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.