Salt Lake City Crossfit

Saturday - 28FEB2009

Well, today will be a great day of stairs for all who are participating in the Tackle The  Tower Event.  We have a total of 19 on our team but the majority who are from other crossfit gyms I  believe.  Either way it should be fun and I'm sure I'll see you at some point on the stairs.  

For the Team.  Make sure you are there atleast a half hour earlier than our start time of 0820 for registration.  

Gym WOD:  First Clients Choice from the deck today.  Whoever the first client in the door at10am will get to pull a card from the deck.  

Have fun with and enjoy the WOD's in my absence.  See you all Next week.  I leave for Washington to see Mom's after the race and I'll be back on the 9th of March.  Refer all Questions to Jason. Grant, Alli, Matt, or Justin.  Have fun y'all.  I also want ot thank Nicole for the Yoga Class on Friday.  It was a lot of fun and I look forward to doing it again.  The plan is to start doing it on Mondays at 6pm and Thursdays at 6am.  If you any of you are interested please email me so we can chat about things.  We plan on starting it the Monday I get back on the 9th.  

Vi

Friday - 27FEB2009

The week was hard but tomorrow is gonna be harder because of Rich.  You all can blame him for looking up some gym jones workout.  I will be taking my rest day before the tower of fun.  

WOD: "Louder Than 10"

5x Ball Slam @ 20# +
10x Push-up +
15x KB Swing @ 53# KB
11 Rounds

Here's a little pic of one of our travelling crossfitters from Brooklyn.  I was bummed I didn't get to meet and greet with a wod but all the crew said they had fun.  Great job on the WOD David.  Your always welcome back anytime.
 
 

Thursday - 24FEB2009

Good job on all that have completed the last couple days of sprints and small runs.  Sue you are quite the animal. I'm still bitter for only getting 71/3 rounds on Saturday.  Justin and Murray.  I heard you two had a battle royal that I wish I had been a part of.  I over prescribed with 155/70lbs for the wod but I think I might have a been a contender in the heat of things.  Murray, I need some help on run mechanics if you get some time.  I'll be staring at the back of your shoes in Canada.  It'll be fun though.

Just had to do one cause it seems like what crossfitters do for some reason.  6mile hiking break into 25second handstand hold.  I even activated my shoulders.  Ahhh.  Mechanics paying off...

WOD: Pain Alá Vi

Finish For Time:

400M Run

21 Box Jumps  30/24/18/12

400M Run

21 Push Press 115/95/75/55

400M Run

21SDHP          95/75/55

500M Row

21Wall Ball      20/14lbs

500M Row

21 HSPU's

Go as heavy as possible on this and go RX'd on as much as possible.  Its tough, but everything is doable and life is supposed to be easy but the gym is not.  If it makes you feel better, I'll do it first and tell you how cool it is.  Spring time is coming so running will be more frequent.  stomp, stomp.  get the picture.

Wednesday - 24FEB2009

WOD: The Grant Especialé

7 rounds of 7 reps of each movement For Time.

135lb Back Squat

115lb Thruster

95lb Strict Press

The CrossFit Diet

The CrossFit diet from CrossFit in 100 Words says to “eat meats and veggies, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, no sugar.”This is essentially the Paleo diet, which addresses food quality.

Eat Good Fat

There are three different types of fats we should be eating: polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and saturated. Of course, we don’t even want to mess with Trans fats.

The polyunsaturated fats are the omega-3’s and omega-6’s. Omega-3’s, which lower the amount of LDL cholesterol, are found in fish and fish oil, while omega-6’s are primarily found in grains. We were designed to eat about a 2:1 ratio of omega-6’s to omega-3’s, but the modern western diet provides a ratio closer to 45:1. This is way too much omega-6 and a result of all the grains and grain fed meats that we eat.

An Aside About Grains 

Grains were not found in the Paleolithic diet. Lectins are proteins that are found in large amounts in grains. They destroy and irritate the gut and stomach lining. Other potentially toxic lectin-containing food groups include legumes, dairy, and nightshades (http://www.krispin.com/lectin.html), but that discussion is outside the scope of this article. 

The Kitava Study was a study done on the Kitavan people. The Kitavans, who ate zero grains, had no instances of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s, or Alzheimer’s. Their diet consisted of yams, coconut, fish, and taro with about 60% Carbohydrates and 15-20% Proteins and Fats (not exactly the Zone diet, but definitely Paleo), in amounts of about 2200-2800 calories per day (not exactly a calorie restricted diet). Unlike in western civilization, their BMI did not increase with age. Grains were introduced to their society and people started getting cancer and diabetes, etc.

Back to Fats: The monounsaturated fats are the omega-9’s, which are found in large amounts in nuts and olive oil. Our Paleolithic ancestors received the largest percentage of their diet from this fat source. 

Finally, there are 4 types of saturated fats that we eat appreciable amounts of, which differ depending only on the number of carbon atoms. These are found in meats and dairy products. Lauric acid (12 carbon atoms), Myristic acid (14 carbon atoms), and Palmitic acid (16 carbon atoms) all elevate LDL cholesterol (this is bad). Stearic acid (18 carbon atoms), which is found in red meats, like steaks, is neutral on LDL. Saturated fats accounted for relatively small amounts compared to mono and poly fats in the Paleolithic diet. This is largely because our ancestors ate wild meats that were not high in saturated fat.

Eating grain fed animals increases the amount of saturated fat. Some things we miss out on when we  eat grain fed meats include:

• R-Alphalipoic acid. This acid enhances insulin sensitivity, which allows us to handle carbohydrates better.
• Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA improves lean muscle mass and immune function.
• Carotenoids. These provide Vitamin A and occur in grass fed meats and farm fresh or omega-3 eggs.

All of the above are only found in wild (grass fed) meat, and are not found at all in grain fed meat.

So, find a local farm, like Truth Hill Farms , start eating grass fed meats, take fish oil, and eat nuts and olive oil.

Ketosis vs. Ketoacidosis 

Spend too much time around our friend the endurance athlete and he will inevitably tell you that eating a “low carb” diet is bad for your liver. Like most of the medical field, he has confused ketosis with ketoacidosis. “In ketoacidosis, the body fails to adequately regulate ketone production causing such a severe accumulation of keto acids that the pH of the blood is substantially decreased” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketoacidosis). This results in insulin resistance, high blood glucose, high blood ketones, and pH level decreases. None of which you want. 

Ketosis, on the other hand, is one of the normal processes for the metabolism of body fat. It is a state in metabolism when the liver converts fats into fatty acids and ketone bodies, which can be used for energy. When you eat limited carbs, fat becomes the primary energy source, and the ketone bodies are used as fuel. Your body has 2 choices for energy, glucose (sugar) and ketone bodies. Everything runs better on ketone bodies.

Case Studies 

Robb presented a few case studies of people who trained with them at CrossFit NorCal. In general, they ate a Paleo diet during the week and took the weekends off to eat what they wanted. They trained 2 to 3 days per week for a month and saw huge body changes and strength gains, thanks to changing their diet. 

30 year old Male 

Started:	Bodyweight = 165 lb, Deadlift = 185 lb
Ended:	Bodyweight = 131 lb, Deadlift = 315 lb

42 year old Male 

Started:	Blood Pressure = 140/90, Triglycerides* = 279
Ended:	Blood Pressure = 112/64; Triglycerides* = 83

*Triglycerides are a measure of fats in the blood and high triglycerides is an indication of insulin resistance. 

48 year old Female

Started:	Alkaline-Phosphate* = 518
Ended:	Alkaline-Phosphate* = 42

*Alkaline-Phosphate measurements (cirrhosis of liver: ~300; normal range: 32-126)

Conclusion

Eat a Paleo diet, where you get as much of your protein from grass fed and free range sources as you can. Shift about half of your daily carbohydrates to the post workout meal. Your body is able to process carbohydrates much better in the post workout meal, when your glycogen stores have been depleted, than at other times of the day.

You can even take the Zone Diet a step further and tailor it to your specific needs. Serious athletes may need to increase their fat consumption. Many people run better with slightly less carbohydrates. Take the 40-30-30 Zone Diet as your base and experiment to see where you feel best. It will be slightly different for everyone, but this is an excellent place to start. Schedule a meeting with a trainer to get more help on how to make the Zone perfect for your body!

While the Zone diet does focus on lean protein, low glycemic carbohydrates and good fats, it's primary focus is the ratio of protein to carbohydrates (quantity). The ideal food choices are better laid out by the Paleo diet, and combining these two methods will give you the absolute best nutrition program in the world.

More information on the Zone diet and macronutrient ratios:
What is The Zone?
How to Make a Zone Meal
Quick Start Guide to the Zone
Favorable Zone Foods/Block Guide

You can even take the Zone Diet a step further and tailor it to your specific needs. Serious athletes may need to increase their fat consumption. Many people run better with slightly less carbohydrates. Take the 40-30-30 Zone Diet as your base and experiment to see where you feel best. It will be slightly different for everyone, but this is an excellent place to start. Schedule a meeting with a trainer to get more help on how to make the Zone perfect for your body!

While the Zone diet does focus on lean protein, low glycemic carbohydrates and good fats, it's primary focus is the ratio of protein to carbohydrates (quantity). The ideal food choices are better laid out by the Paleo diet, and combining these two methods will give you the absolute best nutrition program in the world.

More information on the Zone diet and macronutrient ratios:
What is The Zone?
How to Make a Zone Meal
Quick Start Guide to the Zone
Favorable Zone Foods/Block Guide

Tuesday 24FEB2009

Great Job on yesterdays downgrade of the Filthy Fifty.  I felt it would be challenging but different from the norm.  I'm feeling creative cause I want to break the mold of the normal crossfit WODs that i've been seeing on all the other sights.  This weeks focus will be on speed with a little power involved to throw a wrench in the brains pathways to the muscles.  Variance is a key to success.  Just not the only key!

For Time, Of Course:

800M Run
25 KB Swings      53-35LBS

800M Run
25 Power Cleans  50-75% Bodyweight

800M Run
25 Ring Dips

800M Run            Dead Hang/Bands
25 Pull Ups

WOD: Monday 23FEB2008

Matt "The Quiet Professional" Boulden.  SLC Crossfits newest level 1 coach.  Watch out for his handshake.  Its been known to grind bones in your hand.  Make it short and sweet to preserve your hand strength for the WOD is what I say.

Seneca making the 400M run look like lots of fun.  I sure didn't feel that way.  

WOD:  Filthy Fifty Something Else...

1. 50M Sprint50 
2. 50M Side Skip (Right Leg Forward) 
3. Deadlift 135LBS/95LBS
4. 50 Butterfly Sit Ups
5. 50 Ball Cleans 
6. 50 Grasshoppers 
7. 50 Push Ups 
8. 50 Double Unders 
9. 50M Sprint 
10. 50M Side Skip (Left Leg Forward)  

Here are some great articles done by Crossfit Rockwall.

Ditch Your Heart Rate Monitor - There's a Better Way to Measure Your Fitness

What is a heart rate monitor?

A heart rate monitor is a device that allows a user to measure their heart rate during training. It usually consists of two elements: a chest strap transmitter and a watch/wrist receiver. The chest strap has electrodes in contact with the skin to monitor the electrical voltages in the heart. A radio signal is transmitted, which measures the users heart beat. The receiver then translates this into beats per minute or percentage of a theoretical maximum heart rate.

What is your heart rate and what affects it?

Your heart rate is the rate at which your heart beats. Your heart has an intrinsic rate, which is how fast it would beat if you took it out of your body. This rate changes with age. Additionally, sympathetic nerves speed it up, and parasympathetic nerves slow it down. Exercise causes the parasympathetic nerves to be less active, which increases your heart rate during activity. Intense exercise further causes the sympathetic nerves to speed it up even more. But, heart rate is affected by more than just your activity. Numerous other factors come into play, including medicines you are taking, diseases or conditions you may have, the amount of sleep you get, caffeine intake, startling noises or actions, your age, your fitness level, the humidity, the temperature, your mindset, etc.

Clearly, your heart rate is comprised of many variables. This makes heart rate difficult to analyze, especially when it comes to fitness. Unfortunately, for many athletes and trainers, the heart rate is a magical marker of fitness. They dutifully measure and record their heart rates and base their training and self worth on this number. Frequently, the importance of heart rate is overemphasized in training programs and the quest for actual, real fitness is lost.

The problem with calculating "maximum" heart rate

The problem with heart rate begins with the elusive maximum heart rate calculation. This is the value from which all training "zones" are calculated. Heart rate zones have problems of their own, but I've already talked about that in "The Truth Behind the Fat Burning Zone". The most popular equation to find your maximum heart rate is:

220 - your age = HRmax

However, when they found that this wasn't very accurate, Dr. Hirofumi Tanaka came up with a new formula:

208 - .7 x (your age) = HRmax

The results of Tanaka's study states that "HRmax is predicted, to a large extent, by age alone and is independent of gender and habitual physical activity status." and that their findings "have the effect of underestimating the true level of physical stress imposed during exercise testing and the appropriate intensity of prescribed exercise programs."

Now, what good is a formula that doesn't work? What they are proposing in the above formulas are that everyone of the same age should have the same maximum heart rate. Looking at the wide range of health and fitness of all 25 year olds, or all 45 year olds, this logically can not be true. Everyone's heart will have a different capacity and, therefore, different maximum heart rate. The size of your heart and strength of your muscles surrounding your heart will have a great impact on what your heart is capable of, and this will be different for everyone. If we can't accurately calculate our maximum heart rate, and hence our "heart rate zones", are we chasing something intangible?

What's the real problem with heart rate monitors? 

Let's take a look at some basic problems with using heart rate as a measure of intensity. When was the last time you watched a suspenseful movie? Or got pulled over for speeding? Or got caught surfing the internet at work? How high was your heart rate then? It was likely pretty high, but were you actually doing any work? Runners frequently go out for training runs with their monitors faithfully strapped on. But how good is their interpretation of the results? Maybe they were chased by a dog for half a mile or almost got hit by a car. Maybe the humidity was higher or they didn't get as much sleep the night before. Multiple factors could cause an abnormal spike in heart rate values, rendering them useless.

There is also a mental aspect of wearing a heart rate monitor. Every once in a while you may realize you are below your 60-70% range and up the intensity. But, how many people set the ranges on their monitor so that it beeps if their heart rate gets to high? Then, thinking they are overdoing it (even though they don't feel tired), slow down. They just drastically reduced the effectiveness of their workout.

Why do people use heart rate monitors anyway?

The reason athletes and trainers like to measure fitness and intensity using a heart rate calculation is because they have not defined fitness and performance in any real way. This allows them to make pretty graphs and charts and, heck, you can even download information from your monitor onto your computers these days and come up will all sorts of cool stuff. But, does it really tell you anything about your fitness level? Being able to say that you "were in your 'target' heart rate for 20 minutes" or "I put forth such a great effort, I nearly 'maxed out' my heart rate" does not translate into improved fitness or greater work capacity.

Heart rate monitors may have a place in training for special populations, such as pregnant women and people who have had serious heart trouble in the past, but many people strap on their monitors for somewhat of a false safety blanket. To them, staying in their "heart rate zone" means they aren't pushing too hard and aren't pushing too little. This causes them to ignore how they are actually feeling and rely on an electronic device and arbitrary limits to tell them when to slow down or speed up.

How am I going to measure my workouts without my heart rate monitor?

Heart rate monitors do not measure quality or productivity. Riding your bike on the same course, in the same amount of time, will produce different heart rates on different days, due to all of the extrinsic factors affecting the measurement. Measuring how far and how fast you can move is a much better measure of fitness and performance. Here's a great article on intensity and how to measure your workouts using power output.

What is comes down to is this: push yourself every workout. If you're lallygagging, go faster. It doesn't matter if you're at 50% or 90% of your max heart rate (because we already know that's speculative and inaccurate). If your purpose of training is to waste your time and complicate your training, by all means, strap that sucker on and stay between 60-70%. But, if your purpose is to perform better, to get fitter, and improve your athleticism, then measure your times, your distances, and your weights. Strive to be faster, go farther, and lift more.

In real life, you must be able to function without the feedback of a heart rate monitor. At CrossFit Rockwall, we're training for sport, as well and the unknown and unknowable things life throws at us. If we're carrying our buddy in combat or trying to get out of a burning house, are we going to slow down because our heart rate is too high? Of course not. We need to know our limits without relying on an inaccurate electronic device to feed it to us.

What is a heart rate monitor?

A heart rate monitor is a device that allows a user to measure their heart rate during training. It usually consists of two elements: a chest strap transmitter and a watch/wrist receiver. The chest strap has electrodes in contact with the skin to monitor the electrical voltages in the heart. A radio signal is transmitted, which measures the users heart beat. The receiver then translates this into beats per minute or percentage of a theoretical maximum heart rate.

What is your heart rate and what affects it?

Your heart rate is the rate at which your heart beats. Your heart has an intrinsic rate, which is how fast it would beat if you took it out of your body. This rate changes with age. Additionally, sympathetic nerves speed it up, and parasympathetic nerves slow it down. Exercise causes the parasympathetic nerves to be less active, which increases your heart rate during activity. Intense exercise further causes the sympathetic nerves to speed it up even more. But, heart rate is affected by more than just your activity. Numerous other factors come into play, including medicines you are taking, diseases or conditions you may have, the amount of sleep you get, caffeine intake, startling noises or actions, your age, your fitness level, the humidity, the temperature, your mindset, etc.

Clearly, your heart rate is comprised of many variables. This makes heart rate difficult to analyze, especially when it comes to fitness. Unfortunately, for many athletes and trainers, the heart rate is a magical marker of fitness. They dutifully measure and record their heart rates and base their training and self worth on this number. Frequently, the importance of heart rate is overemphasized in training programs and the quest for actual, real fitness is lost.

The problem with calculating "maximum" heart rate

The problem with heart rate begins with the elusive maximum heart rate calculation. This is the value from which all training "zones" are calculated. Heart rate zones have problems of their own, but I've already talked about that in "The Truth Behind the Fat Burning Zone". The most popular equation to find your maximum heart rate is:

220 - your age = HRmax

However, when they found that this wasn't very accurate, Dr. Hirofumi Tanaka came up with a new formula:

208 - .7 x (your age) = HRmax

The results of Tanaka's study states that "HRmax is predicted, to a large extent, by age alone and is independent of gender and habitual physical activity status." and that their findings "have the effect of underestimating the true level of physical stress imposed during exercise testing and the appropriate intensity of prescribed exercise programs."

Now, what good is a formula that doesn't work? What they are proposing in the above formulas are that everyone of the same age should have the same maximum heart rate. Looking at the wide range of health and fitness of all 25 year olds, or all 45 year olds, this logically can not be true. Everyone's heart will have a different capacity and, therefore, different maximum heart rate. The size of your heart and strength of your muscles surrounding your heart will have a great impact on what your heart is capable of, and this will be different for everyone. If we can't accurately calculate our maximum heart rate, and hence our "heart rate zones", are we chasing something intangible?

What's the real problem with heart rate monitors? 

Let's take a look at some basic problems with using heart rate as a measure of intensity. When was the last time you watched a suspenseful movie? Or got pulled over for speeding? Or got caught surfing the internet at work? How high was your heart rate then? It was likely pretty high, but were you actually doing any work? Runners frequently go out for training runs with their monitors faithfully strapped on. But how good is their interpretation of the results? Maybe they were chased by a dog for half a mile or almost got hit by a car. Maybe the humidity was higher or they didn't get as much sleep the night before. Multiple factors could cause an abnormal spike in heart rate values, rendering them useless.

There is also a mental aspect of wearing a heart rate monitor. Every once in a while you may realize you are below your 60-70% range and up the intensity. But, how many people set the ranges on their monitor so that it beeps if their heart rate gets to high? Then, thinking they are overdoing it (even though they don't feel tired), slow down. They just drastically reduced the effectiveness of their workout.

Why do people use heart rate monitors anyway?

The reason athletes and trainers like to measure fitness and intensity using a heart rate calculation is because they have not defined fitness and performance in any real way. This allows them to make pretty graphs and charts and, heck, you can even download information from your monitor onto your computers these days and come up will all sorts of cool stuff. But, does it really tell you anything about your fitness level? Being able to say that you "were in your 'target' heart rate for 20 minutes" or "I put forth such a great effort, I nearly 'maxed out' my heart rate" does not translate into improved fitness or greater work capacity.

Heart rate monitors may have a place in training for special populations, such as pregnant women and people who have had serious heart trouble in the past, but many people strap on their monitors for somewhat of a false safety blanket. To them, staying in their "heart rate zone" means they aren't pushing too hard and aren't pushing too little. This causes them to ignore how they are actually feeling and rely on an electronic device and arbitrary limits to tell them when to slow down or speed up.

How am I going to measure my workouts without my heart rate monitor?

Heart rate monitors do not measure quality or productivity. Riding your bike on the same course, in the same amount of time, will produce different heart rates on different days, due to all of the extrinsic factors affecting the measurement. Measuring how far and how fast you can move is a much better measure of fitness and performance. Here's a great article on intensity and how to measure your workouts using power output.

What is comes down to is this: push yourself every workout. If you're lallygagging, go faster. It doesn't matter if you're at 50% or 90% of your max heart rate (because we already know that's speculative and inaccurate). If your purpose of training is to waste your time and complicate your training, by all means, strap that sucker on and stay between 60-70%. But, if your purpose is to perform better, to get fitter, and improve your athleticism, then measure your times, your distances, and your weights. Strive to be faster, go farther, and lift more.

In real life, you must be able to function without the feedback of a heart rate monitor. At CrossFit Rockwall, we're training for sport, as well and the unknown and unknowable things life throws at us. If we're carrying our buddy in combat or trying to get out of a burning house, are we going to slow down because our heart rate is too high? Of course not. We need to know our limits without relying on an inaccurate electronic device to feed it to us.

Saturday - 21FEB2009

Great job yesterday everyone who duked it out upperbody style.  It was humbling for most and crippling for a few.  I just want to welcome aboard to our family two of our newest.  Dan Chace, and Terri Klug.  Make sure you say hello and do a meet and greet to welcome them to the family.  

WOD: AMRAP in 25 minutes of.

100 Meter Sprints (Down) 

100 Meter Side Skip (Back) 

30 Box Jumps / sub with Star Jump

30 Grass Hoppers / sub with Sit Ups

  

Friday - 20FEB2009

This WOD from the Main site looked like a fun one for today.  Its Friday, so bust it out and get it done.  

For time:

50 Ring Dips 
Run 400 meters

50 Push-ups 
Run 400 meters

50 Handstand push-ups
Run 400 meters

Thursday 19FEB2009

Row 3k doing 20 seconds work / 10 seconds rest until completion.

Then do:

50 KB Swings  53/35

50 Ball Slams  20/14

Wednesday 18FEB2009

Great Job on the Tabata workout yesterday everyone.  There were some really impressive times put too.  Lorinda, you were killing it.  You all did and i'm proud of you all.  JB, keep it up and people are gonna wanna throw out the gauntlet and challenge you.  Your turning into a freakish Justin.

25 Push Press 135lbs

50 Box Jumps

25 Push Jerks

50 Lunges

25 Burpees