Whole9 just ran an article that I think you should take the time to read today. While I will quote some segments in this post, you really owe it to your betterment as an athlete to go check it out. Many of you choose to skip the skills day since “it’s not hard enough” and chalk it up as a rest day. However, could you be doing better? Whole9 defines rest as “the absence of effort or movement—the absence of exertion”, while recovery is a “restorative process”.

Rest vs. Recovery

These two words, “rest” and “recovery,” have distinctly different meanings when applied to health, fitness or athletic contexts. Recovery can encompass many different behaviors and strategies, but it is fundamentally different than just resting.

Everyone in the gym is subjecting themselves to a level of stress (we call these workouts) in addition to other stressors they have in their day-to-day life. How much is too much? Well Whole9 gives a few examples:

A “stressor” isn’t necessarily a bad thing – but the application of that stressor in that dose in a context already saturated with a high stress load may be detrimental to your health.* If you’re a parent with an infant (and thus some degree of sleep deprivation/disturbance), a busy job, and some financial stress, do you think the net effect of getting out of bed at 5:00 AM five days a week to do high-intensity exercise is positive? Likely not. (If we just described your life, please… just stay in bed.)

*This is one of the reasons why we rarely recommend intermittent fasting to our consulting clients. Unsurprisingly, most of them are on the “too much” side of the stress scale, rating their daily stress at an average of 8 out of 10. These folks don’t have any “reserve” left to offset an additional stressor, which means adding IF on to their current health equation would do them more harm than good. IF may be a perfectly appropriate tool for other folks with different contexts, but it’s not for everyone.

Personally, I didn’t recommend IF much to people in the past because so many struggled to get the basics of paleo down. In my opinion, if a person can’t improve and control their food quality in the absence of weighing-and-measuring, putting them on a restrictive feeding schedule is likely to torpedo their health, quickly. Whole9′s point of it being an added stress is a worthwhile item to consider.

Thankfully, Whole9 also gives us some warning signs to look for if we might be running on empty. I can personally relate to some and know I’ve had members come to me mentioning other items from this list:

Are you Under-Recovered? Here are a few things to look for:

1. You used to be excited about going to the gym – not so much anymore.
2. Your performance (or lack thereof) is seriously stressing you out , and a poor workout ruins your day.
3. You’ve got chronic muscle soreness after every workout, and/or that lingering “shoulder thing” that just won’t seem to heal.
4. Your sleep pattern has become irregular.
5. Even though you’re in bed for enough hours, you never feel well-rested in the morning.
6. You need a Monster drink or three espressos to get fired up for your training sessions.
7. You crave carbohydrates (sugar!) more than you used to.
8. You’re getting sick a lot, or just can’t seem to kick that cold you picked up.
9. You’re training hard and “eating right” but that little belly just isn’t going away.
10. You’re actually gaining fat, instead of losing it.

Any of this resonate with you?

Again, I don’t want to (fully) plagiarize the good work of Dallas and Melissa over at Whole9, so I purposely am going to skip their recommended “fixes” for what ails you. For that, you’ll have to take a peek at their full article.  (Hint: it’s not just “rest”.) Please post to comments if you think you may need to make some changes. What will YOU be doing with your Thursdays (or Sundays, for that matter)?

WOD 05.17.12

Skills Day

Ever find yourself at the local grocery store or better yet local farmers’ market and you walk up the area where the eggs are kept and notice how many different options are available?  Egg cartons say things like “natural”, “omega-3″, “organic”, “cage-free”, “free-range”, “pastured”, “certified humane”, etc. so how do we make informed decisions about where our money goes and what is really the difference between all the jargon on the carton?  Stronger, Faster, Healthier recently posted a link to a Rodale News article entitled “The Truth About Your Eggs” that clarifies exactly what the labels mean and can we trust that the higher prices ensure better quality.  The article is a very short read and the clicking from page to page will take you longer than it will to actually read the information on the page itself, so please read more here or you can hit all the pages individually by clicking the links below on the various labels:

• Cage Free
• Free Range or Free Roaming
• Organic
• Natural
• Pastured
• Omega-3 Enriched
• Animal Welfare Approved
• Certified Humane
• United Egg Producers Certified

Become a more knowledgeable consumer and make informed decisions with your hard earned cash and weigh your options between cost and quality.

WOD 5.16.12

Snatch 2-2-2

1Km Row
3 Rounds:
12 Burpees
12 Pullups

I recently chatted with a police officer about balancing health and wellness with work and family.   For this father of two, the teeter-totter was nearly impossible to maintain.  His 12-hour shifts, beginning his day at noon when he gets out of bed, helps his wife with the kids and drives into work to squeeze in a quick 3-mile run before work.  After an occasional hour of overtime or two, he gets home close to 7am when he tries to catch some shut eye while his kids are running around the house, all the while feeling guilty for not spending time with them.

Where in the world does he find time for working out and fueling his body with proper nutrition?  And if he DID find time, what energy would he have with less than 5 hours of restless sleep?  While this case may be more extreme than others, I’m sure most of you can relate to the frustration of not being able to balance work/life/play without sacrificing precious time for your kids, spouse, or hobbies?

Here are some suggestions of things you can do maximize your time and attain that balance:

• Buy tupperware and a crock pot.  Cook as many as 6 meals at a time while you sleep.
• If you can’t get into the gym, choose from a number of body weight WODs involving running, push ups, sit ups, squats, sprints, lunges, burpees, v-ups, double unders (i.e. Angie, Barbara, Cindy, Chelsea, Annie, Murph).
• Get the kids involved.  Take them outside and throw/kick the ball around.  Have them hold the timer for your workout and count rounds.  Kids make the best and most effective cheerleaders!
• Always have an emergency food kit on you:  water, fruit, nuts, Oh My Bar, Paleo Kits, and jerky so you resist the urge to snack on fast food and junk.
• Get blackout curtains so that the sleep you DO manage to get is as restful as possible.
•  Try to multi-task by incorporating mobility drills and stretching into your day, while sitting at your desk, driving, brushing your teeth, etc.
•   Take time to assess your quality of life and work/life balance.  Carve time out for yourself where you can.  Prioritize.  Sometimes, your body will benefit way more from an hour nap than an hour at the gym.

WOD 05.15.12

Deadlift 1×5

• 12 Front Squats
• 24 Lunges
• Run 800m
• 8 Front Squats
• 16 Lunges
• Run 400m
• 4 Front Squats
• 8 Lunges
• Run 200m

Thank you everyone who chose to participate in the sleep challenge over the last month. While we started with a field of 17 people showing interest, numbers dwindled to a mere 7 that crossed the finish line. Sleep turned out to be a harder challenge than some originally thought!

When I announced this contest I said there were going to be two winners for men and women, each. Now that things are wrapped up, I can announce the categories along with their respective winners.

Taking home top billing for the female with the highest number of sleep hours is Corrine, boasting an average of 8 1/2 hours per night. She just narrowly edged out our previous champion, Anna. For the men, Bryant came in with an average of 8 hours per night. He managed to do this despite his average dropping each week (P.S. that’s not a good thing, buddy!).

For the other category — most improved — Holley takes the female prize. She has managed to carve out an extra 30 minutes of sleep per night on average and hopefully can keep up the good work! Our most improved male started off the challenge with the comment: “Finally a challenge I can do, I’m in” and he certainly stepped up to the plate. While AJ had let a cereal bar lead him astray during the Whole9, he was able to seriously improve his sleep over the course of this challenge.  He started off with an alarmingly low average 4hr 15 min of sleep in week 1, but was able to add an extra 90 minutes of sleep to his average by the end of the month.

To the winners, I will be contacting you with your prizes today.

Well done everyone, and hopefully you learned something new during the last 30 days. Have you found improved sleep or recovery from your workouts by making changes? Let us know!

WOD 05.14.12

Bench Press 3×5 or Wendler

AMRAP 4:

• 1 Rope Climb
• 20 Situps

Rest 2 minutes, then

AMRAP 4:

• 5 HSPU
• 10 Ball Slams
• 15 Double Unders

Nick found this recipe online the other day and we absolutely loved it. It’s a little unusual for a Brussels sprouts recipe because they aren’t cooked, but it takes no time to make and is pretty darn good.

Ingredients:

• 24 Brussels sprouts, shredded (we just used a bag of Brussels sprouts from Trader Joe’s)
• 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, 
  
• 1 cup toasted walnuts, in pieces
• 9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons apple cinder vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (the recipe suggests 2 teaspoons, but the mustard adds good flavor so we increased the amount and used whole grain mustard)
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

Cut off the ends of the Brussels sprouts and any wilted leaves and soak them in a bowl of water.

In the mean time, start toasting the walnuts in a pan on medium heat for about 5-8 min. Cut up the Brussels sprouts into small pieces. You can use a knife or a mandolin, or if you’d like to make it more like a slaw you can throw them into a food processor to make fine pieces. Then put the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper into a container with a lid and shake it until all of the ingredients are well mixed.

Put the chopped up Brussels sprouts into a mixing bowl and add the cheese and walnuts.

Pour on the dressing and mix it all together, then eat! We made this with a lemon chicken breasts and they went together really well.

REST DAY 05.13.12

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms and moms to be!

Marcus' Birthday WOD

This weekend the 2012 Southern California CrossFit Games Regionals are taking place at the LA County Fairgrounds in Pomona, CA.  60 of So Cal’s top female and male CrossFit athletes and the top So Cal affiliate teams (as determined by the 2012 CrossFit Open standings) have converged on Pomona to vie for the precious few spots into the CrossFit Games in a couple of months.  A few Intrepids have mentioned they’ll be making the trip over to Pomona on Saturday or Sunday, so post to comments if you’ll be heading that way so fellow Intrepids can look out for one another.  As with most large CrossFit competitions there is sure to be a good amount of vendors with free samples, merchandise, and discounted equipment for those of you looking to build up your garage gym.  More information about the 2012 Southern California CrossFit Games Regionals can be found here, as well as workout announcements and heat times if you’re interested in following any of your favorite So Cal athletes/teams.  Best of luck to all those competing this weekend!

WOD 5.12.12

In Teams of 2, Perform 5 Rounds for Time:

100m Partner/Sandbag Carry (Switch at 50m mark)
40 Wallball Shots (Switch every 5 reps)
40 Partner Box Jumps (Switch every 2 reps)

Birthday Boy!

In celebration of Marcus’ birthday, the collective Intrepid fam put together a few fun facts you may not know about him.

1. He used to actually DO crossfit (kipping pullups, double unders, wall balls… the works!)
2. He is a closet gourmet chef, and always cooks for 12
3. In recent history he was a vegetarian
4. He loves ice cream and [gluten free] pizza on a cheat day
5. He owns a singlet and has worn it on one occasion- where he finished first place!
6. His mom Sandi was an original member of morning class
7. He likes to punch when he’s drunk
8. He wipes his mouth after every bite
9. He pretends like he hates his birthday but really loves it.
10. He has a distinct taste in women that his close friends have picked up on.
11. He openly admits to missing the bratty little sisters when they are out.
12. He never ends class on time
13. He is easily distracted by mention of diet, stretching, or power lifting
14. When a new student arrives his tone descends by one octave
15. Bear crawling is his favorite past time
16. Steaks and squats are the fundamentals of his existence
17. Marcus only power lifts in the ‘raw’
18. Marcus loves good coffee. Particularly Peet’s, prepared Bulletproof style
19. Marcus notices when you don’t show up to class, and he’ll give you a hard time until you do!
20. Marcus is really a softie at heart and can be negotiated with, if done correctly.
21. Last summer, Marcus showed up to Scott and Michelle’s wedding as Brian’s twin (matching pinstriped suits, white shirts and burgundy ties).
22. Marcus is a closet tech geek.
23. He recently cancelled his cable subscription, so he can have more time to do bear crawls
24. He admits to liking the Detroit lions, even in years they go winless
25. Marcus has a sister. None of us have met her.
26. He has made 3 intrepid girls cry
27. He practices what he preaches, even passes on homemade Chef David cookies
28. He cannot wait to babysit Baby Rodgers
29. His alarm clock ringtone is “alright 7:00!”
30. He is currently enrolled in classes working on his bachelors degree in IT
31. His real life job is a quality engineer at Northrop Grumman
32. He has been photographed with Kid Rock
33. He despises the show “The Biggest Loser” and not only because they eat subway
34. He has affectionately earned the nickname Marcuspedia for his research (google) skills
35. He dumped the iPhone a year ago for the sexier, slimmer android
36. Last year for Marcus’s birthday happy hour Jake got 3 parking tickets
37. He does not dance at weddings. Not even when sandwiched between two hot single girls
38. He once spent 4 hours at the bellagio buffet

Happy birthday, Marcus! We appreciate everything that you do for us in the gym! Thanks for taking countless hours of your own time to help us find a better path to proper nutrition and strength gains!

We’ll be having a pot luck at the gym to celebrate Marcus’ birthday tomorrow, May 12th, at 6pm. If you’re able to attend, please post your RSVP and what you’re bringing to comments!

Jerk 2-2-2

2 Rounds of 2 Minute Stations:
Tire Flips
Double Unders
Toes To Bar
Kettlebell Push Press
Rest 1 Minute

Today’s I have two questions that actually go somewhat hand-in-hand.

In the comments of my post about meal frequency, a few people asked me about the maximum amount of protein someone can handle at one setting. The numbers vary, but many sources tend to recommend somewhere in the neighborhood of 20-30 grams of protein at one setting. In an article he wrote for a bodybuilding website, nutritional expert Alan Aragon tackled this question.

If we were to believe the premise that a 20-30 g dose of protein yields a maximal anabolic effect, then it follows that any excess beyond this dose would be wasted. On the contrary, the body is smarter than that. In a 14-day trial, Arnal and colleagues found no difference in fat-free mass or nitrogen retention between consuming 79% of the day’s protein needs (roughly 54 g) in one meal, versus the same amount spread across four meals [11].

He further added:

Perhaps the strongest case against the idea of a dosing limit beyond which anabolism or muscle retention can occur is the recent intermittent fasting (IF) research, particularly the trials with a control group on a conventional diet. For example, Soeters and colleagues compared two weeks of IF involving 20-hour fasting cycles with a conventional diet [13]. Despite the IF group’s consumption of an average of 101 g protein in a 4-hour window, there was no difference in preservation of lean mass and muscle protein between groups.

In another example, Stote and colleagues actually reported an improvement in body composition (including an increase in lean mass) after 8 weeks in the IF group consuming one meal per day, where roughly 86 g protein was ingested in a 4-hour window [14]. Interestingly, the conventional group consuming three meals spread throughout the day showed no significant body composition improvements.

<snip>

Based on the available evidence, it’s false to assume that the body can only use a certain amount of protein per meal. … What’s the most protein that the body can effectively use in an entire day? The short answer is, a lot more than 20-30 g. The long answer is, it depends on several factors. In most cases it’s not too far from a gram per pound in drug-free trainees, given that adequate total calories are provided [8,9].

His full article is well worth reading and the short bits I provided hardly do it justice. Alan also gives some recommendations on how to space out your daily intake for optimal results for those truly interested in geeking out over these things.

Now if your ears perked up with his mention of Intermittent Fasting (IF) and the benefits it may provide, you aren’t alone! Mike K. wrote me asking what exactly it is, pros, cons, etc. To his credit, Mike had already read up on the subject via a post over at Mark’s Daily Apple. The article at MDA gives a breakdown of IF and a few different ways to approach it. I pointed Mike towards a fairly well-known expert in the field of IF named Martin Berkhan who runs the site Leangains.com. Leangains.com has a wealth of information on the subject and Martin stays on top of the latest research regarding the practice.

For those who have no clue what the heck IF is, it’s a conscious effort to reduce the window in which you can feed. Some of the variations have a single day of fasting per week, while others have a small window every day (e.g., fast for 20 hours, eat during 4 hours). The biggest challenge for people is eating enough during the feeding window when it is very restrictive. For example, if you were trying to eat a full 3000 calories for the day but had to do so in only 4 hours, you might find it pretty daunting. Many people mix it with paleo and to be honest, I somewhat consider it an advanced topic, so I don’t usually bring it up for paleo neophytes.

However, if you’re interested in trying out IF, please check out the links for MDA and Leangains and please feel free to shoot me any questions you may have!

WOD 05.10.12

Skills Day

Shin splints can be a nagging injury and although Ruth has posted on it before, I’d like to revisit the topic since some of you are currently recovering from shin splint issues. According to Vonda Wright, M.D. in her article 7 tips to Beat Shin Splints, there are 3 major culprits in the onset of shin splints(her article is geared towards runners, but you’ll get the gist):

1.   Too much medial foot pressure (ie: poor biomechanics): with each heel strike onto the central part of your heel, too much pressure is transferred towards your arch and medial column of your forefoot.  If you are naturally “knock kneed” this is even worse.  All this leads to altered internal rotation of the tibia and overwork/pressure on the front of your leg and therefore pain.
2.   Too little lower leg strength (ie: you’re weak): Runners pay too little attention to the strength of the muscles in their lower legs!  A weak posterior tibialis (the muscle responsible for supporting the medial column of your foot) leads to early fatigue and over pronation.  Anterior tibialis and gastroc weakness also contribute to early fatigue and worse mechanics.
3.   Too much activity, too soon, with too much intensity

After analyzing the typical causes of shin splints, let’s see what can be done to get yourself back to 100% if you’re currently dealing with shin splints (I’m addressing some of my 6pm ladies) or get shin splints in the future?  Dr. Wright’s first point addresses poor biomechanics during running, or really any plyometric movement. We don’t want your knees and ankles rolling inward when we squat let alone if we are running and jumping where the force upon our bodies can reach upwards of 2-3x your body weight. Her second point can be addressed with our strength training, but also refer back to Ruth’s “Shin Splints” post from 2009 and get to work on drawing the alphabet with your toes. This activity will help to strengthen and improve the mobility in some of the muscles surrounding your ankles.  Dr. Wright’s third and final point is something that we can address with scaling workouts to find the happy medium to challenge your conditioning without over-doing it and causing your shin splints to continually flare up.  If they become painful grab an ice cup from the office freezer and spend some time ice masssaging your tender areas.  This will reduce inflammation, reduce pain, and expedite the recovery process.

Your best bet is to attack shin splints from all three angles to really expedite your recovery. Also, check out MobilityWOD.com founder Kelly Starrett’s advice in the video below:

WOD 5.09.12

Back Squat 3×5/Wendler
Turkish Get-Up 2-2-2

I know I’m a visual learner and some movements like Olympic lifts sometimes make sense after I watch them being performed correctly over and over again. Brian MacKenzie, owner of CrossFit Endurance, and CrossFit’s go-to guy for running, posted a great article with fantastic videos of excellent running form. He describes how the primary movers when you run should be the hamstrings, and not the hip flexors, quads, or calves.

Notice how the runners in the first video really pull their legs through rather than push off their calves. Their heads don’t bobble up and down as they move forward; there’s no energy wasted. The runners in the second video tend to strike with their heels, push off with their calves, and lift their knees up with their hip flexors.

Perfecting your running form is a journey, no doubt. However, make sure you’re taking the steps to continue on that journey instead of putting it off. Purchasing flatter shoes should help you learn better form, but they’re not made of magic. Just like weightlifting shoes will help you learn form better, but they don’t come with olympic fairy dust.  Even if you just take the time to run 400m every day focusing on proper form, you’re at least begun the journey.

Check out B-Mack’s full article here.

WOD 05.08.12

Press 3×5 or Wendler

Run 400m
30 Kettlebell Swings
Run 400m
30 Slam Balls
Run 400m
30 Pull Ups
Run 400m