Is there anything that is more impressive looking than an OHS? (Except maybe an Iron Cross:)

Sorry Pat and Tyler, took three pics of that shot and each one had your faces blocked:)

What a perfect OHS!

Joe warming up for some OHS's

Tossing around stuff is FUN!!!! Judging from this pic I would guess that Lindsey is a good bowler:)?

Betty getting after the 'Red Devil'. Just like the 400 m, 3/4 BW Sled Drag, this can bring even the toughest to tears and whimpers!:)

You wanna know something great about CrossFit? (As if there wasn't enough things already:) It's training for GPP (General Physical Preparedness). Besides the functionality of our training that we can apply to everyday things or sports/activities that we already participate in, there is the periodic arrival of events/activities that we don't normally do or specifically train for. And lately I have been hearing quite a bit of them. True, nothing gets you better at that specific thing more than simply doing it. Same with exercises inside of a CrossFit gym. Nothing will make you better at pull-ups more than doing more pull-ups; everything else just helps them:) But what if you don't train specifically for it? How does your CrossFit training shine through? Or doesn't it? I think that we all can agree that it most certainly does! This quote by CrossFit founder Greg Glassman sums it up the best.

"People ask me, 'what do I do for abs? I tell them, stabilize the mid-line like a motherf***er, that's what you do." -Greg Glassman

Wait, that's not it, but that is a goodie:) Here's the one I'm referring to:

"We don’t have the agility of gymnasts, the power of weightlifters, or the endurance of marathoners, but we do have more agility, power, and endurance than any gymnast, weightlifter or marathoner. We do your stuff almost as good as you, you can’t do our stuff at all and we do stuff neither of us does way better than you can."

Geez, that pretty much sums it up:)

In the past week we have had members learning new sports and activities, climbing mountains (summit pics coming soon) and doing adventure races. Several people have mentioned to me how they now go out and hike/bike around and perform/recover much faster than they ever have before. Have most of them been specifically training for such events? No, but that is where the beauty of CrossFit shines through...we can still go out and do it; and usually do it quite well. If one of us goes out and runs one of the Northwest's upcoming half-marathons, can they complete it? Darn right! True that nothing would prepare them better than just focusing on running, but then they would pay the price that accompanies that; loss of power, strength, agility, etc. Another way of putting it is that this individual would sacrifice an overall level of fitness by solely focusing on only one aspect of fitness...i.e. they would overall become weaker:) If you are planning on some type of competition in the future and want to do as well as you can, definitely training in that area is a must. And even in that case CrossFit is STILL essential to your training...like icing on the cake:)

But the point of this post is to drive home how much better CrossFit prepares you for an unexpected "physical surprise". No sport specific training, no preparation, just wake up and do it! And the result is that CrossFit will provide every time. Tyler and Matt proved it this last weekend with a trip up Rainier. Jeff and I experienced it also as we tackled an adventure race over in Rathdrum. And I know of a certain group of gals that got their tennis on recently too:)

I like to sum up the fitness of an "average" CrossFitter in one word...versatile. Not everyone is winning marathons, setting Olympic lifting records or perfecting the uneven bars, but every CrossFitter is getting a taste of everything that fitness is about. Versatility rocks!

Versatile: capable of or adapted for turning easily from one to another of various tasks, fields of endeavor, etc. - Dictionary.com

So what have you done this summer that proves this? Post it in the comments and let us know how things were! And whether you have/have not this summer, what are you thinking of tackling this coming winter? Snowboarding, snowshoeing, skating, etc. Pick something new and make it a goal to at least learn the basics of whatever new activity you choose. Put your CrossFit to use!

*NOTICE*

I will be heading over to Montana this weekend so the Sunday Titan's Class will be canceled. So, what is my recommendation anytime that the Titans class is canceled?...that's right, get out and lift something heavy and odd. Some pics of you doing it would be cool too:) The CrossFitter that sends in to us the most interesting odd object lift for this weekend will win! What will you win? You will get to make up your own WOD for the whole gym and it will be named after you (but we will go over it first to make sure it is not something insane like 2000 burpees for time! We know how twisted some of you are:) The Challenge is on!

Send pics to crossfitspokane@yahoo.com

Some pics from last weekend's sprint adventure race....this stuff is right up a CrossFitters alley.

What would any race be without a Kettlebell? Not fun, that's what!:) Jeff and Jason are up to trouble!:)

Them darn KBs sure make everything more interesting!

Jeff dragging the KB across the finish line!

I'm trying! But it is just sooooo heavy!

*Of course we all know that we didn't really race with KB's strapped to us, but if you even thought for a second that we MIGHT have, then you are definitely a sick and twisted die-hard CrossFitter!:)*