If you sprinkle bread crumbs in the grass, within an hour you're likely to have a whole yard full of birds and squirrels. Yesterday, we weren't trying to lure birds to the Fort though, we were trying to lure EARL. You see, Earl has been missing for quite some time, and we miss him dearly. He told us that yesterday was the BIG DAY that he would make his return to the Fort, so Bill planned one of his favorite workouts - ISABEL!

Isabel - 30 snatches for time (60/40kg)

Earl holds the 2nd spot on our record board for this workout, so naturally he's very fond of it. We thought for sure that it was a fool proof way to see his inflexible hamstrings back at the Fort, but alas....no Earl. Sigh.

Those of you who WERE at the Fort yesterday did AMAZING! Hannah and Steph both went through this rx'd for the first time, and they crushed it! Through their sneaky teamwork and massive strength they even managed to knock me off the record board. (d'oh) Seriously though, I'm proud of you guys.

Brad set a HUGE PR on this workout too. Not only did he load an extra 10kg's on his bar this time around, he also beat his old by by 1:06! Great work buddy!

We started a new group ramp-up last night, and it was a total blast! Thank you to all the participants for your enthusiasm.

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As the old saying goes, you can lie to me, but you can't lie to yourself.

You can show me a food log, but only YOU know if everything you ate and drank is in there. You can pout, cry, bitch and moan about how you aren't making any progress but at the end of the day, have you been honest with yourself? Have you quantified the magnitude of your "cheat meals"? Have you stepped back to examine the impact the holidays had on your eating? I mean, 8 helpings of mashed potatoes won't slow down progress, will it? And the fact that you drank so much on New Year's Eve that you threw up on your favorite suede shoes shouldn't impact your weight loss, right?

Lie to me, baby. You can lie to me until you're blue in the face, but deep inside I already know if what you're telling me is the truth. If it makes you feel better to be dishonest about how you're eating, that's fine. I won't take it personally. At the end of the day when you're staring in the mirror and brushing your teeth, the person staring back at you knows the truth. I'd say something corny here like, "And the truth shall set you free!" but it doesn't seem to apply.

Know what does apply? Effort. Apply maximum effort to every area of your life and you'll see the results you're looking for. Make an effort to get 8 hours of sleep. Make an effort to get to the Fort one more time this week. Make an effort to go 30FULL DAYS without straying from the Paleo diet. Take that first step (or a GIANT LEAP) and try something hard. Try being honest with yourself.

There, have some tough love. I still love you.

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So far (1 year) Ive gone from 235lbs, XL shirts, and tight 38" pants to a comfortable 30" pants, medium/small shirts and have plateaued at 170-175lbs. I owe it all to the awesome coaches of CrossFit Fire!

You're like a magical team of train conductors. All Aboard! This train is now departing the land of globo gyms, chronic cardio, corrupt food pyramids, and fast food. You can all open your eyes and take off your blinders now....Next stop... A world of healthier eating, exercising, living, and just plain fun. Chu Chu!!!!

Thanks again for everything you and Bill do. It's truly life changing!

-Chris

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Our WODFather really cooked up a good team workout for yesterday, didn't he? Man did that look like a lot of fun! I know it was a lot of hard work, because the humidity in the Fort was about 199%, and everything had a layer of dew on it. Plus, Garth and Brandon laid down an unusually large puddle of man sweat. I thought we were going to need a raft. (gross)

3 rounds for max reps of:
2:00 wall ball
2:00 ball slams
2:00 row
3:00 rest

*Only two team members could be at a station during a 2:00 period, and only one could be working at a time.
**You may rotate in any order you'd like

After our three rounds of that awesomeness, Bill sprang a special surprise on everyone. He announced that after the last 3:00 rest period, everyone would be doing 1:00 of burpees that would be part of your team's final score. I don't think I've ever heard a louder collective groan than the one you kids let out. I mean, you guys pushed HARD that final 2:00 thinking it was the last thing you'd have to do. Bill was laughing to himself the WHOLE time!

Our winning team was a dynamite combination of Pete, Garth, Ryan, Steph, Drew and Kirsten. Great job you guys! And by the way, NICE GUNS!

If you stayed long enough after class, you would have gotten a chance to see Ryan the Lion FINALLY stick the back lever he's been working on. If you're not familiar with this movement, take a peek at the picture. It takes extraordinary muscle control and core strength to hold yourself in that position. Sticking his back lever was a perfect birthday surprise for him. Happy Birthday Ryan!

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It is time once again for our Better Body Challenge! This is our fourth challenge, and we are hoping that it will have the best participation and stick-with-it-ness of any of the challenges! I'm sick of seeing 40 people start these things, and only 10 people finish. I want 100% finishing this time, and I want you to be proud of your results!

The BBCIV will be a 10 week challenge of paleo eating, food logging and working out. The winners will be decided based on whoever made the most dramatic improvement in their before & after pictures over the course of 70 days. At the conclusion of the challenge, Bill and I will select the top 3 men, and the top 3 ladies, and all participants in the challenge will have the opportunity to vote for their winners. Additionally, participants will be able to earn "votes" in three other categories:

1. Class attendance
2. Food log consistency
3. Yet to be decided (sorry to be vague)

Also, no longer will the tie breaker be Tim from Office Max. I will be forwarding pictures of our finalists to a distinguished member of the CrossFit community for their official opinion. (Tim seemed susceptible to bribery, and a little shady)

Let's be honest here, the key to winning this thing is going to be putting in tons of effort. You'll have to give this paleo thing 10 weeks of your honest, 100% devotion if you even want to stand a chance against some of our fiercely competitive CrossForters.

Now, the nitty gritty. All participants will need to have their pictures and body measurements completed no later than Saturday 2/5, but no earlier than Thursday, 2/3.  Your after pictures will need to be taken no later than 4/16, and no earlier than 4/14. NO EXCEPTIONS. Please don't send me sad emails about why you have to take your pictures a week early because there's this amazing donut eating contest that you enter every year. The entry fee will remain $40, and must be paid in CASH or a check written to cash at the time you have your before pictures taken. Again, no exceptions. (We got KILLED last time around with credit card fees.) Our male and female winners will receive a free month of unlimited membership, and will split the cash.

We will maintain the same food log forum as the last challenges, and PLEASE make use of this tool. Bill is going to be installing some plugins on our end so that you people with smart phones can download a cool app that will allow you to view and update food logs on the go. (Ooooh, the convenience) While you're sitting at Taco Bell eating your nachos bell grande, you can upload a picture directly from your phone, and be immediately shamed by the BBCIV competitors. Ok, that's a bit dramatic. But seriously, use this forum and create yourself a food log that you update daily. It also helps if your username isn't some random internet handle that nobody can recognize. When you're responding to each other's food logs, it's nice to know who you are.

Here are pictures of our last four winners! Let's break 50 participants this time around! Giddyup!

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With the cold and flu season in full swing, our "martini girls" decided to take the initiative and disinfect the Fort! They arrived fully prepared with a box of blue gloves and some Cavi wipes. They wiped down the rowers, pull-up bars and even some of the barbells. Thank you so much ladies for keeping the Fort Family healthy this winter!

Not only did we spend some time cleaning yesterday, we also worked out! The workout was a double AMRAP, and it was pretty fun!

4:00 AMRAP of
21 double unders
7 power snatches (40/30kg)
4:00 rest
4:00 AMRAP of
14 burpees
14 pull-ups

We had a visitor yesterday that some of you might remember - Sparky stopped in! Sparky, it was great to see you - don't be such a stranger!

In other exciting news, Chris Sutter met one of his goals for the year, and strung together 6 consecutive kipping pull-ups! He is a genius, and figured out that in order to compensate for his injured hand he just needed to wrap a purple band around the pull-up bar for a little extra padding. Nice work Chris!

There will be two ramp-ups starting next week. One will be in the evening, and the other in the morning. I only schedule these morning ramp-ups once in a blue moon, so if you know somebody who would benefit from a 10AM ramp-up, have them get registered right away!

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Who needs another amazing Paleo recipe!? YOU GUYS!? Gosh, I would never have guessed.

We all love ribs, right? The only problem is that BBQ sauce and most dry rub recipes are chock full of sugar. Here is MY dry rub recipe that is sure to give you fall off the bone ribs awesomeness!

1 Rack of Pork baby back Ribs
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground mustard
1-1/2 tsp salt

Combine all the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Cut the rack of ribs into 3-4 bones sections, and place them on individual rectangles of aluminum foil. Sprinkle each section of ribs with seasoning on both sides. Then form a little canoe out of the aluminum foil, and place 2T of water in each one. Seal the canoes shut, and place them in the oven on a baking sheet.

Bake at 325 for 2 hours, and VOILA! Fall off the bone goodness!

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