CrossFit Tri-Cities

GET ON THE PALEO WAGON

Paleo really isn’t hard…in fact it’s so simple that I think most people can’t believe it.

• Meat
• Good Fat (Nuts, Avocado, Olives, Coconut)
• Vegetables
• Some Fruit

What’s so hard about that?!?!

Oh I know, your Venti Starbucks Mint-Mocha isn’t in there.  And neither is your 6″ Subway sub for lunch.  And your nightly bowl of ice cream isn’t in there either.  Jeez…this really is hard! (Insert sarcasm)

Look, we don’t expect you to be perfect, but we expect you to try.  If you aren’t seeing the results you want it is almost certainly related to your nutrition.  FIX IT!

We all have “cheat” meals or even cheat days from time to time.  I’m not going to lie, I enjoy a couple slices of pizza and a few beers every once in a while.  No one is perfect and there’s nothing wrong with that, but you can bet that I am on my paleo game the other 5 1/2-6 days a week.  We are humans and sometimes people just need to eat food because it tastes good, but if you do it often or all the time then you will never achieve your goals and even worse make yourself sick.  If you know what you are putting into your body and make informed decisions then you are already better off than most of the lemmings out there.  If you’re going to eat something you shouldn’t, do it once a week tops.  Make your less than great meals worth while…I’d rather have some not so good for me home made food rather than wasting it on a drive-thru hamburger just because.  Now back to what you should be doing, rather than what you shouldn’t be doing…

The big no-nos include, grains, dairy, sugar (natural or artificial), artificial sweeteners, legumes (peanuts, peas, beans, etc.) and alcohol.  Sure there is a lot you can’t eat, but there is so much that you can eat…steak, BACON, eggs (the whole thing!), BACON, coffee, BACON, guacamole, BACON, fresh fruit, BACON, burgers and the best one of all BACON!!!

To simplify what we are trying to accomplish here it is getting you to an anti-inflammatory state.  This is important for a few reasons…

Ever heard of Advil?  It’s an anti-inflammatory.  What does it do?  It makes you not sore quicker right?  So what if you really weren’t ever sore in the first place?  What if your body just healed itself on it’s own in a timely manor?  That would be awesome right?  Well if your body isn’t filled with nasty foods that keep your body in sore/inflammatory states then that is exactly what will happen.  I’m not saying that you won’t still feel your workouts the next day, but I am saying that you hopefully won’t feel them 3-4 days later.

Besides the recovery factor there is the fact that putting your body into a low inflammatory state will create a number of health benefits.  Lower water retention and lower body fat percentages will inevitably lead to a healthier cardiovascular system and circulatory system.  So besides the fact that you will finally look the way you want, you will also help keep yourself healthy for years to come and there is a good chance that if you stay that way you can add years to your life!  So basically what I’m saying is that coupled with our vigorous exercise program, a low inflammation diet will help you lose body fat, help you ditch that excess water you are retaining and make you healthier…you’ll look better, feel better and live better.  Isn’t that what we all want?

So what are your excuses for not eating this way now?

Let’s keep it simple.  Let’s try to eliminate or limit the 3 biggest causes of inflammation and then we can clean up the rest from there.

NO GRAIN…that means bread, crackers, cookies, chips, cake, pies, cereal, oat meal, buns.  This may be the biggest problem of all.  I’m sure by now you’ve seen all of the gluten free products (don’t eat them, they are just disguised crap most of the time) and heard all about celiacs disease.  Grain is nasty stuff for our digestive systems and wreaks havoc…it will probably eventually lead to most people’s untimely demise.  Anyone that tells you “whole grains are good for you” is either poorly educated or pushing their own agenda.  Avoid it or limit it as much as humanly possible.

NO DAIRY…milk, cheese, yogurt, creamer, sour cream.  Dairy is another gut killer; skim, 2%, whole…all of it.  Everyone knows someone that is lactose intolerant, but fails to realize they are lactose intolerant themselves, just to a lesser degree.  Humans are not baby cows and thus cannot properly digest cows milk or it’s bi-products.  Even if dairy doesn’t make you sick to your stomach, I guarantee that it is making you bloated.  Ditch dairy and watch a ton of water weight melt off quickly.

NO ALCOHOL…you heard me.  Ok, Ok, I don’t know many people that will hold to this one, but at the very least limit it a little.  Try to avoid casual drinking.  Do you really need that glass (or 3) of wine at night to unwind?  Can you seriously not watch the Bears game without a couple beers?  It’s one thing if you’re going for a night out on the town with friends, but why are you drinking on a Wednesday night by yourself???  It’s slows recovery, so you’ll be sore longer.  It disrupts sleep cycles so even though you think you’re helping yourself relax, you’re really just making yourself more tired and fatigued the next day.  And worst of all, it absolutely kills your metabolism.  I have seen studies claiming that just 2 ounces of alcohol slows your metabolism by as much as 75%.  That means that whatever you ate before or during the time you drank those drinks is just sitting inside of you…making you fat.  I’m not saying you should never go out on a Saturday night and enjoy yourself, just suggesting you make smarter decisions and limit consumption.
Try it out and see what happens.  You may just surprise yourself with how easy it really is and how great the results really are.

So what are you eating tomorrow?

-Coach Eric

Strength/Skill

Deadlift per program

or

Clean Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5 (90-100% of 1RM clean, NO HEAVIER!)

• Use this option if you are serious about your Olympic Lifting

Conditioning

AMRAP in 5 Minutes of:

• 10 Lateral Box Jumps (M:24/W:18)
• 10 Hand Release Pushups

Rest 2 Mins, then…

AMRAP in 5 Minutes of:

• 5 Dumbell Hang Squat Clean Thrusters (M:35-50/W:20-35)
• 10 Med Ball Half Moon Slams (M:20/W:14)

Click here to reserve your spot in any of our classes!

SCALING…CHALLENGE YOURSELF TO MAKE SMART DECISIONS

We as coaches get questions about scaling all the time.

Most of the time we are asked to find a movement substitute for something that someone cannot do yet (an alternative for RXd pullups or a lower more manageable weight to use).  This is what separates the good coaches from the novices.  Years of experience helps us ensure you use a movement or weight that will make you competitive with the rest of the group.  At the same time our goal is to scale you to make you better overall and improve your level of fitness.

Sometimes we are asked to scale to program around an injury (rowing instead of running because your knee hurts, etc…).  This is where experienced coaches shine.  Even if you are hurting it doesn’t mean you can’t maintain your fitness and improve in some areas…it just means we have to take a smart approach so you heal properly or don’t hurt yourself worse.

Once in a while we get questions on how to scale up…these are a little more rare, but this is what makes us excited as coaches!  Whether it is scaling down or up, our goal is to make our members better athletes and we know if you are asking how to scale up that we are helping you achieve that goal.

This is why I as a coach constantly ask our members to throw 5 or 10 more pounds on a bar in strength work or try to ditch the band on pullups.  It is because I believe in you, even if you are unsure.  And even more so, it is because I want to help you improve!  I don’t mind challenging our members and pushing their limits.  I believe I know when I see good form with room to keep going and when it is time to reel someone in.  I carry a mindset into the gym that I want to perform at a high level every single time I exercise and if possible I want to PR something.  I bring this same philosophy to my coaching and I want you to try to PR something or at least give your best each day.

I am challenging you as an athlete to WANT to scale up.  You need to ask a coach before you do it on your own, but even if a coach tells you to stay where you are at we still appreciate the positive attitude and know that you have the desire to be better.

Some examples:

• Do the conditioning WOD with a #20 vest
• Use Strict Pullups or Chest-to-Bar Pullups when everyone else is using regular Kipping Pullups
• Grab a #55 Kettlebell when the other ladies are using a #35
• Try hand release pushups when everyone else is doing standard pushups.
• Scale up the weight on your barbell (within reason of course)
• Knock out 30″ Box Jumps when the rest of the guys are doing 24″
• Maybe it is as simple as doing a workout RX for the first time. (Possible the biggest accomplishment of all!)

There are a ton of examples…I could go on forever.

Like I said, you need to ask a coach before you go nuts…we as coaches and athletes have made the mistake of over scaling ourselves and others plenty of times and from those experiences we usually know when scaling up is a good idea and when it is suicide. (Luckily for all of you the coaches have played guinea pig with ourselves plenty of times).

No matter what though, you need to WANT IT…maybe not every time, but every once in a while, you need to want a challenge.  Save it for a day when your feeling good (slept well, ate clean, not too sore…).  And definitely save it for workouts that have movements you excel at (don’t do a bear crawl WOD with a #20 vest if you know bear crawls already kill you), but overall you just need to want it.

So who’s ready to get better?

-Coach Eric

TEAM WOD

Team Alternating Tabata

A. DB Hang Squat Clean (M:35ish DBs/W:20ish DBs)/Push Press (75/55)
B. KB Swings (55/35)/Burpees
C. Air Squats/AbMat Situps
D. Pullups/Pushups

• 4 Alternating Tabata Pairs – 4 Minutes Each, 8 x :20 Work/:10 Rest (16 Minutes of Total Work)
• Partner A starts on Hang Squat Cleans, at the SAME TIME Partner B starts on Push Press…after first :20/:10 interval, partners SWITCH movements and Partner A does Push Press while Partner B does Hang Squat Cleans.
• After 8 intervals of this, move to part B, etc…
• Score is total number of reps completed.

STRENGTH/SKILL
Back Squat 5-5-5+

CONDITIONING
5 rounds for time:
10 DB Push Press #35/25
25 DB Swings #35/25
10 DB Squat Cleans #35/25

*Drop one of your DBs to do the swings*