Friday's WOD

I will be able to attend tomorrow's workout now that I'm shifting to a night schedule for the next several days. Our WOD is another tough Crossfit benchmark:

BARBARA

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

Rest precisely three minutes between each round.

Bring a stopwatch so you can track your three minute rest periods between rounds.

Wednesday's WOD Results

Man, it was HOT and HUMID in there today! Good job everyone and welcome to all the new guys; hope to see you back.

OK, now for the bad news; there will be no organized class on Friday. Dave and Joel are involved in training and I will be headed up to Fort Worth to GSX CrossFit (http://gsxcrossfit.blogspot.com/) to be a judge in the Southwest Regional CrossFit Qualifiers for the 2009 CrossFit Games. Tomorrow I will post a WOD you can execute on your own on Friday of you want.

I really encourage you guys to come up and watch, if you have the opportunity. You will get a chance to see some of the top CrossFitters in the nation go at it as hard as they can. Plus, GSX is a great facility with some great trainers. Tucker runs the box and he's also the guy who travels around doing gymnastic certifications for CrossFit. If you guys are interested in us hosting him for a gymnastic cert, let me know.

Here is a link to the webpage with all the details of the qualifiers: http://www.southwestcfregionals.com/ There is plenty of free parking and they will have vendors and food available.

I'll definitely be there Friday night and I'm judging on Sunday so I'll be there all day. If I don't have any duties on Saturday, I'll be here.

We will have a new female trainer assisting us beginning on Monday (I think). Her name is Erin and she's a Level I certified CrossFit trainer who has been training people for a while. She and her husband just PCS'd here and we are looking forward to her knowledge and experience getting added into the mix!

OK, now the results; sorry if I missed your time or weight - just post the correction to the blog comments:

Adam - 10:37 15# (7 rnds)
Julio - 11:30 20#
Jenn - 13:58 20#?
Ray - 12:54 rx
Russ - 12:25 20#
Ryan - 11:18 25#
VZ - 15:32 Rx
Andy - ??
Maria - 15:03 15#
Renee' - 18:38 5#
Carla - 16:41 5#
Alicia - 14:56
Reagan - 17:52 Rx
Megan - 11:17 rnds??
Valerie - 18:25 #??
Mike - 12:54 30#
Nate - 12:51 Rx
Don - 17:27 Rx

Wednesday's WOD

10 rounds for time of:

10 dumbbell hang squat cleans (men's - 35# / women's 25#)
10 push-ups

Here is a video of this WOD being executed: http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_PatAdrianHSCPushupWOD.wmv

Monday's Results

WOW! That WOD SUCKED!! Well done everyone, that's a heck of a way to start off the week....

Maria - 37:59
Valerie - 30:29
Jenn - 36:51
Reagan - 33:02
Ken - 47:21
Allen - 43:26
Adam - 25:30 (1 full round, other 2 scaled to 50%)
Dave - 33:14
Don - 39:58

Monday's WOD

3 Rounds for time of:

800m Run

40 Wall Ball Shots - http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/WallBall.wmv

30 Push-Ups - http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_PushupStandards.wmv

20 Knees to Elbows - http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_Knees2Elbows.wmv

fat head

Good video on why insulin control is critical!

http://www.fathead-movie.com/

No-Bologna Facts
- There’s never been a single study that proves saturated fat causes heart disease.
- As heart-disease rates were skyrocketing in the mid-1900s, consumption of animal fat was going down, not up. Consumption of vegetable oils, however, was going up dramatically.
- Half of all heart-attack victims have normal or low cholesterol. Autopsies performed on heart-attack victims routinely reveal plaque-filled arteries in people whose cholesterol was low (as low as 115 in one case).
- Asian Indians - half of whom are vegetarians - have one of the highest rates of heart disease in the entire world. Yup, that fatty meat will kill you, all right.
- When Morgan Spurlock tells you that a McDonald’s salad supplies almost a day’s allowance of fat, he’s basing that statement on the FDA’s low-fat/high-carbohydrate dietary guidelines, which in turn are based on … absolutely nothing. There’s no science behind those guidelines; they were simply made up by a congressional committee.
- Kids who were diagnosed as suffering from ADD have been successfully treated by re-introducing natural saturated fats into their diets. Your brain is made largely of fat.
- Many epileptics have reduced or eliminated seizures by adopting a diet low in sugar and starch and high in saturated animal fats.
- Despite everything you’ve heard about saturated fat being linked to cancer, that link is statistically weak. However, there is a strong link between sugar and cancer. In Europe, doctors tell patients, “Sugar feeds cancer.”
- Being fat is not, in and of itself, bad for your health. The behaviors that can make you fat - eating excess sugar and starch, not getting any exercise - can also ruin your health, and that’s why being fat is associated with bad health. But it’s entirely possible to be fat and healthy. It’s also possible to be thin while developing Type II diabetes and heart disease.
- Saturated fat and cholesterol help produce testosterone. When men limit their saturated fat, their testosterone level drops. So, regardless of what a famous vegan chef believes, saturated fat does not impair sexual performance.

The painful truth about trainers: Are running shoes a waste of money?

You ever wonder why I run in my Vibram Five Fingers instead of "running" shoes? Or why Dave will run barefoot or in his super thin shoes?

The reason is we both Pose run ( http://www.posetech.com/) - which is running primarily on the balls of our feet with our heels just kissing the ground. This is how we were designed to run and if you watch children run you'll see a perfect example of it. This all goes to crap once we strap on out super padded running shoes and begin pounding our heels on the pavement. Along with all that padding, we also get shin splints, planter faciitis, Achilles heel issues and a number of other problems.

Great article that was on CrossFit Endurance (http://www.crossfitendurance.com/). The original article can be found here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-painful-truth-trainers-Are-expensive-running-shoes-waste-money.html#

Thrust enhancers, roll bars, microchips...the $20 billion running - shoe industry wants us to believe that the latest technologies will cushion every stride. Yet in this extract from his controversial new book, Christopher McDougall claims that injury rates for runners are actually on the rise, that everything we've been told about running shoes is wrong - and that it might even be better to go barefoot...
By CHRISTOPHER McDOUGALL
Last updated at 8:01 PM on 19th April 2009

Every year, anywhere from 65 to 80 per cent of all runners suffer an injury. No matter who you are, no matter how much you run, your odds of getting hurt are the same
At Stanford University, California, two sales representatives from Nike were watching the athletics team practise. Part of their job was to gather feedback from the company's sponsored runners about which shoes they preferred.

Unfortunately, it was proving difficult that day as the runners all seemed to prefer... nothing.
'Didn't we send you enough shoes?' they asked head coach Vin Lananna. They had, he was just refusing to use them.

'I can't prove this,' the well-respected coach told them.

'But I believe that when my runners train barefoot they run faster and suffer fewer injuries.'

Nike sponsored the Stanford team as they were the best of the very best. Needless to say, the reps were a little disturbed to hear that Lananna felt the best shoes they had to offer them were not as good as no shoes at all.

When I was told this anecdote it came as no surprise. I'd spent years struggling with a variety of running-related injuries, each time trading up to more expensive shoes, which seemed to make no difference. I'd lost count of the amount of money I'd handed over at shops and sports-injury clinics - eventually ending with advice from my doctor to give it up and 'buy a bike'.

And I wasn't on my own. Every year, anywhere from 65 to 80 per cent of all runners suffer an injury. No matter who you are, no matter how much you run, your odds of getting hurt are the same. It doesn't matter if you're male or female, fast or slow, pudgy or taut as a racehorse, your feet are still in the danger zone.

But why? How come Roger Bannister could charge out of his Oxford lab every day, pound around a hard cinder track in thin leather slippers, not only getting faster but never getting hurt, and set a record before lunch?

Then there's the secretive Tarahumara tribe, the best long-distance runners in the world. These are a people who live in basic conditions in Mexico, often in caves without running water, and run with only strips of old tyre or leather thongs strapped to the bottom of their feet. They are virtually barefoot.

Come race day, the Tarahumara don't train. They don't stretch or warm up. They just stroll to the starting line, laughing and bantering, and then go for it, ultra-running for two full days, sometimes covering over 300 miles, non-stop. For the fun of it. One of them recently came first in a prestigious 100-mile race wearing nothing but a toga and sandals. He was 57 years old.

When it comes to preparation, the Tarahumara prefer more of a Mardi Gras approach. In terms of diet, lifestyle and training technique, they're a track coach's nightmare. They drink like New Year's Eve is a weekly event, tossing back enough corn-based beer and homemade tequila brewed from rattlesnake corpses to floor an army.

Unlike their Western counterparts, the Tarahumara don't replenish their bodies with electrolyte-rich sports drinks. They don't rebuild between workouts with protein bars; in fact, they barely eat any protein at all, living on little more than ground corn spiced up by their favourite delicacy, barbecued mouse.

How come they're not crippled?

I've watched them climb sheer cliffs with no visible support on nothing more than an hour's sleep and a stomach full of pinto beans. It's as if a clerical error entered the stats in the wrong columns. Shouldn't we, the ones with state-of-the-art running shoes and custom-made orthotics, have the zero casualty rate, and the Tarahumara, who run far more, on far rockier terrain, in shoes that barely qualify as shoes, be constantly hospitalised?

The answer, I discovered, will make for unpalatable reading for the $20 billion trainer-manufacturing industry. It could also change runners' lives forever.

Dr Daniel Lieberman, professor of biological anthropology at Harvard University, has been studying the growing injury crisis in the developed world for some time and has come to a startling conclusion: 'A lot of foot and knee injuries currently plaguing us are caused by people running with shoes that actually make our feet weak, cause us to over-pronate (ankle rotation) and give us knee problems.

'Until 1972, when the modern athletic shoe was invented, people ran in very thin-soled shoes, had strong feet and had a much lower incidence of knee injuries.'

Lieberman also believes that if modern trainers never existed more people would be running. And if more people ran, fewer would be suffering from heart disease, hypertension, blocked arteries, diabetes, and most other deadly ailments of the Western world.

'Humans need aerobic exercise in order to stay healthy,' says Lieberman. 'If there's any magic bullet to make human beings healthy, it's to run.'

The modern running shoe was essentially invented by Nike. The company was founded in the Seventies by Phil Knight, a University of Oregon runner, and Bill Bowerman, the University of Oregon coach.

Before these two men got together, the modern running shoe as we know it didn't exist. Runners from Jesse Owens through to Roger Bannister all ran with backs straight, knees bent, feet scratching back under their hips. They had no choice: their only shock absorption came from the compression of their legs and their thick pad of midfoot fat. Thumping down on their heels was not an option.

Despite all their marketing suggestions to the contrary, no manufacturer has ever invented a shoe that is any help at all in injury prevention

Bowerman didn't actually do much running. He only started to jog a little at the age of 50, after spending time in New Zealand with Arthur Lydiard, the father of fitness running and the most influential distance-running coach of all time. Bowerman came home a convert, and in 1966 wrote a best-selling book whose title introduced a new word and obsession to the fitness-aware public: Jogging.

In between writing and coaching, Bowerman came up with the idea of sticking a hunk of rubber under the heel of his pumps. It was, he said, to stop the feet tiring and give them an edge. With the heel raised, he reasoned, gravity would push them forward ahead of the next man. Bowerman called Nike's first shoe the Cortez - after the conquistador who plundered the New World for gold and unleashed a horrific smallpox epidemic.

It is an irony not wasted on his detractors. In essence, he had created a market for a product and then created the product itself.

'It's genius, the kind of stuff they study in business schools,' one commentator said.

Bowerman's partner, Knight, set up a manufacturing deal in Japan and was soon selling shoes faster than they could come off the assembly line.

'With the Cortez's cushioning, we were in a monopoly position probably into the Olympic year, 1972,' Knight said.

The rest is history.

The company's annual turnover is now in excess of $17 billion and it has a major market share in over 160 countries.

Since then, running-shoe companies have had more than 30 years to perfect their designs so, logically, the injury rate must be in freefall by now.

After all, Adidas has come up with a $250 shoe with a microprocessor in the sole that instantly adjusts cushioning for every stride. Asics spent $3 million and eight years (three more years than it took to create the first atomic bomb) to invent the Kinsei, a shoe that boasts 'multi-angled forefoot gel pods', and a 'midfoot thrust enhancer'. Each season brings an expensive new purchase for the average runner.

But at least you know you'll never limp again. Or so the leading companies would have you believe. Despite all their marketing suggestions to the contrary, no manufacturer has ever invented a shoe that is any help at all in injury prevention.
If anything, the injury rates have actually ebbed up since the Seventies - Achilles tendon blowouts have seen a ten per cent increase. (It's not only shoes that can create the problem: research in Hawaii found runners who stretched before exercise were 33 per cent more likely to get hurt.)

In a paper for the British Journal Of Sports Medicine last year, Dr Craig Richards, a researcher at the University of Newcastle in Australia, revealed there are no evidence-based studies that demonstrate running shoes make you less prone to injury. Not one.

It was an astonishing revelation that had been hidden for over 35 years. Dr Richards was so stunned that a $20 billion industry seemed to be based on nothing but empty promises and wishful thinking that he issued the following challenge: 'Is any running-shoe company prepared to claim that wearing their distance running shoes will decrease your risk of suffering musculoskeletal running injuries? Is any shoe manufacturer prepared to claim that wearing their running shoes will improve your distance running performance? If you are prepared to make these claims, where is your peer-reviewed data to back it up?'

Dr Richards waited and even tried contacting the major shoe companies for their data. In response, he got silence.

So, if running shoes don't make you go faster and don't stop you from getting hurt, then what, exactly, are you paying for? What are the benefits of all those microchips, thrust enhancers, air cushions, torsion devices and roll bars?

The answer is still a mystery. And for Bowerman's old mentor, Arthur Lydiard, it all makes sense.

'We used to run in canvas shoes,' he said.

'We didn't get plantar fasciitis (pain under the heel); we didn't pronate or supinate (land on the edge of the foot); we might have lost a bit of skin from the rough canvas when we were running marathons, but generally we didn't have foot problems.

'Paying several hundred dollars for the latest in hi-tech running shoes is no guarantee you'll avoid any of these injuries and can even guarantee that you will suffer from them in one form or another. Shoes that let your foot function like you're barefoot - they're the shoes for me.'

Soon after those two Nike sales reps reported back from Stanford, the marketing team set to work to see if it could make money from the lessons it had learned. Jeff Pisciotta, the senior researcher at Nike Sports Research Lab, assembled 20 runners on a grassy field and filmed them running barefoot.

When he zoomed in, he was startled by what he found. Instead of each foot clomping down as it would in a shoe, it behaved like an animal with a mind of its own - stretching, grasping, seeking the ground with splayed toes, gliding in for a landing like a lake-bound swan.

'It's beautiful to watch,' Pisciotta later told me. 'That made us start thinking that when you put a shoe on, it starts to take over some of the control.'

Pisciotta immediately deployed his team to gather film of every existing barefoot culture they could find.

'We found pockets of people all over the globe who are still running barefoot, and what you find is that, during propulsion and landing, they have far more range of motion in the foot and engage more of the toe. Their feet flex, spread, splay and grip the surface, meaning you have less pronation and more distribution of pressure.'

Nike's response was to find a way to make money off a naked foot. It took two years of work before Pisciotta was ready to unveil his masterpiece. It was presented in TV ads that showed Kenyan runners padding along a dirt trail, swimmers curling their toes around a starting block, gymnasts, Brazilian capoeira dancers, rock climbers, wrestlers, karate masters and beach soccer players.

And then comes the grand finale: we cut back to the Kenyans, whose bare feet are now sporting some kind of thin shoe. It's the new Nike Free, a shoe thinner than the old Cortez dreamt up by Bowerman in the Seventies. And its slogan?

'Run Barefoot.'

The price of this return to nature?

A conservative £65. But, unlike the real thing, experts may still advise you to change them every three months.

Edited extract from 'Born To Run' by Christopher McDougall, £16.99, on sale from April 23

PAINFUL TRUTH No 1
THE BEST SHOES AND THE WORST

Runners wearing top-of-the-line trainers are 123 per cent more likely to get injured than runners in cheap ones. This was discovered as far back as 1989, according to a study led by Dr Bernard Marti, the leading preventative-medicine specialist at Switzerland's University of Bern.

Dr Marti's research team analysed 4,358 runners in the Bern Grand Prix, a 9.6-mile road race. All the runners filled out an extensive questionnaire that detailed their training habits and footwear for the previous year; as it turned out, 45 per cent had been hurt during that time. But what surprised Dr Marti was the fact that the most common variable among the casualties wasn't training surface, running speed, weekly mileage or 'competitive training motivation'.

It wasn't even body weight or a history of previous injury. It was the price of the shoe. Runners in shoes that cost more than $95 were more than twice as likely to get hurt as runners in shoes that cost less than $40.

Follow-up studies found similar results, like the 1991 report in Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise that found that 'wearers of expensive running shoes that are promoted as having additional features that protect (eg, more cushioning, 'pronation correction') are injured significantly more frequently than runners wearing inexpensive shoes.'

What a cruel joke: for double the price, you get double the pain. Stanford coach Vin Lananna had already spotted the same phenomenon.'I once ordered highend shoes for the team and within two weeks we had more plantar fasciitis and Achilles problems than I'd ever seen.

So I sent them back. Ever since then, I've always ordered low-end shoes. It's not because I'm cheap. It's because I'm in the business of making athletes run fast and stay healthy.'

PAINFUL TRUTH No 2
FEET LIKE A GOOD BEATING

Despite pillowy-sounding names such as 'MegaBounce', all that cushioning does nothing to reduce impact. Logically, that should be obvious - the impact on your legs from running can be up to 12 times your weight, so it's preposterous to believe a half-inch of rubber is going to make a difference.

When it comes to sensing the softest caress or tiniest grain of sand, your toes are as finely wired as your lips and fingertips. It's these nerve endings that tell your foot how to react to the changing ground beneath, not a strip of rubber.

To help prove this point, Dr Steven Robbins and Dr Edward Waked of McGill University, Montreal, performed a series of lengthy tests on gymnasts. They found that the thicker the landing mat, the harder the gymnasts landed. Instinctively, the gymnasts were searching for stability. When they sensed a soft surface underfoot, they slapped down hard to ensure balance. Runners do the same thing. When you run in cushioned shoes, your feet are pushing through the soles in search of a hard, stable platform.

'Currently available sports shoes are too soft and thick, and should be redesigned if they are to protect humans performing sports,' the researchers concluded.

To add weight to their argument, the acute-injury rehabilitation specialist David Smyntek carried out an experiment of his own. He had grown wary that the people telling him to trade in his favourite shoes every 300-500 miles were the same people who sold them to him.

But how was it, he wondered, that Arthur Newton, for instance, one of the greatest ultrarunners of all time, who broke the record for the 100-mile Bath-London run at the age of 51, never replaced his thin-soled canvaspumps until he'd put at least 4,000 miles on them?

So Smyntek changed tack. Whenever his shoes got thin, he kept on running. When the outside edge started to go, he swapped the right for the left and kept running. Five miles a day, every day.

Once he realised he could run comfortably in broken-down, even wrong-footed shoes, he had his answer. If he wasn't using them the way they were designed, maybe that design wasn't such a big deal after all.

He now only buys cheap trainers.

PAINFUL TRUTH No 3
HUMAN BEINGS ARE DESIGNED TO RUN WITHOUT SHOES
'Barefoot running has been one of my training philosophies for years,' says Gerard Hartmann, the Irish physical therapist who treats all the world's finest distance runners, including Paula Radcliffe.

Ethiopian Abebe Bikila on his way to gold in the 1960 Olympic marathon - running barefoot
For decades, Dr Hartmann has been watching the explosion of ever more structured running shoes with dismay. 'Pronation has become this very bad word, but it's just the natural movement of the foot,' he says. 'The foot is supposed to pronate.'

To see pronation in action, kick off your shoes and run down the driveway. On a hard surface, your feet will automatically shift to selfdefence mode: you'll find yourself landing on the outside edge of your foot, then gently rolling from little toe over to big until your foot is flat. That's pronation - a mild, shockabsorbing twist that allows your arch to compress.

Your foot's centrepiece is the arch, the greatest weight-bearing design ever created. The beauty of any arch is the way it gets stronger under stress; the harder you push down, the tighter its parts mesh. Push up from underneath and you weaken the whole structure.

'Putting your feet in shoes is similar to putting them in a plaster cast,' says Dr Hartmann. 'If I put your leg in plaster, we'll find 40 to 60 per cent atrophy of the musculature within six weeks. Something similar happens to your feet when they're encased in shoes.'

When shoes are doing the work, tendons stiffen and muscles shrivel. Work them out and they'll arc up. 'I've worked with the best Kenyan runners,' says Hartmann, 'and they all have marvellous elasticity in their feet. That comes from never running in shoes until you're 17.'

SO SHOULD WE ALL BE RUNNING BAREFOOT?
BY JUSTIN COULTER, SPORTS PODIATRIST

Running barefoot may have some benefit in muscle strengthening as the muscles have to 'tune in' to the vibrations caused by impact loading.

If, like Zola Budd, you grew up running barefoot on a South African farm, your tissue tolerance would adapt over time. But for someone who has grown up wearing shoes and is a natural heel striker (see right), the impact loading will be beyond tissue tolerance level, and injury will occur.

We are all individuals, therefore it is prudent to have your own running technique assessed and work around that.

As for getting out your old worn out trainers and running in them - don't! Based on the individual's size and running surfaces/conditions shoes should be changed between 500-1,000 miles. It's best to seek the advice of a specialist running store.

Flippin' crazy!

What a great way to end the week - you guys did awesome! That's a great, whole body WOD and your forearms will be really sore tomorrow as a result.

You guys had some great form ,cleaning the tires and getting under it to receive its weight.

I'll get a slide show of it up tomorrow.

OK, here are the results:

Don - 13:59 (shattered my old PR of 15:02 on that same tire!!)
Reagan - 18:19
Maria - 20:52
Ken - 22:37
Jenn - 23:09
Allen - 25:14
Emily - 21:20
Leslie - 22:06
Dave - 19:44 - (Super Dave was flipping a MUCH heavier tire!)
Joel - 16:59
Alicia - 23:18

you ever wonder why...

there are huge tires stacked up against the box????

Well Friday you get to find out!!

For time:

100 tire flips with jumps

To execute this properly, you bend down, clean the tire, push it over, jump into the center , jump out and over the other side, then run back around the tire to the side you started, clean it, push it over, jump into the center, jump over the other side, etc.

We'll scale by pairing people up on a tire as required. Since we now have 8 tires we should be able to get this done in a couple of iterations.

fast and furious and Joel is the king!

Great effort everyone! that was a quick WOD but still a smoker. Friday's WOD will be outside and will be fun!!

Here are the results - forgive me if I'm off on your load or don't have it.

Leslie - 8:35 - 180#
Renee' - 10:36 - 45#
Brandon - 6:21 - 225#
Joel - 5:02 - Rx - AWESOME!
Dave - 5:14 - Rx
Lilla - 6:42
Russ - 7:44 - 195#
Valerie - 5:37
Ray - 10:52 - 185#
Ken - 8:02 - Rx
Veronica - 9:32 - 45#
Andy - 9:44 - 45#
Alicia - 7:10 - 125#
Maria - 7:32 - 125#
Allen - 8:38
Angela - 6:59
Mary - 9:33
Emily - 7:22 - 95#
Julio - 7:01 - 185#
Don - 5:31 - Rx

Does anyone have a folding table they can bring to Friday's gathering? Also, if you have folding chairs / chairs in a bag and can bring those, it will help. We have 6 or 7 chairs available for outside seating but that's it!

According to our initial SWAG, we are thinking we'll have around 20 adults and 15 kids - 35 total. Just keep that in mind, when deciding what and how much food / drinks to bring.

We'll be ready to kick it off NLT 1700 / 5:00 pm on Friday; for those of you who don't know where we live, I'll provide directions on Friday after the WOD or email me for them.

I saw this on CrossFit Fairfax (http://crossfitfairfax.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1) today and thought it was worth sharing.

Crossfit and the Warrior Within
By Lisbeth Darsh

Most of us are not Marines or Navy SEALs. Not all of us are cops or firefighters. Most of us don’t live heroic lives or even talk about bravery in any real context. We know little of real need, and less of sacrifice. Instead of facing danger daily, most of us face boredom daily; there is too much of everything in America. We have wants and large appetites. Discipline is relegated to putting half a teaspoon of sugar in our tea, or buying a smaller car to save on gas, or skipping dessert. Like it or not, this is modern-day America. We are not warriors. Yet, within our microcosm of daily abundance, we CrossFit. We willingly subject ourselves to a rigorous, demanding program that brings us to our knees. Why?Why CrossFit? Why not just go to a globo-gym and use the cupholder on the elliptical and watch the mindless television on the treadmill and push ourselves only as hard as we feel like? Why not take the easy path? Why subject ourselves to an hour of agony each day, alone in our garages, or in a group at an affiliate, driven by some crazed trainer who asks questions like, “Doesn’t that suck?” And when we gasp, “Yes!” she laughs and hoots, “Faster!” Why take the sweat-soaked, muscle-aching, tear-producing, hand-tremoring path of pain and perseverance that goes by the name CrossFit?

Because we must. Because CrossFit hurts. Because it makes us cry. Because it really sucks. Because it is the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do. Because it is the easiest thing we’ve ever had to do. Because we hate it. Because we love it. Because, ultimately, we want to know what courage really is. Because, in all of our time on this planet, we have never once put our lives on the line and learned what it really, really means to be afraid and step forward anyway. Because in the darkest depths of our workouts, in the minute of greatest pain, in that last ten Burpees of the Filthy Fifty, in the last Clean of “Linda”, in that airless, starry moment when we place one foot over the edge of the cliff and walk forward to see if the very clouds themselves will hold us up, in that moment – that moment alone — we are truly alive.

Matraca Berg sang it best: “Leap. And a net will appear.” That net is us – the person we didn’t know we could be, the warrior within, the conqueror unleashed – that very part of us that forces perseverance, that demands discipline, no matter the consequences. CrossFit brings us to that place inside of ourselves.

In this plush, overfed part of the world that we live in, CrossFit strips us to the bone and lets us see the very marrow of our souls. And what lies there, inside of us, is not always pretty. Sometimes it is a bitter heart, or a quitter’s attitude, or a cheater’s nature. It is raw and revealed and naked. But it is us. It is who we are, who we were, and, most importantly, who we will be if we do not work harder. In that realization of our own inadequacies, however, lies our very salvation. For, within the confines of the Workout of the Day, if we’re lucky, in that moment of dedication and drive, in that frenzy of encouragement, support, and love for our fellow CrossFitters, we also catch a glimpse of our very best selves – and, if we’re observant, we see it in others too. Through our CrossFitting efforts, we see who we could become, with a little more effort, a little more honesty, and a little more courage. Just like a faster 5K time, that better self is within our grasp; if we try hard enough, if we do the work, if we believe. Try. Work. Believe.

This is the true challenge: to use CrossFit to become a better person, not just at CrossFit, but in life. Allow CrossFit to awaken that warrior within and then use this force to make a difference. How do we do this? By not settling for the easy option. By not using the phrase “good enough.” By learning to use — to live — words like “serve” and “sacrifice” and “community.” By doing the right thing. Always. Even when it hurts the most. Especially when it hurts the most. By living our lives so that thorough examination of our actions reveals only character, prudence, and honor. By living as a warrior should. Now, more than ever, in this overindulgent society of ours, we need warriors. We cannot continue to expect our warrior class – our Marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen, cops, and firefighters – to bear the entire burden of protecting the very fabric of our society. We all, in small ways, must do what we can in our communities to uphold values like honesty and justice and responsibility. We must be warriors in our hearts, willing to fight for what is right, and to face the enemy, even when the enemy is us. When we CrossFit, maybe in some small way, we take that first step toward mentally joining the warrior class. And then, hopefully, we take another step. Hopefully, we inspire those around us to join us in what could be described as a crusade for a better society, a better nation, and a better world. The future really is in our hands.Leap. And the net will appear.

Hump Day WOD

Quick WOD

5rds
5 Deadlifts
10 Burpees

Mens - 275
Womens - 195

We will scale as needed

Proof

Ok So i told you guys yesterday that i had to take a PT test today. As you know i never train for a PT test i just keep trudging along with Crossfit workouts trying to improve my GPP. Well today is the proof. I am not saying that someone cant get a higher score than me I'm sure people can but with not special training for the PT test here were my raw scores
Push ups - 100 (Matt didnt count 3 of them)
Sit ups - 92
2 Mile Run 13.07
Total score 334 out of 300
I maxed all 3 events to move on the extended scale.
I hope you Soldiers out there see this and know that the PT test is a joke. This was my easiest day by far. Nowhere near the amount of work all you studs did yesterday.

Dave

"Murph" results and various ramblings...

AWESOME job everyone!! That is one of the most difficult WODs in CrossFit - well done gutting your way through it. Please ensure you drink lots of water and eat well to help your body recover. We will have a less challenging WOD on Wednesday! Also, we will go 7 days without pull-ups to give everyone's hands a chance to heal. I'm working on a compilation of some hand rip info and will do my best to get it posted this week for you guys.

All you bad a$$ CrossFitters are invited over Friday for some burned meat on the grill! Kids are welcome too - we will provide some grilled fish for the adults (let me know if there is an issue with fish). There will be two variants, lemon pepper and spicy - put your requests in! We will also provide some barley sodas (adult beverages) but if you want more than a couple, it's BYOB. Feel free to bring your drink of choice though! We'll also have some hot dogs for the kids.

Beyond the fish and initial supply of barley sodas, it's a pot luck so feel free to bring whatever sides you want. The fish will be Zone / Paleo friendly but if you guys want this to be a cheat day, go for it!

Let me know if you plan on coming and number kids, etc so we have planning factors. I'll bring directions Friday or you can email me for directions; we live on post.

If you haven't used the ICE comments, please do to tell MWR how much we appreciate and how kick a$$ the new kit is. Also let them know if you think we need more classes or more space - i.e. less cardio equipment in our room.

Finally, check out http://games2009.crossfit.com/ for the latest on the CrossFit Games! The Regional qualifiers kicked off last weekend and there are some incredible athletes competing that will definitely inspire you. Some great video is up from last weekend's events. I am a judge at the Hell's Half Acre qualifiers up in Fort worth, 2-3 May http://www.southwestcfregionals.com/ feel free to come and watch some phenomenal athletes in person and if you want to volunteer to help out, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the dudes handling that.

OK, sorry for the length...

"Murph"

Julio - 50:00
Alicia - 57:57
Reagan - 46:53
Lilla - 36:54 (half Murph)
Brandon - 55:13
Leslie - 63:40
Jenn - 59:17
Don - 63:07 - rx'd with body armor
Ken - 60:23
Renee' - 43:41
Emily - 76:56
Valerie - 56:50
Megan - 79:37
Allen - 62:00
Maria - did 1 mile and all the pull-ups, push-ups and squats but succumb to the heat during her final 1 mile run - still and awesome performance!
Joel - 46:23 - Joel knocked this out after work - great job Joel!

OK Leslie, lets see the pics from today!

The Hopper Deck has spoken...

and it uttered a WOD - "Murph"...

For time:

1 mile Run

100 Pull-ups

200 Push-ups

300 Squats

1 mile Run

In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005.

This workout was one of Mike's favorites and he'd named it "Body Armor". From here on it will be referred to as "Murph" in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is.

Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you've got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.

The 1st CAV Soldiers we trained in CrossFit are putting their training to use downrange. Stay safe and keep up the strong work!

The first picture is from Jeff's guys in Iraq. Jeff got his Level I cert with Joel and me and promptly deployed, where he is putting all he learned to good use!

"Danny" Results

Super effort today guys - that was a hard WOD. You know you worked hard, when everyone is lying on the floor in exhaustion afterward! Sorry if i didn't put Rx and you did Rx. Post if that's the case and I'll fix it.

OK, here are the results:

Dave - Rx - 3 rds + 3 bj

Don - Rx - 2 rds + 20 pp

Jenn - 2 rds + 25 pull-ups

Maria - 2 rds + 8 pp

Leslie - Rx - 2 rds + 12 pp

Alicia - 2 rds + 13 pp

Renee' - 2 rds

Carla - 2 rds + 30 bj

Megan - 2 + 15 pp

Ken - 2 rds

Ray - 2 rds

Reagan - 2 rds + 15 pp

Valerie - 2 rds + 4 pp

We are looking at hosting a Centurion CrossFit cookout next Friday. We'll supply the gas, grill, some adult beverages and I'll make some fish - we can figure out other stuff to bring next week. Kids would be welcome! Let me know what you think

One final thing - please click the "ICE" link on the left of the page and tell MWR how much you appreciate the new equipment and how much it's improved the class. If you want more classes / class times, let them know but I want to give them some positive feedback for the support they have shown us. If you love the class, let them know too. The ICE comments get read by the top guys at MWR so it has an impact. Thanks!

Friday's WOD - One More Hero WOD

"Danny"

AMRAP in 20 minutes of:

24 inch Box Jump, 30 reps - http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/boxjump.wmv

115 pound Push Press, 20 reps - http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/cfj-nov-05/push-press.wmv

30 Pull-ups - http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/pull-up.wmv

Oakland SWAT Sergeant Daniel Sakai, age 35, was killed on March 21, 2009 in the line of duty along with fellow officers Sergeant Ervin Romans, Sergeant Mark Dunakin, and Officer John Hege. Daniel is survived by wife Jenni and son Jojiye.

"DT" results and musings....

Great job today - you guys are getting f@cking strong! I saw some good form and people lifting enough weight to make them miss attempts and struggle some - well done!

You guys are also really getting the intensity part. People with fast times were aware they needed to go up in weight and voiced that - that is EXCELLENT! Knowing how much a WOD should suck and recognizing you are not operating at the edge of your capability is a sure sign of a mature, dedicated CrossFitter.

Also, we will be designing a "Fittest Fort Hood" competition (feel free to submit more clever names and we'll vote on them). It will be a two day event with two WODs the first day an done on the second. Teams of 4 (initial concept anyway) will enter and there will be awards for the top teams and top individual males and females. We NEED a Centurion team!! Dave and I will design and vet the WODs so we are out of the running.

Things we are looking for - t-shirts for everyone who participates and everyone who judges. Plaques and / or medals for top teams and individuals. We will highlight any sponsors with links on our webpage. I want the majority of the proceeds from the entry fees to go to the Wounded Warrior Project (http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/). My intent is for MWR and the post to get heavily involved in this so they can help provide support.

Finally - big shout out to Matt - we miss you and hope you heal up soon and are back with us for WODs!

"DT" Results
Julio - 8:06 (65#)
Valerie - 7:40 (45#)
Reagan - 17:11 (85#)
Emily - 9:15 (25#)
Jenn - 8:43 (45#)
Leslie - 19:48 (75#)
Alicia - 12:02 (45#)
Megan - 12:51 (25#)
Maria - 10:35 (45#)
Ken - 14:03 (95#)
Pule - 12:13 (115#)
Ray - 14:34 (95#)
Carla - 13:02 (PVC)
Renee - 16:25 (PVC)
Don - 21:31 (135#) I suck!
Joel - 15:51 (115#)
Dave - 25:45 (as rx'd!)

Paleo in a Nutshell Part 1: Food

Wednesday's WOD

"DT"

Five rounds for time of:

155 pound Deadlift, 12 reps - http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_DeadliftIntro.wmv

155 pound Hang power clean, 9 reps - http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/cfj-nov-05/hang-power-clean.wmv

155 pound Push jerk, 6 reps - http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/cfj-nov-05/push-jerk.wmv

In honor of USAF SSgt Timothy P. Davis, 28, who was killed on Feburary, 20 2009 supporting operations in OEF when his vehicle was struck by an IED. Timothy is survived by his wife Megan and one-year old son T.J.

Let's come out and give this one our all in honor of one of our own who sacrificed his all.

Filthy Fifty Results

Great job in today's famous smoker!
I'm only going to list times and reps, so keep track of where you scaled (what weight you did, for example) for the future. Remember, this workout is gender unbiased!

50 Reps
Reagan - 35:46
Valerie - 36:20
Alicia - 42:11
Jenn - 36:12
Sean - 38:18
Joel - 38:56

50 Reps (and a few sets less than 50)
Megan -36:21

25 Reps
Ken - 23:00
Maria - 20:15
Ben - 19:18
Ray - 34:23

20 Reps
Renee - 38:10

So you see we are doing the same as everyone else, check this out:
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_PittFilthyFifty.wmv

Filthy Fifty

Since most Soldiers have the day off, we have some time to perform a staple WOD you'll end up loving (some day). Game on!

Filthy Fifty
50 Box jumps 24 (inch box)
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings (1 pood)
Walking Lunge 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press (45 pounds)
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots (20 pound ball)
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

Bring your jump ropes!

Why we do CrossFit

To ensure we are fit enough to climb out of the polar bear enclosure, after we were stupid enough to jump in!

Happy easter!

Blood sugar problems affect millions

High-normal levels are often overlooked, but can harm your health
By Sarí N. Harrar

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29971660/

The average American consumes more than a pound of refined sugar a week. It sounds unbelievable until you realize that sugar goes by more than 50 names and is an ingredient in virtually all processed foods, from your morning doughnut to the ketchup on your burger.

Eat it (along with excess fat and calories), sit around, and you'll gain weight.

It's the average American way of life, and it deserves a new warning label: Practicing this lifestyle could send another sugar — your blood sugar — into the danger zone.

Your body's primary source of fuel, blood sugar plays a vital role in physical and mental well-being. But when it rises even slightly above normal — thanks to excess body fat, lack of exercise, and/or genetics — your health, your energy levels, and your weight-loss efforts are jeopardized.

Overlooked by doctors

High-normal blood sugar is anything but normal. Too high to be healthy yet too low to be called diabetes, high-normal blood sugar has long been overlooked by doctors and their patients alike. Yet an estimated 16 million Americans have it — including tens of thousands of children and teens.

The rise of the high-normal blood sugar epidemic is the direct result of the rise in overweight and obesity in the United States. Our lifestyles have changed; our bodies haven't caught up.

"Our bodies are essentially the same as they were 40,000 years ago, but our eating and exercise habits have changed tremendously," says Bryant Stamford, Ph.D., director of the Health Promotion and Wellness Center at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

"The same number of calories it might have taken our prehistoric ancestors an entire day to hunt and gather, we can now have brought to our door with a phone call. We simply eat too much and exercise too little," says Stamford.

The result: high blood sugar. The danger: More and more research links even "slightly" high blood sugar to food cravings, mood swings, and overweight, as well as pregnancy and fertility problems, heart attacks, stroke, full-blown type 2 diabetes, and even, early evidence suggests, some forms of cancer.

It's serious. That's why it's recommended that you get a blood sugar test and take steps to keep your sugar levels within a healthy range.

The high cost of high-normal blood sugar

Normal blood sugar ranges from 60 to 90 milligrams of glucose per 100 milliliters of blood (mg/dl) before a meal.

High-normal blood sugar is defined as 100 to 125 mg/dl (full-blown type 2 diabetes is diagnosed at 126 mg/dl and above).

Without a blood sugar test, it's impossible to know whether your blood sugar falls within a normal range. And because elevated blood sugar typically does its damage silently, it's easy to brush off what few symptoms there are, like fatigue and mood swings.

High-normal blood sugar can lead to the following conditions:

Overweight

Syndrome X

Pregnancy diabetes

PCOS

Full-blown type 2 diabetes

Heart disease and stroke

Friday's WOD and results

Great job everyone -- Big turnout today!


We performed the WOD today that we did on 30 January (so compare your times):

Run 1 Mile (1600 meters), for time.

Run one minute, stop and do one minute of walking lunges.

Continue alternating between running a minute and doing lunges for a minute until you finish the mile.


Pule - 12:54
Ken - 14:33
Matthew - 12:10
Jenn - 14:34
Leslie - 13:39
Emily - 14:10
Valerie - 14:14
Alicia - 14:23
Joel - 10:38
Reagan - 12:13
Megan - 18:21
Frank - 12:53
Maria - 13:24 (1200 meters)

See you on Monday.

New Digs!!

A huge thanks to everyone who came out and helped get everything put together! Also, great job on the first WOD "Legal Drinking Age" with the new kit - that was a smoker!

I'll get the rest of the pics from Leslie and then I'll post them in a slide show.

Have a great Easter weekend!

Here are the results:

"Legal Drinking Age"

3 rounds for time of:

21 KTE

21 kb swings (1.5 pood / 1 pood)

21 push-ups

21 double unders

21 box jumps (24" / 20")

21 wall balls (20# / 14#)

42 walking lunges

Dave: 31:00

Don: 32:19

Ryan: 31:42

Valerie: 32:32

Alicia: 34:23

Running Cindy Results

Great effort by everyone today! This will all get easier once we get the pull-up system and plyoboxes assembled tomorrow. I should be there around 1430 and I'll bring socket wrenches and a drill.

Joel - 25:14
Matt - 26:49
Brandon - 25:43
Leslie - 34:05
Jenn - 36:30
Lilla - 38:51
Emily - 32:30 (2 rounds)
Reagan - 31:13
Megan - 38:48
Valerie - 31:52

Pull Up Party

Great job today guys,
Here is the deal
Tomorrow we will be meeting at the gym around 1500 hrs to put together the Pull up bar system and plyo boxes. Once complete we can do a WOD with the new equipment. We will need drills for the plyo boxes and socket/wrenches for the pull up bars. Hope everyone can make it. I will try and be there a little early to get started as i most likely get off early anyway

I got to pick the WOD

Well this is the first WOD ive got to pick in a while so I decided to make it a good one

Running Cindy

3rds of
Run 600m
5rds
5 Pull Ups
10 Push Ups
15 Squats

For Time

We will meet at the gym and then go to the pull up bars by 7-10 Cav

Good News on Saturated Fat

Should we be reconsidering the conventional wisdom on saturated fat? Yes, according to Gary Taubes’s interpretation of the new report in The New England Journal of Medicine on a two-year diet experiment in Israel.

The Israeli researchers found that people on a relatively low-fat diet lost less weight (6 pounds) than those who ate a low-carbohydrate or Mediterranean diet (10 pounds). These relatively modest weight losses were interpreted as discouraging news for dieters, and they also set off a debate on whether the whether the low-carb diet was really an Atkins-style diet, as my colleague Tara Parker-Pope reported.

Mr. Taubes prefers to focus on another aspect of the study: perhaps the best news yet about saturated fat. As I wrote last year, in a column about Mr. Taubes and his book “Good Calories, Bad Calories,” the medical establishment originally warned people to avoid all kinds of fat, but subsequent studies kept failing to produce evidence of the benefits of a low-fat diet. Then the supposed experts said the villain wasn’t just any fat but specifically saturated fat. But now their recommendations are being undermined yet again by research, Mr. Taubes says. Here’s his take on the new experiment and a series of similar trials:

These trials are fundamentally tests of the hypothesis that saturated fat is bad for cholesterol and bad for the heart. They’re not just about which diet works best for weight loss or is healthiest, but what constitutes a healthy diet, period. (This is the point I made in my Times Magazine story six years ago). Specifically, these low-fat/low-carb diet trials, of which there are now more than half a dozen, test American Heart Association (A.H.A.) relatively low-fat diets against Atkins-like high-saturated-fat diets.

In this last test, the A.H.A. diet was about 30 percent calories from fat, less than 10 percent calories from saturated fat; the low-carb diet was almost 40 percent calories from fat, around 12.5 percent saturated fat. In this particular trial, as in all of them so far, the high-saturated-fat diet (low-carb or Atkins-like) resulted in the best improvement in cholesterol profile — total cholesterol/H.D.L. In this Israeli trial, the high-saturated-fat diet reduced L.D.L. at least as well as the did the A.H.A. relatively low-fat diet, the fundamental purpose of which is to lower L.D.L. by reducing the saturated fat content.

So here’s the simple question and the point: how can saturated fat be bad for us if a high saturated fat diet lowers L.D.L. at least as well as a diet that has 20 to 25 percent less saturated fat?

It could be argued (and probably will be) that the effect of the saturated fat is confounded by the reduction in calories, but the A.H.A. diet also reduces calories and in fact specifies caloric reduction while the low-carb diet does not. It will also be argued, as Dean Ornish does, that the source of the saturated fat was not necessarily meat or bacon, but beans or other healthy sources.

But the nutritional reason why meat has been vilified over the years, is that it’s a source of unhealthy saturated fat. It’s not that meat per se is bad — unless you buy the colon cancer evidence, which has always seemed dubious — it’s that the saturated fat in meat makes it bad. So the argument about the source of the saturated fat is irrelevant.

The question hinges on whether saturated fat raises cholesterol and causes heart disease. One way or the other this trial is a test of that hypothesis. It’s arguably the best such trial ever done and the most rigorous. To me that’s always been the story. If saturated fat is bad for us, then these trials should demonstrate it. They imply the opposite.

Why does the A.H.A. continue to insist that saturated fat should be avoided, if these trials repeatedly show that high saturated fat diets lead to better cholesterol profiles than low-saturated fat diets? And how many of these trials have to be done before the National Institutes of Health or some other august institution in this business re-assesses this question? After all, the reason the food guide pyramid suggests we eat things like butter and lard and meats sparingly (and puts them high up in the pyramid) is that they contain saturated fat. This is also the reason that the A.H.A. wants to lower even further what’s considered the safe limit for saturated fats in the diet.

Is Mr. Taubes right? If eating more saturated fat improved the dieters’ cholesterol profile (while also enabling them to lose weight even though their calories were not restricted), should the federal government and the American Heart Association stop warning people about saturated fats?

Monday's Results

Great job everyone! That was a tough one today but a great way to start off the week. Friday and Monday are training holidays so let us know if you intend to come to class. As long as we have enough people, we will hold class.

Also, someone left a black plastic jump rope with black handles - I have it and will bring it back on Wednesday. If you have ropes, continue to bring them as we'll work double unders into the daily warm ups - FUN!!

Leslie email out your pictures or establish a public folder on Picasa so we can download them!

Leslie - 22:44
Reagan - 15:33
Matt - 24:23
William - 27:59
Alicia - 24:44
Julio - 17:25
Megan - 21:56
Valerie - 19:04
Maria - 25:33
Lilla - 17:40 (2 rounds)
Brandon - 22:10
Emily - 21:00
Jenn - 21:28

Monday's WOD

Three rounds for time of:

10 push-ups
20 kettlebell swings (men 1.5 pood - 54# / women 1 pood - 36#)
30 medicine ball cleans
40 double unders (if you can't do double unders, do 160 singles)

Bring your jump ropes, if you have them - I'll bring my two as well. We will cover med ball cleans and kb swings in class but also watch the videos below for correct technique.

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_KBSwings.wmv

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_MBCleans.wmv

Every Second Counts

Check out the trailer for the CrossFit documentary filmed at last year's CrossFit Games.

http://barebones.bside.com/2009/films/everysecondcounts_barebones2009

Death By Push-ups Results

Well done everyone! Hope you guys have a great weekend and we'll see you Monday.

Leslie: 114

Maria: 86

Matt: 139

Julio: 150

Wayne: 130

William: 76

Friday's WOD

"Death by Push-ups"

AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 20 minutes of:\

max push-ups

400 meter run

Here is how this works - you begin doing push-ups, once you can no longer do them, you hop up and run 400, as soon as you get back, you do push-ups, as soon as you can no longer do them, you run 400, as soon as you get back, you do push-ups - see the pattern? You cannot rest doing at any point during the push-ups and as soon as you break form, you run.

Push-up standards: http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_PushupStandards.wmv

Wednesday's WOD Results

Great work everyone! You guys all had some good intensity and focus today. If Friday looks like good weather, we might be outside.

Wayne: 95# - 12:57
Jenn: 85# / 70# - 18:02
Alicia: 65# - 18:58
Reagan: 85# - 16:36
Matt: 95# - 15:15
Maria: 65# - 18:45
Megan: 25# - 23:15
Leslie: 85# - 17:43
William: 45# - 23:05