Workout of the Day
Complete for time:
50 Thrusters
40 Double Unders
30 Kettlebell Swings
20 Alt Rev Barbell Lunges(Snatch Grip, 10 ea leg)
10 Burpees

The low-bar back squat is "king" when it comes to developing strength. A strong squat requires(and develops) the glutes(the butt muscles, the strongest muscles in the body) and hamstrings. Low-bar squats help develop the hamstring strength that is need for power and helps improve the Olympic lifts. The diagram below shows the 3 bar position used in squatting. The Front Squat, High-Bar Squat and the Low-Bar squat. We teach all 3 and its important to learn the mechanics of each. The Low-Bar Squat being the most difficult for a novice to learn because of the bar position or a lack of shoulder range of motion.


Follow these 3 steps to a better Low-Bar Back Squat:
1. Begin by placing a PVC dowel across the back (photo above-far right)
2. Take a wide stance and pull the hips into a deep squat, at or slightly below parallel.
3. Drive the hips back up while holding a constant back angle (photo below-middle).


Workout of the Day
5 Rounds for time of:
10 Overhead Squats
100m Farmer's Walk(holding heavy Dumbbells or Kettlebells in each hand)

Workout of the Day
"Elizabeth"
21-15-9
Squat Cleans
Ring Dips

It's a beautiful day....get out side and enjoy. It's looked like England around here for the past two months. Tomorrow we are holding a Saturday morning workout at Timberlawn Park off from Tuckerman Lane at 9am. Anyone interested in getting outside to enjoy the weather and get a great workout feel free to come. Just call ahead and let us know you're coming.


Illustration by 10 year old Allie of Crossfit Loveland

Workout of the Day
As Many Rounds As Possible in 20mins of:
400m Run
25 Squats
25 Double Unders

No! I'm not talking about legalization, I'm talking hips, knees and shoulder. The follow post is from Matt Schwartz, CF West, he talks about the importance of our joints, what happens if we are not using our joints and how Crossfit will help keep your joints healthy as you age. Check it out.

Your Joints On CrossFit

One of the main reasons we do CrossFit is because it gives us access to elite physical performances. However, those performances are of limited use if they compromise our structural health over the long term. This can be seen in many pro sports where athletes mortgage their future health for their athletic career. When you’re being paid millions to play a game you love, that’s a trade many are willing to make. However, most of us aren’t willing to pay for a 400 lb. squat or 8 minute Helen with arthritic knees in 10 years. And luckily for CrossFitters, it doesn’t have to be this way. Most of us want to be not only as fit as possible, but also vigorous and healthy for the long run. And CrossFit excels on both counts.

As we age, one of the main markers of our health is our mobility. What movements can we do and how vigorously can we perform them? And that, friends and neighbors, is all about our joints. When people get older, what do they complain about, their muscles or their joints? For example, do you hear complaints about that sore knee or that sore quad? I would bet it’s the knee. There’s a saying that you’re only as old as your joints. Keep those puppies healthy and you will remain robust and able to perform. Ignore them and only focus on the muscle and you can be sure that your joints will complain eventually.

And that’s where CrossFit comes in. CrossFit movements not only challenge our muscles but they also challenge our joints. And in a healthy way. That means we stay in (or strive to regain) normal (non-pathological/non-painful) joint ranges by paying strict attention to form and making sure we learn to support our joints with our muscles.

First of all, let’s look at what exactly is a joint. It’s a pivot point in our skeleton that’s usually lined with a layer of slippery articular cartilage and supported with ligaments connecting the moving parts (bones). Furthermore, we have tendons crossing those joints that transmit the force from the muscles to the bones that move. Finally, our joints are bathed in a layer of synovial fluid that provides nutrition and removes waste. That fluid is how our joints “breathe.” Joints have very limited blood flow, so joint fluid circulation and health is driven mostly by the joint’s movement.

If we limit a joint’s range of movement, we also limit what areas of the joint surface are strong and healthy. This is why knee and hip replacement are so rampant in the US. Our modern lifestyle requires a lot of sitting with limited knee and hip movement. That causes the underused parts of the joint to decay while the overused parts of the joint wear out more rapidly. That deterioration combined with overweight or injury can cause parts of the joint to eventually become decrepit.

Want healthy joints? Move them through large, safe ranges (study anatomy and check with your trainer to learn each joint’s safe range), and at a variety of angles and loads. Sound like CrossFit again (hint: constantly varied, functional movements at high intensity)? Functional exercise (ie CrossFit) helps our joints in 2 ways.

1) Heavy and/or ballistic loading of the joint in a progressive and sane way encourages thickening of the joint components (cartilage, ligaments, tendons, and fascia). These are our strength/explosive workouts.

2) High repetitions of unloaded to moderately loaded movements at varying angles and ranges break up joint adhesions and calcium deposits, smooth articular cartilage, and flush synovial fluid throughout the joint components, thereby nourishing and rejuvenating the joint. This is of course what we do in our WODs and can also be done as light restorative work in our non-workout time.

Without our joints we’re really useless (in an athletic sense), so remember that while we’re chasing performance, healthy joints are what provide us that performance, so be sure to take care of them for a life of vigorous movement capability.

Workout of the Day
For time:

2000m Row