CrossFit Epically Awesome
CrossFit in Fort Walton Beach, FL
Fitness Heroics is HOSTING the World Wide WOD on Sept. 10,2016
Mark your calendars and get ready for a day of fitness and fun!
3 WOD’s, Many categories to choose from and a chance to rank yourself against the world!
We want to have maximum participation- EVERYONE can do this event ! Click the link below to get signed up and a FREE T-shirt !
Shirts are IN !!!
Be sure to pick it up this week !
NO Open Gym on SATURDAY !!!
Class is at 9 am !!
There are four different types of stretches and each should be utilized differently. Whether you stretch before or after a workout impacts which type of stretch you should be using.
Static Stretching:
This type of stretching is the kind that most people are familiar with. When you perform a static stretch, you hold a position for 10-60 seconds at a clip. For instance, the classic runner’s stretch where you extend one leg straight out in front of you and reach for your toes is an example of a static stretch. This type of stretching should always be done after a workout when your muscles are warm and ready to be stretched. When done after a workout, it’s the best type of stretch to help elongate muscles to improve flexibility.
Dynamic Stretching:
As the name suggests, this type of stretching is basically the opposite of static stretching. Our members are very familiar with dynamic stretches because we always start class this way. This type of stretching is active and requires the momentum of movement. An example of a dynamic stretch would be leg swings where you move in a quick, controlled way through a full range of motion. This type of stretching is beneficial because it improves the range of motion in your joints while also loosening your muscles. It also increases your heart rate and body temperature, and gets your blood flowing so that you are ready for your workout. Thus, dynamic stretches are the optimal way to warm up before training.
PNF Stretching-
PNF stands for Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation. To do this type of stretching, you stretch passively for a few seconds and then push actively against the stressor before relaxing into a passive stretch again. This process is be repeated over and over again. For example, lie on your back and have a partner lift one of your legs straight off of the ground until the stretch becomes difficult. Then, relax your leg against your partner’s hand for about 10 seconds until your partner asks you to push back as hard as you can. Relax your muscles again and watch as your leg is lifted higher than before.
The main benefits of this type of stretching is that allows you to increase your ROM quickly, improve your stability surrounding joints, and allows for greater muscle relaxation. It actually resets your nervous system which is why it’s name suggests a connection between your nerves and your muscles. Because it does call upon your nervous system, it is best to do this type of stretching after a workout or even right before bed.
Ballistic Stretching- A ballistic stretch is any stretch where the athlete utilizes a bouncing motion. For example, the butterfly stretch where one bounces their knees up and down is a ballistic stretch. This is an outdated stretch that should really be avoided.
So now that you know about the four types of stretches, what they are used for and when to do them, how do you know what needs to be stretched? As odd as this sounds, that’s an important question. If you have amazing flexibility in your shoulders, but terrible hamstring flexibility, stop stretching your shoulders out and start working on those hammies. That might sound obvious but we all tend to gravitate towards doing what we are good at when sometimes, we need to spend time focusing on the areas in which we need to improve
Get out of the HOLE ! Well what is this “hole”? The ‘hole’, as is known in weightlifting, power lifting, Olympic lifting and CrossFit is considered the lowest part of a squat. This is usually the receiving /catching position for the clean and the snatch. How you handle yourself in the can be the limiting or gaining factor on your lifts.
When you lift a weight that you know you can handle in the bottom position, getting back up is not the hard part. You might notice some sticky points in that lift, but overall you know you can stand the weight up because you have done it before. But what happens when you start to overreach that limit on your squat?
Your chest caves, elbows drop, legs start to shake and your knees bend in and out because you are trying so hard. You may be able to stand the weight up, but you do so slowly and without power.
Being able to explode out of the hole helps to carry you through the sticky points of any lift. You know that feeling where fight-or-flight kicks in to make the lift. If you’re moving with power out of the bottom position, then it becomes that much easier to ‘fight’ through the difficult portions of the lift to complete the rep.
To get out of the hole, one must have the mobility and flexibility to get in there. If you can’t hit full depth with just the bar or if it’s a struggle to get there, then you need to go right back to the drawing board and start working on your flexibility. That means working on opening up your hips, working on ankle mobility, wrist and shoulder mobility for the front rack and overhead squat.
Here are two of the best accessory drills that you can work on to help build that explosive power out of the hole.
Pause Squats
During a pause squat, an athlete comes to complete stop at the bottom of the movement, holds the position for however long is dictated, then explodes out of the hole. This is quite literally how you perform the movement.
You must come to a complete stop at the bottom position, below parallel. At this point you can play around with the time you hold the weight, from 1,3,5 or even 10 seconds, but it is important that you use a lighter weight than you normally would for that squat as it’s much harder to come out of the hole from a stationary position than it is from one fluid motion.If you do pause squats enough and become comfortable holding heavy weight in that position, it’s going to make it that much easier to drop down and drive up with power when we know there is no pause involved.
Dead Squats
Dead squats are a squat variation in which you only perform the concentric portion of the lift (the shortening of a muscle as it acts against resistive force which isw the upwards phase of a back squat. Dead squats build starting strength, acceleration strength, limit strength, explosive strength, relative strength and rate of force development.
Performing the dead squat:
Set the bar in a low position in the squat rack, so when you move under the bar you are already starting at below parallel—i.e., you’re already in the hole. Assume your squat stance and stand the weight up explosively.
In addition, lifting a heavy weight with the intent to move it as quickly as possible provides explosive strength benefits. Training like this will force your body and your central nervous system which is responsible for processing information received from all parts of the body, to adapt in a positive manner to the demands you place on it by moving the weight as quickly as possible.
Practice intention with EVERY rep!
Join us July 9th, 2016 for Bring-A-Friend Day!
Open to anyone who wants to come see what we are all about !