NEA Competitor: wear a Titan vest if you have one.
NEA Preggers: do single unders

The evening crew working hard on the Rower!

Core: 50 Russian Twists w/ MB (Go heavy as possible) use slam ball if needed.

Teammates, Elizabeth and Monica celebrating the hardwork completed together!  And check out Bob in the background showing some well improved front squat technique!  Keep it up Bob!

(Photo of the Suwanee Community Garden, April 2012)

Hi No Excuses Family! Guest blogger Stephanie Kingery here!  With summer right around the corner, it is also fresh food time and farmers market season. Now, trying to keep up with organic, grass fed, locally grown, free range can be daunting, expensive and hard to find, so while doing the research for our family I thought everyone else could enjoy the info as well.

May and June is when many of the local farmer’s markets pop up. There are several farmers markets very near the box, with one just down the street in the Suwanee Town Center Park.  Most of the local farmers markets are consistent in providing you a good selection of fruits, vegetables, dairy, eggs and meats.

With many of us living a paleo or paleo-influenced lifestyle, these things are an important part of our lifestyle.  You want to ensure you are getting what you want from the market and farmers. Ask questions and get to know the farmer to understand their approach to farming.  Do not assume that all the farmers at the market are there with products that are organic, local, sustainable or humanely raised.

First, make sure you understand what you are looking at and what you are looking for. This link to GeorgiaOrganics explains the difference between “local” vs. “organic”, how to approach shopping at a local farmer’s market and benefits to local and organically grown foods (much more succinctly than I could). It also gives some perspective on why not all locally farmed food is officially organic, yet may be perfectly suitable to include in your diet. Second, know what to ask the farmer. Most farmers will enjoy going into detail on their sustainable and organic farming methods. Here is a very thorough list of questionsandacceptableanswers of what you should be asking the farmers while visiting the market.

Now for the good stuff. These are five farmers markets in close proximity to No Excuses.

Suwanee Farmers Market: Located in the Suwanee Town Center Park, this market features up to 25 vendors, twice a week, from 4 to 7 pm on Tuesdays and 8 am to noon on Saturdays beginning Tuesday, May 1. Based on my shopping attempts last year, you definitely need to get there early to get the choice picks of the fruits and veggies.  www.suwanee.com

Duluth Farmers Market: Located in Duluth at the corner of Hill Street and Hwy 120, the Duluth market will be open starting Saturday, May 5 from 2 to 6 pm and run every Saturday through July 28.

http://www.duluthga.net/department/main-street/farmers-market/

Norcross Whistle Stop Farmers Market: Located in Downtown Historic Norcross in Thrasher Park just past the old Whistle Stop restaurant, this farmers market has won top honors as one of the best local farmers markets in Georgia. Open on Tuesdays from 4 to 8 pm and features between 35 and 40+ vendors weekly. I plan to hit this one on my way home from work!

http://norcrossfarmersmarket.com/

 Lawrenceville Farmers Market: Located in downtown Lawrenceville, at the old Police Station, this market will be open on Saturdays only, from 8 am to noon beginning June 4.

www.lawrencevillefarmersmarket.com

Alpharetta Farmers Market: Located in downtown Historic Alpharetta off of Main Street near City Hall, this market opened April 14 and runs through October 8 every Saturday from 8 am to 12:30 pm.

www.alpharettafarmersmarket.com

Two websites listing markets throughout the state:

http://www.pickyourown.org/GAfarmersmarkets.htm

http://www.n-georgia.com/farmers_markets.htm

This is the Suwanee Co-op that Coach Ben, Coach Chris Fischer and another NEA Member have been using: Nora at Whole Foods Suwanee Co-op. 

 Lastly, don’t forget to bring your reusable bags, containers, possibly a cooler, CASH and an open mind to try something new!

We here at No Excuses CrossFit hope that you find this information helpful and useful.  Get out and eat clean and enjoy all the benefits of doing so!  

Hang Snatch Just above the Knee 5×2 75% Rest 90sec

Power Clean + Push Jerk 5×5 Rest 45sec

Front Squat 5×5 (65%/70%/75%/HAP/HAP) Rest 90sec

*Note* For the power clean + push jerk 1 rep is one of each.  The weight should be done with something you can tap and go, go right into the push jerk after receiving the bar and not slow down(No pauses anywhere).  Form should be beautiful.  If you get sloppy stop mid set, lower the weight, and start over.

Strength Conditioning

1.Hand Stand Push-Ups M.E. Rest 3min

2a. Speed Dead Lifts 2×20 @ 225 Rest 30sec

2b. Strict Pull-Ups 2xM.E. Rest 30sec

3a. TGU 2x3R/3L @ 55 Rest 30sec

3b. KB OHS 2x 10R/10L @ 55 Rest 30sec

4. Push-Ups M.E.

*Note* This is performed as one continuous flow with no more rest time than said…   1-2a-2b-2a-2b-3a-3b-3a-3b-4

AMRAP in 12 Min of:

60 Calorie Row
50 Hand Release Push Ups
40 Games Style Box Jumps
30 Kettlebell Swings
20 Front Squats
10 Muscle Ups

NEA Competitors: 24” box/20”box, 55# KB/35#KB, 185#/135# FS
NEA Big Dawgs: 24” box/20” box, 45# KB/25#KB, 165#/115# FS
NEA Pack: 20” box/16” box, 35#KB/15#KB, 135#/95# FS
NEA Preggers: 16” box, 25# KB, 65# FS

Julian getting it done on the KBS!  I want to use Julian, and I could use many others, as an example of the payoff you get when you apply consistent, disciplined training to your life.  He has improved largely because of his consistent effort.  Well done Julian!  And everyone else that is coming consistently.  For those that are not, it is never to late to start disciplining yourself to train consistently!

I encourage EVERYONE to do this Pre-WOD!

21 – 15 – 9
Deadlifts
400 Meter Run

NEA Competitors: 315#/185#
NEA Big Dawgs: 275#/155#
NEA Pack: 185#/115#

Core: NEA competitors: 50 Hollow Rocks
NEA Big Dawgs and Pack: Accumulate 3 minutes of 6” leg holds.

The beauty of CrossFit is that you get to suffer with friends which builds that friendship that will last a lifetime and beyond.

1.Clean Pull+Clean 3×3+1 75% rest 90sec

2.Back Squat 5×5 (65%,70%,75%,H.A.P.,H.A.P.) rest 90sec

3a.Push Press Behind Neck 3×5 85% of Snatch rest 45sec

3b.Muscle Snatch 3×5 45% of Snatch rest 45sec

-then-

Conditioning

7 Rounds Each For Time:

7 Dumb Bell Burpee Thrusters 55/35

Sprint 100meters

Rest 60sec

This is the second little piece put together about lifting heavy weights and reason being is that its super IMPORTANT for the overall health of your tissues and bone health.

*The following information is from Livestrong.com (again, not all things from this source I personally agree with but this article is has some pretty good practical info.)* 

1. The older you are, the more important it is to lift

Research at McMaster University has shown that strength training can reverse the signs of aging at the cellular by as much as 20 percent. But that knowledge doesn’t do you any good unless you actually get into the weight room and improve the size and strength of your muscles.

2. No matter your age, the goal of strength training is to train something

Middle-aged lifters have a tendency to go through the motions. If you want your body to look or perform better, you have to train it to do more than it can do now. You need to increase the weights you lift, and the number of times you lift them, in a steady, systematic way. If you want to be leaner, you have to train your body to use more calories during your workouts. That means working harder and getting more accomplished from one week to the next.

3. “Working harder” doesn’t mean beating yourself up every time

Training is a process of imposing stress on your body in calculated doses. Too little stress and you get disappointing results. Too much and you don’t recover sufficiently from one workout to the next. It only works if you can train just as hard on Wednesday as you did on Monday, and at least as hard on Friday as you did on Wednesday. It’s not like planting a garden, where it doesn’t matter how sore you get after a day of digging because you have all summer to recuperate.

4. Kids are stupid. Don’t train like one

The average young person has a profoundly unrealistic view of how the human body works. But so does the middle-aged guy with a 40-inch waist who sits on a bench working his biceps and triceps, when his arms would look 100 percent better if his belly were 20 percent smaller.

No matter your age, you get the most benefit from the exercises that work the most muscle in coordinated action, and do the most to improve total-body strength. Those exercises–squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, presses and rows–also burn the most calories, both during and after exercise, while you’re recovering.

5. Heavy weights won’t make you huge, but they can make you lean

Males don’t have the market cornered on unrealistic expectations. The woman doing presses and rows with dumbbells smaller than her forearms is trying to do the impossible: “tone” muscles she hasn’t yet built. She’s worried about getting “too big,” which is equally absurd. Muscle is hard to build at any age, for either gender, and it never happens by accident.

The good news is that the muscle-building process creates a stronger, leaner, healthier, and better-conditioned body even when the actual increase in muscle tissue is minimal. But it only works if you try to build muscle by using weights that are pretty close to the heaviest you can lift.

If the workout tells you to do 10 repetitions, for example, you need to pick a weight that you could lift, at most, 11 or 12 times. Studies show that adults typically choose weights that are much lighter than the workout calls for.

6. Muscle needs to be fed

The older you get, the more resistant your muscles are to protein. So you need a bit more to ensure you don’t lose them before you’re done using them. Government recommendations are useless. They call for 10 to 35 percent of your daily calories from protein. So on a 2,000-calorie diet, that’s between 50 and 175 grams a day. Thanks Government!

A better standard for an adult lifter, courtesy of nutritionist Alan Aragon: Shoot for at least 1 gram of protein for every pound of your target body weight. If you weigh 140 pounds now and you hope to drop 20 pounds, you want at least 120 protein grams a day. Since a gram of protein is 4 calories, 120 grams would be a third of your nutrition on a 1,500-calorie-a-day diet, or a quarter of a 2,000-calorie diet. (Please note here that your calorie intake is not as important as the types of calories your taking in. Eat clean and until satisfied.  Don’t count your calories.–Coach Ben )   

7. A perfect workout should include five basic movement patterns.

The less you focus on exercises for specific muscles, and the more you focus on movement patterns that use lots of muscles, the better your body will look, feel, and perform.  (Movements such as: Wall Ball, Thrusters, Deadlifts, Squats, O-lifts, Presses, Pull ups, Rowing, KBS) 

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/blog/never-grow-old#ixzz1uZJreIqL

Check out this great explaination from a top-level Strength Coach, Mark Rippetoe.  Enjoy!!

One bit of encouragement for us all:  We must seek to pick up and move heavy things often in order to reach the top physical shape we all want to reach.  To be elite, one must be in constant pursuit of getting stronger!  Pick up something heavy today!!

Mauricio always finishes hard!  Everytime!  This is how you may look after completing this one today.

We hope all you No Excuses Mommies have the most wonderful day of your lives.  Our hope is that you feel loved, appreciated and cared for because you all are extremely special to us! Congrats to Cristina White and Catherine Camp for being on their way to being new Mommies!

Options:

1) Work on a skilled movement (i.e. Air Squat, Muscle ups, pull ups, snatches, cleans, HSPU, etc.)

2) Hit a Strength session. (i.e. – Deadlifts 5×3)

3) Make up a WOD from earlier in the week that you missed.

ENJOY!!!

Be sure to spend some extra time working on your bodies mobility using the lacrosse ball or foam roller to work the myo-facial release techniques. Check out this video with Kelly Starrett teaches us a thing or two about mobility.

Teams of 2:

4 RFT:

20 Tire Flips (heaviest tire possible) (Sub heavy DL if run out of tires)

200 m Farmers Carry (70# KB each hand – scale from there)

20 DB Thrusters (55# each hand- scale from there)

* Only one person works at a time*

Mario carrying Chris Crowder at S.A.I.D Affiliate League. 

NEA Competitors: C2B, deficit pushups, Jumping Squats (air under the heals)

Core: Partner “Leg Throwdowns”  3 x 45  sec each.

Barry Britt hitting a good “catch” position on the rower.  Notice elbows over knees, chest up with head on shoulders.  Pretty good position to be in.  

12min to find a Heavy 1 Rep Snatch Rest 4min

12min to find a Heavy 1 Rep Clean and Jerk Rest 4min

*Note* This does not say a 1 Rep Max, if you are feeling slow your goal is around 85%.  If your feeling fast and strong then your goal is 95-105%.  Only take 3-4 heavy attempts (85%-105%).  These are FULL SQUAT SNATCHES and CLEANS.

-Then-

Strength Conditioning

a.3x Max Effort Strict Pull-Up Rest 60sec

NEA Competitors: 155#/105#
NEA Big Dawgs: 135#/95#
NEA Pack: 115#/75#

NEA Preggers: 55#

Greg Hayes getting more fit even after hitting 50 yrs old.