The Box - November 2014 USA PDF

3
Vol.
%(5
129(0
Issue 3
GROUP PUBLISHER Cheryl Angelheart

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jordana Brown
GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR Alexander Norouzi
GROUP ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Donna Diamond
ADVERTISING ACCOUNT MANAGERS Al Berman, BJ Ghiglione,
Julie Stone, Laura (Flores) Thorne
COPY CHIEF Jeannine Santiago
COPY EDITOR Gretchen Haas
SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR Vicki Baker
ART DIRECTORS Dana Collins, Paul Duarte, Andrius Krasuckas
PRODUCTION MANAGER Patrick Sternkopf
VIDEO AND PHOTO EDITOR Richard Alexander
WEB EDITOR Maureen Farrar
A/R MANAGER Alice C. Negrete
MARKETING MANAGER Laureen OBrien
CONTRIBUTORS
Julian Alcaraz; Lindsay Berra; Dean Brierly; Nicholas Cameron;
Mike Carlson; Annie Cullinane; Marc Gio; Bob LeFavi, Ph.D., CSCS,
USAW; Matthew Kadey, MS, RD; David Lipson; C.J. Logan; Brandon
Murray; Elke S. Nelson, Ph.D.; Robert Reiff; Abi Reiland; Isaiah
Rhodes, NSCA-CPT; Anja Shlein; James Toland
CHAIRMAN & CEO Efrem Zimbalist III

PRESIDENT & COO Andrew W. Clurman
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CFO Brian J. Sellstrom
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS Patricia B. Fox
VICE PRESIDENT GENERAL MANAGER Kim Paulsen
VICE PRESIDENT OF DIGITAL Jason Brown
VICE PRESIDENT OF IT Nelson Saenz
The Box Magazine is printed bimonthly in the U.S.A. 2014 by Active Interest Media,
Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly
prohibited. The information in The Box Magazine is for educational purposes only. Its not
intended to replace the advice or attention of health care professionals. Consult your physician before making changes in your diet, supplement and/or exercise program. THE BOX
MAGAZINE, 24900 Anza Dr., Unit E, Valencia, CA 91355 - Toll Free: (800) 423-2874
CONTENTS
NOVEMBER 2014
FEATURES
26
THE FISHER QUEEN

Lauren Fisher came out of
nowhere at the SoCal Regional
to nab a spot to compete at
the 2014 Reebok CrossFit
Games. Now, the 20-year-old
powerhouse represents the
next generation of CrossFit
competitor.
By Lindsay Berra
DEPARTMENTS
8
CROSSTALK
Research, News, Technique
16 EXERCISE ANATOMY
Muscle-Up
31 CROSSFIT AT ANY AGE

7KHVSRUWRIWQHVVPD\
seem like the playground for
the young, but as anyone
whos walked into a box
knows, athletes of all ages are
throwing down on the daily.
Still, the body changes as it
ages, and the smart athlete is
the one who pays attention,
learns and adapts.
By Lindsay Berra
18 THE SCIENCE OF MOVEMENT

Belt Up
20 FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The Power of Pre-Made Meals
22 INSIDE THE BOX
CrossFit Santa Barbara
24 GEAR BOX
Functional Feetness
40 TIP THE SCALE

Scaling can be the difference
between a successful CrossFit
endeavor and a training failure.
Make sure youre scaling
wisely with these tips.
By C.J. Logan
58 COMMUNITY SPIRIT:
CrossFit Faces
Leveling Up
Bed, Box and Beyond
66 WOM
30-30-30
48 NUTRITION 101
Performance isnt just built in the
box, its also built on the plate.
By Matthew Kadey, MS, RD
FOLLOW US ON:
/THEBOXMAG
@THEBOX_MAGAZINE
DISCLAIMER: THE BOX MAGAZINE is an Active Interest Media publication. AIM, as publisher, does not endorse and makes no representation, warranty or guarantee concerning the safety or effectiveness of either the
products and services advertised in this magazine or the weightlifting or other techniques discussed or illustrated in this magazine. The publisher expressly disclaims any and all liability relating to the manufacture, sale or
use of such products and services and the application of the exercises discussed or illustrated in this magazine. The purchase or use of some of the products, services or techniques advertised or discussed in this magazine
may be illegal in some areas of the United States or other countries. Therefore, you should check federal, state and local laws prior to your purchase or use of these products, services or techniques. The publisher makes
no representation or warranty concerning the legality of the purchase or use of these products, services and techniques in the United States or elsewhere. Because of the nature of some of the products, services and
techniques advertised or discussed in this magazine, you should consult a physician before using these products or services or applying these exercise techniques.
7+(%2;0$*$=,1(LVDQ$FWLYH,QWHUHVW0HGLDSXEOLFDWLRQDQGLVQRWDIOLDWHGZLWKRUHQGRUVHGE\&URVV)LW,QFRU&URVV)LWFRP
6 THE BOX NOVEMBER 2014
THEBOXMAG.COM
Photo by Robert Reiff
56 PALEO KITCHEN: SWEET

N SAVORY ROASTED
BUTTERNUT SQUASH
Whether youre looking for
Paleo-friendly preworkout
carbohydrates or youre in
need of a veggie option to
accompany dinner, this recipe
wont let you down.
By Elke S. Nelson, Ph.D.
.
AVERAGE DOESNT
LOOK AT THE INGREDIENTS
Delicious, Whole-Food-Based
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Energizing formula provides 1 full serving of fruits

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*Based upon air-dried fruits and vegetables. ^Our products are tested by an independent third party lab for genetically modified material and test below a 0.9%
threshold. This product has been tested by HFL Sport Science, a world-class anti-doping lab, for over 145 banned substances on the 2014 World
Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibited list via HFL skip lot testing protocol #ICP0307 and has been certified banned substance free. These statements have
not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Call 1.800.477.4462
or visit GNC.com for the store nearest you. 2014 General Nutrition Corporation. May not be available outside the U.S.
CrossTalk
NOVEMBER 2014
BY C.J. LOGAN
Perfection is
not attainable,
but if we chase
perfection
we can catch
excellence.
Photo Courtesy of CrossFit, Inc.
Vince Lombardi, coaching icon
Rich Froning
CrossTalk
FUEL FOR
THOUGHT
Simple answers to pressing

nutrition questions, with Melissa
Gerharter
Q: I CrossFit at 9:30 a.m., but
by 3 or 4 p.m., I crash hard I
have no energy and Im really
tired. Im assuming its nutrition
related. What snack will quickly
get me up and going again?
A: Here are some proven tips to
help you avoid the midafternoon
slump and the urge to grab someWKLQJVXJDU\DVDTXLFN[)LUVW
stay hydrated. Drinking water
early and often can help you feel
energized and alert. The Adequate
Intake (AI) is 2.7 liters (about 91
ounces) per day for women and
OLWHUVDERXWRXQFHVIRU
men. Second, stay ahead of your
hunger. Fueling throughout the
day, especially around your workouts, will help you maintain energy
levels. Eat an appropriate pre- and
post-WOD snack of approximately
150 calories (depending on your
goals), and have a balance of protein and carbohydrates every three
to four hours to keep your energy
levels at their peak. A good midafternoon nosh could be a nut mix,
jerky and a piece of fruit or a small
salad loaded with veggies and
lean protein. Also, dont be afraid
to have two lunches. If you eat a
post-WOD snack at around 10:45
WRDPKDYLQJDVHFRQG
lunch at around 2 p.m. is totally
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because its no longer lunchtime.
Listen to your body.
Melissa Gerharter, MS, RD, CSSD,
is co-owner of Joust Strength + Fitness, a CrossFit gym in Ann Arbor,
Michigan. She is also a sports
dietitian who counsels athletes of
all levels. She can be reached at
PHOLVVD#MRXVWWQHVVFRP
>> When training, CrossFitters generally

perform jumping exercises to enhance speed
and power output (e.g., via untimed sets of box
jumps) or as a means of conditioning (e.g., timed
high-rep sets of double-unders or burpees). New
research published in the Journal of Strength
and Conditioning Research says that when
power output is the objective, cluster training
with low rep-and-rest intervals is the way to go
versus a moderate rep-and-rest scheme.
Researchers at California State University,
Fullerton, tested 26 trained college men doing
bodyweight plyometric squat jumps using three
different protocols, each in a separate testing
session. The traditional protocol employed
two sets of 10 reps with 90 seconds of rest
between sets, Cluster 1 involved four sets of
YHUHSVZLWKVHFRQGVRIUHVWDQG&OXVWHU
consisted of 10 sets of two reps with 10 seconds
of rest between sets. The test results weighed
heavily in favor of the clusters. Plyometric jump
power, takeoff velocity and jump height were all
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the clusters (Cluster 2 in particular) compared
to the traditional 2x10 scheme. The researchers
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sets of plyometric jumps and 27 to 45 seconds
of rest between sets when aiming for enhanced
power output. Higher-rep sets? Save those for
met-cons.
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NOVEMBER 2014 THE BOX 11
CrossTalk
DRINK
RESPONSIBLY
(MEANING LESS)
>> Think one night of hard drinking wont do you
any harm? A new study published in the journal
PLOS ONE begs to differ. Researchers at the
University of Massachusetts Medical School had
11 men and 14 women imbibe enough in one
hour to raise their blood alcohol content to 0.08
g/dl something many Americans do multiple
times every week. After testing subjects blood
samples over a four-hour period during the
experiment and again the next day, the UMass
team observed rapid increases in blood toxins
DWOHYHOVKLJKHQRXJKWRFDXVHLQDPPDWLRQDQG
tissue destruction. Gyongyi Szabo, M.D., Ph.D.,
one of the study authors, noted that even one
excessive drinking bout can induce potentially
harmful immune responses in otherwise healthy
individuals. Interestingly, women exhibited higher
levels of blood toxins than men in this experiment.
Regardless of gender, next time you meet friends
for happy hour, have one or two drinks, not four or
YHRUPRUH
20
Percent higher mortality

risk of men with waist
sizes 43 and greater
compared to those with
waists under 35 inches,
according to a recent
study led by Mayo
Clinic researcher James
Cerhan, M.D., Ph.D. In
the same study, women
with waist sizes 37
inches and greater had
a whopping 80 percent
greater mortality risk
than those with waists 27
inches or less.
PROCESSED
INFORMATION
>> Nutrition-conscious CrossFitters

have pretty much known all along that
unprocessed meats beat the processed
type any day, and twice on Sunday.
Recently, the American Heart Association,
via its journal Circulation: Heart Failure,
reinforced this stance with some stark
numbers pointing directly at men. Over a
12-year period, more than 37,000 males
45 to 79 years old were analyzed as part
of the Cohort of Swedish Men study.
Those who ate the most processed red
meat (75 grams or more per day) had a
28 percent greater risk of heart failure
and twice the chance of death from the
condition than those who consumed 25
grams or less daily. The data also revealed
that for every 50-gram increase in daily
processed red-meat consumption, heartfailure risk rose by 8 percent and death
ULVNE\SHUFHQW7KHVSHFLFSURFHVVHG
meats referenced in the study were ham
and salami cold cuts, sausage, bacon and
hot dogs, so tread lightly around those
options, as tasty as they may be.
THEBOXMAG.COM
PERFORMANCE BEGINS WITH PREPARATION

Recovering with Marc Pro can provide major benefits, but proactively
conditioning with it can do much more. Target your weak links and trouble
areas between WODs and address issues before they affect your workout.
Feeling fresher means more power, more reps, and bigger PRs.
Learn everything about Marc Pro at www.maarcproo.com
SAVE $30 AT MARCPRO.COM

PROMO CODE: THEBOX8
CrossTalk
Jason Khalipa gets under the bar
5-MINUTE FIX:
SQUAT CLEAN
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toes. Its tough to squat clean if your front
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Clean up your front squat: First and

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Shrug at the top: Getting the bar as high

as possible before dropping underneath
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inch counts. Moving from the hang
Mind your deadlift, too: As with front

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making sure the bar stays in close and is
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using the traps (shrugging) is a common
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Practice from a hang: If the middle and/
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from the hang position. This allows you
to focus on the up-shrug and turning the
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down underneath the bar to the front-squat
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A lot can go wrong in the second or so it

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and drop underneath it in a fully squatted
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and strict attention to detail to ensure
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PALEO
QUICK & SIMPLE

Taking your Paleo Diet on-the-go doesnt have to be difcult. With
NoGii Paleo Bars youll only nd naturally simple and honest
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EXERCISE
ANATOMY
MUSCLE-UP
The muscle-up is a great upper-body movement to
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gymnastics rings. Although it can sometimes be very
challenging to acquire the strength and the skill to
perform the muscle-up, its actually a beginner-level
move for male gymnasts. In fact, they just call it getting
on the rings!
In the muscle-up, the athlete will go from a hanging
position beneath the rings to a position of locked-out
support above. Think of it as getting up and out of a
pool without the buoyancy of the water to assist you
and with the concrete deck replaced by a shifting pair
of rings. Nevertheless, the ring muscle-up provides a
unique stimulus and builds a ton of athleticism.
THE ACTION
Keeping your
knuckles together
and hands in close,
lean back slightly
and pull your
hands down to
your sternum.
By David Lipson3KRWRVE\5REHUW5HLII
X STARTING POSITION
Hang a pair of gymnastics
rings at about the height of an
outstretched arm overhead.
Place your hands on the rings,
establish a false grip and
assume a hanging position.
A false grip
provides more
leverage and essentially
means that you are holding
the rings right in the crook of
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To set it, place your wrists on
the rings, then wrap the thumb
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Flex your forearms to
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This
should be
the deepest
and hardest
pull you can
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THEBOXMAG.COM
Keep
your hands
in tight the
entire time.
Athlete: Nicholas Cameron
Once your hands

are at sternum
height, shoot your
head forward and
through your arms,
positioning your
shoulders above
your hands while
driving your elbows
back. You are now
at the bottom of the
deepest dip you
have ever done.
THEBOXMAG.COM
Press out of the

dip to a locked-out
support above the
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movement. Lower
yourself back down
to a hang in a
controlled fashion. T
Most people
struggle with either
the skill or the strength
requirement of this movement. If youre struggling with
the skill, practice holding the
false grip and rehearse the transition (keeping the hands in tight
and getting the head through
fast). If strength is the issue,
work pull-ups and dips
to build up baseline
strength.
In the lower (abdominal) compartment, which

contains the intestines, kidneys and lumbar vertebrae, there is no rib cage; in fact, theres nothing solid there that can be used to create pressure
against the lumbar spine. Thats where a weight
belt comes in. It acts as an arti icial rib cage, providing something for the abdominal muscles to push
against, thereby creating intra-abdominal pressure
back against the lumbar spine and keeping it stable
under a load.
BELT BASICS
Weight belts should be worn only when downward

compressive forces are high. Meaning, they should
be used only when athletes are using a weight at or
higher than 85 percent of their maximum. If belts
are worn during an entire WOD, two things happen.
First, the athlete never gets a chance to feel what
the weight belt can really do because it is clearly
being worn too loosely. Second, the muscles of the
abdomen (obliques, etc.) can become weaker because the belt is doing their work during the training session.
I am a fan of a properly used weight belt, says
Greg Cosentino, owner of 3rd Street CrossFit in
Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Unfortunately, I think
too many people get a false sense of security when
they suck in their abdomen and crank down on a
weight belt. Obviously, a snug belt and a proper
Valsalva maneuver will increase intra-abdominal
pressure, protecting the spine, but without this
combination [tight belt and Valsalva], I think [a
weight belt] can be more of a hindrance.
Therefore, a weight belt should be worn:
BELT UP
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their lifts.
By Bob LeFavi, Ph.D., CSCS, USAW
ith all the work CrossFit athletes put into their training,
its a wonder more of them dont show up at their box
with a weight belt. Weight belts may seem humdrum
compared to lashier itness gear like speed ropes and
Bosu trainers, but they provide a genuine anatomical and physiological
advantage. Its time to learn what they do and how to use them.
First, a quick anatomy lesson: The diaphragm divides the torso into
two compartments. The upper compartment, called the thorax, contains the lungs, heart, thoracic vertebrae and, more important, the rib
cage. When an athlete closes his or her glottis (holds his or her breath)
and performs a Valsalva maneuver in a heavy lift, intrathoracic pressure increases. But because the rib cage is solid and surrounds the thorax, the increased pressure doesnt expand this compartment outward.
Rather, the pressure is exerted back against the thoracic spine, stabilizing it and keeping the athlete upright.
Only when athletes are lifting a heavy load. I

only allow my lifters to use a belt during maximal
or close-to-maximal lifts, Cosentino says.
Tightly as tight as is reasonably comfortable.
For no more than one minute. In fact, the belt
should be tight enough that athletes dont want to
wear it longer than that.
Properly. That is, athletes should push their abdominals against the belt in order to stabilize their lumbar spine during a lift (i.e., at the bottom of a squat
or pulling from the loor in the deadlift). Thats what
actually creates the intra-abdominal pressure and
maintains the integrity of the lumbar spine.
Ultimately, a weight belt should be regarded as
another tool CrossFitters have available to them.
Like any tool, theres a right and wrong way to use
it. Used correctly to stabilize the lumbar spine
and help maintain good posture and technique in
a lift a weight belt can literally add kilos to that
lift. Once a CrossFitter has become pro icient in his
lifts, he should try a belt to determine whether it
can improve his training ef iciency and progress. T
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INSIDE
THE BOX
CROSSFIT SANTA BARBARA
Head trainer and owner Tyler Medearis discusses drop-ins, amazing weather and the new ways of CrossFit.
By C.J. Logan

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BOX STATS
LOCATION: 209 Gray Ave., Santa Barbara, CA 93101

YEARS IN OPERATION: 6
NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 100
NUMBER OF COACHES: 5
FACILITY SIZE: 1,800 square feet outdoors; 3,300 square feet
indoors
MEMBERSHIP FEES: $165 for monthly unlimited ($135 for military

MORE INFORMATION: CrossFit-SantaBarbara.com
THEBOXMAG.COM
Photo Courtesy of CFSB LLC
Being in a setting like Santa Barbara, you probably get a lot of

drop-ins, huh?
FUNCTIONAL FEETNESS
Broad, general and inclusive isnt just a description of CrossFit, theyre also the
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warned: If you cant Rx the WOD, it wont be the fault of these shoes.
By Mike Carlson
SHOWN: Reebok
Nano 4.0
The shoe that launched the
CrossFit footwear category is back
with its fourth iteration of the Nano.
Lightweight and durable, the Nano
adapts to any WOD you throw at it.
Despite six stock colors to choose
from, Reebok also offers the option to
customize a pair, with hundreds of
color combinations available.
FIND: reebok.com
PRICE: $120
Photos by Corey Sorensen
SHOWN: New Balance

Minimus 20v3
The Minimus has been a longtime
favorite of CrossFitters. The 20v3
is the most versatile model yet, with
a 4-millimeter drop and a Vibram sole
that absolutely hums on 400-meterrun intervals. Youll never want to take
them off, which makes us thankful for
[OLVKVYNO[PUNWYVWLY[PLZVM[OLPY
synthetic mesh material.
FIND: newbalance.com
PRICE: $100
THEBOXMAG.COM
SHOWN: Topo
Athletic Sant
A new entry into the market
is the Sant by Topo Athletic.
Breathable and light, the Sant
sports a micro-adjustable Boa closure
that lets you literally dial in the perfect
[>P[OP[ZUL\[YHSWSH[MVYTSH[LYHS
stabilizer and Velcro strap, the Sant
performs seamlessly when moving
between Olympic lifts and sustained
monostructural activities.
FIND: topoathletic.com
PRICE: $125
SHOWN: inov-8
F-Lite 195
A combination of a minimalist
running shoe and a functional trainer,
the F-Lite 195 by inov-8 can do it all.
The 3-millimeter drop is perfect for
natural-/Pose-style runners, and the low
and stable platform makes it ideal for
moving a barbell. A reinforced medial
section provides extra traction and
protection when climbing ropes.
FIND: inov-8.com
PRICE: $120
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THE FISHER QUEEN

LAUREN FISHER CAME OUT OF NOWHERE AT THE SOCAL REGIONAL
TO NAB A SPOT TO COMPETE AT THE 2014 REEBOK CROSSFIT GAMES.
NOW, THE 20-YEAR-OLD POWERHOUSE REPRESENTS THE NEXT GENERATION OF CROSSFIT COMPETITOR.
B Y L I N D S AY B E R R A
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT REIFF
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he 120 feet seemed like such a long way. So

far, in fact, that they hadnt even discussed
the possibility that she might make it. So
when Lauren Fisher kicked up into a handstand and walked the entire length of the

looked nervously into the stands and caught the eye of her

up the bleachers to the fence line nearby when he realized
his charge was going to make it.
What do I do? Fisher asked.

Then kick up and go back.

combined 205-foot handstand walk, good enough for seventh place in the event. Before that, the best shed done in
practice was 105 feet. She had surprised herself a bit. But
Fisher has been surprising a lot of people lately.

male competitor this year. Though she is just 5 feet 5 inches
tall and 135 pounds, her ability to lift heavy has made her

victus in San Diego, where she is a sophomore at San Diego
State University, she also competes on the international
stage in Olympic weightlifting.

she took three gold medals in the 63-kilogram weight class
and earned the Best Female Lifter award. Then, in early

pic lifting, Fisher says. Theres a chance for me to break
some junior American records over the next few months,
and in the clean-and-jerk, Im only a few kilograms from
the senior record.

volleyball and ran track, and dad Bert played basketball

was hugely competitive with her three older brothers.
Andrew, 28, is training for his second Ironman triathlon;
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Ryan, 26, is a minor league baseball

player in the Miami Marlins system;
and Garret, 23, is familiar to CrossFit
overall in the 2013 CrossFit Games.
In 2013, his little sister also got her
feet wet at the Games as a competitor
with Team Invictus. This summer, Gar
Regional, was forced to watch Laurens
individual debut from the sidelines.
Everything was very competitive
when we were growing up, no matter
if it was sports or a game of Monopoly,
Garret says. Wed always end up yelling
or throwing the pieces at each other.
But Lauren has always held her own.
In high school at St. Marys in Stockton, California, Fishers basketball team
won two state championships and a national championship. She began CrossFit when she was 14 as a way of becoming stronger for basketball and immediately saw her vertical leap, quickness
and stamina increase. She was hooked.
In San Diego, Fisher elected to make
CrossFit Invictus her home rather than
AT THE CROSSFIT
GAMES, FISHERS
BEST TWO FINISHES
CAME IN EVENTS
THAT SHOWCASED
HER STRENGTH.
the SDSU gymnasium. CrossFit is my
college sport, she says.
Her schedule is like that of any collegiate athlete. I try to schedule most
of my classes on Thursday, which is my
rest day, Fisher says. But whatever my
schedule is, I train in the morning, go to
class, train again and usually have another class later at night. Like any oth
to go to the beach or shop with friends,
read Harry Potter books and bake
banana-nut bread and homemade pies
are her specialties. That, and anything
involving a barbell.
At the CrossFit Games, Fishers best two

Overhead Squat with a lift of 238 pounds

which she cleared 225 pounds. For some
perspective, the winners of the Overhead
Squat and Clean Speed Ladder, Kara
Webb and Elisabeth Akinwale, weigh
nearly 20 and 30 pounds more than Fisher, respectively. Im really strong for my
size, Fisher says. My strength is probably my biggest strength.
Coach Martin, though, also tips his
cap to Fishers composure, developed
over years of playing in front of large
crowds as a high school athlete. I think
Lauren is super mature as a competitor
for her age, whether shes standing on a
stage in front of a world championship
crowd for weightlifting or at the CrossFit games, Martin says. Shes very
composed, and the way she handles
her nerves and is mentally prepared is
often even more impressive than her
physical performance.
With Fishers ability to move weight,
thats saying a lot. T
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CRO S S F I T AT A N Y AG E
THE SPORT OF FITNESS MAY SEEM LIKE THE PLAYGROUND FOR THE
Photo by Marc Gio
YOUNG, BUT AS ANYONE WHOS WALKED INTO A BOX KNOWS, ATHLETES OF ALL AGES ARE THROWING DOWN ON THE DAILY. STILL, THE
BODY CHANGES AS IT AGES, AND THE SMART ATHLETE IS THE ONE
WHO PAYS ATTENTION, LEARNS AND ADAPTS.
B Y L I N D S AY B E R R A
EAT LIKE WHEN I

WAS 20? NO WAY! I
DONT WORK OUT
LIKE WHEN I WAS 20,
EITHER. I TAKE MORE
REST AND HAVE TO
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION
TO WHAT I EAT. NOW
THAT IM 40, ITS THE
QUALITY AND NOT THE
QUANTITY OF FOOD I
EAT THAT HAS PROVEN
TO BE THE DOMINANT
FACTOR IN HOW FIT I
AM AND HOW I LOOK
AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
FOR ME, EXCLUDING
SUGARS, ALCOHOL
AND COMPLEX
CARBOHYDRATES
AND INCREASING
HEALTHY FATS AND
LEAN PROTEINS WORKS
BEST TO INCREASE
PERFORMANCE AND
AESTHETICS.
ont you dare complain.

Dont you dare quit. Dont
you dare back off for even
a second. Thats what
every athlete slogging through a brutal
chipper at CrossFit Hells Kitchen on a
92-degree, thick-as-pea-soup July day
in New York City is telling themselves.
The workout is dubbed the Jacinto
Storm, in honor of Hells Kitchens
oldest member, Jacinto Bonilla, who
happens to be turning 75 on this very
day. The WOD: 75 double-unders, 75
air squats, 75 push-ups, 75 pull-ups,
75 wall balls, 75 kettlebell swings, 75
deadlifts, 75 double-unders. If youre
fast, you can do it sub-30. For most, its
more in the 40- to 50-minute range.
But no one wants to slack off because
a rule is a rule. The white-bearded
Bonilla is grinding away along with

everyone else, and if the relentless
septuagenarian beats you, a 75-burpee
penalty will be assessed.
Bonilla, no doubt, is inspiring. He
began CrossFitting in 2008, despite
rotator-cuff tears in his shoulders and
a herniated disk in his lower back that
hes had since sometime in the late
70s. Now, the oldest-ever CrossFit
Games competitor has a 400-pound
deadlift and an engine and bodyfat percentage that puts a lot of
teenagers to shame.
Hes motivated by the same things
that motivate nearly every CrossFitter:
He wants to continue to get stronger
and faster, and he wants to be healthy.
People my age, they have canes, he
says. I see my friends getting older and
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Photo of Gregg Arsenuk by Brandon Murray

Photo of Bob LeFavi by Patrick Sternkopf
GREGG ARSENUK,
40, GUERRILLA FITNESS
C R O SS F I T M O N TC L A I R
IN NEW JERSEY
MOBILITY ISSUES IN
THE OLDER ATHLETE
ARE ONE OF THE
REASONS MUSCLE-UPS
ARE NOT PART OF THE
55-AND - OLDER WODS IN
THE CROSSFIT GAMES.
ITS SMART TO ADJUST
MOVEMENTS AND WODS
BASED ON MOBILITY
ISSUES THAT STEM
FROM INJURY OR AGERELATED PROBLEMS.
THE BOTTOM
LINE IS TO ASSESS
MOBILITY, DOCUMENT
PREVIOUS MOBILITYRELATED PROBLEMS
AND EDUCATE THE
ATHLETES ON HOW TO
MAKE THE NECESSARY
MODIFICATIONS.
B O B L E FAV I ,
5 3 , R I N C O N AT H L E T I C
CROSSFIT IN GEORGIA
I see their big guts and say to myself, I

am never going to be like that.

Bonilla, and as amazing as he is, even
Bonilla isnt the same athlete or the
same human he was 30, 40 or 50
years ago. Like the rest of us, Bonilla
remembers a time when he could eat
whatever he wanted, sleep little, work
out twice a day and never be worse for
the wear. But as hes aged, hes had to
battle the degeneration of his tissues, an
increase in dehydration, and a decrease
in mobility, metabolism and hormone
levels. Sure, Bonilla* still cheats with
some rice and beans every now and then,

a little knowledge, so can you.
*For more on Bonilla, see Page 38.
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MO BIL I T Y

CrossFits mobility guru and author
of Becoming a Supple Leopard: The
Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic
Performance.
es that everyone, no matter their age,
should maintain. But certainly, as we
get older, that becomes more and more

40s suffers from injuries like a rotator

al hypomobility; the normal movement
of joints will decrease and tissues will
become stiffer. The cumulative effect
of everyday life like sitting in a chair
from 9 to 5 makes it even worse.

Every CrossFitter loves their foam
roller and lacrosse ball, but the aging
athlete must have a much greater focus
on tissue quality and must devote much

If youre sticking to a CrossFit training

tent, you can avoid getting into slumps

erly, your bones will adapt. Load them
too little and theyll become weaker;
load them too much and theyll become
thicker. Tissues also become too tight
or too loose based on poor movement
patterns. And once you lose mobility,
fascia can take upward of seven months
to remodel, while bony changes can
take 18 months. Still, theres always a
I DONT BELIEVE THAT

GETTING OLDER MEANS
I SHOULD SLOW DOWN
OR STOP WORKING OUT.
IT DOES MEAN THAT
IVE JUST BECOME
A LITTLE SMARTER
ABOUT IT. I WORK OUT
ON A THREE- ON, ONEOFF SCHEDULE, AND
IVE NOTICED SINCE
ABOUT THE AGE OF
35 HOW IMPORTANT
SCHEDULING REST
INTO MY WEEK
IS. I ALWAYS FEEL
REJUVENATED AND
EXCITED ABOUT MY
TRAINING. THOSE REST
DAYS HAVE KEPT ME
INJURY-FREE SINCE I
STARTED CROSSFIT.

HYDRAT I ON

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Photo of Wendy Reo by Annie Cullinane

Photo of Lindsay Berra by Amy Palagano
W E N DY R E O,
40, CROSSFIT NUTLEY IN
NEW JERSEY
I HAD MAJOR HIP SURGERY WHEN I WAS 30, AND I HAVE TO WORK TO MAINTAIN
MOBILITY. THAT MEANS TAKING LOTS OF FISH OIL, WARMING UP THOROUGHLY
AND BEFORE I WORK OUT, STRETCHING AND ROLLING OUT AFTER WORKOUTS, BEING DILIGENT ABOUT MOVEMENTS TO MAINTAIN RANGE OF MOTION AND DOING
YOGA A FEW TIMES PER WEEK. IT ALSO MEANS I HAVE TO LISTEN TO MY BODY
MORE. THERE IS NO SHAME IN DUMPING A BACK SQUAT, USING LESS WEIGHT OR
MODIFYING A WORKOUT IN SOME WAY IF IT WILL PREVENT A SPASM OR FURTHER
INJURY AND KEEP ME MOVING.
L I N D S AY B E R R A ,
36, CROSSFIT NUTLEY IN NEW JERSEY
mends adding a pinch of sea salt or a

low-sugar electrolyte supplement such
as a Nuun tablet to your water bottle.
Or simply get some salt in your food
and drink some water when you eat.
METABOLISM
When you drop body fat, good things

happen. But as you age, your metabolism
naturally slows down, which causes the

the heart, the easier it is to maintain a
faster metabolism. And to keep the heart

CrossFitters pound themselves with
interval training and can overdo it at 80
to 85 percent of their max heart rate,
says Eric Cressey of Cressey Sports Performance in Hudson, Massachusetts. As

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and higher highs. That means hopping

on the rower or going for a jog a few
times per week, with the heart rate at
around 60 percent of its maximum.
But how can you tell whether you
need this type of training? Cressey recommends simply monitoring your rest
thing in the morning before getting out

be below 60 beats per minute. If not,
you are someone who would likely ben
intensity aerobic exercise.
An elevated resting heart rate also
speaks to recovery. When we exercise,
metabolites build up in the bloodstream. As the metabolites increase,
your average heart rate will rise. If your
body is fully recovered from a work-
out and the metabolites have cleared

from the bloodstream, the heart rate
will normalize. So if your resting heart
rate is elevated in the days following a
workout, odds are you could use an extra day off.
WA R M U P
You know it because you hear it all the

time, usually in the form of a metaphor
related to an automobile. The engine
has to be warm before you rev the car.
You cannot expect to go from zero to 60
without getting injured. It makes perfect
sense, but so many CrossFitters ignore
the logic and jump right into a WOD
without a proper warm-up. Again, this is
something you might be able to get away
with when youre 20, but even then, its
a bad idea to push a cold muscle. And as
ITS BECOME VERY

HELPFUL FOR ME TO
GET A THOROUGH
WARM-UP. THE DAYS
OF WALKING IN AND
THROWING DOWN
ARE GONE. I SPEND
TIME DOING MOBIL ITY, SOME BASIC
FLOSSING AND THEN
SOME SORT OF ACTIVE
WARM-UP BEFORE I
START ANY KIND OF
TRAINING, EVEN ON
DAYS IM ONLY DO ING STRENGTH. THE
SHORTER THE WORKOUT, THE LONGER
THE WARM-UP.
you age, a bad idea can turn catastrophic.

The science is clear. When youre relaxed, lounging on the couch or sitting
at your desk, most of the small blood
vessels, or capillaries, are closed, with

muscles. After 10 minutes of warmup, the capillaries are open and blood

an increase in temperature. At higher temperatures, the hemoglobin in
your blood releases more oxygen and
muscles can contract and nerves can
transmit faster, leading to maximum

and ligaments are warm and supple,
theyre much less likely to be forced
into a dangerous position. Its pretty
simple, Starrett says. Not warming up
is a barrier to performance.
When youre young, you at least want

to crack a sweat before you begin to
really push or stretch your muscles.
As you age, your warm-up needs to
be more substantial. We expect our
older athletes to warm up for a lot longer, Starrett says. Before our CrossFit
classes, we want everyone to have been
there for 20 minutes and to be hot and
sweaty before we start.
COOL -DOWN
AND RECOVERY
On the other side of the WOD, a cooldown is equally as important, especially for the older athlete whose heart

younger counterparts. Another automobile analogy: If you run an engine
hot, then suddenly stop it, it can back

blood is preferentially directed to the
large muscles used for exercise with
less return to the brain, heart and lungs.
When youre done working out, a cooldown period helps return blood to the
heart and the body to its resting state.
Skipping a cool-down also can cause
lactic acid to build up more quickly in
the muscles and blood, causing fatigue
and soreness to set in faster. This can be
especially frustrating for older athletes
for whom recovery is already going to
be slower.
As we age, our hormonal levels decrease (see below), which causes cellular turnover to happen at a slower rate,
which means it takes muscle tissue longer to heal after it is broken down. Sleep
becomes more and more important; a
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Photo of Ryan Southern by Anja Shlein

Photo of Bill Grundler Courtesy of Mallory Mize
R YA N S O U T H E R N ,
35, NORTH PLANO
CROSSFIT IN TEXAS
I TRAIN HARD, BUT

RECOVERY IS KEY. IF
I FEEL TIRED, THEN I
KNOW I NEED TO GIVE
MYSELF A REST. MAYBE
ITS JUST BRINGING
DOWN THE INTENSITY
OR GOING THROUGH
THE MOTIONS THAT
DAY. IT MAY BE AN
ACTIVE REST DAY OF A
HIKE, SWIM OR SURF
SOMETHING FUN,
MORE FUN THAN A
WORKOUT. OR MAYBE
ITS JUST COMPLETE
RELAXATION AND
JUST DOING NOTHING.
OK, HONESTLY, THAT
DOESNT HAPPEN MUCH,
BUT WHEN IT DOES, ITS
REALLY NICE.
BILL GRUNDLER,
45, CROSSFIT INFERNO
IN CALIFORNIA
minimum of eight hours per night is recommended for adequate recovery.
NUT RIT ION
Its infuriating to the older folks. The

young CrossFitter comes into the box
on a Saturday morning, bragging about
the whole pepperoni pizza and the case
of beer he demolished the night before,
then blows through the WOD no worse
for wear. But sooner or later, things
catch up.
Every athlete at every age needs, at
the very least, the proper amounts of
micronutrients, antioxidants, omega-3
fatty acids and vitamin D to recover
properly, says Dr. Rick Cohen of Core 4
Nutrition (core4nutrition.com) in Santa Barbara, California. Its just that the
younger fellas havent drained the pot
yet and have a greater ability to recover
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without it. Older athletes need to keep

the reservoir higher.
Essential to the 30- and 40-year-old
athlete is a good level of nitric oxide,
which is found in vegetables like beets,
spinach and kale; Cohen calls it the Kfactor for the aging athlete because it
can increase recovery rates, energy and
endurance.
As athletes enter their 50s, coenzyme

and seeds, becomes more important for

or energy production within the cells.
Once athletes reach their 60s and 70s,
good nutrition is critical. If youre an aging athlete and still pushing hard in the
gym, youd better be paying attention to

ciency in one of these areas will get you.
But how do you know whether youre
getting enough? Normal blood tests

done at a physical wont cover it, but
there are several companies that offer
assessments through the mail, including Core 4, WellnessFX and Genova

out what your body needs, as opposed
to following blanket recommendations, Cohen says. If you optimize
your nutritional levels, really good
things happen and your decline will be
slower.
Another nutritional nugget for older
CrossFitters is to pay attention to how
the body uses protein. Many will notice
that as they age, they dont digest protein as well. If your protein powder or
skirt steaks are running right through
you, your amino-acid levels will decline. Cohen suggests taking a digestive
enzyme supplement when you eat proNOVEMBER 2014 THE BOX 37
tein or mixing an essential amino-acid

blend into your water bottle.
H ORMONES
As we age, growth-hormone levels, along

with other hormone levels, decrease,
which means recovery at the cellular
level takes longer. After the age of 20,
growth-hormone levels decrease rapidly
until around age 60, with the sharpest
decline between ages 40 and 60.
The decline of testosterone and
growth hormone in men directly affects stamina and recovery time, orthopedist Dr. Michael Kelly says. Normal aging does not prohibit an athlete
from making gains in endurance and
strength, but they will happen at a
slower rate. In women, the hormonal
decline has similar effects on muscle
changes and endurance but less of an
effect on overall athletic performance.
THE ENERGIZER
BONILLA
In September 2009, Toomas
Hendrik Ilves, the president
of Estonia, came to New York
City to address the general
debate of the 64th session
of the General Assembly of
the United Nations. Ilves,
then 55, did so, clad in his
trademark bow tie and rimless eyeglasses. But he also
wanted to work out. When
he strolled into CrossFit
NYC on West 28th Street, a
cadre of security personnel in
tow, the world leader asked
specically to be introduced
to one man, whom he had
long admired from afar: the
5-foot-7-inch, 160-pound,
baldheaded, white-bearded
Jacinto Bonilla, who in 2008
competed at the CrossFit
games as a 69-year-old.
As we age, we also develop a greater

bers, which causes a decrease in speed
and explosive power. But, in both sexes, weight training can mitigate the
decline.
Lifting heavy loads counters the loss
of bone density and stimulates testosterone release. While women have just
5 percent of the testosterone that men
have, the hormone is crucial to both
sexes for metabolism, recovery and
maintaining bone density, tissue elasticity and energy levels.
While many aging athletes will feel
compelled to increase the duration of
their workouts at the expense of intensity, workouts above 80 percent
intensity better stimulate testosterone
release and help to maintain muscle
mass. Thats not to say all workouts
should be that intense. As discussed
He thought he was one of

the oldest CrossFitters until
he heard about me, Bonilla
says. I was attered the
president of a country asked
for me by name and wanted
to meet me.
Nowadays, though, everyone wants to meet Jacinto
Bonilla.
Each July, athletes come
to New York from all over the
country to work out during
Bonillas birthday week, when
each of the boxes at which
he has trained or coached
programs the Jacinto Storm.
Bonilla designed the workout
in honor of his 69th birthday,
modeling it after Filthy 50,
with 69 reps of each of seven
movements. The reps have
increased each year along
with his age; this summer, he
turned 75.
In 2012, at age 73, Bonilla
became the oldest CrossFit
Games competitor in history when he competed in
the Masters division . He
nished 17th in the 60+ division, competing against dozens of much younger men.
Though he only started
CrossFit in August 2006,
after reading an article about
it in Mens Health magazine,
above, workouts at a lower intensity

When it comes to hormones, women
have more of a time clock, while men
see a more gradual decline. Women
want to keep their estrogen levels low
and their progesterone levels high, and
the balance is even more important as
they approach menopause. Estrogen
plays a crucial role in bone density, fat
deposition and regulation of the cardio
increase progesterone with diet, foods
rich in vitamins B-6 and C, zinc and
magnesium can help.
Men have an easier time boosting testosterone levels through the consumption of healthy fats. While young men
may never think about it, its not a bad
idea to pay attention to testosterone
levels early on so there is a baseline to
revert back to over time. T
Bonilla has always been an

athlete. His family moved to
the United States from Cabo
Rojo, Puerto Rico, in 1945,
when he was just 6 years old,
and settled in Spanish Harlem, on Upper Manhattans
East Side. He immediately
became a regular at the Boys
Club, where he learned to
swim, played basketball and
boxed. As a teenager in the
50s, Bonilla began weightlifting. In the 60s, he earned
a black belt in karate. In the
80s, he ran the New York
City Marathon twice, with
a top time of 3:26.42. Then
he settled down with circuit
training and bodybuilding. That is, until he found
CrossFit.
I thought I was in pretty
good shape until I started
CrossFit, Bonilla says. It
kicked my ass, and I loved
it. The competition keeps
me motivated and keeps me
young. Most people my age
can hardly walk unassisted,
never mind work out. People
think that being old means
youre out of shape and
overweight, but I disagree. I
want to ght that stereotype
and prove you can be t at
my age.
And despite a torn rotator

cuff and a herniated disk in
his back, Bonilla is incredibly t. He can deadlift 400
pounds and front-squat 215
pounds, and his chest-to-bar
pull-ups put most 25-yearolds to shame. Each day, he is
an inspiration at the box.
Working out with Jacinto
is always humbling because
we always use similar
weights and he beats me,
says 20-year-old CrossFit
Hells Kitchen member HeraAndre Bergeron. He always
gives me great pointers. Recently, he showed me perfect
body positioning for doubleunders and how to use my
lats more to lever back for
toes-to-bar. I learn from him
whenever I see him work out
and know if I dont exhibit the
same amount of agony he
does after a WOD, I havent
pushed myself hard enough.
Bonilla, though, also gets
just what he needs from fellow CrossFitters like Bergeron.
Since I started CrossFit, all
my friends are young, Bonilla
says. They treat me like Im a
young guy, and they make me
feel young.
And that is exactly the
point.
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Athlete: Julian Alcaraz Location: Valley CrossFit, Van Nuys, California
TIP
SCALE
THE
SCALING CAN BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SUCCESSFUL

CROSSFIT ENDEAVOR AND A TRAINING FAILURE. MAKE SURE
YOURE SCALING WISELY WITH THESE TIPS.
BY C.J. LOGAN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT REIFF
ew double-edged swords cut as

deeply in the realm of training as
CrossFits Rx distinction.
Attempting to do a WOD as prescribed can foster numerous highly desirable physical adaptations namely, an
increase in speed, power, strength and total
work output in a given time domain ... that is,
assuming the athlete doing the Rx version of
the workout is highly trained and capable of
handling the weights listed on the board in the
allotted time, all while using good form. This is
where the slope gets slippery; in many cases,
the individual shooting for Rx is not capable of
completing the WOD as it was intended at
the correct pace, with proper movement patterns and ranges of motion. When this happens, you get the other side of the sword: fitness goals not attained, injury, overtraining,
perhaps all of the above.
When I first started doing CrossFit several
years ago, there was this notion of going Rx,
and that was always the big draw, says Drew
McKenzie, owner and head coach at Cross-
Fit Hyperformance (crossfithyperformance.

com) in Savannah, Georgia. So Fran Rx is 95
pounds on thrusters for men, 65 pounds for
women. Elizabeth is 135-pound cleans for
guys, 95 for girls, and so on. It was all about
being able to go Rx. Well, weve learned over
the years that chasing Rx isnt necessarily the
best thing to do.
The answer, of course, is scaling. Not to get
overly grandiose with the concept, but scaling
is the great equalizer, the one thing that makes
CrossFit accessible to everyone. Its the reason
an average 55-year-old non-athlete can do the
same workout, side by side, with a professional
soccer player or elite Games competitor. More
than that, scaling is the key to CrossFit success.
When implemented correctly, it helps ensure
that the program youre following will deliver
its intended results.
So should you scale? The answer is yes everyone should. Scale down regularly, and even
scale up on occasion. Just make sure you know
what, when and how to scale by heeding the
following advice.
SAMPLE
WOD NO. 1*
Four rounds for time of:
50 squats
40 back extensions
30 push-ups
SCALING SUGGESTIONS
Four rounds can be reduced
to three, two or one.
BACK EXTENSIONS
Decrease push-up range of

motion by touching down
to an AbMat instead of the
oor or do push-ups on your
knees.
Rep counts for each exercise
can be cut by 10 or more.
Supermans can be substituted for back extensions.
*All sample workouts are from
CrossFit.com.
WHAT TO SCALE
Virtually any element in a given WOD
can be scaled to make it doable and
effective for athletes of all ages and
fitness levels. Heres a quick rundown
of the different training variables that
can be tweaked.
Movements Any exercise in a workout
SQUATS
PUSH-UPS
that youre unable to do will obviously need to be scaled. For example,

if a WOD calls for handstand pushups but you cant even do one, youll
simply do an easier version of the
movement. But other times, the decision isnt so cut and dried. Consider a
workout that involves doing 60 pullups in a short amount of time. Just
because you can do pull-ups doesnt
mean youre able to do 60 in less than

10 minutes. If you cant, youll need to
scale to band-assisted pull-ups, ring
rows or jumping pull-ups.
Load The premise here is simple: Go
lighter than the WOD prescribes on
one or more exercises. For example,
a 225-pound deadlift becomes 135
pounds or a 95-pound thruster drops
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SUMO DEADLIFT HIGH-PULLS
SAMPLE
WOD NO. 2
Complete AMRAP in
20 minutes of:
5 thrusters (95 pounds)
7 hang power cleans
(95 pounds)
10 sumo deadlift high-pulls
(95 pounds)
SCALING SUGGESTIONS
Workout time can be cut
from 20 minutes to 18, 15 or
less.
Drop load for each exercise
according to your strength
level (75 pounds, 45 pounds
or less).
In lieu of a barbell, use
dumbbells for thrusters, a
medicine ball for hang power cleans and a kettlebell
for sumo deadlift high-pulls.
Just make sure the equipment is all in the same area
to minimize downtime between exercises.
THRUSTERS
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to 65 pounds. Youve probably heard

the saying Check your ego at the
door; deciding how much weight to
put on the bar for a WOD is where this
applies.
Weve all done this when we go
out to eat our eyes are bigger than
our stomachs, McKenzie says. Well,
our brains sometimes think our muscles are stronger than they are and
that our will is stronger than it is.
To me, going heavy is something you
have to earn.
HANG POWER CLEANS
COACHES CLINIC
Before guring out how to
scale, rst decide whether you
need to scale at all. If youre
training at a relatively serious
(hardcore) box where lots of
competitive CrossFitters train,
theres a good chance the
WOD on the whiteboard will be
too challenging for the average person. In this case, youll
likely have to scale. Ditto for
the typical guy or girl pulling
WODs from CrossFit.com.
However, many boxes these
days, recognizing that most
of their members arent rebreathing CrossFit competitors, design their WODs with
a more recreational athlete in
mind. In this case, you may not
have to scale as many workouts, if any. Some coaches,
like Drew McKenzie, actually
dictate how much each athlete
will scale rather than leave it
up to the individual.
For our all-levels classes, Ill
write the program so that our
average athlete should be able
to do it, he says. And then
Ill list max weights for each
individual the maximum
weights youre allowed to use.
So athletes arent allowed to
scale themselves; thats done
through the coaches.
Another great example of
coach-directed scaling is Conviction Training Facility (cross
thiltonhead.com) in South
Carolina. For every WOD, owner
and head coach Craig Hysell
offers four scaling options
in addition to the prescribed
workout: Levels III, II and I
(most to least difcult), plus an
Advanced substitution that
scales the workout up slightly.
ROWING
Reps Intensity is a given in most WODs;

its recommended on a relative level
for all CrossFitters. But intensity needs
to be controlled to keep athletes from
overtraining and hurting themselves.
Thats why volume (how much total
work is completed in a workout) is as
critical a variable to scale as any. One
way to achieve this is by doing fewer
reps than a workout calls for 1512-9 instead of 21-15-9, for example,
or 60 wall balls rather than 100. And
dont worry about slashing too many
reps. If the workout ends up being too
easy, so be it. You can bump the reps

back up next time.
I tell everyone I meet whos new
to CrossFit: I want you to leave here
thinking, I couldve done more, not
Wow, I did too much, says Miki Carey, owner and head trainer at Gardens
CrossFit (gardenscrossfit.com) in
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Thats
extremely important when scaling as
a new CrossFitter.
five rounds for time can easily be

changed to three or four rounds for
the intermediate CrossFitter or one
or two rounds for the beginner. I had
a 10-round workout yesterday of back
squats and burpee box jumps, but beginners did only five rounds, McKenzie says. You dont want people waiting 20 minutes for you to finish your
10th round when it should have been
a five-round workout for you.
Rounds This is another way to scale

volume. A WOD that prescribes
Time Again, volume. Total reps per
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BURPEES
DOUBLE-UNDERS
SAMPLE
WOD NO. 3
The Ghost
Six rounds of:
1 minute of rowing
1 minute of burpees
1 minute of double-unders
1 minute rest
SCALING SUGGESTIONS
Drop six rounds to four or
three rounds.
Decrease work intervals to
45 or 30 seconds each.
Do tuck jumps instead of
double-unders.
Increase rest time to two
minutes.
so too can duration how long the

WOD takes to complete. Some athletes
are simply better conditioned than others, and at a certain point in a workout,
fatigue sets in and begins to negatively
impact technique. Depending on the
WOD, this could come at the 10-, 20or even six-minute mark. The obvious
scaling example for manipulating time
involves AMRAP workouts (as many
rounds/reps as possible in X minutes).
A 12-minute AMRAP becomes an eightminute AMRAP done. In the context
of a rounds-for-time WOD or a chipper
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(two types of workouts that dont have

a cap is a common practice among
reputable CrossFit coaches to ensure
workouts dont drag on.
Say youre doing Filthy 50, [which

each, for time], McKenzie says. Well
cap it at 40 minutes for our all-levels
classes. So lets say youve gotten
through 30 wall balls (exercise No. 8)
when the clock hits 40 minutes. That
gives you a marker and a data point
for the next time you do it. And if next

Distance Running and rowing distances in a WOD are often left untouched, yet these are often the exercises to blame for zapping energy
stores prematurely in a workout.
This not only extends the WOD time
but also can wreck your technique
on other exercises. Building up your
running and rowing conditioning levels is the solution, but until that happens, consider cutting an 800-meter
run to 400 meters or drop two minutes of rowing to one minute when
either is part of a met-con involving
strength exercises.
SAMPLE
WOD NO. 4
WHEN AND
HOW TO SCALE
Three rounds for time of:

50 medicine-ball cleans
(20 pounds)
800-meter run
SCALING SUGGESTIONS
Use a 15- or 12-pound medicine ball.
Drop reps on cleans from 50
to 30.
Run 400 meters instead of
800.
RUN
MEDICINE-BALL CLEANS
Knowing what variables are scalable

(movements, load, volume) is the easy
part. Knowing which ones to tweak
and when and to what degree in a
given WOD is where it gets tricky. This
cision. Theres no hard-and-fast scaling rule that can be applied to all, or
even most, CrossFit workouts, except
for the fact that you should always ask
yourself this question when approaching a WOD: What is the intended objective of the workout?
When it comes to what variable to
scale, McKenzie says, it really depends on (1) the individual and what
his or her skill set is and (2) what the
goal for the workout is. What adaptation are you trying to drive: strength
or conditioning? What stimulus do
you want to train? With a good program, thats all been laid out. Then its
just a matter of modifying the workout in some way so that the relative
intensity is the same. Thats all scaling does: It makes the relative intensity the same for all athletes.
Generally speaking, timed WODs
(X rounds for time, 21-15-9 for time,
AMRAPs, chippers, etc.) are designed to
elicit constant movement to have the
individual go through the workout with
minimal or no rest as a means of
metabolic conditioning that targets one
or more of the bodys energy systems
(ATP-CP, glycolytic, oxidative/aerobic).
Some of these WODs are intended to
last only a few minutes, others a halfhour or longer and the rest somewhere
in between (eight minutes, 12 minutes,
20 minutes and so on).
When looking at a workout, have an
idea of how long it should take you. If
its an AMRAP or has a time cap, the duration of the workout is predetermined.
If its a reps- or rounds-for-time WOD, it
may not be so obvious. If youre unsure
how long a given workout should last,
ask a coach, who will likely say something along the lines of, This workout
should take you no more than around
10 minutes to complete.
Once you know roughly how long a
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SAMPLE
WOD NO. 5
21-15-9 reps for time of:
deadlifts (225 pounds)
pull-ups
SCALING SUGGESTIONS
Decrease reps to 15-12-9.
Lighten the deadlift load to
135 pounds or less.
Do band-assisted pull-ups or
ring rows in place of kipping
pull-ups.
Cap the workout at eight
minutes.
PULL-UPS
workout should last, scale any variables necessary to ensure that you
can sustain activity for that length of
time without having to take any extended rest periods. (Disclaimer: This
assumes youre a relatively healthy,

stop and rest as long as needed or terminate the workout altogether if any
concerning discomfort, pain or other

Determine what aspects of the WOD
are likely to slow you down. If its an
exercise youre awful at, scale that
movement. If you have good technique
with an exercise but lack strength,
scale load. If neither technique nor
strength is an issue but conditioning
is (i.e., burpees, double-unders, box

total rounds and/or distance.
Not all timed workouts are created

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DEADLIFTS
WOD should have literally no rest

time, while taking several breathers through the course of a grueling
40-minute chipper is perfectly appropriate, if not necessary. You dont

you do Fran, so take that into account
before slashing load or reps too much.

two exercises with built-in rest peri
outs, making it more geared toward
strength but only to an extent. The

part of each minute, then rest for the
remainder until starting up again at the
top of the next minute. When not scaled
properly, the work portion will take up

thus not allowing for adequate rest.

interval should take, asking a coach for
guidance, if necessary. In many cases,

work-to-rest ratio 30 seconds on,
30 seconds off. So if the weight or rep
count on the exercises makes the reps
last longer than half a minute, scale
back one or both variables.
Since each WOD is different, there
isnt a general way to scale, Carey
says. If the WOD calls for time, our
members are told to pace themselves,
focus on form, work with light weights
[if any at all], cut reps in half or do
half the rounds listed. If the WOD is

focus on form and are allowed to increase the reps, within reason, to get
a feel for the movement and increase
movement-pattern memory, since the
time is managed. T
or many CrossFitters, training is the easy part. You show

up at the gym, get your WOD
on and then hit the shower.
The truly hard part of the
health-and-performance
equation is nutrition. How many calories? High-carb or low-carb or Paleo?
What protein is best? And should you
fear saturated fat more than Fran? Its
enough to have you throwing in the towel and sinking your teeth into combo #3
(and its large fries and large soda) out of
sheer frustration.
To eat like a champion, you need to
understand the most fundamental
aspects of nutrition, something that
seems to have fallen by the wayside
in an age of pick-and-choose dietary
lifestyles. So were going back to the
basics, outlining the building blocks of
sound nutrition so that you can create
your own nutrition plan, one that suits
your particular goals and helps you
perform your best. We promise it wont
be as bad as doing burpees.
CALORIES
Very simply, calories are a measurement of the energy consumed from

foods and drinks. Theyre also a measure of the energy burned by getting out
of bed and breathing and, yes, WODing
like crazy.
The number of daily calories you
need to consume is a balancing act.
Take in too few calories and your body
will struggle to achieve its full potential
when it comes to the power, speed and
endurance you need to call on when in
the box. Heavy training paired with inadequate calorie intake also can impair
the immune system, setting you up for
poor recovery and illnesses like colds
and the lu. On the lip side, if you regularly take in calories beyond what your
body needs to support training and
normal bodily functions, you could see
those tight abs turn into belly lab.
For men and women looking to increase strength, lean body mass and
overall athletic performance, Jim
White, RD, owner of Jim White Fitness
& Nutrition Studios (jimwhite it.com)
in Virginia Beach, Virginia, says a good
starting point is to shoot for 2,500 to
3,000 calories and 1,700 to 1,900, respectively. But remember, everyones
body is different, so you may need to
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adjust this calorie intake depending

how you respond, he cautions. Gaining
too much lab? Try trimming some calories from your meals. Having trouble
putting on lean body mass or keeping
energy levels up in the face of intense
training? Try adding a few more calories in the form of high-quality foods.
Its important to tweak your calorie
intake until you ind the ideal number
that works for you, White says.
Of course, to know how many calories you are taking in on any given day, you have to tally them
up. Studies suggest that
food diaries help people
become more aware of
their overall eating
patterns and that
many of us underestimate how many
calories we are
actually consuming. So while it may
seem like a drag,
we advise keeping
a detailed food log
for a week and then
using one of the many
apps or online food trackers (like CalorieCount.com)
to determine your daily calorie
as well as protein, carbohydrate and

fat intake. And becuase youre already
spending the time to keep a food diary,
you might as well make it as accurate
as possible and weigh your foods so
you know not only exactly what youre
eating but also how much. You might be
surprised how dif icult it is to eyeball
portions and how those small snacks
you would otherwise forget about can
add up.
For men and

women looking to increase
strength, lean body mass and
overall athletic performance, a good
starting point is to shoot for 2,500 TO
3,000 CALORIES AND
1,700 TO 1,900,
respectively.
Eat the
right kinds of
carbohydrates
and THEYLL
KEEP YOUR BODY
PERFORMING
MORE LIKE A
SPORTS CAR than
a station wagon.
CARBOHYDRATES
In many ways, carbohydrates are the

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the nutrition
world. Eat the right kinds and theyll
keep your body performing more like
a sports car than a station wagon.
But steer off the straight and narrow,
driving into arti icial sweeteners and
fast-digesting sources, and youll soon
experience carbs dark side.
WHY YOU NEED THEM: As anyone who
has drastically cut down on their intake
can attest, carbohydrates are an essential fuel for working muscles. Thats because unlike protein and fat, carbs are
quickly and ef iciently converted into
the energy that hard-charging muscles
need. So when intensities in the box
start picking up, its the carbs that are
stored in your muscles and liver as well
as some of the sugars loating around
in your blood that make those last few
reps possible.
And its not just your muscles that require carbs to perform optimally. When
you consume a sweet potato or bowl of
oatmeal, their carbohydrates are broken
down during digestion into the simple
sugars that are the primary fuel for your
brain. So brain fog is a common outcome
when blood sugar levels fall too low.
Fiber, an indigestible form of carbohydrates, removes waste from the body
and is essential for bowel health. A number of studies suggest that people who
consume higher amounts of dietary
iber are more likely to be lean. Thats
because iber helps slow down digestion, which functions to promote satiety
and prevent appetite-increasing drastic
swings in blood sugar levels, White says.
WHERE TO GET THEM: When it comes to
your carbohydrate intake, think whole,
unprocessed foods. These include whole
fruits, vegetables, potatoes, beans, lentils
and whole grains like quinoa, brown rice,
spelt and oats, White says. The best part
about foods like these is that theyre also
chock-full of essential vitamins, minerals
and antioxidants.
Dried fruits without added sweeteners are also a good energy source, but
the natural sugars in them are more
concentrated than in their fresh counterparts, so moderation is prudent.
We dont have to tell you that a tidal wave of less-than-healthy carbohydrates have in iltrated most American
diets. When food manufacturers strip
grains of their bran and germ (i.e., their
nutritional soul), what is left is basically
a pile of nutrient- and iber-void starchy
carbs that, when consumed liberally, can
contribute to fat gain and overall poor
health. Youll ind these compromised
carbs in all sorts of breads, crackers,
pastas and baked goods, often with
white lour euphemisms such as wheat

lour in their ingredient lists. It is possible to consume packaged items like
breads, pasta and crackers as part of a
healthy diet. All you have to do when selecting these kinds of carbs is ignore the
sales pitch on the front of the package
and make sure the irst ingredient listed
is a whole grain like whole-wheat lour
or whole-rye lour.
Even more insidious are the many
guises of added sugars like highfructose corn syrup, evaporated cane
juice and dextrose that are being
pumped into everything from ketchup
to whole-wheat bread. By providing
no nutrient value and quickly raising
blood sugar numbers, added sweeteners have been linked to everything from
diabetes to heart failure to obesity. A
recent study in JAMA Internal Medicine
found that people who got about 20
percent of their calories from added
sugars were 38 percent more likely to
die from heart disease than those who
got less than 10 percent of calories
from sweeteners. But remember, these
statistics are about added sugars. Science has yet to associate the naturally
occurring sugars in fruits and vegetables with any health concerns.
HOW MUCH: A single gram of carbo-
hydrates provides 4 calories. White

suggests that individuals involved in
strength and power training aim to get
40 to 50 percent of their overall calories from carbohydrates. If you are
more endurance driven, shoot for 50
to 60 percent of calories, White says.
A quick math lesson: If your daily calorie intake is 2,500 and you want 50
percent of those calories to come from
carbs, your goal would be 313 grams of
daily carbohydrates (2,500 2 = 1,250;
1,250 4 calories per gram = 313).
Some people ind carb cycling, in which
carbohydrate intake is increased on
days during which high-intensity training takes place and is pared down on
rest days, works to improve physique
and energy levels.
Meanwhile, in addition to carb intake,
you should also be keeping an eye on the
amount of iber you get. The Institute of
Medicine, a governing body that sets
nutrient requirements, suggests women
aim for 25 grams of iber daily, while
men should shoot for 38 grams. These
are fairly lofty quotas, and youll only
nail them if you nosh primarily on carbohydrates from whole-food sources.
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DIETARY PROTEIN IS ESSENTIAL FOR

REBUILDING MUSCLE that is broken down during
arduous workouts. Without enough protein, lean
body mass growth (a key to better power and
speed) and recovery from exercise will falter.
PROTEIN
Everyone talks a
lot about carbs, but
protein should not be taken lightly for
anyone aspiring to greater athletic
achievement.
WHY YOU NEED IT: The protein found in
your scrambled eggs and grilled rib-eye
is made up of strings of amino acids.
Its these amino acids that work to
build new cells and ix damaged ones in
your body. Among these cells are those
present in your muscles, which is why
dietary protein is essential for rebuilding muscle that is broken down during
arduous workouts. Without enough
protein, lean body mass growth (a key
to better power and speed) and recovery from exercise will falter. Dietary
protein is also essential for supporting
a healthy immune system to help keep
illnesses at bay, White says.
Beyond proteins muscle-friendly
role, a number of studies have shown
that higher-protein diets can aid in zapping fat. Protein unleashes an attack
on body fat in a number of ways. First,
proteins thermic effect of food, which
is the energy cost of (or how many calories the body expends when) chewing,
digesting, absorbing, transporting and
storing the food you eat, is higher than
that of fat or carbohydrates. In other
words, if you eat 100 calories each of
protein, fat and carbs, your body will
burn off more of the calories from
protein, making body-fat storage less
likely. Protein also has a high satiety
factor (meaning it makes you feel fuller
longer) because it impacts hormones
that regulate hunger, which is why research shows that higher protein intakes can dampen appetite.
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WHERE TO GET IT: To get more bang for
your buck, White recommends hunting down proteins with a higher socalled biological value. When a protein contains essential amino acids
(those aminos that cannot be made by
the body and therefore must be obtained from the diet) in a proportion
similar to that required by the body
for growth and repair, its considered
to have a high biological value. When
one or more essential amino acids are
scarce, however, the protein is said to
have a lower biological value. In short,
animal protein sources are of high biological value, but most vegetal protein
sources are not. Eggs have the highest
biological value of any food-based
protein, White says. Indeed, a study
in Nutrition Journal found that this
gold-standard protein can contribute to
improved muscle power and strength.
Red meat, ish, poultry, lamb and dairy
products like yogurt, milk and cottage
cheese are other edibles with a high
biological value. The best plant-based
protein sources include hemp, legumes,
nuts, less-processed soy products like

edamame and tempeh, and certain
pseudo grains, including quinoa and
amaranth, that contain a complete set
of essential amino acids.
White also likes the idea of making
preworkout and postworkout shakes
with a blend of protein powders, including whey, a dairy-derived protein
that can quickly lood your body with
muscle-mending amino acids. Whey
is particularly rich in leucine, an amino
acid that is very good at turning on the
machinery that maximizes muscle cell
repair and growth, White says.
HOW MUCH: As with carbohydrates, a
single gram of protein contains 4 calories. White recommends that people
who focus their workouts on strength
and muscle building should shoot for
1 gram of protein for each pound of
bodyweight. That means a 160-pound
man needs to ill his belly with at least
160 grams of protein, or about 25
percent of total calories if consuming
2,500 calories daily.
160 GRAMS
PROTEIN
Interested in building strength and muscle? Aim to eat 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.
FAT
While fat has long been demonized as a dietary thug

that brings about coronary woes and
provides an express ticket to pudgeville,
the reality is that without an adequate
amount of it in your diet, you have a fat
chance of getting the most out of your
nonstop, no-holds-barred workouts
and achieving optimal health. The key
is sourcing out the right kinds of fats.
WHY YOU NEED IT: While carbohydrates
are the main source of fuel for high-intensity training sessions, the body turns
to fat as an important energy source
during more moderate endurance exercise, such as a long run or bike ride
as well as most daily activities ranging
from chopping carrots for dinner to taking a shower.
Its true that too much fat (called
adipose tissue) around your midriff
wont do your performance or health
any favors, but Rebecca Scritch ield, MA,
RD, a sports dietician in Washington,
D.C., explains that stored fat also surrounds major organs and bones and acts
like a thermal insulator against the cold
and a protective cushion in the event of
sudden impacts like a missed box jump.
Dietary fat is also required for making
hormones like testosterone and estrogen as well as for facilitating the proper
absorption of the so-called fat-soluble
vitamins A, D, E and , she adds. You
also need some dietary fat to absorb the
many disease-thwarting antioxidants
present in brightly colored vegetables
and fruits like beta carotene, lycopene
and lutein. So if your diet is based on fat
phobia, you could be hindering the absorption of these essential compounds
and impairing bodily function.
It may sound counterintuitive, but including healthy amounts of fat in your

diet can help you shed, well, fat. A recent Journal of the American Medical Association study found that individuals
following a low-fat diet experienced a
decrease in resting energy expenditure
(i.e., the number of calories you burn
while at rest), which could make fat
loss more dif icult. So it seems that dietary fat plays a role in regulating metabolism. And when it comes to mealtime,
fat adds lavor and makes meals more
satiating to help put the brakes on postmeal raids on the cookie jar.
WHERE TO GET IT: All fats are not created equal. The best ones work to keep
your heart beating strong and bolster
itness gains, while too much of the
wrong ones can torpedo your health
pursuits. Heres a breakdown.
Monounsaturated Fat
Named for its single double bond in the
fatty-acid chain, monounsaturated fat
is considered to be a particularly hearthealthy fat. Monounsaturated fat offers protection against heart disease by
lowering harmful LDL cholesterol while
raising bene icial HDL cholesterol numbers, Scritch ield says. Research also
shows that a main mono fat called oleic
acid can impact gene regulation in a way
that promotes fat-burning metabolism.
Top sources: Nuts, nut butters, seeds,
avocado and various culinary oils such
as olive, canola, avocado and almond
Polyunsaturated Fat
By far the powerhouse fats in this category are the omega-3s, which have
been linked to a wide range of health

bene its, including improved heart,
joint, brain, immune and eye health.
Whats more, scientists at Saint Louis
University have found that diets rich
in these fats can tame muscle soreness
following a sufferfest and help lip the
switch on muscle protein synthesis.
While most people dont consume
nearly enough omega-3s, another type
of polyunsaturated fat called omega-6
has become ubiquitous in the Standard
American Diet. When consumed excessively at the expense of omega-3 fats,
omega-6s can encourage in lammation
in the body, which sets the stage for disease progression and poor exercise recovery, Scritch ield says. Omega-6 fats
have in iltrated our diets mostly through
cheap vegetable oils, such as soybean
and corn, that are used in packaged processed foods and restaurant meals. A
diet based on homemade whole foods
and foods rich in omega-3s should keep
your omega-6 intake in check.
Top omega-3 sources:)DWW\VKOLNHZLOG
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Saturated Fat
While you dont want to go overboard
on this fat, emerging research is showing that saturated fat has been wrongly
vili ied as the ultimate health pariah.
Case in point: A large review of studies
published in the Annals of Internal Medicine determined that the link between
saturated fat and heart disease has
largely been overblown. Further, a study
in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition determined that individuals who
replaced saturated fats in their diet with
high-glycemic carbs like white bread
and sugary drinks experienced an increased risk of suffering a heart attack
during a 12-year study period.
Some dietary saturated fat is essential
for the production of hormones, including testosterone, which is the primary
anabolic hormone in men. Lauric acid,
the saturated fatty acid in the Paleo favorite coconut, appears to have strong
anti-bacterial properties and, because of
its unique structure, is also more likely
to be burned for fuel than stored as lab.
Top sources:*UDVVIHGPHDWVLQFOXGLQJ
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WHUDQGPLONYLUJLQFRFRQXWRLOUHGSDOP
RLOGDUNFKRFRODWH
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Trans Fat
This killer fat is proof that man cant
reign supreme over nature. Trans fat
was created as a replacement for saturated fat to enhance the lavor, texture and shelf life of certain processed
foods like margarine, shortening and
baked goods. Research is now clear
that unlike naturally occurring saturated fat, regular intakes of just small
amounts of trans fat can spike the risk
for diseases, including diabetes and
heart disease. Whats more, researchers in Denmark found that people with
higher levels of trans fat in their bodies were more likely to be overweight.
Mercifully, thanks to regulation by the
Food and Drug Administration and
laws that vary from state to state, the
amount of trans fat found in packaged
foods and restaurant fare has been
steadily dropping in recent years. Still,
you should scan ingredient lists on
packaged foods and online restaurant
menus for hydrogenated oil, which is
code for trans fat.
HOW MUCH: A single gram of fat
provides 9 calories, meaning that it

packs more than twice the amount of
energy than protein or carbohydrates.
So while some fat does a body good,
10-15%
Fat should not

total more than 25
TO 35 PERCENT OF THE
CALORIES you eat in a
given day.
Monounsaturated
Fat
10%
Polyunsaturated
Fat
5-10%
Trans Fat
Saturated Fat
too much could add unwanted pounds.

Fat should not total more than 25 to
35 percent of the calories you eat in
a given day, Scritch ield says. So if
youre aiming for 2,500 calories a
day, that would be roughly 69 to 97
grams of fat. About 10 to 15 percent
of your total fat intake should con-
sist of monounsaturated fat, roughly

10 percent polyunsaturated and 5 to
10 percent from saturated fat. eep
in mind, most food sources contain a
combination of different fats, so eating a varied diet will help provide
a healthy balance of fat sources,
Scritch ield says. T
A PERFECT DAY OF EATING

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BREAKFAST
Male
KDUGERLOHGHJJV
FXSRDWPHDOWRSSHG
ZLWK
FXSEOXHEHUULHV
WDEOHVSRRQV
DOPRQGV
508 calories, 23 grams
protein, 58 grams carbs,
23 grams fat
Female
KDUGERLOHGHJJ
FXSRDWPHDOWRSSHG
ZLWK
FXSEOXHEHUULHV
WDEOHVSRRQDOPRQGV
13 grams fat
THEBOXMAG.COM
MORNING SNACK
Female
cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon hemp seeds
Male
cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
cup sliced strawberries
155 calories, 21 grams protein, 11 grams carbs, 7 grams fat

LUNCH
Male
4 ounces chicken breast
1 cups cooked quinoa
2 cups steamed broccoli
avocado
17 grams fat
Female
3 ounces chicken breast
1 cup cooked quinoa
2 cups steamed broccoli
avocado
15 grams fat
AFTERNOON SNACK
Male
1 large apple, sliced
1 tablespoon almond butter
Female
1 small apple, sliced
2 teaspoons almond butter
PREWORKOUT SHAKE
Male
1 cup milk
1 medium banana
1 scoop whey protein
Female
1 cup milk
1 small banana
1 scoop whey protein
287 calories, 28 grams protein, 40

grams carbs, 3 grams fat
272 calories, 27 grams protein,

36 grams carbs, 3 grams fat
THEBOXMAG.COM
POSTWORKOUT SHAKE
Male
2 scoops whey protein (mixed with water)
Female
1 scoop whey protein (mixed with water)
85 calories, 20 grams protein, 1 gram carbs, 0 grams fat
DINNER
Male
5 ounces wild salmon
1 medium baked sweet potato
salad:
2 cups spinach
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 small red pepper, sliced
2 teaspoons olive oil
splash balsamic vinegar
protein, 39 grams carbs, 27
grams fat
Female
3 ounces wild salmon
1 small baked sweet potato
salad:
2 cups spinach
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 small red pepper, sliced
1 teaspoon olive oil
splash balsamic vinegar
protein, 30 grams carbs, 16
grams fat
TOTALS
Male
2,683 calories
221 grams protein (33 percent of calories)
275 grams carbs (41 percent of calories)
94 grams fat (32 percent of calories)
THEBOXMAG.COM
Female
1,843 calories
147 grams protein (32 percent of calories)
205 grams carbs (44 percent of calories)
60 grams fat (29 percent of calories)
PALEO KITCHEN
SWEET N
SAVORY ROASTED
BUTTERNUT SQUASH
This simple, nutrient-dense side dish offers the ultimate comfort food. Whether
youre looking for Paleo-friendly preworkout carbohydrates or youre in need of a
veggie option to accompany dinner, this recipe wont let you down.
BY ELKE S. NELSON, PH.D. PHOTO BY ROBERT REIFF
THEBOXMAG.COM

Ingredients:
40 ounces (10 cups or about 2.5 pounds)
butternut squash (peeled and chopped
into large chunks)
2 tablespoons grass-fed butter, ghee or
coconut ghee
1 teaspoon Himalayan pink sea salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Add the
squash to an ovenproof casserole dish
with a lid. Add butter, ghee or coconut
ghee to the squash, either in multiple tiny
slabs or by melting it and pouring it over.
Sprinkle the seasoning on the squash,
cover and place in the oven. Cook for 45
minutes to an hour, depending on desired
consistency. Mix the cooked squash
(carefully if you dont want to mash it
together) to evenly distribute the juices
before serving. Serves 6.
Food Styling by Sandra Cordero
Nutrition Facts (per serving): 122

calories, 2 grams protein, 22 grams carbs,
THEBOXMAG.COM
COMMUNITY SPIRIT
CROSSFIT FACES
Meet the people who are quietly (and not so
quietly) inuencing the world of CrossFit.
BY MIKE CARLSON
ALLISON MOYER
Allison Moyer

THEBOXMAG.COM
Photo of Allison Moyer by Joanna Floyd of 2j Photography

Photo of CrossFit Chalk Courtesy of Ryan Fischer

Ryan Fischers CrossFit Chalk
RYAN FISCHER
I feel like the days of the industrial warehouse gym are

done. Everything evolves. Golds Gym used to be a little piece
of crap in Venice Beach, and now its massive and really nice.
CrossFit started really small and now its getting bigger,
Ryan Fischer says. The average member needs to walk in
and realize why theyre spending $200 a month.
Fischer is talking about CrossFit Chalk, the gym he opened
last May in Costa Mesa, California. He proudly ticks off the

monitors instead of whiteboards, kids area, massage room,
electronic sign-in kiosk, clothing store, separate mens and
womens locker rooms, custom-made Rogue racks and
Pendlay competition bumpers. Fischer describes his gym as
Equinox quality.
It wasnt long ago that members of the CrossFit community would rather do a burpee mile than liken their workout
space to a commercial gym, but in Fischers mind, hes just
staying ahead of the demand curve. And if CrossFit Chalk is

was open he had 100 members. Despite the opulence and the
twice-daily Sweat classes interval-only workouts marketed to the weight-loss crowd the gym has attracted a
client base with a high level of skill. My WODify system tells
me that we are about 50-50 men and women and 90 percent
of them are on the higher end of CrossFit capabilities, Fischer says. I feel like thats my main target: people who want to
get better at CrossFit.
THEBOXMAG.COM
Its no surprise that Fischer attracts a hardcore following.

A former coach at Orange Coast CrossFit, he took fourth at

despite spending his training season building out CrossFit

month. He calls the gym a dream come true, but it was a
dream that very nearly didnt happen.
Some will remember Fischer from an infamous video that
CrossFit Games director Dave Castro published last year.
After Fischer lost his temper on a SoCal Regional judge for
giving him several no reps on his nearly too-close-to-call
315-pound deadlifts, Castro publicly reprimanded Fischer on
video and then broadcast it over the CrossFit media spectrum.
It was pretty scary for me. I always wanted to open my
own gym and stay in the CrossFit community, Fischer says.
Then that happened, and Dave Castro blew it way out of proportion on all social media. I was like, You ruined my whole
life. I cant go anywhere now without being called a douche
bag. But everyone was like, That was really shitty. I wound
up never getting any heat from it. Instead, I think Dave Castro
got all the heat.
Fischer has moved past the incident and is focused on putting his personal stamp on all parts of his gym and eventually
the 2015 CrossFit Open. Even Dan Bailey moving to Southern
California hasnt dampened his optimism for getting to the
Games. And why should it? After all, Ryan Fischer is living
his dream. T
COMMUNITY SPIRIT
LEVELING UP
A NEW MINDSET
As his Level-1 certication test draws near, our writer nds that the mental challenge of transitioning from student
to coach might be what trips him up.
aking the conscious switch from being just another

BY JAMES TOLAND

and instruction that sometimes make the difference between

T
THEBOXMAG.COM
COMMUNITY SPIRIT
BED, BOX AND BEYOND
THE PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTOR
There are obvious correlations between levels of

the male sex hormone testosterone and athletic
performance, at least as far as muscle size and aggression go, and this is true in both men and women. When it comes to sex, abstinence can gradually
increase testosterone levels for a while, at least.
At a certain point (six to 12 weeks), avoiding sex
can lower testosterone, sometimes to levels as low
as those in children.
The October 2000 issue of the Clinical Journal
of Sport Medicine included studies that disproved
the idea that sex depletes testosterone levels and
showed that it actually increases them. Three
studies published in 2000 by authors Samantha
McGlone and Ian Schrier provide evidence that sex
the night before a competition does not alter physiological performance with regard to strength, balance, reaction time and aerobic power.
In fact, its been shown that the hormones released following an orgasm improve sleep, increase pain threshold (especially in women) and
improve overall mood all things that may assist
in improving training and performance results.
There arent many studies available for reference,
so I plan to recruit my husband for some experimentation of our own.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTOR
COPULATION
BEFORE COMPETITION?
The fact and ction pertaining to this age-old question.
BY ABI REILAND
or as long as competition has existed (meaning, forever), athletes

have tried anything and everything under the sun (and moon) to
gain a winning edge. Training regimens, techniques, equipment,
nutrition, supplements and more have been subjected to endless
research in the pursuit of scienti ic knowledge, performance and, of
course, marketing.
Its no surprise that the tireless accumulation of performance data
extends to one of the oldest and most compelling questions of all: Is it
advantageous to have intercourse before competition? Some athletes
swear it gives them a leg up on their opponents. Legendary Formula
1 driver James Hunt notoriously used to have sex just before climbing into the cockpit, perhaps to help calm his intense pre-race jitters.
Others avoid it for fear it might lessen their prowess, even marginally.
Muhammad Ali was reputed not to have sex for six weeks before a ight.
There are no easy answers, but it might help to take a look at the two
main factors behind the copulation-competition conundrum.
The less easily measurable yet still critical force

of psychology also has a role in performance. Although having sex correlates with an overall improvement in mental health, its not clear what
type of mental state is best for athletic performance. And, in fact, it may vary from athlete to athlete, just like some competitors might prefer angry
music and exhibit aggressive tendencies before a
performance while others may opt for soothing
tunes and display a more stoic demeanor. What is
certain is that the mind does possess a little bit of
magic and can certainly push the body to do things
it might not otherwise do. So despite the lack of
hard research and statistics, its safe to say that a
healthy head can contribute to physical progression and competitive success.
What it really comes down to is mindset. If a
pregame lay gives you a mental boost, your performance may follow suit. However, if you spend several hours knocking boots only to have a restless
night sans shut-eye, the obvious choice is to rest
up and avoid any unnecessary energy expenditure.
Personally, I think sex has as much to do with
performance as a lucky bandana or superstitious
routine. If your mind tells you its bad news, then
seek out glory with a little built-up sexual frustration. But if you feel youve gotta get some to maintain focus and fearlessness, then go on and get it.
When it comes to competition, CrossFit and coitus,
you really cant go wrong. T
THEBOXMAG.COM
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30-30-30
One barbell, three moves, 90 reps. Can you break four minutes in this fast and furious workout?
By Isaiah Rhodes, NSCA-CPT
Setup: Use one bar. To Rx, men use a 45-pound bar with a
25-pound plate followed by two 10-pound plates on either side,
so as the WOD progresses, you can easily shed the weight. To
Rx, women use a 45-pound bar with a 10-pound plate on either
side, followed by a 5-pound plate, followed by a 10-pound plate.
Scale: To scale for this workout, set your bar up so that you are still
able to descend in weight as the movement changes. Start with
your heaviest weight and end with your lightest. The weight you
choose should not be more than 75 percent of your one-rep max.
COACH SAYS
Fried shoulders. Torched legs. Seeking bucket. If you feel like
these are the marks of a solid WOD, then youll love this workout,
developed by John Harris from CrossFit Murrieta in California.
Here, youll start out with a heavy, fundamental strength builder
the overhead press for 30 will-sapping reps. From there,
youll lower the weight slightly and knock out 30 front squats
a temporary reprieve for your shoulders, although holding the
UDFNSRVLWLRQZLOOEHPRUHFKDOOHQJLQJ<RXOOQLVKZLWKSRZHU
cleans, a move that requires perfect synergy between your nowfatigued legs and delts. But take heart a further reduction in
weight helps you motor through your reps without compromising
your form.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
Technical: 6
Metabolic: 8
Volume: 5.5
Strength: 5
OVERALL: 6.13 (out of 10)
CLASSIFIER
Firebreather: 4:00 or less
Excellent: 4:01-6:00
Good: 6:01-9:00
Fair: 9:01 or more
1. GAME IT: Go into

this WOD with a game
plan, Harris says.
How are you going to
break up the sets of
30? We suggest going
for sets of 12, 10 and
eight. Youll always
be decreasing the
number of reps, which
helps with the mental
aspect.
2. PUSH IT: Use
the push jerk for the
shoulder-to-overhead
movement, he says.
It will keep your arms
from burning out too
soon.
3. FINISH IT: Go
all out on the last
30 power cleans,
Harris says. Use the
lighter weight to your
advantage. This is
where you can make
up some time. T
John Harris is
the owner of
CrossFit Murrieta
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California. He also
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in powerlifting and
Olympic lifting and
has 10 years of
law-enforcement
experience.
THEBOXMAG.COM
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3

GROUP PUBLISHER Cheryl Angelheart

CHAIRMAN & CEO Efrem Zimbalist III

THE FISHER QUEEN

31 CROSSFIT AT ANY AGE

18 THE SCIENCE OF MOVEMENT

40 TIP THE SCALE

Photo by Robert Reiff

56 PALEO KITCHEN: SWEET

Energizing formula provides 1 full serving of fruits

LEARN MORE AT GNC.COM/PUREDGE

Photo Courtesy of CrossFit, Inc.

Vince Lombardi, coaching icon

Simple answers to pressing

>> When training, CrossFitters generally

10 THE BOX NOVEMBER 2014

Photo by Robert Reiff

Why to Get It:%HFDXVHYtYRWLV

NOVEMBER 2014 THE BOX 11

Percent higher mortality

12 THE BOX NOVEMBER 2014

>> Nutrition-conscious CrossFitters

PERFORMANCE BEGINS WITH PREPARATION

Learn everything about Marc Pro at www.maarcproo.com

SAVE $30 AT MARCPRO.COM

Jason Khalipa gets under the bar

Clean up your front squat: First and

Shrug at the top: Getting the bar as high

14 THE BOX NOVEMBER 2014

Mind your deadlift, too: As with front

Photo by Robert Reiff

A lot can go wrong in the second or so it

QUICK & SIMPLE

16 THE BOX NOVEMBER 2014

Athlete: Nicholas Cameron

Once your hands

Press out of the

NOVEMBER 2014 THE BOX 17

In the lower (abdominal) compartment, which

Weight belts should be worn only when downward

By Bob LeFavi, Ph.D., CSCS, USAW

18 THE BOX NOVEMBER 2014

Only when athletes are lifting a heavy load. I

THE POWER OF PRE-MADE MEALS

By Elke S. Nelson, Ph.D.

NOVEMBER 2014 THE BOX 21

CROSSFIT SANTA BARBARA

LOCATION: 209 Gray Ave., Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Photo Courtesy of CFSB LLC

Being in a setting like Santa Barbara, you probably get a lot of

Photos by Corey Sorensen

SHOWN: New Balance

24 THE BOX NOVEMBER 2014

NOVEMBER 2014 THE BOX 25

THE FISHER QUEEN

28 THE BOX NOVEMBER 2014

he 120 feet seemed like such a long way. So

NOVEMBER 2014 THE BOX 29

Ryan, 26, is a minor league baseball

Photo by Marc Gio

EAT LIKE WHEN I

ont you dare complain.

Decrease push-up range of