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Working Out in the MO Heat

When it comes to working out in the summer, some people prefer the “comfort” of an early morning workout. However, there are MANY reasons to embrace the heat and humidity! While exercising in high heat and humidity might seem counterintuitive, it actually offers a multitude of surprising benefits. In this post, we’ll explore why sweating it out in challenging conditions can be advantageous for your fitness journey.

1. Increased Calorie Burn:

One of the notable benefits of working out in high heat and humidity is the enhanced calorie burn. When your body is exposed to higher temperatures, it needs to work harder to regulate its core temperature. This increased effort leads to a higher metabolic rate, causing your body to burn more calories during and even after your workout. So, if you’re looking to shed those extra pounds, exercising in hot and humid conditions might help you reach your weight loss goals more efficiently.

2. Improved Cardiovascular Performance:

Exercising in high heat and humidity can have a significant impact on your cardiovascular system. The combination of heat and humidity makes your heart work harder to pump blood and oxygen to your muscles, which ultimately strengthens your cardiovascular endurance. Over time, this can improve your overall stamina and make your regular workouts feel more manageable.

3. Enhanced Detoxification:

Sweating is the body’s natural way of cooling down, and when you exercise in a hot and humid environment, you tend to sweat more profusely. This increased sweating helps eliminate toxins and impurities from your body, promoting detoxification and cleansing your system. Just remember to stay hydrated and replenish your fluids adequately to support this natural detox process.

4. Mental Toughness and Resilience:

Pushing your limits in challenging conditions can do wonders for your mental strength and resilience. Exercising in high heat and humidity requires mental determination and the ability to overcome discomfort. By regularly subjecting yourself to these conditions, you can cultivate mental toughness that extends beyond your workouts and positively impacts other aspects of your life.

5. Adaptation to Changing Environments:

Exposing your body to different environmental conditions, such as heat and humidity, can help it adapt and become more adaptable to a range of situations. This adaptability can be especially beneficial if you participate in outdoor activities or sports that require you to perform in various weather conditions. Training in high heat and humidity can prepare your body for such challenges, enabling you to excel in diverse environments.

While exercising in high heat and humidity may not be suitable for everyone and requires caution, it offers several surprising benefits. From increased calorie burn and improved cardiovascular performance to enhanced detoxification and mental toughness, there are compelling reasons to incorporate workouts in challenging conditions into your fitness routine. 

**However, it’s essential to prioritize safety, stay hydrated, and listen to your body’s signals. Remember to consult a healthcare professional if you have any concerns or underlying health conditions. So, why not step out of your comfort zone and give it a try? Embrace the heat and humidity, and let your workouts reach new heights.

Let us know if you would like to set up a No Sweat Intro so you can get started with us today! 🙂

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5 Tips for Better Arms

“How do I get better arms?”

We get this question all the time. Sometimes it’s from people who are looking to build muscle in their biceps and triceps. Other times, people are looking to achieve better tone. We’ll answer the question for both crowds.

Here are five things you can do to get the arms you want.

1. Eat Properly

Surprised this one is first? Don’t be: Nutrition is the foundation of everything when it comes to fitness. If you want to build larger muscles, you’ll need protein. And if you’re looking to increase tone and definition, you’ll need to reduce body fat. To drop fat, you must have your nutrition dialed in: You can’t eat excessive amounts of food, and some foods will help you accomplish your goals faster than others.

We have nutrition experts who can tell you exactly how to eat for your goals, but here’s the short, general version: Prioritize protein, and look to whole foods like fruit and veggies before processed, fatty foods with lots of added sugar.

2. Lift Heavy Stuff!

To build some arm muscle, you need to lift enough weight to cause the muscle to grow. That means the last reps in any set should be challenging. If you do a set of 8 biceps curls and the last rep felt very easy, you’re probably not lifting heavy enough. 

You need to “feel the burn” and challenge yourself! That safe stress will trigger your body to grow new muscle to adapt to the work you’re asking it to perform. Muscle growth is called “hypertrophy.”

In the past, people often saw bulging bodybuilders and worried that heavy lifting would turn them into behemoths covered in veins. That just doesn’t happen without very hard, very specific training (and often anabolic steroids). So don’t worry that heavy lifting will make you “bulky.” Lifting heavy is exactly what you need to build muscle and achieve great arms.

How heavy should you go? That depends on the movement and the sets and reps you’re doing. A coach can give you an exact plan—and we’ll talk about that below.

3. Do Arm Movements

This seems obvious, but we’ll point out something most people miss: You shouldn’t just focus on the biceps if you want great arms. Sure, the biceps are prominent, but you can’t forget all the muscles of the forearms and the triceps on the back of the arm. Deltoids are considered shoulder muscles, but they still help move the arms, and you should work them, too.

Hundreds of movements can be used to train these specific muscles. You can use barbells, dumbbells, bands, cable stations, body weight and household objects. A lot of times people will use “single joint” or “isolation” movements to train the arms. Think biceps curls, triceps extensions, delt raises and so on. 

These movements can be great if you want to target very specific areas. For best results, we recommend you train all the muscles in the arm in isolation and together—read on!

4. Do Compound Movements

Compound movements work many muscle groups at once and involve several joints. Think about a pull-up, for example. It requires the elbows and the shoulders to move, and it trains a host of muscles at once.

Isolation movements are great, but don’t think you aren’t training your triceps in a bench press or your shoulders in a barbell press. You’ll get a huge bang for your buck with compound movements, and we use them regularly in the gym. As an added benefit, compound movements usually involve the muscles of the core and sometimes even the legs. That means you can improve your whole body even if you’re mainly focused on your arms.

A few great compound movements for arms: pull-ups, chin-ups, bench presses, shoulder presses, bent-over barbell rows.

5. Change Your Routine

If you always do the same thing, your body will adapt for a while and then stop adapting. But if you change your routine at appropriate times, your body will keep adapting to new stresses and you’ll get the results you want. 

That means you might do 3 sets of 8 reps of barbell biceps curls with 20 lb. for three weeks, then switch to 2 sets of 12 reps of dumbbell hammer curls with 10 lb. in each hand for three weeks. 

You can adjust the weights you use, the reps, the sets, the movements, the rest and the number of times you train. But it’s not random. You need to make the right changes at the right time. We could write a huge book on that, and we carefully tailor workouts to our clients so they get results. We’ll just say this to get you started: Change up your routine at least every four weeks to ensure you’d don’t hit a plateau.

Get to Work!

There you have it! With these five tips, you’re well on your way to better arms.

We’ll even give you a simple workout:

2-3 sets of 8 alternating dumbbell biceps curls (rest 45 seconds between sets)

2-3 sets of 8 dumbbell lying triceps extensions (rest 45 seconds between sets)

2-3 sets of 8 dumbbell hammer curls to overhead presses (rest 60 seconds between sets)

2-3 sets of 8 dumbbell bent-over rows to triceps kickbacks (rest 60 seconds between sets)

If you’d like a more specific plan that will help you accomplish your specific goals faster, we can help. Click INTRO to book a free consultation with one of our expert coaches today!

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Building Strength After 40: Yes, You Can!

Can you build strength after 40? (Pic shown is me at 46 😉 )

Absolutely!

Many people think that we get weaker as we get older. And it’s true that we’ll all experience some physical decline as we age. 

But it’s a fact that strength can be improved at any age, and older adults who train regularly can become incredibly strong. With continued training, they can hold much of that strength very late in life.

Think of it like this: If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. And you certainly won’t improve it.

People who are sedentary will start weak and become ever weaker if they don’t train as they age. Similarly, an active person who stops training will grow weaker quickly and then gradually become weaker as years pass. 

The flip side is amazing: 

Inactive people who start working out at any age become stronger—often quite quickly at first. As people continue to train, they’ll gradually gain more strength. If they continue working out over their entire lives, they’ll become very strong, and they’ll lose strength due to advanced age at a much slower rate. 

These people retain their capabilities later in life even as inactive people around them lose their independence! 

We’ve seen people well over 70 gain strength and dramatically improve function, so if you’re over 40, it’s definitely not too late to start.  

Strength Training Over 40: Three Secrets 

Here are three tips for gaining strength after 40 (you aren’t “over the hill”):

1. You have to work out consistently. 

Building strength is about momentum. If you train 2-4 times a week and do the right stuff (see below), you’ll get stronger and stronger. But you can’t work out for a month and then take a month off. If you do, you’ll lose your progress. 

2. You have to do the right things the right way at the right times. 

Strength training is a balance of stress and recovery, and you can definitely do too much or too little. Similarly, doing the same things over and over will blunt their effect. You need some variety and something called “progressive overload” to ensure you always make progress. And then you need to make sure you do the movements properly. Don’t stress about all this—our professional coaches take care of everything for you!

3. Nutrition is important. 

You can’t drive a vehicle without fuel, and your body won’t become stronger without the right food. Protein is important, and so are vitamins and minerals. Carbs and fats figure into the equation, too. Again, we’re experts and we can tell you how to optimize your nutrition so you get strong!

Let’s Start Lifting Together!

Remember, It’s never too late to start working out. Here’s the best part of all: People who start working out usually notice changes in strength fast. As the body “wakes up” and connects the brain to the muscles that are already there, people get stronger very quickly.

Later, with great training and nutrition, people generally notice a few more changes. Their clothes start to fit differently, movement becomes easier and more fun, and they usually add a little bit of muscle. 

Don’t worry about “getting bulky.” That just doesn’t happen. If you gain muscle, it will happen slowly, and you’ll look “fit” rather than “bulky.” You don’t have to be big to be strong.

We’d love to help you accomplish your goals. We specialize in building strength in people over 40, and we’ll tell you exactly how we can help you do it in a free consultation. Click on the consultation link below to get started on your fitness journey with CrossFit Unstoppable!

You came here to find out if you can get stronger after 40. Now you know that you can. You just have to start training.

Don’t waste another day—book a consultation with us today and let’s get started!

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Avoiding the Holiday Snowball Effect…

WARNING: CHALLENGES AHEAD

You know it’s coming in the next 30-40 days…

You’ve built up good momentum, are already consistent and are feeling pretty good. 

You’re eating quality foods 80% + most of your days and you’re hitting your fitness consistently 3 to 5 times per week without deviation.

Your next greatest opponent to challenge all the behaviors and momentum you’ve built is right around the corner.

The holiday season.

The holiday season challenges all of that in its own unique ways. 

I know that if in the past you’ve gotten

  • Very stressed around the holidays,
  • Fallen off your nutrition routine
  • Lost consistency with fitness

That these patterns are likely to emerge and challenge you again and again.  

AVOIDING THE SNOWBALL EFFECT… 

While the holiday season in an exciting time:

family gatherings,

delicious foods,

shared memories

and quality time with people we love,

it’s very natural and normal for our nutrition and fitness to take a small step back. 

How big of a step back is in your hands and your control. 

The snowball effect happens when that small step back turns into a walking backwards or in reverse.

HOW IT HAPPENS

At Thanksgiving, we are around people we love and we feast. We are in company we love and enjoy and we let our guards down temporarily.

We eat foods we wouldn’t or don’t normally eat on a regular day to day basis.

These tasty treats and variance throws our taste buds into extreme sensation and pleasure seeking mode.

This snowballs when one day with one meal turns into days or even weeks of over indulging or eating too much of those joy foods and not enough quality food. 

We are officially off our routine.

Then with Christmas around the corner our levels of stress are higher.

This leads to that need for a quick impulse or feel good to be even at a higher level, so we continue down this path.

As exciting as Christmas is for most of us, we can be in a constant state of stress about schedules, gifts, shopping, expectations or worries that we skip the gym more than get our daily dose of health, wellness and endorphins. 

Missing a day here or there is normal and isn’t going to derail your progress. 

It’s when we fall off our normal 3, 4 or 5 day a week fitness regime that we put ourselves in this hole that the further we get into it’s harder to get out of it. 

And when we do eventually make our return we are unfortunately met with difficulty, a feeling of everything is difficult and I’m winded so quick and easily.  Making the very thing you loved and enjoyed so regularly seem so difficult.

All challenging your will.

And then, New Years.

A classic time where people stay up later than normal, over eat snacks and drink alcohol to celebrate the closing of a year and beginning of another. 

The staying up late, food and alcohol combination throws off our entire daily rhythm and leaves us with more anguish than excitement. 

These factors in combination are the downhill snowball effect in full speed.

They challenge all the good behaviors, mindset/mentality and healthy consistent actions you’ve built up consistently over a long period of time. 

WHAT DO I DO? 

Aware – Acknowledge – Action 

Awareness, that’s the first step. 

Second, we must acknowledge. 

We can acknowledge that our nutrition will not be perfect over Thanksgiving and Christmas and that we will fully enjoy those meals and moments with loved ones, guilt free.

We acknowledge in advance that we will likely be around others (people we love) who don’t share the same will, drive, discipline or goals as we do.

Sadly, even the same desire for high levels of health and wellness.

(Friendly tip: If your family knows you as the “CrossFitter” or the “healthy person” or “workout nut” a couple of things may happen during this time of year…..

One – they may challenge your discipline or healthy ways or two – they may talk or communicate in a way that almost shames you for being so healthy or them for not.

I encourage you to not be reactive but to lead by example and allow your best self to show up in these instances. Meet them with unwavering love and understanding. What is really being said without actually being said is “I wish I had the level of discipline and commitment to my health as you do.”)

We acknowledge that although we may travel or need to do holiday shopping or be out of town, we will remain MORE consistent within the gym than not. 

Third step, the most critical is we take action. 

We take action in not letting ourselves spiral out of control due to 1-2 holiday indulgences. 

We take action in committing to a minimum amount of days within the gym per week because we know it will lower our stress, help keep moving us closer to our goals, bettering us daily and that if we don’t we dig a hole that the deeper it gets the harder to climb out. 

We take action in planning ahead.

We plan our schedules around our workouts. 

We plan what days we will be traveling. 

We plan what healthy and nutrient foods we will be eating a majority of our days. 

We plan to get back on track the meal or day after we eat “out of the norm.”

We plan ahead and we vow to not let 1 or 2 days where we eat out of routine (Thanksgiving and Christmas) make the other 30+ days a wash and set ourselves further away from our ultimate goal and actually hinder our progress, body composition and ultimately how we feel day to day. 

We know this time of year our healthy habits will be challenged the most.

We get ahead of that challenge by being aware it’s coming, acknowledging what we need to do and not do and taking and committing to action. 

Because the alternative? 


That snowball effect turns into an avalanche that some can never recover from. 

Here’s to stopping the SNOWBALL!

Thanksgiving Week Hours: Wednesday-Normal Schedule Thanksgiving-OPEN…9am Class Only Friday-Open Gym 6:30am-7:30am and 9am Class Saturday-Open Gym 7:45am and 9am Class

Work Hard, Eat Clean, Be Blessed 🙂

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Sunday FUNday!

Many people use their Sundays as a rest day to rev up for the upcoming week…how do you spend your Sundays?

  • Nothing
  • Church
  • Spending time with family
  • Exercising
  • Meal Prepping
  • Watching Netflix 😉
  • Cleaning the house
  • Working

There are many things that one can tackle and it’s great to do nothing at all or mix a few things up here and there. I myself do almost all of the things listed (except for cleaning-least favorite thing to do unless it’s a barbell 😉 ).

The important thing is to take time for YOU! Do what makes you happy and JOYful! Fill up your cup so you have more to give in the upcoming week!

Here’s to a great week and many blessings on your Sunday FUNday whatever you choose to do! 🙂

Work Hard, Eat Clean, Be Blessed!

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Do This One Thing to Start Losing Weight TODAY!

Eat when you feel hungry and stop when you feel satisfied.

Sounds easy right? Well, guess what- it isn’t and the lifestyle of today doesn’t help make it any easier. So what can you do to ensure you do this one thing? Here are a few tips to get you started.

  1. In between meals, when you think you are hungry- try to drink a full glass of water, wait 10-15 minutes and see if you are still hungry.
  2. When your stomach is growling- eat whole foods comprised of vegetables, fruits, healthy carbs, lean protein, and healthy fat.
  3. Pay attention to your food and take your time when eating. If you scarf your food down in various ways and locations- you are not mindful of your food or your body.
  4. Enjoy your food. Take your time, smell it, taste it, chew slowly.
  5. Do something between bites- but don’t prep your fork for the next bite.
  6. Have a conversation with family or friends- but try to avoid the TV
  7. Most importantly pay attention to your body and STOP EATING when you are satisfied. Eating faster and sighing are both signs that you are satisfied.

It can take time to understand your body and realize when you are hungry or satisfied, but be patient and work towards eliminating unnecessary distractions. Don’t look at eating as something difficult or a chore- change your mindset to enjoy it by slowing down!

Work Hard, Eat Clean, Be Blessed!

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Transformation Tuesday!

 “I gained a bunch of weight in sobriety, just quit smoking, and now I needed to work on a healthy lifestyle. I had no idea the wonderful people I would meet and just how helpful they would be for me.

I’m on track with nutrition and it feels normal to eat healthy. That would have never happened without CFU and the nutrition program. I love the workouts the most though…I started gaining muscle and losing fat almost immediately after starting.


CFU really exceeded my expectations and you shouldn’t wait for the “right time”. Join TODAY! You won’t regret it!”

Today we would like to celebrate with Jennifer as she has accomplished amazing things in the past 3 months! Jennifer came in right before Christmas for a consult really unsure of what she needed to do so we worked out a plan for her.

She started with the Unstoppable Fitness Boot Camp program four days a week in late December (I wouldn’t let her wait until the new year 😉 ) She has found that she is strong and capable and wanted to add to her success so she joined our Nutrition program as well in mid-January. She will admit that she didn’t know how to eat healthy and she needed someone to help her with nutrition.

We got her on the right track and with this combo, she is headed towards great things! We (Aaron, Heather, Nikki and myself) as well as everyone else at CFU couldn’t be prouder of you, Jennifer! Keep up the amazing work! 🙂

If you would like to see similar results, set up a FREE INTRO! We want to help as many people as possible! P.S. You don’t have to be a member of CrossFit Unstoppable OR live in the Jefferson City area…we have remote and online training as well – how cool is that?!?

Work Hard, Eat Clean, Be Blessed!

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Tuesday Thoughts…

Sunday I had my 53rd birthday…holy smokes, where did that come from?? See, in my mind I think I’m still in my 30’s (although my body doesn’t agree some days 😉 ). Your mindset is soooo powerful in how your perceive your life to be.

If you have the wrong attitude about things going on your life, like “I’m never going to be able to get out of debt…”, “I’m never going to be able to lose weight…”, or “I’m never going to be able to find my dream job…” Chances are, you never will!

You can’t wait for the perfect moment to start something because life is never perfect, things might be good, but it’s never perfect. It takes baby steps in order for you to start something and one needs to realize anything that is a daunting task will be a marathon and not a sprint.

We tell our fitness and nutrition clients NOT to expect drastic weight loss overnight or even in 30 days because we want them to establish healthy habits in order to succeed. Think about all of the gimmicks out there where you can lose 10# in 10 days…how healthy do you think that is? Or “drink this drink for 30 days and watch the scale plummet!”…these things are not teaching you how to eat a balanced diet.

This is just my opinion, but whatever is natural should be the things that should be consumed. If it wasn’t made by God and from the earth, then most likely it isn’t good for your body. Now don’t get me wrong, I will consume things here and there that are not natural, but I have a good sense of how to eat. (Even though sometimes I indulge…but that’s okay because that is life!)

The important thing to remember here is that there will be ups and downs in one’s fitness/health journey, but if you know how to get back on track and WANT to get back on track, then there are ways to get there! Reach out if you would like to set up a FREE consult to figure out how to get back on track with your wellness journey! Book a FREE INTRO today so we can help! 🙂

Have a Great Tuesday!

Work Hard, Eat Clean, Be Blessed!

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Heart Day <3

What’s your favorite exercise to get your heart rate up or exercise?

*Running *Walking *Jump Roping *Lifting Weights *Rowing *Skiing *Skating *Snowboarding *Volleyball *Basketball *Football *Wrestling *Soccer *Baseball *Softball *Tennis *Pickleball *Hockey *Golf *Swimming *Gymnastics *Rock Climbing *Cycling *Skateboarding *Boxing

Soooooo many options and I’m sure I left some out for sure! It is recommended that your heart rate be between 120-150bpm for at least 30-60 minutes per day! Are you achieving that? Are you doing what’s necessary in order to keep your heart healthy?

When I taught PE, I had the kids play a tag game called “Heart Attack Tag”. There were 4 taggers, each representing four risk factors of heart attacks – Smoking, Sodium/Salt Intake, Junk Food, and Couch Potato. If you got tagged once you would place your arm over your chest indicating that you were 25% likely to have a heart attack but you were still in the game; tagged a second time, two arm crossed on chest (50% likely to have a heart attack). If you got tagged a third time – 75% chance of a heart attack – you had to lie on the floor and wait for the “Dr” to come and save you.

I believe this made quite and impression on the kiddos when they played it as the “Dr” would prescribe exercise in order to get back into the game…My mission is to help as many people as possible so if you are reading this and your nutrition and fitness are not up to par and run a risk of hurting your heart from one of the risk factors, get up and MOVE! Just 5 minutes is better than nothing! Think about what you are putting in your body to fuel it…is it good nutrition or is it junk? Eat mindfully not mindlessly – You’ve only got one body to live in and it’s up to you to love it enough to take care of it!

If you’d like extra guidance on how to take care of your fitness and nutrition, book a Free Intro!

Have a Great Heart Day and Be Safe out there!

Work Hard, Eat Clean, Be Blessed!

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Better Than Yesterday!

I was recently listening to a podcast and the whole theme was “What is your purpose?” What are you doing to make this world a better place to live in? Are you adding value to people’s lives? Are you making others happy? Do you live life intentionally and for a purpose ON purpose?

Lots of deep thoughts here, but think about it…if you are just going through the motions of life without any set purpose, then what is the point?? Think about your dreams and what you’ve always wanted to become or where you want to go; you’re never too old to follow your dreams! Don’t get stuck in the mundane and just sludge through life…Find a purpose and go forward with that mission.

Ten years ago I did just that…I decided to get my Level 1 CrossFit Certification…mainly so I could use the word “CrossFit” for my PE classes. Who knew that a couple months later I would start a small boot camp and eventually CrossFit Unstoppable! I set off on a mission to help others feel the way I was feeling and that is still my mission today!

Below is our Mission, Values and Vision…I would LOVE for you to play a part in these in some way so I can HELP you!!

CrossFit Philosophy/Mission Statement       

Better Than Yesterday…At CrossFit Unstoppable, we believe that when you walk through the doors, your day will be made better through the community, the workout, your effort and hard work; and when you leave, you will leave better than yesterday!  

Our Values

*We value the fact that we have faith in our members no matter their level of fitness and   will  encourage the members to stay after it when things get difficult.

*We value the whole athlete in regards to body, mind and spirit and will help each member reach goals never deemed possible.

*We value kindness displayed towards our members and will greet every member in the classes with a genuine attitude.

*We value fairness and equality and will, regardless of ability, train each member with exceptional practices during our classes.

*We value an optimistic spirit and will motivate and encourage the members in our classes and online when necessary.

CrossFit Unstoppable Vision

The vision for CFU is to help people in the Jefferson City community to improve their health and well-being in relationship to fitness and nutrition and to create relationships built on trust, kindness, and optimism in a like-minded community.

We are not just a typical gym, we are family and we care about your success! We offer personal training, group classes, teens classes, boot camp classes, nutrition coaching, online training, specialty programs and volleyball training.

If you would like to experience what CrossFit Unstoppable is about, book a Free Intro so we can help YOU! Book Here!

Have a great Friday!

Work Hard, Eat Clean, Be Blessed! 🙂

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