Our athletes have been working on the olympic lifts often this year and it is really paying off. Powerful people are being built here at Rogue. Today we worked on Overhead squats and had several folks triple at close to 200# with one single at 250#. That’s strong work folks.

After that it was on to a workout consisting of squat cleans, pullups, and box jumps. Squat cleans are mentally and physically challenging but thrown in with a serious cardiorespiratory component they are downright torturous. As fatigue sets in the effort required to move weight upward against gravity and get back under it increases significantly. Our athletes proved themselves like they do every day and became stronger mentally and physically for their effort.

Do you want to see how strong you really are inside as well as outside? Give us a call at 419-708-9187 for a free workout and come see for yourself.

It was just another day at the gym as our athletes pushed themselves to extremes in an effort to get better at life. On the menu for the WOD were hang snatches and burpees. These movements truly embody moving large loads over long distances quickly. Within those two movements all aspects of fitness are covered.

Moving a weight upwards at maximum velocity and getting under it before gravity takes effect requires strength to get the weight moving, agility to change direction, and speed to get back under the weight in addition to the obvious coordination requirement. Put together strength and speed in the same movement and you’ve got power. Try squatting with that same weight overhead and you develop significant amounts of fliexibility, balance, and accuracy. Throw in some burpees for cardiorespiratory endurance and stamina and you’ve covered all ten principles of fitness. That’s not bad for a day’s workout.

If you want truly functional fitness that can be used inside or outside a gym call us at 419-708-9187. The first workout is free and you can see for yourself if this is for you.

We have been establishing new benchmarks and goals for 2010 over the last couple of weeks. These photos represent just 3 of the workouts within the last week. Those workouts are Diane, Annie, and Elizabeth.

The first workout includes deadlifts and handstand pushups – weightlifting and gymnastics skills requiring large amounts of lower and upper body strength, endurance, stamina and balance. The second includes double unders with a jump rope and situps – bodyweight manipulation with a strong cardiorespiratory, coordination, and accuracy component. The third includes squat cleans and ring dips -weightlifting and gymnastics requiring a significant amount of power, coordination, and flexibility.

Like all the workouts here at Rogue these represent a broad spectrum of physical requirements. We train so that a 250# man can balance on his hands as well as pick up heavy weight from the floor. We also train so that women can move large loads overhead, do pullups and run short and long distances. We do this so that our members can go outside the gym and use those skills and abilities in their respective sports and lives.

We also had to include a few photos from the max. deadlift day. It was amazing to see folks setting personal records and really moving big weight around. Craig set our guys gym record with 513# and Diana set the gym record for the ladies at 250#. Every single person that lifted had excellent form. Great job everyone!

It seems strange to us that folks will go to gyms to run on a treadmill and lift weights on machines. While these are tools and certainly better than not working out the skills don’t transfer to anything outside the gym unless you happen to be a lab rat. If you want to learn skills that can be transferred to what you do outside the gym while you get in the best shape of your life give us a call at 419-708-9187 or e-mail us. The first workout is free and you can see right away if this is for you or not.

New Year’s Day was a great day in the gym! We had a noon Fight Gone Bad to kick off 2010 and everyone did an awesome job. I am fairly positive that everyone who had done this workout in 2009 set a PR going into the new year. That’s outstanding considering that there were a few folks that obviously overindulged the night before.

The holidays are over and it’s time to get serious about training again. It’s good for the body and mind to take a break from the grind periodically and the holidays are an obvious time to do that. With the holidays behind us it’s a great time to set some goals for the year and start working on them.

Right now go write down a list of short term and long term goals that are achievable over the next few weeks, months, and year. The goals should be measurable and obtainable. Saying that “I want to deadlift 405#” is measurable – and a great goal for almost anyone – while saying “I want to get stronger” is not. However, if you currently deadlift 135# then setting a goal for a deadlift of 405# within the next 3 months is probably not very realistic. So set goals that can realistically be accomplished. At the end of the year you will be amazed at what you have accomplished if you simply set some goals.

If you are ready to start meeting your fitness goals and need a little help give us a call here at 419-708-9187. We’ll do everything we can to help you get the results you are looking for. The first workout is free and we can discuss your goals and what we can do to help you accomplish them.

It’s been a while since my last post so I thought I would post from several workouts throughout the week. As usual our athletes have done a variety of functional movements and done them well. From heavy deadlifts to “Big Cindy” to blistering clean and jerks it has been a good week here at Rogue.

Vastly more important than the workouts are the people here. There are many notable achievements from this year but I would like to note just a couple here.

Beth has been the most inspirational person in the gym to me personally this year. She has come from struggling to complete workouts in the beginning to finishing strong now. She comes in routinely, rarely misses class, and I have never heard her complain. Beth embodies what CrossFit can do for someone who keeps grinding away regularly and working hard.

Joe has been a huge help training this year as well as an inspiration! Anyone who says that they are getting weaker as they age or that they can’t do as much as they used to needs to talk to Joe. He has packed on 10 pounds of muscle this year, his form looks 100 times better than it did last year, and he is beating guys half his age in the workouts. He does all this when he’s not busy with his full-time job as a pastor helping others.

I have to apologize for not regularly posting the great things you are all doing. On a daily basis you all accomplish small goals that add up to great things. When I look back at the year it blows me away how far everyone has come. I am glad to know every person that trains here at Rogue. You are all what makes this worth doing!

X-Mas schedule is as follow:
X-Mas Eve – 8AM only
X-Mas – closed
New Years Eve – 8 AM only
New Years Day – noon class only

If I don’t post prior to New Year’s Day remember we’ll be here at noon for a workout that day and then jumping in the Maumee River at 2:30PM to ring in the New Year. Make sure you are here if you’re in town and work off that hangover. Feel free to bring a friend and if you’ve wanted to try CrossFit come in New Year’s Day and jump in. You’re more than welcome here.

While we’ve still got some decent weather here in Toledo for fall running the winter rowing season will soon be upon us. When things turn snowy our athletes move from decent rowers to really strong rowers as we are forced to abandon running. It’s almost that time of year again so we thought we would put together some sprint rowing with a couple of other movements to start preparing for a great season of rowing. With the performances our athletes put in today it looks to be a great winter!

If you want to stay in shape during the winter instead of following the usual pattern – fatten up in the winter and take it off in the spring – give us a call at 419-708-9187 or e-mail us. Come spring you’ll be glad you did.

We decided to really challenge our athletes today with a short, brutally intense workout. We slightly modified the standard CrossFit WOD named “Fran” which is 21-15-9 repetitions of thrusters and pullups. It is a seemingly simple couplet with a huuuuge metabolic requirement. It is also possibly the most well-known CrossFit WOD in existence. “What’s your Fran time” is a typical question between virtually all folks who have even a little experience with CrossFit.

However, in the spirit of constantly varied workouts we decided to change things up a bit and substitute pullups for sumo deadlift high pulls (SDHP). Thus the WOD was 21-15-9 thrusters (95#) and SDHP (95#). We required our athletes to complete continuous, weighted, and violent hip extension. Our athletes named this one Sumo Fran and it packed the whallop we wanted it to. Everyone powered through but it certainly wasn’t easy. Everyone has a really good idea of just where their lungs are located and how their maximum heart rate feels.

If you want to see what kind of challenge short intense workouts pose come check us out. Give us a call at 419-708-9187 or send us an e-mail. The first workout is free and you’ll know if this is for you or not right away.

Our athletes rolled both snatches and cleans into their WOD this fine day. It has been clear and crisp today in Toledo and our athletes looked spunky and in fine form. Everyone got a good dose of power, agility, and coordination in their training. Many of our athletes have excellent command of both olympic lifting movements. Great job everyone!

If you want to learn how to add some different movements into your workouts give us a call at 419-708-9187. The first workout is free and you can find out what we have to offer here at Rogue!

Today our athletes moved some serious weight with the back squat. We like to deadlift around here but the back squat is another movement where major weight is moved through a long range of motion. All that adds up to a significant neuroendocrine response and a launch of hormones that will add size and strength to the human body in a hurry.

After the heavy strength component our athletes did a little rowing and some bodyweight movements to get the heart hammering. Everyone is looking good in their movement and really making progress. Take a look back at the blog posts around 3 months ago and then take a look at our athletes today. The changes are simply astounding.

If you want to gain strength and muscle while losing fat give us a call at 419-708-9187 or e-mail us here at john@roguetoledo.com. The first workout is free and you can decide for yourself if this is the program for you.

After heavy front squats our athletes went overhead today. Push presses in the WOD along with burpees made for some tired shoulders and arms. Fortunately our athletes have good hip movement and that is the key to the push press. Much heavier weight can be used in the push press than the strict press because of the hip initiation and leg drive working to accelerate the bar. I bet our athletes would tell you that it’s still not easy moving weight overhead when you’re gasping for air.

If you want to learn how to move heavy weight overhead or from the floor please contact us at 419-708-9187. The first workout is free so you can check us out with no risk to your wallet. You’ll be glad you did.