Blog / Training

When the cold weather hits, so do the sweaters, and you know what that means; it’s time to start bulking and packing on size, to shred down for summer. For any successful bulk, there are a few tips and tricks you’re going to need to follow, in order to get the best results and gain the most muscle mass. Here are our 5 rules to follow for a successful bulking season. 

No time or place to workout? Perfect! Tabata burpees are the ultimate 4-minute total body workout designed to test your endurance, fatigue, and to shred body fat, especially when you’re pinched on time or equipment. Best of all? We have an entire Tabata burpee workout for you in this article where you can compete directly with Swolverine Athlete, Mitch Wagner, a 3 time CrossFit® Regionals Competitor, to see if you can beat his Tabata burpee time!

As you progress in your fitness journey your goals will change from time to time. You may want to lean out and cut down for summer, then capitalize on those winter gains and add on some size. Maybe you are looking for a new challenge in your training and physique to mix it up and keep your training from getting boring. Whatever your reason, there’s a time and place to add on mass and bulk up. There’s also a time and place for you to cut. In order to be successful at either, there are some parameters you need to be aware of to achieve the best results

As a society, we have become obsessed with metabolism, and how to control it in order to manipulate the calorie burning process. Most of us associate boosting metabolism with losing more weight, and by increasing our energy expenditure, burning more body fat, and increasing lean muscle mass. Resting metabolic rate (RMR) and Basal metabolic rate (BMR) play an important role, in defining a baseline of how many calories you naturally expend. Often used interchangeably are there any differences between BMR vs RMR? And what do you need to know about RMR and BMR in order to start your health and fitness journey?

Bulking season is here, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. Most people think that putting on clean weight is easy. All you have to do is just keep eating right? Wrong. Bulking is challenging, physically and psychologically. You have to be in the right mind-set as well as eat the right foods, to enough of those foods, to cut and gain the lean muscle mass you want, without gaining too much body fat. We’re going to cover the 7 most common bulking mistakes, so you can gain the weight you need to shred down for summer.

You’ve probably heard someone refer to food being high on the Glycemic Index (GI). The Glycemic Index is a ranking of carbohydrate foods, and how they affect blood sugar levels. Carbohydrates with a low GI value are more slowly digested, causing a stable and slower rise in blood glucose, and a rise in insulin levels. High glycemic foods cause a spike in blood sugar and insulin levels and can lead to unwanted weight gain, and energy crash. Athletes need a steady supply of energy and knowing which foods provide that energy is important for athletic performance and outcomes.

There’s not much difference when you read between the letters, but when it comes to HIIT (high-intensity interval training) vs HIFT (high-intensity functional training), these two types of training modalities are distinctly different. HIIT is often characterized by short bouts of vigorous activity, intersected with rest or low-intensity active recovery periods. HIFT is defined as utilizing constantly varied movements, incorporating different types of workouts at assorted durations, with or without active rest periods. Both training modes are great for shredding body fat, maintaining an active lifestyle and improving overall health. But, to understand which training modality is right for you, you must first identify what your goals are and what you’re training for.  

Endurance is perhaps the most important factor that is needed to develop a competitive edge in CrossFit, especially when it comes to speed and power. Improving cardiovascular efficiency, times, performance, speed, strength and agility are crucial key components to becoming a true athlete. And let's not forget the added benefit of optimizing body composition. Improving your VO₂max is improving your athletic potential, and isn't that what every CrossFit athlete ultimately desires? 

Pistol Squats - We’ve all seen someone performing this one-legged circus, with the same initial thought. How the fuck does one do that!? So in light of this grandiose desire to be able to “Pistol," we’ve taken it upon ourselves to show you from start to finish, how to gain the strength, perfect the technique, and to ultimately get to your eminent goal and desire, to PISTOL. Your welcome! Now first, let's talk about the benefits.

Mobility is arguably the most important element of being an athlete. Maybe even more than strength, endurance, and gymnastic ability combined. The reason? Without mobility, you cannot have a functional movement. It’s the foundation of all of the other pillars of movement, in just about any sport, and yes, we understand what a big claim that is. When you call upon your strength, you must be in the most powerful position to engage your muscles. When you call upon your endurance and aerobic capacity, you’re demanding that your muscular movement synchronizes to be as efficient as possible. You get the point, mobility is important. So here are 6 easy PVC movements that are crucial to increase mobility, every single day. 

Do you get flattened by your overhead squat? Does your soul get a little crushed when you see them in the WOD? Do your shoulders shrivel up into your neck, cringing at the thought of doing them? Then this article is for you.