Tags

What's In A Name?

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

As you know, when I post my blog / newsletter, I always include the Workout of the day, also known as the WOD, and often times, I abbreviate the names of the exercises to save a little space. Well, it seems a lot of people out there are following our WOD"s and recently many have written about one exercise in particular, asking "what the heck is the SDHP?

SDHP stands for the Sumo Deadlift High Pull. Think of lifting a heavy barbell from a starting deadlift position in a wide stance, toes out (like a Sumo wrestler), then explode upward ending in an upright row. Return the weight to the waist and repeat for reps.

Some other acronyms and funky terms that I might as well shed some light on include:

BPB - Bulgarian Power Bag - a homemade piece of equipment used for many different types of exercises.
MB - Medicine Ball
Thrusters - Starting from a full squat position holding a barbell or dumbbells at chest level, stand rapidly and press the weight overhead.
Push Press - Same as a standing barbell press, but dipping slightly and then driving with legs to handle more weight
Wall Ball - Hold a MB , squat down deep, then stand up quick, throwing the ball 10 feet into the air, catching it and repeating.
Burpee - From an upright position, place hands on floor, kick legs straight out, do a pushup, pull legs back in, stand up and jump; repeat for reps.
Benchmark Workout - a workout that will repeated every few weeks to track your times and gauge improvement

All good stuff; fun, interesting, diverse and amazingly challenging.

What are some of your favorite exercises? What are some of your LEAST favorites? Post your replies to the comments section and lets see what we have in common ; )

Live With Passion,

Roy

PS  My big nutrition seminar is Saturday Aug 22nd, 10am to noon. I'll be blowing the lid off of the diet industry as well as giving TONS of info on how to get shredded, lean and healthy for life. I'll have the online sign-up sheet and info up in a day or so...stay tuned!


       My little 6am Superstar, Deb, showing impeccable form on the top end of her SDHP!

Workout Of The Day
"Over Easy"
Warmup - Max deadlift for 1 rep (work your way up slowly)
Then...
Three Rounds of 21-9-21 For Time:
!6kg Thrusters
Burpees
Pull-ups

Paleo Recipe
"Cantaloupe Stuffed with Blackberries and Pecans"
1 half cantaloupe
½ cup blackberries
¼ cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon honey
Mint or Spearmint leaves

Cut cantaloupe in half (serrated) and scoop out seeds. Fill cavity with blackberries and pecans. Spoon honey over top. Garnish with mint or spearmint leaves.

Quote Of The Day
"Procrastination is a byproduct of failure."
 

Get Back Up!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

To quote Tony Robbins, "Sometimes the biggest mistake we make is in thinking that we should have no problems." We think problems are a curse, instead of knowing that our problems are a gift. The only way we usually grow is if we get a good enough problem to stimulate us to use our resourcefulness to find a part of our self that is not being used.

Here is an extraordinary example of a man who chooses to view his “problems” as gifts, and a resource to show the world that there are no limitations to what we can do.

I hope you will be inspired...I sure as hell was.

Live With Passion,

Roy

WOD
"Fast Eddie"
Warm-Up: Max Pullups, Max Pushups, 8x 50 Yard Dashes, 1st 4 half speed, 2nd 4 full out
Then...
Overhead Squats 15/5/15/15 using max weight. Bodyweight is the gold standard.
Then...
The Ab Complex of Enlightenment:
3 nonstop sets of 25 Situps, 25 Leg Lifts and 30 second left and right side bridges

Paleo Recipe
Colorado Spinach Salad
1 small bunch fresh spinach
12 dandelion leaves
½ cup pink sorrel leaves, loosely packed
1 apple, cored and cut into bite sized pieces
½ cup walnut halves

You may substitute appropriate fresh greens for the dandelion and sorrel leaves. Wash and de-stem spinach. Coarsely chop dandelion leaves, and tear spinach, then toss dandelion, sorrel and spinach together in a stainless steel bowl. Put aside in refrigerator to drain and cool. When drained, pour off excess water and add apple and pecans. Toss with dressing (see next section) and serve.

 Quote Of The Day
"Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general." 
                                                                                                                                                                            

Could You Outrun A Zombie?

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Is your cardio good enough to outrun a superfast, flesh-eating Zombie? In the movie "ZOMBIELAND", when a super virus turns 1/2 the people on earth into Zombies, the narrator states that "The fatties were the first to go" because their cardio sucked and they couldn't outrun the Zombies.

I'm always preaching that you should train to be in good enough shape to save your own life, and now this movie gives you yet another good reason to do just that...ZOMBIES, baby! (hey, you never know...look what's going on with the Swine flu!)

Live With Passion,

Roy ; )

 WOD
"The Freaky 400"
50 135lb Incline Bench
50 Jumping Squats
50 Pullups
50 Jumping Alternating Lunges each side
50 70lb Pole Twisters each side
50 ATW w/ 30lb Keg
50 70lb Curls
50 70lb DB Tricep Extensions

Paleo Recipe
Blueberry Barbeque Sauce
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon canola oil
¼ cup minced onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh jalapeno chile, seeded
¼ cup "Ray's Catsup" (recipe from above)
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
Dash cayenne pepper
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Fresh ground pepper
Heat the oil in a non-reactive saucepan. Add the onion and jalapeno and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the catsup, honey, mustard and cayenne and bring to a simmer. Add the blueberries and simmer over low heat, stirring until thickened, about 10 minutes. Puree the sauce in a blender or food processor until smooth. Pass through a strainer and season with pepper. Serve at room temperature.

Quote Of The Day
"Nut up or shut up"

The Strangest Secret

Monday, October 12, 2009

Change Your Body, Change Your Life. It's been our motto for years, and all it takes to make that happen is a strong, positive mindset coupled with consistent, intelligent action. Sounds easy enough, though many will go a lifetime without realizing that potential.

Perehaps the answer lies in, "The Strangest Secret", an audio program by Earl Nightengale that was made in 1964.

That record was the first non-music record ever made and the first record to ever sell more than a million copies. It's also safe to say that the information contained within it paved the way for all the Success and lifestyle coaches of today.

I heard this information years ago and it completely changed my life, so it is not without great curiousity that I wonder if it will affect any of you the same way. Please feel free to post comments on this and let me know what you think; I'd appreciate it ; )

Live With Passion,

Roy

Enjoy, then...this excerpt from "The Strangest Secret" by Earl Nightingale.

George Bernard Shaw said, "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."

Well, it's pretty apparent, isn't it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.

Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn't know where he's going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety and worry - his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing... he becomes nothing.

How does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I'll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind.

Suppose a farmer has some land, and it's good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn't care. It's up to the farmer to make the decision.

We're comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn't care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn't care what you plant.

Now, let's say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds-one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land...and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted.

As it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."

Remember the land doesn't care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants - one corn, one poison.

The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we plant...success...or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on. But what we plant must return to us.

You see, the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant.

Bears have known the value of Bear-crawling for years; we're just now catching on.

WOD
"SLICK"
100 Pullups
200 Pushups
300 Air Squats
500 SIngle Unders

PALEO RECIPE
Chicken Breasts with Red Pepper Sauce
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
4 skinless, boneless breast halves, pounded to ¼ inch thickness
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup white wine
Combine vegetables and spices in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Transfer to a food processor or blender, and puree until smooth. Pour into a small saucepan and keep warm over very low heat. In a large fry pan, heat oil. Add chicken breasts; cook three minutes a side until chicken turns white. Add wine; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Spoon red pepper sauce on plate and arrange chicken on top.

Quote Of The Day
“To live each day as though one’s last, never flustered, never apathetic, never attitudinizing – here is perfection of character.” – Marcus Aurelius

sweat

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

I can always tell the people that are going to do really well on my program, because they are the people that like to sweat, expect to sweat and understand the value of a good sweat; how it goes hand-in-hand with a great workout. 

Barring any health issues, people who are adverse to sweat are typically adverse to hard work, and so the great body that they've always wanted has more than likely eluded them. A good sweat during a workout is like a badge of courage that says "Hey, I'm here to train and I take this seriously". Sweating is healthy for you too, helping to rid the body of toxins, increasing circulation, burning more fat and also making for a nice, clear complexion.

When you've got an epic workout going and the sweat is flying, staying hydrated is key, so here are a few quick rules to follow whether you're hittin' it hard in the gym or playing your favorite sport outside:

• Drink before you get thirsty
• Drink 1-2 cups of fluid 30 minutes before exercise
• Drink ½ - 1 cup of fluid for every 15 minutes of exercise
• Replenish fluids lost (2 ½ cups for every pound lost during exercise)
• Keep drinking even after your thirst is quenched

Bonus Info:  If you drink 8 glasses (64oz) of ICE COLD water a day, you're body will expend an additional 200 calories to help maintain your core temperature. So, theoretically, if you consume a gallon of water ICE COLD each day you will burn an additional 2800 calories a week (200 calories a day x 7 days in a week). Since a pound of fat contains 3500 calories, that amounts to almost an additional 4 pounds of fat lost in a month! The only time I would recommend NOT drinking your water ice cold is immediately following your workout, as you need to get your body re-hydrated as soon as possible, and cold water takes longer to move out of your tummy.

Live With Passion,

Roy


                                        Hal, post workout, ringing his shirt out before a big first date

 WOD
"Platoon"
21-18-15-12-9 For Time:
DIps
SDHP M-95 / W-65
Squats M-95 / W-65
KB Swings M-32kg / W-16kg
Do 50 Jump Rope after every set of every exercise

Paleo Recipe
Barbequed Spicy Honey Chicken
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)

In a large bowl combine honey, lemon and orange juices, herbs, scallions, pepper and fennel seeds. Put the chicken in the bowl and marinate for 1-2 hours. Fire up the barbeque and grill the chicken, turning constantly while basting with the marinade until the breasts are cooked.

Qoute Of The Day
Other gyms use machines…we build them!

Meathead

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

For those of you that are CrossFit faithful and care about such things as being lean and building muscle, you probably already understand that we follow a Paleo style of eating that includes eating lots of meat. But to be truly Paleo you need to be eating meat that comes ONLY from animals that are "grass-fed". Why? Check out this snipet (or click on the blue print to read the whole ka-boodle) below to save yourself a potential trip to the hospital or potentially an early grave!

"Because we eat quite a lot of meat, quite a lot of meat must be produced. Large-volume meat production means large farms, large herds, and large, centralized, highly efficient processing plants. At best, this all translates into relative neglect of any individual steer, and a relative inability to inspect the quality of every steak.

At worst, it offers reminders of the "jungle" to which Upton Sinclair introduced us all at the turn of the 20th century. And it means feed animals are raised as an industrial commodity, rather than as creatures. Their natural diets are disregarded, and they are fed whatever leads to the fastest growth and greatest profit.

The origins of E. coli 0157H7 are not mysterious; they relate to changes in the feed of cattle. We say "you are what you eat," and since the construction materials for growing bodies come from food and nowhere else, it is literally true. It is just as true if you happen to have hooves.

Cattle eating grasses have a healthy gastrointestinal tract that is not conducive to the growth of this particular mutant germ. Cattle being fed grains instead of grasses -- and in many cases, ground-up bits of other animals including their own species -- develop abnormal conditions in their GI tract, such as a change in the pH level.

It is this abnormal environment within cows that consume abnormal diets that gave us E. coli 0157H7. The jury is still out on the new E. coli variant, but precedent likely predicts the trial outcome for our current tribulations. We -- and our resultant health -- not only are what we eat; we are to some extent what we feed what we eat."


Sam enjoying a nice concrete nap after a 15 minute CrossFit session ; )

WOD
Waylayed
Warmup
30 PVC Rotaters
30 Hypers
2x Dwn-n-back Bear Crawls
Strength
Deadlift 5 x 5 Max Weight
Bench Press 5 x 5 Max Weight
10 Minute AMRAP
20 Air Squats
20 Box Jumps

Free Paleo Seminar This Saturday at 9am... Last Chance To Reserve Your Seat!!

Thursday, August 04, 2011

A Final Reminder: Our FREE Paleo Seminar with Al Rosas from Rosas Farm is this Saturday from 9-10am. Get the scoop on how to eat and live a Paleo lifestyle, learn some really facinating fact about Paleo that I promise you've never heard before from an insider in the industry and get to sample some delicious grass fed meat with an option to buy it direct and have it delivered right here to the gym!

Tomorrow at 9am is the last chance to RSVP, so call now to reserve your seat. 

                                          One Step At A Time...

WOD
Hot Meat
30 Min AMRAP
5 Pullups
10 Pushups
15 Situps
20 Lunges
1 Burpee
Add 1 Burpee Each Round
 

Last Chance!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Just in case you've been in a coma or trekking through vietnam for the past few weeks and have missed all of my recent posts, I just wanted to give everyone one more reminder that this coming Saturday the 29th will be our first ever

PALEO CHALLENGE!

Here is a quick re-cap of the details:

• Location: CrossFit Body Construction
  
• Time: Start promptly at 10am...be here 15 minutes early!
• Buy-in: $35 and Wednesday is the last day to sign up.
  
• Purpose: To lose fat, pounds and inches while gaining muscle, improving health and performance and looking better naked!
• Requirements: "Before" pictures and body-fat measurements to be taken, as well as "The Baseline Test" Also, everone will be required to bring a notebook and track all of your eating and drinking for the entire contest. Failure to do so will automatically disqualify you!
• Male and female winners will be determined by best overall improvement in fat loss, muscle gain, physical transformation and overall improvement in "The Baseline!"
• First place male and female winners will split a cash prize of 80% of the total buy-in plus 8lbs each of grass fed meat from Rosas Farms.
• What's Included: mini-seminar about what the paleo diet is and how to follow it as well as some great paleo food provided for us by a local caterer for munchies after The Baseline!

• The challenge officially ends at midnight on Sunday Dec 4th and everyone participating must come in on either Monday Dec 5th or Tues Dec 6th between 8am &10am or 1pm &3:30pm to get their "after measurements and pics taken.  On Dec10th at 10am we'll have the after party here to announce the winners, do a fun team wod and then mingle, eat and drink for what will essentially be our Christmas party!

UPDATE: As of now we have several local businesses that have offered to donate their goods and/or services which means that in addition to the cash prizes and the grass-fed meat, we will also be giving away in excess of a thousand dollars worth of local products and services.

Lastly, since this is all kicking off 2 days prior to Halloween, everyone is encouraged to wear a costume, keeping in mind that it still needs to be something that you can train in!

WOD
Shweddy Balls
21-15-9 For Time
KB Snatch Right Arm 53/36
KB Snatch Left Arm 53/36
Pullups
Warmup
3 Rounds
20 Rotaters
10 Hypers
10 Pushups
10 Jacks

Gluten Free Ain't Paleo!

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Here's a great piece from paleodiet.com I thought worth re-posting...enjoy.

What???

You read that right, my friends. “Gluten-free” is a total scam.

Bu-bu-bu-bu-but --- isn’t eating "gluten-free" part and parcel of the Paleolithic Diet?

Yes, yes, it is. And no, it isn’t. Grrrrrrrrr….really, really? Uber-super-duper-short version of why, yes, you should eat gluten-free: Gluten and gliadin are proteins, found in grains, that we, Homo sapiens sapiens, don’t have a long evolutionary history of eating a lot of, nor are we well-adapted to eating them. Unlike, say, Sitophilus granaries and his cousins.

If you want to get into the scientific nitty-gritty, I refer you to Robb Wolf’s brilliant, final word gluten. We get that part. So, how isn’t “gluten-free” part of the Paleolithic Diet and how is it a scam? Because sharp-eyed food producers and their marketing teams are more than happy to ride the recent, burgeoning gluten-free wave and milk it for all it’s worth….even if it is potentially to your detriment.

Please don’t get suckered into eating “gluten-free” food products that are, yes, technically “gluten-free” but really Franken-foods, filled with other substances that have had no place in our our evolutionary history either. My personal favorite: the microcrystalline cellulose you often see in “gluten-free” breads. If you have a loaf of “gluten-free” bread in your house, go check the ingredients list now. I’ll wait here for you.

For the rest of you, microcrystalline cellulose is refined wood pulp. Unless you are Dendroctonus ponderosae – call me simplistic and reductionist – but just gonna throw this out there --- eating refined wood pulp, probably not a super-duper idea. BTW close runner-ups are the legume-based “flours” used in many “gluten-free” bread mixes as well as a bunch more. My message to you today:

Remember why you are eating Paleo. Next time you are thinking of eating “gluten-free”, just remember...you are not an wood-pulp eating insect! Get out and enjoy the heat and sun with some loved ones. Look forward to your Keep on keepin' on,

PS If the above resonated with you – I should give credit where credit is due, Kurt Harris M.D. has been sounding the alarm on frankenfoods and their ilk for some time now.

 My Chitlins...the reason I pay attention to articles like this ; )

 
WOD
Hurt Bomb
21-15-9
KB Swings 24/16
Burpees
Pullups
AMRAP For 3 Minutes
Rest For 1 Minute
AMRAP For 6 Minutes
Rest 1 Minute
Perform WOD For Time
Your score will be the total # of reps performed in rounds 1&2 as well as your time for completing the WOD in the final round.

Deadline For Food Diaries Approaching Fast!

Monday, November 07, 2011

Just a reminder: For all of you who are participating in The Paleo Challenge, your nutritional diary for the previous week is due today. Being that this is your first homework assignment I'll extend the deadline till tomorrow at noon, but after that it will be too late and will result in disqualification from the contest.

Keep in mind that even if you don't send in your diary you're still welcome to come to the after party Dec 10th to share in everyones incredible transformations, the wod and the after party...you just won't be eligible to win the cash prize. 

I know that may seem like I'm being a bit of a hard-ass about this, but it's really just all about wanting each and every one one of you to keep your commitments and do the work. The reality is, if you're not willing to take 5 minutes a day to jot down what you eat so that you can really get a handle on your eating habits and things that you need to work on, then you're not really ready to be on a program at all, and that's okay...some of you just aren't there yet, but let's not waste each others time.

For those of you on the fence about keeping your diary, chew on this: People that keep a food journal lose, on average, DOUBLE the amount of fat as people who don't.

With all that being said, great job to all those who have sent their diarys in already...I appreciate it ; )

WOD
The Offering
Every minute on the minute for 20 Minutes:
3 Deads 250/175
5 Pullups
7 Dips
Buy-In:
3 Rounds
40 Sledge
1 Parking Lot Perimitter Run with Sledge