Countdown to Hawaii!!

Well my wife and I and her sister and husband are heading to Hawaii for some R and R. We are heading to Kona for a week. Planning on hitting some nice beaches, fishing and a helicopter ride so far. Since the nearest Crossfit is in Hilo (160 km/100mi) it's doubtful we will be stopping in.

It's been a while for a post but I've again been really busy, we had a shift change at work and I put an extra day in at the college as to not fall behind in my hours of instruction. Updating my crossfit WOD's

January 15, 2010

Power Cleans
5-5-3-3-2-1
         +
Row 150m = 26.3 sec
rest 30 sec
Row 200m = 36.7 sec
rest 45 sec
row 350m = 67.9 sec

I got to 175# on the Power cleans, I started arm curling the weight so I shut her down. Once the bad form starts, it's good to shut it down as to not gain bad habits in oly lifting. As for the rowing I was pretty happy with the results there.


January 16, 2010

21-15-9
Push Jerk 115#
Knees to elbows
Run approx 400m between each set

I'm bad!! I cannot find my time anywhere. This WOD was tough on the forearms more than anything. I used a kip swing doing the knees to elbows it makes them alot quicker. The Push Jerk got heavy fast, it was a great WOD nonetheless and a great test.


January 18, 2010 

15-12-10-8
60% of 1RM Overhead Squats
Chest to Bar Pull-ups

Time: 11:10 modified weight to 95#

This WOD completely kicked my ass!! First time I've done OHS in a workout and it showed the lack of practice I have had. That's the beauty about crossfit, it exposes weaknesses in everyone once in a while and when it does it really exposes you!! I was one of the worst times on this one. Overhead squats are very dependent on your mid-line stability and keeping the weight over your ankles at all times. The upper body has your shoulders being active like a shrug action and your arms are trying to pull the bar apart.

January 20, 2010

Push Press
3-3-3-3
      +
Learning the Turkish Get-Up

Well i worked my way up to a 3RM of 175# and we learned how to do a Turkish Get-up today. I managed to get 2/3 reps with 180# but just couldn't quite get it up. The Turkish Get-up emphasizes balance, strength and coordination. It looks alot more complex than it is but a very functional movement.



So my wife and I are talking over whether or not I can get my level 1 crossfit certification. There is a certification at Crossfit Calgary on May 1st, 2nd. I could then maybe help out at the gym with some coaching and running classes. It would be fun and a good learning experience to get other point of views on different Crossfit movements. I'll keep you updated on the verdict, it'll be at least a week until my next post so until then Sean'O out!!!

How important is DIET?? Millions of years of history tell us.

The New Evolution??

Funny?? Maybe at first glance, but lets get serious here!! The new leading risk of death in North America is Obesity which has surpassed Smoking. Yes, I heard it on the radio a few days ago.

I'm not going to preach, I'm just going to tell you a bit about my diet and some links to resources to read about healthy eating/living choices. Movies such as "Supersize Me" come immediately to mind, those who may be reading this MUST watch that movie, it'll blow your mind!!


When I first started crossfit I was 175# with about 30% bodyfat (heaviest I ever was = 225# = Obese for my height and % bodyfat). For years previous I ate what I thought was good food, of course I had my fair share of junk food, potatoe chips and pop were my absolute weakness. As part of the training at our local crossfit gym we get offered nutrition courses that we can buy into, when I took it I think it was $75 (The zone diet). It turns out that it will be a lifelong investment, not just because of that particular class but it opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at food. I'm not going to get into explaining the "zone diet" the link above will.
For over a year I weighed and measured food according to the zone diet and it was working fantastic for my performance and leaning me out (165# @ 5-10% bodyfat). However I recently found out I was eating far more food than I needed to ......I'll explain. Some people at our gym were experimenting with a "Paleolithic Diet" which in the simplest terms is the Caveman Diet:

My buddy Mike (Nutrition Guru and Avid Crossfitter) yes i've mentioned him several times before but he is like a walking encyclopedia when it comes to Performance Nutrition and lots of other stuff........ Anyways he started the "Paleolithic Movement" (for lack of a better phrase) at our gym. I asked him one day what and how he ate, He replied: "It's nothing special I just eat good whole food when i'm hungry until i'm full"........Ok that sounds simple but what is "Whole Food"? The pyramid above is proportioned the "Paleo" way although more vegetables than fruit is the true pyramid. Anyways so I got to reading some of the many good sites on the paleolithic methods of eating and started following them. I started eating less, cut out grains, cut out dairy(although right now I do drink milk but I'm trying to gain about 10 pounds), cut out pasta, and started getting more fussy about the carbohydrate and fat sources in my diet. So in a nutshell High Protein/High Fat /Low Carbohydrate diet. Right now I take in about 1gram/pound of bodyweight of protein per day (165g) about 80-100 grams of carbohydrates and probably a couple hundred grams of fat per day. On the Zone = 147g protein, 189g carbs, lots of fat). The modified paleo is working great for me, my crossfit numbers are continually getting better, i'm not eating all the time and I feel great. One thing about eating well is that your body sure lets you know when you feed it a load of "shit"!!!

So like I said I'm not preaching just making people aware that modern day eating habits have turned North America into the "fattest continent" in the world. I won't explain the benefits of Paleolithic eating but let you seek out the information on your own, after all I'd just be plagerizing someone elses work. Check out the links to various blogs on my site and look up people like: Robb Wolf, Dr. Loren Cordain (The Paleo Diet), Mikes linked blog above. Find out how and why this diet benefits us at a nutritional level and what "Whole Foods" are. You'll find out in your research that the food guides set out by our governments really aren't healthy at all. I'm not telling anybody what to do but there are choices out there and even if following diets isn't for you;  just be more picky in your choices.

After all Millions of years of "Hunting and Gathering" and "Surviving" couldn't have been wrong!!!!