Shred Ready / Ski Conditioning

A. Party at Sharpe Fitness / CrossFit La Jolla with trainers Brandie and Catherine. Ladies who crunch. Click 2 Enlarge.Everybody knows that AspenSpin has a body that's "built to party".What you don't know;Too much hard-packed snow coupled with the aging process (it's a bi-atch) and too many "good times" led to some serious physical problems for Andy-Party in 2010. Getting 100 ski days is not easy with a dislocated shoulder, a sprained meniscus, a bulging neck disc, a lower back that is majorly f#*ked up, ulnar nerve issues, plantar fasciitis, etc. etc.---sheeesh, dude---- I should have gone to med school. 

 In late July, stumbling home from yet another Carnitas orgy in the Bird Rock neighborhood of La Jolla,we felt the need  for a quick pit stop and ducked into a nearby gym. "Ummmm, do you have a restroom?"  "In the back" answered a slender, upbeat young woman dressed in sweats. A-Spin hustled past  her on the way to the John. We passed the bosu balls, Swiss balls, medicine balls, kettle bells, jump ropes, punching bags, free weights, pilates machines and a massage room.  WOW!! Sharpe Fitness / La Jolla CrossFit has it all.  Looking down, over a paunch that was reminiscent of Chris Farley's, AspenSpin decided  then and there----to get busy.One minute in between sets.

The next morning at 7am we "got worked" courtesy of Catherine Cox the same lady who let us use the men's room.  Catherine is a fantastic personal trainer, certified by Crossfit, NASM and NCSF.  Her assignment; some PT, along with flexibility, strength, power, agility and balance. Ms. Cox considered all of A-Spin's nagging physical impairments, and put us to work .  Issues with diet and weight loss??? ---- Houston....we have a problem---but thats another post.  

Plyometrics---that's the answer.  Catherine and Brandie Sharpe, owner of Crossfit La Jolla came up with a customized plan for AspenSpin.  Stretching, functional strength, fast paced sets, short power bursts, basic movements, Mackenzie presses, "you gotta keep those hammies loose."  Squats, squat jumps, leap frogs, lunge hops, sprints, grape vines---and all dat sh*t is on the beach--on the sand---barefoot.  SWIMMING---lots of swimming.  After a couple weeks they added ball slams, box jumps, bosu and swiss ball exercises, wood chops, thrusters, burpees etc.---it was working. Stretching and range of motion are keys. Barbie and Cindy demo.

"Wanna flip the tire?" asked Catherine.   "Lemme think----NO!!!". I didn't really want to mess around with the 5 foot tall, 500 lb tractor tire. Catherine challenged me--"c'mon --go for it".  My back and neck actually felt better than it had in about 24 months. WTF? ?? No guts, no glory, ---right?  The tire flip is really a pretty basic excercise.  It's a huge thrust from the legs and then the whole body gets fired up. Leverage and positioning are important, keeping the spine straight and your core engaged crucial.  "Yeeeeaaahhhh". It felt pretty good. "Gimme another one" shouted Catherine---SQUAT, THRUST, PUSH, DRIVE---aaaaarrrrrg.  AspenSpin was hooked.

Box Jumps, nice form. Click 2 Enlarge.The point of this story is three-fold.  1) The human body is an amazing creation. With the right combination of exercise and stretching anyone can recover from some pretty nasty stuff. Water is a cure all.  Drinking  it, swimming in it and riding it. The body is approximately 60% water. 2) To all the surgeons and specialists i've seen in the past year who wanted to cut me--- Kish mein tukus.  Please realize that the most important characteristic one needs to become an "excellent candidate for surgery"------is insurance coverage---that pays. 3) AspenSpin is looking forward to some SUPER SICK POW CONDITIONS this Winter.  Hard pack sucks. It looks like the "Brett Farvre of blogging" is gonna be there again when the whistle blows.

Special thanks go out to Catherine Cox, Brandie Sharpe and the folks at Sharpe Fitness / La Jolla Crossfit for pointing me in the right direction, coaching me and helping me "get after it". Thanks to the Pacific Ocean for being magnificiant and to the La Jolla JCC pool for giving me my own lane.  Now I just have to stick to it.

A.Party / OUT.

Wall BallCarmie supervises CC's demo.

Reggie on the rings, as Barbie works the Kettle Bells. Fast paced workouts at Sharpe Fitness in La Jolla. Hugging is allowed, but only between sets.

Surf or Turf

Decision Time.  Surf or Turf?

Putting the A$$ back in Aspen.... by Honey

Honey and her Pole Cats train and perform throughout the Roaring Fork Valley.  Honey (a.k.a. Holly Miely) contributed this story to AspenSpin , it appears unedited. Honey is shown in action in the photos below. She can be contacted at 970-274-1564 or poledance@comcast.net

Who knew fitness could be so sexy??  By now most people have either seen it, heard about it or tried it; Pole Dancing. Pole Dancing has made a major movement into the fitness world and is an amazing display or beauty, strength and grace, not to mention a killer workout!

Pole dancing requires the strength and flexibility of a gymnast and the grace of a dancer. A typical class will begin with a dancer warm-up followed by deep stretching and then pole tricks, spins, lifts, inversions, holds and dance. Pole dancing is inherently motivating as each class you learn something new and the desire to learn more advanced tricks will keep you coming back. Unlike lifting weights or traditional workouts, you walk away from a class with a new skill. In addition, you use your own body weight to build amazing upper body, core and lower body muscles in a functional way. Believe me lifting yourself upside down with grace and fluidity is not easy!

Pole dancing is also an amazing confidence booster. Women (and men!) of all ages, sizes and backgrounds attend  classes and all report a feeling of sexiness and confidence they carry into their daily lives.

Honey has taken things a step further by doing public pole dance performances around Colorado and even into California. She considers her performances to be a mix of “Cirque Du Soleil meets Pussycat Dolls.” It is performance art at its sexiest!  Honey reports that most on lookers are always wowed by the athleticism and strength she displays with grace and beauty. Honey performs in solo performances as well as with a dance troupe she put together under the name “Honey’s PoleCat Revue” which is an entire show including 6 pole dancers, belly dancers and fire dancers.

Snow Flurries in Aspen...(in August).

Everybody in Aspen knows about the photographic genuis of Jeremy Swanson.  He's the top snapper in a town loaded with talented pro shooters.  Swanson's images have graced AspenSpin's pages before as he often shares his beautiful wintery shots with us.....during ski season.   Our tweet deck blew up last week when Swanson's photos hit the web.  SNOW flurries in ASPEN... in August?

C'mon son---really?

Thaz right A-Spin fans.  It's that time of year again.  Break out the fleece. Its snowing in the Aspen high country, squats and lunges should be part of your daily routine, and ski passes are now on sale.

Thanks to Jeremy Swanson for sharing his beautiful work, and making us homesick.

Also thanks to Adam Jones for his siiiiiiiiiick Photo below.

First flurries in the Aspen High Country. Photo: Jeremy Swanson

Maroon Bells reflect the beauty. August 2010. Photo: Adam Jones

Action Sports = ASR

Smile, pass it on. click 4 pix.AspenSpin knows what you'll be wearing in 2011 .....and we likeeeee.

We crushed it at ASR (Action Sports Retailers) in San Diego and got a glimpse of next years action sports fashions and equipment.  We got the break down on board shorts, the skinny on skate shoes and the 411 on hard goods.  ASR is an industry trade show that unites over 750 Action Sports brands together with the retailers who sell them.  Huge established lifestyle resources network alongside emerging start-ups vying to make their mark.  The retailers are able to preview collections and do their buying for next year.  ASR is really 4 shows in one, ASR (lifestyle clothing), Crossroads (skate), Sacred Craft (surf) and Class @ ASR (boutique lines). 

Everybody was playing show and tell at ASR, and AspenSpin loved the action,  the free stuff and models, models and more models. 

Click the pix    ASR = Action   and   STICKERS, CAPS and TEEs .

A-Spin's observations;

* The Sky is not falling (like last year).  The crowd was upbeat and optimistic.

* Bright colors and bold patterns will carry the day in 2011.

* Nike, a huge player and their subsidiary Hurley skipped ASR.

* Skate/Surf brands are becoming much more business savvy... out of necessity... given today's difficult economic environment and competition from "vertical" retailers. You need a biz plan brah.

*Moto is a huge emerging market segment, eg: Fox and Metal Mulisha

* Head phones are the new sunglasses-- super hot accessory item.

* The ultimate buyers of action sports merchandise have surprisingly high demographics.

* Lots of emerging brands are trying to appeal to today's dis-enfranchised youth.  Black palettes, Skulls and Tattoo inspired designs and tons of trucker hats.

STUFF we LIKED

ONEILL:  Hyperfreak Board Shorts are the best, they are the pace setters.

SANUK:  They're not shoes, they're sandals, and they are super comfy.

CONTOUR: Wearable HD Camcorders  1080p.  Super-slick, easy to use, light, durable.

DEUCE BRAND:  Sport Watches.  Look good, play good.

INDO BOARD:  Great training tool for balance, strength and fitness.

FOX: Well known in the moto world, new to us. Hottest models.

VANS:  So California.

MOVEMBER:  Promoting men's heath world wide.

Click the pix they say it all    ASR = Action   and STICKERs, CAPS, and TEEs.

Tarp Surfing at ASR. click for pix.