There are workouts at 9:00 and 10:00 AM today. Bring your CF Kids to the 10:00 AM class, but everyone is welcome to workout as well.

Here is some Friday motivation…take notes, as this dance sequence will be our warm up for today's workout.

The Colorado Open is quickly approaching. Those of you that are already signed up are probably getting anxious to get out there and test yourself in a competition setting. If you haven't signed up and would like to compete, you should do so right away because they will sell out soon.

We are going to have some workout sessions for our athletes competing in the Open next week. It is not mandatory that you attend, but highly recommended. If you are competing in the Open, let me know in comments if you will be able to attend Monday and Wednesday training sessions at 6:00 PM. Thanks.

Barbells Overhead…take a look at some of these pictures captured yesterday. Keep in mind this was in the middle of a workout, where fatigue definately sets in and technique may be a little sloppier than usual. You can see the different positions and relations of the hips, shoulders, and barbell to each other. Also, check the facial expressions. Who is making it look “easy” versus making it look difficult? Post thoughts to comments.

Dave with a semi-split…

Tightness in the upper back and shoulders will cause the hips to go forward and make a “C” with the back. Brian has been working shoulder mobility exercises into his daily warmup and will be able to see improvement soon …

Rene having fun under the bar…

Will in a good position here…

Brooke looking good…

Jacob a little tight in the shoulders and needing to sit the hips back…

Stuart in a great position…

Jon in an awesome position under the bar. I caught this picture right as he slipped under for the catch. You can see the weight of the bar is over the shoulder blades…great job.

MBS Performance Series

We've always had a lot of positive results from our Olympic lifting and other specialty clinics. The turnout is always great and we always see immediate results. So, why not hit you guys with several specialty clinics all at once? We are calling it the MBS Performance Series, and every bit of it will be FREE to MBS members.  Our first Performance Series clinic will be a Performance Nutrition Clinic. This will be a longer nutrition clinic than what we've done in the past because we are going to tie in the science of adapting paleo to meet your performance goals - weight loss, muscle gain, or overall health. Following the Performance Nutrition Clinic, we are hosting an Olympic Lifting Clinic on August 14th. We will be covering the Olympic clean, snatch, and jerk. Following the Olympic Lifting clinic, we have had a lot of requests for a running clinic, a kettlebell clinic and also a gymnastics clinic, so we are planning on getting those dates in September. We hope you take part in these clinics, as we know you will get a ton out of them.

Keep checking the Events Calander at the right for more info.

One of my favorite views - watching a class of hard working athletes…

Carla working on an assisted squat…

Iowa and Forrest showing affection…

…and Brian starting his first day of On-Ramp on Monday.

If you haven't checked out Kelly Starrett's Two-Minute Series in the CrossFit Journal, you are missing out. Ecspecially you folks that have problems in the shoulders. Here's a quick clip from the CFJ:

“Two-Minute Drills Part 3: Distracting the Joint” with Kelly Starrett, CrossFit Journal preview video [wmv] [mov]

One of the biggest complaints I have about eating the paleo diet, is cost of groceries. But, if you really think about it, paleo-friendly foods contain more nutrients than the processed alternatives. Therefore, you are actually getting more (real) food for your money. Additionally, you are going to live longer by eating nutrient dense foods. So, I guess it might be worth it.

If you are on a budget like I am, there are ways to make the paleo diet work for you. First, get familiar with your local grocery stores. Knowing where to shop comes in handy in saving some dough because not all stores are stocked alike, nor do they have the same deals. Next, buy what you are familiar with but leave some room for experimentation. You don't have to eat exotic meats and veggies to get the right nutrients. Ground turkey, lean beef, broccoli and spinach work just fine, and you can usually find them at a good price. But, feel free to try something new every once and awhile - always keep an eye out for manager specials on the exotic stuff (seafood ecspecially).

Janelle and I are doing our own 30-day lockdown beginning this week and took a picture of some food we snagged for the week. The only exception I am making to the lockdown is post-workout protien shakes. You would usually see more green veggies in our groceries, but we got a ton of veggies from my mom's garden this past weekend.

Protiens

We already had some grass-fed beef in the freezer, but we needed some more meat for the week and saved by not going with the expensive stuff. We found a manager special on some chicken tender cuts that we couldn't pass up. We do try and go with Hormel's Natural Choice bacon because it doesn't contain nitrates as preservatives. Eggs and egg whites are almost always on the list along with a few cans of tuna for that quick lunch.

Carbs

Like I said, we usually get more veggies (carrots, spinach, squash, etc.), but we got a lot of veggies this weekend from my mom's garden. We eat a lot of berries with breakfast and the bananna usually goes in the post-workout shake.

Fats

We already have coconut oil, butter, and some oils in the cupboard, so we only needed some almonds and walnuts for our good fats. That with a couple avacados and regular butter top off our fats.

We got all this from King Soopers for around $150. I'm not sure how long it will last because I usually don't do the grocery shopping, but I'd guess it lasts a week or so for the two of us. I'm sure if you were to clip some coupons, you could save a few more dollars as well. So, it is possible to make “paleo” affordable if you get familiar with your local grocery stores and stick to the basics. Your body will be happy you did!

World Class Fitness in 100 Words

“Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat…” It is no coincidence that Greg Glassman chose to begin his quote of World Class Fitness in 100 Words with the element of nutrition. World class fitness begins with world class nutrition. As simple as 'eat meat and vegatable, nuts and seeds' may sound, it is quite intimidating for someone that has lived primarily off of starches, sugars, and dairy their whole life.

Let your quest for becoming paleo be less intimidating and educate yourself. Dr. Loren Cordain, author of The Paleo Diet and co-author of The Paleo Diet for Athletes, will be at Front Range CrossFit this Sunday from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Dr. Cordain is one of the leading experts on the diet of our paleolithic ancestors. Come learn how a diet that mimics our hunter-gatherer ancestors can help you find your ideal bodyweight, optimize health and peak your performance. Cost is $50 for the 4-hour talk. Sign up at Front Range CrossFit's website.

Colorado Open Update

Due to a lack of interest in the affiliate team competition, there will no longer be the team option at the CO Open. However, the individual competition will be going as planned August 28th and 29th. Individual slots are nearly sold out, so please sign up ASAP if you are planning on doing this event. They will be allowing for scaling in the individual events, so all skill levels are welcome. Sign up on Front Range CrossFit's website.

Saturday Classes

Both 9:00 and 10:00 AM classes will be held at the gym today. The 9:00 AM is normal WOD, while the 10:00 AM is our CrossFit kid and adult class. Don't worry if you don't have a kid. You can still do the workout.

It has been a bit of a hurricane this past week. Getting back from the games and hopping right back into teaching classes - doing what I love. Here's some pics of the noon class during the ”Friday Finisher”.

Evan and Zach showing they can work just as hard as their parents.

Gotta love having these ladies. They're not intimidated one bit!

Ryan is back on the horse this week, hitting a 275 lb. x 3 deadlift that has been alluding him.

Finally, Rich plowing through the full Hell-en. He did his second set of kettlebell swings unbroken - that's 42 straight after hitting a full Helen and another 800 meter run.

For those of you posting your workout times and loads to comments, the old MBS CrossFit website can now be found at www.mbscrossfit.wordpress.com. We had some problems getting all the pictures transfered over, but you should have no problem going through the archives for your posted scores.

Weightlifting tip: Wrist pain

Wrist pain is a common complaint among beginning weightlifters. A lot of the time, it is due to lack of flexibility of the wrists. Getting to the proper wide-grip position of the snatch can be difficult, landing the bar on the shoulders in the clean, and doing front squats for more than a couple reps are nearly impossible with inadaquate flexibility. How do we fix this?

Start by warming up the wrists thouroughly by rotating them in all directions. Add resistance to your wrist rotations by using your hands against each other. Do a warmup with the empty bar such as the Burgener warmup. Putting your wrists, elbows, and shoulders throught the expected range of motion will not only prepare them for the oncoming workout, but stretch out the muscles and get them ready for the session.

Do this light warmup before every weightlifting session. A light wrist wrap can be placed around the wrists for added stability and comfort. Use caution when using wristwraps, as they can limit flexibility and strength in the wrists. With time, your wrist pain will subside and you will enjoy the benefit of the Olympic lifts.

A couple weeks ago someone asked me if they were able to press their bodyweight overhead, shouldn't they also be able to do a handstand pushup? In theory, if a person has enough strength to press their bodyweight overhead, they should also be able to master the handstand pushup. However, that doesn't always seem to be the case. Pressing bodyweight overhead is a pretty good indicator of upper body strength, but it doesn't take into account the required balance and coordination of the upper body and lower body working together to provide an efficient handstand pushup.

Gymnasticbodies.com is an awesome website that I cruise around every once and awhile. They have a ton of short video clips of gymnastic movements as well as a collection of articles that will take you through the journey of a gymnast. Check it out and let's work on our gymnastics!

Here's a video that I thought you might enjoy.

Colorado Open

The Colorado Open will be held at Front Range CrossFit from August 27th-29th. This is the 3rd year that FRCF has held the Colorado Open (previously called the Colorado CrossFit Games), and it is a very exciting event. There are 125 individual competitor spots and 15 affiliate team spots.Registration for individual ($65) and affiliate team ($200 for team of 4) is open and can be found at Front Range CrossFit's website.

Last year MBS had 13 individuals compete in the games. This year we will have the oppurtunity to bring a team as well. In addition to adding the affiliate team compeition, this year the scoring will allow for individual competitors to add to the score of the affiliate team. For example, the affiliate team's score will be their total scores from each affiliate team workout, plus the scores of the top male and female scores from your affiliate in the individual competitions.

Individual competitions will take place on Saturday and Sunday with 2 workouts on Saturday and one workout on Sunday. The affiliate team competition will take place on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with a single workout each day. Athletes wanting to be on the affiliate team must be able to attend all three days, as there will be no substitutions.

This is an exciting event that I hope everyone will consider. Not only is it fun, but it gives you a reason to commit to your training. The individual competitors will be able to scale the workouts to their ability level, so there are no “I am not ready” excuses. Space is limited and spaces will fill up fast, so if you are interested in competing, shoot us an email or let us know in the gym ASAP.

Article: The CrossFit Games: An Action Sports Investment Opportunity in the Making in Forbes