EP 30 - CROSSFIT: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY

This week on Get Your Shit Together…

🧡 The importance of community and healthy competition

🧡 What CrossFit does well and what to keep in your routine

🧡 Endurance exercise masquerading as strength training and other common yikes!

🧡 Modifications and hard passes for your next CrossFit workout

🧡 How to strength train while respecting your hormones and metabolism

Resources & Good Shit

What We’re Consuming: Food

• Adina is getting into homemade marshmallows in her coffee - basically just water, maple syrup, some vanilla extract, and gelatin.

• Diane went to Leelanau Peninsula / Northport and enjoyed a deloiiish dinner at Riverside Inn in Leland. If you’ve never visited Northern MIchigan in the fall during peak colors…add it to your list!

What We’re Consuming: Media

• Adina finished You season 3 and Nine Perfect Strangers

• Diane completed a vacation puzzle to King Arthur (Netflix)

Related Episodes

• Ep4 - Peloton and Your Period: How Cycling is Ruining Your Cycle

• Ep6 - How to Store Fat & Slow Your Metabolism: Are You Running Yourself Into the Ground?

• Ep26 - Put Your Best Foot Forward: Are Your Feet the Root Cause of Your Pain?

Other Good Shit

• Pamela’s Grahams feel good in Diane’s mouth, but didn’t get rave reviews from Minnie. Try them on your next s’more and see for yourself!

• In NY? Don’t miss Adina’s fave hike to Storm King Mountain

• Adina is taking on RKC Level 2 - Iron Maiden training in January! Featuring: overhead press, pistol squat, and pull-up with 24kg

Connect with Adina:

Instagram: @adinarubin_ 

Website: www.adinarubincoaching.com 

Strong Foundations - enrollment closes November 9 and program beings 11/11!

Connect with Diane

Instagram: @dianeteall 

Website: www.diteawellness.com 

Root Cause Reset: www.rcrprogram.com

(NEW) 1:1 Nutritional Therapy Intensive - 5 spots left for 2021!

Transcript

Transcript was auto-generated! There may be some errors, but you get the…GYST 😜

Diane: 0:28

Hey friends. And welcome back to another episode. Gyst Christmas season has begun for some of you.

Adina: 0:39

November 2nd.

Diane: 0:40

Yeah, I was ready. Listen. One of our neighbors, someone in our neighborhood had their Christmas tree up like two to three weeks ago because I was taking the dogs for a walk and I saw it all lit up in the middle of the day. So, I mean, live your life. Maybe it was a Halloween tree and I just couldn't see what was on it. That would be fun too.

Adina: 1:00

It's definitely aggressive. But I actually have thought about this before, because Jewish holidays are like eight day affairs, like they're weeks long, you know? So I always think about that when it comes to Christmas and Thanksgiving and, you know, American and Christian holidays, it just like you look forward to it all year and it's one day, like that's crazy.

Diane: 1:21

yeah, for me, we don't. Catholic. I don't, I no longer would a mass or any of that, but I like twinkle lights. I like sparkle. I love the decor little Christmas villages or, I mean, they don't have to be Christmas village. It could be this beautiful snow setting. Have you ever seen those where people set them up on a mantle? Um, something like that. I just liked the lights. So why can't we have those year round?

Adina: 1:46

Yeah, it should just be winter season,

Diane: 1:48

Winter season and fanfare and Mariah Carey queuing that up. Do you listen to Mariah Carey? Is that really like, like Jewish people wouldn't listen to Mariah Carey Christmas songs. I feel like it's a

Adina: 1:59

no Jewish people. Isn't a Christmas songs. It's a seasonal thing. Also. They're unavoidable. Like if you go, especially in the city, like if you would go anywhere, it's always Christmas, Carol

Diane: 2:09

What do we think that Michael bublé does the rest of the year?

Adina: 2:12

It's such a great question.

Diane: 2:15

I said yesterday on Story that he's defrosting and, I saw Shannon / @socialbungalow was saying that he's like coming out of hibernation. So I think we've all just

Adina: 2:27

Maybe that's what it is. He just hibernates.

Diane: 2:30

he's getting ready, gearing up. So what are you getting into this November over there?

Adina: 2:36

Oh, what are we doing? What are we doing? What do we consume in? What do we do in well, what are we

Diane: 2:43

had a marshmallow in a mug that I thought was an egg

Adina: 2:46

It wasn't an egg, it was a marshmallow. I've been making some homemade marshmallows, basically just water, maple syrup, some vanilla extract and gelatin,

Diane: 2:56

that's I need,

Adina: 2:57

so delicious, fluffy delicious. And I've been putting that

Diane: 3:02

hot

Adina: 3:02

Um, okay, so this is funny. I did try to make us more as the other day, because I was like, Hmm, I haven't had a s'mores in a really long time. And I got the Pamela's gluten-free Graham crackers, which I know you like.

Diane: 3:12

favorite. Oh,

Adina: 3:14

The flavor wasn't there for me. I don't know.

Diane: 3:18

It's thick. It doesn't turn into gum. Like the traditional. One.

Adina: 3:23

I used to love Graham crackers, like love Graham crackers. And so this did make a nice smore. Like it was yummy, but I wouldn't eat these Graham crackers on their own.

Diane: 3:33

So are you going to tell us about how you made the perfect Graham crackers that was happening?

Adina: 3:37

no, no, no, no, no. I didn't

Diane: 3:39

I want that,

Adina: 3:40

I just use the Pamela's and sucked it up, but I gave Minnie one and she put it in her mouth and just goes, I don't like this in my mouth. So yeah, they're not our favorite, but it did make a nice Mars, but I have been putting my marshmallows into my homemade pumpkin spice latte and that is doing it for me.

Diane: 4:04

Yes. Big fan. That's what I have right now, but I won't, I'll refrain from sipping on it and turn this into an ASMR episode with my sipping.

Adina: 4:15

Thank

Diane: 4:15

I do like that in my mouth. That pumpkin spice.

Adina: 4:18

I like it in my mouth. What a funny way to say you don't like

Diane: 4:21

I don't like this food in my mouth. Well, over here in Michigan. Oh my gosh. It was sunny this morning. And then we got some snow hail and now it's, it's windy. We went up north to traverse city area legal and Al peninsula. That whole area. I swear. We only get up there like once a year. I would love to go up there much more. It's so beautiful. It was peak colors right now. So the fall colors are gorgeous. The trees are showing off and we went into the woods. We went out for a couple of days, mostly because everything was booked out back in August this year and Airbnb, but we did a four mile hike and I think he would have really enjoyed it because I know you love getting out into the woods too.

Adina: 5:04

Yeah, actually, I've been making that much more of a priority. I told you, I used to hike like weekly and it just kind of slipped away. And then our friend Kim, who also lives in New York, she, we had just been texting and talking about how, like, why aren't we hiking right now? And so the two of us just blocked out our calendars two weeks in a row. And we actually did the same hike both times, which was really fun because it was a completely different hike. Both days like this, the leaves are changing rapidly here and there was a storm in between. So this like Brooke formed in the hike that we went on, it was really beautiful. It was a really fun hike. If you're in the New York area, we did the storm king mountain hike, and it's just enough rock scrambling to really get your heart rate up and to feel the fun of the climb. And then, ah,

Diane: 5:57

or hours at

Adina: 5:58

I'm trying to think. I'm not sure probably around four or so miles. Um, it's a little less, I don't know, but we spent our time, there's like a beautiful, beautiful lookout at the top that you can see so far and wide. So we just brought our lunch with us and it was more about the sitting up there, eating lunch in the middle of nowhere, then the actual hike, but it was really enjoyable. And the funniest part is that the first day we went out, it was super windy and my hat blew off and fell down the mountain. And we came back the next week. My hat was still there.

Diane: 6:32

Did you have a rescue mission?

Adina: 6:35

we were debating, If we should go out for the rescue mission, it was a bit risque and it's not that good. A hat. Like if it was my favorite hat, maybe I would've gone for it, but it didn't fit quite right. And

Diane: 6:46

I hope it's happy there.

Adina: 6:48

Yeah, it looked like it, it had collected a whole little family of leaves. Maybe some birds will find their way.

Diane: 6:54

a nest. We saw, I swear, no less than 30 chipmunks. They were everywhere. I got a couple of cute pickies I found a bunch of mushrooms, several of which I think that you could, the Wharton danger mushrooms that you could eat. And they weren't like fun psychedelic mushrooms either. I found hen of the woods, oyster mushrooms, Turkey tail.

Adina: 7:15

Wow.

Diane: 7:16

Who else? Something that looks like lion's mane

Adina: 7:19

Kim and I, were actually joking about that on our hikes about how, like, I know nothing about foraging. Like I would die in the woods and we saw this like pile of poop. And I was like, the extent of my foraging is don't eat that.

Diane: 7:33

who made this? Yeah. Yeah. So it was tons of fun. I love getting up there to traverse city area and I need to make a point to make a trip up there more often, maybe in the summer months, but it was just so quiet. I think I'm more attracted or pulled towards water. So I love the beach time I had in the summer, but really appreciated that time in the woods. It was so quiet. We didn't see anyone when we were out there and it was like the perfect crisp morning, the sun coming through the trees, we just kind of sat and stopped a couple of times and just soaked it all up. It was so nourishing. So I called that medicine

Adina: 8:08

it for me. Yeah. And we're going to get some of that next week. This is so

Diane: 8:15

Oh, I'm so excited.

Adina: 8:17

I'm so excited. Diane is coming to stay with me and we are going upstate for a little retreat with our friend Kim, and we are going to spend a day in the woods enjoying ourselves. And then after that going for a massage, so excited. Um, so

Diane: 8:36

I can't wait. It's been like two years, two years since I saw you in person

Adina: 8:40

no, I think it's

Diane: 8:41

really 2019.

Adina: 8:42

pregnant with.

Diane: 8:43

are. Yeah.

Adina: 8:44

I was pregnant with Abe. So it was like almost three years

Diane: 8:49

Yeah. I had long sister wife hair

Adina: 8:51

Yeah, you did. I had big growing baby belly.

Diane: 8:55

and I got my first pull up, so I can't wait for that. We'll get some movement in, get some sunshine, hopefully fall foliage. I get to

Adina: 9:02

And if you are, oh, that's going to be fun. They're going to torture you. They're going to be so excited. You're here. Um, if you are the New York area, we are talking about doing an in-person event. The Friday that Diane is here. So we will give you details about that. If that's something you're interested in, hit us up in the DMS, if you would like to join us, live in person, maybe swing some kettlebells, do a little Q and a have some fun.

Diane: 9:27

Yeah. I'd love

Adina: 9:28

Yeah. Let us

Diane: 9:29

Fabulous. Well, what are you consuming on the media front? I think you finished up a couple of things. It's TV club, but you,

Adina: 9:35

Yeah. It's not too exciting around here. We finished you. You yo.

Diane: 9:42

We signed up before we started recording the, if you watch season three of you love and Theo, the next door neighbor are actually dating IRL. That that's so sweet,

Adina: 9:54

that's cute. And the funny

Diane: 9:55

not picking up on the boundaries in the show, but,

Adina: 9:58

but also, I mean, she was sending very mixed messages, but the funny thing about Hollywood is that in the show they would lead you to believe that love is like 20 years older than Theo. And in real life, they're the same age.

Diane: 10:13

he's a little older, funny how that works. Yeah. So

Adina: 10:17

Women just age quicker in Hollywood. Apparently. What did I think? I thought the last three episodes were really entertaining. I like that. We're not going to do big spoilers for you, but I thought the last three episodes are really entertaining. Like we talked about last time. I think it's like, do I need more of this in my life? I'd be fine without it, but I still was entertained and enjoyed

Diane: 10:38

Right. We have shows like that. Like if it's there though, I'll put it on and do a movie chore. Like that's my, my, those are my fields on it and it

Adina: 10:45

And I think the acting is, is pretty strong. I think she's great. Love.

Diane: 10:50

like her Victoria Pedretti I think her name is, and she was in some spooky movie. I won't watch, but I was like, oh, there she is.

Adina: 10:58

Yeah. I think she's a really strong actress. I think she did great in that season.

Diane: 11:02

I'm over here. This just creeped into the Netflix top 10, at least on my app, king Arthur. I mean, it's an action movie. It's like, probably not that great, but the soundtrack and it was kind of exciting. And the draw for me was Jax teller from sons of anarchy is in that movie. Super fun we watched do. And what we've talked about that. Oh, so did you watch dune because we need to talk about that. I know you like Timothy

Adina: 11:28

not yet. Not yet because we, I told you Dani really wants to see it in the theater as it was intended to be

Diane: 11:35

full experience. I get that though. That's like, oh, I want to have a bond. Like Neil loves James Bond. I grew up watching James Bond. I want to have that experience in the movie theater. Really hoping that interest's album will be the next bond,

Adina: 11:49

Yeah.

Diane: 11:50

but into it. Oh, I know something. We watch nocturnal animals. I love Amy Adams. I love her. Have you, um, in this movie it was okay. Jake Gyllenhaal in it. I think it was just a beautifully done movie because Tom Ford directed it. So the wardrobe was sexy. The makeup flawless. It was, it was creepy. Um, I don't know that it was that great, but I, I didn't know that was out. So that might be a couple of years too late, a couple of years late on my end, but

Adina: 12:17

next week is, um, house of Gucci is coming out and I cannot wait. It is literally like this movie was designed for me specifically in my algorithm because it is lady Gaga who, you know, is my queen and Adam driver.

Diane: 12:35

Oh, we love Adam driver. Oh, that is that those two right there.

Adina: 12:40

European winter where like, I cannot wait. And have you seen any of the previous heard anything? Because what I don't get about it is that lady Gaga is Italian, but her Italian accent in this movie is terrible.

Diane: 12:57

up, lady Gaga. I think I'm seeing memes of Gaga in oh, for a second. And I know Gucci is different than Versace, but I thought that per second, I was thinking of lady Gaga as Donna or Sasha, but no, not at all. Oh. Oh, yeah. Tom Ford was involved in this Al Pachino summer. Hayak Jared Leto. Oh, this is stacked. Okay. Super

Adina: 13:30

it's going to blow us away. I can't wait, but it's the runtimes like two hours and 45 minutes.

Diane: 13:35

wow. Buckle

Adina: 13:36

do that?

Diane: 13:38

Yeah, it's going to be sexy. So anyway, we got into nature, all that fun stuff. Got back. I did my, I trained for the first time in like a week. How do you not end up banish the dogs to the couch? Because they like to stand really close to me. If I'm taking a rest period, I'm sitting down, Doug will get on my lap, but I cannot swing a kettlebell with them near me

Adina: 14:02

I know we have some protocols in my family. It's like mommy swinging everybody back.

Diane: 14:07

because I am really trying to hike that back. So it felt good to get some of that movement back. I'm super excited to see you when we get together, but let's get into the meat and potatoes of this episode. Speaking of movement. And lifting things CrossFit. Ooh, we're going to talk about the good, the bad, the ugly, everything in between about CrossFit. We know that this is a very popular form of movement and there are Mike, we hinge out in the name, some good things that we do appreciate here, but there is a lot of mess that we have to talk about as well. So

Adina: 14:43

Yeah, this is going to be, I know this is a highly anticipated episode because people asked me my thoughts on CrossFit all the time. And we've had many clients who I like to call recovering CrossFitters and yeah, it's made waves in the fitness industry. So I've been in the fitness industry for almost 10 years now, certainly have had my fair share of conversations around CrossFit. And so we want to break it down for you and talk about what we're seeing, what makes sense, what we would like to ditch. And if you are a person who is going to continue going to a CrossFit, What are some things you can keep in mind considering what your goals might be. So,

Diane: 15:30

yeah, because like with all things that we cover, it's not black and white, so there may be some adjustments that you can bring if this is something that you really do enjoy. And some other things that you can, um, add into your routine as well. So for us, What is CrossFit? How did it start? When did I know it's been having a moment for the last like five, eight years. Is that kind of

Adina: 15:51

Cross it's been around for awhile.

Diane: 15:53

It looks as though CrossFit started in the year 2000. Do you remember that SNL skit

Adina: 15:59

Yeah.

Diane: 16:01

in the future at the year 2000?

Adina: 16:04

It's quite awhile ago. Now it really crept into popularity. I would say, in the last like 10 years. And the thing about CrossFit is it is basically all of these affiliate gyms that are associated with one another and what,

Diane: 16:22

Sorry. I made a bad joke. You can cut. I said the church of CrossFit.

Adina: 16:27

oh yeah. I mean, you're not wrong. It is the church of CrossFit and the many affiliates that go along with it. And so what happens at CrossFit is it's really supposed to be the sport of fitness and yes, they combined, they combined Olympic lifting, which is your barbell power movements, your snatch, your clean and

Diane: 16:52

Just a few of those movements, right? Like Olympic power lifting is just a few things.

Adina: 16:57

Yeah. Olympic lifting is the snatch and the clean and

Diane: 16:59

Not Olympic power lifting. Excuse

Adina: 17:02

Yes. Powerlifting is the squat, the deadlift in some federations, the overhead press, but in most federations, the bench press and they combine some mostly Olympic lifting, some powerlifting gymnastics, like calisthenic gymnastics. So different ring, muscle up kipping pull-ups handstands, and a couple of other, yeah, a couple of other cardio components. So rowing the assault bike, um, whole lot of burpees.

Diane: 17:33

me, assault, bike

Adina: 17:36

Um, sprinting running and things like wall balls. slam balls. Yes. So at their core, a lot of those movements are wonderful. And the question really becomes, how are we putting these together? How are we programming them? What skills are we training here? And so we'll get into that a little later on when we talk about the programming aspect, but that is what CrossFit is. It is these gyms that, sorry, boxes that program in Olympic lifting some power lifting, gymnastics movements and different

Diane: 18:17

a lifestyle.

Adina: 18:18

It's a lifestyle.

Diane: 18:19

that's what it says on their website. And I'm, I'm trolling a little bit, but I know that there are, are good things that, um, there are things that we can appreciate about CrossFit, which we will definitely be covering. Um, so functional movement, it's the sport of fitness, right? So lots of different things going on there

Adina: 18:38

I will say. Let's start by th by saying this throughout this episode, we will certainly shit on CrossFit a

Diane: 18:44

We will certainly

Adina: 18:45

to say, but there are some good CrossFit gyms and there are some good CrossFit coaches and there is a lot of good that came out of CrossFit. So I think we'll start there. Let's start with the good, okay. Number one, on both of our lists, community CrossFit has created incredible community. There's no arguing. It is wonderful, especially in a year of, uh, two years, almost three years of extreme isolation. And even beyond that, like, I think we, as a society have just started to become more isolated. I know, especially as a person who was living in New York city for a while, it's a very lonely city. And I just feel like everyone is so busy with their jobs and their families.

Diane: 19:36

Or even I think of the culture of lifting. Like when I go would go to the gym to lift people are usually in their own worlds. Certainly people there are friendly, you can work in. Uh, but it seems that most of the time, more often than not people have their headphones in, they are getting in, they're getting out. Whereas in contrast CrossFit boxes, it's a community. You look forward to seeing your friends there in class and look forward to that each session. So, or each word. Which can certainly be a dry. I know that, um, friends and clients who love CrossFit love it for that community or moving to a new city and meeting new people. I feel like it's different than say other group workout classes like bootcamps, or I guess it's kind of a bootcamp style class, but I'm thinking of say yoga, where you go in and it's really quiet. Often the lights are dim. You do your workout and you leave. But there's definitely the strong community aspect of CrossFit, which I can appreciate.

Adina: 20:31

Yeah. And you said moving to a new city, like the first thing you do, if you're across a person, when you move to a new city is like, find the CrossFit there and you're welcomed with open arms. It's really, really nice. That is like far and away. I think number one, for me, biggest pro of CrossFit, they create incredible community. They make everyone feel a part of it. Um, which is a really wonderful thing in a time when we are increasingly more and more isolated, like we used to live amongst community, we used to live really tribally. And so to see that in that space, I think is really

Diane: 21:04

Yeah. And you can count on, I mean, there there's a diversity there, but you're going to, we're going to talk about in a second, but like-minded folks who all enjoy the same kind of movement. Chances are they have similar approach to health and fitness elsewhere. So maybe you have some other common interests as well. Something that we both appreciate about CrossFit as well, is that it attracts different body types. Strength is celebrate. It's not just this one note everyone's striving for skinny, thin lean and tone. I'm using your quotes. That one physique, there are all kinds of. Diversity that we see in CrossFit communities and CrossFit boxes, age, body, sizes, shapes, all of that, which is really cool.

Adina: 21:51

Yeah, but I do think there are certain ideals in the CrossFit space that are, I think it can get disordered pretty quickly if you do get obsessive with it, which a lot of people do. Um, but yes, we do love to see that celebration of strength. And I think for me, This might be tied with community as the biggest pro of CrossFit. And that was getting more women to value strength and to touch barbells. I think CrossFit did wonderful things for popularizing the barbell lifts that were kind of a dying art, where unless you got into the powerlifting world, it was pretty rare to see a woman lifting a barbell, and now it is much more popular and they popularized certain physiques for women too. Again, there are issues in that space as well. There are certain obsessive disordered patterns in that community too, but I do think that in general, showing the world women with muscular physiques and not just like muscular, like getting on stage for a bodybuilding show. Super cut, low body fat percentage, but seeing strong athletic bodies, I think CrossFit did wonderful things for popularizing that aesthetic and that goal and that modality for

Diane: 23:12

Right. 10 years ago, I think of the fitness that was popular. The fitness that came to the fitness classes that came to mind. And if it was strength training, there was still a lot of Barbie weights. So those three pound weights and pulse in those for 30 reps. So it's cool to see more barbell, um, more barbells incorporated, or electric, more strength training focus with

Adina: 23:40

Yeah. I think even 10 years ago, if you would go into a commercial gym, like the squat rack was getting dusty, there was so few people that were actually barbell, squatting. There were so many people on those selecterized machines, like the, just what we see a lot more in the bodybuilding space and using dumbbells, but truly barbell back squatting and barbell deadlifting and especially the snatch, the clean and jerk, like those barbells were getting

Diane: 24:07

right. And there are gyms where you cannot do those things, which is ridiculous. Planet fitness.

Adina: 24:15

Yes. Um, yeah. And, and I think that now in you walk into a commercial gym and there's always someone using the squat rack using barbells. And I think that CrossFit had a lot to do with that.

Diane: 24:25

Yeah. So we can celebrate that for sure. It's also mix of men and women. Um, so kinda mentioned on diversity, love that there is a variety going on here.

Adina: 24:36

Yeah. If you were to go into a commercial gym as a woman, oftentimes it was, it, it still can be intimidating to be in the weight room and because it's normally dominated by men

Diane: 24:48

men and their cutoff tank tops.

Adina: 24:51

yeah, and I think that CrossFit, there's a really nice mix of men and women in the classes. And I think that there's a really nice respect from the men towards super strong athletic females

Diane: 25:02

it's more approachable. I understand that is a, a barrier for many folks, many of my clients that I talk to all, I just don't really want to go into the gym. I'm just nervous about getting started. Uh, and if it's not a welcoming environment, so totally understand that. So that's where something I CrossFit can perhaps feel more welcoming, more approachable.

Adina: 25:21

yes. Okay. This one competition. I think this needs to be. In the good, the bad and the ugly, because competition is wonderful. And I think it can be really healthy and a healthy motivation tool to be striving for something right. To have a training goal. This is something that I have for the first time in a while now. I think it occurred to me that I just love training. I love the act of training, but there's a certain fire under my butt when I'm like working towards something. And so I am hoping to complete a very specific feat of strength, which I will talk about, um, maybe next week, but I can talk about it now. I'll talk about it now. So yeah. So in the RKC, which is the Russian kettlebell certification that I am a part of, so I'm an RKC level one and I just signed up for RKC level to, um, to complete that coaching certification. At any RKC event, you can attempt what's called the iron maiden challenge and you can be crowned and iron maiden

Diane: 26:32

I'm hearing metal music in my

Adina: 26:34

Yeah, the skills associated with being an iron maiden or being able to press the 24 kg kettlebell. So that's 53 pounds being able to do a weighted, pull up with the 24 kg and being able to do a pistol squat. So a squat on one leg with the 24 kg. And so I am training for iron maiden. Hopefully I will complete it in January. I'm still, I have the press already. I am building my pistol squat now, and my pull-up is still the farthest away. I think that's going to be the hardest skill for me because I am thick. So lifting my own body weight is already pretty challenging.

Diane: 27:11

your own body weight for anyone who is challenging when you've been at this for awhile, but

Adina: 27:16

Yes. Um, but yeah, it's always, you know, it's one of those strengths to body weight ratio things. And my body is way more built for like a heavy barbell back squat than for a heavy loaded pull-up, but we're going to do it. I'm just going to get super strong and do that. So hopefully I will complete it by January, but it's a bit tight of a timeline for me to put that much weight onto my pull-up. Um, but yeah, competition striving for something, having a specific training goal, those things are incredible and can be super healthy motivation for your training practice, but they can also get disordered really, really quickly. And so that is something that we see in the space. I think the good end of it is that training towards something that healthy competition that motivation people cheering for you, those events like the CrossFit

Diane: 28:09

The competitions, are a big thing.

Adina: 28:12

Yeah, they can feel really, really great. And especially if you were a high school or college athlete, and that's a part of your life that you left behind. I think those are a lot of the people who find their way to CrossFit because now they can have that as a part of their lives. Again, when, if you grew up playing high school, college volleyball, for example, and you're not just going to get a whole group of 10 people together to go play volleyball on, uh, you know, be part of a league, whatever it is, this is a way to find yourself as an athlete again, which I think so many of us need to do later in life. And

Diane: 28:45

yeah, that friendly competition is great, but also the competition with yourself and being in an environment that is growth focus. It's going to challenge you a little bit. So it's just a matter of finding that sweet spot for you. That Goldilocks spot, where you are not pushing yourself too much, which we're going to get into in the next segment here. Um, we can also appreciate that. Is more of a focus on functional movement patterns. So some things that you've heard Adina talk about on previous episodes, like the squat, the deadlift, the pull-up, those are all movements that you're going to need to use in your everyday life. So how cool that is incorporated here, and it's not weight training by waving around little two pound ankle weights for an

Adina: 29:33

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Like I said, like they re popularize lifts that were extremely important for generations and less and less people were doing them. One selectorized equipment became popular. And once a lot of those like barre style classes became popular. And so to see people squatting to full depth, jumping, dead, lifting, pulling their body weight, pressing overhead, those are really important skills that we kind of lost for a while in the fitness industry. So I do think CrossFit played a big role in bringing those

Diane: 30:03

and certainly would you see, I mean, I've seen this in clients and friends who maybe started with CrossFit, that CrossFit is like the gateway into true lifting and moving. So you've mentioned, I think recovering CrossFitters is that a pretty common scenario you see now

Adina: 30:19

Yeah. And I think that that can be really great because what happens is if you, and we'll get into this in the bad and the ugly, but if you find yourself in a CrossFit gym and you love those things about it, and you start to feel really strong in those lifts, but then all the other shit that goes on in CrossFit gyms kind of distracts you. from those. Yeah. Or just doesn't feel right in your body. If you can then say, oh, you know what? Now I'm going to get really good at Olympic lifting. And I'm just going to only go to the CrossFit classes that are Olympic lifting focused, or I'm going to go to a Olympic lifting gym instead of this CrossFit gym, or I'm going to go to a power lifting coach instead of this CrossFit gym. And that can be. Really great. Um, as a coach, it is always challenging when someone comes from a crossfit background. Cause there's just a lot of patterns we need to unlearn before we can build solid foundations. Again, not to say there aren't people who come out across it with great movement patterns. There are, but it's few and far between because for a multitude of reasons, which we'll get

Diane: 31:28

Yeah. I could see that. Might be a nice place to build confidence, especially for those who are apprehensive of going into an environment and getting into strength training. They have that community aspect, they build competence with themselves and around barbell. So that's cool. But yeah, we're going to get into the things that we don't like next. Oh, one more. Yes. Oh, this is a big one that I really do like about CrossFit and that is that CrossFit culture has introduced a lot of people to real whole foods and ancestral diet. I know that paleo and CrossFit went hand in hand. Um, I think the last couple of nutrition conferences I went to, there were a lot of CrossFitters there. Maybe they started in CrossFit world and then found their way to functional nutrition. So that's a great thing. It got linked up with the paleo movement.

Adina: 32:20

Yeah. And again, like paleo, isn't the end all be all for nutritional health, but I do think it again, was that gateway for a lot of people to find a more whole food ancestral diet, which is wonderful. And on the same note, I think like the, it all kind of went hand in hand that barefoot minimalist shoe training found its way into the CrossFit world as well. So more and more people putting on barefoot shoes and figuring out what their feet are actually supposed to do.

Diane: 32:51

It's kind of starting this back to basics idea. So I really liked that

Adina: 32:57

Yeah. And if you're curious about barefoot shoes and minimal issue, um, barefoot training, go back and listen to our episode all about your feet.

Diane: 33:07

yes. As found important foundations often overlooked.

Adina: 33:12

Yes. That episode is putting your best foot forward. Are your feet, the source of your pain? Was that the

Diane: 33:17

yeah, you nailed it. I was just writing down in my note foot stuff. We'll link them all. Well, we'll link some others for you. So let's get into the bad here. Whew.

Adina: 33:29

Yeah. So we're not going to distinguish between the bad and the ugly, but if we start to get really heated, you'll know it's the ugly. Okay. Number one for me, lots of injury and the founders of CrossFit will deny it to the death. And we'll say that the injury rate is not higher in CrossFit than it is in other gym. Well, let's clarify this. I think CrossFit is referred to as a form of fitness when it needs to be referred to as a sport. I think CrossFit is a sport. It has specific characteristics that you train and that you compete in and in sports and high level sports, there is going to be a higher rate of injury than just people in the gym. And so it's, it makes a lot of sense to me that when there is all this competition involved and again, for a lot of other reasons, the high volume, the way they are building these programs, the injury makes a lot of sense. And I see it firsthand. So many

Diane: 34:31

some common injuries that you seen observed from that community more than

Adina: 34:36

Yeah. And, and they come to something like strength training for happy hormones. And tell me. They signed up because it finally felt approachable after years of being out from a CrossFit injury. So lots of low back injuries.

Diane: 34:52

so low back injuries,

Adina: 34:54

Yeah. Low back injuries, shoulder stuff, for sure. Um, neck stuff, you know, there's, there's a lot, but those are kind of the two big ones that I see and diastisis in the postpartum space. Um, I think there is, we'll get into that a little bit too, when we talk about programming and breathing, but I think I just see a lot of postpartum, stubborn injury in that

Diane: 35:24

right. Yeah. I've noticed that too. Where it's um, I mean, we've touched on this before that postpartum partum support is terrible and so many women.

Adina: 35:34

understatement of the

Diane: 35:35

Yeah. Oh, here you are. Six weeks out. Yeah. You can just go back to all exercise, you know, as if you hadn't just built and birthed a human. So just get right back to that CrossFit class. Oh no, that's not the move.

Adina: 35:51

not the move. Yeah.

Diane: 35:54

this one, I definitely. Or notice often, especially in looking at new client intake, forms of CrossFit has been a part of their regular routine. That is lots of over-training. So the frequency in which they are going to these classes is way too high, more is not better here. So sometimes what this looks like is like three to five times a week. Sometimes they've even seen hardcore folks go in like six days a week.

Adina: 36:20

yeah. And this is the downside to that wonderful community, because if you love your CrossFit gym, and it's the thing that's making you feel whole, and the thing that's making you feel a part of something, and it's couple that with the stress hormones and how good those feel at first. It's really addictive and it can make people think that they should be in there six days a week, especially if you are getting those like newbie gains where no matter how bad the program is, you're still gonna look and feel

Diane: 36:49

Newbie gains. So can you explain that?

Adina: 36:52

Yeah. There's a certain adaptation when you start doing any fitness, especially if it's strength related, where you're gaining strength, and this is why a lot of people can sell really bad programs, because if it's the first time you're doing anything consistently, you're going to see gains. You're going to see progress. You're going to feel better. Maybe that's, you're burning fat, you're building muscle. You're feeling more energized. That will happen no matter what the program is, if you are being consistent and you are touching load. So if you're doing that for the first time in your life, you're going to think CrossFit is the answer to all my prayers, because now that I'm not just on the elliptical all day, or now that I'm not just in. Bootcamp class with no load thinking that the CrossFit programming is what changed your body, your life, your energy, when in actuality, that was going to happen no matter what the program looked like. Um, yeah. So again, because of that, you're seeing those positive shifts in body, mind, strength, you're loving this community. It's very easy to go too much and then to hit a wall and get to a place where you can't even step foot in a gym because you feel so burnt out and exhausted, or now you were steadily losing fat building muscle. And now all of a sudden you're gaining fat and you can't figure out what's going on.

Diane: 38:13

Right. So they see those gains and they beginning and then things kind of plateau. But what often happens is they think I need to go harder. I see that it's way too much at the expense of their, their hormones, their metabolism. And I know you see that a lot

Adina: 38:29

Yeah, or they're so addicted to the stress hormones in the community that they keep going, even though things are shifting poorly in their cycle with their temps and pulses with

Diane: 38:40

the most popular ones I'm thinking back when I was in an office environment and there. Coworkers friends who would go to these classes. They're often at five 30 or six in the morning. And that was one of the busiest classes where you're going hard for an hour. And perhaps after that, going hard at work, those stress hormones are still running high throughout the day. And you're like, wait, why am I telling towing? Why do I feel like shit? Why is my cycle a mess? We see that often.

Adina: 39:08

Yeah. And again, if these concepts are totally new to you go back to our episode about Peloton and your period and our marathon episode. Cause we talked through a lot of these concepts in there,

Diane: 39:18

And what's going on?

Adina: 39:20

I would say over-training not just training too many days a week, but sometimes what's programmed in that one day a week is over-training like the programming is so terrible. And I don't say that lightly, like we did talk through all of the things that we love about CrossFit, but I think it is undeniable as a fitness expert. The programming in CrossFit is terrible and some coaches will stray from that program structure. And we'll actually have a great like strength focused class, but most of the programming is going to get a lot of people hurt and is not going to make much progress. It's going to impact those stress hormones and that metabolism negatively. And again, if you are training to compete in the sport of cross. Then, okay. Maybe this can be a part of your tune, but again, most of the people at the high level competing in the sport of CrossFit, their programs are actually going to look very different than a typical CrossFit class, because they're actually training strength and Olympic lifting separately in a strength and power rep range to be able to be at the top of the game. But what happens in these classes is they're taking really, really technical strength and power lifts. Say like a barbell clean. Okay.

Diane: 40:43

and that is where you are taking it from the floor. I know we don't have the visual cue for those who are not familiar and then kind of trying to not press it overhead, but you're trying to get it up above your shoulders. Right.

Adina: 40:55

Yes. The clean goes straight from the floor to the shoulder racked position. Okay. So you rack the bar at your shoulders. You are taking a lift like that, which is technically. Which requires a certain amount of mobility. I mean, the barbell snatch forget about it. The overhead mobility, the thoracic mobility required for those lifts. It's very demanding and those are wonderful lifts, but they are not for beginners. So we're taking lifts that are not for beginners, and we are handed them to beginners. Then we are taking lifts that are extremely demanding technically, and our power lifts, which means that they should be trained in a power rep range, which is about one to three or one to five on the highest end. And we are telling people to do AMRAPs as many rounds as possible as many reps as possible. We're telling people to do high repetitions of these really demanding lifts, coupled with other really exhausting things. So if I was training a power, clean, a barbell power clean, I would train that by itself for three reps. And then I would rest for a full three minutes and then I would train it

Diane: 42:00

and I imagine you would also have smaller, shorter movements leading up to that. I'm just thinking, for example, of some of the stuff you have in strength training for having. Membership. We're going to be focusing on not rotating today and it's going to be all these other smaller exercises leading up to the main event. And then we're only going to do that a few times, right.

Adina: 42:21

The prep for that lift is going to be really important and building the program in a way that you actually are strong in that rack position. If you're doing a snatch that you actually can maintain that overhead position, that we've accomplished the strength that it requires to be in that overhead position. So that's, first of all, is actually building a program in a way that leads up to these very technical lifts. But then if you're a coupling, something like a barbell clean for multiple reps, they're doing like 10 reps of this and loading it up and pairing it with something like box jumps or. Getting on the rower or getting on the assault, bike and slam, but like things that are exhausting and mentally draining and pairing them with these, what are supposed to be power movements. First of all, you're not getting the benefits of the power output. If you're training 10 reps of a barbell clean, like that is not training true power. So we're taking these high rep ranges, we're pairing these technical movements with other exhausting cardio movement. It just, it makes no sense. And we are misusing these technical lifts. It's just bad programming. That's the only way to describe it. It is really bad programming. You're not getting the benefits of those strength and power lifts because you're training them like cardio.

Diane: 43:39

yeah, this does not suit or serve anyone. And maybe if you are someone who loves CrossFit this and still regularly go. Might be hard to receive this too, but let's take a step back and consider why are we doing this at this intensity? So often? W who for what more is not better here?

Adina: 44:04

And this is why we see so much injury because those lifts aren't inherently dangerous. Those lifts are dangerous when you haven't built the strength foundation to be in those positions. And when you're doing them at rep ranges, when you're already exhausted

Diane: 44:20

on the minute.

Adina: 44:21

yeah, and you don't have the mental capacity to execute that lift well, so it's, it's just, it's cardio, it's all cardio. It's all like mid range, intensity

Diane: 44:34

And there's no resting or if there are rest periods, right. They're very short so well within the workout. But as we were alluding to earlier, perhaps you're not also taking a rest day because. This workout is something in the community is something that you enjoy. That's great. But if you're going every day, who, bye bye. Happy hormones.

Adina: 44:55

Yeah. Like watching people do these like high volume, dead lifts with burpees over the bar, like you're just limiting the capacity of that deadlift it's. So I, it drives me nuts. CrossFit programming drives me

Diane: 45:09

right. So it seems that generally boxes will receive a workout that comes from what corporate their leader. I don't know how, how does that work? Um, so sometimes they, sometimes they, they vary, right? So you mentioned that, um, some CRA, some coaches will deviate from this. So are there some that are creating their own programming? Uh, and how does one become a CrossFit?

Adina: 45:35

well, you know, that's a big qualm too. All you have to do is take a weekend seminar and you're a level one CrossFit coach. So Olympic lifts, like I know how to do Olympic lifts. I still don't really coach anyone on the barbell Olympic lifts because they're so technical. And this is why I love kettlebells because we can get the same benefits, but they're a much lower barrier to entry and a much lower injury

Diane: 46:01

feel more safe around my kettlebells since using those versus throwing a barbell around and picks up much less space, which is really cool.

Adina: 46:10

Yeah. And not to say I don't love barbells. Like I think they're great for certain applications, but it takes years and years to become a really good Olympic lifting coach. To imagine that a person can just take a CrossFit level one seminar and become a CrossFit level one coach and start teaching average everyday people off the street, how to do barbell snatches. That is insane. Ridiculous, dangerous, not serving anyone.

Diane: 46:36

yeah. What can you really fit into that weekend? Not much. That is a blip.

Adina: 46:43

yeah. It's, that's nuts to me like that, that part makes zero sense.

Diane: 46:47

So there's, I imagine not much attention to form and to all the nuance I can come with different bodies, abilities and situations. So there is not much modifying that is possible, or that we see in, in this space with CrossFit.

Adina: 47:03

And I was actually talking to Kim about this the other day because Kim is a recovering recovering CrossFitter and we did a lot of work to retrain some of her moving patterns, inside strength, training for happy hormones. And we were talking about how, like the standardization of reps in CrossFit is an interesting thing, because it just makes people do things for the sake of getting the reps. So like, if you're in a CrossFit competition and they're counting your reps, they'll call a no rep. If you don't meet certain standards of that lift. So if you're supposed to get, say, 20 pull-ups they'll say no rep if your chest doesn't come to the bar or if your head, you know, like if it's a overhead press, they'll call it a no rep. If your head isn't totally through at the top. And so they're trying to standardize it for the sake of these competitions, but what that results in, for example, with overhead press all my recovering CrossFitters, they get to the top of a press. They don't get the full range of motion with their shoulder girdle and they just thrust their head through at the top to make it count as a rep. And it's just this silly pattern where we're disconnecting our head from our bodies, because we don't have that

Diane: 48:10

my neck hurts. Just hearing.

Adina: 48:12

Yeah. So it's silly things like that, where they're coaching for the qualities of the competition, not for the strength and power or the health of the joint

Diane: 48:23

there's a focus on quantity over the quality. The one that really grinds my gears is the kipping pull-ups and calling them pull up. Oh, I can do 40 pull-ups, but then it's actually a dolphin pull up. In what scenario do you ever have to do that? And my sh like your, your

Adina: 48:42

if you're training. Yeah. If you're training for gymnastics bars, like if you're going to compete on bars in gymnastics, then yeah. Kipping pull-ups are a great thing to train if you are,

Diane: 48:53

you're like using

Adina: 48:54

if you're the app.

Diane: 48:55

I would love to see some people might get mad at this. I would love to see CrossFitters who are like, yeah, I can kill those kipping. Pull-ups I want to see you do 10 real pull-up.

Adina: 49:06

I know, right. And this is why we see a lot of diastisis in this space too, because what you're doing in that kipping pull up is thrusting your belly forward and separating your ribs from your pelvis, which we know to create that great core canister that gives integrity to the pelvic floor and that whole system, we want to see those ribs stacked over pelvis. We want to see you in a good hollow hold position in that plank, in that pull-up. And we don't see that in the CrossFit space. So there are some things that, again, they're coaching the quality for the sake of the rep and for the sake of the standards of the competition and not for the health of the joint, the health of the body.

Diane: 49:42

Yeah. Oh man. I hate those jobs. Moving on. So we covered poor attention to form and execution. And if you have a coach who just does not have much expertise or experience, this is really setting you up for failure. Uh, the focus, the intention of this workout seems to be of this sport seems to be on the quantity, not the quality and that can really work against you. So another one that we've touched on here is endurance work, cardio masquerading as a strength work. So how this kind of shows up is as Adina, as mentioned, you may be doing deadlifts and then you're doing burpees over the bar, and then maybe you're going on that assault, bike, slamming balls around and running around the box. We see that a lot. So the intensity is the focus.

Adina: 50:31

yeah. And we've said this before, but just because you were holding a barbell or you're holding weights does not mean it strength training. And so when we look at these CrossFit classes, you would assume that it's strength training, because. I'm touching a barbell, I'm adding weight to the

Diane: 50:47

There's lots of iron

Adina: 50:48

Because again, those newbie gains like, yes, you will be adding weight to the bar, but that is not strength training. That is endurance. That is muscular endurance. It's strength, endurance in some cases. But for the most part, it is not true strength and strength, power. Those are incredible qualities that we need and that we could train if we just separated those deadlifts from the mile run and from the kipping pull-ups and from whatever other qualities are being trained in these classes at high volume, from the 40 pushups, like know, do three and do them well, load them up. Like it's just, yeah.

Diane: 51:28

quality over quantity. That's always going to be the move for us. We've mentioned pelvic floor health and core strength. This one I want to spend some time on, especially for those who might be postpartum, um, and want to get back to movement. But this is still important for those who have never had a baby too. What is going on in the CrossFit space as far as breath, where for a pelvic floor, how footwork

Adina: 51:57

Yes. So I do think this is getting a little better. Like there is birth fit, which is their organization. That's focused on this season of life, but every birthfit coach that I've seen, coach breathing, coaches, belly breathing, and like that is when, like, you're just letting your belly expand with the breath and it's not actually getting the ribs, moving, getting the diaphragm moving. And also like if you're coaching, breathing, but you're not coaching it dynamically. And how it relates to. The strength and power lifts and the sport of CrossFit, right? Like you're doing double unders, which are really demanding jump rope movements. If we're not actually talking about absorbing force at the feet and how the pelvic floor and the breath work in that lift, that's going to be problematic for a lot of our postpartum clients. Um, a thing that I see too, in this space is just, this goes along with celebrating strength for women, but we're celebrating it so much to the point where we're not adjusting our programs for that prenatal and postpartum season. So I've seen this a lot in the, in the CrossFit space where someone is still doing a super, super heavy barbell snatch, and they're eight months pregnant and there's this whole language of, oh my God, you're a superhero. You're amazing supermom culture. Like, first of all, Training your barbell snatches eight months pregnant, you are messing up your bar path. That barbell needs to travel. Yeah. The point of those lifts is for the barbell to stay extremely close to your body and to travel from the midfoot straight overhead with as little variation from that point as possible. When you're training that with an eight month belly, that bar is going so far out in front of you, dangerous for the joints. And also just making you a worse athlete. Like those patterns are going to get messed up when you're a postpartum and trying to get them back right over the foot. So not a fan

Diane: 53:52

yeah, that's feels just thinking about it. I'm imagining the instability and the back pain that will come along with that.

Adina: 54:00

Yeah. It's just like training poor movement patterns. So we don't like that, but also that, just that focus on intensity and that competition. That is not something that should maintain in the prenatal season and in the postpartum season, there's like, this is a whole episode in itself, but I think there are so many people that baby prenatal and postpartum women

Diane: 54:23

like moving them away from a load completely. Just a

Adina: 54:26

But then there's people that try to counteract that so hard that they're like, I can do everything I was doing before, which is not the case. We need to adapt to our changing physiology. We need to prepare a pelvic floor for labor. If it's in the prenatal season, we need to rehab ourselves postpartum if it's in the post-partum season. So if you were snatching insane load, when you were nine months pregnant and then you're four to six weeks postpartum and you get cleared for exercise and you think like, yeah, I can go snatch. Um, is there proper attention to rebuilding that foundation? And my guess is no, because there was no attention paid to building that foundation in the first

Diane: 55:05

right. The opportunities to be somewhere in the middle. It's not to completely move away from low, just lay on the floor and Shavasana and yoga and slow flow, yoga, indefinitely, postpartum, or two on the opposite end. Go right back into that intensity. As soon as you cleared for exercise, I want to make an important note here, too, that if you had a miscarriage or you, ended pregnancy spontaneous had an abortion miscarriage, you're still postpartum to and need to rehabilitate your pelvic floor and ease back into movement. If you had a major surgery of any other kind to need to approach this slowly, it might feel frustrating to you if you were used to more intensity, if you're used to being more active physically prior to, but you need to slow down recommit to those basics and rediscover where your. Your movement needs to be now in this changing body. So that's really important too.

Adina: 55:59

Yeah. And we see this a lot in the CrossFit space, but we see it also just if you've been an athlete, is that like athlete brain? You think like, oh, I can. And I should. And just trying to get people to slow down and commit to those basics. It's really challenging with any athlete. But I think specifically in the CrossFit space, because there is that like pressure to perform the workout RX, like as written for your, your gender, your age group, your demographic, like what you are supposed to be using for that workout, what time you're supposed to hit, how much load you're supposed to be using. So these standards, like they don't really honor different starting points. They don't honor different life experiences. Like you said, it's just really little attention to that individual and just so

Diane: 56:46

all there's one workout for all. So let's round this out with, if someone does. Really enjoy their community, really enjoy their box in this movement, but they want to support their best hormones and metabolism, just feeling good. What is a way that they can still continue with CrossFit? What modifications generally speaking, of course, because we don't know their individual situation and where they're at in their healing journey. What are some ways they can continue on safety?

Adina: 57:13

Yeah. So number one, you have to get comfortable saying, no, you have to get comfortable being in a class and saying, I respect that you want to push me at the intensity here, but I know what's going to serve my body best. And I know when I say I'm done, like, I don't want you to be cheering for me. One more. You got it. Add load. You know, I did this actually in Puerto Rico when I was doing my snatch test because. I was not prepared for the snatch test, which if you're not familiar in the RKC world and the strong first world, it's these kettlebell certifications, you need to perform a hundred snatches and under five minutes with your testing weight. So for me, that's a 16 kilogram kettlebell. So 35 pounds, and you need to do a hundred snatches in under five minutes and that trip to Puerto Rico. And that kettlebell certification was my 30th birthday present from Dani. So it was a surprise and I was not ready for the snatch

Diane: 58:08

and it wasn't, it, it was hot. You had your period. I remember

Adina: 58:12

was day one of my cycle. Yeah. Which day one is not too bad of a day to do this on like I'd rather day one then the day before,

Diane: 58:19

like day 27.

Adina: 58:21

yeah, what's actually interesting about your cycle is. When you are actually in the menstrual phase, when you are bleeding, our hormones are most similar to men. So you will actually recover from really intense workouts better during those first few days. Some of us are symptomatic those first few days, so we just don't feel good doing that intensity. And we just want to, you know, cocoon a little bit and

Diane: 58:42

right. But if you're a cycles in a good place in what we might be, that's not debilitating cramps. You're not late.

Adina: 58:48

yeah, yeah. Cause that like luteal phase with those really high hormones, you actually don't recover as well. So even if you feel a little better in the beginning of that luteal phase, you will still have a better outcome from exercise on like day 1, 2, 3 of your cycle. So that's a side note, but anyways, yes, it was day one of my cycle. It was very hot. We were by the beach and. I was not prepared. I had not done high volume snatching. I had trained my aerobic capacity. Am I strengthen Duran's capacity with swings, like single arm swings. And my shoulders were strong because I was pressing a lot and I was pressing heavy, but my actual snatch technique was not where I needed it to be for this. So I said to the group. I'm going to attempt it and I'll know, after like the first 20 reps, if this is going to be doable for me or not. And if I don't think it's doable, I'm going to bow out. And I want you guys not to say like, no, you can do it. Go, go. You got it, like feeding off the energy. And it ended up being that I felt good and I completed it. Was it an ugly snatch test? Yes. The next time I trained for it, I will really program well, and it will be a much prettier snatch test, but my body wasn't broken down after I recovered really well from it. Um, I had a crazy pump, like a muscle pump. Cause I don't ever train that kind of volume. I looked like the Hulk. It was hilarious.

Diane: 1:00:07

my arms down.

Adina: 1:00:09

I was literally pumped up like, oh my God,

Diane: 1:00:12

Did you get those bonor arms? I can't

Adina: 1:00:14

Yeah, no, literally literally pumped up and I don't usually train for the pump. Like that's a big, that's a big thing in the bodybuilding space. I don't really train for the pump very often. Cause I like training lower rep. I think

Diane: 1:00:25

yeah.

Adina: 1:00:26

way better, but yeah, it was hilarious. But anyways, the point is being comfortable in a CrossFit class saying like here's where I am in my cycle or I am this many weeks postpartum. And so I would like to be part of the community, but I'm going to do this and you can still do the same movement patterns that everyone in class is doing. But you can build in rest periods for yourself in a way that they are not doing. So if the program is. 10 deadlifts. You can do three. You can even go heavier than what they're recommending, depending on where your starting point is and do your three and just rest for the remainder while everyone else is. Yeah. Hang out, cheer for everyone else. But that is how I would approach that. And then same kind of thing. If there is a cardio endurance portion, I would split that up into intervals and make it true, like high intensity interval training in that the rest periods are higher than the work period. So maybe like a one to three rest ratio or one to four. So you're working for 15 seconds and resting for 45 seconds or even more than that.

Diane: 1:01:28

your body to truly recover. Come back to that baseline before you ask it to do.

Adina: 1:01:33

yes. Get that heart rate down. Um, again, I would not do these complex overhead barbell Olympic lifts. If your shoulder joint is not stable yet. So maybe if there snatches in the program, I would say, you know what, I'm going to press today. I'm going to work on my press. And so you're still throwing stuff overhead, but the mechanism is a little bit different and you're training strength instead of power, again, honoring where you're

Diane: 1:02:01

and that's on you because we've established that these coaches, most of them do not have the expertise to be able to give you these different modifications. They don't live in your body and know your pain, know what you're working with outside of that workout. So you have to have that body awareness and develop that trust with yourself and set those boundaries with yourself.

Adina: 1:02:20

Yeah. What I would really do is do a program like strength training for happy hormones, especially if you're in a rebuilding stage. So whether that's you had an injury or your postpartum, which should be viewed as more of an injury than our society does, you need to rehab postpartum. So if you're in a season like that, or you're a complete beginner, I would do a program like strength training for happy hormones, learn so much about your body. Learn how to utilize movement prep to prepare you for those more technical lifts. And then if you're dying for that community, join a CrossFit gym, a CrossFit box. After you already have that foundation, that body awareness, you understand more about programming and you can adjust the workout of the day to your needs.

Diane: 1:03:05

I love that. And something I've talked to with my clients who are recovering CrossFit, or some of them self described themselves as that is maybe go less frequently, make something like strength, training for happy hormones and the principles you learn in there, your main. And then you're going sometimes to that CrossFit competition to cheer on friends or to that box now, and then, but that is not your main, that intensity and chasing that intensity is not your main something. I also talk about with my clients. I know you do the same is that you earn your workouts by eating enough and sleeping enough. So make that your priority is focusing on nourishing yourself through rest, through fueling yourself. Before you go and ask your body to do these intense movements, fill up your tank.

Adina: 1:03:51

Yeah. And I would say the main thing is to just get more in touch with your body. And to be more honest with yourself, it is very easy to lie to yourself when the community is amazing. When those stress hormones are running high and you're feeling good because stress hormones feel really, really good until they don't. That's a survival mechanism. Yeah. Being really honest about things like energy levels, cycle recovery, are you tracking things like sleep, temperatures, pulses, start to pay attention to those things and be very honest about if your current routine is serving you or not.

Diane: 1:04:24

Get shoulds because I think that comes up a lot when people force themselves or for some selves to go to complete that workout all the reps as prescribed. It takes them some body awareness and really listening to yourself.

Adina: 1:04:39

yeah, maybe it looks like you go to a class one day a week, especially if you know, it's a coach who focuses more on those strengths foundations and it's a squat day or a deadlift day, and you can adjust it in a way that serves you. And then maybe the rest of the week, you go to open gym and you do two days of your own programming or you get a program from someone who really knows their

Diane: 1:04:58

right. So that's something I was curious about is that, is there an opportunity in these CrossFit boxes for people to come and do their own thing, but to still be there if they love that community? So that's what the open gym is like,

Adina: 1:05:09

That's what open gym is. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I would do that. Um, sometimes in some really good CrossFit boxes, they'll have a specific cycle. That's just a powerlifting cycle or an Olympic lifting cycle. I would do that. That program is going to be way better than just like the wod

Diane: 1:05:24

yes. Yeah. So there are some options there. We, you know, we shit on CrossFit a lot here, but we also can respect and appreciate that there are some great things that came out of CrossFit and there are good boxes out there, but we want for you to walk away with, from this episode with tools, with strategy, to know what works for you and how to honor your body and to respect your unique hormone and metabolism. So we hope that you stay strong. And that you stay rested and that you've fuel up. And if you want to learn the basics or whether you're new, or you've been at this for a while, I can't recommend working with Adina enough, the movement prep, Ooh, it'll get you figured out. You will love it. It is something that I had resistance to at first, because I had done some strength training on my own, blah, blah, blah. But now it is one of my favorite parts because it is so often overlooked and I just feel better in my body. So that is so cool. Um, and I feel stronger in the movements that we, we do. So we love,

Adina: 1:06:33

now we can, now we can push that intensity when you stay at my house. I think I'm going to teach you how to snatch.

Diane: 1:06:37

love that. I would love that. And I love that this approach to fitness to strength training is, um, all about that, the functional movement and that I don't feel exhausted after it's all about that quality over the quantity. So I don't feel like I'm dedicating so much time. Workouts.

Adina: 1:06:57

I kind of hope this episode goes viral. There's a lot of people that need to

Diane: 1:06:59

Yeah. We hope that you receive this. We hope that you learned some things. Tell us what you think. And don't forget to tag us in your story. Uh, on Instagram, if you end up listening to this episode,

Adina: 1:07:11

Okay. We

Diane: 1:07:12

we love you. Bye.