Workout of the Day:
Handstand Practice – How long can you hold . . . freestanding?
and then,
“Kelly”
Five rounds for time of:
400 Meter Run
30 Box Jumps (24″/18″)
30 Wall Ball Shots (20/12 lbs.)
Compare to June 20, 2009
A huge thank you to Kelly Starrett for an amazing Movement and Mobility Certification. This is truly one of the best certifications I have ever attended. If you participated in the certification, please post a note to comments telling folks what you think.
A Client’s Thank You to Mark Riebel
Written by C.J. Martin
As many of you know, our own Coach Mark Riebel is leaving us for physical therapy school at the end of the month. His impact on this community has been tremendous. I recently received the following note from Kristen Hatcher. Kristen had her knee reconstructed early this year. After a couple of months of physical therapy, she began training with Mark one-on-one for 30 minutes twice a week. As she states below, Mark helped her regain strength and pushed her to new achievements. Congratulations Kristen, and thank you Mark!
Hi CJ,
I feel certain you already know this but Mark is awesome! 
When I started working out with him 3 mo ago, I was afraid to step up on a box with my my bad knee and remember telling him that I really didn’t care if I lifted heavy weights or not – I just liked the work out…. I also just assumed that I’d keep doing “jump ups” vs learning how to kip. So…. fast forward a few months and I actually enjoy tracking how much weight I can lift and I love that I can finally kip.
I’m so glad that you suggested I invest in personal coaching sessions. I kept them going for a couple additional months because I quickly realized how beneficial the 1:1 time with Mark was. He just naturally offered the right balance of instruction, encouragement and patience while pushing me to lift heavier weights! It’s more than just the Crossfit though. Mark had great insight about overall health and nutrition that I’m also benefitting from. I never thought I’d subscribe to The Paleo Diet but here I sit, eating greens with chicken and veggies and sunflower seeds…
I feel very fortunate to have learned from him and will certainly miss his presence when he leaves for San Antonio! He’s helped me build a good foundation and I will always keep his advice in the back of my mind, “Everything’s easier when you’re stronger!”
Just wanted to let you know!
That sounds like Mark! It even souds like he is well on his way to graduating early from PT school…. Isn’t that something to root for. PT school for time 3,2,1…..GO
After attending two of Kelly’s amazing sessions, here are a few observations:
Kelly, you are a Wizard. With the touch of a finger or the press/release of a hand you can make me reach levels of flexibility that would have been ridiculous to consider. “Tighten your mid-line and move more weight.” Damn, it works! It’s Voodoo, Magic, Sorcery, and a little frightening.
Kelly, you are a Hero. You are committed to sharing all of this knowledge to make us better at helping our athletes and ourselves. You want us to live longer and stronger lives. You wants us to be pain free. You wants us to be the best coaches and athletes in the universe, not so much to win awards and acclaim, but to live better lives and contribute more to our community and our families.
However your greatest gift was in making me realize that I am in charge of me. Now I’m curious enough to want to know more. You parted the mysterious curtain and behold, the wizard is just a really smart guy that wants me to be a wizard too!
Maybe I don’t need 20 years of medical school to understand how to move and how to help my body help me move. “Does that make sense?”
Thanks Kelly, for what you do and who you are!
Mark is an incredible individual. no doubt he will be missed and no doubt he made a lasting positive impact on myself and my wife Patrice. Thank you for helping us reach or goals! well, patrice did. i have yet to try it. but anyways, thanks again!
on a side note, bummed that i can’t be there for this WOD, the ship doesn’t have plyo-boxes and i can’t stand running on a treadmill. i will have to make this up when i get back this week. hope everyone is doing well!
No question, Kelly’s cert is easily one of the best certs I have attended. I submit that this should be one of the very first certs anyone goes to after their Level 1, or speaking more generally, this is a cert any athlete or endeavouring fitness professional should attend to gain a good introductory understanding and intuitive framework to help create and improve mobility for individuals.
Kelly, keep working that voodoo black magic, my friend.
Yes, Kelly’s cert was amazing. Everyone at Crossfit Invictus should be appreciative that CJ set this up and to all the coaches that took the time to attend. Even if you weren’t able to attend you’ll benefit big time from what our coaches have learned.
I’ve been doing crossfit with CJ and his gang for over a year and I’ve accomplished a lot. A year ago I couldn’t do an overhead squat with a pvc pipe, and I was able to get 21 rounds in the WOD last week, but the movement was still difficult. It took a while to setup and took a few rounds to get the flow right. I’ve always struggled with flexibility. I figured I’d pretty much maxed given my flexibility issues. After Kelly’s cert I better understand what I’m trying to do with my body, what needs to change and how to address it. I now believe with some hard work I can probably get a couple more rounds, just by improving my flexibility and form; and it won’t require an increased level of fitness.
This wasn’t just about OHS or flexibility. Kelly gave us the tools to diagnose and improve every movement in crossfit and eliminate pain and injuries that for many of us go along with certain exercises. With the coaches help I hope to see new PRs, and more importantly eliminate recuring shoulder and back pain.
Thanks to Kelly and CJ.
Handstand practice and agility drills. About 15 mins. Easy pace.
Topped out at a 14sec free hs. (PR is 30ish)
Thanks CJ and everyone at Invictus for the hospitality this weekend. Your box is top notch and I certainly hope to get back down there for a WOD soon!
K-Star’s cert was full of moments where things just “clicked” for me. Even Kelly said he could see the lights going on for people in the audience. I truly look forward to immediately putting the information into practice with my clients. When I attended my L1 cert, I remember asking if there were any plans to incorporate assessment of athletes as part of the curriculum. This seminar delivers on that and so much more!
Thanks again Kelly, CJ and the rest of the Invictus crew!
Marcus Heidtman
Coach, CrossFit Intrepid
Coach, CrossFit South Bay
Kelly’s seminar this weekend was extremely informative and I’d highly recommend it to any athlete interested in improving their form and function. The techniques were often pretty simple, yet incredibly effective. If you take your movement and performance seriously in the least, you should attend one of his seminars.
Plus he’s a DPT, and everybody knows those guys are the coolest.
Now that was a very, very fun WOD.
Mark,
You are the man! Going to miss you buddy…Good luck!
Cheers,
Ben