Dia de Los Fuerte

Every 14 days we have a day of strength at the studio.  I go to bed each 13th night wishing that we had a training facility like the Beavers.  I think those lifting stations complete with embedded logos on the varnished platforms and the rubber bumper plates are only about $3500 a piece. 

Let's see: 3500 x 12 = $42,000.  Man, we could have a lot of fun for $42,000!  Well, it's not entirely out of the question, especially as we have been growing steadily since we opened a little more than a year ago.  Our new goal, (well, I really haven't told Shelly this yet), but my new goal is 18 studios throughout the Oregon market.  I don't know how it's going to happen, but it's never been for me to figure out the 'how' anyway.

Before we do anything else, we pretty much have to get our shit together first at CH.  Once we get that flowing smoothly, then we'll begin our hostile takeover of the Globe-O gyms.  The more I hear about those damn places and how they treat their employees, the more pissed off I get.  The best thing Shelly and I could have ever done was to leave that god-forsaken, pathetically run company that can't seem to figure out how to file a bankruptcy.  Fortunately for us, we hired some dear friends of our to do the janitorial services at the club.  They are a husband and wife who were our former co-workers at Bally.  Apparently after the 2nd or third filing for bankruptcy, the corporation decided to sub-out the janitors, cut their pay by about 50% and cut their hours.  Now, you can blame the "economy" for the reduction of their hours.  Some might say that Bally needed to restructure given the nature of the business, yadayadayada.  What it comes down to is providing piss poor service to your clients and guests.  When you can't even hire and keep someone to open the doors on time or brush their hair in the morning, no wonder you're going to file for bankruptcy.  We're very glad that Juan and Maria left and started their own business to take control of their future.  If any of you are in need of a good house or business cleaning company, they do Shellyimpressive work and have Chuckimpressive rates.  

     

Just a few random pics.

CrossFit Lindsay & fat burning myths.

You're going to get a rug burn again if you're not careful, Cindy. 

Nice push up Holly!

Stand there Mat, staaaaay.  Nooo, staaand there, good boy. Staaaay. 
"Yea, I'm squatting with a sledge hammer. Got a problem with that?" 

Good to have you back Will. 
If you gotta problem, you must dip it. A when a problem comes along, you must dip it. Oh look at me, I'm "Dip it Longstockings!"  www.dip-it.com
Um, Will, look up, please. 
Way to take one for the team Lindsay!
Simon says...Thruster!
And finally, for artistic expression of dumbbells, a medicine ball,  a slosh bars and a foot. 

So I think all three of our classes had three different WOD's today. 

Basically the same principle, but each instructor executed it a little differently.  

Crazy warm up:

Partners complete a total of:

100 overhead squats (lighter weight)

100 med ball situps

100 med ball burpees

Then.....

6,5,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,5

Thrusters/Med ball burpees/(and I added a pull-up)

6 thrusters, followed by 6 medicine ball burpees, followed by 6 pull ups

5"",4"", etc. 

Pretty fun.  A PT client and I did this together with a component of strength.  We lifted a little heavier (45lb DB's), took a little longer transitioning time and added congruent pull ups in between sets. 

When looking at a program like this, some might say that this is not a fat burning workout, considering the lifting components.  In fact, some trainers may look at a heavy lifting day in CrossFit and not think of it as a fat burning WOD at all.  This kind of high intensity training is in fact one of, if not the best way to burn body fat. 

Ever been in one of those Globe-O gyms and looked at the "fat-burning zone" diagrams on the treadmill?  Well, try not to pay too much attention to that...ever.  It is true that our bodies are normally in a state of fat burning oxidization, both at rest and at low intensity exercise.  These diagrams state that if you want to be in your "fat zone" then you should keep your heart rate (HR) low, to stay within that fat zone.  For Pete's sake, don't get it out of the "fat zone" because then you'll be in a state of fear and doubt, with no hope for the future. 

You will burn a much greater amount of calories in a WOD the higher you get your heart rate, and you will also burn a far greater number of calories after the WOD is over, also know as your EPOC. No, not the guy from the first Matrix, but "Excess Post Oxygen Consumption".  Your metabolism is elevated in an attempt to recover from the WOD.  This means that your body is in overdrive, while in a low intensity/resting, fat oxidizing state.  High intensity exercise will burn more calories both during and after the WOD and will also increase the muscles' ability to use fat.  

 

Ode To Shawn

This week marks Shawn's one year anniversary with us at PPT & CH.  Yes, time indeed flies by quickly when you are having so called "fun" when waking up at 4:30 AM 4 times a week to get your ass kicked.  She is usually  in the mood to embrace us with her humor at every workout, amid the CONSTANT shortening and lengthening of the jaw and mandible musculature.  She must burn an extra 20% more calories than anyone else in class.  To her credit, she is one of the few who can give you the latest updates on Brad's hair, Angelina's make-up, Jessica Simpson's latest status or Chuck's unique fashion abilities to blend socks with flip flops, all without missing a beat in the WOD.  She's 8% leaner this year and about 20 lbs lighter. We apologize to her husband if too much has disappeared, we were just trying to do our job.

Sung to the melody of Rock A Buy Baby

Shawn, oh Shawn,

it's been a whole year

Sometimes I have 

to cover my ears.

Your such a great 

crossfitter and mom, 

especially when you 

throw the F-bomb!

Thanks for all you have and continue to do for us. You are an amazing inspiration to us all!

          

OHG I'm so hungry!

Holy smokes, I am so damn tired of being hungry. No matter how many blocks I eat, how many calories I get or what time of day it is, I'm always in the mood for Home Town Buffet, Royal Fork, Sherry's, and I bet I could find the end of the so called "never ending salad bowl" at Olive garden.

I just love food, and that's been the problem most of my life. What I didn't realize when I was 12 years old chowing down on doritos, cheesecake & white bread was that those little fat molecules would NEVER disappear. Never. Now, I have to work my ass off to do what? To just shrink them! That's what. Forever will my little companions be with me, or at least that's what the latest research tells me. Oh well, at least it keeps me protected when I box and serves as a warming station for Shelly's freezing hands and butt. That right, it's that time of year again. Just feel Shelly's hand (but please, not her butt) if you want to know when the fall, winter and spring solstices' are.

So we got the green light on the developing operational fitness & tactical strength training for the Portland FBI SWAT. We also got the go ahead from CrossFit HQ to put the second facility in Shelly's name in December. The new programming design is seems to be going over well with guests and the stock market is back above 10,000. Whoop dee do. I always believed that the economy would first begin to turn around in the walls of PPT, then Wall Street. So far so good.

We lost a client yesterday. No one died or anything, she is just no longer training with us. It's not a bad thing, in fact, it's the best decision for her. I was glad to get rid of her, for all the right reasons, and she feels the same.

We also got a new victim, um, I mean...client, yesterday, and thus the our universe appears to still be symmetrical.

Of course we kicks a few asses today, so yes, our universe also seems to be normal.

Success and a warning about CrossFit

Every week we really look forward to the programming that the trainers are writing for their assigned days.  It's great for each trainer and guest to be exposed to modalities they may not otherwise experience if they are working with just 1 trainer in classes.  Today, Lindsay wrote out the program:

"Pull to 5000"

6 person teams

Rower - pace-keeper for 45 sec.  The each team must reach 5000m. 

other 5 members of the team are on station:

Box jumps

Wall balls

KB frontal plane lunges

KB double arm swings

Jump rope

On another topic, I would like to address something a little more serious about CrossFit; Rahbdomyolysis, or "Rhabdo" A potentially fatal condition that CrossFit has addressed and warned against many times.  Even for an experienced CrossFitter, high intensity exercise can have some severe side effects.   

I (Chuck) believe that I may have even had a case of this two years ago the night before my youngest son was born.  

We finished a WOD which included 115lb overhead squats followed immediately by a 40 yard dash for 10 rounds.  

Later that evening, I knew something was wrong.  I ached all over, was beyond lethargic, and the worst part was that I was completely coherent.  I drove myself to an urgent care where the doc took a look at me, had no answer for me, and at the time I didn't know what rhabdo was.  I kept telling him that I worked out "very, very, very very, very hard," but obviously he didn't know what rhabdo was either.  I was completely worthless in the delivery room, and I didn't hold Shelly's hand, she held mine.  Oh how I wished for an epidural too.   

It passed after a couple of days for me, but I was lucky. As Coach Glassman points out in Journal 38, there are some whom are not so lucky.  Below is a piece taken from the Journal, which I encourage you to read, especially you new crossfitters.  

Thanks again to all of you who are showing up for all of those WOD's.  It's great to have your energy in the studio,

Your PPT & CH Staff

"We warned of rhabdomyolysis in a previous issue (CrossFit Journal 33, May 2005) and return to the topic this month not only to repeat our warning but to share the lessons we’ve since learned about “exertional rhabdo.”

Before the first rhabdo case was brought to our attention, we regularly warned of CrossFit’s potency wherever we had the opportunity. In the January 2005 issue of the journal, we offered the following caution for newcomers tackling the WOD (workout of the day): “Countless bad-asses from sporting and special operations communities, long regarded as bulletproof, have been burned at the stake of ego and intensity.” As it turns out, the burning is rhabdo, and we now find ourselves obligated not just to explain CrossFit’s potency but to warn of its potential lethality.

We can dispense with much medical detail with a quick and easy description of rhabdomyolysis as a potentially lethal systemic meltdown initiated by the kidneys in response to the presence of shed muscle-fiber debris and exhaust in the bloodstream. There are several causes and types of rhabdo, classified by the underlying cause of muscle breakdown. With CrossFit we are dealing with what is known as exertional rhabdomyolysis. It can disable, maim, and even kill.

To date we have seen five cases of exertional rhabdo associated with CrossFit workouts. Each case resulted in the hospitalization of the afflicted. The longest hospital stay was six days, the shortest two days. All have made full recoveries. The hardest hit was extremely sick, the least afflicted had no complaints other than soreness. All were extremely sore. Soreness doesn’t adequately explain the discomfort of rhabdo, however. The worst hit, a SWAT guy, recounts that six days of intravenous morphine drip barely touched the pain."

"I wish I had read this article before my hospitalization for rhabdo. I thought I was in shape and had been Crossfitting beforehand and took a long break. Like it was mentioned in the article, my ego got the best of me! I am 42, and was scoring high in the Army APFT and got back into Crossfitting too fast and too hard. I started on a Tuesday and by Thursday's workout I was hurting but kept going. That night my back felt like it was trying o curve up to my head and I could not move my legs. Then real pain hit...everything hurt beyond explanation. I had to call a friend to pick me up and drive me to the ER. I was urinating dark red/brown urine and in utter pain. They hit me with 3mg of diluadid and it did not even touch the pain. It was so bad I was throwing up from the pain. I was released from the hospital and sent home. I was back in the ER on Saturday and again they misdiagnosed me and sent me home with painkillers. I was swelling up so much I could not put on my pants. Monday morning I went to the TMC and passed out there. Finally someone listened to my description and after blood and urine tests I was sent to the hospital and entered into ICU. Normal CK (creatine Ketone) levels are roughly between 100-150...mine was over 40,000. I spent 5 days hospitalized (3 in ICU), they had me on a morphine drip along with dilaudid shots and percocet and plenty of IV therapy. It's been 2 months since that episode, and I am still recovering. My lower back is completely numb from just above the sacrum to halfway down my buttocks. I am back trying to run again and it is a painful process. No one should jump in to a full workout just because they use to do it. I've learned my lesson and I hope no one has to go through rhabdo...work up to it and recognize the symptoms. If you do happen to get symptoms and go to get medical help, let them know what you are feeling and to conduct tests to rule out rhabdo or catch it early on...5 days with acute symptoms is a very painful experience and you can seriouly be hurt with renal failure or a myocardial infarction."

We're ready for a few brewskis.

Man oh man, where do we begin? Everyone busted their ass this week; Our clients busted their asses, Shelly and I worked our butts to the bone, and life is good. Though there never seems like there are enought hours in the day to get everything accomplished we set out to, more and more people are walking in and out of our doors each week. Please tell us this means Shelly and I are doing something right.

Fortunately, there were way too many people overflowing the 5:30 AM class, so this week we started a 5 AM and 6 AM class. We also had enough people to start noon classes (is noon capitalized?) on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday too. We also started our Daily Trainer WODs, so one trainer designs the WOD, and all of the other trainers follow it in every class. So far so good as programming goes. Right now in October we're in a fast glycolosis phase which pretty much means everyone should be a sweaty mess, begging for mercy or uncle at the end of the hour.

Our angel investor made it clear that we will be moving forward with a second facility next year, and if all goes well, a third one too. I don't even want to think about that right now because it makes everything above the neck hurt. It's very exciting though and we're already looking for commercial space in Beaverton.

This was also the first week of our Zone Challenge for our CrossFitters. We are advocates of The Zone Diet by Dr. Barry Sears, as this seems to work well for most of our CrossFitters notwithstanding any metabolic concerns.

Yesterday Shelly hosted the Westside Womens Business Leaders Luncheon with Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce at the studio. It was a great turn out, catered by Noah's bagels and Shelly made a remarkable impact in her presentation.

Chuck also entered the third step of the transteortical model in working with the FBI; Planning
He put together a tactical strength & conditioning program for the bureau and was able to make a kick-ass presentation to one of the SWAT team leaders. More to come on this soon!

Lastly, Shelly is teaching her good girl/naughty girl class tonight - Uninhibited, a sentual dance class for ladies only. Sorry guys, doors will be closed the blinds will be shut. To ensure equality, Chuck will soon be leading a ChipNChuck's class for the dudes.

It's Miller time.

Your loyal PPT & CH Staff

Kettle Bell X-Travaganza

This is the first week that we are executing our new programming methodology of 1 trainer designing the WOD's for every class on a given day. Tuesday's classes belong to Chantal, and although she does not teach all of the classes herself, our other instructors use the format she designed.  Today, Chantal wrote "Kettlebell X-Travaganza". Chuck is not the biggest fan of the KB, but Shelly loves them because they make her feel tough. Not a lot of women train with KB's, but the few, the proud, the CrossFitters do. And that makes them some tough bee-otches. Chuck is just a big wuss and sticks to things like the power snatch, thruster, clean & jerk. What a pansy.

So the WOD:

90sec work : 30sec rest

3 rounds

SDHP

1 arm alternating swing

walking lunges with medial pass through of KB

Lateral lungs and touch lateral foot

Clean & Press

Unilateral bent-over row

Seated Russian twists 

INTERMISSION BETWEEN ROUNDS

50 air squats

35 push ups

20 pull ups

5 burpees

This WOD kicked everyone's ass today.  No one could hide from this one.  Nice work Chantal.   

3 Block WOD

2 rounds through each Block

1 person per Block

1min work, 30sec recovery

1.2.3.4

TRX Atomic Push up, BOSU rotational crunch, ladder drill, DB Thruster

5.6.7.8

Atomic sit-up, push up, roll, push up, burpee, row

9.10.11.12

Wall ball, ring dip, frontal plane lunges, gorilla pull up

Congrats to new CrossFitter, Doug.  Thanks for showing up Champ.