CROSSFIT FULL CIRCLE - "HEAVY STUFF"

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Weekly WODs

Workout #1
Complete three rounds for time:
Run 800m
30 knees to elbows
30 KBS


Workout #2
"Barbra"
20 pull ups
30 push ups
40 sit ups
50 squats
Rest 3 minutes after each round


Workout #3
"Hopper Deck"

ARE CARBS MORE ADDICTIVE THAN COCAINE?

YOUR BODY IS VIRTUALLY DEFENSELESS AGAINST A DEPENDENCY ON CARBOHYDRATES—THE SUBSTANCES THAT REALLY MAKE YOU FAT—AND IT'S TIME FOR AN INTERVENTION.

BY PAUL JOHN SCOTT,

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ZACHARY ZAVISLAK

MARCH 2011 ISSUE

I'm sitting in a comfortable chair, in a tastefully lit, cheerfully decorated drug den, watching a steady line of people approach their dealer. After scoring, they shuffle off to their tables to quietly indulge in what for some could become (if it hasn't already) an addiction that screws up their lives. It's likely you have friends and family members who are suffering from this dependence—and you may be on the same path yourself. But this addiction is not usually apparent to the casual observer. It has no use for the drama and the carnage you associate with cocaine and alcohol. It's slower to show its hand, more socially acceptable—and way more insidious.

I'm in a Panera Bread outlet. The company is on Fortune's 2010 list of the 100 Fastest Growing Companies and earned more than $1.3 billion in 2009, mainly from selling flour and sugar by the railcar. Last year, Zagat named it the most popular large chain in the United States and ranked it second in the Healthy Options category. The company responded by touting its "wholesome" food. Sure, Panera sells a few salads. But why do the scones, pastries, baguettes, and bear claws get all the good lighting? Why are the grab-and-go packs of cookies and brownies next to the register? What need is fulfilled by serving soup bowls made of bread, with a mound of bread for dipping, and then offering more bread on the side? How come it's noon and the couple behind me are eating bagels while the guy to my right is sawing into a cinnamon roll with a fork and a knife like it's a steak?

The answer is that fast-burning carbohydrates—just like cocaine—give you a rush. As with blow, this rush can lead to cravings in your brain and intrusive thoughts when you go too long without a fix. But unlike cocaine, this stuff does more than rewire your neurological system. It will short-circuit your body. Your metabolism normally stockpiles energy so you can use it as fuel later. A diet flush with carbohydrates will reprogram your metabolism, locking your food away as unburnable fat. When you get hungry again you won't crave anything but more of the same food that started you down the path to dependency. Think of this stuff as more than a drug—it's like a metabolic parasite, taking over your body and feeding itself.

You aren't supposed to talk this way about carbohydrates. According to USDA dietary recommendations, they are not only healthy but are supposed to make up the majority of the food we eat—45 to 65 percent of all calories. Carbs, which are classified as starches and sugars, make up the essence of bread, cereal, corn, potatoes, cookies, pasta, fruit, juice, candy, beer, and sweetened drinks—basically anything that isn't protein or fat. Our government's recommendations were established in the 1970s and have since been accompanied by an explosion of obesity and diabetes. The advice came about as early nutrition scientists rallied around a misguided maxim that remains embedded in the fabric of our attitudes toward food to this day: Eating too much fat makes you fat. But science never bore out this pre-Galilean view of nutrition. What is now clear is this: At the center of the obesity universe lie carbohydrates, not fat.

What inspires you?

Posted: 02/28/2011 10:22:04 AM MST

I was over at the new CrossFit gym the other day, getting ready to head home when Eric Adams pulled out a poster he had just received. It was a photo of a young girl, her face contorted in her efforts to lift the weight she had across the front of her shoulders. The poster read "You just got schooled by a 14-year-old girl." Eric explained that the image came from a CrossFit competition in which the girl on the poster, Kallista Pappas, had been cleaning and jerking, an Olympic lift that requires the lifter pull the weight off the floor and put it over head, usually in two movements. The girl had dropped the weight as she lost her balance, she had fallen backward and the weight had hit and scraped down her shin. Kallista 

then got back up and finished the workout.

What the poster doesn`t tell is that Kallista weighed 103 pounds. The weight she was using was 100 pounds. She finished the exercise, after dropping the weight on herself, putting the weight over her head a total of 25 times. While she came in dead last in that workout, the crowd, and the rest of the competitors, were cheering for her.

Young Miss Pappas is now the stuff of legend in CrossFit circles, not for her muscular strength, though that was considerable, but for the strength of her heart. When the time comes, can I act like a 14-year-old girl, or at least that one?

For the same reason, I went out this weekend and found Michael Oher`s book, "I Beat the Odds." Oher was the subject of the book and the movie "The Blindside," and felt he needed to tell his side of his own story. There were a few liberties taken by the makers of the movie that Oher wanted to correct, and the original writer could not know what was going on in Oher`s head while he was living the life we now associate with the movie.

The book tells the story, like the subtitle states, Oher`s journey from "homelessness to the Blindside." It humbles me and inspires me to see and read about such determination, and in some cases, blind luck, that get people out of seemingly hopeless circumstances to very possibly, the best at what they do. By the way, The Baltimore Ravens are currently maneuvering to build their entire offense around Oher, an offensive tackle. When`s the last time you heard a team do that?

Anyone who has paid attention to cycling, or American sports, or even cancer advocacy in the last 11 years, has an idea of Lance Armstrong`s story. Young, brash, wildly talented Texan fights back from testicular cancer to win cycling`s biggest event a record seven times. Did you know his father left when he was a toddler? That his mother raised him, more or less by herself? That he was a nationally-ranked triathlete at 16?

A name you may not know is that of American cyclist Saul Raisin. Raisin grew up in Dalton, Ga. where he rode mountain bikes. He came to the attention of American cycling enthusiasts when, riding for the French pro team Credit Agricole, he won the Best Young Rider competition in the 2003 Tour of Georgia. During a road race in 2006, Raisin crashed, bouncing his head off the pavement. Raisin should have died. He developed hemorrhaging in his brain and doctors removed some of his right temporal lobe to save him.

After a week in a coma, and another month in an Atlanta hospital, Raisin emerged alive. He lost movement on his left side and significant memory, but he was alive. Raisin went through physical therapy, spent another few months on indoor trainers and eventually tried to rejoin Credit Agricole. The team doctors could not, in good conscience, release him to race, as one more hit to the head could likely kill him. Raisin didn`t let that stop him.

Raisin is out of professional cycling, but he has his own foundation, Raisin Hope, which helps families who have been touched by the injuries Raisin has endured. In an interview in the March 2011 issue of "Road" magazine, Raisin states, "we are small with big hearts." They know they are not the LiveStrong Foundation, but they are doing good work, one case at a time.

Inspiration can keep us moving. Seeing what others have overcome can help us in our struggles and challenges. Riding for someone else, or for a bigger cause, can make the riding or efforts little easier. Find what inspires you and get out there.

Have fun, be careful. I`m going riding.

Week 1 CrossFit Open

Coach took 2nd at the event 

See more pictures here: 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=114138&id=1143523935&l=66052c838c 

History

Firefighter set to brave desert heat

Todd Byers taking part in gruelling foot race to benefit RVH

By Marg. Bruineman - The Barrie Examiner

Updated 2 days ago

Todd Byers could be considered extreme in his sporting choices.

In April he's heading for Morocco to compete in the most gruelling foot race ever conceived – Marathon Des Sables – 251-kilometre, seven-day stage race in the desert. It's a gruelling event that has captivated television viewers over the years, particularly in Europe.

His personal goal is simply to complete the race. But his other goal is to raise $10,000 for Barrie's Royal Victoria Hospital.

"It is a race, but the goal is to finish," said the affable Barrie firefighter. "I'm not an ultra-marathoner by any means, I just want to finish this."

But Byers does have the running experience, having completed half marathons as well as marathons in the past. But that's not all.

He has also climbed some of the tallest mountains, and is almost half way to having completed the Seven Summits – the tallest peak of every continent. He's reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, Aconcagua in South America and Denali, or Mt. McKinley in Alaska.

Although he says he's not sure if the Seven Summits is on his bucket list.

What he's focusing on is April's race and, more immediately, raising money for the hospital. He's already half way to his fund-raising goal and he's hoping he'll make a significant dent in the second half with an upcoming event.

On Saturday, March 19, The Bank Nightclub on Dunlop Street East is hosting an event beginning at 6 p.m. The $15 entry fee will be given in its entirety to RVH. Blues Biscuit will provide the entertainment and there will be a silent auction and prizes. More information is available at www.desertrunforrvh.com .

Byers said his efforts have been supported by many groups and businesses, but the race itself is a solo affair. He's responsible for hauling his own food and supplies for the week. Daily rations of nine litres of water and a sleeping cover are provided.

He doesn't even know anyone else participating in the competition this year.

"I'm really going into this alone," he said.

The race begins with three daily stages of about 32 km each. The fourth stage is 80 km, much longer than a marathon. The sixth and final stage is up to 20 kms. Clearly there are risks running such long distances in the desert. Runners have been lost for up to nine days and at least two have actually died.

mbruineman@thebarrieexaminer.com

Sammy's 30

Setting Goals

Setting realistic goals, and sticking to them, is an important part of fitness. 
We’ve been doing this goal-setting stuff for decades, and here’s what we’ve learned.

• Be realistic. Whether they’re for students or adults, goals should be challenging, but attainable. An unreachable goal will only be discouraging.
• Think short-term. Live for the moment. Goals must be meaningful and reachable in the near future.
• Write it down. Kids and adults alike benefit from writing out their goals and putting them where they can see them every day. Maybe on the fridge or bathroom mirror?
• Keep it simple. Goals should be straightforward and restricted to one major behavior. For example, “I’ll play soccer with my friends for 60 minutes each day for a week” or “I’ll increase my activity time by 5 minutes each week until I reach 60 minutes a day.”

Take Advantage of Our Tracking Tools

The President’s Challenge wants you to meet your goals, and we’ll help you (or your students) along the way.

Educators, you will be able to use our free software (coming in early 2011), Fitness File, to:

• Enter information about your students and their Physical Fitness Test scores.
• Create custom reports to track students’ progress.
• See which students qualify for awards, which you can order in our Shop.

If you’re an educator with an existing account, you can log in now to use the current version of Fitness File. We encourage new coordinators to wait for the new software to be released before creating an account.

If you sign up for the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) challenge orPresidential Champions challenge, you can enter your activities and track your progress on our site. You’ll get an update every time you log in. Stick with it, and you’ll earn cool awards for your hard work.

WINDY CITY CROSSFIT - GAMES PROMO

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