Fistful of Awesome

Good coaches have all the right questions

Having returned from from another CrossFit specialty certification, this one being on nutrition, you might expect me to write about the horrors of obesity, Hyperinsulinemia, gluten etc. I’m not, it would be a fair call for me to make as I’ve learned a lot from the presentation by the awesome Robb Wolf.

CrossFit Nutrition Cert: Toronto, Ontario

But what has stuck with me the most is what a great coach Robb is. He gave us great examples of how to help people with a very practical tool.  Questions. He demonstrated how three simple questions can be used separately or together to give someone practical advice and guidance.

The three he used were.

1. How do you feel?

2. How is your performance?

3. How do look?

These questions are easy and will solicit the answers you’ll need to help someone with their goals/nutritional needs.

Obviously the more you know about the person, the better but these tools can get you started or be used by an experienced coach as well.

Robb seems like no fuss kind of guy and he’s able to get skeptics to try and change they current nutritional situation, he’s quick to ask people “try it for thirty days” . While doing that he also shows empathy, because of his experience he knows how to get people kick bad habits or get them back on track if they are back to eating their old ways after a successful switch.

His sessions could easily run longer than the planned seven hours but Robb gives you all the info to get started and he’s very active on his own blog which has lots resources as well. If you get a chance to take his certification do it, you’ll not regret it.

Support the Fight.

On September 26th CrossFitters will be participating in Fight Gone Bad IV an event to promote awareness and raise money for prostate cancer.

Fight Gone Bad IV

I’ll be taking part in the event and will be raising money for the cause as well. You can donate by contacting me or use my donate page.

I participated last year shortly after starting CrossFit and it was a great intro to the CrossFit community and an intense workout CrossFit style.

CrossFit PEI co-owner Mike posted a video for it as well:

Fight Gone Bad – CrossFit PEI (092708) from Mike Ives on Vimeo.

Seems like we owe some thanks for CrossFit Fredericton’s Anthony Bainbridge for getting Canada involved in this event.  Well done Anthony.

Every day is training day

Yeah, that’s my new motto. It’s been all CrossFit all the the time for me for the past while. On top of my own training, I started training others. Fun and rewarding, still more to learn though.

I attended the CrossFit Gymnastics certification. By the way Tucker is the funniest man in CrossFit.

I went to the CrossFit games in Aromas.

The gang checking out the Ranch, site of the CrossFit Games.

And just last weekend I participated in a local “fun” competition.

Kettlebell swings at the Atlantic Hopper event.

I’ve had some time to process all that. Analyzing it all, one thing has been clear. My times/output have not been getting better. I’m not crying boohoo here, it’s just a little self-reflection. I know the cause.

Short run/sprints are part of my training, but I'll be adding hills in too. I don't have sandbags but a 20 lbs weight vest will do.

It’s not a plateau, it’s a lack of focus. Even my mighty will power has seen me sipping more beers and eating bread (which has been proven to slow me down).

As I was thinking about this today, the phrase “Every day is training day” popped into my mind. I guess it was my brains way of processing all the awesomeness I’ve been exposed the. The Games alone were inspiring enough to want me to be better and train hard than ever before.

This is normal for me, start something new and go at it 110% only to see less than %100 performance later. However sometimes I drop out of this new cool thing I’ve been exposed to. Not this time. I’m rebounding from my loss of focus.

My new motto will guide me; work on my goats, don’t take too much on, dial in my diet, rest and recover more. Even days when I am resting, I’ll read, relax, stretch, research… train the brain.

Every day is training day.

Atlantic Hopper Event

Kevin Wood, owner of CrossFit Moncton is hosting the first annual Atlantic Hopper Event on July 18th. The event is open to anyone and the male and female with the fastest times in the event(s) will be the winners.

To register e-mail Kevin at crossfitmoncton@hotmail.com or call 506-857-0567.

Deadline to register is Wednesday, July 1st.

Full details here

Bigtime Breakfast

I’ve been getting questions from non-CrossFitters about nutrition lately. A common one is “what do you eat?” the reason being for that I presume is people forget about the basics and think my diet as dieting.

My responses are usually to point, and I always start with “Well I start with a big breakfast” the usual reply is a guilty look or the actual statement of “I don’t eat breakfast”. That makes me wince, skipping breakfast just sets your day up for disaster. Really. If you skip it you’ll not function at your full capacity and it will probably lead to poor meal choices for the rest of the day.

Bam! Breakfast great way to kick off the day.

I know can’t get by without a good size breakfast. I always make sure I have the time to make it, I rarely go with the quick smoothie option. I’m probably too consistent in my choice of foods but it works, Monday to Friday usually consists of a four jumbo egg scramble, in it I add some spicy salsa, 30 grams of cheese (gotta keep it sticky) which equals just a little more than five blocks of protein and after reading this post I started adding avocado in to the mix too. That covers off the protein and a large amount of the fat (I also cover the bottom of the skillet with olive oil). For carbs I’ll have three blocks worth of oatmeal and two blocks of fruit, usually blue berries and strawberries but I do mix that up according to which frozen fruit is on sale. Eating better does cost more!

You’ll note from the photo above that I also added slivered almonds, I really don’t count my fat blocks for breakfast though I do ensure I’m at least at twice the fat. Throughout the rest of the day I may measure out fat blocks but not always. I’m pretty confident I’m always between 2X and 4X fat.

So that turns into a good five block meal, I could eat more but that’s enough. I’ll admit I do add a block via glass of 1% milk from time to time but only when I’m not fully recovered from my last workout.

Oh, I can’t forget my coffee. That’s neutral on the macro-nutirent scale, I drink it black.

I think I’ll post a few more of these for lunch, snacks and supper. Amber gave me a hard time on my last photo post as the meal was far from her best creation. I agree but the point of that one was she whipped it up with non-fresh foods as we were heading away for more than a week and had not bought much… don’t want all that great food to spoil.

CrossFit Gymnastics Certification

I just spent most of my weekend upside down! We were lucky enough to host a CrossFit Gymnastics Specialty Certification at CrossFit PEI.

Several weeks ago CF PEI co-owner Mike sent me an e-mail wondering “if” we hosted a cert would I attend? He was just gauging numbers at the time and I replied with a very quick “hells yeah!” Shortly there after Mike finished up the final details and the cert info was posted to the CrossFit Web site.

Handstand push-up progression demo from Joey Mokler on Vimeo.

Having a cert in our backyard is pretty convenient, though flying to the U.S. or another Canadian city is a nice way to get away, travel and accommodation costs get pretty high because of my location.

Now that the cert is over I’m really glad that it was the first specialty cert I attended. Tucker stated and I really believe that these Gymnastics skills and drills we were exposed to will pay off with Oly lifts and directly into movements like our overhead squats.

Handstand spotting from Joey Mokler on Vimeo.

They’ll also improve some the ten fitness domains that CrossFit promotes, and for me it will really help reinforce the flexibility domain that I’ve been working on or at the very least conscious that I need a lot of improvement on.

It’s obvious that Tucker is a great coach, the two days went by very quickly and he was able unload a lot of knowledge while not overloading us at the same. I also really appreciated his demeanor, he was funny, direct with his points and offered his approach rather than “the way it had to be”. He also used his experience and stories to give us knowledge not let us know how great he his. He’s a humble guy and it was a great reminder to keep the ego in check, especially when entering the unknown.

Beyond the skills and drills we also learned a few new warm-up movements and revisited a few that I once did but have forgotten. I’m finding I have to mix up my warm-ups more often lately so they’ll be put to use immediately. The stripper stretch will be a joke at our affiliate for the next few months I’m sure. Right Amanda?

Tucker, if you are reading this, thanks! It was great meeting you and I’ll see you in Aromas at the games.

That trainer moment

Over the past few months I’ve been participating in one of our affiliate’s group introductions to CrossFit—at CF PEI it’s called a fundamentals class. Long story short, it’s ten classes spread over five weeks which introduces potential members to the nine foundational movements, and prepares their conditioning so that they can participate in the regular workouts.

I participated in a fundamentals class myself in September of 2008. It was fun, tough, and it gave me my first introduction to what CrossFit was all about.

Before attending my Level I Certification in March, I decided to ask if I could join in as a trainer. I realized I would be on another path, and one that would take time. You don’t attend a Level 1 certification and then become a trainer the next day. You put in your time and when you are ready then you get to take on a class.

Since my certification, I’ve helped out during workouts, answered some questions, and even had a chance to review some of the nine movement with the Fundamentals class. Essentially I’m a trainer in training.

I have a lot to learn before I consider myself a full fledged CrossFit Trainer, but I did have my first “trainer moment”. It’s that moment where your instructing someone and in instant you both learn something.

For me it was after the fundamentals group was introduced to the shoulder press. After being taken through the movement with the PVC pipes, the group was also given a chance to use some of the weighted bars… just to give them a context to work from.

As the fundamentals groups were rotating through a variety of weighted bars and the majority of the group was moving on to the next part of the glass I saw a woman by herself holding a 7 ft, 45 lbs Olympic bar just above her shoulders. As I approached her we had a short discussion:

Woman: Should I be able to put this over my head?

Me: Absolutely, it’s only 45 lbs.

Woman: 45 ?!

Me: Yup.

Woman: I’m not sure…

Me: Ok, let’s give it a try.
Fix your stance, it’s too wide. Get those feet under you hips.

Woman: Ok.

Me: Let the bar rest on your shoulders, now get your hands in closer to just outside of your shoulders.

Woman: Ok

Me: Now bring those elbows forward just a bit and push that bar overhead.

Woman: Ok, here I go.

She was successful,and her eyes lit up. What she thought just a few moments earlier was near impossible was done with ease. All I had to do was ensure she was setup properly.

I let her now the importance of set up for movements and how they enable efficiency under load, she thanked me and joined the rest of the group.

I stayed back and said to myself, “yeah, I can do this”.

2009 Canada East CrossFit Games.

A full week has passed since the 2009 Canada East CrossFit Games and I have to say the weekend is still fresh in my mind.

If you check out the final results you’ll see that I finished 45th out of 49 competitors. So why am I stoked? For a couple of reasons.  First, six months ago it would have been difficult for me to complete two CrossFit workouts in a day let alone four demanding workouts in two days.  Further, it was just plain old fun. Nine other CrossFitters from our affiliate competed, and at least that many supporters came along with us. Megan, one of our members, qualified for the CrossFit Games in July and another member plans to compete in the Last Chance qualifier.

Our CrossFit PEI video.

CrossFit PEI at the CrossFit Games Canada East Qualifier from Mike Ives on Vimeo.

For me, the trail run was the best part. A perfect way to end the weekend. The trail was 5 KMs, with hills, mud, streams, rocks, and a spicy little up-hill climb for 150 meters with a 60 lbs sand bag in tow, and then a sprint to the finish line.

I also achieved a personal best of 300 lbs on a 1 rep max Deadlift, light weight compared to the other lifts but again I’m increasing my capacity and that’s what matters most to me.

Max Deadlift – 300 lbs from Joey Mokler on Vimeo.

There was some controversy, I’m not going to censor that in any way. If would like more details go here first then view another competitor’s views. However I have to reiterate that I had a great time. I’ll admit that I was a bit concerned over the mini events being added to the trail run, after it was announced that it was just a trail run.  However, in the end, the only requirement was sand bag mini-event and then to cross the finish line, so it all equaled out. It was tough and exactly what a CrossFit run should be.

Further, I have to add the events were very well organized. We spent the whole first day in an arena and the time just flew by with no delays at all. Many of the competitors were very supportive and helped each other with techniques, tips or were just taking some time to get to know each other. In fact watch this video and note that at 1:28 Philippe Boisclair from St-Jean sur Richelieu, Quebec notices Jeff’s speed and comes over to root him on. Jeff finished second in that event.

Megan and Jeff, Burpees and Kettlebell swings from Joey Mokler on Vimeo.

Best of luck to Megan and the others who qualified, and I hope those who are planning to try the Last Chance qualifier do well. Amber and I are planning on going to the games in July. If we are there we will be rooting for you. If we are not there we’ll be checking the Web posts and be rooting for you in the virtual world.

Finally, here’s a video of the games from Brad Biggar. Be sure to watch for Megan at 3:40 in this video. She lost her shoes in the mud on the last part of the run, and fellow CrossFitter Dixon went back and grabbed them for her. She also won that event!

Crossfit Games – Canada East Qualifiers from Brad Biggar on Vimeo.

Games prep?

I mentioned in an earlier post that I registered for the regional qualifier (Canada East) of the CrossFit Games. The plan was to learn more about CrossFit and maybe a little about myself. I knew and still know that I’ll encounter a workout where I’ll have to scale, while I can keep up in the met-con department and have decent body weight strength the reality is I’m still building my strength. If a workout comes out that require X number of squat cleans at 155 lbs… well I’m just going to have to scale. And I’m ok with that. I like being competitive but I’ve only been CrossFitting since September 2008.

2009 CrossFit Games - Canada East

So, have I been taking the games lightly? Nope. I registered and I’m going. Did I have a plan? I sure did. My plan was to show up everyday. That’s right just show up at my affiliate every day there was a class that week. I was confident this approach would work for me as our head trainer does an excellent job in CrossFit programming. Further one of our trainers (Mike) registered as well so he added extra motivation working up to the games.

Me, Dixon and Dave going for max Pull-ups

While the progress has been going well, I did have two set backs. First I changed my diet slightly. I was at 18 Blocks at 2 X Fat. This was working well for me, though the recommendation for my height and body weight is 14 Blocks. I initially started with 14 Blocks but after a few weeks and bonking during a workout someone told me to up my blocks and double my fat. I did and presto! Instantly better.

However, in my quest for learning, several sources stated that I was eating too much. The old saying “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should” rang through my head, plus our grocery bill was getting a bit high. Down to 16 Blocks I went, long story short it just wasn’t the same for me. My strength went down, I wasn’t recovering enough from workouts and I felt a bit slower during some of the met-con workouts.

Secondly an old injury in my right knee came back, it was manageable with some ice for a while but it took some of the fire out of my belly. Then I popped a joint in my back after going too heavy on a Deadlift. F*ck!

What was going on? A friend said “Ummm… maybe you’re overtraining?” Damn, I was. Five workouts a week is great but would four be that bad if it helped in the recovery department?

It’s all part of your capacity though, you have the capacity to push yourself beyond your expected limits. Do you have the capacity to stop, reevaluate what you are doing and change to a strategy that may not appear to be logical or beneficial.

I didn’t have that capacity last week. In fact I deviated from my plan of five workouts a week and added two extra. It looked like this:

Monday, April 13:
Workout #1
15-12-9
Clean and Jerk
Handstand push up

Workout #2

Tuesday, April 14

Wednesday, April 15
(That was the first time I really tried the snatch, it went well and I tried a scaled (65 lbs) Isabel (.MOV) after progression)

Thursday, April 16
Rest Day- Yay!

Friday, April 17

Saturday, April 18
Workout #1
5 KM Road Race (a personal best, time : 23:02)

Workout #2

Sunday, April 19
Rest Day – Thank Jebus.

Recovery is another post and topic onto itself but today, with two weeks left before the games, I decided as part of my preparation for the games I’d implement some extra rest and recovery. I’m already doing well. I went to bed early on a Saturday night (last night). And tomorrow? Well, I’m just going to try really hard and not show up tomorrow.

Zoning for Two

What kind of effect does your partner have on your diet? Is it good? Is it bad? Do you make crappy eating habits a couple’s affair or do you make excuses in your nutrition because it’s easier if you both eat less thank optimally?

I’ve been “Zoning” since December 2008, I slipped into it gradually, which I think is the best approach even if you are already eating well. I did have the added benefit of removing as much sugar from my diet as I could earlier in the year. “Getting off the crack” as some refer to it is difficult at the best of times, doing it while zoning has proven almost impossible for some and results in some negative (perceived) side effects.

I read Enter The Zone first, asked some questions, did a little research and then decided to try this “diet”. By the way, at my Level 1 Certification Pat Sherwood made a point that I agree with. The Zone is a stupid name… sorry it just sucks, it sounds like a late night infomercial. Moving on.

Since starting I’ve played around with the various aspects. I’ve weighed and measure, which I may add is easy and anyone who states the contrary needs to review how much work is really involved. I’ve added additional Blocks, I subtracted some of those. I’ve added additional Fat Blocks and the did that again this past weekend. As of today I’m now at 16 Blocks with 3X Fat. Here’s table to give visual of how it looks P= Protein, C = Carbohydrate, F = Fat. 1 P = 7 g of protein, 1 C = 9 g of carbs and 1F = 3 grams of Fat:

As I mentioned I slipped into it, this was easy for a while as I wasn’t going too strict. Once I did go strict and weighed and measure I still did not have much trouble as I was mostly eating alone. Amber and I were on separate schedules temporarily so I was left to my own devices.  This helped as I was able to do lots of experimenting on my own (I’m a scientist at heart), this experimenting only effected me so I was fine to tinker as much as I could. The results were great, I started seeing the difference at CrossFit after a few weeks of weighing and measuring and doubling my Fat Blocks.

Others noticed too and started asking what I was doing differently, I replied with “Zoning”. In reality part of it was Zoning but I also increased the number of days I trained each week. I went from four days a week to five in January.

In my discussions with my fellow CrossFitters about The Zone and whether they were following it or not the common response amongst them was “I can’t because my girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband isn’t on it and it’s too hard for both of us to eat that way” or one of my favourites “my girlfriend doesn’t believe in that shit”.

I saw a pattern, as well I started wondering how my relationship and my new found tool to keep up with the fire breathers at our affiliate would work out. I could only operate on the single guy meal system for so long, breakfast wasn’t a problem (Amber rarely ate breakfast) and I mostly packed a lunch in a small cooler bag. The big issue was dinner, since Amber and I have been dating much of our time together had been spent cooking food, we always enjoyed putting together meals and sitting down to enjoy them together.

I’m a lucky man. Amber did have some reservations and she really likes her sweets but she was on board with giving it a try. I spent some time explaining it to her, and broke up her blocks for her in an easy to follow table. I started her on 11 Blocks for the day, 3 Block meals, and two 1 Block snacks. Here’s her table:

Amber is not Zoning hard but she is seeing results and getting fantastic at either putting together well Zoned meals from recipes or coming up with new meals from scratch. You see, Amber can be a scientist and experiment too. Her passion is the food itself, putting it together and making sure there’s lot of flavour as oppose to my “It’s just fuel, I can eat it even if it doesn’t taste that good” approach.

Amber chose to use a mixture of frozen and fresh veggies for one of our meals. Wrapping in tin foil and baking the mixture in the oven makes the frozen veggies taste better.

We’ve got balance, she prevents me from eating the same thing every day and I’m getting her to approach food from a different point of view.

Proof that you can “Zone for Two”. You just need some patience… and don’t forget to do your research.

Amber made this meal* from "stuff" that was in the fridge, freezer or cuboards. It's 5 Blocks of Protein (the chicken is covered by the salsa) and Carbs. We ate some almond butter for our Fat Blocks. Since I'm at 3X Fat I got some of my fat from additional sources.

*Note: We usually shy away from foods  that have a higher glycemic load such as corn and carrots but we did have them left over so we didn’t want to waste them either.