FTW Indicium
April 2014
With that being said I need everyone to help me as well. CrossFit gyms are designed to be bad ass, loud, cool places that you can do things you can normally can't do at traditional gym. I'm asking you to please treat the gym like your mother's house. Yes do your thing, lift hard, grow, get fit but please respect the equipment. Clean up after yourselves. Leave the bathroom cleaner than you found it. We are missing an ab mat, if it broke or ripped please alert a staff member. If it was stolen that really hurts my feelings. One of the tops of the jerk boxes is smashed, again please let us know because I assume it broke on accident. Knots in jump ropes-please get them out before jumping. If you bring your children in please make sure there isn't more food on the floor than in their mouths, and keep them from interrupting others workouts.
Thank you for your future efforts to help keep FTW the awesome place that you love!!
A calorie isn't just a calorie By Dr. Jade Teta
Is a Calorie a Calorie?
Anyone that says calories don't matter has zero credibility. But anyone who claims calories are all that matter has even less credibility.
There are two things required for sustained, lasting fat loss: a calorie deficit and a balanced metabolism. Anyone can lose weight for a time, but done the wrong way and you risk gaining all the weight back, just like 95% of all dieters do. And you're likely to gain even more fat than you started with. This occurs in 66% of dieters.
But why? Most people think the metabolism works like this:
Cut calories → Lose weight → Have a balanced metabolism
It actually works like this:
Get a balanced metabolism → Naturally reduce calories → Lose weight effortlessly
Calories are a part of both equations; it's their degree of importance that's different. To understand how this works you need to understand what I call the 3 Laws of Metabolism. They're really just general guidelines, but I call them laws because of their central importance to understanding metabolism.
The Law of Metabolic Compensation
If you eat less and exercise more you'll easily create a calorie deficit, but you'll also create an unbalanced metabolism. This is one of the most well understood and least controversial aspects of weight loss research. Eat less and you get hungry. Exercise more and you get hungry and develop cravings. Do both to the extreme and your motivation goes out the window and your energy is sapped.
Another thing that happens is your metabolism slows down. In weight loss research this is called adaptive thermogenesis, and it's highly variable from one person to the next. Research suggests this metabolic slow down averages about 300 calories, but can be as a high as 500 to 800 in some and very low in others. This isn't just a result of loss of body mass. A person who weighs 180 pounds who diets to get there burns 300 calories less on average per day compared to a person of the same weight who did not diet.
Let's say you come to me at my clinic and ask me to help you lose fat. I take a purely caloric approach and tell you we need to cut your daily calorie intake by 500 calories per day through some combination of eating less and exercising more. You follow my directions and, for the first few weeks, are losing weight.
Then the Law of Metabolic Compensation kicks in. You start feeling hungry all the time. Your energy falls and becomes less predictable. You start getting late night cravings for salty, fatty and sugary stuff. But you have an iron will, so you suck it up. But now adaptive thermogenesis kicks in. And let's say you're one of those people that's highly adaptive so your metabolism slows things down by about 500 to 800 calories per day.
Now you not only stop losing weight, but you may even start gaining it. Not to mention you're perfectly primed to go on a three-month eating orgy because your metabolism is making you crave and desire salty, fatty and sugary foods rich in calories.
At this point you have a few choices. You can double down on your efforts and make things worse. You could just give up and go back to eating normally, which will cause you to blow up like a helium balloon. Or you can try to do things a little more intelligently by trying to balance your metabolism first.
Balance the Metabolism by Assessing HEC
Hopefully you can see why taking a "calories first approach" can get some people in trouble. It's easy to see the appeal. Calories are easy because you can count them. And when you cut calories you usually will see some short-term benefit. The initial results are alluring and keep many dieters stuck.
You can think of this like a metabolic credit card. You get some benefit in the short-run, but there are long-term penalties to pay later. Hunger, energy, and cravings (HEC or what I call "heck") is your key to understanding your metabolism and working with, rather than against it.
If your HEC is in check then you can be pretty sure your metabolic system is balanced. And when it is, you're more likely to achieve a calorie deficit without even trying. So it's not about throwing calories out the window; it's about balancing the metabolism first, then attending to calories if required.
Certain calories impact HEC differently. The differences between a doughnut and a chicken breast makes this point nicely. Both have 250 calories, but which is going to make it more likely that HEC stays in check? And yes, reliable intervention trials in humans have shown substituting equal calories of carbohydrate with protein leads to greater weight loss, more fat loss, greater muscle maintenance, and less chance of weight regain.
Now, I'm not the type to throw a whole bunch of obscure science references at you that vaguely support what I'm saying. I'm going to provide you with one very good one, from a highly respected journal and one that will get you up to speed on the Law of Metabolic Compensation quickly.
Calorie Combinations
Another part of metabolic compensation is the way calorie combinations impact HEC. One emerging understanding is the way the combination of sugar, fat, and salt (the so-called fast food diet) short circuits your appetite centers. Research in animals is showing that these food combinations not only increase food consumption at the current meal, but also cause increased cravings for the same calorie-rich foods at future meals.
So that 250 calorie doughnut not only makes you want to eat more doughnuts now, but also crave more doughnuts later. There's no reason to suggest this isn't the case in humans. This may explain the frequent finding in my clinic of patients who engage in "cheat meals" who then find themselves on a cheat week, unable to regulate their hunger, energy, and cravings.
The Law Of Metabolic Multitasking
The body is not a good multitasker. It likes to be either burning or building, but not both. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but the two big ones are beginners and those using anabolic hormones.
Another name for this law is the Law of Metabolic Demand. The body responds to what you subject it to. This is another major insight to the calorie argument. The idea that calorie excess always leads to fat gain and calorie reduction always leads to fat loss is not accurate. You can reduce calories and lose weight, but that weight may or may not be mostly body fat.
Research tells us the standard "eat less, exercise more" approach to dieting leads to about 20-50% loss of lean tissue (water, glycogen, muscle). That's important because metabolic rate (BMR) accounts for over two-thirds of calories burned at rest and more than half of BMR is determined by your muscle mass.
So you can be increasing calories and gaining weight, but that weight may or may not be fat. You could instead be gaining lean tissue (water, glycogen, muscle) and if you do, you're doing your metabolism a favor. The demands you place on your body will determine whether excess calories become fat or muscle and whether reductions in calories will result in fat or muscle loss.
This is why all those experts agreed that weight training should be the dominant form of activity in fat loss programs. It's the only type of movement that can funnel extra calories into muscle gain versus fat. But it's not a high calorie burning form of exercise.
There's a study to illustrate the point. It was published in the April 1999 Journal of the American College of Nutrition and looked at two groups of obese subjects put on identical very low calorie diets. One group was assigned an aerobic exercise protocol (walking, biking, or jogging four times per week). The other group was assigned resistance training three times per week and did no aerobic exercise.
After 12 weeks, both groups lost weight. The aerobic group lost 37 pounds, 27 of which was fat and 10 of which was muscle. The resistance-training group lost 32 pounds, and 32 pounds were fat, 0 was muscle. When resting metabolic rate was calculated after the study, the aerobic group was burning 210 fewer calories daily. In contrast, the resistance-training group had increased their metabolism by 63 calories per day.
What you do has a direct impact on whether a calorie is a calorie. You can't separate calories from lifestyle.
The Law of Metabolic Efficiency
There's no such thing as a perfectly efficient engine, and the human body is no exception. This is the second law of thermodynamics at work. As an aside, many quote the first law of thermodynamics to prove "a calorie is a calorie." Truth is, the first law doesn't apply to open systems like humans. The second law does however.
Here's an oversimplified example to make the overall point: Diesel gas versus regular unleaded. Each has a different efficiency. Put the diesel in your car and you'll get better gas mileage. It more efficiently converts its energy into movement and less is lost as heat. Regular unleaded will give you less gas mileage. More energy is lost as heat.
Protein is like unleaded gasoline – more of its energy gets lost as heat. Carbs are more like diesel – less gets converted to heat. And fat? It's the most efficient of the macronutrients.
Both carbs and protein have 4 calories per gram, but your body will capture less of those calories when you're burning protein versus carbs. And yes, this has been studied. Substitute equal protein in place of carbs and you'll see body heat go up and more weight loss.
Protein is not only less efficient and more thermogenic, it's more satiating too. And it's more likely to result in muscle mass maintenance in a low calorie state. This means it's one of the best tools we have to control all three laws. So is 4 calories of protein the same as 4 calories of carbs? No
2014 Open Ends
Alan Cook
Andy Cook
Austin Schott
Chelsea Campbell
Corey Southers
Courtney Andre
Lou Vazquez
Luke McCoy
Mark Giangiordano
Michael Simmons
Mike McDonough
Steven "Chip" Fisher
CrossFit changes lives by Kristi Hrivnak
By now, we’ve all heard the negatives that seem to accompany CrossFit: it’s dangerous, it leads to injury, it makes you bulk up … but what about the other side of the coin? What is it about CrossFit that's got everyone talking?
Many people who stumble into this world of CrossFit emerge as changed people. I’m not talking about the physical changes. (Though of course, they're a bonus!) For CrossFitters, the greatest transformation is in the mind. I’d like to share some of the shifts I have witnessed firsthand, in everyday people, after two and a half years of running a CrossFit gym.
1. They walk taller.
One of the first things I notice in both men and women after about a month in the program is so subtle you can easily miss it. But if you look closely, you’ll notice a change in the way they walk. No longer are their shoulders slumped forward as they try to slip discreetly under the radar. Instead, they’ve acquired this quiet confidence; a certainty in themselves that wasn’t there before. It's like every cell in the person’s body feels a little better about themselves and about life. It’s easy to miss, but this change is one of the most gratifying to see.
2. They embrace the booty [or insert least favorite body part here].
The majority of people begin CrossFit saying they want to lose weight or get toned. But somewhere along the line, the focus becomes less on how the body looks and more on what the body can do.
Don’t get me wrong, wanting to lose weight or get toned is a fine goal, especially if the person is overweight and at risk of developing health issues. What’s not OK is spending every ounce of mental energy “fixing” things about the way you look. And let's face it, for women especially, body image can be a vexing issue.
That's why, when I hear a young woman say “I no longer care about how big my thighs are because I see what they can do now,” it’s like music to my ears! It’s about time people see their body for more than just how it looks. Our appearance is just one tiny part of our what our body gives us.
3. They unleash their inner athlete.
When asked to sign the registration form, newbies are prompted for their name under the heading “Name of Athlete.” Generally, when they read this, I usually hear snorts, chuckles or laughter as they wonder how I would even consider them an athlete. But over the months, I watch as their athleticism starts to present itself in many different forms. For some, the athlete shows up in tests of strength and power. Others shine in endurance and stamina drills while some unleash a competitive side they never knew they had. Some may not be coordinated but they can pick up heavy weights. Others may excel more in the gymnastics realm and struggle to run a block.
Just because we aren’t all going to the Olympics or playing for the Chicago Bears doesn’t mean we shouldn’t value our inner athlete. Everyone has a niche and even the most seemingly unathletic person begins to see that they can excel in certain areas.
4. They think stronger.
Another change that comes with the CrossFit territory is in thought process and how people deal with the little voice of doubt inside them. In the beginning, I see fear written on almost every person’s face. But as they continue to show up, day after day, and survive the grueling and often painful workouts, that face of fear turns into that of a warrior. Dramatic? Yes. But true.
No longer is that voice of doubt the dominant player in their existence. They are learning slowly and surely how to quiet that voice, even if it's only for an hour in the gym. I watch as a stronger truer version of them takes over.
5. They surprise themselves.
People seem to place themselves in little boxes with their own set limitations. They walk in so confident in what they are INcapable of doing. “I can’t do that,” they insist. But then, little by little, as they progress through the program, they start to realize they had no idea what they could and couldn’t do.
I love looking at the face of a woman the day she clean and jerks over 100 pounds. Usually her face reveals utter shock, with a delayed response of excitement and happiness. With the help of CrossFit, people see just how much they hold themselves back with their own assumptions and they learn to step forward with a new outlook.
6. They let go of judgement.
Anytime we think something about another person, positive or negative, we are making a decision about them that may not even be true. I made this mistake early in my CrossFit career when I thought I could determine a person’s strength based on his build. I quickly ate my words when a 5'5, 115-pound female competitor out-lifted everyone around her.
Some people who join CrossFit are indeed very fit and step into the gym with a certain bravado. For these individuals, I sit and quietly and wait for the moment when they become completely humbled by some unassuming veteran in the gym. It usually depicts a turning point in their attitude as they realize there’s no room for judgment in CrossFit; there will always be someone faster and stronger than you.
CrossFit changes people’s perspective of themselves and the world. I speak confidently to each of these points as just over five years ago, I was the one stepping into a CrossFit gym, looking like a deer in headlights. I have seen firsthand what CrossFit has done for my life and for me. Now, I’m lucky enough that everyday I get to wake-up and see what it does for others.
April CrossFit Competition
solo competition
all different divisions including beginner
Saturday, Apr 19, 2014, 12:00 PM
FTW CrossFit
FTW CrossFit
Email: callahanperformance@gmail.com
Website: www.ftwcrossfit.com
Phone: 614-506-8884
Twitter: @FTWRyan