Lazy Saturday

I'm proud to be raising two budding nerds. Wait -- I mean FILMMAKERS.

(By the way, this is the iPhone app the boys used to make their little stop-motion LEGO snuff film.)

The Nine-Year-Old Powerlifter

I'm sure I would've set a bunch of powerlifting records I was nine years old, too, but at the time, I was busy memorizing the lyrics to Yub Nub.

CrossFit Games - NorCal Regionals

The boys and I drove down to the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds this morning for the third and final day of the CrossFit Games NorCal Regionals.

We arrived as the women were finishing the snatch ladder / double-under event.

The teams went next, and just like last year, we watched Danny Nichols of TJ's Gym lift an insane amount of weight. This time, it was a 295-pound snatch(!).

The individual men were next.

In the end, it came down to Neal Maddox and Jason Khalipa, with Maddox finishing first (with a 275-pound snatch) and Khalipa second (at 265).

Inspired by what he saw...

...Big-O decided to whip up his own WOD, running up and down and around the bleachers until he was red as a beet and drenched with sweat.

Lil-O didn't bother.

But after roasting in the hot sun for a spell, both of the boys demanded an icy treat. After downing bowls of (decidedly non-Paleo) ice cream in the shade...

We got back to the action.

The final team competition was insane:

• 20 muscle-ups while partner holds 225 pounds
• 60 wall balls (20 lb. ball to 10') while partner holds chin over bar
• 100' partner carry with 100 lb. dumbbell
• 40 box jumps, alternating on 24" box
• 100' partner carry with 100 lb. dumbbell
• 2 muscle-ups
• 20 muscle-ups while partner holds 135 pounds
• 60 wall balls (14 lb. ball to 10') while partner holds chin over bar
• 100' partner carry with 70 lb. dumbbell
• 40 box jumps, alternating on 20" box
• 100' partner carry with 70 lb. dumbbell
• 2 muscle-ups

I was exhausted just watching the athletes compete.

Diablo CrossFit gutted out the victory in front of a sea of screaming supporters.

And with that, we had to depart. I wish I could've stayed to watch the individuals' final event, but the boys were turning into pumpkins, and I needed a nap. (Not that I actually got one, but still.)

As Seen on TV

Michelle and the boys were on the local news tonight, which prompted Owen to ask if he's now a considered a "movie star."

Uh, no. Not quite.

Michelle's interview with Dr. Kim Mulvihill was shot when we were down in Texas for the Paleo FX conference back in March. Then, last month, more footage was shot at our house (before it got flooded).

I'm super-proud of my better half and her blog -- but more than anything else, this video makes me wistful for a functioning kitchen and a home that isn't wrecked.

(By the way, this video's just the latest segment on the "caveman diet" that San Francisco's CBS affiliate has produced. Check out the other videos here, and stay tuned for two more segments this week about the Paleo lifestyle.)

WOD Toys

My kids are a little too big for these toys, but I'm sure there are plenty of tykes out there who'd get a kick out of having their own toddler-sized set of CrossFit gear.

Heck, I think I might get a set anyway. I bet I'd set a new Fran PR with that barbell.

[Source: WOD Toys]

The Churro Conversation

An exchange with my seven-year-old son this evening as we entered a Mexican restaurant:

"Dad, can I have a churro?"

"Come on, kiddo -- it's nothing but sugar and flour and vegetable oil."

"So?"

"It's not good for you."

"But it tastes good."

"Yes, but it'll make your stomach hurt and you'll go bonkers from the sugar tonight."

[Long pause]

"Well, I can live with that."

Epilogue: He didn't get the churro.

Just Drink Water

Remember, kids: Fruit drinks are eeeee-vil.

Check out the full infographic by clicking here.

[Source]

I Don't Remember Being This Awesome In Eighth Grade

She's 13 and holds 8 weightlifting records. Plus, she CrossFits. And eats Paleo.



In addition, she wears "BACON" socks by Gumball Poodle (which, incidentally, also made Nom Nom Paleo's socks).

In contrast, my eighth grade year was devoted to sticking baseball cards in protective plastic sheets and fighting the good fight against acne.

Anybody Can Do Anything

I love working out at CrossFit Palo Alto before the sun is up. I love getting stronger and faster. I love learning new skills. I love the competition, and watching elite athletes go beast mode at the Games. But the thing I love most about CrossFit are the people who do it, from my fellow 5 a.m. nutjobs to Maddy at Saratoga High School, who DOES. NOT. QUIT.


"Anybody can do anything" indeed.

No More Sugarcoating

The Georgia Children’s Health Alliance is running an ad campaign against childhood obesity called Strong4Life, which recently ignited a firestorm of controversy.



The print ads depict glum-looking overweight kids with captions like "He has his father's eyes, his laugh, and maybe even his diabetes," "Fat kids become fat adults," and "Fat prevention begins at home. And the buffet line."

And the videos in the ad campaign are equally stark and in-your-face, like this one:

Some folks have reacted with outrage, arguing that the ads will backfire because they "might actually make people feel worse" about being overweight. (This quote's from Marsha Davis, child obesity prevention researcher from the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health.)

As the L.A. Times pointed out, the Strong4Life Facebook page is filled with comments from horrified parents like this one:

"Horrible! As a 42 year old woman who struggled with anorexia as a teen and now a mother of a 6 year old girl who is taller and thicker than the average children her age and gets picked on by all ages including adults with inappropriate comments you have no idea obviously of the damage this will do with the ad. You will hurt more than you help. Self esteem is built with smiles and no pointing."

Others say that the ad campaign fails to offer any solutions -- other than to shame kids into losing weight.



But the Strong4Life campaign has responded with cold, hard statistics. Children are getting fatter -- and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one-third of American kids today are overweight or obese. Georgia ranks second in the U.S. for childhood obesity, with over 1 million overweight kids.

Strong4Life's position is that the fight against childhood obesity needs to start with awareness. As Linda Matzigkeit, senior vice president of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta told the Atlanta Journal Constitution, “We felt like we needed a very arresting, abrupt campaign that said: ‘Hey, Georgia! Wake up. This is a problem."

The organization’s research found that 50 percent of people surveyed didn’t recognize childhood obesity as a problem. What’s more, 75 percent of parents with overweight kids didn’t acknowledge their child as having a weight issue. 

I agree that an awareness campaign isn't enough -- pointing out a problem does no good without offering concrete solutions. But as a first step, perhaps a cold splash of water in the face is exactly what's needed here. After all, the whole "self esteem is built with smiles" thing clearly isn't working.

Then again, without parents injecting their kids with mega-doses of self-esteem, we'd be bereft of awesome reality shows that feature pint-sized beauty queens from Georgia:

The video above is kind of scary-awesome. (Emphasis on "scary.") My favorite line: "A dolla makes me holla, honey-boo-boo!"

What say you? Are these ads unduly harsh and cruel? Or just what the doctor ordered?

Thursday's Workout: Family WOD

On this warm Mexican morning, "Death by Burpees" sounded like a good idea.

Here's how it works: Start a timer, and with a continuously running clock, perform one burpee at the start of the first minute, two burpees at the start of the second, three burpees at the start of the third minute, and so on. You're done when you can't finish your required number of burpees in a minute's time.

Once again, the kids decided to work out with us. Big-O went full-on beast mode...

...as did Lil-O.

M got through 10 solid rounds of burpees before tapping out.

I managed to eke out 15 rounds before collapsing.

The last time I did "Death by Burpees," I failed to complete fourteen rounds, so I was pretty happy about today's PR.

So happy, in fact, that I decided to indulge in some heavy-duty taco consumption.

Mmm...tacos...

Monday's Workout: Cabo San Lucas

We're in Cabo San Lucas for the week, and we're planning on eating like rabid wolves this week, so to kick things off right, the entire family decided to work out on the balcony this morning (minus the three-year-old, who was wandering around somewhere, munching on a scrambled egg and playing with his LEGOs). 

 M got cranking on her double-unders... 

...and air squats... 

...while Big-O got his mobility on. 

I wish I could squat as comfortably as he can. 

I decided to dash off a quick home-brewed WOD: 

50 double-unders, and then 5 rounds for time of: 

5 handstand push-ups... 

 (Whoops -- nip slip.) 

10 pistols... 

...and 15 sit-ups. 

As you can see, Big-O decided to go rip off his shirt and join in the fun.

Result: 9:13. I cooled down with another 50 double-unders.

And then we proceeded to eat, swim, and do a whole lotta nothin'. (We did eat some worms, though. M'll do all the food-related play-by-play over at Nom Nom Paleo.)

Don't you love it when people bore you to death with their vacation photos?

Someone's Burning the Midnight Oil

How Big-O vacations:

How Lil-O vacations:

How M vacations:

A blogger's work is never done.

Monday's Workout: "Jackie"

I spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon mashed into an uncomfortable chair in an auditorium, watching my six-year-old (and dozens of others) perform at his martial arts studio's annual black belt show. My kid was onstage for two short segments, each lasting about a minute. Those couple of minutes were fantastic; I love watching my little man confidently punch and kick his way across a stage. But for the remaining 118 minutes of the kung fu recital, my mind was focused on the fact that the ache in my injured lower back was worsening. The longer I was scrunched in that chair (with my three-year-old squirming on my lap), the more miserable I got.

Interestingly, my back didn't feel better until 5 a.m. this morning, when I staggered into the gym, rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and started foam-rollering the hell out of my back muscles. Finally, I felt the tension ease, and after joining the rest of the class for a low-impact warm-up (no awkward cartwheels today!), my back started to feel a whole lot looser.

Strength Skill:

• Turkish Get-Ups (1-2-3-1-2-3)

No point in (further) destroying myself today. I stuck with a 1 pood kettlebell for my TGUs. They felt pretty solid, and even with a few minutes of rest between sets, I finished relatively quickly.

Metcon:

"Jackie" - For time:

• Row 1,000 meters
• 50 barbell thrusters (45lbs / 35lbs)
• 30 pull-ups

I've done Jackie twice before, but the last time was over a year ago, and frankly, I have no recollection of these previous attempts. Tim asked me my PR on Jackie, and I shrugged.

This didn't look too bad, I thought as I scrutinized the whiteboard. The rowing would be miserable, but if I paced myself, I'd be fine. Doing thrusters with an empty bar seemed easy enough. And pull-ups are fun! If I pulled a leisurely 4-minute 1K row, I figured I'd need just another 4 minutes -- tops! -- to get through the light thrusters and pull-ups.

I was wrong. As usual. The only one of us at 5 a.m. who finished in less than 8 minutes was the Terminator (of course).

If I'd consulted my blog archives (see? they come in handy!), I would have seen that in July of last year, I finished Jackie in 10:03, and in September, I finished in 9:28. And perhaps I would have remembered how my legs turned to jelly right after stumbling off the erg, and how even 45-pound thrusters feel horrible when my thighs are on fire. Or, for that matter, how the thrusters were more than enough to fry my arms and make 30 unbroken pull-ups nothing more than a pipe dream.

On the plus side:

• I managed a new PR (I finished in 9:07 as RXed), and
• During the workout -- and for about two hours afterwards -- my back felt awesome. I didn't even need to spray Old School Horse Rub on it.

Sadly, once I came home and got the kids dressed, fed, and off to school, my back turned back into a pumpkin and started aching again.

Childhood Obesity: The Infographic

Click the image above to view the full infographic.

Getting a Head Start

My kids prefer watching Ninja Warrior on G4 to the CrossFit Games on ESPN2. In the same way that I sit slackjawed in front of the boob tube watching Elisabeth Akinwale destroy the Killer Kage workout, my boys can't take their eyes off Japanese shoe salesmen as they traverse insanely difficult obstacle courses with the greatest of ease.

And I've got to admit it: Some of the Ninja Warrior challenges certainly make softball tossing and L-Sits look tame by comparison. Case in point:



To get a head start on the competition, we're already grooming our three-year-old to become a ninja.

And if the ninja gig doesn't pan out, he can always pursue a career as a chef at Benihana.

Fight Gone Bad 6

Yesterday, CrossFit communities across the globe participated in the sixth annual Fight Gone Bad fundraiser.

Our affiliate, CrossFit Palo Alto, did its part by hosting a blowout event, complete with prizes, food and even a mini-version of FGB for the kids. Eight heats of athletes -- from pre-schoolers to grandparents -- took part in the competition to benefit The Special Operations Warrior Foundation and the CrossFit Foundation.

The event -- expertly organized by Trish -- hummed along like a well-oiled machine, with assigned heats and starting stations.

M was in the second heat of the morning. Fueled with coffee and sporting her 4505 Meats tee, she tore through all seventeen minutes of the workout and managed to keep smiling through it all. (Except when she was grimacing.)

I wasn't slated to go until the second-to-final heat of the day, and watching everyone bust their butts getting through all the wallballs, sumo deadlift high pulls, box jumps, push-presses and rowing put me on edge.

Right before my heat was called, I applied more tape to my ankle (which, frankly, was feeling more decent than it had in the past couple of weeks), and got situated between Cesar and Vinny at the wallball station.

In the first round, despite babying my left ankle and going painfully, frustratingly slow on my box jumps, I managed to hit two of my targets: 30 wallballs and over 100 total points. (I busted out exactly 30 wallball shots in the first minute, and at the end of the first five minutes, had acquired 101 points.)



And then, I hit a wall. In the second round, I cranked out only 16 wallball shots -- half of my total from the first round. Everything else was just as bad. My legs turned to jelly, and even with my wife and kids cheering me on from the sidelines, I felt like there wasn't enough air in the room to breathe.



Result: 229 points as RXed -- the same as my previous FGB score in January.



Not terrible, but not stellar, either. I wish I could chalk it all up to wonkiness from my ankle sprain, but honestly, I just bit it in the second and third rounds. I was probably a little more careful with my ankle than I would have otherwise been, but it didn't hurt during the workout. Or maybe it did, but the rest of my body was in too much pain for me to notice my foot.

Still, this was hands-down the most raucously enjoyable event I've attended at CrossFit Palo Alto. Families and friends and even folks from other gyms were on hand to cheer and compete, and to share an excellent potluck lunch afterwards.

And did I mention the kids' mini-FGB? Because it was awesome.

A few more photos from Fight Gone Bad, after the jump...