The problem with Andres second pull was two things. First was obvious. His arms were bent  in an attempt to help the bar up to his shoulders. Imagine doing your set of 5 on the deadlifts the other day with bent elbows. Nope not gonna happen. “When elbows bend, power ends” the saying goes. To deliver the power that the hip and knee have created in the second pull to the barbell, the arms must be straight.

In the first photo the lifter is moving the bar from the floor to the mid hang position where he will begin his second pull. At the top of the second pull (middle photo) the knees and hips are in FULL EXTENSION. Remember the photo of the box jump from yesterday? From the chest down both athletes look nearly identical. Powerful and explosive hip extension is the key component to achieve a 54″ box jump and a 500# + clean. If the hips are not opened with viscous speed the bar is not going anywhere and the jump not high enough. Andres hips were closed and his elbows bent, robbing him of power. The prescription: knowledge of his mistake and clean pulls to drill proper positioning at the top.

Pinky and Joshie had the best answers to yesterdays question. Great job guys.

Starting Tuesday next week, you will need to sign up for classes online via new software on our site. Your name and info is already there you will just need to create a username and password. You can sign up for as many CrossFit classes as you like up to two weeks in advance. Classes will be capped at 15 members. Lately sometimes the 5:30 or 6:30 class has gotten upwards of 18 people while the class immediatley after sees only 4-6. This will solve that bunch up and allow our coaches to do a much better job as well as making sure everyone has enough room and there is plenty of equipment. Thanks for being patient as we navigate our growing pains and work to make this place better than ever.

WOD

A. Front Squat

3-3-3-3-3

B. Back Squat 1×20 (70-80% of your best 3 in the front squat)

C. 2 Suicide Runs (Touch and go at  kb  returning to start after touching each. )

30 Pullups

2 Suicide Runs

75 Double unders

2 Suicide Runs

(starting at the end of the driveway set kettlebells at 15 paces, 30 paces, 45 paces, and 60 paces.)

Team WOD

A. 10 Deadlifts, 30 double unders, 8 deadlifts 30 d/u, 6 deadlifts 30 d/u, 4 deadlifts 30 d/u, 2 deadlifts 30 d/u (275#/185)

Rest exactly 7 minutes

B. 21,15,9

Overhead squats (95/65)

Ring Dips

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Brett 335# x5 @ 150# bodyweight. Over 2.2%x Bodyweight for 5 reps. This is an incredible feat for a CrossFit athlete. Do the numbers for yourself. Where does a 2.2x bw put you? Mine 445#. Not yet reached…

Wow, I am so impressed with the way that everyone stood up for our awesome gals on yesterdays blog. No one can take away the community that we have developed here. It is strong and a big reason for the success that many of us has seen. Looking forward to this Saturday for an ass kicking workout and to catch up with my veterans as well as get to know some of our new athletes.

You gals tire me out. Time to shift our attention.

Standout guys as of late (that I have seen at least):

Blake: big squat the other night and some great times lately.

Bret: Huge 335# 5rm deadlift for a 153# frame. Solid.

Ian: been going for about year and half now. yes gains will come slower. but you are far from your potential.

Philip: Squat has gone up huge it looks like. Ability to endure pain as good as I have ever seen.

Andre: taken  it to the next level, not sure whats clicked but the last month I have witnessed some elite level performance from you.

Ron A. also have taken it to the next level. getting 225# overhead just big step in the right direction. double unders maybe best in gym?

Walsh: powerclean is down solid. one of the best in the box. that form will serve you well for whats coming up.

Rick: 315 for 5. remember when you first started? we have come a long way friend. still work to be done.

LJ: consistency, pullups, big weight loss. give yourself another 6 months and great things are in store.

Joshie: when you get healthy again your gonna have a breakthrough. along with philip the ability to withstand pain is incredible.

Don: welcome back. looks like your break served you well and your back with focus.

Chip: diagnosed with dinged shoulder, and yet “no poor me, this sucks, gettin to old” crap. willpower. mental fortitude. determination. we can all learn somethin from you.

Ali: you come in you do the wod. put your gear away and repeat the next day. soft spoken and huge heart.

Ryan Park: good to see you back in form. veteran and yet still comes with open ears and “gets it”

Hammer: never see you, but your name gracing my whiteboard. 6am soldier. your consistency and attitude is what i need more of.

OCC/Team WOD

Warmup: You will spend 10 minutes working on the Muscle up. If you already have one share your expertise.

10 mins max reps, consisting of the following stations:
4 minutes – Push Press (75#/55#)
3 minutes – Sumo Deadlift High Pull (75/55)
2 minutes – Muscle-ups
1 minute – Burpees

Athletes will move from one station to the next at the end of the allotted time without rest. A bonus rep will be awarded for each successful muscle-up, (1 muscle-up = 2 reps).

Post total reps to the board, as well as any substitutions.

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Piper this is seriously impressive.

Seems that alot of websites have been linking to our CrossFit Women page lately. Here is a snippet from one of those sites. I get defensive when there talking about my girls!

Re: CrossFit, it seems to me that many of their athletes self-select for above average athletic ability. I would guess that a lot of those women are genetically predisposed to athletic success, and that includes a metabolism that is capable of or favors leanness. Getting down to 15% bodyfat might be less stressful on the body of a person whose metabolism likes to stay relatively lean than for someone whose metabolism likes to hold on to bodyfat.

Many female athletes in lots of different sports have very low bodyfat levels. Not all of them suffer from it. And even if they do, at some level in many athletic activities, athletes sometimes have to decide on what kind of a tradeoff they’re willing to make between risk (injury, damage, etc.) and an edge in performance–and this applies to all athletes and all aspects of physical development, not just women and bodyfat.

What bothers me about that CrossFit page isn’t that the women cultivate low bodyfat levels. It’s that the website’s spin on their bodyfat levels suggests that these women do CrossFit because of how it makes them look rather than because it helps them perform better.

I don’t know what irks me more–the fact that these guys are using the promise of a hotter bod to sell their program (which may as well make them Bally’s Total Fitness, despite CrossFit’s stated determination to be the opposite of these kinds of mainstream fitness organizations) or the fact that it’s impossible to deny that women in general are more receptive to fitness marketing that promises them hotter bods than they are to fitness marketing that stresses performance or health. Link to the whole article here.

Thoughts?

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WOD

A1. Deadlift Find your 5RM.

(no bouncing on the deads. full 1 second pause at bottom)

then

B. AMRAP in 3 minutes of:

Power Clean 3x @70% of 1RM.

KB swings 6x

Pushups 9x

Repeat for 5 Rounds with a 1 min break bw rounds

Team WOD

A. Spend 10 min. working on kipping hspu.

B. For time:
30 Burpees
135 pound Thruster, 30 reps (85 pounds for women)
30 Chest to bar pull-ups

C. Resisted runs :20 on :40 off for 6 rounds. 100% full effort on runs.

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“300″
25x Pull-up +
50x Deadlift @ 135# +
50x Push-up +
50x Box Jump @ 24″ box +
50x Floor Wiper @ 135# (one-count) +
50x KB Clean and Press @ 36# (KB must touch floor between reps) +
25x Pull-up
300 reps total

There will be a signup on one of the whiteboards in the gym. Members may bring up to two guests. Workout starts at 12 noon and BBQ will fire up about 1pm.

Announcing the 2010 CrossFit Games. Its in Los Angeles this year. Kinda bummed they moved it from Aromas. It was so beautiful up there. It all kinda feels too corporate now. On the other hand the sport is growing so this is the next step in that direction. Also cool is that the new location makes it accesible for everyone at OCC to check it out. See CrossFit done at the highest levels by the top athletes from round the world.

WOD

A. High bar Back Squat  3-3-3-3-3

then

B. 12,9,6

Thruster 135#/95

Strict pullup

(aim to increase load on squat from last week)

Team WOD

A. Find your 1rm jerk. Take no more than 10 minutes.

then

B. Five rounds of:

225 pound Deadlift, 10 reps (155lbs for women)
10 Box jumps 24 inch box (20 inch box for women)
10 knees to elbows

C. 150 Double unders for time.

Post a, b, and c to the board.

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Holy ripped stomach’s Batman!!!

Saturday May 1st, come join us here at the box and do the “300″ workout. After enjoy beers and a bbq. Drink and eat all you want its on us! Everyone is invited to join.

This Saturday please make note. Workouts will be at 8:30 and 9:30am.

NorCal Sectionals (make sure to watch the end. Pat Barber sums up what CrossFit competition is all about)

WOD

Rest day or make up one from earlier in the week.

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Stephanie showing a nice 2nd pull and on her way to a 2nd place finish on the Orange Coast Affiliate team. She did 50 reps on that wod with her “1 rep max”. Solid.

Lots of new faces in the box lately. In fact we added about 20 new people in the last 4 weeks. Please introduce yourselves to anyone you have not met yet. It is always hard being new, so lets welcome our new athletes with open arms. Soon they will be putting up big numbers and bringing the whole box to another level.

We will be offering a Nutrition 101 seminar in the next couple of weeks stay tuned for the announcement for that. Also if you really want to get dialed in, email us about our “Kitchen Sweep”. We will come to you house, toss out all of you nonsense and go to the market with you and teach you what and how to shop. Awesome way to get dialed in and take your fitness and body comp to the next level.

WOD

4 rounds for time of:

400 m Run

30 Wallball

30 Kb swing

30 pushups

-

Team WOD

5 Rounds for time of:

-10 Front squats (155/105)

-10 Ring Dips

Rest 10 minutes

50 toes to bar for time

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