That is a good question. WOD is CrossFit for Workout Of the Day. We distinguish ourselves from the rest of the fitness industry, in one way, by providing a fresh stimulus everyday through a new combination of movements performed at relatively high intensity, also known as a workout. Hence, workout of the day. WOD. Cool huh? Yesterday we did a combination of functional movements, including throws and powerlifting movements, as part of a short obstacle course, done for rounds. Today, we did Helen (scaled to individual fitness levels of course). She is one of CrossFit's benchmark workouts, one of the few that you see more than once. The "girls" or named workouts serve as guides to gauge progress empirically. Times don't lie, and neither does the whiteboard they get written on. Come and see how you rank, scaled or not!

For more on the CrossFit girls, click this link

We will be offering a Russian Kettlbell Class on Sunday at 1PM, checkout the calendar http://www.roguefitness.com/calendar.php

Here is Pavel's take on the Kettlebell Body:
The kettlebell body

Russian kettlebells are not for Kens and Barbies who want to look like ‘a collection of body parts.’ K-bells forge doers’ physiques along the lines of antique statues: broad shoulders with just a hint of pecs, back muscles standing out in bold relief, wiry arms, rugged forearms, a cut midsection, and strong legs without a hint of squat-induced chafing. Kettlebells melt fat without the dishonor of dieting or aerobics; losing 1% of bodyfat a week for weeks is not uncommon. If you are overweight, you will lean out. If you are skinny, you will get built up. According to Voropayev (1997) who studied top Russian gireviks, 21.2% increased their bodyweight since taking up kettlebelling and 21.2% (the exact same percentage, not a typo), mostly heavyweights, decreased it. The Russian kettlebell is a powerful tool for fixing your body comp, whichever way it needs fixing.

In short it is a great way to change the way you workout, See You Sunday!

The Chipper made a surprise appearance at Roguefitness Friday morning. The Chipper is a collection of functional lifts, and jumps, that pushes the victim (all of our Rogue warriors) to a new level of fitness. A special welcome to Darleen, Tracie, and Beth who took time to workout Rogue style at 0630AM Great job!

Tobey once again proved that ultimately she is tougher than the rest of our staff, as she took what could only be labeled a spill. However in true Rogue style Tobey pressed on overcoming all obstacles, good work Tobey!

Pat Fleming with Dick Marcinko "Rogue Warrior", Pat won $20 for the face he was making. Pat said, "He didn't notice or he would have killed me!"

Pat is a firefighter in Perrysburg, OH who is pushing hard to get all of the guys to train with CrossFit methods. He has all kinds of ingenious creations in their basement from a rope climb to a softball pullup apparatus. If you are wondering how to make one, screw a couple of i-bolts into softballs and hang them.

We look forward to helping Pat get the PFD going. I think there may be a Rogue Fitness visit to the PFD in the very near future.

Nice Work Pat!

Tonya is headed to Army Air Assault school on Sunday at 7AM and came in to learn a little more about ropes prior to arriving at Ft Campbell. This Army ROTC cadet will be exiting an helicopter within a week.

We figured she might need to learn some box jumps as well, Good luck Tonya!

Eric doing the Rogue version of a KB "Hot Potato"

J doing KB thrusters with Eric hitting the power ropes in the background

Disclaimer, we will never ask you to perform this exercise but it was fun messing around with it!

Ryan performing the Rogue kettlebell "Tater", you are probably wondering what a "Tater" is. We spent countless hours honing our skills and now you will have to come in and find out. No it is not what you get when you supersize your cheeseburger order.

Ryan Garn visited to learn some power ropes. Here is the after picture!

Nice work, better get back into your workouts! Thanks for coming down to see our new place.

It was a bit muggy this morning in the facility and after some grimaces from Mary, I caved and bought a wind tunnel fan.

Just don't stand in front of it, you might get blown over. Enjoy

Last night we had a tough group in that got an equally tough workout! We talk a lot about how our workouts can be scaled to any individual's fitness level. One only needs to come to our boot camp sessions to see the wide spread of ages, backgrounds and fitness levels doing essentially the same workout. When we talk about scaling, it is usually in the context of making it easier...well this crew got a taste of an "up-scaled" workout! We call our most fit individuals "Firebreathers" since they can take anything we throw at them. We have very high standards in order to attain that title. Not one of these athletes came to us from another training program. We forged them ourselves using our training methods and their dedication and work ethic. Anyone can reach Firebreather status, just remember, you get what you put in!

This is a video of one of our group workouts at Franklin Park in Bexley. Since this video we have certified Eric as a CrossFit trainer and Troy & I are now Russian Kettlebell instructors. For those of you that have come in, the movements look much different now. We will be going to a park in September for a Rogue 5K that will be pretty nuts, so look forward to the details as we put it together.

Many of the people you see in the video are members at Rogue now, the improvements they have made are astonishing. Most noteably, Brian is a machine now after his fundamentals training.

Come in and experience the most unique training in the Columbus area!

Ryan making the climb at Ft Meigs in Perrysburg.

We want to know what time is best to hold the Saturday classes as the football season approaches. I was thinking 930AM but in true Rogue fashion we will leave it up to a majority vote. We were able to calm the humidity this week by purchasing a humongous fan but I certain many of you would like to knock it out early in the morning. For the next month the Saturday workouts will be open to the public and we may be going on a few trips to parks as well. We are planning a Rogue 5K on in September and no it won't be just running. Expect the unexpected!

J has been with us since the doors opened and has been putting in at least 3 days a week. His improvements are amazing everyone! J has a great attitude and a willingness to learn. Everyone wish him luck in his pursuit to be a collegiate track star!

J's mom came in to join him for a workout, we were impressed. Keep up the good work J.

Rogue Crew

Learning the Turkish Get Up

Garrett was making sweat angels and in the process tie-dyed one of our kettlebells

Look forward to more Russian Kettlebell Classes in the near future. We will have Columbus juggling kettlebells by Christmas.

After a seemingly sparse week, everyone is back and attacking the Boot Camp Workouts! It was great to see so many people back from their vacations and stepping up the intensity. Pictures speak for themselves...so here you go (don't mind the chalk on the camera lens):

After five sessions of in depth training on fundamental movements and skills. Steve has learned a proper squat, cleans, presses, kettlebell movements, and a variety of other functional movements. He has shown great improvement and is ready to charge into the Boot Camp classes. Great job Steve! Welcome to the Rogue team!

Rogue Trainer Tobey coaches Steve through his graduating workout.

Steve performing a Double Kettlebell Snatch. Not an easy movement.

This week we have been focusing on increasing functional strength through the core lifts. What are the core lifts? Well, the squat, deadlift, and press variations form the backbone for all athletic improvement. Not only that, but they also are the most potent way to strengthen the abdominal muscles, obliques, and lower back. Together they are commonly referred to as the body's "core". Notice we are not doing crunches, wallowing around on Swiss balls, or hopping around on one leg. This is real, fundamental, core strength. The kind that supports a 1000lb back squat or the ability to remain functional well past your seventies. Pictured below are some of our members learning the Overhead Squat (aka the OHS), the king of core exercises.

Jessica and J both performing the kettlebell snatch, two very different weights. We teach the progressions that allow anyone to pull the kettlebell movements. Stressing the mechanics of the exercises allows anyone to perform things they never thought they could do.

What looks complicated becomes simple and then we build upon that!

Jessica heads back to Bowling Green this weekend, everyone here enjoyed her competitive nature and ability to press through the workouts. I have a feeling when she trains her Lacrosse team, things may be a little difficult for them!

We are frequently asked "If I can only make it once a week will I see improvements?"

The answer is yes and you will see tremendous improvements in your form but you will not achieve what we want you to. If you are paying to train at Rogue we want you in here at least 3 times a week, we make our schedule to work around everyone's crazy schedule. We will add classes to meet schedules and setup one on one training for those that need it.

Rogue client, Ryan Garn: "I lost 35lbs training with CrossFit in Bill's garage and recently went to my doctor for a routine checkup only to find all of my health indicators are better than they were when I played high school football. I cannot imagine why anyone would ever go to a Bally's or Lifetime fitness when you can look forward to a punishing yet rewarding workout at Rogue Fitness"

Ryan was my original "victim" as I learned CrossFit and Russian Kettlebell training.

If you would like to come in and talk with one of our trainers just email me: bill@roguefitness.com

We are holding our Free Group Workout on Saturday at Noon. These workouts are open to anyone of all fitness levels. Bring your friends, family and neighbors to checkout our CrossFit based functional fitness workouts.

We don't cater to any one type of person, you will find our workouts scaled to anyone that walks in the door.

Come see what this is all about, SEE YOU ON SATURDAY!

Email me if you have any questions: bill@roguefitness.com

One of the characteristics that really distinguishes us from the rest of the fitness industry is the active feedback we give to our members. We are a community of fitness enthusiasts and trainers first and foremost. It is this attitude that drives the way we do business, not the addition of more clients that we hope never come back (like some other unnamed big-box gyms). From this way of thinking, things like this blog came about to better showcase our members' accomplishments and further communication with the rest of the world. So without further ado...here are some silly and cool photos I felt like posting:

Mr. Metts during Tabata, this is a simple 30 second work unit = 20 seconds of work + 10 seconds of rest.

Tomorrow should be an awesome time, remember to bring someone new to share the fun at Noon! You can bring a cheering section as well, families are welcome!

Mark hitting some kettlebell swings!

This was the scene of the crime!

Officer Huffman came to make sure everything was on the up and up!

Dale King brought Bashon and Swords.

We will hold another workout next Saturday, see you there!

Grant Smith trained with us for a little over a month this summer prior to starting his college football program. Here he is table topping one of his fellow teammates.

Grant had this to say,

"Rogue Staff;

Thank you for working with me this summer. So far I am doing very well in football, and I owe part of that to Rogue. I can definitely see a difference in my abilities on the field, and im in better shape than anyone else on the team.

Thanks again,

Grant Smith
#44

p.s.
Im the one flipping the kid in the pic.

Tom is showing the dedication it takes to the Rogue style. It is only Tuesday but I have seen him twice this week. Tom got a chance to master one of the best explosive movements, the Clean! Nice work Tom. To all the Rogue members this is the dedication it takes to get the results you want to see!

This Saturday we will be holding our big weekend workout as usual, but there are some changes this week. Due to the opening Ohio State game at noon, we will be holding the workout at 8:30AM. We want to get going to get ready for the game too! Come on out and get some pre-party Rogue training to start your football weekend!

This week we have been further emphasizing the usage of relatively heavy weights for all of our clients. This greatly increases the intensity of our workouts and catapults results, assuming proper form is used. Here, everyday people and elite athletes alike are moving huge volumes of weight in very little time. We are masters of increasing power output and keeping it there. This is what really translates to functional work.

Start with Box Jumps!

Next Sumo dead-lift high pulls - this is great training for you next sumo match!

Now some wall balls, shooting for a 10' target. We will see all of you tomorrow morning for the pre-tailgate workout. Remember workouts are scaled to the individual and technique is stressed.