Strong play

In honor of Sean's birthday, Friday evening's workout was a strongman-style event, with an added metabolic boost at the beginning, courtesy of our Concept2 rowers.

For time:

1. 1000-meter row.

2. Plate carry - Move about 450 pounds of bumper plates from one end of the gym to the other. With a 60-pound D-ball cherry on top.

3. Farmer's walk, 100 pounds per hand, out across the parking lot and back into the gym.

Clock stops.

4. For reps: Fat-bar overhead push-presses or jerks, with about 100 pounds on an Apollon's Axle bar.

Just getting that devil of a bar up to the rack position for pressing was a mighty big challenge for some of us.

One minute rest.

5. For reps: Lift a 130-pound sandbag from the floor to the platform and back down.

Everything was scalable to individual strength and ability.

Much fun was had by all (except maybe the slightly horrified chiropractor observing from the sidelines). Way to hang with the heavy stuff, y'all—and to get over your fears of it, for some of you.

You'll have a chance to do more of this kind of thing if you want (and pull a big red bus!) this summer at the Mt. Rainier's Strongest Man contest (and all-around good time) down in Sumner, WA. It's a fantastic event and fundraiser hosted by our friends at Rainier CrossFit on July 21, 2007.

Physical Education

Lake Washington High School physical education class, learning about Dr. Izumi Tabata, and the IE1 protocol (you can see the joy of learning in the expressions on their faces).

Dr. Tabata's research suggests that intervals of 20 seconds of max-effort work and 10 seconds of rest tax both the anaerobic and aerobic energy releasing systems almost maximally. That's a lot of bang for a few seconds of suck!

Franned

The Lake Washington High School football team met Fran.

Determination

" The only way to find the limits of the possible

is by going beyond them to the impossible."

--Arthur C. Clarke

Circle up

Group dynamics drive camaraderie, teamwork, and accountability. CrossFit programming serves groups large and small with functionality, variance, and intensity.

What about cardio?

"Strive to blur distinctions between 'cardio' and strength training.
Nature has no regard for this distinction."

-- "What is Fitness?" CrossFit Journal

Rest! Work!

Work-rest management is a key component to athletic development.

High-repetition kettlebell lifting

Kettlebell sport involves high-rep, fixed-load weightlifting.

In a traditional kettlebell-sport event, three movements are contested. They are the one-arm snatch, the jerk, and the clean and jerk. The jerk and the clean and jerk are both done with one kettlebell in each hand.

All events are scored by total repetitions performed within ten minutes of work. Male athletes use a 32-kilogram kettlebell for all events and women use 16 kilograms.