The workout yesterday was all about our bodies from the armpits UP. We started with some press work. 1-1-1 at 85%, 93% and ultimately 100+% of our single rep max. In between each set of presses, wait 90 seconds, and then attempt a max set of pull-ups.

After the strength, we got to keep the racks out, and we did the following metcon:

Tabata press (8 rounds)
:20 seconds work
:10 rest

Your weight for the workout should be at 40% of your single rep max for the day.

After setting a new single rep max, 40% seemed LIGHT. Deb even un-racked her bar and demonstrated how light it was by pressing it with one arm. Gee....that sure was light. This workout should be EASY! Right guys?!

WRONG

By about round 3, the collective groans could be heard during the 10 second rest periods. You guys all did a great job though. Way to make it through!

Anyone have arms as sore as mine today? I was pushing my shopping cart through Meijer, and the cart was pulling to the left. It was all I could do to keep the cart steering straight. I knocked over 2 displays, bumped into an old lady, and cut a corner short and had a head on collision with a 7yr old staring at the cookies.

If your arms are sore, make sure you get the blood moving to them again. Grab a couple push-ups, and then stretch those babies out and they'll be good as new.

Yesterday we started with some single rep max attempts on dead lifts. The rep scheme was 1-1-1 at 85%, 93%, and them 100%+ of your last single rep max.

I'm going to take a deep breath, and then list all the people who set new PR's, because there are a LOT! Jeanne, Kris, Mark M, Kathy, Lisa, Mark R, Morgan, David, Carrie, Ryan Z, Jamie, Brett, Heather, Wes, and Kristin!

GREAT JOB YOU GUYS!

The metcon was one from Wild Bill's laboratory. We did this back in June, but with a slightly different twist. Back in June we ran, but yesterday we rowed.

Under a running clock, you have 15:00 to complete
2,000m row
as many burpees as the time allows

Your overall score will be the number of burpees you get.

It was great to see so many people improving their numbers from June. Dad is a great example of that. He not only rowed faster than he ran back in June, he also got a bunch more burpees! Nice work!

The Fort will have a slightly different schedule at the end of this week due to a trip Bill and I are taking to see Katelyn's cheer competition. The Mayor will be handling the classes Thursday evening through Saturday, so make sure you check MindBodyOnline and see which classes are available.

In case you ever wondered...this is what you look like doing burpees from above:

Think you got what it takes to compete at the 2010 CrossFit Games? Well then bring your butt to the Fort on Saturday, March 27th for tryouts!

We are looking for 3 men, and 3 women to represent CrossFit Fire at the Regional qualifiers in Denver, CO. Our qualifying team will compete April 30th - May 2nd to try and earn one of 8 available team positions for the Games. Should our team earn a spot at the games, we will then host a SECOND tryout for our team that will be heading to the Games. This is to ensure that if our individual competitors don't advance beyond regionals, they will still be able to represent CFF as part of our affiliate team. Make sense?

Whenever we host a qualifying event like this I always get asked, "do you think I should try out?" My answer is ALWAYS going to be, "of course, what does it hurt to try!" The workouts have not yet been designed, so there's no telling what's in store for our team hopefuls!

If you are interested in throwing your hat in the ring for the team, just reply to this post and let us know! In addition to competitors, we will also be looking for people to help serve as judges for this day. If you are available to judge, please let me know. Thanks so much!

Our 2009 Games Team

After this weekend, Pete has decided to start offering his amazing Greek blood to other members of the Fort. There will be a sign up sheet at the Fort on the whiteboard. Get in line behind ME though.

It is my great honor as a coach to announce that we had two individuals qualify at sectionals this past weekend for regionals out in Denver, CO. Pete qualified FIRST OVERALL for the men, and Stacy qualified in 10th place overall for the ladies. Congratulations you two!

I have to say that yesterday was one of my most proud moments as a coach and trainer. Watching Stacy and Pete get called up as qualifying competitors brought tears to my eyes. Actually, strike that. I was CRYING. I mean, we all know Stacy and Pete are fantastic athletes, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine Pete qualifying first, and Stacy in the top ten for the women. I can't say enough how hard these two worked to accomplish this amazing task.

With only 8 weeks until regionals, we'll have to do our best as their Fort Family to push them to become the best athletes they can be. The Mayor said it best when he said, "It takes an entire gym to make athletes like the ones we have...they don't just happen on their own." That being said, you all had a small part in helping mold these two into the athletes that we know them to be, so pat yourself on the back!

In addition to our qualifying athletes, we had a few others who attended, and put in an amazing amount of effort. Matt Lohmann finished in 6th place on the third workout, despite being slightly distracted by the chalk bucket. Garth took home a gold medal in Abs, Brittany tied Stacy for 12th place in the third workout, and Tommy Mo was complimented by his judge on the clean & jerk workout saying he had the best form of the day, and that EVERYONE should do their clean & jerks like Tom.

Amazing, amazing weekend! Thank you to everyone who followed us on facebook, came down and cheered, and sent your good thoughts our way! Next stop is regionals out in Denver, CO April 30th - May 2nd.

There are several videos on the CrossFit Games page from this past weekend, and several of our athletes can be seen in them. Make sure you watch the video the Midwest Sectionals on the CrossFit Games page.

The workouts for sectionals were announced, and our Games hopefuls needed some inspiration, so ALL OF YOU had to do their first workout yesterday. The workout is a doozey, so we went through a very thorough warm-up before getting started. Due to the lengthy warm-up, we didn't work on a strength movement yesterday.

"Airforce WOD"

20 thrusters (40/30kg)
20 sumo dead lift high pulls
20 push jerks
20 overhead squats
20 front squats

Every minute, on the minute, you must stop and do 4 burpees. Doesn't that make the workout more fun?! The only other thing that could have made this more fun is if we had to do it on a raft being circled by hungry sharks. Carrie Z finished this workout and just said, "My head is hot....real hot".

I think this picture of Steph L just about sums up the workout. I've heard rumors that some of the top female competitors will finish this workout in just under 7:00, and some of the men will  be sub 6:00. Let's hope that our Games hopefuls learned something by watching us go through this workout. I think the best strategy is to just grab the bar, and not go slow.

This is a reminder that the Fort is CLOSED tomorrow. We will resume our regular schedule on Monday morning. Check out or Facebook CrossFit Fire page for updates on Sectionals!

Special J gave me a fantastic nugget yesterday. As we were getting set up for ring dips she looked over at everyone holding their bands and asked, "Does anyone do these without the bands?" Zach's response was perfect. He said

"No. Only in the movies."

And it's true. Only in the movies do people do THAT MANY RING DIPS without a band.

Our strength work yesterday was dead lift 3-3-3+. We are going to be cracking down on form BIG TIME when it comes to dead lifts. I know that when the weights get heavy that we can expect to see slight breakdowns in form, but it's happening too often. We're going to start cutting off reps when we see ANY rounding in the back.

The other thing that I'm seeing too often is an abrupt JERKING of the bar off the floor. The bar should be squeeeezed off the floor in a slow and controlled manner with a tight back. If the weight is too heavy, we don't sacrifice form...the weight simply won't come off the floor.

The metcon was 5 rounds of:

15 box jumps (24/20")
15 body rows
15 ring dips

We had a few brave souls go through this rx'd, and it was rough. The shoulders definitely took a beating with all those ring dips

Look what I found! I SWEET picture of Garth from "back in the day". It was about 1 year ago that this picture was taken. My how he's changed!

What did you guys think of Snowpocalypse 2010? We got a measly 12 inches of snow yesterday. Psh. Our attendance was definitely impacted by the bad weather, but I was glad to see we had a few brave souls in the bunch!

Strength work yesterday was thrusters 1-1-1+. I got to watch Carrie set a new PR! She did it just in time for her birthday too. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARRIE!

Our metcon came from Wild Bill's laboratory:

12-9-6-9-12
cleans (40/30kg)
pull-ups

At first glance it didn't seem that bad, but let me tell ya...once you got done with the 6's and had to work your way back through the 9's and 12's again it was rough. In case you're wondering, YES, these were full squat cleans.

We are going to have a special Thursday edition of Guns 'n' Hoses at 9AM tomorrow. Please feel free to join us!

NOTE - the Fort will be closed Friday and Saturday due to CrossFit sectionals. Please wish all of our individual competitors good luck! The workouts were released yesterday by CrossFit TNT, and I think our group is going to do wonderful. Cross your fingers and toes for us as we journey to St. Louis!

New CrossFit Fire Gear has arrived! We now have fleece ear warmers, skull caps (in brown AND black), booty shorts, new t-shirts, and even a sherpa lined zip-up. Make sure to check out our store and get your new gear!

The Mayor shows us his "trying face"