Ok, that's a lie. Yesterday's workout was NOT a double unders workout, no matter how much I wanted it to be! First we started with 12:00 on the clock and did 2 thrusters at the top of each minute. Your score for this part of the workout was the total amount of weight lifted.

If you've never done a workout like this across from Nick, I'll just enlighten you. Nick is strong. Not just a little strong either...like...borderline superhero strong. So as his bar comes crashing back down to the Earth it's a constant reminder of how amazing Nick is, and what a mere mortal you are.

The second part of the workout also put 12:00 on the clock. The goal was to get as any push-ups as possible, but on the top of every minute you had to stop and do 20 double unders, or 20 bar hops. I think Ben wins for fastest bar hops of the day!

Ok, so our RSVP-ing through the events page is NOT working. If you are coming to the Corned Beef & Cabbage dinner on Saturday can you let me know in the comments for this post? I mean, I have just under 25lbs of corned beef, but I want to make sure I have enough. This event is going to be a BLAST! There'll be green balloons and green table cloths....what else could we need!?

[Read more →]

Yesterday at the 8AM class Pam let us know that it is her 1 year CrossFit anniversary - her Pam-iversary! Boy, you want to talk about someone who has come a long way? That's Pam! Her consistency and hard work has really paid off, especially with her new jerk PR yesterday! The other thing Pam was celebrating yesterday was finally making it off the last page for her rank in the Open. Atta girl! Because let's face it...sometimes winning is just not being last.

Our workout yesterday was met with a lot of groans.

2 rounds:
20 thrusters (60/40kg)
20 pull-ups
20 burpees

After the workout was over, EJ was laying on the floor and he announced, "Ok Bill, you win today." Apparently if he can stay standing after the WOD, then the WODFather doesn't win!

Tonight is our long awaited nutrition discussion at 7PM! Be there to hear more about pre and post workout nutrition!

ALSO - we just peeked inside the grill that has been living in front of the door and found a wonderful card. Apparently the Fort has a secret admirer whose life we changed! The grill is a gift for us to use at our cookouts this summer - HOORAY! Thank you to our secret admirer!

We're two workouts into the Open, with the 3rd one being announced tonight. Want to know how you're ranked at the Fort? Here's the link to our internal ranking page. Also, Ryan Powers will be at the Fort at 7PM to film people's reaction to the announcement of the 3rd WOD. Get your camera faces on!

[Read more →]

We have recently had a HUGE influx of new babies at the Fort and a lot of people have been asking me what to feed their paleo babies. I think it goes without saying that you don't need to feed your baby any fancy "iron fortified" crap in a box. (yes, even the organic ones). That's NOT real food. Well, I suppose it all depends on your definition of food.

The guidelines for feeding your little rug rats aren't all that different from feeding yourself. Babies need lots of good, healthy fats and cholesterol to help their brain develop. Plus, they have LOTS of growing to do and they need all the calories they can get.

Ideally, until they are 1 year old, babies will get almost all of their nutrition from breast milk. The rule of thumb for babies is that solid food "before one is just for fun". Meaning, most of baby's calories are coming from breast milk and any calories they ingest in solid foods is just for practice.

So, when it's time to feed your little cave baby, what do you feed them? I have found that it is best to keep it simple and feed them organic purees loaded with extra fat. You'll want to start with purees that you can blend into a super smooth consistency such as sweet potato, avocado or butternut squash.

But Jennie, where does the fat come from? GOOD QUESTION. Probably the most important part of the introduction of solid foods is that they aren't just big carb-bombs. No, not CAR bombs! In order to get your baby the fat they need to get big and smart, load up their food with some grass-fed ghee and a soft cooked egg yolk. Yep, egg yolks. Since you'll be giving them just the yolk and not the protein containing whites, there's no need to worry about egg allergies.

So get to the grocery store and find yourself an organic butternut squash and some free range, Omega 3 enriched eggs. Cook that squash (no seasoning) and puree it in your food processor. The cheapest way to store your baby food is to pour it into ice cube trays and then transfer the frozen blocks to labeled ziploc bags. This allows you to thaw small portions and use only what you need.

When it's time to serve baby, warm up the food and add about 1 tsp of ghee and a soft cooked egg yolk. To cook your yolks, just separate out the yolk and cook it in a pan with ghee on the stove top for about 3 minutes, or until warmed through. Plop that yolk directly on top of your puree, bust it open, and then fish out the solid portion. Add a pinch of celtic sea salt (for digestion, not flavor) and WHAM! A delicious and nutritious meal for your little one!

Brady's (9 months old) favorite puree is chicken, sweet potato and apple. (served with ghee and yolk OF COURSE). A good source for free-range chicken is Trader Joe's, and it blends up into a smoother consistency than ground beef. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
2T ghee
1/3 c onion - chopped
1/4lb free range chicken thighs chopped
1/2 apple, peeled and chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1c chicken broth

Directions
Heat ghee in saucepan and saute the onion for 3 minutes. Add the chicken and saute until browned. Add the apple, sweet potato and broth. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Puree to desired consistency.

[Read more →]

Do you have friends interested in trying out the Fort? GREAT! I'm not sure if you noticed, but the process for getting started has changed slightly. Instead of the 10AM intro class on Saturdays, we now schedule private assessments. Ooooh.....private assessment....doesn't that sound fun and fancy? These 45 - 60 minute consultations allow us to meet with potential members one on one to discuss their background, current health conditions and goals.

In addition to these free assessments, we also plan "Funtastic Free Weeks" 3 times a year. The next Funtastic Free Week is coming up soon! Wednesday - Friday April 4th, 5th and 6th will be your next chance to come try a regular class at the Fort! Mark your calendar!

To schedule your free assessment, call us at: 815-207-8844!

[Read more →]

It's absolutely wonderful that so many of you are participating in the 2012 Open. Every time I look at our participation poster and see all those signatures it brings a smile to my face.

The 2nd workout in the 2012 CrossFit Open was a 10 minute snatch ladder that increased in weight every 30 reps. We did this workout in leu of our normal Saturday classes and it was AMAZING. It was an incredible experience both to spectate and participate in this workout. The Fort takes on a whole new level of excitement during these Open workouts.

As a participant there's no experience quite like having 10 people cheering for you. I can very clearly picture in my head when I got rep # 61 the group of people off to my right actually jumped up and down and cheered. I mean...how spectacular is THAT!? How often in your life do people clap for you?? It is truly the spectators that make the difference for athletes, especially when you're faced with the impossible.

Watching this workout was like riding the American Eagle backwards 25 times in one day. You looked that barbell straight in the face, held on for dear life and made it your BITCH for 10 full minutes. Whether you snatched a new PR weight for multiple reps, blasted through dozens of reps, or just got the bar overhead once, you are an inspiration!

And that's what the Open is all about. It's not about the superstar athletes....they'll have their stage to compete either way. The Open, even just by its name, is meant to take bench warmers, picked second to last for dodgeball-ers, non athletes and show them what it's like to be part of something - to be part of a team.  Whether you take 9th in the region or 687th, thank you for being part of the CrossFit Fire Team!

[Read more →]

Know what I love about our brag board? It allows people to celebrate every single accomplishment at the Fort regardless of how small or silly it may seem. Yesterday Josh celebrated his first personal victory - he can get strapped into the rower and reach the handle without any help! WOO HOO! For someone who is highlly inflexible, this can be a real problem. Kudos to Josh for knocking out that first goal within his first 2 weeks out of ramp-up!

The workout yesterday was:

5 rounds:
20 DB walking lunges
20 DB push press

With all the excitement of the Open Workout 12.2 though, it was kind of hard to focus. In an effort to save your shoulders for 12.2, we recommended scaling this workout down in either weight or reps. Gotta stay fresh for the Open!

Bender totally CRUSHED this workout. He is mega strong at push presses and he made them look light! Good work buddy!

[Read more →]

A million and a half years ago when Sparky was still coming to the Fort, he coined the phrase "CrossFit Fire Gender Check". That phrase refers to the unpleasant experience of having the assistance band slip off your foot and snap you in the crotch. (winces in pain) Yeah, that hurts a little more for some of us.

The reason I bring up the gender check, is because Bueno decided to demonstrate it last night. Now, I'm not going to imply that she wasn't 100% paying attention to what she was doing...but it's possible that she was slightly distracted when this happened. Fortunately, she's ok. If anything her abs might be a little sore from all the laughing she did after it happened.

The workout yesterday was:
21-15-9
push press (50/35kg)
pull-ups

There is a friendly competition between Josh and Drew. Whenever Josh does RX+, Drew has to repeat the workout and see if he can beat Josh. Not surprisingly, Drew CRUSHED this workout at the 4PM class even with the addition of chest to bar pull-ups. I don't remember his exact time, but it was under 4:00. The 4PM class had some blazing fast times and I think it's because they were trying to keep up with Drew!

We have some events on the calendar for March. Next Wednesday is the Nutrition discussion. Then on 3/10 we have another karaoke outing to the old Last Chance Saloon in Grayslake. On 3/17 we have the 2nd annual Corned beef & Cabbage dinner - YUM! RSVP right away guys so I know how much corned beef to buy.

Let's also take a second to talk about those in our lives that are less fortunate. As far as I know, none of you has to worry about having a warm, safe place to sleep at night, right? Well guys, not everyone is that fortunate. I have a blue bin in the front office that is for the Lake County PADS shelter and it's VERY empty at the moment. This shelter runs 100% off donations and this is a notoriously sparse time of year for them. Let's help them out and fill our bin with toiletries, non perishable foods, or even Grocery Gift Certificates if you aren't creative enough to buy stuff. Every little bit helps!

[Read more →]