for not working fast enough or lift heavier weight. When they need that encouragement I will but I will always prefer to see sound quality training that will support quicker results.

If anybody in This city is Crossfitting on your own, I commend you! I do however you coming in to our gym to learn our elements of training to get you on a better path to the results you seek. Our intro Crossfit program is something I believe is a give away to anybody seeking better fitness. We charge a Tenth of the cost of a Crossfit Cert and deliver as good of the instruction that you would receive at one.

All I know is that if you do this stuff... Make sure you understand it!

Fitness out of Community

We have a mantra at Crossfit Central that we go to with every group we train. We believe in Building a Fit community. To us, this means a couple of different things. These can go in either order, and that is developing community out of fitness or developing fitness out of community. I want to dive a little bit deeper into the understanding of what this means.
Some of our programs are set up as fitness classes that anybody from any background can come into. Every Boot camp and CrossFit class is open to the public to come into so that they as individuals can join a group of other individuals who want to strive to expand their fitness abilities. In every one of these programs, the same process has occurred. They were all strangers to each other in the beginning. Nobody spoke allot to one another in the beginning. The workouts absolutely forced a common bond for the group so that they began to encourage and support each other to finish the workouts. These workouts are not easy task, each person that attempts them will feed off of external motivation to help them through. As the fitness levels have increased in the group, so to has each person's desire to drive the others to go harder and faster during the workouts to then they would have done otherwise. This sense of giving it your all for the others in the group, helps to elevate the energy and excitement of the workouts and form bonds through celebration of accomplishments. No longer are these people individuals in a group fitness class, but they are now a team of competitors training for one each others advancements towards conquering new barriers.
The other side of what we do is a bit of a different scenario. We train groups of people who have known each other either through work or long time friendships who didn't need our workouts to develop a bond. This is the case with our corporate programs we train. The picture above shows several of the team of Rosenthal and Watson Law firm who were basically brother and sisters when we started working with them. My objective with this group was strictly fitness. Their encouragement could be seen from the start. It was perfect for them to all feel comfortable with each other from the start. This group has held each other accountable and have continued to come primarily because of that factor alone. On their own, doing a fitness program was not in there best interest, but with there close friends who they have known for a while, have used that bond to motivate each other to achieve a healthier lifestyle. They celebrate together the fact that the others in the group are looking better. Fitness out of community is such a powerful phenomenon. For me, being able to have been adopted into this type of family environment has been such a privilege.
This post is a major Thank You to every group that I work with. It has been a fun experience to see you all grow!

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.

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!

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.

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!