 What is your post workout routine? Drop the bar for your last rep, coach calls time, you lay on the floor breathing heavily for a couple moments, go around and high five your classmates, put your bar away, go get changed and head home or back to work. Getting better at exercise isn’t just about doing exercise. A big part of getting better is determined by how you recover. Taking care of your body after you exercise will help you obtain your goals in the gym. To get the most out of your recovery, immediately after your workout, you must cool down, nourish and hydrate the body, as well as mobilize. This is why doing the good old Dine and Dash method of training doesn't work. So let's paint a better picture. Active Recovery/ Cool Down Over the course of the past hour you have been working out and creating a great amount of small muscle tears and built up a lot of lactic waste. So it’s important to flush this out. By that, I mean running through quality range of motion to help bring the heart rate down. It is important to remember is to stay moving. A couple options would be to bike or Row, find an active mobility routine that works for you, whether that's a combo of lateral squats, scap rotations or another sequence. THE FOCUS IS TO STAY MOVING Nutrition and Hydration I’m not going to sit here and tell you to drink chocolate milk, that’s bogus. There are a couple things you need to consider when coming up with a post workout meal, because everyone is different. Similar to day to day nutrition, some factors to take into account are gender, weight, height, activity factor, body fat, etc. These factors will determine the quantity of your food. When it comes to the quality of your food, a source of Protein and Carbohydrate are crucial. Protein, is in charge of building and creating tissues, therefore having protein post workout will help start the repair of broken down muscle. Mobility and Maintenance What is your mobility goal? What movement gives you the most trouble? What limited you during that workout? Answer those questions, pick a mobilization and do it for 5-10 minutes after your active recovery. Couple things to consider is to always mobilize in the position of restriction, as well, tacking the tissue down and moving it through full range of motion. Moving the joint into a position and spending two or more minutes there will help promote change in the soft tissue. Making those movements more achievable. Let’s take a movement like a front squat for example.There is a lot of mobility required by different joints. You are taking the abduction of the hips to push the knees out, the extension of the thoracic spine to keep the chest up, the external rotation of the shoulder and flexion of elbow to maintain a good front position. In other words, knees out, chest up and elbows high. Mobilizing in the position of restriction could look something like sitting in the bottom of a squat, with a band pulling your hips forward. This is very effective as it will expose where your tension is the most, in most cases it will be found in the anterior hip. The other effective technique is to pin tissue you down and get it moving. This could look something like pinning a lacrosse ball against an upright and then mashing your pecs while moving your arm over your head and behind your back. This will help with shoulder extension and flexion as a lot of shoulder issues are caused by tension in the pecs. Having the knowledge to do these things is one thing, actually taking the step and committing to make this a daily routine is a different story. Which is why having strategies to keep you accountable play such a big factor in determining if your meet your goals. Doing things like having a “post workout checklist” consisting of your cool down, nutrition and mobility. Or having a training partner to make sure you do your cool down and they do theirs. Find a way to make this work for you, ask questions and talk to coaches. 
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client stories1. Tell us a little about yourself! I’m from Montreal, went to carleton university. I'm in the environmental consulting field. I love hockey and soccer and motorcycles. I do construction as a hobby and stress reliever. Huge dog person, i have two huskies. 2. What brought you to CrossFit in the first place? I heard a lot about CrossFit through word of mouth and online media.The general consensus was that it was hard work but you got the results you were looking for. For exactly that, I decided to join CrossFit. 2. What was your first impression? How has it changed? My first impression was that I won't be able to do this. After watching a full CrossFit session, looking at the movements and power that was required, I thought there is no way! But the professional trainers are great a modifying the level of difficulty to suit your fitness level and still allow you to feel apart of the group. 3. Are there any changes you have seen in your everyday life (movement, energy, etc.) as a result of doing CrossFit? Im sore! especially in the mornings since I started CrossFit. My flexibility and mobility have increased, as for my energy level, I’ve noticed that i'm a lot less tired throughout my day at work 4. You have upgraded your membership to include 4 personal training sessions a month. Tell us how that is helping you? why would it be beneficial for someone else? I upgraded my membership with the personal training sessions to improve on some specific areas of weakness in my shoulders and legs that needed to be addressed to perform the CrossFit movements safely. With my personal trainer Jeff, he really tailors the session to address those specific areas so I can progress quicker. The benefits of the adding the personal training sessions to your membership, is the personalized programming that include exercises and movements that will target the areas that require the most attention. 5. Any advice you would give someone who is maybe looking to start CrossFit? My advice would be don't hesitate and jump in. Yes it might be intimidating and you might feel a little out of your comfort zone but at CrossFit Closer, it's a family atmosphere. Everyone is there to support, teach, encourage you and join you in your progress. 6. What is your favourite CrossFit Closer memory so far? Favourite memory so far would be my max front squat 185 pounds. Interested in seeing great results just like Duncan?
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