We spent our Wednesday in workshop mode at CF Affliction in Davie, FL. We had a fun group, most of whom were already pretty savvy to the nutritional concepts we were laying down. (Including Captain Tom, who nodded and smiled through the entire presentation on artificial sweeteners and Stevia.) Thanks to the lunchtime crowd for asking some good questions and sending us back some good feedback!

CrossFit Affliction lunchtime workshop
After taking the day off from training to hit our workshop on Wednesday, we were more than ready to get back on track. And when you’re on the road, you take every opportunity you can get to eat, sleep and train as well as possible, which often means making the best of a less than ideal situation.
Since there aren’t any CrossFit gyms in the Keys (seriously!) and all we have with us in terms of weights are a couple of kettlebells, we headed up to the local “box” – Pirate Wellness Center. We called ahead, so we knew they at least had a few barbells and a squat rack… on the third floor. Yep, the first floor was the aerobic/yoga studio, second was the floor with all the exercise machines… third floor was the free weight area, with all the barbells and dumbbells. Um, does that seem weird to anyone else? Anyway, Dallas planned to OHS, and I was due for a deadlift 5×5 and some extra core stability drills.
When we arrived, however, we realized that Dallas would literally put the plates through the ceiling if he tried to do anything overhead, so he moved on to Plan B – high bar back squats and bench presses – while I stuck with my 5×5 deadlifts. We had the place to ourselves for most of the morning (hence the impromptu photo shoot with 5# dumbbells on the balcony – note my pirate socks!) until a couple of gentlemen joined us. And by “joined us”, I meant stood around and watched while discussing the merits of Red Bull versus Sugar-Free Red Bull. True story.

I was too out of breath to participate in the Red Bull discussion.

A nice squat cage was a welcome surprise.
We skipped a met-con in favor of some skill work (I did alternating and single-leg renegade rows with 30# dumbbells, while Dallas played around with some Janda sit-ups) and then jumped in the ocean for our “cool down”. We finished off the day by wandering around Key West, checking out the sights, doing a little shopping (new board shorts – score!) and eating fresh, local seafood.
Our next stop is Fort Walton Beach, where we’re doing an 8 AM combined workshop with CF Ft. Walton Beach and Lightning CrossFit on Tuesday, May 18th. We’ve got a few spots still open (I think!), so register on our sidebar and come hang out beach-side with us!
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Melissa said, “(Including Captain Tom, who nodded and smiled through the entire presentation on artificial sweeteners and Stevia.)”
And what else would I have done after my Stevia beatdown on Rob’s podcast? Left to ponder that the most toxic compounds in nature come from plants (forget playing the ‘natural plant based’ card to make it sound good for you. And who can forget that “natural” does not always mean good for you either. Think plutonium was Andy’s example. I mean, I was totally set up to be the straight man for that question ;)
This was the first time I had the opportunity to attend the Whole9 seminar. Melissa asked me to supply some feedback towards improving the information and presentation and I found myself taking a bunch of notes. After it was over I realized that half of the notes were about nutrition as it applied to me. Phew, I think I eat well but I confess, I do have some bad habits even when the food choices might be “right”.
For example, I’d come in from working outside and grab a handful of grapes a couple of times during the afternoon. Grapes are fruit. Nothing wrong with that, right? Fruit is good. During the seminar the light came on: what I was really doing was feeding my sweet tooth and creating the inherent sugar spikes and lags. I could (should) be making a better choice for energy replenishment or refreshment. The net is an old dog can learn new tricks. There was a lot of information put out there and lots to think about later.
Now I just hope they don’t do a contraband cleanout of my ‘fridge before they leave.