Centurion CrossFit Forward - Camp Buehring, Kuwait

20 JAN 12 - WOD

2012-01-19T11:53:00.002-08:00

"D.T." (Hero WOD)
5 rounds for time:
12 Deadlifts
... 9 Hang Power Cleans
6 Push Jerks

All @ 155#m / 105#w (Scale as needed, especially you big guys still working on form)

For the 0600 class, I'll get you started, but I have a 0630 Squadron Run I will have to duck out for; Skip Elliott will assist as needed.

19 JAN 2012 - WOD

2012-01-19T11:53:00.001-08:00

Rest Day

You'll need it....

18 JAN 2012 - WOD

2012-01-19T11:51:00.000-08:00

"Tabata Again"

4 minutes tabatas of each of the following execises (16 minutes total):
...
-Parallette Holds (also can use rings or dip bars or the one set of parallette we have) - Legs must be in L position (modification is with knees up)
-Med-Ball Cleans (20/14)
-Supermans - lay flat on stomache and raise chest and legs simultaneously for one rep
-KTEs

Due to our class size we need to break up into a minimum of 5 groups of 5 and rotate through the execises. KTEs can be done from the rings if class size is excessively large

This is a great core and ab exercise. Enjoy!

17 JAN 12 - WOD

2012-01-19T11:50:00.000-08:00

‎17 JAN 12 - WOD

"300"
For Time:
25 Pullups
50 Deadlifts (135# / 95# )
50 Pushups
50 Box Jumps (24'' / 18 '')
50 Floor Wipers (135# / 95#)
50 Kettlebell Clean & Jerks (35# / 18#)
25 Pullups

Total reps = 300; Based on space and resources available recommend delay starting a new heat every two minutes until everyone can complete their 25 pullups. Assign everyone a heat and then ensure we deduct the required time.

16 JAN 12 - WOD

2012-01-15T09:01:00.000-08:00

Run 5-K or Row 5-K (Try to do the Camp Buehring MLK 5-K and get a t-shirt - Post times to the board at the box & of course on the website/facebook)

Rest 3-4 Hours ...
Strength Day
Shoulder Press5-5-5-5-5

(sub ring rows if you have shoulder injuries)

15 JAN 12 - WOD

2012-01-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

Rest Day!

Just a reminder, tomorrow will be an am/ pm WOD beginning with the 5k in the morning. The box will be open for rowing and the regular WOD for those planning on running later.

14 JAN 12 - WOD

2012-01-13T11:40:00.000-08:00

‎13 JAN 2012 - WOD"Nasty Girls"

3 rounds for time:
50 Air Squats
7 Muscle Ups
10 Hang Power Cleans @ 135

Google "Nasty Girls" CF WOD for the demo or do a search from the mainsite!

13 JAN 12 - WOD

2012-01-13T11:38:00.002-08:00

‎13 JAN 2012 - WOD
5 rds for time

20 KBS @ (70# m / 53# w)
100 m farmers carry @ (100# m 70# w) - Scale appropriately...
20 GHD situps (or Abmat Situps)

Old variant of a mainsite WOD; may require significant scaling for the farmers carry. Good one for Friday the 13th but that doesn't mean you should try to hurt yourself.

12 JAN 12 - WOD

2012-01-13T11:38:00.001-08:00

REST DAY!

11 JAN 12 - WOD

2012-01-10T11:52:00.000-08:00

‎11 JAN 12 - WOD Run or Row 5K (Try to do the fun run in the morning at 0600-box will be open if you'd like to Row)

Rest as needed then....
Strength Day!!!...

Weighted (Strict Pullups)5-5-5-5-5
Goal should be to fail at about 1/4 of your body weight if possible. Talk to a trainer about progressive work for pullups.

10 JAN 12 - WOD

2012-01-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

‎10JAN12-WOD TABATA something else.
Push-ups
Box Jumps (24 / 20)
Ring or Bar Dips
Walking Lunges
No rest between exercises; lowest reps are total for each exercise
Total all to determine your score.

9 JAN 2012 - WOD

2012-01-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

‎9 JAN 2012 - "Jack Bauer"21-18-15-12-9-6-3 KB Swings &
3-6-9-12-15-18-21 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls.

Alternate between the two exercises starting at reps 21 for KBS & 3 for SDHP. Go up and down the ladder for each until complete with both.

(55 # KB m / 35 # KB w)

8 JAN12- WOD

2012-01-07T21:23:00.000-08:00

Rest Day (also cheat day for some)

;)

7 JAN 2012 - WOD

2012-01-07T21:20:00.000-08:00

Deadlifts

5-5-5-5-5

Rest 5-10 minutes

METCON

5 rounds fot time

15 deadlifts (135m/95w)

15 burpees

Post times to comments

WOD - 6 JAN 2012

2012-01-05T11:59:00.000-08:00

"Party with the Girls" For Time:

All barbell EX M-95/W-65
Angie: 20 pull ups, 20 push ups, 20 sit ups, 20 squats
Annie, 50 Double-Unders and 50 Situps
Diane: 21 Deadlifts, 21 Handstand Push ups
Elizabeth: 21 squat clean, 21 ring dips
Fran 21 Thrusters, 21 Pull ups
Grace: 30 clean and jerks
Helen: 400 M run, 21 KB swings (53/35lbs) 12 pull ups
Isabelle: 30 Snatches (Power)
Jackie - 500 m Row
Karen - 50 Wall-Balls
Nancy: 400 M run, 21 Overhead Squats

Brutal....but fun WOD.

WOD-5 JAN 2012

2012-01-04T12:36:00.000-08:00

Rest Day!
You'll need it in preparation for tomorrow's WOD!

WOD - 4 JAN 2012 (Camp Buehring)

2012-01-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

"Devil's Tail"
3 rounds for time
400 m run (M)
15 Pull-ups (G)
50 Air Squats (G)
15 Pull-ups (G)

4 Truths of Centurion CrossFit Fort Hood

2010-12-11T10:30:00.000-08:00

In SOF, there are 4 Truths:

Humans are more important than hardware.

Quality is better than quantity.

Special Operations Forces cannot be massed produced.

Competant Special Operations Forces cannot be created after emergencies occur.

At Centurion CrossFit Fort Hood there are also 4 Truths:

Quality is better than quantity.

Capable CrossFit trainers cannot be massed produced.

Proper CrossFit kit is an enhancer but not a limitation in
programming.

Experience wins over theory.

I cannot recall if I posted this previously but it's an article about our Fight Gone Bad event here in Iraq: http://sportsgrants.org/blog/archives/176

Veteran's Day

2010-11-10T18:30:00.001-08:00

On Veterans Day 2008, Centurion CrossFit Fort Hood had its first post on its blog and went active as a CrossFit affiliate. Below is that same post. It is just as relevant now.

I honor of Veterans Day, we will be taking the day off from training. Your WOD instead will be to find a veteran and thank them for their service to this great nation - 3, 2, 1....GO!

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"

The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11 a.m.

The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926.An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday - - a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day."
Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

Later that same year, on October 8th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" which stated: "In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible." (Click here for the full text of the proclamation.)

On that same day, the President sent a letter to the Honorable Harvey V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs (VA), designating him as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee. (Click here for the text of President Eisenhower’s letter.)

In 1958, the White House advised VA's General Counsel that the 1954 designation of the VA Administrator as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee applied to all subsequent VA Administrators. Since March 1989 when VA was elevated to a cabinet level department, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has served as the committee's chairman.

The Uniforms Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) was signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to insure three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates.

The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971. It was quite apparent that the commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic significance to a great number of our citizens, and so on September 20th, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89 Stat. 479), which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. This action supported the desires of the overwhelming majority of state legislatures, all major veterans service organizations and the American people.

Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

What Do You Lack? Probably Vitamin D

2010-10-19T18:30:00.001-07:00

Vitamin D promises to be the most talked-about and written-about supplement of the decade. While studies continue to refine optimal blood levels and recommended dietary amounts, the fact remains that a huge part of the population — from robust newborns to the frail elderly, and many others in between — are deficient in this essential nutrient.

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

If the findings of existing clinical trials hold up in future research, the potential consequences of this deficiency are likely to go far beyond inadequate bone development and excessive bone loss that can result in falls and fractures. Every tissue in the body, including the brain, heart, muscles and immune system, has receptors for vitamin D, meaning that this nutrient is needed at proper levels for these tissues to function well.

Studies indicate that the effects of a vitamin D deficiency include an elevated risk of developing (and dying from) cancers of the colon, breast and prostate; high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease; osteoarthritis; and immune-system abnormalities that can result in infections and autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

Most people in the modern world have lifestyles that prevent them from acquiring the levels of vitamin D that evolution intended us to have. The sun’s ultraviolet-B rays absorbed through the skin are the body’s main source of this nutrient. Early humans evolved near the equator, where sun exposure is intense year round, and minimally clothed people spent most of the day outdoors.

“As a species, we do not get as much sun exposure as we used to, and dietary sources of vitamin D are minimal,” Dr. Edward Giovannucci, nutrition researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, wrote in The Archives of Internal Medicine. Previtamin D forms in sun-exposed skin, and 10 to 15 percent of the previtamin is immediately converted to vitamin D, the form found in supplements. Vitamin D, in turn, is changed in the liver to 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the main circulating form. Finally, the kidneys convert 25-hydroxyvitamin D into the nutrient’s biologically active form, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, also known as vitamin D hormone.

A person’s vitamin D level is measured in the blood as 25-hydroxyvitamin D, considered the best indicator of sufficiency. A recent study showed that maximum bone density is achieved when the blood serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D reaches 40 nanograms per milliliter or more.

“Throughout most of human evolution,” Dr. Giovannucci wrote, “when the vitamin D system was developing, the ‘natural’ level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D was probably around 50 nanograms per milliliter or higher. In modern societies, few people attain such high levels.”

A Common Deficiency

Although more foods today are supplemented with vitamin D, experts say it is rarely possible to consume adequate amounts through foods. The main dietary sources are wild-caught oily fish (salmon, mackerel, bluefish, and canned tuna) and fortified milk and baby formula, cereal and orange juice.

People in colder regions form their year’s supply of natural vitamin D in summer, when ultraviolet-B rays are most direct. But the less sun exposure, the darker a person’s skin and the more sunscreen used, the less previtamin D is formed and the lower the serum levels of the vitamin. People who are sun-phobic, babies who are exclusively breast-fed, the elderly and those living in nursing homes are particularly at risk of a serious vitamin D deficiency.

Dr. Michael Holick of Boston University, a leading expert on vitamin D and author of “The Vitamin D Solution” (Hudson Street Press, 2010), said in an interview, “We want everyone to be above 30 nanograms per milliliter, but currently in the United States, Caucasians average 18 to 22 nanograms and African-Americans average 13 to 15 nanograms.” African-American women are 10 times as likely to have levels at or below 15 nanograms as white women, the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found.

Such low levels could account for the high incidence of several chronic diseases in this country, Dr. Holick maintains. For example, he said, in the Northeast, where sun exposure is reduced and vitamin D levels consequently are lower, cancer rates are higher than in the South. Likewise, rates of high blood pressure, heart disease, and prostate cancer are higher among dark-skinned Americans than among whites.

The rising incidence of Type 1 diabetes may be due, in part, to the current practice of protecting the young from sun exposure. When newborn infants in Finland were given 2,000 international units a day, Type 1 diabetes fell by 88 percent, Dr. Holick said.

The current recommended intake of vitamin D, established by the Institute of Medicine, is 200 I.U. a day from birth to age 50 (including pregnant women); 400 for adults aged 50 to 70; and 600 for those older than 70. While a revision upward of these amounts is in the works, most experts expect it will err on the low side. Dr. Holick, among others, recommends a daily supplement of 1,000 to 2,000 units for all sun-deprived individuals, pregnant and lactating women, and adults older than 50. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that breast-fed infants receive a daily supplement of 400 units until they are weaned and consuming a quart or more each day of fortified milk or formula.

Given appropriate sun exposure in summer, it is possible to meet the body’s yearlong need for vitamin D. But so many factors influence the rate of vitamin D formation in skin that it is difficult to establish a universal public health recommendation. Asked for a general recommendation, Dr. Holick suggests going outside in summer unprotected by sunscreen (except for the face, which should always be protected) wearing minimal clothing from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. two or three times a week for 5 to 10 minutes.

Slathering skin with sunscreen with an SPF of 30 will reduce exposure to ultraviolet-B rays by 95 to 98 percent. But if you make enough vitamin D in your skin in summer, it can meet the body’s needs for the rest of the year, Dr. Holick said.

Can You Get Too Much?

If acquired naturally through skin, the body’s supply of vitamin D has a built-in cutoff. When enough is made, further exposure to sunlight will destroy any excess. Not so when the source is an ingested supplement, which goes directly to the liver.

Symptoms of vitamin D toxicity include nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, constipation, weakness and weight loss, as well as dangerous amounts of calcium that can result in kidney stones, confusion and abnormal heart rhythms.

But both Dr. Giovannucci and Dr. Holick say it is very hard to reach such toxic levels. Healthy adults have taken 10,000 I.U. a day for six months or longer with no adverse effects. People with a serious vitamin D deficiency are often prescribed weekly doses of 50,000 units until the problem is corrected. To minimize the risk of any long-term toxicity, these experts recommend that adults take a daily supplement of 1,000 to 2,000 units.

Why Fat People Don't Lose Weight. The Diet Delusion

2010-10-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

METCON:
5 rounds of:
3 Deadlifts
Max rep HSPUs

Good article: http://www.science20.com/florilegium/why_fat_people_dont_lose_weight_diet_delusion

Who says science journalism is dying when it seems to be gloating about slaying one sacred cow after another: chiropractic, homoeopathy and now... dieting.

The internet is bursting to the seams with weight loss programs, slimming advice, nutrition counselling, fitness regimes, low fat, low carb, low salt, low sugar, low motivation diets. It's enough to drive one to drink, except that it would also make you fatter...or would it?

The diet industry has been around long enough to see that it sells hopes and mirages - and makes a ton of cash doing so - yet none of these diets can claim long-lasting success. It seemed like just a matter of time for someone to shout out that the Emperor has no clothes and that dieting is a huge waste of time and energy. Being overweight has nothing to do with eating too much, it has nothing to do with exercising, it also has nothing to do with calories!

Gary Taubes has dissected the weight-loss industry in his book called The Diet Delusion (in the UK) and Good Calories, Bad Calories (in the USA). If you haven't read the book and want to speed learn about all the false claims made by nutritionists then I suggest watching his video. It's about an hour long and includes a split screen with Taubes in one and the obligatory Powerpoint in another. It isn't light-weight!

If even that strikes you as too long then David Colquhoun has kindly copied out Taubes' 10 point synopsis.

1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, is not a cause of obesity, heart disease, or any other chronic disease of civilization

2. The problem is the carbohydrates in the diet, their effect on insulin secretion, and thus the hormonal regulation of homeostasis – the entire harmonic ensemble of the human body. The more easily digestible and refined the carbohydrates, the greater the effect on our health, weight, and well-being.

3. Sugars – sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup specifically – are particularly harmful, probably because the combination of fructose and glucose simultaneously elevates insulin levels while overloading the liver with carbohydrates.

4. Through their direct effect on insulin and blood sugar, refined carbohydrates, starches, and sugars are the dietary cause of coronary heart disease and diabetes. They are the most likely dietary causes of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and the other chronic diseases of civilization.

5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating, and not sedentary behaviour.

6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter, any more than it causes a child to grow taller. Expending more energy than we consume does not lead to long-term weight loss; it leads to hunger.

7. Fattening and obesity are caused by an imbalance – a disequilibrium – in the hormonal regulation of adipose tissue and fat metabolism. Fat synthesis and storage exceed the mobilization of fat from the adipose tissue and its subsequent oxidation. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of the fat tissue reverses this balance.

8. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated – either chronically or after a meal – we accumulate fat in our fat tissue. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from our fat tissue and use it for fuel.

9. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity. The fewer carbohydrates we consume, the leaner we will be.

10. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity.”

Apart from the information Taubes has put together, what he really hates about the weight-loss industry is the widespread lack of real scientific research with random samples and all the checks and balances that you don't find in an advertising campaign.

In which case, what other industries can we debunk and throw on the scrapheap of human follies? Pharmaceuticals anyone?

2010-10-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

MEBB(U):
Push press
5-5-3-3-3-1-1

METCON:
Complete five rounds of:
On the rings, lower from an inverted hang, slowly, with straight body and arms, 7 reps
15 Ring Push-ups

Move SLOWLY and methodically attempting perfect execution. Ideally this is done with two pairs of rings - one pair hung app. 8' off the ground and the second 4" off the ground.

Get Over Yourself Anderson Cooper

2010-10-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

This is not offensive, it's funny. It's ridiculous that NOTHING can be used as comedy anymore. Lighten up!

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni4795862/

Friday's WODs

2010-10-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

MEBB(L):
Front squat
3-3-3-3-3-3-3

METCON:
”Kelly”5 rounds for time of:
Run 400m
30 Box jumps (24”/20”)
30 Wall balls (20#/14#)

You SUCK as a Man

2010-10-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

REST DAY!! So I thought I would post something intellectual.....

Great post from: http://www.briansekula.com/blog/2010/10/04/you-suck-as-a-man/

You SUCK as a Man
By bsekula, on October 4th, 2010

And it’s embarrassing.

Editor’s note: This post contains what some might consider offensive language or a serious assault on manhood (yours or others). If you find any of the aforementioned potentially offensive, do not read this post. Remaining in denial or being uninformed is better than being exposed (and if it keeps you from getting in trouble with the wife, all the better). Instead, go here, here or here. If those don’t work for you, try this for comfort. It’s likely part of your current problem.

If you’re a man and have bigger boobs than your wife or wear pants with a waist size bigger than the length, you suck. No exceptions.

It’s the only conclusion that can be drawn – the introduction of the “sucking man” has led to a decrease in stature, an increase in estrogen and a softness you cannot deny. Prehistoric men were not soft or fat (neither was your grandpa). No, their boobs weren’t bigger than their wife’s (like yours). No, they didn’t wear 44×32 inch pants (seriously?). No, they weren’t vegetarians. No, and most assuredly, they didn’t jump on an elliptical four or five days a week.

And without question, while most of your body is big – the man-boobs mean your “manhood” is shrinking – it also means your brain is small and getting smaller.

Sorry, but…

You suck for many reasons, stature, dietary, lifestyle. Regardless, in nature’s view, you’re expendable. That soft, cushy body, those man-boobs and low testosterone mean you can’t and shouldn’t reproduce. It means you’re turning into a woman. When this happens in nature, you no longer matter. You’re here to reproduce and be a man. The good news is you don’t have to wait in line at the vasectomy clinic.

Why you suck.
Tendon insertions reveal prehistoric man (and probably your grandpa) as having serious muscle. They were lean, mean fighting machines – able to kill and eat. And avoid danger. In today’s times, you don’t have to kill or avoid danger. All you HAVE to do is eat. The elliptical part is voluntary, not to mention a waste of time. And nothing in your life counts as danger, unless you’re afraid of your wife because she’s more of a man than you, which just makes my point stronger.

Back to that tendon insertion thing. The bones of men “who do not suck” are thicker and stronger at KEY skeletal muscle insertions, like in the thighs and hamstrings, chest and back, which means they had serious muscle mass. Where are your bones thicker? In the hips and low back, which means you’ve got serious baggage yanking on them all day. It also means…

You suck because your life (and everything else about you) is soft. You get up early; tired because your sleep habits are horrible. Stumble through a shower, brushing your teeth and the bagel (if you eat breakfast) and coffee. Don’t forget statins, metformin and Lisinopril. You fight traffic or take public transport to your job where you sit behind a desk for hours, pretending to work. Lunch is a sandwich and a bag of chips. Don’t forget the diet coke and cookie for dessert.

However you make your way home, you either stop off at the gym to abuse an elliptical, run your kids all over the place or go home for a “lite” dinner, chicken and pasta, maybe a glass of wine, and ice cream for dessert. Then you make your way to the chair, where you doze and nod until 10:30 or 11 before going to bed for more crappy sleep.

Rinse and repeat.

Is it any wonder you suck?

A bunch of You cants…
You can’t stop sucking when anything more vigorous than abusing an elliptical causes serious injury. Like a sprint or squat jump. The likelihood either of these rips a hamstring or pops a tendon is high. Too high.

You can’t stop sucking when the only way you could do 10 pushups is by finishing the last 8 in the modified position, like a girl – remember, you’re turning into a woman. Should I elaborate?

You can’t stop sucking when you eat low-fat, no protein, and whole grains (any grains, really), like pasta, wheat bread and Cheerios. Or snack wells. Or M&M’s. Those food groups jack with your manliness, bind up testosterone, increase body fat and reduce muscle tissue (not to mention a bunch of other things). The elliptical doesn’t help here, either. Can you say Cortisol?

You can’t be a man and eat like a gorilla – either quality (vegetarian) or quantity. Relatively speaking, herbivores have small brains and large digestive tracks. Carnivores have large brains and smaller digestive tracks. Why? It can get technical, what with the Expensive Tissue Hypothesis and all, but suffice to say, you and a gorilla have more in common than you care to admit (*ahem*). Your brain is shrinking and your gut is expanding – it needs more room to digest all the crap your shoving down there.

You can’t stop sucking by going to a restaurant and ordering from the “lite” menu. That’s code for low-fat, which means two ounces of chicken breast and three pounds of pasta. No thank you.

You can’t stop sucking when victory in your suburban life is beating some guy off the line at a 4-way stop. This is like the pushup thing, no explanation needed.

You can’t stop sucking when you’re a douchebag. There is no way to justify your doucheyness. And no matter what you change in the “How to” list below, if the douchebag remains, you still suck.

You can’t stop sucking when you drink “lite beer” because it has fewer calories. Beer is made with wheat. And wheat sucks.

You can’t stop sucking when your 5’ 5” and have little man’s disease. This just sucks. Really. You’re more like a gnat than anything else. NEXT!

You can’t …

There isn’t enough space on the interwebs to hold all the reasons. As a man, you suck and it’s embarrassing.

How to stop sucking in 4 easy steps.
Can you ever stop sucking? Maybe. For your sake, I hope it’s not a lost cause.

Here is my very own “How to stop sucking” list. Even if you don’t completely stop sucking, you’ll embarrass me and others who don’t suck a little less, which is bigger than winning a race at the 4-way stop sign.

1. Things you can’t change.
You can’t change your height. Being shorter than average doesn’t mean you’ll completely suck forever. Just partially, unless you can’t shake that “little man’s disease” syndrome. You can’t change your age either, but age has little to do with you sucking. Seriously. Just consider it a confounding variable. See Exhibit A, your grandpa. Who at 80 could wipe the floor with you.

2. Crank up the intensity
Ditch the elliptical. It just sucks. Besides, no self-respecting male that doesn’t suck would be caught dead on one. One or two days per week, crank up the intensity. Do something hard and intense. Get out of your comfort zone. Run some sprints. Do some jump squats or burpees. Go to the park, put out markers and do agility drills. Do real pushups. Go until you can’t go anymore and then do a few more next time.

Go for a nice, leisure, SLOW walk 2 or 3 days per week (more if you’d like). This is more about keeping the sensitivity of your metabolic hormones than caloric expenditure. Remember, back in the day, a walk, at the very least, was a requirement before any food or drink could be consumed. Note: stumbling to the shower or kitchen does not count.

3. Ditch the fake foods
Eat some meat – real meat, like steak, pork, chicken or seafood. Grass-fed, pasture-raised is always preferable. But starting with these at the grocery store is better than what you’ve been doing. And please, ditch the pasta, bagels, chips, breads, most fruits and 99.9% of foods that come in plastic bags or cardboard boxes. They’re inflammatory, they ruin your digestive system and they’re full of hormone disrupters.

They are not good for you, I don’t care what your wife, the food guide pyramid, the guy from CSPI, Dr. Oz, Kelly Brownell, some know it all down the street, “weight loss” programs sending food to your home or counting points say. Even when you don’t suck, they aren’t good for you.

Take all that fake food and throw it away. Don’t eat it. Instead, put the meat on your plate and replace the stuff you’ve thrown out with vegetables – preferably the above ground variety.

And quit drinking beer. Drink some wine or liquor, like scotch on the rocks.

No more gorilla like tendencies for you.

4. Get some discipline
I’m talking about discipline in your diet and exercise program, and a couple of other areas, which have contributed to your current condition.

Follow the three steps above for food and exercise.

The other part, sleep. Go to bed earlier. Turn off the lights, TV, computer and cell phone. It can wait until tomorrow. Sports Center is not that important.

Make sure your room is completely dark and a little cool. Shoot for eight hours. Soon, you won’t be stumbling to the shower or kitchen.

What’s next?
So there you have it. My simple, 4-step process to being a less sucky man. How will you know when you’ve made it? A couple of things to look for…are your man-boobs disappearing? Is the waist of your pants getting smaller than the length of your legs? Can you do more than 10 regular push-ups? Have you stopped abusing the elliptical? Do you have less in common with a gorilla than when you started? You know the drill.

Report back here in 30 days. We all want to see your results.

Sorry if it hurt. Someone needed to say it.

Want to lose weight? Get some sleep

2010-10-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

CF E:
Run – 12×1 minute intervals, rest 30sec between intervals

METCON:
”Helton”
3 rounds for time of:
Run 800m
30 Dumbbell squat cleans (50#/35#)
30 Burpees

Sleep loss may thwart dieters' fat loss, new study shows

Getting too little sleep might prevent dieters from losing as much body fat as they otherwise would have, a small study suggests.

The findings, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, add to evidence that sleep habits play a role in weight regulation. They also suggest that people embarking on a weight-loss plan may want to make sure they are catching enough shut-eye each night, researchers say.

The study included 10 overweight men and women who lived in a sleep lab for two separate two-week periods. During both, they were kept on the same calorie-restricted diet; but for one period, the participants slept for 8.5 hours per night, while during the other, they got 5.5 hours.

Researchers found that the dieters lost the same amount of weight under both conditions -- just under 7 pounds, on average. But during the sleep-restricted period, they mainly lost muscle rather than fat.

When participants got 8.5 hours of sleep, more than half of their weight loss came from shedding fat; when they got 5.5 of sleep, only one-quarter of their weight loss came from fat -- translating to a 55 percent reduction in fat loss.

Instead, the majority of people's weight loss during the sleep-restricted period came from lean body tissue, which refers to muscle and any other body tissue that is not fat.

"So they lost the same amount of weight, but the composition was different," said senior researcher Dr. Plamen Penev, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago.

Successful dieters always shed a certain amount of muscle, Penev noted in an interview, but ideally one wants to limit that loss in favor of shedding excess body fat. Insufficient sleep, the current findings suggest, might interfere with that.

The study has a number of limitations. Besides its small size, it also looked only at short-term weight loss. More research is needed to see how sleep duration might affect dieters' body composition over time, Penev said.

It's also unclear how well these findings from a tightly controlled sleep-lab setting might translate to the "real world," according to Penev.

Still, the findings do add to a body of research linking sleep habits to body weight. A number of studies have found that self-described "short sleepers" -- typically defined as those who get less than 6 hours of sleep each night -- tend to weigh more or gain more weight over time than people who get seven to eight hours of sleep per night.

Those studies do not, however, prove that sleep differences are the reason for the weight differences. Small sleep-lab studies such as the current one help researchers zero in on the effects of sleep itself.

Lab studies have suggested, for example, that sleep loss may alter people's levels of the "hunger hormones" leptin and ghrelin. Leptin is secreted by fat cells; low blood levels of the hormone promote hunger, while increases tell the brain that body is full and encourage calorie burning. Ghrelin is secreted by the stomach to boost appetite.

In their study, Penev and his colleagues found that under the sleep-restricted condition, participants reported greater hunger during the day compared with the 8-hour sleep condition -- even though they consumed the same number of calories during both periods. They also had higher blood levels of acylated ghrelin, one form of the appetite-boosting hormone.

This, Penev said, raises the question of whether, outside the tight control of the lab, the sleep-deprived dieters would have eaten more.

"The study suggests that if you are trying to lose weight by restricting your calories, it may be more difficult if you are sleep deprived," Dr. Shahrad Taheri, of the University of Birmingham in the UK, told Reuters Health in an email.

As for how much sleep is enough, "I don't think at this stage we can recommend a specific number of hours of sleep, as sleep is very individualized," said Taheri, who co-authored an editorial published with the study.

"But what we can do," Taheri added, "is pay more attention to our daily routines of eating, physical activity, and also sleep."

Penev agreed that there is no one-size-fits-all prescription for sleep. He suggested that people try to notice how much sleep they generally need to feel refreshed the next morning; for some people that may be 6 hours, for others it may be 8.

Both Penev and Taheri said that more studies are needed in real-world settings. According to Penev, a study might, for instance, follow patients at a weight-loss clinic to see how their typical sleep habits correlate with their weight-loss success.

As for why fewer hours in bed may cause the body to preferentially lose muscle over fat, Penev said he and his colleagues can only theorize. Their guess is that the extra waking hours increase the need for glucose (sugar) in the brain and other parts of the nervous system -- and they get that extra fuel from breaking down muscle.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39509907/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/

Monday's WODs

2010-10-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

MEBB(T):
Deadlift
5-5-5-5-5

METCON:
5 rounds for time of:
Row 250m
10 Front squats (135#/95#)
15 GHD Sit-ups
20 Box jumps, (24”/20”)

2010-10-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

METCON:
”Linda” aka 3 Bars of Death
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of the triplet:
Deadlift: 1 1/2 body weight
Bench press: body weight
Clean: 3/4 body weight
Set up three bars and storm through for time

CF E:
Row - 3x( 250m +500m+ 750m) Rest the exact time it takes you to do each interval in each set. EX. 200m run in 35 sec. rest 35 sec then 400m run, rest 400m time, run 600m, rest 600m time, run 200m, etc.

Fight Gone Bad 5

2010-09-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

The pics are up! Click the slide show on the left to go to Picasa and download them - I will also upload them to Facebook.

A HUGE thanks to Craig Miller from MWR for throwing 100% support behind the idea of doing FGB the second I mentioned it to him. Also a HUGE thank you to Darrell Otto for all his hard work putting this together. This event would never have been pulled off, without their help. Finally, another HUGE thank you to Adrian and CrossFit Slayer for supporting this event with their equipment!

Thanks to all the athletes that came out. I saw a lot a PRs today, some puking, and a lot of writhing on the floor after the WOD, which tells me you guys gave it your all.

The turnout of CrossFitter really inspired me. I had been toying with the idea of organizing a VBC-wide CrossFit competition and after seeing all the bad ass CrossFitters today, I know this can be a kick ass event!

I have already received some good suggestions, such as having individual and team competitions. If you have any input, please post it in the comments. Look for this in early December!

Fight Gone Bad

2010-09-24T13:54:00.001-07:00

Our FGB set up here in Iraq!

Annual cost of being obese is $4,879 for a woman, $2,646 for a man

2010-09-21T12:11:00.000-07:00

Awesome, not only is obesity tied to a host of nasty medical conditions and will kill you, it costs you a ton each year until it does....

Cost of obesity? Over $4,000 if you're a woman

WASHINGTON — Obesity puts a drag on the wallet as well as health, especially for women.

Doctors have long known that medical bills are higher for the obese, but that is only a portion of the real-life costs.

George Washington University researchers added in things like employee sick days, lost productivity, even the need for extra gasoline — and found the annual cost of being obese is $4,879 for a woman and $2,646 for a man.

That is far more than the cost of being merely overweight — $524 for women and $432 for men, concluded the report being released Tuesday, which analyzed previously published studies to come up with a total.

Why the difference between the sexes? Studies suggest larger women earn less than skinnier women, while wages don't differ when men pack on the pounds. That was a big surprise, said study co-author and health policy professor Christine Ferguson.

Researchers had expected everybody's wages to suffer with obesity, but "this indicates you're not that disadvantaged as a guy, from a wage perspective," said Ferguson, who plans to study why.

Then consider that obesity is linked to earlier death. While that is not something people usually consider a pocketbook issue, the report did average in the economic value of lost life. That brought women's annual obesity costs up to $8,365, and men's to $6,518.

The report was financed by one of the manufacturers of gastric banding, a type of obesity surgery.

The numbers are in line with other research and are not surprising, said Dr. Kevin Schulman, a professor of medicine and health economist at Duke University who wasn't involved in the new report.

Two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese, and childhood obesity has tripled in the past three decades. Nearly 18 percent of adolescents now are obese, facing a future of diabetes, heart disease and other ailments.

Looking at the price tag may help policymakers weigh the value of spending to prevent and fight obesity, said Schulman, pointing to factors like dietary changes over the past 30 years and physical environments that discourage physical activity.

"We're paying a very high price as a society for obesity, and why don't we think about it as a problem of enormous magnitude to our economy?" he asks. "We're creating obesity and we need to do a man-on-the-moon effort to solve this before those poor kids in elementary school become diabetic middle-aged people."

A major study published last year found medical spending averages $1,400 more a year for the obese than normal-weight people. Tuesday's report added mostly work-related costs — things like sick days and disability claims — related to those health problems.

It also included a quirky finding, a study that calculated nearly 1 billion additional gallons of gasoline (3.8 billion liters) are used every year because of increases in car passengers' weight since 1960.

Monday's WODs

2010-09-19T05:59:00.000-07:00

MEBB(U):
Bench press
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

METCON:
3 rounds for time of:
15 ft Rope Climb, 5 ascents
21 Ring dips
50 Squats

Awesome job so far on fundraising this year for Fight Gone Bad - send out that last batch of emails this week asking for support; this cause is far too large to stop now.

If you raise $150 or more, you will receive a FGB5 t-shirt. It takes about 6 weeks for them to arrive and they will be mailed to me; I will bring them in and hand them out. If you will be gone by the time they arrive, stay in touch with me via email and I will mail your t-shirt to you.

Great work, stay after it and tear up the WOD next week!

Wednesday's WODs

2010-09-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

CF E:
Run – 15 rounds for distance of:
Sprint 20 seconds
Rest 40 seconds
Start each round at previous round's end point

METCON:
3 rounds for time of:
30 Wallballs (20#/14#)
30 Squat snatches (75#/45#) (movement initiates with barbell below the knees)

Fish oil supplements may decrease breast cancer risk

NEW YORK — Women who take fish oil supplements may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer than those who don't, a study published Thursday suggests — though whether the supplement itself bestows the benefit is not yet clear.

In a study of more than 35,000 postmenopausal women, researchers found that those who said they regularly used fish oil supplements were one-third less likely than non-users to develop breast cancer over the next six years.

The lower risk was seen even with a number of known and suspected risk factors for breast cancer taken into account — including older age, obesity, heavy drinking and sedentary lifestyle.

Still, the study is limited in the fact that it is what is known as an "observational" study — where researchers look at the relationship between an "exposure" (like supplement use) and a disease risk.

"There are a lot of cautions with this type of study," said senior researcher Dr. Emily White, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. "It cannot show cause-and-effect."

So it is too soon to recommend that postmenopausal women start taking fish oil for the sake of lowering breast cancer risk, White told Reuters Health in an interview.

Further study warranted
Any such recommendations may come if and when evidence from clinical trials supports a benefit of fish oil. "Fortunately, there is going to be a clinical trial," White said.

She was referring to a Harvard University trial just underway that will look at whether fish oil and vitamin supplements affect the risks of cancer, heart disease and stroke in older men and women.

In that study, which aims to enroll 20,000 U.S. adults, researchers will randomly assign participants to take one or both supplements, or placebo pills, to serve as a comparison. This type of study is considered the "gold standard" for demonstrating cause-and-effect.

Fish oil, a rich source of healthy fatty acids known as omega-3, is best known as a potential boon for heart health. A number of clinical trials have shown that fish oil may help lower triglycerides (a type of blood fat), high blood pressure and the risk of heart attack in people with established heart disease; high fish consumption has also been linked to a lower risk of developing heart disease.

So experts generally recommend that adults aim to eat fish at least twice a week — preferably fattier fish like salmon, mackerel and trout.

But whether fish or fish oil have any effects on cancer risk remains unclear.

The new study, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, looked at the question by asking 35,016 women ages 50 to 76 about their current and past use of fish oil and certain other supplements.

The researchers then followed the women for an average of six years to document any diagnoses of breast cancer. During that time, 880 women were diagnosed with the disease.

Among women who developed breast cancer, 5 percent had reported regularly using fish oil at the study's outset. Among women who remained cancer-free, 8 percent had been current fish oil users at the outset.

Anti-inflammatory effects
Overall, fish oil use at the start of the study was related to a one-third lower risk of developing breast cancer compared with non-use — with factors like age, weight, self-reported diet and exercise habits, and family history of breast cancer taken into account.

It is biologically plausible that fish oil could affect breast cancer development, according to White. Fish oil is known to have anti-inflammatory effects, and chronic inflammation in the body is thought to play a role in the growth and spread of cancer cells, White explained.

The pieces of evidence are there, she said, but they have not yet come together into a strong enough whole to recommend fish oil for trimming breast cancer risk.

Dr. Edward Giovannucci, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, agreed.

"It is very rare that a single study should be used to make a broad recommendation," Giovannucci, a member of the journal's editorial board, noted in a written statement. "Over a period of time, as the studies confirm each other, we can start to make recommendations."

And while fish oil is generally considered safe when taken as directed, it can have side effects, such as stomach upset, heartburn and, at least at higher doses, bleeding.

White's team also found that among a subgroup of women with a history of heart disease, fish oil use was actually related to an increased breast cancer risk versus non-use.

The finding, White said, is surprising and not readily explained. She added, though, that it was based on only a small number of women, and may represent a chance finding rather than a true effect of fish oil.

The current findings cannot hint at whether a fish-rich diet might help lower breast cancer risk. But, White and her colleagues note, two previous large studies did look at the relationship between women's reported omega-3 intake from food and their risk of breast cancer. Neither study uncovered any link.

Update...

2010-09-06T11:26:00.001-07:00

Dave was here on Victory for a few days and we managed to link up for a visit.

I will be back in about 46 days and look forward to hitting some WODs in the box and helping out with classes for a couple of weeks!

You guys are doing a great job with FGB5; the box has raised $2,940.00 so far!! Keep after it and send out another batch of emails. We only have 18 days left so keep raising money, don't let up - this cause is worth bugging people about!!

We will be executing FGB over here as well. MWR has shown me fantastic support and we have an entire gym dedicated to it. Thanks to dedicated CrossFitters over here, there are flyers for FGB5 on every table in the DFAC, at the gyms, everywhere! We should be getting some PAO coverage over here so hopefully we can tie it in with the event there at Fort Hood.

Also, I placed a link to Kstar's Mobility WOD on the left hand of the page. If you aren't hitting this every day, you should be!

Since I am slightly laid up post rhabdo, I may be posting more nutritional info and other stuff here.

Speaking of nutrition, Robb Wolf's book will hit the stores soon. Robb is a wealth of information and if you are serious about your nutrition, I recommend you think about grabbing his book. It can be purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Solution-Original-Human-Diet/dp/0982565844

2010-08-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's that time of year again!

Fight gone Bad 5 is rapidly approaching. This cause is near and dear to my heart. All of our athletes are either military or their spouses and children. Every day, athletes from our box deploy overseas to defend our freedom. They do not always return and when they do, they do not always return unscathed. Any one of our athletes could be affected by these sacrifices and nothing is more important to me than ensuring we are taking care of those who have given selfishly for our safety.

Fight Gone Bad raises a great deal of money for the Wounded Warrior Project, Livestrong and a new charity this year the CrossFit Foundation, which provides support and assistance to the men and women of the military, law enforcement and first responder communities and their families, as well as to enhance the quality of life and fitness of deserving families by sponsoring such worthwhile efforts as Infant Swim Rescue (ISR), providing exercise equipment, and other beneficial acts.

I am a huge supporter of the Wounded Warrior Project and anything that gives back to Soldiers for their sacrifices.

Last year, Centurion CrossFit Fort Hood raised over $10,000.00. We raised more money than any other military affiliate. I certainly think we can top that this year, with all the fantastic athletes and trainers we now have.

Please register, send out emails, bug your friends and family. This only happens once a year, so do not relent!

Go talk to our sister affiliate on post, CrossFit WTU (http://crossfitwtuforthood.com/) and ask some of their wounded warriors how they were helped and what that help meant to them.

For the next 6 weeks I ask that you register, and truly work to raise as much as you can for these great causes. Show our wounded warriors they are not forgotten and that the CrossFit community and especially the military CrossFit community appreciates their sacrifices.

- Don

Nutritional value of fruits, veggies is dwindling

2010-07-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37396355/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/

While we've been dutifully eating our fruits and vegetables all these years, a strange thing has been happening to our produce. It's losing its nutrients. That's right: Today's conventionally grown produce isn't as healthful as it was 30 years ago — and it's only getting worse. The decline in fruits and vegetables was first reported more than 10 years ago by English researcher Anne-Marie Mayer, PhD, who looked at the dwindling mineral concentrations of 20 UK-based crops from the 1930s to the 1980s.

It's happening to crops in the United States, too. In 2004, Donald Davis, PhD, a former researcher with the Biochemical Institute at the University of Texas, Austin, led a team that analyzed 43 fruits and vegetables from 1950 to 1999 and reported reductions in vitamins, minerals, and protein. Using USDA data, he found that broccoli, for example, had 130 mg of calcium in 1950. Today, that number is only 48 mg. What's going on? Davis believes it's due to the farming industry's desire to grow bigger vegetables faster. The very things that speed growth — selective breeding and synthetic fertilizers — decrease produce's ability to synthesize nutrients or absorb them from the soil.

A different story is playing out with organic produce. "By avoiding synthetic fertilizers, organic farmers put more stress on plants, and when plants experience stress, they protect themselves by producing phytochemicals," explains Alyson Mitchell, PhD, a professor of nutrition science at the University of California, Davis. Her 10-year study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry showed that organic tomatoes can have as much as 30 percent more phytochemicals than conventional ones.

But even if organic is not in your budget, you can buck the trend. We polled the experts and found nine simple ways to put the nutrient punch back in your produce.

Sleuth out strong colors
"Look for bold or brightly hued produce," says Sherry Tanumihardjo, PhD, an associate professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A richly colored skin (think red leaf versus iceberg lettuce) indicates a higher count of healthy phytochemicals. Tanumihardjo recently published a study showing that darker orange carrots contain more beta-carotene.

Pair your produce
"When eaten together, some produce contains compounds that can affect how we absorb their nutrients," explains Steve Schwartz, PhD, a professor of food science at Ohio State University. His 2004 study of tomato-based salsa and avocado found this food pairing significantly upped the body's absorption of the tomato's cancer-fighting lycopene.

Buy smaller items
Bigger isn't better, so skip the huge tomatoes and giant peppers. "Plants have a finite amount of nutrients they can pass on to their fruit, so if the produce is smaller, then its level of nutrients will be more concentrated," says Davis.

Pay attention to cooking methods
Certain vegetables release more nutrients when cooked. Broccoli and carrots, for example, are more nutritious when steamed than when raw or boiled — the gentle heat softens cell walls, making nutrients more accessible. Tomatoes release more lycopene when lightly sauteed or roasted, says Johnny Bowden, PhD, nutritionist and author of "The Healthiest Meals on Earth."

Eat within a week
"The nutrients in most fruits and vegetables start to diminish as soon as they're picked, so for optimal nutrition, eat all produce within 1 week of buying," says Preston Andrews, PhD, a plant researcher and associate professor of horticulture at Washington State University. "If you can, plan your meals in advance and buy only fresh ingredients you can use that week."

Keep produce whole
Precut produce and bagged salads are time-savers. But peeling and chopping carrots, for example, can sap nutrients. Plus, tossing peels deprives you of good-for-you compounds. If possible, prep produce just before eating, says Bowden: "When sliced and peeled or shredded, then shipped to stores, their nutrients are significantly reduced."

Look for new colors
If you're used to munching on red tomatoes, try orange or yellow, or serve purple cauliflower along with your usual white. "Many of us buy the same kinds of fruits and vegetables each week," says Andrews. "But there are hundreds of varieties besides your usual mainstays — and their nutrient levels can differ dramatically. In general, the more varied your diet is, the more vitamins and minerals you'll get."

Opt for old-timers
Seek out heirloom varieties like Brandywine tomatoes, Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage, Golden Bantam corn, or Jenny Lind melon. Plants that were bred prior to World War II are naturally hardier because they were established — and thrived — before the development of modern fertilizers and pesticides.

Find a farmers' market
Unlike prematurely picked supermarket produce, which typically travels hundreds of miles before landing on store shelves, a farmers' market or pick-your-own venue offers local, freshly harvested, in-season fare that's had a chance to ripen naturally—a process that amplifies its amount of phytonutrients, says Andrews: "As a crop gets closer to full ripeness, it converts its phytonutrients to the most readily absorbable forms, so you'll get a higher concentration of healthful compounds."

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-03T12:17:00.001-07:00

In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.

Background

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.[4] After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:

“The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

Adams' prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.[6]

One of the most enduring myths about Independence Day is that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.[7][8] The myth had become so firmly established that, decades after the event and nearing the end of their lives, even the elderly Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had come to believe that they and the other delegates had signed the Declaration on the fourth.[9] Most delegates actually signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776.[10] In a remarkable series of coincidences, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two founding fathers of the United States and the only two men who signed the Declaration of Independence to become president, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the United States' 50th anniversary. President James Monroe died exactly five years later, on July 4, 1831, but he was not a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.

Observance

In 1777, thirteen gunshots were fired, once at morning and again as evening fell, on July 4 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary in a manner a modern American would find quite familiar: an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews, and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white, and blue bunting.[11]

In 1778, General George Washington marked July 4 with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute. Across the Atlantic Ocean, ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans in Paris, France.[12]

In 1779, July 4 fell on a Sunday. The holiday was celebrated on Monday, July 5.[12]

In 1781, the Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to recognize July 4 as a state celebration.[12]

In 1783, Moravians in Salem, North Carolina, held a celebration of July 4 with a challenging music program assembled by Johann Friedrich Peter. This work was titled "The Psalm of Joy".

In 1791 the first recorded use of the name "Independence Day" occurred.

In 1870, the U.S. Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees.[13]

In 1938, Congress changed Independence Day to a paid federal holiday.

Unique or historical celebrations

Held since 1785, the Bristol Fourth of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States.

Since 1912, the Rebild Society, a Danish-American friendship organization, has held a July 4th weekend festival that serves as a homecoming for Danish-Americans in the Rebild section of Denmark.[16]

Since 1916, Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City supposedly started as a way to settle a dispute among four immigrants as to who was the most patriotic.

Since 1959, the International Freedom Festival is jointly held in Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario during the last week of June each year as a mutual celebration of Independence Day and Canada Day (July 1). It culminates in a large fireworks display over the Detroit River.

Numerous major and minor league baseball games are played on Independence Day.

The famous Macy's fireworks display over the East River in New York City has been televised nationwide on NBC since 1976.

Since 1970, the annual 10 kilometer Peachtree Road Race is held in Atlanta, Georgia.

Since 1973, the Boston Pops Orchestra hosts a music and fireworks show over the Charles River Esplanade called the "Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular".[17] The event has been broadcast nationally since 2007 on CBS.[18]

On the Capitol lawn in Washington, D.C., “A Capitol Fourth,” a free concert, precedes the fireworks and attracts over half a million people annually.

Tuesday's WOD

2010-06-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

METCON:
For time:
50 OHS (115#/75#)
run 800 M
50 Front Squat (115#/75#)

Monday's WODs

2010-06-27T09:50:00.001-07:00

MEBB(U):
Push Press on the Minute: (65#/45#)
1 push press the first minute, 2 the second etc, until you cannot complete the number in in 1 minute

METCON:
21, 15, 9 rep rounds for time:
Push Jerk (155#/95#)
GHD Sit Ups

Rest Day!

2010-06-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

I need it after Special K!! Awesome job today on the WOD, that thrashed me!

Saturday's WOD

2010-06-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

"Special K"

100 Double unders
then 5 rounds for time of:
7 Overhead squats (135#/85#)
7 Deadlifts (275#/185#)
7 Box jumps
7 Front Squats (135#/85#)
then
200m run forwars with a plate (45#/25#)
200m run backward with a plate (45#/25#)

Come on out and suffer together with us on Courtney's going away WOD. If you don't you're just gay (talking to you Jimm...) :-)

2010-06-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

I am not big on endorsing stuff; I reserve that for only a few items/companies. I am a huge supporter of Again Faster because they have excellent customer service, great integrity and do a great deal to support the military.

I also support Rogue Fitness for the same reasons - fantastic customer service, they strive for American made products and they go out of their way to support the military.

I decided to support Progenex after several people I knew spoke highly of it and after I tried it myself. The bottom line is I believe it is a better recovery post workout protein mix. Nothing beats real food but as we all know, that is not always possible.

If you are into a post workout protein drink, give it a shot, in my experience it seems to work better than anything else I have tried and at my age, I'll take all the help recovering I can get!

Just use the Affiliate Code CCFFH10 during checkout at the progenexusa.com website and receive 10% off your order. You can also click the Progenex button on the left side of the page for the discount.

2010-06-20T10:34:00.001-07:00

MEBB(T):
Deadlift
3-3-3-1-1-1
90% of max

METCON:
21-15-9
Overhead Squats (135/95)
Chest to Bar Pullups

Fish and no chips

2010-06-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.economist.com/node/16214142

The wonders of docosahexaenoic acid
May 27th 2010

Smarter than the average zebra.TO PIN one big evolutionary shift on a particular molecule is ambitious. To pin two on it is truly audacious. Yet doing so was just one of the ideas floating around at “A Celebration of DHA” in London this week. The celebration in question was a scientific meeting, rather than a festival. It was definitely, however, a love-in. It was held on May 26th and 27th at the Royal Society of Medicine to discuss the many virtues of docosahexaenoic acid, the most important of that fashionable class of dietary chemicals, the omega-3 fatty acids.

DHA is a component of brains, particularly the synaptic junctions between nerve cells, and its displacement from modern diets by the omega-6 acids in cooking oils such as soya, maize and rape is a cause of worry. Many researchers think this shift—and the change in brain chemistry that it causes—explains the growth in recent times of depression, manic-depression, memory loss, schizophrenia and attention-deficit disorder. It may also be responsible for rising levels of obesity and thus the heart disease which often accompanies being overweight.

Michael Crawford, a researcher at the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition in London, believes, however, that DHA is even more important than that. He suggests that it was responsible for the existence of nervous systems in the first place, and that access to large quantities of the stuff was what permitted the evolution of big brains in mankind’s more recent ancestors.

Fish-eye lenses

According to Dr Crawford, DHA’s first job was to convert light into electricity in single-celled organisms. This gave them a crude form of vision, allowing them to move in response to light and shade, but also brought into biology a way of controlling electrical potential. If organisms are to be multicellular, cells must be able to talk to each other. Electrical potentials, the basis of every nervous system, are one way of doing this. And DHA was the enabler.

The molecule is certainly ubiquitous. Some 600m years after animals became multicellular, more than half of the fatty-acid molecules in the light-sensitive cells of the human eye are still DHA, and the proportion of DHA in the synapses of the brain is not far short of that, despite the fact that similar molecules are far more readily available. Indeed, Dr Crawford thinks that a shortage of DHA is a long-term evolutionary theme. The molecule is most famously found in fatty fish. He suggests this might explain why, for example, dolphins have brains that weigh 1.8kg whereas zebra brains weigh only 350g, even though the two species have similar body sizes. Furthermore, he argues that the dramatic increase of the size of the brains of humanity’s ancestors that happened about 6m years ago was not because apes came out of the trees to hunt on the savannahs, but because they arrived at the coast and found a ready supply of DHA in fish.

Not everyone, it must be said, agrees with this interpretation of history. For one thing, humanity’s ancestors do not seem to have been exclusively coastal. What they do agree about, though, is that substituting DHA with other, superficially similar molecules is a bad idea.

Accept no substitute

Joseph Hibbeln, a researcher at America’s National Institutes of Health, has been looking at the supply to babies of DHA from breast milk and at genetic variation in the ability to produce this molecule from other omega-3s. A study that began in the early 1990s has shown that children who are breastfed have the same range of IQs, regardless of whether they have the ability to make their own DHA. In the case of those fed on formula milk low in DHA, though, children without the DHA-making ability had an average IQ 7.8 points lower than those with it.

Nor is intelligence the only thing affected by a lack of DHA. There is also a body of data linking omega-3 deficiencies to violent behaviour. Countries whose citizens eat more fish (which is rich in DHA) are less prone to depression, suicide and murder. And new research by Dr Hibbeln shows that low levels of DHA are a risk factor for suicide among American servicemen and women. Actual suicides had significantly lower levels of DHA in the most recent routine blood sample taken before they killed themselves than did comparable personnel who remained alive. More worryingly, 95% of American troops have DHA levels that these results suggest put them at risk of suicide.

America’s department of defence has taken note. It will soon unveil a programme to supplement the diets of soldiers with omega-3s. The country’s Food and Drug Administration may change one of its policies, too. Thomas Brenna, a professor of nutrition at Cornell University, has written a letter (co-signed by many of the scientists at the meeting) urging the agency to revise its advice to pregnant and fertile women that they limit their consumption of fish. This advice, promulgated in 2004, was intended to protect fetuses from the malign effects of methyl mercury, which accumulates in fish such as tuna. The signatories argue that this effect is greatly outweighed by the DHA-related benefits of eating fatty fish.

They may, however, be swimming against the tide. The popularity of omega-6-rich foods based on cheap vegetable oils will be difficult to reverse. Indeed, if another of Dr Hibbeln’s studies proves true of people as well as rodents, it may be self-fulfilling.

In this experiment he fed rats diets that were identical except that in one case 8% of the calories came from linoleic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid) while in the other that value was 1%. These percentages reflect the shift in the proportion of omega-6s in the American diet between 1909 and the early 21st century.

In the 8% diet, levels of rat obesity doubled. It turns out that in rats (and also in humans) linoleic acid is converted into molecules called endocannabinoids that trigger appetite. Those who eat omega-6s, in other words, want to eat more food. And since, in the human case, omega-6-rich food is much cheaper than omega-3-rich food, that is what they are likely to consume.

The way out of this vicious circle is not obvious. Eating fish is all very well, but the oceans are under enough pressure as it is. Biotechnology might be brought to bear—creating genetically modified crops such as soyabeans with higher levels of DHA. Until that day, though, the best advice is probably that which was posted over the oracle at Delphi: “Nothing in excess”.

2010-06-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

CF E:
Run – 10 x 200m with 5 times the recovery (if it takes 40 seconds to run the 200m then you recover 3:20)

METCON:
8 rounds for time of:
2 Squat Snatch (135#/85#)
4 Push Press or Push Jerks (135#/85#)
6 Pull-ups
200 Meter Run

Friday's WODs

2010-06-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

MEBB(U):
Push jerk
3-3-3-1-1-1
90% of max

METCON:
AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
10 BK swings (1.5 pood/1 pood)
20 box jumps (24”/20”)
30 waling lunges (with 45#/25# plate locked out overhead

Wedesday's WODs

2010-06-08T13:01:00.000-07:00

CF E:
Run – 20 min Time Trial:
cover as much distance as possible

METCON:
100 DB hang squat cleans into thrusters (35#/25# DB)
Every minute on the minute, do 5 burpees

Tuesday's WOD

2010-06-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
10 Push Presses (135#)
8 toes-to-bar
2 rope climbs (2:1 assisted rope climbs)

Monday's WODs

2010-06-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

MEBB(L):
Front squat
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

METCON:
Row 250 m
21 Bench Press (135#/95#)
Row 500 m
15 Bench Press
Row 750 m
9 Bench Press

Saturday's WODs

2010-06-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

CF E: Row –
8 x 250m, rest 1 min between intervals

METCON:
"The Seven"
Seven rounds for time of:
7 HSPU
7 Thrusters (135#)
7 K2E
7 Deadlifts (245#)
7 Burpees
7 KB swings (2 pood)
7 Pull-ups

A suicide bomber killed seven CIA officers and one Jordanian officer at a remote base in southeastern Afghanistan on December 30, 2009 after posing as a potential informant reporting on Al Qaeda. Seven new stars will be etched onto the memorial wall at the CIA where every star represents grieving friends, family and colleagues dedicated to fight against the enemy, forever in their name.

Friday's WODs

2010-06-03T14:48:00.000-07:00

MEBB(T):
Squat cleans
3-3-3-1-1-1
90% of max

METCON:
21,15,9 rep rounds for time:
Front Squat (145# / 95#)
GHD Sit-Up

REST DAY!!!

2010-06-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, that WOD today was horrible! Well done to everyone who did it. No one on VBC did anything harder than that for PT today. With temps well over 100 degrees and hitting those 200m, 100# sled pulls and 37# sandbag runs in the sun, there is no doubt that some mental fitness was forged today.

Enjoy the rest day and relax. Friday is reasonable but Saturday is "The Seven" and I believe we will once again be turning off our big brains and turning on our lizard brains and just getting through the WOD, one rep at a time.

Tuesday's WOD

2010-05-31T19:42:00.000-07:00

As many rounds in 5 minutes:
5 Box Jumps (24” / 20”)
5 Ring Dips
As many sets in 4 minutes:
20 unbroken double unders
As many reps in 3 minutes:
OHS (95# / 65#)
As many meters in 2 minutes:
Row
As many pull ups in 60 seconds

Monday's WODs

2010-05-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

MEBB(U):
Bench press
3-3-3-1-1-1
90% of max

METCON:
8 rounds for time of:
2 Squat Snatch (135/95)
4 Push Press or Push Jerks (135/95)
6 C2B Pull-ups
250 Meter Row

Memorial Day

2010-05-30T00:13:00.000-07:00

Please take time this Memorial Day to reflect upon all the great freedoms we enjoy in our nation and to understand what the costs of those freedoms have entailed.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy redThat grows on fields where valor led,It seems to signal to the skiesThat blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children's League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their "Buddy" Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.

Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.

There are a few notable exceptions. Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."

The Moment of Remembrance is a step in the right direction to returning the meaning back to the day. What is needed is a full return to the original day of observance. Set aside one day out of the year for the nation to get together to remember, reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their country.

Friday's WODs

2010-05-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

MEBB(L):
Backsquat
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

METCON:
AMRAP in 20 minutes:
10 Single Arm DB(30# / 20#)Snatch (right arm)
15 KB Swings (1.5 pood / 1 pood)
10 Single Arm DB Snatch (left arm)
15 KB Swings

Wednesday's / Thursday's WOD

2010-05-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

For those of us in DCN, there will be a power outtage tomorrow so we will take Wednesday as the rest day and execute these WODs Thursday. For those of you unaffected by the power outtage, drive on with the published schedule and execute these WODs Wednesday.

CF E:
Run - 1min on, 1 min off, 1 min on, 50 sec off, 1 min on, 40 sec off, 1 min on, 30 sec off, 1 min on 20 sec off, 1 min on, 10 sec off, then go back up the ladder until you finish with 1 min on, 50 sec off, 1 min on.

METCON:
21, 15 & 9 rep rounds for time of:
Box jumps (24"/20")
KB swings(53#/36#)
SDHP (95#/65#)

Tuesday's WOD

2010-05-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

For Time:
40 GHD Sit Ups
40 Deadlift (185# 125# )
100m run (sled/sandbag)
30 GHD
30 DL
100 m Run(sled/sandbag)
20 GHD
20 DL
100m run(sled/sandbag)
10 GHD
10 DL
100 m run(sled/sandbag)

Saturday's WOD

2010-05-21T12:02:00.001-07:00

CF E:
Run: 10 x 100m all out sprints with 90 sec recoveries

METCON:
Clean one rep every minute on the minute for 15 minutes
You can go up and down in weight on this. Start medium, move up, find your limit and come back down if you have to.

Friday's WODs

2010-05-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

MEBB(U):
Weighted Pull-ups
25# max reps
20# max reps
15# max reps
10# max reps

Rest 2 min between pull-up sets

METCON:
21, 15, 9 rep rounds for time:
Barbell Front Squat (135# / 95#)
Burpees

Rest Day!!

2010-05-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

Good post from the affiliate blog last week: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703465204575208193178227952.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5

Putting on the Stripes to Ease Pain
By LAURA JOHANNES

Bright-colored strips of tape in odd patterns are increasingly being seen on professional and recreational athletes. Kinesiology tape can help take pressure off overused muscles, reduce swelling and alleviate pain from injuries, say companies that sell it. Scientific evidence is mixed, but clinicians say it seems to work—at least in the short term.

Kinesiology taping, developed in the 1970s by Japanese chiropractor Kenzo Kase, came to the U.S. in the mid-1990s. Now, a number of companies are competing with the tape created by Dr. Kase, called Kinesio Tex Tape. While the tape is sold by Kinesio Holding Co. only to clinicians, such as physical therapists and chiropractors, some of the newer brands are being marketed to consumers, with application instructions included on the package and on Web videos. (Kinesio Holding is an Albuquerque, N.M., company owned by Dr. Kase's daughter, Tomoko Kase.)

Unlike standard athletic taping, which often involves wrapping a joint for support and compression, kinesiology tape is placed in a variety of patterns depending on the injury, says Graceann Forrester, a Cortland, N.Y., physical therapist who instructs clinicians on how to use the tape. It is pulled to differing degrees of tension to create the desired effect and is typically worn for two to five days, unlike standard tape, which is used mainly during an activity.

Kinesiology tape can be used to pull back a shoulder that is hunching forward, Ms. Forrester says. Or to reduce swelling in a joint, tape can be used to pull up the skin and create an area of low pressure where fluid can move and drain, she says. Some clinicians believe the tape provides stimulation to skin cells that affects pain pathways—similar to rubbing a spot that hurts.

Tape can be applied along the length of a tired muscle for support. "It allows the muscles to go on vacation for a day or two so they come back healed," says Gainesville, Va., physical therapist Holly Moriarty, a member of the Lumos medical advisory board who was offered stock options, but hasn't decided to accept them.

Lumos, a Provo, Utah, company that began selling its KT Tape last year in major sporting-goods stores, offers a perforated and precut version to make it easier to use. Other new market entrants include Toronto's Nucap Medical Inc., which sells its SpiderTech brand to clinicians in a variety of pre-cut patterns, and RockTape Inc., of Los Gatos, Calif., which is marketing its tape to consumers as an enhancer of athletic performance.

RockTape so far hasn't published any evidence of its performance-enhancing claim, and clinicians are skeptical. Other companies' claims of reduction of pain and swelling are backed up by athlete experiences but the scientific literature remains inconclusive.

"There's no evidence of a long-term or medium-term clinically significant effect," says George Theodore, Massachusetts General Hospital surgeon and team physician for the Boston Red Sox, However, he says, kinesiology taping "is not harmful and over the short term it can have a beneficial effect" on pain and range of motion. It isn't clear if the effect is psychological, he adds.

Some trainers swear by it.Clay Sniteman, physical therapist and trainer for Association of Tennis Professionals, says he uses KT Tape during breaks in matches. "The athlete feels better immediately," says Mr. Sniteman, who says he gets no compensation from Lumos. "When that happens multiple times, there is something to it."

Two recent studies on Kinesio Tex showed some short-term effect. A study of 42 patients with shoulder pain, published in 2008 in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, found that range of motion improved immediately after application of kinesiology tape, compared with a sham taping using no tension. But the study found no significant difference in pain or overall disability scores.

Last year, a study on 41 patients with whiplash after car accidents found statistically significant pain relief and improvements in range of motion with kinesiology taping compared with a sham tape. The effects were seen immediately and continued a day later. In the paper, published last year in the same journal, the Spanish-led research team said the changes were so small they "may not be clinically meaningful." Kinesio Holding, which didn't fund either study, says a limitation of the shoulder study is that the kinesiology taping wasn't customized to each patient's injury.

Even if taping does work in the hands of a trained clinician, it isn't clear it will work when used by consumers. Taping can sometimes cause skin rashes, which can be minimized by not overstretching the ends, clinicians say. Baby oil can be used to remove any sticky residue

Wednesday's WOD

2010-05-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

CF E:
Run: 1 mile hill climb, incline between 6-12%, add 10-20lb weighted vest

METCON:
AMRAP in 15 minutes of:
4 SDHP (95 #/ 65#)
8 Thrusters (95# / 65#)
12 Burpees

Monday's WODs

2010-05-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

MEBB(L):
OHS:
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

METCON:
AMRAP in 10 minutes of:
10 SDHP (75#/50#)
50' walking lunges
10 Burpees
50' walking lunges

Friday's WODs

2010-05-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

The bumper plates have started arriving; a move will soon be coming and with it, new forms of pain.....

MEBB(T):
Deadlift:
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

METCON:
3 rounds for time of:
15 Hang power cleans (135# / 95#)
15 Burpees

Wednesday's WODs

2010-05-11T13:25:00.000-07:00

CF E:
Run: 6 rounds of:
120 second sprint, 60 seconds of rest

METCON:
21, 15, 9 rep rounds for time:
Thruster 95# / 65#
Snatch 95# / 65#
SDLHP 95# / 65#

Rest Day!

2010-05-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

For those of you familiar with the WOD, the "Murph" which is: run 1 mile, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, run 1 mile (all while wearing a 20# weight vest / body armor) - that Hero WOD is in honor of Lt. Michael Patrick Murphy, leader of a reconnaissance squad from Navy SEAL Team 10, who posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on 28 June 2005, during a fierce battle with Taliban fighters in the remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

If you want to know more about the kind of individual that selflessly serves our nation, read Seal of Honor: Operation Red Wings and the Life of LT. Michael P. Murphy, USN http://www.amazon.com/Seal-Honor-Operation-Michael-Murphy/dp/1591149576/ref=pd_ybh_3?pf_rd_p=280800601&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1501&pf_rd_i=ybh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=152XDCBAKFW2DH12HSYE

Free live streaming of the CrossFit Games Southwest Regionals today and Sunday.

2010-05-07T22:09:00.000-07:00

Catch the action here: http://live.crossfit.com/

Saturday's WOD

2010-05-07T12:08:00.000-07:00

CF E:
50 Double Unders
500 m Row
50 Double Unders
500 m Row
50 Double Unders

METCON:
5rounds for time of:
10 OHS (95#/65#)
20 push jerk
50 DUs

Friday's WODs

2010-05-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

MEBB(L):
Front Squat Medley
For max reps:
135# rest 2 min
95 # rest 2 min
65#

METCON:
AMRAP in 10 minutes of:
8 ring dips
12 C2B pull ups

Rest Day!!!

2010-05-05T12:44:00.001-07:00

If your legs are half as thrashed as mine are, this is going to be a much needed rest day.

Here is an excellent post that appeared on Robb Wolf's site: http://robbwolf.com/2009/11/11/for-the-troops/ a few months back. It's worth revisiting though. Bobbi is an awesome trainer and person and is spot on with her nutrition recommendations. Things I keep in my desk drawer are, nuts, seeds, the chunk jerky and those precooked chicken or salmon deals that are sealed in the foil bag. The most important thing is to HAVE A PLAN!!

For the Troops…
By Bobbi Milsaps November 11, 2009

In honor of Veteran’s Day, I wanted to do my first post from the Coach’s point of view on Nutrition for those of you serving in the Military. Let me first preface this by saying that I have been married to a Marine for over 10 years and have had interaction with the military as a spouse in social situations and as a trainer. I have so much respect for what our men and women in uniform do every day. I wanted to take the time to address some of the common issues/questions I get from military folks regarding nutrition and how to simplify it during their day.

So, to the Military guys/gals….

Kick the “energy” drinks to the curb. I get this question a lot, and it’s usually because of concern from someone that their Soldiers/Marines are fueling their day with Monsters and Red Bull. They are filled with sugar and will do you more harm than good. I know you are exhausted, and sleep can sometimes be tough to get, but focusing on dialing in the quality of the food you are eating will help alleviate a lot of that “crash and burn” feeling you get. Learn to drink coffee and tea instead (without the sugar or artificial sweeteners). These energy drinks aren’t only crappy because of the sugar content, but they are also inhibiting your ability to get sound sleep, think clearly, and cause heart burn/acid reflux, and a host of other GI issues.

Keep a food stash. I know that a ton of you are living in barracks and have teeny tiny fridges, no stove to cook on, and if you’re lucky, a microwave. You get the bulk of your food from a chow/mess hall and those operate on limited hours generally with a breakfast, lunch, and dinner being served and even more limited on the weekends. So, keeping a stash of food can come in handy. You can do really well with food that needs little to no refrigeration.

Food Stash Staple #1: Jerky – Keep a supply of jerky on hand. This can be in your barracks room, but also in your pack during the day. Try to get the brand with lower sodium/carb/sugar content.

Food Stash Staple #2: Nuts – No Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine should ever be without a can of nuts. Get them as natural as you can and roll with some almonds or cashews. I know they can be a little pricey, but they are cheaper at the commissary than they are off base, so stock up on payday. Many of you are putting out a lot of energy during the day, so this fat will help fuel you.

Food Stash Staple #3: Hard-boiled eggs – Most grocery stores will sell hardboiled eggs that are already cooked and peeled in a bag. “Egglands Best” makes them and sells them in bags of 6 and 12. Once opened, they must be used within 7 days, but this shouldn’t be tough to accomplish. It works well if you didn’t have time to get to the chow hall for breakfast or if you need a snack during the day.

Food Stash Staple #4: Sweet Potatoes – These are great to use in smaller quantities for your carb source. If you have a microwave handy, all you need is a sweet potato and some plastic wrap. Bundle the tater in the plastic wrap (don’t poke any holes in the wrap) and pop it in a microwave for about 7 mins (a little longer if it’s big). I recommend cutting it in half and eating half then and half later in the day or after your workout or a period of heavy physical output.

Food Stash Staple #5: Fresh Fruit – Oranges are easy to cart around and you can usually find an orange or an apple in the chow hall or 7 Day Store/Shoppette near the cash register. Eat the fruit in moderation, but keep some on hand as a better more quality choice than chips and cookies.

Pre-Make your snacks/meals – This can save you a ton of time. Take a handful of jerky, one or two handfuls of nuts, and throw them in a Ziploc bag. Pre-make a couple of these so that you have them ready to go. Then, all you have to do is grab a bag and maybe a piece of fruit and head out the door. If you feel like dropping some dough on it, you can buy a box of Paleo Snax, or Paleo Kits.

Know your chow/mess hall. It is not tough to eat well here. There is always a source of Protein, Carbohydrate, and Fat to be found within the walls of the chow hall. Stay away from the starches like rice, potatoes, and the bread basket. Go for the meat and veggies. If you don’t have your can of nuts handy, head over to the salad bar and grab a salad with some oil and vinegar on it or a full fat salad dressing (prefer the oil and vinegar). You don’t have to leave that place feeling guilty about your food choices. If you stick to the most natural unprocessed food there, then you can still make smart choices.

Avoid the “Food Court”. If you can’t avoid the food court, you can still make “smarter” choices there too. I know for a fact (because I’ve been a dependent for over 10 years) that you will find one or more of the following on any military installation when you visit a food court: Charley’s Steakery, Robin Hood (sandwiches), Popeye’s, Subway, Pizza Hut or Anthony’s Pizza, Taco Bell, Burger King. Stay away from Taco Bell, Pizza “anything”, and Popeye’s. Stick to the places where you can do a salad with meat, or meat only with veggies.

Teach your Junior Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines to make smart choices. It is so important to lead by example here. At first, they will look at you like a weirdo for breaking out jerky, hard boiled eggs, nuts, etc… as a snack, but they will also be curious. This is your chance to affect their life in a positive way regarding their overall health and well being. It’s not about making them super athletes, but instead, keeping them from being overweight, foggy headed, and prone to sickness. Our military men and women need to know how to make smarter food choices because mentally and physically, their job depends on them being “On Point” all the time. Good nutrition can give them a mental clarity that they have never before experienced.

~Bobbi

Wednesday's WODs

2010-05-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

CF E:
Row: 6x3 min intervals
Rest 1 min on intervals #1, 3 and 5
Rest 3 min on intervals #2 and 4

METCON:
For time:
10 Squat cleans (135# / 105#)
50 GHD Sit-ups
8 Squat cleans
40 GHD Sit-ups
6 Squat cleans
30 GHD Sit-ups
4 Squat cleans
20 GHD Sit-ups
2 Squat cleans
10 GHD Sit-ups

Tuesday's WOD

2010-05-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

For time:
Run 800 meters
15 left-legged pistols
15 right-legged pistols
25 sit-ups
12 left-legged pistols
12 right-legged pistols
25 sit-ups
9 right-legged pistols
9 left legged pistols
25 sit-ups
Run 800 meters

2010-05-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, rest week is done and it's time to get after it!

MEBB(T):
Squat Cleans
3-3-3-3-3

METCON:
5 Rounds:
21 Kb Swings (1.5 / 1 Pood)
21 Burpees

Talent and Skill

2010-04-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

Good quotes / philosophy from Will Smith that are applicable to CrossFit and life.

Mmmm, bacon.....

2010-04-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Rest Day / Skills Week

2010-04-25T00:22:00.000-07:00

This next week will be a week off from programming / WODs. Work on your weaknesses / skills, recover and it will crank back up next Monday.

Saturday's WODs

2010-04-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

CF E:
Run: 9x1min on, 1 min off - wear a 25# weight vest

METCON:
For time:
2km Row
50 Burpee
100 box jumps (m: 24” / w: 20”)

Friday's WODs

2010-04-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

MEBB(U):
Standing Press:
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

METCON:
AMRAP in 10 minutes of:
10 SDHP (75#/50#)
50' walking lunges
10 Burpees
50' walking lunges

Rest Day!!!!

2010-04-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

Man, those cleans and 2 pood kb swings SUCKED!! On a positive note, this blog is now accessable via NIPR computers on Camp Victory again - whoo hoo!

Since it's a rest day for our bodies, let's grow our minds some.....

I believe us CrossFitters can attest to the info in this first article:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100311123639.htm

High-Intensity Interval Training Is Time-Efficient and Effective, Study Suggests
ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2010) — The usual excuse of "lack of time" for not doing enough exercise is blown away by new research published in The Journal of Physiology.

The study, from scientists at Canada's McMaster University, adds to the growing evidence for the benefits of short term high-intensity interval training (HIT) as a time-efficient but safe alternative to traditional types of moderate long term exercise. Astonishingly, it is possible to get more by doing less!

"We have shown that interval training does not have to be 'all out' in order to be effective," says Professor Martin Gibala. "Doing 10 one-minute sprints on a standard stationary bike with about one minute of rest in between, three times a week, works as well in improving muscle as many hours of conventional long-term biking less strenuously."

HIT means doing a number of short bursts of intense exercise with short recovery breaks in between. The authors have already shown with young healthy college students that this produces the same physical benefits as conventional long duration endurance training despite taking much less time (and amazingly, actually doing less exercise!) However, their previous work used a relatively extreme set-up that involved "all out" pedaling on a specialized laboratory bicycle. The new study used a standard stationary bicycle and a workload which was still above most people's comfort zone -about 95% of maximal heart rate -- but only about half of what can be achieved when people sprint at an all-out pace.

This less extreme HIT method may work well for people (the older, less fit, and slightly overweight among us) whose doctors might have worries about them exercising "all-out." We have known for years that repeated moderate long-term exercise tunes up fuel and oxygen delivery to muscles and aids the removal of waste products. Exercise also improves the way muscles use the oxygen to burn the fuel in mitochondria, the microscopic power station of cells.

Running or cycling for hours a week widens the network of vessels supplying muscle cells and also boosts the numbers of mitochondria in them so that a person can carry out activities of daily living more effectively and without strain, and crucially with less risk of a heart attack, stroke or diabetes.

But the traditional approach to exercise is time consuming. Martin Gibala and his team have shown that the same results can be obtained in far less time with brief spurts of higher-intensity exercise.

To achieve the study's equivalent results by endurance training you'd need to complete over 10 hours of continuous moderate bicycling exercise over a two-week period.

The "secret" to why HIT is so effective is unclear. However, the study by Gibala and co-workers also provides insight into the molecular signals that regulate muscle adaptation to interval training. It appears that HIT stimulates many of the same cellular pathways that are responsible for the beneficial effects we associate with endurance training.

The upside of doing more exercise is well-known, but a big question for most people thinking of getting fit is: "How much time out of my busy life do I need to spend to get the perks?"

Martin Gibala says "no time to exercise" is not an excuse now that HIT can be tailored for the average adult. "While still a demanding form of training," Gibala adds, "the exercise protocol we used should be possible to do by the general public and you don't need more than an average exercise bike."

The McMaster team's future research will examine whether HIT can bring health benefits to people who are overweight or who have metabolic diseases like diabetes.

As the evidence for HIT continues to grow, a new frontier in the fitness field emerges.

This next article is even more facinating as I have to agree, evolution would never select genes promoting poor vision. I found this gem at Life as RX: http://lifeasrx.com/blog/?p=394 they have kick ass t-shirts too.

The realm of human knowledge will probably always be incomplete, but we learn new things about the world every day. Concerning the degeneration of health, the mantras of “it just happens” or “it’s genetic” seem to rule our consciousness. Never, it seems, is there a bona fide reason for grandma’s Alzheimer’s, your arthritis, or my crappy vision. It is that last one that bothers me the most, because doctors have never been able to tell me why I’m myopic (nearsighted). They are quick to be able to fix it, though, with glasses, contacts, and surgery. As is so common, we are great at treating disease, but not so great at stopping the onset.

Why, then, does myopia happen? I never got a clear answer, but as with so many things, “nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution,” though some would disagree. Not being able to see your prey or something trying to kill you isn’t a positive trait. According to research on modern hunter-gatherers, between 0 and 3 percent of them are myopic. Contrast that with the US and the rest of the industrialized world.

According to the British newspaper the Guardian,

Rates [of myopia] are lower [in Britain] – between 30 and 50% – but ophthalmologists agree that myopia is on the rise. “We can’t be sure of the numbers,” says Winfried Amoaku, consultant ophthalmologist at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, “but the increase in myopia, especially in eastern countries, really is quite rampant.”

Loren Cordain, author of The Paleo Diet seems to have a reason, that nicely correlates with the increasing encroachment of junk food. Myopia is a result of–you guessed it–consumption of neolithic foods. The onset of myopia may likely be a consequence of chronically high insulin levels. Having bad vision isn’t something that would naturally happen evolutionarily. Chronically high insulin, leads to insulin resistance, which tends to lead to a host of bad effects, like heart disease, acne, and obesity. One other consequence of hyperinsulinemia is an increase in insulin-like growth factor, which may result in increased growth of the eyes, which leads to myopia. Check out professor Cordain’s flow chart on page 12 of this link (http://www.visioninstitute.optometry.net/UserFiles/users/499/File/Lecture%206%20-%20Cordain.pdf) for more information, or check out his paper (http://www.direct-ms.org/pdf/EvolutionPaleolithic/Myopia.pdf) on the subject.

Like most events, bad vision is multi-causal, so reading and computers most likely have some effect. It is an interesting hypothesis and I’ll be thinking about it when I have kids of my own. I’d rather they not be visually impaired, like me!

If there are any ophthalmologists or doctors out there that would like to comment, feel free.

–Nick

Are school lunches a national security threat?

2010-04-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

CF E:
Row: 10 x 250m with 5 times the recovery (if it takes 45 seconds to row 250m then you recover 3:45

METCON:
5 rounds for time:
15 R Arm DB Power Snatch (M - 45# / w - 30#)
15 L Arm DB Power Snatch
30 KB Swings (m - 2 pood / w - 1.5 pood)

What are your kids eating??

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_school_lunches_threat

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Writer Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press Writer – Tue Apr 20, 9:24 am ET

WASHINGTON – School lunches have been called many things, but a group of retired military officers is giving them a new label: national security threat.

That's not a reference to the mystery meat served up in the cafeteria line either. The retired officers are saying that school lunches have helped make the nation's young people so fat that fewer of them can meet the military's physical fitness standards, and recruitment is in jeopardy.

A new report being released Tuesday says more than 9 million young adults, or 27 percent of all Americans ages 17 to 24, are too overweight to join the military. Now, the officers are advocating for passage of a wide-ranging nutrition bill that aims to make the nation's school lunches healthier.

The officers' group, Mission: Readiness, was appearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday with Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The military group acknowledges that other things keep young adults out of the armed services, such as a criminal record or the lack of a high school diploma. But weight problems that have worsened over the past 15 years are now the leading medical reason that recruits are rejected.

Although all branches of the military now meet or exceed recruitment goals, retired Navy Rear Adm. James Barnett Jr., a member of the officers group, says the obesity trend could affect that.

"When over a quarter of young adults are too fat to fight, we need to take notice," Barnett said. He noted that national security in the year 2030 is "absolutely dependent" on reversing child obesity rates.

Recruitment isn't the only problem posed by obesity. According to the report, the government spends tens of millions of dollars every year to train replacements for service members discharged because of weight problems.

This isn't the first time the military has gotten involved in the debate over school lunches. During World War II, military leaders had the opposite problem, reporting that many recruits were rejected because of stunted growth and inadequate nutrition. After the war, military leaders pushed Congress to establish the national school lunch program so children would grow up healthier.

The program was established in 1946, "as a measure of national security," according to the original bill language.

Today, the group is urging Congress to eliminate junk food and high-calorie beverages from schools, put more money into the school lunch program and develop new strategies that help children develop healthier habits.

The school lunch bill, currently awaiting a Senate vote, would establish healthier options for all foods in schools, including vending machine items. The legislation would spend $4.5 billion more over 10 years for nutrition programs.

The Army is already doing its part to catch the problem earlier, working with high schoolers and interested recruits to lose weight before they are eligible for service, says U.S. Army Recruiting Command's Mark Howell. He added that he had to lose 10 pounds himself before he joined the military.

"This is the future of our Army we are looking at when we talk about these 17- to 24-year-olds," Howell said. "The sad thing is a lot of them want to join but can't."

Tuesday's WOD

2010-04-19T21:03:00.000-07:00

For Time:
Row 1000 meters
21 Thruster (85# / 60#)
15 Pull-ups
Row 750 meters
18 Thrusters
12 Pull-ups
Row 500 meters
15 Thrusters
9 Pull-ups

Monday's WODs

2010-04-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

MEBB(L):
OHS:
3-3-3-1-1-1
90% of max

METCON:
4 rounds for time of:
500M row
20 Thrusters 95#/65#
20 KB swings (1.5 pood / 1 pood)

Rest Day!!

2010-04-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

Great post from Robb Wolf: http://robbwolf.com/

Kids, Paleo and Nutrient Density
By Robb Wolf April 16, 2010

I really do need to Sexify my blog titles like Dr. Harris (http://www.paleonu.com/) does! Ok, This needs to be a quiky but I’ve been deluged with this question of late and I want a singular place to address it. The question? “Will my kids “miss anything” nutritionally with a Paleo diet?”

Great question and this really gets right at the brass-tacks of how the paleo concept stacks up against other nutritional approaches.

Before we get to that let’s look at this issue of feeding kiddos. As a conscientious parent, one would assume you would want to feed your child the “best” you can, right? Make sure they get all the building blocks for brain development, bones, strong immune function etc. This is the concern surrounding paleo-kids on the part of parents, dietitians and physicians: Without grains, legumes and diary our children will be horribly stunted and unhealthy.

This is what we will call our Null-Hypothesis: Without Neolithic foods (breads, grains, dairy, etc.) our children will receive inadequate nutrition to live and thrive. We will likely observe diseases of deficiency in our children if this Hypothesis is true.

Now, how might we go about proving or disproving this Hypothesis?

1-We could argue. This might even be productive. I could site historical anecdotes which might be compelling, but it’s really not “proof” one way or the other.

2-I could character-assassinate anyone that disagrees with me. This is great fun to be sure, but actually moves us further away from the question at hand.

3-Quantify. We could compare and contrast different nutritional mixes and see what type of trends emerge. Perhaps there are foods that are inherently MORE nutritious for a given number of calories than other foods? Yes, indeed there are more and less nutritious foods.

Let’s look at a few papers and some charts from those papers. This first paper is:

Macronutrient Composition:
From: Origins and evolution of the western diet: Health implications for the 21st century. Am J Clin Nutr 2005;81:341-54. (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/81/2/341)

Let’s look at Table 4 from that paper:

This table compares the relative nutrient density between various foods. To make this comparison we need to look at how many vitamins and minerals a given food has relative to it’s caloric content, in this case 418 kJ (about 100 Cals). The “best foods” receive a 7 ranking, the “worst” a 1 ranking. What we find is whole grains are piss-poor nutritionally as compared to veggies, fruits, lean meats and seafood.

Now let’s look at:

The nutritional characteristics of a contemporary diet based upon Paleolithic food groups. J Am Nutraceut Assoc 2002; 5:15-24 (http://www.thepaleodiet.com/articles/JANA%20final.pdf)

First, let’s consider Table 2 from that paper:

This lays out the days offerings for a 2,200 cal day based on lean meats, seafood, veggies, fruit and nuts. Let’s look at the specific macro-nutrient breakdown in Table 3:

A few things are worth pointing out:

1-The protein is high. No, it will not give you kidney disease, no it will not hasten osteoporosis. We can talk about those specific topics in another post.

2-It is NOT “low carb”. You could obviously modify this as per your desires, either up or down, but paleo is NOT synonymous with low carb.

3-Fiber. Oi-vey! If I had a nickel for every hand-wringing dietitian and MD who could not figure out how to get fiber without bran-muffins and oatmeal. 42g is far more then that recommended even by the fiber-conscious ADA.

4-The omega-3/omega-6 fat ratio is spot on at about 1.5 6 per 3. Kids brains need both long chain essential fats and this meal plan provides FAR more than what is possible with grains, legumes and dairy.

Finally let’s look at Table 4 from that same paper:

Kreiki! Look at that. If you consume a paleo diet it LOOKS like you are taking a nutritional supplement. Several hundred if not thousand times the RDA in various nutrients, all from food sources. The only thing “lacking” is calcium, which is based on at best misguided information, at worst outright lies on the part of the ADA/AMA with regards to appropriate calcium flux through our bodies. This article shed some light on the calcium topic. (http://www.thepaleodiet.com/nutritional_tools/acid.shtml)

So, let’s re-visit that Null-Hypothesis: If I eat a paleo diet (or feed it to my kids) I/they will become nutrient deficient. If you notice, We have a meal plan built from the most nutritious foods available (lean meats, seafood, veggies, fruits and nuts) and the result is a remarkably nutritious meal plan. Now, our brilliant RD’s, professors of nutrition and most physicians will SWEAR that you will die without grains, legumes and dairy…but what will happen if we REMOVE one of the favorable food categories (like lean meats) and ADD one of the unfavorable food categories (like grains)? Folks, I hope this is obvious to you, the total nutritional content of the diet goes DOWN. Pause a moment and let this sink in. You can run these numbers any way you like, more nutritious foods will ALWAYS be more nutritious. And no, there are no secret substances in grains, legumes and diary that confer health, quite the contrary, they REMOVE nutrients due to anti-nutrients found in them and because they damage the gut lining. If your gut is irritated, and grains, legumes and diary do just that, you not only face the problem of less total vitamins, minerals and antioxidants when you displace paleo foods, you also increase the risk of autoimmunity and other immune related problems.

I may start a challenge: If you can construct a more nutritious diet (nutrients per calorie) with grains, legumes and diary (that are UNFORTIFIED) I’ll pay you $5K. It would be great for effect, but it’s an un-winable bet for the poor RD’s MD’s and other folks who think grains, legumes and diairy are nutritional heavy hitters.

So, Our Null-Hypothesis turned out to be wrong: Grains, Legumes and Dairy are NOT the most nutritious foods we can feed our kids. I will look at all of this in more detail in the book.

I am not yet a parent, so I do not want to play the arm-chair expert here, so I’ll leave it up to you to actually THINK about this topic. Does it make sense to you to feed YOUR kids foods you can scientifically prove are less nutritious? Grains, legumes and diary do not stack up against lean meats, veggies, fruit and nuts. That is obvious, now it’s up to you to figure out what YOU do about it.

For a little more light reading I’ll direct you to the excellent post Dr. Eades did comparing the health of a Hunter Gatherer group and an agriculturalist group. (http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/low-carb-diets/nutrition-and-health-in-agriculturalists-and-hunter-gatherers/) The HG group ate large amounts of meat, fish fruit, veggies and nuts. The agriculturalists displaced these foods and began consuming large amounts of grains and legumes. Take a moment to consider these facts:

1-The Agriculturalist kids showed significant signs of malnutrition as compared to the HG’s.

2-The Agriculturalists showed significantly higher infant mortality AND early childhood death with the adoption of a grain, legume based diet.

Think rationally, draw your own conclusions. Henceforth, if someone has a question on Paleo and kids, I’m referring them to this post

Saturday's WODs

2010-04-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

CF E:
6 rounds of:
120 second sprint, 60 seconds of rest

METCON:
4 Rounds for time of:
Row 750m
30 Double-unders
15 Burpees

If you are playing volleyball in the am and have to skip a WOD, skip the CF E one but get the METCON in. If only it's as fun as the picture....

Friday's WODs

2010-04-15T11:19:00.001-07:00

MEBB(T):
12 Deadlifts (135#)
15 Hang cleans
18 Front Squats
21 Push Jerks
18 Front Squats
15 Hang Cleans
12 Deadlifts

METCON:
AMRAP in 12 minutes:
5 WB shots (20#)
10 SDHP (135#)

Wednesday's WODs

2010-04-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

CF E:
Run: 1 mile hill climb
Incline between 6-12%
Add 10-20lb weighted vest

METCON:
3 rounds for time of:
20 Box Jumps (24”)
20 C2B Pull-ups
20 Wall Balls (20#)

Tuesday's WOD

2010-04-12T10:57:00.000-07:00

For time:
1 Deadlift (m - 250# / w - 175#)
1 round of Cindy
2 Deadlift
1 round of Cindy
3 Deadlift
1 round of Cindy……
until you reach 10 DL and 1 round of Cindy

Monday's WODs

2010-04-11T12:17:00.000-07:00

MEBB(U):
Men use and 85#
Do shoulder presses until you reach muscle failure, rest for 2 minutes
do push presses until you reach muscle failure, rest 2 minutes
do push jerks until you reach muscle failure
track total number of completed reps for each exercise

METCON:
For Time:
1 Rope Climb
15 Burpees
2 Rope Climbs
15 Burpees
3 Rope Climbs
15 Burpees
4 Rope Climbs
15 Burpees
4 Rope Climbs
15 Burpees
3 Rope Climbs
15 Burpees
2 Rope Climbs
15 Burpees
1 Rope Climb
15 Burpees

Rest Day

2010-04-11T00:54:00.000-07:00

Great article from the CrossFit Affilaite Blog: http://www.crossfit.com/cf-affiliates/

Tame the E-mail Beast
The research is overwhelming. Constant e-mail interruptions make you less productive, less creative and--if you're e-mailing when you're doing something else--just plain dumb.

By Joe Robinson

Within the heart of your company, saboteurs lurk. Disguised as instruments of productivity, they are subverting your staff's most precious resource: attention. Incessant e-mail alerts, instant messages, buzzing BlackBerrys and cell phones are decimating workplace concentration. The average information worker--basically anyone at a desk--loses 2.1 hours of productivity every day to interruptions and distractions, according to Basex, an IT research and consulting firm.

That time is money. Computer chip giant Intel, for one, has estimated that e-mail overload can cost large companies as much as $1 billion a year in lost employee productivity. The intrusions are constant: each day a typical office employee checks e-mail 50 times and uses instant messaging 77 times, according to RescueTime, a firm that develops time-management software. Such interruptions don't just sidetrack workers from their jobs, they also undermine their attention spans, increase stress and annoyance and decrease job satisfaction and creativity.

The interruption epidemic is reaching a crisis point at some companies and shows no sign of slowing. E-mail volume is growing at a rate of 66% a year, according to the E-Policy Institute. More people are texting. More are using Facebook or Twitter for work.

"It's worse than it's ever been," says Michelle Rupp, owner of NRG Seattle, an insurance brokerage with a staff of 12 who feel pounded by the avalanche of messaging. "It's so hard to stay focused. Everything bings and bongs and tweets at you, and you don't think."

Yes, it is possible to blunt the interruption assault. But business leaders must go on the offensive in a realm most are oblivious to: interruption management.

The Myth of Multitasking
Human brains come equipped with two kinds of attention: involuntary and voluntary. Involuntary attention, designed to be on the watch for threats to survival, is triggered by outside stimuli--what grabs you. It's automatically rattled by the workday cacophony of rings, pings and buzzes that are turning jobs into an electronic game of Whac-a-Mole. Voluntary attention is the ability to concentrate on a chosen task.

As workers' attention spans are whipsawed by interruptions, something insidious happens in the brain: Interruptions erode an area called effortful control and with it the ability to regulate attention. In other words, the more you check your messages, the more you feel the need to check them--an urge familiar to BlackBerry or iPhone users.

"Technology is an addiction," says Gayle Porter, a professor of management at Rutgers University who has studied e-compulsion. "If someone can't turn their BlackBerry off, there's a problem."

The cult of multitasking would have us believe that compulsive message-checking is the behavior of an always-on, hyper-productive worker. But it's not. It's the sign of a distracted employee who misguidedly believes he can do multiple tasks at one time. Science disagrees. People may be able to chew gum and walk at the same time, but they can't do two or more thinking tasks simultaneously.

Say a salesman is trying to read a new e-mail while on the phone with a client. Those are both language tasks that have to go through the same cognitive channel. Trying to do both forces his brain to switch back and forth between tasks, which results in a "switching cost," forcing him to slow down. Researchers at the University of Michigan found that productivity dropped as much as 40 percent when subjects tried to do two or more things at once. The switching exacts other costs too--mistakes and burnout. One of the study's authors, David Meyer, asserts bluntly that quality work and multitasking are incompatible.

Brian Bailey and Joseph Konstan of the University of Minnesota discovered that sleeve-tugging peripheral tasks triggered twice the number of errors and jacked up levels of annoyance to anywhere between 31 percent and 106 percent. Their interrupted test workers also took 3 percent to 27 percent more time to complete the reading, counting or math problems. In fact, the harder the interrupted task, the harder it was to get back on track. (A Microsoft study suggests it takes a worker 15 minutes to refocus after an interruption.)

The damaging effects spread well beyond the office cubicle. Kate LeVan, a communications consultant in Evanston, Ill., coaches executives whose brains are so scrambled by electronic interruptions that they stumble during key face-to-face interactions: board meetings, investor pitches, sales presentations. "They can't have an extended conversation for more than a few minutes," LeVan says. "That's the impact of having all this data going back and forth. They have problems in conversation because they can't focus."

Here's how the brain behaves when your attention slips away from a task: The hippocampus, which manages demanding cognitive tasks and creates long-term memories, kicks the job down to the striatum, which handles rote tasks. So the gum-chewing part of the brain is now replying to the boss's e-mail. This is why you wind up addressing e-mails to people who weren't supposed to get them. Or sending messages rife with typos.

The striatum is the brain's autopilot. And no part of your business should be allowed to run on autopilot.

Paying Attention to Paying Attention
In her 2009 book Rapt, Winifred Gallagher argues that humans are the sum of what they pay attention to: What we focus on determines our experience, knowledge, amusement, fulfillment. Yet instead of cultivating this resource, she says, we're squandering it on "whatever captures our awareness." To truly learn something, and remember it, you have to pay full attention.

E-interruptions are making it so hard to do that that Google, Microsoft, IBM and Intel are members of the Information Overload Research Group, formed in 2008 to collaborate on research, develop best practices and host forums to share new approaches. It's self-preservation as much as anything; computer engineers were among the first to show symptoms of e-interruption exposure.

Ten years ago, Harvard Business School's Leslie Perlow famously chronicled the interruption of a high-tech software company. Its engineers were interrupted so often they had to work nights and weekends. After studying the workplace for nine months, the source of the dysfunction became clear: No one could get anything done because of the bombardment of messages. Perlow came up with an intervention: Quiet Time. For four hours in the morning, the 17 engineers worked alone. All messaging and phone contact was banned. In the afternoon, communication could resume. Given time to concentrate, the engineers got a project for a color printer completed without the graveyard shift.

Intel is using Quiet Time at two of its sites. Other companies, including U.S. Cellular and Deloitte & Touche, have mandated less e-mail use, encouraged more face-to-face contact and experimented with programs such as "no e-mail Friday." The results often are surprising: employees build rapport with colleagues--and they save time. Co-workers can settle something in a two-minute phone conversation that might have required three e-mails per person. Each change reverberates throughout a company, especially since--as a University of California, Irvine, study found--44 percent of interruptions an employee experiences are from within the company.

Nearly everyone needs such boundaries to get anything done in this 24/7 work world. Count Chad Willardson among the converted. He's a senior financial advisor at Merrill Lynch Private Wealth Management Group and operates a financial services practice with a partner for Merrill in Riverside, Calif. He used to check for new messages every five minutes, a potential 96 interruptions during an eight-hour day.

"The more I checked e-mail," he says, "the more anxious I would feel over every request and question." Now he checks e-mail manually, and only four times a day at prescribed hours--the schedule that Oklahoma State University researchers describe as optimum. He says he gets a lot more done, is more in control of his calendar and feels much less stressed.

In fact, stress-management seminars often reveal executives driven to wits' end by their own inboxes. During one session at the aerospace company Lockheed Martin, many managers vented this frustration--until one raised his hand. "It's not a problem for me," he said. "I've gotten my e-mail checking down to twice a day."

He explained that his staff knew he preferred to communicate by phone and they don't send him e-mail unless it's important that the information be in writing. And because he checked e-mail only twice daily, they had been weaned from the idea that they'd get an instant reply.

Chances are this wasn't just good for the manager, but for all his employees, too. By modeling interruption-management, he was likely reducing the volume of interruptions throughout his division. Everyone understood that he viewed excessive messages as a drain on his performance--and by extension, theirs.

One thing was clear that day at Lockheed: When the manager volunteered his solution, it was as if he'd levitated. Other managers looked stunned. And envious.

Joe Robinson, a business coach and trainer, is the author of Work to Live and the audio CD The Email Overload Survival Kit.

Saturday's WODs

2010-04-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

CF E:
3 x 1k repeats not deviating more then 10 seconds
2 min recoveries

METCON:
150 Double-unders
9 Deadlifts (275#)
100 Double-unders
6 Deadlifts
50 Double-unders
3 Deadlifts

Friday's WODs

2010-04-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

I don't know about everyone else, but I really needed that rest day...but, now it's time to get back to work and increase our work capacity across broad time, age and modal domains!

MEBB(L):
Back Squat
5-5-5-3-3-3
90% of max

METCON:
AMRAP in 15 minutes of:
5 toes to bar
10 push presses(95#)
20 double unders (if you cannot do double unders, the sub is 4 to 1 so do 80 singles)

Rest Day - thank God!!

2010-04-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

Wednesday's WOD

2010-04-06T10:05:00.000-07:00

HOLY CRAP - that WOD sucked!!

Sadly, tomorrow is not going to be much better....

CF E:
3 rounds of:
(20sec on/60sec off, 20sec on/50sec off, 20sec on/40sec off, 20sec on/30sec off, 20sec on/20sec off, 20sec on/10sec off) Start next round after 10 sec rest

METCON:
Five rounds for time:
155 pound hang squat clean, 9 reps
15 ft Rope climb, legless, 3 ascents

Tuesday's WOD

2010-04-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

”Tropical Storm Leslie”
8 Rounds for time of:
Run 400m
16 Deadlifts (225#)
16 Pull-ups
16 Box Jumps (24”)
16 Overhead Squats (95#)
Row 500

Run before the rounds and row following them so only one run at the very beginning and one row at the very end. You can sub a 500m row for the 400m run.

This WOD is in honor of Leslie Flores our 1st athlete. 8 rounds for the 8 main islands in Hawaii and 16 reps for the 16 months she spent training with us!

Happy Easter! / Monday's WODs

2010-04-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

MEBB(T):
Deadlift
5-5-5-3-3-3
90% of max

METCON:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of the triplet:
Chest-to-bar pull-ups
Box jump, (30”)
GHD sit-up

Rest Day!

2010-04-03T09:54:00.001-07:00

(NaturalNews) Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, have found that omega-3 fatty acids have another beneficial effect besides maintaining a healthy heart. Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study found that patients with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood experienced a slowing of the shortening of their telomeres, indicating that the fatty acids help to slow the aging process.

The study of telomeres and their role in the aging process has been a popular subject in recent years. Scientists have found that telomeres, which act as protective end caps on cells, gradually shorten over time as cells divide and repair themselves, causing a person to age. Researchers, however, have been studying various compounds, including omega-3s, that appear to slow the shortening process and even reverse it.

Ramin Farzaneh-Far, a clinical cardiologist and lead author of the study, evaluated 608 patients who had prior heart problems and coronary-artery blockage. Over a five-year period, those with the highest levels of omega-3s in their blood experienced far less telomere shortening than those with the lowest levels.

The researchers focused primarily on omega-3s derived from fish sources rather than from vegetable sources like flaxseed and walnuts. The study also did not address the specific sources of omega-3s, whether they be directly from fish or vegetables or from omega-3 supplements.

John LaPuma, a physician and nutrition expert from Santa Barbara, California, believes that omega-3s derived directly from eating fish is the best source. He bases this assumption on the brevity of research that has been conducted directly on fish sources of omega-3s but it seems reasonable to assume that omega-3s derived from other sources provide similar benefits as did the ones used in the study.

Study researchers said they are not entirely sure how telomeres work in the aging process but they recognize that they play a key role in the process. Others have compared telomeres to the plastic end caps on shoelaces that keep them from unraveling, indicating that they maintain the integrity of cells.

Dr. Farzaneh-Far also explained that short telomeres often predict the onset of certain diseases including cardiovascular illness and heart problems. Whether or not telomeres are merely indicators of these diseases or the cause of them is still up for debate. Further research into the process is needed in order to get a more accurate understanding of the way telomeres work in cellular aging.

Monday's WODs

2010-03-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

MEBB(L):
Front Squat
5-5-5-3-3-3
90% of max

METCON:
Three rounds for time:
10 Deadlifts (275#)
50 Double-unders

A sweet problem: Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain

2010-03-28T00:19:00.000-07:00

If you have not already, you should immediately remove any products containing HFCS from your diet!

Posted March 22, 2010; 10:00 a.m.
by Hilary Parker

A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.

In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.

"Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn't true, at least under the conditions of our tests," said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. "When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight."
In results published online March 18 by the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, the researchers from the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute reported on two experiments investigating the link between the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup and obesity.

The first study showed that male rats given water sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup in addition to a standard diet of rat chow gained much more weight than male rats that received water sweetened with table sugar, or sucrose, in conjunction with the standard diet. The concentration of sugar in the sucrose solution was the same as is found in some commercial soft drinks, while the high-fructose corn syrup solution was half as concentrated as most sodas.

The second experiment -- the first long-term study of the effects of high-fructose corn syrup consumption on obesity in lab animals -- monitored weight gain, body fat and triglyceride levels in rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup over a period of six months. Compared to animals eating only rat chow, rats on a diet rich in high-fructose corn syrup showed characteristic signs of a dangerous condition known in humans as the metabolic syndrome, including abnormal weight gain, significant increases in circulating triglycerides and augmented fat deposition, especially visceral fat around the belly. Male rats in particular ballooned in size: Animals with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained 48 percent more weight than those eating a normal diet.

"These rats aren't just getting fat; they're demonstrating characteristics of obesity, including substantial increases in abdominal fat and circulating triglycerides," said Princeton graduate student Miriam Bocarsly. "In humans, these same characteristics are known risk factors for high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, cancer and diabetes." In addition to Hoebel and Bocarsly, the research team included Princeton undergraduate Elyse Powell and visiting research associate Nicole Avena, who was affiliated with Rockefeller University during the study and is now on the faculty at the University of Florida. The Princeton researchers note that they do not know yet why high-fructose corn syrup fed to rats in their study generated more triglycerides, and more body fat that resulted in obesity.
High-fructose corn syrup and sucrose are both compounds that contain the simple sugars fructose and glucose, but there at least two clear differences between them. First, sucrose is composed of equal amounts of the two simple sugars -- it is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose -- but the typical high-fructose corn syrup used in this study features a slightly imbalanced ratio, containing 55 percent fructose and 42 percent glucose. Larger sugar molecules called higher saccharides make up the remaining 3 percent of the sweetener. Second, as a result of the manufacturing process for high-fructose corn syrup, the fructose molecules in the sweetener are free and unbound, ready for absorption and utilization. In contrast, every fructose molecule in sucrose that comes from cane sugar or beet sugar is bound to a corresponding glucose molecule and must go through an extra metabolic step before it can be utilized.

This creates a fascinating puzzle. The rats in the Princeton study became obese by drinking high-fructose corn syrup, but not by drinking sucrose. The critical differences in appetite, metabolism and gene expression that underlie this phenomenon are yet to be discovered, but may relate to the fact that excess fructose is being metabolized to produce fat, while glucose is largely being processed for energy or stored as a carbohydrate, called glycogen, in the liver and muscles.

In the 40 years since the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup as a cost-effective sweetener in the American diet, rates of obesity in the U.S. have skyrocketed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1970, around 15 percent of the U.S. population met the definition for obesity; today, roughly one-third of the American adults are considered obese, the CDC reported. High-fructose corn syrup is found in a wide range of foods and beverages, including fruit juice, soda, cereal, bread, yogurt, ketchup and mayonnaise. On average, Americans consume 60 pounds of the sweetener per person every year.

"Our findings lend support to the theory that the excessive consumption of high-fructose corn syrup found in many beverages may be an important factor in the obesity epidemic," Avena said.

The new research complements previous work led by Hoebel and Avena demonstrating that sucrose can be addictive, having effects on the brain similar to some drugs of abuse.

In the future, the team intends to explore how the animals respond to the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in conjunction with a high-fat diet -- the equivalent of a typical fast-food meal containing a hamburger, fries and soda -- and whether excessive high-fructose corn syrup consumption contributes to the diseases associated with obesity. Another step will be to study how fructose affects brain function in the control of appetite.

The research was supported by the U.S. Public Health Service

Rest Day!!

2010-03-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

Donna Simpson

I truly have no words for this article.....

New Jersey Woman Wants to Weigh 1,000 Pounds
Tuesday , March 16, 2010

Meet Donna Simpson. She's going to cost you. A lot.

Simpson, of Old Bridge, N.J., is 42 years old, has two kids and a boyfriend, and she weighs 602 pounds. That's right ... 602 pounds.

She's on a diet, of course, because she has a goal in mind:

She wants to weigh 1,000 pounds.

That's right ... 1,000 pounds. It's a nice, extra-round figure — almost as big as what her unhealthy choices will ultimately cost taxpayers.

Simpson claims she is normal and healthy, and she has a right to eat what she wants and weigh what she wants.

“I love eating and people love watching me eat,” she says. “It makes people happy, and I’m not harming anyone.”

But she needs to use a motor scooter when she goes grocery shopping, because she can't walk more than 20 feet. The human body, after all, is not designed to scarf down 12,000 calories a day in the quest to weigh half a ton.

Simpson is definitely harming someone — herself, says Dr. Carla Wolper, a registered dietitian and research faculty member at the New York Obesity Research Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York.

And you, the taxpayer, could wind up paying for it.

“We don’t know her medical history, but one of the most dangerous health issues she faces is an increased risk of sudden death from having a heart attack due to electrical problems in the heart,” Wolper said.

Other possible causes of death for Simpson include stroke, immobility, breathing problems, congestive heart failure, diabetes, and inflammation of heart tissue. Each year, nearly 300,000 Americans die from heart failure.

Simpson, experts say, is putting herself at risk for all these medical conditions, and those conditions have a hefty pricetag.

“The baseline cost for someone like to go to the emergency room is $993 for one visit,” Daniel Emmer, public relations manager of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, the largest health insurance provider in New Jersey, told FOXNews.com.

Simpson’s main source of income to support herself financially is by appearing on a Web site where men pay to watch videos of her gorging on food and showing off her hundreds of pounds of extra bulge in a bikini.

But it's anyone's guess whether her revenue from Web videos will cover the cost of her inevitable health risks.

“Someone with diabetes costs $11,744 more per year to provide health care, which is twice as much as the average person,” Emmer said.

It is unclear what type of insurance Simpson has, if any. But there is no question that whatever her health care position is, it could come at a high cost.

“Obesity causes a minimum $1,429 increase, or 42 percent in medical costs,” Emmer said. “Research shows lifestyle choices and behaviors drive 87.5 percent of the cost for health care claims.”

“When people are very, very overweight, they are at an increased risk for a condition called prolonged QT syndrome,” Wolper told FoxNews.com.

Prolonged QT syndrome is a heart rhythm disorder that can potentially cause fast, chaotic heartbeats, the Mayo Clinic says on its Web site. In some cases, the heart may beat erratically for so long that it can cause sudden death.

"Another problem this woman faces is related to the circulatory system,” Wolper said. “When people are that big, circulation is often impaired in the legs. This can cause blood to pool in the legs leading to formation of blood clots. This leaves morbidly obese people at an increased risk for a pulmonary embolism.”

A pulmonary embolism occurs when one or more arteries in the lungs become blocked. In most cases, pulmonary embolism is caused by blood clots that travel to your lungs from another part of your body — most commonly, your legs, according to the Mayo Clinic. One of the major risk factors is excess weight, which increases the risk of blood clots, especially in women who smoke or have high blood pressure.

“The work of the heart is tremendously increased when someone is that big because there’s so much more blood in the body,” Wolper said. “When this happens, the heart has to pump against the pressure of all that fat that is pressing against the blood vessels, and as a result the heart enlarges, and not in a good way.”

As Simpson’s appetite increases, so will the cost of health care for the severe medical conditions that she is likely to have — conditions that are preventable by healthier lifestyle choices. Whereas her $750-a-week grocery bill is merely gastronomical, her hospital bills will be astronomical — and the taxpayers of New Jersey may well have to pay her tab.

Meanwhile, in her effort to boldly go where no woman has gone before, Simpson says she tries to stay sedentary, so she burns as few calories as necessary.

She consumes five times more than the recommended daily calories for a woman her age.

“My favorite food is sushi. But unlike others I can sit and eat 70 big pieces of sushi in one go,” she told the Daily Mail.

“I do love cakes and sweet things, doughnuts are my favorite.”

The current record for fattest woman is held by a woman also from New Jersey, who weighed an unbelievable 1,800 pounds when she died in 2008. She was 49 years old.

Simpson is proud of the Guinness World Record she holds now for the world’s fattest mother, and her boyfriend is proud of her too.

Philippe, 49, supports her thousand-pound goal, even if that is nearly seven times his own weight of 150 pounds.

“I think he’d like it if I was bigger,” Simpson said. “He’s a real belly man, and completely supports me.”

Someday, the experts say, we all may support her.

Friday's WODs

2010-03-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

MEBB(T):
Snatch
5-5-5-3-3-3
90% of max

METCON:
AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
15 Back extensions
15 Knees to elbows
95 pound Overhead squat, 15 reps