life. food. fitness

Rest? Who needs rest?

froggy314 — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:26:08 +0000

Actually, we ALL do. That whole “rest is for the weak” thing is actually the complete opposite. Rest is for the strong, and those who want to be stronger. Here’s a link to an interesting article I found today about the importance of rest and recovery as part of your workout regime – check it out. (while I’ve been “power-resting” the past few weeks for all my various injuries… LOL)

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sampleworkouts/a/RestandRecovery.htm

The Truth Hurts…

froggy314 — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:44:41 +0000

So I’ve been having issues with pain in both shoulders on and off for the last 2 years, and today I went and saw the 3rd orthopedic doctor about this extremely annoying recurring problem, as the last 2 doctors were unable to come up with any answers. I already underwent physical therapy and still do the stretches and exercises on my own at home, and while they have helped my range of motion improve, the pain persists. In many cases, it also prevents me from reaching my full potential on certain crossfit movements. Well I finally got an answer today…

The diagnosis? Impingement Syndrome. That basically means there’s not enough room between the bone on the top of my shoulder (the acromion) and my rotator cuff, so when I raise my arms, the acromion rubs against/impinges on the rotator cuff tendons and the bursa (small lubricating sac between the acromion and the rotator cuff), causing pain, irritation and inflammation. Woohoo. The treatment? Each shoulder got an extremely painful shot of novacain, followed by shots of cortisone, a steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine – which were equally painful despite the fact that my shoulders were supposed to be numb from the novacain. And if you know me, you know I have a very high tolerance for pain, so you also know those shots really friggin’ HURT! Now I’m supposed to ice heavily for the next two days, followed by little to no overhead movements or lifting for the next 4 weeks. That’s right, 4 whole weeks. If you’re a crossfitter you know how long that actually is. Ugh. Which also means that if you’re a fellow crossfitter, I’m expecting you to hold me accountable to not pushing myself and focusing on lower body movements for the next 4 weeks, so my shoulders can actually heal. Guess that muscle-up is just going to have to wait….

It’s all in the family

froggy314 — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:27:25 +0000

So I was perusing facebook this morning, and I noticed an interesting trend. Pretty much most, if not all, of my friends who are crossfitters either have a picture of them at crossfit as their current profile picture, a past profile picture, or at least a decent collection of pictures from crossfit in one of their albums. My friends who are not crossfitters have the usual social pictures, cute head shots, etc, and many of my rugby teammates do have rugby action shots in their collection – but not one picture from the gym, whether it’s Gold’s or Best, or Planet Fitness – nope, not one. A little bizarre don’t you think? Why is this? It’s actually pretty simple – crossfit is not a gym. What, you say, of course it’s a gym, you work out there don’t you? Well yes, but it’s so much more than a gym. For one, I would actually consider it to be a sport. I don’t just go there to workout, I go there to compete, whether it’s in a daily WOD where I’m competing against myself for a good time on a metcon, or for a PR on a heavy lift, or whether I’m competing against my fellow athletes in an in-house (and maybe someday a regional) competition. Notice I said athletes, not gym-goers. It takes an immense amount of dedication, determination and mental strength to be a crossfitter – there is no such thing as an easy workout here. So of course when I go and I bust my ass to be the best athlete I can be, of course I’m going to be proud of my efforts. Secondly, and actually more important to me, crossfit is a community, and in many cases, close enough to be considered family. Not only do I look forward to seeing my fellow crossfitters, coaches and trainers, I know what people go to certain classes and who coaches which class, and I know who I want to workout next to because I know we’ll push each other during the WOD. I’m not just happy when I hit a PR, I’m happy when my girlfriend hits a PR, I’m happy when my friends hit PRs, and I’m happy when the guy or girl next to me that I may or may not know very well or even at all hits a PR. I am proud of my family and who they are, what they put themselves through on a regular basis to be faster, stronger, healthier – but never getting cocky or arrogant about what they are capable of. They have supported me from day one, when I didn’t know a thing about crossfit and had to unlearn all my old bad gym habits. They support me at my worst, when I’m in a bad mood, or when I was sick and barely able to train, and they support me at my best. And I know for a fact that my fellow athletes feel the same way. So it makes sense that they all have pictures up on facebook of crossfit. Call it a cult if you will, people have, but we know what we are a part of and we are proud to call ourselves crossfitters. Truth be told, I’ll probably eventually retire from rugby, as other people will probably retire from their current sports or move on to another, we’ll all move different places at some point, meet new people, make new friends – but I know that no matter what, no matter where we go, we will never stop crossfitting.

When mind over matter doesn’t matter

froggy314 — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 17:42:09 +0000

So we’ve all heard it – think before you act, mind over matter, it’s a mental thing…. but what happens when your brain actually gets in the way? I’m starting to discover that when it comes to workouts, sometimes you just have to let go and stop thinking – because when you do, that’s when you find out what your real limits are. You’d be surprised at how much stronger your body is than your mind lets you believe. That 20 minute AMRAP from hell? Yes, you can finish it even though you think you can’t. That 20, 24, 36 inch box jump? Yes, you can make it. That heavy deadlift or squat might look intimidating with all those plates on the bar, and it’s heavier than you’ve ever lifted…. and yes, you can lift it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve completely psyched myself out because I let myself think too much about how heavy or how hard something was. So in this case it is a mental thing - too mental. Most of my PR’s have come when I just shut my brain off and went for it. If you fail, you fail – what’s the worst that can happen? But you’ll never know if you don’t push yourself. Like I said, you’ll be surprised at what your body can actually do if you let it. So against most conventional wisdom we’ve been given, here’s my advice – for however long your workout is, STOP THINKING. Don’t let your mind underestimate your true abilities. Don’t let fear get in the way of achieving your fitness goals. Just go for it. Go for that PR, go for Rx in a WOD and use a weight you’ve never used, conquer your suck list. And then after you’ve done whatever it is you’re trying to do, only then, go ahead and turn your brain back on – so you can think about what a kick-ass job you just did and bask in your awesomeness. Because you are awesome, no matter what you think.

Dangerously Yummy Paleo Pumpkin Apple Muffins

froggy314 — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 17:22:16 +0000

…try saying that 3x fast. LOL. They really are dangerous though…

Paleo Pumpkin Apple Muffins

4 eggs
2 1/4 cups almond meal
1 large apple (or 2 small apples) peeled and finely chopped
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp honey
1 heaping Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 large handful chopped walnuts
optional: 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Pre-heat oven to 350. Whisk eggs in large mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients except chopped walnuts and mix by hand. The batter will not be super thick, but more like a cake batter. Using a bit more coconut oil or olive oil, grease a muffin tin. Fill the tins about 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of each muffin. Bake on middle rack for about 20 minutes. You will know they are done when you can insert a toothpick into the middle of a muffin and it comes out clean. Serve warm out of the oven. Word of caution, they tend to stick to the sides of the tin, so be careful taking them out – a lightly oiled plastic knife works fairly well. Another note of caution – these muffins are so good you might just eat them all at once…. :-)

Tis the Season…

froggy314 — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 20:02:32 +0000

…to step it up and rock some PR’s before 2010 is over!! We had the opportunity to do a CrossFit Total yesterday, hitting 1 rep max’s on the backsquat, shoulder press and deadlift. I did my first ever CFT back in January, almost a year ago, wow time flies! On that CFT I squatted 165, pressed 75 and deadlifted 205, for a CFT score of 445. This time I squatted 220, pressed 80, and deadlifted 245, for a CFT score of 545. In all honesty I might be able to get 5lbs on my squat and DL, but I’ve still got 3 weeks before I start making my New Year’s resolutions for 2011. One of my 2010 goals was to backsquat 250, so I’m still 30lbs short, but definitely a lot closer than I was in January! :-) Becca had an impressive CFT as well, hitting 140 on her backsquat, 80 on her press, and 250 on her deadlift – which btw was a 25lb PR for her! Total CFT score 470, up from her January total of 375 (125 backsquat, 70 press, 180 DL).

We also have a couple other PR’s to boast about…. for me, I got a new maximum height box jump on Monday – 43 inches! And Becca stayed after the CFT yesterday for ladies night where they worked on the split jerk, and she rocked a PR with a 130lb split jerk – good work babe! :-)

It’s interesting to note that neither of us have really been doing strength programming since we stopped doing Wendler at ACF, until very recently when Becca started doing it on her own again. I personally feel that if you want to improve your strength in specific areas and specific lifts, the strength programming makes a big difference – makes me wonder where we’d be on our CFT if we’d been doing programming all year! But you know, every day is a new opportunity to grow and push yourself, and we’re ready for the challenge :-)

Mmmm Paleo-licious!

froggy314 — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 03:59:43 +0000

So Becca decided that she wanted to try eating strict paleo as of December 1st (today) and stick with it until Christmas. Me being the amazing girlfriend I am haha – and considering how much easier it is to share food and because I know I should eat paleo – I decided to jump back on the paleo wagon with her. Of course, this means I need to dig deep inside myself and find the will power to pass by the countless bags of delectable looking christmas chocolates in the grocery store aisles, resist the urge to drink eggnog by the carton (and spike it with baileys lol), and even fore-go my daily advent calendar chocolates – which, by the way, we’ve decided we’re both going to eat all 25 chocolates on Christmas day :-) Will it be worth it? I think so. I’ve done paleo before and I noticed an improvement in my overall well-being, and with how low my energy levels have been and how much my joints have been bothering me lately, I could use a little health boost. So in honor of starting fresh, I’m posting a couple “Paleo-licious” recipes – try them, you’ll like them!

BBQ Pork Ribs

We just had these for dinner tonight – yummmy!! We were craving “bad” food and the BBQ sauce on these babies hit the spot. The secret? Organicville’s agave nectar sweetened BBQ sauce, which can be found in Hannaford’s health food section or at the Co-op. Organicville makes other sauces too, but check the ingredients, the BBQ sauce checks out fine, but the teriyaki sauce, sadly, doesn’t make the cut :-( Another note of caution – ribs can be an iffy paleo meat because they can be very fatty, so when you get your ribs, make sure they’re as lean as you can get them.

Organicville Original BBQ Sauce

For this we got a nice lean 4.5 lb rack of pork spare ribs, which we had to cut in half to fit into two baking dishes. Crank your oven up to 350 degrees, brush a coat of sauce on the ribs, and throw them in the oven, preferably on the middle or lower rack. Let them cook for about 1 hour, then take them out and brush another coat of sauce on. Let them cook for another 30-45 minutes until the meat is tender and white all the way through (no pink). Grab a handful of napkins and dig in!

Fudge Babies!!

1 cup walnuts
1 and 1/3 cups pitted dates
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I sometimes add an extra teaspoon)
3-4 tablespoons cocoa powder depending on how chocolatey you want the balls to be

Throw all the ingredients into a food processor, bullet, ninja etc, and blend. Then roll the dough into bite-size balls of yumminess! You can also form them into brownie-like bars, but once they’re formed into whatever shape you desire, they’re ready to eat! Refrigerate them to keep. I actually like to let them set in the fridge for a bit before I eat them :-)

National Champions!!

froggy314 — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 19:18:44 +0000

This year Women’s Division II was officially recognized under USA Rugby for the first time, with USA Rugby hosting the DII National Playoffs at the same time as the Premier League and Division I National Playoffs. Which is why it was even more exciting and significant that the Albany Knicks Women’s Rugby team won our first National Championship in our ten year history. And we got to go home with shiny gold medals and a big shiny trophy! Below is the press release for the weekend written by our amazing coach Lori Staples :-)

Albany Knickerbockers RFC Women win
2010 USA Rugby Division II National Championship

Mesa, Arizona, November 14th, 2010 -
The Albany Knickerbockers Rugby Football Club is proud to announce that their Women’s team won USA Rugby’s inaugural Division II National Championship Tournament, held in Mesa, Arizona November 12th – 14th. The Women defeated strong sides from Severn, Maryland and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and finally clinched the National Title by beating a young powerhouse team from Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Women’s team brings home the title in a fitting tribute to their 10th anniversary as a part of the Knickerbockers organization.

This is the Albany Women’s second National Championship Finals appearance, having succumbed to a team from Raleigh, North Carolina in 2006. Arriving in Arizona with a full travelling squad of 24, the Women first took on Severn River (Mid-Atlantic # 2 seed), scoring almost immediately and controlling the match while making good use of strong substitutes. The team went on to win the game by a commanding 41 – 5 margin, with tries scored by Kristin Bonomo and Rachel Start of Albany, JoAnne Kos of Troy and 15 yr old Jenna Watson of Coxsackie.

The semifinal proved to be a re-match of a game Albany lost to Pittsburgh (Midwest # 1 seed) during the 2009 Invitational Tournament in Houston, Texas. This year, the Albany Women scored quickly with another JoAnne Kos try, but the score remained at 5 – 0 for much of the first half. Ruth Robertson of Albany added another try which Kos converted, bringing the score to 12 – 0 at the half. The second half saw strong Pittsburgh offense, but Albany countered with tries by Alicia Backus and Willow Eyres of Albany, ending the match at 22 – 0.

The Women arrived for the final match on November 14th with plenty of nervous energy, and the game started slowly for Albany with Albuquerque scoring first. The first half saw a lot of back and forth play with both teams making pushes into the other’s territory, but Albany was able to cross the try zone twice in the last five minutes of the half, as Kate Fuller of Pittsfield, Massachusetts and Ruth Robertson breached Albuquerque’s defense to bring the score to 17 – 10. The second half of the final match started well for Albany as JoAnne Kos scored again but Albuquerque quickly countered with a try of their own. The final 10 minutes saw one more Albuquerque try, and additional Albany tries from Willow Eyres and Beth Fairall of Albany. It was 34 – 22 at the final whistle and the Albany Women were excited and proud to have won the USA Rugby Division II National Championship!

The Knickerbockers also congratulate JoAnne Kos on winning the 2010 Tournament MVP award.

Albany Crossfit gets a new look!

froggy314 — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 17:57:30 +0000

The last couple weeks big things have been happening at Albany Crossfit. We recently acquired a 4th room (we’re slowly taking over all of the Court Clubs racquetball courts), and instead of leaving it as a separate room, our beloved leaders, in their infinite wisdom, decided to combine it with our 3rd room to make a new, bigger workout space. So the power tools came out, the wall came down, and amid the cloud of dust and the noise of construction, the transformation began. Over this last weekend Albany Crossfit closed it’s doors to finish construction, and in the place of their usual WODs, our athletes and trainers came in and dedicated their time to building, painting, cleaning and organizing.

I myself was very honored to have the job of painting the ACF logo on the new back wall – which also meant I got to use the awesome automatic lifts we got this time instead of the ladder, woo! In the process of painting the logo and helping out around the gym, I realized just how proud I was to be able to be a part of Albany Crossfit and this important new addition. I joined the ACF ranks almost a year ago when there were only 2 rooms, I helped with the 3rd room when we got it, and here I was, watching ACF grow yet again, and this time with a beautiful new WOD room and a whole new, sharp and professional paint scheme in the hallways.

The best part for me though – realizing that while our space and overall look may change, the people are still the same. The community that makes Albany Crossfit what it is has stayed strong, and new upgrades are only going to enhance it by giving us more resources that will help us become better athletes. There’s going to be more opportunity to push ourselves and in turn, to push and encourage each other. On Thursday we got to hit our first WOD in the new room – a welcome-back-to-crossfit, brutal 25 min AMRAP. It was awesome to be able to have 16 athletes working out in one room at once, and it as just as awesome to have my fellow crossfitter next to me keeping me on track. It’s great to have the new space and see the other two rooms re-arranged to get the best use out of our equipment, and I am definitely looking forward to what other exciting things the future holds for Albany Crossfit. Not to mention, hitting a muscle-up on those cool new rings in our WOD room…. :-)

Aloha from Lahaina Crossfit!

froggy314 — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 04:00:08 +0000

Just a little over a week ago Becca and I were lucky enough to get to take a vacation in beautiful Maui, Hawaii. Of course the week was filled with fun activities such as snorkeling and surfing (well, attempting to surf), and plenty of relaxing on the beach and watching one spectacular sunset after another. But of course, what would a vacation be without our usual dose of Crossfit? So we took a little trip (including a 15 minute walk to the bus stop, consider it our warm-up) down the road to Lahaina Crossfit and dropped in on their 8am Saturday WOD. We met head trainer Anthony Bianucci, who was very welcoming, and happy to have visitors from another Crossfit, as were all the other athletes there. Turns out there were a total of 5 different Crossfits represented that morning, including some local island affiliates, Crossfit Zone in British Columbia, and of course, Albany Crossfit. Lahaina Crossfit is a relatively new gym, having only opened its doors this June, so their facilities currently consist of one room, similar in size to the rooms at Albany Crossfit. However, despite what one might consider limited space, they definitely make the most of what they have, and lucky them, they are fortunate enough to have year-round access to the beautiful outdoors.

One of the interesting things about Lahaina Crossfit is that since they are still a growing community, their numbers can be somewhat unpredictable. So certain days, such as Saturday, Anthony doesn’t create a WOD until he sees how many people show up, at which point he can decided if it will be an individual or a group WOD. On the day we went our group was 12 strong, so Anthony worked us up a team warm-up followed by an individual WOD. So after some group dynamic stretching, we split into 3 teams and did the following warm-up: 10, 9, 8 …. 3, 2, 1 of jumping jacks, chest-to-floor pushups, and air squats. Once the entire team was done with the 10! series we were told to grab a sand bag and run up the hill to Star Noodle, which of course us non-locals had no idea what that meant, but it turned out to be a little restaurant just about a 600m (maybe 800?) run there and back. Once we were done with our “warm-up”, we set up our stations for the WOD: 7min AMRAP of 7 kettle bell swings and 7 burpees. They actually had a limited equipment selection so while some people grabbed KB’s, some grabbed dumbbells to do modified dumbbell swings. Becca grabbed a 35lb KB and I grabbed myself a 40lb KB, a little heavier than I usually go, but I was feeling up to a challenge. Anthony started the clock and 7 minutes later, we were gasping for air, drenched in sweat, and vying for space in front of the portable fans. It’s amazing what a little extra heat and humidity will do to you! Regardless, I felt pretty good afterwards, I managed to bust out 6 and ½ rounds, and Becca rocked out 5 and ½ rounds. We got to chill afterwards and take some pics with the Saturday crew and chit chat with Anthony a little, and then one of the regulars was nice enough to give us a lift back to our hotel and give us the scoop on island living. Overall it was definitely a very positive and enjoyable experience, and it was really cool to see how another Crossfit was run. Becca and I both agreed we were very glad we took the opportunity to check out Lahaina Crossfit.