The Open

So I know you girls have heard of the CrossFit Games. In order to make it to the games there are 2 qualifying stages:  The Open, and Regionals. Well, this week the Open started. It is literally open to anyone in the world that has a computer and can submit results. For 5 weeks, every Tuesday a new WOD will be released and anyone who is signed up can participate. All year round athletes all over the world train like animals, and hype themselves up for this week, its like Christmas for CrossFitters. Well, maybe more like Hanukkah, since the gifts keep on coming. lol. This year I decided I would give it a trial run, best $20 I ever spent on a competition. The excitement, the anticipation, refreshing my screen every hour just to check the Leader Board, (games.crossfit.com)  it makes me fall in love with CrossFit all over again.

When I finally signed up a couple weeks ago, I was super nervous. I know I have A LOT of goats that will stop me from getting far, but I also know that if I don't try I'll be kicking myself in the ass for 5 weeks. lol

So WOD 12.1 was scheduled to be released yesterday at 5pm pacific time. As soon as I woke up, I checked the site... just in case. After that I was counting down all day. Finally at 5pm pacific, I started killing my refresh button. So much so that I actually had to restart my computer because it wasn't letting me into the website. All I could think was please don't be hang cleans or muscle ups ....Caution grounds traumatized me lol. All the nerves, and what is WOD 12.1? 7 min AMRAP of BURPEES! WTF? yup, thats CrossFit! Prepare all you want, work on your goats, lift weights like a Gorilla, but you will NEVER know what they are going to throw at you.

After WOD#1 at Caution Grounds, I learned to NEVER go into a competition without attempting the WOD at least once. So today I attempted it. 3..2..1..GO: After 30 burpees I thought "are you serious!?" I think I even said that out loud, Thank God for loud music. lol. And when I got to 75, I knew I HAD TO get to 100... time to turn on the beast mode. With 1 sec left I dropped to the floor. Exactly 100 Burpees in 7 minutes. I'm going to attempt it one more time on Saturday with you guys. I hope that with everyone hyping each other up that I can get at least 15 more.

So get ready for Saturday. We are ALL going to do Open WOD 12.1  and we are all going to ROCK at it. Hey and if you have $20, go on to games.crossfit.com and sign up, be part of the action. ANYONE can do burpees, right?!

Advice?? ... Protect your knees. Go balls to the wall. Don't allow your mind to tell your body that you are tired. Don't forget to breathe. Make sure you hit that target each time because jumping back up sucks! and #1 ... DONT STOP! This WOD will test your mental toughness, so ask yourself ...how tough are you?!?!

Good luck to everyone competing in The Open. Good Luck to everyone coming to the box on Saturday.

Check out my Athlete Profile on The Games Website. 

Athlete: Janetssa Gutierrez

HAPPY OPEN!

Are you ready?

So Caution Grounds is two days away now, my first Rx competition and I'm coming up against some pretty bad ass chicks and some crazy hard WODs. One of my resolutions for 2012 is to compete in the Rx division, here it is... and yes, im freaking out. I'm trying not to think about it, but its a pretty ridiculous feeling when I do. My hands get sweaty, my heart starts to beat faster, I even lose my breath. (its happening right now, lol).

So Everyone keeps asking me "are you ready?" I have no idea how to answer this question. The only response I can think of is to shrug and say yes. But really, how ready can you be for the unknown and unknowable? and how ready can you be to get your ass handed to you by a killer WOD, (5 of them actually)- not to mention that I signed up for this voluntarily. I think a better question is "how do you feel?" well frankly, I feel like crap, lol. My lower back is killing me, I'm still not completely over this cough, I should probably be eating better, I probably should have trained harder, probably shouldn't have drank so much at the last CFS social, and I probably should be taking more supplements (blog on supplements coming soon! lol).  But these things are only to be written down, thrown away, and never thought of again, because well... they are excuses, and in CF there are no excuses!  Let me say something about excuses: Excuses suck. Excuses only hold YOU back. The mind is a RIDICULOUSLY powerful thing, and accepting excuses as truths will only allow your mind to convince your body that whatever your up against isn't possible. So anytime you start to think of excuses, man up, and tell yourself no, do not allow yourself to accept an excuse as a truth and you'll be amazed at the things you can do. So no excuses. Everyday I've come in and I've done the best I could do... So can I put up the Rx weight? sure, some days yes, some days no, but I know I can. I know I will survive this competition, and it will help me grow as an athlete and as a person. Am I freaking out about the competition? of course! these are big girls lol, and I feel like a baby. But I also feel proud that I can stand right there with them, and I know that competing with them will push me harder than I can ever push myself.

So what now? Now, I will focus on relaxing, getting deep into that mental toughness, and remembering that I am going out there to have fun because CF is fun, and competition is even more fun! I love it, I thrive off it. Nothing feels more amazing than the adrenaline of competition.

And I just want to say one last thing, for everyone who is going to go out there on Saturday to support... thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. You don't realize how important you are. I remember during the last WOD at clash, my body literally started to shut down in pure exhaustion. I swear that I almost fell sleep during the lunges. The only thing that kept me going was your support. Every time someone would scream I would be reminded of my strength, my willingness to continue, to strive, to never stop, and never give up. So if  you see me on Saturday and I'm completely in "competition mode" and I forget to say thank you, I will tell you now: THANK YOU!

The Rule of 3

So lately everyone has been talking about competitions, either because they are signed up and training, or one of their "new years resolutions" is to participate in one, or because they are just in friendly competition between their girls every day at the box. Competition is fun! and I think its important in Crossfit. It drives us to push harder, to want more, to get better, and it forces us to point out our "Goats" (Crossfit Vocabulary term for the Day: stuff your not great at and need to work on. lol).

In saying that, I have a little advice I wanted to share with you, my fellow competitors. Now, this might seem dumb, obvious, or hard to do, but it has worked for me throughout my competitive swimming career and helps me now everyday in CrossFit. And FYI, this is from my personal mental bank of things I like to keep to myself so that others can't use it against me, but you girls are worth it!  So I call it, "The Rule of 3." (Cue dark, ominous piano sounds lol ) Okay, so the rule of 3 works when you have successfully learned how to self talk. I say this because it is basically going to be all in your head. lol. (What can I say, as a swimmer you have a lot of time in the water with nothing else but your thoughts.)

This is how I work the Rule of  3:  1. I break whatever I am attempting to kill (lol) into 4 parts. ( 1000m Row = 250m x4, 4 rounds = 1round x 4, 200y swim = 50y x 4) 2. Then I find the "3rd" of it. ( in 1000m Row its the 3rd 250m, in 4 rounds it the 3rd round, in 200y swim its the 3rd 50y.) 3. And then I wrap my head around knowing that I'm going to pick up the pace on the "3rd"... & of course go all out on the 4th and final part. (hope this is not confusing lol)

Heres the reason: Everyone, including the person working the Rule of 3, will slow down on the 3rd part. They might be exhausted, or maybe they are holding back in order to go "all out" on the final stretch. So you are going to have to self talk your way into thinking that EVERYONE is going to slow down, but you will speed up/keep the pace! Now see why I said it may seem dumb? I know your thinking. "Shit, I go all out on every round!" But guaranteed if you want to have that "competitive edge" over another athlete, or you just want to kick your friends ass on this WOD, then start practicing self talk and the Rule of 3. Push harder on the 3rd and I promise you will catch up, get ahead, or give them a hell of a fight, and you will probably PR or surprise the hell out of yourself! 

The biggest trick to the Rule of 3: Heart. You can do AMAZING things with heart. Your tired? if you want it bad enough you will fight through the pain, and come out of the other side feeling amazing... that is heart.

So work on your self talk, wrap your head around picking up the pace when your dead, when your half way done, and when you know that you can push a little more and kick her ass! Because you never know who is coming after you, who is going to be your next competition, or who is working the Rule of 3 on you!

...I got my eye on you Yailin, with your fancy Handstand Pushups! ;P   Great job girl!

So hope this helps next time you find yourself head to head in some friendly competition.

Self talk + the Rule of 3.


Now, GO KICK SOME ASS AND TAKE SOME NAMES! 

The CrossFit Runway

So you come in everyday, you WOD at 110%, you finally know what AMRAP means, you've lost some weight, you've gained some muscle, YOU ARE A BAD ASS CROSSFIT CHICK! So you talk the talk, but do you walk the walk??

I'm talking about The CrossFit Runway:
Long socks, wrist straps, head bands, compression sleeves, sports bras... Whats up with CrossFit Fashion?!

This is the way I think about it.... I LOVE going out dancing, and  half the fun of it is finding the perfect outfit, right? I donno about you but when I have the right dress on and of course the matching shoes, I feel super confident, and I even feel like I dance better any everything! So why not apply this to CrossFit?!

Of course with CrossFit I try to find a purpose (or excuse!) to wear things. High Socks: my favorite CrossFit fashion item. I mostly love them because they look super cute but of course they are practical too, they save your shins from getting scratched during Barbell work! and if your wearing compression socks - even better! Compression socks help increase blood circulation and more oxygen to the muscles equals less fatigue. Head Bands: they increase your ninja status! and of course, They keep sweat and hair out of your face. Wrist Straps: You guys remember Wonder Woman's gauntlets?  "..which magnify the physical strength and stamina of the wearer." Yup, same applies for Rogue wrist straps lol. and of course, they protect your wrist from going over range of motion or in my case they really do give me extra strength since I'm working with injury (broken wrist).

Check out these BAD ASS CROSSFIT CHICKS!

 Heather Bergeron, of CrossFit New England. I'm pretty sure it's the compression sleeves and high socks that are holding that bar over head. Lets not exclude the bright blue shoes, we all know "CrossFit" shoes are whats keeping you on your heels, right? ;P

Christmas Abbott, of Raleigh CrossFit. It must be the arm sweat band thats swining that KB over head. And I know those Lululemon Shorts are whats getting her hips to thrust with so much power! ;P

So what I'm trying to say is that I've always LOVED playing dress up and as dumb as it may seem, I actually think that dressing the part gives you confidence, and with confidence we can do some amazing things! So dress the part! Who knows maybe your high socks will help you break parallel on those squats. =] I know they are the reason I get so low!

And for all the people that think I'm crazy and that there is no such thing as "CrossFit fashion," there is actually a whole website dedicated to outfits of the day ! Check it out: http://amrapstyle.com/

A couple people have asked me about wrist straps, you can get them at walmart but check out
http://www.roguefitness.com/ Or http://www.inzernet.com/ <-- Also, these guys have power lifting belts which can help stabilize your lower back when your doing heavy lifts.

http://www.sockdreams.com/_pages/index.php <-- sock dreams have all the cute socks with cute saying on them. but for compression socks and sleeves check out http://www.runningwarehouse.com/descpage-SKPOW.html

 I've heard around that girls are asking where to get cute CrossFit clothes... here a couple websites... 

•  http://store.lovefitnation.com/
• http://www.lifeasrx.com/
• http://www.wodgearclothing.com/ 
• http://www.jacoclothing.com/ 
• http://www.fashletics.com/ 
• http://shop.lululemon.com/home.jsp 
• http://www.zappos.com/

HAPPY SHOPPING LADIES! 

SHOW UP, DRESS UP, PUT IN WORK!

Fueling for Progress by Coach Lo

This pyramid is from The CrossFit journal article "What is fitness?":

"A theoretical hierarchy exists for the development of an athlete. It starts with nutrition and moves to metabolic conditioning, gymnastics, weightlifting, and finally sport. This hierarchy largely reflects foundational dependence, skill, and to some degree, time ordering of development. The logical flow is from molecular foundations, cardiovascular sufficiency,  body  control,  external  object  control, and  ultimately mastery  and  application. This model  has  greatest utility in analyzing athletes’ shortcomings or difficulties. We don’t deliberately order these components but nature will. If you have a deficiency at any level of “the pyramid” the components above will suffer."  http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ-trial.pdf

Now that we know the importance of a good base in nutrition, here is an article by Coach Lo. Thanks Coach Lo! Enjoy:

PUMP Up Your Life:

So everyone always wants to know what’s the big secret to nutrition? Besides educating yourself, all you need is a mix of discipline, determination and will power. That’s it folks. You cannot buy any of those attributes in a pill or a drink, so it’s up to you to mentally prepare and educate yourself before you apply any nutrition principles to your life.

For today’s purpose I am not going to go full retard and geek you out. Not just yet at least.  This information will just be skimming the surface on food and nutrition.

Let’s start with the basics: every meal you consume should contain the following macronutrients:

Protein

Fat

Carbohydrates

“Macro” means big, therefore these are the big role players within our body. Think of them as big semi trucks hauling pieces of equipment around. An office isn’t complete without furniture, right? Take the same concept and apply it to your body.

The main warehouse (fat) stores the trucks (protein) that will make several stops to drop off that equipment (Carbohydrates).

Macronutrients provide the body with energy and are essential to the body in order to promote proper growth, metabolism and function. Keep in mind everything is good in moderation. Too much of anything is NOT.

To get more info on nutrition ask me “how can you PUMP UP YOUR LIFE?” 

COACH LO   

Coachlopump@yahoo.com

...AND GUYS DO NOT MISS THIS!!

On Saturday January 21, 2012 @ 10:30 am, Coach Lo is giving a FREE (to members) nutritional lecture! So if you want to strengthen the base of your fitness pyramid, your nutrition, come out to the lecture. Its going be a great time, and you'll walk away with a lot of information that can pump up your life! =] 

Hand Care by CJ

Almost everyones very first goal when they start CrossFit is to get those dam kipping pull ups! and we all know the secret to getting them: practice, practice, practice! But practicing those kips come at a price- blisters, hand tears, and blood. CJ has hand care down to a science! So here is a post she wrote, on how to take care of your hands to keep them looking nice & smooth ;)  Thanks CJ! enjoy:

So that very first moment when I got of the pull up bar and looked down at my hand with huge tears in them, I thought to myself now I am a true CrossFitter Whoo hoo! And I know I’m not the only one that has thought that! Well that thought didn’t last long though. I vividly remember siting on a stack of boxes trying to hold back my tears for close to half an hour. It was the worst feeling in the world, and after that I started to find ways to take care of my hands because I refuse to wear gloves!    

        

I use many tools that I have found work best for me. I still get the occasional tear but typically recover from it fast and back at it two days later. So I am pretty sure most us girls go get pedicures pretty often, I know I do! All the cool things they use on the bottom of your feet I used on the palms of my hands. I know it sounds silly but it works.

The first time you try I suggest not doing pull ups for a day or two after because your hands will be soft and might tear. While I am in the shower after my hands are nice and moist I use pumice stone on all my calluses and a foot callus shaver (looks like sandpaper on each side). The callus shaver will tear at the callus and shred the skin a little but it doesn’t hurt. Afterwards while my hands are still soft I take that cheese grater looking thingamajig (that is Janetssa’s name for it lol I have no idea what it is really called) and scrap off the skin. When you are done with that use a finer nail file to soften up and then apply lotion! I do this two to three times a week now and while my hands aren’t your typical girl hands I don’t tear them up that often anymore.

By Carolynn Rendon, cjrend014@gmail.com

Motivation

Jenny commented on a post last week saying that she was having one of those days and wasn't very motivated to go to the box. But that her "best supporter," her husband mike encouraged her to go and in the end she was glad she did. (aren't we always?!) So when your having "one of those days," who or WHAT MOTIVATES YOU?

CrossFit can sometimes be a very individual "sport" (or "sport of fitness", but that's another blog lol). It pushes you and challenges you with every WOD to compete against yourself. But I have to admit that when one of my girls are suffering right next to me it makes it a lot more fun. Most of you guys know that I WOD with the morning classes because I work nights at the hospital. But when I have a day off I make sure to take the opportunity to call a "WOD date" with friends that I don't usually WOD with. Something about seeing a friend about to shed a tear from pain really motives me, call me evil =] 

But it doesn't always have to be "your girls" or your husband. Sometimes, especially when I see a WOD with heavy weight, I know that I gotta get my butt to the box by 830 so that I can WOD with Eric. I know he's crazy fast and super strong, and that I'll never beat him, but just attempting to catch him motivates me to push harder. And knowing that I'm WODing with such a great athlete puts pressure on me to give that little extra I didn't think I had.

So what else do we use for motivation? What about our #1 fans, our coaches? Always right behind you, always pushing, always yelling, they are amazing and some days I couldn't do it with out their motivation. I know sometimes I come in feeling a little "blah," a little tired, a little weak, and so just as if I would ask for help on my form, I ask whoever is coaching for an extra push and I let them know what works best for me. "Hey coach Mikey, get in my face today I really need it." Some times its one of those "be careful what you wish for" things when your swinging a 55# KB and he's yelling "don't you drop it!" after each rep - why doesn't he just walk away already so that I can drop it?!! But that's why I love our coaches, because they want to motivate you and they want to push you to be your best.

So whether its your family, your friends, or your coaches, we all need motivation some days. So figure out what works for you. If you did amazing today because Mikey wouldn't get off your back- write it down in your WOD journal and next time your having "one of those days, " tell him thank you, let him know it worked and that you would be happy to be screamed at again =]

Great job to everyone who participated in today's WOD "Isabel," way to motivate your partner!

I want to PROGRESS

When I started CrossFit I was lost, confused, and scared. I didn't know what a jerk was (unless we were talking about boys lol), and I couldn't do doubleunders, pull ups, or ring dips.
Every night I would stay up til 12am, waiting for the next days WOD, and when I saw gymnastic movements or weight that I had never heard of or could not handle I would freak out a little. But this never stopped me from going, because I knew I could scale. We all need to start somewhere, and usually thats with scaling down. So what is "scaling down" and what is a "progression"? Just like we are not afraid of loading up that bar with heavy weight, we also shouldn't be afraid of properly scaling.

Say you don't have kipping pull ups, but you want them soooo bad!! ( I know the feeling!) The first scale that coaches tell us about is the jumping pull up. Simple, just jump, right? Welllll, kind of. You have to remember that "scaling" is a way to "progress" into the movement. Your not just "jumping" to get your chin over the bar, and call that one rep. No, your using the scaled movement to become stronger, and to learn the correct form. So for example, you want kips but your only on jumping pull ups. Dont just jump- Use it! Remember that kipping pull ups is a coordinated swing. So practice that swing on the jumps. Coaches have all shown us how to swing with jumping pull ups, if not ask and they will be happy to show you again. So now, you've been swinging on your jumping pull ups, everything looks great, using less legs and more arms to pull your self up, and have been practicing coming down slowly from the the top of the pull (resistance), and your ready to move to the next scale. So grab those bands! Remember that the different colors mean different resistance, so if green has gotten pretty easy, move to the purple. Don't forget that the goal is "kipping" pull ups, so keep practicing that swing with the band.

Now, when do you drop the bands? You have watched a million videos on youtube about kipping pull ups, and you got the swing down, you know your strong enough, but for some reason you cant get your chin over the bar without the bands. REMEMBER bands are a PROGRESSION, I know they make you feel safe, they are your pull up baby - but let them go! Introduce your lovely band to the girl that is doing pretty amazing jumping pull ups next to you. Who cares if your chin isn't going over the bar? How do you expect it to get there? Don't forget that WODs are practice, so do your pull ups without getting your chin over bar shamelessly! This is part of the progression! Even if you only get a couple and then have to steal your band back (sorry jumping pull up girl lol), your on your way.

What I am trying to say is, be smart about your scaling and your progressions, but don't get stuck on the scale! Remember that is a stepping stone toward the full Rx movement.

If you can only do 5 of the 10 push ups on your toes instead of your knees- then that's a great progression! Keep working hard on it, and you will get all 10! ....REMEMBER:

Whatever your goals may be remember that it is a journey to get there. Work Hard, Work Smart, and anything is possible!

New Years Resolutions

Its that time of year, time to reflect on the year that has past and the year that is to come. I have to say,  2011 was a pretty great year for us. We started CrossFit! or even better we completed an entire year of CrossFit. CONGRATS! 


Coach has been saying that we should get a journal for the 5/3/1 program we have coming up, if you haven't already go get one. It doesn't have to be fancy or big or anything, but get one -make it your first resolution, lol.

Your WOD journal doesn't just have to be for the 5/3/1 program, use it for anything CrossFit, I have my New Year's resolutions written in mine. Whether its getting stronger, working on gymnastic movements, or preparing yourself for competition, resolutions are just goals. So what are my goals this year? Well... lol.... I could literally write a huge list on here, and take up the entire blog but my main ones are: Muscle ups, Handstand Push-ups, and getting more Weight up. Pretty straight forward, attainable and S.M.A.R.T.  (Specific, Measurable, Affirmative, Realistic, and Time Bound).


Happy 2012, what are YOUR CrossFit New Year's resolutions? 

"...but I dont want to get big!"

When I started CrossFit I remember thinking, "wow, I have to lift that bar? with how much weight? wait, wait, wait, but I don't want to get big and look like a guy." I laugh at this thought now, but I'm sure it has crossed everyones mind, and honestly still crosses mine every now and then.

We all know that if we only do cardio, we will loose weight  (woohoo!) but no muscle will be built. Now, if you only do cardio and work really hard on nutrition, eventually you may become thin, which is great- but you will never have that "toned" look. And we're CrossFit chicks! we want a little meat on our bones, and by meat I mean lean beautiful muscle. After all, strong is beautiful right?

You will never look like a man and you will never be able to build muscle up like a man. Men have 20-30 times more testosterone which makes them build muscle differently. -its science! <3

Think of weightlifting as you do nutrition, without it you will eventually get to your goal weight but it will take much, much longer, and in the end might not be the toned physic you want. So my personal theory is this: I want to look like these elite CrossFit girls, and so try and do whatever Coach Lo says about nutrition, I stick to my P.U.M.P. program, and I put up as much weight as possible during strength wods. I know that I will never bulk up because well, its been a year and I am sure now that my genetic make up will never allow me to look bulky. I figure that the more weight I put up, the faster I gain muscle and in turn loose fat.

What I am trying to say is, don't be scared of the bar, don't be scared to put up heavy weight, its only going to help you get to your goals FASTER. Whether you want to lean out, loose weight, tone up, become a CrossFit elite athlete, you need to lift heavy!

So lets get mentally ready for January, Coaches say we have a weightlifting program coming called "5/3/1" Good luck,  Go hard, Go heavy and don't be scared to use that muscle building toward fat burning.

 

...Beautiful, but I have a feeling she doesn't lift heavy. 

 ...Everyone needs an idol and she is mine. Camille Leblanc-bazinet.

She is not scared to go heavy!

Stats: 5'2", 125lbs.

Squat: 240 lbs

Clean: 180 lbs

Snatch: 150 lbs

Deadlift: 330 lbs.

Fran: 2:29

Scored 1st place at Regionals, and 12th at the CrossFit Games. Go Cami!