That is an excellent link from Japanese TV! They are accurately describing the paleo diet and lifestyle, in the most polite terms. Or "stone age" as it is translated..

Another day at Primal Fitness, DC - the coaches, Quint and Skipper, not only have funny names, but they're also pretty good at coaching:
5 rounds:
Run (around the block, possibly 400m?)
20 double-unders
10 pull-ups (band)
17:30

Pull-up challenge: 986

I'm also happy to report that my booze tolerance has not been affected by the Paleo challenge. Whew.

High altitudes may be good for weight loss...

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/02/high-altitude-weight-loss/

Billy, you're fluent in Japanese? Bad ass!

Today I'm in Santa Cruz and will be stopping in at Crossfit West Santa Cruz, which I'm very excited about. Yesterday I was at CF Los Gatos (near San Jose), a great box that is seemingly 100% male, making our little gym seem much more gender balanced by comparison.

Two days ago I was visiting One World and Freddy C. was kind enough to give me a shout-out on their blog:

http://crossfitoneworld.typepad.com/crossfit_one_world/2010/02/visitor.html

See everybody next week!

Eat Free or Die Trying at Hill Country BBQ Challenge

http://gothamist.com/2010/02/03/eat_for_free_or_die_trying_at_hill.php

I'm pretty sure Gabe is signed up for that eating contest, isn't that his hobby?

More new equipment today:
more small bands for pullups including some red "tweeners",
new jump ropes: yellow=tall, green=average, blue=less tall ;-)
-Court

I'm in for the Hill Country challenge. Nearly conquered the Big Texan challenge once with zero preparation, so this seems easy

I agree Chris. I propose Hill Country as the location for the Rest Day Dinner a week from tomorrow. Regardless, let's go soon. They've set the bar a bit too low for this contest, so let's show them their mistake. The best lessons are learned the hard way.

In Re: Hill Country
Considering that one of the more recent times I went I ended up with an $85 tab (before tax and tip) without drinking alcohol I'd say that I should be able to eat $65 worth of food with room to spare.

I also believe this should be a mixed event, as my niece could eat two pounds of Hill Country. And she's two and a half.

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2010/02/taking_hill_country_up_on_its.html

for what it's worth, I totally think this is doable

Jai that's a funny article - 'forbidden to exercise.'
It would be interesting to see what sort of weight was lost though - fat or muscle or both.
High altitude climbers, such as those climbing Everest, lose whatever fat they have plus muscle - the body starts to consume itself.
I have lost up to 10lbs on high altitude mountain trips but they included a lot of strenuous activity, dealing with cold weather and often being too tired to cook (melt snow for water, then boil water - which takes longer the higher you are - then wait for the ramen/pasta/whatever to soften enough to be palatable). No wonder experienced mountaineers recommend eating sticks of butter!

Only if one could eat a paleo diet in NYC without going broke in a week.

Yeah, that altitude article is a bit disturbing... It neglects to mention a few things. For example, the massive headaches you get moving to such a high altitude, the difficulty sleeping during acclimatization and of course the fact that you are out of breath just going up stairs. When I was last in Bogota (8662 feet), my very fit buddy went out for a run and nearly killed himself. We don't recommend staff begin an exercise programme until they have acclimatized for at least a month... No wonder Crossfit Bogota was so crazy.

Of course, when I ran a course in Nepal last November in the "foothills" of the Himalayas at just over 9000 feet, one of my participants had a myocardial infarction - otherwise known as a heart attack - and had to be med-evaced to lower altitude.

So I'm not really buying the "what a great possible weight loss plan". I'm more with "what a massive waste of research money"...

Can we post the "express WOD" times somewhere on the site? It would be good for easy reference when planning out schedules, etc. Thanks!

Kirk, good points about the risks of not adjusting to altitude. AMS (acute mountain sickness) can lead to Pulmonary/cerebral edema. Scary stuff.
Running in Nepal must have been amazing though. :)

Did anyone see John Durant (the New York caveman dude) on the Colbert Report last night? He was talking about his diet and exercise habits...it was interesting to see the reaction from the "regular" public. People thought he was nuts.

Please let me know when people are going to go for that Hill Country thing.
I think I will do good in this. Icelandic people like to eat meat.

Read this and respond if you know about buying nuts.

I want to buy a large-ish quantity of walnuts and sesame seeds. In the low pounds range. Does anyone know a good place to do this? Is anyone else interested in participating in an order if it's something best done on-line?

John Durant link - http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/263270/february-03-2010/john-durant

haha hill country challenge sounds great...terrifying but probably delicious for the first 15 minutes

opt wod today:
7 rounds:
30 double unders
20 pull ups
10 jerks 135#
rest 2 mins between rounds

total time: 26:05

7 sets for total time:
30 double unders
20 chin ups
10 push jerk from rack - 135#/95#
rest 2 min

Splits were at:
3:50, 3:42, 3:49, 4:11, 4:11, 4:19, 4:25
Total time with rest was 40:25
This was awful

Ran into Gillian down in Quantico today and she taught me how to do a back lever. Got a few seconds of pretty solid hang time too.

The meat challenge is definitely on when I'm back in NY for the weekend on the 20th. I'm planning on breaking the 37 minute mark and asking for seconds. Big Gabe, where you at?

Luke S

Check out Nutsonline dot com

I order mac nuts, almonds, snickers, M&M's, kit kat from them. Really high quality stuff. I've bought 3-4lbs of nuts at a time, but not more. I'd look at the website and give them a call. They're in NJ so shipping is always really fast too.

5x5 bench press @ 225
then
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 of:
Front Squats 135lb
2 pood KB Swings
Knees to Elbows

10:12 rx'd

I think this Hill Country challenge is doable... we should get a huge crew there for a rest day dinner and all go for it.

Same as Sara and Mike M

subbed Russian kb swings 1.5 pood for push jerks bc my shoulder is messed up a little, should have done something a little harder

splits were 3:18, 3:40, 5:12, 3:25, 4:07, 3:22, 4:17 (time diff had to do with double unders, my two fastest rounds had 30 unbroken DUs)
total: 39:21

Also did the OPT Wod
7 rounds:
30 double unders
20 chinups
10 push jerks @ 135#
2 min rest between rounds
Total time 33:36

Thanks sara for timing me and laughing at me while I did 2 double unders at a time. Funny got a total time less than you!

Luke S.,

I have a Costco membership. I'll try to look at my receipts at some point, but I bought pecans and walnuts (2 and 3 pounds, respectively), and off the top of my head, I think it was under $10 for each. Can pick you up some bags next time I'm there.

Ditto for fish oil, for the people hoovering that. :)