CrossFit Box Owner, L4 Certified Trainer, John McPherson joins Melanie and Michael to discuss CrossFit, health, fitness, education, and how to achieve whole health.

We discuss:
-John's background and how he came into CrossFit
-what CrossFit is, and a breakdown of its methodology
-the importance of diet and sleep to our fitness, thinking, and well-being
-how testing the vestibular system with spinning and rolling helps us concentrate and focus
-the disastrous effects of taking away phys ed in schools
-how movement helps us stay focused and alert, and learn and remember

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About John:
"CrossFit has been his sole and principal strength and conditioning program for over 15 years and credits CrossFit with keeping him injury free and healthy since retiring from the military.

"He grew up with a passion for competitve athletics from a young age, excelling in baseball and swimming. While also playing a variety of sports over the years, including soccer, basketball, rugby, track and field and competitive shooting.

"After leaving the military in 2007, John started teaching CrossFit in Houston to anyone and everyone that would listen. In about a year the program out grew his tiny rented space inside of a 'globo gym' and forced him to outfit a top-tier functional fitness gym dedicated to CrossFit in 2009.

"His goal is to share his extremely broad training experience with everyone that wants to make a change in their life.

"John is the ONLY Level 4 CrossFit Coach in Houston and is 1 of only 72 in the US. He will help you reach your goals, no matter how big or small." (See: http://www.p3crossfit.com/coaches/5/john-mcpherson)

Description of CrossFit quoted in the podcast:
"CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide.

"Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.

"CrossFit contends that a person is as fit as they are proficient in each of ten general physical skills: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and accuracy."

Quote John referred to:
"Doctors are like lifeguards; CrossFit trainers are like swim coaches. When you are drowning, you do not need a swim coach. You needed one, and you did not get one. What you need is a lifeguard. We will teach people how to swim, and when they do not pay attention and they go under, the doctors take care of it." -- Greg Glassman (https://medium.com/@CrossFit/fitness-luck-and-health-85ce496d6bc3)

Re the Army sleep study referred to, Michael says about the source and the info:
"According to ex-Army Ranger Dave Grossman in his book On Combat, in a study by the army on heavy artillery gunners, people who only got four hours of sleep a night were dangerous. A group of heavy artillery gunners did a course to get baseline accuracy score on day one. They were then divided into four groups, one getting 7 hours of sleep a night, one 6 hours, one 5 hours, and another 4 hours. At the end of the study, the group that got 7 hours of sleep a night was getting 98% of baseline accuracy. The group that got 4 hours of sleep a night was at 15% or less baseline accuracy. In other words, they were damned dangerous."


Contact Melanie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-katragadda-nctm-9b14522a
Contact Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gold-2883921/ or http://goldams.com/


External Links
1. CrossFit: https://www.crossfit.com

2. P3 CrossFit: http://www.p3crossfit.com

3. MovNat: https://www.movnat.com

4. Parkour: https://wfpf.com/parkour/
4.a. Parkour: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour

5. Primal Play: https://www.primalplay.com

6. Nutritious Movement: https://www.nutritiousmovement.com
6.a. Move Your Body Better (Nutritious Movement Certified practitioner): http://www.moveyourbodybetter.com/

7. Mind and Body in Motion Podcast: http://chandlerresources.com/?page_id=996c
7.a. Website: http://chandlerresources.com

8. Coach Sommer Interviews by Robb Wolf
a. https://robbwolf.com/2016/05/31/best-of-episode-213-coach-christopher-sommer-gymnastic-bodies/
b. https://robbwolf.com/2014/07/01/episode-230-coach-sommer-gymnastic-bodies/
c. https://robbwolf.com/2014/10/14/episode-241-coach-christopher-sommer/
d. https://robbwolf.com/2015/06/23/episode-275-coach-sommer-correcting-weaknesses-and-imbalances/

9. Secrets of Sleep Science by Crag Heller: https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Sleep-Science-Dreams-Disorders/dp/B00DTO4G2C

10. Why We Sleep by Matt Walker: https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-Unlocking-Dreams/dp/B0752XRB5F/

11. The Circadian Code by Satchin Panda: https://www.amazon.com/Circadian-Code-Supercharge-Transform-Midnight/dp/B07F16S85B/

12. Matt Walker "Why We Sleep" Google Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXflBZXAucQ

13. "The Science of Sleep" discussion by Russell Foster, Debra Skene and Stafford Lightman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Uzy35uJzU

14. Matt Walker discussing sleep on the Joe Rogan podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwaWilO_Pig

15. Various articles and videos on sleep: http://goldams.com/?s=sleep

16. The Army sleep study mentioned by Michael, and other info, is discussed here:
a. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209071/
b. http://isme.tamu.edu/JSCOPE97/Belenky97/Belenky97.htm

17. Sleep deprivation and disasters like Chernobyl and the Exxon Valdez:
a. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2517096/
b. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sleep-deprivation-accidents-disasters_n_4380349
c. https://www.optalert.com/how-fatigue-played-a-role-in-some-of-the-worlds-biggest-disasters/
d. http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/consequences/sleep-performance-and-public-safety

18. The concept of fission-fusion
a. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fission–fusion_society
b. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982206011924
c. https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/Fission-fusion_society.html
d. https://www.eva.mpg.de/documents/UnivChicagoPr/Aureli_Fission_CurrAnthr_2008_1554517.pdf

See also:
1. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John Ratey: https://www.amazon.com/Spark-Revolutionary-Science-Exercise-Brain/dp/B001GAUS6E/

2. The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative by Florence Williams: https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Fix-Happier-Healthier-Creative/dp/0393242714


Image courtesy John McPherson.