Beat Your High School Self?

Imagine Doc Brown’s time machine allowed you to travel back in time where you could meet and challenge your high school self.  Ok.  Are you picturing yourself there?  

You’re back in high school, staring down your younger version, and you wonder, could I beat my high school self in a physical challenge of some sort?  

Could you beat your high school self in a 400 meter run?  

Could you beat your high school self in a strength test, like a heavy lift?

Could you beat your high school self in an agility test, or what about the high jump?  

Take a few minutes and list some ways in which your CrossFit endeavor has made you fitter than your high school self.  

In which areas are you better and fitter than your high school self?  Where are you not?  Where are you not, but think you could be better than your high school self in the future.  Post your thoughts to the comments.

Could the high school Adrienne shoulder a 73# Atlas stone?  I wonder.

Thursday

All Levels/Beginner Class

Skill:  Rope climbing, to include legless (where long socks, yo!)

Workout:

‘Karen’

150 wall ball shots for time

Any guess at who requested this for his/her birthday WOD?

Women’s Class 

Skill:  Push Press

1-1-1-1

Workout:

14 minute AMRAP of:

7 push presses (63#)

7 box jumps (20″)

7 pull-ups

Advanced Class

The Trial By Fire WOD returns!  Who’s going to make the time cap?  

Nutrition Seminar this Saturday!

Mark your calendars and get ready for this Saturday’s Nutrition Seminar by Coach Brian!

A lot of you have been asking about Paleo and what it’s all about. Well, this is for you then! Come on Saturday at 1 pm and you’ll get your answers.

Others of you have been asking about improving your athletic fitness with Paleo. Well, this seminar is for you, too! Come on Saturday at 1 pm and you’ll get your answers.

And some might be dealing with certain health issues that proper nutrition could help you improve. Well, this is definitely for you! Come on Saturday at 1 pm and we’ll point you in the right direction.

So to recap:

What: Nutrition Seminar on Paleo
When: Saturday, August 3 at 1:00 pm
Where: CrossFit Merge
Why: Because who doesn’t want to be healthier, fitter, and all around cooler?
Cost: $20 for Merge members, $25 for non-members — all are welcome! Sign up on the whiteboard at the box.

Be there or be square 😀

and to wet your appetite, here’s a great article on 8 Reasons to Shun Sugar. Enjoy!!

Workout of the Day (WOD):

In 25 minutes, complete:

5 rounds

AMRAP of Back Squats (70% of 1rm)
Followed by an equal amount Burpee Pull-ups

Olympic Weightlifting:

Snatch Complex:

1 Snatch pull
1 Snatch

Then snatch balance practice

Fun Movie Night!

Our 80’s movie night was an absolute blast!  We watched both Back to the Future and Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade!  Some enjoyed these great films for the first time, while others loved watching them for the umpteenth time.  People brought chairs, blankets, drinks, food, popcorn and Bryce’s mom made some delicious treats that we enjoyed tremendously.  It sure was a great time!  We couldn’t have done it without Jen who was kind enough to let us borrow her projector, Sal and Urbanie who shared with us the screen, those that brought the movies (Megan, Tim, Tracey), and each and every one of you that joined us.  Thank you for being part of our amazing community and making CrossFit Merge a gym that stands above the rest!

 

And don’t forget our Nutrition Seminar this Saturday at 1 pm with Coach Brian.  He’ll have tips on getting you started on Paleo, helping you stay on Paleo, improving athletic performance through proper diet, improving body composition, and getting you healthier.  Be sure to sing up on the board at Merge or email your coach to let them know you’ll be attending!

All Levels & Intermediate Skill:

Power Cleans

20 minutes to find a new 1 rep max

Workout of the Day (WOD):

7 minute AMRAP

2-4-6-8-10+ reps of:

Power Cleans (155# for men/103# for women)
Handstand Push-ups

Beginner Skill:

Deadlifts

20 minutes to find a heavy single, not necessarily a 1 rm, but athletes should feel a heavy weight.

The Games Are A Wrap

The 2013 CrossFit Games are in the books.  Congratulations to Samantha Briggs and Rich Froning Jr for taking the top spots in the competition. It was a great competition and our sport has two great ambassadors.

Does the competition motivate you to train harder this week?

Monday’s Workout

To Be Revealed….no cherry picking.

CrossFit Games Weekend!

The CrossFit Games are here.  All weekend long right here in our own back yard, the Home Depot Center hosts the annual CrossFit Games.  A test to find the fittest man and woman on earth.  I encourage everyone to try and get down there at least for one day this weekend.  Don’t have tickets?  Not to worry!  We’ll be streaming live coverage right here on our big screen at CrossFit Merge.  We’ll stay open after our regularly scheduled workouts on Saturday and Sunday.  All are welcome to come watch and hang out for a while as we enjoy the live feed.  Keep up on up to the minute news and updates regarding the CrossFit Games here:  http://games.crossfit.com/

Friday

All Levels Skill:

Back Squat 20RM

Beginner Skill:

Back Squat

3-3-3-3-3

Workout of the Day (WOD):

14 Min AMRAP:

Farmers Carry
50m Sprint
Farmers Carry
20 KB Swings (53# for men/35# for women)

Getting Better

We are constantly looking for ways to improve our service to you, which is why we have a suggestion box in our lounge.

That’s right, if you want to see a new class on the schedule, or maybe you want more running in the workouts, or perhaps you hate the music we play, throw a note in the suggestion box.  It’s there for you to help us get better at doing what we love.  And while we can’t guarantee that we will implement every suggestion, we do read every single entry and take it into consideration.

Thanks for providing us with your feedback and keep up the great training.

-The CrossFit Merge Team

Thursday

All Levels/Beginner Class

Skill:  Weighted pull-ups

3-3-3-3-3

Beginners perform 3 sets of max band strict pull-ups followed by max kipping pull-ups

Workout:

4 rounds for time of:

10 burpee pull-ups

5 front squats (70% 1 rep max)

400 meter run

Women’s Class

Skill: Deadlifts

3-3-3-3, then finish with 3 reps at 90% of a 1 rep max

Workout:

3 rounds for time of:

21 kettlebell swings (44#)

15 burpees

9 pull-ups

Advanced Class

Part A x4:

A1.  3 front squats at 90% of 3 rep max, rest 60 seconds then:

A2.  Max strict handstand push-ups followed by max kipping handstand push-ups

Rest 2 minutes between sets

Workout:

500 meter row

30 burpees

10 power clean and jerks (155#/103# for women)

CrossFit Games – The Top 5 Men

As we continue our analysis of who might be the fittest on earth, here we go with the male athletes.  Who do you think will make it to the podium this year?  Who is your favorite?  What would you like to see happen?

1. Rich Froning

2. Josh Bridges

3. Jason Khalipa

4. Kyle Kasperbauer

5. Neal Maddox

Wednesday Skill All Levels

Push Press

5-5-5-5

*All Levels/Intermediate AMRAP push press (95# for men/63# for women)

Workout of the Day (WOD):

10 down to 1 rep of:

Toes to bar
Push Press (115# for men/73# for women)

Beginner Workout of the Day (WOD):

12 min AMRAP:

8 Knee raises
8 Dumbbell Push Press (40# for men/25# for women)

Olympic Lifting Class:
Clean and Jerks

2 cleans + 1 split jerk

3 sets of strict Toes to Bar

The CrossFit Games – Top 5 Women

This is a very exciting week for the CrossFit World.  The top CrossFit athletes have been selected and it’s time for our “Olympics”!  This is the time in which the top CrossFitters of the world come and compete at a shot for the title of “Fittest Man on Earth” and “Fittest Woman on Earth”.  These competitors have made it through the Open (which we all participated in), Regionals, and now are on their way to the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA.  This upcoming weekend, we will be able to watch some amazing feats of strength, endurance, and heart!

Which are your favorite athletes?! Who do you think we should be on the lookout for?

Here’s an excellent article on the Top 5 Women to Watch at the 2013 Reerbok CossFit Games. How do you feel about them? Do you agree or disagree? (tomorrow we will be discussing the men… so don’t freak out on me, guys!)

1. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet (Canada): This will be Camille’s fourth Games. While short in stature, this former gymnast can lift more weight than most men. Her CrossFit Games Open performances as well as her Regional performance showed that 2013 might very well be the year of Camille.

2. Samantha Briggs (UK): This firefighter that hales from Manchester, UK, is a force to be reckoned with. She placed first in the majority of the events at the European Regionals and is looking to take home the gold when she travels to Southern California next week.

3. Talayna Fortunato (USA): The South East Regional champ has been training hard this year and blogging about it at tcrossfit.wordpress.com. This former collegiate gymnast heptathlete placed third in last years CrossFit Games and is pushing for the title this year.

4. Elisabeth Akinwale (USA): Akinwale’s strengths lie in just that, her pure strength. This mother of one destroyed the competition at the North Central regionals. Can her brute strength stand up to the other competitors this year? We will soon find out!

5. Lindsey Valenzuela (USA): Hailing from Dogtown CrossFit in Los Angeles, Valenzuela doesn’t have to travel far for her third CrossFit Games. Valenzuela’s strength in Olympic lifting has always put her way ahead of the pack, but in the past couple of years she has fine-tuned the other facets of CrossFit to become a skilled all-around athlete, which was apparent when she won gold at the Southern California Regionals. They don’t make “Lift like Lindsey” t-shirts for nothing!

Monday 7/22

Tuesday’s All Levels Skill:

Review WOD movements

Workout of the Day (WOD):

‘Football Gone Bad’

3 rounds of 1 minute at each station for max reps of:

-Dumbbell Thrusters (45# for men/25# for women)
-Box Jumps (20”)
-Push-Ups
-Double Unders
-Row for calories
-Rest 1 minute

Score: total number of reps and calories

80s Movie Night

Our first ever movie night is this Saturday, July 27th, at 7pm.  It’s going to be an 80s double feature, but we need to narrow down the choices to just two films.  It’s a difficult decision for sure,  like trying to choose between which you like more, the back squat or the deadlift.  Here are the four finalists:

Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade

The Karate Kid

The Goonies

Back To The Future

Vote for your two choices in the comments below.  

Even us coaches need a little “motivation” at times.  

Monday

All Levels and Intermediate Classes

Skill:  Hang Power Cleans

2-2-2-2-2-2

No setting the bar down

Workout:

9 minute AMRAP:

7 hang power cleans (115#/73# for women)

9 burpees

7 box jumps (28″/24″ for women)

Beginner Class

Skill:  Deadlifts

5-5-3-3-3

Workout:

9 minute AMRAP:

7 kettlebell swings (53#/35# for women)

9 burpees

7 box jumps (24″/20″ for women)

These workouts are sprints, so go hard!

Chipper WOD Friday

Today is an important day folks. Why you ask? Well, it just so happens to be the last day we will be accepting movie suggestions for our movie night which is happening Saturday, July 27th right here at CrossFit Merge. So if you have any last minute ideas, please use our suggestion box located in the pro shop or post to the comments.

The movies will start promptly at 7:00 p.m. but we will be open slightly earlier and have the live stream of the CrossFit Games going on the big screen. We’ll have the live stream going for a little while Sunday after class as well. More details to come.

Movie night is open to everyone. Please feel free to bring friends, refreshments, food, bean bags, pillows, blankets, etc.

Today is also a very special day as we will be focusing on double unders for the skill followed by a super fun, Chipper WOD. I encourage all of you to use this as an opportunity to dig in and really get some good practice with your double unders. How do we get better at anything? Practice! Check out this video of the the jump rope master himself, Buddy Lee.

Friday

Skill: Double-Unders practice

Workout:

40 Row for calories

40 Box jumps (24″ for men/20″ for women)

40 Thrusters (75# for men/53# for women)

40 Pull ups

40 Power snatches (75#/53#)

40 Burpees

40 Double unders