Dave Lipson 340lbs, Jason Khalipa 335lbs, Eric Magee 325lbs, Rich Froning Jr. 317lbs, Chuck Carswell 308lbs, James Hobart 305lbs,Graham Holmberg 280lbs, Kristan Clever 215lbs, EvaClaire Synkowski 187lbs. Post loads to comments.

T-Shirts are In! Cash or Check made out to Nate Taylor.

Crossfit Coweta is having their grand opening on September 11th from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Here’s a message from Justin Key, the owner: “We will be doing Murph (and many scaled versions) so bring your vests if your a baller, but either way bring your heart. We are going to be Honoring one of our nations heroes.”

They’re located at 1602 Reese Rd. Sharpsburg, GA.

If you’d like Burgers and Beer afterwards please RSVP.

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Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
95 pound Thruster, 5 reps
95 pound Hang Powercleans, 7 reps
95 pound Sumo Deadlift High-pull, 10 reps

Mikko Salo 16 rounds + 3 SDHP, Elyse Umeda 13 rounds + 5 thruster (65lbs), Michael Giardina 13 rounds, Ken Gall 12 rounds + 5 thruster, EvaClaire Synkowski 12 rounds + 3 thruster (65lbs), Kim Malz 12 rounds + 1 thruster (65lbs).

Just so everyone (who reads the blog) is aware we are doing Fight Gone Bad 5 on September 18th. We’ll have a bbq and a keg, maybe. But either way it’ll be a fun family time.  We may be doing FGB early but our fundraising won’t end until the first week in October. There is of course plenty of time left to donate.

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CFSS Make Up Day

Publishing significant content six days a week is a bit of challenge. In an effort to keep as up to date as possible, I peruse a  changing collection of blogs, websites and forums. Here are a few of my favorites:

70sbig.com

This site is dedicated to getting big and strong. And then discussing it. There’s a cast of regular characters who post up interesting programs, dissection of Olympic weightlifting and often relevant technical information for powerlifting. It makes weak men and women strong, and strong men and women stronger.

Mobility WOD

A lot of our members are simply not mobile. You have trouble overhead and you have trouble squatting. It is an all too common problem. Here is a solution to your ills. Even if you pick and choose, there is a hardly a “WOD” on here that won’t help you. Explore, watch the videos… and ask us if you don’t understand a stretch or need a translation

The Crossfit Journal

The original source of Crossfit information. Constantly updated and with interesting relevant articles that pertain to any level of Crossfit athlete. From nutrition to running to human interest, they run the gamut.  It costs $25 a year, which is very little for such a valuable source of information.

FGB 5

We have 19 days until the day they stop excepting donations. We understand times are rough all around. Every little bit helps.

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With a 45 pound barbell, 21-15- and 9 reps for time of:
Turkish Get-ups, alternating arms
Sots press

Rory McKernan 6:42, Kristan Clever 16:03, Katie Hogan 23:02, Rebecca Voigt 25:26. Post time to comments.

Hours Today:

10 a.m and 4 p.m. There will be no 5 o’clock class.

Congrats to Karin and Krissi Brown for getting their Level 1 certification this weekend!

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21-18-15-12-9-6 and 3 rep rounds of:
Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75 pounds
Push jerk, 75 pounds

Dave Lipson 3:42, Rob Orlando 3:45, Jason Khalipa 4:04, Jay Leydon 4:33, Gary Niel 4:40, Graham Holmberg 5:07, Pat Barber 5:25 (44lb single arm push jerk), Elyse Umeda 6:25 (55lbs), Kristan Clever 7:54 (75lbs), Kim Malz 7:56 (55lb), Jocelyn Leydon 9:50 (55lbs).

Labor Day Hours

10 A.M

4 p.m. and  5 P.M.

Soooooo sorry for the late post, but Sunday class will be at 10.

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Family Dinner tonight at 7:15 p.m at Teela Taqueira. We have a reservation under my (Paul’s) name so if you get there early it’s the party of 22.

FGB V. We have $490 raised. Let’s push it over $1000.

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Kristan Clever 19:31, Graham Holmberg 19:37, Elyse Umeda 29:27

FGB V. Have you donated yet?

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Test 3″

Tabata Squat
Max reps of Muscle-ups in 4 minutes

The Tabata interval is 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 intervals. Tabata score is the least number of reps performed in any of the eight intervals. Begin time for muscle-ups immediately after the last 10 second rest interval. Test score equals Tabata score multiplied by number of muscle-ups completed.

Graham Holmberg 616 (22 x 28), Kristan Clever 575 (25 x 23), James Hobart 528 (22 x 24), Greg Amundson 525 (21 x 25), Heather Bergeron 368 (23 x 16). Post score to comments.

I didn’t write this. But I wish I had. Sometimes you stumble across something that is so good, there’s no need to try and reinvent the wheel. This post comes to us from Crossfit Impulse. So if you’ve ever wondered “How often should I train?” read on.

One of the most common questions I get from athletes at CrossFit Impulse is, “How often should I train?” If you are considering CrossFit as your strength and conditioning program then you also may be wondering, “How often should I CrossFit?” CrossFit.com prescribes 3 days “on” followed by 1 day “off.” But is this the right training frequency for everyone? Certainly not. Read more for the full story.

The Short Answer

If you aren’t interested in reading the full explanation below then I recommend the following training frequency for the average CrossFit Impulse athlete: Train 4 or 5 days per week. Generally, don’t train more than 3 days consecutively or less than 2 days consecutively. Above all, listen to your body, but be aware that you must work through soreness and fatigue. However, never work through pain, especially acute pain. With that guidance, check out the four simple examples below and see if one fits your lifestyle:

The Long Answer

The intent of your individual training frequency is to train often enough to reach your fitness goals, but not often enough to overtrain or develop overuse injuries. Training frequency is dependent upon many factors, the most important of which are goals, intensity, rest, nutrition, and existing level of fitness. The remainder of your daily/weekly schedule is also a relevant factor. Let’s examine how each one affects your training.

Goals

If you simply want to maintain an adequate level of fitness for daily life and ward off obesity then your training frequency will differ substantially from an elite athlete seeking to compete in the national CrossFit Games. Training more frequently will advance your fitness faster, to a point. You can’t just keep adding workouts until you’ve gone 11 days without rest, as that will lead to overtraining, which is counterproductive for any athlete of any fitness level. However, there is simply a substantial difference in fitness goals between those who train twice per week and those who train 5 times per week.

Intensity

If you train more intensely then you will require more rest than if you train less intensely. If CrossFit is your workout regimen then we can probably summarize your workout intensity as either intense or very intense, assuming you are putting 100% effort into your workouts. You may need to alter your training frequency to rest more during periods of multiple, very intense workouts and increase your frequency during periods of short or otherwise less intense workouts.

Rest

Quality and quantity of rest are a huge factor in training frequency. Quality rest increases your ability to train more frequently. I’m defining quality and quantity in two principal ways: your level of activity on your rest days, and hours of sleep per night. If you shovel tar for half a day on your rest day then it wasn’t especially effective rest. Similarly, if you sleep only 5-6 hours per night then you also didn’t rest very effectively. The most effective rest is lack of prolonged or intense physical activity during the day plus 8.5-9 consecutive hours of sleep per night. Yes, that’s asking a lot of the typical American schedule. Guess what, your body doesn’t give a damn. Less/low quality rest means training less often. More/high quality rest means you can train more often without overtraining or incurring overuse injuries.

Nutrition

This is pretty simple. If your body is getting the nutrients it needs to perform tissue repair and fuel your workouts then you can train more often. If you eat poorly then you will inevitably train less often or with less intensity, and will require more rest when you are done. Your body also won’t get as full a benefit from the workout because you haven’t supplied it with the tools to fully adapt to the stress you provided during the workout. Sure, you may get 90% of the adaptation, and that may be fine with you, so judge accordingly. Proper nutrition can be simply expressed as Zone or Paleo eating. Our resources section has ample information on nutrition if you are interested.

Existing Level of Fitness

This is also quite simple. Novices train less often than elite athletes. They require less stress to disrupt homeostasis and may require more recovery time for the disruption to be fully synthesized into an adaptation. Elite athletes, however, require quite a shock to disrupt homeostasis. In fact, they may require several workouts on consecutive days (or multiple workouts per day) to greatly disrupt homeostasis and trigger an adaptation. This means they must train more often, simply in order to provide the necessary shock to keep advancing their fitness. Life is tough at the top…or so I’m told.

Daily/Weekly Schedule

We don’t live to workout; we workout to live. Therefore, our training schedule must coexist with the rest of our life. But don’t be confused, you must make time in your life for workouts if you wish to advance your fitness. The time will not free itself, and if fitness is a priority in your life then you must allocate your time as such. However, you may not be able to workout at the perfect time or on the perfect days, but you must find a balance between reaching your fitness goals and your other goals (holding a job, parenting children, cultivating artichokes, etc).

Conclusion

Considering all of those factors, what is right for you? While only you can fully answer that, here are some general tips and examples:

1. Start with the crossfit.com 3-on/1-off standard and adjust from there.
2. If you go more than 3 days on then realize your intensity will suffer. More than 4 days on is probably not a good idea. However, some people go 5 days on during the work week and then take the weekend off. I think you would actually get better results by inserting a rest day in the middle of the work week to allow for recovery and then more effective work thereafter.
3. If you don’t get adequate rest or if you have poor nutrition, think about reducing your load to 2-on/1-off. However, reducing your frequency means you must keep the intensity high during each workout for optimal effect.
4. 1-on/1-off is only very effective for the complete novice. If that’s you, that’s OK. Nobody emerged from the womb with a 3-minute Fran. If you’re new to exercise, very deconditioned, or overweight then you may want to go 1-on/1-off for 2-10 weeks until you build the capacity to go 2-on/1-off without debilitating soreness.
5. Advanced athletes may want to add skill, strength, or sport-specific workouts to their regular CrossFit regimen. This is best done by adding the additional workout at the opposite time of day as an existing workout, which allows for some recovery during the day. Many athletes have had great success with morning and afternoon workouts with work/school/daily life inbetween. Rest is still important when programming with this model, but an advanced athlete might sometimes reduce his rest day to an “active rest” day. This means that instead of complete rest the athlete would participate in a short and/or light workout that does not substantially tax his body. This maintains neuro-muscular pathways. However, for life-long fitness I recommend everyone take at least one day of complete rest each week. Lofty ambitions and competitive goals are good, but not if you irreparably break yourself trying to achieve them.

Finally, check out some of the more specific examples below. They range from the deconditioned novice to the advanced athlete.

Overweight Orville is 50+ pounds overweight, but he is serious about losing it. He has difficulty pushing his intensity. Right now 8 rounds of Tabata squats leave him unable to walk the next day.

Average Alvin wants to improve his fitness while eating reasonably well. He gets 7-8 hours of sleep and pushes himself pretty hard. Sometimes he trains 3 days in a row, sometimes two.

Firebreathing Frank is training for the CrossFit Games. He sleeps 9 hours each night after reading any new articles on the CrossFit Journal and finishing a 5-block Zone meal. Some training days he doubles up with a morning and afternoon WOD. Some rest days he may run/row 5k at a slow pace or do 8 rounds of Cindy (not for time) just to stay loose. He pisses excellence and eats babies, but only if they’re Paleo.

Insomniac Irene is a dedicated athlete, and definitely pushes her intensity, but she lets her hectic schedule deprive her of rest and sleeps only 5-6 hours per night. Some mornings she pops in to do a quick strength WOD before doing a metcon with her afternoon class, but this is rare.

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Tie a five-pound plate to hang an honest 18″ above your tiptoe reach and complete 5 rounds for time of:
50 Jump and touch
40 Squats
30 Sit-ups
20-Push-ups
10 Pull-ups

Kristan Clever 24:13 (14″ jump), Lucas Zepeda 24:34, Jesse Bazarnick26:25, Pat Barber 28:56, Rebecca Voigt 32:53 (14″ jump), Laurie Galassi 35:47. Post time to comments.

Many of you commented on the soreness you experienced after completing 400m of lunges.

For those of you uninitiated, lunges can be a particularly brutal exercise, usually causing residually soreness lasting days or longer. But what I’ll try and answer today is why lunges and some other exercises hurt so damn much.

We can separate a lot of movements into two parts: eccentric and concentric. Eccentric contraction is when a muscle is put under tension and then forcibly lengthened. A concentric contraction is one in which the muscle shortens and generates force.  To properly visualize, imagine lowering yourself into the bottom a squat.  As you go lower your quads and hamstrings are under tension, and as you go lower they lengthen. This is the eccentric part of a squat. When you stand your quads and hamstrings contract which causes you to stand up.*

We must think of soreness as mechanical damage to the muscle, in that the muscle fibers are literally torn. We see this mechanical damage much more frequently and pervasively in eccentric heavy movements. The GHD Sit-up is a good example: we ask our trunk muscles to stabilize and then forcibly lengthen them. The same thing happens in a lunge. When you step out into a lunge, the leg that is extending in front has to slow the body’s drop to the ground so you don’t slam your knee into the ground. The muscles of the quad, glute, and hamstring are put under peak tension and then actively lengthened with almost the entire body weight. It is little wonder that you’re sore when most people average around 300-400 lunges for 400m.

The upside to eccentric movements is that they produce a lot of muscle activation and recruitment, which means you can lift heavier things and/or do the movement faster. That’s why we often recommend the controlled use of negatives (eccentric) work in certain body weight movements like pullups and dips. The downside is that they can cause Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) and at worst cause rhabdomyolysis. Rhabdo is very rare, however, and is usually indicated by brown urine and intense unmitigated  severe pain.

*Footnote: This is one of the reasons we harp on mobility so often. If you have poor range of motion or are “tight,” you are essentially fighting your muscles every time you squat. This means entering into eccentric movements sooner and staying there longer, which would make you more sore.

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Rest Day

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CFSS Home Brew

If you haven’t RSVP’ed (or received the Evite) to Crossfit Sandy Springs monthly Family Dinner please try and do so by Wednesday. We’d like to give Teela Tacqueria some warning about how many people  we’ll have rather than just showing up like last time.

We’ll be sitting down September 3rd at 7:15 p.m Teela Tacqueira.  We know it’s a long weekend, stop by if you can we’d love to see ya.

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