BOOK YOUR FREE INTRO

In this quick conversation, we want to learn all about you, your fitness goals and how we can help you reach them.

Tag: fitness challenges

Categories
Blog

What’s The Hardest Part Of Getting Fit?

the hardest part of getting fit lifting weights

Don’t get us wrong, getting fit is awesome. You feel great and you have lots of energy. You’re healthy – your bones and muscles are strong. Your body looks amazing and you feel confident. Maybe you get a little more attention from the opposite sex than you used to! Going to the gym is satisfying and makes you feel accomplished. Yep, getting fit is a rewarding process with so many benefits.

However, we can acknowledge that you’ll run into some challenges on your fitness journey. In this post, we’re going to acknowledge some of the most common issues you may face. There are definitely things you can do to deal with them.

You may disagree that some of these things are the hardest part of getting fit. For some people, one aspect is a huge challenge, but for others it’s no problem at all! Remember, everyone’s different.

So, what are the hardest parts of getting fit?

Sticking to a healthy diet

Even if you don’t think diet is the hardest part of getting fit, I’m sure you’ll agree it can be tough to manage. If you’re bulking, it can be hard to force yourself to eat enough. If you’re cutting, you’ll have the opposite problem. It can be hard to say no to your favorite snacks. So what can you do? 

  • Learn to cook. It’s so much easier and cheaper to eat healthy when you make the meals yourself. Plus, cooking for yourself makes you feel accomplished. Being familiar with spice blends and seasoning makes a huge difference to how your food tastes. Look up some recipes and spend some quality time getting to know your kitchen.
  • Meal prep. After a long day, who wants to spend time cooking up sweet potato and chicken when you could just get fast food on the way home? You can beat this problem by cooking meals in advance and storing them in the fridge. This makes it easy to just grab something healthy at dinner time. There are so many great meal prepping resources to explore online.
  • Eat healthy foods that you like. Try lots of foods, and ditch the ones that you think are gross. Just because everyone at your gym seems to eat oatmeal every day, you don’t necessarily have to jump on that train. There are so many amazing healthy foods, just be open minded and find ones you actually enjoy eating!

Motivation and discipline

Many people find maintaining motivation to be the hardest part of getting fit. Maybe you finish a long day of work and you just can’t face the idea of going to the gym. Living a sedentary lifestyle wasn’t so bad, right? Right? To overcome issues with motivation, try to:

  • Do fun workouts. No one’s going to feel motivated to do something they hate. Ditch the thirty minutes of running on a treadmill. Replace it with fun lifts you love, high intensity and varied cardio workouts, or social sports with your friends.
  • Try group fitness classes. Group fitness classes, such as CrossFit, usually have a fun and motivated atmosphere. The collective vibe will boost your motivation to new heights.
  • Create a workout schedule and stick to it. If you know in advance that you’re going to the gym and know why you’re going and what you’re doing, you’ll feel far more excited to go. Work in your favorite exercises.

Being patient: waiting to see progress

Wake up, eat a thousand eggs, work yourself to the bone at the gym, drink a protein shake, repeat. Sometimes a fitness journey can feel like you’re working so hard, and for what? 

If you don’t see results or feel like you’re meeting your goals, your motivation can really drop. Many people find patience to be the hardest part of getting fit. Here’s how to stay on track:

  • Set small, short term goals. You’ll be waiting a long time to lose 50 pounds. But, if you set a goal for each 5 pounds, you’ll feel much more satisfied with your progress. Reward each 5 pounds with something such as new workout gear or an item of clothing.
  • Stop comparing yourself to others. It’s human nature to look at others, and this can make us feel discouraged. Try to push these thoughts out of your mind. Everyone has their own path.
  • Take photos of yourself. When your body changes just a little each day, you might not notice. Every month or two, take a few pictures of your body to document your progress. When you look at them, you’ll be surprised at the changes you do see.

Fighting the stereotypes that come with getting fit

Before getting shredded, you would probably never consider this to be the hardest part of getting fit. However, many gym buffs really struggle with the stereotypes they face. Big and muscular people, particularly men, are often assumed to be vain, superficial or even stupid. These assumptions can be hurtful!

To overcome this challenge just remember:

  • People at the gym won’t think this way. Try connecting with other fitness junkies. Be kind to those you meet at the gym, and they’ll be kind to you. Of course they know that there’s far more depth to people at the gym than just caring about working out. 
  • Remember you’re doing this for you. There are so many benefits to fitness that go beyond aesthetics. You’ll be the one laughing when you’re well into old age and in great health and amazing shape.
  • It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. At the end of the day, you know there’s more to you than the gym. If someone assumes you’re vain just because you work on yourself, they aren’t someone you want to associate with anyway!
Categories
Blog

Getting The Most Out Of Heavy Training Days

man wearing face paint and no shirt squatting on heavy training days with barbell

There can be a tendency among new CrossFit athletes and trainers to avoid heavy training days entirely or execute them incorrectly. However, CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program.

People sometimes characterize CrossFit by its programming of mixed-modal workouts for time (“met-cons”). However, this is a limited view. Heavy training days devoted entirely to strength training are essential to CrossFit and are integral to CrossFit’s prescription of constantly varied workouts. 

Why do heavy training days?

Heavy days are necessary to build top-end strength and power. Power output decreases with time. This meaning an athlete’s work capacity in a very short time domains sets the limit for his or her entire curve.

It is possible to have high levels of short-duration power and little power elsewhere (e.g., a powerlifter), but it is impossible to have low levels of short-duration power and higher levels of longer-duration power. Therefore, heavy days are essential to a general physical preparedness program. 

All of that said, it is important to understand that heavy days can be completed with most any weightlifting or gymnastics movement, such as weighted dips and pull-ups, or lifting odd objects (e.g., sandbags, tires). More often than not, a barbell is the best and simplest equipment for this task. The barbell’s ease and range of loading is impossible to match. Heavy days may also include all variations of standard barbell movements (e.g., hang, power, lifting from a deficit, pulls).

Heavy days are not the only time athletes can drive strength adaptations. Even within a metabolic-conditioning workout, depending on the task and capacity of the athlete, any number of exercises may build strength.

Push-ups for novices build pressing strength similar to a bench press. Attempting a 95-lb. thruster for a new CrossFit athlete builds squatting strength. As an athlete’s strength increases, however, push-ups and 95-lb. thrusters tend to favor other adaptations, such as stamina. Greater loads are necessary to further increase top-end power. 

Try a one rep max

Finally we can discuss the benefits from a one rep max. A one rep max is vital in helping achieve overall growth in strength. Whether it’s your first time setting a PR or surpassing a current one, it will help boost your heavy training days from now on.

Push your body a little harder by adding a few more pounds to your lifts. Over the next few months you will break down old plateaus. Eventually, at the next load week, you just might be surprised and see a new PR. Over time, with completing several different one rep max lifts, you’ll be so excited to review your year end records and see all the accomplishments you’ve had. And then, you’ll continue to set the bar a little higher.

Are you new to working out, and unsure about lifting weights in general?  Check out 7 reasons you should lift weights by clicking here.

By Nate Crodray

Categories
Blog

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.

Facebook-f Instagram

BOOK YOUR FREE INTRO

In this quick conversation, we want to learn all about you, your fitness goals and how we can help you reach them.

footer icons black-01
footer icons black-02
A Kilo website. All rights reserved