THURSDAY 080731

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John Sheaffer (a.k.a. Johnny Pain) and Geno, CrossFit Greyskull affiliate owners.

Check out the Greyskull t-shirts too: very cool. CF t-shirts are a fantastic way to promote your affiliate, besides just being fun. Xplore CF knows: they wrote about it here.

Want to shoot better photos? Pay attention to Tony B's advice in Part II of his Media Tips: [wmv] [mov]

WEDNESDAY 080730

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Just swingin' in the rain . . . Peter Oehl and CrossFit Wilmington trainer Julie Edgerton keep going in a deluge.

Also at CF Wilmington, an opinion on the functionality of the ring muscle-up. Scroll down to the 28 July entry and read. Then, give us your opinion in Comments.

It might not be new and it is CF Rainier again, but if you don't know the "why" behind their Strongman Competition, you really should watch this video.

TUESDAY 080729

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Sarah Firth of CrossFit Central Maine flips a tire that weighs over 3x her bodyweight during a workout called "Farmer Gone Bad." (If you've got a good WOD title like that, tell us about it in Comments!)

Only 5 states remain without official CF affiliates. And of those 5, we have 2 in the process. So, 3 are left: VT, NH, and WY. Any takers?

Thanks to all the affiliates sending in photos of their strong and beautiful women! We may not get a chance to reply to everyone, but we're awed by the evident pride you have in the accomplishment of your CF women. Absolutely inspiring.

CF KMSF imagines what aliens would think if they had descended upon Aromas during the 2008 CF Games: Blogpost. (Scroll down below the photo.)

MONDAY080728

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We're on almost all of the continents and we're on top of Mt. Whitney too! Scott, Seth, Matt, Steve, and Joel from CrossFit Flood summitted the 14,496' peak recently via the Mountaineer's Route.

They weren't the first and they won't be the last: there's at least one other planned assault on Mt. Whitney by a CF affiliate coming up. Who else has set their sights high?

Reaching ever higher is important to your work in the gym and your work on your affiliate. Jon Gilson of Again Faster wrote a fine short essay on the importance of allowing yourself to fail when you're improving your CrossFit skills. But, we suspect, that his advice could be transferred also to the business side of the fence. Read "Permission to Fail."

Think we feature Jon Gilson too much? You're right; we do. But here's why: he keeps producing quality CrossFit content. Want to see your work/thoughts/writing featured here? Do good work and shoot us an e-mail with a link: we'll take a look. Like Benjamin Franklin said long ago: "If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing."

SUNDAY 080727

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CrossFit Silicon Valley owner Michaela Xavier pops out a handstand while taking a stroll along Mission Bay in San Diego. Michaela and her husband (and co-owner) Judd recently competed in the 2008 CF Games, as well as experienced a 100% growth in membership at their affiliate.

CrossFit expands into Central America! Check out the new affiliate in Panama: CrossFit Briga. Welcome! Bienvenido!

In case you haven't realized it, there is at least one CrossFit affiliate on 5 of the 7 continents in this world. Only Africa and Antartica remain untouched. Wow.

SATURDAY 080726

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Concept II Rowing Certification Seminar, Morrisville, VT. Best line of the weekend: Bruce from C2 instructing on the water as we seriously mangled our oars, "When you find yourself in trouble, just relax. And something good will usually happen." Zen rowing. Whoa.

The Affiliate Blog needs photos of your CrossFit women! We've got a project in the works and we'd love to include photos of all kinds of affiliate women. Besides your hot chickies, feel free to send photos of your grandmas under the barbell and your kids on the box jumps and every woman in between. (Hot or not, we know all women are beautiful, if you learn to see with more than your eyes.)

Over at CrossFit Newcastle, it was time for everybody to try their first backflips: video

FRIDAY 080725

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CrossFit ATM's Dutch Lowy is road-trippin' in Cali and he's got a fairly amusing blog about his adventures. (He's also looking for places to train and stay, so if your members would be thrilled to work out with the #7 finisher at the 2008 CF Games, drop Dutch an e-mail at dutch@crossfitatm.com and let him know!)

Speaking of the Games, check out an interesting post on the CF Frederiction blog, where Jodi and Anthony Bainbridge wrote about their experiences as competitors this year.

Seriously interested in helping more people and getting more members at your affiliate? Matt Hunt has some fresh and free ideas for you.

THURSDAY 080724

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Boots and Utes with a weighted vest: That's CrossFit dedication and effort staring you right in the face. Sgt Dave B., USA, does "Murph" with the gang at Front Range CrossFit, many of whom join him in wearing weighted vests (including several of the women) when they do "Murph" at least twice per year.

Good trainers realize that dedication has to come from within. Once that's secured, the sky really is the limit. Read "You Gotta Want This" from Rainier CrossFit.

Now, we have the last entry in our 3-part series where top CrossFit trainers answered the question "What is the cornerstone of mastery for an elite CrossFitter?" Nicole Carroll had an interesting perspective, so we asked her to expound a bit more on the subject.

WEDNESDAY 080723

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Michael McLeish of CrossFit Emerald Coast. Some things are just nice to look at, like a good overhead squat . . .

CrossFit Philly is in a gym battle for braggin' rights in Philadelphia--and you know how tough Philly is! Here's the link to support our CF brethren: vote.

What do you get when you mix CrossFit Ireland with CrossFit Central Scotland? Board shorts, a few kettlebell tricks, and CrossFit Ceilidh dancing. Really, watch until the end, it's worth a look: video

More top CrossFit trainers answer the question: "What is the cornerstone of mastery for an elite CrossFitter?"

TUESDAY 080722

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Jen Conlin of Potomac CrossFit trains a young athlete during a recent workout. Who knows? Starting that early, maybe this boy is a future "elite" CrossFitter.

Ever wonder how 2008 CF Games Winner Jason Khalipa started out in CrossFit 19 months ago? Read "Improvement" by CrossFit PEI and then link to the referenced CrossFit One World post. Jason is living proof of the power of individual determination and CrossFit.

What is the cornerstone of mastery of an elite CrossFiter? That's the question that CrossFit Oahu put to some of the top trainers at a recent Level II Cert.

MONDAY 080721

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In a sure sign of the coming apocalypse, we found CrossFit trainers this weekend playing croquet. Here we have Nick Hawkes of CF San Diego, Eva Claire Synkowski and Jon Gilson of CF Boston, and Dale Ryan Thompson of CF BWI enjoying a nice round of "Gentry CrossFit" during a break from the Concept II Rowing Certification Seminar.

Where were the other trainers? Throwing themselves off a rope swing into a chilly Vermont lake. But, you know, that croquet looks really fun too . . .

Last week, we showed you the funny side of Jeff Tucker of GSX, but now, if you're a new affiliate owner or you're thinking about becoming an affiliate, you should seriously listen to Tuck's wise words at a recent CrossFit 5-Day Turnkey Affiliate Seminar: [wmv] [mov]

SATURDAY 080720

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Do you know this feeling? If you've been CrossFitting for any length of time, you know exactly how Eddie Orozco of CrossFit El Paso feels -- and the word "tired" doesn't even begin to cover it.

Over at Pioneer Valley CrossFit, they've got an interesting mission statement. Read it here.

SATURDAY 080719

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CrossFit Monterey made good use of this sand dune off of Highway 1 and created a WOD called "Sprint/Repeat/Sprint/Repeat/Die." Such a cozy name. Then they spelled out "CrossFit" in Ice Plant while passing cars honked. CrossFit juvees . . .

Ever Google yourself? If you're a CrossFit affiliate or trainer, you should. Take a look at what comes up in association with your name or your affiliate name, because you can be sure that your members are Googling you. Be conscious of what you put out there in cyberspace; the Internet has a very, very long memory . . .

That being said, now you can enjoy Matt Hunt "interviewing" Jeff Tucker of GSX about his manly effect on the fairer sex: [wmv] [mov]

FRIDAY 080718

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CrossFit Central holds a monthly "Under the Bridge" free workout and it just keeps growing and growing. Over 80 gathered for the July event and formed a giant circle to pass and clean medicine balls, which CFC is claiming as the CrossFit Book of World Records entry for the largest Med Ball Clean Circle ever. Can anybody beat 'em?

Helpful Media Tips from Tony Budding (CF Journal Preview): [wmv] [mov]

Organizing and running a large group workout demands good communication between WOD leaders and participants. What's the secret to good communication in a workout or in your business?

THURSDAY 080717

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Marques Banda of CrossFit North Carolina knows first-hand how CrossFit can change your life. Take a look at Marques a year ago and look at him now! He's living proof that if you do the work, CrossFit works. Nice going, Marques!

Ever think about applying your CrossFit-style efforts to other parts of your life? Eric Morris of Cynergy CrossFit did. Read his post here.

And why not just apply CrossFit to other sport concepts too? BTB Atlanta invented CrossFit Golf: [wmv] [mov]

WEDNESDAY 080716

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Tricia B. from CrossFit Southwest handstands while deployed far, far away from home.

The mission statement over at MaxFx CrossFit has this great line: "I built on the lessons I learned from the gym - push until you can push no more - and then try to push again." Read more here.

Now, the last installment in our series on Building a Better CrossFit Blog . . .

TUESDAY 080715

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CrossFit Clarksville shows a little mojo on the veranda portion of their garage affiliate.

Andy Petranek and the gang over at Petranek Fitness recently made the FOX/LA news: video

Reminder: If you use photos/videos/text from the CrossFit site, please indicate that on your blogs with a "Courtesy of www.crossfit.com" or "Courtesy of the CrossFit Affiliate Blog." Thank you.

Ever see the movie Bull Durham? Remember the speech that Crash gives about what he believes in? Well, we adapted it for CrossFit . . .

MONDAY 080714

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Drew Canavero, trainer at CrossFit Reno, "plays" with a medicine ball during a 2-mile WOD. (Chest pass/run/side shuttle/run/side shuttle/run/backwards throw/repeat.) CF Reno has some interesting words on their blog: specifically, check out Zach Davis's entries entitled "Hello There" and "Aggression."

Stuart at CrossFit Old Town shows us that persistance counts when it comes to getting your first muscle-up: video

Read today's five more tips for Building a Better CrossFit Blog . . .

SUNDAY 080713

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Dave Brangaitis, Alyson Dodge, Rob Egan (helmet), and Kayla Brink from CrossFit Fishkill ventured out to "The Gunks" for a morning of climbing. (We swear we are not making this up.) Ever take your CrossFitters out for fun like that? (A wise woman we know once said, "So I realized I could do lots and lots of pull-ups. But I needed to get outside and use those muscles somewhere." And that's how Susan Robinson started Fitness Beyond the Box.)

Remember that Flip video camera we told you about last week? Works great for filming your members outside too. Also, try putting a small television monitor near a lifting platform. Record a member lifting and then instantly show them what they did right or wrong on that set. Sure, you could do this with any camera, but with the Flip, it'll take you about 3 seconds from shooting to viewing. (Yes, we timed it.) Instant visual feedback can be very valuable to your members.

Joey Powell of The Chaos Compound came up with a novel idea for helping to correct barbell "short strokers": The Photon Light.

SATURDAY 080712

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People in New York City race for their computers because they heard that CrossFit NYC just posted their latest blog entry! (Or, it's just the members of CFNYC out for a sprint in the City That Never Sleeps. Still, the point is that good blog entries can drive people to your site repeatedly, like they do at CFNYC.)

Say you have something really great and you think everybody should see it/read it/view it/love it, then what to do? Send it to CrossFit! Photos and articles can be sent to us, video can be submitted using the guidelines listed in the FAQ, and you can learn about submissions for the CF Journal here.

If none of those outlets seem appropriate, however, there is another way to get your message out. Again Faster owner Jon Gilson also helps to manage the Affiliate Content Network (ACN), a means by which affiliates can share their web-based content with each other, whether it be original articles, videos, etc. ACN membership is free and you can contact Jon for more information.

And, now that you're thinking "Hmmm, how can I make my own blog better?", we have just the thing for you! Here are 5 More Tips for Building a Better CrossFit Blog:

FRIDAY 080711

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Dreaming already about competing in the CrossFit Games next year, young Kent Green works on a good-looking L-sit at CrossFit Coastal.

Another dream in the making is HyperFit USA's hope of being named "Best Gym in Detroit." But you can make the difference by helping them to win! Vote here.

Now, imagine this was all a dream. All of CrossFit. And we had to start back where we were before we all found each other. Read "The Land Before CrossFit" . . .

THURSDAY 080710

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Candace Hamilton of CrossFit Oakland jerks 100lb overhead during the 2008 CrossFit Games. CF Oakland brought a large contingent to the Games (16 competitors!) and they won the 2008 CrossFit Affiliate Cup. Congratulations to CF Oakland and an outstanding crew, which included Candace finishing 11th and Tami Holmes finishing 4th (!) among the women. Heck, CF Oakland even had one of their "spectators" jump into the Concept 2 Rowing Challenge and win the contest, for which he received a new rower (which he promptly lent to his affiliate, like any good CrossFitter would.)

And if that doesn't tell you enough about the high level of coaching at a CF affiliate, read Worth It, a great essay written by David Vos, a "garage CrossFitter" who decided to check out Rogue Fitness and Albany CrossFit. It reminds us of something that someone a lot smarter than us once said: "CrossFit is like sex: you might be able to get the same pleasure alone but, usually, it's better with someone else. "

WEDNESDAY 080709

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Sure, you've done a thruster, but ever done one on the back of a flatbed truck in a parade? Well, Tim Forbes of CrossFit Ames did bunches of them on the 4th of July, in front of thousands of people lining the parade route.

Besides manning the flatbed truck, the CF Ames gang also did pull-ups on a customized pick-up truck and threw Kool-Aid packets with Free Trial Session inscriptions to the crowd. Whenever the truck stopped, CF Ames owner Leigh Ann Cannon yelled "3-2-1-GO!" and their team executed a mini-WOD for the crowd. You have to love it!

On the other side of the 4th of July spectrum, Bill Benesi of CF SoCOS (in Colorado) had a great blog entry about something that happened to him at a baseball game. Read it here.

Now, check out 5 More Tips for Building a Better CrossFit Blog:

TUESDAY 080708

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Where'd she go? Mary Rigney, affiliate owner at CrossFit Rockwall in Texas, disappears into the ceiling while climbing a rope. The heat up in the attic makes the climb down all that much more refrescante. (Check out her blog and see how she incorporated the image into her banner too.)

Starting a CrossFit affiliate is a challenge and, if you do it right, a great big thrill ride. Just ask Rudy Nielsen and the gang at CrossFit Alexandria. Read their reflections about having over 100 members on the anniversary of their first year in business and how they made it happen.

HyperFit USA really knows what it's like to be a kid: video

MONDAY 080707

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A member of CrossFit Ramstein cleans and presses a 100lb Towel Bail during the "Total Fitness and Readiness Challenge" held recently at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The top 3 teams were all CrossFitters and finished minutes ahead of everybody else. Not surprised, are you?

CrossFit Ramstein just started their blog recently and they update it faithfully. Other excellent CrossFit blogs worth checking out include Petranek Fitness and CrossFit One World, to just name two today. And then, honestly, there are some CrossFit blogs that are brutal to look at, just like some Snatches are great and some are horrible. But here's the deal: your blog can always get better, just like your Snatch can improve. You just need to educate yourself and then provide some effort.

Today starts the first of a five-part "Building a Better CrossFit Blog" series that will run over the next two weeks, so pay attention. You're about to get the short-cuts that most of us had to learn the hard way. Read today's 5 Tips for Building a Better CrossFit Blog:

SUNDAY 080706

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Jorin Slaybaugh of CrossFit Wichita Falls handstands at 10,023 feet on top the Haleakala Crater on Maui. Of course, that wasn't enough to be a WOD, so he stopped by CrossFit Maui also to get a workout.

The mention of travel brings up an interesting subject: whether to charge out-of-town affiliate members when they visit your affiliate. Some affiliates do, but some don't. What's the right thing to do? And is the answer fair - to both the affiliate member and the affiliate owner?

CrossFit Central Scotland, in their own backyard, tackles the first WOD of the CrossFit Games: video

SATURDAY 080705

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In Texas, they can't do anything small.

CrossFit GSX recently hosted a TX Affiliate Gathering, with attendees from CrossFit Dallas Central, CrossFit Houston, CrossFit Sugarland, CrossFit The Woodlands, CrossFit Rockwall, CrossFit Champions, and CrossFit Katy. They shared ideas and then swapped some sweat, laying the foundation for a promised "Texas Challenge" next year. (And, no, they didn't mention a bar-b-que. Maybe we're wrong, but isn't it some kind of Texas law that they must have a bar-b-que?)

Do you know your CrossFit neighbors? If you don't, you should. Sharing ideas and information will help you both. Not to mention that it's just plain fun. So, pick up the phone or send out an e-mail and get together. Just like in TX. Ya'll will be better for it.

John Tuitele of CrossFit Strong Medicine knows his neighbors: in conjunction with CrossFit Flagstaff, he designed an Age-Adjusted Benchmark Workout. Interesting.

FRIDAY 080704

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Issam Sweis looks spent after finishing his first official WOD at one of our newest affiliates, CrossFit Hollywood. They took it easy on Issam: he only had to do "Fran" with 65lbs . . .

Hollywood makes us think of movies, which, of course, makes us think of CrossFit. If you've got great video, we'd love to see it. More instructions for video submission can be found in the CrossFit FAQ.

But, say you just want to make a simple movie of old Aunt Edna doing "Helen" on ice skates and you want to place it on your blog. Read 5 Easy Tips for Making Videos.

THURSDAY 080703

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CrossFit Coeur D'Alene demonstrates their unique group stretching program after their weekly "Workout in the Park."

Well, they're not exactly stretching, but you get the point: they're having fun after a WOD. In one photo, CF Coeur D'Alene managed to communicate volumes about their affiliate: lots of muscles and lots of laughs. Who wouldn't want to CrossFit with them?

WEDNESDAY 080702

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Employ a little image editing and make your affiliate photos "pop" on the screen. In the first photo, our visual eye is distracted by the extraneous images on the periphery of the photo (the cars on the left, the pavement markings in the foreground, etc.) Once we crop the photo, however, we are able to eliminate the distractions and zoom in on the long, lean lines of the body, vastly improving the image.

Photos say a lot about your CrossFit affiliate, so take a few extra minutes to really make them shine. If you have a good, high-resolution digital image, please e-mail it to us at affiliateblog@crossfit.com. We're always looking for more photos, stories, and accomplishments, so send them in!

Read "Goal!" by Keith Wittenstein of CrossFit Virtuosity.

TUESDAY 080701

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From Kempie of CrossFit North East England and Jeff of CrossFit Brand X.

As Many Rounds as Possible in 30 Minutes of:
100 ft Bear Crawl
5 Snatch Grip Deadlift
5 Hang Power Snatch
5 Overhead Squat
5 Behind the Neck Push Press

Men 65# / Women 45#