8/31/10 Squat + O/H Lunge = Dead Legs

Today we got after it right away after warming up with some shoulder mobility drills and samson stretch. Today we learned squats. First we practiced by putting the knees against the wall. This forces the hips to go back first, keeps the weight on the heels and makes it impossible for the knees to come past the feet. This immediately exposes weaknesses in the hips, lower back etc. In short, this is a great exercise to teach proper squat form. Then we headed down to the weight room to throw some weight around. Everyone's form looked good and form improved immensely. What was important was getting proper depth before adding weight. Then it was time to hit the workout. The one destructive on the lower body.

21-18-15-12-9-6-3
Overhead Walking Lunge, air squats

Pohl: 5:24 (45#)
Ryan: 7:27 (45#)
Caleigh: 10:15 (20#)
Charity: 10:15 (16#)

Pohl smoked this workout and I cannot imagine it being done much faster. Ryan looked strong throughout. Charity battled residual soreness and finished well. It was Caleigh's first time and she looked great. I think she will be back for more. Overall, it was a great effort form everyone.

8/30/10 Bodweight Couplet

Today was another great day of training and an exciting start to the first full week of Thunder Crossfit. 7 people showed up today ready to work and they did not disappoint! After warming up we learned to Turkish Get Up (TGU). The TGU is a fantastic total body exercise that challenges coordination, the shoulders, core, and the entire lower body. Everyone picked this up quickly and Connor and I are excited to implement it into a WOD soon. Since everyone was complaining of how sore their legs were from previous days, we decided to do a simple, yet crushing, bodyweight couplet: pushups and situps. Some may scoff at this but when forced to execute the full range of motion on both pushups and situps, a seemingly simple task becomes exceedingly difficult. The movement standard on pushups was chest to ground and elbows locked out at the top. One may place knees on the ground when muscular failure sets in. The butterfly situp was new to all. Placing ones feet together eliminates the ability to using the legs as momentum for the situp and forces the core to do all the work. To make matters worse, the hands must touch behind the head then in front of the feet for the rep to count. Here is how the WOD shook out:

50-40-30-20-10
Pushups, Situps

Damon: 11:51
Drew: 12:15
Ryan: 14:39
Brieg: 14:59
Laura: 12:19
Becca: 10:33 (skipped 40 pushups)
Charity: 11:30 (skipped 40 pushups)

Great work everyone! Tomorrow's projection will include more bodyweight work in the form of an As Many Rounds as Possible (AMRAP) in 12 minutes. We are looking forward to it.

8/29/10 Thrusters?

After a couple days of rest we were back at it this afternoon. Word seems to be spreading and Crossfit is gaining momentum on the Wheaton College Campus as we had seven people train today. After the standard warmup the group was introduced to Crossfit's baby: the thruster. An elegant yet explosive movement that combines two of the three foundational movements: the squat and the press. The thruster is an efficient movement that works the entire body. The barbell is help in the racked position on the shoulders, then the indiviual performs a front squat and drives up, thrusting the hips forward, to accelerate the bar overhead until it is locked out at the top. Then we learned double unders. Double unders require coordination and stamina. Performed with a jump rope, one must pass the jump rope under the feet two times for every jump. This fatigues the shoulders and jacks up the heart rate. The WOD combined these two movements for one killer workout.

5 rounds for time:
21 Thruster (75#)
21 Double Unders

Seager: 10:57 (75#)
Nelson: 11:22 (75#)
Pohl: 12:46 (55#)
Melby: 14:17 (45#) and single unders
Becca: 8:39 (15#) and single unders
Charity: 10:50 (15#) and single unders
Jill: 10:50 (15#) and single unders

This one looked brutal, but everyone gave it their all and finished the workout. Great job everyone! Tomorrow is going to be a fun one. Stay tuned

8/26/10 Jello Legs

Today was the second day of Thunder Crossfit. Everyone was sore from yesterday, but loved it! After the warmup we learned the squat, which the second of three foundational Crossfit movements and has numerous applications to life as well. The squat may seem simple to the casual observer, but there are always finer points to be learned. Today we worked on the basic mechanics: sending the hips back first (like you are sitting in a chair) to engaged the glutes and hamstrings, keeping the weight on the heels, pressing on the outside of the feet when standing up, making sure the knees go past the hip crease to ensure proper depth, maintaining a straight lumbar curve (back) and fully extending the hips at the top of the movement. Whew! I guess that was the basics plus some finer points. Everyone's form definitely improved which got me really excited. Then it was time to put the squat to use in the WOD.

4 rounds for time:
50 air squats
run 400m

Damon: 10:47
Pohl: 12:10
Pete: 13:45
Jill: 14:24
Laura: 14:35

Everyone did a great job on this one despite the jello legs after doing the 50 air squats. This one will leave people sore for a few days...

8/25/10 The Inaguaral WOD

Today was the first meeting of Thunder Crossfit. 5 people showed up. One Crossfit veteran and four newbies. Each session is going to have the same basic layout. A warmup, which is usually a 400m jog followed by some Range of Motion (ROM drills), learn a new skill, the Workout of the Day (WOD), then a cooldown. Today followed this pattern. After the standard warmup we learned the deadlift. Deadlift is one of the most foundational movements for Crossfit and has numerous applications to everyday life. The the WOD was a classic Crossfit couplet: 10 rounds for time consisting of 10 deadlifts and 10 burpees. This combination is simple, yet punishing. The burpees jack up your heart rate, while the deadlift is at a weight that is just heavy enough to make you battle muscular failure during the final rounds. On a side note, every workout is done for time. Why you might ask? Because more work in less time requires greater efficiency and power output. Put simply, the faster you do the workout at the prescribed weight the fitter you are. This is the essence of Crossfit. Enough said about this. Here is how the workout shook out. (I will put the weight in parentheses next to each persons name followed by a # sign, which is short hand for pounds)

10 rounds for time:
10 deadlift (185#)
10 burpees

Connor: 10:13 (185#)
Pete: 7:03 (135#) and 5 rounds completed
Drew: 16:53 (95#)
Becca: 6:39 (45#) and 5 rounds completed
Charity: 7:59 (45#) and 5 rounds completed

Overall a great effort from everybody and I am pumped to watch our numbers grow as more people get excited about Crossfit!

Here is a clip of my brother and I crossfitting in Europe this summer