ha!
Dr Fern

Rant(?),

I would love to see the data that shows all these orthopedic injuries. I guess you’d have to have the salt to post your name first.

Any system of anything is only as good as the human applying it. If you ever come out from hiding I would be happy to show you how we implement the CrossFit methodology in our particular affiliate. Or how I implement the basic strategies to help rehab patients at the chiropractor’s office I’m currently employed at.

If you would like to contact me personally regarding the matter my email address is rjmassage@hotmail.com. I would be happy to show around my clinic or gym without scoff or hassle. It could be a pure mutual learning experience. But first I need to know your name.

Robert J. Wilson, CMT
CrossFit Level 2 Trainer

Here is what Chris wrote back to me regarding his CrossFit experience. Sounds like he wasn’t resting properly or eating properly or sleeping properly. Oh well. We can’t win them all….

“Thanks Adam,
Thanks Adam,

I agree with most of your points. However, most of the people I know who go to the CrossFit Gyms for a trial session do not get a scaled down workout. If I am just some knucklehead off the street trying the WOD for the first time and I haven’t worked out in two years and I try to perform 50 hyperextensions, 50 Front Squats, 50 box jumps, and 50 wall balls – I am in a world of hurt. That’s why I told people to go to the CrossFit website (which I gave them) and seek out the local affiliates. I agree with your point that everyone has the ability to do the training because of it’s scalability but too often testosterone and visions of high school football get in the way of a 50 year old couch potato and common sense.

As for myself, I was turned on to CF around five years ago and I was really into it, but after awhile I became over-trained. I was no longer progressing, I was tired and sore constantly and it was no longer any fun. What I have realized for myself is that once a week I like to perform a CrossFit type of workout and just go all out. Some days I might warm-up, loosen, stretch and hit the showers. Other days I might focus on true power and perform 4 x 3 hang cleans with a 3 minute rest period (21 hang cleans is not power training but conditioning).

Adam, I guess my main point is that while I think CrossFit is truly revolutionary and a leader in this type of training, most people don’t like to work that hard, if they did our country would not be so obese.

Thanks for taking the time to send me your feedback, do you mind if I put your response on our blog? I like to show all opinions.

Take Care, Chris”

And my letter back…..

“Please post my response if you would like. I too hit a tired and sore wall and saw myself not progressing about 8 months in. What I found out was I wasn’t resting properly, eating properly or sleeping properly and the impact alcohol intake has on recovery is profound. Since that “wall” I’ve gotten onto a Zone based diet that is close to Paleo. I’m responsibly resting and recovering to balance out the intensity. Yoga is a huge help for that as well. CrossFit is definitely more a lifestyle choice than anything and not everyone is ready for that kind of commitment. This is more about approaching fitness and nutrition from an entirely different angle than what the “fitness” magazines tell us and what the FDA tells us we should be eating. Thanks for putting this out there for people to assess.”

Damn it, i just saw the 12 in the rep scheme.

m/30/6’2″ 195

8:29 as rx’d

i think i was the first to do this out in guam.. on friday at about 820pm…LOL.

You got fans Thomi!!!

” who wants to train like that
everyday”

Yeah, I was thinking about taking a day to get in some beach muscle work. Anyone want to hit chesticles and guns? I’ll bring the lattes, you bring the latest copy of Muscle and Fiction and we’ll pick a workout. Blasting pecs and bis, son!

nice job wags!

It is all about the quality and integrity of the affiliate and the instructors. Anybody can take any “perfect” system and f*%K it up….just like in the yoga world. CFVB has the integrity and the high standards. When a student’s/trainee’s ego gets in the way of paying attention to the teacher/trainer or to their own body, the student has only herself to blame.

Just so I’m crystal clear:

21 HPC
21 Box Jumps
21 Push Ups
100 DU

15 HPC
15 Box Jumps
15 Push Ups
100 DU

and so on? Or is it 100 at the very end?

while I no longer agree with the majority of the fitness world, I still have to step back and take a look at the entire thing. Most of theses discussions arise due to lack of knowledge, whether it be about simple/complex functional movements or the basics of nutrition. The sad part is, we can only point the finger at ourselves as a society. That is the great thing about crossfit, they are giving away knowledge that has been held tight by the fitness community for years, and they are giving it away for free! I have said from the start, “crossfit was made for everyone, but it isn’t for everyone”. As stated in previous posts, crossfit is hard, thus being fit is hard. It takes hard work and dedication and most people in todays society want things easy. All that being said, the Crossfit community doesn’t need to look down on “everyone else”. Either they will come around, or they won’t, but in the end it doesn’t really matter. All the people that have found it, have found what they are looking for. In the end, I think the majority will come to the realization that programs like crossfit that involve hard work and functional movements are the best way to get fit. In the mean time just keep doing what you are doing and don’t worry about the rest.

Here, here, Dr. Fern. Well put. Can we all just move on and do our thing now? Who cares what everyone else is doing!

Many thanks to Thomi and the 6:45 CrossFit VB gang for the great hospitality this morning. You guys have a top notch coach and facility, and if you are ever in Atlanta come see us at CrossFit East Decatur and we will try to return the favor.

I heard of Crossfit through my boyfriend who was part owner of Crossfit RVA. He decided that a Crossfit membership would be a good birthday present. This was by far the best gift. I have gotten more results from crossfitting than regular physical training and gym memberships. I always got bored with what I was doing and I eventually stopped going to the gym. Crossfit suits people of all fitness levels. Every WOD has been modified to an appropriate level. I started crossfitting after injuring my back and I have not had any injuries since. I owe it to awesome trainers such as Thomi, Rob, and Gerry. I have even seen an injured soldier crossfitting with no limbs on youtube. Enough said…

9.39 as rx’d. Too little fat Thursday=easily gassed Rob on Friday. Not bad overall, but I could definitely tell the difference. Ouch.

Yeah!!! I had company @ 645 this morning – No thanks to you Jonathan
Great job this morning guys. No idea of my time b/c I was just so exited to have a “gang” @ the 645 I didn’t eve look at the board
- keep it commin’
Great meeting you Conrad – if ever I’m in the Atlanta I’ll be sure to get into the gym.

Andrew – it’s just 100 DU @ the very end (Thank God)

I tweeked this just a tad. I did Ring Push Ups.
11:59 rx’d.
As my “warm up” I did Heavy Snatches 5×3. Got up to 125#(PR)
I want to do “Isabel” rx’d this summer

Ok, here goes my lunch hour, but it’s a nice breather from the reality…Disclaimer, this rambling will incorporate many thoughts, ideas that I heard from various posts, people and etc with my twist on it, since all the these ideas been discussed numerous times it’s hard to be original. CrossFit, for me, is more than just an exceptionally efficient fitness program that makes me feel capable of doing anything I want. My addiction goes beyond the effectiveness of the CrossFit routine. Everyday I complete a WOD, it makes me feel stronger and more capable of any darn thing I want to tackle, and I feel better than I’ve ever felt before. It gives more than just a “common ground” with my fellow CF buddies; it establishes a community of friends who become family based on the common goal. It becomes as much about the community as it does about personal gain and once you experience that, it’s more addicting than any drug you can ever experience.

People hear about what we do and I explain with passion the WOD and that some almost threw up, or did throw up, that I ripped or bled and I’m met with a look of confusion with an accusatory twist of insanity and disgust. Maybe it’s just because of my affiliation to an “executives in suits” that comment “What happened to her?” they don’t understand, they never will, I can’t sell the concept, I will never try to sell it, just love it. We can’t wait to get back to the message board or to our box so we can surround ourselves with the like minded “masochists”. Being different, outside the boundaries from what the acceptable norm is will never become conventional. Majority of the people are “sheep”, we stand out – we will always be an outsider as a CrossFitters!

Our family, friends, circle of associates don’t understand why we’re so passionate about the other people we just met at the box. Mutual pain creates relationships between people that will last a lifetime. The best thing about the community of CrossFit is that the pain we all go through is an a never-ending quest for advancement, be in mental or physical. We’re a community of Bad A$$e$ who want to help more people become Bad A$$e$ and I dig it pretty heavy (I do need to start watching my language, my vocabulary is expanding, not in the right direction thou, LOL.) I’m a zealot, aficionado, enthusiast…I just said, 007 CFVB chick is a zealot!

After reading Rant’s message again, I am a bit confused. I’m pretty sure Rant= Chris. The person that wrote adam a response stated he was turned on to crossfit 5 years ago. What confuses me is the last part…. “With
that being said, if you are interested in learning more go to
http://www.crossfit.com and check out some of our local Crossfit affiliates.”

I’m pretty sure everyone who reads this blog has visited the main page.
ANYONE can do Crossfit, anyone can do P90X, anyone can do Taebo… the list goes on and on. Reality is it’s a business. People want to make a quick buck even if it’s by attempting to ruin a repuation of a particular program. Crossfit doesn’t claim to be the originators of these exercises. They do the research to find what ACTUALLY works and then add it to program. Glassman states in almost every lecture he gives, if you think you have some thing better then prove it. But it has to measurable and repeatable. I think the best part is they post it all of this research for free! or essentially for free; the journal is $25 a year. How many fitness magazines could you by for $25, maybe 3 or 4. It is STRESSED that you should be able to preform the fundamental movements correctly and consistantly before increasing the intensity. I can attest to wanting to increase the intensity before I was funamentally ready. In my head I was a dual sport collegiate athlete. I did three-a-days. I’ve played sports since I was 7. I should be able to do ALL the wod’s rx’d.
After college I chose to go active duty to serve in our armed forces and give back to the country that I loved so dearly. I am a “sheepdog”. If you don’t know what that means you should read ON SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS By LTC(RET) Dave Grossman. I got bored with the regular workouts and started looking for sprint triathlons and was searching for crosstraining and found crossfit. I was interested, but to be honest in all of my years of working out I NEVER performed a clean and jerk or snatch. I cringe at the fact that had I found crossfit years ago, I would be a completely different athlete. When I started, I was scaling wods for about 3-4 months and doing a wod every 3 days. I couldn’t do 2 pullups, could barely deadlift my own bodyweight and was running 1.5 miles in 11 minutes. I had severe shoulder pain from playing softball and volleyball. Maybe I’m a freak. I accept that. I am stronger, faster, and more flexible than I have ever been. Had I been doing crossfit in high school and college, the outcome would have been different.

Rant, you’re right Crossfit isn’t for everyone. The weak or weakminded will be turned off. You have to want to live a healthy life AND know it’s not going to happen WITHOUT work or happen overnight.

this one looks like fun!!!!

10:19 rx’d, stupid cheat meal last night i feel ya Rob. I kept trying to catch you! ugh.

I’m gonna push for 2:00.

I received a similar email to The Law. He invited us to post our link on the HRsportfit site.

Honestly, when I did crossfit from the main page and no instruction, i was performing the excercises incorrectly and had the high potential to injur myself. I am glad to get such high quality instruction from Thomi and the group. I am also impressed at what an unusual sampling of the community that has joined CFVB.

I love you guys

i forgot to say hell ya 9am class! i gotta give a huge prop to amber for first real box jump wod!!!!!

I want a personal trainer and chef.. this a good place to ask for that?

we have three personal trainers at the gym they won’t cook your meals but they will tell you what to eat. good enough??

I just want someone to count for me.

Sincerely,
Mr. 6 rounds in a 5 round WOD.

1 chef for me too please. … Jeremy, you still over at Throwdown? Tell everyone I say hi!!

An apropos word for the day?

http://tinyurl.com/d2eqw2

13:16 as rxd (72#) great job 2pm crew!!!!

Frisson…I love that word, Andrew!

Lot’s ‘o fun–13:06 @75#. Definitely need to work on those DU’s. Can anyone tell me the brand of jump ropes everyone uses? Thanks!

8:19 @115 nice job 2pm class

Buddy Lee… http://www.buddyleejumpropes.com

I just ordered a new Buddy Lee (the magical $39.95 one that Rita let me try out the other night that made me do more DUs at one time than I’ve ever done!!) They are on backorder though until mid-May…………*whimper*

8:09 @ 115# those DU’s really sucked at the end.

18:11 42#, REAL BOX JUMPS (thanks Jess), knee pushups, 200 singles

I really liked this one!!! I threw in 10 hpcs on the last round just for fun haha. Oops. Heavier next time and it’s time I start doing DU attempts. That should be cute.

I just feel like if I can do crossfit (Rant, FYI I’m 60ish pounds overweight and have never been an athlete, I was always on sports teams in school but sat on the bench cause I sucked) anyone can do crossfit (with the right trainer to scale stuff and coach them, thanks Thomi, Rob & Gerry). In the few short months I’ve been there I’ve done things I never imagined my body could do. I haven’t injured myself (which I HAVE done doing all kinds of other workouts from running to aerobics ha!) and I’m doing workouts that my friends think I am crazy for even trying.

That’s the beauty of crossfit, it really is made for everyone. But like wise Dr. Fern said, I don’t think it’s FOR everyone. You have to be mentally tough. Crossfit has proved to me that I am. I have also found a group of people that are just frickin cool and quality. I’m proud to be part of that group, even if I am always bringin up the back of the pack, heck yeah.

12:10rxd

As I scan through the replies to the rant I’m reminded that CrossFit stimulates my brain way more than most sports or gyms.

Yeah, I’m a guy who likes rock climbing and other “extreme” stuff (break out the Mountain Dew commercials) and thinks most American sports are for lazy people. Especially the made-for-TV team sports.

…but maybe that’s one of the many reasons I’ve stuck with CFVB.

If I’m not stimulated I’m bored.

I’m the guy who can’t always count during a WOD, too.

13:22 @ 115# for 21, 18, 12, 9 reps. That round of 18 reps didn’t help. Took exactly 5 minutes to do the double unders…gotta work on that.
2pm was packed today!

I just ignore those that do not understand. It’s a mental state of being that allows us to train like this, whether you are doing it to be better at your job, your sport, or even just for personal enjoyment, like me. Yes, anyone can do the WODs; it’s the mental toughness that eliminates those that cannot. And with that mental toughness comes great people. I’ll put this group up against anyone when it comes to dedication, loyalty, honesty, and yes, even pride. I’m proud to call myself a crossfitter and proud to be part of CFVB. You all are good people.

did amber just agree with me?!?!?!

14:56 as rx’d. Woop! Woop!

16:35 rxd. Never put the damn bar down!

17:34 RX’d … been feeling really slow the last few days, it’s not like I feel I’m not strong enough, just like I can’t move as fast as I want to. Maybe still recovering from the plague?? I don’t know, but I don’t like it. Pretty sure a pain storm will knock it out of me though.

Dr Fern, don’t get too excited. Amber did also call you ‘wise’, so I’m thinking she’s either A. not feeling so well or B. It’s an impostor.

16:17 as Rx’d – YES, first time as Rx’d with weights….;), no breaks this week, had to see if I could do it for myself! One more day tomorrow…not sure about the painstorm part

19:55 rxd @95

It wasn’t too long ago that 95# was my max hang clean.

I hope tomorrow doesn’t involve shrugging.

Dr. Fern, I had the day off, and was delirious from all those box jumps. You got lucky.

By the way Shay if you work on Thomi and get the early class at 6 or 6:15 you would always have company. Even though I love the 5:30 class, I would much rather work out before work!

Thanks Amanda! I’ll check it out.

15:58 @ 92#

I slipped up and added some du’s after the first round. thanks to those who set me straight!

Just an observation, it wasn’t too long ago that if I showed up a 5 minutes early, the place was empty. Now I show up on time, and the place is packed and no full sie bars are left @ 14:00 or 17:30! You guys are awesome! I have never met so many massochists.

Congrats Rita! Ochen korosho!

11:28rxd

RIIIITTTAAAAA!!! YEAH!!!!! I am so proud of you! I wish I could’ve been there to see it (and do it, although maybe not as well as you!)

Lisa’s already warming up for Painstorm.

yes amanda, I am still at throwdown.. just not right now, stuck in Guam till the day of the Qualifier..LOL. Soooo, I get to fly in 18 hours get in at about 6am.. then drive to Manhatten beach to try and qualify.wooohoo.

I agree with Gery, these DU’s really sucked at the end. I was pretty pathetic with them.

i did the painstorm… it was hard…

1:45::56 of pain… done with 40# DB’s and 2x dips (no rings)

15# db snatch
15#/30# db burpee
red ring dips
green/blue hspu
box pistols ==
2:08