the crossfit hobbit

i follow the gym’s programming and it can be found daily on the dogtown crossfit website. you can subscribe to the RSS feed as well. i think the training cycles run anywhere between six and nine weeks, though i could be wrong. sometimes i’ll add in a bit of my own stuff just to work on things that need more attention.

ha! don’t judge a book by it’s cover ;) i’m really not that strong, so you shouldn’t ever feel inadequate!

YOU, sir, are my hero.

hey khine! yep, i do remember. the programming i follow is created by the owners/coaches at dogtown crossfit. there’s usually a standard crossfit workout for everyone and an advanced option for those who have been doing it longer and need to be challenged a bit more. the advanced route typically includes heavier weight and requires more advanced movement. generally, the workouts are pretty similar.

for a while i was following crossfit invictus workouts as well, but that was very short-lived. this was before dogtown provided an advanced option.

if you really enjoyed the full body workout, i say keep doing it! for many people, working out is more fun when you mix it up a bit and challenge multiple parts of your body at once. you can gradually introduce it into your usual routine, incorporating it only as often as your body can handle.

developing strength in functional movement is far more beneficial than isolated muscle exercise. in the real world, there are very few physically demanding situations that will call for someone to perform the motions of an isolated bicep curl, a tricep kickback, or a sitting shoulder press. realistically, if you were, for example, saving a man from falling over a cliff, i’m pretty sure you’d engage every single muscle in your body to save that man. in no real scenario will you attempt to save him by merely sitting down and bicep curling him over the edge.. unless of course your arnold in his prime :)

so yes, full body, functional movements should be practiced as often as you can handle.

reveal thyself, and i shall reveal the secret!

i kid. the secret to getting a strict muscle up is this: a SHITLOAD of dips and a BUTTLOAD of pull-ups.

for an entire year i never even approached the rings because i was intimidated by them. to be honest, i didn’t want to feel the embarrassment of failing horribly and looking like an idiot. so after a year’s worth of building my strength, i gave it a shot on a day when the gym was pretty empty, had one of the owners coach me through it, and got it within a few tries. it was as exciting as receiving a promotion at work, as invigorating as hitting a monumental PR, as rewarding as beating every single level in a video game, as.. well, you get the point.

keep hittin’ the pull-up and parallel bars and it’ll happen for you too. good luck, buddy!

hi craveclimb! in high school i was on the tennis, swim, and waterpolo team. out of high school, i never played sports competitively.

i can’t remember my starting stats to be exact, but i know my back squat and deadlift were both in the low-hundred range. within the first year, my back squat jumped to the high-hundred range while my deadlift hit 300lbs. since then, my gains in strength kind of follow the law of diminishing returns, where my continued training brings on far fewer gains. positive changes are brought on at a far slower pace, so it requires more concentrated effort on my part to prevent hitting any plateaus.

crossfit was never difficult for me mentally, but it was challenging in that i had to perform movements i had never done before. anytime you try something new, it’s going to take time for your body to adapt before you start to feel comfortable.

i wouldn’t worry so much about what other people are doing. focus on yourself and the improvements you can make for you. that’ll speak to the true measure of your success. if you catch yourself comparing your stats to someone else’s, try and turn that into motivation to get better. for yourself.

i get pumped up to different types of music depending on the type of workout i’m doing. since you didn’t specify, i’ll just list a couple that get me in the zone for warming up, lifting, jogging, playing sports, and crossfit workouts. put together a variety for you, hope you enjoy :)

• 2 pac - can’t c me
• skrillex - avicii - levels rmx
• yellowcard - ocean avenue
• rusko - ravers special
• rise against - savior
• nas - hero
• the ataris - in this diary
• fedde le grand - let me think about it
• finch - stay with me
• lil wayne - a milli
• the federation - hoes in here
• le castle vania - zero machine
• linkin park - bleed it out
• linkin park - points of authority
• linking park & jay z - numb encore
• 50 cent - ready for war (mayweather vs. de la hoya rmx)
• cunninlynguists - the south
• cunninlynguists - southern underground
• franz ferdinand - take me out
• christina aguilera - soar
• sub focus - rock it
• demon - happy therapy
• kaskade - lessons in love (ft. neon trees)
• eminem - lose yourself
• eminem - gun go off
• living legends - she wants me
• rihanna - we found love
• wolfgang gartner - illmerica
• reef the lost cauze - live as it gets
• fort minor - remember the name
• plies - hypnotized
• limp bizkit - rollin’ (urban assault)
• lupe fiasco - words i never said
• army of the pharaohs - bloody tears
• madonna - die another day
• flux pavilion - freestylers (cracks rmx)
• flux pavilion - hold me close
• flux pavillion & doctor p - dj fresh - louder rmx
• snoop dogg - gangsta love
• ke$ha - blow
• westside connection - bow down
• jay z - moment of clarity
• pretty lights - keep ‘em bouncin’
• neon trees - animal
• gangstarr - battle
• the roots - rising down
• kelly clarkson - since u been gone

hi tayshawalker,

the jump rope i use now was purchased from buyjumpropes.net, and i use it in crossfit workouts that include double-unders. i’d recommend the triple jump rope, which is a competition jump rope. the handles are plastic and very light, and the rope is uncoated cable (there’s also a coated version). the combination of these two elements makes the rope blazingly FAST.

4:59 as of 10.10.11

if you’re curious, some of my crossfit and lifting stats are here.

do you mean, this fortune? i forgot about that until now!

note to self: eat more fortune cookies.

thanks ztjader. it looks like you’re in great shape from your avatar photo. before i can offer any sort of advice, there are a lot of details i need to know first. giving recommendations when you don’t know what you’re working with is like constructing a building without knowing what the foundation looks like.

what are your goals exactly and what is your current workout routine and diet like? what types of exercise do you usually do? do you have any injuries? what is your athletic background? how old are you and how tall are you?

training at waxman’s has been extremely helpful. sean does an excellent job of pointing out every teeny, tiny flaw in your body position and execution of your lifts. although it’s an olympic lifting gym, sean assigns you with supplemental exercises to help you strengthen and improve the oly-lifts, which translates to gains in strength in other areas as well. everything i’ve learned, thus far, has been transferable to all aspects of exercise.

it’s a very different environment than what you’re used to (i.e. crossfit gyms), but i adapted to it rather quickly. if you want to increase your power, speed, and accuracy in your lifts, i would suggest checking out his seminars.

perhaps, we can have our first tumblr meet-up! :)