What is wrong with this picture?

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WOD

Pressing Complex

Every 2 Minutes x 6 Sets:
3 Push Press
3 Push Jerks

“Uplifting”

AMRAP 10:
3 Box Jump Overs (24″/20″)
3 Toes to Bar
3 Push Jerks (135/95)
3 Chest to Bar Pull-ups
6 Box Jump Overs (24″/20″)
6 Toes to Bar
6 Push Jerks (135/95)
6 Chest to Bar Pull-ups
…
Add 3 Reps Each Round

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DAILY MINDSET

“Champions don’t blame the tools they’ve been given. Champions sharpen them.”

Abraham Lincoln once wrote that if he had six hours to cut down a tree, he would spend the first four sharpening the axe.

It doesn’t matter where you started, or even where you’ve been. All that matters is two questions:
Where do you want to go, and…
How hard are you willing to work to get there.

We have what we need. Everyone does. The separation comes down to who is willing to do the work.

Never whine.
Never complain.
Never make excuses.

The 8am group decided it was time to bring their game on Friday and wear their uniforms!
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Happy Birthday Heather B!

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WOD

“Wonderworld”

For Time:
100 Double Unders
21 Power Cleans (155/105)
21 Bar-Facing Burpees 🙂
100 Double Unders
15 Power Cleans (155/105)
15 Bar-Facing Burpees 🙂
100 Double Unders
9 Power Cleans (155/105)
9 Bar-Facing Burpees 🙂

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DAILY MINDSET

“Seek not good from without; seek it within yourselves, or you will never find it.”

~Epictetus

When something goes right, we’re relatively quick to point to the actions we took to get there. But when something goes wrong, we may find ourselves doing the opposite. In comes the “blame game”, where we use external events as excuses.

A core tenant of mental toughness is responsibility.
To accept that we played a role.
But the purpose of that step, taking responsibility, is not to make ourselves feel bad, or worse, throw a pity party. The purpose is that it gives us options.

When we take responsibility and look within, we now are in control. We can now focus on what we need to do to get into a better position. It opens our eyes to the path forward. If we do the opposite however, and blame the externals, we have surrendered control. We won’t have any say in the next steps, as the story we’re telling ourselves is that outside events determine our path.

Responsibility is a weapon. And it only comes from within.

Don’t forget to give your mobility a little attention this weekend!

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Reminder: Shayan will be running Open Gym today from 8:00am to 10:00am. Come get your weekend WOD on!

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WOD

Strict Press

On the 1:30 x 10:
3-3-3-2-2-2-1-1-1-1

“Three For Five”

On the 3:00 x 5 Rounds:
10 Strict Press (95/65)
30 AbMat Sit-ups
Max Calorie Row

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DAILY MINDSET

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

~Vivian Greene

Let’s not wait for the perfect time.
Let’s instead just create it.

“Just start”. We’ve used this approach in our strategy pieces. As we transition from the double-under rope to the wallballs, let’s just start. If we can remove that moment of hesitation, we quickly find those first repetitions are always there… and more. We surprise ourselves with a set of 15 reps, when we could have bet our lives that we might fail the first.

We can either await the picture perfect moment, or we can get outside and create it.

The 8am bad “A’s” cashing out for Lauras Birthday with a little “Bring Sally Up”!

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Don’t forget to jump in on Heathers Zoom Yoga today at 9:15am!  Click here to join.  

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WOD

“Heads or Tails”

AMRAP 25:
Buy-In: 3,000/2,500 Meter Assault Bike

Time Remaining for Max Rounds:
1 Round of “Cindy”
30 Double Unders
5 Hang Power Snatches (115/85)

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DAILY MINDSET

“Laziness, doesn’t get a vote. Frustration, doesn’t get a vote. Weakness, doesn’t get a vote. Negativity, doesn’t get a vote. Only you do.”

~Jocko Willink

As humans, we like comfort. And anything that challenges that comfort, will be met with resistance. And lots of it. It’s our innate self-preservation mechanism kicking in.

Yet there is a difference between acknowledging the voices, and listening to them.

It is a choice to be lazy.
It is a choice to be frustrated.
It is a choice to be negative.

When we can see these emotions for what they are, we can acknowledge them when they arrive. And then put them where they belong. They do not get a vote in how we live our lives. Only we do.

Julie and Buddy were so excited to run during Thursdays WOD!
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WOD

“Open 16.4”

Compare to 3/18/16

AMRAP 13:
55 Deadlifts (225/155)
55 Wallballs (20/14)
55 Calorie Row
55 Handstand Push-ups

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DAILY MINDSET

“Live life on purpose”

~Simon Sinek

As simple as this sounds, every action we take in our lives should have a clear and defined purpose.

As an analogy, let’s use money. When we spend money, there’s a reason. Food for tonight’s dinner, a new pair of shoes, gasoline. It’s very easy to justify. We would never throw our money into the wind. Yet… we can often find ourselves doing so with our time.

Unlike money, which can cycle back around on the next paycheck, we don’t get restocked on time. Be it a morbid thought, we know our days here are limited… time is our most precious, irreplaceable resource.

As we move through our day, take an objective look at the actions we take. Like a CFO analyzing a day of business, reflect tonight on where we spent our time. Because at “years-end-summary”, when our time comes… let’s be proud about how we chose to spend those resources. We only get one chance to do so.

Happy Birthday Laura!

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WOD

“Ketty”

5 Rounds For Time:
400 Meter Run
30 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)
30 Step Back Lunges

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DAILY MINDSET

“I was complaining I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.”

~Confucius

A short story to share.
A man walked into a shop to order some flowers to be sent as a gift to his mother, living 200 miles away.

As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing. He asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars.” The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose.” He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers.

As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, “Yes, please! You can take me to my mother!” She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.

The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the gifting order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother’s house.

At times, we can take many such relationships with our family and friends for granted.

Mondays post WOD aftermath!
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WOD

“Cho To-Go”

AMRAP 5:
40/30 Calorie Row
20 Box Jump Overs (24″/20″)
AMRAP “Macho Man” (135/95)

Rest 5 Minutes

AMRAP 5:
30/21 Calorie Row
15 Box Jump Overs (24″/20″)
AMRAP “Macho Man” (155/105)

Rest 5 Minutes

AMRAP 5:
20/15 Calorie Row
10 Box Jump Overs (24″/20″)
AMRAP “Macho Man” (185/135)

1 Round of “Macho Man” is:
3 Power Cleans
3 Front Squats
3 Push Jerks

Choose weights that allow for:
1st Round: 3 Unbroken Rounds When Fresh (Light-Moderate)
2nd Round: 2 Unbroken Rounds When Fresh (Moderate)
3rd Round: 1 Unbroken Round When Fresh (Moderate-Heavy)

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DAILY MINDSET

“I attribute my success to this – I never gave, or took, any excuse.”

~Florence Nightingale

The terrifying thing about excuses, is that it blinds us to our next move. If we excuse or try to justify a misstep, we at a subconscious level tell ourselves that this is “out of my control”. That this was a fluke, or a chance event, and there’s nothing I could do differently next time.

On the flip side, owning what happens is not about beating ourselves up or throwing pity parties. It’s solely so that we can open our vision on where to go next. To see the lesson in front of us.

Excuses are contagious, and horribly damaging. Let’s take the opposite road, as growth begins with responsibility.

Dustin and Lauren are working on their 2021 fitness with new goals and getting better every day!

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WOD

Body Armor

2 Sets:
1 Minute Banded Pull-Aparts
1 Minute Side Plank (Each Side)
1 Minute Banded Front Plank

“Double-Edged”

7 Rounds For Time:
500 Meter Assault Bike
30 Double Unders
10 Burpees 🙂

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DAILY MINDSET

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but rather by the seeds you plant.”

~Robert Lewis Stevensen

The definition of success is whatever we make of it.

Many directly link results to success. And the lack thereof, to failure. But what if we reshaped that way of thinking. What if we measured success, as the seeds we “plant for tomorrow”? What if we decide that a successful day is deemed so purely by how much we learned?

We can view days as tests.
Or we can view days as opportunities.
Time to go tend to the field.

As always Baylie is looking strong and focused throughout her Overhead Squats!

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WOD

Barbell Complex

On the 1:30 x 6 Sets:
1 Power Snatch
3 Overhead Squats

“Top Shelf”

AMRAP 15:
21 Wallballs (20/14)
12 Power Snatches (95/65)
15 Toes to Bar
12 Overhead Squats (95/65)

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DAILY MINDSET

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.”

~James Clear

If someone has 10 coins, are they rich? Let’s say no.
What if they have 100 coins. Probably not.
What about 1,000 coins?

There is a tipping point. A number where our answer changes to yes. It actually narrows down to a single coin where that takes place.

But… we know it wasn’t just the single coin. It was the culmination of the many before. We can apply this same logic to our identity. By itself, walking the shopping cart back to its home isn’t going to change who we are as an individual. By itself, picking up trash outside of the local school isn’t going to either. It’s the culmination, that will. These votes for who we are, seemingly small at the time, add up.

A pitfall in life is when we view instances throughout our day as insignificant. We tell ourselves, “this won’t make a difference”. Yet at the end of the day, just like the single coin, it’s all that matters.

Lauren is demonstrating what a perfect Push-Up looks like!

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Reminder: Shayan will be running Open Gym today from 8:00am to 10:00am. Come get your weekend WOD on!
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WOD

“Out of the Box”

For Time:
20 Box Jumps (30″/24″)
40 Strict Press (75/55)
600 Meter Run
80 Russian Kettlebell Swings (70/53)
600 Meter Run
40 Strict Press (75/55)
20 Box Jumps (30″/24″)

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DAILY MINDSET

“If people knew how hard I worked to achieve my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful after all.”

~Michelangelo

A quote from a man who is recognized as one of the greatest artists of all time.

There’s the intoxicating myth in our society that there is such a thing as natural-born talent. Some kind of mystical factor that leads to such heights of achievement. Yet here he is, Michelangelo himself, expressing his magic secret.

It’s easy to dismiss achievements to factors we can’t control. To say history is by chance. It’s far harder, to admit that it’s another level of true grit and unrelenting effort. To realize that the great Michaelangelo simply worked his ass off.

Greatness is not by chance. It is by choice. Let’s get to work.