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Risk vs. Reward in Training

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Programming for training can be a tricky situation. You have to weigh the balances right for risk vs. reward. How much effort you are putting into your workouts needs to have a reason as to WHY you are training that way. Does it make sense to burn your body to the ground if it will not give you the progress you desire? Training for performance is a balancing act between appropriately challenging your body to elicit physical improvement and recovering enough to see the gains from all your hard work.
 
There are two main ideas when designing a plan: Stress is stress and stress adds up.
 
-Stress is stress no matter if it’s mental or physical. Your body has a hard time differentiating between the two. Keep in mind if you are training hard, juggling work responsibilities, or tending to your family, all of these stressors have a significant effect on your performance.
 
-Stress also adds up over time. If you are not resting and recovering properly from your stress, it will overflow and cause increased cortisol levels and stress. This puts a decline on your fitness and training capacity along with your mental well being in life.
 
 
There will be periods in your life when the stresses of life, demanding workouts, a lack of good sleep, and poor recovery leave you in a less-than-optimal state to train. When these times inevitably come, it’s important to know how to adapt and stay on point. Your goal is to design a plan that every workout is created with a specific outcome in mind.
 
When thinking of risks, you need to consider three primary variables: mode, volume, and intensity.
TRAINING STRESS = VOLUME X (AVERAGE) INTENSITY
 
How do you know if the risk is outweighing the reward? Here are some tools you can use to check for yourself:
 
-Morning body scan: how do you feel upon waking?If you feel sluggish you may want to consider decreasing the intensity.
 
-Injury status. Are you injured or do you have any nagging issues? If you answer yes and have explosive, high-impact movements on your schedule that day, you may want to consider other options.
 
-Are you plateauing or declining? How are you performing lately? A lack of progress can mean you are close to needing more recovery. A decline in performance means you likely need recovery in the very near future.
 
If you fall under any of the above scenarios, you might want to dial in your recovery more. Your body undergoes stress in so many ways. Ensuring you are getting the proper nutrition and sleep are critical to making more performance gains in the future.

4 Reasons You Should Log Your Workouts!

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4 Reasons Why You Should Log Your Workouts !!
 
It will help you monitor your progression
-Let me ask you this: Do you remember EVERYTHING you did today? Chances are NO. Your memory is not as good as we like to think it is which is why writing all your weights and exercises is great to look back on in training. With an accurate training history in your training journal ,you know exactly what you are supposed to be lifting this week because you know what you lifted last week.Having your results in hand leaves no doubt when it comes to planning your workout and checking for progression.
 
It keeps you accountable
-You know when you keep that dreaded food log and you don’t want to eat anything bad because you know that someone will be reviewing it ? This is the same way, except you are your own accountability buddy. Being able to look back on your workouts will help you to maintain a reference point on a few factors such as how you felt, what you did, and monitor your progress.
 
 
It keeps you motivated
-There are fewer things that give you a sense of pride quite like looking back at your workout history.Over the long haul of trying to accomplish your goals in the gym it can be easy to lose sight of all the progress we have already made.It’s always nice to look through the pages of your training journal and feel satisfaction and pride to remind you not only how far you have already come, but just how capable you are. Celebrating the smaller moments are important. You shouldn’t have to wait until you have hit your final target or that elusive PR to recognize the little moments of success along the way.
 
 
 
It builds character
-Is there anything more frustrating than falling into the same traps and setbacks over and over? Yet we seem to keep making them and don’t change our behavior. A powerful benefit of having a workout history is that you will start learn a lot about you, your workouts, and how you best respond to them. If you had a bad day, what happened in your workout? Did you push through or did you let it defeat you? The more detailed you can be in your training journal the better off you can identify your weak and strong points in yourself and your training.

The core is the foundation!

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CrossFit= LEG DAY EVERYDAY ! Don’t try to fool yourself, we squat, all day everyday in CrossFit and that’s why we have good strong legs. However, a strong core is also needed and that is why many people struggle with squats and getting out of the the “hole”.
 
A strong core can have a positive impact on your training. If you have a weak core, the following things can happen to your squat that you might be able to identify with.
 
1.) If your core is weak, your lower back muscles will take on this load instead, putting your back under serious strain. This can be seen in curving or rounding of the back at the bottom of a squat.
 
2.) A strong core maintains an upright posture in the eccentric portion of the squat to support the increasing load on the spine.
Having a strong core ensures you remain balanced throughout the entire movement of the squat, and keep an upright posture throughout. If your core is weak, the likelihood is that you’ll fall backwards or fold forward as your abdominal muscles come under more pressure in the descent of your squat.
 
 
How can you prevent this from happening? You need to strengthen your core muscles with the following exercises.
 
-Supine Leg extensions:
 
Lying on your back
Lower your leg down to the count of three.
Raise your leg for the count of two.
Aim to do 20 repetitions on each leg.
 
-Single leg and arm extension with crunch: The arm and leg extension is great for strengthening your rear delts and upper back muscles as well as your hamstrings and glutes.
 
Starting on all four’s
Extend your right leg and left arm out to reach in opposite directions.
Then pull your knee in to meet your opposite elbow for a crunch.
Round your back and squeeze your abs as much as possible during the crunch.
Aim to do 3 sets of 20 repetitions on each side.
 
-Plank hold:The plank hold is one of the best transverse abdominis exercises you can do. But for women who are new to training or returning from pregnancy or injury, starting on your knees is definitely a better option.
 
Starting in a push up position.
It is very important to maintain a straight line with your body to ensure the core is switched on.
Remember to breathe.
Aim to hold the plank for 30 seconds for 3 sets.
Increase difficulty by raising up your leg for 30 seconds then switch legs.
 
-Lying leg raises: This variation of the supine leg extension keeps the legs together, which is a lot more challenging.
 
Lower your legs down for the count of three.
Raise your leg for the count of two.
Aim to do 20 repetitions.
The core is your foundation. You need to ensure that you are focused on working your core and that means the front and back of your midsection. By coming to terms with knowing you need to keep your core strong you will start to increase your lifts and maintain good form throughout your lifting session.

Superfoods List …

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Superfoods List: The Best Foods That Burn Fat And Help You Lose Weight!

Are you ready for the truth on weight loss ? You might have heard to eat your Superfoods to loose weight ! What is a Superfood and how does this work!!!

“Superfood” is a term given to a select few extra special foods that are considered to be infinitely better for you than all other foods. From improved health and disease prevention to burning fat and helping you lose weight faster, these superfoods are clearly THE KEY to every beneficial physical improvement we want to make to our bodies and should therefore be a part of our diets. RIGHT ?

Here is a list of the most amazing, most beneficial, most effective, most important, most healthy and of course most super superfoods in the entire history of the planet.

The Top 5 Foods That Cause Fat Loss

1. No
2. Foods
3. Cause
4. Fat
5. Loss

The 4 Best Foods For Building Muscle

1. No
2. Foods
3. Build
4. Muscle

Wait .. What? I am sorry to tell you that there are no such foods that will magically make you lose weight or keep your muscle. There are foods that have more of an impact on this process but none that are directly related to doing either of the two things listed. The reality is:

There is no single food that will cause you to lose fat.
There is no single food that will prevent you from gaining fat.
There is no single food that will cause you to build muscle.
There is no single food that will make you healthy.
There is no single food that will prevent or cure a disease.
There is no single food that will make up for an inadequate overall diet or workout program.

The truth is, you can eat every superfood that has ever been included on every one of those lists and then proceed to consume all of them every single day for the rest of your life. And guess what? You could still very easily be a fat even obese… even morbidly obese, un-muscular, unhealthy person with numerous diseases and medical issues.

If you want to lose weight, the one and only thing that causes fat loss is a caloric deficit. Consume fewer calories than your body requires to maintain its current weight which is a “caloric deficit” and your stored body fat will be burned as the alternative fuel source.

What you need to aim for is the super healthy lifestyle list!

– Diet: The kind that is designed around allowing you to consume the total amount of calories, macronutrients, micronutrients and water that you need to support your specific goals and overall health, all of which is put together in whatever way is most preferable, enjoyable, convenient and sustainable for you as possible.

-Workout, the kind that is designed with your specific training needs and goals in mind, built around the proven fundamentals of what is optimal for reaching those goals.

– Sleep and reduce stress

-BE CONSISTENT !

There you have it ! I just dispelled a myth of superfoods and now you have a super healthy lifestyle list to follow !

Reference:
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/superfoods/

  • 850-240-2406
  • 314 Eglin Parkway NE, Fort Walton Beach, FL
  • 850-329-8565
  • 314 Eglin Parkway NE, Fort Walton Beach, FL

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