The unfortunate result of this last month or two of universal discord has been a rather unsavory downturn in my health.  You know, the kind of adrenal fatigue that goes beyond a simple feeling of laziness and prolonged soreness.  I’m talking several nights in a row of no sleep (and subsequent abuse of caffiene), complete loss of appetite followed by complete insatiability followed by over-exercising to compensate.  A few too many glasses of wine.  Oh, and my complete failure to put my personal issues behind me.  So the cycle continues….and here I am, finally laid up with a heinous winter cold (pleasepleaseplease don’t be the flu…), bloated, tired, sore, and miserable.

I had to make a painful decision to take some time off from the gym and recover properly.  The last couple of days I’ve walked my pups and gone to a couple of yoga classes, and the sad thing is that those were hard enough.  I couldn’t keep my balance to save my life on Sunday at my regular dharma practice, and I consider myself a pretty advanced yogini.  It was bad.  A 2-mile loop around the neighborhood yesterday left me winded.  I know a lot of people say that exercise is good when you’re sick, and can be, but when your body and mind are just shot…proper nutrition and the need for sleep trump the gym.  It kills me because I’m sure I’ll probably take a hit on some of my numbers, but I was getting weaker already because I was working too hard.  Like Melissa and Dallas of the Whole9 stress so often, health is related to sleep, nutrition, and exercise–in that order.

Sometimes the best workouts are the simplest ones–thus why I LOVE Crossfit so much  Yesterday’s workout wasn’t atr my gym, though, it was at my office.  Well, out back at the fitness area.  They completely re-did it with 6 or 7 Oly platforms, sleds, C2′s, tires, you name it.  So my friend Marty and I went out and made up a little partner workout.  Marty is fresh off ankle surgery so we had to think of something that put as little pressure on his feet as possible but that would still make us work.

This is AWESOME for anyone with a lower body injury or just a lot of soreness from an intense leg workout.  You could also do this alone but working as a pair gives you some incentive to get done quicker

5 Rounds

Partner 1 pulls the sled attached to a climbing rope 25 meters from a seated position.  Get up, turn the sled around, jog the rope out another 25 meters and pull it back.

Meanwhile, Partner 2 slams a tire with a sledgehammer while Partner 1 finishes his rope pulls.  Be sure to alternate sides.

Yep.  I was smoked.  And promptly re-fueled with some dark chocolate

Yesterday we went up to Round Rock to Heroes’ Crossfit for a workout…and what a workout!

In pairs, we completed the following chipper…

200m Farmers Carry

175 Double Unders

150 Supermen

125 Kettlebell Swings (1 pood)

100 Wall Balls (14/20 #)

75 Box Jumps (20/24″)

50 Burpees

25 Pull Ups

Woke up this morning with some wicked soreness across my chest and back. Success!!

My first guest post! Hi everybody, I’m Ross – Camilla’s husband. I know I’m referenced a lot on the blog, but I mostly stay behind the scenes, doing my own thing. Camilla and I are both busy young professionals, and with my travel schedule I rarely have the time to do anything like this. But, as most of you know by now, Camilla is going to be gone for the next few days, so she asked me to step up and write a little piece for the blog. (Sorry about her absence, by the way, but sometimes in the military it’s just unavoidable.)

Camilla’s been documenting her journey through the 21DSD – the meal plans, the low carb flu, the cravings, etc. She has sworn by the program for a while now but I have a slightly different perspective, mostly due to the physical requirements of my current athletic regimen. The bottom line, as you’ve no doubt gleaned from the title, is that the 21DSD just flat out doesn’t work for athletes. At least it didn’t work for me. Now I’m sure there are some who can and will quibble with this. If you’re one of those rare genetic freaks who can live on a nearly ketogenic diet and still crush a metcon, good for you. But you know what? You’re not most of us. Yes, I realize the 21DSD has a prescription for athletes – ½ cup of sweet potato per glycolitically demanding workout. But I’ve discovered that if you want to live a truly primal lifestyle, one with long periods of low impact cardio, lifting heavy weights, and brief bouts of intense physical activity, you just plain need some carbs!

Obviously, we knew going into the 21DSD that our performance would suffer on some things. I just didn’t realize how much. I think most of Camilla’s readers know I travel a lot, but I always take pains to get in some sort of activity when I’m gone, even if it’s just a round of burpees in a hotel room. Well, toward the beginning of our second week on the detox I was in Boston. I wandered down to my hotel gym to find the usual: a couple of ellipticals, a couple of treadmills, a small selection of low-weight dumbbells, and the cutest little 2.5 pound kettlebell you ever saw! Yes, there was seriously a 2.5 pound kettlebell. I don’t know what you’d do with such a thing, but it was adorbs! Anyway, while I’ve generally given up my addiction to “chronic cardio” I decided that the time was ripe to run a 5k just to see where I was at. I did a brief warmup with a walk/jog then dialed up the speed to a pretty reasonable pace for me (about a 7-minute mile). I started striding and things seemed fine for the first quarter mile. Then I started sucking wind. Then I started feeling, well…$h!tty is the only way I can put it. I stopped at one mile. That’s right, a mile. Keep in mind that I used to be a marathon/ultra-marathon runner. To crap out after one mile is pretty much unthinkable. Okay, I figured, this must be my lack of carbs. I’ll just run two more mile segments, treating them like mile repeats, just at a lower pace than usual, right? Think again! I dialed up a slower speed (about 7:30) and ran until I thought I was about to fall off the treadmill. Want go guess how far I made it? Zero point five five miles. That’s right, I thought I was going to collapse after exactly half my originally planned 5k.

Alright, I figured, the 21DSD was kicking my ass on cardio, but no biggie. I could totally redeem myself in the gym the next day because I was eating so much protein and healthy fat. Well, 21DSD – 2, Ross – 0. I’m currently doing some intermediate routines out of Mark Rippetoe’s “Practical Programming.” I got through my prescribed squat and shoulder press sessions feeling fine, even thinking I could have upped my weight considerably and still completed the prescribed workout. Then I got to the deadlift. The issue here is that, unlike the squat and the press, the deadlift is an explosive movement off the ground. Know what you need for explosive movements? Glycogen. I was supposed to do a round of lifts ten pounds higher than I had managed the week prior, a progression that shouldn’t have been difficult given adequate nutrition, hydration, and rest, two of which I had in abundance. Went down, grabbed the bar and…nothing. Not even a half inch of movement off the ground. Once again, I figured out what was going on, but I decided to drive on with the end of my workout. I dropped twenty pounds of weight, to well under what I had done the previous week. Settled in, got my stance and my grip, explosive movement and…nothing. I couldn’t even lift a bar for one rep loaded nearly fifty pounds below my 1RM.

I won’t even bore you with the details of what happened when I attempted a metcon the following week. Let’s just say the 21DSD struck again, and I completely embarrassed myself while trying out a new XFit gym in town. Pretty sure they have me pegged as a total n00b.

Look, the 21DSD illustrates some very important principles. For one, it’s educational to realize just how hard it is to find products that don’t contain sugar in this country. For another, I’m honestly still reaping a lot of the gains from the program. My energy levels stay constant throughout the day, my mood has improved, and I sleep very soundly at night. But at the end of the day you have to realize that this is a nutrition program completely devoid of true planning for athletes. It’s designed to introduce people to the Paleo diet, or to help them get more strict with their diet, not to help them progress as athletes. So, what to do? Well, to tell the truth, I’m no longer following the 21DSD. Frankly, I’m not going to sacrifice my athletic performance just so I can claim that I “toughed it out” for one more week. On the other hand, I’m still doing it “in spirit,” just not following the letter of the law. I’m back to eating starchy vegetables (mmmm, sweet potatoes), supplementing with whey before and after workouts, and eating fruit for quick bursts of energy. I still refuse to put any sort of added sugar into my diet because, well, that crap is killing us! Seriously, wheat, corn, and sugar alone are probably the primary drivers of the obesity crisis. If you eliminate them from your diet you’re practically guaranteed to stabilize your weight and improve your health across all sorts of – wait for it – modal domains. Personally (burn me in effigy if you choose) I think the jury is still out on dairy, especially for those of us descended from Vikings, which is why I’m back to eating (sugar free) Greek yogurt and drinking whole milk. And you know what? I’m already stronger and doing better in metcons. Go figure.

I think the 21DSD is a great program, and everyone should try it. But nothing – NOTHING – in the Paleo/Primal community should be a sacred cow. And we know everyone needs to experiment with all aspects of their diet to find what works for them as individuals. The 21DSD didn’t work for me, in the sense of me being a power athlete who’s trying to get stronger and faster. But if you’re new to the lifestyle and still mostly sedentary, go for it! Do it as prescribed, because you’ll reap all sorts of benefits. However, if you’re like me and still trying to crush your workouts on this program and not making progress, well it’s probably time to consider what you want. Do you want to tell people you did the 21DSD? Do you want to have the satisfaction of having completed it? Or would you rather decrease your Fran time and up your deadlift by 20 pounds this month? You can’t have your cake and eat it too. My story is anecdotal, with a sample size of n=1, but I’m pretty sure this applies to nearly everyone out there. Try things, experiment with them, find what works for you, then implement it. There’s nothing wrong with figuring out that your individual biochemistry doesn’t work with the 21DSD and saying, “that was two weeks well spent. Now it’s time to go to the gym and lift heavy weights.”

Here’s how I was looking right before I stepped on stage.

Since then, I’m up 9 pounds (about 4-5 is probably water weight, admittedly). Here’s how I was looking this morning.

You know, the extra bacon has been treating me well! My arms and legs are definitely bigger but I’m still pretty lean. Granted, I still wish I had Rose’s abs…trust me, I’m working on it

So it looks like I’ll be out of the loop until next week.  There’s a lot going on, as I’ve hinted with the whole getting-out-of-the-Army-and-figuring-out-what-to-do-with-my-life deal, but I won’t bore you with details yet.  Everything is fine but I’ll be the first to admit it’s all been a bit overwhelming the last few days.

Awesomely enough, though, I’ve got a little vacation to look forward to.  We’ll be flying to Austin this week primarily to take care of some personal business (I’m still a Texas resident and we own a house there still, blah blah blah), but we’re making a long weekend of it as a chance to get away.  I’m already putting together a Paleo-Taste-of-Austin piece for TGIPaleo, so keep an eye out for it!  I also have a bunch of recipes getting posted this week (all 21DSD-approved), so for those of you on the home stretch–and even if you’re not and just want a good meal–, check ‘em out!

Also, I finally–FINALLY–got a Facebook Page!  Look at me, being all social and stuff

Breakfast - Plantain Pancakes

Lunch - Chicken Sausage, Eggs, and Sauteed Spinach

Snacks - Fish Oil, Kombucha

Dinner - Leftover Thai Pork, Spinach, Parsnips, and Spaghetti Squash (can you tell it’s leftover night?)

Today’s yoga class went really well.  I’m still a little sore from my squat workout the other day, but surprisingly flexible.  I was sitting on the short end of the block for splits today–the farthest I’ve ever gotten!–and had some solid handstands.  Strength and flexibility…can’t have one without the other!

**Yoga**

1 1/2 Hours Vinyasa

Breakfast - Sunny Side Up Eggs on Turnip and Sweet Potato Purée (Best. Breakfast. Ever.)

Lunch – Almond Butter Sandwich on PWO Bread

Snacks – PWO Shake (egg white protein/coconut water), Kombucha

Dinner – Out on the Town! Got a Ribeye and Mixed Veggies, and Naked Wings as an appetizer

Dessert – Cookies. Again. I need an intervention.

500 m Row

Dynamic Stretches

**Strength**

Strict Press 5 x 40%, 50%, 3 x 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%

Bar Curl 3 x 10

Cable Pulldown 3 x 10, 1 x BO

Lateral Raise 3 x 10

Bar Pulldown 4 x 10

Cable Pull-up 4 x 10

**Cardio**

Incline Walk, 10 mins (4.5 mph, 10.0% incline)

**Cool-Down**

Stretch and Foam Roll

“1.) You will not get stronger without overload.

This one is simple. Training has two guiding principles–volume and intensity. The first refers to the number of repetitions performed, while the second refers to the relative demand those repetitions place on the body. Over time, you must expose your body to gradually increasing volume in order to reap fitness benefits. You must keep intensity high throughout.

I like to track this in my workout log by recording the total amount of weight lifted in any session divided by the number of repetitions performed in that session. This calculation gives an average weight per repetition. This number must increase over time, or you’re just spinning your wheels.

2.) You will not get bigger without eating more or smaller without increasing energy expenditure.

My buddy Eva Claire loves this one. All the girls want to get smaller and all the boys want to get bigger. Most women try to get smaller by eating less when they would be better served by increasing their energy expenditure. Most men try to get bigger by increasing their energy expenditure, although they’d be better served by eating more.

Each gender should take a page out of the other’s playbook.

Eating less only serves to lower your metabolic rate, meaning your body will attempt to conserve every precious calorie for future use. What goes in stays in, stored as fat. Rather than lower their metabolic rate, women would be better served by lifting heavy to maintain lean muscle mass and exercising with high intensity to ramp up fat-burning.

In the same vein, lifting heavy and often will only increase lean muscle mass if the attendant caloric intake will support the new tissue. The boys need to take in more food, not lift more. Nonetheless, they’ll spend three hours a day in the gym, burning off those stray calories that would’ve turned into new tissue if energy expenditure had been a little lower.

3.) Steady-state cardiovascular work will not lead to fitness.

The body uses three distinct energy pathways, each employed based on the demands placed on the body. Two of these systems (the alactic acid system and the glycolytic system) are called into play when the rate of muscle contraction exceeds the body’s ability to produce contractions using oxygen.

These two systems, collectively known as the anaerobic systems, are not trained during steady-state cardiovascular work. Steady-state work utilizes the aerobic energy system, which is only capable of producing muscle contractions in the presence of oxygen.

Unfortunately, the anaerobic systems are critical for high to moderate power output activities, such as the squat, the clean and jerk, and the 400-meter sprint. If they aren’t properly developed, the corresponding activities suffer.

Road jocks aren’t worth a damn when it comes to performing anaerobic activities, because they haven’t developed the contractile strength that comes with heavy anaerobic training. Primary practitioners of steady-state cardiovascular work are incomplete athletes.

4.) Mental focus is more critical to training success than physical ability.

We are limited by our bodies, but our true limitations exist in the mind. Flat-out lying to an athlete about weight on the bar will often get them to lift a personal best, absence any organic change in the body. I attribute this phenomenon to the power of belief. “Knowing” that you can do something will instantly bring you closer to doing it. Combine an ardent belief with months of training, and you have a recipe for excellence.

On the flip side, God-given ability is easily negated by a poor outlook. I’ve seen otherwise-talented sandbaggers spend a lot of time claiming inability, giving them a ready-made hedge against failure. These folks fail a lot, and they remain in the realm of the novice athlete for years.

5.) There is an inverse relationship between the complexity of a piece of exercise equipment and its effectiveness.

The most effective implements for building lean muscle tissue and shedding fat are heavy, blunt, and simple. They have few or no moving parts, and they don’t plug into the wall. A barbell, some weights, a few dumbbells, and a pull-up bar are all you need to achieve world-class fitness. Everything else just adds variety.

By their nature, these things require effort to use. You’ve got to pick them up off the ground and hoist them around. They don’t give you a place to sit, and they don’t read your heart rate every ten seconds.

If your exercise regimen involves blinking lights, vibrating seats, or imbedded televisions, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Find the stuff that’s cold and heavy and made of metal. It’s the only route to fitness.”