I needed this

I've really enjoyed watching all the complete games coverage. What a great event and well run too. I had a thought about tie breaking. After the women's couplet when the big cut was made there was a close tie that was broken by the highest placement in any single event. I thought this was a mistake because since they had the same overall score the person with the best score in any one event would also have the lowest average in the other events. This tiebreaking scheme rewards specialization and actually would choose the competitor who is less likely to succeed in the subsequent challenges. I would like to propose that the new tiebreaking scheme be the lowest standard deviation in score which would more closely represent a more well rounded competitor.

Thoughts?

I posted this a few days ago but didn't get any takers. It was probably to late in that day. Maybe I should email it directly to HQ.

RIP John V. May God go with you.

I'm very sorry for your loss, CF Cape Fear. Many prayers and much love.

God has taken you home, John. HIS gain is our loss. My prayers to his family.

John and I met in boston. You guys might see him pop up on the main site now and again sprawled out on the Boston Concrete after a Fran WOD. John was a big guy and I told him, if you pull it down you dont have to go up !! ( Darn near did. ) His son was intrested in Law Enforcement and he and I just recently spoke.You and I shared a like faith. I will miss you my friend.

RIP John. My thoughts and prayers are with you and those you left behind.

RIP John.

I'm so sorry for your loss Velandra family and CrossFit Cape Fear. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Well deserved rest in my opinion

Rip John, don't know you bit I'm sure you were a good guy

Awful, heartbreaking news...
RIP John.
My thoughts are with the Cape Fear family,

Tragic loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with John's family and CF Cape Fear. The CF community lost a good one today.

i am still just in shock. john was an incredible spirit; the CF community has lost greatly today. my thoughts and prayers are with his family.

RIP John.
I consider meeting you and learning from you to be one of the great experiences of my life. The world has definitely lost a great man with a huge heart today. You will be missed. I'll be praying for your family.

RIP, John V.

You will be missed, bro.

Prayers for JohnV's family and friends. RIP

And to my friend and brother Bingo - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Lookin good, my friend!! Big, big hugs! P

Thoughts and Prayers for John's family. RIP.

I didn't know him, but I am very sorry to hear of the loss. What happened?

Godspeed, John V.

I really can't believe what happened to John. We hung out all weekend at the CFK Cert and he was such a pleasure to be around. We talked about our families a lot.

He was such a genuinely kind, happy person. I'm so sorry for his family and our community.

Can't believe it. My thoughts are on him and his family.

Our thoughts & prayers are with all who knew & loved John.

For those trying to find out what happened, you can find out more here, it's WFS:
http://www.ncwanted.com/ncwanted_home/story/6748862/

My thoughts and prayers go out to Johns family and friends. He was a inspiration.

So shocking and horrible - i am incredibly sorry for your loss...

RIP John. Thoughts are with your friends and family

I am sorry to hear this news. I met John during Rip's Barbell Certification in '08 - he was a pleasure to have in the gym.

RIP, John, You were a friend to all. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.

Mac

Wow, what awful news. My condolences go out to his family and friends.

Rest in peace, John.

My thoughts and prayers are with John's family and CF Cape Fear. I only talked to him on the phone a couple of times but it was clear what a great guy he was. RIP John.

RIP Brother.

I remember meeting him at the Gymnastics Cert at Cherry Point, NC. Great guy and great spirit.

You will be missed.

S/F

RIP, John V.

horrible news. I got to work with John at a couple of Level 1 Certs.a 2 years ago in North Carolina. A gentle giant and stand up guy.

My thoughts and prayers to his family and loved ones.

RIP John

"The deep pain that is felt at the death of every friendly soul arises from the feeling that there is in every individual something which is inexpressible, peculiar to him alone, and is, therefore, absolutely and irretrievably lost. " Arthur Schopenhauer

Rest in Peace John

Why do the good die young while the criminals get away with murder? Only God Knows. At times like this we are reminded that we need to trust in him...its not for us to understand everything. This story saddens me even though I didn't personally know John. I can only pray for his family, friends, and community. They are suffering...and in time will need to move forward. God be with you all.

RIP John. My thoughts and prayers go out to your family. Your unbreakable spirit will live on forever inside all who were fortunate enough to have known you.

R.I.P. John God speed my thoughts and prayers are with your family....i hate to lose another member of the crossfit family

I hope this pic wasn't taken at a cert, that guy in the background is STRUGGLING! LOL. Reminds me of those "dunked on" sprite commercials.

Peace John.

How is a trainer telling you to shut up relieving stress in your life? Seems like boot camp to me. Personally wouldn't enjoy that but to each their own.

Finally a WOD I can do: Rest! JK - but seriously Crossfitting is kicking my butt after 1 week!

I've never met John in person, but I saddened by the news. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

I think John was the first CrossFitter I ever met. I sat behind him at that cert in the picture. He was very friendly. A pleasure to have crossed paths with him. My sympathies to his friends and family.

We never know when the call will come. We never know how the lives we touch will be forever changed as we walk this path. We can be certain of one thing, our time here will be short. John gave of himself to all he met and his time here was full of grace.

My prayers and heart go out to John and his family, his warm smile and gentle approach to life will be missed by those he cared for.

God's speed John.

Man, seems like that cert in the picture was yesterday. Can't believe it was three years ago. Rest in peace, John. You were such a kind hearted and giving person and left an impression on everyone that met you. Prayers and love to the Velandra family and CrossFit Cape Fear.

So very sorry to hear about John V.. RIP John. Peace and love to all your friends and family...

Sad horrible news... My heart goes out to his family. Hope they catch the scumbag.
R.I.P. John Velandra

Thoughts and prayers to the Velandra family and John's family at CF Cape Fear. We are with you.

RIP John. My prayers are with your family and friends.

Good bye John. You will be dearly missed.

This is unbelievably sad news. RIP John.

RIP John, my thoughts and prayers are with the family and the community.

My sympathy to John's wife and family. I'm so sorry for your loss.

Losing one of your own is never easy... but we as a community can be thankful for the time we had with him, and the way in which he touched the lives of so many. RIP John.

Thoughts and prayers to all family and friends.

My condolences.

Just did the math and I can't believe I've done over a 1000 squats in last week.

Our deepest sympathies go out to John, his family and everyone at CrossFit Cape Fear.

We met at our L1 Cert in Boston years ago.

All of us at CrossFit Pittsburgh will keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

So sad to hear this news about John. My thoughts go out to his wife and all the Velandra family.

RIP John, my thoughts and prayers go out to the Velandra family tonight.

Just started crossfit and though i am no stranger to a tough workout this has to be knarliest and it definatly made me a believer. i'm looking forward to the next WOD!!!!

On another note, I was sad to read about the loss of what sounds like a great guy. I hate to read about another soldier or veteran that lost his life to a wreckless and ungreatful indiviual. Our prayers go out to his family.

John introduced me to personal training & CrossFit 4 yrs ago. We attended our level 1 cert in boston together. My abiiity to go was made possible by him. I am forever grateful to he & his wife for all they did for me. John would do anything for anyone. He was a man of God & I find comfort in knowing I'll see him again someday. Thanks to the CrossFit community for all your support. Just another reason why we all love CrossFit so much. RIP John. Love you.

I met John at the boston cert in the pic and again at a CFK cert... definitely a great guy and a tragic loss.

Godspeed, John.

A husband, a father, a brother, a son. It's never just one person who leaves us when someone dies young. A friend, a colleague, so many, many people leave us when someone dies young.

We mourn our dead here at Crossfit.com. We mourn them 'ere we know them or not, for we form a bond here that others can't explain or understand. We form a bond that allows a homemaker in Atlanta to mourn a SEAL who dies in Afghanistan, though she's never met him before. We form a bond that allows a SEAL in Coronado to mourn a trainer in Carolina, though he's never met him before.

The mourning and the pain and the loss is all the greater when we lose a Crossfitter whom we have met, either here on .com or live, in the flesh, in a CF Box or at a cert or wherever. We assume that a friend is just around the corner, every Crossfit corner, just waiting to be made. We mourn the loss of a Crossfitter we've yet to meet because we know...we KNOW that he would have been our friend.

We just know.

It's a part of what makes us different. A part of what makes this different. We should be thankful for that part of our Crossfit world, that part that makes me sad in a way that is wholly different than the sadness I might feel if I just tuned in to my local news and saw a similar accident report.

A husband, a father, a brother, a son. A friend and a Crossfitter. So many people die when someone dies young.

Fair winds, John.

Well said bingo..

My condolence. Rest in Peace Brother.

51m/5'10"/218
Felt like I had to do something
3 x 8
235# deadlift
125# Thruster
20" box jumps
time: 8:54

As I watched several gather to thank John for his kindness, and love for not only the community he lived in but those all around the country, his closest friends and family spoke of how He would not want us morn..
Humble...
He was their light, inspiration, & friend.

I would like to think of CF Cape Fear always being a neighbor to me, to all of us.. John I am proud to have seen the foundation you built. I hope that your spirit will always be strong to the lives you have touched.

We at CrossFit Fort Bragg will support your team any way we can.

RIP brother. Prayers for you and immediate Family and CF Cape Fear.

A sad loss. I didn't know John. I read the article. But from what I see on the post he followed a good path with a positive impact on others.

Steven Covey says in his book 7 Habits of Highly effective people to live with the end in mind. How will people remember you? Sounds like John left a lot of people with a lot of wonderful memories.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

RIP John V. My thoughts are prayers are with your family and friends today.

I met John at that Cert. in Boston. He'll be missed.

Our condolences to CF Cape Fear. I can't imagine losing someone from our affilliate. Blessings come in all sizes and I know you were all blessed having had him in your lives. So sorry.

Thanks for the link with the explanation #20. Very sad... sometimes words just won't do. Thoughts and prayers go out to family and friends.

My condolences to John's family in their sudden and tragic loss.

We had one of our high school age Crossfitters in Alaska pass away this past spring. Taylar was riding across a school parking lot on the trunk of a friend's car. Nothing out of control, just normal parking lot speed. He slipped off the car, hit his head, spent the next few days in a vegetative coma before passing away.

The next Saturday WOD at Revolution Sports Training/Crossfit Alaska was a team memorial WOD for Taylor. I was in the middle of 50 back squats or something crazy when my partner, Jason, said to me..."Keep at it, Do this for Taylar....he was one of my baseball kids." If that doesn't make you forget what ever pain or discomfort you are feeling, I don't know what will.

Rest in peace John.

God Bless and comfort John's friends and family~
John was a great big heart in a man~

i THINK I've decided to give up rest days. Am I CRAZY! Probably. Wish me luck!

RIP John. My prayers are with your family and friends.

My thoughts and prayers to the entire Velandra Family, The CF Cape Fear family, and to all others who had the pleasure of meeting John.
John you will be missed but you will never be forgotten.

2K Row
5K Run

30:54

RIP John.

Decided that CF Baseline was in order. What better way to start the new year than to Baseline yourself and see where the year is going to take you.

CrossFit Baseline
500m row
40 Squats
30 Sit-ups
20 Push-ups
10 Pull-ups
4:19

I have a question for anyone out there with a bit of knowledge on the subject matter:

Before I start, I am not expecting anyone to provide a medical analysis, just looking for thoughts/advice. I had a routine physical for a first time in a while and an EKG was performed. The Dr. said it appeared that I have a right bundle blockage, and prescribed I get a stress echo. I am 28 years old, crossfitting for about 6 months, but have always been active. My resting heart rate is 51 bpm, which I attribute mostly to crossfit. My question is if anyone has had something like this come up. I'm not sure if an EKG can be given a false positive based on individual specific circumstances, or if I really do have this condition. I plan on taking the test and continuing to pursue this until a resolution is made. Anyone with experience or knowledge I appreciate any help.

Thanks.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to John's family and his "extended" family.

The world has lost someone special, but these people will feel it most.

-jj

RIP John V

DenverDanimal Definitely get the echo. It may or may not be an issue. RBBB Can be a normal variant or can be caused by other issues, pulmonary embolus, lung disorders among other things. See a cardiologist and get it figured out. Had you ever had an EKG before?

Interesting to see something by Eric S. Raymond on here. If people are interested in the concepts of Open Source you might want to read his essay "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" as well. It's freely available online.

Jennyb,

First, thanks for your reply. This is the first time I have ever had an EKG. I have never had any heart issues that I know of, and have never had any issues especially while exerting myself in a workout (where I assume issues would present themselves). As stated, I will certainly get the stress test, but I was just curious if something could come up as a false positive (maybe from conditioning??). Regardless, I have the test this coming Monday, so I guess I will have my anser then.

Thinking of Mr Velandra's family. Sorrow is the worst kind of pain.

R.I.P John,
I will not forget your kind and humble ways. Thank you for all the encouragement over the years and the BIG hugs!
You're missed!
Jen Conlin

RIP John. My prayers to your family.
I will miss setting up Specialty certs with you.

Training for the Arnold Classic Powerlifting meet.

Beltless back squats:

190x5
215x3
245x1 - easy and very deep
Decided to put on the belt to see if it felt any different:
255x1 - easy and very deep, but I did not feel any difference from the belt

Finished squatting with a beltless 155x20. It was easy, but it brought back memories of 20 rep squat hell. At least three deep breaths between every rep. Sure is easier if you rush the first reps without the three deep breaths. I remember suffering through 205x20.....wonder if I could do better than that if I do the 20 rep squat routine again (after the Arnold). That routine put serious size and strength on my midget frame, better than anything else I've ever done.

3x6 205# Hip Bridges: shoulders elevated on two sandbags, 2 sec pause at top of each rep
3x6 doubled gray band hip abductions: feet in same postition as squatting, 2 sec hold at extension
3x6 Glute Ham Raises: hands straight overhead, no momentum and very slow reps

Tabata jumping knee touch lunge squats: Started with a max of 19 in beginning, ended with 14.

RIP Ireneusz "Eric" Czapnik - police officer slain in Ottawa, Ontario last week - laid to rest today

Was wondering if anyone has some good literature on how a smith machine can force you into a dangerous range of motion and cause injuries. I'm currently in a battle to keep a smith machine out of our workout facility on our Air Force base, and all the individuals that like going to the gym and not getting results are making this difficult for me.

I had the pleasure of meeting John at the Carolina Fitness Challenge at Durham. I know he will be deeply missed. He impacted the lives of many. My payers go out to John's family, friends, and to CrossFit Cape Fear.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the Velandra family and CrossFit Cape Fear. John has been a long standing member of the community, always insightful, intelligent, and supportive. He answered more than a few questions for myself and others along the way and it was always a pleasurable exchange of dialogue and information. CrossFit has lost a good person in so many ways, but thankfully we had the opportunity to work with, interact and know John, if only for a little while.

Thank you for everything and Godspeed, John.

RIP John V. Godspeed brother.

30 minute row, 8081 meters.

#2 - I suggested the use of the countback method. It is used in sailing point score series, as well as Forumula 1 and WRC. Granted those all racing series, where each race is an 'equal' event.

It seems to make little sense to calculate the cumulative standard deviations for the purposes of tie breaking a point based series, and not just go ahead an use that SD calculations for determining the overall winner. I've just rewritten the software used in 2009 to include the option of standard score and proportional performance calculations.

Rest in peace, John. My thoughts are with your family.

Gloria #72-
I'm going to call that a bad idea, and predict that it'll lead to overtraining or injuries. But if you decide to do it, good luck and keep us posted.

Jason #87-
I've never seen anything claiming that Smith machines cause injuries--just that they allow your torso and stabilizer muscles to be lazy because the rails do the work of controlling the bar and ensuring a perfectly vertical path. So over-reliance on a Smith machine might lead to injuries when real life puts you in a situation where you have to do the stabilization work.

Will do some rowing and burpees tomorrow, pullups and KB swings saturday. I start CFSB by monday. Aiming for a 550-575 DL, 450 squat and 210-225 OHP. Actuel numbers are 505 DL, 400 squat and 190 OHP.

And former numbers as a 220 lbs powerlifter were 550 squat, 650 DL and 225 OHP. Going to wear my Chuck Taylor Converse for squats again ! Nice to get on a strength cycle again !

M/50/153/1-1-06

"Filthy Fifty"

50 Box Jumps 24" (+ 4")
50 Jumping Pull-ups
50 50 Dumbell Swing 35#
50 Walking Lunge
50 Knees to Elbows
50 Push Press 45#
50 Back Extension
50 Wall Ball 14# Dynamax (prev. 12# small ball)
50 Burpees
50 Double-Unders

30:50 (Closing in on as Rx'd)

Done and posted to note the day.

Congrats, bingo!

Almost there bingo! Great job Brother.

23 / M / 5'9" / 135lbs

Barbara, scaled to
10 pull-ups
20 push-ups
20 sit-ups
40 squats

4:49, 5:29, 6;38, 6:34

Just saw that it was supposed to be five rounds. Damn.

YOU GO BINGO!!!!

17 March it's Filthy 48 for this guy!!!

Our thoughts to all at CF Cape Fear...and to John's family...

Hey #77 DenverDanimal

Follow through with the testing and imaging of your heart. I'm 43 now, but my father died at 32 of a massive heart attack. It's best learn early if there are any underlying heart problems and then identify the appropriate treatment.

Heart problems hide in the unfit and FIT! My humble opinion - people who are fit are probably more at risk due to the fact that they are doing everything right and assume there's no problem. When fit people die as a result of cardiovascular problems it always comes as a shock.

Personally I've been getting tested once a year since age 30. I don't like suprises.

The new Rest Day format is not bringing about much involvement so far. This isn't a criticism - it's good to experiment.

Posting articles from different ends of the political spectrum might actually have some merit? We wouldn't want people thinking we were liberal pansies when we put up left wing articles, so put up a statement or link, each Rest Day, making clear that the articles are not intended to make anyone uncomfortable or unwelcome or push any agenda, but are simply intended to provoke debate and allow for a genuine sharing of views in a format which allows us all to hone our rhetorical skills.

John was such a great and helpful person who helped me a lot through the last couple of years. He touched a lot of lives, and will be missed.

185-195-205-215-225-235(PR)-245(F)

Actually got the 245 into the rack, but I couldn't stand up out of the partial squat.

Then:

3 Rounds:
10 Power cleans @ 185# +
10 Burpees

4:28

185-195-205-215-225-235(PR)-245(F)

Actually got the 245 into the rack, but I couldn't stand up out of the partial squat.

Then:

3 Rounds:
10 Power cleans @ 185# +
10 Burpees

4:28

This rest day article popped up about this time four years ago (or something very much like it) when I had just started. Interesting to see it again in a new context. I'll hold until next rest day to post on it.

On John Velandra - my thoughts with his family and his many friends, both locally and here. When I heard, I had a moment of "What?!" Though we never met, it's strange how you can meet someone through this online community and come to "know" them a bit by their public statements, posts, writings, and other "little, unremembered acts of kindness" as Wordsworth would call them.

Fair winds, John V.

Sorry to hear about John. I had never met him, but always struggle to understand situations like this. May he rest in peace.

John was a dear friend, an excellent man, a great trainer, an inspiration, and an example of all that is good.

He made me a better person. He encouraged me. His kindness renewed my soul.

I miss you, John. So very sorry Nivia...