The modern world is a very fast-paced, technologically enhanced life. We don’t need a “Wisdom Wednesday” post to remind us of that. We’re constantly reminded because social media engulfs huge chunks of our day. Many hours are spent staring at our computer or phone screens, texting or checking emails and the list goes on. We often spend majority of our time completing tasks for work, tending to our kids or managing the household, but what about “self-care”? It’s rare that people are able to disconnect and spend time focusing on just themselves, no one else. When is the last time you did something to take care of YOU? Read a book lately or watched a really great movie? Got a massage? Played a fun game of baseball? Simply got eight full hours of uninterrupted sleep? Self-care is really important for finding a good balance in life. According to physchcentral.com, 

“self-care is any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Although it’s a simple concept in theory, it’s something we very often overlook. Good self-care is key to improved mood and reduced anxiety. It’s also key to a good relationship with oneself and others.”

As a parent, we always want to provide the best care for our family. As a co-worker, we want to perform our job the best we possibly can. As a friend, we want to be there when they need us. As an employer and/or business owner, we want to provide the best service for our clients. However, without focusing on your own mental, emotional and physical health, how can you focus on theirs? Let’s face the facts, we can’t always get eight full hours of uninterrupted sleep or watch a movie without the distraction of kids, but there are ways to include self-care in your every day life and its highly recommended that you do this. Start by scheduling in a twenty minute window each day that’s just for you. It can be your morning coffee, sitting alone drinking it in silence. Maybe a hot bath in the evening without any interruption. It could also be just sitting on the couch for twenty minutes winding down after the kids go to bed. Maybe your hour at the gym each day is solely for you. If it is, then be sure to schedule it in your day. Don’t just wing it. Make it a point to get there every day. Exercise will definitely help reduce stress and anxiety caused by all those normal life situations. Want to tackle two birds with one stone? Spend twenty minutes a day with romWOD or complete the Mobility Thursday videos we have been posting on Facebook. Pencil time for yourself into each day. The pile of clothes can wait. The dishes can wait. Your health should not come second, make it a priority. Your future self will thank you. 

Drink more water! Stay hydrated! You often hear our coaches telling you this. We say this because it’s really important for the body, plus we live in Louisiana and let’s face the facts…it’s HOT! As we all learn in elementary school, the human body depends on water to survive. Cells, tissue and organs all require water to properly function. Our bodies are 60% water. Mild dehydration may leave you feeling a little sluggish, cause dry cotton mouth or may even leave you with a mild headache. Severe dehydration can cause more significant problems including organ function and heat stroke. Furthermore, with strenuous exercise it may lead to rhabdomyolysis.

Why do we need to properly hydrate before, during and after our workouts? There are many different reasons, but let’s just list a few important ones. For starters, the human body needs fluids to keep blood volume at an appropriate level. Decreased fluids will require the heart to work harder to pump the blood. If your heart is working harder, the workout will be more intense than it should be.  Our workouts are already quite intense most days, so why make them worse? Second, during our hot Louisiana workouts, our skin tries to cool the body by sweating, but how can it sweat if there’s not enough fluid? If your body’s natural cooling process isn’t functioning properly then that will lead to increased body temperatures. This could eventually lead to over-heating and heat stroke. Third, when exercising our bodies require a particular form of energy called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Our body naturally breaks down the foods we eat and converts them to usable ATP. This conversion process cannot happen without water. No one wants to hinder this vital process.

Tomorrow’s workout is a tough one. “Filthy Fifty”!! Let’s test the theory. Tonight and tomorrow, be aware of how much water you drink. An average human should consume between six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day. If you are a morning person, be sure to drink enough water tonight before going to bed and see how you feel in tomorrow’s workout. If you’re an afternoon-er, try to get 64 ounces in earlier in the day and see how you feel in the hot afternoon WOD. Afterall, what’s the worse thing that can happen? Maybe you’ll frequent the bathroom a bit more, but you’re more likely to get a PR so it’s totally worth it! There’s your Wednesday Wisdom everyone, now enjoy your evening and drink up (H2O)!

Welcome to our first “Wisdom Wednesday” blog post! Every Wednesday we will be providing our readers with a little extra knowledge for the week. The topics will vary from fitness, nutrition, sleep and everything in between.  Our first topic of discussion is the dreaded “WARM UP”! It’s a question many of us have asked, “why do we have to warm up?” After all, everyone hates to warm up, right? “This is soooo boring!” “This is taking forever!” “I just want to workout already!” Sound familiar? Of course it does because those thoughts process through our minds on a daily basis during warm ups. Who doesn’t want to get to the meat of the workout and have some fun right away?? The workout is where the fun begins.

What most of us don’t understand is why we warm up and why it’s of the utmost importance.  So why do we? The purpose of a warm up is to get the body moving through a full range of motion, get some blood flowing and get us “warm”. During the warm up, the goal is to increase our body temperature, as well as our muscle temperature. By doing this, we are improving our muscle elasticity and the ease at which our muscles relax and contract. The chances of pulling or straining a muscle will decrease. We are drastically reducing the risk for injury. Think about it, have you ever tweaked a muscle in your back from a random quick movement in normal day life? Jumped away from something that scared you and felt a pull somewhere? Picked up an ice chest and strained your back? Often times, we hurt ourselves outside of the gym because our bodies aren’t properly prepped for the movement.

Warming up gives our body the tender, loving care that it deserves. Let’s face it, nobody gets younger, we only get older. The older the body, the more attention it needs. By warming up properly, we will reduce the stress on our joints and tendons because we have “loosened” the joints. Lubricated joints provide for safer, explosive power when performing lifts like the clean and jerk or the snatch. So essentially, the better the warm up, the better your lifts will be.

“But I’m already really warm and we still have a thousand warm up back squats before the actual back squats?” Ok, maybe not one thousand, but it feels like it some days. These are the times during our “WOD Prep” that we are prepping our bodies to handle the load and preparing us to reach our personal bests. Yes, our bodies are already warm and our temperature is on the rise, but we still have to psychologically and physically prepare our bodies to move a heavy load. Smaller increases in weight, with sufficient rest between sets, will ultimately lead to better technique and performance. So next time we’re lifting, try it. Don’t make a fifty pound increase, jump up ten pounds or maybe twenty each round. See how much better you’re feeling by the time you do get to those working sets.

On the other days that we don’t necessarily lift, this WOD Prep time is meant to focus on skill components. This is your time where you can get valuable learning and coaching. You can improve your pull ups and muscle ups. You can work on some double unders. Simply, go over proper technique on a movement as a class. Ask your coach for tips on technique or performance. That’s what we are here for. To coach you and to be sure that you never stop learning. You’re here for an hour so put in the work and don’t waste any second you’re here. Always remember, hard work pays off! Now, go enjoy your Wednesday people!