CrossFit Ocean City

OLYMPIC LIFTING

Olympic lifting, or the sport of weightlifting, consists of two events:  the clean and jerk and the snatch.  Watch this video to see some amazingly strong women performing these lifts.  Notice that they are NOT behemoths, they don't look like bodybuilders, they're just powerfully strong athletes!  Watch the video a second time and see if you can spot the cues we teach for these movements:  proper set up, full extension of the hips, shrugging, pulling under the bar, driving out of the dip while staying firmly rooted in the heels.  Check out their breathing technique, too.  You'll also catch one of the girls doing a split clean, which we don't teach for a number of reasons, but a strong lift nonetheless.  Most of what you'll see, though, is incredible flexibility, power, and speed.  Each lifter has a certain flair, or style, to their lifting, but these are just signatures.  The fundamentals are there.  If you'll notice in the early part of the video, the warm-up movements are the same warm-ups we require.  One final note, during the competitions, you can see their loads noted on the scoreboard in the background.  The loads are noted in kilograms, not pounds.  So when you see the one girl doing 106, that's really 233 pounds!

Thanks to Leah at CrossFit Nation in Easton, Md, for posting this video on her site.  Check out her site for some great posts!

WHY PVC?

Why do we use PVC pipe to perform some of our movements?  Some might think this is stupid, or a waste of time, or want to jump right into using a barbell.  For one thing, if the movement can't be performed correctly, it makes no sense to use weight.  Also, even if the movement can be performed relatively well under load, the use of PVC pipe will expose all of the flaws and weaknesses.  PVC also allows us to repeat the movements over and over and over without the fatigue of loaded movements.  The bottom line is that the use of PVC is a great teaching tool for proper powerlifting and Olympic lifting.

 

Colby working on her snatch - elbows high and outside, bar in close.  A little more hip extension and shrug would round out the package!  Matt, in the background, caught in mid-muscle snatch.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We wish you and your family a happy day of thanks.   We're glad so many of you came out this morning for the Broomstick Mile!  There is nothing better than a great wod before a great meal. 

 

Steve and Lynne ensure good front squat form.  The standard calls for the crease of the hip below the knee joint, weight in the heels, chest and elblows lifted, and a solid lumbar curve. What does the bottom of your squat look like? 

BELIEF

We're fortunate to have a wealth of talent throughout the CrossFit community.  Aside from being a phenominal trainer and CrossFitter in his own right, Jon Gilson of AgainFaster.com publishes some great articles to his blog.  I've been fortunate enough to have worked out with Jon on several occasions and have trained others along with him at many CrossFit Level 1 Certs.    Jon's latest post is called, "Belief".  Here's a quote:

"Belief is a place where the irrational exuberance of childhood finds new life, where the burden of the past is shed in favor of the promise of the future.  Belief is a chance to give all the hard knocks back, to free ourselves to become anything.  Stop wondering if you can, and know that achievement is as simple as trying, over and over again."

Click HERE to read the entire post. 

THE CROSSFIT JOURNEY

CrossFit is not something one masters in one class, one week, one month, or even one year.  Like anything worth doing, it takes time, dedication, goals, and a willingness to commit to learning something new about the CrossFit methodology, or maybe a new movement, or refocusing on the moves you think you've already mastered, in order to progress to the next level. 

As I checked out one of my favorite websites today, I came across an article entitled, "Commit to Constant and Never-Ending Improvement."  It made me think about my philosophy towards CrossFit training and why it works for me and countless others.  It's the drive I find in learning something new each and every day through my own CrossFit training and in training others that keeps me motivated and inspired to keep striving for improvement.

Here are some wise words to live by:

"One of life’s realities is that major improvements take time. They don’t happen overnight. But because so many of today’s products and services promise overnight perfection, we’ve come to expect instant gratification—and we become discouraged when it doesn’t happen. However, if you make a commitment to learn something new every day, getting just a little bit better every day, then eventually—over time—you will reach your goals. "  From Success Magazine.  Click HERE to read the entire article.

Think about your commitment to CrossFit, why you do it, and what you hope to get out of it.  If you're just showing up for classes, but not focusing on skills during the warmup, take a new approach next time you come in.  If you feel like you're already a master of a particular move, then offer to teach others what you know.  If you just want to focus on a particular skill, or go for a PR on your favorite WOD, then let us know so that we can make that happen for you.  If you just need some help figuring out your goals, especially during this time of year with all of the holiday distractions, come talk to us! 

I don't think of CrossFit OC as just a destination I show up at each day.  Rather, I think of CrossFit as a life-long journey of health, fitness, and improved wellbeing.  CrossFit - It's not just another WOD, it's a Journey!

WHAT DOES DETERMINATION LOOK LIKE?

 

I think it looks a lot like this pic!  Go Matt (aka Thor)!

WHY FIGHT GONE BAD?

Fight Gone Bad, our workout that involves one-minute efforts at each of five different stations (wall balls, sumo deadlift high pull, box jump, push press, and rower) repeated three times, is done by various athletes who train for competition fights (MMA, kick boxing, boxing, etc.).  One of our CrossFitters, Jason, competes in kick boxing.  He was exposed to his first Fight Gone Bad this week.  Jason and Hal, another new join, carpool in from Georgetown and Millsboro to hit the 5:45 a.m. class three times per week!  Now that's dedication!

 

Jason does sumo deadlift high pulls while Hal does wall balls during Fight Gone Bad.

SUNDAY CLASS IS ON!

Sunday's class is a go.  If you haven't signed up already, please do so.

MASTERING THE FUNDAMENTALS

Why do some people continue to improve their performance time and time again?  One reason may be a return to and mastery of the fundamentals of the movements.  All of the elite athletes and top performers focus on skills, form, and the fundamental movements of their sport.  Our sport is CrossFit and there are dozens of skills to work on.  So, from now until after Thanksgiving, we're going to spend most of our classes working on skills and keep our WODs brief.  You'll all thank us for this intensive skill-training period when it's over!

 

Lorie needs some skill work to fix her push press.  Can you identify the faults shown here?  Post to comments.

FEEL THE FEAR

 

Do you feel the fear when a tough workout of the day pops up?  What do you do?  Do you decide to bag the workout altogether, or do you suck it up, show up, and put out?

Post thoughts to comments.