3 ways to manage your overwhelming stress

I recently read an article on how regular meditation may be more beneficial than a holiday.

The article reports on 3 groups of people, those that take a holiday, novice and regular meditators.
They measured improvements in stress and depression.

All groups showed improvements immediately after the study and what was most interesting is the regular meditators still showed improvements in their scores 10 months after the study whilst holiday takers returned back to their baseline.

You might know the feeling of returning from a holiday, coming back to work, you hit the ground running and feel like you never went on holidays.
Why is that?
Is it because we don't have good strategies for dealing with stress?

I'm looking at my day to day lifestyle, finding ways to improve.

Meditation and mindfulness show to have many positive effects on lifestyle. 
It can help:

- Manage stress and anxiety
- Enhance awareness and creativity
- Improve concentration and increase productivity
- Improve sleep
- and many, many more

I have tried a few mindfulness/meditation practices, here are a few of that are working well for me.

1. Colouring books, recently this has been my favorite activity, it occupies my mind, hands and the repetitive motion helps me focus.

2. Stretching, I've started blocking out 10 min in the middle of the day. Choosing 3 stretches, holding for 2-3min each, focusing on breathing.

3. Headspace app, I haven't quite mastered meditation yet. I often fall asleep, I don't know if that's a good or bad thing but I certainly feel relaxed.

I'd encourage everyone to find ways to meditate, manage stress or practice mindfulness if it can make a difference in your concentration, productivity, and health, why not.

If you need more reasons to start meditating today read 20 Scientific Reasons to Start Meditating Today.

Read the article here Regular meditation more beneficial than vacation

I'd love to hear how you go with this. Feel free to email me on katdalecki@creaturefitness.com.au.

Guilt Free Eating Out

Guilt Free Eating Out

In this day and age where we eat out at least one to two times a week I believe this is a topic worth reading about.

When picking a restaurant/place to eat you need to keep in mind that most restaurants are going to be using the lowest quality cooking materials.

Vegetable oil, flour, and very low quality meats. Your best bet when choosing a restaurant is to implement one or more of the following:

Have A Light Healthy Snack Before Heading Out

If you have a social event on and have the unfortunate case of not being able to control the venue have a light snack before you head there. In most cases this will help control you going off the rails with food portions but still allow you to enjoy the food like everyone else. Portion size is the key here!
 

Your Food Should Be Cooked On A Grill

A REAL grill that leaves grill marks on your food.
The flat ones kind of like McDonalds are ALWAYS covered in cheap cooking oils to keep it greased up.
 

Say No To Free Or Complimentary Starters

Never let the waiter bring tempting things to the table like bread or chips with your food. Just having them there will tempt you, so ask if they can wrap your food in lettuce or ask for a side of veggies instead of other options ;) ;)
 

At A Wedding Or Event - Tell The Staff You Are Gluten Intolerant.

Pretend to be allergic to Gluten so that you get better quality food and the chef is careful while making your food. They usually will cook your food on a separate pan if you ask  :)

Happy to help.

Feel free to send this to your family, friends and colleagues and remember let me know what else you want me to write about, video blog or create content for - I am here to help!

Questions to marco@creaturefitness.com.au

Hack your health with these 3 products

Hack your health with these three products

For this new postI want to share some hacks (nutrition wise) you guys can use to optimise your health and also achieve your goals.

What do I mean by hacks?

These are certain products which give you the most bang for buck, have a read below, see which ones might work for you based on your goals and let me know how you go!

All Natural Bakery OAT SLICE

If weightloss is your primary goal then skip this one ;) ;)
If performance and/or weight gain is your primary goal then read on below!!

First, lets look into the oat slice a little further:
Net 100g
Calories 430
Carbs 52 grams!!!
Fat 20 grams
This thing is a MONSTER!

To put this into perspective you'd roughly need around 200-250g of rice to get the same amount of calories and macro's this has!

BULKING PROTOCOL
Depending on what your nutrition looks like right now and how well your body responds to carbs add in 1 oat slice a day for 1-2 weeks and monitor weight gain and overall body composition. If weight goes up by 1/2 a gram or more per week keep it up.
If it doesn't review your overall food intake because it might mean you aren't eating enough!

PERFORMANCE PROTOCOL
Either use this pre or post workout to get your heavier carbs in. Rule of thumb is to have an oat slice either 2 hours before or 2 hours after training.

Brunswick Original Kippers

If you cannot stand the taste of tuna and aren't a fan of wild fish then this isn't for you - however you should really work on finding some type of seafood dish/recipe you enjoy ;) Check out @fuellikeanathlete on instagram and facebook for some recipes you might like.

A kipper is a whole herring, a small, oily fish, that has been split in a butterfly fashion from tail to head along the dorsal ridge, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold-smoked over smouldering woodchips - got this from google ;)

But why eat them?
These 100g tin is a super healthy mid-morning or afternoon snack (or meal for those lighter eaters) and is jam packed full of protein and fats (good ones)!

Let's look into this one a little further also:
Net 100g
Protein 15.7 grams
Fat 10.6 grams
EPA & DHA 1800mg
0 carbs and 0 sugar

This is where the magic happens with this product.
The recommended daily EPA and DHA (Fatty acids which your body needs) intake is around 2000mg-3000mg depending on the person. This small 100g tin of wild fish contains nearly all of your omega 3 (EPA and DHA) needs which means you won't need to supplement with fish oil tablets ;) ;) ;)
 

Kombucha

Looking to improve your gut health? Do you sometimes suffer from bloating, stomach cramps etc?

Due to the fermentation process involved in creating kombucha, it contains a large number of healthy bacteria known as probiotics. These bacteria line your digestive tract and support your immune system, as they absorb nutrients and fight infection and illness.

Since 80 percent of your immune system is located in your gut, and the digestive system is the second largest part of your neurological system, it’s no surprise that the gut is considered the “second brain.”

Drinking kombucha every day can help you to maintain peak immune health, which trickles down into an impressive number of benefits for your overall health.

The plus side to all of this is they come in some great flavours, are enjoyed a lot due to its 'fizziness' and are super low in calories!

Happy to help.

Feel free to send this to your family, friends and colleagues and remember let me know what else you want me to write about, video blog or create content for - I am here to help!

Questions to marco@creaturefitness.com.au

Why your mobility might be affecting your performance

Why your mobility might be affecting your performance

Now we all know class starts with a very decent warm up/activation series and then primers for strength/circuits but how about our warm downs?

OR the warm down specific to you.

Your coach and yourself know you have certain areas that need to improve more than others so here is another annoying reminder why you need to stretch more after class!

Now, I'm going to go into more detail about the most common areas we see tightness in and why you need to focus on them more. As you read through you'll find 1 or 2 which relate to you - so take note and get into them!

At the end of this you'll have a stretching catalogue (an old school effective one free to download) where you can cherry pick exercises that you need to warm down with and overall improve your mobility.

Enjoy!

1. THORACIC/SHOULDER MOBILITY

When we talk about the thoracic we are talking mainly about the area in the photo 'kyphotic curve'. The term kyphotic relates to the excessive rounding of the mid to upper back which we see a lot with office workers and the younger generations who grow up nowadays with technology attached to them.

Reduced mobility around the shoulder can lead to neck pain, shoulder impingement and rotator cuff strains. The problem is, we don’t notice our stiff thoracic spine until we hit the gym and start to try and push our shoulder into positions where we may no longer have the mobility to go.

So rather than trying to fix the neck or the shoulder impingement, I want you to start thinking about prevention, and make thoracic mobility exercises a normal part of your daily routine

2. ANKLE MOBILITY

To achieve the perfect squat, we must first be able to achieve proper range of motion in our ankles.

The foundation of most of our movement is in our feet, so if your chest is dumping forward drastically when you air squat, take a closer look at your ankle flexibility. How well are you able to achieve flexion? If the answer is that you have a 90 degree angle happening at your ankles, then you may need to spend more time on mobility in that area. 

3. HIPS

Hips are a major topic! Without writing an essay about it here is what you need to know.

Restoring hip mobility will help in several areas. It should reduce or eliminate lower back and knee pain stemming from overcompensation. It can improve your power output by allowing you to fully engage your posterior chain in training exercises, while making them safer.
 

Happy to help.

Feel free to send this to your family, friends and colleagues and remember let me know what else you want me to write about, video blog or create content for - I am here to help!

Questions to marco@creaturefitness.com.au

Reflect on the open and start working towards your new goal

Reflect on the open and start working towards your new goal.

So far this post should encourage some thinking about

1. your goal(s)
2. the process involved in achieving that goal 

Many of you have started replying back to me which is fantastic! I am reading and responding to all responses so please keep them coming. Especially if you need help or feedback. 

Lets dig a little deeper into “The process” 

Here are some hypothetical scenarios for the process of achieving a training goal. 

1. Achieving a high level gymnastics skill
Eg straddle press from the floor
Minimum time investment 12- 36 months
What would training look like? 
3-4 hours per week on mobility
3- 4 hours per week on joint, core and upper body strengthening
Compliance with nutrition- 90- 99%
De-emphasising weight training- especially for the lower body- (Yes, this means giving up squatting :/)
Personal characteristics of the person likely to succeed at this goal.
Doesn’t mind working out solo for long periods of time. Is diligent with mobility and is very productive in sessions outside of a class setting. Is always willing and able to see a coach face to face on a regular basis.
Social life- largely unaffected as long as nutrition stays perfect- bragging rights very high and Instagram worthy once skill is ticked off.

2. Achieving a moderate level gymnastics skill
Strict ring muscle up- assuming pre- requisite strict pull ups are already present
Minimum time investment 6- 12 months
What would training look like? 
Attending CrossFit classes consistently for general preparedness. Minimum 4 times per week. 
Dedicated mobility training- 2 hours per week
Dedicated joint, strength, core work 2 hours per week. 
Compliance with nutrition? 80 - 85% of the time.
Social life- unaffected
Personal characteristics- this type of person is motivated by a group and finds is consistent with attending classes at the gym. Willing to do extra training solo a few times per week after class and attends gymnastics classes.
Willing to see a coach for individual coaching on a semi regular basis to check in on progress. 

Write down something like this for the goal that you have set. 

Does the process impact your life in a positive way? 
Does this process help you become a healthier person?
Does the process challenge you enough? 

If you answered yes, awesome!

If you have written down a goal like

Qualify for the CrossFit regionals

Or

Run a marathon

..and you aren’t quite sure what that entails. Speak to someone else who has recently achieved the same goal. Have a chat to them about how they went about achieving it. 

Alternatively, lets sit down and discuss it together face to face. Just respond to this email to book in a time :)

Once you know your goal and the process that you are committing to, its time to start chipping away at your goal. 

I recommend using some type of Training Journal. 
Did you know that Lachy and Raph created a The Mind Muscle Project Training Journal to help people all around the world achieve their training goal in 100 days. 

You can check it out here and if you use the code “Creature” you get 10% off and you can pick it up at the gym.

What is the main purpose of having a training journal? 
ACCOUNTABILITY.. knowing that you have to open it up every day and write down a few things about what you did to work towards your goal.

I recommend the MMP training journal because all the prompts are built in. All you have to do it open it up and answer questions. Plus it is packed full of high quality content from fitness professionals from all around the world. 

Post Open Reflection
Participating in The Open is normally filled with highs and lows and lots of learning experiences. This applies whether you are a first timer or an experienced athlete. 
It takes an enormous amount of preparation in the off season and during the five weeks of competition it is mentally and physically demanding. It is important to reflect on your achievements and or failures once it is complete. 

I like to set it out like this

3 things that went well
1. Executed most workouts according to plan
2. Only re-attempted 1 workout (18.2)
3. Gave FULL effort in each and every workout

3 things I could improve on for next time
1. Be less distracted during training sessions. Specifically, I will aim not to look at my phone or respond to emails during training.
2. I felt that my training suffered during the open period. I started taking too many rest days in the final 2 weeks of the open.
3. Spend more time during the year working to improve my deadlift.

Once that is done and dusted, Ev's extra's will start digging into Nutrition :) 

Coach Ev