Paradiso Crossfit

"Encourage and listen well to the words of your subordinates.  It is well known that gold lies hidden underground."

                                  - Nabeshima Naoshige (1538 - 1618) in Ideals of the Samurai

"Why Fitness" by Greg Glassman

Our community is growing at a blistering pace.  To our trainers, followers, and athletes, what do you value most about CrossFit in general, and Paradiso CrossFit in particular?  What would you like to see more/less of?

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"Stephen"

30-25-20-15-10-5 rep rounds of:

GHD sit-up

Back extension

Knees to elbow

95 pound Stiff legged deadlift

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I'm going to extend the 10am class an extra hour to accommodate the GHD workout.  Since we only have two of these machines, we will be running in cycles.  Feel free to stagger in anytime in the two hour block to keep the heats running smoothly.

I finally posted another youtube clip of Amy getting her kipping pull up from a while ago.  Ahh, memories...

Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5-5-5

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The checklist for performing a proper squat or deadlift is extensive.  For the new CrossFit athlete there is a lot to learn, digest and remember.  This program is about long term health and, for many, reversing years of bad habits.  In a journal article about muted hip function, or lack of control over the extension of the hip, they state that it will take an athlete 3 to 5 years to fully develop the hip's explosive capacity without any signs of disfunction.  Don't get frustrated when you can't get something right, or cannot perform a workout as prescribed!  Our best athletes have been doing this for years.  No one walks into this gym and performs well without an extensive athletic background.  No one.  None of this is easy.  Keep working hard, focus on your foundational movements and keep learning.  Here are a few deadlift videos to remind you of how much you need to remember before picking up that bar:)

The Set up, parts 1, 2 and 3, Back Angle, Anatomy, etc.

21-18-15-12-9-6-3 rep rounds of:

135 pound Sumo deadlift high-pull

Pull to inverted hang and lower as slowly as possible

On SDHP's, pull the bar to make contact under the chin. On pulls to inverted hang, keep arms, trunk, hips, and legs as straight as possible, both up and down. This is not for time.

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Effortless....

I've had more and more requests for nutritional information.  My intention is to get our nutrition blog up to speed with all things nutrition, but for now we will just be focusing on sharing recipes and ideas for eating well.  Let me know if you would like to contribute as a guest blogger!  (its on the left side nav bar now too:)

We have written on nutrition numerous times, but here are two basic articles I like to start people with: Zone meal plans and the Paleo diet.  Please read and comment!

In the fitness industry, there is much talk about functional movements.  Everyone agrees that if something is functional then it is undoubtedly important and should be the staple of your regiment.  It becomes problematic when 'functional' is asked to be defined and the given definitions are as varied as the fitness disciplines.  

CrossFit has several criteria, with one very important one, that characterize and define functionality:

• Natural - there is nothing contrived or artificial about standing or sitting properly (squatting) or manipulating external objects (weightlifting), or controlling your body (gymnastics.)  These movements were around hundreds if not thousands of years before CrossFit, and you would be doing them in your everyday life anyway.  We just provide biomechanically correct technique and instruction.
• Safe - given proper technique, these movements do no harm even at post maximal loads.  Done with progression at sub maximal loads, they are the best things going.
• Essential - functional movements are abolutely necessary for independent living.  If you do not have full command of primary movers, do not have powerful hip extension, cannot stabilize your midline under load, you will be dependent on others for activities of daily living.
• Compound/multi-joint - functional movements are not isolation movements.  In nature and training, our bodies move and act as a single unit.
• There is a definitive wave of muscular contraction from core to extremity.  Notice most of our movements start at the hip/legs/lower back and move outward.
• They elicit enormous neuroendocrine response. 
• Finally and most importantly, functional movements are singularly unique in their ability to generate Power.  Only when we have movements that can be expressed in terms acknowledged and accepted by cardinal realms of science, and only when these expressions can be measured, can we further our understanding of human performance. 

Functionality and Wall Ball (because we know you love Wall Ball) by Greg Glassman

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