Dear ITF Athlete,

From the little town called Homewood, two women joined a little fitness community called Iron Tribe Fitness.

They are very much alike, these two Iron Tribe women athletes.

Recently, both these women decided to enter our annual Paleo Revolution Challenge.

Each of these women enjoy the same training advantages, the same nutritional instruction, and they workout the same number of days per week.

As far as anyone could tell, their prospects for losing weight and transforming their bodies were equally good.

But there is a difference.

One woman, seemed to discover an unfair secret to weight loss – and has lost 7 pounds already – while the other seems stumped as to why she hasn’t lost a single pound.

One has lost 7 pounds and is thrilled. The other is frustrated to the hilt.

What Made The Difference

Have you ever wondered, as I have, what makes this kind of difference in people’s lives?

It isn’t always genetics or a thyroid problem.

It isn’t that one person wants success and the other doesn’t.

The difference lies in what each person knows and fully grasps … and how she makes use of that knowledge.

And that is why I’m writing to you about the heaviest thing you’ll ever carry in this world.

What is it?

REGRET

“Discipline weighs ounces … Regret weighs tons.” - Jim Rohn

Regret weights tons and is the heaviest thing you’ll every carry in this world.

I want to help you live “regret-free” during this Paleo Challenge.

And I think I can help.

How?

Well, you see,  the Paleo Revolution Challenge is a unique opportunity to really test your self-discipline.

To see what you are made of.

To test your ability to stay on course, to challenge yourself, and to reap the rewards of a diet that best fits your DNA.

Moreover, it is your opportunity to prove to yourself that you have the internal fortitude to make yourself a better person at any given time in your life.

It’s proof that you can change to become a better YOU!

At any given time in your life … on a dime … as your life needs it.

It’s proof that you are not addicted to being “stuck in your ways.”

It’s proof that you can give up something in your life … for something MUCH greater.

And that something is …

The Assurance Of Self-Discipline

The certainty that you are in charge of your life.

That you are not predestination to live a sub-par existence.

And the knowledge that YOU can change your body dramatically during the rest of the Paleo Challenge … even if you are not participating in it.

The Secret Revealed

What was the secret of one woman’s 7-pound weight loss, while the other hasn’t lost a single pound?

Stand brave, my friends, cause you are probably not going to like the answer …

The Total Elimination Of Alcohol!

It’s true.

When I received the email from this person announcing her weight loss, it was like a miracle to her.

She simply could not believe the rapid drop in pounds.

In the meantime, the other woman confessed to me that she had not given up on alcohol, and had not seriously considerd doing so because she couldn’t ever see herself giving it up.

But she’s frustrated because she’s not losing weight.

I fear that she will end the Paleo Challenge with regret, because she didn’t have the self-discipline to commit to proving to herself she can do anything she puts her mind to.

Listen to me: We ALL need to prove to ourselves that we can do anything we “think” we can.

You only “think” you can until …

YOU ACTUALLY DO!

Until then, it’s only an unproven theory.

Here’s what I’m going to leave you to think about:

Your Outward Behavior Is The Truth
Whereas Your Inner Perception
Of Your Behavior Is Often An Illusion.

About those two Iron Tribe women athletes: They both started the Paleo Challenge at the same time.

What made the difference in their weight loss?

The willingness to discover if alcohol really does hinder weight loss, and the determination to apply self-discipline long enough to find out.

An Investment In Yourself

I can’t promise you that you’ll lose 7-pounds from dropping alcohol from your diet during the Paleo Challenge.

But I can guarantee that you’ll not end this challenge with the regret of not trying.

Weight: 20kilos, 15 kilos, 15lbs
The sport of Weightlifting consists of your combined weight on two lifts: The Snatch and the Clean and Jerk.  The mandatory barbell weight requirement by International Weightlifting Federation rules are 20 kilograms for the men (44.0924 lbs) and 15 kilograms for women bars (33.0693 lbs). From the local state level all the way to the Olympic level, the weight that the athletes compete under are always measured in kilos.

The American sport of Powerlifting is much like Weightlifting but the movements you are judged on are the max combined loads of the Bench press, Deadlift and the Squat. Since the sport is becoming popular in the UK and other countries, it too now has evolved to a kilo measurement system for its weights and bars.

The three bars that we use are Iron Tribe reflect the same three weights mentioned above. For easy math, we do refer to each bar as weighing 45lbs, 35lbs, or 15lbs.

Each barbell has a smooth center in the middle portion of the bar to ensure that you will not scrape your shoulders and chest while catching the clean in the front rack position. The rare black bar at ITF Homewood is actually a Powerlifting bar. There is a 3″ patch of knurling directly centered on the bar that is quite helpful to stop the bar from sliding down your shoulders while doing a back squat. However, its quite painful hitting your collar bone in a clean. If you are stuck with this bar on a squat clean day, don’t say that I didn’t warn you! But, you’ll have to fight me over it on a back squat day as this knurling definitely comes handy especially to us low bar back squatters.

Knurling:
The knurling, the diamond shaped grip pattern, allows for a rougher surface to ensure the best grip when cleaning or snatching. A high quality Olympic Weight Lifting Barbell will have knurling pattern that cover almost all of the way to the sleeve portion of the bar, have well tuned sleeves and ball bearings that allows for a quicker spin of the bar thus minimizing your chances slightly of missing the lift, and have a C-Clamp design the very end of the sleeve that will prevent the sleeve from sliding back and forth down the barbell. Lower quality bars will have a bolt design on the very end that often will work its way loose after multiple drops.

Diameter (picture above):

In competition, the Olympic Weightlifting bars used are 28mm in diameter. The bars that we have at Iron Tribe are a hybrid barbell with a 28.5mm diameter. Its a hybrid in the sense that its a step in between the Powerlifting bars which can be 29-31 mm in diameter and the Olympic Lifting bars. The thicker diameter gives the added strength to the bar to withstand the heavier loads of Powerlifter that only Deadlifts, Squats and Bench Presses. Also, the steel used in the Powerlifting bars can be a lower grade steel due to its thicker diameter which gives its strength. The thicker grade steel also gives less feedback to the lifter offering less flex and ‘pop’ that you will see in an Olympic lifting bars and lifts. The women’s bars that we use are smaller in diameter at 25mm which is the regulation diameter for all competions. The short aluminum training bars still have the thicker 28.5mm diameter to match the mens bar.

Sleeve (pictured above):
The sleeve portion is the larger portion of the bar the actually holds the plate weights. The sleeve is actually made up of two parts that I call the collar and the barrel.  The barrel is the portion that slides into the plate while the collar is the larger diameter portion of the sleeve that acts as a stopper, opposite of the clamp. The heavier men’s bars have a longer barrel at 16.5″ while the women’s barrel length is 13″.  The training bar has the shortest barrel length at 9″. This is the best way that you can identify which bar you are grabbing.

Collar (picture above):
It use to be that the collar of the sleeves are a sure fire way to identify which bar was which. In the picture above, the Wright Equipment men’s bars has a much larger 1.75″ collar versus their women’s bars with a 0.75″ collar. But now that we have incorporated the newer bars made by Rogue Fitness, you unfortunately cannot simply go by this rule. All of the Rogue bars have the same collar size BUT have no fear….just refer back to the length of the sleeve as mentioned above.

Finish: Bare steel, Bright/Black Zinc, Aluminum
The bare steel finish is considered an “old school” bar that has the raw metal feel that some lifters love. Because there is no finish coating on the bare steel, these type bars will oxidize the fastest. However, many old school lifters still prefer the feel of the deep knurl pattern that bare steel can hold giving them that bite that they are comfortable with.

The men’s and women’s bars that we use at Iron Tribe are all Zinc plated. Its basically a bare steel bar that has sat in a zinc bath. This is the most common choice of coating for all bar manufactures in both price and functionality. The choice between the bright zinc and black zinc is simply an aesthetics one. Personally, I love what Rogue has done with their bars offering a black zinc centered bar with a bright zinc sleeve/collar/barrel.  The zinc bath provides  a coating that will help protect the bar from the elements, humidity and sweat for a lifetime.

To shave down on weight, the training bars are all aluminum. Aluminum is softer than steel since its a pure metal versus steel which is iron plus carbon material. Bottom line, its a very cool bar that is a great tool for someone training technique or someone scaling the weight for the days workout!

Length:
Finally you have the overall length of the barbell to refer to. The women’s bar is 6’8″ long while the men’s bar is 7’3″ in length. The aluminum training bar is the shortest of the three at 6′ even.

Hope that help Tribe! See you soon!

-Luan

I love the phrase, “do what works”. It’s a motto that I live by. I am always analyzing things. If something is falling apart, I always try to go back to the beginning and see where things went wrong. Then I try to fix the problem. If it seems like it can’t be fixed, I keep trying different solutions until one works. I’m almost compulsive about this.

Sometimes you just have to be willing to stick something out and fight to the end. Sometimes you have to be willing to just let go, or as the bible says to “be still”. That’s the hardest part for me. Knowing when to push through, and knowing when to be still.

Iron tribe has been such a real life metaphor for all of this for me. Getting fit is frustrating, difficult, exhausting, humbling, and patience testing for me. It’s also empowering, oddly fun, and effective. EFFECTIVE. I love that word. I love it when I realize the problem is getting solved. I love identifying road blocks and knocking them over.

But with Iron Tribe, as with life, there are moments when you think “I’m rocking and rolling here! I am getting stronger. This is working!” Then there are those moments when you go through some of the heavy lift days and you can’t improve a single PR, and you feel defeated.Hills and valleys. (Then there are those moments that you trip over your dog and break your hand and panic because you think you will lose all of the progress you’ve made on your pull ups and you HSPUs, and you want to SCREAM, but you really can’t get mad, because you did after all, name him “Tripper”, and when you think about it you realize it’s really all you fault!!!!”)- Sorry. Where was I???

What I have learned through all of this, is that sometimes we search and search and try to change course, and find some other solution, when what we are doing is actually working!

I’ve always been a “Pray to God, but row for the shore” type of girl. I think, for the most part, I like to work towards the solution. I think it calms my nerves.

Sometimes I think when God says “Be still”, He might mean, “Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Quit thinking about it. I’ve got this.” Or “Gates, I am working on the problem, and it would be just groovy if you would get out of my way with all of your big ideas and let me work!”….You know. Something like that…

(I love that I try to reduce God to something I can wrap my head around…It even makes me laugh at myself)….Anyway…What have we learned here? Nothin’.

I still haven’t figured out exactly when to fight and when to be still. But what I have figured out is that “being still” doesn’t mean to jump in your bed and pull the covers over your head until it all goes away. (If anyone is wondering, I’ve actually tried that. It does nothing.) But it might mean to be quiet. To calm down. To take a second and “shake it out”, and that can all be done while you are calmly putting one foot in front of the other. Steady as she goes.

Blessings,

Gates

Flexibility can sometimes be the one factor that either prevents you from that new PR or achieving it. Mobility is one area most crossfitters seem to put on the back burner when in reality it should be one of the top things on the list of things to improve. There are plenty examples of people who know strength is a weakness, coming to the strength class a few days a week. Also examples of someones running not being where they would like it to be, so they spend extra time during the week just going on a run. So how does mobility/flexibility always seen to fall by the waste side?

Lucky for us there is a guy who took them time to make mobility top of his list. His name is Kelly Starrett. He has his on mobility certification along with a very informative website with very helpful videos to help with weaknesses in mobility. (http://www.mobilitywod.com/). With 31 days left in the Transformation Challenge, take the 5 or 10 minutes at most after the WOD to work on your mobility. It could be the difference in a great improvement in that L-sit hold and Handstand hold or staying the same in both those areas.

We just found out we are expecting baby #3! We are very excited, and this is news not just because we already have a seven month old and a two year old at home.
Both of them were conceived only with infertility specialists.

I joined ITF Homewood back in September 2011. I was a “super healthy” vegan, and a chronic-cardio girl (12 miles/day, six days a week, plus biking). I made a very gradual transition to Paleo (add meat, cut those carbs, embrace the good fats!).

I learned to take it easy on the hours of exercise, and kill myself in 45 minute increments instead. I feel better, and have more energy to chase around my kids. I learned to lift heavy. I started looking more lean. I actually looked better in a bathing suit. My waist was smaller, my butt looked better!

Adding fat, I lost weight! *

…. And we got pregnant in December!

So watch out! You never know what surprise blessings may come your way when you get healthy!

——
*my new secret for quick snacks is not almonds….coconut flakes! You can get a bag for $3.99 in the baking section at whole foods. I keep them in a bag in my car.

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Mendy Walden made a FABULOUS paleo dinner just this week. Here is the recipe for Asparagus-Stuffed Chicken (from Everyday Paleo):

Need:
16 asparagus stalks
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, butterflied
4 tablespoons grass fed organic butter (or extra-virgin olive oil)
½ lb bacon
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

^^See…not a ton of ingredients…you probably already have these now!

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Blanch asparagus for 1 minute in boiling water, remove, set aside
2. Open up the butterflied chicken breast and place in each breast 1 tablespoon of butter (or EVOO), 4 asparagus stalks, and some of the bacon (split bacon between the 4 chicken).
3. Pull the two sides of the chicken together to enclose your stuffing and secure with a toothpick.
4. Sprinkle the outside of the chicken with sea salt and pepper- Place the breasts in a glass baking dish lightly greased with EVOO.
5. Bake for 20 minute or until chicken is full cooked.

The rest of the meal is…
-asparagus sautéed up with some olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper.
-carrots, seamed for 7-8 minutes with a little salt and pepper, then added about 1 tablespoon of organic butter and garnished with fresh parsley.

I spent Sunday evening throwing paleo ingredients into a pot and coming up with a now FAVORITE soup. It was inspired by a gumbo I had recently that I needed to turn paleo. I am not 100% on measurements but I’ll try to remember. You can also give it your own twist too maybe with different seasonings and some seafood!

Paleo Chicken and Sausage Gumbo:
Need:
1 chicken (cooked and pulled)
6 sausage links COOKED- I used some with a spicy KICK (whole foods has a great selection- look for whole paleo ingredients)
½-1 white onion (chopped)
½-1 Green bell pepper (chopped)
4 celery stalks (chopped)
3-4 Handfulls of Okra (chopped)
2 cans of green chilies (YUM!)
Chicken broth- Pacific Foods (publix, whole foods) or any other REAL chicken broth
Things I threw in:
Salt, pepper, garlic, red pepper, chili powder

So I pretty much just threw everything in a pot and seasoned to taste. It was garnished with Cauliflower Rice seasoned with cumin.

Cauliflower Rice:-Put cauliflower in food processor till it becomes a rice consistency
-In pan with Extra Virgin Olive Oil (and cumin- my fav!) cook for a/b 10 minutes over low-med heat

So…What are YOU cooking this week?

Jessica

We have already featured Mark and Spencer working out at the pyramids in Sudan as well as David and Heather Platt working out on top of the great wall of China. Here is Spencer coming up with a creative wod in Nepal on a very recent trip to the Himalayan mountains there to check on some Neverthirst water projects!

New Tribe Kids workout?

Are you planning on traveling the world this year?  Share with us your travel wod’s in all areas of the world!