Workout of the Day:
“Annie”
Rounds of 50-40-30-20-10 for time of:
Double-Unders
Sit-Ups (anchored)
Rest for 5-7 minutes, and then complete 100 Ring Push-Ups for time.
Have you purchased the new CrossFit Invictus t-shirt yet?
Top Five Animals – An Argument for the Inclusion of the Shark
Written by Jim “Pops” Martin
I was recently involved in a heated discussion with some of the CrossFit Invictus crew regarding the ongoing controversy over the top five coolest animals on the planet. The experience caused me to revisit the list provided by Adrian Bozman of San Francisco CrossFit. While Adrian presents some interesting selections, I find his exclusion of the shark to be a grave error.
How bad-ass does an animal have to be to eat its brothers and sisters in order to survive? Oh, and this happens inter-uterine! It is called ovoviviparous and it is the way that Mako and Sandtiger sharks reproduce. The female creates a thin egg sack containing the embryo and a yolk to sustain it. Usually the first to grow large enough to eat its way out of the egg sack also consumes the other inhabitants in her uterus. After that, often only a single survivor is born. Unlike most terrestrial mammals that show some regard for the caring of their young, (like the Musk Ox), the young shark is carelessly deposited into the ocean without so much as a passing glance from the female that gave it birth. There is no herd to protect them, no pack to help feed them, no colony, army, drove, troop, flock or family to teach them how to survive in nature. For them the decision is: are they predator or prey? – a harsh entry to the world.
How do these difficult challenges prepare them for life in the oceans of the world? Let’s look at their success rate and longevity. The earliest evidence of the existence of sharks enters the fossil record between 350 and 400 MILLION years ago. Google that! 350 million years ago North America was crushing into Russia. When sharks began populating the ocean (there was only 1 big one then) the first amphibian was struggling to secure a foothold on land. Since then sharks have remained relatively unchanged. There has been no adaptation because they have been near perfect since the very beginning. The perfect stealth predator, the perfect survivor, the perfect population balancer in nature, and certainly one of the five coolest animals in nature.
Jim, Well stated and I was thinking of the shark when the post had come up a while ago, but I think we land dwelers only consider those beasts that roam on terra firma. I think that eat or be eaten fact is pretty intense! Eating yoru siblings is a sure way to get you taken off the holiday card list. Nice work POPS!
Pops, you definitely know how to make a persuasive argument. Eating your siblings to ensure a victorious entry into the world is definitely a pinnacle of Darwinism.
Thanks Christina for making me do the ring push ups….even when I thought I couldn’t do it.
Good job Chris, for the extra set you did today!
Sharks also get the benefit of really ominous and super-cool theme music right before they eat you. Can any musk osk claim that? Well said, Pops.
Great post! I absolutely agree. I would also put polar bears in the top five. Jim, I’m glad to see that all of your training in the ed department is paying off!
JAWS always scared the crap out of me as a kid growing up in Kansas. Even while water skiing on the lake I would fear for my life as by bum bobbed beneath the surface while waiting to be pulled to my feet. I had an encounter w/ a dorsal fin while surfing a few years ago. It ended up being a dolphin but how the hell was I supposed to know! I have never swam so fast in my life. I also broke the fin off my board from slamming it into the shore so hard. The two ladies walking on the beach thought my panting and pointing was amusing.
P.S. That was the last time I surfed. Also, I used to swim in La Jolla cove and refuse to go out there now ever since the shark attack in Solana Beach. Seals are also scary…
Not only are sharks scary, they are the cleverest species of them all.
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/saturday-night-live-season-1-land-shark/1415496980
Be very afraid….
Thanks Jen! You were looking strong on those doubles!
Great read Jim. I never knew those sharks ate each other inter-uterine (although I don’t think that’s as badass as it is gnarly!)
Simon and I watched a show last night about a little known creature called an ‘Alligator Gar’. Fierce and ugly (like my double unders).
Personally, I remain convinced that the Honey Badger is the coolest animal. I think their GPP is the best of all creatures. They just roam about eating Cobras & Puff Adders and slaying other animals ‘for cause’.
*BTW, ‘Badger’ also has to be one of the toughest WODs in the universe (IMHO).
~BC
How about the cockroach? Possibly the only creature that could withstand the fallout of a nuclear blast! Come on people, that is survival of the fittest! Ha ha ha ha ha….
I am feeling a bit Invictified this week:
Just took a shower and had the slight sensation that someone poured battery acid down my backside and scraped me with a rusty nail. OUUCHHH!!!
It’s official: I am going to have to start taping my bum before high volume sit up WODs (I tried the Ab Mat, towel, padding, etc)
Then, I followed it up with my own slick move of peeling a nice juicy orange with the same hand that has an open pull up rip. Yeeoowww!!!
(I know Dani; I won’t keep doing pull ups next time I start to tear)
Ok, spiders use hydraulic pressure to extend their legs vice muscle…that’s gotta be the coolest.
And if it’s just about being cool, and not necessarily fierce or eating your siblings kind of thing…Then the coolest animal is definitely the good ol’ fashioned american bald Eagle…calm demeanor, death from above, and a piercing gaze = COOL.
Haha! SO glad I’m not a 6am-er, I’d be the one roped in to taping my husband’s “bum.” So who will it be…?
And, yes, ovoviviparous is rad. (I totally had to copy/paste that.)
^ That was me ^
Are shark egg yolks high in cholesterol?
AUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LIZZLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL
Was browsing the internet (because I work for the government)… Eagles’ nests typically weigh up to 1 ton…yeah 2000 lbs folks!… That’s some heavy lifting just to build your home, especially when you have no hands!
Well, Pops,
I can appreciate your opinion on the shark but I must ask: “What about the Orca?” I know that many people believe that the White Shark is the apex predator of the marine world. But what about the scarry beasts CA 2 and CA 6?
CA 2 and CA 6 are the names researchers have given two Orca that are a part of the LA Pod traveling off the coast of San Francisco. This pair has been filmed attacking and gutting White Sharks for their tasty livers. And the crazy thing……..it has been documented more than once!
The shark is pretty limited in the thinking category. It kills to eat and it attacks stupidly and blindly. The killer whale is scary in its intelligence.
I vote ORCA!
The Orca is one bad ass creature.
I vote JilldaBeast! She has been known to move 2x bodyweight from the ground to hip w/ little effort and complete WODs in blazing fast speed w/ more weight than a Bee Charmer!
Does Shaq count? I vote Shaq if that’s an option…