A Hidden Gem and Erik tests Paleo

I wanted to talk up one of the hidden gems of your CrossFit Affiliate. Some of you are in on the secret because you attend the 9am classes exclusively, but many of you have never been in at that time of day. Most of you have realized that there are occasional firefighters hanging around the place and sometimes training you. They hold several spots on the record boards.  For many of you there aren’t faces or experiences to go with the names.  I want to encourage you all to try to find a class run by Mike Heinz and get to it.

Mike has had a really interesting evolution as a CrossFit trainer.  He was first a really awesome CrossFitter himself.  He had the experience of training with his co-workers who did not all start out Cross-Fit, but were lively, fit, athletic, you know- Fire fighters.  There is a pretty big leap from CrossFit with firefighters to CrossFit with a 40 something, overweight, out-of-shape, intimidated person.  To be honest, many trainers never manage to make this leap.  The reasons are varied: some do not study the approaches to scaling or improving range of motion, some never try to really empathize or understand what it feels like to be someone very different from themselves.  Mike runs an incredible workout.  His classes are packed with strategy, skill work, motivation and assertive encouragement.  Mike has taught his regulars to train at high intensity, even those for whom it did not come naturally.  His cool downs and stretching are incredibly thorough and you will be reminded of your goals and goal setting process as well.  If you haven’t had a chance to go to one of Mike’s classes, get to it.  Thanks Mike.  Andrea, below, learned about CrossFit from Mike and she is making incredible progress. While smiling.  Good work on the squat Andrea.

Expecting a successful athlete to incorporate new training strategies or nutrition approaches is sometimes maybe expecting a little too much.  It is one thing to take a beginner and teach them a methodology and support them in following it.  It is a whole different thing for an accomplished athlete to try new things.  Spencer was discussing this in the context of CrossFit Endurance training.  These are the people who ask really hard questions like “but I did the opposite of what you are saying and I won races.  How can that be?”.  Usually people who have had success, but are willing to try new methods are very analytical and self-aware.  Having these folks utilize and respond to a training program or nutrition approach is what makes the program stronger.  CrossFit, CrossFit Endurance and the Paleo Diet have been put to the test in recent years by many successful athletes.  The strength of the protocols grows with each individual experience.  Recently, Erik put his CrossFitting and Paleo eating to a test:

"News: I tested the diet/CF regime last weekend in the high Sierra.
Prior to the trip, I ate Paleo for about a month and trained 2-3
times a week at CF. Even though I tweaked my lower back doing back
squats a few weeks ago, I tried to continue to do the WODs that did
not hurt me and modified the others. I also climbed once a week
(easy) for one month after not climbing for 6 months due to injury.
During the outing, I hiked about 11 miles between 9500and 13000 feet
elevation with a 35 lb. pack (which included rock and ice climbing
gear), climbed 15 pitches of alpine rock for a total of 1600 feet,
and scrambled for a total of about 2 miles on large, loose
talus.  The day started at 5:30 am and I was back at the car at 8:00
pm with only one break of about 45 minutes. About 14 hours of
constant movement. I ate some non-paleo food during the day which
included Cliff shots, beef jerkey, sausage, carrots, and a roll.
Besides my legs feeling really fatigued due to the length of the
effort and the pounding from jumping over talus, I felt great and
full of energy all day. I have never felt better above 12,500 feet
elevation and usually have more discomfort than average folks at
higher elevations. I was really surprised that I could generate such
consistent output over the day with so few hours of training and
climbing (and no pure endurance training). My mind was lucid during
the entire day. Although I am a little trashed right now, I am pretty
psyched.

I have attached a self portrait I took at hour 12 or so.
Erik."