SISU

The Time Has Come....

2010-05-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

as of today I will no longer be using this blog......

here is where you can find me if you would still like to follow me in my continued pursuit of my personal legend. http://undergroundshack.wordpress.com In the last few months I have had numerous people wanting to know my workouts, what do i eat, any books I have read, what is on my ipod playlist.. well now you can find it. if you know me, then you aware of the sites I follow, the people I admire and try to emulate... well this site is a metamorphosis of all of my influences. Be prepared to climb trees, run trails, lift weights.... lift heavy weights, row, pick up rocks, stones, sticks and logs.

........hope to see you on the other side

Feed the Warrior

2010-05-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Magnet

2010-05-23T08:49:00.001-07:00

What are you attracting?

I'm Not Afraid

2010-05-19T05:23:00.000-07:00

I'm not afraid to take a stand
Everybody come take my hand
We'll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let you know that, you're not alone
Holla if you feel that you've been down the same road

(Intro)

Yeah, It's been a ride...
I guess I had to go to that place to get to this one
Now some of you might still be in that place
If you're trying to get out, just follow me
I'll get you there

(Verse 1)

You can try and read my lyrics off of this paper before I lay 'em
But you won't take this thing out these words before I say 'em
Cause ain't no way I'm let you stop me from causing mayhem
When I say 'em or do something I do it, I don't give a damn
What you think, I'm doing this for me, so fuck the world
Feed it beans, it's gassed up, if a thing's stopping me
I'mma be what I set out to be, without a doubt undoubtedly
And all those who look down on me I'm tearing down your balcony
No if ands or buts don't try to ask him why or how can he
From Infinite down to the last Relapse album he's still shit and
Whether he's on salary, paid hourly
Until he bows out or he shit's his bowels out of him
Whichever comes first, for better or worse
He's married to the game, like a fuck you for christmas
His gift is a curse, forget the earth he's got the urge
To pull his dick from the dirt and fuck the universe

(Hook)

I'm not afraid to take a stand
Everybody come take my hand
We'll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let you know that, you're not alone
Holla if you feel that you've been down the same road

(Verse 2)
Ok quit playin' with the scissors and shit, and cut the crap
I shouldn't have to rhyme these words in the rhythm for you to know it's a rap
You said you was king, you lied through your teeth
For that fuck your feelings, instead of getting crowned you're getting capped
And to the fans, I'll never let you down again, I'm back
I promise to never go back on that promise, in fact
Let's be honest, that last Relapse CD was "ehhhh"
Perhaps I ran them accents into the ground
Eminem Not Afraid lyrics found on http://www.directlyrics.com.com/eminem-not-afraid-lyrics.html
Relax, I ain't going back to that now
All I'm tryna say is get back, click-clack BLAOW
Cause I ain't playin' around
There's a game called circle and I don't know how
I'm way too up to back down
But I think I'm still tryna figure this crap out
Thought I had it mapped out but I guess I didn't
This fucking black cloud's still follow's me around
But it's time to exercise these demons
These motherfuckers are doing jumping jacks now!

(Hook)

I'm not afraid to take a stand
Everybody come take my hand
We'll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let you know that, you're not alone
Holla if you feel that you've been down the same road

(Bridge)

And I just can't keep living this way
So starting today, I'm breaking out of this cage
I'm standing up, Imma face my demons
I'm manning up, Imma hold my ground
I've had enough, now I'm so fed up
Time to put my life back together right now

(Verse 3)

It was my decision to get clean, I did it for me
Admittedly I probably did it subliminally for you
So I could come back a brand new me, you helped see me through
And don't even realise what you did, believe me you
I been through the ringer, but they can do little to the middle finger
I think I got a tear in my eye, I feel like the king of
My world, haters can make like bees with no stingers, and drop dead
No more beef flingers, no more drama from now on, I promise
To focus soley on handling my responsibility's as a father
So I solemnly swear to always treat this roof like my daughters and raise it
You couldn't lift a single shingle lonely
Cause the way I feel, I'm strong enough to go to the club
Put a ??? and lift the whole liquor counter up
Cause I'm raising the bar, I shoot for the moon
But I'm too busy gazing at stars, I feel amazing and

(Hook)

I'm not afraid to take a stand
Everybody come take my hand
We'll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let you know that, you're not alone
Holla if you feel that you've been down the same road

Push!

2010-05-17T05:40:00.000-07:00

I have watched this video over a dozen times now..and it makes me swell up with emotions every time! By far one of the best, most moving videos I HAVE EVER SEEN.

You Don't Have Weaknesses....

2010-05-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

Only inabilities that aren't consider your strengths,....yet. Double Unders use to suck, not anymore. HSPU use to suck, not anymore. Muscle Ups use to suck, not anymore, Snatch use to suck, NOT ANYMORE. if you think that you have a weaknesses, step up to the challenge and make them your strengths. Only weak minded individuals allow certain things to hold them back, are you weak?! if you have mental inabilities, do a personal inventory and turn the wrongs into rights... anger, aggression, selfishness, fix it, ASAP! You know yourself better then anyone, You can change....if you want to...

Be Strong, Hold On

It Doesn't Matter

2010-05-12T12:17:00.000-07:00

....what life throws at you! if you believe.... believe in your abilities, believe in the people that you surround yourself with, believe..... BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

How beliefs are formed

Psychologists study belief formation and the relationship between beliefs and actions. Beliefs form in a variety of ways.

We tend to internalize the beliefs of the people around us during childhood. Albert Einstein is often quoted as having said that "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." Political beliefs depend most strongly on the political beliefs most common in the community where we live.^[6] Most individuals believe the religion they were taught in childhood.^[7]

People may adopt the beliefs of a charismatic leader, even if those beliefs fly in the face of all previous beliefs, and produce actions that are clearly not in their own self-interest.^[8] Is belief voluntary? Rational individuals need to reconcile their direct reality with any said belief; therefore, if belief is not present or possible, it reflects the fact that contradictions were necessarily overcome using cognitive dissonance.

The primary thrust of the advertising industry is that repetition forms beliefs, as do associations of beliefs with images of sex, love, and other strong positive emotions.^[9]

Physical trauma, especially to the head, can radically alter a person's beliefs.^[10]

However, even educated people, well aware of the process by which beliefs form, still strongly cling to their beliefs, and act on those beliefs even against their own self-interest.

Am I Ready?

2010-05-10T15:28:00.000-07:00

I'm a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds.
Mike Tyson

Walk ON Water

2010-05-10T06:43:00.000-07:00

“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.” Thich Nhat Hanh

300 Spartan

2010-05-09T05:48:00.000-07:00

Time: 10:52

"Remember us." As simple an order as a king can give. "Remember why we died." For he did not wish tribute, nor song, nor monuments nor poems of war and valor. His wish was simple. "Remember us," he said to me. That was his hope, should any free soul come across that place, in all the countless centuries yet to be. May all our voices whisper to you from the ageless stones, "Go tell the Spartans, passerby, that here by Spartan law, we lie."

The Richest Man in Babylon

2010-05-06T04:51:00.000-07:00

Where the determination is, the way can be found.

wod 1:
For time:
15 Back Squats @ body weight
750 meter row
15 Burpees

7minute break

wod 2:
Complete as many rounds as possible in 7 minutes:
5 One Arm KB Power Snatch (RT) (1.5 work on form)
5 One Arm KB Power Snatch (LT) (1.5 work on form)
5 Push Ups/ HSPU (alternate rounds)

7 minute break

wod 3:
Complete as many rounds in seven minutes as you can of:
95 pound Squat clean, 10 reps
20 Sit-ups

Have Fun

2010-05-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

“In times of great stress or adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.” Lee Iacocca

Find A Way

2010-05-05T05:24:00.000-07:00

“The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.” Buddha

WHATEVER it is that needs to be done in LIFE, you can ALWAYS find a way..........

Rebuilding of Kepler Part 2

2010-05-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

-I eat the way I am suppose to eat

-I do not consume things that are toxic

-I meditate daily

-I am not selfish

I AM

Rebuilding of Kepler

2010-05-03T14:31:00.000-07:00

-I will not neglect my warm-up time

-I will not neglect proper form

-I will not neglect proper nutrition

-I will not neglect my cool down

Your not just training for this season, you are training for the rest of your life... Zach Even-Esh

Life

2010-04-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

“Love life and life will love you back. Love people and they will love you back.” ~Arthur Rubinstein

My Wod:

tire wod is flip the tire jump in jump out run around repeat. will do that the length of the bay doors and back for 10 trips. add 5 burpees at each end every time.

Doctor's kindness restores man's sight

Lack of insurance had kept patient from getting care

By Alicia Doyle

When William Noriega of Victorville developed cataracts in both eyes at age 40 — and was unable to afford a simple operation to fix them because of a lack of insurance — he never expected an ophthalmologist in Ventura County to not only restore his sight for free but also restore his faith in humanity.
“I’m just grateful and amazed that there’s still goodness left in humanity,” said Noriega, 43, just one week after undergoing surgery on his left eye at the Pacific Surgery Center of Ventura. He had surgery on his right eye on April 13.
“This has restored my faith in humanity,” continued Noriega, who stayed with his father, Robert Mankin, in Ojai while he recuperated. “I couldn’t get help anywhere in California. I found door close after door close after door close. But I’m a firm believer in karma, so this makes me kind of think I must be doing something right.”
The operation was made possible by Dr. Bryant Lum, an ophthalmologist with Lum Eye and Vision Center, who agreed to fix Noriega’s eyes for free after reading a letter written to the editor of his local newspaper by Noriega’s father.
“My 40-year-old son has developed cataracts in both eyes. He can no longer drive or work. He has lost the ability to support his family and pay for insurance. A simple operation would restore his sight and make him a taxpayer again instead of a welfare recipient,” stated the letter written in November by Mankin.
“Although his condition is not life-threatening, how many people are there in similar situations? It is unacceptable that he needs to feel like a burden on society when he has been a productive citizen all his life. I’m sure he would gladly pay for a public-option policy if he could see to work!”
“As I read this, I thought, if that’s all this guy needs, maybe we can help him,” Lum recalled. “I do several hundred cataract surgeries a year at an ambulatory surgery center in Ventura, and one more wouldn’t be a big deal. But this cataract surgery could change this patient’s life. Even without a public option, we might be able to help him out from the private sector.”
It is rare for a person this young to develop visually significant cataracts, Lum said.
“Most cataract surgery is done in the elderly; however, cataracts can be found even in infants,” Lum said. “William is more rare because he has no family history of cataracts. He also has no predisposing factors such as trauma or high-risk medication use. We don’t know why he developed his cataracts. They have progressed to the point that he is unable to work or function normally. He is unable to drive safely or read.”
Noriega’s cataract surgery involved a lens implant.
“A cataract is a clouding of the usually clear crystalline lens of the eye,” explained Lum, who removed Noriega’s left cataract using an ultrasonic probe through an incision less than one-fourth of an inch in size. A folding lens implant was implanted through this incision. The operation took about 10 minutes. “The success rate with this type of surgery is close to 99 percent in my practice. I would expect his postoperative vision to be close to 20/20.”
The total fee for this surgery would be close to $10,000, or $5,000 per eye, Lum said.
“This includes the surgeon fee, the surgery center fee, the anesthesiologist and the intraocular lens implant,” he added. “If it were performed in a hospital, it would be substantially more expensive.”
As a shareholder of an ambulatory surgery center, Pacific Surgery Center of Ventura, Lum has the ability to perform a limited amount of uncompensated care.
“We have a great group of physicians, podiatrists and anesthesiologists who are also willing to donate their time, on a limited basis,” said Lum, further praising Keith Wintermute, the administrator of Pacific Surgery Center.
“He contacted Bausch & Lomb, the maker of the intraocular lens implant. B&L was gracious enough to donate their best premium lens implant for the surgery,” Lum said. “Unlike standard lens implants, this implant should allow William good distance- and near-vision at the same time.”
It goes without saying that Lum is a saint, Mankin said.
“We can’t believe that he just read an article in the paper and was motivated to help a total stranger,” Mankin said. “This happened around Christmastime and Dr. Lum called before Christmas; it was the best present we could ever have.”
With this surgery, “I am confident that William will regain excellent vision,” Lum said. “In my short time with him, he seems very motivated to return to the work force.”
Noriega, whose job involves the physical labor of landscaping, looks forward to getting back to work after he heals from the surgery on his right eye.
“All I have to wait is possibly two more months, and I’ll be back again with eyeballs that are kind of like bionic in that they’re never going to fail me again,” Noriega said. “For the rest of my life I’ll have perfect vision it’s miraculous.”

FocUsed

2010-04-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

My Wod: 12:10
10 Muscle ups
100 Du's
8 Muscle ups
80 Du's
6 Muscle ups
60 Du's
4 Muscle ups
40 Du's
2 Muscle ups
20 Du's

it use to take me 13 minutes to do 30 muscle ups...I have come a long way with these, as well as my Du's!

Wod 2: 41:00
6 rounds for time
15 Power Clean & Jerk @ 135#
20 KB Swings @ 1.5 pood (24 kg)
Run 400 meters
messed this up big time, first 4 rds I didn't jerk, last 2 rds I did.... with a extra/ final round of 25 clean jerk to make amends for not paying attention.... my right hip flexor is still pretty sore, but all in all a good days worth of work put in.

Now Now!

2010-04-21T20:04:00.000-07:00

what are you waiting on?!!?!?!?!?

SWOD:
Squat 10x2 @ 65% of 1 RM (45 seconds rest)
*work on moving the bar as fast as possible
Bench 5x5 @ 90% of 5 RM

DWOD:
Complete 3 rounds for time of:

8 Muscle Snatches 135 lbs (or power snatch)
10 Ring Dips
12 Toes to Bars

Day 30

2010-04-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

Following article was taken from http://www.socalsc.com/

Top 10 Training Myths

1. Static stretching prepares you for competition/practice.
Static stretching actually reduces power output. Athletes should prepare for practice by doing a dynamic warm up that progresses from basic, low intensity movements to faster, more explosive movements as the muscles loosen up. The goal is to simulate movements that athletes will be using in practice or a game. What happens when you try to stretch a cold rubber band? You can think about your muscles the same way.
2. Strength training makes females too bulky
Many of the female athletes we train have this popular mindset. However, look at some elite female athletes like Mia Hamm or Lisa Leslie. They certainly train with weights, but no one would accuse them of having manly physiques. Strength training will improve performance and reduce injury if done correctly.

3. You can’t train speed.
For some reason, the popular belief is that you’re born with a certain amount of “speed” and you can’t improve it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most young athletes are so physically weak and mechanically out of tune that significant improvements in speed can be made often just by working on technique and form. Athletes at any age and any level can improve speed when implementing a complete speed training program designed to improve and develop the entire athlete. {Use the link http://www.completespeedtraining.com/ for the words “speed training” in the last sentence.}
4. Training slow makes you fast.
I don’t think coaches directly think this way but their training techniques imply otherwise. This is especially true in sports that involve a higher aerobic element such as soccer, field hockey, or lacrosse. I see kids out running mileage and doing long, slow intervals of several minutes of continuous running. This will get them in shape. However, in games, I see kids jogging, jogging and then sprinting at full speed for 20–30 yards. Then they run, jog, and sprint for 20–30 more yards. If you want kids to improve their acceleration and top speed so that they can get to the ball faster or get back on defense, you have to train by running at full speed in practice.
5. You must train hard every day.
The workout itself is only a piece of the training puzzle. It’s the time between intense workouts—the recovery—where athletes make their improvements. Generally, it takes 36–48 hours to recover from high intensity training. If athletes are doing too much too often, they become overtrained. Coaches can expect to see an increase in injuries, complaints about being sore more often, decreased performance, and higher levels of fatigue earlier in games. It’s always better to under train an athlete than overtrain. Err on the side of caution to get maximal results.
6. Strength training will stunt a young athlete’s growth.
This is another myth held over from a different time. On a daily basis, kids as young as seven years old are playing organized sports year round. They’re tackling, getting tackled, sliding, and falling. These loads on the body can have a much greater physical impact than a well-designed strength training program. Though we don’t usually begin training with weights with prepubescent athletes, they can benefit from body weight exercises such as push-ups, lunges, and sit-ups. This will increase muscular efficiency, speed up recovery, and improve coordination and overall speed.
7. The harder the workout, the better the result.
Some athletes (and coaches) have this mentality that if a workout doesn’t reduce them to complete exhaustion and/or make them vomit, it wasn’t an effective workout. I can tell you that those who have this mentality probably see many injuries and frustrating performances. The purpose of a workout is to stimulate an adaptation by the body. If the body is forced to do too much work in a given time period, it will break down. The skill in coaching is to stimulate the adaptation in the body without reaching a point of diminishing returns.
8. Interval training is the same as speed training.
Repeatedly running 100s, 200s, etc. won’t improve top speeds. Even running repeat 40s with short recovery periods won’t improve acceleration and top speed. Speed work is defined as 2–8 seconds of maximal intensity running with full recovery. That means there should be at least two minutes of light dynamic movement between each effort. This goes against the experience of some coaches but is the only way to improve speed. An athlete must be able to focus on proper form and maintain intensity in order to get faster. If they don’t recover properly from each interval, they won’t be able to replicate proper mechanics with consistency and they can’t improve.
9. Flexibility won’t help you get faster.
Both coaches and athletes spend so much time on the skills of their sport, speed training, and conditioning, they often forget a fundamental component of success—flexibility. After practice or a game, the muscles are warm and loose. This is the time to work on increasing flexibility. So many athletes suffer injuries or compete below their capacity because poor flexibility inhibits their range of motion and speed. We see this in the hips and hip flexors where the stride lengths of athletes appear conspicuously short. Most often we see this in male athletes who will lift weights, train hard, and then skip out on their cool down and flexibility work.
10. Lift your knees.
When parents and coaches want their kids to run faster or when the kids are beginning to fatigue, I hear many yell at the kids, “Lift your knees. Get your knees up.” This is one of the most backward cues that we can give to athletes. The way to run faster is to apply more force to the ground. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction so the more force that you apply to the ground, the more the ground will give back. So when we cue athletes to lift their knees, we’re doing two things incorrectly. One, we’re telling them to use their hip flexors to lift instead of their glutes and hamstrings to drive down. Just think about the size of your hip flexor versus the size of your glutes and hamstrings. Now which muscles do you think can create more force and therefore more speed?
Second, we’re cueing them to do a movement that is in opposition to what generates speed. If an athlete learns at age seven to lift his knees when he needs a burst of speed, the improper cue will be hardwired into his brain. To unlearn that as a teenager and to do the opposite and drive down will delay the athlete’s progress. He or she will have a difficult time coordinating an entirely new way of running and will potentially have to take a step or two backward. That’s why it’s critical to learn proper form early and get an advantage over those who still aren’t getting the best instruction. So cue athletes to step over the opposite knee and drive the foot down into the ground with the foot landing underneath the hip.

Patrick Beith is the co-owner of Athletes’ Acceleration, Inc. He holds his bachelor’s of science degree in exercise physiology and is recognized by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (CSCS), the National Academy of Sports Medicine (PES), the American College of Sports Medicine (HFI), the International Youth Conditioning Association (IYCA), and the USA Track and Field Coaching Level II (jumps, sprints, hurdles, and relays).

Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.

SWOD
8x2 Power Snatch worked my weight up to 145#

DWOD #1: (.Com for 4/20) 225/ 245
Clean one rep every minute on the minute for 15 minutes.
Tommy Hackenbruck 335/275lbs, Ben Crook 305/275lbs

DWOD #2:(equipment needed Rower/ barbell and weights)
Row 2000M for time, immediately after static hold 60% of 1RM DEAD LIFT for time....once the weight is dropped, 7:15/ 40seconds
Row 1500M for time, immediately after static hold 65% of 1RM DEAD LIFT for time....once the weight is dropped, 5:30/ 30seconds
Row 1000M for time, immediately after static hold 70% of 1RM DEAD LIFT for time....once the weight is dropped, 4:00/ 30 seconds
Row 500M for time, immediately after static hold 75% of 1RM DEAD LIFT for time.....once the weight is dropped, 1:45/ 30seconds

250mrow 45seconds/ 25 seconds at 80% of 1RM

SHOULD BE INTENSE!!!!

Oh! The Places You'll Go!

2010-04-20T04:38:00.000-07:00

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
by the incomparable Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

SWOD:
Overhead Squat 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 180, 180, 185, 185, 185 ass to ankles!
Press 5x1 155, 165, 170, 175 pr, 180 pr

DWOD: 6:12
3rds
4 HSPU
8 135# clean to overhead
12 burpees

10 minute rest

'Fat Helen' 45# weight vest 14:12
400m run
21 swings
12 pullups

New Breed of Men by Zach Even-Esh

2010-04-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

The Man of Steel 12 Week Training System is HERE.
It’s time for The NEW Breed of Men to be built.
Strong as Hell, Lean, Athletic, Explosive and Highly Conditioned.
No longer do you need to have your own garage set up or basement gym to get in an ass kicking workout.
No longer do you need to train for endless hours in the gym. 30 – 45 minutes will get the job done when you follow The MOS 12 Week Challenge.
You can follow the MOS system in a commercial or globo gym and I suggest you crank up your I Pod to avoid the shitty music being played in commercial gyms.
You’re gonna HAVE to be in the zone when you train though. NO cell phones or other distractions.
Follow these 11 Tips to Become a Man of Steel
1) Train Like an Animal – Run, Jump, Sprint, Crawl & Climb
2) Powerlift – Get Strong as Hell in the Squat, Bench & Deadlift
3) Maximize Bodyweight Training – Mixed Grip Push Ups & Pull Ups MUST be Mastered.
4) Perform Hybrid Workouts – Mix various elements & methods together: Powerlifting + Gymnastic Based Bodyweight Movements, Dumbbell Olympic Lifts + Bodybuilding Movements…..
5) Break Records EVERY Week: Every week you’ll follow The Man of Steel Challenge of the Week. These challenges will push your body into a NEW world of transformation
6) Attack Ground Based Movements: Ripping weights off the ground will develop full body strength, improve conditioning and pack muscle on your entire body. Use dumbbells, barbells and kettlebells.
7) Train for Athleticism FIRST: Train like an athlete and challenge your muscles from different angles with NEW movements. Don’t sit on your ass pumping reps on useless machines. Athletes don’t look like Greek Statues carved from stone by accident, they EARNED it, and so will YOU!
Use Kettlebells: ALL gyms carry Kettlebells, but 99% of them collect dust and people don’t know HOW to use them effectively and properly. Kettlebells allow you to combine movements for maximum effect in minimal time while also improving your athleticism.
9) Train Hard & Short: Long workouts suck, Period. They work against you by draining you of energy and valuable time. Get in the gym, warm up, train hard and get out!
10) Push the Pace: Don’t rest excessively. Short rest periods force new muscle fibers to get worked and help build muscle, ALL of which speeds up your metabolism. You wanna be a fat burning machine around the clock, so PUSH the pace.
11) Develop Abs & Hands of Steel: Work your abs intensely with direct abdominal work and indirect abdominal work using the functional movements described in the MOS Challenge. Develop powerful hands and forearms so you can throw around heavier barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells and perform Bodyweight training with ease.
12) Get The Man of Steel Challenge HERE
Enough Said.
Lead from the Front!
–Z–

Skill Work:
DU's for 10 minutes (roughly 300...got of to a bad start....long weekend ; )....)

CFFB
Perform as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes: 12 rds

5 One Arm DB Thrusters RT 50 lbs
5 One Arm DB Thrusters LT 50 lbs
7 Push Ups
9 Box Jumps 24" Box (15du's)

Be At Peace with Your Decisions

2010-04-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the Affiliate team tryouts for Crossfit Central. Last year I was on the team that took 2nd overall at the Games '09. It was fun but frustrating at the same time... no need to go into details about the frustrating part. I am and always will be a competitor! I qualified for Regional this year and will be shooting for spot as one of the 4 who will move on to the Games '10. I know that my challenge ahead is a rather lofty goal, but one that I know I can achieve if I give it my all.... I plan on doing just that. And you know what? If I don't qualify, that's okay. Because the guys that were to beat me deserve to go...

So tomorrow, I will go to and support the team that will be representing CC, one that will be a force to be reckoned with. And I will be at peace with my decision on not trying out for the team, and instead going as a coach/ support team for my wife. Because you know, my wife has already qualified and will be looking to take first she so could have had last year! That to me is more important then anything else.

Peace.

Don't Climb...Jump up the Ladder!

2010-04-16T03:25:00.000-07:00

Most of you that follow my blog will know who Zach Even-Esh is, for those of you who don't you should look him up. I get the honor to go and train with him for 3 days here in a couple of weeks up in Dirty Jerzee! I can't tell you how excited I am to be doing this! I'm currently a stay at home father and loving every minute of it... but this is not a permanent role for me. I will be coaching one day, it's always been a passion of mine... and my coaching style will be that of my own, BUT with a huge influence of Big Z in it!

Here is a DAILY email example that I get to read that is just so simple but so profound... That is my description of Zach, simple but profound! it's how we all should strive to be!

Hey Kris

I'm about to head out the door in 15 minutes to take the drive up to my gym.

The USC Cert is about to go down and this 2 day event sold
out FAST.

There is even a Strength Coach here from Switzerland!

He flew over 9 hours to get here and learn.

I think his actions and dedication alone are proof of how
successful he will be.

He made NO excuses.

NO excuses for the distance to travel, the investment, etc.

A SMART Strength Coach understands that when they invest in something
they will be taking action with their new found info
which in turn means earning back that investment 10 fold, at least.

When I started out in backyards, playgrounds and garages, I made
NO excuses for my lack of equipment or fancy set up.

In turn, I was more resourceful and I grew my business
rapidly in what many described as impossible.

Impossible? Ha!

I'm the wrong guy to tell he can't do something.

If you wanna be BIG time successful, then you also need
to be "the wrong guy" to be told you can't make it happen.

My drive up north to my gym came because I busted my
back to create an ultra successful warehouse gym,
allowing me to get out of my old town and buy
a new home in a beautiful town less than a mile
from the beach.

I'm not bragging, I'm telling you what's possible,
coming from a guy who started from the ground
up with NO cash in my pocket.

But, the reason I jumped up the ladder of success,
rather than climbing it, was because I invested
in my education through training and business
seminars by those who were ALREADY DOING what
I wanted to do.

No climbing up the ladder.....

I JUMPED up the ladder of success.

Will you?

Lead from the FRONT.

--Z--

My WoD: (taken from crossfit.com)
Four rounds for time of:
Row 500 meters
Rest 3 minutes

David Lipson 1:19.1, 1:23.7, 1:24.3, 1:23.5.
Tommy Hackenbruck 1:29, 1:29, 1:36, 1:36
Ben Crook 1:24, 1:26, 1:32, 1:40
Rob Orlando 1:27, 1:32, 1:34, 1:41
Tanya Wagner 1:41.1, 1:44.9, 1:48.7, 1:47.7

Pursuit of Happiness

2010-04-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

One man's volunteer effort to plant trees in San Francisco

As a volunteer, Charlie Starbuck has helped to plant trees by the thousands on the streets of San Francisco, a city long on charm but short on leafy green trees.

For almost 30 years, Charlie Starbuck has volunteered to plant trees all over San Francisco, one street at a time, as a member of the nonprofit group Friends of the Urban Forest.

Paul Van Slambrouck

Enlarge

By Paul Van Slambrouck, Contributor / April 5, 2010

San Francisco Charlie Starbuck has them in just about every part of this city. Walk a block or two in virtually any neighborhood, from the concrete canyons of the financial district to the windblown avenues of the Outer Sunset and Mr. Starbuck's fingerprints are there.
It might be a Brisbane box, a bronze loquat, a primrose, or a purple leaf plum. Whatever the species of tree, chances are excellent that Starbuck helped plant it.
Not as in ordered the tree or arranged for the planting. But as in actually put his fingers in the dirt and planted it.
A soft-spoken gentleman fond of berets, Starbuck has volunteered for a citywide tree-planting program since 1981, nearly without interruption. That's almost 30 years of weekly plantings, without pay, come rain or shine.
"For Charlie to be that consistent..." says Doug Wildman, program director of San Francisco's Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF), his voice trailing off as he searches for the right superlative. "Well, he's our rock." FUF (www.fuf.net) is the nonprofit group for which Starbuck has volunteered all these years.
On a recent dewy winter morning, neighbors gather in front of a row of San Francisco homes. Staff members from FUF have already been busy positioning trees in 15-gallon pots in front of the homes, whose owners had signed up for the subsidized $75-per-tree planting.
This is a relatively small project – about 15 trees. Water and cable lines had been identified so they wouldn't be mistakenly cut. All that is left to do is dig the holes, plant the trees, and stake them.
Neighbors and volunteers had been asked to meet at 9 a.m. Like clockwork, a few minutes before 9, up the block chugs Starbuck, toting his little black satchel of tools, his clippers in a holster hanging from his belt. He's come from across town, courtesy of a city bus. Since moving to the city, he's never owned a car.
For all its charm, San Francisco is not particularly leafy. A 2006 study by the US Forest Service found that about 12 percent of the city is covered by trees. In contrast, trees cover nearly 29 percent of Washington D.C., 22 percent of Boston, and 21 percent of New York.
Sandy soil, salty air, lots of wind, and narrow streets are common explanations for San Francisco's low tree count.
For nearly three decades, Starbuck has been on a mission to change that.
The average tree planting is 30 trees per outing, though 60- and even 90-tree plantings occur from time to time. Starbuck acts as a guide and teacher to the home-owners and volunteers. As he works, he likes to talk about – what else, trees.
"My current favorite is the strawberry tree," he offers. Tree experts here are constantly on the look out for species that can handle the local climate. The strawberry tree, with its mock red fruit that hangs in draping clusters, is in high demand. "They're hard to find right now because of the popularity," says FUF planting manager Heidi Lakics.
Care is relatively simple. Most of San Francisco has sandy soil, so it is almost impossible to overwater the trees, Starbuck says. Just before a sapling goes in the ground, Starbuck uses a box cutter to make vertical slices down each side of the root ball so the roots don't continue to grow in a circular fashion, as they do in their container.

He's also precise about staking the tree. Three poles are driven in, then soft cloth straps are attached to each pole so that the tree can sway a bit. The ability to sway actually strengthens the trunk, like "flexing a muscle," he says.
Starbuck was born in Philadelphia. After earning a law degree, he came to San Francisco in the 1960s to visit. Like many who arrived in the '60s, he never left.
The young lawyer became more interested in neighborhood affairs than his legal career. He practiced tax law to make ends meet. In the early '70s, he became involved in efforts to limit the growth of high-rise buildings in the city center, which ultimately failed.
The San Francisco mayor at the time, George Moscone, appointed Starbuck to the city planning commission, where he served from 1976-81.
Over time, Starbuck began to notice his adopted city's dearth of trees. Looking out from his modest one-bedroom apartment with a spectacular second-story view of the Golden Gate Bridge, it is easy to see what he means. The sight of treetops is still relatively rare.
Through a friend of a friend, Starbuck heard about FUF, which opened its doors in 1981. He started volunteering.
"It was a big turn on," he says of FUF. "It's easy to be obsessed with it because of the whole transformation that occurs. You change so much [by planting trees] in one morning. It's an emotional high for me."
Michael Sullivan understands the lure of trees – and of volunteering. He wrote the 2004 book "Trees of San Francisco," regarded as an authoritative resource on the city's trees and their history. Mr. Sullivan also was a volunteer tree planter for many years.
"He's done it in such a modest way," Sullivan says of Starbuck. "Week after week. He's the Lou Gehrig of tree planting."
Last year, FUF says, more than 350 volunteers planted and cared for trees, contributing about 5,000 hours of labor.
These volunteers are not the homeowners who receive the trees, just citizens who donate time for the greater good. Homeowners do get involved in the planting, which also serves as a way for neighbors to get to know one another.
While the city may still be short on trees, nearly 1,000 new trees took root here last year thanks to FUF. It receives nearly half of its funds from the federal government and most of the rest from state and local governments, individuals, corporations, and foundations.
On a walk through his own Pacific Heights neighborhood, Starbuck tells a tree story for almost every block. His destination is a corner of Nob Hill, across the street from the landmark Mark Hopkins Hotel.
"All they used to look at was concrete and parked cars," Starbuck explains, referring to the row of town homes that face the hotel's west flank. "But now," he says with pride, gesturing to the 10 magnolia trees that run the full block, "they are going to see some green."
Starbuck was part of a team that planted those magnolias recently.
"It's the before and after," Starbuck says. "That's what it's about for me."

SWOD: not enough time to do this
Front Squat 5x5
Press 10x3 @ 55% of 1 RM (45 seconds rest)
*work on moving the bar as fast as you can

DWOD: 12:20
5 rounds for time of
20 Squats @ 135#
10 Chest to Bar Pull Ups
5 Handstand Push Ups

Adapt? Evolve? Tolerate?

2010-04-14T04:54:00.000-07:00

the following article was taken from http://www.marksdailyapple.com/seasonality-climate-and-diet/#more-11989

Seasonality, Climate and Diet

Evolution and seasonality are inextricably intertwined. This isn’t a negotiable, controversial statement, because evolution describes an organism’s response to environmental pressures, and the seasons are part of the environment. Another uncontroversial statement is that the study of human evolution can give us insight into what constitutes a healthy lifestyle for modern humans. I think it’s reasonable, then, to suggest that understanding how seasonality affected human evolution might give even more insight into best practices.
Most examinations of prehistoric climate change deal with average global temperatures, which can explain overall worldwide trends in climate, but when we’re talking about human evolution – that is, on the changes in the human organism that resulted from immediate, localized environmental pressures – knowing the mean global average doesn’t tell us much. To understand how seasonality affected our development, we need to look beyond the global trends. We need to look at specific climate conditions.

The seasons change in many ways. There’s the obvious one – winter to spring to summer to fall – but how that inter-seasonal transition plays out depends on the overall climatic conditions of the environment. That is, winter has meant different things in different regions and at different times in history. Some places, winter is cold and dry, others warm and wet. Seasonality depends heavily on climate.
Okay, so let’s take a look at our data. We’ve got a glacial period lasting 111,000 years, or half the time modern humans have been around (the last half). Throughout this glacial period, common geological features in the north included glaciers, huge sheets of continental ice, changing warm/cold seasons, and arid conditions, all of which make vegetation seasonal and life fairly difficult.
Man grew up in the tropics. Yeah, there are subtropics and neotropics and whatever other distinctions you want to make, but the bulk of our evolution took place in tropical Eastern Africa, where and when it was warm. We also came of age during a glacial period that only just (11,000 years ago) ended. That glacial period was part of a larger ice age that began around 2 to 3 million years ago. We’re still in an ice age, technically, though popular parlance gets “ice age” and “glaciation” mixed up. An ice age is composed of glacial and interglacial periods. Today, we’re in the middle of an interglacial period.
That last glacial period (what we generally refer to as “the ice age,” incorrectly so) began around 111,000 years ago and lasted 100,000 more. Modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) have been around for 200,000 years – that’s us. So, about half our time on Earth has been spent dealing with a glacial period. What’s involved in a glacial period, you might be wondering? Well, popular notions of glacial periods include barren tundra, steadily encroaching ice sheets, unstoppable glaciers (hence “glaciation”), hairy men (and women, I suppose) in animal pelts, seasonal vegetation, and wild game with massive stores of saturated back fat. For the northern latitudes, this is pretty accurate imagery. Canada and the northern United States were completely covered by ice. The Scandinavian ice sheet spanned the British Isles, Germany, Poland, Russia, and western Siberia. The Himalayas, Caucasus, and Alps experienced considerable glaciation. Glaciers reached Taiwan, the Japanese Alps, as well as the mountains of Morocco, Algeria, and Ethiopia. The hominids living in the affected areas, then, probably embodied the classic “caveman” lifestyle (the ones who survived, that is).
Sixty thousand years ago, when Europe was icy and forbidding, modern humans weren’t there. Neanderthals were, though, and they were undoubtedly made for the region. Bulky, robust, heavy set, muscular, with pronounced brow ridges – these guys were your archetypal cavemen. But they were not modern humans. When we finally did head northward out of Africa into Europe, around 40,000 years ago, we actually displaced the extant Neanderthals. We mingled and interacted with them along the way, and we may have even interbred with them, but we are not Neanderthals. Those early Europeans were still Africans, genetically, as the famous Hofmeyr Skull showed.
So, what does seasonal, evolutionary eating actually mean? To whom do we look for ultimate guidance?
In the Primal community, there’s a tendency to hone in on the European hunter-gatherer experience for guidance in all things dietary. The big-game hunting, cave-painting Cro-Magnon is the first thing that comes to mind for most of us. That’s fine, to a point, but not when it means excluding from consideration of other hunter-gatherer populations living in completely different climates. We have to take it all in. It’s all relevant. They’re all humans.
If it’s human, it’s relevant, and we have to pay attention.
East Africa, the predominant site of human evolution, experienced the seasons as wet and dry, rather than hot and cold. It was always warm. There wasn’t widespread glaciation, except in the mountains. There were no African ice sheets. Glacial periods affected African climate, sure, but not by creating a winter wonderland. Glacial periods manifested as droughts and in the development of arid deserts and grasslands. Vegetation and game were available. Now, drought and desert undoubtedly altered the scope of human evolution by heavily impacting the humans (our ancestors) living there; it’s just a mistake to assume glacial periods meant fur coats and holing up in caves for the winter for everyone worldwide.
Put another way, when eating seasonally, do we eat according to the seasonal patterns experienced by our East African ancestors or our European/North American/Australian/Asian ancestors? Do we look to the past as a road map, or do we merely eat what’s in season at local farmers’ markets?
I’m not sure, but I’ll venture the safest guess I can muster.
All of the above. Everything matters. One thing is for certain, though: we’ve all got that African Homo sapiens sapiens blood running through our veins. Each of us – irrespective of nationality, ethnicity, or recent ancestry – has several hundred thousand years of tropical evolution to account for. That’s when we developed our taste for animal flesh and our big beautiful brains. But we’re adaptable creatures, us humans. We can thrive on different diets with different macronutrient ratios.
As long as you stick with the basics and avoid those foods that weren’t available, regardless of season, stuff like refined sugar, vegetable oils, grains, and legumes, everything else is just fudging with the margins. Keep one eye on the tropics and another on the Paleolithic climatic region of your choice. Could a descendent of Northern Europeans, a regular Norseman, thrive on a tropical diet of fish, coconuts, pork, and yams? I bet he could. Could a Native American grow old and strong on the modern Primal hybrid eating plan of Big Ass Salads, omelets, and crock pot recipes? Sure, why not.
Seasonality shouldn’t be limiting. The fact that our ancestors evolved with perennial warmth and were still able to thrive in regions with actual seasons means we can handle just about anything. It means we can eat according to any season as long as we remember the basic nutritional laws that bind us all together, rules that were initially written in the tropics and then expanded upon in myriad other climates, seasons, and regions.

SWOD:
Find your 5RM on Dead Lift 370# pr
Find your 1RM on OHS 215# pr

Wod 1:
10 rounds for time: 5 x Burpees, 10 x dead lift (225#), 15 x push-ups 15:50
Did a few sets of Du's this morning as well.. came of the rower 1:36(500m), and then knocked out 100du's in a little over a minute. Then worked on snatch balance for a little bit, did 165x2 pr Then I did one more set of 100 Du's and completed that in roughly a minute as well.

Today was a good day!

Back to Reality

2010-04-13T05:21:00.000-07:00

Beach Swagger

S.F. to Hold the Meat on Mondays

By ClimateBiz Staff

Published April 07, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a resolution (PDF) this week declaring each Monday "Veg Day."

The resolution will "encourage restaurants, grocery stores and schools to offer a greater variety of plant-based options to improve the health of San Francisco residents and visitors, and to increase the awareness of the impact a Green Diet would be on our planet."

The Meat-Free Mondays resolution doesn't offer much bite, however, since it is nonbinding and doesn't allow for enforcement.

In the resolution, Supervisor Sophie Maxwell pointed to other regions that have recognized the virtues of eschewing meat. In July, the city of Ghent, Belgium established a VegDay to be held every week of the year. The city of Takoma Park, Maryland, adopted a whole meat-free week in 2009 near Earth Day, a tradition that will live on again this year when Takoma Park Veg Week takes place April 24-30.

In October, the Baltimore Public School District also adopted a Meatless Monday menu for its 80,000 students.
The developments follow remarks in late 2008 from Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, suggesting that omitting meat from the diet for a day would allow individuals to do their part to address climate change, since livestock is a large source of greenhouse gas emissions. The movement gained some star power in June when Paul McCartney threw his support behind the cause, starting a campaign to get consumers to ditch their carnivorous ways for a day and even writing a song about it.

In the U.S., the Meatless Monday initiative of The Monday Campaigns, in association with the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, aims to cut meat consumption by 15 percent for health and environmental reasons. Some of those who have taken action include Simon Cowell, Gwyneth Paltrow and Martha Stewart’s body + soul magazine.

Another resolution passed this week by the S.F. supes praises local businesses that only use cage-free eggs.

Read more: http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/04/07/sf-hold-meat-mondays#ixzz0kyxDBFuB

At The House:

500M row

150 Du

50 burpees

WOD #1: (i'm doing this as my warmup)
'Nasty Girls'
3rds
50 squats
7mu
10 HPC @ 135#

WOD #2:
'Strung-Out, Backwards, and Upside Down Fran'
1200m run
9 pullups chest to bar
9 thrusters @95#
800m run
15 pullups chest to bar
15 thrusters @ 95#
400m run
21 pullups chest to bar
21 thrusters @ 95#

Miami

2010-04-07T18:15:00.000-07:00

I will be out of pocket til Sunday.....The wife and I are going to Miami to celebrate her 35th birthday! see you when we get back!

Human Body Bounces Back

2010-04-07T03:36:00.000-07:00

DWOD 1: 8min
For time:
Row 500 meters
150 Double-unders
50 Burpees

Savannah Grace at her Easter Party 2010

WaRmUp: 12min
50 burpees, on the min do 3 Power Cleans (135#)
100 box jumps (30" box), on the minute do 3 Dead lift(135#)
150 situps on the minute do 3 clapping push-ups

DWOD 2: 19:58
21 Bench press bodyweight
21 sumo high pull with 135#
18 bench bw
18 sumo high pull 135#
15 bench bw
15 sumo 135#
12 bench bw
12 sumo 135#
9 bench bw
9 sumo 135#
6 bench bw
6 sumo 135#
3 bench bw
3 sumo 135#

Blood Vessels Bounce Back Once Smokers Quit

Quickly leads to reduced risk of heart trouble, study finds

(HealthDay News) -- Blood vessel function rapidly recuperates after smokers kick the habit, leading to a reduced risk of heart disease and heart attack, new research shows.

The study included more than 1,500 people taking part in a clinical trial to help them quit smoking. Before and one year after the participants stopped smoking, doctors used ultrasound to measure the patients' flow-mediated dilation (FMD), a gauge of the health of the brachial artery, the main artery of the upper arm.

The ability of the brachial artery to relax is closely related to the ability of the heart arteries to relax, and predicts risk for future heart and blood vessel disease, explained the University of Wisconsin researchers.

They compared the FMD readings from patients who successfully quit with those who quit and then resumed smoking.

"Individuals who quit smoking had improved blood vessel function, even though they gained weight, which is a common side effect of smoking cessation," study author Dr. James Stein, an associate professor of medicine at UW School of Medicine and Public Health, said in a university news release. "This confirms that quitting smoking is good for your blood vessels and reduces risk for heart attacks and cardiovascular disease."

FMD improved by as much as 1 percent among patients who had quit smoking for a full year. That's a significant improvement, according to Stein.

"It's statistically significant, but more important, it's also clinically relevant," he said. "A 1 percent change in FMD is associated with an approximately 14 percent lower rate of cardiovascular disease events. That means patients who permanently quit smoking are less likely to have a heart attack and heart disease."

The study was presented this week at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Atlanta and published simultaneously in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Cardiovascular disease is the cause of about one-third of smoking-related premature deaths in the United States.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about smoking and your heart.
-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: University of Wisconsin, news release, March 15, 2010

The Real Deal...

2010-04-06T03:57:00.000-07:00

KFC's Bacon Sandwich On Fried Chicken "Bread" Starts Killing People Nationwide April 12

By Chris Morran on April 2, 2010 12:26 PM 0 views

Last August, we wrote about the "Double Down," a mysteriously tempting (and potentialy lethal) new food item being tested by KFC. For those coming late to the story, it's bacon and cheese sandwiched between two pieces of fried chicken. And now, many months later, I'll finally be able to get my hands on one.
KFC announced the decision to go live with the Double Down yesterday, but we weren't sure they weren't playing a April Fools gag. But no, they truly are going nationwide with the delicacy on April 12.
The sandwich will be available in two forms. The Original Recipe sandwich will set you back about 540 calories, 32g of fat and 1380mg of sodium. The not-as-bad-for-you Grilled Double Down totals 460 calories, 23g of fat and 1430mg of sodium.

Are Kidding Me!

DWOD 1: 183 reps

3 Minutes Max Box Jump (24/20 inch)
1 Minute Rest
3 Minutes Pull-ups
1 Minute Rest
3 Minutes Thrusters (M:115#, W:83#)

Score = Total reps for all 3 exercises

4hr Break

DWOD 2: 6:42?
3 Rds
4 HSPU
8 315# DL
12 Burpee Box Jump Over 24"

Rest as much time as you need...

15 Minute Amrap: 7rds -12min
5 Dead Lift 315#
10 Toes to Bar

The Way of The Cross

2010-04-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

I'm still feeling the effects of this WOD.... it hurts to sit down, bend over, squat, what else..... I will not do this WOD again.... at least not until next Easter, unless JT or whomever comes up with something else worthy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today I'm fasting on lemon water and superfoods, and reflecting on the weekend that was.

My Wod:

Complete 10 rounds of: 2Pood KB, made it through 4rds....left shoulder started giving me issues. 5-10 used a 1.5pood. took 7mins 40seconds 5 drops. felt good to move the body through a workout. should be at full strength by tomorrow.

One rounds consists of the following:

One Arm DB Power Clean Right
One Arm DB Front Squat Right
One Arm DB Push Press Right
One Arm DB Front Squat Right
One Arm DB Push Press Right
then switch hands....
One Arm DB Power Clean Left
One Arm DB Front Squat Left
One Arm DB Push Press Left
One Arm DB Front Squat Left
One Arm DB Push Press Left

*Do Not Drop The Weight. Do Not Set It Down.

*If weight is dropped, count number of drops and perform an equal amount of burpees as a penalty.

This is No Time to Be Frail!

2010-04-03T02:04:00.000-07:00

My Wod Today..... ReSt! Enjoy family time, go to the State Capital for an Easter Party for Savannah's school, and then watch the Final Four. today will be a good day!

Jesus WOD

2010-04-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

“Yes I am with you always, until the very end of time” Jesus Christ

Jesus WOD (The Way of the Cross)

14 Rounds for time
95lbs Barbell
10 Deadlifts
10 Squat cleans
10 Push Press

50 ft of Walking Lunges with barbell on back. Walk back to start
point. At no point does the barbell touch the ground until after rounds 3, 7
and 9.

After Round Three Seven and Nine, 7 Turkish Get Ups 1.5 Pood (53-55#)
(seven is the number of completion)

The WOD represents 14 stations of the Cross with the three time Jesus
fell to the ground.

The WOD should be done Friday at three O clock for the
time Jesus passed on the Cross.
58:38

A great job by everyone who took on the challenge of doing the Jesus WoD. i want to say that I was impressed most by my wife... It has been a difficult year physically for her with one injury after another, and because of the injuries she has been limited in her training. So to take on the Jesus WOD and complete it in the time she did (sub 60minutes), all I can say is watch out! well done babe, come Games 2010, it will be a treat to see her compete again at a high level.... yesterday was just a little glimpse to what you should expect to see in Aromas.

Top 10 Training Myths

2010-04-01T04:07:00.000-07:00

Skill Work and Trigger Point Therapy today.....The Way of the Cross tomorrow.

by Joe DeFranco
This article originally appeared on www.T-nation.com

Nothin' but the Truth!
During your time in the gym, you’ve probably noticed that the same training questions are discussed amongst athletes and fitness buffs day in and day out. You know the questions I’m talking about: "What exercises will shape and tone my muscles because I don’t want to get too bulky?" And let’s not forget this classic: "How do I get a better peak on my biceps?"
The list goes on and on. Unfortunately, these questions are usually answered by one of the gym’s under-certified personal trainers, or worse yet, the local gym legend. The gym legend is the guy whose arms are twice the size of his thighs, he’s been on the same routine for the past ten years, and his physique hasn’t changed since the first day he lifted a weight. Oh yeah, he still lives at home with his mommy. (Hopefully, you sense my sarcasm.)
The popular answers given to these questions by the self-proclaimed experts have created gym myths that are older than your grandmother’s wedding dress. These myths have been around for so long they’ve actually been accepted as truth. Below I've exposed ten of the most popular training myths and I’ve revealed the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!
After reading my list, do yourself and your gym a favor: print out a copy of this article and discreetly leave it lying around your gym. Maybe, just maybe, one of the members or trainers will pick it up, read it and learn something. Hopefully, it'll help them to open up their minds and they'll finally learn the truth. This will make your gym a much happier (and more productive) place to train.
Let’s get to it!

The Top Ten Training Myths

Myth #10: Preacher curls work the lower biceps.
First of all, there's no such thing as a "lower" biceps. It’s impossible to contract the lower portion of your biceps without recruiting any other portions.
Still not convinced? Well, you might be thinking that whenever you complete a tough set of preacher curls, you get a pump in your biceps just above the bend in your elbow. After all, it’s your "lower" biceps which creates your biceps "peak," isn’t it?
Okay, here’s the deal. The prime movers in the preacher curl are your biceps brachii and the brachialis. The biceps brachii consists of a long and short head and it crosses over two joints (your shoulder and elbow). On the other hand, the brachialis only crosses over one joint (the elbow) and it lies underneath the biceps brachii. It originates on the middle of your humerus and inserts on the radius.
When performing a preacher curl, your upper arms are placed in front of your upper body (shoulder flexion). For a muscle to be fully activated, it must be stretched at both ends. Since the biceps brachii attaches to the shoulder, it can’t be fully activated because the angle of the preacher bench places the shoulders in flexion. This places a large portion of the load on the short head of the biceps brachii and the brachialis.
Remember that the brachialis lies underneath the biceps brachii and it originates lower on the upper arm. When the brachialis gets "pumped," it pushes the bottom of the biceps brachii forward, creating what appears to be a "lower biceps."

Myth #9: Basketball and baseball players shouldn’t lift weights because it'll make them tight. This will ruin a basketball player’s ability to shoot and a baseball player’s ability to hit and throw.
It amazes me that this myth is still around. After all, check out the success of Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neil, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, just to name a few. Did the added muscle on their frames ruin their careers? I don’t think so!
First of all, we must not forget that research has shown that full range resistance training is still one of the best ways to develop functional flexibility. A properly designed strength training program, in conjunction with playing your sport, is the best way to make your strength and flexibility gains "sport-specific."
In other words, one of the reasons that Mr. Olympia, Ronnie Coleman, can’t shoot a basketball like an NBA star is because he doesn’t play basketball as much as they do! It’s that simple.
Let’s also not forget about injury prevention. Basketball is a much more physical game than it used to be. And although baseball isn’t considered a "physical" sport, it's one of the most stressful sports on your shoulders and lumbar spine. Strength training is imperative to staying healthy and overcoming the muscular imbalances created by playing these sports.
Finally, hitting a baseball, stealing second base and jumping up for a rebound are some of the most explosive activities in all of sports. Without a strong and powerful lower body, you'll never reach your full potential in these activities.

Has lifting weights ruined Barry’s swing?

In short, baseball and basketball players can and should lift weights!

Myth #8: Activating the transverse abdominis (pulling the stomach inward) is the key to stabilizing your spine when squatting.
This is one of the most hotly debated topics among strength coaches and physical therapists. Personally, I feel that "pulling in your belly" is potentially dangerous when squatting.
When you pull your belly inward, it tends to flex the spine, a.k.a. round your back. This is the last thing you want to happen when you have a heavy weight on your back! After all, unsupported spinal flexion under a compressive load is one of the most common causes of disk herniation. Unless you want to herniate a disk while doing a nosedive onto the floor, I'd advise against pulling in your stomach while squatting.
The correct technique would be to contract your erector spinae (arch your back) and fill your stomach with air by taking a huge breath. Then, hold your breath while forcefully pushing your belly out during the most strenuous phase of the lift (Valsalva maneuver). This technique will not only stabilize your spine by increasing the intra-abdominal pressure, it'll enable you to squat more weight!
Remember that both techniques of stabilizing your spine have their place in training. For example, I feel that learning how to activate your transverse abdominis is a valid and valuable technique during the lifting of lighter loads. It’s also very important for lower-back rehabilitation.
On the other hand, if you’re participating in heavy strength training, I'd highly recommend performing the technique I described above. Remember, attempting a max squat is a lot different than teaching an abdominal crunch to someone who just had back surgery.
Note: Even after this article gets printed, I’m sure this myth won't go away. I just have one request to all of the physical therapists and rehab specialists who'll choose to debate me regarding this topic. I don’t care how many books you’ve read or how many college degrees you have, if you’ve never had a heavy weight on your back, you’re not qualified to argue this topic!
I’ve always found it funny that all of the people who preach pulling in your belly during heavy lifting can’t even squat off the toilet with a newspaper. Practice before you preach!

Is this man tucking in his tummy?

Myth #7: It’s important to build an aerobic base of conditioning before getting into more intense anaerobic work.
There's no physiological basis for this statement. Having an aerobic base doesn’t help you perform or recover from anaerobic work. Think about this, do you think a marathon runner would be able to withstand the demands of an intense football game? On the other hand, do you think that one of the NFL’s superstars would be able to complete a marathon?
Of course not! This is because the physiological demands of both sports have about as much in common as Howard Stern and Kathie Lee Gifford. Yet athletes who participate in anaerobic sports still tend to associate getting in shape with long, slow, distance training. Nothing can be further from the truth.
A more productive alternative to jogging or cycling a couple of miles would be to perform multiple anaerobic activities with short rest intervals over a prolonged period of time. For example, performing a GPP (general physical preparedness) workout that consists of bodyweight calisthenics (jumping jacks, bodyweight squats, squat thrusts, etc.), movement skills (power skipping, side shuffling, backpedaling, etc.) and mobility drills, is far superior to linear, slow, long-distance running.
By performing exercises that challenge an athlete’s relative strength, balance and coordination in a continuous fashion, we’re able to improve their endurance without the loss in muscle mass, strength and speed that’s associated with the slow distance method.

Why would the man on the left want to train like the man on the right?

Myth #6: Athletes shouldn’t bench press because it’s not "sport specific."
I always find it funny that the bench press is singled out as the one exercise that isn’t sport specific. I have a secret for you: No exercise is sport specific! Playing your sport makes the strength that you gain in the weightroom sport specific!
Don’t get me wrong, certain exercises are more productive than others. But, remember that it’s impossible to duplicate the speed, intensity and technique of the athletic field in the weightroom. Therefore, no exercise you perform in the weightroom can be classified as a sport specific exercise.
The bottom line is that the bench press is a great, multi-joint, free-weight exercise for developing strength in the chest, triceps and shoulders. What’s wrong with that? I’m not saying that the bench press is the most important exercise in the world, but it can be effectively incorporated into the training routine of most athletes.

Myth #5: Women should focus on performing aerobic activities because weight training will give them a "manly" appearance.
This myth just won’t go away, mainly because of bodybuilding magazines. People associate females who strength-train with the female bodybuilders pictured in bodybuilding magazines. Professional female bodybuilders usually resemble men because of the massive amount of anabolic, androgenic drugs they consume.
However, these "females" shouldn't be confused with drug-free women who incorporate resistance training into their fitness programs. The next time that this topic comes up, remember the following facts:
1) Much of the difference in muscle mass between males and females is attributed to hormones, specifically, Testosterone. On average, men produce ten times more Testosterone than females. Unless you’re a female who's taking anabolic steroids or other male hormones, lifting weights will not make you look like a man! It’s actually harder for most females to build muscle compared to their male counterparts.
2) There's also a difference in muscle mass distribution between men and women, especially in the upper body. If you do build a significant amount of muscle, you still won't look masculine.
So, it's important to remember that male hormones and muscle mass distribution are the two main reasons that men usually carry more muscle than woman. Ladies, get in the weightroom!

Do these female athletes look too manly?

Myth #4: Olympic lifts are the only way to get explosive.
Most people say they perform the Olympic lifts because they're "explosive." The truth of the matter is that any lift can be explosive! By incorporating the dynamic-effort method with sub-maximal weights into your program, you can turn any lift into an "explosive" lift.
For example, if a man who can box squat 500 pounds were to train with 275 and focus on accelerating the weight, the box squat would then become an "explosive" lift. This example can hold true for many other exercises as well. By training with weights that represent 50-60% of your 1RM in a given lift, science has proven that the weight is heavy enough to produce adequate force, yet light enough to produce adequate speed. And we should all know that speed times strength = power.
Another reason I feel the Olympic lifts are overrated is that they take a long time to teach and most athletes are horrible at them. After all, Olympic lifting is a sport in and of itself! Olympic weightlifters spend their entire lives practicing these lifts and some of these athletes still never perfect them!
The reason that most non-Olympic weightlifters aren’t great at the Olympic lifts is usually because they aren’t strong enough in the right places. After assessing an athlete’s power clean or power snatch form, I usually conclude that their technique flaws are due to a lack of hamstring, glute and low back strength. This assessment usually means that I end up prescribing more deadlift variations, reverse hyperextensions, glute-ham raises, pull-throughs, etc.
This is called the training economy. Getting stronger in the deadlift, reverse hyperextension and glute-ham raise will improve your power clean, but it doesn’t work the other way around. Basically, I choose the exercises that give my athletes the best "bang for their buck." Another benefit of my "economical" exercises is that they're much less stressful on the wrists, elbows and shoulders compared to the Olympic lifts.

Myth #3: The best indicators of a good workout are how tired you are after the workout and how sore you are the next day.
This is a myth my most dedicated athletes still have a tough time dismissing. Most hard-working individuals equate a good workout with being exhausted and sore. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had athletes say, "You didn’t even make me puke" after a workout. My response is usually, "I didn’t make you puke because I didn’t want to make you puke. Making you puke would be easy. Getting you stronger, faster and more flexible actually takes some work."
Puking is one of the most catabolic things you can do to your body. If your goals are increased muscular strength and/or muscular hypertrophy, you should do everything possible not to puke during your training!
Fatigue is another popular indicator people use to rate the productivity of their workouts. Remember that the goal of your training session should dictate how you feel after your workout. For example, if you’re going to perform a plyometric workout with the goal of improving your vertical jump, you shouldn’t be exhausted after the workout.
Actually, a properly designed plyometric workout should stimulate your neuromuscular system and you should feel better than when you started the workout. On the other hand, it’s good to be exhausted after a tough practice that was designed to get you in "game shape" for your given sport.
Finally, I’ve never read any research that links post-exercise soreness to strength gains, hypertrophy gains or improved athletic performance. Who the hell wants to be sore anyway? Think of DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) as an unfortunate side effect of training, not a goal of training.
Remember that it’s easy for a coach to make an athlete tired, but it takes a true professional to get an athlete stronger, faster, more flexible and better conditioned.

Myth #2: Strength training will stunt the growth of children.
It still amazes me that parents won’t hesitate to get their young children (6-7 years old) involved in sports such as football, gymnastics, basketball and soccer, yet they feel that participating in a strength-training program is damaging to their children’s bone health and will stunt their growth. Nothing can be further from the truth.
The fact of the matter is that running, jumping and tackling can create loading on a child’s body which is up to ten times greater than most strength training exercises. In other words, the physical demands on a child’s body are far greater on the athletic field compared to the weightroom. Parents who don’t let their children participate in resistance training are actually increasing their children’s risk for injury on the athletic field.
There have even been position stands by such organizations as the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics suggesting that children can benefit from participation in a properly designed and supervised resistance training program. Position stands recommend that prepubescent children shouldn't lift maximal weights; they should lift weights that can be lifted for at least six repetitions with proper form.
Strength training in this manner can be the most potent exercise stimulus for bone growth and development. In fact, research has shown that young weightlifters have greater bone densities than individuals who don't lift. Thus, the positive benefits of resistance training for bone health, injury prevention and improved athletic performance are far greater than the risks.

Myth #1: Lifting light weights for high reps will "shape and tone" your muscles.
This is the grand daddy of all training myths! Somehow the aerobics, yoga and Pilate’s community have convinced us that when we perform bodyweight exercises or light resistance training for high reps, our muscles magically take on a beautiful shape without growing or bulging. On the other hand, if you challenge yourself with moderately heavy weights, your body will take on a bulky, unflattering appearance. If you believe this, you probably still believe in the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus!
Here are the facts. The main difference between a "lean and toned" physique and a "bulky" physique is the amount of body fat that surrounds your muscles! Basically, the "lean and toned" look that most people desire is a result of having muscle that isn’t hidden under layers of fat. And let’s not forget that the best way to build muscle is through strength training.
Generally speaking, this means challenging yourself with moderately heavy weights in the 6 to 15 rep range. It doesn’t mean using an insignificant resistance for a countless number of reps. This will do little to change your appearance. Remember, it’s the muscle on your frame which gives you your shape. Muscle also increases your metabolism which helps your body burn extra calories throughout the day.

Conclusion
There's simply no need for these myths to be perpetuated in today's information age. Do your part and help T-Nation get rid of them!

About the Author
Joe DeFranco's training techniques have become a hot topic worldwide. This didn't happen by accident. The training programs Joe develops and the athletes he produces speak for themselves. You can learn more about Joe, his athletes, and his techniques at DeFrancosTraining.com.

UNCIRCUMCISED IN AMERICA

2010-03-31T03:48:00.000-07:00

"you going to do what?!"

Skill: 250 du's in 12min

SWOD: 3 sets of 10 front squat @ 205# (all the weight I have at the house) will hold off on this until tomorrow.

DWOD 1:

Angie (100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats) did a half Angie in 6:10

space these wods out roughly 3hrs apart if you can....

DWOD 2:

'Fat Nancy' 14 minutes! unbroken, a confidence booster!

5rds

15 OHS at 95#,

400m run.... is rx'd, but I will increase the OHS weight to 135#

space these wods out roughly 3hrs apart if you can....

Cool Down:

4 sets of max distance handstand walking..(goal is to get beyond 20') tomorrow

"I don't think so!"

**WARNING** The following article has some explicit language

http://www.madatoms.com/site/blog/uncirumcised-in-america, Writer: Jacob Harper

LIVING THE DREAM

UNCIRCUMCISED IN AMERICA

I'm a typical American male save one thing: my dick. Thanks to my hippie parents, I'm uncircumcised. But I’m not resentful about it. I’m proud. I have to be. Because being “Whole in America” isn’t always easy. Growing up I always wondered why I was so unlike the other boys, why my penis looked like "a pink doggy dick," as some helpful elementary school friends pointed out. I was confused by my own body, not knowing what God I offended as to be born with a foreskin. I’ve gotten older, learned the facts and come to not be ashamed of the complete package. I’ve learned to love it. But even as an adult, I will never fail to be reminded I’m not the norm. "You're uncircumcised!" my lucky partner says after the Big Reveal. "I haven't seen that since I stayed in that German hostel!" It’s easy to brush off, but it always gets me thinking about how different we “Whole in America” are. The world over, being uncut is nothing special. But in America, when you’re Whole you're the other cock. You're the freaky hooded minority. When you think about it, it’s really strange. How’d we get here? Why are the majority of American men circumcised? A common reason given is “circumcised penises are cleaner,” for which I have two words: wash your fucking dick. Other bullshit: “It’s just the norm,” or the absolute worst, “I don’t want him to look weird,” like a foreskin is nerdy corrective headgear on a dick. If you couldn’t tell, those are all excuses prospective American mothers give me when talking about having their kids circumcised. It’s almost never men making the decision about their own cocks; those tips were snipped way before the men could have a say. Men in America are circumcised because their mothers wanted their cock to look a certain way. Think about that: a country of dicks sculpted on orders from Mommy. But unlike the bad haircuts Moms give, dicks don’t eventually grow out. “Have you ever thought about getting circumcised?” I’ve been asked by women. To that, I have a question: have you thought of getting a nipple removed? Because we men prefer a smooth breast. Besides, it is just a little tip, not to mention it just looks better. I’m making a joke, but I’m making a point too (not to mention that most of the Whole like all that bitchin’ penile sensitivity.) In short: fuck fashionable infant circumcision, the sending off of newborns to get their dicks trimmed of “extra skin” to basically make their genitalia more aerodynamic. What it ultimately comes down to is that America, as a society, carves up baby weiners because it’s trendy. It needs to stop. For the first time in my life, I’m saying, “Hands off the cocks, ladies,” because while we appreciate the input, this ultimately isn’t your debate. We men don’t tell you when you can and can’t get an abortion because it’s your body. Just like that infant boy’s body is his, even if that body at six-days-old is pretty much a full-steam-ahead meconium factory. An adult man can do whatever the hell he likes with his dong (and most do.) But don’t you dare fuck with Junior’s peter.

Stay strong, Foreskin Brothers. We shall overcome.

The reason I posted this is that my son Stone is uncircumcised. If he decides that he wants the procedure done when he is older, that will be HIS decision, and not mine. Of course I will pay for the procedure, but it will be Stone's decision to make.

The human body was created by God correct? so why do we think we should chop parts of it off? Religious doctrine that pushes the act of circumcision is outdated and should not be practiced. I could go on about the human body and all the extra 'junk' DNA we supposedly have, or internal organs that can be removed because they really don't do much.....like the appendix, which by the way is considered to be like a second stomach. I have mine still, do you?

Love your body as a whole...and if any of you were to have a baby boy in the future, remember this article.

Day 14

2010-03-30T04:28:00.000-07:00

the way of the cross coming soon, can you handle it?

SWOD:
Dead lift 15x1 @ 65% of 1 RM (30 seconds rest) weight was 275# very light, only waited 20 seconds
*work on moving the bar off the ground as fast as possible

My WOD: 20min...wow that sucked. du's and snatch are getting better but they still slowed me down a bunch. worked on them for 30 minutes afterward, I will kill the next wod with them in it!
50 Double Unders
40 Box Jumps
30 Knees to Elbows from the rings
10 Snatch @ 135 lbs
5 Muscle Ups
100 m Weighted run with 70 lbs

2 Rounds with a 15 minute time limit, wod courtesy of XfitCrimlaw's Blog....
http://xfitcrimlaw.blogspot.com/

COOL DOWN (a new addition to my workouts): 4 sets of handstand walks....a new skill for me, was able to make it roughly 20' each time. I will continue to do more of these in my cool down. I can tell my handstand holds are paying off BIG TIME!

The final video of The Man Who Planted Trees

Bear Complex

2010-03-29T03:55:00.000-07:00

Strength: Complete: (this will be more practice then actually finding a 1RM since all I have is 205# at my house....my current Rack Jerk is 215#, I know I can get at least 225 now)
1 RM Jerk ....worked up to 205 jerk from the front, ugly need to work on this lift at a lower more manageable weight
*Work up to a 1 rep max jerk
*You can split jerk, push jerk or rack jerk.
I did land a 155# snatch PR by 20#'s...stoke about this!

Bear Complex is 7 sets of the following sequence: 3 rds 95, 115, 135, then made it through 4 cycles @ 155#, better warmup and i make it through it!
Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Push Press
(rest after you have gone through the cycle 7 times WITHOUT letting go of the bar. If you let go of the bar, the workout is terminated)

5Rds of this.... After each round go up in weight. So the first rd weight should be fairly manageable, and then go up the next rd, and so on. The last time I did this I ended up at 135 (started at 95#), shooting for at least a 10# jump today. Their is a great video on youtube (title of the video is bear complex crossfit) showing Jolie and freddy c. of crossfit doing the wod that you should watch if you have any questions...

3 intervals of 500m row: 1:34, 1:37, 1:36 roughly 90 second rest between rds.
Get you some!

Part 2 of Planting Trees:

Sunday Funday

2010-03-28T03:16:00.000-07:00

Ran a Rogue 10k at 7:30am. My time was 48:17, 7:47 pace and 14th overall out of 106 men. Not bad for my first trail race, and considering I was going on 4.5 hrs of sleep, I would say my effort was pretty damn good (didn't get home til 12:30am from Winchester's house after watching the UFC fights).

HydePark 2.0

2010-03-27T05:26:00.000-07:00

Today at Hyde Park Gym a group of us from Central are going to flip some TIRES! Sounds like a good time to me! (6 flips in 1minutes of 630-650# tire)

But before we lose our flipping minds...we are going to clean up the place! looking to best my PR of 250#, which I just set this past Monday. (254#...PR!)

For the next 3 days I will post a series of videos I found on BoingBoing.com. if you are not familiar with the website you should check it out.. really interesting articles and videos to simulate the mind and soul. So here you go, Part 1 of The Man Who Planted Trees.....

Xavier Rudd

2010-03-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

thanks to the cats from Crossfit Point Break for introducing me to Xavier Rudd...what a talent!

I have some skill work to make up today.....save my strength for tomorrow's Tire Flipping and Max Clean event at Hyde Park Gym. Should be off the hook!

21 Jump Street! Day 9

2010-03-25T04:16:00.000-07:00

this image says a lot to me....OHS? are you kidding? practice, practice, practice... OHS have turned into my favorite lift now!

Warm Up: (Friday)
10 Attempts Max Distance Broad Jump longest jump 8'8"

SWOD: (Friday)
OHS 5X1.... 205x3! PR!
Bench 5x1 205 (no spotter), need to do some more bench..it's been at least 2 weeks

DWOD: 7min30sec (double under practice!)
7 Rounds
7 Power Snatch 95#
21 Double Unders

CrossfitCentral Metcon: 20 min how many rounds? 14
12 pullups
12 box jumps 32", 34", a few 20"
12 back Extensions

I need more pics of this beautiful lady beside me!

The Edge

2010-03-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

The EDGE... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.

Hunter S. Thompson

As I get stronger my ability to reach beyond the EDGE are becoming a reality. I have 10+ weeks left until Regional to prepare myself for a competition that will require me to reach beyond that EDGE if I want to qualify for the games. I am determined, motivated, driven, excited, and ready to experience what it feels like to go beyond the EDGE. One rep at a time, one wod at a time, one day at time.

My WOD 1: 4rds in 8minutes...(ran out of time, did the sectional wod first)
Complete as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes: (goal is minimum of 12 rds, the high on CFFB was 14 I think, which is doable since I'm going to go from the rack for my jerk)
5 Push Jerks or Split Jerks 155 lbs
7 Push Ups
Sprint 1/2 Gasser

10 min break

Wod 2: (time to beat was 5:29) 5:48
5 rounds
6- 275 dl
12- box jump "over" 20"
1- rope climb 20' (no rope then do 12 towel pullups)

10 min break

3 max efforts of static hold BENCH (I will do this on Thursday)
find a weight that is beyond you 1rm but you are still able to press out of the racked position, hold as long as possible. take 3minutes between sets. (skip this if you don't feel comfortable doing this on your own. I have the luxury of using an old squat rack that will allow me to hold the weight until failure without bringing it down on me)

Khalipa Vs. Spealler

2010-03-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

Day of the Dead coming soon......

Wod 1:
1 rd Cindy
1 C/J @155#
1 rd Cindy
2 C/J @155#
1 rd Cindy
3 C/J @155#......
up to
1 rd Cindy
10 C/J @ 155#

Khalipa 14:15
Spealler 12:05
Thiel 15:08
Andy Lewis 15:30?
Travis Holley 18:40?
JDP 18:50?
Web Smith 17:50?
Lisa Thiel 18:50?
KK 19:30

**? unsure the exact time for the ? people, + or - 5 seconds. wow that sucked. I have gained strength, but need to continue to gain more if I want to compete at a high level.

Good News Travels faster then Bad News

By JOHN TIERNEY

Published: February 8, 2010

Sociologists have developed elaborate theories of who spreads gossip and news — who tells whom, who matters most in social networks — but they’ve had less success measuring what kind of information travels fastest. Do people prefer to spread good news or bad news? Would we rather scandalize or enlighten? Which stories do social creatures want to share, and why?

Now some answers are emerging thanks to a rich new source of data: you, Dear Reader.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have intensively studied the New York Times list of most-e-mailed articles, checking it every 15 minutes for more than six months, analyzing the content of thousands of articles and controlling for factors like the placement in the paper or on the Web home page.
The results are surprising — well, to me, anyway. I would have hypothesized that there are two basic strategies for making the most-e-mailed list. One, which I’ve happily employed, is to write anything about sex. The other, which I’m still working on, is to write an article headlined: “How Your Pet’s Diet Threatens Your Marriage, and Why It’s Bush’s Fault.”
But it turns out that readers have more exalted tastes, according to the Penn researchers, Jonah Berger and Katherine A. Milkman. People preferred e-mailing articles with positive rather than negative themes, and they liked to send long articles on intellectually challenging topics.
Perhaps most of all, readers wanted to share articles that inspired awe, an emotion that the researchers investigated after noticing how many science articles made the list. In general, they found, 20 percent of articles that appeared on the Times home page made the list, but the rate rose to 30 percent for science articles, including ones with headlines like “The Promise and Power of RNA.” (I swear, the science staff did nothing to instigate this study, but we definitely don’t mind publicizing the results.)
“Science kept doing better than we expected,” said Dr. Berger, a social psychologist and a professor of marketing at Penn’s Wharton School. “We anticipated that people would share articles with practical information about health or gadgets, and they did, but they also sent articles about paleontology and cosmology. You’d see articles shooting up the list that were about the optics of deer vision.”
To make sense of these trends in “virality,” the Penn researchers tracked more than 7,500 articles published from August 2008 to February 2009. They assessed each article’s popularity after controlling for factors like the time of day it was published online, the section in which it appeared and how much promotion it received on the Web home page.
A random sample of 3,000 of these articles was rated by independent readers for qualities like providing practical value or being surprising. The researchers also used computer algorithms to track the ratio of emotional words in an article and to assess the relative positivity or negativity.
The computer textual analysis could identify “affect-laden” articles like “Redefining Depression as Mere Sadness” or “When All Else Fails, Blaming the Patient Often Comes Next.” It distinguished positive articles like “Wide-Eyed New Arrivals Falling in Love With the City” from downers like “Germany: Baby Polar Bear’s Feeder Dies.”
More emotional stories were more likely to be e-mailed, the researchers found, and positive articles were shared more than negative ones. Longer articles generally did better than shorter articles, although Dr. Berger said that might just be because the longer articles were about more engaging topics. (The best way to test that, he said, would be for The Times to run shorter and longer versions of the same article that would be seen by different readers.)
Surprising articles, like one about free-range chickens on the streets of New York, were also more likely to be e-mailed — which was a hardly a surprising discovery, of course. But the researchers also kept finding popular articles with a quality that went beyond surprise.
“If I went into my classroom dressed up like a pirate, that would be surprising, but it wouldn’t be awe-inspiring,” Dr. Berger said. “An article about square watermelons is surprising, but it doesn’t inspire that awed feeling that the world is a broad place and I’m so small.”
Building on prior research, the Penn researchers defined the quality as an “emotion of self-transcendence, a feeling of admiration and elevation in the face of something greater than the self.”
They used two criteria for an awe-inspiring story: Its scale is large, and it requires “mental accommodation” by forcing the reader to view the world in a different way.
“It involves the opening and broadening of the mind,” write Dr. Berger and Dr. Milkman, who is a behavioral economist at Wharton.
“Seeing the Grand Canyon, standing in front of a beautiful piece of art, hearing a grand theory or listening to a beautiful symphony may all inspire awe. So may the revelation of something profound and important in something you may have once seen as ordinary or routine, or seeing a causal connection between important things and seemingly remote causes.”
The motivation for mailing these awe-inspiring articles is not as immediately obvious as with other kinds of articles, Dr. Berger said. Sharing recipes or financial tips or medical advice makes sense according to classic economic utility theory: I give you something of practical value in the hope that you’ll someday return the favor. There can also be self-interested reasons for sharing surprising articles: I get to show off how well informed I am by sending news that will shock you.
But why send someone an exposition on quantum mechanics? In some cases, it, too, could be a way of showing off, particularly if you accompanied the article with a note like, “Perhaps this will amuse, although of course it’s a superficial treatment. Why can’t they use Schrödinger’s full equation?”
But in general, people who share this kind of article seem to have loftier motives than trying to impress their friends. They’re seeking emotional communion, Dr. Berger said.
“Emotion in general leads to transmission, and awe is quite a strong emotion,” he said. “If I’ve just read this story that changes the way I understand the world and myself, I want to talk to others about what it means. I want to proselytize and share the feeling of awe. If you read the article and feel the same emotion, it will bring us closer together.” (Go to nytimes.com/tierneylab to discuss your motives for e-mailing articles.)
The Penn researchers found evidence of readers’ sharing other emotions, too, like anxiety — which, based on the old “fear sells” theory of journalism, might be expected to be the most influential emotion on readers. But of all the variables studied, Dr. Berger said, awe had the strongest relationship with an article making the most-e-mailed list, and that finding strikes me as a high compliment to the Times audience.
In fact, Dear Reader, you could consider this new study to be firm scientific evidence of your own awesomeness. And if you want to share that feeling with anyone, you know what to do next.

Birthday Burpees!

2010-03-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

If you guys see Elliot Schrock today give him a birthday hug!

Coffee Is Generally Heart-Friendly
But it may be linked to a slight rise in high blood pressure, researchers say

By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter

(HealthDay News) -- Coffee drinkers can take heart from a series of studies presented this week at American Heart Association conferences in San Francisco.

For example, coffee drinkers appear to have a lower risk of hospitalization for abnormal heart rhythms. And there's no indication that having a few cups every day increases the risk of atherosclerosis, the thickening of blood vessel walls that can lead to heart attacks and other problems. What's more, something in coffee other than caffeine might be responsible for a reduced risk of diabetes for women who regularly imbibe java.

Not every report at the AHA's annual conferences on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention and Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism was totally upbeat for coffee lovers. One report did find a potential link between coffee drinking and high blood pressure, but the effect was described as "modest." And, like the other studies, it came hedged with the caveat that the finding wasn't based on a controlled trial -- the gold standard for assessing risk and benefit -- but from observational studies, which don't exclude all possible factors.

The heart rhythm research looked at the rate at which 130,054 members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program were hospitalized for heart rhythm disturbances. About 2 percent of them had hospital stays because of such abnormalities, the most common being atrial fibrillation. But the risk was 18 percent lower for those who reported drinking four or more cups of coffee a day, compared to those who didn't drink coffee, said Dr. Arthur Klatsky, a senior consultant in cardiology for the program, who led the study.

"It might be a surprise, because coffee does give some people the jitters," Klatsky said. "And I don't think we're ready to tell people they should drink coffee to prevent heart rhythm problems."

The study didn't offer any reason why coffee might reduce heart rhythm problems, Klatsky said. "It could be that coffee drinkers have better diets or exercise more. We can't say for sure that it might not be related to minor heart rhythm problems that don't require hospitalization."

The bottom line: "Coffee drinkers don't have to quit because they have heart rhythm problems," Klatsky said. "That's about as far as we can go."

Another study that has followed more than 3,000 men and women for 20 years found no association between coffee consumption and atherosclerosis for just about every demographic group -- men and women, blacks and whites, smokers and nonsmokers. Participants in the study included people whose coffee consumption ranged from none to more than four cups a day.

"Based on these data, there does not appear to be any substantial association between coffee drinking and increased or decreased odds of developing atherosclerosis or its progression over time," study leader Jared Reis, an epidemiologist with the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, said in a prepared statement.

The third study, based on a report from the long-running Women's Health Study, provided a possible explanation for a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes -- the kind that generally develops later in life -- among coffee drinkers. Researchers compared 359 post-menopausal women newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and 359 women without the disease. They found that women who drank four or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day had a 56 percent lower risk of developing the condition than those who did not drink coffee.

That reduced risk appears to be due to the effects of caffeine on a protein that binds to sex hormones, said Dr. Atsushi Goto, of the University of California, Los Angeles, who presented the report. But the finding is preliminary and requires further study, Goto added.

The report linking consumption of one to three cups of coffee a day with a slightly increased risk of high blood pressure came from Dr. Liwei Chen, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Louisiana State University School of Public Health, using data from six studies that included more than 172,000 participants.

"Based on our results, long-term coffee drinking might be a risk factor for hypertension, but the effect is very moderate," Chen said. "We definitely need more research and evidence to clarify our findings based on the meta-analysis of published prospective studies. Meanwhile, I think it is important for people to consider lowering their coffee drinking if they are concerned about their blood pressure."

moderation is the key I suppose...I know with me personally that I have a very finite threshold when it comes to the caffeine in coffee. Once I step over that threshold I become extremely irritated and my energy level becomes very erratic... Not GOOD. So for me I have to cycle it in and out, i will drink coffee 2-3 days in a row, then avoid it for a month at a time and drink tea instead.

back to work...I will post my wods once I complete them, unsure what it is I'm doing today, but it will be multiple wods since I took the weekend off! get some!

SNATCH IT..postponed till Monday, off to the farm for some church time!

2010-03-20T02:00:00.000-07:00

Was going to rest but have decided against it.... the snatch is a weakness that I need to address! I will start addressing it now! Possible rain delay...my front porch is extremely slippery when it rains, will postpone till tomorrow if the rain doesn't stop soon. I will have to Double up my workouts tomorrow.

Power Snatch 3 RM
then...

Complete 5 rounds:
3 Snatch Pulls
3 Power Snatches
3 Snatch Push Press

*Perform at 75% of 3 RM Power Snatch
Rest 120 seconds between sets.

Day 4

2010-03-19T05:55:00.000-07:00

Wod 1:
Perform 2 Power Cleans and 2 Strict Chin Ups on the minute for 15 minutes.
*Complete Power Cleans around 87% of 1 RM 205#
*For every rep not completed, perform 1 burpee No failed reps

Last Year's Group who competed in regionals

Wod 2:
warm up
Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes do 5 push-ups and 5 Back squats @ body weight
did 5 minutes to keep my legs fresh for this wod....
the wod is from the south european sectionals
WOD
Event 2 "The Italian Job" 8:43
5 Rounds for time of:
4 Hang Power Cleans (60/30kg)
8 Kettlebell Swing (32/16kg)
12 Toes-to-Bar

CrossFit and Cross Training

March 12th, 2010
· by admin · Filed Under: Articles · Calendar · Strength Building · Success · Underground Strength Show · Videos · muscle building

Lots of people HATE CrossFit.
Of course, it’s f**ing HARD workouts. Period.
For my athletes I follow a system. A system of training is required to consistently get them stronger, more explosive, adding more muscle and improving their skill at the lifts as well. CrossFit is implemented into our conditioning work.
CrossFit in lifting / movement / training is similar in philosophy to why I always tell my athletes to Cross Train in other sports to make them MORE athletic in their sport of focus.
For example, I ALWAYS tell my Wrestlers and Football players to train in Judo for a few months out of the year.
I can explain WHY, but instead, I want you to see a high school wrestler who is also a Judoka. He is F**ing deadly. Watch Below…

I am BIG Time impressed with Derek Wojcik, a Judoka and wrestler from Georgia.

The Overseas athletes ALL crosstrained in various sports and various lifting / training methods. The Olympic Weightlifters from the 1970’s looked like a Hybrid of a Gymnast – Wrestler. Very lean, very muscular, extremely strong, extremely explosive and ALSO highly conditioned.

My Football players play a lot of Basketball as it improves their speed, power, agility and overall conditioning.

The athlete who never rotates new movements, methods or sports into his / her repertoire will be more likely to get overuse injuries or achieve physical / psychological burn out before the athlete who is more well rounded, exposed to more sports yet still focuses on 1 or 2 main sports.

Drop a comment, let me know your thoughts.

–Z–

I Love My Sobriety Day 3

2010-03-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

St. Patty's day has come and gone as well as my lethargic demeanor...wow! Last night was a blast, but I'm glad it's over. Not having anything to drink for almost 3 months finally left a lasting impression on me... i guess better late then never! back to business!

My Wod:
Find my 1RM on cleans 250# PR

1 ROUND 23min
100 DoubleUnders
15 Muscle Ups
25 GHD situps
25 Back Extensions
15 HSPU (as many strict, then kip to keep moving 11 strict/4 kip)
15 OHS @ 135#
Row 500m
Run 400m

Such Passion

“I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love.” Ephesians 3:18

From the cradle in Bethlehem to the cross in Jerusalem we’ve pondered the love of our Father. What can you say to that kind of emotion? Upon learning that God would rather die than live without you, how do you react? How can you begin to explain such passion?

Day 2

2010-03-17T06:06:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

SWOD/ SKILL:
NORCAL WOD 1: 800m Run max OHS @115# in 6min. 28 total reps, not great but to be expected with very little warmup

DWOD 1:

Complete 5 rounds of: 10:30
1 Press 90% of 1 RM 150#
1 Strict Pull Up
1 Press 90% of 1 RM 150#
3 Strict Pull Ups
1 Press 90% of 1 RM 150#
5 Strict Pull Ups

10 min rest

DWOD 2: 6:30
Dumb Fran
21-15-9
50# db thrusters
chin ups

A Purposeful Life May Stave Off Alzheimer's

Feeling good about yourself can lower your risk more than twofold, study suggests

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

(HealthDay News) -- People who say their lives have a purpose are less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease or its precursor, mild cognitive impairment, a new study suggests.

As the population ages and dementia becomes a more frequent diagnosis, there's increasing impetus to determine the causes of the disease, associated risk factors and how to prevent it, explained study co-author Dr. Aron S. Buchman, an associate professor in the department of neurological sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

"There has been a lot of interest in psychosocial factors and their association with cognitive decline and dementia in later life," he said.

The study looked at the positive aspects of life and their possible effect on keeping dementia at bay, "looking at happiness, purposefulness in life, well-being and whether those kind of concepts are associated with a decreased risk of dementia," Buchman explained.

For the study, published in the March issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, Buchman and his colleagues collected data on 951 older people without dementia who participated in the Rush Memory and Aging Project. The participants were asked to respond to statements such as: "I feel good when I think of what I have done in the past and what I hope to do in the future," and "I have a sense of direction and purpose in life."

After an average four years of follow-up, 16.3 percent of the people in the study developed Alzheimer's disease. Taking into account other factors that could account for Alzheimer's, the researchers found that people who responded most positively to statements about their lives were the least likely to develop the condition. Also, people who said they had more purposeful lives were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment and had a slower rate of cognitive decline.

People who scored 4.2 out of 5 on the purpose-in-life measure were about 2.4 times less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, compared with people who scored 3.0, the study found.

It's not known whether there is a biological reason for this finding, the researchers noted.

"One possibility is that, truly, somebody with high purpose in life might have a lower risk of developing dementia because of what's involved in purpose in life," Buchman said.

"The importance of the study," he added, "is this doesn't prove anything, but it points researchers in the direction of a link between purpose in life and cognition in late life. And now we have to find out what the biological basis is."

Still, the researchers think these findings could have implications for public health.

"More social activity, more physical activity, higher cognitive activities, high purpose in life -- all these psychosocial factors seem to be linked with longer life, decreased mortality, decreased disability and provide important clues to a public health approach to try to increase independence in older people in later life," Buchman said.

Greg M. Cole, a neuroscientist at the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System, wondered if the study is really measuring depression, not a purposeful life.

"I am unclear about how low scores on the purpose-in-life measures can be separated from mild depression," Cole said. "Depression has been repeatedly associated with increased Alzheimer's disease risk. So psychiatrists can make a distinction, but they seem likely closely related."

"One wonders whether this is a treatable psychiatric condition contributing to risk or an early symptom of decline," he added.

William H. Thies, chief medical and scientific officer at the Alzheimer's Association, said the new study "contributes to the literature that says there is a linkage between behavior and disease."

The study begs the question whether there is more Alzheimer's disease because more people have a lower sense of purpose, or is a lower sense of purpose an early, subtle, sign of dementia, he said.

"As we get better and better at having biological measures of the disease, we will shed a lot of light on these kinds of studies and whether these behaviors are simply a symptom or they are a place where you can intervene," Thies said.

Regional

2010-03-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

It seems like yesterday we were throwing down at Hell's Half Acre...and now 11 weeks from now I will be competing again for a chance to represent the South in the 2010 Crossfit Games....60 men and 60 women competing for 8 spots (4m/4w). It is going to be intense, and I promise you this, if you have a weakness it will be EXPOSED. I don't have any weaknesses, because I'm CONSTANTLY IMPROVING. Today is day 1 for Regional training...booyah!

My SWOD:

Complete 3 sets of:
10 Rep Squat (5 RM) 245# first 2 sets broken, last set unbroken PR!
*Use your 5 RM squat for this workout.
*Perform as many reps as possible...put the bar in the rack..rest..do another rep and continue till you get 10 total reps.
*Rest 3 mins between sets

Power Clean 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 worked my way up to 215

My DWOD:

Complete 7 rounds: 60, 58, 56, 45, 45, 60, 30 seconds. 2nd to last set close/ last set wide hands
Handstand Holds for maximum time
10 Supine Ring Pull Ups
Post total time of 7 rounds of handstand holds

29 is the New 1

2010-03-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

Sectionals are over and now it's on to the next , next being the Regional at GSX in Ft. Worth Texas. My goal was to qualify. Not once did I actually target an actual number.."just make it into the top 30"... was all I really said to myself or anyone who asked how I thought I might do. Since I qualified, I have bought myself an additional 8+ weeks of CFFB programming. As well as working on my weaknesses, ex.. HSPU, and Oly lifts. I have a rower at my house now as well as some new bumper plates and barbells. I need to continue practicing my DU's, KB work. I have 4 KB's that live on my front porch, no more neglecting them. Thank God I have familiarity with them or I would have been screwed this weekend. So when I say 29 is the new 1, my goal is to qualify for the games, plain and simple.

My WOD today is to chill out.... for the next week cleanse myself of all Advocare Performance Supplements. I did consume a few beers yesterday, my first in over 2 months.... time to start a new streak of avoiding alcohol. None until after the Regional Qualifier.

I Will ACT NOW Part 2

2010-03-14T04:39:00.000-07:00

Light Weight Baby!

"I will act now, I will act now, I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids. With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. I will act now. I will repeat these words again and again and again. I will walk where failures fear to walk. i will work when failures seek rest. I will act now for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the Labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the Person."

-Og Mandino

Light Weight Baby!

Let the Sectionals Begin.....I am the praying mantis!

St. Patrick's Breastplate

2010-03-12T04:03:00.000-08:00

Here is another version of St. Patrick's Breastplate....

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Chacarron!

2010-03-11T04:19:00.000-08:00

but when it's GO TIME......FLIP THE SWITCH!

Home Grown Part 2

2010-03-10T04:41:00.000-08:00

Savannah Grace holding a baby carrot from last years garden. I have since doubled the size of it and can't wait to start planting....(March 23-34th, the farmer's almanac suggested dates to plant seeds.)

the below article is from: http://livability.com/cities/global/home-garden/4-healthy-benefits-eating-garden-fresh-produce

4 Healthy Benefits of Eating Garden-Fresh Produce

Did you know the average American eats only one to two servings of vegetables per day, around five times below the recommended amount? To maintain proper health, men should eat up to nine servings per day, while women are encouraged to have at least seven daily servings. And it's the veggie's unique phytochemicals that promote our good health.

1. More Servings, More Benefits
Eating fresh fruits and vegetables every day is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Research continues to show that many essential nutrients in fresh produce may protect you from cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, and they also give you more energy, help reduce weight gain and may even reduce the effects of aging.

2. Mighty Phytochemicals
Phytochemicals are powerful food factors that elicit profound effects on human health maintenance and disease prevention. Usually related to plant pigments, they are the reason we promote eating your colors. Yellow, orange, red, green and purple fruits and vegetables generally contain the most phytochemicals, with more than 900 found in plant foods.

3. Keep It Crunchy
Once you cook produce, you quickly lose the beneficial qualities. If you want to cook your veggies lightly sauté or steam them - you want to keep them crispy and crunchy. Once veggies lose their crunch, they have also lost their nutritional value.

4. Growing Inspires Eating
Gardening not only provides you with fresh fruits and vegetables, it also encourages you to eat them. Once you are blessed with a bushel basket of tomatoes, you will have newfound interest in finding recipes for tomatoes.
What's more, picking fresh produce from your garden is a great way to get children to eat fruits and vegetables. It IS fun for them to pick their own lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers - and then eat them.

Priming The Engine!

2010-03-09T19:17:00.000-08:00

we live a privileged life, never forget that

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND 
words and music by Woody Guthrie
Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

As I was walkin'  -  I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side  .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.

Chorus (2x)

Burning Desire

2010-03-08T13:47:00.000-08:00

“Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.”
Napoleon Hill

You want to be real, you want to be empty inside
You want to be someone laying down your pride
You want to be someone someday
Then lay it all down before the king

You want to be whole, you want to have purpose inside
You want to have virtue and purify your mind

You want to be set free today
Then lay it all down before the King

This is my desire, this is my return
This is my desire to be used by You

You want to be real, you want to be emptied inside
And I know my heart is to feel You near
And I know my life
It's to do Your will
It's to do Your will

This is my desire, this is my return
This is my desire, to be used by You
Oo yea
This is my desire, this is my desire
To be used by You

All my life I have seen
Where You've taken me
Beyond all I have hoped
And there's more left unseen

There's not much I can do to repay all You've done
So I give my hands to use

This is my desire, this is my return
This is my desire, to be used by You
Oo yea
This is my desire, this is my desire
To be used by You

Constantly Improving

2010-03-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

Sunday Funday....as well as a Much Needed REST day! A quick recap of the last few months for me in my growth as man, husband, father, and competitor:

Back on January 8th of this year, I had coming to so to speak with reality. As I was reflecting back on my life and as well as my current state it was quite obvious to me that I was 'floating' through life. I was a so so man, husband, father, and competitor. Did just enough that it looked as though I was putting the effort that needed to be put in whatever role I was in at the time.   That wasn't fair to my wife and kids, nor was it fair to my God. We are given every opportunity to become great....in all aspects of life. Why wasn't I trying to be great? It had my stomach so twisted I wasn't able to sleep or eat worth a damn for about a week. So I meditated every night for an answer on what it was I needed to do. By the time Thursday the 14th rolled around it had come to me what it was I needed to do... it wasn't rocket science, it was to give 100% of myself up to my God, my wife , my kids, and my competitiveness.

When I say my God, I mean everything around me & in me... everything. i needed to start praying/ meditating every night before I went to bed, drop to my knees like I used to. meditate during the day, before I eat, before I workout...anytime I feel overwhelmed.... and in the last few months I haven't missed many opportunities to meditate/ pray. and in return I haven't had this kind of clarity in sometime!

As for my wife, she is an amazing woman who deserves the best support team possible. She works cray amount of hours, travels as much as she works. Is constantly figuring out ways to pull in an income to support our family. Plain and simple she is a work-horse! She deserves to be treated like a queen, which I wasn't doing. not that I treated her poorly, but I wasn't extremely supportive of her workload. I understand now that for our family to achieve some of the fiscal goals that we have I have to support her with 100% of my being, and I have! and the rewards have been abundant!

As for Savannah and Stone, they are my world....but I wasn't be the dad I know I could be. Losing my cool more often then not, not giving them the attention that they STARVE for, not being a better teacher for them, being quite pathetic actually. When I say kids starve for attention, I mean it. My kids demand it..they need it to grow, and as draining as it is, I give it to them almost 100% of the time.   I still zone them out on occasion... I never said I was perfect ; 0.

Last but but not least, my competitive side. I was an outstanding 2 sport high school athlete. Achieving many rewards/ accomplishments on God given abilities. When college came around I had the opportunity to play both football and soccer at 2 different schools. But as I got in to college my mindset changed, I started to party more, and I lost the will to compete... it didn't matter to me anymore! i never thought their would be a day I would stop playing soccer, my first true passion/ love! Then when I was introduced to crossfit, it sparked something in me to want to compete again, to be an athlete again. Until recently, I still hadn't committed myself 100% to Crossfit....meaning eating appropriately, getting proper sleep, avoiding alcohol, following a program....CONSTANTLY IMPROVING myself.

I can honestly say that I AM on The right Track!

The Words I Manifest

2010-03-06T13:54:00.000-08:00

Afternoon Nap Might Make You Smarter
Snoozing refreshes the brain's capacity to learn, study finds

By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter

(HealthDay News) -- Want to ace that next test? Try taking a mid-afternoon siesta.

While the findings are preliminary, new research raises the prospect that sleep, specifically a lengthy afternoon nap, prepares the brain to remember things. Think of it as similar to rebooting a computer to get it to work more smoothly.

"Sleep is not just for the body. It's very much for the brain," said study author Matthew Walker, an assistant professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

Walker and colleagues divided 39 young adults into two groups. At noon, all the participants took part in a memory exercise that required them to remember faces and link them with names. Then the researchers took part in another memory exercise at 6 p.m., after 20 had napped for 100 minutes during the break.

Those who remained awake performed about 10 percent worse on the tests than those who napped, Walker said.

There's one more twist: People's ability to learn declines about 10 percent between noon and 6 p.m. normally, but the nappers were able to negate that decline.

The structure of the study suggests that a phase of non-dreaming sleep that the nappers went through is boosting memory, he said.

"This is further evidence that sleep plays a critical role in the processing of memories," he said. "It provides more evidence that it's not just important to sleep after learning, but you need it before learning to prepare the brain for laying down information."

But it's important to sleep long enough to give the brain an opportunity to go through various cycles of sleep, he said. Using electroencephalogram tests to track electrical activity in the brain, the researchers determined that memory-refreshing seems to occur between deep sleep and the dream state, called rapid eye movement or REM.

"The brain's ability to soak up information is not always stable," Walker said. "It seems as though the brain's capacity may be a little like a sponge. It may get waterlogged with continued learning throughout the day."

Jessica Payne, an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame, said the study findings "really add to something we already know about why sleep is important."

One message from the research, she said, is that sleep can be valuable for "students and for people who are struggling with their memory because they're aging."

Other recent research has suggested that sleep can help you think more creatively, have better long-term memory and preserve important memories.

The study findings were scheduled to be presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science in San Diego.

this explains why uncle zachy is such a sharp guy... ; )

My WOD: I AM Crossfit 6:27, pr by 50 seconds
3 Rds
400m run
15 Pullups
7 HPC @135
by the way I wrote down 6:30 as my time in my journal prior to the workout....hmmm.

The Words I Manifest!

Snake Oil

2010-03-05T18:48:00.000-08:00

Which supplements really work? An interactive guide to evidence

By Maggie Koerth-Baker at 7:30 AM February 25, 2010

BoingBoing isn't the only place trying out new design ideas today. Information is Beautiful has given us an exclusive preview of a new interactive infographic, designed to make it easy for anybody to parse the data on dietary supplements.
Each bubble represents a specific use—or group of uses—for a dietary supplement. The bigger the bubble, the more popular the supplement is, as measured in Google hits. The higher on the chart, the more solid the evidence supporting that particular supplement for that particular use.
David from IiB reviewed nearly 1000 studies to put this baby together, using studies with large numbers of subjects or meta analysis of multiple studies whenever possible. You can read more about the methodology on the site. Great work!
Still image version also available.

My WOD 2.04.10

SWOD:
Shoulder Press 3-3-3-3-3-3-3 95, 95, 115, 125, 135, 135, 145x2
Bench 1-1-1-1-1 185, 215, 225, 235, 245 pr

DWOD 1: 6:50
5Rds
7dl @225 11 Burpees 45# vest

5-7min rest

DWOD 2: 3:40
5Rds
3 Front Squat @185
5 Ring Dips
7 K t E

My WOD today: 9:53
21-15-9
Row Calories
225lb dl
135lb OHS

Lyrics :
Big City Life,
Me try fi get by,
Pressure nah ease up no matter how hard me try.
Big City Life,
Here my heart have no base,
And right now Babylon de pon me case.

Big City Life,
Me try fi get by,
Pressure nah ease up no matter how hard me try.
Big City Life,
Here my heart have no base,
And right now Babylon de pon me case.

People in a show,
All lined in a row.
We just push on by,
Its funny,
How hard we try.

Take a moment to relax.
Before you do anything rash.

Dont you wanna know me?,
Be a friend of mine.
Ill share some wisdom with you.
Dont you ever get lonely,
From time to time
Dont let the system get you down

Big City Life,
Me try fi get by,
Pressure nah ease up no matter how hard me try.
Big City Life,
Here my heart have no base,
And right now Babylon de pon me case.

Big City Life,
Me try fi get by,
Pressure nah ease up no matter how hard me try.
Big City Life,
Here my heart have no base,
And right now Babylon de pon me case.

Soon our work is done,
All of us one by one.
Still we live our lives,
As if all this stuff survives.

Dont you wanna know me?,
Be a friend of mine.
Ill share some wisdom with you.
Dont you ever get lonely,
From time to time
Dont let the system get you down

Bridge.
The Linguist across the seas and the oceans,
A permanent Itinerant is what I've chosen.
I find myself in Big City prison, arisen from the vision of man kind.
Designed, to keep me discreetly neatly in the corner, youll find me with the flora and the fauna and the hardship.
Back a yard is where my heart is still I find it hard to depart this Big City Life.

Big City Life,
Me try fi get by,
Pressure nah ease up no matter how hard me try.
Big City Life,
Here my heart have no base,
And right now Babylon de pon me case. ... SUB

$8.09

2010-03-04T09:28:00.000-08:00

$8.09

That magical number is what it costs the Kepler's to eat at every meal...all four of us! This past week I finally broke it down and wrote a detailed shopping list. In doing so I had to determine where I needed to go to complete my grocery list. Here is the Breakdown:

Natural Grocers on Guadalupe: $88 (all produce form Natural Grocers is organic, with some of it being local)
7 lbs of Bison meat
1 lb of Bison uncured franks
1 carton of omega-3 eggs
3 lbs of Onions
3 lbs of Broccoli
1 box Yerba Mate tea
1 lb of Walnuts
5 lbs of Carrots
1 lb of Kale
3 lbs of Apples
2 heads of Romaine Lettuce
1 lb of Oranges

Whole Foods North: $50
2 lbs of WILD Salmon..key word is wild, never buy farm raised no matter how organic they sat it is!
2 lbs of cauliflower
3 lbs of bananas
2 boxes of Spinach
1 lb of grapes

Farmers Market at the Triangle: $32
2 cartons of "actual free range eggs!'
1 whole Chicken (3lbs)
2 lbs of Pork Sausage

On Tuesday I was able to hit up the Natural Grocer and Whole Foods... then the Farmers Market on Wednesday. Now more then ever when I hear people say "it's too expensive to eat healthy", I can honestly say you are full of sh*t. You are just too lazy to make a concerted effort to eat healthy.

Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.
Henry Ford

Basically, we as humans have the freedom of choice.....what do you choose to do about your health?

Rest Day

2010-03-03T00:52:00.000-08:00

Gestures or Words? To the Brain, It's the Same
Research offers insights into how people process communication

By Jamie Talan
HealthDay Reporter

(HealthDay News) -- Humans speak; therefore, they're special.

At least that's what evolutionary language theorists would have people believe. Spoken language, they contend, is unique to the human brain, and that sets people apart from other primates.

But new research, co-authored by Patrick J. Gannon, a physical anthropologist and chairman of basic science education at Hofstra University School of Medicine, suggests that the brain doesn't really care how it receives information. A waving hand up in the air to summon a waiter for "check please" works just fine. The language areas of the brain -- the highly evolved frontal and temporal lobes -- process simple gestures with the same snippet of tissue that's used to hear the prose of Shakespeare, according to Gannon's study.

"It doesn't matter to the brain what channel the information comes in on or goes out," said Gannon, who is also an evolutionary neurobiologist.

A decade ago, he and his colleagues showed that great apes have the same brain architecture necessary for language as humans have. That surprised many at the time, despite whole fields of research showing that great apes can learn to understand complex human language. But the very fact that modern primates -- chimps, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans -- don't banter back and forth verbally was evidence to many language theorists that humans had evolved a more finely tuned brain.

Gannon wanted to challenge the theory with scientific proof that gestures convey the same complex messages as verbal language, and that the brain processes both forms of communication the same way.

Working with Dr. Allen R. Braun, chief of the language section at the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, Gannon designed an experiment to watch the brain as it responds to spoken language and to common symbolic gestures -- putting a finger to the lips to quiet kids or denoting peace with forked fingers.

They recruited 20 English-speaking volunteers, a mix of men and women, to watch video clips of an actress gesturing or speaking the phrases that the gestures indicate. An MRI brain scan snapped pictures of the brain responding to the two seemingly different forms of communication. For comparison, the volunteers also watched clips of meaningless hand and arm movements and a jumble of half-words that made no sense.

The goal was to see what areas of the brain were used during these different forms of communication.

What they found was that it was the same neural tissue. The experiments revealed that the frontal and posterior temporal areas were activated under both conditions, what the researchers describe as compelling proof that the brain can receive information in any form -- a gesture, a picture, words on a page, a sound or an object -- and that these regions of the brain will process it. The findings were published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"We support multi-sensory integration," Gannon said. "There is nothing special about auditory or spoken language. This tells us about the evolutionary depth of our common system and that gestures were the beginning of language."

Not all agree, though, with many language theorists holding fast to the idea that spoken language evolved independently of gestures. To counter that, Gannon asked: "Why would a part of the brain do the same thing regardless of the type of information it receives?"

It makes perfect sense, said William D. Hopkins, an associate professor of psychology at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga., and a research scientist at Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta. "The whole system is linked to pairing symbolic information to referential information in the environment," he said. "It is interesting. These areas are there to help make connections."

The finding "evens the playing field when thinking about the development of language," Hopkins said. "The brain is not making a distinction between gestures and verbal language. It's possible that speech co-opted the neural networks that underlie gestures."

Hopkins and his colleagues, who study the evolution of gesturing in chimps, have found that chimps, like humans, have a preference for using their right hand. In chimps, this right-handedness is obvious only when they're communicating information to either another chimp or a human. And brain scans of the chimps, taken when they were using their right hand to communicate, identified activation of the same regions that Gannon's research identified.

The implications of all this? Some experts say that Gannon's finding could help researchers and clinicians understand and treat brain conditions such as aphasia, which wipes out people's ability to comprehend information and express themselves verbally, and autism, which involves a complex array of language-based problems. Others think it might be possible to strengthen these brain connections or open new doors for communication with gestures.

My WOD: Dental Work...... next time you see me I might look a little bit different!

Keep Guru in your thoughts and prayers......

Bring On The Shots, Shots, Shots..

2010-03-02T04:14:00.000-08:00

Norway conquers infections by cutting use of antibiotics

The best way to cut down on infections is to reduce antibiotic use, Norway finds... BY MARTHA MENDOZA AND MARGIE MASON

OSLO, Norway -- Aker University Hospital is a dingy place to heal. The floors are streaked and scratched. A light layer of dust coats the blood pressure monitors. A faint stench of urine and bleach wafts from a pile of soiled bedsheets dropped in a corner.
Look closer, however, at a microscopic level, and this place is pristine. There is no sign of a dangerous and contagious staph infection that killed tens of thousands of patients in the most sophisticated hospitals of Europe, North America and Asia last year, soaring virtually unchecked.
The reason: Norwegians stopped taking so many drugs.
Twenty-five years ago, Norwegians were also losing their lives to this bacteria. But Norway's public health system fought back with an aggressive program that made it the most infection-free country in the world. A key part of that program was cutting back severely on the use of antibiotics.
Now a spate of new studies from around the world prove that Norway's model can be replicated with extraordinary success, and public health experts are saying these deaths -- 19,000 in the U.S. each year alone, more than from AIDS -- are unnecessary.
``It's a very sad situation that in some places so many are dying from this, because we have shown here in Norway that Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] can be controlled, and with not too much effort,'' said Jan Hendrik-Binder, Oslo's MRSA medical advisor. ``But you have to take it seriously, you have to give it attention and you must not give up.''
The World Health Organization says antibiotic resistance is one of the leading public health threats on the planet. A six-month investigation by The Associated Press found overuse and misuse of medicines has led to mutations in once curable diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, making them harder and in some cases impossible to treat.
Now, in Norway's simple solution, there's a glimmer of hope.
ANTIBIOTICS MISSING
Dr. John Birger Haug shuffles down Aker's scuffed corridors, patting the pocket of his baggy white scrubs. ``My bible,'' the infectious disease specialist says, pulling out a little red Antibiotic Guide that details this country's impressive MRSA solution.
It's what's missing from this book -- an array of antibiotics -- that makes it so remarkable.
``There are times I must show these golden rules to our doctors and tell them they cannot prescribe something, but our patients do not suffer more and our nation, as a result, is mostly infection free,'' he says.
Norway's model is surprisingly straightforward.
• Norwegian doctors prescribe fewer antibiotics than any other country, so people do not have a chance to develop resistance to them.
• Patients with MRSA are isolated and medical staff who test positive stay home.
• Doctors track each case of MRSA by its individual strain, interviewing patients about where they've been and who they've been with, testing anyone who has been in contact with them.
``We don't throw antibiotics at every person with a fever,'' says Haug. ``We tell them to hang on, wait and see, and we give them a Tylenol to feel better.''
U.S. REACTION
Dr. John Jernigan at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they incorporate some of Norway's solutions in varying degrees, and his agency ``requires hospitals to move the needle, to show improvement, and if they don't show improvement they need to do more.''
And if they don't?
``Nobody is accountable to our recommendations,'' he said, ``but I assume hospitals and institutions are interested in doing the right thing.''
Around the world, various medical providers have successfully adapted Norway's program with encouraging results. A medical center in Billings, Mont., cut MRSA infections by 89 percent by increasing screening, isolating patients and making all staff -- not just doctors -- responsible for increasing hygiene.
In 2001, the CDC approached a Veterans Affairs hospital in Pittsburgh about conducting a small test program. It started in one unit, and within four years, the entire hospital was screening everyone who came through the door for MRSA. The result: an 80 percent decrease in MRSA infections.
The program has now been expanded to all 153 VA hospitals, resulting in a 50 percent drop in MRSA bloodstream infections, said Dr. Robert Muder, chief of infectious diseases at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.
``It's kind of a no-brainer,'' he said. ``You save people pain, you save people the work of taking care of them, you save money, you save lives and you can export what you learn to other hospital-acquired infections.''
``So, how do you pay for it?'' Muder asked. ``Well, we just don't pay for MRSA infections, that's all.''

SWOD: Deadlift 5 RM stopped at 345, running short on time

DWOD: Time: 14:40
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. 1 reps of:
Power Cleans
Strict Pull Ups
*Perform Power Cleans at 75% of 1 RM 185#

How Special Do You Think You Are?

2010-03-01T10:34:00.000-08:00

My WOD: "War Frank"
3 Rds
25Mu
100 squats
35 GHD situps

47mins....wow.

A shout out to ES, who killed it with a blazing time of 31minutes. MU's are getting stronger....but i still have a lot of room for improvement!

Sunday Funday

2010-02-28T02:23:00.000-08:00

Jim Boeheim is the man, a true teacher of the game!

One of my favorite "lazy hobbies" is to watch college basketball, especially if my favorite team is playing....The Syracuse Orangemen(currently ranked #4 in the nation). Last night they whipped up on Villanova Wildcats (#8 in the nation) 95-77, in front of a record crowd of 34,616! None of the kids on Syracuse were even in the top 100 recruiting lists coming out as seniors in high school, and after this weekend because of the upsets to the #1 and #2 teams, Syracuse will probably leap over Purdue (#3) and be ranked #1 in the nation. Quite remarkable considering none of the kids where highly recruited. In the 25+ years of watching Syracuse they are by far the best TEAM I have ever seen at the Cuse. Having Superstars are great and all but give me the 7 "starters" the Cuse have any day over the ONE and done kids that come through college! Hats off to Coach Boeheim this year. One of the most UNDERRATED Coaches of all-time. And to think this man has over 800 career victories and 30 plus years with 20 or more wins, truly remarkable how much he gets out of his kids....

My WOD: will be resting, then hitting it hard starting on Monday. Peace

lifting heavy

2010-02-27T02:29:00.000-08:00

Are You Lifting Enough Weight?

If you lift weights, have you ever wondered whether you're doing it right? Specifically, are you lifting enough weight? According to a study done by the University of Michigan, many of us aren't. Researchers took beginners (both men and women) through a series of moves, allowing them to choose their own weight. After assessing their 1 rep max (the general standard for choosing weight), they determined that most chose a weight well below what was needed to stimulate muscle growth.
Are you guilty of going too light? If so, you may not be seeing the results you'd like. Learn more about why lifting heavier weights could change your entire body.
Why Lifting Heavy is the Key to Weight Loss
You know that losing fat involves increasing your metabolism. What you may not know is that muscle plays a huge role in raising metabolism. A pound of muscle burns about 10-20 calories a day while a pound of fat burns 5 calories. That means any growth in your muscle tissue is going to help you burn more calories all day long. In fact, strength training has all kinds of great effects on your body like:

Increasing resting metabolic rate so you burn more calories, even while at rest.
Making you lean and slim--muscle takes up less space than fat so, the more you have, the slimmer you are
Strengthening bones and connective tissue, which can protect your body from injuries in daily life
Enhancing balance and stability
Building confidence and self-esteem

However...this only works if you're using enough weight to stimulate that muscle growth. In other words, if you can lift the weights you've chosen (for most exercises) more than 16-20 times, you might not see the kind of fat loss you would if you increased your weight.
So, why don't we lift more weight? For some, lifting weights is scary, especially if you've never done it before. The machines...the dumbbells...the people who seem to know what they're doing...it's enough to make anyone skip weights altogether. Aside from that, there are other fears that invade our minds, such as:

It feels weird. The goal of weight training, if you didn't know, is to lift as much weight as you possibly can (with good form!) for the number of reps you've chosen. In daily life, we typically don't push ourselves to fatigue in anything we do, so this idea may not only feel foreign, it may feel downright miserable. That's one reason it's best for beginners to gradually work towards that.
Fear of injury. Because our muscles burn when we challenge them with resistance, people often feel they're injuring themselves when they lift. And injury can be a real fear for beginners since injury can occur if you max out before your body is ready for it. Taking it slow while still challenging your body will help protect you from injury.
Confusion. When you haven't lifted weights before, you may not know what's too heavy and what's too light. It may take some time to get a feel for your body and what it can handle.
Fear of getting bulky. There's still a tired old myth running around that men should lift heavy and women should lift light to avoid getting big and bulky. Women hear this: Lifting heavy weights will NOT make you huge--you simply don't have the testosterone levels to build big muscles. Lifting heavy weights WILL help you lose fat.
Fear of pain. The other thing about lifting weights is the psychological factor. The discomfort level associated with training to fatigue is pretty high...if you haven't lifted weights before, you may not be able to overcome that discomfort enough to lift as heavy as you're capable of. Again, this is one reason it's best to err on the side of caution (if you need to), while always working towards more challenge and more weight.

These fears often keep people lifting the same amount of weight for weeks, months or even years. Most of these fears are unfounded, if you take time to ease into a weight training program and work (slowly) towards the muscle fatigue that will make your muscles grow.

From: About.com

Rest Day......will pick up Sunday evening with a run at town lake......

Zen Master

2010-02-25T18:12:00.000-08:00

Zen meditation raises pain threshold - FACT

article was taken off Digg.com, unsure of the author...

ZEN meditation helps lower sensitivity to pain by thickening a part of the brain that regulates emotion and painful sensations, according to a Montreal study published yesterday.

University of Montreal researchers compared the grey matter thickness of 17 Zen meditators and 18 non-meditators and found evidence that practising the centuries-old discipline can reinforce a central part of the brain called the anterior cingulate.
"Through training, Zen meditators appear to thicken certain areas of their cortex and this appears to underlie their lower sensitivity to pain," lead author Joshua Grant said.
Building on an earlier study, the researchers measured thermal pain sensitivity by applying a heated plate to the calf of participants.
This was followed by scanning the brains of subjects with structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The MRI results showed central brain regions that regulate emotion and pain were significantly thicker in meditators compared with non-meditators.

"The often painful posture associated with Zen meditation may lead to thicker cortex and lower pain sensitivity," Mr Grant said.
The study was published in a special issue of the American Psychological Association journal, Emotion.
In the previous study, the researchers recruited Zen meditators with more than 1000 hours of practice and non-meditators and measured their respective tolerance to pain.
Several of the meditators tolerated a maximum 53C produced by a heating plate.
They appeared to further reduce their pain partly through slower breathing: 12 breaths per minute versus an average of 15 breaths for non-meditators.
"Slower breathing certainly coincided with reduced pain and may influence pain by keeping the body in a relaxed state," Mr Grant said in the earlier study.
Ultimately, Zen meditators experience an 18 per cent reduction in pain sensitivity, according to the original study.

pic from Jt and Lisa wedding....Double Trouble!

DWOD #1: Time 11:40

Regional WOD 09' time in 09': 12:08

3rds of:

10 c/j @155

500m row

15min rest

DWOD #2: 3:40

08' Games Deadlift Burpee Time: 4:20

5 rounds

275# deadlift x 5

Burpees x 10

Spring is in the air......

Power and Energy

2010-02-24T04:39:00.000-08:00

Cocoa and Coconut Snacks

Professional endurance athlete Jonas Colting knows a little bit about tapping into his own power and energy. Most of us don’t push our bodies to the limit in the same way an endurance athlete does. For some of us, just getting through a regular day at the office is a test of endurance. Still, power and energy are attractive qualities. Which is probably why a marketing genius attached these terms to almost every product in the constantly expanding protein bar aisle at the grocery store. Energy Bar. Power Bar. Whatever you call it, they often aren’t very healthy and won’t supply you with any enduring power or energy.

Jonas’ solution was to make his own protein-packed snack using whole, healthy ingredients. He doesn’t provide exact measurements for Colting’s Cocoa and Coconut Snacks – this is one of those “throw everything together” recipes that make cooking easy and fun. In fact, we think Jonas’ advice for this recipe is a good motto for all cooking endeavors: “Experiment to find your perfect mix of taste and texture. It really doesn’t matter, it’s all good and healthy!”

Seriously, you can’t get this one wrong. Any way you make them, Colting’s Cocoa and Coconut Snacks are better, in terms of both taste and nutrients, than most store bought energy bars out there. The texture is rich and crumbly, not unnaturally gooey and chewy. The flavor is intensely nutty and a little savory with a hint of sweetness. Each one of these little balls packs in loads of protein and fats. Unlike store bought energy bars, the ingredient list is short and simple, and can be modified to your own taste. Use more ground coffee or none at all. Try dark chocolate chips instead of cocoa powder. Cut back on one type of nut and add more of another. Use more shredded coconut, or less. Part of the fun is coming up with your own perfect blend.

As a general guideline for your first batch, using a 1/2 cup of each nut will yield more than a dozen little balls. Dates add the sweetness but also help hold the balls together so if you can’t get the paste to hold its shape, try adding a few more. Coconut oil also helps with this. If you don’t have the patience to roll a dozen or more little balls, simply spread the paste out evenly in a baking pan and sprinkle with coconut. Whether you eat them as balls or bars, Colting’s Cocoa and Coconut Snacks are a good solution to afternoon hunger pangs. They can even satisfy a craving for dessert – Jonas sometimes enjoys them with an espresso, which sounds quite civilized and delicious.

Try out his recipe for Colting’s Cocoa and Coconut Snacks this week and check back next week for more on how Jonas lives Primal while training as a triathlete.

Ingredients:

We’ve included measurements to get you started, but as mentioned above, these ingredients can be used in any amounts.

1/2 cup each:

Almonds
Walnuts
Pecan nuts
Hazel nuts
Pumpkin seeds
3-6 dates
2-4 tablespoons virgin coconut oil

To taste:

Unsweetened cocoa powder
Freshly ground coffee
Shredded coconut

Instructions:

Run the nuts and pumpkin seeds in a food processor until ground into a fine flour.

Remove the nut flour and grind the dates and shredded coconut in the food processor until smooth.

Mix these ingredients together with coffee and cocoa powder according to taste.

Finally, add the coconut oil and mix it all together by hand. Roll the paste into small nibbly balls and sprinkle them in shredded coconut.

These snacks should be refrigerated to become firm.

My WOD:
Rolling Grace from the .COM 5min

SWOD: find 1rm OHS 195 (pr) 205 (pr) 215 fx2, first attempt was real close, get it next time.

The Union

2010-02-23T02:58:00.000-08:00

The Union: The Business Behind Getting High

Ever wonder what British Columbia’s most profitable industries are? Logging? Fishing? Tourism? Ever think to include marijuana? If you haven’t, think again. No longer a hobby for the stereotypical hippie culture of the ’60s, BC’s illegal marijuana trade industry has evolved into a seemingly unstoppable business giant, dubbed by those involved as ‘The Union’.

Commanding upwards of $7 billion Canadian annually, The Union’s roots stretch far and wide, directly and indirectly affecting all areas of our society. With 65% to 85% of all ‘BC Bud’ being exported to the United States, it’s clear that the BC marijuana trade has become an international issue with consequences that extend far beyond our borders. When there are record profits to be made, who are the players, and when do their motives become questionable?

Why is marijuana illegal? What health risks do we really face? Does prohabition work? What would happen if we taxed it? Medicine, paper, fuel, textiles, food, etc. Are we missing something here?

Follow filmmaker Adam Scorgie as he dives head first into Canada’s most socially acceptable illegal activity. Along the way, Adam demsytifies the underground market and brings to light how such a large industry can function while remaining illegal. By interviewing experts from around the globe, including growers, clippers, police officers, criminalogists, economists, psychologists, medical doctors, politicians and pop culture icons, Scorgie explores the cause and effect nature of the business behind getting high.

Nobody’s innocent in this exploration of an industry that may be profiting more by being illegal. Join Adam Scorgie as he unravels the mystery of The Union. (Excerpt from theunionmovie.com)

Watch the full documentary now

I know we live in a great country. But do you really think the government/ ruling body have "OUR" best interests in mind?! Do you?! Be proactive in your learning, in your decision making, don't be sheeple.... you're only here once, make the best of it.

My WOD:

No CFFB today since I ran last night, looking to do something nasty with my 45# vest...

WOD #1: 30 muscle ups for time: 7:58 pr by 6minutes/ with turnouts very every one, which was a first for me.

10 minute rest

WOD #2: "Tommy V": 14:40 pr by 2minutes

21 Thrusters @ 115#

12 Rope Climbs

15 Thrusters @ 115#

9 Rope Climbs

9 Thrusters @ 115#

6 Rope Climbs

10 minute rest

WOD #3: "Jackie"w/ 45# vest: 10:50

1000M Row

50 Thrusters replace for OHS

30 Pullups

Overall feeling really good about my performance lately.

Coach Burgener and Zach Even Esh

2010-02-22T08:37:00.000-08:00

The man, the myth, the LEGEND

Active Recovery today. Contemplating a late run tonight...will see.

Town Lake Night Run 7 mile loop in 53mintes in my vibrams. I need to run more/ longer distances as well as bring a light next time I run in the dark. pounded the ground too much because I couldn't see...legs are sore already. learning experience!

Love this guy!

if you are not familiar with this man, you should be.... I have been following Zach on the internet for the last couple of years, and the man flat out gets me pumped, stoked, fired up, you name it! Carey and JT where fortunate enough to meet and workout with Zach this past weekend, and both of them came away extremely impressed! I look forward to the day I get to meet Zach, soon enough! Here is the email I received from Zach after his weekend in Miami for the FilFest, enjoy.........

Hey Kris -

About to hit the road, driving home on phase 2 after leaving The CrossFit FilFest, where

I spoke about opportunity and going after your goals like a Raging Bull.

I was amazed, being around these people, all of whom owned their own gym.

They were ALL passionate and insanely hungry to achieve greater and greater success.

I've been to countless fitness events and most of the people cry and complain about their

lack of success.

It was VERY refreshing.

I also receive around 100 e mails a day, many of them business related.

I'm amazed at how many people have an excuse when they e mail me.

I don't bother to reply, because they already convinced themselves of the

impossible.

I can't do this or that because of ________

And we can fill in the blank with countless ridiculous excuses.

I remember starting the licensee program for my gym, because I had DAILY e mails

asking for it.

Then, at a fitness conference, when I announced it, we had 15 people sign up to secure their

spot.

Once I sent them the application, when it was time to sign on the dotted line

and DO WORK, approximately 90% bailed and didn't step up, as they said

they would.

It's a good thing, as this is why we have a top 10% - they go for it, they walk the

talk and they don't make excuses.

On my way to Miami, I decided to take a train.... the train was a double decker

whipping around like some old school roller coaster.

I said "F**K this" - got off the train on the first stop, got back to NJ< hopped in my truck

and drove down.

Alone.....

No excuses.

One obstacle didn't stop me.

Saturday morning I rocked a hellish workout, at 7 AM

I got to bed at 1 AM

It would have been easier to stay asleep when the alarm went off at 6:30 AM

But, that hellish workout lasted 9 Minutes and 33 Seconds

It was powerlifting, kettlebells, bodyweight and sled work

Non stop!

The normal slept it, the strong stepped up!

I'm tired of excuse makers.

I want no part of it.

If you're an excuse maker please unsubscribe from The Underground, right below.

I'm fine with not being a good fit for others.

Same with my gym, not everyone makes the cut.

I'm here to kick ass and take names.

If you're not livin' to do the same, then adios.

Lead from the Front.

--Z--

PS: I want serious go getters coming to my live events, mentorships and my gym.

I have 2 live events coming soon, check them out HERE and step up.

Space is filling up fast.

REMEMBER: NO Excuses. I don't want sign ups who cancel last minute.

Be committed or be Gone.

PS: Get Fired UP. Watch This Video HERE and Kick Ass TODAY!!!.

Mailing address:

Underground Strength Coach

160 Talmadge Rd Unit D

Edison, NJ 08817

Reproduction of any portion of this email is strictly prohibited

without the express written consent of Zach Even - Esh or

UndergroundStrength Coach, LLC

Underground Strength Coach LLC

160 Talmadge Rd., Unit D
EDISON, NJ
08817
US

Rest Day

2010-02-21T06:38:00.000-08:00

Did Austrian course-setter 'Lindsey-proof' race?

By jim litke, AP Sports Columnist

Email Print

WHISTLER, British Columbia (AP) — This is how much respect Lindsey Vonn gets from the rest of the world:

Lindsey Vonn of the United States speeds down the course on her way to win the bronze medal in the Women's super-G, at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Austria's Andrea Fischbacher, the gold medalist, left, and bronze medalist Lindsey Vonn of the United States during the flower ceremony for the Women's super-G at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Austria's Andrea Fischbacher, the gold medalist, center, is flanked at left by Slovenia's Tina Maze, silver, and bronze medalist Lindsey Vonn of the United States during the flower ceremony for the Women's super-G at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)

1 of 3

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Lindsey Vonn Pix & VideosGet a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the World Champion American Skier. www.LindseyIsEpic.com

Just as the green jackets who run Augusta National tried to "Tiger-proof" the Masters golf course to stymie Tiger Woods, the ski jackets in charge at the Olympics did their level best to "Lindsey-proof" the super-G course at Whistler.

And it may have worked. Vonn, already the downhill champion, settled for bronze in Saturday's super-G. The winner was Andrea Fischbacher, who skies for Austria.

And who set the course?

Austrian coach Juergen Kriechbaum.

The Austrians, of course, feign innocence about it all.

"You don't make a course against one person. This is stupid," Kriechbaum said in an interview with The Associated Press hours after the race. "She's good, but not so good that anyone would set it just to stop her."

If that sounds familiar, it should.

That's how the lords of Augusta responded to accusations they lengthened the course and otherwise tricked it up to keep Woods from shredding it again after his tournament-record 18-under-par performance in 1997.

Vonn didn't raise the issue herself, saying her third-place finish resulted from a questionable decision to take her foot off the accelerator after zooming through the difficult part of the course. Small wonder she eased up, though, since 15 racers found the layout so difficult they didn't even make it to the bottom.

But Thomas Vonn, her husband, unofficial coach and former U.S. Olympic team skier, had plenty to say about it. And while he ultimately agreed that the loss was "more her backing off and some conditions changing," he's clearly tired of the way Lindsey is being targeted.

"I know for a fact that the Austrian course setter said that he was setting it against Lindsey, which is kind of silly, considering. I know he made a comment to some people that 'we studied all the tapes, and we found out that the one from Val d'Isere is the one she did worst in,' which happened to be third place," Thomas Vonn said.

"And he was like, 'We're going to set it like that because we have to.' And then somebody asked him, 'Well, didn't your girls all do terrible on that course, too?' And he was like, 'Yes.'

"It's a little strange," Thomas Vonn said.

The women's race director for the International Ski Federation, Atle Skaardal, said course-setters are determined by lottery, with each nation having as many balls in the hopper as it has skiers ranked in the top 15 in the world.

"Once the course is set, then the coaches from other teams and the course jury go slipping down, look at everything and are free to comment," he said. "So to suggest that a setter would make a course favorable to his team is only common sense, eh?

"If you're Austrian," he chuckled, "why would you set it up for say, the Swiss?"

Kriechbaum was indeed the course-setter at Val d'Isere last December when Vonn — who has already clinched a second straight World Cup super-G championship this season with two races left — finished third.

But Fischbacher finished ninth at Val d'Isere, and her teammates did even worse. Elisabeth Goergl, who was fifth at Whistler, was 11th there. Three others tied for 12th at Val d'Isere: Anna Fenninger (16th at Whistler); Nicole Schmidhoffer (did not finish at Whistler) and Kathrin Zettel (not entered at Whistler).

"Every course-setter has his special way, his tricks and such, but I also have to work with the hill that is here," Kriechbaum said. He didn't deny the Austrians studied tapes of Vonn, but said every team studies the competition.

"There may be similarities (to Val d'Isere), but we did so poorly there, why would I go against my own team?" he insisted.

Thomas Vonn said the set-up featured a succession of gates that were relatively straight, followed by sweeping turns. That forces skiers to throttle back on speed to negotiate the dangerous curves. Lindsey Vonn just happens to be even more dominant in downhill than she is at super-G.

"People are always going to search for a way to knock you down," Thomas Vonn said. "They're going to look for that little piece of kryptonite. But it's a little ironic when he's even setting it against his own team because he wants her to lose so bad.

"He just set it, kind of quick and dangerous, like an eliminator-style course where it would require a ton of tactics," Thomas Vonn added. "Anytime you set a lot of straight gates and then some big turns, you're going to see kind of carnage."

Kriechbaum took it all in stride. He had no idea who told Thomas Vonn "such things," and said the hill limited how much room he had between gates. And that nasty jump was already in place, which restricted him further.

The unusually high number of crashes and DNFs?

Pilot error, Kriechbaum said.

That's an answer we're hearing a lot at these games.

Erwan Le Corre

2010-02-20T18:20:00.000-08:00

Visit Sicfit.com for more videos and see what the next big thing is all about!

DWOD: the goal is to break at least the 100 rep mark

115# OHS for reps 5 Rounds, 3minute rest between rds.

TOTAL REPS: 105! Not bad considering I only got 15 reps my first round (hand slipped). 30 reps on my second round which is a pr for that weight. here is the bar I'm having to use, I call the Salo (after Mikko Salo..old school taped up!) Not to worry though, Carey and I have new equipment on the way to the casa'. The Shed will be making it's first appearance in the latter part of 2010! keep your eyes pealed for it!

article below is taken directly from Erwan Le Corre, http://movnat.com/

Survival International - The movement for tribal peoples

You have probably noted that movnat.com does not host advertisement banners, especially commercial ones.
But I feel so passionately about the work of Survival International which has helped endangered tribes around the world for over 40 years that I have decided to host their banner. I strongly urge you to learn more about them, and hopefully support them as I do:
“Survival is an international human rights organization, helping tribal peoples around the world defend their lives, protect their lands and determine their own futures.
We work for tribal peoples’ rights in three complementary ways: education, advocacy and campaigns. We also offer tribal people themselves a platform to address the world. We work closely with local indigenous organizations, and focus on tribal peoples who have the most to lose, usually those most recently in contact with the outside world.
We believe that public opinion is the most effective force for change. Its power will make it harder, and eventually impossible, for governments and companies to oppress tribal peoples.”

While Survival International protects the rights of tribal people, more importantly they protect the lives, the lands and the cultures of the remaining tribal groups, especially the most remote, the least in touch with the modern world.
Without overly romanticizing the lifestyle or living conditions of these tribal groups, I believe the more “civilized” we become, the more we can learn from these people who embody the meaning of being connected to their true nature.
However, the constant and increasing pressure from the modern world continues to threaten these populations who only wish to maintain their ancestral way of life and to remain strong, healthy, happy and free.
By helping them, we contribute to protecting the natural areas which they inhabit, the natural sanctuaries they live among, respect and attempt to protect against many forms of exploitation and destruction. By protecting tribal people, we protect both human diversity and natural diversity.
Through this banner, I hope to contribute even if in some small way, to increasing awareness about the many threats these populations are facing, threats that all come from our civilized world, as well as the awareness about the people and organizations that fight for them and with them.
Thanks for you for listening. I hope if you agree we with me, you will consider supporting Survival International.
Best regards,

Erwan Le Corre

Home Grown

2010-02-19T03:49:00.000-08:00

Getting the Garden ready for Spring

With the wife in Miami for the next 3 days my workouts will be somewhat random. This morning I will do a "Baby Grace", weight @115#'s (all the weight I have at home). The goal is to hold on to the bar for all 30 reps. Once I hit 30 reps I will take a 3minute break, then I will start the clock a second time and do as many reps as possible in 5 minutes.

DWOD 1: Time: 80seconds, did NOT let go of the bar
"Baby Grace"
30 clean and jerk @115#

DWOD 2:
5 minutes as many c/j @115#

Smell of Freshly Cut Grass Could Help Relieve Stress: Study - Medindia News

http://www.medindia.net/news/Smell-of-Freshly-Cut-Grass-Could-Help-Relieve-Stress-Study-57113-1.htm

Crossfit Should Install "Something" Underneath The Floors

2010-02-18T02:50:00.000-08:00

A gym powered by sweat and tears

Advertisement

A chat with the inventor of the human dynamo

By Peter Bowes
BBC News, Portland, Oregon

A US gym has installed specially-adapted exercise bikes that recycle energy generated by people as they work out.
The Green Microgym in Portland, Oregon, aims to be a carbon neutral exercise facility through the use of solar power and human-generated energy from clients as they pedal and run.
"The big challenge has been finding the right equipment and adapting the technology," says Adam Boesel, the gym owner.
The science behind generating electricity from gym equipment is not new. For decades people have been using dynamos on their bikes to power the front and rear lamps. Generating power in a gym setting is based on the same principle.
"If you think about a gym, almost all of the exercise equipment has a spinning wheel, and if you can spin a wheel you can make electricity, just like a windmill makes electricity," explains Mr Boesel.
The gym has teamed up with a Texas-based company, Henry Works, which is in the process of developing what it has dubbed the Human Dynamo.
The device connects several exercise bikes with a battery that stores the energy generated as people pedal. External appliances, such as a TV set or a lamp, can then be plugged into the box, to utilise the power.

If you figure 100 watts per machine and you have 40 machines, that is 4,000 watts

Mike Taggett, inventor of The Human Dynamo

The exercise equipment generates DC power. The Human Dynamo uses an inverter to convert it into AC, which is required by domestic appliances to work.
"A lot of gyms have large spinning group exercises with 30 or 40 or 50 people exercising at the same time - and that's a perfect environment to use a machine like this," explains Mike Taggett, who invented the Human Dynamo.
"Everyone is working extra hard and you have a lot of people doing it at the same time, and a machine like the dynamo, if you figure a 100 watts per machine and you have 40 machines that's 4,000 watts.
"In a club that doesn't have high air-conditioning requirements, for example, they would definitely be powering the whole gym, during that time period."
Connecting to the grid
The challenge for the future is developing a mass storage system for the electricity. The most efficient way is channel it into the grid operated by a local utility company. The system is already used to integrate solar generated power with the electricity supply system.
"We are working on a new generation technology which we call fire wheel which is a really interesting way to connect the power directly to the grid, says Mr Taggett.
"Most utilities now have net-metering types of agreements for solar use or if you have wind turbines or something like that.
"So it would be a matter I think of notifying your local utility company that you have this human power fire wheel equipment installed."
The downside, for gym owners, is that the system requires a significant amount of capital to install energy-generating equipment.
"We've actually thought about it for years," says George Comalli, owner of Giants Gym, a large workout facility, also in Portland.
"We've always thought it was one of those things that the technology was probably out there somewhere, but was it cost effective?"
In a tight economy, the cost of harnessing human energy may be too high a price to pay for some. The challenge for the companies that supply the new generation of environmentally friendly exercise equipment is to make it affordable.

Advertisement

Inside the green gym

But Adam Boesel's gym is forging ahead. The facility also employs energy saving practices such as switching TV sets off and powering down exercise equipment when it is not in use. The frugal use of electricity alone saves the gym over 50 per cent on energy costs. Solar panels on the front of the building generate about a third of the electricity the gym needs to operate.
"We need to understand how much it takes to run light bulbs and all of the things that we take for granted, especially here in the United States," says Mr Boesel.
"We waste so much energy and by starting this gym and really being focused on energy conservation, there are so many things that I've found that are very easy for people to do to save energy."
The goal is to have the gym run solely on the energy it generates.
"Especially in these times, the ability to at least make some small impact on improving the future of not only this country or the community, but really the world…is a really motivating factor for people right now."
"I think in 20 years it's going to be standard for all gyms,' adds Mr Boesel.

CFFB

SWOD:
Power Snatch 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

DWOD:
21, 15, 9 reps of:
Bench Press
Ring Dips
*Perform at 75% of 1 RM Bench Press

.COM
"Linda" Time: 17:54 pr by 4minutes
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of the triplet:
Deadlift: 1 1/2 body weight 275#
Bench press: body weight 180#
Clean: 3/4 body weight 135#
(Ring Dips)
Set up three bars and storm through for time.

10minute rest

"Nancy" Time: 12:09 not a pr but felt good about the effort.
5 rds
15 x 95lb OHS
400m Run

SISU

The Time Has Come....

Feed the Warrior

Magnet

I'm Not Afraid

Push!

You Don't Have Weaknesses....

It Doesn't Matter

How beliefs are formed

Am I Ready?

Walk ON Water

300 Spartan

The Richest Man in Babylon

Have Fun

Find A Way

Rebuilding of Kepler Part 2

Rebuilding of Kepler

Life

“Love life and life will love you back. Love people and they will love you back.” ~Arthur Rubinstein

Doctor's kindness restores man's sight

Lack of insurance had kept patient from getting care

FocUsed

Now Now!

Day 30

Following article was taken from http://www.socalsc.com/

Oh! The Places You'll Go!

New Breed of Men by Zach Even-Esh

Be At Peace with Your Decisions

Don't Climb...Jump up the Ladder!

Pursuit of Happiness

One man's volunteer effort to plant trees in San Francisco

As a volunteer, Charlie Starbuck has helped to plant trees by the thousands on the streets of San Francisco, a city long on charm but short on leafy green trees.

Adapt? Evolve? Tolerate?

the following article was taken from http://www.marksdailyapple.com/seasonality-climate-and-diet/#more-11989

Back to Reality

S.F. to Hold the Meat on Mondays

Miami

Human Body Bounces Back

The Real Deal...

The Way of The Cross

This is No Time to Be Frail!

Jesus WOD

Top 10 Training Myths

The Top Ten Training Myths

UNCIRCUMCISED IN AMERICA

UNCIRCUMCISED IN AMERICA

Day 14

Bear Complex

Sunday Funday

HydePark 2.0

Xavier Rudd

21 Jump Street! Day 9

The Edge

Khalipa Vs. Spealler

Birthday Burpees!

SNATCH IT..postponed till Monday, off to the farm for some church time!

Day 4

March 12th, 2010· by admin · Filed Under: Articles · Calendar · Strength Building · Success · Underground Strength Show · Videos · muscle building

I Love My Sobriety Day 3

Day 2

Regional

29 is the New 1

I Will ACT NOW Part 2

St. Patrick's Breastplate

Chacarron!

Home Grown Part 2

4 Healthy Benefits of Eating Garden-Fresh Produce

Priming The Engine!

Burning Desire

Constantly Improving

The Words I Manifest

Snake Oil

Which supplements really work? An interactive guide to evidence

$8.09

Rest Day

Bring On The Shots, Shots, Shots..

Norway conquers infections by cutting use of antibiotics

The best way to cut down on infections is to reduce antibiotic use, Norway finds... BY MARTHA MENDOZA AND MARGIE MASON

How Special Do You Think You Are?

Sunday Funday

March 12th, 2010
· by admin · Filed Under: Articles · Calendar · Strength Building · Success · Underground Strength Show · Videos · muscle building