Balance - When You Need it Most...

Folks:

You are approaching a very busy time.

What's the bottom of your priority list?

DON'T let it be your health!!!

NOW is when you need balance the most in your life.

You have worked very hard to get where you are; encourage yourself to maintain the motivation and force yourself to care for yourself.

Keep to your routine and you will be thankful.

Trust me on this one.

Energy Systems

There are three metabolic pathways that provide the energy for all human action. These “metabolic engines” are known as the phosphagen
pathway, the glycolytic pathway, and the oxidative pathway.

The first, the phosphagen, dominates the highest-powered activities,
those that last less than about ten seconds. The second pathway, the
glycolytic, dominates moderate-powered activities, those that last
up to several minutes. The third pathway, the oxidative, dominates
low-powered activities, those that last in excess of several minutes.

Favoring one or two to the exclusion of the others and not recognizing
the impact of excessive training in the oxidative pathway are arguably
the two most common faults in fitness training.

Friday's Recipe

Broccoli with Cream Sauce

Time: 5 minutes for sauce, 15 minutes total

This is quick and easy. It will taste somewhat like the
cheese sauce typically served with broccoli.

• 6-8 cups broccoli florets
• 2 Tbs Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbs olive oil (preferable) or canola mayonnaise
• 2 Tbs coconut milk
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp onion powder

Steam the broccoli, or cook in a pressure cooker to
save time.
Warm all of the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan,
mixing well. Spread the sauce over the broccoli
before serving.

Zone info: 2 servings at 3 carb blocks, 6.5 fat blocks.

Central Canadian Sectionals

Here are the WOD's for this upcoming competition

Saturday

WOD 1:
3 Rep
Max Overhead Squat

WOD 2:
AMRAP in 7 Min
95# Thrusters

WOD 3:
5 Rounds
155# Power Clean
10 Burpees
200m run

Sunday

30 Chest 2 Bar Chin Ups
15 Deadlift - 225#
400m Run
30 Push Ups
15 Push Press/Jerk - 135#
30 Air Squats
15 Front Squat - 135#
400m Run
15 Deadlift - 225#
30 Chest 2 Bar Chin Ups

Sweeney is not competing this year, and Mike has a bye into the National Regional Comp.

However, one of our suppliers will be leaving it all on the floor.

Wish Bill T luck this weekend.

Crossfit vs P90X

Have you ever wondered how the two compare?

Go to the link:

http://www.catalystgym.com/2009/02/crossfit-vs-p90x.html

The Canadian Wild

You can see this creature in a zoo, but it just doesn't compare to having it appear in your own back yard....

"Not Bad"

Do you ever wonder about some of our standard responses?

I was thinking about a response I got from asking "How are you feeling today?"

The response was "Not Bad"...quite a common response.

As I was walking away, I got to thinking about it.

Did I suggest that I assumed you were bad? Is that why you told me you weren't?

Are you really trying to tell me you're good? ok? miserable?

What does "Not Bad" mean anyway?

Is the glass half empty? or half full?

What do you think?

Saturday Morning Breaky

Chicken Apple Hash



Have you ever noticed how certain foods go
together? Beer and pizza, peanut butter and
chocolate? Sorry, we are not recommending
chocolate or pizza at the present moment, but
we do have a good paleo friendly combo:
chicken and apples. Perhaps not the Abbot
and Costello of the food world, but chicken and
apples do make quite a flavor combination.
We
also have a few favorite spices that bring out the
natural flavor of both fruit and fowl. The following
feature breakfast is a chicken apple hash with a
few seasoning twists.

Time: 15min

• Free range boneless skinless chicken breast
(turkey works as well especially if one can
find the ground variety)
• Fresh Fuji apples - Look for these at your
farmers market as they are at the height
of the season
• Jamaican All Spice
• Garam Massala
• Cinnamon
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

We have used all of the spices listed above either
singularly or in combination to create
several
varieties of chicken apple hash. These spices
tend to be forgiving if overused so be creative
and experiment with what you find to be the
ultimate hash.
Mince or finely chop chicken breast. Some
butcher shops and better super markets will grind
the chicken breast for you. This is preferable as it
will result in better consistency.
Grate 2 Fuji apples, include the seeds if you are
feeling particularly Paleo and would like a small
dose of anti cancer fun.
Place a nonstick skillet over medium heat and
add a generous amount of olive oil. Add 1-2 tsp.
of any of the above spices to the oil and allow
to infuse for ~2min. If you are using
more than
one spice keep the amount to 1 tsp. each unless
you enjoy intensely flavored
food. We particularly
like a hash with a lot of cinnamon. We will use as
much as 1 Tbsp in this recipe. Give it a try and see
if you like it!
Add chicken to the infused oil and stir frequently
to
brown the chicken on all sides. When the chicken
is almost completely brown add the apples and
cover pan for 3-5 min stirring occasionally. If the
hash becomes
a bit watery because of moisture
from the apples increase heat to medium-high
for a few minutes and finish cooking uncovered
until the apples have cooked down.
Serve with cinnamon infused espresso!

Zone Blocks: This recipe is particularly friendly to
the Zone. Our 1 block proportions
are: 1oz chicken
breast for protein, 1/2 an apple for the carbs, 1/3
tsp olive oil supplies
the fat. To construct a meal
of a particular
block measure simply multiply the
above measure appropriately. Remember to
add extra fat blocks if you are using chicken or
turkey breast as they are very low fat. If one is
following the Athletes Zone as much as 2 Tbsp of
olive oil will be necessary to round out a 4 block
meal with 5x fat.

7 Tips to Enhance Digestion

1. Eat to Nourish Your Body

2. Relax

3. Slow Down and Chew

4. Eat Your Enzymes

5. Limit Portions

6. Don't Wash Your Food Down

7. Enhance Your Digestion

For the full article, go to: http://www.westonaprice.org/Seven-Tips-to-Enhance-Digestion...And-Get-the-Most-Out-of-the-Food-You-Eat.html

Cool Tool

If you are into camping.....

https://reserve.albertaparks.ca/crrs/public/reservation/findCampsite.htm

Get Outside

Take some time to spend outside today.

Go for a run

Ride your bike

Get to the park


Get your vitamin D

Aspartame - Did you know?

Aspartame itself doesn’t have any calories, but basically, one of its ingredients, the amino acid phenylalanine, blocks production of serotonin, a nerve chemical that, among other activities, controls food cravings. As you might well imagine, a shortage of serotonin will make your brain and body scream for the foods that create more of this brain chemical—and those are the high-calorie, carbohydrate-rich snacks that can sabotage a dieter. Obviously, the more aspartame one ingests, the more heightened the effects. Simply put, aspartame appears to muddle the brain chemistry.

CF2 Challenge - Coming Soon!!!

A couple of weeks ago, I asked you to provide some thoughts/opinions of the CF2 program as it exists.

Thanks to all who responded!!

Overwhelmingly, you like the program.

A couple of things that were flushed out are:

1) You want more group workouts
2) You like your results and most of you appreciate feedback from your colleagues.

I have spoke to Mike and we will be having more group WODs. When I return, we will incorporate future dates when this occur.

Also;

We will be having our first CF2 challenge!!!

This will likely happen toward the end of April, so I would encourage each of you to train hard and eat clean. The end of April is very near, and you will want to prepare yourself well.

The structure of the event and the WOD's will be announced soon.

3-2-1...GO!!!