February 5, 2009 in The facility, rant by admin

Bru ha ha and Baby Bella

The “fake healthy” beverages of Vitamin water has landed them in court.  The Coca-Cola line of beverages’ use of healthy buzz words such as, ‘defense,’energy’ and ‘endurance’ as well as their claim to help prevent decease and support immune function has lead the Center for Science in the Public Interest to file a lawsuit based on “deceptive and misleading claims.”

Personal responsibility is an important virtue to have whenever trying to make lifestyle altering changes.  So, with that being said, here are a few reasons why beverages such as these should be nixed from your diet pronto!

* 6 tablespoons of sugar per bottle.

* Vitamin water contains 50 calories per 8 ounce serving.

* The word “natural” is basically meaning less  now-days based on the manipulative marketing practices of companies.    

I am personally convinced, based on the length of time that calorie dense liquids have been in our diets, that our bodies can’t makes sense of such foods.  So leave the sugar water alone and stick to what nature made-water and green tea!

Just say No!

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Kinsey stopped in for a little mid season tune up!

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Rhonda, our prego crossfiter, capped off a smooth pregnancy with an even smoother birth.  Little Bella arrived on Monday January 26th; Afterward Rhonda said the birthing process was like, “the hardest workout imaginable.”  Well, good work, your time will be hard to beat!!!

Rhonda, Kurt, and baby Bella

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Picture a day

This is a picture of our first workout in what is now Level 10 Crossfit.  I say “now” because this place would be simply an oversized Tuff Shed if not for the amazing people who we get to continually share our life with.  So thank you to each of you who show up, sweat, laugh, encourage, correct, praise, and support.
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September 19, 2008 in Nutrition, habits of highly effective athletes, rant by admin

Squat Clinic-How we squat

Really there is no such thing as teaching the squat. The movement is so natural that it can more accurately be described as re-learning a skill that was once commonplace. For this reason adults often need more help “remembering” this movement as opposed to children who in many cases learn this movement with little formal instruction. This makes perfect sense once one observes a child as she attempts to stand and walk for the first time.  Unlike most of us who are trying to recover from our time as wannabe bodybuilders, babies have no concept of squating to, “better isolate the quads”.  They learn to stand from a seated position in order to better navigate their environment. Wow, what a concept! 

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So easy a baby can do it!

Here are some cues to to help you get in touch with your inner toddler.

1. Start with the feet about shoulder width apart with the toes slightly turned out.

2. Keep your head up, looking slightly above parallel.

3. Accentuate the normal arch of the lumbar curve.

4. Keep a tight midsection.

5. Lower yourself by pushing your butt back and down.

6. Keep your knees and ankles parallel.

7. Delay the knees forward travel.

8. Stay on the heels of your feet.

9. Lift your arm up and as far from your butt as possible.

10. In profile, your ear does not move forward during the squat, it travels straight down.

11. Don’t just sink down but rather “pull” yourself down using your hip flexors.

12. Stop when the crease of the hip is below the knee.

13. Once you reach parallel rise without any leaning forward or shifting of balance.

14. On rising, without moving the feet, exert presure to the outside of your feet as though you were separating the ground with your feet.

15. Return to standing via the exact same path as you descended

16. Finish the hip at the top by standing as tall as possible.

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Here is a funny and informative video on the squat…checkout that El Pollo Loco squat, yeah!!!

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The corn refiners association is pumping some serious money into their new advertising campaign. I must have seen this commercial four times in a half hour time span last week. Do you think America will fall for this fear based marketing? To top it all off this was shown on everyones favorite family channel, Disney. Also, if I hear the word “natural” in reference to some notoriously evil invention of the food industry one more time I am going to gnaw my own arm off!

The other side of the HFCS story can be found here and here.
 

August 21, 2008 in first workout, habits of highly effective athletes, rant by admin

L10XF Athlete of the week

The L10XF “Athlete of the week” is Pam!!! Pam has done an amazing job since joining us a short while ago. Everyone in our 6pm class has witnessed her strength and confidence grow each and every week.  Her commitment to true fitness was clearly on display earlier in the summer when she braved not only the heat but also the smoke to attend the evening class. Pam, glad you have joined our crazy little fitness community. 

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Chalk up another one for the, “I NEVER thought I would do that in my life” moments that are happening more and more frequently around our little gym.  The most recent example is Debbie who scurried up our 18 foot rope.  She even got a full hand on the steal crossbeam to make it legit.  Way to go, Debbie!!!

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Mario is only two sessions into his Level 10 CrossFit experience and is already moving like a champ.  Today we tackled the deadlift.  Mario did so well that I was once again reminded of the half dozen or so conversations that I have had in the past with well-meaning High School football coaches, or self described “Sports Performance Trainers”, who because of myth, misinformation, or laziness have decided to leave out this valuable movement. In the end the kids are the ones that miss out on optimal performance, fitness, and possibly the chance to take their talent to the next level.  

July 29, 2008 in Nutrition, rant by admin

Faces of health

The picture above is of the Kamaiura tribe, who are indegenous people from the Cental Brazil region of Alto Xingu.  Judging by the images I am going to venture a guess that they a) get adequate exercise (see top left picture) b) they don’t eat crap carbs and c) don’t worry about their fat intake; which all lead to d) a monumental lack of diabetes, heart disease, lipid disorder, hypertension, and obesity.  

Related reading: Here is an article worth checking out that I found at performance coach Eric Cressey’s blog.

Turns out saturated fat may not be the heart killer that everyone thought it was!

May 29, 2008 in rant by admin

Could you? Should you?

Not seeing the results you want? Is that gym membership usurping money from you with no ROI (return on investment) Here is an excerpt from an excellent article that may identify some of the problems with your current program, and why a trip to Level10CrossFit is in order.

“The coach who coaches himself has an idiot for a client.”

Even a good surgeon doesn’t pull out his own spleen. A good coach can’t coach himself. Listen, I tried it for years and here’s the problem: you simply don’t have enough RAM to do it yourself. Yep, that’s the computer term. You simply don’t have enough space in your brain to do what it takes to train yourself.

First, designing a program takes a level of honesty that people can rarely match. Oh sure, we can all see the obvious with glaring faults and issues, but the fix might blow up some happy little beliefs that you’re afraid to confront.

Second, anyone can design a program or plan. I see it all the time. But, in coaching yourself, you have to follow this program. Will you give it the time to work, or like me, immediately begin to tweak and change it so that by week two, the original plan is completely lost? I know this by experience… thirty years of it! So, can you follow your own plan? Some can (like Clarence Bass) but most can’t. Even Bass, by the way, changes quite a bit from book to book.

Third, do you have enough will to push through your own program and not find the easy way out? I’m a master of talking myself out of tough workouts and back into my rut workouts. Like Earl Nightingale used to say, “A rut is a grave with the ends kicked out.”

Fourth, can you honestly address your weaknesses at the start of a workout, in a strange gym, or when other alpha males are training near you? The moment guys who look like frat boys start training near me, I front squat. I’m not doing sets of triples in the pull-up when these guys are working their heavy triceps extensions, bro . Sorry, my ego can’t do it.

Dan John is a prominent strength coach, writer, and Highland Games competitor. You can find this article in it entirety here .