Say you can’t make it into the gym.  No worries.  I get it.  Things happen.  No big deal.  Tulia doesn’t let that stop her.  Check out Tulia’s workout at home.

Take it away, Tulia:

This is what I do at home.  I love box jumping, yeah I do.  I feel it works my legs and butt big time.  So when I’m not at Crossfit Merge I try to do different things that will work on those big muscles.

I just put this WOD together and did it.  I combined the movements after learning from the best of course, the CrossFit Merge Coaches.

I did this one for time.  Now remember I’m still a beginner, you can all mix and match as you wish to make it harder or lighter.

30 box jumps (I got the best coffee table to do this )

30 squats with the dumbells (25lbs for me, a girl)

30 lunges with or without dumbbells 

30 sit ups with one dumbell

30 push ups (I hate these)

30 dumb bell snatch (15 on each arm)

Time yourself.  I did it in about 13 minutes…not bad for a home work out when you got no coach keeping you on your toes… 

Thanks for the WOD, Tulia.  Not quite sure about the box jumps on the coffee table, however.  I spent quite a few days grounded for jumping on the furniture, in fact, it happened just last week.

Got any favorite WODs that you do at home or away from the gym?  Share them in the comments.

Tuesday’s Skill:

Kipping pull-up practice followed by a max set.

Workout of the Day (WOD):

Happy Memorial Day!  The gym is closed today.  But here’s a WOD you can do at home.

10 rounds for time of:

10 striders (jumping lunges, 5 on each leg)

5 clapping push-ups/sub regular push-ups

Birthday WODs are always off the wall, intense, and straight up gnarly.  Yesterday’s was no exception.  My philosophy from Birthday WODs comes straight from Freddy Camacho.

Happy Birthday???

My WOD for next year?  20 minute AMRAP of pass throughs.  You’ve been warned.  

Kevin with the quote of the day: You know it’s bad when the 30 burpees are the easiest part.

In all seriousness, thank you for the birthday wishes and celebration.  I was truly surprised and touched.

Dedicate my time and effort in training for a half marathon.  But I did it.

Way to go, Katie!  Congratulations.

I never thought I would jump 27.5″ high onto a box.  

Totally legit, Jessica!

I never thought I would willing put myself in a position like this.  But it feels surprisingly good and will help with my squat.

I never thought I would enjoy CrossFit so much that I would make a way cool picture of a squat therapy session.

That is totally excellent, Griselda.  

Brag a little bit and post some of your accomplishments in the comments.  Be proud, you’ve earned it.

Tuesday’s Skill:

Find a max height box jump

Workout of the Day:

3 rounds for time of:

800 meter run

20 good mornings (45#/33# for women) or back extensions for beginners

25 wall ball shots (20#/14# for women)

Think you can guess some ostensibly healthy food that are actually just packed with loads of sugar?  Here’s a hint, one of them rhymes with ‘Sogurt’.  Intrigued yet?  Read the entire article here:

6 Surprising Foods with More Sugar than a Twinkie

And here are some more links to delay you at work Monday morning:

Overtraining, part 1; part 2

Gwyneth’s Gone Paleo

How Bad is Peanut Butter, Really?

Lookin’ good, Alyssa.

HELEN OF TROY!

You voted, and while Grace made a strong push late in the game, Helen came out on top.  Your Friday WOD is:

‘Helen’

3 rounds for time of:

400 meter run

21 kettlebell swings (53#/35# for women)

12 pull-ups

Friday is for the Girls!  So let’s get after it! 

Thursday’s Workout of the Day (WOD):

4 rounds for max reps/calories in each station of:

1 minute of row for calories

30 seconds rest

1 minute of double-unders (3 double-unders = 1 point, 10 single-unders = 1 point)

30 seconds rest

1 minute of striders/lunges

30 seconds rest

1 minute of medicine ball tosses over the pull-up bar

30 seconds rest

Crazy action on Thursday!  But you better bring it tomorrow for Helen.  

CrossFit is constantly varied, functional movements, performed at high intensity.  But what does that last part, high intensity, exactly mean?  Does it mean working hard during the skill portion and WOD, pushing past your comfort zone, and stressing the body enough so that it favorably adapts to the stimulus of the exercise?  In short, yes.  But does high intensity also mean going at full capacity, 100 percent, for the day, for that workout, leaving nothing left in your tank?  In short, also yes.  But there is a clear difference between the two.

The first is training.  In training, multiple submaximal efforts are used to accomplish long-term progress while minimizing burn-out and over-stressing our physical ability.  Working on a 5 rep max on a back squat in an effort to improve from the previous week, practicing pull-ups, and doing 95 percent of the workouts at CrossFit Merge are part of your training.  Testing is another story.

Testing is game day.  It’s going for that 1 rep max deadlift that you’ve been training months for.  It’s setting a new personal best on ‘Annie‘ after all your practice with the jump rope.  It’s going to that painful physical and mental zone during a competition because it might mean finishing a just few seconds faster.  True testing is something that can only happen a few times a year.

If you treat everyday of CrossFit as a test day, you will burn out, both physically (injury) and mentally (demotivation).  Just ask yourself, would you do better on a exam by repeatedly taking the exam, or would perform better by studying and then taking the test?  

Recognizing the difference between a training day and a test day will not only make you a better athlete, but it will also make the whole process a lot more fun.

Tuesday’s Skill

1 mile run

Workout of the Day

‘The Chief’

5 cycles, each 3 minute AMRAPs of:

3 power cleans (135#/93# for women)

6 push-ups

9 squats

Rest 1 minute after each cycle.

Learning a new movement, like the sumo deadlift high-pull, is part of Marty and Joe’s training.  

Hey there, Mergers.  This Friday, we are going to do a benchmark Girl WOD.  Which one you might ask?  Well, that’s up to you.  Simply vote for your favorite Girl workout in the comments section of the blog, and the one with most votes will be Friday’s WOD.

You have up until Thursday evening to vote.  So, review the WODs here and then cast your vote!

Will it be Grace, Karen, Helen…or what about Fran?

And check out this amazing video of Rich Froning at the Regional competition this past weekend.  His shirt stays on the entire time!  Incredible!

9, 88, 187.  What do these number represent you might ask?  Naomi Kutin, 9 years old, weighs 88 pounds, and she can squat 187 pounds.  See it and believe it.

But that video is from last year.  Naomi is now 10 years old and squats 214 pounds and can deadlift 209 pounds!

So remember to check your ego at the door, because somewhere a 10 year old girl is warming up with your max.

Thursday’s Skill:

Squat Therapy (because you’ll never have a perfect squat)

Workout of the Day (WOD):

20 minute AMRAP of:

15 box jumps (24″/20″ for women)

10 sit-ups

30 double-unders

Yeah, it hurt bad.

Cory takes in all the awesomeness from you guys and gals.

Chris, Miguel, Horton, and Jinah after a long 20 minutes.

As Los Angeles residents, we are in a very fortunate position in that we have the opportunity to attend some incredible CrossFit competitions.  This weekend, on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, at the Pomona Fairplex, is the SoCal Regional competition.

The best individual athletes and teams in southern California will be competing for a few precious spots to compete at the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games, where the best of the best will throwdown for title of being the World’s Fittest.  There will be some amazing performances this weekend as the southern California region is stacked with top CrossFitters.  I encourage everyone to try to make it out to at least one day of the competition.  

Southern California CrossFit Games Regional

May 11-13

Pomona, CA 91768-1639