Ted the Guinea Pig

Mark Rippetoe is a big advocate of consuming milk for the purposes of making considerable gains in strength and stamina.  The GOMAD (A Gallon of Milk a Day) diet is his recommendation for hard gainers. Ted and I are embarking on a little experiment for the next 4 weeks. Ted has agreed to try the GOMAD diet and he is already about a week into it. We are going to measure Ted's performance in Fran, Grace as well as take his CrossFit total (1RM for squat, press and deadlift) at the beginning of the month and then at the end of the month and see what happens.  

Wish Ted luck! 

 

Raw Milk

As of late I have been doing research on raw or unpasteurized milk.  It is illegal for farmers to sell raw milk but the demand from consumers in Canada is indeed growing. Right now I am looking for a source. In many European countries citizens have the choice to buy raw or pasteurized milk.  Check out the Weston A. Price Foundation website below for info on raw milk.  

http://www.realmilk.com/

Also, here is a link to a story from CBC on dairy farmer Michael Schmidt. 

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/01/27/f-health-raw-milk.html

A hint for today's WOD

2009 CrossFit Games: Coach Burgener on the Snatch Event - video [wmv] [mov]

Locavore/paleo/primal feast of gratitude Oct 17

I believe that the key to ethical and healthy eating is gratitude. Supermarkets are not arranged to inspire gratitude in the consumer but rather tend to generate a sense of entitlement and indifference. Westerners tend to be very far removed from the food they eat with little awareness of the time, knowledge and effort that go into either hunting and gathering or animal husbandry practices that do not follow the industrial model of CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations).

Flux CrossFit is going to hold a feast of gratitude. This will be in the tradition of folk culture and the celebration of the abundance of harvest. We will celebrate the simplicity of food in its finest and purist form. To also gain awareness of the ethics of eating meat and dairy products we will make a concerted effort to buy local products that meet some ethical and political standards. These standards are not set in stone and you will have to decide for yourself what your ethical/moral barometer is. Gratitude, perhaps even an awe for nature, develop when we take the time to ask questions about the source of our food.

Charity and I will be hosting this feast. We will be serving moose that was given to us by a friend. Please come any time after 6pm. We will eat at 7pm. Please respond on the blog if you will attend. Friends and family are most welcome. Each fluxer will be responsible for preparing some sort of food.

Please comment on the blog about your experiences preparing for the feast. What difficulties did you face? Did your relationship with the supermarket change at all?

-Darci

Understanding Intensity

Those of you that participated in the games undoubtedly increased your level of intensity for the duration of each workout. Likewise, those of you that were there supporting fluxers also probably recognized the high degree of intensity that each athlete demanded of herself or himself.

Intensity is CRITICAL to the CrossFit prescription, which is "constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movement."

Coach Glassman writes: "Power is the definition of intensity, which in turn has been linked to nearly every positive aspect of fitness. Increases in strength, performance, muscle mass, and bone density all arise in proportion to the intensity of exercise"

To understand intensity one must break down physical activity into two categories, aerobic and anaerobic. Most people are more familiar and subsequently comfortable with aerobic activity. Aerobic activity is usually greater than ninety seconds and involves a low to moderate power output or intensity. Some examples of aerobic activity are long distance running, swimming and biking. Aerobic refers to the presence of oxygen.

Anaerobic activity refers to the absence of oxygen. Anaerobic activity requires moderate to high power output or intensity. Examples are doing push-ups, sprinting 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, squatting.

The energy systems of aerobic and anaerobic interact together and in reality the two do not act separately. Aerobic activity aids in improving cardiovascular function as well as a decrease in fat. And that is great. For our purposes here however, it is worth noting that while anaerobic activity will greatly improve cardiovascular capabilities, decrease muscle fat as well as lead to vast improvements in speed, strength and power, the inverse is not true. Aerobic activity actually leads to a decrease in strength, power, speed. Coach Glassman writes: "Perhaps the aspect of anaerobic conditioning that bears greatest consideration is that anaerobic conditioning will not adversely affect aerobic activity! In fact, properly structured, anaerobic activity can be used to develop a very high level of aerobic fitness without the muscle wasting consistent with high volume aerobic exercise."

CrossFit's prescription for high intensity workouts translates into daily W.O.D.S that are often short in duration but that require tremendous power outputs from the athlete. My advice is to try and increase your level of intensity in your workouts. This is about being comfortable feeling uncomfortable. I am not talking about bragging about puking from working so hard, or working so intensely that your form falls apart; but rather taking less rest in the workout. Give yourself a goal for next workout, say, 5 breaths and you will continue to chip away at the reps. Or, maybe give yourself 3 seconds and attack the movement. At the end of the workout ask yourself: "Could I have pushed it further?" Of course, on some days, we just feel more 'on' than other days, but the goal should be always be intensity.

-Darci

Additional Classes

Starting this Sunday there will be a 1 pm workout.  

There is no class on Thanksgiving Monday. 

Starting next Wednesday there will be a regular noon hour class. 

-Darci

flux CrossFit performs well at the Saskatchewan CrossFit Challenge

What a weekend for flux! Tremendous performances by each athlete and so much heart! I came back to Regina completely invigorated and ready to get to work.

The fluxers were lucky enough to have a rowdy gang of supporters that were there from the early morning to the very end. I know the cheering helped me get in a few extra kettlebell swings and snatches.

Helen and Courteney came in first and second respectively in Division Three. They even lapped the men on the sandbag run. Almost everyone PR'd on their presses. Ted gave a strip tease during his burpees. Debbie came in fourth in the third event. She devoured the sdhp and the kb swings! Don muscled up a PR with a static press! Jane came in 6th in division two. She placed third in the first event, 5th in the second and 11th in the third. Rochelle and Charity both PR'd on their push jerk, tying for 7th place in the second workout. Rochelle gets bonus points for keeping a smile on her face throughout each event. Points for style as well! Charity rocked the swings and the sdhp. Impeccable form by all fluxers. Ryan killed the first workout. He came back from the 800m run in second place and pounded out over 30 sandbag thrusters in a row. Ryan handled the 70lb kb with grace. And me, well, I managed to make it into the top 5 for division one, earning a spot in the 4th workout.

Post flux commentary over dinner proved to be most entertaining, accompanied by riotous laughter and witty insight. Congratulations to all athletes and a big thank you to all of the supporters - Theresa, Joan, Traci, Cory, Ariane, Jacinta, Verne, Crystal, Neil, Karen and Chris.

-Darci

flux CrossFit Kids this Thursday's class is at 4:00pm

flux CrossFit Kids Class this Thursday will be at 4:00pm!
Thanks,
Charity

Saskatchewan CrossFit Challenge WODs

Hello to the flux CrossFit Team and all you faithful flux CrossFit fans:

Here are the WODs for the Saskatchewan CrossFit Challenge: 

WOD 1 - modified Jackie

Videos are uploading to our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/crossfitsaskatoon) right now. We will embed them here once they are uploaded.

Div 1

For time:

800m run

50 sandbag thrusters

30 burpee pull-ups

Div 2

For time:

800m run

35 sandbag thrusters

25 burpees

Div 3

For time:

600m run

25 sandbag thrusters

20 burpees

WOD 2 - Shoulders to overhead anyhow

Get the weight overhead in any of the following ways:

i) Press

ii) Push Press

iii) Push Jerk

iv) Jerk

WOD 3 - 1 minute madness

Videos are uploading to our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/crossfitsaskatoon) right now. We will embed them here once they are uploaded.

Div 1

3 rounds for total reps of:

1 min row for calories

1 min 65/95# power snatch

1 min Double Unders (DU’s)

1 min 24/32 kg kettlebell swings (KBS)

1 min rest

Div 2

3 rounds for total reps of:

1 min row for calories

1 min 65/95# sumo deadlift high pull (SDLHP)

1 min Double Unders (DU’s) or 5x skip rope singles

1 min 16/24 kg kettlebell swings (KBS)

1 min rest

Div 3

3 rounds for total reps of:

1 min row for calories

1 min 55/75# sumo deadlift high pull (SDLHP)

1 min Double Unders (DU’s) or 5x skip rope singles

1 min 12/16 kg kettlebell swings (KBS)

1 min rest

WOD 4 - Bonus WOD

This WOD is for the top 5 men and top 5 women in each of the three divisions.  The WOD will not be announced until moments before it starts.

For more info and to see the videos posted go to the following link: http://www.crossfitsaskatoon.ca/challenge

Remember to layer up for the first 800 meter run - it's going to be early and probably on the cooler side. 

flux CrossFit competitors should meet at 7:30am to register, begin our warmup, and talk it all through. Opening remarks are at 8:30am and the first WOD begins at 9am.

Now go flux yourself!

darci

Tuna Burgers

I got the idea for my tuna burgers from Coach Brendan who is a very creative cook. 

I like to use a pesto sauce in mine. This consists of a bunch of basil, couple cloves of garlic, about 1/2 cup of pine nuts, olive oil and some grated parmesan cheese, and salt for flavour. 

I mix the ingredients up in a blender and then add it to a couple cans of tuna. Add one or two eggs. I then chop up a couple of peppers, red, yellow, orange for colour (inspired by Brendan) as well as some finely chopped spinach leaves. Mix it all up, make small patties (about 6-8) place on a baking sheet and cook for about 10 min.  Goat cheese on top of the burgers is delicious! 

-Darci