Another Fabulous Monday!

More Race Results

Janet 49:21 15:53 pace 1st ever 5K

Prisca 41:42 13:25 pace PR!

Dave Miles 35:21 11:23 pace; 8th in age category

Sandra 29:42 9:34 pace; 15th in age category

Jacque 29:08 9:23 pace; 13th in age category

Keren 27:06; 8:43 pace; 8th in age category

Shannon 22:53; 2nd in age category

WOD

"Chief Big Eagle"

AMRAP IN 30 OF:
50 Sit Ups
40 Walking Lunges
30 Squats
20 Push Ups
10  Broad Jumps

TUESDAY'S RUN LOCATION AM ONLY CROSS TRAIL

 (PM MEETS AT BURBANK HIGH SCHOOL)

If you need a street address, enter 9443 Hillhaven Ave, Tujunga, CA 91042.

Otherwise, here are directions from Stonehurst Park.

From the park, head east into Tujunga.

Make a right onto Hillhaven (between Travel Inn and new shopping center being built. If you get to Commerce St., you’ve gone too far.)

Go past first stop sign

At second stop sign, turn right

At next stop sign, go left

You will go up over a small hill

As you head down, the road will split into 3 forks—there is one fork that seems to head straight. That is Hillhaven PLACE. That is WRONG! There is a road that makes a sharp right; that is also WRONG. Then there is the “road in the middle”. It is the only one of the three that heads down hill. Take that fork. This is Hillhaven AVENUE. It will seem as though you are headed nowhere. Keep going until you come to the very end of the road. I will be there. There is parking at the bottom of the hill.

MANDATORY: BRING A HEADLAMP OR FLASHLIGHT AND WATER TO CARRY WITH YOU. We will be running or walking 2-3 miles.

 

Excellence

Congratulations to all of the warriors who came out yesterday to "Run for the Hungry". You showed true excellence in attacking something you needed to attack. I applaud each of the efforts of Dave Miles, Keren and her friend, Prisca, her two sons, Jacque, Sandra, Janet and their friends. You all showed true honor in coming out to help others on  Thanksgiving Day. 

 

 

Not Pictured, Dave Miles

Ask everyone how Extreme Boot Camp did in comparison....Perhaps this picture says it best.

 WOD (to do as a group on your own)

"Jack Black"

AMRAP IN 25 OF:
25 Jumping Pull ups
15 HKE
10 Burpees

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!

Urbana Sepulveda, of Team CrossFit Academy posted this to their blog yesterday. I liked it enough to repeat it here.

May Your Stuffing be Tasty

May Your Turkey be Plump

May Your Potatoes and Gravy

Have Never a Lump

May Your Yams be Delicious

And Your Pies Take the Prize

And May Your Thanksgiving Dinner

Stay Off Your Thighs

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

Learning the Deadlift

RACE INFORMATION

If you are running the "Race for the Hungry" 5K Tomorrow, MAKE SURE YOU ARE AT THE LOCATION AT 6:45 AM TO PICK UP YOUR RACE PACK. TEAM PHOTO WITH TEAM CROSSFIT ACADEMY WILL BE AT 7:15AM. LOOK FOR THE SEA OF RED SHIRTS. I HAVE ALL OF THE RED SHIRTS WHICH ARE MANDATORY RACE WEAR FOR TOMORROW. IF YOU REGISTERED FOR THE RACE, YOU ARE DUE A SHIRT.

IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE AT BOOT CAMP TONIGHT, COME SEE ME IN THE MORNING AT THE RACE LOCATION, AND I WILL HAVE YOUR SHIRT.

From CrossFit Journal 12, August 2003
Entire article available here.


"The deadlift is unrivaled in its simplicity and impact while unique in its capacity for increasing head to toe strength.  Regardless of whether your fitness goals are to "rev up" your metabolism, increase strength or lean body mass, decrease body fat, rehabilitate your back, improve athletic performance or maintain functional independence as a senior, the deadlift is a marked shortcut to that end."

Today's WOD will be learning the Deadlift.

Preparing to Race Again

We are meeting at Burbank High School again. Directions are on yesterday's blog.

WOD

Mini Time Trails

(from CrossFit Endurance)

6 MIN TT

3 MIN REST

4 MIN TT

2 MIN REST

1 MIN TT

30 SEC REST

30 SEC TT

15 SEC REST

15 SEC TT

Today We Get Down to Business

AWESOME

Thank you again to all of you who participated in the 7th Annual Team CrossFit Academy Boot Brew. There were almost 200 racers there. It was an incredible course, incredible race, boat load of fun and an amazing experience.

THIS THURSDAY WE GET TO DO IT AGAIN

We get another chance to be awesome at the Run for the Hungry in La Canada. 

Race starts at 8am. If you haven't registered, you can register on race day starting at 6:45 am. There will be a huge team photo with our friends from Team CrossFit Academy. Stay tuned for time and place.  

Bring canned goods to the race to donate.

Today starts an all out effort to hit your target weight loss and/or nutritional goals before year's end. You should all bring your food journals to class today and everyday through the end of the year. Get ready to take your training to the next level!

WOD

"A Different Type of Punishment"

10 DB Squat Thrusters (M 30# DBs, W 20# DBs)

10 Box Jumps

100' Sprint

9 DB Squat Thrusters

9 Box Jumps

100' Sprint

8 DB Squat Thrusters (M 30# DBs, W 20# DBs)

8 Box Jumps

100' Sprint

7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 

  TUESDAY AM PM RUNNING LOCATION

WE MEET AT BURBANK HIGH SCHOOL TRACK FOR SPEED WORK

902 N. THIRD STREET, BURBANK, CA 91502

AM

Enter track via parking garage off Delaware road. (HS is between Delaware and Harvard. If you're facing the FRONT of the school, Delaware will be to your left. If you're facing the back, it will be on your right).

PM

Enter track via gate off Glenoaks. Park anywhere along the North side of Glenoaks or in any of the neighborhoods along there. We will meet at the gate on Glenoaks that leads to the track and field.

HAPPY FRIDAY AND BOOT BREW INFO

Yippee!!!! Here's the Boot Brew Info (taken directly from the Team CrossFit Academy Blog)

"For Tomorrow: November 21st, High Noon

Boot-Brew 7

Start/Finish-line: Donna and Robbie Walters Home, 422 Grand, Monrovia 91016

Registration Opens: 10:30am-11:45am Your WHOLE Team Needs To Be Present To Register.  You will need to Sign In, fill out waivers, get your Beer Bracelets and race-shirts, and of course prepare your maps.  Please come early, register, then go relax and get ready…

Safety Brief: 11:50am

Race Begins: High Noon.  If you’re late, you’re late… Race Clock starts at 12pm

Course Closesure: 2:00pm.  If you are out on the course STILL at 2:00pm, abandon the race and get back to the Start/Finish-line…you’re DQed.

Parking: Be nice to Donna’s neighbors, please try to carpool…150 cars on Grand may not be cool.

What To Bring: Running clothes, shoes, sunglasses, a watch will help, a pen, paper, and a camera if you like… even your own maps of Monrovia may help.  A cell phone per Team will be mandatory.  You may even want to bring water for your own Team if you anticipate getting lost.  If you plan on staying later, feel free to bring warm clothes as the sun will go down around 5:30pm…it will be cold.

Food: Food will be provided by Marco from Natural Selection.  My guess is we will run out and will order all kinds of good stuff..feel free to bring deserts and or your own favorite drinks.  Beer and water will be provided, but if you don’t like or want your own, please bring it."

WOD

AMRAP IN 25 OF: 

10 Hanging Straight Leg Raises

10 Man Makers (From CrossFit Apex)

100 Jump Rope

The Role of the Glycemic Index in Your Food Choices

 Still waiting on details for the BOOT BREW. Can't you just feel the excitement building? I will post the details as soon as I have them.

 

The following information was pulled from http://www.glycemicindex.com/

What is the Glycemic Index?

Not all carbohydrate foods are created equal, in fact they behave quite differently in our bodies. The glycemic index or GI describes this difference by ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels. Choosing low GI carbs - the ones that produce only small fluctuations in our blood glucose and insulin levels - is the secret to long-term health reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes and is the key to sustainable weight loss.

For GI Food Lists Search the GI Database

Use [www.glycemicindex.com]'s free GI database to find the GI value of your favourite carbohydrate foods that have been tested over the past 25 years from all around the world. You can also check the glycemic load (GL) and grams of carbohydrate per serve. Our database is the most comprehensive GI resource on the web.

What are the Benefits of the Glycemic Index?

Eating a lot of high GI foods can be detrimental to your health because it pushes your body to extremes. This is especially true if you are overweight and sedentary. Switching to eating mainly low GI carbs that slowly trickle glucose into your blood stream keeps your energy levels balanced and means you will feel fuller for longer between meals.

• Low GI diets help people lose and manage weight
• Low GI diets increase the body's sensitivity to insulin
• Low GI carbs improve diabetes management
• Low GI carbs reduce the risk of heart disease
• Low GI carbs improve blood cholesterol levels
• Low GI carbs reduce hunger and keep you fuller for longer
• Low GI carbs prolong physical endurance
• High GI carbs help re-fuel carbohydrate stores after exercise

How relevant is the GI for athletes?

The GI can be a useful tool to help athletes select the right type of carbohydrates to consume both before and after exercise. Studies have consistently reported that a low GI pre-exercise meal results in a better maintenance of blood glucose concentrations during exercise and a higher rate of fat oxidation. This is likely to result in reduced muscle glycogen utilisation during prolonged exercise and possibly improve endurance performance. Eating high GI meals before exercise may result in plasma glucose concentrations peaking before the onset of exercise and then hypoglycemia occurring within the first 30 minutes of the exercise period. There is little data available on the effect of the GI of carbohydrates eaten before intermittent, power or strength related sports.

During recovery from exercise, muscle glycogen resynthesis is of high metabolic priority. The eating of high GI carbohydrates after exercise increases plasma glucose and insulin concentrations and this facilitates muscle glycogen resynthesis. If however, you are exercising for weight loss purposes or are involved in weight restricted sports, low GI carbohydrates after exercise may be more beneficial as the lower glucose and insulin concentrations will not suppress fat.

WOD

4X FTO:

20 SDHP

20 BURPEES

20 SIT UPS

WOD for WEDS and more

Check your email boxes today for all the pages to print out for your food/workout journals. Print these out and bring them with you EVERYDAY.

In the meantime, here's what's in store for today:

3 mins at each station, 2 rounds FOR POINTS

Dot Drills

Weight Flips

Bear Crawls

Walking Lunges

Rope Jumps

What is "The Zone"?

TUESDAY AM CLASS IS MEETING AT STOUGH CANYON NATURE CENTER IN BURBANK. If you're driving down Glenoaks heading from Sunland to Burbank High School, pass the high school on your right. Make a left onto Walnut St.  You are going to hit Sunset Canyon and pass the golf course.  You will reach the main gate, which will be closed this early in the morning. Park on the street; we will meet there.

Tuesday PM class is meeting at Burbank High School for sprint repeats. For directions, go to the blog dated October 28, 2009.

WOD

AM  Trail Running

PM  Sprint Repeats

When CrossFit refers to "The Zone", they are referring to The Zone book, written by Dr. Barry Sears.  In a nutshell, the Zone is not only a calorie restriction diet, it also preaches the importance of proper food combining.  By ensuring that we eat a proper balance of 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat at every meal, we are helping to keep our insulin levels balanced. Dr. Sears refers to this condition as "The Zone".

In The Zone, more energy is the norm, as is better athletic performance.

Most CrossFitters' nutritional plans incorporate the food choices of the Paleo Diet, but the pairing and quantities proposed by The Zone.

CrossFit Journal 21 is your most important resource when it comes to simplifying the Zone. Your second best resource is to read The Zone!

The first thing you need to do is turn to page 2 to determine what size male or female you are, so you'll know how many blocks of food daily you need to eat.

A block of food is defined as 9 grams of carbohydrates, 7 grams of protein AND 1.5 grams of fat.  Once you know this, creating meals, at least at first WILL require measuring and weighing.

However, if you are going for elite fitness, the results of doing this are outstanding and cannot be overstated.

For example, if you are a medium female, you are allotted 11 blocks of food per day. This breaks down to three 3-block meals and two 1-block snacks per day. Using the aforementioned definition of a block of food, you now see that a medium female's breakast, lunch and dinner consist of 27 grams of carbohydrates, 18 grams of protein and 4.5 grams of fat (3X9; 3X7 and 3X 1.5 respectively).

From here, it is simply a matter of figuring out how many grams of carbohydrates, protein and fat are in the foods you are choosing.

One resource is found in the CrossFit Journal 21. There is a chart of common foods and how many blocks they contain. Each column contains the equivalent of one block of that substance. For example, approximately 3 almonds equals 1 block (1.5 grams) of fat.  Therefore, if I need to eat 4.5 grams of fat for that meal, I could have 9 almonds (along with whatever carbs and protein I choose), and I would be set.

Another great way to gage the appropriate number of grams of carbs, protein and fat in a particular food is to purchase a food scale. Target carries an awesome one by ChefMate, which I highly recommend. This scale allows you to place an item on the scale and punch in a code. That code (say it's strawberries) will tell you exactly how many grams of carbs, fat, sugar, etc. are contained in what you are weighing.

You will become an expert at label reading. Sugar is hidden in everything. Check the grams of carbohydrates in everything you buy. You'll be amazed at how something seemingly innocent can contain more carbohydrates than you are alotted for a full day.

One more thing to keep in mind is this--even though a medium female is allowed 11 blocks of food per day, if she is trying to lose weight, she still needs to keep her carbohydrate daily count to less than 30 grams of carbs/day (50 g/day for men). This means that she will actually only want to eat about 3 blocks of carbs/day or a little more than 1/2 block of carbs per meal.

Re-Delving Into Nutrition

First off, congratulations to Jacque!! She PR'ed at this weekend's Hip Hop 5K with a stellar time of 28:22.  Thanks also to Matt who came out to cheer us on!!! 

 Also, here is a reminder to all AM boot campers. Until further notice, we will ALWAYS meet at the church on Monday mornings, do trail runs or speed work on Tuesday mornings "off campus" and meet at Stonehurst Park on Weds, Thurs and Friday mornings.

So we've got two separate systems that we recommend regarding nutrition.  One is referred to as The Zone, and the other as Paleo.  Let's start with The Paleo Diet for Athletes, from the book of the same name by Loren Cordain.

"Eat meat and veggies, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar."

That's it! If all of us could just adhere to that simple philosophy, diabetes and obesity would be a thing of the past, celiac disease would be extinct and we'd all meld into stellar athletes.

Sounds good, huh?

Yes. And ESSENTIALLY, it is that simple, but APPLYING it is another issue.

Eat meat!!! Yes. Eat meat every day, every meal. What is meat? As Robb Wolf, CrossFit Nutrition Guru and resident specialist found on www.robbwolf.com says, "it should have eyes and a soul." You know--salmon, beef, chicken lamb.  This does not mean tofurkey!

The whole premise of the Paleo diet is that we should eat basically what our ancestors ate--not twinkies, simulated meat products and flaming hot cheetos. Simply, our bodies have not genetically caught up with our diets, so we need to go back in time a bit.

Eat veggies.  We all know the importance of these. Eat green leafy veggies. They're good for you!  Do it.

Nuts and seeds. These provide our bodies with healthy fats. Fats are essential in the Paleo diet, as ultimately they replace carbohydrates as our primary source of fuel. As your body leans out, you will need to add more and more good fats to replace what was once around your middle.

Some fruit. Keep in mind that if you are trying to lose weight, you want to eat less than 30g carbs/day if you are a woman and less than 50g carbs/day if you are a man. So some fruit does not mean a lot of fruit, nor fruit with every meal. If you consider than an apple has about 27 g carbs, one apple will blow your whole carb wod for the day, so eat fruit sparingly.

Little starch. This means occasional starches like potatoes or sweet potatoes, pumpkin, squashes, rice, etc. Once again, little does not mean every meal. It means little. To me little means maybe a few times a week. This is mainly because starches (and fruit) are high glycemic carbs, thus they spike insulin levels more readily than lower glycemic carbs like vegetables. However, the one time it is desirable to eat high glycemic carbs is directly after a hard workout. This is because the glycogen stores in your muscles are lowest at this point, and theoretically higher glycemic carbs help replenish their stores more readily.

No sugar. No means ZERO. This is probably the hardest one for most people. Sugar is everywhere. It's in all the stuff we love the most--cookies, pies, sodas and cakes. Additionally, it's in nearly everything--ketchup, salad dressings, sauces and many beverages. One teaspoon of sugar has about 30 g carbs, and it really spikes your blood insulin levels.

Even though not eating sugar is difficult, if you can limit sugar intake to only one "cheat day" per week, you'll usually notice a HUGE increase in energy and performance. This is why we go to all the trouble to eliminate it from our diets.

As regard portions, the rule of thumb is your meat should take up about 1/3 of your plate, your veggies about 2/3 of your plate, and your fat should occupy only a sliver.  Another way to look at meat portions is that it should generally fit in the palm of your hand.

We'll get more into serious subdivision of portion control and food pairings tomorrow, as we'll talk then about The Zone.

 WOD

AMRAP IN 25

10 TUCK JUMPS

15 BOX JUMPS

10 PUSH UPS 

Your Mind Leads Your Way

Here are some great quotes I came across recently. They remind me how one's thoughts lead one's way:

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." Martin Luther King Jr.

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought."  Buddha


"Most people look at their current state of affairs and think that's who they are. No, that's who you were."  James Arthur Ray

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle

WOD

Benchmark WOD "Cindy"

AMRAP IN 20 OF:

5 PULL UPS

10 PUSH UPS

15 SQUATS

Here are your old scores from September 8. Prepare to PR today.

Rosa 15 rounds

Jacque 13

Mauricio10

Prisca 10

Christy 10

Charles 10

Jenny 8

Dave S. 8

Keren 17

Leanne 13

Dave M. 12

Winner Takes All!

As if you didn't know already, PRISCA is the winner of our "who can lose the most weight"contest!!! She has lost 25# in the last 8 weeks!

PRISCA has show steadfast determination in her quest to be a lean, mean fit machine.  For this, she is awarded a $50 gift certificate to be used towards another month of Team Survival Fitness Bootcamp.

Other "losers" of note are Dave with a loss of 14# and Charles with a loss of 13# in the same time frame.

 

What continuing excellence requires is the proper MINDSET.

For this, I highly recommend "The Secret"

What is the Secret?

www.thesecret.tv

The Secret is a wonderful video that explains the Law of Attraction exceptionally well...you get what you decide.

Some of you did very well at achieving your goals during the first six weeks, because you decided you wanted it to be so. 

 However, for the last six weeks, you have decided you don't care so much....thus your lack of results.

It is easy to get results again.  

Simply CHANGE YOUR MIND. 

AM CLASS MEETS AT STONEHURST PARK WED, THURS, FRI UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

6 WEEK ASSESSMENT

  

1 MILE RUN 

50 PUSH UPS

800 M RUN

50 SIT UPS

400 M RUN

50 JUMPING PULL UPS

200 M RUN

50 BOX STEPS

NEW ASSESSMENT FOR THE NEXT SIX WEEKS COMING UP!

SOME CHANGES

NOTICE:


From now on, assessments will be done on WEDNESDAYS.


We will "always" meet at the Church on MONDAY MORNINGS, so there will be no confusion as to the Monday location.


"Off Campus" Runs will be done on TUESDAYS (so we can use Burbank High School's track).


For TOMORROW (Tuesday, November 10, 2009), the AM class will meet at La Tuna Canyon. The PM class will still meet at Stonehurst Recreation Center Park.

To get to La Tuna Canyon, take the La Tuna Canyon exit off the 210. The trailhead is just to the left of the exit (if you're coming from the East) and just across the street from the exit if you're coming from Sunland or the "west". You can also take La Tuna Canyon, the road, directly off Sunland Blvd. down near Glenoaks. Right before you get to the 210, the trail head and parking area are on your right.

ALSO, PLEASE VOICE YOUR OPINION: DO YOU THINK THE BLOG IS EASIER TO READ WITH COLORFUL TEXT OR PLAIN WHITE?

MEETING AT THE CHURCH ON MONDAY MORN

Mystery Sandwich

Meet at New Hope Community Church on Monday Mornings until further notice.

Hmmmmm.

FRIDAY WOD

Run a 5K

or

AMRAP in 25 mins:

200 m Farmer's Walk

20 Push Ups

20 Sit Ups

20 Dips

Record Times and Comments

Why Wall Balls?

 http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/12_03_Wallball.pdf

The following is an excerpt from the above Crossfit Journal article. I highly stress you take 10 minutes and read it in its entirety.

"As an example of high functionality and marked carryover of cardiorespiratory benefit to sport and human performance in general, we offer our “wall-ball” exercise. This exercise is largely a front squat and push-press combination. The functionality of throwing or shooting an object from overhead and standing up is hopefully obvious.

We use a 20-pound Dynamax Medicine Ball and a flat vertical target (originally the wall and hence the name) located about 8-10 feet above the ground.

The movement begins as a front squat and follows through to a push press/shove that sends the ball up and forward to the target from which it rebounds back to the throwers outstretched arms where it is “absorbed” back into the squat. In its entirety the wall-ball is quite simply a throw.
When perfected, each shot looks identical to the one before, and the ball’s contact and departure are gentle and smooth."

WOD

Let's just say, it involves some Wall Balls and other uses of the Medicine Ball for time.

THURSDAY

MEET AT BURBANK HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AM/PM

Mapquest Map of Burbank HS



AM

Enter track via parking garage off Delaware road. (HS is between Delaware and Harvard. If you're facing the FRONT of the school, Delaware will be to your left. If you're facing the back, it will be on your right).

PM 

Enter track via gate off Glenoaks. Park anywhere along the North side of Glenoaks or in any of the neighborhoods along there. We will meet on the large empty court at the base of the entrance to the field. 

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A WATCH OR STOPWATCH WITH A SECOND HAND AND A HEADLAMP IN CASE WE CAN'T GET ON THE FIELD.

 

TUESDAY WOD

"Electric"

5X for Time:

3 Hanging Straight Leg Raises

5 Ring Shrugs

7 Burpees

9 Ring Rows

11 Squats

13 Hanging Knees to Elbows

15 Sit ups

200 m Sprint

Hello to Matt!

Congrats on a 23:37 5K on Saturday.

Prayers, warm wishes and good thoughts to TAMMY.

We miss you and wish you a speedy recovery.

Happy Monday!

Congratulations to Jacque!! This weekend she ran her 2nd ever 5K (first in over ten years) with a time of 27:58.   That's a 9 minute mile pace!  Here is an excellent running calculator to help calculate your pace: http://www.redlands-events.com/Running%20Calculator.htm

As Jacque said upon completion, "I'm back!"

Race season is upon us. Here are 3 more races coming up in the next two weeks: 

We SPARK (to benefit Cancer research) Sunday, November 8th, Lake Balboa, Encino 5/10K 

Hip Hop Classic (benefits Union Rescue Mission) Saturday, November 14, Rose Bowl, Pasadena 

Run for Her (Ovarian Cancer Research) Sunday, November 15, Pan Pacific Park, Fairfax District
 
Additionally, I know MOST of you are doing the Run for the Hungry in La Canada on Thanksgiving Day. PLEASE REGISTER ASAP! Once you are registered, let me know along with your t-shrit size. Team CrossFit Academy will be providing everyone with excellent shirts!



We will be training for this race and upcoming races continuing with some track/speed work this Thursday at Burbank High School once again. You've been warned in advanced. Watches with second hands and/or stop watches (preferred) will be mandatory for all speed/track work from now on.

WOD

"4 Corners"

Involves:

SUV Push

Pistols

Lunge Steps

Push Ups

Sit Ups