The Sport is upon Us

Explosion! That is basically how I have to describe Last Weekends "Fittest Games Challenge". Competitors from Austin and Dallas met up the their respected cities to go head to head against each other. Little did they expect, athletes from outside cities and even states(Ohio and Kentucky) showed up to push them off their rocker.
The Workouts were hard. Pushing themselves to their absolute limits, every athlete took responsibility for the outcome of their final positions.
This event was a eye opener for everyone involved. I am not sure anybody was ready for the type of Crossfit Competition that was prepared to show up in aim to have some rights to be declared amongst the Fittest Athletes in TX. It is because of this alone that the winner of this event (on April 4th) will be sent to FT Worth to compete at Hell's Half Acre (Southwest Regional Qualifiers).
Put Simply, the Sport of Fitness has arrived. Athletes at the Peak of Crossfit will be remembered for many years to come. Crossfit's Community across the board has been built by these amazingly gifted athletes and without them Crossfit would not be what it is today.
This program is that of General fitness. I am personnally proud of the fact that Crossfit has helped so many everyday people get remotivated to take care of their health again. More than that though, I am unbelievably amped by the growth of this sport and by the and the amazing opportunity to see, know and compete with athletes who are at the pinnacle of Humam Performance.

Intensity = Power
Power is getting work done over time.
Crossfiters get a whole lot of work done Very Fast!
Crossfitters are Powerful!
Crossfiters are Intense!

Emotion

I catch myself saying many times that "Blood, Sweat and Tears make you know your are alive."
I believe there are alot to be said for possitive and supportive approaches that people take towards achieving goals and are going through some of the struggles it takes to get there. In my experience though, many times success in achievements come from taking a much more angry and fearless mindset.
Most of the time is training this is the case. The mind and the body become so disstressed that slowing down and taking the time to feel better just isn't going to get you to the point to which you can be. People who let these barriers slow them down will usually either not be satisfied with there performance or there physical appearance. People who unleash the raw emotions (anger, frustration, excitment, anxiousness) into the task that is staning in there way, will always have more success.
Your workouts are meant to be a time for you to let out these types of emotions that you don't always get out in your day to day life. For anyone finding themselves at a peak... Go Ahead... Just get Mad a little!

This Video Captured it all

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!

Does Crossfit Make you Smaller?

I first started Crossfit workouts in April of 2006. Because the intensity of the workouts, I naturally had to make sure I wasn't lifting anything too heavy so that I wouldn't hurt myself. No other weight workout had ever challenged me so intensely with the cardiovascular aspect of training quite like this. My body immediately responded my getting leaner and more defined than I ever have been before.
As I started to share the program with guys who where used to weight training in a gym for strength alone, an immediate concern for them was that our program was not going to be sufficient for them. All they could see was that they would not be as big and muscular and as traditional body building style program would allow. This is a total misconception. Usually with the movements we do, they will have to do lighter loads because they haven't mastered the movements. Once the movements feel more natural, they loads can get heavier and heavier. After a year and a half of doing this training program, I am now stronger than I've ever been, and I am able to handle my heart rate getting up to 200 without letting it slow me down.
The point here is not only to be able to Bench 300 and squat 500. It is not only to be able to run 5 miles in under 40 minutes. It is not only to have a 25 Tabata score;a sub 3 minute Fran; a 350 Fight gone Bad, or a sub 20 Linda time, but to be able to do any of those things on any given day. You're fitness levels are to be tested by more than just what you like to do. You have to do what you hate to become a top tier Crossfitter. Step up to the challenge if you dare! These Pictures were takin about a year apart. Still think Crossfit Doesn't work?

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!