October

Ben in action during the morning session last Saturday

On the heels of our post on our Super Seniors, we thought it would be appropriate to redirect a little of the spotlight onto our CrossFitters at the other end of the age spectrum.

Ben is one of a handful of kids who've made the jump into CF training, and now he trains right alongside everyone else in our group classes. He's been a great addition to CFO and he, along with our other CF juniors (we'll be profiling some of our other CF juniors in the near future), is making some great strides in his level of fitness.

Ben's first CF workout was our FGB fundraiser workout; it doesn't get any better than that!

Props to Ben in comments.

Often times, a lot of the fun that happens at CFO goes on after the workouts are all finished.

This was the case after Tami finished Queen Kong (3 rounds of 1 deadlift @ 325#, 2 muscle-ups, 3 squat cleans @ 185#, and 4 handstand push-ups) last week. We kept the cameras rolling as Manwell, Lau, and MJJ paid tribute to Tami via the ancient art of dance (if that's what you want to call what they're doing).

Let the comments roll.

Tis' the season for pumpkin carving! As Halloween approaches these plump little suckers are popping up in windows and porches everywhere. This Halloween, think twice before you toss out your window ornament! Maybe you can try turning it into dinner or better yet, a post workout meal instead!

Here are a few ideas:

After you've gutted your jack-o-lanterns use the seed to make a tasty pesto sauce:

Pumpkin Seed Pesto:

1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 bunch cilantro
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves
Add salt and lemon to taste

Toast pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan until they turn golden brown. Then in a food processor or blender combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth.

Basic Baked Pumpkin Halves

1 3-3 1/2 pound Pumpkin
Unrefined Coconut Oil to grease pan
Cinnamon or Apple Pie Spice

1. Preheat oven to 350. Wash and scrub pumpkin and cut in half leaving the skin intact. Remove pumpkin guts. Dust with cinnamon or pie spice.

2. Arrange squash cut side down in 1 or 2 cake pans or rimmed baking sheets. Bake uncovered in the center of the oven until tender and easily pierced with a fork, 30-40 minutes.

3. Quarter large halves. Scoop out baked pumpkin meat and discard the skin. Garnish with chopped nuts or butter.

1/2 cup: 55 calories, 1g protein, 11g carbs (4g fiber), 1g fat

The good: It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.

From nutritiondata.com

What dish will you be sharing at our Halloween Bash?

Let's get a little Q & A going.

If you had to go about developing a strong trunk without the use of sit-ups, how would you do it?

Additionally, can you think of a good reason for trunk flexion?

Finally, how does a strong trunk contribute to functional movement? Or even more to the point, what are the best indicators of one's trunk strength?

Post your thoughts and answers to comments.

***REMINDER***

We're holding a free massage clinic beginning at 11am this Saturday--don't miss out!

Thanks to MJJ for filming Brandon and Candace doing Grace at this past weekend's Big Girls Don't Cry affiliate throwdown, and thanks to TomC for editing and publishing the video.

Brandon, Candace, Daniel, and Connor all tore it up. Brandon ended up taking second, Daniel third, and Candace finished first.

Props to the CFO crew for representing us so well.

As our CrossFit filled weekend comes to end (oly lifting, BGDC, and BGDoC), I thought it would be a good time to address the PWO or post workout meal. This type of training is highly demanding and many of the workouts require a tremendous amount of mental focus and physical stamina, often fueled by nutrition in the form of stored sugar. For this reason, it's important to adequately replenish the body's energy stores with a post workout meal containing some protein and ample amounts of starchy carbohydrates. In Natural Hormonal Enhancement, Rob Faigin stresses the importance of getting a higher ratio of starchy carbs to sugary carbs. "Fructose is preferentially used to refill liver glycogen stores, whereas glucose is preferentially used to refill muscle glycogen stores" (pg 145). In other words, when carbohydrates are broken down into sugar during digestion there is a distinction between starchy and sugary carbs in terms of how they get stored in the body. Starches (sweet potatoes, corn, carrots) are broken down into glucose and are used to replenish stores in the muscles, whereas sucrose or sugar-rich carbs (dried fruit, bananas, pineapple) are converted into fructose for liver stores.

Here's a great recipe for PWO meal that was posted on the Performance Menu blog.

Post Training Stuffed Squash
Scott Hagnas
March 2007

Time: 40 minutes

• one small acorn squash
• 6-7 oz ground turkey
• 1/2 C chopped pineapple
• paprika

Here is a simple, fairly portable meal that works well to replenish glycogen stores after a good workout. I like to make up several of these at a time, and store them in the fridge for the week ahead.

Cut around the stem end of the squash and remove, much like how you would start if carving a pumpkin. With a spoon, dig out the seeds and pulp. Cut a flat spot on the bottom of the squash, so it will stand up. Place the squash on a baking pan, bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, brown the ground turkey in a skillet, adding the pineapple and spices. After 25 minutes, remove the squash and fill the cavity with the turkey mixture. Return the squash to the oven for 15 more minutes. Allow to cool before eating!

Many variations are possible. I have tried raisins with cinnamon, applesauce and cinnamon, and chopped dates. One thing to consider here is the fairly high fructose content of these fruits - not what we really want after a workout. That's why I settled on pineapple, as it has a little lower fructose content. Just meat and squash works fine too!

Zone info: 1 1/3 lbs of squash = about 6 carb blocks. The pineapple adds one more block of carbohydrate. 1 oz turkey is one protein block.

Post your post workout rituals to comments.

The "Big Girls Don't Cry" challenge consists of 3 workouts. Each workout will be divided in 8 heats with 5 athletes in each heat. For those who competed at this year's CrossFit games, the format is very similar. Total time of the 3 workouts will determine the men's and women's champion. There will be a 10 minute time limit for each workout and 5 minutes before the start of each heat. 8 heats times 15 minutes equals 2 hours total for all competitors to complete the workout. After all athletes finish workout 1, there will be a 30 minute break, same after workout 2. This gives each athlete about two and a half hours between workouts. Your heats and start times will be announced 2 weeks prior to the competition. You are responsible to be in the workout area 3 minutes before your start time. A warm-up area will be available and food and water will be provided to all athletes.

Workout 1- "Fran"

21-15-9 reps for time of:

Thrusters(m95#/w65#)
Pull-ups

Workout 2- "Karen"

150 wall ball shots for time(m20#/w12#)

Workout 3 - "Grace"ish

30 reps from floor to overhead for time(m135#/w95#)

Show them how it's done CFO! Who's going down? Post to comments.

I happened upon this book the other day and was instantly inspired to try a couple of recipes. Unlike a lot of other books, the recipes are true to form and an excellent resource for any CrossFitter who is serious about health and performance. This book will take your nutrition to a new level!

288-page full-color softcover cookbook
The original Gourmet Nutrition was a PDF e-book, but customers repeatedly told us they wanted a real book they could hold in their hands. So with Gourmet Nutrition V2.0, we not only had it printed, but printed it in full-color using beautiful satin gloss paper and a state-of-the-art printing press. The new Gourmet Nutrition is a stunning book that’s as comfortable on your kitchen counter as it is on your coffee table.

Full nutrition data for each recipe
Want to know exactly how many calories are in your meal? Or how many grams of protein, fat or carbs? Now you can, because we’ve included full nutritional data for every single recipe.

Large and small serving sizes
Men and women require different serving sizes, on average, so in each recipe we give two options: a large serving size for men (500-700 calories) and a smaller serving size for women (200-400 calories). Eat 5-6 servings a day of Gourmet Nutrition meals and you’ll have a great nutrition plan for yourself – without having to do the math.

Post-workout and Anytime meal classifications
The research on nutrient timing is clear: the body tolerates carbohydrates better during and after intense exercise. In short, you can eat carbs, but only when you deserve to – after you’ve exercised! Gourmet Nutrition makes it easy to take advantage of this principle by classifying each meal as either Post-workout (higher carb) or Anytime (lower carb) – and by showing you how to tweak the recipes to change a Post-workout meal to an Anytime meal, and vice versa.

Meal plan templates
Gourmet Nutrition contains basic meal plan templates to show you how much to eat and when to eat it in four scenarios: non-exercise day, morning workout, afternoon workout and evening workout.

Cooking strategies and tips
When you care about your body, you have to cook differently from everyone else. Simple tips and techniques can make it an effortless process, and we share those with you in Gourmet Nutrition.

Tools and equipment list
Every task can be made significantly easier with the right tool, so we’ll show you exactly what you need and how to use it, from what knives to buy to how to choose the right frying pan, and everything in between.

Grocery list
Having everything you need in your kitchen can be the difference between a quick, delicious meal and a tasteless, spartan concoction – or worse, a disastrous junk binge. We’ll show you exactly what to keep in your pantry and your fridge, so you’ll be prepared whip up a Gourmet Nutrition meal in no time flat.

Food preparation instructions
To eat healthy and well, you have to make some food in advance. Ever wonder how long foods keep – and how to prepare and store them to make them last? We’ll show you by teaching you how to prepare and store all the major ingredients used in the book and giving you shelf-life guides for each of them.

To order: http://www.gourmetnutrition.com/

Post the recipe to the meal you eat the MOST to comments.

Pukie the Pumpkin

Richard "Sweating to the Oldies" Simmons Halloween 2007

We will be having a potluck Halloween Costume Party on Friday, October 31st from 8p.m. to ?. Come with a snack and beverage of your choice. Most creative costume (judged by a selective and highly subjective group of judges) wins a FREE month of Unlimited classes! Everyone is welcome...

Who's interested in a monthly UFC viewing at CFO? Post to comments.

Lau after one of his recent solo skydiving jumps

One of the key prescriptions in CrossFit's World Class Fitness in 100 Words is to regularly learn and play new sports.

Lau took this to heart in his recent foray into the world of skydiving (with an assist from MJJ in lighting the coals).

With that in mind, what sport do you want to take up in the next year or have you taken up in the past year?

[Excluding CrossFit itself, the grand sport of fitness!]

***REMINDER***

The Sunday Olympic Lifting session has been canceled for tomorrow, Oct 12. Sunday sessions will resume next Sunday, Oct 19, starting at 1:30pm.

Little Engine That Could is a classic tale of determination and willpower overcoming perception.

Mental toughness must be considered a crucial element of the practice and training activities.

While many coaches use the phrase and acknowledge the importance of mental toughness, few attempts have been made to define or develop it.

In 1993, Gould, Eklund, & Jackson studied the coping strategies used by 20 members of our 1988 Olympic wrestling team.

Their findings revealed that the difference between the medal winning and non-medal winning wrestlers was that the medalists’ coping strategies were more internalized and automatized than the strategies of the non-medalists. This finding was significant because it distinguished between successful and unsuccessful athletes whose levels of achievement were related to the development of psychological skills.

These skills and attributes found in the more successful athletes contribute to the definition of mental toughness.

The phrase mental toughness still lacks a universal working definition, though several sports psychologists have attempted to distinguish the construct and the characteristics that are essential in becoming a mentally tough athlete.

In 2002, Jones, Hanton, & Connaughton endeavored to define the term mental toughness. The following definition was created:

“Mental toughness is having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to:

• Generally cope better than your opponents with the many demands (competition, training, and lifestyle) that sport places on a performer.

• Specifically, be more consistent and better than your opponents in remaining determined, focused, confident, and in control under pressure.

This definition encompasses the essence of the phrase (mental toughness), yet Jones emphasized that more research should be done in order to better understand the concept and its critical components, as well as its substantial role in sport performance (Jones et al. 2002).

In 2006, Creasy & Stratton conducted a study among 22 NCAA coaches. In Phase-One of the data collection, the 22 coaches completed a questionnaire for the purpose of ranking the most important components of mental toughness and to what degree they felt these components were teachable.

The questionnaire consisted of 20 components of mental toughness, 12 of which came from the 2002 Jones et al study.

The remaining eight were identified by Cal Ripken in a 2004 publication (Stratton). In Phase-Two, 10 of the 22 coaches were interviewed in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of the Phase-One research results.

The data showed that the following components were fundamental to the definition of mental toughness:

1. Having an unshakable self-belief in the unique qualities and abilities that make you better than your opponents.

2. Strength: You have to be in good physical and mental condition. You must be psychologically and emotionally prepared.

3. Having an unshakable self-belief in your ability to achieve your competition goals.

4. Have conviction: You have to be a little bit stubborn.

5. Regaining psychological control following unexpected, uncontrollable events (competition specific).

6. Have a strong will to succeed: Don’t let setbacks stop you from achieving your goal.

7. Remaining fully focused on the task at hand in the face of competition-specific distractions.

8. Be consistent: Recognize and adjust to change so that you are always able to make a contribution to your team.

9. Not being adversely affected by others’ good and bad performances.

10. Be competitive: It’s not just about beating your opponent. You have to internalize competitiveness and take pride in what you do.

11. Switching a sport focus on and off as required.

12. Personal management: Don’t duck potential problems; take on the problems directly to prevent small problems from building into bigger problems.

13. Thriving on the pressure of competition.

14. Take the right approach: Always be ready to play.

15. Accepting that competition anxiety is inevitable and knowing that you can cope with it.

16. Have passion for what you do.

17. Having an insatiable desire and internalized motives to succeed.

18. Bouncing back from performance setbacks as a result of increased determination to succeed.

19. Remaining fully focused in the face of personal life distractions.

20. Pushing back the boundaries of physical and emotional pain, while still maintaining technique and effort under distress (in training and competition).

Post your thoughts to comments.

What: Snatch Clinic
When: Saturday, October 18, 2008, from 1:30pm to 3:30pm
Fees: $50 per participant. Participation will be limited to the first 6 participants to provide a check, cash, or online payment to CFO. Please also sign up on the sign-up board near the jump ropes. We will confirm entry into the class by posting the names of the participants on the CFO website the week of the Clinic.

On Saturday, October 18th from 1:30pm to 3:30pm, Angela Lim will be hosting a clinic focusing solely on the Snatch, one of the two Olympic Lifts. The clinic will include one or two models who have placed in recent local and national Olympic Weightlifting competitions. Besides performing the lift itself, participants will be taken through a series of specific warm-up and stretching exercises, in addition to being provided with videotape analysis and feedback. Please come prepared to provide totals for your max squat snatch, max overhead squat, and max hang power snatch.

For my first nutrition post I thought I would share a bit of my own experience with the Zone and eating paleo foods (both of which I'll detail in later posts). My story may sound familiar as many fellow crossfitters have already caught on and are seeing the benefits of a healthy diet.

Like most newcomers, when I started crossfitting I was immediately sold. I was coming in day after day hitting the wods as hard as possible. Yet, a year later I was still doing jumping pull-ups and push-ups on my knees. While CrossFit had definitely gotten me stronger, I was also fatter than ever. It was incredibly frustrating to put in all the time and hard work with little to no returns. After agonizing over how little progress I'd made in my first year at CFO and chocking it up to a glitch in the program or my lack of “good” genes I got smart and took a hard look at my diet. After getting my hands on a copy of Enter the Zone, I reluctantly bought myself a food scale and measuring cups, and started zoning.

Within a few weeks I was noticeably leaner and healthier and for the first time ever, I was able to do Cindy as prescribed. My months of hard work were finally paying off and the only thing I'd changed was my diet. As much as this may sound like a sales pitch for Barry Sears, it's not. My aim here is simply to highlight the importance of a healthy diet as much more than just a means of succeeding in CrossFit, but rather as an investment in your health.

Post your own diet success or not so successful stories.

Shira of The Athletic Playground

Shira (Princess of Power) Yaziv has just opened her own facility called The Athletic Playground offering both adult and children's classes. The Athletic Playground utilizes functional organic movements to enhance body awareness in a playful atmosphere. They are offering classes in functional fitness, capoiera, and tumbling. Check them out, the first class if FREE!

For more information about The Athletic Playground:
http://www.theathleticplayground.com/aboutus.html

Post your congratulations to Shira and Co. to comments.