Why do we do _____ every week!?

I get this question every so often from my CrossFit clients.  "Why do we do ____ every week?"  Some people say we get on "kicks" of certain movements or I get stuck on certain movements in my program design.  I just wanted to give a bit of an explanation.

CrossFit, classically known for "random" program design.  This is true but is "random" really the best we can do?  In my opinion, this is very lower order thinking.  If we randomly threw movements out there you will NEVER improve as well as you could be.  Fitness is just like anything else and MUST have some organization to it to get the results that are desired.  This is why it's called PROGRAM design.  If I randomly through a workout up the night before, this almost guarantees a lack of quality programming and increase risk of injury along with decreased results.

Now, let me clarify, for someone coming off of 10 years of bad eating and NO fitness.  Yes, you will see results (with a high risk of injury) w/ random CF b/c you are doing something as opposed to nothing!

If you have a random program, there is NO possible way to create structural balance.  Ask your coach how they ensure structural balance, which greatly decreases risk for injury, without a structured program!? (If you are a coach, ask yourself this)

In my opinion, if you do NOT get on "kicks" or "get stuck on movements" in your programming then you are doing something WRONG!

Clients, ask your coach (program designer), WHY are we doing this?! If he/she can't give you an answer, that's a problem.  Find a new coach that CAN explain to you why you are doing what you're doing!!

You would not do yourself this dis-service with ANYTHING else...
Ex. If you are readying a book, would you read one page from book #1 on Monday then one page from book #2 on tuesday and so forth until you get to day 100 when you finally read the second page of book #1??  This makes no sense!  You would never learn anything about any of the books!

Ex. You go to a dentist.  Doc why are we doing this to my tooth?  Eh I'm not sure but I did it to my last patient so I'm going to do it to you too.

Do yourself a favor and make sure your coach knows what they are doing!

End of soap box!  Thanks for reading!  Any comments are gladly welcomed and I'll gladly reply!

New Year!!

I wanted to write a piece reflecting on 2012 and looking forward to 2013.  First off, I wanted to say I'm thankful to Christ for all of my struggles and successes over the past year.  I have learned a lot from each and probably even more from the struggles than successes.

I'm very thankful for all of my clients and coaches at the gym.  They always encourage and motivate me to do better in all aspects of life.  Beyond that, what I am most thankful for, is that they challenge me.   They make me ask the questions "Is what I'm doing just good enough or is it great?"

My training has been very difficult this last year.  I think I have gone through more ups and downs in my training this year than ever.  I hit some good PR's, but then had some really bad workouts too.  Again, the challenges motivate me more than anything.  This is what I love about CF and training.

In 2012, with the help of God, my wonderful wife Reagan, my family, and my gym family, I was able to accomplish making it to regionals again.  I made it to Sunday of Regionals which was also my goal.  In the gym, we were able to stay over my goal # of members throughout the year.  I began developing my online training program.  We were able to get some coaches in a system of coaching to make CF 27:17 a better experience for everyone.  Again, this was all done with MUCH help from those listed above.

In 2013, I have a several goals. I just want to list the ones directly related to CF 27:17 and my personal training here.  My theme for this year is "Good to Great".  I started reading a book with this title last year; among the many that I didn't finish, I will finish it this year.  I realized that I have a tendency to settle for being good at a lot of things.  The gym is doing "good", training is going "good", my coaching is "good", relationships are "good", etc.  All of this is "good", but I don't want to settle for that.  I want to look back on my life and say it was GREAT and I lived it too the fullest and did the BEST I could at EVERYTHING!

That being said, I want to attack this year with full force trying to make CF 27:17 the best gym in Mississippi.  I want to attack every workout with full effort.  I want to challenge my faith and marriage to be the best it can possibly be.  I want to take risk for God that are out of my comfort zone.  I want to get into more uncomfortable situations that I can grow from than ever before.  I want to keep my eyes open for ANY areas of growth each and every day!

I encourage you to do what I am doing.  Write down up to 3 BIG Goals for different aspects of life.  Put them in plain view where you see them regularly.  Tell a couple of people about them to hold you accountable.  Next is planning your strategies to accomplish these goals.  Here's to a GREAT year in 2013!

Difficulty

Ok,  I'm going to use this blog to post some of my thoughts as a coach.  Hope you enjoy.  This first piece if an article from another website and it hit me pretty good!

It make challenges you to question what you're doing and what you "think" you're doing.  One of my favorite things about CrossFit is that it's difficult and challenging, I'm a firm believer that we constantly need something in our lives that really pushes us to the limits and challenges us in more ways than one!

Below is the article, I'm going to post some of my thoughts on it later after you have a chance to read it.  Feel free to post comments!

I bumped into an old friend from the distant past. In my early days as a hard-nosed knuckle-dragger he was one of my compatriots, and one of the hardest working martial artists around. He had always prided himself on his sinewy mentality when it came to all things physical, and he had a prolific work rate. After a brief (and predictable) catch up (how’s the work, the car, the kids, the wife and the mum – in that order) he said ‘hey, you still doing animal day?’
Animal day, for those that do not know, is a form of knock-out or submission fighting (any range, any technique) that I pioneered in the mad, bad (and often sad) 90’s. A time I absolutely loved, but a time I am also grateful to have left behind.

I shook my head in the negative. It had been a many years since I engaged in my last animal day fight.
‘Why not?’ he asked, adding, ‘I’m still mad for it.’

‘Because it is difficult easy,’ I said, ‘and in order for me to continue growing my character, I don’t need difficult easy. In order for me to grow my character I need difficult difficult.’
He gave me one of those loud, squinty eyed confused looks that shouted from a hundred feet ‘Explain!’

So I explained.

Even as a veteran of thousands of fights, animal days were still a scary experience for me, it was violent and dangerous and extremely difficult. But because I had fought so many times and knew the terrain well it no longer stretched me.

Whatever it was that I needed to reap from that hard period of my life had been well and truly harvested; there was nothing left for me to learn there. Animal day was still difficult, and from the outside looking in it probably looked as though it was mad difficult, but for me it wasn’t, in fact it had become difficult easy.

My friend was still in love with the ground-and-pound style fighting and whilst his physical prowess was evident he had not grown even a single inch in any other area of his life, probably not for the last ten years. His was the mistake made by many; they presume that if something is difficult then they are in the arena. But experience has taught me that the only time you are truly in the arena is when you are (ever so slightly) out of your depth.

Difficult easy is when you are on familiar terrain, not matter how hard the going.

Difficult difficult is when you find your self at the bottom of someone else’s class with three crazy training partners; fear at your left, doubt on your right and (that big bastard) uncertainty squaring up in front of you.

Difficult easy is treading water whilst kidding yourself that you are swimming against the tide.

Difficult difficult doesn’t need to employ pretence because it is drowning and swimming for its life.

I see many people suffering stalled development because they are so busy occupying themselves with very worthy, respectably, difficult easy tasks that they use to avoid the difficult difficult areas of their lives.

I am doing it right now as it happens. I should be doing a re-write of a difficult (difficult) film script that is over due, but instead I am busying myself with a piece of difficult (easy) work that is not really due to be in print for another fortnight (damn, caught myself out again!)

Some (more) examples; you bury your relationship problems (difficult difficult) under hundreds of miles of road running (difficult…but easy).

You fill every spare moment with hard lists of worthy causes (difficult easy) so that you don’t have the time to invest in the book that you were always going to write, or the film you would love to make (if only you were not so committed in other areas) or the (difficult…very difficult) painting career that you had always intended to create.

You immerse yourself in course after course, book after book (so difficult, and yet….so deliciously easy) on becoming a life coach/property developer/master chef instead of just getting out there (difficult, oh so difficult) and actually doing it.

Listen. Let me tell you, the moment a task becomes difficult easy you stop growing. That is a fact. In order to re-establish your vital development you need to take an honest inventory (difficult very difficult – I have done it) of your life, ditch the pretence, and embrace the black that is….difficult difficult.

And stop chasing ostentatious challenges (that are difficult easy for you) and sort out your health; you are three stone over weight and your blood pressure is off the scale.

Kill the worthy endeavours that you think other people will think are impressive and do something truly and uniquely impressive; take your (secret) addictions to task and kill the porn (in all its forms).

Stop collecting trophies and certificates and belts that tell the word how successful you are and actually BE a success, by taking a hammer to that creepily burgeoning fear that you are harbouring.

And don’t, please (like my old mate) fall into the trap of mistaking hard work – even extremely hard (easy) work – for progress. Because, let’s be frank, difficult easy is really just another way of saying ‘easy’, and there is no growth in easy.

We aspirants are into the hard game, the long game, the difficult difficult game. What we are not into, or what we should not be into is the game of easy.

A. Squat Clean + Front Squat- build to 245
+
3 sets; rest 3 min
10 Dead Lift, 245
AMRAP Strict HSPU
DL just felt slow, HSPU- 25, 20, 15.  Didn't want to really burn out so didn't really go to max
+
3 sets
10 Toes to Bar
10 Reverse Hypers
Good little finish.  Reverse Hyper I did 60, 80, 100lbs
Starting to slow down in prep for this weekend

10/22/12

For time:
Run 400m w/ 20lb ball
Row 350m
30 Burpees on plate
Run 400m w/ 20lb ball
100 Double Unders
Row 350m

10:43- lung burner.  Need this to be sub 10 min

10/19/12

A. Squat Clean- 2 reps @ 90% of wednesdays max for 10 min
@ 245- squat was heavy but completed

B. Push Jerk- 2 reps/min for 10 min
185, 205, 225, 225, 225
+
2 sets; rest 5 min
2 min of work
50m sled pull
5 Power Cleans, 135
10 HR PushUps
2 rounds
1 round + PC

Sled pulls were awful!

Finished w/ a mile cool down run

10/17/12

Biloxi Blues Prep

Part 1

Clean + 2 Front Squat Ladder on minute

Start @ 205 and build 10lbs/min until failure

went to 265 and failed.  didn't want to squat clean it b/c my quads are still sore from the weekend.  I hope to get 275 or so next weekend

rest 5 min

Part 2

5 Shoulder to OH, 135

10 Burpees on plate

15 KBS, 53lbs

10 StO, 135

20 Burpees on plate

30 KBS, 53lbs

15 StO, 135

30 Burpees on plate

45 KBS, 53lbs

Took this @ about 90% and finished just at 11 min.  Unbroken on everything but the KBS.  Plan to push a little harder on the last set of KBS on competition day.