15 Min AMRAP:
5 Burpees
10 KB swings (53/35)
15 ABMAT
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Sat. Dec. 26
Tabata Squats:
With a continuously running clock, perform Air Squats, 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest, 8 rounds. Your score is your lowest number of squats for the 8 rounds.
Next, do the same thing with Tabata sit ups, lowest round is also your score.
*each wod is exactly 3:50 long.
With a continuously running clock, perform Air Squats, 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest, 8 rounds. Your score is your lowest number of squats for the 8 rounds.
Next, do the same thing with Tabata sit ups, lowest round is also your score.
*each wod is exactly 3:50 long.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Wed. Dec. 23
*the above dog "Paisley," is in the permanent push up position :-)
"Death by Push Ups"
With a continuously running clock, do one push up the first minute, two the second minute, three the third minute. Continue this rep scheme until you cannot complete the amount of push ups that corresponds with the minute you are on.
You score is the highest number of push ups you successfully complete in the corresponding minute (i.e. 15 push ups in the fifteenth minute.)
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Holiday Work Outs
We will be posting a few workouts you can do on your own over the next couple of days. Keep checking the site. Merry Christmas.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Fri. Dec. 11
15 Min AMRAP:
10 HSPU
10 Box Jumps
10 Tire Sledge
WHY DIGESTIVE ENZYMES ARE CRITICAL TO YOUR HEALTH
By Natural Bias
Good health is dependent on properly digesting and absorbing the food we eat, and in turn, this ability is dependent on the availability of digestive enzymes. Although you’ve probably heard of digestive enzymes, chances are that your diet is deficient in them and that your potential for optimal health is being compromised as a result.
Enzymes are proteins that facilitate chemical reactions. Nearly every biological function of a cell depends on enzymes, and as such, they’re critical to our health. Similar to the theory that mammals are limited to approximately 1 billion heartbeats, it’s also believed that we have a limited capacity for enzyme production. Based on this theory, anything that puts unnecessary demand on the body to produce enzymes, such as a diet that’s deficient in them, could compromise health and shorten lifespan.
Enzymes Aren’t Just For Digestion
As I already mentioned, enzymes facilitate nearly all cellular activity which means that they support the function of organs, glands, and all other types of tissue that are critical to life. When digestive enzymes are not obtained through diet and the body must manufacture more of them to compensate, this infringes on the resources that are available to produce the metabolic enzymes that are needed to support these other important functions. Because of this, it’s desirable to regularly eat food that’s rich in enzymes and minimizes this unnecessary burden.
The activity of enzymes often depends on a variety of external factors such as temperature and pH, and when such external conditions are not appropriate, enzymes will remain inactive. This conditional behavior is what allows foods to be digested by the very same enzymes that they naturally contain. Research has shown that the digestive system recognizes when these enzymes exist in the food we eat, and in response, is able to conserve resources by limiting production of additional enzymes. As such, foods that are rich in enzymes are easier to digest because they reduce the burden on the digestive system, and by doing so, they also preserve the body’s capacity to produce metabolic enzymes.
In addition to breaking down the food we eat, digestive enzymes are also important to immune function. They help to break down bacteria, viruses, parasites, and damaged cells, all of which can pose a significant threat to our health. Furthermore, when digestive enzymes are obtained through diet, the resulting conservation in digestive effort reduces the chance of immune function being impaired by a limitation in capacity to produce metabolic enzymes.
Why the Modern Diet is Deficient in Enzymes
The enzymes naturally found in food are destroyed at 118 degrees Fahrenheit. As such, cooked food is generally lacking in enzymes and forces the body to compensate by producing more of its own. Because most processed foods are highly refined and exposed to high temperatures, they’re typically depleted of enzymes as well. Unfortunately, these two categories of food are staples of the modern diet. The pancreas produces most of the digestive enzymes that are needed to compensate for such a diet, and research has shown that such a burden causes it to enlarge which is generally recognized as a warning sign of overuse and dysfunction.
Natural whole foods are the foundation of a truly healthy diet, and consuming them raw will provide a natural supply of digestive enzymes that will relieve the body of unnecessary burden. In turn, the additional resources that remain will be available to produce the metabolic enzymes that will help to fight illness, prevent disease, slow aging, and promote optimal health.
Incorporating Digestive Enzymes Into Your Diet
Consuming more raw food to benefit from a natural external supply of digestive enzymes doesn’t mean that you need to become fanatical about eating everything raw. In fact, some vegetables can interfere with digestion and absorption when eaten raw, and some anthropologists believe that the cooking of meat has made important contributions to our evolution including a significant increase in brain size. In my opinion, the best way to incorporate digestive enzymes into your diet is to find a compromise between cooked and raw. An additional benefit of doing so is that raw foods are very easy to prepare and will reduce your cooking time.
Enzymes aren’t the only nutrients that are damaged or destroyed by heat, so the more you cook your food, the less nutritious it will be. I eat all fruit and nearly all vegetables raw, and although I typically cook meat, I do so at a low temperature of 225 degrees Fahrenheit or below. On occasion, I’ll eat beef or fish completely raw. Although some might say this increases the risk of infection, I believe this is much less of a concern with the quality of food that I buy. Either way, this is one of the many decisions in life that you’ll have to take accountability for and make yourself.
Another simple and natural way to take advantage of digestive enzymes is to chew more thoroughly. Saliva naturally contains enzymes that break down carbohydrates and fat, so the more time you spend chewing, the more of a chance these enzymes will have to predigest the food you eat. Furthermore, thorough chewing will break down food more completely, result in more surface area being exposed to enzymes, and in turn, reduce digestive burden.
The Value of Digestive Enzyme Supplements
Although I prefer to error on the side of obtaining nutrients from whole foods rather then supplements, I think digestive enzymes are worth consideration, especially if most of the food you eat is cooked or processed. While most supplements are intended to provide vitamins or minerals that aren’t adequately obtained through diet, digestive enzymes facilitate the ability to obtain more of these nutrients from the food we eat, and they reduce digestive burden in the process.
The digestive enzymes in supplements originate from animals or plants. Although both are beneficial, many people prefer plant enzymes because they have been shown to be more effective. In addition, it’s difficult to verify the quality of animal enzymes and be sure that they haven’t been taken from unhealthy livestock that were raised in factory farm conditions.
Although there are many different digestive enzymes, they all fall fit into the categories of proteases, carbohydrases, and lipases which respectively break down proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Most supplements contain a combination of digestive enzymes from each category, and the higher quality brands usually list them by active units rather than grams and are also free of unnecessary fillers and additives. Depending on your nutritional individuality, it may be beneficial to find a supplement that combines these different types of enzymes in proportions that match your typical meal.
Additional Information
For more information about digestive enzymes and how our limited capacity to produce them affects our health, I highly recommend reading Enzyme Nutrition by Dr. Edward Howell. Although this book was written more than twenty years ago, it still provides a very compelling argument for the significant importance of digestive enzymes and is one of the most informative and influential resource on the topic.
Another interesting book that was written more recently is Everything You Need to Know About Enzymes by Tom Bohager. This book provides more detail about the specific enzymes used in supplements and explains how they can also be used without food to help resolve a number of health issues.
10 HSPU
10 Box Jumps
10 Tire Sledge
WHY DIGESTIVE ENZYMES ARE CRITICAL TO YOUR HEALTH
By Natural Bias
Good health is dependent on properly digesting and absorbing the food we eat, and in turn, this ability is dependent on the availability of digestive enzymes. Although you’ve probably heard of digestive enzymes, chances are that your diet is deficient in them and that your potential for optimal health is being compromised as a result.
Enzymes are proteins that facilitate chemical reactions. Nearly every biological function of a cell depends on enzymes, and as such, they’re critical to our health. Similar to the theory that mammals are limited to approximately 1 billion heartbeats, it’s also believed that we have a limited capacity for enzyme production. Based on this theory, anything that puts unnecessary demand on the body to produce enzymes, such as a diet that’s deficient in them, could compromise health and shorten lifespan.
Enzymes Aren’t Just For Digestion
As I already mentioned, enzymes facilitate nearly all cellular activity which means that they support the function of organs, glands, and all other types of tissue that are critical to life. When digestive enzymes are not obtained through diet and the body must manufacture more of them to compensate, this infringes on the resources that are available to produce the metabolic enzymes that are needed to support these other important functions. Because of this, it’s desirable to regularly eat food that’s rich in enzymes and minimizes this unnecessary burden.
The activity of enzymes often depends on a variety of external factors such as temperature and pH, and when such external conditions are not appropriate, enzymes will remain inactive. This conditional behavior is what allows foods to be digested by the very same enzymes that they naturally contain. Research has shown that the digestive system recognizes when these enzymes exist in the food we eat, and in response, is able to conserve resources by limiting production of additional enzymes. As such, foods that are rich in enzymes are easier to digest because they reduce the burden on the digestive system, and by doing so, they also preserve the body’s capacity to produce metabolic enzymes.
In addition to breaking down the food we eat, digestive enzymes are also important to immune function. They help to break down bacteria, viruses, parasites, and damaged cells, all of which can pose a significant threat to our health. Furthermore, when digestive enzymes are obtained through diet, the resulting conservation in digestive effort reduces the chance of immune function being impaired by a limitation in capacity to produce metabolic enzymes.
Why the Modern Diet is Deficient in Enzymes
The enzymes naturally found in food are destroyed at 118 degrees Fahrenheit. As such, cooked food is generally lacking in enzymes and forces the body to compensate by producing more of its own. Because most processed foods are highly refined and exposed to high temperatures, they’re typically depleted of enzymes as well. Unfortunately, these two categories of food are staples of the modern diet. The pancreas produces most of the digestive enzymes that are needed to compensate for such a diet, and research has shown that such a burden causes it to enlarge which is generally recognized as a warning sign of overuse and dysfunction.
Natural whole foods are the foundation of a truly healthy diet, and consuming them raw will provide a natural supply of digestive enzymes that will relieve the body of unnecessary burden. In turn, the additional resources that remain will be available to produce the metabolic enzymes that will help to fight illness, prevent disease, slow aging, and promote optimal health.
Incorporating Digestive Enzymes Into Your Diet
Consuming more raw food to benefit from a natural external supply of digestive enzymes doesn’t mean that you need to become fanatical about eating everything raw. In fact, some vegetables can interfere with digestion and absorption when eaten raw, and some anthropologists believe that the cooking of meat has made important contributions to our evolution including a significant increase in brain size. In my opinion, the best way to incorporate digestive enzymes into your diet is to find a compromise between cooked and raw. An additional benefit of doing so is that raw foods are very easy to prepare and will reduce your cooking time.
Enzymes aren’t the only nutrients that are damaged or destroyed by heat, so the more you cook your food, the less nutritious it will be. I eat all fruit and nearly all vegetables raw, and although I typically cook meat, I do so at a low temperature of 225 degrees Fahrenheit or below. On occasion, I’ll eat beef or fish completely raw. Although some might say this increases the risk of infection, I believe this is much less of a concern with the quality of food that I buy. Either way, this is one of the many decisions in life that you’ll have to take accountability for and make yourself.
Another simple and natural way to take advantage of digestive enzymes is to chew more thoroughly. Saliva naturally contains enzymes that break down carbohydrates and fat, so the more time you spend chewing, the more of a chance these enzymes will have to predigest the food you eat. Furthermore, thorough chewing will break down food more completely, result in more surface area being exposed to enzymes, and in turn, reduce digestive burden.
The Value of Digestive Enzyme Supplements
Although I prefer to error on the side of obtaining nutrients from whole foods rather then supplements, I think digestive enzymes are worth consideration, especially if most of the food you eat is cooked or processed. While most supplements are intended to provide vitamins or minerals that aren’t adequately obtained through diet, digestive enzymes facilitate the ability to obtain more of these nutrients from the food we eat, and they reduce digestive burden in the process.
The digestive enzymes in supplements originate from animals or plants. Although both are beneficial, many people prefer plant enzymes because they have been shown to be more effective. In addition, it’s difficult to verify the quality of animal enzymes and be sure that they haven’t been taken from unhealthy livestock that were raised in factory farm conditions.
Although there are many different digestive enzymes, they all fall fit into the categories of proteases, carbohydrases, and lipases which respectively break down proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Most supplements contain a combination of digestive enzymes from each category, and the higher quality brands usually list them by active units rather than grams and are also free of unnecessary fillers and additives. Depending on your nutritional individuality, it may be beneficial to find a supplement that combines these different types of enzymes in proportions that match your typical meal.
Additional Information
For more information about digestive enzymes and how our limited capacity to produce them affects our health, I highly recommend reading Enzyme Nutrition by Dr. Edward Howell. Although this book was written more than twenty years ago, it still provides a very compelling argument for the significant importance of digestive enzymes and is one of the most informative and influential resource on the topic.
Another interesting book that was written more recently is Everything You Need to Know About Enzymes by Tom Bohager. This book provides more detail about the specific enzymes used in supplements and explains how they can also be used without food to help resolve a number of health issues.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Thurs. Dec. 10
21,15,9:
Push Jerk (95/65)
Pull Ups
Why Soy Sucks.
by Charles Poliquin
People love lists, so here are five reasons not to eat soy!
Reason 1 – Toxicity
Soy increases your toxic load. It is one of the most sprayed crops. Their high content of pesticides increases your ever-increasing toxic load. In addition, aluminum content skyrockets while processing.
Reason 2 – Potential hypothyroidism
Soy contains goitragens, which are compounds that lead to hypothyroidism.
Reason 3 – Blocking mineral absorption
Soy has a high content of phytates, which are known to inhibit the absorption of both macro-minerals (i.e. calcium) and trace minerals (i.e. zinc). The good news is that meat consumption blocks phytates. If you are going to eat tofu, make sure to eat some meat during the same meal.
Reason 4 – Link to Attention Deficit Disorder
Soy based infant formulas are linked to ADD. They contain 80 times more manganese than breast milk. Too much manganese content is linked to neurotoxicity.
Reason 5 – Increased cardiovascular load
Hemaglutinin is found in soybeans. This compound is known to make red blood cells aggregate, therefore increasing your cardiovascular load.
If you are not convinced, read Dr. Kaayla Daniel’s book, The Whole Soy Story. The information and research provided here will blow you away.
In conclusion, soy IS for dorks.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Tues. Dec. 8
"Finn"
10 RFT:
10 Push Ups
10 KB Swings (53/35)
10 Sit Ups
10 Muscle Snatch (64/45)
10 Double Unders
There were fifteen men awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroism on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. Only five survived that horrible day. Only one of them remains.
Lt. John William Finn, USN (Ret.) turned 100 years old on July 23 of this year, and he'll be attending the Pearl Harbor commemoration ceremony at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial today in Hawaii, returning to the Kaneohe Bay waters where he mounted an impressive one-man attack on Japanese fighter planes in the ambush that pulled the U.S. into World War II. Because the bay was attacked several minutes before Pearl Harbor proper, Finn is often called the first Medal of Honor recipient of World War II.
Finn was 17 when he joined the Navy in 1926, eventually getting stationed at Pearl Harbor as an aviation ordnanceman, in charge of anti-aircraft guns, missiles, torpedoes, and distribution of small arms. On the morning of Dec. 7, a neighbor came to his door shouting, "They want you down at the squadron right away!"
Before he could see any battleships, he saw Japanese aircraft in the sky as he drove toward the bay. When he arrived on the scene, he wrested a .50 caliber machine gun from his squadron's painter:
"I said, 'Alex, let me take that gun,' " Finn explained. "I knew that I had more experience firing a machine gun than a painter."
"I got that gun and I started shooting at Jap planes," Finn said in the salty language not uncommon among veterans of that long-ago war.
He put the gun on a makeshift mount, moving it to an open and vulnerable area, where he could clearly see enemy aircraft. Finn was wounded —some reports say more than 20 times— as he stood in the open under Japanese fire. This is the citation for his Medal of Honor:
For extraordinary heroism distinguished service, and devotion above and beyond the call of duty. During the first attack by Japanese airplanes on the Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, on 7 December 1941, Lt. Finn promptly secured and manned a .50-caliber machinegun mounted on an instruction stand in a completely exposed section of the parking ramp, which was under heavy enemy machinegun strafing fire.
Although painfully wounded many times, he continued to man this gun and to return the enemy's fire vigorously and with telling effect throughout the enemy strafing and bombing attacks and with complete disregard for his own personal safety. It was only by specific orders that he was persuaded to leave his post to seek medical attention.
Following first aid treatment, although obviously suffering much pain and moving with great difficulty, he returned to the squadron area and actively supervised the rearming of returning planes. His extraordinary heroism and conduct in this action were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
"I was out there shooting the Jap planes and just every so often I was a target for some... They were Japanese fighter plane pilots. I can remember seeing, in some cases, I could see their faces," " Finn told CNN this summer. "Medical help comes later. If you're busy shooting a machine gun or a rifle or a pistol or doing anything, you can't worry about getting medical attention."
He says it in the matter-of-fact tone we've come to expect from the generation we call the greatest, and spurns all the hero talk:
"That damned hero stuff is a bunch crap, I guess. Well, it is one thing that I think any man that is in that, you gotta be in that position," Finn said. "You gotta understand that there's all kinds of heroes, but they never get a chance to be in a hero's position."
This summer, the Navy gave Finn a birthday present befitting a hero, whether he likes the title or not:
Finn was presented with an American flag that had flown over all of the 11 aircraft carriers in the Navy's fleet. It was on the Abraham Lincoln in Seattle, then sent to San Diego for a day aboard the Ronald Reagan and the Nimitz, whose namesake the legendary Adm. Chester Nimitz put the Medal of Honor around John Finn's neck in 1942.
From there it went to Yokosuka, Japan, for the George Washington. Next stop was Pearl Harbor, where it was put aboard a cargo helicopter and taken to the John C. Stennis, at sea on assignment.
Then it was on to Bahrain, in the Persian Gulf, to be flown on the Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The final leg was Norfolk, Va., where the flag was carried from ship to ship to be hoisted up the masts of the Carl Vinson, the Enterprise, the Theodore Roosevelt, the Harry S. Truman and the George H.W. Bush.
Here are a few pictures of the flag's journey , which was coordinated, appropriately, by each aircraft carrier's aviation ordnanceman.
"I'm 99 years old, and I might be wrong, but I think that the United States—our Republican form of government—will prevail," he said before adding with a chuckle: "I won't be around when it happens, unless it happens next month."
We were blessed to have had him with us on Dec. 7, 1941 and we're blessed to have him with us still today, 68 years later. Thank you, Lt. Finn.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Tues. Dec. 1
Overhead Progression
Press 1-1-1-1-1
Push Press 3-3-3-3-3
Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5
Here is a link to a good article:
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/11/marines_crossfit_111609w/
Press 1-1-1-1-1
Push Press 3-3-3-3-3
Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5
Here is a link to a good article:
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/11/marines_crossfit_111609w/
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