CROSSFIT MONCTON June 2015

AGING IS B.S. - THE MYTH OF MISSED OPPORTUNITIESNever tell me you're too old. Never tell me it's because you're aging that you're fat, sore, achy, can't recover, not as strong, not as fit, or... The list of excuses laid at the feet of aging is maddening and mistaken. Aging is society's unconsciously agreed upon excuse for its laziness, for not taking personal responsibility for its own health and wellbeing. Even in CrossFit circles, where we are smashing preconceived notions of ageing, I continue to hear these excuses - and from thirty-something-year-olds! Honestly and holy hell, please stop with the self-delusion and lies. The Myth of Aging Aging isn't a sentence that kicks into affect at exactly 27, 33, or forty years of age. It’s a process that can be slowed, and it's a choice you make. In fact, aging is the accumulation of all the choices, decisions, and actions you take over the course of your lifetime.

The more consistently your daily choices and actions are health promoting, the more prolonged your experience of the fountain of youth will be. The opposite is also true. The poorer the choices you make and the harder you treat your body, the more rapidly

aging sets in. “But it’s different for me,” people tell me. Really? How? You have two arms, two legs, and a brain. You choose what you put in your body, what environments and

people you expose yourself to, what information you allow into your head, how much sleep you get, the quality of your nutrition, whether you hydrate yourself, and what exercise you get. You choose to stress or not. You choose to self-abuse (coffee, drugs, alcohol, sugar, TV, chemicals, cigarettes, junk food) or not. You choose to fight for your dreams or not. You choose laziness or mental toughness. The list is endless. You literally choose ageing - or not.

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Age Doesn't Say "I Can't" “I'm 64,” you say. “I could never swim 53 hours (110 miles) straight, in the open ocean, to make it from Cuba to Florida.” Really? Diana Nyad did. And at 64 years of age she was the first person to ever do so - after five attempts that spanned 36 years of her life. “I'm 42. I'm to old to make the Olympic Games.” Really? Dara Torres did, and she won three silver medals - at her fifth Olympic Games. "I'm 70. I could never compete in the Lanzarote Ironman.” Really? Eddie Brocklesby did and became the oldest woman to ever complete the course. She began running at 52 years of age, but had never trained before that. What sets these people apart? What sets any champion apart? Choices, actions, and discipline. That's it. That's the “miracle cure” to aging. The magic bullet, the pill everyone wants the doctor to prescribe. You can't sit at a desk all day; smash sugar, coffee, and energy drinks; watch TV and computer screens for hours on end; stress about everything while you chase the outward signs of affluence; smoke, eat out all the time, and stay up late; hate your job, drink to relax, and take medication for everything; get little exercise, war with your family, and hate yourself. If you want a recipe for aging, any of these ingredients in any quantities will do it. Take Care of Yourself Cells age. How you treat them determines how you age. A dehydrated cell has a shrunken and shriveled appearance, rather than an appealing round and consistent appearance. This alone dramatically affects the way things like nutrients, minerals, trace elements, and fluids are able to cross the cell's membrane. If your cells aren't able to exchange nutrients within their environment (you), your body cannot maintain its systems with ease and efficiency. Your body will overwork and underperform. It will steal bits from here to plug up holes there. "You have choices. Every thought, word, action, and deed is a choice. It is a step in the direction of the fountain of youth or a

giant leap toward premature aging." The body is a clever adaptive machine, but it can ultimately work against itself. Its primary goal is to keep you alive, so to achieve that aim it will rob itself of nutrients in one area to fuel another area more critical to life support. You can imagine the consequences as this goes on over years - deficiencies, inefficiencies, inflammation - nothing good. Keep Your Nutrition Clean And that’s only talking on the level of a dehydrated cell. We haven't even considered the consequences of chemicals, toxins, irritants, and foreign particles (things we think are “food” but are far from it) introduced into the body through skin, lungs, and digestive tract. When we ingest fake foods (stuff that is highly processed, containing food additives, colourings, chemicals, neurotoxins, etc.) our body responds by launching a battle against the foreign invader. You may or may not notice this at first. A drop in energy, bloating, headache, irritable bowel, flatulence, puffy eyes, hay fever, irritability, indigestion, mood swings, itchiness, achy joints, dry skin, cravings, inability to concentrate, rashes, runny nose, phlegmy throat, fat fingers, red cheeks - the list of reactions is endless.

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!Nothing will age you faster than overly processed food - especially anything you obtain via a dive-thru window. These symptoms can be subtle at first, but over time, as your body is fed these fake foods daily, these symptoms can become permanent and exacerbated. They are evidence of the body's immune system working overtime to rid itself of invaders. This battle creates systemic inflammation as the body fights to rid itself of the foreign particles. So instead of maintaining and growing, the body is wasting its resources and

energy on warring with itself. The war against aging is the war against

inflammation. And, again, the choice is always yours.

Win the War Against Aging

If you want to win the war against aging, here are my top eleven tips for crushing

the competition:

1. Give a sh**.

2. Take responsibility for your choices.

3. Drink three to six litres of clean, quality water per day. I add Vital Greens to

mine for added vitamin, mineral, and nutrient value.

4. Eat predominantly hormone-free, grass-fed meats and proteins (all of them, including free-range eggs), raw unsalted nuts (not

peanuts), lots of green veggies, some carbs (white rice, sweet potato, quinoa), and a little fruit.

5. Stay away from sugar, wheat, dairy, food colourings, preservatives, brightly packaged fake foods, alcohol, cigarettes, take-out

meals, and excess salt.

6.Take high-quality fish oils, glucosamine, magnesium, and vitamin C daily. See a naturopath

regularly to determine exactly what is depleted and treat it (consider this a bit like servicing

your car).

7.Get a minimum of eight hours of blissful sleep per night - every night.

8.Exercise like a mofo. Do not be afraid to push your limits. In fact, you must push your limits

to grow stronger and fitter over time.

9.Recover like a beast. Get a weekly massage, do a gentle yoga class, float weekly, meditate

daily, spend time in nature daily (even just a few minutes looking at the stars, the birds, the

dogs, or the sun rise), cultivate childlike wonder.

10.Be the most positive sucker in the gym. Smile, see the positive in everything, relish

challenges, gleefully look for ways to make shit harder, listen to positive podcasts and audio

books, seek out like-minded people and spend time with them. Be the kind of role model the

world needs.

11. Live passionately and purposefully - no matter the evidence against you.

Age Is Just a Number

Aging is a bs myth that society has sleepily agreed to indulge and use to excuse itself for its laziness. It's like a drug that people

have become addicted to. It's an excuse for opting out and giving up. I say “no” to aging - and you can, too. You have choices. Every thought, word, action, and deed is a choice. It is a step in the

direction of the fountain of youth or a giant leap toward premature aging.

I know where I'm spending my time, money, energy, and passion - how about you? Via Breaking Muscle

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Ingredients:

Filling -

6 avocados

6 TBSP honey

1 cup coconut oil

2/3 cup lime juice

Crust -

1 1/2 cups almond flour/meal

1/2 cup dates

2 TBSP almond butter

2 TBSP honey

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut, shredded

1/4 cup coconut flour

Instructions

Place all crust ingredients in food processor and pulse until grainy. It should stick together when you press on it, but not form a ball by itself. If it does, add more almond flour.

Dump blended ingredients into spring form pan and press down to form crust.

Wipe out food processor and place all filling ingredients within. Blend for several minutes (4-5) until completely smooth.

Pour over crust and smooth out.

Place pie in freezer for 1-2 hours. Serve chilled.

!Paleo Treats for ANY Occasion CLICK HERE!

PALEO KEY LIME PIE

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ATHLETE PROFILE When did you join CFM? Had you been involved in other gyms or fitness programs before?

I did the drop-in in August 2012, and joined at the beginning of September.

I was sent to the gym as part of a rehabilitation after a car accident in 2004, and when I was younger I’d been forced to work out (as a lifeguard and dancer) but never, ever joined of my own volition.

Do you have an athletic background?

I was a pretty active kid, involved in lots of sports and activities, but that all ended in Grade 11 when I had my 7th shoulder surgery. I ended up with 2 more surgeries a few years later, which just cemented the thought that I would never be fit again.

When I started CrossFit, I had been basically sedentary for about 10 years. I’ve never been very strong, but that was my weakest point physically (and emotionally.)

What made you decide to join CFM? I didn’t exactly “decide.” Kevin MacKenzie decided he wanted to try it…and I kind of came along for the ride. I would never, ever have done this on my own. It’s hard, it hurts, and it was scary to be in a big group of people who all speak a different language, and who could all do stuff I couldn’t imagine doing.

At the time, I considered myself permanently injured, I suffered from extended periods of depression and anxiety, I was overweight and had chronic pain. That July, my father, who I was incredibly close to, had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. Over 7 weeks, I watched him deteriorate. And that September 17th, I was by his side at the end. Joining CrossFit right when all that was happening kept me sane. One month later, I found myself unemployed, a scary proposition for a single mom of three kids. I started a new company, and if I hadn’t found CrossFit just when I did, I don’t think I would have survived those first few months. It gave me structure when my whole world was falling apart. CrossFit gave me much, much more than a workout program. CFM became my home when I didn’t have one anymore. It gave me safety when I was pretty close to drowning. And it gave me a sense of order in my chaotic life.

But even though I attributed CrossFit, and CFM specifically, with my mental and physical survival, it wasn’t until over a year into the CFM experience that I began to think of myself as a CrossFitter. Now I’m working on feeling like an athlete.

HEATHER PROUDFOOT

!Stats

-CrossFitting since 2012!-Deadlift: 220#!-Back Squat: 160#!-C&J: 115#!-500m Row 1:53!-DUs: 102!

“The things that happen within these walls sometimes feel more like magic than

physics.”

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What are your fitness or skill goals? Have you accomplished any of them?

In life and in CrossFit, I tend to have too many goals. By the end of this year, I’d like to have all of my lifts (except strict press and snatch) be over 100#, and I want to finish Karen Rx. Later down the road, I want to get into the trophy case for rowing, and I want to try a really, really long run (no, I won’t define “ really, really long” because even thinking about +5k scares me a bit.) Eventually, I want to get my shoulder to a level of strength and stability that I can safely push myself on ring and bar work, get T2B and pull-ups…and then I want to have a full month of Rx workouts.

And, of course, I want to hit the “Easy Button,” do 50 push-ups unbroken, and someday finish Murph. (But I’m not putting a date on those.)

My original goals were much different. “Don’t quit after 3 months” was one. CHECK! “Learn how to bail so you don’t mess up your shoulder again” was another. CHECK! And when I got really ambitious, I went for my 200# deadlift and 100 DUs.

Do you remember your first workout?

My first workout was the Saturday 9am drop-in. I was hung over. (3 bottles of wine and up until 2am hung over.) There were 4 of us there to work out, and Kevin, Jo, Heather W., Jo’s mom, and Amanda were all there…no idea why. We listened to Kevin talk a bit about CrossFit, went through some movement standards and practiced each movement (doing 5-10 squats was pretty taxing.)

Then, KWood says “Go grab a drink.” I’m thinking we’re all done…nobody had told me there was a workout at this “info session.”

Long story short-ish: I came darn close to giving up. The row was horrible, the squats were to an 18” box and I’m pretty sure I cried, the pushups…weren’t. I had to do good mornings instead. And, for good measure, I

met Pukie. But I made it home first (barely.)

Describe the atmosphere at CFM.

There is nothing like the atmosphere at CFM. With all the people in their wild and wonderful outfits, teaching, learning, supporting, cheering on the person they are competing against… The things that happen within these walls sometimes feel more like magic than physics. It’s not something I would have ever believed if I hadn’t experienced it.

Give us a few words of advice for someone in their first month of CrossFit.

I know it hurts. I know it sucks to be last, to scale, or to reach your limits and find yourself wanting. But give it 3 months. That’s all. Just 3 months of your very best effort, and see what happens. I promise it will be worth it. And there will be people cheering you on every single step of the way, even if they’re too shy to tell you in person.

What would you tell someone who is hesitant to try CrossFit?

This is tough, because I was that person, and there’s not a darn thing anyone could have said to me to convince me to join. So I would say, “No matter who you are, this is made for you. When you’re ready, we’ll be here.”

What is your best WOD memory?

My favourite moment was definitely hitting my 100 unbroken DUs. It was totally unexpected, I had been working so hard for so long.

What is your favourite WOD (or type of WOD)?

I have the attention span of a gnat, so chippers aren’t really my thing. I love any WOD with a few reps of lots of different movements (like Deck of Death!!) and any WOD with skipping and sit-ups.

What would you say is the greatest benefit you've received from joining?

I know fellow CFM members will understand when I say…CrossFit has made me a better parent, a better business owner, and a better person. It’s allowed me to create the life I wish I had started living earlier.

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WHAT’S COMING UP IN THE CFM COMMUNITY?

June 6th !!June 13 !!June 13-14 !!June 23 !!July 4 !!July 18th !!!

Spartan Race !!!WOD for Wishes (Fundy) !!L1 Certificate Training (CFM) !!Prep Course !!!Mud Hero

!!The Hopper

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!!!!!

Above all else, we are a community.

Eat, drink, sweat, and be merry!

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Interested in joining? !Come try a FREE workout on Saturday morning at 9am. Leave your money at home. We don’t want to sell you anything; we just want you to feel the difference CrossFit can make.

!!Contact Kevin Wood at info@crossfitmoncton.com to confirm your FREE session, or call (506) 962-0710. !

!!CROSSFIT MONCTON 359 Baig Boulevard Moncton, NB

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