IGX

I got to tell you guys this is the thread that cleared the crossfit haze from my head. I was recovering from bike accident this past fall and couldn't really do anything but surf the web from my sofa. On top of that I'd given the old girlfriend her pink slip so I had no one to wait on me. I know it sucks.

I'd heard the other **very involved** crossfit members talk about this thread, but never gave it a second thought. Back then I believed that irongarm was nothing more than a bunch of fat, out of shape, haters. Maybe some of you are, but after reading ever single page of this thread I moved from slightly amused, to this shit is funny, to man they have a point, to what the fuck have I been doing to myself?

Blackie wrote:I got to tell you guys this is the thread that cleared the crossfit haze from my head. I was recovering from bike accident this past fall and couldn't really do anything but surf the web from my sofa. On top of that I'd given the old girlfriend her pink slip so I had no one to wait on me. I know it sucks.

I'd heard the other **very involved** crossfit members talk about this thread, but never gave it a second thought. Back then I believed that irongarm was nothing more than a bunch of fat, out of shape, haters. Maybe some of you are, but after reading ever single page of this thread I moved from slightly amused, to this shit is funny, to man they have a point, to what the fuck have I been doing to myself?

Thanks for the life story.....faggot.

Just what this thread needs, another fucktard who drank the Koolaid. Let me guess, you were one of those whose idea of @fitting was doing the WOD from the main page and complaining/bragging on the comments section about how B@DaZZ you were OR you were actually stupid enough to pay for some dumb bitch to show you how to lift PVC.

Which one was it?

Dunn wrote:

Blackie wrote:I got to tell you guys this is the thread that cleared the crossfit haze from my head. I was recovering from bike accident this past fall and couldn't really do anything but surf the web from my sofa. On top of that I'd given the old girlfriend her pink slip so I had no one to wait on me. I know it sucks.

I'd heard the other **very involved** crossfit members talk about this thread, but never gave it a second thought. Back then I believed that irongarm was nothing more than a bunch of fat, out of shape, haters. Maybe some of you are, but after reading ever single page of this thread I moved from slightly amused, to this shit is funny, to man they have a point, to what the fuck have I been doing to myself?

Thanks for the life story.....faggot.

Just what this thread needs, another fucktard who drank the Koolaid. Let me guess, you were one of those whose idea of @fitting was doing the WOD from the main page and complaining/bragging on the comments section about how B@DaZZ you were OR you were actually stupid enough to pay for some dumb bitch to show you how to lift PVC.

Which one was it?

Never paid for the cert- work at the time was to demanding.

I did it to fuck a crossfit chick.

Blackie wrote: I did it to fuck a crossfit chick.

Was it Hop Sing or Meth-calves?

Dunn wrote:

Blackie wrote: I did it to fuck a crossfit chick.

Was it Hop Sing or Meth-calves?

It was Johnny BadAss. Clawhammer was busy getting up to the 14th mile.

Fat Cat wrote:Reminds me of the guy who passed out and woke up with a pink dick spray painted on his car.

*Seeahill masturbates furiously.*

http://www.vimeo.com/4363662

Someone needs to beat the gay out this camera man. He obviously has his priorities way out of order.

Patrick Donnelly wrote:http://www.vimeo.com/4363662

Someone needs to beat the gay out this camera man. He obviously has his priorities way out of order.

stop posting private videos, faggot.

lol, it was not private yesterday.

Oh...my...gawd. Now there are song tributes to the female WODs.



If you can manage to listen long enough, she mentoins "Angie wants you down on your knees." What a coincidence...that is exactly where I'd like this singer to be.

Blackie wrote:I did it to fuck a crossfit chick.

Was her clit more like a prehensile tail or an elephant's trunk?

JohnnyBadAss wrote:Oh...my...gawd. Now there are song tributes to the female WODs.



If you can manage to listen long enough, she mentoins "Angie wants you down on your knees." What a coincidence...that is exactly where I'd like this singer to be.

Sorry, I could not manage that far. I was wondering if she did some HSPU right before the video tho.

http://www.governmentcontractswon.com/d ... .asp?yr=07

WTF?

Common sense. Brought to you by the US Army Ranger Regiment. Yes, Shape, THE Regiment.
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Are CrossFit and Gym Jones compatible with RAW?

In the last decade, physical training culture across the Regiment has changed. Distance running has decreased as hybrid workouts that incorporate a blend of resistance and endurance training have become increasingly popular. Across the country, this trend is also taking hold as evidenced by the popularity of CrossFit and programs similar to it. In this article, we will take an objective look at the hybrid training philosophies and the value they might hold for Rangers.

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In developing the RAW program, we consulted leaders in mainstream organizations such as the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and Athletes’ Performance Institute (API). We chose those models because of their proven results and their vested interest in long-term physical success. As we develop RAW’s train-the-trainer program, we will continue to draw on the expertise of these organizations. For example, 12 NCOs from 1-75 recently (July ’08) completed a week-long mentorship at API and were enthusiastic about the experience in their trip report.

This training represents one of three events in the train-the-trainer sequence: RAW SME week, API Mentorship Week, and Gym Jones training (pending a staff visit in November ’08 to coordinate the details). We believe the Gym Jones experience will add value that can’t be found anywhere else – specifically the chance to explore in-depth the means for meeting operator-specific physical training requirements. The staff there understands the primal need among warriors to challenge the limits of the body. While some may do this with ultra-distance events, some in the weight room, some in the octagon, the Gym Jones approach not only taps into the primal mind-body energy, it trains the physical skill set that best serves Rangers.

While we are encouraged by the variety of training modes seen across the Regiment, we need to ensure that Rangers avoid trendy workouts that don’t meet their PT objectives and might even get them hurt. Among our concerns are the following:

Establishing and Maintaining Movement Skill

Web-based trainers may believe in laying a solid movement skill foundation, but how to do so is not readily apparent on most websites. Rangers drawn to programs such as CrossFit’s workout of the day (WOD) are often unaware that the preparatory training required to master lifts such as the snatch can take months, even years. Eastern bloc coaches trained their best lifters with such a timeline in mind. Staying with the snatch as an example, the majority of Rangers we’ve tested cannot achieve the “3” score on the Deep Squat from the Functional Movement Screen. The mobility/stability required to score a 3 on that test should be a pre-requisite for overhead training. Eliminating the mobility/stability imbalances that limit the Deep Squat can take weeks or months.

CrossFit and other web-based fitness trainers suffer no consequence when their followers injure themselves or do not improve performance because they were not prepared to train at a given level; but the NSCA-credentialed and API coaches won’t last long if their training methods aren’t sound. This is not to say that CrossFit training is inherently dangerous or ineffective, however, like all training, the risks/benefits must be matched to the objective.

Another movement skill deficit we’ve seen with several popular programs is the lack of agility and rotational training. Harold Hill, a former operator and the military liaison at API, noticed the same thing. Not surprisingly, when API works with operators they spend significant time working agility and rotational movement skills.

One reason we are drawn more to the Gym Jones approach is their philosophy of consistency before intensity. That principle gets to the heart of physical training – move well first, then ramp up the intensity. CrossFit trainers would likely agree with that point but add that occasionally we will encounter occupation stress that causes fatigue to the point that form breaks down. We must, they would say, train to prepare for those moments (Example: the “Fight Gone Bad” workout). While it is true that we will at times encounter a level of fatigue that breaks down form, the question is “How do we best train in preparation for those conditions?” There must be a risk/benefit analysis. We contend that power (cleans, jerks, snatches) and heavy resistance (dead lift, squat, free-weight pressing) lifts carry too great of a risk to be used as beyond-form-failure exercises.


Blending Strength and Endurance

One trend in the fitness industry is the blurring of the line between strength and endurance training. A decade ago, guys had their cardio days and their strength days. Some would occasionally do one (lift), then the other (bike, run, etc.) as part of the same workout. Now, the strength and conditioning world is full of resistance training workouts that keep the heart rate high. There are several advantages to those workouts:
• Efficiency – time is often a factor for Rangers, and blended workouts kill two birds with one stone.
• Developing power-endurance – too many easy-paced long runs will rob the legs of power. When the same endurance effect can be achieve without compromising leg power, the choice is clear. This is not to say we should never run long, only that we should not over-emphasize that mode of training.
• Mental toughness – most blended/hybrid workouts we’ve done have required a lot of focus to maintain form as fatigue sets in. Contrast that with mindlessly drifting through a 5-mile run or performing well-rested sets in the weight room.
• Neuro-endocrine stimulation - blending strength and endurance means you are pushing/pulling/lifting something when you are tired. This is hard work and a big stress to the entire body. The body responds by mobilizing a chemical response that gets you better prepared for the next smoke session. This is good, but it requires adequate recovery. Please read below, “Too Much Smoke, Too Often.”
However, these hybrid workouts have drawbacks. In addition to the risk of over-stimulating the neuro-endocrine response, the restriction on rest intervals compromises muscular development. Insufficient rest intervals fail to restore creatine-phosphate levels and normal acid-base balances. Rangers wanting to get bigger or stronger must get adequate recovery between sets and, therefore, should limit the use of workouts that don’t allow such recovery.

Our recommendation is to first define your objectives (both long-term and short-term) and then choose training modes accordingly. Most top athletes follow a periodized approach to training, changing their focus/workouts every few weeks, with a different objective for each period. The classic model trains hypertrophy, strength, power, and sport-specific needs in that order. In this model, hybrid power-endurance workouts fit best during the sport-specific (think Ranger missions) phase. More recently, an alternative training model called non-linear periodization has proven effective. In this model, different forms of strength training are scheduled within a 1-2 week period. Based on discussions with top strength and conditioning researchers, the RAW program recommends this method and includes one heavy-resistance workout, one power-endurance workout, and one body-weight workout per 7-10 day period. The power-endurance workout can be either Ground Base, hybrid, or a combination of the two.

The hybrid, power-endurance workouts certainly have value for Rangers, but should be used as one modality in a broad-ranging PT program rather than the primary mode of training across phases.

Strength-to-Weight Ratio

A high strength-to-weight ratio is acclaimed by the CrossFit and Gym Jones approaches. Because high strength-to-weight ratios improve efficiency for most tasks, including climbing, gymnastics, and running, we tend to agree. However, a high strength-to-weight ratio is really only valuable to the degree it improves performance on specific tasks. Some Ranger tasks will not benefit from a high strength-to-weight ratio. Loaded movement on foot might suffer if a Ranger overly pursues upper body strength and a very low percentage of body fat. Such individuals will likely perform well on climbing or gymnastics tasks (pull-ups, monkey bars, muscle-ups), but a long, heavy foot march could force that Ranger to operate at a greater percentage of his physical capacity than a “thicker” man, leading to earlier fatigue. We’ve all known guys that weren’t light or ripped or very successful on running events but could road march everyone else into the ground. There is no simple, definitive guidance on this topic. Our general recommendation is to maximize strength without compromising occupationally-specific endurance and movement skills.


Too Much Smoke, Too Often

By nature, Rangers tend to set lofty fitness goals and push hard to accomplish them. Though most of our guys understand the principle of recovery, in practice, they often violate it. When inadequate recovery becomes the rule rather than the exception, injuries and decreasing performance usually follow. If you are in your twenties and biomechanically sound, the process may take longer, but you are still vulnerable to overtraining.

Though a complete discussion of the science behind overtraining is beyond the scope of this article, the process can be viewed as both a muscle/tendon/bone overuse problem, and a multi-system physiological problem. The muscle/tendon/bone overuse problems appear as stress fractures, tendon breakdown, and chronic muscle soreness. The physiological problem is more complicated and involves neurological and endocrine (hormones) systems. Simply put, overtraining overtaxes those systems. As a result, the whole body is affected, with symptoms such as increased resting heart rate, fatigue, unexpected weight gain/loss, low motivation, and susceptibility to illness.

Over the past year, we’ve talked with or heard lectures on this topic from several of the elite trainers in the country. As a result, our guidance is to have no more than two “crushing” workouts per week. By crushing, we’re not suggesting that blood or puke is required, just that you place the workout in the “that was no joke” category. Of course this is individual-specific. For example, running 10 x 400M at a 75-second pace might be easy for some Rangers and a crushing workout for others.

The problem with many web-based programs is that they take a one-size fits all approach, potentially creating three or four “crushing” workouts per week. Even a single workout with arbitrarily high volume and/or intensity can be so far beyond an individual’s readiness for the workout that rhabdomyolysis* occurs. We are not here to dampen the enthusiasm/passion that accompanies these programs, only to say that such programs should be exposed to the same risk/benefit analysis that accompanies any serious training.

*A potentially dangerous condition in which muscle breakdown compromises the kidneys.


The Variety/Specificity Continuum
Variety and specificity are commonly cited as essential principles of exercise. Clearly they are somewhat contradictory, yet you seldom hear discussion of how to balance this contradiction to suite particular training needs. CrossFit is at the variety end of the spectrum. They are intentionally training the generalist, and therefore provide a wide variety of training stimuli. Rangers, being generalists, need exposure to many modes of training. However, we also have some very specific physical requirements that must be trained regularly enough for mastery and task-specific endurance. Constantly changing workouts could mean we don’t fully stimulate the specific adaptations necessary for optimal foot marching, climbing, agility, etc.

When variety is overemphasized, there is the risk that important movement skills will never receive enough repetition to establish sound movement patterns. Similarly, some individuals will have a relative training need (improved upper body pull strength, for example) that is not adequately emphasized by following a generic, web-based program aimed at the masses.

Our guidance is to identify key workouts and stay with those for several weeks. Then, especially if performance plateaus, change workouts or modify existing ones. For example, the muscular endurance workout described in the strength chapter should be performed for the six weeks of phase 1, but could then be replaced by the stamina drill in phase 2. Through our forced requirement to train movement skills and the strength and endurance continuums, variety in the program pretty much takes care of itself.

Summary
There are lots of ways to succeed and a number of ways to fail. There is no cookie-cutter program that works for everyone. As the RAW PT program has evolved, we have sought to broaden the guidance and incorporate other methodologies. We encourage all Rangers to maximize their PT education. Following a program like CrossFit is easy because it’s web-based, generally pretty fun, and usually quite challenging. But serious students of fitness need to also study and borrow from our own physical training history (previous Army PT manuals), other cultures, and mainstream organizations such as the NSCA. Each of these will have something to offer.

Bottom line: Learn from all; blindly follow no one!

Thanks for posting that, Sua Sponte.

Those contracts were, I'm pretty sure, related to Glassman giving presentations to the contractors.

The Bastard Son of the Shafman wrote:Those contracts were, I'm pretty sure, related to Glassman giving presentations to the contractors.

even at the paltry sum that Navy payed out (sub 50k doesn't buy more than some snow tires and a toilet seat down at the DOD.) , I think the american taxpayer go ripped off.

Sua Sponte wrote: Following a program like CrossFit is easy because it’s web-based, generally pretty fun, and usually quite challenging. But serious students of fitness need to also study and borrow from our own physical training history (previous Army PT manuals), other cultures, and mainstream organizations such as the NSCA. Each of these will have something to offer. Bottom line: Learn from all; blindly follow no one!

Reference Nate Morrison's new military fitness manual. Superb reading, razor sharp critiques of old army PT programs and stuff like nutrition/supplement BS, genuine knowledge to prevent injury/overtraining. No fan of @fit , but indeed a man whose CV shows he has walked the walk much further & harder than most - and actually knows what the military/LEOs need.

Total defense contracts to @F = $29,590
Breakdown:
2008 - 1 / $6,610
2007 - 4 / $22,980

Not a positive trend. GWF loves to claim that the "military" is his largest customer. If that site gives a relatively complete list of contracts they got, it's not much as CM says.

At $1000 per person for the L1, with ~30 paying attendees at each one for a total income of $30k, what a misleading bunch of marketing crap. As with too many things, exploiting military connections to really sell to civilians is what is going on.

But maybe we're all just not aware of what's "going on behind the scenes", like the GWF says of everyone (including the blind followers on @F.com). Pfffft.

are mike bergener and greg everett in on the RRG? i didn't see mike's gym listed.

Burgener isn't "crossfit" per se.

Everett's place is "Catalyst Athletics"

$298,900 / $500,000

4 days left. The scare tactics really have been working. However, I count about 165 affiliate gyms on the list, and 160 trainers (simply by counting one column and multiplying by five). That comes out to 165 * $1000 + 160 * $200 = $197,000

Where in the fuck did the extra hundred thou come from? Looks like someone seeded the tip jar.

Sua Sponte's post on the Ranger take on CrossFit shows how silly the notion is that CrossFit will defend suits successfully by having a lawyer who knows CrossFit. When the facts are powerful enough, the lawyers don't matter.

In the next case, the guy who wrote this article will be deposed. The questioner will spend ten minutes with him about what soldiers need to do to qualify to go to ranger school. Then they'll spend ten minutes on what it takes to make it through the course, perhaps with a few videos thrown in. Then he'll spend another ten minutes on what sort of training they do daily to stay in shape. Then he'll ask,

Q. "In this article, are you basically saying that the standard CrossFit program, without safety modifications and supervision, is too dangerous for Rangers?

A. Yes.

Q. If it's too dangerous for Rangers with the training you just discussed, would it pose greater risks to those who don't have the same level of training as Rangers?

A. Yes."

That is the type of evidence that will force every case to settle or to risk a massive damage award from an angry jury.

Patrick Donnelly wrote:$298,900 / $500,000

4 days left. The scare tactics really have been working. However, I count about 165 affiliate gyms on the list, and 160 trainers (simply by counting one column and multiplying by five). That comes out to 165 * $1000 + 160 * $200 = $197,000

Where in the fuck did the extra hundred thou come from? Looks like someone seeded the tip jar.

Perhaps some of the affiliates are so gung-ho about this ridiculosity that they've doubled up on paying.