The video below features one of the world’s top “Parkour” free-runners, Red Bull’s Ryan Doyle. While it’s not the coolest video I’ve ever seen, at the end he discusses the MENTAL PREPARATION required for him to perfect his art form.
Think about that, and think about how you prepare for a workout, a job presentation… life. There’s a quote that says life is about more than just showing up. I agree with that quote. We need to prepare for our experiences. Even in CrossFit, where we prepare for the “Unknown and Unknowable”, there are still opportunities all around us to make ourselves mentally tougher and more mentally stable.
It’s been a LONG time since I’ve posted anything, but life has been pretty crazy lately.
However, I have been asked by a few people lately when “the blog is coming back”, so the fact that other people out there want to see more stuff also makes me more inclined to post again. The biggest reason for this post, though, is because of something that happened at CrossFit Lakewood last week.
It felt like the first time we had worked up to one-rep maxes in a while, and the lift of the day was deadlift. I was only there for 2 classes of the day, but the amount of PR’s I saw were incredible! I LOVE seeing people accomplish something for the first time, and there was no shortage of that!
I apologize for not even capturing everyone’s PR’s, but please know that the coaches are so proud of you guys and gals! Keep up the inspiring work, everyone.
(In case you end up not watching the video… SPOILER ALERT – It ends with CC pulling SIX HUNDRED AND FIVE POUNDS!!!)
CrossFit claims to be a “Functional Fitness” program. That statement leads to a lot of people asking, “What does functional mean?” Today, we’ll talk about ONE of those movements, and why it’s functional. Today’s movement is squatting. To me, squatting is one of the most fundamental human movements!
Sit down. How do you get up the most efficiently? Squat. Pick anything up off of the ground, what’s the safest way to stand with it? Likely, some form of squat. In this short video from the CrossFitHQ YouTube channel, the squat is discussed at length, including how and why you should do the movement properly. I hope you guys find this as helpful as I did!
p.s.- Yes, the “Doublemint” is my favorite part of any CrossFit video… ever. Nicole and Annie are my sirens. 🙂
Deadlifts! They are one of my favorite lifts, but there is always new stuff to learn about how to do them more effectively.
Personally, my problem tends to be lifting my butt up first before my chest. My buddy Zach always tells me to “lift with my legs and keep my chest high”. My response is usually…. it feels like I am! But then I see a video, and sure enough, butt comes up first.
The video below (from CrossFitHQ) gives a few extra pointers and queues to think about as an athlete. Check it out and let me know if these tips are helpful for you guys, too!
(p.s.- Please watch in the video, there are some reps where Courtney Modecki’s back rounds quite a bit. The note posted on the video mentions that the coach and athlete have a history together and then are aware of what the athlete can/can’t do safely. That is very important. To newer lifters, in my opinion as a trainer, that back should almost NEVER round due to the likelihood of injury. In experienced lifters, such as her, the back may round at “near 1-rep max weights”. Years of training can help prepare the body to handle it, but without that experience, once the back starts to round, I’ll stop most of my athletes!)
Today is going to be called “Feel Good Friday”. Yep, sure is.
The video I am about to share with you guys was created by the crew at Again Faster Equipment. Instead of trying to explain the video on my own, let me paste their summary of it from the YouTube page where this video can be found:
“Filmed in August of 2011 in San Antonio, Texas, at Alamo CrossFit, the first ever Again Faster Adaptive Athlete Summit featured some of CrossFit’s best coaches as they came together with a group of adaptive athletes for two days of gymnastics, olympic lifting and mobility work. Coaches Jeff Tucker, Jay Leydon, Austin Malleolo and James Hobart joined with Olympians Chad Vaughn and Kendrick Farris to put the guys through skill sessions and CrossFit workouts, proving–if it even needed to be proven–that CrossFit is for everybody.
The weekend culminated in six athletes being named to the Again Faster Competition Team, captained by Kyle Maynard, with the goal of further showing the world what is possible when you stop looking for excuses and start to adapt.”
The reason I am calling this “Feel Good Friday” is because listening to these guys talk, it continually proves to me that the human spirit can overcome ANY obstacle… if it WANTS to do so. We all have a choice. Every minute. Of every day. In every interaction and situation. It’s that simple. Why would (and why DO) we choose to be negative or pessimistic about things when having a positive outlook could help us achieve things we never even thought possible? Ok, off of my soap box. The point… try to give yourself one single day where you approach EVERYTHING with an optimistic attitude.
Just one day. See what happens? I’m curious to hear if anyone tries.
Most CrossFit nerds, like me, know who Rob Orlando is (aside from the owner of Hybrid Athletics). For those of you don’t… he is awesome.
One of my favorite Rob O. moments came during the 2010 Northeast Regional Qualifier when he clean and jerked 300lbs three times… in 40 seconds.
(Video courtesy of the CrossFitHQ YouTube channel. Video by Again Faster.)
Then, a few weeks ago, he shared this gem (also shared through the CrossFitHQ channel).
Wow.
So I’m talking to my buddy Zach, and he shoots me a text saying, “I saw a guy do grace with 300# on crossfit.com. I think I am going to try it today.” He was referring to Rob’s video. How matter-of-fact is that? Yeeeaaah…. I think I’ll pick up 300lbs off of the ground and put it over my head 30 times today. No big deal?
So, he did. And here it is! It took him 18:04. Yes, I’m serious.
A buddy of mine from work shared this video with me, and I absolutely LOVE it.
If I had the money, the time, or the guts, I would ABSOLUTELY do this! (Yep. Three excuses. That’s when you KNOW it’s high on the “Bucket” list. It sounds TOO fun and life changing to even consider doing right now.)
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