Have you ever made poor food choices because of cost? What is the REAL cost of this cheap food, in dollars and on our health?

I know that it seems cheaper to get a burger and fries off a value menu rather than eat a meal that consists of an animal protein, fresh veggies or fruit, and some avocado or nuts. What we see is the upfront costs, not the true cost. The true cost is hidden.

Unhealthy food is cheaper because our government policies support its production. The money that the government pays to subsidized corn and soy is outrageous. These foods then end up in the food supply as high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated soybean oil that are the foundation of almost all foods that are processed or manufactured, and nearly all fast food. Not only are these crops converted into processed foods, but they go to feed the cattle for meat and dairy production. With the government helping pay for these crops it’s no wonder why the price tag is so much lower.

What about the other costs that we may face? We all know that bad foods are bad for our health. When you eat unhealthy foods, the costs of medical visits, co-pays, prescription medications, and other health services skyrocket. It’s been said that seventy-two percent of Americans are overweight and more than one third are medically obese. One in three children born today will be diabetic in their lifetime and the life expectancy of our population is declining for the first time in human history.There are other non-economic costs of eating poorly as well. You reduce your ability to enjoy life in the moment due to increased fatigue, low-grade health complaints, obesity, depression, and more.

The biggest advantage of eating well now is not just preventing disease and costs later, but simply enjoying each day to its fullest. You can make that happen.

This is what you need to remember:

The true cost of unhealthy food isn’t just the price tag–in fact, the real costs are hidden.

Weekly Recipe

Roasted Butternut Squash & Red Onion with Rosemary

1/2 butternut squash, seeded, peeled and sliced
4 red onions, peeled and sliced
4 Tbs rosemary leaves, chopped
4 Tbs olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking tray with parchment paper. Add chopped squash, onions and rosemary to tray and cover with olive oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the squash is cooked and the onions are browned. Serve.

Row x 20 calories
Wall Ball x 20 (men: 20 lbs; women: 14 lbs)
Sumo Deadlift High-Pull x 20 (men: 75 lbs; women: 55 lbs)
Box Jump x 20 (20″)
Push Press x 20 (men: 75 lbs; women: 55 lbs)
Rest 1 minute

3 rounds, each for time

* If participating in the Fight Gone Bad challenge, scale weights to match your division.  Scale reps to finish each round in under 5 minutes.

In observance of Labor Day, we will only hold one class, at 9:30 am, this coming Monday, September 6th.

The Sunday 9:30am group doing hang power cleans, 8/29/10

Power Clean
5 sets of 3 reps
same weight for all working sets, use more weight than last time

Then:

“Friane”

Deadlift (men: 225 lbs; women: 155 lbs)
Pullup

21, 15, and 9 reps per round

The 4:30pm group, 8/20/10

Back Squat
3 sets of 5 reps
same weight for all working sets, use more weight than last time

Then:

“Annie”

Double Under
Situp

50, 40, 30, 20, and 10 reps per round

Guy recovering from a metcon workout, 8/24/10

The following is a compilation of several posts published on our blog nearly two years ago.  I’ve decided to stitch it together and publish it again primarily because we have so many athletes who have never seen it.  However, it is also a good reminder that our “metcon” workouts are intense for a reason, and that they must be performed with intensity to be most effective.

In this post, I’ll explain the differences between anaerobic and aerobic exercise, and how we use them in CrossFit.

This requires a brief overview of something called metabolic pathways, which are the chemical processes that provide energy in the human body.  There are three such pathways: the phosphagen pathway, the glycolytic pathway, and the oxidative pathway.  The phosphagen pathway is the primary source of energy for high-powered efforts lasting less than 10 seconds.  The glycolytic pathway is the main contributor to moderate-powered efforts lasting up to 2 or 3 minutes.  The oxidative pathway is the lowest-powered and is used for longer efforts.

The goal of the CrossFit program is balanced development of all three metabolic pathways.

Each metabolic pathway can be classified as either aerobic or anaerobic.  Aerobic means the presence of oxygen is required.  Of the metabolic pathways, the oxidative pathway is the only one that is aerobic.  Thus, aerobic exercise is that in which the majority of the energy is generated through the oxidative pathway.  This means lower-powered exercise that typically lasts longer than a few minutes (for instance, a 5km run).

The other two metabolic pathways are anaerobic in nature, meaning they don’t require the presence of oxygen.  The first is the phosphagen pathway, which is the highest-powered of the three metabolic pathways, but also the shortest-lived.  Our muscles only contain about 5-8 seconds worth of the chemicals required for the phosphagen pathway.  The other is the glycolytic pathway, which is moderately-powered and can typically be used for up to a few minutes.  The chemical “waste” from the glycolytic pathway is the primary contributor to muscle fatigue.

The key point is: anaerobic exercise is shorter and more intense; aerobic exercise is longer and less intense.

Aerobic (lower-powered, less intense) exercise has a number of benefits.  It burns body fat and improves cardiovascular function, thereby improving your ability to perform further aerobic exercise.  Unfortunately, aerobic exercises also burns muscle and decreases your capacity to perform anaerobic exercise.  Check out the physique of any competitive endurance athlete to see this — elite marathoners look like cancer patients and usually have a vertical leap of only a few inches.  Also, while aerobic exercise does burn fat, it largely only does so during exercise.

Anaerobic (higher-powered, more intense) exercise has its own benefits.  It builds muscle, improves bone density, and of course, improves your capacity for further anaerobic exercise.  It also burns fat to a greater degree than aerobic exercise, because it does so not just during exercise, but also afterward.  The beauty of anaerobic exercise is that it can also be used to improve your capacity for aerobic exercise.

To summarize, anaerobic exercise has the same benefits as aerobic exercise, without any of the negative effects.

It makes sense then, that anaerobic exercise is the staple of the CrossFit exercise regime.   Anaerobic exercise can be used to condition all three metabolic pathways.  At the heart of our approach is something called “high intensity interval training” (HIIT, for short).  HIIT means doing short bouts of exercise at unsustainable (anaerobic) levels of intensity with periods of rest interspersed.  The work and rest intervals of HIIT can be manipulated to condition different metabolic pathways.  Below is a table from the October 2002 issue of the CrossFit Journal (page 5, figure 3) that shows the details.  A very similar table can be found in exercise science textbooks as well, such as the “Essentials of Personal Training” and “Essentials of Strength and Conditioning” from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

CrossFit workouts implement these intervals in a number of ways.  In workouts like “Tabata Something Else” or “Fight Gone Bad”, you are asked to exercise and rest for certain periods of time: 20 seconds on, then 10 seconds off for Tabata; for “Fight Gone Bad”, it’s five one-minute rounds, followed by a one-minute rest.  In a workout like “Barbara”, you have to do a certain amount of work (20 pullups, 30 pushups, 40 situps, 50 squats) before you get to rest (three minutes).  Similarly, we occasionally do rowing or running workouts in which you go a certain distance, then rest.  Finally, in many CrossFit workouts, the intervals are created by the rest you have to take to get through it.  An example of this is “Angie” (100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats).  These self-enforced intervals are probably the most common form of intervals in CrossFit workouts.

CrossFit uses anaerobic exercise through a variety of intervals to condition all three metabolic pathways.

So what is this term “metcon” that we throw around so often?  The term “metcon” is short for “metabolic conditioning”.  In reality, even heavy lifting is a form of metabolic conditioning (for the phosphagen pathway), but it is almost never what is meant when the term “metcon” is used.

In common usage, “metcons” refer to the CrossFit workouts that involve functional movements executed at high intensity, resulting in high heart rate for a short to medium lengths of time (usually 3-30 minutes).

Run 200m
Overhead Squat x 10 (95lb, 65lb)
Ring Dip x 10
Sumo Deadlift High Pull x 10 (95lb, 65lb)
Walking Lunge x 10

5 rounds for time

Addie demonstrates engaging the shoulders in the overhead squat

Deadlift
1 set of 5 reps
use more weight than last time

Strict Chin-Ups (palms facing toward you)
3 sets, each for max reps

Then:

Thruster Ladder (115lb, 75lb)

Do one rep the first minute, two reps the second minute, three reps the third minute, etc.  Continue for as long as you’re able.  Time cap at 15 minutes.

Coaches prediction: Scott V will be the first CFG member to go sub 1:23 on the 500m row

The actions of individuals, brought together for a common purpose or goal, which subordinate the needs of the individual to the needs of the group.

Together
Everyone
Accomplishes
More

Most, if not all, of us have experienced the notion of teamwork at some point in our lives.  Whether we consciously know it or not, teamwork on some level occurs constantly in our daily lives.  Whether it is at work, home or play, we rarely accomplish goals without some form of assistance.

Rugby scrums involve maximum effort from all team members.

Teamwork developed naturally out of necessity with the notion that more individuals working toward a greater good could accomplish more than an individual working toward an individual need.  We inherently have the idea of teamwork wired into our genes.  It should come as no surprise that most of us would put forth more effort when the success of the team is at stake, rather than one’s own self accomplishment.

Part of that phenomenon is the fact that there’s responsibility and accountability within a team environment, which far exceeds anything on an individual level.  We can rationalize our own disappointments and talk ourselves into a level of effort that we’re satisfied with.  But when the desires of a group are brought into play, we tend to overestimate the expectations of the group, and therefore exert more far more effort.  For some reason, letting down the team is an unacceptable outcome.

Consider the benefits of teamwork the next time you’re formulating a personal goal. We tend to internalize our own goals to the point where enlisting others seems obtrusive.   There’s no reason why you can’t enlist the help of others in helping you push past a plateau and reach new heights.  In some cases, it’s the only way to get there.

Shoulder Press
3 sets of 5 reps
same weight for all working sets, use more weight than last time

Then:

Hang Power Clean Ladder (115lb, 75lb)

Do one rep the first minute, two reps the second minute, three reps the third minute, etc.  Continue for as long as you’re able.  Time cap at 15 minutes.

Scott focusing before performing a set of back squats.

“Jackie”

Row 1000m
Thruster x 50 (men: 45 lbs; women: 35 lbs)
Pullup x 30

Sally's back and under coaches' orders not to use her left arm, 8/25/10