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Find Your Motivation

people swimming to find your motivation in large lake

CrossFit is hard work. It’s important to find your motivation – your why. You need to have a reason to get up and go to class every day. If you have a reason to cling to that’s personal to you, you’ll thrive so much more than you would otherwise.

I still remember my very first CrossFit class. I had just turned 24. For a long time, I had no interest in CrossFit. But one day, I realized the routine I had been doing was not working. So, I decided to give it a try.

I walked in and was surprised by who I saw. A pot bellied man in his 40s or 50s, a skinny kid who looked about 12, and a mom that looked like she had never worked out a day in her life. I’ll be honest, I looked at them and thought “If they are doing CrossFit, how hard can it be”?  I was quickly and aggressively humbled…

I don’t remember the WOD, probably due to lack of oxygen to my brain. But, I do remember feeling like my heart was going to explode. My muscles were about to give out and my lungs were burning so bad that I couldn’t stop coughing. I looked around and the three people I had previously thought were easy competition were lapping me. They were beating me so bad it made it look like I was standing still.

I assumed these people must have been doing CrossFit for a few months, so I asked. No one there had been doing CrossFit for more than 2 weeks! Humility slapped me again. A 24 year old who had played sports and worked out for his whole life couldn’t hang with middle aged adults and a pre-teen! It was a wake up call. I instantly became committed to this new lifestyle.

Starting vs. finishing

As many have before me and as many have since that day, I started. But here is the thing, starting is easy. Anyone, literally ANYONE can start something. And yes, starting new things takes courage and it is impressive to see people start down the road of self improvement. But, I have learned that becoming strong enough to go through trials and tribulations is much more impressive than starting.

A lot of people want to lose weight, get stronger, work out a little bit, or whatever their goal might be. And many of those people start down that road. They try it out for a few days, weeks, maybe even months. But then an obstacle pops up. Maybe they tweak their back, their work schedule changes, they take a couple weeks off which turns into a couple months. Eventually, they end up quitting all together.

Guess what. Given enough time, adversity comes for everyone. Life steps in front of everyone’s goal. Your goal might be to get in shape, or have a family, earn a million dollars, or restore a car. It does not matter what it is, but you will have to stay committed if you want to finish. 

And the further down the road to your dream you go, the further that finish line gets. You will reach checkpoints, but the finish line you originally pictured is a false peak. You have to keep pushing.

Many times in my CrossFit career both as a member and as an owner that finish line has moved on me.

Fail, cry, rest, or break down

If you want to succeed, you need to take quit out of your vocabulary. Seriously, do not even let it enter your mind. 

There can be no quitting if you want to reach your goal. You might fail, you might break down and cry. You might need to rest, you might need to seek out help. All of these are fine and, if you have worked towards your goal long enough, all of these will happen.  

The only thing not allowed is quitting. If you need to slow down from a sprint to a walk that’s okay. If you need to stop and catch your breath, okay. But you will continue forward, there is no turning back. 

You just have to realize pushing towards your goal is the only way. It won’t be easy. There will be tough challenges and situations that make you rethink your goal. But you must find your motivation, your why, and hold onto it.

My why helps me when I have had surgery, an injury or wasn’t sure if the business would make it. I remember my why and it drives me to not give up.

Find your motivation

To find your motivation, think to yourself: WHY am I doing this? Let it come to you.

Everyone’s why is different. Some people want to be the best, and win gold. Others want to be the top earner in a company. Maybe they just want to lose a certain amount of weight. Maybe they want to provide a great life for their kids. Some people have people relying on them to accomplish this goal, and their why drives them to it. 

Your why is that internal motivation. It is what makes it possible to keep going when you are tired or broken. Your why is what tells you to keep going even when you physically and mentally feel like you have given all. Your why isn’t mental, or physical, or logical…it is pure emotion. You can’t always rely on the physical, mental, or logical avenues. Why?

On the road to achievement you can’t let logic tell you what to do. Because logic will rationalize quitting. Logic will allow you to give up, and tell you it’s okay that you didn’t accomplish what you set out to do. Emotion will push your limits beyond what you logically or physically or mentally knew was possible. Your why is an ace up your sleeve. No one and nothing can take it from you. Doesn’t matter how big, or intimidating the challenge is – your ace can beat it.

If you don’t know your why, start trying to find your motivation. And once you do, hold onto it. Sometimes you may not need it, but when you do let it carry you towards that finish line.

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Will I Get Bulky From Lifting Weights?

will i get bulky from lifting weights?

Many guys walk into the gym with the goal of getting big and strong from weight lifting. However, not everyone wants to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. If you’re a woman, or big guns just aren’t your style, you might be worried that you’ll get bulky from lifting weights.

Luckily, the idea that weight training instantly makes you huge is simply not true. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll end up bulky from your training if you don’t want to. Getting big is much harder than it looks. When starting out a regime, you can tailor it to meet your personal fitness goals so you feel happy with your results.

Increased Muscle Doesn’t Mean ‘Huge’

When you start a workout regime that involves a lot of lifting weights (including Crossfit) you are likely to see some muscle gain. That doesn’t mean you’re going to get huge.

Muscle mass actually plays a key role in your general health. Building muscles helps your body to burn energy and fat. As muscle mass increases, the faster your body can burn calories and energy. Muscles help us lose weight, stay healthy, and be active.

Muscle mass doesn’t mean you’re going to look huge. If you have a high muscle mass percentage and low body fat percentage, you’ll almost certainly look leaner than you did before you started working out.

Being strong and having a high muscle mass is not the same as looking manly. It may be worth thinking about how you define bulky. Strength is always a good thing!

A Bulky Diet = A Bulky Body

If you wanted to bulk up, you would need to seriously increase your daily calories. The more calories, the bigger the bulk. 

For many people who are trying to get big, eating enough is one of the hardest parts of their fitness journey. If you aren’t trying to bulk up, then you won’t be anywhere near the levels of caloric surplus you’d need to be reaching.

Everyone knows that a healthy and fairly low calorie diet is a crucial part of losing weight. Working out won’t get you far unless you combine it with clean eating. The same idea applies to gaining mass through weight training.

Getting Bulky From Lifting Weights Doesn’t Happen Overnight

Like with any aspect of fitness, whether it’s cutting fat or toning up, new mass takes a few months to notice. 

To get bulky from lifting weights, you need to work hard and be patient. This can be a difficult truth to swallow when you’re excited to get muscular. But, if you want to avoid getting bulky it can be a blessing.

If you notice that you’re gaining more muscle mass than you want to, you can simply adjust your workout plan or your diet. Bear in mind that people sometimes mistake body fat for mass. You can cut down on your overall mass by eating a healthy, high protein diet.

Weight Lifting Has Many (Non-Bulky) Benefits 

There are lots of weight training methods and variables. Each of these will have different, beneficial outcomes. Weight training can be a great way to lose weight, improve your mood, and get flexible and stronger. It can even make a great cardio workout.  

Yes, lifting weights is a great way to build muscle. This means lifting heavy weights at a low to moderate rep range. If you want to be toned, not bulky, start out with low weights and higher reps in a slow and controlled manner. If you continue to eat a healthy diet, you’ll gain muscle mass but also lose body fat – helping you look leaner.

Train For The Results You Want

You can use a weight training regime to reach many health and fitness goals. You can use weightlifting to train for competitive powerlifting or a bodybuilding competition. In these cases, you’re likely to be training hard, 4-6 times per week.

However, many people do Crossfit or lift weights to stay fit, healthy and confident. There are many plans to suit your needs. If you just want to improve the overall shape or your body, lifting weights is one of many parts of a holistic and well-rounded workout plan. 

No matter what your fitness goals are, weight training can be a great way to meet them.

When you train for the results you want, you won’t end up bulky from lifting weights. You’ll end up with a well-shaped, toned and fit version of your natural body.

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Is CrossFit Bad For You?

woman wearing a tank top and shorts hanging from gym equipment is crossfit bad for you

The draw to CrossFit, especially in the early days, was that you were receiving a ton of actual coaching for a fraction of the price of personal training. As CrossFit’s popularity exploded, boxes started opening up on every corner. Now CrossFit is a household name, but people still wonder: is CrossFit bad for you? Will it cause injuries?

The issues

In the early days, because CrossFit got so popular, some people who didn’t actually care about helping members just saw an opportunity to make a quick buck. 

These people really did not put much time or effort into becoming a coach. They didn’t have any knowledge of proper movements, form, and so on. And problems followed…

This situation caused major issues for the CrossFit community. A problem it created was the notion that CrossFit is bad for you and can even be dangerous.

Could a person get injured doing CrossFit? Of course, but a person can also get injured doing any sport, or not doing sports at all.  

Were all CrossFits a hotbed for injuries and a lifetime of knee issues like your doctor told you would happen if you did CrossFit? Absolutely not. It all came down to the coaching.

The rise of YouTube

Another thing that was happening during the early days was that the popularity of YouTube, Facebook and other social media was starting to rocket. 

CrossFit was new, different, exciting and unique. Seeing average people swing on rings, throw bars and weights around, jump over boxes and climb ropes grabbed people’s attention. I’m not sure CrossFit would be where it is today without the help of social media and YouTube in the early times.

However this attention was not all good, because if there’s one thing humans love to see more than someone do something amazing it is to see carnage and violence. Videos of people falling off rings, dropping bars on themselves, destroying their shins on boxes or plummeting 15 feet to the ground after a rope climb was too good to miss.  

The baggage: is CrossFit bad for you!?

Once this happened, CrossFit became known as a surefire way to get injured. And yes, many people were injured. 

Thankfully that has changed. Most of the coaches that didn’t actually coach are gone and this has benefited the CrossFit community greatly. However, there are still some poor coaches out there who don’t really coach or coach poorly.  

There are three types of coaches, and for today’s subject we will divide them only by their abilities to prevent, address and understand injuries. Having a great coach is such an important part of your fitness journey.

A bad coaches:

  • Doesn’t review movements, scaling or modifications.
  • Doesn’t pay attention to members during class.
  • Gives the same cue 5 times even though it has not fixed the issue the previous 5 times.
  • Allows members to move poorly without any corrections.
  • Tries to make every person move exactly the same way. Age, skill level, height, weight, etc do not matter to these people.

A good coach:

  • Goes over the WOD.
  • Has knowledge but overloads the athlete with it.
  • Breaks down complex movements the same way for everyone.
  • Watches movements but can only offer a number of cues which may or may not help.
  • Knows when people move poorly but does not research and learn why they are and how to correct it.
  • Gives members attention, but allows their attention to be drawn everywhere all the time instead of focusing on one or two people at a time.

A great coach:

  • Goes over every movement, scaling options, and modifications.
  • Implements those in the class for members of all different skill levels, ages, etc.
  • Modifies so all athletes are getting the same stimulus without being pushed to injury or pain.
  • Knows that change takes time, and understands deeply ingrained movement issues will take time to adjust and heal.
  • Gives each member at least one correction or approval each class.
  • Helps members understand their skill level might be different than they believe and adjust the difficulty to help progress an athlete.
  • Does not allow poor movement patterns, scales the movement, weight, reps, time or time to keep athlete moving properly.
  • Has a variety of cues they are able to use and change based on the athlete they are with at the time.
  • Not only can do certain movements, T2B, MU, butterflies, but can teach them as well.
  • Studies and learns about how to improve people’s athleticism while sifting through “snake-oil” fixes and movements while keeping the time tested models in place,
  • Pays attention to all members, not taking favor to more advanced athletes or those who show potential.
  • Actually coaches, answers questions, offers movement advice and fixes, and creates a learning environment.

So is CrossFit bad for you? Not if you have the right coaching and environment for your growth.

Finding a box you love and a coach who will help you advance not only as an athlete but a human should be your top priority. There are thousands of CrossFit boxes out there. Try them all until you find the right match.

At Buffalo Nickel CrossFit, we’re proud to say we’re a box full of great coaches. Contact us to try out our coaching style today.

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How To Make Wall Balls Easier

woman sitting in gym to make wall balls easier holding medicine ball and smiling with her hair in a ponytail and gym equipment around her

The wallball. Some love it, some hate it. Regardless of how much you do or do not enjoy it, they’re a great core exercise that we all want to be faster/better at. There are a few common areas where most people could make wall balls easier for themselves.

Problem areas

Okay, so you know how to do a basic wall ball. But there are always places to improve. There are 4 areas of the movement that you could work on and make wall balls easier for yourself. They are:

  • Hands
  • Depth
  • Drive
  • Rebound      

Hands

Where the hands go on the ball makes a huge difference. This alone will change how wallballs feel tremendously. 

Proper hand placement will be under the ball, with thumbs pointed back towards your face. The ball should be resting against your chin here as well. This places elbows almost directly under the wrist which is a very easy position to hold

Athletes often place their hands on the sides of a ball and then try to crush it between their hands in an effort to hold it. This flares the elbows and does not allow the athlete good power delivery to the ball.

The biggest issue with the side/crush grip is it usually means the ball sits lower. Instead of being chin/face level, it sits throat/chest level or even lower. This makes it almost impossible to keep the chest in the upright position we want it to be during a squat.

Depth

It’s common knowledge that not going low enough in a squat (hips past parallel of knees) will count as a ‘no rep’. So, athletes typically try to bottom out a squat in an effort to forgo the ‘no rep’. The effort is appreciated, however the athlete is wasting valuable time and energy here.

They not only spend the time reaching the full bottom of the squat, but now they have to spend the time reversing that distance. Moving their body weight and the ball through that space requires much more energy.

They also usually lose the tension in the core, knees, and back, which they must regain before completing the movement. This also uses energy we could be focusing elsewhere.

A good depth is hips just breaking the plane of parallel. Here the athlete is able to keep tension in the right areas and save time and energy on the descent and the drive.

Drive

Wallballs can appear to be a very arm heavy movement. And, done improperly, they are. The drive is what I call from the bottom of the squat until you release the ball again. Basically the upward movement.

Beginner athletes often try to use only the arms and heave the ball up to the proper mark. This is what causes more work for the athlete.

Most humans create the largest and most efficient power through their hips and from their leg drive. This is one of the great things about being bipedal. The drive is where athletes should be focusing on getting a super aggressive leg drive and hip pop. 

Try this: push the floor away hard, squeeze the butt and pop the ball up. This will help drive the ball to the mark with minimal effort from the arms. 

Hopefully, this will save the arms for another movement in the metcon.

Rebound

The rebound is just like in basketball. The ball comes off the wall and we are reaching out to take back control. Obviously rebounding with a medball and wall balls is totally different than basketball, but we still need to practice this movement.

Athletes will usually drive the ball up, arms outstretched and stand there waiting for the rebound. As their hands take possession, control and, most importantly, the weight of the medball they squat down.  

A Rx medball is relatively light considering most other weights CrossFit uses, but it is usually a high rep movement. And, after high reps, even 8, 10, 14, 20 pounds becomes tiresome. So how do we try to make this easier? 

It involves matching the speed of the ball’s descent. As the ball falls, the hands will receive it, but then we must squat in sync with the ball. The theory is, if you squat at the same speed as the ball, you are able keep the ball ‘weightless’ until you are on the drive.  

The one issue that can arise here is this can pull an athlete onto their toes. This can cause improper squat form and place them too close to the wall to effectively complete the movement. But as long as this issue is addressed it will no longer be an issue until the athlete becomes overly tired.

Key ways to make wall balls easier

Focus on perfecting your hand placement. Keep your hands under the ball with thumbs pointed toward you.

Don’t squat too deep. Just breaking parallel is fine.

Drive through the movement with your legs.

Squat in sync with the ball on your rebound.

If you can follow these four tips, it will make wall balls easier. Much easier!

Do you have any other tips or tricks for wall balls? If so, we would love to hear about them.

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The Fitness Benefits of Gymnastics

woman in gym doing benefits of gymnastics handstand

Do you struggle with gymnastic movements? Is spatial awareness a complicated concept for you? Do you want to improve your lifts? Have you ever hit your head on the door frame, as you’re getting in the car?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, then effort training fundamental gymnastics, is your answer. You’ll be amazed at the benefits of gymnastics to your general fitness.

In “How to Build World Class Fitness in 100 Words” by Greg Glassman, 50% of the movements listed are gymnastics movements. On the CrossFit theoretical hierarchy of development, training gymnastics comes before weightlifting. Suffice it to say, whether you’re a beginner or an advanced athlete, there are many benefits of gymnastics.

Most people’s first thought when struggling with gymnastics movements is that they need to work their technique and mobility. Though those things are important, strength is usually something they need to build first. That can be accomplished in part by weightlifting, but weightlifters can also become stronger by improving their gymnastics skills. 

Benefits of gymnastics in CrossFit

The combination of functional movements is one of the beauties of doing CrossFit. Shoulder strength for handstand push ups can be improved by doing presses, but it can also be improved by doing handstand work.

If you want to improve your Olympic lifts, you might need to improve your core strength. Some great movements to increase core strength and stability include L-sits, planks and V-ups. 

Some other benefits of gymnastics are control, coordination, spatial awareness, movement quality and mobility.

But gymnastics isn’t fun!

Gymnastic movements aren’t always fun. Usually people want to spend time practicing their Olympic lifts or doing more “fun” skills. It’s not often that one wants to practice their kip swing, strict pull ups. How often do you hear people mention wanting to work on their air squat or push up form? 

A lot of times, we figure we have it down, but there is really a lot of room for improvement. CrossFit isn’t just about getting from point A to point B. The grace and skill it takes between points A and B of a rep will ultimately improve the proficiency of the movement.  

It takes time and dedication to fundamentals to really improve on some of the more “fun” movements and hit those PRs you’ve been chasing. 

If you’re struggling with a particular movement, or have a movement or PR goal that you’re chasing, get with a coach and schedule a personal training session. A knowledgeable and experienced coach will be able to provide not only a set of eyes to watch your reps, but also pointers and cues to correct mistakes.   

The coaches at Buffalo Nickel CrossFit can identify flaws in your movements and give feedback to address key fundamentals that might be lacking in your current training.  This way you are ready to crush those goals!

By Kari Reed

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How To Do Burpees: The Buffalo Nickel Guide

guy wearing cleveland singlet knowing how to do burpees on an athletic track

Raise your hand if you love burpees! What? Nobody?! I agree. Even though I don’t love burpees, I also can’t say that I hate them. I actually don’t mind them at all. They’re not too bad, if you know how to do burpees.

I used to hate burpees. Yes, hate is a very strong word. In this case, it’s completely accurate. I considered burpees to be equal to the devil. They are one of the most challenging CrossFit core exercises.

If I’m being honest, I hated them because I wasn’t good at them and I just couldn’t ever get comfortable with the suck. If you know me, you know I don’t like it when things are hard for me. So, I set out to embrace them.

I embraced them by doing them. More specifically, I did a 100 burpee challenge. 

The challenge was set up to do one burpee on day one, two burpees on day two, etc.

If you miss a day or days, you have to make up ALL of the missed burpees plus the current day’s burpees to continue. For example, if you miss days 10, 11 and 12, then on day 13 you have to do 46 burpees. 

One day, I did over 300. One day I did over 400. One day I did over 600.

I completed the challenge, though, and today I don’t hate burpees. How could I possibly hate them when I’ve never again had to do 600+ burpees in a single day?!  

Here are a few things I learned about how to do burpees

1. They really aren’t that hard

Let’s be honest, they are nothing more than getting on the ground and then getting back up. When you’re up, get down. When you’re down, get up.

That day I had to do over 600, really made me see them differently. As soon as I stood up, all I had to do was get down. Once I was down, I just had to get up. 

Of course there is always technique, which I’ll address shortly, but the basics of a burpee aren’t hard. Get down and get back up.

2. You have to pace yourself 

That pace is going to be different for everyone. Things like fitness level, volume of burpees, whether you are combining them with other movements, etc, will determine your pace from workout to workout. 

Your pace should be the rate at which you can move as quickly as possible, without stopping. Burpees will get your heart rate up and your lungs burning so you have to find that point that you can continue to manage both without stopping.

Sprinting and stopping and sprinting and stopping is going to take you much longer to accomplish the same amount of work. Find that breaking point of moving as fast as you can, but not so fast that you have to stop…and then stay there.  

3. Technique is a key part of how to do burpees

There are many tips out there for how to do burpees. Here are some of my favorites.

When you get down, don’t stop in the middle, at the top of the plank, and then lower yourself. Rather, try to kick your feet back as you’re coming down and “catch” yourself in the bottom of the push up position. This is because it takes longer when you stop, it takes more effort to stop there, and you then have to do the decline of your push up, which is harder than just falling. 

When you get up, jump your feet wider than your hands and throw your hips up as you bring those feet up. When you go to stand up, go straight into your jump. Don’t stop at the stand, and then jump. Let your stand and jump be one fluid movement. 

Move as little as possible. I am all about efficiency and accomplishing a task with as little effort as possible. Flow as many movements together as possible. Step up and step down if you have to. 

4. Burpees are mentally taxing

It can be a real mental game for a lot of people.  There were far more people who started the 100 day challenge than people who completed it.

The burpee is very repetitive and it takes a lot of effort to complete just one, and they never go as fast as you want them to go so it can be frustrating. When you accept them for the challenge that they are, you can just get after it. 

Final thoughts

If you think burpees suck, embrace them. 

Embrace that you’re burning calories and getting a full body workout every time you do them. 

Embrace them because you’ll never need the Life Alert, if you’ll just do them. You’ll be able to get on the floor and play with your kids, your grandkids, your dogs, or whatever, and not have to worry about not being able to get up. 

So, the next time you see burpees programmed, embrace them. After all, you’re just getting down and then getting back up. 

By Kari Reed

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How To Improve Weaknesses

man wearing hardness knows how to improve weaknesses by climbing a big cliff

We all have certain areas of strength! But, we also have certain areas or traits that we feel are our weaknesses. Becoming better at our strengths is easy. Generally people like and enjoy things they learn or can do easily. Therefore it is fun. Most people will unknowingly concentrate on their strengths. It’s important to know how to improve weaknesses. However, many people leave their weak areas by the wayside or work on them with minimal effort. 

I am all for trying to improve every avenue of oneself. I also believe there are certain times where improvement only takes you so far. And while you may never be great at your weakness, you can improve and fight to become better.

Of course most people know that how to improve weaknesses is to work hard at them. The more you practice the better you become. 

But is that it? Does it only come down to going through the motions over and over, and magically you will become better? I think it takes a little more self reflection, open-mindedness, and understanding than physical repetitions. 

So, here are some of the mindset changes that need to take place in order to move something from the ‘weakness’ column to the ‘strength’ column.

Change your mindset about how to improve weaknesses

Call it “focus work” instead of “weakness improvement”.

Simply by changing the way your mind thinks and speaks to itself is a great start. It makes it easier to accomplish the tasks at hand that you might not be thrilled about doing.

The word “weakness” implies that you’re bad at something. If you’re bad at something there is a good chance that you don’t want to do it. By switching to a mindset of opportunity you give yourself the chance for growth. 

Do I want to mow the yard? No. But do I want to get better at weed-eating? Yes. So instead of thinking I ‘have’ to do something, now I ‘get’ to do something.

Change your mind, and you will change yourself.

Expose, experience, and learn

A while back I was reading about kids and why physical playing is an important part of a child’s development. Due to an increase in personal electronic technology recently, researchers believe things like coordination, problem solving, balance, athletic ability, physical strength, and immune health have and will continue to suffer in children.  

It is hypothesized that the more situations and scenarios a young growing mind and body are exposed to, the more understanding and comprehension the mind and body retain. And here is the crazy part, the researchers even believe that this goes for situations and events that the individual has not been exposed to yet.

Basically, when you expose yourself to situations that require you to think through/fix a problem, then you are laying a solid base for when you come up against a new problem or issue.

I like to picture someone standing on the ground looking up at a second story deck that has no stairs. If all they have done the first 15 years of their life is look at a screen and push buttons how able are they to get to that second story? They aren’t! 

But each and every experience they have growing up; no matter how large or small, learning how to ride a bike, reading and doing book reports, playing hide-and-seek with friends, or being taught how to build a fire, act as building blocks that now gives them the knowledge and self confidence to get to that second story deck. They may not know how to build a ladder or stairs, but they know they can learn, or they will problem solve until they reach that second story.

The more you do, the less intimidating new experiences are. 

Understand how to improve weaknesses 

Be clear in your understanding of self.  I, for one, am not great (or even good) at anything musical. I know this and I don’t have a delusional point of view that tells me otherwise. Being able to identify an area you are weak at is important. This is because if you don’t know where to focus your effort you are flying blind.

To get to point B from point A, first you have to know where point B is in relation to point A. If you don’t know you are just guessing, and while you might get lucky there is a much better chance you won’t even get close! 

Find the areas you are not strong at. Have enough of an open mind and enough knowledge of self to realize you aren’t amazing at everything. If you do think that, you are delusional and should go seek professional help. It’s far better to have an understanding of your flaws and how to improve weaknesses.

Keep your goals insight

What are your goals? Do you want to become the best at something? Do you just want to learn for the sake of learning? Do you want to just become better at a subject so you can have an understanding when friends discuss it in front of you? Whatever level you want to reach, try writing down your goals. Writing down your goals can be a great way to remind yourself why you are working so hard.

We discussed how people don’t enjoy working on weaknesses. It is usually a struggle to make yourself do it. By writing down a goal, or goals, that you have can help inspire and reinvigorate you to push towards them. 

Motivation is key, but can quickly fail us, especially if you don’t see much progress. Keeping your written goals in a place you see everyday will remind you to not only work on improving, but why you are doing it.

We want to know your goals.  Who knows maybe we can help you accomplish them!  Feel free to comment and tell us what your goals are. 

By Nate Cordray and David Gionta

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5 Tips for CrossFit Workout Recovery

woman in workout clothes doing tips for crossfit workout recovery in a park

Have you recently gotten started on a journey to health and fitness? Have you just started doing CrossFit for the first time? If so, you probably are surprised at the newfound level of “pain” after your workouts! You’ll be in serious need of tips for CrossFit workout recovery.

When I talk about pain, I don’t mean crippling pain. I mean that kind of muscle soreness that comes from an intense workout. When someone is just getting started with their fitness, it’s common to use “pain” as a reason to skip workouts. The problem with that idea comes when one missed workout turns into two. Then that turns into three, and then four, eventually wrecking your fitness goals.

So, you should learn to deal with the soreness. How do you deal with it, stay on track and reach those goals? Here are five tips for CrossFit workout recovery to help you get to those results you want.

1. The best tip for CrossFit workout recovery: go to class  

The absolute best thing you can do when you’re sore is to keep going to class. By continuing to work out, you will keep your muscles moving. This actually prevents stiffness.  

When you get to class, let your coach know how you’re feeling and talk about possibly lowering the intensity of your workout. Choosing to lower the intensity will keep you moving and keep you on track towards those goals while minimizing the risk of injury.

2. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!

It’s super easy to drink a ton of water while you’re dripping in sweat but the real challenge comes when you get home.

There are a lot of formulas out there that can help you figure out exactly how much water you need to drink daily, in order to optimize your workouts. 

However, one of the easiest ways to monitor that hydration is to pay attention to your urine. When you use the restroom, your urine resembles the color of lemonade. If it’s any darker, then it means you may be dehydrated. If it’s too clear, it could mean over-hydration.

3. Eat lots of whole foods and lean protein

As easy as it is to grab a protein shake while you’re on the go, it should not be used in lieu of actual food. You are helping your body to heal itself, and the soreness, when you choose to eat clean, whole foods. 

Consuming the proper ratio of protein, carbohydrates and fat will help you to build lean muscle. You’ll quickly see the results you’re working towards. Your diet is so important to your progress.

4. Zzzzzzzzzz…. 

You may not believe this, but one of the best tips for CrossFit workout recovery is sleeping! Your muscle fibers tear down during your workout. During sleep, they repair themselves.

On top of keeping muscle soreness at bay, a good night’s sleep will also help you train harder the next day!

It’s important to note that not all sleep is created equal. Napping throughout the day, falling asleep to the TV, and alcohol induced sleep will not adequately provide you with the peaceful, natural sleep that you need.

5. Post CrossFit workout recovery products

There are some great and some not so great workout recovery products out there. When choosing, go for a product that helps replenish electrolytes and essential nutrients so that the body can recover and repair itself. 

If you are wondering what a great product option would be, or what nutrients you need and don’t need, have a conversation with your coach the next time you’re at the gym.  

Why workout recovery is key

With all of that being said, you should push yourself at the gym and train hard. But what you do after you leave the gym is also very important.

When you aim for great recovery between workouts, you will see the results you want in a shorter time and help reduce that awful soreness.

So now that you have tips to follow for really great recovery, go hard on that next workout!

By Kari Reed

Categories
Blog

CrossFit Classes For Teens

two teenagers at crossfit classes for teens training together in gym

Introducing TeenFit! At Buffalo Nickel CrossFit, we have recently had quite a bit of interest in offering CrossFit classes for teens in Broken Arrow.

Since many sports have been put on hold or entirely cancelled due to COVID-19, there are lots of active teenagers at a loose end. Fitness is an important part of the lives of many teenagers.

So, thank you to all who helped us decide to finally give this a trial run!

What is it?

A CrossFit group class dedicated to teens. Teenagers usually have different training demands and goals than adults. As we put together the program, we will be keeping that in mind. 

But, like many CrossFit classes, the programming will be functional fitness with an emphasis on speed and strength.

This won’t be sport specific (i.e. it won’t teach how to hit, catch, throw or kick a ball better). All athletes benefit from speed/strength training and functional fitness.

When are the classes for teens?

The CrossFit classes for teens will start on July 6th and will be on each Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday morning from 8:15-9:15.

Please understand this is a one month trial run(July 6th to July 31st). If it goes well enough to keep, we will keep it. Granted, there will be things we need to adjust or change as we go, but this is just to see if we have enough demand for this new service.  

Where are the classes?

At Buffalo Nickel CrossFit: 701 S 11th St, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Additional information about our new CrossFit classes for teens:

Cost: $115/month.

Age level: The classes are aimed at teens aged between 14 and 17.

Waivers: Teens and parents/guardians will need to sign a waiver prior to starting.

How to sign up: Message us, or schedule a free intro with you and your teen.

Categories
Blog

What Is Active Recovery?

guys playing basketball outside for active recovery after a workout

Taking a day off from the gym is not something most of us want to do, but it is definitely something we all should do. But, that doesn’t mean it’s a day to eat 4 large pizzas, and down a 30 pack. So now the big question: if I’m not going to the gym, and I’m not drinking beer and eating pizza, what am I doing? Allow me to introduce active recovery.

What is active recovery?

I’m sure there is some super scientific description out there, but here’s your super simple answer. Active recovery is anything that gets the heart rate in the 60%-70% of max range. Yeah, we get sweaty or breathe a little heavy, but we don’t end up on the floor wishing we were dead.

Active recovery shouldn’t make you super sore. It shouldn’t be anything that is a sprint. It doesn’t even need to be seen as “fitness”. But it does mean getting around and moving.

What are some examples of active recovery?

Active recovery that isn’t “fitness-y”

  • Yard work. Mowing your lawns or doing some general home maintenance will be a surprising workout, and feels so satisfying.
  • Cold water/hot water (showering from cool/cold water to warm/hot water, switching back and forth every 20-30 seconds)
  • Breathing exercises
  • Sauna or sunbathing
  • Playing around – such as climbing a tree; playing with your dog; jumping in the pool and climbing out a bunch of times; taking your kids to the park and playing on the jungle gym with them
  • Yard games – such as volleyball; bocce; frisbee; etc

Active recovery that is “fitness-y”

  • Walking – you can go with your family and friends, or just by yourself
  • Row/bike for 20-40 minutes at a pace you can hold a conversation at
  • Hiking – check out some cool spots in your area
  • Body weight get ups. This literally is just getting up off the floor. There are tons of ways to do this. If you do them a few times, you’ll learn a surprising amount about your body
  • Backwards walk. Get ready to look weird. Go for a walk but make it a rule you can’t walk forwards. You can walk backwards, side steps, crossovers, butt kickers, etc. Use your imagination
  • Try a new sport. Go rock climbing, play basketball with some friends, wiffle ball batting practice etc

How often to do it

If you are a gym goer 3/4 days a week, schedule your active recovery for 2 days of that week. If you are a 5/6 day a week person, give yourself a day of active recovery. I think 1 day of good solid rest, where you are fully letting your body and mind recover is needed for most people.  But that’s not a rule! If you feel like going and doing something active and fun, get out and do it!

Possibilities for active recovery are endless! The only rule is to have fun. Doing something you enjoy it will help you feel better and help you relax in ways you didn’t even know you needed.

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