R.I.C.E. and fish oil

Crossfit has been called “the sport of fitness.”  Sport.  That’s the key word here.  Has anyone ever played a sport without getting a little banged up?  I don’t think so.  Unless you sucked and warmed the bench all the time, you’ve no doubt had an injury or two.  This goes with the territory.  When we are pushing ourselves to the limit on a constant basis, we will no doubt end up with some aches and pains.  Hopefully it doesn’t go past that point into something more serious, but in the event you have an injury, you need to be smart and take care of it.  I’ve had a few interactions with clients lately that led to this blog post.

I deal with aches and pains on a regular basis.  My shoulders always seem to hurt for one reason or another.  I have chronic tendinitis in my left elbow from years of guitar playing and kettlebell work.  And for some reason, my knees will hurt for no particular reason and then be fine in a couple days.  Ahh, the joy of aging.  You young’ins in your mid 20’s may not know what I’m talking about yet, but you will 🙂  So, what do you do when all of a sudden something hurts?  As simple as it seems, ice is your best friend in these cases.  Within the first 24-48 hours of any injury, your focus should be on decreasing the swelling with ice.  The age-old method known as R.I.C.E. is a great rule of thumb.  R.I.C.E. stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation.  I would also add fish oil to that equation.  So I guess we could call it F.O.R.I.C.E. Fish oil is a great natural anti-inflammatory and helps with tons of other stuff.  You should already be taking it daily.  If you don’t know how much to take check this out http://whole9life.com/2010/03/robb-wolf-fish-oil-calculator/

So, let’s break this R.I.C.E thing down a bit.  First, rest.  This doesn’t mean inactivity.  Just take it easy on whatever part you’ve injured.  You’d be amazed at what you can do in the gym with an injury.  Talk to a trainer.  We can advise you on what to do. I like to look at injuries as an opportunity to focus on a weakness in another area that may have never focused on had you not been limited.  Second, ice.  Apply an ice pack or bag of ice to the injured area for no longer than 15 or 20 minutes at a time, a few times a day.  Right before you sleep and immediately after activity are the best times for this.  Be careful to protect the skin.  Make sure it’s not too cold.  You can actually give yourself frost bite if you’re stupid about it 😉  Third, compression.  Wrap it up.  If you sprained your ankle, wrap it up when you walk on it.  Compression also helps prevent swelling.  Last we have elevation.  Try to get the injured area above your heart.  Gravity will keep too much blood from building up and causing swelling.

It seems simple but following these steps will help immensely. Next time you get an ache, try it out.  And start taking fish oil.  Now.

New Year = new eating plan!

OK peeps, time to clean up your diet.  Luckily, we’re here to help.  Later this month we will be holding a nutrition seminar.  It will be at 11:00am on Saturday, January 29th.  Andy will be discussing the merits of good eating and how to go about adjusting your diet for optimum health and performance.  If you have recently joined CFHW, it’s free.  If you’ve already been through your initial nutrition consultation and want a refresh, it’s only $20!  But act fast, spots are filling up.  Sign up at the gym ASAP.  To get you started, here’s some basic information on the two diets we suggest our clients follow: the Zone Diet and the Paleo Diet.

Zone

The Zone Diet is a way of balancing all your meals between the 3 basic macro-nutrient categories – protein, carbs and fat.  It prescribes a balance of 30% protein, 30% fat and 40% carbs at every meal and snack.  Below are some pros and cons to the Zone.

Pros:

• don’t necessarily have to change “what” you eat, just how much
• portions are controlled for you
• macronutrients are balanced, therefore preventing spikes in blood sugar levels and sustaining energy for a long time
• after initial learning curve, easy to follow
• good 1st step toward a better diet.

Cons:

• doesn’t control “quality” of food
• initial learning curve can be frustrating
• measurement process isn’t always available

Paleo

The paleo diet is sometimes referred to as the “caveman” diet.  In other words, if our ancestors didn’t eat it, you don’t eat it.  It’s pretty simple.  No grains, no dairy, no processed foods.  Meat, fish, veggies, fruit and nuts.  That’s it!

Pros:

• premium quality of food
• low amount of inflammatories in your diet
• simple to understand
• all natural ingredients
• so easy a caveman can do it (hope we don’t get sued for saying that)

Cons:

• very restricted diet
• can be expensive
• requires lots of planning and frequent trips to the market

If you want to be awesome, you can do some homework on your own before you show up to the seminar.  Otherwise, come prepared to learn, and have your measurements taken.  Oh yeah, you will be measured.

links:

• http://www.zonediet.com
• http://journal.crossfit.com/2004/05/zone-meal-plans-crossfit-journ.tpl
• http://robbwolf.com/

I want to get in shape, but I don’t want to bulk up.

These are the words I’ve heard a million times from countless female clients.  They want to get fit, “tone up,” and be healthy, but they don’t want to add muscle.  I usually try to explain to them how difficult it is for a woman to bulk up.  How you have to really try to get bulky.  How you have to drastically increase your protein intake and lift heavy multiple times a week.  But it goes in one ear and out the other.   I’ve heard some great quotes from other trainers.  Andy tells them “you can’t burn fat without building muscle.  There is no ‘toned,’ only healthy or unhealthy.”  These are good points.  Rachel says “if you don’t build muscle you’re going to get fat.”  This usually scares them just enough to pick the bar up one more time, but that only lasts so long.  The problem is our fucked up notion of what beauty is.  I recently read an amazing blog by Kristin Darguzas on BlogHer.com.  Her quote really sums it up. “Aspiring to look like an undernourished teenager is more than slightly insane. The definition of fit needs an overhaul in the mainstream media.” You can find her blog here.  I suggest you read it.  It’s great.

http://www.blogher.com/warped-beauty-standards-and-embracing-buff

So come on ladies, let’s get strong!

And for those of you who haven’t seen this yet, enjoy.

Zone Diet Nutrition Seminar – December 18th

Lose weight and increase your performance!

The Zone Diet is extensively used by professional sports teams, Olympic Athletes, and the CrossFit community to stay lean, increase energy, and increase performance.

This Zone Diet seminar will discuss:

• Powerful effects of food on health and fitness, fat storage & fat loss.
• Carbs, proteins and fats: what are the best choices and why?
• The simple hand / eye method of following the Zone diet.
• Tips for food shopping and eating during the holidays!!!

What: Zone Diet Nutrition Seminar

When: 11am December 18^th

Where: CrossFit Hollywood

How: Sign-up at the front desk

Why: Because your WOD depends on it!!!

Cost: $20

What should I eat?

Here’s a scenario that comes up all the time. A new athlete approaches a trainer. They’ve been coming in regularly for a couple months now and are not seeing the results they thought they would.

Athlete: “I’ve been doing 3 on 1 off and I’m not losing any weight.”
Trainer: “Well, how’s your diet?”

And then comes the pause, and you have your answer. Want results? Then you have to eat right. Some will say your health and well being is 80% diet, 20% exercise. I think that’s a little extreme, but it’s at least 60/40. So, what should you eat? That can be a loaded topic. Allow me to scratch the surface.

As Americans we have been bombarded with misinformation about what a healthy diet consists of. The food pyramid we all grew up with has led to countless occurences of chronic diseases like obesity, coronary heart disease, many cancers, and diabetes. In fact, the food pyramid that promotes large quantities of grains wasn’t invented by any nutrition experts, but instead by the people who are growing those very products. Of course they want you to eat a lot of them, they’ll make more money if you do. (Sorry, my left wing UC Berkeley education is coming through a little). OK, back to cold, hard facts. Low fat, high carb diets kill. High protein, high fat, low carb diets make us thrive, and are ideal for athletic performance.

“So, what should I eat?” Well, keep it simple, for starters. The more ingredients your food has, the worse it is for you. The longer it can survive in your kitchen, the worse it is for you. Food is perishable. That’s a good thing. A good piece of advice is to stay on the perimeter of the grocery store and avoid the shelves in the middle as much as possible. This is a great first step towards a healthier diet. If you want to dive in deeper, and I hope you do, there are many ways. 2 good ones are the Zone Diet and the Paleo Diet, and if you’re hard core you can combine them and do Paleo-Zone. I’ll summarize to give you a basic understanding so you can decide which to try first.

ZONE

To put it simply, every time you eat, your meals and snacks should consist of 40% carbohydrates, 30% proteins, and 30% fats. How much you eat depends on your size and activity level. Try to get your carbs mostly from vegetables and some fruits. Avoid processed food like breads, pasta, rice, etc. Fats should be natural, like olive oil, avocado, and nuts.

http://www.zonediet.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_diet

PALEO

The caveman diet. If our ancestors didn’t eat it, you don’t either. Meat, fish, vegetables, fruits and nuts, and that’s it. No dairy (eggs are ok, eat the yolk). If you can’t kill it or pick it, don’t put it in your body.
The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet by Robb Wolf

Home

So decide which of these you’d like to try and go for it. Now, changing your diet is a process. It will be easier if you pick a few things at a time to adjust and make the switch gradually. However, if you want to test yourself to see results immediately, then be strict for a month and see how you feel. We have food journals to help you keep track of your food, and your trainers are here to answer any questions you may have.