Monthly Archives: November 2012

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WOD To Be Better

After a tumultuous year filled with heartache, tragedy, and self-discovery I found CrossFit. And it’s a good thing I did, because it has changed my life in many ways in just a matter of months.

Being able to take the skills I learn inside my “box” (gym) and apply them to life outside the box makes life more interesting. I see the world differently now. I want to climb things, perform pull ups on trees, attempt one-handed handstands in snowboard boots, and sprint up stairs. I’ve proven to myself that you get out what you put in, and that you must earn your sweat. I’ve quickly learned the language of CrossFit, consisting of words like WOD, snatch, thruster, clean, jerk, muscle up, wall ball, and so many more (and even more acronyms). I’ve gained access to a whole new world filled with fun, fit people all dedicated to bettering themselves and their lives through functional fitness and strength. Each and every person at my gym inspires me to do better and to be stronger than yesterday.

Today, before our WOD, we were given a chance to reach a 1 rep max back squat. Basically you keep adding on weights each rep until you fail. 1 Rep Maxes measure progress; one of the most unique aspects of CrossFit training. I was psyched when I shattered my previous record of 135 lbs with a new PR (personal record) of 185lbs! All day long I thought about my accomplishment, and wanted to tell anyone who would listen.My non-crossfitting friends are probably sick of hearing me talk about how awesome it is. They just don’t get it. Even though every muscle in my body aches, I can’t wait to get back in the gym tomorrow to accomplish something else.

I think for me, that’s why I CrossFit. Each day there is a new challenge, a new opportunity to set, reach, or surpass a goal. I CrossFit to learn new skills and become more fit and confident. I’m getting fit for life.

My 185# back squat attempt at D-Town CrossFit on November 28th, 2012

Following the back squat was the WOD:

20-15-9 rep rounds:

Power Cleans (floor to shoulders)

Box Jumps (20″)

Kettle Bell Swings (16kg/35 lbs)

CrossFit Anywhere – I CrossFit at Keystone Resort

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Switch it up

Do your friends like to jib but you don’t know where to start? Try learning how to ride switch. Have you ever heard the term (or actually tried) to throw a baseball with your non-dominant hand? Well, I have and it’s a lot like learning to ride switch. Your muscles are accustom to a certain motion when you are snowboarding, but when you switch around you basically need to re-learn to snowboard.

If you want to do 180’s, 540’s or just become a more versatile rider overall, just follow these tips and you will cruising switch in no time.

1. PUT YOUR WEIGHT ON YOUR FRONT FOOT. Leaning back will make it much harder to gain and maintain control, so if anything lean slightly downhill.

2. LOOK and point to where you want to go. This will help initiate the turn for you. Remember that speed is your friend.

3. Once the turn is initiated, KEEP YOUR CHEST AND EYES UP, shoulders should stay directly over the hips, and heals. Your tendency will be to look at the ground, and you will end up leaning over and falling.

4. Ride switch at least half of each run for the first day or two. By the end of the day you will be comfortable linking turns switch!

5. Now that you can turn switch, you can start your 180’s on flats, small rollers and piles of snow. For a front side 180, ride on your toe edge, and jump a half spin landing on your toe edge again. You will open be spinning towards downhill. Only you will now be landing switch. Swing your arms from one side of your body to the other for extra momentum. Practice this often, and make sure you ride away switch.

6. After you are comfortable popping off your toes in a frontside 180, it’s time to try the backside 180. This time you will be spinning toward uphill. The most challenging part about spinning backside is that you land blind, so KNOW WHAT YOUR LANDING LOOKS LIKE.  It’s best to learn these on small piles of snow, rollers, and hits on the side of the trails. You will start to notice them everywhere. Ride up on your toe edge, and bend your knees. As you push off and leave the ground, swing your arms across your body and rotate your shoulders but DO NOT ROTATE YOUR HEAD! Trust your feet to catch you. You should land looking up hill. These take a while to get comfortable with, but keep trying! Before you know it you too will be jibbing everywhere!

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“Kelly”

Benchmark WODs measure progress and track improvement. These workouts usually have names like “Barbara,” “Fran,” and “Angie” and are feared by CrossFitters around the world.

Today we did a WOD called “Kelly.”

One of the smartest things my gym does is to not post the workouts ahead of time. This prevents cherry picking workouts because you have to show up and commit to doing it before you even know what it will be. This WOD was different. I went snowboarding at Keystone in the morning, then on my way home checked the website. I saw that the day’s WOD was already posted…. and it looked hard. Yes, all CrossFit workouts are hard, but this looked especially scary to me since there was a lot of running involved, and WallBalls are extremely demanding. (See Below for WOD)

I thought about skipping it since I knew what it was and I had already gone snowboarding, but I decided to go anyways. One of my biggest motivations for completing the “Kelly” WOD was that my ex-boyfriend of 7 years is named Kelly. We broke up this past summer and I knew this WOD couldn’t be any worse, or any harder than ending things with Kelly.

So, I went into the gym with a new mentality, a determination like never before. I threw myself into it 100% and gave it everything I had; just like I had done with my failed relationship.

When it was over, I was not only impressed with how well I did, but I felt I had accomplished something amazingly personal… like I was closing a major chapter in my life.

The feeling of personal accomplishment. pushing past comfort zones and going beyond known limits is one of the most rewarding side-effects of CrossFit training. I experienced this on a whole new level following the “Kelly” WOD. It went beyond physical triumph… it was alike an invisible weight was lifted off my shoulders.

Here is what the workout consisted of:

5 Rounds for Time:

– Run 400 Meters

– 30 Box Jumps at 20″

– 30 WallBalls 14lbs

In total I ran 2,000, completed 150 box jumps and 150 wallballs in 30:08.

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Me and Kelly in 2010