"We've never done this workout before. When will we be repeating this test?"

GOOD QUESTION. Let's think back to when we were in school. How many times did you repeat the same test? Did you History teacher give you the same test over and over again just to see if you were getting smarter? I'm going to guess that the tests were always different. Occasionally in CrossFit, we are testing our work capacity, and there isn't an exact carbon copy of the workout to compare it to....and that's ok.

As your "teachers", Bill and I want to let you guys know you ALL PASSED with flying colors!

1 round for time:
500m row
15 snatches (50/35kg)
100 double unders
15 snatches
500m row

The 6PM class was GIANT last night, but all 17 of you got through the workout without any confusion, or running into each other. See Bret? I sometimes know what I'm talking about.

I just have to give a shout out to Ben for his speedy performance on this workout. He tested out of ramp-up a couple weeks ago and has been crushing the WODs at the Fort ever since!

Originally published in June of 2010

Let's take a journey to the land of your imagination.....

You've been coming to the Fort for about a year now, and you're doing AMAZING. You have been consistently losing weight, and getting stronger and faster. Your technique is solid, and your attendance at class is fairly consistent.

AND THEN IT HAPPENS.

Suddenly, you stop setting PR's at the Fort. The scale stops making its beautiful downward progress. You start to feel frustrated and you wonder why CrossFit "isn't working anymore". Immediately you start to wonder if busting your ass in the heat and humidity 3-4 times a week is really worth it. After all, if you're not going to keep seeing progress, why should you keep going, right?

WHOA. Back that train up.

This is the part where I wrap my loving coach arms around you and tell you that this happens to everyone. At some point, you are going to have to take that dial, and turn it up a notch in order for you to continue seeing results. Bill and I have seen this quite a few times and I want to be the first person to tell you that this does not mean the end of the road for your progress, it just means that you've reached the point where you need to put in a little more effort. Expecting to put in the same amount of effort, and to continuously get results would be like expecting to take 6th grade over and over, hoping to get your PhD.

Think of your fitness journey as going in phases. Here is what the experience is like for a lot of people:

1. Phase I - during this initial phase, you are going to be losing weight like a maniac. With minimal effort at the gym, and some tweaks to your nutrition, you'll see weekly weight loss of a couple pounds a week. Your first 4 weeks you might even see more dramatic results from the initial water weight you will be shedding by eliminating all the inflammatory foods you've been ingesting. Life is good in phase I.
2. Phase II - we'll nickname phase II the "honeymoon phase". Now your progress is visibly noticeable to the people around you. People comment all the time how good your butt looks in your jeans, and other such inappropriate (but flattering) comments. You'll be making strength gains in the gym, and you'll be building endurance. You're still madly in love with all the meat you get to eat, so you are losing weight at the rate of about 1.5-2.5lbs per week.Life is REALLY good in phase II.
3. Phase III - Hmm....a name. Phase III needs a name. Let's call it the "just a little won't hurt" phase. During this phase, you are playing around with not being quite so strict with your nutrition anymore. You still come to class regularly, but you've picked up your liquid grains 2-3 nights a week again, and you regularly sneak a cookie from your co-worker's desk. After all, you've done so well, so you should be rewarded, right? Unfortunately, in phase III, you won't be losing weight anymore. The scale will have leveled off. It's not climbing again, but it certainly isn't going down anymore. Life ISN'T so amazing in phase III, but you still put on a happy face.
4. Phase IV - This will be the "I'll start again next week" phase. This is NOT a happy phase. You actually start gaining weight. You skip your regular workouts, and decide to "take some time off". You keep telling yourself that you will get back on the wagon next week. But then next week becomes next month, and next month becomes "after so-and-so's-wedding" which turns into "after so-and-so's-something-or-other". You'll use ANYTHING as an excuse to put off starting to get strict with your nutrition again. Phase IV is almost a complete abandonment of everything you worked so hard for. You stay away from Paleo and CrossFit for so long that you find it daunting to have to go back again. Life is sad and lonely in phase IV. Suri Cruise cries in Phase IV.

That sounds awful, doesn't it? Remember that in order to continuously see results, you have to continuously put in effort. There is an ever increasing scale of effort that you'll have to commit to in order to keep progressing onward and upward. If you stop losing weight and leaning out, let's examine what you're eating. You might actually have to weigh and measure your food for a few weeks just to get an idea of how much you're eating. Let's also look at how much sleep you're getting and how often you're working out.

The moral of the story is to never allow yourself to get comfortable, and start adding more and more cheats back into your diet. Stay as far away from Phase IV as possible! Remember that the amazing CrossFitters you see at the Fort and online all have to work VERY HARD to be where they're at. These amazingly strong and lean people never make it past phase II. They just continuously put in more effort to make themselves more amazing. You can get there too, but you have to be willing to work for it. You have to want it more than ANYTHING. More than Oreos, or Sam Adams. It's THAT serious.

This entire post can be summed up with this simple graph of the ratio of Badass-ness to amount of effort:

As you can see, the more of a badass you want to be, the more effort you have to put in. You could go your entire life without weighing and measuring your food, or getting real precise with your nutrition....but

that will only work if you are not an aspiring Games contender.

If you, or someone you know has reached a plateau, talk to your coach. We are here to help you through these rough and frustrating times. Email me. Call me. Send me a message on Facebook. Just for the love of all things Holy, let's not reach a point where you feel so frustrated that you cry any time you look in your fridge. Mkay?

• Sammi, Ritchie, Bret & Ben
• Steph, Jodi,  Jamie R & Cheri
• Ryan S, Drew,  Season & Nick W
• Lori, Jamie P, Deena & Tiffany M

The WOD was:
In teams of 4, complete AMRAP in 24:00 of:
400m Run
20 Burpees
75 feet DB Walking Lunges (55/35)
20 Wall Ball Shots (20/14)

*1 person from team of 4 at each station
*all 4 team members will be working at the same time to complete their individual station
*once all 4 team members have completed their station, everyone on the team will rotate to the next station

This was a tough one because there wasn’t much rest in the 24 minutes. We all also made it through multiple rounds as a team. I heard lots of comments about this WOD but the one that shocked me was “the run was my rest.” Ha, I didn’t agree with that so much. I’m pretty sure that the combo of running 400m, then moving right into 20 burpees was a lethal combination!

Our winners were Sammi, Ritchie, Bret & Ben. (sorry we missed you in the pic Ben!) SHOCKER…Bret was on the winning team AGAIN. Every time he passed me by out on the 400m run he made it look so effortless. It pretty much made me want to slug him since I was dragging and just hoping I’d make it back to the door on two feet.

I’m so proud of the teamwork I witnessed on Saturday. Every time I passed someone on a run, or walked through a group of lungers, encouragement was passed or high fives were given. It made me so thankful that I am part of such an amazing and supportive community. HUGS. If you haven't checked out a Team Saturday yet, you really should. It's a pretty special experience!

3 Rounds of:
10 C2B Pull-ups
10 Burpees
10 Handstand Push-ups

The 5pm class was a blast on Friday night! It was small and intimate, kinda like the old days at the Fort. I had the pleasure of WODing with some SUPER strong friends including Jenni L. She whipped through her pullups, blazed through the burpees, and repped out some
pretty solid looking HSPU’s. Girl, you are getting so strong and are quickly becoming a WOD killa! Keep rockin’ it, darlin’!

I had a little déjà vu yesterday when I saw the WOD on the whiteboard. Not too long ago we did an AMRAP with lunges, pushups and double unders. It was pretty amazing & greatly resembles the WOD you all went through yesterday:

5 rounds:
20 walking lunges
40 double unders (100 singles)

Mad props to George who completed this WOD in around 4 minutes. Holy cow that’s fast! I’d say he’s finally gotten his double unders! T. Murph also did a phenomenal job on this one, finishing in just over 6 minutes. I believe it was the fastest time for all the girls. Way to go Tiff! Nicole and Neil deserve a little virtual pat on the back as well because they each did an extra round! I’m not sure if Nicole meant to go Rx’d + but Neil just lost count and did an extra round even though I was pretty sure he had already done 5. Neil thanks for the honesty and not selling yourself short! By the way, I LOVE Jodi's lunging technique. Most people keep their arms down at their sides, or on their waist. Nope, not Jodi, straight out to help her keep balanced!

ATTENTION Softballers: We’ve got a game tonight at 6:45pm. Be there or be square!

The workout yesterday was:

4:00 AMRAP
10 push press
10 pull-ups
4:00 rest
4:00 AMRAP
10 KB swings (32/24kg)
10 hand release push-ups

If you couldn't tell by looking at the WOD, this one was a grip killer! As long as you follow the rules and only swing your KB at a wall, we'll be ok. Nobody has ever accidentally let go of their bell at the Fort. But safety first!

Notice something odd about this picture? It's a picture of Josh swinging a kettlebell...with a cast on his hand! When you're really determined, NOTHING can stand in the way of you reaching your goals. Not injury, not illness, not famine....Ok, maybe famine. Don't be shy about contacting us about substitutions for the workouts if you find yourself injured. Maybe you trip over your chihuahua and hurt your knee - OK, no problem! We have a workout for you! (that's a true story by the way)

Not too long ago we welcomed back Mariah. She was one of the first few members we ever had, and now she's back! The best part is that Mariah gets to workout with her Mom. Every year as mother's day draws near I daydream about someday getting MY Mom to workout at the Fort. First things first though, she won't even set foot inside, like the floor is made of hot lava. Could YOUR Mom use CrossFit? Get her the gift of the June ramp-up for Mother's Day!

About Miller

US Army Staff Sergeant Rob Miller grew up in the Wheaton area and attended Wheaton North High School. He was a competitive gymnast and a highly skilled athlete. He enlisted in the United States Army in 2003 and was accepted into the Special Forces selection and training process. He graduated and received his Special Forces tab on September 30, 2005. He was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group and deployed to Afghanistan to support Operation Enduring Freedom from August 2006 to March 2007.

Rob returned to Afghanistan for his second tour in October 2007, where he served as a Weapons Sergeant for his team.

Rob was killed in action on January 25, 2008. He was killed by enemy fire during an ambush near the Pakistan border. He died while providing cover fire for the evacuation of his team captain, who was seriously injured at the beginning of the attack. Rob’s actions saved the captain’s life and enabled his team to gain cover and return fire.

Rob posthumously received the Medal of Honor in 2010, the nation’s highest military award for valor in action against an enemy force. Read more about his courageous story.

"Murph"

• Run 1 mile.
• 100 pull ups (partition as needed)
•  200 push ups (partition as needed)
•  300 air squats (partition as needed)
•  Run 1 mile.

Doing this WOD Rx'd is while wearing body armor (20 lbs)

This can be an individual or team event. In addition to the full MURPH, participants can do modified versions such as: Half, Assisted (jumping pull ups or assist bands).

So if anyone is interested in attending this event you will need to sign up through the Tri-Cities Crossfit website. Also if anyone wants to carpool just let me know and we can all meet at the Fort at 1000.

Help honor and support Miller, a hero from Illinois by donating $25 and completing a great WOD.