Hey it's back and ready to send you to look at more cool stuff from this week (or the last couple weeks). It's been a weird week here, I think my stint in Rhode Island last week caused me to have almost a delayed start in my brain and threw me off. No alcohol was not the cause, mostly just exhaustion the exhaustion that comes from being outside a majority of the day both Saturday and Sunday. I did get to watch some good college rugby, so it was totally worth it.

Without further delay, here's your random, but not so random, Insta post of the week;

Now for the stuff that'll help you get through the grind of work, you're welcome.

15 Training Mistakes Top Strength Coaches Want You to Correct Immediately- This is an article that is full of names you should know if you don't already and the advice is top notch. Of course when Mr. Anderson makes an appearance in an article I'm going to make sure everyone else know it too.

It Took Me 10 Years to Become An Overnight Success- I know I'm a bit late to the party on this article, but it still needs to be mentioned. Do you like Shark Tank? Do you like fitness people professionals that know what the heck they're talking about (training or business wise)? Then please go look at this great post from Pete Dupuis, and he's got a pretty good one up just today that you should also check out while you're there.

Getting Started With Strength Training-True Stories From Former First Timers- "Everyone has been a beginner at some point." Awesome quote to have highlighted at the very top of this post. It's true, if you deny it then you need help, seriously. Whether you started at the age of 13 or 53, everyone has a first day in the gym and it can be really scary sometimes. This post from Jen Comas on Girls Gone Strong, chronicles 4 ladies' adventures in starting with strength training. Those on the fence, hopefully this pulls you away from the dark side of the force.

There have been many out there giving their thoughts on the not so new modality to hit the fitness universe, CrossFit. Most of the educated professionals I know have said their piece and most agree, there’s good things and bad things. I think even most seasoned CrossFitters will tell you the same. There’s good and bad to it. I’ll throw my 2 cents into the ring here and let you all decide for yourselves, if you haven’t yet.
 
Let me just start by saying people that are absolutely sullying the name of CrossFit for no actual good reason should probably pump the breaks a bit and make sure that they’re doing some digging on it first. Even some of the worse boxes (CrossFit gyms) have some good to them. They’re not unlike gyms, personal training studios or strength and conditioning facilities. There are coaches (boxes) that are absolutely awful for various reasons, and are absolutely giving the name and industry in general a bad rep. Then there are some that are high quality and getting many people to move in ways they’ve never thought possible, safely. As always in this industry, it depends is the answer.
 
The Good;

• I will echo a point made by Jon Goodman in his book Ignite the Fire, Crossfit has brought some intensity back in to the gym. Not everyone needs it and I’m not saying we need R. Lee Ermey from Full Metal Jacket to walk in and treat everyone like Gomer Pyle, but I also feel there’s some points where people need to just suck it up and get it done. With a good eye, a coach can help you push your limits and not quit on yourself. Everyone needs to be pushed in order to make progress. Upping the intensity in the place can certainly be that push.

 

• Crossfit preaches training the compound movements and even Olympic lifts, YES! That’s a win in my mind. The single muscle isolation training has it’s place, but about 99% of the population needs to learn compound (or life) movements before they graduate to things like that. Also, where else, other than say gymnastics, will people learn hand stands? Nowhere, and that’s a crawling variation I’m happy to see being introduced to people.

 

• Community and culture are huge things that Crossfit has brought to the game. When someone other than your coach/trainer is supporting you, giving you help/feedback and is busting their hump right alongside you, it helps drive you that extra bit. That’s a big part of why I prefer semi-private training. Competition/motivation to push further can be a very good thing and some people need it to get to that next goal.

 

• Nutrition, without a doubt, is the biggest downfall of ANY training regiment, Crossfit, Power Lifting, Olympic Lifting, Pilates, Brazilian Booty, Barre, Tiddlywinks or otherwise. Without getting what goes in the tank straightend out, progress will be limited, in all cases. Crossfit has made more people aware of the importance of protein intake, along with the veggies everyone knows they need to eat, with the introduction to the world of the paleo diet. Paleo has it's good and bad, but we'll call this one a good because the general idea behind it is on the money.

 

• Muscle is required in this life, yes even you ladies and Crossfit is doing an awesome job at teaching ladies that muscle is also sexy. Yeah that’s right guys, muscle on women is sexy. Don’t like it? Fine, but DO NOT shame women that bust their ass gaining strength, muscle and the results they want, if you do then you are lower than low. I would also wager have some of your own issues to work out, don’t press them on someone else. Back to the point, Crossfit has provided a space for women to get off the elliptical, stop doing so many crunches (BARF) and pick up some iron, which is absolutely awesome. More women are seeing how much they are capable of, thanks in good part to the introduction of boxes. 

​The Not So Good: 

• First and foremost, like the training/coaching industry in general, the barrier for entry as a box or a coach is very low. A weekend course, some financial backing and bang you have yourself a box. I know people are probably screaming at their screens, MY COACH IS AMAZING! Yes I know some great coaches that are pretty damn smart, probably smarter than me to be honest, so Brett, Dan, Emily and anyone I’ve forgotten, keep doing what you do. Back to the point, for every great coach there’s probably 5 or 6 crappy coaches out there that have no idea how to actually coach. These coaches just tell you to do the movement, no actual cueing or correcting, and if you can’t do it then you suck. Please tell me what good that does to someone that’s trying to get off the couch and get moving again. More than likely that’s just going to make them depressed and send them back to the couch, but hey it’s Crossfit right? I appreciate seeing more coaches at workshops and summits, trying to kill this issue off, but still work to be done. 

 

• Crossfit presents itself as forging elite fitness. That is true to a point, in terms of overall, well rounded fitness, it's quite accurate. The downfall is that while it makes you better at things you might not be so great at, it tends to make you...well not so much better at the things you're already good/great at. You might become a faster runner, but you might not be quite as strong at your deadlift you once were. Certainly not a terrible thing to be well rounded. This is also not something that applies to all trainees, but many.

 

• Somebody please correct me on this next point if I've missed the mark, perhaps it went over my head when I wasn't paying attention. To my knowledge, there is NO movement assessment what so ever that’s been standardized. I mean they’ve set standards for everything else in their gyms, why in the name of the old gods and the new, not have an assessment? From gym to gym, more are doing some sort of movement screen to make sure the athlete/member isn’t going to fall apart the second they load an exercise, but across the board, still work to be done. I realize Crossfit (or any coach with a brain) scales the exercises depending on ability level. The problem is, if you don’t actually know what a person’s movement looks like to start, how can you properly scale an exercise for them, or progress them? To put it a little bluntly and maybe a bit unfairly, as a respected and very smart strength coach and professional put it (paraphrased); Hey you can move your arms over your head, let's go kip. This seems to be about the extent of some gym's assessments.

• While we’re on it, Kipping Pull-ups…why? Why? WHY? Ow my shoulder…

 

• Last thing, Olympic movements, and other power based movements, are NOT meant to be done in an exhausted state. OK great, the top Crossfitters can do them and they look good, can keep their form and know when to stop. That’s great, YAY for them. MOST people walking into a box are not capable, and may never be capable, of doing those movements in an exhausted state. With the added intensity and the drill sergeant coaches out there that tell you to keep going because if it hurts it’s good, then the newbies will continue to do these movements with worse and worse form and crack, they’re hurt. Not just talking about a bloody shin or a scraped elbow, I’m talking about bones, tendons, ligaments or worse…discs. Then the newbie, or sometimes not so newbie, is on the shelf and may never get back it, back to the couch and they get worse, not a great thing.

 
All in all, it's probably a good split between the good and the bad simply because there's no quality control. That's not unlike any other type of facility in this industry neither. I think more people are starting become knowledgable to the point where they can smell a bad Crossfit gym from a mile away. The quality of coaching is being increased, but like all other facilities in the fitness realm, we need to work to squash the stupid shit out there, you've all seen the videos and memes.

Those are my thoughts, and I am definitely echoing some things I’ve read or heard before from other people, so no these are not entirely my original thoughts. The likes of Tony Gentilcore, Artemis Scantalides, Mike Boyle, Dan John, Neghar Fonooni and my friend Mike Anderson all have their prints on the good and bad stuff you see above. I’ve just managed to put it in my words, splash a bit of my humor and hopefully inform more people about the pro’s and con’s here.
 
That’s what I got today guys, remember to use your heads when signing up training any where, not just a Crossfit box.

Happy belated opening day to all you baseball fans out there. I'll hold my celebrations for when the Sox win more than 80 this year, but off to a good start here at the Fens. Good luck to everyone else this year....unless you're  Yankees fan, sorry (I'm not sorry). Apart from baseball, I know it’s spring because rugby seems to consume my life more than normal in this particular season. I coach, play and usually am still indulging in quite a bit of it. So, no matter what siri or alexa tells you about the weather, it’s spring, trust me.

Alright to the meat of this post. I want to hit on something that is super important and this pertains to anyone reading this, weather you lift (workout) or not. I'd like you to think about this, think about when you had a loved one or a good friend that you care about come to you and say they’re going to start hitting the gym or the like. Whether that was in January when it seems everyone and their cousin does it, or maybe in like April or May when the weather tends to be nicer. What was your reaction? What did you say to them Assuming you weren't that person?In any case what did you say to them, assuming you weren't that person? Maybe you were providing the positive encouragement for them going to do so in the first place, in which case bravo to you.
 
Keep that thought, hopefully it was, at least, a somewhat positive or encouraging reaction. Something like “sounds good”, or even better, “how can I help?”
 
Unfortunately, we all know others out there are thinking that they may not have acted so positively. It’s OK, you can still make amends, assuming the person doesn’t currently hate your guts, in which case, you’re S.O.L. I’ve heard of some absolute nightmare stories where loved ones didn’t like the aesthetics of a person and, more or less, forced the person into the gym, not such great "encouragement" to that person. You're now part of the problem, congratulations.

The point we’re getting at here is one of the biggest reasons people stop training, working out or just plain getting to the gym is lack of a support system. Most people need it because not everyone has it so easy where they can wake up at the absolute butt crack of dawn and get themselves to the gym. Shoot I know I need it sometimes, and I've been at this for not too short of a time.

Sometimes you pay for someone to become a part of your support system, a trainer or coach. That's great, buuuuut a coach only sees them for an hour a week, maybe 3 tops. It’s up to everyone else thats around  them the other 160+ hours in their life to support them in their goals. At the very least, help them build the habit up, then it’ll become more of a little nudge now and again as opposed to every day. The better the support system, the more little nudges the person gets. The coach nudges the client, their significant other nudges them, their parents nudge them and their best friend nudges them and boom they've dragged themselves in when they didn't quite feel up to it.

I'm not saying everyone in this person's life needs to drop what they're doing and support them. Just don't be part of the problem if you don't want to be part of the solution. Whether you know someone that wants to run a marathon, pick up some really heavy stuff, make the varsity team or anywhere in between, they'll appreciate your support. No reason to be part of the problem, unless you're a real jerk like that, in which case you're reading the wrong site.

Summary of the message;

Trainees and clients- Keep the people supporting you around, like a lot.

Friends and family of trainees and clients- Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

That's all I got today everyone, go out there and get after it!