The desire and appetite to go to a higher level each time you are in CrossFit training help drive growth and new challenges. In order to scale the heights of CrossFit, you need a good collection of shoes you can rely on for your training. There are lots of models from different manufacturers, and at times this leaves some CrossFit athletes confused as to which is the best pair to train with. The following models have been tested through reps and rounds in jumping, lunging, squatting, hitting the floor, and other exercise movements. The best CrossFit shoes are those that will allow you to push to the limit, but still, maintain stability and flexibility throughout the process. Choosing a specific pair is often difficult, but through extensive reviews, you can settle on some shoes. The following are some of the best CrossFit shoes for your gym workouts. Nike Metcon 3 This model is known for its stability, exceptional transfer of power during sprinting, and an awesome grip for rope climbs. Based on experience, Metcon 3 has a stable heel and sole which is excellent for heavy squats, carries, and deadlifts. That said, its flexible forefoot shines the most in sprinting, jumping, and burpees. Athletes who have tried this shoe find it particularly grippy on rope climbs and can handle well some of the CrossFit movements categorized as trickier. Adidas Powerlift 3 This model is exceptional for weightlifting, gives you incredible protection, and it is comfortable on runs. This is one of the CrossFit shoes that have shown surprising versatility in weightlifting. It performs exemplarily well during short runs and when doing deadlifts, cleans, and heavy squats, it remains relatively stable. If you are seeking an edge in heavier lifts competitions, the Powerlift 3 is a smart choice. No Bull Trainer This shoe is comfortable and has a durable upper part. Come to think of it; it lives up to the hype. Regarding performance, it gives you an all-around assurance and doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses. It is easy to wear, and you can work out in it for hours both before and after the WOD. Its finish is clean and stylish and can be worn with virtually any casual leave alone CrossFit gear. The No Bull Trainers gives you an elegant solution if you are looking for one pair of shoes you can work out with and at the same time wear to informal events. Reebok Nano 7.0 The Nano 7 is one of the most popular CrossFit shoes because it does everything. Its features make it favorable in weightlifting. Its slightly elevated and supportive heel provides excellent stability when squatting or receiving heavy cleans. When it comes to squats and Olympic lifts, the Nano 7 outperforms many other shoe models thanks to its stiffer and stable sole. Other shoes you may consider when hitting the CrossFit gym include Adidas CrazyPower Trainer, Asics Conviction X, and New Balance Minimus 40.

The flexibility and marvelous strength engineered to your lower back make it vulnerable to developing lots of problems. Also, since the lower back is a channel through which nerves run through the spine into the other parts of your body, a slight problem with your back may cause hip problems, leg pain, and much more. While lifting a heavy object, making a sudden movement or twisting as in CrossFit training, the lower back can be injured. These activities cause your ligaments or muscles to stretch or even develop microscopic tears. With time, repetitive stress or poor posture may also cause muscle strain or soft tissue problems. How to Prevent Lower Back Pain The lumbar spine has a total of 5 motion segments. Most bending and twisting is done among those segments. However, the lowest two segments known as L4-L5 and L5-S1 do most of the movements and hence susceptible to wearing down or even getting injuries. The following are some of the tips to help prevent the occurrence of injuries and pain. Exercising Your Core If you want to support your lower back and prevent occurrences of injuries, you need to build strong core muscles. Low impact cardiovascular workouts such as exercise walking enhance blood flow to the spine. This, in turn, supplies healing nutrients as well as hydration to the structures that make your lower back. In case you cannot exercise for one reason or the other, make small goals to get up and move up and down your stairs at least 3 times in a row. You can also sit on an exercise ball or walk with a friend for about 20 minutes. Rectify Your Posture The foremost thing your coach will train you on in the CrossFit gym is on posture. Poor posture pressurizes your back and may cause the degenerated discs to become even more painful. The best way to support the natural curve of your lower spine is by using an ergonomic chair and always checking on your posture as you work during the day. If you sit for a greater part of the day, ensure you set aside at least half an hour to get up and walk. Improve Your Physical Health The spine is all you have and reflects the overall health of your body. If you can do anything to improve your fitness and health, your lumbar spine will benefit as well. For instance, drink lots of water, desist from taking inflammatory diets, minimize alcohol intake, and stop smoking. Ensure you also get enough sleep because too little sleep can affect your back or cause pain. Stretch Your Hamstrings Tight hamstrings are one of the major causes of lower back pain. Try incorporating hamstring stretching exercises into your CrossFit workout of the day to decrease the pressure on the pelvis and give your lower back the much-needed relief. Not every hamstring stretching approach is good for your back condition, but your therapist can guide you on that. Anyone who has had to deal with lower back pain can tell you how fast it can immobilize. The above tips and much more out there can minimize flare-ups of back pain.

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.

There has been a misconception about bone health that has led to the lack of concern amongst many people. A majority of people think that bone health is only an issue of the aged. As long as an individual is years away from that age where they need to start worrying about their general body health including bones, there is no point fact-finding on bone health. On the contrary, taking care of your bones is a matter that you need to involve yourself with now. According to research, when a person attains the age of 18, close to 90% of their bones are solidified. By the time they reach the age of 30, the chances of success in bone density enhancements become slim. However, the good thing is nutrition and exercise can have a profound impact on improving and maintaining bone strength. Incorporating Calcium into Your Diet Calcium is simply the backbone of bone health. Science tells us that bones are alive and in the process of constantly remodeling. This happens through the addition and removal of bone tissue in a process known as bone turnover. If you are getting sufficient CrossFit nutrition and your level of exercise is commendable, your body system will consistently add bone material until you attain the age of 30 and beyond. Even though bone turnover starts declining at the age of 30, nutrition and life choices can help support the density, health, and strength of your bones. Your bones are home to over 99% of the calcium in your body. By enhancing calcium intake, you can optimize bone formation and strength. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for calcium is 1,000 milligrams per day for both men and women. Some of the foods to include in your CrossFit diet include dairy products, soy products, kidney beans, and cruciferous green veggies. Vitamin D Vitamin D plays a supportive role in bone strengthening. It does so by enhancing the absorption of calcium in the body. The richest source of vitamin D is sunshine through its UVB rays. When these rays come into contact with your skin, they cause a series of reactions that culminate in the formation of vitamin D which is also referred to as calcitriol. The factors affecting the absorption of UVB rays include your geographical location, your lifestyle, your skin pigmentation, and usage of sunscreen. Most of the people are vitamin D deficient because they do not get as much time out on the sun and the foods they eat do not have as much vitamin D as the body requires. You may decide to supplement if you find yourself in a situation where your daily vitamin D requirements are not met. Resistance Training Having taken care of diet above, you should finish it up with exercise. Working with weights is an important process in the preservation and enhancement of bone strength. The reason behind this is simple; resistance training is a direct stress-or to your bone system. In order to adapt, your body responds by increasing bone cells which in turn add bone material. Incorporating weight bearing CrossFit exercises for two or three times a week can do the job incredibly well. Some of the workouts to include are bodyweight squats, push-ups, jumping rope, jogging, and walking. The bottom line for adding bone material and enhancing your bone density is to stay healthy, stay active, and stay strong.

No doubt that your core is more than just your abs as it is the powerhouse of your body. It facilitates movement as well as houses the central nervous system and inner organs. For this reason, working out your core and strengthening it is an important decision that is loaded with health benefits. Below are some of the benefits that will accrue to you as a result of core strengthening. Injury Prevention Strengthening your core means having core stability and core strength. Core stability is enhanced by the deep internal muscles which lie closer to the spine while core strength has everything to do with the 6-pack abs. Core stability should be prioritized and thereafter core strength. When you have a strong core, your overall fitness will improve, and this minimizes chances of injuries down the road. One simple, but effective CrossFit exercise that will help you build core stability involves drawing in the abdominal muscles and then holding for about 5 breaths before relaxing. When you repeat this, 10 times, it can help you stabilize your core. Protection of Central Nervous System and Inner Organs Protecting the vital systems that lie below your body surface is part of staying healthy. Your core is where your central nervous system and organs do their busy work, but also forms the base for some of the largest veins and arteries of your body. When your core muscles are strong, you will have the guarantee that everything else stays protected as you go about your business of the day. Minimizes Back Pain Back pain is one of the common side effects of a weaker core. When you strengthen your core, it helps bring balance both to the back and front of your body. One of the CrossFit training equipment you can use even while at the office is a stability ball. This will give you a sense of instability which activates your abdominals to stay engaged. Confident Posture People whose cores are strong carry themselves with confidence. Normally, a stronger core is associated with a tall upright posture which exudes strength. It impresses upon people that you are in control of your life. On the other hand, a slumped posture makes you look defeated and weak. For this, you have the reason to do all you can to strengthen your core. When heading to the CrossFit gym, your morale and motivation will keep you going even when things get tough in there. A stronger core gives you a healthy body which in turn makes you feel great. Once you are done developing core stability, you can then concentrate on the superficial core muscles that enable you to build strength which is visible. Exercises such as the bridge and plank are good to get you started.

Coaches who have prepared athletes for CrossFit games have shared some useful insights on what it takes to get ready for competitions. The preparations involve taking athletes through events and situations they would traditionally not be exposed to in the CrossFit gym. The reason why games training is special is that the athletes competing at these games are people who have worked so hard for years and gone through hurdles day in day out to qualify. In terms of sacrifice, they have given up so many things and aspects of their lives so that they can secure a place on that competition floor. Therefore, leading up to this event, the training is usually characterized by extremely special energy. It is a manifestation of the accumulation of the many years of hard work. The Difference in Training for the Various Games CrossFit games are divided into 3 major categories: Open, Regionals, and Games. For many athletes, the way they train for each of these games is notably different. A handful of athletes can justify focusing on the Games more than the other categories. When training for Open, you are in quite a familiar environment. There is time to warm up and prepare optimally plus you can always repeat events if they do not go as planned. During your CrossFit workout, you can put your favorite song, and you have a whole week to complete just one workout. It is not uncommon to see CrossFit athletes excelling because of the advantage of the home environment. At the Regionals, there are 3 days of competition and a total of 6 events on the minimum. One of the biggest advantages of this level of competition is that athletes have always known what events to expect at least a month before the kickoff. What this means is that they can specifically prepare for these events and excel in them. When competing at the Games level, things change, and the architecture is completely different. Among other things, athletes should know how to handle the volume, be prepared for anything because they are not sure what they will be put through next, and the lack of sleep. Because you are performing before hundreds of thousands of people, one of the things you cannot afford to falter in is confidence. From 2008 to 2009, the games changed, and the number of events doubled from 4 to 8. This year and beyond, the number of events is likely to be 14 and above.  4 Weeks before Competition Here, athletes usually focus on the simple routine of eating, training, and sleeping with minimal if any distractions. During this period, the emphasis is on technique and exposure to new elements as well as training your focus for the competition. The preparation is mainly mental and physical.  One Week to Competition By this time, athletes will have known the selection of workouts and movements they can do smoothly and comfortably. The focus is on shorter duration, high-intensity CrossFit workouts as they prepare for the game day. Movements need to be smooth, and energy systems must work optimally. The night before the game day, you need to eat, sleep, and get ready for what is to follow. Never stress yourself beyond your maximum holding capacity.

Almost every CrossFit athlete knows the benefit of the barbell workout. However, not everyone is aware that the size and weight of the lifting bar can significantly affect the effectiveness of their exercises. Among the CrossFit WODs that involves some type of lifting include strongman, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, and other exercises. The Men’s, Women’s, and Youth Lifting Bars The bar that you find in most gyms today is the 20kg men’s bar. This doesn’t mean that manufacturers do not produce other types of weightlifting bars. You may find other bars measuring 15kgs and other 10kgs. One of the easiest ways to distinguish between male and female weightlifting bars is the absence of knurling at the center of the female bars. The following are some of the specifications that will help you further distinguish the different types of bars. • Men’s barbells usually measure 2.2 meters in length, 28 millimeters in diameter, and 20 kilograms in weight.• Women’s barbells measure 2.01 meters in length, 25 millimeters in diameter, and 15 kilograms in weight.• Lastly, youth barbells measure 1.7 meters in length, 25 millimeters in diameter, and 10 kilograms in weight. Features You Should Consider There are several features which you should bear in mind when buying a barbell for your CrossFit training routine. Some of these include: Whip of the Bar The whip refers to the ends of the bar which bounce off at the end of a phase of a lift or a repetition. The ends of the bar are usually moving even when the lifter is stationary. The main elements in determining the amount of whip include the material used in making the bar. The thickness of the plates may also affect the whip the athlete can generate. For instance, bumper plates spread the load on the collar of the bar making it behave differently from how it would have behaved if calibrated weight plates were used. Barbell Sleeves The sleeves are part of the barbell and determine the spin the bar will have. The spin is permitted through the use of bushings or bearings. Bushings are normally placed between the sleeve and the shaft and offer low friction. Bearings, on the other hand, offer a much faster, quieter, and smoother spin. They are made from metal balls or small needles which roll within the sleeve. Barbell Strength There are two main measurements which determine barbell strength, and these include tensile strength and yield strength. Yield strength refers to the amount of weight required to bend and deform the bar permanently. Tensile strength is basically the breaking point of the barbell, and it is measured in pounds per square inch. When looking for a good weightlifting barbell, go for one with ratings of 165,000 PSI and above. Load Capacity This is determined by the length of the sleeve. The width of the plate is the biggest determining factor that affects load capacity. Compared to cast iron gym plates, competition powerlifting weight plates are much thinner. The reason is that in powerlifting disciplines, much greater loads are handled. Olympic weightlifting bars do not take up as much load because the load potential is a lot lesser. This is why the barbells must be relatively wider and designed to absorb shock arising from the plates being dropped from overhead. Other factors to consider include the finish on the sleeves and bars, and knurling. Getting the right weightlifting barbell is quite challenging, but when you have it, your workouts will be awesome.

Just like adults, kids need to be active. One of the best ways to do this is to initiate them into a CrossFit training programme early enough in their lives. There is no clear-cut line of the minimum regarding age from when you can introduce CrossFit to your children. That said, the recommended minimum age is from 7 years. One of the greatest challenges is designing a CrossFit program specifically for kids. If you are at a crossroads not knowing how to go about this, the following tips can help you out. Have a Passion for Children The first tip to running a successful CrossFit program is to develop the love for children. It is almost impossible to coach kids if you don’t have a passion for their development and welfare. Trying to push through this may see you becoming unsuccessful. Be Real to the Kids You may think that kids are not smart when it comes to reading faces, but they know when you are pretending and when you are your authentic self. From the beginning and throughout the program, ensure you remain true to who you really are. Kids love that. Stay Current and Relevant There are lots of movies and cultures that define kids’ ecosystem. If you want to train kids in CrossFit, you need to be up to date with all this stuff. With the internet, kids have become tech savvy, and they are watching movies you probably even haven’t heard about. Try and be current with what kids love to watch so that you can integrate the same into your CrossFit gym lessons. Act Like Them When you enter kids zone, you need to act just like them so that they can identify with you. For instance, you could do voices of popular cartoons or characters so that you can connect with the inner passion and capture the love of your CrossFit kids. Put Boundaries in Place Children know when they do something wrong, and all that they are waiting for is for you to tell them they have messed up. The best way to approach this is to set boundaries and closely monitor the behavior and activities of the kids so that they do not overstep on these boundaries. Be sure that some of the kids will test these boundaries just to see what you can do. Always Maintain Eye Contact Eye contact and confidence are some of the soft tools you can use to instill values and show seriousness to the kids. Whether you are instructing them on a specific skill or reprimanding them for something they have done wrong, eye contact will deliver half the results and complement other measures you may put in place. Have a Back-Pocket Game It is not always that the CrossFit exercises and games you plan will go smoothly. At some point, you may be forced by the context to switch over to another game because the earlier one may not be working right. It is therefore important to have that back-pocket game. Games such as crazy obstacle course and burpee dodgeball always work wonders. Also, remember to be louder than the kids so that they can hear you and make them see that you are in control. At the end of the class, always have a chant or special cheer.