Who needs a WOD when you’re hauling salmon?

Posted by Natalie on August 19, 2010 - Posted in News There are 3 comments, Add yours!

Guest Contributor:  Lance Alldrin

Lance and Luke Alldrin, both regular clients at NorCal SC, took the summer ‘off’ from the gym to head to Alaska.  Sounds like they’ve had a successful season!  To contact Lance--and put an order in for his salmon check out his website alldrinsalmon.com, or shoot !

Greetings fellow NorCal Strength and Conditioning members. My three boys and I have been commercial fishing in Alaska for the last 6 weeks and have had a successful summer. For those of you not familiar with our fishing, we use 3 –210’ long gill nets set off the beach to intercept salmon as they return to the Kenai River to spawn. The fishery is 100% managed on a sustainable yield principal, meaning that we (commerical fisherman) only get to catch the surplus beyond what the Dept. of Fish and Game want up the river for spawning purposes.

So far, we’ve put up about 10,000lbs of frozen, vacuum bagged sockeye (red) salmon for our northern CA markets. Clean out your freezer as we’ll have the shipment in Chico around the third week of August. 
This is a picture of Luke and I hauling fish up the beach. We set our nets at high tide and then as the tide goes out, we pick the fish out of the net, hauling them up about 200’ of beach to a tote full of slush ice on the back of our flatbed truck and then they are off to the processor. Luke and I have both commented that having two or three 6lb sockeye on each hand while walking up a rather steep “marble” beach would make for a great WOD!

Happy Birthday Cheri! Welcome Back Katie and Amie!!

Posted by Chrissy on August 18, 2010 - Posted in
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Monday, August 16th was an epic day! It was both Cheri G.’s 36 birthday and Katie S. and Amie R.’s first workout back after “giving birth for time” to their precious little boys!!

In the spirit of Cheri’s 36th birthday, all Elements classes did: 400m Run 15 clusters, 15 pull ups; 400m Run, 12 clusters, 12 pull ups; 400m Run, 9 clusters, and 9 pull ups.

Take a look at Cheri rocking her birthday workout! Happy Birthday Cheri and Welcome Back mommies!!

Casino Night Fun!

Posted by Chrissy on August 17, 2010 - Posted in Events There are 4 comments, Add yours!

Looking for something fun to do this Saturday, August 21st?? Townsend House is hosting a Casino Night fundraiser event benefiting The Alzheimer’s Association.

The cost is $25 per person. There will be a silent auction as well as some of your favorite casino games including Poker, Black Jack, and Roulette. Come on down to Townsend House for a night of fun for a great cause!  The event starts at 6:30pm.  Want a little more information?  Contact Kate at (530)342-4455 or .

If you are unable to attend this fabulous event and would like to donate directly to the Alzheimer’s Association you can click here this link goes to Townsend House and Monterey House “team page” for the Memory Walk Alzheimer’s Event on October 10th. Last year this team raised the 2nd highest amount of money for an Assisted Living Facility! Let’s help them raise more this year and have a great night of fun too!

Back to School = Packin’ your lunch

Posted by Katie on August 16, 2010 - Posted in Recipes There are 5 comments, Add yours!

Summer is coming to a bitter end, and school is approaching fast! During the school year I’m constantly on the go and in need of quick, portable meals.

I’m sure many of you can relate. You can always eat on campus, and they may have a good selection.... but I always like to know what I’m eating, and save myself some money at the same time!  In order to do so, I bring a lunch pail (check out Six Pack Bags). There are a variety of options out there--so I’m sure you can find one that will work for you life!  Find one that you can fit in your backpack, carry with you, or leave in your car. Here are some of my favorite simple meals that I pack:
* Sliced celery, carrots, and bell peppers
* Coleslaw (a main staple for me!)
* Egg Salad (Yep, I’m that girl)
* Egg Cupcakes
* Pastrami Roll-ups (Pastrami/Avocado/Pickle/Dijon Mustard)
* Chicken w/ a little mayo with black pepper
* Taco salad
I’ve even gotten to the point where I’m ok eating marinara sauce cold...so I tend to eat lots of leftovers.

If you don’t have a place to keep food cold, then here are some things to pack:
* Dried Veggies
* Shredded Coconut
* Jerky
* Nuts (or a nut, jerky, dried fruit combo...easy on the dried fruit!)
* Fruit (Apples, oranges, mandarines and grapes are all easy)
* Applesauce
* Cocoa Nibs

And you can even make your own trail mix and bars at youbars.com
Post YOUR favorite ideas to the comments section!

Check out this picture from everydaypaleo… these snack ideas work great for kids too!

Curing symptoms of Lupus with Paleo Nutrition

Posted by Chrissy on August 13, 2010 - Posted in News There are 3 comments, Add yours!

There are times when you try new things just for the hell of it; and times when you need to make a change to better your quality of life.

Most of us have our own story of what brought us into the gym and inspired us to dial in our nutrition. I was fortunate to come across this clip and I was reminded of the importance the quality of food is for our current state of health as well as our long term quality of life. Please click and watch/listen to Veronica Garza of G7 Athletics tell her story of how exercise and nutrition truly changed her life. Her story is inspirational!

G7 Stories - Veronica Garza from G7 Athletics on Vimeo.

Congratulations to the Stueber Family!

Posted by Katie on August 12, 2010 - Posted in News There are 8 comments, Add yours!

Sam and Katie Stueber are welcoming a baby boy to the family!  Congratulations!

A bit overdue Katie delivered Barrett Roy Stueber at 8:20 a.m. on August 6th!  He came in weighing a healthy 7 lb. 1 oz.  According to family, the delivery was a breeze! That seems to be a trend with our NorCal Mamas!  Check out baby Barrett!

Wonder why our NorCal deliveries have been so smooth?  Here are some facts on why women should train while their pregnant:

These 11 facts come from Dr. James Clapp III, were pulled from Female Fitness and Nutrition Scientist
1. Women accumulate less body fat
2. Women will gain a positive sense of well-being and vigor when you might tend to be pessimistic, depressed or lethargic
3. Women have a reduced incidence of upper respiratory tract infections (colds, sinusitis, etc)
4. Women tend to have an easier, shorter and less complicated labor
5. Women can actually IMPROVE their fitness level and physical performance
6.The baby will develop a improved tolerance to stress and as such, can handle the stress of labor much better than a baby of a sedentary woman (i.e., fewer drops in heart rate with each contraction)
7. The baby will have less body fat, but will still be able to maintain it’s body temperature
8. The baby will most likely be more mature at birth, meaning, they respond more readily to environmental cues and will self-quiet themselves if disturbed when napping
9. The baby will be a better sleeper (less likely to wake easily)
10. The baby will probably perform better on standardized intelligence tests as they advance in age
11. The baby will grow to be a less-fat adult (Thanks Mom!)

For all the new NorCal mom’s, how many of you can agree with these facts?  Congrats to all of our new moms...Becka...we’re waiting to add you that list!

Best Of Chico 2010!

Posted by Chrissy on August 11, 2010 - Posted in News There are 4 comments, Add yours!

It is that time again to vote for Best of Chico!

Click here to register and vote for at least 10 of your favorite Best of Chico Businesses!

Also, be sure to vote for the other folks in our NorCal Strength and Conditioning Community as potential Best of Chico candidates...Fragoso Chiropractic (Best of Chico 09), Bretters Automotive, In Touch Body Works, Trucker, Sin of Cortez, Realtors: Brewster Beattie-Keller Williams, and Rolf Dornseif, Sutherland Landscape, T Bar, Nantucket Home Furnishings (Best of Chico 09), & M Creations…

And of course don’t forget NorCal SC for Best Place to Workout!!  Where else can you Bear Crawl in a work out

Get on it and vote RIGHT NOW!

Bear crawl from natalie taylor on Vimeo.

Bacon-Egg-Avocado-Tomato Salad

Posted by Natalie on August 10, 2010 - Posted in Recipes There are 2 comments, Add yours!

We are in the peak of tomato season!  One of my favorite ways to enjoy tomatoes in the ‘ol days was to make a tasty BLT w/ Avocado.  Here’s a way to enjoy this classic flavor combo...paleo friendly!

I found this recipe on Mark’s Daily Apple...this is a great site for recipes, nutrition info, or just general health and fitness information.

Bacon, Egg, Avocado and Tomato Salad:
* 1 ripe avocado, chopped into chunks
* 2 boiled eggs, chopped into chunks
* Tomatoes, sliced
* Juice from one lemon wedge
* 2-4 cooked pieces of bacon, crumbled (optional)
* Salt and pepper to taste

Gently mix ingredients together and crumble the bacon on top! 

This has become my FAVORITE quick meal...I’ve been keeping lots of hard boiled eggs and cooked bacon on hand just for this recipe!

Doing it together!

Posted by Chrissy on August 09, 2010 - Posted in News There is 1 comment, Add yours!

Sometimes in life we are faced with challenges. Conquering these feats are what make us who we are.

As a coach watching all of you progress and overcome your challenges in the gym is truly rewarding whether it be your first pull up, or dragging a 200 lb. sled that you didn’t think was possible. Check out a few pictures of clients conquering the NorCal SC 200 lb. sled drag for 400m.  I recently had some private training clients do this as partners as well as the classes do it in groups of 3 or 4. This was no easy task....just ask those who did it! Great job everyone! 

Forest Gump, Abe Lincoln, BORAT? No, No, it’s just Strazz

Posted by Karina on August 06, 2010 - Posted in
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What can I say about Strazz? First things first, he is so much fun to have in class. His rivalry with Friedland is fantastic entertainment and his facial expressions during WODs are TV worthy.  He doesn’t eat paleo all the time as you will see from my questions, which explains why he always wants Natalie to cook for him! 

Seriously though, he’s an amazing member of NorCal.  He has been training at the gym from nearly the beginning, and he’s brought several other folks our way!  Strazz is always down for a good time which makes his presence at the gym, well, awesome!

How did you start at Nor Cal?
A few years ago when I met Robb and Nicki in the old gym… back in those days it was me and Katie Deluca going head to head in the WODS everyday!

Favorite WOD/Lift?
I’m not too bad at double-unders… although through extensive training Friedland has passed me up.  Inexplicably, I can actually do 14 handstand push-ups in a row.  So that’s my favorite now…

I have always wanted ...
To invent a sleeping machine where you type in how long you want to sleep and the next thing you know it’s morning.

Something people don’t usually know about me or something that would surprise people about me?
I had a top secret FBI clearance when I worked in Washington, DC for a summer internship.  I also grew my beard out for two months to be Abe Lincoln for Halloween and I’ve won the Chico ping pong tournament two years in a row. (....and just in case you may doubt Strazz’ amazing talent...check out this incredible youtube video of his championship match!)

Your most memorable moment since training at Norcal?
Every single time I beat Friedland in a workout. Hands down.

One word people use to describe me.....
Brown.

Outside the gym I like to...
Play ping pong, basketball, video games, go floating, and on occasion consume an entire box of Cocoa Pebbles in one sitting.

If you could invite anybody over for dinner who would it be? Why?
Will Ferrell so we can do Anchorman quotes all night…

Do you have any 6 month goals in or outside the gym?
To sign up 10 more universities for my class scheduling software company and… dunk a basketball.

And last but certainly not least…
Have you always had such wonderful facial expressions while working out, or is that just for us?
I’m not quite sure… I tend to avoid mirrors while working out and I’ve never quite had a team of people so interested in photographing me in excruciating pain…

Here are a few things about Strazz’s software business…
What business do you own and how long have you been in operation?
College Scheduler LLC.  We provide class scheduling software for use by students at universities around the country and it was started in 2005.

Best piece of advice for people in regards to owning a business:
For the love of god, please try to find some life balance when running your own company before it’s too late!!

Has your business improved since becoming a member at NorCal?
Yes, those endorphins are important!

What are a few of your business goals?
To get as many students as possible around the country using our class scheduling software!

Contact info:
Here’s the website: http://www.collegescheduler.com