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.

Holiday Eating/ Strategies For Dieting

With the holidays coming up and thanksgiving only being a week away most of us will be with friends and family. This means theres a high chance that we will be eating all the food that comes with the holiday as well. You must be thinking "but how do I stay on track and not indulge in too much comfort food?". Well in this article we will be covering a few ways to prevent the holiday munchies from engulfing you.

We recommend fueling for your performance, but we realize that it is the holidays and in reality we are not perfect. This is why we included an option/ Idea for those who want to eat a little holiday food as well. This article will provide a few ways to stick to a diet, as well as other methods.

If you are traveling to a different location for thanksgiving day dinner and you know there won't be any healthy food, meaning food that doesn't meet your diet/lifestyle. A way to go might be food prepping the day of or night before. This will allow you to be with friends and family while still being able to eat the food that is right for you.

Another option which is not as ideal could be to eat a small meal prior to traveling to dinner. This will settle our appetite and in return lead us to eating less food at a different location.
If you are eating a home and you do have some lean food still available, but still want to eat some stuffing and pie. Maybe limit your intake and eat a little more veggies, protein, etc than the pie, stuffing, etc.

Another possibility is that if you know you are going to eat something that is not that healthy, such as pie, maybe think of either reducing the size by half or using a smaller plate. This will allow you to eat something that you enjoy, but limits the amount you will be intaking. This is an option if you know you are definitely going to eat something that doesn't meet your diet/lifestyle.

We hope these ideas might help for the holidays, but remember the important thing is to spend the time with loved ones. We hope everyone has a happy thanksgiving!

Have You Thought About Competing?

"Have you thought about competing?" I'm sure you've probably heard this from a friend or family member at some point during your fitness history. For many it could be intimidating or even in all honesty it could be a little scary to compete for the first time. The great thing about competing is that there are various events throughout the year that take place. Plus lets say if you need to usually scale movements, a scaled division might be perfect if available for that competition. From multiple day events to single meets there is a perfect one for you. Lets take a look at some possible events that may be available:

Multiple day events:

CrossFit Open:
5 WOD's released over 5 weeks
Cost - $20
Every year starting at the end of February and ending in March, CrossFit releases a new WOD that athletes will be able to do at every affiliate or at home, to see where they stack up against other CrossFitters in the world.

Kill Cliff Granite Games:
3 day WOD event
With multiple divisions such as Teens, Womens, Mens, and Masters there will be heats that run through each day that consists of WOD's and a floater.

Single day events:

Olympic weightlifting meets:
These are usually a single day event consisting of multiple athletes attempting to establish a max lift in either the Snatch or Clean & Jerk.

Battle of the Boxes:
1 Day event
Consists of 3 WOD'S and 2 floaters.
This event hosted by CrossFit MOB tests the fitness capacities of multiple teams from various CrossFit affiliates. This event is held in April allowing teams to compete.

Battle of the Badges:
1 Day event
Consists of 3 WOD'S and a floater.
Hosted by CrossFit MOB, this event is held to honor Jessica Ridgeway and her family by bringing the community together for a great cause. This event is a team event and makes use of heats. This is held in October.

Turkey Challenge:
2 day event
Consists of 3 WOD's and a floater.
This type of an all day event requires an athlete to not only be ready for one workout, but multiple throughout the day. This event specifically makes use of teams and individuals with the pro, open, and master divisions.

Colfax Marathon:
2 day event
Date: May 20th, 21st
Starting from Sports Authority Field runners will run a max distance of 26.2 miles and finish at the Denver Zoo.
The events are:
5k, 10k, 10 miler, half marathon, marathon
*This event purely consists of running with no obstacles included. This can be done as a relay team or as an individual.

Spartan Race:
2 Day event
Distance: 8-10 miles
Date: May 14th, 15th
Divisions: Elite, Morning, Afternoon
Releasing in waves of 250 athletes every 15 minutes, this race tests your stamina as well as strength with obstacles that require, but not only limited to; climbing over, crawling under, pulling, pushing, and carrying objects.

***We listed events that are available for multiple days, but are typically only done once by athletes. This is different than a competition requiring athletes to compete across multiple consecutive days.

As you can see there are various types of events in which you can compete in. From a CrossFit style event, to a long distance run, or a weightlifting meet, and even an obstacle course there is always an event that meets your abilities.

There are essentially two big parts to every competition/ event and those are the athletes and the volunteers that make it possible. The volunteers play such a huge role in setting up and enabling the "fun" to go as smoothly as possible. From setting up, to judging, recording, maintaining the area, to even helping clean up after all the excitement is over, a volunteer shows how crucial their support is.

If you decide to take part in competing or even lending a helpful hand, there will always be a spot for you. We listed only a snapshot of many events that are held throughout the year. We hope this article may inspire you to test your fitness in a positive and fun way!

Common misconceptions and the benefits of Youth training

Have you ever heard the sayings "you have to wait till you're 13 to lifts weights" or even that "weight training is dangerous for kids" as well as "weight training will stunt a youth's growth". Well I have throughout my life. For many of us we have most likely heard a similar thing curving us away from using weights or exercising in general as kids. We heard it from our teachers, coaches, and parents.

 

The point of when I started questioning these ideals was during college. My personal fitness  program offered an in depth look at all aspects of fitness ranging from nutrition, mind body applications to even youth and adolescent training. What caught my attention was that even though these chapters of our text books were short compared to the rest of the manuals provided by NASM and ACE there were benefits listed  regarding youth fitness training. This of course includes weight training as well. Another big or even prominent advocator for youth training is CrossFit. This is apparent with their push for CrossFit classes at a local box near you.

 

The myth of a child resulting in not growing normally from weightlifting is false. In fact it can help improve their ability to accelerate and decelerate their own body effectively. This in return helps them become safe and strong with great movement mechanics. Furthermore the early adoption of exercising can help define their future and guard against obesity, diabetes, and other negative conditions.

 

A program such as CrossFit that introduces the 3 main modalities such as gymnastics, weightlifting, and conditioning can reinforce excellent movement patterns. The goal is to provide a fun, safe, and interesting class for them. If they are participating in sports, they will notice the transferability of movements learned in these type of courses. One of the big things that many trainers look out for is the growing pains in adolescents and the awkward movement patterns generated from this. Since a teen for example can grow a few inches in just a month or less. Their proprioception will in result be changed, but their understanding of the movements will not. They may need specific training to adjust to their recent body growth however, this just further shows how important it is for an adolescent to have a coach. I recommend checking out "Game Ready Fitness" if you are in the Thornton/Westminster area. Coach Mary and Coach CJ are experienced leaders and are ready to help young individuals find their athletic potential. Feel free to contact a coach at: gamereadyfit@gmail.com

Game Ready Fitness (Youth Sports Performance)
Class Schedule:
Tuesdays: 7pm
Thursdays: 7pm
Saturdays: 10am
Sundays: 10am

 

http://www.ptonthenet.com/articles/myths-and-facts-about-youth-training-3953

 

Take a look at the link above to see another article regarding youth fitness. For a further in depth discussion on this topic, feel free to check out our latest podcast episode below.

 

http://www.podcasts.com/level-up-711ac0ce6/episode/Episode-3-Talking-Fitness-w-Coach-Mary-807a

Why To Mix Up Our Programming

When we do various things most of us want the ability to specifically measure results. Take fitness for example, CrossFit defines this as work capacity across broad time and modal domains. In other words how much work can you do with varying movements and time limits. There are bench mark workouts such as Fran, Cindy, Elizabeth, and Diane that test our fitness with different movement stressors. The goal is to improve our weakness being pullups, squats, or even building muscle in the hamstrings, glutes, rhomboids, or even the lats. Please note that this differs with every person because we all have different goals and backgrounds in fitness.

For most of us CrossFitters that do the program, we tend to only stick to doing the WOD's everyday. This happens and is not a negative thing, but we do like variation right? The point that I am getting to is recommending to try out a different class every once and a while to see how you perform. Take our BFIT classes for example. This high intensity, core stengthening, and weightlifting program offers a new take on defining our fitness. BFIT consists of a mixture of full body movements and isolated strength building exercises. The program is scalable and can be tailored to everyone's limitations or abilities. The added benefit is that this energetic class is non intimidating compared to that of CrossFit.

The reason why this program may be beneficial to try is that it tests our skills in a different way than CrossFit does. This is achieved with different pieces of equipment that are utilized such as the dumb bells in place of the barbell. BFIT aims at improving our oxygen utilization while providing shorter duration interval style workouts that last between 50 to 60 minutes.

The importance of mixing up your modalities of fitness is key to finding and strengthening our weaknesses. Try testing this recommendation out to see how you perform and don't forget to tell us what you thought.

Slam Ball Uses and Technique

Relief method for frustration or just a just fun way to train. The slam ball can be applied to various methods such as slams, carry's, throws, and lifting. The purpose of the slam ball is to utilize power generated from our hips (core) and transferred to the extremities. In the next section we'll go over the technique for the slam ball movement.

 

For slam balls the technique starts with the start position. The ball should be placed between the feet. Feet just wider than hip width. Feet slightly turned out. Now from this base of support think of squatting down with the chest up and a flat back. This should replicate the Clean starting position. From here grab the ball with extended arms and proceed to stand up out of the squat with hips and shoulders rising at the same time. At this point we will reach a full extension of our hips thus creating the power to lift the ball efficiently. From here we will shrug and high pull the ball to either catching in the racked position or pressing the ball directly to overhead without pausing in between. Once the ball is overhead we will actively slam the ball to the ground between the feet. The ball will make a bounce and can be caught on the rebound. This catch will allow us to utilize the momentum already generated to our advantage. From here we will simply repeat.

 

For carry's the best way is to rest the ball on the shoulder will running or walking. If the ball is held in the racked position we will fatigue our biceps and erector spinae (located in the lower back). Fun tip: to take the oblique's and the rectus abdominus try walking a distance with the ball on the shoulder. Something mid weight will promote more of a calorie burn since we can cover a longer distance with a medium-heavy weight.

 

For throws we must reach a full extension of the hips to generate the most power. For throws we can go by using a heavy or light weight. For a backwards throw a heavy weight can be utilized since we can use the squat set up position.

For a forwards and side/rotational throw a light to medium ball should be used. This is due to our ability to maintain form and not compensate by using muscles not primarily intended to be used.

 

Finally the lifting applications can be used for movements such as the clean and jerk, snatch, and bench pressing (one or two balls).

 

Keep in mind if you need a quick calorie burn or just a way to vent some steam, the slam ball is a great option to use.

The Hang Clean

For us CrossFitters were pretty used to doing various exercises such as the clean or hand stand push ups, but when it comes to whole movements such as the full clean or snatch there are versions that can be targeted. These "versions" are movements such as a drop snatch, a tall clean, and the hang versions for both. In this article we will cover the hang clean technique and why/how it can be useful to train in.

 

To begin a hang clean can be seen as taking a barbell or weight from knee height directly to the shoulder into the racked position. Sounds simple right? Well there's a actually very specific technique that we all train to be able to use the least energy as possible and move the most weight. This movement starts with the hang. The hands should be thumbs distance away from the thighs when standing. The finger technique in the hang is best used with the hook grip. Meaning clamping the thumb with the index and middle finger around the bar. From here our feet should be under the hips with a bent knee, weight in heels, flat back and in a hip hinge position. This should look like your shoulders are over the bar and the bar is at the knees with the glutes sticking back. From this position we simple will extend our hips and knees at the same rate with arms extended. Once we reach a full extension we will start to shrug and high pull the bar close to the body reaching chest height. At this point we will "pull" or "drop" ourselves under the bar into the racked position. This is where the bar is resting on our shoulders with the elbows up high in front of the bar. In this catching position we can maintain control on the bar using a couple fingers to allow the elbows to be raised. At this point in the catch we should be in either a full squat where our hips are just below 90 degrees or in a power position. This power position will mimic about the same position as the setup for the hang. We should catch with the feet in our squat position (just wider than hip width), weight in heels, knees tracking over the toes, glutes back, feet turned out slightly, and a flat back. After you have reached this catch position, simply stand up.

 

Benefits:

The hang clean can help us practice our pull under the bar and will be less than our full clean 1RM (1 Rep Max). If someone has a mobility issue getting down to the ground into the setup position, the hang can allow that athlete to train the same movement, but just at a greater height. This movement can also allow the seasoned athletes to practice the hip drive/extension to pull a greater amount of weight to the chest level.

Importance of Knowing how to Bail

In the box we coaches always strive to reinforce proper and safe movement patterns, but what if lets say a lift doesn't go smooth. Well were here to show ways to "bail" or "dump" the weight in a safe manner that will reduce the chance of an injury. Take for example myself for instance. As an athlete I grew up racing in Motocross. I was scared of falling until I learned how to fall properly. Same goes for our various exercises in the box. Our confidence is only as strong as our knowledge in what can occur.

 

Lets start with the ways how to dump simple movements such as the act of dropping the weight forward and stepping back, which are a great option for a failed front squat, clean, snatch, and overhead squat. The act of dropping the weight backward and stepping forward can be used in the back squat, snatch, and overhead squat as well.

 

Now the importance of mobility in our rotator cuff will become very apparent when dumping the bar behind us in a snatch. Please take note that this isn't the most ideal way to dump the bar. We recommend bailing in front of your body so you can keep an eye on your weight. This will reduce the chances of the barbell becoming a homing missile launching towards another athlete around you. The pass through movements with the pvc or bands will mobilize your rotator cuff and GH joint thus reducing the likelihood of dislocating or damaging your shoulder when dumping the bar.

 

Try out the above ways to dump the weight with either a pvc or light manageable weight. There will be a video posted along with this journal entry covering the proper ways to bail.

Should We Start With Strict or Kipping?

CrossFitMobJournal:

For most of us when we attempt a new movement such as a pull up we have the question "should I build muscle to do a strict pull up or should I learn to do a kipping pull up?". The answer varies with the athletes goal in mind. Lets say your goal might be just to get a pull up. Then the kipping version can be the way to go since it requires less isolated muscle strength and can be learned relatively fast.

 

The kipping pull up requires the body to have sufficient strength in the forearms for grip, the rotator cuff for the transition between the forward and backward swings, and the lat dorsi that creates the downward pull. This version requires adequate technique and full body power to create the swing. The strict pull up only requires muscular strength in the biceps, lat dorsi, and the forearms to take yourself from the hang to the bar.

 

From an energy standpoint the kipping version will tax our body less thus allowing ourselves to do more reps. Since we are using our whole body to move through the exercise, we are distributing our energy expenditure throughout our body. The opposite can be said for the strict since it requires full muscular isolated strength. If you may be doing a WOD the kipping version can most likely be the way to go. This will accomplish the most work in the amount of time allotted.

 

If we were to look at an estimated duration in which a beginner will train for optimal strength regarding a strict movement. It can take weeks to even months to accomplish. Keep in mind that the time will vary with every individual. Ideally for most athletes it is recommended to build a sufficient amount of strength to reduce the likelihood of an injury, but it is just as important to practice the techniques available. We always recommend to ask your coach to find out which technique is best to focus on which will improve your fitness.

 

Tell us what you thought about this article in the comments section!

Don't forget to follow our posts on CrossFitMobJournal.blogspot.com

Fitness Trackers

CrossFitMobJournal:

 

Topic: Fitness Trackers

 

Fitness trackers, they can come in many forms. From high tech wearables to an old man holding a clipboard and stopwatch theres a way to track your fitness. In this article we will cover a few beneficial platforms to try out and use.

 

If we were to start with wrist trackers such as a Fitbit or apple watch we will see a real time/ on demand tracker that will not only record our steps walked, but our heart rate, estimated calories burned, and distance walked. These type of fitness trackers can be very beneficial for the heart rate function which can track from our wrist or chest. Most of these can have a functional display on the watch to see our progress. Keep in mind that smart watches differ from specific fitness watches regarding fuctionality and uses because of the purpose of the product. The down sides of using such technology is that they can get in the way and can be sometimes fragile. In other words we don’t want to snatch a kettlebell on the watch. Plus depending on our exercises and our WOD's we may need to use wrist wraps thus replacing the tracker.

 

Next are fitness workout apps such as "SugarWOD". Most of these are free including Fitbit which can pair to an external source such as a watch, but we are looking at the workout tracker functionality portion in this section. Apps such as SugarWOD can provide us with a platform to record our PR's (Personal Records) and WOD's (Workout of the Day). This also provides a scoreboard for athletes to see where they placed among other fellow athletes in the same workouts. Plus these will show a detailed analysis of our progress in specific movements. Having the ability to track your scores are not only helpful, but it also makes finding those scores easy and quick!

 

Finally are the uses of applicable phones that track steps such as samsung and apple phones. Since these are an object that will be in your pocket, tracking steps for example will not be the most accurate estimate since the object will bounce around. As you can see these won't be the best option to use, but it is still available.

 

If you decide to track your fitness in any of the ways mentioned above be sure to tell us in the comments section.

 

Remember to follow our Journal posts on CrossfitMobJournal.blogspot.com

Fueling For Performance

CrossFitMobJournal:

 

Topic: Fueling for Performance

 

When we think of reaching our fitness goals we usually think of two things. Exercising and nutrition, but for many of us we tend to forget about the nutrition aspect of our fitness. In fact nutrition can represent nearly 85% of our progress.

 

In this article we are only addressing the need and when to properly fuel for performance. We are excluding the area of diets and meal plans in this article.

 

For those of us beginner, intermediate, or even seasoned athlete we can all agree that we must eat/drink in order to be able to function at 100%. This goes especially if you are training in the morning versus later in the day.

 

Lets take for instance the snack before a training session. "Should it be consumed or not and how long before the session should it be taken?". In general it is recommended to consume some protein and healthy fat 30 minutes to an hour before hand. This obviously depends on if you have a specific diet and/or meal plans that you follow.

 

There is nothing worse than "tanking" a workout because of not having enough energy to do something. This recommendation not only supports the need to fuel, but it also helps us not reach the limit of where we can hold down our food. This is a possibility for many of us. The dreaded meeting with "Pukie" as Coach Glassman says. Since we are consuming a light snack 30 to 60 minutes before we train, we are allowing our digestive system to break down our nutrients with an adequate amount of time. This will further allow us to reach a balance between the amount of nutrients ready to be digested and those that are already in our blood stream.

 

If we were to look at the possibilities of not eating food before training lets say from a couple hours to even a full night before, we can see some negative outcomes. We could become dizzy and light headed depending on the intensity of the training. We could also potentially work a different energy system than which we wanted to target and potentially failing at movements in which we are capable of achieving as well.

 

In conclusion you can see the need to fuel for our performance does play into our ability to reach our goals and possibly those PR's. Just note that these possible side affects may not occur with everyone since our bodies do respond very differently. Try it out and tell us if it helped you perform at an improved level or if it potentially decreased your work output.

-Christopher H

 

Tell us what you thought about this article in the comments!

 

Plus don't forget to check out our Journal site to stay up to date with our posts!

How Scaling Can Be Applied Effectively

We all know that when it comes to training there are movements that need to be scaled in order to create a more positive and productive training hour. These scalable options can be minimal or a gross modification. None of which are bad, but can improve our current level of abilities. Most common ways to scale are by reducing the weight used, adding assistance bands, decreasing total training time, reducing reps/sets, and adjusting based on the equipment used. All are viable options to receive the most bang out of your workout buck.

This concept can be applied to our WOD's (Workout of the Day) to maximize the training effect. For example if a WOD is aimed to take around 4 minutes to complete and a CrossFitter takes 20 minutes to finish, most likely either the athlete or coach didn't scale properly. This can drastically change the energy system we are looking to target. Same goes for the opposite, scaling too much can lead to finishing a workout too early and/or not receiving the CrossFit stimulus in which we are looking to achieve. This could also possibly lead to not improving our overall fitness as effectively in the time used. A couple ways to figure out a base idea of where to start at is by knowing your 1 Rep max numbers and current level of movement abilities.

As you can see scaling is an important part of our training and should be carefully thought of. If help is needed I recommend talking to your coaches to find the best way how to scale a particular exercise.

-Christopher H.

How the Cooldown can be Beneficial

The Post workout cool down. No I am not talking about turning on the A/C in your car, but the post workout mobility and stretching techniques. This post workout cool down not only can improve our flexibility in our tight muscles, but it can also bring our bodies back down to homeostasis in a sense. This means a gradual reduced heart rate and less veneous pooling of blood in our extremities. Those with asthma can see this as reducing the possibility of an attack or episode and will make breathing easier post exercise. This can also be seen as to help flush the lactic acid in our muscles from the intense WOD (Workout of the Day) that we just finished. This lactic acid is the feeling of muscle soreness that we receive from the stimulus of progressive work. We can experience this directly after a WOD or it can be the next morning when we wake up. This feeling of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is what will determine our ability to perform in the next workout or perhaps in other everyday activities. As you can see the importance of the use of mobility work is vital to our well being and performance. I recommend trying out a few stretches or light conditioning post workout to aid in our progress. This does not actually have to take a whole 30 minutes, but perhaps 5 to 10 minutes for optimal applications. Some examples of stretching techniques and active cool downs can be used as follows;

 

Static stretching- Holding the stretch for 30 to 45 seconds per side.

 

Active Isolated stretching- Holding a stretch for 1-2 seconds for 10 reps on each side.

 

Self myofacial release- Rolling for 30 seconds to a minute per side. When a muscle knot is felt/found, hold pressure and create a slight wiggle effect to loosen up the bundle of fibers. This includes foam rolling, stick rolling, using a lacrosse ball, and smashing by using weight on a muscle.

 

Use of conditioning- Walking or biking for a selected amount of time or distance such as for 5 minutes or 400 meters.

 

-Christopher H. 

Stress and How It Effects Us

Stress… it can come in different forms. Such as bad stress and good stress. Take negative stress for instance. This can be stuck in traffic when you're having road rage or when you may be at work and suddenly you just realized that you are not going to meet a deadline on time. These are instances of the environmental stressors that can actually effect us not only on a mental conscious level, but actually on a molecular level. When we encounter this type of stress which is called the "flight or fight" response our heart rate can skyrocket sending adrenaline to our working muscles. This can be useful in certain circumstances, but only for a short duration. Over time this can cause a build up of plaque in the arteriole walls of the heart possibly leading to atherosclerosis and a shorter life span. As you can see this is not beneficial to our overall health.

 

This response is caused by the sympathetic nervous system. The "fight or flight" system that causes stress. The other is the parasympathetic system which causes relaxation and digestion. This parasympathetic system is responsible for bring our minds and bodies back to ease and creating the rebuilding processes in which have to constantly be done. For most people they do not reach this system unfortunately. Even in sleep this system should be utilized. Some examples of ways to activate this system is by meditating which can be from 5 minutes to an hour, participating in a nice yoga session or any other mind body class such as Pilates, and just sleeping for the recommended amount of time of 7-9 hours. This can include short power naps to restore energy and the body's ability to focus on tasks throughout the day.

 

One way how to manage stress can be seen in a variety of ways such as going for a walk break during long task duration at work, cleaning up your nutrition, not looking at social media as frequently or using technology as frequently, and by participating in a core-strength training program. This benefit of exercising will not only provide you with bone strengthening movements that will improve health for over a lifetime, it will also provide the use of the "good" stress.

 

This "good" stress can come from a training program such as CrossFit because of the safe, always changing, and dynamic time durations. From the WOD'S (Workout of the Day) that are provided which usually lasts between 8 to 15 minutes can condition our heart to improve our heart rate, ability to utilize oxygen, bone density, and other beneficial health markers.

 

So as you can see there are certain ways how we can gain stress and utilize it to be effective and beneficial instead of only diverting to the negative version. I recommend trying out some of these benefitting suggestions to utilize the parasympathetic system and to harness the "good" stress in which we are always capable of attaining!

 

-Christopher H.