Physical Culture

Austin has many hidden secrets but perhaps one of its best kept secrets is its physical culture collection, Which happens to be the largest in the world! This hidden gem that contains some of the first books and equipment dedicated to fitness will soon be added on to the north end of DKR memorial stadium.

This place is important to me because it reflects the true essence of being fit. Some of the earliest and most effective exercises were designed to help individuals perform organic movement more efficiently. Its so easy in today s society to get caught up in the desire to look a certain way. Society has played on these desires relentlessly. "Buns of steel" "six pack" these are promises marketed to the population to deliver this sought out desire of aesthetics . Silly machines, supplements and gimmicks have flooded mainstream with one purpose , to benefit off insecurities and laziness.

Westlake Crossfit is creating a colony of individuals who desire to find mind / body awareness through movement and performance in its purest form. Aesthetics will take care of themselves if this is your approach. We want a physical culture based on the bodies desire to move efficiently not to look a certain way. An obligation to be fit , not an obligation to the scale.

Special thanks to Chip for turning me onto this marvelous hidden gem.

Prepare for Movement

Alright..the "BOX" is really starting to gain some character. Over the weekend we moved in some barbells , plates and two squat racks. Today we received a nice surprise of some heavy duty tires along with a sledge hammer..oh yeah!!! Our next project - which should be done this week is going to be the pullup tower.

The vision for the place reflects a clean , spacious and safe facility. Through our coaches and their understanding of mind/body fulfillment , our clients will gain mental awareness through physical challenges set before them. This will in turn create a movement of like minded individuals who want to share this experience with the world!! IT WILL BE DONE

Fast twitch - Slow twitch

Human muscles are for the most part made up of two types of muscle fibers- Fast and Slow twitch. These fibers generate fuel in two very distinct ways. Slow twitch muscle fibers are much more efficient at utilizing oxygen to create ATP(fuel). This is helpful for muscle contraction over a long period of time . On the other hand fast twitch muscle fibers metabolize anaerobically(w/o oxygen) thus can generate strength and speed rather quickly but not sustain it for very long. My explanations of these two muscle fibers are admittedly not the best but the reason I'm writing this blog is to discuss whether ones training can influence how much of these muscle fibers they possess. The average person is said to have an equal amount of both slow and fast twitch muscles. Olympic sprinters on the other hand are said to possess about 80% fast twitch 20% slow twitch. Obviously genetics play a huge role in this determination but how much of a role is the question. I personally believe that a person can develop more of a certain type of muscle fiber but to a very small degree. I dont think you can take a Olympic marathoner and turn him into a world class sprinter and vice versa. Just my opinion. I may be wrong and Im sure there have been hundreds of test done with this experiment and I will continue to research it myself as it fascinates me. Stay tuned for my findings.

Launch Party

Im proud to announce that Westlake Crossfit website has officially been launched. We encourage you to visit this web based community and view our daily blog and workout.

Higher Learning

This past weekend I attended USA Weightlifting Club Coach Course held in Sacramento. The course focuses on the utilization and application of the Olympics Lifts (Snatch , Clean & Jerk). We also learned some assistance exercises to enhance the efficiency of these lifts with a focus on power development. The course consisted of world class coaching led by Jim Schmitz (US OLYMPIC TEAM WEIGHTLIFTING COACH 1980, 88, & 92, USA WEIGHTLIFTING PRESIDENT 1988-96) and Butch Curry (1980 OLYMPIAN & PWA PRESIDENT). I'd like to thank these men as well as the BodyTribe team for delivering an outstanding weekend. I'd also like to extend a special thanks to Coach Don Weidman who is a truly inspiring individual and sports visionary. Thank you Coach for all your wisdom you took the time to share with me!

Magic Pills

When it comes to supplements, besides the use of fish oil I am not as quick to offer recommendations as one would expect. I wholeheartedly believe that the best way toward improving your appearance and performance is sound nutrition. A huge percentage of people would rather look for a magic pill rather than taking the sometimes tedious steps to improve their nutrition. The problem is that their are thousands of companies who realize this and are eagerly promoting these "magic pills." Although the supplement field has tightened up its rules and regulations in past few years, it still seems to be a bit loose in my opinion. I take my job as a fitness professional very seriously and owe it to my clients to never offer blind recommendations. Telling my client to take something just "because it works" wont cut it for me. If I don't have full understanding of how the supplement will alter my client, I simply just wont recommend it. People are very different and what works for one person may not work for another. On top of that people react different to different things as well. Many pills are coated with harm full ingredients to smooth out texture and to help with rate of absorption. This risk reward ratio doesn't add up in my book. I guess what I'm trying to say is that supplement recommendation by me is a serious matter and requires thorough research. Know exactly what your taking and why your taking it!!

I may not be that quick to offer advice with supplementation but I'd be more than happy to talk with individuals ready to dial in and get the most out of sound nutrition.