Archive for December, 2010

Check our Latest News in the right-hand column for the latest updates to CrossFit Adventure’s Holiday Schedule. Currently (as of Tue. Dec. 21):

Mon, Dec. 20 – Thu, Dec. 23: Normal Schedule

Fri, Dec. 24: 9:30am class ONLY (no 5:30pm class)

Sat, Dec. 25: Nathan will be doing a workout in the morning. Feel free to join, everyone is welcome (friends/family), although I’ll be there to do the workout and not necessarily instruct. 9am.

Mon, Dec. 27 – Thu, Dec. 30: Normal Schedule

Fri, Dec. 31: 9:30am class ONLY (no 5:30pm class)

Sat, Jan. 1: Depending on how Nathan is feeling, there will be a possible workout this morning.

Sun, Jan. 2: Possible group hike.

**Carolyn will be teaching all CrossFit classes through the rest of the year.

We are all aware that we have internal clocks. The most apparent of which are daily and monthly cycles. Many people, however, fail to appreciate their own yearly cycles. Just as we have adapted to daily and monthly cycles, our bodies have also adapted to yearly cycles. Spring/summer is the time for activity. Fall/winter is the time for recuperation. It’s no coincidence that many of us just don’t feel like being active when it’s cold and dark outside. Even during the day, the sun is lower in the sky and just doesn’t provide as much energy. This is the time of year that we need to honor our bodies. Thank your body for working so hard during the summer months and give it a chance to recuperate fully for next summer. Trust me, we have a LONG season ahead of us. Start to wind down a little earlier than usual. Get to bed earlier. There’s a reason our bodies have adapted to more sleep this time of year – less daylight!! Above all, do NOT feel guilty for not being as active as you usually are. It’s just an inherent feeling that we have to not be as active this time of year. Honor that and allow your body to recover.

Now, I’m not saying to completely roll over and stay in bed all day. But be sure to listen to your body. If you’re tired, maybe you need a little extra rest.

For those of you training for adventure races, check out Brandon Nugent’s post about winter training. Brandon is a CrossFit and Kettlebell instructor in the South Bay. He crushes CrossFit workouts, adventure races, and 50 mile marathons!! Listen to what he has to say.

With the holidays coming up, what better way to show someone that you love them by giving them the gift of health? CrossFit Adventure T-shirts have been shown to increase fitness levels dramatically. Both Gary and Jen, pictured above, are clear cut examples. Sans T-shirt, Gary was bicep curling 5 pound dumbbells while power walking on a treadmill. Now he’s deadlifting 325 pounds!! Sans T-shirt, Jen wore 8 pound ankle weights while cruising up the Stairmaster. “Where are you going” they would ask her. To which she would reply, “I’m going up!!”. Now, with the CrossFit Adventure T-shirt, Jen is performing band-assisted handstand pushups!!

If you want your friends and family to be healthy like Gary and Jen, buy them a CrossFit Adventure T-shirt for the holidays. It’s the selfless thing to do.

T-shirts are available at CrossFit Adventure. $25 for the 100% cotton and the 50/50 blend. $30 for the tri-blend.

My Halloween costume for the past two years has been a poo theme – This particular one being ‘Holy Shit’. I’m simply trying to remind people how important poop really is. It is a great indicator of intestinal health. The gut is referred to as the second brain and we often take it for granted. We think that we can put whatever we want into our mouth without any consequence – or we think the only consequence is a little weight gain. Wake up people!! It’s evident by the stuff that’s coming out (or lack thereof) that there is so much more to it than that. We eat low quality food and as a result, we’re destroying our intestines. There’s no wonder there are so many GI problems: Constipation, Celiac, IBS, Diverticulitis, Crohn’s, etc.

If you have less than 2-3 bowel movements per day, if you’re on the toilet for more than a minute or two, and/or if the end result does not look (or feel) healthy, you need to take a serious look at what you’re putting in the other end. Eat healthy.

Below is a short clip of Paul Chek discussing constipation.

We were one of the first families on the block to own a microwave. I remember going to microwave specific cooking classes with my mom. We cooked so many dinners and reheated so many lunches in the microwave. OOPS!!!!

I have since gotten rid of my microwave. None of the food that sees the inside of my stomach EVER sees the inside of a microwave. It really isn’t as inconvenient as you may think. In my apartment, both cooking and reheating takes place in the oven or on the stovetop. It may take a few extra minutes (reheat on a low to medium heat to avoid a mess), but that’s time to be used to chill out. Honestly - do you ever take 5 minute meditation breaks throughout your day like you should? Now you can.

 Two articles for you to read discussing the dangers of the microwave oven: Ten Reasons to Throw Out Your Microwave Oven and Are Microwave Ovens a Source of Danger?

Finally, a quote from Dr. Hans Hartel in Search for Health: “There is extensive scientific literature concerning the hazardous effects of direct microwave radiation in living systems . . . It is astonishing therefore to realize how little effort has been taken to replace this detrimental technique of microwave cooking with technology more in accordance with nature . . . Of all the natural substances – which are polar – the oxygen of water molecules reacts most sensitively. This is how microwave cooking heat is generated – friction from this violence in water molecules. Structures of molecules are torn apart, molecules are forcefully deformed, called structural isomerism, and thus become impaired in quality. This is contrary to conventional heating of food where heat transfers from without to within. Cooking by microwaves begins within the cells and molecules where water is present and where the energy is transformed into frictional heat.”