Is the proper term Figure Skating or Ice Dancing? I never know and never want to offend anyone, but also haven’t taken the 14 seconds to Google the difference in order to avoid confusion. In fact, I probably could have found the answer to that question in the time it took me to write the last three sentences…… sigh.
Regardless, Jimmy Ma’s routine at this year’s US Figure Skating Championships turned a few heads and helped give way to what has to go down as one of the best truly genuine color commentary moments in the history of sports. (Relax, I said one of, not the best.) Not only did he begin with “Propaganda“, a song by DJ Snake, but he brought it home with the melodic harmonies of Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What“!
I don’t know what I appreciate more:
The conversation had by the announcers during his routine
The athleticism (speed, power, balance, coordination, etc) required to pull off some of the advanced tricks
Or, the fact that EDM and “The Rap” music are apparently breaking into the culture of Winter Ice-Skate-Dance-Spinning!
Nice job, Jimmy Ma. Great job, commentary crew. And congrats on the breakthrough, DJ Snake and company!
It’s a new year, which means one thing: The 2018 CrossFit Games Open is coming!
It also means that Thirty-six people you know are “definitely going to make the CrossFit Games, bro!” Am I right? Of those thirty-six, at least four of them are going to start training this week, too.
Look, I’ve been doing CrossFit for nearly a DECADE (that’s a long time), and I’ve been a full-time CrossFit coach for over half of it. I get the opportunity to see the program help people improve their quality of life nearly every single day. So yes, you can call me a believer.
I’ve also been around the “Sport” of CrossFit for so long, that I’ve seen it grow from a BBQ with a few dozen friends at the Castro Ranch in Aromas to an internationally televised event with a prize purse of over two million dollars. That means I remember when the best athlete at your gym might have been the best athlete in the state, and when a 225 pound clean and jerk in a competition for a guy would leave spectators in awe! Now, there are hundreds (if not thousands?) of athletes worldwide who devote their lives to working out full-time. Some of them are former or current Olympians, some are internationally ranked in multiple disciplines, and many of them are on steroids and other performance enhancements. (That’s not speculation, it’s a proven fact.) What does that mean? Well, unfortunately it means that most (so…. 99.9999999%) of your friends and training partners who have full-time desk jobs, spouses, kids, and pets to take care of, and any kind of a social life are unlikely to make it to the next level. Sorry.
NOW, no part of that last paragraph is designed to insult or bash anyone, or dim the fire inside of those who devote months out of the year to constantly improving. In fact, over the last year, I’ve had the privilege of coaching multiple athletes who have actually competed at the CrossFit Games for multiple years! It’s incredible to watch the motivation, dedication, and performance output of these athletes and their training partners! Day in and day out I’m amazed at what they do. So it CAN be done, no doubt.
What this post does aims to do, is serve as a friendly reminder to nearly everybody else who is getting ready for the Open. For about 6 weeks each year, over a quarter of a million people sign up for, and compete in, this worldwide competition. I’ve seen PR Clean and Jerks, first-ever double-unders and muscle-ups, and countless other INCREDIBLE moments during the weeks we set aside to push that extra mile! In fact, it gives me goosebumps to recall some of those victories. What I’ve also seen, though, are people who become devastated when the results of a single workout don’t match where their expectations were set. I’ve seen people who trained hard for nine or more months look back on an entire year with regret for their overall ranking not being where they had hoped it would be when all was said and done. Worst of all, I’ve seen people push through injury and forget how important it is to let their bodies recover because it was more important to be able to write #NoRestDays at the end of their Instagram posts, and mean it.
At the end of the day, CrossFit is an activity that most people do to improve their health and hopefully have some fun along the way. When it becomes much more than that for some, this fun little fitness program can instead become the source of so much stress and anxiety. Can you see how that sounds a little silly?
My Call To Action for each of you is to try to keep it in all perspective.
Work hard. Find good coaching and fun training partners. Recover, eat well, and breathe. Repeat.
The 2018 Open is almost here. And if you play your cards right, it’s going to be a blast.
If you ever get caught up in things you can’t control, find yourself more unhappy than happy when thinking about this CrossFit thing, or are debating whether or not to do that workout for the 7th time in 4 days, remember what Will Ferrell’s tattoo said in the movie “The Internship” and relax. This is supposed to be FUN, after all!
Today I received one of the best compliments ever!
A friend of mine, who I’ve coached in CrossFit for a long time, pulled me aside after class and said, “You know, I love coming to your classes, but I hate it, too!” Obviously I needed him to elaborate on this one a bit.
He went on to explain that when he works out on his own, he never warms up properly. It takes too much time, it’s not glamorous, and honestly sometimes he just doesn’t know what to do. When he comes to my classes, he said he always feels as though he is warmed up sufficiently, and ready to go!
Why share this compliment? It’s not to brag. In fact, quite the opposite! While I’m completely humbled and flattered by his words, it could have been me saying them aloud, myself! I ALSO don’t always spend enough time warming up when I work out. And it’s for those very same reasons. I’d rather “use the first round of the AMRAP to get warm” or “warm up as I go” to save time. Butttttt, I know that’s not the right thing to do!
As coaches, I feel it’s our job to prepare the athletes in class to be as safe as possible. That will typically involve some dynamic movement to get blood flowing, a bit of stretching and mobility to work through tension or soreness that may exist, and then some sort of skill work to prepare for the day’s training requirements.
At a previous job, I would write warm-ups for every single day, that would be completed by every class in the gym. To be completely honest, I dreaded doing this some weeks. Why? Because while I could have thrown something together in 20 minutes, that wasn’t my style. I wanted to keep things fun and varied. I wanted to introduce new movements to athletes and give them skills to learn. I wanted to make sure that regardless of ability level, the process I selected for that particular day would be effective for both national-level athletes and beginners alike.
It’s important to realize that as “CrossFit Coaches,” we’re tasked with far more than simply reading words on a white board to a group of people. The responsibility, and quite frankly the privilege, we’ve been given is to make our athletes better than they were when they walked through the door. This could mean helping them prevent or recover from injury, improving strength or range of motion, giving them a safe place to disconnect from the stress of life for sixty minutes, and any combination of the above plus countless other options.
The next time you find yourself preparing to lead a class or train a client, try to remember that. Yeah, my friend told me that he always feels warm when he takes my class, and that feels great to hear. But really, it served as a reminder to myself that by striving to never “phone it in,” I’m actively working to ensure that every athlete I work with has the greatest likelihood of success. I don’t take that responsibility lightly, and don’t think others should either.
Also, it reminded me that I need to warm up more effectively myself before I work out alone.
If you know me, you know that I love beer. I also kind of like fitness. Many years ago, some genius came up with the idea to combine these two areas of interest for so many: Running and Beer!
This lead to the invention of one of the most important sporting events of all-time: THE BEER MILE!!! The Beer Mile website features the OFFICIAL RULES for the race, but let me explain it to you in the simplest of terms:
Drink a beer. Run 400m. Repeat 3 more times. Celebrate. (For a total of 4 beers, and a mile of running)
Corey Bellemore is a freak, and broke the World Record for this event yet again last year with a time of 4:33.6!! He drank FOUR beers and ran an entire mile in the time that is faster than most humans can fathom ever running a mile by itself. Bravo, sir, and thank you for inspiring others to step up their game!!
I’ve run this event a few times, and in the interest of striving to be “Better Than Yesterday,” I will aim to improve my Personal Best in 2018 yet again. (My current PR is 7:16, for those keeping track at home)
For those of you who read that the World Record is 4:33.6 and said, “That’s impossible,” check out the video below. Insane! Corey, if you want to come out to Colorado and train with me for a few days, we’ve got a spare bedroom in the house. Let me know!
A good friend of mine, Broderick, has been reminding me for years that there’s one way to get better at something:
Do it. Often.
This is something I’ve always known. Through high school and college I was a competitive swimmer, and never really had an off-season. Since 2008, I’ve been involved in CrossFit in some capacity. As an athlete, I used train 15+ hours per week, and as a coach I constantly strive to learn more to help my athletes succeed. If I didn’t train regularly, study often, or if my athletes didn’t stick to their program, it showed. Progress would be delayed. Breakthroughs and Personal Bests would happen less frequently. That’s just how things work.
When my other friend Adam Griffin, posted how he struggles with trusting that his writing making an impact, it reminded me that I feel the same way. There will always be an audience out there who can benefit from our personal experiences. If we don’t take the time to share our thoughts, however, they’ll never have the chance to make an impact! Just write. Create. Share. And Repeat.
I don’t aim to be perfect in 2018, but I am striving to suffer less from “Paralysis by Analysis” and to quiet the voice inside my head that tells me it just “might not be good enough.” That same voice that makes me think my words may not resonate with everyone. Good news, I’m not writing for everyone. I write as a form of therapy for myself. I write to try and add value to others. And I write with the hopes that I can help even one individual benefit from the words I put on these pages.
I am not a “New Year, New Me” type of person, because I think we’re all pretty great. I AM, however, someone who CONSTANTLY strives to get better! So this year, instead of New Year, New Me…. let’s say:
New Year, Same You!
If you want to fine-tune some things along the way, more power to you! Let me know if I can help. 🙂
To quote Shia LaBeouf, if there’s something you’ve been wanting to do for a while, but just never had the courage…
I have not experienced more change in one singe year of my life than I did in 2017.
As I reflect on my “TopNine”, it’s incredible to see the places I’ve traveled, opportunities I’ve been given, and the growth I have experienced both personally and professionally.
Married an amazing woman in an intimate ceremony at my mother’s house in front of family and a few close friends! An incredible send off from my amazing gym family ❤️ Day one of our month long Wedding/Honeymoon/Road Trip Extravaganza Tour, which took us across the country and back, and then to Brazil My first time being invited to present as a Guest Lecturer at an Annual Conference for doctors at the Ritz Carlton in Naples, Florida A handstand at Mount Rushmore during our Labor Day Weekend Road Trip to the Badlands/Black Hills Thanksgiving at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., visiting our families One of the amazing sunrises I got to see while coaching the “Rooster Crew” at CrossFit Omnia Bacon playing in the amazing back yard at our new home! Caipirinhas on Copacabana Beach in Brazil during Emily’s first time there
And that doesn’t even show the dozens of live shows we saw together all over the country!
I’m so thankful for the things 2017 taught me, and am excited to see how I can continue to grow in 2018!
I’ve tried to start writing on my blog again at least once per week for the last…. eight or nine months. Every time I start a post, however, I get paralyzed. I wonder whether or not what I’m writing is good enough. Whether or not I use commas in the right places. (I don’t, by the way.) Whether or not people will like what I have to say.
You know what? When my writing was at it’s peak, and when the highest number of people were checking in every day, I didn’t care about any of that. I just wrote to write. I just started blogging because I had something to say. Something I wanted to share. Sometimes I learned. Or my favorite posts, somethings I wanted to learn from all of you!
The sense of community we started here many years ago has been lost, and I really miss it. So, for the seventeenth time…. THE BLOG IS BACK!!!
My good friend Broderick always told me that to get better at writing, you write. Every. Single. Day. No matter how little, just do it.
MOMENT OF AWESOMENESS is a segment on my page where I share things I’ve come across online. Typically, it’d be a video I saw on Facebook, and now Instagram, too. Since we woke up to snow here in Colorado this morning, and then my friend Erin shared this video with me, it seemed like a perfect time for me to post this one!
One of my favorite Snowboard segments I’ve watched was this one from JP Auclair (RIP) from the movie All.I.Can.
I’ve watched it at least once every winter since I saw it 6 years ago, and the video I saw today was inspired by this same epic run through the streets of Nelson, B.C. It was so great because I could tell in the first few seconds of the video that it was the same neighborhood!
Tom Wallisch crushes this video, entitled “Imagination”, as he follows in JP’s footsteps and makes the world his playground. I think my favorite scene is when he does a gate-stall on the fence, closes the gate, rides down a huge rail, then grabs the handle of the car for a lift, only to wall ride on the mural that was used in JP’s scene, which has had many more colorful birds added to it! When he does, the parents in the car comment on how it’s nice that something is finally being done with the mural. So great!
(Side note: does this remind anyone of Danny MacAskill’s Imaginate video?! Kids daydreaming of awesomeness, in mountain towns, while adults go on with their boring lives, none the wiser. Just sayin…)
Regardless, this video brought a smile to my face, and I hope it brings one to yours, too!
I hope you all have a great week. Here we go again!
Oh my…… he’s done it. He’s finally done it. SOMEONE has finally created an effective ratio calculator for the Olympic Lifts, and some of their accessory counterparts.
If you known anything about Olympic Weightlifting in the United States, then you know the name Sean Waxman. A coach for nearly 25 years, he has owned and run Waxman’s Gym for the last 6+ years. The lifters that he has produced through his experience, his coaches on staff, and his personal style have gone on to produce great results at the national and international level, and has also helped train some of the top athletes in the CrossFit game.
When I saw some of my “high-profile” friends on Facebook share a link this morning, I didn’t think it could actually be what the Title of the post claimed, but it is!
You, the lifter, plug in your max Snatch and Clean and Jerk numbers. Then, based on what information you have you can also put in certain supplemental lifts or variations, for your Snatch (Overhead Squat, Power Snatch, Snatch Blocks Abv Knee, and Hang Snatch Below Knee) and your Clean and Jerk (Clean, Back Squat, Front Squat, Jerk, Clean Blocks Abv Knee, Hang Clean Below Knee). From that info, an INCREDIBLE summary of your lifts, along with feedback on ways to improve them.
Example, here are my numbers:
First it asked for my current lifetime PR’s for the two Olympic Lifts
Next, the variations of the Snatch and Clean and Jerk. You don’t NEED to have any of these, so I put in the ones I was fairly confident were correct
After that…. you click the “Evaluate Me” button. Complicated, huh?
The next part is where you get all of your feedback and suggestions. First, it shows the variance from your 1RM lifts, to the other variations and movements for each
I am a very visual person, so this was fun to see. However, by themselves, the graphs don’t mean too much. Here’s what followed
The site begins by specifically referencing the ratio between your snatch and clean and jerk. Then it goes on to give you a diagnosis and some suggestions on how to strengthen the supplemental movements to make yourself either stronger, more balanced, or perhaps more well-rounded in general.
This site is SO cool, and I think that every lifter and coach should reference it as a key resource to help identify key areas for improvement!
Before you read on, let me state that I am most certainly not an “Outdoorsman.” I don’t own my own tent, I don’t know the proper way to boil water to make it safe to drink, I’ve never hoisted a “Bear Bag” up in a tree while I slept, and I’ve never hiked more than 7 hours in a day. That said, none of those facts mean that I don’t seriously respect and appreciate those who are well-versed in the vast world of Mother Nature!
The video that’s posted below came across my News Feed today and I was immediately sucked in. It’s a story by Peter H., who “took a plane from Vienna, Austria to California to hike the Pacific Crest Trail – a 2650 miles footpath from Mexico to Canada” back in 2016. Of course, the trip didn’t go as planned, and he was met with both mental and physical road blocks along the way, but in the end… *SPOILER ALERT* he makes it safe and sound.
Being out amidst the elements, humans quickly realize just how out of control we are in so many ways in this world. This experience was no different for the filmmaker. However, through the kindness and friendship of others, a determination to complete the task at hand, and the ability to find the positive side of things, the mission was accomplished! Sounds like the way I try to help others see their own lives every day! 🙂
Enjoy the video below, and let me know what you think. Could you do that hike?
Virtuosity is a word that gets thrown around in CrossFit a lot. It’s generally referred to as
“performing the common uncommonly well.” Today, I’m sharing to videos of people who embody that word.
I think Ive posted this before, but it’s worth sharing again. Séan Garnier is a freak! Just look at this control. The next time you’re near a soccer ball, just try ONE of these tricks. So cool to watch!
Also, how is this a thing? I’m still partially convinced that this is a fake video, haha.
The next time you’re near a bike.. do NOT try one of these tricks!
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