"Well, you know what they say about it..."

"What? That HFCS is made from corn, has the same calories as sugar and honey, and may be contaminated with mercury?"

Holy $#!*!! The Environmental Health Journal just published a study(1) finding that 9 in 20 samples of high-fructose corn syrup they tested were contaminated with mercury. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy then did a study on their own and found that 17 out of 55 brand-name products they tested (Coca-cola, Hunts Ketchup, Heinz and Kraft BBQ sauces, Quaker Oatmeal-to-Go, etc) contained measureable levels of mercury (2).

So if you needed another reason to stay away from this poison, now you have one.

(1) http://www.ehjournal.net/content/8/1/2
(2) http://www.healthobservatory.org/library.cfm?refid=105026

Back to Basics

Virtuousity: Doing the common uncommonly well

Ok, time to bite the bullet. For the next 6 to 9 weeks I'm going back to basics. 3 weeks of Power to the People using conventional-stance deadlifts and standing presses, then 3-6 weeks of Starting Strength.

One of the easiest things for trainers to forget is to make full use of the basic tools in the toolbox. I love my CrossFit, but when I find myself at a plateau (or moving backwards!) it's time to pull out the ol' basics and really focus on those.

Starting with approximately 70% of my 5RM on DL and moving up about 5% each workout, 4-5 workouts each week. I'm starting extra light on my press, since my shoulder is nagging at me still.

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1/19/09:

Warmup (modified standard DEFY! warmup):
- Foam roller
- Jump rope (2 minutes)
- Samson stretch
2 rounds of:
- 16 kg kb swings x5
- 45 lb front squats x5
- 30 lb overhead squats x5
- back extensions x5
- pullups x5
Scap retraction/protraction/elevation/depression sequence

WOD:
DL: 250 x 5
225 x 5
Press: 85 x 5
75 x 5

Goals and...Resolutions?

I'm not a "Resolution-with-a-capital-R" person. I decided when I quit smoking in October of 1990 there's absolutely no reason making major changes has to coincide with an arbitrary event like hanging up a new calendar. I do my best to make changes when I recognize they need to be made, or I've done the prep work, or when the stars are correctly aligned, or whatever.

Talking to Patty, Ellen, and Rich yesterday, the subject of goals for 2009 came up. I am a huge fan of goals, and I can definitely see the point of linking them with each coming year, quarter, month, or hour.

Now, this is something I think about a lot. 2009 is the year I want to hit a 1200 lb total in unequipped powerlifting, and a CrossFit total of 5x Bodyweight, or CFT5x (at DEFY! we track our CFT relative to bodyweight, as well as total score). I've hit 990 before (so, well into the CFT4x realm), but haven't hit that millenium mark. I'm thinking 1075 is going to be the goal to hit 5x.

I want to improve all my other scores as well. But even for the CFT, which is my favorite OMGBFFWOD, I'm not at the "I want it so bad I can taste it" stage. so I started doing some thinking on that. What do I want that badly? What is my o'erarching desire to achieve in the upcoming 12 months?

A lot of what I want to do is business-related - I want to grow my affiliate to a much more sustainable level. I have home-and-family goals as well, particularly since my daughter will be leaving for college in the fall(!)

The more I thought about it, the more it came down to intensity. I'm actually in the middle of an article about intensity in training, but it doesn't stop there. In fitness, intensity is giving your all for a workout. How does that translate to everything else in life?

One of the first things I learned as a trainer was how to come in to a session and turn off anything else going on. Traffic, dinner, kids' homework, tomorrow's workout, etc. all got put in a box that could be dealt with when I didn't have a client depending on my observation. When I put on my "trainer" hat, I tuned 100% into the moment. That's what is needed in every aspect of my life.

I'm working right now on figuring out how to make this a goal, or series of goals, rather than a resolution. "Live more intensely" doesn't tell me anything. "From 9:30 to 10:30, Mon-Fri I will concentrate exclusively on [a specific business-building mode]" is more useful. Eating dinner with my family is an activity - not an opportunity to watch the news. If I'm doing my bookkeeping, that's all I should be doing. If I'm blogging (which actually is valuable networking), that doesn't mean I'm puttering around looking at the pictures a friend put up on Facebook of her new puppy.

100%-in-the-moment. I guess my current goal is to goalize (hey, any noun can be verbed) that resolution.

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1/10/09 WOD
Turkish Getups 1-1-1-1-1 (5 x 1 per side)
35-45-55-65-75
35# with a kettlebell, the rest with an olympic barbell


Not bad. I've been really conservative on my left shoulder, so I'm pretty happy all-in-all. Of course, Michael, Rich, and Luke have all broken the 100# mark on their TGUs, so I have something to shoot for...

Perspective on injuries

I tore my rotator cuff a few years ago in, shall we say "an athletic endeavor", and had to have the supraspinatus tendon re-attached to my humerus. It kinda sucked at the time, but it's all better (actually, better than it was pre-tear). I was surprised at the comments I got that I was "too young" to tear my rotator cuff, and that it normally happens to older folks when they slip on the ice or something.

Similarly, when I was active in hapkido, one of my classmates had been told by a doctor "you're involved in a martial art - expect to get injured sometimes".

It got me thinking - most everyone sustains injuries at some point. Mark Rippetoe has said "Accumulating injuries are the price we pay for the thrill of not having sat around on our asses", but that's not quite accurate.

Those of us who are more active get injured picking up heavy stuff, falling off rock faces, wrecking our bikes, etc. Those who are sedentary break their ankles when they step off a curb wrong, or slipping on a wet floor. Or they die sitting on the sofa watching tv.

If I'm going to get injured, I want to have a good story and some fun memories to go along with it!

The other side of the coin, however, is that we can't have multiple activities we're willing to get injured for. I have a few people working out at DEFY! who use CrossFit as an adjunct to their primary activity. CrossFit is an excellent training program for fire, police, hockey, martial arts...you name it.

Where I, however, might be willing to push hard enough in my workouts that I strain, pull, pop, or otherwise put-out-of-commission some body part (not saying I WANT to do that, but it happens on occasion), a firefighter or hockey player needs to reserve any injury-time for their chosen field, since they will get injured at some point doing them!

Take-home point: know the risks of any activity you're doing, weigh them against the risks of NOT doing anything, and decide where your priorities are!

Quick WOD notes - DFGB

Please check this out - I think Melissa has hit the nail on the head with this one:
http://byerscrossfit.blogspot.com/2008/12/sweating-splenda.html

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"DEFYght Gone Bad" - the DEFY! version of the CrossFit classic "Fight Gone Bad".

We did 3 rounds today. The WOD is 1 minute stations of:
- 20# Wallball
- 75# Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
- 20" Box jumps
- 75# Push presses
- Double-unders (replaces the rower in the original FGB)
Score for the WOD is the total number of reps in all rounds, with one minute rest between rounds.

My score for this one today was 282. Not a PR, but not bad. I did well on my double-unders for the first round, then couldn't get more than five in a row for the next two. Gotta work on those more when I'm fatigued.

About DEFY!

Getting to the point of opening my very own CrossFit affiliate was a long process, with more than a few false steps (and a lot of help from my wife). A big part of what helped me finally make the jump was actually sitting down and writing a buisness plan.

I don't know how many CF boxes (or small gyms of any sort) bother with a business plan. It kind of runs counter to the idea of the freedom that a lot of us are looking for, and it took me a while to realize the value of it (actually, it took the idea that a bank was more likely to give me a loan if I could show them a plan).

So, I sat down with the copy of Business Plans for Dummies I checked out from the library and started going through it. What I found out was that I hadn't really defined what I was trying to do nearly as well as I thought I had, and that I had a lot of things to work out before I started shelling out money.

Part of the process was writing out my Mission, Vision, and Values statements for DEFY! (well, the working name at the time was "Fitness Defined" - thanks to Matt for getting me on track with his joke about "Fitness Defied"). Now, I've seen some companies' M/V/V statements, and they mainly seem straight out of a Dilbert comic strip, so I had my tongue firmly in cheek as I sat down to write.

What I discovered was that this really helped me formulate WHAT I was trying to accomplish with my gym. What I had in mind as my primary raison d'etre. I've discussed this to a few other people, but never put it out for all to see. And with that ridiculously long lead-in, here they are:

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Our Mission Statement

DEFY! will strive to improve our members’ health, energy, and functionality using a range of fitness disciplines, from traditional weights to martial arts to gymnastics.

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Our Vision Statement

To overthrow the corporate-gym fitness paradigm by building stronger, healthier, more functional, and better looking bodies, and having fun doing it.

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Our Values Statement

DEFY! is dedicated to the following values:

Fostering an environment where functionality is valued at least as highly as appearance

Bringing true functional fitness to a diverse population, from kids and teens to fire/police/military personnel and athletes to soccer moms and cubical dwellers

Demonstrating to the world that “muscle magazine” training is ineffective and inefficient for everyone but the physique competitor

Bringing the fun and enthusiasm of playing to fitness; Reminding ourselves of the sheer joy of motion!

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So if you ever wondered what the heck I'm trying to accomplish here, now you know!

WOD 1/7/09

Power cleans from the hang 3-3-3-3-3

135-185-165-175-190(1 successful rep)

These were interesting. We've done cleans, power cleans, hang cleans, clean and jerks, etc, for reps, for time, and for weight, but this is the first time we've done the variant with this short of a movement. That's not much time to build up speed!

I hit the 135 easily, then jumped to 185 which was much more difficult. Dropped back down to 165 - no problem, 175 - had to work, but there was no question about hitting it, then up to 190 for my last one. Last one. I couldn't hit a second rep even with several attempts.

Looks like I found something to work on! I'm looking forward to seeing Luke do this one today; I'm betting he's done this one more for his football training.