Last week, the CrossFit Journal posted a video clip of CrossFit Endurance coach Brian MacKenzie lecturing on the burning sensation felt by athletes during workouts that tends to slow them down.  Many of us equate this pain to the build up of lactic acid (or lactate), but recent research has shown that lactate actually slows the acidosis process (the build up of acid in our cells) and is actually part of a previously undiscovered metabolic pathway that helps fuel our anaerobic activity.  According to Coach MacKenzie, the tingling or burning sensation we feel during exercise is actually caused by the accumulation of potassium in the tissue and that lactate actually helps alleviate that soreness.  Sodium ions are pumped out of cells while potassium is pumped in via the sodium-potassium pump.  The diagram below provides a summary of the process:

Courtesy of Professor Serianni of University of Notre Dame

What’s interesting is that the sodium-potassium pump becomes more and more efficient as more force is applied…just another benefit of including strength training into our programming.  This also helps explain why many CrossFit Endurance athletes are seeing tremendous results by using CrossFit and shorter, more intense running/swimming/biking/rowing sessions vice traditional training programs. 

You may be wondering then what causes soreness over the few days that follow intense workout sessions.  It’s not potassium which only causes that sensation during a workout, but rather the inflammation resulting from the break down of our tissue (just another reason to focus on strength training and minimizing inflammation via the Paleo diet and fish oil supplementation…I’m just saying).

We’ve had several Intrepid athletes experience better results by tapering down their endurance training and focusing more on the lifting and met-con workouts.  The most recent being Pooja who ran her fastest half marathon just a few weeks ago. 

Scott’s triathlon is next weekend and Alia is running a half marathon this coming Sunday so wish them both luck!

WOD 09.03.10

Back Squat 3×5
AMRAP 10:
10 Deadlift (50% of 1RM)
10 1-Arm KB Push Press
100m Run

An open letter to those that are seeing August’s Challenge through:

Remember, the challenge (and burpees) are still going through Friday. However, as things are wrapping up, you might be itching to cheat… figuring you were only going to eat paleo for a month and you’re done with it. First, I’d ask you to read this blurb from Whole9Life.com:

“The only way this will work is if you give it the full thirty days. Anything less and you are selling yourself, and your results, short. You may start to see and feel improvements within just a few days, but … the healing process takes significantly longer. Just ONE cheat could irritate your digestive tract, promote an inflammatory response, upend your insulin sensitivity and send you running for the nearest Dunkin Donuts. It will ruin the effect of the ‘reset button’ you are trying to push.”

That’s why we were so strict on the guidelines. (In fact, click on the paragraph above to see the way Whole9Life advocates 30 strict days of paleo.) Adding sugar back in ruins your insulin sensitivity, while adding gluten can damage your intestinal tract for up to 3 weeks! Now it’s typically advised to also avoid dairy, as that can be an irritant for many, but as we were trying to accommodate our vegetarians, we allowed dairy. Ruth, Sean and myself have eliminated dairy previously and know what causes us distress. Likewise, we’d encourage you to try the same, to ensure you’re not shooting yourself in the foot.

So where do you go from here? First thing, try to cheat wisely. You want to cheat with just ONE category at a time, so you can see how it affects you. Gluten should probably be saved for last to experiment with, since it can leave you trashed for weeks and you want to see what other items you can/can’t tolerate. Sugar is one to keep in check, as you don’t want to screw up your insulin sensitivity you’ve worked so hard to regain. Alcohol isn’t a biggie, but see how adding it back in affects how you feel. Lectins from beans are another one… but keep them separate from gluten so you know which of the two makes you feel worse.

Then, when you do cheat, follow the guidelines in the two part article I’m going to link below . It will help you keep a more even keel. You might find out gluten and sugar don’t tear you up too much, so you then you know you can handle french toast as the occasional treat. But if you go hog wild the first day off challenge with pancakes and syrup, then later with sugary BBQ and gluten-filled beer and perhaps ice cream, you’ll be guaranteed to end up with a stomach ache and have no clue which of those items are holding you back. You worked hard for 30 days, so don’t blow all that effort in one fell swoop. Congratulations and good luck, ladies!

The Whole9 Guide to Eating Dirty (Part I)
The Whole9 Guide to Eating Dirty (Part II)

P.S. I’ve shown this before, but for those of you who don’t quite grasp the concept of insulin resistance from my explanations, check out this video:

WOD 09.02.10

Make Up Day

Congrats to Jenna, who racked up a total of 110 burpees this month in the August Primal Challenge. Not only was she the only one who lasted the month in the challenge, she had to watch Drew as he fell of the wagon mid-month. Huge kudos to her for her tenacity and determination. What’s even better, we got to benefit as a gym from Jenna and Drew’s culinary ingenuity as they explored primal/paleo recipes this month. On a side note, 80 of Jenna’s burpees were as a result of this past weekend’s shenanigans so it’s worth noting she got through the majority of the month with just 3 gluten free cheats!

WOD 09.01.10

Snatch 1-1-1
Clean & Jerk 1-1-1

Intrepid (ɪnˈtrɛpɪd): audacious: invulnerable to fear or intimidation, resolutely fearless.

Your heart is pounding, you can’t feel your legs (or worse, you can), your body is screaming for just a little break, your demons are taunting you and telling you to bitch out.   Quit.  Stop.

For some of us, this anxiety starts the minute we see the WOD posted, the moment we walk into the gym, or at the sound of the countdown. For most of us, this is the only time we encounter a fight or flight response unless your job or hobbies are centered around danger. The beauty of it is that when we push through this fear and anxiety, we choose to fight. We condition our bodies to deal with stress (both physical and mental). We reinforce the confidence in ourselves to accomplish what we thought was impossible.

When tossing around names for the gym, we searched for a word that would define us as a gym; a word that embodies the spirit of pushing the envelope, redefining our boundaries, and surpassing our every own expectations on a daily basis. When Sean brought up “Intrepid,” it stuck immediately.

Every time you step under that barbell for a PR or await that impending countdown for the wod, embrace the anxiety, the fear of the unknown.  Recognize it as a chance to prove it to yourself that you can overcome any challenge placed before you, either in life or in the gym. When it’s over, embrace the satisfaction you deserve for accepting the gauntlet.

Then reach back and bitch slap the demons that held you back.

WOD 08.31.10

Running Drills

Helen

3rds:
• 400m Run
• 21 KBS
• 12 Pull Ups

c/o Heaving Snatch Balance Skills

Considering how much we trainers recommend a good fish oil, the title of today’s post may come as a surprise. It’s really more of a sarcastic poke at an article that ran recently under the title “Study: More omega-3 fats didn’t aid heart patients“. Many people these days have short attention spans and may give such an article no more than a cursory look. In fact, they might have source amnesia down the road when they tell you “Oh, I heard that omega-3 stuff doesn’t help anyway!”. It’s quite unfortunate that we have such a sensationalistic media that requires digging further to find out the truth. After reading the article, you will find out that all they provided to the study subjects was a margarine that had some omega-3 added.

My first issue with that is considering the vehicle for the omega-3: margarine. I doubt this test was using some of the worst variety of margarine with hydrogenated oils, but that doesn’t change that almost all margarines are made using vegetable oils that are quite high in omega-6 content. The entire purpose of taking supplemental omega-3 is to balance out the high level of omega-6 fatty acids present in the SAD, so you might be better off without the margarine at all. Secondly, the subjects were given nothing additional over and above the trivial amount in the margarine. Perhaps the article should have been titled “Laughably small amounts of omega-3 didn’t aid heart patients”, but that’s not quite as flashy. Hopefully when you take your daily fish oil at work, you won’t get some know-it-all coworker telling you how it’s useless. But in the case you do, at least you can tell them how they’re wrong.

WOD 08.30.10

Bench Press 3×5, 1×10-15

Then,

• 2 min – Double Unders
• 1 min – Rest
• 2 min – Box Jump (M: 24″, W: 20″)
• 1 min – Rest
• 2 min – Split Jerk (M: 75lbs, W: 55lbs)
• 1 min – Rest
• 2 min – Double Unders

courtesy CF Ventura

REST DAY 08.29.10

The Dolce Cafe is one of El Segundo’s newest culinary additions.  Located on Main Street, the Dolce specializes in Greek cuisine, appetizers, and desserts.  Last night, Marcus, Ruth, and I tried it for dinner and were thoroughly impressed with the quality and taste of our meals.  Marcus was impressed with the gyro salad pictured below:

Ruth and I enjoyed their flavorful Greek salad and it took us back to our trip to Greece this past spring.  She also had the lamb souvlaki plate and they didn’t have an issue subbing the potatoes and pita bread with extra veggies.  I feasted on the meat platter for 2 and highly recommend it if you are craving some good meat.  This option includes gyro meat, chicken and beef souvlaki, lamb chops, and a couple other varieties of popular Greek meats. 

Marcus said the lunch specials were definitely worth checking out since the prices are a bit cheaper and the portion size was simliar to their dinners.  They also have a variety of breakfast options to. Check it out if you get a chance or let us know if you’ve already been and post your thoughts to comments.

WOD 08.27.10

21-15-9
200m Sprint
Pullups
Double Unders (Repsx2)
Ring Dips

Outside of the gym, Pooja loves to jet set around the globe and spend time with her friends, family, and nephew (the world’s most adorable baby).   She recently got back from a trip to Czech Republic, Spain, and Hungary (as the most dedicated World Cup groupie) and is rearing for more travel in December!

Inside the gym, Pooja is our poster child for CrossFit based training for endurance sports.  She recently finished a half marathon with a PR time and credits it to her strength training.  Her excitement over strength PRs is unmatched by any  (just watch the above video!).  What’s even more heart warming is that she gets just as excited when any fellow gym member PRs.

Happy Birthday, Pooja!  We love your energy (however mischievous) and your muscles!  Very soon you won’t be able to pet Melissa’s dog either!!

WOD 08.27.10

Clean & Jerk 1-1-1-1-1

“Drew’s Request”
400m Walking Lunges

(Cat’s out of the bag! Thanks a lot, birthday girl!)

A while ago Ruth talked about the movie Food, Inc. and mentioned how it can be life-changing. In the movie, they discuss what seems to be a simple concept. Where does our food come from? While you may think this is an easy question to answer, it really depends on where you shop for your food. The average large chain supermarket gets their food from extremely large scale food distributors. The movie gives figures for how we went from several farmers, each serving their local area, to a small handful of giant meat production plants. It’s quite common for the steak you eat for dinner to have been raised halfway across the country. Perhaps you’re wondering what the problem is with this, since it likely leads to lower prices. This is true, but at what cost?

To service such a large field of animals, these plants have resorted to what are called CAFOs or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. If you have ever driven up the 5 towards northern California, you have likely passed a giant one called Harris Ranch. In these operations, the cows almost never see grass. Instead, they are fed grains to fatten them up and often spend all day standing in their own feces. This is a double whammy, as the grains make the cattle more susceptible to E. Coli and standing in their fecal matter makes it that much quicker to spread. You see this scenario play out with meat recalls, including the one million pounds of ground beef being recalled this month by Valley Meat Co. This particular distributor has a reach from California to Texas, Arizona, Oregon and even internationally!

Cattle CAFO, no grass in sight

Things aren’t much better for poultry. In the large operations, the chickens are kept in small cages as the equivalent of egg vending machines. Most of us who watched the movie The Matrix gasped at the thought of people plugged into a network, not physically moving around, but just being used to create a power output. Sadly, these mass production centers treat chickens much like that, minus the alternate reality to pacify them. Much like the CAFOs, fecal matter abounds and in these places you get Salmonella outbreaks. By now, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the 550 million eggs recalled due to Salmonella. All of those tainted eggs came from just two operations in Iowa. The most heavily affected stores were the big grocer chains. Conversely, if you shop at Trader Joe’s, only one brand was affected. To see a full list of brands involved and how to identify, look here. Perhaps the scariest part of the whole ordeal is that those eggs are quite likely to still make it into your food. They can be reused for liquid eggs, mayonnaise or ice cream.

Chickens as far as the eye can see

This is one of the main reasons why we trainers are always encouraging you to check out your local farmer’s market. Getting back to the question of where your food comes from, you will have the opportunity to actually meet the farmer in person. There’s something to be said for being able to know the person who grows the food you put on your table. That single degree of separation lets you have much more confidence in the quality of their product. On Saturday, I was at the Torrance farmer’s market and stopped by the chicken farmer’s stand. I asked the girl if they were getting additional egg business due to the recall, and she laughed, saying that they were about three times as busy. Sometimes it takes a bad event to shake people enough to make a positive change in their lives.

Further reading: Time Magazine, Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

WOD 08.26.10

Make Up Day

Drank the Kool-Aid:  May 2009
Fave WODs:  Chief, Helen
Least Fave WOD:  Burrito (Thanks Chip!)
Fave Movement: Back Squat, Deadlift, Push Jerk
Least Fave Movement: Handstand Pushups, Press, Bench
CF Goals:  Bench 200#, do 5 HSPUs w/out bands, top 15 finish at December’s NLP Invitational, Deadlift 500#
CF Accomplishments: Improving his Deadlift PR to 410#, breaking the 300# Back Squat threshold for his 3×5 worksets, & competing at this month’s NLP Invitational

Jake has been with Intrepid since the early days in Rec Park.  Whether coaching the Redondo Union H.S. women’s soccer team to an impressive season, taking care of his new puppy Riley, or shredding workouts at the gym, Jake excels at everything he’s involved with.  Jake’s dedication, drive, and work-ethic are second to none as he’s the first to smile when he sees the long list of names on the white board as Intrepid continues to grow.  Outside of the gym Jake enjoys playing soccer, basketball, running, and has recently taken to swimming.  Although only 24 years young, Jake is well versed in 80’s music and has been known to lay down some sweet lyrics at gym Rock Band parties.  Jake has established himself as one of Intrepid’s resident “Fire-Breathers” as he sets the bar in most workouts.  Jake has amazing potential and we’re looking forward to seeing him in action again on the Intrepid “Clash of the Affiliates” team.  Jake, I only have one request:  please drive your VW Beetle more often so I can sock Ruth, who as of late as been crushing me in our ongoing “punch-buggy” game.  I need every edge I can get . 

Straight from Jake the Snake:  “RAMS/MARS- thanks guys for the training and motivation you give everyday. Its been awesome to see everyone progress and make huge gains as well as seeing the Box grow. We def have the sickest Box. I can honestly say that everyone is a beast. Lets keep up the solid work. 1st round of Bday shots on Becky!”

Also, a happy birthday shoutout to Gary!  Although Gary drops in only a few times a month to workout with us, he can be seen doing doggy drive-bys outside the roll up door on his way to his martial arts classes.  Hope all is well Gary, and stop in more often…we miss you.  And don’t forget, we’re going out to celebrate Jake, Pooja, and Gary’s birthday Thursday night after 7pm class!

WOD 08.25.10

Press 3×5
Back Squat 3×5

Cash Out with 2 sets of max Ring Dips