Carbohydrate Selections: The Right Carb for the Right Job

Whole, unprocessed carbohydrate sources have significant health and performance benefits that might go unnoticed with macronutrient counting. For example, a doughnut and an orange can both provide the carbohydrate grams one needs, but other constituents should be considered. Even honey has more health value compared to table sugar due to the vitamins and minerals it contains.

This brief describes some of the factors to consider when selecting carbohydrates, including total carbohydrate grams. While the brief is not meant to be exhaustive, this information can help someone make more optimal choices based on needs and goals.

When selecting a carbohydrate, consider these components:

-Total carbohydrate (for body composition)

-Non-caloric constituents (for health)

-Fiber (for satiety)

-Glucose vs. fructose (for recovery)

Resistance Training Plans Might Be Superior to HIIT For Kids

Compares the acute physiological responses within and between resistance training (RT) and high intensity interval training (HIIT) matched for time and with comparable effort.

When creating the strength and conditioning routines of children it's of paramount importance to ensure a healthy, and maximally productive program. Kids' bodies are still in development, and they have busy schedules with limited time. It's also harder to figure out if kids are overtraining, but more dangerous if they do.

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Your Muscles Work Better At Certain Times of Day

Your circadian clock determines the best time of day for you to workout.

New research¹ out of Northwestern Medicine has discovered that circadian clocks in muscle tissue control the muscle's metabolic response and energy efficiency meaning that the muscles reactions differ based on the time of day.

 

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Ice Your Workout Water For Better Performance

You don't need to drink a lot of water when you heat up but you need to check the temperature.

Research¹ from the University of Montana addresses the connection between fluid volume and fluid temperature during workouts in the heat. The study, published in Wilderness & Environmental Medicine, says an ice slurry/water mixture was as effective as ambient water even when consumed in half the quantity. However, researchers pointed out the importance of rest as well.

 

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Break Before You're Broken

“But what if I can't do it unbroken?”

From time to time, I hear this posed as a legitimate question from athletes as they read over a workout description. They look at the movements, the loading and the rep scheme. They assess their current capabilities. Quick math is done in their heads.

Their facial expressions change and the question shoots out of their mouths: “What if I can't do this unbroken?”

My answer is always, “Well, then break it up.”

To read the entire article, click here.

Big Finger; Big Athlete?

By comparing your index and ring fingers, a neuroscientist can tell if you are likely to be anxious, or if you are likely to be a good athlete.

Apparently, it is common knowledge that adults whose index finger is shorter than their ring finger were exposed to greater amounts of testosterone when they were in the womb. Carl Pintzka, a medical doctor and researcher at the Norwegian Competence Service for Functional MRI, believes that both men and women with this characteristic are likely to have better spatial recognition skills as adults and have better better physical and athletic abilities. They are, also, more likely to have ADHD and Tourette's syndrome interestingly enough.

 

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How Plant Protein Differs from Animal Protein

Learn why plant protein may be a great alternative for you.

Plant protein has gained a ton of popularity lately and for good reason. More active people are opting for plant-based diets and are reaping healthier rewards for the intentional dietary shift. Plant protein has also begun to take on a life of its own as more pure, chemical-free formulas hit the market.  

 

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Digestibility, Whey Protein, and Hypertrophy: Finding Balance

Research sounds good but then you have to validate the source's credibility as a consultant to the dairy industry.

According to Dr. Stuart M. Phillips, Professor in Kinesiology at MacMaster University, protein quality plays a big role in determining resistance exercise-induced muscle hypertrophy. In a recent article in Nutrition and Metabolism¹, Dr.

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Row Pro: Calories Vs. Meters

Jonathan Burns remembers the soul-sucking pain of a 2-kilometer ergometer test. His best score in his rowing prime was 5:56-an all-out effort that left him in a physical shambles, he said.

“I would be lying there recovering for two days after a 2-kilometer test,” said the former college and national-team rower and current owner of CrossFit Coeur D'Alene in Idaho.

“We would taper before them, and then you couldn't do anything after. We'd be shot. Maybe we'd go for a light paddle the next morning, but that was it.”

All high-level rowers can relate to Burns' experience. It's incredibly difficult to recover from a 100 percent rowing effort, Burns explained, which is why most training days are spent working at intensity levels below an athlete's capacity.

Burns remembers doing a common workout in training: three 2-kilometer pieces on the ergometer with approximately five minutes of rest between each. Burns said he would usually hold somewhere between 6:03 and 6:10 on the pieces. While the workout is challenging, it wasn't that difficult to recover, he said. Often, it was even followed by a second row later in the day, he added.

Think about that: A 2-kilometer row in 5:56 left Burns a physical mess for two days, yet he could maintain a pace seven to 14 seconds slower for three consecutive pieces. And he could recover to train a second time that day.

If about 10 seconds is the difference between life and the edge of death on the rower, what does that mean for CrossFit workouts? Consider Jackie: a 1-kilometer row followed by 50 thrusters and 30 pull-ups. Do you hit the row hard and risk imploding to be first on the barbell? Or do you sandbag the row and come off fresh knowing you can make up time on the thrusters and pull-ups?

And does the strategy change if the workout requires calories rather than meters?

To read the entire article, click here.

Music Brings Joy to HIIT Workouts

Music makes HIIT workouts tolerable and enjoyable for participants, according to new research.

 

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Ideal Body Weight: Is There Such a Thing?

Lean and fat mass change together, making the whole process more complicated.

One of the most common questions I am asked when I sit down with a client to establish a plan is, “What should I weigh?”

 

That is understandable amidst the sea of opinions and cultural pressures. It's so hard to know what weight to aim for and still maintain a healthy body image. We get so focused on the number on a scale that we can lose sight of what really matters at the end of the day-being healthy and able to lead a full life.

 

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An Open Letter to the “Met-Heads”

Are you addicted to met-cons to the detriment of overall fitness?



Yes, we know you feel like you didn't accomplish anything on deadlift day.

It's very clear you're unhappy that you are not out of breath and dripping with sweat.

We're just going to lie here on the rubber with shaking legs while you head over to the corner to bang out 100 burpees for time.

We'll even start the clock if you feel the need to hit a quick Fran.

But we're wrecked from heavy day, so please don't ask us to join you.

Here's why: You're part of a CrossFit program.

Conditioning is a big part of CrossFit. Many workouts done in CrossFit gyms and programmed on CrossFit.com cause you to sweat heavily, breathe hard and collapse on the floor at the end. These workouts range from relatively short tests such as Fran to longer challenges such as Cindy, and many Hero workouts take athletes into time domains past 20 minutes.

Among the benchmark workouts, you'll find a CrossFit Total containing pure strength work in the form of three max lifts, but CrossFit's most well-known benchmarks tend to be tests of conditioning more often than tests of absolute strength. Perhaps that causes many people to define CrossFit with the likes of Helen, Karen and Annie and actually apply the term “CrossFit workout” to any challenge that makes the lungs burn.

While it's true that Fran is one of CrossFit's signature workouts and great test of certain aspects of fitness, it's but one part of a program that emphasizes constant variation and competency in 10 areas of fitness.

From CrossFit's “Level 2 Training Guide and Workbook”: “While people sometimes characterize CrossFit by the mixed-modal workouts for time ('met-cons'), this is a limited view. Days devoted to strength training are an essential variant of CrossFit and are also 'CrossFit' workouts.”

In fact, the “Level 2 Training Guide and Workbook” presents an analysis of a month of CrossFit.com programming from December 2015. Of the 23 workouts, six were heavy days-about 25 percent.

“You can't make me lift heavy. I'll only do sets of 30 or more.“

These workouts might appear to be strength work only, but that sentiment ignores the words of CrossFit Founder and CEO Greg Glassman, who outlined the big picture with respect to weightlifting in “What Is Fitness?”: “The benefits of weightlifting do not end with strength, speed, power, and flexibility. The clean and jerk and the snatch both develop coordination, agility, accuracy, and balance and to no small degree.”

That bit of wisdom is also part of the “Level 1 Training Guide.” All this means little to those drunk on met-cons-the “met-heads.”

You're a member of this gym subgroup if you dislike, avoid or simply see no point in strength work, to include heavy, low-rep powerlifting and weightlifting movements.

If you are a met-head, you generally hate the following:

• Any lifting workout involving singles, triples, fives or eights.

• Any workout that involves rest between heavy efforts.

• Any load above about 95/65 lb.

• Any heavy variation of a Girl workout.

• The phosphagen system.

• Efforts lasting less than two minutes.

• CrossFit Journal articles by Bill Starr.

• Powerlifting and powerlifters.

• Weightlifting and weightlifters.

If you're a met-head, you're likely offended already, but read on before missing the point and dumping an under-developed opinion on Facebook.

No one is saying conditioning workouts are bad. They are very valuable in developing fitness.

What I'm saying is that if you are part of a CrossFit program but avoid lifting workouts, you are missing out on a significant portion of the program and will not get as fit as you could have had you but grabbed a heavy barbell once in a while.

“Do you think we did enough Frans today?”

As a met-head, you have a faint but still-present connection to the long-slow-distance mentality that says longer and more are better and you aren't training unless you're breathing hard.

Long workouts are absolutely part of CrossFit, and you most definitely need to do longer aerobic efforts such as a 10-km run from time to time. “More” is also required at times-such as when you tackle a challenging Hero workout and test your endurance and stamina with a large amount of reps.

Some athletes who are lacking in endurance-count me in this crowd-would do very well to spend some extra time running, rowing or swimming. That's called “targeting a weakness,” and if it's done properly, it will result in greater overall fitness.

But, in general, longer and more are not “better” in the CrossFit world; they are only part of the constantly varied CrossFit world.

CrossFit's Third Fitness Standard (also outlined in “What Is Fitness?”) states that total fitness demands training in each of three metabolic pathways: phosphagen, glycolytic and oxidative. The first, the phosphagen system, is trained predominately with efforts of about 30 seconds or less-think sprints, weightlifting, powerlifting and short maximal efforts. Ignore this metabolic pathway at peril to your overall fitness.

“Why won't he deadlift with me?”

A common complaint from a met-head after a 3-rep-max deadlift: “I don't feel like I got a good workout.”

Compare that to the athlete who's quivering on the floor after grinding her way through 3 very heavy reps that took a piece of her soul.

Here's some perspective: Many lifters get the “Fran feeling” in their stomachs before a PR attempt because they know the effort is going to take everything they have. Others look at a racked barbell that's bending under the weight of an upcoming squat attempt and get the exact same butterflies you get before a run at a 5-km PR.

After a maximum effort on the barbell, many lifters are utterly taxed-physically, emotionally and spiritually. They're completely done and badly in need of some couch and Netflix while the body and mind recover. That single deadlift was so challenging and stressful that they need no other fitness training for the day. Believe it.

As a met-head, you likely won't experience that because you don't put in maximal effort on strength days. The same way a lifter might merely try to survive a long run by putting in the work but not pushing very hard, you seek to survive strength work by avoiding safe but heavy loads that would truly challenge your strength.

By short-circuiting strength work-or by avoiding it altogether-you receive few or none of its benefits and consequently see no value in it. And so you avoid it. It's a vicious circle.

The solution is simple: Lift something heavy once in a while as part of well-programmed CrossFit training. You don't even have to do it very often-maybe about once a week or so. Doing so will not affect your conditioning, and you certainly don't have to enjoy it as much as you enjoy the crunch of leaves underfoot during a 5-km trail run in autumn. You just have to do it with the knowledge that you'll be fitter for it.

In fact, we'll join you on that trail run if you come by the gym and work up to a heavy deadlift triple first. We'll chalk up, rattle a few plates as a group and then cheer you on as we try to keep up with you.

And we'll all get fitter together.

Love to lift but hate conditioning? Read “An Open Letter to the 'Big Dogs.'”

About the Author: Mike Warkentin is the managing editor of the CrossFit Journal and the founder of CrossFit 204.

Photos: Mike Warkentin/CrossFit Journal

Tackle the Kettlebell Bent Press: Part 2

The bent press is a skill and requires repeated, focused practice.

If you know much about old-time performing strongmen, then chances are high that you've heard of the bent press before. Names like Arthur Saxon, Eugen Sandow, and Sig Klein probably ring a bell. Typically performed with a barbell, strongmen would use the bent press as the preferred method to “hoist” a heavy load overhead with one arm. Arthur Saxton once did a bent press with 371 lbs! Somewhere between then and now the bent press has become more foreign, and I understand why.

 

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The Anatomy of a Training Program

Designing a well-rounded strength and conditioning routine must start with specific and clearly stated goals.

Finding the perfect workout routine and training schedule is the fitness equivalent of finding the Holy Grail. Such a phenomenon does not exist. No two individuals are the same and therefore cannot expect to derive the same results from the same routine. That being said, there are numerous examples of effective exercise programs. If we borrow bits and pieces from several different programs we can combine them into fairly comprehensive solution.   

 

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CrossFit Lifeguards: The Browns

Their goals were simple.

“Show up,” Marlo Brown wrote in silver-colored marker on the “goals” blackboard at Cloud 9 CrossFit in New Jersey.

Her husband, Phil: “Wear my shirt.”

When the couple first walked into the affiliate three years ago, Marlo weighed 430 lb. Phil weighed 502 lb. When Phil sat on one of the rowers, the machine bowed under his weight. Once they joined, Marlo was thinking she would try her damnedest to be there three times a week, and owner Chuck Makatura gave Phil an XL T-shirt-the largest he had. Phil wore a 5XL at the time.

Today, 49-year-old Marlo has the highest attendance of anyone at Cloud 9 CrossFit-including Makatura. And on June 2, 42-year-old Phil drew a line through “Wear my shirt” on the blackboard to the applause and high-fives of the rest of that evening's 6:15 class.

At her heaviest, Marlo was 530 lb. at 5 foot 9; Phil was 570 at 6 feet tall. Now Marlo weighs 234 and Phil weighs 297.

Before starting CrossFit, Marlo had lost roughly 100 lb. through diet, but a three-night stay in a hospital scared her enough to want more drastic changes.

“I got an infection,” she explained.

It started as an allergic reaction to shampoo. But Marlo scratched her ankle so badly she broke her skin. Her poor circulation wouldn't let the wound heal.

At his heaviest, Phil Brown weighed 570 lb.

When she was discharged, she left with six prescriptions. She also found out she was diabetic.

Marlo's health markers-including blood pressure and cholesterol-were “through the roof.” At the time, she worked in the billing department of the same hospital, so she knew what they meant.

“If I saw those numbers on anyone else, I would have said, 'They're dead.' And they were mine.”

At the time, Marlo couldn't walk the entirety of a city block without stopping at least three times to catch her breath. A simple trip from the couch to the bathroom elicited pain.

Phil, meanwhile, had been on bipolar medication since he was 18 and blood-pressure medication since he was 25. He had an awful snore and was an undiagnosed narcoleptic. He frequently fell asleep while driving.

“I almost ran headlong into a pickup truck,” he said.

So when Marlo got her six prescriptions, she was resolute.

“I said, 'I am not taking any of these.'”

She met with her family doctor, who told her she had to take the diabetes medication, and if she wanted to get off it-and avoid the other five medications-she knew what she needed to do.

A year earlier, Marlo had watched her 68-year-old father die of his 10th and final stroke. He suffered from high blood sugar, as well as high blood pressure.

After a hospital stay for an infection, Marlo Brown decided to make a change.

All You Have to Do Is Start

It was a slow go when the couple first started CrossFit, Makatura remembered.

“I was kind of overwhelmed,” he said. “I didn't know where to start.”

Phil and Marlo could not get down onto the floor, much less get up from it. Running, squatting to full depth, jumping rope were all out of the question.

So the Cloud 9 coaches did what every other coach at every other affiliate around the globe does: They scaled for their athletes' physical and psychological tolerances.

Phil and Marlo ran in place instead of running outside, they squatted to a high plyo box instead of getting their hip creases below their knees, they hopped in place instead of jumping rope. For wall-ball shots, they squatted to a box, threw the medicine ball into the air and caught it before squatting again.

“Our goal was to get them to do their best,” Makatura said, “and still maximize intensity through scaling.”

Phil Brown is now down almost 300 lb. and working on improving his squat.

Today, Marlo is running and doing ring rows, and Phil recently got his first double-under after making his first box jump at 10 inches.

“I told them, 'Listen, just focus on that two seconds or that 5 lb. Give me those small PRs because you guys are in this for the long run,'” Makatura said he told them.

For the Browns, CrossFit has given them back their lives.

No longer must they avoid the booth at the restaurant or shop at specialty clothing stores.

“These little things make our day,” Marlo said happily.

Phil, previously resigned to an existence of poor health, had once thought, “This is the life we've chosen. ... It's gonna get worse.”

Marlo added: “We were sitting in our living room waiting for death. I don't know that we'd be alive.”

Marlo Brown has a goal of trading ring rows for pull-ups one day.

They could have ended up in an electric scooter with atrophied muscles-like so many of Phil's relatives-or suffered a long, miserable death at the hands of one chronic disease or another, they said.

“Either we would have died from a heart attack or I would have killed us from falling asleep (while driving),” Phil said.

“Now he's wide awake all the time,” Marlo noted cheerfully.

And their CrossFit experience has evolved: It's now more than just a way to shed pounds.

“I have goals for myself when it comes to working out instead of just losing weight,” Marlo said. “Seeing what I do here, I want to do better at these things.”

She wants a rope climb and a pull-up instead of those pesky ring rows. Phil is working to improve his squat and recently tried paddle boarding for the first time.

“They're the epitome of what CrossFit really is,” Makatura said.

While CrossFit Games athletes are admirable for their athletic feats, Phil and Marlo have embodied the definition of fitness, he noted.

“Increasing work capacity-that's what they've done,” Makatura continued. “I'd rather have 100 Phil and Marlos than 100 Rich Fronings. Even though Rich Froning's a sexy stud, their ability to overcome adversity is second to none.”

About the Author: Andréa Maria Cecil is assistant man- aging editor and head writer of the CrossFit Journal.

Photo credits (in order): Courtesy of Phil and Marlo Brown, Danielle Astrab (all others)

Low-Key Strategies for Skill Building

These tools will help you get a clear picture of what's working in your training.

I'm really bad at balancing on narrow, round things. Especially if they are high up. I know the technical points I'm supposed to observe, but I still suck at it. I suck at it because I've been woefully negligent in practice, so over the summer I made it my "lazy mission" to improve my balancing to a respectable level. I tried just paying attention to the technical elements and trying to do those well. It helped some, but that strategy wasn't enough, so I borrowed some tools for improvement I have used a lot in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ).

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Amino Acids: The Science Behind the Labels

Let's put the marketing aside, and answer two questions: What are amino acids, and why should you be taking them?

I have been working in the supplement industry for over ten years now, and there has never been such a push to consume amino acids as there is right now. These aminos have been flying off the shelves in supplement stores across the country, and after returning home from the Mr. Olympia show in Las Vegas, I had more amino samples than I knew what to do with.

 

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Weightlifting's Reassurance

Weightlifting representatives: CrossFit's popularity behind growth and understanding of Olympic sport.

Of the 14 women who train as full-time weightlifters at Waxman's Gym outside Los Angeles, 10 of them began as CrossFit athletes.

“That tells you everything you need to know as far as CrossFit and weightlifting,” said Sean Waxman, owner and head coach of the California facility.

His gym reflects CrossFit's effects on Olympic weightlifting as a whole. The training methodology's popularity has helped drive growth and dispel misconceptions in the 125-year-old sport, said weightlifting representatives in Australia, Canada and the U.S.

“It's a very symbiotic relationship, even at this stage where there's no mixing of the organizations,” Waxman explained.

He continued: “It's breathed life into my business, so I'm very happy for it and grateful for everything.”

More Athletes, More Talent

Over the course of four years, USA Weightlifting's growth has been exponential.

Its Youth group, ages 13 to 17, now comprises 2,322 athletes-an increase of 140 percent from September 2012 to September 2016, according to USA Weightlifting (USAW). The Juniors group, ages 15 to 20, has grown to 1,183 athletes-an increase of 104 percent. But the largest gain has been among Masters, those 35 and older. That age group ballooned from 1,187 athletes to 3,344-nearly 182 percent.

“That's where we've seen it-in the number of weightlifters,” said USAW CEO and General Secretary Phil Andrews. “We've seen a lot of impact from the world of CrossFit, and I think it's been a part of-a big part of-the resurgence of the sport of weightlifting.”

Andrews, who had been serving as interim CEO since January, became the organization's CEO in April. He had previously served as USAW's director of events and programs for nearly three years.

It's now common to see top CrossFit athletes holding their own on the platform.

“CrossFit as a whole has been welcoming to the weightlifting community,” Andrews said. “We are two different sports, but there's a large enough crossover that it has affected us, and we're delighted. The more athletes, the better. And the more coaches, the better.”

But, Andrews noted, it's not just the sheer number of lifters-it's also the talent pool that CrossFit has fostered.

He named several competitive weightlifters with CrossFit backgrounds: Maddy Myers and Morghan King. Myers competed as an individual in the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games and has since set American junior records. In August, King broke a 16-year-old American record in the snatch as a 48-kg lifter at this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“We want more talent. We need more talent,” Andrews said excitedly. “We won a medal in Rio. We want more. ... We need to have people pick up a barbell, and a lot of people are doing that through CrossFit.”

Myers and King are among multiple elite-level female athletes who have competed in CrossFit as well as national-level weightlifting competitions in the U.S. Others include 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games champion Sam Briggs, Cassidy Duffield and multi-year Games competitor Lauren Fisher.

CrossFit, Andrews said, has made it “a social norm for a female to pick up a barbell. And I think that's huge for us.”

Maddy Myers competed in the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games and has since set American junior weightlifting records.

In Australia, too, participation in weightlifting has increased.

“We're seeing steady growth year on year the past five or six years,” said Bowen Stuart, communications manager at the Australian Weightlifting Federation (AWF).

The country always has had “pretty good” participation across both genders, he noted.

“The other thing, too, is CrossFit has broken down some of the misconceptions about weightlifting and weightlifting exercises,” Stuart said. “I suppose it's the thing when little Johnny wants to go do weightlifting and mom and dad say, 'Yeah, I'm part of the CrossFit community ... it's not going to have a negative effect on my child.'”

The more lifters, the better, he added.

“Just the fact that people are getting involved in sport is the real winner,” Stuart said.

Over the course of roughly four years, Damon Kelly has seen people's interest in the snatch and clean and jerk grow. Kelly is owner of Zenith Weightlifting in Queensland, Australia, and a two-time Olympian in weightlifting (2008 and 2012).

“It's good to have a lot more people appreciate it, a lot more information out there.”

Exposure and Understanding

Like Waxman, Kelly has found more opportunities as a weightlifting coach since CrossFit's emergence. He coaches 10-12 hours per week at CrossFit Torian, home to the Brisbane Barbell Club.

CrossFit and weightlifting, he said, can complement each other.

“It doesn't have to be one or the other. You can do both.”

Rachel Siemens found weightlifting through CrossFit and is now a national champion.



In British Columbia, Canada, 70 percent of competitive weightlifters also train CrossFit, said Rachel Siemens, owner of Siemens Weightlifting and the 2016 Canadian national champion in the 69-kg weight class.

In 2011 and 2012, she was a member of CrossFit Taranis' team that competed at the CrossFit Games. Siemens hadn't even heard of Olympic weightlifting until she started CrossFit in 2010 at the age of 22.

“(CrossFit has) brought a lot of awareness that it's a sport,” she said. “People don't assume I'm a bodybuilder now.”

Siemens added with a laugh: “They still think I'm a powerlifter.”

Lacey Rhodes' experience has been similar.

“Still when I tell people I do Olympic weightlifting they say, 'No, you don't. You can't,'” said Rhodes, who competed at the 2015 IWF World Championships and is a head coach at CrossFit Outlaw North in Ontario, Canada.

Many think weightlifting means bodybuilding.

“They just don't have an understanding of it,” Rhodes explained. “CrossFit definitely, definitely helped with the understanding of the actual sport.”

And while Siemens echoed Waxman's statement that the two sports can have a symbiotic relationship with many athletes successfully competing in both CrossFit and weightlifting, she said there are limits.

“I don't think CrossFitters could set a new world record (in weightlifting),” she said. “Prove me wrong-I think that would be awesome. But I think it takes a lot to set a world record.”

Tia-Clair Toomey finished second at the CrossFit Games in July and competed in the Olympics in Rio in August.

Tia-Clair Toomey, who this year placed second at the CrossFit Games for the second consecutive year, also competed on Australia's Olympic team as a weightlifter in Rio.

The 23-year-old was criticized for her performance because she didn't set any records and was not solely focused on weightlifting.

Those critics, Waxman said, are “making a big deal about nothin'.”

“Look, if she was Chinese ... she wouldn't have made the team because they have a lot of great weightlifters in China. They don't have a lot of great weightlifters in Australia. She didn't bend any rules. The AWF had rules and she met the requirements.”

Of course, if he was Toomey's personal weightlifting coach, Waxman said he would have a problem with her splitting her time between competing in CrossFit and competing in weightlifting.

But at the end of the day, Toomey's participation in both sports provides even more exposure for weightlifting, he continued.

“It's another avenue for people who might not have seen weightlifting,” Waxman explained.

He added: “I think it's a good 'fuck you' to people in weightlifting who have a stick up their ass about CrossFit.”

For his part, Andrews said he'd like to see USAW and CrossFit work more closely.

“In terms of athlete recruitment we certainly can be helped by CrossFit,” he said. “You almost can't demerge CrossFit and weightlifting at this point. They're so intertwined.”

About the Author: Andréa Maria Cecil is assistant man- aging editor and head writer of the CrossFit Journal.

Photo credits (in order): Shaun Cleary, Ellen Miller, Cheryl Boatman/CrossFit Journal, Courtesy of Oceania Weightlifting Federation.

Debunking the Top Myths About Plant-Based Protein

Are the rumors about plant-based protein true?

There are many opinions that have formed over the years about plant-based protein. Some opinions are legit while others are flat-out wrong. The myths that plant-based protein sources are high in carbs, can't build muscle, are of low quality are just a fallacies that float around nutrition circles. As plant-based proteins become more widely used around the world, more is uncovered about this viable and powerful source of amino acids. However, as it becomes more popular so do the myths about its ineffectiveness and subpar quality. 

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Do BCAAs Live Up to the Hype?

Despite a surge in popularity, the science on BCAAs is still a mixed bag.

We all want that supplement that just changes the game. Take this product, and all your workouts will double in effectiveness and recovery time will be half. Unfortunately, most supplements we consume are a lot of money and time for a 1% difference.

 

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For the Ages

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.” -Mark Twain

For the last two years, masters and teens have performed the same workouts at the CrossFit Games, and the schedule puts the two groups in close contact throughout the competition. Our photographers were able to watch competitors from 14 to 64 perform the same movements back to back, and their images are a testament to the power of functional movement.

CrossFit allows its youngest athletes to set themselves up for a lifetime of fitness, and it allows its oldest athletes to maintain function and even high performance into their later years. While CrossFit is tied to data, these images make it clear that fitness is also a lifestyle and an attitude, not just a number.

Your First 4 Steps Toward a Fitter Life

Once you've decided to make a change, this is how you can get started.

I started my journey as a strength and conditioning trainee when I was 12 years old. My dad signed me up for a program in Pewaukee, Wisconsin at a facility called NX Level Athletics. Since then, NX has been my home away from home. Every time I visit home I go to NX, catch up with the coaches, and get my weightlifting training in. The coaches and people associated with that facility are great friends, and they are where my passion for training came from. I now train five days a week without exception.

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Can Diet Soda Help You Lose Weight?

Are reduced or zero-calorie sodas a boon or bane to your weight loss goals?

Diet soda seems an ideal drinking choice when trying to lose weight. It tastes almost as good as regular soda, but contains zero calories. But doesn't that sound too good to be true? Aren't there any downsides? In this article I explain how the body reacts to sugar and to sweeteners from diet soda. Then I investigate whether diet soda indeed makes losing weight easier, by looking at how it influences hunger and eating behavior.

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When to Fire Your Fitness Magazine

Spotted barbell biceps curls and white A-shirts, with just a hint of oil in place of sweat?

Men's Journal might have rethought the opening image for “When to Fire Your Personal Trainer: 4 Red Flags.”

Nothing wrong with barbell curls, of course, but if you're writing an article on identifying quality personal trainers, leading with an oiled-up bro-session curl shot does little to set the table and create an atmosphere of professionalism.

Then again, the image will indeed alert careful readers that the article is full of nonsense. Take, for example, this completely unfounded statement: “Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) is the best certification.”

One wonders how author David Reavy came to that conclusion after it's been shown that the company offering the CSCS credential-the National Strength and Conditioning Association-has no problem publishing false claims about competitors and can't accurately instruct movement.

In the same section, the article suggests a trainer who provides nutrition advice isn't helping the client but doing something shady: “If your trainer tries to give you nutritional or medical advice without the credentials, steer clear.”

Trainers who don't give general nutrition advice are doing a disservice to their clients. Providing general nutrition advice is critical to client success, and good personal trainers have both the skills and the right to supply it. We'd suggest they also have a moral obligation to do so if they actually want to help their clients.

Trainers may not diagnose and treat medical conditions, and they may not offer prescriptions. But they're poor trainers if they have not acquired the basic skills needed to give apparently healthy clients general nutrition advice so they can create healthy food habits that support their goals.

Any trainer who doesn't won't get real results, and any magazine that suggests trainers should avoid conversations about nutrition is a rag.

Without further ado, we'll offer four red flags that suggest the magazine you're reading isn't worth your time:

1. Ridiculous Movement Instruction

Here's a real workout: Have a scroll through “The Real Weight-Loss Workout,” also courtesy of Men's Journal, and do 15 burpees every time you see an error in movement instruction or the accompanying pictures.

While you're at it, keep in mind that this “weight-loss workout” contains little discussion of structure and has no precision whatsoever. Aside from “begin with sets of eight,” it's just a list of exercises that are supposedly great for weight loss. It's good to know the bench press can “elicit a decent calorie burn” in some way, but it's clearly up to the reader to unravel the mystery.

Here are a few instructional gems:

-The dumbbell “snatch” that's described is actually a hang snatch. Bonus: Leaving the ground by “a couple of inches”-inefficient in the snatch or clean-is apparently OK.



-The description of the push press is unintelligible, and the video demo actually shows the author doing push jerks by accident.

- The pictures of the deadlift set-up and second pull of the hang power clean contain significant errors any Level 1 CrossFit trainer could pick up instantly.

-Push-ups are considered “healthier than bench pressing,” though bench pressing is also recommended for its calorie-burning properties.

2. Shortcuts and Superstars

From Men's Fitnesss: “Grow like a monster but train like a genius for more gains with less work.”

Any magazine that suggests an easy way to get “huge,” “shredded” or “ripped” should come with a package of magic beans that are 100 percent guaranteed to work 15 percent of the time.

Similarly, magazines glorifying unbelievable celebrity body transformations in short periods of time fail to mention that you will never be able to get the same results in the same time frame. Whether stars achieve their physiques with chemical shortcuts or a miraculous 24-hour-a-day commitment to a perfect training plan and diet, you will not look like a Marvel superhero in just a few months of training.

You can accomplish a lot in three months, by you can't become Wolverine.

3. Placement

If you can pick up the magazine with one hand and a chocolate bar with the other, it's likely you are reaching for the wrong fitness publication.

The magazines you'll find in the impulse-buy section of any supermarket are generally rife with exaggerated claims (see above), get-fit-quick schemes, Photoshopped models and the kinds of inane, fatuous headlines you should consider insults to your intelligence: “How to Work out With Your Cat, as Explained by This Hot Male Model.”

You're better off reaching for the comic to the right.

4. Gimmicks



Magazines full of “new and improved” fitness products should be called catalogs. If an amazing new product-usually in teal, purple, pink or orange-can supposedly revolutionize your workout, it's time to put the magazine down and lunge your way to the nearest barbell.

The Shake Weight is perhaps the most well-known ridiculous fitness product, but successors to the ThighMaster pop up with alarming regularity in publications that aren't worth your time. Most magazines will accept ads from anyone, but when you see an editorial piece featuring one of these novelty items, you know you're in trouble. If the article suggests you'll get amazing results simply by using the product, you're heading toward Ab Glider territory.

What Else?



You've seen the magazines? What makes you fire a fitness magazine back on the rack? Post the offenses to comments.

The Dark Side of Mindfulness

The starker potentials in mindfulness are a big reason many people hit a wall.

Mindfulness has become a bit of a buzzword in the fitness world, and that's mostly a good thing. Whether through formal meditation or simple focused attention during your workouts, mindfulness practice can have an enormously beneficial effect, not only on training and performance, but on overall enjoyment and appreciation of life.

 

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4 Mobility Tests to Reality Check Your Squat Depth

Individualization should be what dictates movements, not just doing what everyone else does.

Many athletes experience low back pain during lifting. Poor technique when performing deep squats places excessive stress on the low back. In the strength community, debate encircles the amount of pelvic motion allowed during these movements.

 

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3 Guiding Principles for Every Athlete

Novice or world champion, these truths will keep you on the straight and narrow in fitness.

Watch any large group of people and you almost can't help but be overwhelmed by the vast spectrum of different body types, backgrounds, goals, and experiences. I see all kinds of people in my own coaching practice; young and old, athletes, doctors, and soccer moms. I've realized that there are a few things I wish I could tell every single trainee on earth, whether they're on their first couch-to-5K program or a world champion Olympic lifter.

 

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The Disconnected Values Model of Motivation

There is a massive gap between knowing what is healthy for us, and behaving accordingly.

It is easy to motivate or help someone who already values being healthy, moving well, and moving often. But what if they aren't? The fitness industry primarily markets to people who are already active and value the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Gym members often just migrate to the next new gym that opens around the corner, but what about the millions of Australians and Americans that ignore basic health advice? 

 

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Lose Your Crutches

What's holding you back, and why do you let it?

The legless man in the wheelchair made a very strong point without saying anything.

On the way to the gym for a workout, I was bemoaning my situation and wishing I didn't have to do a 5-kilometer run. My inner monologue alternated between bitching about my tight left hip and outlining the reasons I prefer power to endurance.

You know the drill. I longed for workouts involving movements in my wheelhouse, I pre-made excuses for a poor performance, and I thought about skipping the run in hopes of snatches the next day.

Then the guy in the wheelchair rolled by with a bunch of empty grocery bags as I was stopped at a light. No markets can be found in the area, so he was clearly buckling down for a long haul to his destination.

No bitching. Just getting it done.

After feeling like an asshole for a moment, I drove the final block to the gym with a much clearer head.

Of course the workout turned out to be exactly what I needed. What I suspected would be a lengthy period of suffering was actually a 5-kilometer cruise on a sunny day while surrounded-and lapped-by friends. I did my best, owned my time and got fitter. And I felt grateful that I was able to run.

As I soaked a sweat angel into the asphalt, I found it interesting that a man in a wheelchair had helped me lose my crutches.

What can you accomplish today?

In CrossFit-or life, for that matter-crutches are those things you use to make excuses for poor performance, absence, lack of effort, a bad attitude and so on. Crutches are your outs when your goats appear, when your rival beats your ass, when you just don't want to try very hard but still want a good score.

Sometimes it's a sore body part. Other times it's stress from the kids or the pets. Or a bad sleep. Or a lack of rest days. Or age. Or the autumnal equinox. Or what the hell ever.

Crutches, in general, are whatever you lean on when you should just write your time on the board and high-five your classmates.

Crutch: “I could have gone harder but it's my fourth day in a row.”

Crutch: “I won't PR because I was up all night.”

Crutch: “I crashed in the third round because I haven't eaten all day.”

The exact attitude you need when you're dealing with an injury, fatigue, a bad day at work or back-to-back night shifts.

Even legitimate injuries and conditions can be crutches, though truly inspriring adaptive athletes have proven that absolutely anything is possible when you refuse to give up.

I'm not suggesting you should ignore stabbing pain due to a torn knee ligament to do a squat workout.

But I am suggesting you should quit complaining and hit the bench press like you're training with Ronnie Coleman. Remember that someone has a worse deal and a bigger smile than you do. Move some weight and celebrate with your best “Yeah, buddy!”

More than that, I'm suggesting you should get rid of all your crutches completely. Don't let whatever ails you derail you. Simply modify the workout as needed, then put your nose to the stone. Cancel the pity party and be happy. Think only about what you can do, push as hard as you can, and earn a score you can be proud of.

Adaptive athletes are proof that limitations are self-imposed only.

Here's a secret: No one is 100 percent.

We all have stress, soreness, bills, jobs, family commitments, flat tires, plugged drains and a pile of dirty laundry on the bedroom floor. That's life. You can choose to use all that shit to justify a lack of effort or you can do up your chinstrap and give everything you have that day. I'd suggest the latter, and I bet taking that honorable approach will significantly improve your mood and your outlook on the next workout.

If you're moping for any reason, lose your crutches by clicking here or entering “adaptive CrossFit athlete” in a browser.

Then head to the gym with a smile and a renewed sense of determination.



About the Author: Mike Warkentin is the managing editor of the CrossFit Journal and the founder of CrossFit 204.

Photo credits (in order): Dave Re/CrossFit Journal, Alex Tubbs, Linette Kielinski

Pain Is Not a Life Sentence

All too often acute pains become chronic, and we start to identify with our pain.

Look, there's no clearer way to put it: pain is a signal that something is wrong with your body.

 

Masking it with pills or shots is only going to prolong the problem. Your pain will simmer and smoulder, just waiting for its next chance to flare up. If something hurts, it's time to address the sticky root cause. This may take some digging to find, but the alternative is a self-imposed life sentence.

 

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Plant-Based Protein Versus Whey for Athletes

While not widely known by the fitness community, plant-based protein has several advantages.

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Revisiting CrossFit's Definition of Fitness

14 years since it was first published, CrossFit's definition of fitness remains the most comprehensive and accurate.

Time for a little self evaluation: Are you fit? After all, you work out three to five times per week and have been doing so for more than a year. You do regular weight and cardiovascular training, and you follow a healthy diet. Considering the obesity epidemic, it would seem the short answer is yes, you are fit.

 

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“I Want to Be Your Trainer”

CrossFit coaches talk about building relationships that result in new clients.

Like all high-level CrossFit athletes, Jamie Hagiya has an impressive physique. The epitome of health and fitness, she's the perfect poster girl to attract new clients to the gym, right?

Not so fast, said 31-year-old Hagiya, who finished 18th at the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games. The owner of Torrance CrossFit in California said she goes out of her way to avoid using her fitness resume as a sales pitch.

“That's not what will get new people into the gym,” she said.

According to Dan Uyemura, Hagiya's business partner, her humble approach works and she has a gift for bringing in new clients.

“People approach her in the world all the time,” Uyemura said. And when they do, Hagiya is the coach who can walk into a coffee shop and leave with five clients, he added.

“That actually just happened the other day,” Hagiya said. “I went to the dermatologist and the woman at the front desk asked me where I work out. She said she had been wanting to try CrossFit for a while.”

After the receptionist expressed interest, Hagiya turned the tables and immediately started asking the woman questions.

“When I meet someone who's interested in coming into the gym, I actually don't talk about myself at all,” Hagiya said. “Sales is more about listening than anything. Asking questions and genuinely listening to their answers, that's how you build trust.”

After Hagiya built rapport with the receptionist at her doctor's office, the two exchanged phone numbers, and the following week the woman showed up at Torrance CrossFit for an introductory session with six of her friends. Hagiya earned herself 7 new clients that day.

To read the entire article, click here.

Click here for CrossFit Founder and CEO Greg Glassman's thoughts on explaining CrossFit to clients.

Lean and Clean: 2 Meat Based Protein Meals

Getting plenty of lean protein in your diet results in faster, stronger muscle building.

Athletes who are looking to build muscle or to maintain a strong, lean appearance benefit from eating meals that contain a higher ratio of protein than carbs and fats. Consuming clean, lean proteins help you feel satiated longer after a meal, leading to less overall hunger and potentially less caloric intake. Eating a diet rich with lean protein is also associated with less belly fat to help you maintain that lean physique.

 

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Tackle the Kettlebell Bent Press: Part 1

The bent press is a skill that can help you get seriously strong and stable.

If you know much about old-school strongmen like Arthur Saxon, Eugen Sandow, and Sig Klein, chances are high that you've heard of the bent press. Typically performed with a barbell, strongmen would use the bent press as the preferred method to hoist a heavy load overhead with one arm.

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Seniors: How to Say No to Chronic Disease

Older trainees can prove that aging populations need not be diseased populations.

I'm older than 86 percent of the Earth's population.

I'm an aging academic. I'm an aging parent. I'm an aging worker. I'm an aging trainee. And I am part of one of the largest segments of our population: 33 percent of us are over 50 years of age.

If you look at any textbook within exercise academia, you will generally find aged individuals, older individuals and geriatric populations-basically people like me-listed as a “special population.”

I do not require kid-glove treatment because of my age. I will not break in response to progressive training because of my age. I am not magically disabled simply because of my age. I am not special.

So what do people really mean when they refer to older individuals as a “special population”?

Read the entire article, click here.