Here’s last week’s recap and my goals for the upcoming week.
Last week:
Fitness- The more time passes this year, the more appreciative I am of the little things that go well in my training. My expectation used to be that I had to hit big numbers in strength, and push hard on workouts. Both things had to be there, every day. Now, I look back on training and am excited to see that a few things go well every week. That’s been more than enough to keep me going lately.
For Time:
– 40/30 Cal Bike or Row
– 100′ Front Rack Walking Lunge (DB 50/35)(KB 53/35)
– 25/20 Cal Bike or Row
– 100′ DB Walking Lunge
– 15/10 Cal Bike or Row – 7:39rx
For Time:
– 2k Row (or 1 mile run)
– 200 Double Unders (300 singles)
– 10 Rounds of Cindy (C2B Cindy) – 22:21c (chest to bar)
The challenge this month was to accumulate 2,018 calories on a rower or bike. My goal last week was to complete an additional 1,000 calories, and I did it. I’m currently sitting at 2,300 for February.
Progress still continues slowly on my first book of the year (Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual by Jacko Willink). I knew that it would be hard to prioritize sitting down and making time to read instead of doing some sort of work, but not this tough! I’m always so convinced that there are other things I need to be doing until the second I close my eyes to go to sleep, but at least I’m plugging away.
Complete one thousand more calories on the bike and/or rower before next Sunday. Feeling good about the extra cardio I’m doing, I just need to MAKE time to get it in! Another 1,000 would put me at 3,300 by next weekend.
Swimming Post is basically done, just working on fine-tuning details on the graphic/poster! Booked another 2 new swim clients this week for later in the month, too.
Alright, your turn. What’s going on with all of you?
I just registered for my seventh consecutive CrossFit Games Open. Over the last few weeks several people have asked me if I was going to sign up or not, and that question always stirs up these weird emotions. While I haven’t “trained for The Open” in over three years, in my mind registering for this online competition is just a given. I’m not trying to beat anyone, I’m not expecting to place well, but it’s just become a part of what I do.
It’s not every day that we get to say we’ve been associated with something since the very beginning, but “The Open” is one of those things for me. I clearly remember the first CrossFit competition I ever did (the 2010 Mountain Sectionals), I remember my first year watching the CrossFit Games live-streamed from the Ranch all weekend long and not living leaving the house a single time, and I remember the first time we had to register online for this crazy thing. Somehow, this sport and community of ours continues to grow, and it doesn’t even cross my mind to not cough over $20 every year and throw down with the rest of you.
So as another year passes, my training goals shift yet again, and life continues to change on so many levels, I find myself preparing to join over a quarter of a million people worldwide to put our fitness to the test yet again. Here’s to keeping the streak of consecutive Open participation alive. Good luck to each and every one of you, and I’ll see you on the leaderboard!
The thought of being unpopular used to be one of my biggest fears. It may come as a shock to you, but throughout my life I have struggled with feeling as though I should do whatever it takes to be liked by most people. This belief has allowed me to maintain friendships far longer than I should have, it’s encouraged me to give far more than I knew I’d ever get back from people, and it’s lead to me to being walked all over by others because I felt too awkward to stand up for myself. As I’ve gotten older, however, I’ve realized that most of those relationships have helped mold me into the man I am today. I’m proud that I’ve been able to learn and grow from many of those moments.
In the video posted below, Rethinking Unpopular: Erika Napoletano at TEDxBoulder 2012, Erika describes her difference between being “unpopular” and being “unlikeable.” Being unpopular, she explains, means making decisions based on honoring two groups of people: those who will love us for everything we are (and everything we aren’t), and ourselves. Being unlikeable, however, stems from the belief that everything revolves around us. When applying that distinction to my job as a personal trainer, it means although I may not always make the most popular decision in the gym, I’ll always make the one that has the best interest of my athletes at the forefront of my mind.
My goal in coaching the way I do is not to try to impress other people. In fact, the older I get, the less I try to impress others, and the less apologetic I am about my desire to add value. Relinquishing the need for validation of any kind has allowed me to truly give as much of myself as possible, simply to try and improve the lives of others.
If you watch the video, you’ll hear her hilarious story about the graphic above. For the purpose of MY post, let’s change the word “Swear” to the word “Care.” I can’t explain why I care so much about my athletes, but I do. When I lead a class, my style of music may not be the most popular, but I’ll rarely play songs with lyrics that offend an entire room. I often stop athletes from adding weight to their bar when form starts to break down, which may lead to some not wanting to take classes I lead. (I think that it also leads to fewer athletes getting injured on my watch, however.) I regularly suggest that the volume of a workout be reduced or movements scaled based on an athlete’s ability or experience. While this decision may bruise an ego here and there in the short term, it usually leads to those same people being able to come back the next day instead of being so sore they can barely move. They’re not always popular decisions, but they always ones that come from a place of caring, and a place that prioritizes safety over everything else.
To some, these choices are logical and expected by a coach. To others, they’re an attack on the abilities and character of an athlete. I’m not able to control how others react. When I lay my head on my pillow at night, though, I know that I tried to help every single person I came in contact with in the gym that day. Being so unapologetic in those decisions makes me feel really good about what I do.
Every day I hope that through my actions over time, I will build the trust of those around me and prove to them that I always have their back. For those who don’t feel that way, over time, they’ll slowly move on. While that scenario doesn’t always make me happy, that’s how it goes, and it’s alright to let those people out of my “blanket fort” of life.
Please take the time to watch the video below. Let it inspire you to reassess and remind yourself why it is that you do what you do. Today, I’m more comfortable with the thought of being unpopular than I ever have been, because I know the choices I make at work are made to try and help others.
“Love me, hate me, just don’t be indifferent!” she says. I feel the same way!
All jokes aside, this post is timely given some members of the audience reading my blog, and some situations I’ve witnessed in my years as a CrossFit coach. A lot of gyms out there have fun monthly challenges to keep their members engaged and strengthen the community. One in particular, which I’ve seen at dozens of gyms all over the world, happens during the second to last month of each calendar year. This event is called… ROW-VEMBER! What is Row-vember? Well, it’s an in-house competition to see who in the gym can row the most meters in the month of November. Sounds fun, right?! Well, it can be! At least, until people take the competition a little bit too seriously.
If read that and thought, “You’re kidding, right? How can someone take a rowing competition too seriously?” I’m SO glad you asked! There was a handful of individuals that were so set on winning, that in many ways, rowing took over their lives for four weeks. They’d show up early to row before class. Stay to row more after class. They’d come in and just row instead of taking class. Sometimes they’d back to the gym a second time during the day just to get in more rowing. Someone even took apart their own personal a rower so it would fit in the car to take with them on vacation! Now hopefully the picture is getting painted a little bit clearer as to how things went down.
A few years ago, Crazy Castro had the CrossFit Games athletes complete a HALF MARATHON Row… that’s 21,000 meters. In a row. Insane! What happened next? Well, like every other year after the CrossFit Games are over, people all over the world tried to do the same workouts on their own… “Just to see how they’d do compared to the fittest people on earth.” I know several people who called up some friends one day, went to the gym, put a movie on the TV, and rowed for over 90 minutes straight, just to say they did it. I get it. (Well, just like I know people pay money to do Ironman distance triathlons, doesn’t mean I want to do one myself. You do you, just know it’s not my jam!)
So we’ve talked about a crazy CrossFit event where athletes rowed for over an hour. And we’ve discussed people going to the gym all the time just to row and taking rowers on vacation with them to not fall behind in random competitions. Now, to drive home my point of just how bad it got, put those two groups together. There were a handful of people rowing 20,000+ meters nearly every day!! And if they missed a day, they’d make it up before or after!! That is insaaaaaaaaane to me. I’ve been in this CrossFit game for nearly a decade, and I’ve never even rowed a 10k!
I understand some people just like long and slow cardio. I also get how completing long distances in the form of several shorter interval repeats can make it more manageable. But what my brain doesn’t process is why when you’re 23 days into a month, and your sleep is suffering, focus is off, hands are calloused, butt and lower back are wrecked, and energy is down… you’d keep going just because there are seven days left in the month! But they did. That is a situation where, in my brain, the competition got way too intense. If you’re pushing yourself to the point of adrenal fatigue over pride and a $50 gift card, I think your priorities should shift a little bit. Realize that we want to take care of our bodies through the work we put in at the gym, not destroy them!
I thought of this story because at one of the gyms where I currently work, they’re completing a challenge each month to complete 2018 reps of a different movement. January was burpees, and I think there were about a half-dozen members who completed them all! This month, it’s Calories on a bike or rower. Since I didn’t hop in last month on the burpee game, I figured as a coach I would hop in a lead by example to encourage others to participate. After a few days of rowing a bit and writing my score on the board, I realized that a few of us started to get a little bit competitive with each other. The first few days it was fun, and then I was reminded of the folks I saw a few years ago.
Let this be my official declaration to those of you who are in the friendly game with me:
I just want us to have fun. If you ever feel like you’re impacting your work, social/personal life, or health and stress levels just by trying to row more, let me know. I will gladly step back and bow out of the game!
I say that kind of in jest, but still pretty serious. For me, I find rowing or biking a little more than I usually would to be a great way to burn off a few extra calories. It’s low impact, I can do it on my own, and at my convenience. So, while my goal is to “#BeLessFat” and allow myself to drink another beer or two on the weekends without feeling guilty, I know that some people get wayyyy too into the competitive spirit. Don’t allow me to fuel an unhealthy fire. I want to make your life better, not worse! Besides, at the current gymour competition isn’t even for most meters, it’s just to see if people can hit 2,018 in the month. Every meter above 2,018 is just icing on the cake! I’ll back out in a heartbeat if I need to, though.
If you can keep it all in perspective, though, game on. Today I rowed an extra 4,000 meters at a comfortable pace while watching a live video of my favorite Dj, and my heart rate was low the entire time. It was just some nice active recovery, and it felt awesome!
While I’ll be the first to admit that I’m really competitive, I rarely let that get in the way of my own health. Sadly, though, I know a lot of people who can’t safely make that distinction. Did rowing alone lead to adrenal fatigue? Of course not. But putting one’s body through that much unnecessary stress for that many days in a row, certainly didn’t help! Story one was about a competition that went awry. Story two is about a challenge to hit 2,018 meters. The point is, saying, “It’s not a competition,” is great, but we all know that to some people… everything is a competition! If all else fails and your brain won’t let your body stop pushing, remember that it’s only a game. And none of it matters. Train smart, friends.
One of my first real “paying” jobs was teaching swim lessons to little kids. Once we peeled their little bodies, kicking and screaming, away from their parents for the first time and got them in the water, the rest of the class usually went really well. One of our favorite “go-to” games to play with them, once they learned how to kick properly, was
“Red Light, Green Light.” In that game, the kiddos start kicking to begin. When the coach yells “GREEN LIGHT,” they kick as fast as they can! When the coach yells “YELLOW LIGHT,” they can slow down to a medium-paced kick. Finally, when the coach yells “RED LIGHT,” the kids either kick really slowly or stop kicking completely. Simple concept, right? It teaches a lot of things, motor control being one of them. By CHOOSING to exert more or less energy, you control the effort your body puts forth. That intentional ability to throttle power “up and down” is a skill that is useful to have in nearly all sports and athletic endeavors.
If you’re hiking a 14,000 foot mountain and start jogging up the trail, you’re probably not going to be able to hold that speed for the entire day. If you run the first 400 meters of a mile in a dead sprint, you’re likely going to crash and burn. (If you’re someone who actually sprints a mile from start to finish, shut up. No one can actually run that fast for that long.) Another way to apply this control is in the ability to pace oneself in a style workout. So often CrossFit athletes know one speed: Charlie Sheen!
That means whether it’s a 3-minute burner of a workout, or an hour-long Hero WOD, they come out of the gates at a breakneck pace, and just tryyyyy to hold on. And usually they don’t! What I’m here to suggest, is that while getting stronger so you can “go Rx” on the weight for a workout is great, that it should be equally as important for you to practice different pacing on workouts to see how your body responds.
I’ll never forget watching Regionals in 2013 (I think), when there was a workout called “the 50’s” or something, where each competitor had to do 50 reps of 4 or 5 different movements. (Yes, I realized the more I wrote in that last sentence that I said I would NEVER forget something, and the proceeded to know literally none of the details of said story. And then laughed out loud at myself.) Most of the athletes just went for it. One athlete in particular paced every round. He did 20 reps per minute, then stopped and rested the remainder of the minute. Rinse. Repeat. At first, athletes shot out ahead of him and he fell farther and farther behind. Then, by minute 11 or 12 when the other athletes started to slow down, here he came. With his heart rate under control, he caught and passed every single athlete in the heat, won the event, and was one of only a few athletes in the world that completed the workout in under the time cap. (Tommy, will you please completely debunk this fictional story I made up about you? It’s crazy how vivid I remember watching the event. Yet in my brain, I think I created a completely overly dramatic “Rudy” or “Rocky” type of a tale. How far off am I?)
What’s your action item? Go into every workout you do with a plan. Break your 21-15-9 rep workout into 3 sets each round. Another workout go unbroken for as long as you can at 80% effort. For shorter duration pieces, go as fast as you can and try to hang on. Then, retest some of those same workouts with a completely different strategy. The goal is to be scientific and deliberate with your training. Going to the gym and “going through the motions,” if your goals are just to work out. If you care about performance, want to improve, and potentially compete, it’s critical to really learn how your body works. Being aware of your body’s ability to perform at different intensities and to pace properly depending on the stimulus in front of you, separates the good athletes from the great. Master your own Red Light, Green Light, and watch your athleticism improve dramatically!
First of all, I’m not sure if I’ve ever written the word don’ts before, but it looks weird!
Ok, back to the focus of the post: Accessory Work
If you are an athlete that steps foot into a CrossFit gym on a regular basis, odds are that there are three to four-hundred things you’d like to improve to become a better athlete. Identifying some, or all, of those things typically leads athletes down one of three paths.
Path Number One
“That’s way too many things to try and improve… therefore, I shall choose to improve none of them!”
Path Number Two
“I want to get better at Handstand Push-Ups. My legs need to get stronger. If I can improve my engine, I’ll get more rounds in workouts. With more flexible ankles, my rowing will get better. I want to get a PR on Murph next year. But I’d also like to beat my Fran time. ROM WOD 8 days per week will help me. I think I want to go that Double-Under clinic next weekend.” ~ The consecutive thoughts of one person
Yes, there is a laundry list of things we can all improve upon, but trying to attack too much at once is unrealistic and really not smart. Why, you ask? Because some people (yes, I’m talking to you) will spend 30 minutes after class every day working on Muscle-Ups. Thirty minutes. Hanging and swinging from rings or a bar. After they’re tired from a workout. Not only will that likely lead to tearing hands, but trying to be explosive and technically precise after 60 minutes of torture (excuse me, I mean intense physical exertion) isn’t usually the best plan.
Path Number Three
Be a planner. Pick a few things you’d like to start improving. Find a person, or people, who can help you create an intelligent training plan or progression. If applicable, have someone who can watch you practice, or if you video your attempts, those who can give you constructive feedback. Too often “we don’t know what we don’t know,” and having a more experienced person in your corner can help foster huge breakthroughs. After a few weeks, note your progress on those items in your training log (yay, progress!) and create a new list!
Now, I’ve got Good News and Bad News:
The Good News is that in our sport of CrossFit, you LITERALLY have an ENDLESS list of things you can choose to improve at any given moment.
The Bad News, is that you’ll never be good at ALL of it. So don’t even try.
But, really, that’s also still the Good News! I’m telling you that (for most people in nearly every circumstance) you can work on a single skill foreverrrr, and still be able to keep improving over time! That is so awesome. Most things that are worth keeping don’t happen overnight, either.
If there’s anything I can do to help you on your journey, let me know. Set realistic goals. Have a plan. And actually try your best to enjoy the journey. If all goes well, we’ll be on it for a long time!
I love helping athletes get better at fitness. All kinds of fitness!
That could mean making a physical change in their set-up for a lift, discussing how to begin the first kettlebell swing of a set, and even strategy on how to attack specific workouts! CrossFit is a complicated game with so many moving parts, and I’ve always loved helping people “crack the code” to their own success.
Would you like to see me use this blog to share some of these tips and tricks I’ve accumulated over the last decade? It could be a recurring segment (once per week) or could just pop up whenever questions are asked. They would likely be a combination of short text summaries and a quick video demonstration of the skill of the day. I’m completely flexible on the structure of the segment, just wanted to see if there is interest out there from all of you.
The survey is simple:
If you would like to see this segment become a reality, simply type YES in the comments. If you already have ideas for what you’d like to ask me, drop a few examples in the comment, too!
If you have zero interest in this whatsoever, ignore this post and leave NO comments.
Here’s last week’s recap and my goals for the upcoming week.
Last week:
Fitness- Weird week for fitness for me! Usually I struggle with the workouts and strength sessions go fairly well, this week it was quite the opposite. A couple of quick “burner” style workouts played to my strengths.
One was a quick three-rounds of 125 Hang Power Cleans (115lbs) and 15 Bar Facing Burpees. I used the “new” standard of having to jump back and up (no stepping), and finished in 4:36. I kept a nice steady pace the whole time, and was really happy with my time.
The other was a descending ladder (21-18-15-12-9-6-3) of Hang Power Snatch (75lbs) and Calorie Row. While my snatches weren’t pretty, I still went unbroken on them and finished in 9:29.
The weirdness also came in the form of my Saturday workout. I started the day off by going to cheer on a bunch of ladies from the gym where I coach at a local competition. When I left, I decided to head to the gym to get in a workout on my own. For some reason, I was inspired to do what I called the Smashby Triathlton. This little number was 3 Rounds (Slowest/Medium/Fastest) of 1 Mile Run / 1000m Row / 100 Cal Bike. (So yes, I did hit my goal of running three miles!) It wasn’t designed to be as fast as possible, so from start to finish, it took my almost an hour and ten minutes! But, I think I needed that on Saturday.
Progress continues on my first book of the year (Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual by Jacko Willink). I also listened to a one-hour podcast with him during my long workout, so that counts towards progress in the book, too!
We spent another few hours working in the garage this weekend and put up even more drywall. I think the next day we decide to attack it, drywall will be done. After that, it’ll be framing that and installing the pegboard. Yay, progress!
Complete one thousand calories on the bike and/or rower before next Sunday. I hit 1,019 last week, and would like to hit another 1,000 this week. That long cardio is something I typically don’t devote enough time for, so picking an even number like that helps me stick to it!
I didn’t write a post last week talking about the Swim Lessons I give, why they’re so rewarding for me, and why you should let me know if you’d like some. So that will happen this week, as I’ve been having a lot success with all of my “swimming” clients!
Alright, your turn. What’s going on with all of you?
This morning I had the opportunity to attend an all-women’s CrossFit competition; the 6th Annual Women’s WOD Jam, at CrossFit Profectus. It was made up of teams of two, completing 4 workouts each over the course of the day. Every time I walk away from one of these competitions, I’m always so fired up! People push through pain in ways they never thought possible, accomplish things they never imagined, and cheer on their friends (new and old) through the same suffering they just experienced themselves. There aren’t many sports where most competing athletes legitimately care about and support one another. CrossFit is one of those sports.
While I’ve been to dozens of events like this (as spectator, judge, coach, and athlete), yesterday I realized something pretty sweet about them. The 360 degree perspective and range of emotions for people in the room is incredible:
The Spectator: (Critical to the energy at the event)
They’re typically friends and family of the competing athletes, and are there to cheer them on
Quickly, they become supporters of all athletes out on the floor, even ones they don’t know
Almost always experience moments that leave them in awe
They leave inspired, ready to get back into the gym to better themselves
The Judge: (Critical to the integrity and organization of the event)
They’re typically coaches and members at the gym who want to help the event run smoothly
Upholding the standard of competition and encouraging others makes me feel good
Almost always experience moments that leave them in awe
They leave inspired, ready to get back into the gym to better themselves
The Coach: (Critical to ensure athletes don’t lose their minds at the event)
They’re typically folks who have at least some experience competing themselves, and love helping others reach their full potential
Learn more about their athletes, how they perform under pressure, and identify new cues and ways of communicating with them
Almost always experience moments that leave them in awe
They leave inspired, ready to get back into the gym to better themselves and their athletes
The Athlete: (Critical in order to throw a fun event)
There is no typical athlete, which is my favorite part! Depending on the event, there are first-timers just looking to have fun, those who treat CrossFit as a part time job and train HARD all the time, and everyone in between.
Immediately bond with those around them to push and encourage one another
Almost always experience moments that leave them in awe
They leave inspired, ready to get back into the gym to better themselves
Do you see a pattern there? Those are all POSITIVE outcomes! Knowing that, if you’ve always wanted to go spectate but didn’t have the courage, go to an event near you. If you have wanted to try being a judge, do it. If you’re a coach who has wanted to prepare an athlete for an event, they’re out there looking for coaches, I promise. And if you’ve always been too nervous to sign up for an event but wanted to, let me know. I’ll get you fired up enough to do it. There are rookie/first-timer competitions all over the place! In my optimistic brain, if approached properly, there is literally nothing negative associated with being in any of those groups at a CrossFit competition. Well… except for the soreness afterwards for the athletes. That always sucks!
Ladies of the Women’s WOD Jam: Thank you for the incredible display of strength and power yesterday. The energy in the room was incredible, and I’m so proud of all of you!
There are five workouts per year where it really helps to be a positive person for those around you. Five. Those are the five workouts of the CrossFit Games Open, where your whole gym comes together to root a little harder for one another than they do the other 360 days of the year. (I feel like they should, at least…)
For some people, this is the most nervous they’ll get for any CrossFit workout. They put tons of undue and unnecessary pressure on themselves, they want to keep up with their friends, and the thought of getting their first “insert movement here” keeps them up at night. I have written other posts, and will likely write more in the future about how this pressure is mostly unnecessary, and pretty unhealthy to be honest… BUT, it still happens. Knowing that, the best thing we can do for one another is provide unconditional encouragement and support.
If you’re someone like me, it’s really easy to cheer for others. I legitimately get more excited seeing others succeed than I do for my own performance. My problem is keeping the pressure on myself to a minimum. What that typically looks like is me sitting alone for a while before events, and then recovering on my own afterwards. While that’s my own way of trying to keep it together, there are other people who are much more vocal and public with their negative emotions before working out. While I might tell myself that “this is going to suck,” or “I’m not good at x or y,” talking like that out loud can really impact others. Your energy can always be felt in the gym, and if you come in spouting negativity and being a crybaby, that will very likely spread to those around you.
Like I said, I always try to be positive to others, but have a hard time speaking positively to and about myself in these competitive circumstances. Don’t be like me. We’re working out. For fun. With friends. If a workout looks really tough or has movements you’re not proficient doing, use it as a learning opportunity. Make a list of things you want to improve for next year. There are so many ways to channel negative or anxious energy into productive growth.
So when the first workout is released on that Thursday night, try to check yourself right out of the gate. Is it going to hurt? Yep, probably. Will you be nervous going into it? Maybe, and that’s fine. But through all of that, walk in the front door fired up to push yourself, throw down with your friends, and ENCOURAGE those around you. If you have a hard time feeling positive, fake it till you make it! Being the best cheerleader out there and empowering others will have a far more positive impact on your community than you winning an event at the gym, anyways. You’ve got this. Let’s have some fun together!
Smashby's Training Blog 