CrossFit NYC: The Black Box

"Onion (4 rings)
Onion.

Tomatoes, 1-2 slices
Tomato

Lettuce
Lettuce."

Thank god that haven't figured out a way to screw with those.

I did the Cooper Test as my warm-up tonight. I got 2500m. I really feel if it wasn't so humid I could've got another lap or two. I'd love to find out what other Xfitters get. (A friend I've been gently initiating into Crossfit got 2000m, and he quit with a minute to go.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_test

It's 830 calories, 51 grams of fat, 57 grams of protein, and 35 grams of carbohydrates. Without the fries and soda, I don't see the problem.

Ah, the Cooper test, it's been a while since I've done one of those. Not sure I can score a 3400 like I used to. :(

Hari, isn't a 55/28/17 calorie split a tad extreme? Or did I miss your sarcasm?

No Nicole for me tomorrow, my hands are toast. Maybe I'll do the 5K instead.

The protein is a bit high at around 8 blocks, and you can probably have the fries or the soda to equal out the carbs. But the fat, oh the fat, is a whopping (can I use "whopping" to describe a Wendy's burger) 36 blocks. Even if you account for the fat that's normally in meat, it's still 13 blocks...which seems to be on the extreme side. Wouldn't be to bad though if you had half for lunch and the other half for dinner ;)

I'm slightly confused, if I were to gauge a heart rate for the cooper, where should I be?

Also, for tomorrow's WOD, does the term max rep pullup apply to how many you get in one go and then you run? Or should you shoot for making your top reps each time?

IE, Run 400; Get 20 PU's, Run 400, 15 in one go, make up the 5 after a 10 minute breather?

If it's not this way, then gosh darn is that alot of running for some folks.

Hard to say, Dan. The Cooper is like a 12 minute race. Your heart rate should probably be around 85-95% of your max most of the time, but you should also learn to "feel" your level of exertion without looking at a heart rate monitor.

Regarding Nicole: one set of max pull-ups per round. The number of reps will decrease over time. That's why you have to report the number of reps per round.

The Baconator, is there anything it isnt good for???

Removing grease stains.

Ewen,

I wasn't being sarcastic. I'm not sure what ratios you are taking. I personally find 830 calories more than I need for a meal, but I wouldn't think twice about having a cheeseburger without the fries or soda.

Leave that magnificent piece of art alone! Keith you've been Fast Food Nation all week. LOL

Oops, I meant 10 second above...I think my recovery time is slightly faster than ten minutes...

Thanks Ewen, I'll try this one out tomorrow, subbing 500m rows would be a fun alternative. The lats will burn.

Hari,

Those are calorie ratios for fat, protein and carbohydrates. I'm not fluent in Zone-speak, but apparently Rob is also saying the fat is on the high side.

Don't get me wrong, I've never counted calories or "blocks" in my life and I'll match you cheeseburger for cheeseburger, but this "thing" looks pretty nasty.

That is just plain gross. I cant even look at it.

Hello from beautiful Ft. Bragg, NC. Getting back into the Crossfit swing of things. Angie @ 30:00. I think I could have had a better time if only I hadn't eaten that Baconator and washed it down with some twinkies. Kinda slowed me down a bit:) Looking forward to being back at the Box in a couple months:(

The baconator? Blah, give me the LUTHER any day of the week...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Luther

Look, all I got to say is don't abuse my meat...

where can i buy some chalk around here?

The Baconator Zone:

9g Carb = 1 block
3g Fat = 1 block
7g Protein = 1 block

Baconator has
35 carb = ~4 blocks
51 fat = 17 blocks
57 protein = ~8 blocks

Your best bet is to only eat half of one if you want to stay in the zone: 4 blocks with 2x fat. I'm sure if you've come that far finding another 2 blocks of carbs to round out your meal won't be a problem. In the alternative, you can do a Baconator Fran. I vote for the latter.

Dammit, for chalk locally I would go to a climbing store like EMS. Ordering it online is cheapest.

this is hilarious. i had no idea it would become such a conversation piece.
let me just say that i did, in fact, eat the new #4 in its entirety yesterday. i paced myself and though i was dissappointed that it wasn't the "big bacon classic" with the veggies, it was damn goooood.
then i had a vanilla frosty
how's that for sticking with the zone :)
i think i might have to give birth to a baby hamburger later though. it's still with me.

Thanks to Caroline from CrossFit One World, our fridge is stocked with Corona Light. The best performers from each class today will get a free beer to wash down their Baconator. Offer good while supplies last. :)

PS - Corona Light only has 5g of carbs per serving. That's 1/2 a block! Woohoo! Can't wait for my 4 block lunch.
http://www.peertrainer.com/DFcaloriecounterB.aspx?id=9515

but seriously, it should be named "marisela"

Didn't realize that zone ratios are based on calories, not weight. That would explain a lot.

On the other hand, here is something I don't get. The baconator has enough fat for an entire 17-block day. If you were going to consume it in parts over an entire day, you would still need to add 9 blocks of carbs and 8 blocks of protein.

But is the baconator is 830 calories, the additional carbs and protein are probably ony, say, 300 calories. So that would suggest to me that a 17 block day is only about 1100 to 1200 calories. I figured a 17 block day would at least meet the 2000 to 2500 calories recommended for active men.

Put another way, two baconators are 1630 calories. They have enough carbs and protein for an entire 17 block day, plus they have twice the fat. If you could cut only the fat in half, you would remove 400 calories, leaving 1200 calories and 16-17 blocks. This doesn't sound like nearly enough calories.

3 lessons I have learned so far in Crossfit:

Lesson 1: Never underestimate a WOD
Lesson 2: Never underestimate a WOD
Lesson 3: Dont pick at the loose skin on your hands after callousing.

Angie 33:16 as rx'd

PS - On the subject of cheeseburgers, I ate a BigMac yesterday for lunch. Tastes so good, hurts so bad.

ALL TRUTHS ARE COMING OUT!!!

Hari,

By my calculations, a 17 block day would yield 1547 calories. (That's assuming that 1 gram fat = 9 calories, 1 gram carb = 4 calories, 1 gram protein = 4 calories.)

So, if you wanted to spread the Baconator over the whole day and stay in the Zone at 17 blocks, adding 13 blocks of carbs and 8 blocks of protein would be adding 692 calories. That leaves you at a grand total of 1522 calories for the day.

(Hope my math is correct. I still need my morning coffee.)

10-8-10-7-6-6-5, then 1,1,1,1,1 to finish the last 35sec.

Done a fat bar scaffolding, grip and lats were fried after Angie last night. Kevin and Brian did amazing work last night. Both sub 20

Sorry, I added 8 blocks of protein -- should have been 9 blocks of protein.

Baconator + 13 blocks of Carbs + 9 blocks of protein = 1550 calories

I eat way more than 1550 calories a day and I'm a 5'2", 132 lb female. I tried the Zone once and calculated that I should be consuming 11 blocks. It lasted for a day.

my waist went from 28" to 32"

i'm not kidding

overnight

Everyone should keep in mind that the Zone for athletes calls for increasing the fat intake by as much as 5xs. Now, if that fat is all bacon & hamburger fat, saturated fat that is, you need to reconsider your fat sources. Plus, the majority of us don't qualify for the athletes Zone due to our activity level not being enough,unless you're going for significant hypertrophy, aka "body building". Still want to reconsider those fat sources, though.

i have reconsidered my fat resources and decided that i will add some avacado slices on the baconator the next time i decide to have it.
and maybe some almonds instead of the frosty

Xuan Mai seems to confirm my hunch. I remember reading somewhere that Greg Armundson eats 20 blocks a day. That would be about 1800 calories (Using Xuan Mai's estimate of 1547 calories = 17 blocks). Greg is a 200 lb serious athlete. I can't believe he can maintain his weight on much less than 2500 - 3000 calories per day. Xuan Mai at 11 blocks would be at 1000 calories per day.

None of this is passing my back-of-the-envelope reality check.

Crossfit related questions: What are we doing to sub the 400 meter run or are we taking a nice trip around the block?

glad u asked that...

Sure, everyone is eating like shit, and I'm eating well... WTF is up with that??? Going back on the burger wagon if this keeps up.

big fan of roller-girl...

+1 for roller-babe (bit scared of cat-woman tho)

when they next coming by the Box?

Keith,
A beer for the top performers? That's some motivation! Now if it were only Guinness instead of Corona Light!

Here, here for Guinness!! Also very low in calories and high in B vitamins and iron!

well thats understandable, cats can be intimidating.

Hari,

For comparison, I weigh ~ 220 and also eat strict zone at 20 blocks/day with 3x fat. You also have to keep in mind that only the macronutrient with the highest concentration is counted for a particular food. So even though 1 oz of beef = 1 block protein there still is some fat in it as well. So the overall calorie count will be slightly higher. I have no problem maintaining weight or managing hunger at 20 blocks. The 3x fat blocks keeps my weight up and you have to eat mostly vegetables to curb your hunger. When 3/4 lb of cauliflower= 1 carb block, it's not as hard to stay full as you think.

So Adam, how many blocks so I be eating at 187lbs? I haven't been in the Zone yet. Going to get a book on this if anyone can recommend one.

"A Week in the Zone" Sears is really good. its like the Cliff Notes for the Zone for people who just want to get the ball rolling and do not want to read the entire 15 years of his study. He basically outlines for you what food to buy for your first day, second day etc. And you do not need to know how to cook at all. In fact, you can basically order everything on fresh direct while sitting on your butt. Its pretty foolproof. Plus there is an awesome list in the back of the kind of foods that are considered the better proteins, carbs and fats, and the not so great ones and all the measurements. Its really easy to follow. My brother used it/did it and the results were awesome for him.

I gotta chime in here...Some of the blocks can get to be just plain silly. The list I have says, 6 cups of romaine lettuce = 1 carb block, so for me a 5 block salad would include 30 cups of lettuce. I usually work in more fruit to get enough carbs.

An average person eating 17 blocks a day would get

Calories from Protein 17 x 7 x 4 = 476
Calories from Carbs 17 x 9 x 4 = 612
Calories from Fat 17 x 3 x 4 = 459
= 1547 Calories a day.

If that person is an athlete doing 5x fat then their total fat calories for the day is 2295.

Thus making the grand total = 3383 calories per day. Most Crossfitters who zone use 3 to 5x fat blocks. Those calories add up quickly.

A Week in the Zone looks very helpful. I think I'm going to get it, thanks michelle.

Almost everything you need to know for zoning is in crossfit journal 21.

i am so happy my pain has inspired so much food talk.

5 rds
9-7-7-10-5(jumping pu's couldn't get the band down fast enough)

sucked. i think jr bacon cheeseburger was fighting me the whole time. still waiting to give birth.

bloop.

Tyler and I went head to head on a non-Nicole workout because neither of us could bear the thought of running up and down those stairs today. We did:

3 rounds for time:
row 500m
15 squats (135# for him, 75# for me)

he got 10:10, i did 11:01. fun times.

Keith,

Using your example of an athlete needing 476 calories of protein, 612 clories of carbs, and 2295 calories of fat, it seems that the Baconator, disguting though it may be, provides only about 25% of the daily fat (a higher percentage for non athletes). It provides provides a bit more than 40% of the daily protein, and only about 20% of the carbs.

While the Baconator is extreme and unnecessary, I don't see why we should look askance at a normal cheeseburger minus the soda and fries.

"It is the position of the International Society of Sports Nutrition that exercising individuals need approximately 1.4 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram [i.e., 0.6 to 0.9 grams per pound] of bodyweight per day. The amount is dependent upon the mode and intensity of the exercise, the quality of the protein ingested, and the status of the energy and carbohydrate intake of the individual. Concerns that protein intake within this range is unhealthy are unfounded in healthy, exercising individuals. An attempt should be made to obtain protein requirements from whole foods, but supplemental protein is a safe and convenient method of ingesting high quality dietary protein. The timing of protein intake in the time period encompassing the exercise session has several benefits including improved recovery and greater gains in fat free mass. Protein residues such as branched chain amino acids have been shown to be beneficial for the exercising individual, including increasing the rates of protein synthesis, decreasing the rate of protein degradation, and possibly aiding in recovery from exercise. In summary, exercising individuals need more dietary protein than their sedentary counterparts, which can be obtained from whole foods as well as from high quality supplemental protein sources such as whey and casein protein."

Full article here:
http://www.jissn.com/content/pdf/1550-2783-4-8.pdf

NYTimes article about body size and sport:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/health/nutrition/27Best.html?ex=1348632000&en=ee69f1e6b5c43468&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Nicole as rx'd, 7 rounds completed. pull-ups: 25-16-14-13-12-12-11.

thuggy guy at the playground: "why you cheatin' on those pull-ups, dog?"
me (between gasps for air): "actually, i'm not cheating. they're called kipping pull-ups. you use hip extension to drive yourself up over the bar. you can do them about 30% faster than normal pull-ups, so the power output goes through the roof."
thuggy guy: "oh."

err and flexion. hey, i was tired.

I saw the NYT article earlier and can totally relate to the dilemma of body type vs enjoyment of sport. In retrospect - and if you overlook my general limitations that would apply to almost any sport- I'm not sure xc skiing was the best choice for me. The hours (and hours and hours) of training were probably wasted, in a sense. But I sure as hell enjoyed skiing and racing.

Going back to the discussion on nutrition, Keith's figures match up nicely with the ISSN numbers in terms of grams of protein/day for my weight. What freaks me out (a bit) is the 2300 calories from fat. I don't know how close I am to eating in the Zone right now (probably higher carb intake), but I have to wonder where all that fat is coming from. Do Zone-conscious athletes nibble on sticks of butter all day? I'll have to check out that CF journal some day.

Great pullup numbers Dammit.

Wow Dammit, you smoked me today! I'll blame it on the stairs. Yeah, it was all those damn stairs fault.
Nicole as Rx'd
15,12,13,10,9

WAY less than the last time I did it. I guess I was just having an off day. See you guys tomorrow. And I'm really disappointed that you didn't throw up today Greg.

Most crossfitters get their fat from mono-unsaturated sources such nuts, seeds olives and avocados.

Athletes that are trying to get 3 to 5x blocks have to carry lots of nuts around with them or a bottle of olive oil.

1 macadamia nut is 1 block. 15 to 25 per meal would be enough fat. Olive oil is a great source...one teaspoon is 3 blocks of fat. Drizzling a few tablespoons of olive oil over your food will add a lot of a good fat blocks to your meals.

The fat and protein are the best and easiest parts of the zone diet. The carb management is the real trouble. Large portions of green vegetables with a conservative intake of fruit and high GI vegetables to round out the carbs is the best bet. 8 cups of broccoli is too much but 2 cups and a piece of fruit or small piece of a sweet potato is a much better option.

Bread and grains are not your friend, they pack a serious Glycemic punch in the gut.

Amazing numbers Dammit.

Subbed 500m rows for 400m runs.

7 rounds @ avg. 1:46 / 500m split.

PU's: 10, 8, 6, 6, 6, 6, 4

The PU's were strict and with a wide bar because NYU's gyms apparently think that Pull up bars should be put up next to walls.

yea, its the bread. i'll just stop eating the bread.

So when my noble ancestors farted in your general direction, maybe it was because of all that bread?

I sucked today having been sick and out of it
Nicole as rx'd6-10-8-10-6. What was cool though was that I finally kipped! I did 10 straight ROM kipping pullups! I was quite happy. Feel like a true CFitter now.

And Adam-I would have puked if we had more rounds. You are exactly the kind of scary white man Brother Minister Malcolm X warned my people about! LOL

"We've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, lead astray, run amok!"

"1 macadamia nut is 1 block. 15 to 25 per meal would be enough fat."

Tyler, that's 15-20 blocks of fat. WAY TOO MUCH. I would cap it at 9-10 and even that is pretty high.

Pull-ups 30/21/20/14/19 total = 104 (pr)

Hey Keith I've come a long way from, um, ZERO kips when we met. Thanks for the help, I know tell all my clients exactly the same thing you told me about "greasing the groove".