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Diary of a Crossfit Vancouver Apprentice – Ali Paton

Eleven weeks into my fast track apprentice “journey” at Crossfit Vancouver, I’d never even visited the west coast of Canada before I arrived back in August, on the day of the Nutts Cup.

Highlights so far include experiencing an awesome city and all it has to offer.  Meeting lots of extremely friendly, fit and fun Canadian crossfitters and learning the ropes of the crossfit cult!  Yes it is a cult but I like to think a very positive one!

The lows, well constant physical humiliation (and on occasion mental!) along with the cost of a good bottle of red wine over here pretty much covers that.

This week as part of my apprentice journey I took the nutrition exam, one of 5 tests on the CFV Apprentice Curriculum.

If you fail to fuel your body correctly, you will never achieve your maximum performance.  It can at times be a frustratingly cruel fact that is also closely aligned to ensuring you get adequate recovery.  When it comes to what we eat, fat is possibly one of the most misunderstood not to mention vilified macronutrients.   So whilst swotting for my nutrition exam, here’s some of what I found interesting on the sticky subject of fat.

You should know this by now but it’s not as simple as calories in versus calories out.  This is where the low fat myth spawned e.g. if 1g of fat has 9 calories and 1g of protein and carbohydrate only have 4 calories each then just eat a diet that contains less fat if you want to perform and get lean, right?  Wrong! Low fat diets cause the body to more easily synthesize fat from other sources such as carbs and to store as unwanted fat rather than use for energy. You have to factor in metabolism, which in turn is regulated by your thyroid, which takes its commands from the master of the hormone hierarchy, leptin.  Stored in your fat cells and only discovered in 1994 leptin “co-ordinates the metabolic, endocrine and behavioural responses to starvation”.  We are talking feelings of satiety, hunger as well as cravings.

Physiologically fat for us means survival.  It’s a complex subject but if you can get your head around the different types of fat and how, hormonally, they affect the body you will be better placed to make dietary decisions.

Historically, our diet was moderately high in natural saturated and monounsaturated (think coconuts and avocados) and certain essential polyunsaturated fats (omega-3 e.g. wild caught oily fish.)  In comparison, trans fats have only been in existence for around 50 years.  Your body has no idea how to “process” these.

The big picture is that all natural fats are not the same and as a result function with intricate complexity in the body.  For example, short and medium-chain saturated fats do not turn into body fat, unless eaten in very large quantities, but instead are utilized immediately by the body for energy.  Longer chain saturated fats fuel your muscles, help protein metabolism and brain function and protect and improve the proper use of the more delicate polyunsaturated (essential fatty acids) fats.

So instead of thinking “you are what you eat” think more “you are what your metabolism does with what you eat.”

However, with tonight’s party in mind, I’ll leave you with 2 thoughts.  If you see me buying T-Bear drinks, guess who’s marking the test, oh and if you see me with a glass of red wine in my hand, check out this though provoking blog.

Have a great Halloween!!

(All technical information above is from the book Primal body Primal Mind by Nora T. Gedgaudas)

Saturday’s workout:

Today will be a flip flop.  Half the class will do sprinting while the other half will get a chance to use our brand new rowers.

Flip:  6 x 20 m accelerations.  Indoors.

Try and use everything we have learned so far in this sprint focus.

• Stay low (head down) and dig your way out of the starting position.
• All upper body power comes from the shoulders.  Swing your arm from there. First arm swings are huge.
• Shorter faster steps are better than longer ones.
• Drive drive drive!! Pump those legs! By the end of the 20 m you should be pulling the Earth behind you.

Flop:  Teams of Two for time.

250 m Row
6 Power Cleans (185/120 lbs)

x 6

One partner does the row and then does the cleans. Then the other partner does the same. This should be a hard hard hit then quick recovery for the next set. Each person does 3 rounds.

If classes are small enough then do the sprinting first then the rowing/cleans after.

Sunday is a make up day.

See you at the party!!!

Shep

We had a whole other post worked out for this week, but what’s been going on the world of cycling the last couple weeks is so gnarly that I just had to share about it.  That and the video I wanted to link was down.  We’ll get back at that next week.

Lance Armstong, 7 time Tour de France champion, and alleged performance enhancing drug user has just received a lifetime ban from all cycling and triathlon events by the US, and subsequently stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles and likely a Bronze Medal at the Olympics when all is said and done.  He lost all his sponsors (names like Nike, Oakley, etc.), and has been forced to step down from Livestrong, which has raised about a half a billion dollars for cancer research.  That’s a rough week…

I’m linking you all to the 200+ page report from the US Anti Doping Agency, which essentially amounts to inarguable here say from about 15 teammates that he cheated with over the years.  Skim it.  It reads like one of the best day time soap operas I could ever think of.  All the accusations and right/wrong arguing aside, I’m actually IMPRESSED at how they cheated the system.  The most scientific and systematic cheat of all time.  He never tested positive.  None of the people on his team did, while they were with his team, and he competed while allegedly doping for over 10 years.  They had that shit down to a science.  Ridiculous.  Read it here, and start with the affidavits in the appendices.  I recommend George Hincapie, who’s a good friend of Lance and a long time TDF rider.

http://cyclinginvestigation.usada.org/

The moral of the story might be, if you’re planning on doping for performance enhancement, save it for the bedroom!

Afghan out.

Our very own Jimmy Choo made a video of this year’s Nutts Cup.  Very generous in the effort Jimmy and the movie shows it. You got soul bro.  Many thanks.

Give it a go.  Completely epic day.  Can’t wait for next year.

Friday’s Workout:

Warm Up:  Hard 800 m Run

Tech:  Go over wod movements.

Workout:  Got this one off the .com website.  Giant $%&@!#* Mash Up

For time:
100 ft Walking lunge (30 m – 1.5 lengths of the gym)
50 Push-ups
50 Double-unders
25 Knees to elbows
5 Rope climb, 15 ft
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
25 Overhead squats (65/45 lbs)
25 L-pull-ups
50 Sit-ups

You must hold the “L” position on the descent of the pull up as well. If you don’t have a L-pull-up then do them with your knees bent. If you can’t do that then do a static pull up (band if needed) and 3 v-snaps for every L-pull-up.

30 minute cut off.  If you finish early then stretch.  Coaches stagger the start or have athletes begin at a different movement to prevent a log jam at the rope climbs.

Get in here and earn your weekend.

Sheppy Loves you.

Ok

So it turns out that Christine Girard is a pretty cool person.

and she is super smart.  Math degree hot!

After hanging with her for a few hours we have all fallen in love.

She is the only north american to medal in olympic weightlifting.

Think about all the bullshit people are spitting about OWL.

She did it!

Well she is now coming to hang with our crew at CFV.   Thursday from from 4 pm to 7 pm she is going to witness all your ugliness.  From this she will give an honest evaluation on how we can improve .

Ask the questions….Give our girl Some Love!!

The amazing Emily “Punky – Eunice – The Hold Out) Beers, Assistant Editor for the CrossFit Journal, wrote a great article on Christine. Read it here.

Thursday’s Workout:

Warm Up: Burgener Warm Up

Workout: Olympic Weightlifting Total

• 3 attempts to get maximum weight on the snatch

• 3 attempts to get maximum weight on the clean and jerk

Your score is your combined weight lifted on the two exercises

Move like lightning.

One Love,

The Shepherd

Its that time of year again! CrossFit Vancouver’s 5th annual Halloween party!

Jennifer “SPCA” Farr at her kick ass rockin’ best.

People go all out on their costumes.  We’ve had a great year at CrossFit Vancouver and many of our newer clients have not experienced this party.

We encourage all of you to come on out and bring your friends in a celebration of life, laughter, and fun fun fun.  All proceeds from the party will go to the Nutts Foundation.  

Tickets are $10 in advance and $20 at the door.  You can purchase them at the main whiteboard at the school or right here… (pay pal button)

Volunteers are needed to:

• Set-up / Decoration – 6-10 people to move equipment and decorate
• Door / Tickets – 4 shifts of 2 people (9,10,11,12) to take tickets, handle cash, give people wrist bands, and look good doing it
• 3 shifts of 2 people bartending
• Two strong dudes (any around here?) to help set up
• ***Volunteers get free admission, and 2 drink tickets
• We will need people to keep an eye on things as the night progresses:  garbage bins, bathrooms, etc.

Also, any issues should be reported to the door people, or to a coach/apprentice ASAP.
Email the lovely and talented audrey@crossfit.ca to volunteer.

Wednesday’s Workout:

Warm Up/Tech:  Shoulder Prep then Muscle Ups – Practice whatever part of it you are weakest at or the whole thing.

• Pull ups on the rings to the nipples
• False grip turn out
• Rings tight to the body on the dip (Punky)

Above all I would like everyone to try the partner assist muscle up.  3 sets of 5 reps or 5 sets of 3 reps.

Workout: Our very own Matt “Hacksaw” Stemperdink was up in Prince George last week and did a workout at a CrossFit there.  I have made a few changes to it but I believe it will be a pretty good hit for all of you.

Amrap in 7 minutes of burpees

Coaches it would be great if you could get the workout done by :45 so we can get some group stretching in.

Clearly I just learned how to use the bullets on our publishing software.

Congrats to those who all participated in the Paleo Challenge!

Its time to get your second pinch! So please sign up at the school! The times and dates (even what day you are to be pinched) are all posted on the board!!!

Dashie