Gretchen might be new to CrossFit and Petranek Fitness, but she's not new to intensity! She's been a personal trainer for years, most recently at Equinox. In the past month, she left Equinox, went out on her own as a personal trainer, and joined us to keep herself functioning at the top of her game. She'll be breathin' fire before you know it. Welcome aboard, Gretchen!



Today's Workout
In honor of "Jeremy"
21-15-9 rep rounds, for time of:
Overhead squats (95#/65#)
Burpees

So if you wanted to be Batman, how would you train? A few more lateral raises, crunches, tricep extensions or bicep curls? Another hour per day on the elliptical trainer or stationary bike? Ha! I think not! Functional strength, skills, athleticism, balance, coordination, agility, gymnastics, power, speed, endurance... Sound like something you've heard before? I certainly hope so. So next time someone asks you what you do for your workouts, you can tell them that you're training to be Batman... and it wouldn't be far from the truth! Click here to read what Scientific American has to say on the subject.


Andy & Bruce get some air in jumping Slam Ball.

Today's Workout
3 x 1200m sprints for time
- take rest equal to the time of your previous interval

6 x L-sit - max duration on each

Gerry is new to both CrossFit and to Petranek Fitness. One of the things we stress to new students is to go hard, but not so hard that you launch yourself right over the edge of the cliff. Malingering knows what it feels like to launch off the cliff on your first visit - in fact, she wrote about it here. Our goal, whether you're a beginner or an experienced "fire breather", is to help you learn to find the edge of the cliff, your edge, without going over the edge. Training at this edge on a regular basis will elicit adaptations by your body that are unachievable any other way. So, if you're a beginner, don't judge or compare yourself to anyone else other than you... and if you're at your edge, you're right where you're supposed to be! Welcome aboard, Gerry!



Today's Workout
Push Jerk 3-3-3-3 reps
Split Jerk 3-3-3-3 reps
- goal - find your 3 rep max push jerk, then your 3RM split jerk

Ever heard of "paralysis by analysis?" Do you ever think it's possible to have too much information? Jennifer F. sent me a link the other day to a blog with links to over 25 web apps for dieting and getting in shape. At first I thought this is great - lots of good information. But when I started clicking on a few of the links today, I realized that there is so much information in EVERY one of these sites, that there's no way I could possibly spend the time or energy needed to figure out which one of these is the best. However, WE can collectively! If you check out one or two of these sites, or have one that is a favorite, I'd love to hear about it from you - maybe we can all benefit from the collective knowledge and experience of the entire community.


Jennifer & Alex go overhead with a tire.

Today's Workout
9 - 15 - 21 rep rounds for time of:
Pull-Ups
Thrusters - 95 lbs
400m Run

I can't remember the last time a person came in and thought they needed coaching on how to do a push up. However, it's rare that I find someone that actually has a good, solid hollow position with a strong and stable core, and does push-ups well. Here's a rule of thumb... when you get to the bottom of your push up, the only part of your body that should be touching the ground or leading the way is your chin and chest. If your thighs or stomach are touching before your chin or chest and your lower back is arched, you are not holding your body hollow (glutes squeezing, hips tucked under in a posterior pelvic tilt with a flattened lumbar curve), and your push up could be imrpoved.


Greg working on push-ups.

Today's Workout
How many push-ups can you do in 10 minutes?
- rest -
How many pull-ups in 10 minutes?

So the other day, Brian comes in for a Level 2/3 Class for a workout we later called "Jedi Master." He was feeling good - ready to rock and roll. Well, as you can see from the picture, the Force was NOT with him, and several trips to the bucket later, he finished... and he was finished! Way to finish, Brian!



Today's Workout
For Time:
100 Wall Ball - 20# med ball
75 Sumo Deadlift High Pull - 75 lbs
50 weighted Sit-ups - 30# db behind the neck & anchored feet
25 Knees to Elbows

Sometimes a bodyweight isometric hold can be as hard or harder than a movement. Pictured are some examples - holding at the top of a pull up, bottom of a squat, bottom of a push up or in a V on the floor. Want to make it a little more difficult? Hold an L sit, handstand for 2 minutes, then raise the bar on both - and try them on the rings.



Today's Workout
4 rounds for time:
400m Run
50 squats

A: Mountain Biking? Charlie has been CrossFitting with us now for about 8 months... and when he started, he had no idea what he was getting himself into! One of the benefits we tell people that is possible as a result of training at PF is the ability to "beat your friends." No one expressed it in a way quite as clearly as Charlie did in a recent email he sent to me. His result from his training came in a sport totally unrelated to the training we do in the gym - mountain biking... and nothing could have been more satisfying than his "sudden" ability to not only keep up with, but beat his friends. To read his story - click here.



Today's Workout
Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5-5 reps
- goal is to find your five rep max (5 RM)

When discussing about the number of stars in the universe, 53 is not such a big number, in fact, it's rather puny! When thinking about your age as an adult, 53 is a slightly bigger number. But when talking about the number of PULL-UPS you can do in a row, 53 is a HUGE number. Well, 53 is exactly the number of pull-ups that Bill Jordan did the other day. He's currently in the number 1 spot at Petranek Fitness. At any age, this is a seriously amazing accomplishment, but at 56, it is on the verge of ridiculous! Are you kidding me... he can do 53 pull ups at 56 years old... next he'll be working on the same number of chest to bar pull ups as his age! Congrats, Bill!



Today's Workout
for time:
Row 500m
50 Pull-ups
Run 800m
50 Pull-ups
Row 500m

Everyone enjoys a pat on the back, word of encouragement or a high five once in a while... in the picture below, Jeremy and Elina find a way to spur each other on as then get in a "low five" in the midst of a 400m run. And while on the subject of running, Dawn Forrester recently ran in the Palisades Will Rogers 10k on the 4th of July. She improved her time by over a minute from last year, and the only running she's done this year has been the little that we do in CrossFit workouts. Congrats Dawn - this stuff really does work - you don't have to run to become a faster runner!



Today's Workout
For time:
50 Box Jumps
45 Pull-ups
40 Thrusters – 35# dumbbells
35 Kettlebell Swings
30 Planche push-ups (watch the first 40" of this video for an example)
25 Double Unders
20 Front Squats – 115 lbs
15 Burpees
10 Turkish Get ups – 45# dumbbell
5 Muscle ups

If you've ever attended Coach Burgener's Olympic Weightlifting Seminar, you already know that all Olympic lifting is about jumping and landing. Once you've got that figured out, and you're getting full extension at your ankles, knees and hips, and your shoulders are up in your ears, then you can start working on your first pull, and conceptualizing and developing your third pull.

The first pull in a a clean is nothing other than a deadlift. It's slow (relative to the second pull), there should be no jerking the bar off the floor since the bar is pre-loaded, and though there is no real endpoint, the second pull starts as the bar crosses the knees. In a snatch it is identical, except for your wide grip on the bar - as both Becca and Jennifer show in the picture. Becca is at the top of her second pull/start of the third pull, while Jen is at the start of the first pull.

The third pull takes place at the top of the second pull. As the bar is momentarily hovering in space, you quickly and aggressively pull your body down and under the bar where you receive it - overhead in the snatch or in rack position across your shoulders in the clean. It is very fast, and requires balance, coordination, speed, flexibility, accuracy, and agility.



Today's Workout
1 mile run - for time
- rest as needed
5 rounds for time of:
5 Deadlifts - 275 / 185 lbs
10 Burpees

We've decided to bring back an "old friend" - CrossFit classes at Santa Monica beach! Starting this Sunday, ALL our Sunday classes for the remainder of the summer will be held at our beach location! To kick it all off, next Saturday the 19th is "CrossFit at the BEACH" day - all regular classes will be at the beach as well!

And in case you missed it, on Monday, Fox 11 aired a segment on Good Day LA about Petranek Fitness and CrossFit featuring a bunch of our students in a workout and some interviews with instructors - check it out HERE.


Jonesy & CrossFit Dave - at the CrossFit Games

Today's Workout
"Badger"
3 rounds for time of:
30 Squat cleans, 95# / 65#
30 Pull-ups
800 meter Run

Jennifer turned 37 this week - and I dare say that she is more fit than she's ever been in her entire life, and thanks to CrossFit, has the confidence to go right along side. Below, she is demonstrating her proficiency with double-unders - a movement that was totally out of the question for her when she first started.

By the way, as we enjoy the hotter months of the summer, something to watch out for is heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke. This is an interesting article from the NY Times about heat, sweat, water and training. To Beat the Heat, Learn to Sweat It Out



Today's Workout
For Time:
21 Overhead Squats - 95 pounds, men; 65 pounds, women
3 Pull-ups
18 Overhead Squats
6 Pull-ups
15 Overhead Squats
9 Pull-ups
12 Overhead Squats
12 Pull-ups
9 Overhead Squats
15 Pull-ups
6 Overhead Squats
18 Pull-ups
3 Overhead Squats
21 Pull-ups

You're never to young to be Crossfitting! Did you know that we coach teens now? We have begun a youth program and have started with a group of young, high school rowers who we call "Team 1545." They (actually their parents) came to us because they were very excited about upping their game in their off season. After four short weeks with us, they have discovered the true meaning of intensity and are not only getting stronger and more powerful but are learning how much further they can go as athletes. Now take a minute and imagine what your fitness level would look like today had you started CrossFitting as a teenager!



Today's Workout
36-18-9 rep rounds for time of:
Rowing, calories
Push press, 65# bar
Knees to elbows
Wall ball, 20# ball

We sent a small crew to the CrossFit Games this year, but they made a big splash, especially on Day 1! Here are a few highlights - Jonesy had the 3rd best deadlift & burpee time; Dave & Jonesy were tied for 12th after two of the three events on day 1; John jumped off the pull up bar only to have a 95 pound bar bounce and land on his big toe; Chris & Vanessa finished (this is an accomplishment given the difficulty of the workouts), and Jonesy finished in 28th place overall! Way to represent, gang - can't wait for next year!


Jonesy, Vanessa, Burch, CrossFit Dave, & Sherwin

Today's Workout
For Time:
Squat Clean & Jerk a total of 4,650 pounds
Choose your load and do the number of reps necessary.
- example - 155 lbs - 30 reps, 100 lbs - 47 reps, etc.

The 2nd Annual CrossFit Games are being held this weekend in Aromas, CA. We have a small crew headed up to compete including Jonesy, Vanessa, Chris Sherwin, John Burch, and Dave Leys (and I hope I didn't leave anyone out - let me know if I did!) If you haven't read about the games or the events, check it out here.


Valla & Leo on the rings

Today's Workout
400m Run
50 Squats
400m Run
25 Burpees
400m Run
50 Squats
400m Run
25 Burpees

So I had an interesting and rather cool experience yesterday morning. I visited CrossFit Extreme Fitness in Rockville, MD and hung out with Judd Borakove, it's owner. I arrived at 7am after getting up at 6:15 - and felt a bit out of sorts. Oh yeah, they're 3 hours ahead, so actually, I got up at 3:15am for a 4am workout! Now that is definitely not my normal routine! We began to discuss what we were going to do for our workout (rather than writing about the whole thing here - check my workout journal for Wednesday - 7/2/08. And I started to think about the last time I worked out in a gym other than my home gym, Petranek Fitness... it's been a LONG time! And that got me thinking - how good it is to test and experiment - to do things out of the ordinary in strange places, where you don't have the comforts of home and the habits that go along with them. Was I uncomfortable? You betcha! My whole "mojo" was thrown off being in a different space. But here's the thing, the true test of your skills is being able to perform them at a strange times, at a different location, when your mind and body may not be ready or willing... and yet you do it anyway.



Today's Workout
3 rounds for time of:
15 Burpees
10 Snatch - 75 lbs
Handstand Walk - 50’
10 Ring Dips

Congratulations to Aaron Crocker and James Bond of Birmingham, Alabama. They just completed our CrossFit Business Apprenticeship immersion week - a 5 day, in-depth program that teaches participants our system for running an exceptional CrossFit affiliate.


Andy, James, Becca, Aaron, John

Today's Workout
5 rounds for time of:
15 Push-jerks 95 pounds
15 Knees to Elbows

Even big guys can do gymnastics on rings, right Jonesy?! In this picture, Jonesy started in an "L" support, then rolled forward into a shoulder stand. Though an extremely basic gymnastic move, it is very challenging - especially when you get upside down and try to hold the shoulder stand without using the cables to guide your feet. If you have a set of rings at your disposal, give it a try, but make sure you're close enough to the ground with padding on the floor to protect your feet, heels and knees in case you fall out of it!



Today's Workout
Run 5k for time.

Many of our students found out yesterday that the idea of simply moving your own bodyweight on the floor, on parallel bars and on rings can be extremely challenging... and for some, more challenging movements, next to impossible. And this is for movements that gymnasts aren't even rated on in competition! How do you get better at doing these things? Practice, practice, practice and then practice some more.


Petranek Fitness Gymnastics Seminar with Roger Harrell of CrossFit Marin

Today's Workout
Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
4 Muscle-ups
8 Handstand push-ups
12 Single leg Squats (pistols)