Wednesday 100512

"The guy who wrote 'A job well done never needs doing again' never weeded a garden."
- Anonymous

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
5 rounds for time of:
7 Pull-ups
7 Jump Squats
7 Burpees
7 Push-ups

Post times to comments.

Tusday 100511

Go hard! Event 1 is THIS WEEKEND! Every rep should be just as intense as NAX Finals were last year!

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill development:
Toes-to-bar
3 x max rep sets

WOD:
For time:
20 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
20 K2Es
Farmers Walk, 20lbs per hand, 50m x6
20 K2Es
20 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups

Post times to comments.

For the farmer's walks, use anything that weights approximately 20lbs.

Monday 100510

"We shall never have more time. We have, and have always had, all the time there is. No object is served in waiting until next week or even until tomorrow. Keep going day in and out. Concentrate on something useful. Having decided to achieve a task, achieve it at all costs."
- Arnold Bennett

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
7 rounds for time of:
10 HSPUs
10 Jump Squats
10 L-pull-ups

Post times to comments.

Thursday 100506

"Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also."
- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
A. Handstand Push-ups (or appropriate progressions)
Work on form, and then do 3x max rep sets (Rest 5:00)

B1. Max Rep Burpees (rest 2:00)

B2. Max Rep Pull-ups (rest 2:00)

Post results for both A and B to comments.

Wednesday 100505

Read 'The Tank Model of Fitness' from Crossfit Impulse

Warm-up:
As usual, without squats.
400m x 2

WOD:
Max rep squats x 7 sets
Rest as needed between sets.

Make sure each rep reaches full extension at the top, and make sure that your hips drop below parallel at the bottom.

Post results for each set to comments.

Tuesday 100504

"No student ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required, that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction."
- Charles Kendall Adams

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
For time:
Run 200m
21 Push-ups
21 Sit-ups
Run 400m
15 Push-ups
15 Sit-ups
Run 800m
9 Push-ups
9 Sit-ups

*Push-ups are chest and thighs to ground (must happen simultaneously), with full lock-out at the top at 11x1 pacing
*Sit-ups are feet anchored, with hands at ears/behind head. Shoulder blades touching the ground at the bottom, elbows touching knees at the top

Post times to comments.

Note: '11x1' pacing, or anything similar: The first number is the number of seconds it should take you to get to the bottom of a movement (in this case, the bottom of the push-up). The second number is the number of seconds you hold at the bottom. The third number is the number of seconds it should take you to get to the top of a movement (in this case, the top locked-out position of the push-up). When there is an 'x' instead of a number, it means the focus is on driving upward as fast as possible. Finally, the fourth number is the number of seconds you hold in the top position of a movement.
So, for these push-ups, you should drive upwards to the top position as fast as possible, hold for one second, descend to the bottom position for one second, hold for one second, and repeat, driving back upward as fast as possible.
If you have any questions, post them to the comments and I'll answer them!

Monday 100503

"The great secret of success in life is for a man to be ready when his opportunity comes."
- Benjamin Disraeli

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
21-15-9 rep rounds of:
Handstand Push-ups
Burpees
Run 200m between rounds.

Post times to comments.

Friday 100430

"Progress in industry depends very largely on the enterprise of deep-thinking men, who are ahead of the times in their ideas."
- Sir William Ellis

Warm-up:
As usual.

Skill Development:
Air squats.
10 minutes practice, working on PERFECT form. If unsure what "perfect form" is, watch THIS VIDEO.

WOD:
As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:
10 Squats
15 Push-ups

Post rounds completed to comments.

Thursday 100429

'The Charge of the Light Brigade' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
3 rounds for time of:
40 Tuck Jumps
30 Sit-ups
20 Burpees

No jump on the burpees and keep your hands at your sides. You must still reach full hip extension, though. Do anchored sit-ups with hands at ears and elbows touching knees at the top.

Post times to comments.

Wednesday 100428

"We will often find compensation if we think more of what life has given us and less about what life has taken away."
- William Barclay

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
Run 5k.

Post times to comments.

Tuesday 100427

"We always tend to play up to the level of our competition and play down to the level of our competition."
- Wayne Marshall

* Make sure you never "play down" to anything. Always give it your all, no matter what it is. Whether it's a WOD, a simple task, a point - ANYTHING - give it your all. Give everything you have, and leave nothing in the tank.

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups
3x Max reps
Make sure your chest touches the bar on each and every rep

WOD:
5 rounds for time of:
7 Pull-ups
7 Jump Squats
7 Burpees
7 Push-ups

Post times to comments.

Monday 100426

"Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it." - Maya Angelou

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
8 rounds of:
Run 200m

Rest 45 seconds between rounds.

Post times for each individual run to comments.

Friday 100423

"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. That little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative."
- W. Clement Stone

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 rep rounds for time of:
Burpees
Sit-ups

Post times to comments.

Thursday 100422

"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?"
- George Eliot

Warm-up:
2km run

WOD:
Part A. Handstand Push-ups
3 sets x 8-10 reps
Rest 2:00

Part B. Squats
3 sets x Max reps
Rest 2:00

Part C. Sit-ups/Supermans (alternating)
5 sets x 25 of each

Post reps for squats and thoughts to comments.

Wednesday 100421

"People do not lack strength, they lack will." - Hugo

Warm-up:
As usual.

Skill Development:
Perfect Push-ups.
Chest and Thighs to deck, full extension at the top
30 reps at a 1-1-1-1 count (i.e. 1 second down, 1 second bottom hold, 1 second up, 1 second top hold)

WOD:
3 rounds for time of:
100' Walking Lunge
50 Squats
25 Supermans

Post times to comments.

Tuesday 100420

"Vacillating people seldom succeed. They seldom win the solid respect of their fellows. Successful men and women are very careful in reaching decisions and very persistent and determined in action thereafter."
- L.G. Elliott

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
For time:
50 Jump Squats
50 Jumping Pull-ups
50 Walking Lunge Steps
50 Sit-ups
50 Push-ups
50 Supermans
50 Burpees
50 Double Unders

Substitute Tuck Jumps for D/Us if you STILL can't do D/Us...but really, you should be doing D/Us by now, no matter how long it takes you.

Post times to comments.

Monday 100419

"You're alive. Do something.
The directive in life,
the moral imperative was so uncomplicated.
It could be expressed in single words,
not complete sentences.
It sounded like this:
Look. Listen. Choose. Act."
- Barbara Hall

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
21-15-9 rep rounds for time of:
Squats
Push-ups
Knees-to-Elbows

Post times to comments.

Friday 100416

"For my part, I rather distrust men or concerns that rise up with the speed of rockets. Sudden rises are sometimes followed by equally sudden falls. I have most faith in the individual or enterprise that advances step by step. A mushroom can spring up in a day; an oak takes 50 years or more to reach maturity. Mushrooms don't last; oaks do. The real cause for an enormous number of business failures is premature over-expansion, attempting to gallop before learning to creep. Sudden successes often invite sudden reverses."
- B.C. Forbes

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
Handstand Push-ups
3x Max Reps
If you're unable to do HSPUs yet, work on kicking up to the wall.

WOD:
6 rounds of:
2 minutes of Double-unders
Rest 30 seconds between rounds.

Post number of D/Us completed to comments.

Substitute tuck-jumps for D/Us if required, but by now you should be working on D/Us!

Thursday 100415

Is CrossFit Hardcore?

CrossFit doesn't look like your workout. No, it doesn't.

There are no '3 Sets of 8.' Not a single 'triceps kickback' to be found. And while we have lots of novel exercises to 'work your core' and 'improve your stability,' we prefer to teach you to move better in your own skin than stand you on a blue-pimple novelty and watch you quiver.

We make big claims: that we create an elite level of fitness. That we get you places you've never, ever, ever been before. That their workout is our warmup. To back those claims up, we have to do movements that are efficient, challenging, and get you far more bang for your buck than a selectorized machine ever could.

A clean and jerk, for instance: once a staple of the workout crowd, and a fundamental lift for improving your grocery-carrying and storage, is banned from nearly every 'fitness club.' For all the wrong reasons, too: it requires coaching, chalk, and the occasional drop of a barbell from overhead. Knowledge plus cleanup plus noise? Not an option if your teenage 'personal trainers' have to learn it all in a two-day course.

But a clean and jerk is a big lift, requiring a lot of energy. From a purely mathematical standpoint, it's four times as challenging as a bench press. If it seems scary, it's only because you haven't seen it around much - or have you? Lifting your bike onto your roof racks - that's a clean and jerk. Storing your Christmas lights on the top shelf - that's a clean and jerk. Doing it in the gym first just makes you break fewer bulbs. And fewer backs.

That's right: contrary, maybe, to what you've been told, this stuff prevents injuries. The strongest, safest backs in the world belong to powerlifters, NOT bed-resters. Knee injuries are typically the result of misuse, imbalanced use (the knee extension machine, anyone?) or non-use. Deadlifts don't hurt your back - given the right chance, they'll save it. Ask around: chiropractors, physiotherapists, and doctors send patients to us. We modify our methods for the injured, yes. But they're on the same road as our competitive CrossFitters, albeit a different starting line.

We choose to exercise in stark boxes. While exercisers from the 1920s,1930s,1940s, and 1950s would feel right at home, the modern machine-indoctrinated fitness pursuer will struggle to comprehend our methods. At least, at first. Slowly, they'll recognize little glimmers of sameness. "Hey, I did that as a kid!" "We do squats at my gym...but we don't go that low." "I've seen this on TV, but I never thought I could do it...."

Our workouts are short, but tough. But you'll want more. After a month, you'll find yourself checking our website on a daily basis, and joke about 'drinking the Kool-Aid.' After three months, you'll start breaking your own personal bests and bringing your friends. We've grown because CrossFit is amazing, not because we have a special limited-time offer on our membership.

Now, there's no denying that for most people, once they've been immersed in CrossFit, they can't ever go back to average. It tattoos you. And once you've offered up your fresh, pink skin to the prick of the needle, its mark is indelible. You can't undo CrossFit; once you've been painted, you can't go back to beige.

There's joy in sweat. There's family in common discomfort. There's a chemical addiction that comes from challenging yourself this way. There's pleasure in learning new stuff every single time you're in the gym. That's what CrossFit is: sweat+community+knowledge. Call it what you like.

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
3 rounds for time of:
Run 400m
30 Squats
Run 200m
15 Pistols/leg

Post times to comments.

If you are unable to do Pistols, use a wall, chair, broomstick, etc. for balance.

Wednesday 100414

"Our delight in any particular study, art or science rises in proportion to the application which we bestow upon it. Thus, what was at first an exercise becomes at length an entertainment."
- Joseph Addison

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
As many rounds as possible in 5 minutes of:
5 Jump Squats
5 Dips
As many sets as possible in 4 minutes of:
20 unbroken Double-unders (sub Tuck Jumps in unable to do D/Us)
As many reps as possible in 3 minutes of:
Overhead Squats with a Dowel/Broomstick
As many lengths as possible in 2 minutes of:
Run 10 metres
As many Pull-ups as possible in 60 seconds.

Post results for all exercises to comments.

Tuesday 100413

"You can sit around and wait to die or you can fight to live."
- Mary Castillo

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
15 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
45 Squats

Post times to comments.

Compare to 100121.

Monday 100412

Read 'What Sets Great Leaders Apart'.

Warm-up:
As usual.

Skill Development:
Vertical Jump
Measure your vertical jump 5 times. Average your results and post to comments.
Measuring procedure:
- Standing flat on your feet against a wall, with a piece of tape around the top of your middle finger (Sticky side out!), touch the wall as high as you can reach to find your standing reach height.
- Place another piece of tape on your middle finger.
- Standing next to the wall, jump and reach as high as you can, and slap the piece of tape against the wall (no running start).
- Measure the distance between your standing reach height and your jump height to measure your vertical jump.

WOD:
For time:
150 Tuck Jumps
Run 1200m

Post times to comments.

Friday 100409

"People with integrity do what they say they are going to do. Others have excuses."
- Laura Schlessinger

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
5 rounds for time of:
15 Pull-ups
15 Squats
15 Tuck Jumps
15 Push-ups

Post times to comments.

Thursday 100408

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened."
- Winston Churchill

Warm-up:
As usual.

Skill Development:
Chest-to-ground Push-ups
3 sets, max reps
Make sure your form is perfect. When it starts to break down, consider the set finished.

WOD:
10 minutes total Straight-arm Plank hold
Stop the time whenever you fail, and do 10 Sit-ups

Post impressions to comments.

Wednesday 100407

"If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude."
- Colin Powell, former American Secretary of State

Warm-up:
4x 400m run, rest 1 minute between efforts.

WOD:
For time:
21-15-9 rep rounds of:
Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
Burpees

Post times to comments.

Tuesday 100406

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened."
- Winston Churchill

Warm-up:
As usual.

Skill Development:
Pull-ups.
- Chest-to-bar
- Work on getting a strong pull, and touch your chest to the bar with each rep. Failure to touch your chest counts as a fail.
3 sets, max reps to failure

WOD:
Tabata Bottom-to-Bottom Squats
(A Tabata interval is 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8 times.)
For Bottom-to-Bottom, you start in the bottom of a squat (below parallel), and each rest period is also in the bottom position of the squat.

Post reps to comments.

Monday 100405

"Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not, but we will all be judged by only one thing: The result."- Vince Lombardi

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
Run 2km

Rest 5 minutes, then:

As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:
10 Tuck Jumps
20 Push-ups
10 Sit-ups

Post rounds completed to comments.

Thursday 100401

'Had I the Choice' - Walt Whitman

Had I the choice to tally greatest bards,
To limn their portraits, stately, beautiful, and emulate at will,
Homer with all his wars and warriors--Hector, Achilles, Ajax,
Or Shakspere's woe-entangled Hamlet, Lear, Othello--Tennyson's fair ladies,
Metre or wit the best, or choice conceit to wield in perfect rhyme,
delight of singers;
These, these, O sea, all these I'd gladly barter,
Would you the undulation of one wave, its trick to me transfer,
Or breathe one breath of yours upon my verse,
And leave its odor there."

Warm-up:
As per usual.

WOD:
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
Max Rep Pull-ups
Run 400m

Post number of pull-ups completed and number of runs to comments.

Wednesday 100331

"You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else."
- Albert Einstein

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
4 rounds for time of:
Run 400m
50 Squats

Post times to comments.

Compare to 090521.

Tuesday 100330

Read 'High-Fructose Corn Syrup Prompts Considerably More Weight Gain, Researchers Find'

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
7 rounds for time of:
21 Squats
7 L-Pull-ups

Post times to comments.

"Hard work is good for the soul, and it keeps you from feeling sorry for yourself because you don't have time. I think the harder you work, the more luck you have. If you want it bad enough . . . and try hard enough . . . you can get it. You can make your dreams come true." -- Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups
3x Max reps

WOD:
For time:
50 Push-ups
40 Sit-ups
30 Squats
20 Dips
10 Tuck Jumps
5 Burpees

Post times to comments.

Friday 100326

"Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure." - Napoleon Hill

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
500 Double-unders for time.

Substitute tuck jumps if you are unable to do double-unders.

Post times to comments.

Thursday 100325

Read 'It's Not the Recession, You Just Suck'
I know it doesn't necessarily apply to everyone, but it's a good lesson, regardless.

Warm-up:
As usual.

Skill Development:
Third World Squats
Work on form and max holds.

WOD:
'Anderson'
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Burpees
10 Push-ups
15 Sit-ups
20 Squats

Post rounds completed to comments.

Wedneday 100324

"Life is really simple; we insist on making it complicated." - Confucious

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
'Air Fran'
21-15-9 rep rounds for time of:
Push-ups
Jump Squats

Post times to comments.

Tuesday 100223

"Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must first be overcome."
- Samuel Johnson

Warm-up:
As usual.

Skill development:
Perfect push-ups.
3x Max reps
A perfect push-up is chest-to-ground at the bottom, and full extension of the arms at the top, with no sag of the lower back/butt throughout the motion. Keep your core tight and your form strict.

WOD:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 rep rounds for time of:
Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
Squats
Sit-ups

Post times to comments.

Monday 100322

"People of character do the right thing even if no one else is, not because they think it will change the world, but because they refuse to be changed by the world."
- Michael Josephson

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
2 rounds for time of:
40 Double-unders
30 Tuck Jumps
20 Knees-to-elbows
10 Burpees
100m Run

Post times to comments.

Friday 100318

"You can adopt the attitude there is nothing you can do, or you can see the challenge as your call to action."
- Catherine Pulsifer

Warm-up:
As usual.

Skill Development:
L-sits
3x max hold
Use chairs, parallelettes, or anything else if needed.

WOD:
'Princess'
For time:
50 Double-unders
10 Handstand Push-ups
40 Double-unders
8 HSPUs
30 Double-unders
6 HSPUs
20 Double-unders
4 HSPUs
10 Double-unders
2 HSPUs

Post times to comments.

Thursday 100318

"The courageous struggle for a noble cause is success in itself."
- John Wooden

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
'Death by Pull-ups'
Do 1 pull-up the first minute, 2 pull-ups the second minute, 3 pull-ups the third minute, etc... continuing until you cannot complete the required number of pull-ups in the minute.

Post minutes completed to comments.

Wednesday 100317

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
'Murph'
For time:
Run 1 mile
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
Run 1 mile
Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed.

Post times to comments.

Tuesday 100316

"Enjoy when you can. Endure when you must." - Goethe

Warm-up:
As usual.

Skill Development:
Freestanding Handstands.
Work for 10 minutes at freestanding handstands. If you've yet to master kicking up to a wall into a handstand, work on that instead.

WOD:
10 rounds for time of:
12 Burpees
12 Pull-ups

Post times to comments.

Monday 100315

"Strength comes from within; not borrowed, bought or stolen."
- Byron Pulsifer

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
7 rounds for time of:
20 Dips
20 Pull-ups
20 Lunges (alternating legs)

Post times to comments.

Friday 100312

"The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it."
- Charles Swindoll

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
7 rounds for time of:
Sprint 100m
10 Burpees
15 Tuck Jumps

Post times to comments.

Thursday 100311

"I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker." Helen Keller

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
'Cindy'
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

Post rounds completed to comments.

Wednesday 100310

Enjoy the nice weather outside!
ONLY 65 DAYS UNTIL EVENT 1!

Warm-up:
As usual.

Skill development:
Dead-hang pull-ups: 3 sets of 5
Close-grip chin-ups: 3 sets of 5
Wide grip pull-ups: 3 sets of 5

WOD:
Run 3km for time.

Post times to comments.

Tuesday 100309

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."
- Mario Andretti

Warm-up:
Stretching & Joint Mobility Exercises
2 rounds of:
Run 50m
5 Burpees
10 Supermans

WOD:
25 Squats
25 Push-ups
25 Pull-ups
25 Sit-ups
50 Squats
50Push-ups
50Pull-ups
50Sit-ups
75 Squats
75 Push-ups
75 Pull-ups
75 Sit-ups

Post times to comments.

Monday 100308

"We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once."
- Calvin Coolidge

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
Free-standing Handstands
Practice for 5 minutes
If you still cannot do handstands against a wall, practice kicking up to a wall.

WOD:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 rep rounds for time of:
Pull-ups
Burpees
Jump Squats

Post times to comments.

Friday 100305

"Ability is what you're capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it."
- Lou Holtz

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
Handstand Push-ups
Max reps in 12 minutes

Post reps completed to comments.

Thursday 100304

"Misfortune can force you into doing things you should be doing anyway. Lessons come from adversity. Anything can happen to anyone... You can find a new lease on life - more meaning than you thought possible in simple things... Let go. Live in the moment. Go forward."
- Christopher Reeve

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
'Death by Burpees'
Do 1 burpee the first minute, 2 burpees the 2nd minute, 3 burpees the 3rd minute, etc. continuing as long as possible, until you are unable to complete the prescribed number of burpees in a round.

Post rounds completed to comments.

Wednesday 100303

"Adversity is the first path to truth." - Lord Byron

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
Dead-hang Chin-ups (narrow grip, approximately 6" between hands)
3x Max Reps

WOD:
3 rounds for time of:
33 Squat Jumps
33 Walking Lunge Steps
33 Squats

Post times to comments.

Tuesday 100302

New Patriot Love
By Stephen Brunt, The Globe and Mail Posted Friday, February 26, 2010 2:22 PM ET @
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/columnists/bruntscorner/newsid=52870.html

Perhaps we are really looking into a funhouse mirror, and the country reflected back to us, bold and loud and overtly patriotic, is a thing only of this time and place. Perhaps from here at ground zero, surrounded by the happy, face-painted Maple Leaf-bedecked mobs, perspective is skewed.

But it certainly seems as though something new and different has been happening in Canada these past two weeks - at the very least, a sudden loss of national self-consciousness.

A home-country Olympics has been the catalyst, and everyone knew it was coming, like Expo 67, or the previous two Games held in Canada, or the various international hockey triumphs that provided obvious opportunities to wave the flag.

Not this many flags, though, or this many choruses of O Canada, in its many permutations, from homemade and homely to hip hop. And most remarkable of all is that, for all of the preparation, and all of the packaged, premeditated tugging of heartstrings, this hasn't really proceeded according to script.

It was supposed to be a simple, inevitable march to glory. Enormous amounts of money (at least in Canadian terms) were invested in our athletes to guarantee that what had happened before - gold-medal-free Olympics in Montreal in 1976 and Calgary in 1988 - would not happen again. Success would not be a faint hope, it would be an expectation. We would own the podium, we would top the medal tables. Though it might seem antithetical to traditional notions of the national character, the overt confidence, the swagger of those newborn champions would set a tone for the country. As they witnessed triumph upon triumph, at each raising of the flag and singing of the anthem, as they witnessed other countries - especially the United States of America - left trembling in our wake, citizens would be suitably inspired, emboldened in their own lives, feel moved to hit new heights, feel kindly toward the government of the day (the propaganda possibilities of this exercise have been obvious at least since 1936), and not question for a minute the wisdom of the entire Olympic enterprise.

That was the narrative arc everyone anticipated, not just sports and Olympic administrators, but also those in control of the massive media consortium, which paid an unprecedented amount for the rights to the Games and was betting heavily on being able to wallow in Canadian success.

Instead, the show got off to an unequivocally awful start. Hours before the cauldron was lit, a luger was killed during a practice run, raising questions about the safety of the state-of-the-art track built specifically for these Olympics. A technical glitch marred the climactic moment of the Opening Ceremony, and freakishly warm weather threatened to melt the Cypress Mountain venue, forcing cancellations and eventually mass ticket refunds. The much-hyped Canadian hope for a home gold medal fell short on the opening day of competition, and the opportunistic overseas press corps focused in on every glitch, pronouncing the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics a failure and an embarrassment to the host country even before they had really begun.

It would have been no surprise in those circumstances for the country to curl up in the fetal position, to experience a great national cringe: We weren't good enough; in the big moment, we hadn't come through; we weren't up to the task; we should never have become involved (or spent the money) in the first place.

What happened instead were the streets of Vancouver filling with huge crowds, young, pan-ethnic, the very image of the place, decked out in national colours, patriotic gear the fashion statement of the moment, and that became the story. From across the country came reports of other gatherings, more modest naturally, and then the first television numbers, showing that unprecedented numbers of Canadians were tuning in. (And the changed medium itself was also part of the equation - the immersive effect of having everything from the Games available at all times on multiple platforms; watching hour after hour of the Olympics, following sports that otherwise aren't exactly top of mind, has always had a narcotic effect, but this time it was possible to inhabit virtual-Olympic-world 24 hours a day.)

Apparently, it wasn't all about flawless execution and it wasn't all about winning medals and it wasn't even all about sport. It was about providing an opportunity, a platform, an excuse, to let loose pent-up feelings of national pride, to express, without apology, with a spirit of joy, a national identity, hitting emotional notes beyond the usual touchstones of climate and geography, of politeness, tolerance, universal health care and hockey. It was fun (especially for those too young to have experienced the epiphany of the Canada-Soviet hockey series, 1972 - or even the Ben Johnson run of 1988) and it was liberating and it felt good, the power of collectively giving a damn.

By the time moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau won that first Canadian gold medal in Canada, in so many ways the perfect poster boy for everything the Games are supposed to be about, it was becoming clear that the country outside the Olympic bubble was setting the tone, and not vice versa. During those distressing moments mid-Games when it began to dawn on everyone that the Own the Podium goals could not be reached, when several Canadian athletes seemed to buckle under the intense pressure, bureaucrats and reporters were busy counting up the medals and fretting over whether it was really a good idea to shoot so high, while outside the flag-waving proceeded unabated.

It wasn't until skeleton athlete Jon Montgomery's victory a week ago last Friday (following immediately on the heels of fellow slider Melissa Hollingsworth's teary disappointment, which was the Games' athletic nadir from a Canadian point of view), and his triumphant stroll through the streets of Whistler, grabbing a pitcher of beer along the way, that the Olympics caught up with the mood of the country. Then came Thursday, with four medals won and the one-sided hockey victory over Russia, and the stage was set for a weekend like no other.

Come Monday morning, come the weeks and months and years after that, who knows if there will even be a hint left behind of what has happened here beyond a short hangover? Whether all of those jerseys and flags and maple leaf hats will gather dust in some closet, like artifacts of a graduation, of a wedding, other signpost moments that are over, and gone.

Public displays of patriotism would seem unlikely to become the norm. But given the opportunity, given the excuse, who would be surprised now if this happens again? The want seems to be there, the need seems to be there, and maybe it has been there percolating all along - the desire to join together and celebrate ourselves, to be a tribe.

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
For time:
21 Pull-ups
2 Handstand Push-ups
18 Pull-ups
4 HSPUs
15 Pull-ups
6 HSPUs
12 Pull-ups
8 HSPUs
9 Pull-ups
10 HSPUs
6 Pull-ups
12 HSPUs
3 Pull-ups
14 HSPUs

Post times to comments.

Monday 100301

Canadian Olympic Pride.

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
Handstand holds
3x 1 minute total hold against wall

WOD:
3 rounds for time of:
25 Burpees
100 Squats
35 Sit-ups

Go hard and don't stop. This WILL be a tough one!

Post times to comments.

Friday 100226

'IF'
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat these two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you've given your life to, broken
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a man, my son!
-Rudyard Kipling

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
'Death by Pull-ups'
Do one pull-up the 1st minute, two pull-ups the 2nd minute, three pull-ups the third minute, etc., continuing as long as possible until you are unable to complete the prescribed amount of pull-ups in that minute.

Post rounds completed to comments.

Thursday 100225

"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable."
- Christopher Reeve

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
Straight-arm Plank Hold
3x Max Time Holds

WOD:
5 rounds for time of:
10 Burpees
10 Push-ups
10 Mountain Climbers
10 Sit-ups
10 Prisoner Squats

Post times to comments.

Wednesday 100224

You'll Be Fine - an article from Again Faster.

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
3 rounds for time of:
10 Pistols, Left Leg
15 Knees-to-Elbows
10 Pistols, Right Leg
15 Push-ups

Post times to comments.

Pistols. Use a wall for balance if necessary.

Tuesday 100223

"There is no limit to what a man can do so long as he does not care a straw who gets the credit for it." - Charles Edward Montague

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
Rotating stations between sets, complete the following for time:
100-75-50-25 Squats
5-10-15-20 Burpees
10-20-30-40 Double Unders

Substitute Tuck Jumps for D/Us if required.

Post times to comments.

Monday 100222

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will."
- Vince Lombardi

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
Squats
Work on perfecting form and getting as deep as possible.

WOD:
3 rounds for time of:
50 Squats
15 Handstand Push-ups
15 L-Pull-ups

Post times to comments.

Friday 100219

"Those who do not find the time for exercise will have to find the time for illness."
- Earl of Derby

Warm-up:
2 rounds of:
10 OH Squats w/ broomstick
10 Supermans
10 Sit-ups
10 Dips

3 rounds for time of:
21 L-pull-ups
21 Push-ups

Post times to comments.

Compare to 090806.

Thursday 100218

"Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles." - Alex Karras

Warm-up:
As usual.

WOD:
10 rounds of:
30-second Handstand Hold
30-second Squat Hold
30-second Plank
30-second Dead Hang from Pull-up bar

Post impressions to comments.

Wednesday 100217

Any idiot can get on a treadmill and watch TV and then take great pride in the fact they’ve ‘exercized’. — Coach Mark Rippetoe

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill development:
Chest-to-ground push-ups
3x Max rep sets

WOD:
'Annie'
50-40-30-20-10 rep rounds of:
Double-unders
Sit-ups

Substitute tuck jumps for double unders, if required.

Post times to comments.

Tuesday 100216

"Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them."
- Ann Landers

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
Handstand holds (against wall)
3x max time

WOD:
21-15-9 reps for time of:
Burpee Pull-ups
Overhead Squats with a broomstick

Post times to comments.

Compare to 100113.

Monday 100215

Happy Family Day!

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
4 rounds for time of:
50 Squats
15 Pull-ups
15 Dips

Post times to comments.

Friday 100212

Performance is directly correlated with intensity. Intensity is directly correlated with discomfort. — Coach Greg Glassman

Warm-up:
2 rounds of:
10 Pull-ups
10 Supermans
10 Sit-ups
10 Dips

WOD:
Broken-down Burpees
For time:
50 Squats
50 Sprawls
50 Push-ups
50 Jump Squats

Post time to comments.

Thursday 100211

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible." - Arthur C. Clarke

Warm-up:
As always.

Skill Development:
Kipping Pull-ups
Work on form and getting a good strong kip in.
Use this link and watch all the videos on kipping to help learn.

WOD:
4 rounds of:
1 minute Straight-Arm Plank Hold
1 minute Push-ups
1 minute Straight-Arm Plank Hold
1 minute Sit-ups

Post total reps of Push-ups and Sit-ups to comments.

Wednesday 100210

BETTER THAN YESTERDAY!

(http://www.againfaster.com/articles/better-than-yesterday.html)

Warm-up:
Same as always

Skill Development:
Straight-arm Plank Holds
3x max time

WOD:
'Tabata Things I Suck At'
Pick 4 things you HATE to do. Your 4 WORST exercises.
Do a Tabata cycle of each, resting 1 minute between each exercise.
(A Tabata cycle is 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8 times)

Post exercises and total reps for each to comments.

Tuesday 100209

"To every man, there comes in his lifetime, that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered a chance to do a very special thing, unique to him and fitted to his talents. What a tragedy if that moment should find him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour."
- Sir Winston Churchill

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
21-15-9 rep rounds of:

Pull-ups

Handstand Push-ups

*use appropriate progressions for HSPUs if you can't do them (i.e. decline push-ups, trying to walk up the wall as high as you can)

Post times to comments.

Monday 100208

"There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to meet them." - Phyllis Battome

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
3 sets of max reps Double-Unders
If you get less than 10 per set, continue until you have done at least 30 total.

WOD:
30-25-20-15-10-5 rep rounds for time of:
Double-unders
Burpees
Jump Squats

Substitute tuck jumps for double-unders if needed.

Post times to comments.

Friday 100205

"There’s always something.

The bright lights. The Top 20 pop. Someone wanting to talk to you about the something about the time you did the thing.

Ignore them. Not nasty. Not with distain. Because now is the time, the moment when you concentrate on the task ahead, on the never-ending belief that what’s about to go down will go down, that you can’t be beaten.

Every ounce of psychic energy you’re about to bring to bear; it’s easy to disrupt, easy to kill. You have to protect it, feet on the ground, head down, focusing on the simple mental images of success.

Your next personal record, better than last time, better than ever, it’s right here in front of you, ready for the taking.

There is great power in the singular sight, the sole goal, the only reason you came here. Your next personal record, better than last time, better than ever, it’s right here in front of you, ready for the taking.

And now, you have to take it. Two words, three words run through your head, a tight, concise, pithy description of the end state, the moment right before the chest bumps and high fives and screams like a fifteen-year-old’s cracking voice.

When they try to distract you, jump in on your bar, talk about the suck, borrow your 5s, cure your stress, just stop. Look up, make eye contact, not angry but ready, and look back down. This isn’t about Community. Not now. This is about winning, succeeding, making yourself believe that what’s about to happen will happen, must happen, that nothing else can happen, the intellectual certitude followed by physical reality.

And then, get ready to go. Grip the bar. Chalk up, and remember that your momentary lapse in social nicety will be rewarded with what you wanted, the moment of apex. Your short, pithy phrase repeats until there is nothing else, no sound, no Top 20, no mats, no platforms, no nothing except a bar and a goal, the universe bent around you in a cocoon of now.

Don’t think heels down, chest up. Don’t think at all, because you don’t need to. You already did it, and miracle of miracles, what was supposed to happen happened. It’s over your head. It’s locked out.

And now, they fade back in. The sound of volume slow marching to full blast, clapping, screaming, backslapping rah.

You can give in, or you can go back. Sit down, shut your eyes, and bring pithy back. Because it’s not over, and you can shut it out again. Accept that this is just a step and not the end, and it will happen all over again. Another record, not a defining moment, but an ephemeral glimpse at where you were, the shallow footprint of an athlete who’s moving forward faster.

Ignore them, and bring it. Because there’s always something more."

- Jon Gilson, www.againfaster.com

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
3 sets of max reps Double-Unders
If you get less than 10 per set, continue until you have done at least 30 total.

WOD:
30-25-20-15-10-5 rep rounds for time of:
Double-unders
Burpees
Jump Squats

Substitute tuck jumps for double-unders if needed.

Post times to comments.

Thursday 100204

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." - Calvin Coolidge

Warm-up:
As usual, minus the push-ups

Skill Development:
Strict Pull-ups
3x Max reps

WOD:
For time
150 Perfect Push-ups
Each time your form fails, it counts as a fault.

When your push-ups are completed, do 5 pull-ups for each fault.

(A perfect push-up is chest-to-ground, and full lock-out at the top.)

Post times and number of faults to comments.

Wednesday 100203

"Most of the problems with the bodies and minds of the folks occupying the current culture involve an unwillingness to do anything hard, or anything that they'd rather not do. I applaud your resolve, and I welcome you to the community of people who have decided that EASY will no longer suffice"
- Coach Mark Rippetoe

Warm-up:
As usual
Add in 3 max time holds of Third World Squats

Skill-Development:
Max height vertical jumps
5 attempts

WOD:
AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
5 Burpee Pull-ups
10 Dips
15 Sit-ups

Post rounds completed to comments.

Tuesday 10201

Read this article.

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill development:
Third World Squats
3 x 1 minute holds (use something to balance if necessary)
...read the article and it will make sense...

WOD:
21-15-9 rep rounds of:
Burpee Tuck Jumps
Pull-ups
Sit-ups

Burpee Tuck Jumps are a Burpee, that finishes in a Tuck Jump.

Post times to comments.

Monday 100201

"I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids. With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. I will act now for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the person." - Og Mandigo

Warm-up:
As usual, minus the pull-ups.

Skill development:
Snatch balances (As seen here: http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/cfj-nov-05/snatch-balance.mov)
3 sets of 5 reps each. Focus on perfect form.

WOD:
'Death by Pull-ups'
Complete 1 pull-up the first minute, 2 pull-ups the 2nd minute, 3 pull-ups the 3rd minute, etc., continuing until you cannot complete a round.

Post rounds completed to comments.

Compare to 100126.

Friday 100129

"I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."
- Edward Everett Hale

Warm-up:
As usual.

Skill Development:
Knees-to-Elbows practice
Work on proper form and slow, controlled execution.
Work on progressions if you can't yet to K2Es.

WOD:
10 minutes of HSPUs
5 minutes of Squats
2 minutes of Push-ups
1 minutes of Pull-ups

Post total reps completed to comments.

Thursday 100128

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
5 rounds for time of:
10 Burpees
10 Push-ups
10 Sit-ups
10 Prisoner Squats

Post times to comments.

Wednesday 100127

'Dedication'
You think you know pain, but you have no idea. The heart thumping, chest expanding, lactic acid burn of your last workout was a walk through the meadow.

Somewhere, there’s a guy who did it in half the time it took you. He suffered. Plasma forced its way into his lungs, causing him to hack on repeat. He choked down bile halfway through, and ended on his back, pupils dilated to the size of dimes.

While you were walking around, telling your friends how hardcore your workout was, Guy Number Two was still collapsed, the prospect of driving home as daunting as climbing K2 during a snowstorm.

When he finally stood up, he didn’t say a word.

CrossFit is a decidedly masochistic pursuit. To be any good at it, you have to enjoy the pain. You have to push back the threshold day after day, until last year’s traumas feel like an hour-long rubdown at the Canyon Ranch. One day, you find a threshold that takes the whole thing just a little too far, and you get scared to go back.

The men and women that decimate your times are not superhuman. They’re not particularly genetically gifted. Hell, most of the top CrossFitters in the world would get absolutely pummeled in your standard game of rugby, buried by larger athletes begat by larger parents.

What differentiates these individuals is not a gift, but an unreasonable desire to push self-imposed suck beyond its logical limits. What comes out the other side becomes legendary.

Like any human pursuit, we seek ways around the hard part. Limited range of motion and new techniques. Dropping the deadlift from the top, bouncing it off the floor. Squatting above parallel and not standing up all the way. Chicken-necking above the chin-up bar, and reviewing the tape to see if we made it.

We want the reward (speed) without the sacrifice (pain).

This is not conscious cowardice. It’s pure out-and-out rationalism. Atsomepoint, the next threshold is the one that takes it too far, leaving us in an exercise-induced hallucination that lasts a few moments too long. Our hearts bounce around our insides for one beat too many, and our lungs beg to explode for an unwanted extra second. Every exhalation coincides with a constriction of vision, and the cold taste of copper.

No sane human being would enjoy such a feeling.

Still, the glory beckons. Surely, with enough training and the right supplements, there’s a way around the Hard Part. Enough sleep and enough vitamin B will get you the sub-whatever time without the attendant pain. There’s no need to redline your heart rate or pop capillaries. No need to ache so badly at night that you can’t sleep. Surely, there are ways around this.

Fortunately, the steroids are a no-go, and the exercises are done correctly or not at all. The only way to legend is through ever-mounting piles of pain. The meadow has to tilt at 45-degrees, and he rubdown at the Ranch must be done with Brillo Pads. If you can talk, you’re not trying hard enough. If your nerves aren’t frayed and ready to rebel, you’ll never get there.

Do yourself a favor, and realize that there’s no technique in the world that will save you. There are no pills, no secrets, no passwords on the path to greatness. You’ve got to embrace the pain, push the threshold, and feel the suck, and then you’ve got to muster the courage to go back six times a week.

After all, the world is a lot brighter when your pupils are the size of dimes, and massaging your sternum with your heart starts to feel good after a while. The plasma finds its way out of your lungs, and eventually you’ll be able to drive.

Sometimes, lying on the floor is its own reward.

- Jon Gilson, www.AgainFaster.com

Warm-up:
2 rounds of:
10 Pull-ups
10 Overhead Squats
10 Chest-to-ground Push-ups
10 Dips

WOD:
5 rounds for time of:
30 Sit-ups
25 Supermans

Post times to comments

Tuesday 100126

"Never, never, never give up." - Sir Winston Churchill

Warm-up:
As usual, sans Pull-ups

Skill development:
Plank, 3 minutes total time. Stop the clock when you fail.

WOD:
10 rounds for time of:
12 Pull-ups
12 Burpees

Post times to comments.

Monday 100125

"Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and are more useful in general."
- Mark Rippetoe

Warm up:
As per usual

Skill Development:
Practice your weakest exercise. Focus on developing your weakest skills.

WOD:
Tabata Things You Suck At
Pick 4 exercises that you hate to do, and do a Tabata cycle of each. Do them back-to-back, with no rest in between each cycle, other than the perscribed 10 seconds.

Post exercises and results to comments.

Friday 100122

"The average is the border line that keeps mere men in place. Those who step over the line are heroes by the very act. Go." - Henry Rollins

Warm-up:
As per usual, without the squats

Skill Development:
Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
3 sets, max reps

WOD:
Tabata Bottom-to-Bottom Squats
(A Tabata is 20-seconds of work, followed by 10-seconds of rest, repeated for 8 cycles.)
For this WOD, your 10-seconds of rest must be at the BOTTOM of the squat. If you need to stand, you must do it during your 20-seconds of work.

Post number of squats for each cycle, along with total reps.

Thursday 100121

"I refuse to tipetoe through life, only to arrive safely at Death's door." - Tony Campolo

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
15 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
45 Squats

Post rounds and fractions of rounds completed to comments.

Go hard. It's only January, but it's never time to relax. I you need inspiration and motivation, think of last year's NAX Finals, in our game against Prevail. Imagine that you are the one in the 1-on-1, and it's going to take 20 minutes. Push though, and never stop. Keep fighting.
YOU CAN PASS OUT, PUKE, OR DIE, BUT YOU CAN'T QUIT!

Wednesday 100119

"Defeat is not defeat unless it is accepted in the mind." - Bruce Lee

Warm-up:
As usual

Skill Development:
L-sits
3 attempts for max time. Use a chair, the floor, or any other parallel handles you can find.

WOD:
4 rounds for time of:
50 Sit-ups
50 Supermans

Post times to comments.

Tuesday 100119

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature." - Helen Keller

Warm-up:
As per usual

Skill development:
Chest Slappers
3 sets of max reps.

WOD:
This is a bit of a confusing one, so feel free to post your questions before completing it.

With a continuously running clock, squat for 60 seconds. Subtract the number of squats completed from 60, and do that many pull-ups in minute two. In minute three, squat again, subtracting the number completed from 60. Do that number of push-ups in minute four. Minute five is squatting again, and minute six pull-ups.

The pattern is squats, pull-ups, squats, push-ups, squats, pull-ups, etc. The goal is to stay within the workout's formula for as long as possible.

Don't do more than 60 squats in any round.

In any case, stay moving for at least 12 minutes. Continue as long as possible until you fail to complete the pull-ups/push-ups required in that minute.

For example:
1st minute - I do 45 Squats
2nd minute - 1 need to do 15 Pull-ups
3rd minute - I do 42 Squats
4th minute - I need to do 18 Push-ups
5th minute - I do 33 Squats
6th minute - I need to do 27 Pull-ups
etc.
13th minute - I do 20 Squats
14th minute - I need to do 40 Pull-ups, but I only get 10 in, so I'm done now.

Post results and thoughts once completed.

Monday 100118

"Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict."
- William Ellery Channing

Warm-up:
As usual

WOD:
For time:
10 Handstand Push-up
1 Knees-to-Elbows
9 HSPUs
2 K2Es
8 HSPUs
3 K2Es
7 HSPUs
4 K2Es
6 HSPUs
5 K2Es
5 HSPUs
6 K2Es
4 HSPUs
7 K2Es
3 HSPUs
8 K2Es
2 HSPUs
9 K2Es
1 HSPU
10 K2Es

Post times to comments.

Friday 100115

"Great changes may not happen right away, but with effort even the difficult may become easy."
- Bill Blackman

Warm-up:
The usual

WOD:
150 Burpees for time.

Post times to comments.

Thursday 100114

"The most important of life's battles is the one we fight daily in the silent chambers of the soul."
- David O. McKay

Warm-up:
As per usual...
10 Push-ups
10 Sit-ups
10 Overhead Squats w/Broomstick
10 Supermans
10 Pull-ups
10 Dips

Skill:
Knees-to-Elbows
3 sets, Max reps
Focus on proper form and controlled motion.
Rest as needed between efforts.

WOD:
'Cindy'
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

Post rounds completed to comments.

Wednesday 100113

"It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
- Theodore Roosevelt

Warm-up:
10 Push-ups
10 OH Squats w/ Broomstick
10 Supermans
10 Pull-ups
10 Sit-ups
10 Dips

Skill Development:
Wall Sits
3 x Max time

WOD:
21-15-9 rep rounds for time of:
Burpee Pull-ups
Overhead Squats w/ Broomstick

Post times to comments.

Burpee Pull-ups example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCPUS5hYGc4

Tuesday 100112

Performance is directly correlated with intensity. Intensity is directly correlated with discomfort. — Coach Greg Glassman

Warm-up:
10 Pull-ups
10 OH Squats w/ Broomstick
10 Push-ups
10 Sit-ups
10 Dips
10 Supermans

Skill development:
Pistols, 20 per leg total. Use a chair/wall for balance if necessary

WOD:
10 minutes total plank hold (plank on elbows). Each time you fail, do 25 sit-ups.

Post number of rounds needed to complete.

Monday 100111

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee

Warm-up:
10 Push-ups
10 Sit-ups
10 Overhead Squats w/Broomstick
10 Supermans
10 Pull-ups
10 Dips

Skill:
Handstand holds: 3 reps max time

Rest 5 minutes. Then:

WOD:
21-15-9 rep rounds for time of:
Handstand Push-ups
Burpees
Knees-to-Elbows

You didn't get it done Friday. Do it now!

Saturday 100109

Rest Day.

Friday 100108

There is no such thing as “firming and toning.” There is only stronger and weaker. — Coach Mark Rippetoe

21-15-9 rep rounds for time of:
Handstand Push-ups
Burpees
Knees-to-Elbows

Substitute appropriate progressions where necessary.

Post times to comments.

Thursday 100107

Skill Day.

Pick a skill (e.g. clapping push-ups, HSPUs, human flags, etc.) and work for 30 minutes on it.

Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accuracy_and_precision and post thoughts to comments.

Wednesday 100106

Keep up the good work, guys!

'Death by Pull-ups'
Do 1 pull-up the 1st minute, 2 pull-ups the 2nd minute, 3 pull-ups the 3rd minute...etc., continuing as long as possible, until you cannot complete the perscribed number of pull-ups in a given minute.

Post rounds completed to comments.

Tuesday 100105

21-15-9 rep rounds of:
Push-ups
Jump Squats

Post times to comments.

FAST AND FURIOUS! Shoot for sub-2:00!

Monday 100104 - We're BACK!

Happy New Years everyone. Let's get back on track and get back at it!

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. That surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. So when I feel like quitting, I ask myself, 'Which would I rather live with?'. Facing up to that question, and finding a way to go on, is the real reward, better than any trophy."
- Lance Armstrong

Today's WOD:
'The Final Countdown'
3 rounds for time:
10 Pull-ups
9 Squats
8 Push-ups
7 Sit-ups
6 Dips
5 Burpees
4 Lunges, each leg
3 Supermans
2 Chest Slappers
1 Handstand Push-up (or appropriate progression)

Post times to comments.