WOD Blog

5/20 Foodie Friday

5/19/2022

Pull-ups are on the menu today. What style will you do?

Wednesday I blogged about using my Whoop data to help me prioritize good recovery practices. Recovery is based on a set of specific practices that enable us to repair from yesterday's workout and prepare our body for tomorrow's.
Do you know what helps you recover? GOOD FOOD! It's #foodiefriday and here's a fantastic and EASY one pan recipe for hummus crusted chicken and veggies from Working Against Gravity.
We all know that calories are king and we need to prioritize protein. Did you know that women who are menopausal and post-menopausal need MORE protein because our hormones are no longer as active in muscle synthesis? Yep, it's true. The guidelines from the Whoop Women's Performance Collective is 2 g for every 1 kg of body weight. To calculate this divide your body weight (in pounds) by 2.2. Whatever that number is, 77kg for me, multiply by 2 and that's the DAILY protein goal. Mine is 155. what's yours? Share with us in the comments.

Click on the image above the recipe for hummus encrusted chicken and veggies from Working Against Gravity.

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5/19 Homegrown Paleo Thursday

5/18/2022

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Before I opened True Spirit CrossFit, I worked as an Outreach Scientist with the US Geological Survey and as an Extension Agent for the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. For the past 8 years I have been slowly integrating my love of ecology, horticulture, gardening, and local agriculture into True Spirit's message of community, fitness and my own ethic of sustainability.
I have always had a garden. If you've been to my house you'll notice that my front and backyards are planted with edibles and pollinator friendly plants.
Gardening is my way of providing for my family, being connected to my micro-ecosystem, and being independent from the industrial food system.
You don't have to have a giant garden to gain a little independence. A few herbs and cherry tomatoes in a pot on your patio can go a long way to making you feel like a homesteader.
Over the next few weeks I'm going to share a series of articles I wrote many moons ago (for the Nevada Cooperative Extension) to help you set up a garden and get growing. I'm calling this series, Homegrown Paleo and I hope you enjoy this journey!

Homegrown Paleo
Healthy Soil is Worth the Toil

The first time newcomers try to drive a shovel into the ground here, they often notice something different. This soil isn’t like soil in many other places. Our soils work perfectly for our beautiful native plant communities, but when you try to grow something that isn’t from around here, it’s another story.
Not only do we have soils with very little organic matter and a wide range of drainage issues, we also often contend with soils that have been compacted to 95 percent. Construction codes demand that the soil our homes are built upon be compacted to minimize settling and shifting. While this requirement works well for keeping our homes grounded, it is terrible for growing plants. Furthermore, most of the soil around your home may be from somewhere else. It is not uncommon to scrape off native topsoil during home construction, and replace it with fill-dirt of unknown quality and origin. We are asking a lot of our plants when we try expect them to grow and thrive with so much stacked against them.
So, how do we cure these ills and garden successfully in southwestern Montana? The only way to effectively improve your soil is to add organic matter. To illustrate this point, think of a time when you hiked through a heavily wooded area, such as a douglas fir forest. Now, think of hiking through sagebrush country. Do you recall stepping on pine needles and spongy soil in the forest? Forests have huge amounts of organic matter, such as leaves, needles, etc., being added to the soil and decomposing regularly. Sagebrush country, on the other hand, doesn’t get much in the way of leaves, needles or other organic matter falling on the ground. As a result, we typically try to plant on hard ground that contains very little organic matter.
Organic matter positively affects soil fertility, water holding capacity and drainage. You can work it into the soil or simply spread it on top of the soil. Working organic matter into the soil is called amending the soil. If you are planting right away, it is best to work the organic matter into the soil, rather than wait for it to work its way into the soil. Placing organic matter on top of the soil is called mulching.
Compost is an excellent source of organic matter. If you make compost at home, it is also very inexpensive. You can even add organic matter to your soil by spreading shredded leaves and grass clippings on it. It might take a little time before it starts to decompose and work its way down to rooting depth, but once the decomposition starts, you will begin to see a big difference in your soil. You can also use horse, cow or chicken manure as an organic matter supplement. Just be sure the manure is aged or composted so that you don’t get a weed problem from viable weed seeds in the manure.
Don’t despair this spring as you head into the garden. Turn over a new leaf by paying attention to what’s underfoot.
RESOURCES FOR LOCAL COMPOST:
https://www.happytrashcan.net/
https://www.yescompost.com/products
This is a reprint of an article I wrote when I was the commercial horticulture program coordinator for the western area of University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. For more specific gardening and horticulture advice be sure to visit your local Cooperative Extension office.

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5/18 Whoop Wednesday

5/17/2022

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Ladies, your menstrual cycle is a SUPER POWER! Listen to today's Whoop podcast to learn how to harness your POWER to maximize your training and improve your recovery.

Our True Spirit Whoop Group is growing! We now have 8 women in our Whoop group and I have seen other folks in the gym with Whoop straps. I started wearing a Whoop strap in July 2020 and have blogged several times about my experience. I'm super excited that more of you are interested in optimizing your health and performance with me. You can join our True Spirit Whoop Group with the invite code: COMM-AD6416
The Whoop strap is a wearable performance monitor that measures your strain (workout intensity), recovery and sleep. Sleep is BY FAR the MOST important RECOVERY tool we have. Sleep is when our muscles recovery from our workouts. It's the time when we release important hormones for recovery, muscle growth and immunity.
I am BEYOND excited to share with you a podcast from the Whoop Women's Performance Collective. Whoop is leading the charge on performance research for women. They recently launched a menstrual coaching feature that will help you learn how to harness the power of your hormones to improve your training and SLEEP! Listen to the podcast to learn how you can harness the power of your menstrual cycle to increase strength, manage stress and improve recovery.

If you are interested in joining me on a Whoop journey, use my link to get your first month free. If you're already a Whoop user, join our True Spirit Whoop Group with the team code: COMM-AD6416.

Click Here for The WOD

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5/17 Transformation Tuesday

5/16/2022

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Snatches and overhead squats are on the menu today. These 2 movements develop power, speed, flexibility, balance, coordination and accuracy. You don't need to lift heavy to get the benefits of training these 2 lifts.

by Coach Leslie
If I had a dollar every time someone said to me they need to do more "cardio" to loose weigh or get into shape I could sell the gym and retire. Ask anyone who's never done CrossFit what you should do to get into shape and they'll tell you to start running. The long slow run has a tight grip on the misbelief that it is the best way to lose weight and get into shape.
Don't get me wrong, a long slow run has its place in a well round and varied fitness program. We regularly program 5 and 10k runs for the gym (Sweet Pea, Huffing for Stuffing, Run to the Pub.) It's also great for mental health. A long slow run can help you get into a mental state where you can either solve all of your problem, or completely forget about them.
However, the long slow run will not, exclusively, make you lose weight or get into shape. What helps you do both of those things? You guessed it, high intensity interval training AKA CrossFit
CrossFit is a general physical preparedness program with an aim to improve physical competence across 10 general physical skills. CrossFit methodology trains each skill so that all are improved; CrossFit does not specialize.
CrossFit has been the foundation of thousands of #transformationtuesday stories and understanding how and why it works can help you be more successful in writing your own transformation story. Enjoy this very good discussion about the CrossFit methodology and why it works so well.