Archive for June, 2009
Going Low
Getting your butt below parallel is essential to athletic development. That is where all the good stuff is. The posterior chain is the good stuff. This includes the glutes, the hamstrings, and the adductors. These muscles help you run faster, jump higher, and lift heavier among other things. The only time you activate these AMAZING muscles is when you get your hip crease below the knee cap. In addition, you want to hold this position while keeping your chest up high, slight lumber curve in your back, knees tracking your toes, and the weight on your heels. Keep practicing, we know you can do it!
July 1st CANADA DAY CLASSES ARE: 7am and 10:30am only.
Focus
A big part of doing Crossfit, and sport for that matter, is focus. The last 4 weeks we have had a group of athletes doing a dry run of the CFWS Performance Program. Everyday we train we are lifting heavy. Getting ready to attempt a new PR for a back squat, deadlift, press
etc. takes tons of energy and mental focus to push through and make it happen. There have been days where athletes are just plain exhausted, tired, and fatigued from training at such a high level.If you are just walking up to the bar and not
prepping yourself mentally for what could be the greatest and heaviest
lift of your life, you may not get it. This is the same for any athlete when playing their game at an elite level. Do you think Michael Jordan just grabbed his basketball and went out there 5 minutes before he played a game? Having some sort of routine set up to help you focus, so you can lift that last lift or play the whole game at an unbelievable level, is necessary. So what do you do before you step under the bar? What do you say to yourself before you hit the pitch for your game? What things do you do to make sure you have what it takes to play the best damn game of your life or make that PR in your back squat?
Intensity = Results
Intensity is where you see athletic development, therefore RESULTS. Does this mean we want you to be laying out on the ground at the end of each workout with nothing left to give….well yea. You don’t have to lay down, but we want you to give everything you got without hurting yourself. We know that everyone’s level of intensity is going to be different. For a beginner, pressing 15lb dumbell thrusters is going to be as tough and as intense as a Crossfitter who has been crossfitting for a year and lifting 45lb dumbell thrusters. Do they both have intensity… well yea! If they are both exhausted and have nothing left to give at the end of the workout, then they both had intensity. If you are someone who leaves the workout and says "oh that was an easy workout," then obviously you did not push yourself hard enough. You need to run faster, take a shorter rest between rounds or reps, or grab a little extra weight. Find your "edge of the cliff!" Find that fine line of intensity in your workouts. We want you to get it! We want you to get results!
Hitting it Hard
Today we started our "Crossfit Boxing" Classes. It was great to see everyone out this am!
Drew hitting it hard!
One of our 5 Boxing Classes below. 
Jason Demo’s the JAB
Michelle ripping it up!
Group workout. You guys rocked it!
Boxing Classes will be part of our schedule come July 1st.
July 1st we will be adding in more Crossfit Classes, as well, as our Boxing Crossfit Classes. Please Email Us for more information.
Elements Class
If you have never done Crossfit before, the Elements Class is a great place to start. Each class we focus on 1 or 2 movements depending on the skill component. The purpose of the class is to get you up to speed on the moves and the lingo we use here at Crossfit so you can move into the regular classes. 
Last week we learned how to deadlift. We had some people who had never lifted weights before, some who had never deadlifted, and some who had deadlifted a couple of times. By the end of the class everyone was rockin it. Great job guys!
Crossfit Boxing
We are very excited to have Jason Noel as our new trainer here at Crossfit Westside! Jason will be teaching Crossfit classes, as well as incorporating his passion for boxing and Crossfit. We will be introducing "Crossfit Boxing" classes this week. Please sign up at the gym if you would like to try one.
Balancing Act
Including a 1 leg squat into your warm up will help increase your overall balance and core strength. If you can’t do one (yet), try practicing holding onto a band. Make sure you push your butt back as far as you can, when you butt is just below your hip crease, drive up hard from the heel.
Welcome to all our new members: Rakan, Dusan, Melissa, Allison, Malaika, Tony, Brian, Kristen, Loni, Shawn, and Velibor.
Good Fat vs Bad Fat
Eating fat does not make you fat as long as it is the right type of fat. (Barry Sears: The Zone). That being said we want to stick with the good fats. Avocado, extra virgin olive oil, and macadamia nuts are good fats. They are called monounsaturated fats and they do not effect your insulin levels.In fact, these fats moderate your insulin levels. As Barry Sears explains further in the zone, excess carbohydrates spike your insulin levels causing insulin resistance thus promoting fat gain. Eating a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, and good fat will help you maintain more balanced insulin levels. Email Us if you would like to attend our 3rd Nutrition Seminar on Tuesday June 23rd.
What Do You Do On Weekends?
What makes you tick on the weekends? We want to know and see. Send in your pictures to us at info@crossfitwestside.com. Also, check out this month’s June Newsletter to read more on how Adam Bognar came back from a past injury and is back ripping it up on the mountains!
CrossFit Westside Newsletter – June
Hey guys,
Can you believe it’s June? Incredible!
This month’s newsletter features our amazing CrossFit Fanatic, Adam Bognar, who talks about his recovery from an incredibly serious snowboarding accident and the role nutrition has played in helping him improve his body composition and overall fitness.
Jenika also shares a little about what she learned at her Football Cert. I can hear you all groaning already and I completely understand – every time she comes back from a seminar, she has new ways to torture us!
We’ve also got a new feature section that we’ll do from time to time, called CrossFitters Doing Good. There are some really interesting things being done by some of the other CrossFit affiliates out there, so this is our opportunity to showcase them. Up this month is a story about Steve Liberati, a CrossFit coach who is using his skill and passion for fitness to help inner-city youth turn their lives around.
And finally, there’s our Zone Recipe section. This month is a fun, fresh, strawberry feta salad to spark your appetite. It’s simple to throw together and the perfect tangy and refreshing meal for this hot, sunny weather!
Before I sign out, I just wanted to pass along a big congrats to everyone who participated in round two of the Nutrition Challenge and the Angie Finals. Together, the nine Nutrition Challenge participants lost nearly 30lbs and an average of 4% body fat. Great job, guys!
Asja
Editor, CrossFit Westside Newsletter