WOD
18 min of Movement
32 Feet- Foot hand Crawl on 2×4
16 Feet Farmer’s Carry on 2×4
and 10 Reverses with KB racked on 2×4
(5 reverses per side)
Continue through these three exercises until 18 minutes has passed
you can click the youtube link below to see an example of the movements….have fun if you try this one. Slow purposeful and as always mind your movements!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM37K6DHtME&feature=youtu.be
WOD 3/15/2015
2 Rounds for Time
30 step ups
50 Mountain Climbers
30 Step Back Lunges
50 Mountain Climbers
3 Wall Walks
144ft FHC
3/16/2015
Warm up
Rollout 10min/ Skinny PVC 4 min/ Hip Flexor and Glute Activation 3 min/
Running Prep Drills-6 min
Kettlebell Swing Progressions-5min
WOD
10 Rounds For Time
10 KB Swings
200m Run
Sunday was a wicked WOD, I had the pleasure with wodding with the 9am class and to further proove that I’m not super human found a way to tweak my left psoas during the very first set of Mountain Climbers, and since the vast majority of the WOD (lunging, Crawling, Stepups, Mountain climbers) required the use of it saw a very difficult WOD for me. Extremely Challenging.
Some awesome breakthroughs happened that Day and Coach Amy did an outstanding Job with Coach Dan there to assist her, their attention to detail, even with me and my suffering foot hand crawls, was spot on. Great Coaching.
Today Saw the first Running WOD of the season, and everyone did a fantastic Job. Hip Hinging and with it Posterior chain activation is a life essential skill. I pushed the point home quite a bit with 530 and 630 class, and I really hope that everyone took away from it how important the ability to contract your glutes and properly extend your hips is. With that being said….I’m throwing another Benchmark at you on Wednesday, but don’t let that scare you away from tomorrow…it is an outstanding WOD!!! See you in the box!!!!
Fantastic Board!!! Fantastic Day!!!! Fantastic Group of Athletes!!!!
Step 1- Train Movement Patterns instead of Muscle Groups
I cannot overstate the importance of this paradigm shift. It’s not about your hamstrings, glutes, and quads getting a good burn, it’s bout being able to squat properly. If you find yourself asking what muscle is this exercise supposed to be working change your questions!!! Ask if you are moving correctly….that’s the golden ticket. If you want to feel good on a day to day basis then you must train your body to move well. The better you move the better you will feel. If you are 65 years old and you have trouble sitting down on the ground and standing up without using something to brace yourself with then you have no business going to the gym and hopping on a treadmill for 20-45 minutes, sweating your butt off while watching TV and calling that a job well done. You did nothing whatsoever except cause your heart to beat faster, and improve some of your “cardio.” And when you get home that night you will still have trouble getting down to the ground and back up again. If you are indeed that person it would serve you much better to practice getting up, and getting down, over the course of 10-15 minutes, along with some basic crawling and mobility drills to help you regain some reflexive strength and flexibility.
Sample AT Home Primal Movement WOD
Crawl Slowly for 60 seconds (on your knees or feet) -Knees under hips, shins stay parallel to the ground (this will keep your but low, and back flat) move your opposite limbs just like when you walk.
Sit down on the ground, and stand up 15 times (try to not brace your hands on your thighs)
Hold the hardest plank you can for 30-60 seconds
Repeat the above Circuit for 3-5 times, rest as necessary, proper movement is more important than speed
for more ideas youtube movnat combos … tons of great stuff on there
Step 2- Don’t Eat Dumb Sh@#
I’m not sure I need to go any further with this. ? What’s that? You don’t know what you should be eating? Ok let’s try this. Write down everything you can remember over the last week that you have eaten that did not help you lose any weight, or feel better (long term) or get healthier. Take some time and make that list. Now walk through your kitchen and do the same. Everything you see that is not “good” for you write it down. Now take a look at that list. Are you ready? Don’t eat that stuff. Simple right? Just remember this. Your food supply should turn almost completely over every week, food should be perishable…cardboard is not.
Step 3- Write down Everything you eat, Everytime you Move, and how you feel at night
You may start by not even changing a darn thing, but just recording everything you do. Writing down your meals and your exercises will page huge dividends and ultimately reveal to you what you are doing or not doing to be successful. By a notebook and just start. Just start putting it down on paper. You will be amazed at the results and positive changes that come from this step alone.
Step 4- Train with as many positive individuals as possible
Group training has become all the rage. And for a great reason. IT WORKS There is no working out by yourself that can compete with sweating, yelling, moving your best and your hardest, absolutely dying through a WOD, and then looking to your left and right and seeing 5-15 of your closest buddies doing the same thing. It lights a fire in you like nothing you have ever felt. The energy is palpable when you walk into a class environment and it is contagious. It spreads like a wild fire and does not extinguish until the last athlete yells time. If you have not experienced it you are missing out and you certainly due.
Step 5- Never Weigh Yourself again
Simple. Stop doing it. There is no valid reason (unless you are a fighter or wrestler or some other competitor that needs to know how much gravity they displace) ….let me repeat..there is no valid reason for you to know how much you weigh, or/and especially for you to worry about it.
and last but not least
Step 6- Believe in the process, and believe in yourself!!!
You deserve to feel great. You deserve to look great. Now, if you take the steps above…if you commit to being better…..if you decide now that this is the worst shape in your life that you ever are going to be….then I have to be honest to you…the sky’s the limit. Take that step, take the plunge, drink the kool aid and become apart of the revolution. Take your Body Back!!!!
hope you had a good read. if you are local (i e) Buffalo area, I will be speaking at St. Greg’s on Thursday night @7pm. Feel free to stop in and listen, it will only cost you an hour of time, and as always you are more than welcome to attend the intro class at 10am on every Saturday.
Best of Health
“Chuck Norris and Superman once had an arm wrestling match, the loser had to wear his underwear on the outside”
Warm up
10 Min Roll/ Child’s Pose, updog, down dog- 3 min
Walking Samson-2min/ Skinny PVC-3min/ neck Rotations and Shoulder Rotations- 3 min
Wrist Prep-2min
30 Jacks/ 10 Toe touches- 4x
Skill Work- Full Squat Clean, PVC Pipe then SUper light Weight- Just technique WOrk- 6-9min
WOD
6 Rounds (will be timed, but the goal isn’t to go as fast as possible, quality movement over time)
36ft- Inverted Crawl
45sec- Plank, alternating slow leg lifts
36 ft- inverted Crawl
10- Single leg Deadlift Toe Touches (5 per side, hinge and balance)
3o sec- Lalanne Planks ( hold the plank, with arms as far in front of your head as possible, Zero Extension..)
Good Luck and Happy SUnday!!!
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!!!!
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..
Do more than is expected of you..
Believe in yourself rather than believing you can’t..
Let’s be honest, if you do not love and care for the person staring back at you in the mirror, how can you truly love and care for anyone???
Ok Rob…I give up….what in the hell do those statements have to do with fitness….or especially your Crossfit Box????
In one word? Everything. I have been extremely fortunate to own and operate my Crossfit/ Movnat Box for over 6 months now and have had the amazing pleasure and opportunity to work with some some outstanding people from all different walks of life. Everyone that comes through the gate at Crossfit Williamsville has to fill out a little visitor information form that helps give me insight into who they are and what sort of goals they might have. It usually, in terms of their goals, reads something along the lines of ….lose (insert arbitrary number here) lbs. Tone up, get lean, get a six pack, etc…..you get the point.. Rarely does perhaps the most important and most telling goal pop up on that sheet….. Feel Better. Isn’t that really what it is all about. If you find Crossfit Williamsville it is absolutely not on accident. NO one has ever wandered in my door and said…..oh…I thought this was going to be like Curves… Quite the contrary, while they may not know what Crossfit is, but for the most part they know what is isn’t….lol it seems I have strayed off the path a bit, let’s come back around to why people seek out this wonderful place….it’s simple….they come to feel better, or perhaps to state it even more concisely..Happieness….they think I can make them happy… They may not realize that, they may profess that it is all bout dropping 15lbs before the wedding….or getting that first pull-up, or being able to go up and down the stairs with out being winded. But ultimately it all comes back to being happy.
I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering. Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology affect this. From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment. I don’t know whether the universe, with its countless galaxies, stars and planets, has a deeper meaning or not, but at the very least, it is clear that we humans who live on this earth face the task of making a happy life for ourselves. Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness.
– Tenzin Gyatso; The Fourteenth Dalai Lama
I happen to agree with about 99.99% if what he says…so I thought I would drop that quote in there. So…if I believe that most who come to the box are seeking happiness whether they know it or not….how do I help them attain it…..simple….good old fashioned hard work…coupled with accomplishment…..and with some serious challenge sprinkled on top to boot….and I also allow them to become very comfortable with failure. Failure…..I know what a dirty word. The truth of the matter is failure is one of the best things that can happen to anyone…anyone…period. Show me someone who is wickedly successful…and not only will they have failed dozens of time….but they will have very purposefully become comfortable with the thought of it…. As long as, after a failed attempt, we pick ourselves up and learn from it….no worries…..
At any rate there is an amazing amount of happiness and self fulfillment to be found in an environment that challenges you mentally and physically on a daily basis…and that is what I attempt to create every single time a program a WOD….
have a good evening buffalo and beyond
…go out and find your happy…..
…..eating the “right” way is different for everyone……is a popular sentiment among some of the most knowledgeable fitness, health, and nutrition professionals. And if you get right down to it, purely speaking, different foods will do slightly different things in certain people…I can agree with that. But the problem is that when the general public reads a statement like that….they take it as a license to mean that ….Hey that could mean that me having a Big Mac, fries, and shake once a week is not a bad thing…..right? …..umm…Wrong.
All things in moderation…
Look at where all things in moderation has gotten us. We are, not even moderately, the fattest country in the world. And it boggles my mind that people would rather seek salvation in a pill instead of taking the time out of their day to eat food that started as food in the first place…
Just had an outstanding lunch with a like minded friend and he recounted a story of a recent stay at a resort in Costa Rica……I will paraphrase….he said it was a wonderful “resort”…five rooms only, 15 staff there to wait on you hand and foot…he said one morning he ordered a smoothie….the ingredients of which where then cut down and put in the blender…how awesome is that…it reminds me of my Great Granny Harris showing me which chicken we were going to eat for dinner that night…..awesome….(maybe disturbing at that age..lol)
All things in addiction….
that’s probably closer to how it should read. Here is the rub. If you eat bread/ pasta/ rice/ coke/ ice cream…..etc..on a regular basis…you are addicted to sugar…..it is what it is……if you do not believe go for a day without any grains/ alcohol/ sugar/ pasta/ ….and see how you are feeling..take it to two or three days….trust me, after 30 days straight…you won’t crave it anymore…though it may feel like hell to make it to that point….
So you’re saying I’m not allowed to eat anything good anymore?????
first off, because you are addicted to something doesn’t make it good. Just because it tastes great doesn’t make it good…..let’s look at what it does when you put it into your body…that will determine whether it is good for you or not. Let’s at least agree on that..
But it’s ok if I have a little cheat day….isn’t it?
Well how is that working out for you thus far???? Let’s put it this way …if your goal is to look at function like Jessica Biel and you look and function like Jessica Biel then go ahead and have your cheat day….probably not going to put you out too badly…but if you are 60lbs over weight, and move more like ET….then you have no business having a cheat day…you have had a cheat life thus far..no reason to put an exclamation point on it.
But I can’t eat healthy all the time….
Can’t never could do nothing…….I’m not asking that you eat healthy all the time…just try it for the next week, two weeks, month…the beautiful part of eating well/ right…is that once you get into it..you won’t want to go back….
How do I get started?
Surround yourselves with like minded people, and/ or information….read blogs about it, read books about it, subscribe to newsletters, watch documentaries (netflix…waddup?) Educate yourself…just like anything if you wanna be good at something you have to learn about it. Once you begin to immerse yourself in it, you’ll find it’s not that difficult..there are plenty of great people around to help you on your journey…and by gosh your slimming waste line and heart will love you to life for it.
Fueling yourself is so important, I go as far to tell the members of my Box that it doesn’t matter how hard you work the 60 minutes that you are in here with me if you go out and throw away the other 23 hours you have left in your day….what a shame to work so hard….and see no return….
Best news of all?
you can find thousands of people…in Buffalo alone…that are wanting to experience, or have experienced, or will share with you, help you…guide you…or even take the trip along side you….the way we as a community are going to change…and fight the Obesity epidemic that is infecting our country is at this very grass roots level. Our Government will not solve it…..it’s not their responsibility anyhow…they have lobbyists to cater to…..take charge of your life…..eat healthy, train hard…and infect those around you with the zest for life that you will gain from it…
thanks Buffalo and beyond..
A general manager and a personal trainer have a conversation, one of many, about how if “they” owned a gym they would do so many things differently. “Cleaner, better equipment, personalized service by the front desk staff” the general manager said. “Space, look at all the space in here taken up by all the machines. Imagine the things we could have the members do if there weren’t so many machines” the trainer pointed out. They both agreed that on their own, they would do it much differently, much better in their minds. The personal trainer, in spite of how naive he is, looks out at the main floor. Something isn’t right about that, that can’t be all there is to “working out”. His search began then. He didn’t really know what he was looking for. But he knew something better. He found Kettlebells, He found Gym Jones, he found this amazing trend that was basically un heard of back then Crossfit? Isn’t that where you jerk around like an idiot on the pull-up bars, convulsing until you get your chin over the bar??? That was what someone asked him back then. You can’t do pullups like that you’ll hurt your back and shoulders, it’s terrible for you. Those were the words of someone he looked up to. But something in it all made sense. It made sense when you took the exercise away and made it a task. What task? Get your chin over the bar as many times as you can. How you do that, doesn’t matter, go. CONSTANTLY VARIED….Never the same workout twice……even when you did repeat a workout it was so long since the last time, you had improved so much that it really wasn’t the same workout. FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENTS … workout ways that your body was meant to move, deadlifts, squats, jumps, running, pull ups…so simple……so basic……..so necessary..HIGH INTENSITY After all it’s called work for a reason. Most of these workouts lasted less than 20 minutes…is that possible? After being fed a steady diet of body part isolation workouts, and cardio for 45 minutes 5 days a week, how are people going to believe that 5 20 minute workouts will do them worlds better???? After all isn’t longer better. In fact, no. Then the personal trainer found himself at a crossroads. He had two outstanding offers in front of him. He was blessed by being a fairly decent martial artist and had found someone who believed in him enough to offer him a chance to manage a school, and become part of a very successful world class system. The other offer was a GM spot at an up and coming franchise, new to the Buffalo Area, open one, the part owner of the next, etc….at least 5 here the offerer had insisted. He turned down the latter in favor of the former more familiar in terms of people he knew and trusted. Over the next 6 years the naive personal trainer learned a lot, grew more than even he expected, and was proud to call himself a martial artist. (a title he still isn’t entirely comfortable with) He learned humility, training every day next to martial artists whose skills he was in awe of. Trained how to teach by a teacher who was world renowned, and truly personified the word Grandmaster….Introduced to a system that for the most part emphasized truly caring about the client, and providing them with not only the highest quality instruction but also the most complete customer service experience in the market. It succeeded. But the personal trainer grew restless. He loved the martial arts, but was not passionate about what he taught. He longed for a place of his own. Where he could again connect with the goals inside of him. What was it. What unified the jobs he’d done. What part of them did he enjoy the most? Selling cars, teaching Tae Kwon Do, personal training? It was seeing the joy in people’s faces when they accomplished something they didn’t believe they could. That realization. It was awesome to him. To be able to be a small part of their success.
It is from this place the Crossfit Williamsville was built. It does not claim to be the “be all and end all to exercise.” What it claims to be is… Honest….hard working…..and ever learning…..and above all else…caring for the needs of the community that it will build. Come visit the naive personal trainer sometime and see if you like the workout, the atmosphere, and the people. All are welcome.
take care buffalo, best of health to you all
Crossfit Williamsville 