Posts Tagged ‘FitFam’

There can be only one… Really?

Posted: January 27, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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Is there a single workout program that tops all others? I don’t think so. Most people work out to improve their overall health, to look and feel better, and to allow them to participate in other activities in their lives. So if one program isn’t the best, why are people so adamant at tearing down those who decide to take care a different path to be more active? Well, it’s because people are the worst sometimes, that’s why.

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I tell athletes all the time that depending on what your goals are, almost ANY form of moving one’s body is great for you! Walking the neighborhood? Love it! Lifting weights? Why not? Dancing with your friends? Also awesome. The difference in effectiveness only starts to really matter when the athlete’s goals become more specific.

If you want to run really fast or jump really high, you should probably get strong legs and work on explosive movements often. If you are trying to lose a lot of weight, it makes sense to spend time working on high intensity interval type training and improving your diet. Would you like to improve your core strength and mobility, Pilates and Yoga would be a great place to start. Want to look good at the beach? Start doing those curlz for the girlz (and/or boyz). If you want to be good at CrossFit…. good luck. Practice everything, all day, every day, and I’ll see you in 10 years. (But seriously, it’s a tough sport to try and excel at everything!)

If you goal is to simply be healthier, more “fit” (whatever that means to you), and have a body that is more capable of doing things out in the real world, try all of it! My goal this year is to try one new fitness class per month. Why haven’t I taken an Orange Theory class yet? Would I survive a Stand-Up Paddle Board Yoga class? I mean…. define survive.

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The point is, having the ability to move in weird and crazy ways is an absolute gift. So many people are injured or faced with disabilities and would love nothing more than to have the opportunity to embarrass themselves at a Zumba class even though they might not have rhythm. Sometimes when it comes to our own physical abilities, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” Don’t take that for granted. Get out of your comfort zone, challenge your body and your brain more often, and remember to ALWAYS encourage others who are on their own journey to take care of themselves.

Those who make fun of someone at the gym for being overweight are really bad people. In my mind, having the courage to take active steps to improve your life deserves endless and unrelenting praise and support from every single person you know. One sit-up may not help a person lose the 30lbs they aim to shed, but doing that first sit-up can be a tipping point for a lifetime of healthier habits that could easily lead to surpassing any weight loss goals!

So put on your sneakers, find a friend, and try something new in the next few weeks. It might be an absolutely hilarious disaster, so if nothing else it’ll be a fun story to tell to your friends. Let me know what you get out there and do. Maybe I’ll try it, too!

When in doubt, slow it down…

Posted: January 24, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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In over 20 years of coaching individuals, I’ve used several motto’s or catch phrases to try and deliver a consistent message to my athletes. One of the early ones, that I still think about to this day, is reminding my athletes to move with purpose. Don’t flop your way through air squats just to get them done. Instead, realize that each rep, no matter how boring it may seem at the time, has the opportunity to make you stronger. Focus on your breathing when holding a mountain climber, and be aware that by driving through the heel of your front foot, you’ll get a deeper stretch. When you’re running, keep your chest up, shoulders relaxed, and find a rhythm that will help you control your breathing. You get the point. Moving with purpose is important, and I always want the people I work with to remember that!

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Lately, my new favorite phrase to say is, “When in doubt, slow it down!” What does that mean? For one, in this crazy sport of ours, moving faster is usually associated with being better. Get through the workout in less time, complete more rounds in the same amount of time, go, go, go! Unfortunately, what that also means a lot of the time is that athletes will move faster at the expense of good form. Most people I work are going to the gym in order to be healthier. If the focus is rushing through movements in the interest of going faster, technique typically suffers, increasing the likelihood of someone getting hurt. If they get hurt, they’re not necessarily getting better, are they?

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My advice, specifically on movements that are more technical, is to move a little bit slower than you think you should. Controlling the “down” portion of the squat and exploding up not only gives the athlete more time under tension (more gainz?), but also more time think about moving safely. I’d rather go 15 seconds slower on a workout and be safer and clearly complete full range of motion. Keep in mind that I’m not an elite-level competitor, I’m merely a recreational exercise racer. That said, for those who are training to compete, if they trained with full range of motion every day, and got to a competition with a “lenient” judge, they could maybe shorten each rep and get away with it. And what a treat that would be for them! On the other hand, if that same person always sprinted reps, and never fully locked out a single push-up during training…. and then they showed up to a competition with a strict judge who no-repped everything they did, it would be a lot more difficult for them to adjust. It’s a very similar concept to training heavier than you’ll need to compete (using a heavier wall ball for example) then going down to standard weight on game day and being able to move faster.

Practice typically doesn’t make perfect. But let me tell you, the people I know who practice with intention, move with purpose, and focus on slower and deliberate movement all the time almost always perform better when it matters most! Don’t base the value of your performance and training on the scores you produce or the times you get on workouts. Instead, focus more on moving with virtuosity, and the condition of your body. Most of us are in this thing for the long haul. If you want your body to serve you for years to come, treat it that way. If you’re ever wondering whether or not you’re doing something quite right, just remember… When it doubt, slow it down!

Do as I say, not as I do…

Posted: January 20, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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“Do as I say, not as I do” is a saying that is often associated with negative scenarios. A kid gets yelled at by their parents for saying a bad word, that they learned from hearing their parents say in the first place. A prosecutor being arrested for some heinous crime that he fought against for years. *Insert the story of any current politician resigning due to reason x, y, or z* You get the point.

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In personal training and coaching, however, I feel it’s much more common to encounter this situation. Some clients are elite-level athletes that are able to do things that their trainer could have never dreamed of doing themselves. Other coaches are past their own athletic prime, but have an incredible understanding of human performance. And then there’s the coaches who were never amazing athletes by their own right, but are simply incredible educators and motivators.

My old friend, Kevin Ogar (Owner of CrossFit Watchtower), always said that the best coaches were the second-tier athletes. Top tier athletes were typically so good, and so genetically gifted, that it would be hard for them to explain what comes so natural for them to others. Second tier athletes became good at their sport or craft because of years of hard work. Since they got to where they were through trial and error over time, they would often be more effective in helping others with progressions, and offering support through their trials and tribulations.

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I had a conversation with a personal trainer last night who explained that he would never ask his clients to perform something he couldn’t do himself. Now, I understand the concept of what he was trying to say. Be responsible, don’t create absurd movements or circuits for your athletes that could get them hurt (which happens a lot in our industry), and so on. But I fundamentally disagree with him. In my opinion, being an effective coach means training and empowering others to perform to THEIR full potential safely. Not your own.

For example, in CrossFit the Strict Ring Muscle-Up is considered a fairly advanced movement.  I know dozens of trainers who aren’t able to this movement themselves. Does that mean that they should never teach others to do them, as long the movement and progressions are taught safely? To me, the answer is obvious.

This also brings the up to question of the physical appearance of the trainers, themselves. Some people love looking at trainers who are specimens of human perfection! Six pack abs, a booty strong enough to bounce a quarter ten feet in the air, arms or legs the size of tree trunks. But does the body of a trainer have anything to do with their ability to help others? I don’t think it does. Of course, there’s a distinction between a coach who is 80lbs overweight and eats fast food every day and someone who works out regularly and is still “normal person” healthy. I’m not suggesting that anyone wants to be coached by someone who has “really let themselves go,” merely saying that there isn’t necessarily a correlation between physique and effectiveness.

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I know there’s no Right or Wrong answer to this topic, but I think it’s a really interesting one to discuss! Do you feel it’s important that trainers are able to do all of the things they ask of their clients? Do coaches need to look a certain way in order to be effective or credible? Let me know!

The 2018 Open is coming – Re-Do, or Re-Don’t?

Posted: January 12, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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One of the strangest phenomenons I’ve noticed about the CrossFit Games Open, is that the trend of wanting to “redo” workouts to improve one’s score exists with both beginners and CrossFit Games athletes alike. Today’s post is on the motivation behind the do-overs. WHY do people choose to put themselves through the same torture they just experienced, with only a few days (if that) between attempts?

***Before we dive in, let the record show I am 100% one of those people who typically retests!***

In my experience, athletes will typically retest the Open workouts for one of a few reasons:

  1. “On the Bubble”– These people find themselves right on the cusp of those who might qualify for Regionals. (Or at least they think they’re on the bubble…) It’s so crazy to think that over 5 the course of workouts ONE SINGLE REP could be the difference between making it, or not making it, to the next phase in this worldwide competition.
  2. Beat Friends– Here’s something that you might find hard to believe: CrossFitters are typically very competitive people! That means if you go head-to-head with your friend and they beat you by a few reps, you only have one option: Redo the workout, beat THEIR score by a few reps, and defend your family’s honor! Am I Right? Obviously.
  3. Type-A / Perfectionists– These folks “shouldn’t have set down the bar” with only 5 reps to go. They “could have rowed” just a little faster. That chalk break “wasn’t really necessary” at the end. We know, we know. We all feel that way. Just because you could have squeezed out a few more reps during round 4, though, doesn’t mean you need to do the workout again.
  4. Leader-boarders– A lot of times, these people don’t even know why they do workouts over! They’re not going to qualify for Regionals. They casually work out a few times per week to stay in shape and hang out with their friends. The Open is just a fun few weeks out of the year, then it’s back to normal. Yet for some reason, going from 2,528th in the Region to 2,194th in the Region on workout 3 makes them feel a lot better about themselves. Improving a mostly (completely?) irrelevant ranking usually isn’t worth putting your body through doing 200 deadlifts at 225lbs in 48 hours! Be smart. Train safe. Recover adequately. Repeat. As one of my friends used to say: Don’t Let Ego Be Your Amigo.

If you’re one (or more) of the people above,  I’m not here to judge you! I have done nearly every single Open workout (since the Open was a thing) more than once. Nearly every single one! From the list above, I’m a ‘Reason #3’ person.

For MOST of us, though, please remember: Your score on an Open workout doesn’t really matter!

I’m serious. That’s not meant to hurt your feelings. In fact, it’s meant to encourage you to NOT hurt yourself! CrossFit is hard. The Open workouts typically make us push even harder. That means that doubling or tripling down on the stress you’re putting your body through will take more out of you than if you just did them once. Decide if it’s really worth it to give it another go.

After all that, if you still decide to retest workouts each week, more power to you. The only thing I want you consider is: Why?

If the risk (of being too fatigued, getting hurt during your attempt, the frustration if you don’t do better) outweighs the reward (a few higher spots in your ranking and a higher score?), maybe sit it out. To truly perform at your best during the Open, it takes months of training and preparation. Retesting because your body just knows where the pain hits doesn’t necessarily mean you’re any more fit, either. These workouts were designed to be one-and-done. When it’s Game Day, you typically don’t get a second shot anyways!

Finally, let’s address the elephant in the room about “Reason #2” people. I know you love competing with “so-and-so” at the gym. Maybe they know it, and you push each other every day. Maybe you’ve never even met them, but you always see their times and scores on the whiteboard. And just maybe, they’re your “Gym Nemisis”… the person you HAVE to beat or it ruins your day. Our competitiveness in this fitness thing can quickly turn into something negative. Instead of wasting energy being mad that someone beat you, criticizing them and making up “excuses” as to why they beat you, maybe this is the year you can just be excited for everyone! Positive and encouraging energy in a gym is so contagious! Unfortunately, so are those people who sit in the corner scowling because someone beat their score. You know, at the end of the day, they might just actually be better at exercise racing than you are in those particular workouts. Guess what? It’s ok. Don’t lose sleep, or friends, over a stupid competition!

All that said, I’ll still likely redo some of them. So, there’s that.

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Sunday Status Update: 1/7/18

Posted: January 7, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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The “Sunday Status Update” will give me a chance to update everyone on what’s been going on with me, share anything I’ve got coming up in the next week or so, and give my readers the opportunity to update me on what’s going on with YOU!!

This “Accountability” thing helps me a lot. If I tell both people who read my blog what I’m hoping to do, at least one of them might call me out and make sure it happens! So, thanks for you help, mom 🙂

Last week:

  • Fitness- Deadlifted 400lbs x 3 reps + Push Jerked 255lbs x 3 reps and felt strong for both. Completed one workout – 3 Rds of 15 Pull-Ups, 12 Burpees over Barbell, 9 Squat Cleans (135lbs) – in 8:15 and did all pull-ups unbroken, which was nice.
  • Home- Installed my first outlet in the garage, didn’t burn down the house, so that was nice! Also used our new Power Washer for the first time to clean the garage and the driveway. Power Tools.

This week:

  • My challenge is to complete TWO “The 2018 Open is Coming” posts, to start preparing people for what to think about before the end of next month!
  • Hoping to work out 4 days between Monday and Friday, and be in bed by 11 at least one night.
  • I am going to start reading my first book of 2018.
  • Prepped a bunch of food this week, so I want to make sure I bring enough food to eat lunch no matter where I am Monday through Thursday!

What’s going on with all of you? Let’s be “Accountabili-buddies” together!

Smashby Speaks: Couldn’t Have Said It Better Myself

Posted: July 22, 2016 in CrossFit, Training
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DISCLAIMER:
The thoughts featured in the post are mine and mine alone! 

I have never claimed to be a great writer. In fact, I usually say my writing is like my talking… I usually do too much and use too many words! But every once and a while I see some piece from a blog or a FB post that makes me want to literally jump up and down and high five a stranger. Today, I read one of those posts! *High Five*

The topic covered was is something most of us typically refer to as “rep-shaving” in our little CrossFit world. My blog has featured at LEAST 2 posts on the topic, so I’ll include the link right below here if you care to go back and read my thoughts.

Smashby Speaks: The CrossFit Games Open 2016

Now this NEW post, written by Mike Warkentin (who is the managing editor of the CrossFit Journal and the founder of CrossFit 204) is probably the most brutally honest, and all-encompassing blocks of words that I’ve read on the topic. It’s called “An Open Letter to Cheaters” and basically says what almost all of us think on the issue:

Why? Why would someone intentionally skip reps/rounds during a workout, shorten range of motion, or write the wrong weight used for that Shoulder Press?

We all have had brain meltdowns during or after a workout and lose count when we can’t even see straight, but some athletes out there do it on purpose. Often. My typical approach as a coach (which falls into one of his categories in the piece) is to just let it go. I’ve said the sentence, “They’re only cheating themselves…” countless times, but Mike makes a point: while they’re only cheating their own physical progress and development, it can STILL have a negative impact on the community around them.

Even when I started competing back in 2010, I remember no-repping myself during workouts!

Even when I started competing back in 2010, I remember no-repping myself during workouts!

As competitive creatures, person “A” could become discouraged if they keep doing full range of motion push-ups, and time after time person “B” beats them in a workout by not locking out a single one. CrossFit is founded upon the concept that we all suffer together, so we that we all get better together!

In my nearly 8 years of CrossFit, I’ve probably posted a few hundred videos of myself working out. While some of them are to share my accomplishments with friends, most of the time it’s for the silly reason that I want my friends to know that when I talk about my “exercise racing” times or numbers, that I’m being honest. (And to hope I can get some remote coaching on technique, since 95% of my training is done alone!)

Enough of my rant, please check out this article, and let me know your thoughts! I really enjoyed this one. I’m going to start trying to write more often, too. It makes me feel good to hope that my years in this “sport” of ours can potentially help (or entertain?) at least one person out there.

Enjoy your weekend, friends!

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