CrossFit Athens

Nutrition for Knuckle Draggers

Got back Sunday from an absolutely awesome seminar with Robb Wolf about the basics of eating a Paleo diet, Zone concepts, and intestinal/gut health. Way more information than I could process, that's for sure. In a nut shell, just about anything that is wrong with you, aside from illness caused by germs, is probably related to a chronically inflamed GI track, gluten and/or dairy. I'll be compiling the information into something a little more legible than my chicken scratch and making it available at the gym.

We will also be starting a Paleo contest sometime in the very near future. This brainchild was proposed to me by Sydney and I think it's a great idea. Details so far include:

• Cash buy-in
• Before and after photos
• Body composition measurements
• Mandatory food log turned in every week
• Cash prize 

Stay tuned for more specifics.

Boo!

No Open Gym tomorrow, Saturday the 24th.

Parts 4 - 7

(It was brought to my attention that the guys over at EliteFTS did this article. I remembered reading it recently, but wasn't sure where. So, all credit goes to them. This is my iteration of their points. And, yes I know that iteration technically is a mathematical term, but it sounds too cool not to use it.)

4) Building bulk comes from lots of volume. Ladies, you're going to hate this one again because it goes against the grain of everything you've ever been told. That rep range of 8-20 that most women love to use is actually the rep range that causes what we in the business like to call hypertrophy, or increase in muscle size. Again, we can go to Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning from Bill Kreamer and see that the 1-5 rep range builds maximal strength, 5-12 builds bulk, and 12+ increases muscular endurance. Plus, how many times have you seen someone do squats, then leg press, then the leg extension leg curl machine, then thigh ab/adduction machine, then calf raises? Pretty pointless. Focus on heavy weights, low reps to increase strength, not size.

5) Lifting heavy makes you strong, not huge. This goes with the previous one. When lifting heavy, you're actually making gains in the neurological system. Your brain is learning how to use the muscle you already have more efficiently. Plus, heavy weights also help improve bone density which is critical for ladies to help prevent osteoporosis in the later years of life.

6) You have to eat a lot to bulk up. And by a lot, I mean A LOT. Remember, if we burn more than we consume, we're losing fat (if you're training, if not, you're losing muscle). So to get big you have to eat enough to not only maintain your current weight, but also to fuel your exercise and training regimen, and have enough left over to pack on the size.

7) What your old trainer had you doing probably wasn't working. Most females have an aversion to squats and deadlifts because they bulked up when their old trainer "prescribed" them. We have two possible scenarios here. 1) The trainer was stupid and was using a moderate weight and that rep range of 8-20, which causes hypertrophy. 2) Most females look in the mirror and see an extra 5-20 pounds that really isn't there when they realize they are becoming stronger. Just because you can see more muscle now that the fat is gone doesn't mean that you have gained size.

The rest still to come. . . .

10 Reasons Strength Training Doesn't Make Females Bulky

The number 1 question I get asked by women when they visit CrossFit Athens is, "This won't make me bulk up will it?" I usually smile and tell them no, and that they have to actually try really hard to bulk up.

I thought I might help quell some of those rumors here.

1) Women have way less testosterone than men. It's true. According to Bill Kreamer, author of the NSCA's Essentials in Strenght Training and Conditioning, women have 15-20 times less of the muscle building hormone testosterone than men do. This is why men are generally physically larger and stonger than women. (Not that women aren't strong!)

2) The reason you think women will bulk up is from the juicers on the front of body building magazines. All of the women you see on body building magazines did not get there without chemical help. Whether legal or illegal substances were used, they had chemical help to allow them to bulk up like men. The opposite would happen to a man who takes estrogen supplements (non-medical reasons). They develop breasts and store more adipose tissue. This also happens to male body builders who abuse steroids for too long without taking an estrogen blocker, a la Bob in Fight Club.

3) Toning is a BS phrase developed by marketing people to sell you on the idea of their product based on your fear of bulking up. "Toning" is what happens when you work hard, eat correctly and in turn remove the layer of fat from over the muscles. There is no such thing as toning. This called fat loss.

Check back for parts 4-7 later.

10 Short Weeks

Can you believe it? Only 10 weeks until we kiss 2009 adios. It's been a quick year that's for sure. So let's revisit those goals we established so long ago. Are you 80% to completing them? You should be.

No? Well get on the ball mate! You've got 10 weeks to blow yourself away with accomplishments.

Let me throw out a quick stat for you. The average American will gain 10 pounds of fat between Thanksgiving and New Years. That's 2 a week!

How about instead of being one of the average Americans, because CrossFitters are anything but average, we lose that 10 pounds. Totally doable too.

Then, when January 1 rolls around and everyone else is making resolutions that only last as long as the next cold morning or tasty smelling pastry, you're already 20 pounds fitter than everyone else. Sounds like a plan to me.

Remember though, you have to start now. No one else can do it for you.

Need help? Ready to nail these last 10 weeks but need a little guidance and accountability. Contact us for your free intro session to a life changing program. Serious inquiries only please.

I don't think he's training to improve his Fran time

"So how much does he deadlift?"

That was my first thought. What was yours?

Take it OFF! Your Shirt that is.

Update: No open gym tomorrow.

It has come to the attention of the training staff that some of our members are, for lack of a better term, cherry-picking their WODs. They check the main site, realize that the workout is something they absolutely don't want to do, or just don't feel like doing and decide not to come in.

This is not acceptable. Remember, the stuff you dread most is usually what you are weakest at doing. Which is why if you happen to stop by the gym around 4:00, you'll see me doing lots of burpees and rowing and less squatting and deadlifting. I HATE burpees. But I'm doing them. 

To this end, we will no longer be following the main site everyday. Somedays we might, if it's a really good WOD. Most days you can expect a creative collaboration between Mark and myself that will test your limits. For you nay-sayers to non ".com" programming (thanks Thiel!), realize that everything we do will be functional movements executed at a high intensity. We will still be moving lare loads long distances and quickly.

Remember that you are here to better yourself, not just do the "fun" ones. (I can hear the retorts now).

So what does this have to do with taking off your shirt? Nothing. But this does. Wes gives us a little bit of advice on CrossFitting "sans shirt". Check out the vid too. Although I doubt Letterman has had sex with him.

Give it a read.

(How many innuendos did you read?)

Zombieland WOD

Recent information has come to light regarding UGA's top secret "ardvark project". In an attempt to save money on buying new chickens for the poultry science department, the local university has journeyed down a dark path and begun reanimating dead ones. That can only mean the coming apocalypse will start here in Athens, GA, as it is only a matter of time before the strain of virus used to raise the little cluckers mutates to infect human dna, and we find ourselves battling hordes of un-dead. We must start preparing our bodies and mind accordingly. 

To prepare for the end, CrossFit Athens has designed a special zombie preparation training program designed to help you learn how to not only kill zombies, but how to hopefully win the Zombie Kill of the Week.

Following the program there will be beverages and a stink-n-drink trip to the local theater to see the new release of Zombieland. Come join us for the WOD or the movie, or if you don't wish to become part of the ranks of the walking dead....... both.

CrossFit Really Does Save Lives

A few of you heard me say that Jason and Megan would not be joining us a couple of weeks ago because Jason was in a car wreck. Until yesterday, I didn't realize exactly how bad the wreck had been. The following is a letter from Jason:

Hey Adam,

Sorry I haven't been at practice. I'm sure Megan told you that I've been in an accident. It's a lot worse than it sounds. I was in a high speed wreck on I-85. I know I won't be at practice for at least a year. I have a broken pelvis, broken vertebrae, and I've been unconscious for one week.  After speaking with the EMT at the wreck, I learned that it was because of my training at CrossFit that I was strong enough to survive. There was one other man in the accident, and had he been in my place without the strength I had, he would have been crushed and killed. I will be unavailable for a couple of weeks after my surgery, and I just wanted to make sure you knew. I'll see you whenever I can.

Thanks,

Jason

After reading that, Coach Rippetoe's words come creeping eerily into my thoughts, "Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general."

I ask that all of you keep Jason and Megan in your thoughts and prayers, and hopefully he will come back stronger than before. And I guarantee you that you will never see someone so excited about doing "Fran" as that man will be a year from now.