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Thursday, 6.15.17

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Amateur

Back Squat 3×5, Add 5 pounds to your last Squat workout.

Bench Press 3×5, Add 2.5 pounds to your last Bench Press workout.

Collegiate

Back Squat 1x4 70%, 1x4 80%, 3x4 85%

Power Clean 1x4 70%, 1x4 80%, 2x4 85%

Conditioning

4 Rounds 30 Russian Kettlebell Swings 4 Hands Out, Feet Up Inch Worms

Should you supplement with Vitamin D?

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Today we're going to talk about whether you should supplement with vitamin D. Vitamin D is something that's been the subject of intense research over the past number of years and almost everyone recognizes and admits that is absolutely crucial for your overall health, but where things get a little bit tricky is in the amounts and what someone should or should not take depending on their individual needs and health condition. As always, first thing up front, not a doctor. Can't diagnose, treat, cure, prescribe anything like that. Always consult your doctor before stopping or starting self medication. That being said, vitamin D is something that the overwhelming majority of people should be taking in one form or another. That being said, I do think it's really important to get your levels checked. When you go to your doctor, what should you check for? You should be checking for your 25 OH vitamin D levels. 25 OH, hydroxy vitamin D levels. Now, there's some debate where these numbers should be. Most people agree in the health and wellness arena that somewhere between 30 and 50 is going to be optimal. Below 30 is not so great, below 20 is really not so great, and below 10 is a serious deficiency. A very serious deficiency. Where things can get a little bit tricky is some people say, "Oh, vitamin D, you can never get enough. It does all these crazy, amazing things and you should just supplement like crazy," and that's not quite true. It's a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning that it's stored in your bodies fat tissue. Meaning that there is a potential for toxicity that isn't there with water soluble vitamins like B12 and vitamin C. With water soluble vitamins, you basically pee out the excess. With vitamin D however, you store it for longer, but it can ... It can also become toxic because of that. When you get above 50, it really depends on who you ask. I tend to think for people with autoimmune diseases, somewhere between 50 and 70 is going to be more optimal than a 30 to 50. Some people say 60 to 80. Some people say as high as 100 and I think that's really kind of pushing it. I think really when you cross that 70 threshold, you really want to be careful and, as always, make sure you're talking about this with a qualified healthcare professional. You should get this value tested, because a lot of people, especially here in Northern Indiana, in the winter ... It's turning into summer now, but in the winter, you're not getting enough vitamin D and it's really hard to get adequate amounts from food. You can get some from egg yolks. You can get some from wild caught fish. You can get some actually from lard, believe it or not, but really not that much. Really not that much from food. Now, once you get that tested, how much should you be supplementing with? Now again, we're doing this in consultation with a healthcare professional, but you should consider talking with your healthcare professional about maybe somewhere around 5,000 IU a day if you are deficient in vitamin D and if you're severely deficient and if someone has an autoimmune condition, then they should be talking with their healthcare practitioner about maybe somewhere between five and 10,000 IU a day. Above that really starts to get sketchy. Now there are two main type of vitamin D that you can supplement with. There's vitamin D2, which is a plant based form that is routinely prescribed in 50,000 IU amounts by doctors. This is not very well absorbed. This is not the main kind that your body utilizes. What we want to look for is vitamin D3. This is the type that you really want to supplement with. It also matters the type that you supplement with. Not just the type such as D2 versus D3, but type in the sense of pill versus sublingual. With pills, a lot of people with vitamin D deficiency also have other ... Sometimes they have other health issues going on that makes it harder to absorb nutrients in pill form. One of the best ways to bring up your vitamin D levels in a realistic fashion is with either sublingual tablets that dissolve underneath your tongue or sublingual drops that you can put underneath your tongue and get absorbed that way. That tends to be way better for absorption than your standard run of the mill pill. A lot of people that I work with who've done tests with their doctors, they do the supplementation with the pill. Either a prescription or just an over-the-counter pill and it doesn't really fluctuate or it doesn't really change the way you want it to, but then we did the sublingual stuff, it makes a big difference. Vitamin D, super important for immunity. Super important for hormonal health. Super important for circadian rhythm regulation. Basically whether you're tired or energetic throughout different points of the day. It's super important for a number of difference aspects, so what you want to do with vitamin D is you want to make sure that you get tested to find out where your levels are. If your levels are inadequate, make sure you are talking with your healthcare professional about supplementing with vitamin D3 and ideally in a sublingual tablet or drop form. All right, guys. Thanks so much for tuning in. We'll see you next time.

New Wods On The Block Competition @ CrossFit South Bend

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[cs_content][cs_section parallax="false" separator_top_type="none" separator_top_height="50px" separator_top_angle_point="50" separator_bottom_type="none" separator_bottom_height="50px" separator_bottom_angle_point="50" style="margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;"][cs_row inner_container="true" marginless_columns="false" style="margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;"][cs_column fade="false" fade_animation="in" fade_animation_offset="45px" fade_duration="750" type="1/1" style="padding: 0px;"][x_creative_cta padding="25px 25px 25px 25px" text="Click Here<br>To Register!" font_size="36px" icon="free-code-camp" icon_size="48px" animation="slide-top" link="http://www.boxtribetracker.com/1997/web/index.php?id=1997#header" target="blank" color="" bg_color="hsl(318, 70%, 65%)" bg_color_hover="hsl(187, 100%, 50%)"][x_accordion][x_accordion_item title="Click for Registration Deadlines" open="false"]

Deadlines!

The deadline to sign up for the comp will be August 12th @ 5:00pm

Other Deadlines

If people sign up before July 13th @ noon, they will get free open gym up until the time of the competition to practice. After July 13th, it will not be included.

Pre-sign up bonus

I will run a 2-3 hour clinic on fueling, training, strategy and programming the workouts for the event for the first 4 teams that sign up.

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The Competition

Scaled Teams of 3 (Same Sex)

Many scaled competitions have too many people in the final WOD that don't belong there. Scaled competitions that have men power cleaning 275 pounds, while the true scaled athletes have to sit on the sidelines and watch the finals.

No More!!! Finally a scaled competition that is balanced in both strength and conditioning, but also breaks athletes out into Gold and Silver brackets for the Final.

All teams will participate in 3 WODs and 1 Floater WOD. Then the results will be uploaded into scoring and two divisions will be born.  For example, 20 female teams compete, they will be broken into Gold and Silver Divisions and the top 5 teams from each division will compete in the final.

Date: 26 August,2017 Time: 08:00 am - 04:00 pm Location: CrossFit South Bend

Check in at your selected facility 8 am local time

  • Heat schedule will be provided at check in
  • Athletes that register before July 31st will receive a free t shirt
  • Vendors, food options subject to availability from each host

Please come out and support your community and these newer athletes.  You will witness an exciting event and these athletes need everyone's support!

[/cs_text][x_accordion][x_accordion_item title="The Workouts" open="false"]WOD 1 AMRAP - 12 min 10 Russian KB Swings  (45/25) 10 Deadlifts (135lbs/95lbs) 10 Box Jumps/Step Ups (24/20) WOD 2 AMRAP - 10 minutes 10 WB’s (14/10) 10 HPC (65/45) WOD 3 (15 Min Time Cap) For Time: 500M Row 15/10 Thrusters (45) 15 Burpee Box Overs Floater
Still a secret. We hope you like bicycles.... Final WOD
Still a secret. The gym is a little dirty.... What a perfect day for some light cleaning.... Ya bunch of jerks........ All WODs are in a “you go, I go” format, meaning- the first athlete must complete a full round of
the AMRAP before tagging in the second athlete. That athlete must complete a full round of the AMRAP before tagging in the third athlete, and so on.[/x_accordion_item][x_accordion_item title="The Day's Schedule" open="false"]

Date: 26 August,2017 Time: 08:00 am - 04:00 pm Location: CrossFit South Bend

Check in at your selected facility 8 am local time

We will have an 8am check in on the day of the event.

The Event will start at 9am

The Heat schedule will be structured so that each WOD will run efficiently and every athlete will have adequate rest.

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Tuesday, 6.13.17

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Amateur

Snatch Warm Up 2x Through (5 Snatch GripDeadlift + 5 Stiff Leg Snatch Grip Deadlift + 5 Hang Muscle Snatch + 5 Snatch Grip Push Press+ 5 Overhead Squat +5 Good Mornings) Start with bar for set one, then add weight on set 2.

Deadlift 1×5, Add 10 pounds to your last Deadlift workout.

Pull Up 3x Max Reps

Collegiate

Front Squat 1x3 70%, 1x3 80%, 3x3 85%

Snatch Pull 4x4, I want the first set done at your final weight of the power snatch from yesterday. Second set add 10 pounds and final two sets get 20 pounds added.

Conditioning

7 Rounds Ball Slams - 10 Lateral Box Step Up - 20, use a box height where your hip crease is just below parallel. start with bodyweight, and if able add weight in each had.

Mindfulness Mondays: Gratitude Journal

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Keeping a gratitude journal is one of the easiest ways to cultivate a mindfulness practice. At it's core, mindfulness is mental training. Different mindful practices train your brain to operate in a certain way. Just like exercises in the gym, all of them support your overall health. But each has their own unique benefits. With a gratitude journal, the exercise is dead-simple: every day, write down a handful of things you are grateful for. But simple and easy doesn't equal low-impact! The benefits of this practice far outweigh the time you put in. This happens in two ways:
  • You'll learn to cultivate gratitude by conditioning your mind through practice.
  • You'll create a vault of goodness to draw upon in tough times.

Cultivating Gratitude

Every time you write in your gratitude journal, you're training your mind. This practice helps you enter a state of gratitude each and every day. Gratitude is worth your time because it is an antidote to negative emotions.
"You can't feel fear or anger while feeling gratitude at the same time". - Tony Robbins
Cultivating gratitude will help you promote feelings of positivity, peace, and joy on a regular basis. The best way to get good at a new skill or behavior is to practice regularly. It only takes a couple minutes every day.

Creating a Vault of Goodness

A gratitude journal starts small. The pages were empty, but you write a few notes down every day. Over time, your journal turns into something powerful. Small actions, consistently over time, create a large impact. I've kept a gratitude journal in some form for well over a year now, with hundreds of individual notes. My life is better because of each and every note I've written. I refer back to this journal in challenging times. It helps me shift my focus away from a point of stress or anxiety. Spending time remembering what you're grateful for puts you into a healthy headspace. Now's your chance to get started! I use a field notes notebook for my gratitude journal.

Start Your Gratitude Journal With These Best Practices

The first time I tried to create a habit of gratitude journaling, I failed. It was a negative point in my life, and I struggled to see the point of writing in my journal. Since then, I've rebounded emotionally. And I've built a consistent habit of cultivating gratitude in the process. Learn from my mistakes, and get started today with these four steps:

1. Pick a format that works best for you

A gratitude journal can be physical or digital. I prefer a physical version, and use a Field Notes memo book (see photo up top). It's small and portable, so it's easy for me to toss in my bag when I travel. Evernote and Day One are great digital tools that could work well for a gratitude journal. (I've also enjoyed using The Five Minute Journal, although it covers more than just gratitude.)

2. Keep it simple to stay consistent

Eliminate as much variability from the journaling process as you can. Consistency is key when building new habits. Pick a consistent time to write. And stick to a standard format. I like ending the day with my gratitude journaling. Right before bed, I'll grab my notebook and write. Each day is the same. Here's what I write:
[Today's Date] Today I am grateful for - [something I'm grateful for] - [another thing I'm grateful for] - ...

3. Create a physical reminder

You might have the best intentions, but it's easy to forget to write when you're building this new habit. Put a physical reminder in a place where you will see it every day. This will prompt you to write in your journal. I put my gratitude journal on my bedside table, or even right on my pillow. Every night before sleep, it's right there waiting for me. I have no chance of forgetting about it!

4. Don't overthink it

A gratitude journal is about developing appreciation for the small things in your life. It helps you see that there are many positive aspects in your life, even when you're feeling down. If you're struggling to think of what to write, start with the small things: The clothes on your back, the food in your fridge, your family and friends.

Take Time to be Grateful Every Day

On really good days, I’m glowing with positivity. It's easy for me to add lots of things to the list. On less good days, I bring it back to the basics. Writing in my notebook feels like an exercise. But the important thing is to stay with it. The challenging days are when it matters most! Finding joy in simple things is one of the keys to living your best life. The little things matter. So grab a notebook, and start writing!  
Based in Chicago, IL, Patrick Buggy is a coach and writer at MindfulAmbition.net, where he shares mindful strategies to help you live your best life. To receive his most popular articles, join the free Mindful Ambition weekly newsletter.