Body Construction CrossFit Personal Trainers

30 Day Spartan Paleo Challenge Anyone?!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

I'm toying with the idea of doing a 30 day Spartan Paleo Challenge whereas each person participating would submit to measurements and pictures as well as keeping a complete food journal with the goal of losing fat and improving performance. We'd test some basic skills in the beginning that would be measured again at the end such as max pushups, pullups and a half mile sprint.

I'm thinking we'll charge a $25 Buy-in to participate, with the majority of the money collected going to the person deemed most improved overall at the end of 30 days. We'll cap the whole thing off with a big party where we all gorge ourselves on non-paleo food and get drunk...most likely losing 40% of our recent gains from the challenge, but hey...then we'll just get to do it all over again!

If you're interested, call me (Roy) at work, e-mail me at roy@bodyconstruction.org or just simply give me a "hell yeah count me in" in the comments section below. I'm thinking 15 people signing up makes it worth the effort and we'll plan on starting it up Monday Oct 3rd. Deadline for signing up will be a week from today, Sept 28th, at noon.

This is your chance to really turbocharge your fat loss and take your performance in the gym to the next level, and wouldn't it be nice to go into the holidays looking lean and mean and feeling in control of your diet?! A lot of you have been asking for events to get togehter and participate in, so here's your chance to really show your support, not to mention that this will really benefit all those of you who are doing the Tough Mudder in Dec...Let's Do This!!

KB's or DB's can be substituted for Thruster weight in the event that you don't have
any freshly severed moose limbs available...

WOD
Average Joe
Buy In - Max Dips
-rest 5 minutes-
30 KB Swings 32kg / 20kg Every minute on the minute for 10 minutes
Every incomplete minute (you didn't get 30 reps) earns you a 10 burpee penalty
Use strategy to minimize burpees and maximize total reps
Immediately following 10 minutes do your penalty burpees and then...
Cash Out - 1500 Rope (singles)

Comments(0) Tags: crossfit | wod | KB swings | paleo chaalenge

A Recent Letter From A Client, and My Response...

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Roy,

Do you know how long its been since I worked out with the group in a competitive way...12 months !! I feel like such a load. I have been doing rehab twice a week waiting for results. I'm not trying to feel sorry for myself, I just want to be able to run again or jump around without feeling like I am doing more harm. Why I got saddled with back to back injuries I will never know.

My response:

You're main problem is you think you've got a problem. You've been given the gift of adversity, my friend...and that's what reveals true character...how cool is THAT?!

You should be excited about being able to be creative and figure out how to keep training and still be competitive; that's the gift...the journey of overcoming obstacles and becoming a better man in the process.

The ego is the culprit here...nothing else. You could still be training with us and scaling or modifying the workouts, but you've gotten the silly mindset that if you can't go toe to toe then it's pointless, but you're missing an important point: your opportunity to inspire!

Yeah, you still show up and train, but by continuing to train with us it brings us up and makes us better people because deep down inside we all know that it takes guts to keep competing even when you know that your odds of winning are greatly decreased because of an injury...that's what true warriors do!

Remember, the walls in your life aren't there to keep you from doing things, but to show you how bad you really want them. When you look at the video below it should be painfully obvious... it's all a matter of perspective.

WOD
Hurley
10RFT
3 Clean and Jerks 155/105
5 KB Swings (American Style) 53/44
10 Second L--Sit
Warmup
10 Kick-Throughs (Pushup position - rotate and "kick" left leg over to right, right leg straight back, alternate 5 each side rapid
1/2 Parking Lot Walking Lunges
5 Dips
10 PVC Good Mornings

Nutritional Feedback For Our Paleo Contestants

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Nutritional diaries are in. 19 out of 30 reporting in everything they ate and drank since a week ago Saturday...good for you guys, you're still in and eligible for prizes and glory. For the other 11 who sent me nothing, you may want to have a come-to-Jesus meeting with yourself and figure out why you're having trouble committing; fear of looking good, being strong, being healthy, being sexy? I'm just messin' with you...my door's always open if you'd like to talk about what may be holding you back. Who knows...maybe, just maybe, I'll have some words of wisdom that help you to finally dial in and get results?!

For the rest of you are still plugged in, good doggies...I'm proud of you! I have indeed looked at everyone's food journal and decided that the most efficient use of my time would be to respond to you all as a group; getting to the point about where some of you are falling down and how to fix it. Here is a quick summery of the most common issues that I saw:

Make sure all snacks include a protein, some plant-based carbs and a little fat. I saw a lot of "handful of carrots" or "a banana" or "dried fruit" for snacks. Not good, as eating high glycemic carbs by themselves will usually result in fat gain.
Most of you would benefit immensely from greatly increasing your veggie intake, as those are your primary source of vitamins, mineral, antioxidants, fiber, etc. Don't just eat meat by itself.
Alcohol, diet sodas and candy...really? Keep that sh*t out of the house so that it's not easily accessible. Sugar will make you crave more sugar, it's a harder habit to break than crack, seriously.
Drink more water and try to drink most of it between your meals so as not to interfere with digestion. You'll lose more fat and build more muscle with good water intake...that's a fact, jack.
Eat 4-6 times a day, every 3-4 hours. This stimulates metabolism, controls appetite, regulates blood sugar and eliminates cravings. Under-eating (some of you are only eating 2x a day) actually causes thyroid issues and a loss of muscle which in turn disrupts metabolism...yikes.
Skipping meals / snacks - see above
Too much fruit. I'll say it again, fruit is good, fruit is healthy, BUT...if you've got more fat you still need to lose, try limiting your fruits to no more than 2 a day, preferably following your workout. Otherwise excessive fruit leaves too much sugar available for energy; not requiring your body to break down your fat stores and burn body fat.
Watch your fat intake. Yes I want you eating good, healthy fats throughout the day, but you've got to monitor your portions. Fats are very high in calories, so be very careful here. Nuts and seeds should be what you can hold in the palm of your hand with your fingers closed lightly and straight against the heel of your hand. Oils, 2 tablespoons per serving for guys, 1 tablespoon for ladies.

Lastly, do the best you can to start eating grass-fed meats and organic veggies and fruits as much as possible. Our ancestors didn't have all these toxins in their food and neither should we. Order some food from Rosas farms and pick up a copy of The Paleo Solution and Paleo Comfort Foods...we have a very limited supply of both books available right now. Don't forget, your diaries are due every Monday till this is over, so keep em' coming!

WOD
Double Your Pleasure
Wod #1:
150 Wallball For Time
Wod #2
5 Min AMRAP
KB Swings 24KG / 16KG

Monkey Pie

Monday, November 21, 2011

It's week number 3 of the Paleo Challenge and The Food Diaries are rolling in. Last week saw a drop off rate of only 1 person, so I'm curious as to how many of you will still be standing by the end of today. I'm not extending deadlines anymore (like I have for the last two weeks) so you have till before the stroke of midnight tonight to get your journal in.

Historically, week 3 can be a very pivotal week for many, as some of you probably had some great gains in the beginning which may have slowed down a lot by now. If that's happening to you, don't despair! The human body is a very complex mechanism that has a lot of systems in place to keep us up and running. It's not unusual for fat loss to slow down or sometimes even stop for a period of time as your system acclimates to it's newer, faster, slimmer self.

Understand, however, that this is where the rubber meets the road, as consistency with your nutrition during these rough spots will reward you with more fat loss in the very near future. The key is to stay the course, enjoy the journey and not become discouraged. This journey, like any other, is not a straight line. It will be filled with, turns and twists and maybe even the occasional roadblock, but don't let that dissuade you from continuing to move forward.

By staying consistent with your nutrition and exercise you are teaching and training your body how to perform at a higher level and enabling it to evolve and become more efficient. Allow it to become comfortable with its new eating regime. Quit striving for immediate gratification and continue to do the work; it's more than worth it...trust me! ' )

WOD
Monkey Pie
For Time:
100 KB Swings 25kg/16kg
* EMOTM (every minute on the minute) do 5 Pullups till all 100 swings are completed
Then...
100 Box Jumps
* EMOTM do 5 Burpees till 100 box jumps are completed
NOTE: The pullups and burpees are the "buy-in"...in other words, you've got to do them before you can begin chipping away at your 100 swings or box jumps. If, on any round, you aren't ready to "buy-in" right at the top of the minute, then you must wait till the top of the NEXT minute before you can continue.
Warmup
50 Situps
50 Hypers
50 Jacks
200 Rope