Tribal Crossfit

3/10/10

2 X 5 + 10#

Deadlift

OHS

-----

Shoulder Press 3-3-3-3-3-3-3

------

 

3/9/10

2X5 + 5#

Deadlift

OHS

------

8 rounds of:

Run 400 meters

Rest 90 seconds

-----

The 9AM class has a stylist.  

3/8/10

2X5

Deadlift

OHS

-----

Five rounds for reps of:

1 min Wall ball shots, 20 pound

1 min Pull-ups

Run 400m

Rest

Start each round exactly six minutes apart. Your rest period is whatever remains after the run.

-----

 

Paleo Potluck

Nicole

As Many Rounds as Possible

400M Run

Pull-ups

 

Well that was way more fun than I thought it would be. Mostly because my wife did all the work. I'd like to thank the Academy for bestowing this award upon me, my parents for endowing me with the natural gifts required... oh wait, what. Yeah wrong thank you speech. Thanks to all of my athletes that showed up and brought their family. Thank you to Arrowhead and North Scottsdale Crossfit for participating. 

Sounds like we might do it again soon.

If everyone that brought a dish could email me the recipe I'll put together a page with all of the dishes listed. 

Nice work people. 

3/5/10

2X5

Squat

Press

-----

Little Nancy

3X

400M Run

15 OHS

3/4/10

2X5

Squat

Press

-----

Five rounds for max reps of:

2/3 Body weight thruster

Pull-ups

Post reps for both exercises in all rounds.

-----

 

The Motivation to CrossFit

In Daniel Pinks new book "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates People" he discuses the various forms of motivation and how to apply them. Extrinsic motivation is what we are all use to seeing at work. The ol' carrot and stick. It's about as base as motivation gets. It works to get large numbers of people to perform mindless tasks. 

I imagine if I tried to hire someone and pay them hundreds of dollars to do 20 minutes of work like "Tabata This" I would be accused of the most insane cruelty and maybe even torture. 

But I'm not offering to pay anyone. In fact people are paying to take on tasks that are incredibly difficult. 

A couple of the descriptions of people provide when they say they were most motivated are 

Mastery

Productivity

Community

Frequent and Usable Feedback

Fairness

Several people have repeated the Baseline workout in the last two weeks. There fitness levels have improved by 10-50% in a month. That's pretty impressive improvement for 30 days. But there mastery of the movements of Crossfit can take years. This is completely different from anything else going on at any other gym where after a 45 minute tour of the gym you have mastered every 'machine' available. 

There is a small, small, small chance your fitness levels will plateau doing CrossFit. But only for a short time. Just enough for your body to recover and then back to steady and consistent improvement.

3/3/10

2X5 + 15

Squat

Press

-----

1 rep-max Snatch

-----

 

One of the Athletes in the 6:30 class had her 50th birthday this week. (She will remain nameless but she does share a name with one of the Girl WODS :)

To Celebrate the occasion they did the Filthy Fifty. 

For time:

50 Box jump, 24 inch box

50 Jumping pull-ups

50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood

Walking Lunge, 50 steps

50 Knees to elbows

50 Push press, 45 pounds

50 Back extensions

50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball

50 Burpees

50 Double unders

3/2/10

2X5 + 10#

Squat

Press

-----

Max rounds and reps in eight minutes of:

4 Handstand push-ups 

2 pood Kettlebell swing, 8 reps

12 GHD situps

Post results to comments.

-----

 

3/1/10

2X5 + 5#

Squat

Press

-----

"Tabata This!"

Tabata Row

Rest 1 minute

Tabata Squat

Rest 1 minute

Tabata Pull-up

Rest 1 minute

Tabata Push-up

Rest 1 minute

Tabata Sit-up

The Tabata interval is 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 intervals.

Tabata score is the least number of reps performed in any of the eight intervals. Unit for the row is "calories".

Post Tabata score for each exercise to comments and total for final score. 

E.G., 10, 22, 9, 15, 15 = 71

2/27/10

2X5

Deadlift OHS

------

For time:

25 Squats

25 Push-ups

25 Pull-ups

25 Sit-ups

50 Squats

50 Push-ups

50 Pull-ups

50 Sit-ups

75 Squats

75 Push-ups

75 Pull-ups

75 Sit-ups

Post time to comments.

2/26/10

2 X 5

Deadlift

OverHead Squat

-----

AM Class

200M Run

21KB Swing

-----

PM Class

Overhead squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps

Front squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps

Back squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps

Try to increase the load on each of the fifteen sets.

2/25/10

2 X 5

Deadlift

OverHead Squat

-----

Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5-5-5 reps

2/24/10

2X5+10

Deadlift

OverHead Squat

-----

Resting 60 seconds between sets: 

Back squat 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2

-----

6 HandStands

6 Inverted Hangs

 

2/23/10

2X5+5

Deadlift

OverHead Squat

-----

For time:

50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound

25 L Pull-ups

40 Wall ball shots, 20 pound

20 L Pull-ups

30 Wall ball shots, 20 pound

15 L Pull-ups

20 Wall ball shots, 20 pound

10 L Pull-ups

 

2/22/10

2X5

Front Squat

-----

Five rounds for time of:

Run 400 meters

135 pound Power clean, 15 reps

95 pound Thruster, 12 reps

 Knees Moving towards the Elbows

10/19/10

2X5 

Squat

Press

-----

Grease the Grove

-----

3X

15 Deadlift

21 Kettle Bell Swing

400M Run

2/18/10

2X5 

Squat

Press

-----

"Kelly"

Five rounds for time of:

Run 400 meters

30 Box jump, 24 inch box

30 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball

 Robbie setting it up right.

2/17/10

2X5 +10#

Squat

Press

-----

Five rounds for time of:

155 pound Thruster, 5 reps

5 Muscle-ups

Run 400m

 Jan looking good before he looks at the WhiteBoard and realizes how many reps/rounds are left

2/16/10

2X5 + 5#

Squat

Press

-----

Seven rounds for time of:

Power snatch, 7 reps

Snatch balance, 7 reps

Overhead squat, 7 reps

 Ben setting up the SDHP with authority so that Lou cat will respect him when he gets home

2/15/10

2X5

Squat

Press

-----

10 minutes Handstand push-ups

5 minutes Squats

2 minutes Pull-ups

1 minute Push-ups

Russ Greene 359 reps (20lb vest)

I swear it looks less like Liana is trying to lift the bar as much as it is she is trying to peak over it.  

2/12/10

THE TOTAL

1 Rep Max

Squat

Press

Deadlift

Add all three together for The Total

 

2/11/10

For time:

225 pound Deadlift, 15 reps

50 Pull-ups

225 pound Deadift, 12 reps

40 Pull-ups

225 pound Deadlift, 9 reps

30 Pull-ups

225 pound Deadlift, 6 reps

20 Pull-ups

225 pound Deadlift, 3 reps

10 Pull-ups

-----

MYTH #15:

Eating animal foods is inhumane.

Without question, commercially raised livestock live in deplorable conditions where sickness and suffering are common. Additionally, some prescription drugs are derived from animals (e.g., Premarin) in torturous ways. In America, at least, livestock animals are exempted from anti-cruelty laws and, typically, commercially raised livestock animals are slaughtered in ways that promote adrenaline release, which could have harmful effects on the people who eventually consume them. In countries like Korea, food animals such as dogs are killed in horrific ways, i.e., beaten to death with a club. Our recommendations for animal foods consumption most definitely do not endorse such practices. As noted in our discussion of myth #1, commercial farming of livestock results in an unhealthy food product, whether that product be meat, milk, butter, cream or eggs. Our ancestors did not consume such substandard foodstuffs, and neither should we.

It is possible to raise animals humanely. This is why organic, "free-range" farming is to be encouraged: it is cleaner and more efficient, and produces healthier animals and foodstuffs from those animals. Each person should make every effort, then, to purchase organically raised livestock (and plant foods). Not only does this better support our bodies, as organic foods are more nutrient-dense and are free from hormone and pesticide residues, but this also supports smaller farms and is therefore better for the economy (67).

Orthodox Jewish and Muslim slaughtering methods (kosher and hallal, respectively) are similar to those practised by organic farms, in that the animals are slain in a state of tranquillity‹unlike their unfortunate battery-farm cousins. Such practices minimise, if not eliminate, the release of harmful stress hormones and are therefore more humane to the animal and more healthful to us. 

Nevertheless, many people have philosophical problems with eating animal flesh, and these sentiments must be respected. Dairy products and eggs, though, are not the result of an animal's death and are fine alternatives for these people.

Myth #15: 

67. See Biodynamics, March/April 1998, for a report on the horrors of commercial hog farming, as well as its drain on local economies and the environment. Also in this article are the benefits of "free-run," organically raised hogs. You can also check out www.sierraclub.org/chapters/ok/cafo for a horrendous exposé on commercial hog farming.

2/10/09

Three rounds for time of:

50 Double-unders/Tuck Jumps

50 Back extensions

------

MYTH #14:

Eating meat or animal products is less "spiritual" than eating only plant foods.

It is often claimed that those who eat meat or animal products are somehow less "spiritually evolved" than those who do not. Though this is not a nutritional or academic issue, those who do include animal products in their diet are often made to feel inferior in some way. This issue, therefore, is worth addressing.

Several world religions place no restrictions on animal consumption; and nor did their founders. The Jews eat lamb at their most holy festival, the Passover. Muslims also celebrate Ramadan with lamb before entering into their fast. Jesus Christ, like other Jews, partook of meat at the Last Supper (according to the canonical Gospels). It is true that some forms of Buddhism do place strictures on meat consumption, but dairy products are almost always allowed. Similar tenets are found in Hinduism. As part of the Samhain celebration, Celtic pagans would slaughter the weaker animals of the herds and cure their meat for the oncoming winter. It is not true, therefore, that eating animal foods is always connected with "spiritual inferiority."

Nevertheless, it is often claimed that, since eating meat involves the taking of a life, it is somehow tantamount to murder. Leaving aside the religious philosophies that often permeate this issue, what appears to be at hand is an understanding of the life force and how it works. Modern peoples (vegetarian and non-vegetarian) have lost touch with what it takes to survive in our world, something native peoples never lose sight of. We do not necessarily hunt or clean our meats: we purchase steaks and chops at the supermarket. We do not necessarily toil in rice paddies: we buy bags of brown rice; and so forth, and so on.

When Native Americans would kill a game animal for food, they would routinely offer a prayer of thanks to the animal's spirit for giving its life so that they could live. In our world, life feeds off life. Destruction is always balanced with generation. This is a good thing: unchecked, the life force becomes cancerous. If animal food consumption is viewed in this manner, it is hardly murder, but sacrifice. Modern peoples would do well to remember this.

2/9/10

3 Rounds for time of:

Clean and jerk, 10 reps

30 Knees-to-Elbows

I don't know what Janet did either but some days I think a "Janet" award would be appropriate.  

MYTH #13:

Animal products contain numerous, harmful toxins.

A recent vegetarian newsletter claimed the following: "Most people don't realise that meat products are loaded with poisons and toxins! Meat, fish and eggs all decompose and putrefy extremely rapidly. As soon as an animal is killed, self-destruct enzymes are released, causing the formation of denatured substances called ptyloamines, which cause cancer." (64) This article then went on to mention "mad cow disease" (BSE), parasites, salmonella, hormones, nitrates and pesticides as toxins in animal products.

If meat, fish and eggs do indeed generate cancerous "ptyloamines," it is very strange that people have not been dying in droves from cancer for the past million years. Such sensationalistic and nonsensical claims cannot be supported by historical fact.

Hormones, nitrates and pesticides are present in commercially raised animal products (as well as commercially raised fruits, grains and vegetables) and are definitely things to be concerned about. However, one can avoid these chemicals by taking care to consume range-fed, organic meats, eggs and dairy products which do not contain harmful, man-made toxins.

Parasites are easily avoided by taking normal precautions in food preparations. Pickling or fermenting meats, as is custom in traditional societies, always protects against parasites. In his travels, Dr Price always found healthy, disease-free and parasite-free peoples eating raw meat and dairy products as part of their diets.

Similarly, Dr Francis Pottenger, in his experiments with cats, demonstrated that the healthiest, happiest cats were the ones on the all-raw-food diet. The cats eating cooked meats and pasteurised milk sickened and died and had numerous parasites. Salmonella can be transmitted by plant products as well as animal (65).

Mad Cow Disease is probably not caused by cows eating animal parts with their food, a feeding method that has been done for over 100 years. British organic farmer Mark Purdey has argued convincingly that cows that get Mad Cow Disease are the very ones that have had a particular organophosphate insecticide applied to their backs (see notes to myth #1) or have grazed on soils that lack magnesium but contain high levels of aluminium. Small outbreaks of "mad cow disease" have also occurred among people who reside near cement and chemical factories and in certain areas with volcanic soils.

Purdey theorises that the organophosphate pesticides got into the cows' fat through a spraying program, and then were ingested by the cows again with the animal part feeding. Seen this way, it is the insecticides, via the parts feeding (and not the parts themselves), that has caused this outbreak. As noted before, cows have been eating ground up animal parts in their feeds for over 100 years. It was never a problem before the introduction of these particular insecticides (66).

Myth #13: 

64. "Why Not Meat? (Part 3)," Down to Earth News, Feb/March 1999, pp. 1-3.

65. Pottenger, Francis, Pottenger's Cats, (Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, CA), 1997 (reprint).66. Purdey, op. cit.; Sally Fallon, personal communication.

2/6/10

For time:

3 Times

50 M Lunge

100 M Broad Jump

200 M Run

 

2/5/10 PM

"Kelly"

Five rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
30 Box jump, 24 inch box
30 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball

 

Joanne Mittelholtz, CrossFit Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
 

2/5/10 AM

"Griff"

For time:
Run 800 meters
Run 400 meters backwards
Run 800 meters
Run 400 meters backwards

 

In honor of USAF SSgt Travis L. Griffin, 28, who was killed April 3, 2008 in the Rasheed district of Baghdad by an IED strike to his vehicle. Travis is survived by his son Elijah.

2/4/10

Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3 reps

 

MYTH #11:

The human body is not designed for meat consumption.

Some vegetarian groups claim that since humans possess grinding teeth like herbivorous animals and longer intestines than carnivorous animals, this proves the human body is better suited for vegetarianism (61). This argument fails to note several human physiological features which clearly indicate a design for animal product consumption.

First and foremost is our stomach's production of hydrochloric acid, something not found in herbivores. HCL activates protein-splitting enzymes. Further, the human pancreas manufactures a full range of digestive enzymes to handle a wide variety of foods, both animal and vegetable. 

While humans may have longer intestines than animal carnivores, they are not as long as herbivores; nor do we possess multiple stomachs like many herbivores, nor do we chew cud. Our physiology definitely indicates a mixed feeder, or an omnivore, much the same as our relatives, the mountain gorilla and chimpanzee (who have been observed eating small animals and, in some cases, other primates) [62].

Myth #11: 

61. "Why Not Meat? (Part 2)," Down to Earth News, Dec/Jan 1998, pp. 1-4; Ballantine, Ralph, Transition to Vegetarianism, Himalayan Institute Press, PA, 1994.

62. Abrams, "Vegetarianism . . .," pp. 75-76.

2/3/10

2x5 + 15

Squat

Press

-----

"Fight Gone Bad!"

Three rounds of:

Wall-ball, 20 pound ball, 10 ft target (Reps)

Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75 pounds (Reps)

Box Jump, 20" box (Reps)

Push-press, 75 pounds (Reps)

Row (Calories)

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute.The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. On call of "rotate", the athletes must move to next station immediately for best score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

-----

Ring Dips

Skin the Cat

Jan Hanging out 

MYTH #10:

Soy products are adequate substitutes for meat and dairy products.

The billion-dollar soy industry has profited immensely from the anti-cholesterol, anti-meat gospel of current nutritional thought. Whereas, not so long ago, soy was an Asian phenomenon, now soy products proliferate in the North American market. While the traditionally fermented soy products of miso, shoyu, tempeh and natto are definitely healthful in measured amounts, the hyper-processed soy "foods" are not.

Non-fermented soybeans are extremely high in phytic acid (54), an anti-nutrient that binds to minerals in the digestive tract and carries them out of the body. Vegetarians are known for their high rates of iron and zinc deficiencies (55).

Soybeans are also rich in trypsin inhibitors, which hinder protein digestion. Textured vegetable protein (TVP), soy "milk" and soy protein powders, and popular vegetarian meat and milk substitutes are entirely fragmented foods made by treating soybeans with high heat and various alkaline washes to extract the beans' fat content or to neutralise their potent enzyme inhibitors. These practices completely denature the beans' protein content, rendering it very hard to digest. MSG, a neurotoxin, is routinely added to TVP to make it taste like the various foods it imitates (56).

On a purely nutritional level, soybeans, like all legumes, are deficient in cysteine and methionine, vital sulphur-containing amino acids (56). Soybeans are also lacking in tryptophan, another essential amino acid (56).

Furthermore, soybeans contain no vitamins A or D, required by the body to assimilate and utilise the beans' proteins (56). It is probably for this reason that Asian cultures that do consume soybeans usually combine them with fish or fish broths, The New Zealand government is considering removing soy formula from the market and making it available only by prescription (58).

Though research is still ongoing, some recent studies have indicated that soy's phyto-oestrogens could be causative factors in breast cancer and infantile leukaemia (59). Regardless, soy's phyto-oestrogens, or isoflavones, have been shown to depress thyroid function and cause infertility in some animals (60). As a practitioner, I have seen more than my share of vegetarians with hypothyroidism. They invariably rely on soy foods to get their protein.

Myth #10:

54. Tiney, E.H., "Proximate Composition and Mineral and Phytate Contents of Legumes Grown in Sudan," Jnl of Food Comp. and Analysis, vol. 2, 1989, pp. 67-78; Leviton, Richard, Tofu, Tempeh, Miso and Other Soy Foods, (Keats Publishing, CT),1982; Grant, T.G., Progress in Food and Nutrition Science 13:317-348 (1989); Fallon, Sally and Enig, Mary, "Soy Products for Dairy Products? Not So Fast," Health Freedom News, September 1995; Anderson, Robert and Wolf, Walter, "Compositional changes in trypsin inhibitors, phytic acid, saponins, and isoflavones related to soybean processing," Jnl of Nutr., March 1995, 518S-588S.

55. Abrams, "Vegetarianism . . .," pp. 60-61; Wilson, MD, Lawrence. "Evidence for Traditional Diets from Hair Mineral Analysis," Jnl of PPNF, Spring 1999.

56. Fallon and Enig, "Soy Products . . .,"

57. Fitzpatrick, Mike, "Soy Isoflavones: Panacea or Poison?" Jnl of PPNF, Fall 1998; see also papers on http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz>www.soyonlineservice.co.nz</a><br>58.%20See%20<a%20href=

59. Leukemia 13:317-20 (1999); Hsieh, et al., Cancer Res, 1998, Sept 1, 58:17, 3833-8

60. Ishizuki, et al., Nippon Naibunpi Gakkai Zasshi, 1991, May 20, 67:5, 622-9; Divi, et al., Biochem Pharmacol, 1997, Nov. 15, 54:10, 1087-96; Fitzpatrick, op cit.

2/2/10

2x5 + 10

Squat

Press

-----

Hang Snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

-----

6 Skin the Cat -Front Lever

6 Ring Dips

Welcome all the New January  Peeps

MYTH #9:

Meat and saturated fat consumption have increased in the 20th century, with a corresponding increase in heart disease and cancer.

Statistics do not bear out such fancies. Butter consumption has plummeted from 18 lb (8.165 kg) per person a year in 1900, to less than 5 lb (2.27 kg) per person a year today (52). Additionally, Westerners, urged on by government health agencies, have reduced their intake of eggs, cream, lard, beef and pork. Chicken consumption has risen in the past few decades, but chicken is low in saturated fat (chicken skin contains primarily polyunsaturated fat).

Furthermore, a survey of cookbooks published in the last century shows that people of earlier times ate plenty of animal foods and saturated fats. For example, in the Baptist Ladies Cook Book (Monmouth, Illinois, 1895), virtually every recipe calls for butter, cream or lard. Recipes for creamed vegetables are numerous as well. A scan of the Searchlight Recipe Book (Capper Publications, 1931) also has similar recipes: creamed liver, creamed cucumbers, hearts braised in buttermilk, etc. British Jews, as shown by the Jewish Housewives Cookbook (London, 1846), also had diets rich in cream, butter, eggs, and lamb and beef tallows. One recipe for German waffles, for example, calls for an entire pound of butter! A recipe for Oyster Pie from the Baptist cookbook calls for a quart of cream and a dozen eggs, and so forth and so on.

It does not appear, then, that meat or saturated fat consumption has risen in this century. What has gone up, however, is consumption of margarine and other trans-fatty acids, lifeless, packaged "foods," processed vegetable oils, pasteurised/homogenised milk, commercially raised livestock and plant foods, and refined sugar. These, along with exposure to a growing number of environmental poisons, are our real culprits in the modern epidemics of cancer and coronary heart disease (and other chronic illnesses) [53].

Myth #9: 

52. Rizek, et al., "Fat in Today's Food Supply," Jnl Amer. Oil Chem. Soc., 51:244 (1974).

53. See note 29 and 30, as well papers listed at http://www.realmilk.com/.

2/1/10

2x5 + 5

Squat

Press

-----

Body Weight Lynne

Five rounds for max reps of:

Push-ups

Pull-ups

-----

50 Box Jumps for Time

7 Hang Snatch Pulls to Chest

MYTH #8:

The "cave man" diet was low-fat and/or vegetarian.

Our Neolithic ancestors were hunter-gatherers, and two schools of thought have developed as to what their diet was like. One group argues for a high-fat and animal-based diet supplemented with seasonal fruits, berries, nuts, root vegetables and wild grasses. The other argues that primitive peoples consumed small amounts of lean meats and large amounts of plant foods. Once again, such notions of a "low-fat diet" are hard to reconcile with what we know of modern-day hunter-gatherer societies. Present-day African tribes readily consume the fatty portions of animals, especially organs such as the brain, liver and tongue. The Aborigines, another hunter-gatherer society, also have a diet rich in saturated animal fats (47).

Explorers such as Stefansson reported that the Innuit and North American Indian tribes would worry when their caches of caribou were too lean: they knew sickness would follow if they did not consume enough fat (48).

Canadian Indians would deliberately hunt older male caribou and elk, for these animals carried a 50-pound slab of back fat on them which the Indians would eat with relish. Native Americans would also refrain from hunting bison in the springtime (when the animals' fat stores were low, due to scarce food supply during the winter), preferring to hunt, kill and consume them in the fall when they were fattened up.

More interesting is the way political prisoners are sometimes tortured in South and Central America: they're fed a diet of lean meat and they die quickly. Why? Without the fat-soluble vitamins contained in animal lipids, the body is unable to utilise and synthesise the proteins and other nutrients present in the meat (49).

On his journeys, Dr Price never once found a totally vegetarian culture. Anthropological data support this: throughout the globe, all societies show a preference for animal foods and fats and people only turn to vegetarianism when they have to (50). Nutritional anthropologist H. Leon Abrams, Jr, has shown that prehistoric man's quest for more animal foods spurred his expansion over the Earth, and that he apparently hunted certain species to extinction (50).

Price also found that those peoples who, out of necessity, consumed more grains and legumes, had higher rates of dental decay than those who consumed more animal products (51). Archaeological evidence supports this finding: skulls of prehistoric peoples who were largely vegetarian have teeth containing caries and abscesses and show evidence of tuberculosis (50, 51).

Based on all of this evidence, it is certain that the diets of our ancestors, the progenitors of humanity, ate a very NON-vegetarian diet that was rich in saturated animal fat. 

Myth #8: 

47. Abrams, H. Leon, "The Preference for . . ."; Fallon & Enig, "Australian Aborigines."

48. Stefansson, op. cit.

49. Stefansson, op cit.; Fallon and Enig, "The Cave Man Diet," Jnl of PPNF, Summer 1997. 

50. Abrams, "Vegetarianism" and "Preference for . . ." 

51. Price, op cit.

1/28/10

2X5 +5

Deadlift

OHS

-----

Push Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

-----

2X400

MYTH #7:

Vegetarians live longer and have more energy and endurance than meat-eaters.

Surprising as it may seem, some prior studies have shown the annual all-causedeath rate of vegetarian men to be slightly more than that of non-vegetarian men (0.93% vs 0.89%). Similarly, the annual all-cause death rate of vegetarian women was shown to be significantly higher than that of non-vegetarian women (0.86% vs 0.54%). (40)

Russell Smith, PhD, referred to in myth # 5, in his authoritative study on heart disease, showed that as animal product consumption increased among some study groups, death rates decreased! Such results were not obtained among vegetarian subjects. For example, in a study published by Burr and Sweetnam in 1982, analysis of mortality data revealed that, although vegetarians had a slightly (.11%) lower rate of heart disease than non-vegetarians, the all-cause death rate was much HIGHER for vegetarians (41).

It is usually claimed that the lives of predominantly meat-eating peoples are short-lived, but the Aborigines of Australia, who traditionally eat a diet rich in animal products, are known for their longevity (at least before colonisation by Europeans). Within Aboriginal society, there is a special caste of the elderly (42). Obviously, if no old people existed, no such group would have existed. In his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr. Price has numerous photographs of elderly native peoples from around the world (42). Explorers such as Vilhjalmur Stefansson reported great longevity among the Inuit (again, before colonisation). (43)

Similarly, the Russians of the Caucasus mountains live to great ages on a diet of fatty pork and whole milk products. The Hunzas, also known for their robust health and longevity, eat substantial portions of goat's milk which has a higher saturated fat content than cow's milk (44). In contrast, the largely vegetarian inhabitants of southern India have the shortest life-spans in the world (45). Dr Weston Price, DDS, travelled around the world in the 1920s and 1930s, investigating native diets. Without exception, he found a strong correlation among diets rich in animal fats, with robust health and athletic ability. Special foods for Swiss athletes, for example, included bowls of fresh, raw cream! In Africa, Dr Price discovered that groups whose diets were rich in fatty fish and organ meats, like liver, consistently carried off the prizes in athletic contests, and that meat-eating tribes always dominated peoples whose diets were largely vegetarian (42).

It is popular in sports nutrition to recommend "carb loading" for athletes, to increase their endurance levels. But recent studies done in New York and South Africa show that the opposite is true: athletes who "carb loaded" had significantly less endurance than those who "fat loaded" before athletic events (46).

Myth #7: 

40. "Death Rates of Vegetarians," Am. Jnl Epidemiol. 97:372 (1973)

41. Smith, op. cit.; Burr and Sweetnam, Amer Jnl Clin Nutr, 1982, 36:873.

42. Price, op. cit.; Fallon, S. "Nasty, Brutish, and Short?" The Ecologist, (London), Jan/Feb 1999; Enig & Fallon, "Australian Aborigines," Jnl of PPNF, Summer 1998.

43. Stefansson, V., The Fat of the Land, Macmillan, New York, 1956

44. Pitskhelauri, G.Z., The Long Living of Soviet Georgia, Human Sciences Press, New York, 1982; Moore, Thomas. Lifespan: What Really Affects Human Longevity (Simon & Schuster; NY), 1990.

45. Abrams, "Vegetarianism," pp. 74-77.

46. "Carb Loading for Athletes? Not Such a Good Idea," Jnl of PPNF, Fall 1996

1/27/10

2X5 + 10

Deadlift

Front Squat

-----

"Fran"

For Time

21-15-9

Thruster 95#

Pull-ups

MYTH #6:

Saturated fats cause heart disease and cancer, and low-fat, low-cholesterol diets are healthier for people.

Despite claims that primitive societies are/were largely vegetarian, diets of native peoples the world over are rich in saturated fats and animal foods (28) and, as noted above, heart disease and cancer are primarily modern diseases. Saturated fat consumption, therefore, cannot logically cause these diseases. As with the poorly done studies of the Inuit, modern-day researchers fail to take into account other dietary factors of people who have heart disease and cancer. As a result, the harmful effects of eating refined sugar, nutrient-poor "foods," trans-fats (found in margarine and hydrogenated oils) and vegetable oils get mixed up with animal fat consumption. It is commonly believed that saturated fats and cholesterol "clog arteries", but such ideas have been shown to be false by such scientists as Linus Pauling, George Mann, John Yudkin, Abram Hoffer, Mary Enig and others (29). On the contrary, studies have shown that arterial plaque is primarily composed of UNsaturated fats, particularly polyunsaturated ones, and not the saturated fat of animals, palm or coconut (30).

Trans-fatty acids, as opposed to saturated fats, have been shown by researchers such as Enig, Mann and Fred Kummerow to be causative factors in atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, cancer and other assorted diseases (31).

A recent study of thousands of Swedish women showed no correlation between saturated fat consumption and increased risk for breast cancer. However, the study did show a strong link between vegetable oil intake and higher breast cancer rates (32).

The Framingham Heart Study is often cited as proof that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat intake cause heart disease and ill health. Involving about 6,000 people, the study compared two groups over several years at five-year intervals. One group consumed little cholesterol and saturated fat, while the other consumed high amounts. Surprisingly, Dr William Castelli, the study's director, is quoted in the Archives of Internal Medicine (July 1992) as saying:

In Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person's serum cholesterol ... we found that the people who ate the most cholesterol ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active.

It is true that the study did show that those who weighed more and had higher serum cholesterol levels were more at risk for heart disease, but weight gain and cholesterol levels had an inverse correlation with dietary fat and cholesterol intake. In other words, there was no correlation at all (33).

In a similar vein, the US Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial, sponsored by the National Heart and Lung Institute, compared mortality rates and eating habits of 12,000+ men. Those who ate less saturated fat and cholesterol showed a slightly reduced rate of coronary heart disease (CHD), but had an overall mortality rate much higher than the other men in the study (34).

The few studies that indicate a correlation between saturated fat reduction and a lower CHD rate also clearly document a sizeable increase in deaths from cancer, suicide, violence and brain haemorrhage (34). Like the bone density experiments, such things are not told to the public.

Low-fat/cholesterol diets, therefore, are decidedly not healthier for people. Studies have proven over and over that such diets are associated with depression, cancer, psychological problems, fatigue, violence and suicide (35).

Children on low-fat diets suffer from growth problems, failure to thrive, and learning disabilities (36). Despite this, sources from Dr. Benjamin Spock to the American Heart Association recommend low-fat diets for children! One can only lament the fate of those unfortunate youngsters who will be raised by unknowing parents taken in by such misinformation.

There are many health benefits to saturated fats, depending on the fat in question. Coconut oil, for example, is rich in lauric acid, a potent antifungal and antimicrobial substance. Coconut also contains appreciable amounts of caprylic acid, also an effective antifungal (37). Butter from free-range cows is rich in trace minerals, especially selenium, as well as all of the fat-soluble vitamins and beneficial fatty acids that protect against cancer and fungal infections (38).

In general, however, saturated fats provide a good energy source for the vital organs, protect arteries against damage by the atherogenic lipoprotein (a), are rich in fat-soluble vitamins, help raise HDL levels in the blood, and make possible the utilisation of essential fatty acids. They are excellent for cooking, as they are chemically stable and do not break down under heat, unlike polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Omitting them from one's diet, then, is ill-advised (39).

Myth #6: 

28. Abrams,Leon. "The Preference for Animal Protein and Fat," Food and Evolution (Temple University Press; PA), 1987; see also Price, op cit.

29. Fallon and Enig, "The Oiling of America," Nexus, Dec 1998Jan 1999 and FebMar 1999; Yudkin, John, Pure, White and Deadly, (Davis Poynter, London), 1972; Pauling, Linus, How to Live Longer and Feel Better, (Avon Books, New York), 1985; Hoffer and Walker, Putting It All Together: The New Orthomolecular Nutrition, Keats Publishing, CT), 1995; Mann, George, (ed). Coronary Heart Disease: The Dietary Sense and Nonsense (Veritas Society; London), 1993; Cleave, T.L., The Saccharine Disease, (Keats Publishing; CT),1975.

30. Lancet 344:1195 (1994)

31.Mann, George, "Metabolic Consequences of Dietary Trans-fatty Acids," Lancet 343:1268-71 (1994); Enig, Mary et al., Fed. Proc. 37:2215, July 1978; Kummerow, F. "Nutritional Effects of Isomeric Fats," Dietary Fats and Health, Horisberger and Bracco, eds. (Amer Oil Chem Soc; IL), 1983, pp. 391-402.

32. Wolk, A. et al., Arch of Inter Med, 158:41 (1998); see also Chris Mudd's Cholesterol and Your Health (American lite Co; OK), 1990, for a thorough discussion of studies that show high polyunsaturate intake with increased cancer rates.

33. Hubert, H. et al., Circulation 67:968 (1983) 

34. Jnl of American Med. Assoc. 248(12):1465, September 24, 1982 

35. Lancet 339:3/2/92

36. Food Chem. News, October 3, 1994

37. Fallon, Enig, and Connolly, op. cit., pp. 17-18.

38. Ibid, pp. 14-15.

39. Enig, Mary, "Trans-Fats and Saturated Fats: Not the Same," Jnl of PPNF, Winter 1998.

1/26/10

2X5 +5

Deadlift 

OHS

-----

Griff

For time:

Run 800 meters

Run 400 meters backwards

Run 800 meters

Run 400 meters backwards

-----

12 False Grip Ring Rows

12 Planche

3 minutes Hollow Body

MYTH #5: Meat-eaters have higher rates of heart and kidney disease, cancer, obesity and osteoporosis than vegetarians.

Such stupendous claims are hard to reconcile with historical and anthropological facts. All of the diseases mentioned are primarily 20th century occurrences, yet people have been eating meat and animal fat for thousands of years. Further, there are several native peoples around the world (the Innu, Masai, Swiss, Greeks, etc.) whose traditional diets are very rich in animal products, but do not suffer from the above-mentioned maladies (18). This shows that other factors besides animal foods are at work in these diseases.

Several studies have supposedly shown that meat consumption is the cause of heart disease, cancer and bone loss, but such studies, honestly evaluated, show no such thing (19). For example, the studies that supposedly proved that meat consumption among the Innuit caused high rates of osteoporosis, failed to note other dietary factors that contributed to bone loss (and to the other chronic diseases listed in myth #5). Things such as refined sugar consumption, alcoholism and a junk food consumption equalled more bone loss were not done with real meat but with fractionated protein powders (20).

Certainly, when protein is consumed in such an unnatural fashion, separated from the fat-soluble nutrients required for its absorption and assimilation, it will lead to problems. Because of this, the current use of fat-free protein powders as "food supplements", and low-fat or non-fat dairy products should be avoided. Trimming off visible fat from meats and removing duck and chicken skin before eating should also be discouraged.

Despite claims that studies have shown that meat consumption increased the risk for heart disease (21), their authors actually found the opposite. For example, in a 1984 analysis of a 1978 study of Seventh Day Adventists (who are largely vegetarian), H. A. Kahn concluded, "Although our results add some substantial facts to the diet-disease question, we recognize how remote they are from establishing, for example, that men who frequently eat meat or women who rarely eat salad are thereby shortening their lives" (21). A similar conclusion was reached by D.A. Snowden (21). Despite these startling admissions, the studies nevertheless concluded the exact opposite and urged people to reduce animal foods from their diets.

Further, both of these studies threw out certain dietary data that clearly showed no connection between eggs, cheese, whole milk, and fat attached to meat (all high fat and cholesterol foods) and heart disease. Statistician Dr. Russel Smith concluded, "In effect the Kahn [and Snowden] study is yet another example of negative results which are massaged and misinterpreted to support the politically correct assertions that vegetarians live longer lives." When all of the data are taken into account, the actual differences of heart disease between vegetarians and non-vegetarians in these studies was less than 1%: hardly a significant amount (22).

It should be noted here that Seventh Day Adventists are often studied in population analyses to prove that a vegetarian diet is healthier and is associated with a lower risk for heart disease and cancer (but see the last paragraph in this section). While it is true that most members of this Christian denomination do not eat meat, they also do not smoke, drink alcohol, or drink coffee or tea, all of which may be factors in promoting cancer and heart disease (23).

The Mormons are a religious group often overlooked in vegetarian studies. Although their Church urges moderation, Mormons do not abstain from meat. Mormonism's founder, Joseph Smith, declared a diet devoid of animal products as "not of God." As with the Adventists, Mormons avoid tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine. Despite being meat eaters, a study of Utah Mormons showed they had a 22% lower rate for cancer in general and a 34% lower mortality for colon cancer than the US average (24). A study of Puerto Ricans, who eat large amounts of fatty pork, nevertheless revealed very low rates of colon and breast cancer (25). Similar results can be adduced to demonstrate that meat consumption by itself does not correlate with cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, kidney disease, or obesity (26). Obviously, other factors are at work.

It is usually claimed that vegetarians have lower cancer rates than meat-eaters, but a 1994 study of California Seventh Day Adventists (who are largely vegetarian) showed that, while they did have lower rates of some cancers (e.g., breast), they had significantly higher rates of several others (brain, skin, uterine, cervical and ovarian)! (27)

Myth #5: 

18. Price, Weston. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration (Keats Publishing; CT), 1943.

19. Smith, Russell. Diet, Blood, Cholesterol and Coronary Heart Disease: A Critical Review of the Literature, Vector Enterprises, 1991.

20. Spencer, Herta and Lois Kramer, "Factors Contributing to Osteoporosis," Jnl of Nutr. 116:316-319 (1986); "Further Studies of the Effect of a High Protein Diet as Meat on Calcium Metabolism," Am. Jnl Clin. Nutr. 924-929, June 1983.

21. Kahn, et al., Amer Jnl Epidem, 1984, 119:775; Snowden, et al., Preventive Medicine, 1984, 13:490. Quotation from Kahn is printed in Smith, op cit.

22. Smith, op. cit. See also "Vegetarian Studies -- A Summary" by Smith, Jnl of PPNF, Winter 1998.

23. Abrams, op cit., p. 62

24. Lyon, et al., New Eng Jnl Med, 294:129, 1976.

25. Enig, et. al, Federation Proceedings, 37:2215, 1978.

26. Ibid. See also Price, op cit.

27. "7th Day Adventists & Cancer," Am. Jnl Clin. Nutr. 59:1136S-1142S (1994).

1/25/10

2X5

Deadlift

OHS

-----

Five rounds for time of: 

50 Thrusters 45#/25#

25 Pull-ups

-----

7X1 Hang Snatch Pull To Chest

That's right. Crossfit + a Paleo diet will take you from being a mild mannered average looking guy and turn you into a Mother F@#$ing Chick magnet T-Rex. (Results not typical. Your experience may vary!) Call Tribal Today!

MYTH #4: The body's needs for vitamin A can be entirely obtained from plant foods.

Vitamin A is principally found in animal products. Plants do contain beta-carotene, a substance that the body can convert into vitamin A. The impression given by some vegetarian sources is that beta-carotene is just as good as vitamin A. This is not true. 

Firstly, the conversion from carotene to vitamin A can only take place in the presence of bile salts. This means that fat must be eaten with the carotenes to stimulate bile secretion. Additionally, infants and people with hypothyroidism, gall bladder problems or diabetes either cannot make the conversion or do so very poorly. Lastly, the body's conversion from carotene to vitamin A is not very efficient: it takes 46 units of carotene to make one unit of vitamin A. What this means is that the sweet potato (containing about 25,000 units of beta-carotene) you just ate will only convert into about 4,000 units of vitamin A (assuming you ate it with fat and do not have a thyroid or gall bladder problem) [16].

Relying on plant sources for vitamin A, then, is not a very wise idea. This is why good-old-fashioned butter is a virtual must in any diet. Butter from pasture-fed cows is rich in vitamin A and will provide the intestines with the fatty material needed to convert vegetable carotenes into active vitamin A. Vitamin A is all-important in our diets, for it enables the body to use proteins and minerals (17).

Myth #4: 

16. Fallon, Sally, "Vitamin A Vagary," Jnl of PPNF, Summer 1995; Dunne, op cit, p. 14.

17. Jennings, I.W., Vitamins in Endocrine Metabolism, Charles Thomas, 1970, pp. 39-57, 84-85.

1/23/10

2X5

Squat

Press

-----

For time

3 Times

50 Double Unders

50 Back Extensions

1/22/10

2X5

Squat

Press

-----

For time

3X

30 Sumo Dead-lift High Pull

30 Knees-to-Elbows

1/21/09

5X2 +5

Squat 

Press

-----

Snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

-----

6X Inverted Ring Support

6X Hand Stand Straddle

6 Planche 

Results posted in comments

Nap Time mid-Work out at the Tribe. 
 

MYTH #3:

The body can convert omega-6 fatty acids into omega-3 fatty acids as it needs.

This falsehood is akin to myth number two. Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats of which two, linolenic (an omega-3) and linoleic (an omega 6), are essential to human life and must be obtained from food as the body cannot synthesise them. Although very small amounts of omega 3 linolenic acid are found in whole grains and dark green leafy vegetables, it is principally found in animal foods (especially fish and eggs), as well as flax seed oil. Omega 6 linoleic acid is mostly found in vegetables, but small amounts are present in certain animal fats. To assuage vegans who fear they may not get enough omega 3 linolenic acid, some vegetarian sources assert that the body can simply convert excess omega 6 linoleic acid into omega 3 linolenic acid, and other omega 3 fatty acids such as EPA and DHA, two fatty acids intimately involved in the health of the brain and immune system.

Renowned lipid biochemist Dr Mary Enig, of the University of Maryland, and other authorities have shown that the body cannot change the omega number of fatty acids. The body can change the fatty acid's degree of saturation and also its molecular length, but not its omega number (12). In other words, omega 6 fatty acids can only be converted into other omega 6 fatty acids; omega 3s only into other omega 3s.

Again, I have seen the results of this misinformation in my practice. I've had several patients of Northern European descent with severe mental and immune problems caused by a lack of EPA and DHA, two omega-3 fatty acids not found in plant foods (DHA is found in small amounts in some algae). People native to warmer climates in the world can manufacture these fatty acids from other omega-3s, but those of Northern European or Innuit descent cannot. Since their ancestors ate so much EPA- and DHA-rich fish, their bodies eventually lost the ability to manufacture these fatty acids (13). For these people, vegetarianism is impossible; they must consume either eggs or fish in order to survive.

There is also a very real danger from consuming too many omega-6 fatty acids, principally found in vegetables. The body requires both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. However, when the body's cells are overloaded with omega-6s, their ability to utilise the omega-3 is inhibited (14). 

Chronically low levels of omega-3 fatty acids are associated with higher cancer rates and immune dysfunction. Excessive levels of omega-6 fatty acids are also strongly correlated with a high incidence of cardiovascular disease (as is excessive consumption of refined sugar and trans-fatty acids) [15].

Myth #3: 

12. Fallon and Enig, "Tripping Lightly Down the Prostaglandin Pathways," Jnl of PPNF, Fall 1996; Lands, W.E.M., "Biochemistry & physiology of n-3 fatty acids," The FASEB Journal, vol. 6, May 1992, pp. 2530-2536.

13. Fallon & Enig, ibid.

14. Food Technology, October 1988, p. 134; Kabara, J.J. The Pharmacological Effects of Lipids (Amer Oil Chemists Society; IL), 1978, pp. 1-14.

15. Horrobin, DF. Reviews in Pure and Applied Pharmacological Sciences, vol 4 (Freund Publishing House; 1983), pp. 339-383; Harmon, D. et. al., Jnl of Amer Geriat Soc, 1976 24:1: pp. 292-298; Meerson, Z, et al., Bulletin Exper Biol Med, 1983 96:9: pp. 70-71.

1/20/09

2X5 + 10

Squat

Press

-----

Five rounds for time of:

Run 400 meters

25 Sit-ups

25 Good Mornings (Oil Wells)

-----

6 Turkish Get ups

Results are in comments

 
 MYTH #2:

Vitamin B12 can be obtained from plant sources.

Of all the myths, this is perhaps the most dangerous. Vegans who do not supplement their diet with vitamin B12 will eventually get anaemia (a fatal condition) as well as severe nervous and digestive system damage (6). Claims are made that B12 is present in certain algae, tempeh (a fermented soy product) and brewer's yeast. All of them are false.

Like the niacin in corn, the B12 analogues present in algae and tempeh are not bioavailable. We know this because studies done on people's blood levels of B12 remained the same after they ate spirulina and tempeh; there was no change, clearly indicating no absorption by the body (7). Further, the ingestion of too much soy increases the body's need for B12 (8). Brewer's yeast does not contain B12 naturally; it is always fortified from an outside source.

Some vegetarian authorities claim that B12 is produced by certain fermenting bacteria in the intestines. This may be true, but it is in a form unusable by the body. B12 requires intrinsic factor from the stomach for proper absorption in the ileum. Since the bacterial product does not have intrinsic factor bound to it, it cannot be absorbed (9).

It is true that vegans living in certain parts of India do not suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency. This has led some to conclude that plant foods do provide this vitamin. This conclusion, however, is erroneous as many small insects, their eggs, larvae and/or residue, are left on the plant foods these people consume, due to non-use of pesticides and inefficient cleaning methods. This is how these people obtain their vitamin B12. This contention is borne out by the fact that when Indian Hindus migrated to England, they came down with pernicious anaemia within a few years. In England, the food supply is cleaner, and insect residues are completely removed from plant foods (10). 

The only reliable and absorbable sources of vitamin B12 are animal products, especially organ meats and eggs (11). Though present in lesser amounts, milk products do contain B12. Vegans, therefore, should consider adding dairy products into their diets. If dairy cannot be tolerated, eggs, preferably from free-run hens, are a virtual necessity.

That vitamin B12 can only be obtained from animal products is one of the strongest arguments against veganism being a "normal" way of human eating. Today, vegans can avoid anaemia by taking supplemental vitamins or fortified foods. If those same people had lived just a few decades ago, when these products were unavailable, they would have died.

In my own practice, I recently saved two vegans from death from anaemia by convincing them to eat generous amounts of dairy products. Both of these sickly gentlemen thought their B12 needs were being met by tempeh and spirulina. They weren't.

Myth #2: 

6. Dunne, L. The Nutrition Almanac, 3rd ed. (McGraw Hill; New York), p. 32-33; Garrison, R. & Somer, E. The Nutrition Desk Reference, 3rd ed., (Keats Publishing; CT), p. 126.

7. Scheer, James. Health Freedom News, (Monrovia, CA), March 1991, p. 7.

8. Smith, Allan. Soybeans: Chemistry & Technology, vol 1 (Avi Publishing Co; CT), 1972, pp. 184-188.

9. Rowland, David. Digestion: Inner Pathway to Health (Health Naturally Publications; Canada), 1996, p. 22.

10. Specker, B.L. et al., Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 47:89-92 (1998); Van den Berg, H. et al., Lancet 1:242-3 (1998); Abrams, H. Leon, "Vegetarianism: An Anthropological/ Nutritional Evaluation," Journal of Applied Nutrition 32:2, (1980) p. 59.

11. Dunne, op cit, p. 31.

1/19/09

"Barbara"

Five rounds, each for time of:

20 Pull-ups

30 Push-ups

40 Sit-ups

50 Squats

Rest precisely three minutes between each round.

Rusty pulling himself under the Bar for a Snatch during Reagan(20Min AMRAP 5 Snatch 135# 10 Pull-ups)

#15 Myths about Vegetarians 

by Stephen Byrnes, ND, PhD, RNCP

MYTH #1:

Meat consumption contributes to famine and depletes the Earth's natural resources.

Some have argued that cows and sheep require pasturage that could be better used to raise grains to feed starving millions in Third World countries. Additionally, claims are made that raising livestock requires more water than raising plant foods. Both arguments are illogical and simplistic. 

The pasturage argument ignores the fact that a large portion of our Earth's dry land is unsuited to cultivation. The open range and desert and mountainous areas yield their fruits to grazing animals (1). 

Unfortunately, the bulk of commercial livestock are not range fed, but stall fed. They do not ingest grasses and shrubs (like they should), but are fed an unnatural array of grains and soybeans. It is true that these foods could be fed to humans. The argument here, then, is not that eating meat depletes the Earth's resources, but that commercial farming methods do. Such methods also subject livestock to deplorable living conditions where infections, antibiotics, steroids and synthetic hormones are common. These all lead to an unhealthy animal and, by extension, an unhealthy food product. Organically raised livestock, then, is a healthier and more humane choice (see myth #15 for more on this topic). 

As for the claims that raising livestock requires more water than raising plant foods, water that livestock drink would be drunk by them anyway, even if they were not being raised for food. Additionally, the urine of grazing animals, which mostly comprises water, is rich in nitrogen which helps replenish the soil. Much of the water used in commercial livestock farming, however, is used up in growing the various grains and soybeans fed to the animals. If a concerted effort were made to return to the ecologically sound "mixed farm," (described below), then such huge expenditures of water would be unnecessary. 

A far more serious threat to humanity, and the Earth, is the monoculture of grains and legumes, advocated by some vegetarian groups, which depletes the soil and requires the heavy use of artificial fertilisers and dangerous pesticides; pesticides that must first be tested on animals for safety (2). The solution? Astute writers on this dilemma have pointed out: 

The educated consumer and the enlightened farmer together can bring about a return of the mixed farm, where cultivation of fruits, vegetables and grains is combined with the raising of livestock and fowl in a manner that is efficient, economical and environmentally friendly. For example, chickens running free in garden areas eat insect pests, while providing high-quality eggs; sheep grazing in orchards obviate the need for herbicides; and cows grazing in woodlands and other marginal areas provide rich, pure milk, making these lands economically viable for the farmer. It is not animal cultivation that leads to hunger and famine, but unwise agricultural practices and monopolistic distribution systems. (3)

The "mixed farm" is also healthier for the soil, which will yield more crops if managed according to traditional guidelines. British organic farmer and dairyman Mark Purdey has accurately pointed out that a crop field on a mixed farm will yield up to five harvests a year, while a "mono-cropped" one will only yield one or two (4). Which farm is producing more food for the world's peoples? Purdey well sums up the ecological horrors of "battery farming" by saying: 

Our agricultural establishments could do very well to outlaw the business- besotted farmers running intensive livestock units, battery systems and beef-burger bureaucracies; with all their wastages, deplorable cruelty, anti-ozone slurry systems; drug/chemical induced immunotoxicity resulting in B.S.E. [see myth # 13] amd salmoella, rain forest eradication, etc. Our future direction must strike the happy, healthy medium of mixed farms, resurrecting the old traditional extensive system as a basic framework, then bolstering up productivity to present day demands by incorporating a more updated application of biological science into farming systems. (5)

Myth #1: 

1. Sally Fallon, Mary Enig and Patricia Connolly, Nourishing Traditions, ProMotion Publishing, USA, 1995, p. 5.

2. Purdey, Mark, "The Vegan Ecological Wasteland," Journal of the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation [hereafter referred to as Jnl of PPNF], Winter 1998; "Are Organophosphate Pesticides Involved in the Causation of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)? Jnl of Nutritional Medicine 4:43-82, 1994.

3. Fallon, et al, op. cit., p. 6

4. Purdey, op cit.

5. Ibid

Full Barb

James3:57:00 Jeremy5:19:00 5:20:00 5:56:00 5:56:00 8:06:00 8:52:00 8:30:00 7:43:00 7:07:00 Total 31:48:00 Total 34:58:00 Jess 4:14:00 6:29:00 7:22:00 9:40:00 8:16:00 Total 36:01:00

Half Barb Liana 2:17:00 Jan 2:40:00 1:54:00 2:34:00 2:00:00 1:52:00 2:04:00 3:04:00 2:06:00 3:36:00 Total 10:21:00 Total 13:46:00 Ben 2:43:00 Ada 2:43:00 3:21:00 3:10:00 4:00:00 5:00:00 5:54:00 5:05:00 7:07:00 7:21:00 Total 23:05:00 Total 23:19:00

1/18/09

2X5

Squat

Press

-----

Cindy 

Compare to: 8/25/09 (I could have sworn we've done a legit Cindy before but I can't find it for the life of me. Where is Tyler when you need her.)

Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:

5 Pull-ups

10 Push-ups

15 Squats

James 16

Lee 10 -10 seconds

Alex 16 Double Red

Cindy 15 + 5 Pull-ups Blue

Mark 15 + 7 Push ups Green

Jan 11 Green

Ben 10 Rings

Liana 5 rounds 5:22

Law of Accommodation

Are you a runner? Do you only run? Are you running long, slow, boring distances? Are you having fun? Do you look better? Do you feel better. Are you faster than you were 6 months ago? 

If you are doing the same ol' same ol. You are going to keep getting the same flat line results. That's what the Biological Law of Accommodation.

If the same load and the same set of exercises are consistently used time after time the body soon adapts, and then stops making progress.

Are you still making progress? Do you know how to measure your progress?

The training MUST vary in order to be beneficial long term.

To avoid staleness and a lack of progress that accompanies accommodation changes to the loads and types of exercises are made. 

Go ahead scroll down the page? Every day is follows the same format but is slightly different. No Accommodation here. Consistent progress that is measured everyday. 

Today's Workout is 20 minutes long. A few workouts like this help you run faster through the magic of transference.  

Could you run faster and look better while reducing your running almost 90%?

Come on in and discover if a workout with Cindy, Angie and Fran will make you faster and stronger in less time. And maybe, just maybe you'll have a little fun in the process. Like recess when you were a kid.

1/14/09

2X5

OHS

Deadlift

----------------

"Angie"

For time:

100 Pull-ups

100 Push-ups

100 Sit-ups

100 Squats 

 

Lee 22:15 1/2

Cindy 22:25 Blue/Knee

Mark 27:38 Green/Knee

Jess 20:43 Green/Knee*

Jan 18:22 Green/Knee 1/2

Ben 20:35 Ring/Knee 1/2

  

1/13/09

5X2

OHS

Deadlift

-----

Row 2K

-----

6 Hand Stand Straddles

6 Ring Dips

 

Jeremy 7:56.4

Cindy 9:49.1

Mark 8:35.0

Jess 9:37.3

Jan 8:31.0

Long long before our body reaches exhaustion our brain quits. It's too tough. If I just slow down a little bit it will be OK. Your brain tells you what ever else you are going to do in your life you must stop this now. Don't listen. It's a ruse. 

Giving your all is never easy. People talk about giving 100% like they just have to decide to do it. Well I guess it helps if you make that decision but it is only through consistent practice of the giving of the 100% that you know you can do it. 

I would give a compare to date but you can just scroll down to two days ago. Today's WOD was all in your head. You know what it felt like last time. Are you going to overcome that knowledge or will you give in to it?

---------

  

Naturally I'm uncoordinated and clumsy. Basically I'm the most ungifted athlete I've ever trained (this does make it much easier to train others.) In the old Hong Kong Chop Fuey movies I watched when I was a kid the Samurai's always practiced there movement very slowly and very perfectly. I adopted this. And after practicing a movement slowly several thousand times someone would see me in action and say, "Wow, you're really talented." My brother would literally laugh out loud at them. I have no talent (except oly lifting for some reason that came really easy. But everything else I sucked when I started. Yes even worse than you.) What I have is skill. Talent is a gift from God (or genes) Skill comes from practice.  

Sometimes things don't have to be about athletics to be about athletics.  This Post is about playing the piano but I believe it applies to gymnastics and Olympic lifting and anything else you might find difficult at first: Slow Practice Makes Perfect

1/12/09

5x2

Squat

Press

----

50 M Lunge

100M Broad Jump

200M Sprint

 

James 17:10

Dylan 13:01

Jeremy 15:59

Lee 19:43

Cindy 25:22

Mark 22:16

Jess 25:04

Deb 19:16

1/11/09

5X2

Squat 

Press

----

Row 2K

-----

6 Hand Stand Straddles

6 Skin The Cats

 

James 8:17.6

Dylan 7:47.7

Jeremy 8:05.0

Lee 8:23.1

Cindy 9:48.4

Mark 9:21.0

Jan 8:57.1

Ben 10:40

The Importance of Breathe:

Breathing is important.

I know, I know: "Thank you, Captain Obvious!" But hear me out. Or...read me out...whatever.

In weightlifting, the Valsalva manuever is often spoken of. I'm probably oversimplifying, but essentially the Valsalva manuever is taking a big breath before you initiate a repetition, and holding that breath throughout the duration of the repetition. This causes an increase in intra abdominal pressure, and that in turn helps you keep your skeletal components in the correct biomechanical position to make the lift.

http://evolveyourfitness.blogspot.com/2010/01/breathe.html

How and when we breath is important as the video shows. 

1/7/09

5X2

OHS

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Press 1-10-1-20-1-30 reps

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6 Kipping Pull ups

2X10 Wall Extensions

 

A Party or a Funeral By Lisbeth Darsh

Every day, in so many ways, you’re choosing whether you’re going to a party or a funeral. I’m going to a party. It’s not perfect and we drop things and spill stuff and sometimes use words not fit for polite company, but it’s a lot better than sitting at home, bitching about what this life lacks, drugging yourself with food, numbing your mind with crap, and waiting to die. If you want to join us, open the doors to 500 North 56th Street and walk on in. We’re alive. And this party has only started.

Read the rest over at: CrossFit Watertown

1/6/09

2X5

OHS

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Deadlift 1-10-1-20-1-30 reps

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30 1 Arm KB Swings

6 Turkish Get Ups

 

Today and yesterday's WOD is a much mental as it is physical. 

Jon Gilson at Again Faster has some appropriate words:

When the knurling scrapes your shins, and your traps bunch into knots, you’ll make a decision, one that will affect every aspect of your life.  Give in to the agony, and you will always give in.  Cave to demands that crush you, and you’ll always cave.  Roll to the floor, and you’ll always exist beneath those who choose to stand.

Read the rest Here: Again Faster

1/5/09

5X2

Press

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Front Squat 1-10,-1-20,-1-30 reps

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6 Hand Stands

6 False Grip Ring Pull-ups

 

Mark 175 135 175 105 175 75 840 Cindy90 55 95 45 90 45 420 Jess 70 35 75 35 75 35 325

Baseline

500M Row

30 Squats

25 Sit-ups

20 Push-up

15 Pull-ups

Kira 8:44

Brittany 8:39

1/4/09

2X5

OHS

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"Diane"

21-15-9 reps of:

225 pound Deadlift

Handstand push-ups

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30 Double Unders

15 KTE

 

James 9:22 as Rx'd

Dylan 8:58 155#

Jeremy 7:48 135# Knees 20"

Lee 7:09 65# Knee 20"

Alex 7:21 45# Knee 20"

Cindy 8:19 95# Green Band

Brian 10:05 185# Knee 20"

Ben 10:19 85# Knee 20"

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Baseline

500M

50 Squats

40 Sit-ups

30 Push-ups

20 Ring Pulls

Jan 9:21

12/31/09

3X 

400M Run

21 Kb Swing

15 V-Ups

Lee 11:18

Jess 11:42

Val 12:44

Mel 13:57

Carrie 14:29

Brittany 14:30

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The general public both in opinion and in media holds endurance athletes as exemplars of fitness. We do not. -G Glassman