Monday, May 31, 2010

Farewell Fellow Warriors

I would like to thank everyone in the BBCF community for being such an inspirational and die hard group of people. I truly understand what is means to be part of something bigger than myself and feel like I am taking a little part of you all with me in my journey.

I am leaving BBCF as a stronger person in the physical and mental aspect of training and life. Everyday we push ourselves past boundaries we otherwise would not have crossed and we do it together as a team helping each other along the way. No one is ever left behind and there are so many people willing to go the extra mile.

Thank you all for allowing me to be part of something so great and inspirational. It has been truly a pleasure coaching and working out alongside each and every one of the amazing members of the BBCF community. I have seen so many outstanding transformations in our members, both physically and mentally.

-Scott is one that will always stick out in my mind. When he started, I was literally squatting under him to help him finish his pull-ups during an FMP and now he is a monster killing WODs everyday.
-Mel and Alena you will always be the two who were just as crazy as I am. No matter what you were always willing to do anything that sounded cool and even things that didn't. Like a three way call at midnight to do some burpees.

Thank you Alena and Jason for taking the box over and putting your heart and soul into each and every member of our community. And thank you to all the members of the BBCF community who come in everyday and give everything they've got This is what makes BBCF so successful, keep up the good work and stay in touch

"The greatest victory is the victory over ourselves. Remember, it's always too soon to quit.

email- XhaksawX@gmail.com

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Week 10 Day 2, Tuesday 25 May, 2010

Warm - up

10 minute stretch

Workout
3-4 rounds
20 med weight dumbbell thrusters
20 pull ups
400m run

Focus on form, strength, and breathing to calm yourself.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I'm trying text blogging today so here it goes:

This is a great saying from the book Mind Gym:

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think that you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't, it's almost certain you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost.
For out in the world you'll find sucess begins with a fellows will.
It's all in the state of mind.

Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man; but sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Week 10 day 1, Monday May 24, 2010

Warm up

800m run
40-30-20-10
Push ups
Sit ups
Squats
800m run

Workout

4-6 rounds
5 kettlebell clean and press right side - heavy and strict
5 kettlebell clean and press left side - heavy and strict

This workout is not timed, focus on solid movements, and strict press for each rep.

9 Things to do when you are All Banged Up

9 things to do when you're All Banged Up
by Dallas Hartwig, PT, MS


As a physical therapist and strength and conditioning coach, I’ve spent a good portion of my professional career talking to people about recovery, either in the clinic following an injury or in the gym following a high-intensity workout. Since I believe that brief, high-intensity exercise is the most productive in terms of maximizing fitness and minimizing risk of overuse injury and excessive oxidative stress on the body, I prescribe exercise programs that look a lot like CrossFit, with a heavy emphasis on strength movements and gymnastics.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of information out there about how to exercise, but far less information about the application of proper rest and recovery techniques. I see more sub-acute and chronic injuries resulting from inadequate recovery from exercise (especially with high-intensity programs), than resulting from an acute or traumatic incident. The primary fault lies with inadequate or improper recovery from exercise, not the type or intensity of exercise. (To put it another way, it’s not that you’re hurting yourself doing pull-ups – more often than not, it’s because you’re not properly recovering from those pull-ups.)

I believe that a high intensity exercise program is both effective and sustainable life-long, when combined with good nutrition and recovery practices. So I find myself educating my PT patients about nutrition, sleep, active recovery techniques, and stress management practices as often as I do about the physiology of connective tissue healing, lumbar stabilization, or biomechanics. It was this experience that, in part, led Melissa and me to develop a comprehensive and integrative practice (Whole9) to help our clients continue to aggressively chase health and performance without being hindered by nagging pain and injuries.

At some point in our lives, we’re likely to find ourselves over-trained, under-recovered, under-fed, under-slept, over-caffeinated, and (eventually) actually injured. Ideally, the early stages are the time to pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you, and take immediate action to ensure those nagging aches and pains don’t become a seriously limiting chronic injury. So here are the Whole9’s recommendations for what to do when you’re All Banged Up.

1. Take extra rest days. I’m not talking about swapping your rest day from Wednesday to Tuesday – I’m telling you to skip a bunch of workouts. I’m a proponent of taking an entire week off once or twice a year from hard training – and can think of no better time to do so than when you’re banged up. And once you go back to intense training, you also need to give that injured body part another week or three of rest. Yes, really – rest it longer than you think you should. Trust me, you’d rather take three weeks off from all pulling exercises than be plagued with chronic injuries (and sucky performance) for the next six months. Finally, don’t even think about doing two workouts a day or a long met-con to “make up for” your extra rest days. The whole point is extra rest.

2. Get felt up (or feel yourself up). Seek out a good massage therapist. Cyclic compression of muscles after intense exercise reduce swelling and muscle damage. Massage can improve muscle function, resulting in less swelling and fewer signs of inflammation after exercise. Too busy to book an hour long massage? If you’re beat up, no you’re not… skip today’s workout and hit the massage table. Too broke to see your massage therapist every week? Luckily, there are cheaper and still-effective alternatives. Spend enough intimate time with your foam roller to make your significant other jealous. Buy a Stick and use it. Work with a tennis ball or lacrosse ball for some self-myofascial release.

3. Keep moving. Low intensity exercise can protect and enhance the immune system, even when you’re banged up or sick. It also helps with injury prevention and recovery. Moving your body increases blood flow and the number of cells that eat up “debris” in the injury. It also increases oxygen levels to speed up healing, and increases circulation to remove the debris out of injured areas. Finally, exercise prevents stiffness and decreases the formation of scar adhesions. Stay active with movements different from those you normally perform during workouts, but remember to keep things light and easy. Think dynamic warm-up drills, kripalu yoga, an easy swim or a brisk walk. And people… stretch.

4. Use thermal modalities (heat and ice) appropriately. If you have an acute injury (less than 5 days old), ice is your best friend. I prefer crushed ice (in a plastic bag inside a pillowcase) instead of those commercial gel packs – they warm up too fast. Apply the ice to the injured area for 20-30 minutes, at least 3 times daily. Or you could apply ice directly to the injured area with ice massage (as pictured above) for 8-10 minutes. Most importantly, don’t put heat on an acute injury. The inflammatory process is biochemical, and heat literally speeds up that process. Heat vasodilates and promotes the accumulation of interstitial fluid (edema), and the last thing you want with a fresh injury is to add to the swelling. If you really love your Tiger Balm or Icy Hot, that’s okay – but these products have no real thermal effect. (You might get the sensation, but it doesn’t actually heat or cool your tissue.)

Chronic injuries (anything that persists for longer than 2-3 weeks) respond best to heat, which improves blood flow to the healing tissue. So once you’re into the 5-plus day range, you can use contrasting hot and cold, alternating every 2-5 minutes for a total of 20-30 minutes, especially post-workout.

5. Remove inflammatory dietary factors. This should be a no-brainer around here. If you’ve been slipping back into old (poor) eating habits, now’s the time to clean up that mess. Get rid of grains, legumes, and dairy altogether. Need I even mention cutting out booze? And though it’s controversial, I’d also recommend eating less saturated animal fat (especially egg yolks and fat from feedlot-raised, grain-fed animals) as it can increase pro-inflammatory compounds in your body.

6. Boost your vegetable intake. Alkaline foods, especially richly coloured vegetables, help to offset the negative effects of acidic metabolic waste. Vitamin C and polyphenols, like those in broccoli and dark leafy greens, are essential for the repair of connective tissue and to reduce inflammation. Vitamins E (found in sprouts, avocado and dark, leafy greens) and A (found in green and yellow vegetables) are also important nutrients for connective tissue and cell repair. In summary, eat more veggies, especially green leafies… but not more fruit. (I’m wary of fruit’s impact on insulin levels, which, when elevated, increase inflammatory markers in the body). Go easy on carbohydrate-dense root vegetables for the same reason.

7. Calm down (your inflammation). The ratio of omega fats in your diet help dictate the “inflammation status” of your body. If your diet consists of mostly omega-6 fats, your inflammation response will be unbalanced and damaging to your cells. To that end, per Robb Wolf’s recommendations, bump up your fish oil supplementation to 0.8-1.0 gram of DHA + EPA per 10 pounds of body weight. The additional omega-3 fatty acids can help tip the balance in your body away from an inflammatory state. Also, avoid concentrated sources of omega-6 fatty acids, such as “industrial” vegetable oils like peanut, safflower, soybean, and corn oils. You could also consider a GLA (gamma-lineolic acid) supplement. (GLA, while in the Omega-6 family, is not converted to the pro-inflammatory arachidonic acid (AA), but rather to dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA). DGLA competes with AA and prevents the negative inflammatory effects that AA would otherwise cause in the body.)

And it may sound weird, but… don’t forget to brush your teeth and, just as importantly, floss daily. Periodontal disease can contribute to systemic inflammation in the body just like grains, legumes and dairy.

8. Get more and better sleep. This article explains how sleep contributes to a whole host of health and fitness factors, including injury prevention and recovery. During this time period, avoid caffeine, which can disrupt the quality of your sleep even if it doesn’t actually keep you awake.

9. Ditch the Advil. While I don’t purport to be smarter than your doctor, here is one area where I disagree with his recommendation to scarf the Vitamin I (ibuprofen) and other NSAIDs (non-steriodal anti-inflammatories). Sure, NSAIDs suppress the inflammatory process and help with pain control. But research has shown that they actually slow down the overall healing process, and cause the “healed” tissue to be less strong. So allow your body’s healing process run its natural course, and don’t band-aid it with Advil.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Welcome form Kirkurk, Iraq

I don't mean to highjack the warrior athlete page, but I cannot post comments - only new posts. I also wanted to let everyone know, I've made it safe to my final location (for the next 4ish months) Kirkurk, Iraq. If your familiar with your geography, its 200 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq. If not Google is awesome. Had to use Google myself :-p. Anyway I also wanted to post my mailing address and my email address. I'd love to hear from everyone and care packages would be awesome :-). If I could put in a request on a care package, a couple ab mats would be fantastic! Never realized the necessities until you need them :-p.

Mailing address:

SSgt Hoff, Matthew
506 ECES/CEF
Unit # 70072
APO AE 09359

Email:
Matthew.Hoff@krab.afcent.af.mil

Until next time, have a wonderful weekend and week! Kick some Warrior Athlete butt!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Week 9 Day 6, Saturday May 22, 2010

OPERATION: FINAL SUNSET

Situation:
While the US and NATO effors have severely improved the living conditions in Iraq for the general populations, there are still cells that remain well armed and determined to undermine efforts to restore peace. It is widely known that they are receiving their financial and arms backing from outside the country. A main tactical strategy in finishing the work in Iraq is to disrupt the shipments of arms and supplies to insurgent groups.
Intelligence sources report that the Yemeni cargo ship 'Setting Sun' is being loaded with supplies and weapons in the port city of Mukala, Yemen. The destination for the off load of the cargo is suspected to be Bushehr, Iran, where it will most likely be smuggled into Iraq to resupply insurgent groups.

WOD:

Insert:
4 Rounds
50 Squats
50 Push Ups
50 Sit Ups

Actions at the Objective:
5 Rounds
5 Commando Pull Ups (right side) [sub 10 pull ups]
5 Commando Pull Ups (left side) [sub 10 pull ups]
10 Burpees
400 meter Run

Notes:
Push the pace for a quick, decisive victory through violence of action.

Week 9 Day 5, Friday May 21, 2010

Goal: Warm up through elements 1-4, then explode through elements 5.

WOD: "Fire in the Gut"

100 Sit Ups
100 Flutter Kicks
100 Leg Levers
100 Box Jumps

4-5 Rounds (for time)
5 (L) KB Sit Ups (right side)
5 (L) KB Sit Ups (left side)
10 (H) KB Swings
10 (H) KB SDHP

Week 9 Day 3, Wednesday May 19, 2010

Goal: Control intensity to get the best time. Finish with an empty tank.

WOD: "R3"
(Prepare everything before you start to minimize wasted time on transitions)

2 mile Run
2000 meter Row
2 mile Run

REDLINE THE WHOLE WAY!

Week 9 Day 2, Tuesday May 18, 2010

Hurry Up!

Run 2000 meters (1.25 miles)
50 Push Ups
50 Flutter Kicks

Run 1600 meters (1 mile)
40 Push Ups
40 Flutter Kicks

Run 1200 meters (0.75 miles)
30 Push Ups
30 Flutter Kicks

Run 800 meters (0.5 miles)
20 Push Ups
20 Flutter Kicks

Run 400 meters (0.25 miles)
10 Push Ups
10 Flutter Kicks

Track # of rounds it takes you to achieve the follow:
50 Deadhang Pull Ups
100 Squats

Notes:
Run at redline on elements 1-5. Shoot for no more than 3 sets of elements 6 and 7.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Week 9 Day 1, Monday May 17 2010

Here we hit our Courage cycle again, or our "bring the fury" week.

Monkey & a Football (Ok, I am a giant kid but that is an awesome name)

40-30-20-10
Push ups
Sit ups
Kettlebell swings medium weight

5 pistols right leg
5 pistols left leg
5 handstand push ups

* scale pistols to squats and HSPU to heavy overhead press

3 mile run

"A warrior must take care that only his spirit is not broken."

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Week 8 Day 6, Saturday May 15 2010

Warm Up:

10 min of Stretching

WOD:

Eva

5x
Run 800m
30 Kettlebell Swings (32kg)
30 Pull-Ups

Eva=Pain

"The great secret of success in life is for a man to be ready when his opportunity comes."
- Benjamin Disraeli

Week 8 Day 5, Friday May 14 2010

Warm Up:

10 Min of Dynamic Stretching

WOD:

Run 1 Mile AFAP
Run 800m AFAP
Run 400m AFAP

Meter intensity based on distance.

"We shall never have more time. We have, and have always had, all the time there is. No object is served in waiting until next week or even until tomorrow. Keep going day in and out. Concentrate on something useful. Having decided to achieve a task, achieve it at all costs."
- Arnold Bennett

Week 8 Day 3, Wednesday May 12 2010

Warm Up:

Stretch 10 min

WOD:

2-4 Rounds of:

10 Kettlebell Snatch (right arm)
10 Ball Slam
10 Kettlebell Snatch (left arm)
10 Ball Slam

"The will to excel and the will to win, they endure. They are more important than any events that occasion them."
-Vince Lombardi

Week 8 Day 2, Tuesday May 11 2010

Warm Up:

10 Min of Stretching

WOD:

8x100 on 2 Minutes
4x200 on 3 Minutes

Record fastest 100 and 200 then:

2-4 Rounds of:

10 Tuck Jumps
10 Clapping Push Ups

"Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also."
- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Week 8 Day 1, Monday May 10 2010

Warm Up:

10 Minutes of Stretching

WOD:

Run 800

2-4 rounds of:

10 M Kettlebell Snatch (right arm)
10 M Kettlebell Snatch (left arm)
10 Weighted Pull-Ups with a Kettlebell

Run 800

Week 7 Day 6, Saturday 8 May 2010

Warm Up:

10 Minutes of Stretching

WOD:

Murph

Run 1 Mile
100 Pull-Ups
200 Push Ups
300 Squats
Run 1 Mile

With a 20lb vest

In memory of Navy Lt Michael Murphy, who was killed in Afghanistan 6/28/05.

Feel free to break up the pull ups, push ups, and squats. Recommend doing sets of 10 pull ups, 20 push ups, and 30 squats
until you finish all reps. Scale reps down as necessary to keep a continuous flow.

Week 7 Day 5, Friday 7 May 2010

Warm Up:

10 min of stretching

WOD:
3-5x
5 Medium Turkish Get Ups (right side)
5 Medium Turkish Get Ups (left side)
20 Pull-Ups

Try to do all Pull-Ups in one set!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Week 7 Day 3, Wednesday 5 May 2010

Warm Up:

(L) Rounds of
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

WOD:

7min Run - Easy Intensity (you can talk but not in full sentences)
7min Run - Moderate Intensity (down to single word only)
7min Run - High Intensity (you can hardly breath)
Turn around - The Chase is on (Negative Split)

Week 7 Day 2, Tuesday 4 May 2010

Warm Up:

10 minutes of Stretching

WOD:

50-35-20
(M) KB Swings
Push-ups
(L) Overhead Squats

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Week 7 Day 1, Monday 3, 2010

Warm up
400m run
2 x
2 pull ups
25 squats
then
400m run
2x
25 push ups
25 sit ups
then
5-10-20-10-5
Kettlebell clean and press (right arm) med weight
Kettlebell clean and press (left arm) med weight

Workout:
3-5 rounds
25 deadlifts - medium weight
50 situps

Week 6 Day 5, Saturday 1 May, 2010

Rock N Roll FMP

Since we all did this last time, but we all chose the option of lifting a lot of weight, this time we get to run run run.

10K with a 25 pound pack.