Urban Gets Diesel

Looking for Urban Gets Diesel?

2010-01-01T05:00:00.001-05:00

Effective January 1, 2010... find all my good stuff over at www.whole9life.com. (Subscribe to W9 posts here... and thanks for your continued reading.)

The future of Urban Gets Diesel

2009-12-29T08:55:00.006-05:00

Based on a good conversation we had with the members of Potomac CrossFit during our nutritional seminar earlier this month, we decided to clarify our thoughts on peanuts, and peanut butter. You can read all about why we don't eat peanuts (and why PB is "out" for our Whole30 program) on the Whole9 site.

On that note... I've been thinking long and hard about how best to provide good information, share my own stories and answer reader questions in the coming year. I used to do everything through this blog, until we affiliated. Then, I split my time between the blog and the 603 site, posting articles in both places. Now, we've got the blog, our new CrossFit site and, most recently, our nutritional consulting site (Whole9Life.com).

Having to split my time between three web sites has proven difficult. In addition, Dallas has been writing more for the Whole9, and he and I have been collaborating on a ton of articles (like the recent "Sexy Met-Con" piece). And I've been stuck having to choose the best site to feature the piece while still trying to keep the others current. So what I've decided, sadly but definitively, is this...

It's time to retire the blog. Or, more accurately, it's time to transition everything I would be writing for UGD over to the Whole9 site. The stories, the articles, the training videos and workouts - the appropriate and inappropriate, the professional and the personal - all of it will move with me. I want readers to have ONE resource to find all of our thoughts on training, nutrition, health and fitness. I'd like you to have some continuity in format and location going forward. And frankly, I'd like a break from having to keep three web sites updated on a weekly basis. So we're consolidating efforts and building a bigger, badder, more complete site to house ALL of our good stuff.

On a few technical notes, the blog isn't actually going away. I'll leave everything here and up, so all the old back-links work. I've also imported all the posts to the W9 site, and will continue to monitor posts and comments here in case someone drops a note.

Finally, I assure you, I am not selling out. Sure, the W9 site looks pretty slick. We wanted something that was clean and professional, easy to navigate and nice to look at. But that doesn't mean all of our posts are going PC. The tone of my writing isn't going to change. The content isn't going to change, either... the next time I fall off my box jump, hit a deadlift PR or break a barbell cleaning, you'll hear about it. You can still ask questions, post criticisms, request training, nutrition or rehab advice. You can still share your stories, offer each other support and (I hope) continue to use us as one of your most trusted resources. And most importantly, we promise to continue speaking our mind about everything from chipper met-cons to the kipping pull-up, the Zone diet to our Healthy/F-Off scale, the CrossFit Games to 5x5 strength protocols.

I'll miss posting here - this blog has changed in so many ways in the last year, and I've loved participating in the community we've built. But, I assure you, none of that is changing. All I'm doing from a logistics standpoint is moving next door, and I'm really hoping all my readers here will follow. So please, check out the Whole9 site, and get familiar with our philosophies and methodologies. Update your links from UGD to the W9. Take a minute right now and subscribe to the 9 Blog. In exchange, we promise to update the site with new posts a few times a week, and continue to incorporate your suggestions, recommendations and requests.

So as of the new year, Urban is getting diesel over at the Whole9. And our first official article of 2010 is all kinds of appropriate after the debauchery of the Holiday season, so stay tuned for "9 things to do when you're all banged up." Hope to see you over at the W9, and Happy New Year, everyone.

Please post thoughts to comments... for the last time here.

New article up on the Whole9 site

2009-12-23T08:00:00.002-05:00

Visit www.whole9life.com for our most recent blog post, "Beware the Lure of the Sexy Met-Con".

Our official response to the Robb Wolf situation

2009-12-18T09:58:00.008-05:00

It's no secret that Dallas and I are Robb Wolf students and followers, and I've been asked many times to personally comment on the Robb Wolf de-affiliation. There's no reason to add fuel to the fire over here, which is why I've voiced my personal opinions in private. I will say, however, that it's a shame for all of us that the CrossFit community has lost two of its most valuable, educated and accomplished coaches. It's also a shame that we, as a group, have spent so much time following the drama - time that could have been spent training, coaching, mentoring and learning.

However, Dallas and I felt that as a registered CrossFit Affiliate, we needed take a formal position on recent events. We decided that Dallas would act as our official CrossFit Whole9 spokesperson, and issued a statement in response to Robb's de-affiliation announcement.

______________________________________

Dallas Hartwig

Posted December 16, 2009 at 7:12 am | Permalink

Robb,

You and Nicki have been good to us, and we appreciate that. We have and will continue to be vocal supporters of your training methods, professional conduct, and (science-based!) nutritional practices. You’d be proud – I ate ~4000 calories of good, clean, Paleo food between 7PM and bedtime last night. Greg’s programming is making me HUNGRY.

Robb Wolf

Posted December 16, 2009 at 8:07 am | Permalink

Dallas!
How the hell did you do that!? Give us a break down on the damage.

Thanks for the support WTW.

Dallas Hartwig

Posted December 16, 2009 at 12:40 pm | Permalink

Robb,

Here’s the breakdown from last night’s madness:

Post-workout Meal 1 (around 7:30): 6 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 2 medium-large sweet potatoes.

Meal 2 (half an hour later): 10 oz local, organic, grass-fed sirloin steak (rare, of course!), 12 oz broccolini, 4 oz almonds, 1 pear.

Meal 2.5 (dessert from Meal 2, really): 1 can (14 oz) coconut milk, 3 oz walnuts, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup frozen raspberries.

Meal 3 (about 90 minutes after 2.5): the second 10 oz sirloin steak I grilled for Meal 2, 2 Jazz apples with about half a jar of Sunbutter, and about 1.5 cups of sweet potato mash.

Meal 4: 5 hard-boiled eggs, 6 oz fresh blackberries, a big handful of brazil nuts.

Meal 5: 8 oz smoked salmon, half a honeydew melon (a DELICIOUS combination, BTW), and some sauteed zucchini/onions with fresh basil and lime juice.

“Meal” 6: an unrevealed (but very large) amount of Purely Decadent Mint Chip coconut milk “ice cream”. This stuff is CRACK. Be warned. Melissa introduced me to their Chocolate Explosion flavour, and we’ve been spreading the Decadent Love ever since.

And… I woke up RAVENOUS this morning.

Be well, my friend.

Robb Wolf

Posted December 16, 2009 at 1:17 pm | Permalink

dude…you are a MACHINE!! All hail The Dallas!!

Renee

Posted December 16, 2009 at 7:41 pm | Permalink

@Dallas: Try Coconut Bliss’ “Mint Galactica” next time. I prefer theirs to Purely Decadent.

Dallas Hartwig

Posted December 17, 2009 at 6:15 am | Permalink

@Renee,
I’ll try the Coconut Bliss, if for no other reason than they make a dessert with the word “Galactica” in the name. That’s just over-the-top enough to get my attention. Though, if it’s any better than the Purely Decadent, I might be in trouble. Thanks for the recommendation.

Robb, have you noticed how I’ve ever-so-subtly distracted folks from the un-fun discussion of HQ politics by talking about frozen desserts?

Robb Wolf

Posted December 17, 2009 at 6:31 am | Permalink

Yea dude, and they made haste in your direction. I nominate you for the next cult leader. This one will be based around ice cream.

I’m in.

Jesse

Posted December 17, 2009 at 9:19 am | Permalink

Ice cream cult? Brilliant! I’ve even got the Catechism right here!

We begin our profession of faith by saying: “I believe” or “We believe”. Before expounding the Church’s faith, as confessed in the Cream, celebrated in the Ice and lived in observance of Ice Cream’s commandments and in prayer, we must first ask what “to believe” means. Faith is man’s response to Ice Cream, which reveals itself and gives itself to man, at the same time bringing man a superabundant light as he searches for the ultimate meaning of his life of creaminess.

(I could go on, but I wouldn’t want any roman catholics out there to hate me too much)

Dallas Hartwig

Posted December 17, 2009 at 10:17 am | Permalink

Robb, let me say in this public forum that my Coconut Cult will learn to quantify their frozen desserts in a very precise manner. Or else. You still in?

Robb Wolf

Posted December 17, 2009 at 1:24 pm | Permalink

dude, it’s ICE CREAM. So long as I can weigh and measure by the litre I’m in. No smaller increments however.

Dallas Hartwig

Posted December 17, 2009 at 9:12 am |

I hereby decree that members of my Coconut Cult (”CocoNutties” – thanks Melissa) will quantify their frozen dessert ONLY by the litre. (Robb, I like the way you think.) If you are unable to commit your Dessert Soul to this worthy cause, you will be excommunicated and will bear the title of Dessert Infidel forever more. Jesse, apparently you instilled some potent (read: dangerous) religious fervor in me. Ha.

______________________________________

And therein lies our official position on recent events. What have we learned from this unfortunate situation? Dallas eats A LOT. Robb likes ice cream. Anything with "Galactica" in the title is probably delicious. And I am good at coming up with clever names for made-up entities like Dallas' new Coconut Cult. I hope you agree that this has truly been time well spent.

Author's Note: I'd like to add that, while Dallas' coconut dessert choice isn't technically "Paleo"... we also don't care. Sure, it's processed and includes some emulsifiers... but as a dessert choice, and as a dairy-free, gluten-free substitute for "real" ice cream, Turtle Mountain's "Purely Decadent" line is a winner all around. I recommend the Mint Chip, which gives Breyer's a serious run for its money. The ingredients are below - Grok may not have eaten it, but WE sure as heck will.

INGREDIENTS: ORGANIC COCONUT MILK, ORGANIC AGAVE SYRUP, CHOCOLATE FLAKE (BEET SUGAR, COCONUT OIL, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, SOYA LECITHIN, VANILLA), CHICORY ROOT EXTRACT, CAROB BEAN GUM, GUAR GUM, MINT FLAVOR.

The Maureen Martone Rule

2009-12-17T05:00:00.005-05:00

A few times here on the blog, I’ve referenced “The Maureen Martone Rule.” (As in, “I haven’t dropped the f-bomb here since the inception of the Maureen Martone Rule”.) This story’s background proved to be one of the most important and defining moments in my life as a professional fitness coach, and one I’m happy to share here with you.

Some of you who have been reading the blog since the beginning (July 2008) may know a bit of the back-story. I had switched over to blog format from the CrossFit message boards, where all content was constantly monitored and censored. I wanted the blog mostly to track my own workouts, but I also liked to share funny stories and random musings. Trying to tell some of those stories on the message boards was frustrating, because the rules of posting limit both content and word usage. So I decided to move this party over to the free-for-all that is the internet… and I was determined to use the crap out of my freedom of expression.

I swore. A lot. My use of creative profanity was often excessive and gratuitous, but it didn’t seem to bother those of you who were, at the time, following along, and I was childishly excited to finally be able to speak my uncensored peace. I thought my colorful language added flair, and since I knew my in-person manner was professional and family-friendly, I figured my on-line alter-ego could afford to let loose a little. After all, we’re all grown-ups around here, right?

Fast forward to October 2008, when I met the Martone family (Jeff, Maureen, Kristina and Mike) at my first kettlebell certification. I spent a good deal of time with them that weekend, both socially and during the cert, and really enjoyed their company. Jeff and Maureen proved to be amazingly talented coaches, and when I asked them for some business advice during dinner, they were encouraging and supportive and not afraid to give it to me straight. I decided then and there to try to learn more from them in whatever form I could.

The very next weekend, I was working the gymnastics cert with Tucker at CrossFit Boston. Jeff and Mike Martone were also attending as participants, so we got to spend a lot more time together. Over dinner, I planted the seeds for an assistant coaching gig with Jeff, offering to come help him and Maureen at an upcoming local cert. I’m good at demonstrating, I love public speaking, and I’m professional and responsible – so I figured I had a good shot at scoring an assistant coaching spot.

And then Jeff mentioned that he’d been reading my blog.

I was flattered that he’d spent some time poking around on my site, and he was initially complimentary of the style, quality of writing and the community I was building. But then, without warning, he looked me straight in the eye and dropped the proverbial hammer. "You know what, Melissa? Gotta clean up the language if you want to come work a cert with me. It’s a family affair, y’know what I mean?"

I was shocked. I think I may have even blushed. I mean, sure, I swore on the blog, but I certainly didn't behave like that in person, especially not when working a certification. He could certainly see that from the weekend, as I worked the room helping Tucker coach, demonstrate and spot. I assured him my in-person coaching presentation was nothing but professional, but Jeff just shook his head. “I can see that, but if I just read your blog, I might have thought differently. I mean, my wife thinks you’re great, but I wouldn’t send Mo over there to read your stuff. She wouldn’t like that language at all.”

At that point, I was flat-out embarrassed. I liked Maureen an awful lot, and the thought of her reading my writing and being disappointed was an awful feeling… kind of like when you do something your Mom doesn’t approve of. And I was kicking myself, thinking that I may have lost my chance at participating in something amazing (assisting Jeff at a cert) because of the impressions I made via my blog. So I thanked Jeff for his candor, and went home to think long and hard about our conversation.

That conversation, and its implications for me as a coach, a mentor and a business professional within the fitness community, prompted a post called “A Public Apology to My Mom”. There was much discussion after that post, with people commenting things like, “It’s your blog, and if people are offended, too bad” to “I second the idea that you don’t have to swear to be edgy or funny.” I wondered at the time whether readership would drop, or whether I would have a hard time being as creative and entertaining without using profanity. But from that day forward, I was committed to reflecting a higher standard of professionalism in my writing.

It’s been over a year now. Readership continues to grow, affiliates continue to link… and when was the last time I dropped an f-bomb here? You’d have to dig way, way back, people, and I’m pretty sure I apologized for it up front. And now I’m proud to have a site that everyone – Maureen Martone included – can visit and reference.

The MMR is enforced as follows: If I write a questionable sentence or use a potentially offensive word, I say to myself, “Would I be comfortable with Maureen Martone reading this?” If the answer is no, I edit. So far, it’s worked beautifully – and although I haven’t spoken to Maureen in a few months, I have been working certs with Jeff. I asked him what he thought of the blog while coaching at North Shore CrossFit in August. His response? “I’ve been keeping tabs, Melissa. Good for you.” I’ve heard the same feedback from a few others, including Dallas’ Mum, who told him she’s glad I’ve cleaned up my act. You know what, Mrs. Hartwig? I am too.

Do you miss the colorful language around here? Did you even notice when it went away? Do you employ something similar to the MMR at your affiliate, or on your blog? Post thoughts to comments.

With the always classy Jeff and Maureen Martone

Whole30 Seminar at Potomac CrossFit

2009-12-14T20:53:00.010-05:00

While we were on the road waiting to hear about our Afghanistan trip, we decided to pop in and visit a few of our favorite mid-Atlantic affiliates. We'd kept in touch with Erika and Siddharth, trainers at Potomac CrossFit, since our gymnastics cert there in January 2009, so we invited ourselves over for a workout. Turns out, PCF was a gym in need of some nutritional motivation, with many CrossFitters just one week into their own version of a "Paleo Challenge". Dallas and I were happy to help out, and hosted a Whole30 seminar for 20 of their members on Friday night.

Normally, we travel to introduce our Whole30 program, and outline the plan for those affiliates looking to host a dietary clean-up using our guidelines. Since PCF was already into their nutritional challenge (and this wasn't most members' first nutritional rodeos), we spent most of our time answering questions and helping to clarify some of the more confusing aspects of diet for CrossFitters. We talked cortisol management, eating well on the road, why a Splenda habit is hurting fat loss efforts, the sneaky effects of dairy, and injury, inflammation and dietary factors. We spent almost two hours answering questions and offering our best advice on how to wrap your brain around this new way of eating.

As an aside... I haven't talked much about our consulting practice here, mostly because things over there have been on hold while we planned for Afghanistan. Our web site is still very much a work in progress, despite the fact that I'm linking to it all over the place. (It's the equivalent of having company over while you're renovating your kitchen. Don't mind the mess.) And our services are still not as defined as we'd like them to be - we're hard at work on new client questionnaires, weekend long intensive programs and developing smaller, more casual "boutique-style" sessions, held outside of a CrossFit gym. But we're working while we're figuring it out, and Potomac was the perfect gig - fun and casual, with some smart and motivated clients and dedicated trainers. (Special hello to LeAnn and Kassandra, both blog readers and frequent posters. Thanks for the warm welcome, ladies.)

The seminar was a success, and gave us a bunch of good ideas for blog posts. (Stay tuned for Dallas' tips and tricks for when you're all banged up.) We're also making some changes behind the scenes, to better integrate my blog with what we're doing over at the Whole9. I know things have been quiet around here, and I don't like it any more than you do. I'm looking forward to some fun posts, regularly scheduled training and working on the new consulting stuff.

So a special thanks to Erika and Siddharth for organizing and Brian for hosting - we really enjoyed our time with you. And to all the PCF members who hit our seminar - how's your challenge coming along? Keep us posted!

Dallas, Erika and I, getting our gymnastics on at PCF.

Operation Iron Cross update

2009-12-08T20:04:00.004-05:00

After a very stressful and uncertain week, I am really sad to report that our trip has been called off. The entire scenario was out of our hands, and the way things played out couldn't be helped. Here's the background.

Our flight out was dependent entirely on the Air Force, and ensuring we could secure a plane to get all seven of us and our cargo to Bagram. That having been said, as we were told several times... it ain't like flying commercial. Planes come when they come, and they're used for what is most important - and all of that can change at the drop of a hat.

The original departure date we were given was November 23rd, just before Thanksgiving. A week prior, we were told our flight had been bumped out to December 3rd, give or take a few days. We proceeded with that date in mind, collecting donations, supplies and equipment to make the 3rd deadline. And then last Tuesday, President Obama announced the Afghanistan troop surge, and we were told that our departure was now set for December 8th. Or 9th. Or 10th, at the latest.

While it stretched all of us a bit thin to leave that late, at that point we were all en route, and so invested in the trip that we decided to wait it out, and hope that our flight came earlier rather than later. And then, a few days later, the final word came... planes were needed for people (soldiers) more important than us, and our flight out was bumped to December 18th, at the earliest.

At that point, none of us were able to make the journey. Tucker has certs booked in Japan and New Zealand late in December, which doesn't leave him enough time to make the trip to Afghanistan and return in time to keep his committments. As for the rest of us... we all had jobs that we put on hold for a week, hoping to catch a flight out. To stretch our leaves to the end of the month was simply impossible. So we made the difficult decision to cancel the trip at this time, and try to reschedule our visit for after the New Year, when transportation would be easier.

Here's the good news... the care package we put together (including the TIBs, rings, bands, jump ropes, Paleokits, kettlebell DVDs, coffee and gymnastics supplies) is still heading over to the troops on the 18th. It'll be like a CrossFit Christmas present for the men and women serving away from home, and all of the new soldiers who will soon find their homes at Bagram. The materials are being coordinated by personnel at Fort Bragg and Bagram Air Base, and we'll soon have some pictures and stories to show you. We still plan to publicize our efforts in the CrossFit Journal, and plan to get ourselves in country next year to properly train the 7th Special Forces Group as we originally intended.

To say we are disappointed is an understatement. We all worked so hard, putting in so much effort, to pull this trip and these donations off in a very short period of time. We got SO close to our departure, and to be told at the very last moment that we were unable to complete our mission was devastating for all of us. The worst of it is thinking of the men and women we have to disappoint... those already registered for the cert, and so looking forward to the training. That's the worst part by far. But after the disappointment wore off, we took stock of our efforts, and what we were able to accomplish. We still collected an enormous amount of equipment, supplies and donations, we're still sending them over to the soldiers in time for Christmas. And we'll get back over there as soon as we can, to do what we promised to do. So I'm trying not to be too bummed. I'm still, however, pretty bummed.

The only ray of sunshine in this entire week has been the affiliate tramping we were able to do while waiting to hear about the trip. We held a Whole30 Nutrition Seminar at Potomac CrossFit in Arlington, VA on Friday, and hit our Oly at CrossFit Full Circle with Jason Struck on Saturday. We didn't have time for anything else, but I'll write more later this week about the awesome reception that PCF gave us, and how Struck won the old man division of his BJJ tournament. (It was awesome.) Until then, I'm going to head towards home and send my thoughts and wishes to the men and women at Bagram. I miss them already.

Operation Iron Cross update... and some affiliate tramping

2009-12-01T12:56:00.005-05:00

We have been super busy with the final details of this trip - here is an update on where we stand.

All donations of supplies and equipment are packaged up and ready to go! We're sending them over to Fort Bragg to have them prepared for transport. Tucker and crew has built some special containers to leave with the troops - they're called "TIBs" (The Iron Box). They're 6' x 2' x 2', and built to withstand all kinds of weather conditions, keeping the equipment inside dry and sand-free. They hold everything from bumpers to rings to chalk and tape, but that's not the best part. Flip the lid and the box becomes a giant box jump for up to 6 people... remove the lid and it becomes a narrow but stable platform for jumping rope, pressing, squatting, etc. We've stenciled the lids of the TIBs with "Operation Phoenix", as a reminder of everything the organization has done to support these efforts.

Inside the TIBs, we've got all the equipment from Again Faster (rings, bands and speed ropes), all 500 Paleokits from Steve's Club, and the chalk, grips and tape from Rage Fitness. We've also been lucky enough to score some material from Jeff Martone's Tactical Athlete! Jeff personally dropped off some H2H and Tactical Athlete t-shirts and DVDs for the troops. Thanks to Jeff (CrossFit's kettlebell SME) for the support.

Finally, we've got TEN sets of the new EXF Rings from Tyler Hass at RingTraining.com. I've been working with a set of these rings for about a month now, and love the grip design and easy set-up. (My false grip pull-ups are so much easier on the rubberized grip. Muscle-up, here I come.) I brought a pair with me to one of the last gymnastics certs I coached, so the participants could test them out. Tucker said, and I quote... "I like the shit out of these." So we were psyched to score a few sets from Tyler and RingTraining. Thanks so much for the donation!

Last but not least, Operation Phoenix also donated money for us to build 15 sets of parallettes to take with us. The men and women at CrossFit Fort Bragg worked their tails off to get these built in time for the trip - well done! Check out what the full booty looks like here:

I'm glad we managed to get everything organized in time, although it looks a though our flight out MAY be delayed for a day or two... which means we may be doing some affiliate tramping around the mid-Atlantic while we wait for the Air Force to show up. We'd like to visit CF Potomac and Oldtown on our way down, and maybe see our boy Struck in Richmond too. It's all up in the air right now, but we're hitting the road tomorrow as planned, just in case the plane shows up on time.

We discovered that once we arrive, we'll be coaching literally around the clock, to accommodate everyone working the day and night shifts. I've never coached gymnastics at 2 AM... I hope my pajama pants don't get all tangled in the rings. Holy crap. We don't expect to sleep much while on base, but that's A-OK. We're there to run as many men and women through these certs as possible, and if that means long hours, we're all up for it. It's an honor and a privilege we don't take lightly, and we'll do whatever we can to serve while we're on base. I'm especially excited to talk nutrition while I'm there - I know how hard it can be to eat well while deployed, and I'd like to take a crack at putting together some Good Food meal plans for the soldiers while I'm sitting next to them in the dining hall.

That's all I have time for today - more updates as they become available. Thanks again for all of your support. The comments and emails I've been getting mean a lot to me, and to the entire crew heading overseas.

Rage Fitness, and some disjointed ramblings

2009-11-24T12:00:00.001-05:00

I'm happy to announce that Paleokits are on their way to Fort Bragg - all 500 of them. We'll be able to pack them up and bring them over with us next week, thanks to the generous contributions from of all of YOU!

My company (the insurance shop who gets me from 9 - 5 Monday through Friday) is also sponsoring my efforts, covering my vacation time and making a donation to Operation Phoenix and Steve's Club. I'm happy to be able to give a little something back to both of these groups, whose support will be greatly responsible for making this trip a success.

Of course, we can't conduct gymnastics training without the appropriate gymnastics supplies too. As most of you know, things like pull-ups, skin the cats and muscle-ups are pretty tough on your hands, wrists and forearms. We wanted to bring materials over to keep these soldiers in good working order - chalk, tape and hand protective gear. Enter Rage Fitness Supply, a CrossFit affiliate and equipment supplier based out of Denver, CO. Todd Halderman and Tamera Smith immediately rose to the challenge, writing:

"We are happy to make a donation to support our troops! We will be donating three cases of tape, one case of chalk, and 15 sets of gymnastics grips.

Rage Fitness is honored to contribute training equipment to this incredible group of people. It makes us feel closer to our troops abroad knowing that we are all training together. The big difference is that at the end of our day we are back in our cozy homes, while our troops are out there in the field defending our country. That is why we are happy to support these amazing men and women however we can."

A big thank you to Todd, Tamara and the folks at Rage Fitness Supply for their support. And another big thank you to you, the CrossFit community, for your continued reading, comments and support of this effort.

________

On a personal note, I'm stressed about the logistics of a trip of this magnitude, worried about how it's all going to work, and excited about the amazing opportunities we'll have to work with these men and women. (Mostly the last part, although every time I review the paperwork we have to complete, I revert back to stressed and worried.) We've been so busy completing all the requirements for obtaining clearance from the Army that none of us have had time to think about the practical stuff. What's the weather like? (Kind of like New Hampshire, actually.) What should we wear? (Hiking-style gear is acceptable, normal training clothes for coaching, bring plenty of warm stuff, and yes, there's laundry.) What stuff haven't we thought of? (Ambien and ear plugs for the plane ride over.)

I've also been in touch with some men and women stationed at Bagram, to ask some questions about how the base works and what we should know before our visit. I'm mostly interested in what else we could bring that would make a difference. I've heard requests for everything from calling cards to sunflower seeds, but we've also received plenty of requests for tobacco products. I have some objections to a volunteer mission based around health and fitness showing up with a suitcase full of Kodiak. Sorry, but not my suitcase.

I think I expected the base to be more... rustic. But apparently, we have heated barracks, nice shower areas and laundry facilities. I've heard there's even a Subway and a Dairy Queen on base. Huh. There are also computer facilities, which is good because I'd really like to blog every day and keep a record of what we're doing at the certs, and what I'm learning from the soldiers.

That's it for now... not my usual put together post, but we're all scrambling to get two months worth of work done in two weeks time. Stay tuned for more updates, and to hear more about some of the cool gear we're bringing over with us as the result of generous sponsor donations.

Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier SUCCESS!

2009-11-20T06:30:00.007-05:00

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Because of your efforts, in just ONE WEEK we have raised $2,700.... enough to purchase 500 large Paleokits for soldiers stationed at Bagram Air Base! A special thank you goes out to Get Built Chattanooga CrossFit, for their generous donation last night.

Steve's Club is busy putting the order together now. We need to have these on base at Fort Bragg by Thanksgiving, so he's expediting shipping... and probably putting his other customers' orders on hold for a day or two to get this done for Operation Iron Cross.

On that note, if we have any extra in the fund, I'd like to donate whatever we have left back to Steve's Club. Because of the generous discount they are giving us, Steve's Club charity wasn't planning to take or keep any proceeds at all from this giant sale. That just doesn't sit right with me - one charity taking a hit in order to support another. So I'm happy to report that any extra funds collected will go right back to Steve's Club, as a small token of our thanks.

Now that the Paleokits have been arranged, I can take some time to tell you more about some of our awesome sponsors! We'll be featuring Tyler Hass of Ring Training, CrossFit equipment suppliers Rage Fitness, Jeff Martone's Tactical Athlete and more next week.

I'm also going to take a break from the business end and talk about what it's like to participate in a trip of this nature. There is so much behind the scenes work involved, and it's been an absolute roller coaster of "Yes, we've done that", "Oh, I guess we need to do that again" and "Crap, we didn't know we had to do that". I'll pass some of that along, and a few notes I've received from men and women stationed overseas (and their loved ones), in the coming week.

Again, on behalf of the men and women of the 7SFG... THANK YOU for your generosity. This community never ceases to amaze me, and I am honored to be a part of it.

Update on the Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier program

2009-11-19T08:37:00.004-05:00

Thank you to everyone who has made a donation to the Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier program. We've raised $2,200 so far in our efforts to purchase 500 Paleokits for the men and women stationed at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Steve's Club is working hard to pull together this large order, and will need a few days to prepare and ship the Paleokits down to CrossFit Fort Bragg. As such, we need to send our order by the end of this week! Which means that we only have a few more days to collect the additional donations needed.

For those affiliates who have re-posted this effort on your web site, THANK YOU! If you are a CrossFit gym who would like to contribute, feel free to link to the post, or republish the post in its entirety on your web site.

It is amazing that we have been able to raise this much money in such a short period of time. Thank you again to everyone who has donated, promoted this effort, and encouraged others to contribute. From me, Dallas, the Whole30 program, and the soldiers... THANK YOU.

Operation Phoenix and Again Faster

2009-11-17T10:58:00.013-05:00

First, an update on the Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier program. We've raised almost $2,000 to date - an amazing accomplishment, considering the program has only been active for a few days! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated. I'd especially like to recognize Becky Strahan, CrossFitter, yoga instructor and owner of The MAT Yoga Studio in Richardson, TX. Becky and her husband Bill have been a huge supporter of this initiative, and I can't thank them enough for their encouragement, and generous contribution.

Today, I'd like to feature two prominent sponsors of Operation Iron Cross - CrossFit's own Operation Phoenix, and CrossFit Whole9's favorite equipment supplier, Again Faster.

Operation Phoenix is a CrossFit initiative that raises funds to equip the entire United States Marine Corps with functional fitness equipment to increase combat preparedness, reduce injury, and strengthen unit cohesion. This effort is accomplished through non-profit sales, corporate sponsorships, and individual donations. Every penny raised goes directly to "America's Fighting Force," the USMC.

We contacted Operation Phoenix last week, and asked them if they could assist with our Afghanistan efforts in any way. We immediately received a note back, asking for an equipment and supply "wish list", and cost estimates. Within just a few days, we had approval to purchase EVERYTHING on our wish list - all fully funded by Operation Phoenix. Rings, assistance bands, parallettes, t-shirts, speed ropes, and more... everything we needed to run several gymnastics certs and then some, all 100% donated.

Enter our favorite equipment supplier, Again Faster. We contacted Jon Gilson and asked if there was anything HE could do to assist us in our efforts. As expected, we received a response that very same day. Not only is Again Faster scrambling to gather every last requested item, they also offered to donate all of their profits on all equipment sales to Operation Iron Cross.

Working together, Again Faster and Operation Phoenix are providing the majority of the supplies and equipment necessary to run several full-scale gymnastics certs for the men and women of the 7SFG, right on base. How amazing is that?

Thank you to Operation Phoenix and Again Faster, on behalf of the 7FSG, Vance Camp and the Operation Iron Cross crew. We quite literally could not hold these certifications without your contributions. You (my readers) can learn more about out Operation Phoenix and support their cause by purchasing some of sweet Op Phx gear. And if you want some insider information on those gymnastics tricks and skills, visit the Again Faster Mic'd Instructor and learn how to perform movements like skin the cat and the back lever.

Stay tuned here for more featured Sponsor Profiles, and updates on our Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier initiative. We're not done collecting funds yet, so click here to sponsor a soldier today!

The Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier Program

2009-11-15T09:15:00.006-05:00

In the process of organizing donations and supplies for Operation Iron Cross, Dallas and I began to brainstorm things we could take over with us that would make a difference to the soldiers of the 7SFG. CrossFit equipment was a given, since we're hoping to get about 100 people through the certifications, but we wanted to get a little more creative and think outside the gymnastics box. Given the nutrition focus here on the blog and in our nutritional counseling practice, we thought about how we could help the 7FSG Eat Good Food. And I immediately thought back to my conversations with Karl Schirrmacher, a Staff Soldier in the Army deployed in Iraq. In "Karl's story", he talked about being stationed overseas, and the limitations he had to work around when trying to complete his Whole30 program.

All of which led us to the conclusion, "We need to bring some Good Food over to these guys", and the creation of the Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier program.

Enter Steve's Club, a non-profit organization offering young athletes (and non-athletes) of Camden, NJ world-class coaching, community and training techniques used by elite and professional athletes worldwide to help strengthen the foundation of our future. (You can read more about Steve's Club in this free CrossFit Journal article.) Steve's Club is the creator of Paleokits, portable, high quality, delicious Paleo food (jerky, dried fruit and nuts) in perfect Zone proportions. And founder Steve Liberati was more than willing to take time out of his own charitable efforts to help our cause.

We'd like to bring 500 Paleokits to Afghanistan. Steve's Club is going to donate one Paleokit for every four purchased, but we need your help to make this happen.

We've set up a PayPal link for donations. You can donate as little as $5 to purchase one Paleokit for an active duty soldier. Send $20, and Steve's club will donate an extra kit on your behalf. If you're an affiliate or larger organization, you can sponsor an entire certification's sustenance at snack time. Go as big as you can - but every single dollar helps.

Now, let's chat for a minute.

I haven't ever asked my blog audience for anything. I write, you read, we have a good time, and things are easy. I don't inundate you with ads, I don't push products or services on you, and I've certainly never asked you for money. Today, I'm asking. This is important to me, to Dallas, and to this CrossFit operation. This is especially important to the men and women serving our country in one of the most dangerous and unstable areas in the world. So today, I'm asking.

Donate via this link. I'll be updating you daily as to our efforts, and keeping track of each and every person, affiliate and group who contributes to the cause. And on behalf of me, and the Whole30 program, and Dallas, and the soldiers... THANK YOU.

Operation Iron Cross

2009-11-15T08:00:00.002-05:00

I have pretty much the most exciting news in the history of Urban Gets Diesel.

At the invitation of the United States Army, CrossFit is sending a small group of trainers to Afghanistan, to run the men and women from the 7th Special Forces Group through a series of CrossFit Gymnastics Certifications.

We'll be flying out of Pope Air Force Base (in NC) on a C-17, with an estimated departure date of December 3rd. Three days later, we'll arrive at Bagram Air Base, and Vance Camp. We'll spend about a week in-country, running as many men and women of the 7SFG through the certs as humanly possible. And we've unofficially given this trip a bad-ass nickname: Operation Iron Cross.

A camera crew from Again Faster will be coming along to document the entire operation for the CrossFit Journal, and Dallas (my business partner and CrossFit Whole9 co-owner) is taking time off from his physical therapy practice to act as an assistant coach at the certs. Finally, proceeds for the majority of equipment and supplies necessary for a project of this nature have been donated by CrossFit's Operation Phoenix, an initiative that raises the necessary funds to equip the United States Marine Corps with functional fitness equipment to increase combat preparedness, reduce injury, and strengthen unit cohesion.

My preparatory role for the operation is especially rewarding - and especially challenging, given our timetable. I am in charge of organizing supplies, equipment and donations for the soldiers stationed at Vance Camp. To run these certs, we need a certain amount of specialized equipment - rings, parallettes, assistance bands, etc. In addition, we'd like to bring the soldiers as many "tastes of home" as we can - things that any CrossFitter would appreciate, but that CrossFitters stationed far from home in service of their country would truly cherish. I'll be trying to organize donations of everything from affiliate t-shirts to Paleo food supplies - and we'll have to move fast, as all donations must be secured and en route to CF Fort Bragg by Thanksgiving.

We've currently lined up several sponsors who are generously donating their time and equipment, including Again Faster, Tactical Athlete, RingTraining.com, Rage Fitness, and Misha's Coffee. Dallas and I are especially excited about the "Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier" program we'll be rolling out, in conjunction with Steve's Club - more information on that tomorrow. But we still need help - and I'm confident that those who read my blog and are active in the CrossFit community will answer the call.

In the coming weeks, I'll be keeping you updated on all of our Operation Iron Cross efforts, and giving you the behind-the-scenes of what it's like to organize a trip of this nature. We'll also be featuring sponsor profiles, letting you know who has contributed to this effort, and how their donations are making a difference.

To say this is an amazing opportunity is an understatement. This will be a life-changing event for those of us privileged enough to participate in this special operation. Stay tuned for more information, and get rolling on ways you (and your affiliate) can contribute to this very worthy CrossFit cause. And if you're stationed at Vance Camp, check out the gymnastic cert dates as posted along the right side of the CF Main Site. Looking forward to seeing you there.

The Whole30 Hits the Road

2009-11-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday, and welcome to your Whole30 check-in. We'll be hitting CrossFit LIC this weekend, helping Tucker at another gymnastics cert and participating in the Operation Pull for Hope event taking place on Saturday night. The cert is sold out, but if you're local to NYC, make a donation to Hope for the Warriors and come meet tons of CrossFitters, do a muscle-up, or just cheer Gillian on.

Before I hit the road, I'm making a stop at the local Whole Foods-style store to load up on portable Good Food for the weekend. I always bring a ton of food to these certs - eating out for three meals a day gets expensive, and you can't always make the best food choices. I'd much rather bring snacks with me and be as prepared as possible in case I get stuck.

Today's Whole30 topic is travel food. What do you do when you hit the road? What kinds of foods do you bring, how do you keep things fresh, and how do you avoid eating nothing but jerky, fruit and nuts while traveling? Post your best tips, tricks, travel-friendly recipes and other Good Food guidelines to comments today.

Cortisol Management for CrossFitters

2009-11-11T08:56:00.005-05:00

Once again, today's post is coming from readers' emails and comments. In my recent Derailed post, I wrote the following:

In it for the long haul? Here’s where you have to triage – and listen to me carefully. Eating well and sleeping enough come first. Just focus on that, and if that’s all you can do, that’s okay. Eat only Good Food, sleep as much as you can, and supplement for cortisol management. Those are your top priorities, and if you can keep those up, you’ll maintain an awful lot of your general “health”.

I received more than a few emails following that statement, asking about cortisol management, and steps you can take to help you manage your cortisol levels. Now, I'm not an expert on adrenal fatigue by any means, but I'm pretty good with Google, so I've pulled some basics together for y'all. I also checked in with Dallas and Mathieu Lalonde to see what their giant science-y brains could add. One word of caution - I've given you some supplement links as reference, but common sense should tell you to do your own research before you start taking anything new, right?

Let's hit the basic background principles first. The adrenal glands produce many of the body's hormones, including epinephrine (adrenaline) and cortisol. The function is to help us under stress - the release of certain hormones puts us into "fight or flight" mode, to help us deal with crisis situations. Trouble is, when you are under constant stress, the glands are working overtime, pumping out these hormones. The excess cortisol wreaks havoc on your metabolism, and seriously circumvents the processing of fat, protein and carbohydrates and fat loss efforts.

You can help to manage cortisol levels with the following supplements and common sense tips.

Supplements:

BCAA (branch chain amino acids). A general recommendation is to take 5g of mixed BCAAs per dose, 3-4 times a day, especially post work-out, and on an empty stomach.

Dallas adds that L-glutamine has been found to have immune-stimulating properties, and can help with muscle recovery when training hard. Supplement with 10 grams, twice daily on an empty stomach, with one of those servings taken right before bed. Powdered forms are inexpensive and easily mixed into a few ounces of water.

Phosphatidyl serine. Studies have shown that 800mg/day can significantly suppress cortisol, but this can get expensive.

ZMA supplements (zinc-magnesium-aspertate) or any other supplement that has zinc, magnesium and/or calcium, along with vitamin C supplements or Emergen-C Lite. Those should help with immune function and DNA repair during stressful times.

Avoid all NSAIDs (like Advil). Dallas explains that these anti-inflammatories not only negatively affect cortisol, but they decrease protein synthesis rates. This means that your body's acute response to the stress of high-intensity exercise is diminished, which potentially could slow recovery/adaptation. Stick to fish oils for their anti-inflammatory properties.

Training:

Perform your workouts but reduce the intensity. Exercise does reduce stress. However, excessively long bouts of training or too many intense workouts deliver too much stress to an already-stressed body, and will increase levels of cortisol.

M@ adds that intense met-cons should be no greater than 30 minutes, and ideally much less than that. Monostructural cardio at high intensity (running, rowing, cycling, swimming) should be less than 45 minutes. Weightlifting workouts should also be less than 45 minutes in total.

Sleep:

Get plenty of sleep, but it does not have to be all in one chunk. Don't freak out if you sleep for a little while, wake up, then go back to sleep (as you've been doing), or get up and take a nap later in the day. Research has shown that it is not the total amount of sleep hours that matters, but the number of sleep cycles achieved while sleeping.

Here’s something from the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies: "Studies show that the length of sleep is not what causes us to be refreshed upon waking. The key factor is the number of complete sleep cycles we enjoy." It turns out that short afternoon naps (75-90 minutes) are very productive sleep-cycle wise. So go ahead and get your sleep in whenever you can - it doesn't have to be a whole 8 to 9 hour block.

Nutrition:

With respect to your overall diet, we've more than got that covered, don't we? However, be sure to abstain from caffeine and other stimulants. M@ also adds that you may want to abstain from alcohol and fructose as well.

A small (no more than 2 blocks of whatever macronutrient combination suits your goals) PWO meal will help lower cortisol levels after exercise.

So now you've got a few options for helping you manage your cortisol levels, including some that come from a bottle. One obvious word of caution - this does NOT mean you can supplement your way out of stress and its negative effects on your health and fitness. Employing good life stress-management skills are going to do more for your efforts to manage cortisol than any combination of supplements. A little extra help never hurts, however, so add the above to see you through the stressful times.

The new math

2009-11-06T08:00:00.007-05:00

Note: Today's Whole30 check-in is also a CrossFit 603 update. It's all related, so use today's comments to check in with your 30 day adventure, provide feedback or suggestions for the program or weigh in on the changes going down over at the 603.

Now that we've got our ducks (goats?) more in order, here's a preview of what's going on over at CrossFit 603. First, and most importantly, we're changing our affiliate name to CrossFit Whole9.

I know, right? Kind of a big deal, and a little scary for us. But we thought long and hard about our new direction, and realized that an identity change had to happen. Rolling your eyes? Is this a little too "Prince-who-changed-his-name-to-a-symbol-and-then-back-to-the-Artist-Formerly-Known-As Prince" for you? Bear with me while I explain.

The 603 had an amazing run, with group classes in Tilton and Dallas' five-day-a-week programming for our local and long-distance clients. We've been known primarily for our innovative workouts, gymnastics and Olympic lifting focus and the heavy strength bias in our programming. Our new business model, however, has us branching out beyond just daily WODs. Our primary focus is still training people in the CrossFit methodology, sure. But we plan to incorporate everything CrossFit teaches and preaches into our program, from nutrition to quality sleep to stress management. Dallas' physical therapy background also allows us to bring injury prevention, active recovery techniques and rehabilitation into our scope of services. We're trying to offer CrossFit from a systematic, whole-body perspective... which is so much bigger than simply programming workouts for the 603.

So we made the difficult decision to retire the 603, and re-brand ourselves to better represent our new direction and focus. Enter, CrossFit Whole9. (Which is why the "Whole30" moniker works so well... get it?) The name really does fit what we're doing, and our manifesto (soon to come) explains everything from what we do and how we do it to exactly how the "9" fits in.

So what does this 603-slash-9 change mean for you? Well... not much, from a technical perspective. We're signing paperwork with CrossFit HQ to make the name change official, so you'll see us listed now as "CFW9" on the Affiliate Blog. The 603 site as it stands will go away, and the Whole9 site will go up in its place. (We're keeping all the 603 posts, though, and all the old links will still work.)

But as for you, well, we'll be giving you the same good stuff we always have... just more of it. (And who doesn't like more?) Whereas the old 603 site just included WODs and rest day post, the new CFW9 will have original articles on everything from nutrition to strength training to what it's like to run a CrossFit affiliate. We're filming kettlebell video tutorials, programming new custom workouts (with math!), and sharing our take on everything from nightshades to cortisol reduction to map-and-a-flashlight met-cons. And as always, we'll continue to provide high quality, personalized coaching and training in the CrossFit methodology, from a broad and inclusive perspective. Same Dallas and Melissa, same quality information, same cheeky monkey attitude... just a new name, and a much broader scope of practice.

Whew. That wasn't so bad, was it? Hang in there with us as we go through this transition, because we promise good things will follow. And in the meantime... you'd better get your 603 gear while you still can, because as soon as the name change is official, we'll be all CFW9, all the time.

If you should be in the kitchen, you'd better visit our store soon!

That covert yogurt: When food gets sneaky

2009-10-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

Today’s Whole30 check-in topic comes from a reader’s post. Heather wrote:

“I am currently in the testing part of Whole30 (completed 30 days, and am now reinserting certain foods back in to see how they affect me). One thing I gave up during the Whole30 was my morning organic, sugar-free yogurt with salt-free almonds and sugar free granola. I am now eating Paleo except for this breakfast so I can test the way I feel and my performance during WODs.

I had my first one yesterday and another one today. Physically, I feel good, and I performed well and felt good during yesterday's WOD... so I would like to know when I can declare my yogurt breakfast okay?”

Heather brings up an important question. You’ve followed the Whole30, and you’re reintroducing foods in a smart, scientific manner, one food group at a time. (Heather skipped the “one food group at a time” part of the reintroduction guidelines – but that’s not the point.) Pretend you’ve chosen dairy as your first test food group. You eat a small bowl of all-natural ice cream two days in a row, and feel no side effects. Your stomach isn't puffy, you still feel good and you PR'd your deadlift an hour after your second bowl. The dairy hasn’t appeared to impact how you look, feel or perform… so why can’t you just start working a Paleo + Ice Cream diet?

Warning: I’m about to burst your Breyer’s bubble.

First, and most importantly, because some foods are sneaky. Say you’re practicing temperance while eating off the reservation (limiting consumption to once every week or two, and eating “bad” foods in moderate quantities). After eating those foods, you may not notice an immediate reaction in any of your body's systems. However, your body is still experiencing some, if not all, of the negative internal effects associated with those foods, such as inflammation, gut irritation, and insulin spikes.

Dallas explains, “"Even infrequent consumption of foods (or food products) that contribute to elevated levels of insulin, cortisol, or the pro-inflammatory eicosanoids will set you up for inflammation-driven disease processes. Most of us already know the effect that chronic consumption of processed carbohydrates has on the development of Type II Diabetes, but this is only one example of how a previously asymptomatic ("silent") inflammatory process can manifest itself as overt disease. Unfortunately, just eating a bagel and a yogurt for breakfast once a week is enough to trigger grain- and dairy-related inflammation, causing an uptick in all the inflammatory processes in your body for days or even weeks afterward. You might not be able to feel a bagel and yogurt invading your system, but you cannot avoid the pro-inflammatory effects of those foods."

So Heather’s multi-cheat meal of dairy, grains AND artificial sweeteners (strike one) are each silently attacking her bodily systems from all angles... without her awareness. Sneaky, sneaky, in a very disconcerting manner, right? It gets worse. See, on top of the sneaky factor, the effects of these incidents are cumulative, especially if your “cheats” occur on a frequent basis. (Strike two for Heather’s breakfast routine.) Even if you're not noticing the negative effects of your dietary transgressions now, there's a good chance you'll start feeling the effects after a two or three weeks of regular "cheat food" intake. That old knee or shoulder pain may start acting up again, your skin doesn't look as clear, your digestive tract is less than happy, and your energy levels aren’t as consistent as they used to be. At that point, however, it's too late to put an immediate halt to the negative effects - your body is already hurt, and in distress mode. The fix? Spend another 30-60 days going cold turkey Whole30 to reverse the effects – reduce the inflammation, allow your digestive tract to heal, restore insulin sensitivity. Essentially, start over.

Finally, a potential strike three for Heather’s breakfast: Eating off the reservation on a regular basis, especially if incorporating multiple “cheat” food groups, may begin to trigger those old thought processes and behaviors that led you to crave sugars or sweets, over-eat, under-eat or artificially prop up your energy levels with carbs and caffeine. Remember, a primary goal of the Whole30 is to break old habits and overcome mental hurdles as related to food, eating and satisfaction. Now that you’ve graduated, don’t get too lax in your habits – those old thoughts and patterns are persistent, and may be just as sneaky in their invasion as the cheat foods you’re eating.

In summary, if Heather is digging her breakfast, I am all for her partaking of that particular combination once in a while. But making that a daily occurrence is a bad idea, for all of the above reasons. The good news is that there is nothing in that meal – no nutrients, vitamins, minerals or energy sources - that she can’t get from eating other, better, healthier foods. So put that meal on your F-Off list, Heather, but for the sake of your health and performance, base the majority of your breakfasts on quality food choices.

My recommendation to all of you is to follow these Cheat Smart guidelines when coming off the Whole30, and eat off the reservation only when you need to, to satisfy those mental cravings and quality of life requirements. Dallas wraps it up nicely, saying, "Don't be fooled if you don't have immediate, obvious symptoms when you reintroduce one or more of these 'non-Paleo' foods after completing the Whole30. Minimizing the intake of inflammatory food groups like grains, dairy, and legumes is always the smartest and safest way to maximize your performance and minimize the risk of chronic disease."

Post thoughts, observations, and recent cheat experiences to comments.

Back to gymnastics... come play at CrossFit LIC!

2009-10-28T15:40:00.004-04:00

Feedback on the Whole30 rocks, and I LOVE how you've all adopted the title so quickly. Thanks for jumping on the bus with that one - I'm glad it caught on. We've been hard at work on the web site redesign, and we've got some local nutrition stuff in the works, so stay tuned for more developments.

This weekend, however, I'll be doing nothing but PLAYING. I'm heading to CrossFit USA in Berlin, CT, to help at Tucker's sold-out gymnastics cert. This is my fourth cert with Tucker, and they just keep getting better. He's constantly refining his material, adding new and innovative techniques to make you a better athlete. And his perspective on CrossFit, gymnastics and the role of strength and technique should not be missed. (Warning: don't you dare mention a kipping ring dip in his presence. Shudder.) You'll hear "build the strength, learn the movement" so often, you'll start repeating it in your sleep - as you should be - and he'll teach you how to incorporate that mantra into your daily training in a safe and effective manner.

I'll also be heading to my friend Vadim's box - CrossFit Long Island City in New York - on November 14th and 15th to help Tucker at another cert. That one is not yet sold out... and there's another reason that weekend will be a special one. Gillian Mounsey is staging a charity event that evening at CrossFit LIC, hosted by Tucker and attended by all the CrossFit superstars. (There's a rumor that Coach Glassman himself will be up in the spot.) So sign up for the cert, donate $25 to "Hope for the Warriors" and spectate the charity event on Saturday night - it's a double-fun weekend. (Triple, if you count the fact that I'll be there.) Register through the Main Site, and if you're heading to either cert, drop me a comment and let me know you're coming.

This week's upcoming Whole30 check-in (to be posted on Friday at noon) comes from a reader's comment on the site earlier this week. I love pulling your questions and comments into my posts, so keep them coming.

The Whole30

2009-10-23T10:55:00.006-04:00

I am super happy to announce that the "Change your life in 30 days" program now has an official name! The 30 day program will hereafter be known as the "Whole30".

When I wrote that original post back in July, I never dreamed the program would take off the way it did. With hundreds of participants (and even entire gyms!) joining up every month since, I've realized that this thing has a real place in our affiliate future, and Dallas and I are happy to promote and support it on a permanent, go-forward basis. I'm also especially excited because this ties in beautifully with the training, coaching and consulting practice that we are developing. While those changes are still under wraps, our concepts, business practices, list of services and "manifesto" have been finalized... and the Whole30 program is an integral part of everything we are trying to do for our community.

The "whole" concept also tie in with many of the recent posts from veteran 30 day'ers. For example:

Oh, what have I done? wrote, "I did the 30 day thing and at the end of 30 days went to a 80% paleo daily effort. I continue to feel pretty good, and continue to do well in my WODs... The 30 days was easy to follow and I was super dedicated, but after that length of time and no weight loss, I decided the effort was not worth it. What kind of advice do you give to people like me who want to optimize health, but don't really see or feel any big changes when being really strict with diet? It is a confusing position to be in when the advantages are not glaringly obvious."

And Angie wrote, "It (the 30 day program) has changed me for the better. I have stuck with the Paleo lifestyle of eating since July. I felt better, more energetic, etc... I had a lot of inflammation in my back and that has greatly improved. I will say though that I haven't really noticed a weight or fat loss. Its just that I would have expected to see some sort of change after giving up all the junk and I haven't."

And this is where the "Whole" part of the Whole30 comes in. See, optimal health and fitness requires more than just a perfect diet. Sure, most people experience positive changes in how they look, feel and perform just by following the plan as outlined. But there are a whole host of other factors that contribute, and often compete with one another. As I've mentioned before, it doesn't matter how hard you train if you're not getting adequate sleep, and as some of you have recently commented on "Derailed", even a 100% Paleo diet isn't powerful enough to overcome the negative physical and mental effects of high stress.

These factors must be evaluated and triaged as a WHOLE. They all relate, and they're all an integral part of your current level of health and fitness. Which is exactly where we're taking our CrossFit training and coaching program - with the Whole30 acting as the foundation of the nutritional piece of the puzzle. Start there and you'll experience the same positive results that others posting here have seen. But when cleaning up your food quality isn't enough to get you where you want to be - looking, feeling and performing your best - that's where we come in.

Stay tuned for more details, but in the meantime... the Friday afternoon Whole30 check-in is live and direct, so let's hear what you've got to say.

Special thanks to Adam Kayce, web designer and creative genius, who actually came up with the new "30 day" name.

An (administrative) word from your sponsor

2009-10-22T11:38:00.006-04:00

Here's a little bit about what's been going on behind the scenes, why the 603 has been quiet these last few weeks, and some follow-up on the "Derailed" post.

CrossFit 603/30 Day News:

First, we are in the process of creating a permanent home for our 30 day program. Which needs a real name, because (a) every time someone calls it a "challenge", I swear under my breath, and (b) calling it "Urban Gets Diesel Change Your Life in 30 Days" is kinda long, and (c) "That 30 Day Thingy" isn't exactly snappy. We're working on it. Until the 603 site gets a redesign and the whole 30 moves over there, every Friday on UGD will be dedicated to 30 day'ers. Welcome back, kids.

We are H.A.R.D. at work redesigning the 603 to better reflect the broader scope of training-related services we now offer. Until we're ready to relaunch, the 603 will be on hiatus. We're hoping to have things wrapped up in another few weeks, but that depends on how much time Dallas and I can devote to the effort. We're moving as fast as we can.

In the meantime, keep an eye here for the usual posts - training, nutrition and random musings.

Derailed follow-up:

Thanks to all of you who posted and emailed about your own "derailment", and how you are coping. That's the kind of thing we're going for with our new consulting and training program... fitness is more than just your training PRs, perfectly measured diet or zinc-and-magnesium induced sleep regimen. There are so many factors that play into health and fitness, and you need to treat them all as a WHOLE to keep moving forward. Sounds like you are all back on a good track as well - and if you're not, it's not too late to 'fess up, ask for help and state your case here. You've got plenty of support from me and the readers.

My PTP program is off to a good start -deadlifts and presses are light, but that's the whole point. (If you haven't read Dallas' intro to the program, you really should. It explains everything, including why he's a genius for programming this under our official CrossFit umbrella. In my opinion, CrossFit needs way more of this and way fewer map-and-a-flashlight met-cons*.)
*Map-and-a-flashlight met-cons are those excessively detailed, multi-round, multi-exercise, convoluted rep scheme chippers that require a map and a flashlight to follow along. It's a disturbing affiliate programming trend... more on that in a future post (that's probably going to get us in trouble).
I'm eating squeaky clean until Thanksgiving (my own 30-plus day program), and taking extra rest days when I need them, which is often, because (a) I'm still a little stressed out, and (b) my body can't take a serious beating more than two days in a row just yet. But as my Dad said in an email to me yesterday:

"You can’t fix it all at once, but you can fix one small part. You succeed. Success feeds on itself and you begin to climb out of the hole you were in. So here it is again: ‘Adversity is the forge that character is built on’.

Right on, Captain Tom. Need a kick in the pants to start changing your own life, one small part at a time? Recommit to the 30 day program. Do it tomorrow. We'll all be there, waiting for you.

Derailed

2009-10-19T13:19:00.010-04:00

I am 100% ready to return to my regularly scheduled blog-writing here at UGD, but first, a little insight as to why my personal posts have been few and far between lately. See, up until recently, my life has been pretty steady. My days looked a lot the same – I do enjoy a bit of the Groundhog Day, so I tend to find a routine and stick with it. Wake, gym, my 9-5 job, coaching or writing for the blog or 603 site, early to bed, get up again the next morning and do it all over again. I liked my routine, and it afforded me the ability to eat well, sleep as much as I needed to and train five days a week, without fail.

This summer, my Fitness Train derailed when Life Stuff hurled itself across my tracks. I found myself skipping meals, missing workouts, sleeping nowhere near enough. Once I realized my tracks weren’t going to clear anytime soon, I did the best I could to run my own Health and Fitness trauma center. I triaged Life factors carefully, knowing most would survive, but accepting there would be some casualties along the way. Sleep and food came first. If I didn’t eat enough, I at least ate well. If I didn’t sleep enough, I at least took naps. Training only happened when I was well fed and well rested. Those days were sparse, but if I didn’t train at all, I at least kept moving.

As of today, my casualties are high. I haven’t trained consistently since July. I’ve lost a ridiculous amount of hard-earned strength, a ton of met-con capacity and, based on yesterday’s snatch grip deadlifts, most of my kinesthetic awareness for movements that I used to be able to perform in my sleep. My deadlift is down by almost 30#, my front squat is back where it was at the beginning of the year and I’ve lost a couple of dead hang pull-ups.

It was a Fitness train derailment of the most spectacular fashion, and there’s not a damn thing I could have done about it.

If you’re like me, health and fitness is one of the most important efforts in your life. You’ll do anything for the sake of your diet, exercise and sleep - working out while on vacation, bringing your own food to business meetings, cutting out of social occasions early because you’re training the next morning. But no matter how bad you want it, no matter how hard you try… sometimes Life Stuff hurls itself across your tracks. You get sick, your kid gets sick, work blows up, school blows up, families have crises and friends need help. It happens, and the only thing you can do is ride it out as best as you can, generating as few casualties as possible.

So how do you manage around a Fitness Train derailment, and how do you get moving again when your tracks are finally clear? Here’s my best advice, based on my own recent experience. First, when Life Stuff comes up, do your best to maintain your normal routine for as long as you can. You can juggle a lot for short periods of time, so if you can already see light at the end of the tunnel, suck it up, abandon extraneous activities and just stick to the basics. Deal with Life, eat well, sleep well and train. Narrow your scope for a few days to preserve what's important until the crisis passes.

In it for the long haul? Here’s where you have to triage – and listen to me carefully. Eating well and sleeping enough come first. Just focus on that, and if that’s all you can do, that’s okay. Eat only Good Food, sleep as much as you can, and supplement for cortisol management. Those are your top priorities, and if you can keep those up, you’ll maintain an awful lot of your general “health”.

If you’re eating and sleeping well, get to the gym when you can. Here, you’ve got two options. If you’re feeling good and up for training with some intensity, then get to it… but make those workouts count. Screw the Filthy Fifty – your only priority is maintaining strength. Met-con capacity is cheap and dirty – it goes fast and comes back faster, so save your "cardio" for better days. Instead, deadlift. Press. Squat. Do some clean and jerks. Hit the big stuff hard and heavy. But what if you're not feeling up for deadlifts? Mat Lalonde reminded me of a very important point a few weeks ago. Exercise, even at a slow and easy pace, is extremely effective in helping to manage stress and cortisol. So if you’re not able to train with your normal intensity, just do something. Walk your dog, swing a kettlebell or play with your kids. If nothing else, keep moving, because in terms of triage it’s better than nothing.

Once you put the Life Stuff behind you, now it’s time to get back into your routine. I am just this week ready and able to start fresh – and I’ll be the first to tell you it’s not easy. I did the best I could with what I was working with, but I hate that I had to let so much go in the process. I feel weak, uncoordinated, more tired than I should. And I’m so far off my routine that I’m having a hard time climbing back on board. So here’s what I’m doing to get back on the train to Dieselville.

First, I spent my first ten minutes in the gym yesterday doing nothing but complaining. “My deadlift feels awful. I’ve pulled way more than that with better form. I can’t remember how to snatch at all. My pull-ups are way too hard. Everything is sore, and I’m breathing too hard, and this totally sucks.” As unproductive as that might sound, I needed to get that out. I mean, come on… it DOES suck. Being as fit as you were and then having to start even a little bit over SHOULD make you want to pitch a tantrum of exit-gate-at-Disney-at-6PM proportions. So it's okay to complain. Take a few minutes and let it all out, because once you’re done - you’re DONE. Not one more word out of you on the subject of “used to” or “should be” or any other brand of self-pity, anger or bitterness. You simply leave all that behind and GET GOING.

Find your routine again. Make fitness your top priority for a few weeks. Get to the gym at all costs, eat good food no matter what it takes, kill your TV to get that nine hours of sleep. Get yourself back to that place where this is just what you do, where it doesn’t feel forced (even if you have to force it at first).

In terms of training bang for your buck, get your muscles back. I can't afford to care about my met-con just yet – what I need right now is STRENGTH. Dallas is starting me back on Day One of the 603 PTP program, deadlifting and pressing four days a week for the next eight weeks. Follow along if you like – there are hybrid met-cons, skill days and the occasional track day to break up the programming, but if you’re just starting out again and want to get stronger faster, this is the way to do it.

Don’t try to do everything all at once, either. The temptation may be to pile strength day upon skill day upon met-con upon “extra” cardio to get back in shape even faster. Uh, that won’t work. You’re probably still over-stressed, your body isn’t in peak physical condition as it is and if you push it too hard, too fast, you’ll end up over-trained, or worse, injured. Don’t be greedy – remember that it will take time to get back to previously enjoyed levels of health and fitness. Be patient, choose a program (whether it’s the 603 PTP, Catalyst Athletics workouts or the CrossFit Main Page) and just stick with it. Make each workout count, but make each rest and recovery period count just as much.

Finally, take your ego out of the picture. Yesterday, part of my complaining included the low deadlift numbers on my whiteboard. Dallas responded, “I don’t care what the number is, I just want them to be HARD. Are they hard?” Uh, yeah. They were hard. And we moved on. The lesson is, don’t spend any time thinking about where you SHOULD be, because that doesn’t make a lick of difference. This is where you ARE, so suck it up, stay in the moment, make your training sessions hard and stick with it. Rewards will come fast, and provide their own motivation to continue.

I’ll keep you posted here as to how my own training is progressing. I’m not a total lost cause – I’ve still got a bunch of dead hangs, my back squats are coming back fast and I pulled a 100# hang clean last weekend that practically flew up. But I’m checking my ego at this very public door in an effort to remind you that you are more than the sum of your one rep maxes… and that no matter how long Life Stuff gets in the way, it’s never too late to start fresh.

Are you stuck in Life Stuff right now, just coming back from a training hiatus or “fully recovered” from your last health and fitness break? Post thoughts and your best tips to comments.

Blog maintenance

2009-10-13T14:54:00.003-04:00

The blog may be up and down a little over the next few days. I'm attempting to change the web address from "Byers" to "Urban" without losing any of my back-links, and that involves a lot of tech-y stuff with numbers and letters and settings that I don't understand. Which is why I've hired Adam Kayce, Web ninja, CrossFitter, and 30 Day participant, to do all our internerd work. You can check out Adam's stuff over at Bright Coconut - he's got mad coding skills AND the keen ability to translate tech-talk to English so us normal people can keep our sites updated all by ourselves. (He also specializes in Wordpress themes for CrossFit affiliates... very cool.)

Anyway, once we're done, you shouldn't notice any interruption in service or lose any of your links. I'll keep you posted as to our progress.

Community sound-off

2009-10-10T18:36:00.016-04:00

This is another administrative-ish post - I'll return to actual content soon. But first, our "no box box" concept generated a lot of positive feedback. Thanks to everyone who contributed, and who sent me your thoughts via email. I was especially happy to receive encouragement from other affiliate owners - I think there's a whole lot of referral potential in both directions, considering our nutritional clients live all over the country, and a huge part of our program will involve getting their training in line. There are still a whole lot of kinks to work out, but we're excited and moving forward with the new concept. Which brings me to today's administrative topic.

I've been thinking about the big-picture direction of the blog, specifically as it relates to my "30 Day" program. To rewind for a moment, I first posted the '30 day' idea in July, and kept up a month-plus of posts exclusively tailored to that concept. After about six weeks, however, I decided to move on and write about other topics. To my surprise, however, (a) people continue to use whatever topic I post as a mechanism for their 30 day efforts, (b) there are still people jumping on the 30 day bus for the first time (hello, CrossFit Austin!), and (c) as Jake commented this weekend, some of you original 30 day'ers are coming back for rounds two and three.

So clearly, there still people out there following along. And that got me thinking about the program in general, and all the participants. What happened when you got through your first cycle? Did you abandon, re-up for another 30, learn from the experience and settle somewhere in the middle? Are you missing the community here, missing the support, wanting to ask more questions or get more advice but feel like you no longer have a venue? And THOSE questions got me thinking about what to do here on the blog, and/or over at the 603 site.

First and foremost, does this 30 day thing need a permanent (or long-term, at least) home, with weekly posts dedicated solely to the program? I can do that (and moderate, offering advice and answering questions), as long as I leave room for other good posts relating to nutritional, training, etc. On that note, what else do you want to see around here? Maybe you'd like to read more random, fun posts like "The Maureen Martone Rule" (coming this week!), or maybe I include some Q&A where I answer emails on the main page, or maybe you want more behind the scenes stories of affiliate ownership, or any combination of ideas.

In summary, I'd like to tailor the blog (and the 603 site) to what the community needs, and what it's currently missing. I want to make ALL of our stuff easy to follow, easy to keep up with and easy for readers to contribute and interact. So help me figure out where to take this, because things are moving quickly and I don't want to miss any opportunities here. I know, I know... you're used to ME telling YOU what to do. But I'm HAPPY to take some direction from the only people who matter - the people who read my stuff. So sound off. I'm listening. And thanks, because without you, it would just be me and my Dad reading this post. (And he has a genetic obligation to read whatever I write.)

Administrative Announcement

2009-09-27T20:45:00.004-04:00

Quick administrative announcement.

Byers is now URBAN. Yep, the name change bus pulled up, opened its doors and let off the coolest last name on the planet - one which I am reclaiming as my own. So get on the bus, people... because now it's Urban Gets Diesel. Need some help wrapping your head around this one? Here's a handy primer.

What: Uh, try and keep up. It's now "Urban Gets Diesel."
When: Effective immediately, so please use "Urban" for all future links, references and general giving of props.
Where: For now, I'm keeping the same web address. I'll be registering Urban Gets Diesel soon, though. The transition will be seamless, as soon as I figure out how to be all geeky and forward my page and stuff.
Why: Don't you worry your pretty little heads about that.
How: Done and done - I waved my Moxy-Boss wand and it is so.

Finally, as a request, if you've got my page linked on yours, please change my name and/or the site title when you get a chance. (I mean, Robb Wolf has already done it, and he's a busy, busy dude, so...) As always, thank you for your cooperation, consideration and continued readership. This bus couldn't do it without you.