Hey Folks,

Welcome to another edition of Life Ingredients, the newsletter where I share a workout, a healthy recipe, and a piece of motivational advice.

 

This month my trainer Steve Wrona is here to kick things off with a special CrossFit workout he designed just for my readers. Now let’s get to work!

The CrossFit motto is, “Nature abhors a specialist.” What this means is that training for a single sport or exclusively embracing one mode of exercise—be it running, cycling, or old school bodybuilding—can never unlock the full potential of the human body. “Well, I just need to lose some weight,” you might say. OK, that’s fair, but you need to remember that our bodies are adaptation machines and tend to acclimate very quickly to whatever changes you throw at them. The plateau you hit when you’re going to the gym every day and the scale still won’t move? That’s not your genetics or slow metabolism conspiring against you. Rather, it is just your body getting used to the stimulus and adjusting accordingly.

 

The trick, then, is to keep your body guessing and throw something new at it every day. Enter CrossFit, a mode of training for overall athleticism and fitness that incorporates weightlifting, aerobics, some gymnastics moves, and plenty of other stuff that’s not coming to mind right now. CrossFit releases a new WOD or Workout of the Day every day, with exercises stacked in circuits that are usually done for a set number of rounds or specific length of time.

If you’ve never heard of this and your interest is now piqued, then have a look below at my trainer Steve Wrona’s specially designed WOD and click the video to see him explain it all.

LIFE INGREDIENTS JULY WORKOUT

WARM UP

REPEAT IN A CIRCUIT FOR 3 ROUNDS

200-meter row ​​​​

15 air squats      ​​​​

50-meter farmers carry

(Men: 45lb dumbbells/Women: 25lb dumbbells)

ADVANCED:

400-meter row

30 air squats

100-meter farmers carry (Men: 55lb dumbbells/Women: 35lb dumbbells)

CROSSFIT FOR ALL

A WOD FOR THE MASSES

20-minute AMRAP*

*As Many Rounds As Possible within 20 minutes

STANDARD:

Rack Pull-ups x 10

Kettlebell Deadlift x 10 (Men: 70lb KB, Women: 45lb KB)

Incline Burpee x 10

Lying Leg Raise x 10

Standard: Sled Push/Pull x 25 meters

Men: 50lbs/Women 20lbs

ADVANCED:

Strict Pull-Ups x 10

Kettlebell Swing x 10 (Men: 70lb KB, Women: 45lb KB)

Burpee x 10

Toes to Bar x 10

Sled Push/Pull x 25 meters (Men: 90lbs, Women: 50lbs)

I’m still totally in fall comfort food mode, and this month’s recipe is very much in line with that. My take on a Shepherd’s Pie is unique (I use pork carnitas) but still close enough to the old-fashioned tradition of this great dish that every time I take a bite, I feel like I’m warming myself up on a dreary English evening as the cold rain pounds the pub windows. Heaven is a place on Earth, and I just described it. Anyway, here’s the recipe. Enjoy!

It’s easy to look at fall as a time of great loss: crops and flowers that flourished in the warmth of the summer wither and die, leaves fall from the trees, the days get shorter and colder, and we see a whole lot less of the precious sun that sustains us.

I choose, however, to look at fall as not a time of loss, but as a time of great change, a second spring that invites us to appreciate all that’s around us. The leaves that fall from the trees, after all, give us a triumphant and beautiful show on their way out the door. Likewise, the plants and flowers that will soon wither offer us a bountiful harvest at the end.

In short, fall is a time when nature’s hard work comes to fruition.

Maybe you’ve crushed your new year’s resolutions. Maybe you can’t even remember what they are. The point is, you have a choice before you: You can dwell on how you’ve come up short and how far there still is to go or you can be kind to yourself and celebrate whatever wins you had. You can see the fall as a time of loss and death or as a time of beauty and plenty.

I know how I’ll choose to look at it. I hope you’ll join me, and that you’ll remember the words I live by:

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE