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.