Crossfit Collectives; Communities in the making
Who: A non-profit collection of individuals from different sports, disciplines, occupations and interests in fitness, a.k.a. the general public.
What: People together performing the WOD and training their own personal, sport or occupational specific goals.
Where: Anywhere; Storage facilities, garages, basements, warehouses and commercial front properties.
Who owns everything? The patrons and users of the facility and its equipment are the owners, a.k.a. you.
Who will pay for this space and facility? The patrons/owners of the facility will all equally chip in and pay rent and utility costs.
Where does the equipment come from? The equipment is “donated” by the individual patrons/owners of the facility. Each patron/owners is expected to bring in what piece of equipment they can for the better of the group/facility, offer what services they can to manufacture or create what they can and help chip in to buy certain items and materials for the manufacturing of equipment.
Facility example; Dave has a wide variety of small items such as medicine balls, Pylo-boxes, sandbags, rings, harness and drag apparatus along with a large set of plates and Olympic bar. Doug has a reasonable selection of kettlebells and a C2 rower. Sue has a set of bumper plates, Olympic bar and treadmill. Tim has rings, plates, dumbbells, plates and is also a welder and can make a wide range of items. Beth, Mike and Frank don’t have much but want in.
Separately they don’t have much and most likely train in a less than ideal facility but together have a reasonable amount of equipment and can potentially afford to rent out a space. Together they then all chip in and buy another C2 rower, materials for a pull-up bar and power rack, made by Tim, set up a couple of lifting platforms, hang the rings from the ceiling and all throw in enough money to buy a good length of rope for climbing. When a member leaves he or she can take what equipment they brought or bought themselves for the facility. Items that are the result of a group purchase or construction become the property of the facility unless some sort of re-compensation is agreed upon.
When: Whenever you can. The facility is set up like a drop in center or commercial gym where you go when you can make it in, that said the whole point of the facility and concept is working out with other people. Tim, Doug and Beth workout in the morning and get together to train then, Mike and Dave train in the afternoon, meanwhile Frank and Sue train together after work. Schedules change and different people join the workout when they can and when there’s enough equipment and room to go around. Once a week they all get together for a group workout and general bullshit session.
Extras: From here they can recruit other people/owners to help buffer the costs, perhaps get a larger facility and more equipment if need be. They could also chip in together and bring out one of the many Crossfit coaches for a private seminar.
The End Product: The finished result is a non-profit facility and organization that would be made up, owned and operated by regular everyday people looking for a quality facility, away from the big box for profit gyms or having to spend an arm and leg for a garage gym. There would be no training for profit, unless agreed upon by the group and new people or “trainees” would be just like another patron/owner. Fitness levels and specific skill levels would all be different, as would knowledge and experience.
The Golden Rule: The most important rule is that the workouts and WOD are not a competition; the only competition is with you. Compare your score and performance with others as an assessment of your weaknesses and others only if asked. The group workouts are based and made for safety, exchange of information and education, comradeship and a sense of community and finally the furthering of personal fitness and wellbeing.

08/23/06
Cook & Philip Aquatic Center
BW 70kg
Deadlift 3-2-2-2-1-1-1-1-1
110-3/120-2/130-2/130-2/130-1/135-1/140-1/145-1 PR/147.5-1 PR
Close-grip Bench Press
60-2/50-5/55-5/60-3 A2
Weighted Pull-ups – Neutral Grip
15-5/15-5/20-5A2/25-3A1

08/22/06
Cook & Philip Aquatic Center
BW 69.5kg
3 rounds for time:
1000m row
20 pull-ups
30 box jumps
Time 21:21
R1 3:56.9@25 10/5/5 square pull-up bar
R2 4:00.8@24 10/10 reg pull-up bar
R3 4:06.7@23 7/6/6/1 reg pull-up bar
Bench Press 5x5
50/55/60/60/62.5
Back Squat
60-3/70-2x2/75-2x2

08/20/06
Cook & Philip Aquatic Center
BW 70kg
250m row = 0:55.8@29
500m row = 1:59.0@19
1000m row = 4:08.4@19
1500m row = 6:27.1@19
For time:
40kg squat cleans, 21 reps
42 back ext.
40kg squat cleans, 15 reps
30 back ext.
40kg squat cleans, 9 reps
18 back ext.
Time 8:36 w/40kg squat clean, 42 - 20kg good mornings, 30 back ext & 18 back ext.

08/19/06
Cook & Philip Aquatic Center
BW 69kg
2000m row = 8:24.9@18
1000m row = 4:02.4@24
500m row = 1:53.7@24
Military Press 7x3
30-3/40-3/40-3/45-3x3/50-1
Back Squat 5x5
50/60/70/75/80
Deadlift 5x5
80/90/100/110/120

08/18/06
Regis Tower Gym, Sydney NSW
34 laps/500m = 23:00
Cook & Philip Aquatic Center
BW 72kg
500m rows – 1 min rest
2:07.4@21/2:02.1@21/1:59.0@22/1:58.7@22
For time:
50 Wall Ball shots
50 L Pull-ups
35 Wall Ball shots
35 L Pull-ups
20 Wall Ball shots
20 L Pull-ups
Time 17:04 w/6kg ball
C&J 40-3/50-3/55-3/60-1/60-1

It's a month to my birthday, is it odd that all I want is a session of Fight Gone Bad? That said, what I'd really like for my birthday is as follows:
C2 Rower
Kipping Pull-up Bar
Adjustable HSPU Block
Tire Drag & Harness
20lbs Medicine Ball
Handless Scaleable Sandbag
Farmers Walk Handles
Hanging Rings
Climbing Rope
30" Pylo-box
36" Pylo-box
Fortunately, I can make most of this stuff, unfortunately pretty much the only thing I can't make is the C2 rower which costs an arm and a leg but worth every cent.

08/17/06
Regis Tower Gym, Sydney NSW
Stretching and a leisurely 20 laps that I can’t remember what my time was on.

08/16/06
Regis Tower Gym, Sydney NSW
14 Laps/200m – 9:14
Philip & Cook Aquatic Center, Sydney NSW
500m row, 1 minute rest:
2:05.8@22/2;00.4@22/1:59.1@22/1:57.6@23/1:56.0@24/1:54.0@24
For time
50 Back extensions
50 Sit-ups
40 Back extensions
40 Sit-ups
30 Back extensions
30 Sit-ups
20 Back extensions
20 Sit-ups
10 Back extensions
10 Sit-ups
Time 9:07
4:12.8@20 1000m row
Squat Cleans 40-3/50-3/50-3/60-1/60-1/60-1
Front Squats 5x5x55kg
Nice session, hit a PR on the 500m row, did the WOD unbroken and then finished off with a PR squat clean at 60kg, which I couldn’t hit a couple weeks ago. My body is hurting but mentally I feel fresh but I do definitely need an off day, especially before the weekend which will involve two Suffer sessions too much work and not enough sleep.
Get some go again.

Been pounding away and making some great gains, learning lots and having a great time. This trip keeps surprising me on how great it keeps getting and as odd as this may sound, right now is the best part so far. I’ve had lots of amazing experiences but living here in Sydney and getting to train with, learn, hang out and just bullshit fitness with Andrew and recently Selena has been great. Perhaps that says a lot about me, what I want out of life and what I like i.e. fitness. A couple things that I’ve learned that have been on my mind:
Keep it heavy and compound – You can achieve a lot following this simple rule. Each WOD usually ends with some kind of heavy lifting and I’m feeling a difference in pretty much every aspect from general strength, size to recovery. The WOD doesn’t seem to hit me as hard and I can recovery from it a lot faster.
Intensity – The “I Factor” as I’ve begun to refer to it. As far as I’m concerned this is the base of the pyramid for fitness with diet, rest and all that scientific bullshit coming in a distant second to the “I Factor”. Training with Andrew has introduced me to this factor and I can’t help but look back think that I’ve been wasting my time not having a training partner but that was then and this is now plus I never had access to any other maniacs that did Crossfit before.
Another great benefit of a training partner is safety, spotting and assistance. Having someone there to help you out with even two fingers on the bar gives such a piece of mind and lets you go a bit further and deeper than you would normally go if you were by yourself. Plus I see now how getting a bit of assistance on a lift can help with gains, that little extra tap or push that gets you to lock out on that last rep is only going help out in the gain department not hinder it.

08/15/06
BW 69.5kg/153lbs
Philip & Cook Aquatic Center, Sydney NSW
500m row – 2:04.7@24
2000m row – 8:39.8@20
As many rounds in 20 minutes of:
21 SDHP, 30kg
12 L Pull-ups
Total Rounds 6 + 21 SDHP & 10 L Pull-ups
Was suppose to be 35kg on the SDHP but we didn’t have enough plates to go around.
Bench Press 40x5/60x5/60x5/65x3 assisted1/65x5A1
Military Press 40x5/40x5/45x5LA/45x5A2/40x5

08/14/06
Philip & Cook Aquatic Center, Sydney NSW
Row 500m 2:03.7@25
1 min. rest
Row 1000m 4:12.8@20
OHS 7x3
30-3/35-3/40-3/35-3/50-3/50-3/55-3/60-1
50kg felt tough at first but then I adjusted my grip and bit and after that I hit 55 no problem. I really wanted 60 but could only get 1 and that was while shaking like a heroin addict. Did this WOD by myself due to work, I’m sure I could have hit 60x3 if Andy was there to spot and yell at me.

08/13/06
Regis Tower Gym, Sydney NSW
Joint mobility work/stretch
16min. for laps = 22 or 24 laps, lost count

08/12/06
Suffer In Sydney, Randwick Park, Sydney NSW
3 Rounds of:
50kg front squat, 10 reps
Tire Drags
Sandbag carry
Max pull-ups
Didn’t get a time in this one and I had a long rest after the first rounds, the last two were consecutive though, going 20-17-15 on the pull-ups. The front squats were followed by a kick ass tire drag, which makes me want my own harness, for about 50m I think and the sandbag carry was about 100m or so.

08/11/06
Regis Tower Gym, Sydney NSW
15 minutes for laps – 21 total
Philip & Cook Aquatic Center, Sydney NSW
5 rounds for time of:
Row 500m
20kg thrusters, 30 reps
Time 20:32

08/10/06
Philip & Cook Aquatic Center, Sydney NSW
Row 500m, 1 minute rest, 5 intervals
2:09.2@22/2:04.8@20/2:03.5@21/1:59.8@22/1:56.3@24
10 x 1 Weighted Pull-ups
30/30/32.5/35/35/37.5/37.5/40/40/42.5
OHS 5x5
30/35/35/40/45
Solid with 45kg OHS
Regis Tower Gym, Sydney NSW
20 minutes for laps – 27 total

08/09/06
Regis Tower Gym, Sydney NSW
Swim 250m/17 laps for time
Time 11 min

Been progressing along nicely, been learning tons of stuff from Andy and can really feel the intensity level being notched up plus my numbers are increasing so all is good. My diet hasn’t been zone/paleo perfect, with a lot of dinners/lunches out at great restaurants, a bit of rice and nibbles of chocolate but has by no means been ugly and in the gutter like most people. Saying all that I’m finding that although I’m not as lean as I was when I left home, I have way more in the tank and my recovery is hardcore up. I’m doing way more work with Andy during the WOD, been hitting the handstands hard making great strides on them especially with HSPU and to top it off have been doing lots of swimming all with pretty much no soreness and exhaustion. Perhaps the zone isn’t as perfect as I once and many believe. Sure I’m not as lean but I’m not a bodybuilder. Then again it could be just the fact that since I’m going so hard I need all the food I can shove down me. On the swimming side of things, I’ve been having great improvements lately and can feel myself getting better each day. Simply going to C&P and watching other people do laps really helped out a lot and I can already feel a difference in my lung capacity, breathing technique and stroke. I’d be interested what I could get from one swimming lesson.

08/08/06
Cook & Philip Aquatic Center, Sydney, NSW
Row 500m – 2:04.9@24
2 min rest
Row 2000m – 8:50.1@20
5 Rounds for time of:
35kg SDHP, 21 reps
12 HSPU
Time 20:06
Used a set 35kg barbell for the SDHP which seemed a lot harder then when using an Olympic bar and plates and HSPU against a wall with face towards.
Front Squat 60-5/60-5/65-5/70-5/70-5
1-arm OHS 5kg, 5x5

08/07/06
Regis Apartment gym, Sydney NSW
50h joint mobility/stretch/handstand work
20 Laps for time = 15min
Cook & Philip Aquatic Center, Sydney, NSW
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 for time of:
Bodyweight Bench Press
Pull-ups
Time 22:41 w/ 55kg bench press @ 69kg bw
BP 8/4/3/2/3/1-5/2/3/3/3-4/3/2/3/2/1-3/3/2/2/1/1-3/1/2/1/1/1-2/1/1/1/1-3 assisted
Pull 11/5/5-15/3-15-12-9-6-3

08/06/06
Cook & Philip Aquatic Center, Sydney, NSW
“Kelly”
5 Rounds for time of:
Row 500m
30 Wall Ball Shots
30 Box Jumps
Time 25:10
Rows 2:06.6@25/2:08.2@24/2:08.5@25/2:07.5@24/2:00.1@24
Wall Ball shots unbroken sets of 30 using a 8kg/5kg/5kg/5kg/6kg ball
Box Jumps unbroken
We had 3 people doing this one at the same time. I started off on the wall ball shots, went to box jumps and finished off with rows. The rows and wall ball felt great but the box jumps held me back and really did a number on my knee.
OHS 20-5/30-5/35-5/40-5

08/05/06
Regis Apartment gym, Sydney NSW
1h joint mobility/stretch/handstand work
As many laps in 10min. = 17 laps

08/04/06
Cook & Philip Aquatic Center, Sydney, NSW
Row 2500m – 12:06.2@18
DL 7x1
110-1/115-1/120-1/125-1/130-1/135-1/140-1/145-F/145-F/145-1 Assisted off ground
Weighted Pull-ups 40kg 7x2
Last rep assisted on each set

08/03/06
Regis Apartment gym, Sydney NSW
45min. stretch and handstand work
As many laps in 20min. = 25 laps
Cook & Philip Aquatic Center, Sydney, NSW
W 69.5kg
3 Rounds for time of:
Row 500m
30kg Thrusters, 30 reps
30 Pull-ups
Time 20:59
Rad WOD, owned the thrusters, but rows held me back.
Rows 2:03.1@27 - 2:06.8@27 - 2:13.6@26
Thrusters 20/10 - 5/10/10/5 - 10/10/10
Pull-ups 15/10/5 - /10/5/5/5/5 - 10/5/6/4/3
1-arm snatches 10-3/12.5-3/15-3/17.5-3/20-3 ugly

08/02/06
Cook & Philip Aquatic Center, Sydney, NSW
Row 500m – 1 min. rest
2:18.7@22
2:07.4@24
2:03.7@25
2:02.6@26
C&J 7x1
50-1/50-1/55-1/60-F/60-F/55-5/55-1
Went too hard on handstands the day before and it really effected the clean. I could have and should have cleaned 60 no problem but I just couldn’t get it up.
Weighted Pull-ups 15kg 5x5
Last 2 reps assisted on each set
OHS 20-5/30-5/35-5/40-5/45-4
Started to wobble a bit on the 45kg and couldn’t get stable again even though it felt a bit on the light side. I could have and should have hit that no problem if I didn’t go so hard on handstands. Knee felt good on these and shoulder flexibility felt good too, only pain was in my wrists.

08/01/06
Regis Apartment gym, Sydney NSW
1-1/2 hour stretch/joint mobility/handstand work session. Spent most of the time playing around with handstands and HSPU, it was great. Wish I could spend this much time on handstands everyday. Just simply going to the gym and pissing around like that is good fun.
30 laps in 26:29
Solid swim and getting better, 30 laps was a benchmark, now 500m which is about 34 laps is my next goal.