07 Nov 2013
Take Care of Your BooBoos!
When I first started Crossfit I remember I had hands like George Costanza, Almost hand model quality.
After my PT’s with El Shepardo I noticed my hands were getting a little rough, but I just thought I was bad ass… Till I met Barbara (20 Pullups,30 Pushups,40 Situps,50 Squats-3 min rest between each of 5 rounds)
First round sure enough I ripped. That stinging sensation and blood I’ll never forget. After a quick tape job by CFP and a wipe on the bar I was back chipping away.
The moral of this story is take care of your booboo’s. If they are scrapes from pulling in the barbell close to your shins on deadlifts then wear long socks. Wear a long sock for rope climbs and wrap tape on your lower shin to protect against that rope rub.
For those ripped hands here is a great video on taping up.
Also try a callus shaver or even the Ript pack we got in the vending machine for your beauty needs.
Your Friendly Neighbourhood,
Cabana Boy 
P.S. If you rip and bleed wipe your blood off or YOU WILL BE FLOGGED!!
Friday’s Workout:
Warm Up: Coaches choice of shoulder and hip stuff
Tech: Muscle Ups!
Well it seems we are doing something right. I’ve heard of 6 or 7 first muscle ups this month already! Even managed to get a few on video!
Kai
Aldo
Nice work Gents!
And nice work on the videos Mr Lumber. Coaches have your phone on hand for first muscle ups tomorrow. Lets keep this going!
5 sets of 3 or 3 sets of 5
The handsome Andy Sack made up this list of “The Logical sequence to Muscle Up Mastery”. See where you are on the list and start climbing.
Lying/laying mu
Kneeling mu
Heels on ground/box mu
Band under but mu
Partner assist mu
(Jumping) ring pullup w/ false grip, w/ 2sec pause and 4 sec neg
Jumping mu
Jumping mu w/6 sec neg
Ring pullup w/ false grip, w/ 2 sec pause and 4 sec neg
Kipping ring pullup w/ false grip
Kipping mu
Kipping mu w/6 sec neg
L sit ring pull up w/ false grip, w/ 4 sec pause
Strict mu
Strict mu w/ 6 sec neg
Wt. strict mu
Wt. strict mu w/ 6 sec neg
Strict wide mu
Strict wide mu w/ 6 sec neg
Wt. strict wide mu w/ 6 sec neg
Don’t be afraid of trying a progression or level a little above you.
Warm up your hang power clean as well.
Workout: Nasty Girls
3 rounds for time
50 Squats
7 Muscle ups
10 Hang power cleans (135 lbs/85 lbs)
I love this workout.
Classes seem busy but not seeing many peeps posting to the Leaderboard. DO IT!! (please)
One Love,
Maison Le Shepherd
07 Nov 2013
No Barbell Club This Weekend
The East Van Barbell Club will NOT be training this weekend!! Jordy and I are in a 3 day kettlebell course in North Vancouver. Don’t fret though…. we will be back on Tuesday night a little bit stronger and with a few more tricks in our bag!
We will also be starting our next strength cycle next Tuesday night (Nov. 12th) so if you’ve been thinking about joining us, this would be an excellent time! We will be setting some baseline numbers on Tuesday and Saturday so if you can make it out, we’d love to have you!!
Enjoy the long weekend!
Getting the Most From Your Madlab School of Fitness Experience
When you walk through our doors, the best case scenario is that you become more fit than you’ve ever been in your life, you become engaged in the greater community, partake in social functions, and remain with us for life.
As we always say, our goal is to help you make your life better, and making your life better involves a balance between performance, health, and longevity.
We’ve learned a lot over the years about the best ways of accomplishing this. We’ve been around for a long time. As many of you know, we were the first CrossFit affiliate in Canada and one of the first in the world. And three years ago, we became the first registered School of Fitness.
In the past couple years, we have been working with 50 plus affiliates from around North American and Europe, gathering data, ultimately finding out answers about what works and what doesn’t work, and discovering trends that span across time zones and demographics.
Here is one major trend we’ve noticed over and over again:
A person comes to us with fitness goals. He signs up for personal training and makes quick gains. He graduates to classes and starts coming two, three, or four days a week, all the while his fitness gains continue quickly.
His fitness, his career, his relationship, his confidence – HIS LIFE – improves. Overall, he becomes almost addicted to the workouts, addicted to the post-workout high he feels.
Two or three more years go by and the novelty – the initial excitement – starts to fade ever so slightly.
We’ve learned that this is because group classes are designed to capture a wide audience. Workouts can be scaled to meet anyone’s level, and they’re often programmed in a way to give the majority of students what they want most – a metabolic hit. The truth is, metabolic conditioning is great for business, which is why so many CrossFit affiliates are based on met con workouts.
But after four or five years of doing group classes, some people just don’t want to do Fran or Helen one more time. And physically they start to plateau. They just need some small changes in their routine.
Conrad Might be an Anomale
We used to try to fight against this feeling. We would keep encouraging everyone to come 4 days a week, hitting group classes week after week.
We realize now that the ideal fitness facility isn’t necessarily 5 group classes a week, especially when you’re doing high intensity training. For the first year – maybe even two years – this is do-able, but ultimately fighting this is like fighting human nature.
THIS is the concept behind our Specialty Programs.
Many of you might not even be aware that other programs exist outside of the regular group classes that are not included in your base monthly membership.
We offer a number of different outlets for everyone, especially for people who have been around for a while. Some are seasonal, other are ongoing.
We’re starting to realize that the ideal fitness facility involves going to two or three classes per week with some more less intense, specific strength/weakness/skill work on the side.
So if you’re one of those people who likes to come five or six days a week, we suggest you add a specialty program to your regular group classes – for the sake of your performance, your longevity and your healthy and happiness!
Here are some options if you’re looking to ADD something to your base class membership:
East Van Barbell Club:
You might have noticed this group. They meet on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings. These people are into getting STRONG. They’ve been around for a year now, and one of our members – Candice – is competing at her first power lifting competition this weekend.
EVBBC is a perfect example of helping those who have been here for five years. Rosita ‘Mamacita’ is one of our long-time members. After attending regular group classes diligently for five years, she lost motivation and took a hiatus from classes. Then she was introduced to EVBBC, and today her outlook of fitness is new and fresh again!
If you’re interested in EVBBC, Ben just opened a few new spots. Contact him at [email protected]
Weakness 101:
Coming this January!
This program will meet twice a week for 3 months. You’ll have the opportunity to sign-up for either a morning or evening time slot.
The idea is for you to pick a weakness – a specific skill – where you struggle. From there, Tom will meet with you for a preliminary consultation and will give you an individual weakness program.
This is ideal for people who want to get a specific skill like a pull-up, a muscle-up, or improve their snatch and they don’t feel like they get enough time to do that during the regular group classes.
If you’re interested in Weakness 101, e-mail Tom at: [email protected]
High Performance Center:
The High Performance Center is for athletes who are looking to compete take their fitness to the next level and in the sport of CrossFit, be at a local or world-class level. The High Performance Center meets twice a week and will resume for the 2014 season on November 18th.
This year’s High Performance Center will be different from last year’s. Stay tuned for an announcement TOMORROW.
One-on-One Training
The option to do extra one-on-one training with your coach is always available.
Jennine is currently my prized pupil. She came to me with a goal. She wants to be good enough to get to Nutts Cup next summer, so she’s doing extra training outside of classes to work on her speed, strength and gymnastics.
Contact your personal coach if you want extra one-on-one training.
Paleo Challenge
Paleo Challenges are held twice a year and are for people wanting to learn about nutrition, as well as make diet and body composition changes. The fall Paleo Challenge is just wrapping up. Stay tuned for a new one in the New Year.
Contact T-Bear (link to profile) for more details: [email protected]
If you don’t want to wait until the next official Paleo Challenge, T Bear will also provide nutrition consultations upon request.
Project Endurance
Project endurance is held twice a year and is for people who want to improve their endurance, as well as their running technique, efficiency and speed. The fall session is on right now, but there will be a chance to sign up this spring for the spring session.
Contact Sheppy or Andy (link to their profiles) for more details: [email protected], [email protected]
Olympic Lifting Seminars
Coming Soon in the New Year!
This will be a course that focuses specifically on the Olympic Lifts – the Clean and Jerk and the Snatch. It will be coached by Olympic Bronze medal Olympic weightlifter, Christine Girard. Stay tuned for details soon.
Mobility
Mobility coaching is for athletes who want help improving their mobility and flexibility, as well as their stability and ability to move functionally.
Contact Emile ‘Chest’ (link to profile) for more details: [email protected]
Stretch Therapy/Massage
Stretch therapy, as well as massage therapy, is offered by Giselle Nagy of Coccoon Wellness. Check out her website to find out more or to book an appointment: www.cocoonwellness.com
If you don’t know who Giselle is, she’s the big-haired, beautiful Hungarian woman whose office is next to the store by the bay doors.
Rowing Seminars
Rowing seminars are held twice a year and are for people who want to improve their power endurance, as well as their rowing efficiency, speed and power.
Contact Eunice (link to Eunice’s profile) for more details: [email protected]
The next rowing seminar will be in the new year.
Thursday’s Workout:
Warm Up: Girrard/Burgener warm up with a dowel
Tech: Snatch – Try a challenging tap and go 3 repper. Quick hips!!
Workout: 12 Minute Amrap
5 Squat Snatch (135/95 lbs)
1 Rope Climb
Many of you may remember this one from your days in PT.
BRING A LONG SOCK!!
Cheers!
House of Shepherd
06 Nov 2013
Rememberance Day Hours
Hey Everyone,
The School will have limited classes on Monday for Remembrance Day.
Please note that classes on Monday November 11th will be 10am and 5pm Only. 
05 Nov 2013
Would You Live In This House?
Most of us spend between 30 -50% of our monthly net income on our residence whether we own or rent our home. That is a lot of money and how much time do you spend in that space everyday? Other than sleep I would imagine you don’t spend much more than 4 hours a day in your home.
So what about downgrading your square footage and upgrading your life with a house for $25,000. Ridiculous right? You probably paid more for your car. You also need a 10′ x 10′ piece of land to put this thing on and that isn’t very easy to come by in Vancouver.
However the architect who created these things, Ian Kent, is banking on them being the wave of the future as the supply of available land is reduced. So I am asking the community would you consider living in one of these micro homes?
The LumberJack
Wednesday’s Workout:
Warm Up: Coach’s choice – Just get those ankles/legs/hips loose!
Tech: Pistols! Here is another focus of ours this month.
What we want you to do is commit to a depth that is challenging yet allows you to keep excellent aligned form. Years ago TBear brought in pistoling to a safe depth and I believe it is the way to go in developing good one legged squats.
Keep your attention on the alignment of the knee and laces in your shoes. Go to a depth that requires some challenge to come out of without sacrificing form. Have a bum target made out of a bench, plates, a box, or a hobbit.
Work on your pistol technique. Spend some time in the hole. your ankle flexibility and play with some weighted pistols. Hold that core tight and don’t let your heel off the ground. Those of you that need a plate in your hands or under your heel go ahead.
If you have a pistol but your form is deranged and misalign we would like you to peel it back to an aligned progression. Or really concentrate on keeping that perfect form. Bad technique is sometimes due to physical limitations but mental lapses are also to blame here. Perhaps slow down to make better position.
Again this is a time in the saddle thing. I think there are many good pistols out there. We just have to commit to finding them.
Why pay all this attention to form? Because I want you to be doing Pistols as a party trick at your 70th birthday. 
Workout: Midget VS Big Man Couplet
Workout #1 – Start at :35) 10 minute amrap.
10 Pistols
10 Push Ups
Workout #2 – Start at :50) 10 minute amrap.
10 Wall Balls (20/14 lbs)
10 KB Swings (Black/Red)
Total reps of both workouts will be your leaderboard score.
Switch up the order to accommodate a bigger class if needed.
Andele! Andele!
House of Shepherd
This past weekend I had the pleasure of competing with 3 amazing teammates at the Taranis Titan challenge in Victoria.
Coach Emily was competing there as well in the gruelling individual competition finishing an impressive fifth place among some of the strongest woman I have ever seen at a local Crossfit Competition. She never finished out of the top ten. Her highest placing being a first place in the football throw and shuttle sprints workout – surprising her as much as all her competitors I’m sure! Tommy Loo may have said it best talking to Dan and I after the event – give Emily something random to do and somehow she’ll find a way. That athleticism and a little extracurricular coaching from Tom on a throw and point technique was all she needed. Emily finished outside of the top three, missing the final event, but it was inspiring to watch her battling with a group of competitors that looked even stronger than at regionals this year.
On the team side – Lumber, Dan, Baby Nat and myself (Twinkle Toes) qualified for the competition in fourteenth place and ended up in fourth overall by the end of the weekend. After finishing our first event in sixth place we were excited about being able to compete with some of the most dominant teams in the region and only gained momentum from there.
Event three was a highlight for our team and huge accomplishment for myself personally. In the early morning rain, we had to run 700 yards as a team and then perform a sled pull forwards for 65 yards and a sled pull backwards 65 yards in a relay fashion and then do it all over again once more. For anyone who knows me and has seen me run, one 700 yard run is more than enough and the team could not start the sled pull until their slowest person had completed the run.
On the first run Dan held back slightly so I could run just off of his shoulder and gave me someone to keep up to, Nat did the same on the second run. I had never felt such a sense of support from a team as I did in that moment knowing that in my weakest moment as a team mate I had the complete trust and support of my friends. Making great time on both the runs we were in a battle for second place with Team Taranis in the lane next to us (insert plug for Project Endurance here).
As Nat took off for her last sled pull as our anchor we realized she was taking on Games competitor Angie Hay (formerly Angie Pye), who was acting as the anchor for her team. Never Letting up Nat crushed the sled pull and crossed the finish line just ahead of Angie allowing us to snag second in that event and climb further up the leader board.
Later that day Nat and I took third place in a barbell complex consisting of 3 dead lifts, 3 hang cleans and 3 cleans from the ground with both of us pulling 155 lbs each. Directly following that the boys carried us through an eight minute AMRAP of bar muscle ups when most of Nat’s hands ripped off and my bar muscle up total was one that afternoon. Somehow we still placed a respectable 9th in that workout thanks to Dan and Lumber.
On day three began the elimination workouts, they cut from 24 teams to 12 to 6 and then to 3 for the final. Despite Dan’s rapid fire toes to bar and Lumber manhandling 135 lbs all day long we ended up just outside of the top three but were still extremely happy with our effort and our fourth place finish.
With a total of 9 events completed over the course of the weekend the volume was like no other team event we had ever been a part of. Our greatest strength was clearly working together and communicating directly with each other as a team. In the end this was why we ended up ten places ahead of where we qualified. Everyone knew what they needed to achieve in each workout and executed it as planned. With plenty of strategizing and liquid band aid (and a little bit less drinking than usual) we made it through the weekend. I could not have asked for a better group of people to be battling with.
Love ya,
Twink!
Tuesday’s Workout:
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of 10 good mornings/10 jumping squats/10 cartwheels
Tech: Deadlift – Do 3 sets of heavy tap and go 3’s
Workout: Running Christine
3 Rounds for Time
550 m Run
12 Bodyweight Deadlifts
21 Box Jumps (24″/20″)
Keep that back strong on the deadlifts. Pick it up with your legs and put it down with your legs.
Post to the Leaderboard.
Muah!
Casa Del Shepardo