September 29, 2008 in Athlete of the week, habits of highly effective athletes by admin

Athlete of the week….Ah, Month!

Sorry for dropping the ball on the L10XF’s athlete of the week.  Guess I could blame it on all the qualified people who have been making huge strides as of late-which is true.  However, the real reason is I am a scum bucket who is off to do burpee pull-ups till I pass out! In the mean time read about Alaine who has been kicking some serious fanny since joining up at Level 10 Crossfit.

Alaine was one of our first clients way back in June.  She originally came with a healthy dose of fear and apprehension due to a neck injury that required spinal fusing, as well as some lingering nerve damage to her right arm.  Yet by scaling the intensity and substituting different exercises when needed, Alaine has consistently made progress and ultimately achieved far more than what she once thought possible. Great job, Alaine!!!

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Probably the hardest parts about learning to cycle high reps of kipping pull-ups, especially if you lack the strength to do strict pull-ups, is the ability to “push off” the bar at the apex of your pull-up.  So click (here) if you want to learn how to add some push to your pull-ups and hopefully add some reps onto that max pull-up of yours.   

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Six years ago I thought (this) guy was going to be the next big thing.  Turns out I was right! 

September 22, 2008 in member news by admin

successes

Stephanie has lost 12lbs since she began training with us 5 weeks ago.  That is the good news.  The GREAT NEWS is that her triglycerides have dropped from 149 to 84 and she is now off of her cholesterol medication.  Great Work, Steph 

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Rhonda is twenty weeks along and is doing a kick butt job at being a healthy and active mommy to be.  In fact, during the first twenty weeks of her pregnancy Rhonda has only gained 11 pounds.  This 11 pounds put her exactly at her pre-crossfit weight when she started back in Febuary.  The Doc says that the little wizard is developing on schedule and that mom will be well short of the 35 lb weight gain that most women her height experience during pregnancy.      

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Watchout everyone, kelsey is putting some serious time into developing her muslce-up, and is super close to being the first person to crank out one of these bad boys.  So if anyone wants to challenge her, you better get on your high horse cause time is a runn’n out!

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Wondering where this supposed Level10Crossfit T shirt is?  Well, save a few minor tweaks, here is our official L10XF shirt.  

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September 19, 2008 in Nutrition, habits of highly effective athletes, rant by admin

Squat Clinic-How we squat

Really there is no such thing as teaching the squat. The movement is so natural that it can more accurately be described as re-learning a skill that was once commonplace. For this reason adults often need more help “remembering” this movement as opposed to children who in many cases learn this movement with little formal instruction. This makes perfect sense once one observes a child as she attempts to stand and walk for the first time.  Unlike most of us who are trying to recover from our time as wannabe bodybuilders, babies have no concept of squating to, “better isolate the quads”.  They learn to stand from a seated position in order to better navigate their environment. Wow, what a concept! 

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So easy a baby can do it!

Here are some cues to to help you get in touch with your inner toddler.

1. Start with the feet about shoulder width apart with the toes slightly turned out.

2. Keep your head up, looking slightly above parallel.

3. Accentuate the normal arch of the lumbar curve.

4. Keep a tight midsection.

5. Lower yourself by pushing your butt back and down.

6. Keep your knees and ankles parallel.

7. Delay the knees forward travel.

8. Stay on the heels of your feet.

9. Lift your arm up and as far from your butt as possible.

10. In profile, your ear does not move forward during the squat, it travels straight down.

11. Don’t just sink down but rather “pull” yourself down using your hip flexors.

12. Stop when the crease of the hip is below the knee.

13. Once you reach parallel rise without any leaning forward or shifting of balance.

14. On rising, without moving the feet, exert presure to the outside of your feet as though you were separating the ground with your feet.

15. Return to standing via the exact same path as you descended

16. Finish the hip at the top by standing as tall as possible.

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Here is a funny and informative video on the squat…checkout that El Pollo Loco squat, yeah!!!

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The corn refiners association is pumping some serious money into their new advertising campaign. I must have seen this commercial four times in a half hour time span last week. Do you think America will fall for this fear based marketing? To top it all off this was shown on everyones favorite family channel, Disney. Also, if I hear the word “natural” in reference to some notoriously evil invention of the food industry one more time I am going to gnaw my own arm off!

The other side of the HFCS story can be found here and here.
 

September 16, 2008 in first workout, habits of highly effective athletes by admin

Pull-ups and Hand Care

Wow, the hard and sometimes slow process of learning the kipping pull-up is paying off big time for many who workout at our little gym. So, here is a sneak peak at this weeks pull-up queens…stay tuned because there are a good half dozen women looking to give the jumpstretch bands a nice swift kick to the fanny!!! 

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Crossfitvirtuosity has some excellent posts on hand care, and being that many of you are getting pull-ups for the first time I thought your little paws would appreciate a few less rips. So, lets give the good folks at bagbalm a rest and learn some new hand care skills. Part three (here) is partiularly helpful in that it outlines how to return to training after ripping one’s hands.

and yes this post is in resonse to the pain of one of our own!

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Cari and Jamie are rock’n through their five Elements sessions and will soon be joining our group class system.  Cari will be heading into our 6pm class, while Jamie will be looking to launch our soon to be added 6am class.    

September 9, 2008 in workout by admin

End of Summer Fight Gone Bad

A huge thanks goes out to all who made our end of the summer “Fight Gone Bad” workout and BBQ a success.  The workout was fast and furious as usual, and the food and friends were perfect for a late summer gathering. Hope the next featured workout is just as enjoyable…speaking of the next gym wide workout.  Click (here) for a sneak peak at what workout we will be tackling next!!!    

1.Skylar showing everyone that this workout is no sweat!

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2. Rachael had an inspiring performance using RX’d weights for the first time.

3. Clark mid-air with his peepers forward, perfect!

4.Melia demonstrating what a perfect SDHP looks like

5. Heidi has the technique and intensity that makes a great trainee and perfect crossfiter.

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What does your fitness help you to achieve?

September 3, 2008 in Featured Blog Posts, Nutrition by admin

Insulin matters

Part 1

Part 2

For the complete lecture by Robb Wolf you can subscribe to CrossFit’s monthy e-journal, the CrossFit Journal , by signing up here .

Robb Wolf is a strength & conditioning coach, formerly a research biochemist, living in Chico, CA. Via his blog (http://robbwolf.com ) you can learn about intermittent fasting, CrossFit, anti-aging medicine, the Paleo Diet, and gluten free living.

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 One of the more common explanations that I hear for not eating right is, “I’m to busy to cook a healthy meal”. So, here are a few snack idea’s that will leave you searching for some other reason why you can’t kick the crap carbs and sugar addiction.

* A single hard-boiled egg with an apple

* Baby carrots with some raw almond butter

* Sliced turkey breast with some sliced avocado and a tangerine

* Cubed steak (or chicken) with tomato and spinach

* Fresh berries & raw walnuts sprinkled with cinnamon

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Dr. Loren Cordain is one of the leading authorities on the paleo diet. His presentation to direct MS (www.direct-ms.org ), on The Paleo Diet and Multiple Sclerosis , is available for viewing on YouTube. This is a seven part series, and is highly recommended for anyone with MS, or any other autoimmune disease. If you know anyone who might benefit, please forward them this information.

I also recommend going to Dr Cordain’s websites at http://WWW.THEPALEODIET.COM his site contains a wealth of valuable information on nutrition and health.