Has anyone bought rings from ringtraining.com? thoughts? worth the money? Thanks for the info in advance.

Amundson is from a heavy gravity planet not far from here...

Glad you are my brother. Nice.

My legs are going to thank this

Greg...smokin' hot. Great definition.

OH MY GAWD!

and, timely too. i was trying to explain to a newbie X-Fitter what Greg looked like, but words are woefully inadequate when it comes to him.

#2 I Agree, Greg nothing short of amazing.

OMG! Are we sure Greg isnt on speed? I got dizzy just watching him at that speed! Adding him to my heroes too!

Forget Greg - the Pink and AC/DC blend was nutz! Just kidding Greg is a beast.

Thanks!

Murph

Hey that looks like me with my shirt off.

Its worth repeating ....Greg is an animal

Videos like this are great to show people who dont believe that a workout can take around 5 mins.

If you think Greg's a beast, come on down to CrossFit Oahu, and you'll see a "beast". But nice work Mr.Amundson, I wouldn't mind trying to beat your score, I'll give it a go and post. Aloha, means good bye. Shoots.

Greg's a friggin beast.

Listened to the recording. What an evasive weasel. I wish I could live in his world where all you have to do to maintain your moral equilibrium is avoid hard choices.

I have the rings from ringtraining.com, they are the best piece of fitness equipment I have ever bought.

Yep, I bought rings from ringtraining.com as well - best value for money piece of equipment around. They arrived here in Australia about a week after I ordered, pretty reasonable turnaround.

what a stud. nice, greg!

Greg is a mutant able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. . . .

I'll be the third positive post for ringtraining.com. Great stuff.

This one was great to see – had the pleasure of catching a workout in Park City, Utah while driving from Washington to Memphis, with Chris Spealer of Crossfit Park City. What a treat – Speal, many thanks for making time for a visit and for the most excellent coaching. It was supremely helpful to get the coaches eye that you offered as I’ve done most of my Crossfitting solo. I look forward, in a pukie sort of way, to another dose of Park City pain when I make my way back to Utah in October for a hunting trip.

My effort for Speal degenerated into survival only, vice any attention to form, as the air at 7,000 feet took me down hard, but I made it through most of an rx’ed Elizabeth. I had previously only done a ‘power Elizabeth’ as that’s how I saw it demo’ed on the Crossfit DVD – entirely different beast done with the squat cleans. I think next week I’ll do it both ways and see how the time difference goes. It never fails to inspire when I can see Greg or any of the Crossfit Monsters at work on video.

J and I are now settled in Memphis, most of the boxes are unpacked, kids are in school, and I’ve started my tour at the Bureau of Naval Personnel. Next big challenge is getting a garage built – but that’ll be after the swing set is built and the four bar pull up/rope climb station goes up this weekend. 12’ high, a bar at the right height for all four of the currently Crossfitting Eichs, this one will be big and strong enough for all of us (except the 21 month old) to do pull ups at once. Always amazed and delighted by how much the kids (even the five year old and the 21 month old) want to do this stuff with me; J too.

I will miss posting on rest days, and the learning and discourse that always results from engagement, but until I catch up to the tempo here, that’s just the deal for me. Best regards Crossfitters. Paul

We'd all be better off if we used our lunch break time like Greg does!

Welcome home Paul. Happy homemaking.

I think that having to do a squat clean for Elizabeth is silly. The important part ought to be moving that bar as quickly as is possible, not mimicking one particular style of competitive cleans (while at the same time doing a quantity never seen in competition). If crossfit doesn't care how you get above the pullup bar, then why does it care which method you clean the barbell with?

Thank you Mr. Zinn for your unwavering stance on protecting the innocent...???

Number of "innocent" civilians killed in OIF as posted on some site about the "Iraqi Body Count":

Between 70,980 and 77,513.

Oh, and sir, did you know that when soldiers shoot terrorists in Iraq they are required to give them medical treatment if they aren't dead?

Let's not forget about Saddam and the fact that he wasn't REALLY like Hitler or anything... (from Wikipedia on the attack on the Kurds)

"Thousands of civilians were killed during chemical and conventional bombardments stretching from the spring of 1987 through the fall of 1988. The attacks were part of a long-standing campaign that destroyed almost every Kurdish village in a vast areas of northern Iraq -- along with a centuries-old way of life -- and displaced at least a million of the country's estimated 3.5 million Kurdish population. Independent sources estimate 100,000 to more than 200,000 deaths and as many as 100,000 widows and an even greater number of orphans. Amnesty International collected the names of more than 17,000 people who had "disappeared" during 1988. The campaign has been characterized as genocidal in nature, notably before a court in The Hague. It is also characterized as gendercidal, because "battle-age" men were the primary targets, according to Human Rights Watch/Middle East. According to the Iraqi prosecutors, as many as 180,000 people were killed."

And for the record,
Number of abortions conducted in 2003: 848,163
According to the CDC. I was trying to figure out the total from 2003-07 but one year was enough to prove my point.

I don't know what to do about Iraq. I think it's a mess, but I think that if I was in a country where the people around me were killing each other I'd probably appreciate a little help from an outside source.

Now I'm going to go take a time out for Icy Hot and go to bed. Thanks for a rest day, Coach.

#22,
I have wondered the same question, but I would say that it is simply to get the full range of power from a squat clean. Adding that front squat motion sure kicks my butt, but me and my workout partner have done Elizabeth with power cleans and it makes my times unbelievably faster

Oh, and Greg eats lightning and farts thunder. Great job!

Protect the innocent? How much more innocent is an unborn child? It is ok to kill an inconvienient child but not ok to overthrow a government that is killing its own people. Who is really innocent? I guess that is a matter of perception, unless you are talking about an unborn child who has never had the oportunity to make a choice about anything.

Dumb ? Where do I get that tune?? That's workout music.. Normally I'm a punk kinda guy but that type of tune is gonna get me through some tough work outs..

JT

#22 in regards to:

"Oh, and sir, did you know that when soldiers shoot terrorists in Iraq they are required to give them medical treatment if they aren't dead?"

Why are they terrorist? I hate how we throw that term around like it fits anyone that wants to fight us. I see a clear distinction between those who committed acts such as those on 9/11, and individuals/groups who fight us on foreign soil while we are at war with them. And don't say because they use certain tactics, perhaps all other tactics have been eliminated? I just think its great how we call everyone Al-Queda. Lets take some time and realize not everyone we have issues with is a terrorist. I think a little to much FOX news. Later

Ahhh nice to have a REST day, my legs and glutes could use a break. DOMS is still hanging around from the lunges. Boy did I feel it on my 5k run today, almost 1 mintue per mile slower than usual.
Keep Crossfitting guys & girls!

P.S. #1 I bought rings from the same place and yes they came quick and are awesome. I order more than one pair for our facility. I will eventually need to have 8 pairs.

Mr. Cooper,

Praeger asks for precision from Mr. Zinn but when Zinn gives it(admittedly after stutter stepping more than a little) Praeger cuts in with a new counterfactual proposition that, by its very nature, must be answered with equivocation on Zinn's part.

The implied proposition underlying much of what Praeger says is: "if the U.S. didn't do 'X', then things would have been much worse." That is as disengenous as the proposition: "if the U.S. didn't do 'Y', things would be much better."

Both of those questions skip over understanding and dive right into judgment with the result that the person who asks them is likely on the way to making a judgment pertaining to a set of conditions that never existed. Some initial questions it might be better to ask are: what was the situation? what was possible? for whom? and at what cost?

Praeger asks a question about World War II as thought history began in 1939 (actually, for the U.S. that history didn't start until '42, the US needed some time to preserve its moral equilibrium). He asks: are you saying we didn't need to fight to stop Hitler? Well,in the late summer of '39 France did, and so did the low countries. But, at that point, not only did they have a gun pointed at their heads, but it was loaded and firing. Talking about whether resisting Hitler with violence was the right thing to do in '39 makes me think of those Tony Blaur videos on the website. Tony wants you to be able to deal with violence once you're enveloped by it. You react,thrust your arms out, stop/slow your attacker, maybe score a (fatal) hit yourself. There is danger in all of that, for you, for the other guy. You don't slam your forarm into the throat of someone who poses no threat to you, and you don't walk knowingly into a group of people who do pose a threat because you've learned Blauer's technique. Blauer is useful, and military force is useful, when the game is on.

I don't think Zinn is interested in the September '39 scenario (or for the US, the December '41 scenario). He is interested in what was occuring in Berlin in July of 1932, or even in Paris in 1919. What could have been done to avoid the situation in which all that could be done was pulling the trigger?

It seems to me Zinn likens the U.S. to someone who has perverted Blauer, and instigates fights because he has one helluva 1st response.

#31 Jay - Ok, I'll bite

If you can find someone male or female, bigger or smaller that can do a better job than Greg at that workout (or any workout for that matter) go right ahead and post a video of it.

Until then I will be in awe

p.s 'I bet I will be the only person who was not really impressed by that video' - I think that part of your post will be spot on

Yo Greg my brother! Nice work. As always, I will be chasing you to my grave.

Hey #31: go here, http://www.crossfit.com/cf-affiliates/2006/12/ and check out the post dated 12/23. Maybe you would be happier seeing Greg doing a clean like that instead? Haha!

Greg is amazing. What a ferocious workout.

I wouldn’t usually do this but I just want to ask Comment 23, and comment 29 if they have ever spent any time in country since they have such "educated" opinions??

how about keeping politics and sports separated? otherwise great site and workouts

Rest day <3

really needed :)

Greg, that was a stunning display of ferocious will and great strength. I am part jealous and part in awe and part glancing at my own puny arms and asking questions of them.
Well done.

Greg is an animal, yes!...Great job on the WOD! It'll be a while if ever before I can do 4:32 on a WOD like that...

But I keep wondering... What's Greg's background before CF? Because to me, he seems really big, what's he weigh? Was he a powerlifter before CF? Because I seriously don't think that you can get that big just by doing the CF protocol.
Myself, I have been crossfitting for 5 months and I put on just about 4lbs, which isn't much when you consider the amount of calories I ingest every day (about 4000) to compensate for the fierceness of the WODs I perform.

Cheers

I agree with others Elite rings from ringtraining.com are the best, I use them at home a lot and took with me for canoe trip and camping.

#32, thank you. I've been looking for a reason to post this: http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-munich.htm

If you can't grasp the implication, ask around.

Thanks for the link, Barry. All I remembered of those events was that Chamberlain caved to Hitler's territorial demands and thereby increased his boldness. The lost opportunity there is mind-boggling. Without army support, the blitzkrieg would never start. Of course, it may have changed nothing in the long run. Germany was chafing under the burden of the Treaty of Versailles but had a serious economic engine to power the war. Nevertheless, it points to the weakness of Zinn's mindset.

His contention that diplomatic solutions are always preferable to war isn't too far from the truth. They're almost always preferable, but the military option is a powerful component of the diplomacy Zinn advocates. He did his part in WWII, so I can't begrudge him his opinion, but he clearly has spent too much time locked in an ivory tower developing a philosophy of peace, rather than considering practical means to achieve it. For all his examples of the harm the U.S. has done (and some do ring true), it's hard to fathom how he can make the jump to saying that the U.S. has done more harm than good. I'd think the vast majority of the left in this country would have a hard time swallowing that assertion (which, of course, is why Praeger asked the question).

Clearly, this is all preaching to the choir. My point is that Zinn is marginal enough that I think he is fairly harmless, even if he is somewhat annoying.

#28, Kyles S,

"Why are they terrorist? I hate how we throw that term around like it fits anyone that wants to fight us."

Precisely what term (one or two words, please) would you use for the people who engaging in suicide bombing, kidnappings, beheadings, and assorted other attacks on Iraqi civilians, police, soldiers and/or US troops in Iraq?

My question is very specific, and I'm hoping you can answer it directly. What is an appropriate term for these individuals?"

re: Vid
Awesome display of power!

Q:
Does CF make your hair fall out?

Great Video!
Is it CF protocol to have all the males in the videos perform the WOD shirtless??
Great advertising!
I can already see a change in my husband's (and my own) physique just after a few months and it's definitely motivation to keep going!

. . . And this is REAL CrossFit Body. . .

I thought it was interesting how Mr Zinn's definition of horrible is death. He seems to think that there is nothing worse than dying. Living 60 years in a murderous dictatorship is preferable to dying younger so that your children or countrymen can live in a better society. Its pure selfishness.

Also interesting is in the discussion of American Indians, it never came up that forcing them to live on crappy pieces of land that barely sustain existence was not mentioned. That is, in my opinion, the worst thing we did to them. Not honoring a single treaty we made was also bad. If you consider that the Indians were catching women and children and scalping them or devising horrible ways to make them die slowly, you can hardly blame the Americans from slaughtering a few tribes here and there.

Why are they called terrorists? Behold your answer...

http://shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do?displayContent=146543&ESRC=airforce-a.nl

From Wikipedia - "Terrorism in the modern sense[1] is violence or other harmful acts committed (or threatened) against civilians for political or other ideological goals.[2] Most definitions of terrorism include only those acts which are intended to create fear or "terror", are perpetrated for an ideological goal (as opposed to a lone attack), and deliberately target or utterly disregard the safety of non-combatants. Many definitions also include only acts of unlawful violence."

Can anyone tell me what a Samson Stretch is?

Ummmm, Greg? Could you be my older brother? I swear to holy jeez- i showed my wife the Greg video, and we caught each other drooling at the same time. i was thinking "Oh my holy mess, thats faster than my fran time."
And she was thinking "Look at Greg. Keep doing crossfit, honey. Maybe you will look like him one day. PLEASE."

#50 - It's shown in the last 20 seconds of the warmup demo (though Greg doesn't do it, apparently).
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_GregAWarmup.wmv

Amundson is the man. He looks like Kevin Youkilis before the beard. Any Sox fans agree?

Great vid!

I am calling for a Crossfit sound track. This one and that 50 cent/Bee Gees mash up need to be on there. Any other classics? Anyone know where I can get a download of these cuts?

Have a great weekend

#51 Thanks Annlee

#53 Will G,

Anything by the Deftones is my workout soundtrack. They never disappoint. check them out.

Kyle S.,
I would say that my use of "terrorist" is probably appropriate due to the fact that I was there and I have seen and heard of American soldiers treating these terrorists after just getting shot at by them.
If you go over and some guy drops a rocket outside your bedroom or kills your best friends what would you call them? I think "terrorist" is pretty polite.

Some definitions from dictionary.com:

ter·ror·ist
a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism.

a person who terrorizes or frightens others.

of, pertaining to, or characteristic of terrorism or terrorists: terrorist tactics.

noun
a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often uses religion as a cover for terrorist activities

a person who tries to frighten people or governments into doing what he/she wants by using or threatening violence

If the shoe fits...

I know they're not all Al- Queda and I know that people throw "terrorist" around from talking about bullies in high schools to political candidates. I see what you mean in that. Just don't think that the guys over there who smile at you one minute and blow a smoking hole in your forehead the next don't fit the description.

#36 - pete. Rest days are made to work your mind. You will find every rest day is made up of posting comments on an article/mp3 about politics, fitness, war, death, love, hate, all things human.

If you rather not read human opinions, then skip rest day postings.

I notice Greg is banging his knees as he drags the bar up the shins/legs. I've got the bony knees just like him and the deadlifts tore my knees up. I still don't fully get how to pull up the bar along the leg without smashing the knees. The bar at my gym is a 45# and does have the grooved cross-hatch pattern. Maybe a straight smooth pattern would bang/scratch less.

38/192/6'1"

2 miles in 15.05
plus another .5 miles in 4.28

going to work now

I rested today for 21-15-9, using as many sets as needed to accomplish. Pretty much gonna do it all day.

:)

My best "Elizabeth" is over 13 minutes wearing a t-shirt. Yes, just a t-shirt.

Where's CCT Joey at? I haven't seen him on here in way too long.

#60 Daniel-
I used a different rep sceme, mine was 50-40-30-20-10, it's a little more intense, but you should try it.
;)

Kate

hey what are the rings made from...is it wood, hard plastic, metal...

28/F/109#

Did "roaming Diane" from the video posted a few days ago! Boy was that fun! People already think I train 'wierd' but the looks I got walking on my hands up and down the straightaway inbetween the machines at the gym were priceless.

135# deadlift, 21 reps
handstand walk, 21meters
135# deadlift, 15 reps
handstand walk, 15 meters
135# deadlidlift, 9 reps
handstand walk, 9 meters

time: 5:42

400m walking lunge: 11:47
347 steps I think. done on treadmill.

my buns are sore!

pre: Burgner WUx2
post: stretching

looking to make home made rings but i need to know what the rings are made of...damn nadia wow ur a machine lol...neway anyone knows what the rings are made from?

Greg did an ok when job compared to what I saw William "Bill" Braski do. Braski did it in .10 seconds. I had the video but Braski was hungry after his lunch break workout and ate the film,,,,then the camera. To Braski...cheers

#61 John Messano-
...JUST a t-shirt?! ;)

#62 ProPain-
I agree. I keep waiting for him to jump in today.

#65 Nadia-
You kick butt. Literally.

As far as listening to the article goes, it was just like trying to talk with my sisters and brother. Come to think of it, like everyone in my birth family. Preager said at the end, the reason he puts those interviews on the air is so that people will understand the differences between the Liberals and the Conservatives, and I truly believe that it needs to be out there.

By the way, I am not rebelling against my family by taking a conservative stance on politics. It is just that I simple do not think like Liberals do. Abortion being one of the big ones. I used to not think that it was a big issue and I was for choice of the mother (her body being her body and all that). However, when I realized how many women were having abortions because it doesn't fit their lifestyle (my sisters are included in that) to have a child at the time, no mater if it is a late term abortion or not, it was maddening and I couldn't help but change my mind. The very same people will call my husband a baby killer to our face.

Another example of backwards thinking:
We have a factory in our town that has lobbied the State Reps into writing a bill that will give the factory $40 million in a grant to improve their plant. This factory is run by a multimillion dollar coorporation. The Governor wants to veto it, the Reps want to override the veto, now it is becoming a fight. Meanwhile we have a school (in the same county as the factory) being threatened to shut down because of it's problems (drugs, gangs, etc.) and we also have farmers (in the same county as the factory) that are seeking aid because of the drought and losing a majority of their lively hood.

It would be wonderful for everyone to be on the side of humanity and not have to pick political sides, but times being what they are...

It just seems like Senators and Represenatives could get their priorities straight and stop looking out for themselves and should start looking out for the people again.

Kate

Re: Vid.

Strong Work, Impressive Effort. I salute him.

"Thunderstruck" for me is always better in it's original format, interesting to hear it in a mash up though.

"You shook me all night long" from the album "Back in Black" would be a great soundtrack to some of the WOD videos,also the title track, anybody agree/disagree?

'Pain is temporary'

PS Brian Johnson lives up the road when not in LA or touring. No BS.

I normally refrain from commenting these days, but the following from JPL should not be overlooked: "If you consider that the Indians were catching women and children and scalping them or devising horrible ways to make them die slowly, you can hardly blame the Americans from slaughtering a few tribes here and there."

Are you kidding me? By even the most conservative estimates, 8-10 million Indians died as a result of white settlement in the first 60 years of the 19th Century, much of it from smallpox, but also a great deal from famine, relocation, direct murder, "wars," etc. The few instances of Indian brutality towards whites pale in number, significance, or frequency. By somehow justifying the policy towards Indians in 19th- and 20th-Century via. the few acts that were committed by Indians, is a horrendous leap of logic that doesn't hold in any way. The possibility that such logic allows for the continued disenfranchisement of an entire race of people in the United States (effectively constituting a fourth class) makes it even more pernicious.

And, for Barry Cooper as well as Howard Zinn -- I think we should all be careful and more nuanced in invoking allusions to Nazi Germany, Hitler, the "final solution," etc., as they relate to the "War on Terror." One can draw comparisons, but I would argue that they need to be far more sophisticated than the simple equivalence of "appeasers of terror = modern Chamberlain," "al Qaeda = National Socialism," "Bush = Hitler," etc. There are enough disanalogies to render such simplistic formulae implausible.

#1,
Ring training is great in products and customer service. My fiancee bought me a set and one of the rings had a slight manufacturing defect. I emailed Tyler about it and he sent a replacement to me right away, and just asked me to take some pics of the problem for his reference.

I highly recommend them, they're definitely worth the money. I plan to get a couple more sets because people get jealous on ring dip and muscle-up days.

-Nolan

Paul, Great to "hear" your voice. Thanks for checking in. You've been missed. Nadia, That's great work. BTW, your sub-30 on Murph blew me away. Go, girl! Howard Zinn: I haven't heard the interview, but I'm familiar with him. He hates everything about the US, it's racist, imperialistic, genocidial, capitalistic, blah, blah, blah. That's why people literally risk their lives to live here. Oh, and when the bad guys show up, who are you going to call? The Swiss? I don't think so.

#46 JPW,
"Also interesting is in the discussion of American Indians, it never came up that forcing them to live on crappy pieces of land that barely sustain existence was not mentioned."

I'm not sure what reservations you're referring to, but the one I grew up on and lived for 18 years of my life does not fit your description. It is some of the best land in the world for agriculture, not to mention wild game. I can't wait to move back there.

My only point is I think terrorist is not the term. What is? Perhaps enemy soldier?

I see 43 saids they kidnap? Perhaps they take prisoners? Why the loaded language?

They drop kill your best friend? And drop rockets out your window? They are engaged in war.

See calling them terrorist in my opinion minimizes the promblem. We didn't call the Nazis "blitzkriegers." We called them fascist. So I think we need to call them crazy fundamentalist muslims. Not to be confused with crazy fundamentalist christians.

Kajan, #66
I made some homemade rings out of schedule 40 pvc pipe. Cut the pipe to about 23 inches, fill the pipe with play sand (packed tight), cap both ends and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. When they are pliable bend them around either a coffee or paint can and hold them until they cool (you'll want some good gloves). Empty the sand, string some climbing webbing through them and off you go. Good luck.
Joel

Paul,
Thanks for the great visit and you are welcome anytime. Hopefully I'll see you in October and good luck settling in.

Zach,
My point was that it was two groups who didn't get along and were barbaric to each other so there was some justification for some of the violence on the Americans part. I think the bigger atrocity was forcing the Indians onto small crappy lands and making agreements that we didn't honor. That is the reason the disenfranchise exists. The policy continues to this day. How does anyone think that allowing casinos on reservations will solve any problems for the Indians, especially the way the deals are financed (big corporations get the lions share of the profits)?

Amundson is a freak!

"300"
For time do one round of:
25 Pull ups
50 Deadlift 135lbs
50 Push ups
50 Box Jumps (20" box)
50 Four-Count Flutter Kicks
50 Dumbell Thrusters (35lbs each)
25 Pull ups (Last 10 were kipping)

Description of Workout:
Each exercise must be completed before you begin the next. Post your time to the CrossFit Forum.

time: 17:14

I found his implication that Jews in death camps in world war II are similar to Iraqi civilians and that likely neither really opposes being bombed to be a bit of a stretch.

#74, Kyle S,

"My only point is I think terrorist is not the term. What is? Perhaps enemy soldier?"

Perhaps? So you don't actually know what to call these people. You just don't like the term "terrorist." You perhaps prefer "enemy soldiers."

Three more questions:

(1) To what army do these "enemy soldiers" belong?
(2) Enemy of whom (or what)?
(3) How does one distinguish these individuals from terrorists.

"I see 43 saids they kidnap? Perhaps they take prisoners? Why the loaded language?"

How does one take a civilian prisoner without actually kidnapping the person?

Just a quick off topic comment:

I checked my body fat % today. The last time I checked was in April, about the same time I started CF. I weighed 205 and my BF% was 27. Today I weigh 212 and my BF% is 20. That is amazing to me.
I could do 0 pull-ups when I started and now can do 10 in a row among other huge gains.
CF is genius.

#85, Chris C: A great thinker, maybe it was Woody Allen or Yogi Berra, said, "90% of genius is just showing up." Keep showing up, keep working. Congrats! John

#73 Foz,
Where is your reservation? I'm glad to read that some are good deals.

JPW, in my opinion, the worst thing the U.S. did to the indians was make them dependent on the government by giving them hand outs. From my experience, the majority of them live off the government in the form of welfare and per capita income (income based on the number of kids you have). It has created a people lacking pride, initiative, and respect.

The idea of work is a joke on the reservation. Tribal governments attempt to force employers to hire a certain percentage of native americans. Often times, these employees fail to show up for work (I know this from 1st hand experience). After all, they'll still get their per cap checks.

That being said, this is not the case for all, as some have been raised in families that have sought to better themselves and have passed the values of initiative and a strong work ethic on to their children. Usually, it is because their parents got off the reservation, got an education and realized what it takes to become a productive member of society. I have a few native american friends currently serving in the military, in law school, and even playing in the nfl.

The sad thing is, is that when some try to leave the reservation for college, career, etc. they are mocked for "trying to be white". If we really wanted to help them, we would get rid of reservations completely, or at least alter the current programs to include incentives for being employed, not unemployed.

just my $.02

Good job Chris C. Keep up the great work.

Got my 1st bar muscle-up today and about 15 more after that! Can't wait for my rings to come in next week to try the real deal.
Thanks, Crossfit.

#82 Hari?

You asked "to what army do these 'enemy soldiers' belong?"

War's fought differently now, eh? We don't expect soldiers to line up in neat rows, like in European wars of the 17th and 18th centuries. It's still a war.

It's just as anachronistic to think that wars should be fought only by recognized nation states, by soldiers wearing national uniforms.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not rooting for the Islamist extremists. But it's only been a relatively short period of human history that's had Nation States having the sole "legitimate" right to make war anyhow. People have always fought for what held their loyalty most - be it country, or religion, or tribe, or ideology.

And even "our side" is morphing away from having all our forces wear national uniforms. What country's uniform do private contractors wear?

t.

cfwux1
GI Jane: 13:25

JPW, I'd tell you, but that part of the country is something I'm trying to keep a secret so that it doesn't get commercialized. I'm just trying to make enough money elsewhere, so that I can get back and buy a few acres for myself. I'll just say it's in the northern rockies.

How did they do that? How did they get that seamless look of Greg's face on my body?

#20 Paul-
I'm glad that you are almost all settled in. Sounds like a good deal about the pull up station. Two days ago it was decided that we need more pull up bars, stat. As soon as we get the time, that is.

#86 Josh G-
Congrats on the muscle ups!

Kate

I also have the rings, I don't go anywhere without them!

JPW, I have a comment in review right now regarding what I think is the worst thing that has been done to the Indians

this guy greg....the man is a savage! i guess thats what it looks like when there is no fat on your body

ProPain

CCT Joey is in the process of moving from Kansas to Kentucky.

#88, Tom F,

Tom F,

I asked three questions in response to Kyle's claim that it was inappropriate to refer to the people fighting against us and the Iraqi government in Iraq as "terrorists." Kyle suggested that these people be referred to as enemy soldiers. It is not I who think we are fighting against a nation state.

I am unclear on your point regarding civilian contractors? Are you suggesting that you find people who build infrastructure to be not much different from those who blow it up?

#22 Andrew,
Squat cleans aren't required; they're just the expectation. Elizabeth done with squat cleans and Elizabeth done with power cleans are very different workouts. The squat cleans require substantially greater work. Why do we train? Our primary goal is increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains. Our experience is that training with squat cleans results in greater capacity.

Now, if you were assigned a task to move 45 135lb barbells from the floor to a shelf at shoulder height as fast as you could, you'd be well advised to power clean them if you're able. But if you are trying to achieve the highest levels of fitness possible, it is Coach's prescription that squat cleans will get you there better.

Whether you buy it or not, what is indisputable is that Elizabeth as Rx'd and Power Elizabeth are different workouts and the times for each are not comparable. When we get Greg A. doing the full Elizabeth on video, we'll post it and you'll see the difference. My prediction is that it will take him about twice as long to complete.

To all of you who keep debating the meaning of the word "terrorist", not to say I am an expert or anything, but I am a Senior in Political Science specializing in International relations, and the term terrorists has hundreds of meanings depending on who you talk to. Going from very broad to very specific, and I can tell you for sure that there is no scholarly agreement when it comes to the wikipedia version- please use wikipedia for generalizations not specific defintions especially of a word like Terrorism. . . .

I'm saying, Hari, that some of the roles taken currently by Blackhawk or Haliburton (etc.) contractors were, in 20th Century wars, done by men and women in their countries' armed forces. Particularly when those contracts have a security component. That arguments about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of calling someone a soldier on the basis of the uniform they wear are anachronistic.

An Islamic extremist isn't wearing a national uniform - but then, probably a Haliburton employee isn't wearing a national uniform either. We'd say one is a legitimate fighter, the other isn't. But not on the basis of their uniforms.

Terror is a tactic; those who use it are, by definition, terrorists. I've as little respect for such tactics when they've been used by people on my side (the WWII firebombing of Dresden comes to mind) as when an Islamic extremist drives an explosive-packed SUV into a crowd of children.

I love how Dennis Praeger holds his beliefs durring these interviews. Its great how he keeps conversations from going off on wild tangents and hold these professors and authors to what they stand for, which usually becomes so generalized you can't tell what the professors and authors really believe.

I don't know what credentials Mr. Praeger has, but it just goes to show you that big flashy credentials can't change peoples views. Mr. Praeger has great communication skills and asks alot of the right questions. I don't believe that Mr. Praeger was trying to back Prof. Zinn in a corner but maybe to show that the Prof. doesn't have a very firm foundation for what he was trying to convey, as he stated at the end.

Like Mr. Praeger stated how you're not really a liberal if you don't believe most of the things liberals stand for, would it be too broad to say that you're not American if you don't believe the wars that are going on are necessary?

For some reason I don't really believe that more civilians are dieing from wars today from what the Prof. said. It's funny how the Prof. said you shouldn't use WWII as a precursor for how todays wars should be fought but he keeps referring back to Vietnam.

I believe it was wrong in massacring the Indians, stealing their ideas and leaving them with nothing and disease. Its too bad, I think they had an awesome way of life, but this is now and I think these wars are necessary. Thanks to all our troops and people fighting for America. Good interview Coach.

Hopefully a nap will repair my body from this intense week. BTW, I seen some comments about, "1/2 intensity" and "1/2 intensity week". Is this supposed to be 1/2 intensity, bad on my part if I missed that?

Thanks Rob.

Kyle S., as far as that goes... The problem is 1. I've been told that saying that this is a battle against crazy fundamentalist Muslims isn't the best way to build relationships with the Middle East, and 2. I haven't read the Qu'ran.
I can't say, because I'm am admittedly only minorly educated in Islam, whether these guys are fundamentalists and doing what the Qu'ran is telling them to do or, as in the case of "crazy fundamentalist Christians", by NOT doing what the Bible has told them to do.
If you have kids and you tell them not to steal and they do, do people look at you and say, "Kyle's a thief. He tought his kids to do that?" or "Kyle tells his kids not to steal, but they disobey him."
It all depends on the fundamentals and if people are adhering to them or doing things on their own agenda and blaming/backing it with their version of the truth. (This all based on the definition of fundamentalism being "strict adherence to any set of basic ideas or principles" not the common thought that all fundamentalists are crazy.)

P.S. I don't think you're a thief Kyle, nor do I think your kids would be. I just used it to make a point. I appreciate your views and am honored to defend your right to speak them.

I also wanted to thank all the families of those fighting over in the east for America. Believe it or not you're fighting as much as they are, just in a different way. My best wishes and prayers.

Wow, I'm positively surprised about the interview. I guess my prejudice told me I would only find right-wing stuff here. Still, I'm not really sure why mixing fitness training and politics is such a good idea..

Foz,
Creating a welfare state is never good. Its tough trap to escape. Of course there are always people who do escape through hard work and determination. Getting rid of the reservations would force adaptation to our model of work, ownership, etc, which may be inevitable. It would also be the final broken promise between the white man and the native american. Is it ok to break a promise if the other person would really be better off but they don't know it?

Is the "kipping" on the ring dips (or any dips) standard?

Greg, you're awesome! I WILL be that ripped one day, I WILL be that ripped one day.

#30 Jay, It's too bad you're not impressed, you obviously have never met Greg A. I bet you can't show me a "bigger dude" that can do that workout in a better time. "Big" has nothing to do with power, in fact it can significantly reduce ones power.

Concerning the topic at hand, I don't expect to change anyones mind by some revolutionary post, but if you think that someone who kills non-combatants is NOT a terrorist, or that we aren't justified for being at war, well I think you've been tricked into believing that you can see the full picture. Freedom doesn't (neither do good things for that matter) come to those who wait, and "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing" (Edmund Burke). It's easy for someone to take a stance that the 'enemy fighters' aren't terrorists as they sit in their comfortable chair, posting online, sipping a latte. If that person happened to be born an Iraqi whose family was just murdered because they chose to join the police department, they might have a little different take on things. I'm extremely thankful for the prosperity we have, but more and more I'm thinking that being separated from the harsh realities of the evil that people perpetrate on each other has made us soft, and one day it's going to catch up with us. I'm just glad that we have so many honorable men and women who are willing to go into harms way, so eventually that harm doesn't come to my family.

(1) To what army do these "enemy soldiers" belong?
(2) Enemy of whom (or what)?
(3) How does one distinguish these individuals from terrorists.

I feel these questions have been answered fine by others. But for sake of argument lets look at this quote.

"How does one take a civilian prisoner without actually kidnapping the person?" Ever been arrested. Just playing around, or am I? Later

I am very new to all of this, but the above posts are just redicilous. Having studied all kinds of philosophy - ethics, politics, etc - at univeristy, and being in the army, I would love to discuss the above topic with you all. For example, "terrorist" is any military group not part of any government. The trem "terrorist" is equivalent to "gurilla" and "freedom-fighter", they just carry different conotations. However, this is no place to discuss such things. Keep religion and politics out of CrossFit... please.

That being said, I am looking forward to starting on the CrossFit WODs tomorrow. This will be my first real attempt to getting back into an exercise routine since the end of highschool - seven years ago. We'll see what happens, but my hopes are high.

Whew, finally lifted some weights again...

warmed up row 1km, three rounds of mixed: pullups,Knees-to-elbows,bar press, bar cleans, pushups/situps

workout: shoulder press and squat cleans
5x 135# (1)
10x 115# (0)
15x 95# (11)

funny, I made it up and still couldn't do it as rx'd. most of the presses were actually push-presses. numbers in brackets were true shoulder presses

time: 20:50 (slowwwww) but hard, and fun

41yo/f/165#
swim 2000m (bummer-timer accidentally bumped back on and has been timing since I finished workout. Last I saw was before final 200 cd pulls and it was at 29min)
500 free wu
50: 25 free, 25 fly
50: 25 fly, 25 free
50: 25 free, 25 fly
50: 25 fly, 25 free
2x100: 75 back, 75 breast
2x100: 25 back, 75 breast
6x50 on 75' free kick
4x75+25 free: 75 moderate pace 10'rest, 25 hard
200 pull cd

Zach #70

"By even the most conservative estimates, 8-10 million Indians died as a result of white settlement..."

I think your "conservative estimate" dramatically exceeds Professor Paul Johnson's population estimates for all of North America during early European settlement. Perhaps this is a "liberal estimate"?

The estimated number of American Indians killed and the the estimated number of American Indians extant during European discovery has experienced explosive growth in modern times.

This is an older interview from awhile back. I listened to it twice back so I'm going off memory.

chb, I think you miss the point that Praeger is ultimate driving, being that there is not only a price (and moral accountability) for your actions, but also for your lack of action.

Zinn wants to only acknowledge the consequences of action and pretend consequences of inaction don't exist. You can't have it both ways. We are accountable for what we do AND what we fail to do.

Zinn is naive to think that evil can be confronted and successfully mitigated through diplomacy. It can't. After all, didn't Hitler break his treaty with Stalin? Worse than naive is the end of the road that Zinn's logic leads us down ... that confronting evil is evil itself.

"terrorist" the word:
I know that newspapers like the NY Times, Washington Post, etc. are picky about using the word terrorist because it does have a strong connotation. Of course there are egregious acts of terror being committed, but the word should be applied accurately and precisely. For example, a sheep herder who is picked up for shouldering an AK-47 doesn't qualify as a terrorist until more is known. Until then, the herder will go down in the newspaper as "enemy combatant" I believe.
- I forgot where I read this, but I think it was NY times or the New Yorker

Anyway, it can be both specific or broad like Alex said. If taken specifically, it can be used to frame the issues. If it's broadly used, then "enemy combatant" is just PC BS.

I agree with #31 chb. The U.S. shouldn't approach the world as if it's Germany in 1939. Rather, we should approach the world as if it's 1920s Germany. This might mean rather than letting problems develop and then hitting the unilateral military button, we take a structural, institutional, populace-driven, or 'whatever' approach. Perhaps we do that earlier in the time frame as well, so we don't pretend that 1939 is 1923 when it's actually 1939.

Then again, I think Zinn is correct in saying that we have not had a "1939 moment" since WWII. Obviously the U.S. has waged war since then, but I think the vast effort of our foreign policy should be to take non-war actions if at all possible, and to avoid war. Again, this is not sticking your head in the sand, but supporting popular protest or other things like that.

For example, is the best Iran policy to say "you keep pushing us Ahmadinejad, we're goiing to bust your ass" or "Hey Iranians, would you like to get this kook out of power?"

Rest day commentary is sure not what I expected. I think some of you need to step away from the Internet today! Go walk your dog or something - it's the right thing to do ;)

#107 adamulm

So by your definition, anyone causing collateral damage is a terrorist?

M/135/20
Ran 6km instead, 26 minutes/ not bad

jakob, i was going to say the same thing, but i assume implied in that definition is the word "intentional."

which would make US military who intentionally kill civilians terrorists, but not the majority of military who kill Iraqi civilians accidentally, or incidentally.

Evil is evil. We must confront it. But in the case of Iraq, we did so in a way that resulted in the deaths of 70,000~78,000 civilians and displaced over 4 million from their homes.
http://www.iraqbodycount.org/
http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/19216/2007/03/17-115722-1.htm

One of Zinn's main points is a good one, there is a price for war.

"evil can be confronted and successfully defeated through diplomacy. It can't"

Certainly not the kind of diplomacy we tend to have. Admittedly, I am not well-versed in the alternatives to war. However, The U.S. has backed a good number of tyrants against the will of their populace (sometimes/often with military force). Backing the people, as we have tried to do in Iraq, is the right idea. However, the way we do it can have pretty disparate results. I mean, peaceful democracy on one hand, bloody, separatist region on the other.

#117

Yes but I think you can use a better word here in that case, if we're going to discuss semantics. "Criminal" would be a better word perhaps?
But hey I'm not an expert of linguistics by any means, especially not concerning the English language. ;)

#43 and others:

Put yourself in the place of those we are fighting in Iraq. They lack any substantial education beyond what they are taught from religious texts. They have been invaded by a technologically superior, ideologically and socially different people. They have been killed. Their country has been thrown into chaos by internal and external forces. Terrorism? Terrorism is trying to get other people and other governments to fear you. 9/11 was a terrorist act, defending what they believe is their country and their belief system is not. Were the Kamikaze pilots of WWII terrorist? Was there firebombing that the US did on every major city in Japan Terrorist? Was Hiroshima and Nagasaki terrorist? Who are we to judge how they defend themselves from our attacks. Who are we to say that they are terrorists? Let's compare the number of foreign civilians the US has killed over the last century to the number they have killed both foreign and domestic. The difference is staggering. The idea that we have the authority to exercise such global judgment is sickening. 9/11 wasn't the first attack, we attacked first. We took, without the approval of the Arab nations, a large piece of very controversial land. We fed the Israeli army. We did that. 9/11 was a bee sting compared to what we have taken from them.

I'm not saying Genocide is humane. I'm saying we are clearly not eligible to be the arbiters of humanity. I'm saying terrorism is a point of view, and to think we are somehow under siege by Al-Queda terrorists is a very narrow mindset.

"And we know the peace can only be won, when we've blow 'em all to kingdom come."

~Country Joe & the Fish

Fair enough on the gross numbers Coach...I have no idea what the actual numbers are, or shall I say were.

What if we used a % of population number instead?

And I have no dog in this fight, I just don't think that the gross numbers matter so much. And I realize Coach did not raise the issue of numbers in the first place.

Then of course, it's not usually all that clear-cut. I suspect often you know that there is this or that chance of civilian casualties for a mission, you then have to weigh the cost/benefit. If this is done in an unethical way, you're a criminal, if not, it's ok. That's how I would call it, although it's a really simplified definition that deserves more thorough treatise.

One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.
I say soldier, you say terrorist.
It kind of depends on your point of view. I know, from our American point of view, most of us would consider the people we are fighting in Iraq to be terrorists. The Nazis probably considered the French Resistance to be terrorists. Dictionary definitions don't always mean that much out on the street.

#108, Kyle S,

You are suggesting that, say, Daniel Pearl wasn't kidnapped, he was simply arrested. And just like "enemy soldiers" don't need to belong to an actual army, police don't really need to belong to a legitimate law enforcement agency.

One man's kidnapping terorist is another man's law enforcement officer.

Really, you know that my question was in the context of the situation in Iraq. Your original comment was directed at someone who referred to those we are fighting in Iraq is terrorists.

I am confused about something. Is Greg Amudson(sp?),the monster that just did that wod demo, the guy who started crossfit? Does he own Santa Cruz Crossfit? Or is Coach the one that started it and owns Santa Cruz?

Cheers.

#88 Tom F said:

And even "our side" is morphing away from having all our forces wear national uniforms. What country's uniform do private contractors wear?

I'd like to respond to this b/c there is a big misconception by the general public who haven't spent time enough in Iraq to know better. There are 2 types of U.S exPat contractors in Iraq. One is armed and they provide security, the other is unarmed and provide services. Blackwater is of the former & Halliburton is the latter. I'm not talking about local contractor who may get a contract to dig a well for example. Group #2, Halliburton (actually KBR), employees are not allowed to carry/possess any weapons. This includes truck drivers, construction workers, logisticians, cooks, & laundry personnel. They rely on U.S. troops to provide their security. Group #1, armed security contractors, will make-up security details for U.S. diplomats and VIP's generally. They do not conduct raids or any offensive operations on their own to my knowledge. Strictly security. The idea that we have contracted mercenary units running all over Iraq is completely false. I'm an Army logistician and spent a year there in 04/05 and never once saw or even heard anything to contradict what I've just stated. Unless there are any other Iraq Vets who'd like to add caveats my statements/experience, you can file the idea of "illegal un-uniformed U.S. mercenary combatants in Iraq" under "leftist propaganda".

How about you support the country that fights for your freedom to write that dumb crap on a kick a@# exercise website.

Want to make a differance..go do something about it or stop running off at the mouth.

I helped keep the red strips on our national flag red with the blood I shed.

and to steal the words for Janet Jackson

What have you done for you country lately..

Randy,

Thank you for your response to my question about three days ago!

and my running off at my big mouth was for comment 119

42yom 182lbs

Practiced OHS today: 3 x 10 reps (85lbs).

-Box Jumps: 4 x 15 reps (34").
-60 Dips.
-60 Bar Push ups.
-60 Inverted rows.

Off to the long weekend... Cheers everybody!

I love this web site, but I dont enjoy reading other peoples political views from a main form on a fitness web site. There are areas in the message board for these opinions.

IMO

Terrorists: deliberately target civilians. They don't wish to contain or arrest. They implement indiscriminate assassination and extreme torture to spread fear. Intent is generally to maximize damage. There is no such thing as collateral (undesired or unintended) damage.

AQ are definitely terrorists. Your avg. Sunni w/ an AK-47 may or may not be depending if he is targeting occupation forces only, or committing sectarian mass murder. Insurgents are not necessarily terrorists. Yes there is some mis-use of the word. Does it really matter? ... not really. We're going to kill & capture the terrorists, we're going to kill & capture the insurgents. Lately, we've been successful at converting insurgent groups to fight the terrorists (AQ) in Al Anbar, Ramadi, and other locales. Read your blogs. Start at www.patdollard.com & get yourself a JihadiKiller t-shirt.

I can't do a MU...does anyone have any advice. I am fairly strong, but I think my body weight is the biggest factor. I am 205 lb's and again fairly solid w/ a body fat of 13% roughtly. I struggle w/ pull ups at this weight anyway. I was in the Marine Corp and did pu's all the time and still couldn't do a lot. I can do about 11 dead hangs strict. I am concerned I will never be able to do a MU. Any help would be greatly appriciated. Dax

Does anyone know where Greg finished at the Crossfit Games?

Dax,

I am also 205 with roughly the same body weight. The muscle up really comes down more to your hip drive (assuming you are doing a kipping muscle up)than you pullup strength in my opinion. Once you lock in the false grip, give a swing forward just like you would on kipping pullups and make your drive up. Try and keep your hands as close together as possible on your pull up portion. Think of zipping up a jacket. Once you are in dip position than make your move up.

I am by no way an expert in these but those two tips helped me a lot.

DAX,
I'm the same weight and I've done the following to work on my MUs:
during the CFWU, I try to do all my pullups with my chest to the bar
try jumping MUs, with the rings as low as you need. when you try it another day, raise them a few inches, keep raising each time

That's my best advice

Woah, 124. The people who kidnapped Daniel Pearl are terrorist. No question about that. Same could be said of anyone who kidnapped a journalist and kills them. However it that is not the same as an Iraqi group kidnapping a bunch of contractor, imprisoning them, and/or killing them. In their mind the contractors would be working for the enemny, which is one is the same as being the enemy. My only point is and has been is that we throw the word terrorist around way to much. I support our troops, they are putting their life on the line, but when they get ambushed and injured/killed I don't think its fair to say it was terrorist who did it. Just step back from the stituation for a moment and look at with both sides perspective. Anyway as noted above, this is turning to a debate on semantics. At least that is how I feel. Good day.

#119 David C,
The difference between what you are talking about and the terrorists in Iraq is that in Iraq they don't necessarily attack us. Those guys attack innocent civilians and spread fear in an effort to prove that we aren't taking care of the people. By making the masses fear them they get the behavior they want. The VBIED into a crowded market is a terrorist act, not a legitimate act of war. I feel perfectly justified in calling that act immoral. Bombing population centers in WWII was legitimate because we did not have the technology to eliminate the critical infrastructure without mass collateral damage. Now we do, so we can't morally do that anymore.

Last day of rest cycle. Thank Heavens.
CFWU (15 reps of each) x 3 (subbed HSPU for dips)

Might we make a distinction between enemy combatants who purposefully target Coalition soldiers (perhaps the only group that any observer could make any kind of a case AT ALL as having legitimacy, and then only if they are Iraqi, and only in the context of true insurgency), individuals who target and kill Iraqi soldiers and law enforcement officers (criminals at the very least, and deserving of whatever passes for civilian or military justice in country), and terrorists who target and kill civilians (whether random or targeted) PURPOSELY in order to achieve a tactical gain (probably most closely akin to spies under the various Geneva conventions noted on many occasions on this forum, and thereby forfeit of any protection civil or military)?

So much bombast. So much obfuscation. I've never been in country so my thoughts are those of the distant observer. The political opponent, the loyal opposition, aims to make its gains through whatever political avenue exists at any given moment. The insurgent seeks to force political change through violence and is therefore a criminal in the eyes of whatever government presently exists. The insurgent fights the government and its agents (army, police) and allies. The terrorist is a terrorist because of his tactics. He seeks to alter a political reality by attacking civilians, or by putting civilians in harms way by using them as a shield: launching attacks from populated areas; using civilains as a shield during combat; violating the concept of "sanctuary", the concept that there is a separate class of people in a war zone that are neither insurgents nor terrorists, nor comabatants of any sort. Collateral damage is just that, damage which was not the aim of the aggressor but which resulted from a battle with insurgents or terrorists. Terrorists do not engage in battles in which there are collateral damages; all of the carnage in a terrorist action is planned and purposeful for the terrorist.

I believe that tactical decisions may be somewhat more clear if the above is accepted. Can anyone...ANYONE...truly have a problem with the elimination of terrorists or the support of terrorism as defined above? Unarmed pilgrims are gunned down in the streets. Crowded markets are bombed. Civilians are targeted and they die. This is terrorism. Can ANYONE seriously justify and/or defend these actions?

Bingo wrote:

"...pilgrims are gunned down in the streets. Crowded markets are bombed. Civilians are targeted and they die. This is terrorism. Can ANYONE seriously justify and/or defend these actions?"

No.

Nor do I think anyone was trying to justify or defend such things. Terror is an illegitimate tactic, but unfortunately, has proven to be an effective one - across centuries.

Not even Liberals, like me.

t.

Flash Back:

Angie: 06 June 2007, 19:32, scaled down to 40 assisted pull ups(40lbs assistance on gravitron) - rest as RX'd

Today:

Angie: 31 August 2007, 17:41, scaled down to 40 dead hang pull ups, rest as RX'd.

Almost 2 minutes improved on time, and HUGE improvement on the pull ups.

All sets were broken, but man, I remember this workout just absolutely wrecking me back in June. Today, it hurts, but it was just like any other WOD. I'll have to try this when I'm not working on my MetCon, I think I might be able to get the 100 pull ups, it just might take 45 minutes

Seriously Thanks Coach! You have no idea the massive amount of improvement and change in my body composition that I've seen in just over 3 months.

#133, Dax

I used the following approach, which finally paid off this week: I did jumping mucle-ups. The key to the approach is to keep raising the rings. If you start with the bottom of the rings below chin level, you are doing only a bit more than a simple dip. By the time you get the rings six inches over your head, you are doing most of the work on your own. As you raise the rings higher and higher, it becomes increasingly important to get the false grip right. Eventually, it will come. If you can get to 15 dead hang pull-ups and you can do ring dips, the rest is just time and technique. The best tip I saw was from Coach who suggested struggling with the transition. Fight for several seconds before giving up.

Good luck!

Jansen,
#128 the stupidest thing I have heard yet today on this discussion, I respoect your sacrifice, but the liberty of our nation is what allows those of us worthless yokels who haven't bled like yourself to continue on with our petty and useless lives :)

#22 Andrew,

TonyB covered it at #98. I'll just add that the analogy between the kipping vs. strict pullup and the power vs. squat clean doesn't hold because the strict pullup is less functional than the kipping pullup and is the same amount of work, whereas the squat clean is tremendously functional and is also more work.

Still chasing you greg.... Even though it was my rest day, had to try that WOD: 5:32 rx'd. I bow to you!

"Nor do I think anyone was trying to justify or defend such things. Terror is an illegitimate tactic, but unfortunately, has proven to be an effective one - across centuries.

Not even Liberals, like me."

Tom, perhaps you can explain how liberals support Palestinian terror. Is it somehow different since it's against those dirty Jews? There seems to be some sort of disconnect there.

Rings from ringtraining.com are our only piece of pullup/dip equipment in our garage and they do so much more. They are the best value in exersize equipment going.

Btw, try the 100 pushups workout from the web page, it great.

Coach-

concerning comment #112. Not sure which Professor Paul Johnson you were referencing. However, Douglas H. Ubelaker curator of physical anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History notes that estimates of the size of the aboriginal population of the Americas (North, Central and South) prior to European contact vary widely, ranging from 8.4 million to 100 million. He concludes that the wide variance reflects relatively limited data and differing modes of interpretation.

To quote hime directly, "The lower estimates rely heavily on early European census data and the belief that indigenous group size may have been limited by pre-Columbian disease, geographical isolation, and various cultural factors.

On the other hand, some of the upper-end estimates reflect modern scholarly beliefs that prior to the Europeans' arrival, disease impact was minimal or even negligible. Such high numbers also convey interpretations that by the time early European explorers were in sufficient contact with native groups to record their numbers, the damage already had been done. In this perspective, the earlier (i.e., lower-end) census data reflect not the aboriginal numbers, but the survivors of already-transpired major epidemics.

At any rate, you are correct in noting that the numbers have dramatically increased in recent scholarship. But, perhaps that is a reflection of new more accurate analysis and not as you suggest politically motivated. No one knows for sure the exact numbers. What is known, is that European contact spelled death for indigenous populations. Whehter it was accidental(disease) or intentional (warfare, slave labor, the reservation system, malnutrition, poverty and the breaking of nearly every treaty ever signed) the growth of the US geographically and economically depended on that death!

Interestingly, Douglas Ubelaker notes that disease and early death was on the rise prior to European contact and draws the conclusion that this was the result of more agrarian based societies nutritionally based on corn and its inherent nutrional defieciencies rather than the more diverse hunter gatherer, fishing based diets.

About the squat vs. power cleans, the argument that it requires more work to be accomplished is true, but in that way the same could be said of using power cleans because the bar is moved that distance in substantially less time. Using 120 lb. thrusters in Fran could make for greater fitness, because it is more work, but the prescription calls for 95 lbs. which allows the work to be accomplished in less time.

The better argument I think is "it just works better". Crossfit is, above all things, practical. There's a balance between load and muscle distribution and an emphasis on intensity over various periods of time, mostly relatively short (although it never seems that way). I did 1/2 of Karen today, and I'm in awe of the workout. 150 full, proper wallballs with a 20 lb. med ball is an astonishing workout, and you'd never know it if you just used a heavier 40 lb. med ball but did only a fraction of the repetitions.

Just watched the video, holy smokes Greg is an animal! That was very impressive!

josh g #86: nice work on the muscle ups!

Kajan, Kate and John Wopat- Thanks! That was a fun one! oh and John, Murph is one of my favorite WOD's!

#116 Jakob
Seriously?
No, you're right, you got me. I didn't explicitly say a terrorist is someone who kills by intention. I was wrong. Are you now going to ask me what is the definition of the word "is"?

#126 cchpie
I didn't see anyone answer you're question about Greg A. In case you're still reading this, Greg Amundsen is not Coach, that would be Greg Glassman. Greg Amundsen is just a badass. Coach Glassman is the originator of Crossfit, all hail Coach!

5 rounds for time:
20 box jumps
10R/10L kb snatches (35# kb)
5 pullups, 26#

17:33

M/25/208#

Ran somewhere bwtn 3.0 and 3.1 miles.

21m 48S
Far eclipsed my 3 mile run time from a couple weeks ago

I must agree with everyone who has stated that getting caught up in a debate over semantics is petty and ultimately useless. The issue at hand can be summarized by asking the question: is there a very large group of individuals who want to kill us (not taking time to see if we have a donkey or elephant on our lapel), who want to destroy Western Civilization, who will use any means necessary to achieve their goals, and who have clearly stated their intentions for a very long time? The answer of course is yes. Was a mistake made in the force structuring in Iraq? Where are the WMD? How odd is it that Cheney is so deeply & openly connected to the largest PMC/PMF in the world? All of these issues are sideshows. What we must realize (I know many of us do already) is that there are individuals in the world right now who are planning on killing you, your family, your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband, your neighbors, and who are doing so under the impression that we are so weak we will eventually acquiesce. When they look to Iraq they see a golden opportunity to weaken American resolve. They see the chance to further their agenda--even if it means killing the very people they claim to represent. It is true that we must pay close attention to the lessons offered by history, but we cannot allow the demise of our civilization because we are afraid to write our own very new history. These generalizations are posited to offer a view of what we are facing: a dedicated enemy who seeks to kill or convert us. So, leaving semantics behind, where do you stand? Those who seek to harm us know that the further left or right we stand the farther apart we get, only through standing together can we prevail.

In Iraq, terrorists are the ones who find out somebody's brother has joined the police, and finds his sister and little brother, and gang rapes the first before gouging her eyes out and setting her on fire, and drills out the elbows and knees of the second with a 1/2" bit before shooting him in the head in the street, leaving both bodies for Coalition troops to find. These types of atrocities are apparently not uncommon at all. Clear enough?

With respect to 1939, the point is that if the proposition is that "there is no such thing as a good war or a bad peace", that link I posted is a prima facie historical falsification of that premise.

Chamberlain acted as Zinn would have, in caving in to Hitler, in sacrificing everything he had for the cause of peace. And, as Churchill put it, he "sold his honor, and bought war". Churchill, of course, was right.

1939 is not the right year. That is the year where the failure of the previous 5 years or so became apparent. Why don't we pick 1936, and arguably we had exactly that sort of moment with Iraq, and are currently in that moment with Iran. Ahmadinejad is Hitler, but he does not have Hitler's control of the government, so there is slightly more ambiguity, but it does seem clear enough that if he had nukes, he would use them immediately.

#138, Kyle S,

"The people who kidnapped Daniel Pearl are terrorist. No question about that. Same could be said of anyone who kidnapped a journalist and kills them. However it that is not the same as an Iraqi group kidnapping a bunch of contractor, imprisoning them, and/or killing them. In their mind the contractors would be working for the enemny, which is one is the same as being the enemy."

So, journalists are sacred, and people who kidnap and kill them are officially "terrorists."

On the other hand, contractors are fair game. When a contractor is taken prisoner (not "kidnapped" because that word constitutes "loaded language" #74) and killed, the person doing the killing is an "enemy soldier," not a terrorist.

"In [the enemy soldier's] mind the contractors would be working for the enemny, which is one is the same as being the enemy."

So, the distinction between terrorist and enemy soldier has little to do with the individual's actions, it has to do with what is going on in his mind (and in yours). What happens when you and he disagree, for example, when he thinks people like Daniel Pearl are "working for the "enemy?" Which rule applies then?

my question is for a regular clean do you do a squat or not. i argue that you do with some buddy's and they say you dont, but if you dont, isnt that a power clean. any help

thanks

#28
They are terrorists. They do not follow any rules and regulations of warfare (don't even pretend those ruless don't exist). Would you like the U.S. Military to start using the same kind of tactics they are? We can start kidnapping in mass quantities and cutting their heads off like they like to? Please don't take the side of people with no consideration for their neighbors and would most definatly cut someones head off in the name of god. It is my opinion that if the U.S. didn't have to follow all of the rules of warfare the war would have been over years ago. Just remember we are a nation of moral rules (that don't always work) and soldiers are doing their best to enact them. It is funny because the insurgents use those rules against us and it has gotten many soldiers and civilians killed. They are our enemy...who cares what we call them...don't take their side. Too much CNN. Later

FreddyC: I had to go do it, too. 5.52 (pr +.20), bowing to both of you.

John, Kate, Denver, Speal, thanks.

Bingo - you broke down and posted on a non-health care day! Nice one.

Paul

Great thing it is a rest day cause I was on a big rig that was hauling hay fire. Took local fire dept, and Forest service 22 hours to extinguish! To bed at 0900 up at 1600 and back at it.

Power Elizabeth

Time: 8:44

In another day and age, we would see many more stories like this one: http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom2/Service%20Members%20Stories/Young%20legend%20killed%20in%20Al%20Anbar%20province.aspx

Or this one: http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom2/Service%20Members%20Stories/Arkansas%20Guardsman%20Awarded%20Silver%20Star.aspx

Or this one: http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom2/Service%20Members%20Stories/Citizen%20Marine%20Awarded%20Silver%20Star.aspx

squat 315
press 155
deadlift 255

couldn't rest today. had to do a PAST test so. .

swam 200 meters
ran 1.5 miles
16 chin ups
80 sit ups
70 pull ups

m/33/5'9"/175-[122 days since CF Columbus Ohio]

To celebrate a buckeye victory:

21 15 9

Push jerks
PU
Paralett pushups

15:11

#156 "Chamberlain acted as Zinn would have, in caving in to Hitler, in sacrificing everything he had for the cause of peace. And, as Churchill put it, he "sold his honor, and bought war". Churchill, of course, was right."

Please do not try to parallel the Iraq war with WWII. Saddam's massacre of the Kurds occurred two decades ago. None of the 9/11 terrorists were Iraqi, and Saddam declared no hostilities towards the US before we invaded. Iraq is first and foremost an oil war, and if you believe otherwise, you are badly mistaken.

"Iraq is first and foremost an oil war, and if you believe otherwise, you are badly mistaken."

Evidence?

You also missed my point entirely. I'll give you a hint: does the proposition 1936=1939 stand?

#147 Rob?

Liberals aren't homogenous. Some might justify Palestinian terror ... I sure don't.

IMO, terror is an unacceptable tactic - whoever uses it. Unfortunately, it's tended to be fairly successful, hence its continued use.

t

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