Links: Lying, OPT, Max Effort Black Box

Here are a few things to keep you busy:

How to Spot a Liar (Westword via The Big Picture)

Want to train like the best? Follow James Fitzgerald's Optimum Performance Training menu for 'Big Dawgs'. DISCLAIMER: this is not for people looking to get in shape. This is for looking for that last 10% of performance (OPT Big Dawgs). I'll probably switch to this one day if I ever get tired of crossfit football or decide I have a shift in goals (more endurance, less strength bias).

If, however, you are generally looking to lose weight, get stronger and improve your all around general physical preparedness (work capacity), check out Coach Rut's programming at Max Effort Black Box (Crossfit Kansas City)

LA Times: Scientists: Carbs, not fat make you fat

Paleo is not inherently low carb. It is more about food quality than quantity (versus a weighed-and-measured approach of The Zone Diet). Several high caliber endurance athletes have switched to paleo and continue to get alot of their fuel from carbohydrates. That said, the majority of us walking around could use being on the lower-carb side of the equation. There was an interesting article in the LA Times a few days ago about this. It serves as a good crash course in the metabolic process for dealing with the three main macro-nutrients: protein, carbs and fat.

Here is my simple logic test for what is wrong with out diet: in the last generation, we have consumed drastically less fat and yet we continue to get fatter as a nation. All those 'low-fat' processed foods just contain more sugar or artificial sweetener (which spikes your insulin just the same since the taste buds taste sugar and stimulate the appropriate response). Check out the article and maybe try going all of January without gluten. While not fully paleo, it will be a step in the right direction.

Hat-tip Crossfit Football

Attack of the links

Holy Father blesses skiers (Outside Blog)

Green Lantern Trailer looks cool (H/T Reformed Broker)

Some cool outdoor time lapses, a little weird, but still pretty (Adventure Journal)

Another great video from the Provo brothers (H/T Backcountry blog)



Federal Reserve Monetary Policy 101, in the form of a comic book (H/T Big Picture)

Sit at a desk all day? Me too. Check out some stretches from K-Star, the CrossFit mobility guru (MobWod) 

Weekend Update: Boyett Nuptials

A very fun, but exhausting weekend. Arrived Thursday afternoon and immediately started by picking up a car for the weekend, spending a little time with Dad (for the first time in almost 6 months) and running a few pre-wedding errands. We'll call the flight over less than restful.

Thursday night was an informal get-together for quesadillas and beer. By the time I retired on Thursday night, I had been awake for a little over 24 hours straight.

Couldn't sleep past 3:30am or so because of time change, so I got up and took care of some things that had piled up from the office. Then, got to enjoy a Crossfit workout at my old box, Crossfit Underworld. Once normal people were awake, it was time for the groomsmen to go on their organized journey to the Texas State Fair. Plenty of fun and a few adrenaline-inducing rides. I left the group a little early to catch lunch with Stephen Coy (mexican!). A few hours later and it was time for the texan-themed rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at the YO steakhouse. Buffalo fillets and plenty of wine (and espresso to boot) helped fuel one of the better rehearsal dinners I've attended. Doesn't hurt that the two people getting married have notoriously rowdy friends and good senses of humor. Best toast by far goes to Holly Bright for uncovering footage of Meghan and Andrew in a student film for a french class where they pretend to be French lovers united by a passion for fromage Behold, the power of cheese). This was years before they started dating.

Saturday morning was more of the same, but I was able to sleep in until 6am this time! Another Crossfit workout with Monk and then brunch with the groomsmen hosted at the Boyett's house. Homemade casseroles, fresh fruit and plenty of caffeine got us all feeling like ourselves again. Then it was off to a really old barber shop for grooming and hot shaves with a straight razor. 

We were left with a little bit of time to grab a quick nap and then it was time to put on the formal attire. Andrew allowed us all to wear our own tuxedos, which was a relief to this odd-shaped participant. He also got us great looking, custom-fit vests and bow-ties as a grooms' gift. All in all, we were a pretty sharp looking bunch, but were definitely outdone by the ladies. I unfortunately was not able to take any pictures, but the ceremony was really pretty. Took place in an already cool room at The Adolphus and the altar was set up in the center for a theater-in-the-round sort of effect. Tricky to execute, but I think it worked out extremely well and allowed for a really small feel to the wedding, even with an already small guest list. And I didn't even forget or drop the rings.

Great food and a bad-ass band made for a perfect reception. It didn't hurt that many of my closest friends and family were all in one place. It made for a really efficient way to see everyone and I wouldn't have changed a thing, except maybe to switch to water a bit earlier...

Sadly, the good times had to end and I caught a noon flight out of DFW to connect in Charlotte en route to London. Landed about 7:30 this morning and took a train directly to the office.... exhausted, without a voice and with a full week of work ahead of me. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat though. 

Weekend Update: Competition Results

My weekend in Copenhagen involved zero tourism, but I got to know some great people through the competition. The short version: I took second out of 200 competitors. It was extremely hard, but alot of fun. And I'm very tired as a result.

(Very) full report after the jump:

Off to Copenhagen

I'm elaving shortly for the Crossfit Competition in Copenhagen. 200 competitors, 5 workouts in one day (tomorrow). Should be fun. You might be able to follow progress here, though I will be done at 7pm local (noon EST).

Weekend Update

A purposefully slow weekend in London. As much traveling as I have done and have coming up, it was a good chance to catch up on sleep, errands and chores.

This coming Friday, I will leave for Copenhagen for a Crossfit competition. A new European city and something for me to compete in? Should be fun.

The weekend after that (Oct 1-3rd), I'll be in Munich with Will Watters checking out Oktoberfest. Stew was there this weekend, so I should get a good scouting report.

Weekend Update

The power was out at the office for 6 hours on Friday. That made for some fun calls on the mobile and me reading a book between repair appointments by the light of our lone skylight. I was alone in this as my flatmate, Stewart, was in the US for a wedding. Weird Friday to say the least.

Friday night, Nicole and I saw Toy Story 3. It. Is. Awesome. Seriously, a great movie. We both thought that it was way more for adults than for kids (not that its inappropriate for the youngins, just that it was complex and well written).

Saturday, it was time for Crossfit (10 reps down to one rep of 100kg back squat mixed with one rep increasing to ten reps of chest-to-bar pullups). It's a little workout I made up myself and it huuuuurts. That's 55 squats at 220 pounds and 55 big pullups in 13 minutes. Ow ow ow. Then, we explored the Borough Market. It's like a huge well organized farmer's market. We picked up plenty of Paleo food that will serve as delicious meals for the near future. Ostrich filets, venison, pork and wild boar burgers with lots of fresh veggies.

Speaking of Paleo, Saturday night was our cheat night! Since it's Nicole's last weekend in town she treated me to dinner at a local, highly acclaimed, authentic pizzeria. I had wine, she had Prosecco. Our pizzas were enormous, delicious and served by the half-meter (seriously) on wood planks fresh from the oven. We devoured that, thanked our hardly-English-literate-waiter and then went looking for dessert. After stopping at two bakeries, we had the correct combination of a cookie, a carrot-cupcake, and two brownies. Of course, I felt awful on Sunday morning and now understand why the concept of a cheat day can be so powerful: I want nothing to do with sugar, starch, dairy or alcohol for awhile. We'll see how long that lasts.

Ed. note: If you're confused by any of this "Paleo" talk, check out the book, wikipedia page or the everydaypaleo blog that I look to for delicious recipes.

So far today, we went to early service at the beautiful St. Mary Abbots (Church of England). Its current structure is only 130 years old and the stained glass, columns and vaulted ceilings are gorgeous. A great, quiet place to worship. Then we went to a free workout one of the other Crossfit gyms hosts in the park on nice Sundays. We ran to the locale, did a 13 minute intense bodyweight workout and then ran home. Lucky for me, the workout included more squats! (no weight this time though). Ouch again.

The rest of the day has been filled with prepping for Monday (including reading the WSJ about the SEC charging the Wyly brothers) and watching Mad Men on iTunes. I'm seriously addicted. We've plowed through about 16 episodes since Wednesday. I don't like TV, but its a great show that about half of you have recommended and I'm sure the other half have meant to. You were right.

The big news going into tomorrow, is that I should be fully functional for trading! Fingers crossed that there isn't yet another unforeseen circumstance and that I'll be decent at what I was sent here to do.

Of course, the other news of note is that Nicole is heading back to the states on Tuesday. We've had soooo much fun and I'm really sorry to see her go.

Best,
Brad

Weekend Update: Crossfit Level 1 Cert

I spent the weekend getting my level 1 Crossfit certification. Two full days of classroom and practical application of movement, theory,. nutrition, anatomy/physiology and programming followed by a written exam.

Fatiguing to say the least, but now I've got it out of the way. Met some cool people that had come in from all over Europe for this. All in all, it was very interesting stuff to study the finer mechanics of squats to what the hormonal response of the body to different macronutrients.

Weekend Update

Nothing too exciting from here. Nice relaxing weekend around London.

Watched (and were inspired by) the Crossfit Games via a surprisingly high quality video internet feed. If you want to see something impressive, check out their final WOD (works best in Google Chrome, use the drop down at bottom left to select an archive feed). They had no time to prepare and were briefed on the workout on-the-fly with a 30 second rest between three 7-12 minute workouts. Looks like a fun kind of pain.

Also, the Tour de France is heating up. With 6 stages to go and after 68 hours of riding, Andy Schleck holds only a 30 second lead over last year's champ Alberto Contador.

I should be getting some good news regarding banking this week which would make me officially open for trading! Fingers crossed...

Crossfit Games

The Crossfit Games start tomorrow and go through Sunday. Its like Woodstock or the Olympics (or both?) for overall fitness. The men and women at the top of the podium are arguably the fittest people on the planet. I probably won't watch it live or anything, but its cool to check in on.

http://games2010.crossfit.com/