12 Days of Christmas

The Valley CrossFit Hummer!

Mele Kalikimaka folks!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Yesterday, I went over to FGB Hawaii Kai to do the 12 Days of Christmas WOD!  Big mahalo to Jack and Danyelle for opening their home gym on Christmas!!!!!  It was really great to workout with friends and meet new people!

Travel Packing -- CrossFit Style

Traveling CrossFit-style.

I am going home to Hawaii for the holidays today!!!  So excited!!!!  I had a few requests for a "what to pack," CrossFit-style post.  Also, as I was packing I realized that more than half the items I put in my suitcase were for CrossFit purposes so here's the post!

TGU, New Coach, and Bets

Brandon doing a 104.5lb turkish get-up with me!!!

Last week at the gym was quite eventful!  Brandon did his first human turkish get-up with me, I met our new coach Pat Barber, PRed my consecutive strict muscle up count to 8, and lost a couple WOD bets.  For those who haven't heard yet, Pat is back from New Zealand and he will be running Norcal CrossFit Saratoga with his fiance, Taz!!  


Now for the meat of the post: bets, bets, bets.  I noticed I am more driven by mini, day-to-day competitions with close friends than by large competitions.  So working out next to a close friend gives me that extra push.  To spice things up a bit, I made two different bets with Colin and Sally last Tuesday.  Both bets were based on WOD performance that day with the prize being savory (clean) food.

Yoga and CrossFit

Yoga and CrossFit.  Not sure if I can do that now.

Before CrossFit, I was reallyyyyyyyyyy into yoga, specifically Ashtanga yoga.  I used to randomly pick a pose from 608 Yoga Poses and attempt to do it after class each day.  I used to go 6 times a week!  Over the past months, my fitness interests changed.  As I attended more CrossFit classes, I skipped more yoga classes, until my yoga attendance hit zero.  After ditching yoga for a few months, I noticed a dramatic decrease in my flexibility and increased healing time for body aches and pains, specifically in my lower back.


When one of our trainers told me I might have shoulder flexibility issues in my front squat, my immediate reaction was oh HELL NO.  After class, my mind was busy processing a whirlwind of thoughts.  What benefits did yoga have on me when I practiced it?  Were there any movements I could perform better before, than now?

Muscle Beach

Ripped dude rocking the rings.

Every time I go down to LA, I try to hit up Muscle Beach in Santa Monica... even before CrossFit.  Except now I can do more than play on the swings!  This is probably one of my favorite places to hang out in southern California.  I like the atmosphere and I enjoy people watching, meeting people, and testing my physical capabilities here.  Rings + beach + nice weather + real sand, what more can I ask for?!

5x5

Squatssss <33333.  On my way to 2x body weight, baby.

After the 20-rep back squats, Mickey and I decided to switch over to 5x5 for six weeks.  Conveniently, the six-week mark was right around Thanksgiving, which made it a perfect time for de-loading.  The 5x5 strength program is very simple: For movement X, do 5 sets of 5, three times a week.  Your starting weight should be your current 5-rep max.  If you make the set, add weight.  One of the reasons why I wanted to try 5x5 is because the program is known cause large increase in muscle mass (therefore increased body weight), in addition to strength.  Hehehehe.