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Crossfiteira: Training as a Foreign Athlete

Crossfit Sant Martí

As a frequent traveler and a Crossfit athlete, I often find myself in Crossfit boxes where I’m training in my non-native language. In fact, I’ve done most of my Crossfit training in Brazil, so hearing instructions in Portuguese is essentially my default. That also means I’ve developed quite a few skills for learning how to deal with training in a language where I may not be 100% fluent. Or, worse yet, where my fluency goes down the more my central nervous system is taxed. (Don’t talk to me in Portuguese after heavy deadlifts – it just won’t work!)  Continue reading Crossfiteira: Training as a Foreign Athlete

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Mental Blocks: Breaking Through the Wall

“You had that!” is probably one of the most common things I hear when I’m training. As a lifter who struggles with confidence, I often bail our of pure fear. All the technical elements are there, but my brain isn’t.

It’s something I’ve been struggling with for almost a year now. Last October, I started working with my first coach who’s training style was very different from mine. While I saw a lot of technical improvement with him, I also developed a lot of self-doubt. With the Olympic lifts in particular, I ran into a very hard, solid, and dense mental wall. Repeatedly. Continue reading Mental Blocks: Breaking Through the Wall

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Why Yoga Practitioners Should Do Crossfit (and Other Cross-Training)

A few posts ago, I talked about why Crossfitters (and other athletes) should do yoga. This isn’t a one-way street though! The philosophy of Crossfit encourages “constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity” after all. Continue reading Why Yoga Practitioners Should Do Crossfit (and Other Cross-Training)

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Dropping In: How to Be a Good Crossfit Guest

For the majority of your training, your local Crossfit box is your bread and butter. It’s where you’ve developed relationships with coaches and athletes alike, it’s where you track your progress, and it’s where you celebrate when you PR or go for your first competition. For nomads and other frequent travelers, a “local” box may feel more like a rare luxury. Continue reading Dropping In: How to Be a Good Crossfit Guest

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Why Crossfitters (and other athletes) Should Do Yoga

I absolutely love when I hear someone in the box start talking about yoga. Despite my own personal practice (plus this blog and my Instagram), I don’t proselytize much about my passion for combining yoga and weight training. In fact, the two still remain pretty separate in my day to day life.

So when I hear “yoga” amidst the clank and clatter of a Crossfit gym, my ears perk up. There are so many misconceptions about what a yoga practice is and why it’s beneficial. Continue reading Why Crossfitters (and other athletes) Should Do Yoga

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Yoga for Healthy Feet and Ankles

Over the summer, my mother hurt her knee and, for a few weeks, she wasn’t able to walk. A difficult task for someone living in a second-floor apartment and a keen desire to make the most of every hour of the day!

During the healing process, should would periodically observe that an injury in your upper body is doable and livable. An injury in your legs or ankles? You can’t go anywhere or do anything. To quote Captain Obvious, your feet are your foundation. Continue reading Yoga for Healthy Feet and Ankles

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On the Road: Staying Healthy While Traveling

There’s little as exciting as pulling out your suitcase and beginning to pack for a new adventure. No matter how many times I do it, I love the feeling of pulling up to the airport, baggage in tow, getting ready to explore a new city or place. It’s the wide-open sensation of possibility. Continue reading On the Road: Staying Healthy While Traveling

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It’s My WOD and I’ll Cry if I Want To

“Why don’t you just stop for now?” Gustavo was practically pleading with me this morning.

“No,” I sniffled and growled. “I’m not going to not finish.” (For some reason, when emotional, I default to double-negatives.)

I rubbed my palms against my eyes to remove the tears, took a deep breath, and stepped under the bar.  Continue reading It’s My WOD and I’ll Cry if I Want To

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Survive Challenge: Staying Focused

The past weekend, Gustavo and I competed in our last competition in a while: the Survive Challenge. Rather than going alone this time, we paired up as a team. It’s rare for competitions to offer mixed-gender teams in CrossFit, so when we have the opportunity, we usually jump on it. Continue reading Survive Challenge: Staying Focused

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How to Prioritize Rest and Recovery

About a week ago, I was offered the opportunity to start doing 1-1 coaching with the head coach at my box. He has a fantastic style that I appreciate — he’s extremely observant, honest but not judgmental, and perceptive to a tee.

In the first few weeks of training with him, he started giving me some extra workouts to prepare for WODSunset. Each time I looked at his prescribed workouts, I just started laughing. It was like staring at a long list of every one of my weaknesses. How did he know?  Continue reading How to Prioritize Rest and Recovery

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Top 5 Flexibility Wins

(Thanks Cesar for the idea!) 

Between working in technology and spending the rest of my time doing Crossfit, I see a lot of mobility issues on a daily basis. Mobility isn’t a one-time thing, but an ongoing practice. Even now, almost twenty years down the line, I still have to remind myself that I can’t do a split like I did when I was taking gymnastics classes. At least, not without a proper warm-up like my little ten-year-old self could do. Continue reading Top 5 Flexibility Wins