“Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.”
—Chinese Proverb (via shmennifer)
July 2011
June 2011
“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson,
“It is one of the strange ironies in this strange life that those who work the hardest, who subject themselves to the strictest discipline, who give up certain pleasurable things in order to achieve a goal are the happiest men.”
—
Brutus Hamilton
Quote shared by the amazing and strong Michele
(via christinadoeslife)
“I take a vitamin every day. It’s called a steak.”
—Leo Benvenuti & Steve Rudnick (via primaltoad)
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I've become really interested in yoga lately and you've sparked me to maybe find instructors in my area. I don't really know what to look for, all I know is that there are so many yoga classes and franchises and schools that seem sham to me. What should I be looking for?
With so many yoga schools in your area, you should feel free to shop around. I live in NYC and there is this thing called the Yoga Passbook which gives you coupons to hundreds of yoga studios. Also every city has a lululemon store which highlights many great yoga teachers. Be adventurous and go out there and try a bunch of teachers and different classes at different studios. Ask your friends to bring you to their favorite class. You’ll find something you like. Just don’t take one class and judge all classes by that one teacher/class/experience because there is a WIDE array of different styles out there.
Good luck.
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Master Class with Glenn Black
Master Class with Glenn Black.
Glenn Black is my kind of yoga teacher… because he doesn’t really teach yoga. Rather, I should say, he doesn’t teach asana (poses). He teaches awareness which is the true nature of yoga practice. To be truly aware of your body, your breath, your movement, your mind, your thoughts, this is what it means to do yoga, not to simply stretch. Don’t get me wrong, Glenn Black can stretch like a contortionist, but he teaches simple basic movements and encourages you to experience your body in the most basic of positions and hold them…and hold them…and hold them.
He is sarcastic and makes quips and jibes and pokes fun at you for not being able to hold your arms over your head or for not being able to sit still. He calls into question your abilities as a yoga practitioner and teacher. He asks a lot of your body and makes you question why you want to practice this thing called yoga.
I have studied with Glenn maybe 4 or 5 times now. He has definitely mellowed over the years. Also this was the shortest class I have ever taken with him so I don’t feel as beat up as I have in the past. Nonetheless, I have to wonder what the hell I’ve been doing with my body over the last few years, because I don’t think I’m any better at any of the things that he made me do 3 or 4 years ago.
The reason I keep finding my way back to Glenn is that he embodies what I strive for: virtuosity. He does the common things uncommonly well.
I had to travel down the CrossFit path for a while, but now I see how the road leads back to my teachers Glenn Black and Jill Miller and how the concepts they teach weave themselves into CrossFit because good movement is good movement. I want to move better and teach people to move better. The more I work with Kelly Starrett, Jill Miller and Glenn Black and others, the better I get at teaching and the more I recognize good movement and can conjure it.
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Workout 2011.06.28
Gymnastics
Tabata Ring Dips
5, 5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 3, 3
Lifting
Snatch
8 sets of 2
Cut short at 105. Had to leave to do yoga.
MetCon
30, 20, 10 reps for time of:
Overhead Reverse Lunges, 95lbs
Pull-ups
6:38
“We shouldn’t take anything about the way we move for granted.”
—Kelly Starrett
Interview with John Danaher →
fightswewant.com
Danaher is one of the best teachers I have studied with in any discipline. I am very happy for his success.
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“The thought manifests as the word; The word manifests as the deed; The deed develops into habit; And habit hardens into character. So watch the thought and its ways with care, And let it spring from love. Born out of concern for all beings.”
—Buddha
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Workout 2011.06.27
Level 2 (7:30pm)
Skill
Ring Rows
3 sets of 10 with side plank with scapular retractions
Strength
Box Squat
8 sets of 2
245 w/ 2 sets of chains per side
MetCon
21, 15, 9
Box Jumps, 24”
Handstand Push-ups
15:18 Better than last time.
I really should have warmed up my handstand pushups before starting that workout. Went into the first HSPU and it felt terrible and went downhill from there.
“Nine requisites for contented living: Health enough to make work a pleasure. Wealth enough to support your needs. Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them. Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them. Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished. Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor. Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others. Faith enough to make real the things of God. Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.”
—Johann von Goethe
“Someone once asked me what I regarded as the three most important requirements for happiness. My answer was: ‘A feeling that you have been honest with yourself and those around you; a feeling that you have done the best you could both in your personal life and in your work; and the ability to love others.’”
—Eleanor Roosevelt
“All is well. You did not come here to fix a broken world. The world is not broken. You came here to live a wonderful life. And if you can learn to relax a little and let it all in, you will begin to see the universe present you with all that you have asked for.”
—Esther Hicks
“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.”
—Swami Vivekananda
“For true success ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?”
—James Allen
2 PRs in 2 days
“I was always stronger a week or two after a meet or a week or two before the meet, but very seldom on meet day.” Louie Simmons
I guess hitting 2 PRs right after Regionals is not such an odd occurrence in light of what Louie says. You train hard and correctly and you should hit a peak. I think I just hit mine. The beauty of this little peak is that I hit a PR in a running MetCon (“Helen”) and in a heavy strength MetCon (“DT”). That means I have not only increased my speed, but also my strength. That makes me feel good. Makes me think this stuff is working.
Now I need a rest day.
Workout 2011.06.24
“DT”
5 rounds for time of:
12 Deadlifts, 155lbs
9 Hang Power Cleans, 155lbs
6 Push Jerks, 155lbs
12:13 PR
I tried to follow a pacing strategy that would allow me to finish under 10 minutes. It went well for about 6 minutes and then the wheels came off. Go every 20 seconds: 6 DL, 5DL, 4HPC, 4HPC, 3PJ, 3PJ. Each round would take just under 2 minutes if you follow that pace. Unfortunately, I fatigued on the jerks and got behind at the end of round 3. Once I was off the clock I just rested as needed. Basically the last 2 rounds took me as long as the first 3 rounds. I don’t feel so bad. I think sub 10 is still realistic but I need to work on my pressing strength. I definitely think all the handstand pushup practice made me stronger, but I’m still not quite there.
I am fairly certain this is a PR but tumblr sucks and I can’t search for my old times. Oh wait! Here’s a previous effort. But seeing as this puts me first on the leaderboard, I assume it’s my best yet.
Also decided that tonight was a good night to break in my new wrist wraps. They certainly helped on the PJs.
“Come to me with tales of a 900 pound back squat, and I know already of some very serious limitations to your fitness. Come to me with a 4:15 mile - I am suspicious of your total capacities. But, if you tell me you’ve got a 650 pound back squat, and with a twinkle in your eye, about a 4:50 mile - I know we’ve got a monster.”
—Greg Glassman
The Dumbest Way To Pick a Personal Trainer →
gawker.com
“Here’s a dumb reason to pick a personal trainer: because they look good in a tight shirt. That’s why you make out with someone. That’s not why you take their advice about fitness.”
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“Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.”
—Brian Adams
“We got 15 year-old kids deadlifting 435 for triples, Mikko doing King Kong AMRAP for 20 minutes, dude’s doing 325lb thrusters, Austin Malleolo doing Regionals WOD 3 under 3 minutes…. We’re all playing catch-up. There CAN’T be an off-season.”
—Chris Ryan
Workout 2011.06.23
“Helen”
3 rounds for time of:
400m Run
21 Kettlebell Swings, 24kg
12 Pull-ups
8:34 PR
Damn it feels good to get a PR! Went out of the gate really fast and didn’t think I could maintain the intensity. Held it together. Runs were all fast. Kettlebell swings were unbroken. Pull-ups were broken but fast.
“If you aren’t a Games athlete, you are just exercising. Get a grip!”
—Freddy Camacho of CrossFit One World
“Through our great good fortune, in our youth our hearts were touched with fire. It was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a profound and passionate thing.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes
T Nation Weighs in on Push-ups. →
t-nation.com
Push-ups get no respect.
While other bodyweight exercises like chin-ups and dips boast devoted fans from all corners of the industry, the lowly push-up is the veritable red-headed step-child of the strength and conditioning world.
Never Stop Trying →
games.crossfit.com
This is so painful to watch but so fucking inspiring.
Just Do The Program →
bodyrecomposition.com
You know what? CrossFit works. Shut up and do the program. Stop messing around and trying to outsmart me and outsmart everyone else that’s getting great results with it. Just do the program.
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CrossFit Virtuosity getting some love on NY1 News →
ny1.com
“I believe the first box to start here was Crossfit NYC that’s in Manhattan and then you had another box which started here in Brooklyn and now you have Crossfit South Brooklyn, you have Crossfit Virtuosity, you have Crossfit 7-1-8, you have Crossfit Marine Park,” said Darren Taylor of CrossFit DUMBO.
“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”
— Judy Garland
