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There is a Level One CrossFit HQ Cert being held at the school this weekend please do not come to warm up at the school or use the facilities till after 5pm on Sunday.
The SATURDAY classes will run as normal,just meet Ben and Jordy at China Creek Park.(2 blocks SW of School)

SUNDAY there is no 10am! And the 5pm class is shifted to 5.30pm
Join us after for the Paleo Wrap Up Potluck Party!

Before you throwdown…

Nothing beats a Vancouver Winter; except for every other location on the planet.
I love this city. Once the fall/winter rolls around you lose sight of how people can frolic through piles of leaves and slide down your local sledding hill. The reality is that dry sweep of leaves is actually wet and full of all sorts of  murky treasures, and that hill is a thin layer of powder lined with slush.
Dressing for this weather presents a real challenge. West coast piercing cold cuts through your clothing quicker than a hot knife through melted butter.

Now let’s add some high intensity interval running to a brisk saturday morning. You actually might hope it rains just a tad so the temperature isn’t as chest cavity crushing. The main thing we must target is temperature regulation.

“The Law of Increased Entropy. While quantity remains the same (First Law), the quality of matter/energy deteriorates gradually over time. Usable energy is inevitably used for productivity, growth and repair. In the process, usable energy is converted into unusable energy. Thus, usable energy is irretrievably lost in the form of unusable energy.” Second Law of Thermodynamics

Heat loss will attribute to energy loss. So those exposed body parts, like gloveless hands or bald heads, will be sucking energy from your body just to maintain your overall temperature. That arsenal of energy will be depleted and your core temperature will drop. The cold affects joints not protected by muscle tissue and blood flow, and then those tissues lose elasticity and flexibility. Tuck those shirts into your pants and those pants into your socks; looking like an idiot will prevent loss of energy and loss of function.

Push outside your comfort zone and fuel yourself with the barrage of elements. The only legitimate reason to not train is golfball sized hail.

Saturday WOD:

You’ll be running/walking the China Creek Park Loop (570m loop)in various building and declining intervals

Run 2 min
walk 1 min
Run 3 min
walk 2 min
Run 4 min
walk 3 min
Run 5 min
walk 3 min
Run 4 min
walk 2 min
Run 3 min
Walk 1 min
Run 2min

Post the number of laps to the nearest 1/4 to the leaderboard which includes your walk and run.

Sunday: Make Up Day

Alright ya’ll, we’re entering the final week of Project Endurance 2.0.  It’s been a pleasure for Andy, Shep, and I to work with you over the last 10 weeks.  We’re stoked to see some new PB’s coming up Wednesday.  Get some!

So after next Wednesday we are releasing you into the wild to run on your own.  I’ve seen some great improvements and I hope you all keep after it!  Just because it’s over, doesn’t mean you can’t still get in touch with people in the group or outside of it and setup some running workouts.  Just recycle what we’ve given you so far and get after it!

While you’re off in the wild, don’t forget to take care of yourself.  Warmup, drill, workout, cool down and mobilize and stretch.  A video below on a good template for a running warmup from Brian Mackenzie, the guy behind Crossfit Endurance, who we source a lot of our technique instruction and workouts from.

We’ll be doing another running seminar again in the spring.  I hope you all join us again and keep forging forward.  And we hope you’ll tell your friends and get them in here with us.  In the meantime if you have any races you’re going to hit or goals you want to achieve feel free to seek us out and talk about it.  If you want to do some private work as well, we’re always available to book a 1 on 1.

We’d also love some feedback from you all.  Feedback helps make us better!  You can post it publicly or email us, whatever you are comfortable with.  We’d love to know what you liked about the seminar?  What you didn’t like?  What you want to see more of?  Was there anything you expected of us that was missing?  How was Wednesday night for you and is there a better time and day to consider for the spring?  Or share anything else you want to tell us or get off your chest!  WE dig it.

Run swiftly and quietly!  Pull. Pull. Pull.

Afghan out.

Life.

Being responsible for the energy you bring into the gym  can be tough when you wear your emotions on your face. I’ve been told the majority of the time I’m “on”. So when I’m not “on”, all it takes is Captain Obvious to point it out. The community here is one of a kind and it’s that empathy and support that brings us that common bond. The responsibility  we take in caring for ourselves is where we can attain a little more peace. We should feel comfortable to let our defences down, but to discard self care will set us up for that epic “drop off”.

Knowing we only use about 5% of our brains makes understanding nuero-science about 95% “borderline”. So here are some essential mental activities to optimize brain matter and create well being:

Focus Time. When we closely focus on tasks in a goal-oriented way, we take on challenges that make deep connections in the brain.

Play Time. When we allow ourselves to be spontaneous or creative, playfully enjoying novel experiences, we help make new connections in the brain.

Connecting Time. When we connect with other people, ideally in person, and when we take time to appreciate our connection to the natural world around us, we activate and reinforce the brain’s relational circuitry.

Physical Time. When we move our bodies, especially aerobically, we strengthen the brain in many ways.

Time In. When we quietly reflect internally, focusing on sensations, images, feelings and thoughts, we help to better integrate the brain.

Down Time. When we are non-focused, without any specific goal, and let our mind wander or simply relax, we help the brain recharge.

Take time over the next few weeks to identify where you could spend more time.  If this is too simple, then ya’ll don’t get the basics.

Warm Up:
270 Lulu Run
17 WallBalls
(3 Rounds)

Tech: WOD Movements

Really work on a strong front rack position for the KB Thrusters.  The progression would be alternating  singles 20 each rather that the advanced dually position

WOD: The Late November Chipper
1000m Row
90 Double Unders
80 Squats
70 Situps
60 Suitcase Deadlift
50 Reverse Lunges
40 CTB Pullups
30 Lateral KB Hops
20 KB Thrusters
10 Burpees

Send heats of 6 out every 5 minutes.

Saturday will be a workout in the park with Benny at both 10 and 11am.  Dress proper for the outdoors.

1 Single Class on Sunday at 5:30pm – make-up day.

Remember Sunday’s Paleo Potluck Wrap Party at 6:30pm.  Bring a bottle of Vino or sparkling beverage of your choice with your paleo dish or dessert.

Love yourself and do the hard things,

Team TBear

Come and support the teams in Week 4.

The final round before the playoffs………who will make it?

Have you ever poked around the outside of your hip or the top of your shoulder and say to your self, “something is tight in there”? Usually preceded by an explicative. Then you feel that tight muscle and try to stretch the living day light out of it? In some cases that “tight” muscle is what is clinically called a “hypertoned” muscle. It is an “abnormally increased or excessive muscle tone often with increased resistance to stretch, but possible with a normal resting length.” (Lavoilette, T.) And can involve a shortening of connective tissue (contracture) or over active nervous tissue (spasm). Tight muscles can cause pain and tenderness,(anyone ever feel that?) from knots and muscle spasm. I’m pretty sure there is a good chunk of us out there with a painfully tight muscle.

So, lets dial in on the pain and tenderness because some/most of us workout with some degree of pain. Pain is completely relative. But how your body responds to a stimulus resulting in pain is the same. What does that mean to us as Crossfiters? It all depends on the cause of the pain and in our particular case pain is associated with repetitive stress. Which, if not kept in check, results in injury. According to David Magee a professor in the Department of physical therapy at U of A, there are 7 levels to the “Severity of repetitive stress Injuries”:

Level 1: Pain after specific Activity

Level 2: Pain at the start of activity usually residing with warm-up

Level 3: Pain during and after activity, not affecting performance

Level 4: Pain during and after activity, that DOES affect performance

Level 5: Pain with activities of daily living (ie. walking to the store, reaching for object, walking up stairs)

Level 6: Constant dull aching pain present at rest and does not disturb sleep

Level 7: Constant dull aching pain present at rest that DOES disturb sleep

The tightness of a muscle(s) and the repetitive strain that we put on our selves can be caused by many things such as abnormalities in posture, positioning, and movement patterns. Chronically tight muscles can cause a decrease in range of motion affecting the joints that the specific muscle(s) crosses. While causing an increase or excessive amount of range in other joints. Best example, a lack in shoulder mobility can be caused by tight chest, lats, deltoid – the big movers, and will potentially cause an increase or excessive range of motion in the spine, or upper back.  Tight hips (hip flexors, groin muscles and butt muscles) can cause an increase in range within the low back (lumbar spine).

We can all present with varying levels at various body parts. What’s your worst?

We all know what this is right? But, Not all of us are using it. Those not using it, may not need it. But I am talking to those who do. Trigger point therapy allows us to perform what they call a “Myofascial Compression Technique” where, you find a tight/tender spot and you let the roller affect that muscle. What it does is, as it compresses in to the muscle it sends an inhibitory response to the muscle’s nervous component and tells it to relax or stop firing. The roller can also address the connective tissue component of a tight muscle by mechanically breaking down the tissue increasing tissue fluidity and elasticity. This can also decrease pain. This addresses what was mentioned earlier, hypertoned muscles and repetitive stress. This is a compression technique, meaning you slowly find a spot and you literally let the roller press in to the tissue and let it do its thing. After sitting on it for  awhile, slowly start to move the part of your limb that is farthest from the roller while keeping the roller in its spot. This can induce a lot of pain. This usually is an indication for more work. If there is a lot of pain, pull back and work areas above and below that spot or try and adjust the pressure. Too much pain can make the muscle go in to a painful spasm or rebound harder than before getting on it, any pain that you are grimacing through is a pretty good indication that its too much. There is A LOT of value in painless or less painful therapy. So, go slow and breathe deep. Follow this rolling session with a nice stretch to the muscle(s) that you just rolled out. For more fun, do some contract relax/hold relax stretch to the same muscle, the contraction is performed at a 10-15% strength. Here is a link on more PNF stretching http://www.stretching-exercises-guide.com/pnf-stretching.html

Warm Up:

Fast Hips
3 Rounds with a Partner of:

8 Double Wallballs
8 Sprawl Balls

Tech: Hang Power Clean (2,2,2,2,2)

WOD:

Elizabeth
21-15-9
Power Clean
Ring Dip

Big love, ROLL OUT

Team TBear

We did this a while back it was a lot of fun!!! Coaches leave the boxes out for the classes.

Tech: Max Box Jump
Here is our current gym record: BIG RED!

Let’s follow suit.
Just like with the jumping we can add difficulty by adding quick reaction, higher targets, and sequencing to challenge neurological and physical demands. In gymnastic movements we exaggerate reality in order to gain understanding and drill precision with body awareness. Something as simple as a hollow body can be applied to every aspect of living movement; though you wouldn’t sit in a hollow position while waiting for the bus. By challenging ourselves with form in the gym we can translate better movement in life and sport. Today we add a little creative change to common movements; this will introduce us to rotation and difficulty to challenge our ability to cope with the many unforeseeable changes in our lives.

Plyo Pushup (Challenge the height, standards listed below)

Starfish V-Up (aka Happy Star V-Up) 4 Minutes In.

(alternate hand to opposite toe touches while retreated to a hollow starfish position at bottom)

Big props to Carl Paoli. He’s given Team TBear a lot to experiment with. Get ready for Gymnastic Wednesdays to explode.

WOD: “Choices”

Mainstream Peeps try
5 Plyo Pushups (45 Plates for dudes/ 25 plates for ladies)
10 Burpee Box Jump
15 StarFish V-Ups (total)
(9 Min AMRAP)

& Advanced WODder’s try;
3 Bar Muscle Ups
6 Starfish V-Ups (each hand)
9 Burpee Box Jump
(9 Min AMRAP)

Big love, explore outside your comforts,

Team TBear