Crossfit.com WOD Dec. 16, 2010

Reflections on Crossfit Taranis Winter Challenge 2010

Two weeks ago, I competed in my first big Crossfit competition at Crossfit Taranis. First off, I just wanted to say thank you to the whole Taranis crew for organizing such a great event. The whole weekend was very well organized and went very smoothly. I thought the programming was great as well, it was very well rounded and didn’t bias anything. The volume was just perfect for a 1 day workout.

Pete Kendrick, Dai Manuel, Geoff Behrend and I arrived in Victoria on Friday afternoon. After signing in, all the athletes were informed of the first workout. In 10 minutes time, do 1 set of max pull-ups, and in the remainder of the time, do a 1 rep max squat clean. I felt pretty good with this workout as I knew my strength was in bodyweight movements and my squat clean was pretty good for my size. Heading into the competition, I had a nagging pain somewhere around my scapula. It wasn’t a pain or an injury, per se, but it was definitely a twinge or a tweak. Whatever you wanna call it, it was bothering me anytime I moved my right scapula around (shoulder blade). On to Saturday, the competition day, knowing that I would be one of the smallest, if not, the smallest competitor, I knew that I would finish in the bottom quarter, my goal was just not to finish last.

Workout #1

In 10 minutes, perform 1 set of max pull-ups, in the remainder of the 10 minutes; achieve a 1 rep max squat clean.

The standard for the pull-ups was that your chin not only had to be higher than the bar but it had to break the vertical plan of the bar. I hadn’t practiced this pull up at all in my training as I usually do butterfly kipping style pull ups but I wasn’t worried as I knew pull ups were one of my strengths. My PR for max pull-ups is 45 so my goal was to get to at least 40. I did my first 10-15 or so pull-ups butterfly style and after a couple of missed reps, I switched to a regular gymnastics kip pull-up and got up to 33 reps. After that, I had 5 straight missed reps that didn’t count as my chin didn’t break the vertical plane of the bar. In total I had about 7-9 missed reps. In retrospect, I would have started with the gymnastics kip right off the bat as I think that would’ve helped my muscular endurance.

Score = 33 pull ups

After I dropped from the bar, I took my time to put on my lifting shoes, there was about close to 9 minutes left so I knew I had a lot of reps to figure out my max squat clean. Here is what I did from what I can recall.

1 x 165

1 x 185

1 x 205 (fail)

1 x 195

1 x 205 (fail)

1 x 200

1 x 205 (fail)

Score = 200lbs

Workout #2

3 rounds for time:

15 wall balls (20lbs)

10 burpees

This workout had a 7 minute time cap. I had a few a couple of missed reps of wall balls but that was it. By the third round, I had to break my wall balls into 3 sets of 5 cause the ball got really heavy. I always liked front squats but not wall balls for some reason. My time was 4:02

Workout #3

As many rounds/reps as possible in 20 minutes

20 backward skips

20 air squats

20 double unders

200 meter run

Each rep of the backward skips, air squats and double unders were worth 1 point and each completed run was worth 80 points. This was an aerobic workout, which is again, not one of my strengths (see a common theme here?) but I was going to give it all I got. I went into the workout with a strategy of using 2 ropes, a buddy lee for the backward skipping as I thought the weighted rope would help and I was going to use a cable rope for the double unders. My double unders were surprisingly quicker than normal but the time it took to switch ropes cost me a lot of time. In hindsight, I would’ve gone with just one rope. The run distance was not bad, running is another one of my weaknesses but the distance was short so I didn’t mind too much. Score: 7 rounds and 40 reps = 1020

Between the third and fourth workouts, I went to use the massage service at the facility and told my friendly RMT of my scapula twinge. She found a massive muscle knot/trigger point on my levator scapulae on my right side and proceeded to knead it down. It gave me some temporary relief.

Workout #4

5 rounds with 135lbs bar for time of:

9 deadlifts

6 power cleans

3 squat cleans to overhead

This wod had a 10 minute time cap, my goal was to just finish the workout in time. By the third round, I had to start breaking up all the sets. I think I crashed because of poor game day nutrition. I finished with 4 rounds, 9 deadlifts, and 3 power cleans for a total of 84 reps.

Epilogue

So my first competition earned me a 59^th place finish out of 64 male competitors. The final scoresheet showed me scoring 81 reps in the last workout when I actually got 84. I didn’t mention it because even if it bumped me up 1 or 2 spots, I was still a bottom dweller. All in all, I had a great time and was just glad I survived the day. Moving forward, I now know I have some serious holes in my game that I need to work on. Next up is the Oly-Lifting Competition hosted by Crossfit North Vancouver and BCAW at Semiahmoo Secondary. I’m going to start training hard for that. Wish me good luck!

Deadlifting on unstable surfaces for strength? Fail.

http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2010/10000/Deadlift_Muscle_Force_and_Activation_Under_Stable.20.aspx

McDonald's Meal resists decomposition for 6 months!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101012/bs_yblog_upshot/mcdonalds-happy-meal-resists-decomposition-for-six-months

Sleeping with Light On Linked to Obesity

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/204236.php

Grains To The Grave

Everyday, we are bombarded by images of grains and grain products all around us. Turn on the television, how many commercials do you see of boxed cereal and beer? How many commercials do you see advertising vegetables and fruits? Go to a supermarket, how many aisles are there of bread, bagels, donuts, muffins, rice crackers, and cereal? Heck, even the government tells us to eat copious amounts of grain products. I’m about to let you in on a little secret … grains are unhealthy.

Homo sapiens have been hunting and foraging food for our survival for 150,000 + years. Their ancestors (Homo Habilus, Homo Erectus, Neanderthal) have been doing the same for over 2 million years. That means for over two million years, we have been eating meats, nuts, leafy greens, regional veggies, tubers and roots, seasonal fruits and berries. Only about 10,000 years ago with the agricultural revolution, have our diet shifted towards a predominantly grain based diet (wheat, rye, barley, rice).

10,000 years may seem like a long time, however, it is just a drop in the bucket in the evolutionary scale. Our digestive system has not yet evolved to effectively digest grains. Need some proof? Continue reading…

Grains have a very unfavorable inflammatory response to our system. Lectins are specialized proteins found particularly in wheat, legumes, and dairy. Lectins are not easily broken down in the stomach and they are resistant to stomach acids and digestive enzymes. They bind to insulin receptors, attack the stomach lining of insects, and they seemingly cause leptin resistance. Furthermore, they bind to human intestinal lining causing ulcers and holes in the gut lining. This becomes problematic because it leads to the leaky gut syndrome, holes in your gut causes contents of your gut being leaked out into your bloodstream. Think about it, your poop gets leaked out of your gut into your bloodstream. The body sees that as foreign substances in your bloodstream and ignites your immune system into overdrive. This may lead to auto-immune diseases where like diabetes, narcolepsy, psoriasis, Crohn’s Disease and many more.

Gluten, a form of lectin, is even worse. Gluten is found in wheat, rye, and barley. Celiacs are 1% of the population who are completely intolerant to gluten. Any gluten in their diet can be disastrous. But just because you’re not diagnosed with Celiac disease, doesn’t mean that grains won’t have an effect on you. Everyone is in some degree or another, susceptible to gluten side effects. Gluten intake compromises your body’s ability to process calcium and Vitamin D3, leads to hyperparathyroidism and other bone defects. You do not want to be deficient in Vitamin D.

Another unfavorable response of eating grains is the associating insulin spike you get. Grains are chock-full of carbohydrates. When we consume high amounts of carbohydrates, it gets broken down into simple sugars in our blood stream. When our blood sugar levels get too high, our pancreas releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin is the hormone that signals to our cells to start storing this extra sugar in our muscle and liver cells as stored energy. If we do not readily use up the glucose as energy, and our muscle and liver glycogen stores are full, we will store the glucose into our fat cells. Now imagine when you’re eating large amounts of carbs in every meal: pasta, cereal, rice, bread, bagels, dessert, donuts, muffins, your constantly increasing your blood sugar levels and constantly releasing more and more insulin. Too much insulin poses a serious health problem. As you keep releasing insulin, your body’s cells become desensitized to the amount of insulin and will not respond to its signal. Thus, insulin and glucose stay in your blood stream. This insensitivity to insulin leads to hyperinsulinism (Google it and find that it is related to a host of diseases), and type II diabetes.

Still not convinced that grains are bad? Let’s analyze exactly how nutritious grains are. The government, nutritionists, and trainers are constantly telling us how healthy whole grains are. Well, let’s compare whole wheat bread to broccoli and see what we come up with.

As you can see from the data above, I have compared 100 grams of multi-grain/whole-grain bread (two slices) versus 184 grams (1 cup) of chopped, cooked broccoli. The bread contains a whopping 265 calories per 100 grams while broccoli only has 52 calories per 184 grams. If you’re trying to lose weight, think about how much bread you’re eating versus the amount of broccoli or veggies you’re eating. Furthermore, the bread has more than 20 times the amount of sodium and over 4 times the amount of carbohydrates leading to higher insulin release and we’ve already discussed how bad that is. People always defend bread by saying how much fiber bread has but broccoli, spinach, and other veggies have just as much. When we look at the micronutrients of these two foods, you’ll notice that bread is pretty much devoid of any vitamins and minerals whereas broccoli is a good source of Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese.

One final note to add, eating too many grains produces an acidifying effect in your body. A net acid producing diet promotes bone de-mineralization leading to osteopenia and osteoporosis. The acid must be buffered by alkaline stores in your body and the largest alkaline store in your body is calcium from your bones. Therefore, calcium is actually stripped from your bones to buffer the high acidic diet you’re eating from dairy, cereal grains, legumes, and meat and excreted in your urine. Eat more fruits and vegetables if you want to preserve your muscle mass and bone mineral density as they have an alkaline effect.

I know most of you cannot cut out all grains from your diet but hopefully this article will shed some light on what happens to you when you eat the stuff you eat and entice you to make a change. I just want you to make an informed choice, not one dictated by governmental agenda and nutritional “experts.” At most, grain products will kill you, at the very least, there are much better options for your health and body composition.

How to get washboard 6 pack abs!

This is one of the most commonly asked questions I get from people: how can I get a six pack? I think everyone would agree that having a chiseled midsection is pretty desirable. Unfortunately, most people are still hung up from the fact that you can lose inches off your weight by doing hundreds of sit-ups. The idea of spot reduction has already been widely accepted as a myth. In reality, there are only two simple things you need to do in order to get a six pack: lose fat and strengthen the abdominal muscles.

See, what most people fail to realize is that we all already have six pack abs. Every one of us has a set of six pack abs just like we all have a brain, eyeballs, and biceps. We are all born with the same number of muscles. So since we all have the same abdominal muscles, where aren’t they visible? If you can’t see the outline of your abs, that means you have a layer of fat on top of your abs. Now the question becomes how do I get rid of the layer of fat so that my abs become visible? Definitely not by doing a hundred sit-ups a day, the answer is by combing a sound diet and exercise program.

1. High-intensity Cardio For Fat Burning

The most efficient way to burn fat is by doing high intensity interval training (HIIT). Studies have shown that doing (HIIT) rather than long duration, moderate intensity results in up to 9 times greater fat loss. Instead of doing your half an hour or 45 minute cardio sessions at one constant pace, try doing high intensity intervals. For example, one interval can be 30 seconds of an all out maximum effort, followed by a 90 second recovery period at a light pace. Do this 8 times and your workout will only take 20 minutes instead of 45 minutes. You’ll achieve greater results in less time, otherwise known as “more bang for your buck.”

2. 80/20 Rule of Compound/Isolation Exercises

One of the biggest pet peeves I have when I’m at the gym is when I see someone who really wants to lose weight but all they do is hop on machine to machine nonchalantly pushing out their reps. Compound exercises are ones that involve more than one joint and recruit more muscle fibers. You will burn more calories because more muscles are being worked. Moreover, by doing compound exercises, you build more muscle mass and muscle tissue is more metabolically active that fat tissue, again helping you burn more calories.

Isolation exercises only work one muscle at a time therefore when we go back to the “more bang for your buck” idea, you’re really not doing all that much. If all you do are hip adduction/abduction, lateral raises, bicep curls, and leg extensions, you will not get you anywhere. As long as 80% of your exercises consist of squats, deadlifts, presses, rows, and pull-downs, you’ll be fine. These exercises make you work harder and elicit a neuro-endocrine (layman’s term: hormonal) response that is conducive to you getting a six pack.

3. Clean Up Your Diet

So now that we have concluded that you have a layer of fat on top of your otherwise would be visible six pack. How did the layer of adipose tissue get there in the first place? If you want to believe governmental propaganda and what your family physician says, then you would think that it’s a high fat diet that made you fat. But alas, as proven time and time again, it’s eating too many carbohydrates that will hide your six pack more than eating too much fat.

People are eating too much. If you just cut the portion of your meals, you will consume fewer calories and ultimately lose weight. However, the problem is that people who eat too many carbs get addicted to carbs and it is much easier to eat carbs than it is to eat fat and protein. 1 slice of bread equals 6 cups of broccoli in grams of carbohydrates. What’s easier to eat, one slice of bread or six cups of broccoli? Eating fat and protein will make you fuller longer by affecting those hormones that control satiety in your brain. Eating high glycemic carbs will make you hungry again fast. Follow these simple guidelines if you want to start losing fat (courtesy of www.robbwolf.com.)

• eat 4-8 oz of lean protein at every meal
• eat 3-4 meals per day
• limit fruit to 1 serving or less per meal
• limit nuts to 1-2 oz or less per meal
• only drink non-caloric beverages like coffee, tea, mineral water

4. Build Your Abdominal Muscles

After getting rid of your fat, you could probably see an outline of your abs. However, if you want your abs to show up in more detail, you need to build them. Your “six pack” muscles are just like any other muscle in your body. They respond to hypertrophy like any other muscle. The best way to train for hypertrophy is a rep range between 6-12 reps per set. 100-200 sit-ups per day is great for muscular endurance but after a point, they are not the best for building your six pack. Instead, do weighted decline sit-ups, hanging knees to elbows, and weighted side bends to fully bring out the abs.

In conclusion, if you really want to get washboard abs, just follow these four simple principles for a couple months and thank me.

A Calorie Is Not a Calorie!

My sister is always reading the caloric information on the side of boxes. I always knew that it was more important to eat clean, healthy, natural foods than to concern yourself with how many calories you’re eating. If you’re eating tons of veggies, fruits, organic meat, nuts, and fish, you do not have to worry about your weight. Eating this way will keep your full and your appetite in control. Having said all that, people still are concerned about “calories” so I will talk about it. Mostly because nutritionists and dietitians use it as a unit of measurement to help people lose weight.

Calorie counting is not as simple as it sounds. The law of thermodynamics state that as long as your calories in = calories out, you will stay the same weight. If your caloric intake is greater than your caloric expenditure, you will gain weight and vice versa. Advocates of the low fat diet use this law to explain their reasoning. A gram of fat contains 9 calories, carbohydrates and protein, on the other hand, contain 4 calories per gram. Therefore, eating less fat means fewer calories, which means you’ll lose weight, right? Wrong. Low fat often means high carb, and ever since the government instituted the Canada Food Guide some 30 years ago, we have only seen obesity, diabetes, and osteoporosis rates rise exponentially. It’s not as simple as it sounds. Here’s why.

1. Thermic Effect of Food

People treat calories in and calories out as independent factors but they are not. They are actually dependent factors as they affect one another. The energy cost to metabolize protein, fat, and carbohydrates is different. It takes more energy to digest protein than it does to digest carbohydrates and fat. For example, a 2000 calorie diet containing say 30% protein will make you expend more energy than a 2000 calorie diet containing 20% protein. Remember the energy balance teeter totter above? Eating different foods (left side) will affect the calories out (right side). People often only think the right side as exercise and daily lifestyle activities. Now you know that different foods will affect your total caloric metabolism at the end of the day.

2. Caloric restriction slows down metabolism

If you decide to cut calories in order to lose weight, you will probably start seeing an immediate weight loss in the beginning. However, the rate of your weight loss will slow down in subsequent weeks. That’s because as you start restricting your calories, your body runs cooler to conserve the reduced calories you’re taking in.

3. Different foods have different effects on your appetite

This has everything to do with hormones. When you eat a high carbohydrate meal, it breaks down into sugar in your blood. This causes a spike in insulin to communicate with the cells in your body to store the sugar. The spike in insulin is followed by a sharp fall in blood sugar which will then make you feel hungry again. Eating fat and protein affects satiety hormones like PPY and leptin, making you feel fuller longer.

4. Timing of meals affect calorie processing

Food calories are more likely to be stored as fat if not used immediately for energy. When liver and muscle glycogen stores are full, carbohydrates get converted and stored in the fat cells. On the contrary, food calories are more likely to be used for energy, stored as glycogen, and protein synthesis at times of an energy deficit such as first thing in the morning and right after exercise. That’s why pre and post workout nutrition is extra important. The best time to consume high glycemic carbohydrates is after your workout when the insulin spike is crucial for replenishing glycogen stores.

In conclusion, counting calories has some value but should be used with a grain of salt. As cited in the reasons above, there is a lot more to gain from eating good quality foods than there is from counting calories.

Paleolithic Nutritioin

Kurt G. Harris MD

The PāNu approach to nutrition is grounded on clinical medicine and basic sciences disciplined by knowledge of evolutionary biology and paleoanthropology. The best evidence from multiple disciplines supports eating an animal-based diet high in fat, low in cereal grains and relatively low in carbohydrate.

PaNu - A modified paleolithic diet that can improve your health by duplicating the evolutionary metabolic milieu.

How do you do it?

Here is a 12- step list of what to do. Go as far down the list as you can in whatever time frame you can manage. The further along the list you stop, the healthier you will be. There is no counting, measuring, or weighing. You are not required to purchase anything specific from me or anyone else. There are no special supplements, drugs or testing required.*

1. Eliminate sugar (including fruit juices and sports drinks) and all foods that contain flour.

2. Start eating proper fats - Use healthy animal fats or coconut fat to substitute fat calories for carbohydrate calories that formerly came from sugar and flour. Drink whole cream or coconut milk.

3. Eliminate gluten grains. Limit grains like corn and rice, which are nutritionally poor.

4. Eliminate grain and seed derived oils (cooking oils) Cook with Ghee, butter, animal fats, or coconut oil.

5. Favor ruminants like beef, lamb and bison for your meat. Eat eggs and some fish.

6. Get daily midday sun or take 2-8000 iu vit D daily.

7. Try intermittent fasting or infrequent meals (2 meals a day is best). Don't graze like a herbivore.

8. Adjust your 6s and 3s. Pastured (grass fed) dairy and grass fed beef or bison has a more optimal 6:3 ratio, more vitamins and CLA. A teaspoon or two of Carlson's fish oil (1-2 g DHA/EPA) daily is good compensatory supplementation if you eat grain-fed beef or no fish.

9. Proper exercise - emphasizing resistance and interval training over long aerobic sessions.

10. Most modern fruit is just a candy bar from a tree. Go easy on bags of sugar like apples. Stick with berries and avoid watermelon which is pure fructose. Eat in moderation.

11. Eliminate legumes

12. Eliminate all remaining dairy including cheese- (now you are "Orthodox paleolithic")

Vitamin D3: Best...Supplement...Ever!

The facts about one of the greatest discoveries in functional medicine

by Charles Poliquin

An osteopathic physician recently asked me, “What’s with all this hype over vitamin D3?” It was a good question. There have been countless supplements, especially in the field of bodybuilding, that have failed to live up to their promises. I remember when the next big things were AKG, vanadyl sulfate and boron (which, incidentally, is the primary ingredient in 20 Mule Team Borax!). But vitamin D3 is the real deal. Write this down:

“Vitamin D3 may be the single most important supplement we can take for our health.”

I’m serious! Fish oil also has amazing properties, but it takes a backseat to vitamin D3. Listen, I get a lot of feedback from the field. I hear from experts from all over the world. There is consensus among the best practitioners: They have verified over and over that just about everyone is deficient in vitamin D3 and that supplementation is essential.

The evidence is indisputable. The scientific literature is overwhelmed with data that confirm what all these experts have seen. I see the truth of it every day and have been teaching about the importance of vitamin D3 supplementation for some time now. The bottom line is that virtually every disease and adverse health condition is associated with low vitamin D3 levels. Consequently, many of these problems may be fixed with adequate vitamin D3 supplementation, or can be avoided by keeping vitamin D3 levels in the high normal range.

For a long time vitamin D3 was simply regarded as the anti-rickets and bone health vitamin – an underwhelming bit of knowledge. Because it was originally labeled as a vitamin, it was assumed that it wasn’t that important. Now it is more properly recognized as a prohormone that is essential to life. Even if it were only good for bone health, vitamin D3 still would be an important supplement, but the benefits go way beyond just bone health.

Let’s look at this in another way. What if a big pharmaceutical company made a revolutionary breakthrough and announced they had come across a compound so important that it could improve the lives of virtually everyone in the world? What if they told us that for less than 20 cents a day (or about 0.15 Euro) we could significantly reduce our risk for some of the most widespread diseases? What if they also announced that the side effects were actually good and that we would receive all these benefits without any real risk of adverse conditions? And that we wouldn’t even need governmental intervention to make it affordable? The answer is that this would be the biggest blockbuster drug ever to hit the market. Everyone would want a prescription and wouldn’t even mind paying for it themselves.

I’d like you to consider some of the research and benefits and make your own decision. Don’t just skim this; read through it and understand what’s being said in the research. The two best sources I’ve found have compiled a tremendous amount of research and information: www.vitamindcouncil.org (click on “research” on the left and you will be amazed) and www.vitamindhealth.org (Dr. Michael Holick’s website). But to get you started, here are some excellent, peer-reviewed articles.

1. Rickets, bone density, osteoporosis, osteopenia, osteomalacia: Low levels of vitamin D contribute to osteopenia and fractures. JAMA. 2002;287:3127-3129.

2. Fetal brain development and maternal health: Med Hypotheses. 2010 Jan;74(1):71-5. Epub 2009 Aug 18.

3. Psoriasis: “Hyperproliferative skin disorders such as psoriasis might be responsive to treatment with vitamin D....” “[Treatment with vitamin D] …showed great improvement in reducing the severity and area of psoriatic lesions.” Holick, MF. High prevalence of vitamin D inadequacy and implications for health. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2006 Mar;81(3):353-73.

4. Cancer: “Both prospective and retrospective epidemiologic studies indicate that levels of 25-OH D below 20 ng [nanograms] per milliliter are associated with a 30 to 50% increased risk of incident colon, prostate, and breast cancer, along with higher mortality from these cancers....” “Vitamin D either directly or indirectly controls more than 200 genes, including genes responsible for the regulation of cellular proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis.” Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(3):266-81.

5. Blood sugar regulation and insulin resistance: “Vitamin D deficiency increased insulin resistance, decreased insulin production, and was associated with the metabolic syndrome.” Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(3):266-81.

6. Depression and other neurological concerns: “Several studies suggest an association between hypovitaminosis D and basic and executive cognitive functions, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.” Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2009 Feb;11(1):12-9.

7. Multiple Sclerosis: “High circulating levels of vitamin D are associated with a lower risk of multiple sclerosis.” JAMA. 2006;296:2832.

8. Immune function: “When serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D fall below 20 ng per milliliter, the monocyte or macrophage is prevented from initiating this innate immune response” Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(3):266-81.

9. Cold, flu, and respiratory tract infection: shortened duration of symptoms in study of African women.

10. Symptoms associated with autoimmune conditions: Vitamin D deficiency affects the immune system’s capacity to self-regulate and can therefore lead to tissue damage via overproduction of potentially pathogenic cytokines.

11. Hypertension and congestive heart failure: “In a study of patients with hypertension who were exposed to ultraviolet B radiation three times a week for 3 months, 25-OH D levels increased by approximately 180% and blood pressure became normal.” “Vitamin D deficiency is associated with congestive heart failure.” Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(3):266-81.

12. Muscle mass and strength: “Vitamin D deficiency causes muscle weakness.” “Performance speed and proximal muscle strength were markedly improved when 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels increase from 4 to 16 ng per milliliter (10 to 40 nmol [nanomole] per liter) and continued to improve as the levels increase to more than 40ng per milliliter (100 nmol per liter). Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(3):266-81.

13. Weight Loss: “For every increase of 1 ng/mL in level of 25-OH D3, subjects ended up losing almost 0.2 kg more on their calorie-restricted diet.” Shalamar Sibley, prepublication report for the Endocrine Society’s 91st Annual Meeting.

14. And even longevity, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, thyroid conditions…

...and this just scratches the surface of the research!

Now the question becomes “How do I get my vitamin D3 to optimal levels?” This is the best part, since it’s very easy to fix vitamin D3 deficiency. There are a couple of different approaches that have been shown to work very well. One way is to just supplement with 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 every day and it’s likely your levels will be at least in the normal range within about three months, but remember, high normal is better than mid normal. Expect it to take another couple of months to reach high normal.

Another approach, which I prefer, is to supplement twice per week with about 30,000 to 100,000 IU of D3. Based on the research and clinical evidence, this method seems to accelerate the increase in blood levels of 25(OH) D3 (the marker that should be tested for). Although the kidneys still need to convert 25(OH) D3 into 1.25(OH)2 D3, the relevant lab value is 25(OH) D3. You should be shooting to get your levels between 80 and 100 ng/mL.

Now let’s go back to our “what if” scenario and ask the question again: What if there were one natural supplement that had been shown in scientific research to improve bone health, improve the development of babies’ brains, reduce the incidence of skin problems like psoriasis, prevent or remedy multiple sclerosis, reduce the risk of cancer, improve blood sugar levels and reduce insulin resistance, improve neurological conditions including depression and bipolar disorder, enhance immune defense against cold, flu and other infections, lower blood pressure and protect the heart, improve muscle function, increase the ability to lose bodyfat and even help people live longer? What if that compound existed and could be manufactured properly at a very affordable price? I’m happy to give you an answer that is not hypothetical and that you can believe: Vitamin D3 is, literally, the best supplement ever!

From OPT's blog, he nailed it!

ORTHOREXIA

The obsession about which foods are "good" and which are "bad" means orthorexics can end up malnourished. i think you mean happy and mentally acute Their dietary restrictions commonly cause sufferers to feel proud of their "virtuous" behavior even if it means that eating becomes so stressful their personal relationships can come under pressure and they become socially isolated. that's because their partner wants to shove Big Macs into their childs mouth so they do not become malnourished and they disagree with it

"The issues underlying orthorexia are often the same as anorexia and the two conditions can overlap but orthorexia is very definitely a distinct disorder," said Philpot. "Those most susceptible are middle-class, well-educated people who read about food scares in the papers, research them on the internet, and have the time and money to source what they believe to be purer alternatives." i think you mean actually search for answers as opposed to have a government lay out a "simple plan" to follow

Deanne Jade, founder of the National Centre for Eating Disorders, said: "There is a fine line between people who think they are taking care of themselves by manipulating their diet and those who have orthorexia. I see people around me who have no idea they have this disorder. I see it in my practice and I see it among my friends and colleagues." HOLY SHIT, you know why, because more people are trying to eat better!

Jade believes the condition is on the increase because "modern society has lost its way with food". She said: "It's everywhere, from the people who think it's normal if their friends stop eating entire food groups, to the trainers in the gym who [promote] certain foods to enhance performance, OMG, can you believe that trainers are doing this, imagine that - "have this yam AFTER your workout and you might become better b/c of it"....(pause)..."WOW!" (sidenote, did you notice the OMG) to the proliferation of nutritionists, dieticians and naturopaths [who believe in curing problems through entirely natural methods such as sunlight and massage]. as opposed to what?

"And just look in the bookshops – all the diets that advise eating according to your blood type or metabolic rate. This is all grist for the mill to those looking for proof to confirm or encourage their anxieties around food." OK, OK, you got me there, what does "grist for the mill" mean?..i'm obviously not smart enough for this "founder" talk

Fuzz...

Look. You've got to take care of your tissues. This is probably second in importance only to the universal "protect your crotch" law. Stretching or mobilizing your tight business is always a good idea, but in reality as about as sexy as laundry and taxes.
But, really, who cares if your performance suffers, or you get pulled into terribly technique poor positioning, or are really weak at the end ranges of your range of motion, or you are wearing out your joint surfaces?

Enter the Fuzz Concept.

Maybe, you will start stretching because you just don't like the concept of "fuzz" accumulating in your tissues. Fuzz you ask? I have a fuzz problem? What the fuzz? Gil Hedley, rockstar anatomist, makes an excellent case and presents a compelling hypothesis for internal muscular resistance. You can think of muscular "stiffness" as a measure of how well the muscle tissue (and other connective tissues) slide past one another. The more stiffness, the greater the internal resistance of the system. Increased internal resistance means decreased efficiency and lost power output. (We actually talk about this at the Movement and Mobility Seminar.) Dr. Hedley describes the formation of fuzz as secondary to immobility (like sleeping). As an aside, Leopards do stretch by the way, and you aren't a leopard--so quit using the "leopard defense" to rationalize your stiff/tight self. Know what makes even more fuzz accumulate in your body? Muscle damage. That's right. Working out.

Go ahead, say something witty you fuzz collector.
Now watch the man himself describe the fuzz epidemic.



Taken from http://sanfranciscocrossfit.blogspot.com/2010/04/two-wordsfuzz.html

CrossFit vs. P90X

Why write a whole blog post myself when someone has already done it better? Below is an excerpt taken from another site. Link at the bottom of article.

What's the difference? Well, a lot. Some say, not much. They have a lot in common, and they're closer to one another than, say, the average gym-goers 'routine' of machines and cardio.

First off, neither of these methodologies are unique. Both draw from a wide variety of more original sources. In Crossfit's case, it's gymnastics, weightlifting, sprinting, powerlifting, and kettlebells; in the case of P90X, it's Yoga, bodybuilding, and martial arts. All good stuff.

It could be argued that Ross Training (www.rosstraining.com) was the original, but really, this stuff has been around for centuries. Gym Jones is a tougher version still, but is closer to Crossfit than P90X.

Similarities:The beauties of both P90X and Crossfit: they incorporate whole-body movement. They expose the user to new horizons (like Yoga and Martial Arts.) They both decry the current trend in fitness toward machines, opting for primarily bodyweight exercise. They rely as much on the exercises as they do on the coaching (critical for a good experience in either P90X or Crossfit, and a major difference from the GloboGym model.)

Differences: P90X mixes bodybuilding techniques (Day 1: chest and back) with other disciplines, like Yoga and Martial Arts, to maximize . It should also be noted that P90X is largely geared to improving physique, while Crossfit is targeting overall fitness improvement.

Crossfit, meanwhile, uses compound movements from gymnastics, martial arts, weightlifting, and powerlifting, as well as sprinting and running, to maximize the hormonal response to exercise. Workouts are scalable from a rank beginner to a very elite athlete. Workouts are constantly changing, involve big movements that demand focus and constant attention to form. It's easier to 'grow up' with Crossfit, because mastery of many exercises requires years of practice, though the basics can be learned over a weekend, or picked up along the way.

Crossfit, being open-concept, is constantly getting better. Certifications are now available in both basic coaching practices, intermediate skills, and very advanced practices. Members (hundreds of thousands worldwide) bring individual expertise to the table and that adds to everyone's experience. For example, we saw the need for a easy-to-use tracking system, and we built it, spending tens of thousands in research and development, only to offer it back to the Crossfit community for free.

Food: P90X - operates in 3 phases. The first is low-carbohydrate; the second is balanced (but low fat,) and the third is high-carbohydrate, low-fat. This is a good reflection of the current opinion of mainstream public thinking, but isn't exactly up to speed with more advanced training practices. In fact, with even less-cutting-edge media (Men's Health, Oxygen) taking up the battle cry of moderate carb, moderate protein, and lots of healthy fats, I was surprised to see a low-fat diet in such a progressive exercise prescription.

Crossfit advocates the Zone diet to most practitioners, and a growing percentage use the Paleo Diet. There's no 'official' line on nutrition, or prescribed diet, but the Crossfit community is incredibly helpful on this point. There's a Crossfit nutritional certification now. The basic premise is to optimally prepare yourself at the hormonal level to deal with both the tough workouts and the physical demands of life. The workouts themselves demand that you're eating properly: you don't want to tackle 'Fran' on an empty stomach, or experience a blood sugar crash during 'Murph.'

Differences in practice: With P90X, trainees watch a video every day that takes them through a workout. It feels a bit like an infomercial (also the program's primary marketing strategy,) but if that does it for you, then great.

Crossfit posts a daily workout (the WOD, or Workout Of The Day) on its website (www.crossfit.com) every morning. It usually posts a picture of a Crossfitter or group doing something wild, a couple of articles, and interesting links to Crossfit affiliates. Then you have the discussion board, where Crossfitters around the world post their daily results. Most people also read the affiliate blog for more articles of interest from international affiliates. Of note: every single Crossfit affiliate (there are more than a thousand now,) has their own blog. Some do the prescribed WOD, some not. Every one posts articles and video, most every day. Many of the WODs are named so that practitioners can gauge progress (for instance, your 'Fran' time may decrease, indicating an improved work capacity.)

Philosophical Differences: Crossfit chooses to change its focus daily without forewarning its practitioners. This, they argue, helps Crossfitters put out their maximal effort every day, because they don't know what's coming next. It's tougher to save energy for training days at which you're more likely to excel, and thereby increase skill in only one area. Our own research - an independent two-year study on exercise adherence - confirms this notion.

Crossfit is also a lot more fun. Knowing that tomorrow is 'Yoga Day' doesn't do much to excite an exerciser on the third time through the DVDs. How many P90X folks are up at midnight on the P90X website, chatting to others about 'Chest and Triceps' day tomorrow? Few. At Crossfit.com? Thousands are hitting 'refresh' to see the WOD before they go to sleep.

However, each are great at moving people toward the stated goals of the program. Crossfit's goal is to improve work capacity (fitness) on a broad scale; P90X is built to help people lose body fat. Where physique improvement comes as a byproduct of improved fitness with Crossfit, P90X targets that goal singly.

Scientific Differences: P90X relies heavily on the research behind 'muscle confusion' - the concept of every-changing demands on muscle tissue. By minimizing adaptation to exercise, you get more from it; we agree. We love change.

Crossfit cites research, reviews research, and publishes its own scientific Journal every month. Its discussion boards are a constant spot for debate on dozens of topics daily. Workouts are based around scientific evidence, and though founder Greg Glassman may argue with some high-level coaches, he's definitely among the elite and can speak to other scientists on their level.

Catalyst's own study on exercise adherence in 2006 showed that intense, constantly-varied workouts can produce the best adherence rate (you'll like it better, so you'll do it more.) That's what led us to Crossfit in the first place.

Community Differences: Crossfit's biggest strength, arguably, is its community. It's an open-source group, where anyone is free to post anything related to the WOD. There are over a thousand affiliate gyms, each with dozens or hundreds of Crossfitters, and hundreds of thousands doing Crossfit on their own in basements, garages, parks, and streets.

Price differences: Crossfit, at its core level, is 100% free. Skill acquisition, coaching, and gym access is not. Some may practice Crossfit for 30 years without instruction beyond the expert coaching offered in the Crossfit Journal ($20/year) or for free on the main site and affiliate site.

P90X - 3 easy payments of $39.95. Note: the definition of 'easy' depends on your income, I guess.

Verdict: We like P90X. We like exposing people to different methodologies. We like the variety and balance. We think people can do worse; it's probably better than 95% of the programs out there.

But we like Crossfit better. We chose Crossfit because it matched our own philosophy and research. Crossfit feels like a sport. Most Crossfitters eventually become as lean and toned (and more muscular) than P90Xers, but it comes as a side effect to a much-improved level of fitness, not as an end in itself. We also like the incorporation of true strength training, which is hard to instruct on a DVD, and lends itself to all kinds of liability that no one outside of the open-source community can afford. If you were to train with P90X founder Erwin Sean Caravana, maybe there would be more skill-based lifts; we can't know for sure. Details about Caravana are hard to find; is he a Trainer, or just the business brains? Or Cleans and squats with heavy weight, though, force a metabolic change that you just can't duplicate with biceps curls, lunges, and shrugs. P90X also feels a bit too 'sound stagey' to us - lines, even in the 'making of' videos, seem rehearsed. It's well done, but watch a Crossfit video compared to a P90X infomercial, and note the realism: you can't fake THAT.

Source: http://www.catalystgym.com/2009/02/crossfit-vs-p90x.html

FRAN - The bitchiest of all CrossFit girls

The last time I did Fran was at my CrossFit Level 1 Certification in September 2009. My time was 9:01.

I decided to tackle this today, as it has been months since the last time. I wanted to see how my training has improved my performance. My time? 5:48.

After the work out, I felt like throwing up. I was lying on the floor for a good 15 minutes until my heart rate came back down. It hurt.

Bottom line - pretty proud of my time, next time I do it, I want a sub-5:00.

ps. Tarmo threw down a 5:32. Respect.

Gluten

Gluten: What You Don't Know Might Kill You

Best Movies of The Decade

1. Anchorman
2. Inglorious Basterds
3. 25th Hour
4. Kill Bill
5. The Dark Knight
6. Before Sunset
7. There Will Be Blood
8. No Country For Old Men
9. In Bruges
10. The 40 Year Old Virgin