Tag Archives: crossfit

WOD 3/6/2015

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Warm Up- Roll -8min/ Skinny PVC pipe-4 min/  Wall Sliders 3×8 / Bi lateral external Rotations 3×8

Active Movement Warm Up- 10 FHC/ 10 Deep Air Squats (mobility at bottom ROM)/ 20 Mountain Climbers  3x

Thruster Practice-  PVC then to Bar, then to Weight for WOD

-Pressing

-Front Squatting

-Thrusters

 

 

 

WOD

Death By Thrusters    95/65#

With a continuously running clock do one thruster the first minute, two thrusters  the second minute, three thrusters the third minute… continuing as long as you are able to complete the number of Reps with the 60 seconds.

Use as many sets each minute as needed.

Your score is the last round that you finished all required Reps.

 

WOD 3.4.2015

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Another-Chuck-Norris-joke

 

Warm Up-  10min Rolling/ Bird Dog 3 min (extension/ flexion/  and when the leg is out..work on contracting that glute)

3 min – Up Dog/ Down Dog/ Child’s pose

3 min- Skinny PVC Drill

Double Under Progressions- 6 min

Broad Jump Skills and Drills- 6 min

– whole body/ Extension/ Soft landing/ hip and leg preps

 

WOD

5 Rounds For Time

36 Ft- Foot Hand Crawls

15- Med Ball Crunches (slow 3 sec Contractions)

5- Broad Jumps

 

-if this WOD takes you less than 7 minutes you probably are crunching to fast, and jumping to quickly in succession

-take time on the Broad Jumps, and work on good form, and near maximal distance.

-crawl as fast as form will allow you

-be happy from the neck up

 

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How a Simple Movement Tracker Could Save your Mobility

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Let’s see.  I was thinking lately….I know…  That is a terribly dangerous habit, and since I am always trying to think of better ways to serve my athletes, and better ways to get them to achieve the goals that their hearts desire, I realized that something was missing from their lives.  And the implementation and use of such thing would be so simple yet could lead to huge, enormous results…..  So in a recent Seminar I gave I decided to change the way I present fitness.

 

I have noticed in the past, one of the best adhered to diet plans, when offering suggestions to beginners, I have told them to simply record everything they eat in a simple notebook.  AT first I don’t even really offer up much advice about what they should be eating, I just tell them to write everything down.  Anything that goes in their mouths.  And then the magic happens, they start to police themselves through every consecutive day.  It’s simple and brilliant.  So I thought let’s try the same thing with movement…

 

That is where the movement tracker below comes in super handy.

It is divided up into 5 different types of Movement:

1.Training- A Training session should have a beginning, end,  be measurable, intense, or feel like you are working purposefully.    A Crossfit Class, 3 mile Run,  Power Yoga class would be examples of training.

2.Play- fun, long slow movement, pleasure based movement.  Hiking, jogging, playing on a play ground with your children…etc

  1. Practice- things done to make us better at Training.  So for instance if you stayed after a Crossfit Class and Spent 5-7 minutes working on your Pull up, or your Clean and Jerk, these would be examples of Practice.
  2. Greasing the Groove- This is a great link to an article about Pavel Tsatsouline who created the term. You can use this method to improve daily on exercises    http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/greasing-the-groove-how-to-make-it-work-for-youRecovery–
  3. Recovery- Actions taken with the expressed intention of recovering from movement

Your goal over the course of the 2 weeks that are listed in the table would be to put as many X’s in the boxes as possible.  Shoot for 10-12 for each block.  If you maintain consistency with your movement, and find time to fill those boxes up I can assure you than in a month or two of trying this you will experience wonderful improvement in your movements. …just by learning to hold yourself accountable.

 

Thanks for reading everyone.

 

Simple little movement exercise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90PkBHqPrw8

 

What is measured is focused on, what is focused on is improved…

 

Click on the Task PDF below for a Copy of The Tracker!!   And Good Luck everyone!!!

Task  PDF

Motivation

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This is it.  Right here.  The life you have…the one you have currently been living….it is here….and believe it or not it is right now.  There are things we have done, and there are things we will do….but in truth all you have that is promised to you is right now.  Don’t you owe it to yourself? Don’t you owe it to your family?  Don’t you want to finish this life off and be able to say ” Yes… I did my best”  “I gave all I could give”  I know I want that.  I want to look myself in the mirror at the end of every day and know that I lived it to the fullest.  I want to know that on that day I stepped up,  I came, I saw, and by god I conquered.   I didn’t ask for permission.  I took and did what I wanted and asked for forgiveness later.  That’s how I want to feel at the end of everyday.  I think as powerful and graceful human beings that is how we are meant to feel at the end of everyday.  I have to be honest with you.  I’m sure that a lot of us out there do not feel that.

So if you don’t feel that way, and you want to what do you do?

You workout.  You train smart, you learn from the best you can find, and by god…once you have the mechanics down you train HARD.

If you have never had the pleasure of feeling what it is like to leave your sweat, heart, and at times even your blood on the mat after a grueling, heart pumping, mind electrifying WOD….then no wonder you don’t want to work out.  If I had to go to a 30000 square foot facility where no one knew who I was, and sit down to do resistance training, or do some sort of bastardized cross country skiing that ultimately gets me nowhere (elliptical)  if I had to suffer through 40 minutes on that thing, and then 40 more minutes traipsing around the gym looking for the right machine…I too would be numb to the idea……  I too would rather stay at home that suffer through that mind numbing monotony. ……

….what you need is something that lights a fire under your @$$.   You need to be worried about what is about to happen when you step through the doors.  It needs to cause you anxiety if you think about it.  You have to wake up in the morning and be ready to face it like a dragon that is trying to steal your Princess from you  (or prince).   You need to walk into your Box as if you are going to be forced to eliminate the head of the taliban, save Christmas, punch the devil in the face and run for the President of the United States all at once….and that’s just the Warm Up.   In truth……all Joking aside.   When you walk into your Box, or even your “gym”.   It should matter.  Damnit all. It should be a Big deal….scratch that it should be a HUGE DEAL.   Every WOD, every REP, every rest….is earned…and it is an investment.   It is an investment in you…..  You.     Every time you pick that bar up you are making sure that you are better.  Every time you pull your chin above that bar you are showing the WORLD what you are worth, and you are proving it to yourself.  Each rep builds confidence, each Meter rowed builds ammo for you.  The more you come the more you love it….the more you love it the more you start to live it…..  People notice….People comment…..people see the difference……people FEEL the difference….. YOU FEEL THE DIFFERENCE.   It’s not about the Scale…..   It’s not about the  Time……   It’s not even about the Weight…..and it certainly isn’t about What Place you finish……    What it’s about is YOU!!!  It’s about committing to make YOU  better than the you from yesterday.  It’s about chasing perfection and finding that excellence is a pretty damn sweet place to be.     Sleep well tonight everyone….get up tomorrow morning and crush it!!!!

Why I work out…..and why you should….sobering words.

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I want to feel better, I want to look better, I enjoy training hard, I like competing with friends, I enjoy testing my physical limits, I like getting better at a movement skill that I am not good at, I need to set the example for my box that I am striving to be the best I can be on a physical and mental level…. all very valid reasons for me to train and exercise…but not 1/10th as compelling of reason as my “why”

To Keep the Body in good health is a duty…otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
-Buddha

In our country a shameful thing has happened. We have, through our mostly sedentary lifestyles, invented a system for the elderly that clearly states; When you get on in years you should have to be taken care of by the younger/ healthier members of your family or put in a home/ facility that will see this happen. We have, through lifestyle choices made in some of the most “active” and important times of our lives seen to it that when we are older we will become a burden to our loved ones. It is looked at as a normal thing for “grandma” to get old, get fragile, and end up being taken care of by her family. That is incredibly sad. We are the only animals in the world that work this way. If a squirrel dies in its sleep tonight of old age that same squirrel was jumping from tree to tree this morning chasing nuts, like it has done its whole life.

My recent moment of clarity smacked me in the face over the holidays. My grandfather, “Pap” to me, is 76 years old and is unfortunately very close to the end. We have thought this for the last 5 years. He has smoked since he was 13 and as a result, has had numerous complications and lifestyle restrictions, and over the course of that recent time Pap has been in and out of the hospital countless times. He is coherent some of the time, but cannot even make it up a flight of stairs without needing oxygen, and he is, without a shadow of a doubt became a stress on his wife, my grandma, his children and even his grandchildren. I have had to watch the man who was, in my memory, strong, confident, witty, and caring, become someone who fuddles over his words, can barely move, and seems as if he is just waiting to die. It is incredibly painful for me to put this down on paper. But it was after watching this first hand this holiday. After witnessing the toll, both physically and emotionally, it has taken on Nan, my grandmother. I came to a realization. The condition he is in is not an accident, and it was not caused by old age. It was caused, very deliberately, though obviously not on purpose, by the lifestyle choices he made. It is 100% Pap’s fault that he is in the condition that he is in. This moment caused me to completely rethink my reasons for exercising and wanting to be healthy.
I have always professed in my Box that my goal for myself and my members was to be able to make it to 75 years old and have the ability to move and play with my great grandchildren. I must admit, until this holiday, those reasons were very selfish in nature. I wanted to be able to see my grandkids, and play with my grandkids. The big change for me now, is…..as I stare in the face of my children, or think about my wife…I know in my heart…it is not their responsibility to take care of me when I am older….it is my fucking responsibility to take care of myself now…to the best of my ability…so they don’t have to take care of me later. I will not have my children, push me around in a wheel chair, and cart me between doctor’s appointments when I am 80 years old, all because I wouldn’t give up shit food, alcohol and sitting on my ass from age 30 to 60…….I will not let that happen!!!

I encourage you to join in with me, and take responsibility for the body you have been given, so that your spouse, or children don’t have to….

2015

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gratitude

noun
the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness

Words cannot express my feelings of gratitude in respect to the year 2014. I am thankful for my wife, my children, my parents and friends.  The community at the Box is growing and moving and doing so well that I, in truth, can hardly contain my excitement for what 2015 promises to bring us.  There is no telling how far you all will go, how hard you will push, how amazing you will feel.  The PR’s that will be set, the hours spent sweating and swearing and gearing up for another WOD, or another rep, or simply cheering on that last effort.  It promises to be awe inspiring. I am grateful to have shared those moments in the past and am already feeling enormous gratitude for the year that is to come!!!!   Thank you all for being a part of it.

Perhaps this Post New Years Day Post could end there and it might do a better job conveying how full my heart is, rather than have me prattle on for the next 800 words or so (gross estimation).  And yet I’m still typing. (and perhaps more miraculously you are still reading) When  I look back on the year I am forced to  realize that the good times were amazing, the hugs the happy tears, the congratulations, the praise, the “atta boys,” the hand shakes, the kisses….they were so many, so celebrated, and indeed so amazing, but somehow those aren’t the ones that stick out in my mind, it is in actuality  the uncomfortable situations that are foremost in my memory.  Uncomfortable situations, code for  saying the times that I messed up….acted like  I shouldn’t….reacted like I shouldn’t…said what I shouldn’t..didn’t think things through….offended……hurt….upset….let down…made cry……etc….you put it there I am fairly sure that I was the cause of it, plenty of times throughout this year. And some moments were devastating, and in truth it is of those times, those rough uncomfortable moments I am most thankful.  Truly.  Without them I would not grow as much, I truly believe that.

When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure. -Peter Marshall

I believe it is in addressing these difficult moments, how I handled them, how I could have handled them, and indeed how I should, and plan to handle them in the future….it is only then that I will continue grow in a way that the good moments can’t possible push me to…only then will I be able to reach and touch on what my potential is….only then will I start Becoming Bulletproof.

I am a very goal oriented person, and have been for the better part of the last ten years or so, and I have been known to have lists of resolutions by the ends of previous Decembers….set and ready to go for the next year.  Some I have achieved and yet many others I have not.  Things like physical goals, monetary goals, family oriented goals….all well in good….I think in one such goal last year I even had a set number of people that I planned to help in 2014…..(how in the world does one track that) They were all good intentioned and all of, perhaps, very substantial meaning….yet ultimately….the good most of them…are crumpled up and tossed away a few weeks into every year….I suspect that most of you are no different.  In fact if you are someone that accomplishes all of your resolutions every year than you and I should  meet for some coffee sometime..I need to hear and learn from you.  But if, indeed, you suffer from your resolutions/ goals being far to big for you self to accomplish I am going to suggest something simple this year.  It is what I have committed to, and must say for the last 2 days has gone on rather swimmingly.

Know Thyself

Or put in a perhaps much more now time lingo  (now time?)  How about we just get comfortable with…

Be Completely Honest With Yourself

Let truth be the principle that guides your decisions for the year 2015.  We have become so accustomed to lying to ourselves, or family, our bosses, our loved ones, and most importantly to ourselves.  We can end it this year.  Look at what you “say” you want to accomplish and be honest with yourself.  Push yourself to do what you say you are going to do.  Back up the claims….stick with the programs, the workouts, the eating, the sleeping, the family time.  Stay honest, stay on course !!!!  I believe that it will only be through this truthfulness that you will find your best successes in 2015.

Important to note, nowhere above did I say anything about being perfect….or expecting easy….or thinking that 2015 was going to be all sunshine rainbows and my little pony reruns.  It sure is hell is going to do it’s fair share of striking you out, throwing you curveballs, and maybe even sacking you a few times  (this switching from Baseball to Football is uncomfortable I wish I would have the metaphor police come down on me)  But if you stay true to yourself, stay honest within the situation  I firmly believe that you may make it a truly wonderful and fortunate 2015.  So here is to your 2015, may it impress the hell out of people that write the history books!!!

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act

-George Orwell

Crossfit, Tough Mudder, and American Ninja Warrior…….

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It is happening. After a recent competition in which I was bested by 4 super ninjas, I had an outstanding conversation that spoke to what seemed to be the sudden uprising of physical events and fitness movements that are happening in our country. Now before you throw Captain Negativity my way I am fully aware of the statistics….69% of us are overweight, and of that 69% half are obese…and it’s not getting better, based on history….I know most of us eat wrong, sit wrong, move wrong, or don’t move at all…blah blah, heart disease rates…blah…cancer…etc… I know how inactive our population is and I know that people, that statistically speaking, our children will not fair any better…these are the things that I know…

….but here is what I Believe…

.. . I believe we are changing. I believe every time I stand in front of an Beginner’s class at my Box, and tell them why we move the way we move, and why we were meant to be humans that move with POWER, and humans that move GRACEFULLY, and how we should eat, and how we should feel…I believe I can reach down into their very heart and squeeze it with nothing but words of truth…words that speak so much belief into their own hearts that they can’t stand to stay way they have allowed themselves to be… You should feel the joy…not see…FEEL the joy from someone who did today what was impossible for them to do 2 weeks ago….I tell you it is tangible… My goal is to infect my community with this feeling. I want people in Williamsville and then Buffalo to realize how good it feels to be BULLETPROOF…to have a body that is sharp and mobile, to have a mind that is awake and calm, and tolerant….to have joy in simply moving themselves the way humans have moved for the last millennia….these are some of my goals…and check this out…..it’s working……

….people aren’t just watching Crossfit, and Tough Mudders and American Ninja Warrior…they are watching thinking…I can do this….and then they are doing “this”…..and that…that is why I get out of bed at 4 am and leave my beautiful family to come to my second home…and it is why I will continue…to push….

I believe we are changing….I believe our populace is starting to remember what is encoded in our very DNA….I believe we are rediscovering the beautiful simple thing that is the human animal…… why not come….uncover your inner bad ass with all the rest of us….

….why not BELIEVE in yourself..

stay classy Buffalo…..

Hope for the future and those around us… simple slight rehash of an older post…..relevant nonetheless

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I am luckier than most. I have completely designed my lifestyle around fitness. I have to be in shape or it is impossible for me to do my job correctly. So that means it is easy for me to exercise consistently right…..??? It’s super easy for me to eat healthy….right??? I suppose to an extent it is true. But I think what’s important is to understand how long it took me to get to this level. I think it’s too often that people see someone who has made it to a certain level of fitness and they may think….oh he has good genetics…or wow she probably doesn’t even like chocolate. Take me for example; When I was freshman in high school, baseball first introduced me to the “weight room” from that moment on I always “wanted” a six pack, and veins in my arms….well fast forward 20 years later …and finally I have them…..but it did not happen overnight….I wish I could stress that, I wish I could have you all standing on my shoulders as I eyed a piece of candy, that I knew would only lead to more and more candy…..and feel how  I struggled to not eat it.  I wish you could visualize the back and forth battle it was…..”I can eat just that….it’s not a big deal”….vs “don’t touch that, look at how far you have come”….constant, relentless fight…..let me just fall of a track a second and say….sugar addiction sucks, but breaking sucks even more in the short term..lol….20 years it has taken me to undo what society, and my family put into me in the first 13 years of my life. Actually I once read a study that suggested that by 7 our eating habits are already firmly in place…that’s how early this starts. No wonder it took me 20 years to undo what was so firmly embedded in my mind… So why bring this up….I suppose because I want you to believe that it’s possible to be in whatever sort of shape you would like to be in, but you have to make the effort. You have to take on the responsibility….if you don’t do it for yourself you likely will never do it. Perhaps the only other “person” you may be able to get away with would be doing it for your children…..wouldn’t you like to be able to lift and play with their children (your own grandkids) one day? Ask yourself how likely is that scenario at the rate you are headed…and let’s pretend you who are reading this are doing fine with your health, as I anticipate plenty of you will be…then what about someone you know who isn’t going to be ok in 5 years, 10 years….what can you do today to help that person. Who can you put them in touch with to help change their life for the better? Do we, who are healthy and fit, owe it to the rest of society to help them get out of the rut they are in…to help show them how to be healthier,,,,and ultimately happier??? What do you think? Either that or live inside our Fit little box, with our fit little friends and watch Americas average waistline continue to grow….that is what is happening…how do we stop it…maybe you ask do we stop it?? Or do we act like a New Yorker…and look straight ahead and pay no attention to those hurting around us. I once posted that letting someone who is obese eat at a fast food restaurant is similar in my mind to allowing an alcoholic to have a shot a whiskey….that post offended some people…though I’m not really sure why. …I believe until we as a country are prepared to have these uncomfortable moments and recognize the nationwide epedemic for what it is…then I believe we will never begin to move in the right direction….at any rate it’s been a while buffalo…talk to you all soon..

Motivation?

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It is the New Year.

My wish for all of you is to take charge of yourself and realize, truly realize that you can accomplish all you want and more, and understand how awesome it is that you have the power, in you, to do it.

There are times when this world will knock you down.  It will drop you on your ass.  It will leave you wishing that  you hadn’t even bothered to get out of bed that day…  And then it will hit you again.  That’s the way it is.  Accept it…but know that you were built to handle it.

I have seen people endure the unthinkable and rise above it….never looking back.  History is littered with these stories.  Stories of forgotten souls that were beaten to within an inch of their life, and for some reason they continued to press on and ultimately attained a level of success that literally changed the way the world funcitoned.  I won’t list examples…you can find hundreds on google. In fact I might argue that most of the people you see that have “made” it, have suffered at one time or another and then rose above it, and if that is true, then why would your road to success be any different.  That’s a comforting thought isn’t it?

Whether your goals for 2014 are health, relationship, or financially motivated (perhaps all of the above).  Know that they are within your reach.  Know that you are capable right now.   Know that you have within you all the knowledge, confidence, energy, intelligence, and motivation to make them happen.  You simply have to decide.  Pick who, or how, or what it is that you want, or want to become and decide right now.  Write it down so you can see it every single day…look at that paper when you wake up in the morning and let it be the thing that puts you to bed every night.  Create an intense burning desire around achieving it.   See yourself in that car, with that body, talking with the love of your life….see it so clearly that there is no other option for your mind except to make that happen…..COMMIT.

Do not let this year pass you by with forgotten resolutions, dismissed goals, dreams that have been laughed out of existence.    Take hold of your future and make damned sure that in January of 2015 a very different “YOU” will be reading this blog….

Good Luck Buffalo and beyond…

Stay Classy….

Reflections and Looking to the Future…..

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2013 is all but gone.  2014 is knocking at the door and demanding to come in.  I am welcoming it with open arms.  In 2013 I saw a dream I once had become a reality…I found a version of me that I never knew existed…I welcomed to this world a son… I loved my family deeper than I ever have… I had uncomfortable moments that forced me to grow, almost daily…I discovered compassion where I thought it might not exist… I saw the lives of hundreds change for the positive…I saw a strong community form and begin to thrive… I caught a glimpse of what “my” version of wellness is…. I saw what was, in the beginning, a theory of mine, begin to be proved, over and over again….I learned that what I do truly does matter, and perhaps more importantly the more I help people understand that what they do truly matters the more I will matter.  (that might have been confusing.. a bit)…I learned that the path to success is ever changing, but by gosh it is getting pretty damned close…I realized that it has nothing to do with being perfect, but everything to do with the pursuit of perfection…

What am I looking forward to in 2014???   I am looking forward to becoming a stronger more principle centered father and husband…I can’t wait to outgrow my location and be forced to add new classes at the box….and look to move to a larger location….I will see some of my members become certified and start to spread our version of Crossfit/MovNat, so much so that it will begin to permeate all of Buffalo…and start leaking out….I can’t wait for the guidance and inspiration that will come from the Steve Maxwell seminar in April….I am looking forward to the lives that will be changed by not just me, but by all the members of the Box…we have done so much this year and the honest part of it all is that it will only be amplified in 2014…..I am looking forward to changing 10,000 people’s lives…..looking forward to doing a Burpee Mile…looking forward to back to back bar muscle ups…looking forward to feeling the best  I have ever felt in my entire life….I am going to be honest….I cannot wait until this post next year…….I am looking forward to realizing, 51 weeks from now….that all of this is just the tip of the ICEBERG!!!

Thank you all so much…

Good luck to you all……chase your dreams, live well, move well, and fuel well….have a wonderful New Year’s Eve….and prepare yourself for an Epic 2014!!!!