All Things FIT

No, seriously, May is National Salad Month. And what better way to celebrate with America than by re-tuning your salad habits?

For too long, salads have been seen as foo-foo meals. You know the salads I’m talking about. They usually are made up mostly of light green leaves with just a few dry pieces of chicken breast smothered in dressing. Even more concerning is the meat-less salad. You know what that’s called? An appetizer.

For this year’s national salad month, celebrate by turning that appetizer into a nutrient-packed power meal.

Start here: the foundation. A power salad needs a good base. But if you’re tired of always using spinach (like I do) or the romaine “salad mix” then consider experimenting with arugula, bok choy, butterhead lettuce, cabbage (red or green), or kale.

Next, the meat and potatoes (minus the potatoes). Protein is an essential ingredient for a power salad. But if you’re getting tired of the run-of-the-mill chicken breast, change the game by adding one (or more!) of these hearty protein sources: duck, shrimp, salmon, bacon, pulled pork, or any variation of sausage.

Now, get creative. My power salads usually consist of the usual suspects: avocado, broccoli, shredded carrots, berries or apple, cucumber, and a smattering of colorful peppers. But if you’re looking for some new flair to add, try adding a splash of fruit like pineapple or mango, or other vegetables like asparagus, zucchini, mushrooms or olives.

When it comes to dressing up a power salad, I usually stick to the classic Paleo combination of olive oil and lemon juice. But if you want a new twist, consider using avocado or walnut oil. Or, try my favorite way to change up a power salad and top it with salsa and (a lot of) guacamole.

So, celebrate National Salad Month by trying out a new version of your power salad. And if you come up with or have an excellent recipe.

Share the power salad love with the rest of the FIT community by posting your recipe in the comments section.

At FIT, we love sprinting.

We love sprinting in all kinds of forms. And we’ve probably shared our love of sprinting at some point with you.

Maybe it was on the rower doing 250 meter repeats. Or maybe on the treadmill sprinting for twenty seconds, resting ten seconds, and then doing it all over again. Or maybe you have even been lucky enough to push that crazy contraption we affectionately call the “Prowler” through the parking lot.

And at some point, you’ve probably wondered something like, “How is this going to help me lean out for summer?”

Perhaps defying conventional wisdom, short sprint intervals are actually more effective than continuous aerobic exercise for influencing body composition and fat loss.

A new study shows that sprint intervals will help you lose more fat while training a fraction of the time it would take to lose a comparable amount from continuous endurance exercise.

The study, published in the journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, compared the effects of a high intensity sprint interval program with an endurance running program on two different groups over six weeks. The sprint program consisted of 30-second sprint intervals and the endurance program consisted of running 30-60 minutes at approximately 65 percent of maximal effort.

The results were dramatic. Fat mass decreased by 12.4% among the sprint group compared to only 5.8% amongst the endurance group. What’s more, the sprint interval group decreased their fat mass by training 1/18th of the time as the endurance group–6.75 hours compared to 13.5 hours over the six week program.

In other words, the sprint group lost more fat mass in a fraction of the time.

The results are likely due to the fact that doing sprint intervals increases post-exercise oxygen consumption which elevates your metabolic rate and energy use after the workouts.

So, the moral of the story? Sprint.

Ask your FIT coach about how you could maximize your training time to get lean and save time by doing sprint intervals on the rower, on the bike, on the road, or, yes, even on the Prowler.

Next weekend on May 18th-20th Coach Rick will look to improve on last year’s stellar performance at the CrossFit NorCal Regional competition. And he needs your help to make it happen. So why not join the FIT contingent screaming in support of Rick at the competition next weekend?

Check here for directions to the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds and ticket information.

Our last post on Rick highlighted his incredible finish in 37th place out of nearly 1500 competitors in the NorCal region. This is impressive in its own right considering that the NorCal region is among the world’s toughest regions.

How tough you ask?

Well, let’s break it down. Consider Rick’s performance in the CrossFit Open, the worldwide competition where only the top 60 male and female athletes in each region advance to the next stage. Using DataWod.com, Rick’s performance over the five Open workouts would’ve have put him in very elite company in other regions of the world.

He would have finished third in Latin America.

Second in Asia.

And he wold have dominated the competition to take first in Africa.

So, what’s the moral of the story? Should Rick move his wife and kids to Africa in order to lay claim to CrossFit greatness? (I mean, how many people can say they are the top CrossFit athlete in an entire continent, right?)

Of course Rick isn’t going anywhere. And he isn’t phased by statistical comparisons. Rick knows exactly how tough the NorCal region is, and how on any given weekend it’s anyone’s competition to win.

If you’ve never been to a CrossFit competition, this is an excellence chance to see Rick face off against some of the fittest athletes on earth.

Several of FIT’s trainers will be there. Will you?

Yes, bodybuilding is a sport. And it just so happens that Greg is pretty good at it.

You can ask Greg and he’ll tell you that the sport itself is difficult to describe. In last 10 years, bodybuilding competitions have added new divisions for both male and female competitors, but Greg prefers classic bodybuilding. The criteria? It’s fairly simple to explain, but rather difficult to judge. The objective for bodybuilding competitors is to show off a physique that is as muscular and lean as possible while still being pleasing to the eye. In competition, every aspect of the body is scrutinized: How wide are your shoulders? How defined is your back? How narrow is your waist? And so on.

On stage, under the hot lights and the scrutinizing eyes of spectators and judges, the pressure might be enough to rattle the average competitor. Yet Greg is a seasoned athlete who has been involved in competitive athletics since the first grade. And from this very early age, Greg developed an incredible appetite for winning.

Greg first found his competitive groove in tennis, competing as a USTA junior, high school, and NCAA Division I athlete at Long Beach State University. Seeking a new challenge, Greg began training as a kickboxer and mixed martial artist. Fighting for Steve Fossum’s International Kickboxing Federation (IKF), Greg earned a staggering 18-1 record fighting as both an amateur and professional. He amassed three US titles in three different weight classes.

When Greg’s wife, an IFBB professional figure competitor, introduced him to IFBB Hall of Famer Flex Wheeler, Greg caught the competition “bug.” It’s a good thing Greg loves winning because the training regime is insane, the diet requires incredible discipline, and the preparation requires attention to a million small details. And in spite of this, Greg has never placed lower than second in a competition. He’s got his sights set on a California state title this year and a national title within the next year.

Some people do things for the journey. Some people do things for the destination. Greg is a destination person. This is why he can tolerate the training and diet demands. And during all this, Greg would never recommend that we mere mortals follow this same training regiment and diet because it’s simply not sustainable for a long-term healthy lifestyle.

While Greg’s clients respect him for the way he coaches, we also respect Greg for his competitive nature and drive to succeed in sport.

Greg competes in a huge show this weekend in Hayward. We’re trying to get an FIT contingent to show our support for Greg as he looks to improve on his recent second place finish.

Anyone interested?

Recently our fearless FIT coaches Angelo dela Cruz and Jeff Samson visited Mark Sisson in Oxnard, CA for the third annual PrimalCon, a three day weekend total immersion experience of the primal lifestyle that includes expert-guided workouts, play, leisure, classroom education, camaraderie, and massive Primal feasts.

Now, you might be saying, “Primal-what!?” Well, if you haven’t read Mark’s blog or read his book “The Primal Blueprint” then primal-living can most easily be summarized as a paradigm of health and wellness that looks to the past of how our ancestors ate and moved. Sisson’s comprehensive health paradigm covers everything from diet to exercise to stress management to sleep to posture and so on. The basic idea is that our human genes are best expressed when we balance eating, exercise, play, and leisure in many of the same ways our ancestors did.

In the realm of fitness, the workshops were able to expand on Mark’s basic philosophy which was covered in last year’s recap and is worth the quick read.

Angelo presented for the third consecutive year. Angelo worked with people the entire weekend in small and large groups teaching them dynamic, full body mobility work as a fun, active way to lubricate joints, increase flow of oxygen and nutrients to the cells. As central to his VitaMoves program, Angelo conveyed the importance of effective movement preparation for high physical and mental performance.

Jeff Digs In

Jeff admits he was mostly there for the massive feasts on pulled turkey legs and fresh macadamia nut butter. This being Jeff’s first year, he was amused by the sheer number of people wearing Vibram toe shoes. When I asked what Jeff took away from the from the weekend, he recalled Sisson’s keynote theme: choices. Jeff explained to me, “There are a lot of ‘experts’ out there that claim they know the secret to living and eating well. And a lot of theme seem to garner near cultish followings. But Sisson wasn’t interested in making converts. He wanted to emphasize the importance of our choices.  In his keynote speech, Sisson explained, ‘When it comes to our health, it’s not about right or wrong answers. It’s about choices.’”

Sisson underscored the importance of taking personal accountability and responsibility for the choices we make. He joked about putting sugar in his coffee. He knows what makes his body tick. He’s paid close attention to how his body responds to the sugar and knows how much he can and should tolerate.

So, Jeff’s takeaway from the weekend? Figure out what works for best for your body. This is one of the keys to finding an optimal balance in your life. Consider keeping a journal. Except don’t treat your journal like an accountant, rather be more like an investigative reporter. Track what you eat (the content, not the calories), and then monitor how your energy levels respond combined with your stress, exercise, and sleep quality. It can be a long process, but this kind of investigative research can reap long-term benefits in living, moving, and eating optimally.

You may know a lot of things about Danielle like her expertise as a trainer or her unmistakeable laugh that occasionally echoes through the gym. But you may not know that Danielle is one of the strongest women in the country.

In March, Danielle traveled to Columbus, Ohio to compete in the 2012 USAW National Weightlifting Championships. With a third place finish at last year’s Nationals, Danielle was set on fighting her way back into the top three and improving on her performance from the previous year.

If you’re new to the sport, Olympic-style weightlifting involves two lifts: the snatch and the clean and jerk. And the competition is simple. You get three attempts to successfully lift the most weight in each of the movements. The lifter with the highest combined total of their best snatch and clean and jerk wins.

Day in and day out, after being on her feet all day, Danielle stayed late at FIT hitting lift after lift under the close supervision of coach Rob. The work was hard and progress was slow. Still she had to show up each day and be mentally ready to do it all over again. By the time Danielle showed up to Columbus for the meet, she had reached her mental and physical limit. But Danielle is a fierce, seasoned competitor who knows how to block out the discomfort and perform at the right time.

Describing what it’s like before she went out on to the stage, Danielle explains, “You hear the fans. It’s motivating. You get that nervous energy. I was pacing beforehand. Rob had to sit me down and force me to relax while I visualized making my lift.”

The competition didn’t start according to plan. Danielle missed her first snatch attempt at 65kg. She quickly recovered and nailed her second attempt at the same weight. Then, needing a big lift, Danielle nailed her final attempt at 68kg for second place at the end of the snatch phase.

But Danielle had more to come. After easily making her first clean and jerk attempt at 80kg, Danielle missed her second at 83kg. Under tremendous pressure, and long break, she hit a new personal best on her third and final clean and jerk attempt at 83kg to solidify her spot once again in the top three of the 53kg weight class.

Coach Rob recalls that, “We had done a lot of work to get her mentally prepared. We had done a lot of work to get her mentally prepared. Danielle was a true professional. She was confident and in control.”

Thompson River Ranch’s Prepared Meals in the Freezer at FIT

When you know you will not have time to cook or your day gets away from you, stop by FIT to pick up dinner.

What we currently offer:

• Beef Bourguignon

                   – Suggestion: Pair with cauliflower mash or mashed potatoes

• Bolognese Sauce

                   – Suggestion:  Serve over spaghetti squash or sauteed greens

• Braised Brisket

                   – Suggestion:  Serve over cauliflower mash or rice and pair with a vegetable of your choice

• Beef Carbonnade

 Enjoy!  For more information visit Thompson River Ranch