Crossfit

Fats! Good, Bad and the Ugly

May 7, 2013 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

To begin to tackle the understanding of fats and how they relate to our health, our fitness and our overall survival, lets start with a “myth buster”, then move into some 101′s and wrap up with the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Main point of this is to take away the importance of getting your Omega 3 and 6 (n-3 and n-6) ratios to a 1:1 as you will read about below. Hope you enjoy! I will explain easy to do steps to ensure your getting balanced levels everyday.

To establish a good “base” for your diet (way of life) we recommend: Lean meats (preferably from clean sources such as grassfed, locally raised beef, wild caught fish, etc.), lots of veggies (from local or organic sources), some fruits (from local farms, “in-season”, and/or organic), some starch (sweet potatoes, yams, etc.) and nuts and seeds (macadamia nuts, walnuts, almond butter, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds – all with NO Salt and minimal processing). NO SUGAR or very little (once or twice a month). No Breads, Pasta or other processed foods. Limit going out to eat at restaurants. Cook at home and with friends!

1) Intro to Fats: the Fat myth by Ancel Keys. (http://www.stop-trans-fat.com/ancel-keys.html (http://www NULL.stop-trans-fat NULL.com/ancel-keys NULL.html))

First, we need to start this discussion by debunking a myth that fats are bad for you and that all fats are created equal. Read the link above and continue your own research on this subject to determine for yourself if fats are “Bad” for you.

2) Types of Fats and their definitions

When it comes to fats, it’s hard to keep it too simple. You need to have a basic understanding of a few terms:

Lipids – fats and oils. If it’s solid at room temperature, it’s a fat. If it’s liquid at room temperature, it’s oil. Lipids are a collection of molecules called triglycerides.

Triglycerides – a molecule comprised of three fatty acids attached to a glycerol.

Fatty Acid – carboxylic acids (COOH for you chemistry junkies) with carbon chains running 2-24 carbons long. The most abundant fatty acids in food are 16-18 carbons long.

Saturated Fatty Acid – a fatty acid in which all the links between carbons on the chain are single bonds, leaving no free electrons to potentially share with something else. This is the most stable form of a fatty acid and is generally solid at room temperature.

Unsaturated Fatty Acid – fatty acids with one or more double bond between carbons. If there is only one double bond, it is a monounsaturated fatty acid; two or more and it is a polyunsaturated fatty acids. The fatty acids in the families of omega-3, omega-6, omega-7, and omega-9 fall into this category. These are not as stable as saturated fatty acids, which is why they are liquids at room temperature. Note that this is why we suggest cooking with Coconut Oil (Saturated Fat = more stable). Cooking with Olive Oil (Monounsaturated Fat) has carcinogenic characteristics with heated.

Trans Fatty Acid – an unsaturated fatty acid that has undergone the process of hydrogenation or partial hydrogenation. The fatty acid is bombarded with hydrogen atoms until those double bonds are broken up and the resulting free electron is shared with a hydrogen. These are really weird fats that look saturated, but the body generally doesn’t know how to work with them. There are some naturally occurring trans fats in ruminant animal fats, but these are different than the redheaded stepchildren coming from the hydrogenation process.

Melting Point- the temperature at which a lipid goes from solid to liquid.

Smoke Point – the temperature at which a lipid begins to break down to glycerol and free fatty acids. This is a bad place for fats as they can potentially turn into very toxic substances from here. http://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/oilchart.html (http://www NULL.clovegarden NULL.com/ingred/oilchart NULL.html).

3) what we want to make sure we get in our diet, what we want to avoid.

Saturated Fat sources: animal fats, coconut oil/ flakes/ milk.

Unsaturated Fats (Mono, Poly) sources: Nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil, etc.

Avoid: Trans Fat and interestified (man made) fats

What are Good, Bad, and Ugly?

Good: Saturated Fats from animals (15% of fat intake), Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats (1:2, 1:3 fatty acid ratio of n-3:n-6) – 1:1 is best!

Bad: Trans Fats and interesterified fats (man-made fats that are harmful from Processed foods).

Ugly: Too much omega 6: (This is the take away for most of us! We need to be cognitive of our Omega (n-3,n-6) intake each day and make sure we are doing what we can to level these ratios out to again a 1:1 preferably but 1:2, 1:3 will be ok.) How to get there? First, know that having the proper balance between n-3 and n-6 fats is very important for optimal health. From there, increase your omega-3 (which most of us are sorely deficient in), then you will also want to decrease your consumption of n-6, found primarily in:

Corn oil
Soy oil
Canola oil
Safflower oil
Sunflower oil

These oils are found in many foods we eat and don’t even realize it. Chances are, every time you go out to eat, you are ingesting one of these oils. The overabundance of these oils in processed foods of all kinds explains our excess n-6 levels. Why? When our n-3 to n-6 ratios are at 1:20 (research shows most Americans are in this range) then your blood gets “sticky” and causes it to be more likely to clot which will increase your risk for heart attack and stroke. Benefits of taking n-3 include helping to reduce symptoms of hypertension, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), joint pain and other rheumatoid problems, as well as certain skin ailments. Some research has even shown that n-3s can boost the immune system and help protect us from an array of illnesses including Alzheimer’s disease.

How to get back to a 1:1 ratio?

1) As stated above, avoid oils that have high concentrations of omega 6 by avoiding most processed foods that are covered in these oils. (look at ingredients)

2) Eat foods rich in Omega 3: Coldwater Fish such as Salmon (wild caught), Tuna, Mackerel, Anchovies, Sardines. Here is a LINK (http://www NULL.health NULL.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/report/html/table_g2_adda2 NULL.htm) for amounts of EPA/DHA in each fish

Other sources of omega-3s include broccoli, cantaloupe, spinach, grape leaves, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, walnuts, and macadamia nuts which are also packed with n-3 and one of my favorites!

“About an ounce — or one handful — of walnuts have about 2.5 grams of omega-3s,” says an Registered Dietician from WebMD. “That’s equal to about 3.5 ounces of salmon.”

Besides getting more omega-3s, you can also help your heart by replacing some omega-6s from cooking oils with a third fatty acid known as omega-9 (oleonic acid). This is a monounsaturated fat found primarily in olive oil. If cooking with Olive oil, get the “light” and not “Extra virgin” and cook on very low heat. Use it on your Salads along with Vinaigrette. (my favorite!)

“Factors found in olive oil can also help boost the good cholesterol, which can also help your heart,” says Magee, another RD from WebMD.

3) Supplement with Omega 3 Fatty acids from Fish oil or Krill Oil (new preferred type) Why? Krill Oil has phospholipids which aid in transport of EPA/DHA because they are water-soluble and more bioavailable.

These are great sources:

- Progenex Krill Oil - http://www.progenexusa.com/Shop.aspx?afid=NEA10 (http://www NULL.progenexusa NULL.com/Shop NULL.aspx?afid=NEA10)

- SFH Fish oil - http://www.sfh.com/products/omega_3-oil (http://www NULL.sfh NULL.com/products/omega_3-oil)

Some notes of caution when taking these: (Talk to your physician before taking high dosages of Fish oil – 7 or more grams a day) – Taking high dosages can thin your blood and cause you to bruise and even worse “bleed out” if you were fatally wounded (God forbid). Be sure to refrigerate your fish oils and krill oil to ensure they don’t spoil.

Here is a list of Fish Oil/Krill oil Benefits for your enjoyment:

Heart Health (http://www NULL.omegavia NULL.com/fish-oil-heart-health/)
Fish oil helps:

Promote healthy heart beat
Moderate growth rate of atherosclerotic plaque
Naturally balance triglycerides, an important heart health marker

This is why the American Heart Association recommends that you take 1000 mg of Omega-3 everyday.
Joint Care (http://www NULL.omegavia NULL.com/fish-oil-arthritis/)
Omega-3 is a powerful anti-inflammatory for your joints.

Omega-3:

Reduces joint discomfort
Reduces morning stiffness
Helps reduces the amount of painkillers needed
Reduces enzymes that destroy cartilage
Increases grip strength
Enhances walking pace

Brain Health (http://www NULL.omegavia NULL.com/fish-oil-brain-health/)
More than half the fats in the brain is Omega-3 DHA. And the lining of the nerve cells in the brain is lined with Omega-3. So, brain performance & function (cognition) is strongly influenced by the amount of Omega-3 in your diet.

Increased levels of Omega-3 helps:

Enhance memory
Support thinking speed
Increase overall cognition
Manage age-related brain decline

Mood (http://www NULL.omegavia NULL.com/fish-oil-depression/)
EPA Omega-3 is crucial in maintaining mood health. In several studies, EPA has been found to be as effective as prescription anti-depressants.

Several studies have shown that persons with depression have low Omega-3 levels and high Omega-6 levels.

The other fats you want to avoid are the trans fats (http://articles NULL.mercola NULL.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/12/24/Trans-Fats-Can-Be-Deadly NULL.aspx). Trans fats are formed when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil during food processing in order to make it solidify. This process, known as hydrogenation, makes fats less likely to spoil, so foods stay fresh longer, have a longer shelf life and also have a less greasy feel. The end result of the hydrogenation process is a completely unnatural fat that causes dysfunction and chaos in your body on a cellular level……your body doesn’t know what to do with it.

Here is an interesting piece from the Agriculture and Commerce sites.

(http://www NULL.crossfitinvictus NULL.com/?attachment_id=3997)

Interestingly, our health issues from these to time periods are dramatically different! Chronic diseases that we deal with now were mostly non-existant during the late 19th century.

FOR THOSE OF YOU AT THE 1st NUTRITION CLINIC AT NO EXCUSES CROSSFIT: 1) We challenged everyone to get veggies in EVERY meal of the day. Increase you veggie intake.

Something I do to help ENSURE I get the needed amount of micronutrients and phytonutrients in my diet everyday, I take Juice Plus. Click HERE (http://www NULL.412juiceplus NULL.com) for more info on this product.

www.412juiceplus.com (https://www NULL.juiceplus NULL.com/nsa/content/Home NULL.soa?site=bd77004)

MORE Helpful Resources:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909 (http://www NULL.ncbi NULL.nlm NULL.nih NULL.gov/pubmed/12442909)

http://www.omegavia.com/ (http://www NULL.omegavia NULL.com/)

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/good-fat-bad-fat-facts-about-omega-3 (http://www NULL.webmd NULL.com/food-recipes/features/good-fat-bad-fat-facts-about-omega-3)

www.robbwolf.com (http://www NULL.robbwolf NULL.com)

http://whole9life.com/ (http://whole9life NULL.com/)

www.marksdailyapple.com (http://www NULL.marksdailyapple NULL.com/)

www.mercola.com (http://www NULL.mercola NULL.com/beef/omega3_oil NULL.htm)

Tags: Ancel Keys, Coconut oil, crossfit, Fat, Omega 3:6 ratios, Saturated Fats, Triglycerides, Unsaturated Fats

Jeff Kingery

November 26, 2012 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

Jeff played many sports growing up, but ended up finding his passion with volleyball. During a 20+ year volleyball career, Jeff played and competed at the AA/Open levels and achieved many highlights including AAU High School All American, and helping lead adult teams to regional championships in both the Cactus and Southern regions.

Jeff also discovered a passion for coaching, and started working with younger teams while still a Junior Olympic player. Over his coaching career, Jeff has coached collegiately as an Assistant Coach at both the NCAA DI and DIII levels. He also coached USAV Junior Olympic teams with a primary goal of preparing high school players for the rigors of collegiate athletics. Jeff served as Coaching Director for Vertical One Volleyball Club while leading their 17 and Under team to top 10 finishes in 3 Junior Olympic National Qualifiers and earning a birth to Junior Olympic Nationals.

Jeff has also toyed with sprint triathlons and became an avid road cyclist after retiring from volleyball.

After a year of being prodded by several friends to try Crossfit, Jeff finally dropped in for a WOD at a local box in the fall of 2011. The WOD was a huge chipper taking nearly 40 minutes to complete. Jeff left humbled and wanting more. Jeff started working out at No Excuses at the end of 2011. He quickly discovered an opportunity to re-engage in his true passion, coaching, and immediately set out on a path to educate himself on fundamentals of Crossfit.

As a volleyball coach, Jeff has always believed that technique and out-executing your opponents in the fundamentals was the fastest path to victory. In Crossfit, we call this virtuosity, and Jeff is eager to help guide the No Excuses athletes towards virtuosity in their fitness journeys.

Tags: crossfit, Fitness, tyler white

Try Us Out
at No Cost

September 13, 2012 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

Tags: crossfit, Suwanee, warrior dash

CF Kids
Sessions

September 11, 2012 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

Tags: crossfit, Suwanee, warrior dash

Tuesday, April 24, 2012.

April 23, 2012 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

3 RFT:
- 7 Overhead Squats
- 400m Run

NEA Competitors: 165#/115#
NEA Big Dawgs: 135#/95#
NEA Pack: 115#/75#

Core: 100 Situps FT

Here are two good videos that will help your running. The first does a good job explaining the 3 parts to the Pose Running Method. The second is a good explanation from the founder of the Pose Methon, Dr. Nicholas Romanov of what the Pose Method is.

Tags: crossfit, Overhead Squats, running

Try Us Out
at No Cost

April 18, 2012 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

Tags: crossfit, Suwanee, warrior dash

Explanation of CrossFit Programming

April 17, 2012 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

How do we program at NEA (No Excuses CrossFit) and why?

That is the theme of this blog and we want to give you some short but concise information into how we program and the reason behind the programming. We hope this will help you, mentally, as you prepare each day to better yourself as a human being (athlete). We, the Coaches at NEA, are here to improve your movement (your ability to move) and do so at an Elite level. You could say that we are, “Movement Specialists”. This is our aim every time we come into the facility…….to teach you and improve your ability to move well as an individual. If you’re leaving every day with the thoughts of, “Wow, I feel more competent and able in some aspect of my fitness.”, then we are succeeding at doing our job.

Robb Wolf Coaching

Robb Wolf (http://robbwolf NULL.com/)teaching the overhead squat.

NEA uses the CrossFit template with a 5 on 2 off work/rest schedule. An explanation of the template is linked HERE (http://library NULL.crossfit NULL.com/free/pdf/06_03_CF_Template NULL.pdf)and will give you all a better understanding of the crossfit programming in the gym. Read through it for further understanding of how we program and why.

We program WOD’s on Saturday but they are outside the normal scope of this template and for those athletes that have rested at least one day through the week. If you have trained 5 days in a row, we want you to rest. It can be an “active” rest but needs to be something that doesn’t tear your body down.

Why do we program this way? The answer is two-fold. One, we program with the 5 on 2 off schedule because it fits the daily schedule of most of your lives here at No Excuses. If you, the athlete, has the time to train a 3 on 1 off work/rest cycle then we have found that to be most effective. We have just seen better data improvement with the 3 on 1 off. You may be asking, “effective at what Coach Ben?” and “Why don’t we use this 3 on 1 off then.” The answer is to improve your work capacity across broad time and modal domains. This being the second part of this “two-fold” answer. In other words, being able to move a large load (Force) over long distances (distance) and do so quickly (time). This is the equation for power output of any object. In this case…..us. And effectively how we can measure, observe and repeat our fitness program to determine if we are becoming more “Fit”! This being the end goal. We use the 5 on 2 off because it too is very effective and works best for the community at NEA.

One thing to understand is that this is a journey for all of us and every person that walks this earth can improve in some aspect of their fitness and certainly improve their work capacity. So, the point here it to start training and practicing with this in mind. ”Get to workin and workin hard!” There just isn’t any other simple way to put it. ”Get to work!”. My new motto!

We are continuing something we started a few months back with the athletic levels or scaling options for you all to know what load to use or what movements you should be scaling and so forth.

Here are the classifications:

NEA Pack = all those fairly new to crossfit or need to scale most of the WODs.

NEA Big Dawgs = all those athletes that can pretty much do most WOD’s as Rx’d. (prescribed).

NEA Competitors = all those athletes looking to compete in the sport and take the fitness to the highest level possible.

Some days you may be able to do a workout as a NEA Competitor and others as a NEA Big Dawg. The goal would be to intelligently choose a scaling option that best fits where your level of fitness is at the moment. For Ex: If you are doing “Fran” with 95# Thrusters, then you 1 rep max Thrusters should be somewhere around 190#, at the very least. If you can not perform a 1x Thruster at 190# then don’t do “Fran” with 95#. Scale it to 50% of your 1 RM. If you don’t know your 1 RM, find it!

The rule of thumb for any WOD with a movement that is performed more the 40x (reps) is to use at most 50% of your 1 RM (rep max).

This is the art of the programming for CrossFit. If you apply your will, effort and dedication to your training, you will see yourself reach levels of fitness that you only thought would be possible with a miracle! What you put into this program, you will get out the same amount, if not more! This is a basic principle in life to adhere to, in my opinion. ”What you give to the world, you will get out of it the same or more.”,or said another way, ”What you sow, you shall reap.”, and yet another, “The amount of joy you help bring someone is the amount of joy you will receive yourself.”. Not letting this be the motivator for giving.

So, our encouragement is for you to apply every ounce of effort and sweat you have to every WOD…….every time!

Training hard alongside you,

Coach Ben

*please forgive any typing or grammatical errors* I’m a Strength and Conditioning coach.

Tags: coaching, crossfit, Crossfit programming, robb wolf

Why Kids should Train early in age.

April 16, 2012 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

Why do we need to teach kids starting at a young age?

1) Teach them proper mechanics of human movement in all domains, early, before “bad habits/movements” are learned.

2) Keeps them safe and significantly lowers the risk of injury.

3) They learn to be more effective and efficient which will transfer over to any sport or life activity they pursue.

Here is Kelly Brown of CrossFit Agoge (http://www NULL.crossfitagoge NULL.com/) and CrossFit Kids (http://www NULL.crossfitkids NULL.com/) Training staff explaining the importance of the shoulder and hip in human movement or performance.

Tags: crossfit, crossfit kids, hip, shoulder

Try Us Out
at No Cost

April 3, 2012 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

Tags: crossfit, Suwanee, warrior dash

Tyler White

April 3, 2012 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

Tyler’s athletic background consists mainly of soccer. He began playing soccer at the age of
4 and played two years on the collegiate level at Augusta State University and Georgia Perimeter College. Following his first two years, he determined that his soccer career should come to an end due to a need to focus on finishing school and realizing that there was no future in soccer beyond college. After his soccer career ended, Tyler abandoned any form of exercise for the next several years. “It was not until I got my first job out of college in 2005 that I began working out in a typical bodybuilding split routine with running as my main form of “cardio.”"

In 2007, Tyler also began training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and over the next four years worked to achieve a blue belt under Paul Creighton who is a black belt under Renzo Gracie.

In September of 2010, after being dissatisfied with his current workout program, Tyler and his wife walked into No Excuses CrossFit in an effort to find a new training program. The high intensity workout and the effort on display by the athletes was a shock to the couple. Initially thinking that CrossFit was not for him, the weights being slammed, people screaming, and music blaring quickly became a facet of CrossFit that Tyler fell in love with.

In Tyler’s own words: “I have seen a miraculous change in my personal fitness over the past year and a half and I have witnessed changes in other people’s lives as well. Aside from huge improvements in my physical fitness, I have also seen dramatic improvements in other aspects of my life.” This passion for CrossFit and the positive changes in his and others’ lives led Tyler to pursue coaching at No Excuses and in July 2011 Tyler became a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer. “My mission in life is to follow Jesus Christ and the path He has chosen for me. Through coaching, I am able to give back to the community and help improve the lives of others.”

Email Me (http://tyler null@null noexcusescrossfit NULL.com)

Tags: crossfit, Fitness, tyler white

Sunday, April 1, 2012.

March 31, 2012 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

3000 Burpees for Time!!

Tags: burpees, crossfit, Fitness

Saturday, March 31, 2012

March 30, 2012 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

Team WOD: 200m Sled Push (200#), 40 burpees, 200m Sled push(200#), 40 burpees

Tags: chris spealler, crossfit, Fitness, sled push

Friday, March 30, 2012

March 29, 2012 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

3 rounds for time of:

10 Deadlifts 275/185# (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com/watch?v=Syt7A23YnpA ) -
50 Double-Unders (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com/watch?v=h7XjUbUpeHE)

Click on Links above to view Demo Videos.

(http://photobucket NULL.com)

Tags: crossfit, Deadlift, Double unders, Fitness, no excuses crossfit, Suwanee, training

Thursday, March 29, 2012.

March 28, 2012 | Posted by Ben Davis | Comments Off

Row 5k

Work on Mobility (http://www NULL.mobilitywod NULL.com) and other skills. Pullups (http://youtu NULL.be/hdRes_gY3d4), DU’s (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com/watch?v=h7XjUbUpeHE), MU’s (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com/watch?v=ZsdmvmCM6cI), etc. ENJOY!!!