CrossFit Pasadena

So Much Going ON!

Saturday is going to be a busy day at CrossFit Pasadena!

Check out the Deets below to show you our unique schedule for Saturday:

Our FINAL Tribal Meeting will be heald at 9AM Saturday Morning (No Advanced Class at 9am)

10am Beginners Class is on as Scheduled.

11am CrossFit Games Open Event 12.1 is on for our competition team. (No Olympic Lifting Class at 11am)

If you are on the competition team make sure you get here around 10:30am to Get everything taken care of in advance.  We have 50 people to go through and we will be doing heats of 9 Athletes at a time.  There will be a sign up sheet on the front desk at the gym for you to reserve your spot on.  Plan on being here until about 12:30-1pm.  We are in no rush to close up so if you want to bring something to nosh on after, that would be fun!

The Competition Team will have Post Event Training to do Saturday so be prepared to be around.  A special Blog post will be going up Saturday's for the competition team to use for their training.  So be sure to check out the blog for more details. 

It's time for the CrossFit Pasadena community to put their training to the test!

 

Group Training:

Event 12.1 of the CrossFit Games Open

AMRAP in 7 min:

Burpees

*This workout begins from the standing position. The Athlete will move from flat on the ground to touching an object with both hands that is 6 inches above their max reach. Score is total reps completed.

 

Competition Team Training:

REST

 

Post results and thoughts to comments. 

It's On!

CrossFit Pasadena's Competition team is ready.

 

They have officially announced Event 12.1 of the CrossFit Games Open:

AMRAP in 7 Min:

Burpees with jump to rings set 6 inches over max vertical reach.  (Both hands must touch!)

This is going to be fun guys!

 

Remember that The entire gym will be doing the Open events every Friday for the workout of the day and the Competition team will be doing their events on Saturday's at 11am.

Make sure you come by to support the team this Saturday as they tackle Event 12.1 to start off the competition with a BANG!  Let's Rally up as we shoot to qualify for 2012 So Cal Regionals!

 

Group Training:

A: AMRAP in 18 Min:

10 Turkish Get Ups (24/16)

AMRAP Unbroken Double Unders

*Score is total Double Unders.

B: 15 min Skill Work:

Kettlebell Anyhows

 

Competition Team Training:

TBA

 

Post results and thoughts to comments. 

Take the First Step... Start!

There are so many amazing things happening at CrossFit Pasadena.  We have 200+ members and every-single-one of them is getting fitter and healthier because of the guidance and training they receive from our coaches.

When you have the best coaches in town, you get the best program and you get the best results. 

I love watching the members of the gym set new PRs (Personal Records) while training. 

The excitement on your faces when you get a new Deadlift Max or come in 1st in class on the workout is enough to motivate an army to push harder.

What gets me most is when I reflect back on who you were the first day you walked in. The energy you had, the adventure of your first workout with us, and what kind of shape you were in.  There is a lot of hype about how fit you need to be to do CrossFit, but the truth is, you have to look beyond that and see that CrossFit is for everyone.  

The biggest acomplishment you have ever made was making the choice to become a member of a program that has given you the tools to change your life for the better.

Walking into a CrossFit gym can be intimidating. Down-right scary for some and it takes a lot of courage to show up and accept the challenge you have given yourself. 

I applaud you for taking the first big step.

So if you still aren't sure if CrossFit fits your needs, there really is only one way to find out:

Step up and schedule your first appointment with us to find out!  You'll be happy you did!

 

Well Said.

 

 

Group Training:

5 Rounds:

400m Run

AMRAP Ring Dips/Push Ups

*Score is total dips

 

Competition Team Training:

A: 10 Sets:

400m Run; 3 min

B: 4 Sets:

20 Unbroken Kipping Pull Ups: 3 min

C: 4 Sets:

AMRAP -1: Ring Dips; 3 min

*Do not go to failure on Dips. 

 

Post results and thoughts to comments. 

Cocaine is a Hell of a Drug...

That's right, it is time for a "Chalk Talk"

Do you really need to have your hands looking like you just partied the night away with Rick James?

When you are doing friction movements, like kipping pull ups and kettlebell training, too much Chalk actually aids in ripping up your hands. 

The chalk is designed to absorb the moisture in your hands so you do not slip.  

If you are one of the few at our gym who have clammy, sweaty hands and need more chalk to keep the bar from slipping.  I would suggest 2 things: 1) BUY ABSORBENT WRIST BANDS. 2) Try to use as little chalk as possible. If you make a sweaty chalky mess, clean it up when you are done. 

When you do use chalk, keep your hands in the bucket while you chalk them.  Labron James has a cleaning crew to tidy up after him at the games. You do not! The cleaning man has been calling me Scarface because of all the piles of powder all over the floor. 

Also, do not apply chalk directly to the pull up bars, kettlebells, and barbells unless you intend on cleaning them off when you are done.

Oh yeah... you don't need Chalk to use the rower... EVER!

 

Coach Al is one of those sweaty guys... but he got an ear full from me for chalking up the floor around the his bar!

 

Group Training:

"Christine"

3 Rounds for time of:

500m Row

12 Deadlifts (BW)

21 Box Jumps

 

Competition Team Training:

A: Front Squat: (x/2)7

B: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of:

Unbroken Power Snatches (35/24)

Unbroken Wall Ball (20/12, 20/10)

C: 5 Sets:

400m Run; 3 min

 

Post results and thoughts to comments. 

It's Finally Time!

Yup, that's  right.  The Open is here.  On Wednesday, CrossFit HQ will release the 1st of 5 weekly on-line competition events for us to compete in. 

You have all been training so hard over the last 8 weeks and with 50% of the gym competing in the Paleo Challenge, the results have been unbelievable!

Because of those amazing results, we have decided that we are going to have every member of the gym participate in the Open workouts. We will of course be scaling each workout according the needs of each of our members, but the coaches and I would love to see you step up to the challenge of going RX'd on these workouts!  We will be doing the Open workouts each week on Fridays in all our classes. There are a lot of you at the gym that can complete most workouts at our gym RX'd but are not on our competition team.  We would love to see you represent CrossFit Pasadena by signing up for the open and competing side by side with out fellow community members.

Click HERE if you'd like to join the team!

The 40 members of our competition team will be competing Saturday Mornings at 11AM.

Even if you are not a member of our competition team, I encourage you to show up on Saturdays to support and cheer on our team as they throw down. 

The open last year at CrossFit Pasadena was incredible!

This year CrossFit Pasadena is going big!  We have our eyes set on regionals and our team is going to push themselves beyond their limits to make sure we qualify!

::A NOTE TO OUR COMPETITION TEAM::

The next 5 weeks are all about making sure we do well in the Open. Our progressional training is finished. The training over the next 5 weeks is going to be directed towards 1 focus: Having you ready by the end of the week to Break Off these open workouts.

Please resist the temptation to do more training than what is programmed.  The training volume has been high over the last few weeks and your body is going to anticipate more work this week.  By tapering down your volume during the Open, your body will be craving more.  The goal is to have you foaming at the mouth by Saturday at 11am. 

Fact is, you would not be a member of our competition team if you didn't LOVE training.

Lowering your volume during the open will set you up to achieve something you love more than training: WINNING!

Please avoid extra Training/Skill work during this time.  If you are looking for something to do to pass the time, it can definitely be spent doing a TON of Mobility.  You will need more of it than normal when you push yourself as hard as you will during the Open!

 

 

Congrats to Ned of the South Pas High School Wrestling Team.  He took 2nd Place at CIF this weekend and is moving onto Masters.  Honorable mention to Albert, Sean and James who qualified for Day 2 at CIF.  Big Results this year and CrossFit Pasadena is proud to sponsor a team of wonderful kids like this. I can't wait to see what these kids can do after another year of training with us!

 

 

Group Training:

A: Front Squat: (x/2)7

B: 5 Sets:

12 Pull Ups

15 Burpees

17 Wall Ball (20/10, 16/8)

 

Competition Team Training:

A: 5 Sets:

5 Muscle Ups; 3 min

B: For time:

50 Burpees

C: 4 Sets:

AMRAP in 30 Sec:

Thrusters (50/35); 2 min

D: 3 Sets:

7 Deadlifts (130/90)

75 Double Unders

Rest 3 min

 

Post results and thoughts to comments. 

How Much do YOU Need?

Sleep is a lot like money.

Most of the world doesn't have enough and wishes they had more.

Did you know that the average American gets 7 hours of sleep per night?

How do you stack up to that?  I know many of you at the gym have trouble sawing logs for more than 5 hours per night.

Now we all know that the average American also does not follow a specific training regimen like our community does. 

So if you are training more and sleeping less than the average Joe Schmoe, you may find yourself hitting a serious wall with your progress.

Athletes with specific training programs need a solid amount of sleep combined with proper fuel to make sure they have the optimal recovery needed to continue training the way they are.

I can't sit here and recommend a general amount of sleep for my athletes because the vast majority of us have different lifestyles, unique activity levels and need specific details to achieve the best results.

The bottom line is...

You should be making a big effort to get as much sleep as you can every night.

 

Mel-Tang is certainly going to get some great sleep after all the hard work she put in on yesterday's training!

 

Group Training:

A: AMRAP in 8 min:

30 Double Unders

6 Double Kettlebell Snatches

B: 2-4-6-8-10-8-6-4-2 of:

Ring Dips or Close grip Push Ups on Paralettes

C: 5 Sets:

8 GHD Sit Ups

 

Competition Team Training:

For Completion:

80 Turkish Get Ups (24/16)

-Focus on perfect movement.

 

Post results and thoughts to comments. 

Paleo Challenge Update!

Hey CrossFit Pasadena Cave People!

We are going to be having one of our final Tribal Meetings this Saturday (02/18) at 8am right here at CrossFit Pasadena. 

In this meeting we are going to cover some exit stategies for us as we come down to the end of our 2 month journey.  

We will also be revealing some of the new prizes we have in store for the winners of the competition.

There have been some amazing results at the gym lately, huge weight loss, people looking leaner than ever and major PR's across the board.

Our Community is ready for the CrossFit Games Open!

Have you registered yet?  If you have not, you need to do so now by clicking HERE!

 

Panda is back, training hard and ready for the Open!

 

Group Training:

A: 4 Unbroken Sets:

1 Min Double Kettlebell Swings

30 Sec Double Kettlebell Cleans

30 Sec Double Kettlebell Push Press

30 Sec Double Kettlebell Overhead Squats

(Rest as needed.. but not too long!)

 

B: 15 Min Skill work on "Anyhows"

 

Competition Team Training:

3 Rounds:

50 Double Unders

10 Overhead Squats (62/44)

 

Post results and thoughts to comments. 

 

Myth Busted!

I hear this all the time,

"I'm not in good enough shape to do CrossFit."

Not gonna lie, my little brother was in the gym last week helping us set up some new gear and I heard him say those exact words.

Here's the Truth:

No one is in shape to CrossFit unless they are doing CrossFit.  The only thing that prepares you for our training is OUR TRAINING.  At CrossFit Pasadena we do more than just CrossFit and I have seen plenty of people who have trained CrossFit at other affiliates not prepared for our style of training.  That's okay, they definitely get used to it fast.

Here's another Truth for you:

Everyone is ready for CrossFit.  The most difficult part of CrossFit is WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR.  

Once you get in here, you will greeted with a warm smile and a welcoming environment where can feel comfortable and get out all the nervous jitters of your first time at CrossFit. That's what you get when you work with expert coaches, and we have the best in town!

A great example of this is the Biggest Loser.  Bob's team is doing CrossFit.  We are talking about people who have never exercised a day in their life, have more than 100lbs to lose and they are being introduced to CrossFit on day 1 by Coach Bob.

Do you still think you aren't ready for this?

If they can, you can

I think you are ready.

 

Check out the South Pas Wrestling Team working on their Deadlifts. 

 

Group Training:

A: Power Clean: (x/2)7

B: 5 Rounds of:

400m Run

Max Unbroken Pull Ups

 

Competition Team Training:

A: Back Squat: Singles to Max

B: 5 Rounds for time of:

400m Run

15 Double Kettlebell Thrusters (24/16)

 

Post results and thoughts to comments.

 

Storage Wars Part 3.

This next installment of Storage Wars focuses on the Kettlebells and the new storage system. 

We recently doubled the amount of Kettlebells we have at the gym, all newly painted for easy recognition and now are faced with the challenge of keeping the Kettlebell area nice and clean.

We now have a 2-level shelf for our Kettlebells.

Level 1 is the floor.  The floor will play home to the following Kettlebells: 20kg (Purple), 24kg (Green), 28kg (Orange), 32kg (Red) and our Big Boy Kettlebells.  

There are painted lines on the floor marked for each color Kettlebell similar to what is on the Level 2 shelf. Place the Kettlebells along the painted lines facing forward and make sure they are nice and straight.  (just like in the picture above.)

Level 2 is the shelf above the floor and is for the 4kg (White), 8kg (Pink), 12kg (Blue), and the 16kg (Yellow) Kettlebells.  We have layered on some thick Plywood, Spray painted and labeled the columns on the shelf so that way you will know exactly where your Kettlebell goes once you are done with it. 

Please take note of the following:  The Kettlebells are made of Iron.  The Shelf is layered with Wood.  Iron is stronger than Wood.  Please refrain from dropping the Kettlebells on the shelf when putting them away.  Care for the storage area of the Kettlebells the same way you care for the Kettlebells. 

 

Thanks for helping us keep the gym organized!

 

Group Training:

A: Power Snatch: (x/2)7

5 Sets:

B1: 12 Burpees (180 Jump); 20 sec

B2: 10 Double Kettlebell Front Squats (24/16); 20 sec

B3: 100m Row Sprint; 2 min

 

Competition Team Training:

A: Split Jerk: Singles to Max

B: 3 Sets:

AMRAP in 1 min:

Handstand Push Ups; 1 min

C: 3 Sets: 

AMRAP in 1 min:

GHD Sit Ups; 1 min

D: For Completion:

2000m Row

1000m Row

500m Row

250m Row

 

Post results and thoughts to comments. 

Reflection

This weekend members of the CrossFit Pasadena community participated in the LA Chinatown Firecracker Run.  

10k/5k Races are fun.  We don't train for races specifically, because we don't need to specifically train for them. The capacity we train for day-in and day-out prepares you for things way more challenging than a 10k/5k Race.  The proof was yesterday on the field. The athletes who participated in yesterday's race, did nothing longer than 1 mile at any given time in their training. They all finished in good form and were recovered from the exertion within minutes after running. 

For our blog readers, this must be getting repetitive. I am on here every week talking about how amazing everyone in our community is and how awesome their results are.

With people in this community inspiring each other to accomplish goal after goal, I don't think there will be an end to me bragging about how awesome the members of this community are!

On a Personal Note:

This race is a special to me. It was the first race I ever participated in and was a kick start to fitness as a competitive sport to me.  Finishing this race was the first physical accomplishment I had made for myself outside of losing weight.  I had a friend (who I convinced to CrossFit with me) who was asthmatic and we made a goal of running our first 5k together. I look at the picture below of my first race in 2006 and see someone who had no idea where their future would be.  The guy in that picture had no clue that he would be running his own small business, leading a community and helping hundreds of people learn to live healthier lifestyles through his own Program. So much has changed in 6 years and I am grateful for every single thing that has happened in my life.  I am fortunate to have the experiences I have had in that time and today I had the chance to give back.

Walter and I have been teamed up for the paleo challenge.  See, everyone at the gym has to post something on our Goal Board and Walter had set himself a goal of doing an Unbroken 5k (no walking).  Since we are a team, I volunteered us to run the 5k this weekend so I could help him reach that goal. 

Not only did he do it, but I even got him to Race to the end and "Pick-off" a dozen, or so, runners on the strait away to the finish line. 

I am very proud Walter.  He is what our community is all about.  Humility, determination and fun all wrapped into one awesome person.  Walter has made more progress in the last few months than people make in years of exercising.  He is eating clean, being active, getting lean, losing weight, and STILL seeing gains in his performance while doing it. 

Awesome Job Walter! This is the first of many 10k/5k races for the CrossFit Pasadena Community.  If you want to join the group, check out the Facebook Memmber's Only Page and listen for announcements in classes about the next races!

 

Training:

A: Deadlift: Singles to Max

B: AMRAP in 12 min:

10 Toes to Bar

20 Kettlebell Swings (24/16) 

50ft Bear Crawl

 

Competition Team Training:

A: Power Snatch: Singles to Max

B: Power Clean: Singles to Max

C: 4 Sets:

12 Fast KIpping Pull Ups; 1 min

D: 4 Sets:

AMRAP in 1 min:

Burpee Box Jumps; 1 min

E: 4 Sets:

AMRAP in 1 min:

Wall Ball; 1 min

 

Post results and thoughts to comments.