CrossFit workouts are usually quite intensive. For this reason, to maintain a healthy, sculpting, lean and toned body, there is some recommended work out diet. One of the essential components of a good intensive workout diet is protein. It stabilizes blood sugar, provides energy and fuel body requires for workouts. Besides protein, there are other important foods to add to your diet to keep you in good shape whenever you workout. Adding these foods to your diet at least daily will get your body functioning optimally. Here are some of the readily available foods to consider. Banana and whey After working out, it is obvious you refuel and optimize your recovery by replenishing glycogen stores and protein to enhance tissue repair. At this point, your body tends to crave fast-absorbing carbohydrates, and protein. Banana and whey are perfect examples of these fast-absorbing nutrients. Coconut oil Now, the reason why coconut oil is recommended by nutritionists is that it provides energy faster than any other fatty foods. Coconut oil fat is converted by the liver into an instant energy source, just like it is in the case of carbohydrates, the only difference is that it is sugar and carbohydrate-free! Nuts and Seeds Nuts and seeds have the highly required nutrients and omega-3 fatty acids by the body. These nutrients effectively refuel your recovery after a CrossFit workout. Sweet potatoes The body needs functional carbs as an energy booster. Glycogen is stored in the muscles (and the liver partially). The body depends on this glycogen from the muscles for energy to carry you through your workout. Eggs Actually, for CrossFitters, eggs are a superfood. Eggs are rich in protein and vitamin B. One egg normally carries about 7 to 10 grams of protein. So, starting the day with a few eggs in your protein budget daily will be enough fuel for you when you hit the gym.

Many people come to CrossFit with the hope that one day they will scale the heights and top the list of CrossFit champions. However, this doesn’t come easy. What you do between now and the next CrossFit games will determine how far you can go in the competitions. You need a holistic CrossFit training perspective which brings in everything from nutrition to recovery. Your laser focus may just earn you the top spot on the podium and the much-coveted title of “Fittest Man on Earth.” If you are ready for this, below are some ideas to get you on the road. Cutting the Junk One of the biggest changes and sacrifices you will have to make is on your diet. If you have been eating terribly before, you need to streamline your diet so that it can go well with the CrossFit requirements. You may decide to count macros or stick to a specific nutrition philosophy such as eating 4 or 5 big meals a day which includes meat, vegetables, and some carbs. A good choice of diet will help you shed those extra pounds and put to an end the sugar-fueled roller-coaster of drastic dips or spikes in energy. Change Your Training Regime By its very nature, CrossFit consists of training diversity. No specific workout is idolized here because it is all about variations. You may start with strength training in the morning and then cardio in the evening. However, the best approach is to change the timing and format of your workouts from one day to the next. This will help you feel fitter and more prepared for the Games. The 2016 CrossFit Games champion, Mat Fraser, says, he prefers lifting before the endurance training and even after the training. Irrespective of the circumstances, he knows the numbers he can hit. Get the Help of an Expert You can’t be stronger in every aspect. There are some areas you will have incredible strength and some pockets of weaknesses. For instance, you may be rock solid in Olympic weightlifting, but coming in dead last on running events. It may not be straightforward tackling your weaknesses, and this is when you need a coach to work with you so that he can help fix your form and technique. In areas where you have less experience, an expert can help you build confidence. Be Positive in Injuries Just like any other professional athlete, you will have your fair share of injuries in CrossFit. You may suffer fractured vertebrae or a torn meniscus. Your reaction to injuries will determine whether you will go on strongly or crash completely. For instance, rushing back to the gym following an injury may compromise recovery. The best way ahead is to give your body time to heal and be positive throughout your injury time. Some injuries give you an opportunity to strengthen other workouts. For instance, a sore elbow will give you an opportunity to strengthen your squat. A sprained ankle, on the other hand, can give you a chance to hone your gymnastic skills. Lastly, you have to learn how to embrace the suck. Some of the killer CrossFit workouts will induce temporary pain, and from time to time, you may hit a wall. Motivational self-talk can help you stick with a challenging workout and push through it.

At the beginning of every year, millions of people make resolution goals to live healthier and get in better shape.However, hitting the gym each day can feel like more effort than it’s worth. You start by missing one workout, and then two, then sooner or later morale and motivation decreases drastically. A backup plan is therefore very much needed. Working out in your living room may seem less effective than using fancy gym equipment, but you might just be surprised at how well a workout using just your body weight as resistance does the trick.In fact, you may be able to reach all your goals at home. What I strongly recommend therefore is setting small, attainable targets each week to get you to your larger goals. A comprehensive routine includes resistance training to strengthen your muscles and cardiovascular exercise that gets your heart pumping. At first, any amount is good, but you’ll want to work up to strength training at least twice a week and at least 30 minutes of moderate cardio activity five times a week. Here’s how you can get started and work out at home without spending a lot of money. Body weight workouts When starting your fitness journey, body weight workouts is a good way to begin. I suggest the following 35- to 40-minute starter plan: 5-10 minutes of moderate but steady state cardio, such as shadow boxing and jogging. 5-10 minutes of dynamic stretchings, such as arm circles, standing hip flexor stretches or rotating hamstring stretches. 10 minutes of functional body weight exercises, such as squats, walking lunges, push-ups, and sit-ups. 10-15 minutes of isolated movements, like lying leg raises, hip raises, bridges and seated Russian twists. 5 minutes of cool-down stretching without movement. Next is cleaning circuit. This is because housework also burns some calories, but why not take it up a notch and work toward your fitness goals too? The next time you’re about to do some cleaning, put on your favorite workout playlist and do a few jumping jacks or dance moves to get your heart rate up. This might take longer than your regular house cleaning session, but you’ll be accomplishing two things at once. Mobile apps in the various app stores provide several fitness apps allow you to mix and match moves, or use your goals to create a different daily routine for you. It is always recommended that you add variety in your exercise routine and there are both free and paid apps in the app stores. These will not only guide you but also help you keep track of your fitness routine. Finally, throw in some small equipment If you’re tired of the same old exercises. Try purchasing inexpensive resistance equipment such as low weights, resistance bands, a kettlebell or a jump rope. These small items can be found at a variety of stores and often include instructions for moves you can do with them while exercising.

In CrossFit, building muscle is not an easy task because it incorporates hard work, training, and discipline. Some athletes go through training cycles, but still, find it hard to show off their muscles. While there are so many other reasons behind this, one of the common and overlooked aspects of muscle building is CrossFit nutrition.Packing muscles and reducing body fat helps in making our bodies tighter and gives us the opportunity to burn more calories thus resulting in a leaner body. The body system requires a certain combination of nutrients to build muscle. Gone are the days when you just concentrated on the number of calories. Today, you have to be careful about where the calories are coming from. Proteins The debate around proteins is not about the viability of this nutrient in muscle building, but rather the required quantities for different levels of athlete activity. Currently, the recommendations are within the range of 0.5 grams and 2 grams per lb. of bodyweight. An athlete who weighs 150 lb. can take anything from 75 grams to 300 grams of protein per day. Protein plays a crucial role in the building, maintenance, as well as recovery of muscles. It has also been discovered that taking protein makes you feel fuller longer than before and helps in the burning of body fat. The important thing is to ensure you get enough protein so as to realize its benefits. Carbohydrates These are the main source of fuel. They provide you with energy to help you in powering through CrossFit workouts efficiently. The body system breaks down carbohydrates into glucose which it uses for energy or is stored as glycogen for future energy demands. To avoid a breakdown of protein during workouts, you need to take sufficient quantities of carbohydrates, particularly around the exercise time. Before you begin your training, choose carbs that are slow burning such as rice, sweet potatoes, and pasta. The advantage of these is that they help in keeping your sugar levels consistent and help avoid crushes in energy. Post-training, carbs play a key role in repair and growth of muscles. Water More than half your body system is made up of water. This means any dehydration leads to a sharp decline in the functioning of important body processes. Water is not a direct source of energy, but it plays an important role in transporting nutrients to the body cells. If you don’t hydrate properly, chances are you won’t last long in the CrossFit gym. Muscles look bigger and fuller when they are appropriately hydrated. Calories If you are to gain sufficient body mass, it is critical that you maintain a caloric surplus. Setting this surplus may not be a smooth ride because athletes have varying caloric needs. For a start, you can choose a particular amount of calories, stick to it, and then monitor your body weight and your body composition. If you find that you are losing weight while your body composition is the same, you should consider adding more calories. On the contrary, if you are gaining weight and body fat, reduce the number of calories.The above tips will point you towards the right direction, but consistency is what will deliver the ultimate prize. Motivate yourself and always remain consistent.

CrossFit During Pregnancy, The Facts Are you planning a kid and thinking about getting pregnant? Are you wondering whether you should continue or stop your CrossFit workouts during pregnancy? Yes, most of the expectant mothers might be having this question in their minds. Crossfitting is good for a pregnant woman or not is a hot topic to debate about. With the conflicting articles, lots of information available on the internet, suggestions from family and friends, it’s very easy for a woman to get lost in the vast sea of information. In this article, you are going to explore the facts about the CrossFit during pregnancy. Fact 1: Scale your workouts while pregnancy. It’s essential to firstly listen to what your body says. Just pay attention to the voice of your body while pregnant. Each day will be completely different from the previous one, and you may start feeling uncomfortable with certain movements. Slow down if you are feeling awkward with any of the CrossFit moves and start making some modifications. It’s also a fact that while pregnancy, a woman’s body releases the Relaxin hormone that causes ligaments to be a bit looser and may affect the balance adversely. Hence, it’s important to avoid box jumps and other similar moves. Fact 2: Workouts will never harm you or your baby. Exercise is highly important for an expectant mother and its baby. A mother and her baby actually share everything, including hormones. And if the mother is releasing endorphins, it will benefit her baby too. Certain studies have also revealed that the mothers who exercise and workout daily while pregnancy possesses larger placentas that means more oxygen exchange for her kid. Fact 3: You do not need to monitor your heart rate while workouts. Yes, it’s a widely prevailed myth that you will need to continuously monitor your heart rate while workout during pregnancy. It’s rather more important to listen again to what your body suggests; take breaks as needed.During pregnancy, the blood volume of a woman raises by around 50 percent, and this is the reason why a lady feels shortness of breath during workouts. You should also know that every minute workouts are excellent for any expectant mother as it provides them built in rest. Fact 4: You do not need to change your diet tremendously. If you were already including adequate protein, good fats and minerals in your diet, you will probably not have to change your diet much. Pregnant women are generally suggested to have Paleo or Primal diet. In case you were having everything needed for your baby already in your diet, you will probably not have to make several changes. You can also consult your doctor to ensure that you are including everything your baby needs from your diet. Fact 5: You are okay to continue with CrossFit during pregnancy. This is the biggest question any expectant mother may have in her mind. Be assured; you can continue being a crossfitter during this phase of life too. The functional movements we do while CrossFit is very beneficial for pregnant women. However, in case you have never done CrossFit before, and you are a newbie to it, go for hiring a personal trainer for your workout sessions. An experienced trainer will guide you throughout your workout and will help you and your baby stay fit.

For most people, the idea of mobility is more or less like rowing upstream. You need consistency and focus for you to make progress. With minimal effort, you won’t be able to do much; probably you will just maintain your current level of flexibility and mobility. You need to put to push yourself from rigidity into fluidity. Many CrossFit training routines incorporate mobility drills. It is important to spend a few minutes each day to work on your personal limitations. While it is appreciated that not everyone comes early or leaves late, to work on a few stretches and drills, there is absolutely no excuse for not improving your mobility.At an affordable price, you can put together a personalized mobility kit that you will use throughout your workouts. The following are some of the recommended tools that you should have on hand at your office or home so that you can gradually and consistently move towards mastering your mobility. Foam Roller This is an excellent CrossFit workout equipment targeting the larger areas of your body such as upper back, hamstrings, quads, and lats. The market has all sorts of foam rollers from different manufacturers. Do not be tricked into buying cheap rollers that are made from low-density foam. This is because such rollers are too soft and they do not last as long. The best are high-density rollers as they enable you to dig in. The approximate cost is $15 to $50. Lacrosse Ball If you want to get into hot sports such as the pec major, calves, deltoids, and plantar fascia, foam roller may prove ineffective because it is the relatively larger surface area. This is where the lacrosse ball comes in. It is recommended that you tape two balls together to make a peanut. This will give you an effective tool to deal with the thoracic spine irrespective of its stiffness. The cost is about $5 to $10. Stretch Out Strap A stretch out strap is used for different types of stretches in every area of your body. The beauty of this piece of equipment is that it has numerous loops that are built in to help you have lots of options when stretching out. The muscles targeted by stretch out straps include quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, shoulders, and adductors. You can pack your stretch out straps together with your luggage and do some stretching after your long flight. The cost of this mobility tool is just $12. Theracane Theracane is more precise in hitting the target areas than foam roller and lacrosse ball. Simply defined, it is a dip pressure massager that enables you to reach out to areas that previously were harder to reach such as your mid back, pec minor, and traps. The cost of theracane is approximately $29.In addition to the above incredible mobility tools for WOD training, you can invest in compression floss bands to facilitate your recovery in case of injuries. Floss bands compress your tissues thereby increasing shear that in turn glues together your tissues for quick healing. The compression also moves metabolic waste products and lymph out of your targeted muscle tissue. All said it would take consistent effort to improve your mobility. Push yourself hard and never lose hope!

If it is your dream to get better at CrossFit, then there are some tips you really have to embrace, especially for newbies. This article is going to give you a heads up and act as a motivation towards doing it successfully. In my short story, I really wanted to be able to do a muscle up just like every other CrossFitter. Every once in a while, I would attempt ring jumps- I used to get frustrated with every attempt which always ended up in fails anyway. This seemed to confuse me since I used to be a gymnast just a while back. What had changed? How hard could it really be? I knew I had the strength to do it. I used to do pull-ups and dips just a while back, but at that moment I couldn’t do a single ring jump. Other people in the gym were always shocked whenever I told them I wasn’t able to do one. They didn’t discourage me though; they would urge me to try harder. Sometimes this only added to my secret frustration. After having ‘my ego checked’ I started, doing drills much better with a little help from a gym assistant. I could notice significant progress, and before I even realized it, I was on a successful journey towards being a Crossfitter.Here are some tips I felt I had to share with you from my story; Show up The first step towards achieving this is showing up- definitely, has to be. It is not as obvious as you may rush to think. When you actually get to the gym, you would be surprised by the number of people who seem always to forget this concept; I was not an exception myself. Persistence is key in CrossFit Skipping days that you know are going to involve some tough workouts, you think you suck at only make matters worse for you. Honestly, if you are going to stick to this mentality, then you are really going to suck at CrossFit. Drop that sulky attitude today and push yourself to your limits. Commit If you are really up for this, then there is no way you can decide and show up once or twice a week. Running, spinning and other routine forms of exercise you’re holding on to- since you consider them ‘easier’ is not enough. This doesn’t mean you have to quit the exercises you love doing; I am simply trying to say that you have to make this your main focus to realize results faster. Value your strength and sweat Usually, many people who begin CrossFitting find that their endurance builds up pretty quickly. Exercises such as rowing, burpees and box jumps are never a problem after a while. You are going to love the good sweat associated with an awesome workout you’ve just had. In fact, in the gym, it’s quite sexy. Parting shot The bottom-line to the message in this article, in a nutshell, is that; if you really want to improve on something, anything- then practice makes perfect! If you want to run a marathon race, get out of your comfort zone and run. And if you want to become better at CrossFit, don’t be a lazy ass, head to the gym- you can do it!

CrossFit training has rapidly grown in popularity across the world in recent years. In the process, this has led to discussions about the advantages and disadvantages. CrossFit training has been scrutinized by various professions include doctors, fitness experts, personal trainers, professional athletes, and more. This has inspired me to write this blog outlining the Pros and Cons of CrossFit. Most of these points are derived from my own experiences while training at various boxes over the past 2 years. Here are the pros and cons you should be aware of: PROS: It has an awesome community aspect. CrossFit is quite unlike the commercial gym in the essence that you come to know the people at your box. You will find that most of these gyms have outings that many people show up to. Here, you will always get that feeling of teamwork and camaraderie during the workouts. There are constant coaching and support–sometimes you have no clue whether you’re doing an exercise right or not in a commercial gym. In as much as it may not be 1:1 training, there is always a coach to guide you through every workout. Leveling up – since you can keep track of how much you’re lifting daily, and you also know the number of your daily reps and sets, you will be able to notice a constant improvement. You also get to advance at your own pace, slowly but steadily improving on your workouts. It is humbling yet encouraging – in as much as you may end your workout fatigued like never before, you pride in the sense of accomplishment whenever you do a workout faster than the previous times. A sense of Competition – the fact that you are surrounded by people cheering you on and competing with you is simply amazing and encouraging. It urges you to push yourself further. It is an awesome outlet for former athletes who still love competition. Usually, after playing competitive sports throughout high school and college, many people usually feel that all of a sudden there’s nothing more to compete in. CrossFit provides that platform onto which you can keep going. You really get to know your limits. Sometimes the workouts can be frustrating- however, they can also teach you how to push through mental obstacles, you get to build your mental strength. It shapes ‘hot’ bodies. Many women out there keep saying they want to have that “toned” and attempt to get it with hours of cardio. What they don’t know is that these bodies are built every day in the gyms.  It builds nicely toned muscular endurance general body fitness – your body is going to be prepared for pretty much any athletic situation after doing only a few months of CrossFit. CONS: It is not the best if you are looking forward to specialization – you are going to get better at a lot of things in the gym, however, if you want to go the extra mile of specialization, say a powerlifter or a trained athlete, it’s advisable to find a specific coach for that sport. Odd programming – this is quite for the critics. Some may not agree with some workouts involved with CrossFit. For instance, there are some workouts which may call for high reps of snatches. These snatches are regarded as power Olympic moves that require one to be in a perfect form to be able to do them successfully.  They are not cheap either– enrolling in these highly intensive gym workouts can be two or three times the monthly cost of a standard commercial gym. However, I always find it is worth it. A bad coach can cause problems – this is especially so if you are up for some more advanced moves that may take months of learning to perform them right; with a bad coach, lifting the heavyweights can lead to horrible injuries. It’s always important to have a good coach who knows what he does. It can lead to addiction- this point can lie either in Pro or Con section depending on one’s perception. I happen to know quite a number of people who started CrossFitting and now all they do, think or talk about is CrossFit. It is easy to get carried away into this and in the process forget about other people’s feelings when all you can talk about is weights and workouts. Bear Grips offers a full line of gear to keep you protected during your CrossFit workouts. Check out our collection HERE