RX THE WOD

Why America Needs Paleo

Posted on April 11, 2012 by

I always believed that the most insightful website is Gallup‘s ongoing research on what people think in America and around the world. If you think you know what others think – welcome to some shocking epiphany…

Gallup constantly publishes America’s view on healthy diet and astonishingly the view is unchanging. Most Americans for the last 20 years are unshakable in their conviction that they are eating a very healthy diet. A whopping 85% believe they are eating “very healthy”.

Comparing this to CDC’s statistics on obesity which grew from 15% in 1990s to over 32% in 2008 reveals a shocking insight. We Americans follow the nutrition recommendation of the government, assume it is ‘very healthy’ and increasingly get sick and dead in the process. But who am I to judge? I’m not a doctor or a dietitian. Just a concerned citizen gone Paleo.

By the way, great article on Mark’s Daily Apple from Al Kavadlo on my favorite pet peeve – why is it that most traditional gyms do not have pullup-bars… I will never understand it.

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The Long Workout

Posted on April 10, 2012 by

One great thing about CrossFit workouts is that they go fast and furious. You can knock yourself out in 10 minutes flat with a benchmark girl or 20 minutes with a Hero workout. Therefore most days I’m in and out of the gym under an hour. Today was one of my combo days when strength, skill, MetCon and endurance all come in – a long workout that still took less than 60 minutes. And much better than mindless jogging in the old days…

Warm-Up
800m run
Skill
Handstand pushups on dumbbells
Strength
Front Squat 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 (240lbs)
MetCon
3 rounds for time:
– 5 deadlifts (145lbs)
– 10 double unders
– 15 situps
TIME: 4:18
Endurance
3 x 500m row sprint with 2 minute rest in-between

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Clean Advantage

Posted on April 9, 2012 by

Cleans may be my favorite lifting workout and similarly to deadlifts there are many life applications of lifting heavy weights to shoulder heights… Like my 8-year old…
I think I had my dream WOD today with some extra spices added on during checkout…

Strength
– Power Clean 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 (170 lbs)

MetCon
3 rounds for time:
– 7 Power Cleans at 115lbs
– 7 toes to bar
TIME: 4:35

Checkout
– Deadhang muscle up
– Parallette handstand pushup

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Easter Bunny WOD

Posted on April 8, 2012 by

Last week a friend of mine joked that Crossfitters should wake up to do V-ups and one-armed pushups instead of sit-ups and pushups. I told him that before Crossfit I couldn’t do a single one-armed pushup and never tried them since. So this morning I woke up to do 40 one-armed pushups (chest to floor and full extension) and 40 V-ups and then just sat there again in amazement of what CrossFit does to our bodies…

This weekend I also got to watch journalist CJ Hunt’s documentary titled In Search of the Perfect Human Diet. Great summary of all research on Paleo and evolutionary nutrition.

Easter Bunny WOD
– Run 1.5 miles – not for time
then for time:
2000m row. At 500/1000/1500m perform the following
– 1 handstand pushup
– 5 burpee bunny hop (each burpee ends in a hop)
– 5 bunny broad jump (min. 2 yards)
– 1 muscle-up
TIME: 12:50

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Death By Cindy

Posted on April 7, 2012 by

Ever since I got hooked on Death by Pullups at CrossFit NOLA, I’ve been trying to get beyond pull-up, pushup and sit-up “deaths”… Then I realized we are already dying during benchmark tests, why not turn them into an elimination game as well. So Death by Fran, Cindy and Grace was born…

Warm-up
500m row @ 1:50 pace
Strength
15 Snatch Balance @ 70% 1RM
MetCon “Death By Cindy”
As many rounds as possible until you fail to complete the round in a minute.
– 1st minute: 1 pullup, 2 pushups, 3 squats
– 2nd minute: 2 pullups, 4 pushups, 6 squats
– 3rd minute: 3 pullups, 6 pushups, 9 squats
SCORE: 9 Rounds (TOTAL: 270 reps, 45 pullups, 90 pushups, 135 squats)