San Francisco Crossfit

Big Events Happening For SFCF Coaches!

2010-12-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

It's A Boy!

Coach Angel welcomed his first baby boy, Kai Liu Orozco, almost three weeks early on December 9, 2010. Kai weighed in at 6 pounds, 2 ounces and momma Tami and baby are home already and doing just fine. Congratulations Coach Angel!

Coach Corrine Ties The Knot (Finally) :)

Coach Corrine and her longtime love, SFCF athlete Michael Dimitruk, tied the knot in a beautiful wine cave in Calistoga on Saturday, December 4, 2010. The Reverend Kelly Starrett was on hand to marry the beautiful couple and a good time was had by all. Congratulations Corrine and Michael!

Run & Performance Seminar with Brian MacKenzie - January 15, 2011 - 1-4 p.m.

2010-12-10T16:33:00.000-08:00

Spend 1 day with Brian Mackenzie (creator of CrossFit Endurance) learning proper running mechanics and how to set up your performance for success with the correct scaling to understand where your success will start.

You will be video taped before and after and be given drills to learn how to run effectively along with proper queuing. You will then learn how to properly take this new skill and implement it into your own programming for success.

$75 for SFCF Members
$85 for Non-Members

Register Here: http://shop.crossfitendurance.com/collections/seminars/products/san-francisco-run-performance-seminar

SFCF Members - email juliet@sanfranciscocrossfit.com for discount code.

SFCF HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

2010-12-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

San Francisco Crossfit will be having a somewhat abbreviated schedule the week after Christmas. Here are the highlights:

December 24th - 9:00 a.m. - Christmas Eve Chipper

December 25th - No classes

December 27th - 6 a.m., Noon, and 6 p.m. classes only (no 7 a.m. or 7 p.m.)

December 28th - 7 a.m., Noon, and 6 p.m. classes only (no 6 a.m. or 7 p.m.)

December 29th - 6 a.m., Noon, and 6 p.m. classes only (no 7 a.m. or 7 p.m.)

December 30th - 7 a.m., Noon, and 6 p.m. classes only (no 6 a.m. or 7 p.m.)

New Year's Eve - 6 a.m. and Noon classes only (no 7 a.m.)

New Year's Day - 10:00 a.m. - New Year's Day Chipper

Olympic Lifting Club Cancelled December 26th and January 2nd

SFCF Represents Again at the Quad Dipsea!

2010-11-29T10:42:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, November 27, 2010, SFCF was represented by 6 athletes who ran the Quadruple Dipsea (from Mill Valley to Stinson: 28.4 miles, 18,552 feet of elevation change) and all 6 finished! Four athletes were repeats from last year (Mike Megrian, Robert Tuller, Pon Somnhot, and Josiah Bunting) and there were 2 virgins (Chris Knievel and Kenso Kagawa). This was Coach Tuller's 8th finish in this event.
In the photo from left to right are:
Mike Megrian, Chris Knievel, Robert Tuller, Pon Somnhot, and Josiah Bunting; missing: Kenzo Kagawa (all finishers). Congrats to all of you!

6th Annual Turkey Chipper!

2010-11-29T10:06:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in our 6th Annual Turkey Chipper! We had a massive crowd of over 60 people - all of whom were able to eat more pie as a result of the workout scientifically designed by Coach Kelly. Extra kudos to the pie-winning team who accomplished the workout largely one-handed.

Change Everything? Easy. But not simple....

2010-06-27T20:14:00.001-07:00

Have we got your attention? Yeah, we just finished our FIRST Spring Leaning challenge. Now a little confession and some background.
I was not into this. Yeah Yeah, my doctoral work was on adherence, and
barriers to adherence. So what.
The conversation with my wife (the ripped one in the family with the yoked abs) as I remember it.

A "photo transformation challenge?" I said to my wife Juliet.
"Yep."
"Doode, that's so weak sauce. Besides we talk about nutrition all the time. Doesn't everyone eat like my daughters?"
"Nope, most of our athletes probably don't eat breakfast...much less know how much they eat during the course of the day."
"No."
"Yep. The only precondition of this contest that I will run (Juliet wife voice), is that everyone has to log their food. They can eat paleo/zone/nutrisystem/jennycriag for all I care. They just need to be accountable."
"All right." (with arrogant resignation)
"Dewd, It's YOU Kelly, that is always saying that nutrition is the gateway to greatness, and that abs are made in the kitchen..."

I do say that. And Juliet was dead right. Our athletes needed: A formal, public way to track food and be accountable. And, another food lecture about quantity, and quality.

And we did just that. Josh made about $850 bucks by the way. He split the pot with...

Oh snap! Meet Dr.DR. aka. Ellen Krasik, PhD/MD and now fantasy Pathologist at UCSF and $850 bucks the richer.
It turns out eating brown foods, and lots of Diet Pepsi doesn't support Div 1 soccer,brainy, super badness. She literally saves lives. She's the one in the lab making the weird CSI medical saves. Now she even LOOKS like a super hero.

Do it at your gym.
It's easy. Just take the most badass, hard working, motivated people you know. Hint, they are your training partners in your gym. Give them a template for what good eating looks like. You know, what kinds of foods are actually "food", when, and how much, etc. It's all out there on a website called, Crossfit. And then?

Make it a contest. You should see the radness at our gym. Insane.
And who cares if you go faster, which you will and is the only really good reason to do anything hard.
But you will, and you will look awesomer too.

It's almost like this sh*t works.
My wife being right I mean.

K-phat-like-a-first-grade-pencil-star

Ps. Here is my passive aggressive way of saying my wife was right, and I was wrong.
She's the hot mom on the right, the girl on the left (Catherine Gravelle) is my sister. Catherine is an all american Ball player.
Recently at the alumni reunion game, all the girls asked her how they could look like she does... And Juliet aka, Whiskey?
She's just a world champion mother of two. You like apples?

K-how-do-you-like-dem-apples-star

.

What It Takes

2010-05-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend past, SFCF sent a team to compete in the Crossfit Southwest Region Qualifier. There are several qualifiers going on like this on across the country in the lead up to the 2010 Crossfit Games, but none will be as large or have as fierce competition.
There is something special about competing against California. Maybe it's because Crossfit was born in this state that there are so many excellent gyms, coaches, and athletes around. Either way, the Southwest Regional was larger than the entire Crossfit Games last year. And, everyone was better prepared.

Including us.
As you may already know, Team SFCF was able to pull out an incredible win over some really excellent teams.
In fact, no other team was able to be as consistent across as many varied workouts as SFCF. In a scoring system where lowest points wins, SF had half as many points as second place, and a full quarter of the points for third.

There ended up being 76 teams competing for one of eight births to the games. The quick math yields 456 athletes competing for the bragging rights of being the best affiliate team in the region.

Driving home with the "Trophy" on our dash (see below), I started to think about what it really took to have six amazing athletes out-exercise everyone in the region.

To be frank, it takes a fair bit of luck. No not because the workouts favored us (there were no barbells to be seen) but we were certainly lucky that we were good at the ones that came up (as anything could come up). And it wasn't the other 76 teams there weren't on their A-game, because they decidedly were.

No, I think it takes luck to "happen" to get six terrific athletes together at a parking lot canopy gym.
It takes even more luck to have an incredible coaching staff that is obsessed.
Finally, it takes freakish good fortune to have a community of training partners that show up day in and day out literally for years.

In fact, it's impossible to create. It just happens. That's what makes it so special.

Corrine, Damian, JD, Catherine, Juliet, and Angel.
The SFCF Impossible Six.

Coach K-the-bob-roll-of-fitness-color-commentary-star

Two Words....Fuzz

2010-04-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

Look. You've got to take care of your tissues. This is probably second in importance only to the universal "protect your crotch" law. Stretching or mobilizing your tight business is always a good idea, but in reality as about as sexy as laundry and taxes.
But, really, who cares if your performance suffers, or you get pulled into terribly technique poor positioning, or are really weak at the end ranges of your range of motion, or you are wearing out your joint surfaces?

Enter the Fuzz Concept.

Maybe, you will start stretching because you just don't like the concept of "fuzz" accumulating in your tissues. Fuzz you ask? I have a fuzz problem? What the fuzz? Gil Hedley, rockstar anatomist, makes an excellent case and presents a compelling hypothesis for internal muscular resistance. You can think of muscular "stiffness" as a measure of how well the muscle tissue (and other connective tissues) slide past one another. The more stiffness, the greater the internal resistance of the system. Increased internal resistance means decreased efficiency and lost power output. (We actually talk about this at the Movement and Mobility Seminar.) Dr. Hedley describes the formation of fuzz as secondary to immobility (like sleeping). As an aside, Leopards do stretch by the way, and you aren't a leopard--so quit using the "leopard defense" to rationalize your stiff/tight self. Know what makes even more fuzz accumulate in your body? Muscle damage. That's right. Working out.

Go ahead, say something witty you fuzz collector.
Now watch the man himself describe the fuzz epidemic.

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See. Aren't you embarrassed that you are so fuzzy and you didn't even know it?

Gross.

K-banishthefuzz-star

Loading And Tensioning: Part II

2010-01-04T21:42:00.000-08:00

As promised here is the second installment. You may need to review part I.

As we begin to view our athletic movements and bio-mechanics through the filter of soft-tissue load-ordering, common athletic injuries and sports-related body problems become much easier to understand. Let's use the classic sport's medicine diagnosis "jumper's knee," as an example.

Jumper's knee is generic term for some kind of tendon problem (tendonopathy-itis/osis) of the patellar tendon below the knee cap (which is technically a ligament I know.) This kind of problem most often expresses itself as a painful knee cap in jumping related movements like the push-press in the image above.

Let's take a closer look at what's going on at the knee. It order for Bernard to keep his torso upright and his "jump" moving straight up and down, he clearly has to bend more at the knee and not the hip (hip flexion will tilt his torso forward and he'll end up jumping off axis and out of plane, or squatting). But because the knee and quadriceps are loaded first (they typically move first), subsequent loading of the hips and posterior chain will only increase the load forces at the knee cap. Now imagine a high level athlete with tight quads and tight anterior hips (gasp, impossible) and you've got additional freakish system tensioners on an already pre-loaded/pre-biased tendon system. You do have to keep the torso upright after all (so hey, burn those patellas). Compounding the forces at the knee is the anterior translation (forward movement) of the knee out over the foot as the athlete dips lower and nears peak compression. This translational tendon loading can exponentially increase the forces at the knee cap.
No wonder your knees are sometimes sore after a crap-ton of push-presses!

Clearly, cueing athletes to turn our their feet a little, stretch their quads, get adequate warm up, and compress to their heels, will significantly attenuate the forces on the tendon at the distal knee cap. You need to get as much hip loaded as is possible without inclinating at the torso. But now, you understand how and why these tendon puppies get hot.

So don't jump the barbell up from some knee forward, dog-poo, weak-ass(literally), muted-hip (CF talk for weak), position and wonder why your knees are all uppity.
You loaded 'em first, then jumped. And where's the butt in that?

Stay tuned...Part III

Coach K-love-your-knees-star

Festivus

2009-12-23T20:57:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note to all of you that are looking for something to do on Christmas day:

We will be holding Festivus at noon on the 25th at SFCF. There will be an aluminum pole (valued for it's strength to weight ratio), airing of grievances and feats of strength. And eggnog.

See you there,
-Boz

Christmas Schedule

2009-12-17T06:42:00.000-08:00

Hey SFCF,
Be sure to note the changes to our regular class schedule at sanfranciscocrossfit.com.

1) No classes on Christmas.
2) Christmas Eve-- 8am all levels
3) Dec. 26th. No level 2-- only 8:30 and open gym
4) The week after Christmas 28-30th. 6am,noon,6pm
5) New Year's Eve--6am,Noon
6) New Year's Day--10am

James Mills will be bringing a little SFCF to the Nutcracker
at Fort Mason. Don't miss.

Loading and Tensioning Part 1

2009-12-10T06:59:00.000-08:00

There are a few "rules" of the body that may be applied across multiple applications and body systems. One of these rules is; tissues that are moved into a loaded or biased position first, experience increased relative tension, load, or positional significance throughout the subsequent remaining movement. This is a fancy way of saying that your body's soft tissues (muscles, tendons, joint capsules, etc) undergo tensioning in the order in which they were first loaded.

For example, imagine stretching your hamstrings while laying on your back (we are really just mobilizing hip flexion because it would be impossible to "just" stretch the hamstrings in isolation). If you begin to lift your leg up to your chest with a straight knee, you will "feel" the stretch behind the knee more than you will in the belly of the hamstring. The converse is also true. If you bring your leg up toward you chest in hip flexion (with a bent knee) and once you run out of slack THEN try to straighten you knee, you will feel the tension biased more toward your butt (toward the tissues that were stretched first).

Soft tissue tension or load ordering plays a significant roll in your athletic development whether you know it or not, and it extends far beyond simply stretching your hammies. For example, good technique in the bench press dictates that you break at the elbows first and not at the shoulders on the negative or lowering portion of the lift. Not only does this good technique cue allow for more weight to be lifted, but it also vitally protect the shoulders from "crappy bench press" positioning. But, if you examine this technique in terms of tissue load ordering, you are able to see that shoulder soft tissue loading is delayed (ordered later than triceps) until the decent of the bar dictates that the shoulder move significantly to accommodate the movement. Delayed shoulder soft tissue loading radically decreases the stresses put on the shoulders at peak movement compression. Don't believe me? Go ahead and load up your shoulders before your triceps and see what happens (no don't unless you LIKE shoulder surgery).

So, as you can see, loading tissues in the order you want to stress them affects many of the movements and maintenance strategies we take for granted.

How might this principle affect your deadlift max? Stay tuned.

Coach-hit-the-tequila-before-the-beer-star (liquor before beer--never fear, obeys the ordering law too)

Year 5.

2009-12-05T04:49:00.000-08:00

Ok. We can't take the heat. We are back. And, we have a ton of new ideas and content.
Truce?
Great.

So, this past week launched us into our fifth year of SFCF and we have a big, big year planned.

Check out our newest physical culture experiment below:

More info to follow, but be sure to note our fresh container makeover.

Also notable: A solid SFCF crew took on one of the toughest short course ultra-marathons last Saturday. The Quad Dipsea has some 19K feet of elevation change over some 28+ miles of single track and literally thousands of stairs.

It's almost like this stuff works.

Stay tuned....

Coach-good-to-be-home-star

American History, and you.

2009-10-07T06:15:00.000-07:00

It sometimes comes to my attention that due to the fact that people lead busy lives, they must not really know about the local resources available to them. It has to be.
What am I talking about? I'm talking about learning how to row from SFCF's own Erin Cafaro. Yeah, yeah, she won a Gold Medal in Bejing. Yeah, and was the national champion at Cal. Oh, but did you know she just sorta created American history by winning the first EVER Gold Medal in the Pair (think partnered suffering) at the recent World Championships in Poland about a month ago? And, she doubled up in the 8 too? You didn't know she was a double World Champion?
No?
Yeah, and you get a chance to actually row, with her. And what's freaky cool, is that on the second day of the seminar, YOU get to head out to one of the coolest places to row on the west coast (with Erin) and you get to actually ROW on the water, like a real rower. Did you know people pays thousands of dollars to spend a day skiing with Olympians (who don't have 400 FGB like Erin btw)? YOU get the chance to actually learn to row from a very gifted instructor, and an American History Machine. Doode, she can autograph your puke stained shirt! You might learn something and get to hold the "biscuit". What, you've never held a Gold Medal? You've never been coached by a Current World Champ?

Dewd, learning to row like this is really cool. Trust me.

But seriously, your rowing sucks. It does, and your crappy technique is killing your times, and you are loosing serious fitness points.

The Crossfit Rowing Cert can be signed up for here.
It's the weekend of October 24, and 25th.
ERIN won't be coaching it again out here for a while. And we lose her to the competitive rowing season soon. Don't loose your chance, then complain when you suck at crossfit rowing pieces. Remember one of our mandates for attaining elite fitness to learn new sports. So come learn a new sport already, and hang out with a brilliant rowing instructor and an excellent coach.

Coach-I've-held-the-biscuit-star

Satori

2009-09-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

"One day I wiped out all notions from my mind. I gave up all desire. I discarded all the words with which I thought and stayed in quietude.

I felt a little strange--as if I were being carried into something, or as if I were touching some power unknown to me...and zzzt! I entered.

I lost the boundary of my physical body. I had my skin, of course, but I felt I was standing in the center of the cosmos.

I spoke, but my words had lost their meaning. I saw people coming toward me, but all were the same man.

All were myself! I had never known this world. I had believed that I was created, but now I must change my opinion: I was never created: I was the cosmos; no individual me existed." -Sasaki

Awakening, or satori, is the fundamental aim of Zen. According to the Zen text Denkoroku, "It is to die completely and then come back to life."

Hmmmm, sounds like heavy, high rep squatting to me. Looks like it too.

Coach K-the-buddah-squatted-heavy-too-star

Things I Am Into (thanks Dan)

2009-09-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

This is a post about Things I am Into.

No order. No reason. Just the truth.

1. If your gym is more beautiful than this, it's cool. You are dead and in heaven.

2. This is James. He's a professional badass ballet star. That's 305.

3. Red Stripe, Bacon, Potato Chips.

4. This is Ethan Kochis. He is so humble and badass that he will be embarrassed by this video. Effit, I love PR's.

5. I saw and bought this poster at Ed Hardy's place Tatoo City SF. If running were really like this,
running would be cool.

6. This is a 200kg box squat. But who cares, because my neck is sooo red I look like Hell Boy.
I match my 25kg bumbers. Do you? That's cool.

7. Snatch-Grip width Chins (palms toward you). Try it. You suck at it.
In fact your chins are sissy compared to your pull ups. Truth. I said it.

8. Basic Gymnastics. Super basic. It's not even really gymnastics. It's pre-gymnastics.
It's really, really hard and solves a bunch of your crap. Note elbows out past wrists.
I heart Carl.

Coach K-DanSilverwannaBe-Star

Holy Sh*T

2009-09-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

First off I wanted to thank Kelly and Juliet for allowing my words to grace this blog. I can honestly say that for the better part of two years the SFCF blog has been something I have ingested regularly. Its been like a different present of knowledge and humor to unwrap on a daily basis. I also have a newfound respect for how hard it may be to produce awesome content as often as our coaches do. We are being coached by coached warrior poets people.

“When You Can’t Come Back”

Any athlete will tell you that it’s a sad day when you realize your playing days are over, whether that be at the collegiate or professional level. Regardless of your sport or how far you have pushed yourself within that respective sport, or whether injury or in my case ability signaled the end of your athletic career, you will never forget the moment you realized that part of your life was over. I can vividly remember when that moment arrived for me. It was May of 2005 and I was standing outside the baggage claim at SFO waiting for my mom to pick me up from my flight home after being cut from my second spring training by a professional baseball team. It was a sad realization of “well what the hell do I do now”? All I had ever known was baseball year around since I was 10 years old and it had now come to a screeching halt. My next few years from 2005-2007 were spent playing on local SF baseball teams just to be around the game, yet never regaining the same intense passion I felt when I would toe the mound for a game that actually meant something, wearing a jersey that represented an entire college. In July of 2007 following a 6 week boxing camp, pain in my right hip began to impair walking, sitting, and lying down to the point of blinding pain. I was told by an Orthopedist at Kaiser that I had what is known as FAI or Femoral Acetabular Impingement. I was basically told to avoid all activity where I had to pivot on the ball of my right foot because that in turn would pivot the head of my femur and aggravate my condition. That was like being told to not be active anymore which to me was unacceptable. I was also given a rehab program that seemed fit for someone who would be confined to an elliptical for the rest of his life. By the time my hip had healed enough to run I had honestly lost the motivation to exercise anymore. Instead I simply sat on the couch every night after work and blamed my lack of activity on my hip.

Dizzle Cafaro is actually the man who suggested I try Crossfit in November of 2007. By that time I was 235 pounds and would probably have clocked a 3min 500m row in my condition. I have to say that my first experience was intimidating (I told JD I wouldn’t go until he came with me), and eye opening as to how out of shape I was. I was sweating bullets and out of breath doing 1 rep max front squats with 155 pounds. My 2nd WOD was Fran w/ a blazing time of 12 mins with ripped hands to boot. I can honestly say I drank the SFCF kool-aid that night and could instantly realize I had found something that could deliver me from several months of terrible pain that had effected how I walked, being able to sit for long periods of time, or even sleep for more than an hour at a time without waking up because of the pain. Slowly week after week I noticed that my hip was gaining greater range of motion, and I was becoming stronger and leaner. I also was thrilled with the fact that Kstar and Boz were always able to offer me ways to work around hip pain that allowed me to complete WOD’s if my hip had become an issue during a certain movement. Crossfit, and more specifically Crossfit San Francisco has been something that has definitely sent my life down a path of fitness I know it wouldn’t have gone down had the Dizzle not introduced me to a little slice of fitness heaven in the loading dock of the Sports Basement. My hip will be a lifelong issue for me, however crossfit and the lessons I’ve learned through our amazing coaches have drastically improved my range of motion, strength, and recovery period when it does act up, and illustrated to me the various range of motion stretches I can do religiously to (as KSTAR would say) “normalize” my hip . The easiest way to illustrate the drastic changes I have gone through since joining crossfit (other than the weight loss) would be two examine two topics I mentioned earlier: my hip, and my Fran time. When I first began I could barely overhead squat 135, and front squat 155. Fast forward to August of 2009 my best Overhead squat is 235, and my best front squat is 235. In addition my 12 min Fran time is now a five min Fran time (Kelly may not like me mentioning but it was done hungover). Im also weighing in at about 205 pounds as opposed to the husky 235 pounds I began at in November of 2007.Across the board my WOD times have dropped drastically, and I’m- the proud owner of a C2 Rower I affectionately call the “Soul Cleanser” which routinely punishes me (that’s what she said).

Lastly I will say that as a pitcher there was nothing like being in the middle of what I like to call a “holy shit” moment. It is a moment present in any sport, and it was what I lived for out on the mound. It’s the moment where you do something amazing on the field of play, or turn in a performance you have to pinch yourself to believe, and the crowd is going nuts and your team is mobbing you…..this is the moment when you take a step back, look around at what you just accomplished and utter to yourself “holy shit”. I have experienced these same moments at crossfit and it is precisely what entices me to keep coming back, keep improving, and in my own personal way keep claiming victory. My pitching days are over for good, but SFCF still has plenty of “holy shit” moments in store for me.

Lucas “Holy Shit” Robinson

Not a Gimmick

2009-08-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

I was asked recently by a non-crossfitting friend (yes, they exist in theory) what I thought were the reasons for Crossfit's popularity and success. My response was immediate. I said, "Because, it's not a gimmick. Front-Squatting and Running isn't a gimmick."

And it's not. Marrying together Olympic sports is a hard stinking workout, and one without a ceiling or top-end.

Last night, we had nine racks simultaneously in use by teams of three. Beginners were working out next to advanced athlete and both were working at their available capacities.

A couple of nights ago, I was talking about the "not a gimmick" conversation with my good friend and pro-couch surfer Johnny Welborn. His response? "I've been training hard since high school. Add college football to ten seasons playing in the NFL and that's a lot of time. Lifting weights and running always kicks my ass. Always. That's why this stuff works, and why it always will."

Gymnastics? Not a gimmick. Check.
Olympic Weight-Lifting? Not a gimmick. Check.
Barbell Training? Not a gimmick. Check.
Running and rowing? Not a gimmick. Check.

All these elements mixed together? Gut Check.

Coach K-so-much-room-to-get-better-Star

Sometimes, You Just Gotta Do It

2009-08-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

Recently at SFCF, we performed some rough calculations and estimated that we have administered over forty thousand workouts. It’s true and a little staggering. And, buried within this considerable volume of athletic coaching, are certain patterns and predispositions of our athletes. For example, we rarely have to tell women that the weight they are using to back squat is too heavy, and that is why they aren’t breaking parallel (the opposite is quite true of men). Another one, and the topic of this post, is that we rarely see our athletes choose to slow way down (finish last-ish) and commit to actually finishing a skill or movement when they can keep their speed up by substituting or scaling. For example, we will often have clients that can perform all the pull ups in a workout like Fran, as singles, but will move to some variation of jumping or band assisted pull ups if given the chance. Yeah, yeah, I know, you’ve got to “ scale too” to increase work capacity, etc, etc… And it’s true, it is completely appropriate to work at relatively scaled loads to manage overall higher average work outputs over time. But it is also true that sometimes you’ve got to go full dose, and as slow as it takes to get the job done. I mean, forty-five deadlift singles at 225 is a daunting task for a beginner and made worse by the psychology of going SLOW. This however is where real capacity is gained.

As an experiment, take a look on the main crossfit site at the next time a workout like Isabelle turns up (Powersnatch 135 x 30). You will literally see people posting sub 4 minute times with a piece of PVC or the bar. Dewd. Seriously. There is no linear progression for scaling workout that don’t come around very often. And this is not an insignificant point. There are so many things to work on in Crossfit (like several Olympic sports for example) that it is hard to go light and fast one time, planning to go slow and prescribed next time, IF the next time you see that given exposure is several months later. What actually happens is that people NEVER opt for heavy and slow. When we “score” workouts at SFCF for example, we count unmodified and slow, higher than light and very fast. And so should you.
You are never going to go fast at a workout that involves forty-five handstand pushups unless you can actually PERFORM forty-five hand-stand pushups.
Remember, you can always manipulate rep-schemes to fit your fitness/capacity levels and still perform all the work of a given wod. Instead of 21-15-9 for example, how about nine sets of five? Or, god forbid, fifteen sets of three! Clearly it’s tough to do this with deadlifts if you can’t actually pick up the weight, or cleans etc, but there are movements that you can do like the negative portion of the handstand pushup.

At some point, you’ve got to bear down and actually attempt to complete the work.
It’s ok if you have to go slow. Your ego will survive the experience.

Coach Kelly

A Word About Your Low Back

2009-07-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

This back positioning is sweet. Learn to lift like Rob Orlando.

Admit it, you thought I was going to hammer Rob about his low back as soon as you saw the title of this post and photo. Oh no, young padawan learner. Rob's kung fu is very, very strong. But let's talk about why.

1) Rob is very, very strong. His perfect form does not break down even when he lifts round, gravity dense objects from terrible positions.

2) Perfect form? Yes, note that Rob's low back is FLAT! His low back is loaded and in neutral. Look again at the photo. Rounded? Phsah! Flat, and flat is safe!

3) Rob has stellar hip flexibility and he is sufficiently abducted (leg's turned out) to maximally un-impinge his hips. The hulk tail (legs) is not wagging the hulk (hips). Rob's connective tissues and joint capsules are not passively pulling his low back into a less than ideal flexed position. And this is a huge point. Don't let your hips dictate your spinal positioning! Get those knees out and get some hip flexion flexibility already!

4) Rob's hips are high enough to allow for his low spine to be in a more advantageous position. Butt down is fine for O-lifting to keep the chest upright for the second pull, but Rob's rock is low and he has no second pull here. He has to keep his hips high to teeter-totter into an workable position.

5) Rob's thoracic-spine is how he accommodates the flat low back. Note any good strength lifter and you'll see thick paraspinal muscles along the mid back. Why? Because loading the mid spine in a flexed position is way preferable than loading the crappy low back in a flexed position. McGill ET all demonstrated that lifters and athltes with chronic low back pain loaded the low back first in movement. Rob is loading his legs and upper back first. Well done Rob.

6) That stone is as close to Rob's center of gravity as possible. And, it is as close to his chest as possible. Be one with the stone. Literally.

7) Even if Rob was in a slightly flexed lumbar position (which he is not), he is not violating the "minimize spinal movement under load" principle. He starts in a tight position and lifts. Your spine will handle a ton of silly nonsense if you can keep it in one position during extreme loading. It does NOT handle inter-vertebral movements very well during loading. In fact, this is why squatting and reversing into lumbar flexion is the number one way to destroy your back (or deadlifting and ending up in a flexed lumbar, dog-poo position).

8) Robb practices. A lot.

Way to lift with your legs Rob!

Coach-K-suckered-you-didn't-I?-Star

Chasing Performance Seminar @ SFCF This Saturday

2009-07-22T20:47:00.000-07:00

Hey Gang,
Just a reminder that SFCF is hosting it's very own Chasing Performance Seminar with some SFCF coach (this guy) this Saturday from 9am to 4pm. This day of Movement, Mobility, and Maintenance will be a veritable festival of body mechanics and models of recovery.
We still have space for the chosen ones (you). You can sign up through www.sanfranciscocrossfit.com. This seminar is booked out through Summer 2010 in OTHER places. It won't be back in SF for some time. Don't be whining when "like a virgin on prom night. I mean they vanish, swishh..."(Utah, gimme two!)
Seminar Goals:
•Improve understanding of key anatomical elements as they relate to functional movement, and as performance limiters.
•Increase awareness of “best-fit” biomechanical set-up and movement strategies for optimal work outputs.
•Understand movement compromise strategies for specific movement outcomes.
•Develop an understanding of common movement dysfunctions and a systematic model for addressing common problems associated with elite training
•Develop effective abdominal/spine stabilization strategies
•Understand and apply neuro-muscular stretching methods
•Understand methods to improve overhead positioning and efficacy
•Develop methods to address common myo-fascial pain/dysfunction
•Understand how to treat soft tissue injuries
•Develop better movement preparation strategies

For our regulars athletes classes have been shifted forward half an hour.
Level 2--7am
Level 1--8am
Open Gym --Cancelled.

Hope to see you there.

Coach K-doode-you're-jacked-up-star

Team SFCF!

2009-07-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the SFCF Rainbow Fawn Squad for making such a strong showing at this year's Crossfit Games.
The day's competition brought three fierce workouts and strong competition. Ninety-seven teams competed for the Affiliate Cup title and it was pretty much a good old fashioned throw-down.

Our SFCF kids posted the second fastest time in the stadium chipper workout and were right in the heart of the action for the other two events.

Also, big shout out to Coach Angel who survived the "sporty-run" and little "ham-string streching" events. (imagine two of the hardest workouts you can, now do them within two hour of each other, and make them a little worse).

Enjoy the photos! (thanks to Huge-gene click here for his rad gallery)

Coach Kstar

Minimize Spinal Movement Under Load

2009-07-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

Hi Kelly,
I have a client who is 25 years old and started crossfitting about 8 weeks ago. He has come along way and lost about 25 lbs over that course of time. I follow catalyst athletics and have set up a program of strength wods and met con wods through my workouts. I myself follow crossfit football, as I concentrate on my weakness, which is strength. About a week ago, this client particpated in a strength wod where we did Push Press for 5 x 3 @ 75 of 1 rep max. However, he tweaked his back and has been sore around his middle back down to his lower back. I told him to ice and we did some mobility stretches for his back. What is your recommendation if you have any to ease this soreness.
--KO

At issue here, is that this athlete likely ended up in an over-extended thoracic position while under load. It is likely that as the client ultimately moved toward the end range of his push-press (and ostensibly began to experience decreased bar speed toward the end of the press), he probably leaned back a little to bias his pressing from less straight up and down to more of an "incline-style" standing press.
There are several problems with this of course, the most conspicuous is that it likely lead to some overextended thoracic spinal facet joints (the facets are serious weight bearing joints in the spine on either side of the disc--the spinal nerves pass right by this two joint complex) that are now a little sensitized. There are other important pieces of information to be gleaned here as well.

First, as we approach peak working loads or muscle fatigue, it is important that at the moment we reach close to no velocity or bar movement, that our spinal position remain the same. That is, as we begin to move toward what is ultimately a near isometric contraction (mid-way through a press you get stuck) there should be no deviation what-so-ever in your set up positioning. The set up and pull is the same for deadlifting a hundred pounds or two-thousand pounds. Post-maximal loads can be safely handled in an iso-metric position if there is no deviation from an ideal or best-fit set up. We get into problems when there is movement in the spine under load.

Movements like the kipping pull up have a great deal of thoracic extension true, but the spine is significantly less loaded and in a better distracted position. But people here too will experience "spinal closing pain" as well with wild kipping. The kids that are best at pull ups will demonstrate very little spinal movement through-out the movement range. These athletes tend to adopt a spinal set up and then keep in through-out the movement (think Spealer and his 100 pull-ups).

And this leads us to our main point. The mid-line stabilization concept about which we know so much, is really a fancy way of describing the capacity to maintain a neutral spine under load, task, or intensity. Clearly over extending your upper-back in the middle of a pressing movement is a violation of this principle. So too is reversing or changing your lumbar curve in the bottom of a squat. Get your spine set up, and keep it that way. The best Olympic style weight-lifters know this and are able to receive enormous loads dynamically AND still not experience inter-spinal segment movement (power-lifters too).

The main reason to refrain from loaded spinal movement of course is not because you risk an over-extension injury, or that you may shear one of your "precious" little lumbar discs into an exploding jelly-doughnut, no it's because changing your good spinal position in the middle of a load will lead to decreased force production and power out put! It is difficult enough already to get into a good position un-loaded during the set-up. Do yourself a favor and don't then try to buffer a worse position when is matters most. Pretend instead that your spine is frozen in titanium when you are lifting. Trust me.

As for this kind of extension injury. Ice, rest, gentle mobilization, and let those poor joints cool off. And most importantly, under-stand what went wrong and don't be that guy ever again.

Coach K-star

Thanks.

2009-07-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

As most of you know by now, the SFWeekly has published a negative, and factually inaccurate article about San Francisco Crossfit generally, and me specifically.
We have taken up our very serious concerns about the article with the SF Weekly's publisher and editor directly, which is why we have not commented or attempted to defend ourselves publicly.

We wanted to take this opportunity to personally thank our San Francisco Crossfit family and the greater Crossfit community for their public support and affirmation of our work at SFCF. While we are always astounded by the athletic achievements of our athletes, we are most proud of the community and camaraderie that we see every day at SFCF.

And for all you SFCF haters, hate this.

Caroline "Bear" Starrett

Thank you,

Coach K-Star

National Champions, AGAIN!

2009-06-17T11:00:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, the Junior National Rowing Championships were held in the middle of the country for all high school age teams. We are very proud to announce that the Marin Rowing Association's Varsity Women's 8+, won the National Championship by almost five seconds (open water) for the second straight year in a row. A five second gap is slightly freakish, but so are the work capacities of these talented young women.

This is the third year SFCF has been providing the strength and conditioning for these girls, and many of the seniors on the team have been with us that long.

Balancing a competitive rowing schedule and a couple of weekly Crossfit sessions is no joke. Many of our young Marin Rowers have the potential to be some of the best athletes around. Early last fall, these athletes made a commitment to out work their competition and win back to back national titles with many new athletes in the boat. Clearly they did.

Kudos to Coaches Carl Paoli and Angel Orozco who took over coaching responsibilities this spring. The Marin athletes were greatly relieved to have two additional new coaches to hate.

--Coach K-Star

The Finisher Part 2

2009-06-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

Recall the Original...

Now let's talk about application to the individual.

In Powerlifting, it is not uncommon to hear a coach remark to one of his athletes that "you've got a 500lb ass, but 300lb hammies", or something similar. Far from being a tactic to rile the ire of a lifter before smashing some weight, these types of remarks are simply coarse reminders that the lifter's weak spots are holding them back from their potential; they are only as capable as the weakest link in the chain.

The same can be said of your general physical preparation.

Once you've established your weaknesses, the finisher can be an excellent time to continue to work on these areas of difficulty. The ideas you formulate do not have to be exact here. The doing is what's important.

Say, you have a weak upper body? Time to break out the deadhang/weighted pullups or some sort of press. A few bouts of feet-free rope climbs are great too.

Not enough wind in the sails? Rally for one or two short sprints after your workout or one mid-distance sprint (think 500m Row or 400m Run).

Worried you're not as explosive as you'd like to be? A few sprint-starts or max vert/broad jumps oughtta help out.

Pick one or two of the things you need attention on and add an appropriate finisher for a few weeks. When progress starts to falter with your given exercise, change it just enough so you can continue to move forward, but so much that it becomes something completely different. Soon enough you'll have full access to that 500lb ass.

-Adrian "Weaknesses?-I-had-weaknesses..." Bozman

Get Off The Ibuprofen Peoples!

2009-06-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

Hey Kelly,

At the seminar you said no more ibuprofen, so I stopped. But what should I take when the DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) is bad? I foam roll, tennis/lacrosse ball roll, etc... But it only goes so far. Crushing the fish oil as well. ASA (an NSAID by the way) or acetaminophen or just suck it up? (all parentheses are mine)

Thanks

WC

----------------------------------

All right, let's set the record straight about this stuff.

The Disclaimer: Medicine is serious busines. Always follow the advice of your doctor.

Sorted?

Ok. Ibuprofen has no place in the life of the athlete obsessed with chasing performance.

Taking an anti-inflammatory drug of any kind makes tendons and ligaments weaker, and stops muscles from getting stronger.

Is this clear enough? Yes, we used to call it Vitamin I. Yes, we used to say that RICE should have a second "I" in it (Rest, Ice, Ibuprofen, Compression, Elevation).
We used to also do "21's" on back and bi's day too. It's not ok.

Here's the low down. Ibuprofen is an NSAID (Non-Steroidal-Anti-Inflammatory-Drug) which is believed to work through the inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX), thus inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis. Prostaglandins, are like hormones in that they act as chemical messengers, but do not move to other sites, but work right within the cells where they are synthesized. Prostaglandins are vital mediators of the inflammatory cascade. The swelling and subsequent prostaglandin production signals all of the important cells circulating in your body to come and fix/reinforce the challenged tissues. That's right, all that soreness you feel after Fran is the resultant swelling from all the micro-damage you've done to your muscles. It's this very inflammatory response that is responsible for making you a BETTER ATHLETE. The Worst thing you can do is to go through a horrible workout like Fran and then not reap the resultant gains from the training stimulus.

No good coach should allow their athletes to take ibuprofen at anytime. Even if they are hung over..

Why?

NSAIDs have been shown to delay and hamper the healing in all the soft tissues, including muscles, ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. Anti-inflammatories can delay healing and delay it significantly, even in muscles with their tremendous blood supply. In one study on muscle strains, Piroxicam (an NSAID) essentially wiped out the entire inflammatory proliferative phase of healing (days 0-4). At day two there were essentially no macrophages (cells that clean up the area) in the area and by day four after the muscle strain, there was very little muscle regeneration compared to the normal healing process. (Greene, J. Cost-conscious prescribing of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for adults with arthritis. Archives of Internal Medicine. 1992; 152:1995-2002.)

Long term NSAID use is hard on your tissues and directly responsible from some pretty gnarly chronic body issues.

So how do we treat acute inflammatory/inflammation pain?

You know the answer.

Ice. (Maybe a little Tylenol if you really, really need it, it's not an NSAID after all)

But remember, Acetaminophen causes three times as many cases of liver failure as all other drugs combined and is the most common cause of acute liver failure in the United States. Even recommended doses especially combined with even small amounts of alcohol (Yes you Crossfitters) have caused irreversible liver failure. Don't be so cavalier about treating your muscle soreness with drugs. Taking pain meds of any kind is serious.

Can you see the difference between treating pain and treating inflammation? Control swelling and Pain with Ice as seen below, it won't short circuit the way your body actually heals itself and becomes stronger. (Hell, the Ice bath might make you a little stronger too.)

Bask in your soreness!Brag about it at work as your friends help you get up off the toliet. And above all, practice all the recovery tricks you know! These include: Proper nutrition, fluid intake, ice bath, fish oil, active recovery, stretching, massage, etc.

Hell, you can even sneak in another quick workout the next day before the 48 hour soreness beat down really kicks in! Quick, let's do Fight Gone Bad before you get too sore from yesterday's double fran! For example.

Seriously. Knock it off. Get off the Vitamin I.

--K-There-is-no-I-in-Star

Quality

2009-05-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

Much discussion is given about the best way to 'game' certain workouts. With the rise in popularity of events such as the CrossFit Games (and the popularity of CrossFit in general), many people seem to be equating 'best workout' with 'best strategy for a particular workout', instead of best effort put forth on a particular workout.

Let's look at a very basic example, the CF workout 'Helen', which is done for total time:

400m Run
21 Kettlebell Swings
12 Pullups
Repeat 3x

If competition was important to me and I absolutely had to beat Kelly and Angel (it's an ego thing...), I would be reluctant to go too hard on the running as I am a total hack runner. By dogging it on the run, I'll remain relatively fresh for the things I'm already good at, most likely resulting in a lower overall time. This is great if my goal is to beat Kelly and Angel. This is not so great if my goal includes not being lame at things I'm already lame enough at.

Now, knowing that I am a hack runner, what physical improvements to my running do I receive from being a big baby on the run (Hint: lower total time/better score does not always equal direct physical benefit)? How do I expect to become better at running hard and recovering if I never subject myself to that at the very time I should be...in Training!

And there lies a bit of a disconnect in many people's training. The gaming of workouts has become standard practice for many of us despite the fact that we have no desire to be 'Best CFer On Earth'. Instead, the focus should be 'How can I bring my weak points up?'. The answer is to put forth the best effort possible on the things you are not good at, even if it means you blow up later on. That's what practice is for. Does it really matter if you struggle in training? Will your world end if you don't finish first, but you really give it your all on something that is difficult for you? My guess is that you will find the final product to be much more capable and complete if the stopwatch or scorecard is not your only reference while training.

Personally, I find that when I start worrying too much about the number on the timer for too many workouts, I train myself out of the ability to put forth a truly max effort: My body (and mind) has been conditioned to hold back for fear of what's next. The timer hides my quality of effort on the things I am reluctant to push. Lately some 'quality of effort' workouts have been turning this tide around. These workouts all include plenty of rest between efforts and each effort is the best I can put forth in that moment. Things like:

-How far can I carry/drag/push that thing?
-How far up the hill at Buena Vista park can I sprint (not run) before I have to stop?
-How many reps can I get (think back squats etc) before I have to rack the bar?
-How many pushups can I make Angel do with a 100lb Sandbag on his back (answer: a lot)

Now, if competition is your thing and gameday is looming, obviously you do what you need to do inside the rules of competition to maximize your showing. I'm not suggesting that anyone who is gaming or strategizing a workout is not putting forth a good effort, but don't let this mindset invade every aspect of your training. There is a reason that high level athletes of all stripe do not care about winning at every single practice or training camp. They are too busy trying to get better.

The stopwatch is a useful tool, but it is also blind to the quality of the individual effort.

-Adrian 'Faster-Isn't-Always-Better' Bozman

Be Nice, Your Wrists Work Hard

2009-05-26T06:36:00.000-07:00

Hey Kelly,
I injured my wrist at the bottom of a squat clean, and wonder if that's something common enough to warrant a blog post...I know a lot of people who've had trouble with the same kind of thing. What's the best bet for building up (or regaining) wrist strength/flexibility, etc.? My wrists are definitely the weak link for me in several exercises.

Thanks again,

-BK

It's true. The receiving position of full clean can be brutal on your wrists, not to mention front squats and the worst of all, thrusters. It's not uncommon that athletes end up with some sort of wrist tweak from one of these movements from time to time.
There are a few things that you can do to PREVENT significant wrist hurtage.

1) Warm up your wrists! These poor boys are the linkage between your 400lb front squat and your hips. Be cool and show them some serious love before you start red-lining. Think of your wrists as conduits for some very high tension wires. Most of the time for wrist neutral activities, you can count on your wrists not needing much care and feeding, but as soon as you even start thinking about some high speed wrist extension some alarms should start sounding.

-Be sure your core temperature is up. If you have a sweat going, chances are you're wrists are warm enough too. Cold tendons, confined tendon boxes (wrists), and at high speed is uncool. Very un-dude.

-Start your wrists slowly (not dynamically) into the position of emphasis. You'll probably notice that just getting into a front squat rack position is a little tough on your wrists. So don't go jamming them into a challenging position with an additional speed insult. Doode, be cool.

-Give your wrists some slack. Make sure your thoracic spine is mobile enough that you don't have challenge your wrist positioning unnecessarily. (see below)

-Be sure to release any hook grip you may employing. That hook grip wonder is really expensive when you use it at the receiving position.

-Make sure your other soft tissues support a more wrist neutral position. So, stretch arm flexion limiting structures like your triceps and lats.

-Move your grip a little wider out. Too many people use too narrow a grip. This narrow grip reduces your shoulder positioning options and makes for a tougher wrist position. Widen your grip and let your elbows come out to at least a 45 degree angle from your body if you are tall or if you are a little wrist compromised.

-Try wrapping your wrists (check for an old post about homemade wraps) or using a more serious wrist wrap from www.prowriststraps.com.

-Do you work on strengthening your grip? It's obvious, but under-untilized. At the end of every work out work on your grip. Ask your coach how or google "grip strength" and "milo".

-In light movements that don't require a perfect rack like the thruster, drop your elbows down a little, just be sure not to drive them into your legs when you are at full compression at the bottom of your squat. Elbow-knee contact will break your wrist so if you are going to be risky, don't be that guy.

-Practice receiving the bar at the shoulder rack position while changing the
position the bar rests in your hands. You may have to fingertip it, but either
way, one centimeter in your palm either way can have a significant effect on your
wrist position. Cleaning is a high skill activity, there are som small details to which you will have to start paying attention.

-If your wrists are manky, clean just the bar at least 30 times before you even dream of putting weight on that thing.

-I know a bunch of people that use a more dangerous open grip in situations like the press and thrusters to unload the wrist. This is more dangerous, but it works. Heck there is recent video of bench pressing beast Dave Tate using the open bench press grip. (And he's no ass-sponge)

Do you have a wrist tweak? Don't talk to me until you've started icing that thing at least a couple of times a day. And, if you do have wrist issues, choose your extreme wrist extensions wisely. Handstands and push-ups might be need to be done in a neutral position on dumbells or paralleletts. Your wrists might only tolerate so much silly bull-shite in one day. If you are having a continued problem,
go see a good physio.

Above all. Be nice. You will miss your wrists when they are gone.

Kstar

Heads Up!

2009-05-06T20:48:00.001-07:00

This weekend SFCF is hosting the Affiliate Cup Throwdown. Here's the Skinny:

Where?: SFCF 610 Old Mason Street

What?: A team workout for teams of 4-6.

When?: 11:00am this Saturday.

The workout will be tough. And awesome. And perhaps less conventional than what goes on inside a CrossFit gym.

Spread the word!!

-Boz

Don't Save Anything For the Swim Back

2009-05-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend found some of the SFCF kids hanging it out there at the Nor Cal regional Crossfit Games qualifier. And while the competition was fierce, we are always blown away by how much more untapped capacity our athletes have.

What is it about us as athletes that requires extraordinary circumstances in order to
elicit our best?

How about Mike D (Captain Flabongo) cleaning his PR 10 times during a little short ten
minute piece?

Or,

A little thing called my first 10 muscle ups, ever.
Way more impressive pulling out the last Muscle up in the final 15 seconds than the other two top 5 finishes in the other wods. Nice work Dizzle.

Or, C-Rin jerking about her bodyweight 10 times like it was nothing.

Or, Gravelly-nice laying down the third fastest row-burbpee-jerk wod?

In the great movie Gattica, Ethan Hawke is telling his brother how he was always able to beat him in their private swimming battles. He turns to his big brother and says, "I never saved anything for the swim back".

All you had to do was watch the classy, humble man-beast Coach Angel this weekend to understand what it was that Ethan Hawke meant. Turns out Angel qualified for the Crossfit Games this weekend with performances that were inspiring and brilliant.

So,put yourself in the pressure cooker. See what turns up. Chances are you will.

K-anxiety-increases-performance-star

The Blog Vacation is OVER!

2009-04-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

Seriously.
Thanks for your patience. To celebrate, enjoy this photo of Coach Carl.

Now on to some business. In addition to the normal SFCF Boz/Kstar blog ramblings, we are going to start posting some of the daily rehab/performance physio-therapy related emails that we receive, much like Robb Wolf does on his great site www.robbwolf.com.

There is a lot coming down the pipe so bare with us on this first blog back.

SATURDAY, MAY 2ND - OPEN GYM CANCELLED

UPCOMING EVENTS AT SFCF:

MAY 5, 2009: CINCO DE MAYO TACO OLYMPICS AND TACO SOCIAL: SFCF is hosting its second taco social on Cinco de Mayo (or May 5th), 2009. The event will start with the Taco Olympics at 6 p.m. followed by all-you-can-eat tacos at 7 p.m. SFCF will provide beer, margaritas,and water. $10/person. NO 7 p.m. CLASS ON MAY 5TH DURING TACO SOCIAL

JULY 25, 2009: CHASING PERFORMANCE: MOVEMENT, MOBILITY & MAINTENANCE: This one day seminar taught by our own Kelly Starrett is a performance oriented workshop for athletes and coaches wishing to develop effective mobility and flexibility strategies, improve ideal athlete positioning and movement set-up, and implement body maintenance practices.

Seminar Goals: Improve force production, increase work outputs, avoid common and preventable movement dysfunction and injury, understand how to address simple performance related myofascial issues.

You Can: Work Harder, Improve Your Fran Time, Squat More, Improve Your Overhead Capacity, Remain Injury Proof, Increase Your Volume Under the Work Capacity Curve, Solve Your Friends Pain!

TO ENROLL, JUST COPY AND PASTE THIS LINK INTO YOUR WEB BROWSER:
http://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ws.asp?studioid=5386&stype=-8&sTG=23&sVT=11&sTrn=100000001&sDate=7/25/2009 or proceed to the "Workshops" tab in our MindBody system.

$175/Current SFCF Members; $200/General (SFCF Members: email juliet@sanfranciscocrossfit.com to obtain discount code)

AND!!!!

The norcal Crossfit Qualifiers are this weekend.
Need a ride? Post your contact info to comments.

Good luck all our SFCF athletes!

K-it's-good-to-be-back-star

Think of It As Potential Potential

2009-04-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

Typically, warming up for the front squat or clean involves the usual lower-body biased movement prep rigmarole (that's abbreviated as LBBMPR). It is rare to see athletes prep for the significant thoracic extension required for success in these movements. We often hear coaches cuing the athlete to have quick elbows in the clean turn-over rack, or to keep the elbows up in the front squat. We do not however often hear coaches go the next step with their athletes and facilitate these trouble positions of emphasis.

You can think about the upper back extension required for a successful rack as increased likely-hood potential of a successful lift. For example, most missed front squats or failed cleans happen as a result of not being able to maintain the upright back during the ascent out of the hole (lots of steps have to happen for that position to even occur in the clean of course...) In an attempt to solve the upright back position/thoracic extension limiting factor, coaches will have their athletes turn out at the set up, pull with a much lower butt position, and coach the athlete to let their knees track out over their feet. These all work. So too does getting the athlete a little more supple in the mid to upper back prior to lifting.

Lost thoracic extension in the hole cannot be reclaimed during the lift. If your elbows drop and your upper back rounds, that will be the position in which you will or will not complete the lift. So starting out with maximal upper-back/thoracic extension is vital. It's potential potential.

Our warm up for the clean/front squat includes the usual LBBMPR AND lots of thoracic extension prep like kipping, cobra press ups, overhead squats, shoulder mobility work, and a little time on the pipes of pain.

It works too. We have to cue elbows up a lot less, and our athletes are able to move weights at the limits of their strength, not the limits of their flexibility.

Kstar

Direction

2009-03-25T23:32:00.001-07:00

Orientation is important. Understand we are not talking about the type of orientation that requires a fire-side chat with mom and dad, but rather the simple relationship between you and whatever heavy thing you would like to lift. You need to be clear in this relationship: The basics of What do I want to happen? How can I make this happen? and What Happens to make this happen? should be given a moment every once in a while (but not in the moment, as that will almost assuredly mean that the moment has passed).

Don't get lost in this process and think in terms of concepts, not details. Let's take a look at young Jo in the picture above. What movement is Jo performing? What is he hoping to accomplish with this lift? What direction is his body travelling during this phase of the lift? The bar? Having a clear road map is one strategy to make the path travelled less bumpy. Now remove this idea from your thoughts and lift.

Notorious P below has the right idea: Think, then enjoy. Or don't think, but react. Remember, lifting, training, huffing and puffing are all means to an end, not the end itself.

-Adrian 'West-Coast' Bozman

Up

2009-03-24T20:26:00.001-07:00

Ok, so the time has come. The gauntlet is officially being thrown:

Make it to the top rung of the Coffin and you get a free T-shirt. You also get to immortalize yourself in SFCF lore by signing your name on Larry's creation.

You can take a running start, but you have to land with both feet and stand up (stick it!). Successful attempts have to be witnessed by a coach. So far we have two athletes that have been successful...

The NorCal Regional Qualifiers for the CrossFit Games are just around the corner (May 2nd and 3rd). Being lucky enough to help out with the planning meant a dry-run of the proposed event over the weekend (Mega-Fun!). While I can't shed any light on the event itself, maybe the following pictures can give you a hint or two:

The event will be tough, but will definitely select some fit individuals to represent our area in the CrossFit Games this summer. That being said, the qualifier is open to all levels and I would highly recommend everyone who is even slightly interested to sign up and compete. It should be a good time and a great experience if competition is your thing.

If competition isn't your thing, volunteers are still needed to help out with the logistics of the event as well as judging. If that is something you are interested in, please contact Austin (the dude in the middle with the shovel): austin @ crossfitunlimited.com.

Adrian "Still-Sore" Bozman

Watchmen

2009-03-13T12:33:00.001-07:00

We think it is our Coaching staff that makes us different.
And we are clear about using the word "Coach" instead of "Trainer".
Is there a difference?
We think there is.

Often, coming to SFCF is the first time an athlete has any experience with coaching. And, many of our athletes come from extensively coached backgrounds and find a coached experience with us that they recognize and one in which they can excel. Coaching is always the difference.

How well do you know your Coaches?
Did you know both Angel AND Diane are badminton champions?
Did you know that Boz majored in music in college?
Did you know that Carl's "side-gig" is a developing a revolution in coaching independent elite athletes? Naka Athletics
Did you know that Kelly's real passion is for making drift-wood art?

Do they get coaching? You bet, check out the furious five getting better.

Kstar

Even coaches need coaches.

Kstar

Stretch Your Psoas Peoples

2009-03-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

The psoas (soh-as, like the P in pneumonia) is a nasty little critter of a muscle. And as an aside, it is the fillet Mignon of the human body (helpful if you should crash your plane with your Crossfit team in the Andes.) The superior attachments of this thick bastard are along either side of your lumbar spine (with fibers potentially going even higher.) Then, the psoas crosses over the pelvic bowl and inserts on the inside of your femur. You could say the psoas is a two joint muscle but it ends up crossing upwards of at least eight functional anatomical segments. We tend to think of it as the powerful hip flexor it is, but this is a little simplistic. The psoas also acts to flex the trunk at the hips if the legs are planted as in a glute ham sit up. The psoas also acts to position the head of the femur in the acetabulum. All this AND this hard working "hip-flexor" stabilizes the spine (poorly) and helps keep us in a solid extended position (this last piece is a problem sometimes when we deadlift--over extension.).

So, you can imagine that a tight psoas can potentially cause quite a few problems. Imagine the crazy lumbar extension load that goes on in sprinting when a tight psoas gets super stretched when the hip is at full extension behind the athlete (stronger abs anyone?)

We hear about hard working athletes that get an achy low back after sleeping on their backs all night. Psoas anyone?

Needless to say, psoas warming up/stretching has been addressed by a million different people in a million different ways. When you perform the Sampson stretch as advocated by the "better Crossfit warmup" you are hitting the front or anterior hip capsule/structures and a bit of the psoas.

But, we want to advocate for a little bit more psoas focused/biased stretching
movement.

The set up will look the same for any kneeling hip opener, but the difference is the blocking of the upper back by a pole or door way.

So, take an extreme kneeling position in front of a pole or door way while thinking about maximally opening the hip of the trailing leg (that would be going through the doorway behind you.)

Normally we would tell our athletes to imagine tucking their pelvis under to facilitate the hip/psoas stretch.

Instead, think about pushing your upper back into the pole or door-jam as above. This will act to fulcrum your pelvis forward and simultaneously keep your back upright.

Practice your contract relax by imagining that you are driving your back knee forward.
Five seconds peak contraction, ten seconds of moving further into your new range.
Shoot for a long 90 second exposure.

Oh, and that horrible ripping sensation going on in your pelvis?
That's just you becoming better at everything.

Kstar

SFCF Friends and Family Event!

2009-03-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

SFCF is for EVERYONE!!

- What: First ever SFCF Friends & Family Event
- When: March 28th, 2009, 11am

- Who: Friends & Family of current SFCF. Know someone who feels too out of shape, shies away from our normal class environment, doesn't feel like working out can be fun, doesn't think kids can be properly be trained and have fun, or feels like they are too old? Well than this is the first step in helping improve that.

The event will be FREE! We are highly encouraging members to bring their kids and seniors.

- Why: Kids - Showing kids different ways of being active (there will definitely be games involved), while introducing them to some basic CrossFit movements. Making sure kids have a fun experience and that parents understand their kids can benefit from some fundamental movement education.

Parents/Grandparents - Trying to reach out to a community that feels they have lost some independence. Showing people that they should never feel they can't do anything, but showing them the proper way to move and continue enjoying life.

- The Goal: Expand the SFCF community and show people you can never be too young or too old to have fun and stay fit!!

Please RSVP at SFCF, there will be a sign in sheet posted. If for some reason you cannot get to the sign in sheet, let Angel or Roop know you will be attending and who you will be bringing. We will definitely be ready with a workout and games for all ages!!

PS. If you are drop-in member at SFCF, we would still love you to attend!

Hip Function Fluency

2009-03-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

We contend that the more ways we can train hip function in our athletes, the better they perform. We do not respect one hip-trick ponies. We want hip function fluency (HFF).

It really is rather simple. Training athletes to violently extend their hips through "easy" movements like the Snatch, builds real athletic capacity. If an athlete can complete a powerful hip extension movement while orienting their spine in the direction desired, then serious legit-ness has been facilitated.

Olympic lifting teaches athletes to fully open the loaded hip while transitioning the torso and spine into optimally upright position. Simple and effective.

James Mills (above) is a local professional Ballet dancer here in SF. He has spent the better part of his life learning to extend. It's not an accident that although he has been training with us for less than a year, he appears to have pretty solid HFF. Olympic lifting is just his latest. As he can attest, the better he gets at the snatch, the better he get's in everything else.

Now take a look at the Boz messing around below. How, you might say, is he so damn capable at not risking Diane's life. Simple, he's fluent.

Note the full hip and arm extension prior to lift off, with a spine pointing in the direction of travel. These traits are trained and learned. By the way, Boz is a pretty good Oly-lifter too.

K-hip-Star

Stripes or Meatballs?

2009-03-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

Twizzlers or Redvines?
French Queen or Scottish Peasant Girl?

The world can be divided into two groups. Which are you? Bill Murray in Stripes, or Bill Murray in Meatballs? It's really rather simple. I am a Redvines guy, so is my wife. Everyone else can sod off. But you get the point. How you answer one simple question really ends up putting you into one camp or another.

On to the point.
We are asked on a consistent basis, "What do you do when it rains?"
People are shocked to discover that we still train, outdoors (we do have 1200 square feet of canopy for crying out loud), in the rain, in the wind. Nothing changes, except that sometimes we do fewer burpbees (sometimes).

And, at the instant that we respond, "We Frakking do high-rep Olympic lifting, what do you do?" That person drops into one camp or another. They either totally get it and see the advantages of always being outside under the beautiful bridge while performing training that actually reflects real world conditions. Or, they don't get it. At all.
They look at us like we've got a third eye (which we do, we ARE good coaches).
And at that moment we know pretty know all we need to ever know about that person.
SFCF isn't right for everyone. It's just right for us.

Well, which are you, Stripes or Meatballs?
Post answer to comments.

Kstar

This is Our Concern

2009-02-25T21:57:00.000-08:00

So, a recent study found that mental fatigue can have an effect on your physical performance. Let's forget for a moment that the study kind of sucked (16 people?! Talk about a sample-size!) and hold back the 'no-shit' that should be coming out of your mouth, as anyone who has done any sort of training in anything will tell you that coming into the game 'less than motivated' will lead to a sub-par performance.

Let's just think about this for a moment in terms of the things that you do to create mental fatigue before and during your workout in an attempt to minimize these less desirable in the future.

Do you audibly groan when the movements of the workout are announced?

Is the phrase 'man I hate _______' uttered from your lips?

Does the weight of the rest of your day cloud the moment?

Can you scrunch your face any harder when working out?
Do you allow the rep scheme or load of a workout to dominate your soul?

All of the above have the potential to create un-necessary mental fatigue. Stop it! Compare the placid, benevolent face of Mr. Robinson below to the Face Of Pain(Tm) of Mr. Henry above:
Which do you think sends a stronger message to the brain that all is well and it's okay to keep going?

On a personal note, I always try to remind myself before some excellent hybrid that I really do enjoy this stuff. Seriously! I wouldn't be doing it otherwise. You all are no different, whether you know it or not. Don't believe me? Look at all the happy people below. And yes, that was just post-sunrise before most people are even up.

Don't create that which doesn't need to be created,
-Boz

Ummm, You're Overhead Break is On?

2009-02-22T22:21:00.000-08:00

Before we start this discussion about your triceps, let's lay a few more ground rules about how to think about increasing flexibility and mobility.

First, try to stop thinking about stretching specific muscles.
We are mobilizing restricted ranges. Don't get all caught up in exactly what you are moving and stretching, think rather, in terms of movements. For example, your quads may only really be tight in full hip extension and leg flexion. So stretch in this position of emphasis. Also, you are mobilizing a whole world of connective tissues besides the muscle (so don't be all muscle stuck up).

Got it?

Well let's look at your overhead for a minute. There are a ton of potential overhead pits of despair and this time, we are just going to look at a single performance vampire--your triceps.

Honestly, how many times have you given these bad boys any attention in the last year?
Hmmm? How many pushing combinations have you performed in the last month alone? Yeah, a bloody ton. When did we stop thinking about the triceps when we were talking about shoulder flexibility? Specifically, the long head of the Triceps. The long head crosses two joints (elbow and shoulder) unlike the other two heads. So just stretching this beast at the elbow is going to miss some of the action. The long head is a little like a hamstring in that way (Biceps gets all the attention, which is total bullshite).
The long head attaches to the scapula under the "socket" of the joint. Pretty low down in fact.

Ever had your tri's hurt after a ton of pull ups? Yeah. That's the one resisting full arm extension and helping with a little humeral flexion.
So, to stretch this bastard, you've got to go beyond thinking about the elbow.

To start:
Wind up your arm on a wall as in the photo above. Don't press your armpit to the wall.
Instead thinking of contacting the wall with the distal part of your elbow and sort of lean away from the wall while driving force through that contact point. This is the part of the stretch where we are attempting to wind up the tricep as it inserts on the scapula above the arm pit. Imagine creating space between the bottom of your arm and your scapula. Got it?

All right. Now take your other hand and over-press your triceps by pushing on your wrist as in the photo below.

The body's tissues will put a greater stretch emphasis on the tissues that are loaded first. This is why stretching your hammies with your leg straight makes you feel it behind the knee. We are trying bias the proximal attachment of that long-head of the tri. So wind it up first.

Get after it. Remember to practice your contract relax here or at least stay in the fight for at least 90 seconds.

Not bad right? Post experience to comments.

--
Kstar

Role Call!

2009-02-20T08:51:00.000-08:00

Just a quick reminder that Crossfit Oakland will be hosting a Team Challenge tomorrow morning. The fun begins at 11am and I think it would be great for us to get to know our neighbors to the east.

Details of the competition are here.

So, who's in? If you're going, post to comments and maybe some carpool action will develop.

Have fun!
-Boz

It's Not Fancy, But @#&* It Works

2009-02-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

It has been noted on more than one occasion, that the ability of an athlete to powerfully extend the hip, correlates rather well with athletic capacity and prowess.
There are many ways to facilitate hip function in athletes including barbell training, kettlebell training, and Olympic lifting to name a few. Often over looked but no less potent, is the good old fashioned Jump. I'm not talking about 150 reps of jumping onto a 24 inch box. No, I'm talking about nasty jumping, higher, farther, bigger.

Do you know how high a box onto which you can jump? Running start? Standing start? Sitting start?

No? Doode. Get on it!

Let's talk about why jumping beyond the metabolic box jump effort is so badass.

1) You don't need any equipment.

2) Results are measurable, and repeatable.

3) You will know precisely how high a fence you can jump should you be running away from a stampeding herd of musk ox. It happens you know.

4) There are real consequences to not making it onto over the jump. You will have to learn to develop a strategy to bail. Which is good. Because bailing happens.

5) Jumping means landing. Teaching athletes to land safely protects them from landing injuries in the future? Why do you think there are so many ACL tears amongst female athletes? How many of those women were not taught how to land?

6) Jumping is elemental and primal. Everyone knows how they can do it. It scales for huge numbers of athletes.

7) You can see the direct implications of your lacking flexibility and hip mobility.
It's hard to stick a max jump if you can't pull your knees up to your forehead.

8) Jumping variations and permutations are endless. Boxes, long jump, high jump, jumping with dumbells, sitting start, standing start, running start....

9) Jumping from a seated position teaches pure concentric power by breaking the eccentric-concentric cycle typical of a quick stretch down-up. Think deadlifting, but speed.

href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fsRCIQjHY3E/SZro7qOCXdI/AAAAAAAAB0g/fXdeVQFuR48/s1600-h/IMG_0170.JPG">

10) You have to be responsible for your own carcass. Sure you may squat 400, but you also weigh 215 bro. Oh, you can jump onto a 56 inch box? Legit!

11) There is some real fun to be had in this kind of training. It's not so, muscle-heaving-power-snatch-jerky. You know? Fun?

12) Most importantly. It works.

So, I triple dog dare you to find out how high you can jump. And keep your eye posted on the SFCF blog for a little upcoming jumping challenge.

Coach K-like mike, I wanna be like Mike -Star

Finishers

2009-02-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

Finisher:

1)The act of getting one last-blast before calling it a day.
2)A dedicated practice time after the bulk of the work has been done.

The art of the finisher:

#1)Blast through the 'main-course' of your workout.

#2)Pick a category of movement you did not address in the main-course (Weightlifting/Gymnastics/Monostructural activities). Or simply select a movement/pattern or two that were not expressed earlier.

#3)Recover from the main course and hit that shit hard!

Things not to do:

#1)Hold back on your main workout anticipating the finisher.

#2)Hammer the same movements that you just did in the workout.

#3)Over-reaching or creating a 2nd workout with your finisher. Making the finisher just a longer extension of the main workout isn't effective either.

Examples of a fine finish:

#1)A few sets alternating of weighted back extensions and L-sits.

#2)A few sets alternating of Handstand holding and deadhang pullups.

#3)One set of one of the following: Max Pushups/Dips/Pistols/HSPU/Muscle-Up etc.

#4)On heavy days, a back-off set after your work sets with about 60-75% of your effort with flawless technique.

#5)One all-out 400m run, or two-all out 100m runs (one there, one back).

#6)Best box/broad jump.

Now go-forth and be beast!

-Adrian "Goes-down-smooth" Bozman

PS I'm working on the first 'earned' SFCF shirt...It will be awarded to those that can conquer the coffin...details to follow.

Simplicity

2009-02-15T16:49:00.000-08:00

We are community of seekers. We read esoteric lifting blogs, we argue about lifting-shoe heel heights, and the best place to rest the bar on the shoulders in the backsquat. Our athletes attend Olympic lifting seminars and many of our regulars hold Level 1 Crossfit certifications. Some of our fire breathers have been training with us for years and know a bloody ton about increasing work capacity. They can tell you why raising your butt too fast on the first pull will cause you to miss forward. They can tell you that turning out your feet a little on the set up will help you transition to a faster second pull (it is the new black).

We are well versed, well coached, sophisticated, proletariat Crossfitters. Dammit.
And the further down the path we travel towards a physical culture that has near open access to Coaches like Glassman, Berg, Rip, and Starr, the more we can't forget to pay attention to the big detail, big picture issues of technique.

Ok, here's a pop quiz hotshot. What did you notice first about the technique of the lifter in the photo above? I bet you can name at least three things you would have her do to improve that power snatch. You technicrat you.
Was keeping your eyes open while lifting one of the things you would mention?
Notice that this same athlete makes the same error in the photo below.

When selecting appropriate cues to improve an athlete's performance, don't get caught up in the small stuff. Go for the low hanging fruit. Does having a technical understanding of the lifts matter? Of course, but don't forget to coach. See the athlete as a whole. Try and notice the small stuff and the big stuff, at the same time. Continue to pick off the obvious stuff before you delve into the miniature. There is a story around about Coach Rip answering questions about someone's deadlift.
The athlete was asking overly technical questions about his inability to lock out a big weight. Rip is reported to have said something like: "Sometimes you just have too much weight on the bar."

There is zen saying about simplicity:
Draw bamboos for ten years, become a bamboo, then forget all about bamboos when you are drawing.

The capacity to do so is why there is a difference between coaches and trainers.
Strive for Coachdom.

K-coach-in-training-star

Coming Down the Pipe

2009-02-12T23:20:00.001-08:00

In an attempt to hone the skill of the NorCal CrossFit minions (and show our fitness-based superiority to the world), several events have been planned for your workout pleasure around the Bay Area. These will be team based events, so hopefully we can get our team out and about, but everyone from SFCF who would like to participate is more than welcome and encouraged to attend. The time for these events is not set yet, but most likely they will begin around 11am. Here's the schedule so far:

Sat Feb 21: CrossFit Oakland
Sat Mar 14: Diablo CrossFit
Sat Apr 4: CrossFit Santa Clara

(then a little break for the NorCal Qualifiers)

Sat May 9: CrossFit San Francisco
Sat May 30: CrossFit One World

Rock your socks off!

-Boz

PS I was recently interviewed by CJ Martin of CrossFit Invictus. CJ grilled me about 'the issues'. You can read all about it here.

Fightin' Force

2009-02-10T20:05:00.001-08:00

The votes have been tallied....the six that you have chosen to lead us in team competition at this year's CrossFit games are:

J.D, Damian, Lucas

Catherine, Corrine, Tamra

Excellent! We wish them the best. Let's all support them in their training so they may represent us well in July.

What do you think we can do to send them off as prepared as possible? Keep training the way they are? Team practice? Power Lunches and late-night strategy sessions?

-Boz

Your Poor Lats, Instructions For Care and Feeding

2009-02-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

Your Lats are unheralded super beasts. Whether they are hucking your carcass through a 150 pullups, stabilizing your spine in the back squat, ripping a sub 7 minute rowing 2k, or just pulling 225 from the ground a couple of 45-plus times, they never let you down.
And what do you do? Basically, you ride em hard, and put em away wet because YOU have to stretch your precious "hamstrings". Your lats are like the Ford F150 on the ranch that never gets washed, but gets used to pull out stumps.

Doodes. Even Lats need love sometimes.
I know y'all know how to grab a bar and stretch these "wide back" beasts. But, here is a fancy little trick to really wind them up.

Grab a PVC pipe or a dowel and get your elbows close together while kneeling in front of one of your box jump boxes. Now, while trying to keep your elbows close together, slide your hands apart on the pipe to externally rotate your arms (remember lats are powerful internal rotators of the arm.)

Once you feel wound up in that awkward externally rotated position, and keeping elbows together, bring your arms into relative flexion by attempting to bring your chest to the ground. Keep your back straight and elbows together. If you can bang out a high rep Cindy, chances are that you are probably feeling a pretty good stretch about now. In the next photo, note that my elbows are coming apart a little, due to the ungodly force of the stretch I'm enduring.

Take huge breaths, hold at lease 90 seconds. Or, better yet, practice your contract relax here. Don't worry, the tearing sensation will go away.

Coach Kstar

You there. Stop your adaptation.

2009-02-07T20:36:00.000-08:00

Failure to adapt to training is to adapt to training.--Westside Barbell Club

The Crossfit Prescription is to keep our training exercises constantly varied.
Per Glassman, "We fail at the margins of our experiences."

Too true.

And while we may perform many barbell, dumbell, and kettlebell variants, there tends to be a great deal of stance homogeneity within our movements. In fact ask any Crossfitter to perform a "landing position" movement and they will occupy the same foot position that they employ for the air squat, front squat, back squat, Olympic lifting receiving position, overhead squat, kettlebell swing, dumbell snatch, etc.

About the only variation that occurs in a wider than "jumping position" stance for your average Crossfitter occurs solely in the Sumo Deadlift Highpull. And while I would argue that the beauty of Crossfit is that there are so many things to suck at, we need to go farther in finding conjugates to our staple movements. Enough people have been Crossfitting for long enough that we must continue to find ways to expand upon our "constantly varied" mandate.

Great, you deadlift (this is no small achievement I know but...) Can you sumo deadlift? Let's expand the conversation beyond foot positioning. What happens when you pull while standing on a couple of 45's? What about deadlifting from a snatch grip for a one rep max? Or, what about pulling a couple of inches off the floor? What's your five rep max? Your bodyweight for reps max? I bet you don't know. And, therein lies an whole new world of new training stimuli.

We have a whole host of Olympic lifting skill transfer exercises (snatch balance, hang snatch, hang power snatch, hang muscle snatch etc.) Why is it you have never tried to squat from a narrow stance? Yeah you suck at it because it loaded your back. Of course it wasn't your strongest effort. But, it was a new PR in a narrrow "olympic high bar squat". And that's cool because it will tell you volumes about what you need to work on, and it will continue to be a novel training stimulus.

What's that? Competing in a squat contest? Well pull out your big gun, best squat stance ever. But in training, keep that sucker different. Add chains, squat lower, squat wider, you get the idea.

If we are going to continue to evolve as a community, we are going to have to get more sophisticated in our understanding of our movements and how to exploit the nuances of each for all they are worth. You need to be able to pull out like, ten different squats.

So go and see. Start to examine your basic movements with "beginner's mind".
Then go set some records and take some more names.

Coach K-hold-my-trophy-while-I-kiss-your-girlfriend-star

Unleash Coolness

2009-02-06T19:21:00.000-08:00

San Francisco CrossFit T-Shirts and Pullover Hoodies are now on sale! Ask a coach before or after class to help you out. You can also email Coach Angel at angel@sanfranciscocrossfit.com.

T-Shirts: $20
Hooded Sweatshirts: $40

Available Sizes:
T-Shirts: XL, L, M, S, XS
Hooded Sweatshirts: XL, L, M, S

Shipping is available upon request.

--Coach Angel (aka. Angel of Death)

Head Faults Revisited

2009-02-05T13:43:00.001-08:00

Here is the premise: Best positioning equals best force production. Let's call this concept "Best Fit". The body has natural positions from which it can perform the most work. This may due to maximizing leverages, best joint contacts, best length tension muscle relationships, etc. But just as we all agree that the best means for a human being to lower it's center of mass, make itself more stable, and lift heavy objects is the squat, so too within that movement there is "ideal" positioning and setup.

During any human movement of consequence, the most effective means to generate peak force is to try and approximate this "best fit" ideal. Take the photos above for example. The athlete is in a safe environment. He is not about to get run over by a car or stampeded by a herd of crippled yaks. Ergo, there is no functional reason for his head to be in that position while deadlifting. Ever. Especially when this head position leads to a failed lift! What?! We know what motivates you, you performance whooors.

So now that you understand why the head positioning in a deadlift matters (less force production potential), let's talk about what's likely going on so that you can understand why you should banish the head fault.

1) Our mid-line stabilization concept extends beyond just the low back. Yes, it includes the neck too. Simply put, chicken necking is a first order positional foul. We don't let our athletes lift with a rounded lumbar spine, we shouldn't allow this neck position either. Mid-line stable athletes are badasses.

2) It is clear from the photos above that the athlete has translated from a poor set up into an even worse position. The human spine is set up to be extremely mobile for weight baring column. However, it does not tolerate inter-segment movement under peak compressions well. In fact, this is the primary mechanism of injury for disc derangement, to say nothing of screaming hot facet joints or nerve root silliness.
Bottom line. Keep your spine quiet. Don't generate a bunch of dynamic end range spinal movement when you are attempting your max lifts.

3) This is my favorite. Lose the head, lose the pelvis.
An extended cervical position upstream allows for rounded shoulders and lumbar flexion downstream. Don't believe me? Let your head flop back and see how easy it is to let your pelvis tuck under into the dreaded "dog poo" position. Forget lumbar disc injury, putting your neck back into an unseemly position will allow for your hamstring anchors to essentially pull loose. Poof, instant loss of power. Watch athletes in a deadlift for example, as soon as the head goes they loose all hope of making the lift.
The head is like a keystone keeping the whole system in balance. Thus, loose the head, loose the pelvis.

4) There are probably some issues of alleviating neural tension and some deep seated mass extension movement components to the head extension fault too, but they go beyond this blog.

Coach K-head-in-line-please-star

Home-Made Support

2009-02-02T21:02:00.001-08:00

Everybody loves a project! Here's one to do the next time you have a spare 10 and 10 (minutes and dollars). These handy dandy wrist wraps are great if you are finding yourself doing a lot of weightlifting, and as such a lot of taping of your delicate wrists. Tape is sticky, messy and, in the long run, expensive.

Required equipment:

-Wrist wraps used for boxing/fighting (most major sporting goods stores will carry these)
-Knife/Scissors/Teeth (knife is the obvious choice for all-around awesome-ness)
-Wrist or approximation

Step 1: Find an appropriate length.

Use your fingers to grab/palm the long end of the wrap. The free is hand is, uh, free to wind the wrap around your wrist. You want a length that will offer some support, but not be too bulky. I've found you usually want the finished product to be a little longer than your arm.

Keep your finger marking the distance you find most comfortable while unwinding the wrap.

Step 2: Make the incision.

Using your sharp thing and your finger mark, cut that sucka!

(Optional) Step 3: Tidy Up

Using your mom's sewing kit, fold over a little bit of the end and sew it down to prevent fraying when you wash them sweaty wraps (you were planning on washing them, right? Tossing them in a dryer might be a bad idea as it may weaken the integrity of the fabric). If you are punk-rock or making your wraps in a hotel-room in Virginia, let them fray. Oi.

Step 4: Wrap it up!

Wrap your wrists. Make sure the wrap is fairly tight. Go lift something heavy over your head. Save the excess for the unfortunate time you might need to bandage an appendage. (Optional: Remove dorky EVERLAST logo with knife)

There you have it, a stylish, washable wrist support that won't leave any crazy tape-residue. I believe I first head about a similar solution on the CrossFit Evolution website, but I couldn't remember/find the specifics...

-Adrian "Modern-Day-Solutions" Bozman

You Know You Wanna

2009-01-27T17:17:00.001-08:00

Now Available:

Remember:

You have until the 8th of February. Put your name on it or it won't be counted. Go Team!

-Boz

PS I will try to get a Mug-Shot posted of each nominee before the week is out.

Cast Your Vote!

2009-01-26T17:56:00.000-08:00

The public has spoken! Here are the fine-folks that have been nominated to represent us in the CrossFit games this July:

In no particular order:

Men:
JD
Damian
Aaron (Dial)
Lucas
Matt T.
Bernard
Corby
Michael (FilthyBrit)
Alex
Aneel
Drew
Nick
Pon
Roop

Women:
Catherine G.
Tamra
Corrinne
Jamie
Juliet
Pam

Voting will be open until Sunday the 8th of February. A ballot box will be down at SFCF along with ballots containing the names of all the nominees. To vote, write you name on a ballot, circle the 3 men and 3 women you would like to represent us and place your ballot in the box. Only one vote each (hence the names on the ballots)!

In other news, give a pat on the back to Sean the next time you see him. Sean recently attended a CrossFit Level 1 seminar and survived to tell the tale! Part-time SFCF member Ben (who visited us over the holidays) was also in attendance. Nice job fellas!

Also in other news, Catherine competed in her first Weightlifting competition on Sunday January 18th. She placed 6th with a total of 114kg after deciding to compete about a week prior to the competition. Awesome!!

-Democra-boz

Hawthorne Effect?

2009-01-23T14:47:00.000-08:00

When performing within a team workout context, we dare you loaf. You simply can't. Really. You will drive yourself well beyond of what you think you are capable. Why?
Can you recall psych 101? Here's one explanation: The Hawthorne Effect

The Hawthorne effect is a form of reactivity, and describes a temporary change of behavior or performance in response to a change in the environmental conditions, with the response being typically an improvement.

Defined: a short-term improvement caused by observing worker performance.

The definition has ultimately come to mean that people's behavior and performance changes following any new or increased attention.

So sure, maybe a little Hawthorne effect leads to a faster 500m row split.
Or.
Maybe it's just more fun to go for broke when your friends are cheering in your ear.
Hmmmm.

K-watching-you-Star

Feburary Changes Are A-Coming

2009-01-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

Hey Gang,

We just wanted to take a moment and update you on some SFCF changes that will go into effect on the first of February.

First: We are shifting away from paypal and are using a new scheduling system called MindBody that will help us to better serve our athletes. This killer new system will allow us to perform revolutionary tasks like enabling our athletes to pay for drop-in or monthly fees with, a credit card. Also, we can now offer our athletes long-term contract pricing and the flexibility of a 10 class pass.

Starting February 1st, our monthly athletes will need to log into MindBody through our new website (online payment link) and create an account to purchase a membership or a contract.

Second: In an attempt to better serve our veteran athletes, and better prepare first time Crossfitters for the rigors of regular group training, SFCF open classes will only be accessed after completing a short series of private training sessions or two weeks of "on-ramp" classes. Both avenues will be geared toward teaching the new athlete our program foundations and essentials. Details to follow on the re-launch of our website.

Third: We are very excited to announce that SFCF will now offer on site, performance-based physical therapy services. Whether you need rehab for ACL reconstruction, have some old nagging orthopedic injury from college, need help with your tight hamstrings, or just need some new space in your shoulder capsules to chase that Jerk PR, we can help. Scheduling and availability can also be accessed through the new site on Feb 1.

Fourth: Keep an eye on the schedule for some new Strength and Olympic Lifting based classes.

Kstar
(ps. There is no actual devil worship going on at SFCF. Although if you've trained with Coach Di, the Skull Staff of Power is a fitting talisman.)

End Range Deranged

2009-01-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Most muscle pulls and strains typically occur when an athlete is attempting to generate a large amount of power at the end ranges of their available flexibility. Think for a moment when you last tweaked a hammie or pulled a hip flexor. Chances are you were making your poor little muscles over exert themselves in less than ideal ranges (IE. The End Range). Your muscles are set up to be able to generate peak power and force at typical mid ranges of motion. The ideal "length-tension" relationship of the muscle occurs when the fibers that comprise that muscle are in the best overlap/best fit position. (There is an optimal line of pull/lever arm piece too, but ignor that for now) This occurs in the bicep at about mid-range through flexing your arm for example. When muscles are stretched to their end working ranges, little overlap of those muscle fibers occur. A muscle at peak stretch is susceptible to injury because it can't develop sufficient force to protect itself. Your nervous system knows this too, and will blunt motor unit recruitment in these working ranges to keep you from taking your muscles to their end ranges too far and too fast.

But, we can always game the system. Here's how.

Getting a little quality end range static work is just what the doctor ordered.
Taking a muscle to it's end range safely, and making it do a little static hold work will work greatly to your favor.

1) You will signal your nervous system that you do in fact spend time at these end ranges and not to panic when you max split jerk and end up here.

2) You will signal your body to reinforce the quality of the the muscle fiber overlap in these extreme ranges.

3) You might actually get stronger in these bitter end posts of movement. (Think Siberia for your hip flexors)

4) You might accidentally signal your brain to make your muscles longer (stretching).

5) You will decrease the likely-hood of creating tendon-bone interface problems by strengthening the attachments of those tendons at the strange end range angles they encounter.

Sounds good right?

Mission: At the end of your workout. Place a foot on a box behind you and jump out with your other leg as to create a pretty good hip extension on the trailing leg.
Keeping your front shin vertical, drop into a big lunge placing as much weight as you can on the back foot while keeping your belly firm and your back straight.

Hold until you simple cannot. Then switch.
Then repeat the cycle two more times.

It works. It's sucky, but so is your end range.

Kstar

Scaling UP!

2009-01-14T15:25:00.000-08:00

Much talk is given to the concept of scaling in CrossFit: We want anybody, regardless of age, ability or fitness level to be able to workout with a high level of relative intensity. Weight can be reduced on weightlifting movments, mechanical advantages can be given for challenging bodyweight movements (think band assist etc.) and distance can be reduced on monostructural activities. No news here.

For the beginning CrossFitter, scaling is most likely a necessary step. The goal here is to introduce some quality movements at a level that is appropriate for 'ramping-up' your work capacity. After a few weeks or months, the question of 'how-do-I-take-my-shit-to-the-next-level?' must be addressed. There are several issues to consider...

...the most important of which is mechanics. As long as your mechanics are maintained at a safe level where the best ROM possible (range of motion) is achieved, you are good to go. Struggle is to be expected here. It is OK to struggle when scaling up to a more difficult variation or weight, as long as the struggle is safe. This concept is often overlooked. The trainee is too quick to assume the new weight or movement is inappropriately difficult. This comparison is a mistake, as the old weight or movement is being used as the reference point and logically, the new step will be more challenging. You can't fall into this mind-trap! These workouts and movements are hard and you can expect to have to break up sets into bite-sized pieces. It might not seem apparent, but what you are experiencing is improvement!

Now that the technical concept of 'it-will-be-harder-but-that's-the-point' is understood, let's talk specifics.

The first step is learning to identify what is an appropriate load for a given workout. The rep scheme will be your best road-sign.

If a workout has a relatively low rep count (in this case 10 or less), feel free to go a little heavier. It will be expected that a set of 10 or even a set of 5 will be broken up...maybe even several times! If you fly through a set of 7 every round for 5 rounds, it's time to step it up. Keep this in mind.

If a workout has a relatively high rep count (10-30), pick something that will allow you to keep moving. If you are breaking things up into 2s and 3s during a set of 30, it is too difficult.

For bodyweight movements, ask your coach about the next step up. Here's an example:
In a recent workout we performed a lot of ring dips (in the Rx'd or as written version of the workout). Ring dips are hard, even for the strong. That being said, in order to mimic the demands of the workout, you must choose a difficult variation, even if you are scaling. Here's a theoretical hierarchy from the top down:

Ring Dips--->Bar Dips--->Feet elevated pushups--->Pushups on parallettes to increase ROM--->Regular Pushups--->Knee pushups.

Notice there are many degrees here. Don't get stuck just defaulting back to your plain-jane standard.

Now, if you are a person who typically performs knee pushups for most of your work during high rep workouts, this would be a good time to do the lion's share of your reps as regular pushups. You will have to break them up. This is ok. The dude (or dudette) who is chipping away at the ring dips is doing the same thing.

Things are a little easier when we are talking weightlifting or monostructural activity. Simply put more weight on the bar (have your coach check your mechanics) or get out the gate faster on your rowing or running. Again, don't worry if you have to break things up later or you burn out halfway through. Your gym, filled with your compatriots, is the best place to experience this 'blowing-up'...they won't let you pack it in while facing adversity.

Now get out there and challenge yourself! This is what improvement feels like!!

-Adrian 'Technical_Terms' Bozman

PS Get your nominations in by Sunday! We will be voting soon!!

PPS if you would like to help out by volunteering at the regional qualifiers to be held in may, please email austin AT crossfitunlimited.com.
The website is up and running here:
http://norcalcfqualifier.blogspot.com/

PPPS

Class schedule tomorrow will be business as usual.

...To the Future!

2009-01-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

(Above: Friday's Death-By-Diane)

So...it's been almost two weeks. Right about now the regular gyms are seeing their attendance drop back to normal. At this point, the habit has most likely been set, or been broken.

...but you don't have that problem. If you're reading this, you are probably pretty set in your daily fix, (read: exercise habit) so case closed, right? Not necessarily.

We all have some aspect of our physical nature that we would like to improve. If you don't, well, kudos to you Zen-Master. We all know the things we suck at. Now's the time to start addressing these points of potential improvement head on. What feels better than knowing you've gotten better? And what areas have the most potential to get better? (Hint: The Things You Suck At)

Now there should be some thinking outside the box here. Sure you should stretch your hammies more, but what else? Maybe this is the year you master the snatch (zing!). Perhaps taking up, or getting back into, a sport is something you've been considering. The possibility may exist that you'd like to develop some superior body-control a la Coach Carl. Think about it...

I'll start. I'm going to get back in the habit of developing/maintaining some of my acrobatic skills. I'd also like to start playing squash again every once-in-a-while. I currently suck at doing anything outside of a structured workout.

Post 09' Physical goals to comments.

(Notorious P goes for speed this morning. Must be ze zpeed shoes.)

-Adrian 'used-to-play-squash-every-damn-day' Bozman

PS only one week left to nominate your fellow SFCFers to represent you at the CF games this summer. Email me: adrian AT sanfranciscocrossfit.com

Your Tight Hips Betray You

2009-01-08T11:01:00.000-08:00

The Couch-Stretching Series: Part 2

Your hips need help. They really do. Hips should be supple and have nearly no passive drag as they move through their available ranges. We consistently have to cue our athletes to keep their knees out in the deepest ranges of their squat. Forget adductor/glute strength, some of these athletes simply don't have the available hip capsule range of motion to externally rotate their femurs (keep the knees out) at full hip flexion (the bottom of the squat).

This couch stretch is a doozy and one to check out often. This looks a little like that pigeon yoga stretch, but 1) yoga could never yield elite fitness, 2) you can't watch TV doing yoga, 3) we don't apply a gapping force on the lateral collateral ligament of your knee as is prone to happen when doing pigeon on the floor, and 4) Eff Yoga.

Wind up your hip on either the side or the back of the couch. Adjust your hips/butt position so that you have the side of your knee supported by the couch. There should be no knee off of the couch (this will gap and stretch your precious knee ligaments.)
Try and keep your back straight as you fold forward to apply the stretch. The tendency is to round your lower back to ameliorate the tearing that is going in your hips. Don't give in.

Remember: Test, re-test. Try your squat before and after you do this stretch. Notice anything hotshot? And, 90 seconds 2x day gets you a C+ (I know you are just a C+ Crossfit student right?). Try your contract-relax techniques here as well.

Coach Kstar

Opportunities

2009-01-05T18:59:00.000-08:00

The New Year is here! There are always a host of activities that accompany this time of year, so lend an ear and you might find something you are looking for:

#1) The Bad-Girls Open Weightlifting Competition , Jan. 18th.

If you're a lady and you've ever had the slightest thought about entering a weightlifting competition, this is the event for you! It was designed to offer a casual-competitive environment for women new to the sport. Click the link for more info. (I was a little late posting this, but you should still be able to register if you contact the folks on the link).

#2) Freddy C's Fish-Game tournament at CrossFit One World in Union City, Jan. 31st.

The fish game is found in the 'games' section of the C2 rower display. It's simple. You pull harder and the fish rises to the surface. You slack off and the fish sinks to the bottom. You have to dodge the big fish and eat the little fish. Last time around, this was a good time: A title was on the line, a new champion crowned, and many beers were consumed. Freddy's gym has a great community and I would highly suggest taking a trip over!

3) The CrossFit Games!, July 10-12th.

If you are the competitive type, this is the event for you! There are only 5 slots available from our region to go to the games this year. Qualifiers will be held in Aromas, CA (just south of Gilroy) in May.

We will be sending a team for the affiliate challenge this year as well. The team will be elected by you! The team does not have go through any qualification process to compete, so we are leaving it in your capable hands. Teams of 6 will be competing in the games, with 4 people actively involved in any given workout (there will be several over the course of the weekend). We must have at least 2 women on the team and we will not be sending any SFCF open-class-coaches.

What we need from you is nominations. Email me (adrian AT sanfranciscocrossfit.com), or give a piece of paper with your nominations to your coach now until Sunday the 18th. Once we have all the nominees compiled, we will have a vote. The 6 people with the most votes will represent SFCF in glorious battle this summer!

This could be you, but in the dust with your team-mates during the Africa-hot weather of the summer repping for SF!!

#4) Have you seen Diane's new dog yet? Aaaahhhaaahhhhhh!!!

Adrian "Social-Coordinator" Bozman

100 Burpee Cookie

2009-01-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

We are pretty Paleosexual around our house these days. What? You don't know what Paleosexual means? Well, roughly defined it's adhering to a lifestyle based around Gluten-Free Paleo/Zone eating and short, intense Crossfit style exercise. (It's also pretty much the inverse of eating low-fat and training to be a triathlete.) Even my three year old daughter asks for her daily fish oil dose at breakfast.

But alas, once in a while we do want ourselves a bit of the WHITE DEATH. And once we've had even a little taste, we are like a den of those creepy zombies in "I Am Legend."

What are we to do?

My wife Juliet hatched the idea of going absolutely sugar free (no sweet, cake, cookie, ice cream, etc) till the end of April (her birthday).
She has even started a Facebook group called "Jesus Hates Sugar". (He would you know.)

The out? You can PRE-pay for one sweet item on the same day you plan to indulge by performing 100 consecutive burpees (with a jump and clap over-head at full extension).
The Pre-Payment shame has to be done on the day of, and cannot be credited to a day in the future. The burpees expire at midnight.
You also can't spread the burpees out over the course of the day in an attempt to ameliorate their heinousness. Burpees done at a Crossfit workout also don't count.

I tested the burpees for cookies system yesterday and have to tell you that in order not to become fiercely sweaty, you should plan on at least 15-20 minutes to complete the task.

Was it worth it? Let us know. It's about an even trade. Two cookies by the way? That would be 200 burpees.

Are you in? If you are, skin that pony and post to comments.

Happy White Death Free New Year!

Coach Kstar

New Year!

2008-12-30T17:13:00.000-08:00

Due to public outcry, the New Year's Day workout will be held at noon on Thursday, Jan. 1st. Spread the word!

If we don't get a chance to see you, Happy New Year and we look forward to seeing you all in 2009.

-Boz

New Year's Schedule

2008-12-27T20:45:00.000-08:00

Hey Gang,
We have a few changes to the week's schedule.

1) Normal classes Wednesday (New Year's Eve) except there will be no 7pm class.
2) New Year's Day will only be 8:30 am all levels.

Coach K-nothing-is-cool-or-sacred-anymore-Slice

Christmas Family

2008-12-25T15:47:00.000-08:00

Family denotes a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some anthropologists have argued that one must understand the notion of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts rather than through genetic distance.--Wikipedia 08

Metaphorical family aside, I'll take this group of misfits as my own anytime.

Thanks for joining us. Those SFCF athlete family members that HAD to be somewhere else, we missed you.

Merry Christmas all.

Coach K, Coach Boz, Coach Di, Coach Carl, Coach Angel.

Doode, Where's My Quads?

2008-12-22T21:34:00.000-08:00

The Couch Series: Part 1--Quads

The problem with working on your flexibility and mobility is that it's hard to squeeze it in to your already busy life. It's hard enough already to just get in some legitimate daily work capacity training, and eat right, and hang out with your family as it is.
Add some flexibility training too? You ask too much.

Oh, but you can.
Your Couch is the answer. The couch is the greatest mobility prop in your life and we are going to show you how to use it properly. (As a platform to launch first person shooter game campaigns it is not, Adrian)

The majority of the dysfunction I see in my daily physical therapy practice is pretty much preventable. A great deal of patella based pain for example, is simply related to quads (and rectus femoris) that are simply too tight. Is this an over-simplification? Of course. But, most of the people in my clinic that have knee pain also have tight quads and hips.

So quads meet couch, couch quads.

Make it a point that every time you find yourself on the coach, you commit to performing some kind of flexibility training.
Start tonight with your quads.

1) Place your knee in the back corner of the couch where the back cushion meets the seat cushion.
The cushions should sufficiently protect your knee cap from undue compression, but try anyway to make contact with the thigh side of your knee on the cushion.

2) Get ready to suck it up.

3) Keeping your pelvis in neutral and your back straight, try and bring your other leg up onto the couch, closing the distance between your bottom and your heel.

4) The tendency is to let your pelvis tilt forward, thereby unloading your hip, but don't be that guy. Stand in there and take the hit.

This is a great place to work on your contract relax stretching, or just simply enter the pain cave and don't come out for at least 90 seconds.

Happy hunting! (it's a legitimate strategy Adrian)

Reminder: No evening classes Christmas eve, morning and noon classes are still on.
The First EVER SFCF Christmas Day noon workout.

Coach K-you know what's funny about tight quads? Nothing is funny about tight quads-Star

Holiday Biz-nas!

2008-12-20T23:48:00.000-08:00

Gang,

Just a reminder on a few things:

1) We will be having a Christmas day workout at noon on Thursday. Spread the word. Remember how much fun T-day was?

2)I just got word from Jon Gilson of Again Faster that there will be a Rowing seminar put on by Concept 2 rowing January 9th and 10th at Rowbics in Long Beach CA. This two day seminar will cover indoor erging technique the first day. The second day you will be taken out on the water where you will learn to scull in a real-deal racing boat. If you are at all interested in rowing this will be a great weekend! Details here.

3)Have an outstanding holiday season!

-Boz

Cake Walk

2008-12-18T12:34:00.000-08:00

Just a few photos from the Trans-Bay Holiday Party/Cake Walk workout held yesterday night. Nothing says holiday cheer like a walk with your (new) best-friends-forever holding some heavy-ass weight. Aneel's sweater doesn't hurt either. And a case can be made that burpees are pretty close to mistletoe: rarely does anyone want to participate, it's kind of awkward, but in the end you're better for it, and, admit it, you enjoyed it.

To make things even better, the powers that be here at ol' SFCF have decided that Christmas day will be a fine day for a workout. Coaches will be on hand at noon to help you get your fix. Spread the word!

Happy Holidays!

-Adrian 'This-Nog-Rocks' Bozman

PS Big thanks to Tom Campitelli from CrossFit Oakland for taking the pictures!! You can see more here.

'Tis the Season

2008-12-16T19:26:00.001-08:00

So:

It's finally starting to feel a little like winter in our neck-o-the-woods. Surely you've all tasted the frosty-morning/evening-bite that the bay breeze has been bringing.

This is a good thing! True fitness is not something that can only be expressed in climate controlled comfort. Exposing yourself to something as simple as a temperature change can add a little extra something to your workouts (spice?). Mentally, it is good to know that you are good to go regardless of the environment you find yourself in. The fortitude developed and required by showing up in the dark and cold at the beginning/end of your day is just as important as the physical improvements your workout will bring. Just make sure to layer-up so you can get warm initially (don't worry, we'll help you with that). Self improvement is rarely comfortable anyway, so the cold ain't no thing.

Adrian:
"But what is best in life?"

Billy Biceps:
"The open elliptical, four-minute abs, cable-cross-overs at your wrists, and the air conditioning in your hair"

Adrian:
"WRONG! Kelly! What is best in life?

Kelly:
"To Crush your PRs, regardless of climate, and hear the lamentations created by your contrast shower".

Adrian:
"That is good! That is good!!"

Besides, it's easier showing up knowing that all your comrades-at-arms will be there too...

-Adrian 'All-Day' Bozman

PS let's make sure to put the plates back a little nicer...stack similar weights on top of each other to avoid the leaning tower of rubber pictured below!

Trans-bay Holiday Party This Wednesday (CHPA)

2008-12-14T21:43:00.000-08:00

Here's the low down on the Coolest Holiday Party Around (The CHPA)

Where: Special Top Secret Cool Kid Workout: SFCF 6pm
Sportsbasement Shopping After Party: 6:45-9pm

What: All Crossfitters and family get 20% off shopping at the Sportsbasement, 5% of total sales goes to a charity of our choosing.

Food: Amazing drinks and Killer Paleo/Zone creations by CFO master chef; Lance

Look: If you are a Crossfitter in the greater Bay Area, we'd love to have you. And, bring a friend!

The 7pm class will be moved to the portable bar (think wine/beer/vodka) in the Sportsbasement (no formal class but drinking for time is encouraged, or power shopping, whatever.)

And to get you in the mood, photos of cool kids lifting heavy things:

Alex for 435

.
Coach Di with the "PR and Chat"

Big Poppa Steven pulling 425.

Coach K-Do I ever have some horrible planned for Wednesday CHPA- Star

Community

2008-12-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday all of the open classes at SFCF were subjected to a hideous, hideous workout. Now, you might ask what's the difference between yesterday and any other day we meet?

Our friends down south (San Clemente, and San Diego) in So-Cal lost a good friend over the weekend. Miguel Flores, 22, was involved in a car accident that would take his life. I had met Miguel several times over the last few months and he was one of the most genuine, funny, and warm-hearted individuals you could ever know. Because Miguel also possessed freakish work capacity, his friends and family put together a workout that he would be proud of. Apparently Miguel had quite the taste for a good ol' McDonald's McFlurry, thus McFlurry was born (as done yesterday):

Run (Hydrant and Back)
21 Cleans @ 185 men/135 women
21 Thrusters @ 50lb DBs Men/30lb DBs Women
21 Pullups
Run
15 Cleans
15 Thrusters
15 Pullups
Run
9 Cleans
9 Thrusters
9 Pullups
Run

Many of you never knew Miguel, but this was still an opportunity to take a step back and reflect. Our community and the CrossFit community at large is a powerful thing. It's not something that most associate with a fitness program, but it is integral to what we do. Each one of you are a part of this whether you are near, far, consistent, casual, or anywhere in between. For that, I know all the Coaches at SFCF are grateful. We are lucky to be able to do the things we do with such quality people.

So while this workout was brutal, I can think of no better way to truly celebrate the liberty of life than smashing on something this difficult. We all make the choice every time we step up to the bar to participate for no other reason than 'we can'. Don't forget that at some point, the option will be taken from you. Don't take that choice for granted.

For those of you who knew Miguel, our thoughts are with you.
-Boz

Post thoughts to comments. If you happened to do McFlurry yesterday, post time and experience to comments.

Snapshot

2008-12-10T06:20:00.001-08:00

If, in the middle of your workout, someone took a snapshot and judged the quality of your effort and movement, based on that representative piece of time, what would they say? What if we scored the workout based on the average height of your burbpee jump? Or the range of your push up? (I'm not talking about form deviations that occur at the limits of human performance.)

Remember Crossfit is not about going as fast as you can. It's about performing as much work as you can, as fast as you can.

Why does it matter if I don't really reach full extension on my box jumps you say? Or achieve true overhead in push press?

It's all about performance. That's the point. Hot dirty nasty performance. Performing more work through a greater range of motion is the gateway to the next level.

So next time you find yourself loafing a little, take a snapshot.

Coach Kstar

Here's a snapshot: Poseidon's Fist Elite: Lucas, all in.

Choose Your Own Adventure!

2008-12-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

When the experience of working out with semi-technical elements is still new to the individual, it can be expected that coaching will be a major part of the process as this set of external eyes can see more from their vantage point. Many times it is easier in the beginning to do what is best when told by those with more experience, instead of first having to decide what is best on your own.

There comes a time, however, that the individual must start forming his or her own opinions about what 'best-practice' is for his or herself after having enough instruction and familiarity with relevant concepts. This is a good thing! It is also the time that the individual must take stock of his or her own weaknesses and address them accordingly.

Today the morning crew had a 'Choose your own Adventure' workout, with a few similar, but different, skills that could be chosen. For those needing more of a challenge, the option was there. For those working the basics, the option was there.

When performing your next workout, think beyond increased weight, reps or box jump height and see what ways you can come up with to modify a workout to meet your particular needs. Barbell Fran is getting pretty fast? How about Dumbell Fran, or Clean and Jerk Fran, or Bar-Muscle up Fran? Find a skill that needs work and incorporate it in your favorite workout that has a similar skill. Look ahead to the next step/challenge/layer. Only you can truly decide what's best.

Adrian 'Stagnancy-Sucks' Bozman

PS Here are some long over-due photos of Arts-n-crafts/Grill-o-rama day:

Emergence and Year Four

2008-12-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

December 5th marked the start of year four for San Francisco Crossfit. Anniversaries are clearly times of potential reflection, and turning three left us in a mood to ruminate on who we are and how we've come to be so.

And, no three year old's birthday would be complete without at least some cursory examination of the phenomenon of emergence.
So here goes:

An emergent behaviour or emergent property can appear when a number of simple entities (agents) operate in an environment, forming more complex behaviors as a collective. The processes from which emergent properties result may occur in either the observed or observing system, and can commonly be identified by their patterns of accumulating change, most generally called 'growth'.

For example: Think of a line of ants walking across a yard. No ant knows how long the line is, or even that its a line. The ant just follows a scent or taste and the emergent behavior is dozens of ants following what looks like a long organized line.

Is SFCF our programming?
Is SFCF the sum of our great coaches?
Is SFCF our brilliant athletes?

No. And yes.

Disparate, diverse, eclectic people comprise our extended family of coaches and athletes. Each shows up in an attempt to perform a simple task. Namely to increase their ability to perform work. The algorithm is simple. And yet the resultant community is complex, unique, and rich. While the ant model may not perfectly reflect the depth and breadth of our community, it does illustrate the unique beast that SFCF is as a function of a simple organizing paradigm.

If Crossfit isn't an experiment in Emergent behavior I don't know what is.

So here's to accumulating another year of "change" and "growth".
I'm quite fond of our little ant hill.

Go ahead, chew on that again as you sing happy birthday. Can't wait to see what we look like in another year.

Coach Kstar

To celebrate, Coach Angel Pr'd with and easy 265 pound clean and jerk today.

SFCF Out and About

2008-12-04T22:14:00.000-08:00

Just a little eye-candy from the road....

Can you name the places?

Ross:

Nick:

Ian:

Storm (Ian's Dog):

Ryann (one of Steven's):

See you all back in SF on Monday,

-Boz

PS send in some SFCF out and about pics if you've got 'em! adrian @ sanfranciscocrossfit.com

Get Out of Your Hea...I Mean, Common, Perfect Recruitment Pattern

2008-12-02T21:14:00.001-08:00

Many of the movements performed in CrossFit are quite linear. This is not a bad thing as they are based off of some very useful and essential basics (think squatting, pushing, pulling, deadlifting etc.).

These are all fine movements, but occasionally it behooves one to get out of the habit of only performing movements and motor-patterns that allow for an ideal set-up or condition. Barbells, kettlebells and dumbells are nicely balanced and relatively comfortable to use. They are designed and optimized for this purpose.

Finding some 'austere work' to do can fill in some gaps that may be present in your more conventional conditioning. It also serves to keep things fresh in terms programming and just plain ol' fun factor. Basic movements become anything but with odd-objects and 'additions'. Check out how many 'additions' Coach A.O.D. has on his person:

Of course all your regular lifting mechanics apply as much as can be expected (spine extended, abdominals braced etc.)...ask your coach for some movements to play around with!

-Adrian "that-really-sucked-so-right" Bozman

Answer the Demon

2008-11-30T20:54:00.000-08:00

Can't is the word that is foe to ambition,
An enemy ambushed to shatter your will;
Its prey is forever the man with a mission
And bows but to courage and patience and skill.
Hate it, with hatred that's deep and undying,
For once it is welcomed 'twill break any man;
Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying
And answer this demon by saying: "I can."--Guest

Coach Kstar

Turkey Chipper Fest '09

2008-11-27T13:36:00.000-08:00

First, Happy Thanksgiving and many thanks to all those that made this year's Turkey workout the best ever.
Our resident Pathologist (Dr.Dr) was able to quantify the pie/time concept.
She noted that this obscure measurement (calories Pie per second) is known as the "gourd". I'm pretty confident new gourd (input?) records will be set later on today.
Great efforts all!

It was a big day for several other reasons too.
We at SFCF are thankful:

Thankful for this box. That unicorn has blood in its eyes. Of course. If we could have had a 12 sided die, we would have painted it. Coach Boz has Dragonforce rocking on his internal soundtrack. +8 for awesomeness.

We are thankful for our great community of let's face it, amazing, generous, brilliant, crazy people.

We are thankful that Molly is marrying Corby on Saturday. Our goal the past week was to cripple the bride. Miracle Molly has confounded us again.
Congrats you two!

And we are 364 days thankful that Meghan Kearny is finished Chemo.

But who cares? Because today she stuck her first pull up ever (and we mean ever.)
And it counts, because it was done on film

See you for regular classes again tomorrow!
Don't worry, we're going heavy.

Coach Kstar

Science, Pie, and Holiday Schedule

2008-11-25T07:28:00.000-08:00

We have done it again! Top SFCF scientists have developed a scientifically "proven" workout that will allow the athlete to eat increased amounts of pie for the rest of the day.

We call it: The Turkey Chipper

We are currently recruiting athletes for a another study to be held Thursday, Thanksgiving at 8:30 am.

Due to the rigorous nature of this double blind, randomly generated, placebo controlled workout, no other workout will be held on Thursday.

NO Thursday PM classes!

Coach Angel will be on hand till about 11am Thursday morning for some additional
"stuffing, yam, and sweet potato pre-fatiguing."

Regular classes resume on Friday.

So donate your body to science.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Coach Kstar

The Thoracic-Lumbar Hinge Says Alot About Your "Core"

2008-11-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

Stabilizing a load of any significance over your head is really one of the best exercises there is to develop real-life, functional trunk strength. To be clear, there is no physio-ball exercise on the planet that can match standing under a heavy load.

There are many functional movement screens out there that will allegedly show the weaknesses of an athlete in training. Our movement screening is based upon the actual, base exercises that we perform (the push press being one). We are opposed to using correlates of evaluation (movement screens) in lieu of using our bread and butter foundational movements. I don't need to "test" your abdominal strength to know that you will fall apart under increased overhead loading. I just need to see you start pressing and push-pressing. Your weaknesses will show themselves. And as Coach Rippetoe says, "The cure for bad form, is good form."

All of the photos of the athletes above share a common movement fault. Can you see it?

All of the athletes are under sufficient overhead loading to elicit the same basic movement fault. That is, all of these athletes' mid-line stabilization breaks down at the base of their rib cage. The junction of the rigid ribcage and the start of your low back/lumbar spine in known as the T-L junction, or thoracic-lumbar junction. The photos show good examples of T-L hinging.

Now, there is nearly always some weight/work load that will exceed the stabilizing capacity of the athlete's trunk. But T-L hinging is probably the most common "over-extension" based fault that we see. The potential hinging that occurs in this region puts a great deal of localized stress on the spine here. In fact, many athletes will report that their backs are a little sore after big pressing movements. Over extension of the spine (here in the T-L junction) is to blame.

But really, blame the abdominal muscles. Sure your shoulders are tight and leaning back will help this problem, but your abs should not let your rib cage leave the locked down, anchored position. It is largely your internal obliques that are failing you here. Ironically, keeping the ribs in and down when going overhead sets the big, prime movers of the shoulder blades, up for the optimal position from which to generate force. So, letting your ribcage fly up (creating a T-L hinge) actually decreases your body's ability to move weight overhead. So weak abs leads to hinging, which leads to decreased force production over head. Not sweet.

And that's why we really care.

Poor positioning and moving away from "best fit" might look bad and make your back ache, but really, it just decreases your incredible ability to generate power.

So keep the ribcage down when working overhead. And keep working on that "core".

Coach Kstar

Sometimes You Just Gotta Check the Box

2008-11-21T09:46:00.000-08:00

There are times when you get home late from work, friends are coming for dinner, you're tired, and you still need to workout. Oh yeah, and the Olympics are only four years away.

This is not the time for a quality, life-changing, PR smashing athletic experience.
No. This is the time to fill in the square, check the box, and just get some credit for showing up.

The goal is to set yourself up for success. Have a go to set off crappy dumbells, a kettle bell, a sandbag or whatever. Know how far it is to the corner and back.
Scope out a tree branch. Start the clock.

Coach Boz talked about absolutes a few posts back. You don't need the perfect set up.
You don't need the right environment. You don't need that perfect equipment, boom box, interval timer, etc.

You do need to pony up.

Get rid of the barriers between you and working out. You just need to nurture those hard fought for metabolic enzymes. And, your neighbors might think are just a touch paleosexual. Which is cool.

Pony up.

Coach Kstar

Gold Medalist Erin Cafaro meeting the minimum daily requirements for self induced hate.

Your Calves Are Tight, Bro

2008-11-18T05:08:00.000-08:00

Before we begin, let's get a couple of things straight.

1) You cannot stretch your Achilles Tendon. Straight up. It's the strongest tendon in the body and can be loaded to upwards of 15x bodyweight. It doesn't stretch, period. (We can argue the more technical side of apophysis abruption, or speed of tendon loading some other time.) But suffice it to say, your heel cords are like steel cables.

2) Your grandma's crappy runner's stretch that they showed you in Team in Training, physical therapy, or your third grade gym class won't lengthen your calves either.
You know the stretch, where it looks like you are holding up a wall with your leg extended behind you. You may feel your calf go on tension, but no muscle lengthening is occurring, trust me.

3) Three muscles attach into that common heel tendon; the soleus, plantaris, and gastrocnemius. The gastroc and plantaris both cross the knee and the ankle, but you can forget about the plantaris from here on out.

4) A little 20 second loading (can't even call what most people do to their calves stretching) isn't going to change anything in the back of your leg. Your calves are double under, split jerking, box-jumping, fore-foot striking while running machines.
You really think some pinche load is going to change the length of those freaky strong bastards? NO.

5) You've gotta wind up the calves with big loading at end ranges and at peak tension for 5 seconds before releasing that tension and moving further into a bigger stretch for about 10 seconds. This should be repeated for 5-7 cycles. This is known as contract-relax stretching. We should technically call it muscle lengthening. Contract relax stretching is a small piece of a larger theory of movement facilitation called PNF.

6) If you have knee pain, plantar fascia issues, tight hamstrings, are an olympic lifter, runner, rower, or your heels come off the ground when you front squat or overhead squat---STRETCH YOUR CALVES.

7) Muscles are like obedient dogs. They always respond. Always. "I'm just tight" is a BS excuse. Think of stretching as a dog fight. You need some attitude to get the job done. Ps. It's not relaxing or fun. Two to three times a day should do it if your heel cords suck.

8) Hold your breath while you generate that peak force in the muscle. Let it out like a bursting balloon when you go to reclaim more range during the off cycle. The parasympathetic response from your exhale is important.

8) There's more I'm sure but let's get to it.

The Set Up

With shoes on to support your foot, get as much of the ball of your foot up on the wall as you can. Really wind the sucker up. Step back from the wall to make this happen if you need.

Position One

Now while keeping your leg straight, bring your hip to the wall. This position stretches the entire calf but will also bias the gastrocnemius. (remember the gastroc crosses the knee and ankle) Start your PNF cycles now; 5 second peak tension with a held breath, release 10 seconds into new range.

Position Two

Same set up, but bend your knee as you load the calf. The knee bend puts the gastroc on slack and will bias the soleus. Repeat your 5-7 cycles again.

Post experiences to comments.

Coach Kstar

HouseKeeping!

2008-11-17T18:57:00.000-08:00

A few points of business this evening:

1)Please stack the boxes as shown on the left in the picture. They tend to fall apart otherwise.

2)We will be having a the first and greatest-ever SFCF Parallette-Making-Box-Painting-BBQ show down this Saturday from 10am until 1pm(ish).

If you are interested in building your very own set of parallettes to take home, respond to this post by Thursday and bring $25 with you on Saturday. Parallettes are a great way to work on some basic gymnastic skills in the comfort of your own home. I'm sure if you're all really nice to Carl he can show you some party tricks too.

We will have paint on hand to seal-up the boxes from the winter elements. Adding a personal touch to the boxes is highly encouraged.

Bring your own meat/beverages and we will have a grill on-site.

3)Coach Angel has begun teaching CrossFit classes at Planet Granite just down the way from SFCF. He is offering a Tues/Thurs noon class as well as several evening classes. The kind folks at PG have been nice enough to allow any monthly members of SFCF to attend for free, so if you can, go show some support!

4)Big shout out to Corrine for completing her CrossFit Level 1 Seminar this weekend in Union City. Ask her about her 2 PRs in two days. Nice!

Have fun,

Adrian 'Arts-and-crafts' Bozman

Tough to beat...

2008-11-13T22:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, so if you wanna win the 'best article of clothing ever worn to SFCF' contest, you have to be willing to top this...

...and on top of this, you have to wear it with style during and after tabata swings, pushups and Koffin Jumps(tm).

>

Although the award was almost gifted upon Aneel for his stolen-from-the-girlfriend-because-he-forgot-his-own red short shorts (photo lost/destroyed), the Brit had an articulate rebuttal planned for the challenger:

???????

-Boz

Absolutes

2008-11-12T09:31:00.000-08:00

Take your eye's off Frank's impeccible taste for a moment and take heed:

It is easy to fall into a rigid mind frame when dealing with elements of your training. Especially when learning, people are eager to find 'the right way' to approach a task. Often there is no right way, merely an appropriate response to the given situation.

The appropriate response is usually based around three questions: Will my approach be effective? Will my approach be efficient? Will my approach be within an acceptable safety margin (all worthwhile physical activities carry some inherent risk to your person: See Georgia from yesterday)? If yes, then you are good to go. Here are some examples of a rigid mind frame to be avoided as generalists in the pursuit of superior overall fitness:

'I can't because I don't have my weightlifting shoes (special shoes)'

'You should never use a belt. Ever.'

'Tearing my calluses is necessary and expected'

'I can't deadlift in the weightlifting shoes that I just spent 7 minutes tying up to do my cleans and front squats' (that's Kilos by the way)

Etc.

Remember, we are talking about exercise and training methodology here, not law. It is beyond good and evil. Base your actions for the situation at hand, not what you are 'supposed' to do. When one gets too wrapped up in the details of 'supposed to', one potentially sets oneself up with a mental barrier should the elements of 'supposed to' be absent.

Here is John responding to his situation. His final triple on the deadlift at 405lbs was belted. For most sets he doesn't even consider this accoutrement, but opted for it on his last attempt. Totally appropriate for the situation. We wouldn't want John to use the belt on all of his attempts, lest he learn to rely on the belt more than his own muscular garter surrounding his spine, but we wouldn't want him to completely abolish the belt in all situations either.

Absolutes are nonsensical.

-Adrian 'Let's-find-the-middle-ground' Bozman

PS I am starting to catalog SFCF shirt pics in cool locations. So far I have Guam, Australia, Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina...If you've got a pic of an SFCF shirt somewhere awesome, send them to me at adrian AT sanfranciscocrossfit.com.

See your future, Be your future

2008-11-11T06:01:00.000-08:00

Look, my daughter is three and makes it all the way across the monkey bars about 50% of the time. When she doesn't make it to the other side, she risks a pretty good drop in an extended and vulnerable position.

Now watch the video again and see if you can catch what she says prior to her attempt.

"I'm going to stick it."

That's right. Even though she knows somewhere that the likelihood of her making it all the way across the bars is about fifty-fifty, she is preconditioning herself for a positive outcome with her positive pre-game self-talk.

Let's talk about you for a moment. What goes on in your head prior to attempting your one rep back squat max that you make 50% of the time? Knowing that you are going to get stapled to the ground half the time likely is going to affect your ability to believe you will make the lift. And, that outcome doubt will reflect in your pre-task self talk. Not unlike a olympic high diver, your body WILL follow your head.

Start paying attention to what that little voice inside you says before you go big.
Does it say, "Light weight!" in the tradition of Ronnie Coleman? Does your inner monologue say, "I'm going to stick it!" like Georgia Starrett above?
Or.
Do you think, "Gawd this is heavy, I can't even breath with this bar on my back. or "I'm not sure I can lift this."

Bottom line, it's time to clean up the self talk.
Don't look where you don't want to go.

Coach Kstar

The Difference Will Be

2008-11-10T05:44:00.000-08:00

The great Crossfit Experiment Secret is out of the bag. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people that train for work capacity. And, many of these people are really good athletes. We are witnessing real competence in our foundational movements and elementary programming.

What do we mean? Well, just about anyone that shows up at SFCF and has been crossfitting for a while has a pretty decent Cindy score for example. In fact, we are beginning to see that little disparity exists at the upper output ends of simple gymnastic/bodyweight control based workouts. Sure, there are some freaky scores out there, but literally we are starting to see a lot of people working at near time capacity. The outcome is that our best athletes are only marginally better at foundational type workouts like Helen, Cindy or any body weight/simple output workout.

However, the second some of our most practiced workouts become a little heavier, we have observed significant decreases in outputs between athletes. Changing an overhead squat load within a workout from 95 to 135 pounds literally separates athletes like chafe. And therein lies the difference of good to great. It's not an accident that all of the top athletes at last years CF Games are literally some of the strongest athletes around. And don't be fooled for a moment. Even though there was some increased loading at the games, the events themselves were not heavy. The loading was just heavy enough to illustrate the significant differences in real, non body-weight based movement work outputs.

We have witnessed this loading phenomenon amongst crossfit coaches as well. Make a really good athlete clean 185 or 225 pounds for reps, you start to see people crack and real differences in work output potential emerge.

So instead of chasing a improvement in your Angie time of 4 seconds, try performing a workout you know and rock--at a load where your time begins to significantly drop off.
Can you perform 30 clean and jerks with 135 lbs in under three minutes? Shame on you.
That load should be 155 or 185 pounds. Go out and start failing all over again. And this time make it heavy, because everyone is getting good at runnin' and chinnin'.

After all, in case you've forgotten, 225 is the new 135.

--Kstar

Pam Lauper at 105, not 65. She's a baaad woman not surprisingly.

Alex resting with 155 between burpbee sets.

Practice

2008-11-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

The concept of practice should be obvious and instinctual...if you wish to get better at something, it stands to reason that doing that something will start to build your proficiency. It is far easier to talk about, discuss, argue and try to find 'the-one-secret-technique-that-will-make-it-click' than it is to put the work in and learn something new. When that something is physical, your experiential education is a must!

Part of this reluctance to act is rooted in a desire to do well. The old saying 'beginners will look like beginners' is something to keep in mind. There will be process involved. Even the most beastly athletes have things they need to work on, and they'll probably look like kittens doing it (you know, those beastly kittens). Enjoy this. It will never (should never) end.

6am gang post-practice of a few double-unders after being granted the (fleeting) gift of sunlight for a few more weeks:

See you next week,
-Boz

Fish Oil

2008-11-06T06:33:00.000-08:00

Fish Oil

We are not big believers in supplements. Eat well (paleo), combine the right high quality nutrients in the right proportions (zone, athlete's zone--higher fat) and you should be set.

However, you should absolutely be on the fish oil. This stuff is like liquid gold.
Don't believe me? Check out www.omega-research.com. You can throw fish oil and nearly any pathological human physical condition and you will see a positive impact of the stuff.

According to our own nutrition Guru, Robb Wolf, you need between two and five grams of the stuff daily broken up into two doses. You don't need the omega 6's, or 9's as you get plenty of them in the rest of your paleo foods.

We have some friends over at Nordic Naturals in Santa Cruz that extended a 20% discount on their fish oil to Crossfitters (any crossfitter).

Click on the Fish Oil link above or paste this link into your browser. http://www.nordicprodirect.com/patient_join/?mydocid=crossfit

We really don't care what brand you use, just get on the stuff. I like the nordic naturals because I don't burp fish oil all day. Juliet can even take the pills.
The lemon and spiced apple cod liver oil are so good, that my daughter Georgia ASKS for it as a special treat. "Oil please!"

Enjoy! The link doesn't expire.

Coach kstar

Form Follows Function, This is the Law

2008-11-05T06:22:00.000-08:00

It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic,
Of all things physical and metaphysical,
Of all things human and all things super-human,
Of all true manifestations of the head,
Of the heart, of the soul,
That the life is recognizable in its expression,
That form ever follows function. This is the law.
----Louis Sullivan

Legit!

kstar

Snitting

2008-11-04T06:20:00.001-08:00

Snitting is the act of quitting or abandoning a workout or race because it is difficult, or because it does not go as planned. In World Cup level Whitewater Slalom, "snitting" is the lowest form of competitive behavior. But, snitting can be observed in nearly every sport.

When an athlete snits, it speaks volumes about that person's stability under pressure, their developed level of self-efficacy, and their potential capacities as an athlete.
Great athletes never snit. Remember when Bodi Miller lost a ski mid course and finished the race skiing down on one ski? Not a snitter. In the olympics this year, there was a top female American marathon runner that was clearly cramping and having the worst day of her life. She literally walked parts of the course until she could run again. She had many chances to abandon, but she finished--and poorly. Not a snit.

It is rare in a Crossfit workout to actually see someone snit. We have witnessed it a few times in the last three years and when it happens, especially viewed within the context of the global suffering going on around the snitter, it is shocking.

More often though, we witness athletes snitting reps or rounds. Not Snitting is a conscious decision to stay in the pain cave. It is fortitude to finish in last place, but to finish. Honest counting mistakes do occur, but Snitting due to discomfort is a deliberate thumb in the eye of self achievement and very, very low.

We are all going to have bad training days that are based on no sleep, being thrashed from the week's workouts, or bad nutrition. How we deal with the collapse of our performance is probably the most important thing we train for. The larger life metaphor for what snitting behavior represents doesn't even have to be made here.

So don't snit, and (MODIFIED FROM POST DISCUSSION) when you percieve that one of your fellow athletes is close to a snit attack, realize that right then they need you most. Lean over, and tell them to hang on. They'd do the same for you. (Thanks Danny and Ross)

Clearly from the tiger look in his eye, JD above, doesn't even realize that snitting is an option. Neither should you.

Coach kstar

Pressure Architecture and Mastery

2008-11-01T07:02:00.001-07:00

Crossfit really isn't about fitness you know. No seriously, at some point in your life your body will fail, or even cease to exist. Your beautiful lungs and freaky capacity to buffer lactic acid will fade.

Crossfit is really about training the mind. That's right. You are training your brain to be able to perform extraordinary things in pressure cooker situations. People can often perform very complicated and complex tasks under simple situations. Big deal. Ask that same persons to perform that same skill in front of a group, under time constraint, or perceived pressure and they'll crack.

Elite performance for us means that skills are repeatable under all conditions and situations. That's beginning to smell a little like mastery eh? And mastery is only as good as the situations in which it is developed. For example, double-unders are easy, but not when you start to see Aneel develop a huge lead in a workout. Performing double-unders with the simultaneous exposure of that perceived competitive pressure leads to really good outcomes that spill across varied and broad domains that include you life and work life.

In the second photo note that by "taking turns" to perform hand stands, the athletes are practicing performing in front of other people. You almost really can't call something "elite performance" if no one else is around to see you perform it. People like the protected anonymity of triathlons and big running races for a reason. People are naturally very uncomfortable having to perform tasks in front of other people. But, this is the very thing that is required for the completion and development of personal mastery.

Inherent to the Crossfit structure and program architecture are built in opportunities of significant cognitive dissonance through perceived situational pressure. People will either resolve these pressures and progress to mastery, or they'll decided crossfit isn't really for them.

But the real genius about all this exercise cloaked mind training is this: you don't even have to know you are doing it.

You just have to show up and work hard.

Coach Kstar

Motor Solution

2008-10-30T06:28:00.000-07:00

A great deal of the success of Crossfit is predicated upon the unique motor learning that it forces the athlete to perform. We consistently see skyrocketing athleticism occur in our athletes not only because they are stronger and more fit, but because of the constant movement/motor learning that they undergo. One of the central tenets of fitness in a 100 words or less is, "learn to play new sports". For nearly all of us without an olympic lifting, gymnastics background, Crossfit ends up feeling like a new sport.

Within the framework of a typical crossfit WOD, there is some interesting motor development facilitation built in. For example, having to change exercises often within a workout forces the athlete to develop and redevelop complex motor solutions in less than ideal conditions and often. A workout like nasty girls is much more difficult from a motor learning perspective than a workout like angie where all of the movement is blocked into repetitive chunks. It is much more difficult to perform a few reps of one movement and then switch to another movement than it is to complete many reps of a single exercise.

The research on blocked practice versus random practice (switching often) is that the athlete will make more errors up front with the random practice but will undergo deeper motor learning that will reflect in better performance at a later task.
Do we need to perform block practice? Yes, and all of our single effort or max effort lifts are block practice in which a single skill can be repeated to great effect. (Have you ever tried to learn a new skill between running and pullups? Not easy.)

Ok, so who cares about the "back of the house" crossfit motor learning theory?
Why are you showing the photos of Mike the Flabongo Master doing line touches?
Well, it turns out that we consciously try to make our athletes deviate away from the perfect movement they perform in the normal workouts. After a while, our advanced athletes can and do have beautiful "formal" movement. That is, Mike can squat, clean, pull, push, jump, etc with very good technique under very difficult conditions. Ask him to run line touches and smack the ground with his palms, and poof, he's doing some new motor learning. Mike can sprint, but sprinting after lowering himself to the ground to smack his palms, not so much.

Our goal is to keep stretching the capacities and abilities of our athletes. As people become more able within the context of our normal programming, it is vital that they be forced to continue to generate new and novel motor solutions. Gymnastics anyone? Hmmm, it's almost like crossfit had this figured out.

Go do something new.

Coach kstar

The Life-Lessons of Casa Bonita

2008-10-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

Before arriving in Denver, I was instructed to ensure that my travel plans included a trip to Casa Bonita. Not knowing what the Casa held in store for me, I swore up and down that I would seek out this gem. My travel companions were reluctant at first, but ended up coming along, in no small part due to my un-informed enthusiasm.

To make a mindblowing night more palatable for the blogger format, let me encapsulate the evening in a few easy statements:

-Terrible Mexican food (The beef tacos were edible, but the weird wrapped cheese mass was not fit for human consumption...and yes, the extra tortillas did really come served in a zip-lock bag)

-Cliff Divers (inside the restaurant!!)

-Old Timey photos

-Sword fights with light-up fake-blades

-Haunted house featuring Black-Bart's Cave

Talk about excellent! Because my companions and I were committed to enjoying the over-stimulation, come what may, we had a blast. Spirits were high, despite initial skepticism. This experience of course led me to think about training. In particular, I began to think about decision, attitude and the personal responsibility all of us have for gleaning the most from any given situation.

Had I been one to not enjoy things of an awesome nature, I could have easily had a less than stellar time whilst visiting the Casa. My simple philosophy of 'do what you can to create the most enjoyment, most of the time' came in handy and I had no limitations on my fun that evening. Now where the hell does busting-ass come into play here?

Good question. The answer lies in the simple art of the personal set-up. When we are making savage the body, we are really doing our best to remove any physical limitations from our general surroundings. In the immediate sense, we may not be creating enjoyment, but in the larger scope of things, by eliminating these bodily barriers we have allowed ourselves the liberty of physical decision, thus unknowingly increasing our potential for enjoyment. Freedom! I chose to have a bonita-time. You, whether knowingly or not, are choosing to maximize your enjoyment of the physical vessel you occupy by training hard. Truly Bonita!

Here, we have Erin and Nick making the decision to abolish physical limitation:

Enjoy,

-Adrian "Being-an-adult-rulez" Bozman
(I get to go to the Casa whenever I want)

Miracle Molly

2008-10-26T10:48:00.001-07:00

Ladies and Gentleman, meet Molly Nardone. She is an SFCF regular and just completed the San Francisco 24hr, One Day Race. The goal of the race is to run as far as you can around the Chrissy field lagoon (1.08 mile loop) in 24 hours.

Molly likes to run a little. She played some college soccer. I'm sure she's never run more than 6 miles (from her own mouth). She does the crossfit, and goes for a short run from time to time.

Molly just completed the race this morning and ran...79 miles!
Let that burn in. Seventy-nine miles in 24 hours.

Miracle.

Thanks to Corby (her fiance), Robert Tuller, and all the other CF'ers that supported our wunderkind.

Nice work Molly!

And be sure to check out the cover girl on www.crossfitendurance.com

Coach Kstar

Busting-Ass

2008-10-23T22:42:00.000-07:00

No insights, wit or attempts at hilarity tonight...just raw, undiluted documentation of the serious ass-whoopings that have taken place lately.

Enjoy,
-Boz

Crossfit Heavy

2008-10-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

What isn't immediately obvious from the photo, is that 28 people are attempting to back squat a one rep max. Just take a moment and bask in the pure, goodness of that.

Now clearly, there are some collegiate strength programs, and some high schools too, where this isn't a big deal because it happens all the time. But in say, 99.9% of the world's group class structured workouts, seeing this many people going very heavy is much akin to seeing Coach Boz doing Tabata Elliptical (not saying it isn't possible, just unlikely.)

There exists some magic number for a coach, where the number of athletes they are coaching springs some mechanism in their heads that prevents them from teaching complex or heavy movements. Too often we have traveling Crossfitters drop in and tell us they don't train heavy or with complex movments often back home. It is far easier for a coach to program runnin' and chinnin' for a large group. Trust us we know and, people like the gas/metabolic stuff.

This is a type I error, a huge mistake. Crossfit is about work capacity right? Think of your ability to perform work as the amount of water you have in your "work" swimming pool. What is the limiting factor to having more water? Why, the size of your pool of course. You've got to get stronger to increase you pool size potential and thus, your work capacity potential.

The key to complex/maximal effort programming for a large group is to coach people on how to be safe. Note in all three photos for example, that the squatting athlete is being supported by three other athletes. The squatting athlete feels safe and is safe. And additionally, you've got four coaches at each rack. On a side note, check out the 115 pound soldier above, working her way up to a 195lb back squat. The French have a word for that, LE Git!

Damian above just completed the 100 day Burbpee challenge! How many burbpees is that? Nice job D! And, check out the hands ready to help should he get stapled by the weight after effectively becoming a long distance, endurance burbpee athlete.

Reminder to RSVP to Blog comments on Taco-Social if you plan on attending.

Way to be SFCF!

Coach kstar

Insights

2008-10-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to be in Brooklyn this weekend. Greg Glassman, founder of CrossFit, was also there and gave a general Q and A at the end of the first day of the seminar. He presented a very interesting insight on an existing model of fitness that CrossFit has used for some time. Put your math-hat on for a second and dig in:

Imagine that you have a graph with percentage of total potential Power that you can generate running down the Y axis and Time running across the X axis. Taking different exercises at different times of duration and plotting the points will start to develop a curve. The area under this curve is a snap-shot of your overall work capacity, or your total fitness. Quite simply it is representative of 'how much shit you can get done'.

The goal of CrossFit programming has always been to elevate all areas under the curve and therefore increase your work capacity in a broad range of modal and time domains. This is nothing new and something CrossFit has been espousing for years.

Now, the new insight that Mr. Glassman shared with us is that we can extend the graph along the Z axis using age and create the general three dimensional shape of your fitness over the course of months/years/decades etc. Using this method, an elevated curve in the above-mentioned 2 dimensional snapshot is only useful if the trend continues across the Z axis. If the curve is elevated temporarily, but is then side tracked indefinitely due to injury, lifestyle imbalance, the catching-up/side-effects of pharmaceutical aids used in the elevation of the curve (Vitamin S anyone?) or anything else, true fitness is not reached, only glanced at.

This distinction is an important one as it implies that any factor that allows the shape of the curve to diminish substantially over-time, or any method that will only temporarily or drastically elevate the curve is not in line with true fitness. Read: True Fitness is Health and the long-term shape of the graph must be considered. If for whatever reason you can not maintain the general shape of your fitness over time, it was at best, a temporary fix.

Now, there are certainly more 'human' elements to consider in this equation such as long-term interest in a program and the (arguable) element of aging, but nonetheless it is a very interesting proposition. Think about it.

And, as I mentioned aging and the very arguable impact it has on fitness, take a look at the photo below:

From left to right we have Shane, David, myself and Jacinto, all of CrossFit South Brooklyn (David is the owner of the affiliate). Jacinto is 69. Let me say that again so you're sure it's not a typo. Jacinto is 69. On Sunday afternoon we had the participants complete the following WOD:

15 Rounds for time:
7 Medicine Ball Cleans
7 Pushups

There was a 12minute cap to the workout, meaning if you didn't finish in 12 minutes you just recorded how far along you made it. The day previous we had done Fight Gone Burpee (FGB with burpees instead of rowing). Despite FGBurpee, Jacinto finished the above workout in 9minutes and change. The fastest time of the day was 7:56. Many didn't complete the workout. Later that day I witnessed Jacinto in the corner by himself cranking out burpees. "He's catching up on his burpee-challenge day" came the answer to the dumbfounded look on my face. Simply amazing.

To tie these two wonderful things together:

If we could take a look at Jacinto's work-curve at say, age 20 and compare it to the one he has today I would wager that we could conclude Jacinto has not aged markedly in decades... I highly doubt the general shape of his graph has decreased dramatically over the years. Don't rest on your laurels, kids, and may you all be as young as Jacinto!

It's good to be back home.

Stay young,
-Boz

SFCF Taco Social

2008-10-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

A

B

A+B=Taco Social

You are invited to the first ever SFCF Taco Social.

When you ask?
This Thursday, October 23rd. 6:45 PM (Workout is at 6:00 PM)

What the hell?

This is an opportunity to drink quality Mexican Macro-brew, partake of on site, hand made tacos, and most importantly, talk about what it is you do, when you aren't Crossfitting.

The Goal?
Network! Create opportunity. Schmooze. Find a job, whatever.

You must bring business cards, or 3x5 cards. Be prepared to talk about what it is you do officially in front of your SFCF brothers and sisters.

This is an example of what is not OK.

"I'm in finance."
or.
"I'm a consultant."
or.
"It's really complicated Kelly, I'm sure that while you can lift heavy things and have a doctoral degree, you may not be able to comprehend how I've been able to repackage sub-prime loan debt, and sell it to off shore investors."

There will be no "Tacos for time."

There will clearly be no 7pm class, but there will be a "taco chipper" workout beforehand scientifically designed to allow you to eat more tacos. If you cannot make the 6 PM chipper - please feel free to still come for tacos and beer.

We are planning on fifty people. You must RSVP to the Blog so that we can get a head count. Taco's and beer is a $10 buy-in.

So, let's leverage our human capital, face-booking, net-worked, linked-in, my-space, SFCF badassness.

Coach Kstar