Strength
D.L. 85% of 1Rm 5x3
WOD
3 Rounds
800m Run
Rest 2 minutes between each round
Got to love those Metabolic days...right Trish:)

"A Community that SWEATS Together, STAYS Together."
We want to provide a safe, encouraging, and positive environment for adults, kids, and athletes of all ages to learn, improve, and reach their health and fitness goals. Most importantly we want to be a place that people leave healthier and happier than when they walked in.
Monday September 24, 2012
Friday September 21, 2012
Strength
B. Squat recently achieved 3Rm for four sets
WOD
HELEN
Three rounds for time:
400m Run
21 KB Swings (55/35)
12 Pull-ups
Got to love the Benchmarks!!
B. Squat recently achieved 3Rm for four sets
WOD
HELEN
Three rounds for time:
400m Run
21 KB Swings (55/35)
12 Pull-ups
Got to love the Benchmarks!!
Thursday September 20, 2012
Quick and creamy chicken stew
Serves 6
Ingredients
- One 4lbs roasting chicken;
- ½ cup of clarified butter,
butter or other paleo fat;
- 2 onions, chopped;
- 4 cloves garlic, minced;
- 1/4 cup cassava, almond or
coconut flour, or any other paleo flour (this is optional, as its only
purpose is to thicken the stew);
- 2 cups of homemade
chicken broth or stock (you may decide to add more if you find
the stew too thick);
- 2 carrots, chopped;
- 2 celery stalks, chopped;
- 5-6 white button mushrooms,
sliced or whole;
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk or
heavy cream;
- 2 green onions, sliced;
- ¾ cup of fresh or frozen green
peas;
- Sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper to taste;
Preparation
1. Cut the roasting chicken into
pieces. Divide it into two thighs, two drums, two wings and two breasts.
2. In a large saucepan over a medium
heat, melt the cooking fat. Once melted, add in the chicken pieces and cook
until golden brown on all sides. Remove the chicken and put aside until later.
3. Add the onions to the same saucepan
and cook in the remaining juices. Once they have sautéed and begun to brown,
add the garlic and cook for a few minutes together.
4. If you wish to add thickening paleo
flour, do so now.
5. Whisk in the chicken broth. At this
point you will be able to tell if the stew is too thick. If so, feel free to
add more broth or stock, or even just water. Do so slowly while continuing to
mix.
6. Add in the vegetables and chicken,
along with any juices from where the chicken was resting.
7. Season to taste with salt and
pepper.
8. Allow the stew to come to a simmer,
and then cook on low, but still maintain the simmer.
9. Cover and cook for approximately 30
minutes.
10. Stir
in the cream or coconut milk, green onions and peas.
11.
Cook
for just about another 2 minutes and serve.
This recipe
makes about 6 servings. Double the recipe, it is amazing, and you will want left overs (you can freeze if needed)! Enjoy!
Friday, September 21st 7pm Class
Due to the home football game, we will be moving Friday, September 21st 7pm evening class to 5:30pm. Go Braves!
Location, Location, Location
We have been quietly but actively looking and researching potential locations for Banks Country Fitness and are very excited to announce that we have found our location. We feel this location suits our name perfectly being that its in a setting among the beautiful country side far from the chaos of everyday life, but very convenient for our commuters, as well as our members of both Banks & Forest Grove.
The location will be in Roy across from Steve's Machine Shop. It will include 1100 Square feet of open training space, ample parking, four bay doors for easy inside/outside training, a quarter mile trail run through the trees, and pavement running for those that don't want to get their shoes dirty!
Lastly...the thing that may excite me the most is that after training for years all over the country I believe we are going to have one of the best venues out there. We are getting away from the commercial setting and focusing on whats really important "Your Health". This won't be the place to come if your wanting to check your self out in the mirror or even better watch other people check themselves out in the mirror. You don't need to grab your headphones, a Wal-Street Journal, and hop on the treadmill next to some stranger while you pound away to oblivion with only sub-par results. This will be a place where you challenge yourself to get better everyday, watch and cheer others as you see their improvements. It's why if you have ever been in a good crossfit box the athletes act like best friends and extended family. It's something that just happens naturally as you see the same people make the commitment and sacrifice for their health that you are making.
You always here business professionals say location, location, location....well we now have ours and we can't wait to see what it provides for friends, family, and community!
No this isn't the location but you get the point:) |
Tuesday September 18, 2012
Monday September 17, 2012
Dedication...
Over the last four months, I have had the honor of working with Melissa Masters as she has been preparing for her collegiate softball career. I could go on and say how she is an "animal" in the gym and a "great athlete" like I have heard so many people say; this is true, but I want to focus on something else instead. It's that quiet element so many people miss or don't see. To often we just see the end product and attribute it to great athletic prowess, youth, or luck. The element many of us forget is DEDICATION. The dedication it takes to come in everyday even when you could be doing something else; the dedication it takes to strive for fundamental perfection when it is so much easier to relinquish technique for heavier weight.
When Melissa started four months ago, she couldn't do a kipping pull-up. She had numerous flaws in her olympic lifts, weak hip-flexors, mid-line stability issues, and even range of motion restrictions. She couldn't even come close to doing the WODS at prescribed weight and her strength was suspect. Let's just say, Melissa Masters was not the animal so many people have become accustomed to seeing in the sports arena.
Four months later and now most of the ladies refer to her as "The Freak" (sorry Melissa). She has made tremendous strides in her olympic lifts, which transfer to added strength, power, explosion, and coordination. She hammers out WODS at the prescribed weight, her range of motion has improved which will help to deter injuries, and I don't even need to mention how much her one rep maxes have improved across the board. To sum it up...she has become a more well rounded athlete.
My point is that we all start at different fitness levels, but it's that key word "dedication" that can make all the difference in your success. Come in to get better, but don't forget how to get there!
Thank you Melissa for trusting us with your fitness needs, but more importantly Great Job being DEDICATED! We look forward to seeing you soon!
The Banks Country Fitness Family!
When Melissa started four months ago, she couldn't do a kipping pull-up. She had numerous flaws in her olympic lifts, weak hip-flexors, mid-line stability issues, and even range of motion restrictions. She couldn't even come close to doing the WODS at prescribed weight and her strength was suspect. Let's just say, Melissa Masters was not the animal so many people have become accustomed to seeing in the sports arena.
Four months later and now most of the ladies refer to her as "The Freak" (sorry Melissa). She has made tremendous strides in her olympic lifts, which transfer to added strength, power, explosion, and coordination. She hammers out WODS at the prescribed weight, her range of motion has improved which will help to deter injuries, and I don't even need to mention how much her one rep maxes have improved across the board. To sum it up...she has become a more well rounded athlete.
My point is that we all start at different fitness levels, but it's that key word "dedication" that can make all the difference in your success. Come in to get better, but don't forget how to get there!
Thank you Melissa for trusting us with your fitness needs, but more importantly Great Job being DEDICATED! We look forward to seeing you soon!
The Banks Country Fitness Family!
Good Luck This Year! |
Friday's Workout September 14, 2012
Thursday's Workout September 13, 2012
Tuesday's Workout September 11, 2012
Getting Kids Started!
We are so excited to see the kids beginning to trickle in! It is going to pay huge dividends for these kids down the road and I don't mean big squats or huge dead lifts. The kids classes aren't about throwing around a bunch of weights. It's about them learning functional movements safely within a constantly varied program, utilizing movements from across the modal domains in a fun and competitive forum. It's no longer going to the weight room and doing the same old thing; it becomes fun which is what sports are all about.
Ask the kids...
What Really Counts
Not to long ago my wife and I were talking with an athlete that
was a little discouraged about their weight loss. They had been working so
hard, but not really seeing any weight drop off at their favorite scale. Now of
course my quick response was nutrition, the addition of muscle mass, and to be
patient, but as I started thinking about this more I realized something...
Every athlete that walks up those stairs has different goals
in mind. It might be an athlete looking to get stronger, next to them is someone
just wanting to lose a few pounds, and next to them someone hoping for added
energy at the end of the day. So how do we know if our blood sweat and tears is
paying off? The answer to this question can be broken down into segments, such
as did the athlete improve their bench press, lose the 10 pounds they were
shooting for, or achieve the added energy at the end of the day, but instead I
believe there is a much simpler way to measure your fitness goals...Lets look
at Crossfits definition of fitness”Increased Work Capacity Across Broad Time
& Modal Domains” Now I understand this sounds a little complicated but
ultimately it is incredibly simple. Can you do more, longer, and in a variety
of different ways? If you can answer yes to this question then we are accomplishing
the most important goal. The beauty and goal of Crossfit isn’t how much weight
you lose, if your squat goes up, or if you can now touch your toes, it’s
improving your overall health to best prepare you for whatever life throws your
way. So relax about the small goals, understand the broad goal, enjoy
your hour of chaos, and watch all those small goals fall into place along the
way!
KEEP UP ALL THE HARD WORK! IT’S PAYING HUGE DIVDENDS IN MORE
WAYS THEN YOU REALIZE...
What to Consider When Injured...
These guidelines come from Martin Rooney, an author and mixed martial arts (MMA) strength and conditioning coach. While they were originally created for fighters, they are even more applicable to CrossFitters (my commentary is italicized).
1. Accept that the injury has occurred, and move forward. Don’t live in denial and make it worse by continuing to train and aggravating it.
2. Examine how the injury happened, so that it never happens again. Was it something avoidable such as poor mechanics or not listening to your body (aka over training) or was it something out of your control such as a car accident?
3. Find out all you can about the injury and its rehabilitation. Begin by talking to your trainer and if needed doctor. Do a little research...there is so much information at our fingertips.
4. Use every method of rehabilitation you can get your hands on. Be Proactive!
5. Be consistent and thorough with your rehab. Skip a TV show, dessert, or trip to the mall, but don’t skip your rehab!
6. Find the outlets and determine what training you can do around the injury. Never stop training. There is always stuff you can do. Believe wholeheartedly in systemic rehab.
7. Focus on areas that you needed to improve pre-injury (nutrition, mental training, certain body regions, etc.) Do not neglect your nutrition when injured. This is one of the biggest keys to getting back in shape. Use the time necessitated by the injury to focus on weaknesses.
8. Don’t test the injury while healing and re-irritate it. The Best things come to those that wait...Be Patient.
9. Develop a list of things that the injury is trying to tell you. How will your injury change your movement patterns? What do you need to do improve your movement?
10. Don’t forget what you learned from the injury for the future. Are you doomed to repeat an injury? What did you learn from #2 above?
Lastly...Keep up a positive attitude by improving in a different facet of your life (little extra time with the kids, significant other, mental development, etc.). As long as you are continually striving to improve then your physical goals may be temporarily delayed but your overall health is still improving, which is our ultimate goal!! SET BACK MAYBE DEFEAT NEVER!
Monday's Workout September 10, 2012
Strength
Front Squat 4x3
WOD
FRAN
21-15-9
Thruster (95/65)
Pull-ups
HAVE FUN:)
Front Squat 4x3
WOD
FRAN
21-15-9
Thruster (95/65)
Pull-ups
HAVE FUN:)
Friday's Workout September 7, 2012
Strength
Hang Clean 4/4/4/4
WOD
AMRAP in 12 Minutes
200m Run
11 KB Swings 70/53
6 Chest-2-Bar Pullupt
Thursday's Workout September 6, 2012
Strength
Jerk 1 RM Hold the split position for a 3 count
WOD
6 Rounds
7 Squat Snatches (135/85)
10 Hand Stand Push-ups
13 Box Jumps (24/20)
Rest 1 minute after every two rounds (i.e. 2nd & 4th rounds)
Crock Pot Apple Rosemary Pork Loin
Servings: 6
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 8 Hours
Cook Time: 8 Hours
Ingredients:
·
3-5
Lb Boneless Pork Loin Roast
·
1
White Onion, sliced
·
2
Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
·
5
Cloves of garlic
·
1
Sweet potato peeled and chopped into cubes
·
1
Tbsp Dried Rosemary
·
1
Tbsp Dried Thyme
·
3
Dried Bay Leaves
·
1
Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
·
Salt
and Pepper to taste
Process:
2.
Poke
5 deep holes throughout your pork loin and insert a clove of garlic into each
one
3.
Season
both sides of your Pork loin with salt and pepper and then place fat side down
on top of your veggies in the crock pot

4.
Sprinkle
the pork loin with your rosemary and thyme and throw your bay leaves in the pot
6.
Pour
your apple cider vinegar in the bottom of your crock pot
to
help get the cooking process started

7.
Set
your crock pot
on
low and cook for 8 hours or until your pork reaches an internal temperature of
160 degrees

8.
Enjoy
Hand Care
So...I got on here this morning to write about the different forms of measuring your improvement, but of course I started by checking on some of my favorite Crossfit sites and came across this post about Hand Care. I started thinking about all the new athletes we have right now and I decided this was of equal importance. It’s a long post but there is some great information on everything from preventative care to treating the wounded. I am guilty of not doing the preventative part...It’s funny how those that know better still tend to bang their head off the wall!!! Oh well maybe one day. Hope this helps!...PS Measuring Improvement is next on my list for those athletes that were inquiring on TuesdayJ.
Hands like these can be common after high rep pull-ups, kettle bells, & bar complexes
As I was thinking about what to write tonight I was distracted by the annoying habit I have of picking my calluses. Gross you might say, but if you have spent any amount of time doing CrossFit then you know long are the days your hands were supple and smooth. CrossFit may help you look good but any dreams of being an aspiring hand model can be thrown out the window the moment you get that barbell or pull up bar in your hands. Let’s face it our hands take a beating. But that doesn’t mean we have to sit by the way side and let them suffer unattended. And I really need to quite my disgusting habit.Here is a great post on hand care from the blog FITBOMB.COM. The author of this blog is the husband of a woman who also has a really great blog called NOMNOMPALEO.COM. If you have not checked this blog out you need to. It has some amazing paleorecipes and food ideas. It’s one of my favorite.
CrossFit Hand Care
CrossFitters often revel in the fact that our workouts have bloodied our hands. “We’re such badxxxx! We’re SO hardcore!” But let’s call a spade a spade: IT IS NOT “COOL” TO HAVE CHUNKS OF OUR SKIN RIPPED FROM OUR HANDS.
Flayed skin is not a badge of bad-assery. It does not mean that you are tougher or better at working out. And it most definitely does not mean that CrossFit, lifting and/or gymnastics should be avoided because of the possibility that the skin on your hands might get torn.
All it means is that:
- You’re a soft-handed newbie who hasn’t yet had the chance to build up thicker skin on your fingers and palms to protect them from tearing, or
- You’re not giving your hands the T.L.C. they need to keep from getting shredded.
My first encounter with shredded hands occurred shortly after starting CrossFit, back when the roughest activity my hands saw was an occasional difficult-to-open jar of spaghetti sauce. And my latest (and greatest) rip was during yesterday’s Mary WOD, after neglecting proper hand care for weeks. Over the past year, I’ve experienced minor tears and major ones. In this post, I’m going to discuss what I could (and should) have done to prevent bloody hand, and what treatment options are available to those of us unfortunate enough to gash open our hands doing high-rep pull-ups, kettlebell snatches and the like.
Hand Grooming
Those who are new to gymnastics, weightlifting or CrossFit in general often start with soft, callus-free hands. Ideally, to reduce the likelihood of hand tears, beginners should try to gradually build up calluses (through — what else? — handling bars) to the point where the skin on their palms and fingers are tough and thick — but smooth. Once some skin-thickening is achieved, the goal is to keep any calluses filed down. The goal is have a consistent, smooth palm surface, without noticeable ridges or fluctuating thicknesses of skin. A raised, rough callus will eventually blister and tear away from the surrounding skin, ripping open your hands and making a bloody mess. A general rule of thumb: If you can pinch a raised edge of the callus, it needs to be filed down. Constant vigilance and regular hand care is key to preventing tears.
You can use a number of different tools to keep your calluses in check, including:
- A nail file;
- A callus/corn shaver;
- Cuticle scissors;
- A pumice stone;
- A dull razor blade;
- Sandpaper;
- A butter knife; or
- A Dremel tool(!)
Obviously, don’t be an idiot. Use these tools with care.
As one CrossFit Journal article put it:
Ideally, your entire palm surface should be one thick callus with no bumps or ridges in any one particular area. In order to do this, groom your hands always after a hot shower or bath (this allows the calluses to swell up). While the calluses are still “swollen,” I take a double-edged razor and very carefully shave the dead callus bumps down a little at a time until the bumps are about even with the thickness of the rest of the hand. With my younger students, I simply ask them to get a callus stone (you can buy one at any drug store), and gently sand the callus down even with the rest of the skin. Remember, whenever you groom or shave your calluses, don’t overdo it, since you don’t want to go too deep into your skin. Always leave enough thick skin so to facilitate your workout the following day. The goal is to maintain an even and consistent thickness of hard skin throughout the entire palm.
Also: Lube up your hands. Chalk and frequent washing will suck the moisture right out your skin, and dry, cracked hands do not feel awesome. So listen to the Silence of the Lambs guy: Lotion is important for skin care. (And remember to put the lotion in the basket.) Use Bag Balm or Udder Cream (it’s not just for irritated cows anymore!) or whatever suits your fancy.
This, by the way, is what a well-groomed pair of CrossFitting hands is supposed to look like:
My hands don’t look like this. Being the idiot that I am, I’ve never been very consistent about filing down my calluses, and lately, I developed a few big ones with rough edges. I didn’t do anything about ‘em, and as a result, I tore ‘em wide open yesterday. Not fun.
Grip & Technique
A lot of CrossFitters rip open their hands doing high-rep bar movements: kipping pull-ups, clean-and-jerks, snatches. But there are ways to tweak your technique to reduce the chances of a nasty tear.
First, use the right grip.
When working with a barbell, some folks are inclined to grip the bar across the middle of their palms. This, unfortunately, squishes the fleshy pad below the base of your fingers against the bar, causing discomfort, added friction, blisters, and worse. A better way to go is to grip the barbell across the base of your fingers — where the metacarpals meet the proximal phalanges.
As for doing kipping pull-ups while training (versus competing), CrossFitter Pär Larsson has this to say about getting a proper grip:
When doing pull-ups, keep your metacarpals in line with your proximal phalanges; i.e., your hand bones and the first bones in your fingers. This sucks because it’s harder to do pull-ups with your center of gravity an inch lower, and it takes more finger/ forearm strength. The first week or two or five, you might have to go back to using a band sometimes, or doing jumping pull-ups on a box, or using an easier band. I understand this might hurt your pride, your ego and your self-esteem like it did mine, but as long as I get the workout I need I see no need to care much if I beat my friends in an everyday training environment… Plus, I don’t have to worry about caring for ripped and bleeding hands.
As Larsson points out, “[t]his “training grip” eliminates tons of friction on the top inside of your palm muscles and skin, which is what causes the ubiquitous blisters there.”Friction is further reduced if you keep your core tight during kipping pull-ups, keeping your movement compact.
For example, in this GymnasticsWOD video (which Tim posted on the CrossFit Palo Alto Facebook page yesterday), Carl Paoli doesn’t engage in the exaggerated lateral swing that many of us are used to doing. Notice the efficiency of movement; his legs aren’t kicking violently out front. He doesn’t flop around. By keeping the kipping motion short and focused, there’s less of the skin-on-bar rubbing that might lead to shredded hands.
Lesson: Huge kips lead to torn hands.
Treatment
At a barbecue yesterday, I got to talking with Trish about her recent experiment with different ways of treating shredded hands. She’d ripped up her skin in a number of places during Memorial Day Murph, and decided to treat each tear slightly differently:
- With Rip No. 1, she used scissors to cut away the flap of skin.
- With Rip No. 2, she tore the skin flap off by tugging on it away from the point at which the skin was still attached.
- And with Rip No. 3, she just left the flap in place.
I’m now conducting a similar experiment. On my right hand, I’ve used scissors to snip off the flap of skin that tore away from my hand; on my left, I’ve left the skin in place. Of course, I washed both hands carefully (OUCH), Neosporin-ed the heck out of them, and kept ‘em bandaged and dry. I’ll report back on the results in a few days.
But regardless, I know this much: It’s important to clean the wound and keep it well-covered with antibacterial ointment to prevent infection. No one wants a staph infection or necrotizing fasciitis.
I’m using Neosporin, but there are, of course, lots of other remedies that people swear by, including:
Am I missing any others?
Gloves, Grips & Tape
I know what you’re thinking: It’s a pain in the ass to keep your hands from ripping, and treating them sounds less than fun, too — so why not just slap on a pair of gloves?
The folks over at CrossFit Impulse point to two compelling reasons to train without gloves:
- “[U]nless you wear gloves throughout your daily life, at some point you will have to rely on the pure, unadulterated gripping power of your bare-skinned hands to perform work,” so “develop[] that capability into your own hands as much as possible.”
- “[A]nything between your hands and the object you are gripping reduces your proprioception — your ability to know where the object is in space relative to your body.”
Similarly, grips and tape aren’t normally needed in CrossFit. If you’re a gymnast, grips will certainly allow you to train harder and longer, but if you’re just cranking out a quick metcon, you’re unlikely to need to ‘em on a regular basis.
However, when your hands are already torn or if you know the day’s WOD is likely to destroy your skin, pulling out the athletic tape may be just the thing to keep you from a world of hurt. Plus, a few strips of tape are unlikely to be as heavily (and unnecessarily) padded as a big pair of mittens.
Right now, my hands are ripped up, and I can’t easily grip anything without covering the places where my skin has been torn away. So tomorrow morning, I’m going to grab a roll of athletic tape and cover the spots that need protection. I’ll also make a handy-dandy tape-grip for additional protection. If you love origami and want to get all fancy, check out these step-by-step instructions for making a super-slick grip out of athletic tape.
And if you just want to quickly throw on a makeshift tape grip before your WOD starts, you can always do this instead:
- Grab a roll of athletic tape (the 1.5-inch tape works great).
- Tear off a strip that’s a few inches longer than your hand.
- Split the strip lengthwise down the middle until you’re halfway down.
- Stick the unsplit half of the tape on your palm (over the rip), with the split ends wrapping around either side of the finger above the rip.
- Use additional tape as needed to secure the ends of the tape around your wrist and around your finger.
- Go kick some butt.
Tuesday's Workout
Strength
Squat Snatch 5x5WOD
4 Rounds2 Deadlift 315/225
20 Shoulder to Overhead 135/95
200m Run
Friday, September 7th Evening Class
Due to the home football game, we will be moving Friday's evening class time to 5:30pm. Go Braves!
Friday Workout
Strength
Squat Clean 1RMWOD
15 minute AMRAP15 Plated Situps (25/15)
10 OH Lunges (25/15)
5 Plated Burpees (25/15)
Thursday Workout
Strength
Strict Press 3-3-3-3-3WOD
On the minute for 10 minutes
2 Deadlift at 80% of 1RM
3 Plyometric Pushups
30 Yard sprint
Welcome Morgan!
We would like to welcome Morgan to the Banks Country
Fitness Family!!! Morgan will only be able to train with us for short
stretches, but she will be utilizing the blog during her absences. Can’t wait
to see where it takes herJ.
Lady Warriors
Now these ladies are warriors!!!! Not so sure? Try hauling your butt out of bed by 5:45am to come get your tail kicked. Way to go ladies; but where are all the men? Come on guys...
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