main

Keeping Up With Your Logs?

Most everyone is doing a pretty decent job of keeping up with their workout logs - and many have seen how valuable they are.  Hopefully you're all, in one way or another, keeping track of what you eat as well.  Whether you're eating well or eating poorly, the information in your food log helps tell your body's story and it can be a super valuable tool.  Something as simple as - "my food log says I've been in the zone for 3 weeks and my CrossFit Total went up" or more complex like "I've been performing better when I up my fat intake by 50% two days out before a race."

Not that the 2nd example should be true - but for some people that might be the case...   and a well kept food log can help make that discovery.

For all you zone challengers out there - you want to stay on top of you logs!  Gina has noted that all journals need to be updated for the week by noon each Wednesday to get points.  Please do not go back and log days from a prior week and expect those days to get reviewed a 2nd time to make up for lost points.  (Even if Gina tells you it's ok - I am telling you it's not - don't ask!)

Also, in looking through some logs, I've noticed that some people are not eating enough!  Missing by a little bit here or there is no big deal, but consistently coming in UNDER your prescribed blocks is just as bad as going over! 

You do not want to miss on your protein prescription.  Also, it's ok to sub some fat blocks for carbohydrate blocks, but not the other way around.  For example, if you can't fit five cups of broccoli in your stomach and bread makes you sick to your stomach, replace a couple of those broccoli blocks with a couple blocks of delicious cashew butter :)

All that said, I'm adding a rule to the zone challenge.  For a day in the zone to count, you need to be within one block (plus or minus) of your protein prescription AND the sumof your carb and fat blocks must be within one block (plus or minus) of two times your protein blocks.  

Example: if my prescription is 16 blocks and I eat 15 blocks protein during the day, the sum of my carb and fat blocks must be between 29-31...   like 13 carb and 17 fat.  Capisci?

Now - back to work!

 (Dr Raetz and Gina lunge into the dark abyss!) 

Rules Update

A few people have asked about cheat meals... 

I hadn't really thought about it because, for me personally, cheat meals turn into cheat months.  However, for the masses, I do buy into the philosophy that a cheat meal will help keep one sane and on track.

So, here's the compromise...  

You are allowed one cheat meal per week.  The "weeks" run from Wednesday through Tuesday...   during which time you are allowed ONE MEAL to eat whatever you want.  If during the week you have just the one cheat (labelled "CHEAT MEAL" in your journal) then you will get full credit for the week. 

However if you forgo your cheat meal, you will get one bonus point for the week.

It's probably worth noting there is no roll-over or carry-over of cheat meals.  If you choose to forgo your cheat meal one week - you DO NOT get to have two cheat meals the next week.  (well, you can, you'll just lose points with the 2nd cheat.)

(These two "flipped" over the CrossFit Kids WOD yesterday!) 

Team Championship

Ok the teams for this latest Zone Challenge have been set.  If you're not on a team and want in, you better get ahold of Gina real quick and be here tonight for check-in and some Zone education.  Remember, to get credit for sticking to your prescription, you need to create a personal food journal under the "Zone Challenge!" forum on the message board  -  AND you have to log your intake daily!  Be sure to key in EVERYTHING you eat/drink.

The teams are:

Sonnik / Celso / Trisha

Rice / Michelle B / Julie

Lenzi / Mary / Megan N

Lisa / Downs / Heather

Andrea / Laurie / Ann

I'd wish all the competitors luck...   however, not only am I playing, but this is the type of situation where you make your own luck.  Now get after it :)

(Sydney, the "queen of clean" shows that she also knows how to do a power snatch.)

 

(Jimmy has been killin it lately...   he might surprise some folks when he gets back to hockey.)

Holiday and Next Zone Challenge

First off, we will be open our regular hours this Friday and Saturday, July 3rd and 4th.  Come get your WOD on and come ready to WORK!   :)

Next- There's a new Zone Diet challenge starting up this coming Monday, July 6th.  This one's gonna be a little different in that we're going to divide up into teams!  That's right - now you not only have to answer to yourself, but to your teammates as well!  Depending on the number of entries, we'll be splitting into 2-3 person teams. 

    Maximum total points will determine winning team.

    Points will be awarded as follows:

• 3 points – each day you follow block allocation. Food journals have to be posted on the message board to get your points.
• 10 points – improvement in score on weekly benchmark WODs. (The benchmark WOD's from 1st three weeks will be repeated for the 2nd three weeks.)
• 10 points – any reduction in bodyfat %.

If you want in, shoot me an email or sign up on the wall by the coat rack by Sunday night!  We're going to draw names to set the teams up and we'd like to have everyone assigned to a team when they come to check-in...   Which will be Monday the 6th at 6am or Tuesday the 7th at 6pm.  Also, at the Tuesday evening check-in, Gina will be doing an informational / how-to session for those that are new to the Zone Diet.

The winning team will not only be more fit, but will also recieve crossfit t-shirts. 

Speaking of shirts, Lisa's been sick :(    ...but today she put in the order for the "princess of power" tanks.  We'll let you know when they are in, but we're told they'll be ready by the 16th - just in time for the Jungle Jog!

(Kaza forgot his socks so he dug into his moto-bag and went "Milford" style!)

 

 

(Tom and Pete show various stage of knees-to-elbows.)

Congrats - Meg and Nick!

Just a quick post to say congratulations our favorite transplanted Californian, Megan, on her wedding this past weekend.  Gina was lucky to be close enough to La Selva Beach and made it out to what she said was a BEAUTIFUL wedding.

Also, we are going to double our number of kids classes!  The kids seem to be enjoying it (heard one even wanted to quit swimming!) and asking for more.  Starting next week, we're going to drop the Wednesday class and add classes on Tuesday's and Thursday's at 4pm.  Probably won't be too long before we break-out into different age groups as well.

From kids to...   well... not kids.  Check out this neat post and resultant comments about "being old, not hopeless" from CrossFit Coastal.

(Our latest CrossFit bride in her "reception dress."  Nick's a lucky guy!)

 

(Some of the fella's from the early morning crew gang up on a couple of stacked tractor tires.)

 

(Erin and Ellen wonder "...who left these stupid tires in perfectly fine parking spaces?")

 

("Fight the Power!"  Denise has been totally Wonder Woman-ing it lately!)

("Strong is the new Beautiful!"  Gina's shirt offers an explanation as to why the ladies like CrossFit so much.  Shoot - I thought it was me.)

 

TV Time :)

For those of you that don't already know, tv channel 13 WHAM came out yesterday morning to see just what the hell goes on out here.  I think they were a little surprised by the intesity and how hard everyone works.  Great job, everyone - the news spots went off quite well.  A real big thanks goes out to Eric Cady for setting it up and to Norma Holland and her crew for taking the time to come see us and give us some good press.  You may see links to the video clips here...   if not, just search the site for "crossfit."

It was pointed out to me that my proposed date for a xmas in July and summer picnic conflicted with the Jungle Jog.  Oops!  Any suggestions out there?  Anyone want to do all three on the 19th?  Got other dates in mind?  Think the whole idea sucks?  Get me some feedback, people!

Belated birthday wishes to Brett Lemcke.  I hope you all liked the "vegas" WOD he came up with for Tuesday.

Mechanics - Consistency - Intensity...   you've heard me say it before and it's posted on the wall at the gym.  Check out this sweet write up by Freddy Comacho at CrossFit One World.  Amen, brother!  Going through the full range of motion (ROM) on your exercises will get you farther faster in your quest for improved fitness.  Anyone else notice how all of a sudden Gina's pull ups got better or how Ewa can just rip off more consecutive full range pushups than any of the guys?  I'll give you one guess how they did it.

(The news team from channel 13 came out to check Kaza's sweet run technique.  Eat your heart out 990!)

(Lauren's and Kathy's squats are getting lower and lower each day.)

(Renee has proven to be a quick study and has a real solid swing.)   

(Stash and Ewa demo what's becoming the new pull-up standard...   chest to bar!)

(Janet works some ring dips while Heather makes the 24" box "her bitch" during Brett's birthday WOD.)

(Who the heck is the guy out front?  He doesn't even look like he's breathing!)

Zoned In

Congratulations to Chris "c'mon" Lenzi as he was the overall winner of this latest zone challenge - scoring a total of 179 points.  Right behind him though were "Super" Sonnik, J-Bell and Lisa P (aka "she-ra") with 176, 175 and 169 points, respectively.  All of the top four have prizes comming and Chris and Kate get to write some WODs.

Changing your eating habits is a very difficult task and the 12 people that stuck with it throughout this latest challenge deserve a lot of credit.  As a group they lost a total of 69 pounds and a combined 24 percentage points of bodyfat. 

For those not in the top four, we're tacking on a two week runner's-up extension...  reward TBD. 

Also, Gina's crafting up another six-week challenge and this one will be a team event in hopes that it will help keep the players focused.  In addition to adherence points, there will be points awarded for performance improvements.  Benchmark WOD, anyone?  The new challenge will start July 6th.

July... it's almost here already!  Remember when stores used to have x-mas in July sales?  Maybe they still do I dunno...    either way, it has been suggest that we have x-mas in July.  Anyone interested in doing the "12 days of x-mas" WOD this summer?  Perhaps July 18th?  Maybe we could have that summer party everyone's always talking about on that day as well...?

This past Saturday we did FGB for the first time in quite a while.  A lot of PR's were smashed.  Was is because everyone was more fit or the result of all the sumo practice the week before?  Either way, great work everybody!

A few folks have been working on new ideas for shirts.  Lisa P was the first to come up with something.  It's a simple yet cool little design for the ladies.  If you'd like one, write your name and size on the sheet taped to the wall by the front door by this Saturday.

(The sign up sheet for the She-Ra shirt!)

(The FGB readiness program started a week ago Saturday.  At 7am on a Saturday, is there a more beautiful sight than a lot full of sumo-deadlifters?)

(The program also included some single arm push pressing and....)

 

(....some synchronized tire jumping!)

Belated Wishes

A belated birthday wish goes out to one of our veteran members and all around good guy Dr Raetz.  I would have like to snap a few picks of his b-day WOD, but the beaster he had written kept me super busy trying to keep up.

Also, we wish good luck to Eric Marino - who moved back to Long Island this past weekend.  Eric made A LOT of progress in the short time he was here.  He seems to have really taken a liking to the training and I'm sure that he'll make us proud at his new gym -CrossFit The Rock.

Too bad he left when he did too.  He was definitely in the thick of things for winning the Zone Challenge and this is the last week!  There is a big bottleneck at the top of the leader board and with final check in happening this Saturday, it's really coming down to the wire.

Some have suggested extending the challenge to eight weeks.  What do you think?

Bethany from CrossFit Geneseo dropped me a quick note last week...

"We are having a Century on July 10 and everybody from Roch is welcome!  That is also the weekend of the Geneseo Airshow and there is plenty of room to camp out in the barn and 2 showers in the house.  We might even have a couple of those crazy pilots doing the Century as well!  Will be tons of fun even for spectators!

Don't know about the "CrossFit Century?"  Ask me in person :)

I didn't get any pics of Randy's WOD, but I did snap a few pics of Friday's "three minute fran."  This WOD was a good lesson in pacing (or rather, NOT pacing).  There were a whole-lotta folks that were very shocked by just how debilitating a three minute - thirty second WOD can be.  Don't worry if you missed it - I'll make sure you get your chance to try it soon enough.

(The 9:15am crew tries to get Fran done in 3 minutes-30 seconds!)

 

(Every player in "3 Min Fran" had a judge keep them honest and help the keep track of progress.  Here Judge Bam and Judge Eric keep watchful eye on Ellen and Sean -who went unscaled and made it!)

 

(Judge E-Dub keeps an eye on Marino in his last WOD before heading downstate [he didn't even throw up].  We're looking forward your future visits, brother.  Good Luck!)

Happy Birthday, Trisha!

Today is Trisha's birthday and she came up with a lung burner of a WOD to celebrate with.  She got up early to work with the 5am crew - that really showed up in force.  Big props out to everyone for getting through it - and especially to Lisa and Julie who battled it out real hard to the very end!

Randy's got a birthday WOD coming up Thursday.  He's a little bit older than Trisha and it will of course affect the rep scheme...   come ready to work :)

Laurie's had a mysterious knee problem and so we adjusted Monday's WOD for her- subbing light deadlifts for the squats.   She sent me an email later in the day which started out kinda funny with...     "Just wanted you to know that my butt knows I dead lifted 16,250 pounds this morning..."  Shoot, that is a lot of weight!

I've heard that folks are interested in getting everyone together for another 5k charity run.  Gina suggested this one.  I like the zoo-  let me know what you think.

After weeks of persistence, Bret finally got his muscle-up last night . 

(Super blurry pics this morning...  the 5am crew takes on Trisha's brew of run, sit up, burpee and BIG tire jumps!  One of the neighbors came over to complain about all the grunting...  I calmly explained that "it's hard work to jump so high!")

 

(Big props to Trisha's "little" brother...   Robbie set a new Fairport High School record when he cleaned 290#'s this past Friday.)

 

(Tello's going to attempt a triathalon this weekend.  Stash brought a bike out this morning and taught him how to ride in the parking lot.  Although I'm sure he'll be fine - we wish him good luck.)

 

(Condello's back for the summer and he's going chest-to-bar like a good Marine should.)

 

 

(When "Judge Eric" can't make it to the gym, he finds a way to work out with at home with whatever he can find.)

What a weekend!

A lot went on this past weekend.

For starters, I'd like to say congrats and good luck to Eric "Inspecta" Evans.  Eric has graduated from RIT and headed back home to PA.  He definitely made some good strength gains in the short time he was here...   hopefully he sticks with it and doesn't let himeself get old sitting at a desk like so many of us have/do.

(The shirt says it all...  Eric graduated, hit a few more WODs, then pulled up his pants and took off for the "real" world.  Good luck, brother!)

Also, congratulations to Ryan and Kylee on thier wedding Sunday.  These two are a great couple and the reception (missed the ceremony) was great.  Gina and I got to sit and catch up with Josh and Satera...   they'll be back before too long.

(The happy couple is off to Aruba today.  It only took 25 attempts to take this pic with my phone...  don't they look great?  If you wanna look this good....     )

(...you gotta work this hard!  Don't be scared :)

Before the wedding however, there were a few of us enjoyed the brutality of the Northeast Qualifier for the 2009 CrossFit Games.  What an event!  The workouts were grueling, but our guys pushed super hard represented Rochester well.  Unfortunately none of us were among the top five invited to the games, but we had a lot of fun.  The whole weekend was well run, everybody in attendance was super cool and the athletes were very inspiring.

One moment that was particularly inspiring to me happened just moments after I walked in on Saturday morning.  It was the last few minutes of the first or second women's heat  - the crowd was in a frenzy and the woman closest to my vantage point was putting in a herculean effort.  At the end of the WOD she had all she could handle just to get up and outside the competition area where a little girl was struggling to get her attention - she wanted to ask her mommy if she had won.

It was great to have Gina, Aleasha, Eric, Bethany, JP, Jessica, Jeff and Michelle there this weekend as thier support was VERY much appreciated.  Sounds like Jeff did a great job keeping the home folks updated via twitter.  Michelle and Jessica also took a boatload of pics that can be seen here and here (two different albums.

I'm definitely going back next year and I will be better prepared.  I have a hunch that Gina is hell bent on competing in 2010 as well.  How about you?

(This motley crew from Rochester invaded the Northeast Qualifiers down in Albany this weekend.)

 

(This was the scene as we arrived Saturday morning...   a bunch of beautiful women doing thrusters and burpees!)

(Stash was the first of our group to go.  Here he hits the deck for a burpee in WOD 1.)

(Robbie pops up out of a burpee and wonders just what the hell he has gotten himself into.)

 

("Is the bar high enough yet?!"  Tello straight up killed it in WOD 1.)

 

(How this fat guy managed to beat all the guys in our crew is beyond me.  What a sandbagger!  Sean, [under right arm pit] shoulda mopped the floor with him.  The little guy to the right of the pic was impressive...   tossing up thrusters that had to be more than is bodyweight!)

 

(Highway to the danger zone....?  Joe was styling in the top gun glasses in WOD 2 and he rowed is ass off!  Took him a few minutes to get up after this one.)

 

(Dave Rice from CrossFit Buffalo made the trip and represented his business well.)

 

(Yes!  The women went chest-to-bar on the pull ups in the final WOD.)

(Sean reps out another swing in Sunday's killer final WOD.  I estimate just 30% of the competitors were able to finish it in the alloted time.  Guess what we're doing today?)

 

(Eric offers some pull-up advice to a competitor he's judging.  Not only will he be a great trainer, I'm betting he'll be a force a next year's qualifier.)

(Much thanks to the event organizers for adjusting the schedule so that I could compete AND take this beautiful lady with me to the Kaza wedding.  Yes - I tucked my shirt in and buttoned up when I got there :)