What does that guy do? Looks like hot work...

Great article, congrats!

excellent article!

i agree with john...crossfit will never be uber-popular. it will never be jazzercise, or spinning, or bodybuilding...and thank god for that.

I saw that article when it came out. Great positive coverage on crossfit.

great article. I have given similar and slighty modified workouts to my clients. Some love them...others not so much. That's cool, they can continue with every possible variation of a bench/biceps workout they can find.
I'm glad I was introduced to Crossfit.

Thanks for the props everyone...

Trevor,
Yep, we just learned NOT to tell them what they're doing until they realize it and then it's too late. LOL!! Luckily we've alwats hit functional movements, now it's just ultra refined for them. Luckily for us, the clients we have all enjoy the challenge of it. The difference is some are just not comfortable in a group setting, but they all like being athletes!

Great article--and-at age 60, and slowly geiting back in shape--I'll vouch for the efficency and effectiveness of CF. Where have you guys been when I was younger and could really get into this stuff? Ah, well! Time's comin!

sent that article to my Dad in L.A., who then informed me that Billy Blanks' Tae Boe gym recently went under. All is right with the world.

...and, sorry to go on a tangent, but this rules.

http://www.festivuspoles.com/pages/Festivuspoles.htm

Hey, every time I enlarge the picture from the WOD, I can only view part ofit. How about giving me a clue, somebody?

you cannot possibly convert a guy who insists on doing 325# quarter rep bench presses every day followed by swinging BB curls, even though they haven't seen an ounce of progress in years. Some people are content in their ignorance. And besides, you know what that could do to a man's ego to find that he is no where near as fit or strong or conditioned as he perceived himself to be. Devastating, without my huge guns I am NOTHING. Curl on, curlers!

Fantastic article, guys. Keep bringing the PAIN

Awesome write up, I have about 25 patients doing crossfit in some way shape or form. Most of my clientele comes to me for wellness, not pain; and as there have been more crossfitters, there has been a significant decline in daily pain due to dys-functional mechanics, and an even greater boom in wellness clientele. Basically, people are well... what a concept. Crossfit rocks!

I KNEW the Tin Man did CF. Dorothy is safe now!

Is that a baked potatoe standing on his head or a firefighter?

That picture is the best!!! Great article as well :>)

Billy

That is a great article that nails why Crossfit is self limiting. Number 1: it is hard work! Number 2: you are not going to see "Jen and Ben" working Crossfit in People Mag, so it will never catch on with the pop crowd. And Number 3: Crossfit keeps sending us over to the Squat Rack which will automatically knock out 90% of folks within the 1st month. Pretty hard to build a cult following if you lose 90%!
Seperate note. MY RINGS CAME IN TODAY. Kind of like Christmas early. Now I just need to figure out how to put them up in the garage. I bought two sets so I can outfit our local gym or high school as well.

Merry Christmas everybody, leaving the computer behind for the weekend. (Please don't break the champaigne bottles open until I'm out the door and out of ear shot please!)

Bill from Comment #15 Congrats on the rings. Where did you get them? ringtraining.com ? How long did it take to get them?

Billy

Was looking forward to a rest day, but had to do 10,773 reps of snow shovel. Dang snow.

Top notch article. Sums up everything that we try to preach to the non-believers of Crossfit.

I hope no one minds if I interrupt the rest day discussion to continue yesterday's squat discussion, which was awesome:

#1. Someone said that the way to get to position 3 was to hold a broomstick or pole in front of your nose as you airsquat. That's a great tip, which works like magic.

#2. Squat question related to the WOD: When doing cleans with relatively light weight, is it a good thought not to pull the weight too high? I felt if I pulled high, I essentially ended up doing a front squat. If I thought about not pulling too high, but instead "pulling myself under the bar", I got into the squat part of the clean faster and easier. Is that the right way to think about it?

Sorry, it was Wednesday's squat discussion.

Comment # 9. peejay2

Right click on the pic and "save picture as" to a folder or desktop

I agree it is a very good article. However the title is a little misleading. As mentioned in the article itself, CrossFit training methods are embraced by a wide range of individuals and organisations, so I wouldn't call it a cult. Maybe the word "cult" doesn't have negative connotations for some but I think it does for many.

Bastiat is great! One of the finest economic thinkers. Glad to see this posted, I'll be sure to read through all of it.

"Another workout might call for three rounds of 300 squats, 200 pull-ups and 100 push-ups."

Lord, I hope this doesn't give Coach Glassman any ideas.

Ah, my old Martian ray reflecting suit. I wondered who bought it on eBay.

Rocky does do Crossfit in Rocky VI- remarkable movie by the way

Thought I might post some classic criticisms of libertarian theories such as Bastiat's:

- runaway Free market economics leads to increasing privileges for wealthy elites, which we see in the ever-increasing wealth gaps in countries with the "freest" markets

- all rights and any functioning market requires a community of citizens that recognize their moral debt to each other and their predecessors -- having that kind of community and paying those moral debts precludes the possibility of a libertarian system.

- If you had the unfortunate luck to be born to a methamphetamine-addicted single mom, would you propose "liberty" as the ultimate value? (In other words, if you didn't know you were going to be born into a priviliged position in society, you would want there to be a safety net.)

- liberty is a good, but there are other goods as well -- solidarity, fairness, fraternity, which if we prize liberty above all others can be compromised. Liberty is not the only value, nor necessarily the highest.

- a little more radical: some might say all property, especially in the United States, is essentially stolen, thus invalidating any claims to "inherent property rights." Although I personally wouldn't go that far, I think is it worth considering.

- some markets need government intervention due to market failure, health care can be a good example of this.

- nonintervention can lead to monopolies which stifle innovation

- redistribution of wealth can be economically beneficial

- "if the liberty of a human being to own another should be trumped by equal human rights, the liberty to own large amounts of property [at the expense of others] should... also be trumped by equal human rights. This alone would seem definitively to lay to rest the philosophical case for libertarianism... The very idea of ownership contains the relativistic seeds of arbitrary authority: the arbitrary authority of the individual's 'right to do wrong.'" (Jeffrey Friedman)

- collective problems such as environmental destruction are difficult if not impossible to deal with in libertarian systems

- a short term profit in an unregulated market can give incentive for a company to buy up resources, deplete them, and move on, thus compounding environmental issues.

Just a counter to the "liberty-uber-alles" approach in the Bastiat article...

Re: Pic

Admittedly, the Cylon Olympics left much to be desired.

-D.

The latest design in indoor TV Booster Aerials. Tough as nails, 6ft tall metal covered construction and free live commentary for Sunday Night Football !

------------------

Anyway. Cult is not always bad. Fanatics and zealots have many positive qualities. Perseverance. Dedication. Willpower. Passion. The ability to put higher importance on long term benefits over short term pain is what will differentiate the elite and the joe public.

Of course, as with any cult, one may find it difficult to try to present different views to a crossfitter. Heated arguments, strong views and lack of flexibility in one's opinions may follow.

This is why I would like to thank the CrossFit instructors and Mr. Glassman for their research, academic work and workout design. That is the hard part. No need for advocacy on my part when results speak for themselves. All I need to do is turn up at the gym and log the session. Thanks again, happy holidays and looking forward to my crossfit workouts in 2007 !

Ps.: Half a million pagehits and only ~200 comments ? It does not qualify as a workout if you do 3x10 reps of "press the refresh button"

#23 - Tony,
One of our trainers di address the concern regarding "cult" and was told that the writer of the article (any article, not just this one) typically does not write the headline for it...

Our trainer's cocern was with that word, then you mention it in conjunction with a church!!! LOL

Of course I'm writing this at 0434 and gettin ready to go workout. Hmmmmm

Something hard,'core' and back to basics is never going to appeal to the masses like a bright ' easy' fad. I used to run a gym and telling people that sitting on a bicycle reading a mag wasn't going to change them much usually fell on deaf ears.
A massive THANK YOU for this site and all the info!!!!!!
The question is - what'll be the XMas WOD???

"Despite its merits, Velandra said he doesn’t think CrossFit will achieve the same popularity that programs such as Spinning, Pilates and Tae Bo have realized."

Thank God for this. As a Crossfitter who works in law enforcement, I think we have a definite edge over the average bench press/calf raise addict. The ability to sprint/pull/jump/press/ect then recover and do it again puts us at a big advantage on the street over someone who can decline bench 325 pounds. Never seen a fight come down to who can bench or curl the most.

There is a great CF article on CF's uses in law enforcement/military/combat out there somewhere. Check it out, it is worth the read and applicable to everybody.

Keep it up coach!

I had a question regarding the clean vs. power clean. Is the power clean a good sub? It seems to me you are not getting the whole intent of the workout. Any comments would be helpful. Thanx

re: #33:

"Never seen a fight come down to who can bench or curl the most."

But man, if he ever gets under you, on a reasonably steep grade, with his head downhill and his feet uphill, on his back... He's gonna decline press the bejeezus outta you...

Tony,

I'm glad to see you arrived back home safely from your interstellar trip, although the landing position looks a bit uncomfortable. Still, any landing is a good landing. Hope all is well.

Good article on CrossFit. I thought it was the most balanced I've seen, although I'm not quite sure where she got the 900 squat, 600 pushup, 300 pullup workout. I did 500 pullups in a day once, but it took all day. If we structure that properly, though, which is pullups/pushups/squats, if you do one round of Chelsea every 10 minutes for only 10 hours, you could do it. I might have to tackle that one day.

Bastiat I'll have to read later. I will say, though, that I have decided that my political philosophy can be mostly encapsulated in two books: The Fatal Conceit, by Friedrich Hayek, and "Reflections on the French Revolution", by Edmund Burke. I have decided that substantially all of the leftist nonsense we see being spouted today--which I view as not incidentally, but inherently a decontextualizing discourse (more on that later)--can be traced in its' spirit back to the French Revolution, which was one of the most staggeringly stupid series of events in human history. You can trace a path easily from that period to postmodernism, and pick up almost every leftist thinker you might find along the way. It's easy and obvious, once you pick up the shape of the thought, and ignore the content. Although democratic in it's rhetoric and ideology, it was totalitarian in its' effects, in a way never quite seen before, to the extent of my knowledge.

Hey-

Wednesday afternoon I built my first oly lifting platform for my garage gym. Since I've had a nice squat rack and rubber matting on the floor in there for a few years, ... it seemed like the next big thing. I made it a 3 layer platform with plywood/plywood/finish layers. The finish is a sanded CDX 4x8 center and 2x8 rubber matting on the sides. It holds my squat rack, weights and it looks cool, but I have a question.

Is it okay to have the bottom layer of plywood sitting directly on the concrete floor or will it wick moisture into the wood and warp? Or should I put another layer of rubber matting under the entire thing, which would use up all my available matting? [I kinda like having my rubber matting for the rest of the room for DBs and box jumps n stuff.] AND I'll hav ta take it apart and redo it.

Or just, ... wait and see? Dang!

-K

broke w/rest day and modded a workout from last winter:
21-15-9: wall ball, slam ball, med ball walk over push ups, vertical jump 12", wasn't ready for demands of slam ball w/20lb med ball!

Comment #9 - peejay2
If you have a wheel on your mouse click it. not roll but click and then move the mouse. it should navigate around the page.
saving it to your desktop should work too as stated by Comment #22 - Fireman Rick

#27 Andrew: Loved the movie. I was so pumped to see him doing a crossfit style workout with Olympic lifts. Rocky was motivating as usual. Proof that even at 60, a person can still be a machine!

That would be a nice CF shirt for an affiliate... "Rocky CrossFits".

Dan- Nice "Battle Star..." refernce.

"Joseph Schumpeter described Bastiat nearly a century after his death as "the most brilliant economic journalist who ever lived." Orphaned at the age of nine, Bastiat tried his hand at commerce, farming, and insurance sales. In 1825, after he inherited his grandfather's estate, he quit working, established a discussion group, and read widely in economics."

http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Bastiat.html

I don’t really care for socio-economic thought from a trust fund kid. It's easy to expound the glory and equity of the free market when your inheritance keeps you above any fee market failings or limitations. See Enron, Tyco etc… There is more thought out there than just hard right or left. We are smarter than that as a country.

Ricky
Richmond

TONY!!! My out-of-this-world Coach! Thank you for bringing X-Fit to Mars, Jupiter, Venus...

Loved the commando workout article! Forwarded it to everyone I ever knew. Despite the negative connotations of the term "cult", I can attest to the term's applicability regarding the intense devotion of the athletes.

Every single decision I make is filtered through the CrossFit test:
1) Does it improve my WOD? If so, proceed with all due haste.
2) Does it have a neutral effect on my WOD? If so, and I have time after my WOD, then maybe I'll think about it.
3) Does have a detrimental effect on my WOD? If so, avoid it entirely.

Then there's the hyper-intense kindrid spirit recognition between the X-Fitters. Everywhere I travel, I seek out X-Fitters and struggle out a WOD with them, and they welcome me like I'm family. Explain that without a cult reference.

The cult aspect is A-Ok with me, just so long as I don't have to start wearing Tony's silver-astronaut workout gear...

Coach,

maybee next time.

Ricky
Richmond

comment #37 Kevin Rogers.

Re: Lifting platform and moisture.

apply Thomsons water seal to the wood rather than using up your rubber. Thomsons works excellently to prevent water intrusion (moisture wicking) in wood.

Awesome article, I will always remain loyal to the crossfit cult.
Continue Bleeding.

Being in the "CrossFIT cult" is an honor and privilege. Thanks for all the effort gone out to improve our troops in all services and to the advantages they have when they go downrange, all thanks to CrossFit.

Great to see positive coverage in the MSM. It's funny, of course, to see such a positive article have an ambivalent-to-negative headline...I guess that's what editors think it takes to sell newspapers.

Back at the beginning for me:
CF for beginners, week 1, day 5.

600m row + CFWU X 3

Three rounds (not for time) of:
12 Back squats (95#)
12 Dumbbell press (20#)
1 minute jumprope

Finished up with 1 mile run on treadmill at 7:30/mi.

Good to be exercising again.

Keep thy Kool-Aid cup running over!

#34, ca82

I had same question. I don't see doing power cleans as a good sub for squat cleans. I could do cleans a lot faster and with more weight if I power cleaned. But not only would I be missing out on learning the technique of the clean, but I also would not be getting benefit of the front squat that is inherent in the squat clean. My weak newbie $.02.

CrossFit will always be for a minority--unless kids are exposed to it and learn it young. Just mention squat cleans to most adults and they are outta there.

Nice article. I think "cult" may be the appropriate tag....some people are religous about crossfit and become blind to the merits of any alternative program.

There is so much elitism in the xfit community that it gets a bit annoying. It's a great program, and hopefully it has influence on the fitness world, but like other programs, it has strengths and weaknesses.

I get great results from the program, and it' so cool that the workouts are posted for free... but the elitism and attitude of some of the proponents makes me nausous sometimes. Some humility would be refreshing.

I attended the Santa Cruz clinic last September. I was inspired by a woman named Sally that at age 60 could climb a 15 foot rope and deadlift 220 lbs. More importantly she glowed with pride that came from her physical accomplishments. Shortly after returning back to KC I decided to experiment (crossfit) with four men ranging in age from 57 to 68. I have seen tremendous improvements in a fairly short time (2 months). One problem, I have had two muscle pulls. One during walking lunges and one during vertical jumps (12 inches). I typically warm them up with a 2 minutes of cardio, the sampson stretch, and stickwork and/or calisthenic (sp) work. My question? Those of you who work with the elderly do you do anything in particular that allows you to have full piece of mind that you have taken all the right steps to avoid injury (muscle pulls). Also, I would be interested in any other input regarding what has worked particularly well with elderly crossfitters. Thanks

The day a 3 round workout of 300squats 200push-ups and 100 pull-ups is posted is the day I rest.

had a question for everyone. Just started crossfit almost 2 weeks ago and lovin it. Is it better to finish the wod and take a longer time with more breaks. Or go as hard as you can till you cant do anymore with no breaks

#54
go as hard as you can, safely, until you absolutely must rest. Then rest as little as possible to get right back in there. Rest as needed, work, go. Over time you will require less rest due to increased lung power

Rob #52

One other thought. I did have my high school guys substitute body rows for pull ups and push ups for dips in the early days learning the CFWU because they just weren't able to do enough pullups or dips to work the muscles (2 to 5 pull ups, and 0 ring dips). By the end of the semester, several of the guys could do 20+ pullups and in the high teens on ring dips.

Scott

Rob #52

For some reason, my first post didn't post. What I had said was that I'm 47, and hopefully not considered "elderly" except by my 3 teenagers, but I've found that the older I get, the more warm up I need. When I started Crossfit, I was afraid that doing the CFWU (10+ reps X 3 rounds) would leave me too gassed for the WOD. But I always do it first now because my muscle injury and joint stress is way down compared to before when I just jumped right into a work out.

I trained several high school guys one semester, and started them all out on the CFWU, substituting body rows for pull ups because most of them couldn't do more than 2-5 pull ups. I substituted push ups for ring dips because they couldn't do any at first. By the end of the semester, they were doing 20+ pull ups, and in the high teens on ring dips. I didn't even have them do the WODs until they were getting 3 full rounds of 10 with the CFWU. I think it created a good base for starting the WODs.

My 2 cents worth,

Scott

Rob in KC (#52): Your question will probably get more attention (and better responses) if you post it over on the message board.

Put it in "Fitness" or in "Running a CrossFit Facility" (if that is what you're doing).

I believe this article will do the same justice to Crossfit as the one featured in Men's Journal. And bring more converts to quite possibly the best road to functional fitness there is.
comment #16 Drive safe Pierre
Fellow Ottawa Xfitters, drop a line.

Does anyone know where I can find the Dynamax video of the guy doing about 4 minutes of ab-work w/ the ball and a partner?
I looked on this site, and on the dynamax site but I can't find it.

Read the article and loved it. I was introduced to Crossfit by a buddy about 3 months ago. After a few weeks of training, I started meeting him at the gym for Crossfit style workouts. People look at us and shake their heads, wondering what we are doing. I am just happy that after 3 months, I can do most of the exercises and still get out of bed the next day.

I'm pretty sure I'll be a Crossfitter for life. And I'm pretty sure that only a few of the people I'm closest to will join me.

Thank you Crossfit. A few more months of this and I'll start thinking about signing up for a certification :-)

I was glad to see a rest day today. I was unable to meet Elizabeth for our first date yesterday so I met her at the gym this morning. I like her but I think she hates me, she made me bleed. Somewhere during the third set of cleans the calluses on both my right and left pinky's got pulled off and I did not even notice until I took my hands of the dip bars and the tape on the bar was red on both sides. Nice, this gym loved me already and now I got blood on the equipment. (Yes I cleaned it off with antiseptic).

Elizabeth

CFWU
As Rx’d 18:30

My cardio let me down. I look forward to our next date. I would like to get it done in 15min or less. Some of you guys and girls are real studs and studettes to do this as prescribed and get it done in less than 10 minutes, wow, major Kudos to you!

Billy

'Kelly'

5 rounds for time of;
430m run (round the mill)
30 wall ball shots, 20lb ball
30 box jumps, 24" box

Karl - 32.01 as rx'd

Rach - 26.34, 3 rounds (subbed 500m row for run and used 18" box and 12lb ball)

Jo - 19.57, 3 rounds (subbed 500m row for run and used 18" box and 12 lb ball)

5x5 split jerk(all in kg);

Karl - 40/45/50/55/40

Rach - 20/25/30/35/40

Jo - 20/25/30/35/40

Special mention and congratulations to Rachel who today jerked for 5 reps what she initially could deadlift when starting CrossFit! Great PB and excellent form...

On vacation Sa-Tu, so won't have access to any equipment.
So, today, did 5 rounds
row 500m
30 push ups
Row splits 1:42, 1:43, 1:48, 1:47, 1:45
Still feeling like I need to develop all my pushes.

- runaway Free market economics leads to increasing privileges for wealthy elites, which we see in the ever-increasing wealth gaps in countries with the "freest" markets
-- This is patently wrong. The wealth gaps arise not because of the free market but because players in the market cheat. It is not the burgeoning markets that corrupt but the regulated established markets.

- all rights and any functioning market requires a community of citizens that recognize their moral debt to each other and their predecessors -- having that kind of community and paying those moral debts precludes the possibility of a libertarian system.
-- This is also wrong. A functioning market does not require moral indebtedness to function. Transactions are not dependent on a moral obligation. They require only that 2 parties agree upon a price of exchange.

- If you had the unfortunate luck to be born to a methamphetamine-addicted single mom, would you propose "liberty" as the ultimate value? (In other words, if you didn't know you were going to be born into a priviliged position in society, you would want there to be a safety net.)
-- I agree that a safety net for those least fortunate should exist but should it be mandated on a federal level or left to the local community. Witness the fiasco that federal school funding and ‘no child left behind’ are. Safety nets work best when they are on location not waiting in a central planning office.

- liberty is a good, but there are other goods as well -- solidarity, fairness, fraternity, which if we prize liberty above all others can be compromised. Liberty is not the only value, nor necessarily the highest.
-- again all goals best accomplished locally not nationally. How fraternal can a southern Baptist and San Franciscan be? Also, fairness and equality are two of the biggest lies going. Equity or the idea that you can keep what you have earned is more a more honorable measure.

- a little more radical: some might say all property, especially in the United States, is essentially stolen, thus invalidating any claims to "inherent property rights." Although I personally wouldn't go that far, I think is it worth considering.
--I don’t even know what to say. Should all lands be public and left to the central planners? Take a look at 2 neighborhoods of similar socioeconomic and geographic standing; one with a majority of the homes rental units and the other with the majority of the homes with live in owners. People value what they ‘own’ and do not value what they borrow.

- some markets need government intervention due to market failure, health care can be a good example of this.
-- this is also a lie we are told since childhood. And you site healthcare as something that ‘needs’ government intervention. Why? So that our system can look more like Europe or Canada where people have to bribe doctors to get an appointment. People hold the Nordic states up as examples how socialized medicine works. Keep in mind if you are prone to believe that they are nations with less than 20 million people. they run localized care not national care.

- nonintervention can lead to monopolies which stifle innovation
-- monopolies are a concern in closed systems. They are not a concern in large free markets. The oil cartel OPEC has been in existence for more than 30 years and has little effect on the long term price of oil. True they can influence prices in the short term but not the long term.

- redistribution of wealth can be economically beneficial
-- again this is a short term, first effect phenomena. In the long term and if you looked at second and third effects of wealth redistribution the benefits become costs. Get past the instant gratification of handouts.

- "if the liberty of a human being to own another should be trumped by equal human rights, the liberty to own large amounts of property [at the expense of others] should... also be trumped by equal human rights. This alone would seem definitively to lay to rest the philosophical case for libertarianism... The very idea of ownership contains the relativistic seeds of arbitrary authority: the arbitrary authority of the individual's 'right to do wrong.'" (Jeffrey Friedman)
Isn’t central planning the ultimate example of a few owning large amounts of property at the expense of others? Who benefits the most from central planning. The central planners do. See Russia and China.

- collective problems such as environmental destruction are difficult if not impossible to deal with in libertarian systems
--this is lie told to us by the politicians who want us to believe that our well being is dependent on their wisdom and rule. Change will only come from the bottom up. When we decide to put away the Hummers and buy civics we will see actual change. You can blame big business for wrecking the environment but we bought the cars (SUVS) we wanted.

- a short term profit in an unregulated market can give incentive for a company to buy up resources, deplete them, and move on, thus compounding environmental issues.
-- Where exactly is this a problem? What resources are being bought and used up. Oh, you must be talking about the Chinese central planners seizing thousands of square miles of land to built the Yangtze River Dam, or our nation in the 1930’s doing the same thing and building the Hoover Dam. The central planners focus is on retention of power not bettering society.

Comment #64 try to confine your rantings to crossfit subjects. Thanks.

Well written Article

She got it right

Do you know how fantasic it would be to introduce Cross fit to the school systems? Kids would grow up doing this stuff and teach their kids. Kids would teach their parents. That is where we need to be headed. Getting this as the new "gym class"- one that is not a quarterly or semester deal, but a year long program.

My God.
I was worried that no one read Dan's comment(#29), and therefore, all humor had been lost on this site.

DJ saved the day for that thought. Too bad he's a Padre fan. Only 3 months to Spring Training.

Karl,
Where you been, me ol' kippers and eggs?

Back to being fat.

hello all,

I started crossfit about a month ago and i am at the point now where i look forward to the new WOD. The biggest thing for me is the constant change for each workout,and the ability of each workout to point out my utter weaknesses.

On another note, i was doing the squat cleans for the first time today and had a few problems. First i kept landing on my toes, i'm guessing this is wrong, but i think it is mostly happening due to my catching of the weight. I seem to be catching it and holding the weight completely with my arms, and away from my chest. This in turn made my shoulder joints hurt towards the end. Also, i'm not sure if i was squating low enought o catch the weight. Is there an exhaustive article on correctness for cleans? the article in the past journal about the deadlifts was awesome for me, i fixed a lot of the problems i was having and actually feel the excercise in the correct muscle gourps. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks and happy holidays

Watch out! Something at the site with the news article has disabled my internet explorer! I am using my PDA to send this msg.

Follow up on #70. System is back up now. My security software blocked several repeated intrusion attempts at the web site where the news article is posted. This resulted in a temporay loss of internet connectivity. Please, be careful.

Scott, comment #69

Have you downloaded the clean video in the exercise page? It sounds like you are using too much arms and your grip may be too far apart or too close. Your grip should be just wider than shoulder width so that the bar rests across the top of your pecs, just below the shoulder. The strength in your arms is not used aside from the strength that it takes to hold the bar in your hands. When I started I emulated the video and used a broomstick to get used to the motion. I did it for about ten minutes looking at the video and then performing the exercise, and then I went to the gym and used just the bar and did it in front of a mirror focusing on the jump/hop and the full range of motion. Then I started adding the weight. It worked well for me and I am new to this. I just did my first "Elizabeth" and was able to use the prescribed weight. Good luck and hopefully someone can give you a link to a good "clean" tutorial.

Billy

Billy @ comment #17
I found some rings with the rope and anchors at (believe it or not) IKEA near the childrens section, at least in Canada. We have them in one of our firehalls and they work great(to bad I don't work so well with them!)

#59 Mr. White:

I believe the ab workout with the dynamax ball is called the Wheel and is in journal #50 with a link to the video.

Mich

to #65 (billy) and #64 (epicurious)

First, billy, since writings such as those by Bastiat are placed where the WOD would be, and "comments" are requested, I assume the folks doing the posting are intending for this to be a forum of political as well as health/workout related discussion. Furthermore, I think epicurious' response, even though I disagree with them, are not "rantings." At least they are an attempt to respond on a rational level.

As for epicurious, I agree with some of what you say, and am glad you said it. I think the topic deserves a more extended treatment -- if anything, perhaps the debate shows that there are some substantial issues that need to be carefully examined. Health care, markets and morals, the tragedy of the commons, these are some weighty issues, and I'm no expert, but I am interested in learning more, and coming to a reasoned decision on the issue.

Ron,

I've been getting this affiliate off the ground me ol' sausage and black puddin'...
Nice Battlestar Gallactica ref from the boy Silver, he'll be happy to know i've plastered his stickers over the vast majority of my small ass country! Been as you guys see us as so tiny! ;)

I just got my rings today, I guess that a muscle up IS a true test of man or womanhood. I have a ways to go.

If anyone has any suggestions for how to work on the transition from pull up to dip. I can do dips and pull ups all day but can't do 1 muscle up. Any suggestions would help.

Ricky #42,

If I'm not mistaken, what you've leveled is an "ad hominem" attack, a variant of logical fallacy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem

So many logical fallacies are accidental expressions of intellectual weakness, but this one, the ad hominem, is in my experience often a deliberate subterfuge when the force of logic or evidence for an irritating idea becomes overwhelmingly, desperately, invincible.

When one levels an ad hominem attack, it is, in some paradoxical sense, an homage to the force of your opponents mind, work, and argument. (At least that's how I take them.)

scool @ comment 73

IKEA for Rings!!!! They really do have everything. There is an IKEA just south of Seattle. I'll check them out. Thanks for the tip. :>)

slink @ comment 75

Isn't there enough political commentary already, I just want a good workout with my crossfit brothers and sisters. But if you must, go for it, I'll just scroll past the silliness until I get to the part where people are talking about getting the most out of their workouts.

My name is Billy, and I approve this message

Billy

32 / 230#

Daniel as rx'd
28:30 w/ 70# strict pull-up assistance on Gravitron.

50 back extension/50 sit-up's X 3
18:45

Nice article.

today's workout: Not FGB
- 1min skipping 118/122/93 (tried double unders but took too long to get consecutive ones)
- 1 min pull-ups 20/10/16
- 1 min burpees 12/12/9
- 1 min knee/elbow 14/13/7
- 1 min push-ups 26/16/21
1 min rest
My wife told me I looked gray aferwards
score (without the skipping) 172
have fun, Johan

Billy...you are missing the point of rest day

12 rounds of Tabata squats. Held 19 and 18 for 1st 9 and then buckled.
5 rounds of 200 m, 21,15, 12,9,6 OHS w/ PVC and
1,2,3,6,9,burpee pull-ups

Karl,
Good to hear you're fighting the good fight. I'll see Dan, and perhaps Jonsey, next week. I'm sure he's thrilled to know the gayosity of his little site has brightened the UK, no matter its relative size.

I've been spreading the word in my very large chunk of Southern California. Unfortunately, still no one reads my rantings on said site.

Happy Christmas, me ol' X-Mas goose.

5 mile jog- 45:21

Caught up with Liz today. Posted on yesterday's.

Thought the article was good, if a bit "windbaggy". I know it's just the style of the time, and I agree with much of what he says, but not exactly "light fare" on the lunch menu.

Knew B Coop would not miss a chance to reinforce Bastiat's points on his socialist opponents. Go get 'em, Bar!

My Crossfit testimony :)

I've been trying to set some of my friends free from the "matrix" of M-W-F 3 sets of 10 workouts since I've started cf'ing in May. Most just humor me so i've learned to be a little more quiet and let the results speak for CF.

I just (today) caught up with Lynne and was SUPER impressed with the "results". I'm finally able to bp my bodyweight 10x (pr today) and hit another pr in pullups at 15. When I began CF I could do (straining) 6 shaky pullups. Today my lowest set in the 5 pullup rounds was 11 with a pr of 15. the first time i did it in sept my pullup total was 41, next in November was 49 and this past one was 61.

My theory now is to walk quietly and carry a big deadlift, squat, pullup, dip and all the other WODs! My two boys (11 and 14) are crossfit-ing and my wife is starting to jump in making for great family time.

Most people won't be able to "take the red pill" but those that do will find health and fitness freedom.

Praying for all our military families! Jesus is the reason! Thanks Crossfit and Merry Christmas to all!

Comment #83 Combat Controller Joey

That's Ok, I frequently miss the point of rest days. That's what I like about crossfit, its full of type "A" folks, probably like yourself.

Kaala, I love your theory "walk quietly and carry a big deadlift" Excellent.

Billy... welcome to Crossfit...good to see your positive attitude.

Thanks Joey, you da man.

Excellent, excellent essay. It is a bit ironic that it was posted on an anarchist website, as in my reading he is in no way advocating the elimination of government, nor does he seem to think it possible.

This to me is the most important quote:

“‘Since all persons seek well-being and perfection, would not a condition of justice be sufficient to cause the greatest efforts toward progress, and the greatest possible equality that is compatible with individual responsibility?”

We Americans used to be a very moral, very responsible people, very learned people. Our farmers at one time were nearly as well read as many European aristocrats.

But at some point, we went “French” and substituted the Constructivist (Hayek’s word for the communist/socialist/all around genius legislator complex) concept of compassion, for our historical notion of justice.

As Bastiat notes very accurately, compassion (which he would likely term a subset of the notion of fraternity)--because it can be defined accurately in neither a positive nor a negative way--is not a fit virtue or interest of the government, whose purpose is to secure justice. Admirable in individuals, it is an on-going charade when executed by well-meaning legislators, as it is inherently antithetical to justice.

This notion is obscured—intentionally, in my view—by the rhetoric of “social justice”. Hayek has a lot to say about this. In both practice and theory, this notion derives directly from the idea of people as clay, who receive, but can’t create without legislative support.

Think about it: wasn’t the New Deal, and the Great Society, largely an effort on the part of the Government to secure for the “victims” of our society, a greater security, without any effort on the part of the recipients? I suppose to the extent that we prevented mass starvation—if that is the case, which I doubt—that some good was accomplished.

However, an effect that lingers to this day is the myth of the social victim, which implies passivity in the face of life’s vicissitudes. In acting as if the recipients of governmental largesse possessed no ability of their own to raise themselves by their own bootstraps, we enshrined the model of blaming the government for what nowadays amount almost entirely to personal failings.

Look again at that first quote. “Since all persons seek well-being and perfection, would not a condition of justice be sufficient to cause the greatest efforts toward progress, and the greatest possible equality that is compatible with individual responsibility?”

“. . .Compatible with personal responsibility”. That is key. Even assuming we owe something to the less wealthy in our society, does that debt still carry forward, if they are unwilling to meet us halfway by working to further themselves, and their own educations, and their own perceptive faculties?

Here is a thought intended both sincerely and as a provocation: The Great Society made the idolization of Scarface inevitable. It made 50 Cent inevitable

He is the inversion of the victim, and a practitioner of the same plundering that enables socialism. These guys are thieves and gangsters, and unapologetic about it. They are admired, precisely because they have rejected the notion of passivity (Get Rich or Die Trying), and they have adopted the same contempt for the rules of justice which limit what the law can do.

Welfare recipients get money they didn’t earn, from people from whom it was taken. This is legislated theft. We have created a system in which people would rather work the government for money, than work themselves. Look at high school graduation rates in inner city neighborhoods (or Appalachia). Look at how little even those who graduate actually know. Only a small percentage are fit for anything but service jobs.

By enervating the basic impulse to personal dignity by making Government the breast from which all good things SHOULD come, we have created multiple generations of people who have lost all thought of raising themselves through traditional American virtues.

Being a loyal CrossFitter, I have thought a lot about the idea of pain. I distinguish two types of pain: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative is physical. It is the WOD, it is hunger, it is cold. In America, very little of this type of pain occurs, and very little of where it does occur is unendurable. I can’t believe there are any neighborhoods anywhere who have it as tough as the settlers in North and South Dakota, or Wyoming.

The other type is spiritual. It is basically related to change. Someone dies, we feel sad. The Democrats take Capital Hill, we (some of us) feel sad or mad (both are pain). Personal growth occurs as the result of hardships undergone and conquered. In the process of doing those, the pains of fear, doubt, loneliness, etc, etc. are overcome.

The emotional and intellectual result of this growth is the joy of increased self respect. Societies which collectively understand the necessity and inevitability of this type of pain thrive. Individual characters are solid, which makes for greater social cohesion, and all the pleasures that brings. We long for this in movies like “Dances with Wolves”, and “The Last Samurai”.

They seem romantic, but they are the precise opposite. They are based on shared meaning systems, where Romanticism is based on grand passions. The French Revolution was based on grand passions, but had the effect of turning people into things, whose heads could easily be detached using the latest technology.

I have located, I believe, the principle error of our times in the French Revolution, and the totalitarian thinking of Rousseau, upon whose ideas that tragedy was in no small measure based.

Rousseau spoke of compassion as the principal virtue. He did this no doubt in no small measure because he failed to practice it himself. The practical expression of this idea is in effect the effort to relocalize the need for qualitative pain to the State. In his view (as I understand it) people have no volition outside of their laws, and compassion dictates that they be told what to do, to save them the burden of their errors, and the pain of personal growth. Society, writ large, can do the growing for them. Obviously, Fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism can all readily be deduced from this formulation.

Yet, this isn’t how it works. No one can bear the cross of anyone else. How could I mourn the death of someone’s father for them?

All evil, in my view, relates to the denial of the need to suffer for oneself. Evil people are people who, for one reason or another, never developed the strength to grow out of whatever pain they may have suffered somewhere, and they pushed it outside of themselves.

The beginning of this denial is pride, in that pride states that that imperial individual should be above all of that.

This is the stance of the defiant Victim. This is a stance devoid of the dignity that comes with true self respect. This is a stance our current governmental policies openly encourage and foster. This is why our culture is in decline, currently. That need not continue indefinitely.

One other quote, then I have to get going.

“Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all.”

I am not stating that we, as Americans, owe no debt to the poor. I do not disbelieve in compassion, as an individual. I just think the Government ought not to be in that business. We are killing ourselves.

With Christmas and all, I guess this thread is about over. I will say that my comments and ideas are incomplete. There are holes there that I'm working to plug.

I'm giving a lot of thought to the connection between meaning and suffering. If you suffer enough for something, it acquires meaning through that fact alone. I have heard frat members say with no sense of irony that things just weren't they same after they stopped paddling the pledges. That pain has no purpose outside of the CREATION of a new facet of an individuals self definition, as a member of a group.

On the flip side, a quick functional way of defining meaning is something or someone for whom you are willing to suffer. It's difficult to properly value what you don't earn.

I'm sure I'll have more to say later.