Jake Di Vita

I definitely would recommend learning how to squat and deadlift. The squat is quite literally foundational to all human locomotion. When performed correctly it take your hips, knees, and ankles through their full range of motion and is unparalleled at strengthening both. In regards to the deadlift - it is hardly possible to imagine a more functional exercise than picking heavy shit up off the ground. Those two exercises should be the building blocks of many rehabilitation programs. Once again I need to emphasize it is critical to perform these exercises correctly. Most people think they know how to squat...most don't.

That's true Sam, but really only in limited circumstances. As a trainer, I hear this usually at least a few times a day. Unfortunately finding a Doctor that knows anything past conventional wisdom about fitness and even rehabilitation is a chore. I've seen the "exercises" a lot of these "professionals" teach (like standing with a weight on top of your head in order to rehabilitate your back.....). I'm in the process of rehabbing two serious injuries with clients. One rolled his ankle horribly playing basketball. Not breaks, but it literally took him 2 months to be able to walk semi-normally again. The other tore his meniscus about 2 months ago and just had it surgically repaired a few weeks ago. Both of their Doctors are astounded with their progress. As a matter of fact when my client who had knee surgery told the Doctor what he'd been doing for rehab (since the injury and now since surgery), all the Doctor did was tell him how dangerous it was...yet he is far beyond the average patient in this same situation who would follow the Doctor's orders to the letter. The bottom line is there are a lot of Doctors out there. Some are great at what they do. Most have no clue how to practically apply exercise science. I'm sure I'm going to get flamed for that one, but it's the truth.

If you can do it without re-injuring yourself, go for it.

That actually ranks among the worst advice you can give a shooter. You never want to make it so that if the shooter executes the shot correctly, he misses. That means that's where you are moving the sights to when you pull the trigger. Apply pressure to the trigger twice as slow as you think you should while focusing on the top center of the front sight as hard as you can.

You can start with the book Enter the Zone by Dr. Barry Sears. That will give you a good intro towards inflammation reducing diets and why they are so important.

Assuming the gun is accurate (it probably is) then the issue is that you are moving the sights before the bullet has left the barrel. Just because you do something correctly in dry fire, doesn't mean you are doing it correctly in live fire. If the wheel of truth is what I think it is, totally ignore it. That chart was made for 1 handed bullseye shooters 50 years ago. The solution is to revisit the fundamentals. Slowly pull the trigger straight to the rear of the gun without moving the sights. If you think you already are, but you're still missing, then you aren't really doing it.

Nice!

I definitely like the first design best. Maybe make the inside ducks hardcover targets or place them at least 10 yards out so it's more important to hit the position immediately and accurately than throw shots while running by.

Have you ever considered keeping a food journal for a week to see exactly what you eat and in what quantities? Food should be viewed as a prescription drug. Good deal with the fish oil. Load up on that stuff. One thing, even though there are no "sugars" in Diet Mountain Dew, the body reacts to the artificial sweeteners in the same way producing that nasty insulin release we need to avoid.

Ouch. What's an average day for you look like nutrition wise?

Haha for sure. If you go to an actual nutrition store you can get some more highly concentrated forms, but there's nothing wrong with the stuff from the big store if you don't mind taking a bunch of pills. I usually take 7-10 with each meal. You do get Omega 3's from the fish you eat too. But you'd need to eat a lot of fish to get the quantities we're talking about here.

If you have been CrossFitting daily for 3 years and don't have the fat loss you want, it IS your nutrition. Not maybe - it definitely is. Take a week and record everything that you eat or drink (unless it's water or black coffee, etc) and email it to me. Let's see if we can figure this out. Seth, I like what I'm seeing a lot. Like XRe said, don't forget to add in the fats! Make sure you supplement with a good amount of Omega 3's as well. There is definitely something to be said about a restricted caloric diet - especially when it comes to longevity. That being said, don't kill yourself. For myself I like to tweak it to I'm a little heavy on the protein and fat and a little light on the carbs. I'm about 5'8, 160. CrossFitting at least 3 on 1 off. I'm eating around 16 blocks a day totally around 1800 calories. For the most part I'm not hungry and the biggest indicator (recovery) is still at an all time high. You'll know when you aren't eating enough. You'll have problems thinking, getting your mind off food, be grumpy, and always tired. So I'd say play with it a bit...if it's working for you like it sounds like it is, add some omega 3's and bump up the fat a bit and see how you feel. I definitely wouldn't be worried about the 8 pounds. I went from about 172 to 160 in a little over a week. As long as performance is getting better - you're doing it right. When performance starts to suffer, we need to look back and figure out why. This is a real good reason to keep a food log.

I'm well aware. The FDA is also responsible for the food pyramid, so forgive me if I don't believe everything they say. You can't overdose on Omega 3's. They also don't work unless you use them consistently in high doses.

EPA and DHA are essential fatty acids. EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) are Omega 3 fatty acids. It will tell you right on the nutrition label how many mg's there are of those two acids. Only that number counts towards your daily intake of omega 3's.

Worked in one for a while recently. Feel free to PM with questions.

Haha thanks buddy. I'm glad you asked me actually. Inflammation is arguably the largest contributor to sickness, disease, and loads of other disorders. The omega 3's in fish oil are amazing anti-inflammatory agents when taken at high dosage. When I say high dosage I'm talking on the order of 7-10 grams a day for people who are well and up to 15 grams a day for people whom would be considered pathological. The key point I want to stress is those are dosages of omega 3's - not fish oil. You'll need to look on the back of the bottle to see how many mgs of EPA and DHA each pill contains and formulate your dosage from there. You can do just fine going with the generic stuff from Wal-Mart or Meijer. If you get the fish-oil burps, you have a few options. Only take the pills with food, freeze them, or buy new ones. So if you are on medication for high blood pressure, cholesterol, or triglycerides - give omega 3's a shot. I know for me personally they greatly aid in recovery and general well being. I'm looking forward to getting a physical and seeing what my numbers come back as. Omega 3's in high doses are about as close to a wonder drug as you will see in your lifetime. I'm actually really encouraged by the digital coaching. I've had a few clients now and some pretty good feedback so far. I'm hoping the word starts getting out a bit more soon.

That's how I've always RO'd.

I'd have to say getting a solid hit on a popper and having it not fall only to watch it topple right over when calibrated is pretty unfair.

Lose the NSAIDS brother. Except for acute serious injuries, they do way more harm than good. If you need to take something for the pain, take Tylenol. If you need to control inflammation, that should be done with a combination of icing, loads of omega 3's, and removing inflammation friendly foods from your diet - bread, grains, potatoes are the big ones.

An edge hit in the circle qualifies....just like it does for a plate. A hit low on the popper is no good and counts as a miss - only hits that land in or touch the circle count. This has absolutely nothing to do with eliminating activating poppers - I just said if the popper is hit and doesn't fall it is an automatic reshoot for REF. Same thing for poppers in line. If 1 doesn't fall after a qualifying hit - reshoot. The example of an edge hit on a paper target not scoring because it doesn't break the perf is erroneous. The edge of the steel IS the perf. If it hits, it should score. There is no need to have different rules for what is essentially the same target. All I'm saying is there is no need to have 2 things to measure power. We have an accurate scientific measurement with the chronograph - what good does the popper do to measure power - especially when there are sometimes dozens of different ones at matches. At least with the chronograph everyone is measured by the same piece of equipment. You could make the same argument about poppers of course - IF they were infallible. Which they obviously aren't. Real simple answer to figure it out. Lets run a poll for each major match and see how many people had or witnessed a popper issue. I'd be willing to bet we'd hear of more than 1 at every major. That just isn't acceptable when a simple change of "steel must fall when hit within the circle or reshoot" is all that's needed.

I can't remember a Nationals where the poppers haven't been a significant issue in the consistency of the challenge to everyone. I still believe poppers should follow the same rule as plates. If they are struck and don't fall, it's an automatic REF. I understand that the popper was intended to be set so only a load reaching minimum PF will knock it over - if that is the case, I'm not sure I understand why we need to chronograph as well. When we have an exact metric of PF (weight x speed) - there is no usefulness in using something so subjective that obviously causes a variety of issues. The bottom line is under the current rules, someone always gets the shaft. Something needs to change.

Depending on the situation, as much as 1 second or more since the weak hand can be doing something else entirely (especially in the case of the video where the weak hand is holding onto something). Depending on what the HHF is on that particular stage, that could yield 10 or more match points.

He fought like a bull man...

Brian Urlacher out for season with dislocated wrist. Chicago fans....good luck.

There is a short time during my transfer to weak hand where the gun is in the air. The best, most consistent, and safest way I've found to do it is to make a cage with your weak hand and flip the gun into it with your strong hand. Obviously this is a technique that must be honed in dry fire first.