 WHAT IS IT?
This challenge was designed by OptimizeMe Nutrition. Eat 800 grams (g) of fruits and/or vegetables, by weight, per day. No foods are eliminated, but only fruits and veggies count toward the 800g. Eat the fruits and veggies of your choice. Hit the macros you want. Raw, cooked, canned, frozen; doesn’t matter! If you can weigh it as a standalone and unprocessed fruit or vegetable, you can count it. Yep, that’s it! Here's a one-sheet with all the rules and scoring details. So why 800g? It’s associated with increased health and is a simplified way to hit those recommended servings of fruits and vegetables. Read more here. DATES Starting Monday May 11th and Ending Sunday June 7th. SIGN-UP We will be taking registration up until Sunday May 10th. Contact tj@groundworx.fit if you have any questions or would like to sign-up. All current members are already enrolled. MEETING We will host a meeting online to go over all the challenge rules and answer your questions. Be sure to be there!
COST
SCORING We will be using SugarWOD to log scores, leaderboard, and fist bump throughout the challenge. More info on scoring and logging can be found here. PRIZES We will be awarding personal training and nutrition coaching, local business gift certificates, Groundworx swag and more!
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 This cute dog has it figured out! Every animal (including humans) need sleep to recover from our day of work and living. While we sleep, the cells in our body regenerate allowing us to heal and stay healthy.
Missing out on sleep is a huge culprit in breaking down our immune system. Are you getting enough sleep? How much sleep did you get last night? 8 hours? 6 hours? 4 hours? Too tired to remember? We, coaches, have more conversations than you know with clients on the importance of sleep, how to get more of it at a higher quality to help with overall health, but also help with fat loss. Nothing about staying up late is helping us be better, healthier or smarter. And sacrificing sleep will hinder our immune system, increase stress hormones and reduce recovery. Tips for Better Sleep Avoid caffeine - If you’re having trouble falling asleep, eliminating caffeine from your diet is a quick win. If you can’t go without your morning cup of coffee, then stop drinking coffee after 12 pm as this gives caffeine enough time to wear off before bedtime. Use the bedroom for sleep and sex only - Is your bedroom designed to promote good sleep? The ideal sleeping environment is dark, cool and quiet. Don’t make your bedroom a multi-purpose room. Eliminate TVs, laptops, electronics, and clutter. Exercise - There are too many benefits to exercise to list them all here. When it comes to sleep, exercise will make it easier for your brain and body to power down at night. One caveat: avoid exercising two to three hours before bedtime, as the mental and physical stimulation can leave your nervous system feeling wired and make it difficult to calm down at night. Weight - Obesity can wreak havoc on your sleep patterns. The role of exercise only becomes more important with age. Fit middle-aged adults sleep significantly better than their overweight peers. Temperature - Most people sleep best in a cool room. The ideal range is usually between 65 - 70F (18 - 21C). Sound - A quiet space is key for good sleep. If peace and quiet is hard to come by, try controlling the bedroom noise by creating “white noise” with a fan, or use earplugs. Alcohol - This one is a slippery slope. It is true that having a "nightcap" before bed often does help people fall asleep. However, while it makes it easier to fall asleep, it actually reduces the quality of your sleep and delays the REM cycle. So, you fall asleep faster, but it’s possible that you’ll wake up without feeling rested. It’s probably best to improve your sleep through other methods before resorting to alcohol to do the job. Besides alcohol weakens the immune system. Verdict: Not helping you sleep better! If you need any more helpful tips for staying healthy at home check out our 14 Day Health at Home program today https://www.groundworx.fit/healthy-at-home.html  You have a very important goal. Sometimes that goal will feel far away and sometimes it will even feel out of reach. And with all the "Corona-craziness" going around it is more important than ever to replace any darkness with light.
Sometimes people will doubt you and sometimes you will doubt yourself. Release the Doubt! There is no room for it! Focus on your Goal! To overcome the doubt you will need a special weapon. Positivity is your special weapon! Positive energy =positive results! That means being mindful of what you think and say so you can be a positive source of energy for everyone around you. And right now the world needs as much positive energy as it can get! So avoid negativity whenever possible. That doesn't mean pretending everything is sunshine and rainbows. But don't surround yourself with negativity either. Because what you think about it and what you care about shapes what you experience. So be mindful of the words you speak and your intentions. And be even more mindful of what thoughts occupy your mind space. There are opportunities in every obstacle, and this situation is full of options. Everyone has more time to focus on exercise, quality sleep and healthy eating. All those distractions of a busy schedule are no longer excuses to hinder your improvement. Turn every lemon you can into lemonade and the world will be full of possibilities. The world needs more healthy positivity and it counting on you to keep your body and thoughts healthy!  Fasting of any kind requires a strong and dedicated mindset but the immune system benefits are definitely worth it!
Dr. Longo and colleagues at USC found that fasting lowered white blood cell counts, which in turn triggered the immune system to start producing new white blood cells. White blood cells (or lymphocytes) are a key component of your body’s immune system. Once you start eating again, according to Longo, your stem cells kick back into high gear to replenish the cells that were recycled. For years, the verdict was that you would need to fast for 72-hours straight to get the immune system benefits. Because for it to work, you have to fully deplete your energy reserves (in the form of glycogen), and it takes your body at least 24 hours, and probably 48 hours or more, to do this. That's the not-so-good news. Because fasting or 72-hours straight doesn’t sound so great especially during these stressful times.Here’s the good news: Recent studies have proved that you can get many of the benefits of fasting without doing a 3-day fast, which for most people is really, really difficult to accomplish. Instead, you can try a much easier type of fasting, called "time-restricted" fasting also known as intermittent fasting. With this strategy, you fast every day, by eating all of your food in a 6-hour or 8-hour window. Here are a couple of options to choose from:
Fasting is Your Immune System Superpower Here are some science-back benefits of I-F: lower blood pressure; resting heart rate; levels of HDL and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, and insulin resistance. In addition, intermittent fasting reduces markers of systemic inflammation and oxidative stress that are associated with atherosclerosis. Because intermittent fasting reduces inflammation, it may also improve symptoms of arthritis and even rheumatoid arthritis. But the big benefit, the one we really care about right now, intermittent fasting boosts our immune system powers! Time to get nerdy for a bit, you can skip ahead of nerdy-nutrition science puts you to sleep… lol. Why does fasting work? It's all about getting your body to switch over from glucose metabolism to ketone metabolism. Our usual 3-5 meal-a-day diet provides our body with a constant source of fuel in the form of glucose. Once that glucose is used up, though, our body switches to using fatty acids and ketone bodies. Ketone bodies provide more than fuel. Ketone bodies regulate the expression and activity of many proteins and molecules that are known to influence health and aging and boost immunity to viruses and infections. Ketone metabolism brings a host of health benefits. The trick is getting our bodies to switch over to it, now and then. If we eat constantly, then our bodies happily subsist on glucose and never make the switch. In a nutshell: The more ketones we can produce the stronger our immune system gets. Accelerated metabolism is also a Bonus! So, as of today start taking the steps to move all your meals into an 8-hour eating window. If this change seems intimidating, start with a 10-hour window and cut it down by :30 minutes each day until you get to the 8-hour window. You will still eat the same amount of food each day you will just eat in a smaller period of time. I like to workout out in a fasted state. But try both and see which one works best for you. Happy Intermittent Fasting. This is a game-changer! References: https://www.vitacost.com/blog/food-nutrition/nutrition-advice/best-foods-tobreak-a-fast.htmlhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2020 Event 1- Menage a Trois AMRAP 7 Min 9 Deadlifts 7 Hang Squat Clean 5 Shoulder to OH Performance: 135/95 Fitness: 95/65 Athletes all have their own bars. Athletes can divide reps as desired. Score is total reps. Event 2- Box of Chocolates 3 Rounds for time Each Partner completes: Partner A- 10 PERFORMANCE (Pull-Ups), FITNESS (Jumping Pull-Ups) 10 Wallball PERFORMANCE (20/14), FITNESS (14/10) 10 KB Swings PERFORMANCE (52/35), FITNESS (35/25) 10 PERFORMANCE (Box Jumps), FITNESS (Step-Ups) 24/20" Partner B- Must complete 15/12 Calories before they can switch Each athlete will complete 3 rounds of both the floor work and rowing The score is the time when the last athlete completes either the box jump or row. Event 3- Partners in Crime For time (time cap TBD): PERFORMANCE (100 Double Unders), FITNESS (150 singles) 80 ft OH DB Walking Lunges 60 PERFORMANCE (Toes to Bar), FITNESS (Hanging Knee Raises) 40 Alt. DB Snatch 20 Burpee Over DB Athletes can divide reps as desired. DB PERFORMANCE(50/35), FITNESS(35/25) OH Lunges are one arm and can be switched as desired. 
 It's a common misconception that weight lifting will make you bulky and beefy. This is unfortunate as resistance training has such a wide array of health benefits including increased bone density, calorie burning, hormonal balance, stress relief, injury prevention, functional capacity and much more. Here are my top 3 reasons you shouldn’t be afraid to meet me at the bar.
There really isn’t anything to be afraid of when it comes to lifting weights and becoming bulky. The nutrition, supplementation, time and programming related to ‘getting bulky’ is so specific and challenging that you would never do it by lifting weights a few times a week. In reality, a properly designed and implemented weightlifting program may be exactly what you need to shed those extra pounds! Looking for some advice on how to start a weightlifting program? Book a free consult below.
 Over the last 20 years as a fitness coach I have worked with 100's of clients just starting or starting over. I have seen many people succeed, but unfortunately, I've known many to crash and burn. As we roll into the holiday season I wanted to share with you what separates the winners from the losers in the game of fitness.
Have a Plan- If you don't have a plan on what to do at the gym your pretty much planning to fail. Abraham Lincoln once said, “ Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.” Your first step to success is to research a workout plan that fits your level and goals or to find the right coach to do that for you. Going to the gym aimlessly will not change your fitness level, it just changes your scenery. Focus on Performing the Movements Properly over Anything Else- As a newbie results are practically free. We call this the first wave of conditioning. As your body is going from 0 to hero overnight there is no need to initially worry about intensity. Leave the ego at the door and go slow, light and purposeful in all your movements and add extra rest when needed. Everyone is in a rush at the beginning, but successful people will tell you proper training is a marathon, not a sprint. Look to master the basic mechanics, be consistent in your training 4-6 times a week and then ramp up the intensity. Measure Twice, Cut Once- Properly tracking your workout results and your measurement (not just weight) is fundamental to the process. SO MANY people get discouraged because they don't 'feel' like they are improving when in reality their killing it. You can't go based off of 'feelings' because almost everyone has emotional baggage holding them back. Throw that luggage away and use real measurements. One thing I love about CrossFit is that we track every workout and I know based on my data where my fitness level is at all times. You need to find the support and systems that keep you accountable to real numbers. Don't worry about the score- As a word of caution, many new exercise athletes get fixated on comparing their scores to others. Whether that be your max bench press, your 5K run time or how fast you can do a workout. While healthy competition can be a great tool for adherence and enjoyment, it should never consume your decision-making process. I certainly have my 'fitness frienemies', buddies who push me, chirp me a little and keep me motivated. But I never make the wrong training decision based on beating someone else's score that day. Tracking may be the key to success, but the process is about being better than the person you were yesterday, not the other person in the gym. Nutrition is Key to Looking Good Naked- I wish this wasn't so true, but body composition depends heavily on; what, when and how you eat. Everyone knows someone who eats whatever they want and is shredded. The truth is people with that kind of lucky genetics are the exception to the rule, not a great example. Nutrition has to be one of the most debated topics; keto, vegan, carb cycling, macros.... the list goes on. This certainly could be the topic for multiple articles, but I want to give you some hard truths to start with.
Here is a great infographic to print and put on the fridge https://www.groundworx.fit/testimonial-blog/nutrition-poster A final note: Be OK with set-backs- Your not going to be perfect, things will not always go as planned and that is to be expected. All or nothing and Ill start again next week are mindsets that can be crippling. Look to do a little better every day and don't be afraid to ask for help! We offer a free no-sweat consultation if you ever need some direction towards your fitness goals!  Ok, so maybe I cant pack in 'everything' you need to know about deadlifts in one article, but my hope is by sharing some of my go-to tips for beginners I start you down the right path to lifting success.
Deadlifts are an essential movement everyone at any age should be able to do. It is also one that gets a bad rap as dangerous. If you go and search deadlifts on Youtube right now you'll have all the proof you need to call them scary. But the truth is there isn't a more important exercise to learn and practice when it comes to overall strength, injury prevention, and weight loss. If you focus on some simple key pointers, the deadlift can be one of the most important tools in your fitness tool-box. Deadlifts are not squats- What I mean is that typically the first thing we teach to new clients is how to 'hinge' at the hips with a neutral spine. Bending over and utilizing the musculature in the hamstrings as the main 'movers' is the steepest part of the learning curve for most people. It is much safer to hinge over with a flat back then it is to bend at the knees with a flexed spine. Big Belly Brace- Learning to engage abdominal pressure as a way to create helpful tension to aid in keeping the spine straight and supported is the next step. Deadlifts are the king of 'core' exercises when you take the time to direct your focus on it. Take a big breath in and brace your belly as if your going to get a big punch in the gut. Keep this tension throughout the lift and you will be safe and the bar will feel a lot lighter. Set From the Start- (Shins tall, Chest Big) When I teach athletes to lift, the work always starts before we even bend over to pick up the bar. I have all my clients walk up to the bar and make contact at the shins. I have them pull their shoulders back and down creating a proud chest (we call this the happy gorilla in our KidsFit class) and then tell them to pick up the bar. If you can pick up the bar without your shin pushing it forward and with your chest big and proud you will probably deadlift well. Lift with a Purpose, not with Your Ego- There isn't a need to go heavy as a beginner, learning at slower tempos (the speed at which you lift) and at moderate weights is more than enough to stimulate strength and metabolic demand. Also, a lot of newer clients may need to switch up their technique if they are in-flexible. Changing to a sumo deadlift (wide legs, gripping bar narrow) or starting the bar of an elevated surface instead of the ground to limit the range of motion and stress on the back may be a good place to start. Get a Coach/ Personal Trainer- Deadlifting is a tricky exercise to learn without any feedback. A lot of what needs attention is happening behind you (literally) and is hard to see in a mirror. Deadlifts are not a self-limited exercise, so unlike movements that need a level of technique to perform heavy (like snatch), you can lift a lot of weight with poor technique, so be picky and get help. As a minimum use a camera and take videos from different angles so you can see how well you doing. Deadlifts are the foundation of any lifting exercise like cleans, kettlebell swings, snatches and more. The 'king' of lifts requires some practice but will pay off royally if you give it the attention it deserves. |
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