Mercola.com recently posted an excellent interview with Loren Cordain, PhD, author of The Paleo Diet.

Robert Crayhon: What happened to our health when we switched from a hunter-gatherer diet to a grain-based one?

Loren Cordain: The fossil record indicates that early farmers, compared to their hunter-gatherer predecessors had a characteristic reduction in stature, an increase in infant mortality, a reduction in life span, an increased incidence of infectious diseases, an increase in iron deficiency anemia, an increased incidence of osteomalacia, porotic hyperostosis and other bone mineral disorders and an increase in the number of dental caries and enamel defects.

Early agriculture did not bring about increases in health, but rather the opposite. It has only been in the past 100 years or so with the advent of high tech, mechanized farming and animal husbandry that the trend has changed.

Read full interview here.

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Monday’s WOD:

A.) Back Squats
5-5-5-5-5

B.) 25 Pushups
20 Pullups
15 Burpees
403m Run

results:

For those of you that missed the article that I posted a few weeks back, or chose not to read it because it was more than one page in length, here is a video clip of the subject, John Durant, who leads a “caveman” lifestyle in regards to his nutrition and exercise regimen.

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Legitness of the Week

Helen 225×5 Deadlift (Sweat Shop Record)
Eric 185×5 Deadlift (PR)
Vanessa 1:12 403m run (Sweat Shop Record)
Katherine 75×5 Front Squat (PR)
Lones 150×5 Front Squat (Sweat Shop Record)
Alex 335×5 Front Squat (Sweat Shop Record)
Mark completes his 100th workout in less than a year at the Sweat Shop…LEGIT!

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Thursday’s WOD:

“Angie”

100 Pullups
100 Pushups
100 Situps
100 Squats

results:

Posted last month in the Huffington Post, Gluten: What You Don’t Know Might Kill You, by Dr. Mark Hyman, is a great overview of gluten, and the health problems that are associated with it.  Until about a year ago I’ve always eaten bread, cereal, baked goods, and pasta, without noticing any adverse side effects.  However, after eliminating gluten from my diet, I now experience some pretty dramatic feedback (in the form of GI distress) each time I slip up and have even a small amount of food that contains gluten.  To determine if you have a sensitivity to gluten, simply eliminate it completely for at least two weeks.  Then “treat” yourself to a nice whole-grain sandwich, some pizza, a burrito wrapped in a flour tortilla, cereal, pasta, baked goods, or food battered with bread crumbs or similar.  Make note of how you feel in general (sleepy, lethargic, etc.), as well as any other digestive “issues” you may experience.  Enjoy!

“The findings were dramatic. There was a 39 percent increased risk of death in those with celiac disease, 72 percent increased risk in those with gut inflammation related to gluten, and 35 percent increased risk in those with gluten sensitivity but no celiac disease.

This is ground-breaking research that proves you don’t have to have full-blown celiac disease with a positive intestinal biopsy (which is what conventional thinking tells us) to have serious health problems and complications–even death–from eating gluten.

Yet an estimated 99 percent of people who have a problem with eating gluten don’t even know it. They ascribe their ill health or symptoms to something else–not gluten sensitivity, which is 100 percent curable.”

Read full article here.

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Tuesday’s WOD:

“Fight Gone Bad”

3 Rounds

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

1 minute of each exercise to perform as many reps as possible
REST 1 minute after completing each full round

results:

If you’ve never checked out Mark’s Daily Apple you should know it’s a great resource for many things health and nutrition related.  Regarding exercise and especially nutrition, Mark is really big on the “primal” lifestyle.  He recently posted about some guidelines to help you properly fry food.

“Speaking of pan frying, the difference is more than the pan itself. Pan frying is a shallow frying method, meaning the oil doesn’t cover more than half of the food you’re cooking. Some research suggests that pan frying results in more oil decomposition than deep frying. Pan frying generally takes longer, which may contribute to this difference. Although the oil in both methods is basically the same temperature, pan frying is more likely to produce carcinogenic compounds called heterocyclic amines (HCAs) when the surface of the meat (or – to a lesser extent – vegetable) is burnt or overcooked. Although low and slow cooking methods (like braising) are great in preventing the formation of HCAs, deep frying or flash sautéing of small pieces are also good options, since they avoid any charring or scorching of food.”

Read the full post here.

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Tuesday’s WOD:

5 Rounds
3 minutes each to complete:

200m Run
7 Power Cleans
21 Pushups
Box Jumps for REPS

REST 90 seconds between rounds

results:

Recently the New York Times featured an article on Paleo nutrition, and CrossFit even gets a mention.  Thanks to Connie from CrossFit Oakland for tipping me off to this article.  In true New York city fashion, it almost seems like the subjects of this article are to some degree drawn to the Paleo “lifestyle” to be part of a sub-culture.  But I suppose it’s not a terrible thing, if it’s healthy habits they are pursuing.  Whether we live on a farm or in a big city, we will never truly experience paleolithic life, but towards the end of the article, it does a good job of putting things in perspective.

Read full article here.

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Wednesday’s WOD:

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:

5 Hang Cleans
7 Thrusters
9 Summo Deadlift High Pulls

results:

From Mark’s Daily Apple:  “Life springs from death, everywhere and always. You cannot live without something dying to make it all possible. Grain heavy vegan diets require the destruction of ecosystems and all their inhabitants; meat heavy Primal diets require the slaughter of a pig or a cow. If you’re going to exist in this world, you have to accept the fact that things will die. Oh, and things won’t just die; they’ll die to ensure your survival.”

Read the full post here.

**REMINDERS**

Regular class schedule on Christmas Eve

Registration is now open for the CrossFit NorCal Sectionals that will be taking place in March 2010.  Register ASAP, it will likely sell out very soon! 

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Tuesday’s WOD:

4 Rounds

10 Hang Squat Cleans
2 Rope Ascents (or ring row modification)
20 Box Jumps

results:

If you’ve never checked out Mark’s Daily Apple, you should.  It’s a great resource for all things health and nutrition.  Mark recently posted a strong arguement against those that say it’s not natural for humans to eat meat.  Check out the post here.  If after reading the post, you still think humans are herbivores, just go to Google Images and search “caveman hunting”, you’ll find pictures (like the one above) that are documented proof that early man ate meat.

Legitness of the Week:  (thanks to Russ Greene from CrossFit Monterey for this idea)

John M. does “Fran” in 4:03 (chest to bar)
Helen does “Fran” in 4:59 (Rx’d)
Vanessa gets on the leader board with 34 double unders, and in doing so, knocks off long time champ Sara K.
Tina makes 70lb. thrusters look easy
Charlie hits 135×3 on his thrusters, with the last rep taking about 12 seconds to reach lock out!  Pure grit baby!
Mike S. brings me a cooler full of deer meat and wild caribou, as well as deer sausage…. LEGIT!

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Thursday’s WOD:

A.) Thrusters
3-3-3-3-3

B.) 500m Row
15 Burpees
10 Push Jerks

results:

Here is a great video that sums up the whole Paleo nutrition thing.  We may not think about a lot of this stuff, but when it’s all put together in the video, it’s hard to deny the obvious.  Thanks to the guys at CrossFit San Ramon for posting this.

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Wednesday’s WOD:

Perform 1 Deadlift and 1 Burpee the first minute, then 2 Deadlifts and 2 Burpees the second minute… and so on all the way up to 21 minutes.  If you fail to complete all Deadlifts and Burpees in any given set, drop back down to set #2 and continue working your way up.  Workout ends at 21 minutes.

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: