My drive down to San Jose and CrossFit Moxie was nothing short of annoying as hell. Traffic was brutal, no matter which roads I attempted to take. Ultimately I got there with plenty of time to be able to hang and watch head coach Chris take one of his athletes through some push presses and jerks, and it was great to be able to watch him coach. Chris Michelmore is very articulate and clear with his coaching methods, and it seemed as though everything he was relaying to his athlete was being understood and taken to heart. I have talked before in posts a while back) about being believable as a trainer and coach, meaning, when you tell someone to do something in the gym, they look at you and have no problem doing it because they trust you. This is something I pay very close attention to no matter where I go, and CrossFit in general is one of those things that creeds very believable coaches. Chris is one of those hands down. He is a serious competitor himself (along with his other coaches), AND, he (and the other coaches) are all coaches of sports teams too. This is something that he feels boosts the community he has grown quite a bit. Members of CrossFit Moxie are joining a team, one that is dedicated to getting in great shape while having blast as well.
Located in the heart of San Jose, Moxie is a pretty easy find, tucked back amongst a string of warehouses. It's not huge, but I would say about average for CrossFit gyms, and has the usual collection of necessary equipment. I like the pull up rig a lot here, it's long, has multiple heights and widths, and even has a really high bar with rings. It had your classic grungy CrossFit feel to it and I liked how easy it was to just get pumped for a workout. With the feel of the space, the cool view into the sun down a long street out the front roll up door, and the motivation of a great coach, it seemed almost inevitable that when you walk in there, you get after it!
I ended up working out with Chris himself, and he led me through a warm up consisting of three rounds of 30 seconds of a few kettlebell moves along with a couple other big body movements (they are all RKG Certified there, something that should NOT go un-noticed as kettlebells can get pretty damn technical). Then he got after some Split jerks and snatches while I worked on muscle ups and handstand walking. His insightful coaching came out again when I expressed I had a very tough time with handstand push ups. He recommended I spend more time away from the wall as it would assist my proprioception (my ability to feel comfortable upside-down). The more time I spend against the wall he said, the more I rely on the wall. Great advice!
After he got a 3 rep max on his slpit jerk, then got some snatch work in, and I worked on my palms-out muscle ups and handstand walking, we hit our workout:
20 overhead squats 95#
35 pull ups
50 box jumps 24”
800 meter run
50 box jumps 24”
35 pull ups
20 overhead squats 95#
My sore legs were giving me a little hesitation, but I felt pretty warm, and having a legit competitor next to me was also pushing me to go all out. I slipped up around rep 9 o the overhead squats and lost about 5 seconds or so there just getting it back up. But I was able to fly through the pull ups unbroken, then the box jumps in two pretty comfortable sets (took a breath around 40). The run was a 400 meter out and back twice, and I felt that old feeling return to me again. That old feeling is that running is a breeze! I think that the quick POSE lesson from yesterday helped me out a little and I just flew through the second lap. The second set of box jumps was a little tougher. My ankles were tightening up on me like crazy and I had to break it down about 4 times. The pull ups were the same, got 15, then 10, then 5 and 5. But I was able to get the last set of overhead squats unbroken and finished the workout in 10:26. I was very happy with that time, and am sure this is a sub-10 workout at some point soon!
Chris finished up right at my heels and we took about 10 minutes to catch out breath before chatting a bit more as his next class started to shuffle in.
Had a great time with this visit, and I learned a good deal from Chris. I have a feeling things are going to go nowhere but up for him and his crew and I’m sure plenty of people are going to change their lives at Moxie. And I expect to stay in touch with him for a good while; great coach, great athlete, great dude!
Located in the heart of San Jose, Moxie is a pretty easy find, tucked back amongst a string of warehouses. It's not huge, but I would say about average for CrossFit gyms, and has the usual collection of necessary equipment. I like the pull up rig a lot here, it's long, has multiple heights and widths, and even has a really high bar with rings. It had your classic grungy CrossFit feel to it and I liked how easy it was to just get pumped for a workout. With the feel of the space, the cool view into the sun down a long street out the front roll up door, and the motivation of a great coach, it seemed almost inevitable that when you walk in there, you get after it!
I ended up working out with Chris himself, and he led me through a warm up consisting of three rounds of 30 seconds of a few kettlebell moves along with a couple other big body movements (they are all RKG Certified there, something that should NOT go un-noticed as kettlebells can get pretty damn technical). Then he got after some Split jerks and snatches while I worked on muscle ups and handstand walking. His insightful coaching came out again when I expressed I had a very tough time with handstand push ups. He recommended I spend more time away from the wall as it would assist my proprioception (my ability to feel comfortable upside-down). The more time I spend against the wall he said, the more I rely on the wall. Great advice!
After he got a 3 rep max on his slpit jerk, then got some snatch work in, and I worked on my palms-out muscle ups and handstand walking, we hit our workout:
20 overhead squats 95#
35 pull ups
50 box jumps 24”
800 meter run
50 box jumps 24”
35 pull ups
20 overhead squats 95#
My sore legs were giving me a little hesitation, but I felt pretty warm, and having a legit competitor next to me was also pushing me to go all out. I slipped up around rep 9 o the overhead squats and lost about 5 seconds or so there just getting it back up. But I was able to fly through the pull ups unbroken, then the box jumps in two pretty comfortable sets (took a breath around 40). The run was a 400 meter out and back twice, and I felt that old feeling return to me again. That old feeling is that running is a breeze! I think that the quick POSE lesson from yesterday helped me out a little and I just flew through the second lap. The second set of box jumps was a little tougher. My ankles were tightening up on me like crazy and I had to break it down about 4 times. The pull ups were the same, got 15, then 10, then 5 and 5. But I was able to get the last set of overhead squats unbroken and finished the workout in 10:26. I was very happy with that time, and am sure this is a sub-10 workout at some point soon!
Chris finished up right at my heels and we took about 10 minutes to catch out breath before chatting a bit more as his next class started to shuffle in.
Had a great time with this visit, and I learned a good deal from Chris. I have a feeling things are going to go nowhere but up for him and his crew and I’m sure plenty of people are going to change their lives at Moxie. And I expect to stay in touch with him for a good while; great coach, great athlete, great dude!
CrossFit Moxie
1269 Alma Ct.
San Jose, CA 95112
(408)-966-0144
chris@crossfitmoxie.com
Next post up is my visit to Catalyst Athletics a little later the same day!
Never Stop, GET FIT.
Josh Courage
1269 Alma Ct.
San Jose, CA 95112
(408)-966-0144
chris@crossfitmoxie.com
Next post up is my visit to Catalyst Athletics a little later the same day!
Never Stop, GET FIT.
Josh Courage
RSS Feed
