101 ways to be healthy

I was searching through some websites when I came in to this one http://www.revolutionaryact.com/101ways/. Visit the website and scroll on every reason and see what happens :) I think that is pretty smart, cool and motivating.

Yesterday's WOD:

10rounds:
100m sprint
10burpees
100m sprint
10 pull-ups

Team WOD

More people start showing up for the workouts. I am seeing some great motivation in some of them. It is always so delightful to see somebody burning with desire to give his best and beat the WOD. In my group there are all kinds of people-from the former couch potatoe, through the pregnant lady to the professional athlete. That is what I like about crossfit. All these people have nothing in common in their daily life. They all have different dreams, different goals. Their fitness level is different but you know what? They all get united in the evening, to get away from their problems, to face their fears, to show how tough they are! Everybody gives their best and then leaves for home feeling happy with himself. I love the two hours after every workout when I receive all kinds of messages, with people being thankful for the way my practice made them feel. It is so nice to know that you are making a difference in somebody's life. It is nice seeing people accomplish their goals....people appreciating your time and effort to help them be who they truely want to be!

The WOD:
Twelve people showed up. So I devided them in three teams of four. Two people on the team were doing tire sprints(one sprints to the tire and then sprints back dragging it and the other one rests, till the two of them have 3x100(50metres sprint and 50metres tire sprints each).
The other two on the team are doing max rounds of 5pull-ups and 10 air squats.
The teams do it for 25minutes and then add up together the rounds from the pull-ups and air squats to see whoever won. The team that loses makes 400metres run and 20burpees.


25minutes teams of four:
3x100m. tire sprints
max rounds 5 pull-ups;10 air squats

There are NO EXCUSES for missing the practice

Last WOD

THE WOD:

1200m run

21 tire flips

21 pull ups

21 swings

800m run

15 tire flips

15 pull ups

15 swings

400m run

9 tire flips

9 pull ups

9 swings

That WOD was a lot of fun :) I made it up that way because I love tires, swings and pull ups :) And the running was just the extra torture :) You should try it! If you do not have a tire to flip around you could substitute it with deadlifts :)

Interview with Annie Mist Thorisdottir: Where hard work leads to triumph

Annie Thorisdottir-paul volting

A couple months ago when I did the nterviews with different crossfitters I admire, there was one lady that was really nice and forthcoming. She was one of the top crosfit athletes in the world( and currently the fittest on Earth) but that hasn't changed her personality. She was still wishful to take the time and answer the questions I prepared for her. Reading her interview you will see why she won the Crossfit games in 2011- the combination of dedication, hard work and talent are only few of the things that could describe Annie! And instead of writing more words that only belittle what she truely is, I will let you read what she had to say...

Introduce yourself:
 Annie Mist Thorisdottir.

How long have you being doing crossfit?
I started doing CrossFit 2 months prior to the CrossFit Games 2009

Have you been involved in some other sports before that?
I was in Gymnastics for about 8 years, then Ballet, Pole vaulting, Bootcamp and now CrossFit…

How did people around you accept the fact that you are doing crossfit? Did they take a jaundiced view of it?
I have gotten a lot of support around me, of course you always get to hear different opinions about CrossFit but none of them to bad… =)

Annie Thorisdottir

Do you have a nutrition plan that you follow? If yes, do you meet disapproval from you friends? Or do they understand why you eat the way you do?
I try to eat healthy and little processed food, have a lot of high quality protein. I’m not strict paleo since I do eat dairy products (we have a lot of really clean dairy products here in Iceland) and some grains. My friends that train understand it and the others respect why I do it.

What does crossfit mean to you and did it change your life in some way?
It means a lot to me, I found something that I love and really enjoy doing. Definitely changed my life a lot in many ways.

Annie Thorisdottir's triumph at the games

What is your favorite WOD and which one do you hate the most?
I love heavy chippers, pull ups, push ups and something with a lot of Olympic lifts. In the benchmark workouts I like Grace, Isabel, Angie, DT and McGhee. Probably my least favorite is something that involves a lot of running and a lot of MUs. =)

Is it hard for you to combine your daily tasks with workouts? And have you ever used the excuse that you are too busy to workout?
Not really I try to go according to schedule and that usually involves training…

What is your biggest accomplishment in crossfit so far?
I would have to say 11th place on the Games 2009 and 2nd place 2010 and 1st place in 2011...

Do you remember some funny story with you and crossfit?
I have a lot of them… probably the most memorable one is how I got to the games 2009. I had never done a CrossFit workout before but decided to compete at the Regionals in Iceland. I had an oral math exam earlier that same day = Stress and 2 hours of sleep so I slept between workouts! Ended up as a lot of fun though and a trip to the Games… =)

What advice would you give to the beginner crossfiters?

Try to enjoy every workout and think positively especially for the ones that you dread the most. Remember that it will only get better… ;)

The right approach to the future

Forget the past and build the present towards reaching your future

I bet that all of you have heard about Steve Jobs. He is one of the people that I really admire. Often times when I feel trapped or challenged to take an important decision I think about him and some of the things he says in his presentations. Actually right now I am reading a book about him called The Steve Jobs Way: iLeadership for a new generation. Eventhough the book is about his life, the obstacles he was challenged to overcome and the way he coped with the hand that life dealed at him, it is also a book that will make you think a lot about the way your life turns out to be. About the decisions you make, the dreams you chase and the risks you take.

In the book Steve says that great inventors create products that are the result or the fruit of their imagination, that let them build a world, in which they'd love to live. And that is a totally different approach to life, from the one where we just try to make the past better. I know it sounds kind of fancy and probably you feel confused but I am gonna try and make it clear.

Think about something in your past. A situation that you feel like you took the wrong decision...the time when somebody cheated on you, when somebody did something wrong and hurt you! How do you feel about it? DO you wish you could change it? Have you promised yourself that you won't ever let it happen again? And when challenged to face a similar situation in the present, you rewind the time back to the past, feeling scared that you will be hurt again or make the wrong decision, and thus considering your actions towards avoiding the repetition of this past situation. 

Use your imagination

Well that is the wrong approach! What you should do instead is when a situation is challenging you, the better thing to do is stop for a while. Look at everything that is happening and ask yourself: Where do I wanna be? What do I want to happen in the future? Where do I wanna go?...Then when you find the answers to those questions you will have the destination that your hearts wants to take you to! From there on, you should use that drive, all your abilities and your imagination to build your presents towards reaching the desired future. Someone once said that when you look at the past, you may trip in the present and fall in the future! Is this what you wnat your life to look like?

Many of us belittle the voice of our hearts. Many of us think that some dreams are way too impossible, so they are not worth fighting for. And thus the defeat is  forced out of the mouth of victory! As Steve Jobs says "Every opportunity starts with an unmet need." So find the answer to the question of what is your desired future...and strive for it!