Dansville Fitness Club

SDHP from JP Mummey on Vimeo.

Last friday I was “forcing” Pru to practice her jump rope skillz. A task that she was less than enthusiastic about. As motivation I offered Miss Pru a week off of jump roping if she could string 2 Double Unders together. A Double Under is when you jump once and the rope makes two full rotations. It’s a high skill movement that takes speed, coordination, and above all… practice. Patience helps too. Anyway… with little effort Pru successfully hit 2 in a row, thus earning herself a week free of all that is jump rope.

Next week though, she’s going for 3!

Here’s Barb, doing some heavy deadlifts and pullups. Not bad for 5 am.

Pulling 95 pounds

Cranking out pullups

Just wanted to take this opportunity to toot my dads horn and wish him a Happy Fathers Day. At 62, he’s still as tough as they come. A truck driver since as long as I can remember, he’s no stranger to hard work. He’s always set a strong example for my sister and I, and I can only hope to someday become half the man he has always been. Love you pop.

Happy Fathers Day Pop

Here’s a quick but educational look into the dynamics of insulin response and fat storage. It’s a clip from the movie Fathead which I own if you’d like to borrow. Knowledge is power.

The Department of Health and Exercise Science in New Jersey recently tested fat oxidation rates on subjects who preformed aerobic activity alone (running) vs. subjects who preformed both resistance (weights) and aerobic training. The results showed that subjects burned more fat performing high intensity resistance training along with aerobic activity than those who preformed aerobic training alone.

In summary:

Aerobic training = Fat Loss

Aerobic training + Resistance training = Mo’ Better Fat Loss

In addition, resistance training builds strength and power which makes you a generally more effective human.

Sound a little like what we do?

In Crossfit land, we like to celebrate our athletes. Whether it be a new personal record lift, a new skill mastered, a stellar effort laid down, or a personal best on a tough workout. Back patting and “atta boys” are a regular part of the Dansville Fitness Club. But birthdays… now that’s a whole different story. I don’t know where it started but when one of us has a birthday (that I know about) we all marvel in their survival by suffering through a grinder of helacious proportions consisting of a wide of array of devious movements performed in a rep scheme that somehow correlates with their new age. The older the birthday haver, the more narly their celebratory workout.

Yesterday was Bob’s birthday and this is the resulting chaos.

38 Jump ropes

38 Kettlebell Swings

38 Wallballs

38 Situps

38 Jumping Pullups

38 Push Presses

38 Lunges

38 Happy Birthday Burpee Broad Jumps

All that work is nothing to scoff at, but a birthday grinder wouldn’t be complete without a curveball or 2. I let Bob and his wife Pru split the reps anyway they wanted but only one of them could work at a time. Additionally, whoever wasn’t performing the exercise had to maintain a static pushup hold (hang out at the top of a pushup) or hang from the pullup bar. Partner 1 could only jump rope while partner 2 held the pushup position. When either partner couldn’t hold up there end, the reps stopped counting. It started pretty easy, but as fatigue set in the dynamic of the workout really came into play and partners had to communicate effectively to make it through. Fun times.

Wallballs, everyones favorite

Bob hanging out

Happy Birthday Burpee Broad Jump by Bob

I channeled bob the builder this weekend and started knocking down walls in the gym. With the middle wall gone and the loft pushed back we’ve now got double the space. Which means more ways for me to torture…er… train you lucky athletes.

Not quite finished but we ran out of weekend. Need to get up the back wall, some paint, and then get some more flooring. It’s nice to have all that new space though!

Finally got a concept 2 rower! They’re pricey but arguably one of the most effective pieces of “cardio” equipment available. Each stroke is a symphony of postural strength, aggressive ankle, knee, and hip extension combined with a long, strong pull of the arms. It works major motor recruitment patterns, coordination, endurance, and when done in short durations builds strength, anaerobic capacity, and metabolic conditioning. Quite simply, rowing is the shit!

Also, we’ve got 3 new members. Pru and her husband Bob,  who both have huge potential. Bob is a strong guy and Pru is freakishly coordinated. She grasps difficult, compound movements quickly and with little effort. I think she was a crossfitter in a previous life. And then Barb, who has the legs of a horse, which is probably because she rides them 8 days a week. Welcome guys, keep up the hard work.