Ice Skating Uphill...

Ryan and Matt...

Bob CrossFit Cure...

"Ok you want me up in a cage, then I'll come out in beast mode."

Did the dude get party plated on his ride because of one too many Margarita's and Senorita's the night before? Is that why he was on a bike instead of in a car? Did the guy crash his tractor into a ditch because he had one too many Jack's before the harvest. Is that why he hobbled? Does it even matter?

Everyday this blog becomes more for you while simultaneously being less for you and more for the single person needing to read whats here. If they get whats needed, we did our job.

We have all witnessed the same things from above. Disabled, or otherwise unhealthy folks saunter by. What do you think when you see that overweight fifty year old biker in the midst of winter? Financially strapped. Drunk with no license? On a diet? Do you wonder why the guy who limps does so? Our perception of those items we outwardly know little about can change our perception of the things we ultimately have control over everyday...ourselves.

"Are you &$%#ing kidding me, you worthless $%^#ing $%^holes". Yup that's about the gist of my otherwise calm demeanor whenever I get in the car and stuff seems to go wrong. Even though I have no control over it therefore others being wrong is really an impossibility, just as right is an illusion. Anyhow, I rarely show my hand but those times when every jackass in the world is currently in front of me, hitting  their brakes, driving 10mph slower than I want, and texting I give my cards away. Sometimes I can Mediate my way out. Sometimes prayer works. Sometimes waving with one finger makes me kinda feel better...until I realize I was beaten. Especially yesterday when I was knocked out.

I just returned from a thirty minute ride that took fifty. Somehow that extra twenty was all that was required to break my normal stoic behavior down. Talk about weak. Its just cars. I have no control over them, therefore there is no reason why they shouldn't be there, and no reason why I should be annoyed by them. By the time I rolled into my home town directly into my Granda Cafe Enema, I halted as a young girl was walking in the drive. I waved her by, and her Father (assumed) who I caught eyes with. Here is what I saw.

He was asking me with his eyes "if I was sure". If I was sure I wanted to wait for him to cross the road as he knew it would not be as quick as his daughter (assumed) who was already well on her way. I have seen that look before, my eyes answered yes. He walked. Kinda.

It appeared the dude had MS at worst or possibly a bone disorder brought on by many other culprits of which either could fit. It really doesn't matter. What matters is the traffic. If I had not meet the world's defenses to keep me backed up I would not have been able to share the silent conversation me and this man had with each other. I saw fear in his eyes, and because of what I have experienced in my life, he saw something in my eyes that allowed him to take a rather uncomfortable step in front of someone else. In front of his daughter. Stepping for him alone was glorious...doing it in front of others was apparently rare to this man.

Nothing much more transpired other than a look back my way and a wave as I sat blocking the driveway lamenting on how I was just such an asshole on my way home, essentially trying to miss the blessing that was going to be presented to me. I almost missed it, but I was just on time...read that sentence again.

Its items like this that make us stand up and take notice with our current paths and if they are right or not. Its reassuring to know that my constant need, want, and goal to get folks up and moving while they still can is still vastly needed. Not because the dude from above is any less a spectacular human, quite the opposite. He is making the best of the cards he has. Teaching me things about life, and I'm sure many others he see's everyday. He just doesn't do it through running, he does it through limping. Which can seems like the quickest way to give the most profound lesson to ones as dull as myself.

  Its not right to be able to run but choose to walk walk. Its not cool to choose to sit while you can stand. Its not ok, for me to be ok with you doing it, or you to be ok with your family doing it. People that walk across the street directly in front of you are not there for entertainment, there is a reason as long as your not to busy screaming at traffic, showing others who number one is, or texting your way to the grave. 

Strength:

Rest

For Time

"Team Up"

100-Floor to Overhead 95/135

125-Push-ups

7-Rope Climbs

15-Muscle-Ups

*Each team must perform 9 Burpees On The Minute Every Minute. Each team stays together rotating upon every minute until the required number is meet at each event. 

Post team and time to comments.

The Box Of Chocolates At Your CrossFit, And Your Guaranteed Part Of The Games.....

Heather and Matt, Snatch Skills Class...

London Practice CrossFit Kids...

“Madness is tonic and invigorating. It makes the sane more sane. The only ones who are unable to profit by it are the insane.”

CrossFit boxes all over the world are about to show their sweets. But don't fret, just because you may not wanna play, doesn't mean your cherry in the center is any less ripe. Its all about feeling better in the long run, not just winning a game.

Here and abroad folks are getting ready for the 2011 CrossFit Sectionals. From ranches in the desert that resembled a big family cookout, to the Home Depot center with what resembles a true sporting season culminating in a "CrossFit Super Bowl".

Admittedly we have changed the game. Its no longer one shot, one weekend, one small moment in time. Its week after week of chances to be better. If one of your particular faults presents itself and you are unable to perform, the contest removes you. Just like a wide receiver who couldn't leap for the ball, if you can't muscle-up, handstand, or dip, you may be forced to the benches. Unlike professional Football or other sports however, just your want to play guarantees you the chance. How beautiful is that? Added to that is the fact that just in case you were removed, it doesn't mean your season is over. In fact, unlike others, it may be just beginning.

CrossFit was created to make one better. The one who decided to try harder,to do something more. Stand not sit. Fight not flight. CrossFit was not created necessarily to live from century to century, but more so to live well the whole time you are living. To be a bad ass at seventy years old, as opposed to a wheel chaired seventy years old. CrossFit was created with quality in mind. Quality in application, and a supreme return on investment. The CrossFit Games is simply an expression of the events we do every week. Nothing to fret over. Nothing to stress about. Nothing to even significantly train for. If you have been CrossFitting to the best of you ability this year, while simultaneously not eating like a jackass, then you are officially as ready as you can be. Take relief in that, its a nice place to be.

Conversely, if you are knowing you fell short in preparation, and some uncontrollable factors reared their heads to frequently, then take heart in realizing that you can still walk out on our court and try. A rare item in any domain. But in CrossFit, everyone can play. So play regardless of what you think may happen. Remember the worst thing you can think of, never happens.

Even if you are entirely disinterested in this whole CF Games thing train for them anyway. Play along with your box supporting your fire-breathers who are just dying to get there, but also those folks who really have no chance but just love the camaraderie. Its the constant training for something/anything that can endear you with endless motivation to keep striving for more, as opposed to the goa-less existence we may come to terms with in fitness, or life for that matter.

I'm sure the Chocolates at your box are just as sweet as they are here. And I'm sure just as Forrest exclaimed, "you never know what your gonna get"...so you might as well try. Toss yourself on the chopping block as a hopeful. Present yourself as the teams cheerleader. Offer your services as a team Dr. Present yourself as the team cook. For six weeks make this amazing community that never fails, even more close nit by doing your part on or off the field. If nothing else to make our season more memorable, our families closer, and our sport one everyone can attend just like our box, and your box. Keeping us vastly different that anything the world has ever witnessed.

 Strength:

Hang Power Snatch

5,3,1

For Score:

4-Tire Flips

8-Swings 35/55

8-Box Jumps

 8-Dips

AMRAP 17 Minutes

Post weight moved and time to comments.

CrossFit Life Models: How Fitness Is The Smallest Part Of The Fitness Revolution...

“Ones destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.”

The dark wood atop the quaint round table was inevitably meant to inspire comfort. The table felt brittle beneath my hands. The table was brittle because the people at the table were fragile. The surroundings are fragile because they lacked the integrity to perform what they knew needed to be done.

Fragile is as much a state of mind as it is a physical form. Brittle can describe the same object just as bulletproof. The difference is the process. For instance, some glass can be shattered with a strong wind, or flick of the wrist. Other types take a bullet and still cannot be penetrated. We are all part of the same big window. The only reason some shatter easier is because they weren't formed properly.

As I discussed CrossFit to Non-CrossFitters, I was confronted, yet again, with a truth I had yet to formulate. A profound happening that, if shown properly, can change the lives of more people today than we thought possible yesterday. These spur of the moment truths are blessings that feel like curses. Blessing because you have the way, but when you fail to lead people down the path you feel ultimately responsible and cursed.

Whether our founder Coach Glassman realized it or not, he was basically parleying the most productive way to live our lives years ago when he was teaching thrusters for the first time. He wasn't teaching life models through sweating more. He preached MECHANICS, CONSISTENCY, INTENSITY. In that specific order. For very specific reasons. Applied to life, those three little words, followed to a tee mean far more than a better "Fran" time. They mean success. Beauty. Forgiveness. Miss one, or do them out of order and watch the castle come crumbling down.

Mechanics:

This one is first grade when it comes to CrossFit. If you can't pull-up, you ain't gonna muscle-up. Simple. However, in CrossFit some folks want chest to bar pull-ups game style well before they can even pull high enough to see the bar. As admirable and impatient as this in CrossFit, it will simply get you hurt. In life, it may get you killed, or at the very least leave you wanting. 

The daily mechanics of life can be applied to rituals we are required to perform. Not should...required. Prayer, mediation, self actualization ain't for pretty little parties or bullshit church services where you chant something out loud to be part of the crowd. They are personal growth techniques that are necessary to be the best you possible. 

The mechanics of life are simply the basic things that must be there before the more exotic or exemplary items come up. Just as squatting is so necessary before overhead squatting, smiling is a perquisite for getting someone to smile back. Outward unselfish behavior must precede selfless acts given back to you. Missing this one piece guarantees workout failure, and life duress.

Consistency:

 This one is pretty clear cut. CrossFitting once a week just makes you sore as shit, and hating your trainers. The best mechanics in the world ain't shit if you don't use them, and the straightest teeth are still crooked even if you never show them.

Inconsistency today is a hallmark of the most selfish pieces of shit known to man. Inconsistency is smiling today, crying tomorrow, avoiding Thursdays, and fighting on Fridays. The mind it must take to believe it all too acceptable to walk around a different version of you everyday is not only the most selfish mind one can possess, but the most disrespectful and ill-received.

Consistency in CrossFit makes for a well-rounded athlete blessed with results. Consistency in life comes with admiration, respect, and belief that shows through even if those watching you don't particularly like you, they still must commend your integrity.

Intensity:

In CrossFit Intensity before the other two equals rhabdomyolysis, shattered self confidence, and more. But as horrible as all those are, it can be nowhere near as bad as living a life gliding by. Never finding the intensity to be more, and do more. Passion is intensity and a passionless life is where many folks live, and the reason we still may fail them is simply because we try to jump them to the intensity of life, far before they have ever figured out the mechanics and then applied them consistently. Essentially, we chop their legs out before they got started.

As I spoke with the table I was saddened I had missed this piece for so long. Sad that I missed the simple fact that even if you start CrossFit before you really start living, what you learn can change you forever. A well implemented CrossFit program will motivate many to go back to the drawing board of life as difficult as it may be. They can take a look at their mechanics here and everywhere, and become consistent where they were sporadic before. They can become intense, and accomplish things they thought undefinable just days ago.

Can you imagine what this could mean for some folks to know this simple truth? Folks come to CrossFit because its hard, they get better, feel better and look better. But with as strong an argument as all that is, it pales in comparison to CrossFit's ability to teach how to live better.

Strength:

Rest

For Time:

"Daniel"

Compare Here

50-Pull-ups

400m-Run

21-Thruster 65/95

800m-Run

21-Thrusters 65/95

400m-Run

50-Pull-ups

Post time to comments.

Smartest Ever: What Would You Pay....

 

Congratulations Mindy and Justin... 

“Our own physical body possesses a wisdom which we who inhabit the body lack. We give it orders which make no sense.”

The hardest questions to answer are always the best to ask. Or are there simply no difficult questions, only difficult minds? Wait, isn't that a difficult question? 

Are you currently happy with your level of intelligence? This may be all in the same question, but what about your memory, are you happy with its ability? If there was a way you could be smarter, would you choose to be? What if it cost you? What if it was a very rewarding level of intelligence? What if that level was very expensive?

I find myself in very odd arguments very frequently...hmmm, if I'm always the one in them, maybe I cause them huh? That's another post. The conversation I was engulfed in was pertaining to what we as humans would give up. Why we may choose to pay such high prices? What, if anything, is worth the most expensive price? Our lives. I figured this a topic our avid readers would love to throw down on.

With great power, comes great responsibility right Spider-man? Thus with great intelligence, also may come great responsibility. Lets assume you could immediately be blessed with intelligence the world has never witnessed. Infinitely greater than we could ever imagine. Than we can comprehend. More than likely the the contents of that knowledge would contain treasures such as disease and cancer cures, argument solutions, and various forms of technology to help the masses. This is of course a gamble, but one would assume with unending smarts, comes unending solutions, or unending problems.

If you could gather all this mindfulness with the possibility of helping so many, and doing so much good, would you pay with your life? If you had the chance to help so many, no guarantee, but had a guarantee of a premature death, would you take it? If the greatest mind of the world became toxic five years after your received it, would you take it for what you could do in those five years?

You could most likely structure this many different ways, and make many different exceptions and circumstances behind it. But I still believe the question is fun to ponder on. How much is your life worth? Would you pay for the possibility to save millions of lives with thirty years of your own? Would you do it only if you were celebrated for it? Would you do it if no one knew you did it? Does having a family make you want to spend more time with them, or does having a family make you feel more compelled to help?

Post to comments below if you would pay with your life for the chance to be the smartest of us all. For the chance to cure everything. For a chance, not a guarantee.

Strength:

Rest

For Time:

100-Double Unders

85-Second L-Hold

45-Box Jumps

35-Burpees

25-Wall Ball

15-Toes Through Rings

10-Db Squat Cleans 35/55

Post time to comments.

I'm Nothing Without You...

Monica...

Nate...

"It's not that you're right, it's that I no longer wish to debate ignorance".

The motivation for each and every post is different. A reader question. An argument with one that begs to go viral. Education. Amusement. Philosophy. Some are more instantaneous as I run to the computer they are over before they begin. Lots are organic blossoming from a different end than intended in the beginning. Some nag at me until I must put it down...this is one of the last.

As a person who would love to say I can do everything alone. As a person who would love to carry the heaviest cross, atop the highest Golgotha alone. As one who want to help many. As a selfish human today, I must say and come to terms with the simple fact..."I am nothing without you".

From some Douche bag teeny bopper song I have heard like ten times in the last week to a sermon at the chapel, passages in the big book, and the realization that the reason I am contacted so much in a day is that others have come to terms with the simple fact that I continue to avoid. We need each other. 

Don't get the wrong idea. I believe first and foremost we need be sured up inside alone. If you hate the company when no one is in the room, that is a bigger issue than empty surroundings. Thus why Buddhists practice the way they do. They feel internal enlightenment, or close to it, is necessary before you can do ultimately well by others. They retreat away today, so one day they can help more effectively. No, its not that if everything was different tomorrow I would feel like I could not continue, progress, thrive, or arrive. Its simply that my success is tied to you, yours to mine, and every-ones to everyone else's. If I make you better, I'm better, Vice Versa, karmic-ally...whatever. WIthout me, your reach is stagnate. WIthout you, I miss something great. 

Community:

This breaths heavily into this wondrous community we are attached to. With these amazing and vast personalities. One makes the other better. They make me stronger because they are there. I give them more credibility because I am here. We all serve a very substantial purpose. Its continuously reciprocated. A single CF changes lives for sure, but look at us now, as opposed to ten years ago. Helping one is great. Helping more than one, is simply more great.

It's not to say CF doesn't have it's share of DB's. It does, but as a majority rule we are in it to win it, together. One big collection of souls unified under a man who would have succeeded in whatever he did. Coach Glassman (our founder) would be great at whatever he did. Not because what he did was so amazing, because he realized others is what make its great. Others are what make him great. 

Trainers:

On a very personal note. I absolutely adore my team. I'm sure every other CF owner feels the same, but I can remember the days of yore back when it was me alone, then one more, now we are like 17 strong and several folks have or are leaving us to open their own boxes, and I couldn't be happier.

I learn today, form folks I taught. Its awesome to teach someone a pull-up, and watch them get it for the first time. It is a whole other beautiful item to watch that same person you witnessed do pull-up number one, teach someone else pull-up number one.

Without the amazingness, dedication, and passion of the crew we have at PCF our reach towards helping others would be cut to a degree I shudder to think about. If I ever thought I could do everything alone years ago, these beautiful people I'm honored to be beside everyday have taught me differently. They have shown me how wrong I was, and I hope they know how important they are to me. And to everyone they are helping everyday. Everywhere. 

Athletes:

In the end without the athletes coming in the door, there would be no need for the doors, walls or equipment. The certifications on the walls would fall on deaf ears. Hell there would be no-one to complain about the music. Without CrossFitters there can be no CrossFit. Thankfully each and everyone of you are doing such an amazing job at CrossFitting we needn't worry about empty rooms. We measure this by the faces you bring, the people you annoy by never shutting up about it, and the ones you save. And locally and abroad, we have lost some, taught many, and saved more than we will ever know because of each athletes dedication.

In this respect I am truly nothing without you. Your influence to another is muted without me, just as mine is stunted without you. It's truly our ability to realize this that makes us the creatures we were created. As the big book even says, and I paraphrase, "where two or more gather, I am there". Our ability to let others know just how important they are to us. Our ability to serve them, so they serve us and in the end, what we will accomplish is not doubled, or tripled, but hopefully multiplied by such a degree we can't even comprehend the value each and every one of us truly possess in the life of another.

Strength:

Zercher Squat

1,1,1,1,1

Compare Here

For Time:

"Dissected Diane"

9-Deadlifts 155/225

9-Handstand Push-ups

5 Rounds

Post weight moved, and time to comments.

A V-Day Gift All For You, And This One Won't Die...

Saturday...

“The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love”

Toss the flowers, screw the reservations, shun the chocolates and make this the best V-day massacre you can ever possibly remember. 

As you may or may not recall from our post here, last year at this time, Valentines Day is celebrated for Al Capone's alcoholscapades, St. Valentine who supposedly penned the first ever "Valentine's card", or even the beloved Jeffrey Chaucer, a 16th century poet with a rapist wit who spun yarns so enticing women flocked to his beck and call just to here him speak.

Have you ever given flowers to one you adore, or to the dead for that matter. The simple fact that you take them to a marriage, funeral, date, or hospital visit makes them an odd treat to symbolize anything other than what they are...impermanent objects that will wilt and die. Easy to see how they could be at funerals, and even some weddings assuredly. But definitely not the symbolism you may want when attempting to define your relationship...taking into account that you should even have to define your relationship because some &%$&in calendar told you to and Wal-mart had the gift wrap.

More to the point for the prized roses that I'm sure there are some of us out there who will actually till, seed, nurture, feed, grow, and essentially produce their own gift from their very own crop. But generally the rest of us pay for that "love" in a vase, and the last time I heard, paying for love was only legal in Vegas. 

I'm sure being handed a satchel of roses this day my excite some of you, but tossing them shortly after as they disintegrate before your very eyes may not. So is there another way to express your feelings on this V-day by not adding to rose genocide? Can we make a better selection this 14th of February than little sugar vehicles called candy? Interesting saying your significant others ass has grown to resemble a tank is horrible, but making sure it is by feeding them candy is accepted. If there was one item that would take no purchase, no gift wrap, no flower power...what would it be?

"Faith"

Thats your gift. Love is bullshit on its own. Some say love is chemically the same as eating chocolate. Love, as any working definition is entirely impossible if it is not preceded by undying faith to someone other than yourself, which is exactly why true love is hard to find. Who the hell can you love more than yourself? That's why Christianity can be hard. Not matter your view you really can't argue Jesus Christ wasn't a cool ass dude who would have been awesome to hang with, and very easy to love as a person. However, when you have to give him faith, everybody gets all squirrelly. Saying love is easy, performing faith is love.

The Trojan War, the Boudica uprising in Rome, arguably the French Revolution, among others, could all be attributed to being fought over love. It's the faith that gives us strength to stand up to the oppressor. Faith is the backbone. Love is simply an expression of supreme faith. Its exactly how disciple after disciple can walk into unsuspecting territory preaching the gospel. Or solders can die for a tattered rag called a flag...not because of some stupid ass song or derelict colors...because of their faith in something greater than just them.

Don't take this to mean you can give something to someone else, you do not already have for yourself. But I doubt your ready for big boy relationships with other humans if your damaged to the hill, and have no faith in yourself. But then again, I have an odd feeling one cannot even function if they have truly lost faith in themselves. Some folks may just be selfishly wrapped up unable to see the faith they have looking for a hand to hold while they see more clearly. 

The best gift you can give this Valentine's, or any day, or everyday is faith. The best thing about it, you can give it to anybody, regardless if you think your alone or not. Incidentally, no-one is alone no matter how you may feel. You can give faith to your wife, your husband, your child, your teacher, hell your CrossFit trainer for that matter. It is only then you will have the beautiful relationships we all so crave, no matter how we act in front of others. Its simply the thought of giving such faith, and having it broken that keeps us up at night. That keeps it bottled up inside never to see the true light of day all the while wondering why life is missing just that little something. A faithless life, is a fruitless existence. 

 The human condition is condemned to love. Either your gonna love yourself, love stuff, or love others. In some twisted ass way I guess they all love back. The difference is the weakest of us keep faith to themselves, or place it where it cannot be given back. The strongest most successful of us, give it in abundance whether its returned or not knowing our influence will grow and V-days to come will only get better.

Strength:

Rest

For Score:

"Tabata Something Else"

-Pull-ups

-Push-ups

-Sit-ups

-Squats

Finish eight intervals at each station (one full Tabata) before moving to the next. Continuos clock. Post total score to comments.

Power Of Flow...

Jen and Chuck...

“Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such”

This Saturday's "lifted" post, the only post we dedicate weekly coming from the blog of one of our many educators, comes to us from Mark Sisson yet again, owner of Marks Daily Apple. Some of you may very well know that my many attempts to write a full fledged novel have as yet been very fruitless. I tend to tear out several meaningful chapters, set it aside for a couple of weeks, re-read them, then dis-like what I wrote essentially trashing the whole work and begging a new several times. Interestingly one of the chapters I authored, is some of the techniques below...guess I should finish that book.

They’re moments when the rest of the world – even consciousness itself – recedes into an unperceived periphery. Seemingly outside the progression of time, detached from the bounds of physical need, you fade past existence into immersion. The self quietly falls away. You’re one with the mountain, the paint brush, the instrument, the pose, the stride, the notes, the words. If you could freeze time to capture this dasein experience, you’d witness freedom, lightness, unwitting joy.

Like Schrödinger’s cat or a faint star in the night sky, however, these moments resist direct observation. The minute we bring awareness to them, they’ve already passed. We catch them, instead, out of the corner of our eye – briefly, fleetingly, on the returning threshold of consciousness. Despite their transience, we discern their effects. We emerge changed – more content, composed.

These are flow moments of course – spells of time in which we become wholly absorbed in our endeavors. They’re sometimes called peak performances or “in the zone” moments in the athletic arena or, alternatively, samadhi in yoga and select Eastern religions. Flow happens when we let individual consciousness – or self-consciousness – slip away in a larger pursuit. We become our action, our intent, our doing. It’s a union of sorts, as the samadhi concept suggests.

We can experience it when skiing down a mountain, climbing the face of a rocky cliff, playing frisbee with the kids, rowing across a quiet lake, creating music or art, practicing yoga, or building a cabinet. We can encounter it either in an individual activity or as part of a collective group.

The father of flow research is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian professor and researcher. His research and analysis of flow experiences have been applied to everything from educational theory (PDF) to business management. Csikszentmihalyi’s basic premise is this: we most enjoy life when we’re presented with – or seek out – manageable but creative challenges that tap into our individual curiosities and interests – challenges that give us immediate feedback for our improvement and success. They’re enough tostimulate our biochemical triggers without setting off the whole fight or flight cascade. These constructive trials of choice and circumstance offer a stark contrast to the getting and spending, passive entertainment and personal pampering modern society often promotes as self-fulfillment. (It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “just do it,” eh?) Csikszentmihalyi says it best: “When a person’s entire being is stretched in the full functioning of body and mind, whatever one does becomes worth doing for its own sake; living becomes its own justification. In the harmonious focusing of physical and psychic energy, life finally comes into its own. It is the full involvement of flow, rather than happiness, that makes for excellence in life.”

In short, a life marked by flow has the power of “good” stress, of healthy, nurturing challenge that feeds our sense of self-purpose as well as our self-affirmation.

In the hectic pace of modern life with its disjointed rhythms and constant interruption, ourdaily existence is too often defined by menial errands, tasks, and chores. It’s easy to become distanced from these flow states. In the process, I believe, we become distanced from ourselves, our experience of life in a bigger frame. When we allow ourselves to think about it, we can feel on the fringe, outside of life looking in, pining to return to the center. (Can we say life crisis?) Ennui, Csikszentmihalyi tells us, is the acute opposite of flow (a state few of us, I hope, experience). With ennui, we’re somehow left with little but the self – detached from the indivisible human context of purpose, action, community.

Although most of us probably wouldn’t put ourselves in that most discouraging category, we all can lose touch now and then with transcendence in our lives. We “forget” how to slip into these flow states. Some 20% of participants in one study reported flow experiences each day, but another 15% said they never felt them. Research suggests, however, that we can, indeed, train ourselves to get back in the groove. As Csikszentmihalyi explains, “One of the most important active ingredients here is the refinement of attention…. Training attention to come back over and over again to a complex task allows awareness to become increasingly absorbed in the task at hand.”

In one study, professional musicians who received yoga training for a summer reported less performance anxiety than control individuals. In a subsequent study, musicians who participated in an ongoing yoga program experienced less self-consciousness during performances and reported an easier time slipping into autotelic or “flow” states.

We all, I believe, have that craving for transcendence in our lives. There are days when we feel the weight of our self-consciousness as a burden. As I’ve mentioned before, we’re a curious, high maintenance, but fascinating lot of a species. A healthy life with all the wholesome trimmings – nourishing food, vigorous exercise, adequate sleep – only gets us so far. That’s why I harp on the concept of vitality as much as I do. It’s a different animal altogether, I think. There’s a major divide separating surviving versus thriving. Self-actualization, in all its myriad of forms, isn’t luxury. It’s downright obligatory. It’s instinctual. Whether we consciously prioritize it or not, we seek it out. It’s at the heart of our humanity, our evolutionary imperative. It behooved our ancestors, after all, to push themselves beyond mere subsistence living. Instinctive, adaptive curiosity was likely the mother of invention more than a preconceived notion of necessity was. How do we feed that instinct today? How do honor the need for concentration and competence? How do we lose ourselves to achieve that contentment and quiet center?

In the busyness of life, it can be hard to carve out time and focus, but perhaps our ability to experience flow depends less on separate efforts than on a mindset and organization we bring to many of those daily demands – work, hobbies, or fitness related endeavors. Flow isn’t about doing a particular thing as much as it is losing ourselves in it. The rhythm of snow shoveling (yes, even that with a little imagination), the creative inspiration of cooking, the abandon of a good hike or run, the precision or inventiveness of our work can all become fodder for flow. When we let go of the extraneous commentary in our heads, the resentment of the task at hand, the impatience with ourselves, we can bring a new engagement to the moment – and in the process perhaps be surprised.

Strength:

Rest

For Time:

Rest

Blogs Are For Elitists, Standing Firm Today Means Leaning Tomorrow, And Puppies Are Cute...

Caleb The Viking...

“When one is trying to do something beyond his known powers it is useless to seek the approval of friends. Friends are at their best in moments of defeat.”

I was accosted by an astute blog observer the other day, and had a quick yet exemplary conversation. A conversation that may make you a smile a little, and be ever so the prouder for taking the time to cruise this blog, learn its teaching, and do cool shit....for time.

Before I get to crazy far out let me ask this, is our blog intended for gardeners or any such profession? The answer may surprise you at being yes it most certainly is, if said gardner is interested in improving their lives and the lives of others through any means necessary. Let me state that again-THE MAIN INTENTION OF THIS BLOG IS TO MAKE EVERYONE READING IT BETTER THAN THEY WERE BEFORE THEY READ IT. Thus why I write about everything that I think can be usable to anyone, everywhere, somewhere, sometime. To illustrate here is a quote I pulled from this week:

 "I hope you realize that what you write will always be exactly what one of us out here reading needs to hear. Tonight it was me, so I just wanted to say thank you."

I feel compelled to write for one. If only one. I feel compelled to hope for all, and right for all, even if some are not ready.

The reason I tell you this is because the accost-er from above said sometimes they feel like I'm giving them "permission" to do certain things, or making "orders". Why this is not my intention I do feel frequently as though the writing contained here is guided somehow void of my own creatively, so if it seems a little "do this not that", it may be because that's what the voices in my head are telling me, and I just parrot it back.

On a like note, I do personally believe once you have done it, tested it, believe in it, and live it, you have full right to say currently, beyond a shadow of a doubt, "this is what I believe will help the majority of us today, the best I know how". "Tomorrow, I hope I know more, that it changes, I change, and we become even better for it".

Please never take our blog as preachings from a soulless pastor hell bent of beating the shit out of you with the bible of Paleo CF. But realize there are stances that need to be taken, some things are always just wrong, and justification is still the biggest weakness in all of society. Admittedly the mundane sub-par diet you follow is better than the perfect diet you do not, but a leader who stands beside you making justifications with you is not a leader taking a chance at being unpopular, poor, or wrong, in fact they aren't leader at all. The capacity of the leader is to show the way in all its glory as best they know how, making mistakes, taking their digs, studying, and trying again. Their job is to help others the best way they know how, but to never give up their integrity and make reasons for why wrong is ok. 

Granted their may be a few ways to get to the correct answer, and your correct answer may be slightly different because the problem your dealing with may also be different. But the point is, is that there is only one answer...one correct answer, for every problem.

This blog is truly elitist in the fashion that you must constantly be in the need of truth to respect it. You must be ok with others learning more everyday, and presenting new exciting, different things that may very well work better than the day before for you...but not necessary for everyone. This blog is elitist in the respect that it utilizes the help of massive amounts of teachers wanting the same things for all their friends and loved ones....the best. This blog is elitist because it wants you to pose questions, make suggestions, and help us all grow together, not buying into some kind of secret recipe idea we hold just for ourselves. I want it to help you, and I want you to help others, and I want reciprocity in the form of the exact same back to me.

Don't ever let this blog come off preachy. Let it remain just. Integrable. And worthy of the respect you pay by reading, experimenting and passing on helping some, waiting for others, and praying for all. Oh yeah, and puppies are cute.

*10am Saturday Skill Class 2/11=Snatch

Strength:

Rest

For Score:

"Partnered"

7-Burpee Pull-up

Max-Power Clean 95/135

AMRAP 7 Minutes

1 Minute Rest

7-Special Burpees

Max-Dips

AMRAP 7 Minutes

*One athlete works the required number, while the other athlete accumulates max reps for score. Total max reps of dips and power cleans for score.

Post teammate and score to comments.

Where Poems Come From...

Kara and Sam...

Whit...

“If there is to be any peace, it will come through being, not having”

Beauty can come from the oddest places if your eyes are open. Maybe if your eyes are open there is no such thing as odd. Maybe learning is always right in front of us, we just look at the outside, more than the inside.

Today on the radio you may flip straight through the latest hip hop jam. Today you may ignore a child's rambling.Today you may bypass a blogger's rhetoric. Today you may miss a poet laureate, dressed in a suit, dressed as a soldier, dressed in rags with booze, dressed a in Scooby-doo sweatshirt.

Rappers:

By far and away talking about the random number of women you scored with last night, the need to carry your nine just in case you have to pop a cap, or the necessary ass size requirements of your females posterior is nowhere near profound. However, your local hip hop station is not void of beauty, we are just usually to busy hating all because of some, or stuck on a beat not the lyrics.

As deluded as the grills, spinners, and bling may be, Lil Wayne tosses out a gem on many songs. And he isn't the only one. A gem that may simply make your day more valuable, or you more motivated, or at least make you think. The point is to disregard the package our little tatted ex-con presents his gifts in, and simply hear the poetic words he occasionally spews.

Don't be fooled to believe I disregard the value of abstinence when it comes to negativity, especially in a heavy amount of current Hip Hop hits. But I much rather believe we are not hot air balloons waiting for someone to blow smoke up our ass. But that we are able to discern the positive from the negative, and be unaffected leaving the shit that don't help on the shelves where it belongs.

South Park:

It's no secret I dig SP, Simpsons, Archer, and the like. It's also widely regarded as wasteful, meaningless watching that can promote stupidity. Yet its the only T.V I will watch, and to others, it may be the only T.V they won't watch...while smiling at American Idol.

South Park can be offensive to everyone. It is almost meant to be. It would be nice if we could laugh at ourselves a little more, and SP tries to teach that. If the Bible was tattered and dirty, would you disregard its teachings? If a sinner sins, can they no longer be of value to the masses? Can we not learn from a mistake? Does a cartoon voice, teach less than the voice from a pulpit?

Youngins:

"From the mouths of babes", I think is how the quote goes. Again I have no children, and maybe it is harder to pay attention to their ramblings when the majority of it is gibberish, but a dab of focus may be a pound of education.

On the rare occasions I am around my best friend's kids I find myself reading his vibrant eyes that can teach more than the majority of humans I find in a day. At least his eyes are active and alive....unlike many contacts we all find through the day. I find the older he gets, the more basics he repeats, and most of us still error on becoming exotic, before we ever mastered basic.

Boozing Bums:

Not every homeless person is an alcoholic, and not every alcoholic is homeless. They most certainly are not worthless to society, nor are they far from you or I. Some could look at them as one bad decision more than you or me. One experience worse than you or I. One day they they could not recover from.

Truly it is our job to recover regardless of the experience. Truly our reaction is entirely controlled, regardless our perception. But the painful truth is that they may be learning a lesson in the gutter. Or they may be teaching us a lesson, we may be too closed off to hear. 

A Poet Laureate can be defined as "an unofficial" position of acclaim. The examples above clearly hold unofficial positions, and they damn sure can't acclaim anything about themselves. Accolades come from those around listening. Accolades are given because we are listening. And even if your selfishly listening to any and every poem, regardless of its form, to gain something from any situation, maybe what you gain turns selfish, into selfless. 

Strength;

Push Press

2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2

Rest precisely 45 seconds between events, AHAP

For Time:

30-Hang Squat Clean 75/115

Rest 1 minute

500-Foot lunge

Rest 1 minute

75-Jumping Pull-ups

Post weight used in all intervals and add times together along with rest periods, post to comments.

Popeye Was Right: Why Spinach Makes More Muscles And The Sun Is Still Good...

Ryan and Jen Pre-Filthy...

After Filthy...

“We do not talk - we bludgeon one another with facts and theories gleaned from cursory readings of newspapers, magazines and digests.”

Lets face it, some of us won't mule it across the border to bring back enough testosterone and illegal thyroid hormones to make us a ripped walking supplement advertisement. Those of us unwilling to take the route of the cartel can simply chose to basque in Superman's power source and do a little Popeye cocaine, and still see some of the benefits with out customs.

As you may remember from posts past-Carbohydrates are about as necessary as punching Mother Teresa in the face, or "touching up" the Mona Lisa. Rarely do you need them, rarely are they worth a damn, and quite honestly avoiding them may cure cancer. Proven time and time again, a carbless Ketogenic diet illicits health out the ass, fat loss like never before and energy on top. So why are we talking about adding carbs when we usually RXD as little as possible?

Hormones, hormones, hormones, thats why. And some spinach added to our regular RXD Paleo diet of meat, nuts, seeds, coconut, and butter will not kick you out of Ketosis and halt all fat burning. We are recommending it because it may add to all the positive reasons we are on the Paleo diet in the first place.

Spinach contains Phytoecdysteroids. Did ya catch the last word? That's right, "plant gear". No, eating spinach may not out right produce mammoth forearms or beefy quads, but it may very well help us absorb more of that protein we ingest as the ever so pretty muscle we want it to become. In fact, this study shows a whopping 20% increase in protein synthesis due to to Spinach ingestion. 

Here's the fun part, no matter what you eat you absorb it. Carbs are almost always stored as fat due to activating the insulin storage hormone, fat is mainly energy and hard to turn to body fat, and protein is on the fence. Enough makes us muscular. And as you recall from our post here, too much glycates (turns to sugar) and makes you fat. Phytoecdysteroids works like any good hormone or steroid derivative by simple making more of the good you eat better. Just as injectable steroids don't do shit but make you better at absorbing your food the correct way. "Plant gear" makes meat better, just on a much smaller, thankfully legal scale.

Also the nutritional profile of Spinach is nothing to scoff at. In fact Spinach helps fight against anemia, eye disorders, tooth and gum issues, and cancer prevention to say the least. But Popeye was only part and parcel of the entirety. Remember the prefix- "Phyto"ecdysteroids. Essentially having to do with our beautiful sunlight. So much so that sun was the source of Superman's power. 

So whats any self respecting health nut to do to take full advantage of Popeye and Superman's powers. Simply add Vit-D to the mix of the Spinach you will now knock out occasionally.

Vit-D is not a Vitamin. Its labeled that way because Americans won't buy hormone-D. At least here in Ohio it a little chilly for natural Vitamin D exposure, so supplementing with it daily until your D-levels reach 50ng/nl can make a world of muscle building, performance enhancing, and fat losing difference. 

Vit-D is a precursor to testosterone just as cholesterol is, and no matter the propaganda of D.A.R.E, testosterone is good. It makes you euphoric, relaxed, and lean. Lack thereof starts wars. Hence why little pudgy guys are always pissed off...Hitler, Napoleon, Kim Jong II. You wouldn't confuse them with the ever smiling testosterone amped young Arnold...or today Stallone for that matter.

So make sure your stocks are shelved with bottled Superman (vit-D). Taking anywhere from 4000- 10,000iu daily is cool until your blood levels reach the above stated amount. And toss in Spinach to your otherwise perfect Paleo program at the charge of roughly every other day, in no more than 30 grams worth of carbohydrates. Don't pass up the chance to be more like Lois Lane's lover in a sailor suit with anchor tattoos...who doesn't dream of that?

Strength:

Rest

For Score:

1-Push-up

2-Sit-ups

1-Power Snatch Heavy

2-Push-ups

4-Sit-ups

1-Power Snatch Heavy

-Continue as such until time

15 Minute AMRAP

Post where abbots you ended, and weight you used.