CrossFit Koncepts

Did you know that 30-50% of adults complain of poor sleep and over a third get less than 07 hours a night?

Researchers revealed a study last week that showed that people who regularly do resistance training (aka weight lifting) added an additional 40 minutes of sleep! Study participants were comprised of people who had difficulty regularly getting over 07 hours of sleep, and the addition on weight lifting, increased their sleep times by almost 10 percent. Participants that did aerobic exercise only experienced a 23 minute increase. In other words, Weight lifting doubled the amount of additional sleep they got.

So why does weight training improve the quality of sleep? It could be related to the fact that resistance exercise releases the hormones that are associated with high quality sleep. It could also be related to the the fact the weight training takes a more substantial toll on the body that requires deeper, more comprehensive recovery to bounce back from. Simply, more intense the work, the more intense the recovery needed to bounce back from it.

Follow this link to get the full story... and get into the gym today for some Iron Therapy!

Can getting strong, and staying strong, help you live longer?

The answer is yes! Lifting weights for just 30 minutes a week can lower risk of death from all causes. That is an amazing finding!

It has been known for quite a while that strength training can promote longevity, but the "optimal dose" was difficult to determine. Researchers in Japan recently found that weight lifting for 30 to 60 minutes a week can lower risk of death from heart disease, cancer, and diabetes by 10 to 20 percent. If you add aerobic exercise to the mix, you can lower the risk by a phenomenal 40 percent!

Another interesting finding was that increasing the amount of time lifting did not increase the benefits, In other words: short, intense workouts, like the ones we do at CrossFit Koncepts (just under 30 minutes), that combine both weight lifting and cardio, are the perfect combination to help you live longer. 

If this doesn't give you a reason to workout than nothing will!

For more information on this study follow this link.    

A little bit of caffeine, especially right before an intense workout, can actually be very beneficial. This has been known for a long time, and is the reason that pre-workouts and energy drinks, are so popular with gym-goers.

But, caffeine in excess can have some detrimental after effects, especially on sleep. The half-life of caffeine in the human body is around 08 hours, which means that the energy drink you slam before your late afternoon or evening workout, is going to still be in your system while you are trying to wind down for sleep later that evening. So, if you are planning on getting a jumpstart on your workout, you're going to need to time the caffeine intake early enough in the day that it doesn't interfere with your bedtime. In other words, if your bedtime is 1000 pm, you're going to want to take it no later than 0400 pm...

Just don't be like this guy, who was a 29 year old personal trainer, and overdosed on caffeine with a dose equivalent to 200 cups of coffee!!!