In a follow-up comment to her Grain Mainfesto, Melissa Urban at Whole9 criticized someone named Ancel Keys as being, “a terrorist who scared us all into the same low-fat, high-carb diet that made us SICKER than we’ve ever been, ever.”  From what I’ve read, Melissa really knows her stuff, so this sparked my curiosity as to how the whole low-fat craze came to be and the role this individual had in it.

After World War II, Keys was intrigued by the observation that heart attacks in starving post-war Europe had decreased dramatically.  He then directed his research to diet and its effects on heart disease.  Over the period of several decades Keys and his colleagues conducted what is known as the Seven Countries Study, published in 1980, where he monitored more than 12,000 men between the ages of 40 and 59 from 16 communities in Italy, the Greek islands, Yugoslavia, the Netherlands, Finland, Japan and the United States. The communities were reportedly chosen for their contrasting dietary patterns and the relative uniformity of their rural laboring populations.  Keys discovered that in those societies where fat was a major component of every meal, such as America and most notably Finland, blood-stream cholesterol was highest and the heart-attack death rate was greatest. In cultures where a diet of fresh fruit and vegetables, bread and pasta and plenty of olive oil, blood cholesterol was low and heart attacks were rare.  For the first time a connection between diet and coronary disease had been established. Keys’s findings were popularized by the publication of Eat Well, Stay Well (1959), The Benevolent Bean (1967) and Eat Well, Stay Well the Mediterranean Way (1975). He was also featured on the cover of TIME magazine in 1961 (pictured above) and his crusade against saturated fats and cholesterol earned him the nickname Mr. Cholesterol. 

In the 1960s Keys convinced a sizable part of the US public that replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat would reduce blood cholesterol and the incidence of coronary heart disease. The resulting changes in the composition of food fats led to a doubling of the proportion of the unsaturated fatty acid intake.  This was followed by a decreasing trend in coronary heart disease beginning in 1968 which can be attributed to dietary changes.  [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancel_Keys#Professional]  However, Keys has been criticized for falsifying his conclusions and being selective with his data.  One main counter to Keys’s research is that he had chosen to study only those countries where both saturated fats consumption and heart disease were high and ignored other countries that ate similar diet but had low rates of heart disease. 

“The dietary assessment methodology was highly inconsistent across cohorts and thoroughly suspect. In addition, careful examination of the death rates and associations between diet and death rates reveal a massive set of inconsistencies and contradictions. . .

It is almost inconceivable that the Seven Countries study was performed with such scientific abandon. It is also dumbfounding how the NHLBI/AHA alliance ignored such sloppiness in their many “rave reviews” of the study. . .

In summary, the diet-CHD relationship reported for the Seven Countries study cannot be taken seriously by the objective and critical scientist.”

– Diet, Blood Cholesterol and Coronary Heart Disease:
A Critical Review of the Literature, Volume 2, November 1991
[http://www.stop-trans-fat.com/ancel-keys.html]

Other prominent researchers have been unsuccessful in their attempts to derive the same correlations as Keys using the exact same data.  This has added support to claims that Keys filtered his data to support findings he desired.  Also, Keys had concluded that saturated fats, like those found in milk and meat, have adverse effects opposite to the beneficial effects of the unsaturated fats found in vegetable oils. These same unsaturated fats and oils are, however, found in meats and to a larger extent than Dr. Keys ever gave these foods credit for in any of his work.  Research has since cleared saturated fats of their bad rap and has shown that the cause of heart disease is not animal fats and cholesterol but rather a number of factors inherent in modern diets, including excess consumption of vegetables oils and hydrogenated fats; excess consumption of refined carbohydrates in the form of sugar and white flour; mineral deficiencies, particularly low levels of protective magnesium and iodine; deficiencies of vitamins, particularly of vitamin C, needed for the integrity of the blood vessel walls, and of antioxidants like selenium and vitamin E, which protect us from free radicals; and, finally, the disappearance of antimicrobial fats from the food supply, namely, animal fats and tropical oils [http://www.life-enthusiast.com/index/Articles/Enig/Truth_About_Saturated_Fat].  Keys’s emphasis on cardiovascular disease helped bring it to the forefront of public interest and the incidence of heart disease has dropped dramatically since the 1960’s.  However, obesity and the subsequent type-2 diabetes are at all time highs, problems for which the diets developed by Keys offer no solution.  This post is not to debate whether or not Keys is at fault for the obesityepidemic in the United States.  Rather I hope you see that the low-fat, high-carb diet that the USDA and others prescribe is based on 30+ years of faulty information that science is now painstakingly trying to resolve.

Despite his misunderstanding of the links between diet and heart disease, Keys was an advocate for a “reasonable diet” and “safe, useful exercise” which helped him reach the ripe age of 100 years old, passing away in 2004.  I wouldn’t be so extreme as to accuse Keys of being a terrorist who made of all sicker based on his dietary recommendations, like Urban says, but Keys’s inaccurate research has contributed to the misguided nutritional mentality of the general population.  Free your mind from the misled masses, don’t be a lipophobe, and your body will thank you.

WOD 03.10.10

Power Clean 5×3

AMRAP 10
7 Deadlift
7 HPC
7 Front Squat
7 Chest to Overhead

*2010 Queensland, Australia Sectionals WOD

This is what you get when you blame your girlfriend for missing the Total...

The Achilles’ Heel of many a firebreather, the Overhead Squat often elicits a defeated groan from most of the athletes in our gym. Why is this? It’s just a squat with the barbell over your head right? Yet many of us encountering this lift for the first time rack the barbell completely befuddled. Why was that SO hard, but I didn’t even feel it in my legs??

The OHS requires a tremendous amount of midline stability and often magnifies every weakness (however minute) in our squats (not to mention shoulder and wrist inflexibility). Dan John, a well-known Strength and Conditioning coach, wrote an article about the importance of this lift.

One discus thrower told Dan in 1988 that his coach required him to do 10 bodyweight OHS’s in order to throw because it “makes you one piece.” There is no cheating, twisting, bouncing, tossing, etc. You need a balance of upper and lower body strength, which is something that is lost when most people segment their gym days by legs, back, bi’s, tri’s, and chest. It also requires an athletic flexibility that you cannot get with all the yoga in the world. Being bendy and being strong in a position that requires flexibility are two different things.

Courtesy of Coach Rut

Here are some tips that may help from Mighty Mix:

1. Press against the bar: Your arms are locked out, shoulder blades together and up and you are pressing up against the bar throughout the lift. Don’t relax or the bar will dump.

2. Keep your head and chest up: But don’t attempt to stay ramrod straight (like a chair back) in the hole. The bar is supported over your traps, so to maintain this, you need to keep your head and chest up, but with a slight forward lean (see photo above).

3. Stabilize in the hole: Don’t relax at the bottom. Stay active, tight, and controlled.

4. Use your wrists and hands: Because you are constantly fine tuning the position of the barbell to stay over the center of your feet, your hands and wrists are active throughout the lift. Don’t just think of them as a platform for the bar to sit on.

Dan John says that the OHS builds what he calls, “Dad Strength.” He talks about the old days where he and his buddies lift with cement filled weights and thought of themselves as top dogs of the neighborhood, but could not compare to the dads “had that scary kind of strength that allows one to pick an engine out of a Pontiac station wagon and carry it to the lawn.”

Embrace the OHS. It makes you dad strong. It makes you one piece.

Shameless attempt at bribing a certain Someone to come visit!!

WOD 03.09.10

Bench Press 3×5
*if you didn’t do the Total, do Press 3×5*
8 rds (NFT)
5 s Handstand
3 s L-Sit
2 Ring Dips
Rest as needed between sets.

If you need the wall for the handstands, start with fingernails 8 inches from the wall and try to pull yourself off the wall. Keep the L-Sits legit, with the top of the quads at 90 degrees. Point your toes!! Ring dips with or without bands, but deeeeep.

So what movement could I be referring to? None other than the cluster! This movement combines the great fun of the squat clean and adds to it the thruster. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? Two great movements that move great together… I think we have a new tagline!

WOD 3.08.10

Front Squat 3×5

Then, 5 rounds for time:

• 3 Clusters (Fran weight + 30#)
• 6 Box Jumps
• 9 Chest to Bar Pullups

The above video is a humerous look at why the Paleo triumphs over other diets, specifically veganism (sorry Becky).  The tests were chosen at random and were conducted under stringent scientific supervision as I’m sure you can tell .  I’m excited to know that many of you continue to inquire into ways to eat better to help further improve your performance in the gym and we love discussing nutritional topics with you and finding ways to help you eat better.  As with any change, dietary alterations are usually successful when done in baby steps, so set realistic, attainable goals for yourself and you should experience a difference in how you feel and perform.

Awesome job to everyone who completed the CrossFit Total over the past few days.  We had a number of Personal Records to show from it as well!  Keep up the great work everyone.

REST DAY 03.7.10

It’s no coincidence we reserve a nuclear term for microwaving foods. This article talks about the dangers of nuking foods.   In a Swiss study, one group was fed microwaved foods for 8 weeks, while the control group were fed freshly prepared meals (Can I sign up to be in the control group?!).  These were the results:

• Blood hemoglobin (oxygen-carrying) levels decreased significantly after subjects ate microwaved foods resulting in anemia.
• White blood cell levels increased after consumption of the microwaved food, usually indicative of an infection. Microwaves altered and mutated the protein molecules in the foods.
• LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) increased, and HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol) decreased.

Get this: after the results were published, the research lab was sued by the ‘Swiss Association of Dealers for Electro-apparatuses for Households and Industry, and one of the scientists was convicted of interfering with commerce.  The fine was the equivalent of $65,000 in U.S. dollars!!’

Russian scientists ran studies on microwaves as well and found a host of bad juju that resulted in a ban of microwaves from 1976 til just recently.  Here’s an excerpt of the rest of the article:

Parents of newborns are strongly warned against microwaving baby formula or breast milk as it destroys and alters the enzymes and protein in the milk. In 1991, a patient in a Tulsa, Oklahoma hospital actually died of anaphylaxis after receiving a blood transfusion that had been warmed in a microwave oven. Apparently the radiation from the microwaving had so altered the blood that the patient could not tolerate it.

To be perfectly safe, it is best to totally avoid microwave ovens, but here are some ways to help you lessen your dependence on microwaves:

• Most fruits and vegetables are best eaten raw, sauteed quickly or lightly steamed to retain the most nutrients.
• Heat water in a pan or teakettle instead of the microwave.
• Plan ahead and defrost frozen foods in the refrigerator.
• If you must use a microwave, use only glass containers instead of plastic.

As an alternative, a Flavorwave Oven (a small convection oven) can cook faster and more evenly in half the time of a regular oven, without microwave dangers.  Here are some of the things a Flavorwave oven can do:

• Broil, bake, fry, roast, boil, grill and steam meat, chicken, fish and vegetables, to perfection.
• Your food cooks in 20-30% less time than a conventional oven
• Flavorwave Ovens use 80% less energy than your conventional oven
• Keep all the valuable nutrients in your food.

I’m also not pulling a Chicken-Little-The-Sky-Is-Falling mentality. I will, however, start packing some more cold friendly foods a la chicken salads. If anyone has a convection oven, post reviews to comments!

WOD 03.05.10

Screw Your Neighbor Team WOD:
400m Run
20 Wallballs or 15 Thrusters
25 Push Ups or 10 Burpees
25 Box Jumps at 20″ or 15 Box Jumps at 24″
30 Sit Ups or 15 Vups
10 Strict Pull Ups or 20 Kipping
25 Air Squats or 15 Jumping Back Squats
15 KTE or 10 T2B
20 KBS or 15 SDHP
500m Row or 400m Run

In teams of 2, each person must complete the movement before you can move on. First team to complete it can choose the next move, leaving their “neighbors” with the other movement.
Example: Team A finishes the wallballs before Team B finishes thrusters. Team A picks burpees and leaves Team B with push ups.

That was, until my friend Dani (a trainer CrossFit Invictus) told me this was an opportunity to make wallball my bitch this next year. Now, I don’t know that I’ve made it my bitch, but by squatting a lot more weight, each wallball takes a whole lot less effort, and for that I’m grateful.

Greg Amundson wrote this article about his goat, Double Unders, and how he attacked it until he made Dubs his bitch. Read on and see how else it improved his fitness overall. I applaud you guys for gutting it out through Annie this week and not subbing out singles even though it would have lowered your “times.”

To embrace the “constantly varied” general prepared fitness that is the soul of CrossFit, you must:

• find your goat

• hunt it down

• make it your bitch

We’ll be making a foam roller purchase this week. Please post to comments if you’re interested in getting one for home. Prices range from $8-10 plus S/H. There’s a white one that’s similar to the density of the ones we have and there’s a denser one (ouch) for those who don’t need to “scale” their foam rolling! Thanks to Stephanie, we’re getting a great deal, so take advantage of it if you want one!!

WOD 03.05.10

3 x Max Pull Ups (strict, bands ok)
5rds:
10 Power Cleans
10 Burpees
10 KBS
10 Box Jumps

c/o Handstand and L-Sit work

You’ll see the statement “we’re not a gym, we’re a community” throughout our website.  If you are a member of our gym, that goes without saying.  There is also a lot to be said about being part of a community.  There is an element of trust we instill in one another.  We know that when we are down, we can rely on others to come help bring us back up.  When a community is in distress, we work together to persevere.  Whether we like it or not, that community extends beyond the four walls of our gym.  In my opinion, that’s one of the great things about CrossFit.  Those of us who have traveled to different CrossFit facilities, or have participated in CrossFit events/fundraisers know that we are welcomed with open arms.  And that’s thanks to the community we are all a part of.

CrossFit Peachtree in Atlanta (a close friend of CrossFit of Naperville) is asking us all to come together and contribute to a greater cause.  They received some troubling news about from a close family friend.  Below is from their website:

Unknown and unknowable. It’s what CrossFit is supposed to help us prepare for. But, what if the unknown or unknowable is a doctor telling you your child has a disease with no cure and a life expectancy of 37 years, at best? How do you prepare for something like that?

You don’t. Not even CrossFit can help you prepare for something like that.

But the beauty of CrossFit is that it still CAN help in times like this. CrossFit is more than constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity…CrossFit is about community. A community that cares, loves, that gives back and pays it forward…a community that essentially becomes a family.

The Doenges are our family. Not by blood, but by choice. The Doenges are kind beyond any words I can write. They are the type of people you want in your life. The type of people that truly enhance your life. The type of people that you meet and you feel instantly loved and welcome in their lives. I am not religious…but we are truly blessed to know such an amazing family.

When we received the news about Macey, we were devastated. Macey is a very active, 10 year old, 4th grade girl with a strong spirit. And, she was just diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. This is a life threatening genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. Currently there is NO cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

Here’s how we can come together as a community and help.  Macey Horbach and her family live in Naperville.  Right in our back yard.  CrossFit Peachtree is organizing a fundraiser WOD for Macey.  We are going to participate and host the WOD here at CrossFit of Naperville and call out to all of our local affiliates to participate in whatever way possible.

Macey’s wish is that Cystic Fibrosis will meet it’s match, and that no other children will fall ill to the life threatening disease.  We are going to help grant her wish by raising funds to donate to the 2010 GREAT STRIDES fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis.  GREAT STRIDES is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s largest and most successful national fundraising event. Macey will be walking in the GREAT STRIDES walk at the 2010 Naperville – Riverwalk Grand Pavilion walk on 05/22/2010.

Our goal is to help Macey raise as much money as possible to work towards her goal of defeating Cystic Fibrosis once and for all.

Movement for Macey: The Wod

AMRAP in 15 MINUTES OF:
200M Partner Carry
30 (as a team) Power Clean + Jerk 135# / 95#
30 (as a team) Burpees
200M Partner Carry
30 (as a team) Overhead Squats with PVC

The Rules

1. This is a partner WOD
2. During each round of the Partner Carry, each teammate must take a turn…one person cannot complete the entire 200M leg of the WOD. You can carry your partner any way you would like, piggy back, fireman’s carry, etc.
3. During the first leg, Partner A completes 5 Clean + Jerks, while Partner B completes 5 Burpees, then they will switch, until 30 repetitions are met of each (each person completes 15 of each movement)
4. Same rules apply for the Overhead Squat leg: while Partner A is completing their 5 OHS, Partner B is holding the DOWN position
5. Of course everything in this WOD can be scaled accordingly, our goal is 100% participation!

WHEN:

Saturday, April 3rd

HOW:

Suggested minimum of $10 donation to participate in the event, but any amount will make a difference, we just ask that you donate SOMETHING. Obviously, we’d love it if you are able to give more. For information on donating, please visit CrossFit of Naperville’s page about Macey.

We at CrossFit Intrepid will be showing our support by participating in this WOD on Saturday, April 3rd as a fundraiser. Come on out and join in the fun!

WOD 3.4.10

Make Up Day or… the CFT (from 6pm to 8pm)

Let’s discuss water bottles, shall we?  A recent Mark’s Daily Apple post paired with my dissatisfaction with my current water bottle inspired this post.  I decided that moving away from bottled water was not only better for the environment, but it was easier on my cash flow and I honestly couldn’t tell the difference between the bottled water and tap water run through a Brita or Pur filter.

I experimented first by buying a bottle of bottled water and would just refill it with tap or filtered water throughout the day.  This method was good because I had a bad habit of losing water bottles all the time so I was only out the $1 or so it cost to purchase the bottle.  The downside, however, is that I was adding to amount of plastic needed to be recycled, I was exposing myself to a possible BPA threat (see previous post to learn more on BPA), and after only a few days the bottle began to smell because bacteria would cultivate in the residual saliva around the top and I’d be forced to either clean or replace the bottle.

My Mom then got Ruth and I the Kleen Kanteen (pictured above).  It is a stainless steel bottle which is the heaviest water bottle option, but is the most durable and safest in terms of not having to worry about BPA leeching into your water.  I loved my Kleen Kanteen but like so many water bottles before it, it was lost.

I then reverted back to reusing the plastic bottled water bottles or bumming off of Ruth’s Kleen Kanteen until, at Christmas, I received an Aluminum water bottle from my brother.  He knew I had lost my other bottle and was thoughtful enough to get me a new one.  It has been working pretty well for me since.  It’s light, pretty durable but it is not without its drawbacks.  First, Mark Sisson commented (in the post linked above) that aluminum bottles are somewhat of a toss up on the presence of BPA.  Some of the more reputable brands of aluminum bottles have claimed to have gone BPA-free in 2009 but the older bottles and those from smaller brands are likely to still contain BPA in the inner lining of the bottles.  Also, Mark notes that if you put a liquid that is somewhat acidic, like lemonade or orange juice, it causes the aluminum itself to leech into the liquid.  On another note, the paint around the top of my current aluminum bottle (where I put my mouth when drinking) appears to be flaking away and it’s highly possible I’ve ingested a small amount of paint in the few months I’ve used the bottle (no way that’s Paleo!).

Another option of water bottle is the Polycarbonate bottle.  This plastic bottle is touted to be nearly indestructible and comes in all sorts of cool shapes and colors.  Like the aluminum bottles, however, it is highly likely to contain BPA.  I’m even skeptical of the BPA-free bottles and feel there are better options available.

In conclusion, the preferred water bottle option is stainless steel.  It is the most durable, undeniably BPA-free, and a quality bottle runs you about as much as 10 1-Liter plastic bottled water bottles (I’ve done the math ).  Kleen Kanteen is my recommendation for a stainless steel water bottle based on personal experience and on reading I’ve done.  You can order them through their website and I’ve also seen them available for purchase at REI.  Stay hydrated in a way that’s good for the environment and for your health.

WOD 03.03.10

Overhead Squat 3×5

“Nancy”
5 Rounds
Run 400m
15 OHS

For March, the challenge will be Pull Ups. So, like the Burpee Challenge of December, we did 1 pull up yesterday, 2 today, and so on until we do 31 at the end of the month. If you miss a day, you’ll have to make it up the next day in order to stay in the running. Bands are allowed if you’re still working on your pull ups. Kipping is allowed, but if you have strict pull ups, start with those. Full extension at the bottom and chin over bar at the top.

If more than one person completes the challenge, we’ll have a pull up contest on the last day. That means 31 pull ups PLUS a contest after.

Don’t forget, we have the Total coming up Thursday/Saturday, so make sure you get your rest day(s) in!

WOD 03.02.10

Push Jerk 3×3
c/o
Annie
50-40-30-20-10
Double Unders
Sit Ups

Today is the day of truth! You will get to determine who walks away with the Stanley Cup for the month of February. Will it be Anna or Jake… or is there a dark horse that may take it all? We will be partnering you guys up so that one person is the judge while the other is performing their squats. You’ll be expected to hold your partner to strict standards:

• Hip crease must be below knee cap at bottom
• Hips must be fully open at the top

For motivation, check out the following video: Tabata Flying Ladies (for those of you without video access, here’s a spoiler — the top score is well over a squat per second).

WOD 3.01.10

1) Bench Press 3×5

2) Tabata Squat-Off

3) In Teams of 2, 2 rounds of the following stations:

• max tire flips 1 min
• max box jumps (both team members use same box) 1min
• max push ups 1 min (extra credit for ring psu)