Here is a great offer by our friends next door at assauge massage if you havnt got a massage from them before. I keep on top of my mobility but every time i see them they find a area that needs work straight away. Get on top of issues before they become injuries, massage is a great tool for this.

“I had no idea I was that sore/tight...!!”

(Why and when is massage an important addition to your self-care)

The most frequent cause of injuries we (massage therapists) see in clients is;

A substantial, recent change in exercise type, frequency, or volume.

Some examples include:

·        Taking up a new sport.

·        Increased distance in the build up to a marathon.

·        Increased intensity in the build up to the Crossfit Open.

·        Increased volume as part of a new training program.

All of the above points are good things to do, but need to be done gradually to minimise the risk of injury.

There are plenty of self-care and mobility techniques you can use to manage muscle tension yourself. So much so that Kelly Starrett has been able to write two good books on the topic.

…BUT …many of your potential injury areas are tight well before you are aware of it and you can sustain an injury in an area where you have felt no pain prior to the event.

The number one most common thing we here from clients is;

“I had no idea I was that sore/tight...!!”

Everyone has different level of body awareness, but even some of the most ‘body aware’ people I’ve treated have been unaware of significant problems areas.

If these areas are not found and addressed early enough then they can significantly increase the risk of injury.

Have you:

·        Just started at Crossfit?

·        Taken some time off and are hitting your exercise with avengance for 2016?

·        Made plans to compete in the Crossfit open?

·        Had injuries in the past that are worrying you?

Yes? Then it’s time to book a massage.

Ask one of our Coaches for a voucher for $30 off your initial consult.

…or click on the link to download one goo.gl/JZsUd3

As a crossfit coach we get asked many questions about how to improve performance. Big ones like nutrition, lifting technique down to do i need to colour co-ordinate my kit?(sorry Rosco) A massively under rated tool to our lives is sleep.
At the start of february @2600 we a holding a health challenge that has 5 components to it. These are nutrition,training, mobility,water consumption and SLEEP. To get a pass mark for sleep you will need to record the time you slept and also the quality of it.
So whats in it for me? The benefits for sleep are huge. What first triggered my interest in how i slept was for athletic performance. Recovery is a massive training tool and sleep repairs muscle and releases human growth hormone(HGH) during the deeper phases of sleep. It also sorts through our memories for the day to see whats important to keep and disgard. The glymphatic system is located in the CNS and during sleep it removes alot of toxins from the brain.
So how can we get a better sleep? In the hour leading up to bed time turn off all electronic devices that emit blue light. This light will simulate morning light and therfore keep arousal levels high. As evening approaches the body will release the hormone melatonin and body temp will fall preparing us for sleep. When the morning light rises melatonin decreases, cortisol increases along with body temp ready to wake up.
During sleep we need the room to be totally blacked out, no tv, air-con light or even digital clock as this can disrupt our circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm tells our body when to sleep and be awake and also during sleep the 90min sleep cycles. In the sleep cycles there are 2 main parts, non-rapid eye movement( of which this is broken into 4 parts, 1-2 light moderate and 3-4 deep sleep) and rapid eye movement(REM). During parts 3-4 and REM is where most of the restoration of the body and mind takes place.
Other factors in quality of sleep can be mattres/pillow comfort, noisy street or partner(snoring), alcohol,caffine and stesses in our lives. I know if i have high stress and my cortisol (stress hormone) levels are high i wake up around 2am thinking about the cause of the stress. In saying that the 8 hour unbroken sleep is relatively new with the industrial revolution and the artificial lighting of streets. Before then many people speculate that we had a 'segmented sleep' with humans going to bed early, waking up for around 2 hours then going back to sleep for the remaning 4 hours.
The dangers of not getting enough sleep include depression, faster ageing, forgetfullness, slow reaction times similar to low level drunk driving and a increase in appetite with cravings for high fat/carb foods, along with not letting the body and mind fully recover from the days activities. The military have long used sleep deprivation to break a person down. Everyone has their breaking point and sleep is the easiest and fastest way to do this. Being awake for 48 hours certainly challenges your thought process and mental toughness.
As i wake up at 04:15 i need to get to bed by 20:15!!!! Sometimes my 8 and 10 year old put me to bed. It was hard at the start to get out of the habit of watching tv or reading but as soon as you get used to waking up fresh you cant wait for your head to hit the pillow. If you dont get the required 8 -9 hours per night dont worry as you can sleep bank. This means over the course of the week if you miss a hour or 2 you can bank a couple of hours on the weekend with a nap or 2. I know after Sunday lunch im fighting for my life not to sleep straight away.
We are asleep 1/3 of our lives, lets make it positive so we can thrive in the other 2/3

                       Big Heathy putting some hours into his 'sleep bank' back at Deakin days!!!!

For my final blog of 2015 I’m delving into the realm of body language and breaking down an image I recently received. When coaching a movement we first get the basics right and that begins with the setup position of the movement.  We start at the ground and work our way up correcting any faults in the movement as they arise.

I’d like to run you through a picture from a coaches perspective and translate the body language I’m receiving, powerful stuff.

Stance- Don’t let the exaggerated pigeon toed position fool you.  Normally such a stance is associated with the unstable and bumbling image of a new born deer. I’m actually viewing a predator ready to rotate his hips with enough force to split logs with each stroke.
Dress- Clearly comfortable in a pair of triple tumble dried shorts accompanied with a spray on shirt and designer eye protection, he’s confident in his ability to tame the wood.
Gestures- The way he has his trusty tool extended and layed out on the unsuspecting log is not as creepy as it looks. If you consider his other arm (unfortunately out of shot) is outstretched creating the image of a ballroom dancer gracefully launching his partner into a spin. The synergy between man, tool and wood is a thing of beauty.
Head Position- His head is slightly tilted as he retrieves his hammer echoing his favourite movie star who he can’t stop talking about Chris Hemsworth. Uncanny resemblance.
Facial Expression- Although hard to see from the picture his lips are pursed and he is actually whistling, a telltale sign our woodsman is content with his task and in harmony with his surroundings.

It’s been a big year for all at 2600 have a safe and happy Xmas team, onward and upward for 2016!!!! JB

Monday 7th December

Front Squat 5-5-3-3
Back Squat 5-5-3-3
Assistant work:
Barbell single leg deadlift 3 x 8
GHD back extension 3 x 8

Friday 4th December

0-10 minutes:  10,8,6,4,2 Power Clean & Jerks (60/40kg) Box Jumps (2:1)
11-15 minutes: 5 minute EMOM: 5 Pull-ups 10 Push-ups 15 Air Squats
16-25 minutes: 10,8,6,4,2 Power Clean & Jerks (60/40kg) Slams (9/6kg – 2:1)

Thursday 3rd December

For time In Pairs:
50 Wallballs (9/6kg)
30m Blue Band Sprint
50 Walballs
30m Burpee Broad Jump
50 Wallsballs
30m Farmers Carry (32/24kg)
10 Rope Climbs
30m OH Lunge (20/15kg)

Wednesday 2nd December

E3MOM:
Floor Press 6-6-6-6-6
Strict Pull-ups 3-3-3-3-3

STAYING MOTIVATED WHEN YOU’RE INJURED
 OR HAVE MOVEMENT RESTRICTIONS

So this topic is one that I’ve had to deal with on numerous occasions over the last few years. There are times when I’ve nailed it and others where it’s been pretty rough! It’s definitely given me some insight as to how you can be easier on yourself in times where you’re unable to train at full pelt! Let me start by saying that I’m not always the most coordinated kid on the block, luck is not always on my side and sometimes my downfall is thinking that I still have a twenty-five year old body and my body just flat out disagrees.

I’ve trained my whole life and had been blessed with having very little go wrong injury wise… Well, I thought nothing was wrong.

I had a niggle in my shoulder from continued repetitive movement and in the group fitness world – a niggle was a niggle, it wasn’t excruciating so I just pushed on (….for a good seven years!). In hindsight this ignorance led to several issues by the time I actually took action.

Surgery wasn’t guaranteed to make any improvement so I opted for the rehab route without surgery. Luckily, I was still able to train lower body so all was not lost. Squats were certainly not a strength or a love of mine but hey, you’re supposed to work on your weaknesses to make you stronger … so bring on “the Smolov squat program”. Squatting this way left little room for anything else anyway! My squat numbers went up, I felt successful as I was improving something I hated (did I say that?!) so coped with the injury without too much stress.

Over time my shoulder improved and I was able to reintroduce movements I was much happier and more comfortable doing! Enter the hamstring tear …

This was a much easier injury to cope with mentally – I was still able to do my gymnastic movements (giddy up!) but was unable to squat (so sad L!!). This time I was still able train with my buddies subbing movements as required.

My first lower body session back and I managed to smash my shin to the tune of 13 stitches. Once again, certainly not the end of the world, by this stage I was used to changing exercises and scaling appropriately so was still able to maintain a level of fitness. This time I didn’t feel great mentally, as I was certainly a long way from where I had been fitness and strength wise but still kept pushing through sessions. I was starting to become unmotivated for the first time in my life, which was a really foreign concept to me, and one I was really struggling with.

This struggle continued for a lot longer than the injury – I found it incredibly hard to get my mojo back…. Then most recently I broke my ribs (& yes this is the one where I thought I was 25 and was in no way training related!!). This, whilst being a relatively small and simple injury, was definitely the most debilitating. Your core is central to all movement. No upper body. No lower body. NOTHING. When I injure myself I tend to take something pretty straightforward and make it more far more complicated, so the recovery time was longer than expected. I did nothing for 7 weeks. I thought I was ok with this as motivation had been hard to come by, so not doing anything seemed pretty easy. My first session back was three weeks ago – it was probably less than an old warm-up but it felt amazing! I’ve gradually been adding more movements and more weight to my repertoire and have loved every second. It’s made me realise that the time where I was able to do SOME movements was actually still training. The modifications I was making to workouts still allowed me to stay fit and strong enough to be healthy.  Something is ALWAYS better than nothing.

In a perfect world we have perfect mobility and movement. In reality this just isn’t the case. Be happy to be able to work within your own limitations. The WOD on the board is not set in stone – if you need to change the movements on that day, that is what we as coaches are here for. If you need to modify movements for life, we can help you with that too. It doesn’t mean you should avoid certain workouts and it absolutely does not mean you can’t train. People regularly tell me they have avoided WOD’s because they didn’t “want to be a pain”.  We have all had our fair share of dealing with body issues and we are more than happy to help you work though yours.

Px

Tuesday 1st December

6 rounds: 3 minutes on/off: 15 Slams (9/6kg) 10 Bar Burpees 5 Deadlifts (80/65kg) 100m Sprint

Saturday 28th November

24 minutes EMOM in pairs:
minute 1: 4 Rope Climbs
minute 2: 10 Burpee Box Jumps
minute 3: 20 Thrusters (40/30kg) 

Friday 27th November

8 minute AMRAP:
3,6,9,…
Ring Dips
Hang Power Cleans (60/40kg)
2 minute rest
8 minute AMRAP:
3,6,9,…
Toes to Bar
Power Cleans (60/40kg)

Thursday 26th November

20 minute AMRAP:
10 Wipers (50/30kg)
15 Push Jerks (50/30kg)
20 Deadlifts (50/30kg)
200m Run

WEDNESDAY 25/11/2015

Wide Grip Bench Press
1 x 5 @ 50%
1 x 3 @ 60%
1 x 2 @ 70%
1 x 1 @ 80%
1 x 1 @ 90%
2-3 @ > 95%
Assistant Work – 1 minute rest between rounds
Strict HSPU (3 x 10)
UH Pull-ups (3 x 10)
Band Pressdowns (3 x 10)

Tuesday 24th November

“Barbara” 5 rounds for time:
20 Pull-ups
30 HR Push-ups
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats
Rest 3 minutes between rounds

 The guys next door at Assuage massage are a wealth of knowledge and they have been kind enough to contribute to our blog.

5 mins on the table with Pete

 

Let’s talk electrolytes… (Are you getting enough?)

Everyone has heard of them, but what are they and why are they so important?

To keep it simple and avoid getting too carried away in detailed chemistry, we will focus just on the SALT form of electrolytes for the purpose of this blog.

Definition: A substance that when dissolved in water makes an electrically conductive solution.

This electrical conduction is essential for all muscle contractions, but also many more important body functions.

One of the best examples of this Magnesium (Mg)

Here’s my top 7 list of problems associated with Magnesium deficiency (care of Charles Poliquin
12/15/2009).

Constipation. Constipation is a dead giveaway of magnesium deficiency, and the good news is that magnesium supplementation often eliminates constipation in patients. Normal digestion involves two to three soft bowel movements a day, but the average person has a hard bowel movement once every two days. As a bonus, improved transit time through the gastrointestinal tract is known to reduce the risk of a host of diseases, particularly colon cancer.

Fatigue. A classic sign of magnesium deficiency is poor energy levels. I’ve found that restoring magnesium levels in clients is always associated with increased energy levels. If you take magnesium before bed and you cannot fall asleep, it is a sign that you are extremely deficient in magnesium; therefore start taking it earlier in the day.

Inflammation. Ensuring optimal magnesium levels is one of the best ways to lower C-reactive proteins, an important inflammation marker. A recent study suggested that improving magnesium levels minimizes the risk of congestive heart failure.

Memory. Magnesium is essential for a great memory. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have shown that magnesium regulates a key receptor in the brain that deals with memory and learning. They proposed the idea that maintaining proper magnesium in the cerebrospinal fluid is essential for maintaining the plasticity of synapses.

Sleep. The human nervous system is sent into sympathetic overdrive when it is magnesium deficient; and when the nervous system is too jacked up, it is hard to get restful sleep. The lack of sleep will also contribute to overtraining. Several studies have pointed out that a lack of magnesium can alter electrical activity in the brain, causing agitated sleep and frequent awakenings.

Stress. Magnesium is essential for the detoxification of cortisol. The more stress you have, regardless of the source, the more cortisol you have.

Central Obesity. Greater your magnesium level, the greater your HDL levels; and the lower your blood glucose, the lower your waist circumference.