Support the Fight.

On September 26th CrossFitters will be participating in Fight Gone Bad IV an event to promote awareness and raise money for prostate cancer.

Fight Gone Bad IV

I’ll be taking part in the event and will be raising money for the cause as well. You can donate by contacting me or use my donate page.

I participated last year shortly after starting CrossFit and it was a great intro to the CrossFit community and an intense workout CrossFit style.

CrossFit PEI co-owner Mike posted a video for it as well:

Fight Gone Bad – CrossFit PEI (092708) from Mike Ives on Vimeo.

Seems like we owe some thanks for CrossFit Fredericton’s Anthony Bainbridge for getting Canada involved in this event.  Well done Anthony.

Every day is training day

Yeah, that’s my new motto. It’s been all CrossFit all the the time for me for the past while. On top of my own training, I started training others. Fun and rewarding, still more to learn though.

I attended the CrossFit Gymnastics certification. By the way Tucker is the funniest man in CrossFit.

I went to the CrossFit games in Aromas.

The gang checking out the Ranch, site of the CrossFit Games.

And just last weekend I participated in a local “fun” competition.

Kettlebell swings at the Atlantic Hopper event.

I’ve had some time to process all that. Analyzing it all, one thing has been clear. My times/output have not been getting better. I’m not crying boohoo here, it’s just a little self-reflection. I know the cause.

Short run/sprints are part of my training, but I'll be adding hills in too. I don't have sandbags but a 20 lbs weight vest will do.

It’s not a plateau, it’s a lack of focus. Even my mighty will power has seen me sipping more beers and eating bread (which has been proven to slow me down).

As I was thinking about this today, the phrase “Every day is training day” popped into my mind. I guess it was my brains way of processing all the awesomeness I’ve been exposed the. The Games alone were inspiring enough to want me to be better and train hard than ever before.

This is normal for me, start something new and go at it 110% only to see less than %100 performance later. However sometimes I drop out of this new cool thing I’ve been exposed to. Not this time. I’m rebounding from my loss of focus.

My new motto will guide me; work on my goats, don’t take too much on, dial in my diet, rest and recover more. Even days when I am resting, I’ll read, relax, stretch, research… train the brain.

Every day is training day.

Atlantic Hopper Event

Kevin Wood, owner of CrossFit Moncton is hosting the first annual Atlantic Hopper Event on July 18th. The event is open to anyone and the male and female with the fastest times in the event(s) will be the winners.

To register e-mail Kevin at crossfitmoncton@hotmail.com or call 506-857-0567.

Deadline to register is Wednesday, July 1st.

Full details here

CrossFit Gymnastics Certification

I just spent most of my weekend upside down! We were lucky enough to host a CrossFit Gymnastics Specialty Certification at CrossFit PEI.

Several weeks ago CF PEI co-owner Mike sent me an e-mail wondering “if” we hosted a cert would I attend? He was just gauging numbers at the time and I replied with a very quick “hells yeah!” Shortly there after Mike finished up the final details and the cert info was posted to the CrossFit Web site.

Handstand push-up progression demo from Joey Mokler on Vimeo.

Having a cert in our backyard is pretty convenient, though flying to the U.S. or another Canadian city is a nice way to get away, travel and accommodation costs get pretty high because of my location.

Now that the cert is over I’m really glad that it was the first specialty cert I attended. Tucker stated and I really believe that these Gymnastics skills and drills we were exposed to will pay off with Oly lifts and directly into movements like our overhead squats.

Handstand spotting from Joey Mokler on Vimeo.

They’ll also improve some the ten fitness domains that CrossFit promotes, and for me it will really help reinforce the flexibility domain that I’ve been working on or at the very least conscious that I need a lot of improvement on.

It’s obvious that Tucker is a great coach, the two days went by very quickly and he was able unload a lot of knowledge while not overloading us at the same. I also really appreciated his demeanor, he was funny, direct with his points and offered his approach rather than “the way it had to be”. He also used his experience and stories to give us knowledge not let us know how great he his. He’s a humble guy and it was a great reminder to keep the ego in check, especially when entering the unknown.

Beyond the skills and drills we also learned a few new warm-up movements and revisited a few that I once did but have forgotten. I’m finding I have to mix up my warm-ups more often lately so they’ll be put to use immediately. The stripper stretch will be a joke at our affiliate for the next few months I’m sure. Right Amanda?

Tucker, if you are reading this, thanks! It was great meeting you and I’ll see you in Aromas at the games.

That trainer moment

Over the past few months I’ve been participating in one of our affiliate’s group introductions to CrossFit—at CF PEI it’s called a fundamentals class. Long story short, it’s ten classes spread over five weeks which introduces potential members to the nine foundational movements, and prepares their conditioning so that they can participate in the regular workouts.

I participated in a fundamentals class myself in September of 2008. It was fun, tough, and it gave me my first introduction to what CrossFit was all about.

Before attending my Level I Certification in March, I decided to ask if I could join in as a trainer. I realized I would be on another path, and one that would take time. You don’t attend a Level 1 certification and then become a trainer the next day. You put in your time and when you are ready then you get to take on a class.

Since my certification, I’ve helped out during workouts, answered some questions, and even had a chance to review some of the nine movement with the Fundamentals class. Essentially I’m a trainer in training.

I have a lot to learn before I consider myself a full fledged CrossFit Trainer, but I did have my first “trainer moment”. It’s that moment where your instructing someone and in instant you both learn something.

For me it was after the fundamentals group was introduced to the shoulder press. After being taken through the movement with the PVC pipes, the group was also given a chance to use some of the weighted bars… just to give them a context to work from.

As the fundamentals groups were rotating through a variety of weighted bars and the majority of the group was moving on to the next part of the glass I saw a woman by herself holding a 7 ft, 45 lbs Olympic bar just above her shoulders. As I approached her we had a short discussion:

Woman: Should I be able to put this over my head?

Me: Absolutely, it’s only 45 lbs.

Woman: 45 ?!

Me: Yup.

Woman: I’m not sure…

Me: Ok, let’s give it a try.
Fix your stance, it’s too wide. Get those feet under you hips.

Woman: Ok.

Me: Let the bar rest on your shoulders, now get your hands in closer to just outside of your shoulders.

Woman: Ok

Me: Now bring those elbows forward just a bit and push that bar overhead.

Woman: Ok, here I go.

She was successful,and her eyes lit up. What she thought just a few moments earlier was near impossible was done with ease. All I had to do was ensure she was setup properly.

I let her now the importance of set up for movements and how they enable efficiency under load, she thanked me and joined the rest of the group.

I stayed back and said to myself, “yeah, I can do this”.

2009 Canada East CrossFit Games.

A full week has passed since the 2009 Canada East CrossFit Games and I have to say the weekend is still fresh in my mind.

If you check out the final results you’ll see that I finished 45th out of 49 competitors. So why am I stoked? For a couple of reasons.  First, six months ago it would have been difficult for me to complete two CrossFit workouts in a day let alone four demanding workouts in two days.  Further, it was just plain old fun. Nine other CrossFitters from our affiliate competed, and at least that many supporters came along with us. Megan, one of our members, qualified for the CrossFit Games in July and another member plans to compete in the Last Chance qualifier.

Our CrossFit PEI video.

CrossFit PEI at the CrossFit Games Canada East Qualifier from Mike Ives on Vimeo.

For me, the trail run was the best part. A perfect way to end the weekend. The trail was 5 KMs, with hills, mud, streams, rocks, and a spicy little up-hill climb for 150 meters with a 60 lbs sand bag in tow, and then a sprint to the finish line.

I also achieved a personal best of 300 lbs on a 1 rep max Deadlift, light weight compared to the other lifts but again I’m increasing my capacity and that’s what matters most to me.

Max Deadlift – 300 lbs from Joey Mokler on Vimeo.

There was some controversy, I’m not going to censor that in any way. If would like more details go here first then view another competitor’s views. However I have to reiterate that I had a great time. I’ll admit that I was a bit concerned over the mini events being added to the trail run, after it was announced that it was just a trail run.  However, in the end, the only requirement was sand bag mini-event and then to cross the finish line, so it all equaled out. It was tough and exactly what a CrossFit run should be.

Further, I have to add the events were very well organized. We spent the whole first day in an arena and the time just flew by with no delays at all. Many of the competitors were very supportive and helped each other with techniques, tips or were just taking some time to get to know each other. In fact watch this video and note that at 1:28 Philippe Boisclair from St-Jean sur Richelieu, Quebec notices Jeff’s speed and comes over to root him on. Jeff finished second in that event.

Megan and Jeff, Burpees and Kettlebell swings from Joey Mokler on Vimeo.

Best of luck to Megan and the others who qualified, and I hope those who are planning to try the Last Chance qualifier do well. Amber and I are planning on going to the games in July. If we are there we will be rooting for you. If we are not there we’ll be checking the Web posts and be rooting for you in the virtual world.

Finally, here’s a video of the games from Brad Biggar. Be sure to watch for Megan at 3:40 in this video. She lost her shoes in the mud on the last part of the run, and fellow CrossFitter Dixon went back and grabbed them for her. She also won that event!

Crossfit Games – Canada East Qualifiers from Brad Biggar on Vimeo.

Games prep?

I mentioned in an earlier post that I registered for the regional qualifier (Canada East) of the CrossFit Games. The plan was to learn more about CrossFit and maybe a little about myself. I knew and still know that I’ll encounter a workout where I’ll have to scale, while I can keep up in the met-con department and have decent body weight strength the reality is I’m still building my strength. If a workout comes out that require X number of squat cleans at 155 lbs… well I’m just going to have to scale. And I’m ok with that. I like being competitive but I’ve only been CrossFitting since September 2008.

2009 CrossFit Games - Canada East

So, have I been taking the games lightly? Nope. I registered and I’m going. Did I have a plan? I sure did. My plan was to show up everyday. That’s right just show up at my affiliate every day there was a class that week. I was confident this approach would work for me as our head trainer does an excellent job in CrossFit programming. Further one of our trainers (Mike) registered as well so he added extra motivation working up to the games.

Me, Dixon and Dave going for max Pull-ups

While the progress has been going well, I did have two set backs. First I changed my diet slightly. I was at 18 Blocks at 2 X Fat. This was working well for me, though the recommendation for my height and body weight is 14 Blocks. I initially started with 14 Blocks but after a few weeks and bonking during a workout someone told me to up my blocks and double my fat. I did and presto! Instantly better.

However, in my quest for learning, several sources stated that I was eating too much. The old saying “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should” rang through my head, plus our grocery bill was getting a bit high. Down to 16 Blocks I went, long story short it just wasn’t the same for me. My strength went down, I wasn’t recovering enough from workouts and I felt a bit slower during some of the met-con workouts.

Secondly an old injury in my right knee came back, it was manageable with some ice for a while but it took some of the fire out of my belly. Then I popped a joint in my back after going too heavy on a Deadlift. F*ck!

What was going on? A friend said “Ummm… maybe you’re overtraining?” Damn, I was. Five workouts a week is great but would four be that bad if it helped in the recovery department?

It’s all part of your capacity though, you have the capacity to push yourself beyond your expected limits. Do you have the capacity to stop, reevaluate what you are doing and change to a strategy that may not appear to be logical or beneficial.

I didn’t have that capacity last week. In fact I deviated from my plan of five workouts a week and added two extra. It looked like this:

Monday, April 13:
Workout #1
15-12-9
Clean and Jerk
Handstand push up

Workout #2

Tuesday, April 14

Wednesday, April 15
(That was the first time I really tried the snatch, it went well and I tried a scaled (65 lbs) Isabel (.MOV) after progression)

Thursday, April 16
Rest Day- Yay!

Friday, April 17

Saturday, April 18
Workout #1
5 KM Road Race (a personal best, time : 23:02)

Workout #2

Sunday, April 19
Rest Day – Thank Jebus.

Recovery is another post and topic onto itself but today, with two weeks left before the games, I decided as part of my preparation for the games I’d implement some extra rest and recovery. I’m already doing well. I went to bed early on a Saturday night (last night). And tomorrow? Well, I’m just going to try really hard and not show up tomorrow.

Certified – Post CrossFit Level I Certification update

I’m now back to my regular schedule after returning from a long weekend in Calgary attending a CrossFit Level I Certification. It took a few days to readjust to the time change (three hour time difference). I was getting up extra early while in Calgary and for the past few days have been sleeping in. I didn’t get chance to hit a WOD until Wednesday because we were delayed from getting back from Halifax on Tuesday. The extra day of rest was good though as I hit Wednesday’s WOD with a decent amount of intensity.

CrossFit Level I Certification. Calgary, Alberta. March 21-22, 2009. Photo courtesy of www.crossfit.com

I can’t say enough good things about the certification, the trainer’s were great and the attendees added to the overall energy with their enthusiasm and “pumped up” attitude. While the lectures were informative and the workouts were plentiful, I felt really well prepared due to my own research and what I’ve learned from my trainers at CrossFit PEI. I learned some new things but more importantly enhanced or improved on many things that I already knew.

Here’s a quick list of observations:

1. The trainers were excellent presenters and were easily able to teach the main points of the functional movements to groups of eight to ten people easily.  For the curious the trainers were Pat Sherwood, Todd Widman, Kurtis, Lisa Ray, Nadia Shatila and Chris Spealler.
2. Chris Spealler, better known as Speal, has an amazing amount of power for a small guy.
3. I was able to get better “low back” curve and get it more often during the Squat session and the Tabata Squat session that followed shortly after. This resulted in a 16 score on my Tabata Squats. 16 is not a fantastic number but the quality of my Squats was much better than previous attempts … that will pay off in the long run.
4. Todd Widman gave a great presentation on Technique vs Intensity (check out the same presentation from Dave Castro on CF Journal). I really liked the following points “Power is exactly equal to Intensity” and “Power and Intensity are not at odds”.
5. Hitting Fran, after; several lectures, a Squat session, a Tabata session, a Press session, a Deadlift session and doing the Thruster part of Fran outside in t-shirt and shorts  on a cold Calgary day does not result in a PR. In all honesty I was happy with a time of 7:13 considering the above, the first few pull-ups were really the worst as my arms were devoid any a blood or warmth.
6. Dowels/PVC pipes are still sufficient in killing your shoulders after a session of overhead squats.
7. I now have clearer understanding of why the ten fitness domains are used and how they work together. The ten domains are:
   1. Cardiovascular and Respiratory endurance
   2. Stamina
   3. Strength
   4. Flexibility
   5. Power
   6. Speed
   7. Coordination
   8. Agility
   9. Balance
   10. Accuracy
8. Under the direction of Todd Widman I was able to string together three muscle-ups, which is a PR for me.
9. I’m now confident that with some experience and more direction from my trainers that I’ll be able to train others

Learning how to fly

What makes the Pull-up so popular? Is it the strength component? What about the skill aspect that is required for the Kipping Pull-up or Butterfly Pull-up variation? Does it come down to just another goal to achieve?

Pull-ups are a big part of CrossFit and their benefits extend beyond building killer lats. Whatever sport you choose, you will find improvement if do more Pull-ups. It can be more obvious in some sports but even skiers¹, for example, can improve by introducing Pull-ups into their training.

Dixon getting some pull-up motivation from head trainer Dave

This has been proven via CrossFit. Coach Glassman has used the skier example in many of his lectures. The reasons why can be debated, but the results speak for themselves².

At our affiliate we do a lot of Pull-ups. Well, we do a lot of movements, not necessarily one more than the other, but Pull-ups seem to be popular. You’ll find them in the warm-ups, or the WODs, and after workouts members are always kicking around afterward  trying to work on their Kip, Chest-to-Bar and my favourite, the weighted Pull-up.

Why is this the case? We’d probably be better off working on our air squats so that we could progress onto the front squat and then move on to the awesome Over-Head Squat (OHS).  Since we get up off our butt on daily basis, an air squat isn’t always seen as a great accomplishment. Although, many will agree with me that nailing a perfect air squat is probably more technical and harder to achieve than other movements.

The Pull-up is something different, something that we rarely have to perform in our regular life. It’s a new challenge to overcome. Thus its popularity. Secondly, seeing someone else do something you can’t do always gets our competitive side going, and getting that chin above the bar becomes a right of passage. I’ve heard a few “woots!”, “yeahs!” and even one squeal while at our affiliate and they’ve all been when someone gets their first Pull-up/Kip.

I also think there’s a part in us that just likes being further from the ground, we can’t fly like the birds but we sure can try.

Check out (below) the two part Kipping Pull-up instructional video from Again Faster.

The Kipping Pullup – Part One from Patrick Cummings on Vimeo.

HTML Link:
http://www.againfaster.com/the-micd-instructor/2008/9/23/the-kipping-pullup-part-one.html

The Kipping Pullup – Part Two from Jon Gilson on Vimeo.

HTML Link:
http://www.againfaster.com/the-micd-instructor/2008/9/23/the-kipping-pullup-part-two.html

^1,2 Source:National War College Speech
http://journal.crossfit.com/2009/01/national-war-college-speech-part-1.tpl

The muscle-up. Pass vs. Fail

Here’s a follow up to my last post on achieving a muscle-up. As I mentioned in that post I got exactly one on Wednesday night (March 11, 2009), I tried a few more times but could not get it. I could have tried a bit more after some rest but we had planned on going to a bar for a few pints so I had to get on the go.

Muscle-up sequence.

Tonight after a full week, a WOD and some strength training I tried to see if I could get a few more. Confidence, it’s a killer. I aimed for two in a row but I didn’t even get one in my first three attempts. I did get one on my fourth, I tried to repeat but no luck. I rested for two minutes and then tried again, I got one but was not able to get two in a row. As I mentioned it’s a hard move.

Below is a video of the event (thanks for getting it on video Amber), it starts with one of the completed muscle-ups at the beginning and then three failed attempts at the end. I added a second video of three more failed attempts just for fun, it will also be a good motivator to try and get a few in a row over the next few weeks.

One pass, three failed attempts:

Muscle-up. One pass, three failed attempts. from Joey Mokler on Vimeo.

Three failed attempts:

Muscle-up. Three failed atempts. from Joey Mokler on Vimeo.