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This Box Is Unlike Any Other — It’s a Sober Gym

the phoenix gym denver colorado

In downtown Denver is a CrossFit gym that looks like any other box you might walk into; but the Phoenix is anything but. In fact, there is only a handful of gyms like the Phoenix in the world. What makes this box so special, you ask?

It’s a sober gym. Every person training inside is a recovering addict.

Colorado’s 9News spoke with a few members at the Phoenix, and the box has certainly played a huge role in their lives: “One thing that helps me stay sober is that connection with somebody else that’s been through the same struggles that I’ve been through,” says Michael Mielke, who once found himself homeless.

“It’s so powerful the way that people are able to connect here,” says Dana Smith, who started as a volunteer but is now a full-time employee. Smith spent five years in prison after driving under the influence and causing a very serious car accident. She’s now been sober for eight years. “People come in and they want to do a workout, they want to do a boxing class or strength training class but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about the human connection that they’re making with other people.”

No judgmental eyes. No criticism. Just support, friendship and a focus on wellness. The Phoenix welcomes all — you only need to have been sober 48 hours to join; actually, membership is free, although they do ask for a $50 donation every six months. And of course, they ask for your total sobriety.

Since its inception in 2007, the gym — which is funded with grants and also gets supports from memberships at the public gym right next door — has helped over 22,000 people all over the nation. When you walk inside, you can see written on the wall, “Everything is better through sober eyes and mind.” The Phoenix has provided a safe and uplifting environment for people trying to improve their lives.

Main image: The Phoenix/Instagram

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How to Rest During a WOD

Many WODs require you to go for as long as possible or to do as many reps as possible. It might be tempting to go hard while you’re still fresh, but most athletes only begin to realize the importance of rest when they are burning out toward the end.

Rest is important, especially when done strategically. It allows you to get yourself ready for the next movement. It’s key to getting the most out of every workout. Getting too much rest is also detrimental. Here are some ways you can be more efficient with your rest.

1. Stay in the Zone

Stay where you are or just take a step or two back. You don’t need to go to the water fountain (it’s good to have a water bottle nearby) and your hands are probably chalked enough. Keep an eye on the bar or whatever equipment you are using at the time. It reminds your body you still have some work to do and you should hustle through it quick.

By staying close, you also avoid resting too long because you had to walk back.

2. Keep Your Rest Short

A lot of people take far longer breaks than they need to. That, or the time they take to rest is inconsistent. This ruins your momentum, your rhythm and how you go on with the rest of the WOD.

The best way to go about it is to keep a mental rest clock running. Decide on how long you need to rest before you drop the bar and start counting. It’s good to keep an eye on the clock for this. Calculate your “go” time and before the end of your countdown, put your hands back on the equipment and tell your body that it’s time to start moving.

Try to keep it consistent but feel free to take “roll over” seconds. If it was too short, then rest longer in your next break. If it was too long, then rest less in the next one. When the finish line is close, however, try not to take breaks and go as hard as you can for as many reps as possible.

3. Use Transitions to Rest

Walk from one station to another. Relax before starting the next movement. Don’t rush it. It’s one of the only times you can calm your breathing and compose yourself. By allowing yourself to take this as a rest period, you have more chances to put in more reps of the next movement. Rushing will only make you fatigued and compromise your performance.

4. Know When and How to Break Up Your Reps

When your workout is structured with movements that blend or transition into each other smoothly, you need to break up your sets in a way that allows you to go straight into the next movement.

For example, rather than doing sets of eight and seven, you can do sets of nine and six. This way, you can take longer breaks in between and jump straight into the second movement with that energy.

5. Identify Movements Where You Can Rest

It’s not actual rest, but everyone has movements they can do with relative ease. It’s a movement that is your “thing.” When it comes up in a workout, take it as an opportunity to rest. Your body is not as tired even when you complete it quickly because it does not take too much effort for you. Identify these movements and use them to compose yourself for the next.

Aside from this, it is also important to identify which movements take more time to restart. Some movements are easy to stop and start while others take longer. For these movements, you can opt not to let go of the equipment you are using as you rest. Another option is to go unbroken for as long as you can when doing these movements. This is so that you will take less time resting, from having to get ready to move again, and more time moving.

Rest is important to optimize every WOD. Learn to strategize how you approach each one to get the most of it. Remember that doing it right is better than doing it fast. Unless the WOD is designed to be done fast, going long is more important than going hard.

Main image: Andrea Ager/Facebook

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The Fittest Woman on Earth Got Hitched and Didn’t Tell a Soul

She topped the podium. She took home the grand prize. She’s a source of inspiration for athletes the world round. And now, she’s a married woman. Tia-Clair Toomey said “I do” to her now-husband (and coach) this past weekend, and nobody had even the slightest clue it was happening.

Toomey and Shane Orr swapped vows in front of friends and family at the top-secret ceremony, where the athlete traded in her traditional gym gear for a beautiful gown. The CrossFit superstar shared pictures of the memorable evening, exchanging a sweet kiss with her husband, dancing the night away and staying warm by the fire.

Although we’re slightly offended we weren’t invited (kidding!), we’re so happy to see these two lovebirds in such a sweet moment. Congratulations, you two, and here’s to a long and wonderful marriage.

A post shared by Tia-Clair Toomey (@tiaclair1) on

A post shared by Tia-Clair Toomey (@tiaclair1) on

A post shared by Tia-Clair Toomey (@tiaclair1) on

Main image: Tia-Clair Toomey/Facebook (photo taken by Michael Coppola)

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Are Mat Fraser and Rich Froning Going to be Neighbors?

Could two of CrossFit’s greatest champions soon be living in the same town? It just may be. You may have noticed that recently on Instagram, Mat Fraser posted a photo skeet shooting in Tennessee. Apparently, the scenery and hospitality are rubbing off on him. On a recent CrossFit podcast, Sevan Matossian asked Mat if he was planning to move to Cookeville, Tennessee, where Rich Froning resides. Fraser laughed at his bluntness and said it was a distinct possibility, explaining that the tax situation there is one thing he finds so appealing. (Tennessee is one of six states that doesn’t have state income taxes.) So, although Fraser mentioned he still plans to keep a residence in Vermont, it looks like he and Froning might be neighbors in the near future.

Don’t expect any sort of heated rivalry or jealousy between the two, though. Fraser had already mentioned the possibility of heading to Froning’s town to him, to which Froning responded, “Come on down.” They may both have spent time at the top of the podium, but these two men are still grounded as ever.

You can watch the podcast below.

Watch out, Tennessee! Fraser’s about to up the competition in a neighborhood near you.

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Fighting Body Image Problems With the Butterfly Effect

This month, women came together in the name of girl power for the Butterfly Effect — a females-only competition held at Raw Iron on the Gold Coast, Australia, where partners completed four WODs together. A portion of the proceeds went to the Butterfly Foundation, which represents anyone affected by eating disorders or a negative body image. Athletes of all levels were welcome to join in, and the spirit of the sport was undeniable. The WOD Life was proud to be a part of it.

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The 2017 CrossFit Invitational is Coming to Australia

They describe it as CrossFit’s “all-star game”; and for the last several years, it’s brought the fittest men and women from around the globe together in teams for a little friendly competition. This year, the Reebok CrossFit Invitational will take place at the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and we couldn’t be more anxious for November 5th to get here. Having the event in Australia this year is quite fitting, considering how well they did at the Games.

The teams for the USA, Canada, Europe, and Pacific have yet to be announced, in addition to this year’s events (although you can probably guess who you might see); but if previous years are any indication, we’re undoubtedly in for a treat. Last year’s Invitational included accomplishing a max snatch and clean and jerk, a handstand walk relay and the infamous 500-pound Pig. With CrossFit’s knack for creativity, we don’t expect this year to disappoint. And as these athletes repeatedly raise the bar year after year, plan on competition being tight!

Similar to previous years, there will be an Affiliate Competition prior to the big show, where fans will have the opportunity to compete. Staying true to the CrossFit culture and community, the Invitational is about bringing people together with a shared love of fitness and fun competition, and being something everyone can participate in.

Tickets will be available online, by phone or at the box office; and registration is open for anyone who is interested in volunteering. For anyone who can’t be there in person, you’ll be able to watch it live at Games.CrossFit.com, as well as on their Instagram and Facebook pages. November will be here before you know it; so stay tuned for updates and announcements.

Main image: fikowski/Instagram

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Developing a Niche for Your Gym

One of the many great things about CrossFit is that it’s for anyone and everyone. You can walk into a class filled with people of different genders, ages and fitness levels all doing the same workout. It’s a large community where every athlete feels welcome. At the same time, this can present a challenge for any gym owner: how do you find what you’re best at when the sport is about being generally good at everything?

You, as a box owner and businessperson, may find the idea of being diverse and open attractive. It means more members. It means reaching out to more people who can benefit from what you can share with them. Then you hear about all these trends and niches. You want to open a class for this and a class for that, eventually realizing that you’re no longer keeping up with anything.

Soon enough, you’re not sure about your box’s identity or where your money went. It’s easy to be reactive to all these trends and get lost in it. Remember that what you need as a business owner is a strategy to sustain your business and its future growth.

What You Do Best

CrossFit’s main principle is not to be great at anything but be good at everything. Trying to find your niche might sound counterintuitive but it’s something that would benefit your business. It’s easy to go out and say that you’re passionate about CrossFit, so change the question: who are you passionate about? Who do you want to help?

Do you want to focus on powerlifting? Are you interested in building a fitness habit early on through Crossfit Kids? Maybe you’re interested in helping middle-aged or older athletes achieve their best health and best life.

Las Vegas Barbell

Everyone has an audience that they are close to. Once you identify that, it’ll be far easier to identify your niche. This will help you narrow down your choices. Choose one for now and grow from there.

How it Helps

Having a niche makes it easy for you to identify the types of classes and programs to have. You can easily decide on what kind of activities would cater to your target market and from there, decide on the equipment you need. Instead of opting for lower quality equipment so you can get more, you can focus on buying high-quality pieces suited for your niche.

This also goes as far as your gym decor decisions, the type of merchandise you put out and even the staff that you hire. It’ll be easier to tend to even the smallest details — things that are forgotten when your focus is too broad. Keeping a laser focus on your target market improves the overall quality of your gym.

Consistency is Key

Keeping the quality of your work consistent is important when you want to establish yourself as the top fitness facility on your block. Paying attention to the details is important to keep your activities top quality. Having a niche makes it less of a job to polish your activities to perfection because there aren’t so many of them.

From a business perspective, it’s about customer retention. You might feel like you would have fewer customers because your target market has been narrowed down. However, making sure that clients have a reason to stay will sustain your business better than having many clients walk in and have many walk out.

We all have our own passions. Our hearts are softer toward certain groups more than others. Find yours. This will help you maintain the quality of your business’s services, guide you in your business decisions and truly help the people you are passionate about.

Main image: MaxEffort Fitness

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The Truth Behind #TransformationTuesday Posts

Let’s be honest with ourselves: we all love before-and-after pictures on Instagram. They motivate and inspire us to become better versions of ourselves; but there’s one huge problem: they’re often a lie. Those #TransformationTuesday posts on Instagram that we all love so much are often staged and edited until they look just right. One CrossFit athlete is here to set the record straight.

We all know by now not to believe everything we see; but even the brightest of us is bound to fall for an overly manipulated before-and-after photo. Powerhouse Jennifer Smith seemingly got tired of the facade, so she hit us with a dose of reality: before and after pictures taken 15 minutes apart, appearing as though she majorly shed some body fat and magically acquired a six-pack. How did she do it?! According to Smith herself, it’s all about lighting, posture, and a megawatt smile. And that’s it.


The post quickly went viral, having collected over 13,000 likes and 180 comments at the time of this blog. Words of gratitude poured in from followers thanking Smith for keeping it real and reminding us that we’re all human.

Thankfully, people are catching on and Smith isn’t the only one remaining grounded. Other athletes of all kinds have bravely posted transformation pictures of a different variety, giving us that gentle reminder we all need: you should focus on how you feel instead of being dictated by how you look in a picture and whether or not people online validate you.


CrossFit and Olympic weightlifting in particular have done wonders for the self-esteem of women especially, challenging us to run faster or lift heavier instead of obsessing over the much-desired washboard abs. The sports encourage us to care more about what we can do, while forgetting about (or even embracing) the pesky flaws that have always bothered us — because honestly, who cares about those things when you can back squat 200 pounds? (The answer is nobody.)

While it’s alright to admire beautiful bodies on Facebook and Instagram, never lose perspective — what you see isn’t always what’s real.

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How to Grow Your CrossFit Box

Starting your own Crossfit Affiliate, or box, is one of the most exciting things you can do. If you’re someone who is passionate about the sport, it’s easy to feel the need to make everyone else passionate about it as well. It’s worked well for you and your fitness — imagine the happiness of making that opportunity available to more people. Eventually, though, you’ll realize your passion isn’t enough. It’s thus essential to know how to grow your CrossFit box.

Maybe people are not returning to your box as expected. Maybe they don’t stay for long or aren’t as eager. You need to make an active effort to counter this. You need to learn and grow with the mindset of not just a coach but of a full-blown business owner.

This is a common frustration for most new owners. When the excitement wears off, you may start to get discouraged by a lack of growth. Fortunately, there is something you can do about it. Here are some tips on how to grow your CrossFit box.

Tip #1: Keep ‘Em Happy, Keep ‘Em Here

Any expert will tell you the best marketing tool is good customer service. Focus on these two Rs when assuring your athletes’ happiness: results and relationship.

Results
If your Box isn’t helping them get the results they want, why would they want to stay there? While you often come across newbies who feel like they’re progressing very little, it would be alarming if they feel that way even after a month of being at your box. Invest in quality coaches and monitor the quality of your classes as well.

Relationship
Keep your athletes happy. Make sure when they enter your box, they feel welcomed and when they leave, they still feel like they are part of the community. Community is something that is easy to overlook when you focus too much on the technical side. Have your coaches or interns pay attention to those who are struggling. Learn their names and talk a bit more.

Tip #2: Get Personal

As an owner, you should be available for your athletes. When they see you as someone they know and relate to, it’s easier to make them willing to come back for every class. Open up about your own fitness journey. Vulnerability is scary but it pays off. Being open means that people are more likely to trust you, join your box and stay.

how to grow your crossfit box

Most people overlook the importance of retention to a business. It’s one thing to gain new clients but what keeps your business going is the loyalty of your customers. If you keep losing people regularly, then you need to reassess.

Tip #3: Dust Off Your Email List

You probably have one already. Your athletes gave you their email addresses when they signed up or they signed up for your email list in exchange for a freebie. The thing is, you don’t know what to do about it. Here’s a simple tip. Organize your list. Categorize them into prospects, current clients and former clients. Prepare your content and blast it out.

You’ll be surprised with the number of former clients coming back and new clients coming in. Those who are currently at your box will also feel more appreciated. Remember: don’t just sell. Provide value.

Tip #4: Let Go of Some Hats

…and give them to others. You may start out doing all these things yourself. You need to stop if you feel as if you are spending more time working in your business rather than on it. Whip out a pen and paper and list the tasks you can delegate and those you can’t.

Things like cleaning, coaching and finance work can be outsourced. The amount you pay for someone to do that is probably smaller than the amount you could earn by having more time to work on your business. Do yourself a favor: learn to trust other people. You will reap the benefits.

Growing your gym takes a daily effort. Sure, good things take time but you have to stop waiting for opportunities to come to you. Get up and make those opportunities yourself. Go out and meet new people. Make use of your network.

Every effort adds up. You can be successful if you go out and get it. Your success does not only benefit you but everyone who walks through your doors.

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9 Things to Know Before You Start CrossFit

If you’re intimidated by CrossFit, you’re not alone. Many of us are afraid of it until we actually try it. As the saying goes, “90% of success is showing up.” Once you do your first class, something magical will happen: you will go back for more and more. This is just one of many things you should know if you’re considering functional fitness — here are nine more.

#1 The Jargon

As CrossFit is a whole other world, it requires you to learn a new language. It would be confusing to come into a class or read up on the sport without knowing what all these acronyms are. Here’s a short list to get you started:

  • Box — a CrossFit gym
  • WOD — workout of the day
  • AMRAP — as many reps/rounds as possible
  • EMOM — every minute on the minute
  • Tabata — 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest
  • Scaled — adjusting a workout to match your fitness level

It might seem overwhelming but you’ll learn as you go.

#2 It’s a Community

You will always feel welcomed in the box. You will find a genuine connection with these people and form a closer bond as you get through your WODs together.

If you’re an introvert and have a fear of feeling left out, you will be surprised with how welcoming your box will be. It’s a great place to find people who really care about you and support you.

#3 You Will Hear backlash

…from your friends, your family, your loved ones, people who generally don’t understand what it’s all about. It mostly comes from them being insecure or simply misinformed about what CrossFit is.

Encourage them to try it for themselves without being too pushy. You can also explain that CrossFit is about doing constantly varied, functional and high intensity movements that can be scaled depending on one’s fitness level. Not only will they be introduced to a welcoming community but they won’t be able to deny the results achieved from participating.

#4 Every Workout is Doable

muscle-ups

As mentioned earlier, CrossFit workouts are scaleable. There are Rx or recommended intensity and reps for each workout but you can also scale up or down depending on your physical ability and/or confidence.

Every person benefits from a great workout that pushes them without causing pain. Each exercise has the risk of accidents happening but you’re more at risk from an inactive lifestyle than a WOD.

#5 It Gets You Out of Your Comfort Zone

CrossFit makes you do things that you will never do out of your own will in your everyday life. That doesn’t mean it’s crazy. It means you will be pushed into realizing that many of the things you fear doing are actually doable. You wouldn’t do it on a regular day but you would do it in the box. It’s all part of the fun.

#6 You Will be Amazed With What Your Body Can Do

You will walk into your first class thinking you couldn’t possibly lift those weights. Later, you find out you can. Jumping up on a high box without skinning your shins? You can! Do 10 consecutive double-unders with a jumprope? You can!

CrossFit pushes you to your physical and mental limits, helping you realize that you are far more capable than you ever thought you would be. As you progress, you will be stronger, more flexible and faster — things your present self might not imagine now.

#7 It Helps You Destress

CrossFit athletes come from varied backgrounds. All the same, everyone in each class is experiencing some sort of stress in their personal life. When they walk into the box, that all changes.

Each WOD helps keep your mind off personal struggles. Who could worry about those things when you’re focused on doing as many burpees as possible in the next 30 seconds? The WOD may only last an hour but in general, exercise helps decrease your stress levels.

#8 Your Workouts are Planned Out for You

At any other gym, you would walk in and decide on your workout for yourself. Even if you started out following a program, most of the time you would not have anyone holding you accountable. You will likely end up doing sloppy cardio, eyes glued to the TV.

In CrossFit, the moment you walk in, everything is decided for you. All you have to do is follow it. And each WOD is constantly varied. You will never have to do the same routine twice in one week. Without having to worry about what to do next, all your energy will be poured into giving your all.

#9 It Gives You a Huge Sense of Accomplishment

Sometimes the only thing that keeps you going to CrossFit is the feeling you get afterward. And that’s more than enough. You will be full of pride, achieving things you never thought possible. It might sound cheesy but finishing a WOD makes you feel like you can conquer anything.

There is a lot to prepare yourself for before you start doing CrossFit. You need the right shoes and clothes for it and you might also consider investing in protective gear. Other things, you will be taught at your box of choice.

You will never be 100% ready. Instead of waiting to be completely prepared, take the confidence and curiosity you have and join your first class today.

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Digging To The Root: How To Uncover What’s Holding You Back

Let’s be honest, we all have those movements we avoid like the plague because they are not our best. We stick to the comfort of the movements and skills that we are good at because, well, they feel good. However, there is a reason why CrossFit brings influence from sports like gymnastics and weightlifting; to make us all more well rounded athletes.

There is a good chance you know what you need to work on, but that’s the easy part. Not to discount this, because knowing is half the battle, but the most important discover to make is figuring out what the root of the problem actually is. Let’s take the clean for example. Maybe you have a difficult time increasing weight because you aren’t getting under the bar.

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This element of the lift is extremely important and it could be that the issue isn’t in the ability to drop squat, but a mobility issue in the shoulders and traps hindering your front rack position. Or maybe your front rack position is solid and the issue lies in the neuromuscular pattern you’ve developed from pulling as hard as you can through the power clean, as opposed to pulling yourself under the bar for the full squat clean.

So, how do you find the root cause of your limitation? Even the most experienced athletes probably need support in finding what’s holding them back. This is a great time to grab a camera and press record. Ask someone who is familiar with your training, like a coach or an experienced gym partner, to take a look. Have them go over your movement patterns with you because chances are they will probably be able to identify something you are doing subconsciously.

In the analysis, be sure to really look at your own movement, too. Sometimes seeing your movement is a much difference experience than feeling the movement when you are executing the lift or skill. Something to consider, too, is that figuring out the root of the could be as easy working backwards to any previous injuries, even if they occurred years ago.

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After you figure out the root cause, the next step is to correct the problem. Make your once weakness, a strength. This will likely require the expertise of your coach in order to help you develop a program to make you stronger. For the previous clean example, if you found the neuromuscular pattern to be the issue, a lot of tall cleans could be in your future. And if your front rack was the issue, you’d have a whole lot of mobility drills to look forward to.

A few things to keep in mind is that you should always focus on one limiting factor at a time rather than going ham, trying to fix everything at once. Also, within your programming you should carve out time to measure your process every week. With this measurement you will be able to determine if you conquered your weakness or if you need to tweak your programming to get there.

Happy training!

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CrossFit On The Road

You work hard in the gym and do your best to keep your nutrition on point. To celebrate and unwind, you step away from the gym for a little relaxation. Awesome! While everyone deserves a vacation, it doesn’t mean that fitness should take a back seat. And, for most of us, not getting a workout in isn’t even an option.

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Luckily for us, there are tens of thousands of CrossFit boxes across the world and with the nature of the sport boxes are generally really accepting of drop ins. It’s always a great experience to train with different coaches and athletes at unfamiliar facilities while sharing something you all love. Having the opportunity to test your fitness outside of your home box is one of the beautiful part about the CrossFit community and we definitely recommend it.

However, regardless of how many affiliates there are, dropping in isn’t always an option. So what do you do if there isn’t a box nearby? Get really familiar with body weight WODs. Even though there may be no equipment involved, body weight movements need not be discounted because we all know how tough these WODs can be.

The good news is there are many resources to find these WODs so there is no need to reinvent the wheel. One app available is myWOD which lists all of the hero and girl WODs, but most importantly over 20 “road WODs.” You can also check out an awesome list of bodyweight metcons here.

Here are a few to get you started.

No Equipment Needed:

Road WOD 1 (from myWOD)

3 Rounds

Run 1/2 Mile

50 Air Squats

Road WOD 17 (from myWOD)

50-40-30-20-10 rep rounds of:

Pushups

Jump Squats

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Travel Friendly Equipment Needed:

Angie (Pull Up Bar)

100 pull-ups

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

100 squats

Cindy

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

5 pull-ups

10 push-ups

15 squats

Mary

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

5 handstand push-ups

10 one-legged squats, alternating

15 pull-ups

Annie

50-40-30-20 and 10 rep rounds of:

Double-unders

Sit-ups

Now, maybe you forgot your jump rope or there isn’t a pull up bar handy or you just really don’t feel like doing a body weight WOD. All hope is not lost! A great substitute to is to get outside and explore the city you’re in! You could take a jog around the city, take a hike, or if there is water nearby, grab a standup paddle board or sign up for a surf lesson. The opportunities really are endless.

Being active even while you’re focused on relaxing will just make your experience even better. You’ll be alert and ready to try new things, won’t feel guilty about indulging in the local cuisine, and the transition back into your home box will be that much easier.