The lost art of Hand-Balancing dates back to muscle beach in Venice, California. In fact, uncle Jack (2nd from top in photo below) was a major presence in this hand-balancing culture.



I believe that everyone should incorporate this fantastic form of physical training into warm-ups and practice! At your next workout, try a few hand-stand progressions...

When teaching beginners, we follow a series of progressions as follows:
1. Determine a level of upperbody strength by holding a handstand with knees on box.
2. First attempt a HEADstand starting from one of three positions; pike-up, frog-stand or kick-up) into a tri-pod position... progress to a HANDstand in the same fashion. Hands spread open shoulder width, knees locked, legs together, toes pointed.
3. Move away from the wall and practice the same exercise "free" with a spotter... gradually reduce their assistance until you are holding a perfect HANDSTAND!

Hand-Balancing by Bill Hinbern is one of the best courses I have come across on the subject!

Workout of the Day
"Northeast Regional Qualifier"
As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
5 Thrusters #135
10 Burpees

"Friends are relatives you make for yourself." -Eustache Deschamps

Kelly is one of the most inspiring and competitive students at LALANNE FITNESS. She looks at every class as an opportunity for progress... Her she is setting another PR!!!



The deadlift is a compound movement that works grip strength, and the primary muscles used in the deadlift are the erector spinae, the gluteus maximus, adductor magnus, hamstrings, quadriceps, and the soleus. The remaining muscles are involved in stability control. It is, in a sense, the purest single event test of strength because it is one of the few lifts of dead weight (weight lying on the ground). In most other lifts the weight changes direction or starts in the air and several other athletic skills such as balance, coordination are emphasized. For example, both Olympic weightlifting events require a great deal of athletic skill in addition to strength. In addition, it is commonly believed to be the oldest test of strength dating back to cultures (Paleolithic?) who competed at lifting the heaviest stones.-Wiki

Workout of the Day
Deadlift
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

"Besides pride, loyalty, discipline, heart, and mind, confidence is the key to all the locks."-Joe Paterno

In real estate, it's all about location, location, location! In sports, it's about... competition, competiton, competition! Well, CrossFit is "The Sport of Fitness". The game is a workout comprised of functional movements, the rules are movement standards which include proper mechanics and full range of motion. If you are a CrossFit athlete and you are "in it to win it", you better know the rules of this game or you do not have a chance. Check out the fierce competition from last weekend's Rocky Mountain Regional Qualifier!



A fairly competitive set of individuals!

Workout of the Day
Overhead Squat
3, 3, 3, 3, 3
-rest
Row 2 K

"Testosterone levels peak in our mid-twenties, hold relatively steady for another decade, and then begin to fall like women’s clothes at the kinds of parties we don’t get invited to any more." -Mark Rippetoe

The Paleo Diet mimics the types of foods every single person on the planet ate prior to the Agricultural Revolution. These foods (fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and seafood) are high in the beneficial nutrients (soluble fiber, antioxidant vitamins, phytochemicals, omega-3 and monounsaturated fats, and low-glycemic carbohydrates) that promote good health and are low in the foods and nutrients (refined sugars and grains, saturated and trans fats, salt, high-glycemic carbohydrates, and processed foods) that frequently may cause weight gain, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and numerous other health problems. The Paleo Diet encourages dieters to replace dairy and grain products with fresh fruits and vegetables -- foods that are more nutritious than whole grains or dairy products.
www.thepaleodiet.com



The bar graph above illustrates a ratio of geologic time: 2,000,000 years vs. 10,000 years. These times are good representations of the magnitude of time of the Paleolithic Era foodstuffs of our ancestors as compared to the time our ancestral lineages have been on a Mass-Agriculture Diet. It is startling to see the Mass-Agriculture Diet as a nearly flat, non-existent bar. In a mathematical sense one could almost say it is approaching the inverse of infinity ... or that it is "infinitesimally small" in comparison to our earlier foodstuffs. It is more than a full 2 magnitudes smaller. As a decimal ratio of 2,000,000: it is .005.

Workout of the Day
"Canadian Regional Qualifier"
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
10 wall balls #20
10 box jumps 24""
10 deadlifts; #205
10 burpees

"One fails forward toward success." -Charles F. Kettering

"Anyone who says that full squats are "bad for the knees" has, with that statement, demonstrated conclusively that they are not entitled to an opinion about the matter. People who know nothing about a topic, especially a very technical one that requires specific training, knowledge, and experience, are not due an opinion about that topic and are better served by being quiet when it is asked about or discussed. For example, when brain surgery, or string theory, or the NFL draft, or women's dress sizes, or white wine is being discussed, I remain quiet, odd though that may seem. But seldom is this the case when orthopedic surgeons, athletic trainers, physical therapists, or nurses are asked about full squats."
-Mark Rippetoe


Another group of athletes on the road to Elite Fitness!

Whats your Tabata Squat score?

Workout of the Day
"HEAVY HELEN"
Three rounds for time:
Run 400 meters
21 kettlebell swings, 2 pood (70 lb)
12 pull-ups, Chest to Bar

"If you insist on wearing gloves, make sure they match your purse." -Rip

Congratulations to the LALANNE FITNESS students that finished this years Bay to Breakers 12 K run! The list includes Isaac and Maribel (pictured below), Maneesh, Colin, Brian, Angela, Misha, Mark, Dennis, Kari and myself. It was my first experience amidst the festivities up and down the streets of San Francisco, through beautiful Golden Gate Park to the shores of ocean beach. This was by far the most spectacular run of my life.



Photo by Isaac...Check out more from his B2B fun in the sun!



"Still, not everyone agreed with the new rules designed to clean up Bay to Breakers, nor did everyone abide by them. Partygoers used all kinds of rolling stock, including shopping carts, to haul beer along the 7.46-mile route. Nor did the new rules seem to discourage streakers."-SFGATE.COM

Workout of the Day
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
100 m Run
1.5 pood Kettlebell swings, 12 reps
10 Pull-ups
-CF.COM(1-10-07)

"There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that produces the level of central nervous system activity, improved balance and coordination, skeletal loading and bone density enhancement, muscular stimulation and growth, connective tissue stress and strength, psychological demand and toughness, and overall systemic conditioning than the correctly performed full squat."-Mark Rippetoe