Blog Archive

It’s been a long, cold wet spring but I think we’ve finally turned the corner! The forecast is calling for 22+ all weekend long so clean off your lawn chairs, hose out the cooler and get ready to soak up some sunshine!

But first… come down and conquer the Filthy Fifty!

This was the first CrossFit workout that made me get a visit from Mr. Pukie and funny enough, it was also on a Saturday morning. I tossed my cookies about 10 double into the last 50 reps but managed to pull it together and finish the entire workout in a somewhat respectable time. So my advice… don’t eat a huge bacon and egg breakfast 45 minutes before you attempt this monster of a grinder!

And Sunday is a make-up day… so come down and hit one of the WOD’s that you missed earlier in the week.

Ben

Saturday’s Workout:  The Filthy Fifty

For Time…

50 Box jump (24″/20″)
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings (1 pood/half pood)
50 Walking Lunge
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press (45/35 lbs)
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots (20/14 lbs)
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

I love the internet!  A literal world of information at the tip of my fingers.  I’m the kind of guy that can get lost just browsing the web.  Before I’m done I’ll have 30 different tabs open in 3 different browser windows.  I find an article I like and it links another or I get a question in mind inspired by an article and have to google the answer (always in a new tab, obviously, because I may need to re-read that other article…).

Today I’m going to share with you guys some of my best finds of fitness related websites.   There’s a lot of noise out there around the fitness community, but the sites I list below are all loaded with awesome, free information.  Check’m out:

1. Mobility WoD.  Kelly Starrett (Doctor of Physical Therapy) has one of the best video blogs out there right now.   I’m sure most of you are already familiar with him and his videos.  If you’re having trouble with an achy shoulder or hip just do a quick search his site and follow a few of the exercises he demonstrates.  We regularly pull content from his blog to share with you all in the school.  I list this one first and separately from all the rest as it’s the most unique and most relevant to those of  us (read “all of us”) with some mobility issues.

2.  T-Nation and Juggernaut Strength.  Both T-Nation and Juggernaut have great collections of articles written by various athletes and coaches.  T-Nations articles tend to focus more around strength.  Juggernaut has loads of strength articles as well but also has several crossfitters and crossfit coaches posting articles there with their take on crossfit programming, exercise selection, safety and more.

3.  Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson and Charlie Weingroff.  Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson are both strength and condition coaches with a lot of knowledge in the field.  I was first drawn to them because of their work on corrective exercise and proper assessments then I learned how bad ass they are at strength coaching as well.  Charlie is another physical therapist with some great ideas concerning training and the relationship between trainers and therapists.

4. Eight Weeks Out.  This is Joel Jamieson’s website.  He trains a lot of MMA fighters but don’t let that deter you from gathering information from his site.  He literally wrote the book on conditioning (Ultimate MMA Conditioning) and regularly does free video based seminars and programming.  Tons of great information there on efficient metabolic conditioning.

Feel free to share your favorite sites to comments.

Bill

Friday’s Workout:

Warm Up: Prep the calves/ankles and do 30 box jumps

Then shoulder mobility…

Wall angels
5 Breath push up
Over and back with the band

Throw in some back extensions for good measure.

Workout 1#) Find a max weight for:

3 Push press
3 Push jerks
3 Split jerks (at least one must be done with the off leg forward)

These 9 lifts are to be done consecutively. You may rest with the bar on your skeleton.

Workout 2#) 2000 m row.

Spend some time on technique and warming up the row. Drive – Pry – Pull.

This will be the leaderboard.

If class is big then split them in half and flip flop the workout.

Coaches there should be ample time left in class to stretch after the workouts are done. Lead the group through the banded shoulder stretch as well as have them loosen their hips (piriformis and scissor)

Cheers!

Maison de Sheppy

Bio Coming Soon

At the age of 18, Sean is CrossFit Vancouver’s youngest apprentice.

He found CrossFit through the Take a Hike Program, a program aimed to help inner city kids. Charlie coached Sean for about a year. “He was so keen. He was coachable and he really listened. He just loved CrossFit,” said Charlie of his young apprentice.

After proving himself to Palmer over and over, Palmer decided to take Sean on as an apprentice coach last year. Today, Sean helps Charlie with the same youth program (Take a Hike) that led Sean to discover CrossFit.

Bio Coming Soon

Bio Coming Soon

Arthur, who works as an apprentice under T-Bear, is a born salesman. He shows up ready to go every day, ready to give energy, ready to bring love, ready to sell.

 He found CrossFit through his good friend, long-time CrossFitter at CrossFit Vancouver, Bryce Fraser. Bryce promised Arthur CrossFit would help him get laid, which it did.

Originally, getting laid was Arthur’s CrossFit goal, but years later, here he is hooked on more than just finding sexual gratification. “Patty told me for a year and a half before I began CrossFit that it would change my life,” Arthur said. And it has.

“We built an incredible friendship in a short period of time…I don’t know anyone who has received as much love as I have received in my life,” Arthur added. “It’s like another family here, and I consider many of the people in this community to be my brothers and sisters.”

As a coach, Arthur just loves helping others become better athletes. “A lot of times, the common mistakes are the ones I have lived through, and so I can get people to relate to my struggles and in the end show them that they can overcome adversities and struggles and make it work,” he said.

Reto is a long-time CrossFitter and Apprentice Coach at CrossFit Vancouver. He spends his days working as an engineer and his evenings working out and helping coach at CrossFit Vancouver.

CrossFit truly is a hobby for Corfu, who is also a competitive sailor. “The first workout I saw featured 100 pull-ups; this scared the shit out of me and resulted in my almost immediate addiction to the lifestyle,” Reto said.

“I turned 30 and every time I went skiing I was sore for days afterward. My lame program from Men’s Health – 5 km jogs and hot yoga – was not helping. I figured it was near time to hang up the skates, hit the couch and accept my inevitable journey down the long and frightening road to decrepitude,” he said of his life before CrossFit. Now with CrossFit, he adds: “Now I play harder than I did when I was 23.”

Reto as a coach is calming and patient. He might even seem too calming, almost boring sometimes. But when you get to know him, he has a lot of love to give, and he’s even kind of funny. He jokes, “I love CrossFit Vancouver’s unwavering commitment to the belief that redheads are a genetically superior species.”

Richie is one of Charlie’s late night apprentices, who has been coaching since the spring of 2012.

Quiet and unassuming at first glance, if you talk to him you’ll quickly realize he’s very intelligent and incredibly knowledgeable about CrossFit.

Richie’s goal isn’t to be a full-time coach at CrossFit Vancouver. He’s super busy with his engineering job however, he continues to apprentice because he just loves being around the place. “He’s always willing to help out. He’s just such a good guy to have around. He just loves being here,” said Charlie about his apprentice.