The post-WOD bonk, and paleo diet.

So today I had a good workout - first one I felt good about in a long time... of course - at a super poopy time (shoulder surgery in 2 weeks)... BUT - since we've had a delay recruiting enough people who wanted to change their life by altering their diet... I decided I'd do some pre-challenge prepwork.

I want to start by saying - I HIGHLY recommend it. I tend to get into these things and falter at first because I wasn't properly prepped for it.  There are kinks to work out, things that you didn't think to consider, etc that can hinder your start.  (and please, feel free to chime in if I leave anything out - which I'm sure I will).  But I'll start with a story.

After this morning's workout, I came into work with a mild headache.  It turned into a pounding, work-stopping, dysfunctionalizing (yes, I just made that up) headache. (OK, is debilitating a better word?)  Anyway, I thought it might be a salt issue - because I'm prone to electrolyte imbalances post-workout.  But salt tablets were entirely ineffective.  I tried chugging massive amounts of water (ok, just a 1 liter bottle, but that's a lot in a short window).  That didn't help either.  I thought I had eaten a decent breakfast: 3 eggs, 1/3 of an avocado, and 5 slices of red bell pepper.  I was at a loss as to why I had this horrible headache (other than stress, but we're leaving that out for now, only because this time, it's actually irrelevant-ish).

So as the headache got worse and lights were overwhelming, people talking just made me hurt (I put ear plugs in), my stomach turned all but inside-out... I got so desparate as to take 2 Excedrin Migraine tablets (and if you know me, you might know that I HATE taking pills unless there are no other options, and mid-headache is a terrible time to have to think of options)... and then it hit me - I needed sugar.  I have been working towards cutting sugar out of my diet (going paleo) and this was a withdraw issue... but by that point - I had lost my mind and panicked... so I went for the closest source of sugar here in the office - hot cocoa.  Within seconds - it eased considerably (almost gone entirely).  That was it, sugar. 

As you might imagine, I texted that infinitely wise coach of ours for ideas (this was right before I made the hot cocoa).  I made the cocoa, took a few sips and within seconds, it eased up.  I was amazed. Then I got a text back to eat fruit.  Not juice, not dried fruit - just whole fruit. I happened to have an orange sitting by me at the time, so... well - I ate it.  It was a great suggestion, and one that I didn't consider even though it was staring right at me the whole time I had the headache. 

And that brings me to why I'm writing this...

For those of you (us) who are antsy to start this next paleo challenge - there's LOTS we can do to prepare for it (and might be more successful if we take this time to prep).  I learned that when I bonk, I panic and run for the closest source of 'medication' available (excedrin and processed sugar).  Not good.

I've spent the past week feeding my chickens all the non-deadly but non-paleo carbs that were in the house, clearing out pantries and cupboards, fridge and freezer to prepare for this challenge.  It's a process, and one that can take time.  But if you have junk in the house, it's inevitable, you'll eat it.  I usually live by the 'out of sight, out of mind' method and hide junk food on myself all the time... my memory's so crappy it actually works!  BUT - I also end up finding candy bars a year+ after I bought them and they've now turned from brown to white and are a bit... harder than they're supposed to be (trash). It's helped, but I (you) also have to plan how to manage my (your) workouts and diet to allow for fuelling and recovery... So here are some tips.  (again, feel free to chime in.  Unlike Rob, I don't know it all)  hehehehe  (50 burpee penalty for offending the coach?)  These aren't new, more just reminders of what you probably already know... and an additional reminder to lay some groundwork for success in this challenge.

1) Get rid of the crap in your house.  If you have family who isn't on the paleo-train - then have your spouse, roommate, child, etc hide it out of sight.  Seriously, if you don't know it's there, you won't think to eat it in a pinch.  No buying junk for the family when you're tasked with the grocery buying detail - if they want it (and support your efforts), tell them to buy it themselves separately, and hide it promptly.

2) Stock up on the fuits and some 'quick fixes' for sugar withdraw symptoms - they're guaranteed to happen.  Cutting out sugar makes me grumpy, intolerant, headachy, stomach achy and generally miserable and ornery (more than usual, thank you).  Give yourself the best chance to succeed - stock up and batten down the hatches.

3) Make LOTS of food when you cook - so you have healthy, protien-rich snacks throughout the day. Making dinner?  Make a HUGE dinner and package leftovers for tomorrow's lunch, or 'emergency meals,' or even lazy moments.

* Buy your nuts of choice, your nut-butter (not peanut butter, peanuts aren't nuts, duh).

*I shouldn't be telling you this, but Market of Choice has Beelers Uncured Bacon Ends... FOR $6.99/POUND OF BACON!!!!!  I challenge you to clean them out before I do.  hahaha. (not really, leave some for me) But I will bake massive quantities of bacon (@400 degrees for 20 minutes, covered in foil, uncovered the last 5 minutes). Bacon is an AWESOME snack any time of day (or night), and a great source of both protein, fat, and salts... and tastes really good with veggies too, so no need for dips or hummus. 

*Hardboil eggs - cook lots of them... they make a great (and filling) snack. 

*Squash - they last a long time.  Pick big ones, cook them up, and portion them out as sides for many meals.

4) Oh, and verbatim from his text: "On days you exercise, it is important to get carbs post-workout, just avoid simple sugars, eat whole food."  (courtesy: Rob)  My high protien/fat/veggie breakfast missed the carb bit by a mile... don't do that.  It's not good.  Further more (from him): "You need to have either some yams, or sweet potatoes, or regular potatoes, or some sort of starch or tuber, butternut squash (or acorn squash) - just some sort of carbohydrate source."

5) Surf the web for recipes and other paleo tips... consort with fellow Crossfitters/paleo eaters/people who are allergic to any foods that aren't paleo (seriously, I work with a girl who's allergic to almost all food - I didn't know it was possible, but she's got some killer knowledge of how to eat gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, nut-free and even protein-free... but that's where I tune out).  ;)

OK, my list is exhausted (told you, my knowledge isn't 'vast'... just excessively wordy and I use lots of parentheses).  But I'm going to pretend that this novel of my morning will be helpful in reminding you that strict paleo can be tough... so the more you can prep, the better off you'll be.  And keep these things in mind, like the fact that you WILL go into sugar withdraw and it will suck!  Bad! So mentally prepare for it and do what you can to mitigate the effects and manage the symptoms without cracking (no hot cocoa for you!!!).  Do as I say, not as I do.  :P

Have a great one guys, and see you at the box!!

M

**Update:  If you're going to eat just an orange (or apple, or any fruit) for carbs, be sure to follow it up with a more substantial source and amount of carbohydrate - or you will bonk again.  Not that that just happened to me... sorta.**

All Stressed out and no place to go

So I am pretty sure I am having troubles with too much stress hormone, the dreaded Cortisol! DUNdunDUN! (Cue ominous music) Why do I say this? Well during the last Paleo challenge (Yes I participate in them when I put them on!) I didn't lose near as much body fat as I had hoped and the stuff I was hoping to get rid of, body fat around my midsection, didn't go anywhere! And that right there is a big cue that I have some sort of cortisol imbalance. 

There is a lot of strong evidence out there that cortisol tends to skew bodyfat storage to the midsection. Link So that is why I am pretty sure my cortisol levels were out of whack. In Previous challenges when I had started a little plump I was able to get rid of that pesky belly fat, but not this time. So what was different?

Well the biggest difference has to be my sleep schedule. I know, I know I am constantly harping on you all to get plenty of sleep and here I am not following my own advice. I have been averaging about 5 hours of sleep a night and it is never the same schedule. So here I am being chunky hypocrite, well I have decided I need to fix this problem. So what am I doing to change this?

Here you go my prescription to fix my sleep. (Remember I write stuff up here only for informational purposes not as a prescription for you) First thing is I have decided to make sleep a priority. Yep a priority above all others! That means TV, friends, family, and whenever possible work too! I am making sure I am inbed and asleep no later than 10PM every night! So If I am particularly wound up I will try to start winding myself down ealier in the night. 

Second thing, I am trying to limit my exposure to blue light in the evening. So no later than an hour before bed and most times sooner, I shut off my TV, computer and my overhead lights. I have switched to lighting candles for at least an hour before bed. There is strong evidence out there that blue light makes your body think it is daytime. 

Third is I take a few supplements to help regulate my cortisol levels. This includes phosphatydilserine in the evening along with zinc and maganesium and also some holy basil. These have all been shown to be good at lowering cortisol and have a calming effect on people who take them. If I feel like I am really wired I will take a small amout ( about a 1mg) of melatonin, or I will take some valerian root pills. 

This is my plan and I have only just started it. It may change depending on how things feel. My goal is to get my sleep in check before the start of the next Paleo Challenge so that I can get rid of these pesky lovehandles. 

So I will keep you all informed as to how it goes. 

Remember to get some sleep.

Coach Rob

A means to the End

Why do you train? Why do you do CrossFit? For most people I would venture to guess that it is because there is a desire to get "fitter" or "healthier" maybe even lose "20 lbs" or something along those lines. The main point being that there is some other goal or reason other than just working out for the joy of it. So now I know most of you are thinking that this is going to be a post about goal setting, well you're wrong, and stop trying to read my mind; you're not that good at it. Today I am writing about not doing stupid things while training just for the sake of doing something crazy or new or awesome looking. 

CrossFit is essentially an open source fitness business, in that there is a basic structure to the system but there are no hard fast rules that each person or affiliate or coach has to follow to be "CrossFitting." With that you will see a lot of variety of coaching, athletes, exercises, combinations of exercises etc. Some will be good, effective and safe. Others not so much. Also because it is open source it is always evolving and changing, hopefully for the better but maybe not always.

So getting back to the main premise of this topic, don't do stupid things. There are some stupid things floating out there in the strength and conditioning world, and CrossFit isn't immune to it. What am I talking about well here is an example:

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/525667_340516279378454_137896789_n.jpg

This could quite possibly be one of the silliest things I have ever seen. At best it is dumb and at worst it is very VERY dangerous. And hopefully you can all see why. 

If any of you ever see something like this pop up in CrossFit Corvallis' programming get a shotgun because I have been replaced by an alien pod-person and am dangerous. 

So here is my basic rule - If you feel like something is dangerous and you might get hurt doing it, you're probably right and you should quickly ask questions about it. If your coach can't come up with a good explanation as to why it's good and how he or she is going to make sure you are safe and don't hurt yourself while doing it then DON'T DO IT! And if your coach gets mad at you for questioning them and just tells you to suck it up and do it, turn around and walk out right then and there. 

Remember most of us train so we are better at other things in our life, so if you hurt yourself in training you won't be able to do those other things and the whole point of training is then moot. 

Don't forget to ask questions.

See you at the Box

Coach Rob

Guest bloggers

Hey everyone

So I am now going to have some guest bloggers posting on the site as well as myself (Coach Rob). Our first guest blogger will be CFC's own Marci. Show her some love by reading and commenting on her blog posts. 

If you would like to be a guest blogger as well, let me know and we can see about working something out. 

Coach Rob

Where Ego Meets Injury...

Some of you who have been with Crossfit Corvallis a while, know that on semi-frequent occasion, Coach Rob and I have... spats of sorts.  It may be a defiant glare to some well-deserved and entirely appropriate lecture on something I should or shouldn't be doing, a grumble to some good advise, on up to a few words of disagreement because I can be a bit on the "thick-skulled" side and I like doing things how I like doing them, even if they're not the best for me being able to make athletic progress (I mean hey, I haven't gotten hurt "yet", so how I've always done things is fine... right?). 

Wrong... And this is where my story begins...

I've been Crossfitting for almost two and a half years now... but my progress has repetitively been hastened by my lack of willingness to listen to my coach. This time though, it's a doozy.  For those of you who have been around the past several months - you've seen me a bit on the gimpy side; I hurt my shoulder about 7-8 months ago (April-ish 2012) and consequently, I've had to modify my workouts to where I either didn't use my left shoulder/arm, or did one-armed/modified exercises and/or lighter weights (and consequently, I put on some weight).  Coach Rob frequently wraps my shoulder after WODs for a little compression therapy, I've tried ice and heat and some basic shoulder rehab exercises (like I did with swimming and rotator cuff injuries).  But I haven't been able to get my shoulder back to where I could use it, much less without extreme pain at some point.

I should clarify this by explaining how this happened (it's not a pretty story, some of you might even have been there).  I had just learned how to do butterfly pullups.  I was using this new skill in a pull-up heavy WOD.  I was getting tired... so I decided to switch to kipping pull-ups.  While I should have completely stopped doing the butterfly pullups first, and then started kipping - I didn't.  I decided to transition on the fly, mid-WOD.  Very stupid.  I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder... stopped for a sec... but then driven by my desire to finish the WOD - I went back to kipping (also very stoopid).  Now I've felt pain through a WOD before, but this was clearly different, and I knew it the second I did it - how it got hurt.  However, I wrote it off as a minor injury and figured it would heal fast enough and I'd be fine.  About 2 weeks later, a guy stopped in to workout during Open Gym and had asked about muscle ups.  So very, VERY stupidly, I tried to show him (without warming up, no less)... and it refreshed the pain.  Lesson over.

Fast forward 7-8 months...

Today (Dec 3, 2012) I finally went to an Orthopedic doctor here in town.  It didn't go well, but then again... I didn't expect it to.  In the 7+ months of trying to apply non-medically-directed rehab and mobility techniques - I was able to come to terms with the fact that it wasn't healing, and that it was likely something more serious and could require surgery. Rob recently mentioned prolotherapy and platelet-rich plasma therapy to me; so I looked them up, and they seemed to have good potential as an alternative to surgery... The downside being that it might take a longer time and still not work, resulting in me having to still get surgery and taking more time to get it fixed and start the recovery process.

I don't have an official diagnoses yet - but the doctor gave me a run down of what he suspects - a SLAP tear (Superior Labrum Anterior to Posterior) and some degree of a potential rotator cuff tear.  The quickest and most assured fix being surgery.  Accepting that it's surgery and all associated fun that comes with it (down time, pain, being cut open, rehab, etc), I was encouraged by reading that having surgery to repair a SLAP tear usually results in a 100% recovery and full use back in the joint (and then some if you want).  I'm having a hard time seeing the problem with "full use back".

http://orthopedics.about.com/od/shoulderelbow/a/labrum.htm

But the more I read, the less thrilled I was/am about it.  It could take up to a year to rehab and get back to 100% (though not if I have anything to do with it) <--- again with the ego.  So for any of you who can relate to some of what I've written... I have a few things to day - Egos are great, they help us achieve bigger goals (sometimes), they keep us going when we'd otherwise give up, they are what drives us to improve... but if left unchecked - they can lead to major injuries that can set you back months to years from where you're at now.

I'll post more as this progresses... I have a feeling it will be quite a ride (and I can't say I'm looking forward to it).  On the up side - I will be able to come back 100% if I do this right.  On the down side - I'll be out of commission (or severely modified) for a while.  Expect to see me around the box though (at least after that first 2 week date with Karma for being a dumbass - where I'll be sitting on my couch all pain-killered out... maybe).  

I guess my take-away in this post is more - LISTEN TO ROB!  (but I didn't say that)

OK, but seriously - I know we're all here to reach a goal - be it to lose weight, get stronger, look better, cope with stress, just get exercise, gain mobility, agility, fitness to complement another sport or activity - whatever your angle, keep your ego in check.  Starting out is always hard because if you REALLY want to do well and reach your goals - it's a process.  

It's hard admitting that you're not flexible enough to do a proper squat and therefore have to drop weight to what you might think is "too easy;" or to acknowledge that your wrists aren't strong enough to match the weights you *know* your big biceps can handle, etc... Err on the side of caution.  Don't let your ego get in the way of progress (like mine does).  But most importantly (at least at our box) - Listen to Rob... he's well read on literally everything, and if he doesn't know - he goes and looks it up and reads on it - from diet to form (BIG on form), mobility, new ways to do old exercises/skills/etc, to rehab and recovery (add to this list as it pops into your head)... but I have yet to prove him wrong.  And the number of the times my ego has caused me some sort of pain/discomfort/injury because I didn't listen to him... well, I've lost count.