Category — Facility and Equipment

There are new rules for the parking lot at 1005 Cleveland, designed to minimize conflict between the existing businesses here. Here’s the deal:

• Monday-Friday, 9 am-5 pm: The bank of parking spaces directly in front of the Quonset Hut are prioritized for CFSR. If those are full, please park on the street. (Staff will be parking on the street to leave those spaces available for members.)
• All other times (early mornings, evenings after 5 pm, Saturdays) are first come, first served.

Thank you for understanding.

Last year's CrossFit Games at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles.

The CrossFit Games season is upon us, and the CF Open starts in a month on February 22nd.

If you’re new to us and this whole CrossFit Games thing, here’s how it works. Anyone in the world can compete in the Open, which lasts for five weeks. Each week, CrossFit Headquarters will announce a new workout to be completed that week. Participants complete the workout with a judge at a registered affiliate (that’s us!) or may submit a video of the workout for score verification. Each week you register your score on the Games site and are ranked by your cumulative scores over the five weeks. The top 60 individual men and women plus the top 30 teams in each of 17 regions in the world (Northern California is ours) are then invited to compete in the weekend-long Regionals. From Regionals, the top three men, women, and teams move on to compete at the CrossFit Games at the Home Depot Center in July.

We will follow the same format we did last year to complete the Open workouts: we will reserve Saturdays after the regular class as a time for the Open competition. We’ll have a judge for each competitor, and break the workout into heats as needed. Like last year, you may arrange to do the workout at a different time if you can’t make it on a given Saturday. The Saturday slot is ideal though, in that it provides the competitive atmosphere and support that often promotes higher performance. (There is one important note to make here: the first Saturday of the Open, February 25th, we are excited to be hosting the Balanced Bites Practical Paleo Seminar; the first workout of the Open, therefore, will take place at CFSR on Sunday, Febuary 26th.)

Are you interested in competing? Everyone is welcome! It’s a fun time, and if you’ve been even a little interested in this CrossFit as a competitive sport thing, the Open is a great opportunity to get your feet wet. Note that scaling is not allowed to submit a score, so you’ll need to be able to do the workouts – whatever they are – as prescribed. Check out the six workouts from the 2011 Open to get a sense of what this could look like. We will have absolutely no idea what this year’s workouts will look like until they are announced week by week. Registration for the 2012 CrossFit Open begins February 1st!

We’re excited to announce the addition of two new classes to the schedule beginning this week:

Strength Class on Tuesday Nights

Starting January 17th, Tuesday night will have a new feel. The 5:30-6:30 pm CrossFit class will move to 5:00-6:00, and a new Strength class will be added from 6:00-8:00 pm. The longer format will allow time for multiple lifts and adequate recovery between sets, ensure time for some auxiliary lifts to compliment the strength protocol, and provides additional time at the end of class for some focused mobility work.

So why change the format and add additional emphasis to build strength? Let’s hear from our one of our favorite strength coaches, Mark Rippetoe: “Strength means way more than the ability to generate force against a resistance. It has always been the means by which people accomplished things that required them to interact with their environment.”

This class will be focused on foundational lifts: squats (back/front), presses (overhead/bench), and the deadlift. “So, you ask,” says Rippetoe, “why do we squat, press, deadlift? Because they work all the muscles and joints in the body, they simulate normal human movement patters, and they produce strength appropriate to all uses for which the muscles and joints will be put.”

The Strength class will run in 6 week training cycles, but you are welcome to drop in any time.

Track WOD every other Monday night

Every other Monday night at 6-7pm beginning on January 3oth, I (Ryan) will be leading the Track WOD, a structured workout to improve your running speed and efficiency. The hour-long class will include form drills, analysis of biomechanics, and interval training. The Track WOD will be held at the JC track; just meet there by 6 pm to join the class.

Please note that the 5:30 pm and 6:30 pm CrossFit classes will go on as usual at the gym. We’ll post a reminder announcement about this a few days before the first class.

We hope you take advantage of these great new offerings!

Olympic Weightlifting class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon. Want to develop strength, power, speed, coordination? This is how. Class runs in 4-6 week training cycles, but you are welcome to drop in any time and try it. Today was the beginning of a new cycle:

This is our third revision of an old post, updated to include some of the many low profile shoes now available due to the growth of both the barefoot running movement and CrossFit.

Running shoes seem to be the default shoe for all general athletic activities. Going to get some exercise? Put on your running shoes, right? Well, no, not so fast. As many of you have noticed, running shoes may be your poorest choice for the movements we do (especially those involving added weight). Let’s examine why.

Think of setting up for a clean or a deadlift. You bend down to grip the bar, set your back properly, and get ready to drive your heels hard into the ground to lift this heavy weight. You want the force generated by your legs to be transferred directly into the ground. If you’re wearing running shoes, however, that force is being partially stolen by the big old, squishy heel cushion. That heel cushion was made to absorb shock while running, but now it’s absorbing the energy you need to lift the weight.

Now picture yourself doing heavy jerks. Dip, drive, push yourself under the bar…and land, solid, with the weight locked out overhead. Same issue: you want that drive to be strong, you want to push off the ground and force that weight up! In this case, though, not only has the squishy heel stolen some of your power, but it’s also given you an unstable surface to land on. Instead of landing on hard ground, you land on the squish. With heavy weight over your head. Sound safe?

So what shoes do you want to wear while weightlifting? You want a shoe with a thin, non-compressible sole. And if you’re doing Oly-lifting, a wedge heel is preferred. Here are some of the options:

Weightlifting Shoes
You’ve seen these at the box, stacked in the cubbies. And you might think they’re ugly, but they do the job right. Weightlifting shoes have a non-compressible sole with a wedge heel. Keep in mind that weightlifting shoes can not be used for running, and aren’t so great for high rep box jumps and some other CrossFit exercises. (You’ve probably noticed that those of us with weightlifting shoes put them on and take them off depending on the workout.)

If you want an all-purpose shoe for your time at the box, this isn’t it. But if enjoy and plan to do plenty of deadlifting, squatting, and pressing, you’re getting into Olympic lifting (Clean and Jerks and Snatches), or you have poor ankle flexibility or a hard time getting deep in your squat without rolling forward, consider investing in a pair of weightlifting shoes, as they will improve your performance.

The popular Do Wins are made by Muscle Driver, and you can often find some good deals on that website. VS Athletics has the VS Weightlifting Shoe and the Dynamo. Rogue also sells the Do Wins, along with the Nike Romaleos and the new Adidas PowerLift Trainer. The Adidas Adistars have been considered the gold standard in weightlifting, but really, all of the shoes listed here do the job. There are some other brands and styles out there, so get googling if you’re ready for a pair.

All Purpose Shoes for CrossFitting

Inov-8s are a popular shoe in the CrossFit world. They’re flat and super light. There are a couple different styles, one of which includes a plastic sheath on the instep to protect the shoes during rope climbs. Nice feature, made just for people like us. It looks like Rogue has a bunch of Inov-8 models for sale, so you can check them out there, or shop around.

We’ve got a load of people at our box wearing the various shoes from the New Balance Minimus series, so they seem to be well-liked. The Trail Minimus has a Vibram sole and athletic look. New Balance also has the Cross Trainer Minimus, as well as several other new minimal shoes coming out over the next six months. Shoes from the New Balance Minimus line are available just down the street at Fleet Feet Santa Rosa, and in fact, Fleet Feet has arranged for New Balance to come to CFSR to demo their minimal shoes with all of us on Saturday, January 7th during the 10 am class, Sweet!

Vibram FiveFingers have been very popular at our box. They come in a variety of styles including the Treksport and Bikila. They can take a little time to get used to, but they definitely allow you to feel closer to the ground under your feet. Be warned that if you wear them outside of the box, you will get some funny looks! These are available locally at Sonoma Outfitters and REI.

Merrel has taken Vibram soles and made the Trail Glove, so you get that close-to-the-earth thing without the toe separation and with more of an athletic look. A small handful of members at the box wear these – ask them what they think and how they like them.

If you’ve got a pair of indoor soccer shoes around, like the classic Adidas Samba, you’re golden. These are great, low profile, all purpose shoes for training. Of course, Chuck Taylors are the original CrossFit shoe. And for basically the same price, you can get Ethletic’s fair trade version.

What about you? What are your favorite shoes for the work we do at the box?

This weekend we had the pleasure of hosting a CrossFit Endurance Seminar. CrossFit Endurance is specialty program that combines CrossFit training protocols with intervals, time and tempo trials to prepare athletes for single sport (e.g. running) or multi-sport (e.g. triathlon) endurance events. CFSR coaches Ryan, Leah, and Joanna attended, and athletes and coaches from places as far as Oregon and Alberta, Canada traveled here for the seminar.

One major focus of the weekend was on the skill of running. Like all the exercises we practice here, your running will become more efficient – easier and faster – by learning and practicing proper mechanics and movement. If you hate running, you can learn how to be better at it. If you love running, you can get faster and still keep your body healthy.

If you like the sounds of that, keep your eyes and ears open for upcoming announcements with more info about our plans for creating a running program. You interested?

Nice job as usual, folks.

And introducing the new push sled, made by our own Dan Merz!  Do we call it the Danimal, the Danner, the Merzer, the Merz Machine? This should be fun, hehe.

Since CFSR members are always asking where to get foam rollers and jump ropes, we’ve put up a new static page on the website, just for you to buy your own stuff! Check it out to your left in the navigation menu: Get Your Own Equipment.

Perform Better is our supplier and they sell tons of equipment related to strength training and functional fitness. We’ve linked to just a few items you might be interested in, but feel free to check all their stuff out.

1. More energy throughout the day
2. It’s not hot as &@!!$
3. No coffee needed after a 15 minute AMRAP
4. Fewer schedule conflicts… less likely to skip a workout.
5. Free Organic Meat….seriously…show up fairly consistently and I will dole some out.
6. After a week it’s easy to get up at 5:20
7. The benefits of working out fasted

See you at 6 am!

One men’s design (“Nice Jerk”), one women’s design (“Strong Girl”) and one co-ed design (“21-15-9″). All designs come in multiple colors and sizes, and the women’s designs also come in multiple styles (tanks, tees, and long-sleeved baseball tees).

$25 each.

Here’s a preview:

Men's tee, available in various sizes and colors.

Co-ed design, available in multiple colors and cuts. Track jersey tee for men and women, as well as tanks for women.

Women's design, available in this long sleeved baseball tee, as well as tanks and short sleeved tees. Many different colors, too.

One free tee-shirt goes to each of the following people, who submitted slogan/designs for the contest: Tom and Julie, plus Dan, Dr. Josh, and Katie D.

And congratulations to Tall Tom for submitting a winning entry (“21-15-9″)!

Enjoy.