The Performance Menu Issue 3

BACKISSUES Backissues are available at www.crossfitnorcal.com THE PERFORMANCE MENU is published monthly and distributed exclusively to subscribers by CrossFit NorCal. Yearly subscriptions can be purchased for $25.00. Visit www.crossfitnorcal.com for more information. CROSSFIT NORCAL PO Box 5501 Chico, CA 95927 www.crossfitnorcal.com All content copyright CrossFit NorCal and its respective authors. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution is strictly prohibited by law.

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The Metabolic Diet A look at Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale’s Hormonal Optimization via Phase shift diet

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Theories & Theoretical Constructs Exploring the experimental integration of CrossFit

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When Loose is a Compliment Flexibility, stretching, and why you need to finally pay attention

REGULARS 22

Recipes for Health & Performance New ways to feed yourself for optimum health

JOURNAL OF NUTRITION AND ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE

COVER Michael Rutherford

FEATURES

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PUBLISHER CrossFit NorCal

Last month we took a very detailed look at the Zone, starting with a caloric restricted 40-30-30 plan that lies at the heart of Barry Sears’s nutritional masterpiece. We then explored a progression of increased fat intake that culminated in a ramped up 60% fat Athletes Zone. The Zone offers a prescription of unparalleled precision. One knows exactly how much to eat and when to eat it. So, what more can we ask for? For some the Zone is far too structured, making long-term adherence all but impossible. Exact weighing and measuring of all meals can be a bit of a chore, and even once one has mastered the eyeball method and can set up a 4 block meal while blindfolded and wearing oven mitts, it is still a laborious process for many. Is there an alternative that works well and is perhaps a bit easier to implement? There are actually a number of options, and we will look at all of them eventually, but one of the best respected and most popular is the Metabolic Diet by Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale. Dr. Di Pasquale has quite an impressive background that includes participation in collegiate gymnastics and wrestling, multiple world championships in power lifting and a thriving practice as a physician. In the early 1990’s he released a book that created quite a controversy in the athletic world, the Anabolic Diet. The AD is a cyclic low carb diet, or as Dr. Di Pasquale prefers to call it, phase shift diet. Many athletes and body builders have credited this diet as being key in improving their athleticism. Penn State University Track and Field is one of the notables who credit the AD as part of their success. In 2000 Dr. Di Pasquale released an updated phase shift program called the

Metabolic Diet. The MD is actually toned down a bit with regard to chasing elite athleticism, and is geared more towards general health and fat loss. It is a wealth of information and contains all the pertinent material found in the AD. Let’s take a look at the Metabolic Diet. Perhaps it will be the perfect fit for you; it certainly offers principles that improve any nutritional approach. The main premise of the MD is hormonal control, or perhaps more accurately stated, hormonal optimization. This theme should be familiar to those following the Zone. However, the MD approaches this task from a different perspective. I do not want to give away the end of the story here, but as you shall see, the MD in the end is very similar to the Athlete’s Zone. The MD achieves hormonal optimization by limiting the amount of carbohydrates in most meals while emphasizing adequate protein for growth and maintenance and elevating dietary fat to the status of THE preferred fuel source. One can approach the MD one of two ways. The first is a very low carb diet for 1-2 weeks. During this time daily total active carb intake is kept to less than 30g/day. Ideally 5-6 small meals comprised of protein, fat and low carb vegetable sources are consumed. During this period one will reverse insulin resistance while simultaneously up-regulating enzyme pathways for lipid utilization as a fuel source. There can be quite a lot of water weight loss at this time depending upon one’s situation. The lower insulin levels ameliorate the action of aldosterone, and we see electrolyte and fluid balance return to a non-pathological level. Bloat and high blood pressure should disappear. This can be quite a rough transition for the seriously carb addicted and it is not uncommon to suffer headaches and begin making deals with

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A look at Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale’s Hormonal Optimization via Phase shift diet by Robb Wolf

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THE METABOLIC DIET

Although Dr. Di Pasquale strongly recommends jumping in on this very low carb Assessment Period, there is another way. The moderate carb approach ranges from 60-100g/day of active carb intake (active carbs are all the non-fiber carbs), even more for some situations. Most of the other rules apply—5-6 small meals containing protein and fat—but now one can add a few pieces of fruit per day and a lot of vegetables. This plan is virtually indistinguishable from the Athletes Zone and for the experienced Zoner, this can be an easy transition with no weighing and measuring. All the rules of the weekend carb load apply. This is a much more reasonable plan for most people, and if overall caloric content is kept within rea-

Starting the MD will feel a bit like jumping off a cliff for those accustomed to the Zone. We are not given exact amounts of protein, carbohydrate and fat for every meal for the rest of our lives. We are given some general guidelines: 5-6 meals/day, 20-50g of protein and 10-50g of fat at every meal, while keeping carbs within the parameters of either the strict or moderate plan. For some this will not be as precise as they need to fully commit to a plan of eating. But for people like me this flexibility and lack of strict rules is just the ticket. I have had very good success leaning out on lower carb plans, particularly when I keep my post workout nutrition to protein and fat. I have had some challenge determining a daily carb intake level that allows for intense training while not going overboard. The trouble-shooting guide is quite helpful in this regard. Followers of the Zone who develop a thorough understanding of the MD can compliment their efforts by allowing for some flexibility in eating. If one is faced with a lack of carbs, protein, or fat, there are some guidelines to help minimize the damage, or perhaps fine-tune the program to an even higher level. One of my main issues with the Zone is that it is static. Intermittency and randomness are key to effective fitness regimes and we should work to emulate this intermittency in our eating as well. My own eating has settled out near the moderate carb MD, which is a little less than my Zone recommendations but with an alteration in carb intake every few days, I end up matching my Zone recommendations almost exactly. This was not planned, but it is interesting that things play out in this way. Paleo eating on the MD is simple, and Keith Thomas has an excellent breakdown of several weeks of cyclic low carb, paleo eating

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Here is the popular part of the MD: the weekend carb load. At this point one shifts to a fairly low protein and fat level while going wild with regards to carb intake. It is recommended that one stick with predominantly low glycemic index carbs, but for many this can turn into a Krispy Kreme binge that is tough to come back from. This is one of the main problems with the MD. Because it is trying to make no food off-limits, either by amount or type, one runs the risk of overconsumption of low quality carbs. The idea is that separating carb intake from fat intake will avoid most of the problems of hyperinsulinism. This may be true to a point, but refined carbs are a problem in that they markedly spike insulin levels, a key aspect of their inherent addictiveness. If one can avoid this pitfall by sticking to low glycemic index/glycemic load foods, this problem can largely be avoided. This carb load can last as little as a few hours or all weekend long. It depends on when one starts feeling a bit off from excessive carbs, at which point it is back to the low carb plan. It is clear that emphasizing low GL foods will result in better glycogen replenishment with less likelihood of fat storage.

son, it can be very effective for fat loss. Now for implementation! How does one actually start the MD? What are some ways to modify the MD for our own personal use? What about Paleo?

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Ultimate Beings for a piece of chocolate or that arch nemesis of breakfast, TOAST.

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The Metabolic Diet is just one of several viable nutritional approaches geared towards enhancing athletic performance. It is similar

to the Zone in many regards, not the least of which is a sound scientific basis and many examples of successful clinical implementation. It offers hormonal control, including improved insulin status, while supplying sufficient vital nutrients for growth and repair. The MD as described above is also quite flexible and may be easier to implement for those who like to draw outside the lines. We highly recommend Dr. Di Pasquale’s excellent books and informative website: www. metabolicdiet.com. Check them out and let us know what you think.

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available here. It is important to remember that a Paleolithic perspective provides clues firstly on what to eat and secondly how much to eat. There is no one Paleo diet. Seasonality and locality would have altered macronutrient ratios for us in the past, but now with a little information we can construct effective nutritional approaches to optimize health, performance and longevity.

Theories and theoretical constructs, we would assert, have value only to the extent that they are descriptive of reality and our past experiences and if they provide the vantage point from which further investigation may be made. In essence theories should describe where we have been and direct us where to go next. In the “What is Fitness” issue of the CrossFit Journal we are offered a Theoretical Heirarcy of Development:

A theoretical hierarchy exists for the development of an athlete. It starts with nutrition and moves to metabolic conditioning, gymnastics, weightlifting, and finally sport. This hierarchy largely reflects foundational dependence, skill, and to some degree, time ordering of development. The logical flow is from molecular foundations, cardiovascular sufficiency, body control, external object control, and ultimately mastery and application. This model has greatest utility in analyzing athletes’ shortcomings or difficulties.

Countless elite athletes have been created and indeed, our species found its way through history without overt knowledge of

this theoretical template, yet it does in fact model our collective experience. With the knowledge that gymnastics (body control) and weightlifting/throwing (external object control) are natural progressions towards the end of Sport, a potential question is “what if gymnastics, and or weightlifting is your sport”? We have seen this question answered in the likes of Josh Everett and Todd Hockenburry, who have brought phenomenal strength bases to their CrossFit experiences and have excelled in truly staggering ways. Although metabolic conditioning may be foundational to gymnastics and weightlifting according to the above template, it is the ability to generate significant power that ultimately drives higher and higher levels of metabolic conditioning. Indeed it is our strongest athletes who frequently suffer Pukies wrath the most. It appears a relatively high level of strength with a lack of metabolic conditioning, particularly in mixed modal activities, may even elicit a visit from Uncle Rhabdo. It is perhaps unfair but we find it a simple process to take a strength athlete, virtually devoid of metabolic conditioning, and turn them into a monster. We have found greater challenge turning our endurance athletes into explosive dynamos. This month two phenomenal coaches and athletes, Michael Rutherford and Josh Everett, share with us some approaches for chasing greater strength and power within the context of a Crossfit oriented strength and conditioning program. This is NOT intended to be an exhaustive review but rather some starting points for fine tuning our own experience. In Coach Rutherford’s piece we see a marriage between CF and it’s cousin, the conjugate method. Usually cousins should not marry cousins, I don’t think this one

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by Michael Rutherford, Josh Everett, and Robb Wolf

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THEORIES & THEORETICAL CONSTRUCTS

After practicing and coaching the CrossFit methodology for over two years I am increasingly convinced the most successful athletes are those who come to the dance with the greatest strength and power. Athletes with the best strength base perform the best in this new sport called CrossFit. Greg Amundson and Josh Everett are two perfect examples of successful, and very powerful, CrossFit athletes. Both Greg and Josh can turn “Fran” in sub 2:40 range. Greg has also been reported to 1RM a front squat/ push press (a.k.a. a THRUSTER) with over 275lbs at a bodyweight of around 200lbs. I personally witnessed Josh clean & jerk 155kg while weighing in the 84kg range. My own BLACK BOX project started last summer when I began thinking of how a template like this might go together. The final thoughts evolved during the fall when I was retained by one of the city’s best high school basketball coaches. With this approach the basketball players’ strength improvements continued throughout the season. With this in mind I would like to present a permutation of the CrossFit theory. Consider this Maximum Effort CrossFit or ME CrossFit if you will. Stay with me here while we sort through this a bit. Here are some of the components of my ME CrossFit program. MAXIMUM EFFORT (ME): A cornerstone to the Westside Barbell training program is the

There are two rep ranges. The first week on a rotation, the repetitions are 5-5-5-3-33. Joe Kenn1 refers to these as introductory reps. The second time through on a movement, the repetitions are 3-3-3-1-1-1. My intuition indicates that experienced athletes could stay with 3-3-3-1-1-1, or you could perform 8 x 2 or 10 x 1. The Prilepin chart may be handy in a case like this. Anything over 90%, 4-10 sets 1-2 reps with an optimal number of 7 sets. MOVEMENT ROTATION: CrossFit athletes will recognize the following functional movements. TOTAL BODY (T): Include Olympic Clean variations, Olympic Snatch variations, Push Presses or Jerks. LOWER BODY (L): I like squats. I like a rotation of weighted back squats and front squats. UPPER BODY (U): I will select standing press and weighted pull-ups for my upper body movements. You could also look at bench press and/or incline press. I find these least productive but I know they are popular and necessary in certain circles. Again, for this discussion our movement pool includes. TOTAL: Power Clean from the Deck (PC) and Hang Cleans (HC) LOWER: Back Squats (BS) and Front Squats (FS) UPPER BODY: Standing Press (SP) and Weighted Pull-ups (WP) [Editors Note: Weighted dips and muscle ups seem fair

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M.E. BLACK BOX By Michael Rutherford, a.k.a. RUTMAN

Maximum Effort Day. During these sessions the athlete works with a load near his/her maximum (90% +) for that day. Repetitions range from 1-5. In this program we will be using near maximal loads for all the weightlifting movements.

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will end up on Jerry Springer however! UC Riverside Strength and Conditioning Coach, Josh Everett shares with us programs developed for time crunched collegiate athletes.

These should be familiar to everyone. One needs look no further than www.crossfit. com and the workout of the day. Whenever possible place emphasis on monostructural metabolic efforts—e.g. running, cycling, swimming—on the day following a ME workout. You could also precede ME days with more gymnastics movements. In any case, the varied if not randomized approach with CrossFit will address any weaknesses in your athletic profile and provide the GPP (General Physical Preparedness) you require to elevate your maximum strength and power.

We have now rotated through the introductory reps and the foundation ME reps once. Now we rotate to the secondary foundation movement. In this case it would be hang cleans, front squats and weighted pull-ups. The athletes I have plugged into this template are continuing to improve, although they have only invested six months thus far. If you select to dive into this please feel free to share your experiences. My e-mail is [email protected]

REST Rest is of critical importance. I cannot improve the 3 on 1 off micro-cycling design. I think it provides excellent balance between volume, intensity and rest. Now that we have the parts, here is how it goes together. DAY 1 - CrossFit workout (XF) DAY 2 - ME (Total Body-PC) (introductory reps) 5-5-5-3-3-3 DAY 3 - CrossFit workout (XF) DAY 4 - REST DAY 5 - CrossFit workout (XF) DAY 6 - ME (Lower Body-BS) (introductory reps) 5-5-5-3-3-3 DAY 7 - CrossFit workout (XF) DAY 8 - REST DAY 9 - CrossFit workout (XF) DAY 10 - ME (Upper Body-SP) (introductory reps) 5-5-5-3-3-3 DAY 11 - CrossFit workout (XF)

Notes 1 The Coach’s Strength Training Playbook by Joe Kenn. A must own for any coach or athlete.

Collegiate Programs by Josh Everett From late November to early January in the off-season, we have an eight-hour weekly training limit by NCAA rule. Two of these hours can be spent working with the athletes’ sport coaches on skill practice. During winter quarter with our fall sport teams we went two days traditional lifting, one day of CrossFit, and two days of traditional

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CROSSFIT WORKOUTS

DAY 12 - REST DAY 13 - CrossFit workout (XF) DAY 14 - ME (Total Body-PC) 3-3-3-1-1-1 DAY 15 - CrossFit workout (XF) DAY 16 - REST DAY 17 - CrossFit workout (XF) DAY 18 - ME (Lower Body-BS) (introductory reps) 3-3-3-1-1-1 DAY 19 - CrossFit workout (XF) DAY 20 - REST DAY 21 - CrossFit workout (XF) DAY 22 - ME (Upper Body SP) (introductory reps) 3-3-3-1-1-1 DAY 23 - CrossFit workout (XF) DAY 24 - REST

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game as well.] What we will do with the movements is rotate them on ME days. On the first ME day we will perform a total body movement (T): power cleans from the Deck (PC); on the second ME day a lower body movement (L): back squats (BS); and finally, on the third ME Day an upper body movement (U): standing press (SP).

After their spring seasons, we will spend the rest of the quarter going two days of traditional lifting with women’s volleyball, and two days of CrossFit and one day traditional with the soccer teams, the reason being the greater need for cardiovascular fitness of soccer as compared to volleyball, and the fact that volleyball at this point will be coming off of six weeks of just the storms. This summer I’m giving all three teams the same workout plan. I’d rather them go three days on and one off, but I feel five on and two off will be easier for them to comply with. I set the pattern for workouts as follows: Day 1: rounds for time (how many rounds can you do in 20minutes) Day 2: how fast can you complete the following...(Fran, Helen, Grace type workouts) Day 3: Focus day (squat 10x1, 10x40yd dash, etc) My goals here are to have the athletes be the fittest they have ever been in their lives heading into season. I believe that CrossFit, while specializing in not specializing, is in fact the best program I have found to prepare athletes to specialize.

Lastly I have been learning much recently from our superb track coach, Irv Ray, and his system of being sure to hit each energy system each week. And while I haven’t perfected it yet, I’ve tried to get a good balance of workouts that had an emphasis on pure anaerobic system, MVO2, lactate threshold, and endurance/aerobic. The one thing currently missing from this program is recovery workouts. I may modify the workouts to include these types of workouts, but to be honest, during the summer when it’s not mandatory, I’m sure most athletes will be missing enough workouts to adequately recover. The ones who are diligent are usually smart enough and know their bodies well enough to adjust. The rationale behind the post season soccer program is that I want to use the time right after the soccer team’s season (the beginning of the off-season) to lay a good sound foundation of GPP. I find CrossFit to be perfect for this. At the same time, I wanted to prepare them for January, February and March when we do the majority of our heavy strength work. I wanted to get a gradual buildup in intensity on our two big lifts, the power clean and the back squat. Of course I’d like to go more than two days per week, but during their season they only lift two days a week. This reestablished training time fits with their class schedules, and to be honest, with just me, one part-time assistant coach, and 300+ athletes, there is only so much time in the week to train everyone. Also, I’m not too concerned, because after a long season where so much is demanded of the student athlete, the two day requirement is a good mental & physical break for them.

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During spring quarter our fall teams have a 4-6 week spring season. I’m currently experimenting with workouts during this time period. With volleyball, we are doing 2-3 days a week of scaled down versions of CrossFit’s storms (e.g. Helen, Fran, Angie etc); with women’s soccer, we are doing our traditional in-season routine; and with men’s soccer, we are doing two days of traditional in-season training and one day of CrossFit.

Continuing with my goals for them, I wanted to be sure to include the things that I have found that best develop & prepare athletes. I made sure to include these in the focus days so they received the proper attention and intensity. These things are the power clean, back squat, hill or bleacher sprints, sprinting full speed with full recovery, and agility work.

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running/track workouts, each session lasting an hour. So that makes for five hours of training with me, leaving two hours with their sport coaches and an extra hour for the sport coaches to do additional conditioning, film study, or team time with the sports psychiatrist.

Soccer Volleyball Track & Field

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View Josh Everett’s Training Programs:

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Not to mention it gives them more free time to finish the quarter strong academically. Plus the athletes with champions’ attitudes and work ethic are going to continue to train on their own anyway. I love giving them this opportunity to take ownership of their training. Unfortunately not enough of them will do this on their own; therefore the rest of the year there must have more mandatory training in order for the team to do well.

Flexibility is an athletic trait often admired when demonstrated but rarely discussed otherwise. It also seems to be at the center of many arguments, often involving the word Yoga and quickly eliciting facial contortion. Although things seem to be changing lately, historically the topic of stretching has been limited in popular fitness literature to brief mentions rarely progressing beyond the “Just do it” sentiment. Despite the complexity of the invisible physiology involved, in practical terms, there’s nothing ultimately magical or esoteric about flexibility: it’s simply the product of regular muscle stretching. If you continually pull at the waistband of your underwear, it’ll become increasingly loose until it falls around your ankles (at which time adequate hamstring and glute flexibility will allow you to reach down and pull it back up). The same idea applies to your muscles.

WHY FLEXIBILITY IS IMPORTANT First, let’s establish what exactly flexibility is: the degree to which your body is able to reach its full potential range of motion around a particular joint. So why is this important? Because most of us actually use our bodies in ways that demand motion of some nature, the extent of that motion invariably increasing as we become more athletic. For example, golf requires minimal flexibility, while Olympic weightlifting and gymnastics both require a great deal. (This is not to say, of course, that golfers wouldn’t benefit from increased flexibility).

Simply put, flexibility improves performance by allowing the proper execution of movements demanded by our various athletic endeavors. Additionally, in asking our bodies to perform at high intensity, often at their biomechanical limits, the potential for injury is genuine. By increasing the flexibility of our muscles, we can reduce the strain to tendons and ligaments, avoiding damage that can lead to joint instability and further injury.

HOW STRETCHING WORKS To accurately understand how stretching works, we need to first understand in at least basic terms muscle composition and the process of muscular contraction. The largest components of muscles are fascicles, which are visible as muscular striations in very lean athletes. Fascicles are groups of fasciculi, which are groups of individual muscle fibers (muscle cells). Fibers are comprised of hundreds of thousands myofibrils, the unit of the muscle that actually contracts. Myofibrils are each comprised of approximately 10,000 sarcomeres end-to-end, each of which is a unit composed of myofilaments along with proteins that act as positional stabilizers and the regulators of filamental interaction. At the center of each sarcomere are thick filaments, comprised primarily of actin, and thin filaments, comprised of myosin, parallel and overlapping from each end. The sliding of the myofilaments along each other causes the sarcomeres to either shorten or lengthen according to the chemical process’s dictation.

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FLEXIBILITY, STRETCHING, & WHY YOU NEED TO FINALLY PAY ATTENTION by Greg Everett

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WHEN LOOSE IS A COMPLIMENT

A peak contraction involves the recruitment of the greatest number of motor units possible. Generally, intense contractions involve what’s called asynchronous motor unit summation: this process is a rotating activation of motor units to provide quickly exhausting units a chance to recover before reactivation. This is what allows the sustainability of intense contractions, although the intensity of any sustained contraction obviously cannot be maximal. In short, the most important idea to retain here is that a muscular contraction involves only some sarcomeres; some are fully shortened while others remain at their normal length. Incidentally, neurological strength gains come from teaching the body to shorten a larger percentage of sarcomeres in the contracting muscle. Similarly, increased flexibility is the product of training a larger percentage of muscle fibers to accept increased length. Just as there is no partial contraction of a sarcomere, there is no partial extension of one: the total distance a muscle can stretch is based on

There are actually two kinds of muscle fibers: extrafusal fibers, which are the ones described above, and intrafusal fibers, commonly known as muscle spindles. Intrafusal fibers are proprioceptors: units that detect changes in body position and pressure. The muscle spindles sense both the extent and rate of change in muscle fiber length. Two other muscular proprioceptors are the golgi tendon organ and pacinian corpuscle, both located in tendons. To protect the body from potential injury due to unsafe stretching of muscles, muscle spindles initiate what’s called the myotatic reflex, the contraction of the stretching muscle. The power of the contraction corresponds with the extent and rate of the stretch that instigates it: the faster and more extensive the stretch, the more powerful the resulting contraction (this is the response at play in plyometric training). When the force of myotatic muscular contraction exceeds established limits, the golgi tendon organs initiate the inverse myotatic reflex, also called autogenic inhibition, which overwhelms any myotatic signals and causes the contraction to cease in an effort to prevent injury to muscles, tendons and ligaments. Essentially, stretching is helping proprioceptors become accustomed to positions beyond their present thresholds, therefore allowing a joint a greater range of motion before the initiation of the myotatic reflex. Additionally, holding a stretched position over time will allow autogenic inhibition to occur, which will then allow a greater stretch once muscular contraction has ceased. Stretching, simply put, is teaching our muscles to be comfortable at a greater length.

TYPES OF FLEXIBILITY There are two fundamental types of flexibil-

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A sarcomere either contracts completely or not at all; partial contraction is not possible. The total force generated by a muscular contraction, then, is based on the total number of motor units recruited by the nervous system for the movement in question. A contraction typically begins with the recruitment of the smallest and slowest contracting motor units and progresses to the larger and faster ones, allowing smooth, controlled movement.

how many sarcomeres are extended.

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To conveniently avoid discussing the aforementioned chemistry and distill the physiological process to its essence, muscular contraction begins with the enervation by the nervous system of some number of motor units (groups of muscle fibers controlled by a single motor neuron). This stimulation initiates a chemical change within the muscle cells, causing the involved sarcomeres to shorten as described above.

TYPES OF STRETCHING Ballistic Stretching Ballistic stretching is what you probably see when you watch your old Jazzercise videos: abrupt, jerky, bouncing movements that use momentum to forcefully push limbs to positions far past their present limits of range. This type of stretching is generally ill-advised due to its potential to cause injury and its relatively minimal returns. Chances are that you’ll simply tear muscle tissue, setting your flexibility back even further. Many athletic movements, of course, inherently and unavoidably involve some degree of ballistic stretching. Caution should be exercised in these cases: Ensure your muscles are adequately warm—muscles are most flexible at around 1-2 degrees Celsius above baseline body temperature—and stretch thoroughly prior to any potential ballistic activity. Dynamic Stretching Like ballistic stretching, dynamic stretching uses motion to move a limb beyond its limits. The critical distinction between the two, however, is the manner in which power is employed and increased range is achieved.

Again, to clearly distinguish between ballistic and dynamic stretching, with dynamic there should be a considerable difference in range between the first and last repetitions executed, whereas with ballistic, that final extended range is being attempted immediately and with every repetition. One you’ve reached maximum range, typically at around 8-12 repetitions, stop the movement. Muscles will fatigue with the demands of dynamic stretching, and as they fatigue, their flexibility will progressively decrease. As described earlier, essentially what stretching does is train your body to remember an extended range as being normal: repetitions following the peak of flexibility will be progressively shorter in range, while at the same time requiring more effort to execute. Your body will remember best what you do most or with the most effort: effectively you’ll overwrite the memories of that earlier maximal range with the shorter one. Static Stretching Undoubtedly the most common form of stretching, static stretching involves holding yourself still in a stretched position for a period of time. The (modified) hurdler’s stretch is an example of a typical static stretch (assuming the subject refrains from bouncing while in it). Static stretching can be achieved using your own strength to hold yourself in position, or employing a partner

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Following are distilled descriptions of those techniques. Committing these things to memory isn’t requisite to flexibility, but having at least a basic understanding of why you’re doing what you’re doing will help you continue to develop your flexibility program over time to appropriately suit your personal requirements and goals.

Dynamic stretching uses more controlled, deliberate motion of limbs to move them through a gradually increasing range of motion. This means doing several progressively more extensive repetitions of a movement until the range has eventually peaked. It’s vital to note here the element of control involved in dynamic stretching: while a substantial extension of the present range of motion can be achieved, it’s only reached through gradually increasing power. Each repetition is just powerful enough to adequately progress the limb to the next stage.

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ity: static and dynamic. As the terms suggest, the former is flexibility in a motionless state, whereas the latter is flexibility involving motion. Genuine flexibility involves both types, and therefore requires a variety of stretching techniques to achieve.

Isometric Stretching Static stretching can be considered both a type of stretching and a category of stretching inclusive of active, passive, and isometric stretching, descriptions of which follow. Active Stretching Active (AKA static-active) stretching involves slow, deliberate motion to reach a muscle’s limit of range and a static hold at that limit, using nothing more the contraction of muscles to stretch their antagonists. For example, contracting your hip flexors and quadriceps (agonists) to raise one leg in front of yourself stretches the hamstrings and glutes (antagonists). The contraction of a muscle, through a mechanism known as Reciprocal Inhibition, causes its antagonist to simultaneously relax; in this case, the contractions of the hip flexors and quads cause the glutes and hamstrings to relax, allowing a greater range of motion. Active stretching is difficult to execute for reasons of balance and agonist muscle strength, but regular active stretching will conveniently enough help improve both of these things along with your flexibility.

Isometric stretching, like passive, can also be filed under the category of static stretching because of its lack of motion. Isometric stretching simply adds the contraction of the muscle being stretched without allowing the body to move with the contraction (for example, holding a hurdler’s stretch while contracting the hamstrings and glutes as if you were attempting to flex your knee and extend your hip). This contraction effectively involves more muscle fibers in the stretch, which is why isometric stretching is considered to be one of the fastest routes to increased flexibility. PNF Stretching PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) stretching is possibly the manner of stretching that will increase your flexibility the quickest. In basic terms, PNF stretching uses your body’s natural mechanical vulnerabilities to increase the extent to which it will allow a muscle to stretch without activating a safety response that would impede the stretch. PNF Stretches involve a series of actions for each stretch. Following are two typical PNF stretch techniques.

Passive Stretching Passive stretching (AKA static-passive) and static stretching are often considered one and the same and the terms therefore used interchangeably, but technically, passive stretching is a distinct type of stretching appropriately filed in the static category. The distinction between the two is minor and probably ultimately without significant effect on any of our lives, but we might as well make it while we’re here: The term static stretching appropriately labels any stretch absent of motion, regardless of how that motionless stretch is held; passive stretching, however, technically involves no effort on the part of the stretcher (e.g. being held in a stretch by someone or something other than

Contract-Relax: The contract-relax involves entering a static stretch, then isometrically contracting the stretched muscle for 7-15 seconds, relaxing for 2-3 seconds, then repeating the initial static stretch for 10-15 seconds. Contract-Relax-Antagonist-Contract: My favorite (only partially because of the acronym it creates), the CRAC is performed by isometrically contracting the agonist muscle in the stretch for 7-15 seconds, then contracting the antagonist immediately for 7-15 seconds (e.g., in a hurdler’s stretch, contracting the hamstrings and glutes, then the quads and hip flexors).

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your own strength).

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or any other heavy and/or immobile object willing to cooperate.

I’d additionally encourage stretching at least once a day regardless of the presence or absence of athletic activity. I’ve found it easiest to stretch every night an hour or two before sleeping. It seems that’s most consistent part of my day, and therefore is very accommodating of routine. Stretching in the morning as well is a good idea, but morning stretching should be much gentler; don’t expect to be as flexible in the morning as you are at your peak hours of the afternoon.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

How Long to Stretch

Now that you have an understanding of the basic physiology behind muscular contraction and extension, as well as a new collection of impressive terms like proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, how do you apply this newfound genius and actually increase your flexibility?

The duration that stretches should be held is a definite point contention among various sources. Recommendations for static stretching range from 15 to 60 seconds. 30 seconds generally seems to be a reasonable duration, but I’d recommend experimenting yourself with shorter and longer durations. For PNF stretches, the contraction phases should be maintained for 7-15 seconds each with 20 seconds of rest between stretches of the same muscles. Experiment with sets of anywhere from 1-5 repetitions. Dynamic stretches should be limited to 8-12 repetitions.

When to Stretch There are two key times when stretching is most beneficial: during the warm-up and cool-down phases of a workout or other athletic activity. Keep in mind, stretching in and of itself is not a warm-up; stretching is merely a component of a warm-up. As the term suggests, the purpose of a warm-up is to actually raise your body temperature approximately 1 – 2 degrees Celsius. At this temperature, your muscles are at their highest potential for flexibility, and your blood circulation and various other processes like synovial fluid secretion in your joints are optimal. Once adequately warmed-up, you can progress from static to dynamic stretching in order to prepare your body for exertion. Your cool-down stretching should be

What to Stretch Following are demonstrations and descriptions of several stretches you can employ in the regular stretching routine I’m confident you’ll establish immediately upon your completion of this article. While this list is not exhaustive—there are a seemingly endless number of stretches, each of which has a multitude of variations—it will provide you with more than enough to create a comprehensive flexibility program.

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With any PNF stretches, muscles should be allowed about 20 seconds of rest before being stretched again. Some sources recommend repeating a PNF stretch 3-5 times, while others argue that repetitions beyond one don’t significantly improve results. If you’re short on time, perform one rep of each PNF stretch. Otherwise, I’d recommend experimenting yourself with multiple repetitions: logic seems to dictate that more stretching will produce more flexibility.

similar to that in the warm-up, but reversed in order: dynamic stretching first and static second, both following some kind of cooldown activity. Warm-up stretching should be comparatively gentler to your cool-down stretching; the cool-down process is your best opportunity to perform your most intense stretching.

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There are some more obscure PNF techniques involving dynamic and even ballistic components, but because of their potential for injury if performed improperly, we’re going to skip those. If you’re interested, find a coach who can guide you through them and closely supervise your technique.

Hold a piece of PVC or dowel or similar lightweight implement with a snatch grip: your hands should be positioned at a width that places the bar 8-12 inches over your head with your elbows locked and your shoulders and traps engaged. Your feet should be in the snatch landing position. With your hands overhead as described, slowly sink into a squat, pushing your hips back and maintaining a straight back. Coach Mike Burgener uses a close-grip variation of the Overhead Squat as a guage of flexibility: Move your hands and feet progressively closer together before sinking into the squat while remaining as upright as possible [pictured below on the right].

BACK BEND Lie on your back and position your hands outside your shoulders with your feet flat on the floor. Press up as you arch your back. Progress as you become more flexible into a higher arch with greater arm extension.

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Yes, it’s a stretch too. One that most of us need a lot of work on. The capability of achieving this position is a tremendous foundation on which to build your olympic and power lifts as well as nearly every other athletic movement.

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OVERHEAD SQUAT

This is the position you’ll find yourself in when doing split jerks. Shift the emphasis of the stretch by straightening or bending the back leg.

This is commonly mis-performed stretch. Keep your legs and back straight; a rounded back shifts the stretch from the hamstrings to your lower back.

HIP STRETCH Place one bent leg beneath yourself and shift your weight forward and down to press your knee toward your chest. A more advanced variation keeps the bottom leg at a 90 degree angle.

BUTTERFLY This is another stretch commonly but mistakenly performed with a rounded back. Keep your back tight and straight and attempt to roll your pelvis forward.

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STRAIGHT LEG HAMSTRING STRETCH

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LUNGE

SIDE SPLITS Again, it’s important in this stretch to maintain a straight back. Place your hands behind you if you need support and push your pelvis forward, simultaneously rocking it down.

FRONT SPLITS Your front leg should be straight with your toes pointed, your back leg face down. Your pelvis should be aligned straight with your legs.

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Kneel with the tops of your feet flat on the ground and slowly lower yourself backward until your upper back is resting on the floor. If you’re unable to achieve this position, try keeping one leg straight out in front of you. If that proves too difficult, lie on your side with your bottom leg straight, and bend the top leg, grabbing your shin to pull your foot toward the back of the bent leg.

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QUADRICEP STRETCH

REVERSE SHOULDER DISLOCATES In preparation for the same arc described above, hold the PVC behind yourself with your palms facing forward, and bring the PVC overhead to the front of your hips.

BEHIND THE BACK THINGS Ultimately your goal is to be able to grab your own hand behind your back as pictured below on the right. Until you reach that point, a length of PVC or something similar can be used.

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Hold a piece of PVC or similar implement in front of yourself with your palms facing backward. Maintaining straight arms, carefully raise the PVC in an arc over your head and to your back. The closer together your hands are, the more difficult the stretch.

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SHOULDER DISLOCATES

Grab something level behind yourself (Parallel bars, mantle, etc.) and sink down while keeping your torso upright.

Grab something level in front of yourself and lever your straight arms up and away from your chest.

CHEST / SHOULDER STRETCH

EXTERNAL ROTATOR STRETCH

Lying flat with one arm to your side and flex 90 degrees, rotate your hips toward the arm, effectively pulling it backward.

Place the back of one hand behind your hip and with the other, hold your elbow or upper arm and pull it forward.

FOREARM / WRIST STRETCHES There are many variations of these; simply make sure you’re stretching in all directions.

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FRONT END ALIGNMENT

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BICEP / ANTERIOR DELT STRETCH

CONCLUSION Flexibility is something that requires work and maintenance, just like everything else related to physical conditioning. That means somehow incorporating a regular stretching routine into your training. You simply cannot expect any kind of substantial results by haphazardly throwing in a few randomly chosen stretches when you happen to think of it. Develop regularity, and not only will stretching quickly become second nature, but you’ll achieve impressive flexibility in

a relatively short period of time. If you’ve reached this point, you’ve officially invalidated any excuse to not stretch. No more “What about Yoga?” No more “I don’t know how to stretch.” If you value athletic ability, you cannot avoid valuing flexibility: it’s a necessary component of athleticism, not an additional pursuit. So do it.

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For each of the stretches pictured below, raise your leg slowly using muscle contraction only: remember, active-static, not ballistic or dynamic. Once at the peak, hold the position using only muscular contraction.

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ACTIVE STRETCHES

low can and is our personal favorite. One only needs some protein of choice, a can opener, and a can of El Pato to prepare a veritable feast.

Cooking Slow with El Pato The slow cooker or crock-pot is an absolute essential for those with busy schedules. To walk through the front door at the end of the day and be enveloped by a fragrant hot meal is a reality that is amazingly simple to create. One can also opt to start the slow cooker before bed and awake to a full day’s meals; your choice.

It’s easy: Add meat to the slow cooker, then add some El Pato. Set the slow cooker either on low (will take a minimum of 4 hours and a maximum of 7-8) or high (approx 23 hours) and then go about your business. Your tasty meal will be cooking along while you perform feats of multi-tasking greatness.

While most anything can be thrown into a slow cooker, we have one favorite ingredient that is sure to make the meal a winner: El Pato.

El Pato Scramble

El Pato is a spicy Mexican tomato sauce. There are two varieties: Mexican hot style, and jalapeno. The Mexican hot style comes in a yel-

Guess what? El Pato is great with eggs! Simply mix half a can of El Pato with your favorite scramble recipe. You’ll love it.

On the Sweeter Side Sweet Potato Pudding Time: Baking - 35 minutes; 10 minutes - microwave Ingredients:

. 1 medium sweet potato . ½ cup coconut milk . Cardamom to taste (approx 1/8 tsp.) Bake a medium sized sweet potato until a fork is easily inserted (approximately 30 minutes.) You can also microwave it for approximately 5 minutes if you are pinched for time. Peel the skin. Shake can of coconut milk to thoroughly mix contents. In mixing bowl combine sweet

potato and ½ cup coconut milk. Blend with a hand mixer until creamy. Add cardamom to taste. This recipe can be served warm or chilled. Zone blocks: ½ cup coconut milk contains 16 blocks fat. 100g of sweet potato = 2 blocks carb. Weigh sweet potato to determine total carb blocks. Recipe as prepared above yields approximately 2 cups pudding. Measure total pudding volume and divide by carb and fat blocks to determine a serving appropriate for your block needs. Note: 1 Tbs of coconut milk = 2 blocks fat. This conversion may be of assistance for those wishing to more precisely tailor fat blocks.

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Bring on The Duck!

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RECIPES FOR PERFORMANCE

Have you ever noticed how certain foods go together? Beer and pizza, peanut butter and chocolate? Sorry, we are not recommending chocolate or pizza at the present moment, but we do have a good paleo friendly combo: chicken and apples. Perhaps not the Abbot and Costello of the food world, but chicken and apples do make quite a flavor combination. We also have a few favorite spices that bring out the natural flavor of both fruit and fowl. For this month’s feature breakfast we would like to share a chicken apple hash with a few seasoning twists.

Grate 2 Fuji apples, include the pits if you are feeling particularly Paleo and would like a small dose of anti cancer fun. Place a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add a generous amount of olive oil. Add 1-2 tsp. of any of the above spices to the oil and allow to infuse for ~2min. If you are using more than one spice keep the amount to 1 tsp. each unless you enjoy intensely flavored food. We particularly like a hash with a lot of cinnamon. We will use as much as 1 Tbs. in this recipe. Give it a try and see if you like it!

Time: 15min Ingredients:

. Free range boneless skinless chicken breast (turkey works as well especially if one can find the ground variety) . Fresh Fuji apples - Look for these at your farmers market as they are at the height of the season. . Jamaican All Spice . Garam Massala . Cinnamon . Extra Virgin Olive Oil We have used all of the spices listed above either singularly or in combination to create several varieties of chicken apple hash. These spices tend to be forgiving if overused so be creative and experiment with what you find to be the ultimate hash. Mince or finely chop chicken breast. Some butcher shops and better super markets will grind the chicken breast for you. This is preferable as it will result in better consis-

Add chicken to the infused oil and stir frequently to brown the chicken on all sides. When the chicken is almost completely brown add the apples and cover pan for 35 min stirring occasionally. If the hash becomes a bit watery because of moisture from the apples increase heat to medium-high for a few minutes and finish cooking uncovered until the apples have cooked down. Serve with cinnamon infused espresso Zone Blocks: This recipe is particularly friendly to the Zone. Our 1 block proportions are: 1oz chicken breast for protein, 1/2 an apple for the carbs, 1/3 tsp olive oil supplies the fat. To construct a meal of a particular block measure simply multiply the above measure appropriately. Remember to add extra fat blocks if you are using chicken or turkey breast as they are very low fat. If one is following the Athletes Zone as much as 2 Tbs. of olive oil will be necessary to round out a 4 block meal with 5x fat.

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tency.

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Chicken Apple Hash

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