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The total was this last weekend and it was so exciting to see a lot of you guys PR. It's a testament to the hard work you've put into your fitness in 2014. Now we move into the new year and that means new goals! It also means a very exciting time for the CrossFit world: the CrossFit Open. Registration opens on January 15th and this year has brought about some changes to the structure of the open. The Open will now include a scaled division so if any of you have been wary about joining in on the Open, this is your chance. The Open is a great opportunity to put yourself to the test and see how you hold up against the best in the world. I've participated in the Open for the last 2 years and each year I learn something new about myself and what I'm capable of. It also helps me develop goals for the rest of the year so that I can continue to improve my fitness with a focused plan. Just a reminder, we'll be closed tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday. I hope you all have a safe and wonderful New Years. See you all in 2015! 
Katie and Kyle working on their sandbag carries in a recent WOD Today's Workout: "2015" AMRAP 6 minutes 45 seconds 20 Goblet squats 15 Deadlifts (135/95) rest 2 minutes AMRAP 6 minutes 45 seconds 20 Handstand push ups 15 Cleans (135/95) rest 2 minutes AMRAP 6 minutes 45 seconds 20 Toes to bar 15 Jerks (135/95) Posted by Megan Well, another year is about to fall off the calendar and I think a great way to get motivated about 2015 is to take stock of all the cool things we did during the last 12 months. Here are some pictures of my favorite CF 818 events. Check them out!  When we raised over $2,400 for the Ogar Strong fundraiser.  Sunday Funday workout with CF Santa Monica!  The participants of our first Whole Life Challenge!  Rage faces after the Total! Today's Workout:
In teams of 2: 10 rounds of: 200m row 10 thrusters (45/33) 6 pull ups ..then.. 10 rounds of: 15 wall ball (20/15) 15 kb swings (53/35, USA) *partners alternate rounds Posted by Commish. Just a reminder that the gym will not have any classes today (24th), tomorrow (25th), and Friday (26th). The gym will be open for a few hours this afternoon starting around 1PM so you're welcome to come by and get a workout in if you're around and want to sweat a little. And don't forget that The Total is this Saturday. Here are all the details about that in case you've missed it: 2014 CF818 Total The 2014 CF818 Total will take place on 12/27, the last Saturday of the year from 10AM to 11:30AM. There will be only one regular class that day, the 7AM class which will end at 8AM. The CrossFit Total is an event we have on the last Saturday every year to cap off the year of training by checking in and seeing how strong we are. It consists of finding a 1RM back squat, 1RM strict press, and 1RM deadlift over the course of 90 minutes. Here are the details on the 2014 CrossFit Total: The Total begins at 10AM . We start lifting at 10AM . If you arrive at 10AM, you are already late because at that point, we will already be lifting. This means that if you're planning on participating in the Total, arrive at the gym around 9:15AM or 9:30AM in order to warm up and get ready for the Total. The Total itself is 90 minutes long: 30 minutes for the back squat, 30 minutes for the press, and 30 minutes for the deadlift. Your goal during the Total is to move the most weight possible across all three of those lifts. During those 30 minutes, you should not be doing too many warm ups because you showed up early so you could get warmed up. Those 30 minutes should be reserved for maybe 1 moderately heavy lift and at most 3 attempts at finding your max. There will be no heats. Everyone lifts at the same time. Before we start, we'll split everyone up into groups depending on height and general strength level so that you can all group up with the appropriate rack height and not worry too much about changing weights all the time. After the total is over (around 11:30AM), feel free to join everyone for drinks, lunch, and good times at Frida's at the Americana around 12PM! Merry Christmas and we'll see you at the Total!  Merry Christmas everyone! This is my favorite holiday of the year. Every year my family gets together on Christmas Eve for dinner and it is always a good time. We sit around telling stories, singing Christmas songs, and of course eating and drinking delicious food. We also talk about what the year held for us and what we hope for in the upcoming year. It's amazing how much can happen in one years' time, 2014 brought about a lot of changes for me. One of them being that I get to coach at 818, which is a dream come true. I wouldn't have gotten to where I am now had it not been for Armen and Z giving me the opportunity to learn and intern for them, for which I'm incredibly grateful. I'd also like to thank you all for the support and feedback I've received since I started coaching at 818. It's been a rad 3 months and I'm excited to see what this next year has in store. I hope you all have a safe and joyous holiday! I'm looking forward to seeing you all hit some PR's on Saturday at the Total!  Edwin working on his back squat with Greg Today's Workout
"12 Days of Christmas" 1 thruster (115/85) 2 pull ups 3 db snatch (50/35) 4 mountain climbers (2-count) 5 kb swings (70/53, USSR) 6 jump squats 7 toes to bar 8 push ups 9 sit up medball toss 10 jumping lunges 11 push jerks (115/85) 1200m run *like the song Posted by Megan This week is a short one with Christmas right around the corner. I usually take a few moments around this time every year to take stock of what I'm thankful for. Let your motivation this week come from the people and the things you love! Give gifts, eat, drink and be merry! Oh, and remember to get your workouts in early this week as the gym will be closed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday!  Today's Workout:
"Santa's Little Helpers" In teams of 2 complete the following: 400m sandbag carry ..then.. 100 wall ball (20/14) 100 calorie row 100 burpees ..then.. 400m sandbag carry *sandbag carry is both partners going out for the 400, you can switch whenever you want *the middle portion is one partner working at a time, only moving on when all the reps in that movement are complete Happy Friday, 818ers! The holidays are officially upon us! Here's what you need to know for the next two weeks: The CrossFit 818 Holiday Party - This coming Saturday, 12/20 at 7PM at Spitz Little TokyoBring your friends and family to the CrossFit 818 Holiday Party this Saturday 12/20 at 7PM at Spitz in Little Tokyo. They've got a full bar, delicious food, good music, and we'll all be together celebrating another wonderful year of fun and fitness at CF818! The Holiday Toy Drive Let's give back to our community! This year we're teamed up with Glendale Police Department for a Holiday Toy Drive and we need your help to make it work! All you have to do is bring in an unwrapped gift and drop it off in the box and you can bring in a toy until Monday 12/22. We only ask that you don't bring in stuffed animals or toy guns.The Annual CrossFit Total. What better way to end the year than to move heavy weights with cool people! The 2014 CF818 Total will take place on 12/27, the last Saturday of the year from10AM to 11:30AM. There will be only one regular class that day, the 7AM class which will end at 8AM. The CrossFit Total is an event we have on the last Saturday every year to cap off the year of training by checking in and seeing how strong we are. It consists of finding a 1RM back squat, 1RM strict press, and 1RM deadlift over the course of 90 minutes. Here are the details on the 2014 CrossFit Total: The Total begins at 10AM . We start lifting at 10AM . If you arrive at 10AM, you are already late because at that point, we will already be lifting. This means that if you're planning on participating in the Total, arrive at the gym around 9:15AM or 9:30AM in order to warm up and get ready for the Total. The Total itself is 90 minutes long: 30 minutes for the back squat, 30 minutes for the press, and 30 minutes for the deadlift. Your goal during the Total is to move the most weight possible across all three of those lifts. During those 30 minutes, you should not be doing too many warm ups because you showed up early so you could get warmed up. Those 30 minutes should be reserved for maybe 1 moderately heavy lift and at most 3 attempts at finding your max. There will be no heats. Everyone lifts at the same time. Before we start, we'll split everyone up into groups depending on height and general strength level so that you can all group up with the appropriate rack height and not worry too much about changing weights all the time. After the total is over (around 11:30AM), feel free to join everyone for drinks, lunch, and good times at Frida's at the Americana around 12PM! The Holiday Schedule CF818 will be closed certain days over the Holidays. Remember that the gym will be closed Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday on both Christmas and New Years' weeks. That's 12/24, 12/25, 12/26 and 12/31, 1/1, and 1/2.  Armen busting out his sweet dance moves during last year's total Today's Workout: 2 Rounds for time: 800m Run 20 Handstand Push-ups 20 Squat Snatches (115/85) Posted by Commish Actually don't. I stumbled upon the article below today and let the information sink in. Yes, everyone who has been CrossFitting for awhile or participated in one of our paleo challenges knows that eliminating sugar is one of the best ways to live a healthier life by reducing the threat of diabetes, heart disease and a number of other health problems. Read the labels of the things you have in your pantry, there is sugar everywhere! Here is an excerpt from a great post written by Matt Couch, the assistant strength coach at USD, check it out and then take a second to assess the fuel you are putting into your system. (full link here) Sugar is a sweet nectar sent from the heavens to gives us an instant gratification of pure bliss. This sugary white substance can be sprinkled on just about everything and make it taste instantly amazing. But what if I told you that sugar is the biggest issue we are fighting today as a society and that it is the leading cause for both adult AND childhood obesity. In a nutshell, sugar is killing you and making you fat along the way! Now I am not going to “sugarcoat” this article for you, sugar is not only the leading cause for the obesity epidemic in America but it is also one of the main contributors to a multitude of illnesses such as: cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Sugar is also an inflammatory. Inflammation, researchers have found, is the leading cause of all degenerative diseases we know of. And did I mention it is highly addictive? Researchers have found that sugar is four times (4x) more addictive than cocaine. Let that sink in a bit. And just as a drug addict needs a fix for their drug, and experience withdrawal without it, when you ingest a certain level of refined sugar, you will feel the exact same way. The average American consumes 152 grams of sugar per year, that is 22 teaspoons for every person in America… every single day! And sugar isn’t just found in cookies and desserts either. Of the 600,000 food items in our grocery stores today, 80% of these items have sugar added to make them taste better and more appealing to consumers. Sugar hides behind many names when it comes to food labels and ingredients. Fructose, sucrose, glucose, dextrose, maltose, turbinado, agave nectar, and the most well-known and silent killer out there – high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is in everything, from marinara sauce, to pastas and breads, to yogurt and even in ketchup, it is everywhere.  A tough workout with sandbags earns a much needed rest! Today's Workout:
3 rounds for time: 40 walking lunges 30 kb swings (70/53, USA) 20 box jumps (24/20) 10 one handed kb thrusters Posted by Commish Question: are you better today than you were yesterday? Have you improved something about your life in the past 24 hours? Are you more efficient with your time at work, are you more present with your friends and family, are you moving closer to your goals? Here's an even more important question: is success an immediate and sudden event? Not counting things like winning the lottery, I'd say no. I'd say that a very simple way of looking at success is as "the aggregation of marginal gains". The concept is simple: consistent 1% improvement across all domains will lead to success (and vice versa, consistent 1% declines will lead to failure). Most of the time the events or things we look at as "successes" aren't caused by the event immediately preceding but are instead the culmination of lots of hard work over a long period of time. This can apply to anything in your life but can be easily applied to what we do at CrossFit 818. Simplifying your time in the gym to small, micro goals will add up to your macro goals. At the bare minimum, showing up and getting a workout in is necessary. From there you can pick one thing to focus on (footwork on your clean, shoulder position in the overhead squat, using your abs on a toes to bar, feeling the rhythm during your kip, etc) and try to get better at the one tiny little thing. Then repeat the process the next day, and the next day, and the next day. Pardon the cliche, but Rome wasn't built in one day and neither will any of your accomplishments inside or outside the gym.  There was easily at least a 10% improvement here! Today's Workout
A. Max set of pull ups B. 3 rounds of: AMRAP 3 minutes - 5 deadlifts (225/155) 10 burpees rest 1 minute between rounds Posted by Armen. Yesterday, we tested our 1rm overhead squat. When I first started doing CrossFit I remember thinking overhead squats were so awkward and I couldn’t figure out why I could squat a decent amount of weight but when it came to overhead squats I struggled with light weights. There are a several reasons why overhead squats are tricky, one of them is mobility, specifically, shoulder and ankle mobility. Overhead squats require a degree of shoulder mobility in order to get that bar overhead and keep it there. Once we have the bar supported overhead, that’s when the mobility in our ankles comes into play. Ankle mobility dictates how upright we can keep our torso when we squat. The more upright our torso, the better that bar will be supported overhead since our shoulders aren’t extending back behind us due to a forward torso lean. So how do we get awesome shoulder and ankle mobility? There are two little tools that you all have access to at the gym that can help get you there: a lacrosse ball and a foam roller. Ten minutes of intentional foam rolling can work wonders on your mobility. In the short term, you will be able to notice an immediate difference in your overhead position and/or your squat. Unfortunately, those ten minutes don’t usually last past a workout. Mobility should be a part of your daily routine. Whether it’s the first thing you do when you wake up, or it’s the last thing you do before going to bed, or it’s those 10 minutes before class starts, mobility work shouldn’t be ignored. If you need help figuring out how to navigate a foam roller/lacrosse ball, or want some tips and tricks on effective rolling, don’t hesitate to reach out to your coaches. We’d love to help!  B$$ making overhead squats look like a piece of cake Today's Workout: A. EMOTM 12 2 Squat cleans *use the same heavy weight across B. AMRAP 10 7 Wall ball (20/14) 5 Push ups 3 Toes to bar Posted by Megan Even the very best find themselves with their back against the wall during competition. Currently, Ilya Ilyin is the most decorated weightlifter in the sport, holding numerous world records in multiple weight classes. He has never placed lower than first in international competition and has garnered gold medals at the last two Olympic Games and four at the World Championships. The most recent Worlds took place last month in his home country of Kazakhstan. The video below shows his third clean and jerk at a whopping 242 kilograms (532.4 pounds!) that sealed his victory and shattered a world record by 4 kg. Prior to this lift he attempted 239 kg and missed, needless to say this was a do or die attempt. Get fired up like Ilya, let's hit it hard this week! Today's Workout:
A. 1RM overhead squat B. 4 rounds for time: 500m row 30 double unders 10 overhead squats (115/85) Posted by Commish |
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