ANNOUNCEMENT - The Time Is Now!

Which One Will You Choose?

No time to make it to the gym? Not an excuse. A gym membership is to expensive? Not an excuse. Don't know how to create an effective exercise program? Still not an excuse! With $300 bucks, 10 feet of open space, and a true desire to become better, you can build your own home gym. Keep up with the posted workouts of the Day (WODs) to the best of your ability, chart your progress, stay focused and you will be amazed with the results you experience.


You have the option to do the WODs alone or with your own group of friends, or you can come join our group workouts (we might growl pretty often but we don't bite...really!). The WODs are a lot more fun, motivational, and productive when done with a group of people who share the same goals and under the guidance of a coach, but either way...just do THEM (ideally 4 or 5 per week)!


The WODs:
Needless to say, our WODs are tough...so choose your approach wisely. For example, if the WOD calls for a 135# deadlift or a 1 mile run and you are currently incapable of performing the task as prescribed, simply do what you can (i.e., do half..with the same intensity as if you were doing the full workout of course). Do not become discouraged and skip the WOD altogether, just scale it to your ability and work your way towards using the prescribed weight or distance as the workouts are revisited. Remember, we all have to start somewhere and every lion was once a cub...


Essential Equipment:
Pull-up bar or gymnast rings
Kettlebell or dumbell
Olympic bar set
Jump Rope
Medicine Ball
Stopwatch
Training Journal


Equipment Substitutions:
For barbell exercises, use two dumbells of equivalent weight. It's not the same feel, but as close as it will get!
For kettlebell exercises, use one dumbell of equivalent weight. Again, not the same feel...but pretty close.
No access to a track or treadmill, no problem...grab your jump rope! Look below for substitutions.


Exercise Substitutions:
1 Box jump = 1 Double under or 1 jump squat
1 Double under = 1 Jump squat or 1 box jump
1 Handstand push-up = 3 Decline push-ups
1 Muscle-up = 3 Pull-ups + 3 dips
1 Wallball shot = 1 Thruster @ 2x rx'd weight
400m run = 100 Double-unders


What to Do About Those Dreaded Pull-ups:
Option 1: Do jumping pullups or negatives. With jumping pullups, use as much leg push as needed and lower slowly. For negatives, climb to top position using whatever means necessary, chair, bench, whatever, then lower yourself as slowly as possible.

Option 2: Use a chair or a human spotter to give you an extra boost. With a chair, place it in front of or behind you and rest both feet on the chair. Use as little leg push as possible. As you get stronger, progress to 1 leg on the chair...and eventually none! With a human spotter, bend your legs at the knees so that the tops of your feet are facing down, have the spotter support you there to provide some lift.

Option 3: Get a large elastic band (surgical tubing works great), loop over the bar, step in it to provide some lift.

Option 4: Do reduced load pullups. Suspend a bar at a height less than overhead ...maybe about chest high...get underneath it with your legs in front and body straight...do "pullups" with your legs still on the ground, supporting part of your weight.

Option 5: Use a Gravitron machine at the gym! Adjust the stack to offset your bodyweight. Decrease the load as you start to get stronger.


Selecting The Proper Weight to Use:
Do your best to use the weight prescribed. If not possible at the moment, use a weight that's manageable to you, or use a percentage of the weight prescribed and work your way up to it. Doing the workouts safely and effectively is the main objective, not lifting heavy (yet)!


Why We Never Do Crunches (From CrossFit FAQ 1.14):
Abs work to stabilize and support the body with most CrossFit movements: squats, deadlifts, the O-lifts, burpees, pushups, pullups (especially the kipping variety), etc. These movement patterns place greater emphasis on the abs working in concert with the rest of the body and will result in stronger muscles than the isolation of crunches. Additionally, our standard warmup includes "situps" (along with squats, push-ups, TGUs, jacks, and bear crawls).

Any other questions, comments, concerns just drop us a line: strongerandfitter@gmail.com. Enjoy!!!