Don’t forget, we now have the 12:30 to 1:30 pm class Monday through Friday.

And we’re just getting started as more new classes are going to be on the schedule really soon.  It’s going to be awesome.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Skill:

Clean and jerk

1 – 1 – 1 – 1

Press (Elements Class)

3 – 1 – 1 – 1

Workout of the Day (WOD):

10 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of:

50 feet of walking lunges

100 feet of broad jumps*

*Perform 3 burpees after every 3 broad jumps

And another video to promote the CrossFit Games.  Yeah, these gals are pretty fit I’d say.

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My favorite CrossFitters going head to ‘head’ on a workout.  This is the type of fierce competition to you can expect this July at the CrossFit Games.

Team Workout on Saturday

Workout of the Day (WOD):

In a team of 2, complete 5 rounds of:

20 overhead squats

30 toes to bar

40 kettlebell swings

Partition reps between the team any way you like.

Great work from everyone on this WOD that really strained people’s grip.

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Okay, maybe not that much, but we now have 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm classes Monday through Friday!

Grab your lunch and head over to the box.  And if your coworkers complain about you returning to work all sweaty, get them to join CrossFit Merge, make a convert out of them.

Friday

Skill:

Max lateral hops over a 12″ parallette in 60 seconds

Deadlift review

Workout of the Day (WOD)

12 minute AMRAP (as many rounds/reps as possible):

5 deadlifts at 70% of your 1 rep max

10 burpee pull-ups (yeah, they’re as bad as they sound)

Post rounds to comments

Backward cap and deadlifts means it’s on, sucka

The guys getting down and up on the burpee pull-ups

He was a fine a few minutes later

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CrossFit is hard.  Damn hard in fact.  You’re working out at high intensity, doing compound movements, running, lifting, pulling, pushing, jumping, etc.  You’re training like an elite athlete now.  You’re feeling good, getting stronger, moving faster, looking better.   Now you want to take your game and body to the next level by dialing in your nutrition.   Makes sense, right?   Food is fuel for our bodies.  But where and how do you start?  One great way that’s very effective is the Paleo Diet.

The Paleo Diet is all about eating foods our bodies naturally want to eat.  The same way we do functional and natural movements in CrossFit, squats deadlifts, presses, is the same way we can eat to optimize how we look, feel, and perform.

Here is great advice about starting a better diet.

And here is a link about transitioning to the Paleo Diet.

We will be talking a lot more about eating and nutrition at the gym.  Stay tuned and keep up the solid work everyone.

Thursday’s Session

Skill:

The snatch

Workout of the Day (WOD):

10 rounds for time of:

15 wall ball shots (20# ball for the gents/14# ball for the ladies)

3 snatches (115#/85#)

Post time to comments

Same boring warm-up.  I think not.

New member Chris gets his day started with a good, powerful snatch.

Intensity, it’s pretty easy to recognize.  Right, Cory?

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The 2011 CrossFit Games are this July at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Tickets are only $40 for a 3 day pass to the event.

The CrossFit Games is where the best CrossFitters compete for title of the ‘World’s Fittest’.  See what it’s all about in the very cool highlight video below.

To qualify to compete in the Games, athletes and teams must compete at a sectional and then a regional level.

Starting in March, CrossFit Merge will be hosting qualifying workouts for anyone interested in competing at the sectional level.  I encourage everyone to give it a try as it will truly be a great experience.

Get excited, because it’s going to be epic.

Wednesday/Hump Day’s Madness

Skill

Kipping pull-up

Workout of the Day (WOD)

Score your lowest rep in each Tabata movement:

Tabata row (calories), rest 1 minute

Tabata squat, rest 1 minute

Tabata sit-ups, rest 1 minute

Tabata push-ups, rest 1 minute

Tabata pull-ups

Elements

Score your lowest rep in each Tabata movement:

Tabata row (calories), rest 1 minute

Tabata squat, rest 1 minute

Tabata sit-ups, rest 1 minute

Tabata box jumps

This WOD really surprised a lot of people.  Lofty intentions to score 15 on Tabata push-ups quickly turned in grueling efforts to maintain a score of 5.  It wasn’t how you started, but how you finished.  Great WOD and see you tomorrow.

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Many athletes have habits and rituals they perform before taking a free throw shot, stepping into the batter’s box, kicking an extra point, etc.

Remember that guy that would always touch his face before sinking a free throw?  Or what about Nomar‘s adjusting of the gloves, tap the plate, kick the feet, etc.  Superstitions, habits, routines, rituals, call them what you will, but CrossFit is no different.

Here are the top 10, pre WOD rituals:

10. Tie the shoe laces or ditch the shoes altogether

9.   Last minute grab of a box for pull-ups (so you don’t have jump up to the bar)

8.   Ditching a layer of clothing, shirt, headband, jacket, whatever

7.   Do another warm-up set or rep even when you’re totally warm and ready

6.  Position your water bottle a little bit closer to you

5.  Twist the barbell through your hands several times (My favorite ritual before a deadlift or clean)

4.  Ask how many rounds or reps are in the WOD even though it is written on the board (some people just like hearing it aloud from the coach)

3.  Tape, tape, and more tape.  Tape the hands, the wrists, the shins, the eyes…

2.  Chalk, chalk, and still more chalk (I had a buddy that would chalk his hands for sit-ups, huh?)

1.  And…mad dash to the restroom to do whatever.

What are some of your CrossFit rituals?

Tuesday Skill:

2 sets to find your 20 rep max back squat.

This is all about muscular endurance and mental fortitude.  The gut check comes at around rep 15 when it would be so nice to quit, but you’ve come way too far give up at that point.

Workout of the Day (WOD)

For time:

21 kettlebell swings (53# for men/35# for the ladies)

21 ring dips

run to the short corner

15 kettlebell swings

15 ring dips

run to the short corner

9 kettlebell swings

9 ring dips

run to the short corner

Post your 20 rep max back squat weight and WOD time to the comments

Sal feeling out the squat and working his way up in weight

Great squat face from Raffi

The kettlebell swing

The ring dip

See you tomorrow for something completely different.

The chalkboard at CrossFit Merge serves a few purposes: 1.  It communicates the Warm-up, the Skill, and the WOD.  2.  It tracks everyone’s progress and accomplishments.  3.  It also serves as motivation for some athletes by openly listing everyone’s times and rounds; friendly competition can make you push just a little bit harder. 

Now imagine expanding the chalkboard from a single gym to thousands of gyms around the world.  Now imagine that athletes with the best WOD times will get to then compete against the top CrossFitters in their region, and that the top regional CrossFitters will compete against the best in the world this summer at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

That is what is exactly going to happen starting March 15 when the CrossFit Games season begins.  For six weeks, CrossFit HQ will post a weekly WOD for all participating athletes.  You can then log on to the official website and see how you rank against every other CrossFitter around the world.  Very cool indeed. 

CrossFit Merge will host the weekly WODs for anyone that’s interested in competing in the CrossFit Games Qualifiers.   And as a registered CrossFit gym, we will also verify and submit official WOD times and scores.  If people are interested, and I know there are, they should please let me know.

Whether you compete, or just want to watch and cheer on your fellow CrossFit members as they throwdown, it’s going to be an incredibly fun and rewarding experience. 

On to Monday…

Skills:

2 max effort sets of true push-ups

Power Clean

L-Sit (Elements)

Deadlift (Elements)

Workout of the Day (WOD):

For time, complete 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 reps of:

Power cleans (95# for men/65# for women)

Pull-ups

Elements WOD:

For time, complete 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 reps of:

Deadlifts

Pull-ups

Post WOD times to comments

Just a thorough and dynamic warm-up

Cory’s no stranger to push-ups

Ryan at the top of the 95# power clean

The 6:30 pm class also getting in on the action

Cristina, new to CrossFit, is making huge progress with her hard work and consistency.  Great job and keep up the solid work.

Sorry for the late post.  Sunday had a mix of skills and drills.  Running, squatting, rowing, pulling, and pushing.

The 10 am class did a timed 1 mile run.  Kenny and Jonny Jay both ran blazing sub 6 minute miles.  And David, who would have been happy running just under 10 minutes, also smoked it with a time of 7:04.  Awesome work, fellas.

Skills:

1 mile run

Max reps of overhead squats (45# bar or 33# bar)

500 meter row (Elements Class)

Workout of the Day (WOD)

For max total reps, perform a set of:

1 minute of pull-ups

1 minute of push-ups

1 minute of sit-ups

1 minute of squats

Rest 2 minutes, then perform another max rep set of:

1 minute of pull-ups

1 minute of push-ups

1 minute of sit-ups

1 minute of squats

Post the total reps for each set to the comments

Sprints from the prone starting position

David getting the shoulders up and squatting down

Kenny, David, and Jonny Jay pull

Cindy and Todd going for max reps in the last minute of squats

Good times at CrossFit Merge on Saturday.  Good WOD then some good food and friends.  Thanks to everyone that came to hang out with your fellow CrossFitters.

If you missed the good times, don’t worry.  There are going to be plenty more extra curricular gym activities planned for the very near future.  Stay tuned for more.

Skill:

Thrusters

Workout of the Day (WOD):

3 rounds for time of:

15 thrusters (95# for the men/65# for the gals)

15 burpees

Post your times to comments.

The first round of this WOD went pretty smoothly, but picking up the bar for round two, that was a different story.

Burpees, of course

On to the food and friends.  Thanks again for the kewl times.

WORLD CLASS FITNESS IN 100 WORDS

Paul was just getting started…

Urbanie and Sal are all business when the WOD begins.  Well done.

No more boring routines.  No more wasted hours spent on unstructured workouts.  CrossFit is the real deal.

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