Paleo Nutrition Workshop- Saturday, May 19th

This event is open to anyone. Register HERE. 

"The Non-Negotiability of Perfection" (from Jon Gilson)

I love this article (see orignial article HERE), from John Gilson of Again Faster, and wanted to share his words of wisdon with you all. Remember...a PR today means nothing if you get hurt and can't continue on tomorrow. Be mindful, train smart, eat well, recover effectively, and strive to achieve greatness on a daily basis. Now, enjoy the read: 

CrossFit is the pursuit of athletic perfection—performing difficult workouts with technical mastery under conditions of duress.  We’re looking for flawless form with a jackhammering heart, bursting lungs, and battery acid-filled veins.

When this is accomplished with unyielding intensity, the result is nothing short of beautiful.  When we fall short of the mark, the result is horrifying at best.

Athletes often set up a false dichotomy between perfect form and intensity, assuming that as one increases the other must necessarily fall.  This idea is a thinly disguised excuse for athletic complacency.  Rather than revisit proper technique through low-intensity, low-excitement skill work, the athlete chooses to pursue personal records with diminished form.  The unstated reason for this choice: it’s easy on the ego to put up “good” WOD times. Taking a hit to your “Fran” time in order to perform perfect thrusters is not going to move you up the records board—at least not right away—and the blow to the ego is too much to bear.

In reality, form and intensity are not mutually exclusive, but the non-linearity of their relationship leads novice athletes to the wrong conclusion.  For the novice, maintaining form becomes a cruel joke as intensity increases, leading to the erroneous conclusion that the two cannot coexist.   Advanced athletes believe the opposite.  These athletes recognize that continuous high-intensity work is nearly impossible without strict attention to form.  The advanced athlete knows that perfect form is perfect for a reason:  it imparts structural advantages that poor form does not.

Take the thruster as an example.  Performed poorly, the movement relies on the small muscles of the anterior shoulder to support the weight at lockout.  These muscles fatigue extremely quickly, leaving the athlete with reduced capacity in short order.  When the thruster is performed well, the weight is supported by the large, hard-to-fatigue muscles of the posterior chain, allowing the form-conscious athlete to continue at peak power long after his sloppy brethren have stopped to rest.

The advantages of good form are not isolated to the thruster.  Clear structural advantages can be had in the majority of our movements if one chooses to pursue perfect form.  Most of these advantages are based on the physics of power transmission, specifically the fact that it is easier to send power through a rigid structure than through a limp one.  

Squatting provides a wonderful illustration. The squat utilizes power from the hip to propel the torso through a complete range of motion.  If the spine is rounded and the torso is loose, power is lost and the torso becomes difficult to move.  If the spine is kept in a neutral or arched alignment and the torso is rigid, as proper form dictates, power flows freely and the load is easy to move.  Nonetheless, we’ll often see novices blasting through flaccid, rounded-back squats, heedless of the power-draining effect of their substandard form.

Condoning bad form for the resulting intensity ignores the big picture.  In doing so, we rob our athletes of their long-term potential, artificially capping their progress in the name of immediate gratification.  An athlete with poor form and an ugly three-minute “Fran” will always have an ugly three-minute “Fran”, while a similar athlete with good form will soon find himself pushing the limits of possibility, utilizing the structural advantages of the perfect thruster to close in on two minutes.

For the CrossFitter, perfection should be non-negotiable, regardless of the near-term outcome.  Progressing to the elite level—heart jackhammering, lungs bursting, and records falling—depends on it.

Jon Gilson is the owner of Again Faster.

"Get Engaged"- THIS Is CrossFit

Just wanted to share this post (a guest post from one of my favorite bloggers, FitBomb) I discovered awhile back on CrossFit Elevate's site. CrossFit is about more than just showing up for the WOD (Workout Of the Day)- it's about the relationships that we forge, the community, and showing up with the goal of becoming stronger, healthier, better at everything we do. It's about showing up because you know it's going to create positive change for yourself, but also about showing up for those people you workout, or are "in the trenches", alongside each day. The workouts are challenging, but post-WOD when the high-fives and mid-WOD "battle stories" begin to fly...it suddenly wasn't so bad- so much more enjoyable to "suffer" alongside friends. 

Enjoy the read:

When people learn that I’m a regular at CrossFit Palo Alto’s 5 a.m. class, they usually look at me like I’m crazy. I know what they’re thinking: CrossFit’s tough enough – why do it before the sun comes up?

For starters, my kids aren’t (usually) awake at 5 in the morning. Plus, there’s no one at work — not even on the East Coast — who expects me to be available at that hour. But the main reason I’m willing to drag my hide out of bed at 4:20 a.m. is simple: I love hanging out with the people in my class.

I’m convinced that more than anything else, CrossFit affiliate members who stick around for the long haul do so because of the friendships that develop at the gym. Yes, the quality of the coaching is vital, and good programming is key. Some folks commit to a long-term membership because they dig the convenience of a short, intense workout, and others stay because they see how CrossFit has changed their lives for the better, and are eager to see continued improvement. But all else being equal, a gym without a strong community is one with a revolving door. Absent the anchoring bonds of friendships, members will come and go.

Decades ago, Gallup developed a 12-question survey to gauge the engagement levels of employees at different companies. Over 17 million people have since taken the survey, and it turns out that the most predictive question is this: “Do you have a best friend at work?” Respondents who answer “yes” are typically more than twice as committed to their company as those who answer “no,” and exhibit the strongest loyalty scores and retention rates. It makes sense: People are more loyal to people than they are to abstract institutions.

This, I think, applies equally to CrossFit gyms.

I’m not saying that unless your BFF 4EVA is cranking out wallball shots next to you, it’s inevitable that you’re going to leave your gym. But if you’ve developed strong connections with those in your affiliate, you’re less likely to ditch class, let alone abandon your box. Conversely, if you show up at a gym where no one knows your name, you’re more likely to look around for another, more friendly CrossFit affiliate. To be truly successful, a gym can’t just be a gym — it has to aspire to be Cheers (minus the alcohol, pool table, Cliff Claven and co-worker sexual tension).

While it may seem difficult to build relationships with your fellow firebreathers during a breathless, heart-stopping WOD, there are plenty of little things that anyone can do to strengthen bonds between members. For example:

• Say something. I’ve visited CrossFit gyms where — to my surprise — people barely acknowledge each other’s presence. WTF, people? If we’re going to be in the trenches together, let’s at least say “good morning.” Not all of us are natural extroverts, but there are ways to show support for classmates other than screaming at ‘em as they struggle to finish a workout. Consider offering a simple post-WOD high-five or “nice job!” to each person in class. If your gym has time set aside for self-directed stretching, warm-ups or cool-down, take the opportunity to start a conversation with someone. And don’t just demand to know their Fran time. Ask them about their goals, and share yours, too. Ask for advice. Find out what your classmates do for a living, or for fun. You don’t have to be a gifted loudmouth or a class clown to start quietly planting the seeds of community.

• Don’t be a drag. Ask yourself if you’re bringing positive energy into the gym, or if you’re sucking it out of the room when you enter. Nothing kills a gym community and a friendly atmosphere like a sullen quitter or an incessant complainer. Remember: No one’s forcing you to show up, so lighten up a little. Smile and hit the workout hard. Positivity breeds positivity.

• Leverage social media. More than half of the members at our affiliate are on Twitter, and just about everyone’s on Facebook. A number of us keep blogs. We use social media tools not just to discuss CrossFit or gym-related news, but also to network, share ideas and learn about each other. CrossFit Palo Alto’s owner and head coach, Tim Dymmel, doesn’t use Twitter and Facebook to overtly push marketing messages about the gym; instead, he uses it to celebrate members’ successes, share topics of interest, and cultivate a robust online community that enhances and feeds our real-life interactions. Most importantly, he actively encourages us to use social media to extend the gym’s community online. As a result, we’ve learned a lot about each other, and developed strong friendships — not just with our classmates, but with members we rarely bump into at the gym.

• Participate. I’m not advocating loitering at the gym to gossip while the next class is trying to do warm-ups. But take advantage of your affiliate’s official events (weekend throwdowns, Paleo potlucks, etc.) as well as opportunities to get together informally. After every 5 a.m. class at CrossFit Palo Alto, a group of us strolls over to a nearby coffee shop to guzzle hot caffeine and decompress from our workout. Sometimes, it’s just me and Tim; other days, our group has included up to a half-dozen folks. “CoffeeWOD” doesn’t work out for everyone’s schedule, but all are welcome to join. It’s an opportunity for us to geek out over our common interests (e.g., CrossFit, Paleo nutrition, cool new iPhone apps), swap stories about our weekends, people-watch, or share bizarre YouTube videos with each other. Yes, CoffeeWOD is just a fancy name for “hanging out.” But that’s how engagement gets built: Small social interactions — online or offline — develop into friendships that, in turn, coalesce into a larger community.

Think about it: If some of your closest friends worked out at your gym, wouldn’t you be more excited to go, and more inclined to stay? Sure, you can try to convince your best buddy from high school to join your CrossFit gym, but if he or she decides that rowing 2K sounds like an awful way to spend a morning (and who can blame them?), you can do your part to create and sustain an environment at your affiliate that’s conducive to building strong relationships.

So go round up some people, grab your iPhones and get your CoffeeWOD on.

Class Time Changes (Effective 3/5)

Monday: 6am/7am/8am and 3pm/4pm/5pm/6pm/7pm
Tuesday: 6am/7am/8am and 4pm/5pm/6pm/7pm
Wednesday: 6am/7am and 3pm/4pm/5pm/6pm/7pm 
Thursday: 6am and 4pm/5pm/6pm
Friday: 6am/7am and 3pm/4pm/5pm/6pm 

Changes
-Evening classes will begin on the hour (instead of :30)
-Two additional Friday evening classes
-Addition of Wednesday 6am
-Omission of Thursday 6am, 8am, and 7pm classes

NEW LOCATION!

We have moved to a new, larger (just under 5,000sf) space! We are located in the same complex, but have moved to Suite C-141. We can't wait for you to check out what we've done with the space...big things are happening at CFOC!!!

Our next FREE Introductory Workout will be offered Saturday, February 18th at 10:30am. Please CONTACT US, if you'd like to join us for a workout.