A good WOD demo from CF Brisbane.

Skill

Rope Climbs

Strength

Deadlift 3 x 3

WOD

5 Rounds – 5 mins per round

2 mins rest between rounds

400m Run

20 x Walking lunges with plate overhead (20/15kg)

15 pullups

Double unders in the remaining time

Skill

Dumbell Hang Cleans (full squat)

WOD

Teams of 2:

Run 1km together

- when both of you get back complete the following

100 Wallballs

50 Pullups

50 Dumbell Hang Cleans (full squat) 20/15kg

200 Double Unders

50 Burpee Box Jumps

Finish with a 1km run, time is when both team members are back

Enter the humble BUTTERNUT SQUASH.

These little lovelies are a massive bonus to have round the house because they are reasonably inexpensive, work equally well in both savory and sweet dishes AND they keep for aaaaaages in the cupboard. Peel and steam chunks for a proper paleo post/pre-work-out carb boost or try one of my easy squash recipes for dinner or sweets.

Beef and Pumpkin Stew

One of my favorite ways to use BS (or any other variety of pumpkin) is to throw chinks into beef-shin (or any other slow-cook cut of beef) stew with some tomatoes (one 400g tin or the equivalent of chopped raw) , onion, mushrooms and red wine (yes, red wine is WELL paleo!) or beef stock. Brown the chunks of meat in a large casserole dish first first, then add the onions and fry for a bit. Throw in everything else, some salt, pepper and minced garlic with any herbs and spices you fancy (rosemary, bay and paprika works well) and simmer for at least an hour with the lid on. To bulk this out even more you can throw in other veg such as carrots, celery, turnip or swede.

Butternut Squash Peel Crisps

Another favorite snack of mine (and Matt’s) is BS-peel crisps. I know it sounds weird, but trust me it’s YUMMY!

Just use a peeler to peel the thick skin off the squash. Then heat some olive or coconut oil in a frypan until hot. Enough so there is a few millimeters in the pan (this doesn’t work if you don’t use enough oil). Cook the peelings, yes the PEELINGS, in the oil until golden brown and crispy (be careful not to burn them!) and then drain on some paper towel. Sprinkle with salt and some smoked paprika if you’re feeling adventurous and enjoy.

I warn you now that getting hooked on these may leave you with an excess of uncooked, peeled squash lying around the house….

Which leads onto my next two recipes, which I must admit I have modified from the wonderful eat, lift, be happy blog by Neghar Fonooni.

Pumpkin Paleo Muffins

Ingredients:

180g cooked butternut squash (or sweet potato)
1/4 cup vanilla protein powder
1/4 cup almond flour*
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed/linseed
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
(* you can get ground almonds at most supermarkets, or really cheaply at Indian grocers, or you can just blend whole almonds in a food processor for a few minutes until fine to make your own when needed)
*optional – big handful dried fruit and/or walnuts

Directions:

1. Blend all ingredients together well in a food processor or with a hand blender. If you don’t have either, just mash the pumpkin really well and mix it all together with a spoon. (Note: this makes a really wet mixture, don’t worry

2. Pour mixture into a well oiled muffin tin, 1/2 full for mini muffins and 3/4 full for larger muffins. Silicone muffin liners make this even easier.

3. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes until tops are golden. (Note: this recipe will make 12 mini, or 6 regular size muffins. Make sure you keep an eye on them during the last 5 minutes so as not to overcook them.)

“I just competed in the CF Games less than a year ago and now I’m dying.”
- Amanda Miller, March 9, 2010

Today’s WOD is named after CF Athlete Amanda Miller, read more about her story here.

Skill

Snatch

Strength

8 x 2 Snatch (full squat)

WOD

“Amanda”

9-7-5 of:

Muscle-Ups

Snatches (full squat) @ 60/40kg

- sub 3/3 pullups/dips or pushups for each muscle-up (27,21,15)

Cashout

400m Farmers Walk (20/15kg dumbells)

Summer is coming!

Skill

Knees to Elbows / Toes to Bar

Strength

5 x 3 Weighted Pullups

WOD

Chipper of

400m Run

30 Pull-ups

30 Box Jumps (24,20)

30 Burpees

30 Kettlebells Swings

200m Sandbag run

Cashout

3 x Max K2E or TTB

Danni in the process of standing up a snatch.  Danni (and her other half Liam) can be seen working hard before and after each session on their skills.  This hard work has paid off for them both in all areas of their athleticism.  Keep up the good work guys!

Skill

OH Squat & Snatch Balance

Strength

12 minutes Snatch Balance practice (non-heaving)

*KEEP IT LIGHT, GET IT RIGHT*

WOD

15 minute AMRAP of

15 OHS 40/30kg

30 Lateral Jumps (over barbell)

45 Situps

Cashout

3 x max consecutive kipping pullups

Well, I have a few answers for this.

What kind of price are you going to put on your health?

Have a look around Robb Wolf’s or Mark Sisson’s sites for PLENTY of evidence that a transition to Paleo eating will help improve your health in a myriad of ways both now and in the future.

It’s only expensive if you allow it to be.

Yes, if you only buy organic veg from Whole Foods and get some grass-fed fillet steak from that posh butcher up the road it is going to hit your pocket pretty hard, but there are plenty of ways you can stay clean on a budget.

1. Buy things in bulk.

Do you eat a lot of nuts? Go to a site like Nuts and Seeds where you can buy high-quality, organic nuts by the kilo. For example, 3kg of nuts will save you about £14 compared to the 100g bags. Don’t think you’d use that much? Find some buddies and order together. Love Jerky? Try buying it by the kilo from The Biltong Company and save up to £10. If you are really keen and have a big freezer you can contact your local butcher and ask about buying a quarter or half lamb/cow/pig.

2. Get yourself on a regular meat or veg box scheme.

Companies such as Devon Rose or Abel & Cole will deliver a weekly, fortnightly or monthly box of organic veg or meat to your home or workplace. The boxes work out cheaper than buying the items individually, you can ask them to sub things you don’t like and it saves you the hassle of going to the shop. The fact that you don’t choose the contents is a good way to force yourself to try new veg or cuts of meat too. Again, bigger boxes = bigger savings so try and get flatmates or friends to share.

3. Find and frequent your local farmers market.

Not only can you find some great bargains and haggle over prices, you often get to meet the person who grows, picks or raises the thing you’re buying. They can give you great advice about how to prepare and cook things you may be less familiar with. You’ll often find fresh fish and wild game if you are looking for variety too.The veg will be seasonal which will lower prices, and if you go late in the day you can often score a deal as the vendors will be trying to get rid of excess produce before going home. Have a look on www.lfm.org.uk or this article on timeout to find your local.

4. Select ‘lesser used’ cuts of meat.

Offal (organ meat) is ridiculously cheap and FULL of nutrition. You can pick up a half pig head for about £2 which will give you enough meat for several meals and more crackling than you have ever seen in your life (check out Michael and Nicole’s recipe here). If you can’t stomach the squishy or face bits of animals, go for cuts like beef shin, chicken thighs or pork knuckle. They are usually fattier (which you really want on Paleo) and may require longer slower, cooking but you would be amazed how easy it can be to make a delicious casserole or slow-roast. Master the delayed timer setting on your oven, or get a slow-cooker and you don’t even have to be in while it cooks.

5. Buy frozen fruit and veg.

Contrary to what you might think, frozen produce can be as good quality as fresh. It keeps for a LOT longer (duh) and semi-thawed berries make a great snack if you are craving something ice-creamy. If you tolerate dairy well, blend frozen fruit up with some organic Greek yogurt to make AWESOME fro-yo.

6. Take a packed-lunch to work.

If you are really making the effort, you should be doing this anyway. Get some click-lock plastic lunch boxes and make an extra serve of your dinner to take the next day. It’s super easy to quickly grill some meat, slice and throw it in a box with some leaves, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, avocados and fresh herbs. Take a mini bottle of olive oil to throw on at the last minute and get ready for some massive lunch-envy and HUGE savings over those sad little Pret salads.

So though it may be tough to transition to paleo eating, it doesn’t have to be a stress on your finances as well. Happy eating!

Next week Coach Cahill will be competing at the European CrossFit Games Regionals in Copenhagen. Sarah has only been CrossFitting since mid-late 2011 so to qualify for this event is an amazing achievement.
As a director and head coach of In2, Sarah puts everything into the business and her coaching, she is absolutely dedicated. Around her busy schedule of admin, coaching and massage she still finds time to train. And TRAIN she does… She consistently works on her goats, works hard on strength, builds her capacity and just generally kicks butt.

If you see Sarah around the gym over the next week wish her luck, we all fly out Thursday next week – she is slightly nervous by the scale of the event (the spectators mostly). But know this Sarah, just being there is the most amazing achievement, anything you do while you are there is an achievement, there is no disappointment from here in, you will do amazing! We’re all so proud of you!

Thanks for everything you do for everyone, now it’s our chance to give you some support!

People working hard on their tekkers during the WOD last night.  If you aren’t moving perfectly, make sure you keep the weights at a level that you don’t sacrifice body position or range of motion.

Perfect movement at a lighter weight trumps a heavy weighted train wreck any day!  You will progress so much faster if you keep this in mind!

Skill

Hang Power Clean

Hang Clean

Strength

5 rounds:

1 Hang Power Clean

1 Hang Clean

1 Push Jerk

@ 75%

– rest 60 sec between rounds

WOD

8 Pistols (alternating)

8 HSPU

8 Burpee Over-The-Box Jumps 20?

12 Pistols (alternating)

12 HSPU

12 Burpee Over-The-Box Jumps 20?

16 Pistols (alternating)

16 HSPU

16 Burpee Over-The-Box Jumps 20?

Africa – one of the ‘developing’ regions in the sport of CrossFit.  What an amazing back drop for the 2012 Africa Regional.  And look at the impressive triple extension on the snatch pull!

Skill

Handstand Walking work

- Shoulder taps

- Free standing handstands

- Handstand walking

Strength

Every minute on the minute for 6 mins

2 x touch and go Sntaches (full squat) @ approx 70%

WOD

5 rounds for time of:

45 sec. Max C2B Pullups

15 sec. Rest

45 sec. 5 Front Squats + 3 Push Jerks @ 60/40kg

15 sec. Rest

Cashout:

4 x 200m rest 30secs