Rest Day Reading

(This article is not mine I did not write it I read it and liked and decided to post it for you. Please check out Ocean City CrossFit which is where this article is from.)

Is There a difference between Exercising and Training

A resounding "Yes!" Exercising is something one does just to move. Almost everyone who works out exercises, but not everyone who works out trains. The globo gyms and hamster factories across America love it when people sign up in their gyms so they can exercise. Exercising is cheap, unguided mediocrity. Exercising makes people feel good for the short term. After six to eight weeks of exercising, it becomes boring, routine, and lacks the luster of the New Year's Eve resolution and excitement. Exercising sometimes leads to sweat, but rarely leads to improved health and fitness. Why? Because exercising lacks the intensity necessary to elicit the neuroendocrine response that alters the metabolism and affects the muscles.

So what is training? Training necessarily requires a program of constantly varied, functional movements, performed with high intensity. Training involves weights. Not weight machines, but free weights, i.e. powerlifting and Olympic lifting. Training means that you make a commitment to a true goal of improved human performance. Training requires pushing through barriers - going beyond your limits and pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone. Training demands sacrifices so that you can train multiple times each week and continue to train regardless of excuses involving work, family, the environment, and other life obstacles that pull you away from training. Training means tracking your progress by logging your workouts and food intake. Training means going hard, fast, and heavy when you can and not giving up until you reach your goals no matter how long that takes.

The next time you work out, ask yourself if you're training or just exercising. If the answer is that you're just exercising, then perhaps it's time to up your game, recommit to yourself and your training program, and get to work. What have you got to lose? If you're happy with the status quo, then keep on exercising. If you want to improve your overall health and fitness, then focus your mind and train like you mean it.

Rest Day

Rest Day

Neva doing some Front Squats on Friday

Trip to CrossFit Malibu this monday will have to be put on hold untill a later date.

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Check out this video about running to see just a little science behind what I have been telling your guys

Also check out this article from a CrossFit affiliate owner and his experience with a Marathon

post thoughts to commments

An early Goodbye letter

( before you freak out I am not leaving yet but simply wanted to open up some discussion about how you will continue with CrossFit after I graduate in April)

Every one did a great job yesterday with the W.O.D. I think that it may have been the hardest one I have programmed for you guys yet, if not physical aspect it was definitely the hardest from the mental aspect. It was not necessarily your physical ability that got some of you through as many as 80+ burpees in addition to your wall balls but your ability to do take one less breath move a step faster in your transitions and push your self past the point when your mind and body are screaming at your to stop. This is one of the biggest aspects of CrossFit and it is often over looked by people who have never tried it. When we started in January non of you had the ability to endure what your bodies have just been through ( even though some of you had the physical ability even then ). This is just one other thing that transfers from our training in CrossFit to the real world, While our movements and methodology of our physical training definitely transfer it is the mental aspect, the increase in Willpower, your ability to endure pain and suffering, and the discipline and drive to push your selves farther than you have ever gone before that I believe will benefit you most when our time is done in a month or so. Many of you have shown a desire to learn anything you can about what we do in CrossFit and subsequently how to better prepare yourselves for the unknown and the unknowable. I applaud your efforts in this and hope that you will continue this after April is over. There are a number of ways you can do this, the best of which is to do everything that is about to follow. Short of that however is to just do something. I hope that all of you will continue to practice and train in the CrossFit methodology and so I give you now some ways to do that( starting with what I consider to be the most effective to the least)

1. Go to CrossFit Malibu 
1. Yes it will be more expensive
2. You will learn and achieve more than you are doing even now
3. If you are unsure then just give him a call and set up a free intro session the coach , Mike, is knowledgeable, professional, and one of the best teachers I have come across in the area of fitness. At CrossFit Malibu you will be exposed to the full range of modalities CrossFiter's train ing ( you have only been exposed to a very very very small part of that thus far) You skill base will grow, your fitness level will skyrocket, and you wont believe how much your performance improves.
4. Probably the second most important thing I believe you will get by going to CrossFit Malibu ( after the increased range of activities and superior coaching) is that you will be introduced to a bunch of fellow CrossFitters , yes there are more of us crazy people out there, and you will have a CrossFit Community to be plugged into. I know that he has classes that will fit your schedule and If he doesn't he will create one for you if enough of you join up
5. Last of all He has graciously allowed me the opportunity to take anyone who is interested there for a free intro class, taught my yours truly simply as a way to get to know him, and the facilities. there is absolutely no commitment it is just a visit to see the place
6. At the very least check out his blog to get a small glimpse of the community he has created there
2. If you feel that CrossFit Malibu is not for you then visit some other CrossFit gyms in your area. 
1. There are plenty of CrossFit gyms around simply visit the  CrossFit.com affiliate page to find some local gyms 
2. 1 word of caution: like anything else you will experience different styles of coaching at different locations as well as different abilities of the coaches. I can vouch for the Coaching of CF malibu but no where else so be sure to do your research and check out the gym before you commit
3. The third best option is to continue doing CrossFit on your own.
1. If this is the route you go  I encourage you to continue your works outs with each other. Community is a huge aspect of what we do with CrossFit so do not lose that. Also You must be very deliberate about continuing your education. You must NEVER stop learning read anything and everything you can get your hands on( this does not mean Wo/Men's Health. It means books like Starting Strength. And articles like the ones from the CrossFit Journal
2. CrossFit main page  has plenty of resources that many of you use already. It allows you to train using their workouts which is a wonderful opportunity
3. a huge downside to this approach is the lack of coaching and accountability. If yo do this make sure to watch videos on all exercises before doing a work out
4. also be sure that you are disciplined enough to stay committed to the program. with no one there to ask you why you didn't show up it will be easy to let it slide. 
4. the fourth best option is not really an option at all but instead something I hope you will continue to do no matter what and that is to continue to follow my blog and the workouts I post here. Obviously I have no videos of proper technique or any way to correct yours as you exercise. However I hope that you will continue to keep in touch through the blog and even by email (bigmikesgym@gmail.com) I will always be willing to answer any questions to have about fitness, exercises, CrossFit, Bunnies, Life the Universe and Everything ( I may not be right but ill have an answer to your question) 

In the mean time continue to ask me questions and come to the classes on Tue and Fri

Also as a side not check out the new Pictures page we have at the top to see pictures of your guys WOD's

Susan was getting a tone of Height on her Wall Ball's through out the
entire workout. Awesome Job !!

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What every one else is trying...

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Read

 RISK

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REST DAY
Enjoy your time off.
Read this article written by coach Glassman and post thoughts to comments:

Virtuosity

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What is Fitness

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Jennifer fighting through a set of push-up

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Crossfit Foundations

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Read and Consider

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/Foundations.pdf

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This is an older post from CrossFit Wilmington, but it’s always relevant.  

Why are some athletes better than others? How can that one phenom do all those WoDs so much faster? Why does athlete “a” get better results from CF than “b”? How can some girls and guys post the fastest times and highest scores day in and day out? What is it they are doing differently? It’s simple. Just watch one of them. They all have things in commom.
Just before the count of 3, 2, 1… go! They change. Some may give a nod and slight smirk. Others stare directly ahead with no measurable emotion showing. But each has a visibly notable change in demeanor just before the WoD begins. All anticipate the command of “Go” as they hope to shave even a tenth of a second by starting the WoD on the “guh” sound of go.
During the workout, they don’t mess about… they push themselves and spare no effort. They waste no time on water. They know it’ll be over before they’re dehydrated. And you’ll not see them going for more chalk either. They are confident their grip will last. They do not waste energy on motion that does not contribute to the end.
They push themselves to the point of collapse, and then maintain that pace. It’s at that pace they’ve learned intensity can be optimized. If at this pace they push any harder, they will have to slow for a break. Any slower and they’re wasting time. This pace is uncomfortable and painful.

Carnage from the 2009 CrossFit Games

These athletes induce upon themselves extreme physiological stress. The perceived lack of oxygen and the heart beating at near maximum rate elicits signals from the brain telling the body to slow or stop. But the athlete ignores the signals and tells his/herself that it’s only a warning, not a mandate, from the brain and they do not have to adhere.
At this intensity, the lungs produce fluid to be coughed up while rolling around on the floor after the WoD. Add in blurred vision, auditory exclusion, numb fingers, hands, and even arms. And let’s not forget degradation of fine and often, gross motor skills. And when he or she is done they’ll deal with the blisters and bleeding.

The discomfort and pain of this threshold dissipates quickly and are replaced with the rewards of accomplishment. And the reward is worth it.
The lowest common denominator, the one common characteristic that all the champions and elite of any sport, competition, military unit, MMA, and CrossFit is mindset. In these athletes, exists the ability to put aside the unimportant and go focus on the goal. And then do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. But not just acheive it, exceed it and to make the goal insignificant and only a stairstep to the next.
So the next time you finish up a workout, presumably today or tomorrow at the latest, and walk out of your training facility, to get into your car and drive away. Ask yourself this… “am I ok to drive”. If it’s an easy “yes”, then one of two things happened at with your workout. Either you took ample time to cool down and recover. Or you didn’t give it your all.
Think about it.

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What is Fitness

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