Endurance vs Stamina - what's the difference

Endurance and stamina are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they actually have different meanings. Endurance refers to the ability to sustain physical or mental effort over an extended period of time, whereas stamina refers to the ability to exert oneself physically or mentally without tiring quickly.

Endurance is essential for activities that require prolonged physical exertion, such as marathon running, long-distance cycling, or hiking. Endurance athletes train to build up their cardiovascular and muscular systems so they can maintain a high level of performance over hours or even days. For example, a long-distance runner may train by gradually increasing their mileage and incorporating interval training to improve their speed and endurance.

Stamina, on the other hand, is essential for activities that require short bursts of intense effort, such as sprinting, weightlifting, or playing a fast-paced sport like basketball or soccer. Stamina athletes train to increase their strength and power, as well as their ability to recover quickly between bursts of activity. For example, a weightlifter may train by gradually increasing the weight they lift and focusing on explosive movements to build their stamina.

While endurance and stamina are different, they are both important for overall fitness and health. A person with good endurance can maintain a steady level of physical activity throughout the day.

A well rounded CrossFit program will improve both endurance and stamina

Why we should all be lifting weights to better our health

Strength training is a physical activity that involves lifting weights or using resistance to strengthen muscles. This type of exercise has numerous benefits that go beyond simply building muscle mass.

The benefits of strength training are diverse and include improvements in overall health and well-being. One of the most significant benefits of strength training is that it helps to increase muscle mass and strength. As muscles become stronger, they can better support the body and reduce the risk of injury. Additionally, strength training can help to increase bone density, which is important for preventing osteoporosis and other bone-related diseases. The stronger we become the more independence we create in our life.

Another benefit of strength training is that it can help to improve body composition. Regular strength training can lead to a decrease in body fat and an increase in lean muscle mass. This, in turn, can help to improve overall body composition, which has a positive impact on overall health and well-being.

In addition to these physical benefits, strength training can also have mental health benefits. Regular exercise has been shown to help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. Strength training can also help to improve self-esteem and confidence, which can lead to a better overall sense of well-being.

There are many different types of strength training exercises, such as compound lifts like various types of squats, presses and deadlifts. There is also strength training using dumbbells, kettlebells, sleds and moving odd objects. Mix these modalities up as much as possible to to keep constant stimulation in your muscles.

Exercise and Mental Health

Mental health is an important aspect of our overall well-being. With the increasing number of people suffering from mental health issues, it is essential to find ways to combat these problems outside of traditional methods such as immediate medication.. One such way is through exercise. Exercise is not just beneficial for physical health but also has numerous mental health benefits.

Exercise is an effective tool for improving mental health. It can help to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. Exercise can also improve mood, self-esteem, and overall cognitive function. This essay will explore the mental health benefits of exercise and provide examples to support these claims.

Firstly, exercise helps to reduce stress and anxiety. When we exercise, our bodies release endorphins, which are natural feel-good chemicals. These endorphins help to reduce stress and anxiety levels.

Secondly, exercise can improve mood and self-esteem. Regular exercise can boost self-confidence and self-esteem by providing a sense of accomplishment. For example, a person who exercises regularly may feel more confident about their physical abilities, which can translate into other areas of their life

Click No Sweat Intro to schedule a FREE consultation today !

Training everyday at max effort...Good or bad?

In a previous blog we talked about the great benefits of training with a level of relative intensity. But what many don’t talk about is how our body handles that stress and some signs to look out for so we don’t start going backwards in our chase of results

The question is , Should we be training to max effort (high intensity) everyday?

In short the answer is no we shouldn’t. While I am a huge fan of training at higher intensity levels, We need realize that training at 110% max effort every single day can have reverse effects on our body.  We can still have a fantastic workouts at 75-80% effort and see great results and not be sprawled out on the floor after every workout.

There are many benefits to training at a higher level of intensity from increased post-exercise metabolism, body composition and improved fasting blood glucose and insulin sensitivity. You can also see an increased level of energy which is influenced by fluctuation of hormones, specifically cortisol. It is also a great way to shut your mind off and reduce your “everyday” stress.

Cortisol is one of many hormones our body produces to handle stress within our body. When we train at higher intensity levels, the brain takes that workout and processes it as stress. When your brain senses stress it releases a flood of hormones into your body, one of them being cortisol. When cortisol is released it activates the sympathetic nervous system, causing the Flight or Fight response.

What is the Fight or Flight response? It’s essentially a response that takes place in your body when your body sense stress or an instinct to survive.  Cortisol provides our body with  immediate energy and power to fight for “survival”.

Cortisol is responsible for changes to your body such as the break down of fats and carbohydrates and a rise in blood sugar for immediate energy. It also represses the immune system so your body can focus 100% on the task at hand that is causing stress (flight or fight)

So what does all this mean. Let’s give an example of how this happens in a workout at a higher intensity level.  When working out and you start to move at a fast pace and start feeling the burn in your muscles, your brain receives a message that your "survival” depends on the task at hand, at which point cortisol and other hormones are released into the body sending you into the that sympathetic  nervous response to keep going. 
The problem that can arise from too much cortisol floating around in your body, is that it hangs around in your blood causing negative effects that can creep into your every day life.

Some of these symptoms are:

Chronic fatigue

Noticeable decrease in power while exercising 

Mood changes

Lack of motivation

Changes in sleep

Anxiety

Chronic illness associated with a lowered immune system.

These symptoms can present themselves when your body is overly taxed by an imbalance of cortisol. 

Most times your body can regulate the release of cortisol and provide an accurate dose when your body needs to react to that flight or fight response but when there is too much stress on the body, your brain can get confused and the “wires” can get crossed which signals a fight or fight response when you should be a calm, relaxed state.

So how do we deal with this?

Recovery days. That’s why we encourage people to take a day off from high intensity training during the week. When you workout you actually get weaker as you continue through the workout. You start slowing down, weight that felt lighter when you started the workout, starts to feel a bit heavier as the workout continues, Intervals can slow down - 1 round may take you 2 mins and by the end of the workout, that same interval is now taking you 4 mins.

You actually grow your muscles and create your strength and improvements when you let your body rest. A couple other key factors to help with recovery is proper nutrition, sleep, meditation and  breathing exercising. The final factor to this recovery and often not spoken about is just giving a little less effort in the workout. If working out everyday is a must, try a couple days during the week where you give a little less effort, keep your body at an aerobic state of being rather than an anaerobic.

Its okay to have workouts where you are only giving 75-80% effort. If we workout everyday where we are laying the floor, unable to move you may actually experience a regression in your progress. I often tell people pick a couple workouts throughout the week where you want to give 100% and pick a couple days where we don’t.  Giving 75-80% effort in a workout will still make your breath heavy, it will still provide results and most importantly, you will still reach your goals while letting your body recover.

Tips for healthier eating and meal prepping

When working with client’s on their nutrition, the common reason people have a hard time starting is they don’t know how to shop and / or prepare their meals. I hope these simple steps provide some help..

How to make the right choices:

1. Eat food that comes from the earth and not factories - Meat, fish, fruit, veggies, root veggies like potatoes, some dairy (if needed), butters (nut butters) - eat nothing with added chemicals or added ingredients that don’t come from mother nature.

2. Eat 3-4 meals per day that have a good mix of these foods

3. If still hungry after a meal, eat more veggies

4. Drink lots of water and avoid sodas, sugary drinks like alcohol, juices and fake drinks that come in fancy cans or bottles.

5. Enjoy treats on special occasions but not every day.

6. Eating food like this provides you the proper fuel to exercise, hike, run, swim..etc.

Meal prep:

1. Go shopping with a plan/list

2. Stay out of the isles and shop on the perimeter of the grocery store. Avoid temptations and stick to your list.

3. I recommend planning to buy enough food to prep for 3 days at a time. I find most often after day 3-4 most people don’t want to eat the same food, so they resort to what’s left in the fridge or pantry and fall off.

4. Unless you know certain recipes and like to experiment, I would stick with cooking things you know 100% that you will eat. The last thing you want is to experiment and you don’t like it. Then you have nothing.

5. I like to cook things that cook or bake at the same temp so all the food can be cooked at once. Load the grill up with meats or fish - that can all cook at the same time. I stick with veggies and potatoes that all cook at the same temp so I can load the oven and have it done it 30 mins.

6. Once all your food is cooked, portion it into containers for the week. 1/2 should be your veggies in fruit, 1/3 protein, 1/3 starches.

7. Get rid of anything in house you shouldn’t eat or is a trigger food/taste. If it’s there you’ll eat it. Example, if nut butters trigger your sugar taste buds then stay away from them.

Give some of these tips and tricks a try.

Fad “diets” - don’t be so quick to jump on the bandwagon

I’ll keep this short and sweet. 

Not everyone is the same. We all have different lifestyles, different needs and different goals. Don’t be quick to jump on the newest bandwagon of diets or nutrition fads you see all over social media.

When it comes to finding what works for you here are a couple things to consider: 

1. What are your goals - Is it to lean out? Gain muscle mass? Is it to eat for performance?

2. Are there certain foods you can’t eat?

3. Do you have the ability to bring food with you to work or prepare your meals ahead of time?

4. What every you pick, you need to make sure the path is 100% sustainable and easy. If you don’t have a lot time and learning about macro and micro nutrients is totally new for you, well jumping on a “diet” plan that requires you to weigh and measure your food is only setting you up for failure.

In short…establish what your goal is, why you have that goal then find something that is easy, you like, tastes good and is sustainable.

What is a No Sweat Intro ?

What is a No Sweat Intro

A No Sweat Intro which is a phrase and link our website and social media platforms is a FREE consultation.  It is our first step when bringing in new clients who have never done CrossFit before or have limited knowledge as to what the CrossFit methodology is.

It is a step just before starting our Foundations Program. 

A No Sweat Intro is a conversation. There is no sales pitch, there is no pressure to join, it’s simply a conversation about YOU and your specific goals. It's time for us to get to know one another, a time for YOU to ask questions about what we do, how we do things and the very important, the WHY behind what we do. But even more important, it’s a chance for us to ask YOU about what you do, what you’re looking for, what your goals are and to find out YOUR WHY.

Each person is different. From previous experiences in these conversations, each person has a different idea of what CrossFit is. Each person has very specific reasons for coming in and each person has their own WHY. Everyone person comes from different backgrounds and various life experiences and because of that each person deserves a different approach to reaching their goals and this approach is dictated by the conversation we have. If we don’t have this conversation, we never get to know your reasons for starting and what your goals are. 

We introduced No Sweat Intro’s as part of our onboarding new clients about 3 years ago and we have seen fantastic results. It has been our foundation to creating, building and nurturing strong, trusting relationships within the Bionic CrossFit community. 

The reason why we start this way is because it’s the right way to do it. Plain and simple. Investing in CrossFit is not cheap. It requires an investment in your time, energy and money. But an investment with the highest reward for  about the price of a Starbucks coffee per day. 

If you wanted to join a swim team and you’ve never swam before but you may have some experience swimming in a pool but no real knowledge of swimming properly to be the most efficient you can be. Would you rather have the swim coach just throw you in the deep end of the pool and he’ll come get you when you hit the bottom or would you rather have a sit down with the coach and ask questions and have the coach ask you questions about YOU and your background and explain how the process goes of joining the swim team? I guess either way could work, but option 2 seems much more logical and smarter to ensure the person enjoys their experience…wouldn’t you agree?

Click the “Learn More” link below to set up your Free No Sweat Intro

2 simple steps to help make YOU a priority

Last week I posted blog about making YOU a priority. We have to take care of ourselves so we can take care of others. 

Today’s blog we will talk about two simple steps to try and achieve this. When I started my business mentorship with Two Brain Business one of the first things we talked about is goal setting. Setting up long term and short term goals. Making these goals realistic and attainable. In order to do this we went through a process called “SWOT”. This acronym stands for identifying your Strengths , Weaknesses and Outside Threats. While we aren’t speaking about business goals we can apply this same strategy to making yourself a priority. 

For the sake of keeping this post short, let's focus on the outside threats to reaching your goals or carving out time for you. It’s important when we start setting new goals we identify situations or circumstances that pose a threat to you achieving those. 

Here is an example: You need to workout because it makes you feel better. It provides mental clarity. It makes you stronger. It’s time just for you and no one else. You don’t have to be a mom, husband, wife, father, boss, teacher ..etc (fill in the blank). It’s a time where you can identify with just yourself. You want to workout because it gives you confidence - maybe the confidence you need to ask for a raise at work, or the confidence to where that outfit you haven’t felt great in for years…whatever your reason is, we can agree its important to you.

You decide you need to do this and you identify a threat to achieving this. The threat is you have a hectic schedule and things alway come up last minute in the afternoon, causing last minute changes and stress resulting in putting yourself last. What do we do about it? Maybe you come to the early morning class so you can get your workout in, feel great about what you accomplished and you did all this before 7am. Yes early morning classes suck for most…but if making YOU better is a priority then YOU will make it a priority. No excuses. 

Maybe a threat is nutrition and you identify that you eat out a lot because you don’t prepare your meals for the week.  You relay on eating out because it’s easy and fast. The result, you feel like crap and you maybe think you look like crap. It’s a never ending self fulling prophecy that when it gets rolling it is so hard to get out of until you make a change.

Maybe we eliminate this threat by meal prepping on Sunday. Make grocery shopping a family event. Set time aside to head out to the store and get all the essential. This way you get all your healthy food and have time together with the family.  By doing this you ensure healthy choices made by you. You will feel better, look better and save a ton of cash. 

Make your time non-negotiable. 

What does this mean? 

It means that your time you have set aside for you is for you only.  The time you set aside for you is just as important if not more important as everyone else's. 

There is no negotiating this time. There are no plans made, there are no friends asking to help them move during this time, there is no running errands during this time. The only thing taking place at this time is you making yourself better. Threats to this are usually household members. I get it we all have responsibilities. So what do we do? We have a conversation with the people in the house hold. Explain why you need this. Explain it’s what makes you feel better. Explain that when you feel accomplished and have this time for yourself you can be a better person for everyone. 

Listen i know this isn’t easy. Its one of the hardest things for me to do and it's a constant work in progress. I always feel the need to give to others before myself. It’s all about moderation. Don’t be selfish about everything, everyday ….but 1 hour a day is definitely not unreasonable… and if friends can’t understand that then maybe its time to trim some “fat” out of your life.

New seasons, means new routines.

Can you believe summer is coming to an end already. It feels like we just started enjoying the nice weather and here we are entering into a new season of schedules changing causing some us to feel uneasy about new routines.  As we start to feel like we are losing ourselves in the chaos of being a parent, significant other, a brother, sister, student, employee, boss etc... we need to make an intentional effort to focus on ourselves. Yes...YOU. It's okay to be a little selfish and make YOU a priority.

When meeting with new clients I often use the "airplane" analogy. Before take off as you sit in your seat looking forward, you get the safety talk from the flight attendants. They always say if the oxygen masks drop, secure your mask around your face before helping the person next to you.  Why? Because if you don’t help yourself first, you can’t help the person next to.

If you take care of yourself, you take care of others.

How does this translate to what we are talking about? Well sometimes its okay to focus on YOU before anyone else. If you don't take the time to be a little selfish and take care of YOU, you won't be able to help others around you. Taking care of yourself can be different for everyone. For some it is mental health, for others it may be physical and/ or for spiritual.  The cool things is below I listed 3 basic tips to help improve any of those areas.

Lets go!!!!

1. Make your bed first thing in the morning: there was a famous commencement speech given by Adm. William McRaven, a retired Navy Seal who shared his experiences going through training and how they translate into every day life (I will add the link to the video at the end). One of the first lessons he learned was to start your day by making your bed. It's a trivial and simple task. But as we start the day completing a simple, mindless task, we set ourselves up for success to start the day. It gives the feeling of being organized and accomplished before you even leave your bedroom.  This simple task provide encouragement that the day ahead is yours for the taking. Worse case… if you still have crappy day, at least you come home to a well made bed. Check out the video below!

2. Prepare your food ahead of time. Food is one of the few things we have complete control over. We can't control the traffic, your boss, the attitude of your kids, the weather , the stock market etc...but you can control what you put into your body. Food can be the best medicine or worse poison and we have 100% control over that choice. When I worked with clients and they talk about not feeling great mentally, generally a place we start to look is what they are putting into their body. When we can identify the poor choices being made more often than not and provide some guidance in better choices, the transformation is pretty astonishing.

Prep your food the night before or even over the weekend for the week. It will prevent you from eating out and you'll save a bunch of money.  Keep things simple. Don’t be complex with the new fad diets, dont worry about what others are eating and posting online. Each person is different and each person needs to find something that is sustainable and super simple to follow otherwise you will set yourself up for failure. Guess what? We can HELP YOU with that!

3. Exercise. I can get into the data about what 30-60 mins of exercise does for your mental and physical well being. I can talk about the endorphins that are naturally released into your body which if a pharmaceutical company could replicate it would bankrupt the industry...but we don’t need to cover that right now. At its simplest form, intentional exercise where we are working hard, sweating and breathing heavy is one of the most important things we should be completing daily. Our bodies are meant to move. The stronger we are the more independent we become. We need a strong heart and lungs (pretty sure COVID proved that). In addition , the time you spend exercising is an investment into your health and wellness- which you really only get one shot at.  If you read, listen or talk to most successful people in life and ask what their routines are the majority all mention that 30-60 minutes of exercise / weight training a day is a staple in their daily lives.

Here is the best part…most people will read this and thing “I don't know where to even start”. Start with us at Bionic CrossFit. This is what we do. Yes we workout. Yes, we all love CrossFit. We love it because it works. But more than working out, we help YOU dial in proper food choices, we help YOU learn how to prioritize things you can and can’t control. We have a community of people that will do nothing but support your journey to becoming a better version of yourself.

Let’s get started

Head to our page and sign up for a FREE No Sweat Intro/ Consult. This is a simple conversation about you, your goals and a chance for us to get to know one another. There is no pressure to join and no fancy sales pitch. Its a chance to ask questions and to see if we can help you achieve success in a world filled with adversity.

Make your bed speech

Bi's and Tri's in CrossFit

CrossFit is functional fitness. We hold true that machines are not in the real world so we don’t use machines when we workout- for the most part. The machines I’m referring to are the typical ones we see in a traditional “globo gym”.  Working functional movements with a high heart rate has been proven to be the best way to get to be as fit as possible…we don’t deny that but we also know we can add in other things to help us reach our goals.

With that belief, many CrossFit affiliates don’t ever program traditional bodybuilding style exercises in their programming. The reasoning could vary from they don’t know how, they don’t believe in it or they are afraid to go against the grain every now and again. But at Bionic we believe in the opposite. We love all aspects of exercise and believe traditional lifting like curls, tricep ext, bench press and variations there of do have their benefit.

Programming low intensity concentrated movements like curls, tricep ext, shoulder presses or other “bodybuilding” style movements have a huge benefit in muscles hypertrophy- increasing muscle mass and fixing imbalances.  Breaking down the body into its various planes of motion and working one side at a time is a great way to making a body more balanced and increases the persons overall level of fitness. 

We often program accessory work that includes the above and we even have full days of programming where we keep the intensity low and just focus on slow concentrated movements.

We don’t do it all the time but we do do it.

In the CrossFit world we often hear “hey you want bigger biceps, then do more pull ups” but adding in proper accessory work to increase ones strength in a push or pull range of motion (upper and lower body) is a great way to help increase strength and we often see help members overcome plateaus. 

Hypertrophy work is just another way to stimulate muscle growth, burn more calories and create adaptation in the body. 

Embrace all types of exercise. Take small tidbits from everything you can and put them in your bag of tools and don’t be afraid to think outside the box and apply them when practical. 

“When in doubt, squat and deadlift”

“The need of an Olympic weightlifter and the needs of your grandmother vary by degree not kind” - Greg Glassman

Both the Olympic weightlifter and your grandparent have the need to know how to squat and deadlift properly. The weightlifter needs to lift heavy weight on barbell, fast, with power to execute a personal record attempt that they have been training for year round. Your grandparent needs to know how to get on and off the toilet, up and down out of a chair (squatting) and they need to know how to pick up their keys or bag a groceries off the floors (deadlift). The need of both these types of people are the same…it’s essential to their livelihood. In the beginning both these movements are taught the same way, it’s the need that determines the application.

In this blog I’ll cover 5 main reasons why squatting and deadlifting should be embraced and not feared.  We could spend hours talking about these movements and some may argue that there may be other movements with more benefit. Depending on the person, that may be true but as a whole…this is a great place to start and many would agree. 

1. It’s safe, cheap and easy to perform: You don’t need any crazy equipment at home or at the gym. It doesn’t cost thousands of dollars. There is nothing fancy about these movements that would require anything out of the ordinary to perform. You can perform both of these movements with little gym equipment such as a barbell with weights, dumbbells and/ or kettlebells or you can perform them using household items such as a buckets, sandbags, a bag of mulch or a large bag of rice..anything you can hold or pick up from the ground, you can use. These movements are beyond safe. These are movements we do every single day. Any time you pick something up from the ground, it’s a deadlift and any time you get in and out of chair, on and off the toilet, we are squatting. These are functional movements. 

2. Burns more fat/calories: The more muscle we carry on our body the more calories we burn. The deadlift and the squat focuses on larger muscles groups that require lots of energy to execute, which means the more energy we use the more calories we burn. 

3. Helps prevent injuries: various squatting and deadlifting ranges of motion help fix your bodies imbalances. They will strengthen weak hamstrings and help rebalance uneven hips. When done correctly, the movements help protect and strengthen major tendons and ligaments in larger areas such as your back (lower and upper), hips and knees.  More often than not when we have new members come to BCF and they talk about past injuries we have them start by squatting and hinging at the hips (deadlifts) within ranges of motion based on ability level. This application varies by person, but based on my experience, it’s a good place to start and we see great results on a daily basis. 

4. Healthy Posture: When new members walk in and we talk to them about past life experiences and if they have any issues or previous injuries they would like to discuss, 7 out of 10 talk about how they experience lower back pain from sitting at a desk all day. After doing an evaluation we quickly find, the majority of time it’s due to tight hips and poor posture/ shoulder mobility.  When deadlifts and squats are performed within a prescription that is safe for that individual person they start to strengthen their core and lower extremities. Good posture comes from the anterior (front) muscle and posterior (back muscles) working in harmony together. Perform squats and deadlifts through various ranges of motion and movement patterns is one of the best ways to combat a sedentary lifestyle.

5. Power, speed, strength and mobility: Squatting and deadlifting under various loads, through multiple ranges of motions, movement patterns is one of the best ways for athletes or your average everyday person to increase their overall strength, power, speed and increase their mobility. 

Hope you found these 5 tips helpful. If you want to learn more about our program and how we can help you reach your goals, sign up for a free no sweat intro or send us a text or email!

How CrossFit prepares you to be a more well rounded athlete

We have all been affected by COVID with the shut downs of businesses and other social norms however, more relatable to our topic today, the sport industry. Many of us have kids/ student athletes or maybe you’re an athlete yourself whose season is up in the air. We are sitting here wondering if and when the season will start and what will it look like. As of now we don’t know these answers and even when if the season does start back up, will it last? Life is all about what you make of it. Why not take this time to become better at your sport… to be a stronger, healthier, fast and more well rounded athlete.

One of the first things we often here from our members who played sports in high school and/ or college is “If CrossFit was around when I was playing, it would have been a game changer” The days of athletes being multi-sport athletes is few and far between. Many athletes focus on one sport year round as they feel that’s what will make them better, more talented athletes. What we miss in that theory is that many athletes develop over use injuries or become very biased towards that specific sport and the demands of those sports in their ranges of motion. The more well rounded you, the exposed you are to your weaknesses, the better athlete you will be. Plain and simple. Find your weakness. Become friend’s with your weakness. Kill your weakness.

What CrossFit does is it forces you to work on every aspect of your fitness as we define our level of fitness by how many weaknesses we have. We are only as strong or as good as your weakest point. We don’t focus on “looks” or “just strength”. We deliver a program that creates results by developing well rounded individuals who’s bodies become stronger and healthier. It doesnt matter age, ability or your specific sport. It doesnt matter if you play football, wrestle, hockey or volleyball or ski. Our job isn’t to make you better at those sports. There are plenty of sport specific coaches and training protocols out there to do that. Our program is focused on increasing your abilities by focusing on a principal of training 10 physical domains that target the both the physical and neurological systems. Our program focuses on training strength, cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, flexibility, coordination, accuracy, agility, balance, power and speed. Our program is measurable, repeatable and observable. We provide results. The end game….increase our work capacity. IF we can do more work in a shorter amount of time, we have increased our fitness and any athlete would find this to be the “secret pill” to their head turning success.

Here’s an example. If you are a long distance runner. We will not spend time working on the POSE running form. You have coaches for that. You will spend countless hours with them dialing in technique. What we will spend time on is making your legs stronger, increasing your power out of your posterior chain, increasing stability in your core, breathing techniques, cardio vascular endurance, stamina in your legs, agility, and coordination just to name a few. The fact is, if any of those areas become stronger, you become a better runner.

Below are some good articles to read about how CrossFit can prepare you or your athlete for a better season ahead.

Not too late for that 6 pack!

This blog isn’t about fad diets, unreasonable restrictions or that “perfect supplement” This blog is about 3 simple steps we can all do to transform your body into whatever you want it to look like. What makes this hard for folks is the simple concept of making the right choices and having the discipline to follow through.

Step 1:

Cut out the booze and stop drinking your calories. This alone will get you farther ahead than you could possible imagine. The extra sugar and calories adds up. Start by cutting out a couple drinks a week and slowly cut back more as time goes on

Step 2:

Eat portion controlled meals. The average American eats 30% more than needed. We do this because our plate sizes are too big. Start by eating off of smaller plates and don’t eat until you are full. Eat just enough to support your level of activity level. Eat only 3-4 meals a day - depending on body size and goals and no snacking between meals.

Step 3:

Eat more veggies. The majority of us don’t eat enough veggies and eat too much protein and dense starches/ carbs. Try this…at your next BBQ, load on the veggies before your protein and potato salad. Fill that plate up with veggies. If you are still hungry, eat more veggies and no extra protein or dense starches.

Get after it!!!

Meet someone we should all want to be like!

One year ago last week I met Sam. Sam was sent to us by her friend who was and still is a member with us. When I first spoke with Sam over the phone to set up a No Sweat Intro, she was hard to get a read on. I had no idea what to expect, except she stated she was overweight and needed to make a change in her life. I set a date for our meeting. When Sam walked in and I saw her, I thought to myself.. .yup she is overweight and she needs me. she needs to make a change. She needs Bionic. I hope she gives this a chance.

I was excited because I knew if she gave this a try, her life would change. I didn’t say any of this at first. We introduced ourselves and we talked. We spoke for about 45 mins. None of that conversation will be spoken about on my end because I believe it was private. In short, Sam realized she was in dire straits and needed a change. She is one of the few people I’ve ever met that was able to be that honest with herself. The fact that she could do that, which most people can’t, I knew she had the work ethic to make this change. But with the confidence of knowing she needed to make change, she was also filled with uncertainty, self doubt and the feeling of not being sure she could do CrossFit. A common misconception. I’m not sure if my words stuck with her or if she simply trusted the advice from her friend. To be honest I don’t give a shit. She started and that’s all I cared about. When we started the Foundations program, I quickly realized the entire program had to be modified for her. We were no longer going to focus on the 9 Fundamental movements of CrossFit and variations of them, but we were going to focus on basic life skills. My goal was to help her build confidence, comfort and work on short term goals. If we had that in place, the healthier life and being more “fit” would naturally follow.

When Sam started she couldn't do burpees. I taught her how to get off the ground safely without the use of support. This alone was a real struggle for her. Sam just did over 60 burpees in 7 mins last month. When Sam started she couldn’t run. It hurt her body. We started with just walking 10 meters at a time and slowly increased the distance. Now Sam leads a running group after the 6pm class each night and challenges other classes to do the same. Sam couldn’t jump rope at all and teared up the first time trying. Now she jump ropes like watching a jazzercise video from the 80’s. We started with Sam stepping up on a 10 inch box, now she gets up and over a 20in box with ease. Sam couldn’t finish a workout with sitting and resting to catch her breath, she now workouts 5-6 days a week. Sam couldn’t do a handstand when she started and now she is doing handstands and practicing walking on her hands. Sam also has recently taken up rollerskating. Sam was an introvert (at least in Bionic) when she walked in, completely uncomfortable and nervous and now her and i have an epic handshake we do whenever we see each other and has a personality that radiates throughout the entire membership.

Sam hated the idea of physical exercise. It was never something she thought she would enjoy. When we were forced to shut down due to COVID, Sam teared up at the fact that her second home wasn’t going to be there for the unforeseeable future.

What we do at Bionic is special. We help humans be better. We wouldn’t be able to do this without the members like we have at Bionic.

We should all try to be a bit more like Sam.

Read her story below her see her some pics of her transformation

“I started CrossFit last year at 300lbs. Never did any sort of exercise before this. Overweight, unhealthy, unhappy, and terrified! I hated physical activity, I grew up with parents that worked then came home and did nothing. I never knew physical activity was something to do everyday just for fun. My favorite pastime was eating large amounts of crap and not doing anything all day.

I had a friend who started CrossFit and loved it, she would rave about the box she went to, how great she felt, how amazing the programming was so I signed up to talk to a coach. I went there not prepared to change my life at all, just wanted to hangout with my friend more and as I spoke to the owner I just realized how much better life could be. I signed up for foundations that day, finished in a week and did my first WOD. I thought I was going to die but in a good way. I had never felt so powerful and strong I wanted to do it again and again and get stronger and do more! So that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve missed maybe a handful of classes, I go 6x a week, I’ve made so many new friends who love to go out and do things instead of go out to eat and do nothing. It is truly my favorite time of the day now. My life has been 100% changed for the better!

I’m currently down 84 pounds, still have a lot to go but I’m just eating right and making sure to move everyday. I even lost a shoe size! I’m so much more confident and comfortable in my own body now. I feel like the me I should have been for my whole life. I don’t know if that makes sense.

Just wanted to share a big milestone in my life with you all! I’m so glad I found CrossFit!!”

Just wanted to share a big milestone in my life with you all! I’m so glad I found CrossFit!!”

Steps we are taking to keep you safe.

Since re-opening after our 3 month shut down due to COVID I wanted to take this oppurtunity to share with you the steps we are taking to ensure everyone’s safety while visiting our facility.

1. We have signage on the front door requesting anyone who has had a possible exposure to not enter, to contact us via phone or email and to consult with a doctor

2. Once inside you are immediately met with a hand sanitizing station and signage about what we expect from our members regarding hand washing and cleaning equipment along with what you can expect from our staff in keeping you safe such as our cleaning procedures.

3. Once inside our workout area, there are stations established every is 8ft. We have provide each station with a bucket containing cleaning solution, cloths to clean equipment, hand sanitizer and anti-bacterial wipes

4. Once in your station, our staff will lead, education entertain you from the front of the facility and along the perimeters of the stations.

5. We have always been very strategic with our programing but since being back we have taken it step further to eliminate sharing or equipment.

6. We have marked areas on the wall mounted rig that can not be used to ensure that we are creating a safe space to be on the rig without being too close to one another.

7. Once the workout is complete, we ask all our members to clean all equipment and put it back where they found it. Once that is complete the staff will go through and give the equipment another cleaning.

8. We have changed our class hours so we ample time between classes to clean and to eliminate the congestion of people indoors.

   Class hours:

   Monday - Thursday

   5:30am, 9am, 12:30pm, 2pm, 4:30pm, 6pm

   Friday:

   Same as above expect the 4:30pm class is moved to 4pm and the 6pm class is moved to 5:30pm

9. We have a large outdoor area so when the weather permits (which we have been very luck with) people have the option to workout outside where the space is unlimited.

I hope you find this information useful and know that we are keeping up with local and national trends to ensure we are meeting the best safety measures for everyone.

Hope to see you all soon!

Bionic CrossFit

Let us help you get back on track

We made it….so far.

It is June 2020. Summer is here. This year has been a whirlwind of emotion to say the least. We quickly realized that there are many things we have zero control over and things we can control. We also realized that when left to fend for ourselves without our daily structure, the majority of us probably “fell off the wagon” a bit. We all ate too much, probably drank alcohol a bit too much and didn’t workout as much as we said we wanted to and we all probably added on a couple extra pounds. It happens. Such is life. BUT…there is nothing wrong with you. Its okay to feel out of shape, its okay to realize we added some weight and it’s okay to not feel okay with yourself. IF we want to changes, it’s important to understand that we need to start making choices in our life and take back control of what we can to make those positive steps forward. The fact remains most of us need some guidance. Thats what we are here for at Bionic CrossFit. We all want to look better naked. We all want to look better in a bathing suit and we all want to feel better in that favorite outfit and feel better physically and mentally. You owe this to yourself and you owe this to the people in our inner circle. You are not alone and we are here to help you accomplish all those things. There is no secret pill to success in reaching those above goals. It’s hard work, dedication and commitment, but you aren’t expected to do that alone. Here at Bionic our core beliefs is providing that for people. We provide structure, we provide the program, we provide the the community of encouragement and most of all we are the accountability and support. 

Here are some basic tips to help you start on your way.

1. Fix what you put into your body. You want a six pack. It’s nutrition. Yes sit ups and core workouts help, but it will never be out weight eating pizza and cheeseburgers even though they are so good.

2. Stop drinking alcohol and sugary drinks - that should be #1.

3. You need a fitness routine that provides a variety of domains to include weight training/ resistance training a variety of, bodyweight movements along with movements that improve the strength of your lungs and heart. We need to elicit a response from our body where we are at times breathing heavy and sweating . We want to train our heart and lungs as much as we train our other muscles. We are dealing with a pandemic where our lungs and respiratory system is attacked…lets make that stronger.

Here at Bionic CrossFit we provide all of that. The CrossFit methodology, has revolutionized the fitness industry. It has changed how we look at health, wellness and fitness in an undeniable way. Prior to CrossFit a lot of people looked at these things separately. In CrossFit these go hand in hand. The healthier we are in all facets of life, the longer we live. We provide a program that you don’t have to think about. Your only requirement is to show up. That’s it. Just drive your are car to our parking lot , get out of your car and walk into our building and we will take care of the rest. You don’t need to be strong, you don’t need to be in shape, you don’t need an athletic background, you don’t have to look a certain way and you don’t have to know what eating healthy looks like. But we can promise you, after spending time with us, you will have knowledge in all those things and the possibilities are endless. It’s a magical thing!

If you aren’t sure CrossFit is for you, send us an email info@bioniccrossfit.com or head to our website www.bioniccrossfit.com and click the link fo “No Sweat Intro” and we will set up a time to talk. That’s how we start our process..a conversation to learn more about you and for you to learn more about us. I just got off a 30 min phone call yesterday with someone who contacted us and had questions. We learned about each other. This person talked. I listened. I answered questions and I asked questions. This person is starting our on-boarding process (Foundations Program) next week. This person is making a change and decided to take control and realized they needed help doing so. 

We are here to help when you are ready!

Our stance on CrossFit.

This post is a follow up to the recent events in CrossFit and to our video posted regarding our initial thoughts on Sunday June 7th, 2020

This last week has not been easy. It’s a week I never thought I would have or maybe I was blinded. I haven’t really been eating, sleeping and for the most part kept myself in isolation so I could have the time and clarity needed to think. I told you the last time that I spoke to you, I would read, watch, listen and educate myself before making a decision as to which direction Bionic would go regarding maintaining our affiliation with CrossFit Inc. That’s exactly what I did. I spoke to people whom I believed would add value to my decision making, not just people that supported my initial thoughts. I wanted and needed to hear all sides to this argument. I needed perspectives that were not my own, but ones that I believed educated me the best. 

Let me first make it very clear that Greg Glassman’s insensitive, deplorable comments are not okay and not supported by Bionic or any of its staff. When a leader was needed most, he failed miserably. This, on top of past issues regarding his leadership over the past years made me question for the first time, if I still wanted to be associated with him. Not CrossFit, but Greg Glassman. We believe at Bionic that there needs to be change to the inequalities, racism and hatred throughout this world. Is there a racial disparity in the CrossFit community? Yes. Is there a disparity from white affiliate owners to African American affiliate owners? Yes. Do I have the answers? NO and I truly want to explore why that is and help in any way possible. 

We want to be leaders in that fight within our community. Bionic has always had a diverse population of members, both past and present, and believe we have a platform to stand on to make positive changes.

I believe in CrossFit with all my heart, to my core. I truly believe that the CrossFit community is one of the few things we have that connects people from all over the world regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or social status. I do not feel that should be overshadowed by one mans insensitive, deplorable comments and I do not believe that those same comments should erase or re-define what our community stands for. 

When you walk thru the grocery store, mall or airport and you see someone wearing a CrossFit shirt, you immediately have a connection and more than likely strike up a conversation with said person. We don’t care who they are or where they come from. We talk to them because we have this common bond of certain characteristics: we work hard, we dedicate our life to being healthy, we are loyal and we are committed. All characteristics of a decent human being regardless of what they look like. This is the same community of people that stood up to the challenge of COVID 19 when our realities were rocked to its core. We were scared. But we did not stop. We supported each other. We saw affiliate owners work tirelessly to provide their members with some type of normalcy and human connection. Members committed themselves to their owners and other members by continuing to pay their dues, donate what they could all so when life returned to normal, their second homes would still be there. And Just when we thought it was over, we were reminded of the inequalities, racism, hatred and police brutality when it reared its ugly head…again. At a time when we needed leadership the most from the  CEO of CrossFit, he failed. He remained silent and when he chose to speak, he was wrong and yet again and the CrossFit community rose to the challenge. The community was hurt. We were shocked. We demanded change. We demanded an apology. This was done in numerous ways, no way was better than the other but equated to the same. We wanted something done.

The community was heard. Greg Glassman retired from his position as CEO. A new leader was named.

Two nights ago I had a staff meeting. Prior to the meeting I made my expectations clear that I wanted all of the staff to be educated and informed on recent events so we could have a productive conversation. The meeting lasted about 2 hours. We all spoke individually. We all listened without judgement. The meeting ended and there were three main points we all unanimously agreed on. 1. We all care about the members more than you can imagine. 2. There is a big issue with inequalities in our world, black lives do matter and we all want to be part of a positive change and 3, We all believe in CrossFit, what it has done for us and what it really does stand for.  We support the current changes and are hopeful the efforts CrossFit Inc has taken will be the first of many positive steps in making our community stronger where everyone is represented and feels equal.

Dave Castro, has been appointed as the new CEO of CrossFit Inc. While many may not like his personality portrayed on social media, he is nothing short of a leader. If you have ever attended a training seminar or watched a CrossFit event, they are all orchestrated and lead by Dave Castro and his team. They are magical events to witness and experience from a leadership perspective. Dave Castro spent over 10 years as a Navy Seal. He is a born leader. He is a man who believes in a mission and being successful in that mission, as failure is not an option.  His new mission is leading CrossFit to better places and making positive change in our world. I say we give him a chance. 

Our affiliation with CrossFit is up for renewal in January 2021 at which point we will re-evaluate the new leadership of CrossFit and decide what is best for our community. We will continue to operate as Bionic CrossFit until that time.

CrossFit has changed the world of health and wellness as Apple or the iPhone revolutionized technology. CrossFit has changed millions of peoples lives for the better with their constant charity work and methodology. We are all people. We all make mistakes. We have all said something we regret, we have all done something we are not proud of. We have all been hypocrites and have all judged others. What’s important is how we grow and learn from these instances. My hope is we as a community can move forward with the ability to really listen without judgment, forgive without regret or fear and create a space where everyone has an equal place and voice

Respectfully, 

Chris and the entire Bionic CrossFit staff

Supplements: What are they and do they work?

Supplements

Introduction:

Before we begin, we’d like to preface this by saying that for 90% of us, supplements are overkill. Before the word “supplement” enters our brain, we should first analyze our diet and ensure that we’re eating whole, high quality, nutritionally dense foods… and we need to stick with that diet for some time before we reanalyze our bodies and take a data point. Trade the processed foods and sugary drinks for whole veggies, lean proteins, high quality fats, and stick with it for a few months: then take a data point and recalibrate. Now, you’ve straightened out your diet, you workout regularly, take mobility seriously, and you want to make gains or push your body further. Perhaps now we should talk supplements. Before adding random stuff to your diet, consult a health care professional and listen to your body, this is an unregulated industry so it’s very important you do your research before diving in head first.

Pre-Workout:

If you’ve been on social media or walked through any gym, you’ve probably seen people chugging down a preworkout before waltzing into a WOD. The idea here is that they want to get some energy flowing so they can work out harder and faster: thereby burning more calories and breaking down more muscle to get leaner and meaner. The problem with “Pre-workouts” is that they’re generally just a massive dose of stimulants, artificial sweeteners, and Vitamin B complex that juice you up to 11. The most common stimulants found in pre-workouts are caffeine and 𝛃-alanine. We all know caffeine, but many do not know 𝛃-alanine.

Caffeine is one of the one most widely taken drugs in the world (yes, it is a drug). It does a variety of things once in our blood stream, but one of the most noticeable effects is heightened awareness. Caffeine increases the energy metabolism in the brain while at the same time it turns down the cerebral blood flow making us much more alert. It also has been shown to increase the amount of torque output at joints while performing a movement (thing squatting and measuring the torque at your knee). A typical cup of coffee will have about 80mg of caffeine in it, most pre-workouts contain upwards of 120mg of caffeine per scoop.

𝛃-alanine is a non-essential amino acid (more on those later). High concentrations of 𝛃-alanine can give you the tingles and make you feel like you have the shakes. It acts as a very strong stimulant in high doses and will increase neural activity throughout the system, sometimes in a disorienting way - depending on your sensitivities.

If you really want to have a clean pre-workout, the best approach is to have a small meal with a proportional amount of carbs, proteins, and fats. A cup of black coffee and a Vitamin B pill (specifically Vitamin B5) will give you all the stimulant kick you need to get through a brutal workout. Be cautious of overly sweet products and be wary of leaning on these instead of checking your diet and sleep cycles.

Would we recommend for every day folks? No.

Further Reading:

1. https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1222/beta-alanine

2. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0040047

3. https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/2010/12000/Effect_of_Two_Doses_of_Caffeine_on_Muscular.8.aspx

BCAAs:

BCAAs (or Broken Chain Amino Acids) are the building blocks of protein. All proteins are made of amino acids, and our body produces 11 amino acids that are categorized as non-essential because we do not need to consume food to get them. There are 20 total amino acids, the other 9 we must consume through diet, these are essential amino acids and most BCAA products target these 9 amino acids, as well as boost some of the 11 we make naturally to boost their utility in the body after strenuous workouts.

So, do they work? Well, probably not in the way you think. Most BCAA utility occurs post-workout. Taking BCAAs prior to a workout beginning will prime your body for recovery faster than taking them afterwards, quite useful if you’re doing two-a-days. They also play a role in immunoregulation and can help the immune system work through inflamed areas due to strenuous workouts, mitigating prolonged soreness and fatigue in both the muscular system and the skeletal system. That being said, we need to do our homework before throwing down $50 and chugging a bright blue, sugary drink.

There are many BCAA products on the market that don’t give you what you’re paying for. Say you need 5g of L-glutamine for Bioavailability uptake as a supplement (one of the common amino acids in BCAAs) but your drink mix only contains 1.2g of L-glutamine per scoop. That means you’ll need to take a little more than 4 scoops to get a large enough dose to have a real effect. Meanwhile, your powdered stuff probably is stuffed with artificial sweeteners, anti-caking agents, electrolytes, and other things you don’t realize you’re consuming. You really want to ensure you’re getting a high quality product, one that probably doesn’t taste very good and probably doesn’t look very pretty. Below is the ingredient list for a very popular BCAA product:

Natural and Artificial Flavoring (Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium, FD&C Yellow #6).

You see, you don’t need all of that… you’re trying to take BCAA in - not flavorings, colorings, and TWO artificial sweeteners. Find a product that does the simple thing you want it to do. And if you’re taking whey protein after a workout while taking BCAAs pre-workout, you’re probably getting too many amino acids in your intake most are going to waste. You might literally be throwing you money away, one bathroom trip at a time.

Would we recommend for every day folks? Probably not, athletes yes.

Further Reading:

1. https://us.myprotein.com/sports-nutrition/essential-bcaa-2-1-1/10852382.html

2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/nonessential-amino-acid

3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18974721

Whey Protein:

Perhaps the most common supplement out there: we’ll focus on whey protein for this discussion, but if you are vegan or have dietary nutrition, you may want to dig into pea proteins, hemp proteins, soy proteins, and other non-dairy, non-meat product protein supplements.

Whey protein is exactly what it sounds like, it is the protein that is extracted from the whey of milk and comes in two main varieties: isolate and concentrate. Concentrate is the more commonly occuring product, isolate is a more highly-refined product with less stuff left over (more purity). The whole idea behind taking a protein supplement is that you are giving your body the building blocks to rebuild lean muscle after strength training, thereby allowing your body to recover and get stronger faster. To do this you can intake protein immediately after a workout with a fast digesting protein (whey isolate) or you can intake protein before bed that will absorb slowly overnight (casein).

For those of us that eat a highly nutritious diet with plenty of protein (recommended 08g-1.2g per 1kg lean body weight per day) we may not need to supplement protein. For those that can’t eat that much food in a day, you may want to think of a protein supplement.

Recent studies have started to look at the total uptake and utility of protein post workout vs. consuming before bed. If you are going to take a post-workout whey protein hit, ensure it is a whey protein isolate (about 25g). If you are going to take a pre-bedtime whey protein hit, ensure it is casein (about 40g). The studies show very favorable results to muscle performance, muscle strength output, and carbohydrate utilization in the muscles. You might want to play around with this structure and have a mild protein hit after your workout (maybe 15g whey protein isolate) and ingest another protein before bed (maybe 30g casein) to take the best possible outcomes. Everyone will vary.

Would we recommend for every day folks? Eat your food first, supplement as needed.

Further Reading:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5537849/

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6164527/

Creatine:

Creatine might be the second most popular supplement in the fitness community, right behind whey protein. It’s been the subject of much scrutiny in the past 30 years, and due to that - there is a mountain of research on this particular supplement. First things first, read the above paragraphs on BCAAs and Pre-workouts and apply all of the same logic here (sweet, fun colored products be damned!).

Creatine monohydrate is a naturally occurring molecule in the human body, we make about 1g per day naturally and if you eat red meat you’re getting an extra boost of creatine with every meal. It’s utilized in a variety of functions throughout the body, and the one we’re most interested in is the phosphate transport system within our cells. ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is the energy molecule of our bodies, it dumps a phosphate atom which releases energy into our cells, thus allowing them to do work. The more ATP you have, the more energy you have, the more work you can do. Problem is, we don’t carry around a lot of ATP in our cells, we make it on demand. This is why you can do 10 burpees at a blistering pace and then you start tapering off… you’ve burned out your ATP reserves and now your body is burning glucose and fat to make more ATP for your cells to consume.

Creatine monohydrate has to be loaded into the body, usually at a high dose for a week (25g per day) or so, then a moderate dose to maintain levels (5g per day). It has been shown to lead to increased muscle endurance, which will lead to more work being done and more muscle damage (this is good), that will increase strength gains over time. Some studies have even speculated that after just 1 week of creatine intake, our bodies adjust our anabolic environments by upregulating certain genes… meaning we will make more ATP than we would at our normal baseline.

For the most part, all signs seem to point to creatine being a very safe, and very useful supplement for those that partake in a lot of resistance training. Everybody's body will respond differently of course, and you want to ensure you are buying a high quality, highly pure product before loading, but you might want to continue research into this. Furthermore, taking creatine with carbohydrates and protein can increase creatine uptake into the cells better than on its own.

Some renal (kidney) issues have been noted with creatine supplements, but studies have shown many of these have been from preexisting conditions that were aggravated by an increased creatinine level in the body (byproduct). For healthy individuals, there should be no issues with our kidney function. You should, however, make sure you drink plenty of water with this product, as it does cause your body to hold water.

Would we recommend for every day folks? If resistance training, sure.

Further Reading:

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361923012001499

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3407788/

Fish Oil:

Omega-3 fatty acids: DPA, DHA, and EPA. EPA and DHA are most commonly found in fish oil pills. This supplement has use for everybody, whether active or not. Our bodies require a variety of fatty acids to do a variety of functions throughout the body, but Omega-3 fatty acids play a particularly crucial role in heart, brain, cellular, and inflammatory health. For our vegan and vegetarian friends out there, there are a variety of Omega-3 supplements from Flaxseed, hempseed, and others that are a bit chemically different but similarly effective.

Omega-3 fatty acids do a few amazing things: they upregulate our good cholesterol (HDL) and downregulate of bad cholesterol (LDL), they downregulate our cytokines which are little proteins our body produces to aid in signaling our immune system that often lead to inflammation, they reduce the formation of triglycerides - which are the precursors to our body storing fat, and they help keep our arteries clear of blockages. Quite a cool little molecule.

For the fitness freaks, it’s not a bad idea to add this to our morning routine. It can help keep our hearts healthy, or bodies from overreacting to the pounding stimulus of resistance training, and it can help ensure that our bodies are functioning at 100% while we ask it to go above and beyond. For non-fitness freaks, fortunately all of the same benefits apply to you as well… there isn’t a real reason to not take an Omega-3 fatty acid supplement.

Now, that being said, here comes the “pay attention to what you buy” speech. To get the most out of these fatty acids, you’ll need to get upwards of 500mg per day of DHA and EPA, so read the label! Most pills come in about 125-250mg per capsule, taking 2-3 capsules will usually do it. Whatever company you’re buying from, give them a quick google, make sure they’re practicing sustainable fishing - they’ll tell you right on their website if they are… if they don’t, well then maybe find a new brand.

Would we recommend to everyday folks? Yes.

Further Reading:

1. https://nccih.nih.gov/health/omega3/introduction.htm#hed2

2. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144828

3. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144828.t002

Member Highlight: Celeste

I’ve been an active member of Bionic CrossFit for over two years. I joined at a time where I had been physically inactive for a year due to a yearlong bout with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I knew I needed something to get moving and build my strength. My daughter had recently become a member, and highly recommended Bionic, so I decided to join. 

 I started with lots of excuses: I’m 62 years old…I’m recovering from cancer treatments….I have back issues. These excuses did not sway the coaching staff, and after a while, these excuses melted away for me, too. 

 With proper scaling, I gradually learned the movements and saw a general improvement in how I functioned in life. My strength was getting better than ever, I was moving and feeling better, and no more back issues. The time I spent going to the physical therapist for my back was now spent at Bionic. 

 After two years, I felt fantastic. 64 years old was never better. I felt unstoppable. And then I received the diagnosis that my lymphoma had returned. It was initially devastating. I was told I would be undergoing a stem cell transplant, which would be life changing. With the encouragement of the Bionic coaches and the Bionic family, I continued to work to my best capacity right up until my transplant. I was surrounded and encouraged by my fellow members and coaches. 

 My doctors were amazed that I was still able to do CrossFit, even though I was undergoing chemo before the transplant was to take place. 

 I went into Memorial Sloan Kettering mid-September. While there, I continued to do as much of a CrossFit workout as I was allowed to do, much to the amusement of my doctors. A usual stay is 4 to 5 weeks. I was released 2 days short of 3 weeks, and after just a month, was allowed to return to Bionic to workout in the box. 

 Coming back was not easy at first, but, each day, each WOD gets better and better, and I continue to surprise myself at what I am accomplishing. 

 Honestly, I don’t know what I would do without Bionic, the coaches and the family. 

 Bionic CrossFit is my drug. My doctors confirm it. The reason I did so well with the transplant is because I came into it healthy, and I continue to pursue that level of fitness. 

 This is why I continue to CrossFit at Bionic. #fightforit #wearebionic

Member Highlight: Tiago

My name is Tiago Santos and I have been an active member of Bionic CrossFit since February 2018.

When I started CrossFit I was looking for a place to better myself both physically and psychologically and I am so happy that the first place that come up upon my google search was Bionic in Newington CT.

Since I started I have been feeling so much healthier and productive on my own professional and personal life, I am more active with my kids and my energy level took an incredible boost.

Bionic helped me overcoming some of my worst fears about weight lifting and cardio as well as helping me psychologically during not so great periods of my life, and believe as been many recently...

I love the community within our gym and the support and cheering from all the athletes that I frequently interact with and I can honestly say that I have made many new friendships.

Since I have been a member I have also participated on my first terrain race and I finished first for my heat This was an incredible achievement for me and I would never had been able to do it without the training and conditioning from Bionic.

I also want to mention that they have incredibly talented trainers that always promote for the athletes good performance training and techniques and healthy living habits.

Just to wrap it up a big thanks to Christopher Vasseur for believing in me from day one.

Thank you Bionic team for all you do!