United Barbell - CrossFit SOMA

Weekend Schedule

Friday - Closed for Regionals.
Saturday - Closed for Regionals.
Sunday - Closed for Regionals.
Monday - Regular Class Schedule.

**PLEASE NOTE** - We will be closed Friday - Sunday for the NorCal CrossFit Regionals. Please feel free to join us there!
Monday we will be open with our regular class schedule. Thank you!

This week's awesome dedication is brought to you by coach Wong.

Mr. T, T-Pain, Trentosterone, Trentastic, Coach T. Trent has gone by many names on our blog and this is emblematic of his presence at UB over the years. Rewind to yesterday when this self taught CrossFitter from Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin arrived with his girlfriend and decided to jump into Christine with everyone.

Trent then.

Trent was hooked and when he made up his mind to relocate to join our UB staff -- little did we know what we were getting ourselves into. Over the past 2.5 years, Trent has been a diligent athlete and coach, constantly pushing himself and others to succeed and play the game with ambition and passion. The 2011 Open WODs were an eye opener for him. He vowed afterwards to dedicate himself to better form and technical skills. Countless hours were spent pouring over videos, articles, and training with other coaches. This determination and perseverance led him to the 2012 campaign as he edged closer. His experience taught him that physicality must be balanced with increased fortitude. Give up? No way. Regionals or bust is what he said the day after.

This is the same way he has tackled classes and on-ramps. Becoming an everyday staple at UB, Trent reminds everyone that a WOD is best done with heart.

Fast forward to today. Trent, it's been tough and gritty journey to the Regionals for you. This weekend, as the judges position themselves next to you and 3...2...1 is famously yelled out, all of us want you to take a split second to think how far you've come.....And the journey has just begun my friend.

Trent, all grown up.

Now Grip & Rip!

~ The entire UB family

Living in the bay area, you have access to tons of fitness events... 5ks, 10s, full and half marathons, tris, not to mention a plethora of other kinds of events. Then within the CrossFit community there are lots of opportunities to get involved in events - competitive and non competitive alike. In fact, once you decide to put yourself out there, the most difficult thing might be picking what you want to do. We talk a lot about the benefits of competitions, trying new things, and putting yourself out there... it's the reason many try CrossFit in the first place. To help motivate, here is just a sampling of the events going on summer and early fall. Pick one or two and go for it!

UB Hosted Events

There may be more events to pop up, but here is a sneak peak at the events (both competitive and social) we have scheduled from now through the end of November:

• Regionals- If you haven't heard about it yet... Friday starts the NorCal Regionals - NorCal's best of the best going head to head. And oh yea... Trent is in the count! Come support him and sport your Spicy T Friday, Simmons T Saturday, and any colorful UB T you have on Sunday!
• 4505 Meat Sampling- This coming Tuesday, the gents of 4505 Meats will be coming in to set up a space to sample meats and answer questions regarding their meat CSA. Have you thought about trying the CSA but are hesitant to spend the cash? Make sure to come in Tuesday from the 5:30 class on through the evening.
• UB Triathlon- June 15th United Barbell will be hosting our very own CrossFit Tri. Sorry folks, no swimsuits required. This will be a 3 WOD event challenge that takes place in 1 hour. This will be a great opportunity to compete and test out your overall CrossFittability (think endurance + strength + traditional WOD). Mark your calendars now! Sign ups and more information regarding the logistics will be up next week.
• Hero Week- Some love the short WODs. Others love lifting. Others are bodyweight masters. Everyone loves a good Hero WOD. To honor the CrossFit Games, we will be having a "Hero Week", with 7 days of sweaty Herotastic WODs. This will overlap with Games week from July 22nd - 28th. Are you game?
• UB 3 Year Anniversary- It seems like yesterday when we were getting 300 Brannan ready to be converted into our beloved United Barbell. But this August will be marking our 3rd year anniversary! To celebrate, we will be heading out to Dolores Park on August 18th for a hangout pot-luck picnic with our traditional annual Hooverball game. Mark your calendar!
• Ulitmate Lift Off- UB's Ultimate Lift Off has become a competition favorite here at UB. This year we are preparing for an even higher level of participation and are reserving to potentially host this as a two day event. Hit the weights, lift big, and mark September 7th & 8th on your calendar.
• UB's Women's Week + Grace- Last year, we hosted Woman's Week - a week of Girl's WODs that will culminated in the epic WOD, Grace. This year we will be doing it again, all while raising money to help support the efforts of Barbell for Boobs with Grace as the final finale to the week of Girl WOD Power. This will go down Sept. 30th - Oct. 6.
• Bay Area Fight Gone Bad- the official Fight Gone Bad fundraiser might have been canceled for CrossFit HQ, but we at UB still have the fighting spirit. We plan on voting on a charity to benefit and enroll the bay area in a FGB-off. Join us Saturday, November 2nd for our fight gone bad fundraiser.

CrossFit Courses

Here are all the current listings for local, bay area CrossFit courses and certifications. If you are interested, don't wait! These often sell out quickly.

• Level 1 Certification- Jul. 6/7 @ NorCal CrossFit in San Jose.
• Level 1 Certification- Jul. 17/18 @ CrossFit Ranch in Aromas.
• CrossFit Kettlebells-Jun 15/16 @ CrossFit Amundson in Santa Cruz.
• CrossFit Kettlebells-Sept 21/22 @ CrossFit Amundson in Santa Cruz.
• CrossFit Kids-Aug. 17/18 @CrossFit CSA in Dublin.
• USAWeightlifting:- USA Weightlifting offers a Level 1 Sports Performance certification that is comparable to the CrossFit Oly Cert., but offers some extra benefits (smaller certifications, programming concepts...etc.). Jun. 8/9 @ California Strength in San Ramon.
• USAWeightlifting:- Sept. 7/8 @ California Strength in San Ramon.

CrossFit Competitions

• Northern California Affiliate Showcase- An awesome team competition (Jason Luk already set up an RX Team!) for both RX and Scaled team levels. Jun 29 @Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara.
• 2013 Femme Fit- The Femme Fit is a women-only fitness competition created to give women from different athletic backgrounds a showcase to compete. Easy to enter, hard to win, highly competitive, exciting to watch, with no scaling necessary. Aug 10th @ TBD in the East Bay. More details to come.(cash prize)
• Power Athlete Team Series- Wong and Kristin already has two teams signed up for this CrossFit Football extravaganza. Sep 7 @ CrossFit One World in Union City.

Lifting Events

• Redwood Empire Championships- An Olympic Weightlifting event August 10th in Cotati. Contact coach Jenny for more details.
• Tommy Kono Open - VIII- An Olympic Weightlifting event August 17th in Sacramento. Contact coach Jenny for more details.
• Backyard Meet of the Century II – Men’s Powerlifting Meet- Nov 2 @ Super Training Gym in Sacramento
• 2013 SPF Women’s Pro-Am Powerlifting Meet- Nov 3 @ Super Training Gym in Sacramento

Specialty Races

• Tough Mudder - Summer Edition- Jul. 13/14 @ Northstar in Truckee, Ca.
• Tough Mudder - Fall Edition- Sep. 28/29 @ Northstar in Truckee, Ca.
• Spartan Race- Aug. 10 @ in Monterey.
• Warrior Dash- Oct. 26 @ Yolo Land & Cattle Co. in Esparto, Ca

**PLEASE NOTE** - We will be closed Friday - Sunday for the NorCal CrossFit Regionals. Please feel free to join us there!

You've heard it before -- you are what you eat. But as the number of consumers buying grass-fed beef grow, the concept of you are what you eat - and what it ate is becoming more and more apparent. I was just directed to a study looking at the health of mice who were fed a diet of salmon. The catch was some of the mice were fed salmon raised on soybean oil, others on olive oil, rapeseed oil, or fish oil. What were the findings? The lab mice fed salmon raised on soybean oil got fatty liver and developed insulin resistance. Despite the nutritional value of eating salmon, the salmon's diet still played a direct role in the overall health of the mouse. (For those of you not up on the specifics of why soy gets scrutinized, I strongly recommend reading the linked article from Mark's Daily Apple.)

This study had me wondering. I try to pay close attention to my food as well as my food's food 85% of the time. But what about you? What level do you investigate your food? How far are you willing to go to protect your health? What's "worth" it, and when do you choose to play "ignorance is bliss"?

**PLEASE NOTE** - We will be closed Friday - Sunday for the NorCal CrossFit Regionals. Please feel free to join us there!

When people hear the words "stability" and "stabilization," many think "midline." This is because we drill the concept into your head during class - midline stabilization is essential for safe and efficient movement. But do you ever think about stability as it applies up and down stream from your midline?

What do you do, for example for lower body stabilization? You might think squats, deadlifts, and Olympic lifting are enough - but I would argue that it these are only a starting point - a great one, but still just a start. Think about it - how many sports (or even daily activities are done with two feet on the ground at all times? Even the most foundational human movements (walking and running) are single leg activities. So how can only training two leg training be sufficient?

Working your lower body stability means adding single leg movements. These movements force you to stabilize differently, utilizing relying more on different muscle groups than in two legged movements. This allows you to better recruit these muscles when doing one and two legged movements alike and will help you become not only more powerful, but more efficient and less prone to injury.

Remember, single leg movements don't have to limited to single leg squats (we hope you enjoy today's split squats). There are many variations on single leg squats, Bulgarian squats, lunges, Romanian deadlifts, and step ups that can help you work your stability and single leg strength. Here is a good list of pistol variations in this CrossFit Journal article to get you started.

T puts the muscle in muscle cars.

If you were in the gym on Sunday, you may have noticed a rather large pup in the corner. You may have also noticed the two people and massage table that were sitting next to him. This past weekend we ran a "beta" experiment. We brought my two favorite A.R.T. (Active Release Technique) masseuses to the gym to help a select few UBites work out their kinks.

Well, no surprise, the few who got to work with them loved it. And so, we will be opening up our doors to Tammy and Monte once a quarter to help you handle your issues.

A little more about A.R.T. work:
ART is a soft tissue treatment system based on a massage technique that allows a practitioner to diagnose and treat soft tissue injuries such as headaches, back pain, shin splints, frozen shoulder, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, some knee problems and general tendonitis. There are over 500 techniques unique to ART.

We will announce our next day with our two monster mobilizers soon. Meanwhile, if you can't wait, feel free to visit them at their facility Kinetic Chain in Pleasanton.

This week's dose is brought to you by coach Jon!

I've only been coaching this week's Dose for a short time, but he's been with us at UB almost as long as I have. He's known affectionately to the coaches(at least to Jenny and Olivia), and embarrassingly to him, as Ryan Gosling. Does our Ryan G. have the same seductive, commanding presence as the actor? That's up for debate. But they do share a quiet strength (that Ryan's is on stage, our Ryan's is in the gym), and a surprising knack for comedy.

Seriously, though, our Man with the Tan has been deserving of a Dose for a long time. He always brings a friendly, happy energy to UB. He's consistent. He pays attention to cues, diligently works his technique, and hits that Rx weight when he knows he can do it with good form. He doesn't take himself too seriously, which means he's a perfect fit at UB. Ryan is always willing to step up to a challenge whether on his own or when urged to, which means he's a perfect "A" athlete -- "A" for awesome!

Maybe our Ryan does have a future in acting...

Next week Friday - Sunday is the CrossFit NorCal Regionals. In support of our passion, as well as our very own T-Money rockstar who will be competing, we have lots of information for you regarding the three day event. Please take a few minutes to read through everything below:

REGIONALS - GYM HOURS

We are incredibly proud of Trent for qualifying for the 2013 Regionals. We are excited to cheer him on through all 7 workouts that he will take on over the three days. As such, we intend on showing our support by having our full staff (and encourage any and all of you who are able to come) attend this 3 day event. To do so, UB will be closed Friday May 25 - 27th. Please take note and join us at the Sonoma County Fair Grounds.

REGIONALS - WHERE WE'RE STAYING

For any of you who are interested in staying up north for the weekend, the coaches and several other UBites will be staying at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sonoma Wine Country Let us know if you are staying there or anywhere else nearby so we can invite you to team dinners..etc.

REGIONALS - TEAM TRENT TEES

The Simmons shirts are in! We have an extra in each size, and a huge number in women's XL (ordering SNAFU) so if you missed out, you might still be lucky enough to snag this extremely limited edition tee.

REGIONALS - SUNDAY TICKETS AVAILABLE

When tickets went on sale, we purchased groups of tickets for each day. We still have 9 tickets available for Sunday if you are interested. Sunday will be a great day -- the final 2 WODs plus the winner announcements. Please let us know if you would like to purchase tickets - they are 15$ a piece.

REGIONALS - TICKET PICKUP

For those of you who have purchased tickets, your tickets are here and ready to be picked up. Please bring cash to pay for your tickets:

3 Day Tickets - $40 each
Steven D
Andrea S
Aaron O

Saturday Tickets - $15 each
Ruth G
Paul N
Dheeraj S - 2 tickets
Matt B - 2 tickets
Tara L
Andrew M
Scott Y
Isaac H

Sunday Tickets - $15
Tara L