No days off

So you are traveling for the holidays and want to keep your swole on but are not sure where to look or where to go? Let me give you a couple of ideas and suggestions in order for you to keep your gains up during this great time of bulking!

1. Always try and find a crossfit gym with open times first

   1. This is the best option as far as having equipment, space, and no one yelling at you telling you cannot do something (such as deadlifts).
   2. On the other hand, the drop in fees can be as much as $25 (most gyms will give you a weekly rate) and the open gym times are sometimes less than desirable

2. Gold’s Gym, LA Fitness, Metroflex, etc…

   1. While most places like this are not equipped for the clean and jerk and snatch, they will provide more than enough equipment for squats, deadlift, bench, and all your aux exercises.
   2. Benefits to these places are they will have a week pass (usually) or a trial pass for a certain rate and no one will yell at you if you make a little bit of noise.

3. If all else fails, find a planet fitness or 24hr fitness

   1. The only benefit is that these places are usually pretty cheap (it is only $10 for a whole month).
   2. However, you will be downgraded to leg press, smith press, and a couple of dumbbell exercises that will do for the time being.
   3. Note: Do not look too in-shape or jacked walking in (maybe wear some sweats and old tennis shoes) so they don’t kick you out for being to intimidating.

If you want to get better and keep growing, you have to find a place to get your training in even while traveling. You  cannot afford to take a couple days off, let alone a week or two–you have to keep pushing yourself to your limits even during the holiday season. Remember, those athletes you will be competing against at competitions in the New Year didn’t take a break because they want to be the best, so neither can you!!

On a different note, we decided to try something new with our mobility. The following video is more of an instructional video used to help with your daily mobility plan while you are away for the holidays.

While the whole video only lasts 7:45, it serves just to illustrate the first couple of passes through all of the motions. The idea would be to go through the motions and poses for at least 15-20 minutes for it to really be beneficial.

Before we warm up with Sun Salutation, we start the flow with a test posture, Garland pose. This pose serves to test your hip mobility before and after your ROM practice to see how beneficial it was in helping to mobilize the targeted area.

From there, we start with a simple Sun Salutation to warm-up (especially if you are going at this cold or first thing in the morning) and move through this twice on either side. My suggestion would be to extend this period and flow through a Sun Salutation at least 4 times per foot (stepping the right/left foot back as a way to keep track), making sure to spend time in both upward and downward facing dog.

The poses that follow Garland all serve to increase hip, knee, and trunk mobility/flexibility and would be more beneficial if repeated at least 2x on either side of the body, holding for 15-30 seconds in each pose/variation of pose.

So while you are travelling, the least you can do is keep up your mobility (although squatting, pressing, and pulling should be high on your list as well)!!

Email or PM us if you have any questions in regards to the video, mobility tips, training, or the new competition team starting in January!!