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Learn how to re-establish healthy routines with this video from coach Rosario.

Stay in the now, reinvent yourself into a better version that you liked in the past!

Why do we hesitate to do things we want to do? What makes us scared? We might never have the answers to a lot of questions, and believe me I love questions haha! But what I do know is that we are only here with an expiration date so why not go and seek adventure and do the things we are afraid of doing and trying. Anything worthwhile is both scary but yet super empowering. The thrill of doing something out of your comfort zone, outside of your circle, speaking in front of thousands, singing out loud, the saying dance like nobody is watching! so so true for all of us! Look at yourself in the mirror and appreciate every part of you. Dig deep in your own feeling and your own brain. Share the love of something with someone you choose. Read poems, do the photoshoot you have always wanted, sky dive ( never have I ever haha) Get in the gym and kick your butt! don't be afraid to be the last one of the class, it won't be for long! Talk on the phone more often, ask your crush on a beach walk :) anything that you always have wanted to do. LET'S GOOOOOO!!!! Stay Strong, DRS Strong! Coach RRA

Complacent Zone is not where we want to reside! NO! we must tell ourselves, but how do we get out of it? It is a challenging cycle to break! First we must admit what story we are telling ourselves! In order to change this we must change the story we tell ourselves, the environment we reside comfortably and start changing the behaviors and habits we have comfortably created! no more of that! WE can do this, one day at a time! LET'S GO! Stay Strong, DRS Strong! Coach RRA

The way we create experience is up to us! Today, we create the best experiences we can! Smile big and get after it!

As I am sitting here in Queenstown, New Zealand in front of a beautiful lake. I can't help but think how the fitness world has grown intensively. Fitness humanity is a connection that I constantly pursue. Sometimes I don’t know how to take in all the different experiences, or maybe I do by writing my extensive thoughts. I am consistently thinking and analyzing and want to know the reason behind it all. I sort through all my thoughts constantly to understand why my life is the way it is and how I have been placed in here with these awesome opportunities and doors to different options of the worlds adventures. Thinking back as far as I can remember I never thought I would be where I am now. I remember when I was very young, all I could think about was how I was going to be able to dunk or touch rim. Now I constantly think about how I can spread the passion for fitness and overall quality of life. What does that even mean? To me it means that maybe I am in certain places at certain times to interact with someone and influence each other to a better life. It is the connection that doesn’t need to be explained and the closeness that something as simple as giving a high five to someone after a workout can do. To me this is fitness humanity. Between my dad’s disciplinary ways of doing things to almost perfection to my mom’s gentle love but relentless and resilient way of not giving in to life’s challenges, I couldn’t be wired differently to do the best I can or not do it at all. To work hard and to never stop. Is this what success is? To me, it is. I don’t measure success in wealth or fancy materialistic things. I measure success in emerging yourself in a passion, a passion to make a difference in someone’s life. Giving not only pieces of myself, but whole hearted to people where they can accept it how it best suits them and exploit it in their own way with their own abilities to have a domino effect on the next person. Call me crazy, but I truly believe every single person has the ability to start the movement of a better well being. It is about waking up and venturing to be the best version of yourself. I truly believe I have these doors to go around this orbit and learn from the experiences I encounter with athletes as I attempt to teach and give back what I know. The more I learn the less I know, but in the pursuit of giving back I get to spread health and fitness around the world. The baton was passed on to me sometime during my short life and I want to continue to spread humanity. Fitness humanity, that is. It is our choice and responsibility to spread fitness humanity and you might be doing it by reading this article and paying it forward to someone you encounter today.

Trust us. We understand busy schedules. In fact, many of the members we have here at DRS Athletics initially joined because they needed a more efficient workout that didn’t require them to be in the gym for hours at a time. That’s why we’ve put together this list of ways you can make your time at the box as productive and fulfilling as possible. HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TIME AT DRS ATHLETICS: SET A TRAINING SCHEDULE While you generally enjoy coming into the box, there are some days when maybe overtime at work, school papers, family issues and other nasty things can really get you in the mood to skip the WOD "just because." A good way to deter the "just because" excuse is to get into the habit of coming in at the same time on the same days. Once you’ve created this habit, it becomes automatic. You’ll find yourself going to the box without any force involved regardless of the plants who could probably use watering (or any other strange excuse you give yourself.) Bottom line: A schedule keeps you consistent, and consistency is the key to forming healthy habits. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS, CELEBRATE ACHIEVEMENTS If you’re serious about hitting your fitness goal, it’s critical to track your progress. And we don’t mean stepping on the scale every morning and completely freaking out at any increase in weight. Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you’re doing it right you’ll be gaining lean muscle while you’re losing fat which doesn’t always result in seeing a lower number on the scale. Throw out that scale and buy a notebook. Keeping track of your workouts and progress will help you train with a purpose. If you did 5 back squats at 135 a few months ago, and that sequence has come up again, well now you’ll know what number to shoot higher than. Bottom line: Knowing what you did yesterday will help you be better today. COME EARLY, STAY LATE (TRAIN MORE, CHAT MORE) Many of us get into the habit of coming in on-time and leaving on-time. That’s by no means a bad habit. But to make the most of your workout, the best thing you can do is put in a little extra time before and after class. We know, working out before working out sounds like advice from a crazy person, but it’s really the key to taking your fitness to the next level. It’s no news to say that putting in some extra credit will turn you into a better athlete, but when you do it with other athletes that like to go above and beyond outside of class times, you’re fostering some really positive relationships. That’s when the true awesomeness happens. Bottom line: To get the most out of your training session, put in some extra work both physically and socially ASK FOR HELP It’s ok to admit that you feel a little intimidated to ask for help at the box. But don’t be! Even those big, huge, grunting, bearded guys were new once. Everyone has been in the same spot and there’s absolutely no shame in needing some extra help to understand a movement. In fact, that’s the sign of a smart athlete who’s on their way to big things. Bottom line: There’s no such thing as a stupid question. Except for maybe, "Can I pee before you start the clock?" We don’t like that one. ALWAYS HAVE A WATER BOTTLE CLOSE BY (ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU’RE NOT TRAINING) Are you the type to only drink water when you’re feeling really thirsty or maybe you like to chug the majority of your day’s water intake right before and after a WOD? Well, you might want to change that and here’s why. Feeling thirsty and getting dry mouth indicates that your body is already dehydrated. Dehydration can reduce the volume of blood pumped by the heart which means less oxygen to the muscles which often results in premature fatigue. And if you try to quick fix your dehydration by drinking lots of fluid right before class it can cause bloating and cramping. That’s a terrible way to suffer through a WOD. This is especially important for women. "Women are not small men," says Stacy Sims, Ph.D., exercise physiologist-nutrition scientist. "They’re five times more likely than men to have GI problems when exercising . . . women are also more likely to suffer from heat exhaustion and heat stroke." Bottom line: To get the most out of your training session, stay hydrated all day long before you step foot into the box. SLEEP MORE We want you to sleep more. In fact, we insist you sleep more. We can’t stress enough the importance of getting a good night’s rest because without it, all the training and dieting in the world will just be a waste of time. It’s hard to believe that something you do when you’re not even awake can be one of the most important ways you can make the most out of your training sessions, but it’s true. To put it simply, lack of sleep stresses out your body which cases weight gain and anxiety. Bottom line: Prioritize your sleep. Prioritize your well-being. PRACTICE MOBILITY AT HOME Stretching and becoming more flexible really shouldn’t take a back seat in your plan to become a fitter you. If we could tack on an extra 30 minutes to the WOD for mobility, we’d do just that! An hour a day at the box isn’t going to undo a lifetime of sitting on your bum craning over a keyboard. Invest in a few key items for home like a foam roller and a PVC pipe to improve your range of motion while you’re watching TV or right before bed. Practicing mobility at home will improve your overall athletic ability and will decrease the risk of injury. Bottom line: Mobilize everywhere and invest in the tools to do so.

" Never allow waiting to become a habit. Your desire to succeed should be greater than your fear of failure." As we approach Week 2 of The Chad Attack we were heavily focusing on lung capacity and shocking the system in a way to promote a good enough stimulus last week. This week we will be focusing on creating positive HABITS and movement patterns that will allow for repeated heavy doubles in some of the lifts like Snatches. It is one thing to lift heavy for one rep but being able to repeat the lift for a second rep is a different animal. Creating good habits and movement patterns allows for your brain and muscles to have muscle memory and understand the stimulus that will be happening that day. It is important to be consistent on your movements regardless of weight, volume or intensity. Let me explain this further in the next steps. 3 simple steps to help promote good habits and repeated movement patterns. 1) CONSISTENCY: being consistent with your movements is key in order to promote muscle memory. For example if you are doing squats, ANY squats, whether they are air squats, front squats, back squats, overheadsquats, goblet squats, etc. Your stance should be close to the same length and form, unless we are working sumo or different starting positions. This allows your body to get used to the range of motion (ROM) in that stance, which can then transfer to other lifts in catching positions, etc. 2) REMINDER: have a reminder when it comes to your movements. For example during deadlifts if you are one of those people that forget to reverse the movement when you touch and go and the bar starts moving away from you. Try and line up the bar with the shoelace closest to the the toe box of your shoe and if you were to pause at the bottom, you should be able to see the shoelace over the barbell. Have reminders that help you reset and allow you to get back to good mechanics and technique. 3) CONSCIOUSLY MAKE THE DECISION TO MOVE/BE BETTER: sometimes moving better mechanically and with good technique is harder at first. Most of us grow up with poor mechanics and bad posture or unconscious ways of moving, so our body wants to default to what it knows. WE HAVE to override that command by consciously telling ourselves the movement pattern we want to take even if at first doesn't feel as efficient. It gets better with time and effort and once you reset that command, the movement becomes easier and your performance goes up as well. This can apply also when you are in bed or tired after work and you are mentally deciding that " screw it" is better than ok I feel tired but I am going to get up and get to the gym or make dinner, etc. You are resetting that mentallity and doing a more positive routine which then turns into a habit! I truly believe that this last one is one of the most important ones because it relates to the mentality of people. It always goes back to using your mind to command your body. There is a way to do things. THE BEST YOU CAN or MEDIOCRE? YOU CHOOSE your way. Just remember if you choose "ahh ill do it better tomorrow" that tomorrow becomes the next day and the day after that and eventually a bad habit. So let's not do that hahaha. CHOOSE DO THE BEST YOU CAN FOR THAT DAY!!! DEAL??? Ok good ! haha Ok that is enough about good habits! lets break old habits even if they take long! ITS WORTH IT! Stay Strong, DRS Strong Coach Rosario "Sometimes when Mr. G jumps on the prowler and he says to push him, you just do hahaha! " Thanks for the love G and Coach James!

We all have heard that extra protein builds extra muscle and strength. WRONG, training builds muscle and with the right amount of protein and other macronutrients you can develop and build a solid frame.

"Two things can define you. Your patience when you have nothing, and your attitude when you have everything." Some days you will feel like the hulk and other days you might just need an extra PUMP!! This week will test how proactive and patient you are with your movements. THE FOCUS OF THIS WEEK IS: Be proactive on what you are not good at! Ok so what do I mean about how proactive you are being? For example, we all have certain movements that are more diffficult than others. Some come more natural because of our background, body type, past injuries, sports, flexibility and strength. So we tend to like the ones we are good at, which is totally normal. Now, the good thing is that you don't have to program for yourself, so my job is to program enough variety to help you through different physical skills and prepare you for anything. Yours would be to do your homework and be proactive in terms of stretching, cooling down, working on mobility, and skills that you can do extra reps at home. 5- 10 minutes a day will create a difference when it comes to getting better in any specific movement or lift. Sometimes we don't really know what to do to get better or if we are doing too much which is becoming counterproductive so make sure to ask so I can help the best I can. All of this builds patience and gives you that extra PUMP you need those days when certain movements are truly a challenge! So let this week be the one you work on your PATIENCE while being PROACTIVE , we are here for you! It takes time to develop good quality movements =) Stay Strong, DRS Strong Coach Rosario "Sometimes... I am always watching hahah"

"QUALITY IS NOT AN ACT. IT'S A HABIT" THE FOCUS OF THE WEEK is to LOOK good while training. At the end of the day if your mechanics are poor, it will catch up to you. no LONGEVITY!!! look good when you move weight, when you do pull ups, when you row. CREATE that muscle memory and be a MACHINE!! HERE ARE SOME TIPS TO REMEMBER: 1. Control your breathing: If you allow your breathing to get out of control, then your mind will think you are more tired than what you usually are. DON'T BREATHE AS HARD AS YOU ARE WORKING! 2. FOCUS on the movement and not how sucky or hard an exercise is. Learning to teach your brain that what you are doing is for a purpose, it will quickly go from "THIS SUCKS" to "I AM DOING WELL, PICK UP THE BAR, SQUAT, PRESS, BREATHE, ETC" 3. Mechanics are developed when you move with purpose. If you go through the motions, your brain and body will as well. There has to be a purpose of why you are moving a certain way. For example: In the squats, there is a purpose why we go below 90 degrees and we hit depth, because your hips are meant to go through full range of motion. If you have lost that range of motion due to injuries or surgeries, the purpose would be to try and regain strength and range of motion in a healthier way that you couldn't previous to the injury. When we hit a target during a wall ball, we are creating repetition on our accuracy, you are developing skills that you would not necessarily practice on your own outside of DRS, so maximize your training here and apply it out there !! THERE IS A PURPOSE BEHIND EVERYTHING WE DO AND HOW WE MOVE :) Keep up the good work and finish strong on the CrossFit Open 2017! last week!!! MECHANICS OVER EVERYTHING! Stay Strong, DRS Strong Coach Rosario "Sometimes I channel my inner gymnast hahah NOT.. #basketballplayer"