Tiger Blood & Crack..

The beloved KB Crawl..

Tonight we started out with everyone's favorite; the KB Crawl, a tremendous core exercise. 

Jennifer "let" Troy win in the end..

Then after working on the crawl we launched into a monster of a Monday workout via the Training Room. 

I originally named it "Tiger Blood" in honor the MaSheen...but changed it during the 7 class after Renee told me this was the worst one yet. Plus we all will be channeling our inner Charlie Sheen this weekend as PSKC brings you the first annual "BURPEES AND BEER" this Saturday, March 12th at 2pm. Details can be found here:

Burpees and Beer Event

6 rounds of 30 seconds each exercise
kettlebell swings
burpees
Kettlebell snatch
Mountain climbers
Kettlebell high pulls
Kettlebell thrusters

Here's a quick glimpse into Tiger Blood aka "Wallace"



Question? Is sugar harder to kick than crack?

Living in Southern Ohio, we are all too familiar with drug addiction. As a matter of fact, supposedly the folks from the TV show Intervention are filming several areas of Scioto County as we speak. But as much as I have disdain for the meth/oxy/crack head and the people that feed their addiction...I, myself an addict that struggles everyday to be "sober". My drug of choice you ask? "Winning"...just kidding had to throw a Charlie Sheen reference in there....what my brain is addicted to is SUGAR and refined processed junk...

Please take the time to read this fantastic article comparing crack to refined carbohydrates:
http://www.details.com/style-advice/the-body/201103/carbs-caffeine-food-cocaine-addiction?currentPage=1

Below are some important take aways:
"Forty years into the low-fat, high-carbohydrate way of eating—we can thank it for "diabesity," shorthand for the societal prevalence of type II diabetes paired with obesity—it seems clearer than ever that our problem lies not simply in carbohydrates, but in their fundamental addictiveness. They sidestep our defenses against overeating, activate brain pathways for pleasure, and make us simultaneously fat and malnourished. They keep us coming back for more, even as they induce physical decline and social rejection. They achieve this more effectively than the controlled substances that can get a guy thrown into jail. Maybe the question isn't whether carbohydrates are addictive, but whether they are the most addictive substance of all."


"But a carbohydrate addiction is potentially more destructive than an 8-ball-a-day habit, because it hijacks your metabolism. If you eat a low-carb diet, you are able to remain satiated between meals, because the body will burn its fat stores. But eating carbs, especially refined varieties like sugar or flour, sweetened drinks, or starches, causes the body to release the hormone insulin. The body secretes insulin as a response to high blood sugar—a serious, even potentially lethal health risk over time. The hormone directs cells to extract sugar from the blood and store it as fat, and what's worse, in order to get sugar out of the blood as efficiently as possible, insulin makes it extremely difficult for the body to burn its fat stores. Over time, the presence of insulin in our carb-heavy diet causes diminishing returns. As our cells become resistant to the effects of insulin, our bodies frequently release even more of it to compensate. The result is a blood-sugar vacuum: The body craves more of what the hormone feeds on and triggers our hunger mechanism, which works subconsciously, to direct us toward the nutrient causing all the problems in the first place—carbohydrates. You get fatter and your body craves even more carbs in order to maintain your increasing weight. Drug cartels can only dream of a narcotic with an addiction cycle this powerful."

So what can we do to kick the "junk"? Primarily, as with everything in life..it's all mental. You must first break the mental connection...think of food as only a source of fuel for your body, that's it, nothing more. It's not a reward/emotional system, that you think you need. What you choose to put in your mouth should only be made based on the fact that it will make you perform better as a human. Food is fuel to make you perform better and/or recovery faster...that's it. You want to be stronger, run further/faster, jump higher, lose weight...it's all in what you choose to eat. No one is forcing to eat...you make each individual choice of what you eat or don't eat throughout the day.

So what do you eat and/or not eat...if you're addicted to the junk. The first step is just simply to make better food quality choices and eliminating processed foods. So this means essentially not eating anything from the drive through, frozen dinners, or anything out of a box. And you really know what you should and shouldn't eat. I believe Jack LaLanne said it best, "if man made it, don't eat it", so if you can't kill it or pick it don't eat it.

A common misconception is restrict/limit calories. You need to eat to recover..you just need to eat the right the nutrient dense calories. Starving yourself does you no good, remember you need to eat to perform...running on fumes won't help lift the heavier weight or run a faster time.

However, I'm a firm believer in the cheat day. But you must have eaten clean for 6 days before having that day, otherwise you're defeating the purpose. The trick is it's just needs to be 1 day, don't let it turn into the entire weekend. So Sunday through Friday eat all natural meat, veggies, fruits, and seeds then let her rip on Saturday. Then start the cycle back on Sunday, trust me odds are you will feel bloated and sick and ready to get back on the good nutritional stuff.

Then once you're decided to eat clean (i.e. non processed foods) and want to take it a step further, I prefer the caveman/primal approach ...a great intro can be found here at:
http://www.earth360.com/diet_paleodiet_balzer.html

But here's the nuts and bolts of food choices
The essentials of the Paleolithic Diet are:
Eat none of the following:
· Grains- including bread, pasta, noodles
· Beans- including string beans, kidney beans, lentils, peanuts, snow-peas and peas
· Potatoes
· Dairy products
· Sugar
· Salt


Eat the following:


· Meat, chicken and fish


· Eggs

· Fruit

· Vegetables (especially root vegetables, but definitely not including potatoes or sweet potatoes)

· Nuts, eg. walnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia, almond. Do not eat peanuts (a bean) or cashews (a family of their own)

· Berries- strawberries, blueberries, raspberries etc.

Try to increase your intake of:

· Root vegetables- carrots, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, Swedes

· Organ meats- liver and kidneys (I accept that many people find these unpalatable and won’t eat them)

Expect some minor tuning problems- don’t worry, you can deal with them:

· It will take some time for your body to adjust to the changes after all these years. There is a huge surge in your vitamin intake. There is a huge decrease in your toxin intake.

· Start with breakfast for few days, as this is the easiest place to start as most people eat it at home, and it tends to be the least Paleolithic meal of the standard 3. For weight loss you will eventually need to reduce your carbohydrate intake, but ignore this initially as most people have high carb intakes and this can continue for the first few days that you are on this diet. If you reduce too quickly then you may fell unwell. Then move on to lunch or dinner for a few days and then to all 3 meals. If you work, you will often find it easier to take your lunch to work.

· Keep reading more about the diet- and read it again. Remember, there are many dietary myths that will need to be unlearned. Particularly, please read the section on fats several times. Knowledge on fats has exploded over the last decade and there is a realization in mainstream nutrition that omega 3 fats are critical to good health. It is very important to ensure that you have an adequate intake of these. The low fat diet craze of the 90’s was well intentioned but many people "threw out the baby with the bath-water"- most people reduced omega 3 fat intake as well as other fats, and sometimes even increased omega 6 fats. There is now a realization that the low fat diet theory of the 90’s doesn’t often work (it has about a 6% success rate like most other diets) and that the vast majority of the Western population need to increase their omega 3 intake and decrease their omega 6 intake. Even if you don’t end up on a Paleolithic Diet, you will benefit from a better appreciation of fats.