TUESDAY 080930

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Rest In Peace, Caleb Elijah Stecker.

Read Caleb's story over at his dad Jeremy's place, Eugene CrossFit.

MONDAY 080929

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The boys at CrossFit Derby like to jump with funny things on their hands. What's up with that, fellas?

FGB III is over and done; Send your best videos to us! Upload to the CrossFit server or use a public server like Vimeo. Almost 200 affiliates participated and the best video gets shown here on Friday. So, send 'em in!

Oh boy, Kurtis Bowler from Rainier CrossFit is strong. Check out this video from Again Faster.

SUNDAY 080928

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These members of CrossFit Milford are very smart men. Really, who doesn't want a CrossFit girl?

Over at CrossFit Vancouver, they've got an interesting blogpost ("We Want More Old People") and an interesting video: [wmv] [mov]

SATURDAY 080927

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Manny Rodriguez, a 47-year-old member of CrossFit Hollywood, gets some serious air on his slappin' push-ups during a recent park workout.

Guerrilla Fitness CrossFit Montclair welcomes you to the jungle: video.

FRIDAY 080926

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Who's got a good dog squat? Sarah Spealler of CrossFit Park City, that's who. Here she squats Oakley in their new "box" -- congrats to Sarah and Chris on the new location!

CrossFit Oakland oversees a Peer Training Program for the Berkeley Fire Department: Read more about this inventive partnership.

Some CrossFit affiliate names are very creative: Check out CrossFit Butcher's Lab from our friends in Denmark.

THURSDAY 080925

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Last Call . . . Fight Gone Bad III is this Saturday at numerous participating CrossFit affiliates. Get your team ready and have fun and raise money for a good cause.

Tip #3 in our series on "How to Conjure Some A-Blog Love": If you're sending in a video, please try alternatives to YouTube. We've said it before: Our server looks better, ditto for Vimeo (or even BlipTV). Sure, you can still send in YouTube videos, but you've just lessened the chance that we're going to watch it or link it. Send us something that is visually appealing, sharply presented, and looks tough or fun, or both. Don't feel like you only have to be one thing or the other.

Check out this video on Vimeo from CrossFit Newcastle. The water was only 14 degrees Celsius -- yikes!

WEDNESDAY 080924

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Mitch Kahn of CrossFit Orange County and Jim Birdsell rowing the Catalina Channel Race, wherein they won their 8 time, with the combined age of their boat at 96 years old!

Tip #2 in our series on "How to Capture Some A-Blog Love": Shoot photos that you want to click on. Look at the photo above. Didn't you want to click on it to see the lighthouse or the men in the boat? You want your photo, somehow, to generate interest. It can be a location that does it, or an expression, or the colors in in the photo, or the body language between people in the photo, etc.

Sure, we're all doing similar things: Thrusters, deadlifts, pull-ups, etc. but what differs is how we look at those things. Develop a visual eye. Learn to change your perspective. Shoot with a new attitude.

CrossFit Phoenix gets some love from a local newspaper: Read the article.

TUESDAY 080923

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Jeff Tucker of GSX Athletics breaks ground (or something like that?) on a new 8,000 square foot workout place in Texas.

Tuck has another gig in addition to running his CrossFit affiliate; he teaches the CrossFit Gymnastics Certifications. If you want to learn how a former bull rider and fireman became a gymnastics expert, check out the Again Faster interview with Tuck: audio and transcript.

Tip #1 in our series on"How to Improve Your Chances of Affiliate Blog Love":

MONDAY 080922

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CrossFit Running Certification at CrossFit Ocean City, MD, Sept 20-21.

Want to get featured on the Affiliate Blog? Wondering how to better your chances of making it to this space and thereby exponentially increase awareness of your affiliate? All this week, we're going to give you tips on how to do just that. Stay tuned.

We had the East Coast shore (above) and now over to the California surf, as Oceanside CrossFit hits an end of summer WOD/Beach Bash: video.

SUNDAY 080921

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The Grand Opening WOD at CrossFit Ventura makes its mark upon new member Matthew Cressley.

CrossFit Inferno offers a 9/11 WOD that looks pretty tough: [wmv] [mov]

SATURDAY 080920

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CrossFit Hampton Roads just moved into their own box this month; good-bye garage, hello world! Best wishes to Jeremy and Nicole; good trainers and good people! (And they have some cool t-shirts too.)

CrossFit One Spirit commemorates the loss of a member's child with a memorial WOD.

CrossFit Fire has a new Intro to CrossFit video that they put together for a health fair, and just let it run and repeat on a monitor at their table. Smart! Watch the video.

FRIDAY 080919

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Will C. from CrossFit Atlanta and Jaime Arashiro, owner of CrossFit Peru. If you haven't visited Jaime's blog, you should. His enthusiasm for all things CrossFit is truly impressive. Heck, let's just all go to Peru for a WOD, what do you say?

When providing the mandatory CrossFit Journal logo/link on your blog, please be sure to use the link supplied by CFHQ. Doing otherwise may cause your link to direct to the wrong place or go dead. In fact, you might want to go check your link right now.

CrossFit Flatirons took their WOD up the mountain, to the top of Longs Peak: [wmv] [mov]

THURSDAY 080918

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Benjamin Randall of CrossFit Rampant Fitness has some serious faith in his balance on the edge of the Grand Canyon.

CrossFit Camp Pendleton has an interesting post on guiding groups into trying CrossFit. It might be Marine-heavy, but isn't Marine the universal language?

Fight Gone Bad III is just over a week away. Take a look at where we are now . . .

WEDNESDAY 080917

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CrossFit Wyre Forest, in the United Kingdom, building CrossFit fever. In the past few weeks, we've held a Level 1 Certification in England and we've added affiliates in Italy, Iceland, and Russia. Next up: L1 Certs in Australia.

CrossFit Addiction puts out a pretty cool newsletter.

Here's something worth watching. CrossFit Ramstein tackles "Fran" in full chem gear: [wmv] [mov]

TUESDAY 080916

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Ike doesn't like CrossFit. Or, at least that's what CrossFit St. Louis looked like in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. Ouch. Read more about the event and the clean-up here. Owner Laurie Miller did say she needed help creating a WOD that involved a lot of mud . . .

Remember how we told you about the Gymagery CrossFit-lovin' blog by a member of CrossFit One Spirit? Check out her explanation on the (sometimes) importance of color when you're shooting and editing. Something to think about when you're prepping photos for your blog entry.

MONDAY 080915

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Ray and Bridget Murphy, owners of Crossfit Peachtree, on top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. Today is their very first day of business, but they already have a cool "Pain With a Smile" t-shirt . . .

Speaking of first days, do you take photos of your members on their first day of CrossFit? Do it -- and then photograph them again in the same position after a few months of CrossFit: you'll both be amazed at the obvious difference. If you have permission, share the pictures with prospective members. Photos often speak louder than words.

And we have more new beginnings, as CrossFit Chicago looks back on their first month: [wmv] [mov]

SUNDAY 080914

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Have a spot for a sign out front? Look at what CrossFit Champions did. They change the wording every week and try to "speak" to the drivers waiting in traffic on their busy two-lane road. And it works. People come in and sign up.

CrossFit Vancouver does the "Snatching Bear": [wmv] [mov]

SATURDAY 080913

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CrossFit Milford heats up the Silver Strands beach with a WOD every Saturday.

Looking for a 4-part series on hand care? Sure you are! Lucky for you, Keith Wittenstein over at CrossFit Virtuosity has written one. Check that out and a whole bunch of other interesting stuff here.

FRIDAY 080912

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BTB CrossFit owners Jeff and Melissa Hayes.

Sometimes, life's WOD is harder than anything CrossFit throws at you. Read the remarkable story of Jeff Hayes, his battle, and the Atlanta community of CrossFitters that has rallied around him.

THURSDAY 080911

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Pluto and Mark Rippetoe at the Basic Barbell Certification at CrossFit Evolution. (Also present were Rip's staff and the Bowsers from CrossFit Affliction.)

So, yesterday we had the baby news and today CrossFit Wasatch gives us a glimpse into the life of a CrossFitter one year after downloading a future deadlifter.

WEDNESDAY 080910

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Amber, a member at Rainier CrossFit, post-baby shower-WOD in the gym. (Open presents, ooh and ahhh, eat cake: AMRAP in 1 hour.) She worked out right up until the Thursday before delivery and then gave the world this little guy.

Ever try a weighted muscle-up? Zeb over at Petranek Fitness/CrossFit Los Angeles did: video.

TUESDAY 080909

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CrossFit Asia (our second affiliate on the small island of Okinawa, Japan) just opened their doors and held their first WOD. Congrats and good luck to Jamie and the gang!

IP theft is bad, but an updated e-mail address with CFHQ is good! If you have a new address, please let us know! We've got cool things planned for affiliates (including new weekly conference calls with Coach and Lauren) but we need to make sure we can get a hold of you quickly. So inform us and we'll keep you informed!

What's cooler than a Fight Gone Bad III "widget" for your blog? You can get one here.

MONDAY 080908

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Photos and screen captures taken two days ago, on Sept 6, 2008.

On Jan 22, 2008, Kevin O'Dea (of The Gym Downtown) declined to renew his affiliation as "CrossFit Norfolk" because he didn't see the value in continuing to affiliate with CrossFit.

Thoughts? Post 'em to Comments.

SUNDAY 080907

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Brandon Cunningham of CrossFit Augusta and Again Faster recently set a world record in the Firefighter Combat Challenge! Watch him and his partner "Tank" blaze through the course: video.

Tell us about your athletes! This week, we've seen firefighters, equestrians, and kickboxers all make the connection between their CrossFit training and improved performance in their respective sports -- and we know there are more stories out there. So, tell us! Click on that box at the upper right-hand corner of this screen and let us know about your MMA man, your motocross mama, or your bingo-playing granny who's whupping the shuffleboard set!

SATURDAY 080906

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Congratulations to Crossfit Derby's Marc Sargeant, winner of the World Federation Kickboxing/Karate Organisation (WFKKO) Middle Weight Intercontinental Title.

It's not a nice place, but sometimes, it's not about where you are. It's about where you're going. Read more of Jon Gilson's 23 Seconds over at Again Faster.

Want more visitors to your blog? Be like Jon: he's publishing a new article every Tuesday. Strive to provide a consistent blog presence in the same way that you provide a consistent WOD for your affiliate members. Do a good job and people will come back.

FRIDAY 080905

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Shea Stehle of CrossFit Jersey Shore hits a big jump with her horse Moose during a recent show. Only a CrossFitter since June, Shea's already seen improvements in her equestrian skills from her greater fitness. Nice.

Sometimes, we could use a good chuckle; check out CrossFit Delaware Valley and their Bad Mojo.

CrossFit Milwaukee needs your help! If you'd like to give these fine folks a vote for the best gym in Milwaukee, go here.

And check out CrossFit Chicago at the CrossFit Milwaukee Games: [wmv] [mov]

THURSDAY 080904

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CrossFit Kettlebell Certification, CrossFit Central, Austin, TX

CF Central is also playing host for the 2009 CrossFit Affiliate Gathering (a.k.a. FilFest 09) on February 7th-8th. Mark your calendars!

Walt Whitman once wrote: "Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)" So too does CrossFit. We are muscle-ups and hard bodies, and we are also people like Kellie, The Shrinking Gal , over at CrossFit New Zealand. We are large, we contain multitudes but we all gather at the WOD. Pretty amazing, when you think about it.

WEDNESDAY 080903

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Clay Hicks works his way through a muscle-up while at his workplace; he's both a Captain in the Raleigh Fire Department and the owner of Triangle CrossFit.

It takes courage to run into flames, but it also takes courage to admit that the CrossFit Level II Certification got the best of you and still praise it. Read Clay's blogpost on why high standards are important in CrossFit and why it's even more important that we stick to them.

Want more inspiration? Check out CrossFit Berks and their Labor Day video.

TUESDAY 080902

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CrossFit Brisbane moved into a new facility recently: check it out -- and click on their link and scroll down to "The Pit of Back Burn" photo: an inventive use of space!

Want to know how you can win a FREE iPod Shuffle today? Read more about Fight Gone Bad III and their new CrossFit Question Tuesday . . .

MONDAY 080901

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Farewell to summer: Jason Khalipa, owner of CrossFit Santa Clara (and 2008 CF Games Winner!) on the beach at Cabo.

Designing a blog? Use permalinks. Make it easy for your readers to tell others about an interesting post and make it easier for blogs like us to direct people to your posts!

Painstorm, anyone? Step right this way . . .