Elite Fitness in 100 Words

By / January 7, 2013

Have you ever seen the passage in the picture below? In 100 words, it describes how to achieve elite fitness. Many of you are doing a great job at it. Eating a Paleo diet, lifting weights, practicing gymnastics. We keep workouts short and intense, and constantly varied. But check out that last sentence…

Regularly learn and play new sports

You have probably seen the unicycle I got for a gift. I’ve only had it a couple of weeks, but I’m starting to get the hang of it. It’s completely new to me. It’s forcing me to work on my balance and coordination (two of the 10 components of fitness). CrossFit has definitely helped me acquire these skills more quickly. And unicycling will definitely help me in CrossFit.

We have other great examples in the gym – Marie-Noelle (football), Valerie (frisbee), Darrell (dirt bike), Rob (hockey) and so many others.

That line, learning and playing new sports, is so important. It lets you express your gains in fitness in real life. Matt Chan (2nd place finisher at the CF Games) tell us in THIS VIDEO how he balances CrossFit with life and new activities. He is my inspiration.

What new sport will you be trying this year?

Member Challenge – Max L-sit

Skill of the Week – Medicine Ball Cleans

4 rounds
25 Burpees
Rest 1 minute

Compare to Aug.27/12

 

178 thoughts on “Elite Fitness in 100 Words”

  1. Gillyon

    Amazing video! Great message.

    Warmup
    Med ball cleans (great coaching tips)
    Press (5) 45-50-55-60-65(only 3)
    WOD – 8:26 PR of 30 seconds

    There were some fast consistent burpees this morning. I was keeping my eye on Jo…trying to keep up, and then Maria and Natasha just blew by me. Great work girls!

    New sports…hmmm…not new…just like to find time to ski, surf, mountain bike and play some ball. Dave won’t let me play soccer anymore due to the fact that I consistently injure myself in that sport.

  2. Vincent Roy

    Mobility
    WU x 1 (Squats, Good mornings, Pushups, Samson stretch)
    Med ball clean practice (reviewed as a group)

    Shoulder Press x 5
    65-75-80-85-90(2)

    WOD: 4 Rounds
    – 25 Burpees
    – Rest 1 min

    Time: 9:56 (PR of 1:16)

  3. Joanna

    WU & med ball clean practice

    Cleans x3 (light, practiced landing faster)
    70 85 100 110

    WOD – 7:50 (27 sec PR)

    There were some fast burpees this morning. Who knew people could move that quick at 6am on a Monday?

    Re: Today’s post
    I have never in my life really learned to play a sport, I’ve never been on an athletic team of any kind or bothered doing anything remotely sports orientated (pre-CrossFit). Unless you count couch surfing or dog walking. I can barely swim the length of a pool, I’ve never been on skis/snowboards or roller blades and I don’t even know how to play chess. So, since just about anything would be new to me it shouldn’t be hard for me to find something to try.

  4. Maria

    Strength Front Squat x 3
    75-85-95-105-115

    WOD – 7:23 (25 sec PR)

    Lots of fast burpees! Weeeeeee!!! 🙂

  5. Chantal L.

    WU and Med ball clean practice

    Push Press x 3
    75-85-95-105-110

    WOD: 11:48, PR 1:27 😀 Wasn’t expecting a PR after not WODing since Dec. 21!

  6. Rob Brydges

    Wux1
    Med ball clean practice
    Strength. Dead lift x3
    135-185-205-215-230
    WOD. 4 rounds
    25 burpees
    Rest 1 min
    In 9:10
    Rob Brydges

    1. Lora

      Nice Back Squats Denis! Wish I had been coaching this morning. I am sure it would have been pretty colourful in there with you doing burpees! 🙂

  8. Shawn Johnson

    WU x1
    Double Under practice (got up to 10 unbroken)

    Med ball clean practice

    Strength
    Cleans x5
    70-80-90-100-105

    WOD 4 rounds
    25 burpees
    Rest 1 min

    In 8:47

    2. Shawn Johnson

      I also enjoyed Kevin showing a video of me doing cleans… even though it was a “how not to”. Maybe one day it’ll be a “How to” so keep filming coach!

      1. Heather S

        You need to have a black bar over the eyes in your videos for anonimity ie Glamour Magazine – don’t wear these shoes with this dress!!

  9. Eric N.

    Which is exactly why he is showing you… Sometimes seeing is better than listening. I know its helped me… (You should have seen my Bench the other day…LOL)

    3. Darrell

      It’s worth trying really good cardio workout. Plus you can’t put your arms down when you get tired or you get punched in the face.

  11. Tania

    WOD: 4 rounds 25 Burppes, Rest 1 minute

    Time: 9:22 (PR of 2:16… yay for Crossfit!)

    Great job 6 am crew! Everyone was flying on those burpees!

  12. Mario

    Noon WOD

    EMOTM 15 mins: Sit-ups + Push-ups
    – Sit-ups = 180 (15 x 12)
    – Push-ups = 135 (15 x 09)

    Was kinda regreting starting at 12 and 9 reps respectively around round 6-7… but kept to it. Push-ups almost dropped to 8 in last two rounds…

  14. Michelle

    Mobility
    WU x 1 (Squats, Good mornings, Pushups, Samson stretch)
    Med ball clean practice (reviewed as a group)

    Push Press x 5 50-55-60-65 70 x 3 (grr!)

    WOD: 4 Rounds
    – 25 Burpees
    – Rest 1 min

    Time: 10:51

    Son of a burpee! There were some fast times today, way to go!!

  15. Josh

    WU x 1
    cleans x 5
    95-135-155-165-175
    WOD
    4Rnds 25 burpees—rest 1min
    11:25(42secs backward since Aug.)

  16. Jason Gagnon

    Mobility
    WU x 1 (Squats, Good mornings, Pushups, Samson stretch)
    Med ball clean practice (reviewed as a group)

    Push jerk x 5
    95-115-125-135-135 realize after 4 set that my month off was catching up so i stayed at 135

    WOD: 4 Rounds
    – 25 Burpees
    – Rest 1 min

    Time: 8:25 (PR of 1:01)

  17. McDavid

    Wod, WUx1, medball clean practice
    Push Jerk x 5 up to 95. making sure form is still ok, been off for a while….thanks for sharing the bar with me amanda. and “thank” for lowering my self esteem and making me use the girl bar. :). jk
    Wod. 9:46 was hoping to getr sub 12.. so very happy with this.

    always happy to see everyone!

    2. Lora

      9:46 is quite a bit “sub” 12:00. Great work!
      Be happy you shared with Amanda….I would not have been as nice….*evil laugh* j/k

    3. Amanda Arseneau

      LOL! Thank you Kevin, for humoring me!! I always forget that it’s technically a girl’s bar so I didn’t think about that before I made you use it. Sorry, I’ll try to be a little more sensitive next time. lol. Fun sharing the bar with you! Great job on the wod. 🙂

  18. Valérie Arseneau

    Strength OHS
    5x 15-25-30-35-45 (PR of 5#)

    WOD : 8:34

    Was surprised with my time. Thought my left over cold was going to make this unbarable but I managed to keep a decent pace even with a burning chest. haha. Happy with my time 🙂

    2. Lora

      You did AWESOME on this Val! Hard to tell you were recovering from a cold. You would have left me even further in your dust had you been feeling 100%. Not that I ever want to do this WOD again…..

      1. Valérie Arseneau

        Haha, next time we’re setting up next to each other and see what happends to our time!

  19. Rob Brock

    Mobility
    WU x 1 (Squats, Good mornings, Pushups, Samson stretch)
    Med ball clean practice (reviewed as a group)

    Clean and Jerk x 3
    95 – 115 – 125 – 135 – 135 Worked on straight arms on the pull and lock out

    WOD: 4 Rounds
    – 25 Burpees
    – Rest 1 min

    Time: 10:15 (PR of 17 seconds)

  20. Mario

    Mob, WUx1

    Row 500m = 1:44.9 (Thanks for readjusting my technique Kevin!)

    Med Ball Clean Review

    Volume EMOTM 10 min – OHS 115#
    = 34 (4-4-4-4-3-3-3-3-3-3) dropped the bar at 3 reps on set #5… lack of concentration

    WOD Rx = 7:02 (PR by 24s)

    (sets were 0:53-1:00-0:58-1:11… last time 0:55-1:00-1:16-1:15)

    Man, burpees man… ouch! Good job everyone!! Eric you better beat me! 😛

    5. Lora

      So freaking fast on those burpees! You yelled time and I hadn’t even STARTED my fourth round. Crazy! Congrats!

    6. Eric N.

      You left me in awe man!!! I could not believe how fast you were going to the floor on those, so I decided to watch and take notes….It paid off… I was at 20 of 25 at 6:50 and emptied the tank but really struggled on the last 2 and was 5 seconds over your time but thanks for showing me how to drop even faster 🙂 Next time we’re going sub 7 on this one!!!!

      Well done brother!

  22. Lora

    Mobility
    Posted WU x 1
    Group med ball clean practice (Thanks Coach Amanda!)

    Strength: Push Press (x5)
    45-95-105-115-125
    Great sharing a bar with you Joey!

    WOD
    4 rounds
    25 bucking furpees
    Rest 1 min
    Time = 8:44
    (last time 8:58 so 14 sec PR…I’ll take it!)

    Great work 5:45 crew!

    6. jeff

      nice work on the wod Lora, for someone who claims to dislike this movement you showed consistent quick burpees right through, it was fun working out right beside you and the adage is true you can “run” faster when someone is chasing you! thanks for the push! 🙂

  23. Robyn

    Mobility
    WU x 1
    Group Med Ball Clean Practice

    Strength: Deadlift @ 5 x 70-75-80-85-90

    WOD:
    4 Rounds
    – 25 Burpees
    – Rest 1 min

    Time cap – 15min

    Got to 3 rounds before Coach called it, so 75 burpees in 12:16 minutes.

    I’m kicking myself that I didn’t at least try to finish the WOD, anyway, just to see what my time would have been, even if I had surpassed the 15 min cap.

    Thanks, Amanda for encouraging me. Thanks, Jeff for doing a few burpees with me and getting me to the end of 3 rounds.

    1. Corinna

      I see how hard you work each and every class Robyn. Great work! Just keep showing up to CFM. We love having you with us!

    3. Lora

      Love how you keep pushing yourself Robyn. I’m pretty sure we will see this WOD again, and next time, you’re going all 4 rounds. (THis might even make a good “home WOD” some time….just sayin’)

      1. Robyn

        Can you do a Change for Change on something that you’ve already done, to see if you can improve? Would it be worth trying, at the end of January? I have a lot of CrossFit WODs to log, between now and then!

      2. Lora

        Oh yesssssss. Forgot about “Change for Change”. You can definitely choose a WOD you’ve already done that month (or one you’ve missed). Great idea 🙂

      3. Robyn

        Bah ha! I am SO doing this one again!

        (Who *asks* to do 100 burpees, again? Really?! I think I’m still a little loopy from tonight’s WOD…)

    5. Amanda

      It’s going to come up again (yayyyyy…..) and you’ll do all 100 burpees, in the time cap. You did great today though, don’t beat yourself up over that!

  24. jeff

    mob
    WU x 1
    med ball cleans as a group.. thanks Amanda

    strength OHS x 5 did snatch from floor, these felt awesome today.. thank you Amanda for the feedback.
    45-95-95-95-95
    Sat in the bottom of each squat for a 2 count, trying to get comfortable coming out of the “hole”.. its working. 🙂

    wod
    8:19.. about a minute over my PR, started out like the house was on fire, quickly realized needed to find a pace that worked with my limited fitness (read- too much time off month of december) fun wod!! 🙂

    3. Lora

      It was awesome working out right beside you tonight. It was all I could do to keep pace with you (clearly I didn’t succeed). Nice work! And thanks for the push you gave me (whether you knew it, or not).

  25. Laura K

    Mob, wux1,med ball cleans
    Strength push press 35 40 45 50 55 xs 5 reps.
    4 rounds 25 Burpees rest 1 min
    2:45 2:45 2:47 2:31 plus 3 mins rest =
    13:48
    First time on this one. Leesa nice being next to you during the wod. You dropped to the floor…I dropped. There is strength in numbers!

  26. Heidi

    WU x 1 + med ball cleans

    Push Jerks x 5: 75-85-95-95.
    Need to work on keeping alignment & pushing my head through.

    WOD 8:55

    Some really fast burbees this morning.

    Fun one!

  27. natacha

    Mob, Wu x 1, medball group WU (nice coaching Kevin)

    deadlifts 5RM to 155#

    WOD: 7:36 (44 sec PR from Aug’12)… legs were like jelly after that… first time I get ‘the cough’!

    Thanks for setting a fast pace Joanna… got me going to a good start

    Nice work everyone… lots of PRs today… love seeing that!

  28. Chantal Guerette

    Mobility
    WU x 1
    Group warmup… Medicine Ball Cleans

    Strength : Push Jerks
    5 x 40-50-60-65-70

    WOD
    4 rounds of
    – 25 burpees
    – Rest 1 min.

    Finished
    Round 1 at 1:16
    Round 2 at 3:50
    Round 3 at 6:28
    Round 4 at 9:00

    Big PR of 16 seconds haha ! Still happy with my time 🙂

    The new thing I’ve tried this year was Aerial Silk (at Pink Fitness). It was pretty hard but I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have been able to do all the tricks I did without having been in Crossfit for a while. My friend kept saying :”Oh yeah she can do all these tricks because she’s so strong, she’s in Crossfit” I was pretty proud of myself. I’m giving “Pole Dancing” a try in 2 weeks. DON’T LAUGH PEOPLE hahaha 😛

    2. Eric N.

      Great job Chantal! Michelle is great and a few of my good friends are instructors there… Or were 😉

      1. Chantal Guerette

        I went once for aerial silk and I really loved it. Decided to give it another try 🙂 We’ll see !

  29. Corinna

    WU x 1

    Group: Med Ball Clean

    Strength: Push Jerk

    95-115-125-130

    WOD: 8:59

    23s PR. Wanted sub 9 I am pleased with that!

    Great job coaching tonight Amanda!

    1. Chantal Guerette

      Wow… I could have beat you if I would have pushed myself a little…. haaaaaa so close !

  30. Eric N.

    Mobility
    WU x 1
    Group warmup… Medicine Ball Cleans

    Round 1 : 54 seconds
    Round 2: 55 Seconds
    Round 3: 1 Minutes, 3 Seconds
    Round 4: 1 minute 15 seconds.

    7:07

    It was ooh so close Mario… I thought I had you 🙂

    Next time sub 7. Deal?

    Was happy to see Darcy tonight! and so much fun to cheer everyone at the 5:45 and 6:45…Love it!

  31. Marcel

    WU x 1

    Med ball cleans practice as a group.

    Front squat x 3

    145 155 165 175 185

    WOD – 8:57

    Hard to believe, but exact same as last time.

    1. Lora

      Nice to see you tonight Darsey! 100 pushups would suck almost as much as 100 burpees. Great work.

  33. Heather S

    WU x 1

    Med ball cleans practice as a group.

    Front squat x 5
    75-85-95-105-110

    WOD
    4 rounds of
    – 25 burpees
    – Rest 1 min

    Today August
    Round 1 – 1:24 1:30
    Round 2 – 1:38 1:39
    Round 3 – 1:47 2:08
    Round 4 – 1:45 2:10
    Total – 9:34 10:37

    Happy for the PR (1:03) but even happier that my times were more consistent. Great job 5:45 class. Glad to see so many people back after Christmas (and flu) breaks!

  34. Amanda

    10:29

    Strength with Ma David.
    OHS
    5x 70-75-80-85-90

    WOD: 10:05, I think. I forgot to check the board but I remember calculating that I had a 25 second PR. I felt like I was doing at least a minute better than last time but still really happy with my time.

  35. Leesa

    Mobility
    WU x 1
    Group warmup… Medicine Ball Cleans

    WOD – 14:28

    Thanks for some great coaching Amanda!! It was great working out with you Laura 🙂

  36. Gabriel

    Mob
    WUx1
    Group warmup… Medicine Ball Cleans

    Strength – Deadlift x1
    225×5-275-315-355-365 Back felt great

    WOD as Rx’d

    Time–>9:29
    had a great pace till 3rd round where left shoulder had shooting pain, not sure why since right one has been problamatic of late.

    Stretching and Foam rolling

  37. Elba

    Mobility
    WU x 1
    Group warmup… Medicine Ball Cleans

    Strength
    Shoulder Press 5’s
    60-65-70-75-80

    WOD – 11:02

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