Coming in Last Can be Bad Ass!

Jessica Andrason of Crossfit Iron City

Yeah, I know, sounds messed up right?  Who wants to be in last place?  I'm not talking about having a bad workout because you've had too many cheat meals or maybe missed a few WODs so you're feeling out of shape and your performance showed it.  I'm talking about pushing yourself and taking the hard road.  I'm talking about having the slowest time because you pushed yourself as far as you possibly could.

Crossfit is hard in general.  However, it fits that old cliche that "you get out what you put in".  Often times, WODs need to be modified in some way; newbies, the injured, the pregnant, or if the WOD includes movements that are completely new to someone.  There's no shame in that.  Check your pride at the door and accept where you are.  Easier said than done, right?  But that's what we need to do to really improve.  We should always be improving; whether increasing weight, increasing reps, decreasing time, having better form, and/or weaning off modifications; for example decreasing and getting off bands for pull ups.

We need to be brave; to push ourselves and embrace the struggle.  I think it's in the struggle that we learn and grow.  We naturally want to avoid pain and struggle so I understand it feels odd to embrace pain, but that's what I'm saying; don't fight the struggle, embrace it and work through it.  By embracing and accepting it is how we ultimately beat it.  No one likes to fail or feel like a failure.  Many people don't try new things out of that fear of failure and maybe that's why people don't want to really push themselves at The Box.  It takes guts to take risks.

Coralyn Saldana from Team Crossfit Acadamy

Crossfit is competitive.  We all see the scores on the board.  Nobody wants to be last.  Sometimes though,  I like it when I come in last.  If I got "beat" because I did more weight or because I did the workout completely prescribed then I should be proud of that, not embarrassed.  I don't mind taking  more time to finish because I struggled to get that "Rx" by my name.  It's also a good reminder that nobody else really cares how I do.  I mean, I know the coaches do, but although Crossfit is competitive it's still an individual sport.  So if you want to cheat on your reps or do lighter weight to go faster, well, that's up to, and on, you I guess.  I'm certainly not going to feel bad or like a failure in my WOD because you had a faster time than I did because you chose an easier workout.

Also, the coaches have seen and experienced it all; muscle failure and fatigue, bailing out on lifts you can't make, falling on your butt, getting whipped with the speed ropes, hand tears, cussing, puking, and crying.  They certainly won't be shocked when that happens to you.  If you truly push yourself you're eventually going to experiences at least several of those effects.  It's just part of pushing yourself.

Staley from Crossfit Fairfield Post WOD

I think we all (Crossfitters) want to be fit and healthy and come'on maybe even a little bad ass.  Taking the easy way out mainly due to fear is not bad ass.  We're not going to see the results we want by being scared to suffer in our workouts.  So come on...if you're not completely new, injured, or pregnant, take a chance.  Push yourself in your WOD today.  Leave everything you have on the line.  Do more than you did yesterday...and if you come in last on the board, be proud of yourself because you know why you had the slowest time or the least number of reps.  We all have limits, but if you never push yourself you'll never know what your full potential is.  Coming in last can be bad ass!!!

"But I don't want to get bulky!"

Iris Kyle: 2011 Arnold Classic Champion

Disclaimer:  Crossfit is a complete body workout that focuses on all 10 Components of Fitness.  Lifting heavy things is part of that.  I am only talking about weight lifting in this blog post.

"But I don't want to get bulky!"  Let's be honest; if you're a woman, either you've said it yourself or heard others say it.  If you are a Crossfitter it's only a matter of time before you hear someone say it to you.  I know I get really sick of hearing it.  It's based on myths about beauty, strength, fitness, and even how the human body works.

One source of these myths is that women tend to think of body builders when they think about "lifting weights".  Women who whine, "I don't want to get bulky", simply don't understand what female body builders have to do to look the way they do.  First, the sport of body building is not about fitness and function; it's all about appearance.  Second, if you read the athlete profiles in Muscle and Fitness Hers, you'll see that lady body builders eat far too few calories for the amount of work they do (they get most their calories from protein shakes) and spend up to 12 hours a day at the gym.  Many of them take steroids and/or testosterone to gain this kind of muscle.  In the weeks before a competition, body builders starve and dehydrate themselves to make their skin thinner, which shows their muscle striations better.  So unless a woman plans to do these things it's unreasonable to fear that they will look like Iris Kyle, the 2011 winner of the Arnold Classic.


All four of the following pictures are of elite Crossfitters.  They mainly eat a Paleo Diet and do Crossfit.  They exercise for function and fitness, not appearance.  Please note that in these pictures they are in the middle of intense physical activity (all but one during competition) so their muscles are working hard.  I specifically selected these photos because their body types are all different.

Annie Sakamoto: Crossfit legend, 9th place 2011 Crossfit
Games

35-year-old mom of two, Annie Sakamoto, is petite at 5'0" and 115lbs, but has pretty big muscles for her size.  I would say she has more than average muscle growth than even elite Crossfitters.  She also has a very low body fat percentage (about 13%, according to Competitor Magazine), compared to the average 20% that is considered healthy for a woman.

Jenny LaBaw (6th place 2011 Crossfit Games) and Annie
Thorisdottir (1st place 2011 Crossfit Games, Fittest Woman
on Earth 2011)

22-year-old former gymnast, Annie Thorisdottir, 2011 Crossfit Games champion, is taller (5'7'') with very long muscles.  She's doesn't have what I call "round" or "compact" muscles like Annie Sakamoto; Annie Thorisdottir's muscles are thinner and longer.

Camille LeBlanc-Bazinet: 9th place 2010
Crossfit Games, 5th place 2011 Crossfit
Games

23-year-old former gymnast (do you see a pattern here?) Camille  Leblanc-Bazinet is very petite (she's 5'2'' and weighs about 125 lbs), but a complete beast (a positive term) in the gym. She can back squat 240 lbs and deadlift 330 lbs.  However, you wouldn't be able to tell that just by looking at her; that's just her body type.

Heather Bergeron: owner of Crossfit New England,
1st place 2011 Crossfit Games Team Competition

33-year-old mom of three and former marathoner and triathlete, Heather Bergeron, is 5'6'' and weighs 131 lbs.  Notice that her muscles look long and lean  like Annie Thorisdottir's.  She has an awesome 6-pack (a lot of elite Crossfitters do; someday I hope I will too) and she's a little bigger proportionally in the legs.
           

Annie Sakamoto with fan, Jess

Now look at the following pictures of these ladies in a more relaxed positions and more clothes on.  Do they look "bulky" to you?  If you saw them in jeans and t-shirt you'd probably just think they must do some sort of exercise.  I don't think you'd guess that these ladies are WOD (Crossfit Workout Of the Day) killers and considered elite athletes.  All of them do the harderst body weight exercises such as muscle ups and rope climbs.   They can also lift up to three times their body weight.  I doubt most of us can compare to them even at our fittest.  So the concept of "bulking up" is increasingly ridiculous.

Camille LeBlanc-Bazinet

Women who say "I don't want to get bulky" from lifting weights don't fully understand how the human body works.  Women naturally produce between 5-10% the amount of testosterone that men do so just based on this fact it's not likely that a woman would actually gain muscle like a man. 

Annie Thorisdottir with her mom and sister in Iceland

I believe there are also many misconceptions about women with muscle in relation to beauty.  Some women may still consider these ladies "too muscular" and to that I honestly don't have much to say.  It makes me speechless - well almost.  If you want to lose body fat and do some kick-butt workouts, your muscles will grow and eventually show a little bit.  Why do some women consider that bad or undesirable?  Do women who think that the four Crossfit ladies above are "too muscular" prefer to be skinny and flabby with little or no muscle tone?  Is that what they consider healthy and fit?

Heather Bergeron

I've also heard the same argument except the wording was "too masculine", which makes me mad and sad at the same time.  They see healthy women as masculine?  By that "logic", women they claim look feminine must be either fat or skinny fat.  That's what a beautiful women looks like?  Weak and flabby?  What crappy standards for women to live up to!  Strong is beautiful, and weakness is not feminine.  Healthy, fit, strong women (in all their different body types) should be considered beautiful to both women and men.  Those are the standards women should set for themselves.

While doing power cleans at a non-Crossfit gym, I overheard this conversation among some skinny fat women around their mid twenties in age I'd guess.

Skinny fat woman 1: "I'm happy with the way I look."
Skinny fat woman 2: "I know, me too.  I don't want to lift weights and get bulky and look like a man."
Skinny fat woman 3: "I totally agree.  I'm sorry, I like my boobs."

What bothers me about this conversation, as I mentioned before, is that

1. Lifting weight does not make women "bulky".  
2. Muscular women, or you could say fit women, don't look like men.  Again, go back and look at Annie S., Heather, Annie T. and Camille; do they look like men to you?  Give me a break.  
3. Most women who do Crossfit consistently and eat a healthy diet (I'd say Zone, Paleo, Primal, etc.) will still have enough body fat to keep their bras up.  

Since breasts are mostly made up of fat and getting in shape will decrease your body fat, women may indeed lose some jiggle in the chest.  However, it's not as drastic as these three ladies probably think.  Besides, I've never heard of a boyfriend or husband complain that there wife got in shape and now has no boobs.  The only complaint I've ever heard is from the wife who got in shape who says her husband won't stay off of her now.  I guess there might be some men out there somewhere that think Crossfit ladies are "too masculine" but in the words of my wonderful husband, "Only weak men are intimidated by strong women".

Not only do I think that being strong is beautiful, it's also good for your body.  I don't think I have to argue that a good diet and exercise is beneficial for ones health, but I'm talking specifically about lifting weights here.  Besides losing body fat, lifting weights helps decrease a woman's chance of getting Type II Diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, maintain muscle mass as we age, prevent injuries (because your muscles are stronger), and can help with depression.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that our bodies do not naturally improve with age.  Both men and women lose muscle mass with age.  The rate at which this naturally happens is mainly determined by genetics, but the point is that women need to lift weights just to maintain their current muscle mass as they age.  Since we women lose calcium in our bones as we get older it's even more important that we lift weights which helps keep our bones strong.  This happens because the tendons and muscles pull on the bones during weight bearing exercise and that stimulates the bones to produce more bone cells.  So it makes more sense that instead of women being paranoid to gain too much muscle they should worry about losing muscle mass and not maintaining what muscle they have as they age.

Hopefully you can see that women specifically should worry less about "getting bulky" and worry more about the location of the closest Crossfit gym to start some weight lifting. It's not only good for your body and long-term health, but I'd argue it's good mentally, emotionally, spiritually (topic for another entry) and heck, will probably even improve your sex life too!  So the next time you hear a woman make the excuse that they don't want to hit the gym because they "don't want bulk up" or something similar, you can try to educate them (warning; probably unwanted which results in dirty looks or getting "un-friended" on Facebook), or you could just smile and know that you're working your way to (or maintaining) true fitness and health for the long haul.

Blondes are Out; Brunettes are In

While doing some research for an upcoming blog article I came across this British study that said out of the 2000 men polled by Badoo, 60% of men preferred dark haired women to light haired women.  Although this study was unscientific I did enjoy hearing it. I've heard since I was young that men prefer blondes, in general.  I also know that a lot of women bleach and highlight their hair to get it even more blonde.  Well, nothing profound here on my end, just got a smile out of it...Go Brunettes!

Homemade Laundry Soap: Not Just for Hippies Anymore

Okay, so I honestly don't know if hippies make their own laundry soap.  There are many motivations to making your own soap; allergies, concerns about toxins or other chemicals, and economical.  I decided to try making our own laundry soap just to save money with our large family.  I figured that since we are Christians, politically conservative, pro-life, pro-gun, and homeschool our kids that we're already considered freaks so why not let the freak flag fly proudly and start making our own laundry soap!  I know other families that make their own soap too and they're not nearly as weird as we are if that gives any comfort.  It's really easy to make and you'll save about 89% in costs.

This website was great, has step-by-step instructions with pictures and a great cost break down.  The man who  originally posted the recipe tested his soap against Tide and said it worked just as well.  You can use any kind of bar soap you want and add scented oils or not.  You can also make a dry method although I use the gel/wet.  I think it works great, the only thing I miss is that perfumey, artificial smell that you get from Tide with Downy.  I know, some may be disgusted by that but I like that "illusion of cleanliness" smell.

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/

I still use store bought laundry sheets for the dryer. However, I've heard that you can take a bottle of liquid fabric softener, add 2 gallons of water to it in a bucket, dip a sponge in the bucket and throw the sponge in with the clothes.  If you line-dry your clothes I would still add some fabric softener into the washer.  I personally don't like crunchy clothes.

Anyways, I just thought I'd share.  I know making your own laundry soap is not a new idea, in fact it's an old one but it's coming back in popularity.  I'm also going to try making our own dishwasher soap, I'll let everyone know how that goes!  Good luck if you decide to try and make your own soap and don't worry, you don't need to wear Birkenstocks while making it!

Competitiveness & Aggression in Women

Reader Warning:  Due to the statistical nature of this post it reads a little dry.  Sorry, I'll try to be more clever next time.  Happy Reading!  : )

Whether it’s elementary school girls talking about who has cooties, high school girls criticizing what another girl wore to school on a certain day, or the shock that your neighbor allows her kids to engage in certain behaviors; let’s face it, women like to gossip.  The Social Issues Research Center says that gossip accounts for 67% of women’s conversations.  In general women talk about other people to feel close to one another as they discuss others and validate each other.  I think women also get some sense of power and/or superiority through gossip.  I believe women are competitive and aggressive in their own rite and this is one way they express it.  This is not just for adult females either; gossip and bullying begins with very young girls.  Words can hurt; I think we’ve all experienced that growing up and even in our adult life.  There is now cyberbullying and even a new term; bullycide which is a suicide as a result of bullying.  

Obviously, bullying of any kind (gossip, teasing, exclusion and pranks), whether at school or work is happening and has horrible consequences; suicide being the most extreme of them.  As cited on bullyingstatistics.org, “New bullying statistics 2010 are reporting that there is a strong connection between bullying, being bullied and suicide, according to a new study from the Yale School of Medicine. Suicide rates are continuing to grow among adolescents, and have grown more than 50 percent in the past 30 years. “ 

Besides words, bullying can be any form of physical violence as well, such as pushing, hitting, and even gang-style beatings.  Here are just a few statistics; it’s reported that there are about 282,000 students attacked each month, 56% of public school students have witnessed a bullying crime, and 1 in every 10 students drops out or changes schools due to bullying.  Here are some specific statistics about girls; every 7 minutes a girl is getting bullied, and when bullying does occur, 85% of the time no one intervenes. 

The number of female juvenile arrests doubled between 1989 and 1993.  Female juvenile arrests for violent crimes specifically increased 55% for that same time period.  Between 1999 and 2003, aggravated assault arrest statistics decreased by 17% for girls but simple assault increased by 12%.

I don’t think that bullying stops with kids and teenagers.  In fact, I would argue that in some cases, bullying may escalate and evolve as these girls and teenagers age.  I think the statistics for women being arrested supports my position.  The FBI reported in 2007 that, “… 2.4 million women were arrested in 2006, accounting for nearly a quarter of all arrests in the U.S. Nationwide, the number of women arrested increased by 4% from 1997 to 2006. During the same ten-year period, the number of men arrested decreased by 7.1%.”  So, basically, bullying, juvenile arrest rates, and adult female arrest rates are increasing.  Specifically, the arrest rate for simple assault is increasing among females.

I don’t think it’s a hard sell to convince readers that violence among females is rising; if you want to get more depressed or freaked out as a parent you can always do a YouTube search and watch videos of teenage girls gang-beating other girls on film.  Pretty sick.  However, there are some good and even more important statistics to keep in mind; after school activities in the community, sports, parental involvement, and church help keep kids out of trouble.  “Involvement in church and nonschool activities, for both young men and women, significantly protected them from serious delinquent behavior, which includes fighting, carrying a weapon or violence. However, it did not protect them from risky behavior, such as drinking, smoking or drunk driving.”

This is true for both boy and girls but what more recent studies have shown that sports have more of an impact on girls than boys.  “While it was previously believed that participation in sports would decrease delinquency in boys, it actually did not have a significant protective effect. However, the reverse was true for girls, “whose risk for delinquent behavior was reduced significantly if they took part in sports.”    

Simply put, girls who have involved parents, participate in activities outside of school; specifically sports, are less violent and don’t participate in risky behavior.   Isn’t this what every parent would want for his/her daughters?  A question I wondered about that none of the research specifically addressed was why?  Why do sports help girls be less violent?  Well, I think the answer is pretty obvious; they are just as competitive and aggressive as ever, but they vent their competitiveness and aggression in a healthy way.  Being competitive is not a bad thing by itself.  Neither is aggression.  It’s just how you choose to use and vent that competitiveness and aggression. 

I wish I had hard research to say that Crossfit specifically is a superior outlet for girls and women over other sports – maybe somebody should conduct those studies – but it’s definitely in the category of a competitive sport.  It’s just further evidence that Crossfit doesn’t just benefit the physical, but mental and even behavioral issues as well.  I even find Crossfit therapeutic; I can’t possibly think about my cruddy day when all I can focus on is the workout at hand.  When my body is screaming for every attention my brain can fathom, I forget about everything else.  Oddly, it is relaxing and afterwards, I’m all unwound. 

I openly admit I am biased to Crossfit because I do see it as a superior sport.  I think this is because Crossfit focuses on performance, not appearance and addresses all 10 components of fitness compared to other sports.  Crossfit also simply gets results, period.  Now however, I would add that it’s possible that Crossfit makes women nicer since it’s an extremely healthy way to express competitiveness and aggression.  There's got to be a clever Crossfit slogan somewhere in there!  

Equinox: the Anti-Gym

We all know that “losing weight” is the most popular New Year’s Resolution.  Of course, 60% of gym memberships go unused, according to Time Magazine (revenue with no work!).  At any rate, January is the time to see gym rate deals, books on diet and exercise, infomercials, and discounts on home gym equipment.  I get it, businesses are simply trying to make money and they see an opportunity after we’ve all eaten too much and been lazy too many days over the holidays. 

I’m sure you’ve seen these commercials with before and after pictures; claiming they lost all their weight with some wondrous diet pills.  I’ve seen ads for shake diets, Charles Barkley who is the new spokesman for Weight Watchers, and even clothing apparatuses that somehow take inches off of your body while in use.  I find a lot of these products laughable, and sometimes the commercials are good sources of unintentional comedic relief, but companies wouldn’t spend thousands of dollars on advertising them if the advertisements didn’t work.  On the other hand, some of these companies have invested in good marketing teams and have very tempting campaigns, such as the Bowflex TreadClimber. 

We, the consumers, judge and validate these marketing campaigns by how we choose to spend our money.  Though the gym or equipment that speaks to us is totally different for each person, I’ve noticed that there are some common themes.  For one, you’ll never see fat people using the equipment unless it’s a “before” shot.  Secondly, the people modeling the equipment look like they’re having so much fun they can’t contain themselves.  Three, most of the models look like they don’t use the equipment; the females usually have no muscle tone and the men look like they needed steroids to get their results. 

Well, one gym this year based out of New York has taken their marketing to a whole new level.  Equinox Gym's New Year’s marketing shows pictures of extremely skinny models doing out of the gym activities.  Here are just two of their advertisements.

I am happy to say that there has been a negative response to these ads.  Equinox’s Facebook account was flooded with complaints from their customers saying that their models look unhealthy and anorexic.  Equinox and the fashion designer photographer, Terry Richardson, are also getting all kinds of criticism from the general public.  ABC even published a very short article for which “Neither Terry Richardson nor Equinox returned requests from ABC News for comment.” 

However, not all Equinox clients were unhappy and were even defending the ads. 

According to Susanna Kim’s ABC piece, 

“The people who complain, have missed the point … and the message it is meant to convey,” an Equinox member wrote in defense of the ads. “The selection of models and the images show Equinox as high fashion, cool, hip and edgy.”

Sweat Angel

Seriously, that’s what some people want in a gym?!?  “[H]igh fashion, cool, hip and edgy”?  Give me a break!  This is my definition of the anti-gym.  The complete opposite of what I’m looking for.  Either the person who made this statement doesn’t understand the point of marketing, or Equinox itself doesn’t understand the point of a gym.  Or maybe Equinox is simply catering to what the people want and making the ads and their gym all about appearance.  This is what really bothers me.  I’m glad even their own clients are complaining that the women in the ads are too thin and look hungry, but I’m also annoyed that the ads are focusing on appearance - yet again - and not performance. 

I want to see ads that show normal people really doing the prescribed workouts.  I want to see muscle and sweat.  I don’t go to the gym for the atmosphere or to be hip.  I go to challenge myself and to work hard.  I want to see sweat-angels, red-faces, and even an occasional hand-tear from pull-ups.

When I go to the gym I want to hear heavy breathing, grunts and moans, weights clanking, and frankly maybe a cuss word here and there.

With Crossfit you not only experience all of these things but also occasional inspirational yelling from a coach, encouragement and correction from trainers, and cheers from fellow athletes.  And guess what?  Most of us don’t wear make-up, have cute matching outfits or chew gum, read fashion magazines, or anything else that would qualify as fashionable, hip, or edgy.  We work our butts off and get results that are objectively measurable in weight (lifted, not on the bathroom scale), distance, time and repetitions completed. 

So to Equinox, fashion photographer Terry Richardson, and anyone who supports Equinox’s new ad campaign here’s a big, bitter “screw you” and a welcome invitation to any of their current clients to say the same by joining a Crossfit gym and getting some real, measurable results.