Friday, April 1, 2011
Saturday Intro 10am
We'll be rocking a special intro tomorrow at 10am...and we stay tuned for the 11am class. Weather should be nice, so we're gonna take full advantage!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
How do we get healthy?
SPECIAL SATURDAY KETTLEBELL INTRO AT 10AM THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 2ND
So now that we've been designated as the unhealthiest county in Ohio. What can we do to get back on track? Exercise...so what do you need to do? Come to PSKC...pretty simple. You'll be instructed, coached, and motivated. We'll get you strong and make you capable, plain and simple. You'll lose fat and you will get strong.
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| Yes they are chicks and yes they are doing pullups.. |
But working out is only one part of the equation. To get truly healthy you've got to eat right..if you're serious about being disease free and feeling well...you've got to have a sound nutrition plan. Stop inhaling grains and sugar....replace with sugar with fats....good fats.
By now, you know I recommend the primal/caveman/Paleo way of eating. It works...don't believe me. Try it out for yourself. Give yourself 30 days and stick to it...you won't want to go back.
Below are two posts I copied from Josh Bunch of Practice Crossfit up in Troy, Ohio. The guy is a great coach, athlete, and knows his stuff when it comes to nutrition. You'd be good to read his website everyday as he far more smarter than I when it comes to explaining why you shouldn't crap...see for yourself and enjoy.
http://gopractice.typepad.com/practicecrossfit/
Pop quiz hot shot. Is it better to eat a 300 calorie meal, only to eat 300 calories worth of nuts and seeds two hours later because you weren't satisfied. Or, be it more glorious just to smash 600 calories at one sitting and eat at your next scheduled feeding?
You are correct you very argumentative creature in the back, and in my mind arguing with me as I write. Saying, "well that depends on what your goals are". Close the doors and turn off the text messages for thirty seconds and lets just assume we all have the same relative goal. Bad-Ass.
Bad-Ass= Lean. Not stupid lean, and a different lean for everybody, but void of that jiggly feeling, and with enough in the tank to still be fast. That kinda leanness where your family worries if you eat because you belly doesn't hand over your belt as theirs does. Muscular. Not cantaloupe biceps, or quads that only fit into cheerleader skirts or kilts...but damn cool functional muscles that draw attention and others wish they had....that's they say things like, "I just don't wanna be that big"....translation-"I don't want to work". And of course strong enough to lift a car off a pinned child, or fast enough to grab rex before he leaps in front of that car. All with the composure of a saint...until you need to bring out that inner demon you keep for those all to special occasions. You know, that kinda Bad-Ass.
Now that we have that out of the way, the right and simple path to Bad-Ass as far as snacking is concerned is don't. Even if its Paleo approved, and even if your under your normal caloric intake, grazing like a cow is worse than gorging like a lion.Think about it. Lions sprint, fight, and eat meat and fat, then sleep. They kinda mirror a CrossFitter. Quick all out short effort, then reward, then relax. Cows are vegetarians and graze all damn day. Lions gorge and are bad ass, cows asses are just bad.
Now if you are just famished beyond belief between meals I'm not saying the occasional snack will derail you plans. Nor am I saying avoid that 300 calories of nuts, until you almost gnaw your arm off until you order a pizza. I'm simply saying watch out for the offenders below, and ensure you employ tactics to ensure snacking becomes a distant happening, that has no relevance, as opposed to a daily offender giving you cow ass:
Four Snacking Killers
Insulin:
Right, like the millionth time we have went over this, but this is one of the main reasons why it would be better to eat fewer times in the day, and just bigger meal. Despite what the funny pages say. As you may know Insulin is simply a storage hormone. A variable cache of caloric energy shuttled to every hopefully healthy cell in the body. Spawned primarily from carbohydrate consumption.
But not entirely from carbohydrate consumption. Everything we eat potentially releases some insulin, and when we are in that fed state we fail to continue to burn fat. Eating until satisfaction, as opposed to stopping short, just to eat more soon after just means your bathed in the storage state more. And what do you wanna be better at..storing fat for hibernation, or burning fat for fuel?
Discipline:
Eating whenever you pass a bowl of anything demonstrates weakness and avoidance. Especially if it happens to be carbohydrate of sugar based. When this behavior is allowed to occur, your essentially putting up a wall to whatever is truly nagging that brain of yours, and your trying to silence it with dopamine released by the sugar...ahh addicts we are...its unavoidable. So pick another addiction.
Even the constant need to eat Paleo snack after snack is some form of crude self-therapy preventing us from dealing with a deeper issue, or stress. Hiding behind food, even Paleo food is a spiral that will end badly. Keep you hands off desk candy, brunch specials, and numerous Paleo picnics...carry a big jug of water, and every time you would snack...drink.
Leptin:
Discovered in humans in 1994, and discussed via our blog heavily, Leptin is essential the master hormone of our entire existence. Produced oddly enough from our fat cells. And you thought fat was bad. Just as one can become resistant to insulin, one can be resistant to Leptin. And without going into a full on Leptin assault, the gist of it is, the fatter you are, the more resistant you are. The more resistant you are, the more hungry you feel because Leptin Satisfies hunger.
To ensure proper Leptin levels one must eat what this beautiful hormone comes from. Fat. Instead of 50% of your calories from protein, some from fat and some from carbs. Ensure that at least 60% of your total daily caloric intake comes from fat, followed by 30% protein or so, then the rest can be incidentally laced with trace carbs. Satisfy Leptin, end snacking.
WKO fed:
That little pre-workout "I'm a runner from the mid-ninety's and I need to carb load" bullshit meal your still pounding prior to a WOD is at the very least ensuring you wont be burring anything during that WOD except for those particular calories. If your already where you want to be, and performing well, go for it, but if not, working out fasted should be your path everyday. And fasted is at least five hours without food.
The best pre-workout meal today, was yesterdays post workout meal.
Yes Bad-Asses snack. But its hard to be as Bad-Ass as possible with handful of food every thirty minutes because you think your stomachs eating itself. Its mush easier to simply eat more at each feeding, and keep the in-between meals to an absolute emergency, as opposed to a habit. Not only will your family and friends back off you about your ravenous hunger, but you may become even more predatory like our Carnivorous CrossFit friend the lion, as opposed to our vegetarians scale tipping cow.
And now a post on why Americans are shoveling sugar into our mouths.....
As I Pull into a local Coffee shop drive through for a morning Injection Im welcomed yet again by a Barista saying, "good morning, what can I get for you"? Me="black coffee". Barista="would you like sugar and cream with that"?. Me="Like I said yesterday, black". Barista="Oh I forgot, nobody does that, Ok can I get you a fresh muffin with that"?
After that I burned the %#^$ing place down. Ok maybe not but, these conversations happen at this, and just about every coffee shop I frequent in our little hometown, and I don't particularly believe it is our little coffee bartenders fault either.
Of course they are instructed to offer such profitable items to the masses. Of course someone constantly getting the absolute bare minimum beverage a Coffee house can serve is a little boring and odd. Especially compared to Enorme triple espresso, skinny lady, soy infused heroin laced whipped top desert beverages, and cake on the side. Oh wait, if its the morning we call cake muffins then its ok.
Theses single serving "Add-ons" may not have added ever so greatly to our waistline,even though I'm sure they are a contributor. But apparently they seem to be taking more humanity out of the supposedly more human of us.
How They Get Kids:
We have becomes so clever at marketing, and up-selling we have trickled down to items like the below. Items that even I myself missed, but a friend made it painfully clear of a possible attempt to attract younger drinkers.
Several PCF folks have strolled in with a rather cleverly packaged new Pepsi item. An item that PCF sells in another form. "Gasp", yup its un-paleo as shit. Remember Paleo Poser, not Paleo Douch.
The offending agent doesn't necessarily stem from the fact that it has enough caffeine which is rather light for Rockstar. Its not that it has the fake B-vitamins that really don't do shit. Or even the the other ninety items on the ingredients list that don't pass a spell-check. Its the damn straw.
Some will argue the little straw pinkie up bullshit will sell well to the Sex and the City crowd who are just all to pretentious to place those pretty collagen filled lips over the ends of a lowly aluminum can...and this may very well be true. But the fact remains that it bears and odd resemblance to a juice-box of old. And juice boxes, or capri-sun esq designs find themselves all to frequent in the hands and lunch boxes of the young.
Personally I don't really find any form of canned bullshit to be ultimately healthy. In my very human hypocritical state I argue why having one a day or so most likely will do nothing negative to me. One justification leaves room for more. And even a little $%#^ed...is still $%#$ed.
Weather or not a Rockstar a day is the gateway justification for an ice cream finisher is still un-proven. The jury remains out weather the Rockstar straw was intended as mentioned above, or just an oversight by hypnotized adults who should know better.
How They Get Us:
Our official hatred of change, rampant cynicism, and hypocrisy make adults a much easier marketing target than kids who smell those bad behaviors a mile away, and once they catch us, our kids follow. The reason is, adults are just big kids who have allowed this behavior to go on longer, and at some point we began to fold our moral code into the code of the land. Its not that they target kids...its that they weaken us, kids stronger than thou will eventually follows suit. Kids don't make kids fat, we make kids fat.
"Im in a hurry, and can't cook so I just leave pizza money for my kids most nights". "I have no time for breakfast, anyways my kids love cereal". This is what we heard.....this is what we do...this is how we die.
Sprinkle those en-grained hypocritical tactics with a side of the "I deserve" American attitude, add a pinch of "you can't tell me what to do" topped off with a whipped "but they have it, so should I". And you essentially have a marketing strategy that simultaneous makes all of us more dependent on stuff, not ourselves.
Five year olds everywhere beware. Its not falling out of a tree, failing to look both ways when crossing the street, or talking to strangers. Its that ever so hypnotized hypocrite in front you infected by advertising, paralyzed by persuasion that actually believes a bowl of sugar in the morning is ok, because that's what the T.V. says, and that's what my Mom said. The loaded gun in the house may not be at the top of the closet, it may be in the pantry, and take longer to go off.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Scioto County: Unhealthiest County in Ohio
So not only do we have the distinguished title of being the meth/pain pill capital of Ohio, we now add the illustrious title of “unhealthiest county”. So essentially this article tells us that we are the fattest, smokingiest, dumbest, and poorest folks in the state. Well that’s just great.... for an outsider’s perspective it seems that the good and hardworking people in Southern Ohio are hard to find. But you can count on finding a shitbag/lazy/drug and/or food addict on every corner . Is this really true? If so, what are you doing about it?
I was born and raised here..and I’m proud of that fact. For about 8 years I moved away for college and the military and I was fortunate enough to land a job to move back here. Portsmouth had its problems when I grew up here, but damn when I came back it seemed the entire region was going down to path of destruction that Charlie Sheen would envy, with pain pill addiction leading the charge.
Here is great article by the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Scioto County:
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/02/prescription_drug_epidemic_bri.html
Here is my favorite piece;
"a handful of licensed doctors pump out prescriptions for an estimated 35 million pain pills a year to an ever-mushrooming population of pill-crazed patients who come from near and far just to cop.
Do the math, and it comes to roughly 460 pills for every man, woman and child in this county of 76,000 residents, according to 2008 state pharmacy board statistics.
Stories of crimes committed by addicts in this community awash in pain pills float like ghosts through the air: Thieves dug the wires from the pitching machines for the Little League out of the ground twice recently to sell for scrap. The gumball machine was broken into at the Portsmouth health department for $20 in change. The manhole covers have disappeared off city streets"
WTF? So why has a once proud community known for its hard working reputation received national attention for being a magnet of sick, fat, drug addicts? I’m sure there are several contributing factors that led to our current status (for real, we are worse than Pike County?! Damn..have you ever been to the Waverly Wal-Mart on the first of the month? It will make you appreciate the New Boston Wal-Mart with a quickness, and that’s a bold statement).
Obviously, you have lack of employment opportunities and no local industry being top of the list. And we all know how this cycle plays out, if you’re unemployed you’re far more likely to get on drugs or welfare, most likely both…and being a drug addict ain’t so good for your health. So the two problems compliment one another quite well. These are the quick answers you’ll get from reading any political science/economy text book. But the real answer is the far majority of the people of Scioto County have become complacent and weak (and just because you have a good/staple job and aren’t snorting oxys up your nose doesn’t mean you’re not at fault either).
Scioto County is microcosm for a much bigger problem in America. We are a society of convenience and finger pointers, once strong we are turning weak.…looking for other people to blame for our problems. It’s mommy and daddy’s fault because they weren’t around enough, it’s our government’s fault, my boss doesn’t like me, insert whatever weak excuse you want. Zac Even Esh aptly names this the “pussification of America”. Go to this link and you’ll see first hand what I’m talking about. Lil Johnny did 60 pushups at school and now his mom wants to sue.
http://zacheven-esh.com/blog/physical-education-the-pussification-of-america/
Could it be, just maybe.... it’s your fault? Maybe your kid’s teacher knows what he/she is doing and your kid needs his ass whooped, and while we’re at it..maybe little Johnny shouldn’t be glued to the XBOX, and his little ass should go play outside.
Maybe you’re overweight because you eat doughnuts and park your inactive self on the couch, and it’s probably not a “thyroid problem” either.
Maybe you didn’t get a raise, because you didn’t work harder than the next guy.
Maybe our town is the most drug infested, weakest, unhealthiest place in the state, because you didn’t do anything about it. You did nothing to stop it, you let it happen. Everybody always wants to bitch…but not that many people are willing to step up and do something about it.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" Edmund Burke
You can say “it’s not my problem”…but that’s too easy. You’re better than that. You do live here, this is your community. You can make a difference. Or you can sit back and let it go all to hell…pick a side, but saying it’s your problem is a cowardly thing to do.
What can you do? I don’t have the specific answer, that's for you to figure out…but I do know this… doing nothing is unacceptable. Start with being a strong example for friends/family/coworkers to follow, be a better parent, be a little league coach, go volunteer, donate time/money…get involved in your community. Everyone needs that person to help them in their time of need...be that person.
There are those who “rage against the dying of the light”. Those who choose the hard road over the easy path…these people are the members of PSKC.
These people are more than just members of a gym....they are actively engaged in their communities, they are teachers, judges, correction officers, pee wee coaches, doctors, nurses… the body and mind are not separate entities. Strong bodies make strong minds. They use PSKC as the source of their strength to help their community.
For far too long, we’ve been devastated by the disease of weakness…now is the time for strength. Come get your body strong, which will make your mind strong…which will better equip you to make your community strong. You have a choice….pick a side, your community is in desperate need to good people, don't let evil triumph.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
When You Lose Count, the Answer Is Always One More..
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| The "Clean & Press Punisher" lived up to its name |
1) Be good at technique
2) Be good at math under stress, because you did not want to lose count.
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| Tayler lost count..so she just kept going... |
And finally we need to focus more on nutrition and eating clean. As a simple recommendation, the first step is to make better food quality choices...simplly eat all natural foods, nothing processed. Once you feel comfortable there the best route to go is eat like a caveman. Here is good quick article on the benefits of eating like a caveman:
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/paleo_nutrition_improved
This style of nutrition/lifestyle is a pretty simple commonsense approach based on these two quotes:
"If it doesn't swim, run, or fly, or isn't green and grow in the ground, don't eat it."
"If man made it; don't eat it" - Jack LaLanne
Pretty simple...you don't need to measure, you don't need to eat 6 meals a day. You eat foods that only a caveman would have ate...specficially meat, fish, fowl, eggs, vegetables, fruit, seeds, and nuts. If you're not eating these things, odds are you're engorged in the typical American diet based on staples of grain and processed foods. Which means you probably have hyperinsulism and your insides are super inflamed....all of which will lead to some nasty diseases in the not too distant future.
Which brings us to the next point....there's two mental connections you need to make that will help you eat better foods.
1) Think of food as your long term medicine/prescription plan. No bones about it, what you put in your mouth is going to have a direct affect on your health. Food is going to do one of two things; it's either going to make you healthier or it's possibly gonna make you sick and suspectible to disease. So it's best to be shoveling the good stuff in your mouth versus the processed poisonous chemicals, that the mega-food company giants want you to.
2) Performance...think of food as only a means to fuel for your body. Do you want rocket fuel or do you wanna piss in your gas tank? Speficially, ask yourself will what I'm about to eat help me become stronger, faster, quicker, etc...will it help kick my next workout's ass? Or will you be in the middle of a tough workout asking yourself.."why the hell did I eat like s#$t? I'm sucking big time, I'm an idiot" And trust me I've had that internal dialogue with myself several times...
So below are some key takeaways from the article to get you going down the right path...make the choice and stick to it, you will feel amazing...
•Take that grass-fed cow, cut its frickin' head off, and eat it – and don't feel bad about it either. That's what we're meant to do. Our mouths have incisors for an evolutionary reason, which is to tear flesh from the bone, not to separate the marshmallows from the cereal bits in Lucky Charms. Nature is savage – we're savage creatures. The further we move away from that, and eat fake factory foods to try to compensate, the sicker and fatter we become.
•Eliminate almost all processed foods. Most processed foods are just a random combination of the following six ingredients: (1) Sugar (and/or high fructose corn syrup), (2) Trans-fats/hydrogenated oil, (3) High omega-6 vegetable oils, (4) wheat or flour-based starch, (5) refined salt, (6) artificial ingredients/sweeteners. None of which are good for you.
•Make lean animal protein the foundation of your diet. A range for strength training athletes is 0.8g-2.0g/lb of lean body mass, depending on the composition of the rest of the diet.
•Eliminate concentrated sources of fructose from the diet. Ditch the high fructose corn syrup, any processed food with fructose as a sweetener, sugar (which is 1 molecule of fructose + 1 molecule of glucose), fruit juice/smoothies, and dried fruit. I'm personally not a huge fan of fruit, but 1-2 pieces of whole, unaltered fruit a day shouldn't be problematic. Just don't start inhaling bananas by the bushel. At that point, fructose adds up.
•Eliminate transfats/hydrogenated oils.
•Reduce omega-6 consumption by eliminating vegetable oils.
•Increase omega-3 consumption through wild fish, grass-fed and finishd beef, and FlameoutTM.
•Eliminate gluten-containing grains such as wheat, rye, and barley.
•While you're at it, eliminate most other cereal grains, including those damn, overrated whole grain products (breads and cereals).
•Eliminate dairy foods while cutting (milk, cream, cheese, yogurt). Isolated milk proteins are cool.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
This Week Intro Is Moved to Tuesday at 5pm...
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| Troy and Ashley battling it out.. |
http://portsmouthspartankettlebellclub.blogspot.com/2011/03/pskc-gauntlet.html
Get the word out on this..it's gonna be one helluva event. Don't forget you need to register no later than May 2nd. Also, just announced we are gonna have an awesome BBQ at Primetime's house afterwards. All you need to do is bring a side dish!
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| Sandbag up and overs..nothing more functional than lifting heavy s#$t off the ground.. |
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| The Lane of Pain (LOP) is officially opened for the season |
Mo and I beta-tested Monday's workout this afternoon and you guys will really dig it! See you tomorrow at the 6 or 7...
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Proud to Be from Portsmouth
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| They proved even back in the pre-season that "We Are One" |
Back in October I had the privilege of hosting the Portsmouth High School Basketball team for a workout at PSKC. Yesterday they finished their season losing a tough game in the Final Four of the state tournament. Although they didn't win they brought together an entire town and community in the process. The arena was overwhelmed with Portsmouth supporters and chants of "We Are One".
Hold your heads high boys...you did a great job and gave a community something to be proud of....something this area disparately needs. Can't wait to see what you guys do next year!
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| Coach Rhea leading by example..what leadership is all about |
http://portsmouth-dailytimes.com/view/full_story/12471521/article-Trojans-make-us-all-one?instance=secondary_stories_left_column
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Changes to Membership Options
The last few nights at class I've been explaining the upcoming changes in membership dues. I'll give you the changes upfront and then explain why.
We are eliminating the 12 sessions option. Therefore, you have 2 options:
1) Pay each time you workout, cost = $5/workout
2) Pay for monthly unlimited classes, cost = $50/month (the original amount for 12 sessions)
So you will need to figure out which is more cost beneficial to you. If you're doing the minimum recommendation of 3 classes a week, then it's best for you to buy the monthly unlimited price. Breaks out to an average of $4.16/class. If you're coming 5 days a week, the average price drops all the way down to $2.50/class!
If you're only able to come to class 9-10 times a month then obviously it's best for you to pay each time you come. I don't want you paying for something you aren't using.
We will still have the couples discount ($90/month) and offer military/law enforcement/first responder discount ($45/month).
For the montly unlimited, everyone's month will expire the last day of the month. Therefore you will be up for renewal on the first day of the month. So for example if you want to buy a monthly membership on the 15th of the month fyou will pay a pro-rated amount for the remainder of that month plus the $50 for the next month. (Redneck math: 50/30 = $1.66/day, 15 X 1.67 = $25.05 + $50 = $75.05)...shew, glad that's over..I hate math.
Okay...so why the change? Originally I conceived the 12 session option in the beginning because I was unsure how many classes I would have to cancel due to work/life, etc. So I didn't just offer an unlimited rate because I was uncertain how many days I may have had to cancel, screwing you guys in the process. Well in the 7 months we've been open, we've never had to cancel a day of training because of the awesome coaching staff we have. And here soon, when Shep gets his Crossfit Level I certification we'll be able to add another coach to the staff! More coaches equals more training opportunites, equals never having to cancel a day of training.
Here's a quick clip of tonight's training. Counting me behind the camera we had 3 coaches on the floor, correcting form and providing that extra push...as you see below:
Although we have an amazing cadre of coaches, we all have "day jobs" too, which means we have just enough time to dedicate to coaching and working out and not enough time to dedicate to the "fun" side of business like paperwork, membership tracking, dues collecting, etc. It gets to be a pain in the ass to track all the different sessions each day and collect dues, etc. The monthly dues will allow the coaching staff to do what they do best...coach.
By having more coaches, one day we want to be able to provide more classes and possibly even a Friday option. If the demand is there, my ultimate goal would be to have 2 training sessions a day, 6 days a week. Therefore making it more convenient for you guys to train. We're not there yet..but hopefully we will be soon.
Finally on our one year anniversary August, 28th 2011. We will be raising the membership dues for new members. The price will go up to $7/workout or $70/month. However, ALL MEMBERS DURING THE FIRST YEAR WILL FOREVER BE LOCKED INTO THE $5/WORKOUT AND $50/MONTH PRICING. You guys are the founding members and are the reason the gym is successful, I will forever be indebted to you all and this is my way of saying thanks. Also, now is the time to come to PSKC in order to forever receive these extremely low prices.
TIMELINE:
For those of you who still have sessions remaining of course we will honor those until they are all used up. But once they expire we will ask you either purchase the monthly unlimited option or just pay as you go. The choice is up to. So we will begin to phase out the 12 session effective this week. Our goal is to have all those who want the $50 monthly unlimited option on board by May 1st.
I hope you guys understand as it really is the best thing to do for the club. If you guys have questions hit me up on facebook or shoot me an email at: louisdaleking@yahoo.com
Don't forget about the referral program! Bring your friends in tomorrow at 5pm for the intro! See you then..
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