Jul
17
Apr
05
The crockpot is used probably 3-5 days per week on average. It’s a personal favorite because of the quantity of food it cooks, how little you have to chop the stuff that goes in there, and how hands off the cooking process is. The current rotation is a ground turkey chili, chicken drumsticks, and a top of round beef & veggie mix with Italian seasoning.
Nutritious meals are usually pretty bland and boring. That’s just something you as an adult has to deal. If something is delicious it’s probably not that great for you. Luckily you can brighten up most meals with a good hot sauce. These are usually low in added sugar compared to other condiments such as barbeque sauce and ketchup.
Rice is a great carb source for physical activity, however, it’s fairly easy to overdo if you're not going through some serious training. For all recipes with rice, I usually use ½ rice and ½ cauliflower rice. Aldi sells a frozen bag of cauliflower rice that’s very versatile.
What happens when you tell a kid they can’t do something? That’s the only thing they obsess about and want to do. This is me with food. I personally don’t have any foods that I eliminate completely. This doesn't mean that I eat cookies every day, however, if I wanted to have one I can. It’s just a mental trick that keeps me on a decent path. Some people are abstainers and some people are moderators. I like to moderate. Know who you are and what the trigger foods can be.
Nothing is 100% off limits eating wise. That doesn’t mean that there is junk available in the pantry. If you have candy or similar treats at home it will be consumed at some point. There is a time and a place for an occasional treat, however, it should be a special occasion or require extra effort to obtain. Don’t put unnecessary stress on your willpower by having junk at home.
A lot of people stress out about small details, additives, and other trivial stuff in ingredient lists. Worrying about the stuff that’s at the very end of an ingredient list is not super necessary, however, hydrogenated oils should be avoided as much as possible. This stuff messes with your blood cholesterol. It has actually been banned from products but food manufacturers were given a 2 year period to remove it from their products. You will not consume any of this if you eat whole foods and produce. This stuff is found in cakes, pastries, lower quality frozen meals, cheap nut butter, and etc.
Figure out what your pitfalls are. Is it the candy bowl at work, bowling league on Friday’s, significant other that tries to drag you along with them, or maybe you sabotaging yourself. The time I struggle with cravings is usually sleep related. I’ll nap a few times a week and every time I wake up from a nap I feel like I can eat a horse. If I just wait a little bit this usually goes away and I feel a little better. Before snacking like crazy I’ll give myself 20 min to just have some coffee and then it usually goes away. Thursday nights is also the day I struggle with cravings the most. At this point during the week is when I notice the effects of running up some sleep debt. I’ll probably have a plate more for dinner than usual but still try to stick with decent food options.
Snacks are always available. Protein bars (low in sugar and with a whey protein source), fruits, pre-peeled hard boiled eggs, and dry roasted almonds are always close by. Getting ravenous can make anyone snap and have some junk. Embrace hunger, but don't take it too far.
Garlic is added to A LOT OF meals. It tastes great and it helps boost the immune system. Keep the colds away and your training will be much more consistent.
Water is boring and soda is terrible for you. Go with sparkling water instead. If you’ve been chugging soda for a while it takes a little getting used. You could potentially go overboard with the carbonation so don’t replace your entire water intake with bubbly water.
Most day’s the alarm goes off at 5:15am and the majority of dinners are after 7pm. This would be a long day of eating which isn’t the best for you. Personally, I prefer pushing back the breakfast so I’m usually up for a few hours before eating something. Most people would probably benefit from condensing their eating window slightly.
Mar
27
It happens to the best of us. Something will get in the way off you going to the gym and that is fine. You are not a professional athlete and it’s going to happen.
The most important thing to do at that point is to break the momentum. Don’t let a temporary rut or mishap get you too far from your goals.
Here is a short list of things to consider when it’s time to get back to the gym.
- Motivation is gone. Many gym goers believe that motivation is what they struggle with and stops them from the gym, however, motivation is not the problem. Someone who doesn't miss a workout view themselves as someone who works out, that’s just what they do. They’ve done so many workouts that it becomes a natural part of their routine. Do you need the motivation to brush your teeth at night? Of course not. It just what you do. Building the habit of working out works the same way.
- Have reasonable expectations. If you haven’t worked out in a few weeks and you walk in on 1 rep max back squat day, don’t get flustered because you didn't PR. That’s not how it works. Whatever your PR or previous level was before leaving automatically deduct 20% and start off slow.
- Have reasonable expectations. A lot of athletes will make up their minds about how the workout will go before they even start the warm up. -”I haven’t been in for 2 weeks this workout will be impossible!”. This might be true if you’ve been sick or super stressed out while missing from the gym. If you’ve been on a cushy vacation with more sleep, sunshine, relaxation, quality family time, and ample nutrition you might just be set up for a great training session. Don’t talk yourself out of having a solid workout.
- You got sick. This is sometimes out of your control and you just have to deal with it. Make sure that you are recovered enough before returning that you don’t spread any germs. If the previous 2 examples required a small reduction in intensity this might require a more drastic cut. Start off very easy and slowly build from there.
- Getting back on track. Give yourself at least 3-5 session to get back to the level you stopped working out at. It will take another 10-20 sessions to start exceeding your previous level of fitness. The bad news is that when you stop working out you can lose fitness very quickly. The good news is that it comes back faster than it initially took you to reach that level.
- Communicate with the coach. If you are going out of town, get sick, or just fall off the wagon please let us know what’s going on. We want to know what’s going on in your life, it helps us coach you better. Let’s say you tweak your back carrying groceries and now we don’t see you for a few days. You don’t want to bug any of the coaches so you lay low until it feels better. A week has gone by and your back is still a little tender. Here’s what you should do instead. Message your coach right away and let them know what happened. We might have a stretch or two we can send you that will help you recover much faster. We can come up with a scaling option before you come into class. We direct you to “Plan B” which you completely forgot we offer. Maybe we do a personal training session and get to the bottom of your lower back problem once and for all. These are all things that will help you stay on track. We can’t do any of this if you ghost us.
- Anxious about coming back. You feel like everyone knows you “quit”. You don’t want me to yell at you as soon as you walk in the door. Maybe there will be a physical punishment of burpees for not showing up for 2 weeks? NONE of this will happen. The coach will welcome you back and make sure that we ease into the workouts. Your fellow gym goers will give you the usual high five after class because we all struggle with exercise from time to time and that’s OK.
Oscar Isacsson, Head Coach, CF-L3, M.S.
Jan
07
Skill
21-15-9
Cal row
Burpee
WOD
Squat Clean + 2 PJ
EMOM for 15min
Start light and finish heavy
Increase every other round
Rx, INT, Scaled
AHAP
Oct
02
Skill
12min EMOM (alt.)
15/12 Cal Row
20/15 Cal bike
rest 3min 12min
EMOM (alt.)
200m Run
10 Burpee
Jul
10
Sep
29
This month's primary focus is no primary focus. We are taking out the PF along with the skill. What are we going to do instead? We will spend extra time on warming up, perfecting the movements included in the WOD, and cool you down after class.
What we want to accomplish with this is:
- Slower and more gradual warm-up to make sure you are extra ready to go hard
- Mobilize specific areas for improved performance and faster recovery
- Spend extra time practicing and perfecting the movements that will be in the WOD
- Higher intensity in the workout for better results
- Build a larger aerobic base utilizing the longer warm-ups & cooldowns
- Improve performance by dialing in the mobility needed for proper form
- Bring you down in a slower manner helping you leave the gym feeling refreshed and the recovery process already started
We will emphasize strength on every 5th day of our program. No skill and PF will definitely not mean less work. We will still sneak plenty of quality practice in throughout the entire session. There will be a general warm-up designed to get you warm, breathing a little harder, and mentally ready to do some hard work. The specific warm-up will include mobility work to prep common problem areas, help activate muscles you want to be firing on all cylinders, and practice the specific movement for the day. The cooldown will help improve flexibility, recovery, and make you feel more energized leaving the gym.
We are starting off the month with the Olympic total. This is our monthly benchmark meaning that if you miss Monday or any other day this is what you will do when you come into the gym. The total consists of your 1 rep max snatch and 1 rep max clean & jerk. Make sure you keep track of these numbers and update the monthly benchmark board. This is a great test of power, strength, flexibility, and coordination.
For those that are competing in the Festivus games make sure you get to class on Monday 10/9 and Thursday 10/12. We will be practicing 2 of the workouts. Have a friend who wants to give us a try? Bring them in on Thursday 10/12 to any of our classes for a fun partner workout.
This will be a great month!
Jul
29
We’ve been hammering the squats pretty heavily lately and now it’s time switch things up. This month we’ll be spending a little extra time on unilateral work. This is just fancy talk for working 1 side of the body at a time. We’ll be lunging our way to stronger glutes, more stable hips, a stronger core, flexible hip flexors, and improved symmetry. You know that one side that’s always a little tougher on pistols? We are going to attack it and make you bulletproof. Bilateral exercises are great (squats) but let’s not forget what running, walking, and sports challenge more frequently which is unilateral movements. Get ready for sandbags, dumbbells, and barbells to go overhead, on your shoulders, back, and start lunging.
We use Beyond the whiteboard statistics to analyze and guide our program to make sure we are well rounded. One thing that’s been missing slightly has been longer workouts. Get ready to go past 20min and enjoy the hard work. We’ll be using “Hero” workouts to make sure we don’t miss the longer durations WODs and to honor those who have fallen.
The message from CrossFit HQ has been pretty clear the last couple of months. Dumbbells are awesome for you and you should use them more often. They require more stability, coordination, and allows for more flexible positioning to find a better movement for your individual structure. We’ll keep embracing Coach Glassman’s advice and we are going to do do a classic benchmark each week but replace the barbell with a dumbbell. Ready for “Nancy” with a dumbbell instead of a barbell? Better start stretching right now.
In preparation for a CrossFit L3 exam, I’ve been sifting through the archives of the CF Journal. There are lot’s of gems in there and many standards that coach Glassman outlines. Two standards that stood out to me was the core strength guideline. Coach says that for an L-sit 2min unbroken is a good goal and that 4min of hollow body rocks should be doable. I don’t think many athletes can achieve this and we’ll use our primary focus to improve our core strength and strict gymnastics movements. We’ll be slowing down the tempo, focusing on 100% control, and getting very familiar with the rings.
This month’s benchmark workouts is the CrossFit Total. The total is your back squat, strict press, and deadlift combined. This is all about testing your strength and power. Keep notes of previous PRs and make sure you measure your progress. The key to a successful total is knowing when to push and when to stop. You need to perform well in all 3 to have a good total. Don’t fall into the trap of using all your energy on the squat and end up smoked once it’s deadlift time. Have a game plan, visualize yourself making the lifts, and high five your friends when you PR.
For the month of August, I’m going to encourage you to re-evaluate how you use your equipment. I’m all for using gear that gives you a little boost in the gym, however, you don’t want to rely on these items all the time. Knee sleeves, wrist wraps, lifting belts, oly shoes, chalk, pre workout supplements, grips, and etc are useful for giving you a small boost when needed. These are not essential to training and should be used sparingly. If you have to have your knee sleeves before knocking out a few air squats then maybe you need to spend more time couch stretching. If you double scoop the C4 supplement before WODing then maybe get to bed at a reasonable time instead. Do you throw the belt on for 50% deadlifts? Slow down a little, challenge your core, and save it for 85+%. Less is more, time spent messing with your equipment means less time for actual training. If you can’t remember the last time you did overhead squats without oly shoes, belt, knee sleeves, wrist wraps, and etc, now is the time to strip some weight off the bar and focus on mechanics.
Coach Oscar