Today's strength element consisted of overhead squats for sets of 3 reps. Several people set new PRs and all of you are improving your technique. Remember though, when it comes to maturing your squat, consistency is the key. You must utilize our squat therapy drills on a daily basis, whether you are at the Fort or not. It only takes a few minutes and the results will really shine through after a couple of weeks. Here are a couple of our ladies showing us what they can do:

Jennie shows us her 'PR Face'

Beth gets low on OHS

After working on our overhead squats, Bill had an encounter with Karen scheduled for us.

Ah Karen...good to see you again. It's always a pleasure getting destroyed by your simplicity. Repetition is beauty, and you are our queen.

150 wall ball shots for time (20/14lb)

Doesn't sound so bad, right? In general, this workout isn't "hard". What I mean is that it isn't complicated or confusing. Just throw the ball at the target 150 times. You can't screw that up, right?!

Our good buddy Brittany demonstrated her complete and unwaivering trust in me last night, and I am deeply touched. I was yelling at her, pacing her to finish in under 9:00, and at one point she thought I yelled "you're at 120!" when in fact what I probably yelled was, "you're doing good honey!" Even though Brittany thought she was about 2 reps away from finishing, she did another 30 reps because she trusted that I had been counting. 30 EXTRA REPS. For those of you who did Karen yesterday, you know that the last 30 reps are at least a bajillion times harder than the first 120 reps. Brittany was crazy enough to suggest that she was going to do the workout AGAIN with the 7PM class just to see if her time was faster by stopping at 150 reps.

Everyone did absolutely amazing! Jessica did this workout AS PRESCRIBED. It was a very special night for her, as this was Jessica's first prescribed named workout! ATTA GIRL! We also have some ladies reeeeeally close to getting their first unassisted pull-ups. I can't stress enough that if you are cranking out 10 pull-ups on the blue band, you need to start working unassisted pull-ups every time you're at the Fort. Jump up on the bar, practice your kipping swings. You'll jump up there about 2 dozen times without any success; nobody just gets off the blue band and magically gets pull-ups. You gotta WANT IT. You gotta practice it. Eventually you'll jump up there one day, and KAZAAM KAZOW you got pull-ups.

CrossFit Fire Ladies tackle Karen

While everyone else was tackling Karen, Bill had Bender complete a similar WOD, but one that didn't involve the use of his left arm. You see, Mikey's left shoulder and wrist have been giving him problems lately so we want to let it rest and hopefully heal. As I have mentioned in the past, just because a body part is sore or even injured does not mean you have to, or should, stop working out completely. Give Bill or I a heads up and we will modify any workout so that you can still participate in class.

Now for the good stuff

Stacy Severson has been kind enough to organize a day of relaxation for the good people of the Fort. She has been coordinating with ZaZa's Salon in Vernon Hills to get us a 20% discount on their services, and free run of their salon. We'll have access to their services on Sunday, September 27th from about 11:00 - 2:00 or 3:00. Please email her if you are interested in pampering yourself. She will coordinate with the spa owner to get your services scheduled. Check out their website....they have an 85 minute pedicure! Are you ready for all this pampering!?

Also, our Mayor has suggested that we organize a Paleo Thanksgiving, and I think this is a splendid idea. I would like to gauge interest at this point. If we did a CrossFit Fire Paleo Thanksgiving Extravaganza the Saturday after Thanksgiving, would you be interested? The place will be determined based on the response, and time will likely be early evening. Bill and I would provide the free range turkeys, and we'd leave it up to the old pot-luck system to provide all the sides. Who's in!?