Topic of the Day

A Food Manifesto for the Future

For decades, Americans believed that we had the world’s healthiest and safest diet. We worried little about this diet’s effect on the environment or on the lives of the animals (or even the workers) it relies upon. Nor did we worry about its ability to endure — that is, its sustainability.

That didn’t mean all was well. And we’ve come to recognize that our diet is unhealthful and unsafe. Many food production workers labor in difficult, even deplorable, conditions, and animals are produced as if they were widgets. It would be hard to devise a more wasteful, damaging, unsustainable system. Continue Reading…

Developing Upper Body Gymnastic Strength

This is a great article from Potomac Crossfit about developing upper body strength. If your February goal is get a pushup, pullup, handstand pushup etc.. this is the article for you. If will give a plan of attack for tackling your February goal work. Check it out.

Gaining upper body strength is really easy, here’s what you need to keep in mind:

• Stay below your muscle failure threshold
• Practice often
• Listen to your joints
• Track your progress to see what works

Continue Reading…

New U.S. Dietary Guidelines Emphasize Plant-Based Foods

At least it’s a step in the right direction for the US, but you’re already ahead of the curve, right?

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, unveiled January 31, 2011, take a major leap forward, highlighting the benefits of vegetarian and vegan diets. The Dietary Guidelines –issued by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services every five years — are the blueprint for all federal nutrition programs, including school meals.

The new guidelines sing the praises of plant-based diets: “Vegetarian-style eating patterns have been associated with improved health outcomes — lower levels of obesity, a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and lower total mortality. Several clinical trials have documented that vegetarian eating patterns lower blood pressure.” Continue Reading…

Scientists Find Gene Clue to Athletic Endurance

If you were a prehistoric human, would you prefer to able to sprint very fast for short distances or to jog comfortably for kilometres?

That is one of the questions thrown up by the so-called “gene for speed,” known as ACTN3.

One of the most intriguing genes discovered, ACTN3 encodes a protein that governs metabolism in “fast twitch” muscle fibres, which generate force at high speed.

Around 18 per cent of the world’s population has a truncated variant of the gene that blocks this protein.
Continue Reading…

Paleo In A Nutshell

I’ve posted this video before but wanted to let the newbies have a look at it. Be sure to get some active rest in today, your body will thank you for it.

Why I Train

Yesterday someone asked me why I train. Caught off guard by the magnitude of the question, I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn’t. It wasn’t that I didn’t have the answer, it was that I had too many.

I train to become better. Life is too long and too short to settle. My body is whole; it doesn’t come in pieces. My body is my physical, mental, and emotional self. There is no separation. We come intertwined in an intricate meshwork where there is no end and no beginning. Anytime I improve in any facet of my being it’s only going to better the others. Unfortunately, vice versus… If one suffers, the rest of me suffers as well. Continue Reading…

Central Heating May Be Making Us Fat

Americans like to crank up the heat in the winter — and some scientists think it’s making us fat. Turn down the thermostat, they say, and you might lose a few pounds.

The link between ambient temperature and weight is not completely far-fetched. When we’re exposed to extreme cold, we shiver, an involuntary reaction that makes our skeletal muscles contract to generate heat, burning extra calories in the process.

Continue Reading…

A Tribute To Jack LaLanne

Unfortunately, a pioneer of the fitness world passed away the other day at the age of 96. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Jack LaLanne, he was a fitness guru who encouraged people to live a healthier lifestyle and was a pioneer of the gym as we know it today. I’ve included an article from Seth’s Blog called Eight Lessons Learned From Jack LaLanne and a youtube video of him giving a talk about meal planning.

Burning Runner: Fixing My Broken Form To Avoid Injury

In 25 years of running, T.J. Murphy never paid much attention to his technique. Until now.

Written by: TJ Murphy

Last weekend I attended a running clinic held at San Francisco Crossfit. Brian MacKenzie, founder of Crossfit Endurance and an ultramarathoner, taught the clinic. MacKenzie’s foremost goal in his Run and Performance seminar is providing background and instruction on how to develop running technique—a subject that got tremendous traction in Christopher McDougal’s bestseller, “Born to Run.” Continue Reading…

The Coffee Manifesto

***Reminder there is a nutrition information session Wed night at 7:30pm. Please record what you’ve been eating if you haven’t. The 7pm class will be a shorter workout to accommodate the session***

To give this article some context, know that we are not here to either glorify or indict coffee. We would simply like to present a balanced, rational perspective on caffeine consumption, whether it’s sourced from coffee, tea, or (gasp!) those poisonous Monster drinks. Just because you thoroughly savor a cup of Misha’s Route 66 blend doesn’t mean that experience is automatically a healthy one, so let’s explore the subject of coffee and caffeine. Continue Reading…