So for me I didn’t want to start a bunch of programs and classes that I couldn’t follow through with. CrossFit and the constantly varied, functional movement executed at high intensity has always been our true north. Over the years I’ve been very slow at steering the ship. When we officially became CrossFit Waxahachie in 2010 there were a lot of directions I could have gone. Enjoy the benefits by doing something else- flag football, ultimate frisbee, a 5k or fun run. Don’t let your friends down…get to the box. When my guys aren’t there to train I don’t have the same drive. The shared suffering, the joking around, the push for each other is all a part of what I love about this thing. What fun is this thing if you don’t share it? I love working out with my crew at the box. More often than not “motives” are pure and disagreements are misunderstandings. What’s going on with them outside the box? Why are they thinking/doing what they are? Many times you and I get so wrapped up in our own movies (lives) that it’s hard to relate, difficult to understand and just plain work to see it from another perspective. When this happens I try to look through their lens. I can easily get frustrated with people (probably not any of you) if I’m worried about me. Moment to moment and day to day it’s easy to be self focused. My initial thought about almost every CrossFit WOD during my first month was- “How hard could this be?” I still do it from time to time. If you want to look athletic and increase lean muscle you’re going to have to lift. No muscle change + cardio = you looking exactly the same but a bit smaller. No strength adaptations = little to no muscle change. tiny, neoprene covered dumbbells) aren’t enough to drive strength adaptations. Control what you can- hours of sleep, food units, and for goodness sake get some sunshine on you. A steady diet of poor sleep, twinkies and overwhelming thoughts can create a maelstrom that overpowers the best of us. The quality of each determines the quality of your body. Physical, chemical, emotional- good or bad these are the stresses placed on the body 24/7. You’ll get to the bottom fast but things might not look like you thought they would. Taking the the quick, easy way is like driving your Ferrari off a cliff. The charlatans telling you otherwise? Don’t listen. Nevermind that I’m using my platform to inform, instruct and teach a better way. Can you live the rest of your live subsisting on cucumbers? No. Will weight come off if you eat only cucumbers? Yes. Any and all quick fixes are not going to last. “Buy this product and you’ll magically lose weight, feel better, blah, blah, blah.” Listen- be smart, be objective and think about it. I can’t stand this culture we’ve created in which “experts” aka “Bob and Mary” aka “generic person in the world” are using their platforms to tell you what you need.

Or you can come in every day, earn every rep, fight for every inch and know that drop by drop you’re improving. You can get upset when things aren’t going the way you want. Conditioning will improve quite rapidly but if you’re coming in overweight then gymnastics are going to be a struggle. It takes years to become proficient in olympic weightlifting. It takes years to get a base of strength. Sure some athletes come in and fire on all cylinders right away. So why then, adult newbie CrossFitter are you so bummed that you suck at pretty much all of it? Especially when your previous exposure to working out was the treadmill and leg curl machine. Strength training, gymnastics, conditioning, olympic lifting… I know that now.ĬrossFitters have to be good at everything.

I’m a teacher (who knew) and there is nothing I love better than dropping some knowledge about the WOD or technique for improvement in class. Luckily for me, even though they did laugh at that attempt I didn’t give up coaching. My class laughed at my attempt at drill sergeant voice. Don’t even get me started on tiny, neoprene covered weights. You can log all the miles and elliptical revolutions as you want but if you’re missing weight training you’re never going to have balanced and complete fitness. I felt strongly that the only way to improve fitness is to change it up. It was OK but I wanted more strength training in the mix. You know the thing- run around, get sweaty and feel good about it. This gym (I still haven’t bought into calling it a “box”) started as a bootcamp. The last 10 years have been quite a journey for me. What I’d like to do in this post is compile some of my thoughts and lessons learned over the years. If you’re interested in that story you can read it HERE. September 2017 will mark my 10 year anniversary of finding CrossFit.

Crossfit maelstrom