By Shaina Hayutin, Coach at CrossFit Newtown 

If you’re a CrossFitter, you might have fallen into the trap of thinking that being super sore every day is the goal. Soreness equates to how hard you work, so if you’re not crippling sore every single day, you’re not working hard enough, right? Wrong. 

There is a difference between feeling a healthy dose of soreness and feeling so sore you can’t walk up and down stairs properly, or get in and out of your car without wincing. We want you to feel recovered and able to tackle your day-to-day. So, how do we manage appropriate levels of soreness? 

Several factors come into play:

1. Warming up properly
2. Cooling down/stretching consistently 
3. Staying hydrated
4. Getting adequate sleep and rest 
5. Fueling your body properly

None of this is new information. These factors are not fitness trends, they are simply healthy behaviors to engage in if you want exercise to be a part of your life for the long haul. 

Here at CrossFit Newtown, your coaches always lead you through a thorough warmup, but why is this so important? We need to get your body moving in a progressive and safe way. If a warmup is done well, it increases your internal body temperature, raises your heart rate, activates proper muscle tissue, dynamically mobilizes your joints, and potentiates movement patterns you will see in the workout of the day. Generally, warmups allow you to practice proper movement mechanics, and when done effectively, they prevent injury. 

Ideally, we should have time for a cooldown or stretching portion at the end of the hour, every single day. Realistically, this does not always happen. We need to get better at this as a gym. However, you can always go for a walk, bike, or row at a recovery pace for 3-5 minutes, and spend just a few minutes stretching. Spending even five minutes or so will allow your body to recover faster, feel less stiff, and potentially even improve your flexibility. 

Drinking water should be a given, and adding electrolytes to your water bottle is an easy addition. We’ve got LMNT packs at the gym if you want to give it a go!

In terms of sleep, adequate means getting seven hours or more of quality sleep every single night. Ideally, going to bed and waking up at around the same hour each day. And, working on better sleep hygiene habits, such as: no screens hours prior to going to bed, dark/low lit room, and sleeping in a cool temperature. Easier said than done with our busy lives, but try just one of these things for a few weeks and see if it makes a difference.

Rest. It sounds like a foreign term to CrossFitters. Whether we use it in the sense of “take a rest day” or even “rest for 2:00-3:00 between your set of heavy back squats,” it does not seem to compute with our CrossFit brains. For some reason, we short circuit when we hear “rest” let alone actually implement the concept into our routines. If you are someone who feels tired regularly, like you’ve got a nagging tweak that may potentially turn into an injury,  or like you’ve plateaued with your progress at the gym, this probably means you have some work to do in the rest department. 

I know, it sounds counterintuitive. You’re probably asking, “To get better, I need to do less?” Yes. Correct. More is not better. Better is better. We don’t want you continually running into walls, we want you jumping over them! And the only way you’ll have that extra pep in your step to hop that hurdle, is by resting. You need to take a minimum of one full rest day, ideally two, every single week.

EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK. 

This means: do not come to the gym. Go for a walk, try a yoga class, go run around on the playground with your kiddos or your dog, or…wait for it…do absolutely nothing…gasp! I’m serious. It will do your body some good, I promise. And, you can do lots of cool things with that extra hour spent away from the gym. Read a book, learn to quilt, start learning a new language, pick up a new hobby, do something else that’s good for your mind and soul. Your whole health will thank you for it. And you’ll be a more well-rounded, and less boring individual. Because let’s be honest, if after five minutes of conversation all you can talk about is CrossFit, we gotta find some new interests, people. CrossFit is cool and all, but there’s a whole world out there.

The thing is, we want you to want to come back to the gym the next day. We need to understand what “enough” looks and feels like for a typical day of training. Leaving the gym feeling like you’ve overdone it is not the goal. We need to do a better job of learning how to take a break before you need one- before your body starts to break down. If you finish a workout thinking you could have given more, GOOD. You should not be going 100% every single day. That will inevitably result in injury, and physical and mental burnout. If you’re in this fitness game for the longterm, rest days are your best friend.

If you’re interested in digging into items 3-5 in more detail, please set up a nutrition coaching consultation! 

If you’re showing up to the gym every day, or waking up every morning feeling stiff, your body is telling you that you have some work to do. We have to ensure we are replenishing our body with proper electrolytes and appropriate fuel. If you have joint pain or something nagging for two weeks or longer, it means you may be dealing with an injury and need to go speak to someone who can help. Good news: we are attached to a building that has professional chiropractors! They can help you discover if there is something structurally going on internally, and perhaps get you in a good adjustment routine. Additionally, one of our coaches is a full time physical therapist [shoutout to Molly]. She can help you get to the root of the issue as well!

Take advantage of all of the health care providers you have right under our roof! We want to help you feel less stiff, more mobile, and a healthy amount of soreness on a regular basis. We see how hard you’re working, and how much progress you’re making. We love that you love being here. We also want to make sure you have the right tools and resources to be your best inside and outside of the gym. That’s why it’s so important to focus on your rest and recovery just as seriously as you do your workouts. 

Shaina Hayutin is a CrossFit Coach and Content writer at CrossFit Newtown in Newtown, PA. With a Degree in Journalism, a Level 2 CrossFit Coach, a Healthy Steps Nutrition Coach, and over a decade of experience in the fitness industry, she emphasizes the critical role that community plays in achieving optimal fitness results while maintaining long-term health and wellness.