Freedom...

Today is Memorial Day and it is a day we set aside to thank all of our nation's troops for the sacrifices they make or have made.  These sacrifices have given us the freedom that we enjoy each day.  Everyday that I leave my apartment I look at my USA flag uniform patch at the top of my door frame and I am moved.  I am moved to be the best I can and to know no matter how bad a day I may have it can never compare to the soldier's suffering and sacrifices.  I am thankful for that solider and their unwavering passion and love for our great nation.

I think that sometimes people in this country take their freedoms for granted and even abuse them.  I will state this early in my post...I am not going to talk about politics or debate anything with you so save your rhetoric.  This nation was founded on the will of the people. They were in search for a place to call home that guaranteed a certain way of life, a life of options and choices.  How do you think we got these choices or freedoms?

The blood of our young men and women.  That's how!

They gave all in the ultimate sacrifice in order to ensure the American dream and way of life.  This is not limited to the fighting for the USA.  Think of all the sacrifices American troops made to free so many innocent people during WWII and the sacrifices they are making right now in the effort to give people in the Middle East a better way of life.  They ask nothing in return accept to see their families and spend only precious few moments with the one's they love.  They may never have this opportunity again.  I ask that the next time you see one of our brave soldiers shake their hand, say thank you, and tell them you are proud of what they do.  That is all they need.  They need our support and to know that we Americans are behind them 100%.  I am, I support them, shake their hands, and if I see them at a restaurant or coffee shop I buy their meal or coffee for them.  This is my duty as an American...support the people that give me the chance to live my life.

Today I took part in the Trevor Win'E Memorial Day Challenge.  This is a charity that is supported by local Crossfit Affiliates and attempts to raise money to help purchase cooling vest, scarfs, and helmet liners for our soldiers over seas in the Middle East.  The workout was a team effort and was very challenging.  Many people left with torn up bloody hands but this is nothing compared to what Trevor went through and what many other American soldiers must deal with.  The workout was made up of 300 pull ups, 400 push ups, 500 sit ups, and 600 squats.  It was quite a challenge but it was for a good cause.  What did you do today to support our troops?

For anyone who reads my blog and does not Crossfit let me explain to you a few reason that Crossfit is amazing other than creating the best athletes in the world.  Crossfit supports and believes in our troops.  They have helped support the Wounded Warriors Foundation through a charity event every September.  They help support causes like Trevor Win'e Memorial Day Workout and do all of this not for Crossfit but for our troops.  Crossfit has also created a set of workouts called the "Hero WOD's".  These have been named for service men and women, law enforcement, and fire fighters who have died in the line of duty.  These workouts are unbelievably difficult and push you farther than you ever thought you could.  Some people may never be able to do these.  Below is a link to an article about the Hero WOD's, what they are, and some of the stories of the individuals that they are named for.

To Honor Our Fallen

Remember who you are and where you live.  Remember each day that you live in this great nation which affords you opportunities you have that others in this world may never have.

I love America and will always stand up for her and defend her.  I will gladly stand and protect her.  I hope that you have that same passion and would be the person to my left and right, never wavering and fearless.

The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.
-Thucydides

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
 — General George S. Patton

A pear shapped America...

Tonight my post is going to be a little different.  Instead of talking about focus and training I need to vent about something I saw last night.  Kara (my Wife for all of you who don't know her) purchased tickets to a Cubs game for my birthday.  We had amazing seats, right behind home plate about 25 rows back from the field.  The seats were perfect, the weather was perfect, and energy of the crowd was perfect.  Everything was great, I sat back and relaxed and between batters and innings I looked around the crowd and at the people passing by our row and was appalled.  I was appalled by the health disasters walking all around me and the terrible influence they were being on their children.  I am not judging any one's ability to parent or whether or not they are good people...I was just truly worried about them.  People looked swollen, red faced, could barely walk up the ramps and stairs in the stadium, and were breathing as if they just did an 800meter sprint.   These people looked like most of us after "Fran" and all they had done was walk down an aisle.  What is going on here?

Poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and a sedentary lifestyle!  That is what is going on!

I do not compare normal American's to me, my lifestyle, or my fellow crossfitters but I do compare them to an image of health and these people failed miserably.  It seemed like 90% of the crowd was like this.  I started to think harder about this and to question why and then I looked at all the food that was being sold by the vendors.  Hot dogs, beer, pretzels, licorice, ice cream, etc.  No wonder these people look like this...I think I saw some guy put down like 6 or 7 hot dogs that were fully involved.  Then I thought "I wonder if broccoli or apples would sell at ball parks?"  I started to laugh at the thought of the poor vendor that had to carry around a huge steamer full of broccoli and cauliflower...he would probable make 2 sales at the game...1 to me and 1 to my wife.  We had no hot dogs or  beer, but had opted for a couple waters.  This did not effect my level of enjoyment of the game, I was still able to walk home, and did not feel terrible afterwards.  I had a huge concern..."Where are we going to be as society in 20 years?"..."How much money am I going to have to pay in taxes to support all these people's health issues?".  I am not getting into any health care debates so save your rhetoric.  I am just simply saying that we as the fitness and health minded individuals need to get out there and show people why it works and how easy it can be.

Just like we have a responsibility to each other in our boxes to push each other and help each other we have the same responsibility to do this in our general community.  It makes me incredibly sad and depressed to see obese children.  They are going to have diabetes and massive other problems throughout their lives.  All they need to do is eat a little better and play outside.  They don't even play outside anymore!  They sit in front of the television eating billions of tons of processed foods and sugar and become piles of fat.  Let's get out there and create safer communities so they can play outside.  Let's get involved in after school programs and rec league sports.  If you want to raise my taxes to pay for stuff I will gladly fork over my money to help children become safer and healthier. 

How can we do this?  How can we influence our communities?

Invite school age children into our local crossfits.  Teach them fitness and make it fun for them.  During this class teach the parents a little about nutrition and appropriate portions.  It could have amazing impacts like less medicated children.  What a great world we could create.  We could be called the Crosslit legionnaires!  We are campaigning to save our youth, to ensure a safer future, and to make a better America!

I am not sure this is possible or will happen but we can try.  I am not sure if I will ever have children but some day if I do I would like my children to set an example for the friends.  To be healthy kids, eat a fun and healthy diet, to play and grow up in crossfit gyms, and to be a great human! 

Back to last night.  You can only help people that want to help themselves.  I was not about to walk up to some guy drinking beers and eating hot dogs and say hey why aren't you drinking water and eating green leafy vegetables.  This guy would probably laugh at me and think I am a total crazy person.  I idea here is listen to the people you interact with everyday.  Maybe someone at work looks up to your levels of fitness and health...guide them and show them the way.  Teach them what you know and give them the tools to be the best they can be.  This will have a trickle down effect.  They will teach their family and friends who will teach their family and friends and eventually one day the difference will be evident.

Just like my other post topics this will take tons of work and effort but we can't give up.  We need to keep working and being the strong voice.  We are the products of our consumptions.  You make poor nutritional and health choices and in return you will be a person of sub par health and productivity.

Make each of our choices count no matter how big or small!  These choices will reverberate in more ways than you can ever imagine.  I hope that all of you make the tough decision to eat healthy, keep working hard at your box, and undertake the challenge of making somebody you know a better person. 

GOOD LUCK!  Nothing worth having ever came easy...it came with sacrifice, diligence, and faith.  Put your faith in the greater good of the human condition and into a higher power that will lead you when you are lost.  Sometimes faith and hard work is all we need. 

"When you have come to the edge of all light that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, Faith is knowing One of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on or You will be taught to fly”
-Patrick Overton

Running out of time...

Today was my 30th birthday!  I was pretty excited about today and to celebrate with Kara and my friends.  The more I thought about my birthday the more I started to reflect on my training and competing in the games.  I thought to myself I am 30 years old I don't have that many good years left.  Everything is going to become more difficult.  I will not recover as fast, movements may slow down, and many other bad thoughts.  After a great conversation this morning with one of the coaches at WCCF I got another point of view.  This point of view was "there's plenty of time... just keep training".  There is always the master's class and I have 20 years to train for that!

I changed my thinking.  I am only 30 years old.  That is great!  I have only been doing Crossfit for a little over 9 months and have tons of room for improvement.  I am fired up!  Time to get after it...really push the extremes.  I need to look at my training in a whole new manner.  I need to understand how to recover more effectively, hone in my nutrition, and make all my lift techniques perfect.  Imagine where I will be this time next year.  I will be a whole year stronger, faster, and more efficient.  What is the plan for this upcoming year?

TO HAVE FUN!

That's right I said have fun.  I never want Crossfit to become something I stress over.  I want it to be my outlet for stress and to make me feel great.  I want to train hard and be competitive but at the same time I do not want it to become a chore or work like.  Crossfit is an amazing sport.  You can push yourself beyond you limit everyday and you become better for it.  Why would you want to turn this into something that you stress out about.  I do not feel this makes me any less motivated as a Crossfitter instead I think it will make me a better Crossfitter.  I will have the advantage of perfect focus.  Entering the box everyday and knowing I am there for 2 purposes: to get better as an athlete and to have fun will be very important.  You cannot let the one thing in your life that makes you happy become a new source of stress and anxiety.

What is your plan over the next year?

Whether you made it into the games or not you will need to improve on your level of fitness.  Will you hang your head and become frustrated or will you look into the future and train to become a better athlete?  Only you can decide which it will be.  You can have the best coaches in the world, the best Crossfit community, or the best box in the world but if you do not commit to being a better athlete you might as well not show up.  I don't want to train around someone that is feeling sorry for themselves.  Get over it, move on, and get better.  Use that awful taste of defeat to motivate you training.  Understand that your improvements will always help with the next challenge and that everything has happened for a reason.

If you ever need support in the box I am here.  If you have lost your focus I will give you it.  As a member of the Crossfit community it is important that we pull our friends along.  If you see someone suffering or down after a WOD pick them up.  Not just physically but mentally and emotionally.  We can only become a better community if we all work towards the end result of becoming the best athletes possible. 

Take pride in your efforts, never stop working, and become a student of the sport.  Read articles, go to seminars, perfect your nutrition and supplementation, and most of all improve who you are.  Become the athlete you want to be because  it will happen if you up in the blood, sweat, and work.   

"Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.”
-Gail Devers

The desire to be better...

The affiliate team tryouts were a great experience.  Gave me some great perspective and identified where my training needs improve.  I am pretty good at body weight stuff, chippers, and Olympic lifting but I am week in running and rowing.  I need to improve those areas.  Need to train them harder and become more efficient at these.  Great....How do I do that?

I have been dwelling on this for a week to no end.  I need to be better, I need to improve, I need to better myself.  The problem is I am not sure I know exactly how to become a better rower or a better runner.  I am sure like most things in Crossfit it is just working at it but there are some inherent problems with just working at it.  Let's look at a few:

# 1:  How do I fit this extra training into an already busy schedule and still maintain an effective amount of rest?
#2:  How do I overcome some basic structural hurdles that comes with a small frame?
#3:  Where do I find a training program, schedule, or method that will actually work?
and #4:  Will all this training actually pay off, will it get me the results I want?

I don't want to sound like a pessimist but those are some serious hurdles to cross.  Let's see if there are some answers.  The first problem isn't really a problem.  I have a rest day twice a week.  I can exchange the rest days for endurance training.  Do this for about 3 weeks at a time and then follow with a rest week from the endurance training. 

Next problem being of small stature.  Well I can't change that unless I get shin implants and that's not going to happen and it would probably make the problem worse.  This is where just working at these challenges is the answer.  I just need to train the run and the row and make them as efficient as possible.  Push my training so hard that any amount of running or rowing in a WOD will be no big deal.

Training programs, schedules, and methods for the endurance challenges can easily be answered by going to the http://www.crossfitendurance.com/ website.  They have daily endurance planning and WOD's designed to improve these areas.  I will tackle these when possible. 

Problem number 4 is not a problem if I stick to the 3 answers and goals above.  The training will pay off and I will become a better rower and runner.  This does not mean that I am going to be the best runner or rower in the box but I will be better than I am now. 

Sometimes during our training we hit walls that seem too difficult to get over.  The challenge seems to be impossible.  It may be a certain PR that you want to hit or a skill that you want to do but you cannot master it...how to do you get past these problem.  First look at your goal... is it realistic.  I sure as heck would love to clean 300lbs but it is not going to happen any time in the near future.  It will only come with a ton of work and perfecting my technique.  SET REALISTIC GOALS.  Set goals that you can obtain and which will be steps forward towards you ultimate goal. 

Second look at your mental attitude towards it.  Has the PR or skill become toxic to your work ethic or your training focus.  If the PR or skill has negatively effected your metcons or training you need to ditch it.  Stop putting so much energy into it.  Step away from it, train and focus on other PR's or skills and then return to original PR or skill when you have fresh and positive mental energy and focus. 

Third assess your actual physical training.  Is your training actually helping you attain this PR or skill.  If you want to squat 400lbs but all you are training is shoulder press or pull ups your training is not beneficial to attaining your goals.  Understand what your end result needs to be and the steps it will take to get there.  Train the squat, train the clean, and work WOD's that will focus effort into your legs and back. 

Most of all never give up.  Understand that you will hit walls during you training.  You will have great days and you will have terrible days.  You will have days where all you want to do is give up.  You will have days where your goal will be just within reach.  Step back and reflect.  Consistency and perseverance will get you what you want.  It is not the good day or the great feeling it is the discipline in your training.  Suffer through the tough days and soak up the great days but always keep your mental focus and attitude where it needs to be.  Set small goals that you can achieve.  With each small goal you achieve you will get closer and closer to your ultimate goal.  With each milestone that you achieve you will be adding positive energy to your focus and will build up your confidence.

There is always a way to be better and to improve yourself.  It will come time and dedication.  Make every lift, rep, and WOD count.  Get after it and go 100%. 

"Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.”
-Anonymous

Exhaustion...

Yesterday was a less than perfect day for me.  I was exhausted, could barely keep moving and felt horrible.  My nutrition was good, I wasn't sick, I had been sleeping through the night...what was going on?  Let's break down my typical Thursday.

5am wake up.  530am at Grant Park to run bootcamp.  830am to 6pm at work.  630pm at Lincoln Park for bootcamp. 730pm Olympic lifting class and metcon.  Home at 845pm dinner at 9 pm. Blog, and take Mable for a walk...Bed at 1045pm.  Repeat this or a very similar variation 6 more times and you have my week.  I had been doing this for the past 2 months non-stop.  Yesterday I hit a brick wall.  All my energy was depleted. 

On top of my usual rotine and work load this week has been the Windy City Crossfit Affiliate Team Tryouts.  These days have been mentally and physically exhausting.  Pushing your body past it's breaking point day after day.  I completed the first three WOD's on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Thursday came and I decided to retake a rest day.  No WOD, the fourth WOD would wait until Friday morning.  I still planned on completing the rest of my usual day but that quickly changed.  It was 6 pm and I was supposed to be out of work but that did not happen.  I got out of work at 615pm and could not make to bootcamp.  There was not enough time for me to change and drive down to Lincoln Park...mainly because traffic at that time of the day is terrible.  I went home exhausted and pissed off.

When I walked into my apartment I went to find my trusty ole hound dog Mable and to give her a pet and play with her.  She is amazing.  She takes all of my problems away, I sit with her and pet her, throw her toy and she looks at me, drooling and wagging her tail and always wanting more.  What an amazing and simple joy to be the owner of a wonderful dog.  I love her to no end.  She has been by my side everyday for the past 4 years.  She was there when I first met my wife, when we got engaged, when we got married, when we moved to NC and back to Chicago...she has been there for everything.  She trusts me and I trust her...we are best friends.  Sorry to ramble.  She was laying on our spare bed and sleeping.  I walked over to her, she started to wag her tail for before I got there and I decided I needed to sleep.  I laid down next to Mable and I was out.  I woke up 4 hrs later to eat dinner at 10pm.  I needed the fuel to have energy for this morning's WOD.  I was back in bed by 1030pm after taking Mable for a walk and next thing I know it is 545am.  Time to get up, grab my gear, and off to Crossfit.  I felt great.  I was happy, I was recharged, and was ready to go.

I was shocked how I needed to rest.  Usually a rest day for me just means I don't do a WOD or lift.  I would still do all the other things in my day.  I guess a rest day means REST.  Who would have thought that?  Not me...I didn't get the point.  I thought that if I rested I would fall behind on my work or training...turns out that theory is completely wrong and stupid. 

It is incredibly important to rest on your rest day.  Not just from Crossfit but from everything.  Eat right, drink lots of water, stretch, and SLEEP!  Your body needs it and requires it for optimum performance.  Next time your rest day pops up think about it.  Are you really resting?  Rest is programmed into certain WOD's to deliver n desired effect.  The effect is be able to go to your max each round following the rest.  The same is true with your day of rest.  Take your rest day but get back into the box immediately.  Pick up where you left off and fire all your potential and effort into the WOD. 

Without rest all your training and effort will fall to waste.  You will not make gains, not hit PR's, and not be the athlete you should be.  You will be a frustrated and tired athlete.  Do not over train but instead train intelligently.  You cannot become Captain Crossfit by doing three a days every day for the rest of your life.  You will become a broken Crossfitter and will end up sitting on the side watching all your friends suffer.  Do not end up like me yesterday, barely able to function and a mess.  Take your rest, enjoy it, and breath. 

"Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.”
- Ralph Martson

Underestimating...

We have all been there at some point in our lives.  We look at a task and say to ourselves "that doesn't look so bad"...man were we ever wrong!  Underestimating a challenge can have severe consequences and be extremely detrimental to the outcome of the task.

When was the last time you underestimated a task?  I can tell you about the first time that I honestly can remember this happening...here goes!

I was a freshman in high school and trying out for the wrestling team.  There was a junior varsity team and a varsity team and we always practiced together.  In order to be the wrestler that represented any weight class on the roster you needed to be the best of the people at your weight.  This was determined by a "wrestle off".  For example let's take the 140lb weight class.  If there were 5 guys on the team that weighed 140lbs only 1 would be the weight class starter.  They would wrestle each other in practice in a full match until the wrestler with most wins was named and then he would be the starter.  It was very competitive and exhausting both mentally and physically.  Now that you understand this let's move on.

So I was a freshman and there were only two of us that could wrestle at the 103lb weight class and no one currently in that spot on the varsity team.  Our coach decided that he would make the 2 of us wrestle off and the winner was the varsity wrestler and the loser was the junior varsity wrestler.  I thought to my self "simple enough, beat that other guy and I got a varsity spot". HOW HARD COULD THIS BE!   Ha...I was way off.  I had never wrestled a full match in my life and had a very limited skill set.  Turns out my opponent had been wrestling since he was a little kid and had a very large skill set.  I had no idea.  I stepped up to my opponent and we went at it.  I was stronger and more athletic than him so I got my points where I could but I did not have any wrestling knowledge.  Every time I scored a point my opponent would score two.  During the third period I hung my head too low and he caught me in a head lock and dropped me to the mat.  I was screwed...I looked at the coach and said "I don't think I can breath what do I do".  His response was..."If you can talk you can breath. Don't get pinned and fight to get up".  I thought to myself "easy for you to say" but it was just that simple.  Don't give up, fight for you life, and don't get beat.   What lesson did I learn during that match?

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE A CHALLENGE!
 
I think this has happened to all of us at one time or another in Crossfit.  We look at WOD and say that shouldn't be too bad.  The weight isn't really heavy, the rep scheme isn't super high, or the AMRAP is short.  I am going to smoke this workout!  Man were we ever wrong!  Every time we think like this the exact opposite happens...the not so bad WOD beats us into the ground and laughs at us as it walks away.  I hate when that happens, it is extremely frustrating.  If we had only had the right focus and approached the WOD like any other workout and gave the same intensity the WOD would have still beat us up but you would have gotten more from it.

Never underestimate what  a WOD will require.  It does not need to have the most complex moves, the heaviest weights, or the most reps to be challenging.  Think about how you feel after you complete "Cindy".  All it is pull ups, push ups, and squats...how hard can that be.  We all know it is terribly difficult.  Just as we train our bodies we need to train our minds and our focus.  We need to be disciplined in our mental approach to WODs and training.  If we continue to underestimate skills, lifts, and WOD's we are just setting ourselves up for failure.  We will never truly get what we need from these challenges.  

I heard a great wrestling coach once say "wrestling is 80% mental and 20% physical.  You can be the strongest man on the mat but you will always lose to a smart wrestler.  He will learn you weakness, see that your only weapon is strength, and will make you suffer".  I have never forgotten this and I often feel that Crossfit and it's WOD's are my opponent.  If I allow the workouts to be the smarter wrestler it will beat me down and get the best of me but if I approach the workout with the right mental focus the WOD has nothing on me.  It will still make me feel extreme levels of pain, I will still be exhausted, but I get more out of the challenge. 

Be smart, use your weapons, understand you strengths and how to apply them.  Never underestimate the skill sets in a WOD or it's design and approach it like it is the most difficult challenge in the world.

"It's not what's happening to you now or what has happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather, it's your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you're going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny.”
-Anthony Robbins

Confidence and it's amazing powers...

Tonight was the second of four tryouts for the Windy City Crossfit Affiliate team.  This WOD was extremely challenging with a combination of pure strength and skill.  We had to complete three rounds for time of 7 ground to over head at 185lbs and 50 double unders.  It was extremely challenging going from a heavy skilled movement to a quick skilled movement.  This WOD really tested us.

All day today I had a lack of confidence.  I was very uncertain of how I was going to perform tonight after last night's WOD.  It is difficult to pick yourself back up after suffering such a huge mental and emotional defeat.  Even as I entered WCCF tonight and started to warm up I was very uncertain of myself.  The earlier class' bars looked extremely heavy.  The weight was pounding the ground with an Earth shaking thud!  Instead of firing me up it was making me feel more and more nauseous.  The anxiety was killing me... it was eating me alive.

The line up was set for the first heat.  I volunteered to go first because I could not stand to wait another minute.  I stepped up to the bar and started.  The weight was moving and the anxiety was gone.  It was all focus and effort at this point.  I knew I needed to just work until I was done and could not do another movement.  I punched through the WOD and it felt great.  All the feelings of self doubt and lack of confidence were gone.  I was by no means happy or satisfied but I had my confidence back.

What is Confidence?  What does it do for you?

Confidence gives me the strength to overcome the largest of challenges.  Confidence is not an easy thing to have...it has to be earned and proven.  Without confidence there would be very little that I could accomplish in life and at Crossfit.  This was completely evident all day today.  I was not sure that I would live up to my expectations and complete the WOD the way I wanted to tonight.  I felt lost all day, not thinking correctly and had a complete lack of focus.  I felt like I had no idea how to approach this challenge and if I was even going to be able to move the weight.  This was ridiculous... I can clean and jerk 255lbs surely I can clean and jerk 185lbs.  I needed to snap out of this and do it quickly.  The WOD started, I pushed through it and finished in a time that I was okay with.  Tonight when I finished I had a smile on my face...that was more like it.  I loved the burning of my muscles, the complete exhaustion, and knowing that I did my best and it was good enough!

Even more amazing tonight than me regaining my confidence was watching everyone else work and suffer through this WOD.  Some of the athletes struggled through every single clean and jerk even missing 2 or 3 before completing 1 successful lift.  Even though this was very difficult for them they never gave up.  They had so much mental and emotional strength.  All of this translated into confidence.  They were confident in the ability and it showed.  They finished...they never let the WOD beat them.  It was inspiring to watch and was one of the greatest displays of determination that I have ever seen. 

As Crossfitters we put an extreme amount of effort and focus into going faster, lifting more weight, and working more efficiently.  This singular way of thinking can sometimes cause us to forget what is really fueling all of this...CONFIDENCE.  Without confidence we would doubt ourselves during every lift, never push to our full capacity in the WOD's, and we would never push outside of our save zone.  If you feel that you are lacking confidence remember what you have done in life, think about all the people that love you and support you, and look inside yourself to see what you are really made of.  Most of all have complete confidence in who you are and what you are! 

"You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.”
- Rosalynn Carter