Laura DeMarco of CrossFit RX in Atlanta was a major player in the 2009 CrossFit Games placing 14th overall. Laura is pictured here with fellow CrossFit RX owner Damon Mosley in the center. I had the pleasure of meeting Laura and Damon when they rocked their CrossFit Level II Certification at One World. Check out Laura's incredible story that first posted on robbwolf.com. I encourage you all to tak ethe time to read this article. Once again, another positive testament to the fact that quality will trump quantity every time....
"It all began with teenage body issues. I read health
magazines, ate low-fat foods and tried to get more exercise. I wasn’t
overweight, but I didn’t want to be. Although I was body conscious, the
idea of fitness never came into play; I didn’t know any athletes and
never participated in a sport.
When I was 15, I went to dinner at a relative’s house not
knowing what was on the menu. The meatballs tasted a bit odd, but it
wasn’t until after the meal that I was told it was venison from a deer
my cousins had hunted and killed earlier that week. I was appalled! No,
not Bambi! I decided at that point that if someone had the fortitude to
kill, skin and butcher an animal, they had every right to eat it, but I
couldn’t go through that process – I wasn’t tough enough. If I was not
willing to deal with the blood and guts, perhaps I shouldn’t be eating
meat.
Later that year, I decided to become a vegetarian, much to
the chagrin of my family. They had no idea why I would want to go and
do a thing like that. I believed that this was the best choice for my
personal morals, the environment and my health. I had read about the
carbon footprint of animal production and how it pollutes the
environment with antibiotics and runoff. There was a ton of published
information about how harmful animal products were to your health; what
with all the cholesterol and saturated fat…who would choose to give
themselves a heart attack? I took vitamins, steamed my vegetables and
eschewed fat. I never even ate fast food (which was not a difficult
task; back in the 90’s there wasn’t much in the way of vegetarian foods
– even the McDonald’s french fries were cooked in animal fat).
College brought new challenges. To save money, I lived off
of spaghetti. Lots of spaghetti. And bread. Cheap AND vegetarian! Even
better, it was all fat-free! I woke up at 5 in the morning regularly to
go to the gym, where I did my static stretching, weight circuits and
cardio on the treadmill. I wasn’t fat, but I wasn’t fit either.
I continued to eat a vegetarian diet and stick to my gym
routine throughout my twenties. When I had my daughter in 2000, I only
gained 20 pounds through eating decent (though not Paleo) foods and
exercising consistently. In fact, my labor was only an hour-and-a-half,
and I credit that to regular exercise.
I took time off from my career to take care of my daughter,
and ended up never going back to my field of Art Direction/Graphic
Design (which was fine; I hated sitting at a desk for 12 hours a day
anyway!). I worked at The Container Store managing visual efforts;
unloading trucks, building fixtures, etc. It was physically demanding
but rewarding, and it gave me the schedule I needed to help care for my
child.
In 2005, I began working out with a personal trainer. I
would work long, grueling shifts at The Container Store, then go to a
pseudo-circuit training class for an hour. Breakfasts were Powerbars
and coffee. Lunches would be half a loaf of whole grain artisan bread
with a huge block of cheese and an apple. Dinners were up to a pound of
pasta at a time. I killed myself at work and at the gym, and fueled
myself on carbohydrates. Because I felt I deserved it, Fridays began to
be reward days, with me eating half a take-out pizza then half a pan of brownies.
I was exhausted all the time.
About a year in with my trainer, he suggested I try
changing careers again and becoming a personal trainer myself. I
thought this ridiculous, especially since I had no athletic background
– I didn’t know anything about fitness; why would anyone want to listen
to me? Eventually, I rescinded, got certified and began working at the
same gym with my (now-previous) trainer. I started doing two long,
heavy workouts a day. At the time, I had a lot of stress in my personal
life, and working out was my way of dealing with the pressure.
During this period, I got stronger, and I was building a
decent amount of endurance, but I was dying physically. I stopped
building muscle mass and my joints hurt. I got odd muscle twinges that
got in the way of my workouts, and I was so tired I could barely
function.
In 2007, my ex-trainer (now my co-worker) and I were introduced to CrossFit and received our Level 1 certifications.
I have no doubt that CrossFit saved my life.
I immediately dove into the CrossFit program 100%. Three
days on, one day off. No more hours and hours of circuit training. My
diet changed to a more Zone-ish approach, but I did not eliminate all
grains (I still ate oatmeal for breakfast) or dairy. Within a few
months, my ex-trainer became my business partner, and we left our gym
to open our own CrossFit affiliate. It didn’t take long for CrossFit to
completely change my exercise, my eating, my lifestyle and my career.
For a year-and-a-half, I followed HQ and was fairly
successful. I was able to start the program strong enough to do Rx’d
weights, but I had to learn pull-ups, handstands and other basic
calisthenics. My very first “Fran” was under 8 minutes; my first max
deadlift attempt was 225; my first 5k was twenty-four minutes. Progress
was slow but steady for a while, but I had times where I plateaued, and
even times where I backslid significantly.
When I started feeling depressed about my stagnant
performance, I tried adding the Rippetoe strength program into my HQ
cycles. I made some gains, but they disappeared as soon as I finished
my three months experimenting with the extra strength work.
All this time, I didn’t think that maybe my nutrition could
be negatively affecting my workouts. I Zoned judiciously, making sure I
got enough protein (albeit vegetarian proteins, such as seitan, which
is basically pure wheat gluten, and various overly processed soy
‘meats’), fats and carbohydrates. I thought those low-carb, high-fiber
tortillas were awesome, and regularly ate them with Tofurky slices and
hummus every day for lunch (gluten + soy + beans…yikes!).
In January of 2009, I was encouraged to attend Robb Wolf’s
nutrition cert. Since he was coming to Atlanta, I figured why not? I
fancied myself a nutrition nerd and I wouldn’t even have to travel –
awesome!
Again, a perfect example of how CrossFit saved my life. I
shudder to think where my health and performance would be five, ten or
even twenty years from now if I had not attended this cert. I had been
shoveling grains, soy, beans, gluten and sugar in my system for almost
two decades…where might my health be if I had continued on for several
more?
I had been a lacto-ovo-vegetarian for eighteen years, but
the night of the cert I went out and had steak for dinner. I switched
overnight and completely to a Paleo way of eating. No grains, beans or
dairy. Animal protein at every meal. LOTS of fat. (For those of you who
are wondering; no, I didn’t have any digestive issues with starting to
eat meat again. Absolutely none.)
So here’s where it gets fun. I started making progress in my
workouts. Real, measurable and out-of-the-ordinary progress. Keep in
mind I changed NOTHING but my nutrition. My training is always CrossFit
HQ. For example:
My deadlift was stuck at 275 for a long time. From August
of 2008 through March of 2009, I hit 275 maybe one other time, but most
deadlift efforts maxed out about 20 pounds below. Two weeks after
changing my diet, I was messing around before a workout and picked up
250 for 5 reps, cold! I couldn’t believe it! A month later, in March, I
picked up 286. One week later, 305. Two months later, 315. A month
after that, 325. Last week I got 285 for 5, which was amazing to me
considering my 1RM was 275 just a handful of months ago! (An increase
of 50 pounds in six months)
Shoulder press was 103 pounds when I started CrossFit; it
stayed the same (or went down) until two months after I changed my
diet. March 29, 2009 – 105 pounds. April 2 – 107 pounds. April 4 – 110
pounds. April 7 – 112 pounds. By the end of June, I was up to 115
pounds. (An increase of 10 pounds in five months)
Like I had said before, when I started CrossFit in 2007, I
was already fairly strong. My first front squat attempt maxed out at
185 pounds. However, my front squat remained unchanged until March of
2009, when I hit 187 pounds. Two months later, I had a 200 pound front
squat. (An increase of 13 pounds in four months)
One last lift to note is that my back squat has gone up 27 pounds this year alone.
Olympic lifts have continued a positive linear progression that does not appear as closely linked to diet.
A quick note about body composition: my body weight hovered
around 145-150 for most of the past few years; I’m not sure of what my
body fat was, but it was most likely around 16%. With the change in my
diet, I quickly put on about 5 pounds, and today I weigh in around 160.
Apparently, this was all muscle mass I was in need of – the last Bod
Pod test I had was in early summer, and it determined I was
approximately 7% body fat.
Even with the increase in strength and body weight, I have
continued to see progress with my speed and metcons. This is huge for
me, because historically, an increase in strength/size would directly
correlate to a downturn in all things related to calisthenics, speed
and general huffing and puffing performance.
Lastly, I want to make it clear that I do not go OCD with
the Paleo approach. I do not weigh or measure my food, though I do try
to combine protein, fats and carbohydrates in each meal (however, not
in Zone proportions). Once every week or two I eat pizza. Occasionally,
I have wings and beer. The vast majority of the time I focus on food
quality (local, organic, humanely raised), but I refuse to stress about
food. Making good choices most of the time works for me and makes it
easy to pass on the same advice to my clients. I have yet to see
frenetic obsession about nutrition produce any positive gains in a
client.
This year has been a whirlwind for me. I was able to come in
3rd place at the Dirty South Qualifiers as well as place 14th female
overall for the 2009 CrossFit Games, and I credit Robb Wolf and his
nutrition cert for a good portion of those accomplishments. I believe
that successful athletes, especially those of us over 30, are made from
simple, high quality Paleo foods. Gluten, grains, beans and similar
Neolithic foods have proven to me to be detrimental to health and
athletic performance."
A big thank you to Laura for giving me permission to post her story on the One World site.
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REST DAY~~~~SKILLS DAY 9/8/2009
Rest....OR....make up a workout you missed....OR....
Practice a pistol (one-legged squat)
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