28 March 2009

Lance & Don and their first test with Fran

Today I worked out with, new to Crossfit, Lance and Don.  Forget the introductions and speeches, Let's Do Fran Then We'll Talk.  

WOD: Fran

For time perform the following...

21 - 15 - 9 

Thrusters

Pullups

Rx weight is #95.  Both Lance and Don performed at #65 with Lance turning in a time of approximately 10:10 and Don 10:20.  

It is quite a thing to breakaway from your norm and dive right in to such a deceptively brutal workout such as Fran.  In fact, I would not recommend doing so in most cases as mastery of technique should first be learned, but whatever, they did great and may have even had fun.  

If you are new to Crossfit, have a seat and take some time to look around their website, www.crossfit.com.

The Crossfit method is not for everybody, but if fitness is your game and commitment is your practice, then it may just change your life as it has mine. 

Don Taking Care of Business w/ Fran from Brett Markwort on Vimeo.

Hats off, or shall I say, tops off, to this amazing entrepreneuring trio of Aussies. Perhaps there is hope yet for me and chemical engineering.  Click here for the skinny.

I wish I had a proper picture for this one.  I'll look for one.  In the mean time, have a laugh, a sigh or whatever emotion this sparks.  Mine was a laugh followed by some minor disgust, a shaking of the head and concluding with another chuckle.

Click here for:  Gym Machine Hurls Woman

Team Ronin & The Return From Arnold - - 08 March 2009

The Three Competitors from Team Ronin:  (left to right)  Muah: No Gi Lightweight, Clem: No Gi Featherweight, Mike: No Gi & Gi Heavyweiht. I may need to work on my Snarl.

Damn, what a trip!  We departed approximately 8am Friday and returned approximately 6am Sunday covering, again approximately, a thousand miles.  All for one extremely long day of waiting, anticipating and being... in the midst of one day of mass competition. 

To describe it all would take too long for a single post.  There were people, lots of people. Professional MMA fighters, celebrities, The Govinator, The Hulk, body builders, women body builders, olympic weightlifters, gymnasts, eye candy girls, protein shakes, and testosterone, more testosterone, and holy hell if there was any more testosterone the Columbus, OH convention center may have imploded. 

We competed at the NAGA (North American Grappling Association) World Grappling tournament at the Arnold's World Classic.  Two first time competitors and a veteran competitor made up our team, Team Ronin.  

As a first time competitor, from a team sport background, never having even seen a martial arts competition and this being the second largest annual tournament in the United States, I can only provide describing phrases and the hackneyed cliche You had to be there. 

Too many people, too little space, too much confusion and too much waiting. 

Anxiety, fear, hope and dreams, daydreams and frustration building. 

The security of being with your team and the pull of insignificance. 

Suddenly, presence,

All eyes upon you on a furiously nonchalant stage, 

Blood...Whom's...Relax and play your game.  

Intensity strikes,

and vanishes, 

Hell just happened and I'll soon remember,

I survived and I fought and I was left standing, wanting.

But the wait is over and so fades the weight. 

Euphoria begins and rational thoughts slowly creep in,

Stayed by pints, laughs and teammates smiles, 

The explosion of violence more than covers the miles.

To see more photos from the event click here.

05 March 2009

Above is exactly how I feel at this very moment.  Leaving in a few hours for the Arnold's Tournament, holy f@ck.

01 March 2009

No Posts since 08 February!  This is atrocious!  Don't worry, whomever is in charge of this will pay dearly!

Forgive the heavy use of exclamation points and allow me to make up for lost time the best way I know how, making fun of Nazis. 

Yes those Nazis had it coming.  On a more relevant note, there really has been little activity for our band of Nothing To It'ers other than Steven and I getting into the gym this past Thursday for a quick burn.  Our workout consisted of...

WOD:

Four Rounds of as much time and as many reps of Two Exercises in One Minute followed by One Minute Rest of...

Straight Arm Support on Rings

Thrusters 

Thrusters were performed at 55#.  Not a bad workout. Quick, functional, effective.  I have been wanting to get more into gymnastic exercises, and straight arm support is a fundamental place to start. The goal is to support yourself, straight arms, and palms and elbows out in order to get your arms away from the straps.  

I liked this workout, and as time progresses, hopefully our strength does as well.  A combination of heavy thrusters along with more advanced gymnastic exercises (ie. back/front lever holds, dips, MU's, etc) would fit this model well, IMO.

Further note:  Arnold's World Championship in No Gi Grappling is this Saturday.  Nothing To It.