Overhead squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps Front squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps Back squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps Try to increase the load on each of the fifteen sets. Have a plan. We’ve talked about brain plasticity before and there we learned that through repetition our brains build connections or pathways that allow us to achieve that same act with less effort the next time. Overtime, these actions become “natural” or even automatic. Imagine a toddler learning to walk. It requires all of their attention and even then they experience a lot of mishaps. Now think of yourself walking. When we walk we’re not focusing on our steps and maintaining our balance, we’re thinking about something completely separate from the act of walking, yet we’re walking. That is one way the brain has created a pathway that is so strong that it no longer requires any of our conscious energy to achieve. Natural movement patterns are...Read more

Master’s Qualifier 16.4 55 burpees 34 overhead squats (95/65) 21 muscle-ups Check out Root Amy Jo above in her submission video of this same workout.  She gets through all 21 muscle-ups under the 20 minute time cap!  Well done Amy Jo!  Read more

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of: 10 L pull-ups 10 handstand push-ups 20 hip extensions In this article, Mark discusses why he occasionally will fast after working out.  He explains the benefits of fasting and reaffirms that pre and post workout nutrition are not understood.  We can all get caught up in the game of what to eat and what not to eat and how soon before and after and so on and so on.  If constant variation is what we have found to be the best strategy in our fitness, why wouldn’t we try it for our nutrition?   I think Mark says it best: In the spirit of IF (intermittent fasting) and recreating patterns of our primal ancestors’ lives, varying your eating/exercising/fasting practices ultimately allows for maximizing the hormonal and upregulating benefits of different physiological scenarios.    Read more

Complete as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of: 12 dumbbell deadlifts 9 dumbbell hang squat cleans 6 dumbbell push jerks We haven’t been able to do much fact checking on this new study so please don’t change your current fitness routine until we do.  In the meantime though, enjoy the video and have a great Friday!  Read more

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of: 15-foot rope climbs, 2 ascents 10 ring dips 20 GHD sit-ups Some of us are here because we want to look better naked, for others it’s to lose weight, for others still it’s to get fit.  Lon Kilgore wrote this great Journal article on how a sedentary lifestyle for retirees is leading to a lower quality of life and an overall stress on the countries healthcare system. I don’t think many of us stop to think how our fitness training today will pay off when we’re at an age of retirement (for some I’m sure, but not many), but it’s not bad to keep in mind.  Even on the lousiest day of training, simply by the effort of training you’re investing in your quality of life down the road.  Lon hits the nail on the head when he says, “The...Read more