Next week, the ninth anniversary of one of the most tragic days in our nation’s history, September 11, 2001, is coming. This day, more than any other in recent history, will forever bond the generations of Americans that were alive to witness this horrible attack on our country.

The word ‘hero’ and the term ‘heroic’ get thrown around a lot. We believe that the actions of our first responders that day, and the actions of those that volunteered to serve our country following that day, are nothing short of heroic and we consider it an American value to consider these people Heroes.

Later this month, on September 25th, the Fifth Annual Fight Gone Bad fund-raising event will take place across the country to raise money in support of the Wounded Warrior Project and several other philanthropies.

To honor the victims of September 11th, we extend to you an invitation to tell us why and for whom you are participating. Tell us who your Hero or Heroes are and let these shared stories fuel us all through the grueling event ahead.

This is not a promotion, a marketing ploy or anything other than an effort to begin a conversation to honor and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us.

Good luck to all those competing, thanks to all the gyms participating and more than anything – thanks to all of the Heroes… You make our country great.

BADger Uncategorized

I just got back from a vacation in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and I’m starting law school next week, so posts from me have been and will be sparse for a while.  However, while catching up on my reading, I did see this plug by Robb Wolf about his new book.  Note:  I have no personal connection to Robb, but I have found his work informative, well reasoned/researched, and generally spot-on.  I am looking forward to reading the book when I get a breather from school.  Judging from Robb’s other work, this book is likely a must read for CrossFitters and anyone who cares about what they eat.

Enjoy:

–Nick

Nicholas Hahn Uncategorized czech republic, nutrition, paleolithic solution, robb wolf, slovakia

admin Uncategorized AMRAP, CrossFit, CrossFit Apparel, CrossFit T-shirts, Life AsRx, wod, WODkilla

Wired had an interesting article about Robert Sapolsky, author of Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers.    I’ve read both, and they are fairly similar in content, if not detail.  The book–and the Wired article details this–is about the effects chronic stress can have on our health.  Sapolsky built his theory–that chronic stress is literally killing people–from human experimental data, but he originally thought of it while observing baboons.  There is, of course, some evolutionary biology behind the idea.

Essentially, when we’re chronically stressed, we are in a state of “fight-or-flight,” chronically.  The health effects are impressive.  From the article:

The list of ailments connected to stress is staggeringly diverse and includes everything from the common cold and lower-back pain to Alzheimer’s disease, major depressive disorder, and heart attack. Stress hollows out our bones and atrophies our muscles. It triggers adult-onset diabetes and is a leading cause of male impotence. In fact, numerous studies of human longevity in developed countries have found that psychosocial factors such as stress are the single most important variable in determining the length of a life. It’s not that genes and risk factors like smoking don’t matter. It’s that our levels of stress matter more.

What does all this have to do with CrossFit?  The causal mechanism in this are high exposures of guccocorticoids, the most well-known being cortisol, which are released when we get stressed.  Robb Wolf has talked about the detrimental effects of what he calls “hypercorticism,” and others call adrenal fatigue.  Robb has some smart things to say about stress management.  Managing your stress is critical to health and longevity, and ultimately performance.  If your digestion sucks, you have tight muscles, and your sleep sucks, there is no way you’re going to be advancing past sectionals. And beating the piss out of yourself everyday–while fun–may be counterproductive to long-term health without addressing overall stress levels.  For instance:

a “large part of the changes in brain structure and function [induced by chronic stress] have similar characteristics to those observed in neurodegenerative diseases, most notably Alzheimer’s.” And the higher the level of stress hormone, the greater the level of cognitive decline.

Definitely not a road to health and well-being.

Mark Sisson had a great post a while back addressing a similar topic.  He pointed to the same mechanism Sapolsky did in Zebras.  Stress causes cortisol secretion, which causes a rise in blood sugar, which causes insulin secretion, and then weight gain.  So if any of you have clients with weight problems, it may behoove them to check their stress levels.

Sapolsky, meanwhile, has begun developing a vaccine for stress.  He tweaked a herpes virus to effect the stress response of monkeys.  I’m not sure when that will hit the market for humans, but I think I’ll take the advice in the Wired article and his book rather than take the vaccine.

–Nick

Nicholas Hahn Uncategorized

I’m not sure how many CrossFitters have tried out for Ninja Warrior, but I just saw this at CrossFit Endurance:

From the looks of it, this guy is obviously pretty much a bad-ass and I think you should vote for him, if it is possible.  Gymnastics, parkour, o-lifting.  I couldn’t track down where to vote, or if voting is still open.  If anyone knows, put it in the comments.

And then we have an old school Ninja Warrior submission from Bryant Powers of CrossFit Oahu.  Also very legit, but the embed function isn’t working, so you’ll have to click the link.

Enjoy.

–Nick

Nicholas Hahn Uncategorized

I found myself both dismayed and chuckling at a couple of recent news items dealing with food regulation. Raw milk, pig shares–apparently it all has to be regulated now a days.  I first had raw milk in in Maryland, when Ryan, the owner of CrossFit BWI, told me to try it out.  I guess in Maryland, it is accessible like booze was accessible in speakeasies during the 1920s.  I opted for the drive to Amish country, pictured above.  And as for pig sharing, I’ve attended a couple of pig stickings in eastern Europe, where nobody pays attention to most laws as a rule.

The first item details the growing trend of raiding private food clubs and farms.

What’s behind all these raids? They seem to stem from increasing concern at both the state and federal level about the spread of private food groups that have sprung up around the country in recent years — food clubs and buying groups to provide specialized local products that are generally unavailable in groceries, like grass-fed meats, pastured eggs, fermented foods, and, in some cases, raw dairy products. Because they are private and limited to consumers who sign up for membership, these groups generally avoid obtaining retail and public health licenses required of retailers that sell to the general public. (For more on what’s behind the raids, see this new post.)

The next item concerns a sting operation to stop the selling of a pig.  As if it were 10 kilos of heroin, a 25-year veteran and Major in the Canadian Armed Forces has been forced to fight it out in court.

Tijssen is facing four charges stemming from a lengthy undercover sting operation in November 2009 relating to the sharing of a single home-slaughtered pig …

What was the crime?  Sharing.  Apparently, you can slaughter your own animals in Canada, you just can’t share the meat:

The complainant alleged Tijssen and a friend purchased a pig, slaughtered it and shared the meat, something he readily admits.

Finally, the absurd.  A comic opperetta about the travails of Michael Schmidt, who is coincidentally helping the aforementioned Major fight the fine for pig sharing, debuted in Ontario.  I can only hope the show comes here.

On the flip side, here’s the contrarian view of raw milk.

What is the readership’s view of raw milk and slow food?  Should we be allowed to eat what we want without the middleman’s approval, or are they looking out for our best interests?

–Nick

Nicholas Hahn Uncategorized meat, pig share, pig sticking, raw milk, slow food, sting

Surprisingly, the US Military found out that giving people running shoes to match their foot types is a bad idea.  I basically have always bought shoes based on 1) price and 2) comfort.  Having previously worked as a shoe salesman at Foot Locker, I’ve thought a lot of what goes into selling shoes is snake oil.  Interestingly, the military has now given us evidence to support that position.

Military researchers checked the scientific literature and found that no studies had been completed that answered that question, so eventually they decided they would have to mount their own. They began fitting thousands of recruits in the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps with either the “right” shoes for their feet or stability shoes.

And the results?

Injury rates were high among all the runners, but they were highest among the soldiers who had received shoes designed specifically for their foot types. If anything, wearing the “right” shoes for their particular foot shape had increased trainees’ chances of being hurt.

Of course, there could be confounding variables, like the military’s lack of training in proper running mechanics, or the fact that a good proportion of America’s youth entering boot camp is very under-trained.

Minimalist shoes, like Pumas, or cross country flats are often more economical, and probably better for running in.  From CrossFit Endurance’s FAQ:

What type of shoes should I wear?

Racing Flats or as little a shoe as possible… If you are running trails look at Inov-8, They have several models with pretty low profiles for trail shoes.

Studies demonstrate that barefoot runners are more efficient, and have a lower rate of injury in their lower limbs. A good introduction can be found at http://sportsci.org/jour/0103/mw.htm

Post comments.

–Nick

Nicholas Hahn Uncategorized barefoot, military, running, science

Well ok… not really. But the crew from SicFit.com did come by our place to see how we truly do live for this thing we call CrossFit. Check out the video below and of course we would love to read your comments.

Photo gallery here

BADger Uncategorized

In recent weeks we here at Life AsRx have been discussing the subject of people cheating during their workouts. Although we would like to think this doesn’t happen in CrossFit we all know that occasionally certain individuals do shave reps to have a better score on the board. The question is, who is responsible (if anyone) for calling them out and how should it be done. Post Comments below.

BADger Uncategorized Cheating CrossFit reps, Cheating in CrossFit

In response to last week’s post about Konstantinovs’ deadlift.  Here’s Andy Bolton pulling 1008 lbs. He makes it look too easy.

–Nick

Nicholas Hahn Uncategorized