Motivate yourself daily

I am very excited to see the new Superman movie because I am a huge nerd, raised on comic books and peanut butter sandwiches. Also, because the actor playing superman, Henry Cavill,  got into shape to play the part by training with the guys at Gym Jones. Mark Twight and Robert MacDonald of Gym Jones also trained the actors for the movie "300," which is how I found CrossFit. After that cinematic, homoerotic masterpiece debuted I (and millions of other chubby white guys) asked, "How did those guys get so damn sexy?" A simple Google search alerted you to Gym Jones and CrossFit... bing bang boom, here I am 5 years later. 

Do you remember your original motivation to take your training seriously? What inspired you to tuck your Shape magazine away and pick up the barbell? If you dig deep, can you still harness that energy when you need it to get out of bed and come to the gym or pick up the kettlebell one more time? Maybe not... and that's okay. Regular exercise takes daily motivation. What do you need to kickstart your training? Here are some good articles on doing just that (these ideas work in and out of the gym.)

Inc. 

Mark's Daily Apple

ZenHabits (There are a few gems in here, and a lot of bad ones too.)

I encourage you to self prescribe a pick me up when you need it. Working out hard isn't easy, maybe that's why it's so good for you.

The importance of running for functional fitness

"I ran 3 miles last November and I have not run since." -My favorite student.

I'd like to re-emphasize a point I've made before by highlighting the importance of running. CrossFit calls itself a functional fitness program, and I ask, is anything more functional than moving your own fat ass, fast? The list of real world applications is infinite, for instance zombie apocalypse. Running from the undead and occasionally cutting their heads off sounds like a lot of fun. Another great thing about running is its ability to challenge and improve your cardiovascular system without ruining you with fatigue and soreness (like a mixed modal activity has the potential to do.)

I hope to see as many of you as possible for tomorrow's WOD. And I hope that some sunny weekend when you don't want to trek in to the gym you instead decide to go for a run to enjoy the outdoors.  

Peri-workout nutrition

We've talked about pre workout nutrition (be comfortable,) post workout nutrition (carbs and protein,) let's discuss peri-workout nutrition. During today's tabata, did you find yourself completely drained about six minutes in? You told your muscles to move and they screamed back, "The tank's empty, Boss!" It's possible this was local muscular fatigue (a result of lactic acid build up among other things,) but it may also be the case that your muscles ran out of their main fuel source during aerobic work- glycogen (blood sugar.) To do high intensity exercise, we have to consume carbohydrates as they produce the main fuel source- sugar. Drinking simple sugars during a workout can help fuel you through grinding WODs. I mix lemonade and sip at it, Christian (pictured) brought a Gatorade today, a well timed piece of fruit may do the trick. What will work best for you? There's only one way to find out- experiment. Try a couple different options and see what works best. Share your best practice with me later, too!

Snatch Day

Why should I come to class on snatch-only day?

1. I want to be better at CrossFit: 6 of the 7 workouts at Regionals this year are supported by or comprised of the Olympic lifts.
2. I want to be better at conditioning workouts: To improve at the Olympic lifts, we must practice them in a non-fatigued state.
3. I want to look better naked: Strength training as part of a balanced diet makes you look damn sexy out of workout clothes.
4. I want to get stronger: To improve in CrossFit conditioning workouts, you must get stronger. To do that, you must lift heavy things.
5. I need an active recovery day: While this workout is primarily a strength day, to come in and focus on technique at light weights is also legit.

I love lunges

Why do we use the lunge as a leg strengthening exercise?

1. It strengthens our butt. Our butt helps us keep our knees out when we squat and maximizes our comfort in the bottom position- voila!

2. It exposes muscular imbalances. Do a set of 10/side lunges and quickly you'll say, "Holy shit, I have a weak side!" (Your weak side is usually opposite the side you write with.) Once you know you have a weak side, keep training unilaterally (only using one side at a time) and make sure you don't bias your strong side during bilateral work.

3. It provides variety. 'Nuff said. 

4. Unilateral work challenges our midline stability uniquely, strengthening our core for bilateral work.

5. Unilateral work is very functional, as much in life (& sport) happens on one leg (walking up stairs, dodging a taxi, jumping in a basketball game, etc.)

Learning new things

Being a life long learner is difficult. Eventually you want to shut down and say, "No thank you, I know everything I need to know." Unfortunately, this is never the case. And if you decide to stop learning, you become a stubborn old man- to be loved and respected for his wisdom, but no longer followed. Many times, to learn something new, we first have to admit that what we believe to be true is wrong. Jack White III put it this way: 

"The only way that you will learn to think, is to admit that you know absolutely nothing."

Challenge yourself this week to learn something new. To cast away prejudices and absorb new information. Then apply that fresh knowledge by helping another human being. By learning new things regularly we are reminded that putting other people first is what matters. 

What does all this have to do with exercise? There is no magic spell, there is no perfect equation- there is only hard work and experimentation. You have not "made it" by practicing CrossFit, you have simply opened yourself up to endless horizons. Be brave enough to push further still. 

13.2, again.

 I hope to see as many of you as possible tomorrow morning to give 13.2 a/nother shot. What mindset should you adopt when attacking this WOD?

1. I've never seen it before! Work as hard as possible to get as many rounds as possible. Unless you are completely proficient at box jumps, I recommend performing step ups (this is what a large portion of athletes did in the Open.)

2. I did step ups last time. Perhaps you perform step ups again and try to best your score. Or, do box jumps and see how you do with that movement. Remember, if you switch to box jumps you are completing an entirely different WOD (with a different training stimulus, even.) 

3. I had a terrible strategy last time. Your time for redemption has come. An example of a terrible strategy, you did push press from the start when you should have been saving your arms by using split jerks. 

Whatever your strategy... have a strategy. Don't leave anything on the table. By going togames.crossfit.com you can compare this workout to CrossFitters all around the world (or by using Beyond the Whiteboard, any day.)