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

Katie G and her magical hands!

I hope that everyone has their calendar marked for this Saturday!  Remember 7 weeks ago coming in and doing your 1 Rep Max Back Squat and 10 minutes of Cindy?  Well the time has come again to see just how much improvement you’ve all made over the past 2 months.  This Saturday morning we are holding the finals of our challenge and are eagerly looking forward to watching everyone crush it that morning.  For those of you that have recently joined while the challenge had already begun, we welcome you to come in and be here to support your fellow CPC’ers in their efforts. 

Today’s Workout:
“The Filthy Fifty”
50 Box Jumps
50 Jumping Pull Ups
50 KB Swings
50 Walking Lunges
50 Knees to Elbows
50 Push Press (45#/33#)
50 GHD Back Extensions
50 Wall Balls
50 Burpees
50 Double Unders

Poker, pull ups and tire flipping make for a happy Claw!

Although we have all miraculously escaped the pandemic of Swine Flu, there has still been some nastiness floating around our little town.  This is a time of year when people are apt to get sick due to the changes in weather patterns and the question is often asked, “Should I train if I’m sick?”  It’s a legitimate question as sometimes people feel like if they come in and workout it will kick their cold out of them.  We’ve all done it.  I think that the first thing that we have to remember here is that working out with a cold is often a gamble that will often leave you feeling worse afterwards, especially with the intensity with which we do, well, just about everything.  Also it’s very important to remember that coming in and training when you are contagious is a good recipe for sharing whatever you may have with everyone else in the gym.  If you are sick, working lightly on your own may help your situation, but please be respectful of your other teammate’s health as well and take that extra day or two of rest at home, until you’re no longer symptomatic.  

Today’s Workout:
Overhead Squats 1-1-1-1-1
Front Squats 1-1-1-1-1
Back Squats 1-1-1-1-1

Imagine all of these people coming together on a Saturday morning, just to meet you Riv!

My Junior High School guidance councelor said the above quote many years ago and although at the time I paid no attention to it – it rings very true.  Who would have thought that we could pack 35 bright, shiny people into a morning of tire flipping relays, an impromptu pull up clinic and 20 minutes of all-out action?   We had just enough rain to make it interesting and most importantly, an amazing group of you and your friends, all of  whom were willing to push themselves, support their teammates and have a great time.  Thank you all for coming to us full of energy; full of team spirit and with an open-minded sense of adventure. Eric and I had a blast meeting all of your friends and thank you for sharing something that we love so much with the people in your lives.

Today’s Workout:
400 M Run
1 Minute Rest
3 Minutes Max DB Thrusters
1 Minute Rest
2 Minutes Max Push Ups
1 Minute Rest
1 Minute Max Sit Ups
1 Minute Rest
400 M Run

Congratulations to Jeff for completing his CrossFit Level 1 Cert!

What’s bigger than the super bowl?  Bigger than March Madness?  Bigger than, dare I say NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics?!  Of course, it’s CrossFit Pacific Coast’s Bring a Friend Day!!  We’re looking forward to meeting all of your friends tomorrow morning at 9am and watching them get to experience exactly what it is that makes you as awesome as you are.  Come one, come all! 

Today’s Workout:
AMRAP 15
10 Power Snatch (75#/45#)
10 Knees to Elbows

Conclusion = 105 on one side, nothing on the other is as close as you can get.

A few weeks back Ethan asked a great question when unloading the weights off of a bar after back-squatting.  How much weight can be left on each side of bar when unloading it?  Will 45 pounds on one side and 0 pounds on the other cause the bar to topple off onto the weighted side?  My first exposure to weightlifting came from one of my best friends (and designer of this website) Drew Sgoutas.  Drew had a complete weight set in his bedroom and after school 2 or three of us would congregate there to lift.  He didn’t have the Olympic bar that we use here at CPC and one time when we unloaded one side before the other, we inevitably caused the un-weighted end to fly up and over and break his window.  To answer Ethan’s question, Eric and I put on our safety goggles watched an episode of Bill Nye The Science Guy and conducted an experiment.  How much weight can we put onto only one side of a bar before it tips.  The above photo will answer your question! (this does not mean that you SHOULD leave that much weight on one side of the bar though)

Today’s Workout:
Push Press 3-3-3-3-3
Followed by:
3 Rounds of – 1 Minute Max Ring Hold
                         -  1 Minute of Max Squats
                         -  1 Minute of Rest