We had a great turnout for our holiday workout today.  Thanks to all who came out, everyone did a great job.  A special thanks to Bryant and Alex for coming up with this very special 4th of July WOD.  Hope you and yours had a good 4th!  See you all tomorrow!

- Cheryl

Well, I am off for a week (4th-14th) filled with Crossfit actives in the mainland. I’ll be sure to keep you up to date on all the happenings at the other CF gyms I stop by. The Ice Tiger and Cheryl will be in charge of the facility so be nice to them. When Craig gets back around the 13th or so he will be rounding up help for the new facility so get your work gloves ready!!

Also in case you didn’t know the Crossfit Games are this weekend so be sure to check out all the action here.

Post here any ideas you have for a hotel room workout for me to do and blog about. I am voting for old stand by of 500 squats for time but I’ll take anything you can throw at me. Be creative and train hard while I am out.
-Bryant

We will be open Friday, July 4th from 9:00 am to 12:00 Noon. We will be holding classes every hour on the hour (i.e., 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00). Come out and get in a workout before the celebration and libations begin!

- Cheryl

Just in case you were wondering our local CFer aboard Chris is alive and well. While it is no crossfit in Hawaii, Chris is getting sent CF Oahu workouts from his wife Tara. I never got the pics of Fran he talks about below but the ones above are of him doing a CFO workout in Kuwait. Keep up the good work, be safe, and leave Chris some love here.

-Bryant
“Hey Bryant just wanted to write you guys and tell you how grateful I am for you guys bringing CF to Oahu.  Doing those workouts in the garage gym in the Hawaii sun with no A/C has really strengthened my mind and body.  Mentally in knowing that the conditions or the pain that I am is temporary similar to a workout once you yell, “TIME!!  TIME!! BRYANTTT TIMEEEE!!!!!!”    Physically, I feel in great shape knowing my body can take the abuse of the heat, the traveling and rigors of having all our heavy ass gear.  I cannot say enough about Crossfit to my fellow Seabees.  I have even gotten one fellow officer to try Fran with me (which I have included pics of him and I).  When he completed the workout he said that that was the most intense workout he has ever done and that only someone psychotic would want to do that.  I guess he thinks we all are insane.  I have included pics of the Fran workout and the Spartan like gym here in Kuwait.  Can’t wait to see where I am off to next.  Hope you all are doing well and I am having fun at the beach here.”

Chris aka CBL, Not James, best spearo

A thin volume of less than 100 pages, yet Super Squats, by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D., is a tour de force of simplicity and intellect, which brings the reader back to reality, by reminding him/her of the necessity and effectiveness of the squat. The basic premise is that a routine of 20 squats will allow you to gain 30 pounds of muscle in 6 weeks, along with the attendant strength. The book goes into detail about the history of the 20 rep squat routine and the hormonal changes that your body goes through, but that is all secondary to the program.

Essentially, the program is this: In order to gain the neuroendocrine response which will give you muscle mass and strength, do your 10 rep back squat max 20 times without racking the weight a few times a week. Every time, try to increase the weight by 5 pounds. Absolute fire in your back, legs and stomach. Do it for six weeks. Drink a lot of milk and eat a lot of quality food. That’s it. It is so simple that it sounds like nonsense. I tried it and I almost vomited at rep 18. It will have you breathing like a 500 meter row with a pain you’re likely never to forget. Anything that makes you feel like Fran in the same amount of time, with half the exercises, has got to be legit.

If anything, it attests to the effectiveness of functional movements, high intensity and simplicity–all things that we aspire to–in your training.

When you perform the 20 rep squat routine, you realize the efficacy of the program–it is a functional, total body workout, and the gains in muscle mass you get are equally total-body and functional. From the obvious burning in your legs, up through your lower and upper back to the not-so-obvious arms and trapezius, the squat is unparalleled in creating a base of strength obviously applicable to CrossFit.

I’m not sure how many times I mentioned hip drive while coaching Fight Gone Bad, but it is obvious that hips are central to almost every movement in the human repertoire–and the squat is the premier movement to strengthen the hip drive. The more I do CrossFit and the more I understand athletic movement, it is increasingly clear to me that hip drive and mid-line stability are crucial to everything. The squat strengthens those two elements as well as, if not better than, most anything else I can think of.

–Nick

A lot of people have asked me how to lose weight. Here it is. You never need to watch another BS infomercial or buy another diet book, or listen to Oprah or Dr. Phil: insulin control. As Gary Taubes quoted a Harvard professor: “Carbohydrates is driving insulin is driving fat.”

At some point, I’m going to write an article on basic endocrinology for fitness. For now, know that insulin is what allows your body to put on fat. That is the primary hormone. Succinctly put, to restrict insulin is to lose weight, which is what most people want out of a fitness regimen, though other benefits are obvious.

According to the American Medical Association Council on Foods and Nutrition in 1974, “Fat is mobilized [from fat tissue] when insulin secretion diminishes.”[1]

Two macronutrients cause insulin to rise: protein and carbohydrate. Only one of these is necessary. I’ll give you two guesses which one it is. What does that mean for our dietary needs? Fat, the other of the three macronutrients should fill the gap of carbohydrates and it won’t affect your insulin significantly. We can’t go no carbohydrate, because that would kill our CrossFit workouts. We also can’t do a no fat, no carbohydrate diet because that would lead to what the early American settlers called “rabbit starvation” and that would be the opposite of fitness: death.
The optimal diet would be one that restricts carbohydrate–or if that sounds too harsh, “controls” carbohydrate–enough to allow for glycogen reloading, but restricting fat storage, gets enough protein for building bones and muscle, and gets enough fat to make up for caloric and bodily needs. The Zone does this well, but a lot of people don’t feel like measuring.
Here’s an easy fix. Have meat, leafy greens, a LITTLE BIT of denser carbohydrates, like fruit, or a not overly starchy tuber, and fat like nuts or oil with each meal. That should do it for fat loss and athletic improvement. If you want skills like the CrossFit pros, you’ll have to invest a few minutes a day into measuring your food and some time in the gym being dedicated to awesomeness. For wellness and metabolic normality, though, the above will do. Notice that I omitted grains, legumes, and dairy. Cheese and butter could fit in there, but why risk it?
Most likely, all the food you think is “healthy” is probably garbage dressed as healthy. Nature’s Valley granola bars? Junk. Splenda? Junk. Fat free yogurt? Junk. Cliff Bars? Junk. Check the packages. I’m not lying. They are high in carbohydrates and advertising, low in nutrients, and primed to spike insulin. McDonald’s has a similar nutritional make-up. Elite marathoners might consume so-called “health foods,” but that doesn’t mean elite marathoners are healthy, or fit. I’ve known a few that admitted to a sub 12-inch vertical jump. Yeah, we do 20-inch box jumps blindfolded!

-Nick

Hey Bryant-

I thought you’d get a kick out of this.  I apparently talk constantly at work so my co-workers have branded me the “CrossFit Chronic.”  My co-workers even went so far as to vandalize my coveted CrossFit sticker by adding “chronic” to it in waterbased pen (see photo).  I told them don’t hate the player, hate the game (haha).

CrossFit Chronic and proud,
Carolina

Do you find yourself talking to and trying to get others to see the “light”. Post what you tell others about CrossFit here.

Also, we have hundreds of vinyl CFO stickers in seven different colors like the one above (Thanks, Cheryl!!). If you haven’t got one, ask and and we will give you one for free. Feel free to post where you have put your decal.

-Bryant

Dedication (per wikipedia) is to immerse oneself with sincerity into a certain subject or properly the setting apart of anything by solemn proclamation. Synonymous with words such as committment, loyalty, perserverance, devotion, allegiance, adherence, faithfulness, wholeheartedness, and enthusiasm.

Katie, a new Crossfitter at CFO, always gives 150% and amazes me and herself with her mental and physical strength every single workout. We are lucky that she is part of our ohana!
We have a great quote on our white board, “If it’s too easy, go faster!”

We talk about what it means to be a ‘firebreather’, that Crossfit is ‘hardcore’ and ‘intensity is relative’ but here is a great article from Again Faster that really puts the white board quote into perspective. How has your outlook on ‘intensity’ and/or dedication changed since you have found Crossfit? Post your comments here.
-Court

Courtney and I were hiking to some secret lava tide pools in Kauai when the batteries in our camera died. We were kinda bummed because we wanted to take some photos. There was one other couple around way out there in the middle of nowhere, so I decided to ask them if we could put our memory card in their camera to snap a few photos. They allowed us to use their camera and we got to talking about the 5 finger shoes I had on and how he had just gotten some for his training. I told him that we have a lot of people that use them where I train. He asked “Well, what do you guys do?”. I told him we mix Olympic style weight lifting, gymnastics and… He stopped me and asked “Do you guys do CrossFit?”.

So that is how we met Bob and D’Arcy out at the lava pools in Kauai. We continued to talk about how the olympic lifts have helped strengthen his back, training in a garage, and the finer points of the kipping pullup on a great sunny day right by the ocean. We gave them a card and told them to stop by CrossFit Oahu if they ever got a chance.

They had a layover in Honolulu on their way to Colorado. Instead of just waiting at the airport for a few hours, they took it upon themselves to call a friend, get our address (someone stole their bag in Kauai that had our card in it), and take a taxi down to come to CFO in person. This was the first affiliate that they had ever been to.
I must say that it is a pleasure to be part of such an interesting and supportive community. Have you ever met another CFer randomly in an unexpected place or have you been to another affiliate and felt like you fit in well. Post your thoughts to the comments here.

-Bryant

Evan entered the world today at 4:39pm weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs, 11 oz and 21 1/2 inches long.  Kat did a great job; she and Evan are doing well.  Congratulations Mike and Kat!  CFO’s youngest fire breather has arrived!

- Cheryl