In Fitness and in Health
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Let's get this back again
I've been contemplating joining a crossfit gym. Anyone do this? Thoughts?
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Crossfit is a great way to wear out your joints and injure yourself.
http://www.t-nation.com/training/crossfit-the-good-bad-and-the-ugly
Hey Guys! Just came across this thread - glad so many people on this forum are interested in staying healthy and getting fit!
As Some of you guys know (that I'm friends with on social sites) I am the co-owner of CrossFit Eastern Shore, a CrossFit Gym in Daphne, Alabama. If you guys have questions regarding gyms and programs, I'd be happy to lend my experiences!
As for the "getting hurt" debate - here is my take on it - CrossFit gyms are run like by individuals, and except for making sure the trainers are certified and they have insurance, CrossFit, Inc. pretty much stays out of the way they run their businesses. With this being said - the quality control of facilities is put into the hands if the consumer - are there bad CF gyms? Of course! I've heard of trainers making people do ridiculous things way too soon. Even people that are very experiences in all of the components of CF should not give in head first. Now, are there great CF gyms- yes - if say there are more good than bad, even now.
If you want to start CF at a gym (which I would recommend for instruction) there are some things to look for:
1. Do they offer an "On Ramp" or "Fundamentals" program: if they do, they care about you learning things right - if they don't, they just care about your money.2. How long have the "Coaches" been training people?: - a couple that went and got their certification 2 months ago and opens up a CF gym are not the kind of people you want coaching you- look for someone with 2-5 years of CF experience with themselves and at least 16-20 months of group coaching - they will have seen more situations that could be considered dangerous and can help people avoid them.
3. What do their workouts look like: most gyms post workouts everyday online - you can check them out! If they offer a tiered system (multiple versions of the WOD), it means they are thinking of every level of athlete - if the gym just posts one workout and says to "scale as needed" (and they do this everyday) it "may" seem that they havn't given much thought about newcomers and people needed some lighter loads it less rang of motion for movements.
4. How many members do they have?: - when you are starting CF, I would urge most people to stay away from gyms that have 400+ members. 85-140 is a good number for a small business to handle - unless they have 5+ "Full time" trainers, a gym can't really handle much more people. Also, stay away from gyms with $100 or less memberships - these gyms are always the worst ones. If you love in a small town, $125-175 is the norm - if you love in a big city, chances are the good gyms charge $200+.
Finally, how long has the gym been open?: - it is never a bad idea to go to the first Cf gym that opened in your area - chances are, they are the most experienced and have probably coached all the other trainers in the area at somepoint anyways.
- the "getting hurt" idea is very real, and your coaches should tell you how to safely be doing the movements and at what level of intensity is safe for you. In 2 years of running, I got injured 3+ times - all stress fractures and ligament damage (I was an ultra marathoner) - in 5 years of CF, I have never hurt myself during a CF workout. Early on in my CF journey, I had a trainer that focused on a Strength program for 8 weeks (one that Rippetoe, the author of the T-Nation article above, is actually a big fan of) and did hurt my back. Through scaled down CF workouts and the help of a new trainer, I was back to almost 100% within 3 months. Since then I have had a very good mix of strength and conditioning work, which keeps people
Safe (This is my experience, it may not have been yours)
CF is wonderful, but it is not for everyone. Feel free to MSG me with any questions if you all have any!
Also, if the gym does not have a Firm grasp of the Olympic lifts and advanced gymnastics
Movements, the trainers are NOT experienced enough to train you. Period.Cheers,
Adam
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- the "getting hurt" idea is very real, and your coaches should tell you how to safely be doing the movements and at what level of intensity is safe for you. In 2 years of running, I got injured 3+ times - all stress fractures and ligament damage (I was an ultra marathoner) - in 5 years of CF, I have never hurt myself during a CF workout. Early on in my CF journey, I had a trainer that focused on a Strength program for 8 weeks (one that Rippetoe, the author of the T-Nation article above, is actually a big fan of) and did hurt my back. Through scaled down CF workouts and the help of a new trainer, I was back to almost 100% within 3 months. Since then I have had a very good mix of strength and conditioning work, which keeps people
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Yesterday I consumed almost 3000 calories by basically eating all the junk shit you're told is the worst for you. I did this after coming off a 30 day eating plan of 90% protein averaging around 1300 calories a day, because I wanted to test a) the reaction of my body to the poison and b) because I'm interested to see if calorific shock is a real thing.
This morning I felt awful, the worst I have felt for a few weeks, I have started straight back onto the plan with raw fruit smoothie and an apple for breakfast, tune steak and egg for lunch and mixed veg with roasted sweet potatoes for dinner.
I will report back in a few days about the reaction of my metabolism to the high calorie punch in the face, the theory being that after a sustained period of low calorie eating that you shock your metabolism into action.
Along side this I have been doing 40 minutes of cardio and kettle bells 4 times a week and playing football (soccer) twice a week.
So far I've dropped 14lbs in 4 weeks and I plan to double this in the next 6 - 8 weeks.
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Gav, look out for fruit smoothies, eat a fruit salad if you really have to eat fruit, as the digestion of the fruit gives your stomach something productive to do, but fruit in any shape does hold a ton of sugar and puréed into a fruit smoothie it make Pepsi look like an organic health tonic with its sugar content. I have a handful of crush flax seed with a handful of large Irish oats - its about 20 grams of carbs but that's just over a slice of toast and keeps me going until lunch. * Btw G & P freshly ground flax and flax oil is really making headlines into preventing serious illness.
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Thanks Simon, I'll look into ground flax and flax oil.
The smoothies I have I make fresh myself every morning. They consist of strawberry, banana, raspberry and almond milk…nothing else added. I need the natural sugars as I have some issues with blood sugar and this really takes care of it. It also helps that the almond milk is only 29 calories for 125ml.
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That's the great thing about protein, it keeps your appetite in check for longer, especially when you go through 4 litres of water a day with it.
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From my experience working with tons of people on tweaking diet/nutrition plans, I have learned one thing - there is no magic answer. What works great for some people, work terrible for others. Megatron's method seems to be working great for him and I applaud him on taking such matters into his own hands for his health.
I will say this - I traditionally see drastic calorie restriction having adverse results once the body's metabolism get's used to running normal functions on limited amounts of energy (calories). Of course, when looking at calories per gram of Protein Vs. Fat Vs. Carb (In the sense of processed carbs such as grains) - you can get quite a lot of "food" from 1300 calories if the majority of food is taken in protein dense forms.
I've played with a lot of nutrition plans for myself (Paleo, Zone, Carb-Back Loading, Vegetarian) and what works best for me is the Zone. It was developed by Dr. Barry Sears and is based on a healthy balance of Carbs vs. fats vs. proteins for optimum calorie utilization. If only I was more strict on myself, I may actually see better results myself lol
I'm not an "expert" by any sense of the imagination, but there is plenty of info out there if you are interested.
Best of luck Megatron - I had a smoothie this morning in your honor!
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I've been experimenting with no protein supplementation. I just drink lots of whole, 100% pastured, unhomogenized organic milk after workouts and eat the same in Greek yogurt with a handful of dried berries and nuts each morning. Lots of wild salmon, pastured organic beef and greens. No grains whatsoever, very little sugar (i feel i get enough from the dairy). This last has been the case for a whole and my mood and mental acuity have been improved since that change.
I feel terrific and can move more weight for more reps than I have been able to for a while after slacking in the gym big time for several months.
I supplement fish oil that also has CoQ 10 in it, magnesium, and D.
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Thanks man, and I wholeheartedly agree with the philosophy of doing what works for you.
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I've been experimenting with no protein supplementation. I just drink lots of whole, 100% pastured, unhomogenized organic milk after workouts and eat the same in Greek yogurt with a handful of dried berries and nuts each morning. Lots of wild salmon, pastured organic beef and greens. No grains whatsoever, very little sugar (i feel i get enough from the dairy). This last has been the case for a whole and my mood and mental acuity have been improved since that change.
I feel terrific and can move more weight for more reps than I have been able to for a while after slacking in the gym big time for several months.
I supplement fish oil that also has CoQ 10 in it, magnesium, and D.
Which fish oil do you use, if I may ask? Green Pasture?
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It's called Dr. Sinatra's. It's made from sustainable squid derived oil called calamarine and has some B complex vitamins, CoQ10, and L-Carnitine. Kind of a heart centric multi-supplement I do like the Carlsson liquid oil too.
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It's called Dr. Sinatra's. It's made from sustainable squid derived oil called calamarine and has some B complex vitamins, CoQ10, and L-Carnitine. Kind of a heart centric multi-supplement I do like the Carlsson liquid oil too.
Thanks for the info!
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I'm becoming less of a fan of protein powders. A lot of brands contain sucralose, which is a sugar replacement, and I think that might be disagreeing with me.
I'd be inclined to pull a Mclaincausey, and get protein from wholefoods, perhaps using a scoop or two of whey mixed with milk post workout.
I agree with Appfaff about there being no magic bullets, and appreciate his further insights.
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Funny thing about sweet flavors: I think they can trick your body into a hormonal response identical to the real deal. That's a problem. I was reading about that somewhere, it's one reason that diet sodas aren't so great. I am fortunate in that I don't have a huge sweet tooth so avoiding sweaes isn't hard for me.
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I believe Mcl is correct - as far as I can remember - artificial sweeteners - as to my understanding, can elicit an insulin release similar to actual sweeteners - the REALLY bad thing that there are no "calories" for the body to process thru this release and forcefully stores any access sugars already present in the body, turning them Into stored fat.
Someone explained that to me a few years ago and it stuck with me - you'd prob have to fact check my explanation though lol
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Yeah, that's what insulin does–it doesn't make blood sugar go away, it converts it into fat. That's why mainstream diabetic recommendations are so ridiculous: eat whole grains, which have a high glycemic index except for barley and a few other examples, and just take insulin to regulate your blood sugar. This is a recipe for obesity and obesity related illness. What they should be recommending is to each foods which don't make your blood sugar spike (which have a negligible glycemic load).