Mental Game

Barbie told me that after round one of the workout today she was convinced she was going to do three, once she got to three, she was convinced she could only do four. Once she did four she was determined to finish the fifth and final round. Everyone had a great time pushing their limits. Once you find that you can push through even when you want to quit, you will find that it is the mental limit that you put on yourself not the physical.

CrossFit makes cops fit

Crossfit Makes Cops Fit
Stephan Rochet
4 March 2006

CrossFit Makes Cops Fit

A few weeks ago, someone asked me how I would train cops to get into “survival shape”. I thought about it for 4 or 5 seconds (I’m embarrassed it took me so long) and said, “CrossFit.” That’s it? Yup.

CrossFit isn’t really a single method of training and that’s the genius behind it. CrossFit has adopted exercise methods from a variety of disciplines. Crossfit takes what works, adds a little dynamic spice (think thruster, wall ball and Fight Gone Bad), and gets rid of any fluff. The result is a highly efficient, highly effective way to train. And it just happens to be the perfect tool for training police officers for their job, and their very survival.

CrossFit provides a police officer with an extremely varied training stimulus. All the metabolic pathways are hit, with anaerobic (a.k.a.: combat) fitness taking priority. Numerous result-producing exercises, from deadlifts, cleans, and presses, to pull-ups, swings and thrusters are used to hammer all the muscle groups in realistic movement patterns. No isolation of the gastroc here my friends. Most importantly, CrossFit, through the Workout of the Day, is unpredictable, just like the real world. Basically, CrossFit throws an infinite number of challenging, incredibly effective workouts into a giant hopper and everyday one of these workouts gets pulled out. As Coach Glassman says, if you are truly Crossfit, it does not matter what workout pops out. A CrossFitter can handle the demands.

I can think of no better way to train a police officer because this unpredictability IS a police officer’s world. At any moment, a police officer can be dispatched to a call that results in a foot pursuit through an urban obstacle course, culminating in a grappling session with no rules. He or she might have to fight off numerous attackers for several minutes before help arrives. The possibilities for trouble are as limitless as the bad guys malevolence or stupidity. The crazy calls come out of nowhere, at the beginning of the shift or at the end, after one minute in the car or after 11 hours of driving in circles. There is no warning or warmup. The only way to be ready for these challenges is to be physically and mentally prepared to handle anything. That’s what CrossFit does.

Speaking of mental preparation, this is one of CrossFit’s most potent attributes. Done right, these workouts are as brutally intense as a street fight, without the inherent danger. Hammer out Fran in four minutes or Helen in eight and its hurtin’ time. Such workouts build a mental capacity to push through pain and fatigue. “One more rep” or “Just a few more seconds” are thoughts that push the CrossFitter to continue. This is great training for a police officer. This NEVER, EVER say die attitude will keep an officer alive. It will keep him or her going when a sucker punch knocked out some teeth, when pepper spray went wrong or a couple of whackos are going for the gun. Mental toughness and tenacity are keys for survival and they are developed and honed by CrossFit workouts.

Finally, CrossFit fits in perfectly with a policeman’s schedule. The workouts are of relatively short duration and a variety of day on/off systems can be used. CrossFit allows an officer to get the training needed while taking care of other pressing needs in his or her limited free time. CrossFit workouts also allow for a little supplemental practice or specialization before or after the workout. For example, an officer who wants to improve his snatch technique may incorporate a few sets into his warmup or cool down. CrossFit workouts, being short by nature, allow for this extra work to address specific concerns.

So if a police officer (or soldier, or fireman) asks you how to train for the job, just say CrossFit and point them in the right direction. Tell them to take the time to learn the exercises, learn the philosophy and then start hitting the WOD’s. They will be thanking you soon enough. (Please note, CrossFit is basically the way the bad guys train in jail, so the good guys better keep up. But if your felon friend asks you how you got in such good shape, just tell him: “Thighmaster”.)

CrossFit is not only about results, but supreme results. To paraphrase Coach Glassman’s ingenious black box theory, if you throw a cop and CrossFit into the box, shake it up with some WOD’s, then Superman comes out. And that’s what we need on our crazy streets. Good luck and stay safe.

Are you sore?

We had a pretty small turnout today, and we want to know if it was one of those days or were we just so sore that a rest day was needed. Please post your opinion of yesterdays workout under comments.

Warrior Dash

Sign up for the Warrior Dash! Spots are filling up fast!

Sign up on the board if you would like to order weightlifting shoes. $70 plus shipping and handling. We highly recommend you take advantage of this deal. Weightlifting shoes at this price is a steal so please if you are considering buying a pair, do so now.

Breathe!

You always hear us say it, "breath slow, work fast!" Here is a great article on breathing.

Breathing
Bill Johnson
13 April 2007

All elite athletes know that imposing any exercise program on a dysfunctional body only worsens dysfunction. You first have to analyze each person’s unique posture and structure and design a program to correct their specific structural imbalances, by strengthening weak muscles, and stretching tight muscles and fascia. Only then can you train properly. But, one important function that affects all movement is often overlooked – breathing. Correct breathing is in rhythm with movement, is vital for both oxygenating your tissues and stabilizing your core.

Athletes at rest take about 12-15 breaths a minute. The best tend to breath slowest and deepest. At 15 breath’s a minute, you breathe 900 breaths every hour, over 20,000 breaths every day. In concert with good structure and muscular development, breathing is our most important source of power. The form and rhythm and timing of the breath affects every movement we make. Yet most of the people we test breathe poorly. Imagine any other action in sport or in life that is practiced poorly 20,000 times a day. Disastrous!

The common faults we see are:

Chest breathing
Exhaling at the point of effort.
Breathing that is uncoordinated with movement.

Three-Part Breathing

We teach Power Breathing for sport (and for life) as a three-part process.

Step1, and most important, inhale into the lower third of your lungs.

This is the area most richly endowed with oxygen receptors. The easiest way to learn, is to push the diaphragm down by sticking out your belly, the relaxed “belly breathing” taught in yoga for at least 3000 years. As you improve, you learn to push the diaphragm down while holding the transversus in, so as to increase intra-abdominal pressure to stabilize the core. Start by learning belly breathing and work from there.

Step 2, fill the middle third of your lungs by expanding the ribcage sideways.

You should be able to place your fingers on a person’s outer ribs, under the arms, and feel the ribcage widen by at least two inches.

Step 3 is to fill the top of the lungs by raising the chest.

For many people, chest breathing is all they ever do. They never properly oxygenate their tissues nor activate their Inner Unit, yet wonder why they fatigue easily, and cannot make powerful movements.

Coordinating Breathing with Effort

The second major fault we see is exhalation at the point of effort. This practice arose primarily because academics, whose biggest exertion was probably tying their shoes, told insurance companies that holding the breath during effort increases intra-abdominal pressure, raises blood pressure and puts the heart and arteries at risk. So, for insurance purposes, many gym clients are taught to exhale as they make an effort.

It is true that retained breath on effort raises intra-abdominal pressure. That’s exactly how the body is programmed. Intra-abdominal pressure stabilizes the core. That’s why you inhale sharply as an evolutionary reflex when faced with a sudden threat. As part of our ancient fight-flight system, the body is programmed to inhale to stabilize the core, to make the body as strong as possible for fighting or fleeing.

In the Power Program, we take advantage of this superb fight-flight reflex, to apply maximum effort by inhaling immediately before effort, and momentarily retaining the breath during the rapid concentric contraction, then releasing the breath evenly during the slow eccentric contraction. Unless your client knows how to do this breathing, they will never be able to apply maximum effort. Worse, if you habitually use the exhale-on-effort nonsense taught in many gyms, you will be weak in movement on the sports field, and highly subject to lower back injury as the destabilized core has to use the spine to take the load. At the Colgan Institute we teach boxers, martial artist, and all combat athletes to strike their opponent just as they finish exhaling, because that is when the body is weakest. All the top coaches we know teach the same.

“Small Hole” Exhalation

You can maintain your strength during exhalation by learning to exhale with the “small hole” technique. The easiest method is to push half the breath out suddenly through pursed lips, a technique taught to asthma patients to increase oxygen absorption. The sudden push momentarily increases intra-lung pressure, which also pushes down the diaphragm and further strengthens the core. There is also a genetically programmed reflex retraction of the upper abdominal wall. More difficult, but far superior, is to learn to narrow the throat, for small-hole exhalation, the way of controlling the breath taught in advanced martial arts.

To benefit most from small-hole exhalation, you have to coordinate the sudden push of breath exactly with the instant of greatest effort in a movement, or the point of impact in a kick or punch. Good examples are the “Ki-eee” shout in martial arts, and the closed-mouth grunt of boxers at the moment they strike. Try the grunt yourself now, with your core tight, and feel your abdomen retract further to increase stabilization. Timing is critical, however, and we see many poorly trained athletes who make the forced exhalation before the point of impact. They immediately lose 10-20% of their power.

New video

Make sure you guys post your times on the site under the comment section.

CrossFit Brea from Erik Arevalo on Vimeo.

Challenge

Chasing front squats with 3 high box jumps is a challenge. It was great to see people challenging themselves today not only in the weights but the height as well. I could see the faces of a few people who were intimidated by the height of the box as we worked deeper into the sets. Instead of accepting defeat they went for the challenge and jumped. Once they stood tall on top of the box they felt their confidence skyrocket.

Everything can be attributed to a high box jump. Nothing worth doing is easy. You have to take a risk every once and a while. Challenge, its a great thing. It keeps us sharp, it keeps it interesting, it keeps us going. If it was easy... everyone would be doing it.

Anything unattempted remains impossible.

There are no free rides here at Virtus. Every number, time, PR, and drop of sweat is earned by every one of you in this building. There are a few catch phrases we would like to avoid from here on out.

1. I can't _____ (fill in the blank)
2. It's easier if I _____ (fill in the blank)

First off, YES you can! Second, why would you want to make it easier? There's no easy way out of anything besides quitting and I have yet to see any of you quit on the WOD. The goal is to be stronger physically and mentally. No one has improved by staying in the comfort zone, I am quilty of it, if you saw me during the 4:30 class Thursday then you would agree. I've stayed in my comfort zone of lifting heavy and neglecting everything else. That's all fine and dandy if I want to lift heavy loads one time and rest for 5 minutes, but is garbage if I want to be a well rounded athlete. It's time for change, and change doesn't come easy. It takes hard, hard work and discipline. Come in here expecting a challenge and walk out of here with your head held high, proud that you finished, that you skipped out on happy hour or missed the game to improve yourself. Take it one day at a time, weigh every decision you make, will this choice effect me for better or worse? At the end of the day, step in front of the mirror, do you look the way you want to look? Do you feel the way you want to feel? Look yourself in the eye and ask yourself if you've done everything in your power to improve yourself that day. If the answer is yes, you're on the right track, if the answer is no, then you know what you have to do. Hold yourself accountable for your actions. If you want change, then make the right choices and change will come. Choices lead to steps, steps lead to paths, paths lead to change. What choices did you make today? Which path will you choose?-Derek

Rain or shine

Scott getting in a short WOD in Africa
before he gets his ass kicked by Jumbo.

We will be running tomorrow rain or shine. We have kept everyone indoors long enough, its time to get out there and stretch those legs and lungs. Check out Virtus Athlete Kelsy Harris who was named Cal High Sports Athlete of the Week. http://myespn.go.com/blogs/calhisports/0-14-12/State-Girls-Athlete-of-Week--Kelsey-Harris.htmlþ

So I severely underestimated today's workout. It happens, but nobody died and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I trained with the 5:30 class so I know what you all went through. One way to look at this is that we have not had the oppurtunity to run due to rain and we needed a good hard conditioning day. I guess the lesson is, when life give's you lemons...do some burpee broad jumps.
We were finally able to get the pics up of the throw down so enjoy others misery.

Health

I have spent the past month and a half visiting a sick friend in the hospital. Unfortunalty this person is just now realizing the importance of making better food choices. If you need motivation to quit smoking, eat healthier and start exercising go take a trip to the City Of Hope. Any amount of time spent there will serve as a reminder of how you do not want to live out your final days. The overly medicated, improperly fed patients walk the hospital with blank stares that would make the final cut of any zombie movie.
People tell me all the time that Paleo is too hard, well I got news for you. Multiple rounds of Chemo is hard. Struggling with the fact that you might die the next day is hard. Trying to go to the bathroom after all the pain meds are pumped into your body is hard. Putting down the piece of cake seems to be a breeze compared to what these cancer patients are going through.
If you have your health and you want to keep it start making a change now. Don't wait until the doctor tells you to start taking better care of yourself. Life is short. Its time to get off the couch put down the beer and junk food and get to work. Invest in your body now so you do not have to pay later.

Power

The snatch/ overhead squat are two of the most difficult lifts you will ever do. It demands core tension, flexibility, and power. Soon we will max out on the snatch so be ready. Practicing the lifts are the most important thing to develop confidence and technique. Do not be frustrated if you are having problems with the snatch/ overhead squat. Relax and be patient. Expecting optimal results in a short amount of time will only lower your self esteem. Take you time and make sure you do the little thing right and you will be snatching your body weight soon!

Rx

“Americans are taking medicines that lower cholesterol and reduce the threat of heart disease, that help lift people out of debilitating depressions, and that keep diabetes in check,” said HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson in an HHS press release.

Prescription drug use is rising among people of all ages, and use increases with age. Five out of six persons 65 and older are taking at least one medication and almost half the elderly take three or more.

Adult use of antidepressants almost tripled between 1988-1994 and 1999-2000. Ten percent of women 18 and older and 4 percent of men now take antidepressants. Prescriptions for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antidepressants, blood glucose/sugar regulators and cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, in particular, increased notably between 1996 and 2002.

Full Article: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/healthcare/a/usmedicated.htm

Pharmacuticals make more money selling pills to sick people than telling them to eat right and exercise. There is no such thing as a magic pill...
Paleo + CrossFit = Happy Body

Murph

In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005

Lt. Murphy was killed June 28, 2005 after exposing himself to enemy fire and knowingly leaving his position of cover to get a clear signal in order to communicate with his headquarters. He provided his unit’s location and requested immediate support for his element and then returned to his position to continue fighting until he died from his wounds. On July 4, 2005 Murphy's remains were found by a group of American soldiers during a combat search and rescue operation and returned to the United States.

During his military career Lt. Murphy received 11 different military decorations, including: the Medal of Honor, Silver Star, Purple Heart, Commendation Medal, and Combat Action Ribbon. Since his death, he has also received several posthumous honors in his name, including a post office in his home town, a park, and a United States Navy destroyer.

Mental drive

We have blogged a number of times about mental strength. Some of us learned today how mental this game can actually be. Besides the DL we did not move more than 10/20# and bodyweight. I feel that majority of us are learning to supress that "I feel like I want to quit" feeling and push to new levels. If you can leave your body as my good friend Eric Paulson would say you will push to levels that you never thought you would achieve. The word quit can not even begin to enter the mind. We are proud of everyone we train. We know how hard this is and it is a great thing to see so many committed to chaning your life.

Welcome to the Airdyne

Everyone asks us why we only use the airdyne bikes for people to substitute for running if they're injured, why don't we use them in a workout? I think we put those questions to bed today with 20/10 airdyne sprints.



We now have 4:30 class Mon-Fri. Also if you haven't signed up for the Brea 8k, please do so ASAP.

Resolutions

How are all the resolutions coming? Are they holding up? It would seem that by the amount of people we had in this week our resolutions are still on track. Today's intesity was incredible. We had a great learning period followed by a great finish. We will be 1 rm the snatch at the end of this month so focus on the technique and be patient. Great job tonight everyone.

Motivation

"I just wanted to to give a shout out to both Gilbert and Ed for a job well done at the Throwdown! I had the pleasure of serving as judge for both of them. A special note to Gilbert...You were truly inspirational during the first WOD...Your hands were trashed and yet you kept at it, never giving up...That's tenacity...you showed alot of heart! If you ever get down south...stop by my affliate, South County! Take care..."

-Laura, CF South County

It was great to hear stories of the Throwdown from Ed, Nanci, and Julio today. Ed printed out the results from the competition and said he wanted it posted up for motivation. I agree. The rush of adrenaline before the 3-2-1 go, sounds of loud music mixed with cheers, and the reward of knowing you accomplished a feat that not many would even attempt. It makes you want to do anything to experience again, and do even better.

I heard that there were some "insane" guys and gals there. Granted they are well conditioned athletes, but what separates these individuals is not a gift... it is will. The will to suffer. The will to push suck beyond its logical limits. Now that we have seen the potential, we have something to strive for. Replace the phrase "genetic freak of nature" to "hardworking, disciplined, and patient" and you will see what you are capable of.

"People do not lack strength; they lack will."
- Victor Hugo

The Throwdown

For those that were not able to go to the Throwdown you missed a great event. Our athletes got a taste of what individual competition feels like. Standing out there all alone, no team, just you and a judge. Your adrenaline so high you start to feel sick, then the countdown to the start...and your off!!! Watching Ed, Eric, Gilbert, Julio, and Jose got my competitive juices flowing and inspired me to get back on track and start competing again.
This was a learning experience for everyone. I have never trained any athlete for a competition in which we did not know the specific movements and rules until two days prior. When we enter the next competition we will make some changes to the programming for the competing athletes. We are proud of you for laying it all out and competing. We will post pictures within the next few days.

Squats

Here is an illustration on some different techniques for your squat.

Figure 2-31 reads:
Bar position ultimately determines back angle as seen in this comparison of the Front Squat, the high-bar squat, and the low-bar squat. Note that the bar remains balanced over the mid-foot in each case, and this requires that the back angle accommodate the bar position. This is the primary factor in the differences in technique between the three styles of squatting.

Throwdown

Class schedule will continue as usual.

More OC Throwdown Info

by admin

Here’s a few more important details for OC Throwdown competitors, judges and spectators:

- Athlete Check in time is 7am on Saturday regardless of heat and start time. Here you will get your heat # which will tell you your start times for all 4 WODs.

- Judges/volunteers check in is 6am on Saturday. Sunday is 7:30am

- If you cannot complete the prescribed weights do not worry. You will still compete as normal but with weights that allow you to finish the WOD. You just wont be in contention for a trophy.

Schedule:

Saturday, Jan. 9th
1. Womens Intermediate 8:30am /1:30pm
2. Womens Inter/Masters 8:55/1:55
3. Womens Rxd 9:15/2:10
4. Mens Masters 9:35/2:35
5. Mens Intermediate 9:55/3:00
6. Mens Intermediate 10:15/3:25
7. Mens Rxd 10:50am/3:50
8. Mens Rxd 11:15/4:15
9. Mens Rxd 11:35/4:40 10. Mens Rxd 11:55/5:05 11. Mens Rxd 12:15/5:30

Sunday Jan. 10th
1. Womens Intermediate 8:30am
2. Womens Inter/Masters 8:50
3. Womens Rxd 9:10
4. Mens Masters 9:30
5. Mens Intermediate 9:50
6. Mens Intermediate 10:10
7. Mens Rxd 10:30
8. Mens Rxd 10:50
9. Mens Rxd 11:10
10. Mens Rxd 11:30
11. Mens Rxd 11:50

WOD #4 will start at 1pm and finish at 3pm
Award ceremony will take place at 3:30pm

Matt is back

It is good to see our friend and fellow trainer Matt back in "the facility". He is cleared and back on the road to recovery. Here is a video that he did for us awhile back. Enjoy.

CrossFit Brea Highlights July 09 from Matt Banwart on Vimeo.

You have a nice snatch

The snatch is a very functional lift. You start with the bar sitting on the ground. There are 3 phases to the snatch. The 1st pull off the ground to about waist height, the 2nd pull is the jump phase where we jump the bar creating vertical momentum and elevation on the bar, and the 3rd pull where we pull ourselves under the bar and receive the bar in the overhead squat. Most people had trouble separating the 2nd and 3rd pulls. During the jump phase there is no pulling with the arms it's all hips, the arms stay straight and only bend while pulling under the bar. Keep working towards the proper technique. This is a skill that takes years and years to learn correctly so try not to get frustrated, stay positive and success will come.

Today I was reminded of my first CrossFit experience. I was on the lat-pulldown machine at 24hr fitness. I had my jersey on, my wrist wraps and head phones on, I was pulling something like 250lbs and thought I was the shit. One of my friends who was away at BUDS training for the Navy Seals was in town and working out next to me. I watched him do 50 kipping pull up's straight without dropping off the bar, then did another 50. I stopped him and asked him what the hell those weird pull up's were and what the point was. He said to do more reps in less time then continued with 100 push up's straight, then 100 sit up's, then 100 air squat's. He then collapsed on the floor, rolling around in a pool of sweat and in pain. He had just finished "Angie" in something like 9 minutes and change. That night I went to the CF main site and looked at workouts. I found "Fran", 21-15-9 of thrusters at 95# and pull up's and thought this couldn't be hard at all. The next day I walked into 24hr expecting to kill this workout. Because how hard could it be? It's not heavy weight, it's only 45 reps of each movement, piece of cake right? WRONG.

After 10 thrusters I was ready to quit. It was hands down the hardest 10 reps I had ever done in any workout EVER, after 20 minutes and not getting to the second round of 15 reps, I quit. How could this be? I spent on average 2 hours a day in the gym 5 days a week splitting my time between weightlifting and "cardio" but was not in good shape. I had never been pushed that hard in my life and it was only 42 total reps. I was so motivated to kill this workout and after 1 minute I panicked and gave up. My heart was racing, I couldn't breath, I was sweating uncontrollably. I told myself I couldn't do it and proceeded with my back and bicep routine. I hurt my back a few weeks later on the leg press and spent about 15 months split between lying in bed and going to physical therapy where they told me I had an extremely weak core. It was not until then that I learned about core to extremity, compound, ground-based, constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity.

I've learned so much since I started here as an intern in August of 2008. I've learned how to move my body through the full range of motion that mother nature intended properly, safely, and efficiently. I've learned how to squat, clean, snatch, swing a kettlebell, and how to do a kipping pull up. The tools and movements I have learned in this short time will stay with me for the rest of my life. We learn something new every day with every new face that comes through our doors. The human mind is crazy. One minute you can be so pumped up do something, then you can panic and all that goes out the window and all you want to do is give up. The power we poses in our minds to push through the pain, to keep moving until the last rep is finished is unique. We are forging a small army of machines made up of soccer moms, dentist's, lawyers, student's, athlete's and the like. You teach us everyday the power we poses as humans, the will to succeed, to persevere, to finish what we started, that mental toughness that we all have embedded in our brains, but most have never used until they workout at Virtus. This mental toughness, this ace up your sleeve is going to carry over to your everyday life. When life gets tough, and believe me it will, you will be ready. You will welcome the challenge with open arms and rise to the occasion because of the pain and suffering you've put yourselves through and the pride and glory that you feel when it's over and you come out on top.

Keep on grinding!!-Derek

What are your resolutions?

What do you want to achieve in 2010. Post your goals for 2010. Let everyone know what you plan on accomplishing so you can all hold yourselves accountable.

LSD

Here is a chart comparison on calories burned during Long Slow Distance running vs short intense running. This is based of a 130# female. You can see that one would burn almost the same amount in half the time. Another problem with (LSD) it is very easy to slow down your pace without even knowing it. Many people who barley pick there feet up off the ground will say "I just ran 10 miles" but I think they call that speed walking in the Olympics. You can't hide from short, high intensity running. The old foot shuffle is not getting you anywhere anytime soon. I would rather get it done and over with.

Short, faster run: 30-minute run, at a pace of 7 minutes per mile: 413 calories burned 30-minute run, at a pace of 8 minutes per mile: 350 calories burned 30-minute run, at a pace of 9 minutes per mile: 324 calories burned

Long, slower run: 60-minute run, at a pace of 10 minutes per mile: 584 calories burned 60-minute run, at a pace of 11 minutes per mile: 500 calories burned 60-minute run, at a pace of 12 minutes per mile: 472 calories burned

Happy New Year everyone! The holiday season is officially over. No more work/holiday parties, no more shitty food, no more excuses. It's time to get back on the paleo, start making your training a priority, and changing your lifestyle. Let's make 2010 our healthiest year of our lives. Great job on the heavy DL today. Cathy got two strict pull ups for all 6 sets, thats awesome. See everyone tomorrow at 10:30am.
I would like to thank Nanci for showing me this great product. I thought I had seen it all. I don't even know where to start, so I am not going to. Enjoy this.