Workout of the Day:
Three sets of:
Jumping Squats x 12 reps
(aim for between 30-50% of your 1-RM squat)
Rest 90 seconds
Handstand Holds
(shoot for 60 to 90 seconds – use multiple attempts if necessary)
Rest 2 minutes;
and then,
Three rounds for time of:
15 Box Jumps (30″/24″)
30 Anchored Sit-Ups

Another Reason I Love What I Do
Written by C.J. Martin

As I have said many times on this blog, working with the amazing individuals that walk through our doors is a dream come true.  Walking into the gym each day and interacting with the members of our community is as rewarding as any career I could have imagined.  Notes of appreciation like the one below from Isabel are the cherry on top.  I owe so much to the coaches and the members of the Invictus community for making Invictus a place where everyone should feel comfortable and capable of thriving, that I thought it was appropriate to share Isabel’s note:

During my time away from Invictus I have come to some realizations that I wanted to share. I hope you already know all of this, but I just wanted to thank you. Invictus has become so much more to me than just a gym. I have learned what it is to truly be healthy and strong. So many people struggle at other places to project an image, and it’s just that – an image, a toned body that is lean. However, that is not what it means to be strong and healthy. It’s a lifestyle change that you have to decide to make. I have become more aware of what goes into my body not only to take it to the next level, but honestly because you feel it at your next workout.

I love that everybody is viewed equally no matter if your lifting 200 lbs. or just the bar; everyone gets the same encouragement and push. Invictus not only leaves me feeling healthier and stronger but overall better about myself. It means so much to me when I complete a workout, I feel as if I actually accomplished something with my day, and that is not something that I get to feel often. I have more energy and strength to carry on. The people that you get to cheer you on or workout beside have become so much more than just another body. Invictus is truly like another family, I love all the ladies and men that I get to say hello to when I walk into the door. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be a part of Invictus.

Thank you Isabel, and thank you for being one of the amazing individuals that has helped to create our wonderful culture.

Workout of the Day:
Five sets of:
Bulgarian Split Squats x 5 reps each leg
Rest 2 minutes
Ring Dips x AMRAP
Rest 2-3 minutes;
and then,
In 60 seconds, complete the following:
One Suicide Sprint, followed immediately by
As many burpees as possible in the remainder of the 60 seconds.
Repeat for a total of 5 sets, resting 3 minutes between each set.
Record total number of burpees performed in each round.

"I came to Invictus knowing I was going to get in shape, but never imagining all of the other benefits - best of all, the kid-friendly environment. My daughter is my life, and now so is Invictus. Thanks to all the coaches at Invictus." -- Mike V.

Mike V. – Another Success Story
Written by C.J. Martin

Mike V. didn’t wait for the Look Good, Feel Good, Play Good Challenge.  If he did, he would have to be considered a heavy favorite.  Mike came to Invictus with a bit of weight to lose.  He wasn’t overweight, but he knew he was carrying more body fat than was optimal for his health and performance.  But Mike’s resolve to change his body composition and performance has been incredible – and not surprisingly, so too have his results.

On our suggestion, Mike submitted himself to hydrostatic body fat testing at FitnessWave.  His first test was on May 7, 2009 and showed the following:

• 24.9% body fat
• 196.8 lbs.
• 147.8 lbs. Lean mass
• 49 lbs. Fat Mass

We encouraged Mike to follow our principle-based nutrition guidance – “Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.”  He stuck with that, and made good use of The Paleo Diet website and Robb Wolf’s website as resources.

To be totally honest, Mike was not nearly as consistent with his workouts.  Mike has a beautiful daughter, Sophia, and between work and spending time with Sophia, Mike was only able to workout consistently twice per week.  Nonetheless, with a pretty decent compliance to our nutrition guidance, Mike saw some pretty darn good results when he was retested on October 17, 2009:

• 17.0 % body fat
• 182.6 lbs.
• 150.8 Lean mass
• 32 lbs. Fat mass

So, Mike’s total changes modifying his diet and doing the Invictus workouts twice a week, were as follows:

• Change in body fat percentage: -7.9%
• Change in total weight: -14.2 lbs.
• Change in lean mass: 3.0 lbs.
• Change in fat mass: -17.0 lbs.

Mike has not slowed down since.  He’s in the Challenge and is poised to get his body fat percentage down to 12-14% before it’s over, while still adding lean mass.  Challenge competitors beware!

Workout of the Day:
Behind the Neck Jerk
3-3-3-3
and then,
Five rounds for time of:
9 Pull-Ups
6 Burpees
3 Push Presses (use 65-70% of today’s 3-RM)

The Benefits of Personal Coaching for a CrossFit Veteran
Written by Invictus Charter Member Cynthia Lumley

I’ve been doing Crossfit since May 2008. Before that, I’d never done a squat or a deadlift or any of the movements that I regularly do now. I had the typical gym routine of treadmill and bicep curls and tricep kickbacks. Boring and ineffective, to say the least!

With all these new movements that I’ve learned to love, I have NOT learned to love the aches and pains that my body throws at me every now and then. Granted, I’m 43 years old and was never really in great shape to begin with, so some achiness is understandable. But not pain. And the thought of hurting myself makes me afraid to do some of our lifts with any real weight.

I started having hip flexor aches and throbs a couple of months ago, and laid off squats for a few weeks. That kind of helped, but when I started squatting again, the aches came back pretty quickly. That, coupled with some lower back pain that I’ve had intermittently over the past few years, ended up with me crippled after we did the Crossfit Total last week. Well, maybe not crippled…but it really hurt!

That same afternoon, I emailed Calvin Sun, one of our Invictus coaches who is studying physical therapy and body parts. I had heard that Calvin was good, but little did I know that he would help me as much as he did. Our session included him measuring my flexibility (quads, hamstrings, etc) by moving my legs in different positions and noting the degree of flexion/extension. Then he would do some PNF (see the April 3 blog post) stretching to the part we were working on. Then he had me do some simple air squats. I wish I could convey the happiness that I felt after each stretching segment when he would have me squat. I was getting lower each time, without any pain.

I had thought that my hip flexors needed to be rolled and worked on in order to ‘fix’ me. Though it is important to work on that area, it turns out that my tight quads and calves were the problem areas. There is no way in a million years that I would have figured that out on my own.

So here’s the advice portion of this blog: MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH A COACH!! Even you young whippersnappers out there who don’t have any aches or pains. I wish I’d done this a long time ago and possibly prevented some of my problems. But it’s never too late! At the very least, have a coach do a one-on-one to assess any possible weaknesses you have that might cause problems later down the road.

I can’t wait for my follow up appointment with Calvin next month! I’m doing the stretches and foam rolling techniques that he showed me every day after class, and I hope that he’ll be able to see a difference in my movement.

Workout of the Day:
Bench Press
3-3-3-3
and then,
Five rounds for time of:
12 x Bench Press (70% of today’s 3-RM)
12 x Pull-Ups

Big Ben Rides Again
Written by C.J. Martin

A job change recently took Ben S. from us, but it didn’t stop him from rocking his Invictus gear in a recent skateboarding competition. Ben spent a lot of time on his skateboard as a kid (check him out here), and has used CrossFit as his means of getting back into shape to have some fun skateboarding again. Ben put in good consistent work at Invictus for several months prior to this competition, and his hard work paid off. Ben took Third Place in the Masters Division of the competition in Phoenix on October 17. Here is what he reported:

I placed 3rd in the Masters division out of about 15-20 skaters. It was a 5 minute jam style format where 5 guys would skate the entire park for 5 minutes at a time. This is different than your normal 1-2 minute run per skater. Most of the guys got tired after about 2 minutes of skating however, due to the strength and endurance CrossFit has given me, I was able to skate non-stop for all 5 minutes and bang out trick after trick. Is this the first application of CrossFit to Skatebaording? Coincidentally, one of the owners of the skate company is super into CrossFit also. I should also mention, the high for the day was around 105 degrees, and a lot of folks ended up with heat exhaustion, including myself.

And here’s the evidence:

Congratulations Ben! Keep up the good work and keep checking in with us on the blog.