The effects humidity has on the body while working out can be disastrous if they are not planned for. In this article, we’ll talk about tips and tricks to increase the safety and enjoyment of your workout in a high humidity environment.
Over here in the Florida Panhandle, it is a very hot and humid climate. When working out in this environment the effects of humidity on the body can be extreme. We want to help you to complete your workout safely and successfully in this hot and humid environment!
]]>Why it never hurts to be cautious when it comes to humidity.
The effects humidity has on the body while working out can be disastrous if they are not planned for. In this article, we’ll talk about tips and tricks to increase the safety and enjoyment of your workout in a high humidity environment.
Over here in the Florida Panhandle, it is a very hot and humid climate. When working out in this environment the effects of humidity on the body can be extreme. We want to help you to complete your workout safely and successfully in this hot and humid environment!
We’ll start with some of the obvious questions pertaining to working out in such a climate:
What is humidity?
Whenever there is a lot of water vapor in the air, the humidity is high, making it “feel wet” outside without the effect of rain. The relative humidity measurement is the actual amount of water vapor in the air compared to how much maximum water vapor could be held at the same temperature.
In a warm environment like Florida, high humidity levels are more common, because warm air can hold more water. The humidity can make the temperature feel hotter than it actually is.
Actual temperature vs heat index.
This is an important distinction. The "Heat Index" are apparent temperatures, which means what the temperature “feels like” and therefore, not the “actual temperature.” The heat index is influenced by the humidity because, as we know, humidity makes the temperature feel hotter.
How working out in a humid environment affects the human body.
In order to keep cool, our body produces sweat, but only when the sweat dries, since evaporation is a cooling process. When the relative humidity of the air is high, for example, if the air is saturated with moisture, sweat evaporates more slowly and resulting in a “hotter” feeling temperature.
This can be dangerous when working out because your body’s natural cooling method (sweating) becomes less effective, putting you at risk for heat-related health risks.
What are some of the dangers of working out in a humid environment?
Working out in a humid environment can cause or exacerbate any an all heat-related ailments, including:
While dehydration is quite common (most people are chronically dehydrated), extreme cases can lead to further issues like heatstroke or even cardiac arrest.
It is important to be extra vigilant in hot and humid environments, making sure you’re not only drinking more but also replacing micronutrients and lost electrolytes to improve your uptake of water.
What are some tips and tricks for working out SAFELY in a humid environment?
There are some instances where working out in humid environments are simply unsafe. When the temperature and humidity goes well into the 100s, the benefits of exercising do not outweigh the risks associated with heat-related risks.
However, you can exercise safely in most humid environments using the following tips:
Finally, what are some safe ways to cool the body during or after exercise?
Some of these tips actually begin before the workout starts! By starting your workout hydrated and cool, you are more likely to remain at a stable temperature throughout and it will take you longer to “overheat.”
You can also avoid the coffee, pre-workout, and spicy foods before starting, as these all trick your brain into thinking your body is hotter than it really is.
Consume fluids (water and electrolytes) throughout your workout will help your body make up for some of the fluids lost during exercise. On this note, drinking cold water actually helps your body to cool down faster to meet the temperature of the water.
Finally, adding a cool compress to your neck, armpits, or forehead can help accelerate your cooldown. But don’t jump into an ice cold shower or bath until you have stopped sweating, as this extreme shock can cause your system to arrest.
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What is your favorite way to cool down after a workout? Let us know in the comments below.
]]>But do you know the cause of this feeling? Today, we go over the physiological reasons why intense workouts make you feel exhausted. We also explain the benefits of crazy CrossFit sessions.
How Do We Define Intensity?
When we think of intensity, we often think of how fast our heart rate is or how swamped we feel after a workout. But things like sweating, heart rate, and fatigue don’t define intensity.
Intensity refers to your perceived effort. According to CrossFit’s definition, intensity is power that is measurable, observable, and repeatable. In other words, it’s how much work you put in and in what amount of time.
For all the math and physics nerds out there, here’s an equation used to measure perceived intensity:
Let’s break it down even further.
Force refers to the amount of weight you’re lifting or using during exercises. Distance is how far the weight goes against gravity during a movement. Every repetition you do of an exercise adds to the total distance.
The total work you do during a workout is the result of the force and distance — and the faster the work is completed the more effort thus higher the intensity.
That’s why you gasp for air after a crazy CrossFit session. The fast pace causes a shortage of oxygen in your lungs, which causes your body to breathe as heavily as possible to replenish airflow. Excess oxygen also helps fire up your metabolism — but we’ll get into that a little later.
Relative intensity is personal. It pushes you to extend past your own limits. To increase the intensity, scale up your workouts. Scaling your workouts means changing either the weights or exercises so that it challenges you.
Your goal here is to complete a predetermined set amount of work faster than your previous effort.
For example, if you can usually do 50 pushups in one minute, strive to complete 55 or more in one minute.
Scaling your workouts and recording improvements helps you develop a measurement of intensity.
Sounds kinda counter-intuitive, right? We’ve been conditioned to think that fitness is earned by spending hours in the gym, but that’s not necessarily true.
The secret behind the magic of short and intense workouts is your neuroendocrine response.
Here’s what you need to know:
A few hormones responsible for physical muscle growth include:
Each time you train, you stimulate your nervous system to tell your muscles to move. If you’re performing exercises at a high intensity, your muscles go through a breakdown process. This prompts the release of hormones like testosterone, which causes bigger muscles.
After your workout, your body continues to release hormones that help repair and grow muscles.
So, if you want to get fit in a shorter amount of time, you have to do workouts that activate your neuroendocrine response.
The key to an effective short workout is to maximize the neuroendocrine process. This means packing on heavy loads with short rests in between sets. You also have to work larger muscle groups — legs, chest, back, shoulders, and arms.
Exercises like heavy squats and deadlifts are dynamic movements that work more than one muscle group at once.
When you weight train large muscle groups, your body releases more muscle-building hormones.
CrossFit workouts not only increase your muscle mass and tone in a shorter period, but they enhance your overall health.
Here are a few benefits of high-intensity training:
As briefly mentioned earlier, high-intensity exercise increases oxygen in your lungs. When this happens, your metabolism goes into overdrive. With more oxygen, your body burns more calories and fat.
Short on time? No worries! High-intensity workouts pack a huge calorie-burning punch. You can burn twice the amount of calories doing a 15-minute HIIT session than you could a standard 60-minute low-intensity workout.
By scaling your workouts and pushing against your limits, you’re training your body to tolerate muscle stress. Having a high tolerance for physical demands makes it easier to lift heavy weights and run long distances.
Although high-intensity workouts yield many rewards, they should be done in moderation. We recommend the 3 days on, 1 day off rule. With this rule, you’re taking a one-day break for every three days of exercise.
Training too much may over-stress your body and cause your muscle tissue to weaken and degenerate.
So, ensure that you’re taking time to rest and recuperate after your CrossFit sessions.
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]]>In Florida, we take hydration very seriously. Dehydration can lead to worse effects than a poor workout, so knowing exactly when and what to drink will help you get enough liquids. Remember, in this type of environment, your body sweats a lot and can easily become dehydrated.
In this article, we’ll explore the reasons for proper hydration and will help you achieve your liquid goals with a few tips and tricks to get the most out of your beverages while working out!
First, you may be wondering why is hydration important in fitness?
Fluid replacement during exercise is necessary in order to maintain normal muscle function and prevent performance decreases due to dehydration. During exercise, sweat loss rates are often higher than what you can drink, so most athletes get into fluid deficit.
However, it may be possible to drink too much during exercise, so getting to know your sweat rate is equally important as knowing how much to drink. There are many fitness facilities that will test your sweat rate and will be able to recommend an optimal amount to drink.
Why is it dangerous to work out while dehydrated?
As dehydration increases, there will be an overall decrease in physical and mental performance. Body temperature will rise and heart rate will rise, and you will suffer more when exercising in the heat.
An athlete who is dehydrated more than 2% (which is very easy to do in a hot and humid environment) of their body weight may experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal problems during exercise.
Dehydration may decrease blood volume, decrease skin blood flow, decrease sweat rate, decrease heat dissipation, increase body temperature, and lead to higher glycogen use. Working out while dehydrated can lead to muscular problems, heat stroke, and even cardiac arrest.
So what is the proper amount of liquid to stay hydrated in a hot and humid climate?
While it is possible to drink too much, most of us are on the other end of that spectrum and wind up dehydrated.
But your sweat rate can determine the amount of liquid you should drink during exercise. Dietitians regularly measure sweat rates of athletes in a range of environments, so they know how much liquid they should consume using this information to design an individual fluid plan.
If you don’t have access to a sports dietician for these purposes, you can weigh yourself right before and right after exercising. The amount of weight loss is predominantly water (not fat). Therefore, it should be replaced soon after finishing the exercise (or during).
How to hydrate.
Because the body loses micronutrients through sweat during exercise (or in hot climates), they need to be replaced with electrolyte drinks for athletes. Stay away from sugary beverages like Gatorade and Powerade and opt for special formulations for athletes like Biosteel, Nuun, or eLoad. If you use protein powder regularly, your favorite brand of protein probably also has an electrolyte drink you can consume during or after exercising to replace these micronutrients.
Staying properly hydrated doesn’t have to be a chore, either! Here are some ways to trick yourself into drinking more water by finding ways you enjoy consuming it:
Another tip: you always want to have some water at least 30 minutes before you start your workout, too.
Benefits of hydration.
There are many benefits of being properly hydrated, including:
Remember, dehydration negatively impacts performance in these ways: loss of coordination, impaired ability to make a decision, increased rate of perceived exertion, and risk of heat stress. For optimal health; try to match your fluid intake to the sweat rate as closely as possible.
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]]>Functional movements or functional training aims to improve your:
They are the types of things you do every day and will help you on your quest to living your best life.
Functional movements are almost always “compound” movements that involve more than one muscle group and more than one joint. For example, a squat or burpee is considered a functional movement.
Isolation movements, on the other hand, are movements that “isolate” one muscle group, like bicep curls. These movements require the use of fewer muscles and less connective tissue will be activated
Some drawbacks from isolation movements can include:
What type of movements do CrossFit use?
You’re probably clued into this by now but CrossFit programming focuses on functional movements over isolation movements. The reason for this is because functional movements involve multiple joints and muscle groups and therefore, help you to build maximum strength.
As we mentioned, functional movements recruit stabilizer ligaments and use multiple muscle groups, which will do you many more favors to your fitness than isolation movements can. You will see the benefit of functional movements a lot sooner than you would with isolation movements, too.
Because functional movements more closely mimic natural movements, like getting up from a seated position or picking something up off the floor, they really do help you to function at your greatest level when it comes to living your best life.
They aren’t easy, though! Compound or functional movements require more power to execute, since you are training multiple muscle groups at one time. But functional training also saves you from overtraining one muscle group, using unnatural movements, and helps build strong muscles rather than “show muscles”.
CrossFit programming regularly incorporates functional movements into the Workouts of the Day (WODs). These movements are “constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity” in order to achieve the maximum benefit for your lifestyle.
Summary
Providing a well-rounded fitness program is the aim of CrossFit WODs and by focusing on strength and stamina in these workouts, this community can do wonders for improving your everyday life.
From increased mobility to improved posture and reduced risk of injury, functional training is quickly becoming one of the most popular forms of exercise… and for good reason!
So say “bye bye” to bicep curls and give functional training a shot today.
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]]>This documentary was produced by CrossFit and released on Netflix to showcase top athletes attending the CrossFit Games final competition. To find the “Fittest on Earth”, there are a number of levels of competition one must complete and rank in.
The games begin with the Worldwide Open, which is the largest participatory sporting event on Earth. The competition is three weeks long and anyone over the age of 14 can compete and submit their scores. The 2021 CrossFit Worldwide Open started on March 11
If you rank high enough in this first round of competition, you can move on to the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Last-chance Qualifier, before the CrossFit Games.
CrossFit will make four options available for participants to choose from: Prescribed (Rx’d), Scaled, Foundations, and Equipment-Free. Adaptive divisions will also allow athletes with impairments to compete in the games.
The highest ranking will be awarded to athletes completing workouts as prescribed, followed by scaled athletes, foundation athletes, and finally equipment-free athletes.
The prescribed (RX) workout in CrossFit is when you stick to the required movements and set the weight or amount of reps in the workout. A scaled workout is when you adjust the weight or amount of reps in the workout depending on certain factors (injury, ability etc.).
Why participate in the CrossFit Open?
The CrossFit Open is great because truly anyone who wants can participate and do the workouts inside or outside of a gym. Submissions are online this year, which makes 2021 one of the most inclusive years for the CrossFit Open.
While only a select few will make it to the CrossFit Games, everyone can benefit from taking part in the open.
Some benefits of competing in the CrossFit Open include:
Let’s take a look at how you can achieve these benefits by participating in the CrossFit Open.
Immersing yourself in the community
We already know that the CrossFit community is vast. The Open allows you to connect with athletes of all levels all across the world. Especially now in 2021, The CrossFit Open is the most accessible it has ever been. With four categories of competition and the ability for online submissions, it’s true that anyone who wants to compete can do so with ease.
Investing in yourself and challenging your own fitness
Believe us, the $20 competition fee is worth it! By investing in this competition you’re making a commitment to your fitness and assigning a value to it. Imagine how good it would feel if you started a business and made your first $20 sale. That’s what investing in your registration for the CrossFit Open is like, but it’s for your health and your body!
Establishing a baseline for your own athletic performance
If you have been training for a while don’t know where you stand, fitness wise, competing in the CrossFit Open is a good way to establish a baseline for your performance. Many CrossFit athletes have said how great it feels to compete just one of the prescribed (RX) workouts in the competition, and how it keeps them coming back for more year after year.
Seeing where you rank against others
Now, we’re not talking about comparing yourself against the winners of the CrossFit Games (unless you are competing at that level). We’re talking comparison against those with similar statistics to yours. Maybe you can make a new friend and compete with them year over year. Maybe everyone in your gym is registered and having their own internal competition as well.
However you’re approaching this challenge, know that your ranking can only improve if you work at it. This will provide some motivation for the year ahead until the next CrossFit Open is here.
The chance to appreciate outstanding physical performances
As we’ve mentioned, the Matthew Frasers and Tia-Clair Toomeys of the world are so inspiring to watch. They compete at an almost superhuman level and work extremely hard day in and day out to do so. But there are also inspiring CrossFit members within your own community and you may not even know it!
Look through the rankings and performances and make it a goal to compliment another competitor’s work. You’ll make their whole day!
Summary
The CrossFit Open is a special competition that many in the community hold near and dear to them. They work all year for the chance to compete and improve their scores, and that is a special thing.
Participating in this event is a privilege, it’s fun, and it’s rewarding. And you won’t know until you try it ;)
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]]>But if you’re new to the CrossFit world or are thinking about joining a gym, learning about how muscle confusion works will be one of your first steps when understanding your Workouts of the Day (WODs). The first thing you’ll notice is that these movements are functional and focus on involving multiple muscle groups as opposed to isolation exercises like curls and presses.
And in case you’re really green (and eager!), here’s a quick refresher:
What is CrossFit?
CrossFit is a specific method of training that is designed to be more of a lifestyle than simply a workout. Promoting efficient, functional exercise and healthy eating habits. CrossFit is not only a form of exercise, it’s a community, and everyone involved is welcoming to those of all levels of experience.
The second thing you’ll notice is that your CrossFit training program will seem different every day! Don’t get fooled, though. WODs adhere to categorical planning, providing a constant variation and focusing on compound movements in high intensity.
What are the components of CrossFit workouts?
Providing constant variation of functional movements through your daily workout allows athletes to maximize the efficiency of their workouts, providing the most possible benefit to individuals pursuing CrossFit as an activity.
There are three segments of movements in CrossFit workouts:
Each of these segments of movement are included in your CrossFit schedule, either on the same day as a variable workout or on alternating days, depending on your programming.
What is muscle confusion?
CrossFit workouts incorporate a wide variety of movements. While some CrossFit newbies may see these workouts as seemingly “random” this is simply not the case.
The goal of the different combinations of exercises is to cause “maximum muscle confusion”.
Muscle confusion has been shown not only to help overcome fitness boredom but also to provide a mental and physical confusion while preventing complacency or a “routine” way of working out. The muscles and the mind respond to unfamiliar/new workouts by adapting to the environment instead of becoming complacent.
It has been proven that workouts must be varied as the body (and the mind) will get “used” to them and the benefit will start diminishing.
Of course, doing your same routine over and over is more beneficial than sitting on the couch, but taking a CrossFit approach to working out (including muscle confusion) can help keep all your workouts fresh, exciting, and productive.
What are the benefits of muscle confusion?
CrossFit utilizing muscle confusion and varying workouts according to the three segments of movement is entirely strategic, as there are many benefits of structuring workouts this way.
Benefits of exercise variety include:
In fact, The New York Times reported that in a study on muscle confusion, groups participating in the muscle confusion workouts reported feeling “much more motivated to exercise” than their counterparts with the “same old routine”. (The New York Times)
Examples of muscle confusion include: high-rep, low-weight days; low-rep, high-weight days; and "normal" days (in between). Basically, the concept is to provide as much variation as possible which will ensure you are getting a more well rounded workout, hitting more muscle groups with the functional and compound movements.
Summary
While CrossFit may not be the ideal workout for everyone, there are merits to creating workouts to incorporate “muscle confusion” or more exercise variation. One major benefit is the increased desire to workout, which is a huge struggle for many people in the first place. When a workout is exciting and fun, it’s easier to motivate yourself to make your way to the gym. And we’re all on board for that.
The lesson we should take from this is to switch up our exercises through the week. You aren't confusing your muscles to keep them from getting too comfortable; you're realigning them in a balanced, helpful manner at each workout. Consequently, you'll be less likely to plateau or get injured, something everyone will support!
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]]>Learn the “why” behind some of this popular fitness regime’s most successful workouts.
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If this sentence has you scratching your head, don’t worry. We’re about to get into the nitty gritty of the reasoning behind CrossFit workout programming and why they may seem “random” (but are really the complete opposite).
Now, if you’ve been doing these workouts for a while you may be familiar with the WOD (Workout of the Day) terminology, and you’ll know that it refers to the CrossFit programming, often listed in chalk, that is up on a blackboard in the gym.
The fact of the matter is that CrossFit programming is all formulaic, despite its seemingly random appearance. In fact, it can be further narrowed down to 3 segments of movements:
Basically, monostructural workouts refer to metabolic conditioning or “cardio”, gymnastics are bodyweight exercises, and weightlifting refers to any type of lifting including Olympic lifts and powerlifting. These are the basis of most CrossFit programming and are used to form “complete” workouts.
The purpose of structuring the workouts this way is to make them more well-rounded and ultimately, helps optimize the workout impact.
Monostructural metabolic conditioning helps improve cardiorespiratory capacity and stamina, the gymnastics or calisthenics component helps improve your muscle mind connection by focusing on coordination, balance, agility and accuracy, focusing mainly on the upper-body capacity and trunk strength.
Finally, the weightlifting component of properly designed CrossFit workouts is for increasing strength, power and hip/leg capacity.
See, you’ve almost got a full body there! ;)
There are a variety of exercises in each category, and each WOD is comprised of a few exercises with different focuses so you can go most efficiently from movement to movement with minimal fatigue. For example, you’re not spending your entire workout focusing on a specific body part or section, like an arms/shoulders day, or a core/butt day. These compound movements have the capacity to dramatically improve the human form, when done correctly.
How are CrossFit workouts structured?
For those who are used to traditional programming (like upper body vs lower body, push vs pull days), CrossFit workouts can seem random at first because they combine such a variety of exercises. If you are doing a MGW day, where all segments of movements are combined, it can seem random to run then rope climb then kettlebell swing, when really, it’s the most efficient option for a full body workout with minimal fatigue for maximum return.
And beyond this, there is actually a formula to the programming.
These workouts utilize either one, two or all three segments of movements. If you are doing a three days on one day off plan, for example, day 1, 5, and 9 would use single-modality workouts (i.e. just cardio, just gymnastics, just weights), days 2, 6, 10 would have two modalities, and days 3, 7, 11 would use all three.
This is designed to spread out your efforts while providing ample time to focus on single modalities/segments of movement in order to build skills.
So, as you can imagine, as you move towards workouts with additional elements (i.e. two or all three modalities), the total effort of each segment of the workout is much less than those days where you are focused on repeated efforts of the same movement.
Summary
As you can see, there is no cut and dry formula to exactly which exercises are performed on each day, but rather a formula to the types of movements that are focused on each day of your training cycle. Of course, this cycle works best when you have a strict workout routine and can stick to a schedule, in order to reap the most benefits.
Those attending CrossFit only occasionally or not following a 3 on 1 off or 5 on 2 off schedule will not necessarily see these patterns and therefore, the workout structures may seem more random to these individuals.
Which completely makes sense! We’re not saying you need to be a die hard CrossFit fan in order to enjoy the benefits of these workouts, but hopefully now you understand how they are structured and the “why” behind some of the movements within your WOD.
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]]>CrossFit is only for elite athletes | CrossFit movements are dangerous | |
The "Games" athletes you see on ESPN are super-human and the 1%. Most people who perform CrossFit never compete. Us normal humans practice CrossFit because we like how it makes us feel and we want to "look good naked". | CrossFit is all about doing the common uncommonly well, what would it be worth to you to be better prepared to pick up the groceries safer or even sit better? | |
CrossFit is a cult | CrossFit causes burnout and injuries | |
When you become a member of SoWal CrossFit you are joining a fitness community. A dedicated and committed group of individuals who have chosen to get fit together. More than likely you will form long term friendships in and outside of the gym. Expect to get texts when you miss a class, encouragement when you need it most, and even a shoulder to cry on from time-to-time. | Done properly CrossFit can be a sustainable practice for lifelong fitness, we tailor workouts to everyone’s ability and fitness goals, coaches actively monitor athlete performance and immediately stop any unsafe movements/acts. | |
I play a sport, I can't CrossFit also | CrossFit is only for the young | |
CrossFit puts your sport first and all athletes can improve their success with their sport by regularly training CrossFit. | We like to talk about CrossFit as infinitely scalable. Meaning that no matter your age you can change the movement or the weight to suit your ability level. As we age we need weight training to keep our joints protected and our bones strong. |
On Saturday, 12/12/2020 SoWal Crossfit® coaches' Rachael Tibesar & Victoria "V" Naughton participated in the Battle for the Brave in Tallahassee, FL. They faced stiff competition in the Woman's Team RX division; many of the competitors were 10 years younger.
Having trained for months, Rachel & Victoria were in excellent physical condition. Their hard work paid off as they took 3rd place in their division. All of use at the gym are so very proud of their efforts.
While competition isn't for everyone, we hope to encourage all of our members who have an interest in competing to get in the ring at some point soon.
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