Gluten free pumpkin pie with hearts and stars. I love my mom.

Thanks guys.

Workout:

Back Squat 10x2

5 Broad Jumps for speed and distance after each set.

Then:

10 Rounds

2 Hang Power Cleans 75% 1RM

3 Clapping Push Ups

4 Pullups C2B

50m Sprint (if you don't have the room to sprint, do 20 mountain climbers)

Post weights and time to Comments.

Workout:

Rest day.

Turkish Get Up

Full Contact Twist

Back Lever

L-Sit

Press To Handstand

CrossFit has a repertoire of movements that appear regularly in workouts.  And there is a reason for this.  Certain movements, the deadlift or clean for example, are big bang for your buck movements.  They are whole body, multi-joint, highly functional movements.  They are also movements that can be done swiftly, strung together in repetitions easily, and have an agreed upon range of motion.  These criteria usually need to be met before a movement sees much playing time in a WOD.

However, there are movements that don’t lend themselves to a WOD but are still very valuable.  I am not suggesting that these movements replace the standards, absolutely not, but they are great to spice up a workout, strengthen weak areas, and are a load of fun.

Here is a list of some of my favorite lesser seen movements and exercises:

• Bent Over Rows
• Romanian Deadlifts
• Bulgarian Split Squats
• Heavy Weighted Lunges
• Full Contact Twists
• Turkish Getups
• Reverse Hyper Extensions
• Levers and Inversions
• L-Sits and other parallette work
• Wall Walking
• Clean Pulls

Go on, give some of them a try. I dare ya.

What are some of your favorite movements not seen regularly at your box? Please post to Comments.

Workout:

3 Rounds

7 Hang Squat Cleans 155/105#

21 Box Jumps

2 Rope Ascents

Post WOD and score to Comments.

There is a misunderstanding, if not a controversy, in CrossFit regarding athleticism.  I feel that people usually mistake fitness for athleticism.  Certainly the two are related, but only to a point.  Athleticism is, well, the ability to be athletic.  Athleticism is the dark side of the Physical Attributes of Fitness--coordination, agility, dexterity, balance, accuracy.  These qualities are much harder to come by than endurance or stamina or even strength.  They are far more innate.

A criticism often leveled at CrossFit is that CF awards the winner of the CrossFit Games the title "Fittest Man/Women in the World."  These critics always say that such and such Olympian, pro athlete, decathlete, etc would easily win if they decided to compete.  Not true at all. On the flip side of the coin, I often hear such and such star CrossFitter referred to as "very athletic" or a "super athlete."  Both of these statements betray a fundamental misunderstanding of both fitness and athleticism.  They are not the same thing.

Fitness, as very well defined by CrossFit, is work capacity.  Athleticism is the quality of possessing the skills of being good at sports.  The Cambridge dictionary defines it as "skill in running, jumping, throwing and similar competitive sports." No where is work capacity or something like it mentioned.  Of course, a highly athletic person probably has good work capacity, aka fitness, and a very fit person probably is pretty athletic, but it is not necessarily a given.

An Olympian decathlete or judo player or a professional linebacker is without a doubt athletic, highly so, but that does not make them fit by CrossFit standards.  They have no reason to be.  Their fitness is defined by their sport.  The above examples would not automatically do well at the CF Games without CrossFit training.  They are athletic, but only as 'fit' as required by their sport.  Very few sports demand constant intensity without regular let up, in the CrossFit WOD sense, for even a few minutes at a time--combat sports and water polo are two examples.  Take a linebacker or running back in football, arguably two of the most athletic positions in all of sport.  Extreme physical movement and intensity for a few seconds and then a short break.  Very athletic, but not high work capacity.  Certainly not across broad time and modal domains.

CrossFit, by and large, is about controlled movement in a controlled setting.  As such, it does not teach or train athleticism in the same sense that movement in an uncontrolled setting does.  Think of a wrestler shooting in for a takedown.  The presence of an actively resisting live opponent require so many minute and instantaneous shifts and adjustments that it makes any barbell movement seem utterly stagnant by comparison.  Training controlled movements in a controlled setting, Fran for example, is great for measurable, observable, and repeatable fitness, but thrusters and pullups do not do much for athleticism.  

So, where am I going with this?  Include some sport or physical activity in your life, and not just CrossFit as sport.  CrossFit lays a great base for sport and it really accentuates existing sport performance, but it deserves to be put to the test outside the box.  Include more athletic movements and drills in your training.  Bilateral movement and explosive movement (such as jumping and sprinting) are two great ways to improve athleticism.

CrossFit claims to forge elite fitness, and it really delivers.  I think there is room in the smithy of CrossFit for athleticism too.

Thoughts? Please post to Comments.

Workout:

Snatch 7x3

Then:

3 Rounds

12 Deadlifts

9 Front Squats

6 Cleans

3 Thrusters

2 Muscle Ups between each movement.

Guys use 135#, dolls use 85#.

Post WOD and score to Comments.

CFLG trainer Shaun has taken this message to heart and become the first at CFLG to make the mustache and mullet conversion.  

Shaun, we applaud your dedication to CrossFit and know that you will reap huge benefits from this seemingly small change.

Workout:

Grace

30 Clean and Jerks 135/85#

Rest 5-10 minutes, then:

30 Clean and Jerks 95/65#

Post times to Comments.

5 Rounds

200m Run

3 rounds of the following complex:

1 Hang Power Clean

1 Front Squat

1 Push Press

1 Back Squat

1 Rack Press

Use 155/105# if your Grace time is sub 4, 135/85# if your Grace time is over 4. Do not set the bar down on each 3 round complex.

Post WOD and time to Comments.

Please post to Comments.

Here is a cool video explaining the rationale behind the Paleo diet.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

Workout:

5 Rounds (not for time)

1 Thruster

2 Jerks

3 Front Squats

Use the same weight and bar for all three movements and don't rack the bar until the third front squat.  Immediately after each round do 5 broad jumps without pausing.

Then:

AMRAP in 12 minutes

1 Deadlift 315/220#

2 Box Jumps 40/30"

3 Power Cleans 185/120#

4 Handstand Pushups

Post WOD completed and score to Comments.

CrossFit is all about being better.  Everyone who walks into the Cage gives it their all, every time.  The PR board is always being filled with new PRs, new personal bests.  However, talking with a member recently made me consider my own contribution to CF Los Gatos. CrossFit is about wholehearted effort, and I realized that my own effort has not been what it can be.  There has been a lot going on in my life recently and I feel that I have not given this great community all that I can, and I must apologize.  I am stepping up my game and lots of new works are being planned that I want to share with you.

CrossFit Los Gatos is beginning a renaissance.  The long awaited expansion of the Cage will take place the weekend of December 12th and 13th.  We will be expanding the Cage into the next room, nearly doubling our square footage.  At least four lifting platforms, new squat stands, climbing ropes, and more bumpers are on order.  Thus, Saturday's class on the 12th will not be held due to the expansion.  

We will need a lot of help with the expansion.  The floor is being torn out and new mats laid directly on the concrete, the platforms need to be varnished and equipment moved around.  We are also going to revamp the record boards. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

T-shirts are being ordered.  There will be two different colors, black and grey, with different designs (one of which is shown above).  I would also like to make a shirt with one of the slogans currently being suggested in the Cage.

The blog has lain dormant for too long.  The CFLG blog is officially back in business and an upgrade is coming soon.  If anyone has anything they would like to write about and post, certs for example, please let me know.

CroossFit Los Gatos has a great community.  We have great trainers and a great membership.  Not to mention great athletes.  We went head-to-head with CrossFit West Santa Cruz (they were a top 30 team at the 2009 CrossFit Games Affiliate Cup) in the recent King of the Hill challenge and it was exceedingly close. And it was even more fun.  I think we are ready for more challenges.  Who is next?  

The holidays are right around the corner and so is the 1 year anniversary of CFLG. Celebrations are in order. Any suggestions?

Thank you always for being a part of CrossFit Los Gatos, the 1st CrossFit affiliate in Los Gatos.  

See you in the Cage.

Workout:

10, 9, 8...3, 2, 1

Hang Squat Clean 135/85#

Handstand Pushup

Post WOD completed and score to Comments.

Explosion.  It is the name of the game, man.  The ability to explode is the most important physical attribute in an huge number of sports and activities.  There are exceptions of course, rock climbing and endurance stuff are a couple of examples, but the ability to really explode is where it's at in most sports.  Explosion is the ability to go from non-movement to movement, inaction to action, as fast and hard as possible.  A wrestler shooting, a boxer punching, a sprinter out of the blocks, a shot putter throwing, a short stop diving for a grounder, a running back taking the ball, a volleyball player going for a dig, a lifter dropping under the bar.  These are all examples of explosion, of movement performed at the absolute edge of human speed.

However, even in CrossFit, explosion is not trained as much as it could be.  Sure, the Olympic lifts are a huge part of our programming, and rightly so, but a lot of other great stuff is rarely seen.  Short distance sprints, 100m and shorter, are a great training tool for explosion.  Jumping, both for height and distance, is another tool.  Height is usually done to a box, but it can also be done over hurdles with a bunch strung together.  Try going for distance with three to five jumps.  Calisthenics is an area ripe for explosive training.  Why do pushups when you can do clapping or chest slap pushups.  Even pushups where the hands just jump a couple inches off the ground are great for explosion.  How about squat jumps, with or without weight, and clapping pullups--Billy does em behind the back.

Explosion training is fun and challenging in a way that doing lots of reps can't touch.  Add a little more to your workout.

What are your favorite explosive movements?  Please post to Comments.

The workout below is a good example of an explosive workout.

5 Rounds (not for time)

5 Front Squats 5RM

5 Broad Jumps (go for distance, no stopping between jumps)

Then:

On the minute for 15 minutes:

2 Power Cleans 80-85% 1RM

5 Clapping Pushups

5 Pullups C2B

Workout:

Interval Helen

5 rounds on a 5 minute interval of:

400m Run

21 Kettlebell Swings 63/35#

12 Pullups

However, there are always visionaries who are ahead of their time, who see further than their contemporaries.  The world of fitness is no different.  Werner Günthör, a Swiss world and Olympic shot put champion in the late 80s, was such a man.  I came across this great video of the big man (he was around 6'7" and 275 pounds) training and thought it worth sharing.  Not too mention his 'stache and mullet. Enjoy.

Please post thoughts to Comments.

Workout:

3x25" broad jumps (time each effort)

Then:

5 rounds

5 Squat Clean Thrusters 135/86#

5 Burpee Box Jumps

5 Pullups chest-to-bar (C2B)

Post time to Comments.