You are not truly confident until you risk being vulnerable.

     Was told today by my teenage son that he doesn't have the confidence to stand up to some of his friends when they are asking him to make not so good choices.  It got me thinking.....

     True friends are going to accept you for who you are and what you think-even if that is different from them.  That being said, these are kids.  Acceptance means a lot (everything) to them.  So how can I help him see that being vulnerable (telling the friends no, etc...) and risking their ridicule is actually a projection of confidence and strength???

     What does this look like?  It looks like exposure, it looks like risk, it looks a little scary at times.  But if you are confident in who you are, then you can take the chances, live the consequences, hear the judgement, and know that it doesn't change who you are.

Kids

If you stand up to or disagree with your 'friends', you risk being kicked "out of the group".  So instead of being confident in who you are, you give in to try to fit in.  Is it parenting or is it just "who you are" that influences the ability to have the confidence to stand up against the group?

Marriage

This is where risk and vulnerability are paramount.  Can you express yourself without causing an argument?  Can you take criticism without it crushing you or causing you to be defensive?  Sunday will be my 18th anniversary and I'm "still" working to make sure its a safe place for her to share her feelings.  I'm "still" working to make sure that when I let her down I act vulnerably by owning things and letting her be upset.

The Anger or the apathy

     These are the indicators that you are not allowing yourself to be vulnerable.  If you find yourself offended and angry, its likely that you are using that instead of exposing your real feelings or that you aren't allowing others to disagree with you.  If you "couldn't care less" about what people think, that is a hint that you are hiding behind false confidence.

     Anger doesn't get you closer to solutions, it sends the message to people to "back off".  And intuitively we don't want to be closer to angry people.

     Vulnerable, confident people care about people's feelings and aren't afraid to say if they themselves are hurt; they take on possible rejection or ridicule to share real feelings; they know that who they are isn't swayed by the opinions of others.  Now how do I tell that to my kid???

My month on RP Strength diet

     I am 5’10” and 175-180.  I didn’t want to gain or lose any weight.  I just wanted to clean up and learn how to eat.  So I reached out to Nick at RP and he was immediately responsive back and forth with me.  He advised me to purchase the cutting template and enter 180 lbs but just eat the base diet.


     There are 4 diets, base, cuts 1,2, and 3.  The idea is to start on the base, then move to the cut diets which reduce calories just enough each time to spur on fat loss.  They also have a massing template that has 3 massing phases where calories are slowly added to gain muscle.

     Anyhow, I realized almost immediately I had not been eating enough food/quality calories.  I felt like I was stuffing myself with the amount of meals/food I was eating.  The other thing that happened was that I accidentally printed out cut #3 sheet for my training days.  I still felt like I was eating a ton, but I started getting pretty lean fast.  I did this (ate base on three rest days and cut 3 on my four training days) accidentally for about 10 days.  Once I realized this, I switched to base for all of the days and REALLY felt that I was stuffing myself.  But my weight stayed around 177-180.  I was shocked.

     In the beginning I was meal prepping hard.  Cooking a ton of food and having it ready to roll eating big breakfasts, etc….  Now I feel like I’ve got it kind of dialed in and so I will bring left overs from the night before’s dinner for a meal or 2 while at work or I’ll go grab something at wholefoods or wherever.  For breakfasts a lot of times I’ll have fruit and a protein/carb shake to get the meal in.  I’m fairly lean still (for sure more than before I started) and my weight is mostly pegged at 178-180.
     The way they do things is calculate your BMR (easy to find on line) then use a multiple for how much calories to eat on rest days vs training days (also easy to find on line).  They take your body weight and figure out protein intake (.8-1g per lb) and then same with carbs (roughly .5 rest days 1.5 training days).  Split the macros up into 5-6 meals and then fill in the rest of the calories with fat calories.

     The only thing that is slightly complicated is their nutrient timing.  That is pretty cool and it’s a matter of “when in the day do you train?” and based on that they have a ton of scenarios for how to eat around training.  The one thing that is in EVERY plan in the casein protein shake at bedtime.  That’s to preserve muscle throughout the night as you sleep due to its slow breakdown/absorption.  

     There is for sure a difference in a diet for performance and for health.  If you work hard at it, you can make this one both.  It is not paleo, but is paleo friendly.  I find myself eating more starches that I had in the past, but also a boat load more protein.  And the pre and intra workout shakes are VERY good for training endurance.  I don’t eat lean beef like they say to, because its hard to find that grass fed, so I just cut back my supplemental fat since the beef has plenty.  It’s part art as well as science and I think it’s been a very worthwhile investment.

I'm paying "you"....my beef with some CF box owners

     I have worked out with CF coaches that tell you to do burpees if you are late to class or forget someone's name in the group.  You've got to be fucking kidding me.....

     I've owned a business for over 20 years now.  We do physical therapy.  It's a service business.  Patients come to us, we help them get better.  It's kind of the same way in crossfit boxes.  People come to you, they are helped to get "better".

     Service is service.  And in the service business, many times there is a mantra that the customer is always right.  Unless you are the only game in town, you better err on the side of ass kissing with your members rather than drill instruction.

     Many coaches take a funny approach of letting you pay the box so they can treat you like you are lucky to be there.  You can always tell the coaches who approach things like a job vs a passion.  Is your coach a different coach at 5:30 am than she is at noon or 4:30 pm?  Does your coach push you to have the same goals as he does?  Does your coach ever get "exasperated" because you still don't understand an exercise or a movement?

     I have vacationed to several different CF gyms over the years and here's an amazing example of customer service:

     Years ago, I was in San Diego and stopped into CF 619.  I explained to Chris Keith, the owner, I was in town for 4-5 days.  I asked to buy a shirt and what would it cost to come in for open gym and classes.  Nothing.  He sold me a shirt and refused to let me pay anything more.  It gets better.

     At the time my comp program called for Isabel.  I hadn't done Isabel ever.  I was there during a non class time to train.  He proceeded to take me through a very comprehensive warm up for Isabel using the burgener warm up, indian clubs, and some mobility work.  Then he helped me figure out a rep scheme and coached me through it.  But wait, there's more....

     As I was getting ready to leave, he gave me the key code for the gym in case I wanted to come in over the weekend when I had the chance since he knew I was seeing the sights with the family.  Now granted, he knew I had my level 1 and had spent the last hour with me, so maybe he screened me and felt ok.  But I was blown away....

     He had awards all over his walls about being voted the best trainer in San Diego, etc...and it ALL started with his approach to customer service.  Over the years I have referred everyone I knew going to SD to him.  The week after I left I mailed him a box of new speed ropes.  I became a fan for life.  Please don't assume that this is a "policy" at CF619, it might be, but is just what I experienced years ago.

     I say all this to say to most box owners, "Last I checked, I'm paying 'you'...." so if I get stuck in the bathroom from too much mexican the night before and stroll in 5 minutes late, don't tell me to do 50 burpees....  This is a service business and as such, your job is to work hard to be the same gal at 530 am as you are at 530 pm, make my experience the best you can, adjust my programming to 'my' goals, etc....

     I'm paying you!  :)

Doing business with friends and family

   

     I have lived long enough to see things not always go as planned.  It's caused me to have a rule I try to follow about doing business with friends and family.  Rule 1: If I'm good friends or family with someone, I don't like to do business with them.

     If I'm just acquainted with them or don't spend much actual time with them, then I don't mind.

     Over the years I have broken this rule here and there and when I do, I follow a 2nd rule.  Rule 2: If you decide to do business with good friends or family, you have to promise not to complain or get upset.

     I generally tend to regard things like this:  I value my family and friendships TOO MUCH to put them at risk by doing business with them.

     No one is perfect.  Everyone makes mistakes.  And on top of that, some issues are unavoidable and then the person whose watch it happens on is responsible.

     I've owned a physical therapy practice for over 20 years.  I like to think we're pretty good.  I could run down the list why....but that's another blog post :)  My point is that if a friend  needs help, I expect them to come to me and I'll hook them up at my clinic.  BUT, if they were to tell me they felt more comfortable going somewhere else, I would totally get it.  What happens if things don't go as planned in the rehab?  What happens if an issue arises?

     I'd much rather have a friendship than a patient/client.

No Excuses-that Rhonda Rousey....

     So I read the Rhonda Rousey biography and aside from feeling terrible about her dad dying and her mom being a hard ass bitch, I took away a really cool philosophy from the book.  Her mom would tell her (essentially), anyone can perform well on a good day, but you need to be able to beat your opponent twice on your worst day.

     Rewind to my Donny Shankle seminar back in February of this year and his philosophy of find something to PR in everyday, and now I'm feeling dangerous!

     I have friends that mock the PR everyday thing, "Hey Trav, today I PR'd my 1 eye closed, red shirt wearing pistols!".  I just kind of smile and think (Shankle voice), "F you".  (He is just that intense and I'd be scared to death to get on his bad side).

     So to the point:

I used to do all my strength work before the metcons at my gym, I was given the special ok to do the competitive programming stuff at the time I came in and then jump in with the next class and do metcons.  Well, the rules changed.  Now you have to do the class and then any comp stuff after.  At first I was kind of pissed because I thought, "how will I be able to have any energy to Oly or strength after I'm beat down by the conditioning???".

Well, I decided (again in Shankle voice) "f you", I'm going to beat Oly and strength stuff down at my worst.  So I began a mindset of being my best in less than optimal situations.  Would I do better clean and jerking heavy BEFORE I do a God awful "spartan WOD" that takes 45-50 minutes???  Of course!  But you know what?  Screw it, I won't take no for an answer on my performance.

And sure enough I STILL make it happen.  This weekend I was at the gym in my oly shoes and my son needed them (he's training for the raw nationals next week).  So I gave them to him and put back on my flimsy INOV8 192's.

I needed to do a jerk triple.  Well....no excuses.  I PR'd by 20lbs.  In fact I also had to do a snatch balance x2 and OHS x5.  No Oly shoes at first and I thought, "well there goes my PR likelihood....".  Then I decided, I needed to be able to do this stuff on my worst days too and so I did the work and PR'd the snatch bal by 10 lbs too.

Moral of the story:  There are easy excuses to make or there is hard work to do.  Don't let your mind beat you before you start.

5 things my kids need to know so they don't mess up their lives

     I have a 15 year old boy starting high school.  To make matters worse, a friend of mine said, "He's the most good looking kid I've ever seen."  Then my wife told me last week, "I think we're about to embark on a wild ride."

     I wish that I could do some things over in my life but even more I wish that my kids would take my advice on a few things.

1. Sex.

     Do NOT get going down this road before you are in a committed relationship AND are prepared (not necessarily ready, but prepared) to have a child.  Having a baby is a game changer.  MTV may make TV shows about teen moms and dads, but it is not worth the risk.

     Aside from pregnancy, all it takes is the wrong sexually transmitted disease and it can stick with you for your whole life.

     Condoms break all the time.  And there is no warning bell to tell you until its too late.  Just wait till you're older.  Please.

2. Alcohol or Drugs.

     There's a difference between having a drink and drinking to get drunk.  Sadly many kids drink to get drunk.  Or do drugs to get high.

     Bad things can happen when you lower your inhibitions.  Things you would love to do normally but your self-control allows you to make the right choices all the sudden become easier to do when drugs or alcohol are involved.

     Unfortunately, the "everyone is doing it" argument is sadly sort of true.  A large percentage of kids these days experiment.  But there are plenty who don't.  Guess what?  You won't regret waiting till you are older to experiment with having a drink.  And drugs are illegal for a reason.

     Every week there is another story about some unknown substance that caused a problem or death in a child who tried a drug.  You really cannot tell what is in the stuff that's out there.  Many times it is very dangerous.  On top of this, you can never tell how your body is going to react to things.

3. Fighting.

     Fighting rarely if ever solves problems.  I know emotions run high but aside from the dangers of fighting (weapons can get involved, injury/death, arrests, etc...) there is a strength MUCH greater than showing aggression, it is self-control.  It is a much greater display or power to hold back from fighting than to do it.

     Fighting often leads to more fighting.  Be the bigger person and let it go.
   
4. Risk taking.

     This encompasses a lot.  From physically dangerous things to the 3 things above.  Learn to override that voice that says, "It's fine, nothing will happen to me".  And weigh the risks.  (What if....)  As a parent we worry so much about you doing things that will "probably" be okay, but might go catastrophically wrong if one little unforseen thing happens.  

     The world can be a fun place without being so dangerous.

5. Realize that your friends will never love and care for you like your family.  Remember that when deciding who to listen to.


     In the story of Adam and Eve, God was the perfect parent and they STILL made a huge wrong choice in the garden.  We are far from perfect parents and so we can't expect you to be perfect either.  When you make mistakes, we will figure it out.  When you fall down, we'll try to help you up.  We've been there, made the mistakes and hope we can save you the trouble.

Overcoming acting in anger

     Premise: Anger is a front for real emotions.

     If this is true, why can't we just say what we are really feeling instead of getting mad?  Fear....

Imagine the following:

1. Someone blatantly disregards your request about something in their actions.  If they are a friend, you feel hurt.  If they are an acquaintance, you feel disrespected.  

"Hey, you made me feel like what I say doesn't matter to you.....in the future I really need you to...."

2. Your kid doesn't call you and is out later than he is supposed to be, out of contact.  He finally gets a hold of you or comes walking in the house late.  You were afraid and worried.

"Hey, I was really worried and scared about if you were ok or not....."

     Unfortunately expressing feelings is either scary or unfamiliar for many.  Its far easier to cover with anger and get pissed.

     So why is it scary or unfamiliar?

*Did you grow up in a house where conveying real emotion wasn't practiced?
*Or were the only regular examples anger and so that seemed normal?
*Expressing "real" feelings requires vulnerability and exposure.  Are you afraid of what happens when you "put it out there"?

     Once you figure out that you are a grown up and are not bound by the past, time to make some changes.  Starting with expressing the real underlying emotions you feel instead of anger.

     The other piece of things is to look through eyes of love.  There's an idea that love casts out fear.

That's a whole nother blog post though.....

Technique I use to PR my back squat

   
      First I warm up with my 3 things I wrote about here Squat warm up.
1. Ankles 2. Knees 3. Hips

     My current max is 355, so here is a sample of what I would do.

     I keep my flat shoes (INOV8 192's) on to start my build to a heavy weight, this is essential.  It will create a mobility session in the build.  Stay away from your Olys for now.  Also do not use your belt yet either.  Using the belt will come later for the psychological edge.

     My progression is based on the philosophy of Coach Michael Rutherford.  I start with the bar for 5-6 reps.  Then I build by 50 lb jumps.  So I will do 95 for 4-5, 145 for 4-5, 195 for 3-4, 245 for 3.   These reps tend to get me really working on my balance up to the heavy stuff.  At some point along the way, I'll sit at the bottom for a second usually with the 195 or 245 to get my bottom position feeling good.

     Now that the weight is heavy, I switch to my Oly shoes.  Still no belt though.  I'll go for 295 for 1-2.  And so let's just say that I'm hunting for 360 today.  I will start to approach the weight slower instead of by the full 50 lb jumps.  So with Olys but still no belt, I'll put on 330 and hit a single.

       Next I will go just under my PR with a belt on.  I'll go for 350.  This usually feels WAY easier now that the belt is on.

     The next stop will be 360.  My coach says to stay away from the current PR on the way to the new one.  So I always sneak up on it.

     Technique:

1. I always set/brace my spine on the unracking.  I dial in my tension enough that I can still breathe and unrack.  So not totally breathe holding grrrr bracing.  I do this from the empty bar onward.

2. I place my hands as close as I can get them to my shoulders but still able to push the elbows forward under the wrists.  This does 2 things: 1. It creates tension in the upper back when the hands are closer to the shoulders.  2. Driving the elbows forward and keeping them under the wrists keeps the chest from falling.

3. I squeeze the bar hard with my hands.

4. I never walk out from the rack more than 2 steps.

5. I take a deep breath and really try to fill up the lower part of my stomach and then my ribs.

6. Then I do the lift.

Some folks advocate a heavy walk out with something like 390 on a 360 attempt and holding it for 8-10" but I have never liked this.

What I believe

         My daughter started asking me questions about God, heaven, evolution, etc....when my mother was dying last month.  What I believe now is a bit different than what I once believed.  I am going to write some of it down for me, her, and my other kids.  I hope that my kids can take what I put forth and then engage in their own journey and find what they believe.

     Let's start with this idea: I feel like I don't know anything for sure.  If you want argue with me, don't.  My favorite thing to say is, "You might be right".  I think that faith is the absence of knowing anything for sure.  If you "know" then you don't need faith.


     Is there a God?
I believe that there is a God that created all things.  The big bang may well have happened.  I go back to the question of "what was before the big bang"?  The universe arose out of nothing sounds an awful lot like a supernatural thing to me.  So if I imagine that time and space are something that God is not bound by, then he has always existed, even before the universe.

     How did the universe come to be?
God's creating all things may very well have been through an evolutionary mechanism, or it may have been through a creation mechanism, but more than likely a bit of both.  The account in the bible about creation would seem to be a bit of a simplistic explanation to a guy (Moses) who wouldn't have stood a chance at understanding the way it really happened.  I've told my daughter that God explaining to Moses the way he created things was a lot like what I used to tell her about where babies came from when she was 3.  There was no way I could tell her the actual way it happened, it would've been impossible for her to fathom.  If I stuck to my guns today on that story I told her as a 3 year old, she might think I was a nut job.  Do I think that the universe was created in 6 days?  No, probably not.  Does the fact that it is described like that in the bible bother me?  No.  Seems a reasonable way to discuss it with someone who doesn't have a clue.

     How do you know the bible is accurate and wasn't re-written?
I think that we've seen some fantastic information come out of the dead sea scrolls from the 1940's and 50's showing that things didn't change from the 2nd century BC through the version we have in the 9th century AD and now in regards to the old testament.  Then there is minimal debate on the new testaments historical preservation.  That said, there still is an issue with how to interpret what you are reading.

     What in the bible is literal, figurative, true, false, whatever?
I believe that there are some Old Testament accounts that explain things in simple terms that are metaphorical or symbolic for simplicity sake.  Things that would generally be true in principal but not necessarily in detail.

     I see the 1st 5 books of the bible as a constitution for the new Hebrew nation.  A manual on how to run a culture/nation that was issued to people who had been slaves in Egypt for generations and had no idea how to live free.  This would be a rule book for this new society to preserve them together and teach them what is in their best interests.  Is it applicable to us today?  Some yes, some no.  Honor your mother and father, sure.  Stone your disobedient children, probably not......  This would be a case of applicable then, not now.  Kept the rules in place and the society from acting up now didn't it?  But is stoning our kids for today?  No.

     New testament.  1st and foremost I have one authority here, Jesus.  What did he say, what did he do.  What he said and did is as applicable and true today as it was then.  It boils down to loving one another, period.  Measure everything else in the new testament (or entire bible for that matter) in light of the words of Jesus.

     Why the new testament?  Why Jesus?
I believe that there was a need for God's true nature to be revealed.  People were misunderstanding who he really was and what he wanted of us.  Even now a lot of folks think there is a disparity between God of the old testament and Jesus in the new.  Things just didn't come across completely accurate when the writers of the old testament put their pens down.  So measure everything in the old testament against the nature of Jesus and if it doesn't fit, something was maybe misunderstood or we might be dealing with a piece that needs to be acknowledged as not understandable or applicable at present.

     Why did Jesus get sent?  1. This is what God is really like and 2. He gave the new commandment of loving one another as a measure of if we are followers of God.

     What is sin?  What about homosexuality?
I've recently heard a good description of sin as anything that undermines love.  Is eating shrimp a sin?  Come on now, stop it!

     So how does a monogamous homosexual relationship fall into this?  I don't really know.  I know its not normal biologically.  But I also know that homosexuals can fulfill the criteria of following Jesus too.  So how can I condemn them?  How is promiscuous heterosexuality and homosexuality different?  Maybe in context homosexuality in biblical times wasn't ever conventionally monogamous like it often is now.  I don't know.  I just know that if I'm to love my neighbor...then its not my job to worry about it.

     What is heaven?  Who goes to heaven?  
I think that heaven is being in God's presence after we die.  I don't know what that's going to be like or how that works, but I think it will be great.  On the flip side, I think that if you do not go to heaven it means that you will be without God after you die.  And that will be lonely, sad and not great.

     So who goes to heaven....  I think that it is going to be a situation that comes back to what Jesus said will denote if you are his follower, your love for one another.  I also think that it is up to God alone and we would be surprised at who is and who is not going.

     The thief on the cross is a story that makes you think that if you just figure it out before you die, you're all set.  I can't help believe that it has a lot more to do with the transformation in your heart and less about your words.  And so deathbed conversions.....I just don't know.

     What about people who are other religions?
Are Christians the exclusive holders of the ability to love?  Can you deny Jesus with your words but follow him by your life?  What happens then?  Ghandi was a Hindu, a pretty loving one.  I think we also know of plenty of examples of people denying him with their life but accepting him with words.

     Ultimately I believe that Jesus truly is the only way to the father and to heaven, but I think that has little to do with where you go to church, how much you pray, and what you call yourself.  It comes back to your love for one another.

Supplement game (revised 3/30/17)

     I take supplements fairly seriously.  I take them for 2 reasons: performance and health.  However I won't allow one to conflict with the other.  Here is my program:

Work out days
Morning
pre workout
3 Extreme Endurance tabs (where I get)
1 tsp of Glutamine (amazon)
1 scoop Tier 1 (amazon)
1 tsp Inulin powder
25g dextrose powder
10g whey protein (SFH)

During workout
water
eco drink packet (for taste)-get at costco
50g dextrose powder
10g whey protein (SFH)

Post workout
Shake-12 oz coconut milk mixed with
1 scoop SFH whey protein,
1 tsp SFH fish oil.

1 VSL3 probiotic (I get at Costco),
1 500mg Vit C,
1 235mg Reacted Magnesium,
1 300mg CoQ10 (costco).

Pre bed time
1. 5000 IU Vit D,
1 Align probiotic
235mg Reacted Magnesium,
3 Extreme Endurance tabs,
1 tsp SFH fish oil,
1 tsp inulin powder
1 54mg Reacted Zinc,
1 500mg Vit C
24g casein protein

Non workout days
Morning
3 Extreme Endurance tabs (where I get)
Shake-12 oz coconut milk mixed with
1 SFH whey protein,
1 tsp inulin powder
1 tsp SFH fish oil.
1 tsp Creatine
1 tsp glutamine

1 VSL3 probiotic (I get at Costco),
1 500mg Vit C,
1 235mg Reacted Magnesium,
1 300mg CoQ10 (costco).


Pre bedtime
1 5000 IU Vit D,
1 Align probiotic
 235mg Reacted Magnesium,  2 tabs
3 Extreme Endurance tabs,
1 tsp SFH fish oil,
1 54mg Reacted Zinc,
1 tsp inulin powder
1 500mg Vit C.

I'm constantly tweaking, adding something in for a month etc....

3 keys to help a relationship

     My buddy got engaged yesterday.  It got me to thinking about some of the things that help lead to a successful long term relationship as I know it.  I've been married 17 years so I guess that's long term but who knows.  It's all relative.

Acceptance

     It's critical to take the bad with the good.  The key to this is understanding that often times the things that we love about people are also the things that drive us crazy about them.  My wife tells a story about how impressed she was at how hard of a worker I was when she first met me.  Then years later she told another story about me never being home and always working....(more about this in a min)

     I think a lot of stress comes from trying to change your partner or wishing they would change.  But the reality is that you must resolve to love all of them, flaws and all.  Once you feel this acceptance from someone, it creates a safety in the relationship that feels amazing.  "She knows me really...and still accepts me"

Perseverance 

     The going WILL get tough.  It's almost always easier to abandon ship than it is to repair the one you're on.  The thing I've learned though in 17 years is that nothing ever lasts-good or bad times.  When you go through a rough spot, no one can tell you how long to endure but I can tell you that from my years of marriage, adventure racing, ultra-marathoning, crossfitting, etc...that you are ALWAYS capable of persevering a little more than you think.  So when you are struggling in a relationship just try to make it another day, hour, minute, whatever you have to do to stay in the fight.

     Over the years when my relationship was at low points this understanding became invaluable.  It also is another example of the principle of your weaknesses and strengths being 2 sides of the same coin.  I may have been stubborn in an argument over the years, but I was equally tenacious in hanging in there and not giving up on the relationship.

Self-awareness

     Self awareness may be the most elusive but also the most important piece to not only marital but also individual happiness.  When you know yourself well, you become aware of the triggers that can cause problems.  We all have them.  They usually stem from a feeling of not being accepted (see above...) or something that says you are not good enough.  When we really know ourselves, we can spot these triggers for what they are, not really happening in the present, but something being brought out of the past from our present situation.

     Self-awareness allows you to communicate more out of love.  When you realize that certain triggers and fears are not really what's going on in the present situation it lets you slow everything down and give your partner what they need.  When I realized that my value wasn't tied to my work...I started to be home more.


     So for what its worth, these are 3 things that jumped out at me when my buddy told me about his engagement.  The 1st thing I said is, "Congrats.  Now the real work begins".  And it's true.  A fulfilling and rewarding relationship takes work.  But oh is it ever worth it.

Rebuilding......squats, snatches, deadlifts.....

     It's been 3 1/2 years in my crossfit career.  What I think I've learned is that you are must do some rebuilding from time to time.

     Back squat

     When I started I placed the bar lower and at some point realized that the prevailing wisdom was that high bar placement was better for the carry over into the Olympic lifts.  So I had to back off the weight and rebuild my back squat.  Ego aside, PR's were lower than before.  However eventually I got back to and exceeded previous #'s.

     In addition to this, when I came into CF I was used to a much wider stance in the squat.  This too needed to get closer to align more with the olympic weightlifting skill transfer.

Snatches

     This seems to be something that is constantly in flux.  There are so many subtleties and nuances.  In my case, I had to re-learn position 1 (hi hang or hip snatch) recently.  Turns out, Donny Shankle saw my shoulders come forward as I bent my knees and made it clear that hi hang was a knee bend.....PERIOD.  Shoulders must stay in line with (or even slightly behind) the bar as you dip.  This keeps the bar in the pocket and in contact with it the entire time you dip and then jump.  (Since then I have had virtually NO misses due to sending the bar out front.)

     Additionally, early last year I had to rebuild my grip width.  All this time my grip was too narrow and the bar was not finding the power position consistently.

Pull ups

     I learned to butterfly pull up before I learned how to kip.  I learned to "reverse bicycle" and did that for a long time.  (This technique makes you go "up" towards the bar vs. in a tight circle.)  When I went to Outlaw camp in 2013 I learned the arch/hollow cycling for pull ups.  It was then that I learned the mechanics of kip vs. butterfly were actually the same thing.  It took a little time but I learned it and my pull ups went thru the roof.

Box Jumps

     I decided to figure out bounding.  Took a month or so and started "from the ground up" to learn how to get back onto the box fast without killing myself.

Deadlifts

     I recently started in on using an exclusively double over hand (clean) grip on these.  Same idea, want to mimic the pull of a clean.  If I'm going for a 1RM, I'll try with a clean grip but if I miss I will mix my grip, but that has been the only time.


     I'm not sure what the next few months will bring other than I'm sure that I will continue to make little tweaks and adjustments to the way I do things and possibly even do some more "rebuilding" along the way.

PR everyday. Seriously.

     

     Feb 8, 2015 I went to the Donny Shankle seminar.  One of his theories is to PR everyday.  He went so far as to say that he hadn't PR'd his snatch for a period of YEARS early in his career but he would always find something to PR in his training sessions.  He is an Olympic weightlifter so he would do squats, front squats, C&J, position work, pauses, doubles, triples, complexes, etc....

     As a crossfitter its WAY easier to "find something" to PR in at each session.

     So that's the "theory".  In practice, I've found something to PR in at almost EVERY workout for the last month plus.  This has done exactly what Shankle said it would do, kept me excited.

     The other thing it has done is applied overload to my limits.  Which is the only way you improve.

     As a CF athlete, I can log a million things on my little mywod app (and I do).  I can look at things like unbroken double unders, max wallballs in 60 seconds, in addition to the big lifts for various rep schemes and position work and benchmark wods, etc....

     I was speaking to my coach about this (Blair Morrison) and he said this is component that is part of the success of the Westside barbell ideology with their powerlifters conjugate training.  Using bands, chains, inclines, declines, dumbells, deficits, etc...allows them to constantly vary their attack and always work to PR "something" and the sum total is increases in the big 3 lifts they care about.

     As far as what I care about it's a lot more than the big 3 powerlifting lifts, its those, the Olympic lifts, engine work, gymnastics, and on and on.....

A couple big principles:

1. You must record your sessions.  I use mywod as I mentioned to log the big things/milestones.  But I also write on the little hand held whiteboard my session and take a picture of it each day.  This lets me look quickly if I've done something and if so at what weight/reps.

 2. You want to sneak up on your PR's but not repeat them.  If your PR hang snatch is 165, go for a little less and then a little more.  That's why I have a ton of 1 kilo or 2.5 lbs PR's.  It breaks down a mental barrier for one, and then it absolutely counts as overload since you've never done the weight before.  The longer you've been lifting the harder PR's are to come by.  1 kilo is 1 kilo!

3. If you have to sandbag from time to time, do it!  If I'm having a bad gym day, I may have to go stretch to find something, but I am not leaving the gym till I have a PR.  Then record it and come back to fight another day.

Crossfit injuries...

   
     The sport of fitness is no different than the sport of football, the sport of running, the sport of basketball.  If you decide to play those sports 5 days a week, you will likely get hurt overtime with injuries of over use or trauma.  It's not a surprise at all.  So when there is talk about Crossfit being dangerous, I agree.  It's as dangerous as any other sport you commit to.  And if you pick up those sports as a mature adult....then it should REALLY be no surprise if you have sports related injuries along the way.

     I missed a clean years ago (2012) and broke my wrist and tore the scapho lunate ligament.  Now it will dislocate if I'm not careful to really brace it up.  I can still HS walk, do MU's, clean heavy weights, etc...but I need to be careful.  If it dislocates (which it has done 3-4 times since 2012) I have to stop and pull and wiggle the hand until the bones "clunk" back into place.  Surgery would fix the problem but cause others in my "sport".  So I'm not ready for that.

     I felt a click in my knee on the back foot a few years ago (2013) on a light split jerk.  It immediately felt weak and unstable and painful.  I wasn't careful and didn't keep my back heel firmly turned out and it tweaked the meniscus.  I had to make a few changes, now I split jerk with my right foot forward.  It took a little time (4 months) but I can still squat full depth, do pistols, box jumps, etc...I just need to warm up well.  And if I sit still too long without walking around the knee stiffens up when I get up and walk the 1st 10+ steps.  It's just a little sore, but otherwise I can function in my "sport".

     I recently found out I have a probable SLAP lesion (torn labrum) in my left shoulder.  It's an irritant when doing push ups or muscle ups and things like that.  Hurts over my AC joint.  It clunks when I mobilize it pre-workout.  It's not operative at this point because its still stable.  (These issues are common with overhead athletes.)  I think it all started with a missed muscle up last year where I didn't let go of the rings fast enough and my shoulder got hyperextended,  Not terrible, just a little sore.  Then in a pressing cycle a few months ago it started to be much more sore and hasn't gotten much less sore.  Provided I focus on rotator cuff exercise and proper warm up, I can still play my "sport".

     So how do you avoid these injuries?  

     How do other dedicated athletes stay healthy?  The short answer is they don't.....Seriously, MOST athletes get injuries from their sports over time.  They rehab and get back to it.  There are very few Cal Ripken's in the world of sports.  Most athletes spend some time on the disabled list.  It's almost inevitable.  

     The long answer is:

Work on weak links-If you are prone to low back pain then you need to make supplemental core work and hip mobility part of your everydays.  If you get an injury, you need to prioritize it.

Warm up for you-On my drive to the box I stretch out my wrists and have a little yellow theraband I warm up my left shoulder rotator cuff with.  I hit the X-over symmetry a little bit, I have a shoulder and lower body mobility warm up I do.

Have good coaches-Good coaches will be able to take into account your problems and problem areas and modify WOD's for you and on top of that give you homework to address these areas.

Use good judgement- This may be one of the hardest parts for many because of the nature of our sport.  We are constantly competing against ourselves and others.  The internal pressure to do better must always be measured by the risks of failure to do it safely.  Take the outfielder who runs with reckless abandon into the centerfield wall while catching likely home run.  He might just hurt himself on that, but its a risk he is taking.  Should he give up the home run?  Only he can answer that. But he might end up sitting out the next 3 weeks if he hits the wall just right....

     So fellow athlete's, I hope your sport is still fun for and that you stay healthy!

Good luck, bad luck....what's the difference

One of my favorite lessons, stories, what have you, is the farmer and is it good luck or bad luck...

"There is a Chinese story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer's neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?"

Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg, they let him off. Now was that good luck or bad luck?

Who knows?"

     This story means more and more to me as I get older.  I've tried to stop investing in my own outcome and realizing that "you just never know" how things are going to ultimately turn out.

     I think the most compelling proof of this is losing my job at 24 and getting separated from my wife at 40.  Both felt like the end of the world but created wonderful things in my life years later.

     Good luck, bad luck?  Who knows....

Why I think Rich Froning snatches in Nanos

     Lots of snatch PR's post the extra note of "in nanos".  It's VERY rare that someone boasts of a clean and jerk "in nanos" though.  I suppose it happens.  But let's talk Rich and how he snatches exclusively in nanos.  By the way, Rudy Nielsen of Outlaw had a funny quote at a camp that I loved:

"I'm sick of hearing people say they hit a lift "in nanos".  That's like Michael Jordan saying he dropped 40 points wearing a pair of Christian Louboutin's!!  If he would've had basketball shoes on he would've done even better!!!"

When attacking the Clean ladder at the 2012 Games and the C&J ladder in 2013, Rich wore Oly shoes...

      Enough about Rich, let's talk about me.....I snatch "better" in flat shoes.  I have been hitting PR's lately in my INOV8 192's.  They have a 0 mm drop from heel to toe and weigh 192 grams (or 6.8 oz).  That makes them flatter than nanos (4.0 are a 4 mm drop) and MUCH flatter than Oly's which are usually 16.5 mm.

     When I went to the Donny Shankle seminar I was coming off of a 178.2 lb snatch the week before in my INOV8's.  Up till then I was stalled at 165 for a WHILE.  I was ALWAYS catching on my toes in my Oly shoes for some reason.  Donny broke it down by telling me I didn't know how to pull right in Oly shoes and needed to practice.  (I've been practicing for years Donny....I suck)

I couldn't figure it out, I just thought my calves are tight or maybe I'm not moving fast enough to get my heels down.  And then the day in mid Jan where I just kept adding weight in my flat as a board INOV8s and I kept making lifts....I even did a heat check and pulled under 185 that day but missed... badly....

     In any case, Donny wouldn't allow us to use anything but Oly shoes.  I made 160 at his camp and missed 165 and he immediately told me to drop weight and work on technique.  Meanwhile everyone else was PR'ing their lifts and I'm over in the corner at 70%....

     So I came to the realization that in my flat shoes I am able to stay back longer on my heels.  I wasn't being "tipped" forward onto my toes.  So when coaches talk about being patient and staying back on the heels while the shoulders are still over the bar through that 2nd pull, I guess I'm just too weak to do it or in too much of a hurry.

     In the bottom, Oly shoes will make up for a host of mobility issues.  I don't have those problems and look fine in my bottom position with flat shoes.  So the trade-off for me is that I have a better pull and the bar stays closer and I'm not chasing it.  ALSO, my feet move much faster in the 192's due to the weight.  The Reebok 2.0 lifters are a whopping 408 grams (14.6 oz) and I use INOV8 335 fastlifts which are 335 grams or almost 2x more than my 192's.

Ok so back to Rich.  I think that his feet move faster into landing position and he can stay back longer in his pull to generate more power with nanos.  That's what I think.  And as far as me being able to snatch more in Oly shoes.....I can't.  I'm a crossfitter though and if I can snatch in metcon shoes, then isn't that better anyway?

Oh and today I hit 179.4 on my snatch!

Making friends with the worst outcome

12 years ago my then 2 y/o son had a cerebellar brain deformation "accidentally discovered" that is not usually discovered until the person is in adulthood and has problems from it, 3-4 years ago my wife and I separated for 7 months, 2 months ago a friend of mine had a traumatic brain injury and is fighting to recovery speech, movement, and a his normal life.  The list goes on and on in life for all of us.  Things that either are going wrong or might.  Things that worry us to no end.

     While it is HARD to do, it is imperative that we make friends with the worst outcome in things.  That's not saying that we give up and don't fight for the outcome we want.  But we must understand going into the fight that indeed we do not have the ultimate control over things.

     My friend may never be independent again, my son may wake up on his 21st birthday with a headache and motor loss that won't go away, my wife and I may not make it to our next anniversary (We're actually doing GREAT so relax).  The thought of all 3 of those things bothers me.....but I accept them as a possible reality.  I have taken them to their final worst outcome in my head.

What do I do then....?

     #1  Try to live each day knowing that its a gift that my buddy is still alive, that its a gift that Noah is healthy, that its a gift that I have the privilege to be married to my best friend.  These are the things that need to influence how I take on each day.

     #2 Try to understand that if the day(s) come that I am faced with the worst outcomes....I need to have already met them and accepted them and try to move forward at that moment.  I need to cherish the moments and recovery that my friend does have, I need to deal with the problems Noah may have at that time, I would need to be respectful of the woman who gave me nearly all of the happiness in my life and 3 beautiful children.   I can be sad, but I can't stop living because the worst outcome came to be.

What do I want?  

     My friend to recover completely, Noah to never have symptoms from his Chiari, Kathy and I to celebrate our 50th anniversary.  What am I going to get?  I have no idea.  But I've made friends with the worst outcomes I may get.


     I leave it with a quote from Tom Hanks character in Castaway:

 "And that's when this feeling came over me like a warm blanket. I knew, somehow that I had to stay alive. Somehow. I had to keep breathing. Even though there was no reason to hope. And all my logic said that I would never see this place again. So that's what I did. I stayed alive. I kept breathing. And one day, my logic was proven all wrong because the tide came in, and gave me a sail. And now, here I am. I'm back in Memphis, talking to you. I have ice in my glass... And I've lost her all over again. I'm so sad that I don't have Kelly. But I'm so grateful that she was with me on that island. And I know what I have to do now. I got to keep breathing. Because tomorrow, the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?"

Donny Shankle weightlifting seminar

     Let's start with a list of Donny's coaches he's had in his career: Zygmunt Smalcerz, Ivan Abadjiev, Mike Burgener, and Glenn Pendlay.  It makes you realize very quickly that Donny is a WEALTH of info and experience.  (And his stories were awesome.)

     One of the most important things I took away from the seminar:  THE DARK AGES- This is where time can pass without any PR's off the floor and it can last a LONG time sometimes, but it is building your strength still and with consistency you will break through.  He discusses being stuck at 170 kilos on his C&J for (I thought he said) years!!!!  And then he broke through and picked up 10-15 kilos in the coming months!  It makes me see that misses, that plateaus, are all part of the building process and they are not spinning your wheels but are adding to your ultimate progress.

     He had 12 keys:

1. Vertical strong back-He called this "the golden rule".  Everything seemed to come back to this.

2. Hips low-this he tied deeply into mobility

3. Use your hips (violently) to move the bar.  Bar contact was VERY important to him.

4. Move your feet quickly

5. Eyes forward (helps tighten up back) "And there's nothing down there that's going to help you"

6. Bar close to body

7. Relax-do not fight the bar

8. Fast under

9. Be aggressive-key to everything else 

10. Stay off your toes-or bar is controlling you

11. Gear.  When he asked Coach Abadjiev, "Uncle, what about wraps and sleeves and all that gear people wear?".  His reply, "Donny....if it make you lift more...use"

12. Warmup (peaks and valleys was a cool lower back warmup he did that is like an inchworm push up and then a back extension stretch), aside from that he did a pretty standard warmup

SNATCH positions plus (cues)

From hip-Bar stays on hip as knees bend, chest up and shldrs back just behind the bar.  Most people drop the chest as soon as the knees bend, don't (coordination & speed)

Above knee-keep knees bent as you take a bow, keep knees bent as u come back up, slide & drag (power).  He talks a lot about the slide and drag.  He really wants to hear the bar slide and drag on your thighs as it moves to the pocket.

Below knee-trigger of hamstring tension at midpatella causes hips to drop (center of gravity)

Floor- begin how you intend to finish.  This was good because he said that your set up position should look like your finish position except your arms are overhead with a bar in it.  Line up youbar over 1st shoe eyelet.  (All rise)

JERK

5 points of bar contact (throat clavicles shoulders)

Control dip & not forward, wt back

coordinating bar oscillaton is key on this

Think back knee down and that will cue you to really drop under.  Too many people keep the back knee too straight.
He did agree that the back foot should make contact 1st but said he tries not to cue that.

Feet should land about 3 steps of spacing apart.  Chalk the floor and see where you land

CLEAN

Front squat- 1st make sure you have a good front squat

from the Hip-bar contact is high on thighs with a knee bend wherever the bar falls when you are holding at the hip

from above knee-keep the knee bend and take a bow, slide and drag again
from below knee-hips drop

from Floor-pull in to shins, back tight, patient just like snatch, again beginning how you intend to end

SUBORDINATE exercises.

Variation on the lifts-powers, hangs (these get the back strong), blocks (only after mastering hang-these work power-no point in block work if you haven't mastered positions), no hook no feet (works speed), muscle (keeps bar close), On the minute work x 20 min (works consistency), pushpress (trains the dip-this was interesting to me because he made us see the multi rep pushpress as an exercise done exclusively to get better at receiving a heavy bar and re-loading in a perfect dip for the jerk ), power jerk (trains the drive because you better drive the shit out of the bar if you aren't splitting), negatives and breaking or pausing on the way off the floor (creates a stronger back)

Posterior chain-GHD hip extensions, back extensions, glute ham raises, etc....rows, chins

Additional-plyometrics, complexes, things that you like to do to make it fun

PRINCIPLES

Always train speed, make pr's, make lifts.  These were his big 3.  He wants PR's at EVERY session to keep you motivated.  If you aren't PR'ing your snatch, then PR your hang triple, PR your front squat double, etc...find something to succeed at every session.

Train footwork 1 day a week.  This would be considered a light day.  These days were still Oly lifting but the weights were light enough that you focused on your footwork.

If u can get better w singles then just do singles.  Only train other schemes (doubles triples) to improve the single.  He said that if you are improving and making lifts hitting heavy ass singles then don't mess with it.  Only change when the single isn't being made. 

Training template on his blog-he passed these out and they were pretty cool

Monthly need a minimum weight that u know u can always hit.  This was a handout also that took into account the minimum snatch, C&J, and front squat you were hitting in sessions compared to your PR's that month.  He wanted you to be within 5 kilos with your minimum and PR's to know you were ready for a competition.

Weekly u r pushing maximum weights.  Period.

Vertical jump and grip tell recovery.  This was interesting and came from his European coaches to know if you needed more recovery.  They would log your vertical jump and if it started to go to shit you needed an extra recovery day.  He also said that Uncle Ivan could tell just by asking you to squeeze his hand each day as hard as you could. 

Competition plan-squats, hangs, blocks, floor.  You want to compete, then do things in this order/progression and don't move on till you have it right.  He talked about keeping one of his lifters at the hang for a year one time.....

He trains 3 weeks hard and then has a deload week.

Adaptation trumps everything.  He went back to the video screen over and over to show beautiful lifts and lifts that were technically very inefficient that people were making because they've adapted to that style of lifting.

He had a continuum that on one end was beautifully efficient and on the other end was inefficient.  If you are going to lift inefficient you better be damn strong.

COMMANDS-virtues.  This piece was all about the mindset of a champion weightlifter.  Which is probably why it didn't 100% resonate with me and my mind of a kitten.

1. Make ready-acceptance.  This is that place you address the bar with your head down and are loose.

2. Set-fearlessness.  This is when you get tight and eyes are up, ready to lift. 

3. Break-patient (bar in hips).  This is the point that you are in the pocket.

4. Finish-pride.  And this is the way you finish the lift.

Favorite quote: "Some coaches out there might disagree with some of what I say....but FUCK them!  I'm out here competing while there coaching, they're talking while I'm doing".

There was soooo much more but these are the things that stood out to me.  He wanted everyone to PR and I was bummed because he also won't let you miss much at all before he pulls the plug on you.  I snatched 165 then missed 170 but knew I could get it (my PR is 178) and he waled over and said plainly, "Clean and Jerk".  I'm thinking, "I only missed it once....give me another shot here".  But I listened and moved on.....

Do people change?

     I recently had lunch with a friend who said, "How's your neighbor?"  And my reply was, "I can't stand that guy".

     But in reality, I haven't spoken to him a quite a while.  Even now, typing this, I'm brought back to the whole reason why I'm not a fan of this particular neighbor.  It riles me up and makes me want to write the whole story.....but I won't.

     So at the end of the day, how many people get asked at lunch, "Have you seen Travis lately?" and reply, "That asshole?".  Because as many of you know, I could ruffle some feathers back in the day (like my 1st 40 years).

     And it got me thinking, Do you just write folks off based on your past interactions?  Do you go back over and over expecting they will at some point mature and grow and be different?

     I have a handful of relationships that are no more.  Some because I was a jerk, others because they were jerks.  But before the fallout, some of the relationships were quite meaningful at some point.  On one hand I wonder "if they knew me now" would things be different or I think "are they still the way they used to be" and would we click now like we once did....

     So at the end of the day, I suppose it boils down to forgiveness and grace and the understanding that people can change (I did).  And also understanding that some folks aren't good forgivers and painful memories may sometimes be too great to overcome.

      But I for sure miss some folks from my past whether it was them or me that cut the other out.  Is life too short to hold on to offenses or is it too short to hang out with people who've hurt you?  I have no idea.....

Butterfly pull ups-updated

UPDATED PIECE: I guess I never realized it till I cued my buddy yesterday but the arch/hollow cycle is easier if, as soon as you see your toes in the hollow, you whip them back and initate your arch portion. This creates a tighter circle and much more explosion to allow you to rise. 

Here is what I know about butterfly pullups and the bulk of it came from Outlaw camp as few years ago.

1. Kipping, banded, and strict pull ups are all an up to the bar movement.  Butterfly pull ups are a circular movement.

2. The movement is initiated and maintained by the arch hollow cycle in the hips.  It is NOT a reverse bicycle, this technique only results in an up to the bar style and is not efficient or sustainable.

3. Therefore, the knees must not be maintained as straight as possible the whole time.  Think of a bow and arrow.  The bow is your body in the arch position and the knees bending would ruin the power of the bow and its ability to propel the body back into a hollow.  Straight legs allow the circle to be small and tight vs. the big loopy butterfly technique seen by many.

4. Maintaining constant "connection" to the bar is easier with a tight quick circular cycle vs. the loss of connection that usually occurs with the loopy style where the knees are constantly recoiling.

Here we go, this link starts at the pull ups. Watch the technique Eliz Akin uses on her pull ups. She hits her 1st 18 pull ups in 15". Staci Tovar meanwhile hits her 1st 18 in 19 sec. before dropping.

http://youtu.be/JD3jEwlv650?t=7m15s

Arguably the best women's pull-up athlete there is, Camille, took 17 sec to do her 1st 18. Her style is the loopy loose legs but it works for her because she can go forever without stopping and is a bodyweight freak. So if we look at both Eliz and CLB who went unbroken for the 30, Eli still beats CLB by a second in the 30 pull ups. And has her by 30 lbs....

http://youtu.be/izpr_cibpic?t=6m4s

How to learn:

1. Practice the circle and don't worry about the chin getting over the bar. It'll take a bit of time. Took me about 2 weeks of practicing a few times a week.  Then it all the sudden clicked.

2. You will get tired and then you will start to bend your knees to generate power, but you likely will do it before you realize and so its a great idea to have a partner cue you to not do this as long as you can

3. Rather than accumulating a lot of time on the bar, spend a short time more often.  Doing a warm up of strict for 30 sec of max strict, rest, then 30' sec max reg butterfly pull-ups, rest and then 30" max C2B. These need not be unbroken, but eventually you get to a place that the unbroken # increases and you don't ruin your hands by spending very much time on the bar.

I surprised everyone in the gym with my score last year on the OHS C2B open work out (including me) and it has become a strength of mine even though my raw pulling power (strict pull ups) is terrible.  Butterfly pull ups and C2B are literally all technique.  If you are good at pulling then you can get away with less efficient technique.  But if you do it right (like the gymnasts) then you become very good.