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PLANNING YOUR TRAINING16-17 YEAR OLD LIFTING

TRUE PALEO LIVING2009 RETROSPECTIVE

JOURNAL OF HEALTH & ATHLETIC EXCELLENCEPERFORMANCE MENU

4 Planning Your Training: Part 3Matt ForemanThe final installment of the series on creating a training program

8 16-17 Year-Old Weightlifting ProgramRyan KyleThe next stage in training from the coach of Sandusky Weightlift-ing

11 True PaleoCliff HodgesA look at Paleo living beyond eating

14 2009: A Year in ReviewGreg EverettA quick look back at 2009

16 Cooking with ScottyScotty HagnasRecipes for health, performance and longevity from certified culinary stud Scotty Hagnas

PERFORMANCE MENUJOURNAL OF NUTRITION & ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE

Volume 6 . Issue 60 . January 2010

The Performance Menu is published monthly in digital

format by Catalyst Athletics, LLC.

On the CoverAImee Anaya

Layout & DesignGreg Everett

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All content copyright Catalyst Athletics, LLC and its respective authors. Unau-thorized reproduction or distribution is

prohibited by law.

Info Contributors

Greg Everett is the owner of Catalyst Athletics, publisher of The Performance Menu and author of Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches.

Matt Foreman is the football and track & field coach at Mountain View High School in Phoenix, AZ. A competitive weightliter for twenty years, Foreman is a four-time National Championship bronze medalist, two-time American Open silver medalist, three-time American Open bronze medalist, two-time National Collegiate Champion, 2004 US Olympic Trials competitor, 2000 World University Championship Team USA competitor, and Arizona and Washington state record-holder. He was also First Team All-Region high school football player, lettered in high school wrestling and track, a high school national powerlifting champion, and a Scottish Highland Games competitor. Foreman has coached multiple regional, state, and national champions in track & field, powerlifting, and weightlifting, and was an assistant coach on 5A Arizona state runner-up football and track teams.

Scott Hagnas is owner of CrossFit Portland. He is certified as a CrossFit level 2 trainer and Circular Strength Training (clubbell) instructor. He has been riding BMX flatland for 26 years and counting and has filmed/produced/edited several series of BMX videos, plus several training videos. He formerly competed in bicycle trials, placing second in amateur in the World Championships in 1990. Cooking is one of his favorite pastimes.

Cliff Hodges is the co-owner of CrossFit West Santa Cruz as well as the founder and of owner of Adventure Out, an outdoor school and guide service in Northern California. Cliff teaches classes in survival skills and primitive technology to hundreds of students every year throughout the state. In 2007, he hunted and killed a record-book 450 lb. Black Bear, all with traditional native-style, hand-made equipment. According to the Fish and Game warden that validated the kill, it is the first bear killed with a handmade wooden bow and stone-point arrow in over 100 years.

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Weightlifting | Matt Foreman

Seven Days of Heaven: Planning Your Training, Part 3

This will be the third and final installment in our three-part series on planning out your training. Two months ago, we examined the challenges of selecting goals and picking out competitions for a given year of training. Last month, we looked at the week-by-week loading progression for a training cycle that would lead up to one of those competitions. This month, we will narrow the subject down just a little more and take a look at how to set up a basic week of training. Seven days, seven days... The possibilities are endless. Before we get into the meat of the subject, let’s face reality. This is part three of a series of articles. And I think we all know the possible disasters that can occur when you get to a “part three” scenario. The Godfather Part III was a lousy movie. Return of the Jedi was the third part of the Star Wars trilogy and look at it, for crying out loud. You had a bunch of muppets running around killing stormtroopers with homemade spears. Awful stuff, truly. Therefore, the goal here is to build up to a flaming climax. We want to make sure that this grand finale doesn’t follow the sad tradition of third-part flops. Everybody should walk away from this month’s article feeling like they could sit down at their computer and design a training program that will lead to continual progress, consistent strength development, injury-free training and new personal records. Setting up a weekly training program presents you with some interesting demands because, as with all other elements of training, it will depend on the particular situation of the individual you’re working with. What we will attempt to do here is put forward a weekly training plan and also address some ways that it could possibly be adapted or retooled to meet the needs of different athletes. Before we actually take a look at this weekly plan, it benefits us to throw out a few general training ideas that need to be taken into consideration.

Exercise Sequencing Exercise sequencing, how’s that for fancy terminology? It’s almost like we have Mike Tyson here with us, creating his own vocabulary as he describes how ludicrous it is for his opponents to think they can depenetrate his impregnable defense. Praise be to Allah. Exercise sequencing simply describes the order of your exercises in a given workout. If one workout is going to contain four exercises, which ones should be performed first and which ones should go last? For example, let’s say an athlete wants to do snatches, back squats, some abdominal/core exercises, and clean pulls in one workout. What order should they follow?

Rule #1

Generally, the exercises that are most dependent on speed should be performed first. The athlete will be freshest and “snappiest” at the beginning of the workout before fatigue has set in from other exercises. Towards the end of a workout, after strenuous work has taken place, the athlete’s explosiveness will be somewhat diminished. Trying to perform speed exercises at this point will not be optimal. In the workout example we’re discussing here, which of the four exercises is most dependent on speed? The answer is obviously snatches. This means that the snatches should be done first.

Rule #2

Exercises that are closely movement-related should be performed in sequence. This means that if an athlete is going to perform snatches at the beginning of a workout, the exercises that immediately follow the snatches should be the ones that are most similar to

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the snatches. In this workout example, which exercise is the most movement-related to the snatches? The answer is the clean pulls. Although the snatch and the clean are different exercises, the triple extension of the pulling movement is a common factor between the two. After the athlete has finished doing snatches, the pulling movement will be “warmed up,” so to speak. Because of this, the clean pulls are a good choice following the snatches because the pulling from the snatches will transfer into the clean pulls. Also, going back to Rule #1, the clean pulls are probably the second highest speed exercise in the workout. The snatches will be the most dependent on speed, and the clean pulls are second in the ranking order.

Rule #3

All of the barbell exercises should be completed before moving on to supplemental work. Having said this, the squats should be done after the clean pulls. After the squats are finished, the bar can be put away and the athlete can perform auxiliary exercises such as core strengthening, plyometrics, grip training, etc. Personally, I like to finish each workout with hanging leg raises, two or three other core exercises such as crunches or planks, and crush gripper training. I also like to stretch for ten minutes after each workout. Post-workout stretching should be a permanent part of your training program. Therefore, the workout should look like this:

1) Snatch2) Clean Pulls3) Squats 4) Core/Abdominal work 5) Stretching

Variations:

These rules are effective guides for planning your workouts. However, it must always be stated that adding some occasional variety and changing things up can pay big dividends. For example, I once decided that I was going to experiment with performing my strength work at the beginning of my workouts, followed by my speed lifts. I deliberately wanted to be fatigued from heavy strength lifts (squats) prior to the speed exercises such as snatches or clean and jerks. The idea here was that when I finally got to a competition and performed snatches and clean and jerks without the pre-fatigue from squats, my explosiveness would be greater. In other words, the bar would feel lighter on meet day. I trained like this for around six weeks and then went to a meet. Did it work? I don’t think I noticed a big physical change, either positive or negative. I basically felt the same on meet day as I usually had in other meets. But it was fun to train differently for a while. I once snatched

140 kilos (around 90% of my max) immediately after back squatting 250x5, and I think there was a mental benefit from this because I basically started believing that I could snatch 90% anytime, anywhere, regardless of anything.

OFF DAYS!!! You might decide that you want to train seven days a week. I wouldn’t, but you can if you want to. If you choose to go this route, you won’t need to worry about off days because you won’t have any (until you enter the hospital). But for those of you who are trying to decide how many days a week to train and which days you should take off, here are a few thoughts. First of all, you have to ask the question, “How many days a week should I train?” If you talk to ten different coaches about this, you’ll probably get ten different answers. I’ve known elite lifters who train six days a week, and I’ve known elite lifters who train three days a week. There is no rule set in stone that applies to everybody. When I was doing the best lifting of my career, I trained five days a week. After a few years of this, I changed to four days a week and guess what? I continued to do the best lifting of my career and even made some solid improvements. As we have said repeatedly in our series, things are dependent on your personal schedule. Your job might completely dictate how many days a week you can train. If you have a job that only allows you to get to the gym three days a week, then you will have to set up a three-day-per-week program. Nothing complicated there. But it you’re in the fortunate position of having as much time as you need to train, then the questions really begin. Selecting which days are going to be your off days is a strategic move. Logically, it makes sense that you will want to take your off days when you will need them the most. How can we accurately gauge when that will be?

Sundays

I’ve taken Sundays off throughout my entire career, and I think most lifters do as well. Some people have religious obligations that prohibit them from training on Sundays. Some people believe that weightlifting is their religion. Regardless, Sunday is generally a good off day because it freshens up the athlete for the coming week. There’s a sense of completion that accompanies Sundays. A feeling tends to come over people that tells them their work for the week is done and it’s time to relax, mentally unwind, and enjoy the day before the grind starts again on Monday. This is probably why NFL games are televised on Sundays. They practically force America to the couch. One of the best lifters I’ve

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ever trained with told me, “If you’re a lifter, Sundays are for laying down, eating, and napping.” Truer words have never been spoken.

Between D-Day and Armageddon

There should always be a day off between two workouts that are extremely demanding. One way of approaching this is to arrange your most difficult workouts around an off day. For example, you could plan an off day on a Wednesday if you know that you’re really going to be hitting it hard on Tuesday and Thursday. If you’re planning to take Sundays off, as we mentioned earlier, then it makes sense that Saturday and Monday would be big workouts. The overall thought here is that there has to be a structure to your training week. Off days should not be random. If you have a job situation where you know that you won’t be able to train on Saturdays and Sundays, then your Friday and Monday workouts should be the ones where you plan to get the most intense work accomplished.

Finally, an example... Now, with all those theories and rules lying on the table, let’s just quit beating around the bush and put one week of training down on paper. Here it is:

Monday- Cleans- Clean Pulls- Back Squats- Straight-Legged Deadlifts- Abs

Tuesday- Rack Jerks- Power Cleans- Standing Military Press- Abs

Wednesday- Snatches- Snatch Pulls- Abs

Thursday

- Clean and Jerks- Clean Pulls- Stop Squats- Straight-Legged Deadlifts- Abs

Saturday- Snatches- Snatch Pulls- Front Squats

- Abs

I didn’t list stretching in any of these workouts, but it should be included in all of them.There you go. Now, let’s take a look at some reasons for why this week looks the way it does.

- Thursday and Saturday are big workouts, hence the day off on Friday. Plus, the athlete will be training four days in a row throughout the week (Mon-Thurs), so he/she will be ready for a day off by Friday. Sunday is a day off for the reasons already mentioned.

- Three squat workouts per week is a good plan for a competitive Olympic lifter. Some coaches actually have their athletes squat four or five times per week, with more moderate weights. I personally have found that doing three squat workouts per week and really hitting those workouts hard will be most effective.

- Doing rack jerks on a day that follows a squat workout is part of the design. The legs will be fatigued the day after squats. Performing rack jerks when the legs are fatigued simulates how the athlete will feel during a heavy competition clean and jerk, where the legs will be fatigued after standing up with the heavy clean. If the athlete can adapt and learn to use the legs in the jerk effectively on Tuesday after the tough Monday squat workout, there will be a benefit in the full clean and jerk.

- Following the competition lifts with a pulling exercise is a good way to strengthen the movement. In other words, always do clean pulls after cleans. Always do snatch pulls after snatches, etc.

- Straight-Legged Deadlifts are designed to strengthen the lower back, stretch the hamstrings, and prevent injury. This exercise does not need to be performed with enormous weights. It is performed with a barbell, but it should be viewed as an auxiliary exercise.

Adaptations

- This program is specifically designed for athletes who are completely concentrating on Olympic Weightlifting. If the athlete is planning to incorporate other athletic endeavors into their training, such as running or mountain biking, then the program would need to be restructured. The intensity and workload of this program will not leave much energy left for additional pursuits.

- Age issues must be considered. I would not have a thirty year-old athlete train five days a week in this manner. If a thirty year-old wanted to train five days a week, the intensity of the workouts would need to

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be reduced. I’ve trained at twenty years old and I’ve trained at thirty years old. The simple fact is that the body just doesn’t recover as quickly as the years pass by.

- In this particular training week, the two competition lifts (snatch/clean and jerk) are not trained on the same day. This is simply a basic look at how to build a training week. For a competitive weightlifter, it is important to train the competition lifts together on the same day to simulate actual meet conditions. This training week would need to be organized a bit differently to accommodate that principle. There are a few other things I would like to add about this program, along with program design in general. First of all, the five-day training week I outlined in this article looks very simple. There aren’t any magic exercises in there. In fact, some people might take a look at it and think that it doesn’t look like enough work to make big progress. I’ve shown this training week to several lifters over the years and had them give me the same response, “Wow, this doesn’t look very hard.” Okay... When I moved to Washington in 1993 to train with the Calpian Weightlifting Club, I began using the exact same five-day plan I described in this article. It was very different from how I had trained in the past, but I had been stuck at the same weights for over a year and I needed a change. I came to Washington in January and had a best competition total of 265 kilos in the 99 kilo class. After eleven months of training this way every week, I totaled 300 kilos at the same bodyweight. Now, it’s important to understand that I was pushing myself extremely hard within this framework, as were all

the lifters in our club. Our coach had our daily workout weights planned out throughout our entire program, but we were not hesitant about deviating from the plan and loading up personal records on the bar if the time was right to go for it (remember last month’s article?). It was a sensible, organized approach that also encouraged aggressiveness and breaking new ground. All of the information from this article, along with the preceding two articles in this series, give you a solid idea of how I’ve trained throughout my career and how I’ve trained other athletes.

And because of our thousand-ways-to-skin-a-cat understanding, it’s important to acknowledge that this isn’t the only way to train successfully. Can you go from 265 to 300 in one year training differently than how I’ve discussed? Absolutely. Weightlifting coaches sometimes make the same mistake as some religious leaders; they basically say, “Only I am right, everyone else is wrong.” The point that I hope we all understand is that there are certain commonalities that make for smart training, even if the daily routines are dissimilar. Despite individual differences in workout frequency, loading progression and exercise selection, every coach will have to use some good old-fashioned horse sense when it comes to program design. “Horse sense,” for those of you who weren’t lucky enough to grow up in the boondocks, is a term that refers to sound practical judgment. Sound practical judgment, along with a fantastic work ethic, unrelenting commitment, and high pain tolerance will usually make you a better athlete, coach, spouse, parent, professional, or Jedi Knight. So file down your calluses and get to work, and may the force be with you.

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Weightlifting | Ryan Kyle

16-17 Year-Old Weightlifting ProgramThis month the training hits a high note with the 16-17 year old training. Before I start I want to clarify something that may not have been adequately explained before; all of my lifters participate in at least one other sport, we do not have much full-time training time where their attention is not split with another sport. We have about 16 weeks before the School Age Nationals and then we have about 4 weeks after that, which is only 20 weeks out of 52. Those who play football train one day a week in season on Sunday with snatch and clean and jerk. Then in wrestling season they train twice a week with snatch and squat on one day and clean and jerk and pull on the other.

So when their other sports are done we have to train very hard and heavy constantly in order to be in good shape for the School Age Nationals. However, these programs do work well in a nearly year round setting; the only change would be to reduce the workload by going back to say the 13&U for a month or two then to the 14-15 for a month or two and back to this workout (see Table 1.1 for example). The Beginner and 13&U programs could be done year round and as the lifters grow up we sometime revert back to the 13&U to help smooth out technique issues or to give a break for a month or two to let the lifter relax during the off-season. However, for most U.S. coaches, full-time lifters at this age are rarities, as is the case with my guys, so we do not go back in the programs very often, as we only have time for Blitzkrieg training in which the Bulgarian methods work best.

There have been some major changes to this workout in relation the previous two. The first change is that this time the intensity of training has been increased rather than the volume. Before with each new workout the volume of work was increased and the intensity held constant; now the volume has actually been reduced (from 754 total reps to 591 total reps). The intensity has been increased; the 85% week has been

replaced with a second week of 90% training. Again, this balancing act between volume and intensity is crucial in order to ease the transition between programs and allow adaptation to occur. The result should be an increased “explosion” in the lifts between programs rather than the start of diminishing returns.

Looking at table 1.2, it can be seen that 56% of the total reps are in the classic lifts and only 44% are in the assistance exercises. Also, note that each week the number of reps in the classic lifts outnumbers the reps in the assistance lifts. The idea is to increase the quality of contest preparation with max and sub-max weights, which cannot be achieved by doing pseudo-lifts. The power versions and pulls are only done on Wednesday

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun13&U 14-15 16-17 16-17 16-17 16-17Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec16-17 13&U 14-15 16-17 16-17 16-17

Table 1.1

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as a way to keep the intensity up while giving their bodies a little rest and the snatch and clean pulls are rotated weekly; squats are done four days a week after the lifts.

A special note should be made in regards to the 80% week. The 80% week up until this point has been used as a teaching week, hence the higher reps to encourage perfection and consistency of technique. Starting with

the 16-17 program and onward, the 80% week has a new role—lower intensity, higher repetitions—resting the nervous system while still working the muscles. In the 13&U the 80% week consisted of 80% weights lifted for 2 sets of 3 reps. Then in the 14-15 program 80% weights were lifted for 3 sets of 2 reps. In the 16-17 program 80% is lifted for a double in the snatch followed by 3 singles and it is lifted for 5 singles in the clean and jerk. When training in this type of high intensity manner it

Week 1

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Snatch - 80%x2; 80%x3x1 Snatch - 80%x2; 80%x3x1 Power Snatch - 80%x3x2 Snatch - 80%x2; 80%x3x1 Snatch - 80%x2; 80%x3x1

Clean and Jerk - 80%x5x1 Clean and Jerk - 80%x5x1 Power Clean and Jerk - 80%x3x2

Clean and Jerk - 80%x5x1 Clean and Jerk - 80%x5x1

Front Squat - 80%3x2 Back Squat - 80%3x2 Clean Pull - 100%x3; +5%x3; +10%x3x3

Front Squat - 80%3x2 Back Squat - 80%3x2

Week 2

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Snatch - 90%x3x1 Snatch - 90%x3x1 Power Snatch - 90%x5x1 Snatch - 90%x3x1 Snatch - 90%x3x1

Clean and Jerk - 90%x3x1 Clean and Jerk - 90%x3x1 Power Clean and Jerk - 90%x5x1

Clean and Jerk - 90%x3x1 Clean and Jerk - 90%x3x1

Front Squat - 90%x3x1 Back Squat - 90%3x1 Snatch Pull - 100%x3; +5%x3; +10%x3x3

Front Squat - 90%x3x1 Back Squat - 90%3x1

Week 3

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Snatch - Max Snatch - Max Power Snatch - Max Snatch - Max Snatch - Max

Clean and Jerk -Max Clean and Jerk -Max Power Clean and Jerk - Max

Clean and Jerk -Max Clean and Jerk -Max

Front Squat - Max Back Squat - Max Clean Pull - 100%x3; +5%x3; +10%x3x3

Front Squat - Max Back Squat - Max

Week 4

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Snatch - 90%x3x1 Snatch - 90%x3x1 Power Snatch - 90%x5x1 Snatch - 90%x3x1 Snatch - 90%x3x1

Clean and Jerk - 90%x3x1 Clean and Jerk - 90%x3x1 Power Clean and Jerk - 90%x5x1

Clean and Jerk - 90%x3x1 Clean and Jerk - 90%x3x1

Front Squat - 90%x3x1 Back Squat - 90%3x1 Snatch Pull - 100%x3; +5%x3; +10%x3x3

Front Squat - 90%x3x1 Back Squat - 90%3x1

Week: 1 2 3 4 Total % of Total Reps

Total Reps 183 138 132 138 591 100%Classic Lifts Reps

92 80 80 80 332 56%

Assistance Reps

91 58 52 58 259 44%

Intensity 80% 90% 100% 90%

Table 1.2

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is beneficial to have a built-in “down” week so that progress does not give way to fatigue—you must be on the lookout for the proverbial wall.

Looking at the graphical representation of the 16-17 training program, you can see the widening gap (read that as importance) of the intensity-volume relationship. The wider the gap between the two indicator lines represents the increasing importance of one factor (in our case intensity) and the decreasing importance of the second factor (volume). Looking at the workout itself it can easily be seen from a quick glance that this workout places a higher demand on the nervous system. In previous workouts, 90% would only be lifted three times a week in the classic lifts; now it must be lifted four times in the same

week. There are fewer active rest days (powers and pulls)—reducing the powers and pulls helps to lower all unnecessary loading and allow for increased loading in the exercises that directly impact the competition results. This improves the quality of training and allows for improved performance. The lifts should now be automatic. It should not matter if you’re lifting in your gym or at the World Championships in Korea—you should be able to perform admirably in any situation. This workout is the heaviest we use for School Age. The next training moves into training for Juniors and involves a more precise year-long plan. While the 16-17 program hints at this same notion, it is still not realistic, as most U.S. coaches do not have many full-time School Age lifters.

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Paleo | Cliff Hodges

True PaleoIf we follow the tracks of our ancestors back far enough, deep down in the roots of our collective family arbor, we find that we are the descendants of mystical people. Highly aware individuals with the abilities to track across any surface. Master survivalists, with the skills to flourish lavishly in any landscape. Every need provided for through the bounty of the living earth. Herbalists and healers with supernatural intuitive powers. Silent hunter-gatherers, camouflaged and invisible in the pigment and aroma of the very soils and plants. This knowledge has not been lost, this knowledge is still being preserved and passed on…1

Paleo life first appears in the Americas between 15,000-20,000 years ago. The specifics of the paleoindian migration are still the subject of ongoing research; however, most archeological evidence points to a migration over what is now the Bering Strait, down through modern-day Alaska, and spreading south and east to populate both the continents of North and South America. These people represent what many would describe as the epitome of fitness and the realization of the true potential of the human body. Paleoindians were the hunters of the megafauna: the giant beaver, steppe wisent, musk ox, mastodons, woolly mammoths, and ancient reindeer.2 Their diet in comparison to later indigenous peoples was high in these megafauna protein sources and supplemented by the foraging for wild edible plants, nuts, and seeds. Hunting and gathering bands usually had no chief and the men and women earned the respect of the group because of their abilities at hunting, healing, or providing some other needed service or physical ability to the band… Sounds suspiciously to me like the communities at many microgyms.

I have been fascinated by the paleo lifestyle for most of my existence. As a child, I used to run through the woods, attempting to fashion a spear out of just about any long pointed object I could find, and

family camping trips usually ended with my parents on the verge of calling the search and rescue team to drag me out of the forest. As I got older, I decided to actively attack this passion, and throughout my teenage and college years, I became a voracious student of primitive wilderness survival skills. I attended countless outdoor schools, workshops, and poured over every written anthropological record I could find that described the tools, methods, and lifestyles of the first Americans. I’ve always been a hands-on learner, so it was never enough for me just to read about something either. I was “in it”, down on my hands and knees in the woods reading tracks, carving bow-drill kits to make fire by friction, brain-tanning animal hides, and banging rocks together in the hopes of making an arrowhead. While all the primitive skills interested me, it was always the hunting skills that peaked my interest above all else. After years of practice, honing my skills, and perfecting my tools, I was ready to put my skills in to action—to hunt as our ancestors did, tens-of-thousands of years ago:

I’m deep in the woods of Montana. The drive just to get to the edge of this property was over 5 hours from the nearest town, and by now I’ve hiked many miles from the last road. The land I’m told, is an original homesteader plot – 500,000 acres of untouched wilderness with several of its own elk herds. My spiritual preparation began days ago: fasting, praying, and partaking in the sweatlodge ceremony. I’m fully committed to hunting in the old ways.

It’s an eerily misty morning as the sun begins to rise. I can’t see more than 20 yards in to a meadow that I know is almost a quarter of a mile long. As I come up out of a mossy ravine, under the cover of the juniper boughs, I can hear the mystical sound of the bull elk’s bugle call. The primordial scream echoes off the hillsides causing

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my pulse to quicken and my palms to sweat. In my hands, I clutch on to nothing but sticks and rocks. A hand-carved wooden bow, made from an Osage Orange tree, and a small Dogwood arrow shaft tipped with a chipped flint point, and fletched with wild turkey feathers. I look out to the field, squinting, trying to focus on something that I still cannot see… when, all of a sudden… CRASH! The thunderous sound of antler-on-antler almost knocks me over backwards as two satellite bulls explode towards me engaged in a battle of dominance. Saplings fall to the wayside like cardboard models in a Godzilla movie and the ground shakes each time the bulls engage. I look down at the 2-inch stone point lashed to my arrow, and then back at the 1000 pound bulls and think to myself “no fucking way”.

Then, as quickly as they appeared, the beasts are gone. Bugle calls go off all around us and the herd is on the move. My partner, who is my hunting mentor and best friend (as well as the author of the opening paragraph to this piece), looks back at me and signals that it’s time for the chase. I’ve learned everything I know about hunting from him, and as I far as I know, we are two of the only people still hunting big game in this sacred manner. We sprint through the field, staying low to the ground and following the shadows. Through another ravine, jumping

across a small creek and scaling the side of a flood wash with the aid of tree roots and small rocky handholds. Moving through a boulder field, my legs start to burn; it’s like a 2 hour long session of squats… while running… through snow covered fields… trying to be completely silent and invisible. I can’t help but think how clumsy my movement must be in comparison to my paleo counterparts. But that is why I train, that is why live and eat the way I do, to continue on these ancient traditions, and keep that small slice of human history alive.

That was my first day as a true paleo hunter. It was many years ago, and needless to say, I did not shoot an elk that day. Nor did I shoot any animal for a good 2-3 years. It took countless days of practice: tracking , stalking, sitting , and shooting, before I would make my first kill. My equipment alone has hundreds of hours of work put in to it—bows are the culmination of many weeks of refined woodworking, and a single arrow made of earthen material can take upwards of 2-3 days to complete. And when it’s all said and done, I head out on to the landscape, like my ancestors before me, with a quiver full of weaponry that most people in the modern world would put behind glass or display on their mantel.

The thrill, excitement, and pride I take in harvesting my own food is immense and wholly incomparable

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Endnotes1 McConnell, Bill (2005). Past Skills Wilderness School Website. http://www.pastskills.com 2 Breitburg, Emanual; John B. Broster, Arthur L. Reesman, and Richard G. Strearns (1996). “Coats-Hines Site: Tennessee’s First Paleoindian Mastodon Association”. Current Research in the Pleistocene 13: 6-8.

to anything else. There is a spiritual connection that takes place in the depths of my soul when I am able to feed myself not from aisles of a supermarket, but from the plentiful earth herself. The meat on my grill was once a living, breathing creature. I know this not because I am told it is so, but because I was there. I have that moment, etched in to my memory forever, when I felt the wind on my face, the sun on my skin, and my senses stretched out in to the open space around me in a deep meditation of awareness. I can still see that animal moving gracefully in front of me as we carry out that timeless dance between hunter and prey that has been played out time-and-time-again for over 100,000 years.

I do not expect that everyone has the time to learn the

art of bow-making and flintknapping, or the opportunity to spend hours on end in the woods tracking their prey. However, just as in our box here at CrossFit West Santa Cruz, I hold you to a higher standard. You’ve dedicated yourselves to a level of fitness or performance that is well above average—your diet should be no different. If you’re not eating paleo, than you need to seriously examine why you are even training so hard. If you are eating paleo already, then go kill something. Just once. Kill what you eat. Your diet already necessitates the taking of life, so I am wholly unwilling to have a debate with you on the morality of hunting. Have the courage to do it yourself at least once in your life and make that connection within you to your paleo ancestors. It will, forever, change the way you look at nutrition… and the world.

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Editorial | Greg Everett

2009: A Year in ReviewMy usual practice of blasting out last-minute articles as I suddenly realize the new issue of the PM is due out shortly has been failing me this month. Despite having a number of articles started and notes for a few more, I’ve been wholly unable to make any progress. So instead I’m going to try something new: a Catalyst Athletics retrospective.

Those of you who have been around for a while are well aware that the latter part of 2009 has contained quite a bit of excitement for us. While this has unfortunately resulted in a bit of distraction and some wasted work hours studying the more interesting regions of the interwebz, it has liberated us in a number of ways and was a long-awaited and much-welcomed upgrade.

The New Facility

2009 began with relocating and opening a new training facility in the San Francisco Bay Area, about 15 minutes from my hometown. After having co-owned NorCal Strength & Conditioning with Robb Wolf and Nicki Violetti, I had taken a break from the attendant responsibilities by moving to the San Diego area to focus for a couple years on my own training, private clientele, and building the Performance Menu, which was in its third year. After a couple years of not having to worry about helping run a facility and confining my training practice to private clients, it was time to open up a new laboratory, build a lifting team and increase the number of athletes and clients I could get my hands on.

Aimee and I made a scouting run up to the Bay Area in November, found a house and a facility in the same day, signed the paperwork, and had relocated by the end of December. The gym was up and running by early January, and in full swing by February.

At this point our biggest problem is developing new trainers and coaches to handle more of our clients and athletes—many of the projects we have in progress are being held back due to our days being dominated by coaching hours. These projects will, however, see the light of day in 2010. I may hint at them a bit later, but you’ll have to wait until they’re actually out to know what exactly is up.

Putting the Facility Together Part 1

Putting the Facility Together Part 2

The Performance Menu

This is the first issue of Volume 6 of the Performance Menu, which launched its first issue in February 2005. Each month I wonder if we’re going to run out of quality information and have to close up shop, but it hasn’t happened yet. I intend to keep the journal on its present course indefinitely—consistently providing practical and interesting content with no filler for the sake of bigger page counts. With this end in mind, we’ve kept to a small collection of articles each issue—I’d rather have 3 or 4 useful articles that readers find helpful as both coaches and athletes than a large monthly collection of articles that might contain a few useful ideas if one looks hard enough.

Obviously the PM has taken on more of an emphasis on strength and weightlifting than other areas, but we’re always on the lookout for anything we find compelling. Look for continued exploration into other realms.

The Book

My book, Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes and Coaches, is in its second edition and

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selling well. It has been extremely gratifying to hear how helpful readers have found it, and I’m in the process of making minor edits to prepare for the next printing, which is again approaching too quickly (the first printing of the second edition was rushed due to our selling out the last printing of the first edition far more quickly than expected, and contains quite a few errors). It’s making the rounds to a number of other retailers such as IronMind, USA Weightlifting, and Muscle Driver USA, which is encouraging.

Catalyst Athletes

Our weightlifting team is developing and starting to reach a nationally competitive level. In addition to the local team who trains 5 days each week in our facility, we program for and coach a few other athletes, such as Dutch Lowy and Tamara Holmes. Tamara qualified for the American Open and the 2010 National Championships, as did Dutch. Dutch performed well at the Open a few weeks ago, making 5 of 6 lifts and a 5 kg clean & jerk PR (100kg snatch / 130kg clean & jerk at 69 kg).

Local lifter Steve Pan lifted extremely well at the American Open, going 5 for 6, making a 3kg snatch

PR and a 1kg clean & jerk PR, as well as making his qualifying total for the 2010 National Championships (119kg snatch / 142kg clean & jerk at 85kg).

The rest of the gang is hard at work in training and we expect good things from them in the future.

The Future

Catalyst Athletics will be launching some new projects in 2010 including more and improved website content, books and DVDs, seminar offerings and new relationships. We are continuing to grow in a number of directions at a rate we are having trouble keeping up with. Despite this, we are committed to remaining focused on quality first, and this will likely limit our growth somewhat simply due to time and staff constraints. Fortunately we’re well aware of the fact that consistent quality is the reason for our success, and that abandoning it to support growth would undermine the entire business. So please bear with us as we do our best to respond to demand without altering who we are and what we care about.

Thank you for your continued support.

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Cooking with Scotty | Scotty Hagnas

I’m featuring a few of my very quick and easy recipes this month. We have been between homes this month, staying with friends while we wait for our new home to close. Therefore, my cooking has been primarily simple standbys. However, these types of simple recipes can be the most useful in a busy life. These are super basic and we will take advantage of some time saving options. I will also give some suggestions for adding more flavor if you want to take it beyond the very basic. Enjoy the simplicity!

Steamed Chicken and BroccoliYou’ll need a steamer for this one. Prep time is only a couple of minutes. Quick, easy, and nutritious.

Time: 15 minutes

• 1 lb chicken breast, diced• 1lb broccoli chopped florets• olive oil• optional spices

Add some water to the pot, then add the chicken and broccoli to the steamer basket. Steam for around 10 minutes. Remove and serve, adding sea salt, pepper, and any other favorite spices. Drizzle with olive oil to meet your fat block needs.

Pine nuts, thyme, salt, pepper, and olive oil make a good alternate combination.

Zone info (before adding olive oil): 3 servings at .6 block carb, 5.3 blocks protein (6g net carbs, 37g protein) Olive oil will add 14g fat per tablespoon. Pine nuts are about 5g fat per tablespoon.

Spinach and Beef CurryTime: 6 minutes

• 1 lb ground beef (grassfed if possible)• 10 oz bag of spinach leaves

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• 7 oz coconut milk (1/2 can)• 1 tsp coconut oil• 1/2 tsp curry powder• 1/2 tsp turmeric• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Heat the oil in a deep skillet or pan over medium heat. Add the meat, browning for around 3 minutes. Toss in the spices as you brown the meat. Add the spinach, continuing to mix until the spinach wilts, about 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk, stir well. Remove from heat and serve.

Options: 1) Add or reduce the quantity of coconut milk used to meet your fat requirements.2) Almost any other meat could be used.3) Add fresh minced garlic. Sauté it for 1 minute before adding the meat.4) Add other vegetables. This may require a slightly longer cooking time.

Zone info: 2 large servings at 1 block carb, 8 blocks protein, 27 blocks fat (8g carb, 56g protein, 53g fat)

Chorizo Stuffed PeppersPrep time: 5 minutesCook time: 45 minutes

• 4 green or red bell peppers• 1 lb chicken chorizo sausage, bulk• 1 cup onion, chopped• 1 tsp thyme• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the top off of each pepper; discard the tops and seeds. Chop the onion and add it to a bowl. Add the chorizo, plus spices. Mix well. Stuff the meat mixture into each pepper. Place the peppers upright into a baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the peppers have softened.

Zone info: 4 servings at <1 block carb, 4 block protein (6g carb, 28g prot, 4g fat)

Quick CevicheTime: 3 minutes

• 1 can tuna (chunk light preferably)• 1/2 cup marinara sauce (no added sugar)• 1 Tbsp olive oil (adjust to your needs)• 1/4 tsp dried basil• sea salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

Zone info: (as written w/1 Tbsp olive oil) 1 serving at 1block carb, 4.2 blocks protein, 10 blocks fat (9g carb, 30g protein, 16g fat)

Postworkout PumpkinIf you are taking in carbs post workout, here is a simple way to do it without having to cook or make a shake. Avoid cans usually labeled as “Pumpkin Pie Mix”, as these have lots of added sugar or corn syrup. The ingredients should simply be “Pumpkin”.

Time: 2 minutes

• can of pumpkin, butternut squash, or sweet potato puree• Leftover lean meat such as chicken breast, or in a pinch - canned chicken• cinnamon to taste

Dice the meat if needed, mix in a bowl with the desired quantity of pumpkin. Mix in the cinnamon or other spices. Eat and recover.

Notes: You’ll need to check your can to determine the carb content. Depending on the quantity of carbohydrate desired, you can choose between pumpkin (about 25g net carbs/can), butternut squash (about 40g net carbs/can), or sweet potato (about 105g net carbs/can). Cooked chicken = about 7g carbs per ounce (or 1 block). Build your meal as needed.

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Iraqi Spinach OmeletTime: 15 minutes

• 6 eggs• 1/2 cup chopped onion• 10 oz spinach leaves• 1/2 tsp curry powder• 1/4 tsp chili powder• 1/4 tsp cardamon• 2 tsp coconut oil• sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Chop the onion. Sauté in coconut oil over medium heat along with the spices. Stir often, cooking for around 5 minutes, or until the onion has become translucent. Add the spinach, cooking and stirring until it has wilted.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a bowl. Once the spinach has wilted, pour the egg mixture over it. Cook until the eggs are almost set, then flip and cook the opposite side for 30 seconds. Cut into wedges and serve.

Zone info: 2 servings at .3 block carb, 3 blocks protein, 11 blocks fat (2g carb, 21g prot, 16g fat)

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CommunityJoin the community and the discussions at the Catalyst Athletics training and nutrition forums.

TrainingCheck out the Catalyst Athletics daily training program at www.cathletics.com.

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