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What Makes A Good Athlete?

woman makes a good athlete wearing tights sneakers and sports bra in a running pose with hair in messy bun

There are several features that make a good athlete. And they’re certainly not all about physical fitness. Since we are a CrossFit box, we will mostly be talking about those who are members of a box/follow the CrossFit methodology. But personally I believe this applies to all fitness avenues.

First, being a member of a box automatically classifies you as an athlete in my book. Doesn’t matter if you have never been to a competition, and you may not ever want to. That’s fine. You are an athlete because you compete against others daily. When you come to the box and see the WOD, you are already deciding how you are going to attack it to give you the best results. Then you complete that WOD with others trying to beat you and you trying to beat them. That is competition – plain and simple.

However, you can be more than just an athlete. You can be a good athlete.

Coaches like good athletes

I don’t mean those with the fastest times, or heaviest weights. I mean those athletes who put effort in. 

They show up, they pay attention. They put effort in both in and out of the gym, they respect their limits, and they work towards their goals. 

Long before CrossFit was my job, it was my hobby. But before that, health and fitness was a hobby of mine. I enjoy spending time, effort, and money on CrossFit. 

Over the years of this being my hobby, I have learned that athletes like coaches have a responsibility. Athletes must take ownership of their training, not because they owe it to the coach or the box but they owe it to themselves. So what responsibilities do athletes have?

Making time in their schedule to workout

I get it, life sometimes happens and makes it hard to workout. 

But if you want to improve your health, or maintain your fitness you might have to make certain sacrifices. 

Waking up early, or telling your friend dinner will just need to be at 7 instead of 6 so that you can workout is not the end of the world. It’s important to prioritize working out.

Deciding what food to eat or not eat makes a good athlete

If I told you there was a magic pill that could make you healthier, fitter, feel better during and after your workouts, improve your sleep, help make you happier, get rid of a large amount of medications, and give you the body you have always dreamed of, you would without a doubt pop that pill. 

Guess what, that pill exists. It is food.

Making the proper choices, along with sleep and exercise, will give you that dream body.

Knowing which weights to use and when to scale back the intensity

Everyone wants to Rx a metcon, lift heavy weights, or get the most reps. But learning and knowing when that is good and when it is bad is important. 

Now, of course as a new athlete, you won’t know or have an idea. This is when it is your coaches responsibility. But after a while it becomes your responsibility.

If you know your 3 rep max thruster weight is 115 lbs, attempting Kalsu Rx isn’t smart and in fact it can be dangerous. I think I speak for all coaches when I say they would much rather you scale back and not get hurt than go Rx and hurt yourself or lose the stimulus of the WOD.

Providing proper and accurate feedback to the coach makes a good athlete

I try to make sure and ask all of my athletes how they feel before or during the warm-up. I also try to ask them how their lifts are feeling and then I even check after the metcon to see how it was for them.

I am sure they hate it, but it allows me to determine if something should be modified that day or in the future. My responsibility as a coach is to coach, the only way I can do that effectively is to have feedback.

Good athletes listen to their bodies

Some days are tough. You’re sore, you ate a whole large pizza by yourself the night before. You didn’t sleep well. Work is stressing you out. You have an injury that is not healed yet.

No one knows your body as well as you.

Pain is how your body communicates with you. There is strength in being able to push past the uncomfortable WODs but there is a different strength in being able to know when your body has had enough. Listen to your body.

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CrossFit Myth: Being Fit Enough For CrossFit

legs of women who are all fit enough for crossfit being all different shapes and sizes standing in a line

One of the biggest misconceptions about CrossFit I often hear is, “I’m not fit enough for CrossFit.”

This belief stems from what most people’s idea of CrossFit is, which is The CrossFit Games. The Games is a series of events and competitions where people compete to see who is the fittest person in the world. CrossFit started hosting these back in 2007. Normal everyday people could not only be selected, but could even win. Panda Express used to sponsor The CrossFit Games. You even drank beer after working out – no joke.  

However, this has quickly evolved to, if you don’t have great genetics, a bombproof training and eating regimen, a long and extensive background in health and fitness…then good luck even making it to the middle stage of selection. Most Games athletes now are/were high level college athletes, and some were/are Olympians or junior Olympians.

Are you fit enough for CrossFit at the Games level? 

No, you are not. There are only a few people in the world who are fit enough for that. 

But, are you fit enough for CrossFit in general?

Yes! You certainly are! Yes!

Everyone has to start somewhere

Humans love to compare themselves to others, even when we have no experience in a subject. For example, when people walk into a box for the first time and they see someone pouring sweat, doing muscle ups, flipping tires, and jumping on top of a box the height of a kitchen table they think “there is no way I can do that”. And they are right.

But, what they don’t think about is that person has been training in CrossFit for years. They had to lose 30 lbs to have those abs and be able to even do a pull up. They started exactly where everyone else did. By simply walking in the door.

When you start a good coach will know that you shouldn’t be pushed like more seasoned athletes. So, instead of doing muscle ups, you will do pull ups. Instead of flipping tires, you will do kettle-bell swings. And maybe you won’t jump on a box but will step up on one. Guess what, that is still CrossFit! CrossFit movements can be scaled and modified. This makes CrossFit a great choice for everyone.

Everyone likes to talk about how CrossFit uses the kipping and butterfly pull ups and how they are not real pull ups. They are just a different version of pull ups that serve a different purpose, just like jumping, banded, and strict pull ups all serve their own purposes.  

Everyone’s fit enough for CrossFit

So the point is, anyone and everyone is able to do CrossFit. No matter what your skill level or your experience is, CrossFit movements can be scaled to meet your level of fitness. And this is important because it allows new athletes to have a workout made a little easier for them. Or it allows more advanced athletes to modify a workout to be harder than it once was.

Are you “not in good enough shape” to start CrossFit and have two minutes to spare? Message us – we only need two minutes to ask your opinion on something.

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5 Effective Fitness And Nutrition Hacks

fitness and nutrition hacks a bowl of healthy fruit surrounded with muffins

So, you want results and you want them now? You want to know which fitness and nutrition hacks will work in your favor to get you shredded as soon as humanly possible.

Well, luckily, there are steps you can take to optimize your muscle growth. We all know patience is a key part of building muscle. Still, it’s natural to itch to see results from your hard work in the gym.

In this post, we’ve rounded up some tried and tested fitness and nutrition hacks to speed up your journey on the road to ripped.

1. Eat enough protein

This macronutrient is crucial for building muscle. Cut out your sugars, slash your starches and processed carbs: protein is your best friend when it comes to making gains.

You don’t need to consume hundreds of grams of protein every day. If you do this, your body will just store it as fat. Scientific research shows that 0.8 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight is best for someone who is trying to build muscle. So, if you’re sitting at 200 pounds, you’re looking at 160 grams of protein each day.

Opt for low fat sources of protein. Chicken, turkey, pork, beef, fish, milk, yogurt and eggs are all great options. If you’re struggling to get enough into your diet, a great nutrition hack is to stir a bit of protein powder into a yogurt for a quick and high-protein snack.

2. Do compound lifts

To build muscle, you should regularly do lifts that work several muscle groups at once. These are called compound lifts and include deadlifts, bench presses, squats, military presses, kettlebell swings and pullups.

There are many benefits to compound lifts. These exercises are an effective form of cardio, improve flexibility, and help you to build muscle fast.

When performing compound lifts, lift as heavy as you possibly can. Do more sets, and less reps. 5 sets of 5 reps is a good rule of thumb. At the end of your 5 reps, if you physically couldn’t do another then you know you’re lifting heavy enough. If you think you could do more, you need to up your weights.

3. Pre-exhaust your muscles

This popular fitness hack involves performing an isolated exercise, and following it with a compound exercise that works the same muscle group. For example, you could do leg extensions before doing squats. 

When you do your compound lift, your muscle fibers will be damaged from the isolated exercise you just did. This means they’ll be primed for optimum muscle growth. 

You’ll also feel each rep more on the compound lift. This helps you to perform high-quality sets.

4. Get enough rest

Sleeping well and taking enough time out of the gym is highly important. This is one of the easiest fitness and nutrition hacks for building muscle fast.

On your rest days, do some light cardio to stretch out, such as a half-hour walk or even some yoga. There are many great ways to help your muscles recover.

Many people also recommend cold showers as part of a rest routine. The cold water increases blood circulation which allows you to recover faster and get back to working out. Cold showers also strengthen your immune system and promote endurance.

Whether or not you’ll be jumping into a cold shower, make sure you get enough sleep. Building muscle involves tearing apart your muscle fibers in the gym, and rebuilding them better and stronger from the protein you fuel yourself with. This rebuilding process happens when you sleep, so it’s absolutely vital to spend enough time in bed.

5. Take progress pics

Of course, taking photos isn’t going to directly affect your muscle growth. However, this is a great fitness hack to help keep your motivation up. Taking pictures of your body at the start of your fitness journey to look back on is a concrete reminder that you ARE building muscle.

When change happens slowly, it can feel like your hard work isn’t making a difference at all. If you take some pictures of yourself from different angles, after a few weeks you’ll start to see how far you’ve come.

Documenting your progress is a great way to motivate yourself to hit the gym when you’re having a lazy day.

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Keeping Track Of Math During CrossFit WODs

woman writing complex math on whiteboard to show doing math during crossfit is difficult

Ever been mid-WOD and all of a sudden it seems like you can’t remember if you are on round 3 or 4? Or you decide to record your back squat weight after the metcon and now you can’t remember what that number was? If math is hard, math during CrossFit is truly awful. But, like everything in CrossFit, we can find out and how to improve.

Memory loss

You are 12 reps in on Grace. Then, all of a sudden, you can’t remember if you are on rep 13 or 18…what happened?!  

When our bodies are placed under high levels of stress the brain turns off the areas responsible for creativity, contemplation, planning, and critical thinking. It does this because years and years of evolution gave us the ability to form thoughts, create, and think, but it has yet to get rid of the ‘lizard brain’.

Lizard brain

The deepest, most basic part of our brain stem is often referred to as our lizard brain or reptilian brain. It is responsible for the most primitive stimulus: thirst, hunger, limb movement, habits and fight or flight. As we become more and more stressed, our brain reverts to this deep lizard brain and it shuts off the functions of the other parts. 

Your mind is basically saying, “we are under attack and your safety is in danger! You either need to stand, fight and kill the danger, or you need to run and get away from the danger!” 

Now, hopefully during a WOD your safety is not truly in danger, but your brain doesn’t really know that. All it recognizes is the stress it has been placed under. It doesn’t need to know if you are on rep 13 or 18 to survive, so the mind throws that little useless piece of information away. It will stay like this until the stress has been relieved and our breathing/heart rate has lowered to a normal level. 

Lizard brain to lizard king: tips for math during CrossFit

You may never sing like Morrison but you can train your brain to think more critically during stressful situations.  How do we do this?

Widen your view

Count how many people are in class, or look around and pick out everything that is a certain color. Widening your view forces your brain to power on, think through the stress, and pick up important details.

Concentrate on your breathing

Focus on how you are breathing. Is it short and fast? Or deep and controlled? Start breathing better and get oxygen to your brain so it can expand and get back to thinking beyond basic survival.

Don’t focus on one thing

Allowing yourself to have self imposed blinders will give you tunnel vision. This is great for survival because it allows us to take in every detail about the danger that is coming for us. But, it’s not so great for math during CrossFit. So, we want to break that. Keep your vision broad and don’t let it get too locked on one thing.

Give it time

You will find that sometimes you do these things really well and other times you don’t. It is like getting better at double-unders. Practice and time is the only way to get better at math during CrossFit. So don’t be too hard on yourself and just continue to practice.

Okay but how about fixing my math during CrossFit TODAY?

Well you probably won’t ‘fix’ it today, but we do have some tricks of the trade to help remember how to keep track of reps/rounds/weights/etc.

Write it down

At Buffalo Nickel CrossFit we use small personal white boards with expo markers. During metcons we make tallies for every rep/round or mark off the numbers and movements we have completed. There are some shorthand tips for keeping a workout log, if that’s something you want to try.

You can also write down your time when you are done, then roll around on the floor sucking wind for the next 5 minutes. Once you’ve finished your immediate recovery and come back to the world, you have your time already recorded!

Switchin sides

I remember being new to CrossFit and I saw an athlete completing Grace. She would do a C&J drop the bar, step over it, turn around and then hit her next rep. Not only was it giving her a moment to breath and keep a working pace, but it also allowed her to narrow down the rep she was on in case she forgot.

If she was facing one way she was on even reps, if she was facing the opposite way she was on odd reps.  This can be helpful for movements like box jumps, pull ups, deadlifts, and more.

Checkpoints

Karen is a single movement high rep metcon, 150 wallballs for time. It can become very easy to forget where you are. Deciding beforehand that you will break every 20, 30, or 50 reps allows you to have a checkpoint. 

You might forget if you are on rep 60 or 80 but if you can think back through your big numbers it makes it a little easier to get caught back up.

Try some of these tips for math during CrossFit during your next WOD and let us know what you think!

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Getting Stronger: Energy, Fat And Protein

woman in white tank top getting stronger flexing her arm and standing on path

There are a few topics that people bring up to me and have questions about quite often. These are fat or weight levels, energy during WODs, and overall health or getting stronger. Today I thought we could hopefully offer some guidance about these issues and how to keep your fitness goals on track.

I’m lacking energy in my workouts

Or, a similar issue: it takes me a long time to recover from a WOD.

A lack of energy could be for a number of reasons. Sleep, hydration, nutrition, stress, getting over being sick, not being active for a while, age, the list goes on. 

If you’re a generally healthy athlete that is used to CrossFit-style workouts, gets adequate sleep, water, and so forth, then the answer could be calorie levels.  

Your body needs fuel. Even if you were to lay on the couch and not move a muscle your body is still working. Your lungs, heart, brain, kidneys, liver, digestive system. All of these organs take energy to keep working properly.

Now take into consideration all the hard work and exertion your body does during a typical WOD. If you want to get stronger, you have to make sure you’re refuelling your energy levels.

What do you mean “refuel energy levels”? 

First, food is energy. 

Our bodies are able to convert food into an energy source our body uses to function. We call this energy source ‘calories’. For your body to function, complete WODs, and recover in a timely manner, then you must have calories to burn. 

Think of a car. When the fuel level on a car is low or empty, then that car can’t go, or at least it can’t go very far. Same thing with your body. 

So how do humans refuel? We eat!  

I like getting stronger, but I don’t want to get fat

To make this easier, let’s just say “gain weight” instead of “get fat”. That means we could be gaining fat, or getting stronger and gaining muscle, but the point is that our weight is increasing.

First, gaining weight for an active healthy human who eats healthy is hard. Like really hard. For an inactive human eating poorly it is not hard. Yes, age, gender, genetics can all play roles, but for most people it is difficult. 

Think about losing weight. It is a process. You can’t eat one or two healthy meals and expect to drop those extra 20 pounds. Same goes for eating one or two unhealthy meals. They won’t make you fat.

Second, if you are active in some form of exercise that requires moving weight you will most likely see increased energy levels, firmness of muscles, and strength gains before seeing much actual weight change. You’ll also notice your clothing fitting better, improved rest, and more definition of your muscles. Most, if not all, of these changes will happen before you gain weight or get fat.

But I am a female and I don’t want to get “bulky”

I wish I got paid every time I heard this. Most times it is a female worrying lifting weights will make her bulky, and the simple answer is, “don’t worry you won’t”. 

Here’s the rub. Most females don’t naturally produce enough testosterone to get bulky. Males do produce more testosterone, but even then you probably won’t look like the people on the cover of fitness magazines without some help. And in this case, help means performance enhancing drugs, estrogen blockers, testosterone boosters, etc.

You will put on muscle, but this will be good solid toned muscle that will make you wonder why you didn’t start working out sooner. Also, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn and the easier it is to shed fat. 

Lastly, by eating plenty of protein and getting stronger you will be able to lift/move more weight. This will show you how awesome you are because you will be doing things you didn’t know you could do. You will feel very accomplished and confident in your fitness abilities.

Getting stronger in review

  • If you are lacking energy, or it takes a while to recover after an intense WOD, try eating more. Focus especially on good fats, carbs, and proteins.
  • Your body and muscles use these proteins, fats, and carbs as building blocks and fuel. Proteins help the muscles get strong, carbs and fats help the muscles actually move and function.
  • Gaining weight is much harder than you think. If you are active, healthy, and eat nutritious foods then it will take a lot of time, effort and energy.
  • Females don’t produce enough testosterone to get bulky. And muscle helps burn calories and shed fat. You will look/feel better, and be able to lift more weight. All of these will help boost confidence and you’ll feel great about your accomplishments.

Hopefully this will help you relax about the rumors that come with stepping into the health and fitness arena. 

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Your Fitness Journey And The Road to 10,000

woman on a fitness journey running up a hill in the distance

I have coached CrossFit for the last 5-6 years. During this time I have had the great privilege of coaching hundreds of people on their fitness journey and watching thousands of reps. 

I watch people do things like cleans, or snatches. Sometimes they will make a mistake. Before I can even say anything they will look at me and say something along the lines of “I’m not very good at these”.  

My favorite example is when we are practicing handstands or handstand walks. Someone who has never done a handstand, or maybe they have but 20, 30, or 40 years ago, tries one. It is not the same as an Olympic gold medalist handstand performed at the peak of their career. They will look at me and most times say “I suck”.

How many times have you tried?

First, you don’t suck, and maybe you aren’t the best at something. But how many times have you tried? Like really mentally and physically engaged and tried? 

Sure, some people have a natural talent or ability to do certain things. Some are naturally good at running, some understand math, some have an eye for photography. Some of us have a mind that just ‘gets’ music (this was not me, I failed the recorder in 5th grade).  

But, the majority of people that are good or great at something are not the most talented at something. They are simply the ones who put the time in. Have you put the time in doing handstands, cleans, or working on mobility yet?

Don’t compare your fitness journey to others

Yeah, you are not perfect at something you have never done. So don’t think you will be after 1 try. 

Social media is cool (I guess) but it gives us a false idea of work. We see someone do something absolutely incredible. For instance, they throw a ball off a waterfall into a basketball goal. They paint a painting upside down while blindfolded and in a building that is set on fire. Of course in the video they show you the result is perfect. What you don’t see is the 10,000 tries that were way less perfect before that.

Stop expecting to be 21 years old if you haven’t lived for 21 years. Stop comparing yourself to others. You have to put in the time, effort and work. If you want to get better at handstands, you can’t just focus on them for 20 minutes a couple times a month. Of course you will get better at handstands than someone not practicing at all. 

But, if you are tired of feeling like you are taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back, start on your fitness journey to 10,000 and put in the time.

Learn deep, not wide

Want to get better at/master something? Dive into that subject. Stop adjusting focus to every shiny thing that enters your field of view. 

I think of it as having a teacher mindset. If you need to teach a subject, you try to know everything you can about that subject. If you just have a student mindset, you try to know the bare minimum about a subject.

Start focusing and start working, otherwise you can’t seriously expect to get better. We can help get you from 1 step to 10,000 on your fitness journey. Contact us today to get started.

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Building A Circle of Support

building a circle of support eating a meal around a table

So you have decided it is time to change your lifestyle and become healthier. Maybe you have already begun to exercise, and eat healthy.  Or, maybe you have been considering it and have finally made the decision that it is time to start. A key part of a fitness journey is building a circle of support, so you’re excited and go to share your goals with your family and friends.

Hopefully, all of them will be happy for you and will have positive things to say. But what happens when they don’t? Or even worse, when they react negatively instead of positively like you had hoped?

This can be disheartening and make you second guess your decision. Understand your health is your responsibility. Your motivations are a deeply personal thing. While there are many things in this world that someone else can do for you, taking care of your health is not one of those things.

Still, you want their support. What can you do when those who are close to you are not in the same boat when it comes to health?

Building a circle of support is about communication

Yes, it is easy to get upset with them and argue about who is right or who is wrong. At the end of the day, will this help do anything but solidify each of your mindsets? 

Understand that this person might think they are showing you they care about you. People like to take care and spend time with those they love and care about. 

When you tell someone that you are not eating the foods you did in the past, or will be spending an hour at the gym a night, there is a good chance they hear something different. 

To them you could be saying you no longer want to eat with them (eating together is one of the most social and vulnerable things you can do). Maybe they hear that you no longer want to spend time with them due to being at the gym for an hour.

For many people, food is love

We all probably know someone who considers food to be a reflection of love. That person in my life was my dad. Food was a direct expression of his love for you. He would spend hours preparing and cooking food. He wanted to make sure you not only had plenty to eat, but that you had leftovers too.  

So, when he would offer you something he knew or thought you liked, it was his way of saying he cared about you. When I would say no thank you, to him I was denying his love. This might seem a bit extreme but think of it this way.  

Our caveman/animal brain has evolved, but not past the point of realizing that food is a life source. We only share it with those we care about. By doing so, that part of our caveman brain is saying, “I care about you enough that I will sacrifice something that could possibly keep me alive”.  That is pretty wild to think about!

So listen to them. Calmly assure them that while you are wanting to be healthier, it doesn’t mean you love them less. Yes, there might be some changes but they need to understand that this is important to you and you want to better yourself.

Next, invite them to join you

Building a circle of support doesn’t have to involve new people. You can incorporate your family and friends and pull them into this journey with you.

Ask them to try cooking a new healthy recipe with you. Or, invite them to go to the gym with you and workout together. They may not want to, but they will see you are wanting to include them. 

Sometimes friends and family see you changing and feel afraid you will leave them behind. They have known you for years and they have liked/loved who you were. When they see change happening it scares them.

Inviting a friend or family member to get healthy and active with you can be beneficial for both of you. It can help keep you motivated, and it can help them start becoming healthier. Plus, if there is something you both enjoy doing it together will be so much more fun compared to doing it alone. 

Ideas for building a circle of support with people you love

  • Join a recreational sports team together. This could be soccer, volleyball, ultimate frisbee…
  • Order a meal service and cook a healthy meal together
  • Go to the new local healthy restaurant that just opened
  • Train to run a 5k together
  • Take a weekly hike/walk
  • Join CrossFit together (duh…)

Whatever you decide, inviting them to join you in whatever you are doing will always be better than not inviting them.

Lastly, realize that it is your life and your decision

Maybe this person who says they care about you actively opposes you being healthier. They pick a fight when you are about to leave for the gym. Or they try to convince you to eat unhealthy foods. The worst are those who are trying to get clean and overcome a drug addiction and their “friends” keep trying to get them to use again.

Hopefully, by now you know you need to take your health seriously and do what is best for you. Allowing someone who is supposed to care and love you convince you that being unhealthy is the best decision is selfish and manipulative. Do not give people this power over you. Build your base of health so strong that it can not be broken by anyone.  

You have total say in how healthy you want to be. Maybe you just want to tone up a little, or maybe you want to make fitness your profession.  Whatever it is, when you make that choice don’t let anyone stop you until you reach your goal.

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8 Magic Fat Loss Pills (Part 2)

boxes of healthy magic fat loss pills food in container

Part 2, here we go. If you read part 1 then you will know you were supposed to drink some more water before bed, and then get to bed on time. Hopefully you did one or both of those things and started today on the right foot! If you did not do those things, don’t worry.  Today is a new day, and we are starting fresh. I want you to pick 1 or 2 of these magic fat loss pills off this list and do them today! 

Magic fat loss pills at Buffalo Nickel CrossFit

The whole Buffalo Nickel CrossFit team is here to help you. So, if you have questions please let us know. We would love to help you have the body and/or life of your dreams!

Calorie deficit

Food gives our bodies energy. A way of measuring how much energy we take in and how much we burn is through calories. Consuming less calories than you actually use in the day will result in weight loss. 

Please understand this does not mean starving yourself of nutrients and food completely. Your body still needs energy to function properly.

This can be tricky and there’s an overwhelming amount of information on this topic. So, take my advice and do research. Or, get a nutrition coach to help figure out the right foods and quantities. 

High quality sleep

You have heard it before and you will hear it again. The average adult needs 7-9 hours a night. Sleep allows your body to rest, shut down, and reset. 

This does not mean getting in bed at 10 but staying up for two hours watching TV, or playing on your phone. Your body/mind are easily trained. This is why you feel sleepy but then when you get in bed your mind knows there is a couple hours of stimulation coming, so it perks up. 

Try to make your room a good sleeping habitat (cool, dark, comfortable, quiet), then get in bed and focus on your breathing. It will help you get to sleep and stay asleep. In my opinion, good sleep is the most underutilized tool for health.

Hydration

Drink water! 

Water is the only truly healthy drink that also offers 0 calories. Juices, pops, teas, energy drinks, coffee, and more might provide some energy, or are a good treat once in a while.

But water flushes toxins, boosts metabolism, improves skin/hair, helps blood pressure, makes a healthy brain, regulates body temp and more. Want to drink more water but don’t know how?  Here is our article on 5 ways to get more water.

Sufficient protein

The body needs protein. Plain and simple, humans must have protein.  And good quality protein in the right amounts is important for maintaining strength and muscle tone. 

For the most part your protein should be lean and minimally processed (white meat poultry, eggs, certain seafoods, some red meats). If you are vegan or vegetarian I would suggest looking for a yellow pea protein powder as opposed to soy products. 

Most if not all the world’s soy is genetically modified. Concerns about this are (luckily) becoming more important to people. However, there are alternatives available.

Nutrition dense foods

Have you ever eaten a large quantity of food only to feel hungry again a short time later? Chances are this was because that food was not rich in nutrients. 

Here is the kicker too, most times “foods” that don’t offer many nutrients are cheap to buy. However, you are not fulfilled when you eat them, so it leads to eating more. Eating more means you have to buy more, therefore spend more, so are they really cheaper? 

Not to mention they don’t give your body nutrients, and years of little to no nutrients can result in some pretty major health problems that cost 100 times what some good healthy food would have cost.

Stick to healthy, nutrient rich choices to fuel your body.

Strength train regularly

Lift heavy objects a few times a week. Heavy is relative. For some people and some movements heavy will be 10lbs. For others it will be hundreds of pounds. 

We have covered some of the benefits of adding weights in your workout here. Usually when people hear the phrase “lifting weights”, they picture some massive bodybuilder who has such big muscles they can’t touch their shoulder. 

But weight training does not need to be super heavy to be effective! Adding it in even a few times a week can be super beneficial.

Increased heart rate

Do things that get your heart rate high. Not just kinda sorta high, but red lined. 

Sprints, jumps, full body movements are great at getting and keeping that heart rate up. Make yourself sweat and breathe hard. 

Once again, like strength training, cardio done a few times a week will help metabolism, keep muscle tone, keep bone density up, increase balance, coordination, brain health and general athleticism.  

The key magic fat loss pill: consistency/patience

You will not and should not lose tons of weight in a short period of time. Be patient. 

You spent 20 years getting out of shape, expecting to get in shape in 30 days is delusional. I will tell you right now, if you are expecting to see a change before a couple months you will be disappointed. Especially if you are not consistent. 

You have to do all these things daily or almost daily to see any real change. Now, you will probably feel change after a few days, but this process works from the inside out. So you will feel it, then see it. Not the other way around. 

To help keep on track, celebrate small successes. Maybe it was your first day in 10 years where you did not drink pop, be proud of that. Use that as encouragement to help motivate and inspire yourself to continue down the healthy path.

These magic fat loss pills can help you

Stick with it! You can do this. Remember that it is our goal to make you happier and healthier. One of the things we offer is nutrition mentoring. We can give you awesome one on one coaching to help you understand nutrition. You can improve your lifestyle to work FOR you and not against you.

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8 Magic Fat Loss Pills

woman standing with hula hoop for weight loss

Everyone wants to lose weight. They want to believe in magic fat loss pills, teas, workouts, body wraps, surgerys, anything. Let’s be honest. We all wish it was that way. If you could do one workout, or drink one beverage and have the body of your dreams, who wouldn’t do that?!

The truth is that doesn’t exist as of now. I hate to burst your bubble. So, get it out of your mind that there is one magic pill for fat loss. There are actually 8 magic fat loss pills…

Yep, 8 magic pills and I promise you will shed some fat. I will go over these 8 pills in more detail tomorrow (part 2) but here is the list.

  • Calorie deficit
  • High quality sleep
  • Hydration
  • Sufficient protein
  • Nutrition dense foods
  • Strength train regularly
  • Increased heart rate
  • Consistency

There it is. The secret to getting those stubborn pounds off. Trainers will tell you losing weight can be complicated, it’s not. It is simple. It may not be easy, but it is definitely simple.  

Want to shed fat? Let’s start today. First, drink 2-3 bottles of water in the time between you reading this and when you go to bed. Second, go to bed on time. Turn your phone on silent and don’t use it in bed.  With those two little things, you’re already off to a good start.

We will go over these tomorrow. Until then, drink water and get sleep!

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The Unsung Hero Of The Zercher Position

crossfit gym barbell ed zercher position

The name Ed Zercher probably means very little to most people in the world. However, Ed created what might be one of the best strength building techniques out there. He is hailed as the creator of the Zercher position, most commonly used in the Zercher squat.

There are plenty of articles out there about Ed, his legacy and movement ‘how-to’s. However, today we are just talking about the pros and cons. We also have some advice for adding the Zercher position to your workouts.

The Good:

Using the Zercher position (holding the barbell in the crook of the elbows) can be very beneficial. Here’s why:

  • Your upper back, especially the traps, will become stronger due to the forward position of the bar.  
  • Maintaining the correct posture during the movement requires bracing your core very firmly. This not only helps make your core stronger, but also shines a spotlight on a weak core.
  • The quads, glutes and biceps will all be activated in different ways due to the unique position of the barbell.
  • The position can be helpful or more comfortable for people with long limbs or a poor front rack position.

The Bad:

Like any movement, the Zercher position is not without its drawbacks.  

  • To get the bar into a Zercher position, you usually bring it up from the floor.  This can be listed under benefits if done properly. However, if done improperly it comes with some serious risks of injury.  I typically suggest loading this position from the rig to make it a little safer.
  • If you have a weaker core and lower back issues you might want to focus on building that core stability first before trying the challenging Zercher movement.
  • The Zercher position can make breathing difficult, due to the bar/arms pressing into the chest.
  • It can be uncomfortable on the arms, especially if using a standard barbell without any kind of padding. An axel bar will help this issue but only slightly. Personally, I usually label this as a positive aspect. This is because it creates an uncomfortable situation that forces you to accept the pain and work through it. However, I recognize that most people do not feel the same way.

How To Use The Zercher Position In Your Workouts

Pick one exercise a week to do in the Zercher position, and build up from there. As far as picking which movement, you have plenty of options. Squats, lunges, holds, carries, step ups, deadlifts – the list goes on.  

I will add a word of wisdom. If you are not used to them, go lighter than you think you need to.  These can bring out the inner baby of even the most seasoned lifter.

Not sure you are doing the Zercher correctly?  Contact BNCF today for your free intro.  As a member, you get access to world class coaching, convenient location and more.

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