Habit Burger - Cheat Meal Extraordinaire!

This is always a hot topic with regards to Zoning or following the Paleo diet as most of us live lives that involve business dinners, lunches with friends and the occasional glass of red wine. “What about cheat meals?” is a question that I’ve heard for years both in the gym and in my treatment room. Personally I believe in the middle road w/ regards to cheat meals for the following reason. I believe that someone is more likely to stick to a strict diet when they know that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel – and I’d personally rather have an athlete that follows a strict diet 80% of the time for a year than one that follows a perfectly strict diet for 3 months and then reverts back to eating poorly from then on. CrossFit prepares us for the real world and Eric and I both believe that in the real world there is food to be enjoyed. We are strict Zone dieters during the week but a little more relaxed on the weekends. As the wise Vincent Vega once said, “Bacon tastes good, pork chops taste good!” Work hard, eat right and train like your life depends on it, but don’t forget to stop every once in a while and smell the roses along the way – with a tummy full of something delicious!

Today’s Workout
7 Rounds for Time of:
15 Dumbell Thrusters (35#/20#)
15 Push-ups
5 Knees to Elbows

Su with a post-Jackie smile!

Summertime is definitely here and with it some higher temperatures. In addition to keeping well hydrated before and after workouts, there are a number of foods that in Chinese Medical Nutrition are viewed to have a cooling effect on the body and are beneficial in the summer months.. Common sense will tell you that scotch-bonnet peppers in a steaming bowl of chili might not be the best post-workout meal in the middle of July, but then what foods should we be eating in these hot times then? Fruits such as apples, bananas, pears, persimmons, cantaloupe, watermelons, tomatoes and all citrus fruits will definitely help to keep you cool. Vegetables such as lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, celery, asparagus, Swiss chard, eggplants, spinach, summer squash, cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini are great as well. Mixing these fruits and veggies into your daily diet this summer will do wonders to keep your systems working optimally during the hot days that are right around the corner!

Workout of the Day:
AMRAP 20 Minutes – 3 minutes of work, 1-minute rest

3 Deadlifts (225/135)
6 Pull-ups
9 Sit-ups

Stanwyck making the iron cross look easy

A wise man once told me, “If you don’t have goals for your business, you’ll end up working for someone else that does.” Eric and I both have written goals for the business side of CrossFit Pacific Coast, but also have written goals for our own personal athletic endeavors as well. A goal should have three qualities for it to be most effective: 1) it has to specific. Writing down, “I want to get in better shape” isn’t nearly as effective as “I can deadlift 303 pounds.” 2) Your goal should be positive. Again, writing down (note the writing of these goals down on paper) a goal of, “I don’t eat junk food anymore” isn’t as effective as “I eat only the foods that support my health and wellness.” And 3) have a specific endpoint or date to achieve the goal by. A goal without a timeframe is called a dream, and although dreams are great, they aren’t as effective as goals (goals are concrete, specific tools that we use to achieve our dreams). “I weigh under 185 pounds by December 31^st, 2009” is a very specific goal without a log of wiggle room in it! Finally, combine a few goals into one and let that inspire you to live each day with that specific goal in mind. For example, “I eat only the foods that support my health and wellness, allowing me to deadlift 303 pounds at a personal weight of under 185 pounds on or before December 31^st, 2009” is an awesome goal. Awesome is what we do here, welcome to it.

Workout of the Day
5-5-5-5
Hang Power Cleans

Followed by
4 x 100 M Sprints
1 Minute rest between runs

Zeb rowing for Gold

Me, “So how long have you been training this hard?”
Unnamed CrossFitter (we’ll just refer to him as “Deric”), “Probably 2 solid years now.”
Me, “And when was the last time that you had any therapeutic intervention, either a massage, a chiropractic adjustment, physical therapy or acupuncture.”
Deric, “Um…never.”
Me, “Interesting, how often do you get the oil changed in your car.”
Deric, “Every 3,000 miles, I never miss it.”
Interesting isn’t it? As CrossFitters, we place demands on our body on a daily basis that would literally crush the average person. We run, jump, pull, push, lift, jerk, snatch, swing, whatever the verb is to burpee, roll, squat, lunge, jump rope, and perform all manner of exercises at red zone intensity. Yet, so many of us take better care of our cars than we do ourselves. We chalk it up to a lack of time, or something that isn’t all that important since we are taking care of our insides by eating a paleo or zone diet. That is very similar to arguing that just because we use high-octane gasoline that we never need to take our vehicles in for a tune up. Treat your body better than you treat your car and it will provide you with a lifetime of amazing athletic experiences and great health.

Workout of the Day
AMRAP 20
10 Box Jumps
10 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
20 Sit-ups

What do you mean I have to do burpees?

Yesterday morning, Su, Miguel, Eric and I had the opportunity to witness our four-legged student “Katy” do some advanced dog algorithms and deduce that because you can see through glass doors – that inevitably means that you can run through them as well. There was nothing like the thud, subsequent yelp and disheartened walk back into our office to let us know of a gross miscalculation on her part! Hopefully Katy has learned that full speed + closed door = a sore nose. However, this begs a great question – how many glass doors are we as CrossFitters continually walking into? How many sore noses do we have to wake up with before realizing that eating a ridiculously delicious bowl of Ben & Jerry’s at midnight does not lend itself to a good 6 a.m. workout. How many workouts do we have to miss with a sore back after honestly knowing that our form was falling apart when using 225 pounds but allowing our ego to send us full speed into the glass door that was 250 pounds? Remember, pain is the penalty for violating the principles of nature.

If you’ve been thinking about making a change in your life and feel that fitness is an important step in that process, drop up us a line here in Santa Barbara and allow us to open a few doors for you.

Workout of the Day
5-5-5-5
Push Jerk
Followed by:
AMRAP 15
5 Pullups
10 Burpees
15 Med Ball V-Twists

Eddie pushing down the floor!

A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor’s cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. “It’s overfull! No more will go in!” the professor blurted. “You are like this cup,” the master replied, “How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup.”

This is one of my favorite Zen stories and illustrates the importance for all of us to enter into new activities with an “empty cup”. Most of us have spent our lifetimes being bombarded with useless and conflicting messages about health, fitness, body image and what it means to be “fit”. Our advice? Empty your cup of all of this and return to basics. Eat lean meats and fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds; get a good night’s sleep and train your body with a variety of functional movements performed at a high intensity. Do this and watch your fitness and overall wellness improve.

Workout of the Day
4 Rounds for Time:
400 M Run
25 Kettlebell Swings
12 Push ups

When I was first pondering opening a CrossFit box and making this my living, I sat down with CFLA’s Andy Petranek over lunch and fired a litany of questions in his direction. The most important one that I asked went as follows, “Are all CrossFitters like the ones in our gym, or are we just really lucky?” His reply was that the CF community is unlike any other that either of us had ever been a part of and no, we weren’t just lucky in LA. The level of commitment to fitness, commitment to wellness and most importantly, commitment to each other in the CrossFit community is truly amazing. I am honored to be a part of such a community and feel that as a CF Affiliate our job is to continue this awesome trend.

This morning, after bearing a 3am wake up and an hour and a half drive up from Los Angeles, 3 of CFLA’s finest helped me break in our box for an inaugural 6am “Angie” workout. A very special, heartfelt thank you goes out to Alyssa, Eddie and Zeb for everything they did to be here this morning.

Workout of the Day – “Angie”
For Time
100 Pull ups
100 Push ups
100 Sit ups
100 Squats

Any of you that have been to my house over the years know that I have propensity to write certain words on post-it’s and put them up all over the place. One of my favorite words in the English language is the word “momentum”. Momentum works in both directions, as anyone who has stopped mid-workout and stared at their bar will understand. The longer you stare at it, the harder it is to pick back up and get restarted with. Fortunately the opposite is true as well. The more consistently you work and workout, the more momentum you will have working in your favor. Once training and fitness become a regular part of your daily life, the easier is to get to the gym. As soon as your community becomes centered around training and fitness, it actually becomes difficult to stay away from the gym! Take a moment and think about how momentum is working in your favor right now. Post to comments.

Workout of the Day:
Max pull ups in 30 minutes.
(take precautions with your hands beforehand)

After watching the SoCal Qualifiers, I have to say that I was pumped up to be a part of such an awesome community.  The intensity level was off the charts and the camaraderie was just as strong.  If you are a CrossFitter or a fan of CrossFit, then head on up to Aromas and cheer on your fellow athletes on July 10^th – 12^th.  Our good friends at CrossFit Ventura, CrossFit Los Angeles and Lalanne Fitness are all fielding affiliate teams!  Eric and I will be on the road early Friday morning to watch the affiliates battle it out for one of the coveted spots in the finals on Sunday.  If you want to see where the future lies for CrossFit or to simply watch the most incredible athletes in the world compete, please join us!

Workout of the Day
1-1-1-1-1    Snatch
Followed by:
As many double-unders as possible in 5 minutes. 

Given the current popularity of grappling and the UFC, many people have heard the term “tapping out” but don’t really understand the greater importance of it.  Tapping out comes from Brazilian Jiujitsu and is literally tapping your opponent’s body as a means of letting them know that you know that you aren’t able to get out of the position that you are in and that they have won.  It also signifies that you know that staying in the position that you are in can immediately lead to you sustaining serious damage.  What does this mean to us as CrossFitters?  As beginning grapplers, we were taught “Tap today, train tomorrow”.  To all beginning CrossFitters, we advocate the same principle.  Go as hard as you can for as long as you can – but know your own limits.  Be honest with yourself about whether your ego is picking your weights for you!  Train hard, train smart and make sure that you can come back and train again tomorrow.

Workout of the Day
“Candy”

5 Rounds for Time
20 Pull ups
40 Push ups
60 squats