Master Your Fitness Game: In-Depth Gear Guides and Workout Tips by TuffWraps

FOMO, or the Fear of Missing Out, is a term usually used to describe interactions within social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. The feeling can come from missing actual activities with friends (and constantly “checking” social media), or it can come from a broader source, like feeling as if you are missing out on a potential type of life. Social media outlets are great ways to keep in touch with people from your past, but they can cause feelings of jealousy (I want his/her life) or regret (I wish I had…). This fear of missing out can also be applied to activities themselves. In the case of CrossFit, FOMO can occur because an athlete has worked so hard to adopt a certain lifestyle and missing certain activities, like WODs, can prove to be a huge detriment to their mental, physical, and emotional health.

This week at CrossFit we were working on finding our one rep max for cleans. I was pretty excited when I successfully completed a rep at 155—a ten pound PR for me—and added five more pounds on for another attempt. I stood at the bar, bent over and ready to go. Then I stood back up. I did this approximately a million more times before finally lifting the bar off the ground. I made it to my waist, and that's as far as it went. It had nothing to do with my physical ability, as I knew I had more gas in the tank after 155. It had nothing to do with fear, because I knew rationally that I wasn't going to hurt myself on the attempt. Every sport has a huge mental component to it, and CrossFit is no exception. Mental blocks happen to even the best athletes. You reach a point and your brain just says, “nope, I'm not doing that.” It's frustrating and discouraging, and I'm here with a few suggestions for overcoming those dreaded blocks.

Our hips and shoulders get a lot of use in CrossFit, like those of many other people so passionately involved in functional fitness. But due to the greater complexity of the shoulder, they often times get put into overdrive and overuse and as a result, it is not entirely uncommon to hear complaints of shoulder pain or discomfort in the CrossFit community…maybe you have even experienced these frustrations yourself. But it doesn’t have to be this way! These 3 simple tips can help you not only be shoulder pain and injury free, but increase your performance in and out of the box.

Living in an East coast beach town, my box gets quite a few drop-ins, especially during the summer months. Just as gyms have their own rules, commonly known as “box etiquette,” guidelines for drop-ins are just as important. Here are the ten most important things to remember when dropping-in to another box.

More and more athletes are cross training to improve overall performance in their main sport. Some runners may be concerned that heavy strength training can produce too much muscle mass and hinder their speed. However, most studies show no adverse effects on aerobic power from heavy resistance exercise. Kraemer and colleagues reported that women who performed both resistance and aerobic endurance training had greater aerobic development than those who performed aerobic endurance training alone.

How many days a week do you RX the wod? Every day? None? Somewhere in between? According to an article on mensfitness.com, to RX a wod "means the athlete performs all modalities using the prescribed weight and reps." My number is typically 4. Four out of 5 wods I do in a week, I can RX. Should I be satisfied with that?

What do Talayna Fortunato, Emily Bridgers, and Camille Leblanc-Bazinet have in common? Aside from the fact that they are incredible CrossFit athletes, all three of them also have a background in competitive gymnastics. Even Greg Glassman, the founder of CrossFit, tumbled his way through his teenage years. As a retired gymnast myself, and someone who has been doing CrossFit for just over a year, I can say without a doubt that my experience with CrossFit would be completely different if I didn’t have twelve years of gymnastics under my belt. It doesn’t matter that I’m ten years out from competitive gymnastics or that I am unable to do a lot of what I used to do, I truly believe that my transition into CrossFit was made easier by the fact that I spent a good chunk of my life upside down. Here are a few reasons why.

All CrossFitters are innately competitive. Whether you thrive on the feeling of competition at a local, regional, or national level, or you just like to be the first to finish a workout in your class, we all have the competitive “gene.” I believe that it one of the things we all have in common as people who love fitness as a sport, and even though sometimes we do not like to admit it, we all get that urge inside of us to excel when the WOD is posted. What we are reluctant to admit, however, is that we are not only concerned with our own workout performance but also the performance of our “nemesis.”

Although the fundamental principles of it have been a part of the bodybuilding community for some time, the unorthodox diet plan known as Carb Back-Loading (CBL) has made a sweeping trend in the fitness community since John Kiefer’s publication of his “Manual for Total Body Fat Control.” CBL has exploded in popularity in recent years and leaves many wondering if CBL is just another fad and more importantly, if it actually works in transforming body composition and increasing performance. This article takes a look into the founding research and methods of CBL in helping to determine the right lifestyle and nutritional choices for you.

CrossFitters are always looking to improve performance by working on weaknesses. (At least that’s what they should be doing.) Rowing is most likely one of them.

Why is rowing a part of CrossFit anyway? The best answer is taken from The CrossFit Journal Articles: “Rowing engages all the major muscles of the body and works multiple joints through a large range of motion in a natural, powerful sequence in a no-impact manner”. That’s what CrossFit is all about – using functional movements to work multiple joints.

Competing is not just for the top most elite athletes. Competing is something anyone who CrossFits can do. They are designed to push people beyond their comfort zone and come in all shapes and sizes. Athletes can compete as individuals, pairs and even teams at various skill levels. There are so many of them that happen throughout the year so really, there is no good reason not to try at least one.