Season Affective Disorder

SAD is a form of depression that is related to the change in seasons. It is usually seen during the winter months. The symptoms tend to recur and present themselves around the same time every year. Things that wouldn’t get to us during the summer months have a bigger impact during the winter months. Researches believe that with the lack of sunlight during the winter months, that we as Canadians experience, disrupts the Circadian rhythm, which, in turn, causes hormonal imbalances.

10 Points To Live By In The CrossFit Community

1. Have fun – Whether it be in CrossFit or your favorite sport or shopping with grandma, make sure you try and have fun. Honestly, you can do CrossFit just about anywhere with anyone or by yourself. You choose to come to us for a reason, because we’re awesome.

Importance Of The Deep Breath

Most lifters at conventional gyms are more concerned about how much they can lift rather than how they lift. Sure it looks good to others when you have stacks of plates on that barbell. Then you go and lift it and your form is atrocious. Not only does this send a bad signal to the onlookers but it also sends a bad signal through your body. And the more bad signals you send through your body, the more prone to injury you are. Then we’ll see how much you can lift when you’re injured.

Reverse Hyperextensions

By now you may have noticed that we have some new equipment at CrossFit Kingston. One of the new pieces is the reverse hyperextension machine. You know... The machine that everyone seems to put their outdoor clothes on before working out. Yeah! That one!

Warming Up And Stretching

Today in the CrossFit Journal (CFJ), there is a great post by Bill Starr. Bill is a, Olympic weightlifting coach and has been for a number of years. He is a frequent contributor to the CFJ, and if you ever get a chance to read his posts do so. They are very informative and not too technical.

Today's post deals with warming up and stretching. He talks about the importance of both and how it can help improve your overall performance. He also provides a strategy to follow that involve 3 stages to the warm up. He then discusses the importance of stretching after a workout. The article finishes off with the different types of stretching and paying attention to over-stretching.

Check it out.

Agave "Nectar"

 Have you ever heard that agave "nectar" or syrup is a healthy sugar? Have you ever heard that it is supposed to help with the sugar levels in diabetics? Have you ever heard that it is a 100% raw or natural sweetener? I know I have. And I tried it. And it was good. Delicious for that fact. Then, one day I decided to investigate/research this delicious product. All I have to say is, "WHOA! What an eye opener!" And now, about a year later, I hope to pass on what I have discovered.

Local Foods

If you live in the Kingston, ON area, I found a website that has a map of local producers.

As well, click here to view a .pdf version.

Robb Wolf Video

Here is a great video about eating Paleo while at a restaurant. It isn't as hard as most people think it is. I've done this before and it works fine.

Slacking

Holy crap!!! Talk about procrastination. I have been so lazy over the past month that I haven't done too much research or even wanted to do any research. That "Weekly Food" idea didn't last too long. Sigh. Oh well. Maybe sometime in the future I'll get back to it.

I've been spending the past week putting together a new nutrition challenge for CrossFit Kingston. Just click the link below the picture to get to the challenge page.

Fats

There has been so much controversy over the past couple of decades regarding fat. "Fat makes you fat." "Fat promotes heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc." "I eat a low-fat diet." All I have to say is WTF?

Fat is such an important and essential component to our every day lives. There are several vitamins that are dependent on fat for their absorption. And energy... How would you expect to wake up every day and do the things you do without fat in your diet? Here is why fat is so important.