Training In Silence vs With Music

You know those moments when mid wod the music stops and all you hear is breathing and weights moving. Its weird and not ideal right? It may even sound gross, but it’s the most natural and raw our environment can sound while we use our fitness.

We all typically workout to music in a gym setting or sometimes outdoors. It gives us motivation and something to get hyped to when we lift. It can be the thing that determines your output in a wod. Either being with a speaker or headphones this method no doubt of working out is popular.

Depending on your ability to by scheduling or access to equipment/ locations the method of working out to silence may be rare. You're probably saying "why would I not listen to music?". Well there are some reasons to. First without external motivation (not including coaching) the output can be seen. We can see various normal things such as lifting the same weight, finishing below time caps, or even simply performing advanced movements. Also this can reflect how our fitness can be used in real life scenarios (not in competitions or events). These can be things such as moving a refrigerator, fixing a tire on the side of the road, hiking, or even saving yourself/ someone in a dangerous situation.

A very special benefit of working put in silence is that it helps reinforce the mind-body connection. In forms such as Hatha Yoga, Qi-gong, and Pilates this method can be seen. This allows us to focus our attention to various parts of the body. To focus on activation of muscles to practicing meditation, this method can be utilized. Even if being used for weightlifting or a wod, being in tune with your body can have its benefits. Plus if you do workout in silence, to most people you'll seem nuts.

Try it out if you are able to. It may even decrease your stress levels while hearing the natural sounds of your environment. If not then theres nothing wrong with listening to music on whatever you're using.

Functional movement vs Isolation exercises

You've heard about a curl right? Maybe even a chest fly. Well chances are you probably have done either isolation exercises(body building) or the split routine system(leg day on fridays, back/biceps on mondays, and chest/triceps on wednesdays). This type of training is fine in itself, but if performance and work capacity is on the mind, there are the functional movements that we know and love. The lunge, clean, snatch, burpee, muscle up, and rope climb are just a few of the many possible movements. Both types of movements can be utilized effectively for the CrossFitter or the average person.

We know we can do Deadlifts. We know we can run, but what happens when you pair the two? A stimulus is achieved in which only the pairing of exercises can produce. Lets say we are doing a CrossFit type program 3-5 days a week. This means we have multi joint strength training of either lower body or upper body. We also have a WOD everyday. We have the whole shabang. Or do we?

Well the answer is yes and no. You have a strong basis of your training, but the accessory is missing. There can be accessory work that is multi joint that works skills left out of the original hour training session, but we can target muscles that potentially are unbalanced. This is called a muscle imbalance and can cause synergestic dominance of other muscles. Basically when the primary muscle doesn't fire, but a secondary one does. Take a bench press, the pec major should be the prime mover and not the triceps. This is where isolation training or body building comes in.

If you are truly isolating a muscle you may need additional equipment, but it can be done with things you already utilize at the gym. Take myself for example. My left knee isn't as strong as my right one because of a past injury. I perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps of an assisted pistol squat ON BOTH LEGS. Even if I need to prioritize one side, it doesn't mean I have to neglect the other. Train both sides evenly even if this includes balance and agility training.

A good range for this hypertrophy  technique can be seen as 3 sets of 8-12 reps at 75% to 85% of 1rep max. Remember your training should be targeting your weaknesses. Everyone is different and may require different areas of focus. This is why we do the additional accessory work.

Remember theres nothing wrong with doing a little bit of body building after or before a CrossFit class. If it improves your abilities utilize it, but remember to track your workout history so you can see your progress.

Also please keep in mind functional movements do burn more energy and increase calorie expenditure, while the isolation movements do not produce the same levels with most of the movements.

The Pistol Squat

You've seen people do low pistol squats right? If you're not a Crossfitter then you probably don't come by them that often. This movement is one of the harder body weight movements because of the technique and weight distribution. A little different than the average air squat if you can catch my drift.

The pistol squat or single leg squat can be very beneficial that provides us with a way to not only test our balance, but to increase muscular endurance per leg. Specifically we are working the quads and glutes as our prime movers. Now in order to achieve greatness through this exercise, we will list the cues below. Keep in mind this movement should only be done to where balance is maintained and without pain.

1. Stand on a single leg. Begin to hip hinge by pushing the hips back first before the stance knee bending.
2. Keep the stance knee tracking out over the toes. Its acceptable to have the knee outside the toes, but if it caves inward come out of the movement.
3. Keep the raised leg out in front preferably not touching the ground.
4. Use arms out in front  to maintain counter balance.
5. Once the bottom of the squat is reached stand up. Maintain the knee tracking over the toes on the way up.
6. Throughout the movement keep the chest raised with a flat back. Also try to distribute the weight across the foot evenly.

Remember the full deep pistol squat may not be for everyone, but a variation of the pistol should be able to be achieved by most people. If its difficult to keep the front leg raised, try adding a box to stand on. This allows a little bit more depth for your raised leg. Also if you're somewhat proficient at pistols, try adding some weight that can be held out in front. We hope this gives a sense of performing the exercise. We will release a quick video also that shows the movement.

The Squat

If there was one movement that we would recommend to be the most important to maintain through our lives it would be the squat. Sounds really simple right? Well for a lot of adults they tend to lose the correct posture and mechanics for squatting. This can be caused by numerous factors such as an altered proprioception, muscle imbalances, and even just being sedentary. You're probably thinking; "Whats the point of squatting correctly" or e...ven "why should I learn if Im not exercising at work". Having correct posture will not only save your knees from chronic stress and pains, but it can also help prevent injuries such as MCL tears. Plus knowing how to squat right can help you later in life so you don't need aid getting off the toilet or couch, and by reducing the chances of you becoming yet another Instagram model for bad technique. (Seriously it will make you cringe just watching it.)

Now to begin with some easy steps for proper technique.

1) First find your foot placement. This should be just outside the hips. Turn toes out just slightly.

2) Begin by hip-hinging. Without bending your knees first, push the butt back. This will activate your posterior chain.

3) Now you can bend at the knees. Continue to track your knees over the toes. This is the line of action. Think of "knees out" to reinforce this.

4) Maintain a flat foot with weight distributed between mid foot - heels.

5) Keep chest raised up through the movement. Feel free to use arms as a counterbalance.

6) End either at a deep squat or at hips just below parallel. (If full depth is an issue just squat to where you maintain your balance.)

7) When standing back up maintain raised chest and continue to keep the knees out.

8) Finish at full extension of the knees and hips.

For to see a video representation please click the link below
https://www.facebook.com/pg/CrossFitMob/videos/

Conditioning The Heart

Remember the feeling of being out of breath? Or possibly even becoming dizzy from getting up or down? Well theres essentially a couple parts that play into these occurrences.

The feeling of having a loss of breath in a general sense is both a lack of oxygen and being deconditioned. A sudden spurt of intense movement could hinder an average person with a lack of breath and possibly an asthma attack if they have asthma. You're probably asking two questions right now. How do I improve this? And what happens if Im not average and am conditioned?

Well for an average person say a beginner to fitness or even someone who is sedentary, the best way to improve this increased work load is to start by introducing aerobic base work or a.k.a. a metcon. This long duration of constant moving and low intense work will gradually build up a tolerance to stress applied to the body. For a beginner after 2 to 4 weeks, aerobic intervals can be introduced. Thus consisting of durations between 4 to 10 minutes. Rest should be minimum. Exercises such as just rowing, biking, jogging, and swimming can be utilized as well for this type of training.

Now for the other question… what if I am already conditioned? Well at this point breathing techniques should be applied. This will determine your loss of breath. Starting with inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. Filling up the stomach before the chest with deep breaths of air. Also figuring out when to breath during an exercise. Take thrusters for example. Breath in when the weight is overhead and exhale when rise out of the bottom of the squat. This advanced technique of holding the breath while going through the eccentric portion of the movement will in return reinforce the lumbar spine. This is called intra-abdominal pressure. If you test this holding of the breath technique, start with low reps and a light-mid weight range to reduce the chance of dizziness. With practice this skill will improve not only your lifts, but it will also help in other power movements as well.

Now on the topic of dizziness. This can be caused by a change in elevation. Possibly from  standing up out of a prone position. This motion especially if not done regularly will cause dizziness and possibly nausea. Again common most in those who are deconditioned/sedentary. The way how to improve this is called Peripheral Heart Action which means training in various controlled angles of the body. From standing, to leaning, to prone, and to even inverted. The position of the heart in relation to the ground will cause it to work in various ways. Again one's training should consist of safe and controlled movements. This can be helped with the aid of a coach as well.

In the winter you may experience a lack of oxygen as well as having difficulties breathing because of the temperature. If you are training in the winter take the extra time to stretch and warm up before starting your workout. This will prepare you and warm up your muscles for the work ahead.

Staying Winter illness/injury free

Ever dread the winter months? It could either be the fridged temperatures or risk of getting sick? Its an all too real thing.

Lets start with the cold. Its like somebody left the freezer open right? So cold to where you can flick your car door and break a finger. Well the winter doesn't have to be that bad. I usually see and have heard about people breaking their tailbones on ice. Well over the past few years I have found these tips to be helpful.

1)First off neutralize you're center of gravity. With this I mean walk flat footed with shorter and possibly slower steps than what is normal. Plus keeping your center of mass over the toes can prevent you from slipping backwards.

2)Another thing I recommend to do is walk in the snow opposed to the ice. A visibly snowy side walk is always safer than a shiny/icy one. Also If theres any snow patches on a parking lot or street try to step on the snow. These tips will definitely help is the night when temperatures are freezing.

Now you must be saying there must be more right? Other scary things about the winter? Well you're right and that’s the topic of illness. For many of us our immune system is not up to paar in the winter. People get colds and lets say the flu. Well a great way that I've found to stay fit and not sick are the following:

1)I keep my nutrition clean. I know this may sound like a generic tip, but it definitely in fact works. Throughout 2016 just by loosely following the Paleo Diet I resulted not becoming sick as much as any other year. This was due to my consistency with eating lean foods and drinks with no sugar that my body processes well. In return my immune system was boosted. Even though I did have the stomach flu once back in april, it wasn't nearly as bad as my family's. I only had this occurrence for a day, while they had it for almost a week. I largely say that my fitness training and diet helped my immune system to properly function. As you can tell I am very thankful for that.

2)Wipe down your equipment when exercising. We coaches say this a lot. Nobody wants a soaked kettle bell or dirty barbell. Just by disinfecting the equipment you will not only ensure it is clean, but you can possibly ward off sicknesses and bacteria from spreading. Trust me nobody wants to be sick while their doing a WOD.

Remember we coaches want to see you thrive and perform well. As always stay safe outside, meaning driving or walking. (Remember 4 wheel drive does not mean 4 wheel drive stop. You can still lose traction and slide uncontrollably. Even if you trust your driving watch out for others with not as ideal cars. They can pose a danger of not stopping as well.) And please wipe down the equipment. It only takes a few moments to do which can benefit us all!

Energy Systems

Have you ever wondered why workouts are programmed the way they are? Lets take a tabata workout for example. Whats the purpose in mind? Well we will be taking an in-depth look at the 4 energy systems available in this article. ...

If we look at an energy system standpoint we will find that the ATP-PC provides us with short term energy. This is used between 0-20 seconds for explosive movements. Some say it can be extended to 30 seconds, but if you look at sprinting specifically the acceleration decreases at 20+ seconds. This primarily utilizes and can resynthesize the ATP stores when rest is included. To isolate this system one should rest for a ratio of about 1:16 (work to rest).

The next is anaerobic glycolysis which ranges from 30 seconds to about 120 seconds. This system continues to burn carbohydrates and can be targeted in workouts such as Fran. Fran is an example since this should be achieved in about 2 minutes and not 10+ minutes. This workout should be scaled appropriately to utilize this system. To target this system a rest interval should be about 1:8.

The next is aerobic glycolysis which extends from 2 minutes to nearly 4 minutes. This primarily utilizes glycogen for fuel. An AMRAP (As Many Reps Possible) in 3 minutes will target this. This can be targeted with a ratio of 1:4 (work to rest).

The last is the aerobic/oxidative system which can sustain activity from 4 minutes to however long a duration might take. A 5k for example will utilize this system. Rest for this duration should be short until the total work is accomplished.

We hope this gives a simple idea of how we utilize our energy systems for various activities.