Posted by Natalie on September 03, 2008
Saturday, September 13th and October 4th, from 11-12
You’ve seen the sign…you’ve driven by...you’ve even checked out the website! Now, get serious. This is your chance to finally find out about CrossFit NorCal. Come check out our facility, meet a trainer, ask questions, and find out how to get started. The Crossfit Open House will introduce you to the basics of CrossFit and also give you the opportunity to determine if this is a good match for your personal performance and fitness goals.
Posted by Robb on August 28, 2008
Hey Everybody! We’ve had a bunch of traveling crossfitters hanging out at the gym this week and I wanted to give a few of them a shout out. In addition to our usual band of 5:15 hooligans, we had Brian, Garrett and Bridget feeling the love on the run, overhead walking lunge, pull-up work out. I just wanted to take a moment and thank all the folks who stop by Chico for a visit. Good luck to Brian and Garrett and their careers in the Marines, as well as Bridget who is attending the CrossFit Kids cert in Ramona this weekend, lucky girl!
If y’all noticed a dapper looking Italian guy tearing up the classes that would be Don. He just moved down from Washington and he had the good fortune of training with one of the best coaches around, Kurtis Bowler of Crossfit Rainier. Welcome Don!
We promise to have the heaters installed this next week...just kidding! Some slap-dick company is supposed to have callibrated our coolers Monday...of last week! Then it was this Monday...then it was Thursday. I promise to make those slackers do 50 burpees and a back flip off the roof once the job is finally completed...aparently sometime in December, Thanks for your patience and your ability to kick-ass while roasting alive!
Oh yeah...we had several first time muscle ups in yesterday’s Level 1 class! Check out the gallery for pics!
Posted by Nicki on August 27, 2008
Ok y’all. I put this out here a few weeks ago and I’m doing it again…it’s time for you all to get signed up for the CrossFit / American Prostate Society fundraiser Fight Gone Bad. The date of the event is September 27th. So far we have 12 registered athletes and have raised a little over $1500. We can do better!!!!! John Fragoso is in the lead having raised $405 so far! We have a team goal of 30 registered athletes and $10,000. Let’s get movin! Register now!
Posted by Nicki on August 26, 2008
It’s all about results. You know, those reasons we show up to train...the “why” and “what we’re after.” The motivating factor behind all the hard work and sweat soaked t-shirts. Unfortunately (and how I wish it were otherwise) training and exercise are only a tiny fraction of one’s overall success. Whether you’re after performance or weight loss, the nutrition side of the equation is literally 90% of the story. If you’re not eating protein with every meal, lots of veggies and actually eating fat (heaven forbid!) then you’re not going to see the results you want. Period.
Let’s face it, it’s time to suck it up and get serious about your food. No more of this “I’ll start tomorrow or next week” bullshit. It’s a choice. Every time you’re faced with the opportunity to eat something you have a choice. Workplaces are full of shitty food options, from vending machines to the baked goods in the staff room. The holidays are just around the corner and will provide innumerable choice making opportunities. Start making good ones now and you’ll save yourself some grief come January when everyone’s looking to undo what they did the previous three months. Every time you say “just this once” or “I’ll start tomorrow” you’re pushing your results further away. Don’t do it. Or if you do, don’t tell us about it. We’re not food therapists for folks who can’t make good decisions. Hold yourself accountable NOW and see how much progress you can make! Check out Robb’s ”Yo-Yo Dieting” post for more fun on this topic!
Posted by Nicki on August 19, 2008
Lot’s of fun with the ropes today! Drilling the foot position and climbing to the top...many folks made first time ascents! Check out these fun pics...more in the gallery!
Posted by Nicki on August 18, 2008
It’s official! We’re completely moved into our new location at 629 Entler Ave (right around the corner from our previous digs)! And we have a sign! A nice, big, visible sign! More space for more fun! Come check us out…
Posted by Robb on August 07, 2008
Hey Everyone! I received this email from one of our endurance folks…I’ve included a few follow-ups:
Hey Robb,
just a question about using cytomax and goo in training...on those long bike rides 50 + miles and even with the shorter fast ones 25 mi ie fast fifty, time trials 10 to 30 mi sprints and finally for the triathlon
events..ie swimming, cycling and running… i will use cytomax and goo. what are your thoughts on this? i really work hard at trying to stay paleo before and after, these events or workouts..except of course for an occasional piece of dark chocolate..
My response:
You want to minimize the use of that stuff in day to day training. We are trying to make you a fat burning machine...this is what separates an elite endurance athlete from an also-rans. To do this we run you lower carb (paleo_ most of the time...we want to save stuff like cytomax for TESTING and RACING.
Keep in mind we are focused on QUALITY and INTENSITY. The concepts are tightly related and it is antithetical to the current wisdom in endurance athletics which focuses exclusively on more, more, more. You cannot have quality and volume...think about Wal-Mart vs. artisan furniture. The current state of affairs in tri training is Wal-Mart...cheap, worthless crap that leaves people injured, overtrained and not performing at their peak. What we are trying to accomplish is an artisan approach...crafting a QUALITY approach that lends itself not only to performance, but also health and longevity.
So...when you are looking at a race or time trial that MATTERS ( I know they all do but some matter for race preparation, the others matter for EGO) THEN we look at the smart use of cytomax, what you eat for breakfast etc. TRAIN LIKE YOU COMPETE. This much of why I detest the 100mile bike rides and such when folks are competing at MUCH shorter distances....if it’s just a social thing that’s an understandable element but it is NOT helping in race prep...that is critical to understand...that is Wal-Mart training. Ideally we see you do 2-3 Crossfit sessions/week then 1 race distance and RACE PACE/week in the given events. That is a FULL and intense schedule that will still need constant monitoring to avoid overtraining.
With CrossFit we are increasing strength and related but more importantly POWER. Lance Armstrong cares about one thing (or did) while training, that’s power output...work capacity:
http://www.cio.com/article/29173/Lance_Armstrong_Cycling_Power
We augment that work capacity, then you shoot for efficiency on your race distance/race pace efforts:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050615061032.htm
Folks love to get hung up on crap that simply does not matter in training. Case in point VO2 max:
http://velonews.com/article/8167
The people who CROSS THE FINISH LINE FIRST (in my book, that mean the “winners") do NOT have the universally highest VO2 max. People think boat loads of long slow effort will prop up the VO2 max and make themselves better. “Stan’s” wife went for an hour and 45 minute run in preparation for her tri event...no clue as to distance covered or power output...the race was not about “can you run for an hour and 45 minutes” the race, like all races is “how fast can you traverse this distance”. That is a direct measure of efficiency and power output. Running in the manner she did for race prep was a COMPLETE AND TOTAL waste of time.
Some people understand this, but like Joe Friel recommending a Paleo diet for endurance athletes, it’s largely ignored:
http://velonews.com/article/8217
And the response:
thanks robb
your response is really thought provoking..i am going to read and reread what you wrote..the reference links look really good and i look forward to reading them as well. after what i saw last weekend, what you are saying makes so much sense to me. i have been training this other way going on three years now and have to rewire some neuropathways around how to do this training better and more efficiently..and where i can create a training schedule to be more enjoyable and safe...health, nutrition, emotions included, i really want to.
part of what i find hard to limit is the fun of some of the rides, the adventure of riding and the feeling of accomplishment and at times the social aspect..even though lately the trainings have been difficult for me due to the driven nature and sometimes competitive atmosphere of the experience.. maybe i am confusing things here in regards to training but emotionally and sometimes physically i usually end up feeling pretty trashed.. i find the training with crossfit to be very supportive and instructive., and largely about increasing one’s own performance rather than outperforming the other...in the outperform the other, i really get how the “more is better” gets fostered..and then the real reasons i want to be out there doing the competitions gets lost…
anyway i like the workout schedule you proposed..and am getting help from Angela around this too..she has been really helpful and supportive and is going to help me with the running..which is like a gift from heaven..given how my body needs to do the running in the most efficient and safe way possible…
so, again, i really appreciate your email and your insight..this helps a bunch..
see ya thursday
And my final response:
This is an important question EVERYONE needs to ask themselves: “Why”? Why do I do any given activity, what’s my ego attachment to the process and what are my desired outcomes. I fully understand the social element of the riding scene. It is a bunch of go-getters who like to compete and do well but there is also this thought that what they (big volume triathletes, cyclists and runners) are doing is HEALTHY. As evidenced by the growing number of broken endurance athletes we have in our midst’s at CrossFit, this is a pervasive idea that is FLAT WRONG. It’s not my intention to steal the joy of either competition or adventure from these folks (you included) but I went into all of this stuff with a desire to help people optimize performance, health and longevity. If it is someone’s stated goal to kill themselves by over exercise, sleeping 4 hrs/night to “get to the pool” and the like, I just will not buy into it. Until I have someone NOT PERFORM BETTER by doing CrossFit, eating a paleo/zone diet and SLEEPING MORE I will push the hell out of this better, healthier protocol…that also provides better performance. What this does often times mean is a dramatic reduction in training volume and junk mileage. We take people from 30 hrs/week of training to 6 or 8. Oftentimes that lack of a nearly full-time job of diversion is unsettling…folks have to spend time with spouses or children and they may, God Forbid, have a moment to contemplate life and their place in it. THIS is the neurosis that drives the extreme athlete and it has nothing to do with health or longevity. It is self medicating via carbs and repetitive movements.
When I tell someone that I can reduce their training volume from 30 hrs per week to 6 and that they will perform injury free, have a better overall fitness and health AND RUN/BIKE/SWIM better than ever….and I see terror in the eyes of the person because they will have no idea what to do with themselves because they are addicted to the training…I know It’s about something besides performing well.
This is a long winded way of saying “choose quality over quantity”. Balance the great social elements of these communities with the knowledge that there are diminishing returns to all things in life. More time spent riding does not a better rider make, SMART time riding…now we are onto something.
Posted by Nicki on August 05, 2008
Just a reminder that this Saturday, Aug 9th at 10:00am is our Baby Shower Workout in honor of our two pregnant mama’s Tasha and Chrissy! All clients are invited to attend...just remember to bring either a package of diapers or wipes as your ticket to entry. Tasha is due in late September and is expecting a little girl. Chrissy is due in late October and expecting a little boy. Our two mama’s have been training smart throughout their pregnancies and are looking great! Check them out in action…
Chrissy dragging the sled…
Tasha on the rower…
Posted by Nicki on August 04, 2008
The 3rd Annual FGB fundraiser for prostate cancer will be held on September 27, 2008. CrossFit NorCal will be a participating CrossFit affiliate and will be fielding an affiliate team.
We are hoping to raise at least $10,000.00 so let’s get our asses in gear and get some pledges! The CF NorCal member who raises the most money in pledges will get a free month of Group classes!
Click here to register with Athletes for a cure. You will also need to register locally at the gym.
We will be playing with this workout in various iterations over the next several weeks in our group classes. This will help us determine and designate our potential high scoring male and female for the scoring division. Read below for the official rules…
Rules of Engagement
* The CrossFit workout will be ‘Fight Gone Bad’. In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. This event calls for 3 rounds. The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of ‘rotate,’ the athlete/s must move to next station immediately for good score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point. The stations are:
1. Wall-ball, 10 ft target (Reps)
2. Deadlift high-pull (Reps)
3. Box jump on 20” box (Reps)
4. Push-press (Reps)
5. Row (Calories)
* To compete in the workout, all participants must complete each of the following:
1. Register with their local CrossFit Affiliate Center by Wednesday, September 24, 2008
2. Register with Athletes for a Cure at http://athletes.kintera.org/crossfit08 by Wednesday, September 24, 2008
3. Raise $150 or more in pledges by 5 pm PDT on Saturday, September 27, 2008
4. All donations counting toward the awards must be received by 5 pm PDT September 29, 2008.
* The four divisions are:
1. Class A: Standard Men = 75 lb PP and High Pull, 20lb Wall Ball and 20in Box
2. Class B: Modified Men/Standard Women = 55 lb PP and High Pull, 14lb Wall Ball and 20in Box
3. Class C: Intermediate = 35 lb PP and High Pull, 8lb Wall Ball and 20in Box (step ups are okay)
4. Class D: Beginner/Kids = 15lb PP and High Pull, 4lb Wall Ball (can be lowered 2in from standard height) and 10in Box
* High Score Individual Awards: Highest score in each division (male and female)
o Top 3 scorers in each division will receive - Custom sterling silver, hand stamped ‘Dog Tag’ set with the winner’s name and facility on one tag and their score, location and FGB III on the other tag, with a sterling chain.
o Each facility must designate one male and one female as their potential high scorer in each division. These will be the participants in the scoring division.
o To be eligible for the individual scoring award the facility must submit an uploaded YouTube video of the designated scorer’s September 29th FGB no later than 7 days post event. Winners will be judged by an anonymous panel of CrossFit judges. Any potential winner who fails to meet the CrossFit standards for FGB will be ineligible for awards.
Check out Natalie after her recent FGB performance with a score of 302!!!!
Posted by Nicki on August 02, 2008
My journey with Natalie Taylor began when my seven year old patted my tummy and told me I was blubbery. Ouch! My goal when I met with Natalie was to get in shape. She developed my program based on my fitness level at that time. I always felt encouraged and I found that I really liked learning how to use my body correctly. I have also gained strength, while learning proper form, so that I can do day to day tasks without injury. I was able to help my husband lift our big gas bar-be-cue off the deck, it was easy and I didn’t get hurt. When I do yard work I don’t suffer the usual aches and pains of the past. I no longer wake up each morning feeling sore and stiff. I have never felt better in my forties! I cannot say enough about the great experience I have had working out at CrossFit NorCal with Natalie! I encourage anyone who wants to really get in shape to contact her today. What are you waiting for?
~ Seana Velasco
