This is a preview of a project I am working on. The actual content will be more professional, but to give a brief example, we are looking at mobility from a four part perspective. One is tissue therapy, using self myofacial release to feel and move better. Two is static stretching for the super stiff. Three is dynamic range of motion movement and joint mobility. Four is introduction to flow, this is the most beneficial part of your mobility practice. Regular practice can help balance your body, make you more athletic, and enhance your movement patterns and body composition. SMR
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Unilateral push and pull The exercises I am demonstrating are one arm push ups on rings and one arm rows on rings. These are horizontal movements using bodyweight, but could also be performed using kettlebells or other loads, as well as being performed in a different plane of motion, such as overhead pressing and pull ups. A renegade row is a great example of an anti rotational exercise that works the trunk hard, I like performing a bodyweight exercise paired with a weighted exercise often, so a renegade row paired with one arm push ups are a great combo. Don't forget to check out the new back lever tutorial!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Here are some tips I received from Jason Ferruggia a while ago. I like the way he keeps things simple, and takes a no BS approach. - Don't exceed 5-6 reps on most of your warm up sets. Your first set could consist of a very light weight for 10-20 reps just to get loosened up and get the blood flowing but beyond that you want to keep the reps low. The reason for this is that you don't want to build up too much lactic acid or accumulate too much fatigue with your warm ups. (I personally like to perform one set for every fifty lbs of working weight. For example, if my working weight for squats for the day is 405, I would do bodyweight squats for a set of 15 or so, then the bar for about 10 reps, then 95-135lbs x 5, then 185 x 3-4, then 225 x 2-3, 275 x 2-3, 315 x 2, 365 x 1, 405 x workset. Thats 8 sets of progressively more weight and less reps to prepare for the big weight) - Don't stretch before your workout in the hopes of preventing injury. This doesn't work. The only benefit of stretching before a workout is to help you get into positions you might not be able to reach (such as a full squat) because you are tight in specific areas (such as the hamstrings and hip flexors). But stretching for the sake of injury prevention is an outdated idea and doesn't really work.(I have spoken about this before, stretch to feel better and to optimize your positioning) Analyze This - Don't over-analyze and over-think everything you do in the gym. This never gets you anywhere. Don't worry if the incline of the bench is supposed to be 50 degrees or 55 degrees. Don't worry that if you don't supinate at exactly the right time that you won't activate your biceps optimally. Don't stress out about the exact grip width on the bar. If someone tells you that a 16? grip on the bench press hits your triceps better than anything else, but because of an injury or anatomical difference you can only comfortably use an 18? grip, don't sweat it. People over-think themselves to death and they never get anywhere because of it. Go to the gym, get stronger, go home, eat, sleep and repeat. Don't turn it into advanced calculus. That is one of the best muscle building tips I can give you.( I have had several clients and athletes ask a million questions over the most mundane and simple tasks. I know they just want to get better, but my response is usually, "Just pick it the hell up!") - Always train both sides of the joint with equal volume. Therefore if you do six sets per week of pressing exercises you need to do six sets per week of pulling exercises. If you do two sets of curls you should do two sets of triceps work. And so on and so on...(I speak regularly on having balance in your training. That does not mean performing overhead squats on a slackline. It means balancing your training volume and work of all parts of the body. But one thing I recommend, is to eliminate weaknesses. This can be done by adding sets or reps to your weaker muscles. For example, if your chest and pushing muscles are far stronger than your back and pulling muscles, you might want to double the volume of pulling sets as pushing sets, giving you a 2:1 ratio of pulling:pushing until your weaknesses are balanced out) - If you can't get your forearms to grow, try hitting them with more frequency than other muscle groups. They can easily be trained three times per week and recover without any problem. Also, try to hold the bottom stretched position of wrist curls for 3-5 seconds per rep. When you finish training the forearms, hit them with a deep stretch for both the extensors and flexors for 30-60 seconds. These muscle building tips should get the forearms to grow. (While I rarely ever do any forearm wrist curls, I do lots of other grip work like plate pinches, db holds, fat bar holds, bar rotations, wrist rollers, etc. I agree that the forearms can handle more volume than other body parts. I feel the same about the calves, the neck, and the abs. These smaller exercises can be done at the end of the training session. One idea I like to employ is doing smaller exercises like neck extensions, wrist rollers, hammer leveraging and calve raises between heavy work sets of compound exercises like squats and deads. I don't like to superset heavy powerlifts with another compound lift often because it is just too damn demanding and recovery is difficult. However, performing a smaller exercise like some ab drills or calf exercise could be perfect between heavy ass sets to keep you busy without killing yourself and making the next set dangerous.) When performing bodyweight movements like handstands and presses, you need to keep a hollow body position. There's a difference between lifting an external load (squatting) with an arched back, and moving an internal load (bodyweight) with a rounded back, as in a hollow body position. Below is something I came across from a respected gymnastic coach regarding the hollow body position and why it is necessary for mastery of basic gymnastic movements. So if you want to enhance your handstands, presses, handstand walks, etc. this is for you. Not all of the following movements will be for everyone, but maybe you could benefit from just one or a few of them in your training. We do just about all of these in our training at TSS, except #7. The Hollow Body One of the most important positions that a gymnast learns is the hollow body. It is critical that the gymnast work hard to strengthen this position as it will make many skills much easier to learn and perfect. The following article will help you to find and strengthen the hollow body. Finding the Hollow Sometimes just finding the hollow body can be a difficult task for some people. Once learned, the hollow body is relatively simple to get into but it can be a challenge to a new gymnast who has never tried it before. Here are few different ways to find the hollow. The part of the hollow that gymnasts have trouble with is the pelvic tilt. The pelvis has a small range of motion and we do not generally think about pelvis movement like we do arm and leg movement for example. Thus, it can be quite tricky for some to concentrate on holding the pelvis in a particular position. If you will just relax and lay down flat on the floor with the arms extended above the the head, you will see that the body naturally forms an arch in the lower back. While laying on your back, take one arm and try to place it under your lower back. Notice that your hand can go right under your back as if going through a tunnel. The key aspect of the hollow body is to press the lower back to the floor so that little "tunnel" goes away. In order to do this you must be able to tilt the pelvis. One way to get to the hollow is to start on your back with arms extended above the head. You can then lift the arms and shoulders off the ground slightly as if in an attempt to do a "crunch". (Yes, you are going to have to squeeze those abs!) Continue to lift the shoulders and arms together until you begin to feel the lower back start pressing the floor. At the same time, begin lifting the legs off the ground slightly. You should not have to lift the legs so that the heels are much more than 12 inches off the ground. Keep the legs tight together and point the toes. When you reach the hollow position (like above) you should feel the lower back pressing the floor. Have someone try to fit their hand under your back. They should not be able to. You should be squeezing your abdominals, thighs, and gluts very hard. For those of you who have trouble getting to the hollow this way, here is another method of reaching the hollow. Start in a seated position on the floor holding your knees to your chest by grabbing around the legs and hanging on just below the knees. Round your back out and lean back and continue to hang on to your knees. You should keep the knees and chin tight to the chest. Rock back and forth and try to feel the lower back as it makes contact with the floor. Now, with control, bring the rock to a stop on your lower back. You should now be able to feel it pressed tightly to the floor. Notice the position of the shoulders off the ground. Now, while maintaining lower back contact with the floor, let go of the knees and extend the legs until they are straight and about 12 inches off the ground. Then raise the arms so that they are straight and extended above the head as in the picture above. Congratulations! You have found the hollow! Strengthening the Hollow Once you have successfully found the hollow body, it is time to strengthen it. Here are several exercises that will strengthen the hollow body. 1. Static hold -- Once in the hollow body, simply hold the position as long as you can. I recommend working in sets of 5 seconds. Hold the hollow for five seconds then rest 5 seconds. Now hold 10 seconds and rest 5 seconds then hold 15 seconds and rest 5 seconds, etc. Your goal should be to hold the hollow for one minute without a rest. 2. Banana rocks -- Get into the hollow body and hold it tight. Start yourself rocking back and forth. each time you rock towards the head you can count one. (Until you get better, you may have to start rocking and then tighten up the hollow position.) Your goal should be to make 50 consecutive rocks. 3. Hollow raises -- Lay flat on the floor and "snap" to the hollow (get to the hollow as fast as you can) holding it for one second and returning to a flat position. Do these until you can do at least 30. 4. Flipped hollow -- Imagine what a hollow would look like upside down. Almost like a push-up position but the arms are extended and pass "through" the ears, chin is on chest (you should see your feet), and of course we maintain the tightness of abs, thighs, and gluts. Try to achieve the greatest possible distance between the feet and the hands while still being able to maintain the hollow. NO PIKES!! Work on holding this for a total of 60 seconds using the same method described in number one. 5. Hollow walks -- With a raised surface, use a flipped hollow with the feet on the ground and the hands on the raised surface. (a tumble tramp works great for this) Once in the flipped hollow, shuffle the length of the tumble tramp or other raised surface. Depending on the length of your surface, the number of repetitions will vary. Three lengths of a standard 40 foot tumble tramp is good. Again, no pikes. 6. Frisbee walks -- Using a tight flipped hollow, place the feet in a frisbee toes pointed. In this exercise, deviation of arm position is allowed. Use the arms to pull yourself forward. One lap on the floor is good. Now repeat this exercise going backward. One lap. (the frisbee is to prevent rug burn on the toes and for ease of slide) 7. Arch-Hollow snaps -- On the high bar, create a arched position and without swinging, snap to a hollow body and hold for a second or two. Repeat in sets of ten to let the hands rest. 8. Hollow log -- From a hollow position, roll over to an arch position and back to a hollow without letting the legs or the arms touch the floor. Keep going. A couple times down and back on the floor is good. What is the hollow good for? Tap swing (see # 7) Giants Handstands and many skills that pass through the handstand Vertical vaults Tumbling Much, much more Strength in and awareness of the hollow body position will greatly increase the proficiency and success of any gymnast. The hollow body is a perfect position to practice at home and during the off season because these activities can all be done safely away from the gym. (except #7 unless you have your own bars at home) I know that if you work hard and strengthen your hollow position, many skills will become much easier for you to master. Think about how much a 10 minute investment each day working on hollow body conditioning could do for you! A repost from an earlier blog: A friend of mine asked me for an article, hopefully he prints it, as he is way more popular then I am. If you find it on his site, let me know, I'll find a treat for you. "How about a quote from you about the most efficient use of time in the gym or best training advice, when you have no time to train," he asks. Most of us have busy lifestyles, we don't always have enough time to do the things we want, when we want, and how we want to do them. But as the saying goes, you either make time for your health now, or be forced to deal with your illness later. So for you busy guys out there who understand how important your health and fitness are, here is a quick way to get in and out of the gym in a very efficient manner, without half-assing or skipping important aspects of your training. Firstly, if you don't have time to warm up and prepare yourself, you simply don't have time to train. You don't have to get carried away, but you need to mobilize your body to optimize the effectiveness of your exercises. This occurs by warming your body, lubricating your joints, and activating your nervous and muscular system to enhance body positions during training. Tons of different movements can be performed as a warmup, but for simplicity sake, we will warm the entire body by doing 3-5 rounds of a few different movements that most anybody could do almost anywhere. Start with 25 jumping jacks, go old school and keep it real. Next do 12 alternating reverse lunges, control your body and move methodically throughout the movement, this shouldn't be a circus tight rope act. Next we will do 12 pushups, to get a little extra mobilization and activation out of the movement we will squeeze our shoulder blades together hard at the bottom for a 1 count, then push up and open our shoulders wide at the top for a 1 count. This scapular retraction and protraction will help your upper back, neck and shoulders feel better. Finally we are going to roll over on our back on the floor and perform hollow rocks for about 30 seconds. This is a basic gymnastic movement that will stimulate your abs and prepare you to brace your core for the more intense exercise to follow. Find your "hollow" position by laying on the floor and grab your knees with your hands. Round your back and push your lower back hard into the floor, you will now rock back and forth on the floor from upper shoulders to lower back like a rocking chair. If your core strength permits, you will release your hands and without losing any tension in the abs, nor losing the rounded low back position, straighten your arms out over your head so your biceps are next to your ears and your hands are about a foot from the floor. Do the same with your legs, straighten them out and point your toes hard, keeping feet about a foot from the floor. Now continue rocking but do not let your body lose position, you will only be moving a few inches or so, but every inch is a major contraction in your gut. Think a banana or the foot of a rocking chair rocking on the floor. That round should have taken about a minute and a half. Get up and repeat it a few more times and mentally prepare your self for greater intensity the entire time. Like a machine you roll through jumping jacks, lunges, push ups and hollow rocks. While everyone else is gabbing about their weekend and swinging their arms back and forth across their chest as a "warm up", you are preparing yourself for success and literally feeling like a dominant athlete. Breath deep, in and out, the entire time, cleansing your lungs with fresh air. Don't breath quick and shallow, you want long, deep deliberate breaths. Now you are ready, after five or six minutes of preparation, you're ready to roll. Let's go. We don't have much time, so we aren't changing station to station. We grab a single training tool, in this case, a barbell. We are going to perform a few different movements to smash the entire body, building muscle and burning fat like a super efficient space machine. Start with an unloaded barbell and practice the movements with very light weight. We will perform 5 exercises for 6 reps each. Don't get too picky here, these numbers aren't magic, do what works for you. First pick the bar up and hold it at the waist, thats called a deadlift. Now bend over a few inches allowing the bar to slide down your thigh and aggressively rip the weight up to your shoulders with the force of your hips. "Catch" the weight at your shoulders with your elbows up high and stand tall. Thats basically called a clean. The finer points of these exercises are beyond the scope of this article. You will perform six cleans then move to the next exercise, which is a push press. From the catch position of the clean, you will grab the bar tight and dip your hips as if you were about to jump and aggressively push the weight up over your head with fully extended arms and pause for a second, fixating the weight overhead. Bring the weight down under control and catch it with soft hips and knees. Perform 6 reps of the push press. After you press the last rep, instead of returning it to the front, you will bring it down behind your neck and rest it across the top of your back. Adjust your hands and feet if necessary. You will now perform 6 squats. Your feet are under your shoulders, toes pointing slightly out, sit back and down, forcing your knees out wide and track your knees over your toes. Keep your chest up and look forward. Squat as low as possible while maintaining feet flat on floor, knees out, chest up and back flat. This will vary individually depending on flexibility and anatomy. After your six squats you will push press the weight from your shoulders up over your head and bring it down to your shoulders and then to your hips. Next we have 6 bent over rows. You begin by pushing your hips back and keeping the majority of your weight towards the back of your feet. Bend over allowing the bar to slide down your legs and maintain a flat back. Again, this position will vary between individuals, but the bar will be close to your knees and you will pull the bar up into your abs by driving your elbows up towards the ceiling. Squeeze the top and retract your shoulder blades. Complete six reps and stand up tall. Back to the deadlift. The deadlift is probably your strongest lift, or will be with regular practice, so we do it last when we are most fatigued. Return the weight down the legs by pushing your hips back, barely bending the knees and sliding the weight towards the floor, once the bar passes the knees you will bend the knees more and bring it down to the bottom. Once you have plates on the bar, you will know where the bottom is, as they will be touching the floor. Brace your core very intensely and complete 6 reps. There you have it. Five major exercises, thirty total reps, hitting basically every major muscle in the body. Rest a minute and repeat the entire process, adding some weight to the bar, little by little. Keep in mind that ten pounds isn't just ten pounds here. We are doing 30 reps, every rep moves about two feet. Thats sixty feet multiplied by ten pounds. It now becomes 600 foot pounds of extra work just by adding ten pounds to the bar. That equates to a lot of calories being burned and a lot of muscle being used in a very short period of time. A lot for a little means efficient. This is a money maker barbell complex for busy people who demand big results. It is simple, yet deadly effective if you work hard and kick your game up a notch every time. Start slow and progress slow, and you will make big gains. Practice perfect positions, sloppy positions and sloppy reps will only provide sloppy results. 1a. hang power clean x 6 1b. push press x 6 1c. squat x 6 1d. bent over row x 6 1e. deadlift x 6 Add weight and repeat for 5-7 rounds. If you can perform this complex with your over bodyweight on the bar, you are a monster walking among children, and learned nothing reading this. But for now, practice perfect movements and this could be a very time efficient way to train for enhanced athletics and aesthetics. Each round will take about a minute and you will rest about a minute or two as necessary and repeat. Make it a challenge to see how great you can be without wasting any time with things that provide no results. The entire workout will take approximately 20 minutes with the warm up, and if you have a sandbag, kettlebells, or dumbells you can choose to use those as well. Different tools elicit a different response, and they can easily be stored at home or even in your trunk if you don't have time to hit the gym. No excuses. Recent podcast from Robb Wolf and Greg Everett from the Paleo Solution... Crossfit White Pages ed. 1, released 24 Jul 2011 Timeline June 1974 John Jesse publishes The Wrestling Physical Conditioning Encyclopedia which popularizes the concept of metabolic condition. Some have accused Greg Glassman of appropriating the concept of the "metcon" from Jesse without giving proper credit. Source June 13, 2001 Greg Glassman declares that periodization as planned variations in intensity is witchcraft. Source October 1, 2002 Greg Glassman releases the first Crossfit Journal article, entitled "What is Fitness?" Among other things, it stresses the idea that the training all people (soldiers, athletes, and housewives included) should differ by intensity, not by type. Source January 1, 2003 Tyler Haas conducts an interview with Greg Glassman. In it, Glassman infamously declares that Crossfit will allow an athlete to go from deadlifting 200 pounds to between 500 and 750 pounds in only two years, while only pulling max singles several times per year. Glassman has been asked on numerous occasions to retract his statement, but refuses. To date, no one has demonstrated that the claim is true. Also, indicates that it "inuits well" that being able to deadlift 250 for high reps at a high heart rate means that you might be able to pull 500 lbs at a resting heart rate. Source January 19, 2003 Greg Glassman offers broad criticism of respected coach and sport scientist Mel Siff. Claims that he knows that Mel Siff's health conditions are caused by his diet. Glassman says he knows what Siff eats because of his recommendation for athletes in one of his books. Siff vigoriously disputes this. Source February 23, 2003 Greg Glassman states, "the supremacy of Russian methods, sports science, and athletic supremacy has all the legitimacy of the high carb/low fat diet." Source June 1, 2003 Glassman publishes an article in the Crossfit Journal entitled "Metabolic Conditioning." It was later noted to contain many ergregious errors, including the quote "anaerobic training can match endurance training for aerobic benefit." Source April 25, 2003 First WOD with comments posted online at crossfit.com. Source October 6, 2005 Greg Glassman lambasts respected gymnastics coach Chris Sommers and his athletes. Says that no kid will ever match the power output of any elite Crossfitters, and if one does, he will buy him a new car and pay for him to go to college. Source December 22, 2005 Stephanie Cooper of NY Times writes an article entitled "Getting Fit, Even if it Kills You". First mainstream publication to document rhabdomyolosis via Crossfit. Also quotes Glassman as saying, "If you find the notion of falling off the rings and breaking your neck so foreign to you, then we don't want you in our ranks." Source December 31, 2005 Glassman ends 2005 by declaring, on the Crossfit website, that the kipping pullup is critical to arboreal locomotion. Indicates he will laugh as non-Crossfitters avoid the kipping pullup. Source January 5, 2006 An epic showdown between Greg Glassman and Josh Hillis occurs on the Crossfit website. Glassman publicly attacks the character of Josh Hillis and several others for being weak. Hillis tries to apologize but Glassman declares that he is attacking Hillis' character. Also infamously declares that the Crossfit therapy for injuries is "STFU." Glassman refers to powerlifter Jack Reape as "morbidly obese" and mocks Steve Shafley for his Fran time. Source January 09, 2006 Bill Fox creates a post on the IronGarm X forums entitled "The Couch Thread." The post began with questioning Glassman's position that the Olympic lifts will develop speed strength better than the kettlebell lifts. Ironically, Glassman's assertion is now generally accepted to be true. However, the Couch thread evolved into the #1 location for those frustrated and angry with Crossfit and Greg Glassman to voice their views. Noted for its combination of vulgar attacks on Crossfit, along with more thoughtful critiques of the program. Also a source of Crossfit gossip and rumors, and a place to post pictures of Crossfitters. Source January 20, 2006 Glassman asassinates the character of Dan John. Dan John is accused of showing a "sad display of virtues." An author on T-Nation wrote a disparaging article about Crossfit, and Dan John did not attack the author to show his support for Crossfit. Dozens of well-written comments in support of Dan John's character are erased from the Crossfit website. Source March 23, 2007 Mark Twight (record-setting alpinist and trainer of 300 actors including Gerard Butler) is lambasted by Greg Glassman on the Crossfit website, accused of stealing Crossfit's intellectual property. Twight's documents on the website clearly show that he gives credit to Crossfit, specifically Greg and Lauren, for ideas. Glassman claims that "Mark Twight's attacks on CrossFit risk the lives of soldiers and police." Additionally, Glassman states "they're [sic] best male performance is not a match for our best females in Santa Cruz alone." To date, no female from Santa Cruz has broken any of Twight's records. SourceSeptember 12, 2007 Buddy Lee joins Crossfit to offer $500 certifications on how to jump rope. Lee's relationship with Crossfit quietly ends in mystery within a year or two. Source April 19, 2008 Brian MacKenzie declares on the Crossfit Endurance website that he will attempt to finish in the top 10 at the Badwater 135 Mile Ultramarathon and the Crossfit Games in the same year. Source July 14, 2008 Brian MacKenzie DNF's from the Crossfit Games. Source August 8, 2008 Makimba Mimms, a victim of rhabdomyolosis after performing a short Crossfit workout, is ridiculed on the Crossfit website for his lack of fitness. Source September 11, 2008 Reknown football combine coach Mike Boyle explains how Crossfit exercises such as high-rep Olympic lifts are ill-advised and may lead to injuries. SourceNovember 4, 2008 Chris Shugart posts "The Truth About Crossfit" on T-Nation. Perhaps the most balanced and accurate third-party article to come out on Crossfit yet. Source November 8, 2008 Greg Glassman ridicules a NSCA and ACSM-certified trainer for being less educated than Crossfit's best, and for making minor grammatical mistakes, despite the fact that Glassman's posts are often filled with the same. Source November 11, 2008 Greg Glassman claims that Crossfit is the world leader in prevention of rhabdomyolosis. Source November 14, 2008 Tony Budding says that doing Crossfit WODs will make you competent in almost any real-world activity, but says that sword-fighting and tightrope walking are not seen in the real-world, so they can be discounted. Ironically, does not provide instances of where one would see a double-under or a wallball in real life. Source November 23, 2008 Man makes forum post on Crossfit forums asking if any other gay men do Crossfit. Thread is locked. A week and a half later, any discussion of sexuality is officially banned on the Crossfit forums and all instances of the word "gay" becomes censored. Source #1 Source #2 December 11, 2008 Greg Glassman ridicules Brandon Oto and claims he doesn't understand fitness, physics, or mathematics. Refuses to recant his statement that Crossfit will give you a 750 lb deadlift within 2 years, even though there is no proof. Refuses to recant the idea that Crossfit will be a better program for bodybuilding than actual bodybuilding (drug-free). Also declares exercise science a myth and says that no achievement in human performance has come even in part from exercise science. Source #1 January 6, 2009 Glassman gives a presentation at the Naval War College. Khakis look like they were rolled up in a ball before he put them on. Source February 3, 2009 Another Glassassination. Greg Glassman learns of an email between Air Force higher-ups suggesting that the military is moving away from Crossfit. Calls the authors of those emails cretins and morons, and offers a $1000 bribe for the full identity of the authors. Source February 18, 2009 Massive security breach of the Crossfit Forums occur. George Mounce is granted administrator access and views the moderator forums. Mounce posts screenshots on the Couch thread. Screenshots show moderators privately making fun of individual members, referring to one as "pudgy." Moderators discuss censorship and make "Gym Jones" a banned word on the Crossfit forums. Mounce is promptly banned from the Crossfit Forums and the title below his name forever reads 'Banned for integrity and ethical violations'. Any discussion of this incident on the Crossfit forums is banned. Source February 21, 2009 With the help of some mathematical wizardry, Glassman defines a three-dimensional solid that represents the continuum between sickness, wellness, and fitness. Viewers are flabbergasted. Source April 14, 2009 "The 100 Mile Movie" project premieres. Project aimed to document Brian MacKenzie and Carl Borg complete 100 mile races using the CFE protocol. Project ends in failure as neither MacKenzie nor Borg completed any 100 mile races from that point on.Source April 22, 2009 Glassman gives a speech to the 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa, Japan. He is shown wearing wrinkled cargo pants, a wrinkled t-shirt, and hiking boots. Source April 25, 2009 Greg Glassman publicly challenges Michael Caviston (Director of Training for the Naval Special Warfare Center) to participate in a charity demonstration. Glassman suggests that the demonstration involves both Glassman and Caviston performing a deadlift while shirtless. In the same message, Glassman also makes statements that some interpret to be homophobic. No shirtless deadlift demonstration ever occurs. Source June 19, 2009 Brian Mackenzie of Crossfit Endurance declares that he refuses to "destroy his body" by completing a qualifying race to be eligible to run Western States 100. Asks permission from race directors to skip qualifer. Denied, of course. Source June 20, 2009 Respected trainer and one of the first elite Crossfitters, James "OPT" Fitzgerald, acquires "physiological symptoms of death" after completing Crossfit workout during the 2009 Crossfit Games. Describes releasing dark urine, extreme cramping and soreness, and being curled up in the fetal position -- symptoms of adrenal fatigue and rhabdomyolosis.Source July 10, 2009 Crossfit Games banner unveiled. Reads, "the strength and value of CrossFit lies entirely within our domination of other athletes. This is a truth derived through competition, not debate." Source July 12, 2009 Mikko Salo wins 2009 Crossfit Games. Subsequent interviews reveal that Salo's exercise regimen varies considerably from what it posted on crossfit.com and does not follow a paleo diet. Source August 8, 2009 Crossfit Journal pays Russell Burger to attend Gym Jones seminar offered by Mark Twight and report on his findings. Twight was not made aware that Burger was paid to write for the CFJ during the seminar. Source September 12, 2009 Glassman declares that the problem with the fitness world is that "there is too much in the way of unsubstantiated claims and too little in the way of evidence". Glassman still refuses to provide evidence for his most controversial claims. SourceSeptember 20, 2009 WildGorillaMan posts the first ever "Androgen Friday" on the Couch thread. It is a collection of photos of women, many of them very muscular, doing Crossfit exercise. Andro Friday becomes a regular occurence on the couch thread. Source October 2, 2009 John Sheaffer aka "Johnny Pain" formerly of Crossfit Grayskull resigns his affiliation and explains his frustration with Crossfit HQ. Source November 1, 2009 Carl Borg, co-founder of Crossfit Endurance, DNFs at the Javelina Jundred 100 Mile. Subsequent reports on the Crossfit Endurance website (now erased) claim that it was not because of the training. Source November 16, 2009 Crossfit Risk Retention Group (aka "The RRG") is incorporated. Affiliates are highly encouraged to pay thousands of dollars to Crossfit HQ so that they may be insured against lawsuits. Source November 20, 2009 Day one of the Crossfit Black Box Seminar begins. Well known Crossfit names such as Dave Castro, James OPT Fitzgerald, Robb Wolf, and Greg Everett are in attendance. Summit ends in fiasco as Robb Wolf and Greg Everett erupt in argument with Dave Castro. Greg Glassman refers to Greg Everett as a "novice weightlifter." Wolf and Everett end their affiliate status and dissociate from Crossfit on bad terms. Links to Robb Wolf's website and Greg Everett's website are banned on the Crossfit forum. Any discussion of the seminar are banned too. Couch thread sees sharp uptick in activity. Source November 28, 2009 Brian MacKenzie DNFs at the Quad Dipsea. Source December 2, 2009 Prolific forum author Barry Cooper writes an eloquent piece in support of the medicine ball clean. Piece is ill-placed, considering that Greg Everett was ousted from Crossfit only days before for disagreeing with the use of the medicine ball clean for teaching how to clean a barbell.Source December 13, 2009 Noted strength coach Mark Rippetoe hosts final certification with Crossfit. Ends relationship with Crossfit. Crossfit forums ban posting any links to "startingstrength.com." Source December 18, 2009 All Internet traffic from irongarmx.net to crossfit.com is redirected to various pornographic websites, such as gay S&M sites. Confirmed by many users. Redirect is removed after several weeks. Source December 24, 2009 Michael Caviston, Director of Training for the Naval Special Warfare Center, releases one of the most poignant criticisms of Crossfit methodology in relation to BUD/S preparation. Caviston acknowledges that Crossfit may be a component of BUD/S preparation but in general is inadequate and not advised. Source January 28, 2010 The first of a series of videos entitled "At the Chalkboard" is released in the Crossfit Journal. These videos show a visibly intoxicated Greg Glassman pontificating on a number of barely intelligible subjects with Tony Budding. Glassman slurs his words and at one point needs to grab onto a shelf behind him for stability. One line infamously declares that "it [Crossfit] should be more like birthday party [sic] and less like physics class." Source April 25, 2010 The Crossfit Journal releases an article by Dr. Jeffrey A. Glassman (Greg's father) entitled "The Cause of the Earth's Climate Change Is the Sun." Readers are baffled. Source May 1, 2010 Greg Glassman claims he has "Fran" and "Diane" WOD times for every starter on the Colts. Does not provide evidence. Source May 12, 2010 An article appears on gay.com about the author's experience at Crossfit Hollywood. Author says, The "athletes partaking in this endeavor were people you don’t think actually exist in real life." The word "gay" still banned on Crossfit forums. Source June 1, 2010 Crossfit Games tickets go on sale. The price to watch people exercise is $75 plus taxes and fees. Source June 2, 2010 Dave Castro explains why it's best to lift snatches with bad form in a Crossfit workout, and how to alter your form. SourceJune 5, 2010 WildGorillaMan releases his website, separating himself from the Andro Friday posts in the Couch thread. Site is instant hit. Source June 16, 2010 Glassman declares that the cleanliness of the bathroom in a Crossfit gym determines how good it is. Source July 5, 2010 CFE founder Brian MacKenzie's solo 41-mile run through Badwater ends in failure. Reports from his Twitter page say that his shoes melted. Interestingly enough, hundreds of athletes have managed to complete the full 135-mile journey across Badwater and managed to deal with melting shoe problems. Source October 18, 2010 Video demonstration of workout released on Crossfit website. Crossfit Director of Training Dave Castro is shown demonstrating a 24-second heavily-hitched rounded-back failed deadlift. He is congratulated for his effort. Source November 5, 2010 Couch Thread hits a million views. Source November 22, 2010 Glassman declares "We got the science." He declares Crossfit will release a study, and "this will dwarf anything ever conceived of in Framingham or Harvard Nurses." Source November 24, 2010 Andrew Wilson posts a thread entitled Just reread "CrossFit Journal on Metabolic Conditioning..." on the Performance Menu forums, owned by ousted Crossfit weightlifting coach Greg Everett. Thread rises to cult status within months and becomes known as "IGX Lite." Wilson and others offer more poignant and well-argued criticisms of Crossfit programming and methodology.Source December 11, 2010 Dave Castro states that top level decathletes like Bryan Clay "don't have that mindset to push like CrossFitters do." Other Crossfitters in the room agree. Source December 27, 2010 Glassman makes the claim that "CrossFit is the application of the fundamentals of Newtonian mechanics to human movement, something else that is kind of unique for us." Viewers are baffled, especially considering his statement on January 28 that Crossfit should be "more like birthday party [sic] and less like physics class." Source January 6, 2011 Head of Crossfit General Counsel Dale Saran publicly attacks the naysayers who claim that Crossfit "sold out" by accepting a Reebok sponsorship. Source January 12, 2011 Picture posted on the front page of Crossfit.com showing the naked butts of people while exercising. Many are displeased with the picture. Source March 16, 2011 First Crossfit Games Open workouts are released. First two workouts involve high-reps of double-unders, power snatches, box jumps, and deadlifts. Alarmingly high number of achilles ruptures are reported on the Crossfit Games website and elsewhere. Andrew Wilson aggregates notable instances on the PMenu forum. Source March 21, 2011 Crossfit Games website tells competitors that if something goes wrong when submitting their videos, that it's their fault for waiting too long. Countless people are unable to post their scores because website fails. Many complain. Source March 23, 2011 Crossfit Games website tells competitors that if they do not use exactly the weight prescribed in the workout, then it will not count. Weight for the men's workout was 75 lb or 35kg (77.16 lb). No one really understands what's going on here. Source June 1, 2011 Competitor magazine releases an article on Brian MacKenzie. Claims MacKenzie has completed the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon, yet no records of Brian MacKenzie exist anywhere on the Badwater website. Source #1 Source #2 June 6, 2011 Couch Thread hits 1000 pages. Source July 5, 2011 Tony Budding opens a Twitter account. Begins to tweet profound philosophical concepts and statements, such as "Great leadership requires keen observation (receptivity) and obdurate drive. It's a rare combination" Source July 11, 2011 Brian MacKenzie and Anthony Roberts publish an article in the Crossfit Journal suggesting that peaking for an athletic event is a waste of time. Bio for Anthony Roberts simply states which Crossfit certifications he possesses, and his picture is cropped to hide text on his jacket. Bio on Roberts' website indicates he is an authority on anabolic steroids and his jacket reads "steroids.com." Source July 14, 2011 Andrew Wilson discovers what is believed to be the 200th case of exertional rhabdomyolosis induced by a Crossfit workout. Source July 16, 2011 Crossfit Reebok store opens, selling board shorts for $60, and zip jackets for $150. Military cap claims to "ooze elite attitude" and another shirt displays a phallic symbol with a suggestive quote. Source July 22, 2011 Former elite Crossfitter Gillian Mounsey releases a very honest article on her dissatisfaction with Crossfit. Describes an epiphany that Crossfit was making her good at exercise, not athletics. Source Last week I posted muscle-ups on the main blog, but forgot to mention that it was the exercise of the week last week. Hopefully you picked up on that and caught the tutorial. I wanted to throw the main site dogs a bone.
This week we have 2 KB jerks. These are brutal! Check out the tutorial here. Check out the worlds best here. Take particular notice to how "cool" he remains before, during, and after this monstrous achievement. The Blog for Stronger Men owner, Andres Gonzalez, interviewed me for his website, here it is.. . Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Fat Loss Principles
Dealing with fat loss, after any basic initial phase, will be mostly an issue of metabolism or hormones. If you haven't read my previous posts on brain health and hormone optimization, start there, I will not repeat it again in this article. But in short, get your hormones, especially leptin, in check. Leptin is mediated by calorie intake, so if you are always dieting you will have low leptin levels and that leads to decreased fat burning and metabolism. Eating more calories can raise leptin levels which can lead to heightened fat burning and metabolism. However, chronic overeating will create insulin resistance and a caloric surplus that the bodies metabolism just can't match and will lead to weight gain. This is the magic of the "cheat day" in our diets. We eat clean and strict for a few days, then blow it out once or twice a week. In the long run you should be consuming far less calories than you burn, but after a few days of a low calorie diet your leptin levels get low, then you blow it out with a high calorie day and BAM! leptin is spiked and your metabolism is on fire, primed to melt more fat at a faster pace. For the average person, there is no need to be very strict with their dieting, they just need to make a few changes that I will talk about shortly. But, if you are not average and are trying to get exceptionally lean, very low single digit bodyfat, then you are going to have to suck it up for a while and make some serious sacrifices. It comes down to priorities at this point. The first thing you must do is eliminate certain foods from your diet: ✘ All Wheat Products
the list of ingredients ✘ Dairy
✘ Peanuts & Cashews (eliminate completely – all other nuts must be either raw or dry roasted, no exceptions) ✘ Alcohol ✘ Soy ✘ Refined Sugar These foods are some of the most common food allergens, and even if you do not have a serious allergic reaction, there may be something going on in your gut that you don't realize, like acute inflammation of the colon, for example. Any time your body has a serious issue to deal with, it will deal with that first, before other less important issues. So if you get bit by a poisonous snake, your body wants to get rid of the toxins and will cease all other functions, like burning belly fat. Even though alcohol is not as lethal as rattlesnake venom, it is still a toxin that sidetracks your bodies functions and will disrupt your fat burning efforts, it is so much more than just caloric intake. If you're serious about getting super lean, do not consume the above foods, with the occasional exception of cheat days. The second thing you should do is switch to organic foods. If not possible to switch all of your varieties, here is a sort of hierarchy of foods to switch first. First and foremost, start switching out any beef, pork, and poultry you’re consuming over to the organic variety. Non-organic varieties, due to today’s common farming methods, are unfortunately loaded with hormones and antibiotics, which absolutely affect fat loss, again, especially when trying to get exceptionally lean. While it may not be in your budget to completely shift to organic everything all the time, going organic for your meat selections during the final phase should be high on your priority list. Next up is produce, and there are several options here. One, anything in which you actually eat the skin should be switched to organic to avoid potentially harmful chemicals and pesticides. This includes fruits and veggies like grapes, tomatoes, apples, peaches, berries, etc. You get it. For other produce in which you discard the skin (avocados, oranges, grapefruit and other citrus varieties, bananas, etc), going organic is not necessary as there is a protective layer of skin (which you do not eat) between the outer layer and inner fruit (which you do eat). General rules for getting really lean Evening feeding: Do not eat carbs 6-8 hours before going to bed. Late day or night time protein should be white animal flesh or low carb casein based protein Add lots of greens if you're hungry, so a grilled chicken breast on top of a bed of greens is ideal Stay hydrated, I would shoot for 1 ounce of water per pound of bodyweight per day. Limit how much you go out to eat to no more than once per week. You have less control over your diet when someone else prepares your food. Take control and avoid indulging at the wrong times. You will probably have to start counting calories and macronutrients if you want to get super lean. It's not my bag, but if I wanted to get on stage in a banana hammock, I would count. For most people the eyeball portion control is sufficient, but it can be deceiving when you are really hungry and rationalize a slightly bigger cut. So you will be better off weighing and measuring your food at this point. Tip #1 - The Cleanse It is thought by many that beginning a serious fat loss program with a cleanse can be a great jump start. There are a lot of toxins being stored in our body from years of breathing polluted air, eating food with pesticides, drinking water with chemicals, etc. If you have been eating junk food for years, then your friends probably aren't wrong when they tell you, "you're full of shit!" This can not be reversed or eliminated in a few days of a vegetable cleanse, but there is validity in a jump start. If you eat only raw vegetables for a few days, especially rough greens like kale, those veggies act as a rake going through your body and scrape the crap off of your colon walls and stuff like that. If your inner tubes are covered with garbage, it can not absorb as many nutrients as possible from the food you consume. If you body is not being supplied with optimal nutrition, then it won't perform optimally. If it isn't performing optimally, then obviously the fat loss process won't be as effective as possible. So we want to clean up our system to boost this process. A little problem with this is, many people feel worse before they feel better because it is like stirring up the mucky waters. You scrape all that garbage off the wall of your pipes and now it is floating through your body. While drinking a lot of water can help flush it out, some will indefinitely be getting mixed around and reabsorbed in a sense, and making you feel weird for a day or so, but much better in the long run. Toxins are also more easily stored in fat tissue than the rest of the body, so the less fat tissue you have, the harder it is to store toxins. For a basic cleanse, you would go for 3-5 days of raw fruits and vegetables only, consuming mostly green veggies. Acceptable Veggies
In addition to the fruit and vegetable intake, you’ll also be consuming a cleansing beverage 6-12 times per day consisting of 8 oz of water, 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (must be fresh squeezed and not refrigerated), and a pinch (about 1/10 teaspoon of cayenne pepper). Herbal teas are also allowed and beneficial. I recommend drinking senna tea at night, and be prepared in the morning for some movement. Trust me when I say you won't need an alarm clock, your "gut instincts" will wake you, and you better get to a safe place quick. The addition of aloe vera juice can also be beneficial for regularity. It should be noted that this is the beginning of the process, and no one can literally cleanse themselves of years of toxicity in a few days. Tip #2 - Low Carb Diet The main point of doing a low carb diet is to limit insulin and the amount of blood sugar in the body. But your body converts several foods into different things post consumption. So, if some foods create a sugar-like stimulus within the body, you might as well be eating sugar, for example. This holds true for super high protein intake. Too much protein in the body can turn into glucose, which means blood sugars stay elevated. So here you are, eating more protein, less carbs, and thinking you're doing the right thing, but then your body just turns around and creates exactly what you've been trying to eliminate and sabotages your efforts. So, if you really want to go low carb and enjoy the benefits of decreased insulin and heightened fat burning, keep your protein intake moderate. I recommend consuming mostly fats, about 60% of your total macronutrient intake, then about 30-35% protein, and finally 5-10% carbohydrates. Acceptable fat choices during the low-carb diet are:
The best time to use a really low carb diet would be at the beginning of a fat loss phase. This is particularly of extreme value when used to increase hormone sensitivity. Remember, if your hormones are not optimized, or are insensitive and not responding, then all of your hard work and strategic efforts will be worthless. Strategies like cheat days, carb cycling, macronutrient cycling, carb loading, depletion, nutrient timing, etc—none of them will work to your advantage until you take the time to get sensitive to the hormones that are the “magic” behind their efficacy. Tip #3 - Strategic Cheating It's not a secret that many people use a cheat day in the diets, for more than one reason. If anything, it may help you maintain your sanity and help with sustainability. Most people can not be so strict for too long. And even if they are that disciplined, it may not be to their advantage anyway. If If nutrient intake is low for too long, then your metabolism will drop. When that happens you have a slow running motor and will burn less fat throughout the day. A cheat day 3 days in a row is not good. But a cheat day every 5-7 days can be magical. You will still have an overall caloric deficit, but greatly spike your metabolism and prevent yourself from getting a "weak motor" with every cheat. This strategy is very effective, and here are some helpful tips:
There are several different sites that provide a ton of info on this subject. A quick google search can lead to some great finds from people who are far more knowledgeable on IF than myself. One thing I highly recommend is fasting the day after a cheat day. At this time your body is primed for major fat burning due to the metabolic spike you provided it with. So, while your body is fueled to the max and working at high speed, you do not fuel it with more energy to burn, you simply allow it to burn the stored fat already found in the body. In addition to fasting on this day, you should take advantage of the most effective fat burning exercise during this window of fat burning opportunity. If you perform the type of exercise that I recommend later in the article, you will start dominating your fat burning efforts. Short term fasting can have massive fat burning results without the negative side effects of long term fasting. An example of a day of training during a fast day would be an early morning bodyweight session, which could be a half hour of yoga if you so desire, a series of gymnastic static holds for time, like L-sits, pull up holds, frog stands, planks, levers, etc. A high intensity afternoon session of metabolic resistance training, possibly consisting of a 20 minute circuit of mountain climbers, inverted rows, jump squats, pushups, and kettlebell swings. And finally an evening session of a steady state extended cardio session, like going for a 40 minute hike (preferably with a back pack, weighted vest, etc). You might think that three sessions is not possible with your schedule, but remember, this is what is optimal. If you can not figure out a way to get this done, you may not be sacrificing enough, or just do what you can. If I had to choose one session to drop, it would be the final extended cardio session. In reality, get serious and make the necessary changes to maximize the fat burning effects. Just get it done, and cut the excuses. If you are new to this sort of stuff, it might be overwhelming for you and you will benefit from making more minor changes, not quite as drastic. This is really next level shit. But if you're up for it, this can be extremely effective. Tip #5 - Find the Correct Caloric Formula for Every Body Depending on your current weight, bodyfat, and lean body mass, you will have different caloric needs. You could 2 different people, each weighing 200 pounds, and feed them the same fat burning diet, and they could have drastically different results. It depends largely on lean body mass. If one guy is 30% body fat, he will be 140 pounds lean body mass. The other guy is 10% body fat, he has 180 pounds of lean body mass, Both having separate needs. The leaner you are, the more calories you'll need to support your harder working engine. The leaner you get, the harder it becomes to lose fat without sacrificing lean body mass, and as such, calorie intake should be higher. On the contrast, a person with a lot of fat to lose, such as 60 lbs, can get away with a lower calorie intake at first, allowing them to lose fat more rapidly without significant muscle loss. A simple formula for caloric maintenance is dependent on your current body fat %. 6-12% = 17 x LBM 12-15% = 16 x LBM 15-`19% = 15 x LBM 19-22% = 14 x LBM >22% = 13 x LBM As mentioned, the reason for higher calorie intakes when leaner and lower calorie intakes at higher body fat percentages is due to the fact that leaner individuals need higher intakes to maintain lean body mass while those carrying higher amounts of body fat can maintain muscle and lose fat more rapidly at lower intakes without sacrificing muscle. So, now you know how many calories to consume, but how do you go about “counting” those, and how do you know how much protein, carbs, and fat to take in daily? Good question, and as I mentioned earlier, I’ll show you how to streamline everything to make the whole “counting” issue easy. Let’s take, for example, our same 200 lb man at 30% body fat. This individual has a lean body mass of approximately 140 lbs. Knowing this, we use the maintenance caloric multiplier of 13 listed above, and reach a dietary intake of 1,830 calories. We’ll then subtract 300 calories to create a very moderate caloric deficit for a fat loss dietary intake of 1,530 calories daily. Now, that might seem low, but remember that this individual is just starting out with weight loss and will be progressively eating more as he loses body fat. For now, because he has quite a bit of fat to lose, he can get away with slightly lower intakes. Now that we have the calorie totals, it’s time to figure out how many grams of protein, carbs, and fat this individual should consume. Because this person is starting at such a high body fat level, I’d absolutely start them with a low carb “prime” to reset leptin and insulin receptors, following the guidelines I provided previously: 60% Fat 35% Protein 5% Carbs Multiplying by the percentages above, we get the following calorie intakes per macronutrient: Fat: 1530 x .6 = 920 Protein: 1530 x .35 = 535 Carbs: 1530 x .05 = 80 To convert these caloric values to grams for easy counting, we can divide by the caloric values of each which are as follows: Fat: 9 cal/g Protein: 4 cal/g Carbohydrates: 4 cal/g This gives us gram totals for each macronutrient of: Fat: 920/9 = 102g Protein: 535/4 = 134g Carbohydrates: 80/4 = 20g So, for our 200 lbs individual @ 30% body fat, he’d be consuming 102g of fat, 134g of protein, and 20g of carbs daily (fiber needs not be counted toward the carb total).The cool thing about converting everything to grams is that you no longer have to worry about counting calories. You simply count the grams of each macronutrient you consume as indicated in the nutrition facts. This makes things much easier considering the way our food labels are organized. If you are unsure as to the nutrition content of a particular product, you can look up the info easily at an online nutrition database such as www.NutritionData.com or www.CalorieKing.com. Tip #6 - The Off Week Every sixth week, just like you have a cheat day, take a full week off and increase your caloric intake by about 20%. Don't think about it too much, just relax and let your body enjoy what it wants, take a break and reset yourself. This allows your body to avoid the inevitable fat loss plateau and reset your metabolism. Tip #7 - Nutrient Timing 1. Metabolism is at its highest point in the morning 2. Carbohydrate tolerance is at its highest in the morning 3. Food consumed in the morning is much less likely to lead to fat storage as you have the entire remainder of the day to burn it off as energy Moreover: 1. Metabolism is at its lowest point in the evening 2. Carbohydrate tolerance is at its lowest in the evening 3. Food consumed in the evening is much more likely to lead to fat storage as your metabolism will soon hit its lowest during sleep For this reason, you will be consuming most of your carbs in the morning upon waking, and some after training only. Most of the meals earlier in the day will be protein and carbs with minimal fat, while meals later in the day will be protein and fat with minimal carbs. The overall size and caloric content of the meals will get progressively smaller as the day goes on and your metabolism drops. Tip #8 - Carbohydrate Cycling There is many good resources on the net to get you started on carb cycling, it is proven to work and I highly recommend it. Carb cycling basically consists of three types of eating days, high carb, low carb, no carb, and you cycle through them accordingly. Here is a weekly cycle that should work well for most: Monday - no or low carb Tuesday - low carb Wednesday - high carb Thursday - no carb Friday - low carb Saturday - high carb, cheat day Sunday - no carb, fast Tip #9 - Harness the Power of High Energy Too many consecutive days of low calorie and low carb eating can leave you depleted. Thats why we cycle the macronutrients and calories. You may have days that you are more energized than others, take big advantage of those great opportunities, but do not be a slacker and make excuses when things aren't perfect. Get it done. No one said this was going to be easy. Tip #10 - Post Training Carb Consumption This is a fun method, but not for everyone. Within 3 hours of the start of your workout, you will consume about half of your total daily calories and almost all of your total carbs for that day. During this post workout window, your body is like a sponge and sucks up energy very efficiently. You will have to make some changes for this one, do not expect to use all of these tips at the same time, as some of them won't work simultaneously. They are all good tips and can and should be tried to see what works best for you. *Bonus* Tip #11 - Be Consistent, Don't Make Excuses, Hold Yourself Accountable for your Actions Thats pretty self explanatory. You are an adult, act like one. Be responsible and do not be influenced by others. Be a leader and guide your own path. On a very side note, the appropriate use of some supplements can be beneficial. High dose fish oil has had some positive research. Like anything else, you can find evidence to support anything you want to find. For every article stating positive effects of fish oil, you will find something negative to say. Its up to you to do the research and experiment safely. |
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