October 10, 2014

Interview with the CrossFit NapTown Team 2014 Central East Regional Finalists

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CrossFit NapTown Team Interview

At our Indianapolis chiropractic clinic, we encourage our patients to find workout programs that best fit their specific needs. Many have asked us about cross fit  of them ask about CrossFit, how to get started, and what the advantages are. Jared Byczko and Peter Brasovan, CrossFit NapTown co-owners, recently answered questions that we hope will help you as you search for the right exercise program for your needs.

Would you briefly introduce the CrossFit NapTown team?

Jared Byczko

Peter Brasovan

Jared Cantrell

Jen Binkley

Molly Mason

Anna Rode

What is the combined experience of the team with CrossFit? 

I would confidently say our team of six has 35+ years of experience in the world of CrossFit.

How did you guys train? 

For 2014, we used a competitive programming system from a Coach who owns and operates CrossFit Ann Arbor, also known as HyperFit.  It’s a system that focuses on volume, which in the end hits most areas that will be tested at any CrossFit competition.

I know you welcome everyone to try CrossFit. Could you give some examples of the benefits? What do you find most helpful?

It’s a community of like-minded individuals.  We don’t force people to be here.  We want people to be here!  We want fitness to be accessible to everyone (look for a NapTown Fitness near you). Benefits include:

  •     Education in regards to nutrition and diet.
  •     Coaching technique and proper movement mechanics.
  •     Friendships developed.
  •     Networks created leading to job opportunities.
  •     Health, Wellness, and Nutrition
  •     Scalable to all skill levels.  Whether you are a Division 1 athlete or a 75-year old grandmother, you can do CrossFit.  Just make sure you have the right coaches and support staff that understands the industry.

All in all, CrossFitter’s are driven individuals who don’t like to be bad at things, like a challenge, and aren’t afraid to try something new.

Do you log progress?

We ask that our athletes log their scores on our whiteboard, because competition breeds success.  Every person completing that day’s workouts will try to beat the next best person on that whiteboard.  That’s the name of the game… from the competitive aspect of CrossFit that is.

What nutritional program do you guys follow?

At this point in our CF careers there really is no right or wrong answer.  I always tell people to experiment with different options.  Find out what works for you and what doesn’t.  I don’t recommend one diet or one “lifestyle.”  People often talk about Paleo in the world of CrossFit and I think that is fine for many.  It gives people direction and guidelines to follow, which many people need.

However, I do like the Paleo Diet for another reason.  We use it for challenges often at our facility, because it allows you to create a “science experiment” for yourself.  It gives people the opportunity to educate themselves, as well as use their body as a “control” system for this experiment. Simply put, clean up your diet with natural foods, cut out sugars, get rid of all processed items, and sustain for a duration of time.  Once the desired or agreed upon duration of time is complete, start slowly adding in foods you miss or you like.  I guarantee your body will tell you what it likes and doesn’t like.

What do you think the biggest challenge is to going Paleo?

Too many people go “cold turkey” and hate the first week of Paleo. Why? Because you just took one of the most addictive drugs in the world out of your body and guess what… your body doesn’t like that! It’s like taking cocaine away from an addict for a week and hoping they have no side effects. Sugar is evil to our health.

What was your workout schedule like in preparation for the games?

5 days a week, 3-4 hours a day.

Within those 3-4 hours, there were multiple levels to the program; strength, skills, conditioning, cool down, and most importantly MOBILITY!  When you train at such a high volume, your body gets destroyed, so you MUST take care of your body.  I think this is the biggest drawback to competitive CrossFit and why I don’t always recommend for athletes.  We all do CrossFit to be healthier and often times the competitive side does the opposite and tears you a part, mentally and physically.

Why did you choose this particular method of training?

For the purpose of making it to the Games for 2014, we committed ourselves to one another as teammates and friends.  We wanted a platform in which we could all do the same work and train together to bring us together as a team.  It gave each and every one of us something to chase after day in and day out, which is needed when you do high volume training.

How do you try to minimize your risk of injuries? And what does your team do for recovery?

Minimizing the risk of injuries is the name of the game in CrossFit.  Those who can train more without injury, get better. Those who get hurt and are sidelined don’t get better.

You have to be smart about your body.  You need to know how to differentiate between pain and soreness. I know that sounds so similar, but there is a big difference.  Working through soreness can be good.  Working through pain can be bad, and lead to long term injuries.

Any final words?

The accountability that our community builds pushes people harder than they would push themselves on their own.  We have some of the best CrossFit Coaches in the state of Indiana and we stick by that statement.

If you are looking for a CrossFit facility near you, I encourage you to do your due diligence.  Every affiliate is independently owned and operated so you will get a different product everywhere you go.  Find the one that feels like “home” to you and you will be in a good place.

About Integrated Health Solutions

Dr. Charbel Harb is a licensed chiropractic physician and the Medical Director of Integrated Health Solutions. Our core belief is that each patient who walks through the doors is a person, not just a medical record or chart. Our greatest pleasure is bringing joy to our patients and helping them to fully embrace life, allowing them to enjoy each day: active, healthy and pain free.
October 2, 2014

The Importance of a Deload Phase for Athletes

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Benefits Athletes Obtain Scheduling Deload Phases

We all strive for progress. We want to see ourselves improve and grow, whether physically or professionally. At our Indianapolis chiropractic clinic, many of our athlete patients ask us why they are hurting, and not making more progress? What we typically see as a common denominator is a lack of built in deload phases in their workout program.

Many athletes incorporate very little, if any deload phases into their training schedules. Most are focused on pushing the limit at each workout, doing so multiple times a week, and not giving the body any recovery time. This repetitive strenuous demand eventually lead to chronic wear and tear on the joints and muscles, and potentially cause irreversible damage. To prevent this from happening, and to decrease the risk of injuries, I highly recommend a deload phase.

A deload phase is essential for the body to repair connective tissue and restore hormonal balance. Muscles recover much faster than other tissues in the body, due to their increased vascularity. However, connective tissues need longer time for proper recovery. Hence, deloading phases will help decrease the chances of developing tendonitis, tendinosis, and other forms of joint pain.

Did you know you actually get stronger during your recovery phase? Your system adapts to the stress and stimulus (snatch, squat, etc.) during the rest phase, so when you expose your system again to the same stimuli (snatch, squat, etc.), it will handle it in a more efficient manner. In fact, if you constantly stimulate your system without adequate rest, you will put yourself in a deficit mode, and you will actually become weaker.

Here is a recommended breakdown on how to deload:

Plan your deload phase in advance.  Make it part of your workout routine and stick to it. When it is time to deload, just do it. Don’t wait until your progress begins to plateau, or worse yet, you experience irreversible injuries that can only be treated with surgeries. Talk about deload time then.

Deload frequently. Keep your normal rest days during the week, however incorporate a deload phase once a month, during which you should do an active deload. Again, make sure you schedule your deloads in advance and stick to them.  I recommend four to five days after every three weeks of intense training.

Stay active during your deload phase.  By active recovery, I mean you are still active in the gym or box, but the intensity is nowhere near what you would normally do on a typical workout session. Keep your workout at about 50% of the typical load, with very few reps and sets, I recommend two to three exercises each consisting of three sets or five reps. The intent of this is to keep your normal neuro-musculature connection active, without inducing any muscle breakdown or joint and ligament stress.

Use your deload time to improve stability and technique. Work on improving your lift patterns and techniques and form. Also, use this time to incorporate stability work. Many athletes ignore the importance of working out the stabilizers around joints, particularly the shoulders.

Maximize your deload time by incorporating mobility drills.  At our Indianapolis chiropractic clinic, we highly encourage you during those deload phases to incorporate lacrosse ball soft tissue drills, foam rolling drills, including some deep tissue massages, and yoga sessions,  among other mobility techniques. These drills should be targeted to improve thoracic mobility, ankle mobility,  or which ever area you find deficiency and restriction in. [youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrcBFbYcWK8&list=UUywozp0WIbd3OU4N9KQlUag”][youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1e8tIA_MeI&list=UUywozp0WIbd3OU4N9KQlUag”]

Learn from others. Blair Morrison, for example, works out every other day, and often works out three times, if not more, per day. He does this for three weeks, and then typically deloads on the fourth week. Gabe Subry, Anthony Malta, and Mauricio Leal also have workout schedules that you can adapt to fit your personal needs.

Maintain a proper nutritional and sleep regiment. Proper sleep (seven to eight hours) and nutrition are always important for proper recovery. A delaod phase is not a time where you slack off your healthy diet or your sleeping schedule!

Again, make sure you schedule your deloads in advance, and stick to them. A proper deload time will help you get stronger, spare you from hitting a plateau, and improve your chances of avoiding injuries.

About Integrated Health Solutions

Dr. Charbel Harb is a licensed chiropractic physician and the Medical Director of Integrated Health Solutions. Our core belief is that each patient who walks through the doors is a person, not just a medical record or chart. Our greatest pleasure is bringing joy to our patients and helping them to fully embrace life, allowing them to enjoy each day: active, healthy and pain free.