CrossFit in 100 words

Crossfit in 100 Words
Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow.Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.
- Coach Glassman, CrossFit Founder

FIGHT GONE BAD

The 31 Days of August Challenge: Our goal is to show the world we mean business by raising a minimum of $250,000 before Sept 1. We have SEVEN days to reach this number. Stats would indicate that if we are able to raise this amount, we will be well ...on our way to reaching our $1 million goal by September 26th. And that’s the number.Get ‘er Dun!Read More


2009 Fight Gone BadFight Gone Bad fundraising for Wounded Warrior Project,Athletes for a Cure
Source: fgb4.org
Fight Gone Bad (the fundraising event) was born one hot day at Crossfit LA after I’d just finished Fight Gone Bad (the Pukie Award Winning workout) with Andy Petranek. I’d been either developing programs, or fundraising through sports for programs, for 20 years. Continue Reading

CrossFit Games

Here's a great A little community building at CrossFit Laguna Beach.
Check out this video, courtesy of crossfit.com, about the elite community of which we are a part. This one was truly an emotional experience for me (for obvious reasons). Watch and see!
2009 CrossFit Games: CrossFit Community by Marty Cej and John Buffone – video [wmv] [mov]

CHANGE TO THE AUGUST SCHEDULE!!!!

I am adding three classes! Saturday, August 22 at 8AM and then again August 24th at 5:30 AM and then again at 9:30 AM. There will be no 7:30 AM class on the 24th. And a 5:30 AM class on August 25th along with a 7:30 and 9:30 AM

Kids and caffeine

The Super Bowl. It brings so many memories. Some great, some awful, and a lot of them awfully blurry. Last night's was definitely blurry for one child at the party I went to. The kid is about 2 years old I would say. Full of life, promise, and boat-loads of caffeine last night. I've met this kid. He's a typical two-year-old with a typical bad diet. Rambunctious at times but who isn't. Last night, he was in heaven. Smiling from ear to ear as he ran and jumped on one person's lap. Barking orders at them for about 5 seconds. Listened to 2 seconds of rebuttal, and quickly jumped off their lap and hauled it around the corner. Yes, sounds like your typical hopped up little kid. But here's where it got interesting.He had a cup (Mountain Dew by the way), he had another, and was cut off. At that moment is when the temper tantrum came on. Yelling that he wanted more. Which did not come his way. He eventually forgot he wanted more and ran off to cause more terror. Happy as a clown and just unfocused. Later, as it was wearing off. He got sleepy. But instead of going to bed, he ate almost half a box of munchkins. I was amazed. So here's my question. How can we expect kids as young as 5 and as old as 18 to act calm and focus in school when we are allowing them to be hopped up on caffeine? I see kids just about every day drinking soda in my class. I drank soda a lot when I was younger too and look back saying what was I thinking? I wasn't thinking. I just needed my next fix. It's no wonder people get addicted so easily to any substance. We are training them from a young age to do so.Before I end, I'd like to say I was in Starbucks the other day having a meeting, though neither of us bought anything, and saw what had to be kids around age 12-14 buying venti coffees. How is this legal? How has caffeine not been regulated to an extent yet? These are questions that we should be looking at if we are trying to breed a generation that will be better than us, not weaker.
Posted by Aaron Mittica 1 comments

Fight Gone Bad - Great Video

http://www.fgb4.org/

October CrossFit Schedule

October 1 at 5:30 AM; 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
October 3 at 8:30 AM
October 5 at 9:30 AM
October 6 at 5:30 AM ONLY
October 7 at 9:30 AM
October 8 at 5:30 am; 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
October 9 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
October 10 8:30 AM
Ocotober 12 at 5:30 AM; 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
October 13 at 5:30 AM; 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
October 14 at 5:30 AM; 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
October 15 at 5:30 AM ONLY
October 16 at 9:30 AM
October 17 at 8:30 AM
October 19 at 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
October 20 at 5:30 AM ONLY
Ocotber 21 at 9:30 AM
October 22 at 5:30 AM ONLY
October 23 at 9:30 AM
October 25 at 8:30 AM
October 26 at 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
October 27 at 5:30 AM; 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
October 28 at 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
October 29 at 5:30 AM ONLY
October 30 9:30 AM
October 31 5:30 AM ONLY

September CrossFit Schedule

September 1 at 9:30 AM
September 2 at 5:30 AM; 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
September 4 at 9:30 AM
September 8 at 9:30 AM
September 10 at 9:30 AM
September 11 at 5:30 am; 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
September 12 at 8:30 AM
September 15 at 9:30 AM
September 17 at 9:30 AM
September 19 at 8:30 AM
September 21 at 9:30 AM
September 22 at 5:30 AM; 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
September 24 at 9:30 AM
September 26 at 8:30 AM
September 28 at 9:30 AM
September 29 at 5:30 AM; 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM
September 30 at 5:30 AM; 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM

FOODS TO REMOVE FROM YOUR KITCHEN

FOODS TO REMOVE FROM YOUR KITCHEN
With all this talk of Paleo…I thought I’d give you a list of foods that you should get rid of that are probably in your kitchen. Feel bad about throwing things away? Donate them to your local homeless shelter!
§ White and brown rice
§ Pasta…yes, even whole-grain
§ Breakfast cereals and cereal-based nutrition bars
§ Granola and granola bars
§ Instant mashed potato
§ High carbohydrate condiments and salad dressings: make your own salad dressings!
§ Polenta, couscous, bulgur wheat, and other grains
§ Bread (including whole wheat and whole grain), breadsticks, croutons, and tortillas (if you must do tortillas, buy gluten free corn tortillas)
§ Bagels, donuts, croissants
§ Ice cream, sorbet, tofu ice cream, and popsicles
§ Potato chips, corn chips, popcorn, pretzels and crackers
§ Cake, coffee cake, cookies, cupcakes, and other sweets
§ Candy, candy bars, sugary mints
§ White and whole wheat flour
§ Cornstarch
§ Sugar and artificial sweeteners : Use honey or agave nectar.
§ Juice (including orange juice and apple juice)
§ Sugary sodas: all sodas, yes even diet!
§ Sweetened yogurt: aka: “American” yogurt. Dannon or Yoplait brands are NOT yogurt. If you want to have some yogurt now and then go for the Greek stuff.

Ten physical skills

The ten general physical skills required for optimal physical competence:
Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance – the ability of body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen
Stamina – the ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy. Strength – the ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units to apply force.
Flexibility – the ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint.
Power – the ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply maximum force in minimum time.
Speed – the ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.
Coordination – the ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movements.
Agility – the ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another.
Balance – the ability to control the placement of the body’s center of gravity in relation to its support base.
Accuracy – the ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.

The Champion within

The Champion Within Denis Waitley 27 October 2005 I copied this off Mr. Waitley's website. I am very impressed with what Denis does in his motivation of individuals!!!The Champion Within ArticleThe Winner's Circle by Denis Waitley.
If the five Olympic rings were attitudes of champions in every profession, these five attitudes would be prominent in the mindset of the peak performer:
1. Paying the Price -- Everyone wants to win, but few are willing to invest the time and effort. Paying the price means focusing on developing the skills and training regimen of champions – observation, imitation, repetition and the internalization of knowledge into habits; also, learning why and how to go the extra mile and seeing success as a marathon, not a dash. Champions view failures as temporary inconveniences and learning experiences.
2. The Olympian Within -- Winners believe in their worth in advance of their performance. Most people base their worth on their current status or achievement level, which means that until they are judged successful by society’s standards, they have little to be proud of. Champions believe in their dreams when they have only a dream to hang on to, even in the face of criticism and superior achievements by others.
3. Non-situational Integrity -- Authentic, lasting winners have an uncompromising attitude about self-honesty. They function according to an “integrity triangle”, consisting of three basic questions: (a) Are my beliefs based upon truth? (b) Do my words and actions correspond with truth and honesty? (c) Before I speak or act, do I honestly consider the impact of my decision on other people and the environment?
4. The “Coachability” Factor -- Champions are always open to alternatives to improve their performance. Consistent winners are not the arrogant egotists who dominate the media spotlight. The most successful individuals in the game of life are often the most approachable, most gracious, non-judgmental with others and most critical of their own performances, as well as most eager to learn and improve.
5. Being a Team Player -- a team in harmony is synergy in motion, where the whole is greater than the sum of the individual talents. When all assignments are understood, when each takes 100 percent responsibility for the outcome, a quantum leap in performance takes place. Winners learn how to become interdependent, without sacrificing individuality; how to stand out, while fitting in.

Why do you CrossFit?

Saw this on CrossFit Boston......

So, this sh#t is hard. Right? I mean there are times where I wonder, 'Why do I do this to myself?'. I participated in competitive athletics for more than 10 years. That was hard, why do it now as I am in my 30's and heading for my imminent "mid-life" crisis. I can just go to the globo gym and read my paper while I ride a recumbent bike.
Simple answer, NO. The reason is fear. I train CrossFit because I am afraid of what a life of mediocrity could look like. I am afraid of what the future could hold for me if I were to stop increasing my work capacity. I am afraid to someday be like my Father who is physically a quarter of the man I remember growing up. Or my Mother that lives life in pain and unable to enjoy the outdoors. So yes, I am driven by fear. I still get butterflies in my stomach before EVERY benchmark. I am not kidding. Ask Rast how long I pranced around the gym like some sissy, had a date with FRAN, before he finally started the clock on me and said you got 30 seconds. It's hard, real hard. But, I am more afraid of what happens if I stop!
So, that's my twist on this crazy little thing we have going on here at CFB. Why do you CrossFit?

Firefighter/Police CrossFit Challenge hosted by Kirkland CrossFit

Today, at Marymoore Park in Redmond, was the second annual Firefighter/Police/Military CrossFit Challenge to benefit the Northwest Burn Foundation.

This is the second year that myself and Mike Tjosvold represented Eastside Fire and Rescue, not only in the 2 person team event, but also in the individual events. Both Mike and myself not only enjoy the commraderie of this event, it also brings together our own goals of our hard work during the year.

The first event was the 2 person work out. Deadlifts - 15 reps; box jumps - 21 reps - to 400 meter run. For three rounds. Women deadlifted 135 lbs and men deadlifted 185 lbs.

Mike and I went head to head with Northshore Fire (who had 3 teams competing!). These guys ROCKED! Quick off the deadlifts and right into the box jumps and off on the run in minutes! Both Mike and I made it out the "door" onto the run pretty much at the same time. It's amazing how tired your legs feel after box jumps! The next two rounds were somewhat a blur! It's hard to think when you are hypoxic. But I was able to finish three rounds in just under 13 minutes. Mike was right behind me. Thank goodness they had a massage therapist there and she was good.

We then got to hang out and watch the other teams go. Mt. Baker CrossFit had a few teams competing. These guys moved through this work out like they were doing a body weight work out. Bunch of very strong men.

The 4 person competition was; burpees, cleans, thrusters, push ups and a mile run with each person having to run minimum of 400 meters of it. Again, Mt. Baker CrossFit cleaned this one up in a little over 11 minutes! After the 4 person competition was the strongman competition. This is just plain crazy. A 180lb clean to press;a 150 lb rock that they had to shoulder; 2- 180lb weights to do a farmers walk with and it all starts with a 200 meter sprint, only to end with a 200 meter 50 lb sand bag run. Four men competed and the winner was from Woodinville Fire in 9 minutes 43 seconds. Strongman is an understatment for this guy.

The last individual work out consisted of: Row for calories; kettlebell swings - 35lb women - 53 lbs men; push press - 65 lb women; 95lb men; dips; sumo deadlift hi pull - 35lb women - 53 lb men; pull ups; jumping lunges. You spent a minute at each station doing as many reps as you could then moved on to the next. After the jumping lunges your first time around you got a minute rest only to start it all over again for another round. Mike did an amazing job for the whole work out. Not sure of what his score was, but he certainly was up there!

It is a great venue to meet other firefighters,police officers, FBI agents and CIA agents who are all interested and practice CrossFit. The commraderie as always is so amazing. Everyone cheers for everyone. John Burrows does a great job putting on this event and the NW Burn Foundation with their support is always appreciated. This could not be done without them.

Next year, would like to see more people come to compete. It truly is a great test of your fitness level. It's like fighting back to back structure fires, only with out the gear!

Basic Principles of the Paleolithic Diet

The basic principles of the Paleolithic Diet are simple. The Paleolithic Diet presents a comprehensive dietary theory combining the best features of all other dietary theories, eliminating the worst features and simplifying it all.All major dietary components are covered- (i.e. vitamins, fats, protein, fats, carbohydrates, antioxidants and phytosterols etc). This is for the simple reason that it is the only diet that is coded for in our genes- it contains only those foods that were present during our evolution, and discards those which were not.
Basics of the Paleolithic DietHumans and their relatives have eaten meat, fish, fowl and the leaves, roots and fruits of many plants for millions of years. One big obstacle to getting more calories from the environment is the fact that many plants are inedible. Grains, beans and potatoes are full of energy but all are inedible in the raw state as they contain many toxins. Around 10,000 years ago a breakthrough happened, it was discovered that cooking these foods made them edible- the heat destroyed enough toxins to render them edible. Grains include wheat, corn, barley, rice, sorghum, millet and oats. Grain based foods also include products such as flour, bread, noodles and pasta. These are considered Neolithic foods.
The cooking of grains, beans and potatoes had an enormous effect on our food intake- perhaps doubling the number of calories that we could obtain from the plant foods in our environment. Other advantages were soon obvious with these foods:· they could store for long periods (refrigeration of course being unavailable in those days)· they were dense in calories- ie a small weight contains a lot of calories, enabling easy transport· the food was also the seed of the plant- later allowing ready farming of the speciesThese advantages made it much easier to store and transport food. We could more easily store food for winter, and for nomads and travelers to carry supplies. Food storage also enabled surpluses to be stored, and this in turn made it possible to free some people from food gathering to become specialists in other activities, such as builders, warriors and rulers. This in turn set us on the course to modern day civilization. Despite these advantages, our genes were never developed with grains, beans and potatoes and were not in tune with them, and still are not. Man soon improved further on these advances- by farming plants and animals.Instead of being able to eat only a fraction of the animal and plant life in an area, farming allows us to fill a particular area with a large number of edible plants and animals. This in turn increases the number of calories that we can obtain from an area by some 10 to 100 fold or more. Paleolithic Diet buffs refer to the new foods as Neolithic foods and the old as Paleolithic Diet foods. We see Neolithic as bad and Paleolithic as good. Grains, Beans and Potatoes (GBP) share the following important characteristics:· They are all toxic when raw- there is no doubt about this- it is a fact that no competent source would dispute- they can be extremely dangerous and it is important never to eat them raw or undercooked. These toxins include enzyme blockers, lectins and other types. I will talk about them in detail later as they are very important. · Cooking destroys most but not all of the toxins. Insufficient cooking can lead to sickness such as acute gastroenteritis.· They are all rich sources of carbohydrate, and once cooked this is often rapidly digestible-giving a high glycemic index (sugar spike).· They are extremely poor sources of vitamins (particularly vitamins A, B-group, folic acid and C), minerals, antioxidants and phytosterols.Therefore diets high in grains beans and potatoes (GBP):· Contain toxins in small amounts· Have a high glycemic index (ie have a similar effect to raw sugar on blood glucose levels)· Are low in many vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytosterols- ie they are the original "empty calories"· Have problems caused by the GBP displacing other foodsAs grains, beans and potatoes form such a large proportion of the modern diet, you can now understand why it is so common for people to feel they need supplements or that they need to detoxify (ie that they have toxins in their system)- indeed both feelings are absolutely correct. Unfortunately, we don’t necessarily realize which supplements we need, and ironically when people go on detoxification diets they unfortunately often consume even more Neolithic foods (eg soy beans) and therefore more toxins than usual (perhaps they sometimes benefit from a change in toxins). More detail on these issues follows in subsequent pages.The essentials of the Paleolithic Diet are:Eat none of the following:· Grains- including bread, pasta, noodles· Beans- including string beans, kidney beans, lentils, peanuts, snow-peas and peas· Potatoes· Sugar· SaltEat the following:· Meat, chicken and fish· Eggs· Fruit· Vegetables (especially root vegetables, but definitely not including potatoes)· Nuts, eg. walnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia, almond. Do not eat peanuts (a bean) or cashews (a family of their own)· Berries- strawberries, blueberries, raspberries etc.
****Information from Earth360.com and Dr. Ben Balzer****

From the Crossfitfootball.com website

Schedule for August

Please note the 5:30 AM classes added!
August 3 at 9:30 am
August 5 at 9:30 am
August 6 at 5:30 am
August 7 at 9:30 am
No week end class :< August 8th is the Police/Firefighter CrossFit Challenge at Marymoore Park. 9 AM to 3 PM
August 10 at 9:30 am
August 11 at 5:30 am
August 12 at 9:30 am
August 13 at 5:30 am
August 14 at 9:30 am
August 16th at 8:30 am
August 17 at 5:30 am 7:30 am and 9:30 am
August 19 at 9:30 am
August 21 at 9:30 am
Off for our anniversary week end!
August 25 at 5:30 am 7:30 am and 9:30 am
August 26 at 5:30 am 7:30 am and 9:30 am
August 28 at 9:30 am
August 30 at 7:30 am

Understanding your blood tests

Here is a basic article on understanding your bloodtest results. This is something that I think everyone should know. Know what tests your doctor is ordering for your lab tests, what the normal ranges are, and why they are running them. Are they ordering the right tests? Be an advocate for your own health.

Follow this link:http://www.amarillomed.com/howto.htm