Wednesday, December 28, 2011

For time
2 x deadlift (275/165)
50 x air squat
4 x deadlift
40 x air squat
6 x deadlift
30 x air squat
8 x deadlift
20 x air squat
10 x deadlift
10 x air squat
Ladies and Gentlemen, I added a section of PVC to the box at the gym to help people roll out before or after WODs. Of course it will have to be handed out from a trainer. If we want more just let me know and i can get some extras and then ill just figure a way to keep them locked up. Also if you are interested in the Open this year for the games please send me an email or message so I can start building a roster for tracking the WODs at the gym. The open WODs start on the 22nd of Feb for 5 weeks and the regionals will run from late April to late May.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

for reps per movement
2 min of 135/95 lbs Press
2 min rest
2 min of 135/95 lbs Push Press
2 min of rest
2 min of 135/95 lbs Push Jerk

Monday, December 26, 2011

3rds
Row 500m
25 x sit ups
25 x kb swings (1.5/1)

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season.

The gym is closed for the next 4 days also due to people not taking care of the rings I have taken them down until the missing strap has been returned. Sorry but I have to look after the equipment

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

AMRAP in 20 Min
11 x Push Press @ 75 lbs
11 x Burpees

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

3rds
Row 400m
25 Air Squats
25 Push Ups
100 Double Unders

Monday, December 19, 2011

21-15-9
Push Press (115/80)
Pull Ups
Knees to Elbows

Sunday, December 18, 2011

count max reps for each round, try and keep same number for all three rounds

Front squat for 3 min (135/95)
Rest 3 min
Front Squat for 2 min (95/65)
Rest for 2 min
Front Squat for 1 min (75/40)

Thursday, December 15, 2011

AMRAP in 15 min of
10 GHDs sit ups
10 back extensions
10 Ring Dips
10 HSPU
10 Pull Ups
There will be a foundations class this Friday at 1130.
They take about 1 and a half hours so u will be out by 1pm
Please show up about 10 mins prior

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

75 snatch @75 lbs

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

5 rds for time
25 OHS (65/40)
15 Push Ups
5 Burpee Box Juumps

Monday, December 12, 2011

For Time
150 KB Swings (1.5/1)

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Last week of official classes before block leave for post

3x3x3 thruster

3rds
7 thrusters (135/95)
15 deadlifts(135/95)

Thursday, December 8, 2011

AMRAP in 15min
13 x Deadlifts (185/110)
13 x GHD Sit Ups

Sorry, but I can not have a foundations class this week again. I have to brief the RXO sometime tomorrow and he cant give me a time till tomorrow so I dont want to make a class and then miss one.

I WILL HAVE A CLASS BEFORE LEAVE so be prepared for Thursday after 1500 or Friday at 1130 next week

Thanks

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

5 rds
6 HSPU
10 Dips
6 Front Squats (115/80)

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Fran
21-15-9
Thruster
Pull Ups

Monday, December 5, 2011

3rds for time
Run 400m
25 Push Ups
25 Sit Ups

Sunday, December 4, 2011

5-3-3-2-1
Power clean

Thursday, December 1, 2011

21-15-9
GHD sit ups
Back extensions
Power cleans 115/85

No foundations tomorrow I'm sick right now and wouldn't be able to talk for an hour and 30 mins to get through class

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

With 95/65 lbs
Max rep press in 2 min
Rest 3 min
Max rep push press in 2 min
Rest 3 min
Max rep push jerk in 2 min

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

25 KB Swings (1.5/1) - 5 FS
20 KB Swings - 10 FS
15 KB Swings - 15 FS
10 KB Swings - 20 FS
5 KB Swings - 25FS
Front Squats use the KB as a Gobblet Squat, Hold the KB under the base and then keep at chest level

Monday, November 28, 2011

GI Jane
100 Burpee Pull Ups

Sunday, November 27, 2011

OutSide WOD
10 OHS (115/80)
Run 100m
8 OHS-200m
6 OHS-300m
4 OHS-400m
2 OHS-500m
Measure out 50m and work on your transition times as you do down and backs, so 300m is 3 times down and back

Also FGB shirts and Hoodies are in. Ill bring in the box tomorrow morning for the 0900 class. All Shirts are tagged. Please show up and claim your prize.

We have one mistake that I am waiting for a update too. I am missing one Male Medium that will go to Michael Neely. Please wait and Ill email you when your shirt comes in

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

No classes Thursday or Friday
Have a Happy Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

RUN 200M
1 SQUAT CLEAN (95/65)
50 DOUBLE UNDERS
2 SQUAT CLEAN (95/65)
45 DOUBLE UNDERS
3 SQUAT CLEAN (95/65)
40 DOUBLE UNDERS
4 SQUAT CLEAN (95/65)
35 DOUBLE UNDERS
5 SQUAT CLEAN (95/65)
30 DOUBLE UNDERS
6 SQUAT CLEAN (95/65)
25 DOUBLE UNDERS
7 SQUAT CLEAN (95/65)
20 DOUBLE UNDERS
8 SQUAT CLEAN (95/65)
15 DOUBLE UNDERS
9 SQUAT CLEAN (95/65)
10 DOUBLE UNDERS
10 SQUAT CLEAN (95/65)
5 DOUBLE UNDERS
RUN 200M

Happy Bday to Tina. I wont be at the noon class today again because of work sorry

Monday, November 21, 2011

Sorry for the late post, just got home

Angie
100 Pull Ups
100 Push Ups
100 Sit Ups
100 Squats

Sunday, November 20, 2011

So im watching my sister in Tempe today she's 2 hours from being an ironman so in honor of her
Here is the wod

Run
1 mile
25 burpees
Run 800 m
50 burpees
Run 400m
75 burpees
Not as much but still a smoker

Thursday, November 17, 2011

AMRAP of
10 Front Squat (135/95)
50 Ft walking lung
10 Pull Ups

Sorry No Foundations again tomorrow. I have been very busy at work and I am behind. Lately I havent been able to make the noon class. Again I will attempt a foundations next week, it will be on Wednesday if it happens. Ill post here for more info. Thanks and again sorry.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

As promised the first female hero wod

"White"

Five rounds for time of:
15' Rope climb, 3 ascents
10 Toes to bar
21 Walking lunge steps with 45lb plate held overhead

Run 400 meters

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

5 rds for time
9 wide grip dead lifts
6 hang power snatch
3 OHS

men 115
women 75

Sorry for the miss today I will hopefully make it the rest of the it's this dang job! Really the
Army expects me to go to work

Monday, November 14, 2011

For Time
4 x 400m
2 min rest between 400m

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The Chief
5rd of the following AMRAP
3 min followed by 1 min rest
3 x Power Clean (135/95)
6 x Push Ups
9 x Squats

NO Foundations this week again. Sorry but the gyms closed on Friday.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Max Push Press of 135/95 in 3 min

rest 5 min
3rds
15 x Push Press (115/80)
15 Burpees

Monday, November 7, 2011

For Time
5 x OHS (115/80)
10 x GHD Sit Ups
15 x KB Swings (1.5/1)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Tabata something else

Tabata of

Pull Ups
Push Ups
Sit Ups
Squats

Add the total of all the lowest round scores for your total score

Thursday, November 3, 2011

5 rds
7 Cleans (Squat) (155/105)
14 KB Swings (1.5/1)

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

JT
21-15-9
Handstand Push Up
Ring Dips
Push Ups


This is another big scale WOD. You can do all the movements just scale as needed. Use boxes for the HSPU and Dips and knock out those push ups as best you can.

Also there was a reqest for a FB page for the gym again. We have decided to make the female page on big gym page. Its open for everyone to use and post. Please drop in comments and check there for the WODs too. If you can get pictures up or talk about upcoming CF Events in the local area that you have heard about. This is a great place to put together a team for the next event!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Deadlift
3-3-2-1

6 Rounds
Run 200m
Rest 45 Sec


Sorry for missing noon today. The next couple weeks are pretty busy at work for me so please if Im not there by noon then take charge and knock out the WOD. When things calm down ill make it more

Dave

Monday, October 31, 2011

1-15
2-15
3-15
2-15
3-15
Rope Climbs - Burpees

If you cant do a rope climb sub is 3-1 cimbing off the ground to standing with your arms

Sunday, October 30, 2011

5 rds @ 145/90
1 x Clean
2 x Front Squat
3 x Thruster
4 x Push Jerk
5 x Burpee
Burpees are from one side of bar to the other, so you have to jump over the bar

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Ok this is a fun one for the end of the week. you have to pay if you dont finish is as RX. It can be scaled for everyone with different sized bars, but try the RX its not to much

10rds
10 x Walking Lung
10 x Thrusters
Men 45lbs bar
Women 30 lbs Bar

If you let the bar touch the ground you own an additional round, that’s a round each time you set the bar down

So if you drop the bar twice you have to do 12 rounds not 10

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

3rd
Row 500m
21x KB Swings (1.5/1 Pood)
12 x Pull Ups

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

5rd
5 x power cleans (165/100)
10 x push ups
15 x sit up

Monday, October 24, 2011

Hope everyone liked mondays wod
I'm glad more of u came and tried becuase it wasn't posted
Remember we only get better when we push our selves and try what we're not sure we can do. Always work on ur weakness more than ur strengths


So tomorrow
10,000/6,000 lbs overhead
100 reps with a 100 lbs bar (men) or 60 lbs bar (women)
Again this is for time but every time u set the bar down/rest (u cannot just hold the bar off the ground to rest, u stop pushing u start pulling) u owe 5 pull ups
Scoring is time and # of pull ups completed
For example
I did this today in 645 with 30 pull ups. Man my shoulders were still smoked from this weekend

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Great job at Kettlebells for the Cure this weekend, we had a great event.
This week I will be in and out so the noon class may not have a trainer everyday. I have family in town on my last week of leave

and now for Monday:

Show up tomorrow at the gym and find out

Thursday, October 20, 2011

21-15-9
SDHP (95/65)
OHS (95/65)

For those attending Kettlebells for the Cure: Rest Day
The WOD will be posted on the Facebook page sometime tomorrow. If you commit to attend then you should be able to get an update on the WOD posting. This should be a great event so come out and work out or please show your support. there will be Tshirts and a raffle. There will also be stuff for kids.


Again there will also be foundations class tomorrow from 1130-1300

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

"JT"
21-15-9
HSPU
Ring Dips
Push Ups
Foundations class this week will be held on Friday at 1130 to 1300. Again please be on time and this will be the last one of the month.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

From a short one to a long one.

Run 1 Mile
25 Push Ups
25 Squats
Run 800m
50 Push Ups
50 Squats
Run 400m
75 Push Ups
75 Squats

Monday, October 17, 2011

This is a quick on with the bars

20 x Thrusters
20 x SDHP
20 x Push Press
20 x OHS
20 x Front Squat
Men 45, Women 30
Every min on min till complete 5 Burpees



The faster you go the less burpees you have to do

Sunday, October 16, 2011

3rds
Run 400m
15 x DB Snatch (45/30)
L then R Hands

Thursday, October 13, 2011

4 x 400m Sprints
Rest 2 to 1
Take your run time and double it for your rest


Great week, Ill be back sometime next week. Good luck to those going to B4B this weekend. If your not please check it out and support our community at CrossFit Centex.

Dont forget on the 22nd we will be having Kettlebells for the Cure.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Sorry for the late post but here is a nice quick WOD

3rds
15 x Clean (135/95)
21 Double Unders

If you cant do DU this time sub tuck jumps to keep the speed of the WOD up

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Death by Pull Ups
1st min 1 Pull Up
2nd Min 2 Pull Ups
Continue till you can not complete Pull Ups in required mins

Monday, October 10, 2011

Again, sorry about the late post. Im a couple hours behind so to me its not even 10pm yet. This might be a loss of sleep week to keep seeing the posts


"Horrible 100"
25 x Deadlift (215/120)
25 x Clean (125/80)
25 x Thruster (75/50)
25 OHS (45/30)
Set the bar up going from OHS and stacking weight inside so a man has bar plus 15s, 25s, 45s

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Late Post I know, sorry, No class tomorrow. Go out enjoy the day and in the sprite try something new and discover something you have never seen here.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Tomorrow will be the last day of class this week due to the long weekend.

AMRAP in 15 min
9 x Power Snatch (115/70)
9 x Toes to Bar
9 x Pistol ( R & L Leg)
If you can not do Pistols use the Box to Squat on one leg as low as possible. If your not sure please ask a trainer.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

3x3 Push Press @ 105% of Max Press


Reverse Tabata L Sit on Rings
Rest 1 min
Tabata Sit Ups

Reverse Tabatas are work for 10 sec rest for 20, eight rounds

Monday, October 3, 2011

4rds for time
12 x Ring Dips
12 x Front Squat (155/95)
Run 400m

Sunday, October 2, 2011

3rds for time
15 x Deadlift (225/135)
10 x KB Swings (1.5/1 Pood)
5 x Back Extensions

There is going to be a fundraiser/WOD on 22 OCT for those who are not headed to Houston for the October Destruction. It will be a one day one WOD event that will take place in Killeen and be support by alot of the local gyms. More details and info on how to sign up to come. Please mark the date and come support!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

AMRAP in 12 Min
6 x Front Squat (145/105)
15 x Pull Ups

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Run or Row 5k
No Trainer support at the Gym for todays WOD

Remember tomorrow is foundations class from 1130 to 1300

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Back Squat
5rds x 3 reps
Randy
75 x Power Snatch (75/40)

Monday, September 26, 2011

Foundations Class:

UPDATE FOUNDATIONS CLASS WILL BE THIS THURSDAY from 1130-1300. PLEASE BE ON TIME FOR CLASS

NO FOUNDATIONS FRIDAY
I told you it would be a fun surprise. Remember how what your time was yesterday and try and beat it. Then think about your Burpee time yesterday and see how different it is



For Time
30xHSPU
40xPull Ups
50xKB Swings (1.5/1 pood)
60xSit Ups
70xBurpees

Sunday, September 25, 2011

I just finished the CrossFit Runner Cert and it was great. I now understand alot more about teaching the POSE method.

I know its a repeat, but tomorrow you will see why

For Time
70xBurpees
60xSit Ups
50xKB Swings (1.5/1 pood)
40xPull Ups
30xHSPU

Thursday, September 22, 2011

AMRAP in 20 min
5 x HSPU
10 x Burpees
15 x Push Press (45/30)

Compare your old score and see if you have an increase.

There will be NO foundations class tomorrow.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

for time
5 rds for time
3 x Full Cleans (155/115)
9 x Knees To Elbows
27 x Double Unders

These cleans are receiving in the squat to count. Remember Scale, but it is only 3 Cleans per round!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

3rds for time of
Run 400m
4 rds of
5 x Pull Ups
10 x Push Ups
15 x Squats

There will be no noon trainer support tomorrow. I have required Training that will take me through lunch.

This WOD is 3 rounds of run 400m then 4 rounds of cindy. You should end up running 1200m and finishing 12 rounds of Cindy to finish the WOD

Monday, September 19, 2011

AMRAP in 23 min
13 x Thruster (115/70)
18 x Dips

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Sorry for the late post, just got back from Dallas

Deadlift
3x3x3
Tabata
Pull Ups
1 Min Rest
Tabata
GHD

Thursday, September 15, 2011

There will be no trainer support at 1200 WOD today.

There will be no WOD tomorrow. Rest for FGB VI. Remember we need you to sign in at 845. I still need help at 4 pm friday and 8 saturday to pick up and set up equipment. Any questions send me an email at davehtutk@gmail.com

There will be a foundations class Friday at 1130. Please be on time so we can start and finish on time.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

4 rds
run 400m
rest 2 min

Were still coming down to the wire. Some players have started surging up with money. Keep pushing for the next couple days so we can finish strong. Less than 400 more and we break 7000.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

For those who only use the moble page

Here is the WOD

For Time
10-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
20-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
30-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
40-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
40-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
30-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
20-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
10-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
PU = Pull Ups

Also for those who dont look at the main page here the FGB will be at the Killeen Community Event Center at 2201 on E Veteran Memorial Blvd. Its right across from the old Hastings. There is a gym inside.

I need some help moving equipment over there on Friday. I will be at the gym at 1600 to load up the equipment this Friday the 16th. If you are coming to support or can help with movement assets that would be great. (we need a small trailer)

To finish setting up for the WOD John (CF 254), Ben (CF Beyond Limits) and myself will be meeting at the event center at 0800 on the 17th for set up.

Athletes need to sign in at 0845 so we can build the heats. All donations numbers will be cut off when I leave my house on Saturday so what you have raised by then is what counts for the awards!

Monday, September 12, 2011

"Jack Bauer"

24 in each round:

21/3 SDHP/Kettlebell swings
18/6
15/9
12/12
9/15
6/18
3/21
1.5 Pood/1 Pood

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Rep Count
Max Rep Press @ 65/40
Rest 2 min
Max Rep Push Press @ 65/40
Rest 2 Min
Max Rep Push Jerk @ 65/40
Rest 2 Min
Max Rep Hand Stand Push Up

Fight Gone Bad Help

Ok we are now less than a week from FGB VI and you guys have been doing great. We are over 5000 bucks and that is huge for our small little gym.

I am going to have to ask for some more help though. On Friday the 16th I will need some support to move equipment from the gym to prep for FGB at our off site location. I dont have a time yet but i should get one in a couple days.

We will also need help setting up at the community event center at 0800 on the 17th.

Support with trucks would be a great help.

Thanks
Dave

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Hope everyone liked the wallballs. Here is tomorrow


3 rds
run 400m
15 x Box Jump (24/20)
15 x Push Press (95/70)

Dont forget, Saturday is the 9-11/Grand Opening WOD for CrossFit 254. John is putting together a great event. Please if you dont have plans stop by and say hey.

http://www.crossfit254.com/

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Karen
for time
150 Wall Ball
Men 20lbs, Women 14lbs

10ft target for everyone
Everyone, CrossFit 254 is having their grand opening this weekend. They are having a 9-11 WOD to remember the attack 10 years ago. Its an open WOD with only a 5 dollar donation required

Here is a link to their event. Please think about supporting the extended CCF-FH Family

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=264542516897491

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

For Time
50 x SDHP @ 1.5/1 Pood
50 Sit Ups
30 x SDHP @ 1.5/1 Pood
30 Sit Ups
10 x SDHP @ 1.5/1 Pood
10 Sit Ups

Use the KBs for the SDHPs and if you feel up to it use the GHD for the sit up, but as always scale as needed

Not Destroyed


by Scott Zagarino



You sign up. You make it into Special Operations training. There are a million moments you think will destroy you. They don't. You finish. Not destroyed.



You take your seat on a plane to Afghanistan. Headed for the fight. You leave the base in a Humvee with your buddies. Just driving down a dusty road. Another day. A distant sound that reminds you of something you heard on a warm 4th of July years ago. Suddenly the whole world explodes. Slowly your brain begins to absorb the burned and twisted remains that used to be a Humvee, the bodies of your friends no longer what or who they were. You breathe, know you're still alive and they aren't. Your leg doesn't look like a leg anymore. Not destroyed.



A face leans over your bed and a disembodied voice tells you the leg has to come off. You refuse. There's something that needs to be done for the other guys and that leg is necessary for a little while longer. Not destroyed.



You limp to the starting line on a hot, humid morning in Miami, Florida months later, looking 100 miles down the road to Key West and you look down and tell the scarred, twisted leg, this is what I kept you for, now do your damn job.



60 miles and the leg says no. A doctor leans in and tells you he can't let you go on. You look at the leg, you sign the papers that say you understand and accept the risk, and you get up on the leg that shouldn't still be there and you run 40 more miles. You finish. Not destroyed.



They ask you to count backwards from 100 and when you wake up your leg is gone, wrapped in plastic and thrown into a trash bin somewhere. Not destroyed.



You walk into a CrossFit box for the first time and look at a whiteboard that tells you all of the things you can't do with only one leg. You suited up, you showed up, and you finish up. Your first WOD. Not destroyed.



On September 17th, Keith Zeier will stand next to brothers and sisters at Alamo CrossFit in San Antonio, Texas who also refused to be destroyed. This first group has missing parts too, but they all know that on this day, if you want that t-shirt, you finish what you started, and Rick Martinez gave them a chance to prove it. You're all waiting for the call. 3-2-1 Go. 17 minutes later Fight Gone Bad 6 is done. You, your brothers and sisters have done the work, raised the money, and stand together with chests heaving, sweat pouring through t-shirts. Not destroyed.



A woman standing off to the side, nervously bouncing from one foot to the other, catches Keith's eye and without a word spoken between them, he tells her that you can only be destroyed if you give in, if you let yourself be destroyed. His prosthetic leg is the authority that makes what he's telling her true. Only you decide when and if you'll be destroyed.



3-2-1 Go. Not destroyed.



Keith decided not to be destroyed because he had a responsibility to those brothers of his that had given their lives, not their legs, to see to it that their children got to college, so he raised the money because that's what you do.



Got 17 minutes now?




www.fgb6.org

Monday, September 5, 2011

Cindy
AMRAP in 20 min
5 Pull Ups
10 Push Ups
15 Squats

Thursday, September 1, 2011

We Won’t Let You Down

We Won’t Let You Down

Check out this video for FGB6 and for inspiration to keep you going for the last 17 days till FGB starts.

Also you must raise atleast 1 dollar to WOD with us on the 17th.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

3rds for time
Row 500m
Run 400m
100 Doube Unders

Start one one event and then switch to keep it going without rest


Tuesday, August 30, 2011

For Time
12 Deadlifts
15 Hang Power Cleans
18 Front Squats
21 Push Jerks
18 Front Squats
15 Hang Power Cleans
12 Deadlifts
Men - 135
Women - 95

Monday, August 29, 2011

Sorry for the late post just got back from Austin, Had to drop my bike off and ate some dinner

For Time
Run 400m
50 x Squats
Run 400m
40 x GHD Sit Ups
400m Run
30 x Push Ups
400m Run
20 x Wall Ball (20/14)
400m Run
10 x Burpees

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Monday

AMRAP for 20 min
20 x Double Unders
10 x SHDP (75/55)
5 x Box Jumps (20")

I am waiting for this weeks gym times for labor day. Please stand by for class changes for Friday and Monday. There will NOT be a fundamentals class this week.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Finally Friday

Sorry for the late post, but there will be a foundations class tomorrow at 1130. Please arrive about 1120 so you can start to get moving and the class starts on time.

The noon WOD will be on your own with foundations going on.

AMRAP in 20 Min
11 x Push Press @ 75 lbs
11 x Burpees

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

For time
3 rds
12 x wallball (20/14)
10 step walking lung
400m run

Lung is left then right equals 2 steps so 5 per leg

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Wednesday

Great job by the noon class today. Here is another great one. Pick a number and make that your goal between 8-10 mins is a great WOD

Death by Cleans (135/95)
1st Min - 1 Clean
2nd Min - 2 Cleans
3rd Min - 3 Cleans
Continue till you can not complete the required Cleans in the min. Cleans are from the floor to the squat and stand.




Monday, August 22, 2011

25 - 20 - 15 - 10 -5 Reps of
Pull Ups
GHD Sit Ups

If you have not done many GHDs Sub with traditional Sit Ups



Be careful with this WOD if you have not done alot of GHDs scale to sit ups to make sure you are ok in a couple days
I have some people ask me about some additional WODs that are planned in the CF Community.
First is the 31 WOD. This is a WOD developed to support the families of the Spec Ops Troopers who were killed during the Crash this month. The WOD is taking place on Sept 3. Unfortunately I do not have time to set up anything special for this WOD but the gym should be open for a WOD. Please use the post to coordinate your times to get everyone there you want.

Here is the Website for 31, you can donate money and get a Shirt

http://31heroes.com/

Second is the the Oktoberfest Competition
This is taking place in Tomball Texas on Oct 22nd. I know there is some folks who would like to put together a team. Let me know and Ill prep a WOD progression to help support the training. Ill be on leave in Oct and not sure where Ill be yet so more to follow on traveling do there as a group, but Im sure alot of CFitter from Hood will follow any team.

http://www.oktoberfestobliteration.com/

Lastly

Thanks to a friend of mine who works for Killeen we now are going to join forces with CrossFit Beyond Limits in Killeen and execute the FGB WOD off post at a events center. More to follow with times and locations. I will need some help moving equipment and setting up so ill post of volunteers the week of FGB as well

Thanks for the support

Dave

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Great New WOD Remember Scale, Scale, Scale

21 x OHS (135/95)
9 x Muscle Ups
15 x OHS (135/95)
6 x Muscle Ups
9 x OHS (135/95)
3 x Muscle Ups
If you cant do MU then attempt assisted or 4 Pull Ups and Dips per MU

Thursday, August 18, 2011

100 x Thrusters (75/40)
Every min on the min complete 4 Burpees till complete with 100 Thrusters

Sorry about not making class today, RIT is taking some time with classes. I will not be there tomorrow either. Gerber will have the noon class. Remember with this WOD Time is great but form is king.

Also talked to Ben at CF Beyond Limits today. We are going to organize for a big Fort Hood Area FGB. We are working a larger venue for spectators so expect some requests for volunteers to support equipment movement to an off site location to support FGB 6. Again thanks for all the ideas and support

Dave


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Back Squat
3x3x3
Go for 3 rep PRs
Row 2000m

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Wednesday

A little metcon running to help improve you times
8 rds
Sprint 200m
Rest 45 Sec

I got the FGB 6 posters in today. Ill be posting them in the gym. We have also had alot of ideas about how to raise funds for FGB. They are all great ideas and we can help support them. Remember the key is that the money gets donated under a name before the 17th. We have always been a top MIL affiliate at raising money and we can again with all the support you guys are showing.

Monday, August 15, 2011

7rds for time
10 Hang Power Snatch (95/65)
10 Push Press (95/65)
10 Pull Ups

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Weighted Pull Up
3x3x3
AMRAP in 12 Min
5 x Front Squat (185/115)
10 x Box Jump (28"/22")
20 x Push Ups
Bar must start on the ground and be cleaned up for FS, use 45 lbs plates to make the boxes higher


Sorry about last week. I was on the way back from Iraq and did not have access in Kuwait. Should go fine from now on

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Friday

Another week complete, have a great Friday

AMRAP in 20 min
5 L Pull Ups
10 Box Jumps (24"/20")
15 KTE
KTE = Knee to Elbow

FOUNDATIONS
My flight should be headed back to the states in the next week so about 2 weeks from now we will hold the 1st Foundations class. I will post the date and time on the website. I just need to get my Reintegration Training Scheudal to know my briefing times

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

For Time
50-40-30-20-10
Double Unders
Push Press 55lbs
Sit Ups

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

A real metcon today

For Time
10-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
20-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
30-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
40-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
40-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
30-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
20-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
10-15 Jumping PU-Burpees
PU = Pull Ups

Monday, August 1, 2011

Tuesday

For Time
Men 135 / Women 95
9x Hang Power Clean
15 x Front squat
21 x Push Jerk
15 x Front squat
9 x Hang Power Clean

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Monday

"Helen"
3rd
run 400m
21x KB Swings (1.5/1 pood)
12 Pull Ups

Thursday, July 28, 2011

3 rds for time
20 WallBall (20/16)
20 SDHP (75/55)
20 Box Jump (24"/20")
20 Push Press (75/55)
20 Cal Row
This makes a 300 point FGB Score


Sub as you need to but push yourself against the clock. Fight Gone Bad is coming up and this is a great test for a 300 point score. If you can finish this in 17 min or less you know your there.

Also if you have not signed up for Fight Gone Bad you need to support the Fort Hood CrossFit Family and join the Centurion team. We always are a top mil affilate and we can do it again this your but only with your help!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Thursday

This is one the orignal WOD from the other side of Post.

AMRAP in 20
5 HSPU
10 Burpees
15 Push Press @ 45/30lbs

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

4 rds
run 400m
rest 2 min


Sorry for the early posts but its late where Im at and sometime my internet does not work in the morning after i get up. Thankfully its only about 2 and a half more weeks till I can post at normal times again

Monday, July 25, 2011

Tuesday

Back Squat 3x3
BS @ 80% Max
21-15-9
SDHP
OHS
95/65 lbs

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Monday

For Time
70xBurpees
60xSit Ups
50xKB Swings (1.5/1 pood)
40xPull Ups
30xHSPU

If you have not started to work toward Fight Gone Bad the first thing to do is sign up. From there start to raise the cash for our fellow Troopers and for the CrossFit Foundation. The WOD will be a great event but only secondary to the help you provide with the donations you can recive.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Friday's WOD

Front squat
5-5-5-3-3-3
5x is 70% of max
3x is 80% of max

Followed by

AMRAP in 8 minutes:
5 Box Jumps (24″/20″)
10 KB Swings (1.5 / 1.0 pood)
15 Double Unders

New Class

We have a new trainer and a new class time for the ladies. Starting this Monday, April will be running a womens only class on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays at 1030.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Thursday's WOD


“Amanda"
Three rounds, 9-7- and 5 reps, for time of:
Muscle-up
135 pound Squat snatch

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Wednesday's WOD

21-15-9 reps for time of:
315 / 205 pound Deadlift
30" Box jump

Monday, July 18, 2011

Tuesday's WOD

Squat clean
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

T-Mu:
Pull-ups
Pistols

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Monday's WOD



The Centurion Crew at K-Starr's Movement & Mobility Trainer's Course!! Kelly Starrett is wicked smart and it was fantastic hosting his seminar!

For time:
Run 1000m
30 HSPUs
Row 1000m

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Sportsgrants Fight Gone Bad 5

Fight Gone Bad 6

Below is a post from the FGB 6 Website:

On September 17th, 2011, CrossFitters from around the world will come together to endure 17 minutes of one of our most grueling workouts in honor of those men and women who have given a lifetime of service and sacrifice.

For 17 minutes, we will push ourselves further, challenge ourselves deeper, feel the doubt and wonder what the hell we got ourselves into, and if we can make it, but then remember why we are there and appreciate fully those who we wish to honor. We turn to our community of friends and family, asking them to join us by donating what they are inspired to give to our two phenomenal organizations.

Here at CCF-FH we really need your help to support our warriors. Sign up on the FGB 6 website and join the CCF-FH team. All your donations will go to support our team. Last year we had events in both Baghdad and Fort Hood. This year with all the trainers at home we will focus on Fort Hood.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Friday's WOD

Push jerk
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Followed by

AMRAP in 12 minutes of:
Run 200m
10 Back Squats (225# / 155#)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Thursday's WOD

AMRAP in 15 minutes of:
15 Chest to bar pull-ups
30 second Ring L-sit hold

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Wednesday's WOD


"Jack Bauer"
For time:
With a kettlebell 1.5 pood for men / 1 pood for women),
3/21, 6/18, 9/15, 12/12, 15/9, 18/6, 21/3 rep rounds of,
Sumo Dead Lift High Pull & Kettlebell Swings for time (all movements are executed with the same kettlebell).

Monday, July 11, 2011

Tuesday's WOD

Back squat
5-5-5-3-3-3
5x is 70% of max
3x is 80% of max


T M-u:
HSPU
GHD back extensions

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Monday's WOD


7 rounds of:
35 Double-unders
1 Snatch
Post time and total of all successful snatches to comments. Do not count missed reps

A big congratulations to Ayana who is the latest Centurion to get Level 1 certified!!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Friday's WOD

Deadlift
5-5-5-3-3-3
5x is 70% of max
3x is 80% of max

Followed by

50 Double Unders
500 m Row
50 Double Unders
500 m Row
50 Double Unders

The Most Dangerous Man In American Healthcare
http://blog.skyvisioncenters.com/?p=491

The most dangerous man in American health care is Greg Glassman. That’s right, the man who will make the biggest difference in making our country healthier, and thereby reducing the cost of providing health care, is a fitness trainer from Santa Cruz California. And you have no idea who he is.

That’s okay, though; you’re in good company. There are lots of really important, really influential people in American healthcare who have never heard of Greg Glassman. Donald Berwick, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services? Not a clue. Toby Cosgrove, CEO of the vaunted Cleveland clinic foundation? Nope, never heard of him. So it goes, as well, for the presidents and executive vice presidents of all the various and sundry medical “letter” organizations like the AMA, the American Association of ophthalmology, and the like. The man who might hold the key to economic healthcare salvation is not even a blip on the margins of the healthcare establishment’s radar screens.

So what’s the big deal? Why is Greg Glassman the most dangerous man in American healthcare? There are two reasons, actually. First, he is right. Glassman has identified not only the most fundamental and foundational problem with the health of Americans, but he has also discovered, defined, and implemented the solution. Americans are not fit. There is an appalling lack of physical fitness in the populace. Fat and slow, or skinny–fat and weak, we are a nation of the unfit. What Science Daily calls “frailty” in an article linking a lack of fitness to poor health outcomes (ScienceDaily.com/releases/2011/04/110426122948.htm), Glassman calls decrepitude. Skinny or fat, how healthy can you be if you can’t get yourself out of a chair without assistance?

Somewhere around 2001 Greg Glassman co–founded a fitness system which he dubbed “Crossfit”(http://www.crossfit.com). He offered the first actionable definition of fitness ever created: work capacity across broad time and modal domains. How much stuff can you move, how far, how quickly. It’s not enough to be strong, you must also be able to travel long distances. By the same token, it’s not enough to be able to travel long distances if you are not strong enough to lift your own body. This definition led to a measurement of fitness, power output or work.

To achieve this level of fitness Crossett offers the equivalent of a prescription. Exercise should consist of “constantly varied, high intensity, functional movements.” Intensity is the key. Fitness gains are not only magnified but are achieved in the most efficient manner when the exercise is performed at relatively high intensity. Functional movements include fitness standards like running, swimming and biking, but also weight training using major lifts like the deadlift, the clean, and the squat. Crossfit has returned those staples of gym classes in the 60′s, pull-ups, push-ups, and squats, to a prominence not seen since the days of Kennedy’s Presidential Council on Fitness.

Caloric intake matters; you can’t out train a bad diet or a bad lifestyle. Crossfit’s dietary prescription is quite simple: “eat meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but NOT BODY FAT.” Crossfit preaches the merits of both quantity and quality when if comes to food. Carbohydrates with a low glycemic index, protein containing all essential amino acids, AND FAT are all essential to producing physical fitness. Food should be seen as fuel and should be measured as such. Even the highest quality foods consumed in the most balanced proportions will produce increased body fat and decreased fitness if taken in too high volume

A funny thing happened on the way to revolutionizing the fitness industry. In addition to increased strength, increased endurance, and decreased body fat, which translated into a dramatically fewer inches and lower dress sizes, it seemed as if everyone who did Crossfit became healthier. Lower cholesterol. Lower resting heart rates. Decreased blood pressure. Elevated moods. It looked like a move away from decrepitude and frailty was actually a move TOWARD health. Toward WELLNESS. A scientist at heart, Glassman digested this information and in 2008 made the following statement: fitness is a proxy for health. Indeed, Glassman declared that fitness EQUALS health. In this, Greg Glassman is right, or at least more right than not. At a minimum, fitness is the foundation upon which health is built. A healthy nation is one that need not expend countless $Billions on curing diseases that could be prevented by becoming fit. This is the first reason why he is the most dangerous man in American health care.

The second reason is that he doesn’t care.

Greg Glassman is like the little boy standing at the side of the road watching the naked emperor parade by who declares “the Emperor has no clothes!” He is standing there watching a parade of the fat and the weak and he is saying “hey look…they can’t get their butt off the throne!” It’s uncomfortable to hear someone say that, but he doesn’t care; it needs to be said. The standard dietary dogma of high carbohydrate, low-fat diets with little or no meat? A straight ticket to decrepitude! He doesn’t care that statements like that make all of the Oz’s and Pritiken’s sputter and squirm. When asked once upon a time how to gain weight for a movie role Glassman famously responded: “ easy…non–fat frozen yogurt.” It’s no different with exercise. Walking and other low-intensity exercises? Better than nothing, but only almost. Cue the howls of the Jillians and the Jakes, and every glossy, muscly, fitnessy magazine editor in the English speaking world. Glassman is right, and he doesn’t care.

Greg Glassman has looked at what is wrong with the health of Americans and he is willing to say what that is and say it out loud. He is willing to say that we as a people are unfit, and that this is the primary cause underlying our lack of health, and our accelerating need to spend money to cure disease. He is willing to say that the vast majority of the advice that we have received to fix this is flat out wrong, whether it comes from the government or the cover of Fitness Magazine. He is willing to say the the road to economic salvation in American Healthcare leads through the gym, the grocery store, and the kitchen, not to or through something as meaningless as an “Accountable Healthcare Organization” (whatever that may be). Although he is convinced that he is right he is presently spending gobs of his own money studying the effects of the Crossfit prescription on the health of regular people.

Yup, Greg Glassman is right, and he doesn’t care that all of the so–called experts in healthcare don’t know who he is yet, or that they wouldn’t agree with him if they did. Judging by what’s going on in the physical fitness world right now as Crossfit grows 30% PER MONTH, I’d say that makes Greg Glassman the most dangerous man in American healthcare.

Better learn how to spell his name.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Thursday's WOD


"Wilmot"
6 rounds for time of:
50 Squats
25 Ring dips

Canadian Forces Private Colin Wilmot, 24, of Fredericton, New Brunswick, assigned to the Second Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (2 PPCLI) Battle Group, based out of Edmonton, Alberta, died on July 6, 2008 from wounds suffered when an explosive device detonated near him in the Panjwali District of Afghanistan.

He is survived by his fiancee Laura, father Eric Craig, and sister Kathleen.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Wednesday's WOD

AMRAP in 5 minutes of:
3 Deadlifts (275# / 190#)
7 Push presses (115# / 80#)

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Happy Independence Day!


In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.

Background

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.[4] After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:

“The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

Adams' prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.[6]

One of the most enduring myths about Independence Day is that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.[7][8] The myth had become so firmly established that, decades after the event and nearing the end of their lives, even the elderly Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had come to believe that they and the other delegates had signed the Declaration on the fourth.[9] Most delegates actually signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776.[10] In a remarkable series of coincidences, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two founding fathers of the United States and the only two men who signed the Declaration of Independence to become president, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the United States' 50th anniversary. President James Monroe died exactly five years later, on July 4, 1831, but he was not a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.


Observance

In 1777, thirteen gunshots were fired, once at morning and again as evening fell, on July 4 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary in a manner a modern American would find quite familiar: an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews, and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white, and blue bunting.[11]


In 1778, General George Washington marked July 4 with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute. Across the Atlantic Ocean, ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans in Paris, France.[12]


In 1779, July 4 fell on a Sunday. The holiday was celebrated on Monday, July 5.[12]


In 1781, the Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to recognize July 4 as a state celebration.[12]


In 1783, Moravians in Salem, North Carolina, held a celebration of July 4 with a challenging music program assembled by Johann Friedrich Peter. This work was titled "The Psalm of Joy".


In 1791 the first recorded use of the name "Independence Day" occurred.


In 1870, the U.S. Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees.[13]


In 1938, Congress changed Independence Day to a paid federal holiday.


Unique or historical celebrations

Held since 1785, the Bristol Fourth of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States.


Since 1912, the Rebild Society, a Danish-American friendship organization, has held a July 4th weekend festival that serves as a homecoming for Danish-Americans in the Rebild section of Denmark.[16]


Since 1916, Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City supposedly started as a way to settle a dispute among four immigrants as to who was the most patriotic.


Since 1959, the International Freedom Festival is jointly held in Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario during the last week of June each year as a mutual celebration of Independence Day and Canada Day (July 1). It culminates in a large fireworks display over the Detroit River.


Numerous major and minor league baseball games are played on Independence Day.


The famous Macy's fireworks display over the East River in New York City has been televised nationwide on NBC since 1976.


Since 1970, the annual 10 kilometer Peachtree Road Race is held in Atlanta, Georgia.


Since 1973, the Boston Pops Orchestra hosts a music and fireworks show over the Charles River Esplanade called the "Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular".[17] The event has been broadcast nationally since 2007 on CBS.[18]


On the Capitol lawn in Washington, D.C., “A Capitol Fourth,” a free concert, precedes the fireworks and attracts over half a million people annually.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Friday's WOD - "The Centurion"




I have posted a couple of my favorite pictures form my time at Centurion CrossFit Fort Hood. They are both from the same event - the Lumberjack 20 Memorial Hero WOD on 5 Dec 09; exactly one month after the terrorist traiter Major Malik Nadal Hasan opened fire on his fellow Soldiers here.

The second picture will always be my favorite picture of the box. It is the lanes for the Lumberjack 20 WOD set up early in the morning, before anyone arrived. Truly the calm before the storm and and great memory of the CrossFit community coming together to support the Soldiers and families of Fort Hood.

"The Centurion"
Row 10 calories
10 Pull-ups
10 GHD sit-ups
10 KB swings (1.5 pood / 1pood)
10 OHS (135#)
10 Box jumps (24" / 20")
10 GHD back extensions
10 Burpees (onto two 45# plates)
10 Deadlifts (275# / 190#)
10 Double unders

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Thursday's WOD

Overhead squat
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Followed by

AMRAP in 8 minutes of:
5 Front Squats (155#/95#)
7 Burpees

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Wednesday's WOD

AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
Run 400 meters
7 Muscle-ups

If you cannot do muscle-ups, do 3 pull-ups and 3 dips for each muscle-up.

T-shirts: I have the following sizes still remaining:

Men's:
3 XL
3 L

Women's:
1 XL
4 M

Monday, June 27, 2011

Tuesday's WOD



Jose and Vanessa suffering through yesterday's WOD!

Power clean
3-3-3-3-3

T-Mu:
HSPU holds
L-sits (these are reverse tabatas, 10 sec of work, 20 sec of rest)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Monday's WOD




A picture from one of the first WODs we ever ran!


5 rounds for time of:
5 Overhead squats (135# / 95#)
10 Toes to bar
15 Hang squat cleans (40# / 30# dumbbells)
20 Double-unders

The t-shirts are in!! I will be bringing them to the box all week. I will come early to the ladies class tomorrow to hand them out to those who have paid for them.

I have about 3 extra shirts in each size for men and women. It is first come, first serve so if you want one, bring your money in and grab them before they go!

If you paid for one and have moved or are deployed, shoot me your address and I will get them in the mail to you. The shorts should be done shortly too.

Also, this will be my last week coaching at Centurion CrossFit Fort Hood. It has truly been an honor and pleasure serving the Soldiers and families of Fort Hood for the past 3 years!! Mel and I are sad to be leaving everyone and the great community that has grown up at the box!

I will continue posting WODs until the end of July, when we depart. Dave will be back in August and will take over the noon classes and running of the affiliate.

If we ever open a box elsewhere, all you Centurions will always be welcome!!

Friday, June 24, 2011

The t-shirts have arrived!!



I will bring them in Monday and begin handing them out!

Also, don't forget about CrossFit Beyond Limits' (http://www.crossfitbeyondlimits.com/index.html) grand opening tomorrow! They will have a meet and greet at 1000 - followed by several heats of WODs with some prizes to be won!!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Friday's WOD

Press
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Followed by

AMRAP in 10 minutes of:
5 OHSs (95#/65#)
5 KB Swings (53#/36#)

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Thursday's WOD

5 rounds for time of:
15 Thrusters (95# / 65#)
15 Bar-facing burpees

The t-shirts have shipped and will arrive Friday!! I'll be bringing them to the box all next week to hand them out. If you did not preorder one, there will be a few extras available in each size for both men and women.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Wednesday's WOD

Front squat
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

T M-u:
Sit-ups
Rope climbs

The t-shirts have shipped!!! I will post as soon as they arrive!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Tuesday's WOD



The South Central Regionals were outstanding!! Typical great CrossFit community there and incredible athletes killing WODs in 110 degrees of heat. It was an extremely well run event and it was great to see the Centurions that came out to see it!

21-15-9 reps for time of:
Box jumps (24” / 20”)
Power snatchs (75# / 50#)
Chest to bar Pull-ups

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Big CrossFit happenings this weekend!!

Lots of kick ass CrossFit going on this weekend!! (also, I got my internet fixed today!! sorry for the disruption but I had the cable cut this past weekend and they had to lay new cable)

If you are staying in the are, check out the new local commercial affiliate: CrossFit Beyond Limits (http://www.crossfitbeyondlimits.com/)at:

900 Leifester Circle B
Killeen, TX 76542
573-528-4574


They are having an open WOD / get to know everyone in the CrossFit community this Saturday beginning at 0900 - stop in, hit a WOD and meet some new CrossFitters!!

If you feel like road tripping, come on down to Tomball, Texas for the South Central Regionals for the CrossFit Games. All the phenomenal athletes from our area will be laying it out there to earn a slot to the Games!! The location is:

Oakland Farm & Ranch
11035 Spell Rd.
Tomball, TX 77375



Below is the list of sponsors / vendors for the event:

First and foremost, obviously the CrossFit Games primary sponsors, Reebok and Rogue will both be there.

Also, a local grass-fed, pasture-raised farm, Yonder Way Farm will be there serving breakfast and lunch on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

In addition, here is a full list of all the vendors and sponsors for the South Central Region (in no particular order) as well as their primary contact in case you wanted to email and ask them anything.

Reebok
(Mike Krawetz - Mike.Krawetz@reebok.com)

Rogue Fitness
(Bill - bill@roguefitness.com)

Yonder Way Farm
(Jason Kramer - jasonkramer@yonderwayfarm.com)

Airrosti Rehab Centers
(Troy Wenzel - troy.wenzel@airrosti.com)

Paths In Healing
(Tim Janak - timjr@pathsinhealing.com)

Maximized Living Doctors
(Clayton Hansen - drhansen@oakhillschiro.com)

Fleet Feet Sports
(Kelcee Keenan fflouetta@yahoo.com)

Sportsmith
(Aaron Schupp - aaron@sportsmith.net)

RokFit
(Jason Greenwood - jason@rokfit.com)

Life as Rx/Sites as Rx
(Alex Kurz - alex@lifeasrx.com)

Midwest Fitness Solutions
(Bert Thornton - bert@midwestfitnesssolutions.com)

Sports Journals
(Jeri McMaster - jeri@twostates.net)

Forged Clothing
(Ryan Williams - ryan@forgedclothing.com)

Progenex
(Ryan Page - ryan@progenexusa.com)

RBC Sports & Fitness Training Systems
(Miguel De La Fuent - miguel@ranger-crossfit.com)

SicFit
(Jeremy Thiel - jeremythiel@crossfitcentral.com)

Lululemon Athletica
(Nick Wolny - nwolny@lululemon.com)

Irony Labs
(Chris Richter - chris@ironylabs.com)

U.S. Marines
(Corey Pullig - corey.pullig@marines.usmc.mil)

Monday, June 13, 2011

Tuesday

Press series (85/60)
Shoulder Press until failure (count reps completed)
Rest 2 minutes
Push Press to failure (count reps)
Rest 2 minutes
Push Jerk until failure (add the total of the three movements for your score)

TM-u (Tabata)
Bench Press (135/95)
Air squats

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Monday's WOD

This is a bittersweet post. Tomorrow is my last day coaching at Centurion. The last two plus years have been wonderfully rewarding in so many ways. Not only have I had two great coaches to learn from, Don Clarkson and Dave Taylor, but I've worked along side other coaches who taught me so many wonderful things. It's been a relationship full of ups and downs; victories and disappointments. In the army we see so many of our friends come and go so rapidly that it can give a person whiplash but I have been honored to coach many soldiers, their spouses and their children...it's been a blessing to have touched that many lives.

It's time for a new chapter, not only for this coach but for Centurion. Don and Dave started an amazing affiliate and I was nothing but humbled that I could "work" for them to further the fitness of so many athletes here at Fort Hood. We are headed to Fort Bliss this summer and I look forward to the next affiliate that I coach for however, I will always be a Centurion first!

Monday's WOD.....I wanted something simple in movement but overwhelming at first glance. It's one of my favorite!

For time:
Run 800m
100 Box jump burpees
Run 800m

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Friday's WOD

Paleolithic Diet Explained
Learn more about the Paleo Diet.


Ha! Made you work to find the WOD!!


Back squat
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Followed by

AMRAP in 7 minutes of:
5 power cleans (135#/95#)
8 lateral burpees over the barbell

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Thursday's WOD



”Moore”
AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
1 Rope climb (15’)
Run 400m
Max reps HSPU

Officer David S. Moore, 29, of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, died on January 26, 2011 from gunshot wounds suffered on January 23, 2011 when he stopped a stolen vehicle and the driver opened fire at him. He is survived by his mother Jo Ann, father Spencer, and sister Carol Bongfeldt.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Wednesday's WOD

"Tabata Something Else"

Complete 32 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest where the first 8 intervals are pull-ups, the second 8 are push-ups, the third 8 intervals are sit-ups, and finally, the last 8 intervals are squats. There is no rest between exercises.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Tuesday's WOD

Deadlift
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

T M-u:
Push press (75# / 55#)
Med ball cleans (20# / 14#)

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Monday's WOD

For time:
25 Walking lunge steps
20 Pull-ups
50 Box jumps (20”)
20 Double-unders
25 Ring dips
20 Knees to elbows
30 Kettlebell swings (2 pood / 1.5 pood)
30 Sit-ups
20 Hang squat cleans (35# / 25#) dumbbells
25 Back extensions
30 Wall balls (20# / 14#)
3 Rope climbs (15’)

Sugar - stop eating it!


Addicted to Sugar? How to Kick the Habit

We joke about it, we rationalize weight gain because of it and it always gives us an excuse to have a second piece of cake for dessert: It’s a sugar addiction.

Most people wouldn’t consider a sugar addiction as serious as a cigarette or an alcohol addiction. After all, how dangerous can a chocolate chip cookie really be?

But for those individuals with an inclination for sweets, there is bad news: According to numerous researchers and scientific studies, a sugar addiction can be just as strong as a drug or alcohol dependency.

If this information alone does not make you put down your Snickers bar, then keep reading.

the sugar craving

We’ve all experienced it -- the quiet voice in our head that convinces us to hit the local 7-11 at midnight for a chocolate bar or another helping of pie after dinner. Let’s face it: Sugar makes us happy and most people who claim to be addicted to sweets will tell you this. Sounds funny, right?

Actually, it’s truer than you think.

Recent studies prove that humans are programmed from an early age to crave sugar. And once the body has experienced sugar’s sweet rewards, it does not take much time for it to be officially addicted.

The sugar addiction begins at birth. Human breast milk is very sweet, so even infants begin to recognize the pleasurable feeling they get from sweet foods.
But what causes the craving?
After eating a sugary treat, the brain releases natural chemicals called opioids, which give the body a feeling of intense pleasure. The brain then recognizes this feeling and begins to crave more of it.

Researchers have identified that there are certain areas in the brain (specifically, the hippocampus, the insula and the caudate) that are activated when one craves sugar.

There is also scientific evidence that shows that these same areas of the brain are activated when drug addicts crave drugs; which proves how “real” a sugar addiction can be.

The Sugar Rush

So, what exactly happens in your body when you consume sugar?

After sugar enters the bloodstream, blood sugar levels rise, causing the pancreas to release insulin (insulin is needed to convert sugar into energy).

When a large amount of sugar is consumed, more insulin is released. The insulin converts the sugar into an instant energy source -- which explains the jolt or “high” you get from a donut or a piece of cake. After high levels of insulin are released, blood sugar levels begin to decrease rapidly, resulting in the “crash” you feel shortly after eating a sugary treat.

In addition to converting sugar into energy, insulin also stimulates the storage of fat. Therefore, the more sugar you eat, the more insulin you produce, and consequently, the more likely it is that you will gain weight.

Along with obesity and tooth decay, sugar has also been linked to more serious health conditions, including increased mood swings, a depressed immune system and diabetes.

Drugs and Sugar

As mentioned above, sugar activates the brain’s pleasure center, which releases opioids that fuel a craving for more sugar. Recent studies on cravings and addiction show that heroin and morphine produce the same chemicals in the brain.

Still think a sugar addiction is not serious?

The same studies show that sugar also activates areas in the brain that reinforce behaviors. This means that -- similarly to a heroin addiction -- your body learns to want and need more of the substance that makes it feel good.

To prove this point, scientists provided humans with a compound to block opioid receptors in the brain. Shortly after receiving these compounds, people were less interested in sugary or sweet foods.

The Science Behind the Addiction

Studies from Princeton and the University of Minnesota involving rats reinforce how addictive sugar can be. When sugar was given to the rats, they exhibited addiction-like qualities, including intense cravings, withdrawal and bingeing symptoms. When the rats were weaned off sugar and then presented with the option to consume it again, nearly all of them exhibited typical relapse symptoms.

In addition to animal research, brain scans performed on human subjects showed that the sight of ice cream in normal patients generated the same feelings of pleasure in the brain as images of crack pipes did for crack addicts.

Sugar in Disguise

The average American consumes around 160 pounds of sugar each year. This is no surprise when you consider that sugar is in everything from ketchup to salad dressing and canned soup to deli meat.

Food marketers are great at incorporating sugar into many products under a variety of aliases. Common names for sugar can include sucrose, fructose, dextrose, and high-fructose corn syrup -- none of which actually sound like the word “sugar,” but essentially mean the same thing.

Throughout your lifetime, it is probable that you have been eating more sugar than you were aware of; so ultimately, your body is probably already addicted.

Many of the foods that you probably consume every day are packed with sugar, including fruit juice, iced coffee and tea drinks, yogurt, wheat bread, and most breakfast cereals (even Bran Flakes and Special K have sugar in them).

Even if you have one can of regular (non-diet) soda, you are consuming nearly 10 teaspoons of sugar, which is, approximately, the maximum recommended daily allowance.

Sugar does not give your body anything but a quick boost of energy -- it is completely devoid of the vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants that you find in natural foods. Oh, and it makes you fat.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/06/05/addicted-to-sugar-how-to-kick-habit/#ixzz1OQ6fCoJa

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Friday's WOD

"Team Helen"

I did this WOD out in California at Greg Amundson's CrossFit LEO Summit a few weeks ago.

Personnel pair up and then execute 3 rounds for time of:
200m run (with kettlebell (1.5 pood / 1 pood)
42 KB swings (1.5 pood / 1 pood)
24 Pull-ups

- During the run, each team member must carry the KB part of the way and both may run at the same time.

- Only one team member can do KB swings at a time but both must do some KB swings; you may break it up however you wish. All 42 KB swings must be complete before moving to pull-ups.

- Only one team member can do pull-ups at a time but both must do some pull-ups; you may break it up however you wish. All 24 pull-ups must be complete before starting the next run.

Thursday's WOD

For time:

Row 2k

Work to row the 2k in under 8 minutes.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Wednesday's WOD

AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
5 Power cleans (145# / 100#)
10 Toes to bar
15 Wall balls (20# / 14#)

Monday, May 30, 2011

Tuesday's WOD



There were some amazing performances around the world this weekend as the Crossit Games Regionals kicked off!! Check out http://games.crossfit.com for all the details!

Overhead squat
3-3-3-3-3


T M-u:
Burpees
KB swings

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Monday

In honor of Memorial Day on Monday I will be outside the gym to conduct a team memorial WOD at 0900. I'll announce the WOD on site....See you there. FYI, I'm bringing my kids, feel free to bring yours.

Memorial Day

Please take time this Memorial Day to reflect upon all the great freedoms we enjoy in our nation and to understand what the costs of those freedoms have entailed.


Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with her own poem:


We cherish too, the Poppy redThat grows on fields where valor led,It seems to signal to the skiesThat blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children's League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their "Buddy" Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.

Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.

There are a few notable exceptions. Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."

The Moment of Remembrance is a step in the right direction to returning the meaning back to the day. What is needed is a full return to the original day of observance. Set aside one day out of the year for the nation to get together to remember, reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their country.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Friday

Just a reminder that the gym will be closed Friday and Monday for a training holiday. However, Friday morning I will run the ladies class (dudes are welcome too!) at 9:00 outside. The WOD is....

In teams of two, AMRAP in 15 minutes of:
10 Tire flips with jumps
5 burpees

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Thursday's WOD

3 rounds for time of:
Run 100m
50 Push-ups
Run 100m
50 Sit-ups
Run 100m
50 Squats
Run 100m
50 Back extensions

The gym will not be open for regular Classes Friday or Monday due to the Memorial Day holiday. Also, I will be out of town tomorrow so I won't be at the noon WOD.

Jenn will run the women's class outside at 0900 on Friday so show up if you want; she has a fun team WOD planned!!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Wednesday's WOD

"Lynne"
5 rounds for max reps of:
Body weight bench press
Pull-ups

Monday, May 23, 2011

Tuesday's WOD

Push jerk
2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2

Rest 60 seconds between sets

T M-u:
SDHP w/KB
Wall balls

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Monday's WOD

For time:
400 meters of Walking Lunges


Knee must ”kiss” the ground with each step

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Friday's WOD

Front squat
5-5-5-5-5

Followed by

Max double unders in 10 minutes

Why Fast Food Isn't Cheaper Than Healthy Food

I get a lot of questions during lectures from people wanting to know how they can eat better when eating healthy is so expensive. They base their questions on claims that unhealthy choices are cheaper. For instance, I saw a recent news story where the reporter walked around Walmart and looked at the value of foods based on the measure of calories per dollar. This is really nothing more than a cute parlor game to say that one dollar will purchase close to 1,000 calories of candy bars but only a single large apple, because it doesn't tell us anything about what we get for our money. Calories are certainly an important part of our diet and weight control, but it is the quality of those calories that matters to our health.

The conclusion often from studies and news reports is that the subsidies on more calorie-dense foods are the culprit Because our government provides funding to farmers growing calorie-dense products like corn (which is processed into sugars) and beef, the typical fast food menu can be advertised as being "cheap, cheap, cheap," and candy bars can be sold for 33 cents each.

This is, however, one of the great myths about healthy eating -- ranking right up there with the fallacy that eating healthy doesn't taste good. I believe it's more economical to cook a fresh, healthy meal than to eat junk food.

The argument I hear most often is that it's cheaper to eat at McDonald's. After going to McDonald's recently and putting together a typical meal for four (mom, dad and two kids), I came up with a total of about $14.00 (I didn't actually buy anything, though). For that money, you get almost nothing of nutritive value, but bland white bread, greasy burgers and fries with a sugary soda.

That same $14.00 will purchase two pounds of lean ground beef, a pack of eight whole wheat buns, lettuce, tomato and enough potatoes to make oven-baked french fries and salad ingredients with money left over for some fresh fruit. The best part is that this is twice as much food as at McDonald's, so there's plenty for leftovers later. Better food at half the price: that's pretty simple. I'll allow that there's no soda included in the home cooked meal, but no one should drink soda anyway and a full pitcher of iced tea costs pennies to make.

At KFC, they sell $5.00 "complete" meals. I say "complete," but they really aren't since there's far too much refined carbohydrates and the only vegetables are deep fried potatoes.

These meals serve one person and generally include two pieces of chicken with fries and a biscuit (no veggies) and a soda. That comes to $20.00 for the same family of four, and for that you can purchase a whole chicken for roasting, four ears of corn on the cob, makings for a side vegetable or a salad and have money left over for fruit for dessert. Sure, the KFC meal is right at 1,000 calories, which makes it 200 calories per dollar, but there's also only 2 grams of fiber in the meal, more than a teaspoon of salt and 16 teaspoons of sugar. In the long run, those poor quality calories end up costing a lot.

The same home cooked meal with one roasted chicken breast, one roasted chicken thigh, a side salad, corn on the cob and an apple comes in at around 600 calories with about a quarter teaspoon salt. There's 11 grams of fiber and half the sugar, but the sugars are from natural sources and not table sugar or high fructose corn syrup. It's a healthy meal for less than KFC.

Sure, if you count this as calories per dollar you come out behind, but not all that much -- and the food is far, far better. The home cooked meal costs 120 calories per dollar, but these are great quality calories: low in sodium and added sugars, high in fiber, much more satisfying and, in my opinion, much tastier than KFC.

I spend a lot of time in grocery stores and it's amazing how much convenience food I see. Take the Healthy Choice penne in tomato sauce frozen meal. For the same family of four that it would take five of these (or maybe even more, considering the amount of calories that each member of the family might need).

At $2.80 per serving, that's a minimum of $14.00. That same 14 bucks will buy a box of whole wheat penne, onions, tomatoes and cheese with money left over for salad and fruit -- and it'll make six servings.

I do get people who want to argue that there's no time to cook, but this is also a myth. Putting a chicken in the oven to roast takes one minute to season and 5 seconds to put in the oven. Same with roasting the corn on the cob. Making a salad dressing and prepping the veggies takes all of about 10 minutes. That's less than 15 minutes work time to make a fantastic dinner. You might stand in line that long at the fast food joint.

There are so many recipes available online that are quick, easy and family friendly. They are inexpensive and delicious, but even those requiring more expensive ingredients are still cheaper than eating out -- and they're so much better for you. These are difficult economic times. One of the best ways to save money and get healthier (which also saves money) is to cook your own meals.

The myth that eating junk food is cheaper is just that: a myth.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Thursday's WOD

”Death by Push-ups”
AMRAP in 20 minutes of hand-release push-ups

Each time you rest, run 400m

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Wednesday's WOD

"Fight Gone Bad!"
Three rounds of:
Wall-ball 20# / 14# - (Reps)
Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75# / 55# - (Reps)
Box Jump 20" box (Reps)
Push-press, 75# / 55# - (Reps)
Row (Calories)

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute.The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. On call of "rotate", the athletes must move to next station immediately for best score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

* The 0900 ladies class will begin at 0915

Monday, May 16, 2011

Tuesday's WOD

MEBB(T):
Squat snatch
1-1-1-1-1-1-1


T M-u:
Ring dips
Box jumps

FYI - I have a doctor's appointment so I may be running late.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Monday's WOD


”J.T.”
21-15-9 reps of:
Handstand push-ups
Ring dips
Push-ups

In honor of Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jeff Taylor, 30, of Little Creek, VA who was killed in Afghanistan.

"My husband was a warrior and a man who believed his purpose in life was to defend the freedoms that each of us enjoy today." Erin Taylor

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Thursday's WOD

30 Muscle-ups for time

If you cannot do muscle-ups, do two to one muscle-up tranistions so 60 muscle-up transitions

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/low-carb-library/why-we-get-fat/#more-4454



Back squat:
5-5-5-5-5

Why We Get Fat


Of all the dangerous ideas that health officials could have embraced while trying to understand why we get fat, they would have been hard-pressed to find one ultimately more damaging than calories-in/calories-out. That it reinforces what appears to be so obvious—obesity as the penalty for gluttony and sloth—is what makes it so alluring. But it’s misleading and misconceived on so many levels that it’s hard to imagine how it survived unscathed and virtually unchallenged for the last fifty years.

It has done incalculable harm. Not only is this thinking at least partly responsible for the ever-growing numbers of obese and overweight in the world—while directing attention away from the real reasons we get fat—but it has served to reinforce the perception that those who are fat have no one to blame but themselves. That eating less invariably fails as a cure for obesity is rarely perceived as the single most important reason to make us question our assumptions, as Hilde Bruch suggested half a century ago. Rather, it is taken as still more evidence that the overweight and obese are incapable of following a diet and eating in moderation. And it puts the blame for their physical condition squarely on their behavior, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

Gary Taubes from Why We Get Fat



While trying to catch up on my reading before piles of Financial Times, New York Times and Wall Street Journals consume our living space, I came across a review of Donald Rumsfeld’s book, Known and Unknown. The title of which was taken from one of his orotund responses to a reporter about the various kinds of knowledge we have. Said he:


There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.

Mr. Rumsfeld believes the last of the above, the things we don’t know we don’t know, is the most problematic. I disagree. I think the first gets most people in trouble most of the time. And this includes Rummy himself.


It ain’t so much the things we don’t know that get us into trouble. It’s the things we know that just ain’t so.

So opined Henry Wheeler Shaw (AKA Josh Billings), who said it a lot more memorably well over a century ago in a quote often misattributed to Mark Twain, Will Rogers and others.

One of the things countless people ‘know’ that just ain’t so – or at least that ‘just ain’t so’ as they think they know it – is that people get fat because they eat too much or exercise too little. In the minds of many, it’s all a matter of calories in versus calories out. Which is a really meaningless statement of the problem, but which leads inexorably to the conclusion that people get fat because they are either gluttonous or lazy or both. The so-called Gluttony and Sloth model for obesity.

Why is the calories in vs calories out notion so meaningless? If more calories come in than go out, you gain weight, and if more calories are expended than come in, you lose weight. Seems reasonable. It’s a bewitching notion, because it is absolutely true but at the same time absolutely meaningless. It tells us nothing. Let me digress to explain using a painful example from my own past.

Almost 20 years ago I singlehandedly dragged my family into the restaurant business. I bought a franchise for a Mexican food place. (If you’re interested, you can read more about it here.) I recruited (read: dragooned) all our children to operate it, and despite all our best efforts, the venture ended in disaster. But during the run, I spent a lot of time in the restaurant. And one of the constant conversational threads was why it was or wasn’t busy at any given time. We would have a Saturday afternoon during which few people came in. As a consequence, the next Saturday we would schedule a skeleton crew, and we would be slammed. Then someone would realize that there was a Razorback football game in Little Rock that weekend, which would explain it. Or so we thought. Sometimes for no apparent reason we would have people swarm in. There would be a line out the door with more showing up by the minute. We would all be working like dogs to get everyone served, all the while saying to ourselves and to one another: What the #$&**!!# is going on? Why are we so packed?

Now imagine if during one of these rushes, one of us had said, It’s really quite simple: we’re so crowded because there are way more people coming into the restaurant than there are people leaving. We all would have looked at the person uttering such nonsense as if he/she were the village idiot. But the statement is absolutely 100 percent correct. That’s why we were so busy. More people coming in than going out. But it doesn’t really answer the question at hand. What we want to know is why so many people are coming in? A Razorback game? A big sale at the department store next door? A good review in the paper that we weren’t aware of? A bus full of people broken down outside the front door? Why are there so many more people coming in than going out? If we could figure out the why, then we would have an easier time scheduling staff.*

It’s the same with the calories in/calories out notion. If you’re fat, you’ve been taking in more calories than you’ve been expending. No one would argue that. At least no one with good sense. But the question is, why? Why have you been taking in more than you’ve been expending? That’s the question you want to have answered, because only when you discover the answer can you figure out why you’re fat and what to do about it.

Gary Taubes has done the figuring and writes about it in his new book, Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It (WWGF). As most readers of this blog know, a few years ago Gary wrote a long, detailed book on what we can call the Carbohydrate Theory of disease, titled Good Calories, Bad Calories (GCBC). Now he has come out with what many think is a slimmed-down version of GCBC, called by some GBGC-Lite. But it’s not really a lite version of GCBC – it’s something much different. I call it GBGC-Fat. I would append the term ‘fat’ because it’s about fat – adipose tissue – and why so many of us struggle so mightily to rid ourselves of superfluous wads of it.

WWGF is a great primer on fat gain, fat loss and just about everything having to do with obesity. I read GCBC three times, starting with the first manuscript version and ending with the actual book. I’ve done the same with WWGF, so I can assure you that it is not a rewrite of GCBC, but is mainly new material presented in a much easier to assimilate way. As many people have discovered, trying to get their doctors or other non-believers to read GBGC is a tough sell. Few, who aren’t already converts, can summon the will to dig in to a book that large. The new book is much less intimidating than GCBC, but just as compelling. Even the title is better and more seductive. Who wouldn’t want to know why we get fat?

In his efforts to ferret out why we do get fat, Gary, an obvious follower of the Samuel Johnson admonition that we more often need reminding of old truths than instruction in new ones, looks to the pre WWII scientific literature for the ‘old truths’ that are still valid. One of which is that carbohydrates fatten both livestock and people. If you think about it, it’s difficult for the current crop of academics to intuitively grasp this notion, because they have been inculcated from the time they entered kindergarten with the ‘dietary fat is bad’ mantra. That kind of deep-seated learning is hard to shake. Especially so, since when today’s academics were students, their mentors, who had built their own careers (all way post WWII) on the very same mistaken notion about fat, wouldn’t likely have provided much inspiration for their young charges to change.

So, why do people get fat? Let’s look at it as Gary does and start from the beginning.

When we talk about obesity, we’re talking about the excess accumulation of fat. The excess fat is stored in the fat cells (adipose cells), which, collectively make up the adipose tissue. With that as our starting point, where do we go?

If we ask how the fat gets into the fat cells, we will discover that all the pathways of fat storage were worked out years ago and are so uncontroversial that they’re described in detail in every biochemistry and physiology textbook currently in use. It’s well known that the metabolic hormone insulin stimulates an enzyme on the surface of the fat cell that moves the fat into the cell.

So if insulin moves fat into the fat cells, it would seem that a lot of insulin would move a lot of fat into the fat cells. And indeed it does. Given this, the rational person trying to figure out the previous step in our progression would ask What causes a lot of insulin? Or the rational person, should he/she have been steeped for a lifetime in the marinade of ‘fat is bad’ might ask, What about fat? If there is a lot of fat in the blood as a result of fat in the diet, wouldn’t that fat get into the fat cell? If so, then doesn’t dietary fat lead to fat?

A good question, but the answer is no. Type I diabetics can have a lot of fat in their diets and in their blood, but if they have no insulin, they can’t store that fat. In fact, most pre-diagnosis type I diabetics lose enormous amounts of weight despite eating ravenously because without insulin they can’t store the fat. So dietary fat itself – even large amounts of it – won’t find its way into the fat cell without the help of insulin.

When you hack through the thicket of all the biochemical pathways involved in the metabolic process, you find that insulin is the primary force involved in the storage of nutrients. Insulin is the body’s storage hormone: it puts fat in the fat cells, protein into muscle cells and glucose into it’s storage form, glycogen. Insulin, along with its counter-regulatory hormone glucagon (the Yin and Yang of metabolism), are involved in nutrient partitioning – the process of stashing nutrients away in different parts of the body and/or harvesting them for the body to use as energy.

If we have a lot of insulin, the insulin dominant-pathways (the storage pathways) hold sway, and fat is partitioned away in the fat cells; if insulin is low, then the glucagon-dominant pathways (the energy-release pathways) take over and start moving fat out of the fat cells, so it can be consumed by the body as fuel. This is how it is supposed to work. We eat. Insulin comes out and stores away the energy. We go for a while without eating, insulin goes down and glucagon comes out to retrieve our stored fat so we’ll have a continuous energy supply.

Problems arise when this system goes off the rails, which most commonly happens when people develop insulin resistance, a problem of disordered insulin signaling. Insulin talks, but the cells don’t listen. So insulin keeps talking louder until the cells finally get the message. In other words, the pancreas keeps producing insulin and the blood levels continue to rise until the cells finally get the message. But it’s a message that has taken a lot of insulin force to deliver.

If all the different types of cells developed resistance to insulin at the same rate, we wouldn’t have as much of a problem. But they don’t. Different cells develop insulin resistance at different rates. Typically the first cells to become insulin resistant are the liver cells. The liver cells are continuously producing sugar and dumping it into the blood. Insulin shuts this process down. If the insulin level drops to zero, as it does in type I diabetes, the liver dumps a huge load of sugar in the blood causing all the blood sugar problems associated with this disease. Under normal circumstances, just a little insulin stops the liver cells in their tracks. But if these cells are resistant to insulin, much more is required to get them the message to turn off the sugar spigot.

In most people, the fat cells develop insulin resistance later, which creates the problem. If insulin levels are high to control the liver’s sugar factory output, then these elevated insulin levels are sending a strong message to the non-insulin-resistant fat cells. The message is take this fat and store it. High insulin not only drives fat into the fat cells, it prevents it from getting out. Fat is packed into the fat cells and kept there.

Between meals when insulin levels would normally fall, allowing the liberation of fat to feed all the body’s tissues, insulin remains high in an effort to keep the liver in check. Fat can’t get out of the fat cells, and the tissues begin to starve. Even though there is plenty of stored fat, the body can’t get to it because elevated insulin is preventing its release.

Starving tissues send a message to the brain, saying ‘we’re hungry.’ The brain responds by increasing the drive to feed. We eat, and the carbs we eat are consumed by the cells for immediate energy, and insulin stimulated by the dietary carbohydrate drives the fat into the fat cells where it is trapped with the rest of the fat already there. The fat cell mass gets larger and larger, and we become obese.

The above scenario explains a lot. Why can some people eat like crazy and not get fat? Perhaps because they develop insulin resistance in their fat cells just as they do in their liver cells. They don’t get fat, but they typically have all the other insulin-driven problems of the obese: high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, increased risk for heart disease, etc. And all while staying skinny.

How about morbid obesity? Easy. Those people don’t develop insulin resistance in their fat cells until late in the game, if ever. They continue to push fat into the fat cells and become more and more obese until they weight 400-500 pounds or even more. The average person will finally develop fat cell insulin resistance before the morbid obesity stage. When this happens, weight and level of obesity stabilize and stay the same, almost irrespective of how much is eaten.

We now know why we get fat. Excess insulin drives fat into the fat cells increasing the fat cell mass, ultimately leading to the state we call obesity. If we keep walking this progression back, the next question has to be, Why do we make too much insulin?

We make too much insulin because we eat too many carbohydrates, especially sugar and other refined carbohydrates. With that statement, we’re starting to edge into controversial territory, but it’s only territory populated by the ignorant. The hard science is emphatic that carbs are a pure insulin play. Eat them and your insulin goes up.

Some people with a little learning may be quick to point out that protein drives insulin up as well. This is true, but with a catch. Protein drives both insulin and glucagon up, so you don’t have the pure insulin effect. Only carbs will give you that. With carbs, insulin goes up while glucagon goes down. With meat and other proteins, the effects of the elevated insulin are muted by the concomitant rise in glucagon. (Glucagon isn’t called insulin’s counter-regulatory hormone for nothing.)

As Gary lays out the progression, carbs increase insulin, excess insulin drives excess fat into the fat cells, the fat cell mass grows, and we become fat. This chain of cause and effect leads to the ineluctable conclusion that excess carbohydrate intake leads to obesity. And each and every link forged in this chain is scientifically unimpeachable.

So if you are fat and want this progression to reverse itself, wouldn’t it make sense to reduce your carbohydrate intake? All the science is valid. But don’t just take my word for it. Gary writes of a former Harvard professor responsible for much of the early work in the field of the regulation of fat accumulation who summed it up like this:


Carbohydrate is driving insulin is driving fat.

If you put that in reverse, you should cut the carbs, reduce the insulin and lose the fat. Seems simple, but here is where all kinds of controversy rears its head. Even the very smart Harvard professor who did the original work and uttered the above quote, when asked by Gary why there is so much obesity, responded that people didn’t exercise enough. Which also proves true what Saul Bellow wrote years ago:


A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.

As I’ve written numerous times in the pages of this blog, food is made of three things: fat, protein and carbohydrate. When you decrease one, you typically increase the other. If you cut the carbs, you’re going to increase the fat and protein in your diet. And it’s the increased fat in particular that leads to all the controversy.

The current zeitgeist is that dietary fat, especially saturated fat, is bad. And not just bad, but extremely bad. So, even though they may understand that carbs drive fat storage, the ingrained fear of fat keeps many otherwise smart people from accepting the merits of the low-carbohydrate diet. To escape the cognitive dissonance, they default to the calories in/calories out argument, which, as we’ve seen, is meaningless. But they feel safe taking refuge in what they believe is a known known. More’s the pity since it will end up doing them about as much good as it did Rummy in the Iraq war.

Most rational people will find the above argument understandable and be able to connect the dots showing that carb intake leads to excess insulin leads to obesity. The difficult concept for many to grasp, however, is the other problem with too much insulin: it prevents the stored fat from being accessed for energy. Normally adipose tissue acts as a reservoir of energy. We eat, we convert the food we don’t immediately use into fat, and the body – acting via insulin – stashes it away for later. When later comes, insulin falls, glucagon rises, and the body starts harvesting it’s stored fat to provide energy for all the cellular functions. Then we eat, and the process starts anew.

In obese people it’s different. They eat, they use the food for immediate energy needs and store the rest away. In other words, they store excess energy away in their fat cells just like non-obese people do. It’s the second part of the formula that is different. In obese people, insulin is almost always elevated – even when they haven’t just finished a meal. These chronically elevated insulin levels trap the fat in the fat cells, and, in fact, turn the fat pathway into the fat cell into a one-way street. Fat can get in, but it can’t get out. If the fat does get out, the excess insulin tells the mitochondria not to burn it anyway, so it just gets sent back to the fat cells.

What does this mean for an obese person?

Let’s look back at the non-obese person to explain. A non-obese person eats, uses the energy from the food and stores the rest. During the time between meals and during sleep, the non-obese person draws on the stored fat to provide energy. When the fat cell mass decreases to a certain critical point, the body signals the brain that the fat cells need a refill, so the brain initiates the hunger response. The non-obese person eats, uses some energy for immediate needs, fills the fat cells with the rest, uses the stored energy as needed, and then the cycle repeats.

It doesn’t work that way in the obese. Obese people eat, use the energy required for immediate needs and store the rest. But–and this is the extremely important ‘but’– during the time between meals and during sleep, obese people can’t access their fat stores because their baseline insulin is too high. When they can’t get to their stored fat, the lack of access to energy sets in motion all the same biochemical signals in the obese person that get sent in the non-obese, who have depleted the energy storage in their fat cells. And these signals are converted by their brains into the drive to feed, i.e., intense hunger. They have to eat to provide for their immediate energy needs because, thanks to chronically elevated insulin levels, they can’t get into to their own stored fat, even though it’s there waiting in massive quantities.

To use an analogy, it would be like being out of cash when you desperately needed it yet having a huge amount of money in the bank. You hustle to an ATM machine and find your card won’t work. It’s the same with the obese – they have plenty of energy to go without eating for months, but their fat ATM cards don’t work. And since their fat ATM cards don’t work, the only option they have for immediate energy is to eat.

So fat people are fat not because they overeat – they overeat because they’re fat.

A real debt of gratitude is owed Gary for combing the old literature and ferreting out this notion. As early to mid-twentieth century, researchers both in Europe and America had determined obesity is a disorder of fat accumulation, not a problem of ‘perverted appetite,’ self control, or gluttony and sloth. Louis Newburgh, Ancel Keys, Jean Mayer and a few others were responsible for turning the herd thinking of academia in a different direction, and the ‘eat less, exercise more’ paradigm has been with us since. It’s doubtless not a coincidence that the obesity and diabetes epidemics have flourished as a consequence. As I say, Gary deserves a lot of credit for resurrecting this old work and starting to turn opinion in the other direction.

In addition to the chapters describing and discussing the mechanisms by which we get fat, Gary has included other important material in his book. One of my favorite chapters is the one titled “The Nature of a Healthy Diet.” Although you wouldn’t know it from this title, the chapter fairly presents most of the arguments against low-carbohydrate diets and refutes them. I’m sure many will find these refutations helpful in their dealings with naysayers, who seem compelled to point out non-existent problems with carb-restricted dieting. There is one in particular that I plan to deploy at the next opportunity. Since I have my own arguments against the rest of the anti-low-carb idiocy, it annoys me greatly that I didn’t think of this one myself.

Here is a scenario I often endure at a party or other get together after my identity as a diet book writer and low-carb expert has been revealed:

Other person, OP (typically an overweight female): I tried a low-carb diet once.

Me: (Dreading what’s sure to follow.) Oh, really.

OP: Yes, and it worked for a while, but I couldn’t stick to it.

Me: Oh, really? Why not?

OP: Well, I felt tired and spacey headed.

Me: People sometimes experience those symptoms early on, but they usually resolve after a couple of weeks. And there are steps you could’ve taken to prevent or minimize them.

OP: No, I don’t think so in my case. I know my body, and I know what it’s telling me. I’m just one of those people whose body needs carbs. As soon as I started eating carbs again, I felt much better.

Me: (Fighting down the impulse to point out that she’s still fat…) Hmmm. Maybe so.
Now, thanks to WWGF, I’ll know just what to say. I’ll leave you with the relevant paragraph from the book along with my highest recommendation to grab a copy and read it. I can promise you won’t be disappointed.


The more technical term for carbohydrate withdrawal is “keto-adaptation,” because the body is adapting to the state of ketosis that results from eating fewer than sixty or so grams of carbohydrates a day. This reaction is why some who try carbohydrate restriction give it up quickly. (“Carbohydrate withdrawal is often interpreted as a ‘need for carbohydrate,’ ” says Westman. “It’s like telling smokers who are trying to quit that their withdrawal symptoms are caused by a ‘need for cigarettes’ and then suggesting they go back to smoking to solve the problem.”)

* Full disclosure: In the first draft of WWGF I read, Gary had used the crowded restaurant example to explain why the calories in/calories out explanation was so ridiculous. It reminded me of our dismal times in the restaurant business, and I thought it was a brilliant way to demystify the problem. In one of the later drafts I read, the restaurant example was missing. I asked Gary about it, and he told me he and his editor had decided it wasn’t the best way to describe the situation. I disagreed (probably because my financial wounds from the restaurant biz, though long past, were still painful) and told Gary I thought it was a terrific way to explain it and that if he didn’t use it, I would rip it off and use it as my own. Although he has used the examples in lectures, Gary didn’t use it in the book, so, true to my word, I ripped it off as my own.