StrengthBox athlete Katy Hawkins with her opening lift
There were some dramatic moments at the East York gym StrengthBox recently, as local residents challenged their skills in several strength-oriented events in order to raise funds in support of mental health. During the event, competitors and spectators raised $1,000 for child and adolescent mental health programs at Markham Stouffville Hospital.
“One in five Ontario youths face some form of mental health issue,” says Greg Carver, founder of StrengthBox. “The link between a strong body and a strong mind has been demonstrated, so a strength competition was a perfect event to fundraise for mental health support.”
Allan Bell, Director of Corporate Sponsorships and Coordinator Madeline Cuadra receive the cheque from Greg.
Markham Stouffville Hospital is expanding, and needs money for mental health services
Participants attempted to deadlift the most weight, do the most pullups, and snatch a kettlelbell for maximum repetitions in five minutes – and the winners in each division had to place well overall in all three events.
The local winners in each division were:
- Cynthia Roulston (Women’s Open): Deadlift 300lbs; 13 Pullups; 98 KB Snatches (24kg)
- Katy Hawkins (Women’s Novice): Deadlift 270lbs, 7 Pullups; 100 KB Snatches (16kg)
- Colin Badali (Men’s Open): Deadlift 365lbs, 22 Pullups; 86 KB Snatches (24kg)
- Ameer Rosic: (Men’s Elite): Deadlift 500lbs, 14 Pullups (+22lbs); 81 KB Snatches (32kg)
- Raymond Sui (Men’s Novice): Deadlift 275lbs, 16 Pullups; 115 KB Snatches (16kg)
Ameer Rosic about to lock-out with a 500lb deadlift.
Volunteer Carman Buchman with Colin Badali (1st place, Men's Open Division)
Other gym locations throughout North American and Europe held their own Tactical Strength Challenge (TSC) events, so local winners could see how they fared internationally. The results have been posted on the TSC website.
StrengthBox plans to repeat the competition next year and raise even more money through online donations. “Mental health is a subject that is important to me personally”, says Carver, “as it has affected several members of my own family”. Money is needed for the hospital’s expansion fund and for programs and education to help conquer the stigma attached to mental illness.
“A huge thank you to all who participated, volunteered and donated!”
Tags: Fundraiser, markham stouffville hospital, Mental Health, Sponsorships, strengthbox challenge, tactical strength challenge
Learn from the legend himself!
Steve Maxwell’s coming back to Toronto in early June, and we can’t wait! Coach Maxwell has visited the StrengthBox on numerous occasions, covering everything from mobility conditioning to traditional club swinging for strength and fitness – and this time he’s presenting a full certification program for trainers and athletes.
Fundamentals of Human Movement is a new event that Maxwell has recently piloted in Europe, and this will be its first offering in Canada. As this is a new certification course, we are piloting it at a special introductory price.
In this seminar, you will learn:
- The basic movement patterns of the human body and appropriate, sane exercises to train them to produce optimal results
- The foundational components of physical fitness and how to best address them
- Proper breathing technique, breath control–and why this is so important
- How to maximize performance–and recovery–with breath control
- Safe, effect workout construction and design
- Proper bio-mechanical execution of the most common exercises
- Basic principles of safety and performance applicable to ALL exercises
- Demonstrations of how to keep the joints safe from injury
- End the confusion between “recreation” and therapeutic exercise–for once and for all
- The difference between demonstrating strength skills and genuinely building strength and explosiveness–someone has to call a stop to the insanity and Coach Maxwell is stepping to the front!
When you finish this 2-day course, you will feel confident in your ability to build a workout program based on sound body principles. Steve cuts through the confusion and garbage and shares the reality of his training principles. This is GOLD for those who can recognize value.
This seminar is aimed at teachers, trainers, athletes and all those who want to move on with their own training. It’s a hands-on seminar — Steve believes in learning through doing so you will be actively participating. To be certified at the end of the seminar, particpants will have to be able to pass a test based on principles covered.
The Fundamentals of Human Movement will be piloted in 2012 and the price level is based on this pilot status. In 2013, the price level will be in line with Steve’s kettlebell, bodyweight and joint mobility certifications.
REGISTER NOW – Steve Maxwell’s programs in Toronto have always SOLD OUT very quickly!
http://www.maxwellsc.com/
Tags: certification, natural movement, Steve Maxwell, StrengthBox
May 5th, 2012
StrengthBox, our unique Toronto gym, is challenging everyone to test their skills in several strength-oriented events in order to raise funds in support of mental health. The StrengthBox Challenge will take place at the East York gym on Saturday, May 5th and all proceeds will benefit the Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation, as their staff works to conquer the stigma of child and adolescent mental illness.
In the StrengthBox Challenge, participants will compete in traditional powerlifting (a three-attempt max deadlift), bodyweight challenges (max rep pullups) and even kettlebell lifting (max kettlebell snatches in 5 minutes). Pledges and donations will be accepted on event day, and all are welcome.
“One in five Ontario youths face some form of mental health issue,” says Greg Carver, founder of StrengthBox. “The link between a strong body and a strong mind has been demonstrated, so a strength competition is a perfect event to fundraise for mental health support.”
We are asking for a $20 minimum entry fee, but participants are encouraged to gather sponsors to raise even more money. All proceeds will go to the Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation in their initiative to build out a space for adolescents with psychiatric challenges. Receipts for tax purposes will be mailed out for any donation of $20 or more.
Winners of the StrengthBox Challenge will also be competing against other athletes internationally as part of an overall Tactical Strength Challenge. Competitions are being held throughout North American and Europe on the same day, and results will be compiled online.
Check out strengthboxchallenge.ca for more info and to download a pledge form. The lifting will begin at 12:00pm on Sat, May 5th at StrengthBox – 45 Cranfield Road, Toronto.
Tags: competition, markham stouffville hospital, Mental Health, StrengthBox, strengthbox challenge, tactical strength challenge, training
Brasied Crockpot Beef Ribs
Beef ribs are so easy to make, especially when you have a slow cooker on hand. With our meat-share program at StrengthBox, I usually have a freezer full of grass-fed goodness, and I look forward to getting to the packages of braising ribs. The ingredients here are flexible; I just used what I happened to have on hand.
- Beef ribs (any amount, preferably from a grass-fed animal)
- Bacon fat
- 1 diced onion
- 2-4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 c beef broth
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 1 t liquid smoke
- 2 T chili powder
- 1 T apple cider vinegar
- 1 T raw honey
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 t herbs de Provence
- 1 t dry mustard
- vegetables (carrots, celery, etc.)
- freshly chopped parsley for garnish
- In a cast iron skillet, heat the bacon fat, add one diced onion, the chopped garlic, and cook until soft and transparent. Use a lower heat setting and be careful not to burn the garlic. Remove to the crockpot.
- Raise the heat on the skillet, add more fat if necessary, and brown the ribs well on all sides.
- Place the ribs in the crockpot along with the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, allowing the ribs to simmer and giving the flavours a chance to meld.
I don’t see the point of “boneless” ribs. Make sure yours are bone-in! Grass-fed ribs contain marrow, collagen, good fat and some connective tissues – and are highly flavourful. Braising ribs (searing with dry heat, then simmering in hot liquid) will ensure the final product is tender – mine truly fell off the bone.
I didn’t have any parsley or cilantro on hand, so I added a bit of leaf lettuce to provide a bit of green. This dish is great with a salad and a robust red wine. Enjoy!
Tags: grass-fed beef, recipe, ribs
Coach Maxwell Knows Clubs
It’s been about 6 weeks since Steve Maxwell completed his two workshops in traditional club swinging at the StrengthBox. It was wonderful to work with Coach Maxwell, and on a personal level I got to know him quite well during his recent stay in Toronto. I have a feeling he will return!
The clubs have always intrigued me. I was first introduced to them via the Orange Kettlebell Club (OKC) clinics that we hosted last year. While OKC focused on joint mobility and shoulder health (and the lighter clubs are perfect for that), Steve gave us a feel for using heavier clubs – which are perfect for strength and for conditioning.
Lever Presses
Clubs are unique in that they move in space through all the planes in which the body can move. You can do a lot with a single club, and by shifting the choke (where you grip) from the end by the knob to further up the neck, a person can add volume or handle a seemingly heavy weight. And I guess there’s something fairly primitive about swinging a heavy club around … it just makes you want to yell “Bamm Bamm!”
The class worked mostly with clubs ranging from 5 to 15 pounds. That may not seem like a lot of weight, until you pick one up with zero choke. You quickly realize that a 10 pound club is NOT like a 10 pound dummbell. We also had a few heavier clubs (25 and 35 pounds) to experiment with. I found the latter particularly useful for two-handed work.
Day Two Participants
One of the exercises we dubbed the “spear chucker”, because it simulates throwing something fairly heavy overhand from the shoulder. Coach had us practice this move continually for 5 minutes, changing sides as often as we liked — and while it was challenging, it made the shoulders feel amazing afterwards. No other tool in an indoor gym environment mimics throwing quite as well as the club, another reason why it’s such a great piece of equipment.
I feel confident that we can bring Steve Maxwell back to the Box to learn more. Both his joint mobility and club workshops got fantastic reviews, and I can personally vouch for the quality of his Kettlebell Certification Course. Here’s to learning more!
Check out the video below.
Tags: Club Swinging, Clubbells, Clubs, Indian Clubs, kettlebells, one-day clinic, Steve Maxwell, StrengthBox, Workshops
Not from your local bakery...
Traditional muffins really came into their own in the 1970s and 1980s, with the rise of specialty coffee shops and bakeries that catered to the busy office-worker crowd. Touted as “healthy”, they started to become available in whole-grain varieties, with added ingredients such as blueberries, cranberries, chocolate, pumpkin and carrot. Low-fat muffins were the next rage, which necessitated a greater amount of preservatives in the batter mix to keep them from going stale a few hours after baking. The sugar content rose as well, to the point that the product resembled more of a cupcake than anything healthy.
For those of us who want more than gut-irritating grains, sugars and vegetable oil in the morning – there is another choice. Enter the “meat muffin”. There are two varieties that are fairly easy to make. The first resembles a meat-loaf in taste and texture, only the meat is baked in individual muffin tins. The second is designed to look and taste a bit more like a traditional quick-bread muffin, albeit a savoury one. The latter uses more eggs and coconut/almond flour, but the basic ingredients remain the same.
For muffin pans, look for quality cast-iron varieties. Teflon-coated pans are a health-risk.
Simple ingredients
Option 1) Basic Meat Muffins
- 1 lb organic ground turkey
- 6 strips natural bacon, chopped
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 small zucchini, coarsely grated
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 c coconut cream or milk (full-fat)
- 1/3 c coconut flour, sifted
- 1 t Tamari (wheat free) soy sauce or coconut aminos
- Black pepper
- Optional spices (garlic, chili powder, oregano, etc.)
Traditional Meat Muffins
Option 2) “No-Bread Quick-Bread” Meat Muffins
- 1 lb ground tukey
- 1/2 lb bacon, chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 zucchini, grated
- 8 eggs, beaten until frothy
- 1/2 c coconut flour
- 1 c almond meal
- 1/2 t baking soda
- 1/2 t baking powder
- sunflower and pumpkin seeds for garnish
- roasted chili paste (optional), black pepper
No-Bread Quick-Bread Muffins
Cook the bacon and onion in a cast-iron or other skillet, and brown the turkey. Cool and process about half of this mixture in a blender or food processor using the chopping blade. Place the processed mixture in a large bowl, then add the remaining meat and the other ingredients. Mix everything together with your hands.
Tags: meat muffins, paleo, recipe
Baked Pumpkin Soup
Every Hallowe’en, pumpkin patches and grocery stores abound with Jack-O-Lanterns, although these seasonal vegetables aren’t usually destined for the dinner table. To be honest, the flesh is a bit stringy and less sweet than the pulp of a sugar or “pie” pumpkin. Nevertheless, it’s still pretty awesome when used in a nourishing and comforting soup. I think this recipe is a winner. It’s velvety and full-flavoured; you’ll want more than one bowl!
Baked Pumpkin Soup
- 1 medium sized Jack-O-Lantern (or any variety of pumpkin)
- 4-5 tablespoons butter (clarified, grass-fed)
- 3 carrots, halved
- 3 celery stalks, halved
- 1 large or several small onions, peeled and sliced
- 8 cups chicken stock (go for quality; make your own!)
- 1 can coconut milk (full-fat)
- 1/2 t ground nutmeg or mace
- dash of marjoram
- 1″ piece fresh ginger, grated (or 3/4 t ground)
- dash of cayenne pepper
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
- snipped fresh chives, for garnish
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Cut the pumpkin in half lengthwise. Scoop out (and reserve for roasting) the seeds.
- Place a tablespoon of butter in the cavity of each pumpkin half, cover with foil, and place skin-side down in the oven. You may want to place a roasting pan or another piece of foil underneath to catch any spillage. Roast for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, then remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
- Put a few tablespoons of butter in the bottom of a large soup pot, and sauté the onions until translucent. Add the carrots and celery. Scoop the pumpkin pulp out of the skins and add to the pot, mixing thoroughly.
- Add the chicken stock and the nutmeg, ginger, cayenne, marjoram, sea salt and pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for about 15-20 minutes.
- Purée the soup, in batches, in a large blender or food processor until smooth. Return it to the pot, add the can of coconut milk and adjust the seasonings. Heat through. Serve each portion with a sprinkling of fresh chives.
* Note: Use a fresh pumpkin; not one that has had a candle stuck in it!
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds with Chili
Spiced and Roasted
Keeping true to the spirit of paleo, no food should be wasted. So why not try roasting your pumpkin seeds? It’s a better option than the sugar-laden junk that most people fill themselves with at this time of year. Chili powder is a great natural anti-oxidant, and thanks to its capsaicin content, there’s an anti-inflammatory effect too.
- Seeds from a Jack-O-Lantern, separated from the stringy pulp and rinsed clean
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 t chili powder
- dash of onion powder (optional)
- sea salt
- Blanch the seeds in a small pot of boiling water for about 6-7 minutes. Drain well and cool.
- It’s very important that the seeds are allowed to completely dry. While you can dry them in a single layer on a baking sheet or in the sun, the best way is to use a food dehydrator. Spread the seeds in a single layer on your dehydrator sheets and set at 95 degrees for about 8 hours. Once they are dry, you can hull them or leave them with the shell intact.
- Gently heat the olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet. Add the dried pumpkin seeds and stir every now and then. Add the chili powder, sea salt (I use coarse sea salt), and a bit of onion powder. After 3 or 4 minutes, the seeds will begin to pop and spit. Once the seeds are well toasted, remove them from the heat and pan.
- Cool and serve.
Tags: Halloween, Jack-O-Lantern, paleo, pumpkin, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin soup, recipe, seeds, soup
Veggie-Flax Bread with a Fish Spread
Giving up bread as part of a Paleo diet is not easy for some. Every now and then it’s just nice to know that you can have something upon which to spread your liver pate. While there are many recipes that use flax-seed as a base, here’s one that also incorporates lots of vegetables. You’ll need a food dehydrator and good blender to proceed.
Veggie-Flax Bread
- 6 carrots
- 4 onions
- bunch celery
- Braggs amino (or curry spices and garlic)
- 4 1/2 c ground sprouted flax (sprouted)
- (chia or hemp seeds, optional)
Here I blended tomatoes, carrots and onions
Blend whatever vegetables you choose (almost a blender-full) into a slurry with approx. 2 cups of water. Tomatoes and peppers are nice additions. Use a squirt or two of Braggs Aminos and/or curry spices or garlic. Add a bit of chia or hemp seeds if you desire.
Pour the vegetable mixture into a big bowl, and using your hands mix in the flax and any other ingredients you choose. Mix well to eliminate lumps — the result should have the consistency of oatmeal.
Wet and dry ingredients
Prior to dehydrating
Carefully spread the mixture evenly over teflex or Paraflexx sheets. These are thin, flexible sheets that fit on top of your dehydrator trays to keep things from sticking. You can tamp in some sunflower or other seeds if you wish at this point.
Place the trays in the dehydrator and turn on at a moderately high setting (about 125 degrees) for three hours. Score the tops into individual pieces. Lower the temperature on the dehydrator and wait another hour or so, then turn the bread over onto the screens and remove the texflex sheets. Continue dehydrating on low overnight or until desired consistency. While the result is pretty tasty and has a nice texture, don’t go overboard and eat too much at one sitting! Too much flax can upset your digestion pretty quickly…
With some (not strictly paleo!) coconut gouda
Tags: bread, flax bread, paleo, recipe, veggie flax bread
Lamb Innards in the Marinade
I think I’m becoming a bit of an ‘expert’ in making Greek-style “kokoretsi” — or lamb innards on a spit. Kokoretsi is not only a classic dish, it’s origins are ancient. Making it is an involved process, and it takes some practice. Assuming you can find the ingredients on the fresh market, you also have to know how to clean and prepare everything, and that’s time consuming. I blogged a bit about my previous attempt earlier…including the ordeal of thoroughly cleaning the intestines.
Ready for the BBQ
Thanks to the Papoutsakis /Katrakis clans for showing kokoretsi trainees Lucie and myself how to prepare this traditional dish! The liver, heart, kidneys, spleen and lungs of the lamb are cut into pieces, marinated in good Greek olive oil, lots of lemon juice, crushed oregano, sea salt and black pepper. Next, they are placed on a large skewer, or souvla. The whole is then wrapped in a sheet of the messentery, or connective tissue (which would normally enclose the abdominal organs in the live animal). Finally, the kokoretsi is wrapped with the intestines, which keeps everything in place, much like securing a roast with kitchen string.
The finished skewer is roasted in the BBQ — rotisserie style — until the whole thing is brown and crunchy on the outside. The skewer is removed, and the dish is served in thick slices — often with lemon slices and onions.
It’s a shame that organ meats have largely been rejected in the Western diet, as they’ve been important to mankind since prehistoric times. In many ancient cuisines (Greece is just one), they were symbols of strength and celebration. So don’t just get your innards by eating hot dogs, where they are ground up so you can’t distinguish the contents — do your health a favour and go for the real thing!
Tags: Greek cuisine, innards, kokoretski, lamb, organ meats, paleo, variety meats
Coconut and peach, with a hint of maple
It’s Labour Day here in Canada, marking the close of another summer season and heralding our gradual approach towards Fall at the end of the month. There’s still lots of time to spend outdoors, be barefoot, and lots of occasions to enjoy some homemade ice-cream — paleo-style, of course.
Paleo ice-cream should contain no modern dairy or processed ingredients. I’ve experimented with some coconut and almond-milk based ice-creams in the past using my Blendtec blender and ice-cubes, and those varieties have come out fairly well. But for really good home-made ice-cream, you’ll need some type of specialized appliance.
Three simple ingredients
The ingredients in the freezer bowl
Ice-cream makers seem a bit decadent (not exactly a must-have appliance), but when I saw one at a local thrift store for $6.99 that looked like it had never been used, I shelled out my seven bucks immediately. It was a quart-sized Donvier, complete with an aluminum freezer bowl and hand-crank. The aluminum bowl goes into the freezer overnight to freeze the liquid between its double walls, then the bowl slips into the outer case, the paddle and ingredients go into the bowl, the transparent cover is locked on, and the crank is turned. The crank only needs an occasional few turns for 15-20 minutes. Simple!
This basic ice-cream does not use eggs, so it’s not a custard. The use of eggs makes a creamier ice-cream, but there’s a cooking process involved and it’s easy to lose the delicate flavour.
Coconut Maple-Peach Ice Cream
- 1 can organic coconut milk (full fat)
- 2 very ripe peaches, quartered
- 3 T real maple syrup
After a bit of hand-cranking
Blend the coconut milk, peaches and maple syrup in a blender until well-processed, and prepare the ice-cream following the directions for your ice-cream maker. For me, that meant placing the chilled cylinder in its outer case, inserting the paddle, pouring in the blended ingredients, and locking the lid and crank in place. Once every 3 minutes, I gave the crank 3-4 turns in a clockwise direction — for about 20 minutes.
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