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April 1, 2014

4/2 "Wednesday"

Wednesday's Movements: Strength: Clean pull, Clean, JerkWOD: Squat Clean, Handstand push-upsMember News: -For now, we're going to be removing the 930am classes. Stay tuned for other class times to potentially be popping up! We're always reevaluating our class times as the need arises.My friend Collin contacted me a few days ago and prompted me to do a 40-day challenge with him. Challenges keep life exciting, so, I agreed and he informed me that for the next 40 days, I would need to take a cold shower in the morning for a minimum of 3 minutes. I told him that I liked my hot showers and he told me that "life's too short to live like a b****!". Besides building character, cold showers have also significantly aided in my recovery process, probably because they mimic something similar to an ice bath. In the realm of recovery, another kind of shower we can talk about is the "contrast shower".The contrast shower has been around for a long time and is actually one of the world's oldest practices for optimizing and maintaining recovery. Contrast showers replicate something similar to a compression strap and deal with switching between hot and cold water for time intervals. "The application of contrasting temperatures of water encourages a pumping action of your body, moving blood from your organs and tissues to the skin and periphery, and back again. The increased circulation results in increased deliver of nutrients and oxygen to all tissues, allows white blood cells to distribute themselves appropriately, and allows tissues to rid themselves of toxins, metabolic wastes and by- products of inflammation."***If you're interested in braving these steamy to brisk temps, here's some recommendations:"Start with a warm flow, stay under for 5-10 minutes. Some suggest different temperatures to address different issues or types of training(warmer after strength training, cooler after endurance efforts). Follow the warm, relaxing period with 1-2 minutes or longer of (GENUINELY) cold water, which causes the blood vessels in the skeletal musculature to close down, restricting circulation. Once you are just about to begin shivering turn the faucets back to hot water, which opens the blood vessels again, facilitating increased circulation. Similar to post-workout cool-down practices, where movement of the limbs assists the heart with circulation, the hot-cold cycle causes mechanical actions of the vascular system to aid blood flow, spiriting the exhaust of energy production away from the muscles, and supplying oxygen and nutrients to speed recovery."**Repeat for several cycles.Maybe you're not into the whole 40-day cold shower pact but contrast showers are definitely something worth considering!***From Dr. Jason Marr**From Mark Twight

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