Better Have a Game Plan

Teams of 2 complete the following:

Run 2400 meters

150 Burpees

With your partner, come up with a game plan to tackle this WOD!

Machine Mike and Mesh talk a little strategy.

I was talking to one of our athletes the other day about the importance of game planning workouts.  Although CrossFit workouts are intended to be lung burning, muscle churning affairs, blasted through as fast as possible, it’s still a good idea to have a plan in place before you here 3, 2, 1…

First off, set up your area.  Precious seconds can be saved if you set up your equipment in a logical order that allows for smooth transitions and little lost time.  Obviously, with a crowded gym of people this is not always feasible, but do the best you can without being a major pain in the butt to others.  Every second counts right?  Secondly, look at what the workout calls for and figure out your strengths and weaknesses.  Very few of us can blast through a WOD without stopping a few times to suck in some air and give our muscles a chance to rest.  So think ahead of time as to when you might want to take that quick rest or how you might break up a high rep exercise to keep yourself from going into full muscle fatigue.  Lastly, don’t be afraid to alter your plan mid-WOD. Sometimes you grab that barbell and it feels twice as heavy as it usually does-time to adjust that rep scheme.  Or conversely, you finish that 800 m run and aren’t winded at all-time to get on that pull-up bar and start going!

One of the tricks I like to use when I know I’m going to have to break up a set during a WOD is to take the number required, lets just say 10 deadlifts at 315 lbs, and get more than half the first time I pick up the bar.  In this case it would be 6 or more.  That way, no matter how brutal those first 6 reps were, I know that I only have 4 to go.  Because if I only get 5 the first time I picked up the bar and they all sucked, I know I’ve got to do it all over again to finish.  I like to think of it as going downhill.  Just a little something that helps me deal with the mental aspect of our workouts.

What do you do to mentally prepare before a workout?  Do you game plan every WOD or fly by the seat of your pants?  Post thoughts to comments.-CN

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Get your friends and family down to the box today at 11:00 am for our free intro class.  The new On-Ramp session starts Monday, August 2nd!

Time To Chill

The main site calls for a Rest Day.  We will be doing some skills testing for anyone interested but you’ll have to show up to find out which ones.

Don’t forget that today at 9:45 am, Julie M. brings her magical powers of relaxation to the box.  If you haven’t attended one of her Yoga classes yet than you’re missing out.  So get in there and make a little “chill” time for yourself.

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Another On-Ramp session is starting this Monday, August 2nd.  Tell your friends and family to come to Saturday’s free intro class at 11:00 am to give ARCFit a try.  That way if they like it they can start fresh on Monday instead of waiting for the next On-Ramp session in September. Good plan I’d say…

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Kat wanted me to remind everyone that American River CrossFit is on Facebook.  She posts lots of new pictures of you guys/gals everyday that you can wow your friends and co-workers with.

Technical Difficulties

“Isabel”

Snatch, 30 reps (135/95)

A nice short one today after all of that running.  Scale accordingly and don’t sacrifice sound technique for speed.  As Chad likes to say, the magic is in the movements.  Once you’ve finished, take time to recover and then work on a weakness.  Feel free to hit up one of the coaches for advice/help/a spot/phsycological counseling/or to learn the inner workings of the Costco photo department.  That’s what we’re here for!  Take the last 10-15 minutes of class to stretch and foam roll.

Here is what you have to look forward to today:  WOD Demo with Miranda, Chris and Mary – video [wmv] [mov]

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Sorry for the lack of photos and uninspired posts the last few days but Comcast has been killing me lately!  For whatever reason at about 10:00 pm, we lose all internet, television and phone service.  This is not ideal, considering my work schedule prevents me from posting until later in the evening.  Isn’t it interesting that the nightly fireworks show at the State Fair start’s at 10:00 pm?  Coincidence?…I think not!  Hopefully the problem gets resolved soon, thanks for bearing with us.  I’m open to any suggestions from the techno-geeks out there…

So instead you get something from my archives, not entirely relevant to getting stronger but damn funny nonetheless!  http://www.break.com/index/major_drug_bust.html

That Age Old Question?

Run 5 k

One of the hardest questions to answer in less than 5 minutes is “What is CrossFit?”  Here is a pretty cool video from CrossFit Overload that goes a long way toward answering that question in a short period of time.  Share this video with your non-CrossFitting friends to give them an idea of what we do.

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E got to do "Roy" for her 31st birthday! Thanks for being understanding Randy...

Skills Test

Travis driving out of the hole!

Today we’re working on 3 lifts for the skills test (deadlift, press, back squat). Each movement is categorized into levels as beginner, intermediate, advance, and elite. Complete each lift the best you can to find out what catergory you fall into. Rest and recover as needed between movements. Don’t forget to bring your log books because we will be testing again in 3 months for these movements.

Deadlift

Beginner-3/4x bodyweight
Intermediate-1 1/2x bodyweight
Advance- 2x bodyweight
Elite-2 1/2x bodyweight

Shoulder Press

Beginner-1/4x bodyweight
Intermediate-1/2x bodyweight
Advance-3/4x bodyweight
Elite-1x bodyweight

Back Squat

Beginner-50 free squats (no stopping)
Intermediate-1x bodyweight
Advance-1 1/2x bodyweight
Elite-2x bodyweight