www.InvictusCoach.Blogspot.com

NEW ADDRESS!

2010-11-16T06:24:00.001-08:00

NEW BLOGSPOT ADDRESS!

INVICTUSCOACH.BLOGSPOT.COM

My opinion on the Wendler Strength Program

2010-11-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

Workout of the Day

Hang squat clean 5-5-5-5-5

"DT"
5 rounds for time:

12- Deadlifts
9- Hang power cleans
6- Push jerks

RX'd @ 155... scale appropriately.

Sometime in April I started the well known Wendler Strength Program, or the 5-3-1 system. I found out about it from several friends who were doing it over at Albany CrossFit. They had been on their 2nd or 3rd wave and claimed that it worked and they liked it. Let me explain what this system basically is. It is a basic linear progression based around the squat, deadlift, benchpress, and strict press. The first week you start off at 5 sets of 5, second week 5 sets of 3, and so on and so forth. Without too much ranting, I'll go straight to my conclusion.

After testing this sucker out on myself and my athletes (who were beginners at that time), I believe there are far better ways of improving strength. On the conditioned and non-conditioned athlete, the results weren't as impressive as I had anticipated. Sure, there was an increase in all three movements measured, but not as big of a gain as I was hoping for. It is a very BASIC linear progression, nothing crazy, no new stimulus (for the conditioned athlete). My athletes and I completed two cycles of the program. As non-conditioned athletes, they gained a pretty fair amount of strength. Myself, already being a conditioned athlete, experienced very minimal gains in strength. The non-conditioned athletes experienced a greater gain simply because of exposure. Exposure to something new, such as heavy lifts, caused a neurological adaption to take place. In other words, they were getting stronger, not because of actual muscle gain, but because their bodies were just making an adaption to the new stimulus. Since I have been exposed to heavy lifting, I did not elicit any new responses. Rather, my gains were true strength and muscle gains, which were minimal.

Since stopping the Wendler program I have gained a considerable amount of strength and muscle. My athletes, following a very similar strength plan, have continued to make HUGE gains in size and strength. Using the CrossFit Football method has shown to be far more effective for size, strength, and overall power output. Because we keep lifts and workouts constantly varied, we get exposure to every major lift: Olympic, power, and basic barbell movements.

Overall, the Wendler program is too slow at giving significant results. In my opinion, stick to the CrossFit method. Hit all of your major lifts hard and heavy, vary your rep range (1-5) and throw some into a met-con.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

You like?

2010-11-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

CrossFit Westchester WOD:

“3 Way”

A) Row 5 minutes for max calories
B) 21-15-9 (5 minute cap)
Thrusters (65/45)
Box Jumps (24/20)
C) Amrap 5 minutes
5 pullups
10 KB swings (53/35)
Rest 2 minutes between mini-workout

How do you wonderful readers like the new design? I have finally found a way to upload files, so the Paleo On-Ramp is up for download under the "Nutrition" page. I have got some neat things jogging in the the dome piece concerning future plans, workouts, expansion, etc. I do need everyone's help though. 1. Email me topics you'd like me to rant about. They could be questions or opinions, whatever floats your boat. 2. I would like to host this blog as a website, so I want a good name. I was thinking InvictusCoach.com would be perfect, but some duesch (douche) already has it. Some alternate names I was thinking of was TheInvictusCoach.com, InvictusPerformance.com. 3. Any ideas on how to make this look fresher? Any additional pages you would like to see? I was thinking of adding a " Scaling" page, no explanation needed. As for the website name, I don't want anything too long. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Double and triple "WODing"

2010-11-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Pre-game
Deadlift 5-3-1-1-1

Game time
For time:
100 burpees. At the start of every minute perform 5 deadlifts @ 50% of your 1RM.

After party
AMRAP 6 minutes:
1 Deadlift @ 70% of 1RM
3 HSPU
5 Pullups

The reason why us CrossFitters even call it "WODing" is beyond me. Constantly phrases like "WODing", WODs, etc are abused day in and day out by these elite breed of humans. If you are still confused as to why it makes no sense, let me jog your memory: WOD stands for Workout of the Day. Adding ing, s, and other literary... things makes the entire phrase improper english. Example: "I was WODing today and did Fran in under a minute". So what that sentence really is saying is: "I was workout of the daying today ..." See what I mean?

Just had to get that off my chest... on to more important things now. If you have been following, you can see the past few weeks have consisted of multiple workouts, double and triple. Some readers and fellow CrossFitters may automatically deem this method as a recipe for over-training. This statement may be true for the novice and even intermediate athlete. This is not the case for elite Crossfitters and well-conditioned athletes. At this point of periodizaton, the training program for my athletes is to prepare them for the grueling wrestling season. Multiple workouts are necessary to get them in shape for an intense 2 hour long practice. Sure, CrossFitting once a day will help your conditioning tremendously, but to prepare your body for the grind of the wrestling season and to achieve elite fitness may take several workouts per day. I'm not talking about doing several lung burning chippers per day, but pairing a "lung burner" or "chipper" with a strength, skill, or weakness workout seems to do the trick. When it all comes down to competition for the elite, it all comes down to who is having the better day, or peaking. Peaking at the right time takes carefully thought out periodization, which is a post in and of itself.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

I finally broke my previous PR! 480lbs. raw deadlift: no shoes, no straps, no belt, NO PROBLEM! Check it more videos on YouTube.

Psychology of athletes

2010-11-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

For time:
25 burpee pullups
25 burpee box jumps
25 burpee long jumps
25 burpees

Rest 5 minutes:

Tabata: 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off
Row
Pushups
L-holds
Squats

I feel like it has been awhile since I have had a "rant" post. This was something that I thought about yesterday, after a brutal "chipper" style workout. My CrossFit family knows, I had long workouts. Anything past the duration is 15 minutes i generally dread doing, hence rarely ever do workouts around that range. While examining myself I started to ask myself why I hated them so much. To me, it is simply not logical to work in that domain because my sport, wrestling, does not require me to. Then I started thinking why I stray away from some workouts that are done under 5 minutes, which is closer in time length to a match. Looking at my record books, the majority of my workouts stay within a 10 minute, give or take time frame. So with this information, I began to classify CrossFitters. I compared myself to my fellow CF coaches, friends, and clients.
I will begin with my first group the "met-con junkies". Yes, I am aware that a metabolic conditioning workout can range from all sorts of time domains, but I think it is safe to say that a crossfit met-con junkie are the group of athletes that are obessesed with "chipper" style workouts or anything that is in a longer time domain. Looking at this from a psychological prospective, I believe these athletes love the feeling of a "good workout", hence the time domain factor, but fear intensity. Yes, I said it, FEAR INTENSITY. A common excuse that is tossed around by this group is "that was too short" or "that wasn't so bad". These statements are true if you are working out at your "chipper pace", that is the 60-70% intensity that is set to pace yourself for a good time on your chipper. Working out at 70% of your max effort will leave you with a good workout feeling after at least 15 minutes of workout, but will diminish as the time frame gets smaller.
My second group are the "power-junkies". This group loves power and olympic lifts, and short range met-cons. Unlike the first group, this group despises anything that will blunt their power output, like time. As time goes further down the spectrum, fatigue sets in and power output decreases. This is an "all or nothing" category of athletes.
My last group are the underachievers. This group is very capable in both domains, but choose to stay within a "comfort zone". This group is very difficult to spot because the classification is not as concrete as the previous two. This group has a fear of time. Anything real short in time requires greater intensity and anything too long is not motivating. AMRAP style workouts are rarely seen in this group. Some athletes in this group may actually fear getting out of breath.
Time for me to get my workout on... test running Thursday's WOD... It should be a goodie!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Paleo On-Ramp- Part Iv: Putting it into Practice

2010-10-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

AMRAP 2 minutes:

Deadlift @ 60% 1RM

Rest 2 minutes

AMRAP 2 minutes:

Front Squat @ 60% 1RM

Rest 2 minutes

AMRAP 2 minutes:

Clean and Jerk @ 60% 1RM

* As many REPS as possible within 2 minutes. These are true lung burners so there is NO PACING. Add up total reps for score.

Nutrition Guide for Athletes: A Paleolithic Approach, Part IV

Putting it into practice

Lets not just ditch all the processed foods at once and go full Paleo right away. You’ll find yourself in a world of hurt. Rather, lets ease our way into this new lifestyle. For week 1, replace 1 meal per day with a Paleo style meal. Week 2, replace 2 meals with a Paleo friendly meal, and week 3 have all 3 main meals Paleo friendly.

What exactly is a Paleo meal?

As mentioned in the introduction, cut out processed foods completely. To simply define a paleo friendly meal: If you can’t hunt or gather your food, DON’T EAT IT! Focus on every meal containing meat/fish, veggies, and a source of good fat. If you stick to that golden rule, you are eating paleo! Not that hard right? Here is an example of how to begin paleo eating:

This is a typical American diet compared with Paleo diet:

Week 0	Typical meal	Paleo meal
Breakfast	Bagel w/cream cheese, orange juice	3 eggs, apple w/ almond butter
Lunch	Ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread	Turkey salad w/ olive oil
Dinner	Chicken parm, pasta	Sirloin steak w/steamed veggies and avocado
Snack	Chips, cookies, garbage	Trail mix with: cashews, almonds, pecans, and dried blueberries

Notice week 1: you replace 1 typical meal with a Paleo meal.

Week 1	Your meal	Paleo meal
Breakfast	3 eggs, apple w/ almond butter	3 eggs, apple w/ almond butter
Lunch	Ham and cheese sandwich on whole what bread	Turkey salad w/ olive oil
Dinner	Chicken parm, pasta	Sirloin steak w/steamed veggies and avocado
Snack	Chips, cookies, garbage	Trail mix with: cashews, almonds, pecans, and dried blueberries

Notice week 2: you are replacing 2 meals + snack

Week 2	Typical meal	Paleo meal
Breakfast	3 eggs, apple w/almond butter	3 eggs, apple w/ almond butter
Lunch	Turkey and avocado salad w/ olive oil	Turkey salad w/ olive oil
Dinner	Chicken parm, pasta	Sirloin steak w/steamed veggies and avocado
Snack	Trail mix with: cashews, almonds, pecans, and dried blueberries	Trail mix with: cashews, almonds, pecans, and dried blueberries

By week 3, all 3 meals should be paleo + snack

Week 3	Typical meal	Paleo meal
Breakfast	3 eggs, apple w/almond butter	3 eggs, apple w/ almond butter
Lunch	Turkey and avocado salad w/ olive oil	Turkey salad w/ olive oil
Dinner	Sirloin steak w/steamed veggies and avocado	Sirloin steak w/steamed veggies and avocado
Snack	Trail mix with: cashews, almonds, pecans, and dried blueberries	Trail mix with: cashews, almonds, pecans, and dried blueberries

Feel free to mix and match what you eat. This is just a rough example of a typical Paleo meal plan. Do yourself a favor, google “Paleo meals” and get creative! There are hundreds of recipes out there to get your taste buds going. Also note, if you eat a ton of fruit you are adding a ton of sugar to your diet. Though fructose (fruit sugar) generally does not cause significant spikes in blood/glucose levels, if you are trying to lose fat, I suggest limiting yourself to 1-2 pieces per day. You’ll get a sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals if you are eating veggies with every meal.

To athletes or people who train like athletes:

Your protein and caloric needs are higher than that of the average person. Lets try to keep our protein intake at about 1g/lbs. of bodyweight. Though not Paleo, I do recommend adding protein shakes as a post recovery meal. Concentrate on the majority of your protein coming from food, rather than supplement sources. Speaking of supplements, I personally recommend supplementing fish oil, protein powders, BCAAs, and a multivitamin. Thats all I got for ya! I encourage everyone to do their own research. There is a ton of information out there, some true and some well... not so true. If you have a question, try finding it out for yourself. I love helping people, but I am by no means an encyclopedia of information. Not sure if I heard this quote or made it up, but my philosophy on life is "it isn't about knowing all the answers, it is about knowing how to find the answers". It is pretty self explanatory. So take it and run with it...

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Paleo On-Ramp- Part III

2010-10-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

"Cindy"

AMRAP 20 minutes:

5 Pullups

10 Pushups

15 Air Squats

After...

For time:

100 Pistols

How much Protein?

For the few people who have a little background in Paleolithic nutrition, we are encouraged to eat three larger meals a day. If you have read Robb Wolf’s “The Paleo Solution”, then you would have been on a three meals + 1 snack per day plan. This plan works great for many people, but probably is not the best for the athlete. An athlete requires more nutrients than your average person, especially protein. Consuming three meals per day makes it extremely difficult to get in a sufficient amount of protein. Athletes need about 1g of protein/lbs. of bodyweight. For example, if an athlete weighs 160lbs., he/she needs 160g of protein per day. This amount is necessary for muscle building and recovery. Now lets say our 160lbs. athlete was eating three meals per day. That means each meal has got to have about 53g of protein. So that’s equivalent to 9 eggs for breakfast, about 10oz of chicken for lunch, and an 8oz steak for dinner! That is not even including our fat requirements and veggie intake. Quick myth: eating smaller meals per day increase your metabolism, FALSE: Till this day there is no data showing this. Picture it this way, the smaller your meals are the less hard your body has to work to metabolize it. The larger your meals are the harder and longer your body must work to metabolize it. I ENCOURAGE ATHLETES TO SPACE OUT MEALS INTO MORE FREQUENT SESSIONS FOR A DIFFERENT REASON. The reason why I want athletes to space out their meals into 4-6 meals is to ensure sufficient protein intake. ANOTHER REASON FOR SMALLER FREQUENT MEALS IS THE AMOUNT OF PROTEIN THAT IS ACTUALLY UTILIZED BY THE BODY. YOUR body can only utilize a certain amount of protein at a given time, OR SO IT IS SAID. I have not found a definite number, but I have seen ranges from 30-40G OF PROTEIN at a given time, depending on YOUR Size.

Paleo shopping

THE golden rule when shopping for Paleo-friendly foods: Majority of shopping should be on the outside isles. try to get foods in this order: Fresh, frozen, canned. Obviously, getting your fruits and veggies fresh is the healthiest way to go, BUT it is far from the most convenient. Fresh food goes bad quicker and requires more work to prepare. Between school, sports, homework, and whatever your busy teenage lives consist of, it is very hard to make time to prepare your food. Also, this shopping list works great for those on a tighter budget. If time and money are of no issue, I am a big fan of Trader Joes and those types of market places. They tend to have fresher fruits, veggies, and you can find leaner and grass fed meats. But we all can’t be rich and have all the time in the world so here is a little list of stuff I get from Costco. It fits the budget, its quick and convenient, healthy and tastes good!

Easy breezy shopping list:

5lbs. Bag of veggies

5lbs. bag of chicken

3lbs. of Salmon patties

5 pack of avocado

2.5L extra virgin olive oil

1lbs. Spring mix salad

3lbs. of London broil steak

Ground beef

27oz jar of almond butter

Gala apples

3lbs. of Hillside farm turkey

7 ½ dozen eggs

3 gallons of whole milk w/omega 3

3lbs. of bacon

Feel free to manipulate the list to whatever fits you best. This is my personal shopping list and it works out well for me. There is enough variety to keep me from getting bored and it provides me with everything I need.

Paleo On-Ramp- Part II

2010-10-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

'Kalsu"
100 Thrusters for time. Begin with 5 burpees every minute.
As Rx'd 135lbs... scale appropriately.

Gray areas of Paleolithic nutrition:

Paleolithic nutrition can sometimes be difficult to comprehend. With so many foods having “natural roots”, it is sometimes hard to tell what is considered paleo and what is not. These are what I call “the gray areas of Paleolithic nutrition”. The most common foods that fall into this category are:

Eggs

Dairy

Deli Meats

Fatty/processed meats

Peanuts

Eggs

Dairy

Why is dairy non-paleo in the first place? Isn’t whole milk bad for you? Milk is non-paleo because it came about during the agricultural revolution (10,000-20,000 years ago). Believe it or not, cavemen were not sucking off the teet of a cow. I wonder whoever came up with the idea of sucking on the teet of a cow anyway?! Although milk is non-paleo, it is very nutrient dense. Providing the body with calcium, vitamin D, protein, and fat. As mentioned, fat is our friend. Fat is energy. Milk provides athletes with proper nourishment, is great for bulking and getting stronger. However, milk is not perfect. Lactose sugar causes a rise in our insulin levels. It can also cause acne and digestive problems for some people. I recommend dairy to any athlete looking for some size; otherwise you can do without it.

Deli Meats

Meat is perfectly Paleo. Deli meat is a very gray area subject because the processing is somewhat “unknown”. Deli meats are generally EXTREMELY high in sodium. Water follows sodium, so your body will retain some extra water weight. On a positive note: it is quick, convenient, and high in protein.

Fatty and processed meats

Bacon, sausage, hot dogs, ground beef, etc. Let me start off with saying that I could have made fatty and processed meats into two separate categories. Now for the nitty gritty. Sausage, hot dogs, and processed meats should not be staples of paleo nutrition. Concentrate on finding quality sausages, bacon, and other processed meats. Normally these processed meats have all types of meats blended in along with toxic chemicals. Although not as processed, fatty meats like bacon and most ground beef are believed to “set us up for a heart attack” because of the high amount of saturated fatty acids. If you are a relatively healthy human being, eat a low carb paleo diet, and exercise every now and then you should be fine. If you eat the typical American diet, based on the food pyramid, which promotes excessive carbohydrate consumption, you are setting yourself up for a world of disaster! (Pretty much the same reason as eggs).

Peanuts

I love peanut butter. Though non-paleo, peanuts are a good source of energy for the athlete. Lots of monounsaturated fats and some protein, not to mention Skippy’s natural crunchy peanut butter is crack. Now the downside is that peanuts contain that pesky thing called Lectin. As discussed in the beginning of this program, Lectin is not our friend. It causes all sorts of autoimmune disorders and gut irritation. Lets not get started on peanut oil. Loraine Cordaine, author of the paleo diet for athlete’s, has a good write up about peanuts and peanut oil: www.thepaleodiet.com

Paleo On-Ramp- Part I

2010-10-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

USAW/CROSSFIT OPEN

Snatch, 1 rep
Clean and jerk, 1 rep

As many rounds and reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
55kg Squat clean, 6 reps
12 Pull-ups
24 Double-unders

Since I don't know how to paste a link to download the Paleo On-Ramp guide, I figured I'd just post parts of it. This is just part 1 of 4, so stay tuned!

Nutrition Guide for Athletes: A Paleolithic approach

The beginners guide to Paleolithic Nutrition for athletes

The paleo on-ramp

Nutrition in general is a very controversial subject with many sports nutritionist recommending athletes to consume an excessive amount of carbohydrates. This approach has left many athletes performing below optimal levels and is generally poor for their overall health. This guide will cover the basics on what athletes should be consuming in order to perform at their best and to improve general health. This guide is an on-ramp for revamping your diet in order to conquer life and its challenges. For athletes, I encourage a Paleolithic approach to food choices + dairy + supplements.

Introduction: What is Paleolithic nutrition?

CrossFit’s Love Affair with Paleolithic Nutrition:
What it is, How it Works, and Why it Rocks Our World
- Sarah K. Johnson

Paleolithic nutrition or more commonly known as “Paleo Diet” defined. First, lets define “Paleo Diet”. The Paleo Diet (which should actually be termed Paleo lifestyle) is the “optimum diet for the human animal, based on the nutritional requirements established during its evolutionary path to its present form (the modern homo sapiens). The biologically appropriate diet” (Wiss 2010).

And… what does this mean, exactly? This means removing all foods that are products of agriculture or animal husbandry (i.e., dairy, beans/legumes, grains, sugar, potatoes, and processed foods). Ultimately, this diet consists of meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.

What are the goals of the Paleo Diet? The main objectives of the Paleo Diet is to keep the human body’s internal environment well-balanced and clear of processed and pro-inflammatory food sources (see above). When followed correctly, this program will successfully encourage fat loss, maintain insulin sensitivity, lower LDL’s and blood pressure, cure and prevent diabetes… yes, really. And the list goes on.

But, aren’t grains good for you? You may believe that whole grain is “good for you” due to the amount of fiber per serving. Indeed, fiber is good for you, but you can acquire fiber from A TON of other sources that DO NOT contain the anti-nutrients found in grain (i.e., Lectin and Gluten). For example, fruits and vegetables are actually MORE nutrient dense than grains, regarding the fiber, vitamin and mineral amount per serving. Turns out you don’t actually need that empty calorie rich whole grain bagel every morning to get your fiber. Let’s define what those anti-nutrients were, again:

→ Lectin. A protein that binds to insulin receptors, the lining of our intestine, and a contributor to leptin resistance. Leptin resistance predicts an exacerbation of features related to metabolic syndrome independently of obesity. Lectin is also found in beans, utilized as a protective chemical to deter herbivorous insects and animals (and.. well, us!)

→ Gluten. When ingested (via grains such as barley and wheat), gluten stimulates a physiological response similar to that of a virus. This immune response triggers an attack on the protein and, consequently, the surrounding tissue. Not only does this induce inflammation, but also has the potential to exacerbate or set off many health problems throughout the body (see celiac disease).

Why no dairy? Although dairy has some benefits, it also has a fair amount of lactose per serving. Lactose is a milk specific sugar that can range from 11g to 14g per cup of milk. Not only does this have the potential to spike insulin levels, but also stymie fat loss.

What is insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance? Produced by the pancreas, insulin is a hormone in charge of regulating the body’s energy and glucose metabolism. This means that, when any food is digested (with special emphasis on sugary foods or highly processed carbohydrates), insulin is released to lower blood sugar levels and return the body to homeostasis. When the body becomes insulin resistant, however, muscle, fat and liver cells are less receptive (or less sensitive) to insulin. This results in the overproduction of insulin due to a diet HIGH in refined sugar, carbohydrates, and overall processed garbage (and of course does not help if you’re genetically predisposed). Ultimately, insulin resistance goes hand in hand with decreased insulin sensitivity and, consequently, metabolic disorders such obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and increased rates of heart disease can occur.

Is the Paleo Diet “Low Carb”? The Paleo Diet is as carbohydrate rich, fatty, or sugary as you design it to be. One can eat too much fruit, and have too much sugar; too much bacon or avocado, and have too much fat. However, by default, yes, it is lower in carbohydrates than the average American diet because it does not include foods such as breads, pastas, or other processed carbohydrates. Carbohydrate sources come exclusively from fruits and vegetables.

OK.. Anything else? Yes, one more thing: remember to take Fish Oil. Rich in Omega 3 Fatty Acids (i.e., EPA and DHA), this supplement reduces inflammation (i.e., joint pain) and LDL’s, in addition to being imperative in maintaining brain and cardiovascular function. It is recommended at .5g per every 10lb of body weight

_____________________________________________________________________________________

If you want the complete guide just email me: InvictusCoach@gmail.com

Stay classy,

Coach A.

BEAST!!

Visit sicfit.com for more Videos

I am the healthiest human being... everrr

2010-10-19T05:54:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Push jerk- 5-3-1-1-1

Three rounds for time:

75/95/135 pound Hang power cleans, 15 reps
15 Burpees

- Thanks CF HQ!

Surprise 3rd WOD...

I got my blood work back in the mail on Friday. I am pretty much one healthy dude. I have been following a loose Paleo diet for about 10 months now and could not be more satisfied with the results. Shocking to most people, I eat a very high fat diet which includes a lot of animal fat, eggs, and red meat. Isn't this the recipe for heart disease? According to my blood markers, it clearly is not.
HDL cholesterol (good)- 85
LDL cholesterol- 75
Triglycerides- 54
On another note, I really do not know of a nifty way to put my Paleo On-Ramp on here without copy and pasting, so if you want it just email me. InvictusCoach@gmail.com

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Caleb, trainer at CF Albany... I bet he doesn't know he's on google images haha

Tweaking the diet: update from 8/26/10

2010-10-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

"ADAMBROWN"

Two rounds for time of:
295 pound Deadlift, 24 reps
24 Box jumps, 24 inch box
24 Wallball shots, 20 pound ball
195 pound Bench press, 24 reps
24 Box jumps, 24 inch box
24 Wallball shots, 20 pound ball
145 pound Clean, 24 reps

* Scale appropriately. Scale deadlift to 60% of 1RM, benchpress 65% of 1RM, and clean 55% of 1RM*

Compare to August 10, 2010. Better beat your last PR!

Almost two months ago I decided to say goodbye to my beloved alomds, cashews, walnuts, pecans, and the rest of the delicious nut family. I did this to see if I would notice a change in energy, performance, bodyfat, and weight. To my own surprise, my conclusions were not what I had hypothesized. Since I ate several servings (anywhere from 2-4) of nuts everyday I was sure that if I had cut them out, I would lose a little bit of fat over the month. Taking 400-800 calories per day away seems like a pretty solid way to lose weight right? I thought so, at least. After nearly two months of being away from grains I have noticed NO decrease in energy, NO weight loss, and NO decrease in performance. The thing that shocked me most was the zero change in weight and bodyfat. I was certain that eliminating the calories that I got from mixed nuts would lead to a decrease in bodyfat for sure. My diet has stayed relatively the same since removing nuts from my diet. Now why haven't I lost any weight? Trying to answer my own question is a pretty difficult task. I do remember seeing the reminisce of nuts in my poop just about every time I pooped. The only thing I can think of is that my body was not absorbing any nutrients from the mixed nuts. I guess it came in and just came right back out. Nuts and seeds are believed to have gut irritation properties, but there is no data proving it. From my own experience it appears so. Anyhow, I am done with the Paleo On-Ramp and I am just looking for a way to post it.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

CrossFit Montclair, another huge CF Box... where I got my cert!

Paleo on-ramp: 99.9% complete!

2010-10-14T06:04:00.000-07:00

Workout of the day

Overhead Squat 5-5-5-5-5

Complete 10 rounds for time:

3 Squats @ 65% of 1 RM
6 Ring Dips

Right now I am in the final stages of completing my Paleo On-Ramp program. I am editing it and making sure the information is accurate. There is most definately going to be a 2nd edition to this program that will probably be released in the winter. The 2nd edition will have a lot of the same information, but better written and updated information based on new things I learned and common questions that may be asked from the 1st edition. I have not made the powerpoint for the program yet, but that is a pretty easy task. Copy/paste and pictures, pretty simple... I am trying to figure out a way to put it up for download on the site, but bear with me. Tomorrow's workout is going to be brutal btw...

Stay classy,

Coach A.

CrossFit San Diego... what a beautiful box... Its like Toys R' Us for CrossFitters

Columbus Day weekend events

2010-10-12T05:49:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Complete 50 squat cleans (135/95lbs.) for time with 5 burpees at the start of every minute.

- Courtesy of CrossFit Westchester

Today’s WOD is going to suck. I did it yesterday and my heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. It is pretty brutal, same style as the workout "Kalsu", which we will be seeing some time next week :). It was a good reality check for me, considering I have not hit a good met-con in about 2 weeks. On my restful Columbus Day, I got my annual physical exam. Not to my own surprise, my blood pressure came back very low 118/70. For those of you who do not know, that is VERY good. When I get my blood work back in a few days I will post up the rest of my results. I predict everything will be in above average ranges. And Dr. Ozz and those bozos say that eating bacon and eggs everyday is setting me up for a heart attack! Psh… I can’t wait to get my results back so I can rave about how eating more animal fat and lowering my carbohydrate intake has in fact made me a healthier human being.

Oh, I also took my CrossFit Level 1 Trainer’s certification test on Sunday. At first I was very annoyed that I had to get there and sit through the programming lecture and the Q & A lecture. After listening to both lectures, it refreshed my memory quite a bit and got me back down to the basics when it comes to programming. “Live your life in couplets and triplets”. In other words, the majority of your workouts should constitute two or three functional movements. The time and task priorities can be set in a countless number of variations. The only thing I thought that was kind of weird was when a person asked, “what is the normal time length of a CrossFit workout?” Pat Sheerwood, the dude running the certification, response was 15-20 minutes. Umm… if I followed the CrossFit main page strictly, I know for a fact the majority of the workouts would not take me 15-20 minute to complete. I’d say more close to a 10-15 minute range, which I personally think is more appropriate. Maybe Pat’s response was for your “average CrossFitter”. Anyhow, the lectures were great, covering things such as scaling for people with injuries, fitness levels, and experience. Overall, going to CrossFit Virtuosity in Brooklyn for the CFL1 test was a very motivating experience. Not to mention just an absolute cool, big, bad ass box!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

CrossFit Virtuousity in Brooklyn... absolutely awesome box!

"Perfect practice makes perfect"

2010-10-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps:

Back Squat- 115/135/165 lbs.

Strict Press- 65/95/135lbs.

Deadlift- 135/155/185lbs.

What does everyone think of the programming as of late? More specifically the past 6 weeks? I have really made a big effort to improve the WODs. If you have noticed, we focus a little less on the heavier/strength portion and now are in a "prep" phase. The WODs are generally more metabolically taxing, yet still short in duration. Things are still constantly varied, but I still like to keep O-lifts at the core of my programming.

Wrestling season is coming up real soon, so its time to turn up the intensity a notch, walk into the first day of practice and outperform everyone. If you start off the season in better shape than your opponent, you've won half the battle. The hardest part of the season is the first month for many. It is that transition of getting in shape, making weight, and managing time that piles onto the mental grind of the season. For those who have trained with me this off-season, I know you'll all be ready for the season. Its time to put all that hard work and dedication into practice! Remember, practice doesn't make perfect. PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. Deuses.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Effing BEAST! ------------> Dave Lipson- 500lbs. Front Squat

Sneak peak: Paleo On-Ramp- Gray areas

2010-10-07T06:02:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Pre-game

Find 1RM for squat clean in 7 minutes

Party

Add total amount of reps for score:

Pullups- 1 minute

Pushups- 2 minutes

Squats- 3 minutes

Double unders- 4 minutes

Situps- 3 minutes

Dips- 2 minute

HSPU- 1 minute

After party

For time:

Row 1000m

This is a rough draft! I did not have the time to proof read it... so don't judge me... Readers: if there is any information that you think may be inaccurate or you do not agree with, please feel free to comment. I do not consider myself an expert at nutrition, yet. As long as you have a valid argument I will comment back. Also, feel free to comment with any questions!

Gray areas of Paleolithic Nutrition

Eggs

Dairy

Deli Meats

Fatty/processed meats

Peanuts

Eggs

Good or bad? We have heard this argument over and over again. One day they are the staple of our breakfast and the next day we must avoid it like the plague. Well here is the “411” on our beloved eggs. If you are consuming a low carbohydrate diet (i.e. Paleo) the cholesterol in eggs will not raise bad cholesterol levels (LDLs). Explanation: insulin is like a bus driver for nutrients, dropping them off at various places in the body. It is necessary for life, but not in excessive amounts. Picture cholesterol as the midget with Napoleon complex. It has got a big mouth and wants to start trouble, but is still relatively not a threat. Now our bus driver, insulin, drives fast when a lot of kids, carbohydrates, are on the bus. The bus driver is rapidly dropping off the midgets (cholesterol) in unwanted places due to the bus being overcrowded with too many kids (carbohydrates). Following me? Therefore, if there are not a lot of kids on the bus, the midgets stay on the bus longer thus preventing cholesterol levels to rise.

Dairy

Why is dairy non-paleo in the first place? Isn’t whole milk bad for you? Milk is non-paleo because it has only came about during the agricultural revolution (10,000-20,000 years ago). Believe it or not, cavemen were not sucking off of cow teet. I wonder whoever came up with the idea of sucking on the teet of a cow anyway! Although milk is non-paleo, it is very nutrient dense. Providing the body with calcium, vitamin D, protein, and fat. As mentioned, fat is our friend. Fat is energy. Milk provides athletes with proper nourishment, is great for bulking and getting stronger. However, milk is not perfect. Lactose sugar causes a rise in our insulin levels, milk causes acne and digestive problems for some people. I recommend dairy to any athlete looking for some size; otherwise you can do without it.

Deli Meats

Meat is perfectly Paleo. Deli meats are a very gray area subject because the processing is somewhat “unknown”. Deli meats are generally EXTREMELY high in sodium. Water follows sodium, so your body will retain some extra water weight. On a positive note, it is quick, convienient, and is high in protein.

Fatty and processed meats

Bacon, sausage, hot dogs, ground beef, etc. Let me start off with saying that I could have made these into two separate catergories. Now for the nitty gritty. Sausage, hot dogs, and processed meats are non-paleo, period. There are all types of different meats with toxic chemicals so I would stay away. Although not as processed, fatty meats like bacon and most ground beef are sought out to “set us up for a heart attack” because of the high concentrations of saturated fatty acids. If you are a relatively healthy human being, eat a low carb paleo diet, and exercise every now and then you should be fine. If you eat the typical American diet, based on the food pyramid which promotes excessive carbohydrate consumption, you are setting yourself up for a world of disaster!

Peanuts

I love peanut butter. Though non-paleo, peanuts are a good source of energy for the athlete. Lots of monounsaturated fats and some protein, not to mention Skippy’s natural crunchy peanut butter is crack. Now the downside are that peanuts contain that pesky thing called Lectin. As discussed in the beginning of this program, Lectin is not our friend. It causes all sorts of autoimmune disorders and gut irritation. It also plays a big role in developing CVD.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Paleo On-Ramp deadline

2010-10-05T07:43:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Overhead squat 10-8-6-4-2

50-40-30-20-10

45/75lbs Power snatch

Box Jumps 30”

I’m done procrastinating. I have decided to light a fire under my own ass and give myself a deadline for the long awaited Paleo On-Ramp. Friday, October 15^th I will officially have it ready and possibly for download via this blog. I just got to figure out a way to post a download link. The write-up is largely based on my personal Paleolithic adventures and my research from Lorraine Cordain and Robb Wolf’s Paleo books. I will do my best to answer common questions and cover the basics. Please do not email me with questions that you can answer yourself. Questions that will generally piss me off include: can I have wheat bread? Can I eat Cereal? Etc… Simply, if you cannot hunt or gather your food, you CANNOT eat it. Period. Ya digg? As you can tell I have no tolerance for laziness mixed with stupidity.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Brain is off

2010-10-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Pre-game:

Front squat 5x5

Game time:

For time 21-15-9 reps:
75/95/135lbs Squat cleans
Sit-ups

After party:

AMRAP 7 minutes:
75/95lbs. Thrusters- 5 reps
Burpees- 10 reps

Intermittent fasting... SIKE!

2010-09-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Find 1 rep max for strict press.

5 rounds for time:
1 Press 90% of 1 RM
1 Strict Pull Up
1 Press 90% of 1 RM
3 Strict Pull Ups
1 Press 90% of 1 RM
5 Strict Pull Ups

*Compare from July 14th*

Interesting fat study... I stole this from CF Football... Dietary Intake of Saturated Fatty Acids

Pretty impressive!

Visit sicfit.com for more Videos

Gymnastics movements II?

2010-09-28T06:09:00.000-07:00

Workout of the day

Pre-game
20 rep max back squat

Party:
Ten rounds of ten reps:
Deadlift 135
Pushups

After party:
20 rep max back squat

* 20 rep max back squat should be UNBROKEN. Since the pre-game set might be under your true 20 rep max, the after-party set should be about right*

Remember a little while when I had a quick pointless rant on gymnastic movements? I think I mentioned something on how they don't have to be constantly varied? I'm probably repeating myself and am entirely too lazy to read my own previous post. But building onto that, I believe gymnastic movements need not to be constantly varied, but constantly practiced. See, gymnastic movements are extremely difficult to be good at. What better way to get good at em than practice them! Why do we do gymnastic movements in workouts? Why do they pertain to the wrestler? Coordination,accuracy, flexibility, and body awareness! Wrestlers get put in all sorts of pretzel looking positions so joint flexibility is important: it may decrease risk of injury. Body awareness is self explanatory. All and all gymnastics help wrestlers tremendously with defense. Having the flexibility and mastering body control can get you out of a lot of sticky situations. Be prepared to see more gymnastic movements!
Also, on days that a WOD is not posted you should be working on weaknesses or goin heavy on an O-lift or even hitting a nice met-con if your little heart desires.

Stole this from undergroundstrengthgym.com... I need to get a poster of this!

Intermittent fasting, BCAAs and caffeine III

2010-09-24T04:41:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

5 rounds for time:

"Burpee Complex"

5-4-3-2-1
Burpee Deadlift
Burpee Power Clean
Burpee Front Squat
Burpee Press

Each complete round of movements is 1 rep. For example: 1 deadlift + 1 power clean + front squat + clean and jerk = 1 rep, so perform that 5 times for the first set, 4 for the second set, etc. The workout is not for time, just max weight. Keeping your hands in contact with the bar, perform a burpee before each lift. Hands are only allowed to re-grip.
*Time priority: round of 5- 2: 30 mins, 4-2:00, 3- 1:30, 2- 1:00, 1- :30 seconds. If you do not finish in the allotted time frame, a 10 burpee long jump penalty will be enforced for each offense!

Intermittent fasting yesterday was no bueno. This was the first time where I felt so hazy that I had to break my fast at hour 15. Though I did not feel lethargic, i had a lot disorientation. Constant dizzy spells, light headedness (not sure if thats a word), and I kept losing my train of thought. Now lets break down the variables. They were very identical to last week: massive amount of caffeine (around 500mg), lack of sleep, and BCAAs. Differences: I had more caffeine this week, a little less sleep, and... I think that is it. Although my source of caffeine probably had a big factor, I think the factor that had the greatest impact was my lack of sleep. Last week I had a few days of 6-7 hours that night. This week I have been on 3-5hours, with the night before the fast being at about 4. I was feeling lethargic throughout the week because of it, so caffeine was necessary for my existence. Fasting definitely kept that light headed feeling going, as my body was already a complete shitwreck. However, I have had a history of fasting, because of wrestling, so fasting isn't anything new for my body. I think the combo of lack of sleep and trying to overcompensate it by taking in an absurd amount of caffeine gave me that "1,2 punch". The fasting was more like insult to injury. I think I may lay off of the intermittent fasting for a bit or I will try it again but with a full nights rest. Will keep you updated!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Bear complex... same style as Burpee complex

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WOP9J7QPwI

Intermittent fasting, weight cutting, and performance

2010-09-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Each movement for time:

100 Kettebell swings 70/53lbs.

Rest 3 minutes

100 Box Jumps 30/24”

Rest 3 minutes

100 Pullups

Can you believe it is already Thursday?! Man, time is flying by. Today’s WOD is pretty wacky, kind of a little experiment. Speaking of experiments, today is a nice day for some intermittent fasting. Like last week, I am going on an 18 hour fast with 3 doses of BCAAs and sleep deprivation (which was not done on purpose). Last week, I hypothesized that energy levels and yadi yada where at decent levels because of triggering or “tricking” my body into releasing my survival hormones. This week I will be under just about the same variables, so lets see if I can yield similar results. The WOD I will be doing today is extremely similar to last weeks. I want to see if I will yield similar results, which I think I will. Why am I doing this? Well, there are a few reasons: The main reason is to educate my wrestlers on the effects of fasting, feeding, and proper weight cutting. Throughout high school, I was a big weight cutter. As a lightweight, I regularly cut anywhere from 15-20lbs. Wrestlers know this is a sufficient amount of weight to cut for a lightweight with low bf%. Just to clarify, my “walk around” weight was 15-20lbs heavier then my competition weight. Anyway, my point is that I do not want my athletes to follow my route. I was uneducated, undisciplined and reckless with my weight. If I went into details on my extremely dangerous weight cutting methods you would be shocked that I am still alive. What does this have to do with fasting? Believe it or not, there is a proper way to cut weight and fasting to do so. I can only hypothesize on the proper way to fast and keep energy levels at decent levels. See why I am using myself as an experiment? I am a practice what you preach kind of individual, so there ya go! BReeZe.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Paleo Solution- Complete

2010-09-21T05:56:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Deadlift 5-3-1-1-1

5 rounds for time:

5 Deadlifts @ 60% of 1RM
10 Burpees

G'day everyone! This is the first time in a few weeks that I don't feel like a caffeine induced zombie. Yes, the devil has been knocking on my door again. I am back on my addiction: caffeine. With this new hectic schedule, it is extremely difficult to get a sufficient amount of rest so I have to take in a cup of Joe to survive the day. No worries, I only limit myself to two cups per day :) Anyways, I actually got a full 7 hrs of sleep and am feeling fantastic because of it!
On other news, I am done reading Robb Wolf's book, "The Paleo Solution". The book has done a tremendous job of informing the reader everything behind Paleolithic nutrition. Some of the stuff seems a little far fetched, but I believe this way of eating to be the most beneficial and efficient way of eating whether your an elite athlete, disgustingly obese, or your average Joe. I highly recommend this book, especially over "The Paleo Diet" and "The Paleo Diet for Athletes". I have read both and although they are both good reads, unless you have a sciencey (made up word, I know) it can be hard to follow. I am trying to find some time to finish my Paleo On-ramp as well as a PowerPoint that I will have up for download on the site. I cannot make any promises on when I will have that complete, maybe a month or two.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

New schedule calls for some adjustments

2010-09-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

Due to the hectic schedule of life and Invictus Wrestling starting back up, CrossFit class schedule is changing up. Class will now be 3 days a week: Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Classes run opposite days of wrestling for obvious reasons. With this being the case I can go one of two ways on this. I could either till post WODs daily, which will be most likely my own personal workouts. OR just post the WODs the 3 days a week I run my classes, since I originally created this blog for that purpose. As of right now, it looks like I will just be posting WODs Tueday, Thursday, and Friday. It makes more sense for me and stays true to my programming for my athletes. It may look like I sometimes throw random shit on here for a workout, but trust me there is actually SOME periodization (scary word) and theory put behind each workout. I don't just throw random things together and hope for the best. Checkout CrossFit Westchester for WODs if your blood is still itching. Anyhow, I will be on here tomorrow for the post. I hate Mondays...

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Intermittent fasting, BCAAs and caffeine II

2010-09-17T05:10:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

For time, max reps:

Thruster, 65/45lbs.
Rest 5 minutes
Thruster, 95/65lbs.
Rest 5 minutes
Thruster, 135/95lbs.

*This is not a continuous clock. Each set is until failure and will be timed to calculate power output*

A few weeks ago I experimented with intermittent fasting + BCAAs + caffeine. As noted before the effects were not favorable. A few factors that may have included this were sleep quality and fiber supplementation and... I can't think of the other one at the moment. Either one or a combination of the factors could have most definitely effected the hormonal release I was intending. Last time, I attempted a strength workout with good energy levels but my strength and power output felt like that of an infant. This time, I did a short strength met-con with a TON of caffeine, no fiber supplement, an even longer intermittent fast (on an empty stomach)and 6 hours of sleep. Energy levels were pretty decent, despite the lack of sleep. My performance was much better this time around. Strength and power felt good and overall met-con was average. The only con was I did feel a bit "burnt out" during the hang cleans, kind of like an empty gas tank. This was probable due to low glycogen stores and my body not quite being in a ketogenic state, so my metabolic engine was... I guess confused. Overall, I think the caffeine helped with mental clarity, and the fasting mixed with the lack of sleep may have tricked my body into a "fight or flight" response. I will be sure to do this again with the same variables except next time with a decent amount of sleep. Time to get back to work!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

2010-09-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Complete 5 rounds for time of:

3 Push Jerks or Split Jerks 155 lbs
6 Pull Ups
9 Push Ups

Courtesy of CF Football

I promise I will post some updates when I get my life figured out!

2010-09-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Front Squat 5-5-5-5-5

9 Hang Power Cleans 185 lbs
15 Toes to Bar
6 Hang Power Cleans 185 lbs
15 Toes to Bar
3 Hang Power Cleans 185 lbs
15 Toes to Bar

Courtesy of CF-Football

True story. I'm really going to have some good posts soon! I am just trying to catch up on some much needed sleep and still adjusting to my new schedule, which leaves my BARELY any down time (unless I want to sacrifice the little sleep I already get). Today is an intermittent fasting today for me. This time I am going on a longer fast (18 + hours) and working out on the fast. Just kind of curious to see if I can trick my body into going into "flight or fight" mode. I don't even know by what means even gave me this idea that it was possible, because I don't know if it is. I may have read it somewhere? Idk... Will keep ya updated! BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Some footage from the Fall Face-off competition this past weekend!

Drained...

2010-09-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

"Tabata Wrestler"

Stand-ups
Pushups
Ball slams
Sprawl

OKAY, so I am pretty drained right now. Last night I only got about 4 1/2 hours of sleep, worked all day, hit a little WOD, and then ran a few CrossFit classes. On the a non-whiny note, I purchased the "Paleo Solution", by Robb Wolf. So far its pretty entertaining and has some good stuff in it. I suggest picking it up. BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Gotta love sprints and kettlebell swings on a nice hot day!

Fall face-off recap

2010-09-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

"The Seven"

Seven rounds for time of:
7 Handstand push-ups
135 pound Thruster, 7 reps
7 Knees to elbows
245 pound Deadlift, 7 reps
7 Burpees
7 Kettlebell swings, 2 pood
7 Pull-ups

*Scale 65,95,115lbs respectively for thrusters and 155, 185, 215lbs. for deadlifts*

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to judge at CrossFit Albany's Fall Face-off competition. It was a great experience for myself and my affiliate, CrossFit Westchester. Our athlete's did a tremendous job, placing 13th out of 45 teams! Chris, the CFW owner, and I did not think we were going to do as well as we did. The girls stepped it up big time on the chipper workout, they made me so proud!

It was awesome seeing my buddies, Caleb and Sarah, compete for their affiliate team. They both were awesome and represented the home team with a 3rd place finish at the event. I really enjoyed the programming for the event. The workouts were challenging and really emphasized the saying "you are only as strong as your weakest link". The biggest difference between the top teams really came down to who had the fittest women. The competition was split into teams of 4, two men and two women. The men for the most part were all very efficient and close in terms of fitness. The gap in fitness for the women was huge. There were a pack of low-end fit women and high end, fire breathing women; there was no in-between.

Overhead squats- 10 Coach A- 0

Can gymnastic bias workouts be routine?

2010-09-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Overhead Squat 5-5-5-5-5

For time: 21-15-9 reps

225lbs. Back Squat
Ring Dips

OR scale: 60% of 1RM for back squat and sequence the ring dips to 15-9-6

So yesterday I was thinking of ways to improve the athletic capacities of my athletes, which happen to be wrestlers. Sure O-lifts, powerlifts, met-cons, etc are beneficial to the weekend warrior and the elite athlete. Gymnastics is something that is very overlooked in the world of sports. Maintaining proper body control is a huge advantage in a sport like wrestling. Knowing where you are on the mat at all times, having great flexibility, and unmatched core endurance can really get you out of sticky situations in a match. With that being said, I am going to start focusing on more gymnastic movements to establish this. My athletes already possess good enough strength and power. However, basic body weight movements can sometimes be a challenge. Looking at the way the Russians wrestle is a great example as to why being part gymnast can better than being stronger or more technically sound than your opponent... Anyway, I have a lot of things to do today so I will follow up on this post on Monday. I'll be over at CrossFit Albany for the weekend to judge the Fall Face-off competition. BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

CrossFit- exposed!

2010-09-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

1- Clean 75% of 1RM
5 Pull Ups, 10 Push Ups, 15 Air Squats or 1 round of Cindy

I am writing this a day early as I know I will be sleeping until early afternoon. I will definitely be enjoying my next few days off of work, I am still not used to waking up this early! With that being said, I will probably post a lot less and just provide a WOD. My new schedule is absolutely hectic, I'm going to have trouble finding time to workout myself. Anyhow, check out this article I stumbled on discussing an unbiased truth about CrossFit. The author did a sweet job on the article, so check it out!
The Truth About CrossFit

At work... on the run! No post

2010-09-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5

"Diane"

21-15-9

225lbs. Deadlift

HSPU

* Scale appropriately. Use about 50-55% of 1RM for deadlift and 3,6,9 sequence for HSPU

My first day of being a real person

2010-09-07T03:28:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

AMRAP 20 mins:
5- Thrusters 65/95lbs.
7- Hang power cleans 65/95lbs.
10- SDHP 65/95lbs.

This post is going to be short and sweet, as I am approaching my first day of being a real teacher. Today is just conferences and tomorrow I get to meet the kiddies. Robb Wolf's book, The Paleo Solution, comes out in a few days! Pretty stoked, so I can finally have my little "Paleo On-Ramp" guide donzo. Being that I am in such a rush, no new news today. Except for I am intermittent fasting + caffeine + BCAAs today. No fiber supplement. I'll post how that works out tomorrow with maybe something semi-interesting. Wish me luck! BReeZe.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

The future of my P.E. classes!

Carb hangovers suck!

2010-09-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

For time:

Shuttle sprints:
1o,20,30,40,50,60,70,80,90,100 yards

*Run to the 10 yard line and back, then run to the 20 yard line and back, etc*

Happy labor day! I am writing this on Sunday because I plan to sleep until mid-afternoon today. The weekend was very fun, but exhausting. Saturday I ate entirely too many refined carbs in the form of brownies, cookies, donuts, pizza bagels, pasta, and taquidos. I had the WORST carb hangover of my life. Yes, I said carb hangover. It is a real legit thing. I woke up at 6am Sunday morning because I felt so sick and had to puke. I still feel like total crap. That is the last time I ever eat that much junk again! I think tomorrow calls for some intermittent fasting and some laxatives in an attempt to get this crap out of my system. That's all I got for today... BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Amazing song!

Intermittent fasting, BCAAs, and caffeine

2010-09-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

AMRAP in 12 minutes:

10- KB swings 35/53/70lbs.
20 yard shuttle run (that means run to the 20 and back)

Every now and then I like to play around with something that is called "intermittent fasting". These are short fasts, usually between 15-18 hours long and have numerous health benefits which include:

Reduced blood glucose and insulin levels (markers of improved health)
Increased fatty acid oxidation
Maintenance of lean mass (muscle)
Reduced inflammation
Reduced oxidative damage
Increased cellular stress resistance (esp of heart and brain)
Decreased risks associated with degenerative diseases of aging (cancers, heart diseases, diabetes, Alzheimers

Not to mention helps you get a bit leaner. Anyway, I do this about once a week or so just to see how it effects my body, mood, performance, etc. The past two intermittent fasts have yielded great results in performance. I normally fast, take my BCAAs pre-workout, and some black coffee. However, on Wednesday something odd happened. During the day and before my workout my energy levels were up, I felt good. I decided to do clean and jerks to find a 1rm for my WOD. Though my energy levels were up, my strength was absolutely shot. Something did not feel right. Energy up, form felt amateur, and my power simply was not there. The only thing that I had done differently was take a fiber supplement that morning to clean out the system. I doubt that had anything to do with it... or maybe it did... Overall, I am going to continue the fast again, minus the fiber supplement to see if it was in fact fiber inhibiting digestion?

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Just straight up cool

Visit sicfit.com for more Videos

P.S. Dave and other CF-Westchester goons... remember to bring in dues for tomorrow! (just for you Dave)

CrossFit Terrorism

2010-09-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Overhead Squat 5-5-5-5-5
Weighted Pullup 5-5-5-5-5
Snatch 5-5-5-5-5

Before I begin this rant, I love CrossFit. I think its undoubtedly the best fitness approach in existence. It may not be perfect, but who says you can't tailor it more specifically towards your individual needs/goals? CrossFit is somewhat of a fitness cult. Crossfitters love talking about CrossFit for hours on end, searching and posting cool videos etc. But something really annoying and detrimental has been going around the CrossFit community. Its like a CrossFit bacteria has plagued many people, especially newbies. What I am trying to get here are what I call "CrossFit Robots".
CrossFit Robots are the annoying CrossFitters that really make you want to tell them to stfu. They talk about it so much that you literally want rip out their voice box. They post entirely too many videos, statuses, or other CrossFit related things. Its annoying to the point that you want to de-friend them on facebook because you cannot stand to see another CrossFit type post on your news feed. These are also the people who avoid certain foods and beverages like the plague 24/7. Not that this is at all a bad thing, but depriving yourself of a cheeseburger at a BBQ, reunion, or any social event is just odd. One may be able to spot one of these CrossFit Robots at a CrossFit gym, CrossFit event, or even better, a CrossFit after party! These people are generally socially awkward, or at least appear to be when they refuse to eat or drink something that is non-paleo. Now the top tier of these CrossFit Robots are the extremist. The robot figure heads. They preach and press it on the world, they would probably even drink their own urine if Greg Glassman himself said it would improve their "Fran" time. These people I classify as CrossFit Terrorists. They are the small percentage of absolutely brainwashed CrossFitters who are absolutely set on CrossFit ways that anything opposing is offensive. A CrossFit terrorist reading this will be extremely offended and attempt to justify their actions with a witty health excuse and pray to the CrossFit gods to have me burned at the stake.
If any CrossFit Robots or Terrorist are reading this, have a cheeseburger every now and then. Have a celebratory beverage with some friends on a Friday night. Read up on other fitness/nutrition related things that aren't in the CrossFit realm. Open your mind. Take a week or two from CrossFit and enjoy your life.
I just had to go on a little rant because these people just urke me. As a CrossFit trainer and Paleo eater myself, I just find it extremely odd for people to center their lives around it. Sacrificing the joys of life, whether they be unhealthy or not. You only live once, so make the best of it.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

The USDA Food Pyramid is a coloring book of bullshit

2010-09-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5

For time:
21-15-9 reps

SDHP- 65/95/135lbs.
Push press- 65/95/135lbs.

*This WOD should not take you more than 4 minutes. It is meant to be a nice lung burner.

Ever take a look at the USDA Food Pyramid? Both the old and new suck. I guess the USDA thought they were doing a fantastic job by adding exercise and whole grains to their pot of disaster. Since the food pyramid has been out we have gone fatter and fatter at society. Sure, we are overall less active than we were 10 and 20 years ago but I don't think that is the root of the problem. I would say the average American actually follows the food pyramid guidelines minus the fruits and vegetables (ironically the most important part). That means the average American is getting enough servings of grains, meats, and diary per day. If we are following the food pyramid correctly, as most Americans are, then WHY THE HELL ARE WE SO FAT AS A SOCIETY?! O wait... I no! Lets check out this scenario. Take out grains from the food pyramid, make sure you are eating your fruits and vegetables and lets see what happens. AMERICA: wake up! You do not need grains to get fiber and small amount of nutrients that grains provide. You will get plenty from natural food sources, without inflammatory and anti-nutrient issues that come along with consuming grains. Believe it are not, this is common knowledge among top nutritionist. So why are grains still on the pyramid? Simple, its bad for the economy. Picture how many thousands and thousands of people would be out of a job if the truth was out and people stayed away from cereal, bread, pasta, rice, etc. Big companies would be forced to lay off workers because production would be extremely slow. The only thing the food pyramid has done is set us up for a life long battle with obesity, diabetes, cancer, and all sorts of inflammatory problems. Do yourself a favor and don't listen to anyone who gives you nutrition advice based off of the food pyramid. Whether they are "professionals" in the field or not, they are clearly either uneducated and/or blind and/or retarted. OK... I think I'm done with my rant... BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Hey kids look! Its a coloring book on how to get fat and get preventable disease!

Some good news!

2010-08-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Find 1RM back squat then...

Back Squat
15 reps- 50% of 1RM
12 reps- 55% of 1RM
9 reps- 60% of 1RM
6 reps- 65% of 1RM
3 reps - 70% of 1RM

30 seconds to complete 1st set, 25 seconds 2nd set, 20 seconds 3rd set, 15 seconds 4th set, 10 seconds 5th set; with 1min rest between sets. Burpee penalty until minute ends if not completed within the time constraint

Thanks Harold from CF-Westchester!

On to the good news... I am OFFICIALLY hired as a Physical Education teacher at PS 1- The Courtlandt School!!! Ironic how my first teaching job has the same name as my college. What can I say, I guess Cortland can't get away from me. More good news: I am all moved into my new apartment wooo... Any other updates? Hmm... can't think of any so BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

The future... When Invictus Wrestling and CrossFit Westchester join forces!

Visit sicfit.com for more Videos

Is the summer really over??

2010-08-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

For time:
3-6-9-12-15-18-21 reps:

Ground to overhead 65/95lbs.
Ring dips

*If you can't do ring dips, do regular dips*

I came up with this workout in a dream I had last night. I had a dream I was viewing the CF main page and it was the WOD. You know its a sickness when your dreaming of WODs! I just moved into my new apartment on Friday, so I got to go do some things. Enjoy the WOD!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Did you know that Paleolithic men on average were taller than men today?

2010-08-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

"Death by Thruster"

With a continuous clock perform 1 thruster on the first minute, 2 on the second minute, 3 on the third minute and so on until you can't complete the amount of reps on the minute. You can break them up into as many sets as possible.

SCALE PROPERLY!
B.E.- 65lbs (Boiled Egg- you hard on the outside but soft on the inside)
H.B- 95lbs. (Hard Body)
B.A.- 115lbs (Bad Ass)
B.A.M.F.- 135lbs (Bad Ass Mother Fucker)

May seem like bullshit but... the people who dig up bones and stuff have noted that Paleolithic man was slightly taller than Neolithic man. Despite a lifespan that was significantly shorter than today's man, Paleolithic man was healthier, nearly disease free, and leaner. How can your lifespan be shorter if your healthier? Well, lets see how long you live in the effing wild with no antibiotics and medicines! The average lifespan also takes into account deaths at birth. Think about it. There were no caveman doctors to deliver cave-babies It also includes the fact that you could get your face ripped off by a saber-tooth tiger at any given moment... If you don't believe me do a GOOD google search.
Anyways, here is a cool interview I stumbled on: T-nation interviews Robb Wolf... That should clear up any questions for the dumb bodybuilding people.

Pure BAMF

Visit sicfit.com for more Videos

Tweaking diet- removing nuts and seeds

2010-08-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

50-40-30-20-10 reps:

Hand to hand kettlebell swings- 1 pood (35lbs)
Squats

How to do the hand to hand KB swing

This has been a pretty active week for us over at CrossFit Westchester. Since Invictus Wrestling has been on a short hiatus, I have decided to ramp up the training a little bit. If you guys have not noticed. With all this extra time it has allowed me to focus more on CrossFit- programming, finding cool articles, and finishing my Paleo on-ramp program. Speaking of Paleo, I have decided to remove my beloved almonds, cashews, and pistachios from my diet. I would have referred to the group as "nuts" but that would have sounded entirely too... you know... Back to the subject: I eat a lot of A,C, and Ps (ACP). I don't measure either. I just scoop handfuls at a time and if I had to take a guess on how many servings of ACPs I eat per day, I'd say I am somewhere around the neighborhood of 4. If you do the math that calculates out to around 800 calories per day coming just from ACPs! Of course its good fat, but I center every meal around protein and fat. I am positive my fat intake is high enough without ACPs, so I am doing a little experiment. I am going without ACPs for 1 month, or 4 weeks, and I will take note on effects on energy levels and body composition. My hypothesis: energy levels will stay high while reducing bodyfat. Normally, any calorie decrease will resort in some kind of energy dip for a period of time. However, I am confident that my calories and fat intake are high enough to maintain the energy levels I have now. Almost like ACPs are just something "extra", something I do not necessarily need. I think I'll also drop a few pounds because of that caloric deficit. Its going to be interesting to see how my body responds. I'll do my best to keep ya'll posted weekly. Anyways... BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Goodbye... for now...

Updates on Paleo on-ramp

2010-08-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Back squat 5-3-1-1-1
Benchpress 5-3-1-1-1
Deadlift 5-3-1-1-1

Just a little update on my Paleo on-ramp program thingy I'm currently working on:
Currently I am about 75% done writing it, I have to make some adjustements here and there. Now I am on schedule for its original completion date of September 1st. But after finding out two important things that may improve the on-ramp program, I may push back the date to the end of September or post this one and have a 2nd edition. While checking up on Robb Wolf's website a few days ago, I noticed that he is having a Paleolithic Solution Seminar in Brooklyn on September 4th. This would be an awesome opportunity for me to learn from the master himself. I am not a master at nutrition, so I think this would help out immensely. Also, Robb's book, "The Paleo Solution", is going to be released early September. Having that book as a reference is a huge tool and can really impact how I design the on-ramp program. As of right now I am leaning towards waiting for those two learning experiences to sink in, so I can improve what I already have. Or maybe I'll post what I have anyhow and have a 2nd edition? What do you think??

Stay classy,

Coach A.

The butterfly pullup, demonstrated by my idol

The Paleo Solution!

2010-08-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Split Jerk 5-3-1-1-1

21, 15, 9 reps of:

Push Press 135 lbs
Ring Dips
Burpee
Calorie Row

Thanks CF Football!

*Push press can be scaled to 70% of 1RM or 95,65lbs.

Just found out Robb Wolf's book, The Paleo Solution, will be release September 14th! STOKED! If you do not know who Robb Wolf is, he is like the guru of paleolithic nutrition. Check out his website for nutrition info @ www.robbwolf.com. You can also download his podcast episodes, "The Paleolithic Solution" on itunes for free.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

That might have been one of the thickest callouses that has ever torn off of my hand

Training vs. Exercising

2010-08-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Snatch 5-3-1-1-1

Five rounds for time:

Left arm dumbbell/kettlebell/barbell ,snatch- 5 reps
Right leg 20" box jump - 10 reps
Right arm dumbell/kettlebell/barbell snatch- 5 reps
Left leg 20" box jump - 10 reps

Beginners use a dumbbell, advanced use the KB, and elite use the barbell.
*RX'd weight for dumbell is 45lbs.
*RX'd weight for kettlebell is 35lbs.
*RX'd weight for barbell is 65lbs.

My fellow coach found this sweet article on CrossFit Maryland's website. Definitely worth checking out --------> Training vs. Exercising
Eusebio was too busy to do the much anticipated "Fran" workout on Friday. Expect the video to be posted within the next few days.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Today is the day

2010-08-20T06:31:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Front squat 5-3-1-1-1

"Fran"
21-15-9 reps:
Thrusters 95/65lbs.
Pullups

* Scale appropriately with thrusters. Fran is not meant to be a long workout, 6 minutes tops. If you do not have a strong thrust (haha) scale with 65lbs.*

Today is the day that CrossFit/Invictus athlete, Eusebio "da hitman" must do fran. Not only does he have to complete fran, he has to do so in attire of my choice due to a bet. I won't spoil what it is he will be dressing in, but I will tell you it is going to be hysterical. I will post the video on facebook tonight and on the blog Monday.
Hopefully today I will find out if I will be a full time teacher in the Bronx this year! Cross yo fingers! There are a few birthdays I will be celebrating this weekend, so it should be a goodie... BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Coach is taking the day off

2010-08-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Refer to CrossFit Westchester. Chris will be running class today, be prepared!

Quick post: I'll be soaking in some cosmic rays at the beach. Got to hit it up one more time before the summer ends! Tomorrow, Eusebio will be doing "Fran" in some ridiculous attire. Will post video on Monday. BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Sugar alcohols... bad? good? or both?

2010-08-18T00:30:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Deadlift 5-3-1-1-1
Strict press 5-3-1-1-1
Back squat 5-3-1-1-1

Go heavy, go hard... fitness tests are next week!

Have you ever wondered whats the deal with sugar alcohols? Not sugar substitute. I'm talking about the stuff that is in most protein bars and other foods that claim to be "sugar free". Here is a neat article outlining everything you need to know about sugar alcohols.
------------> Sugar Alcohols

Fastest Fran time... 1:53!

The Fastest Show on Earth. The first sub 2 minute "Fran" from gregg arsenuk on Vimeo.

Don't ever cheat on Paleo for a whole week

2010-08-17T00:30:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Clean
5-3-1-1-1

5 rounds for time:
Clean 70% 1RM- 5 reps
Pullups- 10 reps
Burpees- 15 reps

Last week, I decided to skip on grocery shopping. Funds were low and I was pretty damn lazy. So I was just winging my meals by with eggs, protein bars/shakes, some fruit and chicken. My fat intake now that I think about it was low, protein was moderate as well as carbohydrate consumption. The weekend was even worse. I actually didn't participate in my usual weekend habits, I wanted to "be good". But I did eat grains, lots of them. Lots of refined sugar. It was delicious. Let me tell you, I WILL NOT BE DOING THAT FOR AWHILE. My performance and energy levels generally sucked. I started to feel it on Friday, but didn't pay attention to it. I figured I was having an "off day". Today convinced me that my poor eating habits from the past week finally caught up with me. Granted, the workout I did today was tough and I still completed it in above average time, I felt like effing death. My energy levels dropped after my second round, I felt that I was going to have another asthma attack, and I was sweating like a fat kid at Thanksgiving. I seriously have not felt that shitty after a workout in a very very long time. The only thing I could think of that was different was my diet from the past week. So I went shopping and prepared a delicious Paleo friendly meal. I feel full, satisfied and ready to crush whatever WOD I choose to do. Anyways, enough about me... Stay tuned for some updates!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Who's that jacked stud (on top)? My senior year of H.S. Pre-crossfit/paleo

Is it me or has the past 4 Mondays been cloudy?

2010-08-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

8 Rounds for time:

5 Power snatches- 95/65/45lbs.
Row 200m

Thanks CF Football!

Why do I wake up every Monday to see clouds! It is bad enough I hate Mondays, stupid clouds...

Maybe I'll have something intelligent to say tomorrow. BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Dinner of champions!

Paleo on-ramp in the works

2010-08-13T21:44:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

For time:

Run 400m

Rest 3 minutes

Repeat 1 time

Sprint 100m

Rest 2 minutes

Repeat 2 more times

Spring 40 yards

Rest 1 minute

Repeat 3 more times

Total: 2-400m, 3- 100m, and 4- 40 yard dashes... hope this cleared up any confusion!

Yesterday I began writing up the Paleo on-ramp, or the Paleo diet for dummies. I am writing it with my buddy, Andrew, who is opening his CrossFit gym in Rockland County within the next few weeks. So far its looking pretty gnarly, it is simple yet effective. My goal is to educate my clients and others about paleolithic nutrition without confusing the hell of out them. Nutrition in general is such a complicated subject, so we're hoping this will make it easy for everyone to understand and follow. I have nothing else to talk about so on that note, enjoy the workout and enjoy your weekend! O ya, I hit a new PR on cleans! 265lbs!!!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Eusebio loses bet... Coach always wins

2010-08-12T00:30:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Thruster 3-3-1-1-1

AMRAP 12 minutes:

Thrusters (60% of 1RM)- 4 reps
Clapping pushups- 8 reps
Sit-ups- 12 reps

One of my athletes, Eusebio, decided it would be a good idea to strike a bet with me. He was convinced that the MTV show "Jersey Shore" aired new episodes Wednesday nights. I knew the show aired on Thursdays and so did everyone else in the car. But he swore it did so we agreed on a bet. If he wins the bet, I have to allow him to beat me in a wrestling match and record it. If I win, he has to do "Fran" in a pink leotard or a ridiculous outfit of my choice. Literally two minutes after dropping my young athlete off, I receive a text. I WON. Stay tuned, I will be posting the video on the blog as soon as he does it. Its looking to be next Friday.
On more important things, I stumbled upon this sweet website discussing the TRUTH about saturated fats. Its pretty damn interesting! Proven Health Benefits of Saturated Fat

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Check out the trainers at CrossFit Albany killin it!

Visit sicfit.com for more Videos

Programming, not as easy as it looks

2010-08-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Strict Press 3-3-3-3-3
Overhead Squat 3-3-1-1-1
Snatch 3-3-3-3-3

CrossFit programming looks like it requires no skill and very little competency in kinesiology. Just pick out some random exercises, throw in a time or task component and BAM you have your daily WOD. This is what I thought up until a few months ago. Believe it or not, good programming is an acquired skill. Sure, picking exercises out of a hat and matching it with an insane task/time component will get you in shape. But is it going to be the most effective? What will get you that "good stuff" faster? We all know (or should know) intensity is how you achieve your fitness goals the fastest, but the BEST programming out there gets you "the good stuff" faster. I have been training athletes at CrossFit Westchester since April. I will admit, my programming was sub-par at best. To be honest, I am still not a guru at programming. I am still always looking for ways to improve, to make the most beneficial workouts for my athletes, which leads me to the pickle I am in right now with programming. I train my athletes on a strength/power bias. Now big time strength trainers believe that met-cons, even in short duration, inhibits strength gains greatly. While others, like CrossFit Football, embrace the strength bias met-cons. I am kinda on the fence, I agree with both sides. Agreeing with both sides, I have decided to have designated days just for strength, met-con, sprint work, skill work etc. I really like this idea because it hits every side of the spectrum. However, the problem with this is that now there is a routine schedule, not as constantly varied. Not as constantly varied calls for routine days, but not necessarily routine exercises. This is just a rough example of what I mean by routine days:
Monday- strength: 3 multi-joint movements, 5 sets of 1,3, or 5 reps
Tuesday- Met-con: long or short, completely randomized
Wednesday- Active rest: work on gymnastic skills/weaknesses
Thursday- Rest day
Friday- Sprint work/rowing: anything short and explosive
Now everyday week would follow this kind of schedule. I like the idea, but I have not yet perfected it. I plan to give this a try starting in September. In the meantime, I am going to dig up some more research on the pros/cons of this style of training and would love to hear some feedback. Leave a comment!!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

"ADAMBROWN" not only kicked my ass, but nearly murdered my athletes!

Paleo on-ramp?

2010-08-10T06:13:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

"ADAMBROWN"

* Scale appropriately. Scale deadlift to 60% of 1RM, benchpress 65% of 1RM, and clean 55% of 1RM*

Thanks HQ

For a little while now I have been dabbling with the idea of making an "on-ramp" program for people interested in going Paleo. There is so much to learn about this style of eating, so I am going to create an easy, simple way of educating yourself and implementing it into your life. A lot of people do not understand, but it is foolish to try and give up the processed foods and all the junk all at once. It is torturous and you really feel that dip and in energy and performance. Rather, one should ease themselves into the diet so the "performance/energy dip" isn't so dreadful. Hopefully I will have it done before September. GO PALEO OR GO HOME!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

10 Nutritional Mistakes

2010-08-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

6 rounds for time:

10 KB Swings - 2 Pood
15 Toes to Bar
20 Double Unders

Thanks CF Football!

Its Monday. You know the drill. The brain is slowing powering up so here is a cool article on nutrition Top 10 Nutritional Mistakes- Primal Body Primal Mind

The rockland boys catching there breath after a brutal team workout... and Luke doing burpees because he was late

Response to Yesterday's article

2010-08-06T05:49:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Snatch
3-3-3-1-1

AMRAP in 12 minutes:
5 Any way ground to overhead- 70% of 1rm clean and jerk
10 Push Ups
15 GHD Back Extensions

Note: any way overhead means literally any way you can get the friggen bar over your head. Snatch, clean and jerk, thruster, etc.

Yesterday's article was a pretty interesting piece. To some up the article, the author explained how scaling workouts to a strength bias is pointless because it limits our power output. So the author is saying that power cannot occur at near maximal loads (1rm). Now that is a little confusing to me. I understand that physics says that power occurs around 30% speed and at around 50% of our 1rm, but why can't it occur at 75%? Take this scenario: Athlete A and B have a 1rm clean of 300lbs. (ya there both JACKED). Athlete A and B both can produce about the same power at 50% of this 1rm. Lets say both can do 150lbs. 30 reps in 1:30 minutes. Pretty powerful dudes. Now according to this theory, power is going to be severely blunted at near maximum loads. Athlete A can do 3 reps of 75% of his 1rm in :30 seconds, while athlete B can do the same weight and reps in :25 seconds. Who's more powerful? Athlete B, clearly. This is an interesting scenario because it is very possible that a situation like this can occur. He technically wouldn't be stronger than athlete A because there 1rm is the same, but the fact that he can push around the same weight faster makes him more powerful. The one thing that really changed the way I viewed the article was when the author talked about training being done at 50% of 1rm. If you increase weight at 50% of 1rm then odds are you your 1rm will increase. Can't really argue must there. However, I do not think training at 50% of it is the most productive way to do increase one's 1rm. The body needs the stress of near maximal loads in order to increase in power and strength. One last thing I enjoyed about the article was the formula for scaling. Good in theory, but far from a perfect system. I can tell you this first hand because I know a lot of people who are not strong enough to hit a 190lbs. thruster but can slam a 3-4 minute fran. This is a common case where an athlete has got a ton of power, but strength does not match, thus leaving this formula imperfect. Even more common, a vice versa scenario where strength outweighs power output. It can happen because I used to be that way! Overall, I think the article is an awesome read, the scaling formula is good but does not apply in most scenarios. Time to train the kiddies. BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Read the article... thoughts? I may have a response tomorrow

2010-08-05T05:34:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Strength:
Back Squat: 3-3-3-3

METCON:
10 minute time cap:
7 rounds:
7 back squats (95/65)
7 long jumps

Thanks CF Westchester!

Zatsiorsky, Scaling, and Power

Friday, June 18, 2010 at 10:59PM

by Jon Gilson

You could struggle like a rocket trying to take off on regular unleaded, or you could actually get stronger.

You’re the kid who saw one phenom go from high school straight to the Major Leagues, and figured “What the hell? If that skinny punk can do it, so can I.” Attention, achievement, some sliver of recognition, nothing less will do.

You’re Rx’d. You made the Major League jump. Except, you really, really shouldn’t have, and now you’re striking out. Slow your roll, tee ball slugger.

It’s okay. I did the same thing, and if I don’t admit it, the pot would definitely be calling the kettle another piece of kitchen equipment. Learn from my stupidity.

If you can’t thruster at least 190 pounds, you shouldn’t be doing “Fran” with 95.

The whole point of our sport is power output: do more work faster. Intrinsic in this little missive is “faster”, but every guy secretly wants to be bigger and stronger, and figures that what we actually meant was “heavier”.

This is not what we meant.

It comes down to simple physics: power is the product of speed and strength. Too much of either (without the other) will result in extremely blunted power.

Imagine speed and strength on the see-saw together, and strength is the fat kid. The really fat kid. In fact, he outweighs speed by a factor of ten. The see-saw stays stuck, and no one has fun at recess. Escaping my metaphor, if the load is too large and speed is too small, power is zip, much like multiplying by zero always gets you zero.

Now, imagine speed and strength are balanced, each kid weighing about the same. This parity allows them to act in concert with each other, and the see-saw really flies. We get power.

“Heavier” isn’t the answer. Balance is the answer.

On page six in The Science and Practice of Strength Training, author Vladimir Zatsiorsky posits that maximal power output occurs at approximately 30% of maximal velocity and 50% of maximal load. I’m in love with page six, and simultaneously dumbfounded by its mathematical exactitude.

Applied to CrossFit and our never ending pursuit of power, this unforgettable page states that we’re looking for a load that you can move with 30% speed, one that tends to occur somewhere around your 50% of one-rep maximum.

Of course, CrossFit won’t ask you to move the bar once, but perhaps ten or twenty or fifty times. To maximize your power across this broad spectrum of work, you’ll want to load to less than 50% 1RM, and continue to try to move the hell out of the bar.

Holy shit. A formula for scaling.

For too long, we’ve focused on strength bias this and power animal super athlete that, when this entire program is predicated on power. Stop thinking of scaling as something to keep Grandma in the game. We scale to the physical and psychological tolerance of the athlete for one reason: it enables the individual to produce as much power as possible.

Following Zatsiorsky’s formula, if you can’t thruster at least 190 pounds, you shouldn’t be doing “Fran” with 95. If you can’t clean and jerk 270, don’t do “Grace” with 135. You’re blunting your power output. Scale that weight down; it will make you more powerful.

I did not just tell you to abandon heavy weights. In fact, I want you to lift heavy. A lot. Just not in the middle of your WOD.

If you increase your 1RM, through any number of methods, your 50% 1RM will go up as well, and you’ll climb into the Rx’d echelon via this prescription. You thruster 150, you do “Fran” at 75 pounds or less. You thruster 200, welcome to the Big Leagues.

In other words, don’t strength bias your WODs—strength bias your strength, and scale your WODs to your current strength level.

Proof? Take a look at the strongest men in the world, not by fiat, but by actual numbers lifted, the gargantuan boys of Westside Barbell. Their program regularly calls for moving 50% 1RM as fast as possible. In fact, it was a conversation with Louie Simmons, the founder of the Westside Method and its Dynamic Effort Days, that persuaded me to pick up a copy of The Science and Practice of Strength Training in the first place.

I’m sure he’d be disappointed I never made it past page six, but I bet he’d love it if you stopped trying to do Fran with 65% of your 1RM.

The successful implementation of scaling demands a simple recognition: there are an infinite number of weights that can be loaded on a barbell, and every one must be removed from ego and firmly affixed to power. When this mental shift occurs, we’ll get more powerful athletes, guaranteed.

Job interview today!

2010-08-04T00:30:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Overhead Squat
1-1-1-1-1

Snatch
3-3-3-1-1

Bench press
3-3-3-3-3

Today is a big day for Coach. Today is my first official job interview for teaching! I have had interviews in the past for coaching, but nothing for a REAL teaching position. I'm actually more excited than nervous about the interview. Game plan: wake up at 7:30, shower, eat 4 eggs and drink 1 cup of coffee. After, rehearse my interview in the mirror, put on some relaxing tunes, and get ready to dominate this interview! I know I gave up caffeine, but it helps tremendously with my mental focus, got to bring my A-game! Hopefully the school will enjoy my delightful and witty personality. I apologize for not having anything interesting to write about... promise I will after the interview :) Wish me luck!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

This is just a pretty gnarly cover to one of my favorite songs

I got noting for yah!

2010-08-03T06:20:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Split Jerk
1-1-1-1-1

Five rounds for time of:
135 pound Squat clean thruster, 5 reps
10 Chest to bar pull-ups

Check out this article I got from CF Football on evolution: Adventures in evolution

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Don't look too happy now Joe!

Another hazy Monday

2010-08-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Deadlift

3-3-3-1-1

"Roy"

Five rounds for time of:
225 pound Deadlift, 15 reps
20 Box jumps, 24 inch box
25 Pull-ups

This past weekend, Invictus Wrestling took 4th at the Silverback Duals. Not too shabby for forfeiting 4 weight classes. There is not going to be any practice this week, so expect CrossFit WODs to be killer this week. As usual, its Monday so my brain is still working in slow-mo. I think eating like complete crap this weekend has really put me into this blurry Monday haze. Hopefully after my intermittent fasting ritual and some good food after, I will be back to normal tomorrow. BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Doesn't the blood look fake? Like ketchup?

Silverback duals this weekend... BReeZe!

2010-07-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

"The Filthy 50"

For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

Sorry for the late post, I actually wasn't busy. I have no excuses, I was being a complete bum. Quick note: we have been a little off the strength bias for this week because of the wrestling tournament I am bringing my team to. For my outside readers, all of my crossfit athletes are also in my wrestling club, Invictus Wrestling. Anyway, we have a cool dual meet tournament in bumblefuck CT. It should be a good experience for the kids and I am very excited to see what my boys can do. Thankfully we have almost a full line-up this time. And our line-up looks pretty tough from top to bottom. Will update on Monday! BReeZe.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Response to Tuesday's article

2010-07-29T06:27:00.000-07:00

Workout of the day

Push Jerk
3-3-3-3-3

"Chubby Fran"
For time: 15-12-9

135lbs. Thrusters
Weighted pullups (20lbs Dumbbell or vest)

On Tuesday, I posted an article about amino acids and how supplementing them is very beneficial for the athlete. Yesterday, my fellow coach and genius wrestling fanatic friend attacked me with a very intriguing question. If you read the last paragraph of the article, the author describes how excessive protein intake will hinder recovery because it will signal for the hormone glucagon and cause a process called gluconeogenesis. Last time I checked, gluconeogenesis ONLY occurs if your body is in need of glycogen. So in the low-carb diet scenario, this theory of excess protein causing gluconeogenesis thus converting your amino acids into glucose for the muscles, liver, and blood is correct. However, there does not need to be an excess amount of protein for this to occur. Your body's priority when recovering is to replenish glycogen stores when they are low, therefore there does not need to be protein in excess for this to occur. I believe the author was talking about excess protein causing gluconeogenesis in a carb rich environment. If this is the case, I will confidently say that he is either inaccurate or not explaining his theory fully. Excess protein will not cause gluconeogenesis to occur in a carb rich environment. If glycogen stores are full, then the body has no reason for this process to occur. Now what happens to the excess protein? Does it turn into fat? Technically, protein cannot turn into fat by itself. Protein must have a carbohydrate source, glucose, to convert into fat. The carrier is glucose-6-phosphate to be exact. To sum up the scenario of excess protein in a carb rich environment, the answer is it will attach to a carb source and turn into fat.

The whole thing with excess protein is generally a gray area. What defines excess protein? Especially to the athlete. Protein has more jobs than just repairing and rebuilding muscle tissue. Repairing cells, being burned for energy, aiding in the production of ketones are just a few of the many other jobs proteins/amino acids have at the cellular level. As always...

Stay classy,

Coach A.

New CrossFit Westchester logo. Redesigned website coming soon! www.crossfitwestchester.com

On the run!

2010-07-28T07:04:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

10 rounds for time:

10 Spiderman pushups
10 Body blasters

There is a video of a spiderman pushup from Monday's blog. A body blaster is a burpee into pullup into knees to elbow.

Got to run and help move crap for my sister's new apt. Can't believe she is going to be a senior in college!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Body blaster

Amino Acids are gnarly

2010-07-27T06:46:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

5 rounds for time:

"Burpee Complex"

5 rounds, max load:
Burpee Deadlift, 5 reps
Burpee Power Clean, 5 reps
Burpee Front Squat, 5 reps
Burpee Clean and Jerk, 5 reps

Thanks JVH Sports Performance for the idea!

The workout is not for time, just max weight. Keeping your hands in contact with the bar, perform a burpee before each lift. Hand are only allowed to re-grip. Video below is a demo-ish.

Amino Acids, Training Stress, Hormones, and Muscle Tissue

By Joseph Regan

During low calorie diets and intense training regiments, amino acid supplementation becomes extremely important. Amino acids are chief components of proteins that are synthesized by living cells (nonessential) or are obtained by the body through diet (essential). A dietary protein source that contains all the essential amino acids is called complete proteins. Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and milk are examples. The proteins in vegetables and grains are called incomplete proteins, because they do not supply all the essential amino acids.

When athletes follow reduced calorie protocol to qualify for particular weight classes, i.e., wrestlers, boxers, MMA, amino acid supplementation becomes incredibly important. Amino acids account for a large percentage of the energy to fuel training and competition. As the athlete’s training volume and load increase, so does the stress hormone cortisol. When cortisol is elevated, the anabolic hormone testosterone will significantly decrease. This hormonal imbalance will allow cortisol to eat away at muscle, adversely affecting cellular energy metabolism, facilitating body fat accumulation. This imbalance also has detrimental effect on mood, i.e., Central Nervous System (CNS). Cortisol also supports fat storage via activating storage receptors and ruining insulin sensitivity. This affects how muscles can accept amino acids and other nutrients.

During training and calorie deficit, breakdown of muscle tissue will increase cortisol levels, which will have an adverse effect on performance. Losses of muscle mass and secondary lowering of metabolism can occur if volume and intensity get high enough. I preach to my athletes all the time about management of their CNS. Strength athletes rely on their nervous system to support success. Focus must be on training the brain, not just muscles, i.e., plyometric work.

Recovery becomes premium: when it comes to strength, peak power, and speed. The CNS must be repaired before the muscles. Amino acid supplementation greatly benefits the athlete. Amino acids ingested before workouts can compete with serotonin and its precursor tryptophan for entry into the brain. It is the serotonin action inside the brain that facilitates the sensation of fatigue. Amino acid supplementation pre-workout can blunt the pain response in the brain, allowing athletes to train more efficiently.

If ample amounts of amino acids are supplemented about 30 minutes pre-workout, amino acids have a sparing effect on muscle protein, thus allowing the body to use stored fat as fuel. Amino acid loading around training boosts fat burning by virtue of activating metabolism. Amino acid loading mimics the consumption of food, as far as the brain is concerned.

Regarding post-workout, amino acid supplementation will increase insulin enough to promote anabolism. Ingestion of food post-workout drives the blood away from muscle and is diverted to gastrointestinal tract (GI) for digestion. This feeding practice will most certainly hinder the recovery process, and digestion will be suboptimal. Hard training athletes do not have time for digestion. This is not time efficient, which is vital during competition, when time is of the essence.

Excessive protein consumption post-workout can cause a release of the hormone, glucagon, which antagonizes insulin release. Conventional wisdom tells us that insulin is anabolic post-workout. Insulin is most certainly anti-catabolic post-workout, as it diminishes post-workout protein breakdown. If glucagon is released, the body will now convert the excess protein into glucose (gluconeogenesis). So take in too much protein post-workout and say goodbye to that favorable amino acid ratio. Those aminos are now carbohydrates!

Joe Regan is a sports nutritionist for many top athletes, especially wrestlers. Though I do not know him personally, I have heard great things from his athletes regarding nutrition. Check out his website for sports nutrition info. www.peakprogress.com

Stay classy,

Coach A.

This is a rough idea on how to perform the WOD.

Alcohol, fat loss, and muscle growth

2010-07-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

"Angie"

For time:
100 Pull-ups
100 Push-ups
100 Sit-ups
100 Squats

Check out this sweet article I found on CrossFit Football on booze and how it effects body composition and stuff... it's pretty sweet --------> Alcohol, fat loss, and muscle growth

Superman pushup!

Visit sicfit.com for more Videos

Take that Fran!

2010-07-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

For 20 minutes:

Run 400 meters
Rest precisely the time of the previous run

Thanks CF HQ!

I would have posted a more difficult WOD, but since I will be in Buffalo, there will be no classes. This is something you can easily do at home, plus its a killer. Anyways, I murdered FRAN! That's right, I not only crushed my PR but did so without puking! I have been saying I was going to do Fran for weeks now and finally grew the balls to do it. Lately, well since I have been more consistent with my Crossfitting, my performance has been at an all time best. I have been crushing previous PRs. Cindy +3 rounds, shaved over 8 minutes on Linda, and now killing Fran 40 seconds faster. Now one thing that is pretty amazing is how my work capacity has gotten to where it is now. What has been different from last year and the year before till now? Lets take a look. I train less, averaging 3-4 days per week, I don't go balls to wall on every WOD like I used to, and I rarely if ever hit any oxidative type workouts. If someone were to present this to me, I would have assumed that their performance would have had a huge dip. After pondering for several minutes I have a few leads as to why my performance has been spectacular. Main reason: Paleo diet. I have worked hard on dialing in my nutrition and it has definitely paid off. I'm leaner, stronger, and my metabolic conditioning is the best its ever been. It is truly amazing how your diet impacts your performance, people really do not understand. Some other minor reasons why my performance has been up as of late include: supplementing with BCAAs, training less, and not killing myself all the time. The BCAAs have definitely helped with muscular fatigue. Training only 3-4 days a week has left me fresh and ready for the next WOD. Note: I only have two real rest days per week, I wrestle on my non-crossfit days. Lastly, my training intensity has kept that "burn out" feeling away. This was something that has come along many times since I have been CrossFitting. I now only go at "full intensity" when I feel like it, otherwise I go hard, just not to the point that I want to puke. Off to Buffalo I go, make good decisions this weekend! BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Me raping Fran in 2:26!

Caffeine rehab update!

2010-07-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3

5 rounds, 30 seconds each station:

Kettlebell swings, 35/53lbs.

Double Unders (x3 single, if you cannot do a double under)

Deadlift, 135/185lbs.

Ball Slams, 20lbs ball

Burpees

Take a 30 second rest in between rounds. Each rep is 1 point, add up reps to get final score. This is a "gone bad" style WOD... I think I'm going to call it "Good girls, Gone bad!" (after a cobra starship song).

NO CROSSFIT CLASSES ON FRIDAY! I'll be at the Empire State Games in buffalo coaching my two athletes to glory. So, some time last week I checked myself into caffeine rehab. Here are some physiological and mental updates since I have taken it out of my diet. For the first few days physically, I felt sluggish and lethargic, but performance did not suffer as much as I had anticipated. Mentally, I did feel a little "blah" but depression was not an issue. This was a big surprised because I was a mental wreck last time I stopped using caffeine. My guess is because since I was at a much lower dose of caffeine this time around, the mental dependence was not as big. As of the moment I feel great without caffeine, my energy levels are good, and performance is still awesome. I'll admit that I did take in some caffeinated beverages Friday and Saturday night and let me tell you, WOW. I was banana sandwiches both nights, I even danced bachata! My advice to caffeine addicts: do yourself a favor and make caffeine an occasional thing. I recommend caffeine for athletic performance, however, using it everyday diminishes the effect. Your body gets a quick tolerance to caffeine and does not enjoy being without that stimulating feeling. BReeZe!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Jacob "The Serial Killer" Berkowitz... Check out that face!

Go Paleo or go home!

2010-07-21T19:47:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

3 rounds for time:

30 Pushups (hand release at the bottom)
21 Overhead Squats- 45/95/135lbs.

Thinking about trying the Paleo Diet? Trust me its not a fad diet, there are no bars, supplements, or other B.S. On a marketing aspect, the only thing that exists are books to educate you on what it is and how to go about it. If you still think it is just another fad diet, ask yourself what is so bad about eating things veggies, lean meats, seafood, and healthy fats? I think the answer is pretty obvii... The easiest way to start is by cutting out processed foods by each meal. Here is an example of what you diet may look like and this is how you could change it. Breakfast: Bagel, oatmeal, or cereal. Pretty safe to say most people have one of the three. Lunch: Sandwich of some sort. Dinner: Pasta, rice, potatoes w/ meat. As you can see, this is a typical American diet which is rich in shitty carbohydrates. Besides jumping right on the Paleo bandwagon, ease yourself in. Start with replacing one meal per week with a Paleo friendly meal. For example, you can change your breakfast to a bacon and spinach omelet. Wake up 15 minutes earlier and stop complaining. Week after you can replace lunch with a turkey salad with olive oil. Dinner is the easiest to replace. Chicken, steamed veggies, and an avocado. Ideally you want every meal to consist of a protein source (meat of fish), veggies, and fat. If you focus your diet on those principles you should be just fine. Snack on nuts, fruits, and nut spreads like almond butter. My favorite snack is bananas and almond butter, its crack. Believe it or not you will lose bodyfat, despite a high fat intake. Google it because I do not feel like explaining it, maybe another time. Just so you know, there will be a 2-3 week dip in energy and performance due to your body making a "metabolic shift", meaning its change from carbohydrate dependency to fat, a more preferred source. After that time period is over I guarantee you will feel amazing. Trust me, Coach A would not steer you wrong!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Pick it up at Barnes and Nobles!

Why I train athletes, the way I do

2010-07-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

Complete 5 rounds for time:

Sprint 40 yards
6 Power Cleans 95/135/185 lbs
12 Knees to Elbows

Thanks CF Football!

I would like to wish good luck to my Invictus Wrestling/CrossFit Westchester athletes, Dave and Eusebio, this weekend as they are competing at the Empire State Games. It is going to be a great experience for both, there should be some great competition up there!

Goal of CrossFit: produce well-rounded athletes, "our specialty is not specializing". My vision: not only make a well rounded athlete, but a damn powerful workhorse. Will my athletes have as good endurance as a CrossFit athlete? Probably not. Will my athletes be able to lift large loads across distance faster? HELL YES. Why? This is a question a few people in the CrossFit community are having trouble understanding. Don't get me wrong, I love producing athletes who are capable of doing things that require hitting different modal domains, but my job is to prepare them for sport. So it is IMPERATIVE that there has to be some specialization. Since I train wrestlers, there workouts must be based around heavy explosive movements with workouts typically lasting in the duration of around 10 minutes. Anything outside of that domain is generally not helpful for these explosive athletes. Wrestlers, the most bad-ass athletes on the planet, do not hit aerobic pathways in competition. Umm... so why have them train in a domain that is rarely if ever hit? Pointless. Instead, lets get their bodies prepared for the 6 minutes of sprint work, which is pretty much what a match entails. Hate to say this: CrossFit is not the answer to everything and if you think it is then you are uneducated and ignorant. If your goal is to get bigger and stronger, stop running 5ks and lift a heavy barbell for Christ sake. All and all learn how to structure programs based around your or your client's goals using the CrossFit methodology: constantly varied functional movements performed at a high intensity! All day eurry day!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Paleo Pyramid!

Ever have a hard time explaining Paleo? - Sarah K. Johnson

2010-07-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

"Mary"

Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 Handstand Push-ups
10 One legged squats, alternating
15 Pull-ups

Here is a little explanation of the Paleo diet written by my bff Sarah Johnson. Check out her blog! Sarah's blog

Why do you do Paleo? What is Paleo?
I thought whole grain was good for you?

…WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!?!

Ever get these questions? Yeah.. me too. Here’s a write-up I put together for Albany CrossFit explaining, in the simplest way possible, the what’s, how’s, and why’s of the Paleo Diet. Let me remind you that, although I have attended the CrossFit Nutrition Certification, I am not an official expert on the topic, nor is it my profession; I research and read about the Paleo Diet as a hobby and am very passionate about it as it relates to CrossFit and maintaining overall health. This was designed for people new to CrossFit and Paleo nutrition (obviously!).

CrossFit’s Love Affair with Paleolithic Nutrition:
What it is, How it Works, and Why it Rocks Our World
Sarah K. Johnson

Paleo Diet defined. First, lets define “Paleo Diet”. The Paleo Diet (which should actually be termed Paleo lifestyle) is the “optimum diet for the human animal, based on the nutritional requirements established during its evolutionary path to its present form (the modern homo sapiens). The biologically appropriate diet” (Wiss 2010).

And… what does this mean, exactly? This means removing all foods that are products of agriculture or animal husbandry (i.e., dairy, beans/legumes, grains, sugar, potatoes, and processed foods). Ultimately, this diet consists of meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.

What are the goals of the Paleo Diet? The main objectives of the Paleo Diet is to keep the human body’s internal environment well-balanced and clear of processed and pro-inflammatory food sources (see above). When followed correctly, this program will successfully encourage fat loss, maintain insulin sensitivity, lower LDL’s and blood pressure, cure and prevent diabetes… yes, really. And the list goes on.

But, aren’t grains good for you? You may believe that whole grain is “good for you” due to the amount of fiber per serving.. indeed, fiber is good for you.. but, you can acquire this fiber from A TON of other sources that DO NOT contain the anti-nutrients found in grain (i.e., Lectin and Gluten). For example, fruits and vegetables are actually MORE nutrient dense than grains, regarding the fiber, vitamin and mineral amount per serving. Turns out you don’t actually need that empty calorie rich whole grain bagel every morning to get your fiber.. let’s define what those antinutrients were, again:

→ Lectin. A protein that binds to insulin receptors, the lining of our intestine, and a contributor to leptin resistance. Leptin resistance predicts an exacerbation of features related to metabolic syndrome independently of obesity. Lectin is also found in beans, utilized as a protective chemical to deter herbivorous insects and animals (and.. well, us!)

→ Gluten. When ingested (via grains such as barley and wheat), gluten stimulates a physiological response similar to that of a virus. This immune response triggers an attack on the protein and, consequently, the surrounding tissue. Not only does this induce inflammation, but also has the potential to exacerbate or set off many health problems throughout the body (see celiac disease).

Why no dairy? Although dairy has some benefits, it also has a fair amount of lactose per serving. Lactose is a milk specific sugar that can range from 11g to 14g per cup of milk. Not only does this have the potential to spike insulin levels, but also stymie fat loss.

What is insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance? Produced by the pancreas, insulin is a hormone in charge of regulating the body’s energy and glucose metabolism. This means that, when any food is digested (with special emphasis on sugary foods or highly processed carbohydrates), insulin is released to lower blood sugar levels and return the body to homeostasis. When the body becomes insulin resistant, however, muscle, fat and liver cells are less receptive (or less sensitive) to insulin. This results in the overproduction of insulin due to a diet HIGH in refined sugar, carbohydrates, and overall processed garbage (and of course does not help if you’re genetically predisposed). Ultimately, insulin resistance goes hand in hand with decreased insulin sensitivity and, consequently, metabolic disorders such obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and increased rates of heart disease can occur.

Is the Paleo Diet “Low Carb”? The Paleo Diet is as carbohydrate rich, fatty, or sugary as you design it to be. One can eat too much fruit, and have too much sugar; too much bacon or avocado, and have too much fat. However, by default, yes, it is lower in carbohydrates than the average American diet because it does not include foods such as breads, pastas, or other processed carbohydrates. Carbohydrate sources come exclusively from fruits and vegetables.

OK.. Anything else? Yes, one more thing: remember to take Fish Oil. Rich in Omega 3 Fatty Acids (i.e., EPA and DHA), this supplement reduces inflammation (i.e., joint pain) and LDL’s, in addition to being imperative in maintaining brain and cardiovascular function. It is recommended at .5g per every 10lb of body weight.

References: Wiss, Don. Paleo Diet Nutrition Page. 2010. http://www.paleodiet.com.

475lbs. Deadlift!

Milk for the athlete, friend or foe?

2010-07-15T23:40:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Find 1 rep max deadlift 1-1-1-1-1

AMRAP 15 minutes:
Ring Dips- 3 reps
70% 1RM Deadlift- 6 reps
135/95lbs. Squat Jump- 9 reps

This is a goodie: is milk good or bad for us? The debate goes back on forth. The media says milk is without a doubt awesome for us. Milk mustaches, celebrities, everyone is drinking milk! So its definitely good for us right? Well, not necessarily. Lets take a deeper look into the pros and cons of milk and how they relate to the athlete.
Cons: lactose sugar is known to spike insulin levels, high amounts of saturated fat, causes digestion problems, and that's all I can think of at the moment.
Pros: good source of protein, calcium, and vitamin D. Milk is obviously nutritiously dense, which reaps many benefits. Lets talk about the bad stuff. Lactose sugar and spiking insulin levels is no bueno. Period. Now saturated fat is an interesting issue. Sure there's skim milk, 1%, etc. but, why is saturated fat the culprit? It clogs our arteries, duh. Take a different look on saturated fat. Why does it clog our arteries and cause disease in the first place? I've got an interesting take on this one. Please correct me if I am wrong. A lot of this myth has to do with the elasticity of our veins and arteries. Most Americans simply lack the proper amount of nutrients to support the bodies basic functions. Example, vitamin C helps with the production of collagen, collagen makes your veins and arteries more elastic, thus increasing blood flow. Get where I am getting? If not, here is an easy explanation: If your intake of nutrients was suffice (like the vitamin C example) then you would not have a problem with saturated fat clogging your arteries because the elasticity will help it flow right through. What does this have to do with the athlete compared to the average person? To the average person, who is Paleo of course, milk and diary is not needed nor recommended because of lactose sugar. Paleo dieters want nothing to do with insulin spikes. Paleo eaters get plenty of calcium from veggies and do not require as much calcium as the typical American because of the less acidic diet Paleo eaters consume. Athletes, however, can benefit greatly from diary. Sure we want that insulin resistance, but we can sacrifice it for the athletic benefits milk has. If you are an athlete or looking to put on some size, whole milk is very high in calories. Even better, if you are a Paleo eating athlete I wouldn't worry about the saturated fat because your vitamin and mineral intake should be suffice. On top of that, milk increases the much desired hormones for muscle building. Figure this, drink 4 cups of milk post-workout. You will be getting in 600 calories and 32g of protein! Try the gallon of whole milk per day diet if your looking to mass up. All and all I believe the benefits of milk outweigh the cons. Note: I am still an amateur in this field. What are your thoughts??

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Just another day of scrubbing rust...

2010-07-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Make up day if you did not do your CrossFit Football Total, otherwise:

Find 1 rep max for strict press.

5 rounds for time:
1 Press 90% of 1 RM
1 Strict Pull Up
1 Press 90% of 1 RM
3 Strict Pull Ups
1 Press 90% of 1 RM
5 Strict Pull Ups
* Thanks CrossFit Football*

Check out the CrossFit/Invictus athletes ripping shit up on youtube. Just search either Invictus Performance or CrossFit Westchester. Today should be wonderful. I am cleaning the rust of off the olympic plates I just bought off of some weirdo on craigslist. I got them for a sweet price, so I can't complain. Ideally, I'd like to sell the 535lbs of iron plates and purchase some hi-ten rogue bumper plates. They are so legit, except they bounce excessively and can nail you in the face if your an idiot. It's late, I'm going to bed. See ya!

Dave the cat!

2010-07-14T06:55:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Speed/power Test

Run 100m
Run 400m
Long Jump
Vertical Jump

*Best of three attempts of each exercise. For the long jump, you will need chalk to mark the start and finishing points and something to measure it. The vertical jump is going to be done by seeing what is the highest box they can jump onto. If you only have a 24" box, just stack weights until the athlete cannot jump any higher*

This is the last test for the week. After this, will be make-up days for the athletes who need to do a set of tests. It is very important that we do these tests because they measure all of the physical areas of fitness that we are aiming to increase. I made all of the tests, except for the CrossFit Football Total, which I am planning to modify. My goal is to make a standard set of tests that will accurately measure strength, power, speed, and muscular endurance. The tests are designed to measure these physical areas in not only your upper and lower body, but also your core. I know the tests aren't perfect, but it is a good start. As I learn and grow as a coach, I will find more and better ways of testing these areas. There's a rumor that someone wants to open up his own training facility :)

Stay class,

Coach A.

Front Range CrossFit in Denver, CO. If only it had a wrestling mat in the center! Thanks CrossFit Football for the image!

I forgot to mention this week is testing week!

2010-07-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

Workout of the day

Gymnastics Total

Max reps:

Pullups
Pushups
Handstand pushups
Squats (1 minute)
Sit-ups (1 minute)
L-Sit or Tuck (max seconds)

This whole week is just going to be testing different physical areas. Yesterday, I decided to go with the CrossFit Football Total over the regular CrossFit total for obvious reasons (I only train athletes). It will be interesting to see how my athlete's do with bodyweight movements. The squats and sit-ups I set a time limit of one minute because we can pretty much do those exercises for minutes on end. As you build up stronger more powerful legs and core, you will be able to bang out more reps faster. There is no time limit from the upperbody movements because its pretty damn hard to bust out reps after a minute of continuous movement. Get it? I am currently digging up some research on the pros/cons of milk for the athlete. Milk is not included in the Paleo diet, as cavemen were not sucking the teet of cows quite yet. There is a lot of back and forth blah blah on milk, which has baffled me for a little while now. Hopefully I will have that done sometime this week.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

My little intro lesson to my 5th graders on the Paleo diet haha

Checking myself back into caffeine rehab

2010-07-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

CF Football Total

Power Clean 1 Rep
Squat 1 Rep
Bench 1 Rep
Deadlift 1 Rep

*Perform a single maximal effort for the lifts listed above.
*After warm-ups, 3 attempts are allowed.
*Total must be done in the specified order.
*Combine all 4 lifts to create CF Football Total

Another great weekend! Now back to business. For a little while now, I have been completely off pre-workout supplements. I even limited the amount of coffee I drank per day. Between the two, I would say I was consuming around 500mg of caffeine per day to function. As most of us know, you build a tolerance to caffeine and you can do so quite quickly. I now find myself in a very similar situation. I only drink 1 big cup of coffee per day and the stimulating effects of caffeine are starting to fade. I have two options. One, I up my caffeine intake and chase this "high". Two, I cut off coffee for a little while to lower my tolerance. Last time I did my caffeine rehab I was pretty dull and miserable for about 2 weeks. I had a legit physical addiction to caffeine. It not only effected my performance, but it got me into an almost depressing mood. I felt lethargic, unenthusiastic, and had very poor mental clarity. Today was my last cup of coffee, so tomorrow starts my journey. I predict this caffeine clean out will not be as bad as the previous one, since the dosage is much less than half of what I was consuming before. Readers, be prepared for a boring week or two. For caffeine addicts, do yourself a favor and check yourself in, permanent damage to your adrenal glands are never a good thing!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

This has nothing to do with fitness, but it is too damn funny:

The fixes for life

2010-07-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Weighted Pullups 5-5-5-5-5

3 rounds for time:

275lbs Deadlift, 5 reps

Double unders, 20 reps

225lbs. Backsquat, 10 reps

Ever hear the saying, "duck tape fixes everything"? Well, I have a theory. Duck tape and PVC pipe can fix and make anything. Its true. If you break something tell me a little duck tape and some handy dandy plastic isn't going to fix it in a jiffy! Another fix is a low carb paleo diet and crossfit. Now those two combined will fight away most diseases, illnesses, and all of the other common reasons why we are perishing away. Think about it. Heart disease is the #1 killa in the U.S. Low-carb paleo diets and crossfit both have been proven to lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and promote a more active lifestyle. I think it amusing when I hear people tell me that either low carb or paleo diets are "unhealthy". What is so unhealthy about eating veggies, getting more then enough vitamin and minerals, less sodium, more good fat, more protein, and just eating the foods that we were programmed to eat? News flash: we don't need grains or processed carbs for life functions. Period. We'll get them in low glycemic foods and if glycogen stores are too low, a neat process called gluconeogenesis will convert amino acids into glucose. "Red meat is bad". As long as your diet is rich of all the essential vitamins and you crossfit, you'll be benefiting from delicious red meat. Lets use a low carb diet and crossfit in context.

Person A is obese: Low carb paleo diet and crossfit.

Person B broke his leg: duck tape and pvc pipe to cast the leg. Low carb paleo diet and crossfit to heal like Wolverine.

Person C has a lot of unprotected sex: With a perfect immune system, believe it or not, your body can actually fight off many stds, including AIDS. Research it! LOW CARB PALEO DIET AND CROSSFIT will promote the most badass immune system (and supplementing with vitamin C ).

Enjoy your weekend! I won't be around my computer this weekend, again. I have a graduation party to attend, where I will be meeting up with my college buddies! Make good decisions ladies and gentlemen :)

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Paleo food pyramid!

Why Exercising Muscles Tire When Needed Most

2010-07-08T06:04:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Bench press 5x5

For time:

Row 200m
20 weighted pullups
Row 200m
20 weighted dips
Row 200m
20 KB Swings, 2 pood (70lbs)
Row 200m
20 Toes to bar
Row 200m
20 45lbs. overhead lounges (each foot)
Row 200m
20 Overhead Squat

Go HEAVY. Go HARD. Go FAST. Everything should be done explosively. No pacing yourself here. Balls to the wall!

I didn't break my promise! Here's a sweet article I came across. P.S. try the workout, its pretty gnarly. Why Exercising Muscles Tire When Needed Most. Enjoy!

I lied... again... How to avoid caffeine crashes!

2010-07-07T08:18:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

10 rounds:

10 Deadlifts
10 High pulls
10 Front squats
10 Cleans

This is not for time. Choose a light load, work on clean technique. Make sure you are hitting triple extension on those high pulls!

I lied again. I do not have a summary of yesterday's post. I have not had my daily fix of caffeine yet, so my motor has not started. Another scorching day out; how many of you worked out outside? I did. It was glorious. The main page WOD looks awesome; I'll be doing that today. Be sure to check out Chris Spealler's video on the main page. In my opinion, he has got to be the best CrossFitter pound for pound. The man is 140lbs. crushes any bodyweight WOD, competes with the big boys on strength bias WODs, and pretty much dominates anything that gets in his way. Not to mention he is a humble individual.
On another note, I found a cool article on how to avoid caffeine crashes. Pretty random but I have been pondering why I almost never get caffeine crashes. It makes perfect sense after reading, How to Avoid the Crash of Caffeine. In a nutshell, if you add a little fat to your caffeinated beverage it will prolong the effects because caffeine is fat soluble (as well as water soluble). My buddy had told me about this before, so I figure I'd dig up some more info. I am assuming since my diet is very high in fat (around 45-50% of my daily intake), the one cup of coffee I have per day not only makes me banana sandwiches, but stays in my system a crap load longer. SWEET.

Dumb vegans haha

Ketogenic Diets and Physical Performance

2010-07-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Deadlift
5-5-3-3-3

21-15-9
SDHP, 135/95lbs.
Burpees

Howdy! I found this cool article on CrossFit Football. If you have time, take a peak at it. I'll be posting a summary post of it tomorrow.

Ketogenic diets and Physical Performance

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Listening to your body

2010-07-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day
courtesy of CrossFit Football

Push jerk 3-3-3-3-3

Max reps:
Bench press 225lbs.
*You get 3 chances to perform the test.
*Rest as needed between efforts.
*If you can not bench 225 lbs, then you can scale with 135 lbs or 185 lbs accordingly.

100 Pull Ups

*Complete 100 pull ups for time using a kipping pull up, a strict pull up or any other way you can from an open shoulder to your head over the bar.

I still have not turned the "on" switch in my brain on yet, so bare with me. I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend, I know I did. I ate like a typical American and now feel like garbage. It has been awhile since I have taken in such heavy loads of carbohydrates for an extended period of time, so my body is paying the price right now. My stomach feels twisted, I feel slightly disoriented, and overall just tired. Today seems like a perfect day for some intermittent fasting to "reset" my body.
Regarding training, something that I think is worth talking about is listening to your body. When you're thirsty, you drink, when you're hungry you eat, when you're tired, you sleep. Seems like common since huh? Why is it that when our bodies are completely battered, we continue to train at high intensities? Now, I am a big advocate in pushing yourself beyond your limits and developing mental toughness. But, when is it appropriate to draw that line between mental toughness and stubbornness? Punishing your body day in and day out can lead to things like over-training, burn-put, and injury. CrossFit and other intense regimens are like candy to the workout enthusiasts. It is what makes us feel good, gives us that workout high at the end. It is what champion athletes strive for. But is going balls to the all 5-6 days per week, multiple times per day making you better? In my opinion, it is flat out stupidity. Personally, my body cannot handle 5 days of intense CrossFitting in a row. I have played around with this several times. My results were not up to my standards and I was losing interest in going to the gym. Ironically, my programming now is based off of a 5 days on 2 days off program. This is mainly because of lifestyle and convenience. However, if you have been paying attention to my workouts I only structure 3 days of real intense movement. The other 2 days are lighter, less intense, skill oriented days. The nature of the program is to save you from yourself. If you follow the program as is, you should be not only improving every physical domain, but do so minimal injury, no burn-out and without a hint of over-training. Over and out!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Sweet sweat angel

Making equipment

2010-07-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

"FRAN"
21-15-9
95lbs. Thrusters
Pullups

Enjoy!

I apologize for the early afternoon post, I forgot my laptop at my apartment. I just finished torturing my Rockland athletes, with a sweet deadlift workout. Now I just need to get some more equipment! Here is a list of things I plan on making: 20lbs. medicine balls, rings, parallets, 24" boxes, fat bars, and weighted vests. Its actually pretty easy and extremely cost effective to make your own stuff. Plus its fun and you feel pretty damn cool after. For most of the stuff all you need is pvc pipe, duck tape, and google. I've already made a set of parallets and gymnastic rings, which I carry around in my trunk along with my Kan Jam set. If and when I open up my own training facility, most of the equipment is going to be built. Screw buying it new. Waste of money, in my opinion. Some neat equipment that I do plan on purchasing this summer includes: pushing/pulling sled, resistance bands, and a sledgehammer. I really want to get a flip tire, but I don't know if that will be feasible. The rents simply do not have room to store that big thing. I have been meaning to post an article on ketosis and insulin resistance, but I am digging up a few more things to make sure my facts are correct. Hopefully by Monday, if my brain is functioning, I will have something intelligent to say. Check out how spastic I am on the rings during the workout I did yesterday!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Things I hate...

2010-07-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

"Ringworm"

Seven rounds for time:

7- Ring pullups
7- Muscle ups
7- Ring dips
7- Ring pushups

There's no way I'm waking up earlier to post and I won't be near a computer until the evening. So I figured this would be the best time for me to post something, since I'll be pretty busy all morning and afternoon. This is going to be one of my many random posts. Note, some future posts may be completely irrelevant to fitness/nutrition/sports.
I would love for a globo meathead to read this. This post is dedicated to the globo meatheads who really don't know a thing about fitness. Before I start, if your SOLE purpose of going to the gym is to look good, then bodybuilding is probably your best bet. On the other hand, why just look good and not be able to do functional tasks efficiently? Bodybuilding does very little for your strength, coordination, balance, muscular endurance, stamina, accuracy, power, cardio, and agility. Why body build and just settle for looks when you can have looks and be awesome at life by hitting all modal domains (CrossFit)? I feel bad for all of the people at the globo gyms doing bicep curls, leg extensions, and other exercises that retard one's muscle. I guess one half of that population is uneducated and the other half is ignorant or just lazy. Now back to the things I hate:

1. Bicep curls- cause ZERO hormonal response, thus pointless. Do some pullups. O wait, you don't want to work hard...
2. Women who don't weight train because they don't want to get bulky- If 75% of the men in the gym aren't jacked, what on earth makes you think you will? Women generally do not consume enough calories nor have the proper amount of hormones to get bulky.
3. Leg extensions- Can you please tell me when you will ever use JUST your quad? Have fun retarding your muscle. Good job sport.
4. Grunting for no reason- put down the dumbbell chief, rack on 400lbs on your deadlift. Now you have permission to grunt.
5. Improper goal setting- saying you want to lose 20lbs. is not a goal. It's a statement. I want to lose 20lbs. in 3 months is a goal. See the difference?
6. Big meatheads- Bet you can't jog a full mile. I win.
7. "Know it all people and trainers"- there is no "one size, fits all" approach to training. I never claim to know every thing. I am constantly working to find out and absorb new information. Leave your ego at the door.
8. Hypersensitve people- you are the reason why our freedoms are slowly being restricted. Stop complaining. It is irritating and I do not have the patience for your kind.
9. STRAPS- if you can't hold the weight, then you can't lift it. Be a man and work on your grip strength.
10. Gloves- they're for gardeners. Rock your callouses with pride.
11. Partial squats- Going above parallel is detrimental to your knees as they act as shock absorbers when pausing above the parallel plane. Going below parallel puts less stress on the knee because it will further engage your hamstrings and glutes to stop the weight.
12. Laziness- overall, these people just piss me off...

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Who needs gloves! Thanks CrossFit San Diego!

Nutrition for Performance vs. Nutrition for Aesthetics

2010-06-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Press 5-5-5-5-5

Five rounds for time:

135/185lbs.Deadlift- 9 reps
95/135lbs.Hang clean- 15 reps
Boxjump 24/30"- 21 reps
Row 100m

I have fantastic news for everyone. Today was the first day in months that I slept more then 7 hours! Nearly 9 full hours of sleep during a weekday! Amazing. Not having a job in the morning is very relieving, but at the same time makes me feel like a waste of life. I am so accustomed to waking up at 6am for work and on non-work days 7:45 just to move my friggen car. I just got a 24hr parking permit, so I no longer have to worry about getting up early, wooooo. On this beautiful day, I plan on playing a little Kan Jam, getting my sweat on at CrossFit, watching my athletes suffer with today's workout, and seeing my fellow wrestling coaches later on.
Today I have something semi-intelligent and interesting to discuss. In my article, I discuss the nutritional needs of someone who has a goal of strictly performance, or a goal of strictly looks. It is pretty much aimed for wrestlers, but anyone trying to get that beach body will find it interesting.
I have made a new "articles" page, where I will now be posting my longer blog posts. So check out that new page!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

My new PR, 60 consecutive legit pullups!

Structure? Strength programming?

2010-06-29T05:25:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Kettlebell Tabata

20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, each exercise for a total of 8 intervals. Totals 4 minutes of each movement, must complete the 8 intervals to continue to the next.

Kettlebell Swing

Kettlebell Sumo-deadlift high pull (SDHP)

Kettlebell Front Squat

Kettlebell Press

Nothing too intelligent is coming out of me today. Its early and I somehow have a lot of errands to run today. Today is going to be an exciting day. I start training my wrestlers over in Rockland County at my parents house! True maverick CrossFit! They will be my true test, and even somewhat of an experiment for me. With this group, I am actually going a little bit away from my normal CrossFit methods and switching over to more odd objects, strongman, CrossFit football, and sports-specific training. My main reason for doing so is that I want to yield the strongest, most powerful, bad ass wrestlers that Section 1 has ever seen. I love CrossFit and its methods, but it is clearly not designed to produce the most explosive athletes. CrossFit football attempts to, but I think its missing something. Sports-specific training periodizes to the point to where you are progressing at an underachieving rate. I have already trained athletes who have had their deadlift and squat increase 40lbs. and are proficient in every Olympic lift, power lift, and all of CrossFit movements in just 8 weeks! Show me a sports performance program that can yield those results. What I am attempting to do is make a solid universal strength program that can be used specifically for explosive athletes like wrestlers, football players, rugby, etc. I have a solid foundation or "fundamentals" program to make sure we are progressing safely. These kids are the perfect candidates for my experiment because they are young, hungry, hard workers, and extremely coach-able. I truly couldn't have asked for better kids to train. If their results do not meet my expectations, than I know I have to revamp my programming. I doubt that though. I have done too much research, put in too much thought, and I will not fail them. If there are any CrossFitters in Rockland or Westchester, especially athletes, who would like to be a part of what I will call "The Machine Project", just shout me an email or comment. I'll periodically keep you updated on their results!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Get used to agony!

Visit sicfit.com for more Videos

Energy pathways

2010-06-28T06:53:00.000-07:00

Workout of the day:

Clean 5x5

AMRAP in 15 minutes:

5- Any way over head- 135/95lbs.
10- Ring Dips
15- Ball slams, 20lbs.

Note: Any way over head can be a strict press, push press, jerk, any movement that can be safely executed at a high intensity.

Last post, I confused you on body types and how they effect our training. Today's goal is to confuse you on what energy pathways are used for certain exercises and how that ties into proper programming.
There are three main energy systems that our body uses when we execute any type of physical activity. These systems, or "metabolic engines", are phosphagen, glycolytic, and oxidative. Phosphagen and glycolytic energy systems are anaerobic, meaning we do not use oxygen for energy. Oxidative system is aerobic so it requires oxygen for energy production. We use the phosphaghen energy system for movements that are extremely powerful, quick, and explosive. Typically, any powerful movement that lasts for a duration of <30 seconds uses this pathway. The more you get closer to and further away from that 30 seconds of duration moves on to the glycolytic system, which categorizes work from 30-90 seconds in duration. Movements that use the glycolytic energy pathway are largely anaerobic, and have moderate power. Moving towards the end of the glycolytic work limits, your body will be forced to use oxygen for energy. The oxidative pathway is primarily dominate for work duration that lasts longer than 120 seconds or 2 minutes. Anything between that 60-120 seconds range, will use a combination of anaerobic and aerobic energy systems. Depending on the individual's body type, diet, and genes the energy system that is more dominant will vary among each individual.
If you are confused here are some easy examples of what energy systems are used for certain events. 100m, 200m sprints are primarily dominated by the phosphagen system, 400m-800m are glycolytic and 1500m, 2000m are largely oxidative. 1 rep max and low rep max efforts are largely phosphgen, weightlifting in general is anaerobic. The oxidative system is only really demanded in aerobic activities like jogging, biking, rowing, and those boring long metabolic conditioning workouts. Now to tie on what I discussed in the last post concerning body types, can you guess what a mesomorphs primary energy system might be? How about an ectomorph? Think about what their natural strengths are, the sport they most likely may participate in, and the dominate muscles fibers that can be found in their body type.

Me and my buddy, Andrew Davie @ CrossFit Ignite. Andrew is in the process of opening up a CrossFit in Rockland County, so stay tuned!

Body types

2010-06-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

Active Rest day:

Do some skill work or something. Perfect your technique. Go on a light run, play some Kan Jam. Don't sit around and be a waste of life!

I would have had this written up on Saturday but a spontaneous weekend trip to Belmar New Jersey side tracked me. Belmar is a pretty gnarly beach if you haven't been. Aright so today I will be covering body types and how they come into play with our training.
For the most part, I think its safe to say that “fire breathers” on longer met-cons have an ectomorph body type. This body type is categorized as the endurance runner type of individual. They are slender, have primarily type 1 or slow twitch muscle fibers and are typically “hard gainers”. Elite crossfitters with this type of build generally carry around more mass than the typical person with this build. Thus making them a more well-rounded athlete (got to love crossfit protocol). It is very rare that a person with a mesomorph body type or even rarer an endomorph body type to ever reach what I call “elite” status on longer met-cons. The difference between the two is their muscle fiber make up. Mesomorphs contain mostly type II muscle fibers or your “fast twitch”, whereas ectomorphs have primarily type I or your “slow twitch” muscle fibers. Mesomorphs are your short, muscular and lean body type, which is most desirable by the population (minus the short). I won’t get into the endomorph build. Just look at your fat, strong, useless powerlifter or your typical pear shape or lava lamp looking individual.
Sure, someone with one particular body type can train to become better at their natural weakness, but I find it nearly impossible to be “elite” on both sides of the spectrum, long and short durations of exercise. I believe at best, you can be elite at one while still being good at the other, but not elite for both. Reason being, it is simply in our genetic makeup of muscle fibers. Type I muscle fibers favor endurance, while type II muscle fibers favor quick, fast, strength oriented movements. As mentioned before, if you have a mesomorph body type, your body primarily contains type II muscle fibers, naturally making you good at short met-cons. If you have an ectomorph build, your body is built with mostly type I muscle fibers, favoring long endurance type of met-cons. However, if you train to enhance the opposing muscle type, you can alter your type I and type II ratios into what is called a type IIab. For example mesomorphs working endurance can improve their muscular endurance, converting their type II muscles into type IIab muscles. Type IIab muscle fibers have characteristics of both the type I and type II. Its like having the best of both worlds. Note that type IIab muscle fibers are not as powerful as traditional type II and are not as oxidative as type I. I believe type IIab muscle fibers to be that fine medium that many crossfitters strive for. The point I am trying to make is unless you are a genetic freak, I cannot see someone being the strongest weightlifter and the fastest endurance runner simultaneously.
Excuse me while I go on a tangent. My best friend growing up happened to be one of those genetic freaks. He excelled at every sport he did. He was strong and extremely powerful and even had great endurance. At a stature of 5’7 and pushing 160lbs., I guess you can say he had a mesomorph build. To give you an example of how much of a freak athlete he was, he had around a 260lbs clean and ran two miles in under 12 minutes. He was “advanced” at every energy pathway, which brings me back to my main point. He may possess the genes to become good at everything (perfect crossfitter come to think of it), but it would be extrememly difficult for this individual to become “elite” at both long and short met-cons because of his body type. His muscles fibers seemed to be evenly skewed but at an extremely rare and high performance level.
I hope I didn’t confuse you too much and you have a better understanding of why you may be a monster on short met-cons but struggle on long met-cons, or vice versa. The next blog will be a continuation of this, but how energy pathways come into play.

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Close Pukie encounter... again...

2010-06-25T04:21:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5

For time:

21-15-9
Sumo-deadlift high pull,95/65lbs.
Double unders (x3 if you can only do singles)

Main site WOD looks pretty dirty!

My old pal, Linda, nearly handed my first Pukie experience in almost year. Last time I encountered Pukie, Fran had invited him over to watch the WOD. For those of you who do not know Linda, well, shes a C U Next Tuesday. Three bars of death is her nickname. The girl named workout consists of repetitions of 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 of 1.5 bodyweight deadlifts, followed by bodyweight benchpress, and lastly 3/4 bodyweight cleans for time. If you are confused here is an example: my bodyweight is 164, so my prescribed weights were 245lbs. deadlift, 165lbs. benchpress, and 125lbs. clean. Get it? Anyway, after raping her in 13:14 (new P.R.) I immediately fell to the floor, had a major headache, had trouble breathing, and after 5 minutes of resting in a puddle of my own sweat I dragged my body into the bathroom where Pukie was there laughing at me. I felt that familiar feeling in my stomach, much like a few weekends at college, but couldn't pull that trigger. After about 20 minutes, I was recovered and got that "crossfit high" that follows a good workout. The CF Westchester owner, Chris, busted my balls a little bit afterwards because I rarely train "out of my realm". He happens to be a freak with longer met-cons, quite opposite from me. I can only pretty much dominate any met-cons that are real short >10 minutes. If I find some time today I'll extend this post and get into why some people are good at short met-cons vs. long met-cons. Aright time for me to get ready for my last day of substitute teaching!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Pukie...

My low-carb Paleo experience

2010-06-24T04:50:00.000-07:00

Workout of the day

Back squat 5-5-5-5-5

"Quarter Gone Bad"
Five rounds for total reps of:

135/95lbs Thrusters, 15 seconds
Rest 45 Seconds
50/25lbs. Weighted pull-ups, 15 seconds
Rest 45 Seconds
Burpees, 15 seconds
Rest 45 Seconds

Two more days of school left! I'm a substitute teacher by day, super trainer by night. So far the first week of my summer CrossFit classes has been going great. The athletes who have been with me since I started running classes, in April, are continuing to improve tremendously. My goal is to make your average Joe into a stellar athlete. Your stellar athlete into a machine. And your machine into a fire breathing dragon! There is no plateuing here.

On another note, I have been on a low-carb Paleo diet for about four weeks now (<100g per day) and super low for the past two weeks(<40g per day). I have been Paleo eating for six months, but never restricted my carbohydrate intake. So I still had several pieces of fruit per day, potatoes, and other Paleo friendly foods that contain a fair amount of carbohydrates. Now I will say that I was very skeptical at first. Being very active throughout my day, I was afraid that the limited carbohydrate intake would adversely effect my recovery and performance. My typical training day consists of: hitting a strength WOD, a short met-con, then running wrestling practice two hours later. To my own surprise, I have not felt one bit drained. In fact, my energy levels have shot up, I've been hitting new PRs, and I have gotten noticebly leaner (lost about 3lbs. of bodyfat). I know what your thinking. "If your carbohydrate intake is so low, how on earth can your body replenish it's glycogen stores?". I'm glad you were thinking that! Well, I have made my body go into a ketogenic state. To make this quick when you are burning off all of your glycogen stores and are not consuming enough carbs to replenish them your body goes through a process called gluconeogenisis. Gluconeogenesis is a metabolic pathway that involves coverting amino acids (from protein duh) into glucose. When your body is in ketosis, it will spare your glycogen stores during exercise and force your body to utilize fat for energy. Turning you into a 24 hour fat burning furnace!

Stay classy,

Coach A.

CrossFit Westchester aka "The Dungeon"

Fitness goals vs. CrossFit ideology

2010-06-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

Workout of the Day

Deadlift 5x5

For time:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Squat clean 3/4 bodyweight
Ring pushups
Toes 2 bar
Kettlebell snatch

Lets get down to "bin-ness". I am a strength oriented style trainer. Though CrossFit is arguably the best fitness program in the industry, my personal beliefs lean towards a strength bias. I believe for the AVERAGE person, the CrossFit philosophy of well-rounded fitness is accurate. However, I specialize with athletes so I believe their needs are different. As trainers and coaches, it is our job to accurately prescribe programs pertaining to our client's/athlete's specific goals. The fitness needs of a specific group of athletes ARE different from the general population. Contrary to the CrossFit belief of "we differ by degee, not kind", I believe we differ by kind AND degree. Granted, I don't believe in "body sculpting" or any of that non-sense but the needs of a football player differ from a gymnast. Grandma's needs differ from an endurance runner's. Both scenarios depict situations where one population's specific needs are to get stronger while the others is to increase a different physical fitness area. In a nutshell, the KIND of training grandma needs are not only DIFFERENT, but the extent to which she needs them are DIFFERNT compared to the endurance runner. I could go on a huge tangent, but I'll save that for another time :)

Stay classy,

Coach A.

Visit sicfit.com for more Videos