Garanimal's Page

“JUST DO IT” ~ one of the most recognized slogans of all times.  A slogan used by the leading brand in the sports industry that sponsors the best of the best, the Olympic gold medalists, the driven, the motivated, the role models of athleticism.  You would think the slogan would be a little more complex. Yet for some reason “Just Doing It” is so much more difficult that it sounds.

Why is it so hard?

Problem- Solution- Action RIGHT???

If you want to lose weight then JUST EAT RIGHT AND WORK OUT. If you want to save money THEN JUST PUT SOME AWAY EACH MONTH. If you want to reach your goals THEN JUST DO WHAT IT TAKES TO GET THERE!

Why the hell is this so hard? 

A few weeks ago I had a Garanimal breakdown. I was venting to some friends about frustrations in my personal and fitness life. You see quite often us fitness folk walk the fine line of discipline/ drive and perfectionism/ unhealthy self criticism.  I was pissed at myself and beating myself up for not being where I wanted to be and for not taking more action to get there.

A good friend replied- WE ARE NOT ROBOTS- we are Humans we have Feelings we have Life. To which she couldn’t have been more correct. We don’t live in a gold medalist/ NFL professional athlete bubble. We are normal people living normal lives with normal hurdles and valleys that we all deal with from time to time. We try to stay consistent and on the path we have planned… but it isn’t easy. The key is to keep heading in the direction you want to be.

So whatever your goal is- YES JUST DO IT! JUST GO FOR IT!!! Get off your bum and go for your goals – but cut yourself a break when you fall short.

If Just Doing IT was easy then Nike would have to come up with some other million billion dollar slogan. It isn’t easy. Life happens. Work and Family issues happen. Injuries happen. Emotions happen.

Just Do It the best that you can!

“Don’t let perfect get in the way of good enough.” ~ quote from the good ole boss man himself- Marc Wheeler =)

On the flip though- dont ever settle for mediocre!!! ~ somewhere in there  is a balance ( I just personally haven’t found it yet =)

OK  ~

SO a topic of conversation that comes up quite often w/ me

& all MY DAMM LADIES…Love You Chicas !!!

That topic would be:

THUNDER THIGHS (strong legs) 

Ok not really!  Not exactly the topic of thunder thighs, but the topic of muscle building and hypertrophy (means building just makes me sound cooler) due to our hard core, intense Crossfit training! Face it ladies we are Bad Ass- I mean lets just call it like it is!

CLOUDY FLASHBACK EXPERIENCE

WITH MUSIC –INSERT here

At MOJITO day at CASA de Monica and Ted we were tryin to Sell  this Crossfit shizzy to their triathlete friends. So someone mentions the muscle gains they have made with crossfit, well this just about made one of the girls run far far far away (and those tri peeps are fast.) She was not being sold by a selling point of GAINING WEIGHT.

LADIES-CHICAS-HOMEGIRLS

MY ATTEMPT TO PROVIDE SOME CLARIFICATION

Before I start this RANT and RAVE- lets first do a little review of Crossfit… then I will speak bit of personal experience and opinion (after all it is Garanimal’s page- so that means I get to talk about myself and not look vain; don’t be jealous)… and then we will just reach some sort of a conclusion that I haven’t though of yet. (JK)

CROSSFIT

Basically there is this super cool coach Greg Glassman who did all the dirty work. He realized that the High Intensity, Functional Movements (total body movements that mimic what we do in everyday life) are the secret to success for elite athletes and the secret to a healthy life for an everyday Jane (lets just use Jane instead of Joe since this is all for the LADIES!!!)

SO THEN- this SH*T just totally took off! Why- because it WORKS! Elite Athletes were getting stronger and faster!! And WINNING! (my favorite!)  Crossfit training also directly correlated to the work of Military, Police and Fire and these people grabbed on as well! Sports CONDITIONING for specific sports was out the window and overall, non- specific, functional high intensity was in!

Now remember:

CROSSFIT WHEN USED FOR ATHLETES IS DESIGNED AS A “SPORTS CONDITIONING PROGRAM.” IT IS DESIGNED TO HELP ATHLETES GET STRONGER AND FASTER… WHAT MAKES ATHLETES BETTER AT THEIR SPORT SPECIFICALLY IS JUST THAT~ SPORT SPECIFICS.  DOING YOUR SPORT! IF YOU WANT TO BE BETTER AT SOFTBALL , THEN GO PLAY SOFTBALL.  IF YOU WANT TO HIT THE BALL OUT OF THE PARK AND RUN THE BASES FASTER THAN MARION JONES (BEFORE THE “FISH OIL”), THEN COMBINE CROSSFIT AND GET STRONGER, MORE POWERFUL, AND FASTER.

NOW BACK TO GARANIMAL:

I personally got involved in Crossfit to be better at my job as a firefighter. I wanted to get stronger and I wanted to gain power. I wanted to excel in my sport of the firefighter combat challenge.  My training Coach at work and I trained our butts off with Crossfit and we trained on the firefighter combat challenge course once a week. We did OK in our spring competition, but neither of us set PR’s and neither of us was extraordinarily happy with our performance.

We had to step back and look at our training. What we had was KILLER CONDITIONING and not so KILLER SPORT SPECIFICS. We were only on the course once a week!  As the IN-SEASON approached and COMPETITION came closer, We should have been on the course 60-80% of the time and the rest of the time conditioned with Crossfit as usual.

CONCLUSION- AND WHAT THE HECK DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THUNDER THIGHS?

• I ASK YOU THIS- WHY DO YOU CROSSFIT?
• Ok SO WHAT IF YOU AREN’T TRAINING FOR A SPECIFIC ATHLETIC EVENT?
• WHAT IF YOU ARE THE EVERYDAY JANE?
• WHAT IF YOU CROSSFIT PURELY TO STAY IN SHAPE, TO LOSE WEIGHT, AND TO LOOK BETTER NAKED? YOU COULD CARE LESS ABOUT POWER AND STRENGTH AND YOU SIMPLY WANT TO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO PERFORM EVERYDAY FUNCTIONS OF LIFE AND YOU WANT TO BE A LEAN SKINNY BITCH?

Well, clearly my goals are different. I want to be a Jacked Up Bad Ass! My job and athletic goals require that. I think everyone should be strong and powerful Shera’s (princess of Power) …but If you are feeling more like being the size 3 Laura Croft Tomb Raider’s of the World ( still hot , but Shera would kick her ass anyday).. or if you could care less about your 1RM or how much you HANG CLEAN. Well then OK- understood. We all have different goals. Accepted. My goal for YOU though is that you are still strong enough to perform lifts correctly with proper form & with average weight– purely for your overall health and livelihood. And my goal for every female gym member is that they can do 1 full dead hang pull up and 1 full dip!

WHAT YOU SHOULD TAKE HOME

• Yes females can gain muscle.
• You will gain muscle from Crossfit.
• No, we will never look like jacked up MEN without the use of aids.
• Yes a lot of it has to do with genetics- everyone’s body reacts differently.
• The top Crossfit Ladies have all kinds of different body types… and YES they are all doing the same type of training as you.
• You can’t help your genetics- love them and accept them and work around them to suit your goals.

IS SHE FRIGGIN’ DONE TALKING YET?

Let me call CLEO and READ YOUR MIND-

“Um Wendy this is all great, but I swear to you my legs are getting bigger from Crossfit. I am gaining muscle and I want to be loosing weight. My PANTS fit differently or not at all!  Should I change my training?”

I would say YES!  If your body is NOT reacting the way you want it to with your Crossfit training, and your goal is aesthetics- then talk to one of our trainers. It may very well be diet or lack of a negative caloric balance. Everyone’s body reacts differently- we need to discuss things so you are reaching the goals you have set for yourself.

IF YOU WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT –, IF YOUR ONLY GOAL IS TO LOOK BETTER NAKED then Train like you WANT THAT GOAL!

( like the people who want to get stronger go on the strength program- same concept)  (like the girl who wants to be good at Softball plays softball) ( like wendy needs to get her butt on the course more to set a PR Time)   Same Concept:

If you want to LOSE BODY FAT % . You HAVE TO EAT LESS AND BURN MORE. BOTTOM LINE.  

There are many options out there for you to add into your regimen:

·        REBEL HEALTH

·        CROSSFIT ENDURANCE WODs

·        MORNING RUNS WITH GALEY

·        PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT GOALS:

Run a 5K race w people from the Dammit

Celebrate a 10lb loss at the next DAMM LADIES

                                                    DINNER

          Get your 1st Dead Hang Pullup/ Get your 1st DIP

DETERMINE WHAT YOU WANT

AND LET CROSSFIT TAKE YOU THERE!

TALK TO A TRAINER IF YOU AREN’T REACHING YOUR GOALS!  

***(beware the first thing they will ask you about is your consistency with your workouts and your diet!)

LASTLY CONSIDER THIS BELOW WHEN EVALUATING YOUR GOALS:

Look at the photos and cast your votes

or leave your comments:

• WHO DO YOU THINK IS FITTER?
• WHO DO YOU THINK IS STRONGER?
• WHO WOULD WIN IN A FIGHT?
• Who would you want to look more like (body type) and WHY???

FEMININE CHIC #1

FEMININE CHIC # 2

Garanimal out.

PS- My Vote is #2-

That would be the Jolie Gentry winner of  the inaugural 2007 CrossFit Games, and Yes she has Strong Legs!