We were at Floyd Fest this past weekend, and what a great time we had! Lots of great music, companionship, food, and beverages!
There were all kinds of folks there: big, small, tall, short, young, and old. One thing became readily apparent; those who can't do what needs to be done ask the strong for help.
As one of our shirts says, "strong people are harder to kill, and more useful in general." I like being strong!
Check out CrossFit Games 2011 this weekend - you can stream them live. Stellar athletes performing killer WODS - um, better get your swim on this year! Yikes...
Roasted and spiced pumpkin seeds are awesome and great for you! For nutritional information, check here. Lots of valuable stuff in these small seeds, no? They are a nice addition to salads, stews and are just a perfect snack...you could add them to a paleo trail mix, too. We buy ours at Trader Joe's (we really could use a TJ's here in the 'burg...hmmm). Here is how we made them:
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a bowl, mix 2 or 3 cups raw pumpkin seeds with about 1/4 C EVOO, 1 tsp garlic powder and salt/fresh ground pepper to taste (you can season them however you like so be creative!). Spread onto a baking sheet and bake for about 25 or 30 minutes - be sure to toss the seeds often so that they don't burn. The seeds make really interesting crackling noises as they cool down...yum...
Tasty!
Today at the CrossFit Games, there was a swimming test. Everyone, spectators and participants, were very surprised with the announcement yesterday. The "swim test" was a simple 25m swim. Apparently there were no clocks involved; it was simply a test of everyone's ability to swim. Everyone passed. There is now some speculation that there may be a swim event this weekend for the competitors. Who knows?!?
This raises an interesting question: do you challenge yourself with new, or forgotten skills? I swam in high school, but haven't done laps since. Can I survive in water? Yes, quite well, but I wouldn't want to swim 500m right now, that's for sure! Lately with the middle schoolers, we've been throwing balls at targets - and I stink at it! But, it's a good thing for me to practice. While I may never hit the bull's eye 90% of the time, it's still good to try something different.
It's always good to train your weaknesses, and swimming, throwing, or tree climbing might just be the ticket! Select something different, and work at it. What's your choice?
PR about to be set by a middle schooler!
We've just received our first shipment of Omega 3 fish oil from Stronger Faster Healthier. While it seems more expensive (it is per ounce), it is a much more potent form of fish oil. With the NOW brand of fish oil, I was taking pretty healthy slugs of it to get the proper dosage. (We'll help you with figuring our your dosage). With the new SFH oil, I only have to take 2 tsp. We have purchased both tangerine and lemon, and we'll have bottles available for samples in the fridge in the lounge. There are other flavors available, but chocolate fish oil just seems, well, kind of strange.
Currently, we have only the 6oz. bottle, which goes for $34.99. We figured we'd start small, but we certainly can get the larger 10oz. bottles ($49.99). While we won't be carrying anything else from SFH, if you see something that strikes your fancy and you'd like to try it, let us know. At least it will save on shipping! Their products are top notch, and I'm looking forward to reaping the benefits!
All together now!
Remember all those fun Friday workouts we did back in March? They were part of the qualifying process for the CrossFit Games. We had a lot of athletes participate in the qualifier and put in some strong efforts. This weekend is the culmination of that process. Some of the fittest men, women and teams from around the country will be in LA this weekend for The Games.
It is available live on line and is well worth checking in on. There will be some amazing efforts and some different workouts and formats. So take some time this weekend to sit back and watch and enjoy!
Some of the action from the 2010 Games
Reminder - No 8 AM class all this week! All other classes are on as scheduled. There will be a bunch of middle schoolers learning how to use a barbell around for a couple hours in the morning. They start at 7, so try and make a 6:30 AM class to see how strong our CrossFit Kids are!
This is what we mean by keeping the bar close! And the plates under the toes are a nice touch!
There will be NO 8am classes the week of July 25th - July 29th - we will be holding a Middle School Camp at the box...
Here is a super simple salad that is packed with healthy fats, some protein and plenty of carbohydrates...once the flavors combine, it is fabulous!
Wilted Spinach & Arugula Salad
3 or 4 handfuls of fresh spinach, washed and dried
2 handfuls arugula, washed and dried
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1 avocado, diced
12 ounces bacon, cooked and diced
1/2 C chopped pecans
Balsamic Dressing:
1/2 C EVOO
1/4 C balsamic vinegar
1 or 2 tsp good mustard
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp honey - optional
1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt/Freshly ground pepper
Mix up the dressing ingredients and toss with the greens (use the amount that you like and save the rest of the dressing for later). Top with warm bacon - this will cause the salad to wilt. Top with onion, avocado and pecans...toss thoroughly.
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Some of you have heard this a lot from me lately - keep your head neutral, don't look up. Especially with all the dead lifts we've been doing. Your head should be in the same relative position in your setup as when you're standing up. Too many of our athletes are looking straight in front at the set up, which is like looking at the corner of the ceiling in the standing position.
A recent Mobility WOD by Kelley Starrett addresses this issue. Take a few minutes to watch - and expect all of your coaches to be focusing on your head position.
If you haven't noticed, we have some coaching interns. Cassidy, Jake, and Ben K. are involved in our Instructor Training Program. They have all attended and passed their CrossFit Level 1 certification, and are diligently practicing their coaching skills. We meet with them weekly to go over various aspects of coaching, including scaling, basic movement instruction, and group management. As they progress with their training, they will be taking over more responsibilities for a given class. Please show them the same respect you would your other coaches as they are honing their coaching skills. They are working very hard, and while it might seem easy, coaching a group isn't always that easy; just ask any other teacher you know!
Summer, believe it or not, is starting to wind down. Kids will be back in school in a month, and Tech students will be back about the same time. We will be changing the schedule around that time, and if you have a burning desire for a specific class time, let us know. That's not to say that we'll definitely create a new class, but it's good info for us.
Tim feeling the 800m love!
Eric A and I were chatting this evening, and he told me a good story. Eric works at Tech, and apparently there's a wrestling camp going on this week. One of the campers locked his keys in his room, and Eric was sent to open the door. A coach was waiting with the camper, and while conversing, the coach mentioned that the camper would have to do 50 pushups as punishment for locking his keys in the room. Eric responded, "no, you should make him do burpees." The coach had never heard of a burpee, and Eric proceeded to demonstrate a few in one of the old dorm halls. The coach loved it, the kid had to do them, and wrestlers from far and near are soon to dread the word BURPEE!
While picking up Erin from camp this past weekend, we chatted with Chris M (client on hiatus while directing this camp in WV), and told him about burpee broad jumps. He didn't quite get it, so of course, we had to demonstrate. He loved/hated the idea. He's been getting a bunch of counselors to do workouts with him each day. Total world domination, one burpee at a time!!
Burpees in unison
