A big thanks to Troy (Tyler’s younger brother) for putting together his 30th birthday post.

Today is Tyler’s 30th birthday. If you know us at all, were not those brother’s that get all emotional and hug and cheer each other on for all to see. We work together, we were roommates for 5 years, and we started cross fit together. We push each other to new heights in everything we do. After talking with a friend at cross fit South Bay, we tried one workout with Ruth and Sean back in March 2011 and were instantly hooked. Being the younger brother, my goal has always been to defeat Tyler, unfortunately its easier said than done. Tyler is one of those athlete’s that doesn’t stretch, roll, spend extra time on skill work, doesn’t enjoy running but is fast as hell, and doesn’t get tired mid work out. He can push through pain, and “destrominate” work outs no matter what it is (even rowing). He mastered muscle ups in a day, and dubs in a few weeks. Both took me months and frustrated the crap out of me, yet he was the one that gave me the extra pointers to figure them out. He has brought more new faces to the gym then anyone I can think of. Not all of them lasted but he is always spreading the word about Intrepid, how great of a workout it is and the results you will see. Tyler has come a long way from his old nickname of Bulldozer. He has matured and turned into a great athlete, brother, friend, and future husband to his fiancé Liz. The only thing he may love as much as Liz is surfing. He is the only person I know that commits to surfing 5 times a week rain or shine, weather its 50 degrees or 90 degrees if there’s waves you know where he is at. He also enjoys beach days, bike rides, and his latest obsession FOOD. Just ask Chef. Anyways Happy Birthday Tyler, I love you and you’re a great person to look up to, that is however when I am not looking back at you in a WOD.- Troy

Head down to Laguna Hills High School today and cheer on Josh, Brian, Michael, Jake, and Holley as they take on the Next Level Invitational CrossFit competition. Best of luck gang! See you down there!

WOD 2.04.12

Deck of Cards
In Teams of 3-5:
Hearts: Push Ups
Spades: Box Jumps
Diamonds: Sit Ups w/weight or T2B
Clubs: Squats (can be sandbag or goblet)

Today marks the last official day of the Intrepid Whole 30 Challenge (just in time for the big game right!?). Please don’t go off of the deep end and go crazy eating every junk food known to man. Be smart about how you reintroduce foods and get even more in tune with how your body reacts to the gradual reintroduction of non-W30 foods. Got it? Good.

Being that I’m a Buffalo boy, I love me some good chicken wings. Especially for the super bowl. So I’ve been hard at work in the kitchen looking for ways to clean up one of my gameday favorites. Here’s what I’ve come up with:
Option 1: Baked Wings

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
• Lay the chicken wings on a cookie sheet or flat pan and brush with olive oil.  Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
• Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes and flip
• Bake another 10-15 minutes until they begin to brown and crisp

Option 2: Fried Wings

• Heat coconut oil in a deep fryer, wok, or pot so that at least a few wings are completely covered.  I used a wok so I could only fry about 3-4 wings per batch.  The upside is that I didn’t use all of our coconut oil for one batch of wings.  The downside is that it takes much longer depending on how many wings you’re making.
• The oil is ready when you hear it start to sizzle.
• Add the wings to the hot oil but please be careful as the oil can splatter
• Keep an eye on the wings and flip them at least once, usually about 3-5 minutes into the frying
• The wings are done when they start to brown

Sauce:

No matter which method you choose for cooking the wings, the method I used for the sauce is the same.  I tried 2 sauce recipes, one using Ghee and one using coconut oil, and Ruth and I both seem to enjoy the ghee better.  Traditional Buffalo wing sauce uses butter, but as we know from the past month butter is less than ideal, so ghee is a pretty close alternative while still giving the wings some flavor.

• If the ghee or coconut oil is solid, melt it in a small bowl in the microwave.  If it is already liquid then simply pour into a small bowl or cup and skip the melting.

•  The best tasting clean Buffalo style hot sauce I’ve come across is the Tabasco brand Buffalo hot sauce.  Simple, clean, and tastes great.  Once the ghee or coconut oil is melted just add the sauce to suit your taste.  Mix in the sauce thoroughly.

• Once the sauce is ready, put the chicken wings into large mixing bowl, add the sauce and toss the wings around in the bowl until they’re slathered in sauce.
• Serve and devour!

Intrepid W30 Finale Workout
Max Rep Deadlift at 85% of 1RM
Rest at least 2 mins
Max Strict Pullups
Rest at least 2 mins
Sprint around the block for time

*For those still eligible to win the challenge be sure to take your “after” photos before leaving today

Josh and I did our first crossfit workout back east in MA with is kid brother—Fight Gone Bad.  Pretty painful but at least we did not vomit as others did.  I wasn’t so sure about the crossfit thing after that.  Josh on the other hand started doing his own workouts following WODs online at his school’s gym.  Poor sucker that did it with him.  It took me longer to come around but I’m glad I did.

Happy Birthday to you, Josh.  We love you–signed Tami, Alex, and little Joshua (future Intrepids)

Come down to Laguna Hills High School in Orange County this Saturday to cheer on Josh, Brian, Jake, Michael H., and Holley during the Next Level Invitational CrossFit competition. Location is 25401 Paseo de Valencia, Laguna Hills, CA 92653. The events will run most of the day so if you make it down, wear your shirt and look for the Intrepid camp site.

Then 2 rounds of 1 minute stations:
Ball Slams
Double Unders
Row for Calories
Hang Power Snatches
Tire Flips

Cash Out:
Farmer’s Walks

Every journey has a beginning, everyone has their own baggage they have to deal with along the way, and everyone starts their journey at a different point.  Take it one day at a time, set goals, and keep chipping away.  Before you know it, you’ll look back in your notebooks and realize how far you’ve come and at the same time how much lies ahead.  It’s a cool, yet humbling, feeling and it opens your eyes to what hard work, a positive attitude, and perseverance can accomplish.

WOD 1.28.12

• Lack of sleep increases inflammatory markers in your body, and chronically high inflammation has been linked to autoimmune disease, impaired metabolism and diabetes, and some types of cancer.  Also, lack of sleep weakens the immune system making you more susceptible to illness.
• Through hormonal interactions, lack of sleep can lead to the body feeling hungry more often and craving more carbohydrates oftentimes leading to poorer food choices.
• Sleep improves your recovery from training and improves strength building via secretions of growth hormone and testosterone that only occurs during your slumber.
• Sleep deprivation of 1-2 nights leads to a noticeable deterioration in psychomotor performance, meaning you know that you’re not up to part after not sleeping well after a night or two.  However, when compared to a milder sleep deprivation (only 6 hrs/night), over a sustained period of time, the decrease in motor performance is similar but the athlete’s perception is significantly reduced.  This means they do not recognize their performance is lackluster and less than thriving.
• Our lifts and workouts have a huge neurological component to them and if your central nervous sysem not only from yesterday’s workout but also your lack of sleep, you’re setting yourself up for a rough day at the gym.  It has been shown that athletes perform better on skill based movements after getting “extra”, likely due to the recovery their CNS gets.

Now that many of you have made it a priority to eat better this past month, start moving sleep up towards the top and do yourself a favor.  Not only for the benefits highlighted in Dallas’ article, but also for the improved quality of life.  If you’re looking for another way to help yourself reach your goals, it doesn’t get much easier than improving your sleep habits.  Other Intrepid articles to peruse on sleep are:  Enter Sandman, Siesta Anyone?, When Red Lights are a Good Thing, Jet Lag, Battling the Z-Monster, & Perchance to Dream.

By popular demand we have opened a Friday 7pm Group Class. It’s available now to sign up so get your weekend started on the right track with a great workout!

WOD 1.25.12

Snatch: Work up to a Heavy Double

AMRAP 4:
8 Wall Ball Shots
10 Sit Ups

Rest 2 Minutes

AMRAP 4:
5 Power Cleans
10 Toes to Bar

CrossFit is becoming increasingly popular as the means for people to test their competitive mettle. The “sport” aspect of CrossFit can be debated, but as coaches we just want you to compete in something. Whether you play soccer, basketball, ultimate frisbee, run half-marathons, or compete in CrossFit competitions, having a competition on the horizon helps to focus your training and push you past the complacency that might set in otherwise.

As you’ve likely heard, many Intrepids have found their way into competing in CrossFit and the 2012 CrossFit competition season kicks into high gear on February 22 with the five-week, five-workout CrossFit Games Open. Each week a workout will be posted on the CrossFit Games website and athletes will have the remainder of the week to complete the workout, post their scores online, and have the score verified by the affiliate they worked out at or a judge online if they submit a video. Scaling is allowed, however, in order to be eligible to advance to the next level workouts must be completed as they’re written. Each week, the workout will be announced on Wednesday at 5 p.m. PT (starting February 22). Everyone will have until the following Sunday at 5 p.m. PT to complete that week’s workout and submit their score. You can do the workout at your local affiliate or film your attempt from any gym, a garage, or park.

Once you submit your workouts to the Games site, you’ll be able to find your rank, both worldwide and in your region. You get one point for each place (i.e. five points for 5th place) for each workout. Your overall score is the sum of all the workout scores, and lowest total points wins. You can compete both as an Individual and on a Team. Individuals are divided between men and women, and Masters are divided by gender and age.

The individual athletes and teams that perform the best across the five Open workouts, in each of the 17 regions, will be invited to compete at the second stage of the Games, the Regionals. The top 20 Masters in each age and gender category will earn an automatic spot at the Games in July.

Everyone in the world is invited to participate to see how they stack up. Tens of thousands of athletes from every continent will visit affiliates and submit videos in the quest to prove their fitness. If this is something that you’re even remotely interested in I encourage you to talk with one of the Intrepid coaches. Athletes must be registered as individuals in order to compete as a team, and teams for regionals consist of 3 men and 3 women. Registration opens up on Feb 1, 2012 so give it some thought and let us know if you’d like to sign up.

WOD 1.21.12

In teams of 4:
Complete:
12 rope climbs
40 hspu
200 box jumps
2k row
12 muscle ups or 48 ring dips
400 dubs
C/o Bonus: Traverse one lap around the pull up bars.

On January 28-29th, the Los Angeles Fitness Expo is going to be at the LA Convention Center in Downtown LA. Last year a group of Intrepids made it out to cheer on Ruth who was competing at the American Record Makers Weightlifting Competition, which is just one of the many competitions held at the LA Fitness Expo.

Once you get past the freakish bodybuilders, models with a few too many plastic surgeries promoting the most obscure products, and the realization of the commercialized nightmare that has become the fitness industry you’ll find that there are a number of interesting exhibitions and competitions at the Fitness Expo to be aware of:

• 2012 American Record Makers Olympic Weightlifting Competition (men lift 12pm Sat, women lift 12pm Sun)
• All-American Strongman Challenge
• CrossFit Kids Obstacle Course and “The Gauntlet” (CF Kids teen competition)
• USPA American Cup Powerlifting Invitational
• Other Bench Press and Deadlift competitions
• Adult and youth Brazilian Ju Jitsu Tournaments
• Mixed Martial Arts Exhibitions
• Paleo Diet Seminar (Sunday 1100-1130) & Ancestral Wellness Seminar (Sunday 2-2:30pm)

These are just the ones that stood out to me as I glanced over the list on thefitexpo.com website.  I couldn’t find details as to the times of each competition but they typically start shortly after the expo opens for the day.  The floor plan can be seen here to get an idea of where the major areas are that lists all the booths as well.  Hours on Saturday Jan 28th are from 9:30am-6:30pm and on Sunday from 10am-5pm.  Tickets are $20 but we have fliers for $5 off at the gym by the notebooks so grab one even if you’re only mildly interested just in case you’re looking for something to do over that weekend.

Here are some of the competitions from last year:

WOD 1.18.12

Jerk 2-2-2-2

Pick Your Poison:

4 Rounds:
100m Sandbag Run
8 Heavy Kettlebell Swings
16 Sledgehammer Strikes

OR:

4 Rounds:
200m Run
14 Kettlebell Swings
18 Ball Slams

For all the Intrepids going strong on the Whole 30, Congratulations! You’ve made it through two weeks and the food logs are looking pretty good. I’ve already seen impressive gains with your pullups and am looking forward to the end of the challenge to see how everyone does.  Keep up the great work guys and gals!

If this is your first rodeo, folks around you might be wondering why you’ve been eating differently lately.  And I know you have done your research reading our various Nutrition posts and don’t mind discussing with others, but if you’re like me I can only go into it so many times before I’m simply tired of hearing myself talk and debating with others. Here’s a simple video I recently posted on CrossFit Inland Valley’s blog that does a nice job breaking down the logic behind much of the “why” behind our nutritional recommendations and is simple enough so just about anyone can get the gist of it.

Next time someone is curious about your new eating habits simply tell them you’ll forward them a video link and viola, you’re back to enjoying your meal and going about your day. Not to say you shouldn’t share your new found knowledge and success with those around you, oftentimes folks are attracted to the new “shiny” and then quickly on to something else. Only those that are seriously interested may revisit you with some questions, but at least it helps filter out those simply attracted to the “shiny”.

WOD 1.14.12

In Teams:
Each team member must complete the following movements. All the reps from one category must be completed before moving on to the next.

3 40yrd Prowler Runs
4 150yd Sandbag Sprints
20 Tire Flips
40 Wallball Shots

Another resource I value is Mike Reinold, licensed Physical Therapist who not only runs his own practice in the Boston area but also posts excellent information and resources on his website MikeReinold.com. If you’ve been with us a while you’ve likely been introduced to the “sleeper” stretch seen here:

However, Mike recently posted that he using the sleeper stretch less and less with his athletes because it places added stress on the posterior capsule of the shoulder, puts the shoulder into an impingement position, and people are typically way too aggressive with the stretch and tend to do more harm than good. He later posted some very effective alternatives to improving shoulder IR that don’t have the same issues as the sleeper stretch, and in fact have been shown to be more effective when coupled with the contract-relax technique or muscle energy technique (MET) as it’s referred to in the studies Mike cites in his posts above. Sounds like a win-win to me so give these two extremely short videos a look to get a few other alternatives to improve shoulder IR.

WOD 1.11.12

Back Squat 3×5/Wendler

For Time:
48 Pistols
24 Toes to Bar

Then:

20 Power Cleans (Grace weight)
30 Box Jumps

Break up each couplet however you want. You must finish one couplet before you move to the next one.

Cash out with strict pull ups, time permitting.

Last Saturday I posted about Hazardous Household Waste (HHW) and how we can properly dispose of items like old batteries, leftover paint, and old cleaning supplies by dropping them off at the Hyperion Water Treatment Plant on Saturday or Sunday between the hours of 9am-3pm. I’ll branch off a bit from HHW to electronic waste (e-waste) which are items such as computers, TV’s, VCR’s, stereos, copiers, fax machines, telephones, and other common electronic products that become unwanted as they are replaced by newer, more advanced products. Some of these unwanted products can be reused or refurbished. Non-profit, charitable organizations such as L.A. Shares, Goodwill Industries, the Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul may accept electronic products that are in good working condition or that may only need minor repairs in order to be reused. Contact these organizations directly for more information.

However, if the older electronics are no longer usable please do not just throw your old equipment in the garbage or the landfill.  Many of these items contain toxic substances and heavy metals that can seep into the ground water supply and cause health issues to anyone exposed to the contaminated water.  Instead please visit the ERecycle.org website to find a recycling location near you.  Luckily most of us reading this post live in the greater Los Angeles area and there are plenty of options to choose from with one being the Hyperion Water Treatment Plant.  It is the same location and and has the same hours as the HHW drop-off site, so make one trip and drop off any HHW and e-waste that you’ve been meaning to get rid of in just a few minutes drive from Intrepid.  Check the information here to see the exact equipment they accept before hauling everything over there.  According to the City of Los Angeles website, they limit patrons to six items per visit but smaller items can be boxed together and counted as one item.  Thanks again for making wise decisions in the disposal of your HHW and e-waste, and doing your part to protect our environment and community.

WOD 1.07.12
6 Rounds:
1 Rope Climb
10 KB Clean & Jerk
35 Double Unders

Cash Out:  Sandbag carry relay