Constantly Varied or Random?

At CVSC we pride ourselves in thoughtful, progressive programming that is meant to enable athletes to have meaningful exercise and measurable progress. This means that sometimes you'll see a workout you've done recently pop up again or movements vary in weight or intensity over a course of time. These are tell-tell signs of programming. As in, planning daily workouts around a long-term goal. Not just picking what sounds fun or brutal for the occasion. As an athlete that means that if you follow the programming & show up consistently, you can expect to see the progress intended. Keeping a log book and following the workouts are great ways to see progress. Here's an excerpt from a Breaking Muscle on the danger of poorly programmed gyms and cherry-picking athletes.  Cherry-Picking and Birthday WODs: How to Stop the Madness

"Any time you cherry-pick your workouts, you are engaging in random, rather than constantly varied training. When you pull up tomorrow’s WOD on the gym website, see “5K run,” and opt to go down to a competing box to get a better ass-kicker, you are subverting your own progress. Presumably, the run is programmed by your coach for a reason, and if you opt out because you can’t stand running and would rather do something fun, your training has just become less effective.

When programmed correctly, you should be able to pull back to a bird’s-eye view and see a logical progression of like-kind and quality training sessions. Today may be a 5km run, but over the course of twelve weeks, you may notice that every Tuesday, there is some work toward better endurance.

What you see is a slow, but intentional upward progression. This should be supplemented by short aerobic power pieces, lactic endurance pieces, and other training during your week. But imagine if you look at the workout every Tuesday and think ,“Meh! Running again!” and just head on down to a competitors gym for “Double Grace.” Two things are happening:

1. You are taking one piece of your own box’s puzzle and discarding it.
2. You are taking a piece from a completely different puzzle and trying to jam it into your own."

 Read the Full Article HERE

You Will Get Bulky | Eat to Perform

  "I think it’s time we stop dancing around the topic of getting “bulky” as a woman who lifts.

Saying “lifting weights won’t make a woman bulky” is downplaying the hard work and dedication it takes to be strong. It’s downplaying all those who aspire to build “bulk” (muscle) and strive for their own personal perception of being fit.

In the simplest terms, muscle is what people are referring to when they talk about bulk.  Want to be “toned?”  You want lean arms?  That’s “bulk.” You want flat abs?  That’s technically “bulk” too.  There is nothing wrong with putting on muscle, whether you’re a woman or a man.

Frankly, looking how you want to look comes down to work—very hard work. For a long time.  The kind of work you are proud of. The kind of work you are not sorry or insecure about. The kind of work that surrounds you with people of character – people of substance and determination. In that sense, lifting weights acts as a filter for me.  Lifting allows me to surround myself with supportive people who acknowledge and appreciate hard work—like-minded people who are strong physically and mentally too.

I assume some of these friends of mine think I am attractive, or look good. Although that’s nice, I do not do it for them, or for that reason; I do it for me, because I love to move heavy ass weight, and I think it’s time for people to realize that there’s more to being fit than looking good."

Read the complete article here: You Will Get Bulky

Sleep Like An All Star (and make the most of your training)

Check out his informative infographic on from  Fatigue Science on the importance of sleep to athletic recovery and performance. Many top athletes in their field sleep 9 hours and more and attribute that directly to their ability to train hard and be successful.

While you may not be an Olympic hopeful or have the luxury of training as a full-time job, making adequate sleep a priority will reflect positively throughout your work and training.  Sleep deprivation can mean "increased levels of cortisol, decreased activity of human growth hormone, and decreased glycogen synthesis." [via Washington State University] This means slower recovery, slowed reaction time & lowered performance. 

Bottomline: There is no substitute for a good nights rest & adequate sleep will help you perform optimally and recover faster. But if you find yourself running a little low, even a 15 minute power nap can drastically increase your productivity and alterness.

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The Power Athlete Diet™

[typography font="Cantarell" size="18" size_format="px"]"You can't out-train a shitty diet."[/typography]

You read it on the whiteboard every day but what does that mean to you? There is a vast amount of nutritional resources in print or the web (including those at the footer of our home page ) that I encourage you to read up on. Nobody is the same & finding what works best for you takes some time and patience. BUT if you want the CliffsNotes version, check out what John Welbourn has to say on the matter on his blog, "Just Tell Me What to Eat".

"Talk To Me Johnnie – After reading the information on fats and ketogenic diets, I am confused. Can you just tell me what to eat?

It seems that I needed some counseling, so I did what any intelligent individual would do, I contacted Chuck Norris for his views on nutrition and the Power Athlete Diet ™. I asked for an accurate prescription for what I should be eating. Chuck responded and delivered the information via a mechanical winged messenger given as a gift by the Gods of Olympus."

Of course, Chuck always delivers and the post covers what you can eat, what you should limit and outright avoid. Maybe a good starting point for you?

CF Open 13.4 Prep and Strategy

As you prepare for Open WOD 13.4 take some time to watch this video from Mobilitywod.com featuring Diane Fu, Carl Paoli, Kelly Starrett & Brian MacKenzie. As always they give some practical advice on mobilizing beforehand and efficiency during. Good luck with 13.4!