A tale of 2 energy systems....

     I am going to highlight the differences in 2 different energy systems by giving an example of my friend Cory and my different approaches to a workout.  Know your strengths, do work better.

The WORKOUT

   Our box owner programs the Lullaby WOD from time to time (he came up with it).  If you are unfamiliar, it is as follows:

Buy into each minute with 5 power snatches at 95lbs and complete 100 burpees.  Then after you've accumulated the 100 burpees, you must accumulate 500 Double unders.  This time you have a buy in on the minute of 5 overhead squats with 95lbs.  There is a 40 minute time cap.

The ATHLETES

     I started crossfit at 40 and prior to that was an ultramarathoner and adventure racer for 13 years so I had an abundance of aerobic capacity.  The first 2 times I tried this WOD I didn't finish it

     My buddy Cory is a former Collegiate soccer player and is a lumbersexual.

The ENERGY SYSTEMS

ATP-This is what we use for energy.

Phosphagen system.  Used for durations of up to 10 seconds. Neither uses oxygen nor produces lactic acid. Primary system behind very short, powerful movements like a golf swing, a 100 m sprint, or powerlifting.  Replenished by creatine phosphate in the muscles.

Glycolitic system.  Known as anaerobic glycolysis.  Used for exercises that are performed at maximum rates for between 30 seconds and 2-3 minutes without enough oxygen.  Refers to the breakdown of sugar to supply the necessary energy from which ATP is manufactured. However when sugar is metabolized anaerobically, it is only partially broken down and one of the by-products is lactic acid.  As a result, muscles lose their ability to contract effectively, and muscle force production and exercise intensity ultimately decrease.

Aerobic system.  Used for long durations.  By 5 minutes this is the dominant system.  Requires oxygen to give a lot of ATP, but...you have to wait for it.  Steady work where breathing stays under control.

Aerobic and anaerobic systems usually work concurrently. When describing activity it is not which energy system is working but which predominates.

The APPROACHES

Cory.  Finished just after the 29th minute.
Cory planned to get 10 burpees a minute.  He also planned to take a few "Barbell Only" minutes when at RedLine (which mostly happened because planned reps took him to the end of a minute)

He had about 3 barbell only minutes during the Burpee portion and finished at about 14 minutes.

He would start his DU's at the 30 second point of each minute and do as many DU's as he could until the top of the minute then do his 5 OHS and then wait till the middle of the minute to do more DU's.

He had another 3 barbell only rounds during the DU's.

Travis.  Finished just after 30th minute.
The last time I tried this WOD, I set out average 7 burpees a minute hoping to finish in 15 minutes.  It killed me and I finished burpees in 24 minutes.  So this time I knew I had to do something different because my HR was jacking up too much last time and I could barely do 4 burpees on some minutes and I HAD to take barbell only minutes.

So out of the gate I chose to front load my burpees and go for 10 burpees in the 1st minute, then 9 the next, then 8, 7, 6 and on down to 5 per minute.  Once I got to 5 per minute I held that pace until 80 reps and then adrenaline got me to do 6,7,7.  Done in about 17 minutes.  

Now I KNEW I was likely to finish if I stuck to the plan.  I decided to just do DU's until I had 20-25 seconds left each minute (like the burpees) and then I would rest.  I averaged 35-40 per minute and got done at 30:40.  Not only finishing but KILLING my last 2 tries at this WOD.

The ANALYSIS

Cory's ability to work anerobically made his strategy of pushing hard for 3-4 minutes and then resting for a 1 minute to recover work fantastic for him.  When I tried that last time, it didn't work at all because I just could not come back from 3-4 minutes of hard work.

I on the other hand turned it into small intense bursts of work in the beginning when I had the capacity and then turned it into a very slow controlled grind with built in recovery periods.  I take creatine supplements daily and I'm very good at working at 80% for a loooong time.  But ask me to work in that anerobic system and I suck.

The spiritual journey

     What if we are judged on the journey from where we start to where we finish?  Not where we are in the end, but the progress we make from where we started?

     I've always held the belief that we are judged on our journey.  I worked in the prison every week for 5-6 years and I saw some guys in the level 4 unit that had come a LONG way from where they started.  But they were still pretty "bad" guys....
  

     So what does it mean if your staring point in life is with a decent set of parents and not much trauma...

vs.

     being one of several neglected siblings of a single parent that is ill-equipped to care for themselves much less you and then you experience the consequences of a life without guidance and love....

                                                 

     Let's say our goal is to strive to live a Christ-like life; a 100%.  I've met some prisoners whose past story and circumstance would leave you thinking they must have started somewhere close to 0%.  Seeing how far they'd come from there, I was often left wondering what am I doing with my life....

     On the outside looking in, most of the prisoners still look and act like "bad" guys.  But to see the struggle and the success as to how far they've come....amazing.

     Where did you start life?  Was your start with circumstances of a middle of the road C?  Or dd you grow up with a great set of parents and the understanding of a loving God and a life that might be more akin to an A or a B?

     Where are you now?  What have you done with what you were given?  Did you start comfy and stay there, never pushing your life to be more Christ-like?

     It's easy to fall under the spell of thinking that you're "not a bad person" and that there are lots of people out there worse than you.  But in the end, what if what mattered was what you did with the life you started with?  What if we are not graded against each other, but against ourselves and how far we come?

How I learned bounding box jumps

DISCLAIMER!

     Box jumps can hurt you!  Unless you want to be competitive, you should probably stick to step downs whenever permitted and consider step ups when permitted.  Back in 2012, I was trying to bound and tore into my shin to the tune of 7 stitches and bone exposure.

BACKSTORY

     My box jumps used to suck.  A few years ago in the CF open they allowed step ups (you've always been allowed to step down) and we found out that for many folks it actually was faster than jumping up.  Then there were the freaks that could bound up and down and so stepping up and down for them was much slower.

     So I started to step up all the time from that point forward.  Our box programmed a WOD one day and Rx was jumping not stepping.  I was pissed off because my box jumping was #1 slower and #2 more tiring.  I ended up switching in the middle of the WOD back to step ups and complained to anyone who would listen.

     Then I had a shift.....As I wrote in the beginning, if you want to be competitive, you should probably learn how to bound.

METHOD

     Around August 1st, I started to bound on the 20 inch box each day for 30 seconds as part of my warm up.  Mind you, prior to this I had done double unders, pistols, etc..and some of my usual mobility so I wasn't doing these cold.

     I got to where I could get 18 in the 30 seconds.  At that point, I moved up to 24 inches.  I was getting 13 at the start.  Then the other day I did 19.  I'm moving up to 30" next week.

TECHNIQUE

1. Shoulder blades (this is the KEY that made all the difference to me)

     You cannot use your arms to do bounding box jumps.  You CAN use them to box jump and get the initial jump, but the explosiveness is just too fast for you to get your arms forward upon impact if you are bounding.  The way that you do it is through the movement in the shoulder blades.  

     At the top of the movement, standing on the box, set the blades down and back.  At this point you drop to the floor.  Then on impact as your heels kiss the ground, you initiate the explosion with shoulder blades moving up and apart.  Reset them as you are about to drop to the floor again.

2. Corner jumps

     I learned this from Invictus.  Angle the box so that you are jumping to the corner.  It will cut your forward trajectory down so that you are literally jumping more "up" and then bringing the feet together vs. jumping with feet in the same spacing but up and forward.  It also cuts down on the catastrophe that can result from a miss.

3. Abdominal tension

     This should go without saying, but if you can't maintain tension in the core, then you are not going to have a stable place to brace the impact from and create the rebound force needed to bound back up.

What is a soul mate really.....

   The concept of a soul mate is pretty interesting.  Apparently the term comes from some myth about the gods splitting the original humans in half and each human then longed for their "other half".

     A few months ago there was an interesting video on the subject that said that people with the belief in a soul mate had more problems in their relationships than those who weren't invested in that ideology.  Makes sense.  I guess their always looking for the bigger better deal.

     In my opinion, a soul mate would be able to meet your needs in a wide range of areas:  sexually, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, physically, morally, socially, politically, and etc.... Is that too much to ask from one person?  I mean really.


     The saying opposites attract is often very true.  Are they soul mates???

     And look at arranged marriage cultures.  In Amish, Hindu, and Orthodox Jews the divorce rate is 1,3,and 7%.  Are they picking soul mates?  Just because they stay together though doesn't mean they're happy either...but I'd bet plenty are.

    So a few months ago I made the hypothetical example to a friend that I had everything going well with my marriage, my wife and I were on the same page with everything except religion/spirituality.  Then I said, "if you and your wife had the same issue, would you mind if I met with your wife once a month to go over a bible study or go to church?"  And he said that he would be fine with that.  I said, "are you sure?  You wouldn't feel threatened or upset that you were not fulfilling her in that area, that you two weren't on the same page?".  He said, "no I'd think it was cool".

     So for fun I shifted it to sex.  What if everything was going great except there were some sexual things that just didn't line up perfectly but all in all it was mostly good and the same applied to you and your marriage.  Would it be okay if I met up with your wife once a month in that area??  He said, "no of course not....".

     So it was all a funny hypothetical, but at what point does not being enough in ALL areas of compatibility become an issue.  At what point do you say that you "deserve" to be fulfilled in all the areas of your relationship?  If you believe in a soul mate, then you probably think you are "settling" in a relationship if EVERYTHING isn't lined up and meeting your needs.

     I am married to my best friend.  Don't tell me something you don't want her to know.  And vice versa.  BUT, we also have a lot of areas that we differ in.  We have areas that I think she goes too far and she thinks I don't go far enough.  We have our share of arguments and disagreements about things.

     Is there anyone out there that may be more compatible for either of us?  Maybe.  I guess I don't really think about that because I'm happy.  I suppose that I've learned that since there are no perfect people, that would mean that there are no perfect relationships either.  And so in the end maybe it comes down to this: soul mates accept each other.

     I accept her and she accepts me.  I "know" her and she "knows" me.  And she and I STILL accept each other.  I think that maybe that may be my definition of a soul mate.

     Someone who knows you really and accepts you.

Prayer is the drop of water-the answer is the tipping bucket

     I've always been fond of this analogy about prayer:

     We should think of prayers as drops of water.

And we should think of the thing we are praying about as a bucket that needs to be filled up to a tipping point.


     We don't know how large of a drop our prayers are and we don't know how much water it takes for the bucket to tip.  And so there may be a million folks praying causing drops to pour into the bucket, yet the bucket may be ENORMOUS.  Other times we may experience the immediate answer to prayer right when we pray (Large drop?  Small bucket?  Both?  We don't know.)

     Sometimes it feels as if our prayers are useless.  Like maybe we are putting the same thing out there over and over all to see no tipping point.  Are they useless?  How do we know that our prayer isn't going to be the final drop that tips the bucket?  How do we know that our prayers haven't filled a part of the bucket early on, seemingly going unanswered, only to see the tip occur much later?

     So prayer is measured in its effectiveness not in answers and outcomes but in the act of doing it.  It's the faith in knowing that you may not get your answer but you are filling the bucket the best you can by taking your concerns to God.  In this light, prayer is never a waste....

     (Personally I think little kid prayers are HUGE drops....)

Bottom up squat warm up

     I warm up for squats the same way every time.  It takes under 10 minutes or so and I never have a problem with squats since doing this.  If I skip it or cut things out, I tend to have a few issues (getting too far forward, tight hips in the bottom, quad strains, etc...)

ANKLES

Banded distraction for a minute or so each side.



I usually will not use a plate for this, but you can.  I roll the knee gently to each side and will step on the band near my ankle with my free foot to give it more tension the last 30 sec or so.

Getting my ankles mobile allows to be stay MUCH more vertical in the torso during the lifts.

KNEES

I love a couch stretch.  Usually same thing, a minute or so each side.


I feel this lengthens the cross bridges in the quad muscles and really helps avoid strains from the heavy eccentrics that come from full depth heavy squats.

HIPS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbozu0DPcYI  Ido Portal...need I say more?

Here's a less than 3 minute video showing the Ido Portal Squat routine 2.0.

I run through all of the poses for about 3-5 minutes, depending on how they feel.



I LOVE this warm up for the hips.  It is hands down the best I've seen.


There are other stretches I've played with over the years but its come down to these 3 things as the best and most efficient for me.

My 12 y/o daughter's crisis...

     The other night as a celebration for return to school, we took the kids to Big Spoon yogurt.  It's a place you go and serve yourself with frozen yogurt and then toppings and you weigh your dish and pay by the ounce.

     My beautiful daughter is 12 years old and 5'7".  She's basically a little girl in a woman's body.  Here she is in with me last month: (click the pic to get a good look)

     

     Anyway.  So she gets her frozen yogurt and fills it to the TOP.  Then adds toppings!  The boys ended up filling theirs half full and adding toppings.  I was sure that hers probably outweighed both of theirs combined and I thought it would be funny to call her out.  Sure enough...hers did out weigh both of theirs!

     So we sit down and I start singing a funny (to me) song about getting diabetes, meanwhile Kathy starts telling her that the amount of yogurt she has is ridiculous and way too much.

     We get home later and I can see something is wrong.  Soon enough it comes out that Lauren feels bad about herself because of us teasing and talking to her about going overboard on dessert.  There is talk of someone in 4th grade (3 yrs ago) saying her thighs were fat??  And just craaaazy tears from her about feeling ashamed and not good enough.

WHAT THE HELL?  My kid?  Really?  My beautiful, confident, kid who EVERYONE loves and says is just so wonderful and great?  My kid who is super thoughtful, mature, etc....?  My kid has these issues???

     It was a reminder that we all do.  We ALL struggle with feelings that tell us at times we aren't good enough, that we are disappointing people, etc...

     It was a reminder that my jokes (while funny to me) can push the raw spot inside of a person close to me.  While my message of concern can sometimes come through as condemnation if I'm not careful to be sensitive to the wounds that are there.  

     It turned out to be a blessing.  It allowed me to see that even the most beautiful, confident, together ones in your life still need your reassurance and your sensitivity.  Until the next crisis....!

The warm up....

     There are somethings that are important to visit regularly and with constantly varied programming there are times that you don't see things except for once in a good while.

     So I came up with a warm up that allows me to hit and benchmark some things that are weaknesses for me as well as some regular stuff that should be visited more than every week and a half to two weeks.

     I tend to do this warm up 2x a week.  It prepares me for whatever the WOD is usually as it really is a whole body thing.

     30 seconds on/30 seconds off at 10 stations-once through so the whole warm up lasts 10 minutes.

1. Burpees

(great overall warm up to start.  Also very important to learn your pacing for other WOD's)

2. Double unders

(Again, good to know how many you can get in 30 sec.  Preps you for #9)

3. Strict HSPU (moving into pushups if failure comes before 30 sec)

(If you don't have these, you would just do push ups or even wall walks would be good)

4. Strict pull ups

(These are a different skill/move entirely vs. kipping.  Very important to get them.  Also preps for #6)

5. Ring dips

(An important skill to have/work.  Smart to know how many unbroken you can get or within 30 sec)

6. C2B pull ups kip or butterfly

(You can sub reg pull ups but this carries over to soooo much)

7. Pistols

(I can do alternating pistols all day.  But as we saw this season, it is important to have speed on these)

8. Toes to bar

(Again, 1 max set for 30 sec...important to know and train)

9. Box jumps

(Gives you time to learn bounding if you desire.  Start with low box, move up as proficient.  FGB anyone?)

10. Muscle ups

(Uggghhh...very good to go after these under duress.  If you don't have them, sub out for something else, wall balls, hollow rocks, whatever you want!)

Why this is good:

This allows you to benchmark things.  It's so minimal that you won't disrupt your current day's work with 1 set or 30 seconds of something.

There's nothing worse than having sore calves after a WOD with DU"s in them because you haven't done DU's for a few weeks!

It's entirely measure-able, scale-able, substitute-able, customize-able for your specific abilities and weaknesses.  This just happens to be the version I use.  And I see the #'s improving regularly and I compete with myself to get better and faster.

Now I know I can get 50 DU's in 30 sec.  When it comes up in a WOD I can plan, pace, or whatever!

Good luck!

What is the BEST programming available-UPDATED

****UPDATE: Sadly, In July 2015, Blair started restricting the times available to do the level 2 programming.  I have been forced to train in the regular class and then try to fit in any extra work in the following 30 minutes after class.  Well.....it hasn't stopped my progress!  I've been able to continue to make steady improvements following the plan CF classes 3 days a week and then customizing with programming from Competitors training and the various sources I follow online.  Plus a weekend day of 2 hours dedicated to what the regular programming at my gym was missing.


     There is an abundance of great (FREE) programming on the internet.  My favorite has to be Invictus (CJ Martin is a genius) and Competitors Training (Ben Bergeron is also a programming mad scientist with WOD's based on if you are a games, regional, or open level athlete).  I also like Outlaw (heavy on the Oly) and Proving Grounds (I like it for its simplicity) too.  OPT is touted as a great site too, but I've never been able to get into it (too much function, will, being, she, he, her, us, them....blah blah blah).

     I personally follow the level 2 programming from my coach Blair Morrison, perennial Regional compeitior, Reebok athlete, and 3x times Games competitor.

     BUT

     None of these are the BEST.   

     The BEST programming is the programming that is literally tailored to you.  

     Blair and I sat over lunch for an hour discussing my weaknesses, strengths, nutrition, rest strategies, and all the things that pertained to my situation.  While I still follow his level 2 template, he has given me specifics that I drill regularly (daily) and the liberty to forego certain skills or movements that are in my wheelhouse and to focus more on my weaknesses.  It has made a HUGE difference.

     I could follow one of the other sites above, but I would HAVE to tailor the programming to me specifically and not just follow it to the letter.  All programs are going to make you overall better at Crossfit, BUT....

if you can't do strict HSPU's
if you can't walk on your hands
if you don't have double unders nailed
if you can't do 50 push ups
if you struggle with overhead squats

Whatever it is....

you HAVE to attack it regularly in your personalized programming or else you never will be getting the BEST programming!

Why non CF folks think CF folks are jerks...

Why do most non-crossfitter look at us like we're jerks?

     The short answer...nobody likes a zealot.  

Zealot-a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.

     
     Most folks believe what they believe and, unless they are seeking answers, its usually offensive to them to be given a recipe that they didn't ask for.  "You should really come to my CF gym...."

     It reminds me of my life before I came to my spiritual beliefs.  When folks would come knocking on the door to tell me about Jesus, it was at best a nuisance, at worst irritating.  ("Get these Jesus freaks out of here!!")

     I know a lot of folks that reject faith entirely because of their encounters with a zealot early in life.  You hear stories of folks that were "beaten over the head with religion" at a young age and grew to disdain it for a long long time, if not forever.

     So what is the answer in getting folks to share our love of Crossfit?

I think the answer is generally the same across the board when it comes to sharing our faith in anything.  

1. Work off of the principle of love and not fear.  (You're going to hell only works for so long and doesn't do much to create a love relationship with God.)  For example, mocking or condemning someone's exercise program is a poor choice vs. explaining that they might really enjoy coming to CF with you as your guest.

2. Be a beacon and an example without belaboring the point.  There's a reason people make the joke: How do you know someone does CF?  Because its all they ever talk about.  Strive for balance in your life and conversations or people are going to label you in the "fanatical zealot" camp.

3. Keep in mind that many people have issues with the thing you love that have nothing to do with you or what you love.  Folks that struggle with self acceptance and feeling good enough are often going to be reluctant to be vulnerable and try something new when it comes to exercise.  Just like folks with a skewed concept of God and faith will be very defensive and closed to stepping out of their insulated world view to look into different spiritual beliefs.  Tread lightly.

Rest days/weeks, deloading, active rest (updated)

          First of all let's be VERY clear, there is no universal one size fits all.  The biggest factor in the discovery of what you need regarding rest is genetics... period-and then nutrition (of which the interaction of such largely relates to your genetics).  And by this I essentially mean hormonal interactions that allow for muscle and CNS recovery.  That being said:

Rest days

What is a rest day: A rest day is to equip your body to continue training that week at your maximum potential while still meeting your training goals for that week.  Rich Froning is famous for never taking them.

When should you take a rest day:  Conventionally, most people advocate 2 rest days a week.  When I first started CF I couldn't train more than 1 day in a row.   Granted I was 40 years old, but I still felt too sore to go again the next day.  This lasted for a month or two and finally I was able to go on consecutive days.  You should rest when you are not going to have productive training by going in.  (And don't be a baby about it either....)

Most folks (Outlaw, CompetitorsTraining, Invictus....) advocate 3 days on 1 day off training cycles.  The reason is well established that people tend to have the best output and recovery with no more than 3 days in a row.

*HOWEVER, as an over 40 athlete, I've found that minimizing my consecutive training days has been VERY helpful in allowing me to maintain joint health and training intensity.  So I now train M,W,F,Sat*

Active rest

I'm not much for doing much on a scheduled rest day (Maybe cuz I'm 40+.....)  I prefer to actually really rest.  Or just do mobility or get a massage or something that is very low stress on the body.  Other folks can stay physically and mentally fired up for the week's training even though they are getting out and doing something active (hiking, cardio, sports, low intensity training, etc...).  If this is you, then you're either suffering with anxiety and NEED to do something everyday or you're just genetically lucky to be able to recover in spite of training everyday.  Or you are holding yourself back maybe??

Rest weeks (deload weeks)

The hidden secret: I believe this is a critical key to long term performance.  Having periodic deload or rest weeks.  I used to do it every 4th week.  Now that I don't train consecutive days and only 4 days a week, I seem to only need one every 2-3 months or so.  4 weeks may be about the soonest you want to do it though.  Others prefer taking rest or deload weeks at longer intervals that every 4 weeks.  But I'm surprised at how many folks don't schedule them and just wait until they are fried (or injured).

What is a deload or rest week: This is a week that I catch up big time on my sleep.  I sleep in everyday and if I go to the gym, it's to do low tension stuff (Snatch work is great because it is so fast you are barely exposing your body to load and the movement is over), skill work (DU's, MU's, TTB, HS walking, etc...), or technique work (at no more than 60% max loads).  I also like to focus on things I don't do all the time, muscle snatches, sotts presses behind and in front, crossover symmetry, etc...

Why do you need one: The purpose is to rest your individual muscles, joints, and overall central nervous system.  I can't tell you what my wrists used to feel like after 3 weeks of heavy Olympic lifting and handstand work.  My joints needed a rest.  And my body as a whole was often just on the cusp of feeling "done" after 3 hard weeks.  Of course that all changed when I changed my days per week and really focused on recovering in between sessions.  Mentally the rest week feels so good and if I stay out of the gym, by the following week I am charging the gate to get back at it and my sessions are super intense and productive.  If I go into the gym, I tend to go so light that I'm excited to sling heavy iron again.

Everyday rest

In line with this subject.  You have to make sure you are scheduling your sleep hours each week just like how you schedule your training sessions.  Research just came out recently that I read that said you actually can "catch up" on sleep on the weekends.  So now I try to sleep in on Tue Thurs and  and grab naps on Sat/Sun to ensure I'm recovering adequately.

Good luck and happy resting!

Taking the pressures off of parenting.....

     Blog summary: If God (the perfect parent) couldn't parent Adam and Eve well enough to keep them from bringing sin onto the entire world....how can you put the pressure on yourself to be a "good enough" parent??

     If you want to hear more, keep reading, but that sums it up.

     Ok, so I have a philosophy in parenting that not everyone shares...but seriously think about it.  God was the parent to Adam and Eve, he wasn't overbearing, permissive, or laying guilt trips, he was/is perfect.  So that being said, his kids still went their own way, made bad choices, and let him down.

     He had a contingency plan though (as we all should) for if they made the wrong choices.  It revolved around consequence yes, but with a lot of love and connection too.

     If our kids turn out great, try not to pat yourself on the back too much, just count yourself fortunate.  If they turn out as rotten degenerates try not to beat yourself up to much, they have freedom of choice.

     And speaking of that.....

The ultimate expression of love of someone, is their freedom.  God didn't put the forbidden tree in the back of the garden under lock and key.  It was in the MIDDLE of the garden.  Hello???

     They had freedom, they weren't living a sheltered life.  The tree was in their faces.  Do you reallllllllly think you can control your kids into being good and making the right choices????

     Do your best, hit the pillow at night knowing that you are as imperfect as they are and that you love them and are trying your best.  Life is meant to be lived, not controlled.

Why it took me 2.5 yrs to get muscle ups

     I started crossfit at 40 back in September 2011.  Before that I was an ultramarathoner for 12 or so years.  Before that I was a weightlifter, wanna be meat head (never quite got HUGE...).

     If you don't know what a muscle up is, here:


     I did my 1st one of these probably about .....9 months into my crossfit.  I was super excited.  Then from that point (about June 2012) until just this April (2014) I struggled to do them at all.  Every few months or so I would maybe get 1.

     Now I have them.  But why?!  I will tell you what I figured out that NO ONE had ever told me.

     I heard for years (literally) that it would come, that I was strong enough, that I was "almost" there.  I drilled every drill I could drill.  Worked with different coaches, concentrated on them, blah blah blah.

     I'm one of those athletes that has a little too much mobility in the spine.  I am super flexible in both extension and flexion.  Part of the kipping movement of the muscle up is to arch

 your back on the back swing and then forcefully contract your abs creating a "hollow"

while pulling your self up to the rings.  Once you are up to the rings, you throw yourself forward and are on top of the rings basically.

     HERE WAS MY PROBLEM......

     There is a neuromuscular reflex called 'reciprocal inhibition' that inhibits opposing muscles during movement. For example, if you contract your elbow flexors (biceps) then your elbow extenors (triceps) are inhibited.  

     I was working so hard on the arch portion of my backswing that my abs were effectively shutting down via the RI principle.  So when it came time to initiate the aggressive abdominal contraction to come out of the backswing, I had to start from zero.  I had arched so aggressively that I'd effectively shut down my abs.  When I went to turn them back on, there was a lag time and I was unable to generate the needed force to get me up to the rings.

     My buddy Alex saw this as me "losing tension".  All I could think was that I was not losing tension, I was forcefully tensing up my spinal extensors very aggressively.  But as soon as I trusted that he might be on to something, I tensed my abs DURING the arching backswing.  It immediately felt counter-intuitive because it felt like it was (and it was) limiting the amount of arch I was able to obtain in the backswing.  

     BUT....I was able to engage my abs immediately and very aggressively.  I immediately popped up over the rings.  Then I did another and another every minute or so.  

     Since then I've been able to do them without any real problem at all.  I have to remember though on every rep to maintain abdominal tension in the backswing or else they shut down and it gets hard to get up to the rings all of the sudden again.

     Hope this helps some of you!!

Integrity is a funny thing....

     My buddy and I just had a terrible experience with a woman regarding an auction item that she had donated, we bid on and won, and then she reneged on.

     It was a funny thing because I guess I forget what its like to deal with people who say one thing and do another.

     Years ago, the contractor who built our house defaulted on paying the insulation sub-contractor.  The sub called me waaaay after the fact and asked me if I would pay the bill.  It was over $5,000.  It was clear that it was not my legal responsibility to pay it as the time to file a lien had long passed.  I felt bad that they did the work and didn't get paid.  The general contractor had long since filed bankruptcy.  At the time I told them that I was planning to list my house for sale the following month and as soon as it sold I would cut them a check.  My house didn't sell and they never called me.

     A few years after this we actually did sell our house.  We didn't profit on the house as the market tumbled, but we did have a little equity from paying down the loan.  Guess who wrote a check for the 5k?  Right.  Could I have found another place for the money?  Would they have EVER expected a check?  Was it my "fault" that they didn't get paid to begin with?

     This is one of the 1st times I've ever mentioned this story come to think of it.  It just seemed like the right thing to do, honor my word.  I struggled with the idea of even paying them at the time they 1st called me, but after discussing it with Kathy and the idea of how much money we thought we would profit from the house, we decided we would just pay them when we sold the house.  Once the decision was made and I gave them my word, it was made.  It was only a matter of time until we finally did sell the house.

     I sure hope that the lady we dealt with in this auction figures out that in this world the only thing you truly have is not material things or stuff, but your word.  And once that becomes not worth a damn, then you really truly have nothing in spite of what you think.

5 Levels of the athlete and how to coach them all

My coach and I discussed that there are various levels of the crossfit athlete.  Here's a summary:

1. Unable to perform movements
2. Able to perform them poorly
3. Able to perform them better
4. Able to perform them well
5. Able to perform them perfectly

     There is a continuum that you operate on.  Lots of times we can see someone go from "not able to perform" to "able to perform poorly".  This is a major milestone for many and we celebrate this of course.  But the learning curve is literally JUST getting started.  It's important to allow the athlete to succeed in this stage of "getting it" (albeit getting it ugly), before we try to move to better.  But we MUST move to better!

     Kipping pullups are a great example.  Going from "can't do one" to "I can do one" almost always looks like hell.  :)  Then even at the games you see athletes that are far from perfect in their efficiency of movement while others have a beautiful pullup.

     At the CF gym I used to attend, many of us got coaching of how to do things adequately, but never seemed to get the coaching needed to get to the next levels.  I think they were too busy teaching people how to go from "can't do at all" to "can do adequate".  A perfect example: My buddy Cory's deadlift was stuck at around 275 when we switched to Crossfit Anywhere.  All he needed was to get the coaching cues to take him from "performing adequately" to "performing well" and he jumped immediately into the 300's.

     Many times the advanced athlete is doing something good enough to "get by" and never gets that coaching to go from "doing well" to "chasing perfection".  I have SO many examples of my extra learning to do things better and better.  I certainly knew how to do plenty of things just fine and at my old gym.  I was allowed to do things ok or just alright, but rarely coached beyond that into the chasing of perfection.

     That is the basis behind the idea of offering something to EVERY athlete in the class.  From the person just learning "how to at all", to the veteran that needs to learn the virtuosity we care so much about.

     As an athlete, if you are happy being good at something, that's fine.  However, if you want to chase perfection of movement, then you need a coach that is going to coach you regardless of if you are proficient or a beginner.  As a coach you should be constantly offering to bring people up another level!

A Relationship Killer....

Heard this story on  thegodjourney.com podcast many years ago:

     There was a couple that had been married for a while, basically raising kids, going thru life as we all do.  Let's just say the relationship was stuck in a lull.  One day, the doorbell rang and the wife went and answered it, only to find a girl standing there.  "Can I help you?" the wife asked.  The girl said, "Your husband called and told me to come over and babysit the kids tonight".  Moments later, the husband arrives home from work and comes in the house and tell his wife, "Honey, get your favorite dress on, we're going out tonight".  The wife is surprised and very excited at this point. 

     So they drive off to a very nice restaurant and awaiting them is a very special table by the window and as she sits down, she sees a note by her place setting.  She opens it to find a handwritten list from her husband of all the things he loves about her.  They go on to have a great meal with the most wonderful conversation and at the end he pulls out a red rose (her favorite) and gives it to her.  The wife is thinking, "could this get any better?".  The relationship is flying high.

     So the following week, the door bell rings again.  She goes to the door to find the baby sitter.  "What are you doing here?", the wife asks.  "Your husband asked me to watch the kids again".  The wife immediately gets that excited feeling again.  Moments later the husband is home from work, "Honey, get your favorite dress on, we're going out tonight".  So off they go and the husband drives to the same restaurant as last week.  The couple are sat in the same special table, she notices the same special handwritten note of all the things he loves about her.  They go on to have the same conversation and at the end of the meal he pulls out...the same red rose (still her favorite).  The wife is thinking that this is a little weird, but it's nice to be out and together.

     This same thing happens the next week and then the next.  And as each week goes by with same routine, same dress, same restaurant, same meal, same list, same flower.... the wife is starting to indicate that she doesn't feel the same way about this as she did the first time.  It has gone from "special" in her eyes, uplifting to the relationship, to a point that it is just weird this same thing every week.  The husband is amazed, he can't figure it out.  He says to her, "But honey, you really loved it the first time..."

So what is the lesson here?  

     The lesson is that ritual and tradition can actually be subversive to relationship.  What was once great, if allowed to become repetitious can quickly become less about the relationship and more about the routine ("this is what we do....").  We can relate that to relationships of our own but we can even relate that to some churches that are stuck in tradition and rituals.  What was once a fresh and uplifting experience can deteriorate into a meaningless activity that is done for traditions sake.  And soon it becomes an obligation that we don't really look forward to....if we're not careful.

     How much better would it have been if the 2nd week, the husband would've said let's go to a play or a movie?  Or even a different restaurant?  We must look relationships through the needs of others and their eyes.  We must guard against a formula that is followed without thought.  Again, lend that to our spiritual lives: Is it formulaic and grounded in rituals that become little more than something we do because we've always done it that way?

     Some ritual can be good as long as it doesn't become an obligation that you dread.  If you read the bible daily and look at it similar to sitting with your spouse and sharing quality time then it's not a formula of "reading because I should".  If you are going thru the motions (with God or your spouse), it won't be long before it feels superficial and lacking in the depth of the relationship.  Obligation often is oppressive to freedom....  We must be active and purposeful in the development of our relationships; all of them.  Not just allowing ourselves to fall into a routine that goes through the motions....but keeping it truly ALIVE.

My favorite Books

     I enjoy reading.  All types of books.  I've read a ton of books I really liked, but I thought I'd list ones that really changed me:

1. The Shack-This book was absolutely astounding and changed my concept of the trinity and God's relationship with us.  I never recall reading a book multiple times, but this one....wow.

2. Talk to me like I'm someone you love-This book gave a ton of practical things to say in the heat of conflict.  It really surprised me at how simple the things in the book work but how they were the last thing on my mind in the heat of battle.  Very helpful.

3. Loving our kids on purpose-The absolute best book I've read on relationships period.  Applied to my kids and my marriage.  I was amazed at the way my understanding of relationships changed after this.  His other book, Keep your love on, was very similar but for adult relationships and was also fantastic.

4. Season of life-This taught me about the traps that boys and then men fall into thinking what real masculinity is.  It changed my entire perspective on what it meant to be a man.

5. The five love languages-Also an amazing understanding about why you feel like you are showing love and your partner thinks you're crazy!  Loved this book.

I'd love to hear some of your favorite books.

Harden the F up!

     I have 3 children.  One of them (the youngest) is in the school nurse's office a few times a week; always seems to have an ailment.  I took him to a cardiologist (don't ask) a few months ago and after he examined him the doc pulled me aside and said, "Is he...would you say...usually dramatic?".  My oldest one on the other hand literally stopped crying over pain at age 3 or 4.  I recall being at a birthday party and he took a header off of a plastic play slide.  I was standing with 2 other dads and one of them got a little concerned as he watched it happen and said, "Whoa!  Is he okay???".  The other dad turned to him an said, "You don't know Noah....".

     What's the point?  I guess the point is that I have to work hard to convey to my other 2 kids (and myself) that there is no one in the world that is you.  So when you see their struggles and you gauge them against "what you would do or have done", there is a good chance you are being unfair, un-compassionate, unloving.  At the very least, you are making a judgment that is based on a guess and not reality.  Do I think my youngest "really" has a tummy ache everyday, chest pain on occasion, terrible pain from a superficial scratch that brings him to tears???  Or do I think he might be crying wolf a little?  Well....maybe a little bit of both.  :)

     It's so hard to not just tell him to toughen up, quit complaining, look at his brother, you can't be serious, c'mon!, etc....  But I think to myself, what is the end point on that kind of treatment?  I'd like to think it is that he learns to "be tough".  And while that may be true, I believe that the other likely outcome is that he learns that his relationship with his dad is not a safe one to express hurts and pain and upsets.  That I don't believe him, that I don't believe "in" him.  Wow....that is the LAST thing I would want....

     The world struggles so much with judging and comparing each other.  Everyone has a different genetic code (read: pain tolerance), a different upbringing (read: 1st born, last born), a different story, a different struggle, and a different place they are coming from.  We need to realize that most people are fundamentally trying to do their best but all of us are in a wounded state of one degree or another.

     So I work hard to make sure to show love....what's the worst thing compassion can bring?  He may never toughen up, but if the trade is that he and I remain connected and close....I'll take a softie!

Is marriage harder than parenting?

     There are varying views on this subject.  Some folks say the opposite.  But here's why I think marriage is harder than parenting (usually...until you get to #6):

     1. Parenting has an end point.  At a certain point, you are no longer parenting your kids (hopefully...).  Sure you are always their parent, but parenting scales WAY back into coaching and ultimately friendship. There is (supposed to be) no end point with marriage.

     2. There is more pressure to parent.  Society frowns upon giving up on your kids and abandoning them because its not working out.  It does not seem to carry the same views about marriage.  You can divorce and start over multiple times with minimal societal shunning.  (I understand not in all cases, but isn't that a subtle form of abandoning your kids?  At least part time....)

     3. Spouses have the power to hurt each other...severely.  With your kids, its almost exclusively a 1 way street in the hurt department.  We all find a way to mess up our kids unintentionally.  But with our spouses, the wounds are already there from childhood and so it is a little like trying to walk thru a minefield blindfolded the 1st few years.  (Good news, spouses also have the power to heal each others childhood wounds too!)

     4. Marriage has a LOT of expectations of one another.  You are expected to fulfill me as a friend, lover, confidant, pick me up when I'm down, communicate vulnerably to me, and for a long long time.  Parenting comes with a decent amount of expectations but not near as many; and very few that require vulnerability.  That is huge.  Less vulnerability means less chance for hurt.  And hurt...hurts.

     5. One is biological/emotional, the other is just emotional.  Let's face it, your kids are....your kids.  When they drive you crazy, make you mad, etc....you can fall back on a deep love for them that you just can't get away from.  Your marriage is a choice.  And sometimes you have to fight hard to make the choice to stay in it or do the right thing or apologize or whatever.  I can't tell you how many times I've peeked in on my kids sleeping and get that giddy feeling in my stomach.  Peeking in on your spouse sleeping....it's not the same is it?

     6. The wildcard.  Most of us have finite energies and end up early on putting our efforts primarily into the kids or working because that's where the heaviest obligation and neediness lies.  Marriages can take a back seat "while the kids are little" or "while I'm establishing my career" we often think.  But what is truly the longterm constant, work, kids, or marriage?  I have never put "till death do we part" on a job application.

And as we have seen, parenting has an end point.  If we approach our lives with the end in mind, (who is going to be there for me in 30 years?) then the nurturing for the marriage must be there from the start and stay there.  This makes marriage MUCH easier in the long term.  But because so few of us do it, we end up trying to dig ourselves out of a hole later on in the relationship.  So the folks that say marriage is easier....I think they may have all started out with a different perspective in the start and laid a foundation that paid dividends later.

Michael Sam....You're so gay....

     I don't follow sports.  I do however hear about things like the Michael Sam kiss thing.  So I guess he was a projected 3rd round pick and then came out as gay and was taken in the 7th (last) round?  And if there is any "guy's sport" its football.

     100 years ago, a picture on the internet :) of a woman in short pants would've caused a stir.  50 years ago a picture of an inter racial couple kissing would've caused an uproar.  Those things seem kind of benign now (except to Donald Sterling and Cliven Bundy maybe).

     So where are we going to be in the future about a couple of gay men kissing on the interwebs??

     I was told, "yes but God doesn't talk about mixed races in the bible and he does talk against homosexuality"...  (Moses was married to Zipporah, an Ethiopian).  But the bible does talk harshly about fornicators (unmarried folks getting busy....) in the exact same light as homosexuality.  So in that vain, wouldn't the "bible" be against unmarried college players "putting it out there" on draft day with a sloppy kiss on their girlfriends?  How far do we want to take our selective outrage or shock or disgust on things???

     In the end, I think that I'm of a "generation" that is probably a little shocked when I see a couple dudes kissing, but that is more visceral.  It's in the same way I am shocked when I see a kid walk up with 4-5 piercings in their face.  I think maturity allows you to see things beyond the visceral reaction and use your logic (and love).  Too often we search for support for our emotional/gut reactions rather than slowing things down to think objectively.

     I wish Michael Sam the best.  He's gay.  I don't think that's the way life is "supposed" to be.  You often hear homosexuals comment they wish they weren't as it would make life so much easier.  But really I think that any uproar is fear based.  Do we think that if we don't act outraged are we condoning the behavior?  If we think it through, is this a worse "sin" than others???

     I'm not outraged.  In fact, I don't really think about it at all beyond this blog.  It has nothing to do with me or my life......leave the guy alone

Sleeping better

     Sleep tips.

     Most of my friends know that I suffered from anxiety for my 1st 40 years.  I never really had a tough time sleeping that I can recall because I went 100% until I just passed out at the end of the day/night.  I couldn't nap for the life of me unless I was sick.

     Once I got my anxiety under control, I noticed I didn't race through life at a 100 miles an hour, but I also didn't sleep as well.  I've come up with a list of things that has really made a huge difference for me.

     1. Magnesium and Zinc before bed.  I've read a number of times that this plays a role in slowing down central nervous system activity.  I take 500 mg chelated Mg and 50 mg chelated Zn.  I also take this after exercise too.  

     2. Breathing thru the diaphram.  This is a technique that if done right can settle or "reset" your autonomic nervous system and stimulate the parasympathetic branch of the ANS.  The technique I use is essentially breathing all the way out using a contraction of the obliques.  It's something worth googling and practicing.  But it seems to really settle my system down quickly.  When you think you've exhaled all the way....you haven't....keep it going and you'll feel like you are about to cough from the little spasm in your diaphragm.

     3. No alcohol or food after 7.  This is to keep the body from processing food and alcohol while you are trying to sleep.  Often sleep follows alcohol or big meal consumption, but its rarely "good" sleep.  I can't tell you how many times I've had a nice meal later at a restaurant with a few glasses of wine and throughout the night I wake with my heart racing.  Not good. 

     4. Eye mask.  People ask me "can you really sleep with an eye mask???".  It's really no different than getting used to a new pillow or adjusting to becoming a back sleeper if you've been a side or stomach sleeper.  The benefits though are great.  Without an eye mask, I wake through the night, lift my head and glance at the clock wondering if it's time to get up or how much time I have left.  With the eye mask, I think that I still wake through the night, but I just don't know it.  I've been able to stay asleep most mornings until my gentle iphone alarm goes off.  And I love that!  I hate waking up before my alarm!

     5. No caffeine after ????.  I actually don't drink it except 1st thing in the morning before I exercise.  However, there have been times I've taken it for an afternoon workout and it made me have a tougher time falling asleep.  There is research on people having a genetic pre-disposition for fast or slow caffeine metabolism.  So this affects some folks differently than others.  Certainly though if you are dealing with anxiety, it is likely you are highly effected by caffeine. 

     These are the things I do to sleep better and it makes a HUGE difference in my recovery, mood, how my body feels, etc....

Coach or cheerleader? You can't be both....

     Sitting at Luke's baseball game last night, I was reminded of the idea that you can be your kids coach or cheerleader...but not both.

     In sports, the coach's job is not to tell you your great, its to teach and correct mistakes to help you get better.  The coach is there to look at you with a critical eye.  Their real value lies in fixing your mistakes and telling you where you get it wrong.  If you are losing, the coach is full of criticism.  If you are winning, the coach is still looking for ways to help you be even better.  It's nothing personal.

     The cheerleaders, however, have a vastly different role.  Their role is to encourage and motivate by being positive and upbeat.  Whether the team is winning or losing, the cheerleader's function is to keep cheering.  When the game is all but lost, the cheerleaders might be the only ones on the field acting as if you can still pull it out.

     As parents, we can get trapped into taking personally when our kids are taking their eye off the ball, not holding the glove high enough, or making an error.  In our efforts to "help" them, we may be turning ourselves into the role of coach in the eyes of our little ones without realizing it.  How many adults look back and see a critical parent from their childhood that was always pointing out their mistakes?  They had a parent who fell into the role of coach and not cheerleader.

     On the other hand, wouldn't it be nice if your kids memories of you as a parent were that you were always standing behind them, always encouraging them, always giving them the feeling that you were rooting for them?

     Do you want to be a cheerleader or a coach?

Wasted potential....

     Society hates very few things more than wasted potential.  And you see it so often.  If we are honest with ourselves, we usually can see where we have a lot of wasted potential of our own.  "If I only would've done more/better...." is a refrain that is echoed in our heads so often.  That's why doing our best at things brings out a sort of euphoria.  But let's be honest, its easy to make this into a self-defeating effort if we aren't careful.

     So the balancing act becomes a war between, "I'm good enough and am happy with my effort" and "I could've done better".  Between slacker and over-achiever?  We're back to needing a middle ground again and getting away from the dysfunction of all or nothing, black or white.

     What about in others though?  We watch people that could be so much better and it often makes us mad.  Why is that?  What is it about seeing squandered potential that we make our business?  We do it with our kids in sports or schoolwork...."Keep your eye on the ball next time...or, You should've studied harder and you'd have gotten an A".  We do it in the gym, "If he would just work more on his mobility or strength, he'd be so much better".  So the message becomes a balance between "You are good enough" and "You are not good enough".  This cuts to the core of the wounds we come into adulthood with.

     What's the alternative?  Celebrating the average performance?  Yes! (sort of).  People should be celebrated for just showing up.  Should we tell our kids their strikeouts are just as cool as their hits?  I think that depends on what "they" think.  Do they put a premium on it?  Then we empathize with their feelings and not interject our own.

     My oldest son just wants to do enough in school to pass.  My daughter wants all A's.  They set their own standards and I support them.  He brings home a C and is happy about it, "good job, you passed".  She brings home a B and is upset about it, "Keep trying sweetie, maybe next time you set aside more study time....".  But ultimately (if you aren't careful) potential becomes a judgment in good enough or not good enough.  It really should be an endorsement of the person's feelings about things through support that says, "Whatever you want out of life, I'm right here for you, standing behind you, supporting you.  You are good enough."

   

Just do it for me....

     In my 20+ years in Physical Therapy, I've noticed that there are primarily two types of patients that come in for care.  Type 1 is looking to partner up with you and get things taken care of the best they are able to.  Type 2 is looking to you to fix the problems.

     Type 1 folks tend to be diligent with their home programs and understand that the 2-3 sessions in the week only make up a small piece of the rehab continuum of the week.  They tend to see the process as something they are actively involved in.

     Type 2 folks usually see the process as one where they come in and you work your magic on them to make things better.  Often home programs are hit and miss, whether its exercise, stretching, applying ice, etc....

     There was a time in my life where I saw this as a character issue, thinking that some folks are lazy and don't want to take responsibility for their care.  I don't so much believe this anymore.  While it certainly may be true that some folks are not as helpful as others in the rehab process, I've adopted a different attitude.

     Realistically no one wants to hurt or be limited in their function.  Some folks just don't have the personality type to go after it the way others do.  Some folks are born poor time managers and just never get around to certain things.  Or there are a myriad of other reasons why some folks just want you to do it for them versus be more pro-active in the process.

     Much of life is like this, some folks have strengths where others are weak.  It's not our place to judge harshly as much as it is to try to be creative in helping them in their journey.  Remember, given the choice, no one likes pain....

Coachability...It's more than you think

     Very few athletes achieve greatness without coaching.  Coachability is often thought of as, will an athlete listen to improve their game.  While that is certainly a part of it, I think that there is far more.
   
     Problem: We all start out in sport as learners.  We all are coached at some point.  I recall learning fast in my early crossfit training because I would constantly bug people to show me stuff.  At some point though there can be a shift in an athlete where they are proficient in things and they stop seeking to learn so vigorously.

     Solution: Constantly ask folks to look at your technique/training, etc...don't ever stop trying to master the basics.  If the coach is busy, ask someone else.

     Problem:  You start to think that you can't learn from certain folks because you are further along in your development that they are.  This is a BIG mistake.  This is the "smartest guy in the room syndrome".

     The smartest people understand that they are life long learners and that you can learn from a large variety of sources, even if the resources you are tapping are less experienced than you, behind you in their development or someone that you may even disagree with.

     Solution:  Ask for feedback and advice from a large variety of folks regardless of their level or experience.  If it doesn't make sense, disregard it.  But very often a beginner will give you a gem about the fundamentals you've long forgotten or taken for granted.

     Problem:  The "That won't work for me" or the "I already do that" athlete.  Often times we as athlete's are resistant to cues or coaching out of either pride or a lack of understanding.

     I have a buddy who is (and I'm not trying to be mean) an annoying coach.  He's ALWAYS trying to tell you how to do something even if you aren't asking.  Recently he figured something out that helped me with my Muscle ups I've struggled with for literally years.  In the process I recall being dismissive and telling him that I already did what he was saying.  Well I obviously wasn't.  And when I finally got over myself I was able to hit the movement repeatedly with minimal effort.  For the 1st time in YEARS.

     Solution: Stop with the excuses and assume that the person trying to coach you might be right or there might be a way to do what they're saying that you haven't thought of yet.  In other words, drop your ego and excuses.

Weight loss strategies-updated

      It's not as if people don't know what they need to do to eat right and exercise.  It's coming up with a system that you can stick with that is the problem.  So we came up with some ideas in the form of guidelines or rules.

     Rule 1: Don't eat after 7pm.  The idea is to engage in a 12 hour fasting period and get all of your eating done by 7pm at night.  Teas and coffees are fine after 7pm and before 7am.

     Rule 2: Find an amount of weekly cardiovascular exercise you can handle fairly easily.  For some it's 15 miles of running a week, for others its 60-90 minutes.  The point is find where you are at and then maybe stretch the amount a tiny bit so its still manageable.  Now make sure that you get your miles or your time in every week.

     Rule 3: Do you have a sweet tooth?  Do you love your afternoon cocktail/wine?  Find those empty calories you are ingesting and place a limit on them like only 4 of the 7 days a week or only one or the other.  But come up with a plan to limit them but not eliminate them (everyone needs a treat from time to time).

     Rule 4: Speaking of empty calories....by now I think we all agree that white flour, white rice, and white potatoes are more calorie than nutrients.  Breads, pastas, etc....need to be eliminated if possible, and at the very least limited.  I prefer to not allow them at all but this may be your hardest rule if you love your carbs, so maybe just limit them to 3-4 days of the week.

     Rule 5: Weigh yourself morning and night.  Lots of people are 100% against this idea.  But I think that it helps you to see where you are at and make choices for the next day as well as see the impact of your day's choices.  Usually there is a slight difference in the 1st thing and last thing weights, just start to see that and react accordingly.

This is the key to the entire system-You may break any rule you like, you will just need to add 10 minutes or 1 mile of running to your weekly total.  That's per rule broken.  If you decide to have a late night snack of bread pudding....there's potentially 3 rules in 1 if you are over the weekly allowance already.  So choose wisely!

     Try this but one caveat: Don't increase your running mileage to fast!!!

To kiss or not to kiss...

     My 13 year old had his first girl come over to visit yesterday...It made Kathy and I freak out a little.  There are a few schools of thought on how to approach things.  We've had several "talks" with the kids about "things" over the years, but now its getting real.

     The Duggar approach.  If you've seen the show 19 kids and counting (they may be up in the 20's by now, who knows...) they had a system for their kids were only allowed to hug side-to-side, they weren't allowed to ever be alone.  It's basically a first kiss on the wedding day scenario.

     The Jase Robertson approach.  If you've seen Duck Dynasty, Jase is the 2nd oldest brother and has 2 teenage sons and a little girl.  He says, "Lips on lips, hands on hands".  His idea is you've got to give them first base.  But hands don't go anywhere else....and neither do lips....

     Okay fine, we watch a lot of TV....

     The "here's a pack of condoms, be careful" approach.  This approach isn't on any of the TV shows I've seen but it for sure is out there.  You basically assume that the kid is going to get himself going sexually at some point and you prepare him for it.

     I think there are solid points to be made by all 3 of these approaches.  Like all decisions and choices there are pros and cons.  I plan to sit down today/tonight with my young man and discuss respecting women, future goals, present risks, and see where it goes.

     I think that the biggest anxiety is always the fear of the unknown and by communicating, I'm hoping that the anxiety created by talking about such subjects is able to diffuse the anxiety about potential sticky situations he finds himself in down the road....

Without faith.....

     "Without faith it is impossible to please God", from Hebrews 11:6.

     There's a story told about destroying a young boys faith.  A man asked "who in here thinks their faith is unshakable?"  A boy raised his hand.  The man said, "ok son, I have a quarter in my pocket.  Do you believe I do?  Based on what I've told you, what you know about me, etc...what do you believe?".  The boy said, "I believe you do."

     At this point, the boy has faith.  He does not have answers or proof, only what he believes to be true.  The man then shows the boy that indeed there is a quarter in his pocket.  He announces, "Son, I've successfully ruined your faith.  You no longer have faith, you have the actual proof now, the answer."

     So it goes with our faith in God.  You do not have the proof or the answers, you only have what you believe to be true.  You might be right and you might be wrong.  Saying that out loud causes a lot of problems for some people.  To me it's rather comforting to not need to have proof.

     Are you positive about what you believe to be true?  How can you be?  Faith leaves room for a different answer by its very definition.  This is VERY different from not believing anything though.  The boy in the story didn't throw up his hands and say he refused to believe anything.  He took what his experience was and made came up with what he thought was true.  According to the biblical verse above, throwing up your hands and refusing to believe anything makes it impossible to please God...  I would submit that being arrogant about the certainty of your belief is also discounting what it means to have faith and thus to please God...

     For many years I was absolutely positive that what I believed was true.  I would argue with others about it.  My favorite thing to say to people now is, "You might be right".  I honestly have no clue what the answer is, I only know what I believe based on my experience.  That's all God seems to ask of us.  Figure it out for yourself, have faith cuz you'll never truly know.

Working around and through injuries

        It seems like everywhere I look in my Crossfit gym (just like in a normal gym) there are people with injuries or sore spots.  The biggest difference is that in a normal gym environment you tend to pick your own exercises and its easy to stay away from the ones that hurt.  In Crossfit, you are being programmed exercises that will sooner or later expose your issues.

        Here is where smart training comes into play.  Smart training is finding things that you can do that don't make your problem worse (and doing them).  That's #1.  #2 is addressing your problem areas.

      Find what you can do.  Last Friday I pulled my Teres Major muscle during chest to bar pull ups.  I can still feel the area when I pull my shoe on each morning.  Guess what I can't do?  Pull ups.  And I found that there are other things I can't do either since then.  So I went in Saturday and squatted.  Then I played around with bench press and found that was fine too.  This week I've been exposed to pull ups, muscle ups, and toes to bar in the workouts.  I used a band on the pull ups.  I picked a different exercise to sub in for the muscle ups.  And I just lifted my knees to chest (any higher and it was uncomfortable).  I have been working hard since the injury last week and haven't made my shoulder any worse.

     Address your problem areas.  First and foremost my muscle needs some rest.  So I haven't been testing it.  But I've also been on the lacrosse ball each day, I've done rotator cuff exercises, stretched it out.  I am on the "get this thing better" plan.  I'm not ignoring it but I'm going after it.  The banded pull ups are designed to make the muscle lengthen and shorten in a pain free range.  I'm using the muscle to keep it healthy without stressing it.  I'm getting some blood flow into it.

     Too often I see folks do what I call checking the picture frame.  What I mean is imagine that a picture frame falls to the ground and breaks at the corner joint.  You glue it together.  Now instead of leaving it alone to bind, you anxiously keep checking the connection, pulling it apart to see if its ready to hang on the wall again.  Everytime, the glued area comes apart and you have to start over.  Well eventually you have a gunky build up of old glue and the frame no longer looks right and its hard to even use anymore.  The same thing happens to people with injuries.  They can't seem to leave it alone long enough or do the right things for it to let it heal.  Instead they keep testing it and setting themselves back.

     It's entirely possible to rest an area without resting your entire body.  I come home dripping with sweat after each workout but my shoulder is no worse for it.  You have to train smart with an injury.  And while you may not know the rehab stuff I know, I guarantee that you can get the info.  Heck, just ask me if you want!