CrossFit examined..

CrossFit examined..

The other day one of you asked me this..

“Tyler, these cashouts have been great! The cardio is so important.. It’s so important that we have a balance.. Don’t you agree?”

Yes and No.

No.

First of all, the workouts have NOT changed. We have always (past year and then some) used a short high intensity cashout in our programming. Always. The ‘Cardio’ you speak of has always been there. The change is ‘the group structure’ and the simple fact that ‘this gym is a community, a culture, and a philosophy built on the timeless classic – Strength in numbers”. We thrive on the whole place working at the same goal. Friendly competition, team work, and crazy high energy definitely create a lot of motivation..

Cardio is not as important as strength. PERIOD. The two things that keep you alive and healthy the longest are – 1. Insulin levels, 2. Muscle Mass. Strength training corrects your posture, makes your tendons, ligaments, muscles, and bones more dense and thus safe and strong. Strength training tells us the trainer how functional of an athlete you are. It tells us what’s wrong with you. It could be your back, your tight hips, your impinged shoulder position, etc – We make you healthier through proper movement. EVERY EXERCISE IS A TEST! EVERY SINGLE ONE. HOW DEEP AND STRAIGHT IS YOUR SQUAT? HOW GOOD IS YOUR SHOULDER MOBILITY? HOW EXPLOSIVE ARE YOUR HIPS? ETC ETC..

This is first and the hardest part of it all. This is the never ending piece of humble pie. Once you acquire a taste for it you respect it, and focus and clarity finally arrives.  Everybody wants to push hard!! They want to ‘DO’ CrossFit cause it’s cool or something. These people have no focus, no goals, no clarity whatsoever. What you need are the basics:

- A Front, Back, and Split SQUAT that get’s a ‘thumb’s up’ from your Coach(s).

- Thumb’s up in the Overhead positions. (Presses, Jerks, Snatch, Squat)

- A ‘Perfect’ pushup with shoulders in external rotation.

- A ‘Gymnastics pullup’: Which is ‘legs together, toes pointed, shoulders tight, hands pronated, tight abs, pullup – starting at full extension (the bottom) and pulling your chest to the bar without breaking form’.. FYI – Use the fat bar for increased grip and forearm activation.

- Descent technique in the Olympic lifts and there variations.

- The ability to BREATHE and GET TIGHT!

There are so many more I could mention but let’s just sum it up:

YOU HAVE TO CRAWL BEFORE YOU CAN WALK.

Before you can push hard in a sport like CrossFit you need the basics. You have to earn it. You CANNOT just show up and CRUSH ’800 meter sprint, Snatch 3 reps – 200lbs, Muscle ups x 5, – 5 Rounds for time’.. This is simply idiotic.

How we do ‘CrossFit’.

We like to start with a skill and strength focus. We don’t believe in ‘high rep snatches’ or ’50 deadlift’ workouts’.. We believe you should lift heavy and hard everyday and when you do, you focus on exactly that and nothing more. Surely any CrossFitter can admit they lift better when Maxing out than when doing 65% of their max for ‘time’ with crazy high rep counts and other modalities and exercises thrown into it.

So.. When we LIFT we LIFT. When we are done we do a cashout. Our cashouts encompass similar principles as CrossFit such as 1. working against the clock, 2. names and whiteboard scores, 3. Daily WOD’s, 4. High Intensity Conditioning and of course the element of ‘all peoples striving towards the same goal’. We love this about CrossFit.

What we don’t love..

Inexperienced coaches having inexperienced clients ‘perform highly skilled workouts with little to zero foundation or awareness of the basics’. We will not ‘DISRESPECT’ the lifts by having ‘poor lifters’ perform some of the most complex movements in sport – at high speeds.. – MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL. We will teach them by all means, and teach them well, just not with the high speeds and intensity that CrossFit encompasses.

Remember: The end goal for all is HEALTH..

Back to our cashouts:

We use safe modalities like sled work, bodyweight movements (not all!), odd objects, etc in order to create an environment where YOU the athletes CAN push hard without the risk of injury. There is always a risk of course but our job as Coach is to have ZERO injuries. Pushing a prowler is probably one of the hardest movements I or anyone else will ever do in their lives.. Guess what? It’s also one of the safest. Play safe – GET RESULTS. Play stupid and reckless with no regard for reality – YOU GET HURT, GO BACK ON THE COUCH, AND FAIL AGAIN AND AGAIN.

‘I speak it so clearly, sometimes you don’t hear me’.. – MD

The other part of his question: ‘You need balance. Don’t you agree?’ – YES AND NO.

I believe most people simply favor cardio because it’s easier than lifting. They make themselves believe it’s ‘better for them’ or ‘what they need’..

YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU NEED.

What you need is balance – yes. But what you first need is to realize where your ‘imbalances’ are. What are your priorities? If you’re weak – you need more strength. If your overweight – you need to eat better. If you’re strong but get tired walking up 8 stairs – you need a little cardio. Yes you need balance but you need to also and firstly LIVE IN REALITY. What took 5, 10, 20, 30 years will not be fixed in 2 months.. It will definitely be improved but you need to be realistic. If you ate doughnuts for the past 20 years it might take a little time to balance out your hormones… Ya know?..

Up next: Fat loss, cardio, and weightlifting.. Who-What-Where-Why-How?