Ok, I didn't get any feedback for the movie this Friday night…well, the only recommendation I had was Pumping Iron, which I thought was a pretty damn good idea. Unless someone grabs a copy of The Hangover, we'll have Arnold on the big screen at the gym starting around 8:30 or so. If you are staying around this holiday weekend, feel free to come hang out and watch the movie. It will start as soon as the sun goes down.

I was working on a new camera and captured a few pics of us working on the cleans yesterday. BTW, good job for all of you coming in on a weightlifting day. I like seeing us work on the weights…it is only going to make us stronger!

Samantha getting under the bar.

Trevor getting tall(er) before pulling under the bar.

Lastly, this is a bad pic of Bret attempting to pull under the bar. He missed this attempt, and if you take a close look at his hips in relation to his base, you can see why. The hips have no reason pushing out in front of the toes like he did here. After the hips and knees reach full extension, you need to QUICKLY pull yourself underneath the bar. That includes getting your stance, hips, and verticle posture into position below the bar as well. Bret corrected his next two attempts and ended with 185 lbs., a 15 lb. PR!

Check out the MBS Athletes playing outside the gym.

Forrest on Mt. Bierstadt.

Zimmerman in Kansas.

Trevor on Loveland Pass.

Isaac on Torrey's Peak.

And, Jay by a horse.

Thanks for getting these pics and sending them in. Its great to see that we are getting out and enjoying some summer fun. Speaking of summer and the great sunshine that we have been getting. Check out this blog post from CrossFit Verve on the benefits of the sun's rays…it will make you appreciate that huge door we have for letting all that damn heat in, but also allowing us to workout in the sun.

From CF Verve:

Summer is here and the rays are abundant!  Despite our 300 days of annual sunshine, 50% of the population has a vitamin D deficiency?  Now consider what our vitamin D levels would look like seasonally - especially mid-winter, when the last thing you want to do is go outside and expose your skin to the elements.

Inadequate levels of vitamin D are linked to decreased athletic performance, poor insulin sensativity, low testosterone levels, and inflammation.  People with low levels of vitamin D are also at an increased risk for metabolic syndrome.  None of these pathologies appeal to us, so we have a couple of recommendations for you.

First, check with your physician to see if vitamin D supplementation is right for you.  This can be done with a simple blood panel with an additional vitamin D screening (which will be required for your next food challenge).  Second, since it's summer and the weather has been fantastic, get your D the easy way - expose 40% of your skin to direct sunlight for 10 to 20 minutes daily.  This will provide you with adequate levels and improve your sunny glow.  Lastly, if you're stuck in an office chair with no hopes of getting into the sun - you can supplement with a 4,000 - 6,000 IU  dosage daily.

I forgot to post this picture of Bill and Will at the Boulder Sprint Triathalon last weekend. Bill said he got one of his best times ever on this sprint tri. The only thing he could think of that has changed is the addition of CrossFit.

Saturday Park Workout

Come join us at the park this morning at 9:00 and 10:00 AM. Meet at the gym and follow us there.

Saturday Workout

Tomorrow's workouts will be at East Park. If you don't know how to get to the park, meet at the gym at 9:00 or 10:00 AM and follow us down there. It is only a couple minutes away. Again, a perfect time to bring the family for a fun park workout.

Some pics of yesterday:

Forrest tearing up the Rx'd muscle up version.

Glen getting some assist.

Jess fighting through the transition.

Samantha working to finish off the dip. A fall harness that I kept from my old job at the steel mill, plus some hardware that cost under $20 at Home Depot, can really help an athlete develop the strict muscle up. Developing the muscle up without the kip will really help build confidence in the mechanics of the movement. The kip can be added later as an intensity piece to get more out of the movement. Great job guys.

2010 CrossFit Games

This year's games are going to be epic. Athletes from across the world will be competing at the Home Depot Center in a grueling three-day competition to earn the title of “fittest man” and “fittest woman.” Similar to last year, the workouts will not be announced until a day or two before the event. This means that athletes are training for the unknown…we will see who is the fittest.

Besides the fact that this year is even bigger and better than than any year previous, I am excited that we have so many MBS athletes coming out to support the myself and represent the gym. We are working on getting some “2010 CF Games” t-shirts for everyone going out. Its going to be a blast!

You can stay up to date with all the action on the CrossFit Games website. However, be cautioned that you may end up spending way too much time watching videos of chicks throwing around a lot of weight with very little clothing.

Awesome job on the deadlift singles yesterday. We had 43 PR's in a single day! That has got to be a testament to the hard work you guys are doing in the gym - great job.

Parking Construction

We are getting some parking lot maintenance at the gym. We appreciate everyone's cooperation in parking across the street. We are hoping to get some more parking spaces soon.

Hamra kicking butt after a month at MBS.

Shannon, out of On-Ramp and throwing weight around in the WOD.

Theoretical Hierarchy of Development

The Theoretical Hierarchy of  Development created by Greg Glassman shows the relationship and dependence of each of the developmental componants. It should be no surprise that nutrition forms the base of the model. Following nutrition is cardiovascular capacity, then bodyweight control, then external object control, and finally mastery of sport specific skills.

This model also shows the “mix” of movements you will see in our workouts. Metabolic conditioning, gymnastics, and weightlifting movements provide the pool of exercise selection. From these functional exercises, we develop the athlete by reducing the risk of injury and increasing their work threshold. It is only after a solid base of general physical fitness that an athlete can perform optimally in their sport specific training.

This and more about the CrossFit program is contained in the October 2002 issue of the CrossFit Journal, titled “What is Fitness?”  If you have not read this article yet, I highly encourage it.

We had a great weekend here with the CrossFit Coaches Prep Course at our gym. The CPC is designed to ready CrossFit Level 1 students for the CrossFit Level II Certification, and to prepare them to become better instructors overall. It is awesome to see that we are in a community that is concerned about the ability of their coaches and the athletes they serve. Better coaching = better results = more fun!

Check Out the New Website!!

We are really excited about the new website. You can see that we are throwing some more colors down and a pretty sweet background image. All our community highlights will be put here in the center blog. We will try to have this updated daily - much like we have in the past. Our workout is posted on the right side. You will be able to quickly review past workouts by using the calendar. We also uploaded all of the video files that we had posted on various video blog sites under our “Media” tab. Look forward to more information being updated in our Nutrition area. Also, I am working on getting our old site linked up somewhere so that you can look back on past workouts and re-live the discussions in comments.

No Saturday Classes Today

We are hosting the CrossFit Coaches Prep Course at our facility and there are no Saturday classes. We will resume normal schedule on Monday. Thanks.

Bret showing off one of the best handstand photo's we have seen this summer. Remember, we are asking all of you to break out the cameras and do something cool - handstand in a cool place, put something over your head, or just send us a pic of you out in action this summer. We are going to put all the photos together and make a kick-ass post to put in the gym.

BTW, what do you think about the new website?

Sam and Roxie enjoy their first muscle ups! A lot of work is getting done around the gym this week to prepare for the CrossFit Coaches Prep Course this weekend. There will be NO Saturday classes this weekend, as we will be hosting the course. One thing that we are sure to get up soon is our Personal Records board. We had a ton of people climb the ropes for their first time ever last week, and we want to make sure you get recognized.

I want to get better at _____.

If you want to get better at something, you have to practice, practice, and practice some more. This is one of those topics that has been said a hundred times already, but could be said a hundred times more and still be underappreciated. It is the topic of doing your homework in order to see results. I am in a fortunate position to see a lot of athletes perform a lot of different exercises. Just doing some rough math, since opening MBS, I would guess I have witnessed around 100,000 squats. That is a lot of squatting! In fact, I bet every one of our coaches at MBS has seen more squats, pullups, and pushups than a typical personal trainer at Globo Gym will see in their entire career! But, this is not a post about me or the coaches at MBS. It is about you. If you want to get better at _____________, you are going to have to do more of it. My experience has shown me that those who are patient and persistent will be rewarded. For movements that you have already achieved, but are aiming to master, decrease the weight/intensity and focus on the techniqe. But, whatever you do, spend more time on it! For movements that you have not yet accomplished, spend more time in the position that you want to achieve. For example, if you want that first muscle up, you could go attempt after attempt until your head turns blue (bad idea), or you could work on support position, the low dip, and incline muscle up rows. But whatever you do, spend more time in that position. The pullup, spend time above the bar. The handstand pushups, spend time upside down. The list goes on. The point of this post is to restate what we already have learned from CrossFit: if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. It is not easy. It does take work. But, every second of work is worth the reward when you accomplish that first muscle up. At MBS we have a big, open gym where we encourage you to work on your weaknesses and build them into strengths. Next time you finish the workout, head over the wall and do a couple handstands. Hit the rings and work on your false grip. Trust me, it will be worth it.

Workout

For time:

21 Weighted situps 30 lb./20 lb.

21 Double unders

1 Rope accent

18 Weighted situps 30 lb./20 lb.

21 Double unders

1 Rope accent

15 Weighted situps 30 lb./20 lb.

21 Double unders

1 Rope accent

12 Weighted situps 30 lb./20 lb.

21 Double unders

1 Rope accent

9 Weighted situps 30 lb./20 lb.

21 Double unders

1 Rope accent

The scale for rope climbs is 4 standing-to-ground actions plus 4 pullups. This is done for every rope accent not done. Use the slam balls for weighted situps. Scale for double unders is double under attempts. Post times to comments.

Workout

On the first minute, do 1 snatch. The second minute, do 2 wall balls. The third, 3 snatch, and continue this until you cannot complete the reps within the minute.

Prescribed weight is 115 lb./75 lb. for snatch and 20 lb./10 lb. wall balls to the 12 foot target. Post rounds to comments.

Workout

Max set of kipping pullups rest Max set of chin ups

J.T.

21-15-9 reps of:

Handstand Pushups

Ring Dips

Pushups

Or, if you cannot complete Rx HSPU, complete the following. AMRAP in 12 minutes of: 2 Kick to handstand, 10 sec hold each 3 Strict press @ 60% 1RM 6/4 Ring dips 12/9 Pushups Post time or rounds to comments.