January 6,7,8, 2017

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Friday concluded a week of Hero workouts with

DG

Complete as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:
8 Toes to bar
35 pound Dumbbell thruster, 8 reps
35 pound Dumbbell walking lunge, 12 steps

U.S. Air Force Major Walter David Gray, 38, of Conyers, Georgia, assigned to the 13th Air Support Operations Squadron, based in Fort Carson, Colorado, died on August 8, 2012 from injuries suffered during a suicide bomb attack in Kunar province, Afghanistan. He is survived by his wife Heather, daughters Nyah and Ava, and son Garrett.

The intention of the week of Hero workouts was two fold. 

1. Show respect to these heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice while defending our freedom

2. Start this year off with a tough week and set the pace for the upcoming year

I believe we did both.  There was a good turnout at the garage this week.  Personally, I had an excellent week in the kitchen making very good food choices and continuing to eliminate sugar and grain from my diet everywhere possible.  This sounds easy, but no amount of will power or desire is enough to eliminate sugar. 

The current food system does not make it easy.  As I have become more aware of how bad sugar can be for my health and performance, I have started looking in all products that pass my lips.  I have been astounded at where sugar is hidden and in staggering amounts. 

Sauces, Ketchup, hamburger meat, vegetable "Green drinks" all contain massive amounts of sugar.  I looked at the ingredients on the Vitamin C packet I was drinking and guess what...Fructose was the first ingredient and this tiny packet of supposed Vitamin C had 5 gm of sugar.  You cant even get Vitamin C without sugar without really trying.  For reference, One Hershey's Kiss has 1.3 grams of fat and 2.6 grams of sugar.

5 grams of sugar is certainly not going to kill you, but I was taking between 3000-4000 mg of Vitamin C per day through the use of these packets.  That is 15-20 grams of sugar.  The recommended daily intake of sugar is 37.5 grams and that has grown over time. 

What is pretty sobering is that I am a guy who is paying pretty close attention to my diet, my exercise and my performance.  In an attempt to supplement some needed Vitamin C in the winter when I am not consuming as much fresh fruit, I decide to buy a supplement only to find that it is LOADED with sugar.  If I can be fooled by this, how does a person who is paying no attention to their sugar intake stand a chance?  How can a kid make good choices when they are absolutely surrounded at every turn with candy, soft drinks, energy drinks, energy bars, and so called healthy alternatives that are packed with sugar or various forms of sugar like High Fructose Corn Syrup, Fructose, or the more healthy sounding options like Organic Cane Sugar.  IT IS ALL THE SAME!

We are being attacked by sugar, literally.

Try going 1 day by keeping your sugar intake to under 20 grams.  Look at every ingredient in every single thing you eat or drink.  It is very difficult to say the least.

There are so many plans out there on how to eat, how to lose weight, how to increase strength or any metric you want.  The bottom line is that we all have to become educated on what is in the food we eat, and understand how this Standard American Diet (SAD) is killing us as a nation and do everything we can to protect ourselves and our families from the metabolic disorders that ultimately come from this way of eating.  This only happens by taking responsibility for the food that enters our bodies.  Do not leave it up to the food manufacturers, they are not doing you any favors.  Shop at the grocery store, around the edges only, cook your food and then eat it together as a family. 

If you are interested in learning more, watch the 2 documentaries that I have seen lately.  Fed Up with Katie Kouric as the narrator is excellent and will show you some shocking and scary things about childhood obesity and the challenges our children face every single day in making good food choices.  Also watch Sugar Coated.  Both of these are on Netflix and very good.  Watch with your kids if possible.

Good luck navigating this challenging landscape.  If you find some things that work, let me know.

January 5, 2017

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A full week of Hero workouts continues with

Hildy

100-calorie row
75 thrusters, 45-lb. barbell
50 pull-ups
75 wall-ball shots, 20-lb. ball
100-calorie row

If you’ve got a 20-lb. vest or body armor, wear it.

I chose not to go with a vest today because of my calf injury sustained yesterday.  I was pleasantly surprised that none of these movements really hurt my calf.  The row was the worst on it, but the thrusters and wall balls were possible. 

January 4, 2017

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7 mile run today for the group.

I started but experienced an injury on Walnut street bridge and had to ask my wife to come pick me up.  This is so frustrating!  I would love to figure out what I am doing wrong and fix it so that I did not have problems like this in the future.

My issue is the calf.  I will be rolling along just fine and then, pop.  I wont be able to walk well for 2 days, and 4 days later I will feel ok and can probably run short distances.   Then, it will likely happen again in a month or so. 

I am going to change shoes and see if that helps.

January 2 and 3, 2017

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This week we will bring in the New Year with Hero workouts everyday except Wednesday which is a 7 mile run.

January 2, 2017

Jag 28

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Mark Forester, 29, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, assigned to the 21st Special Tactics Squadron, based in Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, died on September 29, 2010, while conducting combat operations in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan. He is survived by his parents Ray and Pat, and siblings Terri, David, Joseph and Thad.

For time:
Run 800 meters
28 Kettlebell swings, 2 pood
28 Strict Pull-ups
28 Kettlebell clean and jerk, 2 pood each
28 Strict Pull-ups
Run 800 meters

This one was TOUGH!  I did fine on everything but the double kettlebell clean and jerk which I had to scale to double 53s and that was still TOUGH.

Glad to get this one done and honor this hero.  It hits home since I went to University of Alabama and I was just hunting around Tuscaloosa AND the TIDE just rolled over Washington. 

 

January 3, 2017

Jenny

U.S. Army Capt. Jennifer M. Moreno, of San Diego, California, died Oct. 6, 2013, in Zhari District, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked her unit with an improvised explosive device. The 25-year-old was assigned to Madigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. Moreno is survived by her mother, Marie V. Cordero; sisters, Jearaldy Moreno and Yaritza Cordova; and brother, Ivan F. Moreno.

20:00 AMRAP:

20 Overhead Squats, 45 lbs

20 Back Squats, 45 lbs

Run, 400 m

I liked this one.  Keith Gray absolutely killed this one.  He has been on the Zone for a while now and has dropped 10-15 pounds.  HIs performance lately has been outstanding. He recently won a pullup contest by getting over 40 which was a PR for him by quite a few reps.  His running has been solid and his performance on today's workout was super impressive.  I did 5 full rounds plus 20 OHS and 20 Back Squats.  Mike Drew managed to get back off the run just under the wire to get 6 rounds even and Keith finished 6 rounds plus 19 reps! 

Good work to the whole group, but especially Keith.

January 1, 2017

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2016 was a great year. There were so many successes achieved this year through hard work and team work. There were personal best catches, pr's in the gym, the best year of 21 in my marriage, and huge successes for my children. There were losses and disappointments as well. Regardless of the success experienced this year, it will not make me complacent. I learned at @sealfit Kokoro about the mindset of the Navy Seals. The only easy day was yesterday defines their mindset and work ethic and I strive to live in the same manner. Regardless of success or how hard you worked yesterday, that was the easiest day because the foot is never taken off the gas. Stay in constant pursuit of improvement and excellence in every area of your life. The Seals earn their Trident and strive to earn it again every day. I'll never have an official or real Trident because I am certainly no Seal. However, I have learned that each of us has a Personal Trident. I have many: my family, my businesses, my marriage, my friends, my shows, my physical body and my mental strength. You certainly have tridents of your own. Never take these things for granted and strive to earn them everyday. Be grateful, be thankful, be humble and do everything you can in 2017 to earn your Trident everyday. With that mindset and goal, The only easy day was yesterday. Cheers to a bigger and better 2017!

We started 2017 with a Hero workout

Bradshaw : 18 mins 10 secs | Rx'd

10 rounds of:

3 Handstand Push-ups

6 Deadlifts, 225 lbs

12 Pull-ups

24 Double Unders

Post Bradshaw workout picture with good friends, Alan and Reggie.  Cheers to a great 2017

December 30, 2016

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I have been a big fan of Rich Froning since being in the 2010 Regional Crossfit Games in Ohio.  I had a tough time in that competition mostly because I was simply not strong enough.  Rich Froning did not have a tough time at all.  He was on a different level even at that time and it has been a pleasure to watch him progress to becoming a 4 time Games champ and win countless other titles as well. 

Through it all, Rich seems to have remained the same guy that I met in 2010 when he was still a firefighter and before any of the fame.  At that time, the regional was more like a bar-b-que or a company picnic than anything we see today.  Crossfit was underground. Rich was an awesome, humble guy and he still is today despite the massive fame he has and the worldwide growth of CrossFit.

Recently, I have been following what Rich's gym, Crossfit Mayhem has been doing as their workouts and I have really liked it.  We borrowed another one today:

Metcon (AMRAP – Rounds)

Every min (10 mins)
200m/175m Row
Rest 2 mins
Metcon (AMRAP – Rounds)

Every min (10 mins)
10 Thrusters (100/70)
Core Work

” Durante Core ”
5 rds
10 Hollow Rocks
10 V-Ups
10 Tuck Ups
10 sec. Hollow Hold
– Rest 1 min –

Many of our group has left for a vacation or to visit family over the Holiday.  That did not stop Trevor and Mike from getting in the workout at CrossFit Estero

December 28, 2016

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Run day today, but with a change of scenery. 

6 mile run

RRL-Old Dallas-N Market-Across Market Street Bridge-Left on 4th-Left on Walnut-across Walnut street Bridge-left on Fraiser-right on N Market---home the same route

I really enjoy the bridges and running around downtown in the early morning.  This was a pretty good route, but there was alot of glass on the ground in a few places.  Gus stayed home today and it was probably a good thing.

48:26

December 26 and 27, 2016

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As tradition calls for, we did the Festivus workout which includes Feats of Strength and the Airing of Grievances.

12 minutes to work to 1RM Clean and Jerk

Max Pullups

Pushup/Plank Circle

Max L Sit

Max Med Ball Throw

Max Turkish Getup

 

Today:

Borrowed one from CrossFit Mayhem

Row 1000

then

9 rounds of:

8 Deadlifts @ 135

6 Hang Cleans

5 Front Squats

4 Shoulder to overhead

December 24, 2016

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“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”


― Theodore Roosevelt

 

We have had a Christmas tradition of doing a difficult workout on Christmas eve.

Since we have done the Frogman's Christmas the last few years, I thought we would bump it up a bit and do the Frogman's Christmas Plus

For time:

125 Strict Pull-ups

300 Push-ups

600 Sit-up (standard)s

Run, 5 km

 

December 12, 2016

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We welcomed an old friend, Downtown Steve Brown to the RRL today.  This is his 2nd or 3rd time to visit and today he got the full RRL effect.

With a cold front approaching, the sky was purged of all available moisture and we endured a rainy, cold hero workout.  If you dont already know this, we never workout inside.  Whether it is 100 degrees or -4, we are outside for every workout.  Of course, the absolute full effect includes an ice bath at the end and Steve was happy to jump in for 5 minutes...also outside.

Today:

Walsh

22 Back Squats @185 lbs

22 Burpee Pullups

200 M run with 45 lb plate

x 4

Then

5 minute ice bath

 

Good job Steve