Does this woman look familiar to you? Myka Felt, Wine Country CrossFitter and 49er Gold Rush Cheerleader!

You GO Myka! We are so proud of YOU!

-Beth

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Back Squat:  Perform 3 sets of 5 reps at 85% + of your 1 rep max.

Zurcher Squats: 10, 10, 10 (start at about 50% of 1rm back squat)

Walking lunges with kettlebells or dumbells – 3 sets of 10 steps

As time allows – supplemental Ab work of coaches choice

A little over a year ago Matt Calcutt saw our sign out on Soscol Ave and happened by. Matt lives in Truckee with his wife Tina, and works at Squaw Valley as ski patrol. He has over 20 years on the job there, so he has the liberty to work when the snow is fresh to throw dynamite, rescue skiers in distress, and of course ski the powder. When not found at Squaw on snow days he is in the back country, living it up!

Turns out Matt and I are from the same tribe as he has spent plenty of time in boats on rivers,  so we hit it off on the whitewater front as well as the CrossFit arena. He used to paddle a C-1, like the picture below shows, which is where you sit on your knees and use a paddle with one blade. In order to keep the knees in working order he decided kayaks were the way to go. He graduated to a two bladed paddle and we can no longer say “half the paddle and twice the man!”

Matt’s other job is as a CHP officer. He is a medic, and flies around in a helicopter with Pilot Dave Power (of the 6AM class) and chases villains and saves lives. He is stationed down here in Napa, which is why we get to have him with us at Wine Country CrossFit.

Matt also works out at CrossFit Blizzard when at home in Truckee, and his gains are substantial. In a year he has gone from doing jumping pull-ups to kipping pull-ups. His overhead squat was 22#, and is now #125. He does most workouts as prescribed, his deadlift is up to #390, and his CrossFit total is 805.  His goal in starting CrossFit was to lose weight and get stronger as staying fit over 40 was proving harder than expected. The “forced” group workouts and continual PR’s keep him inspired, and he reports  the greatest inspiration is continuing to maintain and improve in sports and outdoor activities despite the aging process.

He participated in the last Paleo Challenge, and though he didn’t win (he was .1% body fat point behind winner Gary Awai), he was certainly the biggest loser in every other way. During the 45 day challenge his total cholesterol dropped from 265 to 223, his LDL from 203 to 166, his triglycerides from 92 to 79. A regular sufferer of gout, he had no attacks and reduced his waistline. He cut out the beer entirely, minimized the other alcohol by 50%, ate tons of meat, and never felt better!

Thanks for working out with us Matt. Your quiet presence and progress is an inspiration to all.

-Beth

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Press – 3×5

21-15-9
Slam Ball (50/25)
Burpees
Wall Balls (20/14)

Carlos Flores came into the gym about 3 weeks ago with his bright eyes and big smile, and his one arm. He said he was bored with the regular gym and was ready to start CrossFit. I had the privilege of doing five private on-ramp classes with he and Manny Hernandez, the owner of Metro PC, and I was continually impressed with Carlos’ work ethic and “can-do” attitude. Over the few weeks that we worked privately together we focused on all the basic movements, on midline stabilization, and his body changed in the process. He reported to be more comfortable, and that when he lay down that his torso now lay flat on the ground instead of lopsided. He was already a fast runner, and with the addition of Pose technique he is now speedier than before. In fact his nickname in Spanish is conejo, the rabbit.

Carlos works at the Mexican Bakery across the street from Napa High, and a year ago the owners of the bakery invited him to get out and start moving around with them. He discovered the joy of his body in motion, lost 35 lbs, and is now a hard core CrossFitter.

You can meet Carlos at the 9AM class just about everyday of the week, and he is turning into a veritable beast. Soon we will have a Carlos workout on the board, and everyone in the gym will be challenged to do what he does daily: navigate all the CrossFit WOD with one arm.

Thank you Carlos for joining us. You are an inspiration to all!

-Beth

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Box Squats for Speed:
Warm athletes up to approx 65-70% of 1rm back squat and then perform 12 sets of 2 box squats on the minute.  The goal is speed on the bar.
Follow this with seated box jumps for height.  (sit on a box (usually about 20″) and jump from the seated position to another box of varying height.
As time allows: box plyometrics:  line up a bunch of boxes and have athletes jump down the line trying to simply tap the ground each time they come down between boxes.

Carlos Flores came into the gym about 3 weeks ago with his bright eyes and big smile, and his one arm. He said he was bored with the gym and was ready to start CrossFit. I had the privilege of doing five private on ramp classes with he and Manny Hernandez, the owner of Metro PC, and I was continually impressed with Carlos’ work ethic and “can-do” attitude. Over the few weeks that we worked privately together we focused on all the basic movements, on midline stabilization, and his body changed in the process. He reported to be more comfortable, and that when he lay down that his torso now lay flat on the ground instead of lopsided. He was already a fast runner, and with the addition of Pose technique he is now speedier than before. In fact his nickname in Spanish is conejo, the rabbit.

Carlos works at the Mexican Bakery across the street from Napa High, and a year ago the owners of the bakery invited him to get out and start moving around with them. He discovered the joy of his body in motion, lost 35 lbs, and is now a hard core CrossFitter.

Carlos now comes to the 9AM class everyday, and is turning into a veritable beast. Soon we will have a Carlos workout on the board, and everyone in the gym will be challenged to do what he does daily: navigate all the basic movements with one arm.

Thank you Carlos for joining us. You are an inspiration to all!

-Beth

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Gymnastic work of coaches choice

AMRAP 15mins
10 Sledge Hammer Strikes R
10 Hammer Strikes L
KB OH Walk to stairs L (Rx 53/35)
Walk back R
10 KB Swings (same bell as walk)

Last Saturday 13 of us headed down to CrossFit Solano to show our support for the first annual Officer Capoot Memorial Wod. As most of you know, he was a Vallejo policeman who was killed while on foot in pursuit of a bank robber about a month ago. By all reports he was an outstanding man with a giant heart, and the 150+ people in attendance showed tremendous heart during the WODs created in his honor.

Since he was big into teamwork, the three WODs were all designed to be completed by a two-person team. The first was three minutes of AMRAP pull-ups, one partner working at a time. This was followed by a 10 second rest and 3 minute AMRAP push-ups, 10 second rest and 3 minute AMRAP squats. Imagine 30 teams going at it at once, with all the energy flying around, people jumping on and off the bar, and trying not to bump into each other! I was partnered with Dante, and I know he didn’t want a middle aged woman to show him up so the energy in our team was hot! I was cooked after our first nine minute effort, but I was definitely warm!

The second WOD was 19 minutes of 4 Push Jerks, 9 deadlifts, and 7 front squats. The prescribed weight for women was 95#, and for men was #135. Since Dante and I shared a bar he got to work at my weight. This was HEAVY for me! But I made it, and only had to drop the bar in the middle of a movement twice. While one partner was working the bar, the other was running 497 yards. 497 was Officer Capoot’s badge #! This workout kicked my behind, and I’m just now overcoming my soreness, three days post! The picture below is Laura Cole finishing up the front squats.

The next WOD was again to be completed with a partner. The goal was to complete 8 burpees every minute, and then put the basketball in the hoop as many times as possible in 5 minutes. Lorraine lost her partner Laura who had to return home to get her kids to soccer, so she hooked up with Kyle who did her right!

This was a great event that CrossFit Solano should be proud to have produced. The energy was positive and encouraging, and I’m confident that all athletes performed at their max. Congratulations to all the athletes who made the pilgrimage for their heart felt effort and contribution.

-Beth

5 Rounds not for time:

Max Reps Floor Press (Bodyweight Rx)
followed directly by Max reps Pull Ups

You have as much time to rest between rounds as you would like, but the pull ups must be started as soon as the floor press is finished.

We finally tallied the results, and of the 45 people who participated in the Fall LEANing Paleo Challenge we have two winners!Gary Awai lost 11.6 lbs, increased his total body water by 3.2%, and lost 4.4% body fat. Emilie Wyrick only lost 3 lbs overall, but she increased her total body water by 3.6%, and lost a total of 5% body fat!

Matt Calcutt was the closest runner up, having lost 4.3% body fat.

Congratulations to everyone who participated, who kept food logs and resisted the cakes, cookies, donuts, pastries, cheeses, sweets, beer etc. For all the effort I put in I thought that I should have been the winner! But, alas, my numbers were not favorable. But, being an experiment of one, it was a success, and I felt better than I had in months with increased performance, recovery and energy. Can’t wait to do it again!

-Beth

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Tuesday’s WOD:

Back Squat:  Find New 1RM

5 Rounds:
3 thrusters (135/95)
6 pull ups
9 KB Swings (70/44)

Wine Country CrossFitters! Do you recognize this face? It’s Taylor Bartolucci of 6AM fame. Known not only for her CrossFit prowess but also her singing,  dancing and acting, now is the opportunity to lend your support with the simple click of a mouse. Please read her note below, and take a few minutes to take action. Thanks!

-Beth

Taylor

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Back Squat:  Find 1rm

Following 1rm, lower weight to 70% and complete set of 20

For time: 50 pull-ups, 50 push-ups

We are in the final days of the Paleo Challenge, and this blog post is intended to inspire you to go all out for these last nine days. Below are before and after pics of Dave Parsons, whom I met in high school. This transformation took a year and a half, but he started out just like all of us, one day at a time. For his complete story click here.

Go BIG. Resist the sweets and cheats. See what difference you can make in your own life in the next nine days.

-Beth

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Deadlift: find 1 rep max, lower weight to 75% and complete 3 sets of as many reps as possible

Push Press: 3-3-3-3-3

as time allows:
Bent over rows 8-8-8
GHD Situps or toes to bar 3 x max reps

Our very own Lisa Henry completed the 5K Down and Dirty Mud Run this past weekend. It was a super fun three mile run broken up with military style obstacles, including cargo net crawls,  ladder climb, cargo net climb, slanted wall with rope to crawl up, a wade through the cold (but refreshing lake), tube crawl, and of course two different mud pits to get you nice and dirty. She improved her time by 5 minutes from last year and  says she “could really feel my strength in the up hill portions (flying by those walkers). We can’t wait for next year for an even faster time, and we want to get our kids involved in the adventure kids version held the same day.”

Congrats to Lisa on participating in the race, and on her growing strength and improved time!

-Beth

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Box squats for speed.  12×2 on the minute

For time:
60 push ups
100 Air squats

In April of this year Christianne and Richard from England happened into the gym. She started with personal training to build confidence, and he got busy with On Ramp and classes. Paleo positively impacted her health, and after a few short months she made her way into regular classes. He sought out CrossFit as he wanted to climb El Capitan in Yosemite, and what better way to condition than what we do daily. They are teetotalers, but he works in marketing the Napa Smith wines and beers. They had planned to be with us through December, but visa issues sent them home early. They frequented the 6AM classes, they are dearly missed, and here is Richard’s Story.

-Beth

At the end of July I spent 4 amazing days climbing in Tuolumne with Steve Schneider, who probably knows the climbing in this part of the world better than anybody alive. Despite the afternoon thunderstorms and my lack of ‘climbing fitness’ I was able to climb up to or near my limit on each day, which is only 5.9-5.10 but interestingly is not far from what I climbed as a kid. We managed to climb on average about 10 pitches or 1000’ feet of climbing per day and at an altitude of 8000’. Steve was impressed with my fitness and my ability to climb pitches swiftly and efficiently throughout the day – he may have though on occasion misinterpreted naked fear for speed and efficiency!

A fortnight later, Christianne and I made a trip to Jackson Wyoming to climb one of the US’s most iconic and famous mountaineering objectives, the Grand Teton (13775’). This mountain rises some 7000’ above the valley floor and any prospective climber must first negotiate a hike of 7 miles and an ascent of some 5000’ before beginning the climb proper, which begins from a hut on an exposed saddle. Most choose to climb the Grand in 2 days and bivvy on this saddle before climbing the route the next morning. However, as places in the hut were limited, I chose to attempt the summit in one day, which generally involves a 3AM alpine start and a 16-18hr day.

I set off from the trailhead at 3AM on Sunday with my guide and we hiked the entire ascent to the hut in such bright moonlight that head torches were redundant. This magical experience was enhanced by the knowledge that in this forest I was not at the top of the food chain for a change. We reached the saddle at around 6.45AM and made the summit by 10AM having overtaken many of the parties that started from the hut. The roped climb was in no way technically demanding and I was able to thoroughly enjoy it. We were blessed with amazing views on the summit, which will live long in my memory.

The descent was tough as it was made during the fiercest heat of the day and after having damaged the big toe on each of my feet climbing in Tuolumne. However, we made good time arriving back at the car by 4PM with plenty of time for a cold beer.

Again I was able to move swiftly and at a constant pace throughout the day, which I have to put down to the hard yards invested in those 6AM CF sessions. I was surprised how the short, intense sessions of CF translate into alpine rock climbing, which can intersperse long sections of thigh and lung burning slogs with short sharp sections of climbing proper. I was certainly well prepared to pull hard at altitude and the extra fitness translates directly into enjoyment of the climbing.

What CF also imbues is an ability to deal with the mental requirements of alpine climbing, which requires you to get your head down and keep on moving, despite pain, discomfort or fear. If I can finish Angie then I can climb the Grand Teton (though I am not sure which took me the longest) just by imagining Brian Rios climbing right behind me…

So that’s a long way round saying thanks to you all for helping me get into better shape to achieve some wonderful climbs. I was planning to climb The Nose on El Capitan next spring but whether I will be able to get back into the country is anyone’s guess.

All’s not lost though as we are back Crossfitting here in the UK and the world is full of inspiring mountains. We will miss Wine Country Crossfit and the friends that we made there. I do hope to be able to sort my visa issues out and so be back to support my business interests as soon as possible.

In the meantime, please pass on our best regards to all at WCCF, especially those brave few, who made 6AM training bearable and continue to support Napa Smith Brewery please. The new brewpub is open now and there’s always a pint on me for you.

-Richard Cutler

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Back Squat Find new 1rm
lower weight to 85% and complete 5 reps

8 Rounds:
5 Lateral Hops (20″Rx)
Sprint 20 Yards

* Lateral hops – using the small PVC start standing on one side laterally hop over the pvc landing in position to immediately laterally hop back over the PVC.  Alternate starting sides each time.