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From now until the end of June... $30 off registration!
Use the code "bulldog" when registering!
This is only good for this month! Grab your favorite training partner and get signed up!
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Fran...Helen...Annie... time to get to know them in a whole new way.
The Girls Gone Wild is now going to be a same sex TEAM event with WODs based on the commonly known Girls workouts. However you will be wildly surprised by some unexpected twists!
Check out the three of the WODs on our Facebook page!
Divisions will be RX, Scaled and Masters (40+) with a cap on each division. We pride ourselves on putting on a well organized, well sponsored event and plan to deliver the same with The Girls.
Make sure you sign up ASAP!
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Alright people…. The current strength cycle will close out the week of June 29-July 3. We will de load the week of the 22-26 with some light lifting at a bit higher volume. Also that week will include some easy metcons with efforts around 80-85%. This is important to get in as it will keep your body moving and fluid while resting your CNS (central nervous system). CNS rest is key before maxing on the lifts. Taking a week off completely is not optimal. You want to come in and move.
Once that cycle ends you can plan on seeing an increase in “aerobic capacity†work. What does that mean?? Longer metcons (20-30 min) sprinkled with some heavy-ish lifting. So an example may look like this….800m run/ 25 pull ups/ 5 cleans @ 185/125. 3-4 rounds. These workouts will gradually build your aerobic system, as we get deeper into that cycle you will be doing more work in less time. So another example may look like this…AMRAP 15 of 400m run/ 30 KB swing/ 20 box jumps….rest 5 min then another 15 min session. Sounds like a whole lot of fitness going on this summer.
A quick word on the 23/1 rule….I get you for an hour a day. You are on your own for the other 23. I know you all bust your butts in here. Poor nutrition WILL ruin your efforts. If you look at the “Health Pyramidâ€, nutrition is the base. You can’t out-train a poor diet. If you need/want assistance please ask. We work way too hard to put it down the drain….own your life and make good choices. It’s never too late. Look at some of the people that took charge and they have made life changing choices and not only are healthier but look amazing. Remember, we are here to help and our door is always open.
We have lots of new members in our community so be sure to say Hi! And introduce yourself if you see someone new (or just new to you!)
We will be doing some fun outings and get togethers so stay tuned for those.
Keep hitting it hard and staying consistent, you’re all doing great!!
Cheers!
-Mike
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Join us for our Summer Athlete Training Program! Classes will start June 15th!
Monday - Friday @ 10:30 am
Training will include but not be limited to:
“Slow†lifts - squat, press, bench, deadlift
Olympic lifts - clean & jerk, snatch
Agility, conditioning and mobility
Linear strength progression
Personalized programs tailored to each athlete
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We are going to be sampling Replenish during evening classes on Monday and morning classes on Tuesday next week! Make sure you try some and ask Mel or Christine if you have any questions!
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RECOVERY
The body loses vitamins, electrolytes,and water during exercise. Proper hydration is extremely important to recovery when exercise is intense or long.
PERFORMANCE
The glycogen complex in Replenish delivers optimal levels of carbs athletes need to perform at peak levels.
HYDRATION
Replenish is a great way for everyone to hydrate without any artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners.
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Monthly Challenge!!!
Deadlifts + over the bar burpees
2 min AMRAP - Men - 275 or 225# Women - 165 or 115#
5 DL + 5 Burpees
Score is weight used times DL reps - burpee reps don't factor in.
Make sure you hit "RX" when entering score! Put your score in Wodify that is where we will pull winners from! Winners get a tub of whey protein!
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Congrats to our two monthly challenge winners from May!
Great job Kindra and Rob!
Keep up the good work you studs!
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Make sure you put these events on your calendar!
Upcoming:
4th of July WOD - come celebrate our Independence Day! - Saturday, July 4th - 9 AM Class
HooverBall - Saturday, July 18th
"The Girls Gone Wild" competition - Team! Men and Women's Scaled, RX and Masters! - Saturday, August 1st
BBQ and Make-a-Wish Plaques - Friday, August 7th
Ultimate Hawaiian Trail Run - Saturday, September 18th
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Trainer's Talk - Dawna Graham
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The Front Squat
We’ve been on our front squat cycle since the beginning of May. The first few weeks were spent box squatting which helped us wake up our glutes and hamstrings. Now we are moving onto front squats without the box which will allow us to add more weight to the bar.
Some differences between the Front and Back Squat: One of the most frequent questions we get is why we front squat instead of back squat since we can squat more with the barbell on the back. Below are some of the differences between the two:
- Obviously, the bar placement is different. In the front squat, bar is positioned on the front of the shoulders rather than on the upper back. The gives the athlete a counterbalance to allow for a better posterior weight shift, which improves squat depth. Yay! No more getting called out for not going below parallel! Also due to the bar placement, bailing out of a front squat is easier and safer than bailing out of a back squat.
- The front squat allows the athlete to fully extend the hips and it enforces better form. In the back squat you will sometimes see the butt rise up first, which makes the squat look more like a good morning. With the front squat it becomes more obvious if the butt rises first and the athlete can then self-correct or dump the bar if form is poor.
- In the front squat, because the center of gravity of the weight is shifted forward on the body and the shin angle has a more forward inclination compared to the back squat, it tends to place more stress on the quadriceps. We’re still working the hamstrings and gluteal muscles, but the quads get a bigger stressor with the front squat. Since we are also deadlifting during this strength cycle (which really works the posterior chain), the front squat is a nice complement.
- The upright torso angle of the front squat can help reduce shear stress on the spine. More forward lean equates to more shear stress, as the resistance is moved further away from the axis of rotation. Eric Cressey uses the example of a see-saw where your lower back is the middle point to illustrate this point. Moving the load further out increases the risk of going into excessive lumbar flexion under heavy weight. The front squat – even under heavier loads – keeps the athlete more upright, or else s/he will have to dump the bar.
Front Squat Tips: So now you know a few differences between the front and back squat. Below are some tips to focus on the next time you front squat.
- Don’t place the j-cups too high. You want to be able to brace and get set up tight under the bar before you take it out of the rack. This is true for all of your lifts out of the rack, but I’m using this chance to make my point. I see people having to get on their tiptoes to take the barbell out of the rack. It’s hard to get tight with a heavy bar on your shoulders. Get tight and then unrack the bar.
- Grip – Because we do Olympic Weightlifting in CrossFit, use a clean grip width if possible as it will transfer to the same feeling when you receive the bar in the clean position. This should be outside of your shoulders. You can play around with your grip width and see what gets you in a better position. Remember that hands should be open – fingertip grip – with bar resting on your anterior delts. Don’t go too narrow. Chest up.
- The bar should be placed as close to the throat as possible. It takes a bit to get used to but I know you can do it!
- Elbows up – Puppet strings attached to your elbows and to ceiling. Don’t let those elbows dip.
- Brace – Don’t go soft at the bottom of the squat. Keep that core braced.
Mobility for Front Rack Position – You hate to front squat, you say? Nonsense. That’s just your lack of mobility talking. In addition to coming to Mobility with Roskopf on Thursdays (I was not compensated for that plug), focus on these areas on a regular basis.
Needed for a good front squat:
- Good thoracic mobility.
- Good ankle mobility.
- Good wrist mobility
- Good hip mobility.
- Good core stability.
If you need help in these areas – come see Mike, Chad, Rich or me. We are happy to give you some drills, stretches, etc., to improve your front squat technique. Until next time - Happy Squatting
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Athlete of the Month - Delia Grenville
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Those of you that don’t know who Delia is can usually spot her by simply looking for the gal that is bipping and bopping and hipping and hopping to the tunes during the 8:45 or 11:30 classes (usually). Delia’s spirit and enthusiasm are contagious. You can’t help but improve your mood when she is around. Always positive, always setting and achieving goals and always good things to say about others.
Delia has a great work ethic and has come many miles since joining BCF. She is one to make a goal, plan it, and get after it. From her running to her strength gains to leaning up and getting healthier, Delia has it going on. One can learn many things from her example. It’s not that hard….make a plan, stay focused, achieve goals. She makes it look easy but it,s hard work and takes dedication and sacrifice. This is what is needed to make gains (or losses).
Delia also got her husband Kevin going not too long ago as well. So now it’s a family affair. Both are living a healthy lifestyle that will be passed down to the kids. Most excellent!
Be sure to congratulate Delia when you see her, maybe she’ll show you some moves if you’re lucky.
-Mike
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My goals are to keep showing up. And, to do a pull-up. I like to keep what’s ahead of me simple. So, I can keep showing up.
My BCF experience: Sometimes I would stare so hard at Mike or whoever was coaching that I would be afraid that I was going to be arrested. But, trying to process the words and co-ordinate the movements, was a lot for me. I came up with a lot strategies: 1) have partner that you can learn with, 2) be by yourself then you can learn without slowing people down, or, 3) stand behind a methodical person. Ha! You probably don’t know who you are, methodical people, but I do. I would stand a safe distance behind you and then copy your moves and your rhythm, down to the pre-stretch and prep you do before the movement. Quietly acting like all I was doing was listening to the music. That went on for months, while trying to learn new names, really enjoying the music, remembering to bring my towel, my water, go to the bathroom, and trying to get class before my notorious “5-minutes-late-right-on-time†reputation.
Crossfit is an amazing transformation if you can let it be that for you. It will change your standards for what is normal and how you want to live your life. My sister had gone the year before so her gung-ho enthusiasm also tempered my belief with “she always loves her fitness place and at the end they practically want to hire her.†But, what you at BCF don’t know is that I would show up in Beaverton, Oregon and I would have the same stories as Nyon, Switzerland. Stories of a place, where people spoke to you, where they knew your name, where they greeted you. Classes where they helped you put away your equipment, where they waited for you to finish and cheered you on and counted for you to get done. Coaches who held your hand as you boxed jumped 6†because somewhere in your growing up, you forgot how to jump up onto something. The same stories of Crossfit as a place where they celebrated your 400m time, your first clean, your squat with no pole and no pain. Sometimes because adult life can be like that “the Crossfit people†would be the only people that I would talk to between everyone leaving for work and school and then coming home again.
Now, this isn’t to make anyone sad. It’s just that don’t ever get it twisted about what the coaches and we at the box do, is just about fitness. It’s about transforming yourself into an athlete and that is as much mental and spiritual as it is physical. You, the athlete-in-the-making, have to feel comfortable, and cared for to do everything that you will have to do to make your journey happen. You gotta be okay with failing, sweating, forgetting, relearning, paining (is that a verb?) and you gotta be okay with not reaching your goal, to do the work to reach your goals. In my case, because if I am going fix something, as my husband Kevin Putnam would tell you, I am going to really fix it. This meant working with Rich, going to acupuncture, taking Alexander Lessons, working with chiropractor, finding trainer to work on weak muscles and changing my nutrition, reading about fitness, etc. I’m nutty that way.
I am truly honored to be the athlete of the month. It was a hard thing to reconcile when I got the email. For the longest while, I didn’t know what story to share but I asked Chad for advice and he said write from the heart (Chad smile, Chad hint of LA drawl).
In the end, all I did is what Mike told me to do when I started on July 5th 2013. I lingered a bit at the end of the trial class at his office door. I remember that he typed into the computer as I asked if I could actually do “this†and get results. Mike looked up and he said, “Show up. Just show up. Most new people don’t do that. We’ll help you with the rest.†And, so I did.
PS. I would like to thank all the awesome co-atheletes that helped me continue to figure this out. List of names to long to mention.
- Delia
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