Why Even Light Alcohol May Be The Silent Assassin to Your Weight Loss Progress

Trying to lose weight but the scale isn’t moving? Or worse, it’s going up?!? If you consume alcohol, even moderately, this could be your sneaky saboteur.

To be clear, unwanted weight gain isn't the only downside of occasional drinking. Additionally, just one night of binge drinking can weaken your immune system, making it much easier for you to get sick — and no, we’re not just talking about hangover. Organ failure, bone thinning, brain shrinkage, sexual dysfunctions (yep, went there), malnutrition, stomach cramps, diarrhea and muscle cramps are included as well.

Let’s do the math…

12-ounce beer 153 calories.

Glass of wine 125 calories

16 oz Frozen margarita 300 calories

Martini 127 calories

Shots average 97 calories

Had more than one? Ooops. Still, that might seem like a small price to pay for a bit of weekend fun. "I'm only having a few on the weekends," you might think, "It's not a big deal." Well, we hate to break it to you, but your gut might feel otherwise, especially over an extended period of time.

And because the reasoning center of your brain has shut down, add in any late night meals or snacks you had. At this point, you’ve likely consumed about a half day’s worth of calories or more, with absolutely no nutritional value.

If you’re serious about your fitness and health (like we hope you are!), replace alcohol and related activities with a more productive lifestyle while still maintaining the FUN factor!

Cheers to your health!

Dig DEEP.

Words of Wisdom from Coach Calvin:

“Dig Deep” This can mean a number of things both physically and mentally. Dig deep physically- to find how far you can push your body to get better everyday. Dig deep mentally- when you need that extra push to finish those last couple reps or simply to rediscover that motivation that brought you to the gym in the first place. 

Everyone can find their own meaning and make it their own. But underneath it all,  you sometimes gotta go to places you didn’t know existed within yourself to get where you want to be. “

Shut down that voice in your head that says “just quit”. Hell no. Don’t take it lying down. Overcome it. Push past it. Finish strong. Leave better than you came in. And do it EVERYDAY

Why We Prefer Quality Over Quantity

Coach Jeisha's Words of Wisdom

Why we prefer QUALITY over quantity any day.

“I would rather you no-rep yourself and do another one correctly than finish faster or with more reps, done poorly. Quality trumps quantity every time, both in reps and in weightlifting." 

"Your 50% should ideally look as technically sound as your 90%. If it doesn’t, go back and work on form.”

Integrity matters. Sloppy movements won’t make you a better athlete, it’ll just make you more sloppy. Proper technique will get you leaps and bounds better than speed.

Listen to the cues given by your coaches and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Your commitment will show. We promise you, it’ll pay off!

"Rubbin' is Racin"

Rubbin' is Racin'

 Words of Wisdom from Coach Jenn:

The term “Rubbing” is used by Racing announcers to describe cars that make contact but don't crash. They literally hit a “bump” in the road but keep racing nonetheless.

This is a term I use when coaching athletes who are getting frustrated with lifts or skills that they can’t quite get right. In your CrossFit training, just like in life, you HAVE to get it wrong before you get it right.

It’s our way of ruling out all of the wrong ways to make room for acceptance of the right ways. If you don’t, how do you really know what “getting it right” looks like?

Making mistakes doesn’t mean you’re a failure. It just means you’re trying and learning in life. It’s how everyone learns from the time you’re a baby. As adults, we lose our patience and want everything right now. If it’s something you’re passionate about, give it a minute. Allow your growth to happen and learn to enjoy the process.

The taste of your success will be all the more sweeter when you reflect on your path of hard work and dedication to get there.

Why Discipline Is Freedom

You live in a world with an abundance of choices. You choose cupcakes over cauliflower, late nights over sleep, Netflix over housework.

You know your choices are bad ones, but you do it anyway. And it’s not because you hate yourselves, you’re just tired of making decisions ALL the time.

With more choices every day, you make more decisions than ever. So how do you avoid burning out? Habits.

Steve Jobs wore the same outfit and ate the same breakfast every day. Using your energy for the thousands of small decisions you make daily my leave you a bit dry when bigger decisions come up later.

Delegate your decisions as much as possible and whenever you can. More importantly, BE OK WITH IT. You may need to let the little things GO. Start with a routine.

Waking up at the same time every day.

Eating the same breakfast every day.

Going to the gym at the same time every day.

Letting someone else choose our workouts.

Cook your food every Sunday.

Free up your mind and energy resources for the more important decisions you need to make. It’s easier to correct small missteps in your day than to over analyze everything. Discipline = Freedom.

Think of 3 things right now you could turn into a daily habit. Now implement them. Live Free.

6 Reasons You Should Get An Annual Physical

6 Reasons You Should Get an Annual Physical

One way to achieve good health is to get an annual physical. Why some of us may not think of a yearly examination as being necessary, your physician can actually offer some valuable help during your visit that can assist you in preventing future health roadblocks down the road.

1. Prevent Health Problems: Your physician can help you identify risk factors that could lead to oncoming or future health problems and offer expert advice on how to manage them. This is the time to catch arising problems that went undetected before. 

2. Build Trust With Your Physician: When you establish a good relationship with your physician by seeing them annually, you're more likely to be honest about changes or issues you're experiencing. This makes treatment planning a team effort- one which you are most likely to adhere to. 

3. Establish Baselines & Look For Trends: Changes in your blood work year to year can be a red flag for health problems, current or future. This allows your physician to track trends. 

4. Save Money: If a doctor can detect a problem before it gets serious, you’ll save a lot of money on medical bills down the road.

5. Continuing Education: Your physician will be a steady reminder of healthy choices and options for staying the course. Referrals and resources provided by your doctor can help keep you informed. 

6. Renew & Review Prescriptions: Reviewing your medications with your physician, including over-the-counter-medications, will ensure you are treating your medical problems the best way available and will help prevent possible side effects and interactions.

7 Tips for a Happier, Healthier YOU in 2018

7 Tips for a Happier, Healthier YOU in 2018

1. Positive Self-Talk. Love yourself! Let this be a part of your life regularly. Dust yourself off after mistakes - these are learning opportunities and give you a chance to better yourself. 

2. Have Gratitude. Reminding ourselves of the positive things we enjoy in life can add to our daily happiness and well-being. Take a moment to notice and appreciate these gifts. 

3. Take Vitamins. Don't get so caught up in your daily hustle and bustle that you forget to love your body. Give it everything it needs to keep up with you! Take a multivitamin daily to boost your immune system. 

4. Get some Zzzzz's. Seriously, don't be a Grumpy Gus. Allow your body and brain to heal and recover by aiming for 7-8 hrs a night. Make a relaxing bedtime routine like stretching or yoga to calm your mind after a long day.

5. Make your workouts non-negotiable. Schedule them like Doctor's appointments- ones you CAN'T miss! The after-effects of your workouts will keep you leaner, stronger and healthier all year round. 

6. Keep your Nutrition on point. Food is medicine. Give the body (and mind!) the nutrients it needs to be at your very best, inside the box and out! Learn more about how our V10 Nutrition Success Program will fuel you for weight loss, muscle gain and wellness. www.defiantcrossfit.com/nutrition

7. Try forgiveness. Don't hang onto negative energy and feelings. Take back your power and own it. Let go of things that don't promote your happiness and well being. You're better than that. 

3 Tips To Improve Your Strength

Your body increases its strength by 2 main pathways: recruiting more muscle fibers in a particular muscle group and increasing the firing frequency of your motor neurons and muscle fibers. Regular training with intermittent rests and recovery will result in increased power and strength overall.

1. Accessory Work

Isolating and targeting smaller muscles that work together with larger muscles allow you to perform complex movments. The better you’re able to recruit these muscles, the more potential you have to build strength. Athlete Development uses movements to isolate these smaller muscle groups to strengthen them while practicing more difficult skills. It’s a perfect complement to your Defiant Training. You will progress towards a higher performance level and maximize your full potential.  

2. Strength Classes

Attend Strength Class twice a week to supplement your in-class Strength training. Functional barbell training has its place in building strength. You don’t need to get fancy, just focus on proper form and do it often.  Make sure you’re recovering properly to fuel your progress. Make it a point to improve on your technique- better technique makes performing lifts easier, allowing you to move heavier weights.

3. Eating to Perform

If you want to have top-fuel-type performance, you need top fuel. No one has ever demonstrated anything but inferior capacity on a diet where they did not eat clean- you are not going to get anywhere in terms of optimizing your performance on a bad diet. Optimizing performance through a diet of meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, no sugar.  Consume light-moderate carbs and little fat within 1 hr before your workout.  Post training- have a light snack with protein and carbs within 1 hr to promote muscle repair.