An article recently published in Time with a headline undoubtedly intended to stir controversy has been making the rounds on social media. “Never forget the most essential ingredient to achieving the ideal body, beyond genetics, is wealth,” Engeln says. “Wealth buys you access to healthy foods, the time and resources to make working out an unpaid part-time job.” “The muscular arm, then, is not just a marker of strength. It is a marker of privilege. And in that way, even as it signals power, it reinscribes control—defining women’s bodies by standards that only the few can ever meet.” This is complete BS. Unfortunately articles like this discourage people from seeking healthier lifestyles because they promote the notion of health being unobtainable. Being healthy and achieving “muscular arms” (an insignificant byproduct of a healthy body) is achievable by anyone. Not everyone however will want to put forth the hard work or...Read more

There are a few key components of CrossFit that set it apart from other exercise programs. First off, the exercise aspect of CrossFit isn’t even the main focus. It’s nutrition. Unless you’re sticking to the CrossFit nutrition prescription consistently you’re not really doing CrossFit. What exactly is the nutrition prescription you ask? Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and NO SUGAR. Yes, it’s that simple. It’s also tremendously effective when you stick to it. Once you’ve got that squared away and are making a conscious effort at eating whole food and eliminating sugar and refined carbohydrates we can talk about exercise. And what exactly is the exercise prescription? That one is not so simple. But, the good news is we take care of that for you at CrossFit Spur. All you need to do is show up to at least 3 classes per week and...Read more

My goal at the onset of the Off The Carbs / Off The Couch challenge was to explore ways of introducing nutrition to our members as a component of our regular programming. This is tricky because I don’t want to use up whiteboard time during class when we only have an hour to workout. However nutrition is paramount to ANY health or fitness program, so we can’t just skip it. Persistence – stick with it, even if you stray from the plan every now and thenAwareness – be aware of EVERYTHING you eat (and drink)Clarity – we know what works and we can help you navigate the sea of things that don’t I believe these three things are the key to success in nutrition at CrossFit Spur. We aren’t just going to let nutrition fall by the wayside, taking a backseat to exercise. It will be brought up in class...Read more

When asked, people often have a difficult time explaining what exactly The Open is. On its face it’s a competition. The first stage of the CrossFit Games season. In reality those who use the open as a means to participate in the games only make up an extremely small portion of what The Open is all about. Each year approximately 0.26% of the participants in The Open will move on to the games. An average of 300,000 participants signed up each year, with only the top 40 men and 40 women earning a place at the games. So why would so many people sign up if they know their chances of making it are so slim? They don’t care, that’s why. The remaining 299,920 people sign up to have fun. To test their fitness much in the way they get their annual check up at the doctor. They do it...Read more

Notes and References From All OTC Classes So Far (updated after each class) Reactive Hypoglycemia – AKA: “Hangry” Consume something high in sugar or carbohydrates (high glycemic index) Blood sugar rises rapidly The body overcompensates by releasing excessive insulin to get the sugar out of the blood Sugar (glucose) is removed from the blood and put into cells – Extra glucose is stored as FAT Blood sugar rapidly decreases to a level below normal resting glucose This causes hunger and the craving of more carbs If this cycle is repeated on a regular basis the body eventually becomes resistant to insulin, resulting in type 2 diabetes Pink = meal high in sugar or refined carbohydrates (hyperglycemia) Dark Purple = meal consisting of whole foods: meat, vegetables, dairy, nuts, seeds, some fruit / starchLight Purple = hangry – feelings of hunger, frustration, irritability, etc (hypoglycemia) “The 5 Buckets of Death” In...Read more