A thin volume of less than 100 pages, yet Super Squats, by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D., is a tour de force of simplicity and intellect, which brings the reader back to reality, by reminding him/her of the necessity and effectiveness of the squat. The basic premise is that a routine of 20 squats will allow you to gain 30 pounds of muscle in 6 weeks, along with the attendant strength. The book goes into detail about the history of the 20 rep squat routine and the hormonal changes that your body goes through, but that is all secondary to the program.

Essentially, the program is this: In order to gain the neuroendocrine response which will give you muscle mass and strength, do your 10 rep back squat max 20 times without racking the weight a few times a week. Every time, try to increase the weight by 5 pounds. Absolute fire in your back, legs and stomach. Do it for six weeks. Drink a lot of milk and eat a lot of quality food. That’s it. It is so simple that it sounds like nonsense. I tried it and I almost vomited at rep 18. It will have you breathing like a 500 meter row with a pain you’re likely never to forget. Anything that makes you feel like Fran in the same amount of time, with half the exercises, has got to be legit.

If anything, it attests to the effectiveness of functional movements, high intensity and simplicity–all things that we aspire to–in your training.

When you perform the 20 rep squat routine, you realize the efficacy of the program–it is a functional, total body workout, and the gains in muscle mass you get are equally total-body and functional. From the obvious burning in your legs, up through your lower and upper back to the not-so-obvious arms and trapezius, the squat is unparalleled in creating a base of strength obviously applicable to CrossFit.

I’m not sure how many times I mentioned hip drive while coaching Fight Gone Bad, but it is obvious that hips are central to almost every movement in the human repertoire–and the squat is the premier movement to strengthen the hip drive. The more I do CrossFit and the more I understand athletic movement, it is increasingly clear to me that hip drive and mid-line stability are crucial to everything. The squat strengthens those two elements as well as, if not better than, most anything else I can think of.

–Nick

A lot of people have asked me how to lose weight. Here it is. You never need to watch another BS infomercial or buy another diet book, or listen to Oprah or Dr. Phil: insulin control. As Gary Taubes quoted a Harvard professor: “Carbohydrates is driving insulin is driving fat.”

At some point, I’m going to write an article on basic endocrinology for fitness. For now, know that insulin is what allows your body to put on fat. That is the primary hormone. Succinctly put, to restrict insulin is to lose weight, which is what most people want out of a fitness regimen, though other benefits are obvious.

According to the American Medical Association Council on Foods and Nutrition in 1974, “Fat is mobilized [from fat tissue] when insulin secretion diminishes.”[1]

Two macronutrients cause insulin to rise: protein and carbohydrate. Only one of these is necessary. I’ll give you two guesses which one it is. What does that mean for our dietary needs? Fat, the other of the three macronutrients should fill the gap of carbohydrates and it won’t affect your insulin significantly. We can’t go no carbohydrate, because that would kill our CrossFit workouts. We also can’t do a no fat, no carbohydrate diet because that would lead to what the early American settlers called “rabbit starvation” and that would be the opposite of fitness: death.
The optimal diet would be one that restricts carbohydrate–or if that sounds too harsh, “controls” carbohydrate–enough to allow for glycogen reloading, but restricting fat storage, gets enough protein for building bones and muscle, and gets enough fat to make up for caloric and bodily needs. The Zone does this well, but a lot of people don’t feel like measuring.
Here’s an easy fix. Have meat, leafy greens, a LITTLE BIT of denser carbohydrates, like fruit, or a not overly starchy tuber, and fat like nuts or oil with each meal. That should do it for fat loss and athletic improvement. If you want skills like the CrossFit pros, you’ll have to invest a few minutes a day into measuring your food and some time in the gym being dedicated to awesomeness. For wellness and metabolic normality, though, the above will do. Notice that I omitted grains, legumes, and dairy. Cheese and butter could fit in there, but why risk it?
Most likely, all the food you think is “healthy” is probably garbage dressed as healthy. Nature’s Valley granola bars? Junk. Splenda? Junk. Fat free yogurt? Junk. Cliff Bars? Junk. Check the packages. I’m not lying. They are high in carbohydrates and advertising, low in nutrients, and primed to spike insulin. McDonald’s has a similar nutritional make-up. Elite marathoners might consume so-called “health foods,” but that doesn’t mean elite marathoners are healthy, or fit. I’ve known a few that admitted to a sub 12-inch vertical jump. Yeah, we do 20-inch box jumps blindfolded!

-Nick

Hey Bryant-

I thought you’d get a kick out of this.  I apparently talk constantly at work so my co-workers have branded me the “CrossFit Chronic.”  My co-workers even went so far as to vandalize my coveted CrossFit sticker by adding “chronic” to it in waterbased pen (see photo).  I told them don’t hate the player, hate the game (haha).

CrossFit Chronic and proud,
Carolina

Do you find yourself talking to and trying to get others to see the “light”. Post what you tell others about CrossFit here.

Also, we have hundreds of vinyl CFO stickers in seven different colors like the one above (Thanks, Cheryl!!). If you haven’t got one, ask and and we will give you one for free. Feel free to post where you have put your decal.

-Bryant

Dedication (per wikipedia) is to immerse oneself with sincerity into a certain subject or properly the setting apart of anything by solemn proclamation. Synonymous with words such as committment, loyalty, perserverance, devotion, allegiance, adherence, faithfulness, wholeheartedness, and enthusiasm.

Katie, a new Crossfitter at CFO, always gives 150% and amazes me and herself with her mental and physical strength every single workout. We are lucky that she is part of our ohana!
We have a great quote on our white board, “If it’s too easy, go faster!”

We talk about what it means to be a ‘firebreather’, that Crossfit is ‘hardcore’ and ‘intensity is relative’ but here is a great article from Again Faster that really puts the white board quote into perspective. How has your outlook on ‘intensity’ and/or dedication changed since you have found Crossfit? Post your comments here.
-Court

Courtney and I were hiking to some secret lava tide pools in Kauai when the batteries in our camera died. We were kinda bummed because we wanted to take some photos. There was one other couple around way out there in the middle of nowhere, so I decided to ask them if we could put our memory card in their camera to snap a few photos. They allowed us to use their camera and we got to talking about the 5 finger shoes I had on and how he had just gotten some for his training. I told him that we have a lot of people that use them where I train. He asked “Well, what do you guys do?”. I told him we mix Olympic style weight lifting, gymnastics and… He stopped me and asked “Do you guys do CrossFit?”.

So that is how we met Bob and D’Arcy out at the lava pools in Kauai. We continued to talk about how the olympic lifts have helped strengthen his back, training in a garage, and the finer points of the kipping pullup on a great sunny day right by the ocean. We gave them a card and told them to stop by CrossFit Oahu if they ever got a chance.

They had a layover in Honolulu on their way to Colorado. Instead of just waiting at the airport for a few hours, they took it upon themselves to call a friend, get our address (someone stole their bag in Kauai that had our card in it), and take a taxi down to come to CFO in person. This was the first affiliate that they had ever been to.
I must say that it is a pleasure to be part of such an interesting and supportive community. Have you ever met another CFer randomly in an unexpected place or have you been to another affiliate and felt like you fit in well. Post your thoughts to the comments here.

-Bryant

Evan entered the world today at 4:39pm weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs, 11 oz and 21 1/2 inches long.  Kat did a great job; she and Evan are doing well.  Congratulations Mike and Kat!  CFO’s youngest fire breather has arrived!

- Cheryl

Congrats to Dale and Lindsey Jacoby as they are expecting their third child in late January.  Although Lindsey isn’t feeling that great these days, she still gets to CFO three days a week.  She didn’t have CrossFit for her first two kids and is excited and anxious about continuing her CrossFit workouts during this pregnancy.  So far, she’s off to a great start.

- Cheryl

In keeping with Nick’s last post, but not quite as deep or intellectual, I came across this article on one of the blogs I subscribe to.  Everyone seems to be on the fat is bad bandwagon and there is a lot of new information that contradicts the all FAT is bad mantra.  I do as much reading as I can keeping an open mind with regard to nutrition and health in general.  I have been a Zoner for almost two years now and I like to experienment with it just to see what affect it has on my body and performance.  I can honestly say that (for me) fat isn’t a bad thing.  For me reducing my carbs and increasing my fat has helped me to reduce my overall body fat with no negative affects on performance or overall health.  While I am not a “fire breather” I have continued to show improvement on my time and strength for various CF WODs.  Still, too much of even a good thing can go awry.  So while it’s not a good idea to go crazy with any of the fats, I do believe that eating more fat does not make you fat.  As Nick put it, there is nothing better than a fat juicy steak smothered in butter!  Here is the link for the article — you can draw your own conclusions.

http://www.preventionisbest.com/site/saturatedfat.html

- Cheryl

I’ve been talking to a lot of people lately and they seem to think red meat causes cancer. Causes. That’s a strong word. Moreover, they’ve been telling me that fat causes cancer. The last I heard, these were two things that most people enjoyed: olive oil, avacados, and steak. What could be wrong those?

I think what has happened is that we in America come from a Puritanical upbringing, which isn’t necessarily bad, whether you are Buddhist or Baptist. It is great for economic matters–the Puritan work ethic is one of the forces cited by Max Weber as the reason for the development of Capitalism.

“Weber cited the writings of Benjamin Franklin, which emphasized frugality, hard work and thrift, but were mostly free of spiritual content. Weber also attributed the success of mass production partly to the Protestant ethic. Only after expensive luxuries were disdained, could individuals accept the uniform products, such as clothes and furniture …“[1]

So it was a sort of asceticism that Weber ascribed to the Protestant work ethic, as it was played out in the writings of Benjamin Franklin, and in our society at large. Americans’ idea of health and fitness is bred in this idea of forgoing pleasure for the greater good.

Fat tastes good. There is no denying this. The chemical structure of lipids is one that feels good in our mouths. The molecules slide smoothly against each other, giving us that creamy taste often tasted in butter, nuts, dark chocolate, and especially a nice steak. Compare that to the sandpaper appeal of a bean. Somehow, people have gotten the idea through false profits like PETA and Dean Ornish that fat is bad and meat is worse. By giving up the pleasures of whole foods and indulging in the bizarre low-fat diets these people propose, they offer us deliverance from diabetes and poor health.

There is no evidence whatsoever to back them up. Period. What matters is what food does to your body. Fat has almost no hormonal response. Sugar and carbohydrate drive insulin and insulin drives fat storage.

We have come to believe that the only way to a healthy weight and health is through the path of spending multiple boring hours per week running or doing “cardio,” whatever that is. The downside is that both our diets and our exercise are necessarily worse. Spending more time exercising more efficiently (not boring, long distance running every day)–by using movements that elicit responses in our bodies that make us stronger and leaner–we actually do become more fit. We experience broad increases in performance over broad time and modal domains. In layman’s speech, that means we can do Fran faster. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather do a 4 minute Fran over a 60 minute run … On the diet side, eating foods that taste good to us, and are good for us, like meats, nuts, fruits, and vegetables (notice the obvious lack of microwave diet foods) our health improves, as does our fitness.
Don’t accept the dogma of low-fat, long distance. Food–as in real food–tastes good, leaves us feeling good, and makes us perform well. Functional fitness makes us stronger, faster, and healthier. Can we not also agree that it is enjoyable? If you still have a penchant for some asceticism, take some of that aggressive energy out on soy, grains, or Krispy Kreme.

-Nick

This is really like three posts in one. Eric M. is moving to the mainland and I thought last week was his last workout but it was just his last workout before he had to turn in his gear so he did Flak Jacket Fran. He also sent me some photos of his Marines doing Crossfit over in K-Bay. Without farther ado here is the photo montage that was Erics last week.

“Thanks for everything you and the other trainers have done for me over
the last few months. I’m looking forward to redoing some of those
workouts from early February to see just how bad I can smoke my old
results after a few months of training. I can remember getting that
first email from you when I was in Iraq and getting all fired up about
finding a gym where I could go do all kinds of crazy shit as soon as I
got back. I’ll do my best to represent CFO well in San Diego and I’ll
be looking to get my Level I cert done as soon as possible…that way
if the whole Marine Corps thing doesn’t work out I can just move back
to Hawaii, live out of a shopping cart at Ala Moana Park, and help
train at CFO in exchange for use of your clean water and showers.”

-Eric
Above was Erics real last class. By the way does any body think Alex will look like this when he is older?

Flak Jacket+Fran= The above picture

Eric brought some of his friends for “mandatory fun”

Below are some photos Eric sent me-

“Here’s a few pictures of CF in action with Lima 3/3 during last
Thursday’s torrential downpours. In the first one you can see tire
flipping, 62LB KB SDHP, and 35LB sandbag clean and presses, and
sprints going off the left side of the shot. In the second one you can
see some of the same with a pretty sweet rainbow overhead.”

-Eric