Bowers and Otsen enduring 90 seconds of sprinting!

What makes the difference between a good CrossFitter and a great one? Is it size, strength, speed or stamina? All of those are great attributes to have, but if I could put my finger on just one it would have to be skill. I’ve seen hundreds of guys in this sport that look like they were cut straight out of stone – 6 feet tall, 195 pounds, 4-5% bodyfat – and they’re getting crushed in competitions by guys half of their size. Is the smaller athlete just a freak of strength and stamina? Maybe, but more likely what is going on is that the smaller athlete has a far better skill level.
How much time are you spending on your skills? Do you practice double unders before and after workouts? If you get here early do you do sets of snatches with PVC? How well would you do in a competition if one of the movements was for you to walk on your hands for a certain distance?
Rest days are great, EVERYBODY needs them. Skill days are equally as important though – days or hours when you simply work on your skills with little to no weight. We all have weaknesses and I’d bet that the majority of them are skill based. Don’t forget the order of importance when learning athletically – skill first, then comes speed and intensity.

Today’s Workout:
Deadlift 3-3-3-1-1-1

Kate powering through WOD #2 at the Clash!!

Seth Godin writes a great blog that I check daily.  It’s filled with useful business ideas and his take on the world is also quite interesting.  Here’s a snippet of one that I really liked.  If you enjoy it, please check Seth’s blog HERE.

“Momentum is incredibly useful to someone who has to overcome fear, dig in deep and ship. Momentum gives you a reason to overcome your fear and do your art, because there are outside forces and obligations that keep you moving. Without them, you’d probably stumble and fall.
And yet…
And yet many of us fear too much momentum. We look at a project launch or a job or another new commitment as something that might get out of control. It’s one thing to be a folk singer playing to a hundred people a night in a coffeehouse, but what if the momentum builds and you become a star? A rock star? With an entourage and appearances and higher than high expectations for your next work. That’s a lot of momentum, no?
Deep down, this potential for an overwhelming response alerts the lizard brain and we hold back. We’re afraid of being part of something that feels like it might be too big for us.
Hint: it probably isn’t.”

Today’s Workout:
“Angie”
100 Pull Ups
100 Push Ups
100 Sit Ups
100 Squats
For time of course..

KJ - killing the front squat!! (I love her elbows)

What supplements do you take personally?  This is a question that Eric, Jeff and I get all of the time.  Although I can’t speak for them, after years of experimenting with just about everything that GNC sells, I’m back to basics.  I take a packet of Emergency every morning with breakfast to get an extra dose of Vitamin C as well as our SFH fish oil (chocolate preferred) and protein powder after a workout.  That’s it. 
Yes, I will make herbal formulas if I feel a cold coming on or have been around a lot of sick patients but to be honest, the above listed combo has kept me far healthier than I ever imagined considering how much exercise I’m doing and how many sick people I’m in contact with on almost a daily basis.  If I had to choose only one “supplement” to take every day it would be a no-brainer, and that’s the fish oil.  How much fish oil should you all be taking?  Great question.  Check out this FISH OIL CALCULATOR that Paleo Pioneer Robb Wolf put together for us.  It’s a great resource and something that you should all be familiar with. 

Today’s Workout:
Overhead Squat:
3-3-3-3-3

Followed by:
AMRAP 12
100 M Run
10 KB Swings
5 Burpees

Sarah starting the day off right!

Well what do you know; the sleepy little Central Coast has gone out and gotten itself a slight CrossFit habit.  Rumor has it that people are gathering in droves on weekends to engage in something as bizarre as “competitive exercising” – Kenny Powers would be appalled.  Do they do this for gobs of prize money, endorsements, or fame you ask?  Shockingly, the only apparent rewards (for now) seem to be personal achievement, extraordinary fitness and health markers, and the joy that can only come when like minded individuals are involved in the pursuit of all things ridiculous. 
When one of these exercise people was caught on camera and asked about his choice of daily fitness activities, the reply was short and curt. “I’m sorry” he said, “I’m a CrossFitter, I don’t do interviews with my shirt on…..GADOOSH!” and then he walked off into the sunset on his hands, leaving said reporter just a little bit more intrigued and a little bit weak in the knees. 

Today’s Workout:

CPC - REPRESENTING IN VENTURA!! (missing Augie and Fielding)

I do believe that I am currently suffering from what is medically referred to as, “being sore as f%@k” (sorry Carrie) – but man does it feel good.  What an unbelievable day CrossFit Pacific Coast had on Saturday!  There were stellar performances everywhere that there was a CPC’er and I thought that the personal efforts given and the collective teamwork shown were just awesome. 
The best part of the day for me personally was to see that everyone was having fun, but as a coach, hearing how many of you said that you had learned a lot is equally as gratifying.  There is nothing like competition to teach you about your own body.  More importantly, there is nothing like competition to teach you about how your body is going to react to you being cranked up on adrenaline before and during the actual workout.  I listened to a recent NFL preseason interview where the lineman was saying that there’s no way to replicate “game speed” in a practice.  The same thing applies to CrossFit.  The more time that you spend in the game the more comfortable you’ll be with the speed of and discomfort of it.
Thank you so much to everyone one of you that competed, we’re extremely proud to have you representing both CPC and CrossFit.  Thank you to those of you that came down to support your teammates,( to those that followed with a slight delay on Facebook), to those of you that volunteered from all of the gyms and of course to Colin, Huff, and Faith for putting on one heck of a competition.  Nick Conn, Jaala and our Amber were the highest scoring competitors from the 3 local gyms and deserve a hand as well – well done!

Today’s Workout:
Central Coast Clash Workout #2
Find your 7 Rep Max Front Squat (3 Attempts in 10 Minutes)
Within 6 minutes, run 600 Meters and do as many burpees in the remaining time.  You will be scored on your burpees.
Rest 4 Minutes
RMMAP in 90 Seconds

ARE YOU READY?!!!!! The Clash is here folks!!  Tomorrow morning, 14 of your fellow CrossFit Pacific Coaster’s will be leaving the comfort of our quaint little Santa Barbara home and heading down to the mean streets of Ventura for an all out battle!  Well, to be honest, it will be a lot more relaxed and fun than that.  However, competing is never easy – for anyone.  Kudos to those CPC’ers that are stepping up and giving this a go. 

Representing CPC will be:
Amber “The Animal” Anderson
A-Train Dazet (will be a CPCer as of Aug 22^nd)
Kate Goldstein
James McCoy
Zach Devine
Fielding Dalton Bulter (….Roadhouse)
Chris Otsen
Sarah Morrison
Eric Bowers
Jim “The Claw” Cordes
Christina Hogans – Luciasomethingorother
Fanie Jensen
Brett Vernon
KJ Morris
Augie Johnson

Good luck to everyone competing, we hope that we’ll have a great big CPC cheering section as well!

These are the workouts that we’re doing:

WOD #1
 ”The Laundromat”

For time:
35 Box Jumps (Males – 24″, Females – 20″)
Pull-ups (Males – 25 CTB Pull-ups, Females – 25 Pull-ups)
20 Ground-to-Overheads (Males – 95lbs, Females – 65lbs)
15 Forward Rolls
20 Ground-to-Overheads (Males – 95lbs, Females – 65lbs)
Pull-ups (Males – 25 CTB Pull-ups, Females – 25 Pull-ups)
35 Box Jumps (Males – 24″, Females – 20″)

WOD #2
“The Triple Crown”

PART A:
Athlete has 8 minutes to establish a 7-Rep Max Front Squat

* If the athlete gets the weight locked out overhead after their 7th Rep (no thrusters), 20lbs/15lbs will be added to that score for men/women respectively.

**If the bar drops to the ground at any point, the athlete must find a way by him or herself (either by stripping off the weight or by cleaning the bar) to get it back onto the racks if they wish to go for another attempt.

Rest 2 Minutes (walk to start of Part B)

PART B:
In 5 Minutes:
Run 600m, then
AMRAP Burpees

*Athlete will be scored by how many burpees they complete within the time frame.

**Burpees will be done with a lateral jump over a parallette.

Rest 4 minutes (get set up for Part C)

PART C:
In 90 Seconds:
(RAMMAP) Row As Many Meters As Possible

* Athletes may use whatever damper setting/footpad setting as desired.

Today’s Workout:
1 Time for Time:
1000 M Row
1 Minute Plank Hold
50 Wall Balls
1 Minute Plank Hold
800 M Run
1 Minute Plank Hold
50 Box Jumps

“One of the best things that terrorists could do is to build more fast food restaraunts…” 

Wow, what a line huh?  I wonder how much McDonalds gets eaten at the offices of Homeland Security?!  Chris Otsen sent me this trailer a while back and I finally got around to viewing it and am deadset on seeing the movie now.  Anyone seen this particular film? 
We talk a lot about nutrition here at CPC and the dangers (real life dangers) of eating poor quality foods day in and day out.  I believe that a revolution has started in this country, albeit a small one.  10 years ago, health food stores were small, funny little places where people with severe food allergies shopped and rubbed elbows with people that were probably described as paranoid and delusional.  Now we have both Lazy Acres and Whole Foods in the same town; now we have Almond Milk and organic vegetables being sold at Ralphs.  Granted, both of the above stores are probably not thriving in small town Kentucky or Nebraska, but progress is being made.  Yes, we still have a long way to go, but every single person that choses organic over genetically modified, that choses whole foods over fast foods is putting a drop into the bucket.  Someday all of those drops will add up as more and more Americans realize that what you eat today affects how you feel tomorrow and what you eat for the next 5 years will define the health you have for the rest of your life.  Keep keepin on CPC’ers, you’re paving the path of health and wellness for this country!

Today’s Workout:
Find your IRM for Clean and Jerk

Followed by Tabata L-Sits

Brogre outside of a European Health and Wellness establishment.

Check out this PDF that Zach sent us on the 20_Worst_Drinks_in_America_2010.  Who would believe that a Sobe Green Tea Drink would be equivalent to 4 pieces of pie?  That a Rock Star Energy Drink (the Fuel of CrossFit Ventura) would be equivalent to 6 Krispy Creme Donuts? 

The battle for health and wellness is a tough one with a lot of the chips stacked up against us as consumers.  Perhaps Vons will be so kind as to distribute this PDF in its beverage isle so that people actually get a grasp on what it is that their consuming every day (sometimes more than once a day).  Which one was the most surprising to you?  Please post to comments.

Today’s Workout:
1 Time for Time:
Walking Lunge 100ft
21 Pull Ups
21 Sit Ups
Walking Lunge 100ft
18 Pull Ups
18 Sit Ups
Walking Lunge 100ft
15 Pull Ups
15 Sit Ups
Walking Lunge 100ft
12 Pull Ups
12 Sit Ups
Walking Lunge 100ft
9 Pull Ups
9 Sit Ups
Walking Lunge 100ft
6 Pull Ups
6 Sit Ups
Walking Lunge 100ft
3 Pull Ups
3 Sit Ups

That is all.

Today’s Workout:
5K Run for Time.

Saturday August 28th is going to be awesome!  Not only are we holding our H2O seminar, teaching swimming skills to a ton of triathaletes and CrossFitters, but our good friends at Paradiso CrossFit in Los Angeles are coming up for a “box jump”.  David, Martina and Zeb (all hail Grandmaster Zeb!!) will be gathering their crew and heading up our way to do a workout with us.  What is the benefit of going to other boxes you ask?  Well, it’s always great to get to meet other CrossFitters, the people that share the same obsession as all of us.  Secondly, it’s a great way to share ideas, get tips on movements, see new coaching styles and have a lot of fun.  We’re excited to have the Parodisoites up our way and hope that you all show up for the workout!

Today’s Workout:
AMRAP 20 Minutes (3 minutes of work/1 minute of rest)
3 Deadlifts (225#/135#)
6 Knees to Elbows
9 Push Ups