How did you like the new Saturday Schedule?

We're continuing to discuss the possibility of "fast track" WOD's. A logical place to start might be Mon thru Thurs from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. If we go with this idea, people who can't take or don't want to take the 6:30 - 7:30 or the 7:30 - 8:30 class would head to the "fast track" side of the gym, where the instructor would run them through the WOD on a "first come, first served" basis. The upside is increased flexibility for the membership. The downside is the elimination of two formal classes. Another possible time slot for this approach might be lunch time, when we could use a similar approach from Noon to 2:00 PM.

Post thoughts to comments.

power clean
95,135,185,205,215x3,235

cash out–pull up-10,8,6,4,2,4,6,4
c2-2500m-10:00

3:40 rx
some real ugly thrusters

Made up "Fran" this morning.

5:30 Rx'd

Believe it or not, that is a, wait for it... 4 second PR.
Last time I did this was almost a year ago! (24 Feb 09 5:34)

Thanks to Jacinto and the Posse for cheering me on.

One of my goals this year is a sub 5 min Fran... at this rate I'm going to have to do it 8 more times!

Paleo Challenge:

Have been strictly Paleo since the Challenge start. My wife has come on board and with her creative and culinary talents (her mom used to teach cooking and had a cooking show - she's got some skillz) and we've been putting together some cool stuff and tweaking some of the recipes from the Paleo books...

Are people interested in seeing recipes posted here? We'll gladly share.

Sleep: 11
Pull-ups: 306+35=341
WOD: 7
50 burpees
25 thrusters, 45#
50 box jumps, 20"
25 deadlifts, 95#
50 double-unders
25 pull-ups, green band
50 burpees
26:43 - Thanks Matt and Jacinto for pushing me on the last 50 burpees. That was rough.

Paleo: Day 11 - Still strict and still getting weird looks from the regulars at the bar over the weekend.
Kirk, I would love to see some new paleo-recipes.

Hari, thanks again for adding the 9am Saturday class! It definitely fits into my schedule. Though I like the idea of a 'fast track' option, I feel that I work harder if I'm doing a WOD with a group, instead of jumping in on my own. Would the 'fast track' be on a schedule as well? Or do people just come in when they can between 6-8p?

WOD: Push Jerk | 72lbs

Pull-ups: 305 + 20 = 325

Paleo: sticking with it...but eating the same things over and over again...so yes, Kirk, please post your recipes! i will say that my favorite new recipe is this one: http://cavemanfood.blogspot.com/2009/01/paleo-spaghetti.html (i used fresh chopped tomatoes instead of canned, and i found grass-fed ground beef at costco, just fyi).

Stephanie, which Costco? I went to the one on 116th street yesterday and did not see any? Is it in the frozen or fresh section? I usually buy grass-fed Australian ground beef at Citarella (and eat it raw, perfect for Tartare and it literally take 5 min to prepare) and it's $10 a pound. Is the Costco one cheaper? Thanks.

Thanks. 8^)

Trader Joe's has grass fed ground beef for $5.99/lb if you're willing to deal with the line there.

Kirk,
I would welcome the recipes.
Thanks

Mike,

The TJ's stuff is all branded "vegetarian fed," never seen anything indicating grass fed.

Where'd you find that?

Gabe,
Its usually by the bottom right of the beef section by the other ground beef. On the package it says 100% grass fed.
Thats the only grass-fed stuff I've found there, but it is very good.

Re: Fast Track
Seems like this would depend on the WOD, since some are not-so-fast. Also, depending how they were staggered, the fasttrack classes may put addtioanl srtain on already limited resources/equipment

The Saturday 9am class addition was excellent. The only problem was that there were a lot of new comers coming in for the 10am beginners class which was a big distraction and took Josh away from teaching our class so he could tell them which form to fill out, what was going on, etc.

Perhaps another training could come in at 9:30 to handle the people arriving for the 10am beginners class?

Kirk please post your recipes if possible, and you were right, a raw Apple has even more sugar than your apple Lara bar!

I like the fast track idea, especially on the lifting days. Kim has a point though. Maybe 2 hours straight might be a little much?

9am Saturday was great, agree that the arriving beginner class caused some confusion.

Hari had mentioned some changes to the morning weekday classes - either a 6am or 6:30am a few days a week. There are a handful of folks (myself included) who would like to be at work by 8am.

We haven't forgotten about the request for 6:00 AM classes. (I was planning on making this tomorrow's question.)

In the past, 6:00 AM WOD classes have not been well attended. However, things change. We've had a lot of 6:00 AM Elements graduates since we eliminated the 6:00 AM WODs, so obviously some people are up for an earlier schedule.

We're currently adjusting the AM schedule. The next 6:00 AM Elements starting on January 25 will be Mon-Thurs, instead of Tues-Thurs. This will allow us to try a 6:00 AM Tuesday WOD, probably starting on January 26. If attendance is solid, we will consider making future Elements Mon-Wed and creating a second 6:00 AM WOD on Thursday.

By the way, I'm pretty sure Manhattan is now running the most WOD classes (51 per week) of any CrossFit affiliate, which is rather remarkable when you consider the financial and logistical constraints of opperating here. If anyone is aware of an affiliate with a more extensive offering of WOD classes, I'd appreciate your pointing that out.

For anyone whos read either of Cordains books, what does he say your daily fruit consumption should be if fat loss is a goal?

I'm in a heated debate with someone at work...

LOVED the Saturday schedule. Please, please, please keep it that way.

For me, flexibility is always a plus. I think that as long as the fast track classes replace the WOD classes, equipment shouldn't be that much of an issue. Even for rowing/GHD stuff, we only ever have one machine per class anyway. I'd love the opportunity to get in when I can without feeling like I'm always running early or late.

And, yes, please post recipes Kirk. The upside of Paleo for me right now is finding new things to wrap in bacon. Scallops last night, dates the day before. Other than that, my eating is pretty routine. However, I did make the one ingredient ice cream last night and I highly recommend it. I have a bunch of frozen bananas in my freezer, since I always freeze them if I don't get them eat them before they get overripe (used to be with banana bread in mind), and I found that running these under warm water, slicing the peel off, and putting them into the blender worked just fine.

One thing I've realized through doing this is how often I used to shove something in my mouth even when I'm not hungry. Like social gatherings, if the food is there, I'd eat it, even if it stuff I never buy myself. However, on Saturday night I just stared at the individual wrapped chocolates, tortilla chips, and honey wheat pretzels with a mixture of longing and disgust.

Thanks Hari, and the rest of the team, for always trying to accommodate the myriad requests of your many members.

Slate has an article about how serving sizes are determined in ingredient lists:
http://www.slate.com/id/2240844/

As for my paleo progress (no, I do not ever resist the urge to alliterate), that's been going pretty well. While I'm still often finding that I have to scrounge up a lot of calories from somewhere at the end of the day (this should subside as my meal planning gets better and better), I haven't slipped on anything except the occasional hidden soy in a sauce--mostly I'm guessing at that. I chose not to resist some BBQ pork, and its saltiness makes it suspect. Anyhow, I'm falling behind on calories if my tracking is correct, but I haven't lost weight yet so not a problem. If my weight drops, I'm adding back in brown rice and sweet potatoes.

Kirk - I also plead for recipes - if for no other reason than those who follow my Tumblr blog are probably pretty bored of my home-prepped but creatively limited meals.

It's been going well for me, and I have dropped some weight (which is my goal), but over the weekend I had some issues with fatigue (both physical and enthusiasm-wise) which I hear are normal when starting this way of eating. It passed, I stayed paleo, and I feel fine today. Is anyone else having this problem? When does it pass for good?

Games Prep WOD for people competing:
3 rounds of:
12 SDHP (heavy DB)
90 sec row at 2k pace

rest 2 minutes

3 rounds of:
12 thrusters (heavy DB)
60 sec double unders

rest 2 minutes

3 rounds of:
10 chest to bar pullups unbroken
20 box jumps unbroken

total time: 24:58, 1005m total row, 85 total du
used 35# for SDHP
used 25# for thrusters
had to break the second and third sets of C2B
had to break some of the box jumps

Scott R - can't recall a specific amount noted in the book off the top of my head, but less is generally better for leaning out.
I think its laid out pretty well in this MDA post, just fit your fruit intake into into the total carbs depending on what your goals are.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-primal-carbohydrate-continuum/

Jess L - It usually takes about 2 weeks or so for you body to adapt. By the end of the week you will likely start feeling better.
If not, make sure you are getting enough calories.

Scott R. -- to answer you question regarding fat loss and fruit consumption.

Refer to Crossfit world class fitness in 100 words: “Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar."

To break this down, meat (which I interpret to mean all animal and seafood protein) is first. You must make sure your protein intake is very high. Vegetables are second. Make sure the bulk or vast majority of carbohydrate intake comes from vegetables. Nuts and seeds are third. You should be eating non-processed raw nuts and needs (read: no oil or sugar), remembering that peanuts are not a seed.

These three things should be the bulk of what you eat.

Next on the list is fruit. Fruit is very good, but the high natural sugar content means it should not be part of your dietary foundation, but are an acceptable alternative or addition to vegetables in moderation. Vegetables must make up the majority of your carbs, but fruit in moderation is OK.

To answer the fat loss question: any extra sugar ingested is stored as body fat. Fruit is higher in sugar than vegetables. Fruit should be used sparingly if the goal is fat loss, but need not eliminated.

PC 1/10/10:
- Cup of turkey chili, orange, cashews
- 3 egg omelette with brocolli and turkey, apple
- Apple, almonds
- Paleo Indian chicken curry (http://eatmovethrive.blogspot.com/2009/03/indian-cooking-for-paleo-eater.html), cauliflower, apple, orange

At some point, you need to find a balance between leaning out and living through the WOD's (i.e., not gassing). My assumption here is that your ultimate objective is increased fitness, and that diet is a means to an ends, rather than an ends in itself.

If you don't get enough carbs, you are going to have very little energy during your MetCons. Don't develop a paleo-based eating disorder. (Frankly, this is one of the benefits of the Zone; it avoids the good-food / bad-food obsession.)

Don't make the mistake of "Rewarding 'A' while hoping for 'B'" In CrossFit, this phenomena occurs most frequently with people who reward strength or diet while hoping for fitness.

I think everyone has the right concept on the fruit thing. Clearly fruit has more sugar than veggies (and tastes it!), however, we should remember in this discussion that not all fruit is created equal. Sugar levels vary:

Fruits Lowest in Sugar:
Small Amounts of Lemon or Lime, Rhubarb, Raspberries, Blackberries. Cranberries

Fruits Low to Medium in Sugar:
Strawberries, Casaba Melon, Papaya, Watermelon, Peaches, Nectarines, Blueberries, Cantaloupes, Honeydew Melons, Apples, Guavas, Apricots, Grapefruit

Fruits Fairly High in Sugar:
Plums, Oranges, Kiwifruit, Pears, Pineapple

Fruits Very High in Sugar:
Tangerines, Cherries, Grapes, Pomegranates, Mangos, Figs, Bananas
Dried Fruit, such as: Dates, Raisins, Dried Apricots, Prunes

So, the question isn't just how much, but which ones?
Cordain is pretty clear on minimizing dried fruit, but less clear on fruit choices...

I'll post up some of the food we've been cooking over the next couple days.

A cut and paste from the "Ask Leah" link above:

No one at the box is bothered by your scaling! No one cares that you ran less or completed fewer rounds than other people. People do care that you showed up, tried your best, and want to get better.

Totally agree with keeping properly fueled for metcons. Your performance will definitely fall off in longer ones without enough carbs.

One other thing to keep in mind is that fructose tends to better replenish liver glycogen than muscle glycogen so fruits that have a lower fructose to total sugar ratio can be preferential in that regard... especially if you are doing multiple WODs in a shorter period of time or longer WODs over a few days. The paleo diet site has a table on that (link below).

This may be more detail than a lot of people care to think about, but interesting to play around with and see how you feel with different things.

On a side note, agave nectar is almost pure fructose, and needs to be highly processed to be made, so it isn't really paleo in that sense. Though those coconut milk ice creams that are sweetened with it are really good.

http://www.thepaleodiet.com/nutritional_tools/fruits_table.html

Sara...are we getting the option of doing the games prep wods tonight?

I am not at the Manhattan box tonight, so I can't officially say you can do the games prep WODs... you'll have to check with the trainers.

Rest Day Dinner: Friday, Punch (again... people seemed to enjoy it last time), Broadway between 20th and 21st St, 8pm. Who's in?

Jacinto, I'm coming in Wednesday morning at 0800! Looking forward to an ass whupping.

50 burpees
25 thrusters, 95#
50 box jumps, 24"
25 deadlifts, 185#
50 double-unders
25 pull-ups
50 burpees

22:49

Still need to improve on the double unders and the thrusters felt heavy this morning.

Black box wod...12 rounds Rx'd

made up push jerks.

135 145 155 165 175 175 175pr

Did power cleans and push jerks to make up for 2 days.

215
225
235, missed push jerk
235
240
245, missed clean
245, missed clean
245 got it

Black Box Wod- 8 rounds plus 3 pullups-regular (not clapping)

Same WOD as Sara, did this with Brandon, I don't think we kept
score correctly...
-25# KBs for SDHP
-25# KBs for thrusters
-only 39 double unders :(
-8:23 for the pull ups/box jumps, first set c2b unbroken, then 6/4, and 5/3/2, box jumps were slow and second and third sets were broken up

Sleep: 9 hours (11)
WOD: Power Cleans: 145, 145, 145, 145, 145, 145, 145 (8)
Weaknesses: Double Unders (3)
Diet: Chicken, Bell Peppers, Almonds, Apple, Carrots (11)
1 Glasses of Wine (23)