The Hollywood Body

Sometimes you need drugs. And when you’re in pursuit of the “the Hollywood body,” that time would be now. That was my first lesson at CrossFit Hollywood.

The Hollywood look isn’t your cliché, twig-thin model who hasn’t eaten in days or the “roided-out” bouncer wearing Oakley’s and a tight white t-shirt. Popularized by Hollywood’s sexiest stars such as Brad Pitt in Fight Club and most recently Jessica Biel, the Hollywood look is dripping with lean, sexy muscle that makes people look twice. And the secret is found in a 6 to 20 minute fitness routine at a gym known as CrossFit Hollywood…Oh yea, and some drugs, which you can get their too.

On the bleeding edge of scientific understanding is an adaptive response to physical stress that triggers our “internal pharmacy” to manufacture a “custom drug cocktail,” which alters our biochemistry to ensure that our physique is at its best. Technically, it’s known as hormesis and harnessing its’ power at CrossFit Hollywood proves, “that which doesn’t kill you only makes you look better.”

Hormesis was first discovered via “the runners high.” In particular, pain-soothing, euphoria-inducing drugs known as endorphins (and many others) were found to be made by the body in response to physical stress. The same phenomenon is being taken to a whole new level by actors, elite athletes, cage fighters, and even soccer moms at CrossFit Hollywood.

The Crossfit High

Founded by Andrew Thompson and Neil Mahoney, CrossFit Hollywood is at 3rd and La Brea. Just look for skin and suffering. Andy is an athlete extraordinaire and Neil a former Navy Seal. Both are quick to teach that, “Unlike the Standard American Gym (SAG), their CrossFit routines are designed to hurt, but not injure, and that’s why it works so well at producing results fast.”

A CrossFit routine works like this: warm up with a short jog, go over exercise techniques, then start the Work Out of the Day (WOD). A WOD is a circuit made up of constantly varied, functional movements executed at high intensity, designed to keep your muscles guessing and push you past your perceived limits.

You’ll be amazed at what you can do physically and mentally. Forget about treadmills, bicep curls and the antiquated bench press. You’ll be challenged with exercises that will test your strength, stamina, drive and all out will to win.

As a chemist studying the effects of physical stress at the molecular level, the CrossFit routine appears to be one of the best ways to get the Hollywood body. Studies on full-body exertion show that a perfect balance of fat burning, muscle building and anti-aging hormones such as human growth hormone and testosterone are produced in response. These are responsible for taking you from fat to fit, quick. The surge lasts for days too, which means you don’t have to live at the CrossFit gym. Most people get results doing it only three days per week. My favorite part of the hormone surge is the pain meds.

The full extent of suffering through your WOD isn’t played out on the surface, only internally. CrossFit pushes your strength and cardiovascular limits where they’ve never been before. As a survival mechanism, your body will give-in and start producing feel-good compounds known as opiates. Akin to some drugs you might find on Sunset and Hollywood, just healthier and safer, these internally made medicines numb the body. I began to call this the CrossFit High.

Making CrossFit Work

The success of a CrossFit workout isn’t a phenomenon that operates independently of outside influence. As highlighted by the ongoing support and seminars offered at CrossFit Hollywood, proper eating is required. Like a meth lab is sure to stock ephedrine, you need to make sure your body has some basic nutrition on hand, which CrossFit Hollywood teaches is plenty of protein, amino acids and healthy fats – no fad-diets characterized by short term starvation, severe caloric restriction or whacky diet pills. Sticking to their nutrition principles ensures that the Hollywood body emerges in response to the WOD.

Only the Strong Survive

No doubt, I was hooked on the CrossFit High. And while those drugs keep me healthy and happy, they also prove that having a true Hollywood body is absolutely dependent on hormones, not Hollywood fads. No prescription required, you just have to have some guts to activate hormesis, even if it does hurt or stress your system in new ways – even if you have to redefine yourself. It’s biochemistry telling us that success lies beyond our comfort zones at CrossFit Hollywood and that; “Only the strong survive.”