Sports Fitness

Rest Day Mobility Skill: High Hang Snatch Catch up Day Post results to comments

I am in the midst of GAIN withdrawal syndrome. What is that? Well it is actually pretty simple, after you spend five days with highly motivated coaches, therapists and teachers who are hungry to learn and willing to share and you leave there is a very empty feeling. It is so stimulating and uplifting to be in that environment that it is difficult to return to the daily routine. Only 12 more months until GAIN 2014! Fortunately we have a GAIN forum and Google + community to continue to share ideas and continue the GAIN experience. GAIN has grown and evolved in the past five years into a very special experience for professional development. The days are long without breaks, so that it is a total immersion in athletic development. In many ways GAIN is defined by what it is not, it is not a course in the traditional sense of the word, it is certainly not a boot camp, it is not a clinic, the best way I can describe it is it is an experience. It is what Seth Godin calls a tribe, a learning circle where everyone may not agree but they agree to disagree civilly and in a manner that fosters learning. The faculty is the best people in their fields who are actually producing results working with athletes and teaching physical education. They are totally accessible to attendees at all times. Rather than try to capture the whole GAIN experience in one post (That would not do it justice) I will write subsequent posts on the presentations and the lessons from this years GAIN. If you are interested in attending next year mark the second week of June on your calendar, enrollment is limited and it is open by application only. Our goal is define the field of athletic development and change that world.

The Top Endurance Exercises Athletes have become bigger and stronger and are in better shape nowadays, and the trend towards endurance training has only accelerated this phenomenon. It used to be that a baseball player, for example, would focus on exercises specifically designed to improve the specific skill set that they needed to succeed on [...] Related posts: Ramp Up Your Conditioning With Speed Interval Workouts How to Mix HIIT and Endurance Cardio High Intensity Intervals are Far Superior to Endurance Cardio

Press 3-3-3-3-3 Then, Bottom to bottom Tabata SquatsImmediately followed by a 1600m Run time trial Post loads, reps and time to comments. Log results online (Beyond the Whiteboard)   

I like numbers, facts, and use them to inform my business and life decisions. S I’m come to the conclusion that $50 is more expensive than $189. Here is my case. I do not have unlimited funds so I shop around like anyone else for services. However, since starting CrossFit, I shop around a lot less. When I see a good service that will deliver the results I’m looking for, I now tend to pull the trigger and go with it. So far, very happy with this change in habit and attitude. There is a long list of reasons why people don’t do CrossFit. One of them is CrossFit is clearly 3-5 times more costly than a traditional gym membership. $189/$50 = 3.78. Fact. I would hope that a CrossFit gym is 3-5 times more effective! Effectiveness in a gym membership can be measured in many ways. One clear measure is attendance. If you don’t come to the gym, you aren’t training. So lets look at attendance at a CrossFit gym versus traditional gym. In a given week at CrossFit Portland, 73% of our members come and are coached through their training sessions. Most come to at least 3 classes. Compare this to one example I’ve learned about at a traditional gym. 20,000 members, 700 use the gym in a week. 3.5% of the members used the gym – those are staggering odds against your fitness goals! Cost = $189/$50 = CrossFit is 3.78 times the cost of a traditional gym. Attendance = 73%/3.5% = At CrossFit, you are 21 times more likely to show up. You decide which membership costs more.

STRONG Push Press 3-3-3 WOD 5 RFT 6 Shoulder to overhead 95/135 6 Box over jumps 28/36

All of the pictures that Ezra took at Regionals (and a handful of Sharon's) are up on the facebook page. Go see Sandy stuff her face, lot's of butt shots, a few high-5's, and a whole bucnh of awesome friends. Regional pictures are here! 

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves." - Lao TzuSandi PantsWhich fellow athletes inspire you to be better? Push you to be better than yesterday? Who lead by example? Keep you motivated and positive?Who do you look up to?----WOD for Wednesday 6/19STRENGTHpress 5x3CONDITIONINGas many reps as possible in 10 minutes:100m run25 russian-style kbsScore is total kettlebell swings.Rest 2 minutesas many reps as possible in 1 minute:seated press, 20/15kgPost both scores to whiteboard/comments/Cody.--------

by Kevin DiDonato, MS, CSCS, CES Our bodies contain two types of testosterone. One is the kind that is bound to a type of hormone and is responsible for dictating to the body how much free testosterone there is. The other form is testosterone that is free and unbound, and is the form of testosterone that is metabolized by the cells for use. The job of testosterone is important in the body. Testosterone helps aid in development of different systems in the body from the skin, kidneys, and muscular development. Testosterone development and secretion start when we are infants, shuts down production for a little bit of time, and then picks back up during, and after, puberty. The normal level of testosterone in the body is 18.0 nmol• L which slowly decreases as we age. By the time we hit our 60s, the level of testosterone in the body can drop as low as 12.0 nmol• L. Decreased levels can result in brittle bones, increased adipose tissue (abdominal fat), and increased mortality rates from cardiovascular disease. There are ways to increase testosterone levels naturally, and fight back to regain the swagger that you had in your 20s. Here are 4 ways that you can naturally boost your testosterone levels. Exercise Heavy resistance exercise has been shown to not only help strengthen bones and increase muscle size and strength, but now you can increase testosterone levels, especially in middle-aged men. Research done by Häkkinen et al, demonstrated that the benefits of heavy resistance training in young and middle-aged men significantly increased testosterone levels. The protocol that was used was 5 sets with varying intensity for a maximum of 10 repetitions. For men 70 plus, there were no changes in the level of circulating testosterone after the heavy strength training. Research done by Loebel et al. concluded after researching different articles that resistance exercise is responsible for increasing muscle size and strength, due in part to increases in free testosterone in the body. They also noted that post exercise there might possibly be an increase in testosterone levels due, in part, to steroid synthesis or release from the Leydig cells, which are mainly responsible for production of testosterone in the body. Over training is a phenomenon which has a negative effect on testosterone levels. Research done by Wheeler et al. concluded that endurance training in marathon runners resulted in decreases in testosterone levels, but not to very low levels. So if you are thinking about getting back into the gym and working out again, take it slow and let your body adapt to the fitness training. Do not try to go full board at first, because that can lead to over training and increases your risk of injury. Start slowly and incorporate strength training into your routine to help your muscles get stronger, but to also increase your testosterone levels. Diet Everywhere you turn, there is another low-fat alternative or low-fat diet coming onto the market, with each one geared at helping you to lose weight through healthy and sensible food options. However, low fat might not be the best thing for a person with low testosterone levels. Research by Volek et al. concluded in their findings that monounsaturated fat and saturated fat dramatically increased testosterone levels to 62 and 59% respectively. Research done by Dorgan et al. concluded that a diet high in fat and low in fiber resulted in a 15% increase in testosterone-bound hormones. This means that there are more bound testosterone which can become free testosterone in the blood to be metabolized. There are plenty of ways to increase fat into your diet. Adding foods that are high in monounsaturated fats may possibly increase your testosterone levels. Olive oil, almonds, peanuts, avocados, and pecans are all sources that provide a serving of