Do full squats!

many professionals in the industry advise against full squats

millions of people all over the world disagree.

"Partial squats are never good. They neglect the hips and hamstrings. When an athlete stops above parallel, his knee joints are forced to halt the downward momentum, but once the athlete goes below parallel that stress is transfered to the more powerful group in the hips, hamstrings, and adductors. Full squats keep all these muscle groups proportionately strong."

Bill Starr - Strength Coach John Hopkins University Sept. 1997

Frantastic

How many times do you think people have used that post title?

Anywho, I PR'ed today by 61 seconds.

"FRAN"
21-15-9 reps for time:
thrusters, 95lbs
pullups

4:23

Yeaaaaa.. And I just recovered from a brutal workout the other week. Why'd I PR again? Maybe it's because I'm on my first day of my 5-day Reset! I forgot to take pictures of myself as a "beforehand" so I'll hopefully remember it tomorrow morning.

Today:
Morning - AM Multivitamins, Strawberry Shake
Mid Morn - Iced Lemon Bar
Lunch - Vanilla Shake, 15oz can of Lite Sliced Peaches, Braeburn Apple, 5oz Black Forest Ham
Afternoon - Peanut Butter Bar
Dinner - Chocolate Shake + Hard Boiled Eggs (2)
Evening Snack - TenX Blast Antioxidant Bar, PM Multivitamins + Episodes 4 & 5 of Battlestar Galactica: Season 3

Easy as pie.

Nutrition 101: The One Rule to Remember (from the Modern Forager):

EAT REAL FOOD.

Let’s keep it simple: Eat real foods, preferably in their natural state. I think it’s pretty easy to figure out what is “food” and what isn’t. A few things to remember:

• Food grows and dies. It isn’t created.
• Food rots, wilts, and becomes generally unappetizing, typically rather quickly.
• Food doesn’t need an ingredient label (and probably isn’t in a package either).
• Food doesn’t have celebrity endorsements.
• Food doesn’t make health claims.

Let’s give some foods this simple test and see if we should eat them:

• Broccoli - Most certainly a real food
• Steak - Deliciously real food, straight off the cow
• Oreo cookies - Hold while I read the ingredients. Are you serious?
• Eggs - Bingo
• Walnuts - Check
• Spaghetti - I don’t recall seeing a spaghetti tree on my last hike
• Pop-Tarts - Just seeing if you’re paying attention
• Pasteurized/Homogenized Milk - Nope, not in its natural state
• Raw Milk - Yep, real food, naturally

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It's so easy, but today's society wants to make it so difficult. Stop playing into the hype! Real food will put you into the best state in your life.

The preparation begins

I've become so ridiculously busy in the past couple of weeks, but because of that I'm going to go through with my Reset next week (starting Monday). Most people do it to lose weight. I don't need or intend to do that. My reasons are to clean my system out. Detox. I'm tired of being tired. Not smiling and being bubbly. It sucks especially when you need to be on top of you game because people look to you as a role model and for advice. I don't want to be a hypocrite. I guess, if anything, this just shows that EVERYONE (including the people you admire) slip up and need to restrategize and freshen up their gameplans.



One of the most important things with nutrition is getting the right amount of vitamins and minerals in your body. Ideally, you'd want to get that through the foods you eat. WE DO NOT EAT "HEALTHY". I'm guilty as well. Most of you know I'm not a huge supplement person (when compared to most meatheads whose daily meal plans look like a science experiment), but I do take some important ones:

1. Multi-vitamin. We don't get everything. Even when eating Zone/Paleo, I felt I didn't get everything that I should've. Maybe it was what groceries I had. Regardless, I caught up with everything else in that little pill.


2. Protein. This was my "quick meal". The best post-workout nutrition. Why? Because the body doesn't have to break it down as much, therefore the body absorbs it quickly and you really reap the benefits from exercise. Also, if I didn't eat (if i was hungry or not), this is something I could put down to keep "fueling my fire" (brownie points if you know what I'm talking about!)


3. Fish Oil. Healthy fats, peoples. Fats don't make you fat. Processed carbs, too many grains (!), bad fats (trans, LDLs, VLDLs), and lack of activity make you fat. Healthy oils such as this help protect cells (small picture) which of course help everything else function properly as well: joints, heart, brain, eyes, etc.

So those are my three. My good three. You can take everything else, but it's really about taking care of the body. We're so quick to help FIX things when the become a problem. We need to start PREVENTING it. Degenerative diseases are the #1 killer of people today.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

So you have the weekend to make the choice and I would love for some more people to join along the adventure with me. Let's be a team!

Slacking... big time.

In the past month I've done really, really well with my workouts.

I've also done really, really well with slipping up when it comes to nutrition.

And so, in the ever-raging battle that is life I am going to partake in an adventure that will fix my ass up (figuratively/literally). I've done something similar in the past with so-so results, but I have a feeling this will be 100x better. It's also going to help with other aspects of my health: sleep & rest, energy levels and, most importantly, attitude.

Watch me and this blog; pictures and daily updates to come to track my progress and keep me accountable. If this works for me, I'm going to recommend that my clients and friends try this out too.

Here we go! (c) Mario

Yaay Burpees! (c) Coach Burgener

50 burpees for time:
2:48

I was going to then complete the 100 burpee challenge, but I quit. )= Haven't been in the right mindset lately and it's really getting to me.

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Scott wrote up an awesome article about the origin of one of my favorite sites/blogs:

"What does "Modern Forager" mean? How did I come up with that name?"

My First CFT

Earlier today at Local's Gym, the local affiliates had a CrossFit Total Meet. The turnout wasn't that big, so we only really needed one rack. Coach Dave and Jesse ran the meet. Good times!

My technical total was 775 lbs and I weighed in at 145 lbs. I missed some lifts OOPS

Thanks to Dwinson for the picture edit.

Squat 275 - 295 - 305 (miss: stuck in bottom)
Press 135 (miss: toe lift) - 140 (miss: stuck) - 140 (miss: stuck)
Deadlift 315 - 325 - 345 (miss: toe lift)

Deadlift starting position

I have to stop lifting my toes up. I was wearing Converse Chuck Taylors if you were wondering.

833 is the goal according to this ranking chart in the CrossFit FAQ.

Jello Legs

Yesterday Mikey and I did some MetCon because I needed to rest today in preparation for tomorrow's heavy lifts.

"Cindy"
amrap in 20 min:
5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

23 rds + 5, 10, 2 (PR)

Now I can't walk properly, my chest is tight and I can't raise my arms. This. Is. Awesome. In other news, the new May issues of the CrossFit Journal and the Performance Menu are out!

"Recognize that there is a benefit to not getting everything you want"
- Jason Dougherty, CFJ May 2008

I haven't been righteous with my nutrition lately

Mikey and i each ate a Gordito's Grande Burrito last night.

Jesse from Local's told me NOT to stay strictly on that 20-rep squat program.. so I did some other heavy lifts!

Press
6-6-3-3-1-1-1

125 - missed 5th lift - 130 - 130 - 135 - 135 - 140 (NEW PR)

yeaaaa

So ready to do my own total this weekend. I'm heading in early and doing my stuff and then staying to judge and cheer folk on. I'm hoping to get a 290 lbs squat, 140 lbs press and a 325 deadlift (CFT = 755 @ 145 lbs)

Baskin Robbins 31 cent scoop night! CHEAT NIGHT FOR ME!

The Quest for 315

I have a goal to squat 315 lbs by the last week of June.


The other day Dwinson and I were chatting online and he sent me a link to some training program about a 20-rep squat program. The main gist of it (as I understand) is that you get your 10-rep max on the bar and do ten reps. Then one more. Then another. Then another until you get to 20. They're also known as breathing squats because you end up breathing more and more in between reps. It is more of mental challenge than anything, but it separates the boys from the men.

Yesterday I tried it out, without knowing any of my maxes (because I've never attempted anything other than a 1RM). I ended up doing my real 20-rep set with 185 lbs. It was hard and I definitely became slower in those later reps and was screaming like a mofo, but I could've gone and done 10+ reps if I wanted to. I'm a little sore in the legs and glutes today, but I'm going to attempt a bigger one tonight with Adrian. If I do the math correctly it should go like this:

Starting today, I have 10 weeks until the last week of June/first week of July to hit a 1RM of 315 lbs. Let's say that the normal programming with this method calls for 6 weeks of training. If I do these workouts 3x/week then I should have 18 workouts ahead of me. If I am adding 5 lbs per workout then I will be moving a complete 90 lbs within those six weeks. If I start off the program with 195 lbs then by the end of the six weeks I should be squatting 285 lbs. Would four weeks be enough for me to jump another 30 lbs? I think that would be attainable given that I survive the first six weeks training mostly with the 20-rep squats. Apparently this program also builds a lot of mass. Hopefully I stay around where I'm currently at. I don't wanna outgrow my clothes and/or look funnier (short guy, big body)

Further Reading:

• 20-Rep Squat Routine [CrossFit.com Message Boards]
  
• 20-Rep Squats: The Brutal Path to Massive Gains! [Bodybuilding.com]
• Super Squats (Book Excerpt) [Dave Draper]
  
• High Rep Squats [Dave Draper]

Didn't know my legs could do that much

Crazy, fun workouts are just how I like working out. Nate, Marc and myself went up to Lynnwood for the Hooverball Tourney, except the turnout didn't go as planned SO we were still able to "Surrender Our Sweat" with an extreme WOD

From Jesse Ward, Clan Cheiftan of Local's Gym:

Have like a "Choose your own workout", kinda like "Those Choose Your Own Adventure" books. It could be so rad. You can rest as you decide where to go next…..

Set 1:

# 1: 5 Rounds of "Chelsea". If you complete in under 5 minutes go to workout #5 if you complete in longer than 5 minutes go to workout #6.

# 2: Go to workout #6

# 3: Work up to a max military press. If under m:100 w:60 go to workout #7 between m:101-149 w:61-79 go to workout #8 if above go to #9

# 4: Perform 30 Suitcase Deadlifts with m:20kg w:12kg each side and proceed to workout #7

# 5: "Tabata" Squats if your lowest interval is below 10 go to workout #2 if it’s higher than 10 go to workout #3

# 6: Row 1000m and do 25 Push-Ups. Proceed to workout #4

# 7: Perform 1 Rounds of "Michael". If using rowing instead of running proceed to workout #10. If time under 8 minutes proceed to workout #11, if over #12.

# 8: Proceed to workout #6

# 9: Perform 1 Round of "Lynne" If your score under 10 proceed to workout # 6 is between 11 and 20 proceed to workout # 11 if over 21 proceed to luckey # 13.

# 10: Perform 3 Rounds of "Chipper" Proceed to workout # 14.

# 11: Find your maximum weight for 3 reps on front squats. Proceed to workout #14.

# 12: Perform 21-15-9 of 20" Box Jumps and Knees to Elbows proceed to workout #14.

# 13: Perform "Grace" proceed to workout # 14.

# 14: Race 500m, see who wins !!! Celebrate

Jesse, Nate and one of Jesse's members did #1, 6, 4, 7, 12, 14

Marc and myself went through #1, 5, 3, 8, 6, 4, 7, 11, 14

Brutal enjoyment, especially seeing as I just became better (minus the stuffy/runny nose)

Feeling Better

For someone who warns people about needed to rest properly and blah blah blah about overtraining I AM A HYPOCRITE.

I was pretty sick for a while. I'm pretty sure it was a viral thing. I became better as soon as I dedicated a day of not doing anything. Weird how that works..

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I did "Fran" yesterday with no weight because I have a pretty taxing week ahead of me. (GET IT?! OOOH!)

"Fran"
21-15-9 reps for time
thruster, 45 lbs
pullups

2:48

Now if only when I bring it back up to its prescribed weight of 95 lbs and keep that time I'd be really good..

Was Going to Write Something Similar

from the Local's Gym / Lynnwood CrossFit blog:

What do you do on Weekends?

I had quite an interesting talk with a member today about how his "friends" were routinely derailing his attempts at fitness. How they wanted to party (which means staying up until 4:00am and getting drunk) and would be quite obnoxious to him when he says "no".

An example of "partying" which I loathe in all forms, quit while you’re young, get ahead.

So that got me really thinking, I wondered if this was a common thread? Do lots of my friends who workout here deal with this same derision from their other "friends", be it semi-monthly bunco parties or "having" to go with friends for a drink to celebrate a promotion or whatever.

Friend:

1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
2. A person whom one knows; an acquaintance.
3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
4. One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement: friends of the clean air movement.

Are your "friends" supporting, sympathizing or patronizing you? Are they allied with you in your struggles? Or do they hold you back? Do they pressure you into curtailing plans to make yourself better?

Write a list, do this exercise. I suggest you remove people from your life who aren’t your friends. These people likely only serve themselves and waste your time, money and energy.

I’d like to get a discussion going, so please post back with comments, thoughts, reflections, cancellation letters

Thanks,
Jesse

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After successfully teaching Dwinson how to do a muscle-up and missing out on Ipanema due to maintenance, we met up with Mike in Bellevue where I proceeded to take down 12 plates at Sushiland. Damn. Not good.

Not well

I'm still hacking which means I should be resting and not working out.

I did 30 muscle-ups for time in my sleep last night if that counts for anything..

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Ch-ch-ch-check it out- Brendan Gilliam's blog!

"It never ceases to amaze me how full of #?!% the fitness industry is. I don't want to talk about the ones who are obviously full of it, like the infomercial dorks trying to sell their piece of crap machines and dvds that are only good for laughing at. I want to talk a little about the guys who are actually highly regarded as elite strength coaches to the pros, and charge like $250 dollars an hour to get their time. They write books and articles for major fitness sites. They charge obscene amounts of money for them to speak at a seminar for a few hours. They claim to be the real deals of the industry, the no BS guys who have lived in the trenches for the last 15 years AND have like 20 different different letters after their names."

Along with being one of CrossFit's posterchildren, he owns and runs CrossFit North Santa Cruz, home of this badass wall painting:

Update: End of March

After this past Saturday's RAINSTORM (or FIGHTSTORM as Adrian dubbed it) and scoring a 326, I ended up doing JT at 3am later that evening because I was awake and needed to release that energy.

Dwinson and I resting after box jumps

"JT"
21-15-9 reps for time:
HSPU
Ring Dips
Pushups

10:17

Sunday was a rest day. I was contemplating doing yoga and/or taking a nap when Tammy called me up and asked if I wanted to go to Banya 5 with her, Adrian and John. I took that call as a sign to relax and enjoy the spa. If you've never been before, Banya 5 is a "Russian-style Turkish bath house", which essentially has plenty of hot/cold modalities to refresh the body and spirit. Check it out sometime. I have half-off passes as well. Saw some familiar faces there and enjoyed some tea. I would do the contrast modalities- wet heat, cold plunge, dry heat, cold plunge, warm bath, cold plunge, repeat.

Two to three hours later we were all hungry and Tammy decided upon Snoose Junction Pizza in Ballard. We shared a Mushroom/Sausage/Ricotta pie. Good stuff. (It's the weekend. I can eat it)

Yesterday those three and myself did heavy squats:

Front Squat
5-5-5-3-3-3-1-1-1

135-145-155-160-165-170-185-205-215

I definitely could've gone heavier for everything, but slow and steady wins the race. That, and we were all sharing the same rack. I'm going to do some O-lifts today after training some folk

Massive superset

Went up to Local's Gym/Lynnwood CrossFit with Adrian to workout with Jesse. Those two dudes decided upon Lynne. Warmed up and got to it in order of lightest to heaviest (YAY!)

"Lynne"
5 rds for max reps, no time component
Bench Press, BW
Pullups

Jesse 91, 245lbs
Adrian 113, 215lbs
Andrew 161, 145lbs

Completely felt "the pump" afterwards, sans sweat.

FOOD.

I took a chicken breast and cooked it all the way through and then set it aside. I then added some peppers into the pan with olive oil until they started melting. Once that happened, I put the chicken back in and covered the entire thing with El Pato, a mexican enchilada sauce. Covered and cooked on med/low heat for about 25 minutes. Great stuff. Idea comes from Rob Wolf (Recipe 1 & Recipe 2).


Next one is a simple salad: romaine, tomato, turkey bacon, sausage and a lemon-olive oil dressing:


The next day started with my breakfast of "Grilled Grasshoppers". Spinach, onion, ground beef, olive oil and some eggs.



Lastly here is another breakfast: Asparagus, carrot, garlic, eggs, and turkey bacon!


These are my Zone/Paleo meals.

The Climb

I beat my time from last year! I took my mp3 player up the stairs this year with a mix i made to give me status updates as I ran/walked up. Our team took 43rd!

Part of my team at the "Team Photo Area"

Next year I hope to run up even faster. Hopefully my cv will be up to par.

Heavy deads

OH! MY BACK! Yesterday..

Deadlift
5-5-5-3-3-3-1-1-1

Andrew 225, 230, 235, 245, 255, 280, 290, 305, 325 (New PR)
Elizabeth 65, x, x, 75, 85, 85.5, x, x, x
Nate 95, 115, 135, 145, 145, 155, 170, 185x, 180
Tammy 65, 85, 95, 115, 125, 135, 145, 155x, 150

x = missed lift/no lift

I did Elizabeth (11:16, 115lbs) the day prior to the deadlifting. I woke up this morning with my right SCM/upper trap very uncomfortable. Then my back gave. Oh the joys of CrossFit.

Big Climb is on Sunday! Yet, I still need to register. If (WHEN!) I do, Nate and I will be battling to see who finishes fastest. Loser pays for the others lunch that day. GET READY NATE- I'LL BE HUNGRY!

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Any requests for some tabata interval music? Next I'm going to try to make a Fight Gone Bad Mix..

Roxanne + Tabata This music

My baby's back!

Roxanne
21-15-9 reps for time:
pullups
burpees
kb swings, 20kg
box jumps, 20"
push press, 95 lbs

Andrew 13:53
Adrian 16:12
Tammy 16:26

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Here is a "Tabata This" alternative mix I made

• Foo Fighters - All My Life
• Queens of the Stone Age - 3's & 7's
• Jimmy Eat World - Pain
• Incubus - Light Grenades
• System of a Down - Chop Suey!

ENJOY: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CFP4ACN1

Let me know what you think and give me music suggestions so I can cut up some more