@FitnessHeroics.

When was the last time you pushed to failure in a workout? Like to failure where your body just couldn’t do any more?  If you’re always “playing it safe,” you’re never going to know what your true limits are, or where your redline actually is. Your limit will be different each day depending on how you’re feeling, your motivation and the environment. But, the more you practice going to failure in your training, the better you’ll be at monitoring your intensity and therefore the better you’ll be at strategizing for competition.

Did you ever notice that when you have a HUGE class you tend to go faster, push a little more and keep giving it one more rep? Or in a partner WOD do you feel more compelled to do a few more OUT of that comfort zone because someone is counting on you? You need to learn to find that threshold and train past it. The more you do that you now retrain your body to create a “new” threshold and it just keeps getting bigger.

Here are some examples:

• If you normally “play it safe” and break your reps down into manageable sets, you’ll never know if you could’ve gone unbroken or moved even quicker.

• If you’re always trying to pull back right before you redline, you’ll never know if you actually would have redlined.

A lot of people are scared to hit that “failure” button. Believe me I know how it feels to be in the middle of a workout and you feel like you can push just a little more but you hold back to “save” it for the end. Sometimes that strategy but other times that can be just playing it safe.

One of the best pieces of advice I got was to train like you compete. If your goal is to get better at endurance, quick met-cons and compete with the best, then you better be willing to shut your mind off and let your body decide when it’s done. Practice going to failure on purpose within safe measures  within your training and you’ll be more comfortable going there when it matters the most.

Learning how to listen to your body is important. Training to failure EVERY day isn’t very effective as burnout will happen. However, learning where that failure point is can actually help you train to that threshold or a little before. A funny thing happens when you start competing against others in class or a competition. Your adrenaline kicks in fast and you start moving faster than you thought you could. Problem is that wall comes fast and you know what wall I am talking about. That feeling of the world closing in and all you can think of is how you are going to make it through. But if you can learn to train to almost this point, in a competition that wall is now a hurdle and your on your way to faster times in WOD’s with less recovery time !!

Love em’ or hate em’ they are effective! The simplicity of the movement makes it easy to implement into just about anyone’s strength and conditioning program. It has amazing the ability to get you to move through all planes of motion and tax your body with one simple movement.  Think about this, you might not be great at doing a clean and jerk due to strength, form or mobility BUT did you ever fail a burpee ?? I didn’t think so!! Sure you might not look so pretty doing them but you will never fail at them ! .I prefer to think of burpees as “fall down and get back ups.” They are the perfect analogy for life: you get knocked down by a challenge and you find a way to get back up and continue moving forward. Burpees build character.

Burpees are a full body workout and they help you gain strength in the entire body. With each rep, you will work your arms, chest, quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, and core. Doing a lot of  burpees will have your arms and legs shaking and feeling like wet noodles. Burpees require no equipment and you can literally do them anywhere. This means you have no excuse if you can’t make it to the gym !!! Can you say: 100 burpees for time ?

Maybe you are not great at endurance or long WOD’s? Burpees help improve your conditioning and respiratory endurance quickly for those with either body composition or basic performance goals. Burpees are dynamic and fast paced . The rapid flexion and extension of the hips makes it awesome for learning force production from core to extremity. If you are pressed for time, burpees are a great movement to leave you feeling gassed and winded in a short amount of time. Don’t you just love them even more now ?

Next time you see burpees just Thank your coaches for looking out for your well-being. No matter what your goals are, burpees can have a positive effect on your fitness not just physically but mentally. The constant repetition and frustration of the movement builds character and perseverance. It teaches you to keep going during even the toughest of times. Isn’t that how life works anyways ? If you get knocked down, just do a burpee and get back up !

When we’re close to the water,

When we’re right on the beach,

We see the waves come towards us and then retreat—

Continuously.

In this repeated back and forth motion.

But when we step back—

Far back.

When we’re far enough away,

That pattern disappears.

Instead, we can see how the water moves in many directions,

All at once.

As the cyclical pattern dissipates, the movement appears random and chaotic.

The other night I practiced yoga on a cliff,

Far away from the water.

As I softened my gaze and sweetly shifted out of my logical, linear, rational mind,

Something happened—

I could feel its rhythm.

I could feel its pulse.

The ocean showed me that there’s a method in this madness, there’s a rhythm to this life.

Whenever we feel otherwise, all that may be needed is to take a step back (far back), from our current situation.

To drop out of our minds,

And simply observe.

The ocean reminded me that we need to listen in ways that we may not be used to,

To tune into the eternal conversation that transpires beyond speech,

To feel the underlying current and pulse, that constitutes life itself,

The interwoven connection  that is eternally present.

We need to continuously step back,

Feel—

And really listen.

 

Author: Alexa Torontow

Editor: Khara-Jade Warren

 

The Rogue Thompson Fatbell was co-developed with powerlifting legend Donnie Thompson as a revolutionary new take on the traditional kettlebell. With this design, it makes the simple but significant change of re-positioning the handle inside of the bell which keeps your hand at dead center inside cast-iron sphere.

It has a perfect geometric shape for maximizing optimal performance that allows athletes to  improve the efficiency of every swing and press while also reducing common kettlebell safety risks. With your hand inside the sphere, every single point on the surface of that sphere is equal distance to the center of your hand. This feature helps to dynamically reduce the pressure and  force on joints because it adds more load distribution on muscle and connective tissue.

 

If you are interested in learning more about he Fatbells, be sure to visit www.Fitnessheroics.com and click the Rouge icon and it will take you right to the page and you just search FATBELLS !!!

 

Who know’s you might just be seeing these soon 🙂

CrossFit is about functional Fitness but do you know what that is?

What is Functional Fitness?

If we look closely, we will discover our daily lives still demand that we move and function in ways that are similar to those required of our hunting, gathering predecessors. The only way we will be able to successfully perform such movements past our childhood years is to train and strengthen our bodies in ways that mimic those early human activities and prepare us to effectively meet the challenges of daily life. Our goal, then, is functional fitness which means we must engage in functional exercise.

So what is functional exercise?

Functional exercise replicates functional movement, that is, those movements we use to get average things done in our daily lives. Standing from a seated position, placing things overhead, pulling ourselves up, throwing, running, picking things up-these are all functional movements. A functional fitness regimen, then, would be one that utilizes functional exercises to address and enhance our ability to successfully complete these types of everyday tasks. Functional exercise allows our bodies to perform the way in which they were designed to do. Squats, push ups, pull ups, deadlifts, box jumps, broad jumps, running-these are just a few of the basic components of what we do daily. Now think of all the things you lift, carry, move and walk with and how that relates to your fitness.

One thing to think about doing is adding in “odd” object training every once in a while. If you are asked to lift something that doesn’t have handles or has an odd shape in life, you will want your body to be able to adapt to any situation. One type of training is strongman training and lifting the atlas stone is not only a HUGE feat of strength but also helping you develop the muscular patterns to accomplish this in your life.

Here is a great video that explains how to lift an atlas stone:

 

Like with any other lift, the set-up is key. Center yourself directly above the Atlas stone and spread your fingers wide. Wedge your hands as far underneath it as you can. Once you are in this position, use the following cues to guide you:

1. Push your elbows out against the insides of your knees.
2. Brace your core.
3. Raise your chest and hips together.
4. When the stone passes your knees, push it back into your lap and bring your feet closer together.
5. Reach your hands over the stone all the way to the front.
6. Load it onto the surface by thrusting your hips forward, using the strength of your lower body.

It is important to practice the technique with lighter loads, as well as with heavier ones. Whether you are already a seasoned strongman competitor or have never touched an Atlas stone before, use these tips to help you learn the foundation movements for this amazing lift!

 

Want to try it out?? Find a box height that is just at chest level and start with a medicine ball that you can learn the proper movement patterns and then work onto learning it with heavier objects !

 

 

http://breakingmuscle.com/video/build-giant-strength-by-loading-atlas-stones