I’m going keep this one short and sweet.  Running shoes are less than ideal shoes for doing things like squats (front, back, overhead, body weight), deadlifts, cleans, jumps, walking, and running.  They have an elevated heel which changes the way your foot strikes the ground and it automatically puts you in a forward lean.  Most are also squishy which makes for a pretty unstable platform for your feet.  Less is more.  Get some shoes that are flat and have minimal cushioning.  If you are still convinced you need running shoes for running, so be it; at the very least keep a pair of flat bottom shoes in your car for strength workouts, or those that don’t involve running. 

From the article What Ruins Running:

It wasn’t a miracle, as Lieberman would explain; it was simple mechanics. He’s convinced our problems began the day we tried to out think nature and encased our feet in motion-controlling sneakers. Others agree. Gerard Hartmann, a physical therapist in Ireland who works with world record holder Paula Radcliffe and who is himself a Nike consultant, conceded years ago that deconditioned foot muscles were the biggest factor in injuries. He likened running shoes to a plaster cast that causes our feet to atrophy.

Read full article here.

371 people who just read this post are currently digging through their closet in search of NBA Jam for Sega Genesis.

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Wednesday’s WOD:

“Fight Gone Bad”

3 Rounds
As many total reps as possible
1 minute at each station, with 1 minute rest between rounds

Wall Balls
Summo Deadlift High Pull
Box Jumps
Push Press
Row (calories)

results:

Hopefully all of you are making adjustments in your daily nutrition and have long since stopped drinking soft drinks (this includes diet and sugar free soft drinks).  For anyone who is still in denial about soft drinks being bad for you, check out this article.  Check soda off your list and start moving on other areas:  eliminating processed foods, reducing/eliminating grains and gluten, having a protein source with each meal, selecting organic, free-range meats, including grass fed beef.

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Monday’s WOD:

“Fran”
21-15-9

Thrusters
Pullups

results:

Lones participating in a CrossFit Sweat Shop workout at Civic Park in Walnut Creek

Best case scenario for me would be a “gym”, 1,500-2000 sq. ft. that is just an overhead shelter (25-30 feet high) with no walls.  Placed in a field, near a lake, at the foothills of some mountains.  The wall-less shelter would offer 360 degree views of nature, and the nearby lake could be used for combining swimming with barbell exercises.  Unfortunately this isn’t possible within the city limits of Walnut Creek, and lugging barbells, bumper plates, dumbbells, kettlebells, a Concept 2 Rower, and a pullup bar structure out to Briones or Shell Ridge on a daily basis could be a bit cumbersome.  However, with the location of CrossFit Sweat Shop being directly on the Contra Costa Canal trail, and a large roll up door that opens the gym to the outdoor world, workouts here feel nothing like those at an ordinary gym… and thank God for that!  Televisions everywhere you look, stationary bikes, treadmills, and rooms packed with exercise machines make most traditional gyms a depressing place to be even for a brief period of time.  California, and especially the East Bay, has some of the best weather in the United States… take advantage of it people!

Even across the pond, where the weather isn’t nearly as nice as it is here, people are feeling the same way.  Check out this article titled, “How I broke out of the gym”

Post to comments your feelings and/or experiences with exercising outdoors.

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Monday’s WOD:

6 Rounds

6 Clean & Jerks
9 Knees to Elbow
12 Box Jumps

results:

Walnut Creek 5K Turkey Trot Thanksgiving

This is awesome.  The corn industry is obviously concerned about people educating themselves on the health risks of high fructose corn syrup.  They developed an ad campaign and a site to try and tame people’s concerns about the dangers of high fructose corn syrup.  The campaign trys to exploit the fact that people are hearing that HFCS is bad, but most average americans can’t explain why it’s bad.  A repeated theme in the campaign is that it, (HFCS) is natural because it comes from corn… so it is fine.  Corn may be natural, however, the processes that creates HFCS is by no means natural or happens in “nature”.  Add to that the fact that corn is in so many food products, is a genetically modified crop, and gets hit with lots of pesticides and you’ve got a product you may want to reconsider ingesting.

Check out the ad campaign here.

Don’t be one of the uneducated idiots played by the actors in the ad campaign.  A study published earlier this year from the University of California Berkeley showed that compared to glucose, fructose had the following effects.

1) Four-fold greater intra-abdominal fat accumulation

2) 13.9% increase in LDL cholesterol, doubled Apoprotein B

3) 44.9% increase in small LDL, 3-fold more than glucose

4) Increased postprandial triglycerides 99.2%.

Other studies have shown that fructose:

–Increases uric acid–No longer is red meat the cause for increased uric acid; fructose has taken its place. Uric acid may act as an independent coronary risk factor and increases high blood pressure and kidney disease.

–Induces insulin resistance, the situation that creates diabetes

–Increases glycation (fructose linked to proteins) and protein cross-linking, processes that underlie atherosclerosis, liver disease, and cataracts.
http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com

If you want to learn more, the study is published in it’s entirety here.

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Thursday’s WOD:

A.) Overhead Squats
7-7-7

B.) 100 Burpees
*every minute perform 3 strict pullups (or most challenging pullup variation you are capable of)

results:

If you are still having trouble modifying your nutrition, perhaps this article will help.  And by sugar, they don’t just mean the packets of white stuff you add to your coffee.  All high glycemic index foods, such as bread, pasta, white rice, potatoes, etc. are quickly converted to sugar in the bloodstream.  Check out the article here.

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Monday’s WOD:

start with 400m Row, then

5 Rounds

12 Knees to Elbow
6 Ring Dips
12 Burpees

finish with (1) 403m Run

results:

The painful truth about trainers: Are running shoes a waste of money?

Thrust enhancers, roll bars, microchips…the $20 billion running - shoe industry wants us to believe that the latest technologies will cushion every stride. Yet in this extract from his controversial new book, Christopher McDougall claims that injury rates for runners are actually on the rise, that everything we’ve been told about running shoes is wrong - and that it might even be better to go barefoot…

Read full article from Mail Online here.

Thanks to J.B., CrossFit Sweat Shop’s Media Specialist, for locating this article.

***CrossFit Sweat Shop will be closed on Monday, September 7th, in honor of Labor Day*** 

Regular Saturday schedule on September 5th.

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Wednesday’s WOD:

Perform as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:

6ea. Single Arm DB Snatch
6ea. Single Arm DB Overhead Walking Lunge
12 Knees to Elbow

results:

CrossFit Sweat Shop: Walnut Creek, CA