You guys are all suckers for a good challenge, why else would you be training with us? January ’12 brings the Performance Nutrition Challenge IV. This time, we’re going to make things a little more interesting; you’ll all do this in teams!

Our next Performance Nutrition Challenge will begin January 9th (testing week), with the good eating starting the 16th. It will run for 8 weeks, and will be a challenge in the true sense of the word.

Cost will be $40, sign-up sheets will be at the gym

$150 will go to the top individual male and top individual female

$75 will go to each member of the winning team, with plenty of public recognition and bragging to go along with it

Winners will be determined by a combination of percentage improvement on the benchmark workout and percentage improvement in body composition. The winning team will be determined by an average of the same number. That means if anyone drops off, they’ll be bringing down the entire team!

We want you to know fully how dedicated, substantial changes to the way you eat can affect your performance and well-being. We’re setting up some specific criteria with the hopes that you will leave the Challenge faster, leaner, and with a better understanding of how food impacts your performance and health.

The Method:
• No Grains
• No Sugar
• No Dairy
• No Legumes

-All teams will consist of 6 members. You’ll have the option to form your own teams, but it’s completely OK so sign-up individually. We’ll assign teams for those folks.

-Each team will have a Team Captain, responsible for setting up either a Facebook group, e-mail list, or something similar. We want you guys communicating on a regular basis. Team Captain will also keep up with the members, and make sure everyone is staying on track. Teams will select their own captains.

-Food logs will be mandatory. Logs will be built into the PNC packets. Logs will be traded off with another member of your team once per week. You’ll take a few minutes to trade logs, look them over, talk about challenges, and provide written feedback in the other person’s log book. Doesn’t have to be critical – you guys can exchange recipes, make suggestions, whatever helps keep you accountable and on track!

-All initial body fat testing will be done the week of January 9th. This must be done on three different days.

-The initial test workout will be January 9th during all of the workouts.

-The 8 weeks of awesome eating will be from 1/16-3/11.

-The retest of the benchmark workout will be March 12th, and your final three bodyfat tests will be that week as well.

Sign-up sheets will be available at the desk this week! Please post any questions below

RVA Performance Training is hosting our first Basic Barbell Lifts seminar with Chris Lawyer.

A large majority of any solid training program will likely come from what has come to be referred to as the slow lifts: the Press, Back Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift and their variations. Despite their apparent simplicity when compared to the Olympic lifts, the basic barbell lifts require practice, instruction, and a solid understanding of the lift’s mechanics to best apply them to your own training.

Spend a Saturday with experienced strength coach Chris Lawyer to improve both your understanding and performance of these lifts.

Seminar will include in-depth discussion on basic performance of the lifts, mechanics, and error correction. Seminar will be a combined lecture/lift format; all attendees will lift throughout the seminar under Chris’ supervision and receive coaching on how to improve your lifts.

Date

January 14th, 10am-3:30pm, with a 1 hour lunch

Cost

$40 ($30 until 12/15)

Registration

Please register here. If there’s any issues with registration, please contact us at (804)313-9348 or info@rvaperformancetraining.com.

For more information/registration, head here.

-There will be no regular 9am class – only the 31 Heroes workout. Yoga will still be at 10am.

-If you don’t have a partner, don’t sweat it. Talk around with folks when you get here, and we can try to help as well.

-We’ll run heats until it’s all said and done. We can do heats of 10+ people, I’m guessing we’ll be done within 2 hours.

-Heats are first come, first serve. I’ll open the doors at 8:30, if you want to get in the first heat, be there.

-If you plan on scaling the rope climbs with towel pull-ups, bring your own towel.

-Sandbags are all 50#.

-If you plan on doing the workout tomorrow, you have to be registered at www.31heroes.com. It’s a charity workout, and registering is how the charity is collecting funds.

Learning and playing new sports is a part of CrossFit, and for good reason. There are only a few things in life that I’ve encountered so far that compare to competition. Competition provides a set goal for us, a point in time that we prepare for specifically in order to excel. When channeled successfully, the heightened mental state brings out the best in us, allowing us to perform in ways we’re unable to in the gym. The thrill of success, whether it’s a medal, a PR, or simply the experience of doing something new, is unbeatable.

An olympic weightlifting meet provides a unique opportunity for the CrossFitter. We do the lifts; the Snatch and Clean & Jerk, with some frequency. An olympic weightlifting meet is just that, three attempts in the Snatch, three attempts in the Clean and Jerk. But, without some practice and focus, few CrossFitters would be able to compete very successfully, even at the local level. But, with some work and practice, you’ll find you can do some pretty amazing things.

If you were to compete, the process is fairly straightforward.

What you’ll need

• A Singlet

-A singlet is a one piece, ill-fitting suit. Just kidding. Singlets provide uniform clothing for all competitors to wear, and are required. Werksan USA has singlets for $45, and Dynamic Fitness has singlets for a little more that will blow your mind.

• Weightlifting Shoes

-Weightlifting shoes provide more stability than a regular shoe, little sole compression, and have a wedge heel to assist in the bottom positions of the lifts. Good suppliers are Dynamic Fitness, Werksan USA, and MuscleDriver USA.

• A USAW Card

-Gotta have your USAW card if you want to compete! Get one here.

The Basics

Competitions are broken down by age and weight. Weight and Age classes are below:

What are the age groups?

Competition age is based on the athlete’s birth year. Determine your age on December 31, and that is your competition age for that year. Example for 2011: An athlete born in 1994 has a competition age of 17 and is a School Age athlete. An athlete born in 1993 has a competition age of 18 and is a Junior athlete.

What are the weight classes?

*indicates a weight class only available to youth athletes

How do weight classes work?

You need to weigh-in at or below your weight class. If you are a male who weighs-in at 84kg, you will be in the 85kg weight class. If you weigh-in at 85.1kg, you will be in the 94kg weight class.

The Lifts

Snatch
-Ground to overhead, in one shot. No surprise here. Press-outs (catching with bent arms, and extending them to reach lockout) will get you red lights.

Clean and Jerk
-Clean takes the weight from the ground to shoulder, jerk takes it overhead. Biggest things to watch out for are again press-outs, and uneven foot placement at the finish of the lift.

The Format

You get three attempts in the Snatch, followed by three attempts in the Clean & Jerk. At the start of competition, you give the officials your openers for each of the lifts. Your opener should be a relatively easy weight, something you know you can get. Order is essentially broken down by weight on the bar, with broader divisions based on the above mentioned age and weights depending on the size and organization of the meet. Within your weight class, you will certainly be going in order based on bar weight. When your name is called, you’ll have 1 minute to lift, and you’ll get a warning at 30 seconds. After completing your opening attempt, you’ll give the judges your next weight. Order will continue to progress by weight on the bar, and if you’re following yourself, you’ll have 2 minutes instead of 1.

If you miss an attempt, your options are to either repeat at the same weight, or go up – there no going down in weight! For this reason, choose your attempts wisely. Again, for the first, go for a weight you know you can get. for the second, you’ll do something challenging, around your current best. For the third, if you didn’t go for a PR on your second, go for broke here. General guidelines, and when you’re contending for a medal, these rules may very well go out the window.

Do I have to be sweet weightlifter in order to compete?

Hell no. You’ll see a huge range of abilities at any weightlifting meet. The competition is more between you and the weight on the bar, than it is with the folks around you. Cheesy but true. Lift more weight than you have before – that’s the goal.

Why am I talking about doing a meet?

I’ve helped lifters at a few meets at this point. It’s been an awesome time, and I’ve seen people “turn it on” in competition to hit big lifts, and come away with a huge sense of accomplishment. I respect weightlifting as a sport, and with our new facility and awesome members, I want us to contribute to weightlifting.

For the above reasons, we’ll be hosting an olympic weightlifting competition at our gym on October 23rd. We’ll post more info shortly, but it will be happening! We’re beginning a weightlifting cycle today for the advanced programming, but anyone who wants to compete can do the cycle. Oh yea, we’ll also be comping the entry fee for all CFRVA members, you’ll still have to get your USAW card though.

We’ve also ordered a 20Kg and 15Kg competition bar, as well as a set of IWF certified bumpers. I might even get wild and register us as a weightlifting club with USAW.

I encourage everyone interested to compete – please e-mail or comment with questions!

A couple of reminders:

Don’t forget to record your PNC III workout time for the retest. We’ll be recording it, but better to be on the safe side.

You’ll need to do three retests this week. Make sure you talk to your trainer before the workout; after the workout, you’re percentages will be off due to water lost during the workout.

As you’re wrapping up the Challenge, we totally understand wanting to have a little blowout on the nutrition side of things. Enjoy yourself. After you’re done, try to think a little bit more consciously about what you decide to reintegrate into your diet, and pay attention to how it affects your performance. Whatever happened over the past two months, use it as a learning experience. Some of you have done an amazing job at sticking to your guns, and it’s paid off with significant gains. Some of you have done everything and not quite seen the improvements you were looking for; just know that everyone responds a little differently to shifts in nutrition, and that there’s always tweaks and adjustments to make, and differently approaches entirely. We’re all about helping you figure it out and reach your goals.

Remember, your score for the challenge is a percentage improvement in both workout performance and body composition change. So, go hard in the paint as the wise seer Flocka would say.

To satisfy your nutrition blowout needs, Jenny is having a post-Paleo party this coming Saturday, June 18th from 4pm on. Her address is 2115 West Main Street, and you can give her a call at 757-469-7868 if you have any questions. Bring food or alcohol. All CFRVA folks are welcome, even if you didn’t participate in the Challenge.

Lately, a lot of big time athletes have been talking about flexibility and how yoga has helped them with their sport. John Wellbourn, founder of Crossfit Football, talks about his yoga practice on his blog, professional sports teams are signing yoga instructors on their staff rosters, and marathon runners are adding yoga to their training program. Even MMA stars like Diego Sanchez are joining in the flexibility party (and apparently having luck with the ladies as a result). So what does this all mean to you? Looking around RVA, I see people rolling around on lacrosse balls and foam rollers and our brilliant trainers are adding mobility into our programming. And that’s all good. But what if you added a yoga class once or twice a week? Depending on the class, that’s 2-3 hours a week that you focus solely on your flexibility. Woah. Soon enough you find that you can squat deeper, you have better muscle awareness when your knees roll in, and your hip flexors aren’t so tight. Our very own John Huston has added Bikram Yoga to his training and check him out – his squats are lower, he stands up straighter, and he can almost sit on his heels!

So where do you begin? At home with K. Starr, mobility before and after your WOD, and this handy dandy RVA Yoga for Athletes guide prepared just for you by moi (Editor’s Note: word doc is linked below). Ask your trainers, ask me, and then just do it.

-Val

RVA Yoga for Athletes Guide

The RCSC will have a novice class to all interested in giving the sport of Strongman a try!

Entry is at NA Strongman.

Events are:

Power Medley
Down signal must be received for any lift to count; Time limit will be 60sec.
[The athlete may pass any part of this medley but can NOT go back after touching the next implement]
Women 100 axle, 120 Log, 225 DL, 315 18″ DL
Novice 180 axle, 180 Log, 350 DL, 500 18″ DL
Masters/Lightweights 200 axle, 220 Log, 450 DL, 600 18″ DL
Middleweights 230 axle, 250 Log, 500 DL, 650 18″ DL
Heavyweights 250 axle, 280 Log, 550 DL, 700 18″ DL

Max Yoke
50′ per attempt; 1 drop allowed per attempt; 3 attempts, Wessels rule; Time limit will be 60sec.
Minimum Opener will be 160 for all divisions.

Farmers Walk
120′ w/turn at 60′; 1 drop allowed; Time limit will be 60sec.
Women: 120s
Novice: 180s
Lightweight/Masters: 230s
Middleweight: 260s
Heavyweight: 280s

Tire/Sled medley
Tires provided by Leete Tire. Weights TBD.

Atlas Stones (tentative ranges provided; platform heights TBD)
Series of 5 Stones in 75 sec
Women: 135-240
Novice: 175-270
Lightweight/Masters: 215-350
Middleweight/Heavyweight: 240-360

As always, events subject to change.

When I started CrossFit, I was in exactly this position. When I first started working out consistently in college, I quickly went from a sickly 155 lbs. up to slightly more healthy 173 lbs. At 6’2″, I knew that 173 lbs. still wasn’t enough to be as strong as I wanted. However, despite my training, the numbers on the sale weren’t making any positive gains.

I found (and this should be a fairly obvious trend here), that training alone simply wasn’t enough to get the results I was looking for. Following a program found at the Performance Menu, and making some serious changes to my diet, I made my first serious trip into the land of intentional weight gain.

Weight gain can be attained through many different specific nutrition plans, just as with weight loss, but the basic theory? Eat more. You can eat more using Zone macronutrient ratios, Paleo food choices, or you can just eat like a fat kid in a candy store. Again, the key is to eat more.

While we’re eating more, you have to look at individual considerations to determine how much more, and how close to a 5 year old’s birthday party you’re going to model your food choices after.

First, many Paleo options aren’t nearly as calorie dense as non-Paleo fare. Gaining mass via large portions of broccoli and lean meat can be much more difficult than say, drinking whole milk and eating pizza. The downside is all of the negative effects you would expect from eating a non-Paleo diet. Eating plenty of sugar, grains, etc… may easily provide the caloric surplus we’re looking for when trying to gain weight, but may also result in unintentional fat gain, increased inflammation/recovery issues, and generally feeling pretty bad most of the time. The choice is yours, just know that you have options.

Second, just like those trying to lose weight or eat for increased performance, it’s always best to have a plan when gaining weight. Whether or it’s planning out specific meals, general foods to eat or just setting an overall caloric intake level.

When gaining weight, I generally set aside a period of time for intentional weight gain. For those looking at more conservative weight gain, you can track your average caloric intake per day over the course of a week, and then set a new target 500 calories per day higher. For those looking to gain more, quicker, and are fine with a little extra fat gain, the sky’s the limit.

Either way, for me the more effective strategy has been to set an overall caloric intake level, and from there, set aside a list of foods and amounts that would help accomplish my goal intake. During my “mass gain” period, I set aside a list of “base” foods that are high in calories, easy to eat, and hopefully, something you enjoy eating a lot of. At one point in time, I would eat every day:

-1 lbs of peanuts
-1 lbs of meat
-1 doz. eggs.
-1 can of coconut milk

These foods would be spread out over the course of the day, but generally would be in addition to some “regular” meals. The point is, that by the end of the day, if I had eaten all of the above foods, I would be guaranteed to have hit my calorie goal.

Lastly, there’s many plans/systems for gaining weight out there that are much more complex. But most of time, starting (and sticking) with the simplest solution will result in excellent gains. Incremental increases in calories, and experimenting with different food choices, has done wonders for many.

Most think that losing weight is a huge challenge – but for some of us, gaining is just as difficult. The guidelines of the PNC aren’t very conducive to gaining weight, but I encourage anyone who thinks their lack of mass is holding back their performance to get a plan, and stick to it.