Squat Work

Then ….

“Cardio Gone Bad”

Complete Three 5 minute rounds, spending 1 minute at each station.

Rest 1 minute after each round.

Row for calories

Box Jumps

DU’s

KTE’s

Turf Sprints (down and back = 2)

** Keep total rep count for your score **

“Share the Pain Saturday’s” start during the month of April!

“Death By Burpees”

With a continuously running clock do 1 burpee the first minute, 2 burpees the second minute, 3 burpees the third minute…… continue as long as you are able.  Use as many sets as needed to complete the reps per round.  When you are unable to complete the reps in that minute, you are done.  Score = Highest number of rounds.

A Strength Coach’s Guide to Dealing with Pain: Part 2, Knee Pain

Presents

“The Deadlift”

Sunday April 11^th 3:00pm-5:00pm

Deadlift technique can be difficult to master; there are a whole host of variables that can sabotage your form and bring your progress on this most useful of lifts to a grinding halt.  Spend an afternoon with CrossFit Maximus Strength Coach Jim Laird (Louie Simmons Approved). He will walk you through the progressions and auxiliary work that will dramatically improve your Deadlift.

“The deadlift is more functional in that it’s very hard to imagine a more useful application of strength than picking heavy shit up off the ground.” - Mark Rippetoe

Cost $50

$25 for CFM members

**Class Size Limited to 15**

To sign up call:  859-327-3677 or email: jen@crossfitmaximus.com

Bench Press work

Then ….

5 Rounds for time:

20 Sit-ups

30 DU’s

250m Row

A Strength Coach’s Guide to Dealing with Pain, Part 3: Low Back

Published: March 8, 2010Posted in: Rehabilitation, Sports Training

In parts one and two of this series, we discussed some strategies a strength coach can use to reduce chronic shoulder and knee pain in athletes. In part three, we’ll discuss some things we may be able to do in order to manage low back pain.

When training athletes, an all-inclusive approach works best. This means that not only do we pay attention to their strength levels, but we also pay attention to their mobility, nutrition, and musculoskeletal alignment. This is apparent the most when dealing with an athlete’s back. In parts one and two, I mentioned the use of a massage therapist. They can be of great help. In this part, you may need access to a massage therapist, a chiropractor, or a physical therapist. Let’s get started and make this as simple as possible.

An athlete is complaining of chronic low back pain. At this point, we don’t know what is causing the pain. For a strength coach, the first step is always the same.

Refer out!

In the collegiate setting, we have athletic trainers. However, if you have access to a chiropractor or physical therapists, use them immediately. It may be nothing but spasms, and that’s fine but have a qualified professional look at the athlete first. I regard my athletes’ spines as pretty important. Wait until you get the go ahead from a doctor before proceeding with any other steps.

Check for anterior tilt of the pelvis.

In the athletes I work with, this is the single most prevalent cause of low back pain. Anterior pelvic tilt is a result of tight hip flexors and weak glutes, hamstrings, and abdominal musculature. Mainly, this is the result of our modern sedentary lifestyle. I work with athletes who sit in class all day. Being seated for a prolonged period of time causes their hip flexors to shorten and hip extensors to lengthen. Anterior tilt is also seen in many sprinters. This adaptation is a result of the body attempting to get more hip extension during gait.

So what’s the problem? When the pelvis tilts forward, it causes the lower back to be excessively lordotic, and it tends to tighten and ball up the erectors of the low back. If this is the case (and it often is), we can manage this very easily by hitting the body from all angles. Follow steps 3–5 and you should be able to pull your athletes’ backs into a neutral position.

Lengthen the hip flexors.

Psoas, illiacus, and rectus femoris are our culprits. I will refer you to part two of this series where we discussed lengthening these muscles using exercises like the tempo lunge or EQI lunge. These can be very valuable tools not only in dealing with knee pain but also in alleviating lower back pain.

Strengthen the glutes and hamstrings.

There are a million references out there that discuss posterior chain strengthening. I’m not going to give you an exercise library or anything like that. There has also been a ton of stuff written recently on glute activation and strengthening techniques. Just remember to not only include straight leg hip extension exercises but also bent knee hip extension exercises in your programs. True single leg work also does a great job of recruiting your glutes as stabilizers. The posterior chain is important in case you didn’t know.

Strengthen the core.

This is the most written about, controversial, and outright insulted muscle group in the body. Strengthening the core doesn’t mean get out the Swiss ball or do crunches until you die. We must learn to use the core for what it’s supposed to be used for—stability. The abdominals are constructed in a way that holds the low back and pelvis in a neutral position while the extremities move around it.

It’s hard to believe, but some athletes have a hard time with this concept. In some cases, the deep abdominals go dormant and force prime movers to become stabilizers. It’s most commonly seen in the piriformis. This muscle often kicks in to become a pelvic stabilizer and ends up becoming overworked and inflamed, cutting down hip internal rotation range of motion. And don’t forget that the sciatic nerve lies deep in the piriformis. When this muscle tightens, it can cause a lot of pain.

Dare I mention the word “Pilates?” This training style has become very popular in commercial gyms in recent years. While this style may be misapplied in some instances, in its true form, Pilates can be extremely useful. Shirley Sahrmann’s core progression, presented in her book, Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes, has done some great things for my athletes. Her progression is elementary and tedious, but you’ll be surprised at how many people will struggle to do it properly. It starts as easy as a simple supine abdominal bracing and progresses with various limb movements. Her goal is to teach your core to stay stable as your limbs move around it.

Separate hip mobility from lumbar spine mobility.

We’ve all seen the traditional sit and reach test. Take a look and tell me where a majority of the movement is coming from. If you said the low back, you’re exactly right. If someone has tight hips, his movement comes from the lumbar spine. Just watch one of your athletes do a high knee skip. If he has weak or tight hips, he will collapse at his low back as if doing a crunch. This is a perfect example of a common compensation pattern. Watch your athletes do leg swings and try and see where a majority of the movement is coming from. If it isn’t the hips, it’s wrong. This same pattern can be seen in many movements. However, separating the hips and lumbar spine will allow us to begin to improve hip mobility. This will take a huge load off your low back.

Leg swing with lumbar flexion (left) and without lumbar flexion (right).

Mobilize the thoracic spine.

When looking at the structure of the spine, it becomes clear that the thoracic spine has a much larger capacity for movement than does the lumbar spine. When this area becomes immobile, we have a lot of problems in not only the shoulder (discussed in part one) but also the low back. A great example of this is during overhead pressing movements.

We’ve all seen an overhead press that looks something like this (see the picture above). In this case, the lifter was purposely hyperextending. However, you can go to the local commercial gym and see many people doing this unconsciously. Because of an immobile thoracic spine, the body automatically substitutes thoracic extension with lumbar extension. Mobilizing this region will avoid unnecessary movement in the lumbar region. Tennis ball and foam roller crunches were mentioned in part one of this series as well as overhead squats. Another great way to work on this is to simply overhead press correctly.

nkles, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, and bar in a straight line.

“Elizabeth”

21 – 15 – 9 reps for time:

Cleans

Ring Dips

Tripp is in Prowler Hell, but at least Andrew and Jeff are enjoying themselves!

Why Cardio Alone Doesn’t Cut Fat

By Adam Signoretta

Published: March 26, 2010

I wrote this article in order to educate women and some men who believe that doing cardio and abs will help them shed pounds on their midsection. I also think it will help out trainers who have a hard time getting clients to understand the benefits of lifting moderately heavy weights, which is the best thing for them to do to lose weight.

Everyone knows that cardio is the best thing for you when looking to burn extra calories. Or is it? What most people don’t know is cardio can be the worst thing for cutting fat when it isn’t paired with weight training. If you ask the girl (or even the guy) on the ab machine what she’s trying to do, nine times out of ten she will reply with “lose my stomach fat.” Ten times out of ten, she won’t loss stomach fat. The number one reason for this is that you can’t spot reduce an area. When you lose body fat, the fat will be reduced throughout the body, not just from the area you’re working. If we could lose weight in just one area, don’t you think we’d look a little funny? People would walk around with rock hard abs, saggy glutes, and flabby arms. All beach guys would have fat legs because they only do chest, arms, and abs.

The following is a short story between the girl on the ab machine and me. We will call her Jenny Abs. If you dig deeper, you’ll find out that her full name is Jenny Cardio and Abs. I asked Jenny what she did before the ab machine, and she said, “I normally do an hour of cardio on the treadmill or a cardio class.”

My reply was, “Awesome, you must have burned a lot of calories. How is your eating?”
She said, “Oh, I ate really good—egg whites in the morning, chicken and a salad for lunch, and dinner was something light. And no carbs after 6:00 pm.” Jenny said that as if she had taught me a lesson.

Seems Jenny has listened to all her uneducated group fitness class groupies. In case you haven’t guessed by now, I had my work cut out for me. I wanted to touch on three main things here, and I wanted to do it delicately without hurting Jenny Cardio and Abs, who is now unable to function because she is carb depleted from over an hour of high intensity cardio.
So I said, “That is stupid and you must be too if you believe that.” Kidding of course. It isn’t her fault that everyone who reads a fitness magazine is a professional now. I asked Jenny if she had a minute because I wanted to help her maximize her gym time and of course her goal of weight loss. Jenny didn’t really want my help because she thought that most trainers were either hitting on her or trying to sell her something. However, she agreed to sit down and have a chat with me.

We sat down and I opened with a bunch of nice complements on her workout routine. I then asked her how long she had been working out for and of she had been making much progress.

She was all smiles and said, “Yeah, I have lost eight pounds so far, and I want to lose another ten, but it’s getting tough to drop. I don’t really know why. I’ve been eating even less and upping my time on the cardio. See, I lost five pounds the first week and three pounds the second week. Now, it’s week seven, and I actually gained a pound. It’s pretty frustrating.”

I cut right to the chase. I’m not one to waste time or sugar coat anything.

“You’re working too hard and burning too many calories. Your body is eating your muscle, which is slowing your metabolism down, and you aren’t strength training.”
Jenny’s mouth opened wide and said “Oh, yes I do strength train. I took that extreme weight training class with Krissy with the amazing body.”

“Ok, cool. That isn’t strength training. That’s basically cardio with weights, and it only adds to your overtraining. Let me explain how the body works. Let’s start with this—your body needs a certain amount of calories throughout the day in order to function, and more importantly for you, to maintain muscle.”

Jenny cut in with, “I don’t care about my muscle. What does that have to do with me losing weight.”

“Jenny, it has everything to do with you losing weight. Your muscle is going to be what regulates your metabolism. Your metabolism is going to be the amount of calories you burn at rest throughout the day. Now this is where muscle comes in. Your muscle determines your metabolism. A pound of muscle can burn anywhere up to 50 calories a day depending on its health. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn throughout the day. This is known as your basal metabolic rate, an estimated amount of calories you burn throughout the day. If you don’t take in enough calories throughout the day, your body will have to get the nutrients it needs from somewhere. If you had to choose between eating fat or meat, what would you eat?”
“Umm…meat. Duh!” Jenny replied.

I smiled and said, “That is exactly what your body would do. It would get the nutrients from your muscle, which makes your muscle lose its density and size. Over time, it will disappear and make the scale go down, although that isn’t a good thing. Your metabolism can drop as much as 50 calories for every pound of muscle you lose.”

“Wow, that isn’t good! So what I’ve been doing is wrong?” Jenny asked.

“No, it isn’t wrong. It just isn’t the right way to do it,” I said with a smirk.

Jenny laughed and said, “So what else can I do the right way?”

“How about we talk about meal frequency? You said you eat three meals a day, correct? That is ok if you’re eating the right amount of calories and your metabolism hasn’t been damaged like yours has. The trick to keeping your body burning calories or keeping your metabolism moving is to constantly put food in to be used for fuel for the body. An easy way to understand this is to think of your body as an old furnace that needs wood for fuel. The wood represents the food. To turn on the furnace, you must put wood in it. The wood will burn for a few hours, but in order to keep the furnace on, you must add more wood. The same thing goes for the body. If there isn’t any food to fuel the body, the metabolism slows down. If you are to eat every two and a half to three hours—four being the most—you will keep your metabolism constantly working. Five to six small meals should do the trick.”

Jenny nodded and said, “Ok, do you mind if we go get a shake at the juice bar. It has been six hours since I last ate.”

At that point, I knew I had Jenny’s complete attention. We decided to get a shake. I got mine with a banana in it. She stopped me and yelled, “Are you crazy? It’s after 6:00 pm.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t turn into a pumpkin, and the carbs won’t turn into fat” I responded. “Carbs are good for you, especially after a workout such as yours. You have been in here for over an hour. Any exercise over about 45 minutes can be long enough to completely destroy your carb or glycogen storage. Glycogen is what carbs are stored as in the body. It is stored in muscles and organs. After an intense cardio session, Have you ever noticed that your muscle are flat or you feel thinner? That isn’t just from sweating out fluids. It is also from using your energy storage. This is where the whole low carb diet thing came about.

After one day of cutting out carbs, most people will lose one to two pounds, mostly from water. Not only do you lose weight, but you also feel thinner. That’s because you’re depleting your muscles of glycogen. Carbs will keep your muscles hydrated, making you feel like your muscles are bloated, hence the name carbohydrate. Cutting carbs will decrease your performance physically and mentally. About two-thirds of your carb intake is used for the brain. That is why most people get light-headed until of course they get used to operating on less carbs. You will be able to function but not at your max.
People will tell you that they are carb sensitive, which is bull. They just eat too many carbs and move too little. I say eat carbs and keep your muscles full. It’s what is on top of the muscle that is the problem—fat! The fat stays, and your muscles will constantly inflate and deflate. Most bodybuilders will carb load and deplete all through their training. The reason this works is because normally on low carb days, they take in less calories than they do on high days, which brings us to weight loss 101. If you burn off more calories than you take in, you will lose weight.

Don’t get me wrong—too many carbs are bad, but so is too much of anything. If you were able to have 2000 calories and ate 2500 calories of all protein, you wouldn’t lose weight. The same thing goes if you ate 1800 calories just from cake. You wouldn’t lose weight. Each macronutrient, protein, carb, or fat has its own job. Protein is great because it is the most versatile one. But don’t send a hairstylist to do a make-up artist’s job if you want it done right.”

“This is a lot to take in. How am I supposed to know what to do?” Jenny said.

“That is the tricky part” I said with a sigh. “It is all trial and error. There are many different ways to go about it. For you in particular, I would start by adding a carb in at breakfast and lunch and then two small, healthy snacks in between lunch and dinner.”

“What kind of snacks?”

“ Well, you just had a shake. Those work great. You can do fruit and maybe some almonds.”

“Almonds?? Those are all fat!”

“Some fats are good for you. The body needs fat for certain things, and you shouldn’t deprive your body of it. It is the secondary source of energy and also helps with joint health. There are other things your body uses fat for. But no matter how good it is for you, fat is fat in the end. Too much of any one thing isn’t any good, especially fat. It contains nine calories per gram as opposed to protein and carbs, which both have four calories per gram. That’s why fat should be kept to two servings per day in my opinion. So, yes, almonds. I would have about ten to fifteen as a snack.”

“Ok, got it—some fruit and almonds for a snack” Jenny said firmly.

“No, not together. Separately” I jumped in. “As a general rule of thumb, to help portion meals, I recommend having a small amount of protein with each meal with a serving of carbs or a protein and a serving of fat. It will balance out to about the same amount of calories. If you do a fruit or almonds by itself, that is ok to start. It is a step in the right direction.

Now that you have somewhat of an idea of how to keep your muscle from being used as food for your body, let’s talk about how to increase that muscle mass to make you a calorie burning machine. Follow me to where the little boys curl and the real men move mountains—the squat rack!”

Rest Day!

Open Training 2 – 5 pm

Alternate Strength

DL

3 – 3 – 3

70%, 80%, 90%

* Percentages based on 90% of 1RM

Myofascial Release Is Saving My Life

by JC on MAY 4, 2009

As I write this, it’s been 3 full weeks since I began my MRT program at the local chiropractors office. MRT stands for Myofascial Release Therapy. It is also commonly known as ART or the Active Release Technique. It has done wonders for my hip, glute and hamstring flexibility and I am forever sold on the therapy. As for the details…

Flexibility Degradation

I first noticed problems about one year ago when I began working a desk job. You know the setting, lots of sitting on your rump, not enough moving around and very poor posture. This in itself is a recipe for anatomical disaster. When strength training, I noticed my lower back rounding during certain lifts. The deadlift soon became impossible to do without rounding my lower back when pulling from the floor. I once hurt my lower back bad enough that I dropped deadlifts completely from my programming for a while. The next issue I noticed was my butt tucking under at the bottom of my squats. My lower back kept getting worse and I soon had to revert to leg press only to relieve the lower back pain. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I stretched and trained regularly. I had never had these issues before. It didn’t make much sense.

Research and Discovery

I began doing lots and lots of forum searches for others with the same problems as I. The common issue I found was that many others with desk jobs experienced the same lower back problems that I was experiencing. As I was looking for a solution I found that many were making an extra effort to stretch their hamstrings and hip flexors. This made sense the more I studied. If your hams are tight, when you squat down your lower back has to round to allow the range of motion necessary for that particular lift. If you know anything about strength training, a rounded lower back whilst doing squats or deadlifts is very dangerous.

I figured there must be a way to correct my problems. I tried stretching. A lot of stretching. I made sure to stretch very thoroughly after each training session to ensure I was increasing my hip and hamstring flexibilty. Weeks and months went by with no pain relief whatsoever. Turns out that training and stretching correctly for 4-5 hours per week will not fix what 8-9 hours per day of sitting in a chair will do to you. I needed some help.

My research lead me to ART and MRT treatment protocols, especially the way athletes were being treated. I had a chance to chat with Børge Fagerli ofMyRevolution. He recommended that I give ART a try and suggested some mobility/foam rolling exercises to do in the mean time. I am so glad I took his advice to seek help. I searched for an ART therapist in my area but could not find one who would accept my insurance. I finally found a great team of MRT therapists at a local chiropractic office just down the road. What a life saver.

The Appointment

I scheduled a consultation immediately. The first visit consisted of a few tests to determine the proper treatment. I was a classic case of the lower cross syndrome. In short, my hip flexors were very short and tight(from sitting all day), while my hip extensors were long and weak. We also ran a test and found that my glutes were not firing properly. This is your basic muscle imbalance that can cause a myriad of problems down the road. Because my hips were tight, my hams were tight and because my hams were tight, my lower back was sore. It all links together. Great! So I asked the good Dr. “how do we fix me”? He replied with “some good old cracks and pops followed up with MRT.”

What is MRT?

Myofascial release, according to Wikipedia is

a form of soft tissue therapy intended for pain relief, increasing range of motion and balancing the body. Techniques include manual massage for stretching the fascia and releasing bonds between fascia, integument, muscles and bones are applied. The fascia is manipulated, directly or indirectly, supposedly to allow the connective tissue fibers to reorganize themselves in a more flexible, functional fashion.

How does this “release” happen you ask? Well, you must have another person(with experience) to perform the technique on you. The standard protocol usually involves them digging their thumbs deep into the affected area, applying pressure and elongating the muscle. Oh boy was this part fun! I will never forget my first visit.

The Infamous Psoas Release

My Chiropractor did all kinds of pops and twists that felt incredible. As soon as we were done I felt like I was walking on clouds. I walked on air right into the treatment room. There was a man and a girl in there who were working with patients one on one. I met my practitioner, Jay.  He shook my hand and instructed me to lay on the table flat on my back. He then proceeded to do some PNF stretching for my hamstrings. Nothing new so far.

He then says “okay, I want you to relax your leg while I perform a psoas release.” In my head, I am like “oh! This is that ART stuff I have been reading so much about.” The next thing I know he is digging his thumb deep into my groin. It feels like my hip flexors were immediately on fire and I was seriously yelping like a little girl. The pain is hard to describe. It’s a cross between being tickled and tortured. I found myself laughing and screaming at the same time. Soon after the release was over I then had electrodes hooked to my lower back and then laid on this heated bed that massaged my lower back for about 10 minutes. Immediately after treatment I had a much greater range of motion than when I entered the building. I could do a full squat without any trouble. I actually had some strength in my hip flexors that was not present before the treatment. My initial visit was nothing short of amazing.

During my third visit the nice girl I met on my first day got the chance to work on me. She started off with the usual PNF stretching and then did this really cool psoas stretch that I wish I could perform on myself. I had a hunch she would be doing the psoas release on me since she was taking me through the usual routine. Thankfully, her thumbs weren’t as strong as Jay’s so she didn’t make me scream bloody murder. In this case it was more ticklish than anything. However it was nice to have a beautiful, brown eyed blond hovering over me for a change. I hope she gets to work on me again.

The Importance of Corrective Treatment

After just 3 weeks of treatment I feel like a million bucks. I plan to continue treatment until I am as good as new. Last week I did high bar back squats with no pain for the first time in months. I felt stronger than expected and I attribute that to doing what’s necessary to take care of the muscle imbalances I have developed over the past year.

I highly encourage anyone having similar issues to seek chiropractic and MRT services to regain your range of motion and improve training quality. It’s definitely one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Teams of 2 Complete for time:

4 x 100 yd sprints

100 Partner Chin-ups

100 (strict) Burpees

100 yd Tire Flips

4 x 100 yd sprints

* with the exception of partner chin-ups, ONLY 1 person working at a time

* must complete all reps of exercise before moving on to another

How To Ensure You Achieve Your Fitness Goals

by JC on MARCH 19, 2009

Today’s article is part two of my series on Why You Aren’t Getting Positive Results. I will specifically address the five ways to fix the bad habits that tend to hold us back when pursuing our health and fitness goals.

1. Fix That Miserable Programming

You have three choices.

• Choice 1 is to learn about the training methods that have worked for many. Chances are they will work for you too. The Internet is full of useful information, however it’s more so crowded with garbage. I only recommend a few places to seek out that information. Body Recomposition, HST, DC Training, Bill Starr 5×5, Starting Strength andClutch Fitness are good places to get you started.
• Choice 2 is to hire someone more knowledgeable than yourself. Someone who knows more than you and has more experience can save you lots of wasted time and effort only if you will implement what they are advising.
• Choice 3 is to continue doing what isn’t working. This is probably the most common choice people will make anyhow. I know I cannot save the world… oh well.

2. Take Control Of Your Diet

This is really easy. Depending on your fitness goals, tailor your energy intake specifically to your activity. If you are wanting to lose weight, create a deficit, keep protein high and train sensibly. If you want to build muscle, create a surplus that will foster new growth. For most, this does include counting calories. As bad as that may sound, it is crucial to your success. For many, counting calories is the only way to long-term weight management but be sure not to let it consume you.

3. If Your Trainer Sucks, Give Them The Boot

Nothing new here. Most trainers are incompetent as I stated in the last article. Good trainers are only needed for two types of people. The first group is the newbies who have no experience whatsoever – no matter if their goals are to lose weight, build muscle or strength training. The second group are the folks who need constant accountability or feel they need constant attention.  I personally like working with people for a period of time just long enough to get them going on their own. Of course the education does not stop here but I like to get people started on the right foot and thinking outside of what they are used to thinking. This ensures they are learning the correct information to continue succeeding on their own without any further hand holding.

4. Control Your Obsessive Compulsive Tendencies

If you go through life being obsessive about every little thing, you are certain to be miserable. Bodybuilders are notorious for being the most anal people on planet earth when it comes to training and diet. Many of them are also known to be social pariahs for their fear of eating a meal out. They think that being unable to count the macros of that meal or not getting 4,347.678 calories per day is going to sabotage their efforts. Worrying about the small stuff is a huge waste of time and mental effort, not to mention the unnecessary stress you are inflicting upon yourself. Live a little.

5. Patience Young Grasshopper

Finally, that word I used to hate. Patience. Ever since I was just a little guy, patience has been something I always struggled with. However I did learn later in life how important patience is in any endeavor, especially during my athletic years. Patience is key to any success. How do you get better at something? You do it over and over with lots of patience. You should also seek feedback so you can adjust when necessary. Achieving specific goals, fitness related or not requires dedication. If you are diligent in your pursuits while maintaining an open mind to learn and grow, anything can be accomplished.

So in light of the series, how do you deal with your health and fitness related struggles?

Press work

Then ….

Tabata Mash

16 rounds of 20 sec work / 10 sec rest:

Ball Slams

Mountain Climbers

* alternate exercises

Take your Fish Oils People!

Omega-3 Boosts Grey Matter, May Explain Improved Moods

ScienceDaily (Mar. 7, 2007) — Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fatty fish like salmon, are associated with increased grey matter volume in areas of the brain commonly linked to mood and behavior according to a University of Pittsburgh study.

Findings will be presented today by Sarah M. Conklin, Ph.D., postdoctoral scholar at the Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine Program in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, at the American Psychosomatic Society’s Annual Meeting, held in Budapest, Hungary.

Animal research has shown that raising omega-3 intake leads to structural brain changes. In a separate study presented by Dr. Conklin at the society’s meeting last year, Pitt researchers reported that people who had lower blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids were more likely to have a negative outlook and be more impulsive. Conversely, those with higher blood levels of omega-3s were found to be more agreeable and less likely to report mild or moderate symptoms of depression. In the study being presented today, the researchers sought to investigate if grey matter volume was proportionally related to long-chain omega-3 intake in humans, especially in areas of the brain related to mood, helping them attempt to explain the mechanisms behind the improvement in mood often associated with long-chain omega-3 intake.

Researchers interviewed 55 healthy adult participants to determine their average intake of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Grey matter volume was evaluated using high-resolution structural MRI. The researchers discovered that participants who had high levels of long-chain omega-3 fatty acid intake had higher volumes of grey matter in areas of the brain associated with emotional arousal and regulation — the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, the right amygdala and the right hippocampus.

While this finding suggests that omega-3s may promote structural improvement in areas of the brain related to mood and emotion regulation — the same areas where grey matter is reduced in people who have mood disorders such as major depressive disorder — investigators note that more research is needed to determine whether fish consumption actually causes changes in the brain.

“Chuck Norris Smackdown”!!!

This WOD will ONLY be posted in the Arena, but it will be a good one!

????????

Chuck Norris + Crossfit + Tanning Oil = THIS

Trigger Point 101 by Patrick Ward

Article from EliteFTS.com

10 x 100 yd sprints didn’t sound that hard ….

Squat Work

Then …

30-20-10-20-30 reps:

KBS

Prison Push-ups

MassageFIT

Has Added TWO new therapists for new DAY TIME hours!

Check out the MassageFIT link to see the changes!

Make appointments Today!

Weekly MassageFIT SCHEDULE:

Phone:

859.940.9881

Mon – Tues:

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

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9:00 am – 3:00 pm

Thurs – Fri:

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Sat:

9:00 am – 1:00 pm

“Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn’t know that so it goes on flying.”  - Mary Kay Ash

Dear Lexington Road Warriors, Friends, & Family,

On Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 5:00PM, you are cordially invited to a Pre Race Pasta Dinner. All family, friends, and runners are invited to enjoy some food and last minute preparations.  All the food will be provided.  This is a great chance to get your pre race carbs, have some fun, and get any answers to last minute questions.  

Please RSVP to Varinka or Shane by either phone (859-559-6593) or email by Friday, March 26,2010, with the number attending. 

• Apparel- comfortable, previously trained in clothing.  Avoid cotton. Lay out night before.
• Running Shoes- should be broken in.
• Throw away clothing- shirt or trash bag used in the first few miles to warm up.  Something you may not recover after the race.
• Water bottle- for both before and after the run.
• Energy foods- somethinh you have tried in training that is comfortable to carry.
• Sun Screen- weather dependant.
• Body Glide- use on areas that chafe or you anticipate chafing. 
• Band Aids- commonly used on men’s numbers when running long distances to prevent bloody nipples.
• Race Number- have it pinned to your shirt and ready to go.
• Timing Chip- securely attach to shoe.
• Safety Pins- to pin number onto shirt.
• Start/ Finish Instructions- REview parking, starting times, parking locations, and course map.
• Race Strategy- Goal pace, mile splits, food/ water/ sport drink intake.
• Positive attitude-  You are PREPARED and HAVE TRAINED!  ENJOY the RACE!

Happy Birthday Mike Dieme!!!

Josh Everett and Dieme hanging out at the 09′ Crossfit Games.  Sometimes Josh yells at Dieme, but they’re still BFF’s!

“Dieme’s Birthday WOD”

On the minute, for 15 minutes do the following:

1 Hang Power Snatch

2 OHS

3 Burpees

News on Elements Class:

Sign-up sheet will now be posted in the Arena!  You must sign up at least one day prior to the class to be registered.  If no one registers for the class it will not be put on.  Elements is done every Tuesday 6:45 pm and Saturday at 8:00 am.  We alternate A Classes and B Classes every week.  To learn more ask a coach of email Freeman – Freeman@crossfitmaximus.com.

“Helen”

3 Rounds for time:

400m Run

21 KB Swings

12 Pull-ups

“Cash Out”

Plank Holds  - straight, left, right

3 x 30 sec each.

Mobile, agile, hostile!!!!