Tag Archives: workout

Motivation

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This is it.  Right here.  The life you have…the one you have currently been living….it is here….and believe it or not it is right now.  There are things we have done, and there are things we will do….but in truth all you have that is promised to you is right now.  Don’t you owe it to yourself? Don’t you owe it to your family?  Don’t you want to finish this life off and be able to say ” Yes… I did my best”  “I gave all I could give”  I know I want that.  I want to look myself in the mirror at the end of every day and know that I lived it to the fullest.  I want to know that on that day I stepped up,  I came, I saw, and by god I conquered.   I didn’t ask for permission.  I took and did what I wanted and asked for forgiveness later.  That’s how I want to feel at the end of everyday.  I think as powerful and graceful human beings that is how we are meant to feel at the end of everyday.  I have to be honest with you.  I’m sure that a lot of us out there do not feel that.

So if you don’t feel that way, and you want to what do you do?

You workout.  You train smart, you learn from the best you can find, and by god…once you have the mechanics down you train HARD.

If you have never had the pleasure of feeling what it is like to leave your sweat, heart, and at times even your blood on the mat after a grueling, heart pumping, mind electrifying WOD….then no wonder you don’t want to work out.  If I had to go to a 30000 square foot facility where no one knew who I was, and sit down to do resistance training, or do some sort of bastardized cross country skiing that ultimately gets me nowhere (elliptical)  if I had to suffer through 40 minutes on that thing, and then 40 more minutes traipsing around the gym looking for the right machine…I too would be numb to the idea……  I too would rather stay at home that suffer through that mind numbing monotony. ……

….what you need is something that lights a fire under your @$$.   You need to be worried about what is about to happen when you step through the doors.  It needs to cause you anxiety if you think about it.  You have to wake up in the morning and be ready to face it like a dragon that is trying to steal your Princess from you  (or prince).   You need to walk into your Box as if you are going to be forced to eliminate the head of the taliban, save Christmas, punch the devil in the face and run for the President of the United States all at once….and that’s just the Warm Up.   In truth……all Joking aside.   When you walk into your Box, or even your “gym”.   It should matter.  Damnit all. It should be a Big deal….scratch that it should be a HUGE DEAL.   Every WOD, every REP, every rest….is earned…and it is an investment.   It is an investment in you…..  You.     Every time you pick that bar up you are making sure that you are better.  Every time you pull your chin above that bar you are showing the WORLD what you are worth, and you are proving it to yourself.  Each rep builds confidence, each Meter rowed builds ammo for you.  The more you come the more you love it….the more you love it the more you start to live it…..  People notice….People comment…..people see the difference……people FEEL the difference….. YOU FEEL THE DIFFERENCE.   It’s not about the Scale…..   It’s not about the  Time……   It’s not even about the Weight…..and it certainly isn’t about What Place you finish……    What it’s about is YOU!!!  It’s about committing to make YOU  better than the you from yesterday.  It’s about chasing perfection and finding that excellence is a pretty damn sweet place to be.     Sleep well tonight everyone….get up tomorrow morning and crush it!!!!

Daily Reflections……working hard and finding happy..

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Do more than is expected of you..

Believe in yourself rather than believing you can’t..

Let’s be honest, if you do not love and care for the person staring back at you in the mirror, how can you truly love and care for anyone???

Ok Rob…I give up….what in the hell do those statements have to do with fitness….or especially your Crossfit Box????  

In one word?   Everything.  I have been extremely fortunate to own and operate my Crossfit/ Movnat Box for over 6 months now and have had the amazing pleasure and opportunity to work with some some outstanding people from all different walks of life.  Everyone that comes through the gate at Crossfit Williamsville has to fill out a little visitor information form that helps give me insight into who they are and what sort of goals they might have.  It usually, in terms of their goals, reads something along the lines of ….lose  (insert arbitrary number here) lbs.  Tone up, get lean, get a six pack, etc…..you get the point..  Rarely does perhaps the most important and most telling goal pop up on that sheet…..  Feel Better.   Isn’t that really what it is all about.  If you find Crossfit Williamsville it is absolutely not on accident.  NO one has ever wandered in my door and said…..oh…I thought this was going to be like Curves… Quite the contrary,  while they may not know what Crossfit is, but for the most part they know what is isn’t….lol  it seems I have strayed off the path a bit, let’s come back around to why people seek out this wonderful place….it’s simple….they come to feel better, or perhaps to state it even more concisely..Happieness….they think I can make them happy…   They may not realize that, they may profess that it is all bout dropping 15lbs before the wedding….or getting that first pull-up, or being able to go up and down the stairs with out being winded.  But ultimately it all comes back to being happy.

I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy.  From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering.  Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology affect this.  From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment.  I don’t know whether the universe, with its countless galaxies, stars and planets, has a deeper meaning or not, but at the very least, it is clear that we humans who live on this earth face the task of making a happy life for ourselves.  Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness.

                                                                                – Tenzin Gyatso; The Fourteenth Dalai Lama

http://www.dalailama.com/messages/compassion

I happen to agree with about 99.99% if what he says…so I thought I would drop that quote in there.  So…if I believe that most who come to the box are seeking happiness whether they know it or not….how do I help them attain it…..simple….good old fashioned hard work…coupled with accomplishment…..and with some serious  challenge sprinkled on top to boot….and I also allow them to become very comfortable with failure.  Failure…..I know what a dirty word.   The truth of the matter is failure is one of the best things that can happen to anyone…anyone…period.   Show me someone who is wickedly successful…and not only will they have failed dozens of time….but they will have very purposefully become comfortable with the thought of it….  As long as, after a failed attempt, we pick ourselves up and learn from it….no worries…..

At any rate there is an amazing amount of happiness and self fulfillment to be found in an environment that challenges you mentally and physically on a daily basis…and that is what I attempt to create every single time a program a WOD….

have a good evening buffalo and beyond

…go out and find your happy…..

Accepting that your best is only enough until Next time.

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Crossfit, by definition, should push you passed your comfort zone…every time.  When you step into the box, or check out the WOD online, it should leave you with a terrible pit in your stomach, questioning whether or not you should subject yourself to what you see.  It should test you even before you start.  Then you begin the warm up, sweating more than some of your Globo Gym friends do when they workout, you practice the skills involved in your WOD, and then 3,2,1, go..you are off…..and before you know it, not only are you dying, but you are seriously questioning whether you are going to survive the workout, not to mention finish it….but somehow, even when every fiber in your body tells you to quit….when every rational thought in your brain is screaming at you to STOP…..you don’t.   Maybe it’s because the athletes around you aren’t stopping….maybe it’s because your coach is there, motivating, inspiring, encouraging you to not give in to that quitter in your head…..or maybe….just perhaps…you have found a strength inside of you that is greater than even you believed…….and somehow, now that you are only a few reps, or minutes away from the end you have found a renewed vigor….and all of sudden your next to last round is faster than your first round, that’s impossible….right?  NO WAY…..the only difference is in the beginning you were scared of what you might find inside of you, and by the end you are confident in what you are made of…….and inevitably the  WOD ends, and there you are…..for the most part exactly the same as when you started…except for one glaring difference….you have grown yet again…the same as you did in your last workout, and how you will continute to grow in your next.  That is why you  subject yourself to this…..that is why you drink the kool aid.  That is why, for some reason, all of your non crossfitting co-workers are starting to ask you what your WOD was before you annoy them with telling them about….they have started to bug you….guess what…they are as thirsty as you were….offer them a drink….and show them what CrossFit is…

I must admit, I feel honored and humbled to be able to introduce such an inspiring way of life to my Athletes…and I look forward to pushing them over and over again……as they, no doubt, will continue to push and challenge me.

best of Health

Nutrition…How to eat well..

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I have long been wanting to post on this subject. I’ve reread my past posts on my other blogs that spoke of nutrition  and must admit that, as heart felt as they are, they fell short of their intended impact.  How does one reach out to a populace that only responds to answers they want not answers they need?  How do I craft an article so compelling that those reading it won’t simply say “Yeah he’s right, but I’m not going to give up pasta” but instead might actually give it up for 90 days, and see how much better they feel.  People don’t really want to acknowledge that there are really only two ways to eat.  There is simply eating the way that nourishes our body or the way that poisons it.  Period.  How have we come so far from where our distant ancestors were 10,000 years ago.  I mean how crazy is it that we live in a society where our food sources are so jacked up that we need people with advanced degrees to legally prepare a “diet” for us?  Really?  I can sum up how you should eat right now.  Organic: meat, veggies, little to no starches, nuts and seeds, and a bit of fruit.   Wait a sec Rob, you don’t have any grains on that list?    No, no I don’t.  Sugar isn’t there either.  “But I have to have my sugar” Umm.. actually no, no you don’t…actually out of the three macronutrients (fat, proteins, carbohydrates)  Carbs are the only one for which there is no dietary requirement.  That means if you provide yourself with fat and protein your body can make all the carbs it needs to function optimally. What qualifies me to make this statement?  Do I have a degree in nutrition?  Am I a Registered Dietician?   No, and hell no….. to be that I would have to believe that you need to eat whole grains.  Here is what I do know.  I have never felt, looked, or moved better than I do right now, and it has been over a year since I’ve eaten grains or sugar.  I’m leaner, happier, have much longer bouts of energy, have lower blood pressure and let’s get this one out of the way, the majority of my diet is fat…..wow….is that possible…..it is.   But I will tell you this, I don’t eat things that come in a box, or that have words in them that I cannot pronounce.  And I feel super good about it.   So in closing be willing to look at our history, look at how our waistlines have grown steadily since the agricultural revolution started, look at how our fertility rates have dropped, how our average height and strength has waned…..you would think with all the great commercials about how healthy eating grains are, and the fact that the vast majority of our american diet is based on it, that we in fact, should be the healthiest nation in the world…right?  At any rate I feel I’m starting to go on a bit too far.  Keep this in mind.  If you are interested in learning more, I’d love to sit and have a conversation about this with you.  You can reach me any time during the day at the box, 716.560.7438…..or stop in and visit.  Let’s keep this in mind.  Exercising without eating properly is putting the cart before the horse…

stay healthy buffalo