July 30, 2010 in habits of highly effective athletes by admin

Stay Away From the Vitamin I

The “Vitamin I” that I am referring to is ibuprofen. It is classified as a “non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory-drug” and it is serious stuff folks! It is not to be taken haphazardly nor should it be taken just to chase away the DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Sorness) from last yesterdays “Fight Gone Bad.” In fact Kelly Starrett, of Crossfit HQ fame, believes that “Ibuprofen has no place in the life of the athlete obsessed with chasing performance.” I will take Kelly’s statement one step further and say that ibuprofen, or any other N.S.A.I.D’s, should be avoided for anyone concerned about their health and longevity.  Is that a bold statement or what? Does that cover everyone?

So then what should  you do when your non-caring coach closes the gym for  a week, and then upon returning gives you “Cindy” followed by “Fran” for a finisher?

Well, you can start by following the R.I.C.E guidlines.  You remember those right?  Rest. Ice. Compress. Elevate. Beyond this make sure your feeding and watering your body properly, as well as getting a boat load of sleep.  How much is a boat load you ask? I relly on the prescription offered up by Robb Wolf (RobbWolf.com) “Sleep as much as you can without getting divorced or fired.” Follow this up with some light rowing, foam rolling, and of course your fish oil.

Embrace the Ice!!!

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At this point we have some active recovery techniques that help repair injured tissue as well as help minimize the amount of time you are jacked up from a gnarly workout.

Even in the event some specific injury I would steer folks away from popping a pill to elevate pain. Remember there are no free lunches when it comes to the complex system that is your body.

Here is what Kelly says in regards to Ibuprofen and other N.S.A.I.D’s

“NSAIDs have been shown to delay and hamper the healing in all the soft tissues, including muscles, ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. Anti-inflammatories can delay healing and delay                            it significantly, even in muscles with their tremendous blood supply. In one study on muscle strains, Piroxicam (an NSAID) essentially wiped out the entire inflammatory proliferative                                  phase of healing (days 0-4). At day two there were essentially no macrophages (cells that clean up the area) in the area and by day four after the muscle strain, there was very little muscle                            regeneration compared to the normal healing process. (Greene, J. Cost-conscious prescribing of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for adults with arthritis. Archives of Internal                                      Medicine. 1992; 152:1995-2002.)”

You can click (here) to read Kelly’s entire article titled, “Get off the Ibuprofen Peoples!”

July 29, 2010 in General Blog Posts, Level 10 Key Concept by admin

A few quick facts about dehydration

Some of the common signs of dehydration are decreased sweating, headaches, muscle craps and decreased urination.  However, some nastier things start to manifest themselves when you deprive your body of its natural means of regulating temperature.

1) Connective tissue is comprised of 60 to 80% water by weight.  It is water which helps keep tissue such as ligaments and tendons strong.  Being dehydrated wont help you stabilize that knee during 20+ rounds of Cindy!

2) Your performance depends on your ability to stay hydrated.  Studies have show a loss of exercise performance on the order of 10-20% when dehydration is present.  This is seen through the impairment of reaction time as well as concentration.  In addition, the lack of blood flow throughout the body strains the cardiovascular system which increases the heart rate and further raises the core temperature of the body.

3) Freeradical damage effects your muscles after a hard workout, however, it also effects every tissue and organ in your body. Infact, the aging process is heavily impacted by cellular dehydration and the accompanying free-radical damage.  When cells are dehydrated protein synthesis is impacted, vitamin and mineral uptake is limited, and you infect jump-start the aging process into hyper-speed.  So if you want to look like Magda from “Something About Mary” then keep drinking the soda and red bull and stear clear of the H2o.

Soda’s and dehydration all facilitate free-radical damage…Drink the right stuff up!!!

So, the take away message is, duh, drink plenty of water.  A good goal is to drink half your body weight in ounces per day.  This will get you on track to look, feel, and perform better!

July 26, 2010 in On Ramp Class by admin

August “On Ramp”

Sign-up now by clicking on the “sign up now” tab at the top of our home page (here)

July 16, 2010 in General Blog Posts by admin

Doors are Closed….For a Week!!!

Level 10 Crossfit will be closed for the week beginning Monday July 19th-Saturday July 25th.

All level 2/3 group classes will be canceled during this time.  Use this time to go on a hike, foam-roll, or kick your heels up for a week and prepare for some L10XF fun starting back up on Monday July 27th at 6am.

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August “On Ramp” Announced

Our August “On Ramp” will kick off on Monday August 9th at 7pm.  Sign-ups are open and space is limited.

July 15, 2010 in Level 10 Events, habits of highly effective athletes by admin

What is the Goal?

“The goal is to keep the goal the goal”-Dan John

Over halfway through 2010 can you believe it? Well, if you remember, back in January we put pen to white board and wrote down some goals for the year.  How is that list nearly seven months in?  If you are dedicating time to your weaknesses, checking off feats of fitness accomplished, Great!  However, if you have failed to, “keep the goal the goal” then dedicate yourself to prioritizing your time and energy in a way that sets yourself up for success.

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Our female competitors from May’s “Summer Strength Challenge.” Each of these girls poured their hearts into five tough workouts throughout the day

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Brett-last workout at the SouthWest Regional in Orange County, Califorinia

July 7, 2010 in General Blog Posts by admin

The Power of the “Tribe” for proper mechanics

Its hot and your smoked after your last run with nothing but a few kettlebell swings between you and the post workout foam rolling session.  So, what do you do, you reach down and with one hand you pick up the bell with your shoulders rounded over like a question mark.  Such an offense against proper movement mechanics used to be punishable by a run to the fence and back.  This curtailed the problem for a bit, but it eventually made its way back.  Our latest method of behavior modification is to impose a 10 burpee penalty on everyone in the class for every midline stabilization infraction.  Pick up a bell with a rounded back-10 post workout burpees for the entire class.  Same goes for deadlifts, D-ball slams, or any other movement that requires you to pick up something off the floor.  This may sound harsh but we are serious about your safety-both in and out of the gym.

On a side note this new method has be darn near flawless in it application thus far.  So much so that we will be bringing to you, our loyal members, new and creative ways to get desired behaviors engrained into your grey mater….
If you can think of an infraction that should warrant burpees throw your suggestion into the comments section and we will see if it makes the cut!

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“On Ramp” Class #6

“On Ramp” class for new members will be back in August.  Stop by the gym or contact us to reserve your spot today.

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Congratulations to Cindy for recently getting her first rope climb!  Great work