CFWUx1
14:20

14:17 Rx*
*legless ascent and descent starting from and returning to seated. 

CFWUx1
14:20

Thanks for sharing.  Even if it is not entirely proven in this article I think that everyone would benefit from trying for themself to reduce carbs intake and up fats.  Don't be afraid to test on yourself and learn from the outcome.  

This is a great article that I would have loved to read when I was in university.  The "every calories are equal" was what I learned.  I really like the approach that removes the weight loss from the equation and just looks at the effect of the diet.  I hope more and more studies are made on the subject and that we can have a better understanding of what our body needs to promote health.  

Struggled more than expected with towel pull ups - halved btwb suggestion and did 5 per round. Grippy.

I did all RX except one rope climb was done with a rope over the bar pulling a sled. 

20 minutes, 5 rounds. 2 mins alternate grip ring pulls, 2 mins abmat sit ups. (27/20, 20/20, 18/20, 18/20, 19/20). To keep moving I switched the grip every five, four, then whenever I fell off. 

Rx 09:59

Got hit with a head cold during the deadlift/handstand practice yesterday. Didn’t sleep well but still finished this in under 11 minutes. Constant movement. Very slow butterfly abmat sit-ups. 2 leg less rope climbs to 11’ FROM SEATED each time. Basically rxd maybe harder since I would’ve jumped from standing with a 15’ rope. Fun stuff. Thought my abs were going to cramp. 

Done (1ropes climb then 5 strict pull up)

5 full machine rope transfers (marked by tape) from seated per rope climb (10 per round)
Situps as rx

20:54

10:25

5 rounds Sc
6 Strict Pull-ups
20 controlled, slow Ab-Mat Sit-ups

Subbed climbs for 6 rope pulls from ground with straight body position.  

M50/5’5”/155

5 RDS-
18’ rope climbs wit legs
20 slow Abmat sit-ups 

Done 

Done! Abmats were so much harder than expected. 

Done on 190113. 
7 strict pull-ups on rings/climb, sit-ups done in 2 minutes/ each round.
The I did 5 rounds of KB strict presses with 2 20kg kettlebells: 5 reps - 5x1.5  reps - 3x 0.5-1-0.5 reps (lower and upper half) -5 reps - AMRAP: 7 reps

10:30rx rope climb machine sitting

5 Rounds
2 Rope climbs (15ft)
20 Slow AbMat sit-ups (Only 4 rounds)

*Cash out
800m run (3:32)

Many of my CrossFit friends thought that this model WAS ME !!

Love these new "senior" videos!! Would it be helpful to maybe overlap a video like this with someone doing barbell deadlifts at the gym or points of performance??

1 legless rope climb, 4,5-m. rope
15 controlled, slow sit-ups

19:23

Had to modify this one due to cold and rainy weather effecting the rope outside.  

5 rounds of:

5 Pullups with a five second negative
30 second handstand hold
20 slow Abmat situps 

16:27

D
20 ring rows with a five second negative
20 slow abmat situps

17:30

Modified to: 5 rounds of: 500 meter row, 2 lying to standing rope climbs, 20 controlled, slow Abmat sit ups. 27:10.

12’36”

Scaled to 5 rounds for time:
2 lying to standing rope climbs,
15 controlled, slow sit-ups
8:20

Did not time. Used as a warmup for 1/9 and 1/11.
Lying to standing rope climbs.  Two accents.  Each takes three pulls to the top.

5 rounds completed as prescribed.  I added in 10 back rack 20" box step ups (5 each leg) at 115#.  Time was around 13:40 to do it all.

Completed using 3 x 11’ legless rope climb 

12:00. Rx

Does anyone else think these new pictures look like the set of Married with Children?

17:15 Rx'd, slow and controlled on sit ups.

Completed Rx'd without a clock

Done (2 l-sit pull-ups, 20 controlled sit-ups)

Won't use the shoulder, so I did this yesterday: 50-40-30-20-10 reps of elliptical machine calories, and ab-mat sit-ups (pegged the toes). 20:27.

5 rds 
2 rope climbs (usando las piernas) 
20 controlled, slow AbMat sit-ups( lentas tardando 4 segundos para cada repeticion)

15:00 min 

Rxd
Feeling the burn.

Rxd 

Rxd 

Scaled to 5 rounds of continuous movement
2 lay to stand rope
20 controlled, slow AbMat sit-ups
Done! 

5 rounds of continuous movement of:

2 legless rope climbs, 15-ft. rope
20 controlled, slow AbMat sit-ups 

Rope pull down sitting on floor with 100lb for first two rounds, the 110lb , for last 3 rounders.  Not ideal rope for grip.  First time attempting this approach.  Have been pulling body weight sled up until this point with past workouts which called for rope climbs.  Will be nice when local gym ads rope.  Seems uncommon for some reason.  Controlled sit-ups with Pilates ball (lent ab mat recently)

✅

5 RDS
10 Ring pullup
15 ABMAT sit up controlled
Row 400 M
21:59

Complete as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
3 rope climbs, 15-ft. rope
20 box jumps

Men: 30-in. box

4 rounds plus 1 climb with 12 seconds to spare. As rx’d as possible. 12’ rope climb from seated, so each climb began legless. 

RX good part of 15 minutes could really feel my abs on the Rope climbs

Rope pull-ups. 7 reps each round was all my grip could take 
No ab Mat did foam pad first three rounds 
7:51

Got some some sore fingers from jiu jitsu, went with 3 rope climbs using my feet and 20 sit-ups with my feet anchored under dumbbells. Threw a few back squats in there today, too. Felt the need to have some weight on my back. 

Rope is only 7 ft, so did 5 rounds of 4 legless climbs in L-sit position from sitting and 20 sit-ups. Untimed, but with constant movement.

Followed up with 2-mile run at 80% recovery pace. 15:00.

M/44/6'2"/185

10,9,8,7,....1
35# double KB snatch with 15 a mat situps between each set
10:52

RX -8:32 with 2sec down 2sec up on the sit-ups 

5 rounds:

10 pullups
20 Hollow Body Rock 

I had to be creative with my scale as I'm staying away from home for a few days and not much to work with. 

Did 10 pull-ups with fingertips of each hand on opposite side of door jam for the legless rope climbs and 20 sit-ups.  5 rounds for quality in 12:45

I moved, in a semi-continuous fashion

Great article. Interesting that the study was done by a foundation funded in part by Gary Taubes. I highly recommend his book, “Good Calorie, Bad Calorie.” Gives a good history on the insulin hypothesis and covers a lot of the article topics HQ has been posting this year (e.g. Keys’ poor study methodology).

Rx

My rope is only 6’ & I haven’t really mastered legless climbs. 

5 Rds 
4 L sit rope pull-ups(#4 was tough) 
3 lay to stand rope climbs 
20 slow & controlled sit ups 

12:17( if we are timing it) 

Those slow sit ups were tougher than I thought they would be. Definitely could feel the muscles working!

8 L sit pull up 20 abmat painfully slow for 5 rounds. Finished almost in 25 mins 

warm up 10  1 min rounds assault bag
2 Legless rope climbs 10'
20 Slow ABMSU 3s down/3s up
 5 mins of DU practice cool down
If must say the legless rope ascents were straight grip killer !! As for the slow ABMSU if found it much like yoga, worked on breathing muscle contraction and full reach when laying fully out...

Hello were can I see the photos from the past courses??

9:00

Just had this for lunch, very tasty. How many blocks would this meal be?

completed 5 rounds scaled 
4 rope pull-ups
20 slow Abmat sit-ups

This wod is a good warm up !

I followed by :
3 RFT
15 inverted burpees (interesting!)
1000m row
15 burpees over the row


New Website and weird wods...

11:26 rx’d 

Hey will these be released daily or weekly? Can I share this content directly to my members?

David Ludwig himself comments here on the same study noted in the NYT article above and yesterday.

Ludwig emphasizes the theoretical debate at the root of the study - whether the sole driver of weight gain/loss is caloric balance over time or (the “carbohydrate-insulin model”) if our caloric balance is affected by what we eat in a way not captured by the number of calories. It’s a question of primacy. 

Ludwig, for emphasis:

“Here’s how this hypothesis goes: Consuming processed carbohydrates (especially refined grains, potato products and sugars), causes our bodies to produce more insulin. Too much insulin, one of the most powerful hormones, forces our fat cells into calorie-storage overdrive. These rapidly growing fat cells then hoard too many calories, leaving too few for the rest of the body. So we get hungry, and if we persist in eating less, our metabolism slows down.”

We know, for example, carbohydrate restriction affects our metabolism and hormones in certain ways restricting all calories equally, or fat calories specifically, does not. The major question is whether our body’s various regulatory mechanisms will adjust for these metabolic shifts so that, at the end of the day (or many days), all that matters is the number of calories. If our metabolism truly slows (or speeds up) based on certain types of diet, it suggests some diets are predisposed to make us fatter or leaner. It also suggests there may be a more direct cause of weight gain or loss than number of calories - and so simpler, more effective interventions may exist to prevent or reverse obesity.

To quote Ludwig again:

“The calories-in, calories-out view offers no compelling biological explanation for the obesity epidemic beyond “it’s complicated,” “many factors are involved” and ultimately, we eat too much. But if the type of calories consumed affect the number of calories burned, this trend starts to make more sense. The processed carbohydrates that flooded the food supply during the low-fat diet era of the last 40 years pushed the body weight set-point up across the population.”

This is the big-picture issue at play. Various public health forces have spent years trying to force a caloric deficit on the American population, concluding the failure of Americans to lose weight is due to some combination of a lack of willpower and a coercive external environment - in other words, that despite their best efforts, millions of overweight Americans simply can’t stop themselves from eating too many calories. But if eating fewer carbohydrates offers a metabolic advantage - or eating more carbs a metabolic disadvantage - this would explain the failure of these efforts. The shift in the American diet toward carbohydrate (driven at least in part by a push away from fat) has directly undermined them. And so, a shift back away from carbohydrate, both on an individual and population basis, could be the solution.

This study alone isn’t enough to shift that hypothesis by itself, and there are many other factors to consider. But it does stand as some of the clearest evidence yet that a purely caloric model is overly simplistic at best.

12:51 with # 90 pound sled pull at 50ft x2  ea. rnd. 

Rx 12:30

The jugs are fantastic! We now have a collection at CrossFit 204. They're a cheap but very functional addition to any gym, and they're perfect for anyone working at home. If someone doesn't have jugs and wants to start lifting before they're acquired, try grocery bags loaded with soup cans, books or other objects. I've also trained seniors using a standard cardboard storage box and LP records, which weigh about 120-150 g each–3-4 equal a pound. The box lift is slightly different because the load is between the feet instead of outside them, but the main principle is the same: Keep the spine rigid and bend only at the hips and knees. 

The design of the study was a bit unusual. Subjects were forced to lose weight AND THEN were randomized to one of three diets - 20%, 40% or 60% carb - after which their weight was held constant. This was to remove weight loss as a confounder, since we know as you lose weight your total energy expenditure (the # of calories you burn each day) drops. Weight was held constant by increasing or decreasing calories as necessary when subjects’ weights changed. For context on these pages, a standard American diet gets ~50% of its calories from carbohydrates, some (but not all) Paleo diets will be as low as 20%, and keto is far lower at ~5%.

O’Connor notes two ways to look at Ebbeling et al (featured on this site yesterday).

First, practically: Subjects following a low-carb diet burned more calories than subjects on a high-carb diet. In this study, weight wasn’t allowed to vary, but this suggests a less-calorically-restrained low-carb diet may lead to similar weight loss as a higher-carb diet, or a similarly restricted diet lead to greater loss. The intake data supports this - subjects on the low-carb diet ate more calories to keep weight constant.

Second, theoretically: Nearly every diet plan argues there is one factor that affects weight - caloric deficit/surplus. Sometimes it’s explicit (e.g., adding 400 calories per day of exercise, or eating 1600 calories per day), sometimes it’s implicit (e.g., eating a highly restricted diet that you’ll eat fewer calories of). This study showed the type of calories matters. Whatever the specific feedback and regulatory mechanisms at play, subjects were more metabolically active on some diets than others. A weight loss diet that only looks at number of calories is incomplete at best.

Finally, he notes that this diet had an especially large impact on individuals with high insulin levels at baseline - i.e., those who were metabolically unhealthy at the start of the trial. In those subjects, the metabolic benefit was nearly 400 calories per day. This is consistent with the idea that insulin-resistant individuals see the greatest benefits from carbohydrate restriction.

This was also an unusually rigorous study. The vast majority of nutrition trials are undermined by two factors. (1) When we tell people to eat a diet, they don’t follow it - e.g., a prescription to eat a 20% carb diet leads to people eating 35% of calories from carb after a few months. (2) Even if people are following their diet, we can’t tell what they’re eating - our methods of assessing participants’ diets are woefully imprecise. In this trial, subjects were provided all their meals, so we know exactly what they ate and how much of it. The vast majority of large nutrition studies have in effect looked at the impact of telling somebody to eat a certain diet; this one looked at what happens when they actually eat it.

There are limits to how far we can take this information. We can’t necessarily assume these impacts felt after weight loss would be replicated during weight loss, or in weight-stable subjects. We don’t know how things would change if subjects were free to eat as many calories as they chose. We don’t know what happens to subjects beyond five months. We know there was significant variability in how individual subjects responded, for reasons beyond baseline insulin resistance. (Other studies do give us insight into these questions) But none of that undermines the fact that this is a landmark study showing clearly that certain diets confer a meaningful metabolic advantage.

8:47rx

subbed 15 pull-ups & 10 burpees

11:14

Question regarding Beyond the Whiteboard for a day like today -- my gym wants to make these kinds of WODs from time to time. For example, "3 rounds for Quality of 10 GHD situps and 20 step-back lunges". Can someone advise on how to make it show up as "RFQ" and with "5 rounds of continuous movement of:"? I tried adding the "FQ" movement from today and that didn't work, just displayed as "3RFT: GHDs and FQs" as an example.

It's in that code somewhere :-) but if only BTWB app admins can access it I understand.

I love all of these new videos.  I even have my parents and in-laws watching them as well.  They are in their mid 70's, so these are even more relevant to them.

I hate the senior theme - I’m 58 in good health and am inspired by crossfit being vibrant - not someone much older with a remedial workout in their home - it just feels awkward to me 

9:30 RX - Really cool workout 

Miss the scaling advice..... the end

Completed. Subbed alternate grip strict pull-ups for rope climbs

Done. The first three rounds of arms only rope climbs I did my best to go as high as possible, which was about 4-5 pulls each. (Left, right, left, right, left) Last two rounds I did laying down to standing climbs 4 times with slow climb and decent. 

Completed, w/ subbing 6 rope climbs lying to standing

Rx 15:50

16:06
Modified to a sled pull leaned horizontally over the rope with my body weight on the sled, for 30 ft pulls x2.  By the 5th round this was difficult. I also had to run the rope back and forth and rotate the sled so that took an extra minute or two of the time. 

Did 5x of 1 minute rope pulls on the rope pull machine at the rec center as they dont have ropes.  Situps seemingly took forever as they were methodical rather than for speed.

I LOVE these senior-themed videos. Not only can I relate to them, but it demonstrates the importance of lifetime functional fitness to those of all ages. Just yesterday I saw a 70-something man who I know struggle to get his grocery sack out of the shopping cart and into his car, only able to get it into the floor of the vehicle. The benefits of my CrossFit workouts (just left my trainer who is working with my 60-something self through an injury) were obvious to me. 

10:33 RX

Completed Rx

Not stopping was really hard, even though my slow pace felt sustainable.

Great work team. Also wholly supportive of the new policy. 

I understood the first part 2 legless rope climbs, 15-ft. rope
What is 20 controlled? 
How many slow AbMat sit-ups,
Is it with the back support or without? 

Substitute for rope climbs? We don’t have ropes at our gym.

5 rds ✅
Subbed rope climbs for alternating grip pull ups 

Subbed campus board climbs for rope. 5 rounds ✅

5 rounds, scaled rope climbs to variations of strict pull-ups and farmers walk.

5 rounds with good form done. 

So after we do the workout what would we post? 
If we servived?  Normslly it says for time but it asks for slow and controlled movment 

Recommendations of sets and rounds?

What is poured in the olive oil? I don’t see the dressing ingredients for the clear liquid. 

Champions Club Scaling Notes

STIMULUS: When I see something that has a set number of rounds on it — especially something unfamiliar like this workout — I usually assume it works best if the volume is preserved. So as backwards as this could sound, the easy bet for scaling would be to turn this thing from a task priority inside a task priority, to a time priority inside a task priority (Inception, anyone?) For example, 5 rounds of 45 sec. rope climbs and 1 minute of AbMat sit-ups. Or for easier counting, 1-minute and 1-minute. If you’re working out by yourself, you could do what I am now calling Ricky-style Reps (named after one of our 8th graders) where you just do one movement until you would have to rest due to fatigue then move to the next one. Again, the retest value is tough when doing that, but this doesn’t seem like an easy one to retest anyway. The Ricky-style would also help with the “continuous movement” part.

GROUP: Equipment might be the limiting factor here. When this is an issue, it’s best to look at each exercise not as the specific thing prescribed, but as something to be grouped into a large, inclusive general movement pattern. So really, what’s the difference between rope climbs and pull-ups and ring rows and farmer’s walks and grabbing your dogs’ leashes while they pull you as you’re trying to walk? Lots of things obviously, but they one thing they have in common is they’re all expressions of pulling. So as long as you’re doing something most of the group can do that makes them feel like they’ve been pulling with their arms, you’re on the right track for the rope climb sub. Then the closer you can get to the specifics the better. So strict pull-ups with an alternating grip (flipping hands each round), jumping and hanging from a bar (flexed or extended), halfway up rope climbs using your legs, full climbs with the legs… think general not specific and then the specifics will come to you. When I get around to doing this, I’ll go legless as high as I can then use my feet to finish. Or maybe just call it good where I end up haha. Depends how I feel.
As for sit-ups, I find it hard to keep a good position while using an AbMat, and some people have complained about back pain after doing lots of regular sit-ups. So we do hollow body variations; only going as far back as you can maintain a hollow body (low back staying in contact with the ground, among other things). Try those if you don’t have AbMats. On a very important note, I really hate sit-ups. Probably my worst exercise for some dumb reason.

INJURY: Looks like spine/hip stuff and shoulder/arms are going to be the only issues I can think of. Static plank/hollow hold would be a good sub for sit-ups if need be. As for the rope, anything one-arm would be good. If it’s a broken finger that can’t wrap around a bar or rope, you can try doing slow descents from a push-up or handstand. It’s technically pulling as far as I understand.

I’M SCALING THIS WELL IF: despite going slow and feeling like this workout is taking forever, I’m breathing heavy because I’m never really stopping.

I’M SCALING THIS POORLY IF: I have time to check MGoBlog in between rope climbs to see how many more coaches we’re going to lose to Ohio State.

GENERAL FEAR LEVEL (1=REST DAY, 10=PR-DRIVEN FGB): 4. Sit-ups kill me as it is. Doing them slow is worse. And have you ever done those workouts with GHD sit-ups and rope climbs? You would have never guessed you used so much abs on the ropes.  I’ll take these any day over sprint workouts though.

GENERAL EMASCULATING LEVEL (1=WHO DOES RING HSPU ANYWAY?, 10=THIS TEENAGE GIRL IS DEADLIFTING MORE THAN ME): 5. This is a weird one and legless rope climbs (especially more than one) are really tough to do inside of a workout. Also sit-ups suck!

Does anyone have suggestions on what to sub if we don’t have a rope and can’t do towel pull ups to get the same stimulus for the legless rope climb? Thank you.

If anyone is curious about the water jugs shown in the photo please read the comment I left on "The Jug Deadlift" video today. 

The jugs we used in this video (and others) are widely available through Amazon and other places. We added food coloring for contrast because as it turned out...clear water in clear jugs did not show up very well on video.

Water jugs are inexpensive, sturdy, versatile, and scalable. The ones shown in today's deadlift video are 2.5 gallons each. A gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds. Simply add or remove water until an appropriate loading is reached. 

They are available in many sizes. We have found 1 gallon, 2.5 gallon, and 5 gallon sizes to be fantastic for use in the home. Enjoy. 

16:32 800m run/ No Rower