The Quintessential Guide to the London Summer Games: CultFit Style
Posted: July 25, 2012 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: Alise Post, crossfit, diet, fitness, food, happiness, health, hipster, Holley Mangold, Jordan Burroughs, life, Lolo Jones, london, love, marathon, Olympics, pilates, running, Ryan Lochte, Sir Chris Hoy, Summer, WOD, yoga 19 CommentsA cucumber should be well sliced and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing-
A little mood music this morning (Click play and read the rest of the post, maybe):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogGTeurlqPI
Daily Top Stat: Only .2% of ‘Merican households care about the Olympics. August 8th can not arrive soon enough for the rest of our country: Honey Boo Boo
The summer games are right around the corner! The CONDOMS have finally arrived and the ANTI AIRCRAFT BATTERIES are firmly in place. Without wasting anymore of your time, here are our Athletes to Watch:
Holley Mangold- The ONLY woman to watch at the Games, PERIOD! Authentic, real and an inspiration to us here.
Alise Post- Your butt is sore if you stub a toe during a two-mile run! Image all the blog posts you would write if you had the following: A torn ACL, LCL and hamstring. Just for good measure lets toss in a hairline fracture in her femur and a detached meniscus … last July during a training ride! Keep an eye on “The Beast“!
Jordan Burroughs- All we see is gold as well!!! He may hail from Slakerville, NJ although he reared his dark side while in Good ‘Ole Nebraska.
Sir Chris Hoy- Ladies, he’s a Sir. That’s all you need to know.
Lolo Jones- Every Father reading today wants his Son to marry a woman like Lolo. She’s humble and not perfect, human. Plus she would whoop the hell out of your kid in a moments notice … Running of course!
Ryan Lochte- Michael Phelps is a douche. Albeit a douche with some hardware. Mr. Lochte is going to whoop his ass!
The Plan-
A quick stretch …
The Workout-
A nice Swim, Yoga and Meditation.
Notes:
Any thoughts on our list of the Summer Games Best Athletes? Feel free to chime in with who you think we left out of the mix … ENJOY!!!
Travels With Melissa …
Posted: July 24, 2012 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: cooking, crossfit, eating, exercise, fitness, food, happiness, life, love, motivation, paleo, pilates, trail running, Travel, traveling, Walk, walking, yoga 13 CommentsTravel Tribulations
It can be really difficult and frustrating, after getting comfortable with your food ways at home, when you have to navigate new surroundings to figure out the healthiest choices. Sometimes it is so overwhelming I find myself on the brink of giving up and looking for the easiest most unhealthy food around. However, I have learned from my experiences and want to share some of the ways I minimize stress and appreciate the journey!
I encourage you to embrace what you are able to do and enjoy the adventure of being somewhere new!
1. Make some travel foods to fill in the blanks. Granola bars are great! They last for a long time, don’t need to be refrigerated and can be individually wrapped. Check out: Ina Garten- Homemade Granola Bars Recipe for an awesome recipe! Another good travel food is hummus if you have a cooler. If kept cool it can last for about a week and you can pre-cut veggies ahead of time. My favorite travel food is quinoa salad! It can be eaten cold or hot and if you have a cooler it will stay good for up to a week. Quinoa salad is full of protein and other awesome vitamins and minerals!
2. Don’t be afraid to stop along your route for local fresh foods. Check it out and see what they are offering in that area. If its local it is obviously fresh with bonus points for supporting local farmers!
3. If you go to a supermarket take your time, look at all your options, read the ingredients, keep it simple and ask questions. Some of the “freshly” made products might not have been made right away and sometimes a marinated meat in the prepared foods section is a bottled marinade with all kinds of crazy ingredients.
4. Don’t stress out. Make the best decision possible and enjoy your vacation! A couple sub par meals will not ruin everything you have worked for!
Being happy will always be a part of being healthy! Trust in yourself to make the best choices and don’t obsess too much over bad options. Enjoy and appreciate everything you do have!
Happy traveling 🙂
The Plan-
The Workout-
A funny thing happened the other day while sorting through countless emails from our dear readers. A trend started to emerge from the rubble. Nearly 80% percent or so emails were asking when Melissa would stop back over to save yourself from reading our tired and exhaustive posts daily. The remainder of the emails primarily focused on one question/topic: “How do I perform a Perfect Pull Up?“
The invidious Uncle Mo opines: “Do more Pull Ups, duh!” Ah, if it was that simple … Ladies? We are throwing you all under the bus so be prepared!
Pop Quiz Hot Shot: What are the steps involved before an infant takes his or her first steps? Lie on tummy, roll over, reaching for an object, crawling, supported stand, falling, falling, falling some more and finally one day? A first step … So what happened from puberty on when you magically surmised that by simply grabbing a pull up bar you should be able to do one? Life is about patterns, pattering and progressions. There was and is a reason why we perform Fractal programs from time to time around these parts. You can not measure the importance of this program today in traditional ways: Form, Flow, Grace …
Happy Hips Warm Up followed by:
30 Second Natural Dead Hang From Pull Up Bar (Neutral Grip- Thumbs around top of bar. Open your pits/axilla and lengthen. Neutral spine and eyes forward, gently look through your grip …) Followed by:
30 Second Handstand Hold (Absolutely no flopping around! Actively press through the floor while pointing your toes to the sky. Neutral spine, take a moment to look through your hands … The exact opposite of your hang! Feel your breath and under control return to standing) Followed by:
5-10 Perfect Push Ups (Thumbs centered on nipples. Pinkies pointing at 3 and 9 o’clock. Elbows tucked in at your sides in the bottom position. Three points of contact at the bottom: Hands, Feet, Chin. Allow your breath to control and initiate movement throughout. Load on the way down slowly- Anakin squeeze! And initiate the upward movement through your stinky pits!)
15 Times Through Today! 1-5: Focus on length. 6-10: Focus on control. 11-15: Let your breathing take over … Form , Flow, Grace!
How about a nice little wager ladies of CultFit? Perform this program twice a week for one month? And we will guarantee that you will be able to do a Perfect Pull Up. Without one of those lame ass bands!?!
To accept our challenge and to decry to the blog-o-sphere that you are giving our challenge a go: Leave a comment and keep all of us updated on your progress!
When you are successful in your new task, and you will be successful! We will send you a nice shirt to wear out in public!!!
Notes-
Sister Hazel did our program last month and needless to say she cursed out her blue pull up band, it was rather unseemly for a woman. But damn was it hot!!! Dudes? Feel free to join us as well! The choice is yours … ENJOY!!!
**If you need some more clarification on the movements? Please feel free to ask for some help, that’s what we are here for.**
Monday 30 April 2012
Posted: April 30, 2012 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: crossfit, diet, Etsy, exercise, fitness, food, free range, gluten free, goblet, health, hipster, jogging, kettlebell, lululemon, marathon, meal planning, motivation, natural, nutrition, paleo, perspective, pilates, recovery, sweet wholesome health, trail running, walking, WOD, yoga 18 CommentsYou are having many falls, you are losing the fight. Your fame is all noise and commotion. My friend, you are saying you will uplift the world, But what about yourself?-
The Nutrition Equation…
Ever feel overwhelmed by the equation of nutrition (% of fat vs % protein vs % carbs etc)? Calculating what’s right for you does not mean you have to break out the calculator. Of course some of you ( accountant types) might enjoy that but for the rest of us that is just adding more painful work into our busy lives.
Here are some ways you can add both fun and more healthy food into your daily routine!
Get out of your comfort zone one baby step at a time. While you are getting ready in the morning (washing your hair, getting dressed) set a goal for yourself to try something new today. Don’t change your whole meal…Just add one new ingredient! Let yourself get excited about it and be proud when you accomplish your goal!
Find out what is seasonal and available right now in your area. It will be lower cost, very fresh and will support your local farmers. There are lots of websites out there that can give you this info and a list of farmers markets you can find them at.
Local Harvest <–Like this one here!!!
Get creative! Whatever local food you chose, take a sec to find a recipe that is going to get your taste buds excited and will be fun to make. For those of you experiencing spring it can be as simple as trying a new kind of lettuce or leafy green (kale, Swiss chard, arugala). You do not have to be a master chef to make tasty meals just willing to try. Leafy greens like kale are packed full of vitamins and minerals and only take a few minutes to cook!
Healthy needs to be more fun!
The Plan-
The Workout-
Listen up, yeah you!!! Pulled from our “Focus on something” series here at the CultFit archives…
Warm Up thoroughly doing the following:
25 Four Count Jumping Jacks
50 Goblet Squats
25 Perfect Push Ups
10 Perfect Pull Ups
45 Second High Push Up Plank
Who would have thought that Calisthenics were invented yesterday? Now take a moment to put your honest face on peeps…If we told you the above was a new P90x extreme workout or some ELITE WOD would you be interested? Oh look Booby is now the mayor of Whole Foods on Four Square…
Four, Five, Six or Seven times through would be pretty nice followed by an activity you thoroughly enjoy (we went for a nice swim)!!!
Notes:
If you could put down your iThingy in the seat next to you on your morning commute this morning? We have favor to ask of you…Look in your rear view mirror for a second. Do you see that? Say hello to your own worst enemy…Take a long hard look at this picture this morning peeps:
We are going to tackle a serious issue that is all to prevalent amongst our readers tomorrow. If you have an idea where this going to go feel free to comment to get the proverbial ball rolling…Once again our thanks to Melissa from Sweet Wholesome Health for stopping over and sharing an important message with us today! Have fun and ENJOY!!!
Friday 27 April 2012
Posted: April 27, 2012 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, blogs, cooking, crossfit, exercise, fitness, food, free range, gluten free, healing, health, hipster, holistic health, kettlebell, life, marathon, motivation, natural, pain, paleo, pilates, recovery, rest, running, sweet wholesome health, trail running, walking, WOD, yoga 25 CommentsAnything that can feel pain should not be put to pain-
What are the chances of you keeping a secret? Cool…We are so excited to announce that on Monday a dear friend will be stopping by to pay a visit. Which reminds us to clean up a bit over the weekend and maybe shave? Anyways, Melissa with Sweet Wholesome Health is kind and gracious enough to share her expertise in all things that can bring us closer to a healthy and happier life. If ever there was a time where we were lost for words this would be that time. Melissa passionately provides pure and thoughtful information that we can all use in our daily lives. Not since when the Boston Bruins were eliminated from the NHL playoffs have we been this excited about something.
Well it’s happened once again. You have wasted precious seconds from your life reading the musings here at CultFit all week. We tossed a fair amount of stuff out into the abysses and we sincerely hope it “clicked” with some of you. Today’s post was going to go over Factual Fitness and Contextual Fitness. But who really cares? We’ll save it for sometime next week…Sound like a plan?
Speaking of which. One way to look at CultFit would be as a conversation amongst all of us (followers, friends and lurkers). If there is something you are passionate about and would like to share please pipe up and send it in. No kidding, Uncle Frank here has a whole weeks worth or writing dedicated to the best hot dogs on earth: Hofmann Hot Dogs!!! You NYC types can take your Sabretts, Nathan’s and well? You know what to do with them!?!
The Plan-
And your excuse today is?!?
The Workout-
Thank you Sister Margret for sending in this little gem of a program before the weekend begins!!!
Warm Up as you see fit…We choose to do a Pulse Trail Run (basically a nice flowing run with pulses/bursts up the steep bits…Followed by:
**You did remember to bring a kettle bell or dumbbell with you to the trail this morning, right? Hmm Farmers Walk to the trail head…?!?**
At this point in our relationship its fair to say that you don’t leave home without some sort of technology strapped to your delicate body every morning. Good because we need something to keep time today or you could be like Uncle Pliny and watch the sun rise above the horizon…15 degrees = 15 minutes or so?
Find a tree and…
Hand Stand Hold (Actively press away from the ground beneath you. Toes point to the sky.) Please do not flop down…Flow and Grace…Followed by:
15 One Legged Dead Lifts (Weight is held opposite of standing leg. Your chin and tail bone are mortal enemy’s…Focus and pull them away from one another!)
Hand Stand Hold
15 One Legged Dead Lifts (Following along so far? Good…)
Hand Stand Hold
15 One Legged Dead Lifts and 15 Perfect One Arm Press (Hinge, DL, Hammer Curl to Rack Hold and Press)
Hand Stand Hold
15 One Legged Dead Lifts and 15 Perfect One Arm Press
At this point you hate life. This program is not a battle or a struggle against humanity! The tree really dislikes you because you slam into it every time for a hold and the ground really does not like having weight dropped on its head. Form, Flow and Grace for at least 30 minutes or so. If you can only do one DL or Press? That’s awesome!!! One perfect rep is better than 15 disastrous ones (think about that for a moment…)!!!
Notes:
If we were to ask one thing of you it would be this: Our sense of community at CultFit revolves around you and our ability share our thoughts openly. What say you?!? Have a great weekend and most importantly, ENJOY!!!
Thursday 26 April 2012
Posted: April 26, 2012 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, blogs, crossfit, exercise, fitness, food, free range, fun, gluten free, health, hipster, jogging, kettlebell, kids, life, lululemon, marathon, motivation, natural, NFL draft, NHL playoffs, paleo, perspective, philosophy, pilates, problems, psycology, recovery, rest, running, trail running, walking, whole foods, WOD, yoga 23 CommentsThe whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts-
Hmm Hmm…Don’t mind us as we puff out our masculine chest and spew machismo all about. Oh, sorry didn’t mean to get sweat all over your precious new Athleta Yoga top. Feel free to slide off your comfy Sanuks before you settle in this morning on the couch. We just poured a nice cup of Mr. Grey and chances are the kettle is still warm as evidence of the stream still gently rising into the air. If for some chance you thought things could not get any worse around here after yesterday’s Nickelback, Facts vs. Ignorance and dog balls post? Think again dear peep, its Thursday!!! Speaking of which we have never invited you into our pristine kitchen arena here at CultFit HQ? How rude…
We love food and heating things up in the microwave and basically we would like to share some of our offerings with you. So without further delay…Feast your eyes on our picturesque dinning options and like we always do on Thursday “Best Caption Wins Something”:
The Plan-
The Workout-
Rest Day…
Without spouting off and going on a twisting rant we understand that Rest Days are the hardest part of your workout program. “Like duh…How do I get better by meditating in the car on the way to work?” or “Shit Son…I have a race this weekend and I am 15 miles low for my mileage this week!”
The simple truth: Your hyper stimulated brain never needs to rest: Go, Go, Go all the time! Problem is: You have this thing called “Your Body” and your body secretly hates your brain and every thing your brain does to it. Is it too much to ask to listen to your body for one day? Luckily for you dear peeps we have a “Body” and a “Brain” on retainer here at CultFit HQ…Here is a recent conversation we overheard in the bathroom three stalls over:
BODY– “I’m sore, that’s all.”
BRAIN– “I wonder who else is in here? Work sucks, kids are turds, what is the rep scheme today? God Vancouver sucks and the Penguins blew it! Damn Russians and who ever liked the Sedin twins to begin with? Jesus, look at this! Who put the toilet paper in the dispenser backwards? Now I’m screwed with bad luck for the rest of the day! Shit I forgot my lunch…Well Whole Foods is right next door to work, I’ll just do that instead of going home in lunch traffic. Hmm if I do go home I could stop by the co-op and do some yoga at YogaMed? Yeah, sounds like a plan. Almost forgot about the NFL draft, talk about a bunch of losers that watch that crap for four days straight! Tom Brady is still hot as hell!!! Time to wipe and go someone is coming in…Ahhh man not right next to me…”
BODY– “I’m sore, that’s all.”
Notes:
Have an awesome day, Rest Up and ENJOY!!!
CultFit 