CF West trainer Selene T goes airborne.
There were 5 CrossFit West athletes at the CBVA Santa Cruz Open beach volleyball tourney this last weekend. And all 5 placed in the top five. Congratulations to Selene, Aurora, Kirsten, Vero, and Susan.
CrossFit is ideally suited for beach volleyball, as it is for so many sports and physical activities. Beach volleyball players need, above all, explosive power. Remember, power is strength with the added element of speed. Power is what a causes a jump, or a strike, or a home run, or a snatch, or a double leg takedown. Explosivity demands power and power breeds explosivity. CrossFit, at its very core, focuses on the development of power.
How does CrossFit prepare you for your sport or activity? Please post to Comments.
Workout:
5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Jerk bw (bodyweight)
Clean and Jerk 3/4bw
Snatch 1/2bw
15 Double Unders after each round
Post time to Comments.
Thats awesome! Nice job, girls!!!
I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to watch you girls in action though. 
I wish I could have watched you all play.
…I just had to say, GREAT JOB TODAY (Friday June 5’th) to everyone in the 6:00 am class!!! Steve, Mike, Evie, Colin and Barbara ALL hit new Dead-Lift P.R.’s this morning! Colin and Mike each CRUSHED their previous 1-Rep-Max PR’s by 50 pounds!!!
I’m continually inspired by both the clients and the coaches here at WSC. It’s a pleasure to coach you, be coached by you, coach along side of you, and to workout with all of you.
Keep up the good work, everybody!!!
Jason “J-Dogg” Highbarger
A short time ago, (May 23’rd), Sam posted an entry on “Well Rounded”, using Greg Amundson as an example for us all to learn from. Sam had mentioned that Amundson was very well rounded and that he would always focus on elements that he sucked at. This caliber of work ethic and relentless focus at always attacking his weaknesses played a large role in his developing into one of the best all around CrossFit athletes out there.
I had posted a response on that day but did so a week or so after it was posted, so I thought I would revisit it for a moment as it applies to everything we do here at CrossFit. Considering several of the upcoming endeavors for which many of us are currently undertaking, such as with the “Paleo Challenge” or that of striving to make the CFWSC Affiliate Cup Team for the 2009 CrossFit Games, …I thought it might be a good time to revisit Sam’s original post as it isn’t just about “attacking our weaknesses”, it’s about developing a rock-solid work-ethic, discipline and drive that can be applied not only to our training here at WSC, but to our nutritional goals, our sport, and to our lives in general. It’s that unparalleled work-ethic that can truly help us to brig our goals and desires to fruition. This is true in both life and sport.
(http://www.crossfitwestsantacruz.com/new-site/?p=2318#comments)
…I remember back when Greg Aundson was training at CFHQ (CrossFit HeadQuarters). As Sam had stated, Greg always had an outstanding work ethic and always attacked his weaknesses. He possessed insatiable drive and unparalleled discipline. Greg was at one point unsatisfied with his score on Fight-Gone-Bad (FGB) and so I would meet him at the gym once a week at around 5:00 in the morning so as he could do FGB. We would take different approaches so as not only to simply get the best score, but to garner the best possible affect from the stimulus. Sometimes we would strategize the reps so as to get a specific score, such as 29 on Wall-Ball and then, regardless of time left within the minute, pause and prepare for the next station in the rotation and task at hand. Other times we would just throw out strategy altogether and attack every station to the fullest capacity, trying to accrue as many reps as possible within each element and then just suffer the inevitable “collapse” that accompanies such an output. (Both yield a powerful adaptation to the human body for which should be explored.–Something for which I will write about at some point in the future.) He willingly subjected himself to this and would do so with no one there to cheer him on, shake his hand, or congratulate him after. He would just go in there and do it because he needed to get better at it.
…I remember, (sorry, Greg ol buddy), on one occasion Coach Glassman (founder of CrossFit) telling Greg Amundson to “never let anyone see you do that until you clean it up”, speaking in reference to Amundson’s OverHead-Squat. So, Greg methodically started implementing the OverHead-Squat into his daily warm-up routine. Through his tenacity at attacking this “weakness”, Amundson developed one of the nicest and most structurally solid OverHead-Squats anywhere.
…There was another obstacle that somewhat stifled Greg Amundson a bit. (I wouldn’t share this story, but Sam said Amundson himself tells it as I do, so I thought I would share it with all of you.) When Greg first attempted the Bachar-Laddar at the old CFHQ, he got to about the third rung up, screamed like a little girl, (didn’t know a man could make a sound like that, really), and then dropped to the ground. This was somewhat perturbing to Greg and so, several days a week, Greg would go into CFHQ at 4:30 in the morning (yes, thats *4:30* in the morning), drag out the crash-mats and attack the Bachar-Laddar, just as he would do with all his weaknesses. He did so until it no longer was a challenge and he could ascend and descend it multiple times facing either direction while wearing the weighted vest. …That for which once stifled Amundson became easy for him. Yet another testament to his focused and driven nature, and his relentless attacking of his weaknesses. …How many of us have woken up, restless and unable to sleep due to an unsatisfactory “Fran” time, (or any other manner of horribly unpleasant business that makes us writhe in agony on the floor afterwards), got in the car and driven down to the gym at 4:30 in the morning to attack it and strive for a new “PR”, or to work on the things that we suck at?
One of my friends and clients who plays for the NY-Jets developed the same powerful discipline and work-ethic as Amundson, and it has served him very well. …He didn’t always have it though. He didn’t have it in high-school. He developed it mid-way through Junior College and continued to hone it over time as though a weapon. Through this he overcome many obstacles; …obstacles that would have stifled many.
…We may not have been born with a drive like Greg Amundson’s, …we may not even have had it as of late, …but we can all develop that razor-sharp focus and relentless work-ethic, just as Michael Jordan did after he was cut from his high-school basketball team, and apply it not only to our training and nutritional discipline, but to our lives as well. …Every one of you has that capacity within you. …Sometimes it’s simply a matter of endeavoring to develop it to a sharper degree.  …Every one of you has that capacity within you; …Evie, …Daniel, …Brad, …Dave, …Colin, …Liz, …etc, …all of you at WSC. (Sorry, that was a little flashback moment from Romper-Room when she looks through her lil magic mirror thingy that swirls around in different colors all tie-die like as she says she can actually see us at home!–lol)
…I think we can all learn from athletes like Greg Amundson, Michael Jordan, and Dwight Lowery. …I know I have.
I’m going to start with working on my Muscle-Ups!!!
Jason “J-Dogg” Highbarger
Great picture!!! And well deserved for a great tournament for Aurora and Selene.
Crossfit prepares not only on the physical side for volley ball but also on the mental side for competition: to keep going, never give up, seek a way to give your own possible best performance of the moment.
Good work today guys. Congrats on those deadlifts.
Jason, thanks for the inspirational comment. A solid work ethic is certainly one of the most important things one can develop throughout life.
Awesome job ladies? When is the next tourney? I would love to come watch you guys in action.
Speaking of action, does anyone know how Desmond did at Worlds this weekend?
I would also like to give a shout out to Fridays noon class. You guys all killed it, and it was awesome to see you all go heavier than you thought possible and still blaze through the workout! Julie and Tina killed it for their first class, it will be fun to watch them progress.
Thanks for the words of encouragement, kill or be killed? you tossed out a tough workout for us to chew off. So fun!