CrossFit Boston

Xander said I need to write a new post. Its happening. I promise. I am on vacation. 

Dear Mercy for Animals:

Why love one but eat the other? Oh, I don't know; have you ever heard of dog bacon? But if someone made it I would try it. And holy hell, ham steaks are great. But if you really want to get into it we need to take a trip down memory lane. Dogs have been used as working animals for thousands of years. Why in tarnation would I eat the same critter who pulls me around on a sled, guards my house, and herds my sheep? Babe aside, we just have not traditionally used pigs in this capacity. And there is more, they are PIGS and the bible tells us to hate them. 

Thinking more seriously humans do eat dogs, and in someplaces of the world they do it happily. So what's your problem Mercy for Animals? Do you think the pigs feel like their pig Equal Protection clause is being violated? Do you think that dogs are pig bigots. My dog LOVES pigs. I feed him bacon so he can stay big and strong to guard my house from coyotes and raccoons. 

But for your sake pigs are slowly becoming popular and trendy pets; they are smart too--why the hell do they keep ending up on my plate then?

Swinecerely (ugh),

Jh

Rigid pedantry is one reason I like Crossfit; giving definitions to ambiguous terms (fitness, for example) helps us have meaningful conversations about otherwise ambiguous subjects. But with some things there is just no having that. Diet. Its a nightmare to talk about diet. Its a worse nightmare to talk about it with most Crossfitters. Unlike the easy question, "What's your--insert random girl name here--time?", its much harder to answer (and tolerate the answer) to diet questions. Do you Paleo? Do you Zone? 80-20 Zone? Zone Paleo? Eat crap all day? Tried molecular baked? Aren't you part of a farm share? Carb load? Hormones? If she does is she faking it? Its enough to make anyone fret. However, it matters...a lot.

What's my beef?We don't have a very meaningful answer to: "Do you eat Paleo?"(This problem can also be traced to the fact that the question we ask is not the question we truly want answered. I think, within the Crossfit community at least, we really want to know if someone else is eating to maximize wellness and fitness. I digress.) I realize three main problems inherent in that question: (1) The Paleolithic Diet lacks a strict definition. (2) If it can be strictly defined it requires a single word answer in the negative or the affirmative. (3) If you all concede that the Paleo diet has no strict definition then every answer is one that varies by degree not kind, and EVERYONE eats Paleo. 

 Let's look at a hypothetical conversation between two average Crossfitters to see this at work:

Xander: Good morning Neal, you look lovely today

Neal: Why thank you Xander. You also look lovely with your new haircut. 

Neal: Gosh. What kind of diet do you do? Do you Paleo?

Xander: Well I do eat Paleo, but I cheat once a week and I also eat diary. 

Neal: So you are Paleo-ish?

Aside from establishing that Xander has a smashing new haircut, neither Elite Athlete said anything meaningful. Because neither hypothetical person actually knows just what concepts the other is talking about. Pause.       I understand that Neal asks and Xander answers in ways that are practical. We would never get anything accomplished if we spent all of our time trying to figure out the exact meaning of words. And, I will admit, we all have a functioning understanding of what Paleo and Paleo-ish imply. But I am still bothered.

So why does it matter?

Being more specific with our questions and answers matters not only up in the Ivory Tower, but also in the real world because words are powerful. Crossfit has a tendency to stigmatize noncompliance with things that don't make us better Crossfitters. I have seen the irksome reactions towards folks who answer, "I don't do paleo or zone". So we compromise our vocabulary in order to cheat our ways under the curve: "I eat paleo-ish", "I am 80-20 zone", etc. I worry that we finagle our answers because somewhere along the way we've moralized our diets. That's how unhealthy food relationships start. I have seen the horrible results of what happens when we label our food as good or evil. 

Furthermore, as a community bent on defining fitness and using observable, recordable, and repeatable data to better that fitness, we don't do ourselves favors by being fickle with answers like "Paleo-ish". "Paleo-ish" can take us far from the area of wellness and fitness while still sounding like something acceptable in the Crossfit community. Full disclosure isn't necessary but why lie? You wouldn't lie about your workout times... would you?

In the end.

This isn't a clarion call to stop saying "paleo-ish" or else end up bulimic. But merely its perfectly and (more importantly) pedantically acceptable to say,  "No, I do not follow the paleo diet". We may strive to, but few can validly say they eat only Paleo or Zone. I think there is little sense and benefit in living a fiction. 

The Generalist

 Last week after a workout containing two 400m sprints one of our members asked:

 "How do we improve our sprint speed? Assuming our metcon is good, we're not overweight, is this then ordained by genetics?"

 So there are two questions here, which need to be reordered. First, can I improve my sprint speed? Second, how can I improve my sprinting speed?

 For most of us who are not specialized athletes (sprinters, olympic lifters, etc.) its unlikely that we will ever see our peak potential in a single exercise. Said differently, we won't be able to express our individual body's full potential for olympic lifts if we are also trying to be equally proficient at ring-dips, rowing 2000m, and 1 rep-max bench pressing. This is to say that the specialist will almost always be better at conducting his specialized activity than the generalist. (He gives it more practice than you do.)

 Crossfitters are generalists, athletes who strive to increase work capacity across broad time and modal domains.  Thus, the generalist has many areas which he can specialize and improve. So it seems sensible to believe that nursing one area, say sprinting, out of the generalized spectrum will improve performance in that area. Yes, we can improve our sprinting speed. And it is likely that we can make proportionately more significant improvements than specialists. 

Your Metabolic Engine

 The task of improving our sprint speed and times appears quite simple, but deserves a more thoroughgoing response than simply stating, "just sprint more". For example, your running technique could be abysmal. That will slow down your sprinting speed, and I would tell you to fix your technique before doing anything else. Maybe you only eat 100 calories per day. That would hurt your ability to sprint faster. There is a laundry list of possible obstacles between you and a faster 400m. So, let's assume that your running technique is "proficient enough", we are at an optimal sprinting body weight, and we are properly fueling our bodies. What is left? What would happen if we increase our body's ability to generate energy? The more energy we can draw from our body's energy systems, the more energy we have to perform a faster sprint.

 The three  major metabolic pathways in our body that provide us with energy are the: anaerobic energy pathway (ATP), anaerobic metabolism pathway (Glycolytic), and the aerobic pathway. The anaerobic energy pathway, the ATP pathway, creates the greatest amount of energy and therefore power, however it is only able to provide that energy for a very short period of time. And it is only activated if we perform a movement at maximum intensity--an all out effort. A 100m sprint is an excellent example of the ATP pathway at work--fast and powerful.  (The chart below reveals that the ATP pathway produces massive amounts of energy but, on average, lasts only for 10 seconds.) 

On the other hand the aerobic pathway lasts the longest but provides the least amount of energy and therefore power. A 5k run is a great example of the aerobic pathway at work.

 If you want to increase your sprinting speed you will greatly benefit from increasing your anaerobic capacity. Anaerobic capacity is our ability to utilize our body's most powerful energy system. Anaerobic energy is predominantly and most efficiently created in what is known as type II muscle fibers. Type I muscle fibers, on the other hand, are much better at utilizing energy from the aerobic system, but in turn are less powerful than their type II counterparts.

 Much undocumented literature and sports knowledge suggest that training at short intervals and high intensity (think a tabata session) will increase anaerobic capacity. Studies published in the Journal of Physiology during the late 1970's conclude that endurance training (the aerobic pathway) reduced the amount of capillaries that had provided blood to type II muscle fibers, thus suggesting that type II muscle fibers are not as critical to endurance performance. Moreover, studies in both the Journal of Physiology and the Journal of Applied Physiology suggest that high intensity interval training lasting from 6-90 seconds increased both the area of type I and type II muscle fibers. Other studies suggest that sprinters had muscle fiber compositions favorable to the high energy output required by sprinting; the same correlation could be identified for long distance runners. 

Create More Power-Be Practical

 In order to successfully increase your anaerobic capacity via training that uses anaerobic pathways, you need to perform movements that require the maximum amount of energy that you can produce. Tabata intervals provide a clear example of this. By maximizing our work capacity using our ATP system, an increase in our ability to create greater amounts of energy using our ATP system will occur. It will grow. In attempting to increase our sprinting speed practicing sprint repeats at intervals that last as from 10-60 seconds will be beneficial. But remember, every attempt  should be performed at our near the point of an all out effort. Rest periods for work periods of 10 seconds can last as long as 200 seconds (try ratios between 1:12 and 1:20). You might only rest 120 seconds for a work period lasting 60 seconds. 

Not the Only Problem

 I mentioned above that there may be many other problems that will make us slower sprinters. I've assumed that the hypothetical athlete above doesn't have any outstanding, strength, coordination, or technique issues. Nonetheless, in the presence of limiting factors, high intensity training utilizing our anaerobic pathway will likely provide the greatest benefit for the performance of high-powered exercises (including sprinting and many other movements that require maximum energy output over a short duration of time). 

Comfort Zone. 

I don't like going out of it. Period. Crossfit then is terribly problematic, because Crossfit's hallmark is uncomfortable. Its logic is at least sound; systematically shoring up weak links makes for a strong chain. And it isn't the frothy-mouthed-spitten'-buttermilk-my-lungs-will-collapse-I-can't-breathe terror that is uncomfortable for me. I enjoy the metabolic apocalypse that Crossfit typically brings. But I don't enjoy--I dislike--I really despise movements that I am not good at. Inevitably I end up avoiding them. Then it gets worse. 

These movements we suck at (also known as goats) are hard to wrangle (excuse the puns). On one hand we may really need the practice to get better, but on the other hand it's a dreary and disappointing task to overwhelm our programing with goats. It probably isn't worth your happiness. 


So how do I kill my goat? I don't. Don't kill your goat; make your goat your friend. Last week I taught a small noon class involving a nasty little wod: running, thrusters, and pull-ups. After the wod I asked one of the unlucky contestants what she thought of it. She said it was hard, awful. I had to ask her why then was she smiling during the run. She told me she loves running. Alright, so step one is to start liking my goat--"All you've got to do is try a little tenderness". 

Step two: the buddy system. Get a goat-pal. Try to find someone who also wants to work on a goat. Or someone who can give you advice about your goat. I know of at least one 2009 tenth place Crossfit Games finisher who had a whole herd of handstand push-up goats. By luck or pure genius (luck) she found a buddy who can't get enough of those awful HSPUs. And after watching her chase her buddy through some 40 last week, I think we can chalk up another victory for the good guys--sorry goats.

Grease the groove, step three: nurture your goat. Goats require practice. The constantly varied part of Crossfit can make this difficult; how the hell can I get better at ring-dips when they appear in 1 out of 20 wods? Bring your goat to the warm-up. Practice your goats after the wod. If your olympic lifts are lackluster then try doing the Burgener Warm-up three times a week before you wod. Whatever your goat, simply try to practice it more, and consistently. Two sets of 20 extra push-ups a week won't kill you, or hurt your wod times. But I bet you will get better at doing push-ups.

The Final Step: Get competitive with your goat. Sometimes getting better requires a push, a jolt, an extra bit of motivation. When I run, I try to run with people who are better than me. That way I have someone to chase, and someone to chase me. This spring before the NE Qualifiers I tried a deadlift running wod--Diane+800m runs. I was the first person off the deads. But I was barely the first person back in the door after the run. On the final 100m of the last 800m run I heard eager footsteps behind me. I wanted to slow down, running doesn't come easy to me. The footsteps, they wanted to catch up. But I didn't want to lose. So I ran harder. The footsteps got quieter, and my goat, running, if only a little, became more tame.