Category Five Q&A with Paul

Hillary LOVES the ropes!

I have received a lot of inquires about what I offer here at Category Five Fitness and how it's different from what you find at other gyms and with other trainers.

My philosophy is simple. I focus on building strength in my clients so that it's easier for them to complete a certain amount of work, play or exercise. That means that you're not only working on your fitness while you're in the gym with me, but all day long as well. 

After more than twenty years in the weightlifting game, I've found that what works best are the simple, compound movements performed at relatively high intensity. In plain English, I take a classic, multi-joint exercise (like the deadlift), make it heavy enough that you can still perform the exercises with good form and have you perform a certain amount of work within a certain amount of time. This technique increases your capacity for work (you can do more work in a shorter amount of time).

Another question I get a lot is "Is Category Five a CrossFit program?" The answer is no -- and yes.

I stumbled upon CrossFit back in the fall of 2005. After initially being destroyed by the workouts, my strength and conditioning improved, and I was spending significantly less time in the gym. After strictly adhering to the main site’s programming for approximately two years, I felt I could improve upon the program by removing some of the risky protocols that I saw were leading to overuse injuries in myself and others who were strictly Crossfitting.

Having experience in Strongman training, an exercise science education, and heavy exposure to powerlifting, (particularly the Westside Method), I decided to pull aspects from all three areas and blend them with the best methods of CrossFit to create something new. As a CrossFit-certified trainer, I believe my program is the best method for changing body composition (more muscle, less fat) and increasing one’s confidence in day-to-day activities.

No more back pain for Meredith!

My clients have seen significant improvements in their quality of life, as well as in their physical appearance. Yes, the workouts are hard but NOT impossible, no matter what your level of fitness is! My clients range in age from 8 to 80, so there is no one who can't work the Category Five program. You will find yourself spending significantly less time in the gym, yet getting more results than you have in the past.

By focusing my efforts on training small groups of clients at one time -- 2-4 people max -- my clients are getting personal attention and I am able to maintain quality control to ensure that the exercises are being performed properly and with the right amount of intensity. On top of that, the cost of my program is significantly less -- at least 70 percent in most cases -- than the cost of traditional personal training. Plus, members get the benefit of possibly making some new friends and/or business contacts.

I am currently offering classes of up to 12 sessions with no more than 2 people for $200/mo. Another option is $200 for the first month so I can teach you the proper lifts. Then switch to $150/month with a slightly larger group — no more than 4 people. This allows you to train under a coach’s supervision 3 times per week. If you were to train this much through the cheapest personal training program, you would be paying at least $500 a month and not getting anywhere near the same results.


What other questions to you all have about Category Five Fitness?

Knees up HG!

Sherry has perfect form.

The Buzz on Fish Oil

While doing some research online, I came across this article from one of the greats in the world of strength and conditioning. It conveys the importance of supplementing with a high-quality fish oil. I believe this article is as good as it gets, so I will just post the link and then add my own recommendation for dosage at the end based upon the latest findings.

Why Fish Oils Are The Most Important Supplement

Fish oils have been promoted as a potential cure for virtually all diseases. Some members of the medical community have inferred that most ailments can be healed by manipulating the ratios between the EPA and the DHA. For those of us interested in positively and optimally altering body composition and maximizing our training efforts, fish oils offer sixteen possible advantages: READ MORE

How much one needs to take varies greatly. If one is overweight or suffering from an illness, significantly more is required—up to 30 grams a day. A good rule of thumb is one should be taking 1 gram for every 10 lbs of bodyweight.

For quality and taste, Barlean's can't be beat. Check out their Omega Swirl varieties. I go for the straight up oil in orange. Kara and my mother-in-law love the pina colada Omega Swirl and my father-in-law sticks with their first Omega Swirl, lemon. Check out their site for coupons and free samples.

The Ongoing Organic Garden Experiment

Paul and I are both Northerners (originally), pro-organic, and half Italian on our mothers' side. Our grandparents had robust plentiful gardens all summer, every summer without fail. They grew all kinds of varieties of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and eggplant (to name a few) from our family gardens. So when we moved to the southern coast of North Carolina, we thought, "Awesome! Long growing season! There will be lots of fresh organic produce." Paul was ready to take up the gardening tradition.

Start of Our Cucumber Crop

What a battle. We soon found out that there's a reason the South grows tobacco, cotton and corn -- growing conditions are harsh! First off, the soil is acidic due to our proximity to the ocean. This meant that we had to treat the soil with a lime treatment to make it more basic (remember the good ole pH scale from 7th grade?) before we could hope to grow anything. (we found this out in our four attempt at gardening - this year!)

Then there are the bugs; foreign and monstrous ones like the tobacco horn worm. It looks like the Caterpillar in Alice and Wonderland, is just as stoned, has the munchies and will devour tomato plants over night! The whole thing! Some boring moth thingy (like my scientific precision?) kills your squash with its larva. So. Very. Gross.

Branched Chain Amino Acid Supplementation

Meredith listens to me.
She's now stronger than she's ever been.

Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) have been a topic of discussion lately within the world of strength and conditioning. These are amino acids that play a key role in building muscle.  Most strength coaches have been adapting the philosophy of taking BCAA supplements both prior to and immediately after a training session. However, there have been a few who stick to the belief that we can get all that we need through the ingestion of protein from our diets.

My take on this subject is that while it may be possible to take in all that we need from food alone, nutrient timing is something that also needs to be considered: the timing of specific macro and micro-nutrients around our training sessions in order to gain maximum benefit. Science has strongly suggested that certain nutrients, including BCAAs, contribute significantly more toward meeting out nutritional needs when ingested around the time you workout.

Benefits of Working Out on an Empty Stomach

Okay, so you may be scratching your head. Don't you need to eat before hitting the gym to make sure you have the energy to get through your session? Actually, working out on an empty stomach maximizes the body's ability to burn fat and produce testosterone and growth hormone -- two important chemicals your body needs to burn baby burn.

To make this happen, don't eat for at least one hour before you work out. Not a protein bar, a 100 calorie snack pack or even an apple. The calories from these perfectly healthy snacks will need to be burned off before your body gets to your stored body fat. And isn't burning the stored fat the point of working out in the first place?

So, what about your blood sugar? You're probably thinking that if you're hungry and then burn off more energy by working out that your blood sugar will drop. Actually, low blood sugar results when your body can't efficiently convert fat into glucose to feed the brain. Unless your doctor has properly diagnosed you with a disease, such as hypoglycemia, diabetes, or insulin resistance, a little hunger won't kill you. Not to mention that the longer you keep sugar out of your diet, the more efficiently your liver converts fat into glucose.

So your trainer tells you to go Paleo...

What’s Paleo? Simply, protein, veggies, fruits, nuts and NO GRAINS! Sounds insane. Especially with the media push for whole grains in your diet. What do I think? It’s worth it.

Two years ago during a Christmas visit with my brother and his family, we celebrated with lots of Christmas cheer. Paul then declared: “When we get home we are not eating any grains.” I said, “What’s with this ‘we’ nonsense?” and ended with a NO! 

In the end, I did give in to limiting grains, but cold turkey wasn’t an option. We started with dinner – lots of big salads like you get in a restaurant minus the dressings that kill the fact that it was healthy. We use mixed greens, baby romaine or spinach for our base. Then cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, apple, pear or orange, (or any veggie/fruit we are in the mood for). Add some nuts/seeds like walnuts, pine nuts or sunflower seeds, then some feta or goat cheese, and of course protein! 

For us, this was a great start and is still a staple dinner more than two years later. A few of our favorite salads are now:

• Mixed greens, cucumber, bell peppers, feta, walnuts, chicken or steak, oil and vinegar.
• Baby romaine, cucumber, green apple, goat cheese, walnut, (maybe some bell pepper), chicken or steak oil and lemon juice.If you need salad dressing other than oil and vinegar, make it yourself! You can find all kinds of great recipes at http://everydaypaleo.com.

Who We Are

Contingency Plan: A plan involving suitable backups, immediate actions and longer term measures.

What does this mean for all of us at Category Five Fitness? LIFESTYLE!! 

Being healthy is not just a stop in the gym, but lies in the choices we make everyday. We've created this blog to help our community learn more about how to build a healthy lifestyle. We will share health, fitness and meal plans with you to help you make the healthy choices that will enrich your life and nurture your body.

So who are we? We're Paul and Kara LaFrance, the owners of Category Five Fitness.

Paul is personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach extraordinaire -- not to mention health guru. He is the man that makes Category Five Fitness the most effective workout program on the Strand. Paul loves his job, his clients, and making people strong and healthy.

I'm his wife, Kara. I fight for my health everyday because of a rare pituitary disease, acromegaly, which has left me unable to work and in nearly constant pain. I've lived with this condition for more than 15 years and know just how important good health is.