Jordan's Barbell Club

Year-end always has me in a reflecting and planning state of mind. Grading the last 12 months performance against my personal goals, and how that performance will impact my next year’s plans.  1. Grading last 12 months is a LONG, too long period to have to grade - a LOT happens in a year!  For example, I was killin it the first half of the year, but then this summer my dad died, very unexpectedly, Mom moved in (with her two mini pups) and chaos ensued. Sure, I was surviving, but helping my mom glue pieces back together to create a new normal, my training and nutrition were the first thing out the window and off the rails! I lost weight -mostly muscle- became undertrained, underfed, and under motivated. Once life leveled out - I could finally process the stress and that led to, you guessed it -weight gained- mostly fat, still undertrained, overfed, and slowly returning to motivation and self-discipline.  Trainers are humans and subject to the demands, and stresses of normal life

  Did you know we offer Open Gym for experienced athletes? Needing a short term place to train? Needing access to specialized equipment? Want to follow your own program in a smaller, private setting? We got you!! Check out the Updated Calendar - you can reserve our space and equipment by the hour, week, or month. (Summer break packages for student athletes available). Message or Call to setup your safety evaluation to get started! https://jordansbarbellclub.pushpress.com/open/calendar... If Batman can take the Echo Bike for a Spin, so can You!    

Oh the Holidays are upon us! Whatever will we do??? Stressy time of year eh? Yeah, we're all in the thick of it - shopping, attending gatherings. hosting gatherings, kids programs, family commitments, it's exhausting and far from feeling like the "reason for the season". Oh, and on top of that you're beating yourself up about the dozen cookies you ate last night, or just as bad, not giving a rip about the dozen cookies you ate last night.  It's a balance. You shouldn't beat yourself to death over over-eating and you shouldn't green light the behavior either. We all over indulge, but it should be the exception, not the rule.  So what is the rule? That's simple, but not necessarily easy.  The rule is: Eat clean; whole foods that fuel your daily living 90% of the time and save that 10% for enjoyment's sake.    Broken down, 9 out of 10 meals and snacks should be GOOD FOR YOU food. Greg Glassman said it best on the CrossFit website “eat meat and ve

Weight Management is More than Nutrition How Stress, Exercise and Sleep Affect Weight Tara Johnson - CFL2 Managing your weight and overall wellbeing is a trifecta of Nutrition, Training and Recovery. How we approach stress,  Stress can be a major contributor to weight gain. Stress can trigger cortisol release, and that little bugger of a hormone, meant to give you energy to survive back in the caveman days, causes the modern, not a caveman human to simply store fat around the middle. Stress can also make you crave comfort foods,  the quick carbs  that release dopamine while giving you energy to respond to a fight or flight reaction your body may be having in response to stress.  Sure, your brain may know that your stress reaction isn’t because you’re being chased by a lion, but your body doesn’t. When I feel like I’m not in control of things happening around me (hello global pandemic) I could control what I was putting in my mouth, and a giant bowl of Fruity Pebbles® was just the tic

  Checkup from the Neck Up Locus of Control By Tara Johnson, CF-L2 Your mind is your most valuable tool! It can springboard you toward success or it can throw you into the pits of despair and really undermine your efforts. Good thing you are in control of your mindset eh!? Locus of control  is a psychological concept that refers to how strongly people believe they have  control  over the situations and experiences that affect their lives. You can’t control the weather, but you can prepare for it! Every facet of life falls under the same concept. You can’t control a lot of external factors, but you absolutely are in control of your preparation for them. You are absolutely in control of your reaction to them. This is the most critical concept to develop when preparing to adjust your lifestyle, whether the change is focused on your training, nutrition or both.  Just like your muscles, your locus of control can be trained. Training your mind to focus on the things you can change, and your

  Why Calorie Restriction Doesn’t Work for Long Term Weight Loss By: Tara Johnson, CF-L2   Calories in and calories out is a true mathematical statement when it comes to weight gain and loss. That said, restricting calories will work, but for long-term weight loss, an individual with obesity following a calorie-restriction diet only may not have long term success. Google the study of all The Biggest Loser® participants- yes, that weight came right back. Think about the fight you saw unfold on TV – they worked their asses off – literally. They wanted it bad enough, and the most successful of them stayed successful... but only to a degree and only for a little while. Why didn’t it stick???? There are a few reasons, and most importantly, with a little help, you can outsmart and outwork them! Weight Set Point Enter weight set point. Everyone has a weight set point, the point at which the body considers itself to be at homeostasis. Think of this as your internal thermostat - thi