Mark’s Daily Apple

CrossFit37

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Ever heard of it?

If you are a regular to MDA and you subscribe to a Primal Health lifestyle I’m guessing it is likely. If not, now you have.

Crossfit is a type of physical training that blends power lifting, gymnastics and sprinting. Why do we like it? Because it fairly closely aligns with our Primal fitness philosophy in which variety, weight-bearing activity and anaerobic exercise is key. Here is a great description of CrossFit:

CrossFit maintains that proficiency is required in each of 10 fitness domains: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and accuracy. CrossFit uses free weights, kettlebells, gymnastics rings, pull-up bars and many calisthenics exercises. CrossFit may call on athletes to skip, run, row, climb ropes, jump up on boxes, flip giant tires, and carry odd objects. They can also squat and explode up to bounce medicine balls against walls.

CrossFit workouts typically call for athletes to work hard and fast, often with no rest. Many CrossFit gyms use scoring and ranking systems, transforming workouts into sport. CrossFit publishes its own journal and certifies its own trainers. Many CrossFit athletes and trainers see themselves as part of a contrarian insurgent movement that questions conventional fitness wisdom.

via Wikipedia

Contrarian insurgent movement? Challenging conventional wisdom? Sounds like our kind of program.

All right. Enough talking! Let’s see CrossFit in action.

Don’t let the first video fool you. CrossFit isn’t just for beefy dudes. As CrossFit NYC’s site states, “CrossFit workouts are functional, varied and intense. They also scale to any ability level–our members range from elite athletes to eighty-something grandmothers…”

We’ll be covering Crossfit in more detail down the road, so stay tuned!

If this is the first time you have heard of CrossFit let us know what you think! If you are a ripped, seasoned Crossfit veteran we’d love to hear from you too. Drop us a line!

Further Reading:

Mark’s Beach Sprints

Official CrossFit Site

More YouTube Crossfit Videos

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Technorati Tags: crossfit, power lifting, weightlifting, sprints, gymnastics, cross training

Posted: Fitness, Health, Reviews, Videos

Pharma Confidential4

If you have ever experienced difficulty in finding the motivation needed to complete the most common daily tasks you may be part of the estimated 20% of the population that is burdened by a newly discovered debilitating disorder - Motivation Deficiency Disorder, or MDD. Luckily, there is a simple answer: Strivor.

No. We aren’t serious. But you can easily imagine hearing this sort of thing in the next Big Pharma television ad campaign.

This is at the heart of this parody video that provides biting commentary on the tactics used by Big Pharma and the state of the healthcare industry. It is put together by Consumer International, which, as they say, is “the world federation of consumer groups that, working together with its members, serves as the only independent and authoritative global voice for consumers.”

Get ready to both laugh and cry…

Follow this link to CI’s website to view additional videos.

Further Reading:

Big Pharma: Bad Science and Bad Business

Best of Mark’s Daily Apple January 2008

Technorati Tags: big pharma, Consumer International, health industry, motivation deficiency disorder, Strivor

Posted: Big Pharma, Hype, Videos

Extreme Exercise: How to Get a Great Workout without Leaving City Limits14

Don’t try this at home, kids!

Think working out in a city has to mean sucking exhaust while you jog on the side of a busy street? Not with these fun, and at times, extreme-alternative workouts.

Parkour:
Remember the scene in “Casino Royale” where 007 himself scales a crane and frantically tries to catch what we initially assume is some kind of extreme gymnast? Turns out that villain was actually a parkour artist (or traceur as they are also referred to). Founded by a guy called David Belle, parkour is all about accessing the seemingly inaccessible, usually to escape or evade pursuers (or dapper English gentlemen depending on your situation). Unlike free runners (more on that later) traceurs try to clear objects - be it barrels, bars, bollards or other barriers - in the simplest and most efficient method possible. Incorporate parkour type moves into your own workout by heading to a “quieter” edge of the city and dodging, jumping or vaulting over barriers and other obstacles, swinging through railings and climbing up low brick walls (just don’t scare the neighbors!)

Free Running:
If parkour is the nitty-gritty, rough-and-tumble mode of transport for escape artists, free running is the more graceful, aesthetically pleasing method of moving for the show-off in all of us. Although incredibly similar to parkour (with free running actually developed by a childhood friend of David Belle!) free running’s philosophy centers around the idea of getting from point A to point B using free-flowing movements that make you happy (and that look pretty). When out for a jog, add some free-running elements by leaping (arms outstretched) over cracks in the road, swinging yourself around lamp poles or just adding the odd cartwheel or forward rollover (we warned you in advance it could get extreme!)

Buildering:
You understand parkour, you sort of understand free running, now it’s time to master buildering! Often referred to as urban climbing, structuring and stegophily, buildering is defined as any act of scaling or climbing on the outside of buildings or other artificial structures. Buildering can also sometimes be confused with a separate “sport” known as bouldering, whereby buildings are still scaled, but this time in smaller, bite-size sections. Although not technically legal uhhh…anywhere, you can borrow from this physical art by jumping on and off low building ledges, scaling stairs two-at-a-time or jumping off porches and decks (just don’t get caught!)

Indoor Rock Climbing:
If you like the idea of buildering, but aren’t willing to break the law, perhaps indoor rock climbing is the sport for you! Giving you a welcome reprieve from the weight room, rock climbing is not only a full-body strength workout but, depending on your skill and the course you choose, can also increase flexibility and provide a great cardiovascular workout. To learn more about rock climbing events in your city visit usaclimbing.net.

Skateboarding:
Think skateboarding is best reserved for trouble-making teens? Although it does convey a certain risk element - what with the high likelihood of incurring cuts, bruises and maybe the odd broken bone - skateboarding, to its credit, is a great cardiovascular workout and can also help improve coordination and balance. If you’re thinking of giving it a whirl, make like Tony Hawk (the God of skateboarding) and invest in a helmet and some serious knee and elbow pads. Also, if you’re a beginner, stay away from skate parks or other uneven surfaces - where studies suggest more than half of skateboard-related injuries take place - and opt for smooth surfaces such as quiet roads and large pavements.

Ultimate Frisbee:
Once the primary workout of greasy frat boys the nation over, Ultimate Frisbee has developed somewhat of a cult-following, with games-and even leagues-cropping up in the parks of most major towns and cities. Developed as sort of a combination of a classic Frisbee game and the most violent of football/rugby matches - depending, of course, on who you are playing with - Ultimate Frisbee is played on a rectangular shaped field with “endzones” at either end. The Frisbee is then tossed between players - who must stand still upon catching the Frisbee and have only 10 seconds to pass it along - with the goal of completing a pass in the defenses’ end zone. Although fouls can be called for physical contact, the games do tend to get a little rough so please plan accordingly (as in stock up on bandaids and have a medical professional on speed-dial!)

These extreme sports aren’t for everyone. As you can imagine after watching the videos, they are a great way to induce serious bodily harm, so be warned. With that said we think that, at the very least, they can provide motivation to be creative with your physical activity. What do you think? Do you prefer to keep adjectives like “ultimate” and “extreme” away from your exercise routine?

LexnGer Flickr Photo (CC)

Further Reading:

Ultimate Frisbee

10 Workouts That Don’t Feel Like Workouts

Shoes are so passé.

Tips on Practicing Safety for Extreme Sports

Technorati Tags: extreme sports, parkour, free-running, ultimate frisbee, skateboarding, buildering, indoor rock climbing

Posted: Fitness, Health, Health Challenges, Videos

Sugarholics8

Harpoon posted this video of Jack Lalanne last month. I liked it so much I had to repost it here for Mark’s Daily Apple readers.

Jack’s challenge is as valid as ever. If you haven’t already, cut all refined sugars out of your diet and “you will be thanking (Jack) for the rest of your natural life.” He promises.

Further Reading:

Obesity is Not Your Fault

What is Overweight?

Smart Alternatives to Tempting Junk Foods

Don’t Just Survive, Thrive

Technorati Tags: sugarholic, sugar addiction, Jack Lalanne, Harpoon

Posted: Carbs, Diet, Health, Health Challenges, Nutrition, Personal Improvement, Prevention, Videos, Weight loss

Do We See the Slow Bullet?2

Earlier this week, the American Cancer Society sent us the Great American Smokeout QuitLiveWin contest winners. Some of the videos are exceptionally compelling, such as the one featured here. But what strikes us is that - like most smoking messages - they do tend to focus on the negative (smoking causes cancer, and don’t you care about your life, and couldn’t you at least quit for your loved ones?). But smokers already know their addiction is unhealthy.

Of course, shock value wouldn’t have the “value” part if that weren’t true. And humans do struggle with risk assessment and those “slow bullets”. But we wonder if there is a more positive approach to helping the millions of Americans addicted to nicotine quit the habit.

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: smoking, nicotine, addiction, cigarette, great american smokeout, cancer, quitlivewin, video, contest

Posted: Videos