December 2008

TomC setting up to pull a clean

The CFO crew who participated in Linda-ish a couple of weekends ago got the star treatment tonight on the CF national site and the CF Games site. And a well-deserved star turn, I might add!

Everyone looks great on camera, and apart from the misspelling of Candace's name in one clip (spelled Candice), the guys from HQ have put together a couple of awesome shorts thus far.

Here's part 1: Windows Media Player | Quicktime

Here's part 2: Windows Media Player | Quicktime

Props to all you guys and gals!

Post your favorite bit from either of the video shorts thus far.

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE:
REGULAR WEEKDAY CLASSES RESUME TOMORROW 12/29
DECEMBER 31, REGULAR MORNING CLASSES 5P.M. AND 6P.M CLASSES ONLY
PLEASE NOTE THAT CFO IS CLOSED ON NEW YEAR'S DAY.

It's that time again. With the New Year just around the corner, it's time to start thinking about next year's resolution. I suspect many of you will be committing to fitness-related goals, but what about your diet? By investing in a healthy lifestyle centered around good eating habits and diligent and consistent training, you are bound to be fitter than ever in '09! So, to kick the New Year off right, CFO will be hosting a 30-Day No Sugar Challenge! Starting Jan 1st, we will be saying goodbye to sugar (for now)! This challenge is open to everyone!

Here are the rules:

1. All participants must sign up on the white board by January 1st. A tally mark will be written next to your name to track the number of days you are sugar-free.

2. For the purpose of this challenge ALL artificial sweeteners are also forbidden ( e.g. Splenda, Sweet N' Low, Equal). This includes "sugar-free" foods and diet drinks.

3. Read LABELS. Sugar is added to many foods (condiments, deli meat, peanut butter), so it is your responsibility to watch out for hidden sugar.

4. Only consume sugar that is found naturally in foods such as fruit.

***Special prize for those who complete all 30 days!!!***

As we gear up for the 2009 Games, we will continue to give some much-needed attention on the nutrition front. Good luck to all who participate and feel free to come to me with any questions, concerns or gripes.

Who's in? Post to comments.

Lauren, Greg, Mini, and Connie

Connie and I had the great privilege of getting to spend a little bit of time with Lauren and Greg Glassman during our holiday vacation. For those of you who may not know, Greg and Lauren are the founders of CrossFit.

Greg is a fascinating guy and I always learn something new from him every time we talk. He continues to be a great influence on me personally and professionally.

Lauren and Greg also think highly of CFO and had nothing but good things to say about the recent CFO videos that have appeared on the CF national site and the CF games site. They were pleased to hear stories about the performances of our athletes, young and old, novice and experienced, elite and otherwise. Mostly, though, they were happy to hear about the type of community we've built.

And since the New Year is upon us, I thought it only fitting to offer up the following: For me, 2008 was about being extremely appreciative of the community we've built. This manifested itself in a more public way at the CF Games, but it's apparent on a day-to-day basis at our gym as well.

So what was the best thing about your 2008 CFO experience? And what are you looking forward to in 2009?

Driven only by selfish concerns, (we are making the final cut of our community beef from Prather beef as I write this) we are gearing up to buy yet another cow and want to know who would like to be included in the purchase. The meat is AMAZING, and for those of you who missed the boat the first time--here is your opportunity. You can buy a full order which is $220 for forty pounds (includes all cuts but remember that any given box will be ~40% ground beef).

Post to comments if you want to partake in the Prather Ranch purchase.

Happy New Year! We are fortunate to have such a rich community of people committed to CrossFit. Thank you for brining it each and every day!

Big Love to All,
CFO

“Our food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food.” - Hippocrates

We'll be holding our F.U.E.L (Feeding U Energy for Life) Seminar on Saturday, December 13 from 11am to 1pm.

The FUEL Seminar will be covering a variety of topics, including but not limited to the following:

Strategies for healthy eating in the real world
Foraging in the urban jungle
How to eat “in the Zone”
Fat is not the enemy
Real World Eats
The real deal on carbs
Real women eat real food
Top Fuel eating for serious athletes
Adult Beverages 101
Paleo/Zone (the ultimate fuel for athletes)
Hormonal effects of food
Disease prevention with food

The cost for the seminar is $100/person and includes food and drink (we've gotta put you to the test afterward and make sure you can apply what you learn in the seminar!).

To register for the seminar, contact us at (510) 595-9348 or info@crossfitoakland.com.

Post your R.S.V.P. to comments

This Saturday we're going to hold our second team workout, and it's going to be a bird of a different feather entirely, in terms of the energy system being trained.

The workout will once again be designed for two-person teams, but this time the exercises involved are nearly all bodyweight ones, with a special twist.

The workout is as follows:

5 rounds for time:

15 ring dips
15 wall ball shots
Run 400m

And the special twist: if your opponent gets back into the room (from the 400m run) before you're done with your ring dips and wall ball shots, you have to start over again. So if you'd completed all 15 ring dips and were on wall ball shot number 12 when your opponent came back into the room from his run, you'd have to start all over again with ring dips, and then wall ball shots, and then and only then, head out on the run.

This twist likely won't come into play in early rounds, but as we get into rounds four and five, if there's a team that builds a lead and adds to that lead over time, someone just might get lapped and have to start all over again.

Just like last week, the rounds will be done in relay format, so once your teammate comes back in from the run, you begin with the ring dips. This format allows for near all-out efforts, since in most cases while your teammate is going, you'll be getting between two and three minutes of rest (possibly longer).

So who's going to team up with whom? Who wants to call teams out? Will the Banks brothers try and defend their title? Post side bets, predictions, team rosters, etc. to comments.

"Any reason that you can give for not wanting (or needing) to be strong can be dismissed as an excuse for not wanting to do the hard work. Period."--Keith of CrossFit Virtuosity

As many of you know, we use Mark Rippetoe's strength programming for our athletes who are interested in building strength. At some point most CrossFit athletes find the need to become stronger, and Rip's program is the surest way to make that happen. So, in order to get more of you acquainted with the barbell lifts and the strength programming that we advocate at CFO, we are having an informational seminar at the beginning of next month. Coach Minium will cover the basic set-up for squat, deadlift, shoulder press, and bench press and talk in depth about how to start the strength program that many have used to become bigger, faster, and stronger!

How strong do you want to be? Post some 2009 goals to comments.

***FRIDAY NIGHT IS COW NIGHT***

Tomorrow night is cow night! Scott from Prather Ranch will be coming by the gym and dropping off our slabs of grass-fed beef tomorrow evening at 6pm. If you haven't yet paid, we need your money before you can collect your meat. The cost is $220. Checks should be made payable to CrossFit Oakland.

Also, we're doing an impromptu, completely informal December birthday celebration at Kerry House on 4092 Piedmont Ave. Nothing fancy, just a chance to share a drink with fellow CFOers. The drinking begins at 8pm.

***ANGELA'S CLEAN CLINIC***

When we lasted posted an updated attendee list for Angela's clean clinic on Saturday, Dec 13, we had three spots still available. We still have three spots available. A lot of people expressed interest, but in order to reserve your spot, we need payment. So please either bring a check to CFO or use Google Checkout to make a $75 payment.

So far, Michael G, Sherrill, and Leigh have reserved their spots.

***1 WEEK FROM CFO COCKTAIL PARTY***

If you haven't gotten the Evite from us for next Thursday's CFO Cocktail Party, let us know! The party goes down at 7pm next Thursday, 12/11 at the Hiller Highland Country Club. The cost is $15, which will go to cover food and drink.

***FUEL SEMINAR SATURDAY DEC 13***

Reminder: We're holding our next FUEL Seminar on Saturday, December 13. The cost is $100.

HOW TO GET KICKED OUT OF YOUR GYM IN TEN DAYS OR LESS!

DAY 1- Bring your own music-use a boom box-and turn it up to inspiration levels and start working out. AC-DC's "Thunderstruck" should do the trick.

DAY 2- Set up a circuit like one of the typical CrossFit "Workouts of the Day" and put a sign up at each station advising others that this equipment is reserved for accurate timing of your effort.

DAY 3- While practicing the Olympic lifts drop a max load from overhead. This may do it right here.

DAY 4- Find a twenty-inch platform and perform box jumps. Try three sets of two minutes of max jumps. Bizarrely, this one irks the shit out of most gym management.

DAY 5- Take a pair of dumbbells out into the parking lot to do walking lunges. You may be accused of theft.

DAY 6- Bring several powerlifting buddies to do some super heavy deadlifts. Don't forget to grunt, scream, and use chalk!

DAY 7- If the gym has support poles climb them. If not find something to climb;sling a rope over a beam or rafters, attach some climbing holds to the wall and use them. you won't get to the climbing part if you need to attach anything. You may get stopped at the door coming in with a twenty-five foot coil of two-inch rope.

DAY 8- Workout with your shirt off. If you don't get a reaction have your girlfriend or wife take hers off.

DAY 9-Walk on your hands, or do handstand push-ups or some other basic gymnastic stuff.

DAY 10-If you've gotten this far, this one is the clincher. Record your efforts by writing them on the wall.

(CrossFit Journal, September 2002)

Why did you choose Crossfit and leave the globo gym? Post to comments.

Look, I won't lie: I posted this video (thanks to CFOer Dr. Ben for passing it along) because I find it very entertaining (gotta watch it through to the end for his monologue on "Russian Power" to know what I'm talking about). And in case you're kilogram-challenged, that guy in the video is deadlifting 859 pounds for a triple (well, he drops the bar on the last rep, so it's more like two and a half reps).

But there is a take-home point. If you've been deadlifting for a while, and find that your 1-rep max is stagnating (i.e., the law of diminishing returns kicks in), one of the best things you can do is to throw some cleans into your lifting program. It's a great way to get all of the muscle fibers to fire, and fast! And because the motor recruitment pattern of the deadlift and clean are fairly close, they're a good match (throwing in snatches is a good idea, too, by the way).

In fact, there's a nice article in this month's Performance Menu about just such a phenomenon. In one case that's documented, a powerlifter who was stuck at 535 pounds, through regular exposure to the Olympic lifts, was able to increase his deadlift by 115 pounds, taking his max up to 650 (this didn't happen overnight, in case you're wondering; it was over the course of a few years). Obviously, there may be more to this gaudy increase than just throwing in cleans and snatches; his training program isn't detailed, other than noting that he focused almost exclusively on the Olympic lifts.

[For all you benchers out there, there's another story of a powerlifter getting his bench press unstuck, taking it up from 425 to 450, by focusing on push jerks, push presses, and the like for six months, and doing no bench presses during that time period.]

So do you think there's something magic about the Olympic lifts, or do you think cases like the above have more to do with changing up one's training program? Or is it a little of both? Opine in comments.

Raw vegetables are an essential part of a healthy diet. Just one bowl of fresh, leafy greens is loaded with vitamins, calcium, folate and dietary fiber. Whether you have it before your meal or as your main course, salads are scrumptious and absolutely vital to your health. In the Bay Area, we're blessed to have wide varieties of lettuces and greens available to us year round--so take advantage of it! Some companies have even taken the liberty of pre-washing and packaging the greens eliminating an extra step for consumers with limited time. But, let's face it, nobody likes a plain ol' bowl of lettuce, even if it is good for you. The best way to enjoy a green salad is to dress it up! A good salad dressing is the key to transforming any vegetables from blah to finger-licking good. In fact, some people even go as far as using it as a condiment for pizza and chicken wings. Unfortunately, most bottled salad dressings are way over-priced and very low quality, especially the "low-fat" kinds. Even some brands that claim to be organic contain wheat, sugar, and MSGs to enhance the flavor. Remember to always, always read the label, and pay especially close attention to the ingredients.

Salad dressing is one of the most basic and cheapest things to make at home. When it comes to dressing up a salad all you need is a few simple ingredients: high quality oil (e.g., olive, flaxseed, walnut); I recommend an extra virgin, cold-pressed kind, vinegar (e.g., apple cider, balsamic, wine) or lemon juice, salt and pepper. The ratio of oil to vinegar is typically 3:1. Whisk it all together with a fork and voila! This takes less than a minute and costs pennies to make. Store your dressing in a mason jar in the fridge for up to a week.

Here are a few simple salad dressing recipes that I've taken from some of my favorite cookbooks:

Caesar Dressing:
2 Tbsp. Tahini
4 medium cloves Garlic, chopped
juice from 1 Lemon
2 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
1/4-1/2 cup extra virgin Olive Oil
1/2 oz. can Anchovies, drained & chopped (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Blend ingredients together for 1-2 minutes until smooth.

Basic Vinaigrette:
2/3 cup Olive Oil
1/3 cup Balsamic or Red Wine vinegar
1/8 cup water
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper
Whisk together oil, vinegar and water then add the garlic and mustard.

Blue Cheese:
Mix together:
4oz. Blue cheese, crumbled
8oz. plain Yogurt (full-fat)
2 Tbs. Chives or Scallions
1 tsp. Honey, raw
Salt and Pepper

Cilantro Lime Dressing
1/2 cup Olive oil
1 Tbs. Flax oil
3 Tbs. fresh Lime juice
1 Tbs. Cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. Oregano, dried
dash Cayenne pepper
pinch Stevia powder
Place all ingredients in a bowl and stir with a fork.

Enjoy! Post your favorite salad topping to comments.

Our Holiday Cocktail Party is this Thursday, December 11th at 7p.m.! We are throwing this out there for those who are interested:

White Elephant Gift Exchange:

THE GIFTS:

1. This party's gift theme is "something useful."
2. The gift should be valued as close to $1.00 to $10.00.
3. The gift should be wrapped or in an envelope before arriving to the party. Gift bags are OK only if a wrapped item is inside.
4. As guests arrive to the party, the gifts should be placed in an area where few people can see who brought which gift. All efforts should be made to hide who brought which gift.

THE GAME:

1. Each guest who wishes to participate must contribute a gift. Everyone sits or stands in a circle around the pile of gifts.
2. Prepare slips of paper equal to the number of gifts with clearly written numbers. Be sure to distinguish 6 from 9, 1 from 7. Each participating guest draws a number and holds onto that slip of paper.
3. On the first turn, the guest with paper slip #1 chooses a gift, opens it, and all admire it.
4. On the second turn, the guest with paper slip #2 gets the choice of "stealing" any unwrapped gift (#1's) or choosing a wrapped one. If #2 steals #1's gift, then #1 must open a wrapped gift.
5. On the third turn, the guest with paper slip #3 gets the choice of "stealing" any unwrapped gift (#1's or #2's) or choosing a wrapped one.

The game continues based on the following:

1. If a gift is stolen from you, you can steal a gift (within limits, described below), or open a wrapped one.
2. The turn proceeds until a wrapped gift is chosen.
3. A gift cannot be immediately stolen back from the guest who just stole it.
4. The fourth "owner" of a gift gets to keep it. The gift is "dead" after it has been stolen three times.
5. "Owners" of "live" gifts must keep them visible and hold them up when requested.
6. The gift exchange ends when the last wrapped gift is opened. Usually, guests are encouraged to perpetuate the gift stealing as long as there are "live" gifts, but no one is obligated to do this.

Highlands Country Club link:http://www.highlandscountryclub.info/

So it turns out, according to a recently published study, that when it comes to longevity, muscular strength trumps cardiorespiratory fitness, even after cardiorespiratory fitness is adjusted for.

You can read the full-blown study here, via PubMed.

Or if you prefer, you can read the summary article below (click on the "Continue Reading" link below). This article was first published on the Medscape website (free registration required to access article).

Basically, approximately 8,700 men were studied over an almost 20-year period, and tested on a few simple 1-rep max strength exercises. The men who tested lowest in these strength measures had the highest incidence of mortality over the time period studied, and had a 60% higher incidence of cardiovascular disease.

I guess Mark Rippetoe is right when he says that stronger people are harder to kill!

And a big thanks to CFOer TomC for passing this article along.

***REMINDERS***

We're holding another FUEL Seminar this Saturday, from 11am to 1pm. Please send an email to info@crossfitoakland.com to confirm your spot. We need to get an idea of headcount and need to hear from you no later than Friday, December 12.

There will be no 6p.m. or 7p.m. class tomorrow night because we are having our Holiday Cocktail Party at 7p.m. at The Highlands Country Club! Hope to see you all there!

Highlands Country Club:
http://www.highlandscountryclub.info/

***REMINDERS***

We're holding another FUEL Seminar this Saturday, from 11am to 1pm. Please send an email to info@crossfitoakland.com to confirm your spot. We need to get an idea of headcount and need to hear from you no later than Friday, December 12.

Best guess for the funniest White Elephant gift in comments.