Monthly Archives: June 2009
June 23, 2009
“Hercules”
Complete 5 rounds of:
1 Shoulder Press
3 Push Press
5 Push Jerks
Increase weight each round.
Record weight for each round.
What Does Dan Do? Part III
“Helen”
3 Rounds for time
Run 400m
21 Kettlebell Swings, 1.5 pood
12 Pull-ups
So I preach about nutrition a lot but what do I actually eat? I actually put a lot (some would say too much) thought into my nutrition plan. I have a base strategy for determining how much and what I eat and have a process for adjusting the quantities to match my planned activity level for the day.
I base my nutrition plan on Zone proportions with a menu of Paleo foods, adjusted for a highly active, regular CrossFit athlete per Robb Wolf’s prescription. Lets define some terms before we get too far into the details.
The Zone prescribes that calories from carbohydrates, fat and protein make up 40%, 30% and 30%, respectively, of you intake at each meal or snack. The Zone is about food quantity.
The Paleo diet eliminates food products and focuses on “real” foods. These are naturally occurring foods as opposed to processed or manmade.
Zone Adjustments, or the Athlete Zone, is a strategy for tweaking the Zone proportions to fit a highly active persons energy needs.
Think about that and next we will look at my Zone basis…
A little motivation for you…
June 20, 2009
“Mr. Joshua”
5 Rounds for time
Run 400m
30 GHD Sit-ups
15 Deadlift, 250lbs
SO1 Joshua Thomas Harris, 36, drowned during combat operations, August 30th 2008 in Afghanistan. He is survived by his parents Dr. Sam and Evelyn Harris, his brother Ranchor and twin sister Kiki.
What Does Dan Do, Part II
What Does Dan Do, Part II
So I use the 3 on / 1 off schedule prescribed at crossfit.com. I suppose the next thing to ask is when I do these workouts. I know most people need to plan a time to do their workouts or it just doesn’t happen. Since my schedule is flexible I can find time to workout in the morning afternoon or evening. I really don’t have a preference of what time I complete the WOD but I prefer to lift heavy or do muscle-ups mid-afternoon. It’s no more complicated than I feel stiff in the morning (How old does that sound?) and it takes me at least twice as long to feel ready to train these exercises.
Why even bring that up. What this tells me is that I should do some heavy days and workouts with MUs in the morning. My scores aren’t nearly as good at 5:30am as they are at 3:00pm and I don’t feel quite as good working, but if we believe in the constantly varied component of CrossFit then no workout should ever have a specific time that we do it. I have recently been tossing around the idea of a midnight WOD. I won’t start a 2am class, dragging myself out of bed in the middle of the night and hitting a WOD would be a completely different scenario than I have ever experienced, not unlike what happens in the normal day of a firefighter.
Another factor in determining when I will workout is the weather. This past winter I found a couple days to workout in the snow. The bad footing, frozen hands and cold air in the lungs made for a completely different experience than in the warm(er) and dry gym. During the summer I will plan a long workout for late afternoon when I know it’s going to be a grueling slog, just to have a different experience.
So if anyone is up for a 1:30am 3-2-1 Go! let me know, I’d love to have some company.
What Does Dan Do, Part 1
5 x 3 Bench Press
Complete for time
Row 1000m
30 Squat Cleans, 95/65
50 Push-up
As your trainer I give you advice all the time on diet, exercise and other life related issues. At some point I imagine you get tired of hearing me tell you to reduce carbs, exercise harder not longer and to get enough sleep. I want to share with you what I do and why I do it so that you know I actually do this stuff and that I think it works.
The first topic I want to address is how often I workout.
I tell people the best results are found in people who come more often and the magic seems to really happen once you reach 3 times at CrossFit each week. It’s not just that I want you here more often (I do) and it’s not that 3 times a week is best (it’s not) I just have seen that the folks who come 3 or more times a week advance much more quickly. Add a fourth or fifth day and the results seem to pile on.
So what do I do? I train 5 or 6 days each week. My schedule is different each week because I workout for 3 days and then take a rest day. That means that 25% of the days are rest days. That may sound like a lot of rest but it’s not; I need my recovery when it comes around. I follow the mainsite WOD mainly but will substitute a CFR WOD if it works out that I can train with a class.
When I tell you to train more it’s because I know the gains that come from following a substantial training schedule.
June 17, 2009
5 Rounds for time
50 Walking Lunges
35 Sit-ups
25 Box Jumps
Why don’t you eat fat? I’m not talking about avocados and nuts, I’m asking why you avoid fat from animals. I bet you don’t know. Do you use butter or I can’t believe it’s not butter to fry your eggs in. Do you drink non-fat milk? Why? The most likely reasons are probably weight loss and fear of heart attacks. I have good news! You can eat real butter, drink real milk and you’re not fat because of dietary fats.
We recommend that you find a rancher (or use mine) to get healthy grass fed cows and pastured pigs and poultry. The meat is healthy because the animals are raised in healthy environments eating a natural diet. The same goes for fat from these fine creatures which is great for cooking and adds flavor.
Mark’s Daily Apple talks about the different kinds of fat and what makes them useful in the kitchen.
By the way, you’re overweight and not losing like you want to because you (still) eat too many refined carbohydrates and grain based food products. Stop that and you will lose weight.
