It's What I do

So, once upon a time it was my job to ask questions and get answers.

I'd like to think that I was good at it. Certainly I was better at it during my last seven years as a newspaper reporter than my first five years as a TV reporter.

Because let's face it, I was too busy partying in the beginning. No other way to put it.

Anyway, I'm bringing this up because I realize, with all my journalism experience I have never taken a critical look at Crossfit. This blog has been all about how great it is and how it's helped me, how much I love it, etc etc etc.

Hey, what can I say? I've had mostly nothing but good experiences and it has changed myself and my body for the better. I'm happier because of Crossfit.

Actually, strike that, I'm happier because of Raw Fitness Maui. It's not just a gym, it's friends and family. It's a good place to be.

But I'd be remiss if I didn't at least TRY to look for some negative commentary about Crossfit. I mean, geez, it's been two years. I can have ONE post where I attempt to be critical.

Plus I love setting Beezlebump off. Who knows, Kehau may even chime in too. So here goes.

Here is one of the earliest critical articles about Crossfit, written back in 2005 in the New York Times of all places. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/fashion/thursdaystyles/22Fitness.html?_r=1

In my eyes this reporter had an agenda. Find something insidious about this new workout craze. There's a paragraph in that story that reads like this:

---The emphasis is on speed and weight hoisted, not technique. And the importance placed on quantifiable results has attracted hard-charging people like hedge fund managers, former Olympians and scientists. But some exercise experts are troubled by the lack of guidance for beginners, who may dive into stressful workouts as Mr. Anderson did. (He had not worked out regularly for two years.) "There's no way inexperienced people doing this are not going to hurt themselves," said Wayne Winnick, a sports medicine specialist in private practice in Manhattan, who also works for the New York City Marathon.---

Did you read that first sentence? "The emphasis is on speed and weight hoisted, not technique." According to who? The reporter? How about some attribution buddy? Like, "Sports therapists say . . " or "My mom says . . ." Guess he's too smart to quote anyone. Genius. This is what passes for journalism at the NYT? I should have sent in a resume.

Read it though, it's a good, bad article. Kind of like looking back in time and shaking your head and thinking, "How much they did not understand back then. Tsk, tsk."

Now this guy wrote this last year, and I have to say I don't know if he has a point or not but he seems to make more sense than the first guy.

http://freakstrength.com/2011/12/16/why-is-crossfit-bad/

He starts off his blog like this:

--- I like CrossFit. I hate it too.

I like that it gets you doing some worthwhile things. You’ll squat, pull, press, and all of that good stuff. You’ll do body weight stuff, which I’m a huge fan of. In that regard, it’s better than a lot of “fitness” regimens out there.

But there are two huge downsides. The first is that form doesn’t matter. Really, it doesn’t. The rules state that you have to get from point A to point B, but how you get there is arbitrary. This is why people are doing power cleans that look horrible. I remember tuning into ESPN to watch the games (out of curiosity), and there were guys falling to their knees on cleans due to fatigue. ---

Okay, so, this guy also says form doesn't matter in Crossfit and attributes this to what he's seen at the Crossfit Games.

Wellll . . . yeah, I fall down on my knees with fatigue all the time. Is that bad? I'm pushing myself. I know this, I'm stronger today for doing what I did yesterday at RFM.

As far as form, well, shoot. My fellow WODmates and I start off with decent form but once you get to round six . . . well yeah, we get fatigued.

Again, is this bad? I'm going to defer to Beezlebump and the Camacho Man if he would like to chime in from CrossfitOneWorld. That is if my blog allows him to comment. Damn the blogger gods if they don't. Sorry in advance Freddy but try to post if you can.

Okay, so the next guy says he actually attended a Crossfit certification and thinks it's great. But he had some critiques about it as he came from a non-Crossfit fitness background of some sort. It's definitely worth a read: http://www.stupidgymshit.com/2011/01/18/good-or-bad-crossfit/

His main concerns are quality of instructors, physical capabilities, program variability and complexity of movements. This guy actually makes a lot of sense, and not because he likes Crossfit. I just like the way he already wasn't a Crossfitter but went through the certification. I think his different background helps him look at everything more objectively.

Now this last one is from some fitness forum. If you click on the link it goes to some video about Lulu Lemon day at Crossfit LA. It just looks wrong and makes me want to never workout at this gym ever.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=120204311&page=1

Anyway, that's it. If you know how to Google you can find much more but the gist of it is, Crossfit can really mess you up if you don't have the right instructors who teach you the right technique and have the right attitude. Which is why when a friend of mine said he wanted to check out Crossfit in his hometown I said check out every gym until you find the right one.

I just got lucky because Beezle is my classmate. (SABERS!!!)

Oh yeah, the workout. Three snatches, six box jumps and a 200 meter run, AMRAP for 12 minutes.

I did six rounds and my back was fatigued. But guess what, it's fine now.

And tomorrow I'll be stronger. Suck it NYT.

Later,

Rod

Competition and the WOD After

Haven't been blogging for a while because of work, but I sure as hell made it to the competition.

That's right, the RFM Spring Cleaning competition. My first official Olympic Weightlifting competition.

We each had three tries to put up our best weight. The girls did faaaaaaaaaaantanstic. Lori and Patty won first and third place respectively.

Here they are in the winner's photo.

Ikaika did awesome, pulled up 260 bls or rather he got under 260. Damn it I was jealous. Here's a good pic of him getting under the bar.

See, when the weight gets too heavy you gotta get underneath it because you can't just pull that damn thing all the way up. Get under it and lift just like Ikaika's doing.

For some reason I have a mental block. It's damn scary. So I'm trying to pull the weight up as high as possible and squat as LEAST as possible. Like so:

Yeah, that technique works up to a certain weight. This is 185. Check out the struggle on my face for 210.

Yeah, got harder. Can you guess what happened when I tried 220? Let's just say I'm glad there's no picture for it.

I failed. AND IT SUCKEDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dropped the weight and did like a funky karate kick jump and yelled ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! In front of everybody. I couldn't help it, I was so disappointed.

Man, I know I can do more weight, I just need to get that technique down. I was so pissed on Saturday.

Then again this is way better than when I first started. I couldn't even bend my wrists back. Just gotta keep it in perspective.

Maybe that's why I was so ready for a WOD today. It looked short and terrible, just what the doctor ordered. It's a seven minute ladder, one thruster, one pull-up, then two thrusters, and two pull-ups, then three and three and four and four and so on until you die.

Oh man, that's exactly what happened. The first three sets were okay then once I hit four thrusters I was like, "Yeah, this is getting hard."

By the time I hit the 8th round I was breathing hard and had a hard time gripping the bar to pull myself up. The thrusters were terrible and I knew there was know way (and no time)  to get a 9th round.

But 8 is enough. At least it was today. Good job everyone.

Later peeps,

Rod

ps - If you haven't heard Bruce tell you the stories of his youth and how he used to scrap in the streets you're missing the funniest stand up routine since Sinbad. He's as funny as he is strong so you know he's funny. Good times. Good job Bump and Kristi, can't wait for the next competition.

Thanks. I think.

I'd like to thank Bruce and Patty for trying to fix my back today before the WOD.

Bruce tried to rip the skin off of my lower back and Patty tried to drag me across the room by my legs.

Other than that I had a great time.

Ok I'm going to have to finish this blog later. My hamstrings are totally whack right now in my right leg.

*******************

Yeah okay  that shower helped. Whew.

So today. I squatted. With Bruce.

I did five reps of 225. He did ten reps of 315.

My right leg hamstrings were bothering me the whole time I was driving home. They're still bothering me now as I type this blog.

I think it's from squatting. But who the hell knows. Maybe it's from the WOD.

Today's WOD was seven handstand push-ups, 14 KB swing and 28 DU's for five rounds.

I tried going fast. Finished just before 9 minutes at 8:59.

Felt good about that. HSPU's were good. KB's didn't kill the back. DU's were moving pretty quickly.

In fact nothing to complain about except this damn tightness in my leg.

Okay, let's see if it's there tomorrow. Pain pain go away, come again . . . when I'm not supposed to enter a power clean competition at the end of the week.

Seriously.

Late guys,

Rod

Okay, one more time

I truly believe that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so I was thrilled to see that CrossfitOneWorld (www.crossfitoneworld.com) reposted my link to the 60 Minutes video about sugar being toxic.

Actually they posted the Youtube copy of the story because there's trouble with the link. If you have trouble just Google "60 Minutes" and the words "sugar" and "toxic" and you'll find it. Here it is again just in case.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7403942n

I'm telling you, watch this report by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who is probably one of the world's leading broadcast news journalists on medical news if not THE top medical reporter in the world, and you will have NO TROUBLE giving up the sugar portion of the Paleo diet.

And if I was still a journalist, I probably would have tried to localize the story by talking to HC&S. I mean, how does the local sugar industry on Maui feel about something like that? The only good thing is their competitors, the corn syrup industry, felt the bomb too because they were all considered toxic.

I guess the golden rule is, get your sugar from fruits. Period.

Damn it I am going to miss ice cream. That and when my son gets here this summer I'm going to have a hell of a time changing his diet.

On another note.

So my last post I said I was "protecting my back" using Biofuel and Icy Hot and other Tiger Balmish muscle ointments and lotions and such. And of course Beezelbump says hey, try using good form.

Ahem. Dude. I am. But those KB swings take a toll on you, especially if you're going to do 100 of  them. Just like doing 30 snatches in a row caused you, me and Frank to be disoriented and walk like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.

The difference is that with the Icy Hot I can at least finish the workout. Who knows, if I had done that during the snatches maybe I could have thrown up a couple of reps with the next weight.

I'm just sayin.

But enough about me. Check out what this one gal, Annie, posted on the CrossfitOneWorld site about the Paleo diet. Not a bad argument:

Sorry caveman people, you are not eating like a caveman. Having meat everymeal? They didnt have fridges and freezers. They caught something, feasted on it probably raw for a while till it went bad or was gone. Then had to survive on greens, seeds, fruit ect. the remainder of the time, sometimes for days until their next kill. None of this cooked fish, steak, eggs,chicken, all in one day. duh. Stop thinking because someone told you its eating like a caveman that it is...start thinking for yourself, commmon sense. Good fad tho!


I'm thinking she's right, Paleo isn't EXACTLY what the caveman ate back then.

Then again, who knows? I wasn't there back then and I'm pretty sure she wasn't either.

What she doesn't talk about is whether the diet works or not. I'm not sure she's tried it, she didn't indicate that either way.

Not sure how to take this. Obviously she's dismissing Paleo as a "fad" but maybe also promoting a more vegan diet?

I've often wondered about going vegetarian because, let's face it, I've got some bulk on me. It's shapely bulk no doubt but bulk nonetheless. Yes, round is a shape so shut up.

Anyway, thought her critique might invoke some responses out there. Yes, this is called "provoking the audience/reader." I used to do this for a living folks.

So, any thoughts? Hopefully you folks can find a way to post. Let the Blogger gods be with you.

Rod

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

Oh man, remember how happy I was to discover that if I put some sort of Icy Hot or Tiger Balm on my back BEFORE I workout then I'm more likely to avoid back pain?

Welllllll . . . my back just let me know what it thinks about that plan this morning.

I am stiff and sore. Kats just posted on my Facebook page and agreed saying his "back was fried."

I'm thinking that if you do 100 kettlebell swings in one WOD then you're back is going to get sore, no matter what you rub on it. Damn.

Yeah yeah yeah, I'll explain.

So yesterday's workout was five rounds of 10 pull-ups, 20 kettlebell swings and 30 double-unders.

Before that we were going for our one rep max on power cleans. I got up to 205, but then FAILED at 225.

I don't know what it is, but I'm freaked out about getting under that weight. It feels like when you're on a wave and about to go over but pull back at the last second.

Fear kills.

But the 205 was a personal best for me so I was happy about that at least. As soon as I figure out how not to be scared I'll kick 225's ass all over the gym.

Anyway, then came the WOD.

I had Alex rub that Biofuel stuff on my back this time. I'm slowly making my way around the gym and asking different people to put this stuff on my back each time because it sucks to have this crap on your fingers.

So yeah, I'll be asking YOU soon. Count on it.

Anyway, I'm feeling good about the workout. I figure (1) my pull-ups are solid (2) the Biofuel will protect my back from the KB swings and (3) my DU's are better with my duct-taped shoes and Jun's jump rope.

I'm even thinking I might be able to beat Marcus.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. "Foolish foolish foolish creature . . ."

Anyway, we start the WOD. I crank out the pull-ups and jump off before Marcus. Then I crank the KB's and end before Marcus. Then I start doing the DU's and . . . I'm doing a good job but Marcus rips past me and then jumps on the pull-up bars.

I get there not too long afterwards but it's tough to catch up. The KB swings are getting tougher and it takes me slightly longer to finish. The DU's get easier though so that helps.

But somewhere along the WOD the forearms start getting TIRED. Because I'm using them to grip the bar, grip the KB handles and spin my jump rope really fast so I can do DU's.

In fact my forearms are so shot I couldn't even type my blog last night, which is why I had to wait until today to do it. And right now my forearms are still sore.

The only difference is my back is shot too.

Oh man. Crossfit. It's never what you expect.

Ouch.

Later,

Rod

Bob's Advice

You guys know Bob right? My cousin's husband who I brought into the RFM world way back and now he can't live without it.

Well Bob was at the 4 p.m. workout and had some sage advice for me as I got ready for the 5 p.m. class.

"It's all about the 800 today, just go for it."

He's a smart man and that's exactly what I did.

But I digress, let me explain.

Today's workout was a lot of running. Run 800 meters, come back and do 40 lunges, then drop and do 20 sit-ups. Then run 400 meters, do 30 lunges and 15 sit-ups, finally run the 200 meter, do 20 lunges and 10 sit-ups.

Bob was right. You gotta do well at the 800 because that's the only run that you have before the lunges. After that your legs are kinda toast.

To prep for this Bump in his wisdom decides we need to run before we run. So we hold some sprint races and I get paired with Bruce's 20 something year old son that is a lean mean Crossfitting machine. This kid is born to do this stuff.

But then we do this one race where we sit down, cross-legged and have to get up and turn around then take off running.

I knew I had the advantage because, well, I'm half filipino. You can't beat a filipino at squatting and then taking off real fast. We all learn from grandpa at the chicken fights. You're all squatting down betting and watching the fights then the cops come and raid the place and you gotta take off. Grandpa's gotta carry his $1000 fighting rooster and the cash so he's got no room for you.

Anyway, you get the idea. I've got genetics on my side as well as early childhood skills training.

So Bump says go and lo and behold I uncross my legs, get up and turn around faster than my young partner.

This buys me about a second and a half. He then zips past me like Hussein Bolt zips past a parked car.

Ah well, I beat him on the get up. At 39 you take your victories where you can.

So that was the warm up, then for strength we're doing deload back squats and Ikaika says something wonderful.

"Let's just do the greens the yellows and the blues today."

Meaning let's just use the 25, 35 and 45 lbs plates. No more, no less. I'm thrilled. Bruce of course does not think this is appropriate for real men and has to go 20 lbs heavier than everyone else. I'm not drinking the Kool Aid, sorry.

Then it's time for the WOD. I try to stay in the front but I fall behind quickly. Still I'm running faster than I usually would, I'm pushing pretty hard and getting winded.

Then it's back to the gym for 40 lunges. Tough, leg-burning lunges. These hurt and I'm glad to lie down and do sit-ups.

After that it just gets easier. Except for the end when someone's 13-year-old kid blows past me during the last 200 meter run. What's up with the kids kicking the old man's ass today? I try but can't catch up with him but I hit the last ten sit-ups hard and finish before he does.

Yeah. That's right. I beat some kid that can't even shave yet. Take that.

Goals. You gotta have 'em.

Oh yes, Icy Hot before the workout. Key. Can't even tell you how this saved my back from stiffening up during the run today. I'm gonna buy a vat of this stuff. Soon.

By the way, I'd like to say sorry to all of my faithful readers, meaning my fellow RFMer's and maybe Freddy and Chyna in Cali and DMeyer in Oregon, because Blogger is EFFING UP MY COMMENTS PAGE.

People have been complaining that they've been trying to leave comments and can't do it. All I can say is trying using Google Chrome as your browser, that seems to help.

 Dude, it's free. Not much I  can do to complain about this. I'll try to search  for some answers though.

In the meantime, peace out,

Rod

Conquering DU's: Duct tape, Jun's rope and My Hattori's

So if you've been reading this blog with any sort of regularity you know that double unders and I have a love/hate relationship.

Actually it's more like a one-night stand. DU's show up, get me all excited, then they don't come back until they want to.

Well that's about to change. I think.

First off, big ups to my man Jun who donated one of his jump ropes to the I Hate Cardio cause. He knows I can only do the DU's with a certain type of rope and lo and behold one of them shows up hanging in the gym one day with my name taped to it.

You da man.

Quite possibly Jun was influenced by his wife Shauna who totally rips at double-unders. I think she told him "Jun please give Rod a good jump rope so that he stops these angry stares when I'm doing DU's. It's like he's jealous or something."

If I looked jealous that's because I was jealous. But not anymore.

So now I have this cool rope and my very light, very awesome Saucony Hattori shoes that everybody made fun when I first bought them but damn, they work.

The only catch is they're so light that there's not much protection when you miss a DU and the rope snaps against my feet. My toes feel like they're going to break or start bleeding.

Seriously. It's enough to screw with me mentally so that I can't get the timing right on the DU's.

Then on Saturday I discovered that we have duct tape in the RFM office.

It looks stupid but it FRIGGIN WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jun's jump rope, plus my Hattori's plus the duct tape for protection equals ROD RIPPING AT DU'S!!!!

Well, ripping for me anyway. For some stupid reason I kept getting stuck at my 22nd rep, every single freakin time.

I've never been so happy that I went to a Saturday workout. This one was complex: AMRAP for 5 minutes 30 DU's and 20 sit-ups, rest 3 minutes then AMRAP for 5 minutes again 10 shoulder to ceiling with heavy dumbbells and 10 box jumps, then rest 3 minutes again and the last AMRAP was 10 pull-ups and 10 burpees.

The DU's were cake. Usually 30 DU's would take forever but not this time.

As for the rest of the workout, the box jumps were tough and so were the shoulder to ceiling, especially with 50 lbs dumbbells. Pull-ups were easy but of course, burpees will always suck.

A good workout and a good discovery. And yes the tape is still on my shoes and it's going to stay there.

PEACE!!! Enjoy your Sunday people,

Rod