Dear CrossFit Scottsdale,

I am proud to introduce to you, the 1st edition of “Letter from the Editor” A monthly blog dedicated to making you better at everything in your life. As a Coach, Father and Husband the pursuit of happiness is constantly being dangled in front of my eyes and just with in reach. Chasing it is easy. “Dedication, discipline and hustle” Knowing what to do with it once you reach it is challenging. CrossFit enables us in new ways to conquer adversity. Set and crush new goals all while giving us mental and physical strengths we never thought we had.

If you are new to our program listen up, this is your “School of Elite Fitness” and welcome to the CFS family. “We are here for you, now that you have taken the 1st step, we will take the rest of them with you”. For those of you who know how to kip, handstand and have a Level 1 band… Now what? Now you take your foot off the clutch and hit it harder than ever. Practice and sharpen your skills, do your homework (squat holds/foam rolls) and start thinking about what you need in your toolbox to be RX.

All my “Gamers”we unofficially have 6x months left until sectionals. Are you hitting all 3x components of CrossFit, daily? Olympic lifting, Gymnastics and Metabolic Conditioning? Are you eating clean, every meal, every day? Are you, taking your fish oil and pushing yourself harder than the previous day?  If your not I guarantee you the 5,657 competitors from this year are.

For everyone else… Why are you here? Do you have goals? How can we help you suceed? In this program, at home, or  in your office. Results are not guaranteed here, they are earned. So become proactive, take control of your life and earn the right to be called a superhero, by your kids and your Coach.

  ”DO THE IMPOSSIBLE EVERY DAY”
Coach Luke D. Kayyem

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The Level 3 Test at CrossFit Scottsdale- “The Mental Game”

Adjectives to describe the test; Miserable, Long, Difficult, and the “Unknown.”
By: Jeff “Sarge” Brennan

I started at CrossFit Scottsdale in October of 2009 for the purpose of testing for the SWAT team and getting in better shape.  In my line of work I don’t have the opportunity to stretch out before a foot pursuit followed by a fight (possibly for my life).  Train hard, fight easy…

My strengths are:  mental toughness, heart, and the desire to win.  I don’t want to be second to anyone and I don’t give a shit if you have more training than me.  There are plenty of people who have better genetics, and/ or Olympic technique…but when its “gut check” time I have the mindset to keep pushing and getting stronger.  I thrive off of other competitors getting weaker during a WOD…it makes me stronger to see people break.  The more I CrossFit the more I realize how much of a “mental game” it is.

Improvise, Adapt, and overcome.

Be prepared for anything and everything.  The Level 3 test encompasses heavy weight and Olympic technique with little to no rest. With the Level 3 test you don’t have the opportunity to know what you are going to do next until you’re 98% done with that prescribed exercise. 

So how do we look at this test and see whether or not an individual passed?  Do we do it by a total number of reps, or mere “respectable” completion?  

One thing that I completely agree on is keeping the test a secret until you have to absolutely come out and tell everyone because so many people have taken the test.  The idea/ philosophy behind the Level 3 test is not being “prepared” or warmed up.  There is no “WOD” management, just raw output.  Challenge yourself as a human and see what you’re capable of 

Congratulations Jeff “Sarge” Brennan on passing the CrossFit Scottsdale Level III Test

 

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It’s my Birthday and I’ll cry if you make me? For my “21st” Birthday I partied in Vegas till 4 in the morning. When I turned “26″ I celebrated by opening a Night Club and at “30″ I celebrated by the Grand Opening of CrossFit Scottsdale. So what does the owner and Coach of a CrossFit want this year? “Hell Week” 5x days of the hardest most physically and mentally challenging training on the planet. SEAL FIT is an integral and functional Mind-Body-Spirit training program developed by former Navy SEAL, competetive athlete and martial artist Mark Divine.  Combining training of the mind, body and spirit in the warrior athlete tradition, SEAL FIT is a full-spectrum functional fitness, mental toughness and self awareness training program.

3 comments

1. erica
   When in Oct. can we expect to have Hell Week? I want to make sure my books allow me to ...

Stu
OMG....that 1 workout alone would take me like 3 hours!

Anthony
I had one of my athletes do this 2xs he said it was great. He is in this video... ha ...

CrossFit is first and formost  a “Strength and Conditioning” program. With equal parts bieng emphasized on both. The challenge to us as athletes is how much time to spend on each without taking away from the other. “Strong people are harder to kill”Coach Rippetoe once said. I do agree but “Fast people are harder to catch”Coach Kayyem. This week we will integrate a piece of strength training behind each conditioning WOD we perform. Squat, press, deadlift, clean/jerk and pull up. For those of you who are level I students and enrolled in “Strength class” and the after school program use the 5/3/1 principal. After each warm up session we will also get comfortable  on the GHD starting small 5-15x reps and working on proper technique and safety. *See video below.

Warm
400x Run
50x Wall ball’s
50x Push ups

Strength
Back Squat
3,3,3,3,3

Skill
G.H.D (glut, hamstring developer)

WOD
400x run
30x burpees
10x shoulder to overhead #165/95

2 comments

1. Anonymous
   Keep blogging

Ashley Ulinger
ooo this looks fun! I can't wait for tonight!

On Saturday evening we celebrated with our friends and family 2 years of CrossFit Scottsdale. It seems like just yesterday when we moved in to our current location, one year later we are stronger and more focused than ever. Thank you to Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane, The North Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, Calisto Bistro, Cruz Tequilla, lululemon athletica our students, friends, ambassadors, CrossFit Scottsdale Connections members, local business’ and community members that attended our Anniversary Party and Celebration. It was a fun time and a huge success. Through the raffle, we raised close to $300 for Arizona Baseball Charities (6 kids now have equipment to play Little League this season). We also took a few minutes to recognize our students and community. Here is a recap of the awards given:

CrossFit Scottsdale Team Awards (voted on by the student body):
Best Attitude: Hallie Flood
Best Teammate: Dwight Peck
Best Dressed: Erica Picard
Best Undressed:  Ted Sweeney
Best Burpee: Ilana Fisher
Best Pull-up: Melissa Einbinder
Most Burpee Penalty: Marguerite Robinson
Best Smile: Tia Wise
Best School Spirit: Bob Hisle
Best Form: Nick Rini
Most Intensity: Matt Blanton
Best Legs: Jill Haaser
Sweatiest: Paul Zetah

CrossFit Scottsdale Super Hero Awards (CrossFit Kids):
Zachary Schawelson
Amanda Weber
Paxton Tatum
Laura Weiner
Rachel Weiner
Kanon Kayyem 
Hanna Vange

Coaches Awards:
Show Up Don’t Quit: Jeff Zuhl
Most Improved: Alison Nocks
Student of the Year 2010: Myrna Atha
Most Dedicated: Marc Lutz
Spirit of CrossFit Scottsdale: Don Wong
Most Determined: Dani Moudry
CrossFit Scottsdale Old School: Richard Shields

Students training at the gym for a year or longer. If you weren’t at the party, see a Coach next time you’re in.

Myrna Atha
Brett Bartlett
Stephanie Binch
Matt Blanton
Reed Connally
Skip Divelbiss
Liz Farnlof
Mike Gillis
Natalie Gillis
Bill Gold
Tom Gorman
Brian Gubernick
Bob Hisle
Katie Hunt
Kristen Johnson
Shannon Johnson
Jon Kaufman
Reem Kidess
Raj Kukunoor
Tracey Latham
Marc Lutz
Dani Moudry
Betsy Nagy
Alison Nocks
Erica Picard
Tom Rietz
Marguerite Robinson
Zachary Schawelson
Richard Shields
Chris Tousley
Devra Tousley
David Tousley
Tina Vange
Mark Verhamme
Erin Wellendorf
Mike Wellendorf
Sean Whiteman
Tia Wise
Don Wong
Jeff Zuhl

1 comment

1. Ashley Ulinger
   What a great event! THANK YOU to everyone who came out to make the evening and celebration so special!

As I left Flagstaff this afternoon I realized a few things. One we all need change, it defines us, makes us grow and sometimes work harder than we ever have before. Two, sometimes we need to step back before we can move forward. The 65 degree weather was amazing and definitely was a change and the CrossFit Movement/Mobility/Maintenance certification had me stepping back from 3.2.1. GO and moving forward with examining human movement. More importantly your’s. The students at CrossFit Scottsdale. Questions we all need to ask ourselves. At what point is your body failing you? When will Jeff Zuhl’s knee stop firing on a box jump? How long can Tia run for before her back starts to hurt and why can Sean not fully extend his arms over his head? But first we have to find out where the culpuret lies and I’ll give you a hint it’s not the knee, back or shoulders. We need to sytamatically fix these issues ourselves layoff the I.B Profin and change the face of Physical Therapy starting with you. In order to Maxamize Optimum Performance your training, nutrition and hydration must be at the highest levels.

Of the 10x General Physical Skills Flexibility is the only one that will effect strength, power, endurance, balance, endurance , accuracy, coordination, speed and agility. So why do we struggle with this area so much?  Because it’s not Sexy. Touching your toes for time is not on the leader board and Jon Kaufman does not hold the record for happy baby pose. However when he learns to retrain his body by stepping back stretching 5x minutes a day, using the foam roller before and after every class and working the issue from all angles he will be able to overhead squat his bodyweight 10x. We all will P.R everything and do it pain free. It’s not going to be easy, it’s going to hurt and you’re not going to like it, but it will work. We will be teaching all week long on your new self defense plan. “Every class this week will start with 10x minutes of foam rolling and dynamic stretching”.

CrossFit Flagstaff

Coach Luke Kayyem and Coach Kelly Starrett

4 comments

1. KG
   Foam rollers = Pain Pain = A winner's motivation and a loser's excuse. Foam rollers = Winners

Sean
No doubt! Yoga once a week does not support 5 days of CF workouts. Lesson learned...too late this ...

Ashley Ulinger
Great post!! This is so true in so many ways---change is good! :)

Myrna
Great post Coach, you so nailed it, one more piece of the recipe to peak performance pain free! Just ...

It is with great pleasure and excitement we announce our 1st CrossFit Specialty certification at CFS. Spend two full days with CrossFit Olympic Lifting Legend and Coach Mike Burgener, studying and practicing the Olympic lifts. The snatch and clean and jerk. Bring speed, power, coordination, agility, accuracy and balance to your strength training. This cert has only been available  for Level I certified Coaches before now. Mike is a friend of Coach Luke’s and has family here in Scottsdale. There is only 15x spots left and the Coaching staff is taking 4x of those so register now at

CrossFit Olympic Lifting Certification

 
Schedule:
November 6, Saturday: all day snatch instruction

• 0900: Introductions
• 0930: Snatch instruction
  1. Burgener warm up
  2. Snatch skill transfer exercises
  3. Snatch from high hang
• 1200: Lunch
• 1300: Barbell snatch instruction
  1. Snatch from mid thigh
  2. Snatch from below knee
  3. Snatch from floor
• 1600: Secure

November 7th, Sunday:

• 0900: Review
• 0930: Front squat instruction and practice
• 1000: Learning the clean and practice
• 1200: Lunch
• 1300: Learning the jerk:
  1. Skill transfer exercises
  2. Footwork
• 1400: Putting the clean and jerk together
• 1500: Workout:
• 1600: Secure

Mike Burgener, owner of Mike’s Gym (a CrossFit affiliate and USAW Regional Training Center), is a USAW Senior International Coach, former junior World team (1996-2004) and senior World team coach (2005), and strength and conditioning coach at Rancho Buena Vista High School in Vista, Calif.

1 comment

1. eileen
   YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wouldn't miss it for the world.

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1 comment

1. Skip
   AMAZING!!