Posts Tagged ‘Smashby Training’

Be Proud Of Yourself

Posted: April 25, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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When it comes to my personal life, I’m generally a pretty private person. This morning, however, Facebook reminded me a few events that have happened “On this day,” and it made me want to share them with my friends. Reflecting on them filled me with this huge sense of pride, and it made me really happy! Here are the two memories I saw:

On this date in 2010, I received my CrossFit Level 1 Coaching Certificate:

By the time this happened, I had already been doing CrossFit for a year and a half alone in a Bally’s, and a few months prior I attended a Barbell Certification to learn more about Powerlifting. My formal education started, and I had already spent hundreds of hours (literally) reading books and articles, watching videos, and practicing different techniques, but passing the exam meant I was committing to actually try and coach others. 

For the next four years of my life I coached part-time two to three nights per week after my “day job” and then on weekends. That entire time, though, I knew my heart wanted to be coaching full-time. One day, I was given the opportunity to do just that, I took the really scary leap of faith, and I haven’t looked back since! Taking (and passing) my Level 1 was the REAL first step to be able to live that dream.

On this date in 2012, I paid off my final undergraduate student loan:

My mom always told me (no, not “life is like a box of chocolates”) that I’d likely always be paying three things in life: Rent or a mortgage, taxes, and student loans. Well, when the day arrived that I was able to send away that last paycheck and wouldn’t be receiving any more college bills in the mail… I was so excited! It felt like in my own little way, that I achieved a monumental step “only” seven years after graduating. It’s crazy to put it into perspective now, but it’s almost as though that was the moment that I felt I ACTUALLY graduated.

When I decided to pursue Personal Training/Coaching as my career, I knew it wouldn’t always be easy. I mean, for someone who isn’t a morning person, I’m up around 4:00am four days per week. (If you’re wondering, that’s insanely early.) But I’m doing what I love and getting the opportunity to help people every single day in the process. I am so incredibly thankful for that privilege!

When a few friends told me that my post “inspired” them, I didn’t necessarily understand why at first. I mean, I just wanted to #humblebrag for a minute, and remind myself that, even though there were (are?) moments where I wonder if I picked the right career path, I went out on a limb and followed my dream. It was seeing other people follow their own dreams that gave me the confidence to do the same. So if my actions can inspire even one other person to do the same, I totally get it, and I’m flattered.

Too often, we don’t let other people know about things we accomplish that make us proud! We feel like it’s too arrogant to be excited about something. This post today reminded me that there are more people out there in your corner than you realize. Use the internet for good, share positive news, and encourage one another. Teamwork really does make the dream work, and I want each and every one of you to win. Be proud of yourself, and let us be proud of you, too! (Even if you don’t want to share things publicly, feel free to share them with me directly, I’d LOVE to hear!)

Thank you all for the support and love.

Thanks for trusting me to try and help you all get just a little bit better.

And thanks for reading my rants on this silly little blog.

I’m humbled.

And proud!

Smashby’s Weekly Throwdown 4/23/18

Posted: April 23, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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The third week of “Smashby’s Weekly Throwdown” is ready to go! It’s been so fun receiving messages from people who are participating in these weekly challenges. Keep letting me know how you do, and if you get the courage, post your times and notes in the comments. There’s a few of you out there, I promise!

Throwdown #3

Run 800m

20 Pull-Ups

30 Push-Ups

40 Air Squats

Run 800m

Focus/Modifications/Progressions:

Overall Strategy- Today’s pacing strategy for “Murph” will be geared towards helping those who are considering completing the workout straight through. That means they’ll run a mile, complete 100 pull-ups, then 200 push-ups, then 300 air squats, then another mile run. In that order. It’s a completely different beast to do it this way, so I encourage anyone completing my challenge this week to imagine needing to complete all reps, not just to blast through it unbroken. 

Runs– The workout has athletes running one mile total, half of the distance to be run during the full workout. I’m challenging each of you to try and run your 800’s in the exact same time! That means pacing the first run more than you need to, then pushing to match your time on the second one to complete the workout.

Pull-Ups– While there are a lot of people who can do 20 pull-ups in a row, fewer people would hit sets of 20 out of the gate on their way to 100. Pace it as if you had that much volume to complete. Smaller sets, short rest, continue.

Push-Ups– Most athletes complete sets of 3-5 reps at a time for push-ups during Murph. If you had to do 200 in a row before moving on, most people would most certainly stick with a similar rep range. Chest, hips, and quads, hit the ground at the same time. Be sure to lock out every rep before dropping to rest!

Air Squats– Imagine having to do 300 of these! I think quick sets of 10 reps or so, with a short rest before repeating, should keep you moving enough and ready to take off on that second run.

This will be the third week of getting ready for one of the most commonly performed workouts in all of CrossFit. I hope some of you are already feeling a bit more confident with different strategies for pacing and your chosen rep scheme.

Let me know how it goes!!

Sunday Status Update 4/22/18

Posted: April 22, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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Here’s last week’s recap and my goals for the upcoming week.

Last week:

  • Fitness
    • After tweaking my back last week, the last thing I wanted to do was make it worse. With the craziest schedule I’ve had in months, I essentially took the week off from training. While it didn’t feel good to not work out as much as I would have liked, I am glad that I’m feeling so much better.
    • The one day I played around in the gym a little bit was really fun! I practiced one-footed box jumps (got up to 30″ on each foot), did some sled pushes and pulls, linked two strict muscle-ups for the first time ever, and did a silly handstand walk sled pull for the first time. Playing and having fun is so important, so I’m really glad I did that! Here’s a video of some of my silliness!
  • Other
    • Plenty of grilled meats for food, protein pancakes for snacks, and salads prepped for the week! Even though I didn’t work out much, nutrition was better. It’s true that failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
    • Did a little more studying for my nutrition certification. As I said above, it was an absolutely insane week, but I at least made some progress.

This week:

  • Back to the regular grind this week, less one-off appointments, which means it should be easier to plan for meals and training.
  • Another full week of training again. My goal is to hit it 5 days this week!
  • Finish a chapter in my nutrition book.
  • Mow the lawn for the first time this year! After some snow tomorrow, it’ll just get warmer for the rest of the week. That makes me happy!

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

Pic of the week comes from the Red Rocks Beer Garden. A friend of a friend opened this awesome spot, which is just minutes from Red Rocks Amphitheater. All Colorado beers, wines, and ciders! I’ll definitely be going to before concerts this summer. You should definitely check it out!

RedRocksBeerGarden

Smashby’s Tip of the Week 4/20/18

Posted: April 20, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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CrossFit athletes are often required to perform fairly advanced exercises and high repetitions of movements during their training. By simply improving one’s technique, it can lead to movement patterns that are safer, faster, and more efficient. I’ve heard a lot of different cues as a trainer and athlete, and sometimes it just takes a slightly different way of explaining the same thing for something to click. My goal with the “Smashby’s Tip of the Week” series is to offer my own two cents on ways to move better, and provide a new cue that helps some of you!

Since the thought of going upside down can be scary for a lot of people, handstand push-ups are one of the most intimidating movements for athletes. When I teach them, I tend to follow a fairly basic progression:

  • Can the athlete support their own body weight with their arms?
  • If no, there are a number of exercises and modifications I prescribe (which I can explain in more detail if my readers are interested) to get to that point.
  • If yes, how can we build strength and confidence in that inverted position?
  • Once they’re confident upside down, the work can begin to teach the actual handstand push-up.

Today’s video will focus on my preferred method of getting upside down safely, and increase stability in that position. In my next video I’ll talk more about proper positioning (such as being in a hollow body, active shoulders, etc), but for today we’ll just talk about how to get inverted!

I hope you find this information beneficial.

If you do, please share it with someone else you think it could help!

Moment of Awesomeness: 4/17/18

Posted: April 17, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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I love when celebrities use their fame and fortune for good! Whether it’s giving back to the communities they grew up in or live in today, providing opportunities to those less fortunate, or using their voice to support a cause that’s important to them, I have tons of respect for people who devote time to helping others.

By those standards, then, Bubba Watson is awesome!

BubbaWatson

He’s a great golfer, he’s really funny, and with all of the charitable work he does, it truly seems like it comes from his heart.

Click here and watch some of the good things he’s done for his community.

Then, watch some clips of Bubba just being Bubba!

Smashby’s Weekly Throwdown 4/16/18

Posted: April 16, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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The first few weeks of my Weekly Throwdown is in the books, so it’s time for challenge number two! We’re still working to practice different pacing strategies for “Murph” at the end of next month, so keep that in mind.

Last week we worked on the 3/6/9 pacing breakdown. This week, we’re going to do what I view as the most common way of breaking down reps; 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 air squats.

Throwdown #2

4 Rounds

200m Run

5 Pull-Ups

10 Push-Ups

15 Air Squats

Focus/Modifications/Progressions:

Overall Strategy- In Murph, there is only a mile run at the beginning of the workout, and another one at the end. For today’s workout, your goal is to try and get a little bit faster for each one of your four rounds. Too often during Murph, athletes run a blazing fast first mile and then a significantly slower second one. By pacing today’s short workout, the goal is to focus on being able to control your speed and effort in hopes to still have some gas left in the tank for the end!

Runs– The distance is short, so there will be some effective pacing required to not go too hard on round one! Try to get faster each round!It doesn’t end with run, so feel free to really push that final 200m run!

Pull-Ups– Kipping and butterfly pull-ups may be performed today, but remember, we want to get faster each round.

Push-Ups– No hand-release push-ups required this week, but make sure your chest, hips, and quads STILL touch the ground, AND that you lock out all the way. Since most people can’t do sets of 10 throughout the entire Murph workout, my advice is to break up these reps how you’d plan to do it on game day. Most people try 4/3/3 or 3/3/2/2, with really short rests between each small set.

Air Squats– Chest up, crease of your hip below the top of your knee! We all know how to squat, just because we’re not holding a weight in our hand today doesn’t mean we don’t need to start practicing actual full range of motion.

I will be very impressed if athletes can actually get faster each round. My main advice for getting after it is to intentionally hold back on both the run AND reps for the first round. On the last round, get after it and push both. Last round should feel like a sprint from start to finish.

Let me know how it goes!!

Sunday Status Update 4/15/18

Posted: April 15, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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Here’s last week’s recap and my goals for the upcoming week.

Last week:

  • Fitness
    • On Monday we worked to a heavy 1RM Power Snatch. I was not impressed with my technique, but got up to 220lbs.
    • I always talk about the importance of lifting safely over lifting heavy weight. On Wednesday of last week, I strained my back a bit on a deadlift. What stinks, is that the set before (405lbs for 5 reps) felt great, and my set-up for the last set looked good to me. Sigh.
    • My goal this week is to make sure my back feels stronger before picking up heavy things again. I’m not out here trying to get hurt!
  • Other
    • Grilled food and meal prepped for over two hours this weekend. Hoping that gets me through at least most of the week!
    • I finally started studying for my nutrition certification. I know it’s going to be a long process, but I figured it was a great day to start chipping away. Here’s to making a bit of progress every week!
    • I ALSO finally started playing on my DJ gear on Friday night. I figured it was a perfect place to announce that the potentially greatest distraction of the year began the day after I started studying by reading books… like a student. Wish me luck!

This week:

  • Be smart with training. Recover and don’t get hurt.
  • I’ve got a few really long days, so I’ll have to be more efficient with my time and waste less of it. Taking meals with me for the day at 4-something AM when I leave the house and won’t get home until after 8pm is annoying, but if I want to be healthier, I have to do it.
  • I will lose 3lbs this week (between tomorrow and Friday). It may seem like a random goal, but last week I had beer in the house (that I drank) and this week I do not. If I can at least keep myself moving a few days this week, this should be an easy one. Drinking alcohol doesn’t help with losing weight, but I would rather have a beer here and there then not. So I do. Only one month until my next vacation!

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

Pic of the week is from my laptop. This is what it looks like when I decide to mix together three songs from Skrillex on my first day of DJing. Totally normal and I am definitely acting my age. Thanks.

Traktor1

Moment of Awesomeness: 4/12/18

Posted: April 12, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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CrossFitters often justify not being even better athletes by claiming that many of us have real jobs outside of the gym.

“I just don’t have time to row more, or my 5k time would be under 19 for sure!”

“I wish I had time to hang out in the gym all day, then I’d have muscle-ups.”

“I’d definitely be able to clean and jerk 315lbs if I wasn’t an accountant! Some of us have jobs, though!”

Well… a few weeks ago, a guy named Scott Foster proved that it’s possible to have a day job AND perform at the highest level. The 36 year-old accountant from Chicago found himself on the ice as the goalie for the Chicago Blackhawks, and helped his team secure a win against the Winnipeg Jets!

NHL: MAR 29 Jets at Blackhawks

Scott Foster – Photo from FortuneDotCom

The short version of this story is that NHL teams have “emergency goalies” on-hand in case the two goalies on the roster get hurt or can’t play. Usually, when Foster is the emergency guy, he gets to hang out in a suite at the arena and eat free food. On this particular day, both goalies got hurt and he was given the green light to head down to the locker room to fill in at the net!

In his NHL debut, Foster made six saves against a team that is now playing in the Stanley Cup Finals, and the city of Chicago immediately accepted him as a local hero. A modern day Rudy. Except Scott Foster is actually good! What an awesome feel-good story. Great job, Scott!

Click here to read an article that explains the entire story.

Smashby’s Weekly Throwdown 4/9/18

Posted: April 9, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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NEW SEGMENT ALERT!

To strengthen our community of readers, I’m going to try and post a challenge or workout that we can do together most weeks. They’ll be fairly fast and shouldn’t negatively impact any specific program you’re following!

Each week will have a different focus and “WHY are we doing this” aspect, and can be done any time from Monday through Sunday of that week. All I ask, is that you share your results here and comment on how it went!

The first few weeks of my Weekly Throwdown will be in preparation for a workout thousands of CrossFit athletes do around the world each year on Memorial Day: “Murph”

Too often at the end of May people realize they haven’t devoted enough time to improving their running or their strength for the pull-ups, push-ups, and air squats that make up the workout.

Since you’re allowed to partition your reps any way you’d like in that workout, today’s variation is going to include the 3/6/9 break down, and will focus on strict and slower movements.

Throwdown #1

400m Run

5 Rounds of 3 Strict Pull-Ups, 6 Hand-Release Push-Ups, 9 Goblet Squats

400m Run

Focus/Modifications/Progressions:

Runs– Push the runs. Today’s workout includes slower movements by design. Since you’ll be standing around a little more than on a typical Murph, you’ll have plenty of time to recover before the next run. Run your first 400m at about 85/90% effort (faster than Murph pace), then try to match or beat it the second time!

Strict Pull-Ups– Make these the most challenging version of “chin-over” pull-ups you can do. Unassisted reps? Great! Pause and the bottom and don’t swing. Need a little kip to get that chin over? Use it! Can’t quite get your chin over yet? Although it’s not my favorite substitution, you can also use a band. But only if it only gives you that “little extra” push to get your chin over. If you’re needing to attach multiple or really strong bands, I always prefer a good strict ring row to build strength. These reps do not need to be unbroken, so feel free to break them up!

Hand-Release Push-Ups– My favorite version of push-up to ensure that an athlete’s chest actually touches the ground! If you’re doing push-ups from your toes, tell yourself not to let your knees touch the ground at all during the rep. At the end of each rep, come to a complete pause before beginning the next rep.

Goblet Squats– Holding a kettlebell, perform a set of 9 unbroken goblet squats. The goal with these is to ensure the chest is kept high at the bottom of each rep, and that the athlete stands all the way up at the top of every rep. It’s really easy to “shorten” range of motion in a workout like Murph, try to avoid that today!

This workout isn’t designed to be incredibly challenging. View it as a cardio component, focused skill and strength work, then a cardio piece to finish up. If you decide to tackle it, leave your time and some notes in the comments section.

Moment of Awesomeness: 4/4/18

Posted: April 4, 2018 in CrossFit, Training
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Two “Moment of Awesomeness” posts in one week?! Woot!

(Thanks to my buddy, Birddog, for sending me this one!)

Let me start this post by saying that I am not against letting children play video games. But apparently a lot of kids, and adults (#Fortnite?!), spend a lot of time playing them. I’m talking 2-8 hours PER DAY of video games. I do have a problem with that.

Now, it’s not my place to judge what you do or what you let your kids do. But since this is my blog and I can talk about whatever I want, I’ll tell you the only reason why I care about this at all. Odds are if a human being is spending 20 or more hours in a week playing a video game they are likely not doing other things in that time. The first thing they’re likely avoiding is sleep, and since I don’t sleep nearly as much as I should, in the interest of not sounding like a huge hypocrite, I’m not even going to touch that one!

Another thing that is probably sacrificed at the expense of online domination is exercise. I’m a personal trainer, so if a client were to cancel on me three times in a row because they needed to “complete a few side missions” (more Fortnite talk), I’d be pretty unimpressed. As a kid, it can feel like you’re only cool if you do the same things as all of your friends. If they’re all playing video games, you’ll probably want to as well!

To address this, super dad Jeremy Fielding (who also happens to be an extremely talented and innovate dude), came up with an awesome invention for his kids. He attached a Concept2 Rowing Machine to a generator. The generator was then attached to their video game console. Do they get to play video games? Yep, but only if one of them is rowing to power the system! The capacity on the generator is so low, that if the rower stops for even sixty seconds, the game shuts off. How cool is that?!

The R&B group Blackstreet once said, “You gotta pay to play,” and Jeremy Fielding took those words as gospel! Your kids are getting a work out while they play video games? I’ll allow it. Good work, dad!

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