Sports Fitness

WOD For time: 100 Pull ups 100 Kettlebell swings 55/70 100 Double unders

"Omar" For time: 95 pound barbell Thrusters, 10 15 Bar-facing burpees 95 pound barbell Thrusters, 20 25 Bar-facing burpees 95 pound barbell Thrusters, 30 35 Bar-facing burpees Post time to comments. Enlarge image U.S. Army First Lieutenant Omar Vazquez, 25, of Hamilton, New Jersey, assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, based in Fort Hood, Texas, died of...

7 rounds for time: 12 Sumo Deadlift High Pull, 50kg(35kg)12 Push Press, 50kg(35kg) Post time to comments. Log results online (Beyond the Whiteboard)  

This article is guest blogged by Mat Herold, a former D-1 soccer player and certified strength and conditioning coach with a Masters of Science degree in Exercise Physiology.  Visit his website at www.empoweredathletes.com Mat also wrote Lionel Messi’s 40 Yard Dash and Olympic Lifts for Soccer Players and From Soccer Player To Jumper: 1 Year, 14 Lessons Later If you recall my last episode on SpeedEndurance TV titled Top 5 Weight Training Exercises for Sprinters, you’ll notice there were a lot of comments regarding variations. So here is another list with explanations. What are YOUR Top 5 exercises? My Top 5 Exercises In The Weight Room 1. Squats When I first started learning about how weight training can improve athletic power, squats were always mentioned as the king of lower body training. I got my squat poundage up a bit and low and behold, my acceleration and jumping performances improved. At the high school where I was working as a strength coach, every athlete who had a good vertical jump and a good 40 time had a good back squat relative to their build. (I say “build” because some tall lengthy guys who don’t necessarily have the biggest squats display their strength very well on the field or track). Then I started reading about single leg training and how the bilateral squat was dependent upon back strength and not so much on leg strength. It was also a time when I was lacking a lot of understanding in my own training and I got into the habit of testing too often. Needless to say, I was experiencing some back pain and so, for awhile I abandoned the back squat. Eventually, when I started getting into jumping as a goal, after a lot of research and training myself and others, two things became apparent to me: Anyone outside of athletic freaks who never lift (who within a week could probably back squat tons of weight) anyone I saw who achieved massive gains on their vertical jumps off of two legs did so by increasing their back squat. The ability to back squat deep with good form is a good indicator of injury prevention and structural balance. In addition, with proper mobility in place, while yes a bilateral back squat will always require some back strength and spinal stability, it is still dependent on it’s prime movers; the legs. 2. Walking Lunges/Bulgarian split squats I love these exercises. They do things the back squat cannot. Having one leg trailing works hip extension in the front leg a bit differently than bilateral exercises…part of this being that you can really cover distance from front to back in the transverse plane with the lead leg. These single leg superstars require a tremendous amount of stability in the frontal plane at the ankle and knee joints as well. 3. Glut-ham raises For top speed sprinting, for knee health, for preventing hamstring injuries, and for hypertrophy in the hamstrings, I find a lot of value in these. Fast folks have powerful glutes and hamstrings, and this is a great way to train the latter. By lowering with heavier weight than coming back up and/or dropping in and rebounding back up, one can really train the eccentric aspect of the hamstrings. 4. RDL/Back Extensions I love these for top speed and training overall hip extension. The back extension loads the glutes similarly to a hip thrust in the end range of hip extension or antero-posteriorly. By varying tempos and sometimes working on “bouncing” out of the bottom with lighter loads, these can be a great reactive exercise as well. 5. Hip flexion with a cable Resisted hip flexion has been proven in one study to get athletes faster. Usain Bolt is supposed to have one of the thickest and strongest hip flexors and his coach Glen Mills believes in the hip flexors being important for speed and posture for speed. Bonus! Step ups for strength and and step up jumps (loaded and unloaded) at various heights – these are great but require a range of box or bench heights. Higher boxes work the glutes and hamstrings more while l

Despite an increase in those having a yoga exercise regime, little research exists on the relationship between yoga exercise and its effect on cognitive function. A new study, published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, examined the effects of an acute yoga exercise session, relative to aerobic exercise, on cognitive performance and came up with some surprising results. In the study, 30 female university-aged participants completed three counterbalanced testing sessions: a yoga exercise session, an aerobic exercise session and a baseline assessment. The results showed that cognitive performance after the yoga exercise bout was significantly superior (ie, shorter reaction times, increased accuracy) as compared with the aerobic and baseline conditions for both inhibition and working memory tasks. What is more, the results revealed that there was little difference between aerobic and baseline performance, contradicting some of the previous findings that aerobic exercise significantly increased mental performance. Source: The Journal of Physical Activity Filed under: Academic News, Fitness News

How were you introduced to Crossfit? My girlfriend, Cami Kwan, works out at CrossFit Fort Vancouver. My senior year of high school, she told me about it and suggested I joined CrossFit Portland. I was really nervous at first, especially because, at 17, I was the youngest one there, but I got to know all the wonderful people here and now I love it! How has CrossFit changed your life? CrossFit has shown me that working out can be fun. It doesn’t have to be a miserable experience. Don’t get me wrong, CrossFit is wicked hard, but the people I’m with make it so enjoyable, and help push me to do my best. Now that I do CrossFit, I feel equipped to take care of myself physically, even when I’m away from Portland. I have always wanted to: See the aurora borealis in person! One word people use to describe me: Tall What do you do for work and fun outside of Crossfit?: Currently, I’m going to school near Philadelphia, at Swarthmore College. I’m studying computer science, and I work part-time at the grill in our dining hall and for the arboretum on campus. I’m also part of a video game design club and I dabble in photography. This summer, I’ll be working as Art Director at a summer camp in California, The Lair of the Golden Bear. Something nobody knows about me or would be surprised to know about me Most people are surprised to learn that I was born in Juneau, Alaska! We moved to Portland when I was four. Song that gets me pumped for a workout: Lucky Strike – Maroon 5 Proudest Accomplishment: Last year at camp, I won the awards for Hardest Worker and Rookie of the Year, voted on by the rest of the staff! I was so honored to be recognized like that!

From top-left clockwise: Colin B, Max F, Ben L, Herman W, Sean K, and AB----WOD for Tasty Tuesday 5/21GYMNASTICSplay with freestanding handstands for 10 minutesCONDITIONINGHBD Hermanas many reps as possible in 20 minutes:12 air squats12 pullups12 air squats12 knees-to-elbows12 air squats21 double undersWish Herman a Happy Birthday and post rounds to whiteboard/comments/Cody.----Breakfast!----

CrossFit Kids

MAX EFFORTShoulder Press 1 rep maxWOD5 rounds for time of: 6 push/split Jerks 135/959 Box jumps 30/24Post loads and times to comments....

Mid-Day Muscle Snatch: doubles with Monday Sn MTR – (>85%)  3-2-2 4×2 Snatch + Hang Snatch (Below the Knee): 3-4 singles with MTR 3-2- 3-4×1 Power Clean and Push Jerk: singles with MTR  3-2- 4×1 Power Clean (Press Grip / Curl Grip) and Push Press: singles with MTR 3-2- 4×1 Low Snatch Pulls: triples with Sn MTR + 20 kilos 4×3 High Clean Pulls (from rack): triples with CJ MTR + 20 kilos 4×3 Abdominals Hyperextension Stretching