Increased work capacity

by carney on February 21, 2012

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Your three pillars of practice are doing, watching, and visualizing. Fact of the matter is, you get better at what you do. Practice the Olympic-style lifts and muscle-ups and you’ll get better at Olympic-style lifts and muscle-ups. And that’s where most people stop. However, research has shown that watching someone do an activity activates the same parts of your brain that control the body in doing that same movement. So watching someone do clean & jerks or muscle-ups will make your brain do clean & jerks and muscle-ups. This has virtually the same affect on learning as self visualization, which has also been shown to improve a person’s ability to perform a particular activity or task. The challenge is putting it into your already too busy schedule. Start today by choosing one thing you want to be better at and commit to spending 10-minutes a day for thirty days, either watching a video or visualizing you performing that movement or exercise. Record these practice sessions in your training journal along with the results of your physical training. Then come back and let us know what happens.

Workout of the Day
For max load:
Sumo-deadlift, 1×5

For anyone who’s curious, here’s how CrossFit Missoula structures our rep-max days. All lifts are calculated off your current 1RM (one rep max).

Warm-up sets:
50% x 5 reps
60% x 3 reps
70% x 2 reps

Work sets:
1- 80% x 1 rep
2- 85% x 1 rep
3- 90% x 1 rep
4- 95% x 1 rep
5- 105% x 1 rep

Drop sets:
80% x 1 rep x 3 sets

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Jump on it

by carney on February 19, 2012

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Jumping up onto stuff or over obstacles is a useful skill. Though testing vertical leap is a common test for athletes, it requires very little skill. In addition to strength and speed, coordination, accuracy, and courage are required for leaping up onto things. There’s only one way to get better at jumping up onto stuff, and that’s to do it.

Workout of the Day
“Fight Gone Bad”
Three rounds for reps:
Wall ball, 20 lb, 1 min
Sumo-deadlift high pull, 35 kg, 1 min
Box jump, 20 in, 1 min
Push press, 35 kg, 1 min
Row (calories), 1 min
Rest, 1 min

Who has ownership of Fight Gone Bad? Turns out it’s not Scott . . .

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It’s All Good.

by carney on February 15, 2012

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Nothing but good will come from learning and practicing the Olympic lifts – the snatch and the clean & jerk. I once heard a rumor that these movements were difficult to learn and even more difficult to teach. Over the years, I’ve come to realize this is bullshit. If you’ve got a good deadlift, front squat, and overhead squat, you’re ready. If you’ve got a passion for coaching others, get some sticks in the hands of your friends and start figuring it out. Because nothing but good will come from learning and practicing the Olympic lifts.

Workout of the Day
Five rounds for reps:
Row (calories), 1 minute
Push-ups, 1 minute
Stone cleans, 1 minute
Kettlebell jerks, 1 minute

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Born to Run, and Jump, and Throw and . . .

February 14, 2012

  Workout of the Day For max load: Snatch, 1RM

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Foundations of Strength

February 13, 2012

  Foundations of strength. Mobility and stability. Movements like the Turkish get-up require and develop range of motion and stability of every joint including the spine, laying a solid foundation for real world strength development. Strive for a 65% body weight one Turkish get-up and watch what happens to your other lifts. Workout of the [...]

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Coordinating Effort

February 12, 2012

  Teaching teenagers to move is sufficient enough to make them stronger and faster. Bodyweight movements such as push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and squats are a great base for future work with barbells, dumbbells, and kettlebells. Truthfully, simple is better at any age, but during adolescence, when the body is growing and changing rapidly, simple is [...]

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Lifting Strong

February 9, 2012

  Mobility, stability, and strength. Though you want and need all three, strength is supported by mobility (range of motion) and stability. You can have mobility without stability, and that will lead to weakness and injury. And though a stuck, immobile shoulder is relatively stable (within its limited range of motion), it’s not going to be [...]

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The Sport of Fitness

February 5, 2012

  On Saturday, February 4, Derek Vieira competed in his first CrossFit style competition, the CrossFit Emergence Winter Challenge. The events were creative as they were brutal! And though Derek didn’t place where he’d hoped, he kept heart and pushed through like a champion! We’re proud of you, Derek! Workout of the Day Four rounds [...]

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Choice

February 2, 2012

  You must ultimately decide whether the result is worth the effort. The early mornings, and late nights. Showing up to take on the toughest workout of your life, everyday. Controlling your eating habits. You are accountable for your success or failure. You must choose. Workout of the Day For max load: Pull-ups 2×5 (reps [...]

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On Display

February 1, 2012

  Transparency. There’s no place to hide here. Your strengths. Your weakness. Your work capacity is on display. It’s there, on the whiteboard next to your name. Represented as a quantity of work completed over time.  Don’t waste energy wishing it was otherwise. This is part of who you are, now, in the world. Accept it. [...]

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