Breath control and the ability to breathe under duress is critical in CrossFit as well as in sport. Your VO2 Max which is your bodies ability to utilize and uptake oxygen during exercise is one way to measure it. The video of William Turbidge freediving the “The Arch” which is the longest underwater tunnel in the world is another. 180 ft. down and another 90 ft. through the tunnel then back up 180 ft to the surface.  No fins. One breath. Unbelievable.

The second and final part of  our”Totally Cindy Challenge” is here. The top male and female with the most improved score in both the CrossFit Total and Cindy will receive $50 each which will be awarded on Tuesday. Come ready to go to battle today. Remember Cindy has alot of reps and its easy to loose track of where your at To keep the contest legit we are going to split the groups up in half and one person will count and judge while the other does the WOD. Good luck to everyone.

WOD

“Cindy”

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

-5 Pullups

-10 Pushups

-15 Squats

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Its back! “Totally Cindy” part I. Its been eight weeks since we last did this and now its time to retest and see how much stronger you guys all got. The CrossFit Total is a great indicator of overall strength as it tests the three most basic barbell lifts in existence. Squat, Press, Deadlift. Stronger is always better and functional strength is what these lifts are all about. Whatever your number there are gonna be a ton of new PRs set today.  Come and get some!

WOD

“CrossFit Total”

Max Back Squat

Max Deadlift

Max Press

The total weight of these three lifts equals your CrossFit Total. You have three attempts to successfully lock out the weight. The order of the lifts is Squat, Press, then Deadlift. The Deadlift must be lowered to the ground.

Attention the WOD on Saturday morning  will be at the Orange Coast CrossFit gym at 9am only. There was a talk of holding it down at the beach but that has been postponed until next week.

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There will be a going away party for Manchild on Friday after the 6 pm workout. It would be great if you could all stick around and have some cake with us and wish him off on a safe journey.

Post to comments if you can make it.

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If you are landing on your heels, then you are probably landing when your foot is out in front of your body. If your foot is out in front of your body when it lands then it is absorbing your forward momentum. You are essentially putting on the breaks with every step. No wonder you hate to run.

Haile Gebrselassie who owns the world record in the marathon is a forefoot runner. Usain Bolt the world record holder in the 100 and 200m is a forefoot striker. So what the hell are you still doing landing on your heel!?

It is men of action who most commonly possess the discipline and character required for both genius and success. At CrossFit doing trumps thinking, and training teaches us more about performance than reading, and experimenting reveals more than comparing theories. That is why we find ourselves disproportionately graced by the company of intelligent and successful men and woman.

- Greg Glassman

The CrossFit Total part of “Totally Cindy” is on Friday. It would be a good idea to take it easy on Thursday if you plan on hitting Fridays WOD with any intensity.

WOD
Five rounds for time of:
Overhead walking lunges w/bumper plate, 50 feet (Men 45#, Women 25#)
21 Burpees

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Some of the boys starting up the hill run with 75# sandbags. The last part got real steep real fast and heartrates were easily hitting max bpm. That is cardio folks. Stairmaster?! Go outside and find a fucking hill.

Valid criticisms of a fitness program need to speak to measurable, observable, repeatable data. If an alternative to CrossFit is worthy of our consideration it ought to be presented in terms of distance, time, load, velocity, work and power related to movements, skills, and drills. Give me performance data. CrossFit can be scientifically and logically evaluated only on these terms.

Criticisms of any program by summonsing exercise physiologists, dead or living, or triangulating a program’s tenets vis–vis other programs and theories takes the discussion conveniently from the real to the theoretical where neither logic nor science can explore meaningful assertions about or devise tests of a program’s strengths and weaknesses. Criticisms misplaced so seem to always come with the trappings, language, and style of science. Those least inclined to allow for scientific analysis are regularly given to scientific jargon, citing authority or studies, and ad hominem attack.

- Greg Glassman

WOD

21,15,9

-Deadlift (275#, 155#) (225#, 115#) (185#, 95#)

-Handstand Pushup

-Box Jump (Men +3 red bumpers) (Women +2)

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One of the reasons that I founded OCC was because I was in need of a tribe. I felt really lost when I moved up to Orange County. I felt that I was not meeting people of my kind and like interests. It seemed I was swimming in a sea of mediocracy, and laissez-faire attitudes. I needed to be around go getter’s. I considered moving but the more I travelled and looked the more I realized it was not the place but the people and the places I surrounded myself with. Orange County was a huge place and the notion that there were not people of my kind was a bit absurd. When I found CrossFit three years ago I had juggled the idea of having my own facility but was not in the position to make that move so on the back burner it went. More restlessness ensued to the point that I was at a real turning point in my life and needed to make changes. My idea of a fun weekend consisted of surfing, hiking, riding, insert anything outdoor and physical here. Unfortuanately that didnt coincide with the girl I was dating at the time nor most of the “friends” I had. CrossFit is the community that  Id always wanted but had never found before. My sincere hope is that many of you have felt a home here as well.

There will be members that come and go and that is inevitable. We will hate to see them go.  But they will leave this place fitter than when they came and in their abscence they will leave behind a community of ever stronger and closer men and women bonded through this beautiful sport called CrossFit. We have one of our best members leaving this Friday. Ben Gordon aka “ManChild” is leaving the nest and going off to UC Berkley. You have brought much more to this gym than you have taken. Were gonna miss you brother.

I will leave you with the original article I stumbled upon three years ago web surfing by which brought me to CrossFit written by founder Greg Glassman on what it means to be truly fit.

World Class Fitness in 100 words

WOD

7 Rounds of:

5 Hang Squat Clean (155#, 115#rxd) (135#, 95#intermed) (95#, 65# novice)

3 Muscle Ups

2 Legless Rope Climbs (coaches sub with towel pullups 4x for each climb)

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We are doing the WOD at El Moro on Saturday. Meet in the parking lot behind the school at 9am. El Moro is located off the PCH. From Newport you will drive south bound past Newport Coast, past Crystal Cove State Park and it will be on your left. It is the last stoplight before you enter Laguna Beach. Make a left there at the El Moro School and keep driving up past the school parking lot. About 100 yards up the road is another parking lot which is where we will meet up. Join us for some good solid trail running and later we will grab breakfast at Madison Square Garden Cafe in Laguna.

Range of motion is crucial in CrossFit. Who cares about your time if your doing half the workload of the guy/girl next to you. I see so many lame attempts in here lately that Monday I will be addressing a whole blog post to form ROM. For now this is what I expect.

Pullups are chin OVER the bar. Thats why there called a CHIN up and not a NOSE up.

Pushups: Chest touches the ground every rep on the bottom. Chest not belly touches ground. Elbows must lock out at the top.

Squats: The crease of the hip must pass the crease of the knee on each and every rep. I repeat the crease of the hip must pass the crease of the knee joint. Im tired of going over this one.

If you witness any less than this. Do everyone a favor and call that athlete out on their reps. You are only helping them to get better.

BTW you should always where a digital watch when you CrossFit. That way you can keep track of your own time. It will make you a stronger CrossFitter I promise.

WOD

“Angie”

For Time:

100 Pullups

100 Pushups

100 Situps

100 Squats

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Lysanne showing us what Nancy looks like done Rxd. Overhead squats w/ 65#. Many of our guys were unable to muster this weight.  As a outrigger paddler Lysanne came to us with a descent base level fitness. She is quickly rising to the top ranks of our female members.

I know that this is an issue that almost all of us have dealt with at one time or another in here. Ripped hands. They suck. To prevent them you can take care of your calluses. Here is a good article on how to prevent rips and keep those hands nice and soft. If that was not enough for you here is another with a few more good tips.

Saturdays WOD will take place in El Moro. All I will say is please be prepared to do sprint intervals up some steep ass hills. We will meet at the El Moro school parking lot at 9am. Please post to comments if you will be attending.

Beyondthewhiteboard.com is a great tool for tracking your stats in here. I strongly encourage everyone to surf on over there and sign up under Orange Coast CrossFit and start posting your workouts. It will even automatically update your Facebook profile as well. Check them out.

WOD

Make up one of the “girls” that you missed this week. Or if you are doing four days in a row choose a wod of your choice. Friday will be another benchmark “girl” just to let you know ahead of time. It would be a good idea for you guys to total up your time for all the benchmarks done this week and see how your doing compared to everyone else.

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I cant tell you how proud I am of this guy. Many of you might not know Stanley because he only does privates with me. He started with me back in April at 197# and terribly out of shape. His Fran time on 4/9/09 was 22:15 using 65# on thrusters and a green band on  the pull ups. On 6/5/09 it was 15:09 using the same weight. Today he redid Fran using 80# and a blue band and got a 10:40! That is a huge improvement in four months. In addition he just had a physical done and the doctor could not believe how low his blood pressure had dropped. What makes this even more amazing is that the guy only trains twice a week. I will say that again. He only trains two times during the week for a total of two hours of exercise per week. Nothing else. Nada. It wasnt until he changed his diet that things began to take off for him. He added muscle but the fat was still there. Once he switched over to a Paleo eating style his fat came off quick. He now weighs a solid 182#. It took a while for him to give up rice but now he says he doesn’t even crave it anymore. Thanks Stan for showing us whats possible. You rock.

Here we are about two weeks in on the Paleo Challenge with six weeks to go. Our before photos should be arriving anyday now and I will put them up on the wall for everyone to see. I found a great post of a woman who owns CrossFit Fire and wanted to share her progress with you.

“If your girlfriend is worried about getting bulky show her my progress pictures. I can do 25 consecutive pull-ups, dead lift 1.5 times my body weight, and I can clean and jerk my body weight. By most women′s standards, I′m STRONG. Your girlfriend will hopefully notice the lack of bulging muscles on my frame, and the absence of jutting veins.

I wish I could find the person that started that nasty rumor about women and weight lifting€¦I′d poke them in the eye. I own a CrossFit Affiliate, and I watch women start lifting weights, and the fat just melts off of them! Get her off the treadmill and show her the free weights!” Click here to see the the photos. Wow! Great example of what our style of training will do to a real womans body.

Kind of excited for this benchmark seeing as how even I have never done it. Come and get your WOD on with us.

WOD

“Isabel”

Snatch 30x (135#, 95# Rxd) (115, 65# Int) (95, 45# Novice) anything less is Turtle.

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Joshie and Ken post WOD debating who finished first. We take fitness serious in here but we also have alot of fun.

Congrats to everyone that set PRs yesterday in Fran. You guys are an inspiration to me and why I am so happy to be doing what Im doing. Here is another Girl for ya. You might see a few more this week as well who knows…

WOD

“Nancy”

5 Rounds of:

400m run

15x Overhead squat (95#, 65# Rxd) (80#, 55 intermed) (65#, 45 novice) anything less is turtle

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