Crossfit HURTS

Crossfit has revolutionized fitness.

The idea of "metabolic conditioning" (referring to conditioning exercises intended to increase the storage and delivery of energy for any activity, most often through resistance training in Crossfit) and the use of interval training and competitive exercise has spawned a whole new nation of fitness freaks, myself being one of them. I LOVE Crossfit workouts, but I sometimes wonder why they're structured the way they are. Some of them are excellent and designed perfectly for a general population:

For instance:
Chelsea

5 Pull-ups 10 Push-ups 15 Squats

Each min on the min for 30 min

This workout is good (hard as hell) for anyone with generally good health and form. Obviously not everyone should or can do this workout, but in general, for those who are into fitness and start with a high level of fitness, this is a good one.

Why?

1. High repititions with only body weight provides a safe way to thoroughly thrash your major muscle groups

2. Full body functional movements make this a high calorie, intense circuit.

3. Built in HR variations, good for metabolic conditioning.

However, not all Crossfit workouts have these benefits

Here's Sunday's WOD:

Five rounds for time of:

275 pound Deadlift, 5 reps

10 Burpees

Post time to comments.

Here are the issues:

1. Who is 275lbs good for??? Maybe me, and maybe a few other 200lb+ guys, but pretty much no one else. Why would Crossfit assume this is an appropriate weight selection for everyone? One might argue that they don't and the 275lb number is just a suggestion, but I would think this weight prescription would be improved by saying something like:

125% of body weight for well conditioned lifters,
100% of body weight for moderately conditioned lifters
50-75% of body weight for beginning lifters

2. The format is wrong. The deadlift is a BIG functional lift that involves lifting heavy weight (275lbs right?) in a coordinated fashion engaging the entire body with an emphasis on keeping spinal erectors rigid and engaging glutes and hamstrings as prime movers. This is not extremely simple and takes some practice to do correctly, and regardless of how good at Crossfit you are, your form will slack if your heart rate gets high enough. YES IT WILL. It's science. Nueromuscular facilitation begins to fall off when your heart rate reaches about 75% of your HR max  according to the NSCA Essentials of Strength and Conditioning textbook.  So why do you care if your form sucks doing a 275lb deadlift? Ever had a herniated or bulging disc? Not fun.

3. This workout doesn't efficiently target any energy system. This workout took most "crossfitters" about 5minutes, not enough to truly tax the glycolitic (longer anaerobic) or oxidatitive (aerobic) energy systems, but has a HR intensive element that prevents the participating athlete from making the most out of the strength element

(How not to do a deadlift correctly, 105lbs)

A good coach makes all of the difference, but I would warn you against simply going through the Crossfit.com page WOD without thinking about how each routine benefits you. It seems to me that some of these workouts are designed more to be brutal than to be safe and effective.

Nate Lawrence

BASIC NUTRITION FOR FAT LOSS

Nutrition Position

Explore Fitness believes that proper nutrition is about changing lifestyles to reflect better choices while still enjoying food. Food need not be a source of stress or a guilty pleasure, but rather something enjoyable and life sustaining.

Explore doesn’t believe that fad diets, aggressive supplement regimens or other non-sustainable activities are real solutions to issues with diet. In order to see lasting results that help our participants for life, we take a sustainable and enjoyable approach to diet.

Explore Fitness believes that nutrition need be approached on an individual basis, while considering the whole person.  It is when we consider each of these factors that we can truly achieve optimal health and happiness.  There is no cookie-cutter approach, or one-size-fits-all plan.  This is why we take the time to go beyond symptoms, and look beneath the surface to identify the hidden causes of weight gain, stress, fatigue, digestive disturbances, poor skin, depression, anxiety, and beyond.  

Contact us today for a free consultation by a registered dietician.

 Nate Lawrence Circa 2004. Weighed in at 260lbs.

Eating for Fat Loss

Fads and binges do not work over the long term. There are drastic ways to lose fat quickly that include starvation, supplementation, zero carb, and “cleanses.” Eating has to be a sustainable part of your life. Changes in diet should be permanent, or with the goal of changing habits long-term.

Here are some basic rules to live by:

1.       Caloric deficit - To lose significant amounts of weight. It is necessary to introduce a caloric deficit.

·         The size of the deficit will vary greatly depending on the individual.

·         Seek the help of a professional to determine your needs

2.       Keep your blood sugar balanced.

·         Too little blood sugar induces cravings, and signals your body to slow down and conserve energy.

·         Too much blood sugar forces your body to have a hormonal reaction that brings this excess of energy back to equilibrium as body fat.

·         If you feel significant hunger, your blood sugar is low.

·         Eat something when you wake up. Even if you don’t feel hungry, something light will help your body’s metabolism get started and give you energy for the day.

·         Eat every 2-3 hours.

·         Avoid big meals.

3.         Control your portions Inevitably, you will find yourself in a situation where you are hungry and low on blood sugar.

·         Slow down. Your body’s satiety signal will lag behind your ability to consume food by 10-15minutes. Eat some, then wait some, and if you’re still truly hungry, eat some more. Often you’ll find that your cravings fade after a while.

·         Drink water – Feelings of thirst and hunger are often confused. You will feel less hungry if you are well hydrated. Proper hydration is also essential for proper nutrient transport, proper cooling and just about everything else your body does ever.

4.       Eat around your workouts.

·          Eat a balanced mid-sized snack  60-90minutes prior to vigorous exercise.

·         Eat a balanced meal immediately following your workout.

·         Do not use this as an excuse to overeat

5.       Practice situational self control.

·         Avoid putting yourself in situations where you’ll know you’ll be tempted to make poor choices.

·         Pick restaurants where you know you’ll have a healthy option (don’t go to Taco Bell. Ever.)

·         If you know you are going into a situation where you’re going to be tempted to make poor choices (a friend’s bbq for instance), eat a healthy snack before you go and minimize your cravings.

6.       Read every nutritional label. You’ll be surprised to learn what some things you buy are composed of.

·         Be sure to note:

o The ingredients

o Serving size

o Calories

o Calories from fat

o Grams of protein

o Grams of fat

o Grams of sugar

o Grams of Carbohydrates

·         None of these things are necessarily better or worse than others, but you should know what you’re eating so you can balance your meals properly for your goals. You’ll find some interesting things about the good foods you eat as well. Did you know a serving of whole oats has 7g of protein?

7.       Alcohol – Not your friend

·         Alcohol has 7calories per gram (protein and carbs have 4, fat has 9).

·         Alcoholic drinks are often associated with other sugars and can be high calorie besides alcohol.

·         Alcohol is dehydrating

·         Alcohol is detrimental to sleep

·         Alcohol has very little nutritional value

·         Example: Jennifer likes to have a few glasses of wine when she gets home from work with her husband. She consumes about 300calories per night on weeknights and then has a few extra drinks that give her another 200calories per day on the weekends at social functions. Her total caloric intake of alcoholic beverages is about 3,000 calories per week. Her goal is to lose one pound of fat per week which requires a caloric deficit of 3500 calories. Jennifer must now burn 6500 calories more than what she is eating every week to reach her goal. NOT GONNA HAPPEN. Does that sound at all familiar?

8.       What do I eat? Everyone has different requirements. Finding a healthy diet can be a matter of trial and error The guidelines listed are a decent starting place for many individuals.

·         Individuals trying to lose weight should eat a diet consisting of:

o 20% Fat, 30% protein,  20% starchy carbohydrates, 30% low glycemic carbohydrates.

·         Generally, active athletes should get about 1gram of protein per 1kilogram of body weight. So if I weigh 150lbs, I’m about 68kilos, so I need about 68 grams of protein. This is rough, don’t get hung up on this number. Generally most Americans get plenty of protein in their diets, usually alongside saturated animal fats!

·         Glycemic Index – A measure of the body’s ability to turn a carbohydrate into glucose, or blood sugar. Carbohydrates with a higher GI (i.e. white bread GI=100) should be avoided in favor of carbohydrates with a lower GI (i.e. Broccoli GI=15) for purposes of weight loss. Carbohydrates with a lower GI tend to be more filling, higher in nutrients, and lower in calories than starchier, higher GI carbohydrates. Just because something says “sugar” doesn’t make it a high GI food. An apple for instance has a GI of 38, despite having most of it’s calories from sugar (13grams). Generally speaking, you can’t go wrong eating fruits and vegetables.

·         See the attached Table for some general guidelines and food suggestions. Remember that everyone is different, and your needs may vary.

9       

   YOU WILL SLIP UP. Don’t get depressed or mad at yourself; just try to make as many good choices as possible. The effects of your diet are cumulative, one bad decision doesn’t screw the whole thing up, just as one good decision doesn’t complete your fat loss journey.

SUGGESTED READING:

The Zone Diet – Dr. Barry Sears

My favorite book so far, various adaptations come with lots of recipes. His concepts are easy to understand and implement.

 

 

Happier and healthier weighing in at 205! 2012

Nate Lawrence

Mount of the Holy Cross and Upcoming Hikes

Here's the grabber:

Explore Fitness hikers crush Mount of the Holy Cross in record time! Information on the Princeton hike at the bottom of this post.

Mount of the Holy Cross



Despite leaving Denver at 12pm on a Saturday, we still managed to find traffic on the way to our campsite, Half Moon Campground adjacent to the Holy Cross Wilderness area. Despite the delay, we made it with little drama on an interesting 4WD trail with evidence of a series of controlled burns about.

Our luck continued as we occupied two recently vacated campsites and found no notice regarding an expected fire ban. Grilled Kebabs courtesy of Britta and Zanna and a few Coors Lights courtesy of Clay and Brett later, we crashed early in anticipation.

Sunday alarm went off at 4am and we departed promptly at 5:10am (only 10minutes after the scheduled time, not bad for a group of nine).

Up to Half Moon Pass in the dark and some beautiful views in the early morning alpenglow


After descending into a valley and crossing a small stream, we headed back up the ~4k feet to the top.


Rugged Terrain


A few breaks



The top



Summited about 9am, back to the campsite at 1:30pm, a mere 4.5hrs faster than the 14ers.com trip report predicted. Domination.


Group shot


See you on Longs Peak August 18th.

Nate

Update on the upcoming Mount Princeton hike:


The Princeton hike has been delayed to the weekend of the 24th. We will be departing on Friday the 24th at 2pm.


Participants will have the option to stay in a hotel, camp or stay in a private cabin in shared spaces. Costs will vary depending on your lodging choice and the length of your stay.


Everyone should plan on staying Friday the 24th and hiking on the 25th.


Lodging is currently available at Mt. Princeton Hot Spring Resort, or at a myriad of mid-range hotels in Salida or Buena Vista.

Mt Princeton rents cabins that sleep ten.

The National Forests have enough camping spots for 20,000+.

A friend of Explore has limited availability at a private cabin nearby.

PLEASE RSVP to explorefitnessdenver@gmail.com WITH:

• If you're planning on participating
• What sort of lodging interests you
• If you have a 4WD vehicle and you're willing to drive.

Here's a link to the rout description:

http://www.14ers.com/routemain.php?route=prin1&peak=Mt.+Princeton

There are two options to get to the top and we can accommodate different levels of hikers.

Gonna be SICK.

Nate 

Get High! Explore 14ers!

Welcome Explorers!

So far this summer we've bagged two 14k ft mountains (Gray's and Torrey's Peaks). Now, it's time to head farther afield and continue to challenge ourselves.

  Yup. Two in one day.

Here are the coming planned hikes:

July 22nd: Mount of the Holy Cross




This iconic 14er is near Vail and about 2.5hrs from Denver. Plan on getting up really early, or join me on camping the night before at the Halfmoon campground (recommended).

This is a challenging hike that should take 10-12hours and cover 4,723 vertical feet. It's worth it. Holy Cross is on every peak chaser's bucket list in Colorado, and a few brave souls attempt the ski descent of the cross couloir every year. Scary.

Our route will be the North Ridge and is rated as an intermediate climb with limited exposure and scrambling.

All the information you need from 14ers.com
http://www.14ers.com/photos/peakmain.php?peak=Mt.+of+the+Holy+Cross

August 4th and 5th: Mt Princeton OVERNIGHT


Climb this massive member of the Collegiate Peaks from the comfort of either a private cabin in nearby Maysville or the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs resort.



This hike is beautiful and puts you up on the enormous Mt. Princeton summit with views for hundreds of miles. Finish with a soak in the tub at the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs.

http://www.mtprinceton.com/

The hike itself is challenging but not extreme. Six miles and 3,377 vertical feet make this doable in about six hours for most, which should leave us plenty of time to enjoy a meal in Buena Vista before heading back to Denver on Sunday.

All the information you need at:
http://www.14ers.com/photos/peakmain.php?peak=Mt.+Princeton

RSVP for details. Lodging expenses will depend on how large our group is, but should be around $100.

August 18th and 19th: Longs Peak OVERNIGHT Camping


The big daddy. Oh yeah. Long's Peak is a major accomplishment for those who are up for a challenge. We will camp at the Long's Peak Trailhead campsite Saturday the 18th and hit the trail around 3:30am in order to be off the peak before any potential lighting.


Be prepared for this hike. 16 miles, 4,845 feet vertical, and quite a bit of rocky traveling make this our most challenging peak of the summer. This peak is located in Rocky Mountain National Park, and off-limit to dogs. Get there and do it, and you'll know you've accomplished something.

All you need to know at:
http://www.14ers.com/photos/peakmain.php?peak=Longs+Peak

RSVP for more details.

I look forward to exploring these amazing peaks with you this summer!

Nate Lawrence

The Heat is On!

Yup.

Summertime in CO. Unlike what most of the world thinks about the Centennial State, we're hot (and I don't just mean our status as the "fittest" state in the country.

This week's forecast:
Mon -98
Tues - 100
Wed -95
Thurs - 96
Friday - 93

Those temperatures can be magnified by artificial surfaces in the city
I'm all about cold weather. I'd take 10 over 100 any day. Heat directly effects performance. Hyperthermia is a real issue and can lead to heat exhaustion and stroke.That being said, we're Explorers and we're not going to sit inside and bitch about the weather over orange-mocha-frappachinos.

We're going to get out and get it done anyway. So how do we deal with heat?

Best option:
Go to the mountains. Higher = cooler with more wind. Grey's and Torrey's Trip Saturday the 30th. Contact me for more details.

Looks cooler right?

If you're stuck in the city:
Go early. Get your ass out of bed. Just do it. Really. No, now.

Wear light clothes. I don't care if you think your legs look weird. Be concerned with performance, not appearance.


Get some wind. Heat is dispersed from bodies when we sweat and then that sweat evaporates. Good news for us here in CO is that our relative humidity is negative 20 (that's a technical term), so we're in a good place to disperse heat.


Slow it down. Work hard, but understand that overheating can be serious. Remember, we always train to get stronger. Heat stroke doesn't make you stronger.


Nate Lawrence

TRX. Created by Navy Seal Randy Hetrick, TRX suspension training is a simple idea that allows us to take destabilized suspension training wherever we go. Hetrick was a  bored Navy Seal that took some webbing and  an old belt and created the first model as way to stay in shape on the road.

This concept is not entirely new. Think Olympic gymnast rings. If you've ever used one, you can see the versatility of this device.

But why do we need suspension training? Doesn't nature and our urban playground give us enough tools to use? I think TRX is a useful addition for a few reasons:

1. The system is immensely portable. It fits into a sack about eight inches by four. I can easily fit a TRX trainer into my 12liter backpack that I use for cycling. All you need to set it up is any object that is sturdy and above six feet tall. Trees, lamp posts, railings... etc.

2. The system allows us to destabilize one or two limbs at a time, and do so in a controlled fashion in a place of our choosing. Destabilizing limbs forces the body to use joint specific stabilizers (think plantaris/popliteus in the knee, or rotator cuff in the shoulder) and intrinsic core stabilizers to perform the action. This exposes dysfunction and strengthens these smaller more profound (deeper) muscle groups.

3. The system allows us to perform medial and lateral adduction of the humorous aka "rowing" or most simply pulling actions from many different angles. This allows us to work the posterior chains; a proposition that is usually difficult, especially for those with limited or poor core and upper body strength.

4. The system doubles as an excellent flexibility tool.

The list could go on, but for the sake of brevity, I'll just let you find out for yourself at the next Explore Fitness workout.

Nate Lawrence 

Tough Mudder

Explore was well represented today in Beaver Creek for the Tough Mudder event.

This "toughest" of the newly popular obstacle courses (not a race according to Tough Mudder), is about 12 miles long and includes 20some obstacles mostly involving climbing over things, crawling under things through mud and getting mildly electrocuted (three shocking obstacles this year). This event was created by British special forces and the proceeds benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. The course rises from the base of Beaver Creek resort (8100ft elevation)  up to the mid-mountain base (I'm guessing 10.5k ft). The route undulates around the mountain with some rise and fall with the total vertical rise around 3-3.5k feet. The trail itself was a mix of access road, singletrack or hiking trails and wet open fields. Areas of snowy inclines had been created and a few steep climbs on wetted down grass made for some interesting travel.

I was accompanied at the start by Guicho Pons, Lauren Victor and Erica Thompson, all veteran participants of Shut Up and Cut Up and now CrossCut. We started up a steep incline after a muddy tube crawl and quickly got seperated. Guicho and I ended up ahead. We ran the rest of the not-race together with Erica and Lauren finished a scant 20min behind.

I wore a heart rate monitor because I'm a serious fitness geek. I didn't see anyone else the entire race with one on. The general facts are:
Total Time: 3:09.23
Average HR: 148
Peak: 199 (I'm guessing after the headlong plunge into icewater)
Minimum:101
Calories burned:3759

It was eminently clear to me after we reached the high point and cleared the "Berlin Wall" around mile seven that I hadn't trained for time periodslong enough to promote acid clearance and prevent cramping. Constantly decelerating on he extended downward slope in my Newbalance Minimus quickly led to some serious discomfort. Guicho and I were forced to slow down for stretches and I had to do some hasty PNF stretches to get my mad soleus to chill out. Water and salt pills helped prevent the issue from getting worse. In the back of my mind, I could hear see Carl's wry smile and hear his voice: "well I told ya bud, you can't do endurance training in half an hour!"

Shut up phantom Carl.

The lesson is that if one is going to exercise for 3+ hours, one had better train for more than 45minutes at a time. The rest of the crew was fine due to the longer distances they were accustomed to.

So was I really, but I could've finished this non-race probably twenty minutes faster had this issue not popped up. Lesson for all the Crossfit disciples in the audience: we can train to have amazing cardiac thresholds, strong muscles with excellent muscle endurance and a tougher than tar attitude, but you can't train to clear lactic and other acids over the course of multiple hours without actually training for multiple hours.

All in all, a fun and successful outing with some badass explorers.

Nate Lawrence
CPT - CSCS

Hammer Strike!

Week one Explore Fitness. We've had a great turnout and have had some serious fun implementing some of the new toys. Let's hope this weather stays nice, great to see everyone who has stopped by to check us out. If you haven't had a chance, we're operating at Form Fitness 1125 17th Sth Street.

Cross Cut Classes are MWF at12pm and Tuesday Thursday at 530pm. Bring the heat.
Explore Strength is at 12pm on Thursday. Get stronger


Can't wait to see you all there!