Posts Tagged ‘push press’

Thursday, 9.2.10

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

For Time:

80 Squats/ 30 Push Press

60 Squars/ 20 Push Press

40 Squats/ 10 Push Press

DSC_0085THE ENTIRE OCOEE CREW AFTER A LONG DAY ON THE RIVER!

So, what’s the next adventure going to be?  Remember, post to comments what you want to do next!

STILL CONSIDERING THE WHOLE9 WORKSHOP?

Check out this article from the Whole9 website and get a taste of the knowledge that will be offered during the six hour seminar. This workshop will be extremely comprehensive, SO worth it! If you are even the slightest bit interested in improving your health, if you feel overwhelmed by all that paleo and zone consist of, if you’re tired of hearing contradicting “health” news, and finally, if your sick and tired of being sick and tired. Sign up for the Whole9 seminar. Six hours may seem like a lot for a day, but when you consider the investment in not only your future but the future of your family, it puts it all in perspective.

So, sign up HERE, it’s not too late!

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Supplements, Part I: The Whole9 Supplement Evaluation Checklist

This month, we’ve taken a hard line on some popular, well-marketed supplements. The unsupported claims, inflated price points and aggressive sales tactics of products ranging from recovery beverages to meal replacement drinks can make the vast nutrition marketplace more than a little confusing.  And it becomes even more challenging when those hawking the products are well-known fitness brands imploring you to put your health in their hands.

Understand, the Whole9 doesn’t sell any supplements.  We actually don’t push supplements in any way – everything we’ve ever written about, from fish oil to Vitamin D to magnesium, has been presented as an optional addition to your daily, healthy, eat-real-food diets.  But there are a few supplements we take on a daily basis, so before we tell you about them (and why we take them) in Part II, we thought it might be helpful to let you in on our own evaluation process.

Today’s post details our Supplement Evaluation Checklist – the criteria we use when purchasing vitamins, minerals or other supplements. We run each product through this checklist, making sure it meets every single one of these criteria before continuing with our evaluation.  If a supplement fails at any point, with very few exceptions, we skip it.  If a product passes each test, we’re then left with one final question – one that we are able to answer only for ourselves.

Start at the top, and ask yourself the following questions about each and every supplement you’re being pitched, sold or pressured to take.  Does it pass the test?

1.       Does it contain garbage ingredients? Does your supplement contain, in no particular order:  added sugar (in any form), grains (wheat, corn, or other grain by-products), dairy (whey, casein, or other dairy by-products), soy (in any form) or chemical-sounding ingredients you don’t recognize or can’t pronounce?  Even worse, does the manufacturer refuse to clarify their “proprietary blend”, leaving you in the dark as to what their supplement actually contains?  If quality or full disclosure is compromised, your evaluation ends here, folks.

2.      Is the product designed to replace real, high quality, fresh food in your diet? Meal replacement shakes, vegetables-in-a-pill or breakfast bars all promise to do just as much good as real food in your everyday diet.  Foolishness.  There isn’t a powder, pill or shake in the world that can replace the vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber (the stuff that actually makes you healthy) found in natural, healthy, fresh foods.

3.      Are the product’s claims too good to be true? The supplement industry is wholly unregulated – which means manufacturers can make all sorts of claims about their product’s ingredients and benefits.  Beware of inflated, unsupported claims that sound too good to be true, and have little to no peer-reviewed long-term research to back them up.  The idea that a pill can “put a protective coating around your muscle so only the fat is trimmed off” should be enough to make you both laugh out loud and run for the hills.

4.      Does the label focus on aesthetic changes? Products that are designed with the primary purpose of slimming/leaning/trimming you out miss the forest for the trees, often in a dangerous way. Most of these “slim” pills, powders and shakes contain ingredients that could be harmful to your health, like stimulants and diuretics.  And all of these supplements are asking you to focus on what’s in the mirror instead of long-term, sustainable health and body composition.  Let’s face it – if you lose a few pounds by taking a pill without effectively changing your eating habits, how likely are you to actually stay at that weight?

5.      Is there a hard and heavy sales pitch behind your consideration? If your motivation to buy is based on an aggressive, big-business marketing campaign, fear-mongering (“If you don’t take this pill, you won’t succeed!”) or generalized group-think (“All the CrossFit Games competitors use our shakes”), then think twice.  Beware of products who yell, scream and intimidate to get your attention. When was the last time you saw a You-Tube commercial for kale?

6.      Finally, is it cost-prohibitive to eating better quality food? Even if the supplement meets all of the above criteria, if the daily cost means you’ll have to cut your real-food budget just to afford it, it’s simply not worth it.  You’ll always get more benefit from improving your meat, fish and egg quality and choosing fresh, local vegetables and fruits, so skip the supplement and save your pennies for a quarter cow and a CSA share instead.

If you’ve run the supplement-in-question through our entire checklist and it still makes the cut, then it’s time for you to exercise your own judgment.  At worst, your vitamin, mineral or supplement is going to put you out a few dollars and still not provide the purported benefits – a waste of money, but no negative effects on your overall health and fitness.  At best, the supplement will provide a boost to the already high quality food you are eating, and help you fill in those small missing pieces in your daily diet and lifestyle.  Make up your own mind.  Do your own research, talk to someone you trust, or try it for yourself for 30 days and evaluate your own experience.

Next week, we’ll be sharing the list of supplements that make the cut for us.  We’ll be giving you a peek inside the Whole9 supplement cabinet, and sharing with you why we think these pills and powders add value to our already solid health and fitness plan. In the meantime, take a peek inside your own cabinets, and see which bottles would pass our Evaluation Checklist. Post your results (and your thoughts) to comments.

Monday, 7.5.10

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

THE GYM WILL BE CLOSED 7.5.10 FOR THE 4th of JULY HOLIDAY

Please take advantage of the travel workouts posted. Get outside and enjoy the beautiful morning weather with an interval run, swim laps, or practice your pull ups and double unders!

HAVE YOUR HANDS EVER LOOKED LIKE THIS:

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EVEN WORSE, THIS:

ripped-callus

Take some advice from Coach Jason: A new grip may be the solution.

I’ve noticed a lot of hands around the gym with those callouses on them, which can be good in places, but can also cause some nasty damage on a high rep pull-up workout if they get too bad.  Besides, who wants to have nasty calloused hands?  Some of you I’ve spoken to and shown how to avoid that by how you grip the bar on both pull-ups and deadlifts.  I used to have the same issues and had a couple of really bad tears before I saw this video and heeded Coach Rip’s advice.  When I started to use this finger, rather than palm, dominant grip my grip was weaker…but over the next few months it caught up.  Sometimes you have to take a step back before you can move forward.  I can’t think of a time my hands have gotten messed up since then due to callouses tearing, they just don’t get built up in those places like they used to.  Weekly maintenance also helps, in the form of a pumice stone, sandpaper like file made for heels (my favorite), and other tools with a little more umph like a dremmel tool or knife/razor blade.  Find which one works for you and, just like you foam roll daily…don’t you, use it regularly to keep those callouses you do have down to minimal levels.  Click HERE and watch this quick video on grip by Coach Mark Rippetoe from Wichita Falls, TX and please please start to do it…your hands and you will be much happier.

Monday, 6.21.10

Sunday, June 20th, 2010

STRENGTH:

WEEK 3

5-3-1+ BACK SQUAT

AMRAP in 20 minutes:

5 Push-ups *Scale up

10 Push Press

15 Dips

CASH OUT:

3-5 Sets of Knees to Elbows, perform 5-8 reps each set

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Thursday, 5.20.10

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

EVERY MINUTE, ON THE MINUTE…

Complete 5 Medicine Ball Cleans.

With the remaining time, complete as many Push Presses as possible.

Continue until 100 reps of the PP have been completed.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON STRICKLAND!

Give Jason a big ole’ bear hug next time you see him!

Remember, OPEN GYM tonight from 6-7 pm.  Come get an extra workout for FREE or use this time to work on your SKILLS!!!

“EAT YOUR BEST” DINNER PARTY NEXT THURSDAY NIGHT!

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Plan on meeting at Saunder’s Ferry Park for our GRAND FINALE of the “Eat Your Best” Challenge.  We will meet at 7:00 pm that evening.  The grill will be blazing, kickballs, frisbees, footballs, etc. will be there, the playground is close by, plus you get a pretty view of the water!  What more could you want?  Remember, be thinking of your FAV Paleo dish you want to bring.  Don’t have one?  Talk to me and I will give you one of mine!

The finale party is here, so that means “AFTER” pictures are ready to be taken soon.  These pictures will take place next week.  If you can let’s shoot to get those pictures taken by Wednesday, May 26th.  I told some of you Thursday, but that might be pushing it.  You will need to get down your #’s for me too.  I want the differences in bodyweight, body fat %, and waist/hip (plus any other) measurements you took.  We will hold off on the food logs next week and instead turn in your sheet of #’s.

If you are interested in ordering convenient and tasty PALEO meals online, click HERE to read more. PALEO BRANDS not only sells grass fed beef jerky, but now actual meals!  Choose from almond crusted cod, beef meatballs, and roast beef with quality carb sources.  I think if you buy their beef jerky now you can get 1 for free.

SPRING 2010 SURVEY:

Please take a second to fill out our survery. Now, over 1/3 of you guys have completed the survey and I appreciate your comments tremendously.  However, we still need to reach at least 2/3rd’s.  For those that have not, this is your time to share!  We want to make your experience at CrossFit Hendersonville the best we can.  We don’t know what you need until you tell us!  It’s a quick 10 questions, the survey is anonymous, and your feedback will help us to improve your fitness/experience, which is a big part of your life! HERE is the link.  THANKS!

Saturday, 4.24.10

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

3 ROUNDS FOR TIME:

Teams of 3 must complete the following…

25 Push Press

25 Sumo Deadlift High Pull

15 Knees to Elbows/ 25 Sit-ups

*Each team member must complete movement before other team members can start the next movement.

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WHO IS THE MYSTERIOUS JUMPER?

NEED A REMINDER TO STRETCH?

Click HERE for some guidance on what to stretch and how.  Save this link to your computer, print it out and put it on your fridge, whatever you gotta do to remember… Spend time stretching!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF OUR 1/2 MARATHON ATHLETES OUR AND 1 FULL MARATHON ATHLETE!

Don’t have a Saturday morning packed full of fun yet?  Head downtown to support your fellow CrossFitters.  They will love your cheers along the way!

Friday, 3.12.10

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

TABATA MASH-UP…

Sumo Deadlift High Pull

Push Press

Box Jumps

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTY GRINER!

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Here’s a birthday shoutout for Kristy!  If you know this girl you know how special she is to the CrossFit H’ville family.  She puts her everything into workouts and helping people succeed in CrossFit.  She has lost over 60lbs, can lift 100 lbs. over her head, and can do double unders!  She has worked her butt of to get there and is not slowing down anytime soon.  It is awesome to see her growth as an athlete, but more so as person.  Give her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUG next time you see her!

In honor of Kristy’s birthday we have to throw in some Tabata’s, don’t you think?

Why are TABATA’s so popular with CrossFit?  You guys know CrossFit works and the theories and science behind this program are incomparable to any other.  Well, same thing with Tabata’s…they work!  Read below what happens during 4 minutes of intensity.

The following is an excerpt from the CrossFit Journal article titled “Dr. Tabata and the Dumbbell” by Michael Rutherford.

In 1996, Dr. Izumi Tabata published the results of a study demonstrating, with speed skaters, that the aerobic and anaerobic pathways could be trained simultaneously (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 28). This was a significant finding, as most authorities had regarded the two pathways—and training for them—as compartmentalized. Aerobic training was largely long slow distance (LSD) work, and anaerobic training was typically regarded as some hard-to-measure dark component left to the explosion sports.

Dr. Tabata examined several different protocols but settled on eight sets of twenty-second work intervals alternating with ten-second rest intervals as the most effective interval times for improving VO2 max. In the original study the intervals were performed at a quantifiable 170 percent of VO2 max. (Just think max effort.) In the field, where measurements are more subjective, the effort should be such that on the eighth set the trainee is nearing exhaustion. In the original study, the test subjects doing 4-minute “Tabata” intervals saw greater VO2 max improvement than the control group that did 60-minute sessions of moderate- intensity exercise. Moreover, as Greg Glassman points out, these high-intensity efforts produce this dramatic aerobic benefit without the muscle wasting brought about by endurance training.  Dr. Tabata’s research tested subjects on stationary bikes, but in the CrossFit world his protocol is applied to all variety of functional movements. The Tabata protocol is applied to exercises including squats, pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, rowing, and, in my practice, dumbbell moves. We generally score Tabata intervals based on the lowest number of reps completed in any one of the eight twenty -second work intervals. (For more on Tabata intervals and their relevance to aerobic conditioning, see Glassman’s article “Metabolic Conditioning” from the June 2003 issue of the CrossFit Journal.)

REMINDER: THERE WILL BE NO SATURDAY WORKOUT THIS WEEKEND.  I WILL BE ATTENDING THE GYMNASTICS CERT IN ATLANTA AND JASON IS WORKING AT HIS FULL TIME JOB. WE WILL RESUME NEXT WEEKEND!  THANK YOU FOR MAKING SATURDAYS SO MUCH FUN FOR OUR COMMUNITY.  SEE YOU NEXT WEEK.

Monday, 3.1.10

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

Strength:

Shoulder Press 5 x 3

3 Rounds for Time:

10 Pull-ups, 10 DB Swings, 10 Right Arm DB Push Press

10 Pull-ups, 10 DB Swings, 10 Left Arm DB Push Press

DSC06712Christa Yandell clearing her chin over the bar and lookin’ pretty happy while doing so!  Are you in between assist bands for pull-ups?  Is green too easy, but blue too hard for mid-range rep pull-up workouts?  Try to get chest to bar with the green and gain much more strength than just striving to get chin above the bar.  Then, when you get on the blue band pull aggressively to get the chin over the bar.

PULL-UPS, PULL-UPS, PULL-UPS!!!

Whether you can string together 30 pull-ups or still trying to get that first one, everyone has a PULL-UP GOAL, right?  When we wrote down our goals at the beginning of 2010 many of you made it your goal to get your first pull-up.  Have you been working towards that goal before/after workouts?  We are going to spend a week learning how to move towards our goal.  For some of my ladies, this is all you need to achieve the LEVEL 1 SKILLS TEST.  If you have 5 movements or less to complete, this is your LAST WEEK to accomplish these skills and receive the LEVEL 1 prize.  We have extended this Skills Testing mainly for a little more gymnastics practice for you folks!  So, what is the difference between the 2 pull-ups CrossFit discusses?

Kipping pull ups versus strict pull ups?

Kipping pull ups allow more work to be done in less time. This increaes the power output and is important when doing workouts for time. If the goal is to use pull ups as metabolic conditioning — faster and with greater intensity — a kipping pull up allows this to happen. The hip motion of a kipping pullup mimicks the explosion found in Olympic weightlifting, kettelbell swings, box jumps, and any athletic endeavor where you open and close the hips to generate force. It also works as a posterior-chain developer, which improves posture.

The WODs will call for both kipping pull ups and strict pull ups from time to time. When a pull up is listed in a WOD it is assumed that kipping pull ups will be used. If a strict pull up is needed in a WOD it will be specifically asked for.

Coach Glassman explains kipping pull-ups below and the video slows down the motion to help you see the breakdown of the kipping pull-up.  Like he said, if you do enough pull-ups it will come…you’ve just gotta spend some time doing some pull-ups!

Tuesday, 2.16.10

Monday, February 15th, 2010

For time:

50, 35, 20

Sumo Deadlift High Pull

Box Jumps

Push Press

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If you see Kimberly (my sister), pictured above, in the gym this week give her a hug and your best wishes as she heads off for South Korea this weekend!  Her last day around will be Wednesday.  Ryan and I are super excited for her and how God will use her to touch many lives in Korea.  Keep her in your prayers.  She will be back around this summer.

PULL-UPS!!! Are they your goat?  Your weakness that haunts you?  Is a pull-up or two what is holding you back from being a Level 1 Athlete?

If so, do you practice these everyday?  You work on your kipping technique?  Do you practice the push-away at the top everyday?  If not, it is going to be a long long time before you will see that pull-up.  However, if you train and work hard at getting the kip down, increasing your upper body strength, and getting your powerful hip drive down then it WILL come!  Practice!!!  Work on Ring Rows, Negatives, get in the Bands, etc.  It won’t just happen one day…you WILL have to WORK for it!

THE WEEK OF WHEAT!

So, we’ve talked FATS, DAIRY, and now it is WHEAT time.  You guys are looking good and throwing out awesome #’s as far as weight loss/performance goes, but do you understand WHY you are eating this way?  Is it just because your trainer said so?  I sure hope not!!!  Please, take the time to educate yourself and form your own opinions.  Read through the last 2 weeks of nutrition posts if you missed them and revisit the website this week for more info on wheat, gluten, lectins, etc!  Also, I will try to find some good recipe links to replace that bread craving that creeps up every once in awhile for you new PALEOer’s!

Here is an article to get you started this week.  Remember, just because you don’t have celiac disease does not mean you aren’t affected by gluten.  Read more below.

2008_03_05_DemystifyingGluten

Gluten: What You Don’t Know Might Kill You-Mark Hyman, MD

“…By failing to identify gluten sensitivity and celiac disease, we create needless suffering and death for millions of Americans. Health problems caused by gluten sensitivity cannot be treated with better medication. They can only be resolved by eliminating 100 percent of the gluten from your diet…”

Monday, 2.8.10

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

Strength:

Push Press 5 x 3

For time:

2 minute Sit-ups

Tabata Front Squats

2 minute Sit-ups

DSC06737Yvette Willis working hard on keeping her elbows up during the front squat.  Tomorrow you will get plenty of practice with driving those elbows up from the bottom of the squat all the way to full extension at the top.  We are working with lighter weights during the Tabata’s so you guys can practice this technique.

Know what #’s you are going for on your Max Push Press.  Check out your last Push Press strength set from Jan 11th.

What about calcium?

To kick off our WEEK OF DAIRY, we are going to discuss the issues between dairy and calcium.  Whenever people learn that I recommend avoiding or limiting their dairy products, the first question is, “How am I going to get enough calcium?  Mark’s Daily Apple gives us some insight on building strong bones without taking in all the dairy.  Read here to learn what to add and what to eliminate when trying to maintain calcium levels.  Food, exercise, and supplements are the topics of discussion.

Spinach has just as much calcium as milk.  There are more advantages to getting your calcium from fresh green leafy vegetables than from milk.  First of all you don’t have to deal with the antibiotics and hormones the cows are given, plus you don’t have to worry about vitamins, minerals, and enzymes being destroyed as they are during the pasteurization and homogenization processes that cow’s milk goes through.  Spinach contains betacarotene, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, multiple B vitamins, Folate, Vitamin D, and Vitamin K just to name a few.  What else, besides calcium, can you get from milk?  After milk goes through the process of pasteurization, how much calcium is really left anyways?  This process heats the milk to destroy bacteria, but in the meantime destroys the vitamins, minerals, and enzymes milk claims to have.  Overall, we can see that one example, such as spinach, trumps milk when it comes to getting the most bioavailable nutrients in your body.  Try adding in some spinach to an omelet this morning, have a spinach salad for lunch, or saute’ spinach with some olive oil and vinegar tonight for dinner.  Or try out this SPINACH BREAD recipe for a nice bread substitute.

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Wednesday, 1.27.10

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Strength:

Back Squat 5 x 3

WOD:

For time…

400m Run/ 9 Shoulder Press

400m Run/15 Push Press

400m Run/21 Push Jerk

DSC06133Marty Cook is his “Dip” of the Push Press.  Click on the EXERCISES AND DEMOS to your write, scroll down to Shoulder Press/Push Press/Push Jerk to help you see the difference between SP/PP/PJ as listed in the workout for today.

PALEO/NUTRITION CHALLENGE TESTIMONIAL:

Doug Warren, pictured in Tuesday’s post doing a very difficult move, the L-sit, wrote a little bit about how being involved with the Paleo Challenge changed his life.  Doug has written another testimonial on my “Testimonials” page (where else would it be, right?), but this is his story about what eating clean did for him.  If you know Doug and have seen him lately you have already realized he has been dialed in and focused on his health in the past year.  If you don’t know him, we will try to round up some before and after pictures and show you the transformation.  Read his story below…

Hey Lindsey,

This is about what the Paleo Diet has done for me.  I have lost a total of 37 pounds from my peak of 210lbs since I started working out with you.  I worked out from September 2008 until the August 2009 time frame without major modification to my diet.  I got stronger, I could do more of the workouts but I wasn’t really progressing very fast.  Even though I was still eating my old way I managed to lose 22 pounds through CrossFit and a Triathlon training program.  It wasn’t until I got serious about my diet that the changes really starting showing up.

You talked about Paleo and “eating clean” and I decided to just give it a shot, see what happens.  I started Paleo during the first challenge you held.  I really got serious, logging the foods I ate, shopping differently, cutting out bread, pasta, legumes and sugar completely.  Keep in mind, I really like biscuits with sorghum syrup , I like peanuts (especially salty, boiled peanuts) and sugar was in almost everything.  It’s really eye opening when you write down everything you eat.  I had no idea how much salt and sugar I was eating everyday.

I lost another 15 pounds during that time period.  Within those 2 months my appearance changed drastically.  That’s when people started asking what was going on.  I had lost weight before just through the workouts but the Paleo diet really started leaning me out.  My shape changed.  It was after the first Paleo Challenge that I had to go buy new pants.  I lost 2-1/2″ in the waist.  I’m wearing the size I wore as a Freshman in College almost 30 years ago!  The second Paleo/Zone challenge made even more difference.  That’s when I had to start buying “slim-fit” shirts and even went down a size in some cases.  My maximum lifts went up in almost every lift we measured and my endurance has really taken off.  As for appearance, It’s more of a 4-pack but I am closer to having those “six-pack”-abs than I have ever been in my life.  I have more definition and, more importantly, strength than I had in High School.  I’ve been through 2 Paleo Challenges and the results are still showing up.  My strength has improved, my endurance has improved and my speed on the runs has improved.

I haven’t lost anymore weight though I am working out harder and running more.  I seem to be at my correct weight.   The biggest difference I notice is when I do eat “non-paleo” for a day or two I can feel my strength fade, my energy fades, my concentration fades and I just don’t feel right.  It’s almost like I am coming down with something, I feel run-down.

I may not be the strictest “Paleo man”, I still like raw honey and a biscuit now and then.  But I consciously choose lunch spots and snacks with the choices and the results (positive and negative) in mind now.   It’s really not difficult to maintain the diet, it just takes a little thought and changing of habits.  If I can find a “before” picture I’ll send it to you.  Not sure I have one but I’ll risk the embarrassment if it helps someone else out.

Doug Warren





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