CrossTown ThrowDown

Normally I would attempt to bait you with some interesting line about competitive drive or a thought provoking nugget regarding tiny shorts and baby oil.  Well guess what, I'm not going to do that.  I'm not going to promise pictures of highly fit, half naked people in this post (Don't worry, I wouldn't dare leave them out)  Nope, all I am going to say is, Competing at CrossFit is fucking RAD!  Gather around the camp fire kiddos and let uncle Leroy tell you about the time that he threw down at the CrossTown ThrowDown.

No shit there I was....

It is 24 hours before the start of my first individual competition since last July and wouldn't you know it, I have a bout of something that makes food not stay in your body so well.  I am convinced that it was some form of food poisoning (my clever friend informs me that it was a virus but he went to a half rate medical school so I don't pay him too much mind)  Regardless, I loose about 12 pounds in a 36 hour period, I can't keep anything down, I can barely stand up and it feels like I've been hit by a Mack truck.  So it is only logical that I would do a competition that entails multiple high intensity workouts in a single day.  

The CrossTown Throwdown was being hosted by CF Stapleton.  Any one who knows me knows that I often speak highly of this place.  I have done workouts here before and I am always impressed by the coaches knowledge and professionalism.  That said, I had high expectations going into this event. I hate to spoil the end of this little review for you but those expectations were exceeded.  Let's hop right to the meat of this samich...

WOD 1- Run 1 mile.

WOD 2- (Begining within 4 minutes of finishing WOD 1)  Clean and Jerk ladder starting at 135#

WOD 3- 4 rounds of- 250m row, 7 thrusters (95#) max rep double unders (in two minutes total) rest 1 minute

WOD 4- 30 snatches (115) 5 rope climbs, 50 wall ball, 30 toe to bar, 25 burpees

FLOATER- Max rep unbroken pull ups

Typically I would discuss my results and where I could improve but I am going to forgo all that and say that I performed as well as could hope for having food poisoning.   In fact, less than a minute before the one mile run I was still actively vomiting.  (Sorry guy in heat 3 whose shoes I Spackled)
It's no secret, I am a programming geek.  So much of how I rate a competition is based off of how it is programmed.  Here is why this competition did better than regionals to determine who was actually the fittest athlete there.

How do we determine the fittest athlete?  A broad range of tests.  The ThrowDown had a heavy pulling and pushing component, a max repetition effort component, a mono-structural component, and interval based metabolic component and an chipper that stressed oxidative phosphoralation. Athletes with proficiency in high skill level movements like double unders, rope climbs and snatches were clearly rewarded but were punished for not having high end strength or capacity.    So many competitions (Regionals included) test the same thing over and over again.  I understand the logistical restrictions that are placed on competitions but with just a little thought those things can be overcome.

Programming isn't the only thing that makes a competition.  Having a (close to) up to the minute online athlete score sheet was an very cool touch.  I have competed at other events where this has been used and it is very cool to be able to email a link to your grandma so she can see how fucking bad ass you are!

The throwdown had coffee and water bottles for athletes as well as one of my favorite eateries, The Paleo Wagon, dishing up lots of amazing food that my stomach wouldn't have been able to tolerate given my condition.  The shirts...... you knew it was coming!  The shirts were very cool.  I honestly wasn't expecting to get one since the entry for the event was so low.  The flag on the sleeve was a super cool touch.  Honestly, as someone who has put these events on I don't think that they made a dime off of there hard work.  There was simply too much offered for such a low price.

The only suggestion that I would give for next year is to possibly have a designated athlete warm up area for competitors.

Somehow, despite being sick, I managed to make it to the podium.  The prizes were rad, I came in second and got a brand new 30lb slam ball and Rage Fitness speed rope which have both already seen use in my new gym.

Based off of having videos posted of all workouts before hand, excellent programming, great prizes, and how smoothly the entire day went, I am giving the CrossFit Stapleton's CrossTown ThrowDown a score of All you can eat steak and potato dinner!

CF MHF

I first met Shawn Mack at the CrossFit 719 grand opening competition.  How do I say this... I was terrified. Besides being well over 200 pounds and without an ounce of body fat the guy was wearing the smallest shorts I have ever seen.  I wanted to make a comment but feared that he would crush me like a tiny little bug.
  

Well come to find out he is one of the nicest guys in this community (which says a lot).  I told him back in July that I wanted to come visit his gym.  Shortly after, I was told that I needed to lay off of high intensity training for a while.  Shortly after getting cleared I went to check out CrossFit MHF in Wheat Ridge. 

Even though I had been invited (several months prior)  I wanted to make sure they knew I was coming.  I sent an email several hours before the 4:30 class that I hoped to attend.  I didn't hear back but REALLY wanted to try the workout they had programmed.  So I broke one of my rules and just showed up.  Don't do this people!  Most every gym owner will welcome you with open arms but it is good form to make sure that they know you are coming.  I found out that the reason that they hadn't responded was because they were dealing with a burst pipe for most of the day.  
Shawn didn't recognize me at first due to the extreme face sweater that I am currently rocking.  Rachel however knew who I was immediately  which was impressive considering.  Even though I was a couple of minutes late (Don't do that... seriously it's rude and I should have waited until the next class) I was welcomed in and introduced to everyone in the class.  I felt instantly welcome there as though I had been going to that gym since they opened.  There was some additional commotion going on in the form of a new puppy that was showing off how damn adorable he was to anyone that would pay attention.  

Rachel was coaching and did not in anyway disappoint.  Her energy level and enthusiasm was about the best I have ever seen in a CF gym.  The warm up was self paced.  It was clear that everyone in the class was experienced and didn't require any hand holding going through the movements.  We were given a set amount of time to prepare ourselves for the WOD.

THE WOD

1.) 2-2-2-2-2 Squat Cleans @ 90% 1RM

2.) 12 min AMRAP of...

10 BB Lunges @60% of BW

10 KB Swings #45 / #35

15 Second "L" Sit

First of all, I love this type of programming.  Do heavy technical movement first then follow with a 8-15min met-con.  I had never done L-sits in a met con before so I was excited for that part.

For the squat cleans I went with a little more than 90% of my current 1RM at 245#.  Touching down and hitting a second SC without a pause at the bottom proved to be a challenge.  I dropped to 235# which was 89.8% of my 1RM. 

For part two Shawn decided to hop in.  I know the guy is an animal, but my first thought was this is a light weight WOD, He's strong but he's not going to keep up. WRONG!  We stayed just about rep for rep through the first three rounds.  I started to think, He went out too fast, He's going to blow up.  WRONG!  rep for rep for 12 minutes!  and he was using a considerable amount more than I was on those barbell lunges.  Normally I post my time/score but I am not sure what it was.  I think that we were 7 reps into the 11th round by the end of the 12 minutes.  

THE SHIRT

I am not usually a fan a V-necks but this is a very minimal V.  It's a "lower case V-neck"  I dig it.  When you visit, size up cause they run tight (or maybe I'm just finally getting some man muscles like Shawn) I will post a picture soon!  Features the slogan "Caution, Athletes at work" on the back, which is pretty boss if you ask me.

The SCORE

Based off of  my typical scoring chart (the enthusiasm, knowledge and genuine kindness of the coaches and athletes as well as the kick ass programming, the awesomeness of the T-Shirt and how attractive the ladies are)....

 I am proud to give MHF a score of a 54" box jump!

This is the rebirth

I have neglected my obligation to you all and for that I apologize   What's that you don't except.  I will punish myself with 100 burpees.... Satisfied??  I thought so you sickos!  So I took a little break from CrossFit because my doctor told me I was weak.  So I got strong and now I'm back.  A lot has transpired since my last post.  Did my first Olympic lifting competition (I love wearing singlets, always have)  participated in my first partner competition, grew an amazing beard and I lifting a metric fuck ton of weight each day.  I have visited a number of kick ass gyms in the last few weeks and will be giving my feedback on each of them in the coming days.  I also left my "home box office" (Crossfit Lodo) due to a difference of opinion with the other owners.  So I've assembled a new team of bad asses and we are opening a new gym. For the record this is the fourth gym that I have owned. So here we are,  it's 2013 the open is upon us and you want some tips on how to not suck at it.  Well don't worry, daddy is here and he is going to make everything okay.  The nature of this little project has just expanded from simply reviewing local gyms to delivering coaching ques and advice on how to make the most out of your Crossfit experience.




Diana and I competed at CrossFit SOCO's "FrostFit Challenge" yesterday. It was my first time competing on a team.  Instead of a long winded review I am going to point out a couple of things that I noticed.

~ The entire day was scored based off of total pounds lifted instead of reps or time.  I believe this slightly devalues body weight movements but is an effective an interesting approach to scoring.

~Each workout had a single bar with a single weight that teammates had to share.  This meant that for the co-ed teams the entire day would be decided based on how strong the women was and left the guys doing warm up weight throughout.

~ Every workout, with the exception of the finals WOD, was a 6 minute time domain.  That goes against the "broad time domains" aspect of Crossfit but I understand why they did it.  They had 60 something teams to cycle through 6 workouts in a 7 hours.  That is no easy task and they did great at keeping on track.

~The WOD's were very interval based.  Attack, recover, repeat was kind of the theme of the day.  I love interval training so, hell yeah!

~The CF community in Colorado Springs is awesome!  Diana and I were vagabonds of sorts at this comp wondering around, panhandling.  Not really, but the awesome folks at Crossfit 719 and CrossFit Pandora's box invited us to hang out with their groups.

~ The podium prizes were awesome!  I have placed top 3 in over 40 endurance events and never received such a hearty bounty!  it made me be stoked!

If you are interested in the details of each workout, you can find them here....Frostfit WOD's  If you are looking for a well organized comp with good shwag invest in CrossFit SoCo's next competition.


I give the Crossfit Soco "FrostFit Team Challenge" a rating of..... a gallon of Chocolate milk and two rows of fig newtons!

Why do we do CrossFit??

CF LoDo athlete, Young Yang competes in the Colorado State Games-CrossFit

Last week was the Colorado State Games, an event that I have been looking forward to for some time. Personally my experience was not a positive one. In all the wrestling and Ju Jitsu tournaments, of all the 50+ endurance events, of all the MMA fights I have done, I have never had to withdraw from an event. Following the 1st workout of day two I knew that I was not going to be able to continue. Due to a pre existing heart condition I was unable to get much needed blood to my body. An hour after the sub three minute workout my heart rate was still close to 140bpm and my blood pressure was below 90/60. I had no intention of doing the second workout that day. When I came back to support one of the CF LoDo athletes who was competing, my competitive drive silenced my common sense. I did that workout and within the first 2 minutes knew it was a terrible mistake. My heart was not capable of pumping the blood that my body needed. I felt dizzy and watched spots dance around my field of vision for the next 10 minutes. It is a scary thing. I had to sit for several minutes afterwards knowing that there would be no way that I could continue. I have been faced with adversity so many times in competition. I have had my nose completely caved in only to secure a definitive win seconds later in an MMA fight. I have come off of the bike in 1st place in a half ironman just to have my legs completely seize up causing me to walk for most of the 13 mile run course to finish in 12th place. I have had two ribs broken in a wrestling tournament and continued on for three more matches. But this was different, this was my heart, this was my engine and it had no intention of working properly. As I sat there, I asked myself this, "Why do we do CrossFit? Why have you been doing this for nine years?" The only answer that came to mind was, "To be healthy. This is about being healthy!" There is nothing, NOTHING healthy about what I just did! I didn't listen to my body, In fact my body was screaming at me not to push it and I told it to shut up. Stupid arrogant pride. Stupid!
If anyone was offended by my withdraw, I appologize.  No one wants to not finish an event, least of all me.  People need to understand that what we are doing is working out in front of a crowd. 
I took the next three days off. My first set back was simple, 1 squat clean every 30 seconds for 5 minutes. Directly following the last rep everything turned white and when I came to I was on the ground. The only thought in my mind was, get up! get up now! I half crawled to a bench and sat for a few minutes. This is worse than I thought. This may require a visit to the doctor. The diagnosis was exactly what I had expected and it appears that open heart surgery is not just for old people with poor diets! C'est la vie right?!



I did take something very positive from the event. I have commented before about what it is to be a professional coach on this site. That post was met with mixed reviews. What I saw this weekend was the perfect example of what a coach should be.

Our sport is unique in the sense that it is very common for coaches to be competing along side the athletes that they coach. It is common to see coaches cheering for the people they coach right before it is their turn to do the same WOD. What I saw this weekend was above and beyond that. I saw gym owners who drove over 100 miles and spent their weekend supporting their athletes. I witnessed coaches providing not only helpful workout tips but emotional support to their new athletes. A real coach is there when you need them to be, NOT just for the 60 minutes that class is happening.

I saw coaches from CF Stapleton, CF Unbroken, Progressive Fitness CF, and Glenwood springs supporting their athletes every step of the way. I have, in recent months, competed against some of thse same coaches. What I found interesting is that I have never seen some of these guys get that pumped up for their own competitions! They were genuinely more excited for the people they were coaching than they get for their own performance. It was evident that these people have a great deal of pride in what they do. It was clear that these people are "Professional Coaches"

On a side note, I was interviewed for the Gazette shortly after that competition.  The article has since been republished in many other places, including Stars and Stripes.  Here is the link to that article.

http://www.stripes.com/sports/crossfit-athletes-appreciate-each-other-1.183853#loop


Ohhh and just to remain consistant.... There was no shirts at this event....

CrossFit Surge 7/3 4pm class

Initial Impression

I was fortunate enough to compete with Brandon at this years regional competition but didn't actually meet him until he stopped by CF LoDo a few weeks back.  This is when I formed my initial impression of his gym.  Although I had never stepped foot in CrossFit Surge, I knew when I met Brandon that it was a very welcoming place.  Brandon Mercile is a great representative for not only his own gym but for CrossFit as a whole. 
Upon entering Surge Brandon was mid workout.  As a gym owner it can be difficult at times to get your own training in when you need to.  Often we must fit it in just before a class starts.  Brandon was doing what appeared to be a God awful suicide sprint/lateral jump workout.  And while I am sure that the distraction of Georgia and I walking in was a welcome pause from such torture, we couldn't help but feel a little bad.  In true professional form, Brandon stopped what he was doing, welcomed us to his gym and made us feel immediately welcome.  In fact, every member of CF Surge made us feel very welcome.  Each member came up to Georgia and I and introduced themselves.  This says a lot about the overall vibe and sense of community at their box.  I truly appreciate how welcome I was made to feel. 

That is Brandon behind me actually doing hang cleans as I stomp, grunt and spend 3/4 of the workout staring at the bar.

The Warm up

We did a series of line drills including some band work that I have not done in a very long time.  Each movement was shown and led by Brandon.  I felt like it was an appropriate blend of mobility and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation.  We finished our warm up with,
3 rounds of...
5 pull ups
7 push ups
9 kettle bell swings.

The Workout

Strength -
Bench press
10 @ 70% 1RM
8 @ 75%
6 @ 80%

There was also a very helpful Dead Lift component that I chose to skip because I did 4x5 DL's @ 380# the day before.

WOD-

6 rounds for time of....
9 dead lifts
1 rope climb
6 jerks
3 weighted pull ups

The "RX" weight was 155# for the DL, and the Jerk movement was meant to be done at the same weight.  I chose to go 165# for both, not because I am strong or tough but because the 35 & 25# bumper plates were the easiest for me to access.  I know what your thinking and the answer is yes, I am so lazy that I would rather move an extra 10# in a workout than walk around looking for the appropriate weight plates.  I chose 35# for the weighted pull ups and situated a single dumbell between my feet. 

When I finished the first round in 1:27 I thought I might have a chance at besting Brandon's blazing fast time of 9:44 that he set earlier in the day.  By the end of the third round I decided that I no longer had the grip strength to come off of the rope climb and immediately pull 165 to my shoulders.  I set my new goal at a 2min round.  I thought to myself that if I am using 10 extra pounds it is fine if I am a minute slower.  When I finished I took note of the board and the weight that Brandon had used (175# and 40# for the pull ups)  HA!!  And THAT is why Mr. Mericle placed 8th at Regionals and Mr. Jenkins placed 34th!   Well, that and I am pretty sure that he is some kind of a cyborg. 

Time: 11:56

The T-Shirt

I am into the stopwatch logo on the right sleeve for sure.  The motto "Live Sore" on the front is one that I can certainly appreciate! 
Georgia came away with a great blue racer back tank! 
Courtney made sure that we were set up right!  She continued the theme of "super nice people at CF Surge"

The Score

This is a tough one for me.  I was so impressed by the coaching, the programming and the genuine nature of everyone at Surge.  The class ran very smooth and the energy was great.  I honestly believe that the members of Surge are very fortunate to be training there.  Not all gyms are created equal because the individuals that create them are not equal.  Surge is a standout for sure.  They are certain to be a great success in all that they do.

CrossFit Surge scores a....
Sub 6 minute "Jackie" WITH an extra 10# on the thrusters!

Alpine CrossFit hosts "The Legends Competition"

First I have to admit that I have done a workout at Alpine prior to this.  Alpine is one of my favorite local gyms for several reasons.  The people there are genuine and well educated.  The standards are well known and always implemented.  Robby has a clean, well stocked facility that is a great place to train.  I was fortunate enough to come out and watch the Olympic lifting competition that he hosted a few months ago so the expectations were high for his Legends Competition this weekend.  Let me say this, he didn't disappoint.
There was an athlete village with several tents, cool vendors, free water bottles for all the athletes, online athlete tracking, and a designated warm up area.  The set up couldn't have been better.  Everything flowed very well all weekend. 


Let's talk about how to program for an event....
First event is a 2,000m run.  Immediately following the run the athlete has 3 minutes to achieve a 1RM Jerk from the rack.  At exactly 20 minutes following the start of the run the athlete is to complete 100 seconds of bear complex (Clean, front squat, push press, back squat, push press) at 135/95#.  This was scored as three separate events.  Personally I thought this was absolutely brilliant.  Give the small fast guys a chance to score some points then give the bigger, stronger athletes a chance to come right back. 
The way the heats were broken up and the amount of racks and weight ensured that everything ran very smoothly.  Hindsight I would have requested to be in a later heat to see what some other guys were putting up.  I believe most people work harder if they know what benchmark they have to hit. 

Event 1, 2, & 3 results....
Run- 7:48 ; 2nd place
Jerk- 250# ; 7th place
Bear- 47 reps ; 11th place

The second day starts with 8 minutes of nasty!
2 rounds of....
1min max rep hang snatch @ 95#
1min max rep box jump
1min max rep handstand push up
1min max rep front squat @ 95#

My goal was to average 20 reps per movement per round.  Honestly, I went out a little hard and averaged 25 across the board in the first round.  Grabbing the bar in round two was terrible.  I fell off considerably and ended up with 152 total reps which was good enough for 5th place. 
This was a GREAT competition set.  Upper, lower, upper, lower.  It didn't favor a specialist, it favored someone who was good at CrossFit. 

I was looking forward to WOD 5 since it was posted.  A fun new twist.  As if doing a lateral burpee over a 24" object isn't tough enough, let's put it in a sand box!!!  ohhh wait, that isn't going to blast people enough.... let's pair it with 245# deficit dead lifts!!!   This WOD was a pain in the ass, literally.  My glutes were on fire by the last round.  Loved it!  SO EPIC!
3-6-9-12
Deficit Dead Lift @245
Lateral burpee jumps @ 24" (IN SAND)

Time- 3:09, Place- 2nd

WOD #6 was a mixed bag for me.  I love the workout Cindy, and I love double unders but I have had no exposure with an atlas stone.  I was excited to try something completely new in competition and see how my body responded. 

6 rounds of...
5 chest to bar pull ups
10 hand release push ups
15 air squats
Then....
20 ground to shoulder with a 115# atlas stone
60 double unders
120m stone carry.

Everything was going great until the stone carry.  My hamstrings completely seized up.  I had to stop 3 times.  It was nasty. 

^^^^ YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG ^^^^

Time- 10:42, Place- 4th

Point total by the end of the weekend was 43 which put me 1 point from 3rd place overall.  I said going into the competition that I would need to put up less than 40 points total to be successful.  This was a great opportunity to go head to head with some amazing athletes.  Sean Turner came out for a second place finish to bring us to a 1-1 tie for the month.... I'm sure I will be seeing him again soon.  Kevin Ogar is a monster. The guy looks like Juggernaut from the X-Men movie, the funny thing about Kevin is he is one of the most laid back, funny guys out there.  I think that is why making the transition from triathlon to CrossFit competitions has been so easy.  The people competing are fun to be around, they understand that they are competing to see who the best is at working out.  No one takes it overly serious but everyone gives it everything they have. 

I joked with Robby that after that ass kicking I would rather volunteer to be a judge next year, but in all reality there is no way that I would pass up an opportunity to compete at such a well organized fun event.  And next year I get to be in the 30-40 age group!! 

CrossFit LoDo was so very well represented all weekend.  Such a great group of ambassadors for our gym.  Diana, Jenny, Caroline, Young, Adam, Todd, and Donny did all of the coaches and other athletes at LoDo so proud.  Their positive attitudes were infectious all weekend.  Diana and Todd both brought home 2nd place finishes!

The SHIRT
 the T-shirt was seriously cool!  I expected to see a little more green to be honest but I like it.  The price was perfect, Free for athletes!  BOOM!   I rocked it at the noon class at LoDo today. 

I give Alpine CrossFit, all the volunteers and The Legends Competition a......
335# Jerk after a 5 minute mile run!

CrossFit 719 Grand opening!

It is always really cool to be able to say that you were one of the very first people to d a workout in a brand new gym.  I had that opportunity at the grand opening of CrossFit 719 in Colorado Springs on June 9th.  Josh C.  (Proud new papa of 719) called my coach GA and let her know that there was going to be a competition in conjunction with his gym's grand opening.  The first thought that I has was that he must be a serious glutton for punishment.  I have opened two gyms and the amount of work that goes into just getting the doors open is incredible.  Add to that the coordinated effort required to put on a competition and it adds up to several nights without sleep.  Josh handled it with grace and great composure. 
When we arrived there was a palpable excitement, a nervous anticipation of all the great things to come.  The gym was like a brand new pair of climbing shoes, fresh and without the marks and sweat stains that tell of great struggle and accomplishment.  The competition was held in the parking lot.  It was hot!  As a friend of mine would put it "It's Jabuti Africa hot out here!"  There was two workouts and a "Floater" which means that you could do it at your discretion anytime throughout the day.  The floater was 90 seconds of max rep thrusters at 85# for boys.  Now, if you know me then you know that I hate thrusters, they are the bane of my existence.  I was not happy when I heard I would be doing this.  Here is how the day broke down....

WOD #1
3 rounds for time of...
10 power cleans @135#
20 Kettle bell swings @55#
30 Lateral bar hops.

I was in the second heat and finished at 4:57.  Sean Turner went in the first heat and put up an impressive 4:58 while Hunter Lea was in the third heat and finished in 4:56!  So there was less than two seconds of separation between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place! 

I am not too proud to admit that I spent the next 2 hours with ice in my armpits and groin, throwing up under a tree. (Sorry laundry mat on the corner, I am sure that I scared away some of your patrons)  I had to do my Thrusters before the second WOD and I was not pleased, so much so that I decided that flip flops would be appropriate foot wear. 

I think I did 38 in a minute and a half.  I honestly didn't care.  It is a terrible terrible attitude to have I know.  But like I said before, I had been puking for hours and I HATE thrusters!  don't get me wrong, it is probably one of the best movements in CrossFit due to the sheer number of muscle fibers that are recruited and the complexity of the breathing pattern associated with it. 

 The second WOD started about 30 minutes after my thruster shit show.  In warming up for event two I vomited two more times.  I knew at this point that I had a pretty severe case of heat exhaustion.  My head was tingling and I was seeing spots before we even started.  I knew what I needed to do though.  I knew that pretty much everyone scored better than I did on the thrusters.  I needed to flip the switch. 

WOD #2

15 bar facing burpees

20 box jumps (24")

25 dead lifts @ 225#

400m plate carry run @ 45#

25 dead lifts @ 225#

20 box jumps

15 bar facing burpees

Finish time 6:40.  It was good enough for another 2nd place finish and 2nd overall in the competition. 

A great event put on by some terrific people!  The athletes that participated were all amazing.  I got the chance to meet several Crossfitters that I have known about for some time.  Sean and Hunter are two of the coolest people.  Tom Ashby is always a class act at every local event, cheering for his fellow competitors.  And even though Robby Z. refused to do my thrusters for me, it was still really cool getting to hang out with him and some of his crew from Alpine.  I tried to get him to divulge some of the workouts from his upcoming "Legends" Competition but being the fair and honest guy that he is he just smiled and said "You'll do fine."  I'm not much of a writer so consider that as my segue into my next post which will be on The Legends Competition by Alpine Crossfit.