The 300 Challenge

EDCF is proud to announce that we will be hosting a mini-style competition on Saturday, May 12th. The 300 Challenge will be a WOD for all levels and will include beginner, intermediate, and elite (as rx’d) divisions with standard scaling options for each. 30 people will be allowed to compete and participants will not just be restricted to our box. Everyone is welcome. Before we announce it to the other gyms we would like as many of you guys (and girls) to sign up ASAP so we can get EDCF numbers there. The workout is as follows:

For time:

25 Pull-Ups
50 Deadlifts 135/95#
50 Push-Ups
50 Box Jumps 24/20″
50 Floor Wipers
50 KB Clean and Press 35/25#
25 Pull-Ups

* 20 minute cut-off

The workout will run in 3 or 4 different heats with elite, intermediate, and beginner mixed into each one. We will try to get an early start and really make an event out of it. Since this is our first one we are open to any and all suggestions! Hope everyone can attend!!

After Dr. Nick from Dallas Lifestyle Management Clinic came out and spoke to the 5:30 and 6:30pm classes yesterday, I wanted to go a little more in depth into Active Release Technique (ART). ART, as the website describes it, is a patented soft tissue management system that treats problems occurring in muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and nerves. If applied correctly it can help with headaches, back pain, carpel tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, and tennis elbow just to name a few of the  ART is most commonly associated with treatment due to overuse injuries related to adhesions and built up scar tissue.

As adhesions build, the range of motion of the muscles and joints is compromised, the muscle shortens and weakens, and nerves can be compressed. The surrounding tissue of the affected areas will suffer from decreased blood supply, poor mobility and pain. During treatment, the provider uses their hands to apply pressure and remove or break up the fibrous adhesions with the help of stretching motions in the direction of venous and lymphatic flow. As CrossFit athletes, everyday we are subjected to moving force through ranges of motion that, while always functional, our bodies might be resistant against because of muscle tightness or previous injury. A lot of good can come from stretching and mobilizing like we do at the beginning of every class. Stretching and mobilization should be done outside of class times to pinpoint your trouble spots, too. Everyone has trouble spots, don’t kid yourself into thinking you don’t. A lot of us don’t make time for this extra bit of work or need to take it to the next level in order to not compromise the work you put in during class. ART is a great way to schedule these times and get professional help by learning what you are actually dealing with and increasing body awareness.

For you guys and gals that came to class yesterday, you were able to finally meet (or re-meet) Nancy. Besides running “the hill” 5 times for the 400 m run, a total of 75 overhead squats were completed. That’s a lot of overhead squats, especially for you newbies who are foreign to the movement. An enormous amount of flexility, core stability, and strength go into these. If there are insufficiencies in any of these three, it will open up room for error. Lowering the weight, widening the stance and getting a wider grip on the bar will help but sometimes aren’t enough. It is more common than you would think, that when doing the overhead squat, for one’s arm to experience some numbness. This is usually due to some sort of peripheral nerve entrapment or just simply a pinched nerve. There are ways around this and as you progress in flexibility and strength, chances of this happening are less frequent. Here are a few things that will help in the future:

1. Posterior capsule stretch, sleeper stretch, external rotation stretch

2. Lats stretch, pec stretch, pec minor massage. You can use basketball or other ball andto lie on top of for pec rolling.

For pec major you can use corner stretch — arms abducted to 90, with hands pointing up. Face the concave corner of a wall, and let the elbows touch the side of the wall. Then, lunge forward and let it stretch out the anterior muscles of the shoulder.

3. Deep tissue massage all around the scapula; anterior, lateral and posterior shoulder; coracobrachialis, biceps brachii, and brachialis.

4. Nerve glides (google first link)

5. Band dislocates and wall slides

6. Foam roll thoracic spine (put 45s on your chest for deeper stretch). Also, roll side to side as you are rolling and try to arch your back

K-Star Says it best:

Watch this entire vid.

Episode 71: Overhead Squat/Snatch Prep | Mobility WODHello the MWoders, Today we are presenting the Mob-fest from the inside of a Danish church (also the home of Crossfit Copenhagen).Sick, I know. Test: Overhead Squat/Snatch Receiving PositionMwod: Two minuets opening up the hip and groin against the wall.

via Mobilitywod

This one gets good at around 3:15.

Episod 67: Ring Dip and Overhead Squat Prep | Mobility WODHey MWod Kids, Short video today about getting ready for ring dips and overhead squatting.This Mwod has a few versions of the horrible hip grinders for warm up.Heading to Norway and Denmark tomorrow so hang tough if the Mwod timing is a little off.

via Mobilitywod

Fast forward to about 3:25.

The 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games open has come to a close. The five grueling workouts that comprised this years competition have come and gone and have left us sore and hungry for more. So what’s next? The Regional round of the Games, that’s what! The top 60 men and women in our region (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi) will be competing. This year’s Regional round of competition will be held in San Antonio, TX on the weekend of April 27-29th. Wanna get in on the action? Well a group of us from EDCF are traveling down that Friday to spectate through the weekend. Jen Hardi is in charge of looking into hotels. Tell Jen or I if you are interested in going by THIS FRIDAY. Hotels are booking fast and we need to get in on the action.

What: South Central Regionals 
When: April 27 – 29, 2012 from 8 am to 7 pm 
Where: Freeman Coliseum located at 3201 East Houston Street, San Antonio, Texas 78219

Tickets are only $10/day and can be purchased here. Hope you can make it!

Caballo Blanco, or “White Horse” in Spanish, is somewhat of an iconic figure in circles of minimalist and ultra runners. Micah True (his real name), was the outside world’s only connection into a unique tribe of ultrarunners called the Tarahumara who have been practicing the art of running minimally over hundreds of miles of rough terrain. True put all his effort into keeping this tribe’s tradition of “running free” alive by organizing the annual Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon where some of the best ultrarunners in the world would travel to a remote spot in Mexico to compete against the tribesmen. He is famed through Christopher McDougall’s book Born To Run which I highly recommend everyone read if they get chance. True was a man of principal who preached the art of running free and embracing the happiness of life. This passage from the book captures True’s philosophy:

“Don’t fight the trail. Take what it gives you … Think easy, light, smooth and fast. You start with easy because if that’s all you get, that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don’t give a sh*t how high the hill is or how far you’ve got to go. When you’ve practiced that so long that you forget you’re practicing, you work on making it smooooooth. You won’t have to worry about the last one — you get those three, and you’ll be fast.”

Caballo went for his last run this past Friday when he left for a routine 12-miler and never returned. Reporters say that he was found Saturday on the trail beneath the trees as if he was merely taking a nap. He died doing what he loved most. True left an imprint on the world through his philosophies and teachings that will be felt by many.

Coach Burgener goes over the snatch step by step. What are you missing in your snatch?

FREE CrossFit class tomorrow (Saturday) at 10:00am.

WOD make-up/skill work this Sunday from 12-2pm.

Gaining Mass For The Hardgainer

Lean muscle mass is better than adipose tissue (fat). We know all know this. Having more lean mass than fat mass will typically yield a longer and healthier life. Our goal here at the box is to aquire this favorable body composition through interval training, lifting heavy, and eating/living primally. I’ve tried to follow this prescription for some time now and am up to the heaviest and strongest I have ever been while also being the leanest I have ever been. This goes to show that it is possible for a hardgainer, like myself, to put on some extra lean pounds by adhering to the primal/paleo code. As with most of you (more so the guys), I’d like to up my size even more while staying within the realm of functional strength. Increases in strength will eventually require increases in size.

So how do you make these increases through functional fitness and a paleo diet? Well, first off, you keep on keepin’ on with these two things. You will also need to trigger the same anabolic (muscle building) hormones that others (think bodybuilders) use to get big only with more enthusiasm and drive. Some of the primary hormones that contribute to muscle growth are testosterone, growth hormone (GH), and insulin-like growth factor-1. These hormones work best in the presence of one another. So how do you activate the secretion of these guys to help elicit change?

Avoid Stress

Cortisol is the main stress hormone associated with catabolism or muscle atrophy. Cortisol is increased by putting your body through stressful situations like not getting enough sleep, “fight or flight” situations, eating an inflammatory response inducing diet (grains, sugar, dairy), and having high anxiety. Not scheduling enough recovery time after grueling workout sessions will also increase cortisol. This is a way that working out actually impedes working out. So be smart and take advantage of your days off.

Lift Heavy Sh*t

Lucky for you we do this pretty consistently. Centering your routine around lifts such as squats, deadlifts, presses, snatches, cleans and jerks. These all induce the excretion of more testosterone. Bodyweight exercises, while still productive, don’t really contribute to size increases like that of heavy weight. It is essential to center your workouts around squats and deadlifts as these two lifts work the biggest muscle groups. So don’t miss the days when you see these guys on the website!

Eat Plants and Animals Like It’s Your Job

Eat regularly and often. If you have a tough time gaining weight, never skip a post workout meal or do “fasted workouts”. You can’t afford it and eating regularly will up the production of GH. Increasing your caloric intake will make up for the vast amount of calories you will burn lifting. It is especially important to eat a lot and often on your off-days because this is when muscle recovery is at its peak. For a post workout meal add in some paleo friendly starches like sweet potatoes and squash to help replenish glycogen depletion. Also, don’t be afraid to eat a piece of fattier meat everyday (remember grass-fed saturated animal fat is your friend). Fat actually blunts insulin secretion and increases testosterone. Eat eggs like they are going out of style. These are great for extra calories and getting in higher amounts of protein (and the are cheap too!). You should be trying to consume at least 1g/lb bodyweight of protein per day.

Positivity Is Positively Infectious 

We’ve all been there. It’s Monday morning at 5:45am and you wish you were still asleep. You’re Struggling through the last round of a grueling 5 round WOD. You’re one of the last to finish and not only do you hate squat cleans, but you can also feel a raw spot forming on your hands and your back starts to tighten up. Your sweating buckets and letting the negative voices creep in, telling you to quit. You’re staring at the bar way too long before picking it up again. It’s just not your day.

You’re about to throw in the towel when you hear a single chant; “You got this (insert your name here)!”. Some positivity starts to trickle in. “10 reps and you’re done!” You are able to fight through the burning in your quads and pick back up that med-ball. “Don’t give up!” You don’t. You grit your teeth and grind it out, giving all you have, leaving everything out on the floor. Now you’re through and unconsciously making a new sweat angel on the floor. You get a couple of high fives or pats on the back or maybe even a “good effort!” from a fellow peer. The burn in your muscles starts to fade and you begin to think clearly again as new oxygen is flowing through your body. You made it through. You battled yourself and won. The hardest part of your day is now over. You are a part of the team.

CrossFit works. That’s no secret. Community is fuel to the fire that is CrossFit. Without community, things get a lot harder (and heavier). What I’m getting at is that the small things like peer support and cheering sometimes go overlooked. Hearing someone else gunning for you when you’re trying to finish up a WOD can make a world of difference. It will also make it that much easier for them to cheer you on when you’re having a tough time at the gym on any given day. We have been having more newbies at the gym recently, too. One of the best ways to introduce them to the EDCF community and make that uncomfortable feeling fade quicker is to be supportive. So step outside your comfort zone a little today and pick a person to cheer on. Get rowdy. Get loud. Make The Suck more bearable. Who knows? You might just make their day..