Posted on

Mat Fraser at Mayhem: A Recap

Mat Fraser recently sat down with Rich Froning, Elly Kabboord-Kearcher and Jimmy Hensel for the fifth episode of Froning and Friends. In the episode, Mat talked about his life since moving to Cookeville, as well as his beginnings in CrossFit. Mathew Fraser earned the title of Fittest Man on Earth at the 2016 and 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games.

In the show, we got to learn a little bit about Mat’s roots — including his parents. His parents were skating partners, and they seemed to have gone on quite an adventure together. They each endured their own injuries, from his dad’s broken rib to his mom’s broken hip. Nothing got in their way, though. His parents went pro and did their fair share of competing. When they retired from skating, Mat’s dad became a coach while his mother went to medical school and became a doctor.

Of course, his recent move to Cookeville came up. Moving has been a positive experience for Mat. He’s made friends with his neighbors, and one of them even does CrossFit.

Mat’s Beginnings in CrossFit

Rather than starting out with CrossFit, Mat started out in Olympic weightlifting. CrossFit was something he stumbled upon by mistake. As a weightlifter, his parents were very supportive. His dad brought him to the gym to train and watch his son in action.

Although his parents were encouraging, Mat shares they told him to make sure he had an education. They wanted him to have something to fall back on in case his career ended earlier than planned, especially considering injury is always a possibility. “I took my college education seriously,” Mat reveals. He took up a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Vermont.

Asked how he became an engineer, Mat said, “At the end of high school, I realized I was good at math but I can’t read.” When someone mentioned engineering to him, he decided to go for it. As an engineer, he expected to be working 9-5 but ended up getting opportunities to travel and do fun things as a CrossFit athlete.

“Incredible Gratitude”

For Mat’s first CrossFit competition, his old gym owner signed him up. “I didn’t have $50,” he shares. The gym owner did it with one condition. Mat had to use the competition prize money to buy real CrossFit shoes. The entire time, he was trying to do lifts and train in Air Max 90s. For his first competition, he won a cash prize of $500.

When Mat started CrossFit, he said it created a life for him that he never even dreamed about. From not having money to register for a competition, he’s now traveling the world, experiencing amazing things and seeing great places.

Elly noted, “You seem to have incredible gratitude for what the sport has allowed you to do,” and Mat agreed. When asked about the future, however, he does not see himself owning a gym or even coaching. When his time comes to pull back from his competitive life, he wants to be ready to do it. And certainly, Fraser wants to avoid forcing himself to compete because he doesn’t know his next step.

When it comes to what he’ll do next, Mat only said, “If you asked me five years ago, I would have never dreamed of this… In five years? I have no idea.” As for now, his main motivation it that he loves training. “It’s a great job and it makes money.”

For the rest of the show, Mat talked about his favorite moment from the past Games where he saw himself improving and dominating new workouts. Fraser has come a long way; and we’re guessing that with his recent move to Cookeville, there are even bigger things to come.

Main image: CrossFit Mayhem/YouTube

Posted on

Here’s How Annie Thorisdottir Builds Massive Upper Body Strength

Annie Thorisdottir has made podium at the CrossFit Games more than once — and whenever she’s up there, we all have one thought: man, she is STRONG. It goes without saying she spends countless hours in the gym, dedicated to her sport like most others never will be; but what exactly is she doing in there to become as ripped as she is? Well, now we know at least one of her exercises: wide grip pull-ups.

In a recent Instagram post, Thorisdottir shared her last of four sets of 10 strict pull-ups. If you haven’t experimented with a wide grip, it forces you to engage in a different way and adds a whole new challenge. Regardless, Thorisdottir made them look easy, as she often does. A lot of us are still scaling pull-ups, and that’s totally okay; but this Dottir certainly gives us a new goal to strive for!

Main image: Annie Thorisdottir/Facebook

Posted on

Finding Fitness at 40

When you’re around the age of 40, your find yourself with a lot of responsibilities — with your spouses and children, your parents and your career. For a lot of us, we’ve pushed our athletic years out of sight and at some point, fitness became less of a priority.

However, now that we’re here, we feel like we’re slowing down because of aging. Our body might tend to punish us for unhealthy habits that we used to be able to get away with. Then we realize that taking care of our health is nonnegotiable. We often wonder if it’s still possible to make a place for exercise in our busy schedule. The fact is, it is.

Getting into fitness, at any age, can be made much easier if we find a physical activity that is a good fit for our lifestyle. We also benefit much more by doing activities or exercises that we actually enjoy.

Enter CrossFit

CrossFit has helped countless people develop a habit of exercising regularly even if they previously thought it impossible. The approach, the competent instructors and the great community that CrossFit has make it possible for most people to get into exercise, regardless of their age, sex and fitness level.

With scalable workouts and great instruction, age really is just a number.

Some might say CrossFit is a scary cult, but it’s really all about the community. While everyone is helpful and welcoming, it also introduces a drive to always strive to exceed your personal best. The small competitive fire that CrossFit ignites is healthy. It makes you less aware of your age and puts you in a place that wants you to keep on going for the long run.

The Mindset

Working on your fitness makes you better at life in general. With functional fitness, you’ll notice that it’ll be easier to do everyday tasks like run to catch a bus, walk up a flight of stairs and pick up your child and carry them.

Aside from that, your body benefits from having a healthier heart and lungs. Being healthier also means having a more enjoyable life to spend with your family.

Mental health comes into play, too. The general mindset that exercise brings is uplifting. It makes you realize that a lot of things are possible if you just put the work in. There is a drive to always beat your personal best and become your strongest possible self. The level of dedication translates into your career, your family and other relationships as well. CrossFit isn’t just about the gym. It’s about life.

Finding fitness is possible at any age. We are never too busy as long as we know our priorities. If we are to make the decision that our fitness is going to be one of our top priorities, then we must make time.

In the end, the one who will benefit the most is ourselves.

Main image: Jeb Simmons/Instagram

Posted on

What Keeps Your Members Coming Back?

The success of your gym as a business and the personal success of your athletes in their own goals depend on how often and how willing your athletes are to come back. Consistency is key when it comes to improvement. To find out what makes a client come back for me, look at it from their perspective. Ask yourself this question: why would I want to keep coming back to this gym, in particular?

Facilities and Equipment

Look around your box. Do you have the right equipment? Do you have enough equipment? If your box caters to a specific niche, then make sure the equipment you have caters to that niche. It doesn’t take much to start a CrossFit box, but you have to make sure that your clients can get the most out of what you have.

The overall quality of your building also matters. Are the pipes working properly? Is the place clean and pleasant? Keep the showers working right and make sure that everyone feels comfortable. Every detail matters — from a functioning water fountain to the scented candles you keep in the bathroom.

Community

Building a community is more important than you think. Your box isn’t just a space where people go to use the equipment, and then go home. CrossFit is, and always should be, a community. Your members should not feel intimidated by going to your box, and they should not be scared to go back either.

Newbies will always feel excited about the introductory course. The drive is there because they just started. The challenge is to keep them excited enough to move forward with general classes. You can do this by making them feel like they belong and are welcome any time. If your new guys can feel like they can approach anyone for help, then they will be braver to take on tougher classes. One small thing that makes a huge difference? Learn everyone’s name. Everyone’s. Greet them every time they walk through your doors, and initiate conversation.

Not everyone will be in a great mood 24/7. You can help pick up the mood by simply saying hello. It takes very little effort to smile and greet everyone, and it goes a long way.

If you have unhappy customers, you may need to do a check to see what’s going on. Do your coaches focus more on athleticism rather than your members’ well-being? Is your pricing reasonable? Do you deliver on your promises? You can’t just assume that everything’s A-OK. Remember to do some pulse checks with your members to know how they’re feeling. This way, when someone’s not happy, you can get to the bottom of the problem and fix it.

Even if everything seems to be going smoothly, consider holding monthly surveys to ask for members’ feedback. Sometimes, they’ll feel more comfortable submitting things anonymously, rather than coming straight to you.

Now What?

Once you’ve figured out what it is that keeps your members coming back and what stops them from coming back, take action. Fix what needs to be fixed. Capitalize on what encourages them to return. Improve it. Add more to it. If you need help, go get it. After all, this is a community.

A post shared by CableCrossFit (@cablecrossfit) on

Remember that your business is here because you want to make people’s lives better. You want to help them bring positive change to their lives. Have a clear understanding about what they love about it and don’t lose sight of your vision, mission and your core values.

You will be happy with the results.

Posted on

How to Add “Spice” to a WOD

Every WOD is designed to give you an efficient workout. It’s so effective because it’s simple, you never have to create a workout plan for yourself and it’s highly effective. To keep things from becoming monotonous, there are things you can always do to easily up the challenge.

7 Ways to Spice Up Your WOD

1. Add Set Rests

Rest between sets is an important part of every WOD. It’s not about going fast; it’s about being able to go back. Consider the time it will take you to finish the first round. You can start with a 1:1 work to rest ratio.

The rest period makes every round even more intense. How? It allows you to recover enough to do each round with as much intensity as possible. You’ll be amazed with the results.

2. Go Unbroken

Force unbroken movements as much as possible. Choose one movement in the WOD that you can do or at least would challenge yourself to do without breaking it up into sets. It also forces you to rest in between sets, allowing you do to each round with more intensity.

3. Record Two Scores

Or more. Find a different record to set or break. Challenge yourself differently each time. For this, you can start out with trying to set a record with your first round time and the total time. This will push you to work better and faster. Get yourself out of a rut.

4. Start Rounds on a Fixed Clock

Decide that, for example, every round should start every four minutes. This encourages you to do rounds faster so that you can have longer rest periods.

5. Grab a Buddy

Do your WODs with people who you can have some friendly competition with. These people can encourage you do things faster, better and with more intensity. It also provides that extra accountability when they call you out for not giving 100%. If your friends happen to be busy, take it as an opportunity to make new ones.

crossfit WOD

6. Turn It Up!

Play music you like or get an app to choose songs for you. Challenge yourself to keep up with the pace of the music. Sing along if your lungs can take it. The point here is to have fun.

7. Try Something New

Scale up or replace a movement with something that’s a bit more difficult. Challenge yourself to do a more advanced version of that movement you’ve been putting off. You are a CrossFit athlete, after all.

There are numerous ways to make every WOD more exciting even if you’ve done it multiple times. Turn things into a game or challenge yourself to break records. Introduce healthy habits or break bad ones. It’s all about improving your skills and learning new ones each day.

Posted on

5 Bad Workout Habits You Need to Break

We all have our bad habits when it comes to training. Usually, these bad habits involve cheating on the way we execute a certain workout, just so we could have the satisfaction of finishing the WOD or beating our rivals. These are habits we have to break. Here are the some of the most common bad workout habits seen in athletes.

1. The Lazy Jog

WODs are intense and continuous. It’s common for athletes to use the run portion of a workout as a rest period. It’s okay to use parts of the workout that are easy for you to give you some time to rest. This allows you to save up energy for the next movement. There’s nothing wrong with that.

It becomes a bad habit when athletes compromise their form and turn their jog or run into a long walk on the beach. You need to put in the work in a workout. Runs are put there to increase your speed, your cardiovascular endurance and to also improve your form. You won’t get these results if you do your run sloppily. If you can jog, you can run. So run.

2. The Push-Up Nap

bad workout habits

A literal nap in the middle of a workout? No, we’re talking about that prolonged period of rest in prone position on the ground. When athletes lower their bodies during a burpee or a push-up, some tend to stay in this position for a while rather than bouncing back straight up for the next rep.

This is wrong for a couple of reasons. First is that you need that momentum or “bounce” from rebounding your chest from the floor. This propels you upward. You lose this momentum when you decide to take a rest. In the end, you just make things harder for yourself.

It’s normal to feel tired during a workout. A nap sounds like a great idea when you’re all spent. However, a WOD is not the right time and place for one. If you need to rest, rest on your feet. Walk around a bit. Resist any temptation to use that prone position to nap. Bounce back up.

3. Shallow Squats

Your impressive weight does not count if you do not do your squats properly. It’s important to make sure that you at least make parallel. But there are a lot of benefits to doing a full squat. Build better habits by squatting as low as you can. This will improve your muscle memory more and will give you far more power than not going all the way.

Squatting all the way gives you better preparation for receiving weight in a clean or a snatch in a bottom position. Full squats also put your muscles under tension for a greater period of time, helping your leg muscles become even stronger. At the same time, it’s safer for the spine, safer for your knees, helps improve your stability and helps you build stability in the lower back.

4. The Back and Forth

crossfit

You know this. You stand in front of the barbell and get ready to do your reps. The first set goes well, until later you begin to feel the fatigue really set in. You take a short break and step forward, thinking you should go for it, until you hesitate and step back. Familiar, right?

Sometimes this goes on for a few minutes and you have already lost momentum. Then you jump into it and get to work. Rest is good, but you’re only losing precious time by hesitating like this. Don’t let the weights intimidate you. Compose yourself and just rip at it.

5. Non-Existent Reps

After a set or two, it becomes tiresome and painful to do movements with correct form. Your focus becomes getting it over with and completing the required number of reps. The instinct becomes to count no-reps as successful reps.

This is also a common habit for those who want to “win” the workout or beat out a rival in the box. It doesn’t give you anything more than bragging rights, which doesn’t mean anything compared to actually reaping the results of your workout.

Counting no-reps as successful ones instills no-rep muscle memory. When you count no-reps, your body is tricked into thinking that your faulty form and incorrect movements are natural and correct. In turn, your future attempts to complete the movements will be faulty and you will continue to make no-reps in your future workouts. No one wins.

Whether or not you plan to compete professionally, it’s better to make proper form a habit and make sure all your reps are legitimate.

Do your movements with correct form. It doesn’t matter how slow you are or if you can’t lift impressive weights just yet. You have better chances at reaping the fruits of your labor if you do it with proper form, with the right strategies and give it your 100%. Break those bad habits and get to it.

Posted on

Week 3 Make Your Mark Challenge

Welcome to Week 3 of the Make Your Mark challenge! Week 1 tested our strength with King Kong, and Week 2 was all about conditioning, with a rowing test. This week, you’re in for a real treat: we challenge you to do as many burpees as you can in one minute.
make your mark challenge

They get a lot of hate, but we think burpees are awesome. Think about it: half of a burpee is falling down. Anyone can do that. The second half is standing up — no problemo. Really, the hardest part is to just keep moving. They can be sloppy. They can be slow. But as long as you keep moving, you’re doing your job.

Another reason we love burpees is because you can do them anywhere — which is why we want to see everyone tackling the Week 3 Make Your Mark challenge! Do it at home. Do it at school. Do it at work. Just do it.

Don’t forget to share your results on social media using the hashtag #TheWODLife. Good luck!

Posted on

Here’s How Tia-Clair Toomey Gets Her Six-Pack Abs

When talking about the fittest woman on earth, one thing comes to mind:

Abs.

Also, insane strength, inspiring dedication, and a killer work ethic. Tia-Clair Toomey is all of the above and more, and fans were thrilled to finally see her standing at the top of the podium at this year’s CrossFit Games. While her list of qualities is a lengthy one, we’re not afraid to admit we’re dying to know how she has such a killer six-pack. Lucky for us, Toomey has been generous enough to share some of her favorite exercises for staying so lean and shredded. Here are some of her top core workouts.

1. Windshield Wipers

Don’t be fooled — these are way tougher than they look. Try one. Seriously — just one. Hanging from the bar (and making sure you’re not sinking into your shoulders), bring your toes as close to the bar as possible and lower them to one side. Bring them back and then lower them to the other. Repeat until your abs burn with the fire of a thousand suns.

2. Ab-Blasting Tabata

This one combines windshield wipers and sit-ups in the form of a tabata. See how many rounds you can get through before you enter the pain cave.

3. Planks on Planks

Planks are so challenging because they burn literally everywhere. If you’re feeling a little feisty and want to be tough like Tia-Clair, try adding weight like she did!

Main image: Tia-Clair Toomey/Facebook

Posted on

Week 2 Make Your Mark Challenge: Conditioning

It’s Friday, and you know what that means: it’s time for the second Make Your Mark weekly challenge. Earlier this week, we went over five conditioning workouts to improve your work capacity. Today, we’re going to put you to the test! Here’s your challenge:

Conditioning Workout

Well all know what makes rowing so difficult. It’s one of those exercises where it’s easy to start sprinting right out the gate; but not long after, you’ve totally hit your limit. Pacing is crucial, but so is pushing yourself. If you’re rowing in bursts, you have to strike a balance between finding a speed you can maintain but not exactly taking your sweet time, either.

The benefits of rowing are many, as it’s truly a total body workout. Take advantage of this challenge to break a sweat, breathe hard and test your conditioning!

Don’t forget to share your times and accomplishments on social media using #TheWODLife. We know you’re going to crush it. Good luck!

Posted on

5 Helpful Tips to Spend Less Time at the Gym

If you live a hectic life, heading to the gym is one part of your day that consumes a couple more hours. For people who are constantly going to and fro from place to place — or just have really packed schedules — it’s a top priority to maximize their gym time considering they have other matters to attend to.

When you have the entirety of your days planned out though, getting in a good workout within your set amount of gym time may not be enough, or maybe you’re trying to complete your routine and end up taking way too much time.

Has this been troubling you? We’re going to give you a couple of tips on how you can spend less time in the gym.

TIP #1: Get Rid of Distractions

Keep your phone put away and don’t pull it out unless you really need to. Have a call or text? Avoid them as much as possible. Put your phone on airplane or Do Not Disturb mode. You’ll get a better workout in and be done faster if nothing is pulling your focus away.

With how far technology has evolved at present, it’s a common sight for people at the gym to have their phones in their hands (or attached somewhere on their bodies). Some have other tech accessories like smart watches. And with the internet being accessible almost everywhere, it’s easy to jump onto one of your many social networks for a quick peek at what’s going on.

If you’ve got a jam-packed schedule, then the occasional phone call can pull you away from your ongoing workout. Even a “quick” break to answer a call or text can add up to significantly more time in the gym.

TIP #2: Plan Your Workout Ahead of Time

You professional work is planned out to achieve a goal in a set amount of time, and your training should be too. When you don’t plan ahead, there’s a big chance you end up walking around the gym and wondering what to do next. Don’t let yourself sit there twiddling your thumbs. Know what your workout for the day is and you’ll breeze past it.

TIP #3: Time Your Rest Periods

It’s common for a lot of people to spend about a minute or so resting after doing a set. Those 60 seconds can add up, though. It’s important to keep a strict watch on your rest period to make sure that you aren’t wasting any time between sets.

TIP #4: Pump Up the Jams

Studies have shown that music has an effect on you when you’re exercising and can help people work harder, better, faster, stronger. (You may want to put that Daft Punk song onto your playlist seeing as it is awesome.) That being said, bust out your favorite upbeat tunes while you’re going through your daily routine.

via GIPHY

TIP #5: Bring a Buddy

Do you have a friend that’s just as enthusiastic about getting a good workout in as you are? If you do, bring them along! Having someone with you during workouts can increase your accountability, and it’s definitely a lot more fun than a solo flight.

If you’ve noticed, these tips actually talk about ways in which you can be more productive, and that’s one of the best ways to spend less time at the gym. If you’re more productive during your workouts, then you’ll be spending less time at the gym.

Posted on

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

Posted on

8 Ways to Improve Your Rest

Do you ever wonder how pro athletes can train multiple times per day, at a high intensity? Well, their strength is one thing but the secret to their great performance actually lies in how good their recovery is. Athletes who make a serious effort to recover by getting the rest they need after an intense workout wake up feeling fresh and ready to hit the gym the next day. Now, resting may sound lame compared to learning the latest snatch technique — but it is one of the easiest performance strategies to maximize your strength and gain quicker results. With that, here are eight ways to improve your rest.

1. Don’t Skip the Cooldown

The cooldown is an important post-workout routine. It decreases lactic acid build-up in your muscles and therefore decreases muscle fatigue. Do this right and you won’t wake up the next day feeling heavy and sore. Immediately after finishing your WOD, cool down with some light activity like biking, jogging or simply doing stretches. Normally, a 10- to 15-minute cooldown should do the trick, but you can always adjust the time depending on how intense your workout is. The more intense the workout, the more time you should spend cooling down.

how to recover faster

2. Replenish Your Electrolytes

You may think that drinking water is enough to maintain hydration after an intense workout, but it’s actually not. Every time you sweat, your body loses the needed electrolytes that maintain your fluid balance. Without electrolytes, it’s hard for your body to absorb the water and nutrients that you’re taking in. If your body’s electrolyte supply stays low, you may experience symptoms like muscle cramps, fatigue or worse, mental confusion.

To prevent this, it’s important that you replace these lost electrolytes within 30 minutes after your WOD. Instead of reaching for that sports drink (which can be loaded with artificial ingredients), try consuming natural electrolyte boosters like kale, bananas, avocados or coconut water.

3. Eat Well Daily

In order to recover and perform the next day, you need to eat welI. Eating balanced meals containing protein, good fats and complex carbs throughout the day works best. Protein from meat supports protein synthesis and muscle repair. Eating good fats from fish improves body composition and makes you leaner. Antioxidants from fruits and vegetables protect your muscles from cell damage; and the phytochemicals that you can get from vegetables help repair connective tissues and reduce any inflammation.

4. Don’t Forget Your Supplements

Sometimes what we eat or drink is not enough to repair and replenish cells. Supplements are here to save the day! However, you need to think beyond protein shakes and consider other options if you want to maximize your recovery. Here are some of our picks:

Omega 3s/fish oils: a staple supplement for many athletes that can help reduce cell inflammation resulting from intense exertions. We love Puori O3.

fish oil

Magnesium: a great post-workout supplement. Not only does it help you sleep better but it also helps in relaxing the muscles and maintaining the electrolyte balance in your body.

Vitamins A, C and E: contain antioxidant properties which can prevent the damage of muscle cell membranes.

5. Consider Cryotherapy

After a tough WOD, you may benefit from cryotherapy, or cold therapy. This involves the use of cold temperatures (like an ice bath, for example) to alleviate muscle soreness and speed up recovery. If you don’t have access to an ice bath or cryotherapy clinic — or if you happen to hate the cold — you can try a contrast shower. Start with a hot shower for 60 seconds, then switch it over to a cold shower for 30 seconds. Repeat this for five to seven cycles.

6. Get a Massage

There’s a reason why some athletes like to spend money on massages — it aids beautifully in recovery. A deep tissue massage relieves stress, soothes pain and heals injuries by promoting blood flow to strained muscles. Increased blood circulation also helps the body and mind to relax, enabling you to have a good night’s sleep.

You can get regular professional massages from a therapist or at a spa but if your monthly budget doesn’t allow it, you can always opt for a do-it-yourself massage session using foam rollers and massage balls.

7. Sleep Like Your Life Depends on It

Not getting enough sleep is a total no-no for athletes because it wrecks your body’s recovery process. If you’re taking too long to recover between sessions, it’s a sign that you need more ZZZs. Try going to bed one hour earlier at night, or schedule two sessions of 30-minute power naps within the day. These might not sound like a lot, but this extra rest can rejuvenate your mind and body. If you’re that busy and can’t find time to get more sleep, then at least get better sleep. Here are some things you can do that might help:

  • Sleep in total darkness: any source of light while you sleep disrupts hormone levels and decreases the effectiveness of sleep. Make sure to get rid of your clock, phone charger and night light.
  • Sleep in a cool room: when we fall asleep, our bodies naturally cool off. Helping get your body to that lower temperature faster can encourage deeper sleep.
  • Go to bed at the same time every day: pick a sleeping schedule and stick with it, even during weekends. This helps your body clock stay in tune and keeps your sleep-wake cycles more consistent.
  • Skip the coffee: avoid intake of caffeine the last few hours before you hit the sack.
  • Disconnect yourself from gadgets: turn them off 15 minutes before you go to bed, if not sooner.
  • Meditate and breathe: if you ever find yourself lying awake at night, unable to turn your brain off long enough to fall asleep, you’ll benefit from regularly practicing meditation. Focusing your mind on one thing (like your breathing) helps you to block out distractions, quiet your mind and bring yourself into a state ready for sleep.

8. Know When to Rest

There is no denying that intense workouts can be addicting. Yes, it’s fun; but pushing yourself too hard even if your body is already shouting “stop” is not a smart move. As an athlete, you need to listen to your body. Ask yourself: do I feel weak today? Am I still sore somewhere? Am I prepared with adequate sleep and nutrition? If you feel that your body is not ready for another WOD, don’t be afraid to take a rest day, because that may just be what your body needs.