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What is more functional than carrying objects over a distance? The farmers walk is an incredibly potent movement that will give you a whole lot of bang for your buck. You don’t have to be a competitor in World’s Strongest Man to benefit from farmers walks. They are an excellent exercise to build muscle, burn fat, improve core strength, increase work capacity, and more!

How to do a Farmers Walk

• Stand between a set of dumbbells, kettlebells or handles. Deadlift the weights (brace!).
• Stand tall, look straight ahead and brace your belly.
• Take small, fast steps. Keep your chest up and shoulders back. Take small breaths and maintain your brace.
• When your grip starts to give, carefully place the weights back down.

Benefits of the Farmers Walk

Build Muscle

The farmers walk puts a whole lot of muscle under tension for the duration of the movements. Your forearms are gripping, your biceps and triceps are stabilizing your shoulders. Your upper back is keeping your shoulders back, your traps are burning and your core is working to prevent you from crumbling under the weight. Meanwhile, your calves, quads, hamstrings and glutes have to move you forward. The extended duration of the walk means more time under tension, and more muscle working for more time means greater hypertrophy. Walks have also been shown to stimulate a favorable hormonal response for muscle growth.

Train Grip

Anyone who has done farmers walks knows that they are brutal on the forearms. They are a great way to improve hand and forearm strength, which will help improve your grip endurance on CrossFit workouts like DT that are murder on the forearms!

 Core Strength

Walking under a sustained load is a huge test on core strength and stability, and a great way to train your midline. Without a strong trunk, you will crumble under the weights, so you must lock in and brace for the duration of the walk.

Increased Work Capacity

CrossFit defines fitness as ‘increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains.’ The ability to do more work is what separates a CrossFit athlete. Farmers walks are a great way to improve conditioning and are incredibly taxing on the cardiovascular system. The sustained load challenges posture and position and requires mental toughness to hold on to the weights when every muscle in your body is screaming and your heart rate is jacked. Regularly training farmers walks is an excellent way to increase work capacity in a very measurable way, i.e. work capacity = force x distance / time. (Increase weight or distance, or decrease time, and you know you are getting fitter.)

As you all know, farmers walks have a regular place in our programming at CrossFit Bloomfield, and for good reason. Don’t let the simplicity fool you, farmers walks are one of the most productive exercises that you can incorporate in your training.

The hollow body position is essential for our gymnastics training at CrossFit Bloomfield. Mastery of this basic position is a prerequisite for the fun and flashy skills that we all want to rush to. Take the time to understand and develop your hollow body and it will pay off. Want better dips, pull-ups, handstands and muscle-ups? Get hollow!

What is a hollow body position?

Lay flat on the ground and squeeze your belly button down and in, so your lower back touches the ground. Squeezing your butt and abs, with your arms overhead and legs outstretched, raise your shoulders and legs off the ground. Make sure your lower back stays pushed into the ground and your ribs stay tucked in! Toes should be pointed, elbows straight and legs squeezed together.

Check out this video by GymnasticsWOD.

Take a look at the image above. In a neutral position, we have a small curve in our lumbar spine that keeps our lower back off the ground. In a hollow position, we tuck the pelvis (posterior tilt) and stack the spine as straight as possible, causing our back to flatten into the ground. This ‘stacked’ position is what allows gymnasts to seemingly effortlessly hold a handstand for long periods of time.

This position challenges the anterior chain, strengthening the diaphragm, abdominals, hip flexors, quads, and more. If you have any weakness if the front of your core, the hollow body position will expose it.

So how can you improve it?

Hollow body holds are a great way to build core strength endurance, so that we can handstand walk longer, do more pull-ups and generally be more stable for longer periods of time. The best way to train the hollow body position is to just do it!

Hollow holds may be basic, but they are not easy, so start with modified versions such as arms by the side or legs bent in. You can also start with your arms and legs higher off the ground, and gradually build up to lowering them until they are just inches from the ground.

Start with shorter holds, building up to a full 60 seconds for 3-5 sets.

Want rock solid core strength? Skip the sit-ups and try hollow holds instead!

1. Age and Occupation?

I will be 52 next month.  I’m a CPA and currently a consultant providing training and support of QuickBooks Accounting Software.

2. How long have you been doing CrossFit?

I’ve been doing CrossFit since May 2012.

3. Why do you CrossFit?

I was curious after watching the CrossFit Games, and have been hooked ever since.  I actually plan my work schedule around CrossFit.  The people and coaches are great, the variety of the WOD’s ensures I’m never bored and I am constantly challenged.  I don’t feel my age and believe CrossFit is a major contributor to feeling young.

4. What is your favorite movement? 

I’m not sure I have a favorite movement.  I do enjoy the feeling I get when Georgia tells me to go heavier, I think to myself there is no way I can complete the wod at this weight, but I always do, Thank you, Georgia!

5. What is your least favorite movement? 

Definitely, deadlifts.  My hamstrings hate deadlifts!

6. Do you follow a particular diet to fuel your training? Favorite foods? 

I try to eat clean, staying away from processed foods.  When I’m eating clean, I feel better, look better and definitely notice my performance is better.  As for favorite foods, I love sweets!  I try to stay away from the sugar, once I start eating it, it’s too hard to stop.  Thanks to trying the Whole Life Challenge a few years ago, I have found recipes for sweets that help keep me in check.

7. What are your short-term goals? 

I would love to perfect my form.  I constantly hear Georgia or Jordan say, “get under the bar”.  After 4 years you’d think I’d have my form down, I’m a work in progress.

8. What are your long-term goals?

Just to keep on coming in my 4+ days per week and continue pushing myself.

9. What is your biggest achievement at CFB?

Kicking up into a handstand.  I had a fear of being upside down, it took 2 1/2 years, and now I can’t imagine why it took so long.

10. If there was a WOD named after you, what would it be?

Not sure of the movements I would choose, but  it would be a good long chipper or a version of Filthy 50.

Who doesn’t love the bright orange dressing served at Japanese restaurants? Well now you can make it yourself! I experimented with this recipe by special request of my husband, who was so impressed that we have now had it for weeknight dinners two weeks in a row. I hope your family enjoys it too!

Ingredients

12oz carrots, roughly chopped

6 scallions, white parts only

2 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

1 1/2 tbsp honey (you could substitute with a couple of dates)

2 1/2 tbsp tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)

2 tbsp sesame seed oil

4 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

Salt to taste

Method

1. Place carrots, scallions and ginger in a high speed food processor (I use my NutriBullet) and pulse until finely chopped.
2. Add all other ingredients. Process until smooth. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
3. Keeps for about a week in the fridge. I would recommend refrigerating before serving, as the flavor develops and it thickens slightly. This recipe makes enough for 8 big servings of salad. I serve it over a fresh, crunchy salad of baby kale, snow peas, cucumber, radishes and red onion.

Congratulations to everyone that participated in the 2016 CFB Summer Nutrition Challenge! The results were amazing and it is incredible to see the positive, healthy and sustainable changes that so many of you have made.

Over the past 5 weeks, you guys have gotten creative in the kitchen and picked up new cooking skills, set a positive example and improved the health of your families, treated your bodies with the respect they deserve, and had some impressive physical transformations too.

Now, without further ado, our winners are as follows.

1st place: Janna Marinko

2nd place: Nadia Manly

3rd place: Sarah Tate

Congratulations ladies for putting the work in and getting some amazing results. Come collect your prizes from us next week!

An athlete becomes great by always asking ‘why?’ A great coach will always have an answer for that why.

In the coach-athlete relationship, each individual has a responsibility.

I promise that as your coach I will always have a reason for everything you do in the gym. Every warm-up and workout I program will have a specific purpose. I will only ask you to change a movement or alter a load if I feel it will benefit you. I will be critical of your movement and hold you to a high standard. And when you ask why, I will have an answer for you. I will freely admit that I am (and will always be) still learning. I don’t know 1% of what there is to know, and as I continue to learn, what I think I ‘know’ will change. What I can promise, is that I will always endeavour to expand my knowledge, and if I can’t give you a good answer on the spot, I will seek one out.

In return, I need you to hold up your end of the relationship. Ask me ‘why?’ Keep me on my toes and pick my brain. If you are unsure what a certain cue means, please ask. For selfish reasons, I want to coach a hungry and excited athlete- I am passionate about movement and I want to talk about it! For your benefit, the best way to improve is to dissect and truly understand why I ask you to squat/deadlift/handstand in a particular way. Demand answers and I will give them to you.

Together, we will hold each other to the highest standard. Deal?

You may have noticed that we have been challenging your counting skills as of late. Here are a few of the reasons why tempo has been showing up with increasing prevalence in our programming.

In case you haven’t been paying attention in class, there are four numbers that make up the tempo of an exercise. This could look be 2-1-2-1.

• The first number is the eccentric, or lowering phase. Think lowering into a squat.
• The second number is the pause at the bottom. Think sitting in the bottom of a squat.
• The third number is the concentric, or lifting portion. Think standing up a squat. This is sometimes represented by an X, which means to explode up as fast as possible, relative to the load.
• The fourth number is the top of the lift. Think standing upright at the top of a squat.

So why all the counting?

Improved body awareness. I’m talking the quality of your movement. By slowing down the movement, you can’t rush through weak spots. You are forced to really feel every phase of the lift and consider what muscles are working. This is valuable for beginners and more advanced athletes alike. Consider the overhead squat- most people struggle in the bottom position, but a 5 second pause down there will force you to consider technique and get more comfortable. Instead of racing through you are forced to really own and understand the position.

Greater control and stability. The tempo removes the ability to bounce out of the bottom of a squat or bounce a barbell of your chest when benching. Think less stress on your joints and more on the muscles, where we want it. The emphasis on slow, controlled movements removes the temptation to go too heavy, which is going to reduce your chance of injury.

You’ll get stronger. Without that bounce and with control, you will place more of the stress on your muscles and less on your joints. As well as being safer, it will also make you stronger, as the greater stress from time under tension will drive adaptation. By spending more time in your weak spots, as tough as it may be, you will come out of it a stronger lifter. This is especially true for more advanced lifters who may find that they have hit a plateau.

Take advantage of the tempo and count those slow seconds, and you might just benefit from it!

Creatine is one of the most popular and well-researched supplements on the market, widely used by professional and amateur athletes. With all the BS of the supplement industry, it can be confusing to know what is really worthwhile, so I’m going to answer some common questions on creatine to help you decide whether it could be of benefit to your training.

What is it?

Creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid that is found in meat and fish, and is produced by the human body and stored in the muscles as phosphocreatine. It plays as essential role in the ATP-CP energy system, which is responsible for high-intensity, explosive and short-duration exercise.

Why take it?

Put simply, creatine is essential for regenerating ATP, the energy that is responsible for short, powerful and explosive movements. While the body does produce creatine and it is found in meat and fish, taking a supplement is a way to guarantee that your muscles’ creatine storage is fulfilled. With more creatine available, the body can produce more energy, allowing you to train harder for longer. You can squat a few extra reps, or sprint a second longer. Greater work capacity means faster gains, as the increased stimulus will drive gains in strength.

Numerous research studies have supported claims that creatine supplementation helps to improve body composition and strength and sprint performance. It is most popular and effective for football players, weightlifters and strength athletes and sprinters, while there is little evidence to suggest it improves aerobic exercise (which uses oxygen rather than ATP for energy).

Side effects?

Common myths include that it causes muscle cramps and that it is bad for your kidneys. There is no published literature to support these myths or to suggest that it is unsafe in any way.

How should I take it?

Go for a 100% creatine monohydrate powder- it is inexpensive and is the most effective. Avoid nasty added ingredients and artificial sweeteners. Add it to your pre or post-workout shake or smoothie.

How much? 5g daily, every day, is a good starting point. Big guys might go closer to 10. Experiment to find out what works for you. Don’t bother with a loading phase, just be consistent;

Should I take it?

It is entirely personal and up to you and your goals. Like everything, what works for some will not work for others. Based off my own experience and research, I do supplement with creatine and have found it to be effective and without negative side effects. If you are a performance-focused athlete who wants to get stronger, faster and more powerful, it is worth considering. If your goals are health and longevity, then it is unnecessary.

Ultimately, no supplement will transform you. Hard work, good sleep and a solid foundation of good nutrition are what really matter. Get the basics down first before you experiment with any supplementation, or you will be wasting your time and money.

1. Age and Occupation?  

50 years young, Animation/Lighting Artist.

2. How long have you been doing CrossFit?  

This is my 5th month.

3. Why do you CrossFit?  

Get back into and stay in shape.

4. What is your favorite movement?  

Shoulder press

5. What is your least favorite movement? 

Jump Rope

6. Do you follow a particular diet to fuel your training? Favorite foods?  

I eat a lot of fruits and veggies, chicken, fish, yogurt and grains. Not a lot of red meat.

7. What are your short-term goals? 

Regain my endurance and lose a few pounds.

8. What are your long-term goals?  

Stay CROSSFIT!!!

9. What is your biggest achievement at CFB? 

A loss of weight and a regain of endurance.

10. If there were a WOD named after you, what would it be? 

The HAMMAR!

For Time:

400 m run

45 sec plank

400m run

15 burpees

400m run

45 sec plank

Mac and cheese without the dairy and grains? No gooey cheese or bacon for extra flavor? I was skeptical at first, too. But trust me. Somehow, this dish just works. Cashews and nutritional yeast create a creamy and remarkably cheesy sauce, while spaghetti squash is an awesome noodle substitute. Fried sage leaves add a little extra herby kick to take this dish to the next level. No, it’s not Kraft, but it is a rich and comforting dish that is totally healthy!

So what the heck is nutritional yeast? It is deactivated yeast, rich in vitamin B-12 and other B vitamins. It is vegan, gluten and sodium-free, but super flavorful, despite the somewhat unappetizing name. Read more about it here.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ spaghetti squash (cook 2 and save the spare ½ for another meal, like Pesto noodles)
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 sweet onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Cheese sauce

• 2 cups cashews, soaked overnight and drained
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 3 tbsp nutritional yeast (I use Bragg)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 ½ tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste

Topping

• Large handful sage leaves + ¼ cup olive oil (optional)
• 1/3 cup almond meal

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cut your spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and pierce skins a few times. Place cut-side down on a baking tray and bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until just soft. You will know it’s ready when strands come away easily with a fork, so test if you’re unsure. The noodles should be tender, not mushy. I suggest doing this a little ahead of time so they have time to cool before handling.
2. Place all sauce ingredients in a high-speed food processor. Process until smooth. Add a little water, bit by bit to thin it out into a thick and creamy sauce. Adjust seasoning as necessary, (I added a little more mustard and lemon juice).
3. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frypan. Add onions and garlic and cook over a low heat until golden and caramelized.
4. Using a fork, remove the seeds and stringy center, then carefully pull apart 1 ½ spaghetti squash into noodles. Place in a 3 qt baking dish.
5. Pour onions over noodles, then top with sauce. Slowly mix with a fork to combine, taking care not to mush up the noodles. Sprinkle with almond meal.
6. Preheat oven to 400. In a small frypan, heat ¼ cup olive oil over a low heat. 5 leaves at a time, fry sage leaves until crispy (this only takes 5 sec or so), removing with a fork and placing on paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with sea salt.
7. Once all leaves have been fried, drizzle the remaining oil in the frypan over the cheesy squash. (If you skip the sage leaves, just drizzle the dish with a little extra olive oil.) Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until warmed through and slightly brown on top. You may want to broil for a minute at the end.
8. Sprinkle with fried sage leaves and serve immediately. Pairs nicely with my Kale and Cauliflower Salad!

Tip: You could use the sauce over cauliflower or zucchini noodles, too!