Crossfitdansk

Thank you!

2011-08-06T07:33:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

It has been a long time since I last made an entry on this blog, and I have pondered what to do with it? It is not that I dont have anything to say (those of you who know me, know that this is the case) but I have felt that this blog has played out its role!

So this will be my last entry on this blog, but within a foreseable future I think you might find me on another blog, so if you feel that you have any time left for whatever crazy thoughts I would like to share:-) then stay tuned!

Thank you for dialling in!

In health

Mads

1o ways to unfuck your CrossFit box???

2011-02-23T11:31:00.000-08:00

Been offline for a while, but that does not mean that I have not been following everybody elses bloggs:-) and when you get the chance to sit down and enjoy what everybody else decide to share online, a few questions arise! I would like to share one with you here today!

A while ago I read an article from what used to be CrossFit Greyskull! I actually read a bunch of their articles and decided that the articles were intresting and to some point justified! However, I also decided that I would not invest any further time in reading the articles of someone who had jumped off the boat, and just stood there yelling profanities, and spat hatred at the sport and pursuit of fitness that has become such an integral part of my life!

There are many things I would like to change about CrossFit, but instead of turning into a hater, I have decided to contribute with my input, and let it become a part of what CrossFit is today! CrossFit is ever evolving and if you contribute to the community then you can help develop it! If you sign out and just complain nothing is ever going to change! It is much like the people who decide not to vote, but will complain about the direction the country is moving and the talentless politicians who lead it! If you dont vote/contribute you simply have no say- That is where I decided to put the Greyskull articles!

Lately however I have seen some of their articles resurface on different bloggs and websites, and the most popular one seems to be the one that offers 10 advices on how to set things straight at your CrossFit box! Remember that this advice is coming from someone who has decided that they know better than the entire community, and turned their back on CrossFit! I am not even going to get into why I think the article is BS from beginning to end- instead I thought I would choose the higher road and offer 10 advices to how you can contribute to your box becomming a better place! Cause that is what you do when you decide to contribute instead of acting like a spoiled child!

So here we go, 10 advices on how to contribute your box becomming the best box in the world:

1- Voice your opinion!
Tell the box owners what you think! Let them know both good and bad! That kind of communication will lead to a better box everyday of the week and twice on sundays! If someting bothers you then be vocal about it straight to the owner! Criticism is great when it is done out in the open, not so much behind closed doors or behind someones back!

2- Present solutions!
When you find somethng you would like to see changed, offer a solution! Dont be a part of the problem, be a part of the solution instead!

3- Get involved!
Get involved in your box! Help out in classes, set up a fund raiser, start a facebook group! Get involved in what happens at the box- that way you can help drive the box in the direction you would like!

4- Share your experiences!
Do a cert and contribute your new knowledge to everyone else! Visit other boxes and share your experiences! Help move all the markers in the right direction!

5- Be openminded!
Realize that sometimes you may not know everything better than everyone else! Listen to why things are done the way they are, and allow for things to settle in before you rip everything up and force your own opinion down everyone elses throught!

6- Are they your goals or the box goals?
Wait for a second, have a coke and a smile and ponder! Maybe the greater good of the box is not what the tailormade solutions to your ambitions look like! How in this case do you work around this? Then move to point number 2 and present a solution!

7- It is your box!
Treat the box like you little baby! Imagine that the box is yours and every single individual that walks through the door, just walked into your box! How do you want them to feel? What values do you appreciate in your box? Now pass them on to the next person!

8- Learn peoples names!
Make an effort to get to know the names of the people you work out with and use them! You'll be surprised at how happy people get when you walk up to them in the box and ask what their names are! Usually you get the question why you want to know? When you say that you honestly care and want to know who you work out with everyday- more often than not you gain a new friend for life!

9- Internet warrior!
Get online and comment on the bloggs and websites run by your friends at the box! This builds a comminuty you would have never imagined possible! These people take the time to share their efforts and thoughts, the least you can do is comment!

10- Get the f#*k out of Dodge!
If you feel like the box you are at just is'nt right for you then give the owner a high five and a chestbump, and go somewhere else! There is no reason to be enemies just because you deside that you would thrive better in another box!

So instead of unfucking your box! Be a part of the solution,and help create better boxes and happier crossfitters!

I know that at least one of you will read this and say something along the lines of: " Of course he says so! He is part owner of a box!"
This is true! I am a part owner of a box, and the reason this box exists and is such a fantastic place is that the members there are actively engaged in making it a better place! They could not care less about unfucking anything- they are way too busy building a place they can thrive in and become better athletes!

A thank you from the bottom of my heart to every single one of you who have decided to make CrossFit Nordic the place it is today, and to the crossfitters worldwide who are making their boxes and the community stronger day by day!

Much love!

What did you drink?

2011-01-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had to defend yourself and the lifestyle choices you have made to people who claim that you are "extreme" because you do not eat bread? or because you work out 3-4 times a week? or because you have decided that you need to get stronger etc?
These accusations very often come from people who are not in shape themselves, and who have already had to begin dealing with the "challenges" that occur when you really could'nt care less about your health!

Elite athletes are extreme no matter what sport you deside to try to master and bring to the ultimate level, and there really is no discussion there, but how come that we have to listen to the same BS? I have a bunch of answers, some better than others! However I have decided to spare you my crazy rants on the issue, at the same time as I am sure that I will avoid stepping on sore toes this way:-) So I have decide to share a story with you- all you have to do is decide where you feel like you fit in? I promise to try to keep it short!

" Once apon a time there was a very small kingdom. The small kingdom basically consisted of a village, and on a hill above the village there was a castle- that was it, that was the kingdom.

People grew their crops and lived in relative harmony and got along with both friends and foe- and they loved their king! The king was a wise man who wished everyone well and settled disputes fairly. Under his rule the small kingdom had prospered for many years!

Then one day a evil man came by and poisoned the well in the village. This was the well everyone in the village drank from. He poured a poison in there that made everyone very upset, and hostile for no reason whatsoever! Over the next few weeks people in the village fought amongst themselves. They started fires and begun arming themselves so they could defend themselves against foes- both real and imagined!

In the castle where the king drank thare was also a well, but it sprang from a different spring. This meant that the king was the same as he had alway been, and all he ever wanted was for everyone to be well, get along and prosper!

After a while the villagers began to look at the castle and talk about the king and how he had changed, how they could not relate to the "new king!" They began making plans on how to assasinate him so that they could elect a new king whom they felt could be one of them!

The king heard about these plans! Wise as he was he decide to sneak down to the village and drink the water from the well in the village. He did so, and returned to the castle! The next morning he woke with a fury burning inside him, and he immidiately decided that the kingdom should go to war on their neighbors, and while he was at it he decided that 10 imagined wrong-doers in town should be hanged in the city square!

The villagers were over the moon that they had gotten their king back and talk on the town was all about how their king had gotten his wits back......"

It would be easy to do the same when the 1000th person comes up to you and claims that you are extreme and feels that it is perfectly ok to question the lifestyle choices you have made! When the 100 000 000th person looks through your lunch box and decides that it is perfectly ok to call you extreme or over the top for the choices you have made!

I beg of you not to drink from the village fountain! The choises you have made are yours to keep, and you dont have to defend them to anyone.. You should take in information and always be open to widening your horizons and learn from those who know more than we do.. But when the haters begin their insane rants about your lifestyle choises while they dont train and try to eat themselves to an early death- please dont listen!

This could be applied to virtually anything in life, but I have not found any other place where people take such liberties when it comes to the decisions others have made on how to live their lives, when all they should do was begin with the man in the mirror:-)

What do you think? Has anyone ever taken a shot at you?

Much love

The beginning of a love story!

2011-01-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

It is the beginning of a new year and it would have been super easy to share all my new years resolutions and personal goals for the new year with you. The truth however is that noone really cares what an old over the hill, semi fat kid, has planned for the next year! Those of you who claim to want to hear- its really are lovable, but there is no need for the courtesy!

Instead I would love to share some thoughts on the thing everybody has been talking about the last couple of months- the Reebok/ CrossFit partnership!
What is is all about and how do we feel about it? Has CrossFit sold out and become mainstream? Has CrossFit given in and jumped into the lap of the MAN?

What we do know is that Reebok and CrossFit have signed some sort of partnership, and from what I hear it is a long term commitment! I could be wrong, so let us not get to hung up on the details!
The first Reebok CrossFit box has opened, and I have a feeling more will follow within a very near future!
It has also become mainstream knowledge that Reebok will sponsor the Games!
I am sure that there are many more facetts where we will see Reebok get involved in the CrossFit community. I have heard a lot of rumors and have been blessed with some info straight from the horses mouth, but until it all becomes official lets just keep it at that!

So how do we feel about this? Has CrossFit sold out? Has CrossFit given up everything we stand for and sold it all for a bag of coin?
I have heard lot of haters go nuts about this! They have been very vocal both to my face and in different media! They are saying that CrossFit has lost its soul! That CrossFit has sold out? That HQ is just trying to cash in? That HQ has forgotten where it all began??
My personal favorite it this quote: " CrossFit should be elite and underground, this has ruined it all!" I'll get back to it, but I have to say that this one made me laugh! I am never going to take a swing at another persons opinion. Opinions are like assholes, we all have one! But this persons perception of CrossFit could not possibly be any further from mine, and by no stretch of imagination can I relate to this defination of CrossFit!

HELL NO! CrossFit has not sold out! CrossFit has not sold all moral values for a bag of coin! CrossFit has not forgotten where it all began, or where it was Coach wanted to go with this!
There have been plenty of opportunities to cash in before now, and I know that there were plenty of other options that would also have generated a lot of money for HQ! The partnership with Reebok will give CrossFit the possiblity to develop in the way that CrossFit has always wanted to go! In order to develop CrossFit has needed money and a partner that could help facilitate this development- This is exactly what Reebok is! reebok is not going to change CrossFit in any way shape or form! Instead Reebok is going to help CrossFit go exactly where CrossFit has always wanted to go! In return CrossFit will try to benefit Reebok in any way they can, and I am sure there is a pretty hefty contract saying what CrossFit has to do!
The essential part however is that Reebok is not going to change anything! Let me say it again so it can sink in! Nothing is going to change! CrossFit will just be able to take CrossFit where they want, in the way they want! The need for compromise in order to make the guy with the money happy is non-existent!
Just lean back for a second and think about it! If you accept the fact that Crossfit has turned down a bunch of bidders and substantial amounts of money because they all came with a prize of changing what we do! What do you think would have to be offered in the deal with Reebok, for CrossFit to take it? That is right! A partnership that allows CrossFit to continue down the path we are all already walking, but with the suport of a partner with some serious muscle! How could that ever be wrong! So if nothing changes, how could CrossFit have sold out?
I keep my fingers crossed that this is the beginning of a love story between Reebok and CrossFit, and I pray that both companies will prosper from the partnership!

So back to the comment about being elite and underground! We publish what we do online! We share information on everything we do virtually free of charge! Every affiliate that publishes their programming helps provide free access to some of the finest training in the world! On CrossFit.com you will find more information than you will know what to do with free of charge! The list goes on and on- but you get the picture! Everyting we do is transparent, and easily accessable for everyone! It has always been that way- what is underground about that?
Keeping something elite and underground just means keeping it to ourselves, which is something CrossFit has never done! The problem with this attitude is also that it gets in the way of progress! Why would you want to evolve if you are already better than the rest, and the biggest fish in a very small pond, and how are we going to develop and become better if we get no input from anyone else, since we are a closed society? No way!

I would like CrossFit to be easily accesable to everyone willing to put in the work to become a better athlete! I would like the entire world to know that there is an alternative that can actually get you where you want to go, if you really want to be a better athlete, no matter what that means to you!
My promise to you is that if I ever find a cure for cancer I will never sit on it and keep it to myself and a chosen few- I will share it with the world..... I am not sure that is the case for the one who wrote the quote!

2011 looks like it will be a fantastic year for CrossFit, for you and for me, so lets help each other make it all come true!

Much love

The ABC of deadlifts!

2010-12-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

Lately I have shared a bunch of deep thoughts on different subjects relating to CrossFit, and if you want get philosofical about it, life in general! So today I have decide to go the the other side of the house and get into some observations on the deadlift! If you are a monster deadlifter and you have some thoughts you feel like you would like to share with the world- please do share them also!

For those of you who do not know yet, I have a love affair with the deadlift, and most offspring from the deadlift! This also means that I have had a tendency to really geek out and dig into all the different schools of thought on how to execute the deadlift! Lately however I have come to a realization that I would like to share!

A deadlift is basically just the process of bending down and picking something of the ground. However, in order to be able to do so more than once and with a slightly heavy load there are some considerations to be made! If you decide to neglect these completely there are pretty fair odds that you will get into a world of trouble with your back, and the only one you will benefit will be your osteopath, chiropracter, napapat etc. who will have a field day trying to reassemble the debris that was once your spine!

These considerations are:
- Weight on your heels!
- Lumbar curve maintained!
- Shoulders above or slightly in front of the bar!
- Symetrical grip just outside of shoulder width!
- Arms straight!
- Bar in contact with you shins!

You all know these and I am sure that you have heard them all a million times before, at least if you have had the "pleassure" of having me around when you do your deadlifts!

So far so good, this is the part that most can agree on?? But what happens when you begin to move? This is where the differences begin to show. Or is it?

What I have found to be fantastic points of performance is to stay on your heels, raise your butt to where your lumbar curve is picture perfect, and you begin to feel tension building in your hamstrings. You tighten your grip and secure your midline, and lift! You raise your hips and shoulders in the same speed until the bar passes your knees, after that you open your hip completely, and voilà you are in the top position of the deadlift!

The actual lifting of the bar is less controversial, but the starting point is where tempers begin to flare! All I intend to do with the athletes I coach, is to try to build up tention in their hamstrings, glutes and erectors before they even attempt to lift the bar, thus ensuring that the midline is never compromised! This approach also has the advantage that every inch of movement produced by their hamstrings, glutes and erectors translates into movement on the bar! Aha! That is exactly what I want since these are the primal movers in this lift. So where would the point be in letting them move without getting any elevation on the bar?
So where the starting point will be will differ from athlete to athlete depending on their levers and flexibility? Yes sir! The basics need to be in place, but where that leaves the individual is different from athlete to athlete! Beautiful is it not? we are all built differently, which means that there are basic universal rules for safety, but where that leaves the individual is..... that is right- different from person to person!

So now.. please do share what do you think is a good deadlift? What needs to be taken into consideration? How do you teach it? How were you taught? Did it work?

Much love

Sectionals 2011!

2010-12-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

Let me just begin by saying that I know as little and as much as the next guy! The information I have is from what has been posted on the journal, so things can still change, or I could have gotten something completely wrong!

Here is my take on what is going to happen, and how I feel about it?

The setup!
It appears that the sectionals 2011, will be a six week deal where workouts will be released, and the athletes who feel like giving it a try can simply do the workouts, at either an approved affiliate or anywhere else! All they have to do is video tape the effort and submit it to Crossfit! Could it be any easier?
I am sure more information on the standards will be published as we get closer!

How do I feel about that?
To me it is a simple matter really! Last year athletes who could not make it to the sectionals were more or less S#*T out of luck! If they were not there they could not qualify- This year anyone anywhere can compete, and try to make it to the Regionals!
This also means that all the people who spent a fortune on travelling to the sectionals, can save their money and spend it on grass fed protein sources and skins!
The cost of competing has gone down by 90-95%!! Once again that just means that more people will be able to compete, without having to wonder if they can afford to do so!
So basically all you need this year is a camera and internet access and you are good to go (provided you have the equipment needed to do the WoDs) could it be any easier?

The criticism has been that the fantastic atmosphere and cameradery that we experienced at last years sectionals will be lost, and since we dont all have to get together to compete the community as such will suffer!
I hear you! I have to admit however that I dont think the sectionals built anything that was not there already! The cameradery I felt was there long before I walked into the sectionals, and if you show me a video of someone fighting as hard as these athletes di I will feel the exact same way again- the community and the bond between crossfitters worldwide is there already, that is not something that will go away because of one less competition!

I am stoked about this years setup! More people get to compete, at a lesser price, with a lot less paperwork! Any affiliate who wants to set up a sectional can do so, and if you are far off in the boondocks or down range, you can still submit your workouts and make it to the next cut! I just dont see what is not to like about this?

How do you feel? Thoughts, ladies and gentlemen please do share!

Much love

How do YOU coach an athlete?

2010-12-13T13:06:00.000-08:00

Before we get into the deep end of the pool and begin discussing how you coach an athlete, and how you like to be coached, I would like to define what I mean by athlete, and what I mean by coaching?

In this context I will consider an athlete pretty much anyone you will find in your box. Whether the athlete is at a level where he/she wants to compete in the Games, or if he/she is on route to performing their first air squat without looking like a train wreck, really does not matter here today- they are all athletes!
So whether you are about to call Dave Castro to give him an inside tip on the next years winner of the Games, or if you are about to call a medic to pick up the human debris that is left after this person has performed the simplest movements- it really does not matter- they are both athletes in this context!

Coaching! When talking about coaching I am simply referring to the process of guiding and giving advice to any given athlete on how to perform better! I am not talking about making up ellaborate plans for future goals! I am talking about how you coach right now!

So lets get started!

I have had the pleassure of meeting a lot of very gifted CrossFit coaches, and been blessed with the opportunity to be trained by them in all kinds of enviroments. There have been 1 on 1 sessions, classes, and workshops, there have been competition like situations and just playing around trying to work on things that would probably never be used again!
What I have found however is that there is a certain kind of coach that always seems to give me sense that I am taking a little extra something with me from the workout. It can be a technical pinpoint that has made me move better! An insigt into the complexity of a movement that has helped me understand said movement better! Or just a comment that has helped me push through the WoD when I was about to fold and call it a day! Whatever it may be there is always that sense of having been a part of something bigger than a workout!

A couple of examples of coaches like that are inevidable, so here comes the ass kissing:

Karl Steadman- This man has a way of seeing/understanding movements better than anyone I have ever had the pleassure of training with! He knows immidiately where the problem in the movement is, and with very subtle instructions he makes me move better just like that! He never brings out the sledge hammer and shreds everything I do to pieces! Instead he makes me move better in degrees, beginning with the obvious, and then moving down the line, leaving the detail work until all the gross mechanics are in place!
He is a wizard and if you ever get the chance to watch him work, or be coached by him- do yourself a favor and take it!

Martin Altemark- Unfortunately I dont get to spend as much time with him as I would like to, but I know that if I did, a bunch of my old PB's would be in serious danger. He has a way of always making me work a bit harder than I originally intended, without pushing me into the proverbial wall and into the arms of Pukie! Still, without going that far he always motivates and focusses on taking the WoD on step further! It is a quality lost on many, and I wish he could write a book about what it is he does- I think a lot of us would buy it!

So what is it that makes these guys such excellent coaches? The answer is simply that they make me a better athlete, which is exactly what I am striving to become! I will go as far as to say that that is what we should all strive towards! If it is not your goal, please stop reading and go back to focussing on the latest bicep curl blaster extravaganza in the globo gym magazines!
Sorry got carried away there:-)

But there are other coaches outthere who are the exact opposite, and they too have produced fantastic results with their athletes! How could that possibly be? Could it be that there is more than one way to being a fantastic coach? Could it be that you get your thrills and motivation in the exact opposite way that I do, and still you evolve?

Of course there is more than one side to the coin, and of course different things rock your boat and make you a better athlete! The big question is what we do with that discovery? Do we gravitate towards the coaches whom we feel hit all the right spots and leave the others to themselves, ignoring that they have also reached their goals with their athletes, or do we embrace these coaches as well and pick what we can use and discard what we cant use?

My answer would be to do just that! Find some coaches whom you can relate to, and who give you the sense of always evolving and improving, and spend 95% of your time working with them! But you should also try to train with some coaches whom you find to be the opposite, and maybe not quite your first hand choice- there just may be some really brilliant advice just lying around just begging to be discovered there too!

On the coaches side of the house there is also some soul searching to be done! You need to spend time with other coaches, watching them teach, training with them in order to evolve as a coach. If you dont, you easily fall into the trap of becomming a "one-trick-pony" and when that happens you have limited yourself and virtually every single athlete you work with! Dont be afraid to learn from other coaches! It is the only way to evolve, and who knows- maybe one day you will be able to help all athletes, no matter how they click and what they need to become better athletes- Would'nt that be something!

So my question is this! Who is your favorite coach and why, and what do you do to become a better coach?

Much love

Burn the posers!

2010-12-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

Have you ever tried telling a joke to someone who was def, and could only lip read in another language than the one you spoke? Probably not! I think we can all agree that the effort would be wasted, and both parties would be none the richer- so why even try!

Keeping this in mind todays little piece of my mind may come as a bit of a surprise, because the ones who would benifit the most from reading it are the ones who have yet to do their first CrossFit WoD, or have very recently stumbled through the doors of some box, and begun their journey into the light of CrossFit, constantly varied functional movement executed at high intensity, and all that this entails! This is for all of you, even though I doubt that you will find my blog in time to read this!
I actually had my doubts if I should write this, but then I remembered that I told my son that I loved him, long before he was capable of comprehending any kind of language- Sometimes you just have to share the love:-)

It has happened on more than one occation that people have come into our box, and been completely oblivious to the most rudementary components of ie an airsquat, even though they claim have been doing CrossFit for a while! At first I assumed that some kind of misunderstanding had occured and that they had been doing something other than CrossFit, and that they had simply chosen to drink their Kool Aid from another cup- and therefore chosen a generic brand!
Every once in a while this was the case, and of course there is absolutely nothing wrong with having done something else than CrossFit, it could even turn out to be beneficial to you in your endevours into CrossFit!
However! It has hapened more than once and way too often to be a coincidence that people have insisted that they did CrossFit, yet had the skill level of a soccer player ( I know a bunch and they are not apt in much else than soccer- but since they make so much cash I dont think they care- you know who you are) in even the simplest movements! How could this be?

The truth is that there are a bunch of people outthere who claim to be doing CrossFit, but they lack even the simplest understanding of CrossFit and the most common movements! But they have watched the videos and seen a workout of two, and genuinly believe that this qualifies them to teach CrossFit to others!

I am about to work up a serious steem here, so before I go nuts and begin dropping names and websites left and right, allow me to make the obvious even more obvious!

- Would you go to a dentist whose only reference was that he had a few teeth of his own, and a brand new wrench?

- Would you let someone with no understanding of cars, repair your favorite car- just because they had a drivers licence?

- Would you get on a plane flown by someome whose only credentials were that he had 1 000 000 000 frequent flyer miles?

- Would you eat medicine produced by someone whose only qualification was that he had taken Advil at some point?

Needless to say you would never turn to any of these people- so dont turn to someone without proper CrossFit training to train CrossFit! Ask to see the CrossFit certification? Look on CrossFit.com to see if the box/gym is affiliated? Ask where your trainer trains, and with whom... Basically do your background check, to see that you are getting the quality you deserve! It will save you time and money at the same time as it just may save you a bunch of injuries suffered from doing functional movements completely wrong!

I could ramble on forever about why you deserve the best possible introduction into CrossFit, but like with everything else in life- my motives are purely for my own benefit! I just want to be able to sleep at night knowing that no madmen are out there destroying what CrossFit stands for with their incompetence!

Whether you descide to love or hate CrossFit is entirely up to you, but whatever your decision is, you should be given the chance to make that decision based on actual exposure to CrossFit, and not on some lunatics interpretation of what they guess, it could be!

If you are going to do it, do it right!

Much love

You say tomato, I say tomato! Diets in a Nutshell!

2010-12-06T11:51:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I had the pleassure of working at the CrossFit Level 1 cert in London! Certs are the best thing in the world! I loved them when I was an attendee, and feel the exact same now that I get to work them! They just make me happy at the same time as I have never been to one of these certs without feeling I was a better athlete when I got back! Certs Rock!

At these certs I sometimes have the pleassure of spending time with some of the best CrossFit athletes in the world. One of the coolest things about CrossFit athletes is that they are easily accessable, and very open about what it is they do, and how they do it! They are the product of a commnity where everyone is equal, and sharing information is the very baseline of their being! It never seizes to amaze me how freely these supernatural people share the secrets of the trade- I hope this open-mindedness and accesability never fades away!

What do you do?

So what do you do when you have some of the worlds most fit athletes there with you? Well, you begin to pick their brain about virtually every subject under the sun, in a permanent pursuit of enlightenment! What better place to turn to?

So I have asked a bunch of these über athletes about their diets, and food habits! What diet do you follow? What do you do on cheat days? Do you zone? Do you eat paleo? Is there a secret that you would like to share when it comes to nutrition?

What really baffeled me was that virtually every single athlete had a different story to tell! Every athlete had a different approach to diets, and they all followed more or less different diets? They had diffrent approaches to cheat days, and food supplements!
How could that possibly be? Is there not one diet that reins supreme above all others? Is there not one diets that has gotten it all right, and once I get onto the program I will have all the answers?
The answer is no! Every single athlete outthere is different, and we all live different lives, and our days look different from athlete to athlete. This means that you have to find a diet that fits your lifestyle, temper, training regimen, goals, current family situation etc. and for every single solitary one of you the end result will be different!

So what I am trying to say is that if there is one thing I have learned from these rolemodel superstars, it is that you have to gain as much knowledge as humanly possible about nutrition ( and never relent or think that you are done ) and after that you have to find a golden path right down the middle that will be your personal solution to the whole nutrition discussion! You can not just read a book, and follow everything that is in this book, and from there on expect to win the Games, and rule supreme! Guess what, nutrition is just like everything else- dependant on the individual! So go be an individual:-)

This guy obviously did his nutrition homework!

Much love

Have we lost focus or have we found it?

2010-11-29T13:24:00.000-08:00

I heard an interesting comment today, from a swedish naprapat who has had the pleassure of treating a fair number of CrossFit athletes from their "battle scars" from encounters with various WoD's! I happen to know a bunch of the people this guy has helped, and they are a mixed lot, representing everyting from the top tier competitors to the complete novices- you could say that the only thing these people have in common is that they have drunk to Kool Aid!

Anyways, this guy was not too impressed with CrossFit! He thought that we had all forgotten to strengthen and condition ourselves for the WoD's we do, before we dwelve into the insanity of high reps and high intensity! The consequence being that we had to compensate for our shortcomings by developing areas that were already strong, while increasing the gap to the muscles that were weak from the beginning? The result being a never ending line of injuries that would just continue to resurface?

What do you think? Is this guy just another hater, or is he actually on to something?

I know that I have had my fair share of injuries, and I bet I still have a lot more to come! However I happen to think that the problems I have had to deal with were more or less my own fault, and caused by pure breed stupidity- how convenient it would have been to be able to blame it on something else:-)

I would like to think that the weaker parts automatically catch up with the rest of the body when you spend a fair amount of time on doing functional movements, and I think that I have seen a couple of briliant examples of that were phenomenon, or have I just been dreaming?

Much love

Programming genius!

2010-11-28T10:02:00.000-08:00

Most folks who do CrossFit get to a point where the brilliant idea of doing their own programming pops up on their radar! Usually they will press it to the back of their minds, but then after a while it just becomes too tempting, and they get on with it!
I for one love it when this happens, because it is like watching a child get into puberty! The world is at their feet and with all their wisdom and the revolutionary programming they are about to unleash on themselves they will be the fathers and mothers of a new world order!
When I have the opportunity to watch this process from a front row seat, I usually just lean back and watch the blend of complete disaster with pure genius, and blatant disregard of the experience so freely shared in the CrossFit Journal and online from thousands and thousands who have walked this path before, and maybe there is even one or two brights lights who actually paid attention at the level 1 cert, and remember what was said in the programming lecture! I love and thoroughly enjoy this enhusiastic disregard of knowledge gained, and the courage to dwelve into virtually anything they can come up with! Some really fantastic programming has actually come from this very process- I have nothing whatsoever against people who do this and try it on themselves! More power to you!

What I do have something to say about is the person who begins to program for others! Once you begin to program for someone other than yourself, you have actively taken responsibility for the success of that persons fitness regimen! This is a pretty big responsibility, and if you have not had some seroius thoughts about the depth of your commitment, then you should respectfully decline the opportunity to program for someone else...... If you feel fine about it and feel that you can fill these shoes without problems, then please do program for others!

One thing that I often see that really bothers me, is when the person who does the programming lets his/her own goals poison the programming of others! If you are a oly lifting freak, and find yourself programming for someone else, who ends up doing some sort of oly lift at least 4 days a week, but have never gone unbroken, or had to do a hero WoD! Then something is definately wrong and chances are pretty big that the athletes following this genius programming will never see the shaddow of their goals! The same can be said if your poison is kettlebells, running, gymnastics etc. You get the point!

Another one of the things that really gets me up in a knot is when the programming genius becomes convinved of his/her own genius, and falls into the trap of routine. When the athlete following this bright lights programming, wonders what is in the cards for the day, but already knows what the structure of the WoD will be like. They may not know what the specific details of the WoD but they know more or less what the workout is going to look like! When this happens, you know for a fact that the programming has become more routine than thought!

Author of the any ashole workout? This is the guy who just wants to knock the S%#T out of you and adds up all the worst exercises he can think of, and comes up with an insane rep scheme.... all designed to put you on your ass! There is no rhyme or reason behind the WoD other than making the author feel like a bigger man?? What do you think this ego massage is going to do for your overall fitness??

The list is long, so if you have been programming for others for a while, my advice to you is to seek help!
Let others program for the athlete/athletes you have been programming for, and follow that programming yourself!
Cruise other CrossFit boxes websites and become inspired! Look at other sites and see what they are doing!
Read the CrossFit Journal, and what it has to say on programming!
Do another Level 1 cert and pay attention to the programming lecture! Especially if Karl Steadman is the man in charge of it!
Never think that you have all the answers!

What advice do you have for people who program? What is your experience of people programming you? When programming for yourself, please knock yourself out my friends! When programming for someone else you need to take the responsibility that comes along with it!

Much love

Let there be light!

2010-11-25T12:24:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been having all kinds of problems with my lower back, and as a result I have not been able to work out with the intensity that I would like to. This has forced me to spend more time on improving my weaknesses, and since the are a bunch of them, the process of choosing what to spend time on was actually easy! I could choose whatever!

The interesting part was that I had to actually sit down and make a list of things that I suck at and then prioritize! I decided that my mobility or lack thereof was probably the root of all the back pain. So after consulting some of the best sources I could possibly imagine, I ended up with a long list of exercises that would help me on my way to improved mobility! I have been doing these exercises for a while now and my mobility has gotten better... a lot better..... who would have thought that persistance pays of?
My back however is still giving me trouble, granted that it is not the same kind of trouble that I was experiencing before, but I am still inhibited by my lower back! So what could the problem be??
I was in complete darkness until a dear friend and collegue solved the riddle today!

I have spent countless hours on improving my posture, arching my lower back in the squats, maintaining the stabile midline through virtually every lift you can imagine. I have worked hard to be able to do this, and complemented with various exercises such as back extentions, hip extentions, box squats, good mornings and the list goes on and on! But how often have I actually spend time on my abs? The answer is never!
I have never spent any significant time on my abs, compared to how much time I have spent on my lower back! The truth is that if there was not an ab exercise in the WoD of the day I did'nt do ab work!
I did one single workout today with focus on midline stability, primarily through the abs, and tonight I am pain free... completely pain free for the first time in weeks!

So I am sitting at home wondering if I am the only one who has made the mistake of never putting the same amount of emphasis on my abs as I have done on my lower back, and as a consequence gotten far stronger in my lower back than in my abs?
I am not saying that I just found the holy grail to cure all back pain! But continuing on yesterdays topic, I think it is fair to claim that I had not found the best possible balance in my workout regimen, and as a result I have been having all kinds of trouble and have had to modify my training and cancel teaching at certs (one of my favorite things in the world).... Are you on your way to ending up in the same dead end, or have you been there?

I am thinking this guy does'nt have my problems due to weak abs!

Supremely happy that I am better, and may have found a way back into the light!

Much love

Oly lifting.. the bane of CrossFit?

2010-11-24T13:15:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a while since I last felt like I had something to share with anybody on this blog, and so I have been quit for a while.. Someone taught me the lesson the hard way that silence is golden, and for once I guess I decided to listen!

But hey, guess what? I guess I'll just never learn! So here I go again!

Lately I have met a bunch of people who have all decided that the way to become better CrossFit athletes, is to spend more time, a lot more time, on oly lifling!
These are without exception all athletes who already have some capacity in oly lifting! However these are also athletes who will tell you that they still do not master pistols, buterfly pull ups, or a substantional amount of regular kipping pull ups, HSPU, front levers, MU and the list goes on. They are also athletes who will without blinking tell you that they still have a long way to go before they would even begin to consider themselves and their mobility to be up to par!

Those of you who were raised on the early CrossFit videos from the old Santa Cruz HQ, and the early CrossFit Journal articles. Those of you who read everything you could get your hands on, because the articles were still so few and far between, may just remember that there were 10 basic skills, that we were all attempting to improve! Do you also remember that the theory was that you were only as strong as your weakest link, and so we should always try to improve the things we dreaded the most and were least capable in! The theory was that raising the lowest markers would do more for our overall fitness, then becomming marginally better at the things we already good at!
Those of you who have done a level 1 cert should be nodding now, remembering that your flowmaster drilled this point pretty hard..... right!?

So if we have bought into the CrossFit theory, and truly believe that what we are being taught at the certs is more than just words to fill in the time before the group photo and the WoD- then why have we not embraced this fact? Why is it that more and more athletes are spending more and more time on the bar, and less and less time on making simple exercises a part of their exercise base?
What do you think would benifit these athletes more? Adding 5kg to their Squat clean, or snatch, or actually being able to do pistols?? I know where I'd put my money.. Where would you put yours?

Much love

Why do a level 1 cert?

2010-05-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

It actually does happen that I get online, not to share some crazy rant about things that seem more or less obvious to the rest of the world, or to share some of my medioker traning results, but because I have something I just want to get of my chest! Today is one of those rare instances, so please bare with me.-)

If you are new to CrossFit the reasons to do a level 1 cert are more or less obvious- you want to learn more about the new love of your life, and you want to find out how to speed up the results that are already flowing like a river! You are learning new skills, and improving the ones you already have, at the same time as a sensation is dawning on you- With constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity, you are actually coming closer to your goals, at the same time as you are having fun with your workouts- all you want now is a thumbs up that you are actually doing things the right way! So attending a cert feels like the best way to do so!

The challenge however is to get the ones who have done CrossFit for a longer period of time, and feel like everything is going according to plan, to attend a level 1 cert! I often hear these people say that they dont feel like they need the cert, what could they possibly get out of a level 1 cert? They are already more than proficient at CrossFit and dont need to spend a large amount of money, and time on going over the basics they already master!
I will not pass any kind of judgement on these people, but I will share why I think everybody should do at least one cert!

What is CrossFit?
This could be one of the best lectures at a CrossFit cert! How often have you gotten the question: " Dude, what is CrossFit?" "Why do you do what you do?"
This is where you get the answer to the question! After you have had the pleassure of hearing for example Pat Sherwood dissect what CrossFit really is, this question will be a pleassure to answer!

Technique vs intensity!
How often have you heard that crossfitters dont care about technique, and that all we do is rush through our workouts, with no concern whatsoever to the execution of the movements we perform? It is like banging your head against the wall trying to explain that this is not the case at all, unless you have had a very thorough breakdown of the issue, by someone like Adrian Bosman. After having had the plaassure of listening to a bunch of these lectures I just love that question! I cant wait to get to explain just why it is that we try to press to the very borders of our capacity at all times, in pursuit of optimized athletic capacity

Programming!
Who does not want to know about the programming of CrossFit? At some point of your CrossFit career you will begin to program for yourself or for others. When you do so, it is a great idea to know how to avoid being the one who came up with WoD's that effectively broke down yourself and the athletes you programmed for, instead of taking them one step closer to becomming better athletes! If the above is not enough, then just wait until you have the pleassure of listening to Karl Steadman go through the basics of programming, and you will also be a believer!

The movements!
The more you talk to the superstars of CrossFit and the complete beginners, you find that they all have one thing in comon- the quest to master the basic moves!
No matter where you are at, there is still something to improve on your air squat, your push press, your med ball clean, your deadlift etc. No matter who you are these basic techniques are just never mastered!
Going over these movements at a cert will not just cast light on what you need to work on, but also give you some tools to work with when you begin to work with others!

The community!
If none of the above has gotten you hooked, this should be reason enough to do a least one cert!
When you go do a cert you will meet a bunch of other people from all over the world, and you will have no shortage of topics to discuss! we all share the same passion, and have the same intrest in CrossFit. So when you are done with the cert you will have found new friend from all over the world! I know it sounds corny and lame, but it is just the way it works! You exchange mail adresses, add each other on facebook, and suddenly the world just go a little smaller- so the next time you go to Iceland you wont just look at vulcanos and warm springs, you will go meet up with your new friends and get a couple of WoD's in..

we all have our own reasons for attending certs, or not atending certs, but if you have the chance to do a cert, dont hesitate- you will never regret it!

Why did you d a cert? Why have you not done a cert? Please do share!

Until next time

Much love

Regionals and Power Walks?

2010-05-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

So a little more than a week has passed since the European Regional Qualifier in Halmstad, and I feel like it is time to give props to the ones who truly deserve it, and to share some thoughts about the event! I am aware that this may sound like the Oscars but please take a second to read about the reasons why this all went as smoothly as it did, and give props to the people who made i possible!

It is also time to give air to another one of these crazy rants that have become the signature mark for blog.-)

Props first!

Eleiko!
I would like to thank Eleiko for letting us use their facility, and their equipment for the event. It is a blessing to be able to provide the absolute best equipment in the world, to the athletes who compete in an event that will eventually send the top european athletes to what is essentially the Crossfit World Championships. Eleiko were kind enough to let us man-handle their equipment in ways I am not entirely sure they thought possible, at the same time as they made us all feel at home at the Eleiko Sport Center! I hope Eleiko were as pleased to have us there as we were to be there, and I hope that the future will hold a close friendship between CrossFit and Eleiko.

Athletes!
It is not often that I have had the pleassure of meeting as many fantastic athletes as I did during the weekend in Halmstad! There was a possitive air about every single athlete that I met during the weekend, that I dont think I have ever encountered outside the CrossFit community! Everyone gave their absolute best at every single challenge, and once they had finished their challenge, they immidiately began cheering for the other athletes, making sure that everyone felt equally important, and that no effort was ignored, or concieved as less important! Those of you who saw the place go crazy when Erla fought it out on the last challenge, or when Jane struggled with the double unders, or when Sam busted out the clean and jerks, or when Blair stepped on the gas in the 3rd challenge, the list goes on- but those of you who saw that know exactly what I mean! Every single athlete gave their all, and everyone cheered for their nearest competitors and for every effort they saw!
It is a pleassure to witness this kind of sportmanship, and this kind of caring- I would like to thank every single one of you for this- from the bottom of my heart - Thank you!

Judges/officials!
I have had the pleassure of browsing on the internet after the event, and even recieved a couple of emails from participants, and spectators, who all thought the event was fantastic! My name has been mentioned on a couple of occations, and I am thankful for that. The truth however is that the success of the event lies entirely with the judges and the officials who made the event possible. Without these firebreathers who stood out in the rain, who kept the standards high, and spent every second of the entire weekend on making everything go as smoothly as possible, this would not have been possible! They were focused and did a tremendous job! They are the true heroes behind the success of the Qualifier!
It is easy to make all the best plans in the world but to take these plans from paper to reality is the true challenge! Without you, that simply would not have been possible.
I would like to give a special thank you to Martin Altemark who was the man behind making sure the whole thing went according to CrossFit standards at the same time as making sure that the schedule behind every single heat was kept. I would also like to give special thanks to Erik, Rickard and Einar who were the on site judges responsible for the organization in every heat, making sure that the right equipment was in the right spots, and that the judges were where they were supposed to be- thank you!

All in all!
The event was a success and we will see if we will get the chance to do it all over again? I truly hope so, but only time will tell! I honestly think that the athletes who will be going to the Games to represent Europe are the best athletes we had at the qualifier! The athletes who made it to the podium are well rounded athletes capable of performing well no matter what the challenge put in front of them will be. I honestly look forward to seeing how they do at the Games, and promise to keep my fingers crossed for them every step of the way, as I am sure everyone else on this side of the pond will:-)

Now for the promised rant- it is a lighter version of whay you may have read in the past, but I guess I am getting soft!

The sun has come out in Stockholm, and reminded us all that summer is just around the cornor! For some of us, all this means is that we can begin to do our runs outdoors, and that we now have spectators following athletes into the box after they return from the run on "Helen" or "Murph" etc.
To others this means that it is time to go to their favorite sports apparel supplier and stock up on some very expensive running shoes, skins, wristbands, camel backs, etc. and begin to power walk!
I see these people every day walking around looking like they are on their way to the olympics, super focused and a constant eye on the pluse clock (that is a must to the power walker) at speeds that are virtually non existant! I am baffeled at this complete lack of understanding of intensity, and complete waste of time! The energy spend on hours worth of power walking is easily less than what is expended during the warm-up at our box! So what is it these people want to achieve? fat loss? increased cardio vascular capacity? you tell me!
The truth is that all the god stuff comes with intensity (thank you mr Sherwood/Coach) and since intensity is nowhere to be found in a power walk, what is it these people think they are going to get?

A point could be made that is is better that they power walk than do nothing at all, and I agree with that to some degree. I mean if you have decided to care for your health and take active meassures towards increassing your quality of life and health, is this really the best you could come up with? Why not immidiately go for an activity that will actually work and pay dividends within a foreseeable future?
What would you say to a doctor who decided to give you a medication that was going to stop the illness, when you knew that the cure was lying in his other pocket and all you had to to was reach for it?

I dont know, I may be wrong, it has happened before- but please do share your thoughts!

Until next time

Much love

Northern European Sectional in Stockholm!

2010-03-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

So a couple of days have past since the Northern European Sectional in Stockholm, and it is time to gather thoughts and impressions from the event! So here we go!

Programming:
This had me wondering at first! Where were the chest to bar pull ups for women? They were right there for the taking from the mens WoDs? Why were there less HSPU for the women than for the men? There were a couple of questions like that, but they were put shame once the event got on the way!
The programming was briliant, and everyone had to fight to get through the WoDs! Noone got an easy day at the office in any WoD, or were presented a task virtually impossible to overcome! In the cases where where athletes fell at the hands of the time limit- I feel sure the reasons have to be found somewhere else than in the programming!
Double unders combined with Kettlebell thrusters and HSPU- I bet that one just creeped up under the skin of the athletes! Target burpees after box jumps and lunges- I bet that one just bit you in the proverbial ass:-)
All together very happy with the programming!

The event:
You just have to love the spectators at these events! They gave their all cheering on every single athlet outthere! Whether he/she was from their box or not. Whether he/she was goiong to make it or not? Whether they were winning or not? Nothing like that seemed to matter to the spectators who show up at these events! Everyone was cheered on from the begining to the very end with the same enthusiasm and deep felt respect! It warms my heart to see this and I just hope that it will always be like this at CrossFit events!
The event itself was as always very well organized, and went down like I would imagine CrossFit Sthlm wanted it to. It is often forgotten how hard it is to make these things work-and when you dont think about it, then that is because everything went the way it was supposed to!
Fighter Centre and CrossFit Sthlm have hosted certs, workshops, tournaments etc for years, and the experience gained from these events was displayed in all its might this weekend- everything went like clockwork.......swiss clockwork!

The athletes:
You have to love an event that is won by a swedish judoka- chased by some seriously dangerous danes, followed by a finish athlete who used to compete in aerobics, and competes in Superman briefs!
I wish I could tell you that the crowd that competed at the sectional were all hard core crossfitters, but the truth is that they came from all walks of life, and the only thing they shared was their love for CrossFit, and their desire to compete! They did a fantastic job displaying their athleticism and what CrossFit truly is- fighting hard, and cheering on their closest competitors! I have a feeling that even the ones that bet the dust felt like they had succeded!

Impressions:
Where did they ever find the Danish crowd? Fantastic Athletes and some of the most devoted crossfitters I have ever met! They cheered one everyone and made everyone feel equally wellcome- thank you, from the bottom of my heart!

Where does "Sasha" get his stubbornes and power from! Any and every regular spine should have broken from the reps he performed this weekend- still he tossed the weight around like it was paper wheights! He got a "no go" on probably a million reps, but still just kept going until victory was his... It is like looking at robocop! WOW!

What is the substance in the water in Finland? Somewhere outhere in the woods there is a source of -never say die attitude- and athletic ability, that I would just love to find! Every athlete from Finland had it in abundance this weekend!

I know I am not the neutral observer I pretend to be- but where does Jenny Jacobsen get it from? She was truly impressive during the entire event! Not only did she win in a very convincing fashion in every event- she is graceful in doing so! Immidiately after finishing her WoD she is cheering on her competitors. Not once did I hear her complain about a decision made by a judge, or a score calculation.. She embodies what this is all about, and I hope she makes it to the Games- CrossFit needs more people like her!
Be sure to buy her T-shirt coming out in April, and support her way to the Games:-)

All in all it was a great event with some very impressive feats from the athletes... I look forward to seeing as lot of these faces in Halmstad at the regionals:-)

Much love

Mads

A new box and some OPT!

2010-01-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

There has been a buzz about it for a while, and a few initiated individuals have been in the loop about it- still noone has been really sure, or known 100%.... So let me be the one to bust the bubble, or at least let a little air out of it!

We will be opening a box virtually on Odenplan in Stockholm!

Within a very near future the doors will open to Stockholms first pure bred CrossFit box. The final details are being put in place and I promise to return as soon as I know more- But for now let us just conclude that we will be able to work out at our box very soon! We are talking weeks!

The second part of todays entry does'nt really feel as important after the above, but it still needs to be reported! After getting back from the cert in Basel, it was time to get back to working out! Everyone else had had a monstreous weekend, with near death experiences perscribed by OPT! So I was happy to see that OPT had decided to take it resonably easy, for the workout that turned out the be my first post cert experience!

A. Back Squat @ 30X0; 1,1,1,1; rest 240 sec
B. Tabata Push Ups - low score - 4 sets only
C. AMRAP Double Unders in 2 min
D. GHD Sit Ups - 20 x 2

post loads and notes to comments
back squat is not for 1RM, just challenging but confident 1's
make push ups reps extra perfect

A- 140kg. performed in sneakers but still felt solid. Could I be getting stronger?
B- 13- I was aiming for 20, but had to fight to get 13 on the last set!
C- 20.. Ugly as hell! I will never be teh double under master, but this needs to get better:-)
D- check! Jocke from CrossFit Uppsala helped me MacGyver a great GHD contraption!

It was not the hardest WoD in the world but it felt good to get back in this fashion, and I know that is is only a matter of time before the MAN begins to bully my poor body again:-)

Until next time

Much love

Level 1 in Basel and a workout!

2010-01-19T12:17:00.001-08:00

It has been a jumbled weekend, and I am not sure where to begin?

The cert in basel was an asolute blast! Even though we had the bad fortune of loosing the miracle men from Denmark on the finish line. Klaus got injured and Oliver got ill just before the cert, and had to stay at home- I hope they both get well in a hurry, since the certs are always a lot more fun when these two gentlemen are there! They are fantastic trainers, and truly inspirational to be around. They really are some of the best CrossFit have to offer! Guys get well!

The crew consisted of Courtney, Karl, EC, Chuck, Sebastian, Big E and yours truly! It is always a pleassure to get to hang out with Karl and Courtney, and this cert was no exception to the rule! Chuck and EC came over the pond, to make sure it all went down right! Chuck is pretty much the mayor of CrossFit (according to EC) and working with him gives everyone a sense of calm that is hard to explain! Everything just comes together, at the same time as we have a lot of fun. I have not had the pleassure of working with EC before, but I hope we will see a lot more of her in Europe- She is an absolute blast to be around, and needless to say a fantastic trainer! Xena rules!
Sebastian and Big E, were interns for the first time, and I just hope they had a great time, and felt welcome- they truly are!

The crew at CrossFit Basel had really gone to great lengths to make sure that this cert would be the best it could be for the participants and trainers! They had gotten a great building that we used for the lectures! The place was very large and gave everyone the best possible chans to get the most out of the lectures!
For the practical part of the cert they had gotten a hold of a huge gymnasium/gym that looked like it could host a premier league soccer match, along with all the equipment you could ever ask for! As if this was not enough they had gotten a bunch of people to help out at the cert- and these people were magical- they made virtually anything happen!
Our hosts had also gotten a hold of Paleo kits, which coiuld be bought at very favorable prices! Heaven here we come! Could it get any better than that!
CrossFit Basel, my hat is of to you for making this cert very memorable! "Like clockwork.... swiss clockwork!" "These people dont mess around.. they get the job done:-)".. Just some of the quotes I heard this weekend!

Of course we also had to work out while we were there, and we always try to use the equipment that we do not have access to in our boxes at home! This time it was ropes! I dont have access to ropes at the box at home, and since they had some very long ropes, we just had to use them!
So someone came up with the following workout:

5 rounds of
10 40kg OHS
2 rope climbs

I have no clue what time I got, but it was a grueling WoD! My grip absolutely left me after the first couple of rounds! The rope was a lot longer than I am used to so I had to spend more time on the rope than I usually do.. Good times! At least I ended up without burns on hands and feet! I cant help wondering how Karl is doing today?

Now I am back in town, back to the OPT programming, and working on the thing that will rock Stockholm within a very near future......? What could it possibly be:-)

Much love

another two days!

2010-01-12T09:27:00.000-08:00

I am sorry that I have been really bad at keeping everyone posted on my poor results, it is not because I have not been training, I have just been VERY busy with a bunch of other things that have taken virtually all my time.. I will be able to tell you more about it later!
So this will be another one of these short recaps;

Jan 10th 2010
Training:
A. Clean Grip Power Snatch @ 12X1; 2-3 x 5; rest 180 sec
B1. Snatch Grip Dead Lift @ 30X0; 4-6 x 3; rest 10 sec
B2. KBS @ 1010; 10-15 x 3; rest 10 sec
B3. GHD Back Extensions @ 2010; 12-20 x 3; rest 180 sec
C. Tabata Push Ups - low score

A- 40kg- 50kg- 50kg- 50g- 50kg
B1- used 80kg, a bit on the light side, but I had no time to change the weight in the 10 sec rest! poor exuse but true!
B2- KBS 32kg 12 straight through, broke the last set, since my grip was killing me:-)
B3- What do you say- these sucked:-)
C- 7...... I was aiming for 11, and just died on the last two sets!

I just love OPT, even if I am fully aware that this is just the strength part before he unleashes the metcon hounds of hell on us!

I just thought I'd share a picture I got from my friends at Cross Gym in Milan Italy! It is taken at the lunch time workout I did at the cert there! CrossGym Milan is a fantastic gym , and the guys who run it are the nicest people ever- so if you are ever in Milan make sure to drop by and get a workout out with them!
Just make sure to bring the big wallet! Once you see the gear they have you are going to go crazy on a shoping spree-)

Just to answer eventual questions right of the bat-- Th epicture is not taken in the bottom of the squat, I am on my way up:-)

Much love!

Torn up hands!! and some numbers!

2010-01-10T04:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a very special day, because it was the first time I'd ever get to do two OPT workouts in one day! I have heard horrible stories about how this man messes you up on these two workout days- so I was looking forward to seeing what the workouts would be, and how it would feel!
I was going into this little adventure with a small handicap though- a couple of days when we did the pull up ladder, I tore up my hands a bit. I have been nursing them in every way imaginable sine then, but they are not really ok yet.. hmmm!

The first workout of he dday was:

Training:
part 1:
A. as many 1-5 ladders in 10 min - 225#/155# back squat; rest 5 min
B. BB jump squats - 30% of 1RM back squat; 6 sets of 6 reps; rest 60 sec b/t sets
C. GHD Sit ups - 5 sets of 20 reps; rest 45 sec b/t sets
rest 8+ hours

Results:

A- 3 ladders + 1
B- 42,5 kg
C- first two set un broken, after that I broke the sets into 10+10!

I was actually pretty happy with this! I have not done back squats in a while, so I had no clue what to expect! But this is where the fun stopped for the day! I was supposed to rest 8+ hours, but there was no way I could get back to the gym later, or get that kind of intervall! So I rested 20 min and got back to work!
The second workout was a double under/ pull up combo! So during the rest I began warming up! The problem was that after a couple of pull ups my hands tore again, and I fould myself slipping in blood on the bar.. Hmm what do I do now! I then decided that I should row as far as I could in the 45 sec intervalls, and then do double unders! The same thing happened there though. My hands bled and I had a hard time getting a decent grip- now what do I do?
Since I am hopeless at double unders I decided that I should do 5 sets of 10 unbroken double unders for time. This is a horrible task for someone as inproficient at double unders as I am, here is how that went:

First 10 done at 2:45
second done at 3:48
third done at 5:49
fourth done at 11:52- imagine the frustration!
fifth done at 15:00

It was a workout of mixed emotions! I was a good workout altoghther, and the first part felt great, the second however was nothing like what I would have liked it to be, but I sure got to work on my weak sides!

Just really looking forward to getting back to the gym today!

Much love

What the...! How on earth...! Don't they???

2010-01-09T05:28:00.000-08:00

Let me just begin by admitting that this entry is not about training! I'll get back to you with today training tomorrow, just as I always do:-)
I just thought I'd share a picture from when Sweden was a bit warmer! I just had to remember what it felt like:-)

Last night I had the "pleassure" of working as a bouncer, smack in the middle of Stockholm, at a very nice restaurant/bar! I do this every once in a while, and more often than I would like to. But the collegues are fantastic, and we have an absolute blast! Besides this the place is not the kind of place that really needs us to be bouncers! We are more like a bunch of older farts standing around drinking coffee really- fantastic arrangement! I do the coffee part very well by now!

However last night the cold weather had Stockholm by the balls, and sometime during the night the temperature actually dropped to below -20!! Yepp you read that right! Some super cheerful chap came up with his Iphone and showed us on the screen that the temp was -20? "are'nt you guys cold??" NASA really have to stop letting their scientists into general population!

The thing that stunned me the most though was that even though it was -20 there were still bunches of girls/women walking around with what is essentially just high heeled sandels" a pair of heels and a couple of straps! No socks, no outer layer! No nothing, just straps!! How is it possible to walk around in something like that when it is this cold? It's not like it takes half an hour for the cold weather to embrace your feet, and let them know that it is cold as hell, and you discover that you are half a mile from your house, and it is too late to turn back to get some decent footwear! Trust me when I say that stepping outside in virtually bare feet in temperatures like that is painful immidiately! What kind of friends do you have that let you out in wheather like that without shoes? Let's all try to solve this! What? How? Please submit your thoughts!

Tonight is supposed to be even colder, and for reason I no longer remember I am actually working again tonight again- what will they wear as it gets colder? Bare feet??

Just a thought!

Much love

Two workouts..

2010-01-08T06:17:00.000-08:00

I am sorry to have to rapport that I was so tied up with work yesterday that I did not hav etime to write on my blog, so threrefore it will contain two WoD's today! I did not however do them on the same day- these are consequetive days! Sorry about that!

Training jan 06 2010

7 sets;
1 strict chin up
2 L Pull ups
3 butterfly kip chin ups
4 chin break vertical chin ups
5 chest to bar chin ups
rest 2 minutes
+
For total time;
AMSAP L-Sit - 3 attempts; 60 sec b/t attempts
+
For total reps;
30 sec high speed double unders, 30 sec rest x 10

post notes for chin up work, total time for L sits and total reps for DU's to comments
skill and perfection of movement, not time is paramount on chin up work
L sit is knees COMPLETELY straight for entire movement, and ankles above hips

All I have to say about this workout, is that it went really well, until it was time to do the double unders! I absolutely suck at double unders, and the 30 sec of "fast double unders" was more like punishing myself with a steel core rope! While Jenny was setting some kind of world record next to me- which only added to the fury! Double unders are the bane of CrossFit!
With that said moving on:-)

Training: jan 07 2010
A1. HSPU @ 2010 - amrap (-1) x 3 sets; rest 60 sec
A2. Semi Stiff Legged DL @ 4011; 6-8 x 3; rest 60 sec
B1. Ring Push Ups @ 2010 - amrap (-1) x 3 sets; rest 45 sec
B2. KBS - 15 unbroken x 3; rest 45 sec
C1. Dips @ 2010 - amrap (-1) x 3 sets; rest 30 sec
C2. GHD Raises @ 2010; 15 x 3; rest 30 sec

post loads, notes and reps to comments
amrap (-1) means you attempt a max rep set but stop approximately 1 rep short of failure on speed
swings to just inches above forehead

This workout went really well- I actually felt really strong, and managed to get through it and feeling pretty good about myself, which is more than I could have hoped for before I began!
I did the GHD raises on some sort of contraption that I built in the gym! I bet real GHD raises hurt a lot mote than mine did, but I doubt that I could have done real GHD raises today??

This leads me to todays question: What is the strangest contraption you have ever used to substitute an exercise?

Looking forward to seeing what OPT has in store for us this weekend?

Much love

Mads

How about some HSC?

2010-01-06T07:35:00.000-08:00

Once again it was time to go into the world of OPT, and obviously get my ass kicked! It is not intentionally, it is just a fact that I have had to get used to when it comes to the workouts this genius throws at us- so today it was all about Hang Squat Cleans:-) The workout was:

A. Hang Squat Clean - build to a tough but not 1RM; take no more than 7 minutes; rest 2 minutes
B. 10-1 135#/95# hang squat clean ladder; rest 5 minutes
C. 3 sets of 30 GHD sit ups; rest as needed b/t sets

post highest load for A, time for B and notes for C to comments
ladder is unbroken, if bar rests on floor in set, start again
no pause is needed at hang in A

The first part actually went pretty well, I worked up to a pretty heavy weight, and managed it without too much trouble, and decided to call that a day, and move on to part two!
I have been working a lot an getting better at using my hip to drive the weight up, and not pull too much with my arms, and I have gotten better, no doubt about that. But to be honest my technique still leaves a lot to be desired! I just have to stick to my guns and try to get better.

So the first part of the ladder went really well, and I felt like I could actually get a pretty decent result on this part of the days workout. That was until I was on the round of 5! Something began feeling strange in my right leg, and shortly after that I began to get the same sensation in my left leg?? Once I put down the bar and began getting ready for the set of 4 the cramp caught up with me! Both legs cramped up at the same time, and the pain was like nothing I have felt in a while! Needless to say the last sets were hell, and since OPT had dictated that I could not put the bar down between reps, and there was to be no rest in the bottom position of the HSC- this was hell! But I got the job done, and was over the moon about it, when I stumbled to the improvised GHD bench!

I was working out with Jenny who is an absolute monster, and the inspiration was desperately needed! I got through the first GHD set unbroken, after that I had to break the two remaining sets...

I have not felt like that for a while, and today my legs feel like I imagine they would feel if some bad ass Thai boxer had had his way with them through a sparring session!

I guess I just have to get comfortable with uncomfortable! The part about being uncomfortable is done, now I just have to get used to it, and get comfortable with it:-)

Until tomorrow, much love!

Still owned by OPT!

2010-01-04T10:54:00.000-08:00

I just love the way this guy thinks! There is no doubt in your mind what it is he was gunning for after you have completed one of his workouts!
Yesterday he came after my posterior chain with a blast of a workout! Remember that I am still one day late in my blogging. This gives me the chance to fully evaluate the effects of the WoD, and how it felt. Yesterday there was no doubt how it would feel, and today I can only nod my head and admit that I was right. My posterior chain is smoked... I absolutely love it! The workout was:

Training:
A1. HSPU @ 2010 - amrap (-2) x 3 sets; rest 60 sec
A2. Semi Stiff Legged DL @ 4011; 8-10 x 3; rest 60 sec
B1. Ring Push Ups @ 2010 - amrap (-2) x 3 sets; rest 45 sec
B2. KBS - 25 unbroken x 3; rest 45 sec
C1. Dips @ 2010 - amrap (-2) x 3 sets; rest 30 sec
C2. GHD Raises @ 2010; 10-15 x 3; rest 30 sec

post loads, notes and reps to comments
amrap (-2) means you attempt a max rep set but stop approximately 2 reps short of failure on speed
swings to just inches above forehead

Mental notes to self:

I could have gone a bit heavier on the deads!
I am happy I took it easy on the push ups and dips, cause my bad shoulder feels ok today!
The swings were a lot harder than I thought they would be!
GHD raises must be the worst exercise ever. We had to modify the exercis since we dont have a GHD, and I bet they are a lot harder on the GHD than the exercise we did- but it still sucked the life out of me!

It has been a long time since I felt this excited about training, and just love that fact that we finally followed Martin Altemark into teh wilderness that is OPT's mind! It is a truly inspirational place to be, and it is packed with a bunch of very capable athletes, of which I hope to become one....... in a very distant future:-)

I cant wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Much love

Mads

Going to school..

2010-01-03T05:20:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the feeling of going to a new school, or to a new team or something like that, and you walk through the door and you see everybody talking to each other, joking, interacting, and having an all together god time- and there you are the new kid!
Fortunately, in these surroundings you often find your place pretty fast, ans some good spirited person takes it upon themselves to introduce you to the crowd!
I felt a bit like that yesterday when I did my first "OPT workout"! It took a masters degree in dechifering to understand what I was supposed to do, and at what speeds I was supposed to operate! After having looked at the site for a while, I decide to call the local witch doctor (Martin Altemark) and ask him how I was supposed to translate the whole thing:-) He, gracefully as always, helped me out and I was on my way!

So I got on my way to the gym to do the following workout:

Training:
A1. OHS @ 3010 - 10 x 10; 90 sec rest
A2. Supinated Strict Chin Ups @ 3010; 10 x 10; rest 90 sec
+
GHD Sit Ups - 3 sets of 25

That my dear friends is 100 OHS, and 100 supinated pull ups- in a preset tempo with a slower decent than acent, divided into sets of 10- with 90sec rest inbetween efforts..
Please keep in mind that I have not done any meaningful workouts since the beginning of december! So I had a pretty good idea that this was going to put me on my ass:-) and it did.
Jenny had gone to the gym earlier, and said that it was hard as hell- and if she felt like that I knew that I felt that I had my work cut out for me.

I am not going to bore you with the stats, since they are pretty pathetic, and I have decided to give myself a week of getting into the groove, before posting! I will however say taht I used 50 kg on the OHS- and it was a bit on the light side, I should have gone heavier!
The pull ups however were a fight for dear life! the first 4 sets went according to plan, and after that I had to use a rubber band, and I still have to break every set! I wish I was more like David "the BW monster", but I am not!

The conclusion however is that I a super stoked to follow OPT to the best of my abilities, and it will be a bunch of fun to see where this all takes us?

Much love

Summary, and a look at the horizon!

2009-12-30T04:35:00.000-08:00

It is old, it is very old with these geezers who at the end of the year lean back in their chairs and try to sum up the year that has passed, and begin to speculate on what the new year will have in store! Things like that should be done internally, and in a place where noone else can ever begin to grasp what is going through your head!
Why is that? Because it is boring as hell for everyone else to sit there and listen to or read about! That is the first obvious reason to avoid these things. The second is that memory has a way of providing you with only the best or the worst memories of the year that has passed (depending on what mood you find yourself to be in)! The third is that the predictions for the year to come very rarely pan out the way you thought- Tings go to shit, and ou find yourself in places you nver thought you would be in situations you could not have dreamt up in your wildest dreams!

My blog!

However, as most of you have already realized by now, I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, so I will just go ahead and do all of the above anyway! Another thing to consider is that this is my blogg, so if you venture on here you may have just a slight intrest in what I think.. Please remember though that this is my personal blogg, so whatever comes up here is nothing more than a mirror of my thoughts on certain subjects- highly personal and not official in any way shape or form. Can I make it any clearer? If you dont like what you read, please feel free to surt onto another site with more soothing conversation! Dont let my ill temper upset you:-)

2009!

The year that has passed has been a fantastic year, and I will take a second to list some of the things that made the year fantastic. If I leave something out it is very like ly that it is simply a lapse of memory, more than my intention- Please feel free to point it out o me- honestly!

2009- was fantastic year for a number of reasons- here are some:

1- My son grew into an even more fantastic personality, and I just love him to death! The years to come wil be an interesting journey! My sun rises and sets with him!

2- My dear wife and best friend, kept on being just that! The best thing that ever happened to me, and the best friend I could ever have asked for. She makes me a better person on a daily basis, and is the most supportive person I have ever met. I thank God for her patience with me- may I sometime be able to repay the favors! Besides that she is hot as hell!

3- Friends! 2009 was a year where I was blessed with the chance to meet some truly fantastic people who have turned out to be an inspiration, and a support that I could not have dreamt of in my wildest dreams. I am supremely thankful for having had the chance to meet these people, and I am very curious to see where out journey takes us! I thik big things may be in store!

4- HQ staff! being given the chance to travel with HQ staff and teach at certs all over Europe, has been amazing! To be able to hang out with the people at these certs, and just be a spounge, sucking up everything I possibly can from the participants, trainers, locations etc. has been phenomenal! I look forward to the years to come, and CrossFit sweeping all over Europe!

5- Leaving Grand! Getting the chance/ being pushed to jump of the ledge, staying true to the firm beliefs I have about training and personal training, and leaving Grand when the room for training was diminished to being virtually non-existing! Being able to look in the mirror everyday knowing that I did not compromise with what it is I am trying to bring to my clients.. Not everyone else can say the same!

6- Insight! Things happened during 2009! Some good, some bad! Some uncalled for! Some much needed etc. The list goes on and on! Whether these things were good or bad- insight was gained! That has to be good!

The loist could be a lot longer, but I will keep it at that for the time being! If I forgot something please let me know, and I will immidiately put it on the list:-)

2010!

Let us make this easy!

1- I want a box!

2- CrossFit Nordic to grow!

3- Continued succes as a HQ trainer!

4- A fantastic event at the European regional qualifier

5- a sub 3:30 fran on film!

6- a 200kg deadlift on film!

7- a +100kg overhead squat on film!

8- a sub 20 min 5K run!

9- a sub 7 min 2000m row! well documented!

10- a lot of Santa Cruz- you know what I mean!

If you have stuck with it so far and have read all my highly personal and sentimental bollocks- please share what your goals are for the year to come, and what was the high/low in the year that is about to pass!

Much love

I want to kill!

2009-12-09T11:50:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was the scene of a disaster, the extent of which can only be understood by a genuine crossfitter!

The first Workout of the day was an attempt to improve my 500m row PB (PR is apparently a medical term in the UK that refers to inserting something Per Rectum- as of now all feats of true greatness are PB's).
So yours truly gets all warmed up, gets the Burg warm up out of the system, and spends some time going through the 9 basic movements. After that he spends some more time dialling in the row stroke. He finally feels ready to get to work, on smashing that 500m row time!
He had decided that he would get 5 attempts, with as much rest as needed in between the attempts! He gets down to business and hauls ass! He rows like his life depends on in. He rows like he was on fire, and nails a 500m row in 1:28 in the third attempt! He get's nowhere near that score in the two remaining attempts!
This dude is a happy camper, and he starts to whistle when he walks to the locker room- only to find that his notebook is nowhere to be found? Some rocket scientist has "cleaned up" the locker room, and along with it has decided to remove the old notebook with the scribbled hand written notes- A bit more than a years training notes are gone.... Now this dude just wants to go "falling down" on virtually the entire world!
I have still not recovered- It was like I imagine it would feel to have your heart removed with a spon.... A very dull spoon! WTF!

The disappointment and complete disbelief transgressed into the second workout of the day, which was suposed to be:

Run 800m
30 Hip/back ext
30 Toes to bar
30 hip ext
30 knees to bar
30 back ext
30 AbMat sit ups

In my battered state of mind I somehow managed to miss the first 30 hip/back ext! So my time is irrelevant, and completely useless!

Yesterday was not the finest of days, and I still pray to the CrossFit God (yes he exists) that my notebok will miraculously appear again.. If you are outthere- please come back to daddy! No harm is done! Daddy is not mad, he just wants you to come back home!

Over and out!

Split jerks!

2009-12-08T01:06:00.000-08:00

So the time had come to get back on the horse and start bustin' out some WoD's again! So I began the day with running some 400m intervalls at different inclinations on the treadmill!
I am not the best runner in the world, but I do enjoy these intervalls, at least after they are are over, and it feels like I am improving my capacity over longer distances as well after having done these intervalls! So I think I will just keep on doing things like that- God only knows I need it!

The second workout of the day was the 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 1 split jerks! I have not done singles in a while, so I had no clue what to expect! All I knew was that I wanted to really own the lift, and get a perfect landing in every single lift!
I worked my way up to 100kg, and nailed that lift with an ease that I had not expected! Still in complete shock after having gotten the 100kg lift, I decided to let it rip and went for 110kg! Needless to say I missed that lift, I was not into it and did not have the required focus, but it feels like it is within reach..
I am going to try to get some more lifts at 100kg, to try to get comfortable with the weight, and then try to move up!

After the lift I felt pretty good, and decided that I needed to do some squat clean and jerks- and worked my way up to 90g.. this is another lift that I have not done for a while, so 90kg felt pretty good, and I decided to leave it at that!

Super stoked with the workouts, and maybe this weekend of complete deacay was just what the doctor ordered!

Much love

I did'nt win!

2009-12-07T02:06:00.000-08:00

As you all know my mom was here this weekend, and with her came a solem promise that I would not workout or eat anything that could be mistaken for paleo or the zone.. That part was actually easier than I thought! My mom made it super easy to just get comfortable and heaving down all the white bread and candy I possibly could!

The hard part was that I made a promise to the Bear of Upsala that I would try to make as great a weight gain as I possibly could! I ended up being only 3.6 kilo heavier today, than I was thursday morning!
I am not sure if that is an accomplishment, or a disaster, but I am thinking that the latter is probably the most correct answer! So today I am back in the race, only now I seem to be at least 300000000000 laps behind:-)

Much love

Mads

Denmark calling!

2009-12-03T08:18:00.000-08:00

It is almost x-mas which means that my dear mom is coming up to Stockholm to spend some time with us. So here is my solem promise for this weekend!
I will not eat anything that is zone or Paleo inspired!

I will not do any metcons!

I will not do anything that is taxing in any way shape or form!

Here is what I do promise:

I promise that I will spend as much time as I possibly can with my wonderful family, and especially with my mom! I will also do my best to share the complete decay with you over the weekend, before it is time to once again get inte to the proverbial suck again:-)

Mcuh love

One handed pull ups?

2009-12-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

Who on earth came up with this devilish exercise? I mean, if you are a bodyweight monster like the Uppsala mob, or David the bad ass, I guess these things are a walk in the park... But..... when you are a fat fart like myself, things like one handed pull ups are a killer!

Todays WoD was:

One handed thrusters using a 60lbs dumbell (I went with 28 kg) then followed by one handed pull ups.. when gripping with your left the right hand could assist by gripping the wrist!

Right handed thrusters
Left handed thrusters
Right hand, one handed pull ups
Left hand, one handed pull ups

15-12-9

My time 16:58

The thrusters went really well, and I managed to hold on to my intended rep scheme, but the pull ups were all singles! Horrible, absolutely horrible! Who came up with this, and what had I done to offfend this person:-)

Gotta go feel sorry for myself!

Much love

Back from Italy!

2009-12-01T04:03:00.000-08:00

Once again I have been gone for a while and it seems that it has become a part of my MO to get lost for a while, every once in a while!
I just got back from Italy and a fantastic level 1 cert yesterday! This time we went to Milan to CrossFit Italy. What a fantastic facility they have. It was the kind of place you would love to live at. The ground floor was a box that had everything you could possibly want from a box- every single piece of kit theheeart desires was in that place. Then you could take the stares up to the upper floor where you couls look down onto the box and the people who worked out there, while you elaxed in designer couches and enjoyed an espresso.
CrossFit Italy had also rented another facility that they were in the process of adding as an additional space for their box! It was just around the cornor, and once again it was packed with everything you could ever ask for in a box!

Not only do CrossFit Italy have some of the coolest facilities I have seen in a long time they also produce a bunch of very high end equipment themselves- so if you are ever in the market for slush pipes- plyo boxes, rubber bands for pull ups, sand bags, etc you may just want to hit these guys up- they are in the loop, and can supply you with everything:-)

I would just like to thank our hosts for taking such good care of us, it was unreal! Thank you for your hospitality and opening your box to us. It is greatly appreciated!

During the weekend I did get a couple of workouts in, but I felt worn out and somehow managed to mismanage my time to the extent where I had to go without lunch friday, saturday, and sunday- at the same time as I more or les had to live of protein bars, which is not my preferred choise of fuel before workouts. This is all my own fault however, and I will just have to plan better for the next cert!

One workout I did get in that I was happy with when it was over, was a lovely little couplet:

500m row
20 wall balls
3 rounds for time
10:12

I guess it is not the fastest time in he worls, but is sure got the work done. I was on my ass after that one!

Today is a rest day, and I am pondering what to do with my programming! The two workout a day gig is getting hard to keep up, and I have talked to Martin 'Darth Vader' Altemark about changing it up to doing 2 workouts monday, tuesday, wednesday, then rest thursday then do 1 workout friday and saturday, and then rest sunday..
Suggestions are greatly appreciated, so fire away!

Much love

We need a real full time...

2009-11-18T12:36:00.001-08:00

... round the clock pure breed CrossFit gym in Stockholm...! I just thought I'd put it out there:-) Just play with the thought:-)
hhhmmmmmmmm!

I am actually a bit more tired than I thought I'd be after todays WoDs so I will keep it short and to the point.

WoD #1 0800
4 Power snatches
8 Chest to bar jumping pull ups
12 Air squats
AMRAP 12 min
Score 10 rounds

It was actually a super funny WoD that was more taxing than I thought it would be- give it a try:-)

WoD #2 1830
Jerk 5 x 3 reps
I worked my way to 90kg and got a pretty solid set of 3- and for some odd reason that was the end of the journey! After that I just could not muster the strength to get a dynamic drive on the bar, and found myself having to press the bar a little to get a fully extended arm, in the landing... Hmmm I guess 90kg will just have to do for now:-)

Until tomorrow

Much love

WoD's at a globo gym....

2009-11-17T12:26:00.000-08:00

.... will I ever wisen up?

I am still on the 2 WoD's a day deal, and I have to admit that I really like it! I am beginning to get my diet together, with the added WoD, and I am beginning to get my rest/sleep to add up as well- so it feels like I am beginning to respond rather well to doing two WoD's a day.
For some odd reason it feels like there is a positive tention in my body, and I feel like I am able to push myself a little harder already.. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the feeling stays with me for a while:-)

So todays first WoD was:

3 rounds for time of:
Run 400m
20 double unders
20 back extentions
time 15:32:-(

I am still pissed at that time! I thought I'd be a lot faster! The thing however is that I have decided that I am no longer allowed to do double unders the way I have done them before, now I have to do at least two unbroken in order for them to count. I used to do one, and then a single skip, before I'd do another... There will be no more of that- as of now I am beginning my chase to catch up with Martin Altemark, who is the double under beast!
So the main part of this WoD was spent whipping myself with the jump rope swearing in every single language I know! To add injury to insult, some guy grabbed the back extention bench, and it took some serious persuation before I could get it back. Then a trainer grabbed my jump rope while I was running.. I mean what are the odds?

3 hours later it was time for the next WoD of the day:

Back Squat 5 x 3 rep!

I worked my way up to 125 kg which felt great! The bottom felt solid, and the drive up felt really good- however you are never going to believe this- there were no more weights avaliable! The rest of the weights were taken, and noone felt like sharing the love- So I had to call it a day..
I am pretty happy with the workout, but would have liked to actually go to failure.. Better luck tomorrow I guess!

Much love

Mads

Row like you meant it!

2009-11-11T04:44:00.000-08:00

I just can't help loving that comment! I was given by a dear friend of mine when he was coaching a client of his through the last passages of a nasty rowing intervall that I swear I will never try to attempt! But for some odd reason it made sense yesterday in the first workout of the day, which was done at 08.00:

5 rounds of:
500 meter row
Rest 2 min
My times were:
1:40 felt good
1:39 felt good
1:42 felt it getting harder
1:48 disaster struck!
1:46 tried to row like I meant it, but got nowhere!

The beauty of the concept 2 row is that you can set the timer to time your rest intervalls as well, which means you get the perscribed rest, and nothing else.-)
Initially I thought I'd go for a longer rest period, but the point of this particular row was to get it to suck! I would say tht I got what I bargined for. 500 meters is just enough to suck a lot, and 2 min rest is just a little short for a guy with the cardio of a 80 year old chain smoking astmatic woman- read me! So was just what the doctor ordered!

Baby steps!

At 14.00 that afternoon it was time for the second workout of the day- technique work on the snatch! Initially the plan was to do 5 sets of 5 snatches, maintaining focus on hitting that full extention at the top, and then getting into a solid bottom position!
I began with 40 kg, and the worked my way up to 60 kg, which felt like it was where I needed to be if I was supposed to be able to work on my technique. At the end I really felt like I got a good drive through that second lift, and the bottom felt very solid- all in al I would say that I am very happy with that workout!

That was all for yesterday- tomorrow I will share todays fast little sucker, and some more intervall running! I just have to remind everyone that I run like a guy with broken legs, so this should be fun:-)

Much love

Mads

Did it again!

2009-11-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday was the first day of my new approach towards becoming a better athlete! It was pretty funny actually, kind of the same feeling I have when I begin following someone elses programming for the first time, and don't really know what to expect!

I began the day with a 3 k run- I did'nt time the effort, I just tried to keep a constant pace, that weas always just a little faster than what I was comfortable with. I felt good after I was done, but it was mentally tough to always stay out of my comfort zone. everytime I would begin to get comfortable wit the speed, and my technique, I would increase my speed! I really need more workouts like this one.

The primary focus of yesterday was the afternoon wortkout with Richard. I was going to work up to the heaviest set of 3 rep front squat that I could do without compromising technique after every squat set we did 12 rep of weighted dips. I wanted to be absolutely certain that I owned the lift all the way. The point was never to go as heavy as possible at all costs, but to own the lift.
I worked my way up to a solid set of 3 rep at 100kg- the ladder there looked like this 3 x 60kg, 70kg, 80kg, 90kg and then 3 sets at 100kg.

The trip up to the heaviest lift was a bit of a deja vú thing all together. Everything felt really good, until I looked at the video that Richard was shooting and discovered that my left knee was collapsing in the botton of the lift. Since I have had that problem for the longest time, and have been fighting it in virtually every squat I have done since I discovered the problem, I decided that I needed to approach the fault in a new way if I was going to fix it.
I decided to change my stance and bring my feet in an inch or two! The reward came immidiately- the next set felt rock solid. I could probably have gone heavier but felt pretty happy that I had gotten what I came for, and wanted to end the workout on a good note!
Another thing that felt really good was that the turn in the bottom felt good! I never felt that I lost my elbows, or had to fight to maintain the posture- could it be that the work I have been doing on the side with my posterior chain is finally beginning to pay of?

Question of the day? have you ever had problems with your squat? What have you done to fix them!

Well, yesterday was day 1, today was day 2- tomorrow I will share what I did today with you!

Much love

Not the smartest cat...

2009-11-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

.. in town!
Not the fastest moped on the docks!
Not the sharpest tool in the shed!
Not the fastest kid around the X-mas tree!
I guess what I am trying to sat is that I am not nearly as smart as I would like to think, but sometimes I am smart enough to know that something is a bad idea, even before I get started. What I am about to embark on tomorrow is exactly one of these things! So after you have read the following, please share your thoughts and experiences!

As of tomorrow the plan is to do two workouts a day! One workout will be more of a cardio vascular nature ie running, rowing intervals or distances. Basically I will try to improve my cardio vascular capacity in these workouts!
The second WoD will consist of heavy lifts, or regular WoD's mainly consisting of heavier lifts. The idea is to maintain strength, and put a bit of focus on my olympic lifts!
There is a lot more to be said about the plan behind this regimen, but I'll keep that to myself, and not bore you all to death with it, until I know how this is gong to work out, and what the effects are!

So what do you think? Those of you who have been doing something like this earlier please share your thoughts!

Today I did a workout that was on the main site a while back:

12 Power snatch 30 kg
10 Push ups
AMRAP 20 min

I got 13 rounds!

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, to get the second pull all the way in the power snatch, after a couple of rounds- but it was a good experience, and I liked the WoD..

Gotta go now, so much love!

Mads

A complete idiot..

2009-11-05T06:44:00.000-08:00

is exactly what I felt like after I had completed the WoD I came up with yesterday!

I had just finished the WoD and was more or less lying on the floor trying to recooperate after what had turned out to be a much harder WoD than I had anticipated! So after the initial discomfort had gone by, I asked Richard if the work I had done was legit? He very respectfully informed me that approximately the last 3-4 reps of the HSPU, of the last 3 rounds, were short by something like 4-5cm!
Now it is not like that has never happened to me before, or that I have gone delusional, and think that I could never do anything wrong, or perform reps that were not legit. The problem this time was that I was absolutely, 100%, completely sure that I had been head to ground on every rep!
Somewhere in the mist of fatigue my brain had played a trick on me, and I could have sworn that I hit the ground, when in reality I was still missing a couple of cm. This just goes to show how importatnt it is to have someone to work out with, so that you can get an honest picture of how your workout really went!

I have seen some very impressive stats posted by athletes, who have later not been able to come close to performing the effort that would actually give them scores like that! It may very well be that these athletes are not trying to decieve anyone, but have been working with noone around to tell them when their brain has played tricks on them, the way my brain played tricks on me yesterday!
Have you had the same experience? What happened? Please share!

The WoD?

5 rounds of
5 thrusters 60kg
10 HSPU
15 pull ups

The rule was that the sets had to be unbroken, it you broke a set you would have to do the set from the begining again! The problem however was that after two full unbroken rounds- I had to admit that we would never get out of the gym if the HSPU had to be unbroken! So I decided that if I broke the HSPU I had to do two burpees for every break! Otherwise the sets had to be unbroken!
I dont know what I was thinking, but We got tyhrough it, and I will definately be doing it again:-)

That is it for now

Much love

Do you stretch?

2009-11-04T06:56:00.001-08:00

I know that there are as many theories about the use of stretching as there are theories about who shot Kennedy, but I just wanted to raise the question again, and hear what you all have to say?

I have not done any organized stretching and would not recommend it to anyone who is not notoriously short in ie the pectorial area etc. Instead I would recommend a thorough warm up that takes your entire body through some moves that will move you through the entire ROM of all the larger muscle groups! Doing this has allowed me to maintain a flexibility that I am almost happy with, and when I have not done it, I have been punished with all kinds of troublesome soreness!
To be honest with you- I have often figured that all the rules that apply to my clients probably did not apply to me, and skipped the warm up all together, and I have gotten my ass kicked by reality more times than I care to remember- so these days I warm up the way I always should have!

But I know that a lot of folks are almost religious about their stretch! So what do you do/recommend and why??

I am still in the process of getting back on track, so yesterdays WoD was:

10 deads 60kg
10 push ups
10 rounds
I have not been timing my work this week, since I am still trying to get a clear picture of where I am at, but it felt pretty good!

Then I did:

10 toes to bar
10 kb swings with a 42kg kettlebell
3 rounds
That also felt pretty good, even if I have to admit that my swings leave a lot to be desired!

That will be all for now, I have to go to the gym with my good friend Richard Sandberg now:-)

Until tomorrow

Much love

Post Scandinavian Challenge...

2009-11-02T23:10:00.000-08:00

it's a tuesday morning and I have finally gotten a few hours off to sit down and evaluate the event we had in Halmstad this weekend ie the Scandinavian Challenge!

The first thing that comes to mind is that- it would not have been possible to host this event if it had not been for the good folk from Ekeiko! They let us use their facility, their website, their weightbars and weights, and basically everything else that you could possibly ask for! At our disposal we had the entire Eleiko sport center and everything in it! How could you possibly ask for more than that?
I hope that Eleiko feel like they gained as much from this event as we did, and that this is merely the begining of a very long love story between Eleiko and Crossfitters from all over the world!

The participants- where do I start? I am still touched by the way everyone cheered for everyone else, the way everybody stood up for each other and helped each other through the events! Noone seemed to care that this was actually a competition when someone needed a little support, it was just always there. This in its turn meant that everyone really got the chance to shine. A couple of guys had driven all the way from Germany, and had never had 60kg overhead, and they fought their way through the double under Grace workout, while the crowd went through the roof cheering them on! I don't think anyone was untouched by their effort!
In the other end of the spectrum you had people like Mikael Dahlin who tore off an impressive 901 meters in the tabata row! Or how about Blair Morrisons double under grace time of 3:46!!! Or Charlie who deadlifted 170 kg with a bodyweight of 68 kg! How about Amy Parchall from Ramstein who deadlifted 140kg to grab the last vacant spot for the final!
The athletes were amazing and really gave it their all this weekend! For that I am super grateful! Thank you for cmpeting and being so awesome!

The referees! I can honestly say that I think we had the pleassure of having the most qualified referees you could possibly assemble in Europe ( a couple were missing but they will be there next year)! Not one single solitary time during the competition was there any doubt on whether a rep was legit or not, and the fact that all referees were as qualified as they are, and that they had great communication with the athletes all the way through the events- really eliminated all doubts.. A huge thanks to all the referees!

The last one to thank will never accept the thanks irl, so I guess I'll just have to thank him this way! Martin Altemark is the proverbial wizard when it comes to organisation! He made everything run super smoothly all through the weekend, and I honestly dont see how any of this would have been possible without him! thank you Martin!

So now it is back to everyday life again, fighting the residue of a cold, and getting back into the world of eternal misery and bad ass metcons!
I decided to take it easy this week, so yesterday I worked my way through 15 reps of OHS with 40kg/ 50kg/ 55kg/ 60kg/ 65kg/ 70kg/ 75kg.. that last one was heavy! Something happens to my midline after 10 reps??

Thats is for today

Much love

Ps grattis älskling till segern i helgen- du är helt makalös!

CrossFit Greyskull resignation!

2009-10-17T05:34:00.000-07:00

Before I go any further I would like to once again point out that these are my own personal opinions, and they do not in any way shape or form represent any kind of official opinion on the matter from CrossFit! This is a personal blog, and these are my personal opinions..

The last week or so I have been asked by a couple of people to comment on the article that John Sheaffer of (former) CrossFit Greyskull has written, on why he has chosen to resign his affiliation from CrossFit.
At first I wrote e-mails to the people who wondered what I thought about the matter, and his reasoning for stepping out of the CrossFit community. Now however there are now so many to answer that I have decided to answer where I stand in the matter on my blog.
For those of you who have not read the article, please google CrossFit Greyskull, and you should find the article right away! So as of now I will assume that you have read the article or at east know what the matter is all about!

The first thing that seems to be bothering mr Sheaffer, is that anyone who has attended a level 1 cert can become an affiliate. This does not in any way ensure that these people are "good enough" at programming, to ensure a good training enviroment, where the needs of every individual client is met! They will preach the same kind of mindless met-com bad ass WoD's to anyone who walks through the door!
To be honest I don't think I understand mr Sheaffers problem? I don't know of any other gym that requires that you become certified in order to be able to open up for business! I know of lots of olympic weight lifting clubs that have begun because of peoples burning intrest in the sport, but no license was required! The same for gyms that cater to body builders.. the story continues, I think you get my drift!
At CrossFit you are provided with an introduction to the standards we live by, and train by before you are allowed to start your CrossFit gym!
The fact that not everyone is molded in the same mold is a part of the success behind CrossFit! You are introduced to the standards and given a permit to venture into the world of training to make your own experiences within a given set of parameters! Had everyone been molded in the same mold and guided in what to do and when, we would have never evolved to the place we are today. Needles to say mistakes have been made by affiliates all over the world! The question is what they have done with these experiences?
The ones that learn from it and grow will eventually become infinately successful, and the others will soon disappear from the CrossFit scene!
To bitch and moan about the affiliates that do mind-less WoD's and preach a uniform training regimen for everyone- is just down right stupid! With CrossFit we scale loads and intensity and in that way we make sure that everyone gets exactly what they need. If mr Sheaffer has forgotten that already, then maybe he should have been paying more attention to what is being said at the certs!
The affiliates who do not scale to meet individual needs- will very soon run out of business...... hmmmmm!

Mr Shaeffer is upset that there is no test at the end of a level 1 cert, so that we can ensure that the participants who have completed a level 1 cert, are actually worth calling themselves level 1 trainers!
I could argue that he has a point, and the arguments are easy to find! However..
The way it is schemed today- the person who has attended a level 1 has been introduced to the standards that we live by, and if you want to continue developing as a trainer you immiately begin striving towards improving your skills so that you will eventually pass your level 2.. For expert expertise you attend the specialist certs, but the level 1 is merely an introduction!
Much like a driving license is a confirmation that you have the skills to venture into traffic, but you are by no means an expert driver yet!

Mr sheaffer is also very upset that PVC pipe is being used instead of real barbells at the certs, and his argument is that you can't teach the proper technique with a piece of PVC!
I comletely disagree! The fantastic thing about PVC is that it allows everyone work the same movements under no load! Issues like flexibility become obvious at once.. There is no hiding inflexibility in ie. your lats,triceps and forearms when you are working with a piece of PVC.
The argument is kind of like saying that pro MMA fighters should always do all their boxing with MMA gloves, and never go lighter with boxing gloves in order to get the technique right! Let's see how many MMA fighters stay at your gym with a policy like that- now lets see how many actually become successful fighters?
The PVC provides a very safe enviroment to introduce he olympic lifts, to people who may not have done them before!
If you want the hard core lifting practice, all you have to do is attend the olympic lifting certs!

The Zone diet gets a kick in the head from mr Sheaffer as well!
Had he taken the time to read the book with no pictures, he would have known that the Zone is all about tweaking the diet until you get the block compilation you are most comfortable with and that gives you the best results... But I guess you only know that if you actually read the book!

One of the things that I have always enjoyed about CrossFit and the community in general, is that it allows anyone to speak, and it allows anyone to test their theories. Coach has always called himself a fitness whore, always seeking new ways to shorten the way to athletic epiphany!
Whenever you can come up with something that is better than what I do, and you can prove your results, I will begin doing it in an instant- because we share the same goal for improved fitness! But if we do not allow the affiliates, that are not brought up the same way we are or can show us miles and miles of certificates to prove their excellence, to make these experiences, then we will never develop! There has to be room under the CrossFit umbrella to do really stupid any-asshole WoD's every once in a while!
Just a thought- What would mr Sheaffer say to Mikko Salo who won the Games this year? What he does and his approach to training is so far from what we do, and what mr Sheaffer advocates that he would have fallen into the idiot box created by mr Sheaffer! Sometimes you need someone who will stir it all up!

I have read the article a bunch of times the last couple of days, and a couple of things just bug me!

1- If you are better and have a better product than the box down the street, then you have nothing to fear! It will be obvious to everyone. Don't underestimate the intelligence of people!

2- When is it bad programming? When mr Sheaffer does not like what he sees, or when people do not reach their goals? If they do not reach their goals- please see point 1!

3- A well respected member of the community, near and dear to HQ said this and that! If that person can't say this openly then I cant be bothered caring what they think. And when they decide to come forth- let them do so themselves! I don't think mr Sheaffer has to speak for that one person!
This is why Rip left HQ! Let Rip talk for himself, until Rip says this is what happened, you are just running with rumors!

4- If a guy cant press this and that then he has no say? Since when does physical ability build a basis for your right to an opinion?

5- They wore this and that shirt, that said this and that about someones mother! mr Sheaffer has fun at the expense of Dutch Lowy, and later Michael Jackson- but wen someone wears a shirt with a text like that it automatically gives him the right to discard the humor! mr Sheaffer you are the humor magistrate as well?

Altogether mr Sheaffer comes across as a very bitter guy, and I am sorry that he felt he had to resign his affiliation instead of staying and working for a change! But that is the fantastic part having no backbone whatsoever! You don't have to stay and stand up for your opinions, all you do is throw the bag of crap, then turn your back and run, leaving it to everyone else to do the cleaning up!

This whole thing about hybarnation is just not working out all that well for me!

Much love

Share the joy!

2009-10-16T04:29:00.000-07:00

I guess I was supposed to be in hypernation i my cave. playing with evil schemes for the Scandinavian Challenge! I honestly had plans made to do just that, only to come out to share some grunts of discontent whenever something outrageous caught my attention!
Well, plans are made to be broken, and today I would like to share a fantastic feat with you!

I have had the pleassure of working with a very determined client for a while now. When we met, he had all the 9 basic moves to legit standards in his "toolbox", and he was determinaed that the sky was the limit of where he could go! He is in his late 40's and he has no prior history of athletic performance!

This gentleman now does 15 kipping pull ups, a "fran" as rxd in 11 min, and yesterday he did strings of 3 rep deadlifts at 100kg! The man is a beast:-)

What I am trying to say is that it is never to late to make a commitment to where you want to take your physical fitness, and the sky truly is the limit.
It would have been fantastic if I could have claimed that these success were all because of the fantastic coaching I had provided him with, but the truth is that anyone could have coached this man to success! He decided where he wanted to go, and with the determination he put into his training he has now reached goals- he could have only dreamed about a year ago!
I look forward to seing where this athlete will go from here, and hope to be a part of the journey for a long time to come!
Stellar effort bro!

One again no names are mentioned- you know who you are!

back to the bat-cave!

Much love

Back in charge!

2009-10-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

I'd love to think that I am back in charge, however there is a slight chance that I a still a couple of yards behind the game, even if I am now the confused owner of an IMac... If nothing else this means that I now should have unlimited access to the internet!

Today I finally got the rings installed at Metropolis Gym in Kungliga tennis hallen. This meant that I could actually do a WoD I have been avoiding lately, manly because I have had nowhere to do it.. Needless to say the WoD is 30 muscle ups fort time.
I a still a bit heavy for this WoD but I feel like I am getting progressibly better at it, and today was no exception... 8.04 was the result of todays effort.
I am pretty happy with this, and feel like there is actually a chance I might actually get to he level of muscle up madness that has been displayed by the Uppsala mob and the body weight monster David... Just give me a few years!

I often get the question of what to do with a client who can not get to the bottom of the squat? I know that I have touched on this a couple of times before, but it simply cannot be done enough!
The answer is as simple as it is hard- you continue to work on the airsquat until your client can achieve full depth with good form, and do not relent! You may even go as far as t moderatly load the squat- but still work towards perfection of the squat! The only way to get better at the squat, is to practice the squat, and as a consequence your client will also achieve the flexibility to actually get to the bottom of the squat!
The problem is often that you have to get your client to understand the need to do somewhere in the neighborhood of a trillion squats before you can begin to actually really load the squat!

Well- I have to get back to learning how to operate a Mac, after a life spent with PC..

Much love

Mads

Metropolis medley!

2009-10-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

My computer is still acting up, letting me know who is really in charge, so I have to keep me entries short, before it all crashes again..

Today I was at Metropolis, and the got the briliant idea that I should come up with my own little WoD just for the fun of it, and as you all know that is usually a bad idea! Since I am old and have a tendency to forget how these fantastic ideas usually pan out, I went for the following:

800m run as fast as possible just to get the pulse up
Dead hang "cindy" 10 min amrap
800m run as fast as possible

You only count the rounds on the dead hang cindy! result 9 rounds!

As most of you know I am as over the hil as you can possible get when it comes to a very distant MMA career, but it has left me with some fantastic friends who still compete and do ery well in cages all over the world- what I would like to share with you is a bad ass knock out by my friend Nicholas Musoke from Sthlm Shoot.. check this out!

"Fast Helen" and a goodbye to Grand Fitness!

2009-09-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

Fast 'Helen'..?

I have come to terms with the fact that I am not the fastest animal in the jungle, and not the badest bike on the road, a long tima ago! This is also the reason why I have not had all that many dreams about achieving greatness on WoD's like 'Helen'. But today something must have happened, cause I got the fastest time I have ever gotten on a 'Helen', and I am super stoked-
09:02!
I have to admit that I did it on a treadmill where I had to start the little beast from zero each time I got on there, but it still the fastest I have ever gone, so I am pretty happy with that!

Goodbye Grand Fitness!

Today was my last day at Grand Fitness- Sturebadet's spa/gym under Grand Hotel in Stockholm, where I have been working the last 5 years.
The gym will be closed so that Grand can open their own gym a couple of floors up, and I decided that it was time to leave the spa/gym! So today I trained my last client there, packed my things and moved on.

I have to admit that it feels strange to walk out the door after that long time in the gym, but I think the move is for the better. I was already in a position where I had to comprmise with a lot of workouts in order to get to do the CrossFit WoD's I wanted to do- both with my clients and on my own (no more Grace without dropping the weight on the floor). So instead of bringing these problems with me to another facility that is even more proned towards the spa part of the concept, I decided to move on!
So as of tomorrow I will be working at Metropolis and at KLTK which will be a bunch of fun. I look forward to the new challenges, and the possibility to offer even better training to my clients, and possibly even kill a couple of my bad excuses for underachieving in my WoD's- it is so to speak a new day:-)

But who knows, maybe there is something else in the making??????

Much love

Ireland and a Scandinavian challenge...

2009-09-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the level 1 cert in Northern Ireland, and once again it was a great experience, and a bunch of fun!

What never seizes to amaze me is how well the people who show up for the level 1 cert move! As soon as we got to do the squats it was obvious that most of the participants already knew their way around the squats. This is fantastic because it gives everyone the chance to clean up their squats and after that start putting some real focus on how to teach others, and how to identify the things that will potentially mess up your front squat/ overhead squat etc.

This time I had the pleassure of getting gto work with Rob Miller who is just an absolute blast, as well as a great lecturer! He has a way of getting the point across in a way that is easy to digest, and remember- I am not sure if he really knows how good a lecturer he really is, and that just might be his trick!

Pat Barber came over as well! The guy is an absolute blast- 23 years old and on fire:-) He is an amazing athlete and I think I picked up some pointers that will help better my performance. We were both part of a one-arm-snatch contest that Sevan set up, and he beat me brutally!

As always Courtney did a fantastic job demo-ing! I am just happy I dont have to hold on to these positions as long as she has to! I mean who would want to spend as much time in the bottom af the squat as she does?

Mike and Lisa Ray.... What do you say? They are worth travelling quite a bit to get to listen to, and thave their trained eye help you inprove your movements.. I hope to get to work with them a lot in the future!

Sevan and Carey- who are the official film crew for CrossFit were there to follow Mikko Salo who was doing his level 1 cert.. These guys are hillarious- and I think they found a soul mate at the local pub. A guy maned Joe took a fancy to the two guys from San Francisco, whom he insisted had to be gay if they were really from San Francisco... gay as in happy or? That never became quite clear.. Please help us out here guys!

I also had the chance to get to hang out with Mikko and his friends Juha and Jami as well! They are a great bunch and we talked about coming over to Finland and train with them! Even if I realize that it would be a long line of defeats- these guys mean business!

We all had a blast trying to interpret the local dialect! Driving in the "wrong side of the street! Pondering the contents of black pudding! If Mads' intake of coffee really was as zone as he said it was? If Pat is really 'that guy'? If Rob really knows every 80s song there is?

The list is long but I will keep it to myself for the time being, and just conclude that it was a blast!

Scandinavian Challenge!

Enough about me now- let's talk about the Scandinavian Challenge!

The event will begin on saturday morning, and have 3 events during the day- we should be done around 17:00-17:30 on the first day- the competition will then continue sunday and should be done around lunch! Since some contestants have long travels home we hope to be done with the entire thing around lunch!

Hmmmmm- log onto the facebook group and the Eleiko site for more information, such as what clothes we recommend? - it should be forth comming tomorrow or the next day:-)

Much love

Sign up motherf*****r

2009-09-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

The Gods have allowed me to continue my insane rant on the fitness industri, at least for the time being!
But instead of actually doing what I said I would do yesterday and thrash the misguided and mislead aerobics instructors, to the point where you would have to watch your step in order to avoid stepping on the bodies of aerobic instructors who have chosen to put themselves out of their misssery by jumping of a very tall building.... I will not be doing that- instead I thought I'd ask a question:-)

Why have you not signed up?

I just happened to look at the list of athletes who have signed up for the Scandinavian CrossFit Challenge, and I was shocked to find that there are more foreign athletes who have signed up than Swedish!
There are more athletes from Denmark, Germany, and a couple of American bases who have signed up for the challenge than there are Swedish athletes?? Why is this? Don't the swedish athletes believe that they have a chance in the competition? Don't they believe in their own abilities? What on God's green earth is the reason?

I believe that there is a reason why the winner of the Games this year was scandinavian. I honestly believe that we have more athletes who are more well rounded over broad time and modal domain than anywhere else in the world! I believe that we have more athletes that are better suited mentally than anywhere else in the world..
If you happen to feel the same way then sign up! I you would like to help propel the Scandinavian CrossFit community into a better understanding of each other, and a better knit community, then sign up... Or if you just feel that there needs to be more someone who can hold the Swedish flag high, then sign up...

Basically- sign up motherf****r!

Now I am of to Ireland for the cert this weekend- I hope you all have a fantastic weekend:-)

much love

What are the odds?

2009-09-23T01:18:00.001-07:00

I promised Martin Altemark aka Obi Wan Kenobi, that I would get off my ass and get back to blogging. I made this promise yesterday, and had every intention of going straight home and letting the random rants of madness spill onto the internet.

I get home after spending a lot of time with Rasmus (my son) climbing, running, looking for treassures, playing basketball (I lift him up and he dunks the ball, I run and get it back and he dunks again) and chasing dragons! I sit down in front of the computer and search my twisted and contorted mind for matters I would like to share, or dwelve into- I decide that the paradox of aerobic instructors and their lack of intrest in the pursuit of fitness would be a great subject to blow of steam on, and a smile immidiately appears on my lips- I'll tear these little suckers apart!

God's intervention?

Suddenly I realize that I can not get online! Is this God telling me to let these littlle mislead suckers of the proverbial hook? Is it Buddda telling me to be a better man, and choose the high road? Is it some other unnamed God telling me that they are already in the s**t and will suffer for their waste of time without apparent gains into eternity??
Whatever it is- it prohibited me from going online and fulfill my promise to Martin yesterday- I am sorry for the delay!

I also did deadlifts yesterday and worked up to 180kg- which is kind of cool since it is the first time I have gone that heavy, while weighing as little as I do now... Pretty sweet:-)
Not close to the earth shatttering achievements of the Uppsala Mobsters, or the body weight monster, who only eats every second day, and jerks above body weight in contests.. But for an over the hill fat guy, this is pretty decent:-)

Until tomorrow, or whenever the Gods will allow me back online:-)

Much love

A fine piece of advice!

2009-09-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while you will be surpriced to find that your on duty dane does not have some insane rant to rattle off, while letting the chips fall where ever they may, but instead he will actually have some good advice to share with you- this is one of these days!

For those of you who have been to a level 1 cert this will not come as a surprise, since the flowmaster of the level 1 will most definately have told you this on more than one occation. For some of you who have not been to a level 1 cert, this will be pure logic, and you will have done this all time because it just made sense! However there will be some of you who have never heard this before, and some that have just forgotten, in the everlasting pursuit of elite fitness!

Improving your weakest points of performance will do more for your overall fitness than improving your strongest points of performance!

Does that make sense?
What it means is that if you are freakishky strong, but have the cardio vascular performance level of an elite bodybuilder- you will gain more from improving your cardio vascular performance level than adding another 5kg to your max deadlift! It sounds perfectly logical, and most of us will nod our heads and comply when presented with it this way, but what happens when we wake up in the morning and log onto the motherload and see that the WoD of the day is "Diane"? Well, needless to say we hit it with everything we have got, in order to do better than we did the last time. So the next day we log on again and find that the WoD is seven singles of push press! Do we hit that WoD with the same enthusiasm as the WoD the day before? Most of us do not, and that is where I would like you to think about the good advice above.
If you are not hitting the days with your least favorite WoD's as hard as you are hitting your favorites, chances are that there is something you would benefit from improving- and the result couls be the boost you have been looking for!

So my question to you is:
"Are you hitting your least favorite WoD as hard as your favorite?" "What is your favorite vs your least favorite?"
Please do share:-)

Until next time

Much love

Swedish Crossfit Championships!

2009-09-07T11:54:00.000-07:00

On saturday this weekend CrossFit Nordic hosted the first ever Swedish CrossFit Championships. It was an extraordinary success!
Some truly fantastic athletes from all over Sweden had shown up to find out who was the best athlet over broad time and modal domain! And after the 3 events had been overcome there was no doubt that the winner would be the one with least specific skills, but an overall physique best suited for the unknown and the unknowable!

I would have loved to compete but since I am and old fart with no physical skills worth noting, my role during the day was reduced to being a judge- the family honor was defended by Jenny, who is every bit the athlete I wish I could have been, and a fantastic competitor! Remember, when reading the following that I am tainted by that fact that we are married, and I still have not quite recovered from the fact the SHE WON!

The workouts of the day were the following:

WoD 1
500m run
50 dead lifts 90/60kg
50 burpees
250m farmerswalk with kettlebells 24/16kg
50 kb swings
50 sit ups
500m run

WoD 2
3000m row for time

WoD 3
5 clean and jerk (ground to overhead anyhow) 70/40kg
10 pull ups (guys did ctb)
20 squats
5 rounds for time!

There were some stellar efforts on display during the day, and every athlete really gave it their all, leaving nothing on the mat.

The funny thing to watch was the ones who have been doing CrossFit for a while, and know exactly what is going to be the asskicker and their personal nemesis in every WoD. Compared with the people who have not been CrossFitting very long who just charged it with everything they had, and let the Gods decide when they would hit the proverbial wall! Both categories fought valiently!
I am not going to get into detail about any particular athletes performances during the day, because there are too many to be mentioned. Chances are that I might forgt one- which would be completely unacceptable, considering the heart everyone put into this!

I would like to give props to Erik and Richard of CrossFit for making this event possible! They had done an epic effort in getting this whole thing put together, and their planning and all the hard work they had put into this became more and more evident as the day progressed. Everything went really smooth, everyone knwe where to go- there was a bare minimum of confusion- the event was scheduled to end at 16:30, and the last participant finished his last rep on the last WoD at 16:20- how wellorganized is that?
I personally thought that the programming they had done was fantastic and it gave everyone a chance to shine, no matter what your strength/weakness!
Fantastic job guys- I hope to be asked to judge at your next event as well? It would be a pleassure!

F***ing up a competition!

Please remember when reading the following that I absolutely loved the event, and intend to let no amount of shadow fall over the participants, winners, or the hosts. This little rant is dedicated to some of the judges who signed up to help out at the event, and had it not been for the good spirit of the participants, could just as well have f**ked upp the entire thing!

The job of being a judge is actually quite simple when you think about it. You monitor the movements, count the reps that are legit- discard the ones that are not, and in the end you submit the time it took to do the work to the scoreboard! How could you possible get that wrong?
Well, if for some odd reason you do not have the knowledge to know what the bottom of a squat looks like, or that you need to fully extend your hip at the top of the squat in order to get a legit rep. If you have somehow not quite understood that the burpee ends with a overhead clap and a small jump. If the fact that a chest to bar pull up includes a a touch on the bar with the chest, has eluded you or that a kettlebell swing ends overhead with some part of the ear being visible, while your body is completely extended!
If for some reason these things have escaped your attention, and you did not reflect over them when your got the very explicit directions emailed to you. and ignored them when they were passed out on the day of the event-my contention is that you should not be a judge!
You will f**k up the event if you can not count legit reps! How can the winner ever feel that he truly won if you counted reps that were not up to par- how can the runners up ever let go of the thought that they could have won if they too had been blessed with a blind morron that could not differentiate between good and bad movement.
How will we ever be able to rise above the athletic fitness, bodybuilding bull s**t if we make the same mistakes and let there be an ounce of doubt as to whether the winner really was the best athlete?
There will always be someone who feels like they were short changed in some way shape or form- it is inevitable in all competition when humans parttake. However this should not be because the judges did not do their job!

The winners this weekend were fantastic athletes and they deserve to win! The participants were amazing and made the event one to remember, the audience were fantastic, and the hosts made a great event, with everything I could ever desire- all in all this was better than x-mas! But for future references the judges need to harden the f**k up and take a long hard look in the mirror before they deside that they are capable of the relatively easy task of judging- cause you really are not helping anyone with a half ass effort, and poor understanding of the movements you are supposed to judge!

That is it for now- until next time

Much love

Nasty little sucker...

2009-09-02T22:27:00.000-07:00

.. Needless to say I am referring to the row, thruster, pull up fran-ish kind of hell that was posted on the main site a couple of days ago- I did it yesterday!
Some workouts have a tendency to just hit you in the head out of nowhere, and this was just that kind of WoD!

I have been going on for a while about the importance of being able to pace yourself through 85% of your workout, and then just let it go during the last 15%- bury your chin in your chest, and suck it up all the way to the finish line.
To be honest with you I thought I had done just that- when an immidiate need for oxygen, which was nowhere to be found, hit me in the gut! The result was that I had to wait an eternity before I could get back on the bar and whip out some more thrusters! I wish I had an excuse or explanation that would make sence, but the truth is probably more along the lines of having an ego that allows me to think more of my capacity than I can actually fullfil! The price I have to pay for that is the "boinking" I experienced yesterday!

So what to do about that? Suck it up, work through it and keep fighting until my fitness catches up with my ego! I am acutely aware that this may never happen, but I'll go out trying!

By the way- my time for the WoD: 17:22!

Stop feeling sorry for yourself!

At the same time as facebook is a fantastic tool to keep in touch with people and remember birthdays, it is also an incrediable medium for showing the world your CrossFit workouts! However this also allows the rest of us to comment on your performance, your form and your attitude:-) So here we go!
I am tired of seeing people during their WoD's who drop the bar and walk around looking at the mirror, yelling out their frustration, chalking up their hands, looking in the camera, making facial expressions etc. before they then get back to the bar and continue the workout.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself during the workouts. If you want the easy workouts then go back to body building, CrossFit is all about intensity, and walking around cursing your WoD, and what not not is not intensity! Needless to say you are more than welcome to rest, breath out the uglies, but then you have to get back to the WoD- you will find that it will do miracles to your workouts, and your fitness..

So please before you post your next video- look through it again, and if a kind remark is actually what you want, more than an honest no shit assesment of your effort, then send it to your best friend, but dont post it on the internet/facebook, myspace etc... Cause you just might get to hear the truth!

Another rant from the insane dane:-)

Much love

Mads

Where did my double unders go?

2009-09-02T04:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a rest day, which I guess means that I should have been on the couch taking it easy, and meditating on the WoD's to come- however I have a slightly different approach towards rest days! In my perfect little world rest days, are days where I can spend time on things I have not done in a while, or better yet things I need to improve!
Yesterday it was double unders!

Where did they go?

I realized that it had been a while since I did double unders and decided to do double unders and muscle ups.
Lets just be clear about my history when it comes to double unders. At first I could not do a single one, and was the laughing stock of everyone I knew- then somehow it dawned on me what I had to do- and I suddenly owned them- I tore these suckers apart- I loved them..... Those days are obviously over!
Yesterday I spent more time whipping my legs and arms than actually doing double unders! I need to get them back, so I guess I have to go back to square 1, and learn them all over again!
What happened? suggestions?

Warm up!

I have to ask what you do for warm ups? I have begun doing the Burgner warm up that I always do, and the after that I'll do 25 snake rolls, and 25 ab mat situps. After I have done the above I'll start doing the exercises that the WoD of the day requires.. I have found that this additional warm up, really fires up the posterior chain, which in turn makes the rest to the work out a lot more enjoyable- My question is what do you do?

Swedish Championships!

Surf onto www.crossfitnordic.com and look at the event they have planned for this wekend! It will be a kick ass event and I look forward to seing some stellar performances, from some awesome athetes!
Any thoughts on the programming?

For now that will have to do, so much love!

Out of the woods?

2009-08-31T23:18:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a friend of mine who had just gotten a cold, the other day. He shared a bit of wisdom with me, that I have decided to share with you!
He's argument was that women may go through pregnancy and giving birth, and that may all be really hard/painful/ taxing etc. but then again they have never felt the pain men go through when they get a cold!
I am not sure that I want to take the equation quite that far, but I do know that the regular cold is a lot harder on men than on women- we get a lot sicker- and therefore need more care!

As I am sure you have already figured out I have been down with a cold for a coulpe of days, and am steadily finding my way back. I have decided not to rush it, knowing that this kind oof foolishness more often than not results in another week in bed!
That is why I have not been blogging- who wants to hear the continuing story of cough and a sore throught?

So now I am back in the saddle and celebrated with doing a 3 rep 95kg OHS! After that my ego went on a rampage and led me to believe that I was once again invincible- so I did 40 pull ups! After that I went crazy and began havin g thoughts of greatness and that I ws going too kill the power snatch 400m run WoD..
That is where reality caught up with me a a 22 min WoD flanked by a complete loss of bodily functions was the end result- hence the caption- not out of the woods! I still have a ways to go!

CrossFit Challenge!

Have you signed up yet for the challenge in Halmstad? If not the get of you ass and get going! It looks like the good folks of CrossFit Ramstein are sending up some fierce competitors, and a verry enthustastic crowd- they are the hallmark of good spirits!
So lets give them a run for their money and sign up for a very funny competition!

I am also sure that we will all meet this weekend at the Swedish Championships in Solna- if you are not competing you had better be there to support the athletes!

Until tomorrow

Much love

Get some help!

2009-08-21T00:36:00.000-07:00

I bet you are all sitting at home now wondering what kind of crazy rant is about to follow that heading? Who has managged to piss of the crazy dane, and what is he going to do about it?
The truth however, is a bit more subtle than that today.

What I am getting at with the heading is that, every once in a while we all need some help if we wnat to evolve as athletes, or as trainers!
I often meet people who work as trainers, but they don't have a trainer themselves. They don't have anyone who looks at their workouts and gives them feedback. They don't have a collegue look at them while they are working with their clients- and then afterwards share the debrief their effort with them! This is really a shame, because it really does make a difference- not only do you become a better athlete when your work ethic and your technique is constantly evaluated/scrutinized, you also become a better trainer when the same tools are applied to your teaching skills!
A bunch of years ago I worked as a trainer at Sturebadet, and all the trainers there were really good at keeping each other in check, and letting one another know if something was not up to par, or if there was any room for improvement! The fact that we did this made us all (most of us) better trainers, and our clients benefitted heavily from this- as did we!
Since I stopped working there noone has really done any evaluation of me as a trainer on a day to day basis, and I never realized how much I missed it until I began working the certs!
On the certs we get continous feedback from the other head trainers, and we get a debrief after the certs from the flowmaster- and I just absolutely love it! It is the only way I can ever evole beyond my own limitations, and to get imput from these people really is a blessing..

So my challenge to you is to sit down and come up with a at least person, whom you would like to have evaluate you, as a trainer/athlete. Then set up an appointment with that person to do just that- make sure it actually happens! Doing so on a regular basis will work miracles for your game!

Needless to say I have also worked out- so yesterday I did:

5 Shoulderpress
10 Push press
15 Push jerk
weight 42,5 kg- 5 rounds for time- 18:43

All I have to say about this one is- that is sucked exactly the way Pat Sherwood said it would!

That is is for now, so until tomorrow

Much love

Blogging for time...

2009-08-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

... I stole the heading from the Bear- it is without a doubt one of the funniest things I have heard in a while- blogging about your feats for time! Is it an AMRAP- task priority- deal, or how would it work best? What do you think?

I have just gotten back from the level 1 certification at Chievres air base in belgium. Once again it was an absolute blast, and I think it is safe to say that I had as much fun as the participants at the cert.
It all began really well, after karl and I had met up with Courtney at the airport in Brussels. we went and got the rented car, and made our way towards Chievres- or at least so we thought! The sat nav gave up as soon as we left the parking garage, and left us guessing which way we were supposed to go- that basically meant that for a while we were just driving around in circles with no clue where we were going. Courtney then made a call to the base and asked what way we should go- and they told us to take the E19, so we did, and now we were on our way- the only problem was that we were going the wrong way- so after a while when the sat nav kicked in again and we realized that we were going the opposite way from what we were supposed to- what a fantastic start:-) Im just happy karl was the one driving!

The cert was a absolute blast- just as it was supposed to be- there were som super fun characters there, whom I really hope to get to see soon again. Just to mention a few, there were the ZT mma fighters from Brighton- the Ramstein crew who are always in the best possible mood- the crew from the base, who were super enthusiastic and great hosts to us all- the death defying danes (you guys are heroes!)- the dutch athletes who kicked ass- the local talent from Belgium who took no prisoners during the WoD's.. The list is a lot longer and I would like to thank everyone for making this such a fun cert!
Next cert will be in Lurgan Northern Ireland- are you coming? I can't wait!

Now that I am back it is time to get on with the training in order to catch up with my dear wife and the Uppsala Mob. So today I decided to do a WoD that I had come up with on my own:

Boxjumps 100cm
Pull Ups
1-10-1 for time- 19:35

This was a lot harder than I thought- the box jumps had me breathing harder than I would have liked to- just gotta get back into the groove again!

That was it for now so until tomorrow

Much love

Real fast...

2009-08-14T03:13:00.000-07:00

.... is what i have to be today!

I am actually on my way out the door to go to the cert in Belgium, but I promised Martin that I would blogg a little today, so here I am speed-blogging!

Yesterday I had to work like mad, and combined with the complete deprivation of sllep that I had experienced the night before, I had to skip working out, so I'll just share the result for the WoD I did the day before that:

5 box jumps 100cm
10 l-sit ring pull ups
400m run
3 rounds for time: 12:46

I was a horrible littel thing to do, but it felt really good- even tholugh I got stuck on the L- pull ups!

Make ke some space in your calenders for the competition in Halmstad 30/10-1/11.. It will be an absolute blast.
I'll share some more infor with you later, for now view this:

http://www.eleikosport.se/education/Course.asp?PageNumber=3&CourseCategory_Id=14&Course_Id=64

gotta go catch a plane..

much love

Functional movement.....

2009-08-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

These days everything is functional! If you walk into a gym that has pilates classes, it is functional. If you meet a trainer who has specialized in Olympic lifts, he is functional. You meet someone who works out on balance boards and swiss balls, they are pacticing functional movements- and the list goes on!

So what is functional movements? well, we say that it is movements that are inbedded in our DNA. It is movements you find in everyday life (ie universal motor recruitment patterns) They are compound but irreducible, meaning that they can not be broken down into smaller parts, practiced, and then put back together with an increased functional capability as a result! and the difinition goes on..
I just googled the definition of functional movement and got a staggering 558 000 results! I guess you could say that there are some opinions outthere on the subject!

I am not going to bore you to death with another defination of functional movement, but my question is if the people who do the pilates classes are trained to be functional? Are the people who do the olympic lifts functional? Are the people on the swiss balls functional?
Those of you who know me have probably already figured out where I stand on this, but let me make it even more obvious with these questions:
Is someone who can snatch 120kg, but not run 5k to save his life functional? Is someone who can squat on a swiss ball, but not pull himself above the pull up bar once to get of the ground, functional? Is the guy who dominates the core class at the gym, but can not keep a stabil midline to support 1/2 his body weight in a squat, functional?
I guess you could say that it is pretty obvious where I stand, but I have been known to be wrong! So what do you think? Do we need another defination?

Today was supposed to be a rest day, but since I'll be going away over the weekend, I have had to make some modifications, so today I did 2 WoD's, here is one:

OHS:
5x40kg
5x50kg
5x60kg
5x70kg
5x80kg
3x90 kg

I should have gone for 5 reps on the last one, but for some odd reason I let it go after 3??? However the good news is that my wrist felt good for the first time in ages- supremely happy about that!

That is it for today, more on the other WoD tomorrow!

Much love

Globo gym stupidity....

2009-08-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have not notived, CrossFit has gotten pretty popular worldwide lately- a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the genius' at the Globo gyms in Sweden! So what have they decided to do with this revelation?

One could have hoped that they would have sent some people to the certifications, where they would have gotten valuable information on the exercises, but also on what Crossfit is all about. This information could then have been brought back home, and presented to the numbers crunchers and the decision making genius' at the Globo gym HQ. They could then have applied for an affiliation, and opened a small box somewhere and begun offering CrossFit the the hungry masses looking for a place to do CrossFit, the masses who have spawned the intrest in CrossFit and told all their friends and family about this new way of working out and this new way of looking at and avaluating training!

However- the world is not logic, and common sense is often sacrificed at the Globo gyms all over the world, even in beautiful Stockholm! So what have they done?
They have decided that the best thing to do is to look at the website, and then come up with their own interpretations! They have decided that it is better to do something that looks like CrossFit, piggy back on the name, and hope for the best!
This is about as stupid as seeing someone with a drivers license. Asking them for an explanation to how the whole driving thing works, and then deciding that they dont want to go through the whole process of aquiring a license! So they make a drawing themselves and call it a divers license, and then make their way into traffic. As if this is not stupid enough- they decide that money can be made from selling drivers licenses, so they start offering driving lessons to others who are interested in driving!
The example is absurd- but it is exactly what is happening when Planet Fitness begin offering X-fit, och World Class offer X-fit express or how about www.lifeportalen.se who have begun offering lifecross? There are more I just dont have the stomach to keep on going- I am already fighting to keep my delicious paleo meal down!
None of these places are affiliated, and most of the people who lead the classes in these places have never been to a certification, and the ones who have, must have been sleeping through every bit that explaned what it is we do!
Stockholm has turned into the wild west, at the same time as the Globo gym asylom opened their door to the public again!

So my advice to you is to stay clear of any place and any person who say they are doing CrossFit and offering CrossFit classes, unless they can tell you when they did their certification, and when they became affiliated- mainly because these people are by defination frauds, and I would never want to let a fraud be responsible for my fitness! I would'nt even let that person wash my car!

If you have encountered more examples of gyms, trainers etc, please share them here- I have a feeling that there are plenty!

WoD:

Yesterday I did a horrible little thing, that sounded cool form the beginning, but was a lot harder than I thought it would be:

Pull ups
Push ups
1 t0 10 to 1 for time: 09:46

Gotta go for now, but I'll be bac tomorrow!

Much love

Mads

Wow that sucked!

2009-08-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

I guess I could be a little more careful with my captions, but I expect parents with young and impressionable kids to monitor what their kids read about on the internet, so they don't get caught up in all this CrossFit jazz!

Let's not pretend it did'nt happen and admit that I did workout yesterday, and got my ass handed to me big time by the Crossfit Bear- who is, as it turns out a pathological liar! Noone cruises around the entire summer doing boathouse WoD's and then comes back and manhandles Martin and I the way the Bear did yesterday! I'm cool with being beaten, as long as it is by someone who has fought to do so:-)
Bear you are a monster, and I am super stoked that you were that fast! I am actually thinking about doing a couple of years of boathouse WoD's to catch up with you:-)

The WoD was:
Powercleans 82,5kg
Ring Dips
12-9-6-3 for time
My time 08:26 ( No! I am not going to let you know what the man beast got! 08:02)

I had some kind of plan to do 3 reps, breathe 3 deep breaths, and then go on, and continue like that all the way to the finish line- that went out the window pretty fast! I usually work out with chalk, but did'nt have any yesterday, so I kept loosing the grip on the bar and actually managed to drop a couple! I need to do more WoD's without chalk and get a stronger grip is the lesson learned from that!
I did kip on the ring dips, and if I remember correctly the Uppsala mob did'nt!!! I would love to do them strickt, but hey! I just want to get the job done, and move some mass fast, said the lazy dane!

Michal the polish predator came along yesterday as well and with a 60kg bar finished the WoD in 08:46.... this is his 3rd real CrossFit workout ever- if he desides to stick with it, he will be kicking ass and taking numbers real soon!

Well today is a rest day, that I am spending with my son, while my beautiful wife is enjoying the sun with some friends.. So the junior don and I are on our way to go get some icecream!

Until tomorrow my dear friends

Much love

Enhance your calm!

2009-08-07T04:33:00.000-07:00

This is a kick ass quote from a movie that is otherwise best enjoyed the day after some heavy drinking (I'd imagine) or some other sort of recreational activity that has rendered your brain useless... Maybe I could add puberty to the list? What do you think?

The "enhance your clam!" line- is given to Wesley Snipes, by a police officer of the future, right after he has thrown a guy through a window! My application is far less dramatic, but as opposed to the request made to Wesley Snipes- this one actually worked:-) I did'nt trhow anyone through a window! And the workout went smoother!

Yesterday it was time to do a WoD that could easily have been concived by doctor Evil, Blofeld or why not go big right away and say that it was the master plan of the man himself, Martin Altemark (with some help from the Bear)- while they had your favorite dane in mind:

500m row
21 Burpees
400m run

3 rounds for time!
Time 17:12

I'm actually ok with the row! Burpees however leave me sleepless for weeks, and I just absolutely hate them, primarily because I don't do them very well! That takes us to running which is another one of the avtivities that I hate because I do it so poorly. I think recordings of me runing have actually been used to torture people into admitting stuff they had never done- that is how ugly it is:-)
So needless to say the WoD yesterday was not fun:-) The good part is that the Polish Terminator Michal, came along and raced me to the finishline- had he not ben there I would have gone a lot slower!

What does all this have to do with enchancing ones calm? Well- I tried to take it easier at first (thats right -enhancing my calm) and then progressively going faster through the WoD- ie pacing myself, and it actually worked out really well. It will never be a fun WoD for me, but pacing myself made it bearable...

So today it's time to convince Michal to come along and a nasty little CrossFit Uppsala combo- more on how that goes tomorrow:-)

Much love

Sometimes you do- sometimes you dont..

2009-08-06T05:44:00.000-07:00

get it the way you wanted it!

Yesterday the plan was to either hook up with the Crossfit monarch from Uppsala, graciously visiting with the mortals in Stockholm- or to do the chipper from the 2009 CrossFit games! It all depended on how the day would turn out? would I have the time to work out in the afternoon or would I have to work out during the day?

As it turned out I could have done both, if I had not buried myself with the chipper!
In the morning it looked like I would have to pass on the workout with Load, Jling and Martin- so I called another friend and asked if he would like to come along for a workout- being the true Polish terminator that Michal is he took the challenge, and we made our way to Crossfit Haga!
I dont know what on earth made me think that the Chipper would be something right up my alley- but that was the initial thought, and I felt really amped for the workout! I dont know what Michal felt, but he looked very relaxed, which kind of freaked me out!

My result for the games 2009 chipper: 29:52!

Let me just share a few observations with you. The first cleans took their toll! The thrusters were a menace, and took forever to finish! I hate burpees altoghther! What a beast!
I should be able to shave a little time of this one, but it hurt like hell, and I felt really worked after I had done it....... So needles to say I'll do it again, and I look forward to it:-)
Michal battled it out and really great, chasing we all the way through it!

Later that day I found out that some of my clients actually have lives to attend to beside the CrossFit training that we do- so I got the rest of the day of..
I went home, spent some time with Jenny and Rasmus before we all went over to Västberga IP and met up with Load, Jling and Martin!
They were playing around in the rings doing stuff that would cost my battered shoulder several years of rehab- if I ever decided to try to do that!
They are all in super shape, so I tried to talk them into hanging out, eating candy, chips and about a dusin other things that would give me another day to play "catch up with the monsters"-but they declined gracefully and asked if I could recommend a WoD??
I just so happened to have an idea for a classic: 150 push ups, everytime you leave the push up position you pay with a 400m run- this is all done for time!
They batteled it out and really did perform very well- I forget the times, but I was really impressed with their efforts.
It was a pleassure to see Martin again and even if he will never admit I think he may be a force to be reconned with at the competition next month!
I was also a pleassure to meet Load and Jling in person, after having heard so much about them. They are super athletes and very enjoyable to hang out with! I hope to get to spend a lot more time with them in the future.. Even if that means that I will have to come up with a whole new batch of excuses as to why I got my ass kicked in every WoD we do together!

So much for now- today is a horrible little row-burpee- run combo! hmmmm

Much love

Flashdance?

2009-08-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

While my better half is watching flashdance, I have decided to get back into the blogg sphere that I have had a tendency to dip in and out of. The ambition however is to become as good at keeping up the reports of battles fought and progress made, as the blogg masters of CrossFit Uppsala, David, Jon etc.
Even if I know that I still have a lot of ground to cover before I get there, I will make an honest attempt!

Today was a rest day and I had planned to reherse the progressions and lectures for the upcoming cert in Belguim, but I decided to actually take the day off. So instead of staying at work going through the papers, I decided to go home!

This bring me to the topic, or rather the question I wanted to ask you today. What do you do on your rest days? Do you rest? Do you spend the day making up a WoD that you have missed? Do you spend the day improving your skill set in moves that you feel you need to improve? Do you just go home spend time with your family, and then do everything you can to avoid having to watch a chick flick like Flashdance?
Please share how you spend your rest days, and why you have chosen to disperse of your rest days the way you have!

Well- tomorrow I was supposed to do fight gone bad, but instead I will either be working out with Martin Altemark, who is making a celebrity visit among us motals in el Stockolmo- or I will do the chipper that was the last workout of the Games this year! I am hoping to workout with Martin, but we will see how that plan works out:-) More on that tomorrow!

Looking forward to hearing how you spend your rest days!

Much love

Keeping it short...

2009-07-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it was time to gut it out and get back on the reservation- with Cindy!

I did the workout with Micke Syd and Jenny at Haga, and actually felt really good about the workout. I was looking forward to getting back into the groove of things after having been on the sidelines for a couple of weeks- afterwards I wondered what the hell had happened?

I got 18 rounds 5 pull ups and 8 push ups!

I was on fire the first 10 rounds, and then I just crashed and burned! I dont know what it was that did me in, but I had no power at all! The only thing that really worked was the pull ups, everything else just hurt:-)
So just like I said yesterday- I had to gut it out, and just take one rep after the other until the buzzer went of and I was saved by the bell!

At first I had no clue what had happened, and trying to explain why my effort was that bad, when I had felt so ready for this workout, seemed impossible- until it dawned on me that I have been "cherry picking" for a couple of weeks, and avoided the WoD's that would put me in the places I really dont like to be- and as you know "we fail at the boundries of our comfort zones"! rude awakening! I just have to follow the WoD's religiously and get back into the suck!

jenny absolutely tore it up and did 19 rounds, and looked like she could have gone faster, but she paced herself via me, which was her demise on that one- sorry honey!
Micke got 12 rounds and looked really good doing it- he kept great intensity all the way to the finish line- super proud of his effort!

Well- today is the clean and jerks on the minute- that will be fun!

Much love

Mads

Baby got back!

2009-07-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

This will just be a really short entry, since I am just slowly getting back after a long vacation! The vacation however has resulted in a desperate need to go cold turkey, and get back on the waggon- Denmark has a habbit of messing you up, so if you are going down there watch out..

Yesterday was a short workout just to get back in the groove:

C&J 5x40 kg- 10 CTB pull ups
C&J 5x50 kg- 10CTB pull ups
C&J 5x60 kg- 10 CTB pull ups
C&J 5x70kg- 10 CTB pull ups
C&J 5x80 kg- 10CTb pull ups

I tried to do the CTB with the buterfly technique, hoping that it would do less damage to my shoulder, but I was sadly mistaken.... Maybe CTb is just not my thing anymore?

Well, back to following to .com wods- today is Cindy! Gut it out:-)

Much love

Mads

Summer laziness...

2009-07-08T04:23:00.000-07:00

... I wish I could have come up with a fantastic excuse as to why I have not been blogging lately, but then again as you all know excuses are like opinions and assholes- everybody has one! So I'll just leave it at that and move on to the good stuff!

I have been following the .com WoDs lately hitting them as hard as I possibly could, which has resulted in some serious ass whopping, and not the kind that leaves me cheering that I am the greatest while the "eye of the tiger" music mysteriously appears from nowhere, nop- it has been the kind that leaves you in a heep on the floor, wondering if anyone caught the number of the truck that just ran over you!

Randy!
That is where it began. I honestly looked at the video of the dear mr Everett doing the Wod, and thought something along the lines of- " add a minut to that and you have my score! I think he did it in like 2:28!
To even think something like that is just downright rude, and I should probably just start by making excusses, but you know how I feel about excuses!
I finished in 6 min flat- and it hurt! I would have never thought that my grip would take such a beating from 75lbs! I almost lost the bar in the transition on more than one occation, and when I finally got to goal- my forearms were shot to pieces...
Hmm lesson number one!

Badger!
This was where I got my second ass whooping! I knew from previous encounters that this little sucker hurts, but I have always been able gut it out and get through it in a decent time- however this was diffferent all together!
I started out hard and felt like I tore through the first round like the beast I would like to think I am (though that little conspiracy theory has been proven wrong more than once, I like to hang on to it), and everything was going fine until I hit the second round of squat cleans! The hearing was first to go, shortly after which my vision started getting blurred, and my balance went to shit- I have no clue what happened, but I started toying with the thought of tapping out, when I remenbered Tony Budding's comment when he challanged Freddie to a shoulder press show down- "Sometimes it's more important to be a man than to be right!"- so I decided to gut it out, which took me all of 43min and some change.... Horrible effort, but I finished, and that has to count for something!

Tabata Row!
Martin and Björn of CrossFit Uppsala began racing each other with tabata rows, and in some strange way I got drawn into this little feud- so yesterday was all about tatata rows for me. All I can say is that it hurt, and it was nowhere as fun as I know you all thought it sounds!
I got 860m, and I hope I don't have to do this again in anytime soon!

Question:
In this years individual games there will be 5 events on the first day! After the first two events the bottom 10 participants will be cut from the competition! Is that fair? Should not someone who has travelled half way around the world to participate in the Games and paid for this themselves, be allowed to articipate in all the WoD's, or do you think it is ok that this person is cut as soon as it is apparent that he/she can not win the competition? Where do you stand?

Untill next time

Much love

I would have thought, and a CFT!

2009-07-01T23:42:00.000-07:00

The wheather in Stockholm has been nothing short of amazing the last couple of days. This has resulted to a bunch of trips to the local pools with our son, who has developed a fondness for water and bathing that you have to see to understand- I cant blame him the least, it the only way to chill in this wheather!

However- I would have thought that to be a lifeguard at one of these pools you would have had to be in good shape, or at least be able get out of your chair without regarding it as a workout? Is that too much to ask? I mean if push comes to shove and one of these people actually have to do their job/ what they are paid for- would you not expect that they were physically able to do so?

Well- one of the pools we went to had a lifeguard who was the furthest from fit that I have seen in a long time- she was heavily obese, smoking continously, eating candy and chips while chasing it all down with big bottle of Coke. Sitting in the chair next to the pool I could just not help wondering if she was the one we should call on if someone was about to drown in the far end of the pool? Just getting out of her chair was a challenge, and her focus was all about destroying everything that once had the outlines of a functional body... Is this right? Of course not- but the question is if she should have realized this herself, or should this lack of ability have been noticed by the one employing her? What do you think?

Besides pondering the roles of responsibility when it comes to the quality of the ones who are supposed to save our lives if we should ever need it- I also did a CrossFit Total yesterday- not exactly earth shattering, but I am content for now anyways!

Back Squat 140 kg
Shoulder press 75kg
Deadlift 170kg

Not too much to be said about the effort on this WoD- so until next time:-)

Much love

Mads

Frankfurt, and the cert in Ramstein!

2009-06-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

Just to get it out of the way- I got another room!
As you could read the last time I was online, I had the bad fortune of getting the worst room in the entire hotel when we were in Frankfurt, but after a short conversation about the unfortunate sounds I could hear in my room, the fact that it was warm as hell and there was no A/C, and having the window was impossible because it would just make the noise even more attrusive, and I would get all the smoke from the people who stood in front of the hotel smoking, right into my room, the receptionist was kind enough to give me another room, that had A/C- faced away from the street, and was bigger.... Needless to say I slept like a child:-)

We spent the next day and a half in Frankfurt walking around town like the tourists we were, enjoying that we had the days off, and that the wheather was beautiful! We also spend some time getting more accuinted with Pat's alternative zone which included bratwurst, hamburgers, diet coke etc. it has to be the bvest thing that has ever happened to me that he introduved and shared his views on diets with me- I lost a couple of kilos while we were on tour, and got some pretty good workouts in as well, so the diet might be working after all! Sure looks like it is working for Pat!
Speaking of Pat- we got him the ugliest belt I have ever seen, but since he does have a thing for belt buckles, I think he just may find a place to use it- it was a dollar sign, in gold that rotates on a silverry background in true hip hop bling style. I only wish I had a picture of his face when he saw it:-)

After Frankfurt we went to Ramstein Airforce base for the cert! The cert was supposed to be on base, but since it had been virtually impossible to get the civilian participants onto the base, the entire thing had been moved to a place Called Colluseum just of base- a huge effort had been put into this cert by Jason and Brian who were the ones who had put the whole thing together, and I am truly grateful for their effort, the cert was fantastic! More on that in a second!

We got onto base and, after Jason had shown us where we would be staying we went to a place called Chilli's to get some more education on the Pat Sherwood diet (loved it) and some actual food! While we were eating Jason came by and asked if we wanted to get a workout in before the cert at their on base box? Of course we all jumped at the chance to see their box and get to workout.
The box was part of a bigger gym, but they had gotten it really nice with plexiglass on the walls for the hand stands, and lifting stations that they had built themselves.
While Pat and Lisa went for the WoD called Ramstein, Klaus decided to do squats and I went for the heay deads in sets of 3.. I got to 355lbs and was pretty happy with my effort when Pat walked up after doing the Wod with Lisa and decides to do a set of 10 at 355 lbs... The man is a freak! I called it a day:-)

The cert was an absolute blast- people were super enthusiastic, and very willing to take in teh information, and standards on the movements, besides being good movers from the beginning! It is always fantastic to see people who move well from the begining, still try to rafine their movements and always striving for a deeper understanding- if the people in Ramstein are in any way an indication of where CrossFit in Europe is going- then we should all feel comfortable knowing that we are on the right path!
Thank you for a great cert!

After that we all went back to frankfurt to stay at a hotel near the airport the last night before we all flew out on monday morning.
At our last dinner together Klaus once again displayed his ability to make us all laugh until we were in tears- the man does not even try to be funny, he just hits a nerve that has everyone laughing. He did a couple of times during the week, and at this dinner the thing that knocked us all out was when he went to work on Lisa and Pat's pronounciation of the word Bamberg- Nicole Caroll would have been proud, cause he would not relent:-) Good on you brother- I look forward to more certs with Klaus!

Now I am back in Stockholm working and working out! Todays WoD was "Eva".. and once again I was reminded why I hate to work out at a globo gym!
After my third round and my fourth running and the kettlebell swings, I came back into the gym, only to find that some rocket scientist had taken the pull up bar, and had no intention of returning it, or letting me get inbetweento do my pull ups!
I decided to go get my rings and do the rest of the WoD with ring Rows (feet on a box) instead of pull ups, and then just time that- let me just share the fact that it did not get easier!

Part one- 3 full rounds, the run and the kettlebell swings 28:44 min
part two- the remainder with ring rows instead of pull ups 10:13 min

What really pisses me off is that I felt pretty good when I was broken off by the bicep curling moron! Of course it was hard, but I really felt like I had it in the bag... well well we prepare for the unknown and the unknowable:-)

For now this will have to do! Until next time..

Much love

Mads

Bamberg!

2009-06-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

It has been a couple of days since I had the chance to get online, so I will try to sum up tha last couple of days, but realize that there is a good chance I will forget something..

I arrived in Frankfurt, and met up with Klaus who had just flown in from Copenhagen. We got our luggage and made our way through the airport, to met up with Pat and Lisa who had flown in from overseas a little earlier. we had breakfast a a very charming little cafe in the airport- I dont know how they manage to these places to all look alike? The we went to search for the rental car agent, after a while we found it and got the car, so a little later we were on the road for Bamberg, approximately 3h drive from Frankfurt.
After a short stop where Pat shared his infinate wisdom when it comes to eating somewhat zonelike meals at McDonalds we got back on the road. However somewhere right after we had gotten out of the McDonalds we made a wrong turn, and ended up getting the scenic route through some super beautiful little bavarian town, which al loked like they had been torn out of a sight seeing magazine:-) Not a bad de-tour at all!

The next day was spent just walking through town, looking at the fantastic old houses, and funny architecture- Bamberg really is a town worth visiting, if nothing for nothing else, then for the houses and fairy tail like feeling you get wen you walk through town!
We also spent a fail amount of time walking through town searching for a store that would sell us a power adapter for Pat's computer and his phone- it is hard to believe that a town that bases, I would estimate, 40% of its business on the american soldiers in that town, would not carry an adapter- but it was a hike before we finally got to a Mac store that sold the adapter for the computer, but not for the phone... hmmm ere is a business idea for the innovative soul, adapters in Bamberg!
After that we went to a ribbon cutting veremony and the CrossFit gym on base where the cert was going to be the next day- a super cool experience to be able to take part in the official opening of the gym, just a day before the cert.
The next two days after that was the cert, and nothing to tell about that really except how much I enjoy the opportunity to be able to do this! It is a learning experience to be able to see people like Pat and Lisa do their lectures, and I feel like I learn as much from these certs as I hope the participants do? I am super grateful to be able to do this!

The coolest thing happened today after the cert though- Ben and Justin, who were pretty much the prime forces, behind getting this cert to Bamberg, were getting a promotion to captains, and not only did we get to take part in the ceremony, we also got to put their "rail road tracks" on their barrets and uniforms during the ceremony. A huge honor, and I am grateful to have gotten the chance to do this!
After that we were all awarded a certificate and got the company coin- another experience that I am grateful to take with me from this week..
Al in all a great cert, and a huge thank you to everyone and especially Ben and Justin who have taken super good care of us!

Now we are in Frankfurt, and we hve just checked into our hotel, where we will be for two days of R&R before we are of to Ramstein for the cert this weekend.
For some strange reason everyone except me has gotten really good rooms- I got one on the first flor facing the most heavily trafficated street in Frankfurt- hopefully I will be able to change rooms tomorrow..
I hope to be able to get back to you all soon- untill then

Much love
Mads

Germany and ugly Grace!

2009-06-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a fantastic "Midsommar", in the rain, and got to enjoy some of the fine swedish traditions that come along with this ancient rite of passage into the shorter days and incoming darkness!
Due to the celebration of this day, I have been of the grid a couple of days, and I have to admit that I will be of the grid for a couple of days to come! I will be going to Germany to work as a trainer on a couple of certs. I will definately try to get online and share some of what is going on in Germany, but I cant promise that I'll have access to a computer every day- but my promise is that I will blogg as soon as I get a chance!

Since I have been nowhere near the Zone the last coulpe of days, I thought that I'd give Grace a shot today, and put it down to experience when it all went to hell!
Well, it was probably the ugliest Grace performance in the history of CrossFit, maybe even in the history of ligting things of the ground- but once I was done Jenny informed me that I had done it in 03:50 min which is a new PR for me! Imagine my surprise!
There is no way that I can contribute this to the carbohydrate loading I have done over the last couple of days- but it did open my eyes to the fact that I may actually get below 03:30 within a foreseable future, since this was nowhere near the way I know I can actually perform a Grace..
So there is light at the end of the tunnel, and it it not the oncomming train:-)

I know I promised to get into the Abmat discussion now, but I will have to save that until later, since I have to go pack and get ready for a VERY early flight tomorrow!

Until next time

Much love

Mads

The final frontier....

2009-06-16T23:51:00.000-07:00

I am not a trekkie, nor have I gone barking mad and begun searching for extraterestrial life- I simply stole the heading from a text message I got from Martin Altemark, of CrossFit Uppsala, yesterday- after I had shared my result for the 5K run with him.
The final frontier is exactly what running is! The 5K took me a staggering 23:36 min- and if images of Forrest Gump running in his braces in the early parts of the movie are passing by your inner eye, then you are about right on what my 5K looks like!

I am still in the process of getting the POSE running to work for me, and on the shorter distances, it has done miracles, but for distances such as the 5K I am back to grinding every step- going heel to toe, with every possible fault you could think of... In the future I promise to give more attention to getting the form right. I have even been thinking about going to Santa Cruz and doing some more POSE running with Shari Keener- she is a fantastic running coach, and worked miracles on my short distance POSE in no time. If you are ever in her neck of the woods, make sure to look her up!

Well- after admitting to my short comings on the run, it is time to pick up the issue I brought up in yesterdays blogg- Who is more impressive?
I completely agree with virtually everyone who left a comment on the subject- the sub 4 fran from the athlete who follows the main site WoD's is a far more impressive achievement than the sub 2 fran from the guy who has been training specifically for the occation!
I am not saying that the sub 2 fran is not impressive in the sense that the guy is putting out a fantastic amount of work in a very short period of time- I am just saying that if you are training for the unknown and the unknowable, preparing for a single WoD is counter productive, and a complete opposite of everything we preach and prepare for!
What baffeles me is that I find myself arguing this very point at least a couple of times a month, with both avid crossfitters, and athletes with little or no exposure at all to CrossFit- still we all agree right of the bat:-) You have no clue how happy that makes me!

The question I would like to raise today is one that was brought up on a very well written blogg immidiately after the certification in Copenhagen- and it is a very legit question! Should we in CrossFit use the abmat or not? Should we try to isolate the abs in our sit ups by doing frog-style-sit ups?
Why should we and why should we not? After the question was raised I have been checking up with a bunch of the people I would like to consider authorities on CrossFit- and I have gotten a couple of good answers, but now I would like to hear what you think?

Until tomorrow, much love

Mads

Who is more impressive?

2009-06-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

Dear friends!

I have to start out by admitting that it was not a very good weekend if you look at training as the standard for judging whether a weekend was a success or not. I got to spend a ton of time with my family and never got of to the gym (not entirely unpleased with spending time with the family), so during the weekend I only did one WoD:

Walking lunge 100 ft.
21 Pull-ups
21 Sit-upsWalking lunge 100 ft.
18 Pull-ups
18 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
15 Pull-ups
15 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
12 Pull-ups
12 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
9 Pull-ups
9 Sit-ups
Walking Lunge 100 ft.
6 Pull-ups
6 Sit-ups
time 11:06

I actually thought that I would have been able to do this WoD a lot faster, but the lunges just take forever! Immidiately after I stopped the watch I was disappointed and began wondering what I could have gone faster- then I realied that on that day there was nothing I could have done to go faster- so I just have to admit that I gave it all I had to give on that day, and I'll have to come back with a vengance:-)

Yesterday I did Nasty Girls (I am still a day behind the main site).. The day started by Martin Altemark sending me a text saying how fast he had been, and he had been hauling ass! Martin has solid muscle ups that dont leave a lot to be desired, so right out of the gate I knew that he would be hard to match- but I was determined to give him a run for his money!
I came in at 10:03- and there was no more fight in me after that! I was a minute and some change behind Martin! (who had done the WoD with the Bear and Jocke- who had both torn it apart and actually come in ahead of Martin??)
I am fully aware that my muscle ups would not have been counted as legit in competition, or by any trainer, since I never lock out in the bottom of the muscle up, and there are no excuses for this- they are not legit!
However my excuse is that I have dislocated my shoulder on several occations, and that exact move has a tendency to trigger some severe soreness in the shoulder, and some strange sounds, so I just avoid it all together!

Todays topic for discussion is simple, but still has been known to flare tempers! Who is more impressive? The crossfitter who does Fran sub 2 min after months of training specifically for the event, or the crossfitter who does Fran sub 4 min with no specific training, but just hits the WoD's as they come up on the main site?
For once I'll not get ahead of myself and let you know where I stand- but just ask you to share your thoughts on the subject!

Until next time

Much love

Mads

Without further ado...

2009-06-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

....Lately have been having a tendency to let my knees roll in when I initiated my acent on my squats! So when it was time to do the squats yesterday I thought I'd use the WoD to work on some technique.
I worked my way up to 135kg pretty fast and then proceeded to do 10 lifts at 135kg, monitoring how my knees moved, and I am happy to say that the last 4 lifts looked really good!
It is funny how easy it is to get caught up in improving PR's that you forget to focus on getting the technique right, and eventually it all comes around and bites you in the ass, when your lack of technique is then what is keeping you from improving on your PR!
When we were in Denmark at Butchers Lab, for the level 1 cert I did a WoD consisting of:

OHS 50kg
HSPU
9/1- 8/2- 7/3- 6/4 you et the picture of opposing latters!

Martin Altemark who was at the cert along with Björn "Bear" Uddenfelt pointed out to me that I had a tendency to let my knees roll inwards on the OHS- so I began looking for it when we I got home, and sure enough. It may very well be that the fatique in the upper back and shoulders from the HSPU's were taking their toll on me in the OHS, and I felt like I had to "catch" the lift all the time- but I definately had a tendency to roll inwards- so this was a great chance to work on brushing out that weakness- and hopefully that will help improve my squats in the future.. Thanks for the help guys!
Btw- these guys are super strict on technique, and great natural movers, so if you are ever in Uppsala make sure to stop by CrossFit Uppsala and have Martin take a look at your form, or if you are in the Gävle area hit Björn up for a few pointers. It is always nice to have a new set of eyes look at what you are doing, as long as these eyes are actually capable og distinguining between good and bad movement!

For now- much love

Mads

Cindy...

2009-06-11T01:29:00.000-07:00

I think I had about a thousand different reasons, not to do Cindy, stacking up during the day! They ranged from the muscle soreness I was still feeling from the ring dips, to wondering if I had really gotten over my sinus infection yet, to wondering if it would not be better if I did some brushing up on the meditation/levitation/mind expantion/turbo yoga that I have never done before- well, maybe it was time to give it a shot? The list is longer and I could keep going, but I'll spare you!
My mind has a tendency to play games with me every time one of these WoD's come up, that were just not created for me, and fall far outside my comfort zone.. So I did what I always do when my mind starts getting a life of its own, and begins messing with my workouts- The Jedi mind trick!
Basically what that is- is a way of making sure that the mind understands that there is no alternative to getting of its ass and helping out, getting the job done:-)

So I did "Cindy", well aware that it would be a humiliating experience, and the result would be a kick in the gut- So imagine my surprise when the bell went and I saw that I had gotten 20 rounds, and 5 pull ups!
I am not sure what happened, but that is what it came out to. I was super tired and really happy with the result afterwards, and felt that I left it all outthere on that WoD.. So all in all a good 20 min in the gym, and it just goes to show that you should never trust my mind:-)

Jedi mind tricks to you all

Much love

Substitutions and some rest!

2009-06-10T00:55:00.000-07:00

Back on my feet and back in the routines of everyday life, it is time to once again share some experiences from the last couple of days with you.

Sometimes things don't really go the way you plan them, and every once in a while the factors that throw off your training are so far beynd your control that you just have to buckle in and start making substitutions.. That is what happened to me the day before yesterday when the plan was to do back squats and ring dips- but once I got into the gym, some trainer had gotten into a barbell medley, that occupied more or less all the barbells in the gym, with no apparent opening for me to work out in the horizon!
What to do now?
So I decided that I had to throw in the towel, and come up with another WoD- so I came up with the following:

5 100cm box jumps
5 Ring Dips
5 Push Ups
10 rounds for time: 11:30 min

This was a lot harder than I had thought it would be! The box jumps took their toll, and ring dips are always a struggle- so I was actually pretty happy with the time! I may be able to get to 11 min, but as it was I don't think I could have gone any faster. The thing about the box jumps is that you have to leap from a complete stand still for the reps to count, and you dont want to land on that edge:-) So, for now it was an ok time I guess, but I will get back to this WoD later, and kick some ass!

Yesterday was my rest day, so I just took it easy, and spent some time getting into a discussion about how legit a push up that did'nt go from completely extended arms to sternum to the ground, was! I should have known bettter, but when someone says that they do CrossFit and then proceedes to do something that looks more like a spastic contraction of the pecs and triceps and counting every spasm as a rep (out loud) - I just feel that I have to raise the question?
The person in question continued to claim that the chest had hit the ground on every single rep, even if anyone with average sight could tell that the chest was nowhere near the ground! ww never got to any kind of common ground on the matter!

This brings the question up on a bigger stage- what is it with people who can't be honest with themselves in their workouts? Do they lie to themselves on other subjects as well? Here are couple of instances where I imagine the same beghavior they so blatently expose in the CrossFit regimen would cause some problems:

-"Honey we are home"- the guy says and parks the car 5k away from home!

-" I am the new World Champion on the 100m sprint"- the guy says and stops runing after 80m?

-" Alright nurses, my work here is done, patch the man up". The doctor says and leaves the patient with his intestants still hanging out!

-" Your car is ready to drive"- the mechanic says and hands over the key to the car with no brakes!

You should be laughing by now, but they are examples of the exact same behavior, of only doing half the job, but not realizing it, or wanting to admit it... Have you encountered this? Please share..

Well, today is Cindy, and I have no clue how it will go, so I guess the only thing to do is to hit it hard and see how far that will take me, wish me luck!

Until next time

Much love

Wonderful Copenhagen!

2009-06-08T00:39:00.000-07:00

It was a fantastic weekend in Copenhagen, at the level 1 certification!

The certification in Copenhagen was an absolute blast! Some fantastic athletes and great movers attended the cert, and made it possible to get a lot of movements done, and not just to get them done- they looked great. It is an absolute pleassure to see that many people showing up at a cert, well prepared, and with at really good sense of the movements- I am super impressed, and hope that I get to do many more certs with as motivated participants as this!

That was not the only great thing about this weekend- I also got to spend some time with Martin Altemark and the proverbial Bear- whom I have only ever had contact with via our bloggs. It was really great to finally meet, and get a chance to just sit down and talk, and spend some time sharing experiences!
I just hope the future will bring more chances for us to hang out, and do some WoD's together- even if I am aware that this may very well mean that I will have to eat a huge bit of the humble pie- these guys are very capable crossfitters:-)

Another thing that made the weekend a homerun, was that I got to be a trainer with Pat Sherwood, Chuck Carswell and Jenni Orr! These people are not just some of the nicest people in the world to hang out with, but also pure bread professionals when it comes to CrossFit, and I feel like I learned as much from this weekend as I hope the participants did.
They have so much experience from teaching/ coaching/ training etc. and they share it so freely! It has been a pleassure to hang out this weekend, and I hope the immidiate future holds more chances for us to hang out:-)

This was just a short comment on the weekend, I'll try to get back with more details later!

Much love

Mads

Overhead Squat!

2009-06-04T22:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was actually a rest day, but since I have been on my ass a couple of days with what I thought was a cold, but later turned out to be a sinus infection(!) I decided to go ahead and do overhead squats yesterday anyway!
My goal was to work my way up to 5 reps at 90kg. I have done 90kg before and felt like it was an achievable goal considering the circumstances- but the funniest thing happened!

As always my wrist hurt a little from the beginning, but no more than it always does, and no shooting pain into my forearm- which was good! So I worked my way up to 80kg, and got the 5 reps without any problems, and here is where the fun starts!
I go to 85kg and do 3 reps, when I suddenly see a woman parking a yoga mat on the floor approximately 50cm in from of me- my immidiate response is a "excuse me" (I still have 85kg hovering above my head) when she answers " don't worry, I'll be done in a second"! I got slightly pissed off and decided to do the last 2 reps, and not give a damn! I finish the set and put the weight down.. A minute later I was still slightly irritated, and she was still on the ground showing her respect to some arcadian sun God, so I decided to lower the weight to 40kg and do 2 more sets of 20 reps!
The funny part is that at first I got pissed at the apparent lack of gym ethics, but after my temper had calmed down, I could'nt help laughing at the fact that we obviously saw two completely different problems in her choise of place for worship, and both were completely oblivious thhe others situation. She was concerned that I would get the space in front of me back as soon as she was done, which she deemed to be in the immidiate future- and I on my side was worried about the 85kg elevated above my head, that gravity would eventually aid in its trip back to the floor!
It just goes to show that there are more than one way to look at these things! Which would you have been more worried about? Spatial awareness or the gravitational issues of dead weight returning to the ground?

Well- it's time to get to work, and after that I'm of to Copenhagen for the level 1 cert:-)

Much love

Mads

What to do?

2009-06-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

I told you that I was going to do the smart thing and take it easy and come up with an easy workout, so that I could ease into the workouts, and not get sick again! I also said that I have a tendency to go to hard, even when I know I should'nt! You all heard me say it, or read it on thins very blogg??

Well- yesterday it was finally time to get to work, and do the first workout in a couple of days. So I posted the question on facebook: " Which WoD should I chooose to get started with after coming of a cold?". I got some rather entertaining answers that included everything from Cindy to a 10K run (for those of you that don't know this- I run like forrest Gump while he was still in his braces!)
I was personally leaning towards doing a shorter WoD- something like 21-15-9 SDHP ring dips? Or maybe a 3 rounds of 20 pull ups, 20 KB swings, 20 C&J...
So I finally decided to do a modified version of the WoD that was on the main site:

for time:
800m run
30 l-pull ups
800m run
30 strict pull ups
800m run
30 kipping pull ups
time 22:10

I honestly felt like my lungs were going to leave my body during the runs, and it was like breathnig through a coffee filter- but I got it done! I am happy that I got it done at the same time as I am waithing to see how my body reacts today...

The cert in Copenhagen is getting closer, and so is the soccer match between Sweden and Denmark....

Feeling better...

2009-06-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

I decided to stay home from work today also, just to make sure that I was actually better, and not risk going to work, only to come down with another flu/cold. And I have to admit that I feel a lot better today than I did yesterday, and I can't wait to get to work tomorrow! I am also looking forward to getting to work out again..! It is beyond cruel and unusual punishment not to be able to work out, when it is such a major part in my life!
I know from past experience that I have a tendency to start out way to fast and way too hard, only to get ill again, so with that in mind I'll be taking it easy a coulpe of days and just get back into the groove of things:-) I cant wait!

Since I was at home I spent some time on the internet looking at some Scandinavian CrossFit websites and bloggs, and I am happy to say that things look bright for the Scandinavian CrossFit community- There are some seriously gifted crossfitters out there doing fantastic jobs with both their websites, and their personal performance!
I'll make it a mission for this summer to try to visit the places closest to Stockholm, and start planning for some longer trips as well.. I really want to learn from and hang out at these places and these people- I think an exchange like that would be mutually benificial..
If anyone wants to come along let me know, and we will make a road trip out of it!

Looking forward to tomorrow:-)

Much love

Mads

Good news vs. bad news!

2009-06-01T04:47:00.000-07:00

let me just begin by saying that it has been a fantastic weekend in Stockholm, and I just can't get enough of this city when the weather is a fantastic as it has been over the weekend, it makes the 6 months of cold, wet darkness worth every second!

As you have already figured out I have both good and bad news to share with you today- so I will begin with the bad news!
It has now been 3 days without training! First came the weekend with various commitments that made working out virtually impossible. Then I wake up this morning and feel my throught is sore and swollen- so no working out today either- It's a hard knock life!

This brings me right into the good news- its almost time for the Level 1 cert in Copenhagen! This saturday and sunday I will be in Copenhagen working the level 1 cert- and I just can't wait. I love these certs. The inspiration you take with you from these things is magic. As if that was'nt enough to look forward to, there is always the extra benifit of meeting a bunch of fantastic crossfitters who share the same passion for meaningful training that you do! Could it be any better?

Well, I'm back to licking my wounds and hopefully I'll be back on my horse again tomorrow:-) Until then!

Much love

Mads

Heavy thrusters!

2009-05-29T00:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I have to make it short today!

Yesterday was heavy thrusters, but since my wrists are still giving me all kinds of trouble I decided be just a little smart, and go for heavy sets of 5 instead of doing max lifts..

I made my way to 80kg, and it felt really good. My wrists still hurt everytime I do heavier presses, so I am pretty happy this one went well, but I would really like to try to go heavier as soon as my wrists allow it:-)

Much love

WTF.....

2009-05-27T23:35:00.001-07:00

What is the matter with me?

Yesterday I gave Barbara my very best, and absolutely crashed and burned! But before I get into sharing the particulars of yesterdays fiasco- let go back in time and see what has happened in the past when I have done Barbara?

I have done Barbara 4 times before yesterday, and I have only ever managed to complete one without encountering Pukie- and on that occation I had just come off a pretty nasty shoulder injury, and decided right of the bat to go horribly slow, just to see how my shoulder would react to that many reps.
On all the other attempts I have begun by hauling ass, only to get my proverbial ass handed to me by Pukie somewhere into the 4th round- A humbling experience the first time, and humiliating the 3rd time! So pure intelligence would have told me to take it easy from the beginning yesterday, and then turn it up at the end... Well, I am just not a very intelligent guy I guess- cause here is what happened!

Round 1 3;47
Round 2 3:50
Round 3 4:04
Round 4 after 31 reps of situps Pukie caught up with me and tore me apart!

WTF.... when am I going to learn that I have to take it slower from the beginning, so that I will actually make the finish line.. My plan for some time next week is to do Barbara, and aim at doing every round around 5 min, just to be able to fininsh..

If you have some advice to share- please let me know- I obviously need it!

Much love

A fast WoD...

2009-05-26T22:53:00.000-07:00

I was in a bit of a hurry yesterday, so once again I had to come up with a little WoD of my own, nothing fantastic, but it felt good:-)

Overhead squats 5 sets of 5 reps. I worked my way up to 90kg, and it felt really good. It felt like I got the weight centered really well, and even though it has been a while since I did overhead squats- it still felt like I got the balance dialed in right of the bat.. The only thing that I could have done with out is the constant pain in my wrist! Everytime I get the weight overhead, my wrist hurts , and so focus automatically diverts onto that instead of the fact that I have a bunch of kilos sitting right on top of my head... Priorities need to change at that very second!

After that I decided that I still had a little left to give so I did a little favorite:
5 100cm box jumpps
5 weighted pull ups
5 rounds

I ran through this one without really stopping! I did'nt time it, but will have to do so the next time..

Gotta get back to following to the .com WoD's again!

Much love

In other news!

2009-05-26T01:53:00.000-07:00

I have been out of phase with the main site , but I am working on getting back to following the WoD's.
I have however done a couple of WoD's lately, and I am pretty happy with the results:

The twins:
23:26

A nasty workout, that I feel like I could have gone faster on, but still have to admit that if I had gone faster, I would probably have hit the wall harder!

"Grace"
4:13 New PR!!!

I really want to get under 4 min, but I will have to do so in a gym that actually allows dropping the weights on the ground..

4Rounds of
400m run
50 squats
12:32

I just hate this one, so I am praying that doing it will make me a better athlete:-)

Much love

Mads

CrossFit Svea..

2009-05-23T02:29:00.000-07:00

I wish I had some good news to share with you today, but the truth is that today is almost all about bad news!

Crossfit Svea is no more!
After a brief meeting we have decided not to continue our work with CrossFit Svea. We all have different reasons for making this decission, primarily private.
I hope that the participants of CrossFit Svea resurface somewhere else in the CrossFit sphere, and that we will all enjoy success in our endevours!

I plan on putting all my energy into doing as well as I possibly can on the certs on the european tour, and doing lectures.
I look forward to the challenge and spending time with some of the best CrossFit trainers in the world..

For now that is it, but I will be back!

Much love

Mads

Back home!

2009-03-11T12:28:00.000-07:00

After the most horrible return trip I have been on, since Rasmus got sick on the way back from Santa Cruz when he was only a year old, I am finally back in Stockholm. in the snow, the cold, and nowhere near my favorite box in the whole wide world CFSCC.
Dont get me wrong, I am exstatic about being back with my beautiful wife and my wonderful son, but there is not an inch of my body that does not want to pack up our stuff and bring all of us to Santa cruz- I swear that if there was a way to do so- I would!

Since I just got back, there really is'nt all that much to tell, except that I did my own little modification of todays WoD which as a 20 min AMRAP of:
3 Dead hang pull ups
5 ring push ups
15 abmat sit ups!

Result 14 rounds- by no means impressive, but it felt good to work out even if I got home pratically in the middle of the night!
I just wanted to share a few lines before I go to bed, and battle the incoming jetlag..

Much love

Supremely Happy!

2009-03-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

Once again I have to admit right of the bat that this will be short entry- I have just passed my level ll certification in Union City, and so I am on my way to celebrate with my travel mate Micke- There is no zone tonight baby:-)

I passed the level ll cert in Manchester in may- but this was an entirely different beast all together! In Manchester I helped coach the level l cert, and was evaluated by the instructors afterwards, and awarded the level ll certification. This was completely different!
This was a weekend of coaching the 9 fundamental crossfit movements while being scrutinized by HQ trainers on day one. The second day is coaching the movements while being observed and evaluated by the coaches...
Everything you do is observed and commented on, the first day, and the second day random exercises are being picked and you have to teach them to complete strangers, using the progressions, focus points etc- and you are then evaluated... Of the entire class I was the only one who passed!
It is without a doubt the hardest thing I have done in a very long time, so right now I am just super happy to have become a better trainer, to have met even more fantastic crossfitters, learned new teaching technipues- and passed the cert..

I am sorry that my thoughts dont make a lot of sense right now, so ill log of and get back later..

Much love

Waiting for the cert tomorrow..

2009-03-06T20:08:00.000-08:00

Once again I am super tired, but I'll try to give you a short run through the day!

This morning I went to get coffee for some of the people in the 7am class, and some that were going to take the 8am class! Someone there has a secret addiction to coffee served in a white cup with a black lid- preferably with a litttle coffee stains on the side-you know who you are!

The workout today was a Zac special (I think at least, it had that taste to it).
1 muscle snatch
1 snatch balance
1 snatch
1 overhead squat
X 5
250 meter row sprint
repeat the above 5 times, adding weight through the workout!

On the board it looked like a pretty easy workout, but looking at the people who did the wod at 7am you could tell that it was nothing but easy..
I did the wod and worked my way up to 115lbs, and felt that I would like to go a bit heavier the next time I do this- It was a lot of fun, and I highly recommend it!

After that we said our goodbyes to everyone at CFSCC, and went back to the hotel to check out and make our way to Union City.
We got here faster than we had expected, and went looking for the gym. When we got there it was closed, so we went to eat lunch at a disgusting diner, before we went shopping for zone friendly snacks!
Then we went back to the gym to say hi to Freddie,, and look at the box.. Itwas a bunch of fun to see the box that I have only ever seen on the internet in real life!

So now we are back at the hotel, resting, and getting ready for the cert tomorrow- keeping my fingers crossed that I have prepared well enough- that remains to be seen, please keep your fingers crossed for me..

That is all for today folks, I hope to be back online tomorrow night..

Much love

2 PR's today, and some pose running...

2009-03-05T19:52:00.000-08:00

I have to admit right of the bat that I am super tired and on my way to bed after a very cozy dinner with bunch of the people from CFSCC, so you will have to excuse me if this one gets a bit short!

As always I went to the gym to work out at 8am. The WoD was:
OHS 1- 1- 1
Front Squat 2- 2- 2
Back Squat 3- 3- 3
I dont have the numbers in my head right now but I got a new PR in both the front squat and the back squat- so I was super stoked about that, until a freak of nature named Skip outlifted med by 100lbs! This would not have been surprising if he had been some strength lifting monster, but I say him haul ass through "Michael" the other day, so nedless to say I was a little surprised to see him lift super heavy as well.. It truly is an impressive enviroment to be in!

After that I just hung around the gym for a while, helping out with the 9am class, and watching Micke crush the lifts. He has never done these lifts heavily before, because his shoulders have been giving him a bunch of trouble- but he decided to try it anyway, and he did great.. I think he found the tecnique more challenging than the weights that were on the bar! Give him 6 months of mixing these lifts into his WoD's and he'll be a superfreak!

Shari had promised that even I could learn how to run, and maybe even enjoy it! Needles to say I had my doubts, but I looked forward to trying the POSE running and seeing if it would actually make a difference? So a little later today Shari took some time of to teach me, and the difference was fantastic!
I have to admit to myself that I will never be able to run for Ethiopia in the olympics, but this was amazing. I still have to get the angle of my forward inclination to fit the cadance of my feet, and the breathing to fit into the tempo, but it was definately the easiest running I have ever done in my life.. I got a bunch of tools on how to work with this, that I am bringing home with me, and the plan is to become a better POSE runner during the summer.. I am already seeing a faster helen time approaching...

I a completely spent, and have to got to bed now, so this is it for today..

Much love

Little Dee!

2009-03-04T11:24:00.000-08:00

True to form, I'll start by letting you in on what the beaten heroes did last night!

We finally got to dinner at Shari and her roomie's place! After just hanging out at the hotel, taking it easy and looking at the rain, we went over to Shari's place. She had made a fantastic zone dinner, and for the first time in a copuple of days we had a real dinner! It was greatly appreciated, and it was nice to sit there and talk and take easy in a family like enviroment, instead of eating at out room, or some boring restaurant!

This morning I went to the box for the 8am class, and Micke came in for the 9am class! It is actually a great set up, because Micke really wanted to take a walk to the box, and I really wanted to stay after the work out at 8am and help out at the 9am class! So it works really well for both of us!
Todays WoD was "little Dee".
1 mile run (can be subed for 100 double unders and 50 box jumps)
45 shoulder press (at fran weight)
1 mile run
for time
for time!
I came in at 19:23 and Micke fought it through the shoulder presses, and came in at about 25 min.
Once again the run was what really did me in. I run like Forrest Gump (while he was still in braces) and that just killed my second run time. It is a really funny WoD though, and I really enjoyed it.
After that I decided that it was time to do some shopping for CFSCC apparel. As it turns out there are hardly any sizes left in t-shirts, which meant that I got a hoodie, but did not manage to find one single t-shirt! I'll just have to get online once the new shipment comes in..

I'm completely spent now, so I'll kick back for an hour or so before it is time to make a trip to O'neill, Patagonia, Santa Cruz surf shop etc, and see if there is anything that I just have to bring back to Stockholm with me;-)

Much love

Mads

Getting slaugherted on "Michael"..

2009-03-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

Before I get into the specifics on today, let me just share with you how our two heroes ended their day yesterday!
We were supposed to have dinner with Shari. So we decided to take a walk through the mall, and have a cup of coffee. After that we went back to CFSCC just to spy on everyone and get some more inspiration.. Then we went back to the hotel to kick back before it was time to go to dinner.
This is where the plan fell apart! We were both completely spent, and both looked like zombies on our way to our second death, so we called Shari and decided to take a raincheck.. As it turned out she was in pretty much the same shape, so it all worked out for the better!

Today I drove to the gym to participate in the 8am class, and Micke decided to take a walk to the gym and do the 9am class.
When I got there, the first thing that struck me was that the WoD was "Michael"!
800m run
50 GHD sit ups/ 60 ab mat sit ups/ 30 K2E
50 Back ext
3 rounds for time
Tara, who was in charge of the class immidiately said that everyone should be aware that so many GHD sit ups could cause a bunch of trouble if we were planning to work out tomorrow as well! So I decided to do one of each. GHD the first lap, ab mat the second and K2E the last! As it turns out that was not where the trouble would be for me, the sit ups went really well, it was the back ext and running afterwards that just about killed me!
The first lap felt like a walk in the park, the second felt like someone had beat my lower back with a bat.. Im not even going to get into how the last lap felt!
It was carnage, and I never thought Id get through- 29:23 and the longest half hour ever!
Afterwards it was Mickes turn, and he had the exact same experience, except he did some smooth planning and was able to run virtually all the time, whereas yours truly had to stop and breathe life back into my lower back! (how you do that is a trade secret I am not quite ready to share yet!)
We brought a bag of Crossfit Svea t-shirts to the gym today! Everybody got one, and posed for a fantastic picture- I am also sure that a lot of the effortless PR's that were set today, were set because of the shirts!

After that we went back for the hotel for some lunch, before it was time to go back and do another class with Tony Budding!
We got back to the gym at 13:00 just in time for me to borrow a pair of lifting shoes, and get ready for an hour of clean pratice, working towards a new PR!
My hip has been a major concern and so I have not been too keen on going heavy lately, but I thought I'd give it a try, and I am supremely happy I did! After a very tutorial and inspirationel hour I nailed a new PR of 97kg, and failed miserably at 100kg! It feels like its all in the head, and some new direction in the lifts is forthcoming!

Now we are back at the hotel recovering, getting ready for dinner with Shari and her roomie a little later!
I'm looking forward to seeing how my back feels tomorrow, there is a good chance that it will be completely wrecked....

For now that is it folks.. much love!

Finally in Santa Cruz..

2009-03-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

Well folks! After the longest trip I have been on in a while Micke (mr South) and I are finally in Santa Cruz.
I just have to tell you a bit about the trip!
Jenny and I picked up Micke yesterday morning at his place at 06.30am. It turns out that he had been gone on a gig the night before and had not had any sleep that night, because he was busy getting the last details for the trip ready- but the plan was to get some sleep on the flight coming over! I on the other hand thought I would be studying on the way over, since my travel buddy would be sleeping..
We both passed out on the flight to London, and slept almost all the way.. But that was the end of sleeping as it turned out..
We got on the plane to San Francisco along with half of the population of India, and as it turned out they had no plans of sleeping at all. They we talking at a very high volume, at the same time as they were sharing some foods, that I have no clue how they got through customs, but the smelled like nothing Homeland security would allow on a plane. As if that was not enough, it turns out that they have their very own rules about the usage of cell phones while in flight! They were making calls and talking on their phones on more than one occation- while we were cruising at 10000 feet... Complete nut cases! Needless to say we did'nt get any sleep!

However we got to San Francisco without dropping out of the sky- no thanks to the indians, and proceedde to the car rental place, where we picked up the car that Micke had rented from home. Let me just stress from the beginning that it is a car that fills our every need and will get us from point A to point B, but..... but..... but.... I like big cars, and this would fit in the glove compartment of our car at home... We are in the States driving the smallst car in the country;-)

We got to Santa Cruz, and immidiately went to buy some food, so we could get some zone approved wraps, and then passed out on our beds!

This morning we had breakfast, and went to CrossFit Santa Cruz Central, where we meet up with Annie and Shari- without a doubt some of the most possitive and energetic people in the world. We watched the 8am class, and then did the WoD at 9am.. It was Grace!
Neither Micke or I have ever done Grace, so it was a bit nerve wrecking to begin with that- but we hustled through.. I had the pleassure of doing the WoD with Zac "superfreak" Pine..
It is always such a pleassure to walk into the box and meet everybody, and I feel blessed to be able to come here and feed of the possitive vibe, and meet all the people who work out here..
I'll be going back later today spying and getting inspired!

Well its time for a snack, and then take it easy for a while...

Much love

No excuses!

2009-02-22T03:49:00.000-08:00

I'm hoping the heading got you wondering what mischief I have been up to, and what has gotten me all up in a knot again- but before I get into that I'll give you a short run through the last days training!

#1 Squat cleans 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 1
I worked my way up to 80kg and feel pretty happy with that. This is still one of these exercises that (once it gets a bit heavier) I start wondering if my hand, my hip and my knee will hold up? This time I had no problems whatsoever, but I felt that I was not pulling myself under the bar agressively enough, mainly because I chickened out! I'll just have to be happy with this for now, and let it all develop with some baby steps.. I have even been thinking that when everything starts feeling better, maybe I should make a trip to Manchester, and have the demon trainer Karl help me out..

#2 With a running clock, do 1 pull up the first minute, two the next etc, until you can no longer finish the pull ups in a minute!
I made it to 15 pull ups- and on the next laphad to give up at 11.
This is one of these WoD's that plays with my head! I feel fine and it feels like I could go on forever- but my grip just will not let e pass the bar-) Well, at 200lbs I'm pretty happy with getting to 15- next time I'll nail 16 for sure!

#3
50 ring dips
400m run
50 push ups
400m run
50 HSPU
400m run
What do you say? I was on fire until I got to the HSPU- and then it was like I just ran into a wall! 24:12 WOW I felt like I was invincible and hit the ground hard- these WoD's sure make me feel like I have a lot to work on!
However, every rep was legit, every single one!

Yesterday- Joshie!
I decided to use a 20kg dumbell, which I later realized converts to something like 44lbs the requirement is 40lbs! I did the first round with l-pull ups and then realized that the gym would close before I ever finished if I was to continue doing l-pull ups, so I opted for CTB instead!
34:06....... what can I say? JUst really happy I actually got it done:-)

No excuses!
When was the last time you took some time of to look through the comments posted after a days WoD on the main site, or any other site actually?
It is amazing to see how many excuses people have! It is scary to read how many people beging their post with: " Well I did'nt get enough sleep last night!" " I have been having a cold lately!" "I had to do my WoD at a time of the day I dont usually work out!" and the list goes on and on with more or less legit excuses, before the results are posted.
Why do you do that? If you have really given all you had to give and done everything you possibly could, there should be no need for excuses! You may not be able to do everything as rxd because of injuries or because you simply can't perform the exercise yet, or dont have the equipment at hand. I have no problem whatsoever with that, but when you begin your post with making excuses to your performance, something is wrong! You either did'nt give it your best shot, and feel like you need to justify your lack of commitment- or you have forgotten that it is all about your own personal development as an athlete, not about how your results meassure up to everyone elses! Just because you cant post a sub 7 Helen or a 400 point fight gone bad does not mean that you have to justify your effort- instead celebrate your development, and be honest to yourself about what you can improve!
There is another beast that comes along with this mindset that you dont want to feed- low self-esteem! When you have gotten into the habbit of making excuses for your efforts you will soon begin actually believing in these excuses and use them to legitimize (is that a a word) your lack of effort to towards improvement! Don't ever bring yourself down- other people will gladly do that for you! Instead be honest to yourself, and boldly evaluate your workouts and post your scores and reflections, it is better for you, and you deserve the boost that comes along with doing the WoD's!

Well a week from now I will be on a plane towards some fantastic training, but I promise to be in touch before that!

You gotta love Rippetoe!

In response to a question regarding how to bail out of a squat...
" In my gym, you get spotters, you safely dump it backwards loaded with the bumper plates, or you learn how to accurately judge your ability.
If you dump the bar on rails or pins or anything else in here, I will beat the cum out of you with the remnants of the bar."

Much love

Mads

What do you think?

2009-02-16T11:36:00.001-08:00

I have been taking it easy the last 3 days, missing every single WOD! I have felt a cold coming on, and the departure for Santa Cruz is just around the cornor, so I decided to take it easy.. Not an entirely depressing decission, since it gave me extra time with my family..

I do however have a question I would like to share with you! Before I move on I would like to stress that I do not have a stone carved answer to the question, but I would like to hear what you have to say? So here we go:

Lately there have been some fantastic achievements on the .com site. I'm thinking about Rhabdo's and Speal's "fran times, but there have been others as well! These are fantastic achievements and I am genuinly impressed with these efforts, full ROM or not, these are kick ass achievements!

My question however is aimed more at those striving towards someday achieving such feats!

When you have an athlete who is doing a WOD, and the athlete has to rest to gain composure, breath, focus etc. before continuing the WOD, do you recommend that the athlete takes ie. 3 deep breaths and then continue, or do you recommend a slightly longer rest so that more reps can be done before the athlete has to rest again, or finnish the WOD?

Do you see where I am going? Would you rather that the athlete takes a slightly longer rest and as a consequense of this is able to do more reps, or do you push the athlete to rest less and risk that the athlete has to rest sooner?

Lately I have been experimenting with both, and found that the results vary from individual to individual, and from day to day, from WOD to WOD and is also depending on what time of day it is!

What are your own personal experiences? What are you experiences from client to client etc- please share..

For now that is all folks, until next time

Much love

Mads

Ps.. the picture... early days, how many people can you name?

To sub or not to sub- that is the question!

2009-02-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

I have been called a "square" on many occations, and not always wrongly so. This means that I have been reluctant to substitute exercises and do WOD's that were not posted on the .com site. The exception being when I have been doing the programming myself, or following the expert programming of someone else, but then I have always strived towards actually doing the WOD's as perscribed!

These days however I find myself caught between a rock and a hard place! On the one side I want to follow the WOD's posted on the .com site. On the other hand I have to listen to my body in order to recover from the afore mentioned injuries. The last 3 days have been taxing that way! If nothing else I hope I will eventually become a better man for having to use the inside of my head and not just charge into the WOD's and tear something again??

Monday:
I had to come up with a combo of my own:
Overhead squat 50kg
HSPU
9/1- 8/2- 7/3- 6/4- 5/5- 4/6- 3/7- 2/8- 9/1
Time 11:48
Once again not a breath taking accomplishment, but nothing hurt afterwards

Tuesday:
The guilt of not having done Cindy on monday nagged me all monday and all tuesday, so I decided to go for it:
5 Pull Ups
10 Push Ups
15 Squats
AMRAP in 20 minutes
Score 17 rounds- every rep legit!
A far cry from my best performance, and I felt the need for improved cardio all the way through the WOD. My wrists and knee hurt like hell afterwards. For some odd reason though I felt like I had made up for the previous days "Cheat".. Wise or not? That remains to be seen!

Wednesday:
I saw the WOD on the .com site and immidiately felt an urge to do the WOD. It is a fantastic WOD and I have a strange love for squat cleans and ring dips, at the same time as I have improved my double unders dramatically, so I really wanted to hit this one hard.
However- my knees were killing me from Cindy the day before, so there was no way I dared do this one, and doing it half way was just not an option, so I decided on:

Deadlifts:
1- 1- 1- 1- 1-
100kg- 120kg- 140kg- 150kg- 160kg
I guess I should just be happy that my hip felt ok, but I still feel guilty for not doing todays WOD.

The need to be wise!
I am not sure if my current situation of having to nurse injuries have propelled me into the discussions I have been getting into lately, however I feel that I need to make a point!

I often meet people how are fantastic athletes and avid crossfitters, who seem to think that every single WOD is a competition, and the need to better past performances is the only objective. They will substitube exercises they do not completely master in a WOD just to make sure they are not slowed down during the execution of the WOD.
They will sacrifice technique in squats, deadlifts, shoulder presses, push presses, push jerks etc. just to make sure that the score/weight is better than the one they recorded the last time they did the WOD.
Needless to say the objective should always be to improve from one WOD to the next, and to evolve as an athlete, and I will be the first to cheer for a faster "Fran" time, and celebrate a new PR squat- I just dont think it should be achieved through a thick skull and some borderline lethal effort, but through a combination of improved technique and the increased strength that comes along with said techniqual improvement!

First of all the borderline effort, based on poor technique and a skull thick enough to stop a magnum (not to mention the instances where the reps are just not good enough to be counted!). will lead to a sudden stop in the athletes development, when no amount of stubbornness will get the athlete any further. The alternative being that the athletes seriously injures him/herself, which will make all progression impossible!
But there is an altogether more serious aspect that is not to be forgotten! CrossFit is about becoming a better athlete, and developing new skills, so sometimes you just have to take a step back, and use the WOD's to improve your skills!
If your squat is not flawless and the WOD of the day is to do squat sets of 3-often the way to a new PR is to use that WOD to improve your technique. and you may very well find yourself blasting your old PR the next time you give it a shot!

I am not trying to lash out at anyone, it just makes me geniunly sad when athletes with true potential loose themselves in the competition, and forget that in order to improve in the long run, you have to master the technique..

For now that is all, but I will be back shortly

Much love

Ps... keep an eye on www.crossfitsvea.com things are about to happen on that site... Call it a gut feeling:-)

Now add intensity!

2009-02-07T11:41:00.000-08:00

I said I'd aim to keep the blogg alive and kicking and be back with updates as frequently as possible. The problem however is that sometimes there is just nothing to tell, and things are moving along at a steady pace- so instead of the breaking news of "fantastic feats" that you are used to- this is more of an update, so here we go!

Training has been really good lately. I have had to amove along at a very slow pace just to make sure that all the injuries I have had, would not bust open again. So I decided to sacrifice intensity and do the WOD's as rxd and see how everything responded.

Needless to say my cardio was piss poor, but that hardly came as a surprise, and the way to improve it is really basic- 3- 2- 1- GO! So in that department I have my work cut out for me!

3- 2- 1- SLOW!

Strength wise however I managed to work my way to a 5 across squat of 117,5kg without experiencing any pain during the squats or afterwards- you have no idea how good that felt!

Push press is still virtually impossible for me to do, my wrist immidiately gets swollen, och hurts.

The good news however is that I absolutely nailed the jerk! I have been feeling that it was in the making for a while but the timing has been off just a little. But I got it, owned it, tore it apart- now it is time to do it heavier and during a cardio WOD, and see if I still feel as gutsy as I do now?

In other news:-)

In 22 days I'll be going to Santa Cruz with my dear friend Micke Syd- We will be there for a week, working out at NSC, Santa Cruz and Central- gather inspiration, hang out with some of the most wondeful people in the world, learn, laugh, and just basically enjoy- I just wish more people could come along! If you have not had the chance to go to Santa Cruz yet- please start making plans, it is worth it all the way!

Rumor has it!

That in Virginia Beach a very cool cat is in the process of opening a box which will be called CrossFit Obsession!m I wish you all the luck in the world bro' and look forward to visiting with you, and seeing you in Stockholm:-)

Well folks that is all for now! It is time to add intensity to the WOD's and keep my fingers crossed that everything will hold up!

Much love

Just married....

2009-01-29T10:32:00.000-08:00

First on a private note!

... Just got back from a couple of weeks in Thailand, during which Jenny and I got married. It was a fantastic ceremony, and we had the good fortune of having everything go exactly the way it was planned. We were kind of expecting that something would go wrong, or at least not as we planned, since this is Thailand, and past experiences have shown that just about everything can turn into a complete disaster:-) It did not! We had a fantastic day and some lifelong memories to show for it.. I feel blessed!

Onto the inevidable CrossFit part of the blogg!

Like most of you know I have been haunted by injuries lately. Just when one thing got better, another would come out of nowhere and send me back to square one. Just before we went to Thailand the status was:

1 torn knee ligament

1dislocated hip

1 broken wrist

Needless to say this forced me to modify virtually every single WOD I did, with some pretty sad results to show for my efforts. So I decided to take it easy in Thailand and just let it all rest. This does not mean that I did'nt train- it just meant that I took it easy, and did some bw WOD's instead of following the HQ WOD's.

The result came immediately when the diferent pains eased, and I felt my mobility increase almost on a daily basis. So I was pretty excited to see how it would all feel when I got back home and got back into following the HQ WOD's, and so far it has felt really good.

Yesterday I did:

Thrusters 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 1- 1

I got to 80kg without feeling any pain! Not a mind blowing result, but the point is that nothing hurt!

Today I did "Elizabeth"

I did the workout in something like 15min with 135 lbs. Once again not something that would put me in contention for the fittest man alive, but no pain!

I am super happy that nothing was hurting after the WOD's and it feels like the future could be bright:-) I have decided to take it super easy the next week or so before I begin adding more intensity to the WOD's, hoping that this will be the way to get better without tearing up any of the old injuries, or acquiring new ones...

For now that is all, but I a planning on keeping the blog alove again, and letting you all know how it goes. I'll be going to Santa Cruz the first week in march to train with some of the most inspirational and fantastic people in the CrossFit community, so I would really like to stay in one piece until then- who knows maybe even be in shape? We will just have to see what the future brings:-)

Much love

Mads

days 12-13-14...

2008-12-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

As follows:-)

Day 12
"Olympic Total"
1 rep max snatch
1 rep max clean and jerk
Then 30 seconds on, 30 seconds rest, 6 rounds for total metres.

--------

Day 13
Push Press 3-3-3-3-3
Then in 5 mins;Run 200m and in the remaining time do as many 95lb thrusters as you can.
Rest 2 mins
Then in 5 mins;Run 200m and in the remaining time do as many pull ups as you can.

--------

Day 14
Front squat 10x3 reps
Do across at 90% of 3RM.

Much joy

days 8-9-10.. Karl says hi:-)

2008-12-02T22:40:00.000-08:00

Day 8

500m row
25 ring dips
500m row
20 ring dips
500m row
15 ring dips
500m row
10 ring dips
500m row
5 ring dips

Day 9

Build up to the heaviest unbroken lift through the complex;
3 deadlift
3 hang squat clean
3 push press
3 front squat

Day 10

3 rounds of;
Run 400m
21 pull ups
12 kbell swings

Once again this just goes to show that if you are in the market for some fantastic training, but don't feel like spendign half your future heritage on airfare, all you have to do is rally on over to CrossFit Manchester....
While you are there make a point of staying at the most glamorous hotel in town.... Which one could that be?

Much love

Days 5-6-7... sorry I'm late!

2008-11-30T10:07:00.000-08:00

I was supposed to post these days two days ago, which means that I have robbed you of the opportuninty to do the WOD's percribed by Karl for days 5 and 6. The mistake is all mine and I am so sorry about that- My suggestion is that you have these days in the back of your mind, and tey to make them up sometime in the future..

Here are the WOD's as described by the man himself:

Day 5
"The Chief"
As many rounds in 3 mins of;
3 power clean, 60kg / 40kg
6 press ups
9 squats
Rest 1 min
5 rounds.

Day 6
Run 400m
Rest 2 mins
4 rounds for time.

Day 7
For time;
Row 1000m
5 rounds of;
6 push jerk, 60kg / 40kg
25 pull ups

That is all for now, but I promise that I will not be late with posting the WOD's again..

Much love

Blessings from Karl...

2008-11-24T12:38:00.000-08:00

My month of programming has come to an end, and it is Karl Steadman of CrossFit Manchester who has taken over the rodder.. For the next month he will be sharing some of his skill and insight with us, and doing the programming..

I feel very fortumate to be able to follow his lead, and hopefully discover some new ways of excelling as an athlete..

Day 1

Back Squat 10x3 reps

All sets to be done at 85% of your current 3RM.

Day 2

Weighted Pull Ups 7x1 reps

Day 3

As many rounds in 5 mins of;

7 thrusters

7 pull ups

Rest 2 mins

3 rounds

Day 4

Rest

I look forward to seing how everyone does, and don't forget to post your results!

Much love

Mads