SPARTAN PERFORMANCE                        CROSSFIT SUFFOLK

Seven rounds for time of:
10 Wallball shots, 20 pound ball
10 Pull-ups

Well, the day is upon us.  We have, not one, but two potential events starting today.  We say potential because you have to volunteer.  One is the 30 Day Paleo Challenge which has started today and the other is the 2011 CrossFit Games Open.  Tonight at 8pm the first of the competition workouts will be released.  Last year we had several athletes compete in the Sectionals.  Every participant, regardless of the results, had a great time and found the experience rewarding.  We have several athletes that have started the Paleo Challenge before today's official start date.  Every one of them has reported positive results with performance and body composition.  For those of you about to start the Paleo Challenge or compete in the Games we wish you Good Luck.

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Last week we mentioned items to facilitate your healthy cooking convenience.  One company was The Pampered Chef.  While we mentioned our friend Erica we failed to mention the fact that Erica can be contacted directly if you need further information on The Pampered Chef products.  Contact Erica.

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The Perfect Bodyfat Percentage   "It's easier said than done, but reducing stress in your life can help immensely in your quest for muscle. High stress increases cortisol, which limits muscle gain and promotes fat gain. So get plenty of sleep and don't sweat the small stuff."—Shelby Starnes for TNation.com

The above article was written primarily for those in physique sports and not for athletic performance, but the information is interesting.  We also observe that optimizing your body composition will enhance athletic performance when combined with proper training.–George–

Worry. Be Healthy  "We came to a new understanding about happiness and health," said Martin, now a psychology professor at La Sierra University in Riverside. "One of the findings that really astounds people, including us, is that the Longevity Project participants who were the most cheerful and had the best sense of humor as kids lived shorter lives, on average, than those who were less cheerful and joking. It was the most prudent and persistent individuals who stayed healthiest and lived the longest."

Part of the explanation lies in health behaviors — the cheerful, happy-go-lucky kids tended to take more risks with their health across the years, Friedman noted. While an optimistic approach can be helpful in a crisis, "we found that as a general life-orientation, too much of a sense that 'everything will be just fine' can be dangerous because it can lead one to be careless about things that are important to health and long life. Prudence and persistence, however, led to a lot of important benefits for many years. It turns out that happiness is not a root cause of good health. Instead, happiness and health go together because they have common roots."—That Paleo Guy