Monthly Archives: November 2008
Good or Bad?
December 1, 2008
Three rounds
15 Hang Power Cleans
15 Toes to Bar
15 Ring Push-ups
15 Box Jumps
BURPEE CHALLENGE: Day 69
Burpees to date: 2,346
ARTICLE: ‘Bad’ Foods Which Are Good For You!
It seems that everyone has a few foods that they have ingrained in their heads to be “bad” for them. I think this stems from the Low Fat generation of 20 or so years ago who believe anything that is low in fat must be good for them or at least won’t make them fat.
This is sad as Junk Foods are advertised as ‘99% Fat Free’. Sad because it shows just how easily manipulated people are. In this case 99% fat free means the product is usually pure sugar.
So the foods deemed as “Bad” by this Low Fat Generation are usually high in fat (healthy/essential fats) and Low in Carbs lets have a look….[link]
Working hard with the new kettlebells!
Rest Day
November 30, 2008
REST DAY or complete a WOD from last week that you missed
BURPEE CHALLENGE: Day 68
Burpees to date: 2,278
This week we have looked at a number of aspects of long, slow distance exercise and how it relates to our training for both general fitness and training for competitive pursuits. For myself, fitness became fun again when I realized I could do something more effective than the hours of cardio on the machines. To finish the week long focus we will take a look at the POSE running method and a couple CrossFit Journal articles specifically about developing a training program for the long distance racer. Both CFJ articles will be available in the gym for your reading this week but it would be great if you subscribed to the Journal as it is a terrific resource for every area of our training.
ARTICLE: The Basics of POSE Running Techniques
Coach Glassman explains this in CrossFit’s “third standard of fitness” when talking about the body’s three metabolic pathways: “Favoring one or two [metabolic pathways] to the exclusion of the others and not recognizing the impact of excessive training in the oxidative pathway are arguably the two most common faults in fitness training.” Favoring one metabolic pathway (the oxidative or aerobic one trained in endurance activity, for example) could not be more wrong in principle and methodology. Having athletes doing 100+ mile bike rides three to four weeks out from the Ironman World Championships, or doing any highly oxidative training for long periods of time, makes zero sense if the athlete has already developed their ability to use oxygen effectively. The solution is to strength train and make them work at faster than normal speeds (i.e., speed training and intervals), while retaining the ability to recover.
-CrossFit Journal, Nov-07: The New World Order of Endurance Training [link]
Dr. Mel Siff, a highly regarded sports scientist and author of the book Facts and Fallacies of Fitness, points out that “twentieth-century scientists have raised the heart onto a pedestal, where it remains relatively unchallenged by any other bodily system…. Fascination with the heart has also spawned an industry which has captured the attention of health entrepreneurs and the public-long, slow distance (LSD) athleticism.Cardiac health and prolonged longevity came to be regarded as the consequence of ‘aerobic’ exercise.” Sound familiar? Moreover, he points out, all non-aerobic exercise has been deemed of little consequence in promoting cardiac health. Siff responds to that contention by citing study after study of anaerobic training and its effects on the heart (see, for example,Ralph Paffenbarger‘s studies of longshoremen and stair climbers). Astonishingly enough, hardly any studies have been conducted to show that “aerobic” (LSD) exercise is superior to any other form of exercise for preventing heart disease. So could the LSD/endurance community have it wrong? Well, let’s just say there’s more than one way to skin a cat!
-CrossFit Journal, Jan-08: The New World Order of Endurance Training [link]
Heavy Time Trial
November 29, 2008
7 x 3
Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
Push Press
Run 1 Mile
BURPEE CHALLENGE: Day 67
Burpees to date = 2,211
ARTICLE: Is Your Exercise Keeping You Fat?
With excess aerobic activity comes the increase in the hormone cortisol. As this rises so does your body’s blood sugar, in a sense you are actually going to start creating more insulin because of this. More insulin means more insulin resistance. More insulin resistance means more fat storing down the road. Although you may think you are burning fat, you may just be losing muscle and then storing more in places that will be hard to get off later. I can’t tell you how many “skinny joggers” I have seen that are low weight but high body fat % in the wrong places… [link]
CrossFit & Endurance
November 28, 2008
For Time
Run 533m
25 Knees to Elbows
35 Ball Slams
50 One arm snatches
35 Ball Slams
25 Knees to Elbows
Run 533m
BURPEE CHALLENGE: Day 66
Burpees to date = 2,145
So how are people using CrossFit in their training programs if they are also training for endurance sports? Glad you asked. See CrossFit Endurance for training plans for the specific sport you are interested in.
“This website is to be used with the Main Site WOD as our top athletes have seen the best results from following it and this program. Follow the directions as indicated on each days WOD. If you aren’t recovering and hitting times that you should hit, take a day or two off… Recovery is why you get better, not more training!”
Happy Thanksgiving
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
November 27, 2008
ONLY ONE CLASS ON THANKSGIVING. WE START AT 9AM. SEE YOU THERE.
Team Workout
For each person performing the workout complete:
Run 400m
100 Squats
80 Sit-ups
60 Kettlebell Swings, 1 pood
40 Push-ups
20 Knees to Elbows
10 Pull-ups
BURPEE CHALLENGE: Day 65
Burpees to date = 2,080
Next in our week long focus of CrossFit methods and endurance training or “cardio” we address the idea that aerobic training is the best way to lose fat. While it can be an effective weight loss method, you may not be losing as much fat as you think and you may be stifling your overall fitness. The CrossFit Journal is a great resource for understanding why we train hard and fast versus moderately and continually. We can give thanks today that we are free from the bonds of the cardio room.
ARTICLE: What is Fitness?
Aerobic training benefits cardiovascular function and decreases body fat – all good. Aerobic conditioning allows us to engage in low power extended efforts efficiently (cardio/respiratory endurance and stamina). This is critical to many sports. Athletes engaged in sports or training where a preponderance of the training load is spent in aerobic efforts witness decreases in muscle mass, strength, speed, and power. It is not uncommon to find marathoners with a vertical leap of only several inches! Furthermore, aerobic activity has a pronounced tendency to decrease anaerobic capacity. This does not bode well for most athletes or those interested in elite fitness.
Anaerobic activity also benefits cardiovascular function and decreases body fat! In fact, anaerobic exercise is superior to aerobic exercise for fat loss! Anaerobic activity is, however, unique in its capacity to dramatically improve power, speed, strength, and muscle mass. Anaerobic conditioning allows us to exert tremendous forces over brief time intervals. One aspect of anaerobic conditioning that bears great consideration is that anaerobic conditioning will not adversely affect aerobic capacity. In fact, properly structured, anaerobic activity can be used to develop a very high level of aerobic fitness without the muscle wasting consistent with high volumes of aerobic exercise!! The method by which we use anaerobic efforts to develop aerobic conditioning is “interval training [link]
Kardio
November 26, 2008
Total rounds in 20 minutes of:
6 Deadlifts
12 Dumbbell Cleans
24 Sit-ups
BURPEE CHALLENGE: Day 64
Burpees to date = 2,016
I’m not the only person who gets snarky from time to time. Super Trainer Kelly Starrett from San Francisco CrossFit weighs in with a great post about the “need” for more cardio and why it’s a fallacy that more time on the Stairmaster is improving your fitness. What if you could burn more calories while you were resting?
ARTICLE: No, it’s Kardio, With a K
One of the most brilliant aspects of CrossFit programming and one that is not often discussed is the fact that you can CrossFit, and NOT have to consume a ton more calories. This phenomenon means that there is ultimately less oxidative load on the body AND the body will consume more calories at rest. [link]
Angie
November 25, 2008
“Angie”
For time:
100 Pull-ups
100 Push-ups
100 Sit-ups
100 Squats
BURPEE CHALLENGE: Day 63
Burpees to date = 1,953 – Today we go over 2,000!
Long hours on the treadmill, the stationary bike or the elliptical. It wasn’t effective and it sure wasn’t any fun. I don’t blame the not-to-be-named Athletic Club in Redmond, they don’t know any better. They have a business model that demands they not interact with their customers. Is more really better? Do you need to spend an hour (or more!) in the cardio room 5 times a week? At CrossFit Redmond we expect you to come in regularly and we hit our workouts with intensity so we don’t have to live in the cardio room. The following article makes a case against the current over reliance of long cardio sessions.
ARTICLE: A Case Against Cardio (from a former mileage king)
Unfortunately, the popular wisdom of the past 40 years – that we would all be better off doing 45 minutes to an hour a day of intense aerobic activity – has created a generation of overtrained, underfit, immune-compromised exerholics.
…this current popular high intensity aerobic pursuit is a dead-end. It requires huge amounts carbohydrate (sugar) to sustain, it promotes hyperinsulinemia (overproduction of insulin), increases oxidative damage (the production of free radicals) by a factor of 10 or 20 times normal, and generates high levels of the stress hormone cortisol in many people, leaving them susceptible to infection, injury, loss of bone density and depletion of lean muscle tissue – while encouraging their bodies to deposit fat. Far from that healthy pursuit we all assumed it was! What, then, is the answer? [link]
