R & R 32012

The Competitor (Tim Strong video)

I am trying out some new application software for producing videos.  Here is a sample video taken of Tim Strong, a former NYRR contestant & consummate competitor.  Enjoy! 

WOD 31912

Jump Rope/Kettlebell Complex

<50 Jump Rope, KB movement, 30 second rest>


JR, 3 x 15 Stiff-legged KB Deadlift
JR, 3 x 15 KB Squat
JR, 3 x 20 Two-Handed KB Swing (full overhead extension)
JR, 3 x 10 Single-Handed KB High Pull (10 per arm)
JR, 3 x 10 KB Clean & Jerk (10 per arm)
JR, 3 x 20 Single-Handed Alternating-Release KB Swings
JR, 3 x 5 KB Snatches
JR, 3 x 10 Two-Handed KB Squat Thrusters

WOD 31812

2 mile run

<10 Rounds (no rest between rounds)>
Kettlebell Complex (Push-up, Upright Row, & Two-handed Swing) Ladder* + 100 yard sprint

*Ladder:  add 1 complex per round (i.e. rd. 1 = 1 complex, rd. 2 = 2 complexes, etc.).

WOD 31712

Warm-up:  5 x 100 Jump Rope Singles & ROM Drills.
Work:
     <Complex>
     Barbell Squats:  3 x 10, 3 x 5, 3 x 3
     Dumbbell Stiff-Legged Deadlifts:  6 x8
     Jump Rope:  6 x 100

     <Superset>
     Olympic Ring Dips:  5 x 5
     Med-Ball Squats:  5 x 10

     <Superset>
     Olympic Ring Pull-Ups w/ Inversion/Reversion:  5 x 5
     Bosu Ball Squats:  5 x 10

WOD 31612.2

5 Rounds:

400 yard run
100 Jump Rope Singles
25 yard uphill Bear-walk
25 yard downhill Bear-walk

Enjoy the outdoors!

WOD 31612

Warm-up:  1 mile run & ROM Drills*
Kettlebell (KB) Complex (performed with a 45 lb kettlebell; 30 second max rest between all sets):

3 x 15 KB Stiff-legged deadlifts
3 x 20 KB Goblet Squats
3 x 20 KB Two-Handed Swings (full overhead extension)
3 x 15 KB Single-Arm High Pulls
3 x 10 KB Clean & Jerk
3 x 10 KB Single-Arm Alternating-Release Swings
3 x 10 KB Single-Arm Snatch
3 x 10 KB Two-Handed Clean-to-Squat Thruster

*ROM (performed with a 5 lbs plate in each hand):

10 Backstrokes/arm
10 Frontstrokes/arm
10 Crossovers
10 Oblique Twists
10 Toe-Touches
10 Squats
10 Snatch-Grip Over & Backs
10 Deep Lunge Hip Stretches

Team,

I want to congratulate all of you for a job well done.  Each of you has experienced a victory.  You have all completed something that many people could not and would not finish.  It is my sincere hope that this end is merely a beginning for all of you.  Accomplishing something as such can be a catalyst for overcoming and achieving other struggles and goals in life.  Remember, so much of what you achieved these last ten weeks was as much mental as it was physical.  You have to believe you can do it.  I hope that each of you realize that you have so much more to give and that to limit yourself is really cheating yourself out of all that life can be.  I will cherish our time together.  Believe me when I say that each of you has given me more than I could ever give back in return.  Witnessing your progress has been truly inspiring and an affirmation that living life to the fullest is about finding the edge and working beyond your perceived limitations..., is about taking a challenge head on and facing your fear..., is about evolving.  From the bottom of my heart I thank each and every one of  you for your effort, your support, your camaraderie, your trust, and for the privilege of allowing me to be a part of your lives for the past ten weeks.

-Nico

Diet Soda?

Team,


It's late in the game, but this is a must read.  It's why you hear me preach about not being a big fan of soda pop in general.

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/diet-soda-addictive

Fitness is...,

I wish I could claim the following as my piece of literature, but it's words resonated with me as if it were my own.  It's actually a blog from a Crossfit Athlete named Blair Morrison and I thought I would share it, as I believe it adds an enormous amount of perspective:

Choice.

It doesn’t happen by accident.

This concept is important to grasp in a number of ways.

First, everything is a choice. Life is volitional, thus every bit of its foundation is also so. Every second, in every circumstance, you are making choices that will affect your life and your fitness. The genetic canvas is always the same—no series of choices, made or unmade, will alter that essence. But the physical particulars that you see, weigh, and measure are the result of a lifetime of definite choices. Framing things this way is both extremely empowering and a bit scary. It means that the physical you is not pre-determined, that you have a measure of control over the way you interact with the world around you and the way in which you’re going to age. It also means that you are ultimately responsible for the course your life takes, that you have the ability to fuck things up, and often will.

Second, every choice has value and they are all accumulating. The previous affects the present, the present will determine the future. Take a 50-year old man (call him individual A) that has adult onset diabetes, hypertension, and a history of joint problems. Not so uncommon these days. Rewind his life and remove every piece of candy, bread, and processed sugar he ever ate. Add nothing else, take nothing else away, and imagine the impact that would have on his current state of health. Though his genetic canvas remains identical, this minor alteration would have morphed individual A into an entirely different person, call him individual B. Individual B almost certainly has a few less lbs of bodyfat, easing the annual pounding on his joints that have caused them to become inflamed, arthritic, and full of scar tissue. Moving less laboriously, he’s inevitably stayed more active, keeping his heart stronger and the stress on his vascular system down. Individual B’s endocrine system is functioning FAR better than individual A’s, as his blood sugar has never been artificially spiked and ravaged by soda, snickers, and wonder bread. Quite probably this state is being passed on to his kids as well, because I guarantee they aren’t eating fruit loops and lucky charms for breakfast if daddy is cooking eggs and bacon.Individual B would now, also, be facing a far different set of choices than his diabetic, hypertensive counterpart. He moves with less pain, allowing him to spend less time on the couch and more time outdoors with his friends and kids. He is free to eat whatever and whenever he chooses, and is free of daily medication to protect his heart. The choice to not eat processed sugar has essentially created a new reality in this example, tipping a line of dominos that ultimately opens up a world of choices to individual B that individual A will never get to make.

Third, choices present themselves whether you’re ready for them or not. You can’t cherry pick your moments of righteousness. You have to be ready and willing to live a volitional life at all times. I can remember my high school football coach, in his own sarcastic brand of motivation, reminding us of this fact my junior year. We were practicing and getting tired, the whole lot starting to wilt under the Sacramento heat, when he yelled, “This is your last Tuesday of El Camino week, 1998. Don’t miss a rep!” This echoed around inside my helmet for a few seconds, bouncing off the walls of my brain, and I remember thinking he was just stating the obvious. “Clever turn of phrase, coach.” Then it hit me differently… he was 100% right. This was the last Tuesday of El Camino week, 1998. In fact, it was the only Tuesday of El Camino week, 1998 that there would ever be. Tomorrow it would be gone, next year would be different, and this day, this opportunity to do whatever it was that I wanted to do, would never return. Suddenly I was more motivated than I had ever been. I was flying around the field, out-working everybody, and the weariness I’d felt 2 minutes earlier was a distant memory.

When you’re tired, bored, or discouraged, it’s easy to slip into a routine that disconnects you from the importance of the present moment. Most navigate the majority of their daily tasks this way, without considering their importance or value, content to just get them done. This is not necessarily a dangerous state of being in itself—the ability to zone out can be almost meditative for the mind from time to time—but a consistent reliance upon it leads to the ignorance of the role choice plays in our lives and in our fitness. It’s as if we begin giving up the right to choose out of pure laziness. We become dependent on ease, slaves to routine, and, bit by bit, we lose the skills necessary to control our lives. Suddenly we wake up 20 lbs overweight, with an expired gym membership and a pantry full of boxed food, and realize we haven’t made a conscious choice in years.

Finally, it’s not necessarily the choice we make that’s important as much as the reason we make it. For example, the decision to eat cake because it’s your kid’s birthday party isn’t going to make a difference in your body’s ability to process sugar. Eating cake because you can’t control your craving for chocolate eventually will. Skipping a workout because your body is depleted isn’t going to keep you from hitting PRs. Skipping a workout because you're too lazy to get up in the morning eventually will.

In these examples, it’s not the actual choice made, but the underlying reason for making it that is the indicator of long-term health and fitness. Next to logic, knowledge is the most important tool a person has at his disposal when it comes to making decisions. We must root our motivation for training in reason and fact, build our goals and aspirations on foundations that won't sift away with mood, circumstance, or age, and be prepared to grow in those facets continually. Doing so will protect us from blurring the line between motivation and obsession when it comes to fitness. Growing obsessed with training, eating, or anything else is typically the result of a failure to tie our motivation to reason and instead relying on perception. Take the anorexic teenager, the muscularly dismorphic bodybuilder, or the constantly injured CrossFitter and you see the same internal demon eating away at them. They all make fitness choices based on a set of false pretenses.Whether it’s a distorted body image, a misguided sense of cause and effect, or simply the stress of wanting to be perfect, attempting to make choices without knowledge and perspective leads to failure. It becomes a constant frustration and doesn’t allow you to relax or acknowledge that which you do well. Making choices based on reason and knowledge prevents this.

Ultimately, taking control of your fitness is itself a choice, but it cannot be made without the understanding of that which is described above. Decisions must be made consciously, for the right reasons, and with the full knowledge that no choice is independent of the next. Every 6am workout you put yourself through does not supplant the last, but builds on it. That healthy dinner does not erase the bag of Doritos you ate, but moves you past it.Each choice is but a sliver of progress or regress, but see them all en mass and you have an enormous whole. Now, whether the choices made by individual A or those made by individual B have created a better life is an argument for a different blog. The point is that no choice either has made is insignificant. It all adds up. The fact that we have but a finite number of breaths to take makes every one of them important, so why slough a few off as inconsequential? The ability to make the right choices comes down to reason, experience, psychological maturity, and the understanding that fitness is an evolutionary process.These things take time, effort, and patience to develop into a solid practice. Approaching every session and every meal as a choice to be made or unmade is a good first step.

Courage and Fear

Jeff Wise, in his book Extreme Fear, has some good insight on fear and courage.  He is a writer for Popular Science and his blog is a great read www.jeffwise.net.

Jeff states:

“Courage is not just for heroes. Fear is an emotion we all deal with, and how we handle it is everything. How we grapple with our anxieties determines what kind of life we’ll lead — whether shackled by anxiety and dread, or empowered to conquer new challenges. Yet we spend most of our time trying to avoid fear, so we muddle along, rarely getting much better at the art of mastering it. That’s a shame, because with a little effort we can find the courage to push beyond our comfort zone and tackle new worlds“.

Save the Date...,

Team,

I need everyone to check their calendars for the weekends of March 10-11 and March 17-18.  Be prepared to inform me of your availability at Thursday evening's workout.  Yes, yes, yes..., I know the competition will have ended by then..., don't worry, just do it..., check your calendars.

-Coach "No Limits"

2/15/12 Weigh-ins and Challenge

Team,

Well..., it seems as though I'm being banished to Burpee Hell!!! Great job to to everyone, especially Renee' and Tammy!  As a group I can assure you we are all on the cusp of breaking through the weigh-ins.  Some of you are exhibiting a work capacity that I wouldn't have deemed possible at the start, which is a real testament to your physical effort and mental fortitude.  I need everyone to work very closely with me, as we make a few short-term nutritional sacrifices for the next few weeks in order to break through some plateaus.  On this issue I will not accept "try", only "commit".  Let's get ready and focused to close out the week strong!

-Coach Nico

Celebration!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMMIE & GLORIA!

Admire & Inspire

Team,


I admire your honesty & am inspired by your effort.  We may very well have found a key to a lock this evening.  Find strength in each other and keep going.  


(Kokoro Camp is upon us-let's see what that key unlocks.)

"What we do in life, echoes in eternity."

Determined individuals. Inspired team. Victory.

-Strength & Honor-

Evolution 2

Team,

Week 2 is moving away fast in the rear-view mirror and we all appear to be holding steady.  Remember to appreciate the moment when you're in it, when you're sweating it out, when you're "fighting the bad feeling."  Those moments are where we earn it.  Each day of training is a step beyond the previous and tonight's effort was all that and more!  I'm starting to see individuals hitting their stride and push themselves, when only 1 week ago it was me doing the pushing.  This is the turning of the page.  This is discovering the self-motivation that will trump self-doubt.  The programming this week will lead to noticeable progress.  Stay on the attack.  Your mindset should be void of surviving and full of conquering.  Everyone's effort tonight was impressive and the total volume of work you all put in was amazing!  I said I was excited about the possibilities this week would bring about, but after tonight, I'm even more optimistic.

News Flash!

Team,


It is being reported that Vivian was the winner at tonight's weigh-in! It has also been reported that our team had two runner-ups and that they were Beth and Dawn!  Finally, video evidence has surfaced that indicates our team gave at least 100% maximum effort per individual.  I'd like to extend a major "congrats" to Vivian!, Beth!, Dawn! and the rest of the team!  I'd also like to extend a bonus of 25 burpees on behalf of your effort [that makes 50 burpees earned to date]. Keep up the great work! You are earning it!

Week 2

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of it's sorrow, it empties today of it's strength."


I need each of you to stay focused in the moment.  The past is behind us and the only impact we can have on the future is what we do today.  Seize the day, each and every day.

Evolution 1

Team,

Week 1 is almost in the books and you are all standing tall!  Congrats.  To reflect, you've completed 3 days of intense circuit training, competed in a grueling fitness challenge, and completed a Kokoro Camp.  You have all displayed a great degree of heart and courage as you dove headlong into the unknown.  I sincerely hope that each of you has begun to realize that you each have so much more potential than you ever thought and are now discovering how to unlock it.  The mental toughness that you have forged along the way will serve you well.  Now, with only one day remaining, take what you have learned about yourself this week and attack your team challenge tomorrow with a warrior spirit.  Use the physical attributes you have begun to refine and the mental strength you have started to sharpen to find victory. Most importantly, function more as a team than as individuals and victory will find you.

Kokoro Camp

Team,

Kokoro Camp is coming!  The word "Kokoro" has a literal translation of "heart," but it also has shades of meanings that can be translated as "the heart of things" or "feeling."  Tonight's test will be a test of your heart and soul.  A test of your very core, designed to make you realize that the "newly developing" you has so much more to give than you could possibly imagine.  From here out, each Friday will be a Kokoro Camp.  I encourage each of you to embrace the experience, as the strength and confidence you will gain will propel you to bigger and greater things in life.

Critical Information (MUST READ)!

 Team,

This week has certainly been a dive into the deep end and it's good to see everyone still has their head above water!  That said, throughout the week I have addressed a number of issues.  One of the most common issues has been pre-workout nutrition.  As I've mentioned before, Dr. Dozie is our nutrition expert and you will have opportunities to inquire in more detail about such topics.  But, I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of improper pre-workout nutrition, so I thought I would provide you with some brief, but detailed information that should clear up any misconceptions regarding what to eat before a workout and when to eat it.  To simplify the process, I've attached a link to a web-article that addresses this topic in a very easy to understand format.  I highly recommend..., REQUIRE, each of you to spend five minutes to read through it.  As we push forward over the next few weeks, it will be critical for you to up your intensity.  What fuel you select and when you use it will be paramount to your ability to perform at peak levels.  

"Keep your head up and chin down!"

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sportsnutrition/a/EatForExercise.htm

Fitness Challenges

Team,

I am sorry I wasn't there to see everyone through to the end, but from what I witnessed at the start, you all seem to have a competitive spirit that drives you.  Fitness Challenges are designed to enable you to channel that spirit so that you can push yourself beyond your perceived limits.  Competition has that effect on many people, myself included.  I also was privy to a lot of teamwork and support, of which I am a big advocate.  Each week only one person will win the prize, but you should all consider yourself winners for finishing and giving it everything.

The Spartans had a creed that was documented in a movie called "300" and it serves me well to generate a competitive focus and intensity..., "Spartans never retreat, Spartans never surrender!"

"THE MAN"

Congrats to Tim!  Week 1 Fitness Challenge Winner! 

Breakfast Cereal Choices

Team,

In response to last night's discussion around breakfast cereal choices and the guidance I provided around ingredient preference, I have provided a WebMD listing of top choices.  Their goal was to balance taste with nutrition and their rationale is paraphrased below.  The link for the entire article is:  http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/choosing-healthy-breakfast-cereal

After some taste testing and input from acquaintances, WebMD came up with eight picks for the best-tasting healthful breakfast cereals. The cereals on their list had to have a whole grain as the first ingredient and 5 grams of fiber per serving. Sugar had to be around 25% calories from sugar or less, unless dried fruit was among the top three ingredients. They also tried to choose cereals that are easily found in the supermarket.

1. Post Grape-Nuts Trail Mix Crunch: 5 grams fiber, and 22% calories from sugar. The first three ingredients are whole grain wheat, malted barley, and sugar, followed by raisins and wheat bran.
2. Fiber One Bran Cereal: 14 grams fiber, 0% calories from sugar. First three ingredients are whole-grain wheat bran, corn bran, and cornstarch. This cereal only appeals to some people. They would suggest enhancing the flavor with cinnamon, fresh or dried fruit, and/or roasted nuts.
3. Fiber One Honey Clusters: 13 grams fiber, 15% calories from sugar. The first three ingredients are whole-grain wheat, corn bran, and wheat bran.
4. Quaker Oatmeal Squares: 5 grams fiber, 19% calories from sugar. The first three ingredients are whole oat flour, whole-wheat flour, and brown sugar.
5. Shredded wheat: 6 grams fiber, 0% calories from sugar (for a generic brand). The only ingredient is 100% whole grain cereal. They enjoy this with added fresh or dried fruit and nuts. If you opt for the frosted variety, it has 6 grams fiber and gets 23% of its calories from sugar.
6. Frosted Mini Wheats: 6 grams fiber, 24% calories from sugar. The first three ingredients are whole-grain wheat, sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup.
7. Raisin Bran: 7 grams fiber, 40% calories from sugar (in Kellogg's brand). The first three ingredients are whole wheat, raisins, and wheat bran). Sugar is listed fourth in the ingredient list, but many of the calories from sugar come from the raisins.
8. Kashi Heart to Heart Honey Toasted Oat Cereal: 5 grams fiber, 18% calories from sugar. The first three ingredients are whole oat flour, oat bran, and evaporated cane juice. This is a higher-fiber alternative to Cheerios. I think they taste better, too. But that may be because there is more sweetener added (the evaporated cane juice).

Sports Psychology

Team,

Achieving your physical goals can be greatly impacted by your state of mind.  It may not be enough to simply show up at the gym.  If your mind isn't right, you may not achieve your true potential.  Sports psychology offers some great tools that can be used to enhance your performance in and out of the gym. Please take some time to view the video below.  At this early stage of the contest, some of the techniques mentioned, such as focusing on the process and not just the end result or goal, could be instrumental in helping each of you navigate the everyday pressures you may experience. Visualization is another key technique.  Being able to visualize or imagine your workout, your effort, or your result in advance of it's actual occurrence can actually help program your mind to be  prepared when the event is at hand.  Physical challenges will always present you with mental hurdles and the aforementioned techniques can help you successfully manage the situation.

Day 2

"NIGHT FURY" CRUSHED IT TONIGHT!
(Long live the Burpee!)


Superman was in the house, Bonnie was busting a move, and the team pushed through "the bad feeling" like a horde of angry Vikings!

Beginner Burpees!

Team,

I have posted a YouTube link that details a beginner Burpee.  Please view the video as we will be discussing and performing it this evening.  It will become a core movement from which we will develop some team-based competition.  It's a fantastic and versatile movement that you will all master!

Day 1

Day 1 is in the books!  Fantastic effort from all on my team.  I think we all know where the "edge" is and some even peeked over.  Teamwork and encouragement was stellar tonight and we'll need more of it as we move through the week and walk along that ledge.  Day 2 will be upon us soon and back "down the rabbit hole we'll go," so get rested and re-focus.  Make sure that you leave it all out there and give nothing less than 100%, as each of you deserves nothing less than that.  You all have more physical ability than you think, but you have to have the mental willingness to take yourselves there and back.  Today was tough, but tomorrow is when we start to earn it.

Orientation

Awesome effort from everyone at this afternoon's orientation!  I saw some great teamwork and encouragement, which will be instrumental during the workouts.  My team needs to gear up and bring their "A" game tomorrow!  Let's come out of the gate strong!

Very stoked for the contest to begin! We have a fantastic group of contestants that are ready to compete!