Miguel doing what he does best!

When was the last time that you heard of someone dropping 4 minutes off of their Fran time?  It’s an amazing feat in itself, but what is even more impressive is the amount of work that has to be done in order to make a drop like that possible. Last night I had the great pleasure of witnessing Miguel go for broke, scream and moan, and do just that – setting a HUGE P.R!  Setting a P.R is awesome, dropping 4 minutes off of his previous time is truly inspiring.  Miguel is a much happier man on days when we’re picking up heavy objects than doing fast paced met-con work, but he shows up no matter what and pushes himself to the limit on every workout.  Miguel, tonight we raise our glasses to you! Congrats on an epic performance!! 

Today’s Workout:
3-3-2-2-1-1-1 Push Jerks

Followed by AMRAP 8 Min:
50 Single Jump Rope
15 KB Swings

Coach Rippetoe - Probably wondering why Eric and I are so skinny and weak.

As many of you know, Eric and I spent the weekend with Coach Rippetoe and his amazing staff doing the CrossFit Barbell Certification.  We learned a massive amount of information all of which was geared towards two goals  – getting immensely stronger ourselves and how to coach you all on how to get immensely stronger.  We’re going to have a lot of posts on what we learned over the next few weeks, but for now, we’d like to spread some of Rip’s personality.  For those of you that don’t already know, Coach Rippetoe is a very unique individual to say the least, and his delivery is world class.  Here’s Eric with a list of some his favorite Rip quotes from the weekend. 

Start to finish, I was both entertained and enlightened from this weekend’s seminar.  I took diligent notes and upon review, have selected my favorite quotes from the weekend.  Please enjoy…

- “You guys are acting like a bunch of Canadians.  F$%*ing Canadians.”
- “Demons are afraid of me.   There’s no need to bless me when I sneeze.”
- “The heavier the object, the more the earth loves it.”
- “We’re completely devoted to your learning…up to and including killing a baby.”
- “Gravity’s causing all this $hit.”
- “Its mythology…like saying the government can fix the economy.”
- “Why aren’t powerlifting meets riddled with corpses?  Exactly.”
- “It’s an overreaction to all the bench press masturbation done at Gold’s Gym”
- “I’ve got big giant balls…and a tiny little pea-sized brain”
- “Here we’ve got our typical, average 5’9”, 135lbs CrossFitter who’s more concerned with how many chin-ups he can do.”
- “What do pediatricians know about kids?  $HIT.”
- “Shut the f^*# up.” 

Today’s Workout:
“Daniel”
50 Pull ups
400 M Run
21 Thrusters (95#/65#)
800 M Run
21 Thrusters (95#/65#)
400 M Run
50 Pull ups

Sam giving everything he's got to reach the 250 mark!

The good people at CrossFit Ventura have been hard at work collaborating with OPT and Dutch to come up with really great workouts for this weekend!  We’re hoping to get as many of you as possible down there to represent CrossFit Pacific Coast and show them what we’re all about.  It’s going to be a great day with some equally great folks.  Chime in on the comments section if you think you’ll be making it to Ventura (start time is 9am, we’ll be leaving caravan style from CPC at 8am) for the fun on the 3^rd.  If you can only stay for the morning that’s perfectly OK as well.  Who’s coming?! 

Today’s Workout:  “Lucky Number 7”
7  Rounds For Time of:
7  Right Arm DB Snatches
7  Push Ups
7  Left Arm DB Snatches
7  Pull ups
7  DB Squat Cleans (same weight as the snatches)
7  Toes To Bar or Knees to Elbows

No, we did not photoshop a smile onto Justin!!

CrossFit has a lot of milestones built into it.  There’s the first pull up, the first muscle up, a sub-3 or sub-4 minute Fran, a 200, 300, 400, or 500 lb deadlift – the list goes on and on.  However, for each of us, we also should have our own personal milestones as well.  It may be the day that you make the decision to never do anything below Rx weight, or you decide to never use a pull up band again.  Let’s hear some of your own personal milestones, be it something that you’ve already passed by or are planning to in the very near future.  Anything goes – post to comments!

Today’s Workout:
Tabata Fran
8 Rounds of:
20 Seconds of Thrusters 10 Seconds Rest
20 Seconds of Pull ups 10 Seconds Rest
2 Minutes rest between rounds 4 and 5.

Notice the difference in body positions between the squat and deadlift.

We did a whole bunch of dealifting on Monday (awesome job btw everyone) with everyone using really good form.  Here is an excerpt from Coach Rip on the starting position of the deadlift that I thought might be interesting for the next time you have to pick up some heavy weight. 

“There are 3 criteria for the correct deadlift position off the floor: The bar must be over the mid-foot, the back must be in extension, and the scapulas must be over the bar.
The primary concern for all barbell exercises where the bar is held on the body or in the hands is that for the system to be in balance with heavy weight the bar will be directly over the middle of the foot. In the deadlift, this occurs at the starting position when the bar is touching the shins with the knees slightly forward of the bar. But the knees are not the marker, the mid-foot is.
The fact that the back must be in extension is rather obvious. But the scapular position is not. The spine transmits the force generated by the hips and legs up to the load, the traps hang the scapulae from the spine, the arms hang from the scapulae, and the bar hangs from the arms. The scapulae are the bony components that receive the force from the back, and they are the points below which the bar hangs. In this position the arms hang at a slight angle back to the bar when the arms are loaded, and the lats keep them there so that the bar can stay under the scapulae. This position is identified by the arm angle, 5-10 degrees in most people — it is not necessary to see the scapulas to know they are in the right place if the arm angle is correct. Vertical arms are not correct.” Coach Rippetoe 

Today’s Workout:
Squat Cleans 3-3-2-2-1-1-1
1000 M Row for Time

Jeff + kettlebell + birthday weekend = happiness.

This is a blogpost that I found on a martial arts website that speaks to the power of our basic tenet – “show up, don’t quit”.  Enjoy…

“What can I do to get better?”

Every trainer hears that question like Dan Quinn hears voices. The usual answers are “use less strength when you roll (jiujitsu).” Or “do some road work.”  Or “keep your hands up.” All that stuff really doesn’t matter though. Half the people that ask the question are looking for a short cut; what they are really saying is “You don’t have to remember my name as I not going to be here next month.”
The real answer to the question is don’t quit. It is a cliché, but a black belt really is a white belt who never quit.
When a fight gets tough, one of the things I look hardest for as a ref is the moment a guy breaks. It isn’t math, but some aspect of the body or face lets you know the fighter no longer wants to be in the cage; he is not a fighter any more. So I get him out as early as I can thereafter.
I have never been able to define exactly what is it you see. Is it a turning away from the opponent? Some loss of muscle tension? A change of facial expression? I don’t know.
Most fighters fight hard to the bitter end, but maybe 20% or so mentally quit – they want to be somewhere else. Some fighters have never quit. Sakuraba’s clavicle is sticking out like an Aliens facehugger got lost on the way to the stomach, Renzo Gracie’s arm is out of socket like Mr Fantastic, Forrest Griffin cannot remember his own name, and they don’t tap.
I am not blogging this as, to quote Eazy E, a mother f****** role model. I was doing light MMA last week with a kid who has a fight next week and I got tired. My muscles were heavy and getting worse, chest was starting to hurt. I thought of the green kid, thirty pounds less than me, taking me down and punching me in the melon, and that it would be embarrassing. So I quit.
I didn’t stop and go sit down. Instead I fed him an underhook, whizzered, held onto his other glove fingers inside illegally as hard as I have since someone tried to take my favorite Tonka truck at age five. Then I threw cheap shots. What I was supposed to do was keep pummeling, fight to get each other to the wall, throw knees, etc. But instead I quit and held on.
I quit because I was tired, and didn’t want to be embarrassed by a little guy. Vince Lombardi said some stupid things, like “No one is ever hurt.” But he also told the truth and never so much as when he said “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”

And that holds the key.

Gameness is one of the prized qualities in fighting. The will to win greater than the will to live. Many qualities in fighting are innate. Punching power is innate. Reach is innate. But gameness is earned, through the degree you push during physical training.
You are going to be doing PT or running or rolling hard in the next week. You will have the choice to ease back or push. If you push, you will get better faster stronger, but much more importantly, you will become just a little more determined, a little gamer. There is nothing more important.
Your success is determined not by the quality of the facility, the level of competitors produced there, or by the knowledge of your trainer. Your success is determined by how hard you work for how long. You may be training in a garage with some wrestling team buddies, and someone else may be at Ultimate Couture in a room with seven UFC fighters, but if you never quit, and he does, you will win.

If it was easy to never quit, everyone would do it. It is not a goal, it is part of a process. It is the process.

     Today’s Workout:
     For Time:
     800 M Run
     21 Shoulder Press (#95/#65)
     800 M Run
     21 Push Press
     800 M Run
     21 Push Jerk

Our "Bring a Friend Day" Crew!

Thank you to everyone that came out to brave our “Bring a Friend Day”.  Sheri, Eric, Pat, Sarrah, and Jose all showed up, knowing full well that they were probably going to get a good old-fashioned butt kicking.  They all came anyway, gave 100% and were an integral part of a great morning.  We commend you all for your efforts Saturday morning and for providing such great support to our members throughout their own journeys to elite fitness!  

Today’s Workout:
AMRAP 20 MINUTES:
12 Deadlifts  (Men – Bodyweight/ Women ½ Bodyweight)
12 Knees to Elbows

The first photo taken of what was to become CPC!!

Here’s a little piece of CPC history for all you that follow our blog and for those of you that we are fortunate enough to have as members at this early junction.  Today is the 1-year anniversary of sorts of the inception of this grand adventure and also a bit of a lesson on the power of intention.  On Sept. 21^st, 2008 Eric and I had the following conversation via text. 

Me, “Hey man, just throwing this out there, what do you think about moving down to Santa Barbara next year and opening up a CF?”
Eric, “I’m heading out to dinner with (a mutual friend of ours), let’s talk about this after the weekend.” 
About two hours went by in which he must have thought more about it and I got the following message back.  “Hey, were u (expletive) serious?!!”

And that’s how it all began, one year ago today.  At the time I was still a fulltime grad student in L.A. with a semester to finish, finals to take, board exams to pass, a house to pack, and a life to move.  Eric was still living in San Francisco with a fulltime job and 10 years of history to leave behind.  All that existed of CPC was an idea passed casually over a text message.  We didn’t have 209 Anacapa, we didn’t have a name, didn’t have a Miguel and Su, didn’t have a Claw or a Baker or a Kjersti.  River wasn’t even born yet!  All we had was an idea and the unwavering support of the CrossFit community.  That’s where we were one year ago; I can only imagine where we’ll be a year from now.  As Goethe said long ago, “Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”  Happy Anniversary.

Today’s Workout:

10-5-3-3-3-2-1-1 Reps of Thrusters

Evan on the edge of the cliff!

Who’s been following all of the news about our Healthcare System?  I’ve listened in on a few speeches and have mixed thoughts, but one thing is for sure in my opinion.  There is a monumental lack of information and dialogue about prevention.   Preventative medicine is being practiced right here in Santa Barbara, actually right here in our very gym.  Every time that you show up for a workout you are practicing preventative medicine.  Every time that you choose the healthiest option available with regards to food you are practicing preventative medicine.  Every time that you tell someone about your experiences as a CrossFitter, you are practicing preventative medicine in my book.  Here’s the link to an interesting article that asks the question, why isn’t food being talked about?  Why is the connection so easily lost between what we put into our bodies all day long and the diseases that come as a result of consuming them?  Food for though for sure. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/opinion/10pollan.html?_r=2

 Today’s Workout:
250 Kettlebell Movements * – (KB Swing, Snatch, Clean, Jerk) For time.
*Everytime the kettlebell is put down = 15 Burpees

River supervising the wall ball action!

The Paleo Challenge is coming!  For anyone that is interested we’re going to be holding an informal challenge for the month of October (with a well scheduled cheat night on the 10^th to celebrate the Fran Finals and Eric’s B-day) ending on the most glorious cheat day of the year – Halloween.  Keep an eye on the Nutrition Forum for a special Paleo Challenge section to write about what you’re eating, not eating, missing, waking up at night craving, and all of the amazing benefits that you’re experiencing. 

 Today’s Workout:
5-5-5-5-5 Back Squats