CrossFit Ocean City

PITIFUL

How many times have you, the CrossFitter, looked at co-workers, family members, or just the thousands of people on the beach this summer and wondered how in the heck do those people get through life?  Sure, there are many fit individuals out there, but the vast majority are simply not fit and it's pitiful.  Click HERE to read a great blog by Darren Hardy, the publisher of Success Magazine, reflecting his thoughts on how pitiful it is to be unfit and the affects it has on performance. 

So, what does it mean to be fit?  Here's a simple definition:  be able to handle unknown and unknowable tasks - physical and mental - on a daily basis and maintain functionality and mobility as your body ages.  We all know the foundation to fitness and health is nutrition, so start there.  Couple that with an intense, but functional-fitness program like CrossFit, and you're now on the right track.  But just saying you're eating right and working out hard isn't enough.  You have to be consistent by showing up regularly, working hard on good mechanics and technique, and then increase intensity.

You can't continue to go down the path of mediocrity in your fitness and expect optimum performance in the other areas of your life.  Your family needs you to stay fit and healthy.  Your job requires you to be fit and healthy.  Don't let the demands of family and work keep you away from the hour or so you take to work out.  You'll be a better person for having trained hard during that brief hour.  The cumulative effect of that training will make you a powerful leader at work and at home rather than a pitiful person in need of meds just to get through the day.

So, like Darren Hardy wrote on his blog, "take a good hard look in the mirror."  Are you the fit person you want to be, or the pitiful person you saw on the beach?  Then go make a difference in your life or someone else's.  You can always find both the time and the means for the things you want to do in life.

WARRIOR DASH TEAM

 
Image courtesy of Warrior Dash website.

CrossFit Ocean City is now up to 15 people signed on for the Warrior Dash.  We're all in the 11:30 am heat on Sunday, October 10th.

Here's the link to the Warrior Dash website so you can sign up too!  Click HERE. 

Come join us as we'll have one fantastic time representing CrossFit Ocean City!

BEACH PATROL MEMBERS OFTEN DOMINATE THE ADVANCED CLASSES

 
Randy and Steve F., both members of the OC Beach Patrol, hit it hard during the Advanced Class on Thursday night.

So, what do we do in the Advanced Classes that make them advanced?  Sometimes we ramp up the WODs.  On Thursday night, we combined "Diane" and  "Fran" -- "Dianafran".  The rep scheme was 21-15-9 rep rounds of Deadlifts (155#), Handstand Pushups, Thrusters (95#), and Pullups.  A real tough one.  We scaled down the deadlifts from 225# in order to keep up the intensity.  Overall winner was Steve F. with a time of 15:32.

Next Advanced Class is Saturday morning at 7 am.  Regular Class on Saturday remains at the 8:15 am time slot.

A LITTLE BIT OF WORK ON HANDSTANDS

 
Crissy gets her first handstand since she was a kid while Logan and Linda work their handstand pushups during "Diane".

 

 

 

 

"Diane", another named CrossFit Workout, is 21-15-9 rep rounds of deadlifts and handstand pushups.  The load for the deads is 225 lbs. if going Rx and your head must touch the floor while doing the handstand pushups.  The WOD is relatively short and packed with high intensity.  In an effort to "finish first", it's easy to lose sight of the fact that the handstand pushup, if done correctly, will slow you down.  It's better to go a bit slower and do the WOD with full range of motion than it is to rush and short the reps and not go as deep on the handstands.  If you reach failure on the handstand pushup, then switch it up with some dumbbell shoulder presses to keep the intensity alive.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

 
Double unders at a recent workout.

Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.
Vince Lombardi

I realized the other day that we're a double under gym.  On the whole, our members can do double unders really well.  Why is that?  Because we do it often and we practice.  You'll never get good at anything by not practicing! 

For the rest of the month, pick a movement or a skill you need to work on and practice it for at least five minutes as part of your warmup.  You'll be surprised at how much better you'll become at that movement in just two short weeks!

THE FIRST ADVANCED CLASS KICKS IT OFF WITH FILTHY FIFTY

 
The first of our advanced level classes kicked off the afternoon.

 
Adam cranks out the back extensions on the GHD.

In an effort to further the needs of our high-level athletes, we created three classes on the schedule just for advanced level CrossFitters.  Who is advanced?  Under our definition, it's anyone that can do 90% of the workouts as prescribed.  These classes will focus on skill work, hit the WOD hard, and then wrap with focused Olympic lifting at the end.  Sometimes the WOD will be the same as the regular classes and sometimes it'll ramp up.  Either way, it's an opportunity for those with elite athleticism to shine in a smaller crowd.  Today's top time in the Filthy Fifty went to Erick with a time of 18:22 followed by Adam with a time of 21:01.

WEIGHTLIFTING INJURIES

As a follow on to yesterday's post, the New York Times put up an article about weightlifting injuries in today's Health section.  Click HERE to read.   It's interesting to note that most people injured by weights received their injuries by dropping the weights on themselves, getting something crushed by a load, or hitting themselves with equipment.  I don't think we've seen to many of those types of injuries, though I did hit myself on the head with the bar during the push presses today.  That's not really an injury.  More like stupidity!

HEATSTROKE RECOVERY

Here's another good article from the Times. Click HERE.  It's about this time of year that I like to remind everyone that working out in the heat, which we do, can put great stress on your bodies.  Drink lots of water throughout the day, don't do a CrossFit WOD when hung over, and listen to your body if you're feeling weak or suddenly stop sweating during a WOD.  You might have reached the beginning stages of heatstroke or heat exhaustion.

INJURY, SORENESS, AND PAIN

Mental toughness will often overcome many types of soreness and mild to moderate pain.  Sometimes, injuries can be overcome by mental toughness, though this often leads to prolonged injury and interrupted training.  Anyone who plays sports or engages in intense physical activity will eventually suffer pain, soreness, and sometimes injuries.  So, what's an injury, is soreness good, and what to do about pain?

FOR THE LOVE OF WATER

No doubt about it, training hard requires sufficient hydration.  We supply all our students with reusable water bottles that can be filled directly from the reverse osmosis water filtration system   In addition, we sell bottled water and supply small cups.  Although convenient, selling plastic water bottles and recycling two seconds later is not in keeping with our desire to be an earth friendly business.

Once the supply of bottled water is gone, bottled water at CrossFit Ocean City will be a thing of the past.  Carry a water bottle with you - always.   

SUMMER SCHEDULE UPDATE

Thanks to your input on the spring survey, we've enhanced our class schedule: more total classes, 7am classes, additional evening and Saturday classes, and some specific classes dedicated to advanced students.   As a reminder, the summer schedule will go into effect beginning with the EVENING classes on Tuesday, June 15.

The calendar to the right is current and our Mindbody calendar is also up-to-date.  If you like to schedule classes ahead of time, please check to make sure that the class you scheduled is still available or hasn't been shifted to a new time slot.  We appreciate it greatly when you sign up ahead of time for classes!

Saturday classes:  Only one, at 8:15 a.m, this Saturday.  Starting 6/19, we've added a 7 am Advanced class.

Advanced Classes:  We now offer three Advanced Classes each week.  The days and times are:

Tuesday at 5:15 pm
Thursday at 6:15 pm
Saturday at 7 am

Advanced Classes are for members who can do 90% of the workouts as prescribed, have confidence and ability in the Olympic Lifts, can complete unassisted pullups, handstands, and know the nine basic movements.  These Advanced Classes will be extremely challenging and are NOT for beginners or intermediate students.  If you think you fit the Advanced Class structure, please check with us before attending.

New 7 am Classes on M/Th:  We've added a regular member class at 7 am on Mondays and Thursdays.  [There will be Beach Patrol classes at 7 am on Tues, Wed, and Fri.  Beach Patrol classes are not open to regular members.]

Shift in morning and evening class start times.  Please note that the am classes have shifted up 15 minutes earlier (not 5:45 though) and the evening classes have shifted back 15 minutes.  Again, this schedule begins with the evening classes on Tuesday, 6/15.

CROSSFIT GIRLS CLUB SUMMER CAMP - AUGUST 2 - 5

 
Two of our CrossFit Girls Club members warming up.

CrossFit Ocean City will hold a summer camp for girls ages 7 - 13 from August 2 -5 between 11 am and 2 pm.  Activities include physical training, interactive healthy food discussions, self esteem, exploration of girl heroes, guest speakers, and more.  We help young girls understand what it means to be strong!  In turn, they develop inner strength, courage, confidence, and compassion along with friendships and physical conditioning.  Most of all, the girls will just have BIG FUN!

Contact us for more information:  info@crossfitocmd.com