Clean and Jerk – 30 reps for time
M – 135#, F – 95#.
For some, this will be the quickest WOD of the week: a huge metabolic demand in a very short period of time. Some dread "Grace"; some would prefer to do it every day.
Catalyst Records:
2:49 AJ Bisceglia
7:34 Leanne Givens
The short METCON is often misunderstood. If you stand on the "calories in vs calories out" soapbox, it would appear that four minutes of work does not an ice cream cone make. However, calculating out calories burned, from total work performed:
(At 5'11", I weigh 185lbs; my Grace time is right around the 4:00 mark)
| Work Performed 50935.54 joules 5193.9 kg-m 37570.05 ft-lbs Power Output |
1 calorie = 4.2 joules so 1 kilocalorie = 4.2 kilojoules.
50935.54joules = 12127 calories….or 12 kilocalories, which most of us refer to as "calories." Confusing, I know. But 12 calories, for four minutes' hard work? How can this burn fat?
The trick is to look at the metabolic cascade triggered by the work itself. In that four minutes, insulin sensitivity within muscle cells skyrockets, and your body begins digesting. Amino acid turnover is triggered. The high CNS demand stimulates the pituitary gland and adrenal glands (seatbelts – ON!) and your metabolic rate climbs. This is very similar to the fight-or-flight response to stress. This time, though, the stress is applied, removed quickly….and your body adapts.
It's not uncommon, an hour later, to feel peaceful and hungry. It's not uncommon to want a nap. It's not uncommon to wake up starving, with testosterone coursing through your veins….and feel like walking through a wall to get food is a reasonable course of action. Gotta love 'Grace.'