Crossfit has launched the latest version of their journal: CrossFit Journal 3.0. For me, the most compelling piece of this offering is that a $25 subscription gets you full access to all their back issues (which were formerly $5 each to buy). Definitely going to look into that after the season.

Sorry, another link backlog:

• The NY Times has a nice piece on the humble push-up.
• I somehow missed this CrossFit video of cool towel pull-up variations (Quicktime video).
• Coach Sommer's hamstring stretch.
• StrongLifts on glute activation. Lots of good exercises there.

Three goodies today:

• Crossfit Seattle's athletic skill levels. In particular, this PDF.
• Coach Sommer, author of the popular articles Building an Olympic Body through Bodyweight Conditioning and Developing the Hanging Leg Lift has been working on a book for a very long time. It looks like it might finally be on the verge of coming out. He has a new website, Gymnastic Bodies, which claims the book is ready to order (although that doesn't seem to be the case quite yet)
• Ross Enamait links up a slick Excel Deck of Cards workout generator. Just hit F9 to get a fresh workout generated from a variety of exercises. Customizable.

Just two quick links:

• CrossFit Journal: A New, Rather Long Analysis of the Deadlift by Mark Rippetoe.
• CrossFit Oakland on Jack LaLanne.

I have once again fallen behind. Here's what I've been meaning to post:

• Dick Hartzell Jump Stretch bands tutorials. Great stuff, knew there was a DVD, had no idea these were online.
• Also, good article on bands.
• Great jump rope routine. « via RT forums »
• Mark's Daily Apple: Simple, But Not Easy.
• The Science of Sport: Muscle Cramps Part I. Very interesting, I'll definitely be back for the rest of the series. « via SttB »
• These Crossfit WOD posts have links to Rob Miller's muscle-up tutorial videos: part 1, part 2, and part 3. Very helpful. I'd like to acquire the muscle-up and the pistol this winter.

If you've been on the fence about getting a set of rings, perhaps these rings pushup variations (click the video demo link once you get there) will push you over the top. « via MarkFu's Barbarian Blog »

Two more excellent Angela Hart videos linked to from Crossfit WODs: Common Rowing Flaws and Rowing Technique Refinements. Putting your weight into it is a particularly valuable tip, I think.

Crossfit hosts two interesting rowing videos featuring Angela Hart: Tabata Wattage Rowing and Row Stroke Rating. The wattage video seemed like more of a warmup than a workout, but the stroke rating video was very illuminating. It perfectly illustrates how the problems with my times (and maybe yours) might be aided by reducing my stroke rate.

• John Hackleman puts Chuck Liddel through some great workouts.
• Two running links: Art De Vany on sprinting, and an interesting piece on Clyde Hart (Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wariner's coach).
• Yet another good video attached to the CrossFit WOD. This one is Greg Amundson's warm-up. As a bonus, at the end they show you the Samson Stretch, which is a fantastic stretch. If you put your front foot far enough forward you get a great hamstring stretch on one leg, and a great hip flexor stretch on the other leg. And you feel it in a bunch of other places as well.
• A ballboy's story. Don Mattingly: "Great to meet you, Matt. I have a very big job to ask of you. I just unpacked all my bats from spring training and I don't know if it was the altitude of the flight from Florida or the humidity down there, or what, but all my bats came up short. The game starts in about two hours and I need you to find me a bat stretcher."

Another excellent Crossfit video linked to from the WOD: the air squat. I really must resume my hamstring stretching program.

This is devolving into a link blog. That's okay though, as I feel like I've covered most of what I want to cover (check the guide and the archives). As I try new stuff I'll post it, but until then...

• Gregg's favorite exercise is one of my favorites too. The difference between us is that he uses kettlebells instead of DBs, and he includes pictures.
• There are some great ideas (and workout names) in this Crossfit thread, Hardest Metcon Workouts ("metabolic conditioning").
• With the outdoor season right around the corner here in the NE, it might be worth having a look at this article on preventing quad soreness.
• Patrick Beith: Summer Training for Speed (and Part II).
• Finally, Dispelling The Top 10 Nutrition Myths (update: this guy slams this piece; update 2: see discussion below).

I really need to do more with this weblog than repost the Crossfit WOD when it looks like a particularly good one, but until then, today's looks great:

Five rounds for time of:

• 45 pound barbell Overhead walking lunges, 50 feet
• 21 Burpees

The guy leading in the video knocks it out in 9:10 (which, incidentally, beats my time for just the burpee portion). Monstrous.

Even if you don't do the WOD, it's worth keeping an eye on the Crossfit home page. Lately they've been posting tons of good videos. Here's a few of the more recent ones (after you click through you can pick WMV or MOV formats): Deadlifts, Towel Pull-ups, and Thrusters.

A good post from Crossfit Oakland: The 5 Gymnastics Skills Every Crossfitter Should Have. Be sure to check out the video of the rope climbing competition.

This is pretty cool (if you play Ultimate and read the same weblogs I do): Crossfit gave women's division champs Fury a nod.

Crossfit Jersey Shore has an interesting approach to sandbag construction: they use old (and free!) truck tire tubes. Cool!

Happy Thanksgiving, gang!

Crossfit announced they'll be releasing "hundreds of pages of previously published subscription articles to the CrossFit site over the next few months in order to expand the amount of content available free of charge." Awesome! They've already released 13 articles via the Crossfit Journal weblog. A great resource just got better; a big tip o' the hat to the Crossfit gang.

Here a good article on why the Kettlebell Swing belongs in your fitness arsenal. I've never used kettlebells, but I do know one-arm DB-swings are fantastic. The swing forces you to maintain tension throughout the core (unless you want to throw your back out), works the whole posterior chain, and makes you generate the power and snap from the hips (your arm really just serves as a pendulum, and your grip keeps the DB from flying away, rather than having to actively lift it). At least, that's the way they feel to me.

Update: As usual, the Crossfit folks come through with a video ("Kettlebell Swing" on the list).

There's an interesting thread over on the Crossfit forums on the strength benefits of static holds. Particularly interesting is Coach Sommer's second-hand report (seventh message in the thread) on the gains made by a guy who trained exclusively with a couple static holds (putting in a grand total of two minutes of work per day).

Holy smokes, Crossfit has greatly expanded their exercises page. Tons of video demonstrations, along with videos of actual human beings completing their inhuman WODs in inhuman times. Fabulous.

Something about the holidays brought lots of interesting stuff across my desk. Or maybe it's coincidence. In either case, here's the trove from the last few days:

Jim at Beast Skills has updated his beginner guide to handstand pushups, and has also added a new intermediate guide and a new freestanding handstand pushup guide. Great stuff, as usual.

Art De Vany on Diabetes, Alzheimer's, and obesity. He concludes:

If this isn't enough to convince you of the need to return to the simple, low-glycemic foods of our ancestors and to work out and stay lean, then you aren't getting your new year off to a promising start.

Crossfit just made The New York Times: "Getting Fit, Even if it Kills You". Coincidentally, Crossfit linked up this great PDF, "Sports Conditioning (a comparison: moderate-intensity continuous activity and high-intensity intermittent activity)" by Mark J. Smith: Some money quotes:

It is also accepted that low- to moderate-intensity activities are useful in recovering from high-intensity exercise and is a necessity in some sports that require repetitive practice to acquire skill. However, while the contention is not that low- to moderate-intensity continuous exercise can improve cardiovascular conditioning and weight loss, the need for significant quantities of this type of training for the field and court sport athlete is indeed challenged.

...and:

It has been demonstrated that low-intensity, long-duration exercise results in a greater total fat oxidation than moderate-intensity exercise of similar caloric expenditure15. However, when endurance training is compared to high-intensity intermittent training, the findings differ. The effect of a 20-week endurance-training program (mean estimated energy cost - 120.4 MJ) upon body fatness and muscle metabolism was compared to a 15-week high-intensity intermittent-training program (mean estimated energy cost - 57.9 MJ)16. Despite the lower energy cost of the high-intensity program, it induced a more pronounced reduction in subcutaneous fat compared with the endurance program. When corrected for the energy cost of training, the reduction induced by the high-intensity program was nine-fold greater than the endurance program.

...and (out-of-context disclaimer attached, however - you really should read the whole thing):

The acknowledgment that the activity did not need to be continuous was a major shift from the initial recommendations of the ACSM. It was even stated, "accumulation of physical activity in intermittent, short bouts is considered an appropriate approach to achieving the activity goal". This concept was validated in another study that demonstrated that three 1-minute bouts of maximal intensity exercise, separated by 1-hour recoveries, constituted 74% of the oxygen uptake of 20 minutes of low- to moderate-intensity exercise.

Three minutes gets you 74% of the benefit (in terms of oxygen uptake) of 20 minutes. Yow.

Finally, Fitness Blueprints is my latest blog subscription.

The Crossfit WOD has a link to several Crossfitters doing a 1-minute burpee race. Very impressive scores, I thought, but the thing I found personally interesting was the form: when I descend from the leap I drop into a squat before kicking out and simultaneously descending into the pushup (like Ross, but not as quick (yet)). But these folks don't seem to squat much at all, and do a simultaneous drop-down/kickout/pushup-descent from a much higher point.

I'm not making value judgements; I just found it curious.

I just noticed that Crossfit a free radio show that includes MP3 archives of past shows. I haven't listened to any of these yet so can't vouch for their quality, but I plan on checking a couple out, and thought you might want to also.

Today's Crossfit Workout of the Day—100 pull-ups! (with video!)— led me to a great thread over there on the virtues of the kipping pull-up. The whole thread is informative, especially Coach Sommer's posts.

While we're on the subject, Jim over at Beast Skills is on the rebound from a wrist injury. Gotta love a guy whose recovery is miles better than my best day. But anyway, further down in his post he describes a monster pull-up I haven't seen mentioned before: "the rafter chin". I don't think his training log is broken up into separate pages, so look towards the end of the 10/4/2005 entry.

Isn't this handy? Following this discussion on squat mechanics, Crossfit posts a video laying it all out. A must-watch, and contains yet another reference to the importance of hip action in elite athleticism. It is striking how often that theme is repeated in my reading and surfing.

My only complaint about the video is that it ends too soon.

In addition to the two free fantastic PDFs from the Crossfit mothership mentioned previously, Crossfit NorCal has a couple as well. First up is a sample of their newsletter, Performance Menu, which includes an interview with Art De Vany and an introduction to one of the basic (doesn't look basic though!) Capoeira strength moves. They also list among various resources a link to the March 2003 Crossfit journal, which includes a wonderful article on "the lowly pushup." If it doesn't inspire you to start working on that exercise, nothing will. If for no other reason you really should download it for their definition of an "honest pushup", along with the "cheater's guide to lousy pushups."

I was remiss in my Crossfit post yesterday: read the FAQ! It's a gold mine in its own right, and has more video links than my meager Googling managed to uncover.

Crossfit is not only home to a brutal "workout of the day" (WOD) weblog, but a raft of other resources as well, including two free PDF newsletters that contributed greatly to changing my approach to fitness. First up is the free What is Fitness? edition of their newsletter (other back issues are $5 each, or $25 for a subscription). There are so many good candidates for excerpting in this 11-page newsletter, so definitely read the whole thing, but here's a bit on interval training to whet your appetite:

One of the best Internet resources on interval training comes from Dr. Stephen Seiler. This article on interval training and another on the time course of training adaptations contain the seeds of CrossFit's heavy reliance on interval training. The article on the time course of training adaptations explains that there are three waves of adaptation to endurance training. The first wave is increased maximal oxygen consumption. The second is increased lactate threshold. The third is increased efficiency. In the CrossFit concept we are interested in maximizing first wave adaptations and procuring the second systemically through multiple modalities, including weight training, and avoiding completely third wave adaptations. Second and third wave adaptations are highly specific to the activity in which they are developed and are detrimental to the broad fitness that we advocate and develop. A clear understanding of this material has prompted us to advocate regular high intensity training in as many training modalities as possible through largely anaerobic efforts and intervals while deliberately and specifically avoiding the efficiency that accompanies mastery of a single modality. It is at first ironic that this is our interpretation of Dr. Seiler's work for it was not his intention, but when our quest of optimal physical competence is viewed in light of Dr. Seiler's more specific aim of maximizing endurance performance our interpretation is powerful.

Dr. Seiler's work, incidentally, makes clear the fallacy of assuming that endurance work is of greater benefit to the cardiovascular system than higher intensity interval work. This is very important: with interval training we get all of the cardiovascular benefit of endurance work without the attendant loss of strength, speed, and power.

The other freebie from Crossfit is their Foundations PDF, which is chock full of tantalizing information:

In gyms and health clubs throughout the world the typical workout consists of isolation movements and extended aerobic sessions. The fitness community from trainers to the magazines has the exercising public believing that lateral raises, curls, leg extensions, sit-ups and the like combined with 20-40 minute stints on the stationary bike or treadmill are going to lead to some kind of great fi tness. Well, at CrossFit we work exclusively with compound movements and shorter high intensity cardiovascular sessions. We've replaced the lateral raise with pushpress, the curl with pull-ups, and the leg extension with squats. For every long distance effort our athletes will do fi ve or six at short distance. Why? Because compound or functional movements and high intensity or anaerobic cardio is radically more effective at eliciting nearly any desired fitness result. Startlingly, this is not a matter of opinion but solid irrefutable scientifi c fact and yet the marginally effective old ways persist and are nearly universal. Our approach is consistent with what is practiced in elite training programs associated with major university athletic teams and professional sports. CrossFit endeavors to bring state-of-the-art coaching techniques to the general public and athlete who haven't access to current technologies, research, and coaching methods

Then there's the answer to the question, "can I enjoy optimal health without being an athlete?"

No! Athletes experience a protection from the ravages of aging and disease that non-athletes never find. For instance, 80-year-old athletes are stronger than non-athletes in their prime at 25 years old. If you think that strength isn't important consider that strength loss is what puts people in nursing homes. Athletes have greater bone density, stronger immune systems, less coronary heart disease, reduced cancer risk, fewer strokes, and less depression than non-athletes.

... and a final teaser on "Fringe Athletes":

There is a near universal misconception that long distance athletes are fitter that their short distance counterparts. The triathlete, cyclist, and marathoner are often regarded as among the fittest athletes on earth. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

As if that weren't enough, their discussion boards are lively, and they have demonstration videos for a ton of challenging exercises. Great site, even if they have yet to post a WOD that I can tackle without major modification (well, except for the running ones).

Oh, I haven't watched all these yet, but here's a bit of Googling: a bunch of Crossfit Real Videos.

In preparing for the 2005 Ultimate Frisbee season, I made the switch for the first time from predominantly long aerobic training to high intensity interval training (HIIT). Before I get into all the supporting documentation, let me repeat something: last season my workouts were hour-long moderate intensity aerobic sessions. This season my workouts were 20-minute HIIT sessions. When I finally stepped on the field in the spring this season, I was easily two months ahead of where I was the previous season, conditioning-wise. In other words, I cut my workout times by 66%, and was significantly, noticeably more fit as a result.

The workout I adopted was Taku's Interval Training. Taku underscores the point above (he's writing for combat athletes, but it really applies to all athletes except pure endurance athletes, like marathoners):

Hopefully it is starting to sink in that for combat sports, long slow distance training is ineffective. Jogging or running at a steady pace continually for 20-45-60 minutes at a time is really a massive waste of valuable training and conditioning time. To maximize your efficiency while training "Cardio" for combat sports build your routine around high intensity interval training.

You can skip down to "THE PROGRAM" if you don't want to read the science. What it boils down to though is this: once you've worked yourself up to the most intense form of the intervals, you do 15 minutes warm-up, followed by 5 minutes of intense training, followed by 5 minutes cool down. I know that looks impossible, but you are reading that right: the hard part of the workout is only five minutes long. This is exactly the routine I substituted for 60-minutes of lower-intensity aerobic work, with much better results.

I have since found many more articles detailing this form of HIIT. Phase 3 that Taku describes is a Tabata Interval, named after the study by Izumi Tabata that compared it to a different interval. I haven't found the study itself online, but Peak Performance has a compelling summary:

On a different day the subjects performed two different kinds of interval workout. The first session (I1) comprised bouts of 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest at an intensity equivalent to 170% of their VO2max. The subjects performed six or seven bouts each until reaching exhaustion, ie, they could no longer continue at the prescribed intensity. The second session (I2) comprised bouts of 30 seconds with two minutes rest at an intensity of 200% of their VO2max. The subjects managed four or five of these bouts. [snip]

The conclusion from these findings seems to be that the I1 workout, the 20-second bouts with 10 secs recovery at 170% VO2max, is a better training stimulus for aerobic and anaerobic systems than the I2 workout of 30-second bouts with two mins recovery at 200% VO2max. In support of this, Tabata et al found that a six-week regime of I1 resulted in a 13 per cent improvement in VO2max.

The results of this research by Tabata et al clearly show that two different intervals workouts have different demands and therefore training effects. I1, with 20-second bouts with 10 secs rest at 170% VO2max places the aerobic and anaerobic systems at peak stress. Therefore it would be a fine session for improving both aerobic and anaerobic capacity. Events where both aerobic and anaerobic demands are high are, for example, 400m, 800m and 1500m running, sprint cycling, canoeing, rowing and speed skating. This kind of workout would be great for these sports. Games players may also want to use the I1 workout as an intense training method for improving aerobic and anaerobic fitness.

The benefits described above are from just one Tabata set (20 seconds all-out work followed by 10 seconds rest, repeated 8-10 times). The gang at Crossfit string multiple Tabata sets together in a workout titled Tabata This. Ross Enamait, in his fantastic book The Underground Guide to Warrior Fitness also advocates stringing together Tabata sets. There are many exercises that lend themselves to the Tabata treatment: sprints, jump rope, squats, pushups, burpees (killer), chinnies, etc. There's no end to the ways you can torture yourself with Tabatas.

The one good thing about all that aerobic training was that it laid a pretty good foundation upon which I could build this more intense work. You would not want to undertake Tabatas or any other HIIT without a solid conditioning base. As is true for everything I write here—but particularly for stuff like this that might make your heart explode—consult a doctor before embarking on new fitness regimes.