CrossFit Portland

Hey boys and girls of Crossfit Portland! Before all the great summer vacations begin, let’s talk about traveling and maintaining training.

There are quite a few of you out there who are required to travel for work, and others who simply enjoy nomadic ways. Read on for a few traveling training tips from Coach Brad, a.k.a. Constable Brad (thanks for the nickname, Ford!). I’d encourage athletes to share their own ideas in the comments section below.

Your Final Destination Environment
Ever consider the environment of your travel destination? Let’s get practical tactical. What are the weather conditions, terrain, altitude, and amenities?

A few years ago I flew out on vacation to the Rocky Mountain National Forest, which features a change in altitude of around 8,000 feet. I tried the “Annie” WOD and began dry heaving after the second set of double-unders. Way too little oxygen for me at that altitude. Moral of the story: know your enemy, or at least your environment. Quite a few of those things are out of your control, so be prepared to adapt or scale your workout on the road.

Traveling With Equipment
Another anecdote about that trip: let’s talk about traveling with a jump rope in your carry-on luggage on a flight. Below is a link to the TSA’s guidelines for carry-on items for reference. My jump rope had metal weighted grips with a metal cord wrapped in plastic. Under an X-ray machine, it looked a little too much like two sticks of dynamite wrapped with wire. TSA took me to the side for a full search. I even subtly “mentioned” that I was a police officer, but to unsympathetic ears. I received the full roto-rooter over a jump rope. So consider putting your jump rope in packed luggage.

TSA Guidelines for Carry-On Luggage

Other portable equipment items you might consider bringing along …

There are a variety of pieces of equipment that are really portable besides a jump rope, and practical, even practical-tactical. I’ve seen a lot of quality exercise products for portable gymnastic rings, pull-up bars, and push-up bars. Do your own research and I’m sure you’ll find something to your liking for those items. I even own a set of 2.25-pound juggling balls that add a goofy yet decent upper-body dimension to running (see the link below). I’d also consider putting the juggling balls in packed luggage.

Items I would NOT suggest for travel, but maybe go to Youtube for a laugh, are the shake-weight, tug-toner, and body blade: all superb wastes of time.

Dube Weighted Juggling Balls

Crossfitting In The Digital Age
Don’t forget about your Iphone and Android Apps! I’d suggest downloading a Crossfit timer, a Tabata timer, heart-rate monitor, and a workout log. These are all great tools while on the go.

Get Creative With Your Travel Workouts
To get you started, below is a link with 100 travel workouts. Plus, think about all your bodyweight exercises, such as: push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, dips, squats, BURPEES, planks, and pistols. Find a park with a jungle gym and go wild. Find a heavy rock for some Turkish Get Ups. If you’ve got a hotel with a fitness center and dumbbells I’d recommend thrusters and man-makers. Mix it up, get sweaty, and don’t lose your level of fitness just because of travel.

100 Travel Workouts

I hope this generates some innovative ways of WODing on the road. Be sure to get your photos of your Crossfit travels back to us at CFPDX to share with the community.

Warm Up
1) Row 5 min
2) Shoulder Seq

Mobility
Powell raise: 3 x 8/arm
+
Seal Stretch
Elbow rotations

WOD
“Broken Angie”
10 rounds for time:
10 Pullups
10 Pushups
10 Situps
10 Squats

I wanted to send out an open invitation to spend “happy hour” with me and other members at the gym on Friday April 27th 4-8pm?? Lets break in the upstairs properly.

It will be a great opportunity to hang out with all you good people and enjoy your favorite non-paleo beverages. We can start signing up for Prowler teams too. Plus, the evening classes will provide the best happy hour entertainment!

BYOB, we have a kitchen and fridge upstairs for whatever you need. If you get too carried away, we have plenty of mats to sleep on.

Warm Up
1) your choice-3 min
2) Bar complex, clean

Mobility
Cuban Rotations: 3 x 5 @8010
+
Supine Scorpion

WOD
Custom Goals Training
+
AMRAP in 20 min:
3 Power Cleans @90% 1RM
6 HSPU
20 Walking Lunges

Want to get better at handstands?

Want to learn to get into one?

Want to learn to balance in one?

Or do you simply want to go upside-down without freaking out?

Crossfit Portland has two workshops coming up that’ll put you on the path to do all this, and more.

Nicolo Kehrwald will be conducting Beginning Handstand and Intermediate Handstand workshops this Saturday, April 28.

Attendance in each is capped at 10 so all attendees can receive direct and personal attention.

Handstands for Beginners
Time: 11:30-2 p.m.
This workshop will help you learn handstand-specific body awareness as well as teach you how to kick up, bail out, and balance using your wrists.

It will feature handstand specific warm-up, body-line and core awareness drills, various kicking up and bailing out drills, some one-on-one hand-spotting with the instructor and partners, and finally handstand conditioning and endurance work.

Pre-req: Absolute beginners totally welcome!

Cost: $60/members, $75/non-members.

Intermediate Handstand
Time: 2:30-5:30 p.m.
Okay, so you have a handstand for a couple seconds.

Are you ready to take it to the next level?

This workshop will focus primarily on hand-spotting the straight handstand as well as various handstand shapes, such as the tuck and butterfly.

Fundamentals of press handstand work as well as one-arm handstand basics will also be covered. Expect one-on-one hand-spotting from the instructor as well as partner-assisted stretching, handstand conditioning, and handstand endurance work.

Pre-requisite: Must be able to hold 5-second free handstand.

Cost: $70 for members. $85 for non-members.

Beginner Handstand: click here to enroll!

Intermediate Handstand: click here to enroll!

Twelve days ago, ScottW did a sneak peak of Mikey’s progress and commitment to her training. You can see it here.

In her own words, “Just one and a half months ago, I barely had a knee pushup…”

Yesterday, she did something new to her. I am so excited for you Mikey – way to follow the plan!!! The chin up is getting closer and closer too…

Prowler 500

We are doing the Prowler 500 this Saturday! Teams of 6, 3 men, 3 women. Sign up online for the Saturday class (8, 9, 10 am) and lets do this.

Make your team, start one, or just join one! Put your name down on the Upcoming Events window-calendar when you come to the gym.

Not sure what to expect? That’s the fun part of CrossFit! Here is a snippet of the action

Warm Up
1) Jog 600m
2) 2 trips Sampson Lunge
1 trip Inchworm
2 trips Crabwalk
1 trip Bear crawl

Mobility
50 steps ea: blade, instep, heel walks
+
Death stretch focus

WOD
3 rounds:
Run 800m
20 Burpee Box Jumps 24/20″
Bear Crawl Length of gym and back

Lactate testing can provide information to allow a more accurate prescription of conditioning work. The balance point test is one of many tests we can do with the lactate tester.

The balance point test allows us to find the exact pace at which an athlete’s blood lactate is being cleared as fast as it’s being produced.

This data allows us to optimally guide individual programming of aerobic and anaerobic work. Future tests allow us to see concrete evidence of improved performance!

This test is useful for both competitive CrossFit athletes and serious endurance athletes.

If you are interested in scheduling a test or for more information on how this may benefit you, email me at scott@crossfitportland.com