Trail of DOOM

The Gracie Way Episode 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJFPkFHDj9w&list=UUManGNs8aKLxVmgNZY45n2g&index=2&feature=plpp_video

The Second Installment From Full Squared

P.O.W.E.R.F.U.L.

http://vimeo.com/33510354

Phenomenal Video Courtesy of Full Squared Productions.

http://vimeo.com/33416661

An Incredible Video For Lauriel Luther

If You're Interested

http://www.70sbig.com/blog/2011/12/whats-the-deal-with-crossfit/

CrossFit Community

Bet You Wish You Had One Of These

Wisdom From The Dragon

Storm

This video is incredible! That is all :D

http://vimeo.com/17391435

Post # 100!!

Hey everybody! I am posting a highlight video I made. It's pretty awesome. But Fullsquared Productions is making a video that brought tears to my eyes. There's is only a teaser, I will post the full video soon. Here is mine. I can't find it right now so please click the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAVMxtAF01A

Here is the Fullsquared teaser.

http://vimeo.com/33196856

Arizona CrossFit Affiliate Competition! The Fight For Lauriel Luther!

Hey everybody! I am 2 days removed from the AC^2 event held at my home gym of CrossFit Flagstaff. And yes, once again, I feel like I got in a fight with a bear. I woke up early on Saturday morning to have breakfast with some of the competitors. When I say early, I mean 5 a.m. which is an un-godly hour for me. We get to the gym at 7 and they won't let us in the door. After sitting around for 10 minutes or so, they let 11 people in. Luckily for me, I'm the 11th person. We check in, get our wristbands and are told to grab our jump ropes. My adrenaline starts to spike as I realize that we are doing a workout first thing, no warm up nothing. Surprise WOD! I ask my judge what I'm doing. "Double unders, GO!" I have to do double unders for a minute straight. Luckily they feel pretty good and I get the first 40 seconds un broken, 88 total. 30 seconds rest, what am I doing now? "Chest to bar pull ups, GO!" I have to do chest to bar pull ups for a minute. I only get 15 because my chest to bars are pretty awful. All in all, I was pretty sad I ate breakfast and it took a few hours for my stomach to calm down.

Next up was the one of the main WODs of the day "Lauriel". But before that, I had to do 5 rope climbs for time. They had a 3 minute time cap on it, but I wasn't worried about it. I got my first 4 rope climbs in about 30 seconds. My 5th one started bad. I had so much lactic acid in my fore arms that I couldn't let go of the rope or open my fingers enough to grab it again. I got all the way up to the 15 foot mark and as soon as I touched it, my grip failed and I fell the full 15 feet to the ground. I didn't get injured at all but it took a full minute before I could grip the rope again. I completed the 5th rope climb without incident and immediately walked over to my dad to get the lactic acid rubbed out of my arms.

I was in heat 6 for "Lauriel", so I had some time to wait. I spent that time coaching members of my team and warming up. This WOD was every bit as brutal as I thought it was going to be. I got the 23 deadlifts un broken. My plan for the handstand push ups was to tap out if I started to fail. As I predicted, I got to 15 and couldn't do anymore. I decided to take the 20 second penalty per unfinished handstand push up and move on to back squat. I got those done in two sets and then suffered through the burpees keeping a moderate pace. I plowed through the ground to overhead in a moderate amount of time, and the workout was over.

After an hour for lunch, they announced the next workout along with 2 skill tests. I was in heat 5 this time and decided to get my skill tests done right away. The first up was the broad jump. You had 3 attempts to get as far as you could. I got 85 inches on that one. The next one was a bean bag toss. You had 1 minute to throw as many bean bags through the hole as you could. I threw 25 bean bags and only got 7 threw the hole. The next WOD was "Last Man Standing". On the first minute you complete 1 snatch and 1 box jump. The second minute 2 of each and so on until you can't complete the allotted number within the minute. I was pretty wrecked going into this workout so I was only able to get to 7 snatches and 4 box jumps. That was the last workout for me. I placed 43rd overall. I'm pretty dang proud of that. I got 57th in my last one and 99th the one before that. I'm creeping up on the leaders and it's only a matter of time for me. I will post more pics soon. Below is a highlight video of the "Lauriel" workout. Enjoy!
http://www.neverdiegear.com/Site/Podcast/Entries/2011/12/5_“Lauriel”.html

Last Comp of the Year!

Hey everybody! I have my last competition of 2011 coming up this weekend! I'm really excited and really nervous. They sent us an email telling us the schedule for the events of the day and what the first WOD is. The first WOD is named after a friend of the CrossFit community named Lauriel Luther who was diagnosed with brain cancer earlier this year. This entire comp is to raise money to help pay for her medical expenses. The WOD is as follows.

"Lauriel"
23 deadlifts 155 lbs.
23 handstand push ups.
23 back squats 155 lbs.
23 burpees
23 ground to overhead 155 lbs.

Here is a video I made from the last fundraising event that was held for Lauriel. Here is a link to her story if you are interested in learning more about this amazing woman. http://laurielluther.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-fight-truth-as-i-remember-it-and-as.html 

I am really nervous because my handstand push ups tend to fall apart pretty quickly. I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself because I want to perform really well because this comp is at my home gym. I know that the adrenaline will carry me through the handstand push ups, but I am nervous none the less. Either way, I'm ready to do work and leave everything out on the floor! I know I've posted this video multiple times but here it is again. Game Time!

DYLAN!!!

This is a video in the CrossFit Journal featuring my good friend Dylan. The video explains everything. My user name is neverdiewon, and my password is phluks4130. Check it out!

http://journal.crossfit.com/2011/11/dylanflagstaff.tpl

Hooyah!

Grapplers Quest Behind The Scenes

Hey everybody! This particular Grapplers Quest was the most challenging I've had so far. Both of the guys I fought were complete monsters! I didn't get any footage from the venue because I was really nervous before hand and completely exhausted afterwards. The first match, neither of us scored any points. I was able to grind out a win because I had the advantage for a majority of the match. The second guy I fought was like fighting a gorilla. I couldn't get him to the ground no matter how hard I tried. I added some bonus footage on the end for you guys. Enjoy!

Here are my matches if you feel so inclined!

IT'S TIME!!!!

Hey everybody. Weigh ins are tomorrow! I'm excited to compete again! I have taken the last 2 days off of training, and all I've been doing is stretching and relaxing. Well, as much relaxing as you can do with school breathing down your neck! I will have a behind the scenes video going down all weekend and stay tuned to my Facebook page for immediate results! Until then, here is The Gracie Way episode 6!

The Lone Survivor

Every year on Memorial Day, Crossfitters around the world participate in a hero wod called "Murph". Below is a link to the story behind it. Please click and enjoy.

http://www.lonesurvivor.net/redwing.html

This Guy = EPIC!

I have been hearing about this guy for quite some time now, and I assure you that he is nothing short of inspirational. He has wrestled and done jiu jitsu. He has competed in the CrossFit Regionals competition. He even has a cage fight under his belt. He is the epitome of "If I can do it, you can do it." Click the link below to be inspired.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/08/human-factor-a-goal-is-a-direction-not-an-end/

An Article Written By Games Athlete Julie Foucher

Improvement through Human Connection

I recently had the fantastic opportunity to spend a weekend with the Barbells for Boobsteam on their October Amazing Grace tour across the country.  I, like most CrossFitters, always jump at the chance to participate in all sorts of local events whether they may be fundraisers, competitions, or seminars. Do a workout or two, cheer some people on you just met twenty minutes ago, and then hang out and swap stories with these awesome, newfound friends? Yes, please!  And if we can raise money for a great cause, well that’s even better.  The events I experienced at CrossFit Chicago and CrossFit DuPage were no exception, epitomizing the camaraderie and power of the CrossFit community.

Not too long before heading to Chicago, I had watched a CrossFit Journal video in which Greg Glassman discusses the “Philosophy of CrossFit.”  Coach describes this philosophy as “The belief in the improvability of ourselves and each other.”  He goes on to describe the manifestation of this philosophy in one of the most common occurrences at any CrossFit event, or in any box on an average Tuesday evening for that matter.  As the last person to finish a workout fights through the last few rounds and repetitions, “The crowd goes wild. Why are they going wild?” Coach asks. He answers, “Because they know that the person out there hears them.  You’re believing in your capacity to improve someone by cheering for him.”

CrossFitters believing in their ability to improve each other by cheering at B4B CrossFit Chicago

Now that is a beautiful and powerful thought, and one that was on my mind throughout my weekend with B4B.  Heat after heat after heat of CrossFitters performing Grace, I saw this philosophy come to life.  Though an uninterrupted stream of cheers could be heard throughout the day, I couldn’t help but notice that these cheers amplified at the end of each heat, as the last few finishers lifted their barbells for reps 28, 29, and 30 faster than reps 1, 2 and 3.  Crazy, right? It’s not as if the cheers of the crowd suddenly changed these peoples’ physiological states, enabling their muscles to extract oxygen more efficiently so that they could lift the barbell faster at the end of their workout.  Then what happened? What was it about this mass of screaming CrossFitters that elevated their peers in this time of struggle?

The Doctor by Sir Luke Fildes (1887) - more like a CrossFitter than we thought?

As I ponder this question I can’t help but think about a painting by Sir Luke Fildes titled, “The Doctor.”  I was first exposed to this painting my freshman year of college, and it seems to be a favorite in the profession, as I’ve already run into it again at least three times in my first four months of medical school.  The painting depicts a physician in the 1880s watching over a dying young girl at her bedside while her parents despair hopelessly in the background.  In a time before antibiotics, there was nothing more this doctor could do medically for his patient.  Despite this fact, he sits with her deep into the night with the belief that in so doing he might somehow improve her condition, or at the very least, relieve some of her suffering.  It was the belief in his capacity to improve his patient by sitting with her that drove the doctor to do so.  I believe the physician-patient relationship, though different in its polarity, is in many ways reminiscent of the philosophy that Coach describes for CrossFit.  Even with the rapid advancement of medical technology, in many cases this image of the 1880s doctor is still seen in hospitals today – there comes a time when more cannot be done medically to improve a patient’s condition, and at that moment the best doctors depend on their ability to provide comfort simply by being there and connecting with their patients.  Again we see that it is the belief in improvability through these connections- between physician and patient, between two CrossFitters- that elevate individuals.  Magical, isn’t it?

One aspect of the B4B events separating them from other events such as competitions or seminars lies in their very purpose.  This event wasn’t about doing a workout and having a good time, it was for a much greater cause – raising funds for Mammograms in Actionand providing support for those affected by breast cancer.  The fact that we had all gathered for a cause much larger than ourselves or even the small community in which we resided at that moment seemed to amplify everything about the usual camaraderie of CrossFit events that keeps me coming back.  The cheers were louder, the Grace times were faster, and the conversations among complete strangers were deeper and more thoughtful.  At this event, it became apparent to me that maybe Coach’s philosophy extends beyond the improvement of the person standing next to you by cheering for him or her – maybe what unites the entire community, what allows us to walk into any CrossFit box in an unfamiliar city and feel welcome, is the belief in the improvability of “each other” in a much greater sense – maybe it’s the belief in the improvability ofhumanity.

As I thought more and more about the capacity of these human connections to facilitate improvement, I became eager to make more connections and share some of the crazy and often nonsensical ideas that float around in my head.  I’ve created this blog to do just that, and I hope you enjoy my musings in this exciting time of growth in my life- as I begin my medical training at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and continue my love affair with the sport of fitness.  Please feel free to tell me what you think and share your own ideas here!

Positive Self Talk!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=393561765678

Rest Day

Hey everybody! Just a quick update. Not to much going on other then lots and lots of training and schoolwork. I have just about a week and a half left of training before I go claim my gold medal at Grapplers Quest. I'm really looking forward to being back in the nice and warm Las Vegas weather. Winter has finally come in Flagstaff, Arizona. It has become that time of year when it's hard to get motivated to go outside much less go train. Lucky for me I am motivated by my massive list of goals that need to be accomplished. I leave you with Rob Orlando doing an epic one handed power snatch. Enjoy your day!

Signed Up, Training Hard

Hey everybody, I signed up for Grapplers Quest last night. I decided it would be better to compete in the light heavyweight class again rather then going for the absolute (open weight) class. The reason being, the absolute class costs more to enter and I am very broke at the moment. So I won't be getting a championship belt this time. But I'm taking that gold medal home with me. I'm training very hard and I'm feeling very strong right now. I'm just refining technique and getting my strength and conditioning up as high as I can. I can't wait. This time I will be victorious! I went from 4th to 2nd in my last 2 outings and there is only one more place for me to occupy. I will settle for nothing less.  I apologize for not having any video blogs up. I just don't have the time to put them together anymore. I'm doing the best I can to keep you as up to date as possible. I can guarantee you one thing, there will be a behind the scenes video when all is said and done. Until then, I'll let you guys know whats up as I get closer to competition and I appreciate the support!

Defeating Peter Egyed

This is Peter Egyed. He is a CrossFit Games athlete and the owner of CrossFit Fury. CrossFit Fury is were the competition was held last weekend. He is competing with me at my home gym of CrossFit Flagstaff on December 3rd. It is my goal to defeat him. Its probably not going to workout for me, but I'm going to give it everything I have. I will make sure that every workout that I will give it everything I have and leave everything on the floor. When it comes to accomplishing goals, no amount of effort is too much. As I said before, I will not be able to defeat Peter Egyed. But I am going to keep training like I can. Who knows? Maybe in a few years I will accomplish this goal. First things first. Grapplers Quest on November 19th, I'm taking home the belt in the absolute (open weight) division.

Here Is A Few More Pics From The Comp

 Discussing weight stripping techniques with my friend and teammate Ryland

 Chalking up my hands before the workout.

The start position

 After the clean in the rack position

 The finished jerk.

After 6 minutes of clean and jerking my brains out!

Second Vid From The Furious Fundraiser

Here is the link for the second video of the comp last weekend. Whats happening is, they are figuring out the 3rd and final workout of the day with the "Hopper" method. This is when they have all of the movements in a box and they randomly pick them out. This workout was so brutal that the owner of the gym, CrossFit Games athlete Peter Egyed was apologizing for the movements coming out of the hopper! Click the link and enjoy the video!


                                                          http://vimeo.com/31123239

A Vid From The Furious Fundraiser

Hey everybody! Here is a link to a video from the Furious Fundraiser so you can get a better idea of what it was like. I am not responsible for the music or any language that may be present =D Click the link and enjoy!

                                                            http://vimeo.com/31087196

The Furious Fundraiser Competition

Hey everybody. The Furious Fundraiser was easily one of the funnest experiences I have ever had! It was a blast from beginning to end. We started that morning off by waking up at 5:30 a.m. so we could have enough time to make our "Rich Froning Food" which is just a tub of peanut butter and jelly. By tub, I mean a jar and a half of peanut butter and one jar of jelly. Let me tell you, my friend Ryland and I are 2 very capable individuals. But getting peanut butter out of a jar with a plastic spoon at 5:30 in the morning must have been a sight to see to say the least. After fighting pb&j for the better part of 20 minutes, we walk next door to meet the team at Cracker Barrel for breakfast.

We got to CrossFit Fury at 7:30 for registration. Once we got our numbers and heat assignments, the team picked our spot in the gym to start warming up. The First heat was off the line for the 2 mile obstacle course at 8 a.m., and I was up 7 minutes later in the 7th heat. As soon as the guy said 3, 2... I got easily one of the biggest adrenalin dumps I've ever had!  ...1, Go! Our heat takes off and I'm doing everything I can to not blow myself out in the first 200 meters! I settled into a pace that was somewhat uncomfortable, but it was a pace I knew I could keep for a majority of the 2 mile course. The first obstacle was hay bail hurdles. Once we got past that, it was about half a mile to where we had to pick up the sand bags. The men had to carry the sand bags (I would guess about 20 - 30 lbs.) up and over to hills which was probably about 200 meters or so. Then we ran to up to a dead end street where we had to do 10 "jump over log burpees". Afterwards we had to run back to the hills to carry those infernal sand bags that were immediately followed by balance beams that we had to walk on. Then it was the home stretch back to the gym. I was pretty exhausted at that point but I was able to keep my pace for the last 1/2 mile to the finish line. I was pretty excited to almost be done when I turned the corner and saw those hay bail hurdles from the beginning of the race. I had forgotten all about those things, and to be honest, I didn't thing I was going to make it over them. Thankfully I finished without incident at 18:27. At this point I knew I had a lot of ground to make up in the second workout if I wanted to make it to the 3rd one.

We had about 2 hours of rest between the run and the second workout which was as much ground to overhead that you could accumulate in 6 minutes.  The trick was you had to lift 4 (132, 154, 176, and 198 lbs.) different amounts of weight at least once before you stuck with a weight that you were comfortable with. The bar started with 132 on it. As soon as he said go, I added all of the weight on and failed my first lift. I tried again and got it, then stripped the weight of. I did my 4 lifts at each weight, then promptly went to town with 132 lbs. The last minute of this workout was one of the longest minutes of my life! I wanted to make the cut to get to the 3rd workout so bad! I fought all the way through to the last second and immediately fell to a heap on the floor. I was completely exhausted and I had nothing left. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough and I didn't make the cut. 

I'm not disappointed by my performance by any means. I left it all out there in both workouts. I just simply wasn't strong enough. I have a lot of work to do and I'm really looking forward to doing it. This was a great learning experience for me. My next competition will be Grapplers Quest on November 19th and then I have another CrossFit comp at my home gym on December 3rd. Thanks for the support everybody, 3 weeks of training for Grapplers Quest!

Jack Move!

I found this on the CrossFit Flagstaff page while I was looking at old posts. Click the link and enjoy!

                                                      http://vimeo.com/9358866

We all struggle. There isn’t a person on the planet who doesn’t wrestle with the mundane and the meaty, the burrs in your sock and the wounds in your side. There are days when you just don’t know how you’re going to make it until lights out and there are weeks when a cloud doesn’t cross the sun. But no matter, we’re all the same, trying to make sense of it all when it feels like you’re trying to thread a needle while wearing mittens.

Adventure, however you define it, is an escape. Sports, they’re a respite. As Kundera wrote, laughter is forgetting. But also, there are lessons, and enlightenment. We find ourselves out there, and who we find is the stronger for it.

Michael, the subject of this achingly inspiring short film by Sean Mullens, has challenges in his day that one can only imagine. But he suits up and paddles out, and in the water finds what we’re all looking for.

“You can transcend. You can get to a place where you’re free,” he says. “Just to be what you were meant to be.”

Amen, brother.

My Sentiments Exactly.

"I am working diligently to change that, one day, one training session, and on week at a time.  Often, I feel like I suck at everything right now, but then there are moments of revelation too.  The victory of those moments far outweigh the daunting reality that I still have so much to work on."  Lindsey Smith is one of the few CrossFit Games athletes that I have had the pleasure to workout with. And she is nothing short of a phenomenal athlete. I saw this link to her blog and these last few sentences really hit home and explain why I train so hard. Below is the link to the rest of the article. Check it out and have a great day!



                                http://crossfitchron.blogspot.com/2011/10/just-want-to-be-me.html

Downhill Slope

Hey everybody! Yesterday was my last hard day of training for the Furious Fundraiser CrossFit Competition this weekend. I'm sore as heck, but I'm feeling really good! I'm going to jog out a 5K today then rest for the rest of the week. I had my first CrossFit competition way back in January and I was significantly less then prepared for it. I ended up placing second to last overall. This result is completely unacceptable to me and I assure you it will never happen again. Since then, I have decided to compete as much as possible. Mainly because, if you stay in shape you never have to get back into shape!  In addition to Grapplers Quest on November 19th, I have signed up for a competition at my home gym of CrossFit Flagstaff on December 3rd! Needless to say, this has been a busy year for me and I'm looking forward to what I will be accomplishing next year. Come Friday I will be doing the "If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you fight good." ritual, along with the pack and re pack thing I always do. As always look to my Facebook for updates and thanks for the support!

Last Hard Day

Hey everybody! I had a great workout yesterday! I got a personal record of 10 lbs. on my clean & jerk! I was able to get 215 lbs. over my head! I was able to squat clean 220 but failed on the jerk. Then we did 2 muscle ups 4 hand stand pushups  and 20 walking lunges for 10 minutes. It was a lot of fun. Today I'm going to try and get a run and 2 workouts in. I'll let you guys know how it goes! Below is a link to a video of Chris Spealler. He is the only person to compete in all of the CrossFit Games to date. The amazing thing is, he is the smallest guy out there! He is going to try and put on 10 pounds to get up to 155! He's deadlifted 315 lbs. for 7 reps, thats over double of his body weight!

                                   http://games.crossfit.com/features/videos/speal-2011

Furious Update!

Hey everybody! Once again I apologize for not making any video blogs. I just have to get back into that habit and find the time to do it. I have skipped out on jiu jitsu for the last couple of weeks and have focused primarily on CrossFit for the CrossFit Fury Competition coming up this weekend. I've been training hard and I'm in the taper off faze right now. I'll train hard today and tomorrow and then do a light run and start working on mobility on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday will consist mainly of mobility work and then we head down to Phoenix! Registration is at 7 a.m. and the first of 3 workouts will be at 8 a.m. I'll keep you guys updated the best I can! Thanks for the support!

Slammed!

Hey everybody! Once again I apologize for not posting very often. School is really taking up all of my spare time. Especially anatomy and physiology! It's wrecking me! I'm going to try and do at least 1 video blog a week, if not 2 or 3. I have the CrossFit competition coming up next weekend and I'm really excited about it! Then its time to focus on my Jitsu for a month for Grapplers Quest on the 19th of November. I have decided to compete in the Absolute Division which is open weight. I have been training with heavier guys so I don't foresee any issues as long as they don't get on tome and try to smother me! Also if I win then I get a championship belt instead of a gold medal! Hopefully I will be able to get a video blog up sometime this weekend! Thanks for the support!

CrossFit Fury!

Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't been posting as much as I should. It feels like I have 3 full time jobs now. School is like 2 full time jobs and I'm training full time as well. School has been a huge learning curve for me, but I am starting to get the hang of it. The amount of studying that I have to do in order to succeed is astounding. Also trying to stay on top of when all of the quizzes and test are is proving to be a challenge as well.

I will be competing in the annual CrossFit Fury Fundraiser event on October 22nd! I'm really looking forward to seeing what I am capable of! I'm going to start the video blogs again really soon so you guys can see what I am up to while training for this event. Here is a link, check it out! http://www.crossfitfury.com/ff4/ I've used this video multiple times and I will most likely use it more often. For some reason it has a pretty big impact on me. See you guys soon!

It's Been A Long Time!

Hey everybody! Sorry it's been so long since I posted anything. I have been epic busy trying to figure out my new schedule. I started school full time and I started training full time, which, needless to say, is taking up a lot of my time! I am competing in the November 19th Grapplers Quest, and I'm really looking forward to it! I also bought a new car, so I don't have to deal with that ridiculous truck anymore! That truck did me a lot of good and got me to a lot of places. But it was time to put it to rest and it is currently for sale. I have a lot of life changes going on, and I am pretty happy about it. I will start posting my daily video log around mid October, so keep your eyes peeled! In the meantime, I leave you with The Gracie Way episode 4. Enjoy!

Game Time

Hey everybody, I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile. My trip to Denver got very un exciting very quickly as a direct result of getting sick right when I got there. This led to taking just over a week off of training, helping kids with math homework, and watching lots of documentaries on Netflix. My first workout back in action was at a new gym in Prescott called Captain CrossFit. This is an incredible facility that was opened by the original founders of CrossFit. Below is the workout I did. So now all I have is training and school to focus on and it's time to see what I'm capable of. It's game time.

For time:
100 ft walking lunge
Parallel bar walk
10 Pommel horse pass-throughs
10 Push-ups
Around the cargo net
1.5 pood pound kettlebell swings, 25 reps
20 ft Rope climb
25 Burpees
20 ft Rope climb
45 pound Dumbbell clean and jerk, 25 reps
20 ft Rope climb
25 Double unders
20 ft Rope climb
20 inch box jump, 25 reps
Climb the cargo net
10 Handstand push-ups
Monkey Swings!
Scale 6 ft wall
Scale Rope wall
100 ft Board jumps

Day 4 Of The Denver Adventure

Well, I had an extremely un-eventful day today. I just loafer around all day feeling bad and watching stuff on Netflix. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit more interesting. I'll see you guys then!

Post 2 of 2 For The Day

This is by far the most productive and UN-productive vacation I have ever had! I haven't done one workout since I got here! This mornings recon mission was the closest I've gotten since I've been here. As soon as I got back the the house from said mission, I started to feel bad. Then I started to feel worse. And now I feel like I feel right now. Which is not good. I went with Aaron to pick up the children from school, and then I proceeded to help the children with their math homework. I am having a great time however. I wouldn't trade it for anything right now. See you guys tomorrow.

Post 1 of 2 For The Day

August 27 is the beginning. It has become time to see what my body and my mind are capable of. I will be as disciplined as I have ever been. I'm going to train my body through CrossFit and Jiu Jitsu and my mind through school. I'm going to train both my mind and body as hard as I can. I have my goals set. August 27th is when it begins.

Denver day 2!

Hey everybody! I am completely sleep deprived! I stayed up pretty dang late hangin out with Aaron and Cristi. Then we woke up at 5:30 in the morning for the lacrosse tournament. This particular lacrosse tournament was a completely fantastic experience! I haven't had that much fun at a sporting event in quite some time! We lost both games in fantastic fashion! I garauntee the other teams don't feel like they won! I didn't do a workout today because I only got 4 hours of sleep and I felt like a zombie all day. I do have a workout planned for tomorrow, so I will let you guys know how it goes!

Day 1 Denver Adventure

Welcome to day one of my Denver adventure! We didn't have much going on today, mainly because of travel. I helped the kids run through some lacrosse drills and we spent a lot of time in the grocery store, haha! So far it's been a great vacation. Tomorrow we have a lacrosse tournament to go to and I will be doing a workout tomorrow afternoon. Enjoy my first video in a long time and I will see you guys tomorrow!

Mikko Salo Is My Hero + Denver Begins Tomorrow

Mikko was one of my favorites to win the CrossFit Games this year. Unfortunately, he blew his ear drum out on a wave in the first event and had to pull out of the competition. Below is a link of him talking about his experience how he is using this as fuel for next year. I am really looking forward to watching him compete again next year.

http://games.crossfit.com/features/videos/makes-me-stronger-mikko-salo

My Denver adventure starts tomorrow! I'm really excited about it! I will be posting daily blogs from my adventures, so you will get to see what i'm doing everyday. When I get back, I will be starting my new training regimen. It will be signinfigantly more disciplined. I won't be hampered by working all day so I will be on a perfect schedule for school and training. I'll be running in the mornings, doing strength training in the afternoons, and CrossFit metcons and Jiu Jitsu in the evenings. I will also be blogging my diet which will help me stay more focused on my diet. Since I will be writing everything down, it will keep me more honest and more disciplined.

I am really looking forward to the new changes in my life. And I am really excited to see what my body is capable of doing in the coming months. My goals are to get my gold medal in Grapplers Quest on November 19th and to be in the CrossFit Games for the CrossFit Flagstaff Team next season. I will keep you guys updated on my progress, so stay tuned!

An Awesome Article Found!

Written by: T.J. Murphy

Chris Spealler is the owner of CrossFit Park City in Utah where he also coaches. He’s competed in every CrossFit Games since its inception and picked up three top-five finishes.

It’s just killing Kelly Starrett. He shakes his head slowly, eyes fixed on the fault, a profound hurt registering in eyes. It’s bright and warm, late on a Saturday afternoon, day 2 of 3 at the Reebok Crossfit Games at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. He’s watching a young woman perform a set of seven front squats with 155 pounds, and in her drive to complete the movement her butt sticks out as she overextends her lower back.
Over-extension: Starrett agonizes when he sees it—an athlete sacrificing the physics power that midline stability and mechanics are begging to serve up. The break in posture opens the athlete to potential injury and, as Starrett puts it, “leaves performance on the table,” laying there like a pile of gold coins. Starrett, a physical therapist and owner of CrossFit San Francisco with his wife, Juliet (who competed in the Games last year), has logged tens of thousands of hours coaching athletes, watching them move and obsessively coaxing them into better mechanics. Obsession is the right word: Problems of movement simmer in his thinking despite the busiest of days, his working solutions being posted daily, for almost a year now, in videos on mobilitywod.com.
“Crossfit is the perfect tool to expose holes in our movement,” he says. “A Crossfit gym is a lab: it’s a safe place to press boundaries, experiment, test and re-test, see what works and what doesn’t work, and become better athletes.” Starrett’s out to make the case that increasing performance is not limited to how much we can train or how hard we can train, but peak genetic performance becomes achievable only when posture, mechanics and movement are developed like skills, freeing up more power and becoming more efficient. When another athlete allows her knees to buckle inward as she thrusts the weight from a deep-knee bend to a standing position, Starrett slowly shakes his head again. “She’s so broken,” he says. Starrett knows he could help her if he just had the chance. This is how he’s hardwired and why most everyone in the stadium knows his name.
CrossFit is not just about becoming the athlete of the future, he’ll tell you. It’s about becoming a better human being. It’s about self-actualization. It’s about creative thinking, it’s about not being OK with imagined limitations, it’s about maximum effort. It’s about living your life hard and well and with joy.
Welcome to CrossFit.

Training Update

Hey everybody! I have been on a 3 days on 1 day off training schedule for quite some time now. To be completely honest, I was starting to feel overtrained. I'm experimenting with a new schedule and it seems to be working pretty good. Right now I'm going 3 days on 2 off, 2 on, and 1 off. I feel great so far and I will keep you guys updated!

I feel compelled to tell you that the Gracie Diet is absolutely fantastic! I am really enjoying it. The main thing is that they have a buch of recipies for you to try. Everyone of them that I have tried so far has been pretty amazing. As a result, I am genuinly excited to try new things. I like the over all freedom of the diet the best. It takes some lifestyle changes, but you are allowed to eat pretty much whatever for the most part. You just have to adjust to the fact that you can't eat certain things together and more than once in a day. These are small adjustments and small lifestyle changes that make all the difference in the world! The other diets that I have tried just have to many sacrifices that you have to make that it doesn't even feel worth it. For more info check out http://www.graciediet.com/

Back Into The Swing

Hey everybody, sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I'll start up the daily video log when I'm about a month out from competition, just like last time. My next tournament is November 19th and once again it will be at the Las Vegas Sports Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. I've officially started training for that and so far I'm feeling great! I didn't take as much of a lay off this time, so I'm still in good shape. However, I plan on being in the best shape of my life for this gold medal run!

I have started the Gracie Diet and it's going extremely well; in fact, it's going better then expected! I've already lost 7 pounds and I'm feeling fantastic! It's a great diet because it's not as strict. You still can't have sugar and junk food. But I'm ok with that, and I plan on making this diet permanent. If you want more information on the Gracie Diet, go to http://www.graciediet.com/ and check it out. I recommend buying the book and trying it out for a few weeks. Personally, I've seen results immediately! The next step is buy the Gracie Juice Bag and getting addicted to watermelon juice! Thanks for the support everybody!

Less Then 24 Hours For The Games!

Hey everybody! As you know, I am really excited for the CrossFit Games, and they begin in less then 24 hours! The first event has been released and it is epic! I can't wait to see these incredible athletes do what they do best! Here is the first workout of the Games.

For time:
210-meter ocean swim
Run 1,500m in soft-sand
50 Chest-to-bar pull-ups
100 hand release push-ups
200 Squats
Run 1,500m in soft-sand

This is the video that Reebok and CrossFit have dubbed the Anthem of the Games. The links that I have been posting are working now. So you can click them and they will take you to awesome.

I Stole This From CrossFit Verve!

Why does CrossFit work?
The easiest answer is that it works because it is empirically driven.  It's evidence based, if something is proven not to work, we change it.  In that way, CrossFit continues to evolve with the discovery of best practices.  CrossFit doesn't say our way is the best and only way, it says here is what we have found works.  Try it for yourself and let us know your results.
CrossFit also works because it has a plan.  Have you ever heard, "If you don't have a plan, you plan to fail?"  Fitness works the same way and CrossFit's plan is to increase work capacity across broad time and modal domains.  
There has never been a clear definition of fitness before this.  If you look up the definition of fitness it states being in good shape or physical condition.  What does that mean?  It's hogwash.  If you had to explain that to an alien, their first question would be, "what is good shape or physical condition?"  Now how do you answer that? "You know, good shape". Then the alien thinks; like a star, circle or a square shape?  You can see that is not a very scientific definition.  In order for something to be scientific it must be measurable, observable, and repeatable.  "Good shape" is not any of these.  However, increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains is very much measurable, observable and repeatable.  Why do you think we do all those benchmark workouts?  Why do you think we harp on you to log your loads and times?  We want to know what your work capacity is, whether it has increased or decreased and if you can do more faster.
Let's break this plan down.  Increased work capacity is the ability to do more work; lift heavier things, run faster, hit harder.  Across broad time; now that is why we want "Fran" to be short and intense and "Murf" to be longer and enduring.  If all of your workouts took 20 minutes or longer, you wouldn't be stressing all your oxygen pathways.  We want capacity in short, medium and long distances.  Modal domains, this means we want it all.  We want to be able to run 10 miles and back squat 300lbs.  We want to be able to do anything that comes our way, ANYTHING!
So the next time someone asks you why CrossFit works, tell them it is because CrossFit has increased your work capacity across broad and modal domains.  Can they say that about their fitness program?

Rob Orlando!

Hey everybody! Rob Orlando is another one of my favorite athletes! Here are a few videos to give you a better idea of the awesome!

http://games.crossfit.com/features/videos/i-dont-take-direction-well-rob-orlando

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3GuDCxts94&feature=mh_lolz&list=FLG0MkxQMJ4Go

The CrossFit Games!

Hey everybody! It's the CrossFit Games this weekend, and personally, I couldn't be more excited! There are some incredible athletes competing this year and they are going to go all out! Of coarse I'm rooting for my hero Mikko Salo, but there are numerous competitors I am looking forward to watching this year. Some of which are Rich Froning, Graham Holmburg, and Chris Spealer. *I hope I spelled those names right* Chris Spealer is always the smallest competitor at the games and he has competed in every single one. Last year he did a WOD that had a 315 lb. deadlift. When you take into account that Chris is only 145 lbs., the fact that he is lifting over double his bodyweight for multiple reps is pretty incredible.

Like I said, I'm really looking forward to watching this event, I can't wait! It's not like the UFC where I get to watch at least one a month, if not 2 or 3. I have to wait a whole entire year for this, and I definitely plan on going to next years event! Here is a highlight video from last years games, enjoy and I'll talk to you soon!

This Is CrossFit!

Staying In The Fight by SealFit Founder Mark Devine

Hey everybody! I just read this interesting journal entry from SealFit founder Mark Devine. I really thought it was worth sharing so here it is!

During this final segment to the Staying in the Fight SEALFIT Journal series, I want to emphasize the significance of what we’ve covered and how everyday decisions can ultimately impact whether you succeed or fail in your life’s endeavors.
A “staying in the fight” mentality is crucial for success in any endeavor. Whether you are an MMA fighter, business executive or CrossFit athlete, staying in the fight is about properly orienting your inner self at critical moments. Every race, fight, mission, business venture or crisis has critical “inflection points,” where the outcome can swing one way or the other based upon the actions (or lack thereof) of the key player.
You are that key player.
Someone wise once told me that our lives are defined by millions of tiny decisions, and only a few big ones. We tend to focus on the big ones, but it is the tiny decisions that stack up over time and define who we are. Consider the following:
Do you occasionally dilly-dally too long on an unimportant project so you have an excuse to miss that ugly looking workout? Or do you embrace the suck and lean into the tough ones, knowing that each decision to do so makes you stronger over the long haul?
If you value discipline but don’t practice discipline then it is not your value. It is just a trait you appreciate in others. Practicing a value re-enforces it until it becomes a virtue. Virtues are deeply ingrained value-based habits which require no conscious thought. When strong values are habituated into virtues, right action results in the form of good tiny decisions made throughout the day.
Bottom line: you should train daily to be mentally tough, physically prepared, emotionally deep and intuitive. Train your indomitable, never-quit spirit. Don’t wait for some miracle or distant future date to start. Make it part of every tiny decision you make here and now.
The world is a dangerous and chaotic place. Destiny favors the prepared. Living with your head buried in the sand of ignorance, denial, or non-presence is a recipe for disaster. We have all heard people complain about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This can’t happen. Wherever you are, there you are. You are either:
* at the right place at the right time (you are present)
* or at the right place at the wrong time (your head is in the past or future)
In either case, the decisions you make at that moment will determine whether you are a loser or a hero. It simply boils down to having the mental toughness and clarity for right thought, which will lead to right action.
Don’t wish for things that are critical to living a good life. Work on making them part of you. Starting now.
Moving on to our final tips for developing your mental toughness, so you can stay in the fight… and emerge victorious every time.
Be a Team Player
Take your eyes off yourself and put them on your teammates. Don’t spend too much time looking in the mirror. Put your teammate’s needs before yours. Imagine if everyone did this. Everyone on the team would be watching your back and supporting you, while you were focused on supporting them.
Do this and you will witness something magical. Why?
1. Shared risk. When you share risk equally with teammates, your credibility and trust among teammates goes through the roof. The accountability that comes with shared risk ensures that you act at your best, at all times. You don’t want to let your teammates down. You don’t want them to let you down. You support each other and grow together as peers.
2. Responsibility. The responsibility of having to take care of your team is enormous, but you are not alone. Because of this, you will step up your level of commitment and focus on the mission. The stakes are much higher now than just the potential for letting yourself down.
Finally, an esoteric concept called the Law of Attraction. We attract that which we focus on – subconsciously. We have discussed this at length in the section on positivity. If we take this to the team level, then we note that a positive focus on the welfare and success of our team has the energetic effect of transforming not just the team, but ourselves. What you give out, you will get back at least 10x. In turn, be an island, fly solo, and you will decrease your return by 10x. It is much easier to be mentally tough when you have a bunch of other tough people watching your back!
Embrace the Suck!
During a tough evolution, whether a workout, mission, project or crisis, everyone is experiencing the same pain. It doesn’t help you or the team to whine about it. Embrace the suck means to learn to handle abnormal levels of pain and discomfort. You don’t have to like it; you just need to learn to deal with it. Embrace it and find a way to create a positive emotional association with it. Refer to the discussion on the 3rd Mountain of Emotional Control, and also Positivity for ideas. Remember, the best things in life come with pain attached to them. The more pain, the more valuable it is.
“Fake it ’til you make it” will plant seeds of positive energy and, perhaps even humor. Finding humor and grace in painful situations is a powerful skill. Often there is much humor and beauty in sublime and challenging circumstances. Surrender to the reality of the situation – don’t fight it – flow with it.
* Find humor where others can’t
* Find beauty in misery
* Don’t fight, flow!
* Enjoy the journey despite the hardships
Thus concludes our final segment of the Staying in the Fight series. I hope you have enjoyed this new SEALFIT Journal format and can put the concepts to use immediately. I look forward to working with you all in in person. Train hard, stay focused, and be safe! Coach Divine, Founder, SEALFIT
I wanted to thank all of you for the support and congratulations you have extended to the Teams. SEALFIT is gaining exposure and popularity for our mind, body and spirit training- forging mental toughness. I hope to meet many of you over the next several months.