Author: krism

It's been a little quiet around here on the MANIMAL blog, but we've been busy nonetheless. Busy planning our next products and restocking some favorites (wristraps!), but not too busy to take a break from supporting the things that are important to us and the community! Read more

Here's a little peek at the competition.

Manimal is also extremely honored to be a sponsor of the Wounded Summits project.  Founder, Cassidy Mark Drake, is a former combat vet and knows what it means to deal with the PTSD that is all too common among vets.  Mark is organizing outings for surfing and mountain climbing (after some world class instruction) geared at helping vets cope with their PTSD.   Manimal always jumps at the chance to support our troops, and we feel this is a worthy cause, so check it out.

31 Americans including one working dog were killed on August 5th, 2011 when a transport helicopter was shot down near Kabul.

On September 3rd, 2011 CrossFitters and athletes of all kinds will join together in a workout across the nation to honor the heroes killed in action and to raise money for the families affected by this tragic loss.

Manimal is proud to be a sponsor of the 31Heroes fundraiser in support of those troops and their families. We support this cause and it's message 100%.

Register to participate in the event or donate to help the families of the operators who passed at 31Heroes.com. 100% of all donations will go directly to those affected. Let the families of those who gave their lives to serve this country know that we respect and appreciate the great sacrifice that they made for us and our beautiful country.

Our troops are the protectors of our freedom, our way of life, and our great country. We LOVE our troops and want them to enjoy some of the things we get to enjoy Stateside.

That's why we are proud to be part of the Fueling the Fire project. Paleo Magazine has put together numerous care packages to go to our troops overseas, and Manimal has donated over 100 shirts to be included in the packages, along with other paleo goodies and copies of Paleo Magazine.

If you'd like to show your support, you can write letters,
cards, or donate at Fuelingthefire.org

• Body Weight: 155lbs
• Height 5’7”
• Age: 32
• C&J: 205
• Squat Snatch: 155lbs
• Deadlift: 400lbs
• Handstand Pushups: 25 Unbroken (no kipping)
• Favorite WOD: Diane

I’ve been training all my life, or at least I thought I was until I started Crossfit 2 years ago. Found out I wasn’t even close to what my full potential could be on power output. Pushing your body to the ultimate limit is what Crossfit does and no other training I’ve done has ever made me feel this way.

We know who you are. Sitting at work all day, unable to focus on the customer you're helping, or mabye it's the guy in the suit giving a 90 minute Power Point presentation sounding like one of the adults from Charlie Brown. A constant whisper calling from the shadows of your mind...always pulling your thoughts back to the workout you're going to annihilate after you clock out and dig in at the gym. Your favorite dungeon of weights, ropes, and pullup bars where you break down your mental and physical barriers, where you battle to become the physical specimen that you long to be.

We honor you. You do things that "normal" people wouldn't even consider, and they think you're bat crap crazy for doing it. Crazy? Maybe, but as far as we're concerned crazy beats the hell out of complacent. Life isn't worth living if you stop working to better yourself.

We are you, and you are us.

What's that? You say this isn't you? Bullshit. This IS you...it's inside you, inside all of us. It's time for you to to open the cage and unleash the beast. Take a long, hard look at your goals, your PRs, and your weaknesses...then give your fears and doubts a good hard kick in the sack and do what your mind is telling you is too hard. Make it clear that your heart and determination are the players in this game, and the word "can't" doesn't even get to watch. It's time to blur the line between "crazy" and reality, then you'll learn what you are truly capable of.

Here's the scoop: I lift weights, I work out hard and I get HUNGRY. When it comes to eating I am the only person I need to please, and I eat Paleo. If I were to write a book about Paleo eating I would call it "Put Meat in Your Mouth". And it would be a very short book...actually the title pretty much says it all. That's because like most people in the Paleo world, I suffer from tunnel vision when it comes to making Paleo meals and I usually end up eating the same few things over and over again. "If only there were some magical tome of Paleo cooking knowledge that I could keep handy in the kitchen to add some variety to my bland Paleo menu," he said in desparation.

Since Luke has been published on T-Nation I am going to do this one in a straight forward interview style for a sense of nostalgia.

You can find a couple of Luke's T-Nation contributions here and here.

On a side note, does anyone else remember when it was first published as Testosterone Magazine and you could always expect to find some lunatic article by Bruce Kneller (aka Brock Strasser)? Hmm...maybe I shouldn't dig up that old skeleton. Oh well, too late now. So...let's get started.

Training History: Olympic Style Weightlifting, 16 yrs. Prior to that was several years of soccer.

Height: 5' 3"

Age: 40

Favorite lifts: Hip Snatch, Split Jerk from the rack and Back Squats

We need your help! Tell us which of these designs you think is the most gym worthy and we'll enter you in a drawing to win one hot of the press. The winner will get the shirt that gets the most votes.