Nutrition

Since the New Year, I've been following the zone every single day (well...except 1 weekend) and I am loving the improvements I'm seeing with my workouts. Not only am I becoming fitter at a faster pace, I also am noticing the other benefits it's having on my body. For one, once I wake up, I never feel tired until I'm about to go to sleep. I used to have to take power naps all the time. Second, I have felt extremely well every single day since the new year. Not once have I felt anything but perfect and I am sure this feeling is effecting all other aspects of my life as well.

I have been taking fish oil as well, but only till last night did I realize that I was not taking NEARLY enough! I have been taking a total of about 2 grams of EPA/DHA a day. Starting today I'm increasing that intake to 10 grams a day. That's a lot of fish pills! But I think the health benefits are worth it and I can't wait to feel the benefits this will bring to my performance and my life.

If you are not eating meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar, I HIGHLY suggest you change your diet. If you are mostly eating these foods, I HIGHLY suggest following the guidelines of the Zone. Why not? It's really not that hard once you get used to it. It can really put a kick to your health and fitness.

Yesterday's Workout: "Jackie"
1000m row
50 Thrusters (45#)
30 Pullups

Time - 7:41

Today's Workout: "Mary"
as many rounds in 20 minutes of:
5 Hand-Stand Push Ups
10 1-legged squats
15 Pullups

Score - 8 + 5hspu + 10 1-legged squats + 12 pullups

The pullups are starting to really kill my left shoulder (i got surgery on my rotator cuff 3 years ago). Not sure why, I'll try to do more stabilizing work on it for now on.

The Hunt

Since I have come back to Santa Barbara after my winter break, I have been on a hunt to find other crossfitters. So far I have found 3 (technically 4 but I have not met her yet). Added on to that I've been training my friend Matt 4-5 days a week, and have recently been approached by several other guys in the gym. All of whom are interested in what I've been doing and teaching my friend. I usually talk to them for a while about it and give them my email if they want to know more.

I have heard rumors a while ago about some trainers who were interested in CrossFit and maybe wanted to start something up down here. I've have tried hard to find them but still have had no luck. I do think I am getting closer though, the fitness director at a gym down here, which is where my searching has led me to next, is supposed to call me back soon with information about their trainers (I told them that I was interested in joining there gym if I found a trainer there who knew about CrossFit; although that is far away from the truth). So hopefully I'll get lucky this time!

Yesterday's workout:

"Nancy" 5 Rounds for time:
400m run
15 OHS (95#)

Time - 16:44 (PR by almost 2 minutes!)

I'm always excited when I hit a personal record but I am especially proud about this one because it shows me that my running is finally making some improvements.

An Overlooked Aspect of CrossFit

CrossFit is great for your health and not just for the reasons that you may be aware of. Here at UCSB, I've had the unique opportunity to study directly under famous social psychologist, Dr. Blascovich, creator of the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat. If you are not aware of this model and it's applications, I highly suggest you look it up and try to understand the basics.

The basic Biopsychosocial model is now starting to be used in hospitals and health clinics all over. What it basically says is that health is a combination of our biological functioning, our mental functioning, and our social functioning. We need all 3 to be healthy and if one is lacking, it will have negative effects of on the other two. This is why it is so there is a MUCH higher survival rate for people facing diseases such as cancer who are mentally tough and have social support.

There is much more to all of this, but basically, I believe CrossFit not only increases our health biologically; it also makes us tougher mentally as well as increases our social support network. Going to a regular gym, you'll never see people talking and interacting; you'll see them with ipods and books on machines by them selfs.

Even if you do not have a CrossFit facility to work out at, you still have the implied presence of the crossfit community which has the same almost the same beneficial effects on health as having someone actually there. CrossFit will improve your health in so many ways, I truly believe it is essential for the great health and full-filling lives.

Yesterday's Workout:

Continuous Pull-Up Clock (ex. 1st minute - 1 PU, 2nd minute - 2 PU etc...):
12 Rounds + 9 PullUps

Find 1-Rep Max Snatch: 65# - 85# - 105# - 115# - 125#

3 mins of L-Holds


Today's Workout - 20 minutes of:
15 Body Weight Deadlifts (170#)
9 Pullups
21 Dumbbell Jerks (35# each arm)
Score: 4 rounds + 11 deadlifts

A Matter of Ethos

Do you have the power to influence those are around you? This question may sound silly, as we all the the power to influence those around us, but it seems some can influence people easier than others. How is this possible you ask?...the answer, I believe, is largely a matter of Ethos.

Ethos, a term used commonly in rhetoric, means the amount of credibility that people attribute to you. If people believe you know a great deal about something and that you are credible, what you say will have more influence over them. Now the question left is: how does one obtain this ethos??

Obtaining ethos takes time, energy, and ability. Every time you meet someone, you talk to someone, or when someone else talks about you, you can gain ethos (you can also lose it!). If you can come across as interesting, intelligent, hard working, and show passion (pathos) in whatever it is that you love, you will be building upon your ethos. If you want to inspire people, having vasts amount of knowledge is just not enough. You need to develop this ethos as well as have knowledge because only then will people be interested in what you have to say.

Someday, I want to have my ethos built up, as well as my knowledge, so that I can change people's lives and create a difference in the way they think. I want the ability to influence people who would never even think about fitness and health to become life-long crossfitters.

Do you have ethos? If you don't, start building it! If you do, don't be shy; use it and influence us all!

Yesterdays Workout: "The Bear"
7 sets of the sequence (without resting the bar on the ground):
Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Push Press
5 rounds, rest between rounds as needed; The weight I used is as follows:
Round 1 - 65#
Round 2 - 85 #
Round 3 - 95#
Round 4 - 105 #
Round 5 - 115#

Followed by 3 mins of L-Sits...

Have a good night....CJ

Certification

Yesterday, I was able to sign up for the Crossfit Level 1 Cert at Crossfit One World for May 17th-18th. I'm so pumped! I wish I could have signed up for a Santa Cruz one so I could sleep at home but this is what was available and I'll take it! I've been saving my money for a long time to be able to do this and I know it'll be worth it.

On the down side, I just got turf toe (probably from all the jump rope practice I've been doing outside on cement). Hopefully that'll heal up soon, but until then, I'll stick to work outs with less running and jump roping.

Todays Workout - For time:
1000m row
5 dips
10 pull ups
750m row
10 dips
10 pull ups
500m row
15 dips
10 pullups
250m row
20 dips
10 pull ups

Time - 15:57

Then right after...3 minutes of L-Sits

Bad Day for Fitness

Have you ever had a day where your diet sucked and you didn't get a chance to workout when you wanted to? It sucks, I felt like shit all day and I feel disappointed in myself. I haven't missed a day in a long time and by diet has been perfectly measured for over 4 weeks without any deviations. Oh well, I just gotta make up for it by pushing myself harder than ever before on my next set of workouts. For the next 8 weeks, I'm going to focus less on the heavy weights, and more on my core, running, jump roping, pull ups, HSPU's, and balance. Fight your weaknesses to the bitter end, and you will conquer every and all obstacles that get in your path!


Saturday's workout:

"Barbara" 5 Rounds; each for time with 3 min rests between:
Round #1 - 2:54
Round #2 - 4:20
Round #3 - 5:45
Round #4 - 5:26
Round #5 - 5:07

Total Time - 23:32

This was my first time doing "Barbara". I thought it looked easy with the 3 minute rests...its not!...CJ

Education

It is important to always try to learn more about your passion. There is always more knowledge to gain and it is up to YOU to make sure you have access to it . Here are my classes and how they relate to my passion:

Social Psychology: It is extremely useful to understand the implications of Social Psychology. I am lucky to be able to work and learn under one of the BEST in the field, Dr. Blascovitch, creator of the BioPsychoSocial Model. This has huge implications on how social activity increases and decreases our health. It is also great to know motivation techniques and how different peoples minds work. Very interesting stuff, and great applications to the personal trainer.

Health Psychology: There is a huge amount of evidence that most diseases come psychologically and therefore there are many ways, using your mind, to counteract sickness. It is incredible what the mind can do! If you diet and crossfit, you MUST read up on Health Psychology and its incredible implications on longevity and health.

Anatomy for Fitness: Great class to be able to learn all the bones, muscles, joints and how they work together. Irreplaceable knowledge to have as a personal trainer. A must! In this way, human movement can become all the more clearer (+ I am finally being able to understand more of the logic and descriptions used in Starting Strenth).

Public Speaking: What a greater way for practice and understanding of speaking in public. This allows me to develop my ability to communicate to others and create more understanding and motivation.

Basically, I feel that going to college can do nothing but increase my abilities to become the best trainer I can be. It's great that I have the education I want and to know I will be able to use it to be an incredible trainer.


WOD:
JumpRope Practice: 5 x 150 Basic Bounce (1 min rest b/w sets)
5 x 75 Alternate Step (1 min rest b/w sets)
5 x 15 Double Unders (1 min rest b/w sets)

Find Max Back Squat: 3-3-2-2-1-1-1-1:
Heaviest weight: 350 (tried 365 but failed) - not my PR but was with my best form which is what matters most.

Tabata Box Jumps (2.5 feet)

MUSCLE UP!

I finally accomplished my first muscle-up today... actually I accomplished my first 3! It was such a good feeling, I just wanted to keep doing them all day.

Yesterdays Workout: 10 X 100M Row Sprints (2.5 minute rests between)
Fastest Time: 18.5 Seconds.

Afterwards, I practiced the Snatch

Today I started with MuscleUps, then proceeded to work on my jump ropes:
5 x 100 Basic Bounce
5 x 50 Alternate Bounce
5 x 10 Double-Unders

Then I went out and set a new personal record (by over a minute!) on my 5K run: 22:26

On top of all that good news, yesterday I got in touch and met with an administrator at my school who does CrossFit with his wife. We plan on meeting up again soon to workout. He also, very kindly, introduced me to a graduate student mountain climber down here who also does CrossFit. All of a sudden, I've been introduced to the growing tree of Crossfitters down here! I'm Pumped!

Oh ya, and for my rest day tomorrow, I get to see Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, in a lecture at my school.

And then...my friends are coming down from SC for the three day weekend to look for a house with me for next year!

Can this week get any better? I bet it can......CJ

Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz. Damn I miss it.

The place means so much to me for so many reasons, sometimes I think it is a mistake I ever left. It's where I spent the first 18 years of my life and it's hard to be gone from most of the time. I still rep the SC down here in Santa Barbara (hell, most my shirts either say Santa Cruz, CrossFit, or Both!). Next year, I'll be moving out of the house I live in now and be living with some of my friends that are transferring down here from Santa Cruz. I think about it a lot; I got an SC tattoo when I graduated to represent how important the place is to me. After I graduate, I'm not quite sure I want to pursue my goals down here in Santa Barbara to become a personal trainer. Maybe moving to Santa Cruz to achieve that dream is the best option, but I feel as if there are all ready so many great and experienced trainers up there that it'd be hard to get my start.

But then again... As Greg Glassman says "the scarcity is in the amount of personal trainers, not clients". And if that's the case, I feel like there's so much I could learn about the profession in SC. I got a while to think about while I finish up my degrees at UCSB but I've found it's always best to look ahead. ..

WOD:
20 Hang Squat Cleans (95 pounds)
20 SDHP (95 pounds)
20 Box Jumps
15 Hang Squat Cleans
15 SDHP
20 Box Jumps
10 Hang Squat Cleans
10 SDHP
20 Box Jumps
5 Hang Squat Cleans
5 SDHP
20 Box Jumps

Time: 17:33

Jumping the Night Away

I finally received the Buddy Lee Jump Rope I ordered 2 weeks ago! I can't wait to develop myself with it and be able to do all of the variations I have read about from articles in the CrossFit Journal. I'm starting his 6-week program to 500 single jumps (except I'm starting on week 3). I practically went crazy jump roping tonight with this thing!

Yesterday, I gave "Fran" my first try in 2 months and got a new PR (5:31). At first I was pretty disappointed in myself because I only beat my last time by 9 seconds, but now I've come to realize that maybe it was harder this time around. Before I came to SC for the holidays, I didn't have the full ROM for my pull-ups that I do now, and that means I'm doing more work which might explain why my new PR wasn't as good as I expected it to be. Either that, or I'm just a pussy... But I doubt it.

Other then that, I went to the park today with some of my friends and played a very hard-hitting game of Tackle Football. I got some good hits in and scored a few TD's. I feel sore and exhausted but it was way too much fun. After that I headed to the gym and completed the following WOD:
20 Single-Arm Snatches (each arm) 25 Pounds
5 Dips
15 Single-Arm Snatches (each arm)
10 Dips
10 Single-Arm Snatches (each arm)
15 Dips
5 Single-Arm Snatches (each arm)
20 Dips

Time: 11:50 - next time i'll use more weight and maybe do Ring Dips

Quickness

It seems like many of the best opportunities in life can come at you in just a moments notice. Training to be quick not only helps you physically, but mentally, it allows you to react quickly to all of the things life throws at you. It is important to not let these opportunities slip by you to the next person who is ready for them.

I have wanted to become a personal trainer for a long time. That is why I am at UCSB persuring two minors in personal training and athletic coaching. Five months ago, I stumbled across CrossFit and I've gone crazy for it ever since. I love the workouts, the physical as well as the psychological aspects, the community, the trainers I've been lucky to meet. I feel that becoming a CrossFit personal trainer would create the most happiness in my life. I would do it for free if I had to...In fact I already do! Recently, I've been taking my friend out and training him for an hour every day. And what I found out is that I love it even more than I thought I would!

Well, today I got in touch with a fellow CrossFitter down here in Santa Barbara and he said there were some trainers in the area that are interested in opening a CrossFit down here. I feel that even though I am young, this is an opportunity I need to jump on. And QUICKLY!! I don't know the trainers names but I know what gym they currently work at and I plan on finding them THIS WEEKEND! I know if I put out an all out effort on this, I'll have a chance to convince them to let me on board. I'll take out loans, I'll do whatever to become part of the new CrossFit down here. I just need to continue learning as much as I can and become Crossfit Level 1 certificated. I know I got a lot of work ahead of me but I am determined like no fuckin other. This is why quickness is important to train for and even though I was expecting to have more time, I know this is what I was made to do. Thanks for any support!

WOD:
Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5
(185-215-235-255-275)

7 Rounds: Sprint 400 M
Walk 400 M

Sprint #1 - 1:07
Sprint #2 - 1:14
Sprint #3 - 1:18
Sprint #4 - ?? (forgot to restart the stop-watch)
Sprint #5 - 1:18
Sprint #6 - 1:17
Sprint #7 - 1:19

Being quick enough a TouchDown seems a lot easier than being quick enough you grab my dreams...

Mental Fitness

WOD: "Cindy"
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 Pullups
10 Pushups
15 Squats

Personal Record: 21
Todays Score: 18

I can only ask myself what happened? Maybe it was yesterday when I ate "off the zone" at Costco. Maybe it was the crappy grip I had on the 2 inch bar? Maybe my calluses were soft from the wet grass on which I did my pullups?....OR MAYBE IT IS JUST ME!

Is there something I did wrong mentally? I think this must be the case. It is easy to blame your problems on the things around you but in reality, it is mostly yourself which is at fault. I felt good going into this workout mentally, I was pumped up. Maybe I've become dependent on working out with outher people after my winter break in Santa Cruz. I just cannot be sure but it leaves me very worried. Very rarely do I fall so far behind a PR and usually I create a new one. I think I will use tomorrow's rest day to gather my thoughts together and create a gameplan to increase my mental fitness so I can continue to break records.....CJ

Feelin' Good

I felt really good today working out much earlier than I have in months. I destroyed my old PR of 235 for my one-rep max front squat. Setting personal records feels so good, and with such a solid program as CrossFit, I can constantly pull out PR's for different workouts several times a week.

WOD: Find Max One-Rep Front Squat:
3x125, 2x145, 2x 175, 1x: 195, 215, 225, 235, 245, 255, 265 (PR)

3 Rounds:
1 Min Core Hold
25 Balance Ball Sit-ups (I don't have an AbMat yet)
Time: 6:04

Good Mood = Good Times = Good Fitness = Good Health = Good Life

Tired

I've had a long day. Much too long. Gym wasn't open so I cranked out these nice little workouts:

WOD:
150 Burpees for time: 17:51

Tabada Sit-ups (Atomic style): Total - 59


I really need to make more of an effort to go all out on these workouts because I think anything less is just wasting my time...CJ

Storming

So yesterday brought quite the storm up to the mountains of Santa Cruz. I woke up to the sound of crack crack crack crack... the sound of a tree right near my room snaping! Our power was off (which is why I didn't/couldn't post yesterday) and I was stuck at home for most of the day because all of the roads were closed.

This was actually a blessing in disguise. It allowed me an excuse to stay in Santa Cruz for an extra day and one last workout at NSC CrossFit. Thanks to Jason H., I got lots of good instruction on how to improve my form on the kipping pullup that I badly need. The following workout really hit me in the gut and has given me inspiration to work much harder on my core.

NSC WOD:
100 Double-Unders
50 Sit ups (with AbMat)
20 Pull Throughs
20 Knees to Elbows
50 Sit ups
15 Pull Throughs
15 Knees to Elbows
50 Sit ups (Mod - Dumbells anchoring feet)
10 Pull Throughs
10 Knees to Elbows
50 Sit ups (Mod)
100 Double Unders

Time: 30:32

Last Day In SC? Maybe...

I can't believe I already have to leave Santa Cruz tomorrow (possibly Saturday) and head back to my other home in Santa Barbara. I'm really gonna miss being able to work out at such the great facility North Santa Cruz Crossfit has. I want to say thank you to Brendan Gilliam, Dan Grant, Robin Boose, Ronnie Boose, and an even larger thank you to Jason Highbarger. All of them helped me out so much over these past few weeks and I've really enjoyed working out with all of them. Not only did Jason help me and motivate me on many of my workouts, but he's also given me contact to some guys in Santa Barbara who do CrossFit as well. Hopefully that means not as many solo workouts as I've had the past three months! (In fact, down there it is extremely rare that I can ever drag someone out to do a crossfit workout with me). I'd also like to thank all of the other members at NSC CrossFit. They all provided so much encouragement; they will be greatly missed when I leave.

NSC WOD:
25 Power Cleans (#95)
25 Jerks (#95)
20 Power Cleans
20 Jerks
15 Power Cleans
15 Jerks
1000 m Row

Time: 21:13

After the first set of power cleans, I broke everything down into sets of 5 to keep a good pace. It worked pretty well and I am genuinely happy with my time. Thank you Robin for cleaning up my form and motivating me to bust through this!....CJ

2008...

Hey everyone, my name is Colin and this is my first blog ever. It is my New Year's Resolution to add on to it every single day this year and in future years to come. I have several reasons for doing this.

First: It is useful in keeping track of my CrossFit workouts and motivate me to push myself further. I think CrossFit is one of the best things I have going on and I hope in a few years to become a personal trainer and start a CrossFit facility of my own in Santa Barbara, where I currently am attending school at UCSB.

Second: My diet needs to improve in order for my fitness to increase to the level that I want it to. (Not that I am overweight at all). I have been off and on the ZONE diet the last 3 months but I plan on being a lot stricter for now on to increase my health and performance.

Last: I am 19 years old, attending a huge party school, and I am trying to become a personal trainer in this environment (as seen on the right) requires a huge amount of determination. In my blog, I hope to share with others the challenges I face and the progress I make.

Please feel free to visit the blog whenever you want. I would love to hear your comments or opinions and read your blogs as well. It would be great to to connect people with similar interests.

Hopefully I will have enough $$$ to buy a digital camera pretty soon, but until then, I'll have to go with older photos and things I find online. I hope everyone had a happy new years...mine was grand.....................CJ