Just another week

I haven't updated this blog in awhile mostly due to being busy with work (my normal 9 to 5) and family.  Tin Man and I are ramping up his training to get ready for the Mid-Atlantic qualifiers.  We are seeing some major breakthroughs with his training and I feel pretty confident that he will place pretty well.

My beautiful wife Sheri is finally starting to commit to the CrossFit program; but she remains frustrated that she is in the learning phase and wants to take on more difficult challenges.  I think that she is still trying to understand what CrossFit is all about and is not accustomed to routines that use multi-joint movements as opposed to bodybuilding workouts that are isolated and focus on one muscle group at a time.  I keep trying to tell her to be patient and allow herself to develop her form before we look at increasing her intensity.  

On the business side of things I have started a draft of my business plan.  It is still mostly empty space but I'm slowly starting to fill in the blanks.  I'm very thankful to have Amanda and Dave from CrossFit Frederick to help guide me through this process.

And finally the biggest news I discovered today was that doctors have discovered that senior citizens who exercise can improve their health.  Who knew?  Check here for this breaking story.

Havoc Fitness Progress Report

CrossFit Games

Not much is going on this week for the gym.  Craig, aka "Tin Man", is back from his week off and is gearing up for the CrossFit Games mid-atlantic qualifier.  With only 95 days to go we'll have a lot of ground to cover in order to make sure he is ready to be a top contender.

Training

This week looks to be a light week for us here due to me overtraining myself and "Tin Man" still recovering from his recent operation.  On the bright side of things it allows me to spend more time on developing the business and working towards my goal of affiliating.  I think it will take longer then I initially expected because CrossFit has raised their affiliate fees to $2000.  Hopefully we can grow our members over the coming months and start saving for the many expenses we'll have to pay for.  I've also been given some tasks from Amanda at CrossFit Frederick who has been great in mentoring me on my journey.  Without her guidance I would be totally lost.  If you can get out to Frederick you should stop by and check out their facility.  They have a wonderful group of people there and I wish them the very best and many PRs in the coming year.

Events

Our first event for the year will be the annual JDRF walk to cure diabetes.  I will be posting our team link soon so people can make donations.  Our goal for this year is $2000 and I'm hoping that we can surpass that.  This is a very personal issue for us so we are very dedicated to doing everything we can to finding a cure.  In true CrossFit fashion I'm thinking we might have a celebratory WOD to launch the occasion.  I'll keep you posted on the details and how you can get involved.

Why are you wasting your money?

Do you have a gym membership?  Do you feel like your getting the most out of it?  Is the program there really going to make you the fittest person you can be?  Consider this, large franchise gyms make their money from people who don't show up.  When you sign a contract with them they are betting, and even depending on the fact that, you will continue to pay your membership fees and not return.  Why would they want you to return?  If all of their members showed up they wouldn't be able to manage the flow.  Their equipment would have a shorter life span because there would be constant wear and tear every day, all day; the facility would quickly run out of room because the lines to equipment would be unmanageable; tons of people would be standing around waiting in line to get on a treadmill or use the bench press, or the curl bar.  Their entire business would come crashing down because their customer's would be insisting on value for their money.  You wouldn't buy food you never intended on eating, or clothes you never intended on wearing, then why are you paying for a gym membership that you are not using?

 

Here is my challenge; think back over the last 6 months and ask yourself how many times you've been to your gym.  If your answer was less then 72 times then you're wasting your money.  In all actuality that is a pretty conservative estimate.  If you expect to just maintain a moderate fitness level than you need to exercise at least 3 times a week, consistently.  If you're looking for true fitness then you need to be exercising twice as much.

 

You will not find that model here at Havoc Fitness.  Our focus is getting people fit, period.  No sales pitch, no campy promotions, no hoping you won't return, just plain fitness.  We want to see you succeed and we always want to make sure you are getting your money's worth.  Because after all, isn't that what a fitness club should be doing?

Follow the link and post your comments.

To process or not to process, that is the question.

There is an episode of "Penn and Teller's Bullsh*t!" called "Eat This" that talks about how we should be thankful for the abundance of food that we have and who cares if it is not how it was processed.  I'm drastically summarizing of course but that was part of their argument.  

I will say that they had some very good points to their argument.  Starvation is a horrible thing and we should be thankful that we live in a time where we have an abundance of food.  That's true, we should be thankful, but at what cost.  The more food we process the farther away we get from foods our bodies were designed to process.  We can clearly see this in our everyday society, as we get a greater selection of foods that are canned, packaged, microwaveable, freeze-dried and preserved we see and increase in obesity, diabetes, heart decease, the list goes on and on.  We need to get back to the basics.  We need to eat the way our bodies were designed.  

Check out the link to learn more.

Tracking your progress

It was said to me once that if you're not logging your workouts then you're wasting your time.  I've always held true to this because after all, if you don't know where your journey started then you'll never know if your making progress to your destination.

Tracking your workouts is an essential part of our program here at Havoc Fitness.  It helps provide us and our athletes with a concrete record of their progress and will assist in determining what level you are performing at.  By having these quantifiable records we can ensure that you are always being challenged.

Check out Beyond The Whiteboard for a great resource to help track your workouts.

Baseline Fitness Test

When you begin your training at Havoc Fitness you will be given a baseline assessment to determine your basic physical fitness.  This exercise will help us determine how best to tailor the WODs to your skill and fitness level.  The test is as follows:

Perform the following for time:

500m Row

40 Squats

30 Sit-ups

20 Push-ups

10 Pull-up (dead-hang/kipping) or 20 Jumping Pull-ups

Standards:

Exercises are performed one after the other until all reps are completed to standard.  The time begins at the start of the row and  is stopped after the last pull-up.

Row - For instruction on proper rowing technique check out the "Exercises & Demos" link, then navigate to the "Rowing" section of the page.

Squats - All squats must be below parallel in order for the rep to count.  This means that the crease of the hips must be below the top of the knee.  Feet should be about shoulder width apart and heels should remain flat through-out the entire range of motion.

Sit-ups - The hands should remain on the shoulders and the feet flat on the floor.  Full up position is when the elbows touch any part of the thigh.

Push-ups - The entire body should remain straight in the plank position and lowered as a single unit until the chest and upper thigh touch the ground then return to the up position maintaining the plank position through-out the rep.

Pull-ups - Pull-ups can be either dead-hang, kipping, or jumping pull-ups.  The range of motion should be the same for all three.  The down position is when the arms are at complete extension.  In the up position, the body is lifted until the chest touches the bar.  If you cannot perform kipping pull-ups then dead-hang should be done.  If you cannot perform dead-hang pull-ups then you should substitute for 20 jumping pull-ups.

Building my platform

Today I got a wild hare up my butt and I decided I needed a lifting platform right away.  It was cold and rainy and I had to move the wood and mats by myself, which sucked, but I finally finished around midnight.  I think it turned out great and I can't wait to start using it.  Next project, plyo boxes.

"Time to make the Doughnuts"

Happy New Year to all!  I'm sure millions of people out there are planning great things for themselves in the new year.  I myself have created some pretty lofty goals as well.  

Let me start by saying that 2008 was an awful year for me.  I spent most of the year in one of the worst places on earth, separated from my family, forced to endure some pretty horrible conditions.  Granted my fate could have been much worse and I'm not trying to sound like I want people to feel sorry for me but for me it was horrible and it really made me reevaluate what I wanted in my life.  To get more to the point, I am now looking to cause a little havoc.  

When I say I want to create havoc I mean I want to destroy the order I've created for myself.  I've grown accustomed to accepting things I wasn't happy with both in myself and what goals I had for myself.  I found that the goals I was setting weren't the ones that I wanted but the ones that I thought I should be setting.  I was following a path that I believed was the right one because I didn't feel like I had a choice in the matter.  Perhaps we all feel that way at times but I think the truth of the matter is, is that if we relinquish control over our fate then we stop living and are only "making doughnuts".  Remember the old Dunkin' Donuts commercial where the guy was always saying "It's time to make the doughnuts"?  Throughout the spot you would see him in various stages of dread because he was always having to "make the doughnuts".  Well that is exactly how I felt.  Every morning I woke up it was "time to make the doughnuts".  I'm sure I'm not the only one in this position and I must say that I'm very thankful for the job I have and the lifestyle it has provided me, but at some point I just want more out of life than making doughnuts.  So, with that said I am no longer going to be satisfied with the norm or orderly, I am going to create havoc, or more to the point "Havoc Fitness".

What is Havoc Fitness?  Well to me is many things.  The first is that it is my goal for this year to become a CrossFit affiliate.  This blog is my attempt to chronicle my efforts in making that dream a reality.  The second is my future in the making.  It is my goal for this year to reach out to people that are tired of the boundaries they have set for themselves and are looking to create their own havoc.  By reaching out to people and helping them to change their lives, I hope to be able to change mine.

We do not have to be satisfied with the norm, we do not have to relinquish control of our lives and say "it is just the way things are and no matter what I do I can't change it".  That is the biggest lie we can tell ourselves.  We can always change our fates; we can always break free of the boundaries we have given ourselves; we can always accomplish feats we never thought were possible; we only need to create a little "Havoc".