CrossFit Koncepts

It's no surprise to my clients and fellow RKCs that I am a big fan of the work that Gray Cook has done.  He has revolutionized the fitness and sports industries with his FMS (Functional Movement Screen) and continues to improve and enhance the lives of people every day.  A recent article on Gray's website entitled "My Preference for Old Stuff" struck a chord with me.  In part one of the article Gray talks about how Kettlebells and Indian Clubs establish good movement patterns to base other movement skills on.  This is a concept I have been "preaching" for ten years... but Gray says it in a much better way than I ever have! NOTE - be sure to check out part two of the article as well!

Charles Poliquin is a professional trainer and authority in the fitness industry and has been around for a long, long time.  His work and training methodolgy is often cited and his insight into training methodologies (for body builders) is much sought after by those in the know. So, why would someone who has all of this knowledge not go to the trouble of getting a little more experience and information before they propose changing the design of the Kettlebell?  Check out this article on his website, along with the videos, to see what I am talking about.  The fact that he mentions that a downside of the Kettlebell is that the handle doesn't rotate just exasperates the fact that it appears that he is looking at the Kettlebell as a different configuration of the Dumbbell.  Read the article and watch the videos and let me know what you think!  NOTE: thanks to Tony Rosa for bringing this article to my attention via Facebook.

Many of you are familiar with the Plank as a techinique to reinforce and develop abdominal contraction and support.  But are you aware that there is a version of the traditional Plank technique called the RKC Plank?  Let me give you a hint - if it was developed by the RKC then it's going to be a lot harder than the original version and that much more effective.  The following video shows the traditional and the RKC Plank techniques and explains how to add a little more "love" to this technique.  Kudos the Brett Contreras, RKC for posting this video.

The following article from The New York Times is entitled "Getting Fit Even if it Kills You" and it talks about how extreme CrossFit training is and how dangerous Rhabdo (short for Rhabdomyolysis) is.  Both are true - training at a CrossFit gym is not like going to Curves (thank God)a nd Rhabdo can kill you (but so can heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity).  But you can drop dead on a treadmill at Bally's (I've seen it happen) and you can get MRSA from lifting at 24 Hour Fitness (had a client who contracted it there).

Instead of focusing on the tens of thousands of people (worldwide) that are improving their lives every day by doing the CrossFit WODs they choose to scare people into not looking into CrossFit as a safe, effective, and proven method of training.  Granted, this article first appeared in 2005, but the majority of current articles approach CrossFit in the same (unfavorable) light.

Just in case you missed seeing the 2011 CrossFit Games on ESPN2 the last couple weeks here is a quick glimpse of the games and the party that surrounded the crowning of the fittest man and woman on earth!

The following video is a great look at what CrossFit is... it's about sport, it's about play, it's about finding the athlete within you.  While naysayers will point to the workouts and call CrossFitters crazy (or worse) it's not the workouts that real CrossFitters talk about the most - it's the people that make CrossFit such an amazing thing to experience.  Yeah, the workouts are awesome - but the people are spectacular!

I know that several of my clients are golfers so I'm sure that they will be interested in the following interview with Gray Cook.  In the interview Gray talks about an easy assessment protocol that will help you improve your game.  This protocol is very similar to the FMS Screening that we do at CrossFit Koncepts.  Even if you aren't interested in Golf the interview is informative to all athletes... and there are some great nuggets of information that Gray passes along that will benefit everyone.

Those of you who are interested in participating in the "No Bread Challenge" starting next week should take a few minutes to read this article by Dr. William Lewis on the evils of wheat and why it should have a Surgeon Generals warning (kind of like the ones that are on cigarettes).

Check out this quote from the article: "...two slices of whole wheat bread increase blood sugar to a higher level than a candy bar does. And then, after about two hours, your blood sugar plunges and you get shaky, your brain feels foggy, you’re hungry. So let’s say you have an English muffin for breakfast. Two hours later you’re starving, so you have a handful of crackers, and then some potato chips, and your blood sugar rises again. That cycle of highs and lows just keeps going throughout the day, so you’re constantly feeling hungry and constantly eating. Dieticians have responded to this by advising that we graze throughout the day, which is just nonsense. If you eliminate wheat from your diet, you’re no longer hungry between meals because you’ve stopped that cycle. You’ve cut out the appetite stimulant, and consequently you lose weight very quickly. I’ve seen this with thousands of patients."

This is a great idea and I'd like to see a lot of you give it a try!  The No Bread Challenge runs for 50 days (October 4th through November 24th) and it's just what the name implies - no bread for the duration.  Actually, "bread" is a general term for anything that contains white flour, grains, rice or sugar (including the "demon" High Fructose Corn Syrup) - which means for 50 days you are going to cut out all of the "crap" from your diet and reap the results.

Are you ready to take the challenge?

CrossFit once again was featured on the home page of Yahoo on Tuesday (09/20/11).  This time it was in an article featuring Erin Andrews (from ESPN) and gives some background on CrossFit with three sample WODs for people to try at home.

CrossFit has made inroads into mainstream fitness in the last several years via the CrossFit Games (which are being featured on ESPN this week) and through a partnership with Reebok.  Theses two moves have taken CrossFit from being an Internet-based fitness following to being a multi-million dollar name brand in a relatively short space of time.