Beyond the Athlete: Jen Grigsby

1. Where did you grow up?

I was born in Pittsburgh and lived there until I was 11. Then my family moved to Southern York County.

2. What is your athletic background?

I was a competitive cheerleader in high school. I probably would have tried other sports, but I was always on two squads, which took up a lot of my time and conflicted with other practice schedules.  For people that laugh at the athletic part of cheerleading, just know that we did a lot of push-ups and runs while shouting our cheers to build endurance. When I was younger I was a flyer in stunts, but then switched to a base. As a base you throw people in the air- think a lot of thrusters!!!! Now think of doing Fran while shouting the whole time. Yep.

3. How did you get started with CrossFit?

I went to a strong man class with Sarah Adams. Her friend, Mike Jenkins L, was sharing a space with the guy from 13 stripes. He invited us to come to his box opening for a free intro class. It was KILLER, but too far away. So we found 717. Home ever since and a much better fit!

4. How long have you been at CrossFit 717?

The end of March will be 2 years.

5. What are your favorite exercises/WODs?

I really like technical movements like Olympic lifts and gymnastics movements. I love a good chipper!

6. What exercises/WODs do you dislike?

Anything running. I try to improve, but my body just doesn’t want to go faster!

7. What are you goals with regards to CrossFit and what accomplishments/PRs are you most proud of?

Just keep pushing myself! I was pretty pumped last year when I hit my bodyweight snatch, but getting a muscle up was definitely the biggest achievement. Though it looks easy, it is probably one of the most technical movements (especially for females) in my opinion. It took a lot of hard work and determination!

8. In your perfect world, what would you be doing in 10 years?

Taking care of a happy and healthy family.

9. Where did you go to high school/college?

Susquehannock High School, Shippensburg for undergrad, Temple for grad.

10. What is your current occupation?

Special Education Teacher

11. If you could eat dinner with 3 people past or present, who would you choose? Furthermore, what would you order for dinner? 

I would choose my grandfather that passed away from Alzheimer’s when I was in elementary school. I hear get stories from my family and I have a lot of questions about which ones are true. We would have medium rare filet, crab, veggies, and a bottle of wine.

12. Who is your celebrity crush?

Don’t have one. Celebrities are just people.

13.  What is your favorite movie?

Don’t have one. I love anything that will make me laugh!

The IFX: Finale and Wrap Up

I finished my 8 week fasting experiment and want to report my finding and results here.  In my opinion, it was ver successful for me and helped me achieve the goals I set for myself.

Weight:  182.  My body has seemed to normalize right around 182 now which would be a 5.7 lb. weight loss in 8 weeks.

Body Fat: 15.5% i think.  I haven’t gotten it checked in some time due to scheduling and trying to find time before I train but the mirror test still shows a leaner physique from when I started.

Training:  Throughout the entire fasting experiment, I never did any sort of Crossfit and always focused on weightlifting.  In those 8 weeks, my numbers got close to if not beat my old PRs from pre-injury back in September.  Here is an example:

Snatch – 8 kg post injury PR, only 5 kg off my lifetime best

Clean and Jerk – 8kg post injury PR, 2 kg off my lifetime best

Clean – lifetime PR

Front squat – equalled lifetime PR

To me, this is pretty incredible considering all of my training sessions were done fasted and most days I didn’t have any food until approximately 5.5 hrs after lifting.  Certainly not the results you would expect if you listen to the majority of the wisdom out there but sometimes you don’t know until you try it.

Diet: I stayed strict to my protocol the entire time and did not cheat once.  All of my meals were between 12-8 each day.  I ate “clean” throughout the week and had one cheat meal on Friday nights.  I think this helped because my body knew what to expect and got itself into a rhythm.  Even on days I felt hungry, I could still lift effectively and once the training started the hunger went away.

How I Feel:  Currently I am back to eating the same 4 meals a day but spread out throughout the day.  I eat roughly at 7, 11:30, 3, and 7:45.  So I get the same amount of calories as I did while fasting but just not in an 8 hr window.  I will be interested to see how this effects my lifts from here on out and if I feel any differently.  The one think I think may make a big difference is having a recovery meal right after my training session vs. not eating for 5.5 hrs like I did when fasting.  Time shall tell.

Wrap Up:  Overall, I feel that intermittent fasting in an effective way to lose excess weight/body fat while keeping and possibly gaining strength.  I personally have a hard time holding on to my gains when I cut calories so I was very surprised when my numbers continued to go up as the weight went down.

I would be very interested to see how this would have gone if I was an actual CrossFitter and did metabolic conditioning type workouts.  I would venture my weight and body fat loss would have been even greater.  I believe Scott Glem is doing this right now so we can see what kind of results he gets.  I am writing that 25% because you all can have a reference point through him and 75% because now that everyone knows, he will be less likely to cheat or bail on his diet.  He loves peer pressure.

I hope this log was helpful.  If you find yourself in a place where you want to make some physical changes and are wondering what type of diet you should try, I highly recommend giving this one a shot.  As always, if you have any questions you can find me at the box or drop me a note online.

Beyond the Athlete: Karen Polensky

1. Where did you grow up?

I’m a West Coast girl. Born on Kauai. Spent several years in California, part of it on to a cattle ranch in the mountains near Paso Robles (kid heaven!), and finally ended up north of Seattle in the 8^th grade.

2. What is your athletic background?

I was always outside as a kid, riding bikes and horses, building forts, exploring. I played high school sports but never focused on one discipline enough to see how far I could take it. Since college I’ve continued the jack-of-all-trades approach: cycling, running, swimming, water and snow skiing, windsurfing. Almost forgot…I played intramural inner-tube water polo in college!

3. How did you get started with CrossFit?

I can blame it all on Kara Shiffer! She posted something about this crazy gym on FB. Showed up for my intro class and was hooked.

4. How long have you been at CrossFit 717?

Just hit my 3 year anniversary.

5. What are your favorite exercises/WODs?

Snatches, toes to bar, handstand push-ups – because I’ve worked hard to get them. And I do love a long chipper.

6. What exercises/WODs do you dislike?

Front squats and deadlifts!

7. What are you goals with regards to CrossFit and what accomplishments/PRs are you most proud of?  

Continue to increase my Oly PRs, score a 300+ FGB, and give a Games slot my best shot within the next couple years. Not sure if it’s an accomplishment but I’m happy to have made it this far without any major injuries.

8. In your perfect world, what would you be doing in 10 years?

I’ll be running a summer camp for adults with diabetes (supported by the millions that Sean will give me later in this interview) with full immersion in the Paleo/Primal lifestyle.  This will leave plenty of time for CrossFit training with an annual trip to Carson as a 60+ masters, tending the garden and spending time with family. And I’ll head for my second home in Austin, TX once the snow started flying.

9. Where did you go to high school/college?

High school: Burlington, WA

Undergrad: Washington State University

Masters: California University of Pennsylvania

10. What is your current occupation?

Diabetes educator/nutritionist for Summit Endocrinology in Chambersburg

11. If you could eat dinner with 3 people past or present, who would you choose?

* My dad, who passed away in ’92, because I still have so many questions for him and am finally old enough to understand him a little better.

* My high school biology teacher because I didn’t make it back before he passed away to tell him how profoundly he influenced my career path.

* Daniel Craig – see #12 below. If he’s busy then Leonardo da Vinci because he had his fingers in so many fields of interest and was brilliant at them all.

Furthermore, what would you order for dinner? 

Thai curry with shrimp and Bonefish Grill’s coconut pie for dessert. No it’s not Paleo but it’s amazing!

12. Who is your celebrity crush?

Daniel Craig. Can’t wait for the next 007 movie!

13.  What is your favorite movie?

Princess Bride. Witty dialogue, great characters and a ton of classic lines. An “inconceivably” awesome flick!