WHY?

• To promote personal improvement, camaraderie, excitement and fitness through head to head challenges
• To get you to man up and have fun!
• It is good for your soul.
• Pride and Glory
• Oh Yeah, the 10X Grand Champion will receive a reserved parking spot under the “MadLab Ladder Champ” sign (being made as you read) by the front door of the School of Fitness

How it works

• Every Thursday night is Head to Head ladder challenge night
• WOD will be posted on Monday (website on Monday blog post)
• Every WOD will be from the standard list that makes up the Madlab fitness Rating (Wods on Leaderboard at gym)
• There will be a board to sign up on if you want to compete
• Find someone you want to challenge
• You have until Wednesday night to negotiate and accept a challenge with someone

Negotiation:

• Both athletes need to have a good chance of winning, so the function of the Ladder is to create an even challenge for any two athletes regardless of current fitness level.
• The handicap should bring the lower performing athlete to the same level as the higher performing athlete so that both have an equal chance of winning.
• Most likely, athletes will agree on an equalizing handicap based on their most recent scores for that particular workout, general fatness, drinks on the weekend, etc

Example James and Meagan challenge each other to Fran. James has a Fran score of 5:00. Meagan has a Fran score of 7:00. Meagan proposes a 2:00 headstart. James thinks Meagan can improve her score more than he can, and proposes a 1:45 headstart. They both agree on a 1:50 headstart for Meagan.

• Don’t be a tool……find a compromise….take a risk
• Have Fun!

Ladder System

• The challenge winner will receive one point (1). The challenge loser will receive zero points (0).
• A ladder board will track total points, so that the athlete with the most challenges won will be the highest on the ladder.
• First to 10 wins becomes champ
• He or she will keep the parking spot until the next Champ comes along
• Once you are champ, you start over at 0
• Photo of the day on Monday will feature the leader

Basic Rules

• One (1) challenge allowed per week
• Each challenger must post most recent score for the challenge WOD with date
• Handicaps must be negotiated and written on a board before the challenge
• Negotiations can happen in the comments section or face to face (not on the board)
• We will not share contact info
• Progressions are acceptable
• The preferred method is Face to face, but is not compulsory  – we are all on our honour
• Normal WOD standards apply, and should be reviewed beforehand
• Athletes are responsible for adhering to WOD standards during a challenge, although a third party may officiate if both parties agree
• After completing a challenge, athletes cannot challenge the same athlete for three challenges
• The winner must be posted on the board By 9pm Thursday evening……scores will not be accepted after that time
• The goal is to have fun and create another game to get fit – Don’t be a Prick!

Comissioner: Nathan “Home School” Jolly

Thursday: LAST DAY OF BACK SQUATS. PROMISE!

Tech: 5 sets of 5 back squats (How much load have you added since we started this series 5 weeks ago?)

WOD:

I was going to program a Regionals WOD since the competition workouts were released this evening, but I also wanted something hard, short and fast, and there are no short and fast workouts at Regionals. So, we’re going to do one component of one of the workouts. Trust me, you’ll be happy you’re not doing the entire workout.

3 Rounds of:

21 Wall Balls

21 Toes to Bar

Check out the full workout on the Games site (www.games.crossfit.com)

- Patty and Eunice

“

“You know. I gotta support the team.” – Puddy

Ok, so we don’t expect you to do any face painting, but the Canada West Regional is next weekend (April 27th-29th) at the Richmond Oval. It’s going to be a gruelling three day competition, and the more people who come out to cheer us on, the better!

What’s on the line?

A berth to the CrossFit Games in California this summer. Only the top two men, top two women, and top two teams in Canada West (BC to Manitoba) will earn spots to the Games. CrossFit Vancouver has qualified a team every single year so far, but you better believe it’s getting tougher every year to get back to LA.

We’ll keep you posted on the exact time of the events, but it’s looking like it will be Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

The line-up:

Individuals:

Eunice
Rhea

Team:

WOMEN:

Ana ‘Fancypants’
Caroline ‘Black Swan’
Quin ‘Quin Jung Il’
Marlaena

MEN:

Mike ‘Ginger Monkey/Lumber’
Dan ‘Afghan’
Dave ‘Poker’
Ben ‘Bumpy’

Here’s a video of the team:

Wednesday:

Tech: Do the following 5 times each:

4 to 6 L-Pull-ups (Progressions are regular strict pull ups, or strict pull ups in a band)
10 to 15 Glute Ham sit-ups
4 to 8 Glute Ham raises (use bands for progressions)

Rest as needed between sets. Make your reps perfect. If you haven’t done many glute ham sit-ups lately, do only three sets of them instead of five.

WOD: Ball Run/Tire Flip

Teams of two.
15 minute AMRAP
One partner works at a time

200 metre ball run
1 tire flip

If you can’t flip the tire, partner up with someone who looks like you in terms of strength and flip the tire together. One partner works as the other partner rests.

- Eunice

THE APPRENTICE DIPLOMA PROGRAM IN ALL ITS GLORY

THE CROSSFIT VANCOUVER BUSINESS MODEL: WHAT SETS US APART

My first CrossFit box was CrossFit London, in London, Ontario. It was a new affiliate at the time with only one coach. He was a great coach, who worked his ass off. In fact, he worked mornings, afternoons, and evenings, six days a week. He easily put in 60 plus hours at the gym a week, not to mention the time he must have spent dealing with the administrative and business end of things. And since he didn’t have any other coaches on board, he couldn’t even take a weekend off now and then. As much as I loved CrossFit, the CrossFit coach lifestyle wasn’t selling itself to me.

Since then, I’ve discovered that this is pretty typical for most CrossFit affiliates: they have one or two coaches working their asses off, running themselves into the ground, just to pay the bills.

This isn’t true of CrossFit Vancouver.

For those of you who don’t know how our system works, we’re not like most fitness facilities. Coaches aren’t paid by the hour, and they’re not paid for the classes they coach. Instead, coaches and apprentice coaches are given a percentage (the percentage they earn differs based on what level of coach they are) of what they sell. The sky is the limit.

Our system is based on the Free Market. This means that the more clients you have, the more you make. The Free Market tells you how good of a coach you are, and the free market doesn’t lie.

We’re never going to become rich working at CrossFit Vancouver, but as independent contractors, we do have the opportunity to make six figure incomes and live a lifestyle where we work less than full-time hours (most of us work between 20 and 30 hours per week), which gives us time to take care of ourselves and workout everyday at work. We also have the freedom to not only schedule our own hours, but also to take vacations whenever we please. And we get to work with our best friends. Not a bad lifestyle, at all.

MY FINANCIAL JOURNEY IN THIS SYSTEM:

I showed up at CrossFit Vancouver’s door in September, 2009. Dazed and confused, I had no idea what I was doing with my life.

Patty spotted me on the erg and came over to say hello. His first question as he looked me up and down was, “Where did YOU come from?”

I explained that I had just moved back to BC from Ontario and was completely lost, as my recent rejections in the field of journalism were leading me to believe that the MA I had just completed wasn’t about to help thrust me onto the fast track to financial success.

But Patty didn’t care about any of this. He had a more important question for me.

“Are you parents still together?” he asked bluntly.

“Yes, they are, and after 35 years of marriage they still cuddle on the couch,” I replied.

I guess I passed his test because he soon handed me the keys to essentially become a Guiney Pig for our Apprentice coaching diploma program.

Financially speaking, it hasn’t been an easy road. After finishing my Level 1 cert at the end of 2009, I spent countless hours shadowing senior coaches at CF Van and volunteering in any way possible around the facility.

I was so desperate and broke at that time that Patty took me on as his personal assistant, which had me doing glamorous tasks like scrubbing his toilets (I’m quite serious) and monotonously rolling coins from the Honour Jar.

Soon, I was ready to work with my own students. I really wasn’t a confident coach for quite some time, and I had many failures. My own sister, one of my first clients, earned the nickname ‘Small Failure.’ That speaks for itself.

For a long time, I struggled when it came to bringing people in, and since we get paid 100 per cent based on what we sell, I spent a good year and a half batting my head against the wall. The Free Market was kicking my ass.

So I tried to find other ways to raise money for myself. I hosted events, but sometimes these functions turned into fund losers, like the infamous Clothing Swap that brought in a number of eager merchants but a serious lack of consumers.

There I was at the age of 26, doing Patty’s laundry, returning bottles to the bottle depot, and constantly borrowing money from my parents. This isn’t what I had had in mind for myself.

But through the struggle, I received constant love and reassurance from Patty that I was moving in the right direction.

“Don’t worry Eunice. You’ll be off your mom’s tit pretty soon,” he would tell me lovingly. “You’re getting close.”

I was doubtful.

But he was right.

Where I am today:

Being totally transparent here: I spent one year making less than $2000 a month, and the next year I took home between $2000 and $3000 a month, not nearly enough to live off of, let alone ever imagine saving for the future.

But I think I needed to go through this struggle to get to where I am today. The sink or swim mentality forced me to figure things out for myself. And because of this, I managed to learn about coaching, about business, about sales, and about people in the process. I have learned more here in the last two years than I did in seven years of university. And it’s finally starting to show financially, both at CF Van and with my writing career.

Last month, as Patty signed my cheque, I smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. I took home $7000 in February (and $6000 in March). (I should mention that since I only work 20-30 hours per week, it has left me time to pursue a secondary writing career on the side, which provides me with a smaller but consistent secondary income).

“You’re off the tit, Eunice,” said Patty as he shook my hand and handed me a cheque.

At that moment, I had a vision of me on my knees scrubbing Patty’s toilet. Hard to believe that was just a year ago.

TUESDAY TEST DAY: POWER CLEAN ELIZABETH

Tech: 3 rep max Hang Power Clean (really get people working on the second pull)

WOD: Power Clean Elizabeth

21-15-9

Power Cleans (135/95 lbs)
Ring Dips

- EUNICE

A while ago, Corey posted a video that got a lot of attention on this site. It was a preview video for a proposed Naked Fran workout at Wreck Beach. Much hilarity ensued as he interviewed dozens of hesitant CrossFitters who were less than eager to get naked.

“Hell no, that sounds awful,” said Andy. “I don’t want my hog to freak people out,” added Colter.

Corey persisted until he found 9 brave souls to strip down and hit one of the dirtiest CrossFit workouts ever: Fran…

As a participant, I’ll admit it was only awkward for a brief moment. Once I was out of breath I forgot I was naked, even as The Afghan gazed at a full frontal view of both myself and Carolyn busting out pull ups flopping all about.

So without further ado, here’s the evidence. And you can continue to follow Corey’s Fran Journey across Europe here: FRAN JOURNEY

MONDAY: PAVELS

Warm-up: 3 Cindy Rounds (5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats)

Tech: 1 rep max shoulder press (Post to comments if you PB on your shoulder press after all these weeks of working on them)

WOD: 10 sets of 10 Back Squats

Choose your own load (45-60% of your 1 rep. max). Take a good two minutes off between each set.

- Eunice

Well a late post  tonight  as for my Father has arrived  into town, I could say a boat load about him all most respect, however its really late or should I say early!

We’ve been hanging out having a laugh and of course its real good to see him, we have been showing him around a bit, with a lil catching up and a few drinks of course.

This is a pic of the last time we hungout together at his Fathers 90 Birthday.

Me and Me Father!!!

Saturdays Workout: Kelly

Five rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
30 Box jump, 24 inch box
30 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball

Sundays Workout is up to he/she who Coaches you the class you attend.
Hope for the best &  Have a good Weekend,

CP

LDL (Bad) Cholesterol
When too much LDL (bad) cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the inner walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain. Together with other substances, it can form plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can narrow the arteries and make them less flexible. This condition is known as atherosclerosis. If a clot forms and blocks a narrowed artery, heart attack or stroke can result.

HDL (Good) Cholesterol
About one-fourth to one-third of blood cholesterol is carried by high-density lipoprotein (HDL). HDL cholesterol is known as “good” cholesterol, because high levels of HDL seem to protect against heart attack. Low levels of HDL (less than 40 mg/dL) also increase the risk of heart disease. Medical experts think that HDL tends to carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it’s passed from the body. Some experts believe that HDL removes excess cholesterol from arterial plaque, slowing its buildup.

Triglycerides
Triglyceride is a form of fat made in the body. Elevated triglycerides can be due to overweight/obesity, physical inactivity, cigarette smoking, excess alcohol consumption and a diet very high in carbohydrates (60 percent of total calories or more). People with high triglycerides often have a high total cholesterol level, including a high LDL (bad) level and a low HDL (good) level. Many people with heart disease and/or diabetes also have high triglyceride levels.

Lp(a) Cholesterol
Lp(a) is a genetic variation of LDL (bad) cholesterol. A high level of Lp(a) is a significant risk factor for the premature development of fatty deposits in arteries. Lp(a) isn’t fully understood, but it may interact with substances found in artery walls and contribute to the buildup of fatty deposits.

Warmup: Pullup Ladder

add a rep each minute (how far can you go)

Tech: Deadlift (7,5,3,/5,3,1)

Workout: Backward/Inverted Helen

3 rounds,

12 H-S-P-U

21D-Ball Slams (12/20lbs)

Run 200m Back wards

CFP

How & what to eat?!

Eat protein that is lean and account it for about 30% of  total caloric load, carbohydrates account for about 40% caloric load and should be low on the glycemic index chart .Go with monounsaturated fat, account it for about 30% of your caloric load. In so many words take care of your nutrition by eating perishable food, (green garden vegetables40%, lean meats30%, nuts and seeds30%).  Avoid starch and sugar, food is fuel keep it real and non processed, you will clearly benefit from healthy eating.

warm up/review: Clean & Push Jerk

1 rep max

Workout: For time, at (85/95/135lbs)

• 5 rounds of:
  • 1 power clean
  • 3 hang squat cleans
  • 2 jerks
  • run 200 ft.
  • rest two minutes when 5 rounds are complete (your “defense”)
• Go again 5rounds.

CFP