CrossFit One World

10 minutes. Over the course of an entire day, 10 minutes is a drop in the bucket. That being said, it is hard to believe that you can get an effective CrossFit workout in just 10 minutes! In my opinion, the 10 minute or less workouts are the best and the worst of what CrossFit as a program offers. The best because in the 10 minute or less realm, you can throw yourself at the workout full tilt boogie. The worst because in the 10 minute or less realm you can throw yourself at the workout full tilt boogie. That level of intensity gives you the best return at attempting to achieve the best fitness level possible, but it wrecks you!!! All my puke sessions from CrossFit workouts have happened in the 10 minute or less time range. Now, don't get confused.... we still need to do longer workouts, lift heavy, and run those damn 5k's, but there is a lot of good potent stuff happening in the 10 minute workout range.

You've seen infomercials on TV that promise you weight loss and getting fitter in 10 minutes or less (three payments of $19.99). Why is CrossFit different? Well, look at those infomercials. All the people that are doing a demo of the product are always smiling while they are working out. The infomercials use language like "it's easy" to sell their product to a lazy populace that is always looking for the easy way to accomplish something that actually takes effort. 

Could you imagine a CrossFit infomercial? People actually working hard during a workout. Close-ups of people lying on the floor in a puddle of sweat flopping around uncomfortably. The camera would zoom in on a CrossFit athlete to get a testimonial regarding the workout. The athlete would mumble some incoherent words while gasping for air..... CrossFit would not sell shit!!!

Training with intensity is how you see positive results in a short period of time. Unfortunately, training with intensity also sucks, so not a lot of people can gut it out on a regular basis. Huge kudos to all of you who stay consistent!

A snapshot from the CrossFit Infomercial. This is not television friendly.....
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The gym will be closed this weekend for a seminar. Sorry for the inconvenience!

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WOD   11/10/2009

"The Filthy Fifty"

Complete the following for time:

• 50 box jumps (M:24"/W:20")
• 50 jumping pull-ups
• 50 kettlebell swings
• 50 walking lunge steps
• 50 knees to elbows
• 50 push press (M:45#/W:33#)
• 50 GHD hip extensions
• 50 wall balls  (M:20#/W:14#)
• 50 burpees
• 50 double unders

Rita demos the Filthy Fifty. I know a ton of you (guys) are big fans of this vid. Solid movement from a beautiful and totally cool girl!

Filthy Fifty demo from crossfitoneworld on Vimeo.

BELATED CONGRATS

Big apologies to Anna, Cheryl and Jenn for me not posting this pic sooner. On October 3rd, they completed the San Jose Rock n' Roll Half Marathon. I remember when Cheryl couldn't even run all the way around the block without taking a break. Great job ladies and kudos to Anna for representing with the cool CrossFit One World tank top!

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The old schedule is back! The 6:15pm class is a go on Monday through Friday. The 7:30pm session on Monday and Wednesday is back to 7:15pm. The new On-Ramp Program will continue to meet at 6:30pm.

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Speaking of Cheryl and running around the block......

WOD   11/9/2009

Perform three attempts at running around the block (1.1 miles) for time. Rest five minutes between efforts. Good day to wear a watch with a stop watch function. Happy Monday!!!!

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LOOKING COOL IN THE "ONESIE"

Chris Stroud will be the first member of the newly USAW registered One World Weightlifting Club to compete in a sanctioned weightlifting competition next weekend. Chis trained in his competition singlet (aka the "onesie") last Tuesday. Coach Angela Lim wore her singlet in support. Maybe we should have mandatory onesie night at the gym.

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WOD   11/8/2009

This is the workout for the free Sunday session. Scaled, of course, for those who are trying out CrossFit for the first time.

"Football Sunday"

This is a three man team workout. Each team will play two 12 minute halves with a 5 minute half time.

Scoring is as follows:

• A touchdown is scored when a three man team completes 60 wall balls (M:20#/W:14#) and 60 burpees. Only two team members can be working at one time, and you cannot have the two team members working on the same exercise. If you score a touchdown, the whole team must complete a 200m run for the extra point
• A field goal is scored when the three man team completes 30 thrusters (M:75#/W:55#) and 60 box jumps (M:24"/W:20"). Only two team members can be working at one time, and you cannot have the two team members working on the same exercise.

Huge bonus points if you perform this workout wearing some sort of clothing supporting your favorite football team.

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WELCOME!

Congrats to the first group of new One World athletes to complete our On-Ramp Program. Coach Chong and his assistants Chris Stroud and Jerry Lamigo were stoked about how much everyone improved. Chong was really excited to see the camaraderie between all the new members grow with each session. This is exactly what we hoped for when we decided to start the On-Ramp Program.

A key component to the On-Ramp Program is that participants see how effective CrossFit programming really is. The group performs a workout during each of the 12 sessions. The On-Ramp philosophy is that each session and workout builds on the prior workout in both skill level and intensity.

The first workout and the twelfth workout are the same: 200m run then 21/15/9 reps of squat/push-up/body row, and then 200m run. When Chong and I set up the program, we knew that everyone would see huge improvement in just 12 sessions. We were not wrong in our assumption. Check out the results!
The number on the right is their time from the first session. WOW!

This workout will be posted on our Wall of Fame as "On-Ramp" Congrats to the newest athletes to get their names on the Wall of Fame!!!

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REST DAY~~~~SKILLS DAY   11/7/2009

Rest....OR....make up a workout you missed....OR....

Play around with some sprint work.

I don't know jack about sprinting proper. Where to go when you want to learn something new? youtube!

I have no idea who this guy is. I have no idea if his coaching tips are legit. For some reason, I just thought the clips were interesting and funny. Maybe a true sprinter out there can verify whether this guy is legit or not.

I'M IN!!!!

CrossFit One World member Kevin Corcoran is an avid cyclist. He enjoys both road biking and mountain biking. Kevin has been telling me he wants to take me with him on one of his mountain biking excursions. He just sent me the link to this video. Kevin says this is one of the best mountain biking spots in the Bay Area. They put a helmet camera on his buddy as they made this run, so that is Kevin you see most of the video. HOLY GOOD TIMES BATMAN! Count me in Kevin. That looks awesome!!!!

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I thought I announced this on a previous post, but I guess it slipped by me. The first On-Ramp Program finishes their last session today (11/6). The next On-Ramp Program starts on 11/9/2009. We will workout the On-Ramp Program with the workout schedule. That being said, we will go back to having the 6:15 pm  sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We will also go back to 7:15 pm on Monday and Wednesday. Thanks for bearing with us during the changes. We are just trying to make everything work as best as possible.

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WOD   11/6/2009

Deadlift   1/1/1/1/1/1/1

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Candy Cane Deadlifts.....

A SIMPLE DELICIOUS DINNER

On October 19th, I posted a picture of a meal that I called "quite possibly the perfect breakfast." Let's talk dinner! I am a big fan of any dinner that involves red meat. Red meat is the king of meats to eat when you want to build muscle mass.... just ask all those tri-tip eating body builders. I would estimate that I consume red meat in over 50% of my meals in an entire week.

For dinner, I love to fire up a few steaks on the gas grill, but honestly, when I do that I have a tendency to skip my veggies and just eat a bunch of meat (with a bottle of Cabernet subbing for my carbs). The pan of pleasure pictured above helps me get some good carbs into my system, and more importantly, from start to finish takes me about ten minutes.

Cut as much fresh asparagus as you like and into 1" pieces. I go to Safeway and just pick up one bunch of asparagus. It probably runs about 8-12 ounces. Asparagus rocks, so more is always better. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and toss in the asparagus. You will have to toy with your asparagus cooking time. If you like your asparagus crispy, you start adding the rest of the ingredients quickly. If you like it softer, let it cook a bit. After your asparagus cooking time meets your satisfaction, toss in some chopped garlic. I buy jars of chopped, roasted, organic garlic and scoop in a ton of the stuff. Roasted garlic is milder than regular chopped garlic, so I like to add a lot. I then add in some thin sliced beef tenderloin (filet mignon), a pound or more, and flavor it with spices of my choice. It is important that you use beef tenderloin. The cut is very tender and when sliced thin can be cut with a fork when it is raw so it doesn't need a long cooking time to get tender like cheaper cuts of meat. As soon as you add the beef, toss in a package of sliced mushrooms. Mushrooms are another ingredient that you have to toy with cooking time based on your preference. I prefer my mushrooms a bit firm. If you like them softer, add them to the mix just before you add the beef. Once everything is cooked to your satisfaction, serve  it up! I toss on some garlic salt just before I start feasting. This meal will run you about $15-$17 to cook, but unless you are really super hungry, you can easily split it into two or three servings. If you keep the meat rare, it will end up medium rare to medium when you reheat it in a microwave.

In the photo above, I used about 1.5# of tenderloin, two bunches of asparagus (you can sub any veggie if you don't like asparagus), one package of mushrooms, and almost a whole jar of garlic. The photo above provided my wifey with five meals to take to work or eat at home during the next week. I am not kidding when I tell you the whole thing was ten minutes from start until scooping into some storage containers.

You don't have enough time to "eat right"????? I call bullshit.

Post thoughts to comments.

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Chris Stroud runs the One World SDF website. He is still looking for some testimonials from you One World members. He is making you all an offer:

1.) The first 25 people to submit a testimonial will get a free One World SDF water bottle.

2.) They must submit it here: http://www.oneworldsdf.com/submit-testimonial/

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This from day two of our last in-house challenge....

WOD   11/5/2009

"Helen"

Complete three rounds for time of:

• Run 400m
• 21 kettlebell swings (M:53#/W:35#)
  
• 12 pull-ups

Coach's Corner: I hate to be a dick, but I have to make a complaint. Lately, I have been seeing a lot of weak ass pull-ups. A pull-up means the bottom of your chin goes OVER the bar. Craning your neck up so the tip of your chin just grazes the bottom portion of the bar is not a full range of motion pull-up. If you are counting that as a pull-up, you are cheating yourself and posting a bullshit time on the dry erase board. This is not what you are about if you train at One World. Some degradation of technique is acceptable in an intense workout. Full range of motion in a movement is not.

It also drives me crazy when I see an athlete barely make a pull-up (sometimes not even making the attempt), and then for some crazy reason, try to do another one. Nine times out of ten they miss the attempt. (It drives me even crazier if they count the missed attempt.) Do yourself a favor, don't waste the effort! Drop off the bar, grab a breathe or two, then hop back on and pound them out. You will be faster and LEGIT!

Here is a good challenge for all of you tomorrow. Grab a person in the gym who is just chillin' and ask them to judge your pull-ups. If they say your chin does not go OVER the bar, don't count it! I'd rather be the guy who comes in last with full range of motion than the guy who claims first with bullshit......

This is pull-ups done right. Thank you Rob Miller....

ICE IS YOUR FRIEND

If you have been CrossFitting for any amount of time, you have likely experienced some sort of tweak, strain or inflammation of a muscle or connective tissue of a joint. This rings especially true and is practically a given for us "older" CrossFitters who are constantly trying to keep up with our younger counterparts.

Fear not, slight tweaks are easily treated with ice, rest, and some over the counter non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen or naproxen (my personal favorite). Give yourself a couple days of laying off the injured portion of your body, and slight injuries recover fairly quickly. Note- NSAIDs work great to treat INFLAMMATION. Do  not use NSAIDs for just being sore.

More serious strains or even slight tears need to be handled with much more patience. Follow the RICE protocol. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation:

REST is the key component. Any injury to muscle or ligaments can take six to eight weeks (or longer) to COMPLETELY heal. Just because it is feeling better, be wary. You can potentially damage yourself worse if you jump full tilt boogie into training the damaged area.

ICE is probably the best thing you can do for an injury. Icing it within 48 hours of the initial injury will help with inflammation and swelling. Damage to a ligament or a muscle causes a cellular release of fluid to the damaged area. Couple this with a rush of blood flow, and you get swelling rather quickly. Ice constricts the blood vessels in the area and limits blood flow, thus reducing swelling. Ice reduces the activity of free nerve endings in the effected area, essentially making the area numb and reducing the amount of pain. Be careful with pain reduction. I often ice an injury and then think it feels like a million bucks. Don't ice and then train the injured area. Again, you need to rest! Most doctors agree that icing the injury three to four times a day will speed up the healing process. Doctors and scientist seem to agree that you should ice for no longer than 20 minutes so you don't damage any skin or underlying tissue (like with frostbite).

COMPRESSION works two-fold. First, like ice, it helps with inflammation by restricting blood flow to the area. Second, it offers support to the damaged area relieving the total amount of work that the injured joint or muscle has to do. An ACE bandage or neoprene sleeve works well. Avoid wrapping an area too tightly.

ELEVATION also works in lowering blood flow to the injured area. Elevate the injured area higher than your heart and let gravity work for you.

INJURIES SUCK! It's even worse when you are a dedicated athlete who works out regularly. Some folks couple that dedication with a perceived sense that others will think they are copping out if they properly rest an injury. They don't listen to their body, and they "suck it up" and train anyway. STUPID! (I know because I have fallen into this trap myself.) Don't succumb to peer pressure. You can still train if you are injured! You just need to be super smart about it. If it hurts, DON'T DO IT! Even if it hurts a little during a range of motion, you are causing injured tissue to be forced into work and adding time to your recovery period. Substitute movements or even complete workouts with exercises that don't involve damaged areas of your body.

The potential for injury is real in any physical endeavor. I stand strong in my belief that CrossFit is safe when you perform the workouts with some smarts. Avoid injury in the first place by striving for excellence in your knowledge and application of proper technique. On those occasions were you incur an injury, be smart about your recovery!!!!

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WOD   11/4/2009

This is from our last in house competition:

You have one hour to complete a 5k row for time and 30 clean and jerks for time (M:135#/W:95#). Post an individual time for each. You may do them in any order, but you must complete both tasks within one hour. The clean and jerk can be a power clean and then any way overhead you wish (press, push pres, push jerk, split jerk) as long as you get to full lock out and bring both feet back under your hips with the body in an upright position.

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ELEVATION IS A MOFO!!!!

Nancy and I did a whirlwind tour of the Grand Canyon, Sedona, and Jerome (Ghost Town). A total of about nine hours of driving with a few hours of sightseeing, eating and taking pictures thrown in. We were gone for a total of 12 hours. This sign reminded me why I felt so "blah" all day.

I am a sea level guy. I can't believe how bad elevation can jack you up! On Saturday I worked out at the CrossFit Flagstaff facility. The elevation is 7000'. First, I did Tabata Squats with the rest of the CrossFit Level I Certification participants. (Curses to all the other younger trainers for not volunteering to be the "rabbit".) The Tabata squats sucked as always, but I really didn't feel the oxygen deprivation at that point. At lunch, I decided I wanted to put the thin air to the test. I did a rowing version of "Michael": three rounds of 1000m row/50 GHD sit-ups/50 GHD hip extensions.

I finished about three minutes over my regular Michael time. The last row was definitely a bitch, but overall, the workout wasn't too bad. It was after the workout that things went really sucky. I had that "Fran" cough for the next three hours. I felt completely wiped out... I literally felt like I could have climbed into bed and crashed out until the next morning. I still don't feel "right."

Now it is two days later and I am wicked sore! I think I would have been this sore regardless since I haven't done either Michael or Tabata squats in a very, very long time. I still have to wonder if the elevation has made a difference on how sore my body feels right now.

I give it up to all the folks who work out at high elevation. I understand they get acclimated to the thinner air, but it is still damn impressive.

Have you had any experiences with elevation and human performance? Post to comments.

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I think I have at least one $375 spot available for the Myofascial Release Clinic (see right sidebar for details). Price on the registration page is up to $450. If you would like to attend, but money is tight, hit me up and we can work something out. freddy@crossfitoneworld.com

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REST DAY~~~~SKILLS DAY   11/3/2009

Rest....OR....make up a workout you missed....OR....

Do some l-sits on the paralettes.

Don't know who this kid is or why he felt he needed to give us a video tour of his house, but this is a pretty good l-sit routine to try following for a few weeks.

CROSSFIT FACES.....

I see lots of different faces on athletes once they step through the doors of the gym. At first everyone is usually pretty happy to walk into the box and see all their friends. A lot of you immediately walk over to the dry erase board and check out the results posted for the day's workout. I've seen some very intense looks on people's faces as they study the board. Facial expressions during a workout can range from intense to frightening.

At CrossFit Camacho (aka the garage gym) I see those same faces....

Happy to be at the gym:

Focusing on the workout.  I love the intense look!

If you close your eyes in the middle of the workout, you suddenly won't be there anymore.... This is very helpful when the workout really sucks!

CrossFit blogging rule number one.... When you are pinched for time and content, just post pictures of your mutt :-)

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WOD   11/2/2009

Complete five rounds for time of:

• 200m run
• 15 sumo deadlift high pulls (M:75#/W:55#)
  
• 15 overhead squats (M:75#/W:55#)

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I'm in Arizona until Tuesday afternoon, so sorry for the short posts. Things will be back to normal on Wednesday.

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OPEN FOR INTERPRETATION

Bradass sporting a shirt that says "Throw First....Think Later" What is your interpretation of this tee?

I like to think that sometimes, you don't get to ponder all the outcomes of your actions. A threat to you or your loved ones needs to be dealt with swiftly. There is always time later to deal with the outcome.

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I apologize for yesterday's post. The workout should have been dumbbell clean AND jerks. I listed it only as cleans. Totally my bad. I guess everyone will have to do it again on Rest Day.....so sorry!

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WOD   11/1/2009

The free Sunday session is on! Bring your friends and family. The session starts at 10 am! Please don't be late! There is a lot of good times planned into a short session.

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