Alrighty, athletes - let's talk about consistency.
First, in the movements. Remember, MECHANICS, then CONSISTENCY, then worry about INTENSITY. Once you have your mechanics of a movement down, start stringing them together. For instance, on a squat, keep getting down to at least parallel on everyone of a set, keep you knees tracking over your toes, bodyweight in the heels, stand up tall at the finish. Focus on doing the movement correctly every rep. When you do this, your form will be very good when you start to speed things up.
Consistency in workouts. CrossFit is an excellent physical fitness program - it WILL make you stronger, faster, increase endurance and stamina and reduce recovery time. However, like any fitness program, if your workouts are inconsistent, your results will be less than spectacular. Think about any sport - if you only practice once in a while, how are you ever going to get better (or have consistent form). The more you practice / work out, the greater your gains. If your workout weeks look like this - first week 1 day, next week 3 days, next week 2 days, next week 1 day - you won't make the gains that CrossFit has the potential to give you. Make exercise and eating correctly an important part of your life and you'll see damn good results. This isn't a globo gym, where your workouts probably aren't doing much but keeping you at the same fitness level you're at already - here, we expect that you'll increase your fitness levels, and by quite a bit...but for that to happen, you have to be here - consistently.
Another important aspect of CrossFit is keeping track of your workouts - not only the results but also what weights you used, what exercises you subbed, etc. This gives you the ability to look back and see the results of your training. If you don't know what you did before, how will you know what kind of gains you have made ? Or how much weight you used last time v how much you'll use this time.
Great job by everyone in the last couple of workouts - those were suckwads but everyone did a great job. Be proud of the effort and results that you have put in to those workouts - you'll be a better athlete in the long run.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
GOALS
Hey peeps - I know I keep harping on setting goals. I haven't reached mine (muscle up / 185#) but I am going to keep working at them. Having goals gives you even more incentive to come in and train. It gives you a progress report of your overall fitness and abilities. It is a sense of accomplishment in your own life, a positive outcome, something YOU control.
Just to revisit the “rules of goal-setting,” your goals must be:
Specific – Do you know exactly what it is that you’re trying to do and why?
Measurable – Is there a set of criteria you can use for measuring progress?
Attainable – I lump this in with Realistic, but I’m sure there’s some Life Coach out there that can tell us what it really means.
Realistic – Can you really and truly accomplish this goal? Stretch goals are good. Unrealistic or unmotivating goals are bad.
Timely – A goal should have a timeframe. “I want to do X by Y.”
Just to revisit the “rules of goal-setting,” your goals must be:
Specific – Do you know exactly what it is that you’re trying to do and why?
Measurable – Is there a set of criteria you can use for measuring progress?
Attainable – I lump this in with Realistic, but I’m sure there’s some Life Coach out there that can tell us what it really means.
Realistic – Can you really and truly accomplish this goal? Stretch goals are good. Unrealistic or unmotivating goals are bad.
Timely – A goal should have a timeframe. “I want to do X by Y.”
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
CrossFit - mental and physical toughness
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/gordana-survives-cancer-interview.htm?mcid=twit
"The beauty of Crossfit is that it can be scaled to anyone's ability. It can be performed by anyone at any age or physical condition. I made it to the gym as often as I could during my treatments. I lost a lot of muscle strength at first and my endurance was low. I am actually very surprised at how quickly it comes back! "
"The workouts were constantly varied. I loved the fact that I could do a workout one day, and give it everything I had, knowing I wasn't doing it again for at least a month. This allowed me to really push hard 'cause I knew I didn't have to do it again on 'Day 3'. It eliminated the boredom. It made the workouts interesting and fun. Yes fun! " (bold added for emphasis)
"The whiteboard - writing down personal goals and beating them makes you accountable"
"The beauty of Crossfit is that it can be scaled to anyone's ability. It can be performed by anyone at any age or physical condition. I made it to the gym as often as I could during my treatments. I lost a lot of muscle strength at first and my endurance was low. I am actually very surprised at how quickly it comes back! "
"The workouts were constantly varied. I loved the fact that I could do a workout one day, and give it everything I had, knowing I wasn't doing it again for at least a month. This allowed me to really push hard 'cause I knew I didn't have to do it again on 'Day 3'. It eliminated the boredom. It made the workouts interesting and fun. Yes fun! " (bold added for emphasis)
"The whiteboard - writing down personal goals and beating them makes you accountable"
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Good problem to have ?
Well peeps - we have been growing at a nice steady pace. March has been a huge month in terms of new athletes. It's been a lot of fun seeing new faces and watching everyone help each other.
With growth, comes pains. With the large number of people wanting to work out in the evening, it's not feasible or good coaching to have 12-14 people in a class (potentially). So I'm going to have to have 2 classes in the evenings MWF - 5:30 and 6:15 ??? Something we'll have to discuss. There will still be one class at 6 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, along with a beginner class at 6 PM.
Another pain ? Equipment - it's obvious that we'll need two more squat racks (on order from Rogue fitness), a couple of very good bars (potentially on order), at least one more set of rings, and potentially a couple of #45 bumper plates.
I'd also love a rower, but they're pretty damn expensive.
With growth, comes pains. With the large number of people wanting to work out in the evening, it's not feasible or good coaching to have 12-14 people in a class (potentially). So I'm going to have to have 2 classes in the evenings MWF - 5:30 and 6:15 ??? Something we'll have to discuss. There will still be one class at 6 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, along with a beginner class at 6 PM.
Another pain ? Equipment - it's obvious that we'll need two more squat racks (on order from Rogue fitness), a couple of very good bars (potentially on order), at least one more set of rings, and potentially a couple of #45 bumper plates.
I'd also love a rower, but they're pretty damn expensive.
Friday, March 19, 2010
It's like HQ was reading our minds !!!!
As we were discussing a couple of days ago, running shoes have cushioned heels, allowing us to land on said heels instead of our toes. As I stated, almost all animals run on their toes. Striking with the heel first leads to a lot of shock right up the ankle, shins, knees, hips and lower back - leading to injury.
http://library.crossfit.com/premium/pdf/CFJ_Kilgore_Running.pdf?e=1269027630&h=f0f72fc481af9db0bde722df4d0d2818
Modern running shoes feature heels packed with cushioning technology—but
do they prevent the foot from functioning as it was designed?
"The evolution of athletic footwear is quite troubling
in terms of solving or, at worst, producing technical
problems with exercise. Our ancestors functioned quite
well in minimalist footwear or with none at all. How has
the human condition changed so much for us to “need”
advanced insoles, cushions and even one particular
structural shoe element we take for granted: the elevated
heel?"
The less compressible material between your feet and the earth,
the better we will be able to transfer force to move our bodies.
The same applies to lifting weights as well - deadlift, squats, presses !!!
When you use a heelstrike
technique, the calcaneous (heel bone), is abruptly
loaded with force that would have been dissipated if the
force had passed through the arches
http://library.crossfit.com/premium/pdf/CFJ_Kilgore_Running.pdf?e=1269027630&h=f0f72fc481af9db0bde722df4d0d2818
Modern running shoes feature heels packed with cushioning technology—but
do they prevent the foot from functioning as it was designed?
"The evolution of athletic footwear is quite troubling
in terms of solving or, at worst, producing technical
problems with exercise. Our ancestors functioned quite
well in minimalist footwear or with none at all. How has
the human condition changed so much for us to “need”
advanced insoles, cushions and even one particular
structural shoe element we take for granted: the elevated
heel?"
The less compressible material between your feet and the earth,
the better we will be able to transfer force to move our bodies.
The same applies to lifting weights as well - deadlift, squats, presses !!!
When you use a heelstrike
technique, the calcaneous (heel bone), is abruptly
loaded with force that would have been dissipated if the
force had passed through the arches
Monday, March 15, 2010
Consistency
You guys have done a great job in the last 2-3 months - more pull ups, push ups, huge numbers on the deadlift.
Let's focus on consistency - if you were not consistent, you would not have made such big improvements. Coming to class 3 times a week is consistent. If you skip classes, make it only 2 x a week, don't give it your all, you are not doing yourself any favors. When you miss 2 classes in a row, or show up whenever, there really is no way you will continue to make gains. It's just not possible.
Look - I know better than anyone that LIFE HAPPENS. You get sick, friends come to town, happy hours, gatherings - it happens - and you should absolutely make time for family and friends.
However, if you know you won't be able to be there on a regular day, come on a different one. There's nothing wrong with coming MWTh if that's what it takes. But you have to make the effort. When you haven't worked out for 6-7 days as a beginner, you regress a bit. Maybe you don't lose strength, or endurance, but your recovery certainly takes a hit, and you have the potential to be more sore than usual.
YOU have to make the effort to make it to class on a consistent basis. I can't / won't force people to come to class. You have to want to make the gains that CrossFit has the potential to give you. But you won't make gains by being inconsistent.
See you in class !!!
Let's focus on consistency - if you were not consistent, you would not have made such big improvements. Coming to class 3 times a week is consistent. If you skip classes, make it only 2 x a week, don't give it your all, you are not doing yourself any favors. When you miss 2 classes in a row, or show up whenever, there really is no way you will continue to make gains. It's just not possible.
Look - I know better than anyone that LIFE HAPPENS. You get sick, friends come to town, happy hours, gatherings - it happens - and you should absolutely make time for family and friends.
However, if you know you won't be able to be there on a regular day, come on a different one. There's nothing wrong with coming MWTh if that's what it takes. But you have to make the effort. When you haven't worked out for 6-7 days as a beginner, you regress a bit. Maybe you don't lose strength, or endurance, but your recovery certainly takes a hit, and you have the potential to be more sore than usual.
YOU have to make the effort to make it to class on a consistent basis. I can't / won't force people to come to class. You have to want to make the gains that CrossFit has the potential to give you. But you won't make gains by being inconsistent.
See you in class !!!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Soooo, I was at LifeTime Fitness the other day....
Hey - I was forced to go due to the Mpls PD Fitness Team training !!! And I was forced to do a spinning class too !!! I know, the torture.
Anywho - I realized I would never, ever go back to working out at a globo gym ever again.
1. Too damn clean and sterile. Everything is spotless. There is crappy music playing from the speakers. Tons of nice looking machines everywhere. Nobody dropping weights, swearing, cheering someone on. It was quiet - like a church.
2. Nobody seemed to be actually working out. They were "working out" but there wasn't any effort that I could see. Yes, I know that there are some people who actually push themselves and do see sweat...but the majority weren't breathing hard and I couldn't see sweat from where I was standing. I don't think watching a TV while doing the elliptical at a slow speed is fitness.
3. Freeweight area - shit form, no intensity, isolation movements. Enough said.
4. People didn't seem to want to be there. They sorta meandered in, sauntered to the locker room, slowly made their way to their machines - no life, no smiles, no enjoyment. They seemed to be there to say " I worked out today ".
5 It's expensive - not only is there a monthly membership (which may / may not be paid for a year in advance), but training is expensive. Personal trainers are $60 + hour. Group classes run for 3 months (I guess you're on your own after that) at $166/ month - and people think CrossFit is expensive !!!
Overall, very boring, sterile, business like. NO thank you - not interested.
Anywho - I realized I would never, ever go back to working out at a globo gym ever again.
1. Too damn clean and sterile. Everything is spotless. There is crappy music playing from the speakers. Tons of nice looking machines everywhere. Nobody dropping weights, swearing, cheering someone on. It was quiet - like a church.
2. Nobody seemed to be actually working out. They were "working out" but there wasn't any effort that I could see. Yes, I know that there are some people who actually push themselves and do see sweat...but the majority weren't breathing hard and I couldn't see sweat from where I was standing. I don't think watching a TV while doing the elliptical at a slow speed is fitness.
3. Freeweight area - shit form, no intensity, isolation movements. Enough said.
4. People didn't seem to want to be there. They sorta meandered in, sauntered to the locker room, slowly made their way to their machines - no life, no smiles, no enjoyment. They seemed to be there to say " I worked out today ".
5 It's expensive - not only is there a monthly membership (which may / may not be paid for a year in advance), but training is expensive. Personal trainers are $60 + hour. Group classes run for 3 months (I guess you're on your own after that) at $166/ month - and people think CrossFit is expensive !!!
Overall, very boring, sterile, business like. NO thank you - not interested.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
When It Comes to Longevity, Regular Exercise May Be the Most Potent Weapon Against Disease
From the Wall St Journal, courtesy of my friend John Murphy, an excellent CrossFitter in his own right.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703954904575109673558885594.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird
"The leading edge of the baby boom generation turns 65 next year, which means a new milestone looms on the horizon: age 85.
So what do boomers need to do not just to survive to 85, but to live healthy lives into old age and not break the bank at the federal Medicare program?
The most important strategy, according to the latest research to look at the question, is to be physically active in middle age. "If you are fit in mid-life, you double your chance of surviving to 85," says Jarett Berry, a cardiologist at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas."
"...despite an array of effective drugs and other medical advances, the front line for most of us in the battle to prevent heart disease and survive into old age lies in adopting healthy living habits."
"On average, we tend to participate in less physical activity and be less fit each year after about age 30," says Donald M. Lloyd-Jones.
National guidelines recommended Americans get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week or 20 minutes of intense physical activity three times a week to maintain fitness (gee - CrossFit fits the bill quite nicely, don't ya think ?)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703954904575109673558885594.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird
"The leading edge of the baby boom generation turns 65 next year, which means a new milestone looms on the horizon: age 85.
So what do boomers need to do not just to survive to 85, but to live healthy lives into old age and not break the bank at the federal Medicare program?
The most important strategy, according to the latest research to look at the question, is to be physically active in middle age. "If you are fit in mid-life, you double your chance of surviving to 85," says Jarett Berry, a cardiologist at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas."
"...despite an array of effective drugs and other medical advances, the front line for most of us in the battle to prevent heart disease and survive into old age lies in adopting healthy living habits."
"On average, we tend to participate in less physical activity and be less fit each year after about age 30," says Donald M. Lloyd-Jones.
National guidelines recommended Americans get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week or 20 minutes of intense physical activity three times a week to maintain fitness (gee - CrossFit fits the bill quite nicely, don't ya think ?)
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Zone - revisited....
Physics, Physiology, and Food
http://library.crossfit.com/premium/pdf/58_07_Phys_and_Food.pdf?e=1268075385&h=344a2a2835b89c0d1bd5a759c2481de4
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
(on the same topic, you have to realize Life Happens - sometimes even the best plans have to be put on hold - whether it be a meal, vacation, etc. I want you to eat healthy and to make it something you can stick with)
http://library.crossfit.com/premium/pdf/58_07_Phys_and_Food.pdf?e=1268075385&h=344a2a2835b89c0d1bd5a759c2481de4
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
(on the same topic, you have to realize Life Happens - sometimes even the best plans have to be put on hold - whether it be a meal, vacation, etc. I want you to eat healthy and to make it something you can stick with)
Saturday, March 6, 2010
When to start CrossFit
Ok, here's the response I get when I tell people about CrossFit - "I'll do it when I get stronger / faster / lose more weight". It's akin to saying "I'll play basketball when I get better at dribbling" ignoring the other skills needed to become a good basketball player. The only way to get better is to work on the whole game and actually compete - practice is good, games are better for learning.
Here is the real deal - CrossFit is one of the only programs that is designed for overall fitness - strength, endurance, power, etc. It does not matter if you're not strong / fast / in great shape. CrossFit will get you there. You need to try it for a few months and see the results. All the workouts are scalable to your fitness levels and abilities. There is no getting better at one aspect of fitness before you join.
If you want elite fitness, jump in and give it a shot for a few months. Don't be intimidated, don't "get better" at something else, thinking it will have a positive outcome when you then start CrossFit. I can tell you, you will not be prepared for the demands of this program, unless you actually DO CrossFit.
Here is the real deal - CrossFit is one of the only programs that is designed for overall fitness - strength, endurance, power, etc. It does not matter if you're not strong / fast / in great shape. CrossFit will get you there. You need to try it for a few months and see the results. All the workouts are scalable to your fitness levels and abilities. There is no getting better at one aspect of fitness before you join.
If you want elite fitness, jump in and give it a shot for a few months. Don't be intimidated, don't "get better" at something else, thinking it will have a positive outcome when you then start CrossFit. I can tell you, you will not be prepared for the demands of this program, unless you actually DO CrossFit.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Zone v Paleo
Paleo vs. The Zone: Part 4 of the Conversation
Dr. Barry Sears has no problem with the Paleo Diet recommendation to only eat foods that were around 10,000 years ago. The creator of the Zone Diet takes issue only with the idea that you can eat unrestricted quantities of those foods.
“Ancient foods” are more compatible with our genes, but Dr. Sears contends that balancing fat, carbohydrates and protein is still critical to reducing inflammation and improving health. The strict Zone Diet is actually a Paleo-Zone plan that balances these macronutrients in high-quality foods and spreads calorie consumption out through a series of smaller meals. It turns out low food quality isn’t the only thing that can damage your health.
“The other way to raise inflammation is to consume too many calories at each meal,” Dr. Sears says. “So what is too many calories? Anything more than 500 calories. Maybe six, max.”
If Sears had to choose between weighing and measuring quantities of any food and eating unregulated quantities of Paleo foods, he would choose the former. The best approach is to actually combine the two.
“I think that the consistency of using the weigh-and-measure approach will give you far greater anti-inflammatory benefits than basically an unlimited, unrestricted Paleo Diet,” Sears says. “Now combine the two, well then basically it is truly synergistic.”
I don't talk about healthy eating as much as I should, but it's certainly a very large part of not only living longer and disease free, but also in regards to performance. Eating the right foods at the right times will only help you to perform better. Eating too much sugar leads to crashes (not good just before a WOD), not refilling your protein and energy stores after a WOD, skipping breakfasts - they all affect your performance. When you change your eating habits (I hate the word diet), it should be something that you can sustain long term, not just a month or two in order to lose 10-15 pounds. The Zone is a eating habit that is easily sustainable long term. Paleo - well, much more restrictive in regards to what foods you can eat, but not how much. Zone - how much you eat is, to a point, more important than what you eat.
Dr. Barry Sears has no problem with the Paleo Diet recommendation to only eat foods that were around 10,000 years ago. The creator of the Zone Diet takes issue only with the idea that you can eat unrestricted quantities of those foods.
“Ancient foods” are more compatible with our genes, but Dr. Sears contends that balancing fat, carbohydrates and protein is still critical to reducing inflammation and improving health. The strict Zone Diet is actually a Paleo-Zone plan that balances these macronutrients in high-quality foods and spreads calorie consumption out through a series of smaller meals. It turns out low food quality isn’t the only thing that can damage your health.
“The other way to raise inflammation is to consume too many calories at each meal,” Dr. Sears says. “So what is too many calories? Anything more than 500 calories. Maybe six, max.”
If Sears had to choose between weighing and measuring quantities of any food and eating unregulated quantities of Paleo foods, he would choose the former. The best approach is to actually combine the two.
“I think that the consistency of using the weigh-and-measure approach will give you far greater anti-inflammatory benefits than basically an unlimited, unrestricted Paleo Diet,” Sears says. “Now combine the two, well then basically it is truly synergistic.”
I don't talk about healthy eating as much as I should, but it's certainly a very large part of not only living longer and disease free, but also in regards to performance. Eating the right foods at the right times will only help you to perform better. Eating too much sugar leads to crashes (not good just before a WOD), not refilling your protein and energy stores after a WOD, skipping breakfasts - they all affect your performance. When you change your eating habits (I hate the word diet), it should be something that you can sustain long term, not just a month or two in order to lose 10-15 pounds. The Zone is a eating habit that is easily sustainable long term. Paleo - well, much more restrictive in regards to what foods you can eat, but not how much. Zone - how much you eat is, to a point, more important than what you eat.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Pro Baseball loves CrossFit
http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ_Fournier_Marlins.pdf
One of many teams that will soon incorporate CrossFit into their training.
One of many teams that will soon incorporate CrossFit into their training.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Proper weights / reps / sets / time
Great work by everyone in the past couple of months !!!
Joe and Les both reached their goals in pull ups - Joe 15 Les 8 - Congratulations !!!
One reminder - leave your ego at the door.
If you choose a certain weight for the workout - keep it. It stands to reason that the last round will be much more difficult than the first round - that doesn't mean drop the weight to make it easier. If you chose a weight that was a bit too heavy (but not enough to destroy your form or get you injured), than suck it up and finish with the same weight.
If you chose to do the advanced routine, stick with it. Don't start with advanced number of reps / sets, than change it in mid-stream because it turned out to be far more challenging than you thought.
I appreciate the fact you guys and gals want to push yourselves - but sometimes we bite off more than we can chew. It's more a problem of trying too much too soon, rather than not doing enough.
That being said, pick a weight / set / rep / time that will challenge you and lead to failure at some point. Burning through a workout because you didn't use enough weights, reps, etc does you no good. Yes, your time was great but what did you get out of it ? If everyone else is struggling through the workout and you whip right through it because the weights were too light, you've actually lost in the long run.
You have been doing this long enough to know what you can and can't do, what your limits are, what you are capable of. I don't want you to lower your expectations, but I don't want you injured and I don't want you to change the workout in the middle.
If I think you're going to heavy or doing too much, I'll tell you. If I think you can do more, I'll let you know that too. Trust me on it - I'm aware of what people can and cannot do, what they should or should not do.
Leave the ego at the door.
Joe and Les both reached their goals in pull ups - Joe 15 Les 8 - Congratulations !!!
One reminder - leave your ego at the door.
If you choose a certain weight for the workout - keep it. It stands to reason that the last round will be much more difficult than the first round - that doesn't mean drop the weight to make it easier. If you chose a weight that was a bit too heavy (but not enough to destroy your form or get you injured), than suck it up and finish with the same weight.
If you chose to do the advanced routine, stick with it. Don't start with advanced number of reps / sets, than change it in mid-stream because it turned out to be far more challenging than you thought.
I appreciate the fact you guys and gals want to push yourselves - but sometimes we bite off more than we can chew. It's more a problem of trying too much too soon, rather than not doing enough.
That being said, pick a weight / set / rep / time that will challenge you and lead to failure at some point. Burning through a workout because you didn't use enough weights, reps, etc does you no good. Yes, your time was great but what did you get out of it ? If everyone else is struggling through the workout and you whip right through it because the weights were too light, you've actually lost in the long run.
You have been doing this long enough to know what you can and can't do, what your limits are, what you are capable of. I don't want you to lower your expectations, but I don't want you injured and I don't want you to change the workout in the middle.
If I think you're going to heavy or doing too much, I'll tell you. If I think you can do more, I'll let you know that too. Trust me on it - I'm aware of what people can and cannot do, what they should or should not do.
Leave the ego at the door.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
185
We talk a bit about setting goals and this week we are going to see if we have reached ones that have come to expire.
And since you guys and gals are setting goals, I'm going to set one myself.
When I was on vacation, I saw pictures of me that weren't very flattering (not including the red, sunburnt belly). I was not / am not happy with the way I look - sure I might be muscular but I'm far from being "athletic" looking - too much fat.
I weighed myself this morning - a whooping 202.5 :(
So, I have set a goal - 185 lbs by June 1. For every pound I'm over on that date, I will owe 10 Burpees. That's right, 10 / lb - and I'll do them in front of class.
I do realize CrossFit is not about watching your weight, but all about performance. However, I believe that dropping 15 lbs will absolutely help my performance across the board. After all CrossFit IS about eating healthy as part of a fitness program (any fitness program is designed with diet in mind).
I will post my weight on the whiteboard so you guys and gals can keep track of my progress.
And since you guys and gals are setting goals, I'm going to set one myself.
When I was on vacation, I saw pictures of me that weren't very flattering (not including the red, sunburnt belly). I was not / am not happy with the way I look - sure I might be muscular but I'm far from being "athletic" looking - too much fat.
I weighed myself this morning - a whooping 202.5 :(
So, I have set a goal - 185 lbs by June 1. For every pound I'm over on that date, I will owe 10 Burpees. That's right, 10 / lb - and I'll do them in front of class.
I do realize CrossFit is not about watching your weight, but all about performance. However, I believe that dropping 15 lbs will absolutely help my performance across the board. After all CrossFit IS about eating healthy as part of a fitness program (any fitness program is designed with diet in mind).
I will post my weight on the whiteboard so you guys and gals can keep track of my progress.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Range of Motion
Range of motion = going all the way up, all the way down.
As we learned last week, a 3/4 squat is a much different beast than a full, thigh parallel to floor squat. You must use hip drive at the bottom to get out of the parallel squat. Plus, it's safer on the knees to get to parallel than to stop at 3/4. Same with air squats - it's much easier to do half-assed squats than to get to parallel and standing tall at the top.
Pull ups are much harder when you actually straighten your arms at the bottom. Push ups are more difficult when you get your chest to the floor and extend your arms at the top. Dips are more difficult when your arms get to parallel.
Not only are we talking difficulty, we're talking about mechanics and accountability. Practicing and using crappy mechanics leads to permanant crappy mechanics. And then we have to fix your form - again. It's my job to tell you that your mechanics are wrong, need work, or you need reminders. But if you don't listen and correct them, then really what are you paying me for ?
And don't tell me that a person who does a 20 round Cindy with poor form did as good of a workout as someone who did 15 with great form / ROM.
Be true to yourself - you will experience greater gains using full range of motion.
As we learned last week, a 3/4 squat is a much different beast than a full, thigh parallel to floor squat. You must use hip drive at the bottom to get out of the parallel squat. Plus, it's safer on the knees to get to parallel than to stop at 3/4. Same with air squats - it's much easier to do half-assed squats than to get to parallel and standing tall at the top.
Pull ups are much harder when you actually straighten your arms at the bottom. Push ups are more difficult when you get your chest to the floor and extend your arms at the top. Dips are more difficult when your arms get to parallel.
Not only are we talking difficulty, we're talking about mechanics and accountability. Practicing and using crappy mechanics leads to permanant crappy mechanics. And then we have to fix your form - again. It's my job to tell you that your mechanics are wrong, need work, or you need reminders. But if you don't listen and correct them, then really what are you paying me for ?
And don't tell me that a person who does a 20 round Cindy with poor form did as good of a workout as someone who did 15 with great form / ROM.
Be true to yourself - you will experience greater gains using full range of motion.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
So, you wanna lose weight and get lean...
Check out this article....
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/17-reasons-youre-not-losing-weight/
I'm not going to tell you what you can / cannot eat - but I can make recommendations - and they are common sense.
1. Eat fewer calories
2. No Junk food - candy, pop, etc
3. No fast food
4. No processed food
5. Workout - 3-5 times a week.
6. Get enough sleep
There are others - check out the link above...
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/17-reasons-youre-not-losing-weight/
I'm not going to tell you what you can / cannot eat - but I can make recommendations - and they are common sense.
1. Eat fewer calories
2. No Junk food - candy, pop, etc
3. No fast food
4. No processed food
5. Workout - 3-5 times a week.
6. Get enough sleep
There are others - check out the link above...
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Mind over Body
I tell you guys and gals that when you say "I can't" you have lost the battle without ever fighting. You have to believe you can accomplish the skill or workout that we throw at you. When you have a negative mindset, when you say "I can't lift that weight / do that exercise / do that many reps / rounds, etc" then you won't - it's simple. Negative "I can't" statements will lead to failure, before you ever start.
Instead, tell yourself "I've never done that before but I think I can, I'll try it" or " I can do this, I did x before, this won't be hard". You WILL accomplish the task before you. Positive thinking does wonders for your physical abilities. If you tell me you can only do x number of pull ups, I'll make you do x + 2 to prove you can do more and to stop being so damned negative towards your abilities.
Check this out....this is mind over body - and this guy accomplishes great things doing CrossFit
http://online.wsj.com/video/disabled-marine-keeps-fit-doing-crossfit/0390AB90-0A4E-4D6D-BE4E-005AAC467F5B.html
Instead, tell yourself "I've never done that before but I think I can, I'll try it" or " I can do this, I did x before, this won't be hard". You WILL accomplish the task before you. Positive thinking does wonders for your physical abilities. If you tell me you can only do x number of pull ups, I'll make you do x + 2 to prove you can do more and to stop being so damned negative towards your abilities.
Check this out....this is mind over body - and this guy accomplishes great things doing CrossFit
http://online.wsj.com/video/disabled-marine-keeps-fit-doing-crossfit/0390AB90-0A4E-4D6D-BE4E-005AAC467F5B.html
Friday, January 29, 2010
10 Ways to be a better CrossFitter ... by CrossFit South Bay (thanks)
1. Have fun – Whether it be in CrossFit or your favorite sport or shopping with grandma, make sure you try and have fun. Honestly, you can do CrossFit just about anywhere with anyone or by yourself. You choose to come to CFSB for a reason. You work hard all day, make the time at CrossFit be the one hour a day where you can be yourself and let loose.
2. Show up on time – Actually show up early and leave late. Foam roll, stretch and get rid of all that junk in your lower back and shoulders. Showing up late will only cheat you out of a sufficient warm-up. Without a good warm-up, your chance of injury increases exponentially. If you show up early you have two options, cheer on the class that is finishing or start warming up.
3. Don’t whine – It’s okay to cry, just make sure that we can’t see or hear you and remember to clean up your tears when you’re done. Maybe the song that comes on isn’t your favorite, in the immortal words of Josh Everett “If you need music to motivate you, go find something else to do”. Be careful of asking me to change the song, I might just put on Miley Cyrus’ Party in the USA on repeat. I’m your coach, not Mix Master Mike. You have a task to accomplish, so do it. Yes I know that every workout is hard and I know that you hate running and I know that the bar hurts your delicate hands, but there comes a time when we have to nut up or shut up…or both. CrossFit is constantly varied, so the odds are that you will see some workouts you hate. That’s why it’s CrossFit and not alltheshityoulikeFit. When you come to CrossFit, be ready to work. Come prepared to face all those pains and things you hate head on. Accept the suck.
4. Give it all – More than strength, speed, flexibility or endurance, effort is what matters most. I don’t care if you’re Joe Thruster with a sub 3 minute Fran, if you half-ass a workout, you’re a pussy. Grandma doing jumping pull-ups and thrusters with a PVC kicked your ass because she gave everything she had just short of a stroke. Times and weights matter, but they fail in comparison to effort. Keep pushing yourself to your most extreme limits. I don’t care if you have a 500 lbs or 50 lbs deadlift as long as you put forth the effort and don’t sandbag.
5. Listen to your coach – We are here to help you get more fit and accomplish your goals. When we say things like “you’re lifting with your back, use more hips” don’t act surprised when your lower back is sore. When we tell you that the foam roll and lacrosse ball works, we aren’t just being sadistic. We tell you to rest because you need rest, just as we tell you to get in the gym more because you need to be in the gym more. If you want to get better at something, you have to practice it. Plain and simple. Yes there are some of you who are naturally good at some things, but why not get better? Why not be the best? Our goal is for you to accomplish your goals.
6.Fail sometimes – The unique thing about CrossFit is that the only way to achieve excellence is through failure. The strength portion of our workouts are designed to where you may fail at a set. If you don’t fail you aren’t trying hard enough (see #4). CrossFit is an environment where no one will laugh at you or put a permanent letter in your file for dumping an overhead squat. Don’t be afraid to fail, there’s always next time. Pushing yourself to fail is more of a mental thing than it is a physical thing. We have conditioned ourselves to think that failing is bad and therefore don’t push ourselves in fear of failure. Take that fear away and see what you can accomplish.
7. Eat good food – The short answer is eat Paleo. If you don’t want to eat Paleo, just eat meat, some fruit, vegetables, little startch, no sugar, no grains no dairy. If you’re low on energy, then you’re not eating enough. I remember a lot of people starting off on Paleo complain of low energy then proceed to tell me that they didn’t eat anything all day because they didn’t know what to eat. Is it that hard to eat meat and vegetables these days? I ate ice cream every day and pizza every other day. If I can do it, you can too.
8. Count it – Tracking your workouts matters. That’s why we printed the log books for you. When you don’t count the reps on your workout, you lose valuable information that will keep you accountable for your progress. Make sure to record as much information as you can. Write down what you ate for the day. Everyone has those days where they ate like crap and had a crappy workout. Those are the hardest days to write down, but those will provide you with the best motivation to get better.
9. Be nice – CrossFitters are notorious for making fun of people who go to globo gyms (present company included). People achieve their personal fitness goals in their own ways. Some may like the pace of a spin or pilates class and some may like the intensity of CrossFit. Instead of pointing out their propensity for douchiness on the elliptical, try introducing them to CrossFit. You’ll get a better reaction and won’t come off like a jerk. You were once that guy on the hacksquat machine or that girl on the eliptical. If someone made fun of you and then said CrossFit was the way to superior fitness, you would tell them to go F themselves.
10. Get involved – CrossFit is more than just an hour of working out. We are a family and you can get as involved as you like. Just like anything else, you get out what you put in (TWSS). CFSB holds monthly social events (thanks Nicole) and does quarterly charitable events. Other events like our Redondo 5K team and our CrossFit affiliate team will compete this Spring. During the summer we are planning on having a co-ed flag football team, volleyball team, kickball team and 6-man team. There are many opportunities for you to get involved and if you have any suggestions, we would love to hear them!
2. Show up on time – Actually show up early and leave late. Foam roll, stretch and get rid of all that junk in your lower back and shoulders. Showing up late will only cheat you out of a sufficient warm-up. Without a good warm-up, your chance of injury increases exponentially. If you show up early you have two options, cheer on the class that is finishing or start warming up.
3. Don’t whine – It’s okay to cry, just make sure that we can’t see or hear you and remember to clean up your tears when you’re done. Maybe the song that comes on isn’t your favorite, in the immortal words of Josh Everett “If you need music to motivate you, go find something else to do”. Be careful of asking me to change the song, I might just put on Miley Cyrus’ Party in the USA on repeat. I’m your coach, not Mix Master Mike. You have a task to accomplish, so do it. Yes I know that every workout is hard and I know that you hate running and I know that the bar hurts your delicate hands, but there comes a time when we have to nut up or shut up…or both. CrossFit is constantly varied, so the odds are that you will see some workouts you hate. That’s why it’s CrossFit and not alltheshityoulikeFit. When you come to CrossFit, be ready to work. Come prepared to face all those pains and things you hate head on. Accept the suck.
4. Give it all – More than strength, speed, flexibility or endurance, effort is what matters most. I don’t care if you’re Joe Thruster with a sub 3 minute Fran, if you half-ass a workout, you’re a pussy. Grandma doing jumping pull-ups and thrusters with a PVC kicked your ass because she gave everything she had just short of a stroke. Times and weights matter, but they fail in comparison to effort. Keep pushing yourself to your most extreme limits. I don’t care if you have a 500 lbs or 50 lbs deadlift as long as you put forth the effort and don’t sandbag.
5. Listen to your coach – We are here to help you get more fit and accomplish your goals. When we say things like “you’re lifting with your back, use more hips” don’t act surprised when your lower back is sore. When we tell you that the foam roll and lacrosse ball works, we aren’t just being sadistic. We tell you to rest because you need rest, just as we tell you to get in the gym more because you need to be in the gym more. If you want to get better at something, you have to practice it. Plain and simple. Yes there are some of you who are naturally good at some things, but why not get better? Why not be the best? Our goal is for you to accomplish your goals.
6.Fail sometimes – The unique thing about CrossFit is that the only way to achieve excellence is through failure. The strength portion of our workouts are designed to where you may fail at a set. If you don’t fail you aren’t trying hard enough (see #4). CrossFit is an environment where no one will laugh at you or put a permanent letter in your file for dumping an overhead squat. Don’t be afraid to fail, there’s always next time. Pushing yourself to fail is more of a mental thing than it is a physical thing. We have conditioned ourselves to think that failing is bad and therefore don’t push ourselves in fear of failure. Take that fear away and see what you can accomplish.
7. Eat good food – The short answer is eat Paleo. If you don’t want to eat Paleo, just eat meat, some fruit, vegetables, little startch, no sugar, no grains no dairy. If you’re low on energy, then you’re not eating enough. I remember a lot of people starting off on Paleo complain of low energy then proceed to tell me that they didn’t eat anything all day because they didn’t know what to eat. Is it that hard to eat meat and vegetables these days? I ate ice cream every day and pizza every other day. If I can do it, you can too.
8. Count it – Tracking your workouts matters. That’s why we printed the log books for you. When you don’t count the reps on your workout, you lose valuable information that will keep you accountable for your progress. Make sure to record as much information as you can. Write down what you ate for the day. Everyone has those days where they ate like crap and had a crappy workout. Those are the hardest days to write down, but those will provide you with the best motivation to get better.
9. Be nice – CrossFitters are notorious for making fun of people who go to globo gyms (present company included). People achieve their personal fitness goals in their own ways. Some may like the pace of a spin or pilates class and some may like the intensity of CrossFit. Instead of pointing out their propensity for douchiness on the elliptical, try introducing them to CrossFit. You’ll get a better reaction and won’t come off like a jerk. You were once that guy on the hacksquat machine or that girl on the eliptical. If someone made fun of you and then said CrossFit was the way to superior fitness, you would tell them to go F themselves.
10. Get involved – CrossFit is more than just an hour of working out. We are a family and you can get as involved as you like. Just like anything else, you get out what you put in (TWSS). CFSB holds monthly social events (thanks Nicole) and does quarterly charitable events. Other events like our Redondo 5K team and our CrossFit affiliate team will compete this Spring. During the summer we are planning on having a co-ed flag football team, volleyball team, kickball team and 6-man team. There are many opportunities for you to get involved and if you have any suggestions, we would love to hear them!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Warm up, cool down and stretch
When I workout, I usually take about 10 minutes to warm up before the WOD, and about 5 minutes to cool down, followed by 5-10 minutes of stretching - ample time to do all of that, a WOD warm up, and the WOD in an hour.
Warming up properly is essential to having a productive workout and preventing injury. We do dynamic warm ups (for the most part - a few seconds of holding a stretch here and there) to get blood flowing and our temperature rising, and our muscles loose. We warm up our joints so they are nice and loose for the WOD - shoulders, hips, knees, lower back, etc. It also gets you in the "workout" mode - getting the heart rate and breathing rate up.
Cool down - don't just throw your stuff on and leave. Sometimes we have to hustle home but if you can stay for an extra 5-10 minutes, do so. Cool down by drinking water, walking around, a little active stretching and some static stretching. Try the self-myofascial release with the foam roller - painful but great for getting the knots out. This prevents not only soreness but tightness as well. Yes, it's fun to talk afterwards but that can be done while stretching. This also gives your body a chance to cool back down and your heart to return to a near normal heart rate.
FOCUS on both - don't just go through the motions. While you're doing the warm up, concentrate on what you are doing and WHY. Don't simply do it because you are told to. There is a reason - keep that in mind. If the workout calls for a lot of squats, and you're a little stiff in the legs, warm your legs up a bit more. Think about every stretch and movement while you are doing them. Actually concentrate on the static stretch and try to hold it there - maybe a little painful at times but worth it.
Warming up, cooling down, and stretching are an important part of your workout - they will affect your ability to accomplish the WOD and recover from it.
http://library.crossfit.com/premium/pdf/41_06_Stretch_Flexibility.pdf?e=1264602756&h=caeac9746aee76d39de27f0126a6dc4c
Warming up properly is essential to having a productive workout and preventing injury. We do dynamic warm ups (for the most part - a few seconds of holding a stretch here and there) to get blood flowing and our temperature rising, and our muscles loose. We warm up our joints so they are nice and loose for the WOD - shoulders, hips, knees, lower back, etc. It also gets you in the "workout" mode - getting the heart rate and breathing rate up.
Cool down - don't just throw your stuff on and leave. Sometimes we have to hustle home but if you can stay for an extra 5-10 minutes, do so. Cool down by drinking water, walking around, a little active stretching and some static stretching. Try the self-myofascial release with the foam roller - painful but great for getting the knots out. This prevents not only soreness but tightness as well. Yes, it's fun to talk afterwards but that can be done while stretching. This also gives your body a chance to cool back down and your heart to return to a near normal heart rate.
FOCUS on both - don't just go through the motions. While you're doing the warm up, concentrate on what you are doing and WHY. Don't simply do it because you are told to. There is a reason - keep that in mind. If the workout calls for a lot of squats, and you're a little stiff in the legs, warm your legs up a bit more. Think about every stretch and movement while you are doing them. Actually concentrate on the static stretch and try to hold it there - maybe a little painful at times but worth it.
Warming up, cooling down, and stretching are an important part of your workout - they will affect your ability to accomplish the WOD and recover from it.
http://library.crossfit.com/premium/pdf/41_06_Stretch_Flexibility.pdf?e=1264602756&h=caeac9746aee76d39de27f0126a6dc4c
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
shoulder injuries
Shoulders can be injured in several ways during CrossFit workouts. Overuse, poor stability, sudden moves - they can all cause injuries - from minor aches to full tears.
Shoulder injuries are not unique to CrossFit - they occur in any sport where there is movement in the shoulder joint. We do a lot of presses, pull ups, etc which have the potential of injuries.
Warm up, don't do too much too soon, do the exercises correctly, and stretch - those are the best ways to avoid injury.
http://www.shoulder-pain-management.com/
Shoulder injuries are not unique to CrossFit - they occur in any sport where there is movement in the shoulder joint. We do a lot of presses, pull ups, etc which have the potential of injuries.
Warm up, don't do too much too soon, do the exercises correctly, and stretch - those are the best ways to avoid injury.
http://www.shoulder-pain-management.com/
The Infectious Nature of CrossFit (CrossFit Ramstein)
Webster’s Online Dictionary lists several definitions for the word infectious. Among those definitions, one in particular stands out: “spreading or capable of spreading rapidly to others”.
In most cases, the word infectious may lend an immediate reaction—perhaps one of negative connotation. An infectious illness…an infectious disease. It pleads to “stay away” or “keep your distance”. Not in this case.
Think back to before you started CrossFitting. Seriously…take a few moments and visualize what you used to do. How did you feel? Who was with you? What did you take away from your workout? Okay, now erase all of those thoughts and visualize what you do now. Answer the same questions. Are they different? They most certainly are, aren’t they? You were infected—infected with the CrossFit bug.
Some may consider us strange; they even may consider us ridiculous and melodramatic at times. Worry not my friends…it is just the infection. Are you prepared to accept something you may consider preposterous? There may not be a cure to this infectious thing we call CrossFit. That’s okay.
Ah…your thoughts can be read. There is sense of doubt; a sense of disbelief. Understood. Here a few examples of the infection:
1) One gentlemen…one CrossFitter by the name of Mike Donohue trained with us here at CrossFit Ramstein. Mike was, and still is, full of fire and passion for the kind of fitness we endlessly seek. He found it…he was infected. When it became time for him to leave us, he took with him that fire and passion. Just a few months into his new assignment, Mike stood up CrossFit Warren. And the infection spread.
2) Another gentlemen (and of course, CrossFitter) by the name of Victor Cruz came to CrossFit Ramstein with the desire to make a change…a lifestyle change. Victor was immediately infected. During the months that he was with us, the “affliction” caused him to lose almost 40 pounds and gain unbelievable strength. Where is Victor now? He is one of the head trainers of Functional Fitness Osan—he took his skills and desire with him to South Korea.
3) Kari Kundert: Female fire-breather finds functional fitness fascinating and fun. Alliteration aside, yes, Kari is also infected with the CrossFit bug. She also was one of CrossFit Ramstein’s original athletes…seeing us grow through our infant stages all the way to adulthood. What an integral part of our program…a role model for other up-and-coming female CrossFit athletes. She too, has such a passion for CrossFit that she created Wolf Pack CrossFit in South Korea.
Infectious. CrossFit is infectious. Never before have we seen a program that pierces one’s mind, body, and heart such as CrossFit has. Once you acquire the infection, you are lost. Lost in the world of functional fitness, unyielding community support, and the tireless drive for excellence. And not just in the gym—the infection transcends the boundaries of the box. It reaches previously unfathomable levels of confidence, consciousness, and calling.
Melodramatic you may say? Nah…simply passionate
In most cases, the word infectious may lend an immediate reaction—perhaps one of negative connotation. An infectious illness…an infectious disease. It pleads to “stay away” or “keep your distance”. Not in this case.
Think back to before you started CrossFitting. Seriously…take a few moments and visualize what you used to do. How did you feel? Who was with you? What did you take away from your workout? Okay, now erase all of those thoughts and visualize what you do now. Answer the same questions. Are they different? They most certainly are, aren’t they? You were infected—infected with the CrossFit bug.
Some may consider us strange; they even may consider us ridiculous and melodramatic at times. Worry not my friends…it is just the infection. Are you prepared to accept something you may consider preposterous? There may not be a cure to this infectious thing we call CrossFit. That’s okay.
Ah…your thoughts can be read. There is sense of doubt; a sense of disbelief. Understood. Here a few examples of the infection:
1) One gentlemen…one CrossFitter by the name of Mike Donohue trained with us here at CrossFit Ramstein. Mike was, and still is, full of fire and passion for the kind of fitness we endlessly seek. He found it…he was infected. When it became time for him to leave us, he took with him that fire and passion. Just a few months into his new assignment, Mike stood up CrossFit Warren. And the infection spread.
2) Another gentlemen (and of course, CrossFitter) by the name of Victor Cruz came to CrossFit Ramstein with the desire to make a change…a lifestyle change. Victor was immediately infected. During the months that he was with us, the “affliction” caused him to lose almost 40 pounds and gain unbelievable strength. Where is Victor now? He is one of the head trainers of Functional Fitness Osan—he took his skills and desire with him to South Korea.
3) Kari Kundert: Female fire-breather finds functional fitness fascinating and fun. Alliteration aside, yes, Kari is also infected with the CrossFit bug. She also was one of CrossFit Ramstein’s original athletes…seeing us grow through our infant stages all the way to adulthood. What an integral part of our program…a role model for other up-and-coming female CrossFit athletes. She too, has such a passion for CrossFit that she created Wolf Pack CrossFit in South Korea.
Infectious. CrossFit is infectious. Never before have we seen a program that pierces one’s mind, body, and heart such as CrossFit has. Once you acquire the infection, you are lost. Lost in the world of functional fitness, unyielding community support, and the tireless drive for excellence. And not just in the gym—the infection transcends the boundaries of the box. It reaches previously unfathomable levels of confidence, consciousness, and calling.
Melodramatic you may say? Nah…simply passionate
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Rest and Recovery - thanks to CrossFit Progression - Rochester
9 things to do when you’re All Banged Up
by Dallas Hartwig, PT, MS
As a physical therapist and strength and conditioning coach, I’ve spent a good portion of my professional career talking to people about recovery, either in the clinic following an injury or in the gym following a high-intensity workout. Since I believe that brief, high-intensity exercise is the most productive in terms of maximizing fitness and minimizing risk of overuse injury and excessive oxidative stress on the body, I prescribe exercise programs that look a lot like CrossFit, with a heavy emphasis on strength movements and gymnastics.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of information out there about how to exercise, but far less information about the application of proper rest and recovery techniques. I see more sub-acute and chronic injuries resulting from inadequate recovery from exercise (especially with high-intensity programs), than resulting from an acute or traumatic incident. The primary fault lies with inadequate or improper recovery from exercise, not the type or intensity of exercise. (To put it another way, it’s not that you’re hurting yourself doing pull-ups – more often than not, it’s because you’re not properly recovering from those pull-ups.)
I believe that a high intensity exercise program is both effective and sustainable life-long, when combined with good nutrition and recovery practices. So I find myself educating my PT patients about nutrition, sleep, active recovery techniques, and stress management practices as often as I do about the physiology of connective tissue healing, lumbar stabilization, or biomechanics. It was this experience that, in part, led Melissa and me to develop a comprehensive and integrative practice (Whole9) to help our clients continue to aggressively chase health and performance without being hindered by nagging pain and injuries.
At some point in our lives, we’re likely to find ourselves over-trained, under-recovered, under-fed, under-slept, over-caffeinated, and (eventually) actually injured. Ideally, the early stages are the time to pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you, and take immediate action to ensure those nagging aches and pains don’t become a seriously limiting chronic injury. So here are the Whole9’s recommendations for what to do when you’re All Banged Up.
1. Take extra rest days. I’m not talking about swapping your rest day from Wednesday to Tuesday – I’m telling you to skip a bunch of workouts. I’m a proponent of taking an entire week off once or twice a year from hard training – and can think of no better time to do so than when you’re banged up. And once you go back to intense training, you also need to give that injured body part another week or three of rest. Yes, really – rest it longer than you think you should. Trust me, you’d rather take three weeks off from all pulling exercises than be plagued with chronic injuries (and sucky performance) for the next six months. Finally, don’t even think about doing two workouts a day or a long met-con to “make up for” your extra rest days. The whole point is extra rest.
2. Get felt up (or feel yourself up). Seek out a good massage therapist. Cyclic compression of muscles after intense exercise reduce swelling and muscle damage. Massage can improve muscle function, resulting in less swelling and fewer signs of inflammation after exercise. Too busy to book an hour long massage? If you’re beat up, no you’re not… skip today’s workout and hit the massage table. Too broke to see your massage therapist every week? Luckily, there are cheaper and still-effective alternatives. Spend enough intimate time with your foam roller to make your significant other jealous. Buy a Stick and use it. Work with a tennis ball or lacrosse ball for some self-myofascial release.
3. Keep moving. Low intensity exercise can protect and enhance the immune system, even when you’re banged up or sick. It also helps with injury prevention and recovery. Moving your body increases blood flow and the number of cells that eat up “debris” in the injury. It also increases oxygen levels to speed up healing, and increases circulation to remove the debris out of injured areas. Finally, exercise prevents stiffness and decreases the formation of scar adhesions. Stay active with movements different from those you normally perform during workouts, but remember to keep things light and easy. Think dynamic warm-up drills, kripalu yoga, an easy swim or a brisk walk. And people… stretch.
4. Use thermal modalities (heat and ice) appropriately. If you have an acute injury (less than 5 days old), ice is your best friend. I prefer crushed ice (in a plastic bag inside a pillowcase) instead of those commercial gel packs – they warm up too fast. Apply the ice to the injured area for 20-30 minutes, at least 3 times daily. Or you could apply ice directly to the injured area with ice massage (as pictured above) for 8-10 minutes. Most importantly, don’t put heat on an acute injury. The inflammatory process is biochemical, and heat literally speeds up that process. Heat vasodilates and promotes the accumulation of interstitial fluid (edema), and the last thing you want with a fresh injury is to add to the swelling. If you really love your Tiger Balm or Icy Hot, that’s okay – but these products have no real thermal effect. (You might get the sensation, but it doesn’t actually heat or cool your tissue.)
Chronic injuries (anything that persists for longer than 2-3 weeks) respond best to heat, which improves blood flow to the healing tissue. So once you’re into the 5-plus day range, you can use contrasting hot and cold, alternating every 2-5 minutes for a total of 20-30 minutes, especially post-workout.
5. Remove inflammatory dietary factors. This should be a no-brainer around here. If you’ve been slipping back into old (poor) eating habits, now’s the time to clean up that mess. Get rid of grains, legumes, and dairy altogether. Need I even mention cutting out booze? And though it’s controversial, I’d also recommend eating less saturated animal fat (especially egg yolks and fat from feedlot-raised, grain-fed animals) as it can increase pro-inflammatory compounds in your body.
6. Boost your vegetable intake. Alkaline foods, especially richly coloured vegetables, help to offset the negative effects of acidic metabolic waste. Vitamin C and polyphenols, like those in broccoli and dark leafy greens, are essential for the repair of connective tissue and to reduce inflammation. Vitamins E (found in sprouts, avocado and dark, leafy greens) and A (found in green and yellow vegetables) are also important nutrients for connective tissue and cell repair. In summary, eat more veggies, especially green leafies… but not more fruit. (I’m wary of fruit’s impact on insulin levels, which, when elevated, increase inflammatory markers in the body). Go easy on carbohydrate-dense root vegetables for the same reason.
7. Calm down (your inflammation). The ratio of omega fats in your diet help dictate the “inflammation status” of your body. If your diet consists of mostly omega-6 fats, your inflammation response will be unbalanced and damaging to your cells. To that end, per Robb Wolf’s recommendations, bump up your fish oil supplementation to 0.8-1.0 gram of DHA + EPA per 10 pounds of body weight. The additional omega-3 fatty acids can help tip the balance in your body away from an inflammatory state. Also, avoid concentrated sources of omega-6 fatty acids, such as “industrial” vegetable oils like peanut, safflower, soybean, and corn oils. You could also consider a GLA (gamma-lineolic acid) supplement. (GLA, while in the Omega-6 family, is not converted to the pro-inflammatory arachidonic acid (AA), but rather to dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA). DGLA competes with AA and prevents the negative inflammatory effects that AA would otherwise cause in the body.)
And it may sound weird, but… don’t forget to brush your teeth and, just as importantly, floss daily. Periodontal disease can contribute to systemic inflammation in the body just like grains, legumes and dairy.
8. Get more and better sleep. This article explains how sleep contributes to a whole host of health and fitness factors, including injury prevention and recovery. During this time period, avoid caffeine, which can disrupt the quality of your sleep even if it doesn’t actually keep you awake.
9. Ditch the Advil. While I don’t purport to be smarter than your doctor, here is one area where I disagree with his recommendation to scarf the Vitamin I (ibuprofen) and other NSAIDs (non-steriodal anti-inflammatories). Sure, NSAIDs suppress the inflammatory process and help with pain control. But research has shown that they actually slow down the overall healing process, and cause the “healed” tissue to be less strong. So allow your body’s healing process run its natural course, and don’t band-aid it with Advil.
Following these tips will help keep you injury-free – and get you out of my PT office that much faster, should you find yourself all banged up. Post questions, leave your feedback or (at least) take the first step and cop to your serious “Vitamin I” habit in comments.
by Dallas Hartwig, PT, MS
As a physical therapist and strength and conditioning coach, I’ve spent a good portion of my professional career talking to people about recovery, either in the clinic following an injury or in the gym following a high-intensity workout. Since I believe that brief, high-intensity exercise is the most productive in terms of maximizing fitness and minimizing risk of overuse injury and excessive oxidative stress on the body, I prescribe exercise programs that look a lot like CrossFit, with a heavy emphasis on strength movements and gymnastics.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of information out there about how to exercise, but far less information about the application of proper rest and recovery techniques. I see more sub-acute and chronic injuries resulting from inadequate recovery from exercise (especially with high-intensity programs), than resulting from an acute or traumatic incident. The primary fault lies with inadequate or improper recovery from exercise, not the type or intensity of exercise. (To put it another way, it’s not that you’re hurting yourself doing pull-ups – more often than not, it’s because you’re not properly recovering from those pull-ups.)
I believe that a high intensity exercise program is both effective and sustainable life-long, when combined with good nutrition and recovery practices. So I find myself educating my PT patients about nutrition, sleep, active recovery techniques, and stress management practices as often as I do about the physiology of connective tissue healing, lumbar stabilization, or biomechanics. It was this experience that, in part, led Melissa and me to develop a comprehensive and integrative practice (Whole9) to help our clients continue to aggressively chase health and performance without being hindered by nagging pain and injuries.
At some point in our lives, we’re likely to find ourselves over-trained, under-recovered, under-fed, under-slept, over-caffeinated, and (eventually) actually injured. Ideally, the early stages are the time to pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you, and take immediate action to ensure those nagging aches and pains don’t become a seriously limiting chronic injury. So here are the Whole9’s recommendations for what to do when you’re All Banged Up.
1. Take extra rest days. I’m not talking about swapping your rest day from Wednesday to Tuesday – I’m telling you to skip a bunch of workouts. I’m a proponent of taking an entire week off once or twice a year from hard training – and can think of no better time to do so than when you’re banged up. And once you go back to intense training, you also need to give that injured body part another week or three of rest. Yes, really – rest it longer than you think you should. Trust me, you’d rather take three weeks off from all pulling exercises than be plagued with chronic injuries (and sucky performance) for the next six months. Finally, don’t even think about doing two workouts a day or a long met-con to “make up for” your extra rest days. The whole point is extra rest.
2. Get felt up (or feel yourself up). Seek out a good massage therapist. Cyclic compression of muscles after intense exercise reduce swelling and muscle damage. Massage can improve muscle function, resulting in less swelling and fewer signs of inflammation after exercise. Too busy to book an hour long massage? If you’re beat up, no you’re not… skip today’s workout and hit the massage table. Too broke to see your massage therapist every week? Luckily, there are cheaper and still-effective alternatives. Spend enough intimate time with your foam roller to make your significant other jealous. Buy a Stick and use it. Work with a tennis ball or lacrosse ball for some self-myofascial release.
3. Keep moving. Low intensity exercise can protect and enhance the immune system, even when you’re banged up or sick. It also helps with injury prevention and recovery. Moving your body increases blood flow and the number of cells that eat up “debris” in the injury. It also increases oxygen levels to speed up healing, and increases circulation to remove the debris out of injured areas. Finally, exercise prevents stiffness and decreases the formation of scar adhesions. Stay active with movements different from those you normally perform during workouts, but remember to keep things light and easy. Think dynamic warm-up drills, kripalu yoga, an easy swim or a brisk walk. And people… stretch.
4. Use thermal modalities (heat and ice) appropriately. If you have an acute injury (less than 5 days old), ice is your best friend. I prefer crushed ice (in a plastic bag inside a pillowcase) instead of those commercial gel packs – they warm up too fast. Apply the ice to the injured area for 20-30 minutes, at least 3 times daily. Or you could apply ice directly to the injured area with ice massage (as pictured above) for 8-10 minutes. Most importantly, don’t put heat on an acute injury. The inflammatory process is biochemical, and heat literally speeds up that process. Heat vasodilates and promotes the accumulation of interstitial fluid (edema), and the last thing you want with a fresh injury is to add to the swelling. If you really love your Tiger Balm or Icy Hot, that’s okay – but these products have no real thermal effect. (You might get the sensation, but it doesn’t actually heat or cool your tissue.)
Chronic injuries (anything that persists for longer than 2-3 weeks) respond best to heat, which improves blood flow to the healing tissue. So once you’re into the 5-plus day range, you can use contrasting hot and cold, alternating every 2-5 minutes for a total of 20-30 minutes, especially post-workout.
5. Remove inflammatory dietary factors. This should be a no-brainer around here. If you’ve been slipping back into old (poor) eating habits, now’s the time to clean up that mess. Get rid of grains, legumes, and dairy altogether. Need I even mention cutting out booze? And though it’s controversial, I’d also recommend eating less saturated animal fat (especially egg yolks and fat from feedlot-raised, grain-fed animals) as it can increase pro-inflammatory compounds in your body.
6. Boost your vegetable intake. Alkaline foods, especially richly coloured vegetables, help to offset the negative effects of acidic metabolic waste. Vitamin C and polyphenols, like those in broccoli and dark leafy greens, are essential for the repair of connective tissue and to reduce inflammation. Vitamins E (found in sprouts, avocado and dark, leafy greens) and A (found in green and yellow vegetables) are also important nutrients for connective tissue and cell repair. In summary, eat more veggies, especially green leafies… but not more fruit. (I’m wary of fruit’s impact on insulin levels, which, when elevated, increase inflammatory markers in the body). Go easy on carbohydrate-dense root vegetables for the same reason.
7. Calm down (your inflammation). The ratio of omega fats in your diet help dictate the “inflammation status” of your body. If your diet consists of mostly omega-6 fats, your inflammation response will be unbalanced and damaging to your cells. To that end, per Robb Wolf’s recommendations, bump up your fish oil supplementation to 0.8-1.0 gram of DHA + EPA per 10 pounds of body weight. The additional omega-3 fatty acids can help tip the balance in your body away from an inflammatory state. Also, avoid concentrated sources of omega-6 fatty acids, such as “industrial” vegetable oils like peanut, safflower, soybean, and corn oils. You could also consider a GLA (gamma-lineolic acid) supplement. (GLA, while in the Omega-6 family, is not converted to the pro-inflammatory arachidonic acid (AA), but rather to dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA). DGLA competes with AA and prevents the negative inflammatory effects that AA would otherwise cause in the body.)
And it may sound weird, but… don’t forget to brush your teeth and, just as importantly, floss daily. Periodontal disease can contribute to systemic inflammation in the body just like grains, legumes and dairy.
8. Get more and better sleep. This article explains how sleep contributes to a whole host of health and fitness factors, including injury prevention and recovery. During this time period, avoid caffeine, which can disrupt the quality of your sleep even if it doesn’t actually keep you awake.
9. Ditch the Advil. While I don’t purport to be smarter than your doctor, here is one area where I disagree with his recommendation to scarf the Vitamin I (ibuprofen) and other NSAIDs (non-steriodal anti-inflammatories). Sure, NSAIDs suppress the inflammatory process and help with pain control. But research has shown that they actually slow down the overall healing process, and cause the “healed” tissue to be less strong. So allow your body’s healing process run its natural course, and don’t band-aid it with Advil.
Following these tips will help keep you injury-free – and get you out of my PT office that much faster, should you find yourself all banged up. Post questions, leave your feedback or (at least) take the first step and cop to your serious “Vitamin I” habit in comments.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
H2O - water
Water - absolutely necessary for life and for exercise.
Aim to drink 8 glasses a day when not working out. On days you will work out, try to drink 1-2 glasses (8 oz) 1 - 2 hours before the workout. You can drink water during the workout, especially if it's hot and humid. After the workout, try to drink another 1-2 glasses. Staying hydrated is very important and it does affect your performance.
Aim to drink 8 glasses a day when not working out. On days you will work out, try to drink 1-2 glasses (8 oz) 1 - 2 hours before the workout. You can drink water during the workout, especially if it's hot and humid. After the workout, try to drink another 1-2 glasses. Staying hydrated is very important and it does affect your performance.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Sheep, Sheepdogs, and Wolves
(From the book, On Combat, by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman)
One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this... “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.” We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.
“Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.
“Then there are sheepdogs,” he went on, “and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.” If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen: a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath--a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? Then you are a sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.
The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, “Baa."
Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog. Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day.
While there is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, he does have one real advantage. Only one. He is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.
One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this... “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.” We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.
“Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.
“Then there are sheepdogs,” he went on, “and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.” If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen: a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath--a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? Then you are a sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.
The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, “Baa."
Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog. Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day.
While there is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, he does have one real advantage. Only one. He is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
EPOC
Resistance Training and EPOC
Jeff M. Reynolds and Len Kravitz, Ph.D.
Introduction
After cardiovascular exercise or weight training, the body continues to need oxygen at a higher rate than before the exercise began. This sustained oxygen consumption is known as excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). Originally referred to as an oxygen debt, this postexercise state was first hypothesized by A.V. Hill and H. Lupton in 1922. Hill and Lupton theorized that the body needs to replace the oxygen used by working muscles during mild to intense bouts of exercise. More recently, researchers have used the term EPOC to describe the several different events that occur as the body restores itself to homeostasis, or rest.
This article will describe the physiological factors that contribute to EPOC, discuss its relation to weight management and review a recent article on EPOC and resistance training.
EPOC Overview
Body:During EPOC the body is restoring itself to its pre-exercise state, and thus is consuming oxygen at an elevated rate. This means that energy is also being expended at an elevated rate. The following occurs during EPOC:
1) Replenishment of Energy Resources: Replenishment occurs for the immediate source of energy, known as the phosphagen system, which is comprised of creatine phosphate and ATP (adenosine triphosphate). In addition, lactate, a molecule that is produced during more intense exercise, is being converted to pyruvate for fuel utilization. The body is also restoring the muscle glycogen (a stored form of glucose) that has been used during the exercise bout.
2) Re-oxygenation of Blood and Restoration of Circulatory Hormones: During exercise metabolism, large amounts of oxygen are used to break down food substrates for energy. Therefore, the body continues to expend energy after exercise to re-oxygenate the blood. In addition, in the postexercise period, the body restores the levels of circulatory hormones, which increased during exercise, to normal.
3) Decrease in Body Temperature: As energy is liberated from the exercising muscle tissues of the body, heat is produced. Thus, during EPOC, the body must expend energy to return to the normal core body temperature.
4) Return to Normal Ventilation and Heart Rate: Energy expenditure is greatly elevated as the body rapidly returns to a normal breathing rate. Heart rate is also returning to a pre-exercise rate.
EPOC and Weight Management
Because the body continues to expend energy after exercise, EPOC plays a supplemental role to an exercise program in weight management. Currently, researchers are interested in the effect different forms of exercise have on EPOC.
The evidence suggests that a high-intensity, intermittent-type of training (interval training) has a more pronounced effect on EPOC (Haltom et al. 1999). Also, it appears that resistance training produces greater EPOC responses than aerobic exercise (Burleson et al. 1998). The research suggests that high-intensity resistance exercise disturbs the body’s homeostasis to a greater degree than aerobic exercise. The result is a larger energy requirement after exercise to restore the body’s systems to normal (Burleson et al. 1998), and thus an explanation for the higher EPOC. The underlying mechanisms that cause the higher EPOC observed in resistance exercise include elevated blood lactate, and an increase in circulating catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) and anabolic hormones.
Inspecting the data from several investigations, it appears that EPOC accounts for postexercise expenditure of 51 (Haltom et al. 1999) to 127 (Burleson et al. 1998) kilocalories. Since a pound of fat is equal to 3,500 kilocalories, the effect of EPOC on weight control must be regarded in terms of a cumulative effect over time.
Recent Investigation
Current research of resistance weight training and EPOC has noted a relationship between exercise intensity and elevated metabolic rate. As weight lifting intensity increases, the EPOC duration also increases. Most research up to now has been on EPOC and resistance training in males. This recent study attempts to clarify the effects of EPOC on resting metabolic rate (RMR) on healthy, weight-trained females.
Osterberg, K. L. & Melby, C. L., 2000. Effect of acute resistance exercise on postexercise oxygen consumption and resting metabolic rate in young women. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 10 (1), 71-81.
Seven females, with an average age of 27 years, height of 66 inches, weight of 141.5 pounds and body fat of 18.3 percent, participated in this research study. Subjects were required to maintain body-weight stability, which the authors defined as no gain or loss of weight greater than 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) in the last six months. All subjects’ meals were standardized prior to and during the exercise intervention.
The exercise program consisted of five sets of 10 different exercises. The exercises were performed in agonist/antagonist pairs (push/pull sequence), with 10 to 15 repetitions per set. Opposing muscle groups were paired together to avoid premature failure due to muscular fatigue, and the last two sets of each exercise were performed to failure. The exercise groupings consisted of bench press and bent-over row; leg extension and leg curl; military press and sit-ups; biceps curl and triceps extension; and lunges and lateral raises. The subjects were given a four-minute time period to perform the exercise pairs and could rest for the remainder of the time if they finished before the four minutes expired.
EPOC remained elevated throughout the three-hour postexercise measurement phase and was measured every 30 minutes. It was 13 percent higher than pre-exercise baseline oxygen consumption (VO2) in the final measurement stage. The subjects’ average RMR was 4.2 percent higher 16 hours following exercise, when compared to the pre-workout RMR. The authors concluded that intense resistance training produces modest, but prolonged elevation of postexercise metabolic rate in women.
Practical Application:
Intermittent, high-intensity weight training appears to have the greatest effect on EPOC (Melby et al. 1993; Laforgia et al 1997) and individuals who perform high volume (2- Color 5 sets of 10 to 15 reps at 60- 70% of 1-RM) resistance exercise will see minimal weight management benefits from EPOC (Burleson et al. 1997; Osterberg However, it should be emphasized that the overall weight-control benefits of EPOC, for men and women, from participation in resistance exercise occur over a significant time period, since kilocalories are expended at a low rate in the individual postexercise sessions.
Jeff M. Reynolds and Len Kravitz, Ph.D.
Introduction
After cardiovascular exercise or weight training, the body continues to need oxygen at a higher rate than before the exercise began. This sustained oxygen consumption is known as excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). Originally referred to as an oxygen debt, this postexercise state was first hypothesized by A.V. Hill and H. Lupton in 1922. Hill and Lupton theorized that the body needs to replace the oxygen used by working muscles during mild to intense bouts of exercise. More recently, researchers have used the term EPOC to describe the several different events that occur as the body restores itself to homeostasis, or rest.
This article will describe the physiological factors that contribute to EPOC, discuss its relation to weight management and review a recent article on EPOC and resistance training.
EPOC Overview
Body:During EPOC the body is restoring itself to its pre-exercise state, and thus is consuming oxygen at an elevated rate. This means that energy is also being expended at an elevated rate. The following occurs during EPOC:
1) Replenishment of Energy Resources: Replenishment occurs for the immediate source of energy, known as the phosphagen system, which is comprised of creatine phosphate and ATP (adenosine triphosphate). In addition, lactate, a molecule that is produced during more intense exercise, is being converted to pyruvate for fuel utilization. The body is also restoring the muscle glycogen (a stored form of glucose) that has been used during the exercise bout.
2) Re-oxygenation of Blood and Restoration of Circulatory Hormones: During exercise metabolism, large amounts of oxygen are used to break down food substrates for energy. Therefore, the body continues to expend energy after exercise to re-oxygenate the blood. In addition, in the postexercise period, the body restores the levels of circulatory hormones, which increased during exercise, to normal.
3) Decrease in Body Temperature: As energy is liberated from the exercising muscle tissues of the body, heat is produced. Thus, during EPOC, the body must expend energy to return to the normal core body temperature.
4) Return to Normal Ventilation and Heart Rate: Energy expenditure is greatly elevated as the body rapidly returns to a normal breathing rate. Heart rate is also returning to a pre-exercise rate.
EPOC and Weight Management
Because the body continues to expend energy after exercise, EPOC plays a supplemental role to an exercise program in weight management. Currently, researchers are interested in the effect different forms of exercise have on EPOC.
The evidence suggests that a high-intensity, intermittent-type of training (interval training) has a more pronounced effect on EPOC (Haltom et al. 1999). Also, it appears that resistance training produces greater EPOC responses than aerobic exercise (Burleson et al. 1998). The research suggests that high-intensity resistance exercise disturbs the body’s homeostasis to a greater degree than aerobic exercise. The result is a larger energy requirement after exercise to restore the body’s systems to normal (Burleson et al. 1998), and thus an explanation for the higher EPOC. The underlying mechanisms that cause the higher EPOC observed in resistance exercise include elevated blood lactate, and an increase in circulating catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) and anabolic hormones.
Inspecting the data from several investigations, it appears that EPOC accounts for postexercise expenditure of 51 (Haltom et al. 1999) to 127 (Burleson et al. 1998) kilocalories. Since a pound of fat is equal to 3,500 kilocalories, the effect of EPOC on weight control must be regarded in terms of a cumulative effect over time.
Recent Investigation
Current research of resistance weight training and EPOC has noted a relationship between exercise intensity and elevated metabolic rate. As weight lifting intensity increases, the EPOC duration also increases. Most research up to now has been on EPOC and resistance training in males. This recent study attempts to clarify the effects of EPOC on resting metabolic rate (RMR) on healthy, weight-trained females.
Osterberg, K. L. & Melby, C. L., 2000. Effect of acute resistance exercise on postexercise oxygen consumption and resting metabolic rate in young women. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 10 (1), 71-81.
Seven females, with an average age of 27 years, height of 66 inches, weight of 141.5 pounds and body fat of 18.3 percent, participated in this research study. Subjects were required to maintain body-weight stability, which the authors defined as no gain or loss of weight greater than 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) in the last six months. All subjects’ meals were standardized prior to and during the exercise intervention.
The exercise program consisted of five sets of 10 different exercises. The exercises were performed in agonist/antagonist pairs (push/pull sequence), with 10 to 15 repetitions per set. Opposing muscle groups were paired together to avoid premature failure due to muscular fatigue, and the last two sets of each exercise were performed to failure. The exercise groupings consisted of bench press and bent-over row; leg extension and leg curl; military press and sit-ups; biceps curl and triceps extension; and lunges and lateral raises. The subjects were given a four-minute time period to perform the exercise pairs and could rest for the remainder of the time if they finished before the four minutes expired.
EPOC remained elevated throughout the three-hour postexercise measurement phase and was measured every 30 minutes. It was 13 percent higher than pre-exercise baseline oxygen consumption (VO2) in the final measurement stage. The subjects’ average RMR was 4.2 percent higher 16 hours following exercise, when compared to the pre-workout RMR. The authors concluded that intense resistance training produces modest, but prolonged elevation of postexercise metabolic rate in women.
Practical Application:
Intermittent, high-intensity weight training appears to have the greatest effect on EPOC (Melby et al. 1993; Laforgia et al 1997) and individuals who perform high volume (2- Color 5 sets of 10 to 15 reps at 60- 70% of 1-RM) resistance exercise will see minimal weight management benefits from EPOC (Burleson et al. 1997; Osterberg However, it should be emphasized that the overall weight-control benefits of EPOC, for men and women, from participation in resistance exercise occur over a significant time period, since kilocalories are expended at a low rate in the individual postexercise sessions.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Good article on Deadlifts (and why we push through our heels)
http://stronglifts.com/5-ways-to-avoid-lower-back-pain-from-deadlifts/
The prime movers during Deadlifts are your quadriceps, hamstrings & glutes. Your lower back, upper-back, traps & forearms perform isometric contractions: they stay contracted during the whole lift.
That’s how Deadlifts strengthen your lower back: you must keep your back rigid against a load. Unfortunately many don’t strengthen but hurt their back doing Deadlifts. Here are 5 ways to avoid lower back pain from Deadlifts.
1. Keep Your Lower Back Straight. Deadlifting with a bent back puts anterior stress on your lumbar vertebrae. This increases the risks of back injuries like hernia. You must Deadlift with a straight lower back.
Chest Up. Your back can’t round if you keep your chest up. Put your shoulder-blades back & down and keep your chest up at all times.
Bend Your Hips. Lower the weight to your knees by bending at your hips first. Unlock your knees once the bar reaches knee level.
Hip Flexibility. Tight hips will make your lower back round on Squats and when lowering the bar on Deadlifts. Do Leg Swings & Squat Stretch.
2. Use Your Glutes. The deadlift is a pull exercise. However pulling with your back increases the stress on your lower back. Pulling back is also inefficient as it means you’re not using your glutes properly.
Push Through Your Heels. Curl your toes up if needed. This makes it easier to engage your hamstrings & glutes.
Bring Your Hips Forward. Don’t pull back using your lower back. Bring your hips forward by squeezing your glutes as hard as you can.
Squeeze Your Glutes. If you have problems engaging your glutes, do glute activation exercises and check your posture for lordosis.
3. Don’t Hyper-extend Your Back. This is as bad as Deadlifting with a bent back. Hyper-extending your lower back puts posterior stress on your lumbar vertebrae, which also increases the risks of back injuries like hernia.
The Deadlift ends when your hips & knees are locked. No need to hyper-extend your lower back at the top. Lockout the weight by bringing your hips forward & squeezing your glutes hard.
4. Keep The Bar Close to You. The further the bar from your body, the greater the torque on your spine. You need to keep the bar close to you at all times.
Bar Against Shins. Start with the bar against your shins, shoulders in front of the bar & shoulder-blades directly over the bar.
Bar Against Thighs. Let the bar roll over your shins, past your knees. Bar stays in contact with your thighs at all times.
5. Use Your Legs. Deadlifts are not Stiff-legged Deadlifts. You can’t use your legs if you start with your hips too high or let your hips rise faster than your shoulders. Your lower back will be forced to do all the work.
Hip height depends on the length of your legs & torso. However the rules are the same for everyone. Bar against shins & shoulder-blades directly above the bar. Keep your chest up & push through the heels.
The prime movers during Deadlifts are your quadriceps, hamstrings & glutes. Your lower back, upper-back, traps & forearms perform isometric contractions: they stay contracted during the whole lift.
That’s how Deadlifts strengthen your lower back: you must keep your back rigid against a load. Unfortunately many don’t strengthen but hurt their back doing Deadlifts. Here are 5 ways to avoid lower back pain from Deadlifts.
1. Keep Your Lower Back Straight. Deadlifting with a bent back puts anterior stress on your lumbar vertebrae. This increases the risks of back injuries like hernia. You must Deadlift with a straight lower back.
Chest Up. Your back can’t round if you keep your chest up. Put your shoulder-blades back & down and keep your chest up at all times.
Bend Your Hips. Lower the weight to your knees by bending at your hips first. Unlock your knees once the bar reaches knee level.
Hip Flexibility. Tight hips will make your lower back round on Squats and when lowering the bar on Deadlifts. Do Leg Swings & Squat Stretch.
2. Use Your Glutes. The deadlift is a pull exercise. However pulling with your back increases the stress on your lower back. Pulling back is also inefficient as it means you’re not using your glutes properly.
Push Through Your Heels. Curl your toes up if needed. This makes it easier to engage your hamstrings & glutes.
Bring Your Hips Forward. Don’t pull back using your lower back. Bring your hips forward by squeezing your glutes as hard as you can.
Squeeze Your Glutes. If you have problems engaging your glutes, do glute activation exercises and check your posture for lordosis.
3. Don’t Hyper-extend Your Back. This is as bad as Deadlifting with a bent back. Hyper-extending your lower back puts posterior stress on your lumbar vertebrae, which also increases the risks of back injuries like hernia.
The Deadlift ends when your hips & knees are locked. No need to hyper-extend your lower back at the top. Lockout the weight by bringing your hips forward & squeezing your glutes hard.
4. Keep The Bar Close to You. The further the bar from your body, the greater the torque on your spine. You need to keep the bar close to you at all times.
Bar Against Shins. Start with the bar against your shins, shoulders in front of the bar & shoulder-blades directly over the bar.
Bar Against Thighs. Let the bar roll over your shins, past your knees. Bar stays in contact with your thighs at all times.
5. Use Your Legs. Deadlifts are not Stiff-legged Deadlifts. You can’t use your legs if you start with your hips too high or let your hips rise faster than your shoulders. Your lower back will be forced to do all the work.
Hip height depends on the length of your legs & torso. However the rules are the same for everyone. Bar against shins & shoulder-blades directly above the bar. Keep your chest up & push through the heels.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Footwear
What should you wear on your feet for workouts ?
Me - I'm a sucker for a good pair of crosstrainers - you can run in them, lift safely and do almost anything in them - they are multi purpose and useful for almost any WOD - kinda like CrossFit.
I wouldn't bother with running shoes, since we don't run a ton and when we do, it's short distances - usually 250 or 400 M, with the occassional 800 M thrown in there. Running shoes do not have adequate support for doing heavy squats, deads, cleans, etc.
Vibram Five Fingers are a new shoe that are basically a five-toed sock with a rubber coating on the bottom. Athletes who have tried them really like them...but I wonder if running outside would create havoc when you step on rocks and other crap....
You can also try barefoot - which is the way we were made to move about in the first place. In barefoot, you strike the ground with your toes and outer foot, instead of using your heel as you do with shoes. But barefoot isn't a very good option for doing olympic lifts, as you do need some cushioning when coming down from the jump and catching the weight. And I wouldn't recommend running on the dirty streets of Mpls with bare feet.
Some people like the classic Chuck Taylors - solid, gripping bottom, light, you can run, lift, jump, push off with them with no problem. Longer distances - eh, maybe not - but for CrossFit workouts they are just dandy.
Just remember, if your feet hurt, it is really difficult to do CrossFit...so wear the appropriate shoes.
Me - I'm a sucker for a good pair of crosstrainers - you can run in them, lift safely and do almost anything in them - they are multi purpose and useful for almost any WOD - kinda like CrossFit.
I wouldn't bother with running shoes, since we don't run a ton and when we do, it's short distances - usually 250 or 400 M, with the occassional 800 M thrown in there. Running shoes do not have adequate support for doing heavy squats, deads, cleans, etc.
Vibram Five Fingers are a new shoe that are basically a five-toed sock with a rubber coating on the bottom. Athletes who have tried them really like them...but I wonder if running outside would create havoc when you step on rocks and other crap....
You can also try barefoot - which is the way we were made to move about in the first place. In barefoot, you strike the ground with your toes and outer foot, instead of using your heel as you do with shoes. But barefoot isn't a very good option for doing olympic lifts, as you do need some cushioning when coming down from the jump and catching the weight. And I wouldn't recommend running on the dirty streets of Mpls with bare feet.
Some people like the classic Chuck Taylors - solid, gripping bottom, light, you can run, lift, jump, push off with them with no problem. Longer distances - eh, maybe not - but for CrossFit workouts they are just dandy.
Just remember, if your feet hurt, it is really difficult to do CrossFit...so wear the appropriate shoes.
Friday, January 1, 2010
New Year, New Direction
"Stronger people are harder to kill than weaker people and more useful in general"
With that gem in mind (thanks Rippetoe) Top Gun CrossFit is going to change things up just a bit.
We will start with the CFT and see where the numbers are.
For 5 weeks, we will work on one of three basic lifts - deadlift, back squat, overhead press - every Monday - going heavier each time. We will start at approx 80% of your 1 rep max. We will do 5x5 as that has been proven the most effective for strength and muscle growth. Every week we will increase the weight approx 5%
After 5 weeks, we move to the next exercise, repeat, then the next, repeat, then we will do the CrossFit Total and see how much we've improved on each lift.
Then it's a rest / 1/2 effort week to recover for a total of 17 weeks.
During the weeks we work on, say Deads, we will also throw in the random heavy squat or press days - we surely won't ignore them.
And we will always be doing the "Girls" and hero workouts, not to mention many heavy metcon days as well.
It's a chance to see if this type of program works (which I'm sure it will) and even though the rest of the program is random, our progression towards getting stronger is not.
With that gem in mind (thanks Rippetoe) Top Gun CrossFit is going to change things up just a bit.
We will start with the CFT and see where the numbers are.
For 5 weeks, we will work on one of three basic lifts - deadlift, back squat, overhead press - every Monday - going heavier each time. We will start at approx 80% of your 1 rep max. We will do 5x5 as that has been proven the most effective for strength and muscle growth. Every week we will increase the weight approx 5%
After 5 weeks, we move to the next exercise, repeat, then the next, repeat, then we will do the CrossFit Total and see how much we've improved on each lift.
Then it's a rest / 1/2 effort week to recover for a total of 17 weeks.
During the weeks we work on, say Deads, we will also throw in the random heavy squat or press days - we surely won't ignore them.
And we will always be doing the "Girls" and hero workouts, not to mention many heavy metcon days as well.
It's a chance to see if this type of program works (which I'm sure it will) and even though the rest of the program is random, our progression towards getting stronger is not.
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