Have you taken time lately to reflect on your fitness and overall health progress?

If you have not, your assignment today is to do exactly that.

Your reflection could include the gains you have made like squatting or deadlifting more weight.

Your reflection could include listing out movements that you could not do before and can now.

Your reflection could include your new relationship with food. This is for our Paleo Challengers... is food a fuel now rather then an indulgence?

Your reflection could include appreciating how much easier life tasks are now that you are a physically and mentally stronger individual.

No matter what sort of gain you are finding, you should be proud of the work you have put in to achieve it. As coaches, of course we are always proud of our athletes and the work they put in, but our pride is no match to your own.

**Note for Paleo Challengers: Paleo challenge check out begins at 9am on Saturday - arrive anytime between 9:00-10:30am to get measured, photo'd and turn in your journals/essay!

 

Workout of the Day:

8 mins to find 1RM Clean & Jerk (or Clean/Jerk practice for new athletes)

AMRAP, 8 mins:
21 OH walking lunges (25/45) - total NOT per leg
15 Jumping Squats
9 Pushups

YAY! Everyone's favorite movement!!! Double Unders!!!

My experience with double unders has been simple. With some people, certain movements just click. However, there are a few tips that I use to make my double unders easier.

1. Try to Relax! Keep your shoulders down. The rope should be moved by your wrists only!

2. Jump from your toes... Only your toes. You should not need to bend your knees and hips much, just your toes!

3. Practice.

4. Repeat Step 3 a LOT. There really is no cure to any movement except practice!

If what I have to say is not quite enough for you... Here are a few Tips from the amazing Chris Spealler:

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Knock 'em Dead Today!

 

Wednesday, 5/16 is Coach Tony's 40th Birthday!!!

Please take a moment to sign the card by the front desk to present to him at the Member Appreciation party on Saturday.

Also, PLEASE JOIN us for a slight schedule-change on Saturday to celebrate Tony's birthday!  Join us for a workout known appropriately as, "Tony" in lieu of Open Gym at 9am OR on Friday at 615 for the Masters Workout.  It will be a doozey so you won't want to miss either opportunity.

 

Workout of the Day:

AMRAP, 12 mins:
5 Sumo DLHP
10 Push Press
15 Double unders

This is really random but I thought it was super cool:

I know a lot of our Paleo Challengers had issues with trying to give up chewing gum (I will be the first to tell you... there is just no way I was going to be giving it up) but I stumbled upon a little evidence that even cavemen chewed gum!! YUP! However... it definitely was not chalk full of aspertain (that yucky fake sugar that your body basically rejects....) but they did in fact chew it. The article is found HERE

Neolithic humans had gum habit

A 5,000-year-old piece of chewing gum - one of the oldest ever to be discovered - has been found by a British archaeology student.

The discovery of the Neolithic gum, made from birch bark tar, was made by Sarah Pickin, 23, during a dig in Finland. The gum had tooth prints in it.

Trevor Brown, her tutor at the University of Derby, said: "Birch bark tar contains phenols, which are antiseptic compounds. It is generally believed that Neolithic people found that by chewing this stuff if they had gum infections it helped to treat the condition."

He said it was particularly significant because of the well defined tooth prints.

 

Workout of the Day

Every min on the min for 8 min, complete: 2 DL's at 70% of max

Then

For time:
5 Front squat
10 Power Cleans
15 Box Jumps
1 min rest
3 front squats
6 Power Cleans
10 Box Jumps
1 min rest
1 Front squat
3 Power Cleans
5 Box Jumps

What an amazing time we had Friday evening at our White Trash Happy Hour WOD! Happy Hour WODs are open

to all Purgees! Make sure you keep checking on our event page to see when the next themed evening of fun is so you can come!

I wanted to remind everyone about Saturday. We are celebrating Crossfit Purgatory's 2nd Birthday with an 80's Prom - Membership Appreciation Celebration. You should have already RSVP'd and if you are bringing a guest we ask that you pay $5 for them (payments can be dropped off on the same clipboard you RSVP'd on!).  The evening will start at 6 pm with first come first serve dinner followed by drinks, music, and dancing! Remember: Come dressed accordingly and be ready to have a great night! Email Marcy or Aly if you have any questions about the evening!

 

Workout of the Day:

Death by 10 meter

Then

Tabata Squats

If you missed out the fantastic performances of Chris Spealler last weekend at the South West regionals, you owe it to yourself to check out the recaps (games.crossfit.com). Spealler defeated all odds in the last two workouts to squeak into the third qualifying spot. He will now be the only person to attend all six Crossfit Games and he is a man worthy of every person's admiration.

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Can't wait to see everyone tonight at the Happy Hour WOD!

Workout of the Day:

Every min on the min for 10 do 5 squat cleans at 70-80% of 1rm.

Then

8 min AMRAP:  2 strict Pullups, 5 ring dips, 10 wall balls

I found this article and although it isn't directly about Crossfit, the ideas are relevant to the way you act in and outside of the gym.

The full version of the article is HERE

Nine Things Successful People do Differently

1. Get Specific - Make your goal(s) specific and be specific about what you are going to do to achieve them.

2. Seisze the Moment to Act on your Goals - Do not WAIT! Start NOW! Today! This minute!

3. Know Exactly how far Left you have to Go - Honest monitoring is key. Regularly check on your progress and evaluate yourself realistically.

4. Be a Realistic Optimist - In order to achieve anything you MUST believe that you can. Then you have to accept the work and sacrifices that will have to be made in order to achieve it.

5. Focus on Getting Better, rather than being Good - You may believe that no matter what you do, a certain accomplishment is unachievable. Instead, chip away towards that goal... Slowly, bit by bit... and you just may get there.

6. Have Grit - Simply put but one of the most difficult steps. Accept the challenge. Be willing to commit to the challenge. Persistently work hard towards your goal.

7. Build your Will-Power Muscle - Just like any other muscle, if left untrained it will weaken. To build this muscle, try a self-challenge of something you would much rather not do... maybe have no sugar, 100 sit ups a day, eliminate television... challenge yourself and build that muscle.

8. Don't tempt fate - Try not to get overzealous and burn yourself out. If you do, accept that you need slow down your goal-achieving pace and get back on the horse.

9. Focus on what you WILL DO, Not what you WON'T DO - Replace the bad with good while you are on your way to achieving greatness. Positive attitudes out last the negative in all instances.

 

"Most successful men have not achieved their distinction by having some new talent or opportunity presented to them. They have developed the opportunity that was at hand."
-- Bruce Barton

 

Workout of the Day:

Are you DTF?!? (Down to Fran)

21-15-9

Thursters

Pull Ups

It's time to get serious talking about our trip to the CrossFit Games.  If you have been living in a cave for the past year, the CrossFit Games will be held July 13-15 in Carson, Ca at the Home Depot Center.  From Tucson, we are talking about a late Thursday or early Friday drive (6-7 hours) from Tucson.  Events will start early Friday morning and continue through Sunday early afternoon. We had a nice sized group attend last year and hope to have an even bigger group this year!

Things you need to know before you decide:

Hotel - we have a block of rooms reserved at The Courtyard Marriott in nearby Torrance, Ca for $110/night, checking in on 7/13 and out on 7/15.  If you want one of the rooms, email us today to save it.

Venue/Games - Tickets to the Games are $60 for the whole weekend, or $75 if you wait until June.  Buy your tickets here:  http://games.crossfit.com/article/games-tickets-now-sale

Workout of the Day:

2 min max reps:
OHS
1 min rest
2 min max reps:
Pushups with hand release
1 min rest
2 min max reps:
Front squat

Hey all, it's Marcy!  I feel like a guest blogger these days.  I guess I am.  Big kudos to Aly for all of the great things she posts on here to keep you all healthy, safe and motivated.

>>>   The photo to the right was last year's Member Appreciation Party, which we were BARELY able to hold in our home due to the group size.  I am excited to annouce that our home was not even an option this year!  LOL

I wanted to jump in today to take a moment to thank all of you who have taken this journey with us.  As you all know, on May 1st, we celebrated Purg's second birthday.  I don't think that in our wildest imaginations we'd ever imagined we'd be where we are today with Purg back then.  Back then, we opened in just 2400sf of space.  That led to the opening of a third suite, which then opened our new CF room, which was just about 2000sf, plus another 1000sf of strength space.  Its crazy to think that we're already fulling up our new 9600sf gym with so many amazing new faces and personalities!  WE WANT TO THANK YOU ALL for being a part of this amazing journey with us.  So many of you gave up your own time to help us open the original gym, as well as getting up and running in the new one.  We will never forget the things all of you have done to make Purg what it is today.  We've all shared in some amazing moments...life changing moments together.  Again, we will always remember how special it is that you are vulnerable to us and that you allow us to be a part of your changes and transformations.  We don't take it for granted.

With all of that in mind, Tony and I want to personally invite you all (once again) to our 2nd annual Member Appreciation Party.  This night is about US SPOILING YOU.  It's our time to stop and give proper thanks to all of you for your friendships, your vulnerability, your hard work.  WE REALLY HOPE you can take the time to join us in this celebration!   The details are:

Sat, May 19th - doors open at 6pm

Dinner served from 6pm-8pm (this is on us)

Drinks served all evening.

Dancing and entertainment all evening.

2nd annual Purgee awards at 7:30pm (you DO NOT want to miss this!)

So, how do you join all of this fun?

RSVP at Purgatory (front desk) with your name, your guests (guests will cost you $5/each if they are not members).  After that, you need to find the proper hairspray, attire (it is 80's Prom themed) and show up ready for a really good time!!

*Note:  This event is for MEMBERS only.

Next up:  Memorial Day Murph - set aside an hour or so on your Memorial Day to come to Purg and take on one of the most notoriously difficult workouts in the honor of a great American Hero, Lt Michael Murphy.  Details are on the events page.

Finally, remember that this coming Friday is the May Happy Hour WOD - we are repeating one of our favorite themes to date - the WHITE TRASH wod!  So, this upcoming Friday....5:15pm, be at Purg in COSTUME ready for a kick ass good time.  BBQ and Paleo Potluck to follow.  It's time to fire up that new grill, open up all the Purg doors and let our neighbors know we're here to stay!  We're talking about hitting up some Karaoke (which we are LONG overdue in doing!) after as well, so come join the fun!

 

Workout of the Day:

Diane
21-15-9
Deadlift
Handstand Pushup

Hey Guys!

So... I borrow awesome articles from Crossfit Lisbeth all the time and again want to share her words. She is so inspirational and she keeps it real.

Below she explains the necessity of kicking your own booty (which is definitely not easy to do for the average joe... good thing we aren't average!)

Kick yourself in the ass. Go ahead. You know you need to. You know there is something that you should be doing, and yet you’re not doing it. There may be a whole list of things.

I’m like you — I’ve got a list idling over there on the “Ignore” setting. And a whole list of lame excuses to go with it: too busy, too many commitments, too much blah blah blah.

The real truth (don’t you love that phrase? Real truth? Like there could be fake truth?) is that the list sits undone because we don’t want to do those things. It’s simple. We don’t want to do them, so we don’t do them. And then we sit there, guilty, eating chocolate and watching “House” instead of doing hill sprints or filing all that paperwork. (Oh wait, sorry, that was just me.)

Kick yourself in the ass. The day — and the week — will only get better after you do.

Workout of the Day:

For time: 
Run 400m
40 wall balls
Run 400m
40 Power snatch
Run 400m