1.  The Tabata Interval. [...]]]> We know you all lead very busy and adventurous lives that often involve quite a bit of travel.  Some of you end up in hotels with at least minimal facilities and some of you end up places with no “workout” stuff.  Here are some travel workout ideas for you:

1.  The Tabata Interval.  The Tabata protocol was invented by a Japanese exercise physiologist for the speed skating team.  It works.  Better than anything else.  If you do it correctly.  Resist the temptation to expand upon it.  It only works because you can do it at such high intensity.  The original protocol was 6 rounds: 20sec of work, 10sec rest.  You must feel like you will actually collapse at the end or you have not worked at high intensity.  If you feel the need to do something else afterwards, you did not do this correctly.  Choose movements you can do maniacally!  Don’t do pushups if you can only do 3 in 20sec.  If you have access to a treadmill, set it on a grade and do Tabata treadmill sprints.  If you are near a park or on a street with a little hill, do Tabata hill sprints.  You can do squats, jump rope or box jumps for Tabata intervals.  If you don’t have a box use a park bench or a curb.

2.  Static, isometric work.  Go five rounds of 45 sec work, 45sec rest.  Do planks (all variations).  Dead hangs.  Handstand holds at the wall.

3.  Alternate a static movement with a dynamic movement.  Run around the block (or 200m on a treadmill) and then hold a plank or a handstand.  Go 5 rnds with the static work being a max hold.

4.  Don’t forget about the burpee.  Do five rounds of 10 burpees with 30 sec rest in between.  Practise making your burpees the most efficient that you can, with as little transition time on the ground as possible.

5.  Focus on virtuosity with the movements.  If your pushups are not always legit, use your hotel time to do them as slowly as you need to with perfection.  If your air squats are often quad-dominant (knees forward) practise sitting back into them, pausing at the bottom and picking up your toes while you are down there.  Keep your hands straight up over your head.

6.  Pack a jump rope.  Work on your double unders.  Work on being able to do 100 single jumps per minute for three minutes straight.

7.  If you feel the need to “CrossFit” try: 3 rounds of 400m run, 15 pushups, 15 lunges each leg, 15 situps.

8.  If you are in a facility with a Gravitron hop on that thing and have fun!  Assisted dips and pullups are good for the ego.

9.  Work on your L-position hand stand pushups (for the skill checklist!).  Park benches and coffee tables are perfect for this sort of thing.  All those pillows on the hotel bed will keep your head safe too.

10.  Use “running at the wall” to get your heart rate up in your room.  Just stand facing the wall, place your hands on it, lean into it and run in place as fast as you can.  Do 30 sec, drop down, do some pushups, rest 30 sec, repeat.

Parkour is ridiculously awesome.  The MovNat guys are awesome too, but we don’t all live in the jungles of Thailand or the forests of West Virginia.  Parkour is The People’s version of Natural Movement.

I don’t think it is too much of a stretch to say that [...]]]> Click here to view the embedded video.

Parkour is ridiculously awesome.  The MovNat guys are awesome too, but we don’t all live in the jungles of Thailand or the forests of West Virginia.  Parkour is The People’s version of Natural Movement.

I don’t think it is too much of a stretch to say that when we, as humans, feel strong we can be happier.  Strength gives us a platform from which to conquer fear.  Fear is such an enormous obstacle in life.  ”Be careful” is my least favorite parenting phrase.  If you have kids, strike that from your vocabulary.  Instead try, “Focus on your balance if you climb on that wall and walk along the top because you are high up and if you fall you will very likely get hurt.”  I observe that adults LOVE to tell children to “be careful” or “don’t do that honey you could get hurt” or  ”don’t play with that, you might get dirty”.  What is it about us as adults that makes us want to instill such fear into our children?  All that does is produce a generation of people afraid of everything because they never spent their child hood falling and failing and figuring out how to get back up and brush off the dirt, bandage up the scrapes and get going.  Creating fear creates fearful people.  I find it fascinating to talk to adults that I admire.  The most accomplished business people, engineers, scientists and all-around really interesting people I meet are often the ones who had a lot of wild adventures as a kid.  Their mothers let them fight it out with their siblings, they jumped off barn roofs, broke their arms riding their bikes all crazy, swam to islands, rode motocross, rode horses, and cut firewood.

In your movement adventures, whether it is in your CrossFit gym, or on your mountain bike rides or navigating puddles, do you notice when you are fearful?  Can you be smart and wise, but brave and adventurous?  Kids are usually brave and adventurous if we let them be, but not always wise and smart.  Adults often let their heads do all the talking, so they miss out on courageous adventures.  One of the things I like most about keeping fit with a powerful strength and conditioning program is that it lets me be courageous and adventurous even though I am all grown up.

This afternoon I am contemplating what it means to live the “CrossFit lifestyle”.  I’m not at the gym.  I haven’t worn anything that says “CrossFit” on it.  I haven’t discussed a workout.  I’m not even sore.  I haven’t been on Facebook or [...]]]> The 5:30am class with their secret pre-dawn gymnastics skill work.

This afternoon I am contemplating what it means to live the “CrossFit lifestyle”.  I’m not at the gym.  I haven’t worn anything that says “CrossFit” on it.  I haven’t discussed a workout.  I’m not even sore.  I haven’t been on Facebook or any CrossFit website (except this one!).  So, what about my day makes me a CrossFitter?   Today is about laying a foundation for my week that makes an intense strength and conditioning program healthy (instead of debilitating).  Above and beyond, CrossFit and weight lifting for me are health and wellness programs.  As a middle-aged CrossFit-based athlete, my goal is to ride a fine line between being the very best I can be (I have never been a person who does anything at the level of “just showing up”) and maintaining the highest level of health and wellness.  I firmly and completely disagree with the notion that as a middle-aged woman I will be fulfilled “just showing up and having fun”.  As a middle-aged person, with a business, with obligations, with kids, with dreams and goals still left to accomplish, I need more from my coaches and my strength and conditioning program than anyone out there!!  I need a health, wellness and fitness program designed to maintain a Super Woman for the 21st century.  Such a program certainly requires plenty of thought and planning.  Today, I am focusing on the things that support me in my training.

Today I slept.  A lot.  Sleep is the basis for health and wellness.  Sleep is the recovery.  The rebuilding.  Sleep is the process of filling up the root cellar before the winter.

Today I went to yoga.  My yoga teacher helps my mobility and flexibility, but he also helps my mental strength.  I have studied yoga off and on with this same teacher for nearly five years.  He helps me set a stage for being a strong mental/emotional athlete.  Through his teachings he reminds me not to be buffeted about the stories we tell ourselves.  My yoga teacher reminds me that while I might tell myself that I don’t belong working out next to future CrossFit Games competitors, that is just a story I tell myself because I don’t am doubting myself right then.  There is no truth in that story.  It might be just as true that they don’t deserve to train next to me because they have not survived all the challenges in life that I have survived.  My yoga teacher reminds me to stop being disappointed in my body or frustrated by it, but to cherish it and check in with it regularly.

Today I shopped and cooked.  As many of you know, I own a CrossFit gym because CrossFit methodology places the value of eating well above working out in the pyramid to great health.  My shopping list accommodates two kids and a set of parents.  This week will see the following things on the table at my house:  Thai coconut-lemongrass soup, roasted butternut squash with sage, crab cakes, roasted chicken, sunflower sprouts, a Swedish carrot pancake, beet salad with horse radish, cucumbers and dill, cabbage with sunflower seeds and caraway, stuffed mushrooms, various sausages, and a Paleo version of Okonomiyaki (Japanese cabbage pancakes).  There will be plenty of other stuff too.

Today I spoke with a friend who does not do CrossFit nor lift weights, but is on his own dedicated journey to the best health and wellness he can attain.  I admire him.  He is inspirational for me.

Tonight before I sleep I will envision my workout for tomorrow.  I will imagine the mood I want to be in, the attitude I want to cultivate and the feeling I would like to have when I finish.

Today I laid the foundation for the coming week where I will follow a training program designed to support Super Woman of the 21st century.  I know many many women at CrossFit Works are living their own Super Woman lives.  I hope you had a chance to use your Sunday to support your Super Woman training program.

Today is a big day for the CrossFit Works Kids program.  This morning Mark L. took Chris and me over to our next door neighbors, an elementary/middle school, and we were a part of their Wellness Fair.  Along with Wilma and Wilbur, University of Arizona’s warmly dressed mascots, we warmed up the entire [...]]]>

Today is a big day for the CrossFit Works Kids program.  This morning Mark L. took Chris and me over to our next door neighbors, an elementary/middle school, and we were a part of their Wellness Fair.  Along with Wilma and Wilbur, University of Arizona’s warmly dressed mascots, we warmed up the entire school.  The smaller the kids, the higher the spunkiness we noticed!

Then we did some nutrition conversation with the 3rd and 5th grade as well as took them through some of CrossFit kids best games.  Mark L. was a total hit, the fact that I only let them read the back of the Dorito bag, and not sample them was less of a hit!

We covered some nutrition basics and as always it is heart wrenchingly shocking to hear about the lack of connection kids have to their food.  I sometimes set the kids up to give me misinformation so that we have a chance to correct it.  My first set up was this one:  ”Tell me the foods you eat that have fat in them.”  They listed milk and meat.  I added nuts and guacamole.  Then I asked if it was good to eat fat.  All the kids said “NO!!  Fat is bad for you!”  ”Why is fat bad?” I ask.  ”Because it makes you fat!!” they answer.  ”So, meat and milk and guacamole and walnuts are bad for you?”  I ask.  Silence.  Then we talk about what our body does with the awesome fat-containing foods.  Builds our brain.  Our bones.  Our cells.  Oh, so fat in your food is good for you sometimes.

We read the label in the Doritos.  Long list of chemicals.  We talk about whether or not it is ok to eat Doritos and how often.  I use the example of their classroom fish tank: what if we put one tiny grain of salt in there, would the fish be ok?  Yeah, probably.  What if we put one in every day?  What would happen?  They would get sick because those fish don’t need salt in their water.  Do you need Red#40 in your body?  No.  What happens if you put a little in every day until you are my age?  We might get sick.  Yup, you might.

We cover the great, great, great, great, great-grandmother rule.  If she could have fed it to her children you can eat it without worry.  Did that ancestor have sodium benzoate in her cupboard?  ”I don’t think so.”  Did she have apples?  No.  ”What?  Are you sure?  Why wouldn’t she have had apples?”  ”Because apples come from Fry’s and Safeway.”  I am suddenly enlightened.  We talk about how apples actually come from farms, orchards, trees.  ”Ooohhh.”

Great conversation.  Fantastic kids who were really interested.

On another note, thanks to Toby and Steel, Mark and the CFW Kids are going to set up a collection box for Casa De Los Ninos. This is a Tucson organization that works to prevent child abuse and care for families recovering from abuse.  The wish list includes: sizes 4,5,6 diapers, pullups, wipes, diaper ointment, shampoo, hyperallergenic lotions, unwrapped books or toys, shampoo and conditioner.

CrossFit Works Kids will have a box near the door for any of these items you might be able to donate.  Help CrossFit Works Kids make the holiday season for some of Tucson’s kids!

Click here to view the embedded video.

My girls.

In our CrossFit gym each and every client is considered an athlete.  This is a radical difference from the way that clients are dealt with in other gyms and fitness programs. [...]]]> SUBTITLE: DOES YOUR FITNESS PROGRAM TREAT YOU LIKE AN ATHLETE?

Click here to view the embedded video.

My girls.

In our CrossFit gym each and every client is considered an athlete.  This is a radical difference from the way that clients are dealt with in other gyms and fitness programs. Being identified as an athlete is indicative of the theory behind your CrossFit fitness program.  CrossFit is a fitness program.  So is Pilates.  Ditto for Yoga.  Same for Zumba.  The bootcamps I drive by every day in the park are fitness programs.  All these fitness programs are life changing.  World changing.  A sedentary life is a prescription for a sick life.  Whatever gets you moving is special.  I’ve tried all those fitness programs and more.  I’ve enjoyed them all in certain ways.  My favorite non-CrossFit fitness program was aerobics, back in the 80s.  Yes, I am over the age of 40.  Man that was a good workout.  My legs would burn and my lungs would be bursting.  The music was awesome.  The outfits… unforgettable.  Fun was the name of the game.  There were a few things that heightened the fun of my aerobics fitness program.  First, was taking one of my fellow geologists who, as the only male, would do the entire class in his combat boots with a look of complete serious concentration the whole time.  More fun could be had by going with my roommate, a serious follower of the Grateful Dead. We would mix vodka tonics in our water bottles and get vibed with some high kicks to Gloria Estefan.  Also hilarious was taking bets with another friend about which one of the hockey team (training outside the window) the aerobics instructor had slept with the night before, and adding extra hip thrusts when the song “Push It” by Salt ‘n’ Pepa came on.  Always fun and always a good workout.  Going to aerobics was way better for me than sitting around with the campus anarchists drinking beer at noon (that was for aerobics rest days).  I loved it, it was a great workout, it was hilarious fun, but in no one’s mind was I an athlete!  In fact, I am pretty sure the primary thing the aerobics teacher noticed about me (aside from the above-mentioned stuff) is that I never wore spandex and I wasn’t in her sorority.  She sure as hell never gave me any tips on how to get better.  But she often smiled at me and said “Great job!!”  It was complete bullshit on her part of course (again, see description above).  I actually found it fascinating.  Clearly, while half drunk and pointing at hockey players, I was not doing a good job.  Why on earth would she say that?

So, what makes you an athlete once you set foot inside a CrossFit gym?  Why are you an athlete in CrossFit Works but not at Pilates, Yoga, Zumba, or many other fitness programs?   You are an athlete in a CrossFit gym because the underlying assumption is that you believe you can improve, you want to improve and you want someone to help you improve.  Improving in a CrossFit gym is different than “getting better” at aerobics.  There are specific traits you want to improve in a CrossFit gym: endurance, stamina, agility, accuracy, coordination, balance, speed, power, strength and flexibility.  Improving in a CrossFit gym means you want your nutrition to improve, your energy to rise and your wellness to increase.  The underlying assumption when you walk in the doors is that you have goals for yourself regarding these qualities.  The underlying assumption is that you walked in because you want someone to watch your movement patterns and your performance and you want someone to tell you how to get better.  The underlying assumption is that you want someone who takes you seriously as a person who wants to get stronger and faster.  You are looking for someone who believes in your future.  You are looking for someone who will invest themselves in your future.  The underlying assumption about you as a CrossFit athlete is that you don’t want to be bullshitted by a “fitness trainer” like my super pretty, spandexed aerobics queen.  You are an athlete because when you are not inside the doors of this CrossFit gym we are thinking about you, researching your sticking points and arguing about methods to get you over your personal obstacles.  You are an athlete because you have coaches.  Not aerobics instructors.

One reason I love CrossFit more than I ever loved aerobics is because there are guys, besides a lone geologist in combat boots, for one thing.  Every other fitness program I have ever been to is vastly dominated by women.  Personal training studio, check.  Yoga, check.  Pilates, double check.  Dance class, triple check.  Why is that?  Are only women out of shape?  Do only women care about their fitness?  Obviously not.  Something is wrong with a world of fitness programs populated  predominantly by women.  I’m immediately suspicious.

The serious reason I love CrossFit more than any other fitness program is that I am treated like an athlete.  I value that feeling more than anything.  My training partners and my coaches actually care about my progress.  They take it personally if I am not obviously improving.  They do not let my moments of weakness get the better of me.  They never underestimate me.  They might overestimate me sometimes! but they never let me be less than I can be.  There are not a lot of people in the world who are brave enough, steel enough, confident enough to give me a push when I start to half-ass things.  As an athlete in a CrossFit gym I am surrounded by people who always see me as more than I am that day.  When I know that my coaches see me as an “achiever” I carry that feeling with me into the world.  When I fail a lift, like today’s last deficit Sumo Deadlifts, I am grateful for the encouragement I get as I try the lift, and even more so for the head-shaking “you coulda had that” that comes afterwards.  I don’t feel like a failure, I feel like “wow!  I just failed, but my coach just said he sees me as capable!”   I don’t crumble inside because someone pointed out that I am capable of more than I just did.  To me, that is a vote of confidence.  None of my coaches or training partners believe that my middle age, my gender, my motherhood-situation or my lack of spandex is a problem for my performance (that all falls under material for jokes).  One of my current coaches is older than I am and way more bad ass.  She, herself, is committed, focused, and accomplished and she expects me to be the same.

I also love being an athlete in a CrossFit gym because it is as fun as aerobics ever was.  There is more silliness.  Bubblegum-flavored branch chain amino acids taste at least as good as vodka tonics.  The outfits are still as good.  Have you seen that Lululemon stuff?  Out of my league for sure, so much matching.  The only thing that aerobics had going for it that my CrossFit gym does not, is my kind of music.  Once in awhile I get away with a little Salt ‘n’ Pepa, but not often.  Still, I will find love for the dubstep, as long as I am treated like an athlete.  As long as all the people inside these doors look at me, see what I am doing, and think to themselves “she could do better than that if she fixed a couple things” I don’t care who is better than me, worse than me, louder, quieter, better dressed, bigger, smaller, faster or stronger.  I care that I am in a place where everyone is an athlete.  Everyone is an athlete because they are here working to overcome roadblocks.  The roadblocks might be nutritional, lifestyle, physical, mental or emotional but they are temporary.  When dubstep shows me the Salt ‘n’ Pepa I might even be won over to the music.  Do CrossFit.  Get coached.  Get past obstacles.  Get treated like an athlete.  You are one as soon as you walk in these doors.

One requirement for my coaches at this gym is that they see big possibilities in every person who walks in the door.  It doesn’t mean they see you winning half a million dollars from Reebok at the next CrossFit Games.  It means they see in you a person who has not yet reached [...]]]>

One requirement for my coaches at this gym is that they see big possibilities in every person who walks in the door.  It doesn’t mean they see you winning half a million dollars from Reebok at the next CrossFit Games.  It means they see in you a person who has not yet reached your highest level of fitness, performance and health.  It means that, as they get to know you, they wonder what you will be like in a year.  They begin to imagine how many pushups you will do, how much you will squat. They know that the super scared look in your eyes today will soon be replaced by a stalwart “I have this under control” look.  They see a “you” that you maybe aren’t able to see.  It is really cool to put on these “futuristic” glasses.  Try it.  Look around at your fellow crossfitters.  Put your “future” glasses on and look hard at the folks around you.  I mean, none of us are here to coast along and stay the way we were when we first walked in the door are we?  I didn’t think so.  Don’t train next to people who can’t see you with their “future” glasses on and for heaven’s sake don’t let someone coach you who doesn’t have “future” glasses glued to the inside of their eyelids.

Liver is one of the best sources of Vitamin D.  When I lived with a Lakota family on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation raw liver was a special treat, shared equally amongst the family members.  If you aren’t thrilled at that idea you can try a supplement that some of the most [...]]]>

Liver is one of the best sources of Vitamin D.  When I lived with a Lakota family on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation raw liver was a special treat, shared equally amongst the family members.  If you aren’t thrilled at that idea you can try a supplement that some of the most successful athletes in our gym use: desiccated liver powder.

It is “winter” here.  Everyone is bundled up.  This is a good time to consider your Vitamin D levels.  It is quite easy to imagine writing an entire book on Vitamin D.  It is one of the most wide-acting nutrients in the human body.  Vitamin D is in the research spotlight these days for good reason.  A host of our chronic health problems are beginning to show some connection with Vitamin D levels.  If we consider common lifestyle changes that have accompanied the last several decades it is not a stretch to imagine how Vitamin D might be a powerful player.  Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin.  We do not have to get it from our food, so there is some technical debate about whether or not it should be labeled a “vitamin”.  UVB radiation (sunshine) acts on cholesterol in our skin and then via some work by our kidneys, we can manufacture Vitamin D for ourselves.  Food sources of Vitamin D are strictly animal foods.  There are no plants that contain Vitamin D except mushrooms which have a tiny amount of a low-bioactive form of Vitamin D.  If we do a quick survey of cultures around the world we see that people who live in winter climates heavily utilized foods rich in Vitamin D including fatty, cold-water fish, egg yolks, rendered animal fat, organ meats and full fat dairy.  So, your choices for solid Vitamin D levels are high fat animal foods or plenty of sunshine.  If we look at mainstream lifestyle recommendations in the last several decades we see two primary suggestions: Stay out of the sun (or slather up with UVB-blocking sunscreen) and Don’t eat fatty animal foods.  It isn’t difficult to imagine how we could be low in Vitamin D.  Recent research suggests that as much as 75% of Americans might be low in Vitamin D.  A recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism suggests there is “widespread Vitamin D deficiency in the population”.

Those of us in the sunshine belt have easy access to sun of course, but most people I talk to are careful to avoid sun exposure.  In addition to that obstacle, research indicates that as we age we decrease our ability to manufacture Vitamin D from sunlight.  By the age of 50 our ability to manufacture Vitamin D via the sun/skin is about 50% lower than when we were younger.

A short review of the health issues associated with Vitamin D deficiency include:

1.  Bone health.  Vitamin D is instrumental in the calcium system.  Supplementing with Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol), the cheap calcium source has been unequivocally shown to be ineffective in bone health.  Only Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is effective.

2.  Auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and fibromyalgia.  During WW II we already had research showing that incidence of multiple sclerosis was patterned clearly based on latitude.

3.  Cardiovascular health.

4.  Insulin regulation.  Vitamin D is in the news this week.  A new study confirms the link between insulin resistance and low Vitamin D.  A study comparing obese kids with non-obese kids showed that the obese kids had lower Vitamin D levels than the skinny kids.  With inadequate Vitamin D we cannot produce adequate GLUT-4.  GLUT-4 is a sugar-carrying protein.  If we lack GLUT-4 insulin doesn’t work as well, so we get into the cycle of having to produce tons of insulin simply to get our normal blood sugar accomodated.  In addition, low Vitamin D, via it’s role in the calcium metabolism cycle, can lead to accumulation of calcium in fat cells which enhances cortisol production and…fat storage.

5.  Muscle strength.  I hoped you could keep reading just to get to this one!  Low Vitamin D levels cause muscle to be less powerful.  A cool study on young women compared women with equal muscle mass.  Those with low Vitamin D levels produce less power from the same muscle mass than those with adequate Vitamin D.  Low Vitamin D creates a situation where there is greater fat storage within the muscle tissue.

As always beware of synthetic Vitamin D or foods “fortified with Vitamin D”.  Kellogg’s Special K for example, has recently been fortified with Vitamin D, but their ingredient specs say that they can use either D2 (the pointless cheap version) or D3.  Synthetic Vitamin D can build up to toxic levels, especially in children.  Vitamin A is always present in food sources of Vitamin D and their agonist/antagonist relationship prevents toxicity.

So, what should you do about your Vitamin D?  If you are a person that gets blood work done, have your levels tested.  Most knowledgeable folks like to see a 30-35 number on a Vitamin D test, although some look for higher numbers.  If you don’t incorporate bloodwork into your life, then be extra sure to maintain a lifestyle that supplies you with Vitamin D.

Well, I know, no one is perfect, but there are moments when we achieve something with a movement that near perfection.  I have had the great pleasure to coach the intrepid 5:30am class this week and witnessed some true moments of greatness.  On Thursday during the Coach’s-Choice workout (a special feature [...]]]>

Well, I know, no one is perfect, but there are moments when we achieve something with a movement that near perfection.  I have had the great pleasure to coach the intrepid 5:30am class this week and witnessed some true moments of greatness.  On Thursday during the Coach’s-Choice workout (a special feature of the 5:30am program) we did tempo snatch grip deadlifts, dumb bell floor press and side planks.  It was really impressive to see the perfection in position and movement.  On Tuesday I badgered (I mean supported) Sarah in moving up to a heavier kettlebell which she handled with precision and control surprising herself, but not me.

And, in a long-planned for moment of perfection and achievement, Betty F. did her first free standing back squats.  I think that Chris and Carl were singing and dancing, but Betty is a little more classy than that of course.  Betty, welcome to the world of squatting!!