Posts Tagged ‘kiki dickson’

Max Fernandez, 2010 OC ThrowDown Men’s Elite Champion.

We’ve all been there…half a** CrossFitting.  Eating like crap, training 2 or 3 days a week, and wondering, “Why am I not seeing results??”  Well there is a formula for CrossFit Success and is goes like this – Eat Healthy, which also includes laying off the booze, and train consistently.  It is not rocket science.  It is HARD WORK, DISCIPLINE, and DEDICATION.  Those three words will take you places.  I understand that we all have our own genetic dispositions and respond differently to fitness in general but the whole point is to be fit and if you come here and throw it down, you will be fit.  There is no way you can come here regularly and NOT see results.

Yes the WoD always wins but, you will get faster, you will get stronger, and you will grow not only physically but mentally as well!  I suppose I should add that CrossFit is more than just diet and fitness, it is family.  Day in and day out we come together and share a common interest.  We sweat together and sometimes it feels like we die a lil’ together.   I say there are two ways to become instantly close with someone…you either cry together or CrossFit together!

Come Join the OCC Family…we don’t bite…well not often anyway. ~Kiki

Announcements:

Awwwwwww yeah!!  Christmas PaRtY 2011 is this Saturday at 8pm.  Rally at the Alley in your ugliest Christmas sweater, cutest elf costume, or sexiest Mrs. Clause get up!  It’ll be great to spend time with you all outside the box!

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out The ThrowDown website: www.octhrowdown.com

WoD

A. Shoulder to overhead anyway, anyhow, (155/105) 30x and every time you drop the bar, you do 5x burpees.

Rest 5 minutes

B. 5 Sets for time.

-30 total alternating Russian step ups unweighted – 24″ box

-10x Ring Dips

Mind WoD

December 2nd, 2010
The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.

Yesterday Andre posted a comment that got me thinking about how mentally sound we must be to push through these workouts…especially when we’re under pressure or under the impression the WoD was going to be “easy”. Andre explained, “I like to call those “sneaky WODS” because when you are starting round 3 and thinking to yourself what in the hell am I doing and why in the heck is this so hard? Those WODS are character buildersbecause you have an expectation of a level of intensity and difficulty and it turns out much worse than anticipated. I relay this specifically because of Kiki’s post on not sweating the small stuff. Everyone has or willexperience a character building WOD and it is during those WODS you find out what you are made of. Focus on form, cadence, breathing or anything that takes your mind off the pain and those voices in your head thatsay “I can’t or STOP”. The body has an amazing capacity for pain and endurance but the mind is what needs to be trained and that is what we work on every day.”

Here are a few tips on getting through a “Character WoD”:

Relax – You are not going to die. If you are having major anxiety about the WoD, take a step back calm yourself down, put it into perspective and then get right back into it. Even just a few moments away from the bar or rings can help you clear your mind.

Breathe – It is something we’ve been doing since the moment we entered this world. Breathe in…Breathe out…Wax On…Wax Of

Think positively – Positive thoughts can be extremely powerful. Willie Nelson said it well, “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”

Break the WoD down – If it says 20 pull-ups and pull-ups are not a strong movement for you, break the number down. Think 4 sets of 5. Give yourself numbers your mind can wrap around and execute effectively. Often times a WoD is a numbers game…what is the smartest break down of numbers I should set in order to get through it as fast as I can.

Motivation – What motivates you? Is it that six pack you want, the hot body in class next to you, or perhaps the fact that your freakin’ pants aren’t fitting. Whatever it is, keep your eye on the prize!

Keep building that muscle, metcon, and mind! Stay confident and compete like a champ. Good luck to everyone competing this Saturday we’ll be there to cheer you on ~Kiki

WoD

“Bulger”

Ten rounds of:

  • Run 150 meters
  • 7 Chest to bar pull-ups
  • 135 pound Front squat, 7 reps
  • 7 Handstand push-ups

DON’T SWEAT THE small STUFF

December 1st, 2010

He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears.  ~Montaigne, Essays, 1588

I know there are those of you who are like me…overly hard on yourself.  There are times when I get caught up in the little things and worry about things I have no control of.  Other times I worry needlessly about things I wish I could control more…like my WoDs!  As many of you know I injured my wrist a while ago when I was doing Muay Thai.  Well the injury would come and go until finally it screamed loud and clear, “Take care of me!”  So I did just that.  I babied the heck outta my wrist for two months and guess what, it’s feeling light years from where it was.  Almost healed wrist, check!  Metcon down the tubes, check!

My first unmodified WoD back I was pumped to include pull-ups!  That excitement fled quickly as I got my butt handed to me.  Not too long ago I was able to do 26 pull-ups in a row…three days ago I was struggling to link 10 pull-ups together.  My first round down I found myself getting extremely negative and hard on myself.  If you are like me, then you are your own worst critic.  In the middle of my WoD I thought of this quote, “Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weights you down.”  ~Toni Morrison.  I realized that I needed an attitude adjustment and did my best to encourage myself along just as I do for you, our hard working members.  I would never tell you, “You suck, just quit!” so why on earth would I say that to myself?  When I started with a simple, “You can do this” my WoD didn’t become easier but the metaphorical “weight” of the WoD lightened.  We all work hard in here, regardless of level, so at the end of every WoD we should be proud of ourselves.  Don’t wish you did more or pushed harder…don’t hold anything back…let it all go and finish the WoD.

People are motivated in different ways and often times positive encouragement is exactly what one needs.  Others (aka Andre) like to be yelled at and called less than flattering things (which I admit, I sometimes I enjoy, ha!).  Approach your daily WoDs with an optimistic attitude and even if you aren’t able to do it just the way you envisioned, that’s okay.  Robert Eliot makes an excellent point, ”Rule number one is, don’t sweat the small stuff.  Rule number two is, it’s all small stuff.”  All I care about is that you are giving it your all.  Don’t feel sorry for yourself…grab yourself by your bootstraps and giddy up!  Keep chipping away at that WoD.  Keep working on the skills you want and don’t forget about the rest of your bag of tricks.  Eat healthy, come consistently, and bring a good attitude…you’ll go far here at Orange Coast CrossFit.  Thank you to all of our members who bring a smile and help encourage one another. ~Kiki

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”  ~Elbert Hubbard, The Note Book, 1927

Andre wrote a really good comment below.

Announcements:

CHRISTMAS PaaaaaRTaaaaY December 11th @ 8pm.  Drinks and apps on us but you gotta dress up…wrap yourself in some lights, paint yourself red and green, or put a huge bow on your lovely head!  We’re really excited to party with you all and can’t wait to get some quality time with you outside of the box.  Time to Rally at The Alley Christmas Style. HoHoHo!!!!

OC ThrowDown!  Both Men’s Elite and Intermediate are SOLD OUT.  We are going to need lots of man power to run this event…this mean YOU!  Please register here to volunteer.  If you’re a member of OCC and not competing, we’d love to have your help!

WoD

5 Rounds of:

12x Thrusters (125/75)

Row 300m

Rest 3:00 bw rounds (Hit each round hard and fast. DO NOT PACE THIS WOD. EACH ROUND ALL OUT!)

(Post time for each round to whiteboard.)

Have a Great Thanksgiving

November 24th, 2010

Elite mens heat battle it out for that coveted claim of “Fittest Man in Orange County”

Today we will have 6, 7am, and noon classes.  We will also have a class Friday at 12 noon.

According to Merriam Webster′s Collegiate Dictionary, an athlete is “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring strength, agility, or stamina.

The CrossFit definition of an athlete is a bit tighter. We define an athlete as “a person who is trained or skilled in strength, power, balance and agility, flexibility, and endurance. The CrossFit model holds fitness, health, and athleticism as strongly overlapping constructs. For most purposes, they can be seen as equivalents.

There are three metabolic pathways that provide the energy for all human action. These “metabolic engines are known as the phosphagen pathway, the glycolytic pathway, and the oxidative pathway.The first, the phosphagen, dominates the highest-powered activities, those that last less than about ten seconds. The second pathway, the glycolytic, dominates moderate-powered activities, those that last up to several minutes. These are the “anaerobic pathways. The third pathway, the oxidative, dominates low-powered activities, those that last in excess of several minutes. This is the aerobic pathway.

Total fitness, the fitness that CrossFit promotes and develops, requires competency and training in each of these three pathways or engines. Balancing the effects of these three pathways largely determines the how and why of the metabolic conditioning or “cardio that we do at CrossFit.

Favoring one or two pathways to the exclusion of the others and not recognizing the impact of excessive training in the oxidative pathway are arguably the two most common faults in fitness training. Time domain matching of task or sport to training is the first step to effective, legitimate strength and conditioning.

WoD

A1. Deadlift 7-7-7-7

Rest :10

A2. 15 Burpees x4 sets

Rest 2:00

B. 3 Rounds for time

-10 barbell rollouts

-15 Knees to elbows

-25 Situps

Pain was their body’s way of telling them that they’d pushed themselves to their limits — which was exactly where they were supposed to be.

-Ernest Shackleton

Save the Date

November 21st, 2010

Introducing the flyer for this year’s OC Throwdown

We are excited to announce…Registration for the 2011 Orange County CrossFit ThrowDown will open at 12 noon on Tuesday November 23th!!  There are 125 spots this year and from all of the emails I’ve received this past month, I am sure they will fill up quickly!  We will be sending out an email to previous competitors with information on how to register and we will also post the info right here on Orange Coast CrossFit’s blog.  The website for the OC Throwdown is scheduled to be ready this week.  We will keep everyone posted!

Schedule for this week:  We will be CLOSED on THANKSGIVING and on the following friday the 26th there will not be any AM classes.

WoD

Round 1:

Max Thrusters in 3:00 (135/85)

Row 500m

Rest 5 minutes

Round 2:

Max Power Snatch in 3:00 (105/75)

Row 500m

Rest 5 minutes

Round 3:

Max Double Unders in 3:00

500m Row

Each round will have two scores: total reps in 3:00 and total time to complete each round.

Why Fitness?

November 16th, 2010

Our good friend Lamarr Smith of CrossFit Next Level Performance…looking a lil soft. You would never train with a fat trainer right? So come on Lamarr!! lay off the sweets and get into the gym! You gotta set an example for your members.

Two years ago I opened the door to this place because I wanted to have a place to create elite fitness. Not just drop a few pounds, that’s what LA Boxing is for. But a place to develop a fitness that is extraordinary and absolute. We have that. Orange Coast CrossFit is equipped with every tool needed to complete every single CrossFit workout as Rxd. That means that we can deliver the CrossFit programming pure to our athlete’s without substitutions. At OCC we are PURE CrossFit and I am very proud of this.

So why Fitness? Why spend all this time on improving our the physical domain. Coach Glassman says that the gym is a “testing ground for improving the will” and I agree with him. He goes on to say that, “CrossFitters see physical education as a primary vehicle for teaching virtues essential for achievement. For us, the world of physical challenge and achievement have become metaphors for harvesting life’s riches and battling its plagues…For CrossFitters, highly developed human performance is art and personal participation in these art, at all skill levels, is a transcendent experience.”

Here is the full article here. One that I printed out a few years back and have been drawn back to many times. Check it out!

WoD

A. Power clean 5-5-5 (keep hands on the bar at all times, no more than a 2 second pause at the floor. This is not 5 singles!)

B. Complete as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
400 meter run
5 Deadlifts

(Deadlift weight is up to each athlete. Go as heavy as you can. Aim for 4+ rounds. Below are some of the top CrossFit athletes results for todays wod.)

Rob Orlando 405lbs, 5 rounds + 3 deads.
Tim Burke 405lbs, 5 rounds + 300m.
Pat Sherwood 405lbs, 5 rounds + 100m.
Kevin Montoya 345-415lbs, 5 rounds.
Rebecca Voigt 285lbs, nearly 5 rounds.
E.C. Synkowski 195lbs, 4 rounds + 300m.
Dave Lipson 500lbs, 4 rounds.

Sweet tooth…

November 15th, 2010

Sugar is BIG business. The average American consumes an astounding 2-3 pounds of sugar each week. In the last 20 years, we have increased sugar consumption in the U.S. 26 pounds to 135 lbs. of sugar per person per year!

These past couple weeks we’ve been getting the “What should I eat?” question.  What we put into our bodies is extremely important and directly correlates with our output.  If we put peanut butter into a brand new vehicle, that thing isn’t going anywhere!  Same goes for our bodies…if we’re eating fast food and things that never go bad, like twinkies, then we are in trouble!  Think about it, if there is something that has been sitting on the shelf for six months and still has 5 more years of shelf life, how can we expect our bodies to process that?  Almost everything we eat should be able to go bad and/or die.  CrossFit has kept it simple with the following:

What Should I Eat?
“In plain language, base your diet on garden vegetables, especially greens, lean meats, nuts and seeds, little starch, and no sugar. That’s about as simple as we can get. Many have observed that keeping your grocery cart to the perimeter of the grocery store while avoiding the aisles is a great way to protect your health. Food is perishable. The stuff with long shelf life is all suspect. If you follow these simple guidelines you will benefit from nearly all that can be achieved through nutrition.”

Sugar is probably the hardest thing to kick as it is practically in EVERYTHING!  Dr. David Reuben, author of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Nutrition says, “…white refined sugar-is not a food. It is a pure chemical extracted from plant sources, purer in fact than cocaine, which it resembles in many ways. Its true name is sucrose and its chemical formula is C12H22O11.

It has 12 carbon atoms, 22 hydrogen atoms, 11 oxygen atoms, and absolutely nothing else to offer.” …The chemical formula for cocaine is C17H21NO4. Sugar’s formula again is C12H22O11. For all practical purposes, the difference is that sugar is missing the “N”, or nitrogen atom. …Refining means to make “pure” by a process of extraction or separation. Sugars are refined by taking a natural food, which contains a high percentage of sugar, and then removing all elements of that food until only the sugar remains. Studies show that “sugar” is just as habit-forming as any narcotic; and its use, misuse, and abuse is our nation’s number one disaster.

We know that glucose and vitamin C have similar chemical structures, so what happens when the sugar levels go up? They compete for one another upon entering the cells. And the thing that mediates the entry of glucose into the cells is the same thing that mediates the entry of vitamin C into the cells. If there is more glucose around, there is going to be less vitamin C allowed into the cell. It doesn’t take much: a blood sugar value of 120 reduces the phagocytic index by 75%. So when you eat sugar, think of your immune system slowing down to a crawl.

Here are a few helpful articles.

The Reclassification of Sugar as a Drug

Juice as bad as soda

This article gives a decent list of names for sugar on ingredients lists.  Disclaimer: Not a fan a stevia or any other “wonder” subsitute! Nor do I think “taking it slow” is the best idea because there will never be an easy time to “quit”.  Some good explanations under the comments sections why sugar substitutes are not okay!

Also on a side note, just because something says all natural or organic does not mean it is good for you.  I once had a friend who ate a ton of cookies from Trader Joe’s all the time.  She thought because they were all natural and organic that they were a-okay…NOT.

What are your thoughts?  Also any tips, such as recipes, for the newbs who are just starting out? – post to comments

WoD

Press 1-1-1-1

Push Press 1-1-1-1

Split Jerk 1-1-1-1

We’re Engaged!!!

November 14th, 2010

No this is not Big Sur, it’s Cabo. We just got in and have not yet downloaded our pics.

Its official, after spending three days cruising up the coast to Big Sur, we’re ENGAGED!!! and very excited. We wanted to let all of the members know at Orange Coast CrossFit because each of you is important to us and we wanted to share this exciting time with you. We look forward to seeing you at the Box this week! Also a big shout out to Justin V., Hammer, and Chris G. who also recently dropped the Benjamin’s on their ladies. Not only will you get fit at OCC but perhaps you might even find love. ;) Sorry to get all sappy on the blog but we couldn’t help it….

Announcements:

The 2011 OC ThrowDown website will be up and running shortly. For all of those CrossFitters who have emailed us, you will be able to register soon. Check back for announcements.

Next Level Invitational happening on December 4th, if you’re competing keep up the hard work. If you want to watch go here to buy your tickets.

Remember November 20th we are headed down to South County with NLP to continue our friendly inter gym competition.

WoD

“She said yes!!!”

In teams of two, complete three rounds of:

200 proposals

30 jumps for joy

Dash to the alter


Wednesday, November 10th

November 10th, 2010

Max Fernandez showing great speed under the bar. If you think, “Drive yourself down, dont drive the bar up”, you will add #s to your jerks.

This mornings classes will be with Derek Fay who comes to us from CrossFit Brea. He will be helping out with the Wednesday and Thursday morning classes while we gear up for the OC Throwdown. Derek has been coaching CrossFit for the last three years, including an internship with Josh Everett at the University of Riverside.

Announcements:

~This Saturday there will not be a 10am class.  9am will be the time to catch a WoD and then at 10am we’re having another Back to Basics workshop!  Muscle Ups, Handstand Push-Ups, Kipping and Butterfly Pull-Ups will all be a part of the hour long workshop.  Afterwards head to the CrossFit Expo.  For info on the Expo look on our calendar located to the right.

~November 20th we will be head to CrossFit South County along with NLP to continue the rotation and get in an awesome WoD!!  Be sure to save the date as we’d love to see you there!

~We’ve got a sweet design for our new tanks, t-shirts, and sweatshirts.  We’d like to get an idea of who would like what and which sizes.  Feel free to post to comments or let us know when we see you at the box.

WoD

A. 3 Rounds of

20 Burpees

20 Chest to bar pullups

Rest 5:00

B. 3 Rounds of

350m Row

18x Ring Dips

Mobility…don’t lose it

November 7th, 2010

OCC, NLP, and CF South County come together for a friendly CrossFit match.

Mobility

We all know how much mobility can effect our lifting and overall performance, but often don’t know how to address the problems we run across. I have been searching for GOOD info to guide me.  Well, I finally found it – CrossFit specific too.  Kelley Starrett [owner of Crossfit SF], is a DPT and the source of the best info I have run across has  a great “mobility WOD” blog.  Now its not just a few [too few] lectures, but daily movements focusing on specific areas and ‘issues’. There is great lift specific stuff here, great for pre WOD work as well as ‘extra curricular’. You can check out this excellent site here.

History of the Tabata Interval

Credit for this simple and powerful training method belongs to its namesake, Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan. Their groundbreaking 1996 study, published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise, provided documented evidence concerning the dramatic physiological benefits of high-intensity intermittent training. After just 6 weeks of testing, Dr. Tabata noted a 28% increase in anaerobic capacity in his subjects, along with a 14% increase in their ability to consume oxygen (V02Max). These results were witnessed in already physically fit athletes. The conclusion was that just four minutes of Tabata interval training could do more to boost aerobic and anaerobic capacity than an hour of endurance exercise.

Although Dr. Tabata used a mechanically braked exercise cycle machine, you can apply this protocol to almost any exercise. For example, a basic Tabata workout can be performed with sit-ups. The more muscles used the better, so use full knees-bent sit-ups. Sit-up non-stop for 20-second intervals, followed by 10 seconds of rest. Repeat for a total of 8 cycles.

New photos up in the gallery. Check em out!

WoD

“In Yo Face Tabata”

For the following movements perform :20 work followed immediately by :10 rest for 8 rounds. Score is the lowest number of reps per movement, and time for the final 400m run.

Front Squat (75/45) Must hold bar in rack position for entire time.

Rest 1:00

V ups

Rest 1:00

SDLHP (75/45)

Rest 2:00

Push Press (75/45)

Rest 1:00

Double Unders

…..then go right into a 400m run