Recently, some of you participated in “Hidalgo”, a hero WOD. Dave, from RSCF, had the honor of serving our country with Hidalgo and knew him personally. Thank you RSCF military men and women – your sacrifice is much appreciated.

“Hidalgo”

For time:
Run 2 miles
Rest 2 minutes
135 pound Squat clean, 20 reps
20 Box jump, 24″ box
20 Walking lunge steps with 45lb plate held overhead
20 Box jump, 24″ box
135 pound Squat clean, 20 reps
Rest 2 minutes
Run 2 miles

If you’ve got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.

U.S. Army First Lieutenant Daren M. Hidalgo, 24, of Waukesha, Wisconsin, assigned to 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, based in Vilseck, Germany, died on February 20, 2011, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, from wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. Two weeks prior to his death, he was hit by an earlier improvised explosive device. Despite his injuries, he stayed in country and on patrols rather than return home. He is survived by his father Jorge, mother Andrea, brothers Miles and Jared, and sister Carmen.

Pic 1: Hidalgo

Pic 2: Dave did this WOD in his gear and 40# body armor/vest… the pic: in remembrance? or for a breather?

Tomorrow Crossfit.com will post the first workout of the 2012 Crossfit Open. Have you registered yet? If not… you should. It will be fun, we’ll be programming the Open WODs anyway, so why not do it – and see where you stand. Have fun, here we go 2012!

Monday :
Max Handstand Pushups in 5 minutes
Then, tabatta
Double Unders
Toes to Bar
Box Jump
Wallball
KB swing (USA)

TUESDAY:
15 Minutes to Establish a Back Squat 1 Rep Max

With A Partner:
2-4-6-8-10-12 Thrusters, 95/63
400m Run Together
2-4-6-8-10-12 C2B Pull Ups
400m Run Together

For this workout, each person has to perform the ladder. Meaning partner one does 2 thrusters, then partner two does 2 thrusters, and so on.

WEDNESDAY
Max Clean and Jerk
Then…
5 Rounds For Total Reps:
1 Min Plank Hold
1 Min KB Swings, 24/16kg
1 Min Double Unders
1 Min Rest

Wednesday:
3 MWODs
Janda Situp
Fran:
21-15-9
Thrusters
Pullups

Thursday:
3 MWODs
Snatch Work
Heavy Snatch

Friday:
Double Unders
and…

Are you ready for the Open?

Read this article from the CrossFit Open Games site:

About a year ago, as a representative of the silent masses, I shared an open letter with the community about my experience with CrossFit. I shared that as a silent (although somewhat less quiet now) backyard CrossFit addict, I enjoyed my five-step stroll to my backyard workout area too much to join an affiliate. But, I still felt a great appreciation for the community and the rich development CrossFit had seen. Two months later the Open began and it all exploded.

My first impression of the Open format when it was announced was slight trepidation and huge doses of curiosity. How would this whole mess work? How could people really put their lives on hold for six weeks? How could you design a workout that would be a truly good measure to separate the crème de la crème of the elite, and still be inclusive of the general populace?

It left me intrigued and curious enough that I strolled into CrossFit Full Strength a couple miles from my work to find out how they were going to make the whole thing work at a local level. I chatted with the owner, Gayle Shalloo, who, at 5-foot tall, I describe as having far more energy and power than her stature would hint at. She was very welcoming and in a very gracious manner persuaded me to overcome my insecurities and “just go for it.”

The problem was, I didn’t think about the timing at all. It was a complete impulse buy that I made without even taking a look at the calendar. I just thought it would be fun; you know, the sick kind of fun that leaves you crumbled on the floor in the fetal position.

For some of those out there like me who are not firebreathers or didn’t make it to Regionals or the Home Depot center, I would like to share some of the lessons learned from my experience.

Life on hold
One of my first concerns was how I would be able to participate week in and week out for six weeks. In Phoenix, a few affiliates got together and rotated weeks through the affiliates where a different affiliate would host the workout to lessen the burden on any one affiliate and to increase camaraderie among athletes. But they made the expectation that all participants would be as prescribed with no scaling.

Problems began at the very beginning. I neglected to notice that my wife had planned a vacation during my son’s spring break and I would be camping in a national park from Tuesday evening through Sunday, which was the exact time when I would need to submit a video for the first week. In addition, I neglected to check my schedule or notice that I was committed to participate in two triathlons during that period.

Fortunately, the technical difficulties of the CrossFit Games website favored my schedule and I was able to participate in the second week of the “first week.”

For the weeks were I had other competitions I threw caution to the wind and just went for it. CrossFit does do a surprisingly amazing job at preparing us for the unknown, unknowable, unexpected or unscheduled. I was able to participate without any major physical consequences, aside from the potential semblance to Pukie that accompanies most CrossFit workouts. I didn’t have to put my life on hold and, instead, had the pleasure of boring my extended family with lengthy descriptions of the workouts and my experience each week at family gatherings.

Our capacity is greater than perceived
One of the common statements we hear in CrossFit is that the workout was harder than expected. But every single week I heard people exclaim with excitement about some PR they had personally achieved, from a first double under or a PR on squat clean and jerk.

Week four was a major concern for me. When muscle ups were posted, I knew I was in trouble. I didn’t have muscle-ups. I tried for three days when I was fresh to get a muscle-up, to no avail. As a consolation, in my practice I was barely getting through the overhead squats and figured the lack of muscle-ups wouldn’t be much of an issue if time ran out before I got that far.

I woke up early Saturday morning and in an annual tradition went and competed along with my 12-year-old in a sprint triathlon. I rested for a little bit and then I went to CrossFit Full Strength where they were judging the workout.

At “3,2,1, go,” I drove through the bar-facing burpees and finished the overhead squats when I realized, oddly there was still time left on the clock. went to the rings and my first attempt was utter failure. In my second attempt, I kipped with every ounce of energy I had left and caught myself in a very deep dip and realized, “I think I can press out of this.” With a grunt and scream that was probably far out of proportion to the accomplishment, I pressed into my first muscle-up.

Beaming from ear to ear, I dropped to the ground and thought, “Let’s try this again.” I was able to get one more muscle-up before time ran out. I was even fortunate that there was a media crew on site that captured my first two muscle-ups on film. I have video proof!

Beyond the personal bests achieved, the weekly requirement to perform as prescribed forced me to push harder that I would have otherwise. I scale workouts based upon my perception of the workout’s intent and my perception of my capacity. The requirement to not scale forced me to readjust my perception and push beyond my threshold. I have readjusted how I scale on a weekly basis since then and have realized a much greater improvement this year.

There are always weaknesses
Each week as the workouts were posted, I expected one of them to play to my strengths, but each and every one seemed to have at least one major component that was punishing. Whether it was my lack of proficiency in double-unders, my complete absence of experience with muscle-ups, or my personal kryptonite of thrusters, each week was revelatory in new opportunities to improve a glaring shortcoming.

I was surprised to hear so many of the interviews with firebreathers include discussions on things they perceived as their weaknesses and express the way they work on their “shortcomings.”

But the beauty of the adventure of life is that we are here to learn and grow. This encapsulates my personal philosophy in life. Each learning opportunity is presented to us in different ways until we chose to learn it. CrossFit is an avenue that permits us to face those weaknesses and address them.

Data is fascinating
I am a data junkie and I love comparing things. As dismal as the news was that I was so far down on the list of rankings, I still had a lot of fun tracking my progress as the weeks went along.

I created a table of my ranking by world and by region. I was able to track the comparison between my performance for the workout and my performance cumulatively through all the workouts.

Just by sticking around and pushing through all the workouts, my ranking progressed from week to week. I had fun comparing my performance to other competitors with similar demographics and reading the profiles of the people that performed similar to myself, but were from vastly different backgrounds. I followed the performance of friends in other states and sent congratulations when they excelled.

Human performance is amazing
I became a CrossFit Games site addict and watched every video posted and read every article. Stories of people overcoming insurmountable odds, changing their lives through weight loss, improving leaps and bounds … inspired me and increased my determination to perform better and push harder.

Participating in the same workouts as everyone around the world in the Open increased my awe. In what other sport can you watch the competitors and then try your hand at the same thing?

All of the competitors on the podium deserve the accolades that go along with that accomplishment. But, what is just as astounding to me is the depth and breadth of incredible performances across the spectrum by the near countless individuals that were close.

Conclusion
As far as my performance in competition, let’s just say that I am not on the radar as competition for the people who are not on the radar as competition for the Regional competitors (yes that repetition was intentional and reflective of how far down I am on the totem). I am not in danger of competing at Regionals in the near future, but the Games taught me and pushed me to new experiences I didn’t anticipate.

If you are wondering right now whether or not to be involved, or are concerned with if you will perform up to expectations, throw those concerns to the wind and know that you will push yourself to places you haven’t been before and learn things you didn’t expect.

I am ready to sign up for the 2012 CrossFit Games Open.

At Red Stick CrossFit, we train like a team of athletes on a daily basis. Next month, however, you will have yet another oportunity to represent Team Red Stick CrossFit.

We are getting a team together for Race for the Cure. The race is on Saturday March 10th on the LSU campus. The 5k starts at 9am. Melissa has already registered a team for Red Stick CrossFit, so when you register, you just need to “join a team” L Red Stick CrossFit. Registration is $25 until the 22nd and then it goes up to $30. You can also add a time chip for $5.

Invite any family and friends to join in… We are looking into getting some shirts printed. We are waiting for cost, and will let you all know as soon as we know.

For more info and to register, visit: http://www.komenbatonrouge.org/

Other ways to represent the team:

The CrossFit Games Open begins February 22… registration is now open. Talk to Coach Andrew for more info.

September 22, 2012 – Fight Gone Bad 7!!! More details to come! Last year, CrossFit affiliates from across La came together and raised over $80,000! Let’s raise the bar and raise even more this year. Fight Gone Bad is one of Lance and Erin’s favorite events – it really shows how the power of the CrossFit community at large can come together for a greater good. It’s great to be a part of the Louisiana CrossFit movement!

Watch an inspirational video from our friends and CrossFit Virtus…

MONDAY:
7 rounds
40 DY
1 muscle up
3 snatch (75/55)
5 HSPU

TUESDAY:
7 min cindy
7 min amrap
5 pullups
10 hand release pushups
15 squats

rest 3 min

7 min AMRAP
10 hang power snatch (95/65)
10 back squat
10 barbell facing zero count burpees

So it’s kind of crazy… We brought our girls to a local sheep farm the other day, and the children there, are home-schooled. We began talking to the 12 year old and her older sister about a gluten free diet (they brought the conversation up). One of the reasons they are homeschooled is because of being extremely ADHD and not being able to focus in school. In their homeschooling, they started doing research, and now the entire family is gluten and grain free… and off of many previously prescribed medicines. They, said “don’t the schools realize that they are serving the students food that is making them unable to focus and unable to do their studies.” And then, these two young girls, said, “I am glad y’all are trying to implement a gluten free/paleo diet with your children at such a young age.”

Is Paleo something that you will implement with your children? Or, is it something that you will tell your mom and dad about?

Monday:
5 attempts at either max HSPU or PU

AMRAP 10 minutes:
15 KB swing (24/16kg)
25 situps
And
5×3 clean and jerk (squat clean)

Tuesday:
Partner WOD
4 cycles for max reps
1 minute alt. wallball over cage
15 sec rest
1 minute alt burpes
15 sec rest
1 minute alt power clean (95/63)
15 sec rest
1 min alt plate situp passes (45/25)
15 sec rest
1 min alt box jump
15 sec rest

Wednesday:
Hang Squat Clean 2-2-2-2-2-2
50/55/60/65/70/75%

100-75-50-25
Double Unders
Situps

Thursday:
2 laps
Walking Lunges (1/2 lap)
Run (1/2 lap)

Friday:
Wouldn’t you like to know…

Did you know there are actually a lot of Paleo cookbooks available? And, in fact, some really GOOD ones. With the popularity of CrossFit and Paleo/Primal-style eating rising, there are a number of options out there and no need to feel confused and overwhelmed in the kitchen.

There is a newer book, The Food Lovers: Make It Paleo, and think it is a great one for someone who is not super confident in the kitchen or is new to Paleo. It has shopping lists for both kitchen tools and Paleo food supplies in the front of the book, plus over 200 recipes, most of which aren’t too complicated — but are definitely tasty.

Other Paleo/Primal cookbooks:
Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso
The Primal Blueprint Cookbook by Mark Sisson and Jennifer Meier
Well-Fed by Melissa Joulwan

At Red Stick CrossFit, we train as a team…If you are struggling and need encouragement, post to comments… If you are doing well and have words of wisdom, post to comments. Have a great recipe? Post to comments.

A different sort of inspirational video… This one is for you, Rachel!

Crossfit Games 2008 Inspirational video – Watch More Funny Videos

Monday:
Team “Murph”
Run 1 mile
100 pullups
200 pusups
300 squats
Run 1 mile

Tuesday:
75 KB swings
21-15-9
Power Clean
Pushups
75 KB swings

Wednesday:
Open WOD 11.2
AMRAP 15 min
9 deadlifts (155/100)
12 pushups (hand release)
15 Boxjumps (24/20)

Thursday
Find 1 rep Max
Press
Push Press
Jerk
Front Squat

What will Friday bring?

So, hey… what is the deal with 7pm???

Monday:
21-15 -9
Thrusters
Power Cleans (115/75)

Tuesday:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Pushups
Box Jumps

Wednesday:
Split Snatch Reps
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Thursday:
6 rounds:
1 lap
15 Russian Swings (2 pood)
3 Backsquats (225/135)

Friday:
Every Minute on the Minute (for 15 minutes
2 Power Cleans (75-80% 1 RM)
5 Chinups

Hey guys,
Many of you have not been registering on ZenPlanner. Please start doing so… the other evening we had 3 people signed up for one of the classes and 13 people showed. Please sign up, or you may be disappointed when you show up and are asked to wait until the next class because class is full. Again, this allows us to prepare for each individual athelte and for the group as a whole.
Thanks! RSCF Staff

MONDAY:
Tabata This:
Row
Squat
Pushup
Pullup

TUESDAY:
Front Squat and Press
1 rep max
AMRAP 80%
AMRAP 60%

WEDNESDAY:
100 Toes to Bar for time

ANYONE SEE THIS during an NFL Game Commercial… What do y’all think about where CrossFit is headed?

THURSDAY:
21-15-9
Squat 225#
Ring Dips

FRIDAY:
20 min:
SDL for total weight
Must complete 1 rope climb between every 5 reps

Not every WOD should be a grinder… even if it is a CrossFit WOD… At RSCF, you will find a nice mix of heavy days, short metcons, benchmark WODS, etc… and Grinders are also present… so be prepared for the unknown or it may just kick your butt… Or perhaps, it will kick your butt anyway!

WOD
For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

You can start at any station, but must complete all 50 reps before moving to the next station… If you see a GHD open, run for it!

Oh, and if you are a coffee drinker… grind your own beans… it is amazing! Happy Friday!

RECIPE HERE
Tuesday:
looked like fun:
Boxes, Abmats,Tires, Sledge, Pullups, Broad Jump Burbeess, and Barbells… Was there any equipment not used? CRAZY!

Wednesday:
Find 1 rep max:
press
pushpress
jerk
Followed by:
Death by Power Clean
Minute 1 = 1 power clean (60/40kg)
Minute 2 = 2 power clean
Continue in this fashion until unable to complete required reps for the associated round

Thursday:
15 minute AMRAP
15 Boxjumps (24/20)
12 Pushpress (95/65)
9 Toes to Bar

Are you participating in our New Years Challenge which begins next Tuesday?

Wednesday:
15 min AMRAP
3 squat clean to thurster
10 Toes to Bar
15 wallball

Thursday:
“Chelsea”
30 minutes: every min on the min
5 Pullups
10 pushups
15 Squats

Friday:
Find 3 rep max clean pulls and rack jerks

My ears feel like that after Karen also!

WOD:
Karen:
150 Wallball for time

We will be closed Monday January 9, 2011 for all afternoon classes to cheer on the TIGERS as they beat BAMA!

On that note, many of you have been requesting a nutrition challenge… So, we have strategically picked a challenge start date as January 10th for all of you LSU partiers/fans… and an end date of February 13th for all of you romantics!

So, come in this week to weigh and measure using our body fat calipers and to take your before photos! The registration cost for the challenge will be $20.00, and there will be a cash prize! More details to come…

Happy Holidays!
We are back to our normal schedule…
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 6:15am, 7:15am, 4:00pm, 5:00pm, and 6:00pm
Thursday 4:00pm, 5:00pm, 6:00pm
Friday 6:15am, 7:15am, 4:00pm, and 5:00pm

WOD:
10 rounds for time:
10 SDL (200)
12 pushups

Garrett… even took his shirt off!

Tuesday WOD:
30 min AMRAP
Rope Climb
Pushups (break up and pace as needed)

Wed WOD:
5×3 Backsquat 80-90% of 1 rep Max
May switch to Pushpress once failure is reached
Then:
Max rep strict pullups in 15 minutes

We will be closed so that our coaches can enjoy time with their families for the holidays from December 22-December 27. We will be back open December 28-30 at 6:15am, 5:00pm, and 6:00pm… an will return to our regular schedule in January!

This week we are open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 6:15am, 5:00pm, and 6:00pm. Don’t worry about registering via ZenPlanner for this week- just come in for some great workouts!

I wonder if this elf will make another appearance this year??? Watch out, that one is sneaky!

WOD:
Deadlift 10-8-6-4-2
15 Toes to Bar between each set
Add weight each round (as long as form is PERFECT)

Then, JUMPROPE for max reps
2 minutes singles
2 minutes double unders
2 minutes singles

Yikes! Watch out, y’all!

…at least that’s what his eyes are saying!

WOD:
7 min AMRAP
10 Medball clean (20/14#)
5 Pushups

Current Red Stick CrossFit athletes, don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about you this holiday season… we will be announcing Loyalty Rewards next week!

WOD:
5 rounds:
5 minute AMRAP:
5 cleans (135/95#)
5 split jerks
5 pushups
Rest 1 minute between rounds