Training Day

5 rounds for time of
15 deadlifts
15 toes to bar

Load the bar to 185# for men and 135# for women.

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 6:30 AM there is a CrossTraining cardio session, going by the name of "Endurance by MattFit."  Our own Matt Kaynes reinterprets endurance cardio through a CrossFit lens.  Bring a friend and give it a shot!

Training Day

2 min. handstand hold
2 min. hollow rocks
Rest 1 min.
1.5 min. handstand hold
1.5 min. hollow rocks
Rest 1 min. and
1 min. handstand hold
1 min. hollow rocks

Rest 5:00

Then 8 min. AMRAP of
5 med ball cleans
10 box Jumps

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 5 o'clock we have beginner's classes.  If you're thinking about beginning classes, this is the perfect way to start!

Training Day

Today's WOD is another CrossFit benchmark: Cindy!

AMRAP in 20 minutes of
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats

3, 2, 1, GO!

Training Day

5 burpees
10 box jumps
15 wall balls
20 knees to elbows
200m run
4 rounds for time

On Sundays at 10AM the Crosstraining class is open for friends and family members.  Bring anyone you like and get a solid workout in.

Training Day

Snatch 5-3-3-1-1

Rest 5:00, then:

As many rounds as possible in ten minutes of
10 knees to elbow
10 wall balls
5 KB cleans each arm.

The current record holder for the Olympic snatch is Hossein Rezazadeh of Iran who has snatched 213.0 kilograms (470 lb). The previous record of 216.0 kilograms (476 lb) belongs to Antonio Krastev from Bulgaria, but after the weight classes were reshuffled, this older record is no longer recognized by the International Weightlifting Federation.  In the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Jang Miran of South Korea set the women's world record for snatch of 140.0 kilograms (309 lb).

Drew Barnhill, Survival of the Fittest Athlete

Drew Barnhill (center) completes a rep during Survival of the Fittest.

Drew Barnhill competed on August 20th with in the Masters division.  At 55 years old, he is an enthusiastic CrossFitter and proponent for physical fitness.  I had a few questions for him regarding his diet, training schedule, and impressions of the games.

STB: Fresh from the competition, how do you rate your performance at SotF?
DB: I just come up with fair.  I could have done better, and wanted to do better, but considering I didn't fall on my face, 5% more would have made me happy.  I'm kind of a perfectionist, and like competing against younger guys, so there's always a challenge.  The 27-year-old in one of my WODs was an Army Ranger, that's the kind of competition I had.

STB: Tell me about your training leading up to SotF.
DB: Two WODs, trying to go into the games fairly fresh.  I kept the intensity high with a short metcon on Wednesday, then took Thursday and Friday completely off.

STB: Nothing extreme in the week before?
DB: Enough to keep me limber, but not so much that I couldn't go into the comp as fresh and as rested as possible.  Your training takes place in the months leading up to the comp; you aren't going to get in any better shape pushing yourself like that in the final week.

STB: Did your nutrition change any before or after?
DB: I increased my powdered protein a little that week but kept to paleo pretty closely.  The day of the comp I got a whole of of fruit in without any ill effects because my muscles were so glycogen-depleted.  I got maybe a weeks' worth of fruit in me in a single day.  My sister also had some paleo snacks for us too and they were delicious.
(Ed. Note: for recipes, contact dbarnhill@superiorhealthclub.com)

STB: Tell me about the games: were they well organized, fun, and how was the judging?
DB: It was daunting task, because of the number of competitors, and the chaos of the games is a constant factor, but they did a great job keeping everything as organized as possible.  The beauty is that it is kind of chaotic, but it's still a whole lot of fun.  There are always complaints about the judging, but if you go in with the mindset of having fun, and are there for fun, it's not such a big deal.  If you lost out on a questionable call this time, you might get the benefit of a doubt the next time you compete.  It's always a big fun family event and everybody had a great time.



Training Day

Today's WOD looks like this:
Set a running clock.  Do 1 pull-up and 1 handstand push-up in the first minute, 2 pull-ups and 2 handstand push-ups in the second minute, 3 pull-ups and 3 handstand push-ups in the third minute, and so on until you cannot complete the given reps in a minute.  Score is total reps completed.

Training Day

"The Chief"
Max rounds in 3 minutes of
135 lb. power clean, 3 reps
6 push-ups
9 squats
Rest 1 minute.  Repeat for a total of 5 cycles.

From the CrossFit main site, about this workout:

"Each year in the United States Navy, a highly qualified and elite cadre of Sailors are selected and promoted to the join the ranks of Chief Petty Officer. Since 1893, "The Chiefs" have been relied upon by subordinates and superiors alike for their personal example, technical expertise and above all, their unique leadership capabilities. As the induction process for newly selected Chief Petty Officers is now underway throughout the US Navy, we thought it appropriate to inaugurate "The Chief" in honor and recognition of all past and present CPOs. Thanks to them and their families for their self-sacrifice, ability to adapt, tireless dedication to mission and devotion to country."

Survival of the Fittest!

Today is the day!

Here's the crew, left to right front row: Beny, Matt, Ben, Lauren, Angela, Jeff; back row: Gene, Christian, Kevin

Training Day

Today's training features a venerated CrossFit standby: the thruster.

Thruster: 5-5-3-3-1
Then, three rounds for time of
400m run
5 burpees
13 sit-ups

The events and rules for this Saturday's Survival of the Fittest can be found here.

Training Day

Only a few days of contest prep are left before the competition...get excited!

WOD:
Run 800m
Rest two minutes
Five rounds for time

Did you know that the kettlebell comes from Russia?  In 2000 a former Spetznatz instructor named Pavel Tsatsouline changed the face of Western fitness by introducing the kettlebell to America.  Kettlebells were so popular in Tsarist Russia that any strongman or weightlifter from that era was known as a "girevik" or kettlebell man.  Competitions to see who can swing or snatch kettlebells of substantial weight are now very popular in Russia, and the infamous 10 minute snatch test is now an integral part of the Secret Service's training regimen.

Every time you pick up the cannonball with a handle you are continuing a long tradition of ballistic endurance that is continuing to shape the world of physical fitness.

Training Day

We're getting amped for this year's Survival of the Fittest in Woodstock.  We have eight competitors representing our gym on Saturday at 9AM.  If you've never been to a Garage Games competition, you should know it's a sight to behold.

The games are more about work capacity than anything else.  Sometimes that work capacity is tested with a heavy weight and many repititions.  Other times it's only your body weight and the requirements are monumental, with reps in the hundreds.  And sometimes the only task is to hoist weight in a Herculean effort that only that athlete can accomplish.

You can read the faces of the athletes.  You can see the doubt plainly, and the fear of shame and the determination to finish at any cost.  That's how you know a change is happening, right now, right here, because each and every movement requires total committment.  If the athlete allows the doubt to grow, to overpower their determination, then they will never complete the task.  But the drive to finish is strong, and every test of doubt and fear only makes it stronger. 

These athletes aren't truly competing against each other, nor even against gravity.  They're at war with themselves, to push the limits of the possible for themselves, and to vanquish for a time all within them that wails to flee and cower.  These games are primal because the desire for flight is a primal one, and so is the will to stand and fight.  These games are tribal because the tribe together can conquer, no matter the task.  Come and witness.

Warm-up:
Run 800m
10 Inchworms
10 Pass throughs
10 Med ball cleans

Today's WOD, for time:
21 - 15 - 9 of
Squat cleans
Push-ups

Welcome to the Blog

Some of you may know us for the stellar personal training service we offer.  Others may come for the intensity of the Crosstraining classes.  Still more may have only heard of us, and never experienced the best personal training in Georgia.

This is a window into the heart of the beast, the furnace where the fire burns brightest for fitness and health and transformation for the best.  Here you will find workouts, comaradarie, and insight to the method of our particular madness.  You will find friends and support in the close community that has been established on our floors.

Lives are changed in these halls, and yours might be one of them.  If you've gone with us down the path and are making the change into the best possible version of yourself, let us know.  Add your voices to the chorus and encourage the ones who are just now taking their first steps.