Successful overhead squatting truly is a matter of inches.  If the bar is too far forward, you end up squatting on your toes, your elbows start to bend, and it’s a fight to drive out of the bottom position without the assistance of your glutes or hamstrings.  If the bar is too far back, you fight to keep your torso upright while losing stable shoulder positioning.  Inches either way make a huge difference.

Most of the challenges of overhead squatting stem from the ability or inability to remain stable under load.  The only way to remain stable under load is to have the required mobility in the shoulders, hips, and ankles and a tight core.  With the recent emphasis on the Olympic snatch, every little inch exposes HUGE challenges for some.

But the good news is that EVERYONE can overhead squat with a little more (maybe a lot more) mobility work.

If you had to pick one aspect (yes, just one) of the overhead squat to work on, what would it be?

May 18, 2012 WOD

Power snatch x 5 (120lb, 75lb)
Pull up x 5
Push up x 5

7 rounds

“You find out that life is just a game of inches. So is football. Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small. I mean one half step too late or too early, you don’t quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast and you don’t quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the game, every minute, every second.”
- Al Pacino, “Any Given Sunday”

Old cheesy football movies are full of profound wisdom. Like when Keanu Reeves says in The Replacements, “Pain heals, chicks dig scars, glory lasts forever.”

Okay, maybe the Keanu Reeves quote isn’t exactly wise, but I think there’s some truth in Al Pacino’s inspirational speech from Any Given Sunday. Life does seem like a game of inches in so many ways.

Like a poor night of sleep causing you to have a bad day at work. Or saying the wrong thing at the wrong time to your spouse. Or bending your arms just a little bit on your power snatch. That “inch” of difference can really screw things up!

But the game of inches can be a positive thing too. Going to bed an hour earlier may be the “inch” you need to kick ass at work the next day. Saying something nice out of the blue may be the “inch” you need to make someone’s day. And the tiniest change in your timing can be the “inch” you need to nail that lift at the gym.

Where do you see the game of inches in life? Is it encouraging to know that success is only an inch away? Or frustrating that such small things can make huge differences?

Pre-fight stare down? I have no idea what was going on here! 4/11/12

May 17, 2012 WOD

Practice forward rolls and forward rolls from headstands and handstands for 10 minutes

Then:

“Nancy”

Run 400m
Overhead squat x 15 (men: 95lbs; women: 65lbs)

5 rounds

Have you ever tried to be sly and sneak some food your family typically doesn’t like or hasn’t tried into a meal without them knowing? If you have kids or picky eaters in your house, I’m sure you have. It is hard when the foods we should be eating conflict with our taste buds. Maybe it is a matter of trying a new cooking technique or flavor combination. Often I have luck trying new things at a restaurant first, then get adventurous with it at home.

Recently I overheard Russ Branson retelling a story that I love about his wife Caryn’s buffalo meatballs. Excuse me if I miss some of the details, but as I remember it; in an effort to feed her family the best quality food, Caryn lovingly prepared a fairly large batch of meatballs made of buffalo meat. When Russ happened to mention the meat of choice, their kids flat out refused to eat the buffalo (I believe it was out of love for the animal) and the kids and Caryn ended up in tears; all leaving Russ to polish off a great number of meatballs all on his own! It’s funnier when he tells it, trust me.

In my house when I try to be sneaky, you can bet at least one member of my family catches on. But this doesn’t stop me. Recently I did a little experiment. Word on the Paleo street is that liver is the new super food. Everywhere you turn there is a blog about the benefits of adding liver to your diet. My first reaction? UGH!! You seriously want me to eat liver?! Well luckily I got some awesome advice from Paleo Hero, Chris Kresser. Since I had an aversion to liver as many of you may have, Chris suggested to me that I buy pastured, grass-fed liver and freeze it for two weeks. Once frozen, chop the liver into small pill size pieces and store in freezer. Each day, grab a handful of your frozen “pills” and take them just as you would a vitamin. Viola! Now you get all the benefits of liver without the taste. Easy Peasy! But I mentioned a family experiment, didn’t I? Time to come clean, because actually they don’t know it but my family all ate liver too.

Simply put, we were having hamburgers and I chopped up a bunch of frozen liver and tossed it in to the ground beef, along with a bunch of spices & herbs to help mask the liver flavor. As I expected, Addie was on to me. Although Rick and Luke gobbled up the burgers without notice, Miss Addie noticed the burgers tasted “funny”. Luke simply said, “I think they are delicious” and she shrugged and cleaned her plate. Success! Now maybe I allowed a little more ketchup on those burgers than normal, I had to weigh the pros of the liver vs the cons of the ketchup and liver won.

Next time you are making meatloaf, meatballs, burgers or taco meat- toss in just a little bit of liver and see how it goes. Maybe it will be an acquired taste and you can increase the amount over time. Or heck, maybe you love liver and can share some of your favorite recipes with us.

Was there ever a time you tried a food you didn’t think you liked and ended up changing your opinion? Or better yet, tell us how you’ve tricked YOUR family and friends!

Here is some food for thought:

A popular objection to eating liver is the belief that the liver is a storage organ for toxins in the body. While it is true that one of the liver’s role is to neutralize toxins (such as drugs, chemical agents and poisons), it does not store these toxins. Toxins the body cannot eliminate are likely to accumulate in the body’s fatty tissues and nervous systems. On the other hand, the liver is a is a storage organ for many important nutrients (vitamins A, D, E, K, B12 and folic acid, and minerals such as copper and iron). These nutrients provide the body with some of the tools it needs to get rid of toxins.

Remember that it is essential to eat meat and organ meats from animals that have been raised on fresh pasture without hormones, antibiotics or commercial feed. Pasture-raised animal products are much higher in nutrients than animal products that come from commercial feedlots. For example, meat from pasture-raised animals has 2-4 times more omega-3 fatty acids than meat from commercially-raised animals.

-Chris Kresser

Weekly Recipe

Chicken Liver Pate (www.balancedbites.com)

1 lb chicken liver (you can try other liver if you like- select the darkest livers that you can find as lighter-colored livers are less healthy.)
1 small onion (or 1/2 of a large onion), chopped
1/2 cup red wine (or you can try balsamic vinegar if you don’t want to use or don’t have red wine)
2-4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup butter (I like Kerrygold)
Sea salt (I like Redmond Real Salt)
2 tablespoons cracked black pepper (optional)

Sauté the liver and onions in a couple of tablespoons of the butter until the livers are browned and the onions are tender. Add wine, garlic, mustard, herbs and lemon juice and cook uncovered until most of the liquid has gone. Transfer the mixture into a food processor and blend to a smooth paste along with the rest of the butter 1Tbsp at a time until it reaches a smooth, creamy consistency – you don’t want it to be crumbly. Add salt to taste. Put pate in a shallow dish to refrigerate before serving. (optional) Press cracked pepper onto the top of it or garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme or rosemary. Enjoy spread on celery, carrots, cucumbers, peppers or any other veggies you want to dip!

May 16, 2012 WOD

Snatch 1 rep max in 20 mins

Then:

Burpee over the box x 20 (men: 24″; women: 20″)
Row 1km
Burpee over the box x 20 (men: 24″; women: 20″)

Right now, CrossFit athletes all over the world are vying for a quarter million dollars by doing the same workouts you do in the gym every day. A quarter million dollars!

Regional competitions for the CrossFit Games have been held the past few weekends and will continue through Memorial Day weekend. The Northern California regional is this weekend.

Have you been watching?

Last weekend, the 2011 CrossFit Games replayed on ESPN, while the Central East regional was shown live through ESPN and on the CrossFit Games site. The coverage was impressive, like seeing any other sporting event live on television, complete with instant replay, close finishes and down-to-the-wire drama.

How are you keeping up on the action? Which athlete are you cheering for?

Nehal Patel gets up and over for a bar muscle-up, 4/19/12

May 15, 2012 WOD

High Bar Back Squat
1X4 @ 75%, 1X4 @ 80%, 1X4 @ 80%, 1X4 @ 80%
Rest 2-3 mins. between each set
* Use percentages of your 1-rep max

Then:

Power clean x 5 (men: 135lbs; women: 95lbs)
Push jerk x 5
Situp x 10

As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes

Congratulations to the Athlete of the Month for April, Heather Peterson!

At the beginning of April, Heather suffered a nasty wrist fracture that threatened to put her workouts on hold for a month or two. Rather than lose the momentum of her hard work, Heather doubled down and got back in the gym within a few days after her injury. Throughout the month, she’s worked as hard as ever, keeping her workouts going and continuing to become “better than yesterday.”

Please join us in offering to Heather an enthusiastic round of congratulations!

During the first week of each month, we’ll announce an “Athlete of the Month” for the previous month.  The honoree will be chosen by coaches with your input, based on accomplishments both inside and outside the gym.  If you’ve noticed someone performing exceptionally well this month, let us know.  The Athlete of the Month will be honored with a blog post and we hope, lots of congratulations from members of our community.

May 14, 2012 WOD

Pullup x 15
Pushup x 15
Kettlebell swing x 15 (men: 24kg; women: 16kg)
Rest 1 min.

5 rounds

Happy Mother's Day to all our Super Moms!

Practice headstands for 10 minutes

Then:

Dumbbell swing x 15 (men: 40lbs; women: 25lbs)
Air squat x 10
Dumbbell push press x 5 ea. arm

5 rounds

This Spring weather makes it nice to take it outside! 4/21/12

Snatch-grip deadlift x 3
Hang power snatch x 3
Heaving snatch balance x 3
Overhead squat x 3
Rest ~3 mins

7 rounds (NOT for time)

* You may add weight each round

Run WOD

5K for time

There will be no Run Group this week, but we encourage you to complete the WOD on your own.

I’m a self professed nerd when it comes to the Olympic lifts.  I can watch hours and hours of video, the same videos, and still glean specific cues and techniques that can ingrain good habits and reveal bad ones.

Below is an excellent example of how complex these movements are.  Coach Mike Burgener is working with Owen Franks, a professional rugby player with the New Zealand All Blacks.

May 11, 2012 WOD

Low bar back squat

1 x 6 @ 70%
1 x 6 @ 80%
1 x 3 @ 90%
1 x 2 @ 95%

Use percentages of your 1RM

Then:

Double-under x 24
Shoulder touches* x 16
Pull up x 8

AMRAP in 12 minutes

*Shoulder touches can be performed either facing toward or away from the wall.

As I am prone to doing when I watch a video created by Jeremy Consulo, I got chills watching this. Especially near the end when Scott J. finished the workout after an incredible effort. There were so many cool moments caught on video, many I didn’t even know about in the first place. Which were your favorites?

Now there’s one more thing that makes me excited about the Isabella Challenge: the video at the end!

May 10, 2012 WOD

Clean and jerk
Establish a 1 rep max in 20 minutes

Then:

Run 2km

Just this past week I saw that cherries made their seasonal debut at the local farmers market, this got me thinking that my favorite season for fruits is just around the corner.  Once these fruits start to show up I have a tendency to choose them over veggies at any given opportunity, turning me into a fruit-a-holic.

This can become dangerous and work against the goals that many of us have set for ourselves. In the Paleo Workshop we discussed how important it is to become more insulin sensitive and to have our bodies get the most out of the foods that we eat. Fruits become a problem when chosen over veggies because they cause a much larger insulin spike.

Imagine your digestive system as a fire: Protein would be looked at like a log, giving you a slow steady burn. Veggies can be looked at like kindling, they get the fire going but burn much quicker than protein. Fruit is seen as sawdust or newspaper, it gets burned up fast, leaving you with a quick boost but no lasting energy. This is one reason that we say to choose fruit as a post workout option in combination with protein and to  keep it at a minimum throughout the rest of the day.

If you are somebody that tends to choose fruit over veggies, why do you do it?

Weekly Recipe

Spicy Paprika Roasted Carrots

Carrots, as many as you want to prepare
Sea salt, to taste
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Smoked hot Spanish paprika, to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Peel carrots and cut to even lengths. Cut carrots in half and if your carrots are large, cut them into fourths. The important thing is to get them into relatively even pieces so they cook evenly. Drizzle carrots with extra virgin olive oil, season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.  Roast carrots for 20 – 25 minutes, until they start to caramelize slightly on the tops. We like them best when they’re still slightly firm and lightly caramelized.  Serve hot. They’re great the next day cold, too.

May 9, 2012 WOD

Row 1 minute for calories
Kettlebell swings for 30 seconds (Men: 24kg; Women: 16kg)
Burpee for 30 seconds
Rest for 2 minutes

5 rounds