Wednesday, December 29, 2010

We eat our own dogfood around here

In February of 2009, I had the privilege of taking part in fun little weekend adventure.

I used to work at uscrossfit and was offered the opportunity to participate in the "SEALfit Camp". It was a 48 hour long (straight, no sleep) test of human resilience. One had to have the courage to start and the commitment to finish; much like the BHIP program. Every "evolution" was a test.. a very punishing, brutal, and excruciating test. I won't get into too much detail about this as we all know what it's like to overcome hardship at this point, but here's a fun little video for you all to enjoy with yours truly getting his ass beat on numerous occasions.





check out more on these camps on the SEALfit website if you so desire. There have been several other classes to go through since, including a huge one with a lot of elite crossfit athletes that has been documented for crossfit for their journal.

enjoy

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

holiday jeer

Hope everyone is having a festive break and ENJOYING it. Hope everyone has had a chance to do some mobility work and maybe had a little/a lot of fun.

Please post any workouts you've done or anything else you did that others might be interested.

This week, keep doing the mobility work and if you want, you can do some death-by pyramids.

So you follow the normal death-by protocol in which you add an extra repetition or sprint on the minute every minute until failure.. Then you go back down the ladder subracting a rep on the minute every minute until you're back at 1.

Choose a different movement every day and do that. Then record the movement and your max reps. Also, feel free to post the links to the mobility wods you've done that you really like.


Enjoy

Monday, December 20, 2010

Rainy freedom

So I had a few workouts planned, but they all involved outdoor activities (sprinting and such). I figured I'll put them on the back burner for now.

We had some major breakthroughs these past couple of weeks. We learned to snatch and everyone has been doing really well. On the last day, Professor Will Newman had the biggest breakthrough I've ever seen. For those that have seen this guy training, it's inspiring. Theoretically, Will shouldn't be able to sit in chairs as his squat was basically nonexistent from the start. He wasn't the only one with this issue but his attitude sets him apart from most people. Any normal person (not in BHIP) would have simply gone to see their doctor or orthopedist and would have been placed on an extensive P.T. regiment ($$$). Then he or she would have been told that his hips are just locked up and old and the decrepitude can't be undone without intrusive treatment. At least a few cortisone shots, why not?

Will, by contrast, decided to just keep dealing with the frustrations of daily hardships. For a solid 8 months, Will kept trying to squat better and better. Looking for every millimeter of movement. We tried everything. We started getting creative with hurdles and poles. His unrelenting attitude made it very easy for me as an instructor, but noticeably hard for him. He just kept at it though. Finally, last Thursday, his his ultimately surrendered and opened up. He performed a loaded front squat as if he'd been practicing on his own for hours a day. Check it out: Back straight; head neutral; heels down; hip-crease dropped well below parallel. It was surreal. Che out the video on the FB page.

Anyway, Will is certainly not the only person who has had major mobility accomplishments. We see them every day with many of you. So in keeping with that spirit, I want everyone to visit this website: MOBILITYWOD and visit some of the earlier posts. These things are short and sweet and will do you a lot of good if you can find a few minutes for them. So every day, I'd like everyone to do one "mobility wod" and when the rain dies down, I'd like everyone to go for long walks. A nice hour-long walk every day. You don't have to do anything intense, just walk for at least an hour. Grab the dog, a kid, a friend, and some water and get outside. That's all I have for this week. Enjoy.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Does this ring a bell?

Update:
No one has any anecdotes, huh? No one? Really? No one has every conquered any fears or has been hesitant to take a big first step in their life? Maybe I'm just a huge sissy then. Personally, I constantly find myself in turmoil with fear and anxiety. I have woken up in cold sweat and breathless. Am I alone in this here?

Doubt it. If the biggest badasses in the world get studied by the largest navy in the world over how they manage their fear, then I think there is some universality to it.

Mark Twain said: "Courage is NOT the absence of fear, but rather the mastery of it."
We need fear to be courageous. To step out of our comfort zones and to conquer.

No pun intended with the "bell ringing"

Please watch these videos and discuss in the comments about your own experiences with fear, anxiety, and over-coming them.





Sunday, December 12, 2010

Santafit

It is awesome to have read and heard about improved mile times. Good job to all of you that laced up and threw it all out there. Well Done!

Here are some more for this week:

1.
6 RFT
30 Superman-Banana
30 Leg Levers
30 Mountain Climbers

2.
10 RFT
10m alt Walking Lunge/ Broad Jump
Same number of burpees as steps/jumps.

*Measure out 10 meter and move between the end-zones. If you took 6 lunges to get across to the other side, then you do 6 burpees before making the return trip.

Note: Looks like we are going to have a coupe of weeks off. Great time for feats of strength. Impress your loved ones with your hard-earned strengths. Wear your badges of courage (scars for some) with pride. Lead from the front!

There will always be doubters and naysayers, or as they are now called "haters" by the kids on the streets. They have no bearing on your course. People will tell you that your way is wrong and theirs is better. That you should eat this and not that, and do more of those and less of these. At the end of the day, each and every one of us must take responsibility for ourselves and our "fitness". We are all products of our own creation, at this point.

I constantly hear people telling me, "you're so lucky because you're fit.." Or "you're so fortunate that you don't have these health problems." Or the always-pleasant "god forbid you have to deal with this or that.." It is not a matter of luck or fortune, it is a matter of motivation. For those of you that follow poker: Is it surprising that the same handful of people always win the big games? Even gambling is exempt from luck. And as Louis Pasteur said: "Luck favors the prepared mind." If you strive to succeed, you improve your "chances" greatly. If you don't want to succeed and would rather be a victim of your own demise, then you may even succeed at that too. Your well-being is directly related to your motivation for success, whatever that success may be. Wellness is one of the few things in life that one cannot outsource or buy or steal; we can only dull misery with drugs. We work for wellness.

So, again, stand up for what you worked for and celebrate it. Flaunt it. Walk the walk and you won't have to talk. And of someone gets in your way, exhibit your strength for them appropriately.

Enjoy this warm week and keep thinking up workouts to do over break. Email each other. Post questions in comments or email them. Get creative.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Stay warm with these

Workouts:

1.
Death By Whatevs

Tabata Whateves

Same Death

Same Tabata

Compare and record.

2.
Run 1 MILE. ONLY 1 MILE! For Time!

* If you neglect to time yourself, then you have failed yourself. You have essentially failed to absorb the essence of the program over the last 7 months. Your performance should be of great interest to you. Anyone can go out and schlep a mile at ease. We have been TRAINING to do it faster and better. So why not be your best? If you reply with "I didn't time it" when I ask your mile time, I will hurt you (at least in my head, which sometime manifests into reality). Just sayin'.

Have fun!

WeightWatchers Faults Processed Foods While Profiting From Them

Just Breathe: Body Has A Built-In Stress Reliever

The Real Culprit in Overeating

Saturday, December 4, 2010

FREE!




Need I say more??? Watch this epic film. Twice. Then pass the link along to anyone you think might benefit from watching this.. EVERYONE

FAT HEAD ON HULU FREE