Hope.

Isn’t it incredible to be alive?

Take a walk.  Unplug.  Breathe in fresh air.  Walk through a creek.  Hug someone you love.  Hug someone you don’t love.  Call someone you have been meaning to for a while.   Show your children you love them.   Be grateful for such things.  Be happy.  Choose to be happy.  It’s more fun than choosing to be frustrated.  You work all the time, you don’t feel good, you hate your job, you fight with your spouse, your kids can’t stand you, you look like shit, you feel like shit, you aren’t good in front of people,  you hate your boss, your boss hates you.  What are these things.  What are these thoughts that you give power to on a daily basis.  Why do you let them control you.  Your mind is a computer and either you, or your environment is the programmer.  Absent of you choosing to your mind will let whatever stimulus it comes up against program it.  How scary is that?   Just watch the news, or listen to your “friends” complain…and bam….down that endless road called negativity.  But should you choose to be brave and become the master of your own destiny.  Well then….the world is at your freaking fingertips.   Believe in you.  It’s hard, it’s uncomfortable, but guess what we weren’t put here to be comfortable.  We were put here to grow, to challenge ourselves, that’s how we are made up.  We are literally movers and shakers, to deny that is to deny the very make up of our body and souls.  Give me the crabbiest nastiest human being in the world,…i put them in my class and take them through a Robstacle course and you will see them smile.  Why is that…because your body and mind crave challenge, and they crave movement….  Isn’t it incredible to be alive and be human.  We are the most complex movers and thinkers on earth  (we think)  Why deny it…you can’t ….just let go and get on with life.  I am so grateful for the position I find myself in everyday.   Is it easy….  Heavens no.  It’s not even close to easy.     “Don’t pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a hard one”

I have the strength, and I have the muster, and I have the ability to think better, be better ,move better, and I practice it every single day.  And I am thankful every single day that I have been blessed with my parents, my wife and children, my mind, my body and my community…..and I will do my best to elevate those around me for the rest of my life…..

 

IS NOT  THIS LIFE WE LEAD TRULY INCREDIBLE!!!!

 

Go out and Be Amazing….stop being scared of yourselves…..

Simply the best moment in a Mudder ever.

Imagine this. Thirty-Two of us have ran, walked, jumped, climbed, swung, splashed, cramped, moaned, cheered, froze, carried, sweat, and generally got super tired for over 10 miles..and here we are staring a newly heightened nearly lipless Mount Everest….almost the end of CFW’s Tough Mudder 2015….and they didn’t shy away this year, probably one of the most physically demanding Mudders I have faced (this was #4 for me)  I looked around at all of our tired and muddied faces and saw hope, fear, happiness, grief, and probably one hundred other expressions…but I did not see surrender on anyone’s face.   So…we took the wall, like we had the whole rest of the course….one at a time with tons of teamwork and camaraderie.  I was probably 4th or 5th to go up, and after getting there helped another 5 or 6 up, and then I made my way down to watch and cheer on everyone else.  And it was at that vantage point from the side of the wall that I spotted him again.  I say again, because throughout the obstacles I had noticed this wily old veteran.  He was wearing winter BDU’s and had been keeping pace for the most part with the 32 of us for the last hour or so of the race.  He was  every bit of 70 years old, and there was not an ounce of quit in this Gentleman’s face.  His first attempt at the wall was his best, but he didn’t make it just missing  the hands of the Mudd Ninjas that were there to help him up.  On his head he had a 10x or more tough mudder band, which by itself is amazing, couple that with the will and determination to do this at his age, and I was in awe of him from the first time I saw him.  Seeing him run, and move through this course had been a treat all day long,  I was so happy to see him moving and smiling all day, so when he came up even shorter on his 2nd attempt at the wall I thought to myself…..  if we all laid down and made a human ladder of sorts, I bet he could climb up and reach my guys up top.    I knew we had to do it.   So I touched him on his shoulder and asked. “Sir, if we all laid down would you crawl up to the top using our bodies as a ladder of sorts?”   And he said absolutely….

What followed next left hardly a dry eye to anyone who witnessed it.   My Ninjas supported me, the Veteran made it around…to get his weight on my back and shoulders…I pressed him toward my men at the top…they grabbed hold and never let go…he made it to the top…and the crowd rejoiced…..and there are not words to describe how I felt in that moment…..not a word…..but I know I will never forget it.  And I am left wondering if that is the first time he has made it to the top of Everest…I’m thankful to my team for their help and absolute willingness to do something outside of the norm and I cannot wait to hit this course again next year..

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here is a link to the video

 

such an awesome time!!!! and I couldn’t be more grateful to him for allowing us to share in this remarkable team building moment..

WOD’s for the week!!! 5/19-5/22!!! Spoiler for Friday!!!

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Monday  5/18
3 rounds for time
10- Goblet Squats (KB) 5 sec “rest” at bottom every rep
8- Walk out to to planks 5 sec “rest” then walk back in
10- Single leg Deadlift Toe touches (5 per side)

Tuesday 5/19
4 Rounds For Time
50 Double Unders
20 Toes To Bars
3 Wall Walks

Wed 5/20

Strength
Deadlifts
Experienced – 10,10,6,4,2,2,1
Less Experienced- 5,5,5,5,5

Thursday 5/21
12 min Amrap
72 ft FHC
72 Ft inverted Crawl

Friday
Robstacle Course

Simple… is not easy..

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Do we dare to be better than we were yesterday?  Do we wake up in the morning, thankful that our feet hit the floor, and face the day like we are going to kick the crud out of it, or do we stumble like zombies into our “daily” routine, regretting the drive to work, regretting the day in the cubicle, only to look forward to couching the night away in front of the TV.  Is that what has become the best part of our day? I suppose that is certainly easier…that is certainly the path of least resistance.  But, to what end?  That route of movementless existence leaves us barely able to take care of ourselves in the end.  It leaves us as dependent on our own children as they depended on us after their birth.  It leaves us weak, tired, unhappy shadows of the human beings we once were.  Lucky for me I am part of something.   I am part of something else.  This community….this Tribe….this incredibly close knit family is full to brim of something…something I believe is lacking in a lot of places in this world.  This tribe we have is full of vision and hope and dogged determination.  We know that we will not solve the  problems caused by  sitting, by sitting down to exercise.  We know that human beings were meant to move.  We were all meant to run, jump, climb, lift and throw things.  We should hang by our arms, we should invert ourselves from time to time, we should move well, and have fun doing it. We know how it feels to work out with out moving, and we know how movement feels…we choose the latter.  We know what consistent training is and how important it is. We know that once we put that consistency into practice  how incredible it feels to run into a friend who just saw us 3 months ago, and see that their face and smile shows how impressed they are with how “different” we look, they don’t even need to tell us, though they do….  We eat that up for breakfast. (along with BACON)    We know that choosing to move now will pay off later.  We know that choosing real food over processed poison will lead us to not only leaner and more functional bodies but to feeling so much better.  We remember how it felt the first time we crawled..we remember embarrassment, some of us remember shame….perhaps most importantly we remember nothing but encouragement from those around us, and how no matter the amount of defeat we might have felt, there was something that compelled us to come back…something that dug deep into us and screamed  “I can do this, I am capable.”  At times we couldn’t even allow ourselves to think that, but then, someone else would believe, and that was enough.  We know what it is like to pour our heart and effort out amongst dozens of other people doing the same thing.  We know the vulnerability that it takes and interestingly enough the power that it gives.  We feel unstoppable at times and also nearly crippled.  It really is poetic.  We are broken in front of each other, and built up nearly every time we enter this “box” of ours.  Part of us hates that, but mostly we love it.  We almost always believe in ourselves, and in the moments that we doubt we find belief in others that helps drive us on toward our goals.  We know how unique this is, which may be why we treasure it so much.  We treasure it, but we do not guard it, we are open to anyone willing to put the effort in to be her.  We do not care how fast you are, we do not care how strong you are….we care how hard you work, and how willing you are to care the same about us.  WE DO NOT CHOOSE EASY.  WE CHOOSE BETTER!!!

3/21/2015 WOD

….she’s a good one

 

WOD

4 x 5min EMOM’s

1. 7 Box Jumps  ( Slow Mountain Climbers)

2. 10 Hand Release Pushups  (Slow Crunches)

3. 10 Thrusters 35/45  (Seal Jacks)

4. 7 Burpees  ( Breathe)

 

Every minute on the minute perform the exercise and desired number of repetitions.  For the balance of the remaining 60 seconds perform the exercise in the parentheses.

 

Good Luck….she was a bastard!!!

 

Thanks to the 9am Class for letting me fight along side them.  It was a pretty epic one this morning!!!

3/19/2015

WOD

18 min of Movement
32 Feet- Foot hand Crawl on 2×4
16 Feet Farmer’s Carry on 2×4
and 10 Reverses with KB racked on 2×4

(5 reverses per side)

Continue through these three exercises until 18 minutes has passed

you can click the youtube link below to see an example of the movements….have fun if you try this one.  Slow purposeful and as always mind your movements!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM37K6DHtME&feature=youtu.be

3/17/2015 WOD and then some

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15min AMRAP

5- HSPU

10- TOES to Bar

15- Med Ball Front Squats

 

Wow…was this one a doozy.  It was great to see the control most of us demonstrated with the handstand pushup scaled options.  Purposeful and mindful movement, those are the steps that it will take to get you to RX this one.  I think we should give this one a name?  Any Suggestions?   At any rate, I was pleased with the way we moved, with the absolute effort put forth until the bell sounded, and with the attitudes that met the WOD before we started.  Fantastic day all around.

 

 

 

 

WOD 3/8/2015

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“Chuck Norris and Superman once had an arm wrestling match, the loser had to wear his underwear on the outside”

 

Warm up

10 Min Roll/ Child’s Pose, updog, down dog- 3 min

Walking Samson-2min/ Skinny PVC-3min/ neck Rotations and Shoulder Rotations- 3 min

Wrist Prep-2min

 

30 Jacks/ 10 Toe touches- 4x

Skill Work-  Full Squat Clean, PVC Pipe then SUper light Weight-  Just technique WOrk- 6-9min

 

WOD

6 Rounds   (will be timed, but the goal isn’t to go as fast as possible,   quality movement over time)

36ft- Inverted Crawl

45sec- Plank, alternating slow leg lifts

36 ft- inverted Crawl

10- Single leg Deadlift Toe Touches (5 per side, hinge and balance)

3o sec- Lalanne Planks  ( hold the plank, with arms as far in front of your head as possible,  Zero Extension..)

 

Good Luck and Happy SUnday!!!

3/7/2015 WOD

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Warm up

Roll 10min/ Childs pose, up/down dog, lat stretch focus-4 min/ Skinny PVC pipe- 3 min/ Lying Hip Extensions with, big PVC (KB Swing prep)

 

Active- 10 toe touches/ 10 Jacks    3x

WOD

TABATA

Kb Swings/ Deadlifts

Sprinting in Place

Handstand Holds

Hanging Knee Raises  (strict movements)

 

Fun 16 minutes today!!!

 

Themes to follow or reflect on for the week

-being present when you move is paramount to reps.  Pay attention to your body, and improve on movements every time.  i.e., make this air squat better than the last air squat.  The goal is to improve movement patterns, not just do more of them.

 

 

 

How a Simple Movement Tracker Could Save your Mobility

 

Let’s see.  I was thinking lately….I know…  That is a terribly dangerous habit, and since I am always trying to think of better ways to serve my athletes, and better ways to get them to achieve the goals that their hearts desire, I realized that something was missing from their lives.  And the implementation and use of such thing would be so simple yet could lead to huge, enormous results…..  So in a recent Seminar I gave I decided to change the way I present fitness.

 

I have noticed in the past, one of the best adhered to diet plans, when offering suggestions to beginners, I have told them to simply record everything they eat in a simple notebook.  AT first I don’t even really offer up much advice about what they should be eating, I just tell them to write everything down.  Anything that goes in their mouths.  And then the magic happens, they start to police themselves through every consecutive day.  It’s simple and brilliant.  So I thought let’s try the same thing with movement…

 

That is where the movement tracker below comes in super handy.

It is divided up into 5 different types of Movement:

1.Training- A Training session should have a beginning, end,  be measurable, intense, or feel like you are working purposefully.    A Crossfit Class, 3 mile Run,  Power Yoga class would be examples of training.

2.Play- fun, long slow movement, pleasure based movement.  Hiking, jogging, playing on a play ground with your children…etc

  1. Practice- things done to make us better at Training.  So for instance if you stayed after a Crossfit Class and Spent 5-7 minutes working on your Pull up, or your Clean and Jerk, these would be examples of Practice.
  2. Greasing the Groove- This is a great link to an article about Pavel Tsatsouline who created the term. You can use this method to improve daily on exercises    http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/greasing-the-groove-how-to-make-it-work-for-youRecovery
  3. Recovery- Actions taken with the expressed intention of recovering from movement

Your goal over the course of the 2 weeks that are listed in the table would be to put as many X’s in the boxes as possible.  Shoot for 10-12 for each block.  If you maintain consistency with your movement, and find time to fill those boxes up I can assure you than in a month or two of trying this you will experience wonderful improvement in your movements. …just by learning to hold yourself accountable.

 

Thanks for reading everyone.

 

Simple little movement exercise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90PkBHqPrw8

 

What is measured is focused on, what is focused on is improved…

 

Click on the Task PDF below for a Copy of The Tracker!!   And Good Luck everyone!!!

Task  PDF