excuse me while i kiss the sky...

Big thanks to Jay's dad for hooking us up with some incredible boxes (20", 24", 36"). Tuesday I decided to give my max another go after "Helen". This video was my last attempt at 55 3/4 ". Excuse the "arnold" pose at the end.

The Challenge

Competition is heating up inside the garage as we inch closer and closer to July 18th. What is going on then? The Crossfit Ontario Challenge! Currently we have five members of 4 horsemen that will be competing. For more information on the event and sign up go here.

Cheaters Guide to Success - Lesson 2: "Watching the Game"

Now, as I am a proud Canadian I thoroughly enjoy watching hockey with my buddies. With the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs nearing many of us will venture out to our local watering hole to catch the rest of this exciting series. It is important to remember that in our stupid western civilization dieting (or more appropriately eating healthy) among men especially is somewhat shunned and as to not look like a "pussy" one must conform to the norm. The best way for us "manly cheaters" to achieve this is to stick with the classic "wings and beer. Here is the cheaters guide to wings and beer at the pub: Sticking to a 4-5 block zone portion (probably 2-3x fat), you can eat 1pound (10-15 wings) with 2 pints of beer (not cider, which you shouldn't be drinking anyways - man up Nancy!). For the wings try to stay away from the sugar filled saucy ones - BBQ, Honey garlic and go with teriyaki, salt & Pepper or Hot. Mild and Medium sauces are for wussies and they are mainly ketchup based which means full of sugar. This is a solid cheat meal if you stick to the proportions as this is key - PROPORTIONS! Now this doesn't mean you should eat like this everyday but if you are going to cheat, do it wisely.

GO WINGS GO!

Note: If the game goes into OT you can have 5 more wings and another pint, just workout a little extra the next day.

Foolin' around with the big fat pink lady - A visit to Crossfit Saskatoon

TGU with the big fat pink lady (2.5 pood) & Crossfit Saskatoon

Today I managed to fit in a WOD at Crossfit Saskatoon. It was a 5x5 Thruster rest 3-5min and then work up to a max Turkish Get-up. It was a great experience, I love visiting all the different Crossfit affiliates they are always so welcoming. Crossfit Saskatoon is no exception to the rule, I was welcomed with open arms and got a great workout in. If you are in the area do drop by and check them out, the head trainer is Chad Benko a very knowledgeable and great guy.

Inspiration!

Everyday we are inspired. Inspired by the people who train with us, from all over the country. Inspired by the exercises we train with. Inspired by the people who learn from us. Every day people are inspired by us. Inspired by our staff in the gym. Inspired by the art of training and service we provide. We select our programming carefully to inspire you. Come be inspired!

What inspires you to train and train hard? Tell us your inspirations.

Scale-ability

Monika doing some Overhead squats with a PVC pipe

The scalability of exercises is key when following a program not specifically tailored for one individual. It is exactly as it sounds - the scaling of an exercise to the abilities of that individual. It is a necessary part of any program involving complex movements over a full range of motion

"The question regularly arises as to the applicability of a regimen like CrossFit’s to older and deconditioned or detrained populations. The needs of an Olympic athlete and our grandparents differ by degree not kind. One is looking for functional dominance the other for functional competence. Competence and dominance manifest through identical physiological mechanisms. We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. We scale load and intensity; we don’t change programs. We get requests from athletes from every sport looking for a strength and conditioning program for their sport. Firemen, soccer players, triathletes, boxers, and surfers all want programs that conform to the specificity of their needs. While admitting that there are surely needs specific to any sport, the bulk of sport specific training has been ridiculously ineffective. The need for specificity is nearly completely met by regular practice and training within the sport not in the strength and conditioning environment. Our terrorist hunters, skiers, mountain bikers and housewives have found their best fitness from the same regimen."
Greg Glass - From the "What is Fitness" article, CFJ.

The general idea is to start with a light load and work on technique, once the technique is sound then and only then start increasing the (intensity) speed and load. Everyone has to master the basic movement patterns before they can increase the difficulty. We modify our workouts to fit the abilities of each individual trainee. Getting the most out of each client is the key to their success and by allowing them to achieve the highest output they are capable of by scaling the weights and exercises is only logical. Anyone can do "Crossfit" or any other strength and conditioning program provided you don't make them do more than they are capable of doing. If they can't run make them jog, if they can jog make them walk etc. If 200lbs is too much let them do 80#, if 80# is still to much scale them down to a PVC pipe or a weight they can handle. I put my mother through a workout with just a broom stick. Getting her to just practice doing deadlifts, press and overhead squats for 5-10 reps was a good start for someone who has not moved that way for years. It wasn't a huge task for her to complete but she felt it the next day and it was a great place to start. Now she has been doing it for a while and has better range of motion and flexibility throughout these movements, soon I will have her try it while holding soup cans. Once the basic movements are sound we can increase the load and eventually the intensity.

Below is a small list of subs. From hardest to easiest
Handstand Pushups - Handstand holds - declined pushups - pushups - inclined pushups - knee pushups.
Strict pullups - kipping pullups - jumping pullups - ring rows
GHD situps - V-ups - situps
Knees to elbows - knees to chest - knees to parallel

By decreasing the range of motion or by creating more favorable levers with our body we can simplify the exercise while still getting the desired muscular stimulus. Just start at a point where you are able to safely complete the movement and go up slowly from there. It's called scalability and it will eventually get you to where you want to be - the ability to do things unscaled.