We offer classes 7days a week. That does not mean you should CrossFit/Workout* 7days a week. I would like to make a few recommendations for work, rest cycles. We also understand that we all have busy schedules and may not be able to follow our recommendations exactly. These are just a guideline to help you better plan your workouts for the week.


Work/Rest Cycles:
Beginners:2-3 WODs a week plus 1 oly lifting class a week. Try not to do WODs on consecutive days.


Intermediate : 5days on/2days off or 3days on/1day off or 3days on/1day off/2days on/1day off to include 1-2oly lifting classes a week and the option of the Strength WOD.


Advanced, Competitive: Mon off/Tues,Wed,Thu on/Fri off/Sat*,Sun on – to include both oly lifting classes and the Strength WOD. *Sat should not include the regular Saturday WOD


*If you are training for other events ie endurance (we recommend http://www.crossfitendurance.com/ ) , powerlifting, oly lifting etc take those training sessions into consideration when planning your weekly training program.


Strength WOD: You may ask how do you work the Strength WOD http://www.crossfitpandorasbox.com/strength-classes/ in if you are currently doing a cycle that does not necessarily allow you to do the lifts on the prescribed days. There are several solutions:
a)do the strength WOD on different days. Just make sure you finish all the lifts for the work before moving to the next week.
b)do the strength WOD on “rest days” if your lift for the day falls on one
c) break your strength WOD and your regular workout into a 2 a day


Rest days: Try to rest a minimum of 2 days a week or 1rest day after 3 days work. You may think about taking 3 rest days every few months and a week every several months. Listen to your body. If you are constantly sore, performance is not improving or you are actually decreasing you may need to take a day or 2 or 3 off. If you deside to do a 2 a day, it should in most cases be followed up by a rest day. You feel you must come to the gym try an active recovery day. Remember we get stronger not when we workout but when we rest.



Active Recovery: Getting that blood flowing, even at extremely low levels of intensity, can enhance and speed recovery, and even eliminate DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Ever hit a WOD hard, then jump in your car and drive home and lay on the couch for 2 hours? Remember how sore you were? Active recovery can eliminate that. This can entail anything from therapeutic massage to foam rolling/mobility work to an easy 2k row. Try a restorative/athlete yoga class or come into the gym and do some oly skill with a little bar or PVC pipe. You’ll recover faster and become a better athlete.
A great blog for rest day mobility work ideas is MobilityWOD http://www.mobilitywod.com/


Sleep: Sleep is probably the number 1# most important key in proper athletic recovery. We recommend getting 8hours, ideally 9. One of the best books out there on the importance of sleep is called Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar and Survival by T.S Wiley.
Some recommendations for better sleep are to get black-out curtains, get to bed before 10pm, no TV, no computers, no lights i.e. cover up you alarm clock and lights from computers, cell phone charges etc. Also try lowering the temperature of your room and investing in a humidifier.



Nutrition/ Post Workout Nutrition: Paleo, Paleo, Paleo….need I say more. The better you eat, the better your recovery will be.
Your post workout meal should be eaten within 30mins of finishing your WOD and should consist of protein and carbs and little to no fat. Roughly 30g of protein for men and 20g for women and the amount of carbs should increase with the duration of the workout- think ¼ sweet potato for 10mins or less, ½ sweet potato 10-20mins, and a whole sweet potato 30mins or more.
If you are tolerant to dairy and not strict Paleo there are plenty of quality whey protein powders you can take post WOD. Progenix Recovery is one of the best on the market http://www.progenexusa.com/default.aspx



Ice/cold Therapy: Cold therapy utilizes the anti-inflammatory action of cold application. After we workout, our muscles and tissues are highly inflamed and reducing that inflammation through ice bath or contrast showers will speed recovery.


Contrast showers is the alternating of cold and hot for varying lengths of time. Think of it like a whole body treatment of a hot, then cold, compress for a soft tissue injury at hour 72. Try 30s cold, 60s hot x 5 cycles.


Home Ice Bath:
1.Prepare a lot of ice cubes or buy a bag of ice I recommend 20-40lbs. Your target temperature for an ice bath is from 12° to 15° Celsius.
2.Sit in the bath tub with your bag/bags of ice, unopened
3.Put enough cold water to fill up to your waist so that the whole lower body can benefit from the therapy.
4.Once the water is waist level break open your ice.
5.Aim to stay in for 10mins and follow it up with a hot shower or bath. I like to add Epsom salts to my hot bath.
Tips: Wear a warm knit cap. Sip a hot liquid like tea or bone broth. Listen to your ipod and/or have something to read. They get easier.