Fam-Fit Daily 2-10-10
100 Rope Jumps
100 Heavy Bag (Jab/Jab/Punch, 50 each side)
100 Speed Bag (100 right, 100 left, 100 alt.)
Monthly Archives: February 2010
Fam-Fit Daily 2-10-10 100 Rope Jumps 100
Filed under Uncategorized
Rest Day Read 2-8-10 Pt.3
Part 2: Rest Day Read (SR-8)
Fitness and the Brain
Today’s article by Lisa Bakshi describes her research on exercise and academic performance with 2nd grade students at an elementary school in San Diego, California. Not only did the study group perform proficient or advanced on state math and language arts standardized tests, they also exhibited a strong desire for the exercise program to continue because it made them feel healthier and smarter. A big THANK YOU to Lisa Bakshi and CrossFit Kids (www.crossfitkids.com). Simple solutions to complex problems.
Article SR-8a
How to Build a Better Neural Highway? By Cyndi Rodi
“Complexity in movement engages the cognitive and motor areas of the brain in tandem. This facilitates more efficient and effective brain function that provides for better information processing and recall.”
Article SR-8b
Exercise Seen as Priming Pump for Students’ Academic Strides. By Debra Viadero
“Had the creators of No Child Left Behind looked at the data, they would’ve have realized that physical activity is good for the brain,” said Charles H. Hillman, an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
With his university colleague Darla M. Castelli, Mr. Hillman assessed the physical-fitness levels of 239 3rd and 5th graders from four Illinois elementary schools. Their findings published last year, in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, show that children who got good marks on two measures of physical fitness-those that gauge aerobic fitness and body-mass index-tended also to have higher scores on state exams in reading and mathematics. That relationship also held true regardless of children’s gender or socioeconomic differences.”
Article SR-8c
Will CrossFit Make American Kids Smarter? By Lisa Bakshi
“This enormous increase in achievement in the core subjects was accomplished despite the fact that students were out of the classroom and away from direct instruction for 30 minutes a day in order to take part in the CrossFit Kids workout of the day.” (Note: Remember priming the pump?) “The previously cited argument that participation in daily fitness classes takes away from academic performance was simply not observed in this research project. The fact that the treatment group was able to out-perform every other group of students in the school in the area of mathematics may even provide indirect evidence of a causal relationship between exercise and cognition.”
Fam-Fit Daily 2-9-10
Leg Swings (10 front/back, 10 side to side, 10 knee to chest extensions)
Deadlift – 3 reps @275# with overhand grip
-5 rounds
Filed under Training
Rest Day Read 2-8-10 pt.2
Part 2: Rest Day Read (SR-8)
Fitness and the Brain
Yesterday’s article by Ms. Rodi talked about the basics of how the brain learns and presents four stimuli for learning, 1) Novel experiences prime the brain for learning the new information. 2) Repetition makes the learning permanent. 3) Complexity increase learning or more simply, we learn better with movement. Stimulation of the brain in multiple ways seems to make the neural connections stronger. 4) Hebb Rule – associate learning with positive stimuli, i.e make learning an enjoyable, positive experience. Note that “positive stimuli” does not mean it has to be EASY.
Today’s article by Debra Viadero from Education Week takes more of a look at exercise connected to learning in schools. The more I begin to learn on this subject, the more I want to visit our school board, district superintendent and school administrators and slap some sense into them. Why are we spending big dollars focusing on crap that is not working AND turning right around and cutting the relatively cheap programs that research shows helps increase academic performance? My hope is that you become motivated to contact said school officials and ask questions. Make them account for their decisions. Make them account for choosing to stay in the dark.
Article SR-8a
How to Build a Better Neural Highway? By Cyndi Rodi
“Complexity in movement engages the cognitive and motor areas of the brain in tandem. This facilitates more efficient and effective brain function that provides for better information processing and recall.”
Article SR-8b
Exercise Seen as Priming Pump for Students’ Academic Strides. By Debra Viadero
“Had the creators of No Child Left Behind looked at the data, they would’ve have realized that physical activity is good for the brain,” said Charles H. Hillman, an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
With his university colleague Darla M. Castelli, Mr. Hillman assessed the physical-fitness levels of 239 3rd and 5th graders from four Illinois elementary schools. Their findings published last year, in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, show that children who got good marks on two measures of physical fitness-those that gauge aerobic fitness and body-mass index-tended also to have higher scores on state exams in reading and mathematics. That relationship also held true regardless of children’s gender or socioeconomic differences.”
Article SR-8c
Will CrossFit Make American Kids Smarter? By Lisa Bakshi
Fam-Fit Rest Day Read 2-8-10 Pt. 1
Rest Day Read (SR-8)
Fitness and the Brain
This will be a series of three articles, highlighted one at a time over the next 3 posts. I feel very strongly about developing and training well-rounded human machines. The well-rounded renaissance individual (e.g. Jefferson, Franklin, Washington) made America the great country that it is. Our systems and the powers that be complain about health/wellness/intelligence issues with our younger generations, yet continue to trim, cut and axe the programs that deal head on with these alarming issues. Maybe we shouldn’t wait for the systems to come around, maybe we need to take the bull by the horns on this one, before we slide any further. Just a warning, I will probably break out in a rant sometime on this subject over the next few posts. I just can’t help it.
Article SR-8a
How to Build a Better Neural Highway? By Cyndi Rodi
“Complexity in movement engages the cognitive and motor areas of the brain in tandem. This facilitates more efficient and effective brain function that provides for better information processing and recall.”
Article SR-8b
Exercise Seen as Priming Pump for Students’ Academic Strides. By Debra Viadero
Article SR-8c
Will CrossFit Make American Kids Smarter? By Lisa Bakshi
Alien Dog Attack #6
Big Bad Bud looks at me sideways (with his good eye, that is). I explain the danger we are in from the imminent attack of the planet by Alien Attack Dog (AAD) and the army of laser-beam-eye canines from outer space. I tell him of my plan to have him use his cat kill skills to take out the AAD. Again he looks at me (with his good eye, that is), jumps down off my lap and bounds into the garage. He returns to the back porch in several minutes carrying a note (don’t ask, it’s Bud). I unfold the note and read.
I will agree to help rid the humans of that dirty, uncouth, smelly dog, if and only if, the following conditions are met.
1. Cut out the Best Choice Cat Food and mix in some Little Friskies or some Meow Mix already.
2. A bird feeder in the yard, stocked daily with the finest wild bird seed and placed at a height of no more than 2.5 feet off the ground.
3. Squirrel feeders on every tree in the neighborhood.
Whoa, Bud! #1 is do-able. #2 a maybe, but 2.5 feet off the ground? Come on, Bud…at least give yourself a challenge. #3, what the heck, Bud?
As intimidating as the AAD is, I have to think on these. I can’t imagine the backlash from the animal kingdom if I agree to these terms. Oh, boy…
Fam-Fit Daily 2-5-10
Uuggghhhh!!!
Run 400 m
20 Swings
Run 400 m
20 Swings
Run 400 m
20 Swings
Run 400 m
20 Swings
Filed under Uncategorized
Fam-Fit Daily 2-4-10
Rings
1. Pull-ups
2. Push-ups
3. Dips
4. Horizontal Back Pull-ups
-5 reps each for 5 rounds
Filed under Training
THE COACH HAYS 