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!