Tues. March 30

Row 500m
21 Push Press (115/75)
Row 500m
18 Push Press
Row 500m
15 Push Press
Row 500m
12 Push Press
__________________________
*Mark's Daily Apple

Applying the Primal Blueprint Principles to Endurance Training

This is a guest post written by Brad Kearns, my long-time friend and integral member of the Primal Blueprint team. He’ll be speaking at this year’s PrimalCon, instructing athletes and non-athletes alike on how to properly train for endurance events the Primal Blueprint way.

Greetings MDA readers. It’s been a wonderful experience to work closely with Mark Sisson over the past two years on the Primal Blueprint book and the many ambitious projects we have announced for 2010. I look forward to meeting PrimalCon attendees in April and discussing the application of Primal Blueprint principles to endurance training. Mark and I go back over two decades, when we first crossed paths on the professional triathlon circuit in the 80’s. Mark was my coach and mentor for the majority of my professional career, helping guide me into training and lifestyle practices that were counter to Conventional Wisdom (sound familiar?) and basically save me from the extreme burnout risk that was (and still is) endemic to training and racing at the elite level.

What an amusing journey it’s been! Mark and I used to debate the intricacies of interval workouts and swim technique on 100-mile training rides. Today our workouts are beach sprints or quick, intense plyometric sessions, and debate is about the ingredients for our post-workout BAS (Big Ass Salad). Having both been through the hard-core endurance scene, spit out the other end, and catapulted headlong into the Primal world, we share a valuable perspective of both appreciation for the passion expressed by endurance athletes, and also a conviction that the Conventional Wisdom approach and mindset toward endurance training and racing is deeply and dangerously flawed.

As Mark has mentioned often on the blog and in the book, trying to apply the Primal Blueprint Fitness principles to a gung-ho endurance athlete with extreme and highly specialized goals is a challenge. As the landmark post, A Case Against Cardio explained in detail, serious endurance training is detrimental to your health, period. However, there is a way to do this stuff correctly, have fun, preserve your health, and enjoy all the benefits of the endurance experience which is so popular these days. Anyone who has browsed through the Primal Blueprint or read much of the blog is aware of Chronic Cardio’s drawbacks, and the benefits of integrating the three Primal Blueprint exercise laws (Move Frequently at a Slow Pace, Lift Heavy Things, and Sprint Once in a While) to achieve well-balanced, functional fitness without compromising health. This stuff is all fine and dandy until you catch the fever and sign up for a marathon or half-ironman triathlon. Then, as most of the magazine articles, books and coaches will tell you, you have to get focused, put in the miles, be consistent and basically struggle and suffer in the name of preparing for your daunting fitness goal.

The promotion of this approach and mentality is a massive scam, preying upon the frailties of the Type A personality drawn to extreme challenges, and fed by the hype and marketing influences of those who stand to make a buck off of people struggling and suffering. For example, consider the “Ironman”, which today has evolved from a description of a triathlon race distance to a multimillion dollar global brand with dozens of events replicating the original Hawaii “product”. Let us not forget that Ironman is an arbitrary distance, entirely inconsiderate of the health, lifestyle factors and overall best interests of those who participate. What if the distance around Oahu was only 56 miles? (the derivative of the 112-mile Ironman bike ride is the 112-mile ‘Ride Around Oahu’ bike ride) Or what if the standard marathon distance (born from the legend of Pheidippides running from Marathon to Athens, Greece to announce a battle victory) was only 13 miles instead of 26, and thus the Ironman was actually a half-ironman? It might be a superior competitive event and would surely be a more sensible competitive and peak performance goal for the vast majority of the participants.

The contention I have is the media and corporate influence that have lured the masses to believe that running a marathon or finishing an Ironman is the ultimate endurance achievement. To me this seems backwards – to get persuaded by hype, mystique and peer pressure into an athletic goal and then re-arrange your lifestyle in order to pursue that goal. It makes better sense to make a careful analysis of your life circumstances, responsibilities, obligations and potential impact on your family, career and overall well-being, and then choose an appropriate competitive goal. Aspiring to a less challenging event that requires less training time and less physical stress might be a win/win situation all around. For comparison, look at the sensibility of a community soccer league, where field size, game length, and number of players escalate steadily as the kids get older and more competent. If instead we put Under-6 kids on an international 100-meter field for 90 minutes, what might happen? They’d probably become exhausted and burnt out, something that happens with alarming frequency in the endurance world. As an endurance athlete, you must take control of your destiny, choose appropriate goals, and train according to some simple guidelines that will allow you to protect health, moderate the stress of an extremely stressful endeavor, increase your enjoyment of the endurance experience, and finally, believe it or not, actually improve your competitive performances.
1. Align Workout Efforts with Energy Level, Motivation Level and Health

Throw out the fancy log books, graphs, magazine articles, books and Internet coaches spitting out detailed 6-week or 12-week training plans designed to produce peak performance. Get a spiral notepad for 99 cents and start keeping score of these three markers with a simple 1-10 rating each day: 10 being outstanding, 5 being medium, and 1 being terrible. Conduct and rate your workouts similarly, with 1 being an easy recovery effort and 10 being a maximum effort. Strive to match up the energy/motivation/health numbers with the workout degree of difficulty scores, and realize the long-term negative repercussions of misaligning these markers. When you rate your workouts, include psychological components as well as physical. Cutting short sleep for a swim session on a brisk early morning, followed by a hurried drive to work while inhaling a processed snack for breakfast is far more stressful than the same workout on a more relaxed time schedule. Govern your workout decisions by asking yourself, “Is this healthy?” and be clear with your specific purpose for every workout: recovery/rejuvenation, fitness maintenance or fitness improvement.
2. Train Intuitively Instead of Robotically

The world’s foremost expert on your training program is you, even if you are a complete novice. No one will ever be as skilled at rating and aligning the numbers described in item #1 as you are right now. I counsel the endurance athletes I coach to make every workout feel effortless. I’m obviously taking license with the literal definition here, but the goal is to make training decisions based on gut instinct, biofeedback, even visualization – in order to promote physical and mental ease rather than struggle. Physically, workout pace and length should be dictated by factors discussed in #1 – energy, motivation, and health. Mentally, you want to nurture your passion and your will at all times, and never abuse these attributes in the name of your ego or insecurities. If you don’t feel like working out, this is a powerful message to reflect upon and honor. Sure, sometimes inertia is involved and you feel better once you get out the door and get moving, but often developing the discipline to hit the snooze button and sacrifice the instant gratification of logging more miles is what can take you to the next level as an athlete. Restraining your obsessive/compulsive tendencies and rejecting the unhealthy influences of Conventional Wisdom and peer pressure offers a tremendous growth experience that can translate to many other areas of life. Conversely, a lack of restraint and intuition will cause your athletics to become just another outlet to express your insecurities and obsessive/compulsive tendencies. The choice is yours!
3. Increase the Severity of Stress/Rest Fluctuation

The recommendation for consistency is the context of athletic training is deeply flawed. Extensive research suggests that your body will plateau and even regress unless you vary workload carefully. While most everyone agrees with this basic concept, I believe that we haven’t taken it far enough. Experts touting sage advice like “rest one day a week”; “build three weeks, then recover one week”: or “never increase your mileage more than 10% per week” are interpreting only a narrow slice of a very big picture. The balance between stress and rest is a constant challenge, represented best by our waking days and sleeping nights. When it comes to training, it’s difficult to predict the ideal stress/rest balance, and most people err on the stress side. Partly to blame are the elite athletes who serve as de facto role models and share their secrets with eager enthusiasts. An Olympian who eats, sleeps and runs 130 miles a week has little in common with someone immersed in busy family, career, school, and community life. While exercise is an excellent “stress release” from other forms of mental and emotional stress in your life, it’s merely a different form of stress, pulling on the very same adrenal glands that service your boardroom presentations, domestic arguments, and financial concerns.

Understanding the Primal Blueprint exercise laws, it makes sense to promote optimal gene expression by reducing the stress of your endurance workouts (by limiting heart rate to 75% of max or less), and reducing the frequency and duration (but possibly even increasing the difficulty) of high-intensity workouts. The body does not require a consistent application of stress to thrive, but rather a strategic balance between stress and rest. Make your easy-to-moderate workouts much easier and shorter, and make your hard workouts much less frequent and in many cases, harder. Don’t be afraid to spike that graph more than Conventional Wisdom suggests, and do everything you can to run screaming from the “flatline” approach that has produced widespread burnout.

Applying these three principles requires a skill set that, quite frankly, tends to be a little deficient amongst the masses of endurance enthusiasts. However, an evolved training program is well within your reach, and can pay great dividends starting immediately. Once you expand your horizons beyond the “struggle and suffer’ paradigm, and see how fun it is to train intuitively, healthily and Primally, there is no turning back, believe me!

Mon. March 29

4 RFT:

20 Box Jumps
50 Air Squats

Strength:
Deadlift
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
________________________________________

Please take some time to read and listen to robbwolf.com

Robb is a terrific authority on all things Paleo. He has an archived blog along with terrific podcasts on this site. I highly suggest that if you are seriously interested in dramatically changing your body composition and/or performance, then you should spend some time digging through Robb's site.

www.robbwolf.com

Fri. March 26

"Karen"

150 Wall Ball for time
___________________________
*Mark's Daily Apple

The Question of Seasonality in Human Health and Nutrition

How important is seasonality in our understanding of human health? In last week’s nuts post, I referred to the seasonality and intermittence of nut availability in the wild, implying that because they weren’t available to our ancestors on a year-round basis, excessive daily nut consumption may not be in our best interest. Regular, consistent, high-volume nut ingestion may not make sense in the light of human evolution, but does that necessarily make eating nuts – or, really, any food – in anthropologically unrealistic amounts detrimental to our health?

What about seasonal behavioral patterns, or seasonality of access to sunlight? Does it make sense to view our every move, our every tradition, in the light of the seasons? What do we mean by “seasons,” anyway – aren’t the seasons different depending on several factors, like proximity to the equator? Or is there an ideal seasonal cycle all humans should strive to follow, regardless of location or background?

To establish whether or not an ideal human seasonality even exists, it would help to establish what we know about our earliest stomping grounds. What was the climate like where and when we evolved? What were the seasons like? Humans evolved in East Africa, with modern Homo sapiens first appearing around 200-250 thousand years ago. It’s popular to suggest we evolved in a stable, constant Edenic landscape: lush forests, grasslands teeming with wild game and edible vegetation, steady rainfall, predictable seasons. The reality wasn’t so neat and smooth though (is it ever?). In fact, the region has seen major topographical and climate changes over the ages, beginning with the clash of the Indian and Asian tectonic plates 40 million years ago, which set into motion both the uplift of the Tibetan plateau and massive volcanic activity in East Africa. The growing Tibetan plateau deflected moist air away from East Africa, while the volcanic activity coincided with rifting in Ethiopia. The newly formed rift valley and accompanying rift shoulders, or mountain ranges, led to even more deflection of moist air, and what began as a uniformly flat plain covered in rainforest became a landscape of plateaus, mountains, and valleys featuring both cloud forests and desert scrubs.

Temperature was fairly constant, tending toward the warmer side of things, but the seasons were characterized by intense bouts of rain and drought. A wet period might last thousands of years, only to be followed by centuries of brutal drought. Enormous lakes could dry up in a hundred years (a blink of an eye), rapidly changing an established people’s way of life and spurring innovation. Seasonal cycles no doubt followed the wet/dry dynamic, and this is where and how we evolved – in a constant (on the large scale) state of flux. It was a tumultuous, highly variant environment, and some anthropologists think it had the effect of producing the most adaptable species on the planet: us. Good thing, too, because if we were going to successfully migrate to every corner of the globe, we had to be prepared to make quick adaptations.

Based on that ability to adapt, I lean toward the absence of a cut-and-dry seasonal mentality that applies to all humans. I mean, just look around. We see and hear examples of humans surviving, even thriving, in any locale, under any climate, and exposed to any environmental pressure. We live where it rains 3/4 of the year, and we live in bone-dry, arid deserts.

Before I sat down to write this, I was planning a fairly basic examination of seasonal foods. Once I began digging around, things became a little more complicated (as they always do). I think I’d be shortchanging the topic and over simplifying a complex issue if I stuck with what I imagined the script to look like. It’s not so much that there isn’t a single seasonality that we can all adhere to; it’s that there are multiple cycles that “work” with our respective physiologies. That’s the whole point of being human, really! We adapt, we conform, and we mold.

I have a feeling this will be a broad topic, and I won’t be able to cover everything, but I’ll try in a series of upcoming articles: The relationship between Vitamin D and fructose consumption, spring and winter fats, egg, meat, and tuber availability, intermittent fasting, the remarkable similarities between the climate of the modern Hiwi tribe of Venezuela and that of our early human ancestors in East Africa (found the free full text of a fascinating study) and what they all indicate about our ancestral seasonal diet.

Thurs. March 25

5 RFT:

10 Overhead Squats (95/65)
20 KB Swings (53/35)

Strength:
Weighted Pullups
3-3-3-3-3

Wed. March 24

3 RFT:

15 Deadlift (135/95)
15 Push Ups
Run 400m

___________________________________
*marksdailyapple.com

Dear Mark: Sleep and Oxidative Stress

The time change pretty much hit me hard this year. I’ve noticed that as I age I value my sleep more and more. When I was in my 20s and 30s I use to be able to get by on about 6 hours of sleep each night. Now if I don’t get at least 8 hours I pay for it. What’s the deal? Is this just part of getting older?

Shari

What’s one lost hour of sleep when getting over the hump of daylight savings time? It might not seem like much, but as I’ve noted before, time changes wreak a special havoc over everything from traffic accidents to workman’s comp filings. (Add the stock market and heart attack rates to this inspiring picture.) Truth be told, however, many of us were delinquent long before the recent changeover. Maybe the switch was simply the last straw in a long term bout of sleep deprivation. Anyone? (You know who you are.) We know we feel like hell warmed over when we make a habit of skipping out on zzzzs. We justify it, minimize it, though, by telling ourselves that it can’t be so bad if caffeine and a shower can cure us before we walk out the door in the morning. Some latest research says different. When we do without solid sleep, we decrease our ability to process even moderate levels of oxidative stress – the arch enemy of the Primal Blueprint of course. The impact, as observed by Oregon State University researchers, leads to faster aging and measurable neurological decline.

The key here is a so-called “period” gene, one of four genes primarily responsible for the body’s circadian rhythm, the internal clock related to day and night cycles and the essential biochemical pattern that helps govern major physiological processes. Studies have long shown that messing with the body’s biological clock can impair cognitive function in the short term and over the long term impacts cardiovascular and kidney function, since sleep aids the body in organ renewal. Now there’s more systemic-focused evidence for sleep deprivation/disruption’s ominous reach.

The Oregon State researchers compared fruit flies of different ages whose period gene was either intact or not. “Middle age” and older flies without the intact gene fared progressively worse and showed significant damage when subjected to moderate levels of induced stress. Flies without the period gene “lost some of their motor ability to climb” and sustained “neuronal degeneration” reflective of neurological damage seen in Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, a singular application of moderate stress was enough to cut a middle aged fruit fly’s lifespan by 12% and an older fly’s by 20%, when compared to both normal (gene-intact) flies and younger mutant flies, which didn’t show significant damage from the induced stress. Based on their results, the researchers suggest that the period gene plays a significant role in regulating the cleanup of oxidative damage in the body and is subject to gradual decline as we age. The older we are, the more we physically benefit from following our body’s natural circadian rhythm – and the more we put ourselves at risk when we ignore it.

As much as we’d like to chalk up this study to the particulars of the insect world, researchers believe that these genes work much the same in humans and in fact operate in nearly every cell of the human body. Despite all the years and achievements of civilization, we humans are still subject to the basic natural rhythms of the wild. When we live in denial of this correlation, it inevitably comes back to bite us in the backside.

Eating and exercising Primally both diminishes our overall oxidative stress levels and bolsters our body’s ability to eradicate the oxidative damage that is an unavoidable part of living. This study underscores how we can either support or undermine our Primal efforts by cheating our bodies out of sleep. If we’re religious about working in our meat/veggies or our supplements throughout the day, why undo the good once the sun goes down? If we wouldn’t dream of skipping a workout, why give up the crucial biological defense of a decent night’s sleep?

We mostly have good intentions when we shortchange ourselves on sleep. Maybe we’re up paying bills, reading a great novel, spending quality time with the spouse, putting the finishing touches on tomorrow’s presentation – or little Suzy’s costume for the class play. When we look at the results from the lens of continual damage and Primal backsliding, however, we might see sleep in a new light – and be more likely to declare “lights out” when our primal rhythms rather than modern life dictate.

Tues. March 23

20 Min. AMRAP:

5 Burpees
10 Lunges (total)
15 Double Unders

Strength:
Press
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Mon. March 22

"Fran"

21,15,9 of:
Thrusters (95/65)
Pull Ups

Strength:
Front Squats
3-3-3-3-3
_________________________________
*from paleochix.com

5 Minute Paleo

I like to say that I’m a 5-minute Paleo girl. A lot of people prep and plan, but I frankly don’t know what I will be hungry for any given day, so more often than not I wing it. I have 3 busy daughters, a full-time job and a budding gym, not to mention my own workouts, but somehow this works really well for me. I have come to the point of unconscious competence (see my post of 2/10/10).

Sure, I try new recipes at least once a week, and take great pride in my Sunday dinners, but whipping up a good, well- rounded Paleo meal has become common place. I eat lunch at home most days and love knowing that I can make whatever I’m craving that day, and still have time during my lunch-hour to relax or get my laundry started.

So getting to the point here….. once Paleo becomes a natural, normal way of eating for you, you will develop a list of staples in your household that will allow you this freedom. The most common question I get with someone starting Paleo seems to be “what do I buy.” Sure you know the basic drill – meat, vegetables, nuts&seeds, some fruit, NO GRAINS and NO SUGAR but when it comes to what to buy people seem at a loss.

Here is my list of staples that allows me to make most anything. Of course I have a cajillion spices, and add this and that, but these are the items I have all the time in my kitchen:

* almond meal – I use this mostly for fritters, meatloaf and as a coating when I fry things
* coconut oil – excellent for frying
* olive oil
* garlic – I want it on EVERYTHING!!!! Vampires will never bother me!
* sea salt
* coconut milk – love my shakes!
* berries
* apples
* eggs
* broccoli slaw – one of the coolest all-purpose items! I use it for salads, stir fry, you name it!
* mushrooms
* celery
* onion
* spinach
* tomato
* carrots
* almonds
* chicken
* steak
* canned tuna – good to have around when pressed for time
* canned tomato sauce ( sugar free!)
* ground beef

So what to make??? OH MY HECK!!! The possibilities are ENDLESS! And the 5-minute stuff – easy peeasy! Here are a few super, duper quick recipes that will cover all the bases :

HERM’S BEEF EGGS

1 lb ground beef

1 cup spinach

6 eggs

Brown ground beef adding in whatever spices you choose. Once brown, add spinach on top til it cooks down. Lastly, cover whole mixture with 6 eggs. My very routine boyfriend swears by this for breakfast and it keeps him satisfied til dinner.

PONY’S BROCCOLI CRUNCH (Thanks Aileen!)

1/2 bag of broccoli slaw

1 can of tuna drained

hand full of nuts or seeds

1tsp of olive oil, apple cider vinegar or dare i say Italian dressing – its only a tsp!!

mix well – YUMMY!!! Also add in grapes or raisins and or dried cranberries

PATTY’S LEFT OVER SALAD

*always, always make a little extra of ANY meat you cook!!!

big bowl of mixed greens

1 avocado sliced

cut up leftover meat

salad dressing made of lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt basil too taste

and VOILA!!! One of my favorite meals!!

I hope I have been able to show you that Paleo IS possible in under 5 minutes, and you don’t have to cook well to enjoy a good, filling Paleo meal!!!

Sat. March 20

5 Min Stations of:

Deadlift
Thrusters
Pull Ups
Back Extensions
Box Jumps

Total reps for score.

Fri. March 19

10 Man-makers
Run 800m
10 Man-makers
Run 800m
10 Man-makers

Saturday Night Update

So far we have the following people confirmed:

Stephen and Amanda
Megan
Amber
Kevin and Sonya
Jonathan and Blakley

... Keep 'em comin'!

Thurs. March 18

"Nate"
In honor of Chief Petty Officer Nate Hardy, who was killed Sunday February 4th during combat operations in Iraq. Nate is survived by his wife, Mindi, and his infant son Parker.
20 Min AMRAP:
2 Muscle Ups
4 Handstand Push Ups
8 KB Swings (70/53)

scaled:
*sub 6 pull ups for muscle ups, 8 Press for HSPU.

Saturday Get-together!!!

For all those interested, we should get together Saturday evening at 6pm at Cool Springs Brewery (formerly Guido's Pizza). Let us know if you'd like to meet up for some empty calories. We can go somewhere else after we get kicked out of that place.

Wed. March 17

For Time:

Run 1 Mile (3 building laps)
25 Wall Ball
25 Push Ups
25 K2E's
25 Box Jumps

Tues. March 16

5 RFT:

10 1-Arm Dumbell Snatch (Each Arm)
10 Power Cleans (95/65)(High Hang)
10 Floor Wipers (95/65)

Strength:
Overhead Squats
3-3-3-3-3
____________________________________
New Shirts have been ordered. They will be in next Monday or Tuesday. I need sizes from everyone who wants one. Also, you can pay $25.00 or we can draft your card on file. Just let Stephen know.

Mon. March 15

"Angie"

100 Pull Ups
100 Push Ups
100 Sit Ups
100 Air Squats

Strength:
Back Squat
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
______________________________________
*from Robbwolf.com

If it works for a SEAL…
By Robb Wolf | December 26, 2009

Good word from DR. Harris at Panu. I don’t want to just copy and paste that piece here but I do want to throw in some observations. Dr. Harris’ Brother in Law, Jason (who is a SEAL):

1-Started doing CF and saw dramatic improvements in his work related performance. Not too surprising, swapping out flutter kicks and high volume running for OL-complexes and more variety. Makes complete sense. And there is data to support this.

2-Jason changed his food along Zone parameters, eventually getting to 3-4x fat and saw vast improvements in his body composition and performance.

3-Jason then dropped his carb intake (shifting to fruit and veggies only), ate the bulk of his carbs post work out, upped his protein and fat…started doing intermittent fasting…and crushed all his previous benchmarks.

I have almost 1300 testimonial virtually identical to the above from people in every conceivable profession and walk of life. So much for my lack of data and clinical experience! I’ve been approached by a few statisticians to analyze that data and we might tackle that at some point. The problem is I would need to harvest and organize that information from thousands of emails…unfortunately I have not been entering the data into and XL spreadsheet for the past few years…yeesh.

The take home here is “Shift the bulk of your fueling along ancestral lines and you will see optimized performance”. The only place I see this breaking down is EVENT epecific nutrition (100mile foot race, tour de France) or if we need to build a 300lb lineman for football. In the case of the former we’d likely benefit from some liquid nutrition like maltodextrin and whey protein, in the later we’d certainly benefit from a Gallon of milk per day. Other than these extreme outlies however we consistently see folks perform best on somehting akin to the ancestral diet.

Coach Glassman has a great line “The Paleo diet is compelling, but largely anecdotal…”

I just need to point out, the existence of the Universe is largeley anecdotal…

So, some kind of ancestral diet appears to fuel optimum performance for most people under most situations. Even SEAL’s. Check.

What about training? Is CrossFit better or worse than the standard PT that has traditionally been used to prep people for BUDS and then for subsequent duty? Well, despite my recent falling out with CrossFit, the truth is CF is far better than the standard PT, even when implemented in a sub-optimal fashion. I’ve seen data on this, and talked to far too many people for this not to be the case. But just becasue CF is better does not mean it is BEST. More on that later.

Right now I want to look at some thoughts Mike Caviston has on CF, nutrition and training. I think my first awareness of Mr. Caviston was when I was asked to write a rebuttal to his article that painted the Zone in a poor light. That rebuttal was supposed to go in the CrossFit Journal, but that’s another story! So, I posted it here in the form of The Zone and Athletic performance. Mr. Caviston also had this to say about CrossFit training in general. Short hand here is how I see all this:

1-Caviston thinks the Zone is inadequate to the needs ot SEALs and operators. CrossFit thinks there is nothing besides the Zone with regards to nutrition. Obviously, I think both are out to lunch. People do far better on the Zone than they do the standard high-carb chow. They do even better when they start tinkering with some kind of higher protein, higher fat paleo oriented eating. The example at Panu simply supports what I have seen now in thousands of people AND it’s a very simple experiment.

2-Caviston thinks CF is inadequate to training SEALS. CrossFit thinks a constantly randomized program ala- CF.com is the best way to train EVERYONE. Here again I disagree with both camps. CF+ some other specific work has produced better results than the previous PT incarnations. An even better approach would be something like CF Football. Agility work, short hard sprints heavy weight lifting, progressive overload, planning…this simply works better.

Is your first exposure to the deadlift better if it is under no metabolic duress, with sets of 3-5, scaled appropriately and then met-con based on movements you have aptitude in, OR is it in a 21, 15, 9 format using PVC, or weight that produces “20% slop”? I think the planned structured program is better. I’ve played both ways…you tinker and make your own conclusions.

So, perhaps you can boil the whole thing down to:

1-A planned, structured approach to training works best. There are logical progressions for various movements, and appropriate times to introduce movements. Strength is the foundation of strength-endurance. Strength & Conditioning is a balancing act between the general needs of an individual and the specific demands they will face.

2-Something approximating an ancestral diet fuels optimum performance in most situations.

Fri. March 12

For time:

Run 10 Mezzanine Laps w/Med Ball
100 Push Press (45/35)
50 KB Swings (53/35)
Row 500m

Thurs. March 11

Total Reps for:

4 min Push Ups
4 min ABMAT
4 min SDHP (53/35)
4 min Jumping Air Squats

Strength:
Bench Press
5-5-5-5-5

____________________________________
from Inhuman Experiment

Two Brave Men Who Ate Nothing But Meat for an Entire Year

Low-carb diets and paleolithic nutrition are all the rage these days, and for good reason. Compared to the Standard American Diet, both of them are superb.

Few of us would dare to take the two to their extreme, however. Giving up sugar and wheat is one thing, but what about giving up everything except meat? Yes, I'm talking about an ultra low-carb diet with even foods like nuts and berries removed. Unsurprisingly and understandably, studies on the long-term effects of such a diet are severely lacking.

There is at least one study that did just this, however. If the diet brings the Eskimos to mind, it's no coincidence. You may have heard of Dr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson – the Canadian ethnologist who spent more than a decade with the Inuit during his arctic explorations in the beginning of the previous century. For nine of these years, he lived almost exclusively on fish and meat (you can read about his experiences here). At the time, this was considered heresy and life-threatening, just as it is today (note that Stefansson apparently refers to both fish and meat with the word "meat"):

A belief I was destined to find crucial in my Arctic work, making the difference between success and failure, life and death, was the view that man cannot live on meat alone. The few doctors and dietitians who thought you could were considered unorthodox if not charlatans. The arguments ranged from metaphysics to chemistry: Man was not intended to be carnivorous - you knew that from examining his teeth, his stomach, and the account of him in the Bible. As mentioned, he would get scurvy if he had no vegetables in meat. The kidneys would be ruined by overwork. There would be protein poisoning and, in general hell to pay.


To the surprise of many (including Stefansson himself), he suffered no health problems during his decade of pure carnivorism. When he told people of his amazing experiences, he was met with skepticism from medical authorities who asked him to undertake a study that would replicate the results. He and a fellow explorer named Andersen agreed to eat an all-meat diet for an entire year in a closely observed setting.

Composing a diet of nothing but meat and fat

This time, however, the diet was even more radical than the traditional Eskimo diet, which is based on fish and includes a small amount of berries and vegetables – not a lot, but enough to keep them out of ketosis most of the time. Furthermore, since fish is high in omega-3 fatty acids, you could argue that it's all those good fats that keep the Eskimos free of disease.

But how could anyone subscribing to conventional health wisdom explain thriving on a diet consisting solely of red meat? No vegetables, no fruit, no vitamin supplements. Nothing. Just meat and animal fat.

The results of this fascinating study were published in 1930 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (link). At the beginning of the experiment, Stefansson was given only lean meat at the request of his supervisors. This was to confirm Stefansson's bad experiences with low-fat meat; during his explorations, there had been periods during which fat was not readily available and which lead to diarrhea and nausea in a few weeks. This time, the illness kicked in much earlier:

As said, in the Arctic we had become ill during the second or third fatless week. I now became ill on the second fatless day. The time difference between Bellevue and the Arctic was due no doubt mainly to the existence of a little fat, here and there in our northern caribou - we had eaten the tissue from behind the eyes, we had broken the bones for marrow, and in doing everything we could to get fat we had evidently secured more than we realized. At Bellevue the meat, carefully scrutinized, had been as lean as such muscle tissue can be.


After fat was added back into the diet, a full recovery was made in two days. The authors of the study describe the diet from then on:

The meat used included beef, lamb, veal, pork and chicken. The parts used were muscle, liver, kidney, brain, bone marrow, bacon, and fat.


Thus, fat played an important part in their diets. According to the authors, Andersen usually ate beef, while Stefansson often chose lamb. Both men ate about 800 grams of meat per day in 3-4 meals. The protein contents ranged from 100 to 140 grams, the fat from 200 to 300 grams, and carbohydrates from 7 to 12 grams. In calories, the percentages were 15-25% protein, 75-85% fat, and 1-2% carbohydrate. The carbs came solely from the glycogen of the meat, making this not so much a low-carb as a no-carb diet. In addition to water, coffee and tea were allowed throughout the period.

Health markers after one year

Examinations at the end of the observation showed that both men were healthy while on the diet. The authors write:

There were no subjective or objective evidences of any loss of physical or mental vigor. The teeth showed no deterioration and gingivitis had disappeared. There was, however, an increase in the deposit of tartar on the teeth of [Stefansson]. Bowel elimination was undisturbed.


Though neither man was overweight to begin with, and weight loss was not the goal of the experiment, both men lost a few pounds during the year. This was despite the fact that calorie intakes ranged from 2,000 to 3,100 kcal. Stefansson averaged about 2,650 kcal (2,100 from fat and 550 from protein), while Andersen averaged 2,620 kcal (2,100 from fat and 510 from protein).

Given that Stefansson, the taller of the two, was 180 cm (5 feet 11 inches), and both of them were fairly sedentary, this represents a significant amount of calories without any weight gain. During the first weeks, weight loss was more significant, apparently due to a shift in the water content of the body. Both men appeared "ruddier" at the end of the experiment than at the beginning.

Blood pressure did not increase in either subject. Stefansson's blood pressure remained at 105/70 mm. throughout the study, while that of the other subject decreased from 140/80 to 120/80 mm. Salt intakes were fairly low.

No physical fatique or problems sticking to the diet were experienced by the two men. Only when the protein content of the diet increased substantially (45% of calories, 55% fat) did problems with digestion occur. Replacing excess protein with fat (20% protein, 80% fat) quickly resolved them, however.

No clinical evidence of vitamin or calcium deficiency was noted, despite the diet being both acidic and low in calcium. In addition, the mild gingivitis Stefansson had suffered from, cleared up entirely during the meat diet. Interestingly, Andersen reported that his hair stopped falling out shortly after the meat diet was started; Stefansson also noted his hair started growing thicker and his scalp was healthier.

Acetone bodies in daily averages per experimental period ranged from 0.4 to 7.2 gm, with the maximum excretion measured during the year being 12.3 gm. The acidity of the urine showed a 2-to 3-fold increase, which is consistent with the highly acidic nature of the diet. A slight increase in uric acid nitrogen was found during the first three months only.

All in all, no evidence of irritation to the kidneys was found – despite the fact that these men were in ketosis practically for an entire year. A higher degree of ketosis was noted when the fat content of the diet increased and the protein content decreased. Acetone bodies quickly disappeared when carbohydrates were introduced into the diet.

In general, the men were in ketosis whenever the ratio of fat to carbohydrates was over 1.5. With the extremely small amounts of carb in their diets, no definite relation between the amount of acetone bodies and the ratio of fat to carbs was found. Stefansson's friend, who was smaller and had less subcutaneous fat, had the highest sustained ketosis.

Seven years after the meat diet

In 1935, one of the authors published an article titled "A Year's Exclusive Meat Diet and Seven Years Later", in which he revisits Stefansson's case (link). First, he summarizes the main points of his earlier article from 1926, titled "The Effects of an Exclusive Long-continued Meat Diet". The following medical facts regarding Stefansson's life during his explorations are listed:

1. He spent altogether altogether eleven and one-half years within the Arctic Circle.
2. He lived for a number of days, totaling nine years, on an exclusive meat diet.
3. He lived for nine successive months on an exclusive meat diet.
4. He reached his maximum weight while subsisting on meat (fish).
5. His sense of physical and mental well being was at its best during that period of his life.
6. He found that the exclusive meat diet worked as well when he was inactive as when active, and as well in hot weather as in cold.
7. Constipation was never present. One month's entire absence from exercise produced neither constipation nor muscular weakness. (Stefansson avers that not a single case of constipation was observed in 600 exclusively meat-eating Eskimos for a period of three years).
8. His hair thickened, and his scalp became healthier.
9. Tooth decay was apparently much less rapid.


Seven years after the meat diet study, the author examined Stefansson again, who apparently had reacquainted himself with some aspects of the Western diet. Instead of eating only meat, he was now eating a breakfast of one egg, bread and coffee, and a dinner and supper consisting of a moderate amount of meat, vegetables, and some cheese. His fruit and milk intake remained negligible.

During this period, Stefansson had put on quite a bit of weight. He now weighed 84 kg, compared with 70.8 kg in 1922 and 72.5 in 1928. His hair was as thick as before, but his gingivitis had returned. Blood pressure was up to 120/80 mm. All in all, the author states Stefansson was in excellent general health. Looking at the numbers, however, it seems that he was doing better on his monotonous carnivore diet.

While it would be interesting to replicate the study with a larger sample size and have more health markers measured than the ones used in the study, it is quite remarkable to see that a diet consisting of nothing but meat and animal fat is both feasible and, apparently, healthy. It also lends support to the importance of having a sufficient amount of fat in the diet, especially when protein is present in significant quantities.

Wed. March 10

21,15,9:

Overhead Squats (95/65)
Pull Ups

Strength:
Power Cleans
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

___________________________________
New T Shirts!
We will be ordering new shirts next week. Ask Stephen to show you color options. We will need a pre-order size and dollars from anyone who wants one, or two, or three....

As of now, looks like $25 for each. These will be a thinner, more athletic cut than any previous shirt we've done. Gray and black are the options, but you need to see them to really get the shades.

Tues. March 9

20 Burpees
20 Deadlifts (135/95)
20 Wall Ball
15 Burpees
15 Deadlifts
15 Wall Ball
10 Burpees
10 Deadlifts
10 Wall Ball
__________________________________
from CrossFit Evolution


Paleo Stuffed Zucchini
(modified from paleomama.com)

Ingredients:
3-4 medium zucchini
1 lb. sausage (I used chicken Italian sausage from Publix’s greenwise section)
1 leek, chopped into rings
1 clove garlic, minced
½ cup coconut milk
1 ½ tsp. Italian seasoning
¼ tsp. pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut off stems of the zucchini. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Use a small spoon to scoop out the inside of the zucchini (save the ‘guts” in a bowl) to make hollow boats. Put the zucchini boats in a casserole dish.

Remove sausage from casings and cook over medium heat until no pink remains. Add in leek, garlic, zucchini guts, coconut milk and spices and cook for 1-2 minutes until leeks and zucchini become soft.

Spoon mixture into zucchini boats and bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes.
__________________________________

*Please be sure to get your $10 in for the Benchmark Contest ASAP.

Mon. March 8

20 Min. AMRAP:

10 Box Jumps
10 Push Press (65/45)
10 Knees to Elbows (K2E's)

Strength:
Back Squat
3-3-3-3-3

___________________________________
P90X and CrossFit

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/p90x-and-crossfit/

Sat. March 6

Meeting at Aspen Grove park.

3 RFT:
Run 800m
50 KB Swings (53/35)

Fri. March 5

Open Gym

Pick any strength movement:
5-5-5-5-5

-Then pick any movement/skill and work on it.

You're welcome....

Thurs. March 4

"Elizabeth"

21,15,9:
Clean (Squat)(135/95)
Ring Dips


Strength:
Power Snatch
3-3-3-3-3

___________________________________
How to Deal With Overtraining
*Mark's Daily Apple

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-deal-with-overtraining/

Wed. March 3

"Barbara"

Five rounds, each for time of:
20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats

Rest precisely three minutes between each round.

Post total time minus rest (12 minutes)

______________________________________________
HOW TO DRINK IRRESPONSIBLY, YET PRIMAL

Article courtesy of Son of Grok

During my recent “lets get serious” post, a lot of people talked about struggling to stay primal due to consumption of alcohol. Being a health blogger, I can’t straight up condone the heavy consumption of booze but hey… lets all be honest with ourselves. Booze is nice.

While only shown to be healthy is very small quantities (so I wont make that argument yet again here), booze can just plain be fun. It can be relaxing, it can loosen you up and it can enhance a good time. I myself drink booze fairly regularly and occasionally heavily.

Part of the danger of booze is that whole “loosens you up” part. You drink a little.. then you drink a lot… then you start the munchies… then you “head for the border” at the local taco bell at 2:00 in the morning. Until you can get in the habit of being Primally responsible while partying it is always good to go in with a game plan.

Here are some game plan tactics:
1. Know your drink.
Know what you are going to be drinking and stick to only that for the whole night.
2. Carry emergency reserves.
Have primal snacks like nuts or pork rinds with you. Whether in the car, your purse or jacket pocket having snacks like this will help you from straying to the tortilla chips or loaded potato skins. You just need something to hold you over until you get home and can heat up some primal left overs. If you are going to a party, bring the vegetable tray or bowl of nuts. If you have something primal there, you will be less likely to crack.
3. Have food waiting for you at home.
No drunky wants to cook anything more complicated than a frozen pizza (which usually gets left in the oven and burnt anyways). Whether it be leftovers or a purpose prepped meal, make sure you have something easy to grub when you get home and late night taco bell or dollar menus cheesburgers wont seem like quite as much of a necessity.

Now lets cover the drink choices. Everyone knows from the USDA approved food pyramid that alcohol can basically be broken into three basic booze groups (maybe I should have studied harder in high school?).

1. Wine
Wine is delicious, it is sofisticated and it can be quite enjoyable. Wine has even been shown to be healthy in small quantities (darn I just said it didn’t I?). Wine however can be very hard to drink in mass quantities even though it can be done (just ask roger de rok or me). When drunk in mass quantities, wine also has the tendency to roll over in the morning, look at you lovingly… and then kick you right in the temple. Hangover city. Wine is very calorie intensive as well and if drunk in large quantities frequently does have the ability to sabotage your gains.

2. Hard liquor
This is the primal party animal secret weapon and party piece. Toss the sugar filled mixers to the side and take a page from the alcoholics handbook. Find a strong, hard, un-fooferated liquor (at least 80 proof) that you can stand on the rocks and drink to your hearts content. When I want to get my swerve on this is where I go. My poison of choice is a glass of top shelf vodka on the rocks with lime. Roger de Rok’s personal favorite is a gin on the rocks with lime (bleh). You may have to start with sipping but once you adapt to the flavor of your booze of choice, you will be able to put it back no problem. Even though hard liquor is not exactly “primal per say” you can through it back almost limitlessly with next to no calories and virtually no guilt.

3. Beer
Beer is just bad m’kay. We have this belief as Americans that beer is just… well American. The big three beer companies have spent billions.. yes billions of dollars ingraining in us the importance of beer. From High School parties to College to middle aged bars we are taught that beer is the drink of choice. A beer here and there wont kill you but beer is a sure fire way to sabotage all of your progress. There is a reason that they call it a “beer gut”. Beer is light on alcohol, heavy on calories and heavy on grain. Many beers still have the stuff floating in it for goodness sake. There is always light beer but it is flavorless, over filling and well… crappy. Beer can leave you feeling bloated and crappy and leave you actually physically bloated and crappy. Get over your beer addiction. Once you start enjoying fine wines and well crafted hard liquors, you really wont miss the stuff. Some studies have shown that a single glass of beer can give health benefits so if you are going to drink a beer, have a glass of the good stuff you really enjoy (a finely crafted, dark, hard stout would my choice but I don’t even crave that anymore).

Now that you are armed with a game plan and a primally wisened selection of booze… get out there and partay!

Tues. March 2

“Festive 40” Chipper

Complete 40 Reps of the following for time:
Push Ups
Med Ball Cleans (20#/10#)
Box Jumps
SDHP (53/35 kettlebell)
Muscle Snatch (high hang) (45)
Jumping Back Squats (45)

Strength:
Push Press
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

________________________________________
*from Futurepundit.com

Belly Fat Secretes Hormone That Makes Us Even Fatter

Belly fat begets belly fat.

The extra fat we carry around our middle could be making us hungrier, so we eat more, which in turn leads to even more belly fat. Dr. Yaiping Yang and his colleagues at the Lawson Health Research Institute affiliated with The University of Western Ontario found abdominal fat tissue can reproduce a hormone that stimulates fat cell production. The researchers hope this discovery will change in the way we think about and treat abdominal obesity.

So then does liposuction done to the belly reduce the amount of future weight gain? After all, belly liposuction removes fat cells that secrete Neuropeptide Y.

Yang identified that the hormone Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is reproduced by abdominal fat tissue. Previously, it was believed to only be produced by the brain. Yang believes this novel finding may lead to new therapeutic targets for combating obesity. Their findings were reported in a recent issue of The FASEB Journal.

The traditional view is that one of the main reasons why overweight people eat more food is because their brains produce the hormone NPY in excessive amounts. NPY is the most potent appetite stimulating hormone known, sending signals to the individual that they are constantly hungry. However, Yang, a Professor in the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Physiology & Pharmacology at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at The University of Western Ontario, has provided evidence that in obese rat models NPY is also produced locally by abdominal fat.

A fat cell cannot replicate itself. But the researchers found NPY increases fat cell number by stimulating the replication of fat cell precursor cells, which then change into fat cells.

Yang says “this may lead to a vicious cycle where NPY produced in the brain causes you to eat more and therefore gain more fat around your middle, and then that fat produces more NPY hormone which leads to even more fat cells.”

If you can't lose weight blame it on NPY.

Mon. March 1

"Diane"

21,15,9 of:
Deadlift (225/160)
Handstand Pushups

Strength:
Front Squat
3-3-3-3-3

____________________________________________
8 Week Performance Challenge

Here is the contest:
We will complete 3 Benchmark WODs over the next week. For the following 7 weeks, anyone wanting to compete will be allowed to work on these WODs as often as they prefer (or elements of the WODs the individual feels they need to improve on).

Each competitor will put $10 in the pot. A winner will be chosen, both male and female, when we compete in the 3 WODs the first week of May.

Only those individuals who complete the WODs RX'd will be eligible to win the pot.

The first WOD is "Diane" (above).

This is a good time to get your nutrition straight because it will directly affect your time on the WODs.

Pay into the pot this week, and we'll track times and progress over the next 2 months. If you don't do the WODs RX'd this week, work toward getting them RX'd.

3, 2, 1,........Go!!!

Sat. Feb. 27

Complete all reps of:
100 Pull Ups
100 Push Ups
100 Sit Ups
*Perform 5 burpees on the minute, every minute until all reps are complete. No Partitioning.

Fri. Feb. 26

For Time:

30 Back Squats (135/95)
10 Walking Lunges (Total)
20 Back Squats
20 Walking Lunges
10 Back Squats
30 Walking Lunges

Thurs. Feb. 25

Fir Time:
50,40,30,20,10:
Pull Ups
Ring Dips


Strength:
Weighted Pull Ups
3-3-3-3-3

Wed. Feb. 24

15 Min AMRAP:

5 Overhead Squats (95/65)
10 Handstand Push Ups (sub press 3/4 bodyweight)
15 One Arm KB Swings (swing to eye level) (35/26)


Strength:
Bench Press
5-5-5-5-5

____________________________
from CrossFit Football


Paleo Meatballs

Ingredients:

4 lbs grassfed ground beef
Chopped celery and onions
5 whole eggs
1 cup almond meal
Dried oregano, sea salt, cracked black pepper, cayenne pepper

Directions:

Use you hands to form into large meatballs.
If you using a pan, place them in a pan with olive and cook till done.
Or place in pyrex dish at 350 degrees for 20 minutes
Or cover bottom of crock pot and cook till done.

For the sauce mix:

1 16 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
Large handful of fresh basil
Chopped garlic cloves
Pinch of sea salt
Cracked black pepper

Finish:

If cooking by pan then once the meatballs are cooked cover with sauce.
If cooking in the oven or crock pot cover with sauce and cook till done.

Tues. Feb. 23

For Time:
20,15,10,5 of:
Power Cleans (135/95)
Weighted ABMAT (25/10) (hold plate at arms length, anchor feet on wall)

Strength:
Jerk
3-3-3-3-3

_____________________________________
History of the Paleolithic Diet

http://crossfitfootball.com/page/index.php?menu=nutrition&page=paleo

Mon. Feb. 22

5 RFT:
10 Wall Ball
10 Push Ups
10 SDHP (95/65)

Strength:
Snatch
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

_______________________________________
Pork Carnitas Recipe:
Pork shoulder
about 1 tsp of each spice:
garlic powder
onion powder
cumin
oregano
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 bay leaves
1-1/2 C low sodium chicken broth
olive oil

Trim pork of as much fat as possible. Cut into pieces, and season with spices. Brown meat in olive oil. In crock pot, put 1-1/2 C chicken stock, and the two bay leaves. Add pork and cook on low for 6+ hours! YUM… Shred pork before serving.

Fri. Feb. 19

For time:

30 Burpees
30 Box Jumps
30 KB Swings (53/35)
Run 1 Mile
_______________________________________
Congrats to AC Hassall, the winner of the Body Fat Challenge! He lost 7% of His Body Fat in 2 months. Dolla dolla bills son!

_______________________________________
Good article concerning cholesterol and stuff....

http://www.westonaprice.org/Cholesterol-and-Heart-Disease-A-Phony-Issue.html

Thurs. Feb. 17

With a continuously running clock, perform each of the following movements for a full minute. Score is total reps for the duration of the wod.

Push Ups
Lunges
KB Snatch
Push Press (45)
ABMAT
Flutter Kicks
Mountain Climbers
Pull Ups
Air Squats
SDHP (53/35)


Strength:
Squat Cleans
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Wed. Feb. 17

7 RFT:

7 DB Push Press (35#M/25#W)
7 Pull Ups
7 Burpees
7 Box Jumps

Strength:
Deadlift
3-3-3-3-3
_________________________________________


LEAN CUISINE…

Article courtesy of Son of Grok

I am not sure what is meant to be lean on these things.

Lean in that the portions are so small?
Lean in taste and flavor?
Lean as in lean forward as your gut drags you around?

Whatever the reason, the Lean Cuisine name makes it sell. It is crazy how well these things sell.

I brown bag my lunch most days. I bring an insulated lunch bag with an ice pack to keep my lunch cold. It isn’t that we don’t have a fridge at work…. Its just that there is no room in it. The fridge AND the freezer are literally packed to the brim with Lean Cuisines. This is not an exaggeration… they are completely full with the little cardboard boxes. With the exception of an occasional egg-o waffle box or Marie Calendar pot pie, 90% of these cardboard boxes say “Lean Cuisine”. It is crazy.

Now I am not going to lie. There have been times in my life where I lived off little freezer boxes. Michellina’s and the generic cheapies were sometimes all I at 3 meals per day. They were cheap and easy to make. They were VERY cheap and VERY easy to throw in the microwave.

Occasionally when they were on sale I got the Lean Cuisines too. You know what? They were terrible! I think I once ate the cardboard box that it was in on accident because it indeed did taste as good as the meal. That and it doesn’t really matter how many of these gross little meals I ate, I was inevitably still starving afterwards.

Now on to the speed and convenience of Lean Cuisines. The simplicity of opening the box and tossing it in the microwave is completely negated at my work. Come lunch time, there is actually a line the forms at the microwave. People queue their food up and actually tell each other “Your turn” as they retrieve their heated plasticy cardboard contraptions. Considering that each meal takes 3-5 minutes or so to heat up, it can easily be 20-30 minutes before it is your frozen cuisines “turn” to get fried. Me? I whip out my lunch bag and dive into some delicious egg salad, nuts, pork rinds, veggies. No wait… instant delicious gratification.

Ugh and the smell of these things. It doesn’t even smell like food. During the Lean Cuisine Queue at lunch, an awful aroma fills the office. It is funny because sometimes I do bring leftovers that need reheated. Once I heat up my meatloaf etc., I usually get quite a few people coming by my desk asking what that “Delicious smell” is and also frequently get told “did you bring enough for me?” Funny, though Lean Cuisine appears to be bountiful enough for all, no one really seems to enjoy eating it.

Tues. Feb. 16

For Time:

Row 500m
50 KB Swings (53/35)
Row 400m
50 ABMAT
Row 300m
50 Tire Sledge


Benchmark WOD:
"Grace"
30 Clean & Jerk (135/95) for time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrStzzZqKLA

Mon. Feb. 15

15 Min AMRAP:

10 Front Squats (95/65)
10 Push Ups
10 Pull Ups

Strength:
Back Squat
3-3-3-3-3
______________________________________________
Anabolic Almonds
*courtesy of http://www.anaerobicinc.com/

Fiber, healthy monounsaturated fats, protein… Yawn.

Yeah, yeah, you know almonds are good for you, but here’s something really cool:

In a study published in the International Journal of ORMD, one group of reduced-calorie dieters enriched their diets with almonds while another group ate the same amount of calories but consumed no almonds.

The result? The almond-eaters lost more body fat and more inches off their waists than the non-almond eaters. Remember, the study participants ate the same amount of calories.

This result may be partly due to the fact that the fiber in almonds prevents some of the calories from fat from being absorbed. “The fiber binds with a portion of the fat so that it doesn’t come into contact with the intestinal wall,” researcher Dr. Michelle Wien, explained. “It just gets flushed out of the body.”

So, almonds are sorta like that Orlistat weight loss drug and its impotent cousin, Alli, only, you know, without all the anal leakage and explosive shitting.

Dr. Jonny Bowden notes that epidemiologic studies universally show that those who eat the most nuts also tend to have the lowest levels of body fat. No, you can’t eat them by the handful all day long when in a fat loss stage, but the good fat, the protein, and the fiber content combine to make almonds super satiating (filling).

Long story short, make three ounces of almonds part of your summer lean-down or your next contest prep and you’ll lose more body fat than if you didn’t.

Sat. Feb. 13

Complete all reps of each movement before moving on to the next movement. Perform in any order you choose:

For time:

100 Pullups
100 Box Jumps
100 Wall Ball
100 Push Press (65/45)
Row 1000m

Fri. Feb. 12

5 RFT:

20 Air Squats
20 Ball Slams
20 ABMAT


From Mark's Daily Apple

Top 10 Health Scams


There are hundreds of scams for weight loss, health, disease cures, and fitness, but here are the current rotten stinkers:

10. Hoodia

The only kind that works must be eaten fresh. And it’s banned from export because it’s a protected flora. This weight-loss gimmick even comes with the #1 dead giveaway of scams everywhere: a heretofore undiscovered culture/tribe has finally, miraculously, revealed their secret, conveniently, to a white man who can’t wait to share this magical product with the world. Give me a break. That’s called a movie, not science. Here’s my expose.

9. Cellulite shoes

Again with the mysterious culture shrouded in lore. These don’t work – period. Though I do hear they help you fall and bruise your butt. Here’s a piece of my mind.

8. Cellulite creams

Sara frequently rants about this subject near and dear to many women’s hearts (or other parts). The best way to deal with cellulite – which isn’t curable no matter what the quacks like Mesunique claim – is to cut down on sugar, which stores itself in outer fat cells, and get some daily exercise. The more muscle and less fat you have, the smoother you look.

7. Colon cleansers

The colon is important, delicate, and needs to stay in top shape. That said, it does not have a brain, and your body does not store fecal matter for years on end just waiting to finally be emptied by some miracle cleansing product. What comes out is just buildup of a few days, and anything beyond that is, well, b.s. This myth was actually completely debunked by surgeons a century ago. I am in favor of probiotics, such as those sold by Natren (a great company) but extra fiber from psyllium or other “miracle” cleansers is totally unnecessary. So: hooray for fiber from fruits and vegetables.

6. Algae

Yes, this slimeball is abundant in protein. If you eat a truckload of it. Pay attention to serving size – often companies make claims about a product being extremely potent, but hope you’ll remain blissfully ignorant about how this potency relates to serving size. Supplementing with algae for aminos and other health benefits is about like relying on water for your vitamin and mineral needs. I like Perrier as much as the next guy, but I’ll stick with a multivitamin, thanks.

5. Male “enhancement” products

Guys, come on! Try enhancing intimacy and your skills instead.

4. Female “enhancement” products

Ladies, let it go. You don’t need these gimmicks – the folks selling them are just boobs (sorry). We men like you the way you are. If you still aren’t convinced, and don’t mind some PG-13 content, head on over to Bill Stieg’s blog at Men’s Health for the scoop on what we guys really think about the gals.

3. Bottled waters

Read my expose on mock waters. You cannot oxygenate or enhance water. You can’t penta it, hydro it, living cell it, or do anything else but drink it. Drink up, but don’t fall for the water hype.

2. Vegetable oils

Refined oils like canola, soybean and corn oil are free radical oil slicks that manage to get a bill of health from Uncle Sam. Lobbying gets the credit for that.

Avoid these oils like the plague, and go for healthy fats like organic butter, Smart Butter (rich in Omega-3’s), olive oil, avocado oil, or nut oils.

1. Alli (orlistat)

I’ve been ranting about Alli quite a bit. This ineffective, unproven, no-good OTC weight-loss pill offers nothing but side effects and oily spotting. Yes.

Sponsor note:
This post was brought to you by the Damage Control Master Formula, independently proven as the most comprehensive high-potency antioxidant multivitamin available anywhere. With the highest antioxidant per dollar value and a complete anti-aging, stress, and cognition profile, the Master Formula is truly the only multivitamin supplement you will ever need. Toss out the drawers full of dozens of different supplements with questionable potency and efficacy and experience the proven Damage Control difference!

Thurs. Feb. 11

4 RFT:

10 Muscle Snatch (65/45)
15 Box Jumps
20 Push Ups

Strength:
Press
3-3-3-3-3
__________________________________________

WHY CALORIE COUNTING IS BAD

Article courtesy of Natural Bias

Almost everyone knows that doing more exercise and reducing calorie consumption will promote weight loss. But if weight loss is this simple, then why are so many people failing miserably despite their desperate efforts? While it may be a result of laziness for some, it’s more often a result of calorie restriction and exercise being used inappropriately.

Despite how many people make drastic but temporary changes to lose weight, long term success is highly dependent on making less drastic changes that are permanent. It’s common for people to be overzealous with calorie restriction or exercise, and although it may initially be effective, these practices are eventually likely to lead to fatigue, a raging appetite that can no longer be resisted, compromised health, and an eventual return to old habits. This is why so many people regain the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose and continue to repeat this cycle until they eventually give up and choose to accept being overweight.

Would You Do This to Your Car?

Imagine a hypothetical scenario where you compromise on the quality of gas that you put into your car. You need to drive the car an extra 200 miles each week to prevent the impurities in the low quality gas from settling and causing buildup that can damage the engine. The extra mileage would accumulate to more than 10,000 miles per year and put a lot of unnecessary wear and tear on the car. The car would probably be ready for the junk yard much sooner than normal, and choosing to use lesser quality gasoline would obviously be a tremendous mistake. In addition, driving the additional 200 miles each week would waste a lot of time, even if you enjoy driving.

This scenario sounds ridiculous in regard to a car, but yet it’s exactly what most people do to lose weight. They regularly eat lesser quality food and end up trying to compensate by exercising frantically to burn calories. In the process, they put a lot of unnecessary burden on their bodies and waste a lot of time.

Frequent exercise causes the breakdown of body tissue which then needs to be rebuilt. This requires good nutrition and adequate rest. Most people who exercise for weight loss will also restrict their calories, but will do so without paying much attention to food quality. Between the calorie restriction, lesser quality food, and frequent exercise that is usually coupled with inadequate rest, full recovery will never happen and the body will gradually continue to break down. Eventually, the compromised health that this can cause may manifest as tiredness, irritability, poor concentration, and weakened immunity, all of which are symptoms of adrenal fatigue. Like the car that accumulates many unnecessary miles each year, your body will be ready for the junk yard well before its time. Although the human body is extremely resilient and can withstand a lot of abuse, there are much better ways to lose weight without testing this limit.

Not All Calories are Created Equal

Even dietitians and nutritionists are known to oversimplify weight loss to being a matter of “calories in vs. calories out” which basically means to consume fewer calories than you burn. However, this relies on the flawed assumption that all calories are the same regardless of the type of food that they come from. Fat, protein, and carbohydrates are each used for different physiological purposes, and although each of these macronutrients can often be broken down and reassembled as needed, this isn’t always the case and sometimes has negative consequences. Furthermore, how these macronutrients are processed can vary based on the individuality of one’s metabolism. In other words, 100 calories worth of protein will not be digested and utilized the same way 100 calories of carbohydrates would be, and the differences can vary by individual.

It’s absurd to think that eating 2,000 calories of carbohydrate per day would have the same physiological influence as eating 2,000 calories of all protein. Clearly, this is an extreme exaggeration, but so is the overstated simplicity of losing weight by creating a calorie deficit. Furthermore, many people are excessive with calorie restriction and it’s difficult to maintain consistent weight loss by doing this because the body will adjust to the decreased intake of nutrients and reduce metabolism to conserve resources. It’s also difficult to overcome the increased appetite that results, and when excessive calorie restriction is combined with excessive exercise, which is often the case, appetite will increase even more.

Although carbohydrates are our primary source of energy, fat is also important for energy production and is actually used by the body for long term energy storage. When necessary, protein can be used as a source of energy as well. As such, all of the three primary macronutrients can be used for energy, but carbohydrates can’t satisfy all of the needs that protein and fat do for the repair and development of body tissue. Clearly, our diets need to provide a balance of these macronutrients, and this balance should be based more so on optimal health and metabolic individuality than weight loss. Unless health issues are involved, weight loss tends to result naturally from a diet that promotes optimal health. However, partly as a result of deceptive advertising and food labels, many people are confused by the misconceptions of what a truly healthy diet really is.

Why Low Fat Diets are a Bad Idea

A gram of fat contains more the twice as many calories as a gram of protein or carbohydrate. As such, it’s one of the first things to be removed from the diet by someone looking to cut calories, especially given the popularity of low fat diets for both health and weight loss. Despite this, fat is very important to our health, and this has been made obvious in part by the increasing awareness of the benefits of essential fatty acids. Even saturated fat is necessary for good health despite the misconception that dietary fat causes heart disease. Furthermore, as shown by the important work of Dr. Weston A. Price, dietary animal fat is an important source of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K which are critical to good health and proper development.

Another important consideration regarding fat consumption is its role in energy production. People who eat less carbohydrate tend to rely more on fat as a source of energy which decreases the likeliness of it being stored as body fat. Ironically, most people who follow a low fat diet eat an excessive amount of carbohydrates to compensate, and as a result, can be much more likely to gain weight. While an excess of either carbohydrate or fat can cause weight gain, most people would be better served by reducing their consumption of carbohydrates rather than fat.

A Better Perspective on Losing Weight

As I mentioned earlier, it’s much better to lose weight by eating healthy than to compensate for poor eating habits with excessive exercise and calorie restriction. The first approach will allow you to lose weight while also improving your health and overall quality of life, but the latter approach is much more likely to improve your appearance at the cost of your health. Exercise can indeed accelerate weight loss, but it shouldn’t be necessary to do much more than what’s required to maintain good health. Calorie restriction can promote weight loss as well, but done in excess, it can also cause nutritional deficiencies and even prevent weight loss.

As you can hopefully see, the ideal situation is for optimal health to be the primary goal and to allow weight loss to naturally occur as a secondary benefit. This applies in regard to both diet and exercise. In fact, this is exactly how I lost 30 pounds in 3 months. I had no intentions of losing weight, and at the time, didn’t even know I had 30 pounds to lose. In addition, because I was at my worst stage of chronic fatigue, I wasn’t exercising much at all because I simply couldn’t do so without making myself feel worse.

A Healthier and More Simple Way of Eating to Lose Weight

Following a truly healthy diet can require a lot of dedication, but fortunately, it can also be very simple. The key is eliminating sugar and processed foods as much as possible which can automatically be accomplished by eating a diet based on natural whole foods. If necessary, this approach can be taken a step further by eliminating grain based foods, avoiding vegetables such as potatoes that are high in starch, and even being judicious with fruit consumption. After all, the sugar that our prehistoric ancestors obtained from fruit during the summer was one of the things that allowed them to gain the body fat needed to survive winter.

While this approach may sound like a low carb diet or a primal diet, I consider it to be nothing more than a common sense diet that promotes weight loss and good health at the same time. While this type of diet is low in carbohydrates relative to the typical modern diet, excessive avoidance of carbohydrates isn’t necessary and is even counterproductive for some people. What’s important to realize is that it’s difficult to consume too much carbohydrate from fruit and vegetables, and it’s also difficult to overeat in general when eating mostly natural whole foods. These are both factors that greatly contribute to healthy weight loss.

A great resource for more information on a rational and healthy perspective on weight loss is The Slow Down Diet by Marc David. Another great resource is The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson which is a detailed overview of a healthy lifestyle based on our evolution, much of which is geared towards weight loss.

Wed. Feb. 10

For Time:
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 of:
Push Press (95/65)
ABMAT

Strength:
Weighted Pull Ups
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

"MORE"

Article courtesy of Again Faster.

There’s always something.

The bright lights. The Top 20 pop. Someone wanting to talk to you about the something about the time you did the thing.

Ignore them. Not nasty. Not with distain. Because now is the time, the moment when you concentrate on the task ahead, on the never-ending belief that what’s about to go down will go down, that you can’t be beaten.

Every ounce of psychic energy you’re about to bring to bear; it’s easy to disrupt, easy to kill. You have to protect it, feet on the ground, head down, focusing on the simple mental images of success.

Your next personal record, better than last time, better than ever, it’s right here in front of you, ready for the taking.
There is great power in the singular sight, the sole goal, the only reason you came here. Your next personal record, better than last time, better than ever, it’s right here in front of you, ready for the taking.

And now, you have to take it. Two words, three words run through your head, a tight, concise, pithy description of the end state, the moment right before the chest bumps and high fives and screams like a fifteen-year-old’s cracking voice.

When they try to distract you, jump in on your bar, talk about the suck, borrow your 5s, cure your stress, just stop. Look up, make eye contact, not angry but ready, and look back down. This isn’t about Community. Not now. This is about winning, succeeding, making yourself believe that what’s about to happen will happen, must happen, that nothing else can happen, the intellectual certitude followed by physical reality.

And then, get ready to go. Grip the bar. Chalk up, and remember that your momentary lapse in social nicety will be rewarded with what you wanted, the moment of apex. Your short, pithy phrase repeats until there is nothing else, no sound, no Top 20, no mats, no platforms, no nothing except a bar and a goal, the universe bent around you in a cocoon of now.

Don’t think heels down, chest up. Don’t think at all, because you don’t need to. You already did it, and miracle of miracles, what was supposed to happen happened. It’s over your head. It’s locked out.

And now, they fade back in. The sound of a volume knob slow marching to full blast, clapping, screaming, backslapping rah.

You can give in, or you can go back. Sit down, shut your eyes, and bring pithy back. Because it’s not over, and you can shut it out again. Accept that this is just a step and not the end, and it will happen all over again. Another record, not a defining moment, but an ephemeral glimpse at where you were, the shallow footprint of an athlete who’s moving forward faster.

Ignore them, and bring it. Because there’s always something more.

Tues. Feb. 9

For Time:
30,25,20,15,10,5 of:

Deadlift (135/95)
KB Swings (53/35)

Strength:
Front Squat
3-3-3-1-1
________________________________________
Good Article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1247216/The-Big-Fat-Lies-Britains-obesity-epidemic.html

Email Working

My Gmail account is working again. Would everyone please email crossfitmt@gmail.com so I can add you back to the contacts list. Thanks.

EMAIL WARNING!!!!!

My email account got hacked. You may receive an email asking for money. Delete it. I'm trying to fix it now. Sorry.

Mon. Feb. 8

"Cindy"

20 Min AMRAP:
5 Pull ups
10 Push ups
15 Air Squats

Strength:
Deadlift
5-5-5-5-5