Mental Toughness

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”  - Sun Tzu The Art of War

I had a great conversation with Coach Jordan yesterday towards the end of his 6:30 class.  He said to me "you know it's probably important that everyone knows that the Coaches, as athletes, wanted to quit just as bad as they did today."

Mind blown... 

I walked into the gym at 8:30 yesterday for the 8:45 class to get the workout in myself.  I knew that it was going to be a tough workout - most hero wods are - and I knew that the 135# Rx thrusters were going to take a huge physical toll over the course of 100 reps.  What I wasn't prepared for, and certainly didn't have, was the clarity around the mental toughness that would be required for the day.

By minute 12 on the clock and roughly 60 thrusters in, my trunk went mash-potatoes.  I received the second thruster in the minute and I didn't have the strength/endurane to hold it together and lost it forward.  I had to step back and re-assess the entire situation and forced myself to accept that 3 thursters per minute was the best I was going to manage.. if I was lucky.

The next two minutes was a negotiation of not stopping and doing whatever I had to to get my 3 and not let form blow completely apart.  I was crushed - and on the following round took a zero - and in that minute the real battle began.

"Just quit this is stupid..." , "135 is too heavy for me anyway what am I doing?",  "This isn't fun" - just a few of the many things that played through my mind in the course of about 40 seconds.

And then simply.. "quitting a workout isn't an option PICK UP THE BAR". 

The remaining 10 minutes was a mental battle with myself on the whys I should or shouldn't quit - and I resigned myself to the fact that the workout isn't actually about the burpees or thrusters.. but instead all about my own mental fortitude.

I finished Kalsu at 25:28 Rx.  

Yesterday I was reminded of a couple of things that make me love CrossFit for reasons beyond just getting physically fit.  It teaches you humility and perseverance.. I think both things that honor our fallen men and women and celebrate their lives and the lives of the loved ones who remain.  It also reminded me that there is nothing quite as satisfying as finishing a brutally hard workout and being able to reflect on the growth you experience as an athlete in that space.

Get your $#!t together..

This will perhaps be a little harsh.. but sometimes it takes you getting to the breaking point..

You have to be selfish and place your wellness at a higher level in the priority list than you do.  For me the priority list is pretty straight forward:  God, Health, Family, Career, everything else.  I realize that not everyone places an emphasis on God (another conversation altogether) so let's just look at the rest of the the downstream priority chain.

Health above Family and Career - are you insane?!  No - hear me out.  If my health is poor, if I'm not doing the things I need to do to take care of myself then that leads to being stressed, sick, or otherwise less than optimal for my family - or worse yet eventually suffering a major preventable medical event.  Or I choose to bury my head in the sand and ignore my health and suffer an event that leads to the inability to work.. all of these things lead to a NEGATIVE impact on my family.


It starts simply enough - making the choice to re-prioritize and put yourself higher upstream in priority.  And trust me - I've been where you are - with the pull of career and life constantly trying to pull you down.  It's just too damn easy to get sucked down into the quagmire.  It's one of the main reasons I personally found CrossFit so appealing.  I have an entire community of people who have said enough and put themselves in the proper priority chain.  They hold me accountable.. and they inspire and motivate me.. oh and it's put me in the best shape of my life.. at 38.. not 18.

If you NEED the support system.. if you need the accountability.. if you need to get your shit together.. I can help.  The initial consultation is free.. but YOU have to make the choice to adjust the priority chain.

Choosing must

The reference is subtle.. or not depending on what circles you travel on the web.

Some of you do, and some of you don't, know that in June I will officially transition from being a part time gym owner, part time coach, part time dad, and full time executive to a full time owner/coach and full time dad.  Hopefully you're with me on that. :)

Somewhere along the way I traded my must for should because should was safe.  Should was the title, the house, the car, the tangibles and the reality.  I gave up on trying to do things that lead me closer to the must in sacrifice.

When I found fitness just after the turn of my 30's I really had no idea where the journey would take me.  I do know that I had some serious self body image issues I had to deal with (yeah that's a thing for guys too).  I also know that for the better part of the last 12 years I have had an overwhelming feeling that I was purposed to help people.  It took me a while to figure that out.. and it took CrossFit to show me my how and why.

Over the last 5 years I've coached countless people and helped countless more make important shifts in their lives and health priorities.  There is nothing else that I have done in my life that is quite as fulfilling as this endeavor and I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to become even more entrenched in doing something that I absolutely love.

This is just the start of an even more exciting time for not just me but for our athletes and clients at Fort Miami CrossFit!  We have a ton of new and exciting things in the works that I just can't wait to share with you.

Kelly and I are blessed to have so many friends and family that believe in what we're doing.  Thank you for all the love and support that you all have given along the way.

Please sign up for my newsletters to the right.  I'm excited to share knowledge bombs with everyone about CrossFit, Health, Fitness, and Life!

Crossing the Rubicon

Choosing must.

I'm excited to announce the birth of Fort Miami CrossFit.  There's been an enormous amount of work that has been going into this project behind the scenes.  One of the things that we felt was really paramount to what we are doing is to write out our personal manifesto about the vision we share for what CrossFit is and how it should be presented.  None of this is revolutionary, but it does perhaps run counter to some of the established norms.

I'd like to share the result of that with you.

Nutrition as the foundation:

IF you want to succeed then we need to have a serious conversation about what and how you eat.  As part of your introduction to CrossFit we're going to make sure that we are setting you up for success and being consistent in our follow through with you on nutritional needs and expectations.

Quality Coaching:

I am a big proponent for focused quality coaching.  Movement standards are the expectation of the coaches and we are going to hold you to that standard.  Sub-standard is no standard.  Consistency is key, not just in your workout but in the coaching that gets you there.  It should be expected (both by coach and athlete) that consistency will be maintained day in and day out and not just 'when the mood suites'.

It is also our belief that the only way you enable that consistency is to maintain a healthy ratio of the number of athletes per coach.  To some that may seem excessive, to me it seems necessary.  As a coach, if I can't give you the individualized attention that you deserve then I am doing both of us a disservice.

Foundations:

When you start your journey with CrossFit there are a number of movements that many people will have little to no exposure to.  It is our goal to set our athletes up for success so we start all athletes in a foundations class.  Through Foundations you will be introduced to all the core movements as well as how and when to scale movements that will carry you forward into our level based group CrossFit classes.

Leveled programming:

As you transition from the Foundations program you will be introduced to our level based programming for group classes.  Our programming is CrossFit at it's core with a strength bias.  What that means is that we believe that strength as a bias in programming will yield more consistent results for members.  We accomplish this with a skew towards Olympic style weightlifting.    

Evidence based fitness:

We believe that it is our responsibility to you as our member to show you the evidence.  We're data driven.  It is our expectation that 3/6/12 months out I should be able to show you with very real and specific metrics how you've improved.  No matter what your goals are, through the data, we will show you how you've moved closer to achieving them!

Client goals:

From our initial consultation we will work with you to establish not just your goals but also to lay out the map in front of you to show you how we work with you to get there.  Like all things in life, having goals gives us something to continually work towards and improve upon, why should fitness be any different.  And as you will discover, the journey is as important as the destination.

Community:

The final component and arguably the most important part of this manifesto is community.  CrossFit has a  rich history of having a deeply engaged community of people.  In many gyms you will see a group of people who feel more like a family than a group of strangers.  Community is part of the DNA of CrossFit and is a huge driving factor in athletes long term success.  Surround yourself with people that are headed in the same direction that you are and you are far more likely to succeed.

It is our belief that THIS should be at the heart of any gym.  Shared successes, shared suffering, and sharing in life will be deeply integrated in all that we do.

If you have an interest in CrossFit, improving sport performance, or just moving towards being a more holistically fit individual then I invite you to come experience what CrossFit has to offer.  Our model is simple, give us two weeks to convince you that what we do (CrossFit) and how we do it (Secret Sauce) is an experience unlike any other.

On the go - a travel tale

I, like many of you, get the opportunity to travel from time to time for my day job.  This week I was in sunny Las Vegas attending a tech conference for a new product that we rolled out this year.  The challenge for me as I headed out the door was how I was going to stay consistent with my eating schedule and exercise.

The biggest challenge as you can imagine is eating.  In this land of over sized buffet's and complete food debauchery it can seem to be an almost overwhelming task.  Never fear my friends, all is in fact not lost.

Breakfast has actually proven to be the easiest of the major meals to deal with.  Almost without exception every where I have attended has had the ability to provide eggs, fresh fruit, and of course coffee.  The interesting thing to note is that while what you see on the menu is typically not 'zoned' or friendly to paleo/zone parameters all it takes is a brief conversation with your server to get what you need.

On Monday morning as an example I was able to ask the server some simple questions that got me where I needed to be.  I looked at the California omelette with hash browns as my starting point.  The conversation was simple, and I was amazed at how responsive she was - I sensed this wasn't her first go around with someone who ate very deliberately.  "How many eggs are in your omelette?"  She responded that they are three egg omelettes.  Before I could even get my next question out she asked if I would like to sub fresh fruit for the hash browns.  Well heck ya I would!  The result was a beautiful 3 egg omlette with an appropriate portion of fresh fruit and avacado that got me a 4 block breakfast that was simple, tasty and more importantly not any more money than the base menu item.  I counted this as a big win for the day.

Conference food has luckily been surprisingly balanced in choice.  Over three days of buffet line style lunches I was able to create a reasonably zoned meal that wasn't overly complex.  The key is just making good choices.  Choosing the mixed vegetables over the roll or the pear over the Texas toast are all conscious and purpose driven decisions

Getting work done required a little more thought on my part.  I knew that when I hit Las Vegas it was important for me to get out and drop into a local box.  I chose Crossfit Max Effort as my destination.  It was an awesome choice due both to it's relative proximity to the hotel (only a 2 mile $12 cab ride) and it is a beautiful facility owned and operated by games competitor Zach Forrest.  I happened to hit CFME on a week coming off of a 3 week strength cycle.  CFME programs benchmark WODs in the down week and as a result I got to do "Angie".  A benchmark I had actually not performed.  As one can expect, 100 pull ups and 100 push ups sucked.  Practice I suppose for Murph coming up on Memorial Day.

Unfortunately my schedule only allowed me one day for drop ins so the additional days had to be filled with work in the hotel 'Cardio Room'.  Needless to say the options you find in a cardio room are somewhat limited.  Treadmills and dumbbells are all you really have to work with. The folks over at NorCal Crossfit have a long list of hotel based WODs that leverage dumbbells and treadmills which seem to be the staple fitness gear of any hotel.

Being committed to being consistent is a crucial component of the extended out of town event.  Schedule the drop-in to a local box, scout the fitness accommodations of the local hotel you'll be staying and arm yourself with a game plan to be consistent across the board.  As I wrap up my 5 day trip I was able to book end it with a rest days on the days I traveled while getting in three days in of work including one drop in at a local affiliate.

Plan, eat clean, do work.. and enjoy the vacation.

Going there.

CrossFit is a mental challenge.

Yes yes... it's a physical one too.  But today I want to focus on the mental aspects.  There is a lot to be said for consistently working out, working hard, and eating right.  I've had a few athletes come to me recently with concerns and comments like "I feel like I should be getting faster" or "I feel like I should be getting stronger in X I practice it all the time!".  So we start working down the stack.

Showing up for class (3-5 days a week), check.
Getting enough sleep (7-8+ hours), check.
Eating cleanly and appropriately, check
Staying hydrated, check.
Are you putting yourself - there -, wait what?

Are you taking yourself - there - you know, the place that the magic happens?  Are you regularly taking yourself outside of your comfort zone when you work out?  Are you taking yourself to the point where - yeah - one more thruster is going to make me throw up.  Are you pushing the pace on that 5k to the point where - yea - I can't breath and I don't know if I can push through.

"If you're willing to go there CrossFit will take you there."  - Chris Spealler

When I started CrossFit I heard that quote from Chris Spealler and I really wasn't quite sure what he meant.  It wasn't until much later in the journey that I started to really understand what he meant by that and just what it meant to go there.  Years later, hundreds of metcons and sessions later I understand what that means.  It's that nervous "oh shit" feeling I get before doing a workout like 14.5 because I know that I'm going to go to that place deep in the recesses of my psyche where I have to move and I have to perform in a way that is going to be uncomfortable to a point that the outcome might just be walking outside and tossing my cookies.

I get that the visual there is not appealing to all.  And to some the idea of going so far outside of ones comfort zone is so scary that doing so isn't something that the average person is willing to do.  To quote another favorite of mine, CT Fletcher; "fuck average".  Get comfortable with being uncomfortable - for that is where truly spectacular change happens.  And it isn't just the change in terms of "hey my Fran time improved" but it's all the mental aspects that go hand in hand with going there and getting uncomfy.

Here is the other unique secret about getting uncomfortable and regularly going there, by going there it gets easier to go back there.  That doesn't mean it sucks any less.. but the mental game of getting yourself down that path does get easier and it gets easier to fight back those negative thoughts and the "I cant's".

I say all of that only to come full circle and say know and understand your limits.  What we are discussing today isn't something that Joe Newcrossfitter should be considering.  Too much, too soon, and too hard can result in injury.  Even at the highest level of CrossFit there is always such a thing as too much or too hard.  Know your limits, work within them, but your limits do exist somewhere north-east of your perceived comfort zone.

Hand maintenance

Callus's are the body's adaptation to repeated friction.  Unfortunately your body hasn't figured out that as a c
rossfitter those calluses aren't protecting anything... in fact they're making things worse.

As a CrossFit athlete one of the things you will have to do with some frequency to avoid gnarly hand injuries is to regularly maintenance your hands - specifically shaving down calluses.  As a coach I see a lot of ripped hands, and I invariably ask the question: "what are you doing for hand maintenance?".  Most time the response is a shrug, a blank stare or worse yet "more chalk".

And no.. more chalk won't help.. it makes it worse.

The only reasonable thing you can do is to shave those calluses down and for that I recommend the Ped Egg.  This little contraption is actually designed for the rough callus buildup on your feet, but works amazingly well for handling the callus buildup on your hands.

Using the device to file down the calluses allows for a lot more control in how much skin you are taking off.  Other methods include using razor-blades to "shave" off the calluses, however this method can be extremely difficult to master and can result in shaving too much and injuring your hands.

With the Ped Egg you do need to be conscious of how much skin it is taking off, especially when brand new to its use.  Gently glide the cheese greater like surface over the callused area in an up and down motion.  Sets of three to four passes at a time pausing briefly in between sets to check the callused area to see how much has been taken down is generally a good idea.

Once you have the bulk of the callus worn down it is time to move onto the finish sanding surface to smooth out the skin and provide a soft touch back to the hands.  The end result should be well manicured surfaces with little callus build up to get caught on the bar as you perform pull ups, muscle ups or other high friction movements and ultimately little to no hand tearing.