Blog Archive

We have been approached by hundreds of people selling “supplements”, “performance enhancers”, “Healthy Juices” and all sorts of tonices potions and various recipes of snake oil.

What we have witnessed…….. they are complete bullshit. The “health” food industry as a whole is full of charlatans. We do not believe anybody unless they can show results.

Then about a year ago Lunger brought an oil guy around and began pestering me about promoting fish and seed oil. I was skeptical.

What has since happened can only be described as the real deal. Slowly one person at a time nutritional oils have infiltrated our school. We did not advertise them, so much so that my skeptisism had people taking them in secret.

Then one day I hear Pup in the corner having a conversation with Lunger that appeared to be a drug deal. Low talking back to everyone. I find out PUP has been on this shit for months and in the same moment came to realize that the little bugger was PRing everything. So I asked him “Why didn’t you say anything to anyone?” he retorts with his little sideways Pup grin, “I have to get ahead of the game in here before everyone finds out….this shit is crazy.”

To hear that for a guy like Pup, who gave up on Santa Claus when he was 3 years old….I decided to give it a try.

The first day I tried the seed oil, it kicked in about a half an hour later while I was in costco…….I was so jacked up I did a set of handstand pushups in the water isle (not much traffic) to come down a little. It was like speed or something. It will MAKE you workout.

As for the fish oil; my moment of belief came while attending a Choices seminar. I had done a shit load of HSPU’s and had been in a suit and tie for 2 days (I have a chronic neck issue) and wanted to cry from the agony. I super dosed the fish oil ( 4-5 caps) that night and woke up with no neck pain what so ever.

Since then I have pr’d Helen, Grace, Sc 500, Snatch, C & J and my neck and back pain have gone away.

Unbelievable.

So I decided to invest in the company. The shit works……I have no idea why.

Come by and hang with us Wednesday night and hear Andrew (Oil expert) describe why it works. He knows a shit load about chemistry, the body and oil.

As a bonus: Dr. Varma would like to offer the gift of a one-hour Ayurveda appointment to each attendee of our lecture (worth $149). He would come personally to the lecture, say a few words at the end of our talk about what he’s giving as a gift and how to redeem.

Why Omega 3’s work

Giddup & Patty out

Wednesday’s Workout
Warm-up
-35 Medballs Sit-ups with partner

Skill Work
Lever Progressions and Cranks.

Cranks are performed by lowering yourself from an inverted position on rings to the horizontal position of a front or back lever then pulling it back up to the inversion without a significant hip bend. Practice them in a tuck, one leg in, etc.

Coach Carl Paoli of gymnsaticswod.com shows us a great progression with a band positioned in front or behind the torso depending on which levers you practice. Check out the lever progressions here.

Workout
8 Rounds of:
30 seconds handstand pushups
30 seconds rest
30 seconds anchored sit-ups w/ abmat
30 seconds rest
– Count cumulative reps for score

* kips are allowed in HSPU’s, leave the abmats for the situps,
* sit-ups must have hands past toes and head must touch mat.
* use bands on HSPU’s – they count 2 to 1.
* If you want a head rest use the green cushions and 25lb plates under hands to keep all legit.

Thanks, TBear

Let’s all congratulate Sheppy on his fine interview skills of Taubes. Maybe he’ll consider changing over from zone to paleo????

The following interrigation files is a piece that will expose the deeper innards of your coaches around you…..stay tuned for details…

Warmup:
Single Leg Deadlifts – figure out the balance equation and move up in weight (5,5,3,3,2,2,1,1,1,1,1) – barbells only.

Tech:
The remaining elements of the workout

Workout:
“Double Trouble” for time
2 Rounds
25 toes over bar
25 Single Leg Deadlifts (135/85)
then
2 Rounds of:
25 Chest to Bar Pull-ups
75 Hollow Rocks (see hollows done right here)

Part 2 of Interrogation files and the files of others this week.

T-Bear

Tremendous results are coming in so far. A 33% decrease of total skinfold has topped the chart so far for the preliminary 4 weeks.

Shazam is there after giving up booze. Blewitt, BK, Cam, Jeff A, Snoball, Meriev are all around 30% by sticking to a paleo based diet while understanding that fun is still allowed. They all are way stronger, more powerful and know how to control their body fat situation. They are in control.

We know how to put it on and take it off. To what extent?? ….well that is the burning question. I know we are way better at it this year compared to last. The majority of paleo’rs are stepping it up with this “battlepaleo challenge. Next one starts in April.

This isn’t a fad diet.

This isn’t a difficult diet.

This is a way of being….and is quite simplified.

Talk to your school mates. Everyone is learning and tweaking their diets as we go.

Paleo Playoff People – hear this – You’re eating less because your losing weight. You’ve become an efficient fat eating machine!!

Gary Taubes tells it like it is.

Monday Pre-lim Component
5 rounds of 10 Overhead Squats (increase that weight – even if it’s 2%)

Leaderboard Workout

“oooohhh Biiiiillllliiiiieeee”
– 50 Overhead Squats for time (85/135)

*use 70% of 1RM for progressions.

TBear
If you love this stuff check out these vids.

Hey guys this is a sick video of Joel (the Brazilian vegetarian chicken lover freak) squatting a motorcycle!!
It’s awesome! Take a look:

Great job Joel!
Proud of you smile

***Do not be scared***

I know you all have been expecting me to hit you with some sort of beast running workout. A 5k or a 10k, or an interval workout reminiscent of my high school track days. Don’t let the title of this post fool you, this is not what you’re expecting.

So I get home this morning after flattening myself on the workout to discover an email from a good friend of mine who is currently working down in Mexico, right near the Copper Canyons. Here is a clip. For those of you that haven’t read the book, Born to Run is an interesting read about running and ultramarathons, and indigenous running cultures, of which the Tarahumara are one.

“While working today I was passed by a Tarahumara family. Check out the sandals on the father and mother, the mother in particular. Sawweeeet! Also drove through Creel on the way in here and saw the dirt road that heads off into the Copper Canyons that “the race” began and ended on. Anyways, pretty cool to have that book come to life a bit, thought you’d be interested too.”

Wicked cool. Made my morning. Anyways, on to more local issues, such as the weekend workouts.

One of the things that drew me to Crossfit when I first got into it, was the concept of what loads and tasks the ideal athlete would be capable of performing. It may have been a well crafting sales pitch, but it got me. The idea being that the ideal male athlete might be a guy that could run a 3:00 km or a 5:00 mile, but also pull a 500 lb. deadlift and have the body control of a gymnast. A bit ambitious perhaps, but no one has ever gotten anywhere without some ambition.

I’ve thought about this from time to time since then, and have tried to build up in my head more of those numbers on various lifts that that ideal athlete might have. One of the thoughts was that if this prototypical athlete had a 300 lb. jerk that would be a good demonstration not only of his power, but also of speed and many other of the 10 general physical skills. Interestingly a 5 minute mile is 300 seconds. So if this athlete could run a mile in 300 seconds and jerk 300 lbs., the differential between these two would be zero. Similarly, if someone could run a 4 minute mile and jerk 240 lbs, i’d still be very impressed. Or alternatively run a 6 minute mile and jerk 360 lbs., well, I’d probably not challenge him to a fight. Since athletes come in many different shapes and sizes, I conclude that I think the lower this differential is, not the absolute values, may be a good indicator of the athlete’s fitness.

Saturday will be a test of this theory:

Warmup: Coach’s Choice for both warmups this weekend

Tech: Push Jerk, Split Jerk, Jerk from behind the head

Workout: Run (or row) 1 mile followed by 5 min. to find a 1RM Shoulder to Overhead (from a rack)

Score is time in seconds minus weight in lbs. Lowest wins.

Sunday is not quite as glamorous, but just a classic battle.

Tech: Hang Power Clean 3-3-3

Workout: “Nasty Girls”
3 rounds for time of:
50 squats
10 HPC (135/85 lbs.)
7 Muscle ups

Hope you all enjoyed the week! I enjoyed the opportunity to program it and throw my thoughts around a bit.

Dan and Andy

Saturday, March 12th, CF Van is hosting its first ever Clothing Swap – a chance for you to purge your closet and sell your unwanted clothes.

Details below.

If you still have questions about the event, or to host a table, contact Emily:

PS Invite your friends! The more tables we sell, the more people who come, the more money YOU make

***Note morning class time changes. Classes will be Monday through Friday at 6am and 7am. There will also be class on Tuesday and Thursday at 8am***

Mid-way Paleo Pinch – Did you make the Playoffs?
Friday the 18th – 5:30 to 7pm – Find the Dash
Weekend – Find T-bear – Sat at 2pm and Sunday at 4pm
Group results revealed via email from the Dash

Ever since beginning to do Crossfit, I have been amazed by the primitive nature of the deadlift and the life-altering feeling of strength it provides. It is a viewpoint that I did not have for more than the first quarter century of my life. I regularly tote about the effectiveness of this very basic movement to my friends and family who don’t know of its potency. Mostly those speech sessions fall on deaf ears, however every once and a while you get a real breakthrough. Recently I’m proud to say that my dad, deadlifting over the past few months for the first time in his life at age 70, surpassed the mark of deadlifting his body weight. I couldn’t be more proud. So I ask, what do you have in you today?

Get primitive. Get in touch with your inner caveman or cavewoman.

Friday’s Gameplan

Warmup: Coach’s choice followed by some band assisted wrist/forearm mobility
(see photo below)

Tech: Sumo Deadlift 3-3-3

We don’t do the sumo deadlift often, but it’s good to switch it up every now and then for technique and strength development. I find the sumo hits me a completely different way than the conventional deadlift. These should be fairly heavy 3’s, but don’t worry about hitting a max – just practice the technique. You’ll get to hit the deadlift hard in today’s workout.

Workout: “Get Primitive”
4 rounds for time of:
10 Deadlifts (225 / 155 lbs)
10 Burpee pull-ups

15 minute time cap, scale accordingly.

Scaling recommendations for this workout – guys with a deadlift below 300 lbs and ladies with a deadlift below 205 lbs, let’s thinking about scaling the deadlift load down. For scaling the burpee pullups for those without band-free pullups, today go for something to step up on and grab the pullup bar and do burpee-jumping pullups. Enjoy!

Dan and Andy

***Please note morning class time changes. Classes will be Monday to Friday at 6am and 7am, and on Tuesday and Thursday there will also be an 8am class.***

As Patty said last week, MadLab is back. This year we are having two divisions for this 6 week tournament. Game time is 7pm on Thursday nights. 3 person teams. 4 round robin weeks, semi finals, and then finals. We will have an elite division (those who are Crossfit Games hopefuls and/or a minimum fitness rating over 25) and an open division for the mainstream (the lifeblood) of the school.

You should have a filled out fitness rating sheet to join, if you have most of the scores then you can venture a guess at a few in order to fill out the rest. For those of you who do not have many of the scores to fill out a fitness rating but still want to play, you should enter 3 scores to join (Helen, Cindy, and CF Total) and leave the rest as the default values as described in the spreadsheet. Everyone should print a copy of their sheet and bring it in for 7pm. If you do not have the fitness rating sheet and need it – email or

I can tell you from my first MadLab experience that it really takes things up a notch. Everyone competes hard and has fun. If you’re on the fence, then I encourage you to take the plunge!

On to today’s plan:

Warmup: 5 minute ladder of wall balls and KB swings

Tech: Hip Mobility – Band Saddle Stretch followed by the Burgener Warmup

(see “more here” below for more on the band – saddle stretch)

Workout: OHS 10 sets x 10 reps

Take a step up in weight from last week and keep those shoulders active and strong. Maintain the same weight for all 10 sets. Leaderboard is the highest weight completed for all 10 sets x 10 reps.

Dan and Andy

Band Saddle Stretch:

Today we’re going to work on opening up the hips a bit before getting into the burgener warmup and then finally the overhead squat workout. Start by finding a bit of wall space and lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet against the wall like you are in a deep squat with the wall as the floor. This is the saddle stretch position. Accumulate about two minutes in this position then start up and walk it off a bit.

Next grab a band – the green, medium large band works best. Wrap the band around your back and then loop the ends of the band around each knee, as shown in the photo below. Move back into the saddle stretch position with the band on.

Now spend 3 to 5 minutes alternating contracting into the band and relaxing. Gradually try to move your feet down and to the outside, and try to make your feet point vertical instead of ducked out.

Stand up, shake it off, and get ready for Burgener’s warmup and then to go big on the OHS!

Today we’re going to look at the setup for the handstand pushup. I have adapted this “how to” from a series of videos called Finding and Developing your Handstand Pushup by Carl Paoli out of Crossfit San Francisco. The main purpose of this hand position is to set ourselves up for success in the handstand pushup. I often see and have personally used a wider hand position than is necessary, thinking that it brings me closer to the ground and assuming it provides me with a greater ability to create force. The hand position we will work on today will protect the shoulder from ackward torquing positions for many of us in the bottom of the movement and is more transferable to other movements, such as the shoulder press series of movements. It is my conjecture that it will be a superior pushing position for most students.

We want to progress through a series of steps to find the right hand width and head position. Please see the extended description below.

Warmup: Coach’s choose a way to warm up the hollow body position and activate the muscles in the shoulder girdle.

Tech: HSPU setup

Workout: In teams of 2 complete the following

800 m ball run (20/14) – teammates share one ball and pass it between you
100 hollow rocks
200 box jumps (24/20)
100 over/under (your partner or a bench)
800 m ball run

This workout is structured like a Murph. The run is the buy in/finisher and the middle portion can be broken up as necessary. One partner works at a time.

Post your time to the leaderboard.

Dan and Andy

HSPU Setup:

Step 1 – Pushup Setup

Setup hands just outside the shoulder, lower into bottom position while staying in plank/hollow position, elbows should be down and back and wrists should be near vertical at the bottom.

Mark the hand position and the chin position on the ground with chalk. This will create a triangle, which will be you base of support. This becomes the bottom position of the headstand and handstand pushup.

Step 2 – Headstand Setup

Hands flat, head flat, and neck at neutral. With a spotter – bring knees onto elbows and hold. This should help you feel the bottom position and should create a stable tripod.

Step 3 – Pike HSPU Progression Setup

Now extend your legs behind you and support and try to place you torso and hips vertically above your hands – use a box to make things more difficult.

Lower into the headstand position – find the bottom position of support in your tripod. Maintain your shoulder blades in an active position and allow your elbows to come down in front of you like a shoulder press.

Now press and drive your hips back up into the start position. Be sure to finish like you would finish an overhead press, with shoulder blades set back (active) and head through your hands.

Step 4 – HSPU Setup

Transfer this over to the wall and give it a shot. You may feel weak in the bottom position to begin with if you are used to a wide hand position, but notice the difference in the tension in your deltoid in the bottom of the movement – it should be less. The feeling of strength should return with a little practice pushing from this position. For those developing their HSPU, this should allow more chest and back musculature to be introduced into the movement.

We are going to take a look at control of the shoulder musculature today. The exercises that we are going to use to do this during the technique portion of the class are the wall angel and dumbell external rotation.

Wall Angel

The wall angel is properly executed up against a wall in a partial wall sit position. Your shoulders and back should be flat against the wall, including your lower back. Raise your arms from 90 degress at the side to full extension over you head, and then return to the start position all in a controlled motion. Initiate this movement by contracting the musculature around your shoulder blades to pull them back and together (active shoulders) and keep your upper trapezius muscles relaxed.

DB external rotation

DB Ext Rot @ 3010 tempo* x 8 reps/arm. More info on the tempo prescription below. Elbow should be at or just below shoulder height, elbow stays at 90 deg, do your weaker arm first. Gold star if you can do this with 10% of Close Grip Bench Press Max. If you don’t know your close grip bench press max, take 10% of your normal bench press 1RM and round down to the nearest 5 lbs.

Tuesday’s Line-up

Warmup: Coach’s choice

Tech: Try to cycle through 3 rounds of 8 wall angels and 3 rounds of 8 DB external rotations/arm

Workout: “Barbara”
5 rounds for time of:
20 pull-ups
30 push-ups
40 sit-ups (with or without abmat – but no lifting hips and no anchoring)
50 squats
3 min. rest

Post time excluding rest to the leaderboard.

Workout Scaling Recommendations:

Barbara is a potent workout and we want you to get the most out of it and be able to train tomorrow, so please follow the following recommendations for scaling the number of rounds while including any of your usual movement scaling (i.e. bands)

Cindy score below 12 – Complete 3 rounds of Barbara.
Cindy score below 16 – Complete 4 rounds of Barbara.
16 or above – Go for broke!

*when tempo is described as above in a four digit prescription:
The first number refers to the eccentric or lowering part of the exercise
The second number refers to the isometric pause in the stretched or bottom position
The third number refers to the concentric contraction or the way up
The fourth number refers to the isometric pause in the shortened or top position

So today’s 3010 tempo for the External Rotation means
3 seconds to lower the DB
0 second pause at the bottom
1 second contraction on the way up. As fast as good form allows.
0 second pause at the top

Dan and Andy

This Sunday – February 20th – is our next Gymnastics Class at Phoenix Gymnastics. 5 pm. $25.

People who have been going have been learning a lot of new skills and getting a great workout.

“It’s like a giant padded playground. It’s awesome,” says Lunger with a child-like grin.

For those of you who don’t know, we currently have not one but two Olympic gymnasts at CF Van. You’ve seen videos of Kate – here is one of her former teammates, Lise Leveille, a routine from when she competed for Stanford.