Crossroads Fitness

Would you???

2010-06-01T06:25:00.000-07:00

If there was an exercise pill available on the market - maybe even Over-the-Counter - Would you consider taking it, maybe just trying it, or not even consider it? It is an interesting thing to think about, the question that should possibly be asked is why do you CrossFit? We all have our own reasons - now if there was a pill available to give you the end result of a "ideal body" but not fulfill the mental aspect of it, would you still do it?

There is something very gratifying of grinding through a CrossFit WOD, you feel good about yourself, you toughened up and overcame an obsticle paced in front of you! It is giving you something a pill could never give you...

So, Would you take it, try it, or not even consider it.... And, WHY DO YOU CROSSFIT????

http://news.discovery.com/human/exercise-fat-calorie-burn.html

It's all in the hips....

2010-05-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

We always talk about the hip, flexibility, driving from them, thrusting with them, etc... here is more information on the hip and the importance of its mobility!

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-importance-of-mobility-the-hips/#more-12324

That's so sweet!

2010-04-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

Are artificial sweetners really more beneficial that sugar? Ultimately the selling point behind these sweeteners are that they have Zero Calories! That is so Awesome, so I can use as much as I want right, since Calories are horrible and I want the least amount of them as possible!!! WRONG! We all know this isn't right, Calories aren't bad - they are a measure of energy, we need them to Kick A$$ during our WOD's. One thing these sweeteners do just as sugar does, Spike the Insulin... Which we all know is a bad thing as well! So if you can, avoid Sugar and ALL sugar substitutes if possible. Check out the link below from marksdailyapple.com and see what you think... Don't forget to read labels on food you are eating and see if these are in them, Aspertame, Sucralose, Fructose, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, etc... If so, try to avoid them...

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/artificial-sweeteners/

Grass Fed Goodness...

2010-04-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

We always talk about how good grassfed beef, eggs, dairy, etc are for us... But what is it that makes it so healthy for us? Take a look at the link below and see a comparison of Grassfed vs Grainfed in charts/graphs... Remember the saying, "you are what you eat!" Well maybe we can change this up a little bit, "You are what your eating eats..." or something like that!

http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/2010/04/15/grass-fed-beef-meat

Eat... SLEEP.... CrossFit

2010-04-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

How To Improve Your Sleep & Fight Insomnia
by Vin Miller
Sleep is one of the easiest ways to improve your health and well being, but getting a good night of rest is more involved than you may realize.

Cortisol: A Bad Nightmare
Cortisol is a hormone that’s released in response to stress and prepares your body to deal with it. Among other things, it keeps you awake and alert which obviously inhibits sleep. Light and stimulation are the two primary triggers for cortisol and it doesn’t take much of either to promote it’s release. Even the illumination from the numbers on a digital alarm clock or the slightest bit of frustration or excitement is enough. And because cortisol can remain active in your body for up to two hours, it can keep you lying awake in bed for quite a while.

Melatonin: Your Bedtime Buddy
Melatonin is a hormone that acts like an antagonist to cortisol. Although they don’t directly influence each other, they are typically released at opposite times and have opposite effects. Just as cortisol release is triggered by light, melatonin release is triggered by darkness. The primary functions of melatonin are to help you sleep and assist your immune system. Promoting the release of melatonin prior to bed will help you fall asleep easier.

How to Sleep Well
As you may guess, good sleep habits are primarily focused on stimulating melatonin release and suppressing cortisol release. The following are some practical tips for doing so.
Unwind Before Bed
Take some time, preferably a half hour or more, to relax and release all of the days tension from your body and mind. Be sure to avoid anything that is stimulating. This time should be dedicated to getting yourself into a relaxed state that will prepare you to fall asleep. Some good choices for accomplishing this are meditation, listening to soothing music, reading under a dim light, or doing mild forms of exercise such as stretching, Tai Chi, or Qigong.

Develop A Routine
The human body thrives on patterns. By establishing a routine that you repeat each night before bed, you body will begin to associate the routine with sleep. The time you use to relax before bed can be part of your routine as long as you’re consistent with what you do. The resulting association will trigger your body to prepare for rest and will increase the effectiveness of your relaxation in helping you fall asleep quickly.

Be in Bed by 10 PM
Your body’s circadian rhythm is closely tied to the cycle of each day. Because this relationship impacts the effectiveness of your sleep, getting to bed abnormally late or waking up abnormally early can prevent you from getting quality rest even if you sleep for a duration that would normally be sufficient. Furthermore, since most people work standard business hours and get up early on weekdays, getting to bed past 10 PM usually results in an insufficient amount of sleep.

Avoid Bright Lights Before Bed
As I already mentioned, light stimulates the release of cortisol, and as a result, can make it difficult to fall asleep. Within an hour or more of going to bed, dim your lights to the lowest level that is adequate to see and avoid television and computer use. Although many people like to watch television or use the computer before bed, they are both intense sources of light that shine directly on your eyes.

Avoid Stimulating Activity Before Bed
Any type of activity that requires you to be alert is counterproductive to falling asleep and should be avoided during your unwinding time. Even if it’s an enjoyable activity. Intense physical activity such as playing a sport, working out, or manual labor should be avoided for at least a few hours prior to bed. If you have healthy adrenal glands, engaging in intense physical activity too close to bedtime will keep you wide awake for a long time. Even if it doesn’t, it may reduce the quality of your sleep.
It’s important to avoid mental stimulation before bed as well, and this is an additional reason to avoid television and computer use. Much of the programming on television and many of the things you do on the computer are stimulating and will trigger a cortisol release. This is a bad by itself, but it also magnifies the negative effects caused by the bright light.

Sleep in Complete Darkness
Research shows that the faintest bit of light can stimulate a cortisol release. If you have any light coming from digital displays or leaking through your windows from street lights, chances are your sleep is going to be of poor quality. As a result, you may not feel refreshed in the morning and you may even wake up in the middle of the night. To avoid this, cover or block your digital displays, use black out curtains on your windows, and avoid using a night light. Although this may sound like a lot of effort for little return, I have heard many counts of it making an amazing difference.

Maintain a Consistent Sleep Schedule
As I already mentioned, your body prefers to operate in a rhythm. When you go to bed and wake up the same time every day, your body begins to physiologically reinforce your habits. This is why it’s difficult to stay up late when you normally go to bed early, or likewise, why it’s tough to get up early when you typically sleep late. By allowing your body to fall into a rhythm, it will support your sleep schedule and you’ll have an easier time falling asleep and waking up. Conversely, if you don’t follow a consistent schedule, you’ll be continually forcing your body to readjust, and as a result, both falling asleep and getting out of bed are likely to be difficult.
The common example of this is going to bed much later on weekends than on weekdays. Although it’s not always practical to stay on your weekday schedule during the weekend, it’s best to at least keep it as close as possible and avoid staying up late without good reason.

Do a little test. Keep a diary of how many hours of sleep you get each night for a week on your current schedule. Also record how you feel and perform during the WOD’s. Then, try some of the suggestions in this article. Go to bed earlier and get a good nights sleep. Record that weeks sleep hours and how well you performed during the WOD. See if it makes a difference. I’m guessing it will.

EAT..... SLEEP......CROSSFIT

An interesting read

2010-04-08T06:31:00.000-07:00

Check this site out - Military members often have difficulty eating the right way, Chow halls normally don't have the best options, or they even run out of fruit/veggies! Here is a site a member of the armed forces has put together, writing about how he is able to eat right being in the military. He also provides some other tips/tricks as well... We all have grocery stores and kitchens available whenever we need them, there is no reason why we should not be eating the "right" way. Plan ahead, shop the perimeter of the grocery store, and NO SUGAR!

http://http://myresultstypical.com/?p=188

Saturday

2010-04-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

For Saturday: we will be in the gym all morning for "lecture" so we can practice as we move through the movements! So come wearing your workout gear - it looks like the weather will be on our side as part of the work out will have you pounding the pavement! A little clue there... We have the workout programmed and believe that you guys will love it! We are all looking forward to Saturday morning - and at a cost of 5 Bucks, how can you not afford to come!!! Come out and lets get this community growing!

CrossFit Foundations

2010-03-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

April 3rd @ 8 AM

Our foundations class is an introduction to the training methodology of CrossFit. We will be going through the basic movements as well as some general nutritional information. This class will be required for those wishing to attend weekly classes. Pleas bring a Pen/Pencil/Notebook and be ready to WORKOUT! Everyone is welcome to attend regardless of skill level! Any questions, contact Erik Miller at 303.421.3800, or Rich at 303.520.3127!

The cost is only 5 dollars!

Mountain Sectionals Day 1 Highlights

2010-03-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

The highlights from the killer workouts of Day 1... Definitely Motivating!

Becoming Mainstream

2010-03-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

Here is an article from the Denver Post Mentioning CrossFit and more specifically the Paleo Diet which CrossFit embraces:

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_14719513

Rocky Mountain Sectional Games

2010-03-17T19:43:00.000-07:00

Here is the address for the games this weekend:

The Colorado State Patrol Academy
Colorado State Patrol Academy
15055 South Golden Road
Golden, CO 80401

And here is a link to the site with all the info for the Games:
http://www.crossfitverve.com/crossfit_games_mountain_s/

Hope to see everyone out there supporting one of our own who is competing: Sean!!!

CrossFit Foundations

2010-03-16T06:54:00.001-07:00

Alright Crossfitters, as you can see this is what CrossFit is all about visually - and as we all know any structure must have a solid foundation or it will crumble under any type of pressure! This is why the foundation of CrossFit begins with nutrition.

"Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruits, little starch, and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat...Nutrtition can be a toucy topic, like politics or religion, that people take very personally, but good nutrition is the foundation not only for general health but also for high-performance fitness." - Coach Greg Glassman.

Just imagine putting horrible gasoline in your cars gas tank, it will run terribly. Just like when you put horrible fuel (food) in your body, your workouts and daily routines will suffer. Nutrition is very important as we have discussed in class from time to time: Be on the lookout for nutrition seminars, they are on the horizon! Remember, keep a solid foundation to build upon - EAT REAL FOOD!

Mountain Games Sectional WODS

2010-03-15T07:42:00.001-07:00

If you haven't seen the WODS for this coming weekend at the Sectionals, here they are!!! It is somewhat expensive to get out and watch, but well worth the money for the experience to see what these athletes can do at their best!

WOD #1: "Row/Swing/Run"

Three rounds for time of:
Row 500m
21 Kettlebell swings, 32kg/20kg
Run 400m

WOD #2: "Snatch/Muscle-up"

In 12 minutes, reach a 1 rep max snatch
Add 2# bonus for each muscle-up completed in that time

Scoring will utilize the same template as the 2009 CrossFit Games in Aromas, CA. First place in each event receives 1 point towards his/her name, second place receives 2 points, third place receives 3 points, so on and so on. Prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third place for both the men's division and the women's division. A total of 30 male competitors and 30 female competitors will be invited to compete in the CrossFit Games North Central Qualifier.

See you all in Class tonight!

Intensity

2010-03-12T07:35:00.000-08:00

What is intensity: we always talk about it before the work out, but what is it really? You see a guy with 800 lbs on the Leg Press maching at Globo-Gym, he is pumping him self with his disk man in his fanny pack, puts in his mouth guard, buddies are yelling at him "you got this," he sets up on the machine, pushes up, drops the handles, lowers, YELLS WHILE PUSHING, locks it in! WOW!!! A WHOLE REP, 800 LBS too - That is Freaking INTENSE!!! No... its not, that is not intensity.

We all know the definition of Crossfit, Constantly Varied, Functional Movements, Executed at HIGH INTENSITY! So, again lets ask what is this intensity thing?

Intensity is difined as: (Force x Distance) / Time = Power; So therefore POWER=INTENSITY

For the non-math folks, it is saying "How much work is being done in a certain amount of time." The greater the power you generate during your workout, the higher the intensity will be. This is not opinion based either as in the example above, applying the formula with prove that it is a measurable value.

What you are seeking from your exercise (looking good naked, job tasks, everyday tasks, stronger/faster than yesterday, etc) will come faster with intensity! By doing more work in less time will make you FITTER FASTER! Now with this time element, it is important to not forget your fundamentals - if you end up with your vertabres shooting out at the wall you won't have to worry about any of this! So maintain your form, keep in mind the basics and fundamentals we are constantly talking about - 80% Accuracy is great to shoot for! You can have perfect form on every rep, but your time would take forever, which means NO INTENSITY! As for the opposite of that as well, go too fast, forget fundamentals and you are HURT!

So keep in mind the fundamentals, get the work done as fast as possible, and achieve your goals in a shorter amount of time!!! Now that is intense!!! And remember - EVERY SECOND COUNTS!

Question Everything

2010-03-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

"It's a foolish culture that entrusts its food supply to simpletons." - Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dillema

That is a very powerful quote, yet very explanatory. Todays food supply in America is very questionable at best - marketing and loopholes have left people overweight and unhealthy! People are now opting for the instant dinner that arives on a truck, put into a freezer case, transported home, having the package ripped open and then placed into a contraption that will molecularly alter your "food" which is then put into the your body which attempts to utilize it as fuel... Why is that? Because its cheap! Because its easy! Because I don't have time to cook! Really? Think of all the adverse effects this "food" has on your body and the time you spent getting coffee because you have no energy, going to the doctor and filling prescriptions because you are not healthy, time spent in front of the TV, etc... I agree it is hard to eat "right," it comes down to planning, knowing what you are eating, and cooking with REAL FOOD! And don't fall for the marketing tricks that big corporations use to have the consumer believe that they are consuming something healthy - ITS ALL ABOUT MONEY!!!!

This is just an intro to what we will be going farther into in the near future with a nurtritional seminar, but if you want to get started now start researching with these resources!

Books:
The Omnivore's Dillema
Good Calories, Bad Calories
The Paleo Diet
The Paleo Diet for Athletes
Fastfood Nation
The Zone Diet

Movies:
Food Inc
King Corn

And here is a great video you can check out as well!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCFZoqmKf5M

See you all in Class tonight!

Music...

2010-03-09T19:21:00.000-08:00

I know many of us in the gym have different tastes in music so it would be great if you could list some songs and we could create a Crossroads Fitness Playlist! Music is great, it can motivate you when you think you can't go on, it can pump you up before a workout, or it can take you to another place... I know many of us aren't Josh Everett who doesn't need music to knock out 30 snatches at 135Lbs in under 90 seconds, (watch the video below) so lets get some songs put together for a great play list that we can kill our WOD's to!

The Gym

2010-03-04T20:00:00.001-08:00

Take a peek:
What is some equipment you would like to see in the gym???

Classes

2010-03-04T19:57:00.000-08:00

Here is the class schedule:
Monday @ 6:30PM
Tuesday @ 5:00PM
Wednesday @ 6:30PM
Thursday @ 5:00PM and 6:00 PM
Friday @ 6:00PM

Had to post the schedule like this since I have little experience in building a Website/blog - I already am enjoying it!!!

Test Test Test

2010-03-04T19:48:00.001-08:00

Trying out this blog - lets see what we can create!!!