As a CrossFit athlete and coach, performance is important to me. While we cannot control the WODs that Coach Luke posts, we can control how prepared we are mentally and physically for the challenge in front of us. A big part of this preparation is rest and recovery. I have noticed recently that an increased work load both at work and at the gym have led to less sleep over the past few weeks, something I’m sure many of you can relate to.

I found a great article that discusses the importance of sleep and provides a few strategies for improved (sleep) performance. The author quotes 2 studies that that suggest that inadequate sleep has a negative impact on cognitive functioning, mood, and reaction time and the residual effects of chronic sleep loss are not made-up with a good night of “extra” sleep. The author then provides the following suggestions:

1) Allow for pre-sleep readiness.
2) Be consistent with your sleep patterns.
3) Clear your mind.

The full article can be found here.
Sleep and Performance

Sweet Dreams!
BK

“The Official Burgener Warm-Up”
1-3 Down and Up
4-6 Elbows High & Outside
7-9 Muscle Snatch
10-12 Snatch Land {2″, 4″, 6″)
13-15 Snatch Drop

“Animal”
150x Kettle Bell Swings
For time:

Gamers #75/55
RX #55/35
Intermediate #45/25
Beginner #25/15

This past weekend Najla and I traveled to San Francisco to visit our close friends Chris and Maribel LaLanne owners of LaLanne Fitness Powered by CrossFit. Great friends, good food and the best Olympic lifting coaching in the world. Coach Sage Burgener of CrossFit Invictus in San Diego was up North for an all day seminar on “Snatch, Cleans and Jerks”. The jumping and landing positions and the “Hook” grip which we will be discussing this week. The course was designed to improve form, technique and learn from one of the greatest young prodigies in the sport today. Sage grew up learning Oly lifts from her world renown father Mike Burgener. Since the age of 4 Sage has been drilling these movements and we all know repitition is king when lifting large loads overhead. So this week we will start every class with the Burgener warm up.

“The Official Burgener Warm-Up”
Down and Up 1.2.3
Elbows High & Outside 4.5.6
Muscle Snatch 7.8.9
Snatch Land 10.11.12 {2″, 4″, 6″)
Snatch Drop 13.14.15

To kick off March Madness we want to thank all of our students and friends for dedicating themselves to a happier, healthier lifestyle. A special shout out to Kerry who will be doing her last WOD at CrossFit Scottsdale this evening. Jill is now looking for a new BFF. Kerry and her husband are moving to Indianapolis where she is looking for a good CrossFit to call home. Kerry: This is for the gymnast in you.

Warm Up:
Stripper Pose
Good Mornings
Lunge to Elbow
Down Dog to Inch Worm

Skill:
Handstand Push Ups/Handstand Hold/Handstand Walks (Just Get Upside Down)

WOD:
Tabata Hollow Rocks
Tabata Squats/Bottoms
Tabata Handstand Hold

Due to popular demand and many requests we have made some scheduling modifications for March. Please see below and make your class scheduling adjustments acordingly.

CrossFit Scottsdale will now offer 2 CrossFit Scottsdale Yoga classes a week.
Wednesday at 6pm and Friday at 4:30pm (new time)

The Tuesday/Thursday Women’s Only class will now be held at 9:30am (instead of 9am). This will allow for those with kids to be able to drop the kidos off at school before coming in to get their WOD on.

…and starting in April we will be adding a CrossFit Kids class on Saturday’s at 11am.

What better way to break in the new leader board than with the Hopper Challenge Finals! 

After only 21 days CrossFit Scottsdale CRUSHED their “Helen” times.

Every challenge not only at CrossFit Scottsdale but in life as well brings with it a mix of emotions. Anxiety, fear, anticipation, excitement, enthusiasm and many more that sometimes are not as clear cut.  We say in CrossFit that if your workout doesn’t scare you than you’re not doing it right!  Our hope is that if you come in with any or all of those emotions as you approach the WOD, do it, give yourself 100% and accomplish it that you grow as a person. Your courage, character and confidence just got that much stronger and you walk out with your head higher.  You not only crushed a WOD but you got better at life today!  That is our goal, that CrossFit makes you better at LIFE!  Today we accomplished that.  30 students left with their heads held high and an attitude that they can do anything today!  That is the power of CrossFit and the challenges at CrossFit Scottsdale.  If you missed it you missed out!

Congratualtions “Hopper” Challenge Participants!  

Rx
BG 9:10
Doug 9:26
Sean 9:45
Ted 10:47
Mark 10:59
Nick 11:42

Erica 10:55
Angie 13:59
Eileen 10:54*
Ilana 12:57*

Advanced/Intermediate
Bob H. 10:43
Don 10:44
Pete 10:52
Nathan 12:18
Mo 16:16

Sara R. 9:57
Erin 10:13
Katie 10:32
Carolina 12:05
Sara H. 13:06

Intermediate
Dave K. 11:38
Jayson 12:52
Jaz 15:15
Mike W. 16:23

Betsy 10:41
Tracey L. 10:53
Stephanie 12:15
Julie W. 12:37
Erin W. 16:13

Beginner
Hallie 14:43
Perry 12:57
Alison 18:16

Congrats to the Challenge Winners:

Most Improved:
*Carolina with 2:45 off her time
*Nathan with 6:24 off his time

Fastest Times:
Hallie, Dave K., Betsy, Sara R., Bob H., Eileen, BG

You won an upgrade to Unlimited for the Month of March!  We expect to see you more often.  Great Job Everyone!

Coach Tiffany

 It’s been 21 days and the finals are here!  “Helen” here we come!  8am-10am this Saturday February 27th.  Come if you are competing, come if you are not to cheer everyone on.  Bring friends & family.  Show them what you are made of.  This is the sport of fitness!

Prizes will be awarded to most improved male and female overall and the fastest times for each category male and female.  One month of unlimited training is up for grabs.  3,2,1…GO!

As you can tell from my previous blogs I cannot speak enough about the beneficial role yoga can play in CrossFit WODs. To that end I thought is might be helpful to my fellow CrossFitters to introduce a new yoga pose every couple of weeks that is fairly easy to do on one’s own and has dramatic benefits. To kick off this series I have decided to cover two poses that go hand and hand and that we utilize at CrossFit Scottsdale. That being Upward Facing and Downward Facing Dog.

Upward Facing Dog or Urdhva (upward) Mukha (face) Svanasana (dog pose) in Sanskrit is designed to stretch the chest shoulders and abdomen while strengthening the spine, arms and wrists. CrossFitters with back injuries or who are currently pregnant should use caution with this pose. There are other poses and modifications that can be used instead….just ask.

To perform upward facing dog lay on your stomach and place palms firmly on the ground just above your hip bones. Legs should be extended directly behind you with your knees and toes on the floor. On an inhale gently straighten your arms lifting your chest off the ground. Your pelvis and legs may come off the ground slightly as elbows fully lock out. Palms should be spread wide and the inner part of your elbows should be rotating forwards. Shoulders should be pressing down away from the ears. Buttocks should be firm but not flexed.

Downward Facing Dog or Adho (downward) Mukha (face) Svanasana (dog pose) in Sanskrit stretches the shoulders, hamstrings, calves, arches and hands while strengthening the arms and legs. To move into this pose start on your hands and knees with your hands slightly in front of your shoulders and knees under your hips. Tuck your toes under and begin to straighten your arms and legs on an exhale. Your heels should press towards the floor while your hips and tailbone press up towards the ceiling. Fingers should be spread wide on the floor with the pressure mainly in the knuckle of each your forefinger. Inner arms should be lifting from the wrists towards the shoulders and your shoulder blades should be firm and drawn towards your tailbone.

Both of these poses are great to utilize before or after any CrossFit WOD and they are fairly simple to perform. Please don’t ever hesitate to ask me in any class if you need help with these poses or if you would just like me to check or adjust your form. More poses will be coming in future blogs but nothing is as good a just jumping into your first CrossFit Scottsdale yoga class. I hope to see you soon!

Coach Katie

Warm Up: Strech/Joint Mobility

Work: Max Effort Row
Row hard and fast until failure.
5 Rounds
5 minutes rest in between rounds

Mark total distance for 5 rounds

Coach: Thanks for the “stop being a wimp” speech tonight…you are absolutely correct! I need to get my mind back to being tough and pushing thru pain and challenge.  As I get older (not that I am old….) I find it
harder and harder to work through injuries.  They seem to set me back more each time… My shoulder will be fine.
 
Being as competitive as I am it really pisses me off when I fold when the challenge arises… I simply will not allow that to happen anymore!  Stick with me. I have only been Cross fitting for 10 weeks now…I am
still learning as is my body how to improve, push, and extend my mind through the challenges we meet each day.
 
I promise I will stay positive, supportive, and strive to improve everyday… don’t give up on me…
 
Thanks again!
 
Bob Hisle