Posts Tagged ‘Family’

Here’s last week’s recap and my goals for the upcoming week.

Last week:

  • Fitness
    • Week three of the 2018 CrossFit Games Open is over.
    • For workout 18.3, I retested and only got a single rep more when I completed a double-under at literally the last second! I was pretty bummed, as I was so much farther ahead of my time, but simply collapsed on the second set of overhead squats. My core was shaking, shoulders couldn’t hold up the bar, and I even missed a snatch attempt to finish up my last few reps. The silver lining in this is that I obviously pushed myself to the point of failure in the last few seconds of the workout. That’s a sign that I’m toying with that red line and doing it right. I feel like I should have been able to complete the next set of double-unders, so that’s what I’ll shoot for when they repeat this workout next year. Here’s a video of my first attempt.
    • This week for 18.4, I finally got a barbell movement that I love… the deadlift! However, it was paired with a movement I do NOT love… the handstand push-up. The GOOD NEWS for me, is that there was a new standard introduced for the HSPU, which meant that the playing field was leveled for a lot of athletes. As I coach to all of my classes, most people (yeah, most) don’t actually reach full ROM on their reps based on what a rep “should” look like to me. So, by requiring feet to go above the line, lots of athletes were forced to slow down and do them properly. My first attempt was alright, but when I got to the handstand walks, my mid-line and shoulder were fried! Probably would have been a good idea to practice handstand walking before the workout, haha. I am happy with my score, but if I feel recovered enough my Monday afternoon, I’ll likely give it another go. Here’s attempt number one.
  • Last Saturday, my dad reached out to see if I was free this coming weekend. When I said yes, we were able to find me a flight to go out and hang out with him and my brother in Tuscon, Arizona! We had an amazing time, watched a lot of baseball, and even got to play catch and hit some balls together. While I didn’t get a lot of sleep, it felt so good to spend time with them!
  • Stupid Human Trick of the Week goes to my first attempt at a “Pool Jump” in years. It took four or five tries, but the one I decided to record ended up being the best one! Check it out!

This week:

  • I’ve got a long night of travelling back home to Colorado ahead of me, so I’m not quite sure if I’ll feel up to retesting 18.4 tomorrow, but we’ll see.
  • Once I’m home, I need to make sleep a higher priority for me. Using my “Sleep Cycle” app, I’m going to actually TRACK how many hours I get, and it needs to be better than last week. I’ve never slept “enough” in my adult life, but these last few weeks have been abnormally bad for me. I tell every athlete I coach that nutrition and rest are MORE important for your body than the time you spend in the gym. If I can set more of an example of getting more rest, I think it will help athletes trust me even more. I’m going to try to lead by example a bit more here.

Alright, your turn. What’s going on with all of you?

The pic of the week comes from my trip to Tuscon, getting a chance to play catch with my baby bro. He’s going to college and will play baseball there next year. The kid is so good, and since I live so far away from him, I don’t get to hang with him that often. Getting in some Long Toss this morning with him felt great! So proud of him!

LongToss

When I walk around the gym every day, I see a bunch of people working hard to be more fit. I also see people who outside these walls live completely different lives from one another. It’s crazy for me to coach someone for months and then find out they’re the CEO of their own company. Why? Because to me, they might have been that really fast runner, or the person who HAS to nervous pee before every workout, or the cherry picker who only shows up on days with heavy squats. I see athletes as people who come to the gym to work out. Everywhere else, they’re “Pastor so-and-so” or “Dr. such-and-such.” There will be accountants, nurses, stay-at-home parents, bartenders, lawyers, and teachers, all throwing down next to each other, not even aware what their classmates do for a living.

A local gym can serve so many purposes outside of just improving health and fitness. They can be local community chambers of commerce, networking hubs, and resource pools for any number of things. I’ve seen members find surgeons and physical therapists based on referrals of athletes in their class. Countless others have sold and purchased homes because of a realtor they met on a Saturday workout. Even if members themselves might not be in a particular profession, they’ll likely know other people who specialize in a specific field.

Learning more about these people you see a few times per week can have so many positive outcomes. It will not only help you grow your professional network and allow for potential referrals across industries when you find a time to connect individuals, but depending on what you do, it could even lead to you picking up a few new clients of your own. Finally, and not to freak anyone out, but getting to know others better at the gym could also lead to real-life, non “social media only,” actual in-person human friendships! I know!!

WhatDoHere1

There’s a saying most of us have heard that says, “Your network is your net worth.” More than one’s actual “worth” though, because that sounds so selfish to me, it means that if you know professionals in different industries, you can be a greater resource to those that you care about. For a lot of us, being able to add value for others is one of the best feelings in the world!

I have two younger brothers, and they are both amazing. When I say that, I mean I can’t hold a candle to either of them in pretty much anything, and that is so inspiring to say out loud! Still thinking….. nope… they’re amazing at pretty much everything.

Anyways, one of them is in a band called the Big Mean Sound Machine. Not only is that possibly the coolest band name of all time, (right?!) but they can GROOVE!! Last week, they released their first ever Music Video for their song “Seeing the Bigger Picture” and it’s really cool.

I love playing Big Mean songs when I’m running around and need an awesome groove to keep me moving, and this song is no different! Take a watch, and let me know what you think. In a place like the gym, it could very easily be played during a warm-up or cool down period to keep energy high, but not overwhelm people with guitars or bass drops. Really good stuff.

So proud of you, Duke!