Gaining Strength – 1/2/2011

New Class Starting Jan 10th

It’s a brand new year, what better way to start it then by doing some focused strength work. Strength is one of the many pieces of the fitness puzzle and a very important one. I will be starting this new class on the 1oth.

What is the Gaining Strength Class?

This is a 5 week class that will be focused on strength. This class has limited availability so please email me (mailto:greg@crossfitinitiative.com) if you are interested in attending. It will start January 10th and run Mon,Tues, Fri, at 7pm; and Sat at 11:00am. It will run 5 weeks to Feb 12th. Each session will be approximately ~ 1hr and 30 minutes long.

It is common for crossfit gyms to offer a ‘Starting Strength’ program. This is a linear strength progression based on a the book, ‘Starting Strength’ by Mark Rippetoe. Both Ty and I have tried the this progression and found it to be very hard on the connective tissue and yielded only mild gains in strength.

Thae, Ty ran into Chad Aichs, who is a local power lifting monster. We figured that someone with an 1100# back squat probably knew a few things about getting strong. Chad has been good enough to offer seminars/workshops from time to time at Crossfit Initiative on his techniques and power lifting wisdom. Chad and I sat down at the first opportunity and he helped me develop a ‘Gaining Strength’ protocol. It is based on some Westside Barbell protocols and has been ‘Crossfit-tized’ by me to not only help you gain strength but develop it in areas that are directly applicable to Crossfit. By employing dynamic and static techniques we see greater gains with less work and injury than a typical linear progression. Finding the smartest ways to get fit with the least amount of work is one of the principles that Crossfit was founded on.

What kind of Gains can I expect?

Well that depends on your physical makeup and your diet. I tried the GOMAD diet last round and this round I am going to stick with strict Paleo diet but with and increase protein and calorie intake. The last session which was 8 weeks long yielded 60# increase on my back squat and dead lift, 30# increase on my bench, and a 15# increase on my strict press. Many participants were able to do full range of motion handstand push-ups, ring-dips, and muscle-ups after participating in the last class. This class will make you stronger and better at most, if not all, of the typical Crossfit movements.

Who should take this class?

Anyone that wants to get stronger and and improve their ability to do workouts prescribed. Last class had several women including Ty’s mom, Karine, Sue, and CJ. All of which really enjoyed the program and were able to see significant gains. This is not a group of testosterone pumped alpha males, rather it is ordinary Crossfitters trying to get stronger and fitter in a friendly, fun environment.

Hope to see you in the Gaining Strength class.

-Greg

Bare-footing it

Bare-footing it

So yesterday when I suggested to Sal to do ‘Half Michael’ barefooted, he looked at me as if I was suggesting we lay out 400M of burning coals and go fire walking. I have to admit, when I first saw Ty walking around in his Vibram 5 fingers, I thought, wow this guy is a little on the hippi side. Sometimes I forget that new comers to the gym come in with many of the same conventional wisdoms-ism that I had.

So bare-footing, why on earth would one want to run barefooted? Why are some people running around in those Vibram five finger shoe/sock thingies? Why do you see people lifting heavy barefooted or with very flat shoes? Why am I encouraging people to do their warm-up runs barefooted?

If you go to an endurance certification, one of the things they have you do is run barefooted, they even film you while doing so. Why? Because modern shoes are so forgiving that they encourage bad/lazy form. There is so much cushion in the shoes that heel striking no longer provides negative feedback. The result is that we go our entire lives walking/running incorrectly. When you run barefooted on pavement or any other hard surface, the first thing you’ll notice is that you get some negative feedback because heel striking hurts. This feedback will instantly cause you to change your gait to favor landing on the balls of your feet instead of the heels. When you heel strike it causes a jarring impact on your body and is not as efficient as landing on the balls of your feet as it has a small braking action. In fact heel striking has been associated with many endurance type injuries and back/spine problems. Runners such as Kenyans, who have spent a majority of their lifetime barefooted, tend to have less endurance issues and run very efficiently. This is the basis behind the Pose running technique.

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Reid is more of an authority on this than I am by far so if you are interested in learning the ‘Pose’ technique you should talk to him and the other athletes in our gym that have completed the endurance cert.

Many of you have heard the trainers encourage heavy lifting barefooted or with flat soled shoes. We do this because the high cushioning tends to make an unstable platform for your ankles. Many of you that have tried lifting barefooted have actually seen immediate increases in the amount of weight you can lift. For myself I feel I not only have more stability but a better feedback mechanism so I can make small adjustments for better weight transfer. Although, now that my back squat is approaching the 500# range I am starting to notice that I want some shoes that are flat soled and can give me some ankle support to help deal with all that extra weight.

But my biggest reason for bare-footing is health and longevity. My Dad, who is currently in his 60s, was very active at my age but is now looking at having an amputation due to severe pronation of his ankle due to his flat feet. His cartilage has broken down to the point where there is almost none left. To help deal with this he had his ankle fused several years back but continued severe pronation has him looking at amputation. This is a scary prospect for me and has me looking very seriously at things I can do now to prevent this kind disability in my future. Making the muscles, connective tissue, and bones around my ankles as strong as possible is the key. I believe that running warm-ups and an occasional workout barefooted will help make my gait as natural as possible. This will in turn help ensure that I have correctly developed foot muscles and I am not putting any unneeded or incorrect stress on my ankles or other joints. There are medical studies that show people that spend most of their time bare-footed and or in flat soled shoes, tend to have almost none of the foot/ankle problems that we suffer from in the West.

Taken from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/21/the-benefits-of-bare-feet_n_97728.html :

Last year, researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, published a study titled “Shod Versus Unshod: The Emergence of Forefoot Pathology in Modern Humans?” in the podiatry journal The Foot. The study examined 180 modern humans from three different population groups (Sotho, Zulu, and European), comparing their feet to one another’s, as well as to the feet of 2,000-year-old skeletons. The researchers concluded that, prior to the invention of shoes, people had healthier feet. Among the modern subjects, the Zulu population, which often goes barefoot, had the healthiest feet while the Europeans–i.e., the habitual shoe-wearers–had the unhealthiest. One of the lead researchers, Dr. Bernhard Zipfel, when commenting on his findings, lamented that the American Podiatric Medical Association does not “actively encourage outdoor barefoot walking for healthy individuals. This flies in the face of the increasing scientific evidence, including our study, that most of the commercially available footwear is not good for the feet.”

PowerLifting Seminar Sept 18 & 19, 2010

At CrossFit Initiative, we believe that physical strength is a vital precursor to fitness.  Being strong improves your quality of life, allows you to perform tasks more efficiently, and builds confidence.  That’s why we are proud to announce our upcoming PowerLifting Seminar.  Three of the world’s strongest men will spend two days teaching you their [...]

Gaining Stength Program

Well we have been talking about it for a while now and finally I have the go ahead from Ty. We will be starting the Gaining Strength Program on the 26th of July Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri at 7:00 pm. We are excited about this new program as we have gotten a lot of input from Chad Aichs who is one of the strongest men on the planet.

Chad Aichs – 821# bench press

I figure that if anyone knows about getting strong then it will be this guy. We will be working on both static and dynamic aspects of strength building and incorporating a lot of power lifting techniques. This is an 8 week program with 3 weeks of intense training followed by 1 de-load week, 3 more weeks of intense training and another de-load week. The training regiment will include speed work with bands, GHRs, box squats, weighted GHDs, Good Mornings etc… It will be intense.

During this program we will be eating strict Paleo with the addition of a gallon of milk a day or GOMAD. If you have trouble with dairy you may substitute the goats milk or protein powder alternatives avoid products with lots of sugar. During the de-load weeks we will give our bodies a break and go back to strict Paleo without the milk/protein powder and do one dinner to dinner fast for the week.

At this time we will only have 9 slots available and the cost will be $99.00 per person. You will also need to purchase a good weight belt and have it ready for the first class. It is very important to have an open enough schedule to make every class if possible.

To reserve your spot please email me at: greg@crossfitinitiative.com

New Editions, 20# vests, Paleo, and Friday Nights

New Editions First let me say congratulations to Ty and Soupha on their new baby boy. I thought the team workout was hard last night but in reality Soupha had the hardest workout of all. I have been texting name ideas to Ty, I am thinking something along the lines of Burpee Jones, Rx Jones, Ripped Jones, … [...]

Burpees! 05-14-2010

Remember!  Tonight is the Friday Night Challenge! If you’re planning to attend you may want to bring a lawn chair.  If it’s nice outside, we may want to sit around outside while we eat.  Also, don’t forget to bring some sort of side dish.  Spouses, children, and friends are welcome.  Heck, you could even bring [...]

Carlos attends the Olympic Lifting Certification

First and foremost I must give props where props are due- A big Thanks to the Olympic lift coaching staff at CFI! Ty, Greg and Reid have done a really good job on teaching the fundamentals and tools necessary to become great Olympic lifters. It may sound weird and it is weird to write it but it’s the truth. I love watching the Olympics but I always thought it was boring to watch a grown man wearing a singlet a couple sizes too small lift some weight over his head and yell like he just took a punch to the kidneys. Through CrossFit I have developed a new meaning of the Olympic lifts and hope that I am able to open a door in other people’s life just as Ty has done for me.

There is no other lift more complex than the snatch and no other lift that you will benefit more from than a snatch. If someone were to ask me:

How do become quicker?

How do I jump higher?

How can I become more powerful?

How can I become more agile?

How can I develop better coordination?
I can answer with this: Learn to snatch and snatch often.

I attended the Olympic Lift Certification in Pleasanton on April 10th-11th hosted by Josh Everett, Lee Pappas, and Austin Begiebing. It was a great experience and an awesome chance to see some great Oly lifters. It was very humbling being surrounded by great athletes- it lets you know you have a loooong way to go but at least you’re on the right path. Here are a couple of quotes that I wrote down that really stuck in my mind:
“Speed through the middle!” – This is the most important concept for lifters to understand that speed comes from the legs and the proper jumping stance.

“Jump hard not high!” – This concept helps lifters differentiate between a high jump (float in the air and get as high as possible) and the hard jump (powerful and quick)

“If you can snatch, you can clean!” – This lift is so complex that learning the movements will help in other movements in CrossFit.

I am really looking forward to coaching and taking this journey with everyone.

Snatch and Snatch often!
-Carlos

Interview With Mel

Mel from Battleborn was kind enough to let me interview him. I chose Mel because he is a practicing physician and has seen great results. His body fat is ~6% and he has some great insights on diet and preparing now for later in life. The there are actually 3 videos, so look for the other two in the following weeks. I hope you find this as interesting as I did. It actually motivated me to start a quest for 6% bf. I have started a blog which I will post every two weeks so you can follow my progress and see exactly what I did to get there. Also, before you send me any hate mail, I do believe it is important to have a cheat day.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1332444202962&ref=nf

-Greg

Getting Started with Paleo

Modern Eating Myths Recently I have been getting a few questions about Paleo so I decided to write up this beginners guide to Paleo. But before we can talk about Paleo we really need to get a few things out of the way. Unfortunately we have been taught a lot of incorrect information by the [...]

CJ’s Level I

I just received my CrossFit Cert I last weekend in Boise. It was definitely one of the highlights of my life. I could tell you about how awesome the trainers were – and they were. I could tell you about the fact that I did a 6:14 Fran and it was the first time I did it. I could tell you about how I PR’d my tabata squats with 21 as my lowest round. I could tell you about how amazing it felt to meet Jolie Gentry and have her tell me I have some kick @SS pull-ups. I could tell you about the fact I am sure we did more than 200 squats in one day. I could tell you about how I learned techniques to teach things to others in our gym so we can all have some kick @$$ pull-ups and PR on our tabata squats but I’m not going to. I am going to share with you a little taste of my journey into Crossfit and why I want to be a trainer.

I have been working out with ‘the Nooners’ at CFI for just barely over a year, March 17 is what I deem my official anniversary. I dabbled with it on my own for a couple of weeks at the IGT gym and that is when I met Ty.

Ty and his buddies were working out at the same time as my herd and I were. My herd and I did the work out – phew we are done, yeah, high fives great time, oh we lifted a lot, grunt, grunt we are bad – not realizing Ty was watching out of the corner of his eye. At that point Ty came over and asked if we were doing the work out from the main site? Our response was “of course”. Ty proceeded to point out the fact that we had completely done one movement wrong – this is the best part for me – he then took the time to show us how to do it correctly, not just once or twice but over and over. He also had us demonstrate it for him so he could help us even more. That moment, right there, is when I fell in love with Crossfit and its community because, come on, we were in a gym, you don’t talk to others outside your work out herd and you certainly don’t show them proper technique over and over. I mean that just doesn’t happen. But it did, and Ty was so gracious with his knowledge and genuinely wanted to help us succeed.

Never in all of my time in and out of globo gyms has this ever happened – I mean ever – and I have been in gyms on and off since I was 18. I have always educated myself by reading books, magazines, learning about the body and how the muscles work, and putting into play the best I knew how. I even worked with a personal trainer once for a week and when I realized I knew more about the equipment in the gym, and the body, that relationship was ended – minus a few 100 bucks out of my pocket. I started doing work out with Ty and ‘the Nooners’ a few times a week getting sneers and snide comments from my herd because how could I abandon them for another herd, I mean we were sistahs, how could I stray, I was the one with the knowledge. Little did they know I really didn’t know anything.

After a few months of hanging with ‘the Nooners’ I saw my life change for the better- better eating, less drinking and gained friends, real friends, ones that cared if I was at the gym or not. Friends that cheered me on when I thought I couldn’t do it, that invited me to social functions outside of the gym, that became a part of my extended family. Friends that I probably will never be able to thank enough for getting me through one of the roughest periods of my life. They may have not known that but ‘the Nooners’ were my rock. They were the reason I choose to get out of bed most mornings because I knew when I walked into that gym no matter how I felt I would walk out feeling loved and like a winner.

A few months into Crossfit, Soupha and Reid were signed up for a Cert I. They kept trying to get me to go. I wanted to join them but just couldn’t swing it financially. After they returned they brought back that enthusiasm ten fold from what they had learned and passed it on. That is when I knew I needed to get my Cert I so that I could be that person in the gym, with confidence and true knowledge, to go up to someone whether I know them or not and share my passion by offering them the hope, faith, understanding that we all seem to have as Crossfitters.
I now have my Cert I and even before going to the official class and honing the skills that I have been taught at CFI I have been allowed to give back what was so graciously given to me over a year ago by one individual and then a group of individuals. Thank you so much for allowing me to become the best person I can be every day and constantly supporting me to share that with others.

CJ

~love like there is no tomorrow, laugh like no one can hear, dance like no one is watching~

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