WOD

WOD

3 12 minute workouts. AMRAP.

10 Bench Press
15 Ring Dips
Row 250 meters

20 Ring Push Ups
15 Floor Wipers
10 Front Squats

20 Swiss Ball Push Ups
15 GHD Sit Ups
100 Airdyne
40 yard Prowler Sled push

The Truth About Cholesterol

In the1960s, George Mann, a prominent researcher from Vanderbilt University, found that the full fat milk-drinking, red meat-eating Massai tribesmen had some of the lowest blood cholesterol levels ever measured. Here’s what Mann has to say about all of this saturated fat-phobic tomfoolery: “The diet-heart hypothesis has been repeatedly shown to be wrong, and yet, for complicated reasons of price, profit, and prejudice, the hypothesis continues to be exploited by scientists, fund-raising enterprises, food companies, and even government agencies. The public is being deceived by the greatest scam of the century.”

Eating fats and animals is what got us here. Sometimes we forget that—for many of us—our ancestors lived in freezing conditions many months out of the year. With no fruits and veggies springing forth from the frozen earth, animals were where it was at! This is how life was for literally millions of years before us. Saturated fat consumption has nothing to do with heart disease. And the link between blood cholesterol and CHD is highly debatable with 50% of all heart attack victims having “normal” cholesterol scores (below 200).

Cholesterol: Did You Know? 

• Every cell in your body requires cholesterol for membrane fluidity and proper function. 

• Cholesterol makes up one-quarter of your brain and is critical for optimal mental function 

 and memory. 

• Cholesterol is the precursor to bile acids, which help with the digestion of fat-soluble vitamins. 

• Cholesterol is the precursor to your steroid hormones, including testosterone and estrogen. 

• The ratio of LDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol is a much better marker for heart disease than  

 total cholesterol. 

• There are several different types of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. Large, buoyant LDL does not   

 damage the arteries. Small, dense LDL does. Excess refined carbohydrates increase the latter. 

• Low HDL (“good”) cholesterol is a clear sign of excess refined carbohydrates in the diet.


source: "Dark Side of Fat Loss" by Sean Croxton

Things You Don't Know About Your Protein Powder

Nasty Protein Powders

There’s nothing that bugs me more than highly adulterated protein powders advertised as healthy meal replacements. Ugh! Most of these powders and RTD (ready-to- drink) shakes have ingredient lists that will have your tongue doing gymnastics if you have ever been brave enough to take a crack at reading them. I’ve seen some with over 50 ingredients, including various toxic artificial sweeteners, soy protein isolate (see below), and hidden forms of MSG. Ingredients are listed in order of quantity. I often see calcium caseinate and sodium caseinate listed as the first or second ingredient. Both contain MSG! Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is a common flavor enhancer used in processed foods. Like aspartame, it is an excitotoxin, which overstimulates brain cells until they burn out and die. This additive, which goes by many different names, has been shown to generate free radical production all over the body, leading to chronic degenerative diseases. Don’t get me wrong. Not all protein powders are necessarily bad. I use them myself after workouts and as a meal replacement when I’m pressed for time. The shorter the ingredients list the better. The ones I use have no more than five ingredients. My favorite is Vital Whey by Well Wisdom as it comes from grass-fed cows. 

Soy

Despite all of the marketing hype, soy is by no means a health food. In its unfermented form— the type that we eat—soy is high in phytates and trypsin inhibitors. As you learned in the section on grains, phytates bind tightly to important minerals, keeping you from assimilating them. Trypsin inhibitors impede your ability to break down and digest protein, which kind of defeats the purpose of attempting to meet your protein needs through soy. Soy is also considered goitrogenic, meaning that it slows down thyroid function. Of course, a poor functioning thyroid will reduce your metabolism. Ninety-percent of the soy available in the United States is genetically modified. Avoid all soy products with the exception of fermented items like organic miso, tempeh, natto, and high-quality wheat-free tamari sauces. Fermentation eliminates the antinutrients.

source: "Dark Side of Fat Loss" by Sean Croxton

The Lies About Fat

All the news reports you've ever heard in the hazards of saturated fat and cholesterol have been based on studies that were performed by using hydrogenated vegetable oil (trans fat) full of unnatural molecules that aren't found in butter, steak or any natural food. With so much junk science saturating the media, professionals who give nutritional advice need to go beyond the sound bites to find out the truth for themselves.

Over the past century, as butter consumption dropped to less than one quarter of what it was, vegetble oil went up five-fold.  In 1900, heart diseases was rare.  By 1950, heart problems were killing more men that any other disease.  Now heart disease is the number one cause of death in both men and women.

Natural fat consumption: down.  Processed fat consumption: up.  Heart disease up- way up.  Forget for a moment what the "experts" are saying, and ask yourself what these trends suggest to your inner statistician.

Cutting pro-inflammatory foods: vegetable oil (a.k.a. unnatural fats) and sugar from your diet will not only protect your heart, it will help protect you from all chronic diseases.

Food manufacturers use vegetable oils for the same reasons other manufacturers use plastic: It is easy to manipulate chemically, the public can be taught to ignore the consequences of its use and, best of all, it's cheap.

Just eat real food!

source: "Deep Nutrition"  by Catherine Shanahan MD

Fruit Sugar

A big source of sugar that surprises many people is sweet, sugary fruit.  We've heard time and time again we should "eat fruits and vegetables," as though the two are equivalent.  But they're not.  Vegetables contain a higher nutrient-to-energy ratio than fruit.  Even fruits with decent nutrient content-like wild blueberries- are full of sugar. For most people, eating on apple-sized portion of fruit per day is plenty.

Though fruits do contain fiber, minerals, and tannins and other flavinoids, which can function as antioxidants, sweet fruit is mostly sugar. What about honey? Same idea-mostly sugar and very little of anything else.  Vitamin C happens to be a type of sugar we can't make and need to eat, and one orange a day gives us most of what we need.  But then again, so does a green pepper but without all the unneeded, damaging sugar.

To make matter worse for fruit lovers, fructose kicks your liver into fat-storage mode.

source:  Deep Nutrition by Catherine Shanahan, MD

Congrats Helen!!!!

Accomplishment of the week: When Helen started with us she struggled rowing 500 meters.  Yesterday she completed a 10,000 meter row in 53:52.  Fit Crew congratulates you Helen!

WOD

4 10 minute circuits. How many rounds can you get?

1)Row 20 Calories
20 TRX Push Up Knees to Elbow
20 Reverse Back Extension

2)20 Swiss Ball Push Ups
20 Rope Slams
40 Bicycle Jumps

3)10 Ring Push Ups
10 Toe to Bar
10 Double Unders/100 Singles

4)100 Airdyne Push/Pull
Run 2 Suicides
10 Burpees