Fit and Famous

So you all know how Art loves to work out. Just in case you didn't, click here to take a peek at his blog.

He's into a specific type of fitness called CrossFit. The idea behind CrossFit was inspired by triathletes and decathletes. They're strong in many areas, not just one, and it makes sense. Your body works as a whole, so if you're going to get fit, your whole body should be fit. Don't just lift weights, or just run. Do both. Don't isolate muscles when building them, because your muscles don't work individually, they work together. And switch it up. If you keep doing the same routine over and over, eventually your workouts will become ineffective.

It's pretty addicting, and since Art is so passionate about it, he can't help but spread it around. He's got his siblings doing it (Mary and Joe), and their roommate Phil, and Art's friend Wayne, and Art's chiropractor, and one of his profs from college, and one of Phil's friends has recently been joining them.

And they don't even have to go to a gym! They've got what they call their "Hobo Gym." They've got enough equipment in Mary's and Joe's and Phil's garage that they can basically do every workout there, and they're really good at substituting if there's one they can't do. Also, the workouts (called Workout Of the Day, or WOD) can be modified so anyone can do them. Seriously. Anyone. I've seen grandmas doing CrossFit. One the official website I saw a video of a pregnant woman working out. And then there are off-shoots of CrossFit for specific groups, like women, or kids. Yup. CrossFit Kids. And look how much I'm writing about it. Even I'm getting into it!

So anyway, Art recently got hooked up with a real CrossFit gym in Bellingham, and they asked him to join them for a fundraiser they were having. It's a specific WOD called Fight Gone Bad, and this time, those who were working out asked others to sponsor them. All the money raised went towards the cure for prostate cancer.

Fight Gone Bad goes like this:
5 stations, one minute at each station, for 3 rounds, and one minute of rest between each round.
So 15 minutes of work total, with 3 minutes of rest total.

The stations are:
Row machine - row for calories.
Wall balls - holding a 14lb or 20lb medicine ball, squat, and then toss the ball up 9 feet, catch it, and repeat.
Sumo-Deadlift High Pull - lift 53lbs or 75lbs from the ground to your chest in one movement.
Box jumps - jump from the ground onto a 24inch box, and jump back down. Repeat.
Pushpress - lift 53lbs or 75lbs from your chest straight up into the air. Oh, and this is not a bench press. This one is done standing.

Every rep is worth a point, and you want as many points as possible. Here's a link to a video from the CrossFit website that shows and explains the whole thing.

However, you should really watch THIS video. On the day of Fight Gone Bad, there was a camera guy who filmed the whole thing, and he put it up on YouTube. Art and his brother Joe are both in it. Enjoy!