Are you the kind of athlete who is serious about what goes into your body and the impact this has on your physique? If yes, then the chances are high that you are closely monitoring your CrossFit diet macros, that is, carbs, protein, and fat. Many athletes have become obsessed with macros, and this has eclipsed a very important sub-group known as micronutrients which are essential for immune function, health, and the overall quality of life. What many people are not aware is that micronutrients play a critical role in assisting your body system to optimize energy levels and boost exercise performance. Foods that are loaded with micronutrients include veggies and fruits. Summer may be beautiful because of the warm and lovely weather, but autumn brings with it its own tidings in the form of micronutrient-rich foods. Therefore, if you want to improve your micro intake and by extension your exercise performance, you have the opportunity to know and incorporate the rich food into your CrossFit diet. Beetroots Beets are vegetables which are crimson-colored and rich in folate, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. Potassium, in particular, is a key electrolyte that plays a strategic role in nerve signaling and muscle contraction. Because beetroot enhances nutrient and oxygen delivery to working muscles, it beats many vegetables when it comes to exercise performance enhancement. The dietary nitrates contained in beets have a positive impact on the oxygen demand during workouts. The Journal of Applied Physiology published a study which suggested that taking approximately 16 ounces of beetroot juice daily can decrease oxygen demand significantly during moderate-intensity activity. The time to exhaustion also increases and this means you can work out more in the CrossFit gym. Winter Squash Winter squash is rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, and dietary fiber. It comes in plenty during early fall. However, the most interesting bit of winter squash is that it contains pectin which is a soluble fiber that plays such a huge role in the regulation of blood glucose levels. This is important to help you sustain your energy and as such working out for longer hours. This vegetable literally squashes any chance of fatigue that may develop in the middle of your workout session. You can eat winter squash by roasting the seeds or baking them at about 280 degrees Fahrenheit for a period of 15 to 18 minutes. Pumpkin Contrary to what some people have been claiming, pumpkin doesn’t have a single nutrient which is a magical performance booster. Instead, pumpkins contain micronutrients that combine synergistically to give you a milestone in the gym. Pumpkins contain vitamin A, B vitamins, fiber, and selenium, which is an antioxidant. You can roast the pumpkin seeds and consume them while putting the delicious flesh to good use. One of the best ways of eating the flesh is by making it into a pumpkin hummus. This is just because the ingredients you need are garlic, tahini paste, lemon juice, olive oil, fresh pumpkin cooked, chickpeas, cumin, salt, and cayenne pepper. When you combine all these ingredients in a blender and mix thoroughly for 30 to 60 seconds, and after that add a small amount of water, you will end up with pumpkin hummus. There you go! Include these three wonderful vegetables in your CrossFit diet and power through your CrossFit training sessions.

As a beginner lifter or any other CrossFit enthusiast, you may be having some questions you want to be answered in weightlifting. If there is one area in CrossFit training that can either make or break your performance success is keeping questions to yourself when there are professionals around you that can help answer them. Remember, for every question held back; you create an opportunity for misperformance in future. The following are some of the common questions in Olympic weightlifting. Why Am I Incapable of Lifting More from the Floor? In CrossFit, this is a common query, and therefore you are not alone. The reason why athletes tend to perform better from the hang relative to the floor position is that of how they execute their first pull from the ground. A poor first pull literally bars you from engaging in the same position you would achieve in the hang. A lot of people find it difficult to navigate around the knees. Hang positions are mechanically simple, particularly the higher ones. You will realize that the lower you start, the more you will need in mechanics. It is advantageous to start from the floor because you benefit immensely from the added momentum the moment you get to full extension in the second pull. Is it Wrong for the Bar to Hit My Hips During a Lift? While many CrossFit gyms do not train their athletes to hit their hips with the bar, the truth is, it is advantageous. That said, it must not be overemphasized or forced during the learning process. The main focus should be on the power position and the role it plays. When you begin to develop, you will naturally see yourself making contact with the hips without forcing. Is It okay for the Back Squat and Front Squat Loads to be Similar? Conventionally, the front and back squat numbers should be different. Newer athletes tend to record about 20 pounds in the spread between the two. Experienced athletes can clock up to 50 pounds. When you see yourself recording closer numbers between the back and front squat, chances are high you have a core issue or poor mobility. These are the areas you must focus on strengthening and improving in Olympic weightlifting. What Makes Me Catch the Snatch on My Toes Rather Than Flat Footed? There are several reasons why this may happen, but the main one is that your body shifts towards the bar at some point during the pull. The correct movement should have the bar as close as possible to your body, and the moment it passes your knees, you should sweep it back into the hip to extend. When you leave the bar in front of you and shift your weight towards it, everything will fall forward including your catch. Also, toe heavy athletes particularly those with extensive backgrounds in other sports such as gymnastics or dance, tend to have this problem. The other question commonly asked is on the mobility exercises that can help athletes improve at Olympic weightlifting. The simple answer to this is that the appropriate mobility exercises are the same as those you do for your hips, shoulders, and ankles.

These days, you can hardly interact with something before coming across an App that can exactly do the same. CrossFit training has also not been left behind in this, and there are lots of Apps available to help you track your performance. The good thing is, some of them are totally free of charge while others come at a minimal cost compared to the benefits you will derive from them. Some of the common box Apps include: Beyond the Whiteboard This App was developed and launched in 2008 and basically helps you to log, plan, as well as analyze your workouts. It enables you to create your own workouts and also post your results. If you have ever wanted to track your body fat and meals or see how well you are performing relative to other CrossFitters, you can do all that through this App. No doubt, it will help you in your workout of the day. What is even more important, Beyond the Whiteboard helps you find your rep max on lifts as well as other movements you are good at and the ones you need to work on. There is nothing public with this App because everything is totally private unless you let it out yourself. It is compatible with Android, iPhone, and the Web. It is a paid App. CrossFit Games This App allows you to view workouts, submit your scores, as well as track your rankings. The default setting is your rank first, but it allows you to share with colleagues. There are alerts you can customize to serve as reminders for you to submit your scores. Also, it can alert you when there are some live events you need to be streaming. Without resorting to any big screen, you can view live events right from here. It’s compatible with the iOS platform, and it is free of charge.It will surely help you in keeping track of workout of the day. CrossFit WOD Log CrossFit WOD Log was designed by Vandersoft and features some capabilities including tracking your daily WODs, subscribing to your favorite boxes through an RSS feed which also allows you to create or import your daily workout of the day. Through this App, you can view your weight percentage charts and calculate your athletic skill level. If you track your workout of the day, which you should, the CrossFit WOD Log has a functionality to let you enter results and notes. The only let down identified so far is that the App allows you to track only one PR per movement. It is available on the Android platform. myWOD This is a paid App which works with both Android and iOS. With it, you can track your movement and workout records so that you can utilize proper weights. It’s also possible to follow the WOD feed from your box as well as graph your saved WODs. myWOD lets you search, view, and sort your WODs on a calendar. WODBook This CrossFit exercise App has lots of functionalities according to GabilamArg, the developer of WODBook. Right from the App, you can see your box activity, share and compare your results with the other members of the box. Just like the others, you can also get WOD feeds directly from your box as well as any other box working with WODBook. Other Apps which are equally valuable include WODster and Wodzilla. It is important to note that apart from CrossFit Games App, all the rest are third party Apps and have no affiliation with CrossFit.

It’s quite simple to dismiss the cool down after your lifting and to stretch as a complete waste of time. However, you should know that cooling down is a recommended phase in most athletic activities. Cooling down doesn’t necessarily mean doing nothing, but rather engaging in light exercises such as biking or rowing at a steady pace. Research shows that cooling down after a CrossFit workout is as important as doing a warmup in preparation for an exercise. Benefits of a Cool Down One of the things you must appreciate is that cooling down is not the same as active recovery. It comprises certain post-WOD actions taken immediately following a workout while you are still at the gym. On the other hand, active recovery means what you do to recover from your workout when you get back home or a day after your CrossFit workout. During training, metabolic waste products are produced through the chemical processes in the body, and these products find their way to individual muscle cells. To keep you in good shape, the fluid surrounding these cells as well as the veins, capillaries, and lungs should be flushed out before you get into a resting period. The main goal of cooling down is to enhance recovery and return your body to the state it was before the workout. In a strenuous workout, the body system endures several stressful processes which cause tendons, muscle fibers, and ligaments to get damaged and waste products to build up in your system. Through a cool down, your body repair processes can run smoothly. Eases the Effects of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness Delayed onset muscle soreness abbreviated as DOMS, is one of the common side effects of intense workouts. It begins about 8 to 24 hours following the exercise and 24 to 72 hours later; it may produce a lot of pain. Among the symptoms of DOMS include swelling and stiffness of muscles as well as pain. Technically, you cannot avoid DOMS completely, but you can soften its blow by cooling down following your CrossFit training. The best means to do this is to get into a low-intensity exercise to enhance the clearance of all the enzymes responsible for residual fatigue and muscle damage. Enhances Flexibility The best time to work on your flexibility is usually after your CrossFit workout. It is advisable to do it as part of your cooldown because, during this time, your muscles are most pliable and warm. This makes stretching much easier, and you will be surprised at the new levels of flexibility you can reach. You can also take this opportunity to engage your myofascial release so that you can stay on top of the fascia. When left unattended, fascia can cause knots which interfere with your mobility and posture. The key stages to follow in any cool down include a gentle exercise, stretching, and refueling. The main goal of the exercise is to bring your heart rate to its resting level. On the other hand, the stretching is to enhance your flexibility over time, and this can help prevent injuries. Lastly, the role of CrossFit diet in refueling cannot be underestimated. It helps in feeding the hungry muscles.  

Free radicals can cause cell damage if not monitored. Basically, radicals originate from the body’s oxidation processes and are commonly associated with inflammation of the muscles, joints, and tendons. Antioxidants form the first line defense against free radicals. They literally hunt for the radicals with the aim of stabilizing them thus giving you the advantage of working out for long in the CrossFit gym without feeling the burning sensation in your joints and muscles. In case of injured tissues, antioxidants initiate and accelerate the healing process. Below is a discussion of some of the top antioxidants and how they can help you maximize your training. Vitamin C Vitamin C is a vital nutrient involved in collagen synthesis. Where it is lacking, blood vessels become fragile, wounds take longer to heal, and lesions result. Free radicals lead to muscle fatigue, muscular damage, and inflammation. This is where vitamin C comes in to neutralize all these effects and flush out the free radicals by making them stable compounds. Collagen is the connective tissue in ligaments, tendons, and bones which helps in strengthening the body thus giving you flexibility in your workouts.You must consume the sources such a oranges, papayas, dark leafy vegetables etc as they have a rich amount of Vitamin C. Coenzyme Q10 This is an electron carrier in the respiratory chain in the mitochondria. Coenzyme Q10 is a lipid-soluble antioxidant that scavenges free radicals which are generated through chemical processes in the liposomal membranes. The process of lipid peroxidation of the free radicals contributes to delayed tissue damage hence more workout power. So make sure you consume the sources such a cauliflower, broccoli, free-range chicken, grass-fed beef etc as they have a good amount of CoQ10. Zinc Zinc contains more than 100 important enzymes hence its deficiency can have a widespread negative effect on almost every body function. Zinc deficiency in your CrossFit diet affects protein synthesis which is an important process in muscle building. It boosts the secretion of insulin-like growth factor 1, testosterone and growth hormone. These help in the building of muscle mass and giving you the vitality to power through your training. So, add oysters, cashews, shrimp, beef, flax seeds, spinach etc in your diet. Calcium Calcium allows myosin and actin filaments which are the contractile filaments of muscle cells to associate and produce the force that translates into movement. Whenever the nerve cell is innervating a particular muscle cell signals it to contract, calcium is released into the region of the contracted filament hence causing the contraction to occur. A study done showed the effectiveness of calcium in prolonging the onset of fatigue in striated muscles. Calcium also helps in bodyweight regulation particularly in fat metabolism hence enabling you to shed excess fat and build lean muscles.Thus, you must include calcium sources such as whey protein, raw milk, beans, lentils, yogurt, okra, almonds etc in your CrossFit diet. Chromium Chromium demand increases with exercise and hence the need for supplementation in active people including the athletes. Insufficient chromium in diets has been linked to the onset of diabetes and heart diseases. Chromium helps in enhancing insulin sensitivity and therefore boosting the ability of your body to burn fat as the preferred source of fuel. When combined with a conjugated linoleic acid, chromium helps in lowering body weight, visceral fat mass, and total body fat mass. Thus, adding chromium-rich foods such as cheese, bread, whole grains, fish, corn etc in your diet will be very beneficial.  There are other crucial antioxidants such as magnesium, potassium, and alpha lipoic acid which contribute immensely in fighting off inflammation during CrossFit training, which in turn enables your body to recover well, delay fatigue and prevent injuries. This is important in maximizing the effect of training and improving performance. So make sure you include more antioxidants sources in your CrossFit diet.

Going through childhood, one of the most enjoyable activities is usually biking. As people grow, somehow their love for bikes tends to diminish probably due to busy lifestyle or changing priorities. If this is you, you may want to change your outlook and head straight to that bike sitting in your garage or shade for a ride. In CrossFit training, biking is one of the compound exercises with lots of benefits. This is why most CrossFit coaches would not hesitate to include it in the training regimen. In case you are not familiar with biking or its benefits, below are some of the great gains behind this age-old exercise. Enhanced Cardio Endurance As you may know, CrossFit is a high-intensity sport where you get to test your limits for an extended duration. Biking as a workout includes setting a time or distance priority, hill repeats, sprinting, or just about anything that makes you feel challenged. The whole exercise is fun, but it requires a lot of effort especially where the challenge is scaled up. Research shows that biking for about an hour can burn anything up to 500 calories. The good thing is that the cycling is done at a moderate pace. Loss of 500 calories is a major gain towards weight loss. Improved Coordination and Balance As you head towards your middle years, balance and coordination somehow start decreasing. This is particularly true where you do not put them to test regularly. One of the best ways to challenge yourself and still have fun is bike riding. Test yourself on how fast you can ride and for how long you can stay at a red light without planting your feet onto the ground. For coordination, you can ride along a painted line or the edge of a sidewalk and look at how you perform. An Excellent Way to Unwind After a tough CrossFit WOD, you may want to switch off your mind a little bit and allow for your muscles to relax through some light exercise. Cycling is one of them. You could invite your family to cycle alongside you as you relax those muscles from draining and muscle tasking workout. The repetitive movement that is characteristic of biking together with the fresh air will distress you in as little as 15 minutes. A Less Costly Way to Exercise Biking doesn’t involve costly equipment like the other exercises. All you need is to buy a quality bicycle which can last you a long period if you maintain it well. The cost of a bike is not much on the initial purchase price, rather on the maintenance part of it. The beauty of biking is that you can do it anywhere as long as there is a path. You can incorporate biking into your workout of the day to give you immense benefits.

In most elementary CrossFit gym classes, physical fitness is equated with strength challenges such as pull-ups and push-ups. As a matter of fact, push-ups have been one of the standards against which CrossFitters have tested their strength. There are various types of push-ups which even the most seasoned weightlifters find difficult to execute. Below are the top 4 and if you can do a set of 10 for each of these, you are a monstrous powerlifter. Superman Push-Up This push-up may also be known as LaLanne fingertip push-up after its founder Jack LaLanne. It is considered one of the hardest push-up variations in the CrossFit industry. To do it, you lie on the ground with your arms and legs fully extended. To start the push-up, press your toes and fingertips into the ground and use your toes to keep you grounded as you push through your fingertips to raise your body off the ground. To do this workout successfully, you need great chest strength, powerful shoulders, a strong core, as well as muscular arms to enable you to push your body off the ground. One-Arm Push-Up This is another challenging workout even for the most seasoned weightlifters. You start by getting yourself into the normal push-up position. After that, widen your feet so that their width surpasses that of your shoulder. With one hand pressed behind your back, gradually lower yourself to the ground. Aztec Push-Up This push-up variation utilizes the concept of plyometrics. They involve an explosive push from the floor with your chest and hands flying off the floor. If you feel you want to add an element to make this variation even more difficult, then attempt to clap before coming back down. The starting position is similar to that of other push-ups, but the difference comes as you explode up from the bottom. In the Aztec push-up, you drive your entire body straight into the air with a goal of touching your toes. After that, you straighten your hands to break your fall as you return to the standard position. Planche Push-Up This is the toughest of all push-up CrossFit workouts you will find you will find at the CrossFit gym. It requires a tremendous amount of chest strength as well as stronger forearms, hands, wrists, and shoulders. The reason why planche push-up is an incredibly difficult push-up variation to undertake is due to the need to first master the planche position. In the planche position, the center of your body gravity rests over your hands. With your arms, shoulders, and hands supporting your entire weight and your legs off the ground, you will need lots of strength to execute or perform this push-up.  When done regularly as part of your CrossFit training regime, push-ups, though challenging, will strengthen your shoulders, chest, arms, and your back. You will enjoy impressive stability, and you will always maintain a proper form. So, you can do these different types of push up in your CrossFit gym.

Weight training may have its own rules and procedures, but there is no one size that fits all. What you go for in terms of weight sizes primarily depends on the fitness goals you have set before you and any previous experience you may have on weight training. The National Strength and Conditioning Association suggests that athletes should lift weights heavy enough so as to fatigue their muscles during specific repetition range when doing CrossFit exercise. This means if you work out in the CrossFit gym and you don’t feel the burn after you are done with your sets, then your lifting is not heavy enough. Beginner Lifters The recommended starting weight for beginners should be one that they can easily lift about 12 to 15 times for a set or two. The size of this dumbbell weight may range between 2 to 15 pounds depending on the target muscle group. With this dumbbell weight range, you will develop baseline musculature and strength as well as proper technique and rhythm. It is suggested that you train with this repetition and weight range for a period of about 4 weeks. The Weights The choice of weight for a dumbbell differs according to the muscle groups. For instance, when doing bicep curls, you can use weights ranging from 5 to 8 pounds. On the other hand, working out weaker triceps muscles requires weights of about 2 to 5 pounds. When performing squats, the recommended weights should be much heavier up to 45 pounds because your glutes and legs are much stronger than your arm muscles. Endurance If you are a distance athlete such as triathlete or marathon runner, your CrossFit training should have more of muscular endurance. To train for this, you should aim at using dumbbell sizes that will seriously fatigue your muscles in repetitions of about 15 to 20. Start with light weight and if you can perform up to 20 repetitions with ease, increase the weight. Your goal here is to get the maximum possible weight which you can lift through 20 repetitions and one which maxes out your endurance. Endurance training is not much about muscle mass, rather it enhances the amount of work your muscles can do over a long period. Hypertrophy When you hear of muscle hypertrophy it simply means building muscle size. The best repetition range to make this possible is 3 sets between 8 and 12 repetitions. Perform this between 2 to 3 times in a week. The dumbbells for muscle hypertrophy should be anything from 10 to 20 pounds. Strength If your target is to build strength, your CrossFit exercise should have higher intensity and weight compared to muscle hypertrophy. Make your sets around 3 to 4 and your dumbbell weight should enable you to max out at about 6 to 10 reps. The CrossFit exercise will determine the weight of dumbbell to use. For instance, when doing shoulder presses, start with 2 to 5 pounds of weight and when doing squats, aim at 45 pounds. It is advised that you get adequate rest in between the sets so that your muscles can fully recover.