great!! Exactly what i needed 3-2-1...go to the bedroom ha ha tabata sleep

am really fatigued after the last 3 days. this will be enjoyable

I wonder if it is ok to run on the rest days (4miles slow pace)? Once again big runner coming into the xfit world

hahah! Why does it always crack me up when I see someone bust out that move???

I tried to do that on a pole in the subway the other day but f'ed it up.. Tourists still clapped.

One time plug: I've become the one billionth person to start a blog. It covers topics similar to those posted on Rest Days. I would welcome comments from CrossFitters who hold opposing viewpoints to my own. It will help keep me intellectually honest.

http://instacriticism.blogspot.com/

Sick video! Jason can't wait to have you at the Northeast Qualifier!

OK.. I just looked at the picture again. That's not exactly what I tried to do - I attempted the easier version..

He's just holding on by his hands! How the heck did you do that "Rhabdo"??? I'm looking for the wires.

That's a nice flag. I would love to be able to do that but I'm just not strong enough... Should probably work on a regular hand stand first haha.

#4 lando after those 3 WODS maeby its a great idea a just to rest even the best athetes need it..the rest day is more important than you think...sorry for my horrible english please be patience

For any and all crossfitters who follow the main site WODs and the 3-on/1-off programming, we at CrossFit NYC: The Black Box invite you to join us in our 2009 BLACK BOX CHALLENGE, the goal of which is to complete as many of the crossfit.com WODs as possible, and as many of them as rx'd whenever possible.

Challenge rules are posted on our blog here: http://crossfitnyc.com/2009/01/happy-new-year.html

We ask any who take up the challenge to use our comments section on our daily blog postings to track their progress and compare themselves to their competitors.

We'd love to have some non-New Yorkers join us for the challenge in a virtual fashion and hopefully someday pay us a visit at the Black Box, too.

ATTN. Fellow Crossfitters

Anyone read the new Muscle and Fitness? On page 196 is an article talking about Caveman training. In that article, the designer of the program called Crossfit EASY. I don't know about you but I take pride in our program and was offended by his statement. However, if you look at the sample workouts, they appear to be similar to our type of training... weird!

When I see guys like Jason, all I can think is the 2009 Crossfit Games are going to be awesome.

OK my form is getting better and my times are slowing down. I get done and feel like I stuck it and my score is going the wrong direction. I'm assuming this is common.

Also my wife is from Michigan and I made the mistake one time of telling a mutual friend she was from Detroit. Turns out that's a show stopper. She's not from Detroit and made sure everyone in the tri-county/state area knew she was NOT from Detroit. Good times.

In the rest day article I read:

"How bad is Detroit? It once gave the keys to the city to Saddam Hussein."

That is classic; and now our elected leader will hand over the keys to an entire nation to terrorists.

Maybe Oprah can have a contest between, Detroit, New Orleans, Washington DC and Chicago and with Oprah buying out the winner lock stock and barrel and having a make over for the entire city.

I am a michigan boy and i spent some of my early years in detroit. the entire state is connected to the auto industry, and regardless of how great the rest of michigan is for outdoors, education and other smaller businesses- we all feel the failure of the auto industry. if the big three go under, this recession will become a depression. As GM goes so goes america.

Jason, with his gymnastics background and high intensity motor, drives home the reality that this 38 yo former baseball player with arthritic elbows won't be able to compete in the '09 Games....darnit!! LOL
But it really is inspiring to see the kind of athletes CrossFit is attracting. It should be a good show to watch in July, can't wait!!

#4 Lando,

Check out http://www.crossfitendurance.com (wfs). Their workouts are designed to be done in conjunction with mainpage CF. I think you will find that running on some of the CF rest days is fine as long as you can recover from it. If you notice a decrease in performance, then you need to get more rest. Also, stay away from the the LSD type runs. If you're going to run, make them intervals or time trials.

I am finally out of starvation mode in the Zone, finally not wanting to "sit down with the almond butter and a spoon." Can't believe it....will have to force myself to take this rest day.

I see a bunch of Bad Azz Jersey Boys like Jason coming to the games. Keep up the intense work up there in the NE. We will do the same down here in the SE.

interested in comments on marathon training with crossfit. Been doing crossfit for 2 mos now and love it. Recently decided I want to attempt the SF marathon (I hate running, go figure). I read the forums and testimonials on it, just looking for some real world advice and tips. I'm initially thinking CF 4-5 days a week and gradual increase LSD once a week to train. Any advice?

Howdy! No need to change the channel, you are indeed still here at Crossfit. Welcome to Rest Day!

In the formative days of Crossfit Greg and Lauren Glassman discovered that the optimum training schedule for a program based on very high intensity workouts was 3 days of exercise followed by 1 day of rest. Hence the classic 3 on/1 off CF schedule. The non-physical WOD Rest Day is to be filled with active or passive rest, a day to explore other skills, to learn a new sport.

It is also a day to exercise your "brain muscle" here on the Crossfit Main Page. Every 4th day Coach and Lauren post a question, article, picture, or video and ask us to offer our thoughts on the posting. The vast majority of these prompts are controversial, emotionally laden topics. Make no mistake, this is not happenstance. They also tend to lean hard toward a libertarian viewpoint (no, Jeff Glassman, I don't have a definition of Libertarian either), heavy on self-reliance, right-leaning, and ever strong in support of the U.S. armed forces.

Don't like the concept? Offended by the choice of topics? Put off by the conversation that ensues? Easy--don't click on "Comments" every fourth day. Don't bother complaining, offering suggested topics, lobbying for change or the abandonment of the Rest Day. Nobody cares. You are a guest in the virtual living room of the founders of Crossfit, and they have decided that this is what will happen here every fourth day. Wanna play? Good on ya! Just make sure to bring your "A" game, cite sources for your facts, and expect to back up any statements you might make. Ad hominem is a sign of weakness; don't bring that weak sh!t here.

3 days on for physical fitness, 1 day on for intellectual fitness.

Welcome to Crossfit Rest Day.

#18 Jay M

You are right, Jason is a contender, but don't sell yourself short. I saw where you hammered out over 400 on FGB the other day. Not too shabby for a 38 yo, besides maybe you should stick to the "day job" anyway, most of us would envy that.

Detroit, definitely not on my "destination list".

OC CrossFitters! Greg Amundson is making his way North On PCH. He's a mile outside of Main Beach. Again, come out if you can! Greg would love to see you guys and could definitely use some shouts of support. This dude is kick ass!
Nothing but CrossFit and the Zone diet.

Quote from video:

"My goal was never to set a record for a workout

Was this video a joke?!? Dude, you've got to be kidding me if you're bragging about your garbage fran "record". You missed ALOT of reps. Atleast I got a good laugh out of this ridiculous video. "On the road to the 2009 games", how about "on the road to a level 1 cert to learn proper form".

# 18 CR

thank god I have picked up swimming! I do intervals when I run but not like cf endurance.

Once again, xfit has an answer. THANKS FOR YOU DIRECTION CR and xfit community!!!!

BTW 2 weeks in same weight (170lbs) and seeing cosmetic/physical results!!!

I have to agree with #25. His chin never reaches the bar for some of the pullups and his squats were not parallel for most of them. It was pretty cool though, Jason is indeed a beast.

I have to say that seeing videos of these elite Fran times with the athlete using a med ball drives me nuts because
a) my gym doesn't have one
and
b) it makes the thrusters that much easier! You're basically bouncing yourself through the thruster.

Greath athlete, Kaplan. Impressive Fran, but not legit. For legit Fran's, which are the only ones that count, you have to go with Speal's 2:05, or Bionic's. Haven't seen a legit sub 2 yet....

...and who cares? Let's focus on other WOD's. There's plebty of them to choose from. Tired of these FRAN-obsessed people. Our two champs of the games, (OPT 07', and Khalips 08'), neither has a world record.

"Athletes often set up a false dichotomy between perfect form and intensity, assuming that as one increases the other must necessarily fall. This idea is a thinly disguised excuse for athletic complacency."--- Againfaster.com

This surrent article on Againfaster.com's site says it all.

A bit behind...I Did "Murph"
today...I really felt like I have some work to do...kind of a wake up call.(I hate those)
1:01

Riaden, I agree with you that the medicine ball makes it easier but not because of the reason that you state. Those balls have no bounce or spring as does a rubber ball. What the medicine ball does do though is it raises the height of which you need to lower yourself down to. If a 6' man and and 5' 5" man used the same medicine ball as a guideline, the 5' 5" man would have it easier because he would not need to go below parallel as would the 6' man.

Um, yeah...I'm pretty sure you'll qualify for the games Jason ;-)

Solid focus dude, keep up the strong work.

Hey check this out

http://jumpsnap.com/index2.html?gclid=CMTurPXb8ZcCFQkiagodD3YlCg

Double unders for couch potatoes

I've seen it all know....

Have Fun, Train hard,

Billy

Bingo:
Is it my imagination or are you feeling a bit more...I don't know, happy lately? The jovial mood of your recent posts is nice. Don't get me wrong, I like the old reflective and slightly melancholy Bingo too, but the past few entries have been cool :-)

Billy:

That link is hilarious. When Buddy Lee finds out about this, his head is gonna explode!

After reading the "keys to city given to Saddam" line I quit reading. Enough said about Detroit, MI.

Although we did support them in the Iraq-Iran War. And Osama in Afghanistan when the Russians invaded. Recurring theme maybe?

Billy - I think the JumpSnap would make "Annie" go by so much faster, especially as you never "miss" a jump! Do you think they'll be making a bar-less barbell too? That would REALLY help with some of these workouts, and hey, they'd be safe enough to use in those non-CrossFit gyms ;-)

#32 Billy

Double unders have been holding me back. No more my friend, no more...

LMAO- That jump rope thing is insane! Who puts up the money to get this crap on the market?

First impression of Detroit from a Canadian (circa 2001):

I was on a field trip with my university painting class to the DIA (Detroit Institute of the Arts). We crossed the bridge from Windsor On. and drove right into what I thought was the worst part of any city I had ever been to. Every second house had plywood over the windows and where there once was a basketball court was just lumps of heaved up concrete with hoopless backboards. There was a "gentleman" on a bike weaving in and out of traffic at 11:30 in the morning apparently drunk and drinking even more out of a bottle in a paper bag. The cars that lined the streetsides hardly looked capable of actually moving anywhere. I couldn't believe that such a place existed outside of the movies or a third world country. I was floored. On a brighter note though the DIA was fantastic and I got to see Bronzino's "Eleonora of Toledo and Her Son" (one of my all time favorites).

Barless Barbell, very nice Cynthia, that cracks me up... along with Playoff Beard's angle about Buddy Lee's take on it :>)

How about virtual rings, you have two rings not attached to anything and you just rub them from your shoulders along your body down to your sides and bam, you just got a muscle up virtually.

Have Fun, Train Hard,

Billy

#25

Jealous much?

His p/u's may not have been textbook but they were legal enough for a sub 2'' fran.

His shoulder and chin hit each landmark properly, watch the vid again.

A link for SPECTATOR REGISTRATION is now posted on the main page.

The idea of tightly controlling the number of attendees at the Games... it's actually a little reassuring. And what of 2010? 2011? CrossFit's future is mindboggling. Finding CrossFit one year ago, I felt I came tragically late to the game. But we can't see where this is going. Who knows what's in store.

RE, that JumpSnap... I wrote on yesterday's comments page:

"The fitness world is cluttered with the products of people who have misunderstood lifts and tried to make movements that accomplish the same thing, but take out, eg, the risk, or the movement, or the weight, etc etc... and this FAILS."

I wonder... double unders require such exertion from the arms because the weight of the rope is a long lever. How do they simulate this exertion with no length? I can't imagine engineering something to simulate the feel of a jumprope. That's complex. The torque exerted changes with gravity's pull on the rope which rotates at a mostly-constant distance from the hands, and changes throughout the circle. Without the actual distance, I don't think you can simulate it. So -- totally wild speculation here, but I don't think that thing can actually feel like swinging a jumprope.

How about this. For people who never have or never will jump rope, atleast they are doing something and possibly this will make them want to do more.

4 minutes 115lbs, not too good

I just read the article that was posted. What is happening in Detroit is a complex problem. I can't claim that I know the solution but it really made me think about LEADERSHIP. The failed leadership of appointed officials due to corruption, weakness, and poor decisions. The leadership displayed by everyday citizens who bleed for the safety of the city such as Detroit's firefighters. The leadership that the city is severely aching for.

No jokes, here. The world needs leadership on so many levels. This (post) is not to spark some discussion on politics but to get people thinking about what leadership really is. The crossfit program was put together and maintains integrity because of leadership. The many persons who do these workouts and stick to this program are leaders in many other arenas...home life (as fathers and mothers, and other family members sharing their freedom space of the home), with each member of the family adhering to values and contributing to the family's safety, strength, and stability. And other areas-leaders in business, community development, and the many other areas that require the few and the strong to step up and be standard bearers of ethical practices and progress.

What comes to my mind in reading this article is the need for leadership. Crossfit is all about forging elite fitness...ability. The strongest (in knowledge, communication skills, and sincerity for helping others) are the most useful in any area of human endeavor one can think of.

I'd like to hear people's thoughts on 1)what leadership means to them, 2)Personal experiences of how someone great has influenced them, 3)what they have taken from that person's leading example and used that to make the world better in their own way.

One last thought...two people walk into a dark room. One person is hasty and bumps their toe and starts cussing and fussing and cursing the darkness. The other simply looks for the lightswitch. There are a lot of problems we face daily. But we have a choice between cursing the darkness of the world or putting our energies into lighting up the rooms of life that we find ourselves in.

Hope there aren't too many typos and that what i wrote made sense...it's like 2:30 am...time to count sheep

I posted this yesterday, and it seems to have been overseen so Ill post it again.

When I did the c&j workout I had a hard time. When I catch my clean I do so with a slip grip, and powering the weight up for the jerk is fine, but sometimes I dont get all of my fingers back around the bar (I sometimes catch with my index, middle and ring on one side and my pinky on the other).

Anyone else run into this?

Im going to redo it today.

had two weeks of "rest" after surgery, so no rest today. gearing up to step back on the porch again with some watered-down basics from the past couple wods:

3 rounds for reps:
PUs
dips
Push-ups
C&Js (95 lbs.)
back squats (95 lbs.)

happy new year to all.

#23 bkm

Dude, you are right my friend, I'm not complaining, I do have a lot to be thankful for. You just can't take yourself too seriously, otherwise you end up like some of the knuckleheads who rant on the comments. haha

For the Naysayers: I do believe Jason is up to your challenge re: his form on a sub-2 Fran. My experience with gymnasts is they can push the limit as well as any athlete out there.

C&J 8rd+3 brutal

What's up with the haters on Kaplan today? He was at that limit of intensity where form begins to break down a little, so what!! I bet you punks railing on his sub-2 Fran are no where near his level. He'll be at the Games, the technique guidelines will be clear, and form will be scrutinized. For now, learn to give a guy "congrats" and stop acting like a bunch of jealous schoolboys.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2461151

Greg Amundson is past his halfway point in his 100 mile run to raise funds and attention for Operation Phoenix. Above is the link to his route.

Our bro is beat down but hanging in strong. If you're in the area and could come out and give him a shout of encouragement it would be awesome. Watching this effort be attempted, no, completed, on straight CrossFit and the Zone nutrition dosing is incredible.

We'll be southbound along the coast through the rest of the day.

Thanks,
Steve

#11 Adrian

It is funny that Muscle&Fitness did a big article in the past on Kimbo Slice and how he is the next big thing in MMA. Shows you how much they know about CF and MMA.

Never posted on a rest day article before but I'm so glad I read this. I was particularly moved by the focus on Detroit Firefighters.

My lovely sister-in-law and her fiance, (a Detroit native), have worked for the city of Detroit for the past decade. He raised two children there. They met at a kick-out Kwame Kilpatrick protest back before he was national news.

Their house is now only worth approx $5000 dollars in the Detroit market.

After many depressing setbacks and stories that sounded unbelievable to other familiy members, they fled to Charlotte, NC last month and have never been happier. They say it's the best thing they ever did.

good luck Jason. If people are losing weight and feeling better with the jump snap...Jam on. Maybe they will pick up a jump rope and give that a try too.

Thank God for the rest day...the last 3 days were killer.

#11 Adrian

I say we track down these so called cavemen who think Crossfit is easy and throw down a challenge. I'm game with putting myself on the line for this!

I am a bit off with the WOD's after the holidays. DId Murph for the first time with all reps. Felt like I should post because I didn't see many female posts for this workout. I like to see how I compare...

1 mile run
20 rounds:
5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats
1 mile run

46:21
Think I injured my shoulder, though. Sh*t. Just running today.

I have to agree with some of the naysayers about the form on this "Fran". I don't think the form was worthy of calling it the record. The pull-ups looked pretty decent, but some of the thrusters were very suspect. With that said, yes, I am jealous of Rhabdo's fitness level. I am not questioning his obvious elite fitness status. I am not even saying that he wouldn't have the best Fran time with better form. I would just like to see better form for a workout that was recognized as the fastest. I totally understand that as you push the limits of your fitness level, form breaks down a bit, but I think you have to draw the line somewhere and I would say this is slightly past the line. I would think you should have to have good enough form that each rep would count in a competition like the Games. Again, not saying anything about the skill or work put in by Rhabdo. If anything, I would just like to see how fast he could do it with stricter form. I am guessing he still might make sub 2 minutes.

Hey guys, Im new to crossfit, going to start the WOD's on monday, any good advice?

#57 (jay) - Definitely start with familiarizing yourself with the FAQ, it will answer a ton of questions about substitutions, have videos so you can research proper form, and tons of tips and motivation ;)

I was feeling pretty sorry for myself for most of the last week... someone came and messed up my nice house with cookies, tasty holiday meals, and lots of german beer. So, I did the honorable thing and cleaned it back up (by eating everything).

In order to cheer myself up, I figured a good dose of purgatory would be in order:

CFWUx3
Murph
5 minutes of laying on the floor wanting to die
10 minutes of walking around looking like I was going to die
15 minutes of getting water and talking to people
FGB
Stumble to the shower and try to figure out how I could possibly think this was a good idea.

What ended up happening was mediocre efforts at both Murph (42:44, about 3 minutes slower than PR) and FGB (343 w/ 45lb. thrusters subbed for wall-balls, PR territory but the thrusters add a LOT of reps). Then I realized i still had to work on the car, doh...

So... at least the beastly part of catching up is over. I was WAY too crushed to even attempt the C/J WOD (might as well have called the ambulance in advance, haha) so that will go in front of whatever is scheduled for tomorrow (watch it be Grace, eek!).

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Great article. I think we can learn a lot from Detroit. I think Einstein said that, " A wise man learns from his mistakes; a truly wise man learns from other men's mistakes."

Out with a back injury. Going through CrossFit withdrawl.

ProPain

Very disturbing article, I hope Detroit doesn't become the model for which the rest of the United States will look like should things get worse in our economy.

God Bless.

What a great article about a man in the "hole" putting a human face on a city that America gave up on a long time ago. I'm from Saginaw, a junior version of Detroit, only farther north and colder.

It's a tough ass town and a tough ass state. Some of the meanest f-ers I ever met we're when I was growing up there. Charlie LeDuff sounds like one of them.

I appreciate the weekly readings, even if I don't always agree.

That is one of the most depressing articles that I have ever read.

If you think Detroit is jacked up, you ought to see Kabul, Afghanistan.

#57 jay welcome to the best power, endurance, fitness sistem i think you should start with "cindy" or half "cindy"

Bingo - nice comment at #22. Increasin' the Peace. Props. I think that kind of friendly hand-up will make a difference to someone out there who'll stick around a bit longer and get a bit fitter as a result. Way to go, man.

Recessions / depressions suck, but we might see a few decent boxers emerge? Let's accentuate the positives.

Happy New Year, all.

I have lived in MI most of my life. My folks were born and raised in Detroit, and were the ones that broke away. I have relatives living in damn near every suburb of the place you can think of, and several who work right downtown.

That said, once you get away from the bad statistics and the joke that is local government, Detroit is not all bad. If you know where to go and what to do, there is ALWAYS something fun going on. There are plenty of good bars, brewpubs, bookstores, shops, etc... throughout most of metro Detroit. As far as the speed traps go, it seems that if Detroit cops let you do anything, it is drive. Most times, if you are not going 15+ MPH over the speed limit, you are endangering yourself.

Sure it isn't the most glamorous of places, and it can be a rough city, but don't knock it if you have never been there. And remember, for how bad Detroit is, they can always point to Flint, where the weak are killed and eaten.

Just what i needed! haha see you tomorrow.

By coincidence, I just finished reading this article and was then pleased to see it posted here. As a resident of the Detroit area (as the article states, most of us are not in the city for good reason), it was a good reminder that there are still reasons to care, and there are still people to appreciate in the worst areas.

It's easy to let yourself become jaded and make jokes (about any issue, not just Detroit), its another to actually make personal sacrifices to achieve small victories. Detroit has been on a long downward road. It didn't get this way overnight; it won't get better overnight either. The efforts of those who don't care if they get the credit, who know what they do won't fix everything yet do it anyway, and who refuse to admit defeat are those who the city needs ...in spades.

#43

Kabul wasn't that bad when I was there in mid '07, a little hot, but not too bad--definitely better than detroit! Jalalabad was actually a very interesting city, the market there is crazy. Plus most people are really friendly (if you are packing some serious heat!!)

Evan

#66 Collin: I asked my girlfriend, who grew up in Flint and has spent time in Detroit, to compare the two:
Flint is a "smaller, less exciting, less scary little sh--hole. Detroit is more exciting, has more fun stuff to do, but it's more dangerous."

I googled the Caveman Workout to see what that was all about. I didn't see any articles about it in M&F and Mens Fitness bashing Crossfit, but I did see it was being written about back in at least early 2006. Looks like an alternative way to get an intense workout, but its just another one of those things that people have been doing since barbells were invented, now they just have a name for it.

Yesterday...
21 C&J (75#all)
3 burpees
18 C&J
6 burpees
15 C&J
9 burpees
12 C&J
12 burpees
9 C&J
15 burpees
6 C&J
18 burpees
3 C&J
21 burpees
= 36:56, PR

Erin

Did Angie today. Not feeling too well so don't judge to hard. As rx'd 36 minutes...

#73 jarredB we are not here to judge anyone...everybody have good days and bad days the most important is...give the best as you can...don't feel bad just be patience

Hey folks real quick question,
Is there a level 3 instructor and if so what is the qualifications there?

If your too heavy and you wanna loose weight, don't go through the trouble of eating right, get your stomache stapled. If you can't jump rope, and you don't want to bother LEARNING HOW, just buy a jumpsnap, if you can't crossfit or your just too scared to work hard, go to that stupid gym that posted that ridiculous sign in the window. If it were easy everyone would do it. Crossfit is hard as hell and most times I have to stare at the pull - up bar for a while trying to find the courage to begin the WOD. It's terrifying, but it's gotta feel worse to quit.

In my mind, this was the money quote:

"Mongo freely admits to playing the politics of race, because in Detroit, that's the way it works. 'Black people stick together,' he says, while he admits the downside: 'We accept mediocrity.'"

In this nation, with the resources we have, is there any reason for this failure? All Detroit is, is where New York City was headed until an adult--Rudy Giuliani--took over, and implemented common sense policies. It's not far off large sections of Chicago, where our President-elect cut his political teeth.

Liberal policies based on race, increase the misery of black people. This is simple fact. They punish producers, do not demand production from accredited "victims", and the inevitable, unavoidable, mathematically necessary result is increases in poverty, and decreases in human rights, which include that of safety.

Race is the broken window of American politics. Giuliani, as part of his renewal campaign, understood that small things that remain broken inspire more broken things. Burnt out houses that are not demolished encourage more burnt out houses. And policies which are oriented around ANY race--whether to excluding a race, or preferring a race--act to increase injustice, corresponding resentment, and lack of cooperation and buy-in to the overall community.

Why is Detroit broken? Simple: liberal gangsters have taken over, and their only focus is power, not the well being of all.

With adult leadership, Detroit could be turned around in ten years. Step one is demanding and enforcing accountability, regardless of race.

********************************************************************

#25

You are just some punk with nothing better to do than WISH you had an OUNCE of his ability. Please, I beg you PLEASE come to GFCM so I can have a "SIT-DOWN" with you... maybe then I will open your eyes, or close them.

Know this, you think you have the balls to type on your computer and bash an athlete, if you think for one second that you are such a bad-ass, prove it.

Come see me, we'll have some fun.

H.C.
*****************************************************************

Missed Murph on New Years Day so a make up day was in order.
50:09 Rx (no partitioning). Not the best time in the gym but I did PR by 9 minutes and 11 seconds.

#77 - Well said,

I'm a police officer and I work and live six miles from Manhattan. I also have several friends who are NYPD. Giuliani absolutely transformed a dangerous city into a place you could safely walk around at night. It's the good people of Detroit that are the collateral damage in this ugly political war.

Did day 3, week 2 from Mikes gym:-

1. muscle snatch: work a heavy single
2. sn pp+ohs: 1+3, 1+2x2 sets, 1+1 x 4 sets up to a heavy single.
3. rack jerks bnk: heavy single. beat your best cln and jerk
4. core work

Good Fun

Hard Charger,

Did you just threaten a guy online for stating the obvious? Not sure who the bigger punk is...

again the FRAN discution sorry to make this post but i though the ego problem was a bodybuilder problem i think everyone have to pay attention on their own time and techniques come on this is crossfiters against the world not crossfiters against crossfiters...we can learn more making constructive commentaries....sorry for my terrible english

Update for Mr. Greg Admundson. He is currently on mile 73 of his 100 mile journey and looking fantastic. Well.....at least he is still smiling!

WHOOOHAAAA I just got back home from a train ride all the way from FL back to NJ, thats right a train ride, I feel like deuce. Thank you to everyone for your comments and feedback, they will only motivate me to become a better crossfitter, and especially a big thanks to againfaster for making a kick ass movie. I'm no cocky kid here, I just love crossfit and make Forrest Gump look like a pimp with the ladies nahmane?

Guerrilla Fitness thanks Rhabdo for his performance and willingness to stick his neck out in front of his peers. We appreciate the accolades and the criticisms from the CF community as both make us a better CrossFit facility and better athletes. Sure sometimes the criticisms sting a little bit but it is of these things that we become stronger. Any comments that state otherwise are not that which GFCM wishes to represent.

Go Greg!

Death by Clean and Jerk
9 rounds + 5 reps

2:00 Max Push ups
50
2:00 Max Chest to Bar Pull ups
23
(I have let these slide way to much)

Then a little something just for fun.

3 rounds
5 BTN Shoulder Presses, 105#
10 Dips
5 Push Jerks, 165#
10 Dips

No time just a lot of fun.

Did Murph today

Finished in 52:02. Could've done better.

1st run 7:50
mixed pullups/squats
finished pullups then mixed pushups/squats
last run sucked. more like run/walk
but...i finished.

Dave

Rhabdo,

Funny stuff man. You take it all in stride & that is awesome.

One of the earlier videos I saw of coach lecturing was form vs intensity? Which is more desirable and his answer in typical coach style was "YES"

Its not crashing the car that makes it fast but you're not going fast until you crash.

His other example is a 10 shot speed shooting exercise. If all 10 shots hit the bulls eye you went to slow. It doesn't matter how fast you completed it. If only 6 hit the mark you went to fast.

I thought you had a good balance between intensity and form.

Keep on keeping on brother!

5 Rounds / 120lbs

up from 5rnds/115lbs

broke form on last set.

yeah, all of rhabdo's reps may not have been completely legit, but i bet he could still do a sub 2:10 or 2:15 fran which is absolutely insane.

also, if there are any crossfitters out there in southern illinois around the st louis area that want to wod together then send me an email. i am trying to get ready for the regional games qualifier and i wod by myself almost everyday so it would be good to train with someone else.

I think it's time for LINDA, it's been about 4 months if I am not mistaken....

My take on people who complain about ROM on these things is they must not have done Fran very many times. For anyone who has, that was an impressive performance. "Rhabdo" is not claiming to be the king of the universe, and there is no official record book anywhere that is being altered. That was just a very solid performance on an event we all know is very hard.

Yes, in the CrossFit Games, I think it is legit to approach form the same way these things are approached in any other athletic event, but simple demonstrations of virtuosity, that was fine.

With regard to Detroit, one of my first thoughts was to check out the gun laws. I don't have time to delve into too much detail, but I did look at this link, which is worth taking a look at

http://rffm.typepad.com/republicans_for_fair_medi/2008/06/is-baghdad-safer-than-chicago-or-detroit-liberal-politicians-blame-guns-not-the-gunners.html

Chicago has a higher murder rate than Mexico, which has the sixth highest murder rate in the world. They also have only one gun store for the entire country, require a thirty day waiting period, and don't sell to everyone.

Detroit has a higher murder rate than Jamaica, which has arguably the most restrictive gun laws in the world, where the possession of a single bullet--with or without a gun--can land you in prison for LIFE.

I would note as well that there is not ONE Republican, apparently, anywhere in the Detroit Municipal Government. I wonder if they feel things would be even worse if Republicans were in charge. Since they are approaching the murder rate of Columbia, and have a 21% high school graduation rate, one wonders just how much worse things COULD get.

I am reading a history of the Bolshevik take-over in Russia. It took them a few years. There were a lot of people who were counter-revolutionary enough to feel that not starving to death took precedence over the revolution that was being waged for, who? Them.

There is literally no depth which is impossible to reach for a determined and self righteous intellectual, e.g. those running Detroit right out of the civilized world.

38/M/181

Make-up day

Snatch Ladder: 125lb

11rds+2

My favorite "Fran" video of all time is the 2:08 Rhabdo did with the messed-up stopwatch. The thrusters on that video are amazing. It makes me want to actually DO Fran, unlike the other amazing Fran videos out there.

#78 chill out, i cant believe you essentially called someone out for a fight on crossfit. uncalled for especially because so many people seem to be commenting on the overarching form v. intensity discussion.

Detroit Urban Training Center (DUTC) will break ground in our lifetime.

1. A large portion of Detroit will be bought by the US government and turned in to a ready-made urban training area. Buildings, roads, 3rd world conditions – all support maneuver and live-fire, with minimal environmental restrictions that constrain NTC, JRTC, and most US military bases.

2. The city of Detroit benefits greatly: the multi-billion dollar sale of the land finances the stabilization the remaining parts of the city. The city relieves itself of responsibility for utility, infrastructure, and service costs associated with these ever-expanding under-inhabited/under-productive areas.

3. Between the existing defense industry primes already in Detroit (General Dynamics Land Systems, others), the established federal government presence (TACOM, others), and the creation of a military-town traditional economy, Detroit gains a new economic sector that continues to grow for decades to come.

4. The funds from the land sale, economic growth with the arrival of the military and creation of associated jobs, and federal involvement all contribute to the success of Plan DUTC. Ultimately, though, it is the human capitol of Detroit that is the difference between success and failure of Plan DUTC. The committed believers, like those in Labash’s article, through sheer will power and presence set the conditions for a new era in Motown.

Crazy? Sure, but so is throwing however many billions over the next 5-10+ years to keep the Big 3 and the city on life support, and still culminating in failure down the road.

Love Detroit, headed there this week, looking forward to tomorrow’s WOD.

sorry, needed to use today for a CFT before moving west, and glad i did. hit a new PR by 40 lbs.

squat- 405
press- 175
deadlift- 475
total- 1055!

"pain exists to measure pleasure by!"

#96 lucas thats right man crossfit is a brotheshood...like one world sais "check your ego at the door"

As we move further and further towards socialism its nice to be able to look to Detroit and know that soon we will all be able to enjoy this kind of Democrat utopia.

made up FGB today:
as rx'd 327 PR by 19!

35/m/5'10"/205

I waited a day to do the C&J ladder with a friend. All power cleans.

11 rounds + 9, plus I did 7 reps in the 6th minute, so total = 76 reps.

Detroit sounds really lousy. We oughta sell Michigan to Canada.

Late to the dance but still interesting to catch the dialogue. Fascinating read. It is said and I believe that all that is required for prosperity is rule of law and property rights (to include the right to freely trade property to others). Do they have that in Detroit? Rule of law, the idea that the legal system will defend the rights of individuals so that the risk taken to acquire capital goods are reasonable. Thus capital goods may be used in the transformation of non-capital goods from lower to higher valued uses (raw materials turned into an engine, or a street corner turned into a store). Does the citizenry of Detroit have the ability to apply their respective comparative advantage in a marketplace? Seemingly not. How has that city deteriorated such that it cannot provide even rule of law? Did the city's leaders try to do so much, try to take on so many responsibilities, that it lost track of this fundamental, necessary role? Did the citizenry demand of its govt everything but that essential ingredient?

I wonder if it all isn't an example of what Jefferson was conceiving when he referred to the "sin of slavery," implying that a penance must be paid. If so, the irony of who is paying for that sin in Detroit is disturbing. Paul

workout of the day

played beach volleyball in 75 degree weather all day. Awesome.

probably about 4 hours of volleyball on and off.

Pondering this concept of gun control a bit more, it seems to me that a part of controlling violence is making sure guns are in the right hands. For gun control advocates, this means the police.

However, if you look at Jamaica (forgot to mention they have the third highest murder rate in the world), or Mexico, one can plainly see that efforts to restrict guns only to duly constituted authoritities, means that only they AND the criminals have guns.

Necessarily, this increases the reliance of ordinary citizens on police, and to the extent that police support is a day late or dollar short, violence will grow like wildfire.

Who is killing who in Detroit? By and large, since both the victims and shooters have criminal records, it would appear bad guys--who shouldn't legally have guns--are killing other bad guys, who likewise are not legally allowed to own guns.

Who is in the crossfire? Innocent people, whose main goal most days is likely just not to get shot, mugged, vandalized, or burgled.

The rational goal of gun policy, in my view, should be to get as many guns as possible into the hands of people who are not criminals, and as many away from felons as possible. Giuliani was only empowered to do the latter in New York, and that alone made a huge difference.

What people fail to grasp about the Second Amendment is that we are all members of a self governing Republic, and are responsible not just collectively but individually for our own defense. Guns are a logical and necessary means by which to do this.

During the war between the Whites and Reds during the Russian Revolution (and no doubt afterwards, although I haven't gotten to that part yet), possession of a gun by a non-Bolshevik was punishable by immediate execution. The first thing Hitler did was outlaw most private gun ownership by non-Party members.

The first thing any rational effort to "retake" Detroit must involve is bringing peace and safety to the streets. This would allow kids to focus on school, businesses to feel safe being there, and flight to the suburbs (which decreases the tax base, which reduces revenue, which creates even more of the problems like crime that caused the flight in the first place) to reduce and reverse.

They literally need something close to martial law. Civil libertarians, of course, would call such a thing racist. I call it racist to insist that millions live short miserable lives for the sake of political correctness. Who are the people who would file the lawsuits? Cozy liberals who can approach the issue from ivory towers, well outside the battle zone. And, not infrequently, corrupt politicians who actually BENEFIT from the status quo, just as all two bit dictators do well, regardless of the condition of their people. Saddam Hussein--honorary citizen--did quite well for himself while upwards of a million Iraqis starved to death.

The empathy the Detroit Municipal Government felt for him was no doubt quite sincere.

I've said this before, and will say it again: there are positive rights and negative rights. I'm still deciding which is which, but the net concept is that the right to walk unmolested, unmugged, unraped, and without exposure to aberrant behavior up the street is a right of the sort which governments are created to protect.

It is precisely a misunderstanding of the nature of government--here, a feeling that government exists to "reverse" discrimination by becoming color sensitive in another direction--that enables failures like this.

Government does not exist to enforce manners. It exists to enforce rights of the sort that have been abandoned entirely in the People's Republic of Detroit.

Well, the comments seem to have died down. I miss my old brawling days. Perhaps the word is out that this site is an island in a sea of effective propaganda that is unessential to the cause.

Be that as it may, I would STRONGLY, STRONGLY encourage anyone who doesn't really understand the nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict to set aside ten minutes and watch this piece: http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened/

It MUST be understood by all good people in the world that from the Arab perspective, the conflict should only cease when all Jews are dead. This is their end game, not some ethereal "justice" which they deny their own people, and have shown over and over they could care less about.

For those who don't have or won't take the time to watch this, here is one interesting statistic: as a result of the same war which created the "Palestinian" refugees, there were 850,000 Jewish refugees also created. Why don't you hear about them? Because Israel did the decent, human, moral thing, and absorbed them, just as the "Palestinians" should have been absorbed by Arab nations, who chose instead to use them as pawns in a diabolical, evil, sick game.

It is long past time to end that game. Step one is understanding, and that should probably start with boycotting CNN.

I can't resist adding on to that, and tying it back to the topic of the day.

I get this sense, looking at the "Palestinian" tactics, that they are perfectly congruent with the emotional sophistication of road rage. Many of us have experienced it in ourselves, most of us have likely seen it in others.

It is what Daniel Goleman calls an "amygdala hijack", after the organ in the brain effectively responsible for the famed "fight or flight" response. Practically, it is an abandonment of every refinement of civilized culture--like reasoned consideration of consequences, coupled with trained self restraint--in favor of striking out by any means available, consequences be damned.

We see these "Palestinians" launching rockets into Israel, killing not many people, but trying to. What is the military benefit of this? They can't beat the Israelis. It is more than a nuisance, certainly an act of war, but far, far less than something that has military value.

Do they advance their cause with all their staged propaganda photos? With their real photos of actual civilian casualties caused by their purposive decision to locate their launch pads and military capacity in civilian areas?

Perhaps. There are a lot of dumb people out there. Ted Turned, of course, used to be married to Jane Fonda, and Jimmy Carter is, well, Jimmy Carter. He may think he's a Christian, but my vision of God is that he expects us to think, and that failure to do so is the worst sort of sin.

Mostly, though, I think these rocket attacks--like the suicide bombings that accompanied and preceded them, are just the efforts of morally and emotionally stunted people to strike out, in exactly the same way that people on freeways shoot one another, accomplishing nothing but shared misery.

But guiding this effort are leaders whose power depends on a reliable pool of hatred, of mistrust, of persistent failure to end the horrific status quo. These leaders are indifferent to the suffering of their people. In fact, in many ways they welcome it, in that as long as they can channel it, they have cushy jobs for life. They can extort people, take bribes, commit crimes: all without fear of punishement, because they are in charge.

This is the same dynamic that is in place in Detroit, except that rather than hating Jews (although that is no doubt in place too) they hate white people. Am I misremembering, or did they not call the white Republican in the story the "Grand Dragon", a naked reference to the KKK, and presumably to his racist tendencies. Tendencies expressed, I might add, by refusing to reinforce mediocity.

The Bolsheviks sought to overturn the autocracy of the Tsars. In so doing, they worsened the objective condition of every citizen in the nation--economically, politically, spiritually--except those who were a part of the Communist aristocracy.

All of us need to learn to tell the difference between benign rhetoric, and reality. Reality is that the Palestinian leaders could care less about their people, or even defeating Israel. They are corrupt, evil gangsters who need to be killed or jailed, and all of us need to offer Israel our support in this task.

On our side, we have a lot of gangsters of our own. Progress is not easy, especially when the so-called Progressives ought more properly to be named the Regressives. Conservatives at least have the capacity to stay in one place. Since they are moving backwards, that puts us ahead.

I have to pass this one along too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83aJj72UjlM&eurl=http://www.jihadwatch.org/&feature=player_embedded

I have been assuming that the Gazans were poor, but perhaps even that is not fully accurate, once the massive aid they receive from the US, Israel and other nations is factored in.

I will add that Hamas has apparently been on a binge the last week or so of kneecapping Fatah leaders, and breaking their hands. Not all Palestinians are unable to see how they are being most abused by their own leaders. This is why terror is needed to keep the State intact.

This is the caliber of people the Israelis are dealing with.

Great article about Detroit! That is if you can stand to read the whole thing. I know first had about Detroit. I'm a Detroit Fire Fighter and proud to be one. The problems that face Detroit seem to boil down to accountability. Weather were talking about the corruption of the City government or inside the home of a family. People need to be held accountable for there actions. We need a father who will whip or ass if we get out of line. We need to stop spending money we don't have and save for the proverbial "rainy day". We need to hold and be held to a higher accountability than what most people want. But then I'm sure most of you who read this site know this. After all CrossFit is built on that principle.
On another note: I tried to keep to the 3 on 1 off schedule. But the problem is when you don't sleep for 24 hours. You can forget doing CrossFit while working in Detroit. We caught a 12 story apartment fire just when I was finishing up 5 rounds of boxjumps, sumo's, thrusters, pullup's. Needless to say I was worthless at about the 6th story of stairs. I know this is a late comment, but does anyone have a suggestion on how to balance training and rest? Much appreciated to who ever responds to this!