Exercise & Diet excuses!

What is the best(worst) diet or exercise excuse you’ve ever heard?

v  Shopping is my cardio

v  Exercise is done against one's wishes and maintained only because the alternative is worse.
-George A. Sheehan –

v  I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon.
-Ellen DeGeneres

v  Exercise... the poor person's plastic surgery

v  I was going to wake up early and go jogging, but my toes voted against me 10 to 1.
-Randy Glasbergen

v  Aerobics: a series of strenuous exercises which help convert fats, sugars, and starches into aches, pains, and cramps

v  I consider exercise vulgar. It makes people smell.
-Alec Yuill Thornton

v  I believe that the Good Lord gave us a finite number of heartbeats and I'm damned if I'm going to use up mine running up and down a street.
-Neil Armstrong

v  The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down their friends, side-stepping responsibility, and pushing their luck!
-Unknown

v  I have to exercise in the morning before my brain figures out what I'm doing.
-Marsha Doble -

v  But the doughnut was calling my name.

v  But it was my birthday, so I had to eat the whole cake.

v  I had to get the bitter taste out of my mouth from eating the so-called dish, so I had an ice cream.

v  If you eat something and no one sees you eat it, it has no calories.

v  If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, the calories in the candy bar are canceled out by the diet soda.

v  If you fatten up everyone else around you, then you look thinner.

v  Cookie pieces contain no fat -- the process of breaking causes fat leakage.

v  Things licked off knives and spoons have no calories if you are in the process of preparing something. Examples are peanut butter on a knife making a sandwich and ice cream on a spoon making a sundae.

v  Only eat things that have been broken into pieces; that way, all the calories fall out.

v  Chocolate is a vegetable. How, you ask? Chocolate is derived from cacao beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived from either sugar CANE or sugar BEETS. Both are plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Thus, chocolate is a vegetable.

v  Inside me there's a thin person struggling to get out,
but I can usually sedate her/him with four or five cupcakes.

Active Lifestyle #002

HEALTH Benefits of having pets...

10 Benefits of being a dog owner

1. GET SICK LESS!

If our cleaning commercials are to be believed, humanity is in the midst of a war against germs—and we won’t stop until every single one is dead. In reality, the amount of disinfecting we do is making us sicker; since our bodies are exposed to fewer germs we can’t build up immunities to them. Fortunately, dogs are covered in germs! Having a dog in the house means more bacteria enters the home and gets inside the occupants (one study found “dog-related biodiversity” is especially high on pillowcases.) In turn, people with dogs seem to get ill less frequently and less severely than people with cats or no pets.

2. RESISTANCE TO ALLERGIES!

While dogs can be one of the worst triggers for people with allergies, growing up in a house with a dog makes children less likely to develop allergies over the course of their lives. Even if you were just a fetus when your mother lived with a dog, you are still less likely to be bothered by animal hair and dander, or to develop eczema as an adult.

3. BE HAPPIER!

Dog owners are less likely to suffer from depression than non-pet owners. Even for those people who do become clinically depressed, having a pet to take care of can help them out of a depressive episode, in some cases more effectively even than medication. Since taking care of a dog requires a routine and forces you to stay at least a little active, it is harder to stay inside feeling down all the time. The interaction with and love received from a dog can also help people stay positive. Even the mere act of looking at your pet increases the amount of Oxytocin, the “feel good” chemical, in the brain.

4. BETTER HEART HEALTH!

Everything about owning a dog seems to lend itself to better heart health. Just the act of petting a dog lowers heart rate and blood pressure. A Chinese study found that people who own dogs get better sleep at night and are sick less often. Other studies show pet owners have slightly lower cholesterol and are more likely to survive a heart attack.

5. MORE EXERCISE!

While other pets have positive effects on your health as well, dogs have the added benefit of needing to be walked and played with numerous times a day. This means most dog owners get the recommended minimum 30 minutes of exercise a day, lowering their risk of cardiovascular disease and keeping them in better overall shape than cat owners or people without pets.

6. A MORE ACTIVE SOCIAL LIFE!

Polls show people trust others who have dogs more than just random people walking on the street and are more likely to go up and interact with them. Even if you live alone, having a dog has the same emotional benefit as that of a human friendship.

7. CANCER DETECTION!

Your dog could save your life one day. It seems that our canine friends have the ability to smell cancer in the human body. Stories abound of owners whose dogs kept sniffing or licking a mole or lump on their body so they got it checked out, discovering it was cancerous. The anecdotal evidence was later backed up by scientific studies. Dogs are so good at this that some of them are trained to detect cancer, in as little as three hours.

8. A REFLECTION OF YOUR PERSONALITY!

The kind of dog you have tells people a lot about your personality. A study in England found a very clear correlation between people’s personalities and what type of dogs they owned; for example, people who owned toy dogs tended to be more intelligent, while owners of utility dogs like Dalmatians and bulldogs were the most conscientious. Other studies have found that dog owners in general are more outgoing and friendly than cat owners. But be careful: Dogs also take on their owners' personality traits, so if you fly off the handle all the time, it might explain why your dog is so aggressive.

9. LOWER STRESS AT WORK!

The benefits of bringing a dog to work are so increasingly obvious that more companies are catching on. Studies show that people who interact with a pet while working have lower stress levels throughout the day, while people who do not bring a pet see their stress levels increase over time. Dogs in the office also lead to people taking more breaks, to play with or walk the dog, which makes them more energized when they return to work. This, in turn, has been shown to lead to much greater job satisfaction and productivity.

10. STUFF LIKE THIS!

Love/Hate relationship with CrossFit

Top 12 reasons why this 47-year-old HATES Crossfit

Article from:

http://www.awritesmart.com/the-top-12-reasons-why-this-47-year-old-hates-crossfit/

Posted by Mark Johnson on Aug 27, 2013 in Health and fitness, Lists 

This isn’t me, but it’s pretty accurate. I’m often like this BEFORE the WOD. (Photo by NorCo Crossfit)

After nearly three years in, I have a love/hate relationship with Crossfit.

It’s mostly hate.

The majority of my 47 years were blissfully Crossfit-free, and I lived out my days happy and free of the dread associated with upcoming workouts and the soreness associated with past workouts.  It was all good.  (Except for the whole fat, weak, undisciplined, out-of-shape, crappy-quality-of-life part of it.)

And then, my do-gooder wife shamed me into it because she wanted to “lose weight” and “look and feel better.”  Kicking and screaming, I went, lost 50 pounds, and had to listen to an incessant stream of I-told-you-sos.  She’s now one of those annoying people who gushes on and on about how much she loves Crossfit and couldn’t live without it.

I’m not one of those people.  What I love about Crossfit can be summed up quickly:  I love it the second the WOD (workout of the day) is over.  Everything up ’till then sucks.

With all that said, here’s the top 12 reasons — specifically and in no particular order — why this 47-year-old absolutely hates Crossfit.

I’m not one of those people.  What I love about Crossfit can be summed up quickly:  I love it the second the WOD (workout of the day) is over.  Everything up ’till then sucks.

With all that said, here’s the top 12 reasons — specifically and in no particular order — why this 47-year-old absolutely hates Crossfit.

1. The trainers tick me off.  I’ve had several of them and they’re all the same.  First of all, they’re all built like Greek gods and goddesses.  B, they always act like they “care” about me and are all concerned with my welfare, though I suspect it’s all an elaborate put-on, like the moon walk.  Third, they never seem to buy any of my perfectly good excu- reasons why I can’t do something or complete a WOD.  The fact that I could be my current trainer’s dad hasn’t earned me one modicum of respect or sympathy.  What’s with these people?
2. The Posting of the WOD.  Every morning, my trainer posts the WOD on Facebook, and for some stupid reason, I read it.  This is at around 6:30 a.m.  I work out at 5:30 p.m.  Using my fingers to do the math, that gives me 11 hours to dread the WOD.  I can do it driving, while playing Candy Crush on my phone, working, sitting on the pot, giving a work presentation, just anywhere.  I’ve become quite proficient at dreading the WOD and trying to figure out ways not to go to the box.
3. My conscience.  There are WODs where I really, truly believe that if I try to do one more pull-up, my arms will actually fall off.  Or that my bleached skeleton will be discovered under the bridge at the 400-meter mark because I decided the run back to the box (what we call a Crossfit gym) was too much trouble and it was easier and more comfortable to go ahead and die there.  It would be quite simple to just cheat and not complete all my reps or rounds, but for some reason, I rarely do.  Don’t get me wrong — I might accidentally cheat a rep or two here or there — but I seem incapable of really letting myself off the hook.  It may be that I’m afraid the Crossfit gods will catch me, send me to Hell, and program an eternity of “hero” WODs.  And I ain’t going there, buddy.
4. Young people.  OK, I know that many people will say that at 47, I’m still a young man.  But those people are, like, 92.  My box is full of people who are actually young — 20s and early 30s and such.  I marvel at them.  I was watching one young guy, Phil, doing burpees the other day with the strength of an Olympian and the finesse of a dancer.  Ten or 20 at a time without slowing, bouncing off the floor and into the air with an arrogant defiance of gravity.  By comparison, I’m like a six-foot-five-inch sack of dog food repeatedly crashing to the ground and struggling to re-animate itself back into an awkward standing position, topped off with a pitiful hop that wouldn’t clear an earthworm.  Young people suck.  I hate them.
5. Thrusters.  Who the hell came up with this exercise, anyway??  Hitler?  Thrusters involve doing a front squat — often with heavy weight — and then elevating into a push press at the completion of the squat.  Rinse and repeat.  Frankly, it’s rude and uncalled for.  Aren’t we already in here working our asses off when we could be home on the couch like normal people?  Must you squash our very spirit, too??  If the punishment for crime was five years of 135-pound thrusters, I guarantee you, prisons would be unnecessary.  There would be no crime.
6. The music.  So, we’ve established that there are young people in the box, right?  Much to my displeasure, it seems that young people don’t want to work out to James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg, or ELO.  Quite the contrary.  Hip hop music seems to be the sonic driver of fitness these days, and it’s actually educational.  Yesterday, I learned some new words while doing hand-release pushups.  Unfortunately, I can’t use these words unless I’m attending, perhaps, a drive-by shooting or a drunken frat party.  (They might be a little harsh for the frat party, now that I think about it.)
7. “Rounds-for-time” WODs.  As much as I try to convince myself that I don’t have much of an ego, I have to admit that I really do hate always being last.  RFT WODs, if you don’t know, are a collection of movements and reps that are repeated over a set number of rounds, usually five, until completed.  All participants start at the same time and finish, well, whenever they finish.  By contrast, AMRAPs — as many rounds as possible — are completed within a specified time range, usually 15 or 20 minutes.  Everybody starts AND finishes at the same time, recording their total rounds at the end on the whiteboard.  I love AMRAPs.  I love them because I’m not left there trying to complete my workout in desperation while others have long since finished, stretched out, showered, dressed, gone home, gotten married, had kids, grown old, and died.
8. Partner-carries.  It is what it sounds like.  As part of the WOD, you have to literally carry your partner some specified distance — perhaps 200 meters.  I’ve done this once.  My partner was my trainer, Nick, who is 28 years old, 240 pounds, and built like Tarzan.  I’m 235 pounds, NOT 28, and NOT built like Tarzan. We had to do a bunch of other crap before carrying each other 200 meters apiece, as if that wasn’t insanity enough.  I’m not sure which was worse — being the carrier or the carry-ee.  Slung over Nick’s back like a bag of garden mulch, his shoulder jammed into my already-upset stomach, I was being rattled to pieces, upside down, out of breath, trying desperately to hang on and not puke all over me and him both.  At one pitiful point, Nick scooped me up in his arms like a gasping, gangling, bald-headed, white-bearded, Benjamin Button baby and ran down the busy street, cars passing with aghast faces peering out in shock and people deciding whether or not to call 911.  It was one of my crowning moments, let me assure you.
9. The smells of the run.  Most Crossfit boxes are in retail strip malls or in industrial areas.  This makes running very interesting.  My favorite parts are the smells I encounter along the way.  On a 400-meter run, those of us at Crossfit Barefoot run a gauntlet of fragrances that waft from a Chinese restaurant, a Pep Boys auto shop, an exhaust-laden street, a pee-smelling highway overpass, and numerous dumpsters, cigarette depositories, and trashcans.  I feel like Katniss in “The Hunger Games,” dashing to reach her bow in the cornucopia and not get slaughtered in the process, except my opponents are disgusting odors.  Combined, these odors usually win.  (By the way, you may enjoy this blog I wrote about attempting my first trail run.  You decide:  Daniel-Day Lewis or Jerry Lewis?  Click here.)
10. Handstand pushups.  When executing a handstand pushup, you literally stand on your hands with your feet overhead resting again the wall.  Then, you lower your head to the mat and back up again, like a pushup.  That is, if you can do them.  You first must be able to “get on the wall.”  This is my problem — getting on the wall.  Call me an elitist, but I prefer to walk on my feet.  I’ve been doing it all my life and I’m good at it.  I’m not a gymnast and one look at me will confirm this to everyone except, perhaps, Stevie Wonder.  Me trying to get on the wall resembles a gawky 4th-grade girl attempting cartwheels in a city park, the difference being that gawky 4th-grade girls can actually DO cartwheels.  I have yet to complete a single handstand pushup, but I’ve certainly mastered the art of the failed attempt.  Nailed it!
11. Encouragement.  This, I know, sounds non-intuitive, but I really hate receiving encouragement.  You see, when I’m the one offering the encouragement, it’s usually because I’m impressed with the person and their performance.  “Hey, way to go, Alex!  Great job!” or “Good job, Andrea!  You’re killing it!”   But when others encourage me, I suspect it’s because they are sad for me or they are truly afraid that I might die and they want me to go out on a positive note.  “Good job, Mark!  We’ll be sure to send your belongings home to your family members!  Great work!”  Encouragement sucks.
12. Positive change.  OK, I said these weren’t in order, but I actually saved this one for last because it’s the worst.  I’m here to tell you, if you’re considering taking up Crossfit, for God’s sake, DON’T!  It’s an insidious trap, because much to your eternal horror, positive changes will enter your life despite your best efforts.  You’ll lose weight, get stronger, start looking like Tarzan (guys), and literally feelbetter, which will piss you off.  If you’re like many people — my wife, for example — you’ll even enjoy the process itself and cherish the camaraderie and new friendships.  And what will this mean??  Yep.  You guessed it.  You’ll have to keep doing it.  More trainers, posted WODs, guilty consciences, disgusting young people, thrusters, hip hop, rounds-for-time, humiliating partner-carries, odor runs, thinly-veiled encouragement, and positive change.  It’s a vicious circle.  Run!  Run while you still can!

Oh, and your do-gooder wife will keep telling you she told you so.

(I hate Crossfit…)

* * *

NOTE: This particular blog has resulted in hundreds of thousands (you read that right) of page views and an upcoming story in the September issue of “Men’s Fitness” magazine.  Watch for it.  Also, read my follow-up blog, “Crossfit and aging: The value is in the TRYING.”

P.S.  Hey, fellow Crossfitters:  If you enjoyed this story, consider subscribing to my blog (above right).  I’ve got a lot more Crossfit-related blogs on the sidelines, doing Sampson stretches, hip circles, and those God-forsaken Inchworms.  They’re about warm and ready to go.

Also see: “Top 9 Reasons why I should be the ‘Face of Crossfit’ instead of Rich Froning,” “The Top 11 Things a Crossfit Virgin Should Know,” “Top 10 Lame-Ass Reasons Not to Exercise”, “Top 11 Things a Warrior Dash Virgin Should Know,” and “I Know You’re Trying to Be Nice. Don’t.”

That’s me — black shirt, bald head on the right — contemplating ways to get out of the upcoming WOD during the warmup. Don’t I look happy? (Photo by Vanessa Hampton)

LADIES

To all the ladies…

Getting into training clothes and pitching up at the gym (or in our case 'box') goes much further than just coming to do a WOD.

As women, we face certain struggles, insecurities and fears. These elements are different in gender. (mostly at least).

“CrossFit girls are strong… yes… But what about ‘me’ as a beginner… I’m certainly not ‘strong’ yet…  How do I show my face (and body) at a place where there is this high expectation and stigma to be extraordinary?”

Let’s be honest, maybe not in these exact words, but you have had this thought in some form or another run through your mind before.

HEY! LISTEN!

YOU,  you that picked up the phone to inquire about an introduction class...

YOU, you having the courage to show up at a CrossFit session regardless of these thoughts...

YOU, coming back time after time

YOU are EXTRAORDINARY! YOU are STRONG even if you cannot 'squat your body weight' yet! (or whatever __________ )

• You don't give in when you 'feel' fear. (Everyone feels fear, what you do with that fear is what counts)
• You don't crumble at rejection or criticism 
• You are strong enough to admit when you need help
• You don't compare yourself to others even if the temptation to do so comes
• You don't measure yourself by the opinions of others
• You don't hold back and you don't lose passion

Again; THE above, LADIES, makes you STRONG!

If you read this post all the way to the end, this article from CrossFit on the Plains, is definitely worth reading!

Know who you are... Then create it so the world can see!

Thank you for reading.

Janine Penniall

CrossFit Gym Vs Gym Membership

“Why should I choose a Crossfit Box rather then just buy a gym membership?” is a question we get asked quite frequently. What is so special about this Crossfit thing that thousands of people are swapping out they're gym memberships for Crossfit? 

Well, Crossfit is so much more than just another gym membership, it´s a community of people dedicated to becoming a better version of themselves. It is a place where you come to add new skills to your life. Every time you come to the “Box” you are challenging yourself, breaking barriers you thought could not be broken, overcoming obstacles you thought too high. Getting stronger, faster, and more confident. Most of all, becoming a better version of you. Crossfit is a place to find the person you did not know was in you. 

  Crossfit offers you expert coaching staff ready to help you reach your goal safely and effectively. It is not just for the Elite athlete, or that person whose body is in great shape. It´s a place for anyone wanting to improve their fitness. It is infinitely scalable which means that anyone can start, at any fitness level, at any time. 

We refer to our clients as athletes because they are. There is no need to compete on a national level to get that title. Anyone putting in the work is an athlete. I have coached hundreds of athletes from 9 years old to 65 years old in Crossfit and they all have the same reason for joining. To try something new, get fitter and have fun on the way. 

What ever your fitness goal, you can reach it through Crossfit. 

Too many people get stuck in a rut and go to a gym because they think that they have to. Run on the treadmill, lift a few barbells and doing mostly the same routine each visit with small variations. Most of the time they might not know what they are doing. They don´t stick to going to the gym because they get bored with the lack of discipline and motivation. A lot of gyms thrive on these members. They invest in a one year membership and then only use the first month or two. The rest of the year spent paying a contract they never use. Perhaps you recognise yourself? This means the gyms can have more members then they could ever physically cram in there. That is why many of those gyms will never encourage you to come into the gym, or motivate you once there. They already have your money. 

 But how is a Crossfit Box any different? It is the personal touch. When you go to a Crossfit class you will always be greeted by your coach. You have 1-to-1 interaction with the person responsible for the class. Any questions you have regarding nutrition, stretching or just the workout itself, they are there for you. They will motivate you and push you to make you better. It is their job to make sure you are doing the workout correctly, watch and advise where needed. They will encourage  you when you think you want to give up, and make sure that when the class ends, you have every desire to come back and improve yourself. 

  Crossfit is a community. The people that you train with have all been through the same things you go through, your coach and the person next to you doing the work. They will all be there to support you on your journey.

For more information on
"What is CrossFit?"

(Click here)

ARTICLE REFERENCES:http://www.coachdadi.com/#!Crossfit-vs-Gym-membership/clfr/554fbafc0cf23d016486bf47

30th May - Beauty and Best - Well Done Jeanri and Jurian!

Jurian and Jeanri took part at CrossFit Hartbeespoort's Beauty and Beast last week Saturday. By looks of the picture they had lots of fun and it was a worth wild experience!

 

Well done guys!
Making us proud representing us at Greenlyn!

Wednesday was Deadlift 1RM Max out. Well Done Everyone!

Yesterday was 1RM Deadlift day. The Top 10 Deadlift Chart has been updated!

Many were unsure if they would be able to beat their old personal records. But surprised themselves and

the coaches. Congrats everyone and well done, hard work pays off!

A special shout out to Charne for 130kg Deadlift topping the ladies, and Mathew for achieving a 200kg 

deadlift with a body weight weight of 64.7kg!

Top 10 Men Standings are now at:

1. Donovan Michael Clifford 240kg

2 Rikus Smit 210kg

3. Henrico van Niekerk 201kg

4. Mathews Mathebe 200kg

5. Nicholas Korkou 186kg

6. Pieter Viljoen 180kg

7. Jan Louis Grobbelaar 175kg

7. Pieter Erasmus 175kg

8. Jp Liebenberg 170kg

Top 10 Ladies Standings are now at:

1. Charne Bothma 130kg

2. Yvonne Burger 125kg

2. Lara Heilgendorff 125kg

3. Lena Pruett 111kg

4. Karin Visser 105kg

5. Danielle Campbell 105kg

6. Niki Groenewald 93kg

7. Tanja Fourie 90kg

8. Sanlie Van Der Walt 85kg