Been doing CrossFit for over a year now. Never felt better in my life than after a WOD. I don't even wanna think what kinda stuff I'd still be doing if I hadn't been introduced to this. Thanks for everything.

25 yrs
6'5"
240lbs
Canadian Forces Fire Fighter

Interesting article, I wonder what he would say about the CrossFit regimen in that we do not focus on the "endurance", but rather on the "sprint" with a lot of heavy ATP usage.

I'd also like to know dude's opinion on our training. I would like to believe I am not "hurting" myself by following this regimen. Even if it was found not to be the optimum training protocol, I couldn't quit. I'm addicted. Later

Here's a link to an article on the author's blog:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/case-against-cardio/

Very similar to the one posted on the main page but it touches on a few other points.

28 M/5'4"/173 lb

Warm Up:

3 rounds
50 Double Unders
20 OHS w/ Oly Bar
20 Back Extensions
10 Chin Ups w/ Leg Raise
10 HSPU's

"Fran":

5:00

F'ing piss poor!!

Today I signed up for the KB Cert in Santa Cruz and the Barbell Cert at Crossfit Eastside. I'm also going to the Crossfit Cert in Pittsburgh in November.

I'm so excited I can't stand it. I can't wait to learn from the best. I know they're going to give me tools to improve my performance and allow me to open the door to Crossfit for other people. I'm looking forward to meeting the people who I watch in the videos every day who inspire me and have pretty much changed my life.

I'm going to visit the other two Crossfit gyms in WA while I'm on the west coast. It will be great to meet so many Crossfitters.

Does anyone have any suggestions on preparing for the certs? Especially the week before? How intense are they?

Here's what the author considers "ideal." I don't think he would consider crossfit ideal but probably a huge improvement over long intense cardio sessions.

===
Knowing what we know about our hunter-gatherer ancestors and the DNA blueprint, we would ideally devise an aerobics plan that would have us walking or hiking several hours a day to maximize our true fat-burning systems and then doing intermittent “life or death” sprints every few days to generate those growth spurts that create stronger, leaner muscle.

====

anyone know of a crossfit gym or at least a crossfit friendly gym in the fort benning area?

Great Cert in San Diego! Everyone did an awesome job! Thanks to Coach, Nicole, Annie, Rob, Lisa, Dave, Lisa, Amik, Krista, Susan, Raj, Mike and all the trainers and participants. This was my second cert and once again I learn so much stuff, was impressed with so many people and totally enjoyed the weekend. It was really worth the time and effort!

Great article. A few years ago I was working in Germany and did a lot of long distance running and mountain biking. I got very lean and in very good shape, but I noticed that my body had lost its zip as was my overall strength.

Like many people, I thought I needed to do lots of low intensity to reduce my bodyfat levels. Well I did but at a great cost.

Since beginning crossfit 6 months ago, I am now leaner, stronger and quicker than ever. This without even doing any additional specific cardio routines. I play a lot of golf and that is my long endurance session now.

I now use my body it was designed in the first place. This article rings totally true with me. I now feel younger than ever, not older.

Awesome article, that guy is right on in my opinion. I've done a LOT of endurance training, cycling, running, etc...used to be a bona fide endurance junkie. It takes a toll on your body.

Great Cert in San Diego! Everyone did an awesome job! Thanks to Coach, Nicole, Annie, Rob, Lisa, Dave, Lisa, Amik, Krista, Susan, Raj, Mike and all the trainers and participants. This was my second cert and once again I learn so much stuff, was impressed with so many people and totally enjoyed the weekend. It was really worth the time and effort!

Ok, so can the Serrano's look bad for even just 1 picture? You're my gals, love you all and whish I was with you! boosie

Darby u are right on the money! The SD cert was awesome! Thanx to everyone for making it what it was--everyone contributed so much and CFSD is an amazing location too!
Coach, Annie, Nicole, Rob, Denise, Lisa, Lisa, Eddie, Steve and all the other trainers--wow u overdid it. And a special thanx to my lead trainer--Andy u display true virtuosity. You're the real deal and I realize how much i have to learn and grow! Thanx everyone!

I realized I forgot to also thank my coaches and trainers back @CFNYC for having the patience to work with me and teach me as well the virtuosity of movt and the true meaning of what it means to be an athlete! Thanks Keith, Court, Mike and Josh. Keith who knew that my questioning abt your CF tshirt would lead me on this journey over the last 13mos!

fellow crossfitters, i need some advice. i broke my ankle last thursday, but i still want to train to a cf standard. can anyone offer me some good advice as to what i can do, especially on the cardio side? i really dont want to do a classic training split if i can avoid it. thanks

i'm doing cross fit a day behind because i'm in Australia. And i just wanted to tell you about my training. i've been doing crossfit solid now for 3 months and my 1st WOD was FRAN and i was doing jump chins and only lifting the bar no weight. i found it pritty easy but my time was still 4.56 min.3 months later i done the full work out and got 6.47mins. i am a personal trainer and half my own studio i train out of. my dream now is to open a crossfit gym on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. gotta luv crossfit. thank you crossfit

Adam, check the forums!

Closely related to the article, I think I've noticed a pattern: Virtually everyone I know through CrossFit who has suffered any type of injury has not been hurt doing CrossFit, but rather doing some sort of endurance running.

I always postulated and argued that Extreme Sport Athletes were on the opposite bell curve{Y=life span, X=Fitness level[couch posato-extreme athlete]) from couch potatos, with generally fit individuals at the top of the bell curve.

My argument with a triathlete friend was based on the speculation that extreme athletic events caused unknown, harmful and radical chemical releases in the body to maintain and sustain physical domains for the event.

I was an endurance runner and now I am happy that I am not. It made me weak. Funny thing is after being a CrossFit addict for a few years I can still go out and take part in an endurance event without having to particularly train for it. I am not as "fast" over the long distance as I used to be and that is ok with me. It is more important to me to carry heavier loads over long distances and still have energy to use. I attribute all of my injuries to endurance running in the past.

I think the guy makes some pretty good points. I don't think that running 26.2 is what I was made to do. I have friends who are marathon and Ironman guys and I know that there are people who post on here who love that stuff. I say, if you enjoy specialized stuff- go for it. I think CrossFit will make you better at it too.

For me, as a soldier, "anti-aging" consists of some of the following:
1. Getting shot is anti-aging
2. Not being able to carry my buddy if he's hurt is anti-aging (for him)
3. As Coach said in one of the videos, being under a big pile of rocks and having someone take a break after each one they remove is anti-aging.

To me CrossFit isn't "anti-aging", it's so I CAN age; and, God willing, live to see tomorrow.

Happy Rest Day.

In regard to this article and CF...
"anything you do to build muscle generally tends also to build or improve other tissue, including vital organs (heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, etc). Similarly, anything you do to diminish muscle tends likewise to have a negative effect on organ reserve." - Mark Sisson (www.slowtwitch.com)
IMO, I would certainly say that CF tends to the building-muscle side of things...the body builds until you look like Greg A...

Article seems cool, only had time to skim it. Seems he's advocating more natural, real world activities (lifting things, running for your life) over relatively unnatural things (LSD cardio). Makes sense to me.

Who's the skinny guy with green hair smack-dab in the middle of the front row with the 14 on his shirt? Dude is ripped!

Interesting take, and at least intuitively it seems right. And the fact that the article came from a serious former endurance junkie gives it a lot of credibility. One of the things that I thought of while reading it was a photo of Michael Rasmussen from a couple of TdFs ago. He was sans shirt and was so emaciated you couldn’t help but wonder just how truly “healthy” he was. It’ll be interesting to see the results of future studies.

But I’m still going to ride my mountain bike....

This article is excellent.

Paleolithic exercise........lots of low level activty (walking, gathering food, etc.) and the occasional high intensity burst (fighting, sprinting, etc.).

Seems so obvious and yet many of us took a while to realise it.

I posted something longer but I think I lost it even before the filters could.

In short, I agree with Mark Sisson's article.

Intensity suits our genes. LSD does not.

Thanks to CrossFit, I could take on a sabre-tooth tiger right now if he would show up.

Thanks Coach!

#19 - Hari

Funny that you say that, the only Crossfit injury I have sustained so far was ITBS (illiotibial band syndrome) from the 10K we did back in April (I think it was April). Probably the most endurance related WOD I have seen since doing Crossfit.

Taking time off from running almost made it better. Hiking 60 miles destroyed it making it worse. Now a couple months of regular hip and glut stretches, sprints, and keeping running distance down I am finally able to run up to 5K again without major problems. So Crossfit only caused the injury because of inflexibility I had built up over time by not stretching after running, basketball, lifting, etc.

As far as the article goes, I think he would be much more on board with Crossfit then a lot of other exercise programs. Workout tend to not last very long, but they are high intensity. Very much like the balls out workouts he suggests a few times a week. He would probably think we do them too often and the intensity is too high for too long on some of them. He would dig Fran though I bet! Regardless, he seems to really think it is very prolonged aerobic exercise that causes problems on the order of hours not tens of minutes.

Regarding the article, seems that he has plagarized quite a few ideas from Art Devaney. Both seem to talk about "evolution" as if man magically appeared on earth as a hunter gatherer and then stopped evolving as soon as a caveman intentionally harvested grain.

Evolution has been going on for billions of years, long before humans appeared on the earth. The hunter gatherer phase of our evolutionary development is just the tip of the ice berg. Defining healthy activity through a hunter gather pardigm seems highly simplistic and most likely inaccurate.

So far as endurance sports damaging health, here is a post by Kevin Purcell, a 51 year old ironman coach:

"After being told we had 6-10 years to live at age forty, I was pleased to find out was that my internist now placed my physiological age at 36."

http://www.coachkp.com/cgi-bin/config.pl?read=3441

That article is absurd. First of all, I could see how it might apply to aging or "old" individuals but he telling me, a 25 yr old male, to take "testosterone" is ridiculous.

The author talks of the oxidative damage created by aerobic exercise but yet he states no articles or books to back up his statements. Where does he get his "scientific" information from? The only way I see him analyzing the effects of aerobic training is through the "visible damage on the faces of many long-time mileage junkies", which we all know is a very scientific way to measure a person’s health...

The problem I see with this article is that it makes all aerobic exercise to be negative. It never mentions that obesity and cardiovascular related diseases are the main health problem in the US, not problems associated with over-training in your aerobic zone. The problem with people is that they will not exercise, not that they exercise to much. We should be encouraging individuals to exercise any way possible and not limit their choices to weight lifting and yoga.

THutt #28, Sisson is addressing chronic endurance training and recommends testosterone supplement only if you want to "kick butt" in Kona (Iron distance triathlon) and retard the aging process. He is making points that most competitive endurance runners/cyclists/triathletes already know. Evidence to support his points about glycogen depletion, testosterone inhibition, and cortisol production is easily available on the internet. Many competitive professional endurance cyclists use testosterone patches, etc. in order to combat the hormone issues to maintain legal levels of testosterone in their system.

But, your point is vailid - his article could be interpreted as an attack on all cardio training. Most Americans heart and weight issues stem from not enough calories burned in any fashion. Perhaps, though, someone will read his article and think, well, maybe a little weight training added in would be better.

Sisson's article is quite valid for the "fringe" athletes that expend many years training LSD many hours with high carbohydrate diets. As a triathlete and marathoner, I was unable to reduce cholesterol and triglycerides. When I switched to CrossFit and a more Zone style diet, my bp declined and my blood levels returned to normal.

> The author talks of the oxidative damage created by aerobic exercise but yet he states no articles or books to back up his statements. Where does he get his "scientific" information from?

Aerobic respiration produces free radicals, which increase the odds of DNA damage (...going unrepaired), which increase the odds of a number of degenerative diseases. This is not news. The more you engage in long stretches at your anaerobic threshhold, the greater the increase in the odds of damage. See for example http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/285/5432/1390.

Thank God it is REST Day. My body is thrashed from the past three W.O.D.s. I have been following the prescribed workouts and following the ZONE diet, just like Nicole said and I am leaning out fast and my muscle mass is increasing.
I am also very happy with my overall performance, I have never been stronger, looking forward to the next few months. Train Hard & Eat Smart - Terry-Crossfit Performance Zone

I think the author makes some good points - (and free radical damage is well known T Hutt) - but there alot of supposition and guess work in there.

For instance this part -

"Even our hunter-gatherer ancestors probably relied more on superior tracking skills and walking than they did running for hours or days after their prey. In fact, the energy costs of doing the latter were so high as to almost guarantee extinction. (Imagine your predicament when you run after an antelope for four hours and he gets away......"

There are rare tribes that still partake in the endurance hunt to this day. I think Ray Mears demonstrated this as he went on a hunt with Kalahari Bushmen (i think, that was the tribe)...4-6 hours during noonday African sun a pretty mindblowing demonstration of endurance.

Biped locomotion is more efficient then quadruped, but only at extremely long distances.....hence the bushmen got to eat antelope ;)

As mankind has been doing one assumes for hundreds of thousands of years...

A heck it was the Hadza of Tanzania that Ray hunted with.....

40yof, 150lbs

Had a rest day yesterday so ran 10k today.
68 minutes. (Was outdoors, so not sure how accurate the course measurement really was, but whatever).
Not fast, but then I'm a plodder. Stamina-wise I could have kept going. Unfortunately my achilles tendon and knees disagree.

there is a good saying, i think by john mcenroe, who said:"The only exercise that works is the one you do". this just to fall in line with posts 31 and 32. For the majority of the population, at the intensity and time they spend training, any exercise is better than none. I believe that the argument against aerobic activity is overstated, particularly as I feel it might be used as an excuse not to exercise at all. Excess of any one activity, while improving your capacity and efficiency in that particular modality, will result in side effects. Obviously, LSD can cause overuse injuries, and will decrease muscle mass because carrying all that muscle long distances is not efficient. However, I have recently had several patients who were powerlifters, and in line for knee replacements, suffering from elbow tendinitis and so forth. These, too, are overuse injuries, result of a large degree of specialisation in one activity at the expense of another. which, i suppose, should be avoided by the breadth rather than depth of crossfit.
just my 2 cents

had a casual 5k jog this morning. It was a beautiful day couldn't resist. Great article also well worth checking out the Mark's Blog www.marksdailyapple.com some real good pointers and articles.

I've seen some have interpreted the article as anti-LSD whereas the way I read it, that is exactly the type of aerobic exercise that Sisson recommends.

What he does not support is what would be called Long Fast Distance, or "cardio" work over an hour.

Like ProPain points out in post #21, the real anti-aging "lifestyle" is death and anything, including cardio, that puts that on hold is probably good when all perspectives are considered.

For many I think the benefits of a high cardiac output outweigh the negatives, both because of mentioned quantity for some, but because of quality for all.

The way to achieve this work ability and the ways to demonstrate it for competitive fun need not be Marathon distances though. But restricting the intervals to just 40 secs of work at a time (rest unknown), like Sisson suggests, will not (unless rest very short) have you prepared for the life of today. Why bother learning from the cavemen if their lifestyle will kill you or stop you from having a functioning quality life in the reality of today.

Doing hard cardio intervals of 3 minutes or more or a total cardio work of 20 minutes to develop an increased work capacity is IMO well worth it.

comment #3, re read the article, to me it seems he IS endorsing the zone diet (which minimises insulin release through recommending low glycemic index carbs), and crossfit training (high intensity strength training, with WODs usually having a duration of 10-20 mins)...this article is good reading and confirms my thoughts and what i am doing....

Why I Crossfit...

I rode the Lance Armstrong Live Strong Challenge yesterday. We started at Montgomery County Community College and 40 miles later ended back at the college. Along the way we were greeted with OUTSTANDING support by hundreds, if not thousands, of volunteers at intersections, rests stops and at other key locations along the course. We were also greeted by countless climbs that made your legs burn , your heart pound out of your chest, and you swore your lungs would come shooting out of your nose (with the snot that was already shooting out) at any time.

I was able to complete this ride because I crossfit. My wife called from the registration site on Saturday to ask if I wanted to ride. I did no training at all for this event. I hadn't rode more then 10 miles on a bike once this summer; and that was just cruising along on a rails-trails with three other people. But, 4 hours and 45 miles later (those unidentified last 5 miles were especially bad) I completed the event with a smile.

I won't say specifically why I was able to ride 45 very hilly miles on a moment's notice. It could have been anything that is Rx'd during the past 10 weeks of serious Crossfit training. The squats, deadlifts, and running are the obvious pieces that jump out at me. However, I was pulling like crazy on the handlebars climbing the hills, my neck and back were supporting a lot of my weight, and the extended climbs sure did tax my cardio-vascular system.

I Crossfit so that I can, live the life I want to live. I Crossfit so that when the opportunity arises to honor a brave young lady who was just diagnosed with bone cancer and is fighting for her life with a smile and an attitude that inspires all who come in contact with her I can change my plans and feel just a little bit of the pain that she deals with daily.

Thanks again to all of those police officers, state troopers, and volunteers who made yesterdays event a success.

crap... yesterday i agreed to do a marathon with a friend.
21/M/150lb

The article speaks volumes of sense to me. I started running when I was 16 (my main motivation then was to be thin) and carried on doing it on and off for years. I'm not a fast runner. Never have been. I usually run 10 minute miles or so. But I do seem to be able to maintain that for a long time. The problem is, once I start doing more than 3 mile runs regularly, my joints start going. I got up to 8-10 mile runs at one point. Suddenly my knee and achilles tendon became a big problem. I always wanted to run a marathon, but my joints won't let me. The furthest I've ever run in training is 10 miles. These days it's usually 3, with the odd 6 thrown in. Sometimes I'll do a run with other exercises included in along the route, or I'll run intervals. But I am not trying to see how far I can run any more.

Of course, you can look at it from an aesthetic point of view, too. Put the World Athletics Championships on the TV. Who would you rather look like - a sprinter, or a distance runner? I know which I prefer!

36yom 150lbs
on 5day on 2day off so I am 2 days behind

Deadlifts 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
CFWUx3
warm up bar x10
warm up 135 x5
warm up 185 x3
1-205
1-215
1-225 (previous PR)
1-230
1-235
1-240 (new PR)
1-245 fail (could feel where I lost focus and form)

Rest day......no way!

Did 4 mile run at 8500 ft. Good times, 35:17. Not too fast, not too slow.

Looking forward to tomorrow's WOD!!

Alright, I am about to swerve into a side dicussion.

Before that, I would like to say that, I liked the article. The fact that the guy was a good marathon runner and tri-athlete on a website called "slowtwitch.com" only reinforced that this guy believes what he wrote. Overall, it made a lot of anicdotal sense.

On to why I felt the need to post about an article that I really don't have any scientific knowledge to post about. It has to do with a resonse that is symbolic of some every rest day.

Why is it that every rest day someone like, in this case T HUTT, needs to sound the alarm about the author not citing his beliefs to the nth degree?

He is right writing an article. Not a paper to be turned in for submission as a research document. Why would I take my time as a semi-busy person to read it if he did?

I think people are not paying attention to what is CrossFit. I truely, do not think, you are going to find a broader range of subject matter experts and/or highly experienced range of overall athletic/exercise gurus, than here. Even on the perifery, you will not find as many people who understand other subjects in life converging on any website, let alone a 'fitness' website.

I have my speciality, and it ain't fitness. I do fitness, but for reasons other than fitness' sake. Most of us are that way. I bet 95% of us are that way.

Coach has assembled an unparalleled compelation of knowledgable individuals who have humbled themselves enough to believe in the spread of the virus known as "CrossFit".

sprint coaches
powerlifting coaches
olympic lifting coaches
gymnastic coaches
running coaches
fitness coaches
special operators
combatives experts
1st responders
LEOs
lawyers
internet experts
communications experts
scientists
doctors
economists
philosophers
professional and amature elite athletes
ect.

Thank You, CrossFit Community for giving me the Reader's Digest version of these things. You keep cramming the info in one side of the black box and I will keep using what comes out the other end. Your results are unparalled.

As for those who need more 'citings', perhaps you would like to respond with some in your posts.

CCTJOEY
polyken tape

The bottom line with this discussion is that you need to spend some time developing all three energy systems. This is true whether you're obese and sedentary or at an elite level. Excessive specialization in any of the the three will come at a cost. But keep in mind that anaerobic work actually improves the aerobic system, while the reverse is not true. Our society, culture, popular media, definitely has a bias toward aerobics as the preferred means of getting fit. I think it's gonna take some time to bust that myth, especially with a lot of women, who think that if they lift weights they will "bulk up." I have to laugh when I hear that!

Bone, thanks.

#30 - Charlie

You are incorrect to say that the hunter gather phase of our evolutionary development is just the tip of the iceberg. Homo sapiens were hunter gathers for many hundreds of thousands of years and didn't start farming until 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. It would be much more correct to say that our shift to agriculture is just the tip of the iceberg. To propose that most of our evolution happened when we were in this phase is not so ridiculous.

#31 - T Hutt

I think he mistakenly assumes that people know that exercise leads to oxidative damage. Just the act of eating and breathing do, training like crazy mean you eat more and breath more which just accelerates it. Like someone else pointed out, just do a Google search, there is a lot of info out there.

I didn't get the impression at all that he was saying all aerobic exercise was negative. In fact, I thought he was saying it was good, just with less intensity and for longer durations so you are burning fat for energy not carbs.

His article was not about obesity so why should he address it? I never got the impression he was telling people not to exercise either. I thought he was saying extreme cardio training could cause problems. We are talking about 85%+ of your max HR for over an hour. Very few people actually train this way regularly and he is simply saying it is not healthy to.

I was always a big endurance junkie...messes my body up pretty bad doing it, too. Since discovering crossfit, my overall health has increased at an amazing rate...I've I'm stronger, faster, and generally healthier that I ever was when running marathons and triathlons. Well researched and well written article.

6'1", 38, 192

100 over extenders, 100 leg lifts on the cardio ball, 3x70# cable flys, 60 elevated push ups.

155, 185, 225, 275, 275, 275, 275

bar curls after.

M/43/198 lbs.

Deadlift

225/235/245/255/265/275/285

Can anyone help, and tell me what the Zone diet is? or at least where i can find it. Thanks

-Tabata bottom to bottom squats
-Rest 1 minute
-Tabata push-ups
-Rest 1 minute
-Tabata sit-ups
-Rest 1 minute
-Burpee breathing ladder to 10.

16, 12, 9, 7:20.

Smoked.

#34 Terry, how are those muscle-ups coming?

#52 Greg, check out the FAQ on nutrition. That should set you in the right direction. Also, the book I have is SUPER simple. It's called "ZONE FOOD BLOCKS: The quick & easy, mix & match counter for staying in the zone." I recommend this book to anyone that wants to get into it fast. It's straight to the point, in only about 20 pages. The rest of the pages are filled with charts of almost every kind of food you can think of and what zone blocks they have. If you google "zone food blocks" it's the first entry that comes up. Check out www.zoneliving.com too, it's all there.

Adam Ulm
Crossfit Flood

A day behind
Fran
AS Rxed
5:55

Hey Guys... No Pullup Bar in my new school gym... Unreal right? Anything to Sub for pullups? Thanks!

The Crossfit or zone diet recommends NO sugar.

This article mentions, "A meal high in sugar and other simple carbohydrates can cause a dramatic rise in cortisol (as part of an insulin-adrenaline cascade). That's one reason why sugar is known as a powerful immune suppressor."

Is this the reasoning behind eliminating sugar from the diet? or is sugar eliminated because it has no positive effects?

6'1", 38, 192 (dislocated right elbow last week-rehabing it)

warmed up with 100 over extenders and 100 leg lifts over the cardio ball. Followed up with 30 cable flys at 70#, 60 elevated push ups.

155, 185, 225, 275, 275, 275, 275...all conventional grip. Grip slipped a little on the last.

bar curls 3x20 to close out

Tim #48, you wrote:

"But keep in mind that anaerobic work actually improves the aerobic system, while the reverse is not true."

I'm not sure this is accurate. Physiological adaptations that result from aerobic training enable your body more effectively to remove metabolic wastes that result from intense activity. Basically everything I have read says aerobic training can help you sustain anaerobic efforts.

There no need to dismiss the benefits of aerobic training to applaud the effects of a more intense regimen. People often set up false dichotomies where things must be viewed as either/or, when in truth the choice can be both/and.

In fact, Crossfit includes 5k runs (and even the occasional 10k), which if done continuously would rely primarily on the aerobic energy system.

#52 greg: check out www.drsears.com and there is also some great advice offered on the message board under nutrition. good luck!

32yom
215bwt

070826 WOD - "Fran"
as rx'd - 13:08

Then 50 each of floor wipers & GHD situps.
Then 5k run.

Love the Kool-Aid. Been hooked for 6 weeks....any X-Fitters in Fairbanks, AK?

~a cop in Fairbanks

I totally agree with the article. I have never been a really big fan of endurance training and competing; although I did a few half Ironman in my time and the Canadian Forces version of an Ironman, I am more of a overall athlete, as I like to be versatile; I love and practice different sports and activities, , and this is why Crossfit suits me so well, in that it allows me to be more well rounded in a wider variety of domain (hey.. to get back to increased capacity over broad times and modal domains).

As we all know, endurance trg is only really well suited to just that type of activity or competition. The body will adjust through trg and build the mucles or increase the capacity only in the specific parameters of the endurance activity you train for. As an example, take a marathon runner. While you he/she can run a 4min mile, and can be considered a huge pair of lungs on a ridiculously defined pair of legs, I can pretty much garantee that individual is still going to be huffing and puffing really really hard while trying to do say "Fran". He/she will probably not even come close to any performance output by an intermediate Crossfitter. And they probably will have to scale it way down to meet their capacity. It all comes back to functionality of training and movement. I firmly believe that the longest endurance bout anyone should ever undertake is somewhere around 10-15km mark, no more. I am in the Canadian military and our annual physical test called the BFT(Battle Fitness Test) consists of a 13km march in full fighting gear and backpack (24.5kg), which we have to complete in less than 2h26min. It is roughly the distance you could have say between two echelons on a battlefield. I definitely see the value with CF in relation to my job, and after having practiced CF for 4 1/2 months, I totally believe that this is how I will make the most gains in both cardio vascular and muscular domains. I am 42 yrs old and I am in the best shape of my life since I started doing the CF protocol. Thanks CF

Mark Sisson was the director of Triathlon USA when I raced as an age grouper in the late '80's and early '90's. I think the real point here is that endurance training is unhealthy, and its popularity is probably the result of cardiologists like Ken Cooper who emphasize cardiac health at the risk of damaging other aspects of one's health matrix. If you read between the lines, he appears to endorse a CF regimen, particularly when he observes we need to be ready to escape the saber tooth tiger, no doubt by a sprint to the tree and a muscleup onto the low hanging branch. I don't regret my years of racing triathlons and I can't say I stopped for any intelligent reason other than boredom and a desire to avoid the divorce courts. I can't wait to read what others have to say on this topic.

41yo/f/1653
5 on 2 off so today was deadlifts from sat
CFWU x3 core performance-movement prep
deadlifts
warmup 85-5x, 95-5x, 105-5x
115-1x, 135-1x, 145-1x, 155-1x 165-1x(getting excited here!) 175-1x, (motivated!) 185-1x HAPPY DAY!
goal was 190-came pretty close

K so let me get this straight, long term endurance training actually destroys muscle tissue in order to produce glucose? I KNEW I hated cross country...

New to Crossfit and finding the workouts awesome. Used to think i was fit though...

Day off yesterday so did Fran today as rx'd and she won hands down... 13:26! Going for sub 10 next time.

Re Sisson article:
Hallelujah! Close to the last nail in the coffin. It wrecks our knees and hips. It depresses our immune system. It ages us. It's boring running all those miles. It is antithetical to our genetic makeup. Once again, the triumph of the CrossFit gospel. I can now sleep soundly at last, dreaming of pushpresses and deadlifts and rowing sprints (bad knees). Case closed.

I hate running, so the article plays to my own longstanding bias. I like what someone said earlier, that it seems the author's not so much attacking long slow running, as long fast running. Hours of walking punctuated by occasional anaerobic madness seems within scope; fewer hours of running punctuated by nothing but boredom ... aren't.

If LSD exercise promotes cortisol release, that's nothing to be complacent about. We've a family member dealing with high cortisol levels related to post-traumatic stress ... and the immune function etc. has been thrashed by it.

A personal anecdote to confirm the author's conclusions:

Four years ago I ran the NYC marathon. At 5'8" 210#, I felt compelled to fill the void left by retiremenr from a 17 year career in rugby's "dark arts" of the front row. I had good success in the preceeding years dropping and maintaining weight by eliminating/reducing carbs from my diet. While training for the marathon, my weekly miles topped out at 40, and I followed the diet recommendations of several "authoritative" marathon sources regarding diet. I found myself consuming 3500-4000 calories per day at more than 50% carbs.

While my overall mileage endurance impoved, I actually gained 10 pounds as I got closer to the race (itself a great challenge, never to be repeated by this athlete). Fast forward to today, after nine months of Crossfit: I am a solid 210# (from 225# in November '06), following mostly a paleo/zone diet (beer exempted for any rugby player), and I have never felt or performed better.

I am convinced that Sisson saw the same lightbulb seen by Coach - I hope he takes the next step. Maybe someone will introduce him to our gal Fran...

And yeah minired, bad news huh! I think it's fair to say that your body is not keen to use muscle tissue though so you'd have to be pretty low on glycogen stores and do a really intense effort of at least an hour i would guess (anyone?) before you would see much useage of muscle protein. My attempt at Murph the other day was getting very close to the line i reckon!!

KHartman,
The best sub for no pullup bar at your gym is 21-15-9 punches to the neck of the guy who didn't put one up.
Or you can just go find some kid's jungle gym in a park.
I think lat pulldowns might be as close as you'll get otherwise. It's definitely more of a targeted exercise and won't compare to the good 'ole hand-ripping pullup. Just my nonprofessional thinking.

Off topic from today's post, but I've been seeing tv ads recently for these rotating "Perfect Push Up" devices. Has anyone used them? Are they worthwhile?

As an endurance athlete, Sisson is not really addressing Crossfit-style workouts (although he does a fine job of supporting the XFit assertion that endurance athletes are not the fittest athletes around). I'd be interested in seeing data on health comparisons b/w practitioners of intense vs. moderate exercise, although I couldn't see myself settling for slower, weaker, healthier even if such a thing existed.

On the flip side, I think criticizing him for panning endurance training in the face of an obesity epidemic is hardly valid, seeing as his writing is specifically targeted toward would-be endurance athletes, rather than couch potatoes.

who here posts the sopwod's?

couldnt get a workout in yesturday

did ohs 5x5 then followed it up with snatch practise and more light high rep ohs.

ended up being a drop fest with the heavy ohs as expected but was fun. maxed at 205x5.... slowly making my way up to bw... cant wait so i can get up to bwx15 :D

The SD Cert was my first exposure to Crossfit and I am totaly hooked!! I wish I would have done this years ago. Thanks to Coach Glassman for providing us the opprotunity to attend and all of the trainers who worked your and my butt off!!!

I was on a trip saturday and yesterday, so no workout then.

Did sundays WOD and after that saturdays WOD:

Sunday WOD "Fran", time: 8.32 (really nice excercise and got the heartbeat up! Next time more faster..)

Deadlifts: 198x1, 242x1, 264x1, 286x1, 308x1, 308x1, 308x1, 308x1

I think it was the first time deadlifts in like 5 years or something. Felt good :)

- OlliS

CFWU (subbed push ups for pull ups) x 3

30 Hang cleans for time:

5:40.

L-sit practice. Did 3 L-sits for more than 15 seconds. Massive improvement from the last time I did these.

I did Fran today because work prevented me from getting to the gym yesterday. 13:37...pretty intense

I've never been a long distance runner so this is awesome news. I love doing crossfit so much that i might not even take my day off today.

QUESTION

Is it abnormal to become so accustomed to working out psychologically and physiologically that you start experiencing withdrawel effects after extended periods of absence? Normally it takes about 3 days to kick in but on days like today, I almost crave a workout as stress release. Does anyone else get the same way?

I can't accept this article because it is based on the false-science of evolution. Is there a creationist-version that draws the same conclusion out there?

Did the 1 sq snatch at 65lb by 10 OHS (twice) and 15 pullups, 5 rounds for time in 10:25. Felt like the weight could have been around 95lbs. Or, I could have shot for a sub 8, and worked it that way. Either way, it was a good WOD.

#83 is awesome.

As a former ultra-runner, I can attest that running LONG slow distance is really rough on you. It's important to note, as a few people did, that he is not against running per se: he is clearly against running for hours at a time (which is what I did and loved).

Fran in 6:19, last time 7:30. Heavily gamed. Let's face it, there are 2 classes of CFers:those who can blow through Fran unbroken in 3-5 minutes and the rest of us slobs. I've been stuck in the low 7's on Fran and I was gettin' pissed. Today I gamed Fran by breaking the round of 21 into subsets of 7 and converted them into tabitas: do 7, rest until :30 and go again. Pullups are easier for me and I was able to do them in 2 subsets. My plan, which worked, was to get to the round of 9 in 5 minutes and then go all out. I'm pretty happy, but guess what? A sub 6 is in reach. Climb one mountain, and another awaits. Thanks Coach! BW:178 Y/A: 58

Tabata w/o:
Bottom to bottom squats - 20
Push-ups - 14
Sit-ups - 11

then

Burpee breathing ladder to 10 - 7:34

louc4r #84

I can't buy into evolution either but it doesn't matter which version this article it bases itself on because what he's saying is simply how the human body is designed. He talks about how fat based energy systems and ATP systems are the two dominant in the human body. Since a majority of our energy production is done using those two methods, it doesn't benefit our bodies to require them to draw upon other systems for which they were not specifically designed. He concludes that the human body is designed for long low stress situation OR short high intensity situations, there should be no middle ground (like exceedingly long endurance races). These will require your body to resort to other methods of obtaining energy which it doesn't excel at. He just uses the cave man scenarios to put it into perspective.

that's just my opinion. anybody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

#6 Allison: Physically, the certs aren't so demanding that you'll need to taper or do anythng special. Take a rest day Friday, which you'll have to do in any event if you're travelling. Before the cert, CF will send you links to all the back issues of the CF Journal. Happy reading. At Jupiter we did Fran on Saturday, Fight Gone Bad on Sunday and some muscle up attempts(for me). There's lots of form work with pvc pipe which is demanding in its own way but not in a I gotta lie down or I'll die way. A great experience awaits you.

Adam #16
Try propping your foot up on a pad or in a ring and go for it, one-footed, on the rower.

#87, John,

Brilliant strategy! Very well done!

I intend to try a version of your approach tonight. I definitely think that timed rather than open-ended rest intervals are the way to go.

In my opinion, WOD times should be compared by using the actual time and multplying by, say, (30/age) or some similar if more complex function.

In other words, I think a 60 year old with a 6 minute Fran ought to be comparable to, say, a 30 year old with a 3 minute Fran.

Of course, I suspect the normalizing function should be more complex. (My approach would require a 15 year old to have a 90 second Fran, which is obviously absurd.)

The notion of scaling based on body weight seems to be much more developed than scaling based on age.

Just getting started with CF. Wondering if there is anyone following this training regimen in the Syracuse, NY area?

42yom 183lbs

#87 John Wopat, awesome job on Fran! You're right, there are those who do it unbroken and then us... I always break mine down into BT/PU 15-6,10-5,9. But I am happy to say that my last 3 have been sub 10 min.

Did yesterday's Fran today, and I was pretty pleased with myself. It was my first one as Rx'd. I usually did it with 85lbs barbell but I felt good today so decided to go for it rx'd.

Fran as Rx'd: 8:24

My last Fran scaled to 85lbs Barbell was 8:27

My next goal is to do it unbroken and I definitely have a chance at sub 8 min. Hopefully next time Fran is around that'll be it!

24/f/142

Missed the last two work outs....busy weekend with the kidos. Here's the make up scores from today:

Fran:
65lb thrusters
jumping ring pull-ups

16:07

Deadlift:
95
125
145
165
175
190
200 (lost form half-way up, but finished!)

2:49 fran. Paresh......where are you buddy?

On behalf of the San Diego Regional Police Academy, I would like to thank Coach and his staff for introducing CrossFit to many of us from the local LE community. I was not only impressed with the CrossFit Program, I was equally impressed with the people involved. As a result of the seminar in San Diego, I am now a firm believer in CrossFit! Thank you again, Chris Cross - San Diego Co. Sheriff's Dept.

27yo/Male/172lbs

I'm about a week behind. Did "Tabata Something Else" last night and got smoked by it.

Pull-ups 9,5,3,5,5,5,4,5 (jumping last 5 rounds)

Push-ups 13,21,11,8,9,8,6,6

Sit-ups 9,10,9,8,8,8,8

Squats 20,19,19,19,19,19,19,20

Overall total: 345
Tabata total: 36

Exercises done in my backyard. Pull-ups on a 2x6 beam on the kid's playground. Shows you can do Crossfit anywhere if you just open your eyes. I've never been more smoked finishing a WOD. I'm amazed looking at the posts of the guys who have much better scores. Now to progress and be up where they are some day.

-Trip

Hari

I'd like to meet anyone who can do a 90 second Fran...

as for me, I'll settle for my

8:20 (pr) as rx'd.

Keep improving, this time a big leap from 12+ minutes. Of course, last time I did Fran was months ago, so improvement should be expected.

I think I will be under 5 minutes by next year at this time.

John Wopat, IMHO, I would say that at age 58, a 6:19 Fran puts you in the elite of Crossfitters. I can only hope to grow up to be a stud like you. Happy crossfitting, and congratulations...

#71 TomF

Interesting comment about cortisol and PTSD. My year in Iraq was plagued with constant differing and severe health problems. The doc in the end concluded that much of it was due to stress. I can tell you that I went there with a bit of gray hair and came back with a lot.

I will be going back around March. This time I will be in top shape. Better work on some stress-reduction Yoga too.

Luciano & Ben,

Good to meet you guys today at Astoria Park! Hit me up at my email address if you wanna meet up some time.

-Sean

i have a general question about rest how long should wod's be done till sometime off be granted? i have been going for 9-10 months and love the work outs but i am getting tired! and then once off then one week? more? less? can some one give me there ideas! THANKS

Although experience as a former distance athlete compels my agreement with the general sentiment of the article, the author goes too far in searching for evolutionary support for his thesis. Humans, in fact, have a greater capacity for the kind of effort he decries than almost any other animal on the planet. That's why a man can run an antelope to exhaustion, as pointed out in a previous post. No way that happens unless it conveyed some kind of selective benefit to our paleolithic ancestors.

Lots of walking? Sure. No doubt our ancestors did it. Running animals into the ground? Lots of evidence they did that too. Outsprinting almost anything (other than another human), though? Just didn't happen, not on a regular basis. Take almost any mammal out there and put it up against Tyson Gay in an appropriate length sprint and Gay loses.

What does any of this have to say about what's healthiest for us? Maybe nothing, except perhaps that humans are supremely adaptable. The whole paleolithic exercise argument seems more of a philosphy exercise than anything else. Trust the black box! As so may posters have stated, you don't have to look far to see that distance specialists aren't particularly healthy and when they switch to something like X-fit they improve in many measurable ways. That's all you need to know.

Jon West #101

The most frequent suggestion comes from Larry Lindeman, one of the original CF superstars out of Chicago. Larry suggests 3 weeks full effort, 1 week 50%/3 weeks full, 1 week 50%/3 weeks full, 1 week OFF. You will see many on the board posting 50% or 1/2 intensity week, etc.

I am imposing a week of low intensity on myself, recovery work. Although my numbers are good I just realized that it has been 5 full months since any significant time off and I am having trouble maintaining intensity and focus in the gym. This resulted in a tweak doing DL solely from lack of attention and intensity. So my rest week will be at least one 3 day CF cycle and maybe two. I will fill it with some back exercises, T'ai chi, Bagua, evening walks with my wife, and other assorted mellow stuff. I will hang out here even though I won't have any results to post because, well, I LIKE it here.

Hope that helps.

#87, John,

Used your approach and cut 1:35 off, from 9:05 to 7:30. (Sub 75 lb thrusters). Thanks.

Liked the article though I tuned him out when he got to the “need testosterone shots”.
I was a marathoner, tri, etc. Loved them. They are quite an adrenaline rush and quite addicting. However, training for them, horrible diet (was training on a body that I beat up with anorexia for 10+ years at the time of the first marathon), led my body down the wrong road. Actually gained a lot of weight and began to feel the first symptoms to what would become insulin resistance (yes, I got that and not by eating a lot and sitting around, but merely the extreme opposite). ITB problems, hip flexor issues, etc.
Paleo ancestor did a lot of “hiking” through hunting/ gathering, sprinting, but also days of intense heavy lifting. Crossfit mimics this best. Especially because it is so varied.
The idea of us running for an hour or less to maintain health is how westerners can combine that whole day of walking, into less time. I don’t think he was talking about all aerobic activity- just the extreme/ ultra events.

Anyhow- Fran today,60# thrusters, asst pull ups with 6# less asst than last time
= 5:18

DL singles: 145-155-175-185-190-195-205
Erin

First day back after a 4 month break. I may look about the same and weigh the same, but I do NOT feel the same.

CFWUx2

10 rounds of:
5 pullups
10 pushups
10 OHS w/ bar
10 deadlifts w/ bar

stretch, and then 10 K2E

Sadly, I will be sore tomorrow.

Rest day yesterday, Fran today.

As Rx'd 26:07. I'm just happy that I did that many 95 lb thrusters. I think thrusters are the hardest crossfit exercise, personally.

had some catching up to do after renewing my rec pass...
fran as rx'd in 5:22 was my warm-up for deadlifts
225/275/295/325/345/355/360

fran today
5:43

M/178lbs/27yrs
Fran- wore a 10# weight vest throughout the workout and did 110# thrusters.
5:54

I'm a 6' 210# 39 yr. old guy and newbie to crossfit. I've done it for 2 wks now and I love it!

I was stagnating with my usual 20 min jog and half ass free weights routine. I havn't felt the puke feeling since HS Football over 2 decades ago, until I tried "Murph"!

I've made some errors on my WOD. For example, when I did "Murph" I thought "Squats...now how much weight should I squat? Hmmm 135# should be a good start...." After about 60 squats during Murph I thought "These guys are crazy! I'll just squat with the bar!!" I pumped out the next 240 reps with the bar. My bud, who info'd me about crossfit, laughed when I told him about my workout and clued me in that it's meant to be air squats. By the way... My legs were rubber on the second mile!

Well, here's my pathetic Fran time 18:03. One thing to note, I remembered the routine wrong and did 24-15-9 vice 21-15-9. Well, thanks Crossfit folks. I'm tracking my progress, determined to improve next time. Farmboy out.

comment 84 and 89:

But if god designed us to be better suited to low-intensity sustained exercise and short-burst high intensity exercise, is it sinful to run marathons or do ultra-distance events? Why did he design us for these actions? Do these kinds of activities carry out His will, where ironman marathons, etc are training ground for Satan's work?

Bingo
I found myself in the same boat. Went way too long without a break. After a week off I came back my first day to ME DL. I pulled 365# x 3 for a PR, up from 350# and it felt easy.

Enjoy the rest, you'll be better for it.
BB

The certification seminar at Crossfit San Diego was phenomenal! The instruction was top notch and the demonstrations and workouts were fun and challenging. There is nothing like waking up with a "good" soreness.

Myself and my fellow trainers have an obligation. We strive to improve the survivability of our police officers in San Diego as they deal with the "unknown and unknowable". Thanks to Coach Greg Glassman for allowing us in to his world and providing us with another means of meeting that goal.

no rest day vegas for two days of debauchery
sat on butt for 6 hours on the drive home

cfwu 12x3
15-9 Fran in 3minutes crowded crowded globo gym
4x10 135lb deadlift
29 hspus

felt fat and sluggish and full of smoke

First time I haven't been embarrassed to post my time:

Fran as RX'd -- 10:57

faster, please...

#83

I know this is late, but I just saw your comment. I totally know what you are talking about. I recently quit smoking (4 months ago) and replaced it, almost instantly, w/ crossfit. As a result, I get cranky and bitchy if I don't workout. If I worked out real hard the day before it seems to delay the effect, but if I don't feel sore/tired, then I feel an almost physical urge to workout.

It is really strange. But how can being addicted to something good for you be bad?

No rest for the wicked!!

Complete 50 rounds for time:

Push wheeled object 150+/- feet while it gets heavier and heavier
Carry 40# bag 50 feet and shake until empty, return 50 feet and reattach
1 Burpee

Time: 2:00 +/-

I love summer!

CinVT

Just wanted to say that I have enjoyed following this thread. I am a big fan of the CF method and I do incorporate much of that in my own training. I look forward to further discussions on this topic. Thanks for the links and commentary

Mark Sisson

I do not believe this