Colorado Springs Functional Medicine

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Why I Recommend CrossFit to My Clients: The 5 UnExpected Benefits That Will Change Your Life

I admit it, I consider myself a CrossFit junkie…or maybe I’m just a giant poser.  I drank the Kool-Aid about 3 1/2 years ago and haven’t stopped.  Before I go to bed each night, I prepare my gym bag, my workout clothes, fill up my water bottle, gather the supplements I take in the morning, and look for the workout that I will be attempting the next morning.

Functional Medicine Colorado SpringsOver the past 3 1/2 years, I have noticed drastic changes in my strength, endurance, body composition, and the ability to run flat out for 1/2 a mile before my hands start shaking whenever my dog escapes the house. With 3 boys, ages 5 and under, the front door to my house routinely gets left open.

My internal dialogue has changed considerably as well.  It went from, “I’m not doing that,” to “I don’t think I can do that,” to “I don’t want to do that but I’ll try.”  That’s the moment you know you’re hooked.

But it’s not for these fitness reasons that I encourage my clients and my kids as they get older, to step into a CrossFit box.  Here are 5 unexpected benefits I have learned and experienced in my 3 1/2 year journey that encourage me to recommend this routine to almost all my clients.

Forced to Focus

CrossFit is defined as ‘constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity.’  What does this mean?  It means you can’t multi task while working out.  There’s one objective in front of you and until you complete that task, you don’t get to move on.  There’s no breath for chit chat while the workout is happening, there’s no time to check your phone during the WOD, and there’s no possible way your ear buds are going to stay in place.

A huge problem I see with chronic health problems and the road blocks faced, is that the person hasn’t been focused.  During a CrossFit workout, you always have at least one coach keeping an eye on you, you have other members in the class tracking your progress and encouraging you, and you have a set rep scheme or time frame that you need to complete the routine.  You are forced to focus.

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Tight Muscles Or Intelligent Feedback

I’m an avid semi-competitive-worker-outer.  At almost 38 years old, I can say I’m the fittest over all I have ever been in my life and there are is still lots of room for improvement.

One of the things I see repeatedly at the gym is people constantly stretching, smashing, and rolling the chronically tight muscles.  I’m not one to offer advice unless asked.  That’s why I write these posts.  You will come across it when you’re looking for information that pertains the post’s topic.

When someone does finally approach me, I make sure to get one point across.

The Body Never Does Stupid Stuff!

If you have a chronically tight muscle, it’s happening for a reason.  If you have high blood pressure, it’s happening for a reason.  If you have cancer, it’s happening for a reason.  The reason isn’t because the body is stupid.  It’s because the body has been trying to adapt to all the stupid stuff we put it through to keep us going.  At some point, those silent adaptations becomes a screaming alarm to stop and slow down.

Tight muscles are no different.

Context is Everything

When you walk on an icy sidewalk, you instinctively activate muscles and ‘tighten’ them to make sure you walk more carefully and avoid falling.  But have you ever walked on an icy sidewalk and when you’re inside, you stop and stretch out?  Not at all.

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When High Intensity Harms

I’ve been getting a very similar question/story lately.  It goes something like this.

I’ve been eating paleo for months, doing high intensity exercise, doing everything right, and I still can’t drop the weight.

They often add fatigue into the equation as well.  That statement in itself could mean a lot of things but for the sake of this post, I want to focus on the high intensity exercise piece.

I LOVE high intensity exercise.  I do high intensity workouts in a CrossFit manner.  But exercise is actually one of the poorest interventions for you to lose weight.  Why?  Because most measure exercise in terms of calorie expenditure.  This mind set is when high intensity harms as it leaves you in the mental state of more it better.  I don’t really want to get into the calorie-in, calorie-out falsehood of activity and weight.  Instead, I’m going to focus on the bigger picture.

When High Intensity Harms

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Weight Loss like Vuarnet France

The topic that I have fielded the most questions and conversations about over the past few weeks has been regarding weight loss.  Maybe because I’m skinny (I like to call it lean).  Maybe because I used to be the fat kid (or ‘husky’ as I was told when I was younger).  I heard the word husky so much I thought it was a brand of clothing.  When we would go school shopping, we would always look for the ‘husky’ jeans.  When school would start up and everyone was checking out each other’s school digs, I would brag that I wore ‘huskies.’  In my mind it was as popular as Bugle Boy, Vuarnet France, and Jams.

Just like the brands of the 80s are out of business, so is the 80’s ideal weight equation of calories in + calories out = ability to wear acid washed tight-rolled jeans.

Calorie expenditure minus calorie intake is good in theory for weight loss but in today’s world of massive toxicities, inflammatory lifestyles, and emotional roller coasters, it just doesn’t work anymore.  Maybe it never did.  The past 40 years, the nation has gone low fat, no fat, light calorie, and no calorie and for the first time in history of the US, the number of obese people outnumber the overweight.

Let’s get past the dumbed down, calorie counting, weight loss formula and take a look at some areas of your weight loss journey that aren’t addressed.

You Are Exercising Too Much

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Shin Splints and Plantar Fasciitis – It’s All In Your Head

If you’re a runner or competing in the CrossFit Open with nagging shin splints or plantar fasciitis, you probably think I’m nuts saying your pain from injury is all in your head.  What I’m getting at is this, ‘is your brain cheating on you?’

One of the key characteristics of shin splints and plantar fasciitis is that you are using the big toe to cheat your movement and cover for some other movement or body part not pulling its weight when you are running, jumping, or lifting. Your shin splints or plantar fasciitis is a symptom of a different problem, most likely one between the ears.

You may be thinking, “But my big toe and brain aren’t anywhere near each other.”  Stay with me on this.  If you don’t think your big toe and brain are connected, read on.

Shin Splints

If you’ve never had shin splints, then skip to the next section.  If you HAVE had shin splints, you know how painful, debilitating, and frustrating it can be to treat and recover.  What I want you to do is STOP TREATING YOUR SHIN.  Your shin is not the problem.  It’s the symptom.  If you really want it to stay a nagging injury, keep competing and covering the pain with some caffeine and NSAIDS. [Read more…]

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Maximize Recovery…Reassess These

The point of exercise and training is to break the body down.  Your workout is actually doing damage.  This damage is essential and intelligent to you getting stronger, faster, quicker, and more efficient.  The only way the body gets better is through challenges. 

The problem is that many think it’s the workout that creates the magic.  The actuality is that it’s the recovery that is key.  Most people might workout 30 minutes.  That leaves 23 1/2 hours to recover.

Reassess these 3 common practices that put a damper on your recovery and ultimately your performance.

caffeineCaffeine

Many consume coffee pre-workout to boost their performance.  It’s essentially a performance enhancing drug.  There’s no denying that coffee boosts energy.  Just ask the 54% of Americans over the age of 18 who consume coffee daily.   It’s also no mystery that kids consume caffeinated beverages like energy drinks and such, which would drastically raise that 54%, if you included the entire population.

The problem is that this habit may boost short term performance at the expense of longevity, injury prevention, and recovery.  If you ever have lab work, usually there is a panel that lists out the type of white blood cells.  You will see these as neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils.

Monocytes are cells that clean up inflammatory damage as well as debris from destroyed microorganisms.  They differentiate into macrophages and play a huge role in tissue repair whether you are injured, you are sick, or you have been training hard.  Without monocytes, muscles would not be able to heal after training or injury.

Cortisol and adrenaline (hormones released during times of stress, which can be physical, chemical, or emotional) lower macrophage activity and count.  In essence stress lowers your immune system.  Your immune system stimulates inflammation.  Caffeine is a direct hit to the adrenals, causing release of cortisol and adrenaline, lowering your healing inflammatory response triggered by your immune system.

Think about this way.  If you’re running from a bear, it would not be efficient if you had to stop to cough, sneeze, or dig a hole and pop a squat because you’re fighting the flu.  It also wouldn’t be conducive to your survival if you rolled your ankle and it ballooned up and caused you to be immobile.  Ever get injured during the heat of competition but not realize it until it was all over?  That’s the cortisol and adrenaline kicking in to keep you surviving.  Caffeine is a stress on the body.

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