Coming soon to a CPC near you!

How many of you are currently taking fish oil on a daily basis?  I know that we’ve talked about this before, but if you’re not taking it, you should be.  Nutrition guru Robb Wolf recommends taking a gram of fish oil per 10 pounds of bodyweight – that’s 16 grams per day for a 160-pound CrossFitter.  Although I think that that’s probably a little on the high side unless you are actively training for a competition, 8 – 10 grams per day for that bodyweight would be a great way to supplement your diet.

Here’re some of the benefits of doing so per the National Institute of Health:

• Promotes heart health
  Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health calculated that eating about two grams per week of omega-3 fatty acids (equal to one or two servings of fatty fish) reduces the chances of dying from heart disease by more than one-third. Omega-3 fats protect the heart against the development of erratic cardiac rhythm disturbances, help break up blood clots and lower cholesterol, tryglicerides, LDLs and blood pressure. The fats also increase good HDL cholesterol.
• Protects against cancer
  Studies have found that fish oil can prevent three of the most common forms of cancer: breast, colon and prostate. The fatty acids stop the alteration of a normal healthy cell to that of a cancerous mass and cause the death of some cancer cells. Researchers are currently digging deeper to see how fish oil can play a larger role in cancer survival and prevention.
• Improves mental health
  Researchers at the University of Sheffield have found that fish oil supplements can alleviate the symptoms of depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. On a seemingly related note, a Chinese study of 100 suicide-attempt cases found diets low in fishy meals to be a common factor. Other studies report that depressed patients who take omega-3 fatty acids in addition to prescription antidepressants had a great improvement in symptoms than those who took antidepressants alone.
• Helps prevent degenerative disorders
  Researchers at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans found the presence of omega three fatty acids in the diet prevent proteins from misfolding and forming a gene mutation in degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. Other recent studies have shown that people who eat a lot of fatty fish score better on memory tests and are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
• Relieves pain and fight arthritis
  There have been many studies promoting improvements in morning stiffness (not what you’re thinking here folks – tb) and joint tenderness with the regular intake of fish oil supplements for up to three months. One study performed at Albany Medical College even suggests that people with rheumatoid arthritis who take fish oil may be able to lower their dose of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
• Improves IQ Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s patients aren’t the only ones to get a memory boost from fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids. A 2009 study of healthy adults —55 and older—found that those who took a fatty acid supplement for six months had almost double the reduction in errors on a test that measured learning and memory skills compared to those who took a placebo. 

We are now teaming up with Maine Natural Health – Matty Aporta’s (Paradiso CrossFit) company and will be selling their fish oil here at CPC.  We’ve done a lot of research, ingested a lot of crappy fish oil and found that this brand not only tastes good (they have tangerine, mint, lemon, vanilla, chocolate and natural as flavors), but is priced just above Costco – without the chemical alteration and fillers.  This is a great product, Eric and I wouldn’t be carrying it if we didn’t both take it ourselves and believe in the efficacy of it.  We’re going to be placing our first order on Friday, so feel free to post to comments if there’s a particular flavor that you want us to make sure that we have.

Today’s Workout:
”Josh”
21 Overhead Squats (95#/65#)
42 Pull Ups
15 Overhead Squats
30 Pull Ups
9 Overhead Squats
18 Pull Ups

The question of just why we CrossFit has been asked many times.  I’ve asked you all myself in a previous post, and we’ve all had to answer this query at some point to curious friends or onlookers.  “Why would you do something like that to yourself?” is a legitimate question when seeing torn hands, bruised shins or someone hobbling around due to soreness.  The beauty of this question though, I believe lies in the fact that the answer is always changing.  It changes as your CrossFit career gets longer, it changes as the stages of your life transition and it changes from time to time due to certain poignant experiences.

Competing this past weekend has changed my answer to the question of why I CrossFit forever.  I used to say that I did CrossFit because it got me in better shape than any other modality on the planet and simply allowed me to perform all of my favorite life activities at a higher level.  Those amazing results haven’t changed in any way. However, it’s not the whole picture.  This weekend I came to two very strong conclusions that I’d like to share: 

1) I CrossFit because it is ridiculous.  It is ridiculously hard, ridiculously fun, ridiculously effective and most importantly, doing CrossFit has taught me that a life lived with anything short of “ridiculousness” as a main goal is not a life worth living.  CrossFit has allowed me to wallow in ridiculousness and enjoy every sweet, excruciating moment of it.  If someone had told me 5 years ago that running a mile, doing 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats and then running another mile would be a workout that non professional athletes would be able to do in under 45 minutes, I would have told them that that not only was that workout nearly physically impossible but also that, “they should be more realistic”.  Now I’d tell them that not only can most of my friends do it, but also I’d like to consider wearing a weight vest while doing it – which to be honest, is nothing short of ridiculous!  CrossFit has made me to question everything that I was ever told was impossible – both in the gym and out of it and I implore you to do the same.

2) I am madly in love with this crazy little modality of ours because of the people in it.  This weekend I felt like I was at my first Trekkie convention (if everyone there had 5 % bodyfat and had had sex).  I was asked by a journalist after the first event why I would want to participate in a competition like this and I told him flat out that if I wasn’t competing I would have been there anyway because most of the people that I know and love in my life are going to be there!  I highly doubt that anyone else there would have given a different answer.  I saw extraordinary displays of sportsmanship this weekend, competitors sharing equipment, cheering for their competition, whole gyms cheering for athletes that were competing in the same heats as people from their own.  I got handshakes and good luck wishes from guys in my own heat, heats before me and after me.  I got hugs from members of numerous gyms, watched people stay long after they had finished their own heats to stand around in the cold and dark and cheer on a competitor. This type of camaraderie was displayed over and over again throughout the entire weekend.  That is the way that I was always taught that competition was supposed be – but seldom witnessed myself.  These are the type of people that I want to share my life with.

A very special thank you needs to go out to KJ, Hogans and Kate for volunteering and giving of their time (waking up at 3 in the morning to get to UCLA) and energy to be part of the supporting caste of the event.  A very special thank you needs to also go out to Baker and Malzone for giving up their entire weekend to judge the whole event!  Please also allow me to express a very special thank you to all of the members of CPC for your unwaivering support before, during and after the event, and to the members of CFV and CFLA who gave me a blanket to rest on between events, feed me and cheered for me like I was one of their own. 

The goal that I wrote in the post in January was to make the top 20 in this competition and I ended up in 44^th place overall.  However, I will take the experience of the event, the understanding of just how amazing the sport is that I am a part of and the clarity about what was written above over a ranking in the top 3 any day.  My hope, goal and mission now is to make it as clear to you all as it is to me, of just how powerful of a medium CrossFit is; not only for literally getting yourself into world class shape, but for living a life surrounded by beautifully empowered human beings – a life that is fully steeped in awesome ridiculousness.

- Traver

Today’s Workout:
Split Jerks:
5-3-2-2-1-1-1
Followed by:
AMRAP 8 Min
10 Box Jumps
10 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
100 Meter Run

Check this out folks, it’s a video featuring a group of Santa Barbara County Firefighters who supported fellow firefighter Tyler Gilliam during his recent round of chemotherapy at UCLA by running the 94 miles from SB to UCLA.  Yes this will make you cry, watch it anyway.

Today’s Workout:
“Something with deadlifts….but really fun.  can’t remember exactly”
- Text from Malzone when I was trying to post the workout last night.

Amber, clearly excited about the Full Grace Challenge!

Who’s up for out next CrossFit Pacific Coast Challenge?!  We saw massive improvements in the 8 weeks between the trials and finals of the our 1 Rep Max Back Squat and 10 Minutes of Cindy last weekend and are looking forward to this upcoming challenge.  So what is it you ask?  It’s going to be one of our favorite ladies – Grace!!  However, this is going to be Full Grace, which means that it’s 30 SQUAT Cleans for time.  Yep, you’ll have to get the crease of your hip below your knee on every rep during the clean.  The RX weight for men is 135# and for the ladies it’s 95#.  The trials will commence on Saturday March 27^th during our normal Saturday morning classes.  If you can’t make the Saturday class, then it’s fine to do this on Friday the 26^th or Monday the 29^th.  We expect EVERYONE (especially people from England) to participate in this challenge! 

Today’s Workout:
5 Rounds for time:
200 M Sprint
10 Pull ups
10 Box Jump Burpees

Christina, elevating her game!

How many of you have come into the gym lately and thought to yourself, “Who’s the new student that looks like Hogans?”  The night that I came back with our new dumbbells I literally looked in the window and thought, “oh wow, who’s that?” and was relatively shocked that it was Christina! 
For those people that question whether CrossFit will make women bulky or works as an effective way to tone up, I present to you – The Rapidly Disappearing Hogans.  Christina is a living embodiment of the potential of what you can do when you set a goal, work your butt off (literally), have an active participation with your diet, work your butt off some more and embrace the spirit of a performance based program.
In the past 8 weeks Hogans has taken her Back Squat from 125 to 140, completed 3 additional rounds in her 10-minute Cindy, while adding a kipping pull up to her arsenal of awesomeness.  Ask her if these results just “showed up” in her life or if she had to work harder than she’s ever worked in her life and I’ll put money down on what her answer will be.
Christina, we thank you for raising the bar in our gym and giving our members a physical display for just how effective hard work and clean eating can be.  Your dedication to our program and a lifestyle based on health and wellness is an inspiration even to those of us that might have chosen to do this for a living.  Keep up the great work; we couldn’t be prouder of your accomplishments or of being able to call you one of our own.

Today’s Workout:
AMRAP 15
4 Handstand Push Ups
8 KB Swings
20 Sit ups

Augie, with no fear of heights!

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”  - Marianne Williamson 

Today’s Workout:
Power Cleans
1-1-1-1-1
Followed by:
AMRAP 8 Minute:

Bear Complex (95#/65#)

  Why is it that CrossFit is more effective than the traditional workout routine?  I get this question almost every time that someone new comes in to check out our gym.  In my opinion the greatest strength of CrossFit training, both in the gym and almost more importantly, outside of the gym is this – everyday we are going to make you step outside of your comfort zone. That’s it, plain and simple.  How often at 24 Hour Fitness or Spectrum do you really see people do this?  Do people there continually and on a regular basis do things that they’d never done before?  I’ll unequivocally say, “Not on your life.” 
   Here’s the rub though folks – every time that you step outside of your comfort zone, as painful as it’s going to be (and it will be just about every time), your comfort zone grows.  What you thought of as “difficult” or even “impossible” today will be a walk in the park tomorrow. How many of you now use your 3 Rep or even 1 Rep Max from a year ago as a warm up today?  How many of you regularly do something for work that the first time you tried it was terrifying?
   If you aren’t getting the results that you’d like to, either in the gym or in your personal/professional lives, take an honest look at just how often you are truly stepping outside of your comfort zone.  I’d be willing to bet that it’s not as often or as you could be.  As OPT loves to say, “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.”   This holds true for CrossFit, for business, for academics and really any and all areas of your life.  Be great today. 

Today’s Workout:
”Karen”
150 Wallball Shots for Time

Sit ups = far more fun with a medicine ball and a partner!

Congratulations to all of you CPC’ers that came out on Saturday for our Cindy Challenge Finals.  We saw great efforts out of everyone there, and P.R’s across the board! Ryan, Natalie, Gigi, Hogans (who started her birthday off with a 15# increase in her back squat and 3 additional rounds of Cindy), KJ, Chris Dahl, Eric, Baker, The Claw and Fielding all put their butts on the line and went for it.  We’re proud of all of you!!  For those of you that didn’t participate in this challenge, worry not, we will be announcing our next one at the end of this week and expect EVERYONE to be a part of it.  Congrats again folks, you all kicked some serious ass! 

Today’s Workout:
Snatch Grip Push Press
5-5-3-3-3

Followed by:
3 Rounds for Time of:
15 Overhead Squats (95#/65#)
200 M Run

A quick stretch before their first WOD!

  As I write this, Eric and I are both a little bit worn out.  Nope, we didn’t just finish a brutal WOD, or workout ourselves in any capacity.  We did however, just run 80 boys ranging from 12 – 17 through their very first CrossFit workout.  Working with Los Prietos Boys Camp and Academy was one of our community goals for the year, and I have to say that it was truly an awesome experience.  The look on the faces on the kids once they realized that no, their team didn’t get to divide the reps up, but they actually had to each do 100 Squats, 60 Push Ups and 30 Burpees was priceless.  Every time that we said the word “burpee” we heard a resounding “YAY BURPEE!!” in return.  If we didn’t hear it, or hear it loud enough, motivational consequences ensued in the form of said burpees.
   All in all it was a great morning.  The kids got to work in teams, encourage each other, push their bodies to the limit and feel a great sense of accomplishment.  We got to share our love of CrossFit with the future of Santa Barbara, a group of young men that have the same hopes and dreams that we all do but were dealt a very different set of cards than most of us – through no fault of their own.  At the end, the staff of the camp couldn’t have been happier to get a very exhausted class returned to them after only an hour with us.  My favorite line of the day had to be, “Sir, my legs feel kind of weird.” – music to my ears.
   This was a successful outing for everyone involved and it is not the last time that we will be heading up to Los Prietos.  Eric and I will be sure to let you know when we’re going up again and invite you all to get involved and join us for out next outing.

 Today’s Workout:
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
Deadlifts.

Cill with her chin over the bar and soon to be a lot lighter!

Here’s Jeff and some thoughts on the experience of taking the CrossFit Level 1 Cert:

“When I started doing Crossfit it changed my life and how I perceived fitness and nutrition.  Seven and a half months later, I have been reinvigorated in both my passion and discipline for what we do.  Last weekend I went down to Crossfit Marina in Huntington Beach with some of our friends from CFV:  Faith Reynado, Matt Major and Jaala Thibault, for a Crossfit Level 1 Certification.  I went in not fully knowing what to expect, only that there were going to be people there who knew a hell of a lot more then I did about Crossfit and they were going to tell it to me in the span of two whole days.  Sounds kind of daunting, doesn’t it?
Well I’ve got to say that it was an amazing experience.  As soon as I walked in the door on day one and saw faces I had only seen on the Crossfit Main site:  Jason Khalipa, Pat Barber, Jolie Gentry, Josh Everett, Todd Widman and Stephane Rochet who were now standing there in the flesh, well you just knew something interesting was going to happen. The whole weekend was filled with good information and lots of laughs, everything from Stephane Rochet teaching me more about programming and structuring a WOD to Jason Khalipa telling me “Jeff you have got get your pecker back when you Push Jerk”.  Sounds helpful doesn’t it?
Along with all this new information came lots of valuable pointers about stuff I thought I was pretty familiar with, like the air squat, I know that since I joined up I feel as if I’ve done a billion air squats but I learned that I wasn’t perfect in my form and that translated into not being perfect in all the other movements too:  Push Jerk, Medicine Ball Clean, Overhead Squat, Snatch and all the others.  The one thing I’ll always remember Todd Widman saying is that these are movements that you’ll never achieve perfection in and that’s what makes them a challenge and worth doing.  Those words of wisdom along with many others will stay with me forever and drive me to the very edge in every WOD to achieve the unattainable.  It was an amazing weekend filled with cherished memories and amazing people.  I hope everyone at that cert took away from it the same lessons I did, because to be coached by the best of the best is a rare and privileged opportunity.”

Today’s Workout:
5 Rounds For Time:
30 Jump Squats
15 Pull ups
10 Ring Dips