Take the next step

So you've started on the road to a better you by working out and being active. Now it's time to look at the next component to reaching your goals. DIET!  Here are some sage words of advice from the guru of health himself Jack LaLanne.  Stay tuned for more advice to come!

Happy Valentines Day!

In honor of the holiday we did a partner workout tonight.  Everyone did a great job!

Partner Workout

1 round

100 squats

75 pullups

50 pushups

1000 meter row

50 ball slam

75 sit ups

100 2 hand swings

Each team works in twos.  

Only one partner can work at a time.   

All reps of one exercise must be completed before moving on to the next.

Bear crawl: What's not to love?

Tonight we warmed up with some pass thrus and overhead squats.  We also worked on the dumbbell snatch and then did 4 sets of 5 deadlifts increasing the load each set.  

Workout was:

3 rounds

40 sec on/ 20 sec off

hand to hand swings

push -ups

jackknife

jump rope

bear crawl

row, swing, clean

Practicing the turkish get-up

Congratulations to Jeff on his first muscle up!  Great job!

Chantel looking strong on her ring holds

row

swing

clean

Tonight in group we warmed up with some kettlebell swings, figure 8's, high pulls, overhead squats and turkish get-ups.  Everyone got a chance to work on pull-ups, ring holds and handstands.  

Workout was:

with a continuously running clock

5 rounds

row for calories

2 hand swing

med ball cleans

spend one minute at each station, rest two minutes between rounds

Swing your way to fitness!

Ben and Susan working on the turkish get-up

Tina demonstrating the gladiator

Kettlebells offer the ultimate in functional core training.  Nearly every drill recruits multiple muscle groups to work in unison.  The body is trained as a whole with a particluar emphasis focusing on the core and back muscles.  It's simplicity at it's finest.  Some of our favorite moves, the swing, the turkish get up, deck squats all use a single kettlebell.  Stay tuned for more kettlebell exercises coming your way!

Due to technical difficulties we were unable to capture any photos of group tonight.  As part of the warm up everyone worked on pullups push ups and ring holds.  Then we did 5 sets of 5 dumbbell thrusters.

Workout was:

5 rounds

row 250

10 jumping pull-ups

In this together

Here is an article that ran in the NY times about group personal training.   There is definitely a benefit to one on one training, the personal attention, the ability to work on specific skills and goals but sometimes the energy of a group can't be beat.   The camaraderie and dynamic of a group can make a grueling workout much more bearable.  

Drop down and give me more than she's doing

Interval workout

Interval training involves alternating high intensity exercises with recovery periods. The idea is to work harder than usual during the work periods and recover during the rest.   Today for the WOD we did an interval workout with 6 different exercises.  Great job to Kim and John on their first group workout!    

20 seconds on/ 15 seconds off repeat 6 times then move on to next exercise.

Dumbbell deadlift

russian twist with a kettlebell

push ups

hand to hand swings

rowing

figure 8 to a hold

Remember that we have new classes starting this week!  

Wednesday and Friday at 7:00am.

One Kettlebell workout

Congratulations to Blake on his 3 rep 225lb push press which is a new personal record for him!

Tonight we warmed up on the mat and then spent some time trying to hold l-sits, ring holds and handstands for 1 minute.  We also had everyone do one set of max pull-ups.  

Workout was:

1st set

12-10-8-6-4-2

1 arm push press (each arm)

1 arm front squat (each arm)

2nd set

20-16-12-8-4

2 hand kettlebell swing

situps

We have two new group classes starting the 13th.  

Wednesday and Friday at 7:00 am!  See you there!

Deadlifts!

Tonight we warmed up with some band and ladder drills. Then we did 7 sets of 3 deadlifts each set getting progressively heavier. Renata, Julie, Jeff, Mark, Jenn and Troy all  set  new personal records!  Great job!  

Partner Workout

Everything is better in twos, even a workout.  We did a lot of playing on the rings and worked on pull-ups, handstands and ring dips.  Great job to Greta and Meg on their first workout.  They both did great with their first set of band pull-ups!  

Another big congratulations to Devon who started CrossFit last March with zero pull-ups. She got her first pull-up this summer and last night hit her personal record and goal of 15!  She's already moved on to a new goal of 20 pull-ups.  Devon has made tremendous progress and is an inspiration to all the women in the gym!  

On another note here is a great blog entry written by a client at Petranek Fitness in Santa Monica on her first Crossfit workout.  

Partner workout:

7 rounds

1 minute of rowing

1 minute of ball slams

switch with your partner every minute on the minute