Posts

The Competition Wellness Paradox

The Competition Wellness Paradox “That would be sweet to be Rich Froning” … A thought that I’m not ashamed to admit has passed through my head more than once in my six years of competitive CrossFit. You could also insert Mat Fraser into that sentence as well. In a bubble you would think that Rich, Mat or Tia Clair Toomey being the best in the world at something that supports long-term health and longevity would in-turn also be the healthiest individuals at 50 years old. It turns out that is not always the case, and to some extent you’re already starting to see it in Froning’s case. He competed two years ago at the games with a severely torn meniscus, he’s had knee surgery and multiple treatments to try and become pain free again. Self-admittedly he refrains from lifting above 90% in training, saving it specifically for competition. It appears that being the world’s fittest man comes at a price… Let’s leave the competitive bubble of the elite for a moment. Why did you start Cr
1 comment
Read more

Put your belt on for safety...right?

Put your belt on for safety…right? As you walk into the brisk confines of CFW on a Saturday morning and look around, what do you see? I see barbells, dumbbells, and bands for fitness, I see a table full of people’s shaker bottles that they didn’t take home (I’m looking at you). I see cubbies full of shoes, belts, shirts, and knee sleeves for safety… or so we’re told. A few weeks back at our coaches meeting I brought a very unpopular, but well researched opinion to the group. Our belts and knee-sleeves, the things that are most meant to keep us safe and healthy, are hurting us. That doesn’t make any sense at all. Well, let’s take a deeper look! Let’s start with the belt. To understand whether a belt is helping or hurting you you’ll need to know a few things about how the body protects itself from heavier loading. Core muscles: Most people think of six-pack abs when they think of core muscles, which is part of the equation, but the core muscles hold a much higher value
Post a Comment
Read more

Vitamin Week!

Vitamin Week! Do you ever wonder what all those vitamins are for walking through the aisles at Costco? Hundreds of different numbers and letters all scattered about. Well this week’s blog is going to be dedicated to helping you understand what each vitamin does, and where you can get the vitamin in natural foods. First let’s understand the different between the two types of vitamins… Fat soluble vitamins : A vitamin that can dissolve in fats and oils. Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed along with fats in the diet and can be stored in the body's fatty tissue. They come from plant and animal foods or dietary supplements. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble. Water soluble vitamins : A vitamin that can dissolve in water. Water-soluble vitamins are carried to the body's tissues but are not stored in the body. They are found in plant and animal foods or dietary supplements and must be taken in daily. Vitamin C and members of the vitamin B complex are water-soluble.
2 comments
Read more

Bigfoot, and the mystery of lactic acid...

Bigfoot, and the mystery of lactic acid… Bigfoot isn’t real. Well, at least I don’t think it’s real. I mean science tells me it’s extremely unlikely, but according to the stories I’ve been told as a kid, and the two hours per week that my dad watches “Finding Bigfoot” it is possible, I guess? So why do we as a culture accept that there is a real possibility that something with no scientific backing may exist… because someone at some point told us that’s the way it was (usually as children), and our uneducated common sense/our imagination wanted it to be real. Unfortunately, when you bring it up in your place of work as an educated adult, you may get some funny looks. Oh man is this going to be a bad take if they ever find one of those things… Lactic acid, like Bigfoot to society, is one of the most commonly used misnomers in exercise science. There is some truth, as we do know that lactate has an impact on high intensity exercise, but what impact it does have is commonly mistak
1 comment
Read more

Overtraining, like riding your bike...

Overtraining, like riding your bike… Overtraining… one of the most overused words in the fitness world. Plenty in the fitness industry use it as a mechanism of criticism towards an athlete’s methods or a coach’s training techniques… but only a percentage of them can tell you what the phases of overtraining are, what the physiological impact is, and why it’s important to know the signs and symptoms. I’m going to do my very best to make you an informed, critical thinking athlete, that will be able to make educated decisions about their own concerns with overtraining. Think of us like a little kid on a bike; the first thing our parents tried to do is get us off the couch and on to the bike, then they give us a few pointers, and BOOM they roll us down the hill! I don’t know about your experience with learning how to ride a bike, but mine was filled with bumps, scrapes, and bruises… and maybe a few tears. Which has not been that dissimilar from my experience with fitness J . Once
Post a Comment
Read more

The “Afterburn Effect”: Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC)

Laying on the ground in a pool of my own sweat, grasping for air like I just completed an Ironman triathlon. I’m probably being semi-dramatic, but I had just finished a 30-minute bike for total calories, which might as well have been a 100-mile run through the desert. As I’m slowly able to peel my weak, overheated body off the ground, I take one last glance at the screen I had just been peering at for what felt like three days. 481 calories. I felt good about that, but the more I got to thinking about it, did I really accomplish that much? I mean 481 calories, basically I burned off enough calories to eat a couple hot dogs, or a king size candy bar… THAT is how hard I have to work just to burn 481 calories?! I think we’ve all felt that way at one time or another, well I’m here to explain the process behind the “afterburn effect”. Otherwise know as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC. To understand how EPOC works, you first need to understand what homeostasis means. H
Post a Comment
Read more