Wednesday, 02.22.12: Save the Date

Krav Maga/Self Defense Seminar coming to Crossfit Annapolis - May 12, 2012

...More Details Coming Soon

Tuesday, 02.21.12: GORUCK Challenge - Annapolis

The GORUCK Challenge is coming to Annapolis April 21st and 22nd.

The GORUCK Challenge is a team event and never a race. Inspired by Special Forces training and led by Green Berets, the Challenge builds teams and solves problems. $10 of every entry fee benefits the Green Beret Foundation.
 

For more info, watch the video below and/or go to http://goruckchallenge.com/

Saturday, 02.18.12: New Saturday Schedule and the Crossfit Open!

Saturdays have become a popular day for our members at CFA to come workout. We love it! To keep the fun going, we will be changing up our Saturday schedule. We will now be offering TWO classes on Saturdays- 8am and 10am. This new schedule change will begin Saturday, Feb. 25th!

What else begins Saturday, Feb. 25th!? THE OPEN! The Crossfit Open will run Feb. 25th- March 24th (5 weeks).

Here is the scoop on how we will run the classes for the next 5 weeks:

8am is for all members to come out and enjoy.  We will be doing the games WOD but you will not be judged.  It is encouraged to come out and workout at this time.  Then stick around and enjoy the games festivities.

10am will be for games competitors as well as current members.  Games competitors will have dibs to equipment and coaches/judges. Members will recieve limited coaching but will have the ability to workout during the hour.  

We will be performing heats until all games competitors have completed the WOD.

Good Luck and most importantly- have FUN! :)

Thursday, 02.16.12: Whole30 Essay

Thursday, 02.16.12: Next Beginners Foundations

Come try something new....you can do it!

CROSSFIT ANNAPOLIS BEGINNERS FOUNDATIONS CLASS-

Mondays AND WednesDAYS AT 7:30PM

Wednesday, 02.15.12: 'The Open

As I’m sure most of you have heard that the 2012 Reebok Crossfit season is starting in about a week, the process starts with ‘The Open’ where everyone in the world is invited to compete in five workouts over five weeks, posting their scores online in real time. Last year, more than 26,000 athletes competed in the Open worldwide.

Here at CFA we will be holding all the Open WOD’s on every Saturday starting next week.  In other words, Saturday February 25th, March 3rd, March 10th, March 17th, and March 24th.   If you are on the fence about signing up please don’t hesitate to discuss this with one of our trainers.  The Open is truly called ‘The Open’ for a reason, if you want to see where your skill level is or just simply do something different within the CrossFit community at CFA we suggest you signing up. 

Sometimes stepping out of our comfort zones is good, right? Challenge yourself!  As of today we have 12 athletes already signed up, who else wants to join the mayhem?  You know who you are, so go ahead and bite the bullet!  

If nothing else, make sure that you come out on those given days and support your fellow CFA members as they embarque on their quest that is known as "The Open"

CrossFit Annapolis Affiliate Profile (from the CF Games Site)

Tuesday, 02.14.12: Whatchu mean you're still doing CrossFit??

Friday, 02.10.12: Rest Day?!?!?! What's a Rest Day??

*Article written by Chris Kresser (chriskresser.com)

^[1]Exercise is a major component of a healthy lifestyle, and the benefits of regular physical activity are well established. When adopting a Paleo lifestyle, modifying your fitness routine to include more high intensity exercise ^[2] can bring great benefits to energy, body composition, and overall fitness.

However, there are many people who take their physique and physical fitness to an extreme level, particularly in the Paleo community. Certain styles of exercise take the participant to a state of physical exhaustion on a regular basis, which may do more harm than good.

While a consistent, high intensity workout routine may provide some benefits for those people looking to lose body fat and increase their strength and fitness, there is a fine line between training hard and overtraining. While running fast and lifting heavy may be major components of an active Paleo lifestyle, engaging in these physically demanding activities too regularly or too intensely can contribute to many different symptoms of overtraining.

Overtraining goes beyond just excessive “chronic cardio ^[3]” or too many hours spent at the gym. Certain high-intensity exercise routines may push the body’s stress response too far, leading to a cascade of biochemical responses that can cause serious damage to one’s health in both the short and long term.

While short, intense workouts ^[4] can be great for inducing fat loss, increasing aerobic capacity, and reducing risk for cardiovascular disease, excessively intense exercise can cause a variety of health problems, especially for those dealing with other concurrent stressors such as autoimmune disease, gut dysbiosis, or adrenal fatigue.

Overtraining has been shown to affect blood levels of important neurotransmitters ^[5] such as glutamine, dopamine and 5-HTP, which can lead to feelings of depression and chronic fatigue. The stress caused by intense, excessive exercise can negatively affect the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, possibly causing conditions such as hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism ^[6]is known to cause depression, weight gain, and digestive disfunction along with a variety of other symptoms. As we know, high stress in general can cause symptoms of hypothyroidism ^[7], and the stress caused by excessive, intense exercise is no exception.

Another major effect that extreme exercise has on our bodies is an immediate increase in cortisol, the hormone that is released when the body is under stress. Heavy-resistance exercises are found to stimulate markedly acute cortisol responses ^[8], similar to those responses found in marathon running ^[9]. Chronically high levels of cortisol ^[10]can increase your risk for a variety of health issues, such as sleep disturbances, digestive issues, depression, weight gain, and memory impairment. Excess cortisol also encourages fat gain,particularly around the abdomen ^[11].

When a goal of exercise is to lose weight or improve energy, overtraining can clearly be a major barrier to achieving those goals.

Overtraining can also have harmful effects on the immune system. Research has shown ^[12] that the cellular damage that occurs during overtraining can lead to nonspecific, general activation of the immune system, including changes in natural killer cell activity and the increased activation of peripheral blood lymphocytes. This hyperactivity of the immune system following intense overtraining can possibly even contribute to the development of autoimmune conditions ^[13].

This type of nonspecific immune response is associated with symptoms such as chronic fatigue, weight loss, decreased appetite, and sleep changes. Altered immune status is also known to affect the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, and may be responsible for the hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction ^[5] and hypothyroidism known to occur in overtrained athletes.

Mark Sisson talks about the different signs of overtraining ^[14], which may be more common in endurance training but is nonetheless possible in high intensity training as well.Feeling ill or rundown, losing muscle mass, gaining fat, and constant exhaustion can all be signs of excessive exercise of any type. Not only is this counterproductive to most people’s fitness and health goals, but it is also a sign of sickness. In the path to better health, any activity that makes you more fatigued and more prone to infection is definitely something to be avoided.

So does this mean you should quit CrossFit, or stop pushing towards your weightlifting goals? Not necessarily.

Here are a few techniques to avoid overtraining while still enjoying high intensity exercise:

1. Reduce the frequency. While pushing yourself hard at the gym is not inherently problematic, doing it too often during the week is overtraining. High intensity, high stress exercise should be limited to two or three times a week, especially for those who are dealing with other health issues such as autoimmune conditions or digestive troubles. Compounding those stressors with extra stress from your exercise routine will not leave you healthier, and can easily cause you to become more sick.
2. Get adequate rest. I’ve written before about how important sleep quality is ^[15] for health. Not only is taking breaks from exercise important, but getting adequate sleep to allow recovery from intense exercise is vital to avoiding the overtraining syndrome. Make sure you are getting adequate sleep, particularly on the days you train. Interestingly, one symptom of overtraining is disturbance of sleep ^[16], so if you’re feeling restless and having trouble sleeping through the night, you may want to reconsider the intensity of your training schedule.
3. Mix it up. While high intensity exercise may be ideal for losing body fat and improving lean muscle mass, we know that high levels of cortisol can cause the body to hold onto fat. For this reason, you may consider trying a type of exercise that can help modulate your cortisol levels. Some may knock yoga as being too easy to affect weight loss, butregular yoga practice ^[17] is shown to reduce cortisol levels, which may help in reaching your weight and fitness goals. Instead of doing a fourth day of CrossFit, try doing a yoga class instead. You may find that this stress reducing exercise helps you recover more quickly from your more intense exercise schedule.
4. Eat more carbohydrates. While cutting down carbohydrate consumption is often seen as the best way to decrease body fat, a combination of overtraining and low-carb eating^[18] can actually raise cortisol significantly and negatively impact immune function. There is also a possibility that very low carbohydrate (VLC) diets suppress thyroid function, a debate thoroughly discussed by Paul Jaminet on his blog ^[19]. So if you’re regularly doing high intensity training and want to avoid symptoms of overtraining stress, don’t skimp on the carbs!

High intensity exercise can be a great way to improve body composition and enhance your general health, if done the right way. As with all components of our lifestyle changes, the key is moderation and listening to your body.  

Now, ask yourself...ARE YOU GETTING ADEQUATE REST (CHERRY PICKING DOESN'T COUNT!)??

Thursday, 02.09.12: Hoody Time!

We've got CFA hoodies! Jon and Ash model our new charcoal gray alternative apparel hoodies with the colorful CFA logo. They are finally here. Come gets yours! Cost is $50!

Tuesday, 02.07.12: Two New Classes

We have added two new classes to our schedule! Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30am. Come join Coach Ellen for some fun and get your workout in at these new times! This starts NOW- this week, immediately!! See you there! :)