Blog Archive

 Friday February 21st 7pm

We’ve got lots to talk about

Free beer

Have you been watching the Olympics?

What are your thoughts on some of the new freestyle skiing events? Canada seems to be cleaning up in both the snowboarding and skiing slopestyle events. Are we liking them being at the Olympics, or are they just made up sports that belong in the X-Games?

If you’re interested, recently I wrote a couple Olympic-related stories – one about Speed Skating, one about Skiing, and one that is yet to be released. I worked at Speed Skating at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, and it was seriously very entertaining once I was able to understand what was going on. Tune in!

Here are the two stories:

SKIING

SPEED SKATING

Thursday Lesson Plan

Warm Up

Hip Mobility Drills 5 minutes

Side Lying Clams or Clam Raises x 15/15 (Click Here or Click Here)
Glute Bridges x 30
Wide Stance Banded good Mornings x 30

Strength

Sumo Deadlift 6 x 2

*Pull 6 heavy sets of 2. Don’t overcomplicate it.

Complex 357

3 Clean (Anyway)
5 Shoulder to Overhead
7 Front Squats

AHAP (As Heavy As Possible)

*Take a good 20 minutes to get as heavy as possible. Rest 2-4 minutes between sets.

Do what you love!

How often have you heard that phrase?

Our society places a high value on people who pursue their passions with all the gusto in the world – on people who “do what they love.” Be it putting a career on hold to train for an Olympic Games you’re probably never going to make, pursuing a financially decrepit career as an artist or a singer, or remaining a broke student until you’re 45 years old, the term “Do what you love” has become at least somewhat synonymous with success.

Here’s an interesting article about “Doing What You Love” (DWYL) that suggests this might not be the message we should be sending out into the world. In fact, the article goes so far as to say that having the opportunity to pursue what we love is actually a freedom reserved for the elite.

“DWYL is a secret handshake of the privileged and a worldview that disguises its elitism as noble self-bettermen,” the article suggests.

The Brontosaurus Doing (and wearing) What He Loves!

The article makes a good point about the growing number of unpaid internships that arguably spawn from the “Do What You Love” mantra: “It should be no surprise that unpaid interns abound in fields that are highly socially desirable, including fashion, media, and the arts. These industries have long been accustomed to masses of employees willing to work for social currency instead of actual wages, all in the name of love. Excluded from these opportunities, of course, is the overwhelming majority of the population: those who need to work for wages.”

It concludes with this food for thought: “If we acknowledged all of our work as work, we could set appropriate limits for it, demanding fair compensation and humane schedules that allow for family and leisure time.”

“And if we did that, more of us could get around to doing what it is we really love.”

What do you think?

Is telling people to “Do what they love” a way to ensure everyone lives a better life with more personal fulfilment and careers and lifestyles we enjoy, or is it merely a “perfect idological tool of capitalism,” as the article suggests?

Wednesday’s Lesson Plan

Warm-up:

8 minutes of…

Wall Angels x 8
Wall Slides x 8
Plank Walk Out x 15 (Click Here)

Skill/Strength

a1) 4 x 8 Partner Assisted Muscle ups or Strict Pull Ups
a2) 4 x 12 Roll to Candle Stick (Click Here)
a3) 4 x 45 seconds Front Plank

Workout

3 Rounds for time…

15 x Toes to Bar
15 x Ball Slams
15 x Burpees
15 x Double Unders

You might notice some of these people have crept into regular classes. If you are new and haven’t been recognized, make sure you ask your coach why they haven’t sent your picture to Chesty. The important thing is you graduated and you are now apart of a continuous community of awesomeness. I always get amazing reminders of the strength of our community. We have had so many people come through those garage doors and share struggles, gains, laughs, and stories.

I found myself getting pre-workout jitters before I went through the Wes Hero WOD yesterday. As you know we offer everything a well rounded strength and conditioning program should. We also share in the experience I hadn’t found myself in for awhile, CrossFit. This is something you all know of, but you’ll usually find me following some strange program, experimenting, or tweaking my already too limber for a man body. In the S&C world we use various methods, tactics, programs from thousands of years of training evolution. But this sport of fitness, these workouts, the people, the love, and the common struggle is something we can all bond with.

With all excuses and jokes aside, Chesty was about to WOD it out. 40 minutes, 70 strict pullups, 56 burpee box jumps, 42 cleans and a few laps with a 30lb ball. Every one of those billion little exercises and experiments  helped make that experience easier. But the exposure to something compiled into a WOD was missing. I forgot what it was like to work with a community of love around me, pay respects to a noble man’s passing, and share an experience with so many others; not to mention the time and reps require to finish. I had a blast, and felt pretty damn fit in the process. The fact is I could have been playing basketball with this crowd and felt just a great.

There are thousands of ways to train, millions of theories, and billions of people to guide us. No matter what your method, make sure it’s around friends.

MadLab is love.

Chesty

Tuesday Lesson Plan

Warm Up

Hip Mobility Drills 4 minutes
Wall/Floor Ankle Mobilizations x 12/12

Single Leg Glute Bridges 2 x 15/15
Weighted Power Box Jump 2 x 8/8 (25/15)

Strength

5RM Back Squat @ 90% Effort

*Same as last week except we’re moving to a heavy 5 rep. Find your stance and stick with getting heavy, without completely maxing out.

Strength Circuit

5 rounds for formidable strength…

Weighted Pistols or Bulgarian Split Squats x 8/8
Russian Twist x 8
Band Anti-Rotary Hold (Click Here) x 30 seconds

Tomorrow – Family Day – we’re hosting workouts at 11 am and noon in honour of Dan ‘Afghan’s’ brother-in-law, Wes. Dan and Caroline will be coaching both classes tomorrow, and we’ll follow this up with a BBQ.

Wes and his wife Nicole with their two sons, Jaxton (4) and Maddox (1).

Wes – Dan’s sister Nicole’s husband – died recently during a training mission off the coast of Virginia beach on January 8th. He was a helicopter pilot in the US Navy. February 10th would have been his 30th birthday. Read more about Wes in Dan’s recent post HERE.

Tomorrow, in honour of Lt. J Wesley Van Dorn, ‘Wes’ – we’re throwing down with a painful-sounding workout that you don’t want to miss!

Bring your kids and enjoy a workout then a burger!

ALSO, A HUGE SHOUT-OUT TO ALL THOSE AFFILIATES WHO HAVE ALSO DECIDED TO PROGRAM THIS WORKOUT TODAY AND TOMORROW (OR LATER THIS WEEK) IN HONOUR OF WES!!

Tomorrow’s Workout: Squadron HM-14, “Vanguard 543 Memorial WOD” or “Wes” to many of us

800 m run (25/20 lb.) Buy-in

14 rounds of: (for his Squadron HM-14 and 543 was his helicopter the day he went down)

5 pullups
4 burpee box jumps (24″)
3 cleans (185/135)

800 m run (25/20 lb.) Cash-out

Dan’s Dad and sister hitting up this charity workout for Wes recently, and Wes’s sister, Cara, and friends, Jack and Russ, getting briefed on the workout.  Originally hosted in Virginia Beach by Crossfit Unparalleled several weeks ago with over 200 people coming out to complete it.

There will be a donation jar at the front of the class.  It is not expected that you make a donation, but any donations provided will be sent to Wes’s younger brother and sister who have set up an education trust for my nephews, Maddox and Jaxton.  You can also donate to the trust directly through Paypal.

Education Trust Link