No junk in my trunk

I am Paleolithic Woman (almost)

You may remember me making a few diet promises a while ago. Well, I kind of did ok, but I cheated a few times - it's hard doing this sort of thing on your own. And I have a real problem with willpower, especially when it comes to food. So it was perfect timing that CrossFit Hutt Valley decided to launch their "No Junk in my Trunk" challenge with their gym members. This involves clearing my diet of all processed food, grains, sugar and dairy. The resulting foods left in my fridge and pantry should be meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. Oh, and eggs. Basically it is living a modern-day version of how our old hunter-gatherer paleolithic ancestors would have lived. 

Those who eat a mostly paleo diet already have just gone straight for full-on clean eating. For the rest of us, we are gradually easing ourselves in. So in the first week I cut out 'obvious' refined sugar (no cakes, biscuits, lollies, chocolate, etc), last week it was wheat that got the chop. This week I'm feeling brave enough to go completely grain free. And it really helps that other more experienced paleo-eaters are sharing their delicious  recipes. 

So far I have had easy and not-so-easy days... 

Cutting out sugar was relatively easy, as was wheat - only fell off the wagon accidentally a couple of times, just by finishing up the baby's dinner without thinking. I had one day halfway through the second week where I had some intense sweet cravings and really wanted a biscuit. So I had one, but I didn't beat myself up about it.  

I'm only a day into this grain-free week, but it has been pretty intense already in terms of thinking what to feed myself. I didn't really get myself prepared very well, which was a bit short-sighted of me. But I've held onto my promise to myself, and really proud that I even got through the day without a single forbidden item passing my lips.  

This morning I woke up in a panic, we were running late for our first appointment of the day and I didn't have a clue what to make - then I saw a post on facebook from those lovely people at CrossFit about their breakfast smoothie. Phew! Got a ton of berries in the freezer and a banana in the fruit bowl - and I'm still allowed milk this week, so I had a beautiful deep purple banana and blueberry smoothie. 

Lunchtime had to be a quick turnaround, so three jumps at the fridge and I had made myself a pumpkin, broccoli and quorn curry. Quorn is fake meat - possibly not very paleo, but I was in a hurry, and it's not yet on my 'do not eat' list. It is made from mycoprotein (a kind of fungus). The resulting curry wasn't the most delicious thing I've ever made, but it did the trick. 

I'd had my evening meal planned for ages - been looking forward to replicating a chorizo frittata that I'd eaten a couple of times at the lighthouse cinema. So, while the baby was occupied eating her own dinner (mini vegetable frittatas - she's not on the diet, but dinner was a good paleo effort from her too!), I roasted some kumara and chorizo, mixed it all together with some beaten egg, and some lumps of cream cheese, topped it with some more cheese for good measure (making the most of still having dairy!), and baked it.  I also caremelised some onions to go with it. Even my carb-loving hubby said he'd eat it again. AND he doesn't even like frittata usually. I'm pretty sure Paleolithic Woman would have made something similar for her husband with woolly mammoth sausages and moa eggs. 

 

So that's my first day - I survived. I didn't go hungry, I snacked on dates and nuts, and I haven't felt deprived. Except at playcentre, when one of the other mums had made the most delicious looking chocolate cake, and the smell made me want to bury my face in it. 

Well, I'm only human. 

What is CrossFit anyway? Part 2b - CrossFit in Plain English - the workout

Before I start, a small confession: in the last post I told you about the equipment, but forgot one very key thing - the most important piece of kit is of course your own body. As well as the equipment, you could just as easily do some, or all, elements of a workout using no equipment at all. Just doing a good series of press-ups, sit-ups, squats and lunges is enough to give you a really good workout if you do it all properly. And "properly" is the key - that's why it's best to do these things at the gym so your trainer can make sure you're doing it right. 

And now back to part 2b, which, on second reading, seems more like a list of random musings than anything coherent. Still, enjoy!

When you turn up to a class at CrossFit, you will be doing the same workout as everyone else. This will not be the same as your last workout, nor will it be the same as your next. Variety, as they say, is the spice of life! And personally, I love the anticipation of not knowing what I'll be doing until I get there. Especially at the moment when some of the exercises are so new to me. A couple of weeks ago I did a modified version of a handstand push-up: kneeling on a box, hands on the ground, doing a press-up vertically, head to ground and up again... does that make sense? Hopefully. And wow, they were hard (I made funny faces all the way through) but it was a fun in a sadistic kind of way. 

In general, each training session begins with a gentle warm-up of stretching, and perhaps a short gentle run, followed by some skills training (e.g. working with the broomstick to learn a type of lift), then into the main workout of the day (or "WOD"). Sometimes the skills and WOD are the other way around - not sure why, perhaps just to keep us on our toes. Each WOD is preceded by a more substantial warmup. This might be something like 30 skips, 10 press-ups, 10 sit-ups, 10 box jumps- twice through. Usually I feel like I've done a proper workout after the warmup! The WOD can be just about any combination of exercises such as those I mentioned in the previous post. For example, my last workout was as many rounds as possible (or "AMRAP") in 20 minutes, of 15 body rows, 30 press-ups and 45 squats; but a couple of weeks ago I did the hardest ever - a timed 5 rounds of 25 each of 4 different types of exercise - ouch! But generally the workout will be short and intense. There are other types of workout, but more about those in another post. 

There is never an easy workout, by the way. I always leave feeling that I just worked the hardest I can, but worth pointing out that I have also never left feeling that I didn't enjoy it. 

You are not there to target specific areas, you are working on your whole body. Lucky for me I don't really believe in targeting areas of my body. I'd love a smaller waist, but I know that, even in my emaciated teenager days, my waist was still actually pretty thick. CrossFit is about strength and health. All that stuff you want to target can come later when you realise that actually you are looking pretty damn good and all of a sudden your big [insert your own body hang-up here] just isn't such a big deal any more.

Every exercise you do, you will receive proper instruction, especially if you haven't done it before. And every session you attend has some time dedicated to honing your technique. Your trainer is there to make sure your time at the gym is productive and safe. So it's pretty hard (unless you are a real doofus) to get it wrong and hurt yourself.

One more thing. You may hear a CrossFit gym referred to not as a gym, but a 'box'. I still have no idea why, but have reasoned in my own head that it has something to do with the fact that you don't need all sorts of fancy machinery, just 4 walls, some basic equipment, and yourself. And if I have it wrong, I still maintain that my explanation makes sense too ;)

So that's it, in one very large 2 (or 3?) part nutshell. Hope you're still awake! 

Next post I'll tell you all about the "No Junk in my Trunk" challenge. Watch this space..

What is CrossFit anyway? Part 2a - CrossFit in plain English - the basics and equipment

Hope you're all enjoying the long weekend! 

I'm really not sure how to describe some of the things we do, or if I'm even describing them correctly - so forgive me  if I get some things a bit skewy. But I promised plain English, so thats what it is. And it was starting to look like War and Peace, so part 2 is in two parts! 

So... Where to start? CrossFit is unlike any other gym I have been to. In the gyms I have been to, you show up on your first day, probably given some kind of orientation and a personal trainer.  The trainer will find out all about you, your health and goals, and give you a suitable workout plan to follow. They follow up on a regular basis but basically most sessions you turn up, do your workout and go home. There are cardio machines, free-weights, weight-machines, and all sorts of other equipment, and your workout may use some or all of these. 

At CrossFit, you attend an introductory (Fundamentals) class with other newbies - everyone must complete this to allow them to workout safely in a CrossFit gym. You are given an orientation, you share your background and your goals with the trainer and others in your class, you do a workout together, (to provide a benchmark for later on), you also learn about all of the equipment in the gym. You will be given some basic weight-lifting skills and stretches to get you prepared for joining in a class. And then you're all set to go - you're a fully fledged CrossFitter. After this you book into as many classes as you choose to attend, and although specific exercises will be modified to your ability, you do exactly the same workout as everyone else, with everyone else. 

Anyhoo, more about that in part 2b. What I want to do first is tell you a bit about the equipment. Luckily for you, I haven't done enough yet to tell you too much. So here, in no particular order, is some of the equipment I have used in the gym, and what I have used it for:

Medicine ball - these are big (beach ball sized) heavy balls! They come in a range of weights, and so far I have mainly used them for 'wall balls', which involves squatting down in front of a wall, holding the ball at chest height, and then standing up and throwing the ball up towards a point on the wall. Harder work than it sounds actually - especially if, like me, you cannot control your ball. Last week I also held onto a 3kg ball to do 125 'weighted' sit-ups. Ooowww my poor abs! 

Broomstick - it's amazing how something as harmless as a broomstick can leave you aching. These are used for warming up, and technique training - i.e.  how to lift a real weights bar. Getting the technique right with the broomstick also encourages better flexibility which helps you to avoid injury when you get to the real weights. And boy am I grateful for these - if I had to start with a proper weighted bar... well I wouldn't even be able to get started I'm sure! 

Rings - just like those things you see gymnasts hanging from, doing all sorts of acrobatics. I have used these to do 'body rows'. This is an alternative to a pull-up. Standing with the rings in front of you, hold onto the rings and lean back, until your arms are straight (your body will also remain straight). The next bit depends on how strong you are.. You can walk your feet forward a little to make the exercise harder. The 'rowing' part involves bending your elbows to pull your body back up to the rings (touching your thumbs to armpits at the top of each row). The aim is to get yourself further and further underneath the rings, so that you are eventually strong enough to pull yourself up from almost horizontal, right underneath them. I'm nowhere near that yet. 

Bars - I think this is actually called a rack, as they can be used to place bars on for weight lifting. There are plenty of these, running about half the length of the gym. They are high up off the ground and as well as being used for weights, they are also used for pulling up your own bodyweight (think of any all-action movie montage where the hero gets in shape and you're probably thinking of the right move). The rings also hang from these bars too. If there is anything else you can do on this bar, I don't know about it yet. I have actually done a modified version of a pull-up. Yes, me - a newbie - doing a pull-up! I had been going to the gym for less than three weeks and wasn't expecting to be able to do one for months, so it was a very proud (and surprising) moment when I found out I could do something akin to a pull-up. Go me! 

Weight bars - there are so many different lifts, and I couldn't attempt to explain them all here, as I really haven't ventured too far with these yet (refer back to the part about broomsticks if you're wondering!) but you've seen weight-lifters on tv. It's the same deal. 

Box - just a wooden box. And you'd be surprised at the number of things you can do with something so simple. The box can be turned to one of 3 different heights, which allows it to be used for different people, exercises and skill levels. Simple, but ingenious! One of the main things I have used this for is box jumps. And these are exactly how they sound. You jump on the box, and jump off again - you probably did something like this in P.E. at school. I also learned a cool stretch using the box last weekend - cue lots of giggling from two of us laughing at each other looking funny doing it. As one of the CrossFit rules states - leave your ego at the door! 

Kettle bells - a big metal ball with a handle on the top. It looks like an old-fashioned kettle without the spout, which I guess is where they get their name from. The only thing I have used these for is a kettle-bell swing. Holding the bell by the handle with both hands, and bending forward a bit,  you stand up, pushing your hips forward, which will push your arms (and the bell) forward, causing it to swing upwards. If you do this with enough force, the bell should end up above your head, and swing back down again between your knees to start the next swing. Terrible explanation - apologies to all CrossFit trainers! 

Skipping ropes - I thought I'd left skipping behind with my ten year-old self back in 1986, but here I am doing it again, only without singing along. And jumping into someone else's rope to skip with them isn't encouraged either. 

There are also a few other bits and bobs there to help you stretch out and massage your tired muscles. You'll begin to learn which stretches you really need to do to help you recover from a workout. I'm forever asking about how to stretch this or that muscle, and I always get good advice. 

Next up, what a typical session looks like.