Thursday, May 22, 2008

Secret Weapon Number Two

Here is another Zone-Perfect Combo:

8 oz Trader Joe's 96/4 lean beef

1 lb Broccoli

2.5 cups Marinara Sauce

10 blocks

28/38/35 F/C/P

You can eat this all day: it is enough for three fairly filling meals or you can pack it with you and graze.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Secret Weapon Number One


Here is the mother of all Zone breakfasts. Try consuming this one hour before a benchmark WOD and see if you don't surprise yourself:

1/4 cup Steel-Cut Oats (dry). Tip: combine with 1 cup water, microwave for around 8 minutes; perfect!

2 oz Trader Joe's Lean (96/4) beef

1 egg

3 blocks:

30 grams of carb
26 grams of protien
10 grams of fat

29/40/31 F/C/P

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Simplified Muscle-Up How To






Here is some information on how to do the muscle-up.

You will need the ELITE RINGS to do this.

The Elite Ring Set from ringtraininging.com is an amazingly versatile piece of equipment. These are on sale now for $71.00 which is an good deal (usually 80.00). You might want to order them now if you are looking for something that is versatile, portable and allows scaled exercises for everyone from seniors to elite athletes.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Elite ll Rings Now On Sale!

The advanced design of the Elite Rings II makes them unique in the gymnastics world. These are the first rings designed from the ground up for fitness training. Now on sale for 10% off.

The Elite Ring Set from ringtraininging.com is an amazingly versatile piece of equipment. These are on sale now for $71.00 which is an good deal (usually 80.00). You might want to order them now if you are looking for something that is versatile, portable and allows scaled exercises for everyone from seniors to elite athletes.


exercisecollage (Small).jpg




All of the ring exercises are scalable from very, very easy to extremely difficult. For example:



  • Support: this can be done by anyone; easy, support on toes, hard; support for time to failure.

  • Push-up: easy, rings at chest height; hard rings inch off ground, feet elevated

  • Body Row: easy, rings at head height; hard, low rings, feet elevated

  • Dip: easy, low jump to support; hard, weighted dips



Of course the rings are essential for learning the muscle-up as well.

get them here.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

05-04-08: In Brief

Quick update to yesterday.

I stuck to my plan, save a single glass of Red Wine, and I did not even have the extra blocks yesterday.

One week down, four to go.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

05-03-08: Success!

Quick update:

I kept it to 14 high-protein blocks or less this week. No alchohol, no grains except Steel-cut oats. In fact here is all I had to eat this week:

  1. Steel-Cut Oats
  2. Milk
  3. 96/4 beef
  4. Eggs
  5. Olive Oil
  6. Vegetables
  7. Marinara Sauce
  8. Coconut milk
  9. Spices
  10. Coffee
I lost a few pounds and a half-inch off my waist.

I am craving some Manhattans at Cesar, and this is supposed to be my "cheat day" so we shall. see.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

05-01-08: Metabolic Diet





What a hottie! And that girl is not bad looking either...






Seriously, Fellow CF trainer and Zoner Connie is undertaking the "Metabolic Diet", I'm going to try it too, but first I am really focusing on losing the lard. This is day four, and it is going OK so far. Just so long as I stay strict, I feel fine and have no cravings. We will see if I have the discipline to keep it up for another 33 days.

Check out Connie's blog here:

Fellow CrossFitter, Max and my sister Maria got into a bit of a heated debate at this Saturday's CFO birthday bash. What about? Fat. Yep, fat.
Like most Americans, she too has fallen for the out-dated and unfounded theory that dietary fat is what makes people fat and kills them. The argument is overly-simplistic and just plain false.


This all started of course when Max and I were discussing our fascination with Dr. Di Pasquale's Metabolic diet, which we have both committed to trying out. It is essentially a high fat/protein diet that limits your carb intake to 30g of active carbs/day Monday through Friday followed by two days of high carb intake. Basically, at the end of the week I will be meeting all my fat/protein/carb zone block requirements with a little variation. If all goes as well, this will promote a positive hormonal response that will help pave the way for some major fitness gains!


Here's how it's broken down:

Monday-Friday: High Fat/Protein Intake. Carbs not to exceed 30g/day and will consist primarily of leafy greens and vegetables.
The plentiful supply of fat causes a metabolic shift from primarily burning carbs to primarily burning fats. Insulin levels remains low (which increases GH release). Increased dietary fat is also linked to increased testosterone levels

Saturday - Sunday: High carb, medium fat (30..40%), low protein (10..15%).
This causes an insulin spike. While this can increase fat deposits, it moves more nutrients into your muscles, and has an anabolic effect. The important thing is to switch back to the high fat / low carb mode before you put on too much fat.
(Taken from Impulseadventures website).