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Posted by Crossfit Hollywood

Today we give Liz her due in the spotlight. Liz has made huge gains since starting a CFHW. So much so that she recently won our in-haus throwdown. Keep crushing, Liz!

Name: Liz Montano

Height: 5’3”

Weight: 125 (Used to be 115 so I hope it is muscle, but I think I have a couple lbs. hanging around from the holidays)

Age: 31

Profession: Venture Capital

How long have you been a member at CFHW? Started paying dues October 2010, however, I like to say I’ve been a member since June 2011 as that is when I started going consistently.

How has CrossFit changed your life, lifestyle, level of fitness? The last ten years of my life I have been focused on my career. Outside of work I mainly spent time going out with business school friends and colleagues from work. I worked out to stay fit. In other words, I worked out to burn off what I ate and drank. After I found CrossFit, I no longer workout so I can eat what I want, I eat so I can have a better workout. I don’t go to the gym to stay fit, I go to get more fit. I get more excited about new oly lifting shoes than I do about a new pair of pumps. I bought myself a barbell, a set of rings and an abmat and I live in an 800 sq. ft. apartment. I’m stronger and faster than I have ever been and all I want to do is get stronger (not bigger…still want to look like a lady). To say my life, lifestyle and level of fitness has changed, is an understatement.

However, what I have found most amazing and what has changed my life the most, is the people and the coaches I have met at CrossFit. I found an amazing set of new friends that share the same passion for fitness, nutrition, competition, and bettering themselves. Everyone is so different (i.e. type of work, age, education, level of fitness), yet I feel like I share more in common with the members than some of my own friends outside of the box. The CrossFit community makes me feel like I’m a part of team. The level of support and motivation that members give to each other is so inspiring, and allows people to push for PRs every day. Thanks CFHW for having such a great group of coaches and members!!!

What is your athletic background? Always loved sports and played basketball in high school. Then I didn’t do much until grad school when I started working out with a trainer.

Favorite WOD: I LOVE chippers! Anything that has a variety of movements and that requires a little more endurance. If I have to pick one I will go with the Filthy Fifty.

Favorite Lift: Overhead squat…I just think it looks cool.

Least Favorite WOD: Not a fan of the really fast WODs…the ones that are done in less than 5 minutes. I never feel like I worked out long enough. Also, I don’t really like Karen. It seems so boring to just do wall balls. Then my neck is typically sore the next day from looking up the entire WOD.

Least Favorite Lift: All lifts from the power position (besides the deadlift). I think I lack the coordination to execute a lift that has more than one phase in the movement (i.e. Power Clean, Power Snatch).

What are your proudest achievements? My proudest achievement by far is getting my mom to join CrossFit. I obviously talked so much about it, that she decided to join too. I love the fact that we can push each other and talk about our growth. When I go visit her we WOD together at her box, and when she comes to LA, she comes to CFHW.

My second is a personal achievement, the day I was finally able to power clean and squat clean 105#. During the qualifier for the OC Throwdown, WOD #2 had several squat cleans at 105#. I couldn’t power clean or squat clean that weight…and trust me…I tried. For the first time I felt really defeated because during our daily workouts, if I can’t do a weight, I just scale. But in the OC Throwdown, if you couldn’t do the weight, you didn’t get a score. A few weeks later, Andy decided to have an in-house competition (8 Weeks of Christmas) and his first WOD had my favorite unattainable 105# squat cleans. Except this time, I did 8!

Name one goal and/or personal record you would like to accomplish through CrossFit? I want to be able to do handstand walks. I have a fear of some of the gymnastics movements. I can do handstand pushups, but I have to place my hands down and kick up. For some reason I’m afraid if I just walk into a handstand, my arms will fail and I will land on my face.

Any advice for someone thinking about trying CrossFit or someone who has just started? Just do it! I can’t count the number of times I have talked to people who want to join CrossFit and their excuse is that they have to get in better shape first. The best way to get in shape is to join immediately. I know there are some CrossFit workouts you can do on your own, but I found you never push yourself as hard or get the same feeling of accomplishment that you do when you complete the workout at your box with your community of friends.

Favorite place to eat in Los Angeles? Toast. As I’ve gotten older breakfast/brunch is becoming my favorite meal of the day…and Toast also has almond milk lattes.

Ego vs Integrity

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Posted by Crossfit Hollywood

Disclaimer: The following post is in response to multiple recent occurrences at CFHW, and is meant mostly to athletes who want the "Rx" next to their scores, are interested in competing, or want their scores posted on our leader board. It is not directed at any one individual.

I love my job. I love seeing people make incredible transformations. I love seeing people hit PR's. I love helping people achieve things they never thought possible. I love the fact that our athletes are great at fundamentals and that that greatness gives CFHW a solid reputation around the Crossfit community. What I don't love is when someone's ego gets in the way of me loving my job. Your ego has no place inside a Crossfit gym, and definitely not inside CFHW. No matter how bad-ass you think you are, there will come a time where you will have your ass handed to you by someone far superior to you. What sense, then, does it make to let your ego get in the way of your training? The whole reason you are at the gym should be to improve yourself, not to have bragging rights. Here are some ways that your ego gets in the way of improving yourself:

-Cutting corners to improve your score. There are a lot of ways to cut corners. Range of motion is one of them. If you are not completing full range of motion on every rep, you are cutting corners. You are not doing the same workout as the person next to you. Remember, we can always scale the load of a movement, but range of motion (barring special circumstances such as injury) is not negotiable. Another way to cut corners is by not completing the prescribed amount of reps. This has become a problem recently (you think we don't notice, but we do). This is cheating. There is no place in Crossfit for cheaters. Now every so often, mid-workout, your mind might slip and you may not know whether you're on rep 43 or rep 53. In that case, you have to suck it up and assume it's 43. That way you know your score is legit. Cutting reps is extremely disrespectful to me, the other coaches, your fellow athletes, and the entire Crossfit community. For those of you interested in competing and being on the leader board, you have to get serious about it. Pretend Coach Glassman himself is watching every single rep. You must leave no doubt that you are completing each rep as prescribed. If it wouldn't fly in competition, redo it. If you're not sure you did it as prescribed, then you probably didn't. Redo it. Make yourself better. Your training should be as difficult as possible in order to make you perform better in competition. If we find you cutting corners, we will not include your scores on the leadboard unless they are verified by a coach, which means we have to count every rep.

-Neglecting your weaknesses. Just because you're not good at something doesn't mean you should avoid doing it. Quite the opposite, in fact. You should be concerned with working on your weaknesses to improve your game. In 2010, Rich Froning lost the final event, and therefore 1st place, because he couldn't properly climb a rope. 2009 Games Champion Mikko Salo got slowed down by double-unders. Do you think they ignored those movements the following year during their training? Absolutely not. They fixed the holes in their games, and Froning went on to win in 2011. Last weekend Ron Mathews competed in the O.C Throwdown. He made a great post on our FB page about it. This was one of his points: "Work your weaknesses! Better to struggle in your own box in front of people who know and like/support you than struggle in front of a crowd of strangers. If you have a weakness it will be exposed!" Thanks, Ron. Well said.

-Getting personally offended by a "no rep" call. Just because a coach calls a no rep on you doesn't mean you're a bad person, or aren't working hard enough. Everybody gets no-reps called on them. It's part of Crossfit. Watch any Games competition video from last year. Do you see any of those athletes throwing a fit about no reps? No. They just redo it and move on. This is the integrity of a champion. And make no mistake, if you're fit enough to make the Games, you're already a champion. When you see people throw a fit from a no rep, they have way too much ego. These are the people who cut corners in the gym on a regular basis. These are the people who post incredible scores on their own but bonk when it comes time to do it for real. Don't be one of those people.

-Neglecting technique and fundamentals. When I first began Crossfit I would repeat over and over something Glassman said while suffering through a WOD: "Proper form is more efficient." More efficient means less wasted energy. This is a good thing. The fact that you can muscle clean 95# with poor form won't matter when going for a 1RM or when the prescribed weight is double that. Technique is everything. Been Crossfitting for a couple years and still can't do overhead squats? This is your fault for not working your weaknesses, which probably means mobility. (I see this one all the time). Neglecting technique and fundamentals will lead to injury and will ultimately cause you to plateau in your training.

Like I said, I love my job. I love working with you guys on improving yourselves and your quality of life. Please don't let your egos get in the way of that. Have some integrity and take your training seriously. You'll thank me for it later.

Talk to your Coach

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Posted by Crossfit Hollywood

As Crossfit coaches, we have many responsibilities when leading you through a group class. More than just telling you to go harder. We also have the responsibility of keeping you safe. This means making sure you have good form, are lifting weights within your strength and skill level, are recovering properly and fully understand the movements and workout. However, you the athlete also play a role in your safety. If you have an injury, it is your responsibility to inform the coach. We are not mind readers and have no way of knowing if you are experiencing any aches or pains. If you have a pre-existing condition, like scoliosis, you have to tell us, otherwise there is no way of us knowing. Please do not be afraid to speak up in class. No one's going to think any less of you if your shoulder is bothering you and you have to modify the workout. We've all been in your situation before. If you continually aggravate your injury it will never heal and you will always be hating life. We are more than happy to modify workouts for you in the case of injury or any other physical limitations you may have. Have pins in your ankle? We'll work around it. Pulled a muscle in your back? No problem. An IED went off when you were serving overseas? We'll figure it out. (These are all issues we've delt with in real life, by the way). We want you to get the most out of your session and if you're doing damage, you're regressing, not progressing.

In addition to telling us about your ailments, it is important that you listen to us when we are speaking to you. I know you've been crossfitting for 6 months now and you've already Rx'd a workout and can overhead squat without bending your elbows, but we just might have some useful information that could help you out, even or prevent an injury. If you're talking while we're explaining things you're not only missing what we're saying, you're also distracting others from hearing what we're saying. Listening to us can also mean NOT listening to the guy next to you. He may be able to do more weight than you or finish faster than you, but that by no means makes him qualified to give coaching points. If you ever have a question, ask your coach, not another member. This is what you pay us for. Get your money's worth. We'll be happy to answer. If you're unclear on something, chances are someone else in class is also unclear, so your question will be beneficial to more than just you.

Remember, we're all friends at CFHW. Nobody is going to judge you if your body isn't in perfect working order at the moment. I know us coaches seem like scary people, but we're cool. You can talk to us. We won't bite.

Active Recovery Class

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Posted by Crossfit Hollywood

Starting this Sunday, the 8:30am Sunday class will be an Active Recovery Class with coach Robert Madero. This class will focus on skill improvement, joint mobility and body maintenance. This is meant as a rest day class. You will not be allowed to take regular class if you take the ARC class, as it may be detrimental. Recovery is an important part of your training and should not be neglected. Start 2012 off right by learning how to take care of your body and improving your skills! See you in class.

A Great Year

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Posted by Crossfit Hollywood

As 2011 comes to an end, I'd like to take a look back at what an awesome year we had at CFHW. On the business side, things have never been better. We doubled our membership this year and got the gym running nice and smoothly. We've assembled a team of amazing coaches and have been led by a couple of great owners. The name Crossfit Hollywood is known around the world for quality coaching and attention to detail. In the retail department, we've added so much cool swag and love seeing people sport their CFHW gear with pride.
But where would we be without you, our amazing members? We owe everything to you and your dedication, loyalty and hard work. We love you guys. There have been so many PR's and personal victories this year. Every month the PR board blows up with all of your amazing accomplishments, and I know we're just getting started.
2011 also included many special events. 2 paleo challenges led to some pretty incredible transformations and epic parties. The ice luge will live on in infamy. And let's not forget the food. You definitely did not disappoint at the pot-lucks. Thanks for all the hard work and creativity.
We also had a chance for people to throw down at our in-house competitions, as well as participating in the Crossfit Games, OC Throwdown, NLI, Fight Gone Bad 6, Tough Mudder, and various other challenges. Keep working people, it pays off.
We look forward to an amazing 2012 with all of you. It's going to be even more epic than 2011, with more events, programs, challenges, parties, awesome times and general silliness you've come to expect from us. like Andy always says, we're being awesome and training to win. See you in 2012.

Post your favorite moment/accomplishment/event to comments.