This past Saturday (Jan 11, 2014), the crew from CrossFit by BodyFit came by Intrepid as part of their Strongman Affiliate Tour for a three hour Strongman clinic.  Kevin, Meagan, and crew were awesome taking the 13 of us through various basic Strongman movements.  The first round of stations saw us learning to lift, lap, shoulder, and press kegs (one of Ruth and I’s favorite movements); farmer carrying some crazy heavy weight using the farmer carry handles (Amanda owned the farmer carry station and received kudos from the Strongman coaches); and deadlifting using the fat bars to help strengthen our grip (Coach Marcus was a natural…go figure).

After a quick break everyone came back for some work with the yokes.  The Strongman Affiliate Tour brought one yoke of their own, so we had three yokes total were moving back and forth across the gym.  Each was a slightly different height and the loads got heavier and heavier with each successful carry across and back.  Everyone definitely challenged their limits with heavy walks, but some of the more impressive carries came from Erik, Holley, and Randy (nice job guys!).

Again, after a quick break we rolled out the Atlas stones (literally).  This was our first chance to break in the stones Erik and I made over the past couple of months, and the Strongman Affiliate Tour folks brought a bunch of their own too.  The movement of lifting, lapping, and shouldering the stones reminded me of the way we lifted the kegs earlier in the day, but the stones were much tougher.  Not only were there some sharp and rugged parts of the stones that cut and scratched (making the movement uncomfortable), but the general size and shape of the stones made the movement awkward and challenging.  Everyone was up to the challenge and started with lighter stones, progressively making our way heavier and heavier with each successful shouldering.  Several of the ladies attempted the 115# stone coming very close to getting it up, and a few of the guys made it to the 170# stone.  For most of us the larger diameter of the stones proved to be more challenging than the actual weight of the stone, and most of us kept losing our hold. Before wrapping up the event the coaches put together a quick conditioning workout for everyone of AMRAP 4:  3 stone to shoulders & 7 burpees…brutal (see Nathania’s Facebook video).

All in all, everyone had a great time. A huge thanks go out to the coaches from CrossFit by BodyFit who drove from San Jacinto to put on a great clinic for us. A special thanks to Kevin, Robin, and Meagan for organizing and coordinating everything making our lives a lot easier. At the end of the day everyone has a solid foundation on moving odd objects and carrying heavy junk. This coming Saturday (Jan 18th), CrossFit Ethos in Laguna Hills is hosting the CrossFit Strongman seminar. This one day event will go into more detail on the movements covered on Saturday and a few more new ones. Coach Marcus and Coach Ruth are attending and if interested see this link for details and registration. Some of the Strongman Affiliate Tour coaches will likely be helping run this seminar as well.

One final Strongman note. With interest building, we will likely open a Strongman class in the coming weeks. One to two classes per week where the focus is on lifting heavy junk, moving odd objects, and perhaps short intense conditioning sessions in true Strongman fashion. More details to follow on pricing and times, but once Ruth and Marcus come back from this Saturday’s seminar we’ll put our heads together and put together a great program here at Intrepid. More details to come soon on Intrepid Strongman, so stay tuned!

A very happy birthday to Brian, one of our original Intrepids!

WOD 1.13.14
Push Press 2-2-2

“Helen”+1
4 Rounds For Time:
400m Run
21 KB Swings
12 Pull-ups

Many of the long time Intrepid athletes have participated in a few nutrition challenges. Changing the way we think about eating while keeping a journal of what foods do to our body when reintroduced after ‘reseting’ our systems. Obviously this is a nutrition challenge, but why not make it into something more? Have you started taking fish oils regularly? Do you sometimes skip a day here and there? Why not incorporate things you do on a semi daily basis into a daily routine? For instance, I take a Vitamin D supplement. But every day? Well, I’m certainly not 100% on top of my game. For this round of the Intrepid Nutrition Challenge, not only am I dialing in my diet, I will be dialing in my minerals and supplementations. No more ‘Oh it’s Sunday, I can relax’ attitude. Game on all the time! Rolling stretching and meditating are also very simple and realistic add on goals for those who like to push their challenge limits.

I encourage you to pick something small and fairly simple that you can do everyday. You may already be doing it, but step it up a little bit and see where it gets you in 60 days. And my advice to all is to have fun during the challenge and explore new food options you may not have considered before. Keep a weathered eye out for more Veggie:101 and Fruit:101 posts. Good luck to all the participants, be happy!

01.12.14 REST DAY

Earlier this week it was mentioned that the Endurance Classes will be brought back to the gym. Most likely the main focus will be on running. Sprint repeats and 5ks will just be some of the fun stuff that will be worked on. Certain skills and drills will also be touched on to help running technique and recovery. The beauty of these classes will be that you don’t have to go out and train for hours upon hours. Back in my cross country days we would have weeks where we would have to accumulate 80-100 miles just to build a base. These endurance classes along with our standard Crossfit classes will allow you to still build a solid base as well as performing at a high level. I’ve read plenty of articles about Crossfit Endurance athletes that specifically work on endurance related movements twice a week and also do Crossfit workouts three times a week. Their results…PRs! Even in our own gym we had a young lady who would run about 10-15 miles twice a week, training for a marathon. The other three days she would be working on strength and conditioning. She ended up running her fastest marathon. I believe she was about 30 minutes faster than her previous time. In that previous marathon she trained by running high amounts of miles.

Whichever running event(s) you are training for, a mud run or a marathon, these endurance classes will be helpful. The annual Run for Education El Segundo 5k will be here in March and that might be a good opportunity for our athletes to try out.  In May there will be a very competitive Mud Run taking place in Santa Barbara where the team with the best time wins prizes. That also may be a fun event to participate in. During track season high schools and colleges often hold an “open meet.” Meaning anyone can sign up.  I can picture an Intrepid relay team giving the high schoolers a run for their money.  It would be fun just to have Intrepid go to an event like that.

These Endurance Classes have a lot of potential.  Swimming and biking fall under the endurance category as well. It would be awesome to get Intrepids to train at the local pool. There are plenty of ideas to explore with endurance related activities.

Remember to sign up and reserve your spot! Endurance classes start on Jan 15^th.

WOD 01.11.13

Strongman Clinic

Since you are embarking on the Whole 30 Nutrition Challenge on Monday, January 13th I thought it’d be appropriate to re-post this for your last minute weekend preparations.  If you haven’t already done so, use this weekend to clear out your refrigerators and pantries of all items that may tempt you to cheat. Our veteran Whole 30 folks can tell you that if there’s (insert favorite cheat food here) anywhere in the house, you will be prone to failure. Don’t set yourself up to be in that dilemma because all it takes is one moment of weakness or one rough day at work and you will convince yourself that you deserve that cheat.

Once you’ve cleared out the bad stuff, make a meal plan for your week. If you prepare now, you’ll be less likely to starve from not knowing what to eat or worse, resort to the closest poor food choice. Make this challenge work for you and do the prep work. Hit the market and stock up on meats, eggs, seasonings, oils, and nuts. You can also pick up some fruits and veggies but I wouldn’t stockpile them unless you are planning on using them immediately.

Since you are all doing the Whole 30 this time around, peruse their website to get inspiration from other folks who have done the challenge. You’ll find so many great resources on their site from recipes to testimonials to shopping guides. If this is your first time doing the Whole 30, there is a fantastic post on a day-to-day guide of what to expect while on the Whole 30. If you need something a little more in depth, you can purchase their book, “It Starts With Food.”

Take the time this weekend to prepare yourself for this challenge. We want all of you to succeed but you will have to take the time to do your homework. If you know you won’t have time during the week to cook, make your meals over the weekend and divide them into containers. Yes, it can be that simple. Just as you put so much hard work into your WODs, training day in and day out, put as much hard work into the food you consume and succeed in this challenge.

For those that will be traveling during the challenge here are a few helpful posts to get you through:

Paleo on the Fly, A Flight Attendant’s Perspective

Urban Paleo Forager-LAX Edition

Review: Rx Bar

Paleo Away From Home

WOD 01.10.2014

Snatch 3 x 3

Then, 3 Rounds for time:

• 4 Deadlifts (315/205)**
• 8 ring dips
• 40 double unders

** Scale to 70-80% of 1RM

This past weekend I participated in my first USAW sanctioned Olympic Weightlifting meet. I’d like to take the time today to share my experience with all of you. Maybe just one of you will catch the weightlifting bug.

First of all, I’ll admit it was a bit of a challenge to get back into training after the holidays. After more than a week off at home, it was a challenge to dive right back into training (even eating a very clean diet at home). However, I definitely don’t regret kick starting my year with something to get me motivated to improve for the rest of the year.

In the week leading up to the meet, it was a lot of skill work at fairly light weights to reinforce only perfect movement. We also spent more time on areas of the lifts that I was uncomfortable, such as getting under the bar with my head through for the snatch, to give me more confidence on the day of the meet. The hard part of that week was the mental side of things. In the week before a meet, there’s not really any opportunity to make major changes to technique, so it’s important not to over-think your lifts. For me, this was the hardest part. Constant problem solving is my day job and it’s really hard to shut that side of my brain off. Plus, it was kind of hard to watch everyone else doing metcons and working on other skills without being allowed to join in. After training, I would go home and spend the rest of the nights working on mobility.

I’ll be honest, that week was really tough. All I wanted to do was work on more skills and strengthening work to get better, but I had to be patient. At this point, I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to do the meet or any meets anymore.

The night before the meet I did some mobility work without overdoing it. I also tried to distract myself with anything and everything that would prevent me from thinking too much about the lifts. I ate dinner relatively early and tried to get about 9 hours of sleep that night, enough to feel very well rested without feeling too lethargic.

When you go to a meet, you weigh in about two hours before the lifting begins. I am pretty close to the top of my weight class, so I didn’t eat or drink anything before weigh in. However once I weighed in, I ate whatever nerves allowed. I managed to get in some fat and carbs, and a little bit of my SFH protein shake. By the time I went into warm ups, I was feeling hydrated and fueled, without being too stuffed.

I was very nervous all morning, and everyone wanted to talk about our opening attempts, PRs, etc. Ruth and Sean told me not to think about it, so I tried to avoid those conversations as much as possible and just enjoy watching the junior and masters lifters compete. Sean was my coach for the day, so once he got there he instructed me on when to start working on mobility, when to start warming up, loaded my bar and told me exactly when to do lifts and how many. Being so inexperienced and having the ability to trust Sean so well, it was much easier than I thought to turn my brain off and just do what he said. Right before I went to do my official lifts, Sean had me do some light weight skill work with the couple of cues I needed to focus on, and that would be my routine before each lift. My nerves were so bad heading up to the platform that I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to focus. However, when I stepped onto the platform that all went away. I had my cues in mind and it was time to lift that weight in front of me.

The cues Sean selected for me worked very well and I hit my first two lifts for both snatch and clean and jerk with confidence. While I missed both of my third lifts, which were PR attempts, they felt much better than previous PR attempts…and of course made me hungry for more lifting. By the end of the meet, my attitude went from I don’t know if I want to do these, to when can I sign up for the next one!?

Fortunately for all of you, there’s another informal meet coming up at the end of January at CF Code 3. Be sure to talk with Ruth or Sean if you’re interested in trying this out, and be prepared to dedicate some time to just Olympic lifting. We’re extremely lucky to have coaches as well educated and dedicated as Ruth and Sean, so I highly recommend taking advantage of their coaching and knowledge.

With that long-winded post, I’ll leave you all with a great pointer from olympic lifting coach, Diane Fu. Follow her on Facebook, she posts great quick pointers all the time: https://www.facebook.com/FuBarbell

“When initially learning how to full snatch/clean, many new lifters will loosely dive into the hole and count on the bar being in balance with their bodies. Learning how to meet and fix the bar before sitting to depth will not only make the transition into the bottom smoother, it will also prevent the bar from crashing down into the rack. A smooth and seamless transition from the point at which the bar is fixed and then ridden down into the bottom should be of primary focus.”

- FuBarbell

WOD 01.09.14

Skills Day

Happy Birthday Linda!

This year there will be two categories for the challenge: Body Composition and Performance.  The mandatory requirements for both categories will be:

• Fill out entry form and pay entry fee of $85 (pays for the dunk as well as the prize for the winner(s) of each category)
• Get dunked this Monday (or within a week of the start date if necessary) and at the end of the challenge in mid-March
• Complete a Whole 30 starting January 13th.  The following 30 days, reintroduce foods systematically and note any adverse reactions.  Keep a food log (method TBD, but will probably be online via closed Facebook group or something similar) for all 60 days.
• Participate in all 4-6 benchmark workouts (To be done Mon, Wed, Fri of next week).  Powerlifting members will participate in modified version.  Your performance in the initial benchmarks will also be ranked, so sandbagging will inevitably hurt you in more ways than one.  Accommodations and substitutions will be made for injuries on a case by case basis.

Body Composition Challenge:

This category will focus on the loss of body fat as well as the gain of lean muscle mass.  Before and after pics are mandatory (full body pics from the front, side, and back) and should be taken with a digital time stamp within two days of the start date.  Keep the photos for your own reference, but should you win, we may ask for them to post as a success story.

Performance Challenge:

This category will focus on improvement in multiple modalities: strength, speed, strength to bodyweight ratio, endurance, etc.   Your results will be heavily weighted on your benchmark workouts, both before and after.   Food logs are mandatory but should also include notes of how the food may/may not have impacted your performance.

Post any Challenge related questions to comments.  Save the nutrition questions for Marcus’ Q&A to be held after the Strongman Seminar this Saturday at the gym.  Please pick up your Whole 30 booklets in the office if you are participating in the challenge and did not get one last year.

A warm happy birthday to Linda, one of our morning regulars! She always has a big ol’ smile on her face, even when doing 75 burpees with a cold while Jake yelled at her (just kidding, Jake!). Here’s to a new year full of PRs, Linda!

WOD 01.08.14

3 Rounds:
800m Run
3 Rope Climbs (sub 9 ring rows)
30 Sit Ups

This year, however, I hope you enter into this challenge by committing to choose quality nutrition. Adopt the attitude of including good quality foods and not merely excluding “bad” ones. Actively seek out foods that will make you healthiest. If it doesn’t make you healthier, it doesn’t make it into your shopping cart.

This is your chance to re-prioritize how you shop for your food. Whole 9 Life posted a fantastic and thought-provoking article today about being a conscious omnivore. Dallas pointed out:

Americans spend the smallest percentage of their income on food of any country in the world. A few decades ago, Americans spent three or four times as much on food (by percentage) as they do now. So consumers demand cheap meat and are willing to turn a blind eye to how that meat is produced, and unscrupulous companies are willing to produce and sell large amounts of that industrially-produced meat to consumers at progressively lower prices—but at great cost.

I understand financially it can be challenging to eat pastured, organic, grass-fed, locally grown, etc. However, I challenge you to prioritize your spending. As a culture we are willing to spend a lot of money on what we put on our bodies (clothing, makeup, accessories, shoes, etc), but balk at spending over Costco prices on what we put in our bodies.

You’ll find a routine of planning, shopping, and cooking this month and most likely try foods and recipes you never would have otherwise.  Try ordering from our grass-fed beef CSA, J&J Beef.  Get notifications from Whole Foods to stay up on sales on their grass-fed or pastured meat.  Are you a conscious omnivore?  Do you participate in CSAs, go to local farmers’ markets?  What works for you?

WOD 01.07.13

Bench Press 3×5

Time cap: 12 Minutes

7 Rounds
3 Cleans (205/135)
4 Handstand Push Ups (25#plates)

*can be power or full clean

Compare with 7.23.13

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard athletes say something to effect of, “If only I’d learned this when I was younger,” eluding to the fact that young minds and bodies typically learn at a much more rapid pace than their adult counterparts.  This idea rings true with movement just as much as it does with learning language, math, or any other information.  Just about all of you have exposure to CrossFit and have some experience with the Olympic lifts the Snatch and the Clean & Jerk, and can probably empathize with the, “If only I’d learned this when I was younger,” statement mentioned above.

For this reason, and many others, we are excited to begin offering Youth Weightlifting classes at least once per week.  Our approach to teaching Youth WL will follow this progression:  focus first on learning the important positions in the sport of Weightlifting;  learn the transition between one position to the next; and finally, challenging students who demonstrate control and consistency with resistance (weighted bar).

The idea that children should avoid resistance training is out-dated and, frankly, inaccurate.  Research has shown that exposing children to compound, full range of motion movements not only improves their physical development but their mental development as well.  At the gym that teaches the CrossFit Kids certification, they routinely hold study halls post workout because the brain is in a state to store and recall information more effectively.  Although the Youth WL class will focus more on learning the Snatch and Clean & Jerk, the final part of the class will vary between conditioning, flexibility, and other relevant areas geared towards enhancing your children’s development.  However, one of the major differences between our CF Kids and the Youth WL classes besides the obvious, is that the class will not conclude with a “game”.

Youth Weightlifting classes will run no longer than 45 minutes, are currently limited to 6 children, and are open to children 8 years old and above (younger children will be accepted on a case by case basis). At this time Youth WL classes will be held at either 4pm or 5pm depending on coaches’ availability, so be sure to check the schedule as we’ll keep it as up to date as possible. To stay current with the latest CF Kids and Youth Weightlifting information here at Intrepid, please contact myself or Ruth, and we’ll add you to our email distribution list. This week’s class is scheduled for Friday at 4pm, so please sign up your child and take advantage of our new program by following this link!

Our CrossFit Kids and our Youth Weightlifting programs will share a membership, so an unlimited membership ($100/month) or a 10-class punch card ($120/$150) will apply for both classes.  Also, for those of you with multiple little ones you have the option to share a punch card between them.  Contact Ruth or I with any questions regarding our CrossFit Kids or Youth Weightlifting programs.

2014 Nutrition Challenge Details:

• The duration will be only 60 days this time around!  Strict Whole 30 the first month (mandatory), and reintroduction the second month.  Entry fee of $85, which covers both dunks, must be paid before Monday 1/13.
• The Body Fat dunk, before and after, are mandatory – 1st Dunk on Mon, Jan 13th (sign-up at gym on time sheet)
• Food logs will be required, details to come (mandatory)
• For the final 30 days, meals should still follow a Good Food template, but you are encouraged to experiment with reintroduction of foods — no binges, though! (mandatory)
• Marcus will be holding another free Q&A session this Saturday, the 11th, immediately following the Strongman workshop.
• In the meantime grab a Nutrition booklet from one of the coaches and check out the Whole30 site for more information on the guidelines for the first 30 days of the challenge

WOD 1.06.14
Back Squat 5-5-5

AMRAP 10
8 Pull Ups
8 Burpee Pistols (4 per leg)
8 Box Jumps

*A burpee pistol is a burpee followed immediately by a pistol. No jump is required between burpee and pistol. You may land on one leg in the bottom of a pistol if you choose, or you can stand up from your burpee and then perform a pistol.

Left Leg- Front, Side (Green outline highlights the IT Band), Rear

What it do baby boo?
Luckily for you I don’t actually speak like that, therefore the post won’t be written like that. ‘Let’s talk about bands baby, lets talk about the I.T., let’s talk about all the good things and the bad things that move me.’ (Salt ‘n Peppa; sorry, couldn’t help it). The IT band stabilizes the knee and in conjunction with surrounding muscles controls the abduction, extension and rotation of the hip.

Where you at?
The IT band, properly called the iliotibial tract is a large strand of connective tissue found on the lateral part of the thigh. Put your arms by your sides and hands naturally fall at the mid point of the IT band. It originates at the iliac crest of the pelvis and continues down to Gerdy’s tubercle. Gerdy’s tubercle is fun way of saying the outside part of the tibia bone just below the knee joint.

I got 99 problems and my IT might be one.
Runners, cyclist and athletes who increase their activity dramatically are at risk for Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS or ITBFS, for Iliotibial Band Friction Syndrome). This condition can also be aggravated by abnormal gait, muscle imbalances or musculoskeletal positions. The IT band becomes irritated and inflamed. It may be a sharp pain in the thigh or above the knee region or a gradual pain over time. It can be treated with resting and icing after being diagnosed properly by a physician.

The IT band moves much more than you would think. The band, as resilient as it is, takes a huge beating as it rubs every time we take a step. It moves from the back of the femur to the front when our leg swings, adjusts to stabilize the knee when we land and expands and contracts with flexion of the knee. It does a lot of work and it isn’t even a muscle, just a thick band of fibers!

“You be rollin, you hatin’. But rollin is how get to train so dirty. You get to train so dirty . . . “ (rap with Chamillionare)
How can we help keep ourselves pain free and happy? For one always listen to your body and avoid overtraining. Two, watch this wonderful video of K-Starr of Mobility WOD and don’t make a pain face. Three, roll and smash out the tightness of the surrounding muscle groups. A great stretch you can do everyday is the downward dog or 3-legged dog. The 3 legged dog is for advanced yoga practitioners and involves picking one leg up off the floor. Keep your posterior chain happy and pain free.

01.05.14 REST DAY

Photo by Human Movement Management

In October 2012 the first ever zombie themed 5k made its way to Temecula, CA. Run for Your Lives was an instant hit when it was created back in 2011 by Reed Street Productions (RSP). Toward the end of 2013 RSP had planned to cancel its last 4 remaining races of the year without warning. At the time participants received emails about the cancellation and said, “For refunds please contact your bank directly.” The reason RSP decided to pull out of the last 4 races was due to low attendance as well as increased competition during the events. I assume the runners were taking it too far/serious. Within the last few weeks the event has been under new management by Human Movement Management and they are looking to reboot the zombie 5k. They have already filled the 2014 calendar with races around the US. Luckily, Southern California is part of that list.

On March 22 the city of Pomona will be hosting the new and improved Zombie Run. The first thing I noticed about the event is that there are now 2 races at each venue. The first is called Extreme and you will be subject to 3.1 miles of running along with 8-10 obstacles all the while dodging zombies. It does sound tough, but fun. For those who want to take it to the next level can choose to participate in the other race, Black Ops. Now Black Ops has the same challenges as the first race, but now you will be running at night. The course will be fire lit and the element of fear will definitely be taken up a notch. The good thing about both races is that the price is the exact same. If you are looking to run and survive the event you have to pay $75. If interested in volunteering as a zombie then the price is $40. Prices remain the same until February 15.

I have no problem organizing an Intrepid team to participate in The Zombie Run. Post to comments or talk to me directly if you are interested. Pomona is less than an hour away so the commute will not be bad at all!

WOD 01.04.2013

Teams of 4, complete 3 Rounds of:

• 20 Sledgehammers
• 20 Box Jumps
• 15 Pull Ups
• 10 Manmakers

*20 Min Cap, Ladder Style