What is Suspension Training?

Photo Cred
Suspension Training was developed by former Navy Seals and Stanford Graduate Randy Hetrick. He coined the phrase Total Resistance Training (TRX) and the associated Suspension Training bodyweight exercises in the 1990s. Suspension Training bodyweight exercise develops strength, balance, flexibility and core stability simultaneously. It requires the use of the TRX Suspension Trainer, a highly portable performance training tool that leverages gravity and the user’s body weight to complete 100s of exercises. You’re in control of how much you want to challenge yourself on each exercise – because you can simply adjust your body position to add or decrease resistance. By utilizing your own body weight, the TRX Suspension Trainer provides greater performance and functionality than large exercise machines costing thousands of dollars.
Photo Cred
The picture shown to the left depicts the Suspension Trainers that are used during the TRX classes at my gym, Double Edge. The harness system allows you to use your own body weight for strength training in various exercises as stated before. By adjusting body position, the level of difficulty of a particular exercise changes as well, making it appropriate for people at all fitness levels (just like CrossFit “Scalability”). Now these suspenders may look like nothing but BOY, is it tiring. We have incorporated TRX training into a few of our warm-ups during the CrossFit class and I end up sweating after about 5 minutes (no joke). You would think that it would be easy to just move your body weight…well your wrong. Look at this picture…..
Photo Cred
Yea these push ups are really easy…NOT. Come try some for yourself at one of the classes offered at Double Edge. I remember one day we did mountain climbers with pistol squats with push ups with leg lifts…yea not fun. TRX really is great though because it allows for explosive movements without that rigorous pounding. It’s all about building functional strength and this is the perfect workout for it. Check out some Pros of TRX Training by Health & Fitness to get you even more interested. Now… Time to hit the gym and make some GAINS. Follow me for more. Have a wonderful night.

The Perfect Squat

As I have stated many times in previous blogs, prior to beginning CrossFit I would skip leg days about 99% of the time. Not only because I was lazy, but also because I really didn’t have the mobility to do most leg workouts. For instance, the squat. The single most important building block to each and every weightlifting program. Whether it’s front squats, goblet squats, back squats, etc, the value of this classic exercise is undoubted, not only in terms of quadriceps growth but also functional capacity in life. Most squats you see in gyms today are performed with the feet planted at shoulder-width or narrower (or if your like me then you have seen tons and tons of terrible form). These types of squats give a good burn to the quadriceps, and some people use varying narrow stances to target specific areas on the quads. But squats are a movement, not a specific muscle developer. The entire body should be activated in the lift, and especially the posterior chain and core. So what is the secret to a “Perfect Squat”.

Photo Cred
The picture shown is the most basic of all squats (air squat), you must get this down prior to moving on to more complex squat movements. Start with your arms extended in front of you or overhead (stabilize back), then squat until your butt is below your knees (this is called parallel). Never let your knees pass your toes and keep all your weight on your heels while keeping your back straight. Ankle mobility is key, I never knew how bad of ankles I had until I started squatting. One thing that helped me get that full range of motion was by placing a 10lb weight under my heels to lift me up. Yes, it seems weird and awkward but it really works and keeps you stabilized try it for. yourself.

Photo Cred
The secret of a perfect squat is to widen your stance. A wide stance works a greater number of muscles. You will feel it in your glutes, your overall strength, and even help out with that back and knee pain that you may of had before. A wider stance provides you with greater posterior displacement of the hips. A wider stance might not stimulate the same feeling on your quadriceps, but the activity is there. A more narrower stance does place a greater stress on the knee causing them to go in during a squat (crooked knees is the last thing you want). It’s all about reaching squat depth and a wide stance helps with this because it requires a lifter to maintain a more vertical shin position than a narrow stance. This stance places far less stress on the knee overall. Limited ankle mobility makes it pretty much impossible to perform a more narrow stance because your feet will turn out causing you to lose any momentum and power that you had. Squat Tips goes over much of this and more as well. I have discussed ankle mobility a lot so take a look at a few exercises to help. Now it’s time to go hit the gym, do some squats, make some gains, and of course…stay tuned for more. Have a great day.

From the Open to Regionals

The toughest open workouts to date are finally over, next stop in the Crossfit Games path is Regionals. So how many advance to Regionals you ask? A whopping 48 men, 48 women and top 30 teams in each region are invited to compete in their respective Regional competition. The regional consists of four different weekends in which all the regions will compete. The dates are May 9-11, 16-18, 23-25, and 30-1st. Each region will have a weekend just for them consisting of 7 different rigorous workouts that will be posted each day with three events Friday, two on Saturday, and two on Sunday.

Photo Cred
There are seven scored events per division (men and women). There will be no cuts. All individuals will compete in all seven events (barring disqualification or failure to complete any minimum work requirements). Scoring is the same as the Open. At each event, athletes’ performances are ranked, and there is one point per place awarded (one for 1st, two for 2nd, etc.). Athletes with the lowest overall points win. The top three athletes from most regions will be invited to the Games with the following exceptions: Two athletes from each of the Canadian regions, and one athlete each from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Photo Cred
Let’s just say these aren’t the easiest of workouts. Starts out with “Jackie”: 1000 meter row into 50 reps of 45lb thruster and finish with 30 pull-ups. Event 3 is what blows my mind; 30 burpee muscle-ups (HAHA let me work on a half of one first). Event 4 seems to be the hardest of the group with; 100 Wall-balls, 100 Chest to bar pull-ups, 100 one-legged squats, and 100 dumbbell snatches with 75lbs (wow I’m exhausted just reading it all). Well good luck to all of those competing in regionals. Maybe one day I will be there…..eh probably not. How could I ever compete with the man himself Rich Froning. Go hit the gym, maybe YOU will be in the Games one day. Have a great night.

Some Supplements !!

Supplements go hand-in-hand with working out. Question is, what supplements are the best? In my experience with working out I have tested various proteins and pre-workouts. In today’s blog I will discuss my favorite supplements and what I would recommend to you. Maximizing your results in CF is what it’s all about.
Photo Cred
The first topic on hand is pre-workouts. In my experience with CrossFit a good pre-workout supplement can work wonders for you. I’ve done the WODs pretty much every which way possible whether it consists of a good meal, coffee, energy bars, vitamins, or pretty much anything that helps the most with getting me through the workouts at maximum effort. However, by far, the best results have been with pre-workout supplements. I feel like I can keep going, it gives me that extra push, that edge to get you through the workout. The top 3 pre-workouts to me are as follows:
Animal Rage
HPN: P(3)
Cellucor: C4 Extreme
Those are my favorite pre-workouts, but all are good in their own ways and used by all sorts of athletes, bodybuilders, and elite crossfitters. Any of these following will provide you with the energy, drive, strength, and focus needed to power through the toughest WODs

Photo Cred
PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN!!!! All about those post-workout shakes to heal your torn muscles. Protein powder is 100% the most popular supplement out there. You won’t find very many crossfitters, bodybuilders, or athletes in general who aren’t supplementing their diet with some sort of protein whether it is for meal replacements, post-workout, or even a quick snack. Protein helps with recovery, achieving maximum gains, and keeping your overall performance at a high level. The top two best selling proteins are Optimum Nutrition: Gold Standard 100% Whey & Combat Powder by MusclePharm. Be careful with the flavors that you choose because I have experienced some disgusting proteins. Currently I have the extreme milk chocolate Gold Standard, I highly recommend this flavor. You pretty much can’t go wrong with chocolate so be careful ordering like cookies-n-cream or banana type flavors. Keep it simple, it’s goes a long way. Their are many cheap proteins out there so be careful, spend the extra money like I said, it goes a long way.

Photo Cred
Then comes a variety of supplements that are great for your overall health. I currently take a multivitamin every morning. Vitamin D will give you increased power output, optimized testosterone levels, and immunity enhancement so TAKE IT. Amino Acids are another..these help with the muscle recovery process, speed up muscle repair, and limit muscle breakdown to help promote overall muscle growth. Lastly, some good ole Omega 3 Fish Oils, get on that as well. Supplements are not a substitute for a healthy diet so make sure you are eating clean, getting enough sleep, and drinking enough water. Now go make some gains, order a jug of protein, and hit the gym. More to come. Have a great day.

Cheat Days

The most common question when it comes to diets….do you have cheat meals? You will get many different answers when it comes to this because it’s a subject that is up in the air and can go either way. Some say cheat days are good, some say they are bad. Now I am no doctor so don’t quote me on this but, I think cheat meals are necessary and should be incorporated with everyone’s diet a few times a month.
Photo Cred
I think were all familiar with this lovely picture to the left. The oh so healthy..carb free…sugar free..fat free…In N Out 🙂 This actually happened to be my cheat meal last weekend, consisted of 2 double-doubles with animal style fries and a chocolate/vanilla shake (yep pulled the combo). Not familair with animal style? Check out the secret menu it’s a goodie.

Photo Cred
What a wonderful chart, I couldn’t say it any better myself. You should have fun and have a great cheat meal. Cheat meals are meant to be apart of your diet journey, satisfy yourself. The whole purpose of a cheat meal is to give yourself something to look forward to, so that you don’t feel the overwhelming intensity of “NEVER”, but you are being reasonable. You must reward yourself for all the hard work and meal prepping you do. There is no better feeling than waking up and not worrying about making that same chicken and vegetables mean and just ordering a pizza. On the other hand, your tastes and digestion changes with a clean eating lifestyle. So when you do indulge on that certain cheat meal it may not taste as good (so it doesn’t seem worth it), or it also may cause a digestive upset (I have witnessed this one), so that even if you enjoyed the taste, it may not be worth it to have again. Overtime you may even choose to have smaller portions of your cheat meal and not order the whole menu and consume as much to the point where you feel sick.

All in all, cheat meals should be apart of every diet. You work too hard to not treat yourself a few days out of the month. Just don’t get too crazy with it, limit yourself to 1-2 a week at most. To me, weekends should be the days to do them. Now go on out and hit the In-n-Out drive thru, you won’t regret it. If you want to see more pros and cons, Raw has a great article on the pros and cons that come with cheat days. Go have a cheat meal…then hit the gym the following Monday….and REPEAT weekly. You won’t regret it. Have a great day.

Critics Will Always Arise w/ CrossFit

The CrossFit community continues to grow worldwide with 150,000 people who signed up to compete in the CrossFit Games this year. Over 100,000 more than last years number. But yet, there are thousands and thousands out there that continue to bash on the sport that is CrossFit. I guess the best we can do as a community is continue to serve as a positive example for all those haters. We can continue to improve our health and fitness on a fundamental level and demonstrate CrossFit’s effectiveness. We can encourage others to join us on a better path to health and support them when they choose to do something else. So, what are some of the reasons why people may dislike CrossFit?

Photo Cred
One major aspect that people may say they don’t like is that it’s too intense. But really, if it was easy everyone would do it. People may say that the trainers push members in class to death but in all reality, they are pushing them to be better athletes, better people. The motivation you get from a coach is what helps you finish a workout. Would you want your trainer saying, “oh it’s fine you look tired you don’t need to finish that last set or, you worked hard enough you can just stop now?” Heck no you wouldn’t, you pay for that motivation and if you half-ass a workout then why are you even there participating. I guess fitness to many people is moderate output with very limited toughness or strain? You may not be able to do the original workout and that’s fine, you can scale it. Any coach at any CrossFit box will help you scale the workout prior to it beginning which will still provide you with a high intensity workout like no other. They won’t make you feel uncomfortable, they will encourage you, it’s called a challenge. Only you know your limits, the coaches are just there to help teach the movements and help you.

Photo Cred
Then of course the “IT’s TOO EXPENSIVE EXCUSE.” You pay for what you get. I could easily spend $135 in one weekend so why not invest in something that will make you a healthier and fitter person. Do you know how much it costs for personal training? ALOTTTT more than a monthly membership at a CrossFit gym and your pretty much getting the same thing out of it. A certified coach to teach you movements and push you and others through a competitive group workout. Yep, sounds good to me. I was already paying $30 a month @ 24hrfitness, what’s an extra $100 for a more personal, more in your face workout. I said that I would try it for a month and see what I thought and, let’s just say I am still doing it.

Photo Cred
You can even do certain workouts outside, either make of your own or follow ones online. Yes, most gyms post the WODs online so you don’t even need to go the class you can just do it on your own time. CrossFit is a perfect example. Today’s workout online consisted of:
10 rounds of:
1 minute of rowing
Rest 15 seconds
30 seconds of push-ups
Rest 15 seconds
Tons and tons of sites post workouts online for you to follow, though you may not have that same drive since your not doing it in a competitive atmosphere you can still track your time and post results to see how you hold up against the rest of the people that are doing the same thing. Go in and try a CrossFit Box out….eat clean….make some gains… Have a great night.

Up Close and Personal

In today’s blog I will be sharing with you all a little story that summarizes my transition from a global gym….to a CrossFit gym. So far on this blog site I have discussed various CrossFit topics, nutrition, stretching, and much, much more. It will be a little different today as I share with you all a video that I just recently made. Only thought it would be fitting to get a little more personal and throw a curve ball in. This video mentions a lot about my gym, Double Edge as well. Enjoy

Working out on your own can get boring and make you slack a little. Not having someone there to push you at times is tough, I should know. This video may exaggerate that part but in all reality, I have never worked out harder in my life than I have these past 2 and half months at my CrossFit gym. It’s been said a million times in my prior blogs but, it’s so true, working out in groups and partners really does make you push yourself. It creates that healthy competitive atmosphere in which nobody judges you. Culture, Culture, Culture, ALL ABOUT CULTURE.

Photo Cred
Other members in your classes become your friends, and friends push each other. Something that you don’t see at a global gym unless your spotter actually is your workout partner. It’s a feeling that is indescribable, walking into your CrossFit box and leaving it all out on the floor. Words cant describe how happy I am with my choice to convert. All I can say is, try it out for yourself. I hope you enjoyed my video. Until next time. Go hit the gym and follow me for more amazing information (plenty more to come). Now let’s get CrossFit Journal to view that video…INSPIRATION for all. Have a great night.

Community Comes Together…..Again

I know that I just talked about the Community Saturdays that take place at my gym, Double Edge, every week. But, I felt that this would be a great time to mention another wonderful thing that is happening this Saturday that shows that CrossFit is soooooo much more than a workout program. It’s a community, it’s a family, it’s a bond, it’s a lifestyle. This Saturday Double Edge will be hosting a fundraiser for another CrossFit coach in the Reno area. All of the classes will be designed around the workout dedicated for Debbie in which the all members and non-members taking part will be asked for a $20 donation (but anything helps. The workouts will consist of burpees and jerks….wear purple as well.

Photo Cred
Debbie Rominger is a mother of two, a mathematician, and a fitness trainer at CrossFit Initiative. Debbie has been an active member of our community for years. She recently was recently diagnosed with Stage 3 Retroperitoneal Leiomyosarcoma (an extremely rare and highly aggresive form of cancer, accounting for less than half of 1% of those diagnosed). Unfortunately, this type of cancer is highly resistant to chemotherapy, and radiation has also been ruled out due to the close proximity of her vital organs.

We have learned that cancer is overwhelmingly costly, and Debbie’s health insurance, although helpful, still leaves her with an enormous amount of uncovered expenses. Thus far, Debbie and her team have raised a little over $33,000 with a goal of $150,000. All donations go directly towards out of pocket costs for major surgery, ongoing treatment and therapy for her illness, out of state travel costs, and to provide basic needs for her two children while she is unable to work. By clicking the following; http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/debbie-s-fight-against-cancer/153300 you can join in on Debbies team. Every dollar counts. Funds left over will be donated to the American Cancer Society in Debra Rominger’s name.

So if you can, come on out, show your support, where purple, have some fun, and give back to the community. We are all here for one another. God gave us two hands: one to help ourselves, and one to help others.
1065 South Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada 89502 is the address. Would love to see you all there. Have a wonderful day.

Scaling Workouts

Scaling is an important aspect of Crossfit, but one that’s often misunderstood by many. If one alters and customizes their workout properly it can actually increase your work capacity. Yes you heard it right. Question is, how do you scale to achieve the best results? Now that’s the question….
Photo Cred
As they say, CrossFit is a program designed to be scaled. We must all start somewhere and there is no shame in that. Least your in the gym doing something unlike the other 60% of Americans who are overweight. While scaling workouts you can do one of many things, for example; lowering weight, reps, and rounds but still keeping the same intensity. Some things that I have seen in class include other people using bands to help them with pull-ups, flipping the boxes sideways to make lower, doing single jump ropes rather than double unders, and much more. Take me for example, I am not the greatest at DU’s so I sometimes triple the amount and do singles. The other day in class we were working on Overhead Squats which is a very tough movement for me. I used just a plain barbell with no weight so I could practice and get the motion down. There have also been times where instead of using a 20lb medicine ball for wall balls I used a 14lb, or a lower than prescribed weight for kettlebell swings because my back had been hurting. This is not something that you should be ashamed of. Properly lowering the weight and achieving a faster time will actually yield a higher level of power. Why struggle with a higher weight? why lose that high intensity? The more breaks you take, the more your heart has time to catch up, and we don’t want that.

Photo Cred
You think this guy is doing the prescribed workout? Um No.. but at least he is at the gym. Look at that smile on his face, something only CrossFit can bring. I am positive he uses bands for pull-ups, much lower weights for lifts, knees on ground for push-ups, half the amount of jump-ropes, and plenty more. But, the key point here is that he is still doing the workout. Like I said before, you don’t want to miss the point of the workout. For instance, say a WOD calls for 30 clean and jerks at 155 pounds, it’s clearly a met-con WOD. If you turn the workout into 30 single reps with a minute rest between them because it’s too heavy, you’ve missed the point and your wasting your time. Drop that weight down a little and keep the same intensity as everyone else, I promise you will still sweat to the point that you shed that shirt of yours. Everyone should much rather finish the workout than struggle the whole way. Now, don’t scale to the point where you feel like you could do the workout again, it’s tricky and takes experience. If you are ever unsure, ask your coach. There are many Pros and Cons involved with CrossFit but, this is a HUGE PRO. CrossFit really is for anyone and EVERYONE. Give it a shot. Follow for more. My twitter is on the right. Follow that too 🙂 Have a great night.

Community Saturday

Every Saturday is open house at my gym, Double Edge. Soooo, feel free to drop in to our 8am or 9am class! Anyone is welcome whether you are a first timer or you are a member who wants to bring in family and friends. A healthy community is a strong community! Our slogan is fitness founded on community and by walking in on any given day you will see that. The picture to the left seems like just another CrossFit class but, it’s not. Today, the coaches switched things up and had a little fun with it. Something that works great for community day so all that who is not members…would want to be members, I know I had a lot of fun and WOW, what a workout. Rather than the usual; warm-up, strength, and WOD, the coaches pretty much had us make the workout and choose our own path to almost passing out. I am sharing this because I think it is something that all gyms should do at some point in time, great way to spice things up and have some fun.

First, he gathered us all in a circle and told us we had 30 seconds to think of different Crossfit movements and he would randomly call on us. The first person asked responded with Overhead Squats (not the easiest movement that’s for sure), picking a number between 10-15 was then asked…12 the answer. The next person answered with pull-ups and the number 6, followed by medicine ball slams and picking the number 15. Last, the coach asked for a number between 8-12…8 was the answer. The workout was as follows:
8 Min AMRAP
12 OH Squats
6 Pull-Ups
15 Med Ball Slams (20-40lbs)

The second after we finished the workout he called us all back over to the front…if you couldn’t guess already, we weren’t finished. He asked one of the girls up front to choose a body movement (no weight/barbells), Burpees was the response. Instead of asking us for another movement, the our coach picked 3 people to pick 3 numbers between 10-15. The results of these random numbers made up for the following workout from hell.
13 Rounds:
15 Seconds o/ most burpees you can do (fell in range of 4-7)
10 Sec Rest

At this moment I was soaked with sweat. The first 2 rounds I got 6 and 7, I then never made it back up that high. I was ready to be done after this but NOPE, that wasn’t the case. ANOTHERRR WOD was to be made. Laughter began as we gathered once again, knowing that this last one will really kick our butt. I have never had more fun while suffering before in my life. The last workout that was put together was by far the hardest to me. The movements that were shouted out by the various people in class consisted of DU’s (Double Jump Rope), box jumps, and push-ups. The coach added a few numbers together that were given to him and made up the following:
15 Min AMRAP (As many Rounds Possible “for those that didn’t click on prior link”):
13 DUs
6 Box Jumps
14 Push-Ups

Photo Cred
Yep, let’s just say that was how the ground looked when I finished the 3-in-1 workout. This was the first time we have done something like this and I hope it happens more often because it really was a lot of fun. I think it is a great way to get people to join our CrossFit gym. Community days just got even better in my book. So those of you in the Reno area, what do you have planned next Saturday? If your available at 8 or 9 come on down and join us. Hit the gym, drink a protein shake, make some gains, and stay tuned for more. Have a good night.