CROSSFIT FIVE BY FIVE

THE SICKNESS, WELLNESS, FITNESS CONTINUUM

MARCH 15, 2020

 

One of the tenets of the CrossFit philosophy is the sickness, wellness, fitness continuum.  As seen on the attached chart these states rest along a curve that can fairly well demonstrate your personal location on the curve.  Most any health marker can be placed along this curve to give you a visual representation of where you are on your health.  Body fat %, cholesterol, blood pressure etc. all have measurable points that indicate sickness, wellness and fitness.  With a little extra work you could even examine your nutrition and give yourself an idea on where it would land on this curve.  CrossFit has adopted this as an indicator of overall “health”.  If you have high blood pressure, high body fat %, etc you would land on the sickness end of the curve and would be considered in danger  of contracted health related diseases.  If at the middle, wellness, you would be considered free of these dangers and if you had top notch numbers you would be considered in the fitness end of the curve and would be protected against these dangers.

This does not mean that just because you have excellent health markers that you would never get sick but it does mean that you have a buffer against sickness. You may get sick while being at the fitness level but you may only experience mild symptoms or recover quickly.  If your markers placed you at the illness end of the curve and you became ill you may experience worse symptoms, longer recovery or even worse NO recovery=death.  That is part of the benefit of CrossFit programs, to build overall health with exercise and nutrition to edge those health markers closer and closer to the fitness end of the curve.

Image result for sickness wellness fitness continuum

Our Level 1-7 board in the gym is a good example of the exercise metrics we can use to determine where we fall on the curve.  From weight lifting, body weight movements, run/row/rope movements and bench mark workouts we can come up with and average that we could overlay on this curve to show us where we are in physical movement health.  Continuous work on these metrics is built in to our everyday WOD.  Back squats, run 400m, burpees etc are all used to increase you work capacity over broad times and modal domains applied over months and years= HEALTH  (You work hard to improve by doing long/short, light/heavy, and varied workouts each day).  Consistency and commitment over weeks, months and years adds up to improved health markers and move the needle closer to the “Fitness” end of the curve.

So why are we talking about this today?  Well, this is a great time to be sitting on the right end of the curve.  With the Corona Virus causing so many issues you can at least know that by staying “fit” you are giving yourself that buffer if you did contract the virus.  You may not have as severe of symptoms or as long as recovery by staying fitter.  Like any other illness out there the healthier you are, the better chance you have of fighting it off.  Now you probably can’t jump into a gym and work all this week and expect to be shielded from this exposure but those that have been already going to a gym and improving their markers have a buffer built up already.  This is just like having an emergency savings account built up.  You never know if/when you will need it but you will be glad when you have it.  Think about investing in your own movement from Wellness to Fitness because just like the arrival of the Corona Virus we never know when the aliens will invade, the zombies rise up or the robots take over.  We better be ready!

 

WODs this week- DEADLIFT, squats and curls, rope/T2B/squats triplet, POKER, ring dip/clean&jerk couplet, run/row/rope triplet, Run/walk 5k Sunday at 7am

Schedule this week- Monday-Friday 5 am and 5 pm.  Saturday at 7 am and Sunday Run/walk 5k at 7 am starting at Stayton High Gym.  There are no plans on closing the gym at this time but we are stepping up use of chorine wipes, sanitizer and mopping the gym.  Please help out and do your share, wipe down your sweat angels and bars.  THANKS!

Brussels Sprout Hash with Fried Eggs

Bacon and shredded Brussels sprouts are the perfect flavorful accompaniment to your fried eggs for breakfast. This healthy and filling meal is perfect for those days when you are so busy, you aren’t sure when you’ll be able to eat again.
Course Breakfast, Main Course
Cuisine Paleo
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 2
Calories 447 kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 slices bacon diced
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 cups cored and shredded Brussels sprouts
  • 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 eggs
  • Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. In a heavy nonstick skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain paper towels.
  2. Add the onion to the pan and cook until softened. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Stir in the Brussels sprouts and lemon pepper seasoning, and stir and cook until softened and lightly browned. Remove from pan.
  3. Add the olive oil and crack the eggs in the pan. Fry to your liking.
  4. Serve the eggs over top the hash.

 

 

SEE YOU AT THE GYM

3,2,1 GO!!

DEAN