WOD
Rest Day.
How has CrossFit Omaha been for you since joining? Are you satisfied with the service? Have some things changed? For better? For worse? What about results? Are they appearance results or physical results? Have you lost weight and look better or have you gotten significantly stronger?
Let us and everyone in our community know your little story. How has your life changed?
Crossfit Omaha has changed my life for the better in so many ways. I don't know where to start. I joined pretty much right after moving to Omaha and meeting the people at CFO was huge. Not only did I get my workout in, but almost every day I had really cool people to hang out with after my workday and I felt like I could must be myself and do what I love and act goofy and no one batted an eyelash.
As for the physical side, I never thought I could be this strong. I never thought I could be this coordinated, flexible, balanced... I REALLY never thought i could have this kind of endurance or speed. Joe and Ricky, you guys have opened up an entire new world to me. Even now, 2 years into it, I feel like I'm just beginning. I still have so much more to learn, and I have no idea what other barriers I'm going to break through, but I know they're there and I will break through them.
One last thing: Crossfit became so important to me that even though I have been a night owl my whole life, I started getting up at 5am so I wouldn't have to miss Crossfit on workdays. As a result, I get more done throughout the day than I ever have before. I have so much energy throughout the day. Part of that is diet, which is also thanks to CFO and all the advice from Ricky and Joe. But a lot if it is just from being 100 times more fit than I've ever been before. I feel amazing, and I know I'm not even at my genetic potential yet (if I ever will be)!
I love Crossfit Omaha. Thanks to everyone, trainers and clients, for making it what it is. I can't wait to be back working out with you all!
Last summer we took our kids to the zoo. I was in such horrible shape we had to stop several times so I could sit. Half way around the zoo I was done. My shirt was soaked with sweat and people looked concerned when they walked by and saw me. We got a ride back to the main gate where we sat some more so I could make the walk to the car. The kids never said anything but I knew they were disappointed. I felt pretty worthless letting them down like that. It still chokes me up a little thinking about that day.
I decided to make some changes. I found CrossFit online and decided to give it a try. I got a hold of Ricky and set up a one-on-one. My first day didn’t go too well. I was intimidated by what I saw when I walked in. I saw several people pushing themselves hard enough that they were in obvious pain, and they still continued to push. Watching them made my chest pound. I immediately assumed CrossFit was for athletes and not for people like me. I decided to bail. Then Alison came up and talked to me. I don’t remember what she said, but we talked long enough that Ricky got a hold of me. I was really going to leave. I wouldn’t be doing this now if it wasn’t for her kindness. She is an angel in my book. I don’t remember much about my first one-on-one other than having to do pushups from my knees and wondering if Ricky had seen anybody as bad off as me.
Nine months later and I’m the strongest I’ve ever been. I have a ton of new friends too. I lost 28 lbs and gained 9 back (weird). My shirts are down a size and my waist is down over 4”. I don’t consider myself a very good athlete. I’m still overweight and I still usually finish last, if at all. I’m am learning and working hard though.
I did take the kids back to the zoo last Saturday. After about two hours or so, they were tired and wanted to go home. I was fine.
When I moved to Omaha I was pumped to see there was a crossfit affiliate here...the best crossfit affiliate! The training here is unbelievable. As a former athlete and soldier, crossfit omaha gives me that competitive environment that I have thirsted for my whole life. I reccomend it to everyone I meet...but nobody understands it until they step foot in the gym, complete their first wod, and meet all of the great people in our community. It is a cult...a good cult, and everybody is invited. As for CPT Bilotta, I saw a picture of him on the main site about a two weeks ago. He was in Afghanistan doing "Murph" with a flak vest on! Crazy bastard...
Thanks Ricky and Joe, you guys do a great job!
Physically, I have changed. I am going to do a post on my blog with some pics. I have basically lost more than 10 lbs. But I think that my shape and tone are more noticible.
And hands down the training/coaching that I receive at CFO from every coach is the best I have ever recieved. The cues that are delivered, the technique demonstrated and pointed out...nuff said. Oh and they are cool too ;)
Now on to my story. I joined CFO in April of '08, when it was still at UNO. To say I was in not great shape would be putting it mildly, I was lazy and weak and "skinny-fat" and I knew I needed to change. For the first few months I really half-assed it. I came in 2, maybe 3 times a week, I didn't change my diet that much and I basically sucke at everything. Then around July or so a switch got flipped and I went all in. I started coming in at least 4 but ususally 5 times per week, I became very concious about what and how I ate and started following a zone/paleo inspired diet and I really started pouring myself into the WOD's. And this change started to pay off very quickly, in terms of my health, my appearance and my overall performance and strength. I've lost close to 30# and my waist has gone down about 3 inches. Last June my 1rm deadlift was 264#, today it's around 325#. The first time I did Fran I scaled it to 75# and my time was 12:18 - the last time I did it, in April, my time was 8:37 rx'd (95#). I could go on but the point is I'm stronger and healthier than I've ever been in my life, though I still have farther to go. I told Ricky yesterday my goal is to compete in next year's regional games, which is something I never even would've imagined doing 2 years ago, and now that I've said it out loud there's no taking it back. And for me the training for that starts now, as I've got to get A LOT stronger if I want have a respectable performance, but I digress. I'll wrap things up with this - I absolutely love CFO, and it has seriously changed my life and how I live. But, and I've said this before, the absolute best thing about CFO is the people - Ricky and Joe, Kylie, Jon and Amanda, and every one of my fellow athletes. The support, the coaching, the camaraderie and even the competition is what keeps me coming back. I'm proud to say I'm a CrossFitter, and I'm even more proud to say I belong to CFO.
Have a happy and safe holiday weekend everyone! B Christ out.
My story's a bit boring in comparison. I've always been somewhat athletic, but my focus has been more in the endurance category. That's done me well so far, but I knew that I was lacking the explosive strength and simply didn't know how to do most lifts.
In February (09), I started working out with a buddy who has a CF level I cert. We did all main page workouts and he coached me through the moves I didn't know. Then he deployed, so I came to CFO. I knew I would get really good coaching on the oly stuff, and I was right.
My personal success story is in my deadlift. When I started CF in Feb, I didn't know how to deadlift, so I couldn't get 135lbs off the ground. After a month of CF (with NO deadlift practice), I got up to 225lbs. Then in mid-March, I lifted 300lbs. When we did our benchmarks here at CFO last month, I lifted 384lbs! That's an increase of more than 250lbs in 4 months! BTW, I weigh 165lbs, so I'm lifting more than 2x bodyweight.
I'm still working on the more complex movements a lot, and I need a lot of improvement in my shoulder movements. But I'm moving in the right direction and I'm in the best shape of my life. Ricky, Joe, Kylie, Jon... you guys are all top-notch coaches! I really appreciate what you're doing.
BC, you did great on that workout - it's hard to take those cues and apply them in the middle of a workout while you're already fatigued. The technique really did look quite a bit better by the end. I'm excited you're going to train for the regionals, but now that you're serious it's going to be harder for me to catch your DL. Damn it.
As far as weight and measurement go I dont know what they are, but this year when I pulled out my old clothes for the summer time, some stuff was too BIG and others that gave me muffin top, fit just right!! :)
I have tried the zone and recently moved to paleo and really like it, hope to see more changes in my body because of that.
I am proud to say that my 1 max PR for deadlift is 269 which is over double my body weight. Also pull-ups, are you kidding me, I didnt think I would ever be able to do a strict one and I can do a few now!!I feel myself getting stronger everyday. When I dont go I feel like something is missing...anyone else feel that way? The thing I like the most about CFO is that the WODs always keep you on your toes so your body doesnt get used to the same thing. I dont know how people do it in the big box gyms, always standing in front of the big mirrrors checking themselves out, doing the same lift about 75 times. I like that we have no mirrors, it allows me to really listen to my body and what feels right, vs looking at eveyone else to make sure it is correct.
Anyway I really love everyone at the gym. I have made some fantastic friendships that I treasure. It has been nice to see the place grow as fast as it has. Every week there seems to be at least one new member. I love to hear about how they heard about crossfit. The gym has grown leaps and bounds all by pretty much word of mouth.
I feel very honored to have the coaches that are at CFO too. They have so much knowledge it is sick. Ricky, Joe, Kylie, Jon Day, and Amanda thank you so much for pushing me and making me stronger!!
Ok that was longer than I was hoping for but it is hard to stop talking about CFO!!
I really started to enjoy lifting and working out when i started to train in the off season with some other dedicated swimmers and Ricky. It was my third yr. there that he started incorporating xfit workouts into our training program. I almost always finished last but i felt good about what i was doing and the results i was getting (except pullups...those took me almost 4 yrs to get!). I went from not even being on the scoring team my freshman year to being a national champion my sr. year. I have no doubt that it was because of crossfit and the dedication i put into training yr. round. The workouts are tough but when you finish it, it is such a confidence boost...and once you start seeing changes in your body (thanks to the zone as well) you feel amazing and get hooked! It's a good addiction to have!
When swimming ended I stayed with xfit at UNO, i love all the people that i have met through it and i love that i can still compete in something. For me it was hard to work out, just to work out, I like that i have something I can compete in and train for. I had a blast training for the regionals, I wish I was still doing it for CA but I know that next year I will have another chance if I keep working hard!
However, lately I feel like a bad xfitter. I wish i felt like i did before the regionals! I had a setback with the car accident, i wanted to be as strong as i was before it, but things kept getting more painful and the workouts weren't fun for me anymore. I've taken some time off (only been in about 2-3 times in the last 2 weeks) and i've reconnected with my passion for swimming, it's been great. I really miss crossfit though and am excited to get back. I have no doubt that I will get back to where i was, i just need a little time to recover and get my mind right.
I am so proud of everyone at crossfit, I love talking about it every chance I get! it is a big part of my life and I have so much respect for Ricky and Joe for changing so many lives and putting in as much effort as they do. They are constantly educating themselves and have everyone's best interest at heart. CrossFit Omaha is an incredible business and family!
much love,
Megan
So to add to the stories, I started xfit last July; can't believe it's been 1 year already! Before xfit I had been working out w/ a personal trainer at PLC for about 6 months and he (Chad) was great but I had heard about xfit from a friend and Chad was leaving PLC to go back to school to be a PT, so decided to check out CFO. My main and only reason I've ever done any type of working out is to lose weight and I'd tried many types of diets that left me feeling like I had little energy to workout and the results were normally short lived. At first I was pretty intimidated of all the crazy strong people at xfit and after the first few months of not losing any weight and feeling like I should still be doing more 'cardio' I questioned if I'd keep coming. I decided to stay with it but really only since the last 3-4 months have I felt like everything is starting to come together and it's all b/c I've started doing zone/paleo.
I can't say enough how great I think the zone is and I've been doing paleo for a couple weeks but its going well; cutting out dairy hasn't been too bad. I have lost some weight but I think more inches than anything and I feel like I have TONS more energy when I eat clean. What's even better is how much healthier I feel about food in general. Before I really felt like food=bad. Now I feel like food can really be used to affect so much in every day life ... health of course, mood, energy, how workouts feel, etc. I have a long ways to go and it hasn't been easy to stay on board during the summer but I'm going to stick with it and I know slowly but surely the lbs will fall off too.
On other note, my right shoulder has been kind of messed up since high school volleyball and when I started crossfit my right shoulder hurt A LOT regularly during workouts. Now a year later I very rarely have pain like before and can lift a lot more weight with it. I definitely credit all of this to xfit, so thank you!!! I can't wait for it to get even stronger.
I'm very excited to see the progress I've made after year 2 of xfit ... I'm hoping to get pullups this year for sure. Everyone at the gym is so supportive and I feel very lucky to have made some great friends. Also, I think the level of training we get from Ricky, Joe and everyone is like none other. I can't believe the itty bitty details they can spot that when fixed makes a massive difference.
Thank you so much to Ricky, Joe, Kylie, Jon and Amanda for being great trainers and people. I cannot say enough about how much crossfit has made me a healthier, happier person. Now back to vacationing...have a Happy 4th!!
Thank you!!!!
Cari
Crossfit has been amazing and I am completely addicted to the workouts and the people. I look forward to hearing 3-2-1 go everyday! Crossfit helped me drop about 20 pounds of baby weight and gain an amazing amount of strength. Thanks CFO!
I LOVE XFIT! I promise i'll be back SOON!
My dad started over a year ago, talked my brother Mark into it shortly after, but I resisted. I told him I couldn't do it, the gym was to far away, to expensive, blah, blah, blah...
my dad kept persisting, Crossfit would be good for me, I would love it... He even had Mark bring me to the first party at the gym. He then told me if I did the one-on-ones and STILL didn't want to do it, he would leave me alone, never mention it again. So I signed up for my first one-on-one.
And I got hooked. I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON, but somehow I get myself up every day and come into the gym. I know that I am not only stronger than when I started, but more confident in my strength. I have a hard time believing I can do some things, and it has really helped finding such a supportive group of people who don't let me chicken out of box jumps and an extra 10lbs. on a bar.
Anyways aren't rest days supposed to be restful? SHIT that workout was hard on my legs! Fun...but my legs are going to fall of. That and my hands really need to heal from the pullups workout! They even hurt in my sleep!
I just wanted to say thanks to Joe, Ricky, JonDay, Kylie, and Amanda for never giving up on me...always giving me shit, but never losing faith.
Happy 4th of July! Be safe.