nice photo :D

Very cool pic!

Very cool pic!

anybody else having trouble with the journal article? showing up as a PDF article that I can't access instead of a video.

I liked what the tri-athlete said about structuring and combining his own specialized training with the generic "non-specialized" regimen that crossfit offers. He said it wasn't science, but an art form. Every athlete, every individual is different. How do you determine how much rest is appropriate for what is all too often an extremely diverse group of athletes in terms of their conditioning and ability? There are too many factors to generalize the specific amount of needed rest for large groups of athletes. If strength coaches at the high school and collegiate level tended to the proper rest intervals for each athlete individually, we'd have a lot more coaches asking for higher pay, as the process could be extremely taxing, creating much more work for one or even a few coaches working with their respective team. Sometimes, or perhaps more often than not, it's not the physical nature of our bodies, but rather the level of motivation that hinders our resiliance and our performance.

Nice pic! HooAH!

Enjoy your rest day!

Interesting video with Dave Tate. Is there any conflict between what he's saying about not lifting max effort every day with what Rippetoe recommends as the "Starting Strength" program where you're lifting max effort three days a week? When Dave says "max effort" is he talking strictly about one rep max, and does that not apply to the five rep max recommended in Starting Strength? Or are Dave's comments perhaps implicitly talking about intermediate or advanced (in Rippetoe's taxonomy) lifters and don't apply to the novice lifters that the three-day 5-5-5 program is designed for?

Time to go to an actual library and checkout a real book made of paper imprinted with ink...

I'm a day behind so know i get to catch up!
Although I can't do yesterdays WOD do to lack of equipment, And no time for gym today. but i'll find something to do.

awesome photo!!!!!

no rest day for me!!! time to do a bodyweight WOD!!

Am I the only one who finds the rest days the hardest to get through? I have drink the Cool-Aid so much and lik the flavor so much that all I wanna do is workout! COME ON THURSDAY! Man I love this stuff. I just had the hardest two weeks of my life...week one working with my brothers dark to dark with no time to Crossfit...week two bruised ribs from wrestling with my son (alcohol induced BBQ on the holiday where we fell into the front of the couch lol) but still pushin through the WODs. Ribs still hurt but like I always say are you the pig or the chicken?

Ah the good old pic of a special operator doing a handstand in country and wearing battle dress somehow never ceases to be cool in my eyes;)

Saw CrossFit or "cross-fitness" cited in the newest issue of Dynamic Chiropractic. Seems this little movement is coming to the forefront more and more. Awesome to see!

3...2...1...GO!

That is one of the most well-written articles I've ever read. I'll be buying that book.

MB: Starting Strength is for lifters who are not close to the efficiency/intensity level Tate is talking about. Tate also makes a distinction between a single-rep and multi-rep "max." In this case, I think the two would be in basic agreement. In any case, I enjoy hearing both their perspectives and considering how I might apply them in my training.

I posted this once before, but I'll try one last time. Otherwise, maybe we can get it done for next year.

CALLING ALL VIDEO MAKERS: I looked around a bit, but couldn’t find a short (ideally 30-60 seconds), family-friendly video explanation/demonstration of Fight Gone Bad. Does anybody have a link for one? If not, can somebody put one together in the next week or two for those of us interested in promoting FGBIV to non-CrossFitting friends in emails and Facebook updates? I am picturing something showing all levels of competitors in action as well as a verbal and text explanation of the format and purpose of supporting The Wounded Warriors Project and Athletes for a Cure. Thanks!

I read Mr. Helprin's op-ed in the 2007 NYTimes, and I had the same reaction to it that many did, including Lawrence Lessig. But, unable to help myself, I read Digital Barbarism from start to finish.

Although it was entertaining if nothing else, I did not agree with Mr. Helprin's arguments whatsoever. While I feel for him (after all, he received a verbal and written thrashing after his op-ed that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy), I can't say that I found the book compelling or even remotely convincing. It was self-serving at times, and I found it rarely evincing proper research into the subject matter.

While I agree that it does seem odd that our constitutional framers set an arbitrary restriction on created works that is not set on our physical property, I believe it is done so for good reason.

For anyone interested, Lessig posted a very long (and rather biting) review of Digital Barbarism. Even if you enjoyed the book, I think it's worth reading both points of view. It's an absolutely fascinating subject, as US copyright law has repercussions on all of us in this country.

#12 Dr. Ike

Here's a link to the Dynamic Chiropractic article:

http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=54023

Sounds like more "form" and "technique" instruction is in order.

Check out the author bio's at the end.

Dave T.

I'm on DAY 29 of my Paleo Challenge. I'm a type 1 diabetic for 16 years. I'm also a 205 pound crossfitter who can pull a 1:55 Grace, run a 0:59 400 meter, a 5:51 mile, with a 1200 CF Total.

For those of you unfamiliar: most of the ravages of modern diet are wrought by the insulin response to starchy foods.

A type 1 diabetic can be a very sensitive detector of these problems - a canary in the coal mine. This is because I have to inject insulin to balance the carbohydrate load of these foods, and I measure my blood sugar constantly to make sure I've balanced this food & insulin teeter-totter. The amount of insulin I'm injecting is a good measure of how damaging the foods I am eating are to even most healthy people.

I was calling myself 'paleo' for a long time, but had become complacent, including a lot of dairy, legumes (peanut butter!), ice cream and a couple other modest cheats. Nonetheless my blood sugar control and insulin usage was significantly better than it had been in previous years, and significantly better than most Type 1 diabetics experience. Most Type 1 diabetics do NOT follow a low-carb diet.

For the past 29 days (Thanks for prompting from Jakers and Rebe!), I cut out the dairy, legumes, and all sugar. I have in fact cheated: whiskey and beer (and only those). I've also suffered, a lot, though it's gotten better.

These are trivial improvements: I lost 11 pounds. I more often feel better, eg. upon waking. I don't snore anymore.

But the really amazing results are my numbers. I had GOOD blood sugar control before. Now, I have excellent control, about twice better than I've ever seen before; and I'm using a lot less insulin. For anyone worried about things like ADHD, Alzheimer's, Type 2 diabetes, weight loss and body composition --- these results are meaningful to you. I am just a very sensitive machine that produces unarguable numbers validating the claims of Paleo diet advocates like Robb Wolf.

All my numbers, constantly updated, are here: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0At-K3H4Tym0ecnBoOTFDbEZTTmVpb1ZkZEp4UDROUkE&hl=en

My average blood sugar, after Paleo, is at 103, down from 127. More importantly, my Standard Deviation is down to 30 from 61. My average daily insulin intake is now 29, down from 53 (which was down from 75). (You have to look at the August 2009 spreadsheet to see the switch over stats.)

The results I've seen mean that I will never go back from a radically low-carb, low-glycemic index diet, which is essentially what Paleo is. It means a longer, healthier life for me.

Awesome pic!!!!

like we say

R est
A nother
T ime

OK, well I really tried to read that article but I became frustrated with his writing style and couldn't force myself to get through it to digest his overall message.

He writes like a 9th grader attempting to impress his English teacher with long words, intricate similes and complex sentences.

His footer presents him as a man who has written many books. If they contain sentences like the one I've cut & paste below, I imagine that most of them remain unread.

Maybe that then is my take out on books vs cyber journalism. It ain't the medium that's important so much as the message.

Get your laughing gear around this sentence

"When you combine all the things that by certain definitions one must be uncool to protest — inaccuracy, incivility, deliberate distortion, dirty tricks, vulgarity, threat, false attribution, and alterability of source, fact, and text — with history’s most efficient means of distributing opinion and information, what you get is acquiescence to the widespread degradation in which the electronic culture brings the vices of the political war room to what now passes for intellectual life"

or this one

"Copyright was the sometimes sparkling, controversial fuse I used as an armature for a much expanded argument in regard to the relationship of man and machine, in which I attacked directly into the assault of modernism, collectivism, militant atheism, utilitarianism, mass conformity, and like things that are poison to the natural pace and requirements of the soul, that reify what those who say there is no soul believe is left, and that, in a headlong rush to fashion man solely after his own conceptions, are succeeding"

I have to post this. I did CFT today. I usually try to stay a few days behind the main site based off my erratic schedule. I was on the dead lift and I had 405lbs on the bar. I was doing this at a globo gym. One of the regulars came up to me and said don't you think that is a little too much weight. I am 35yrs old, 70" and about 180lbs. I think I know what I am doing. I had failed on my first attempt, which I assume is what made him say what he said. Anyways, on my next attempt I smoked it. 405lbs has never felt so light. I really think my motivation was that I just wanted to shove that comment down his throat. After my set I went back over to him and all he could do was lower his head and say okay, okay, you got it… I LOVE CROSSFIT.

Thought I'd try something different that works a few elements of fitness: balance, coordination, and core.

Figured I'm only young once and hopped on my kids' Rip-Stik. Took a few tries over a few days to get the balance down, but it's a blast.

If you haven't seen one, it's similar to a skateboard, but with only 1 wheel/caster front and back. Now my kids say a skateboard is a RipStik with training wheels.

Dave T,

The author speaks of 'cross-fitness' as if he doesn't know that CrossFit is a registered trademark. I doubt that there are enough other cross training companies out there making as big a splash as CF.

He mentions that physical training is only safe if technique is good. He's correct-sort of, but he then claims that CrossFitters have worse technique than Joe Schmoe at a 'regular' gym. His quote: "How can we expect tens of thousands to learn form from online video instruction?" At least they get some instruction. Most people just show up to the gym or read what to do in a mag.

He also says people on statins shouldn't do vigorous exercise. Perhaps they should do vigorous exercise and NOT statins.

He did, however, refer to low-back-legend Stu McGill!

Overall, pretty average article.

I was lazy after a 700 mile driving day. No equipment available for back squats while i'm out on the road. Will suck it up and do something tough on rest day to make up for it!

"Teaching yoga wasn't a career choice, but a life choice. The best part is, I had a good 10 or 12 years of teaching and growing before I became popular. Now, good teachers get popular too quickly and stop being students too early."
-- Rod Stryker

I GOT MY FIRST KIPPING PULL-UP!! Yippy Skippy! It only took me 11 months but I DID IT!!! I did Annie afterward and dont even remember the time other than 12 minutes and some change. Sooo excited!!!

Very cool and very tragic picture.

In the distance you can see the open spaces in the cliffs where the giant buddhas used to be. Sweet job, Taliban.

Is it me, or all the handstand photo's getting out of control. In half the photo's the person is leaning up against something, please. Let's get more creative.

Thoroughly enjoyed the rest day, went for a walk around the FOB (about a mile) while listening to a book, then did technique work on pull-ups (go all the way up and then randomly stop and hold on the way down) did 3 of those. Then I finally did my first handstand in years I am pumped!

hmmm, somebody in the filter isn't liking my comments today.

am a day behind main site WODs so am looking forward to front squats tomorrow

I fell in love with Mark Helprin's writing when I was sixteen, he outclassed Victor Hugo and Joseph Heller at that time. I strongly recommend all three of his first novels: Refiner's Fire (set in America and in Israel during the Six Day War), Winter's Tale, and A Soldier Of The Great War.

I still rank him among my top five favorite authors, with Tom Stoppard, Neal Stephenson, Ayn Rand, Bryce Courtenay.

Did "Barbara today in 26:50 Am always playing catch up......

mike m/34/5'10"/180lbs

That's what i like to hear, way to go mike and for everyone else enjoy the rest because tomorrows another day to HIT IT HARD!!

Cumulative L-hold = 15:22

bodyweight Fran (pull ups and burpees) = 06:19

Comment #19 Cash Reynolds-

You've got my attention. I follow the Zone diet quite religiously and (except for some beer and wine) consider myself "in the zone" most of the time. I'm also down to 180lbs from an obese 220lbs in a year. I guess I'll be trawling Amazon for some good Paleo literature too now. Thanks!

FF Football
BP at 185lb
2 reps on min every min for 15 minutes
*dropped to 180 on sets 8-12
*dropped to 175 on sets 12-15

Tabata on C2
991 meters on full resistance

I attended the level I crossfit seminar last weekend and had a blast. Thanks for coming all the way out to Okinawa!

However, I had a nutrition question during the seminar that got conflicting answers:

If my lean body mass changes (read: gaining muscle from crossfit/zone combo), should I go back and recalculate my protein intake? The first answer I received was (paraphrased) "no, you should wait until after you have leaned out and have gone up to 5x fat." This answer confused me (I am more than willing to admit that I may not have phrased the question properly). That said, I thought I'd ask another of the instructors the same question and they responded more like I expected (again, paraphrased); "yes, you should recalculate if either of the variables (lean body mass, activity level) changes significantly.

I realize it might seem nit-picky but if someone with a lean body weight of 150 lbs gains just 5 pounds of muscle and goes up one activity level, they could have potentially just gained 3 blocks per day. Thats a whole extra meal for a lot of us. And if we are supposed to feed our lean body mass, it would seem like a critical mistake to replace the required protein/carbs by *ONLY* increasing one's fat intake.

I'm a newbie to the zone and a relative newbie to the Zone/Paleo but eager to learn...could someone set me straight? I realize there might not be a clear-cut answer but pointing me in the general direction would be good enough.

I agree with the above commments, at first i tought the article was too dense to be written by someone other than a pompous, elitist academically based nincompoop, but after about halfway he does actually try to coalesce his rant into a decent point.

Does a 7.4 mile run count as rest? The Army doesn't stop because crossfit does. Oh well see ya tomorrow.

Thank god today is a rest day...Running a tri on Saturday killed me and I am just now recovered from that...I got another tri on Oct 3..thanks coach for the rest day! It's greatly appreciated.

#16:
Looking for a FGB Video

Fight Gone Bad Fundraiser by CrossFit Again Faster - video was posted on Sunday, 9/6 on the main page. Don't know if that is what you may be looking for. I used it to help promote our FGB event.

Does anyone else find it disturbing that the warnings written over two thousand years ago are becoming more and more true? "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil..."

Even just looking at the Constitution, which dictates how our government is to operate, people want the exact opposite. Article I Section 8 gives Congress the authority "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."

Yet today, we've got people up in arms that Congress would DARE to allow Authors and Inventors the *option* of copyrighting their own work.

Then, those very same people demand that government use its brute force to literally steal money in the form of unjust taxation from people who have earned it, and give it away to other people who haven't earned it. Rather than allowing these same individuals to freely give of their own free will (which Americans do plenty of), people today demand that Congress exercise authority that was never given to it in the Constitution, by stealing money from people and giving it to others.

Those words in Isaiah 5:20 were speaking of many groups throughout history, but it is entirely true of American society today. Let's just hope that those folks don't bring the rest of us down with them.

No Rest Day! Can anyone foresee the future, as to what thursday's work out will look like and then suggest a small workout for me to do today that won't make tomorrow hell? (2 weeks into CF) Thanks!

Regarding yesterday's WOD, the front squat, I don't think I have the necessary flexibility in my wrists for the traditional rack position for this exercise. I can handle light loads, but not loads for a 3 rep set. Is there another hand position I could use for this?

male/231 keeping weight off and losing
wu, 1 mile, 27th day of burpee challenge, front squat 125/145

I've been slacking on posting my workouts because I am not in sync with the .com WOD's and don't like seeing posts on random workouts (just my preference). However, I did read the article and couldn't agree more with the author's point. People have imprisoned themselves through technological "advancement", and until they get back to focusing on the individual and appreciating the power of the mind, they will remain as such. I believe the CF community is a microcosm of this argument. In a nutshell, get rid of the machines and get back to basics!!vidual is more powerful than the machine

what is the burpee challenge?

There is no qualitative difference between a club and a nuclear bomb. Both are tools used for killing people.

Likewise, there is no intrinsic qualitative difference between chats over the campfire, and anonymous dialogue conducted on the internet.

Self evidently, though, the potential issues at play with nuclear weapons make all the detriments and advantages of ANY form of weapon much, much larger. Arguably, nuclear weapons prevented a Third (shooting) World War. Arguably, they or biological weapons could be used to destroy humanity, or much of it.

Likewise with technology. The internet is simultaneously an empowering tool for the communication of ideas and information, and a resonant surface for the rapid and error free transmission of propaganda.

We saw its value, I think, in Van Jones recent resignation, and in the perceptions behind the Obama black curtain (can I say that? Iron curtain seemed too strong) which it enabled. That was Beck and Drudge, plain and simple.

We see the negative side constantly. It is amazing how one can go from site to site to site, and hear EXACTLY the same words, the same arguments, and the same recourse to ad hominem the moment anyone questions the dogma.

We see further the facilitation of depersonalization. People say things they would never say to your face, when they are hiding behind a pseudonym.

At the same time, I think Helprin is missing the fact that what people are SAYING is just what they were THINKING before. I think we are romanticizing the past to think no one was cussing out anyone else under their breath around the campfire.

What technology, at root, enables is WILD SWINGS. It amplifies both good and evil. It does not create them.

With respect to copyright law, he's just running into an entitlement culture that expects everything to be fast, sleek, and free, since that is their EXPERIENCE. Yes, this is one aspect of a much deeper cultural issue, but I for one would not tie technology to this slide, except to the extent that in my view, again, the technology facilitates and greases the wheels on what is bad.

If I were trying to build an SS, I would start by finding people who spend their time watching movies like Hostel (or listening to gangster rap). There are hundreds of these movies. The effects of watching violence on TV are well known. They include emotional desensitization; loss of interpersonal empathy; and pessimism, typically coupled with depression.

I've said this before, but I also think p0rn has the same effect. In what should be an almost spiritual act, you reduce it to the most physical and emotion-free basis possible, then reinforce that basic system over and over and over and over. That this would lead to a decreased confidence in the possibility of lifetime love seems to me self evident. And expectation has a way of becoming reality.

That will do for now. I'm sure I'll have more to say.

Matt at 6:56 (42),

You found the Copyright Clause, art. I, s. 8, cl. 8; congratulations. That's an important power granted the Congress. Now, in whining about how "Congress exercise[s] authority that was never given to it in the Constitution" by taxing people, how did you miss the Taxing and Spending Clause? It comes before the Copyright Clause, and that's why I corrected your citation - the Taxing and Spending Clause is art. I, s. 8, cl. 1. So you skipped over one Clause to get to another, and defended one power on grounds of an explicit grant in the Constitution while decrying another as not being explicit... when it is ("The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes..."). Oh, and how about art. I, s. 2, cl. 3 ("Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States...")? Need I mention the Seventeenth Amendment?
Your argument to the text of the Constitution is hypocritical and weak, my friend.

After reading waaay too much of the posts and the whole article.... I am left with the thought that I, as an individual, am free to choose where I focus my time and attention, am free to comply with governmental rules, am free to disent in secret or openly. I am not enslaved by my devices because.....I am free to tunr them off.
Have a great rest day

Hey guys, as I have in the past, I am coming to you the CrossFitter's for advice. I have been doing these workouts for only a short period of time, and I am beyond hooked on them, but I also kind of want to step up my cardio game (as it is my biggest weakness) on top of these workouts, as well as my amount and level of stretching. Any input on best ways to step that up, distances and whatnot to improve a 2 mile run time, as well as amount of time spent stretching would be beyond appreciated, my email is linked to my name.

GET SOME!

- LT

8 deadlift (225#)
10 burpee box jumps (30in)
Run 200m

10 Rounds - 33:10

The burpee box jumps are quite unsettling. I hope everyone enjoys the not so fun day of rest.

LT- Cardio? Tee hee- yeah, you'll stop calling it that soon :)

http://www.crossfitendurance.com/index.php

Stretching? http://www.amazon.com/Stretching-Bob-Anderson/dp/0394738748 Great resource for static stretches. You subscribe to CF Journal, right? WHAT? Sheesh, do that pronto! Kelly Starett videos- invaluable. Also check out SMR- self myofascial release, AKA foam rolling. Like CrossFit, the pain is exquisite, barely tolerable, and you will repeatedly go back for more!

Good luck

Cookie- I AM SO VERY PROUD OF YOU. 11 months? Is that all LOL Rock those front squats, make me proud

front squat 3-3-3-3-3 as rx'd

205-215-215-220X2 (new 2 rep PR)- 220X1

I am a 39y.o. guy who loves Crossfit and does it for the results I see and the way I feel.

I don't compete in any formal sport or competitions but I like being fit enough to do anything I want to do, whether it be playing with my kids, a pick up game (ever so rare though), helping someone move, cutting firewood etc.

I was wondering how many of you are in it for the fitness or are you still competitive athletes or in a career where it behooves you to be in great shape (Military, Police, Fireman)?

I love being healthy, but I would love to have a pasttime where I could utilize what I've accomplished up until this point. Growing up stifles it a little.

Thanks

39/5'10"/168/M

Barry,

Have you ever watched Hostel? It's actually a very good movie--graphic, absolutely. I agree with you that some people that watch the movie, and others similar to it, are pretty messed up. But generalizing the entirety of the audience to members of a new SS is a little extreme.

Not sure where you connect gangster rap and the SS, however.

Rest Day
Chest DB Press
5x40kg
5x46kg
5x46kg
5x46kg
4x46kg
Pec Deck
5x#60
5x#70
5x#80
Arms BB curls
5x45kg
5x50kg
5x55kg
5x55kg
5x50kg

RE to Comment #57:

The movie "Hostel" should be treated as a mandatory training session for anybody who wants to travel in foreign countries while staying in the aforementioned accommodations. From what I've seen and for reasons that I'm not entirely sure of, Americans are some of the most trusting and naive travellers in the world...and that's not all good, especially when going through developing countries with little, if any, law enforcement resources. I think that flick has FAR more truth than fiction in it.

Barry, I was on board until the "start a new SS" part.

There is an essential tension between unlimited and unfettered unearned entitlement, and a just system of commerce in which those who create receive compensation for whatever it is that they have created. This tension is all the more evident, and compensation for creation all the more difficult to come by, when the "product" cannot be held.

Whether it be a creation, a collection of words or images, or a service that is provided, our Constitution has stated that these have value in that they were "created" of one person's free will and offered for sale to another. Copyright is simply our Constitutionally sanctioned tactic to protect that ownership and its attendant right to sell that product.

I could use bigger words like the author, but you get the point...

No, I have not seen the movie. I have read the Wikipedia summaries for it and Hostel 2, which ends with a girl decapitating her friend and playing soccer with the head.

Look, many of the video games kids are playing today are functionally identical to the training systems the Army and Marines use to make sure our soldiers pull the trigger when looking at an enemy. Killing is not natural. It has to be taught. Many of our soldiers wouldn't shoot in past wars, even under threat of imminent death, until we started deploying this type of training.

The very first step in any genocide or mass murder is dehumanization. You have to learn to look at human beings as objects. You have to learn to still your natural empathy.

For many of us older people, the Exorcist was a pretty scary movie. The daughter of a friend of mine laughed at it. She's seen every horror movie imaginable: all the Saw movies, all the Halloween movies, etc. etc.

The point people miss is that the argument against these things is not that people copy them (although it has happened, in point of fact). The problem is that precisely the interpersonal empathy and skill that make shared social life worthwhile are damaged. Not destroyed, but not BUILT.

What we SHOULD be doing with our technology is figuring out how to make people more empathetic within a sound philosophical grounding based on the common sense observation that evil exists, and must sometimes be fought. The possibilities, for example, of art in this are tremendous.

But what are we doing? Are we doing that? We are hanging blank canvases in museums, and many disturbing images, and calling it "provocative". If one starts to systematically count, in effect, the assaults against our common culture and community, versus things that build it, it becomes clear, at least in my view, that "common culture" is losing badly.

The simple, historical fact is that the SA and SS existed. The Cheka (just as bad if not worse) existed. They awful things to many, many human beings.

Note that I did not say that an SS was being built. I have no evidence for that. It is simply an historical fact that all Communist regimes have had a secret police. It is the sine qua non of keeping a regime in place against the wishes of the bulk of the populace.

Can anyone seriously suggest an admirer of Chairmen Mao, like Van Jones was, would not have thought of how to take and keep power by force?

I'm not any happier with that conclusion than anyone else, but in my view it is a necessary one. There are people, today, in high places of government, who are sympathetic to leaders and nations who actually lived, who implemented actual polices, affecting actual human beings, and who used in that process secret police.

That is fact. Where we stand today is open to conjecture, and I am no better informed on that than anyone else.

thanks Pony :)
Front squats 3-3-3-3-3
95-115-125-135-140 PR
thats my former 1 RM so I am pretty stoked! I had to fight for the last rep and it wasnt pretty but I did it :) Just when I thought I couldnt muster it along comes "Drop it like it's hot" on my iPod :0 Divine intervention haha! Mani/pedi time!

I've been doing crossfit and love the results I've had but I've recently been bit by the marathon bug and wanted to start incorporating some marathon training. Any suggestions on how to merge these so I can gain the endurance needed for a marathon, maintain at least some of my crossfit strength and not overtrain myself to death? If anyone has done this or know of how someone else who did I'm open to suggestions.

If horror films aren't your cup of tea, I can understand. However, don't judge a film based on a wikipedia summary. Sit down, watch it, and judge for yourself.

Just for clarification: Hostel 2 ends with the lead actress decapitating the woman who pretended to be her friend; who lured her and her two friends from school to the area where the kill-club got hold of them.

I agree the Exorcist is a scary movie. However, watch John Carpenter's original "Halloween"--much scarier and it doesn't fit into the torture porn category that you would lump "Hostel".

She doesn't play soccer with it, the local group of messed up kids do. She just walks away.

And it is true about many modern video games. The US Army actually publishes a game, "America's Army" in hopes of recruiting kids to want to join up when they were of age. I think it's on release 3 now. They also go around to schools, rec centers, etc with full scale interactive games with Hummers and Blackhawk sections with life size guns.

I don't know the exact numbers, but I do recall reading an article that said that the majority of people who played weren't spurred to join up. Not to mention the fact the game is quite buggy.

doing cfe today, 4 x 5k

ack

I almost stopped reading the article. The author, whom obviously possesses a firm grasp of the English language, seems to me more intent on proving his grasp of the language than his actual points. If I'm not mistaken, he also started off describing why he wrote the book and how he wanted it in ink, unchangeable, and not catering to those who don't know where to find books. He then, however, writes this article, for the internet, seemingly as a teaser to buy the book. Isn't that contradicting?

I do agree with some of his, and the boards, general points. Most people are way too connected to their machines. I, myself, feel, embarassingly lost without my Blackberry, like I may actually miss something that important. Things like the internet have given all of us the ability to say whatever we want, whether we believe it or not, regardless of whether we would ever say it to anyone's face. The sense of empowerment people seem to get by ripping someone else a new one just because they can manage to type it and hit "Submit" is strange.

The other thing that seems lost on most people is the feeling of "want." He illustrates the point using free music and things like that, but I suppose p0rn fits in there. The sense of entitlement to whatever you may want right now, regardless of whether you can afford it is nauseating.

For years growing up, there was a housing project across the river, several blocks from my house. For some reason or another, the people living there usually had nicer cars and clothes than my family and I. Did they work hard to pay for these things? Did they just think "I deserve these things?"

Sorry for the long and winding post, interesting article, I won't be buying the book.

What I'm trying to do is think mythically. The problem with both myth and poetry is they are INTRINSICALLY unscientific. You can measure peoples reactions to beauty, but you can't measure it directly.

The question I'm asking is, taking away any evanescent visceral reactions that fade quickly (bad dreams, temporary anxiety), what is the long term cultural effect of the various forms of mass media people choose to consume. Are we building a better society, or are we all in little boats, slowly floating away from one another in a collective fog?

Analyzing symbols is one of those things freshman are forced to do in English class, we think. It's a pretentious activity done by effete nose-bleeders who don't have anything more useful to do.

Yet, in reality, if you observe carefully, symbols are largely what constitute culture. Wars have been fought over the symbology (was it symbolic) of the Eucharist. This is not a sign that those people were insane, but that the deep things that tie us together actually MATTER.

To embrace scientism is to reject poetry. That utterance itself is poetic, not scientific.

I just realized the symbolism of the soap in Fight Club. I have long viewed that movie as de facto Fascist propaganda. Durden is manifestly an acutely psychotic sociopathic terrorist.

Yet, as was the case with the Nazis themselves, a metaphor of cleansing and purification is invoked. Lye, come to think of it, is an element in soap. He burns himself with the part of soap that makes it work. Pain and purification are blended in a metaphor, and tied behaviorally to self destructive masochism.

Moreover, the soap uses human fat, from people who--we are to understand--were too lazy and complacent not to get fat in the first place, or to lose it through the strength of their own wills. You take human complacency, add pain to it, and you get purification.

Hence the need to blow up large buildings, and the ubiquitous infatuation with "revolution" on the part of both actual Fascists, and Communists, for whom I've come up with a better term: Hypocritical Fascists. Fascists just want to take things and break stuff. Communists want to do this while pretending this is beneficial.

Was flying on Tuesday so I made it up today:

As rx'ed
70/70/70/80/80

After that did:

Bench Press 65/75/75
Back Squat 85/95/105

Was flying on Tuesday so I made it up today:

As rx'ed
70/70/70/80/80

After that did:

Bench Press 65/75/75
Back Squat 85/95/105

There was a rest day a while back with a link to an article by some dude saying that the new information technology - the internets - was creating a new method of thinking, and it was the dawn of a Great New Day for human consciousness.

I immediately thought of posting a quote from Helprin as a counterpoint - perhaps I was not alone in that thought.

I am reminded that with the invention of the printing press among the first things printed was the Bible, which was a controversial act, and was intimately tied to the Reformation. Luther was a pamphleteer. Translation of the Bible into English and its ready availability through printing technology were also very controversial. The invention of the printing press is probably the closest historical analog to the internets in its effect on the availability of information and the effect of that on "the power structure." Though it is a bit unfair to Helprin, there are echoes of the old controversies over the English Bible in Helprin's enjoyable rants on digital barbarism.

Tyndale's English Bible was outlawed, confiscated, burned, and treated as contraband, being as it was evidence of heretical and seditious Reformist thinking, and a therefore a threat to ecclesiastical and royal authority. Tyndale was persecuted, hunted, denounced, arrested, hung and burned at the stake.

Tyndale once remarked to a cleric who was opposed to his efforts: "“If God spare my life, ere many years pass, I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the Scriptures than thou dost”

CFSBII wk 4, squat cleans, 5x3, 100, 110, 115, 120, 125; 15 x 80

Metcon later.

Hey all. I have to say I love crossfit. Been doing it for about 3 weeks or so and it's awesome. I'm finally getting abs, but I can't seem to get my lower abs, or get rid of my little love handles. any help on what I can do to speed up the process.

thank god for a rest day, ive gone 5 in a row and two of them i have doubled up

Seth,
I imagine you will get several remarks regarding the fact that you want abs. Most of that usually comes from diet, same with your love handles. Better quantity/ratio of nutrients eaten --> better body composition numbers--> reduced love handles and more definition (possibly abs).

You said you've been at it for 3 weeks, I'm guessing you didn't acquire the love handles in less than a month, be patient. Eat well, train hard, reap the rewards!

good luck

So I guess doing 5x5 bench, 7x1 weighted pullups and 5x3 back squat, all heavy weight is not a good idea to do in one day??

Seth #73-

1. Do CF WODs. Don't worry about doing any supplemental ab work. Focus on improving your technique then try to improve your times and loads lifted each time you work out.
2. Eat Zone or Paleo in portions that are appropriate for your lean body mass and activity level.
3. Watch the excess bodyfat fall off you.

There's no secret or trick to getting in shape--hard work and disciplined eating over a sustained period of time is all there is to it.

Thanks coach, great post! I wrote this letter to the editor:

Dear Mr. Helprin

I enjoyed your article and am interested in reading digital barbarism. I think that there are many aspects of the internet that you really hit home. In my opinion, one of the great aspects of the internet and the electronic media that surrounds it is the tremendous challenge that it poses to all of its users. I believe that with exception of academic communities, this is one of the first instances in which a threat has come in the form of information. As you mentioned, access to information and the phenomenally fast medium it is delivered by often serves to erode culture and feed into people's compulsions.

I think this is what makes the internet beautiful.

For once, we are faced with the task of disciplining the mind in all aspects of our lives (of course discipline of the mind is learned during work and some leisure activities. We are mental creatures and when the mind is interfaced with this medium, the slowest link is no longer proximity to information, dispersion of information, etc. The limitations usually imposed on the mind by nature of living in our current environment are completely unbounded, the mind is interfaced with a medium that far exceeds our capacity to exhaust it.

In my humble opinion with this medium comes the opportunity to remarkably increase our intellectual capacity because of the tremendous and novel challenge it poses. Is this true? Well we are already seeing the danger the internet poses. This is proof of its vital power, that is attained when we learn to harness and master it!

#27 Congrats cookie.... but shouldn't the phrase by yippy kippy.....

i know i know... lame xfit humor

All this talk of the internet...so I sat down and finished it last night. The whole thing. Well, at least the part that was free or that I could readily steal without too much effort.

Review?
It was pretty good. After completing, I immediately went out and bought myself some low-slung baggy jeans, and an ill-fitting belt. Was all ready to stock up on some hip-hop CDs and murder-p0rn movies too, but then I remembered that they're available free on the world wide web!

I think most people, at least people young enough to have some capacity to adapt to new technology, have the necessary strength of will to keep their soul from being hopelessly corrupted from what is, in the end, just another tool. I'd like to think I can still separate worthless argument from interesting data, regardless of the medium.

1000m row TT x 2
3:42, 3:40 Greg
4:32, 4:13 Kelli

#79 thenine - I LOVE IT!! YIPPY KIPPY! and thank you :)

Hey guys, I have a good question regarding today's video by Dave Tate. So the question is how beneficial is doing CF total which comes up on the main site every now and then if its not beneficial to do over 4 lifts over 90% during one workout. I usually do 3 lifts each exercise over 90% during a CF total which would make the total lifts over 90% 9.

Menco

29/m/6'4/205

Making up for missing Monday and Tuesday. Diane put a hurting on me.

Courtesy of crossfit Coronado
Tuesday Fran Gone Bad - 159 as rx'd
Wednesday 5 rounds of Helen - 24 even as rx'd.

Wednesday 16 Sep 09

500m Row - 1:59
Dynamic stretching
Bergener WU

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
70# KB Swings
C2B Pu's
8:48

FS 5x3 - 135,155,165,175,175
Felt good, # was perfect for last rep of last set. Not sure if this is a PR - I have to start writing down my benchmarks/PRs! I am beginning to lose track and dont always have access to a PC.

PT:
Various calisthenics - 30m, 1.5m run - no time

"Josh"

21-15-9 OHS 95#
42-30-18 Pullups

9:36 PR

RIP SSG Joshua Hager

Barry #49,
WILD SWINGS, yes.

http://tinyurl.com/pzg3eb

MW: You argue that globalization and modern technology have made the world financial system far more fragile than ever before. How?

NT: Globalization and the Web create worldwide mass effects, whether positive or negative. We have planetary fads that cause random variables to have bigger spikes than ever before. Variables that used to move 10 per cent now move 30 per cent. The whole planet can pull its money out on the same day.

FIGHT CLUB FACISM/TERRRORISM? I hardly think so. It's a story of a schizophrenic who ridicules and rejects popular culture including consumerism, lifestyle, and belief systems, believing they are empty, self-serving, superficial, and ultimately meaningless. His real self admires & follows his ego-self and they both reject his real self. Terrorist is a peculiar description. His intent is to wipe out the debt record (an enabling mechanism of consumer slavery), not kill anyone or further a political grievance. It's a great work of art as film and is more about freedom than tyrany, which is what fascism is.

Didnt rest today instead i did
50-30-15
kb swing 16kg
box jump
push ups
i got it from crossfit central.

24/f/5'2/118

18:22
took me a little while because i had to work around people at a gym. Im going to do it again at my friends barn with no interuptions and hopefully get better time. :)

went to the field monday and tuesday, got smoked this morning so should i work out tonight or actually take the rest?

I6: We rarely disagree, but I really feel I'm right about Fight Club. People remember Tyler Durden, and analyze the movie based on his actions and perspective, but you have to remember all the explosives were made and planted by people who for all intents and purposes were in a cult. Whatever he told them to do, they did, without question. "Meine Ehre heisst Treue".

Moreover, it is simply impossible to imagine that if dozens of large buildings in the middle of large cities were destroyed, that no one would be hurt or killed. In addition, the financial system would collapse (absent backups, which most companies have off-site, which pragmatically might have prevented his achieving even his main aim), which would have meant massive losses of money even by the middle classes, and potentially a large scale Depression, which benefits no one, except the already wealthy.

And the overarching point is that he felt himself entitled to tell other people how to live their lives. I have heard people say it was a good thing that he pointed that gun at that guys head, but for all he knew the guy was being a responsible father, and sacrificing his own dreams for his family. There is nothing wrong with that.

In my view, it is abundantly possible to criticize the suburban banality that characterizes much of our nation, without wanting to destroy it. We need to evolve it. There are many reasons why things are the way they are, and they need to be grasped, and changed, gradually.

And one of the worst outcomes of our economic success has been insulation from pain. I agree with this. Hell, I'm a CrossFitter. But understanding that valuable things are difficult and painful to achieve, and pursuing pain for its own sake, are two different things.

I had that song running through my head today: "Pain, I like it rough. I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all." There are dozens of these songs. Or "Down with the sickness". Read the lyrics, if you don't know them.

It is always easier to build on a foundation than to create something new. Organic, authentic, deep social evolution happens slowly. When change is forced, that is a functional definition of autocracy. Arguably the most horrific regime of the 20th Century was that of Pol Pot in Cambodia. What did they want? To remake their section of humanity into something radically new, and to do it in a year or two. Millions died stupidly.

Look at the cover of the movie, with Brad Pitt punching with soap. The message, in my view, is that Brad Pitt/Tyler is an agent of purification.

Here is a relevant selection from Joachim Fest's biography of Hitler:

"By chance a photograph has been preserved in which Adolph Hitler can be seen in the cheering crowd on the Odeonsplatz in Munich when the state of war was proclaimed on August 1, 1914. His face is plainly recognizable: the half open mouth, the burning eyes, which at last have a goal and see a future. For this day liberated him from all the embarassments, the perplexities, and the loneliness of failure. . .

One did not have to be an artistic wastrel with no prospects to regard the day 'the war broke out and swept away the "peace"' as 'beautiful for a sacred moment' and even to feel that it satisfied an 'ethical yearning' [Hitler's words]. The whole European world, including Germany, was suffering from profound ennui. The war seemed an opportunity to escape from the miseries of normality. . .

In keeping with the romanticizing tendencies of the age, the war was viewed as a PURIFICATION process, the great hope of liberation from mediocrity, weariness with life, and self disgust."

The Communists operate on exactly the same mindset. There is no difference that matters functionally.

True Liberalism is a process of dealing often with frustrating details, often denying yourself immediate gratification, and being patient in attaining your aims.

in the wake of some guy's comments on diane, i've been trying to scale more and reduce time. let's see where it gets me:

35 pullups
400m run
21 thrusters
800m run
21 thrusters
400m run
35 pullups

me (70lb thrusters): 21:27

beemer (40lb thrusters, 40lb assist on pullups): 26:30

when am I going to learn, that a rest day is a rest day, not a day for other stuff. Went to boxing and still don't feel recovered.

You know, I wanted to return to the topic just for the moment. Logically, if digital media is the problem, then eliminating it would reverse many of our contemporary social ills.

If everyone just read books, so I understand the argument to go, our culture would be more civil, interactive, and less alienated.

Yet, the internet did not exist in the 1930's. All of the crazy ideas that took root back then, were obtained from books. Clashed in the streets--physical clashes, in which people actually died--were common. The official Nazi anthem was based on an incident in which a SA Brownshirt was killed by Communists.

For that reason, I will repeat my own belief that the internet and other digital technologies merely AMPLIFY existing trends. We could--we really, truly COULD--use the internet as a means of expanding our collective capacity for rational thought. I myself have had great success, I think, using it in that way. So can others. So can everyone.

The case could even perhaps be made that internet thuggishness is at least less venal than actual political crime, which we have almost none of in this country. Were people smarter back in the 1930's? Well, they embraced Fascism and Communism, and the New Deal, so no, I don't think they were. Our educated elites knew more then, I think, than they do now, but overall levels of basic education are much higher now than they were then. Rates of illiteracy, and 3rd grade educations are much, much lower.

At the end of the day, I guess, not having read his book, I'm not fully clear what the precise claim is he's trying to make. If it's a principled objection the theft of intellectual property, then of course he has a point. But that is not a hard case to make, in my view.

More generally, if he wants to tie that the internet and the decline in public morality that it may or may not facilitate, I won't go that far. The internet is just a mirror. It greases wheels in directions good and bad, but it does not CREATE, per se. Perhaps the best word is catalyst; but anyone who knows anything about chemistry knows that the elements must already be present for the reaction to take place.

Hello Everyone,
I am currently Stationed in Baghdad, Iraq and had a not so smart idea. I know today was suppose to be "Daniel", but I was reading up on "Fran" and saw an article and video on firefighters and Swat guys Vs. Fran and Being overseas I decided to do that challenge instead today For all the Military personnel out there... I can tell you now that I instantly regretted deciding to do it (while i was "Fighting" Fran). Anyways, Some buddies took a video of it and I am hoping to submit it, but am not sure how. Anyone able to help me? Well we decided to call it Ranger Vs. Fran considering the Fire Fighters and SWAT guys got a cool name so here are the specs.
Ranger Vs. Fran
21-15-9
95 # Thrusters
Pull-ups
In Full body armor with combat load, Flash bang, Smoke, Boots, ACU Pants, Helmet, Pro Mask (Gas Mask), and Side Arm.
I'm 24 m, 65", 174lbs with ACU pants on. I weighed 229 With all my gear on. That is a 55 lbs of Gear.
Ranger Vs. Fran time 11:40.41
And for all those people that were wondering. My first and only ?"Fran" as prescribed time back in Feb 2009 when i had only been doing crossfit for about a month and a half was 8:28.
I hope all the guys out there serving with me over here get a kick out of it and I sure hope i can figure out how to get this up on the main Site.
Keep going and remember if you puke it means you're doing it right.

Active rest: Row 5 x 1k
4:20
4:20
4:37
4:17
4"35

Barry,
it's rare that I agree with your views, but in this instance, I completely agree with your POV on the internet.
It is not evil, but of course it can be used to spread evil as any medium can.
It's distinctiveness is that it is the most potent medium the world has thus far seen due to it's speed, reach & inclusiveness.

Sadly, much of it's potency has been used insidiously, but it's potential to be used for mainly positive, life enriching communication and methods is exciting.