Hopefully the last nine days have been a time for recuperation from your hard charging crossfit life.  However, now is the time to rejoin us at L10XF as we Re-Opening with normal class schedule this Monday December 7th.

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Below is an excerpt from a Dan John article about the importance of rest.

I’ve been there. I hadn’t missed a workout in five years. I trained on Christmas day, heavy and hard. I worried over finding a gym on family vacations so I wouldn’t miss a single front squat or heavy clean. I swallowed gag-filled soy protein shakes that probably did more hormonal damage than good, and, when mixed with whole milk, turned slight acne into a burn unit case. I did “everything right.” No alcohol or marijuana passed these lips, and, sadly, few female lips, too.

And, then, I melted down. Fortunately, it was such an epic meltdown that when my wife first met her current boss, he mentioned being from Montana. My wife laughed and said, “The only thing I know about Montana is that my husband got hit in the head by a discus there.” Tiff’s boss stiffened, “Oh my God, that was your husband?”

If the above except describes you (minus the discus I hope) then read this article (here) from Dan John as posted on T-Nation

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“Perhaps the development of atherosclerosis is a part of being human.”

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1940212,00.html#ixzz0XKrNDViH

Turns out the mummies of ancient Egypt are giving us insight into their exceedingly high rates of obesity, heard disease, and diabetes. Guess we can (like the researcher who is quoted above) close up shop and concede that we are all destined to be sickly and fat!

Well, Dr. Eades from “Protein Power life Plan” shows that the Egyptian’s could have fit right in with out typical “low-fat-high-carb-low-protein-prescription-for-a-short-life” American diet!

Read more: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/uncategorized/obesity-in-ancient-egypt/

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Vacation in Maui…L10XF style!!!

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Poke around the fitness industry and you will find endless debate as to what the single best exercise is.  The debate usually start of like this, “So, your stranded on an Island with only a Wilson volleyball (here), and the equipment to perform one single single exercise to help pass the time. What movement are you going to choose?” In thinking over this grand exercise experiment I deveated from the norm and expanded our options slightly.  I decided to put forth a full body and upper body movement. Now admittedly these movements are making their appearance because they have been absent from our training and are therefore requiring a specific adaptation to the demands imposed by the newly introduced exercise (specific adaptation to imposed demands).  However, these movements are fun (relatively!) and challenging…So give them a shot and report back!

The Sled

The first time I tried this thing I wanted to hide it in my basement and not let anyone know about this spectacularly painful exercise. Seriously, it may be the single most taxing exercise this side of the high rep clean and jerk!  However, its primitive nature makes it such a great exercise.  It takes zero coordination (good for me!) which means you can get to work in about a second after showing the movement to someone.  And because the sled can be pushed empty or with a ton of weight  scaleability is exceptionally straight forward.  So, if you’re board and got just a few minutes to shuttle all the blood in your body to your legs, get on the sled and cancel whatever you had planned for the rest of your day!

The ab wheel

I am not sure if there is an upper-body exercise that can so thoroughly destroy your shoulders, triceps, lats, chest…and oh yeah, your abs!

I vaguely remember seeing this exercise tool from the 70′s and 80′s next to my father’s old plastic barbell set when I was a kid.  The thing collected dust, and now I know why…The movement is flipp’n hard!  Few people do this exercise because few people can.  Greg (pictured above) provided a great example of the range of motion required for a properly executed Ab wheel/roll out.  Once fully laid-out try to “dig a ditch” with you arms so as to bring your chest, triceps, and abs into the movement.  The biggest mistake people make with this movement is backing their hips out rather than pulling through with their hands.  In this instance the arms will stay parallel with the upper body, essentially cheating the movement by taking the emphasis off the upper-body.  100 Ab wheel/rollouts in as few sets as possible is a fun little challenge that will leave a mark.  If you looking for even more excitement try pausing at the bottom, or better yet slap on a weighted vest and see where that gets ya!

Oh, did I mention the thing costs about $6 and can be toted anywhere?  Another reason this marvel from the infomercial world is worth a reunion.

We have as a gym completed Fight Gone Bad a number of times, each time celebrating a  holiday or special event.  However, on September 26th we will have a great opportunity to join Fight Gone Bad IV which will help in bringing awareness and funding to prostate cancer research and the Wounded Warriors non-profit group. This fund raising effort is put on by athletes for a cure and over the past 3 years has raised over $1 million for these two great causes.

You can visit our level 10 crossfit donation page by visiting (here)

You can also register for this event, and even set up a personal page to track your donations-or better yet the donations of other who have pledged money in your name.  All by visiting the FGB IV even page by clicking (here)

Currently we are signed up under our gym name-Level 10 Crossfit- so make register for this important cause and help the whole Crossfit Community raise awareness for prostate cancer and those wounded overseas.

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More often than not kids cant wait to get in on the workout action once they see Mommy and Daddy having fun and getting fit!

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Rudy and Shawn throwing down a killer effort on the diagnostic workout Nancy

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Last few days

Skylar and Brett are two of the most committed and hard working Crossfiters you could ever meet.  So it is appropriate that that they will be representing us this weekend during the Nor Cal regional qualifier. For competitors and spectators the excitement is increasing as we inch closer to Saturday and Sunday, and the difficulty of this years workouts are an indication that some of the fittest athletes on earth reside right here in Northern California.  

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One Big Looser   

Greg has been kicking some serious butt since starting up at L10XF in September.  He works hard at consistently making his workouts each week, and is equally dedicated to completing all workouts at Rx’d weight.  However, he switched into another gear when he started tweaking his diet via our “Paleo Challenge”.  The good since then is that Greg has lost over 17 pounds.  The bad new is that a smaller tool belt and a new wardrobe aren’t cheap! Great Job, Greg.

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Paleo Challenge Part Deux 

Well, our six week Paleo Challenge will officially wrap up on May 2nd.  A huge thanks goes out to everyone who put their name down and were accountable for the choices that are maid outside the gym.  If you have been excited by the results that have been seen these past six weeks, or if you feel you could have made some wiser food and lifestyle choices, then gear up for the next installment of the Paleo Challenge beginning May 11th.

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The Magnesium Miracle

Magnesium has been a buzz word around the gym lately.  As with most things, at first mention the result is usually in one ear and out the other (just ask my wife). However, once the same topic hits me upside the head a few times I usually turn and take notice.  Case in point-magnesium.  Like most other markers of health our downward turn started when we became heavily dependent on cerial grains, low fat eating, and high levels of sodium.  Here is a list of known conditions that research has correlated with: heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, chronic bronchitis, cronic fatigue syndrome, migraine headaches, muscle cramps.

Quite a long list for a mineral that get so little attention.  For further reading click (here) and read about the link between low level magnesium and chronic migraines.

In addition, “many disorder of hearth rhythm are related to insufficient level of magnesium in the heart muscle.  Magnesium was first shown to be of value in the treatment of cardiac arrythmias in 1935.”-Excerpt from Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine

For more click (here)

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1.Skylar showing everyone that this workout is no sweat!

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2. Rachael had an inspiring performance using RX’d weights for the first time.

3. Clark mid-air with his peepers forward, perfect!

4.Melia demonstrating what a perfect SDHP looks like

5. Heidi has the technique and intensity that makes a great trainee and perfect crossfiter.

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What does your fitness help you to achieve?

Mark Rippetoe, or RIP, is the author of Starting Strength: A Simple and Practical Guide to Coaching Beginners, numerous magazine and journal articles, and the co-author of Practical Programming for Strength Training.  His book  Starting Strength  is not only a successful “fitness” book on Amazon, but ranked #147 for ALL Amazon books. 

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Tim was not about to let a little thing like no workout clothes deter him from spending a little quality time on the rower.  Good thing we already went over the kb swing; we wouldn’t want a repeat of the infamous L10Xf Blow Out!!!

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Congratulations go out to Amy for getting her first pull-up this week.  After her first journey over the bar she quickly hoped back up and promptly strung together four beautiful chin over the bar pull-ups. Great work, looks like jumping pull-ups will soon be kicked to the curb. 

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The reading material wasn’t enough to out-last the Zen like Pam on this post workout wall-sit contest.  For all you interested Pam calmly quit after 4:30 on the wall.  The question now is, how long will she hold the crown?

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I want YOU!!! Part deux

There is still plenty of time to vote us in as the best gym in Oroville.  To cast your vote for Level 10 CrossFit head to the Chico News and Review by clicking the link below.  

best of Oroville 2008 vote now

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Thought I would give the 6pm class a little love for destroying the tuesday WOD.  If there are any ambitious folks out who want a fun fanny kick’n workout try this…5 rounds for time of…5 knee’s to elbows, 10 pushups, 20 Dumbell Push press, 40 sit-ups.

Congrats to Erik on his new ride.  You can’t beat a supper clean datsun or 25 mpg!

Note: We are adding new group class times every week, and are starting to implement our Level 1, 2, and 3 curriculum. You can see what classes we have running by looking here.

The founder of CrossFit put it best when he said, “The needs of the elderly and professional athletes vary by degree, not kind. Where one needs functional competency to maintain independence, the other needs functional mastery to maintain dominance…We scale for ability we don’t change programs.”

In addition, we have taped into the roots of the crossfit revolution and started posting every workout just as the Glassman’s did in the early years. Now our board will have “Fit…SupperFit…CrossFit” tags. You should know what workout is the fanny kicker!!!

Here is a video showing how scaling can maintain the workout stimulus while still adjusting for individual fitness needs