Important Opinions
Should you listen to everyone’s opinion?
Your goal is to become stronger, more muscular, more defined. You want bigger arms.
You go to work and take off your jacket. You hear a coworker mention in a passing comment that they are surprised at how small your arms are.
First. That is a shitty comment. No one has any business making negative comments about others' appearance. I don’t care if they don’t look like you.
Second. This type of comment can be enough to completely derail someone's progress. It can be enough to throw them off track. Maybe they hear that comment and believe the comment to be true. And believe that perception of others to be permanent.
But you are resilient and you are strong. You have evidence that disproves their remark. You are getting stronger in your lifts. You have been committed to the process. You have close friends who have noticed a difference in your appearance and demeanour.
It is difficult to ignore the people who are willing to make negative comments about your appearance. Maybe those comments are a reflection of their own insecurity. Maybe they also need help but aren’t ready to make the steps you have made.
Trust the opinions of those who matter most to you.
What’s Your Roadblock?
What’s your roadblock? Is it pain or weight?
What is the thing that is holding you back from the results you so badly want?
You’ve set a goal, but something has gotten in the way.
Maybe your goal is weight loss.
That’s great! Totally support it, assuming it is healthy and you are doing it for you, and not to please others.
So is your problem weight loss?
Maybe you love working out.
Maybe you eat quality foods.
Maybe you get good amounts of sleep.
But you are dealing with physical pain that is causing you to take breaks in your training, derailing your progress in the gym.
When you have to take breaks from the gym, it throws off your routine. You start eating differently. Your sleep is disrupted. Your stress levels rise. Your weight increases.
So is the problem weight loss?
Or is your roadblock physical pain?
I’d say it’s pain.
Address that and we get you back on track towards your goals.
Running Into Trouble?
Running does not need to cause trouble.
Are you having some difficulties with running?
Maybe you are having foot, ankle, shin, knee, hip or back pain.
Maybe you want to increase your speed. Or endurance.
Maybe you want to run a marathon. Or your first 5k.
Regardless of your goal, we are going to assess the thing that hits the ground first.
We are going to assess your feet and ankles.
We are going to look at your ability to point your toes. We look at this in the kneeling butt to heel test.
We are going to look at your ability to bend at the ankle. We look at this in the ankle dorsiflexion test.
We use this information (along with other assessments) to find any low-hanging fruit to work on so that we can get you started in the right direction for your goals.
Where Do You Start?
You’ve got a goal? Where do you start?
You’ve set a goal. You’ve set a destination.
What's next? Now that you’ve decided what you want, how do you get there? Where do you start?
That’s the role of a coach.
It’s the role of a coach to figure out where you currently are so a path can be laid out to get you where you want to go.
This involves questions and assessments.
An assessment is your locator. It tells you where you are. It finds areas to work on.
Imagine deciding you are going on a road trip. You set a destination. But your GPS doesn’t locate you. How can it tell you what roads to take? How can it say how far away you are?
It can’t. Without that assessment, starting points are just a guess.
When it comes to people’s health and fitness, I’m no fan of guessing.
I like more certainty than that.
Going Low Enough?
Are you squatting low enough?
Are you going low enough in your squat?
It's easy when watching a video or seeing a photo of someone doing something to quickly jump to criticism.
Maybe it's done in a way that is different than yours.
Maybe some coach has told you it will lead to injury.
Maybe you don't think the technique is correct.
But the first question to ask is: why might they be doing it that way?
Sometimes we aren't going low enough. Sometimes we need coaches or tools for accountability.
Sometimes going low just isn't beneficial for the performance of a task or sport.
Sometimes going low isn't something our bodies are prepared for. Yet.
Sure in multiple competitive sports (powerlifting, CrossFit) that depth would not pass in competition. But is the person competing? Are they missing sufficient hip/knee or ankle range of motion to go lower? Are they working through an injury and want to gradually reintroduce depth? Is their training sport specific (volleyball, basketball, hockey) where they want to get strong in sport-specific positions?
Sure this depth meets competition standards for powerlifting and CrossFit. But this depth is likely lower than needed for an athlete to maximize performance in powerlifting. For athletes who want to compete in olympic weightlifting this is a great position to develop.
Sure this squat is low, but at what cost? We can tell this athlete to go low to meet some standard, but is their body capable of that standard? Do they have the range of motion to get into that position? Do they have the breathing and bracing mechanics to remain there safely? Won't know without assessing.
Lost?
What do you do when you are lost?
You’re on a road trip and are completely lost. What do you do?
Do you start making random turns hoping to end up in the right place?
Or do you seek out direction? Maybe that’s an app on your phone. Maybe you phone a friend. Maybe it’s a paper map if you are old school or don’t have reception.
What do you do when you feel lost in your training?
Do you start trying out random things hoping that something sticks?
Or do you seek our direction? Maybe you find a group of friends to train with. Maybe you join a gym. Maybe you hire a coach.
It’s ok to ask for help! The sooner you ask for directions the sooner you will get on the path to where you want to go!
Need help? I’m here!
When Does Recovery Start?
When does your recovery start?
What do you do immediately after an intense workout? What is your post workout routine?
Do you stretch? Do you roll around on the ground? Do you hunch over and lean on your knees? Do you chug a bottle of water? Do you contemplate your existence?
Any of those things could make sense assuming there is intention to it.
When that workout finishes, when that last rep is done, when the clock beeps, what I often notice is what could be described as chaos.
That chaos often lacks intention.
When your workout stops, don’t stop.
Don’t stop functioning. Start recovering.
This means breathe, this means move, this means lower your heart rate.
Your cooldown starts as soon as your workout finishes.
It’s fine to lay down on the ground on your back or hands and knees after a workout. That’s assuming there is intention to it. Those positions are actually the easiest positions to work on your breathing mechanics. Get back to nasal breathing as soon as you can.
It’s fine to stretch after a workout. Maybe you have any area of your body that you know needs some additional attention. Maybe it helps you relax and calm down. That’s intention.
Workout ends, recovery starts.
For most of us, we are TRAINING to be healthy and fit. If we are in a position where we are consistently incapable of focusing on our recovery after a workout ends, we are likely regularly overtaxing our system.
Now if you are COMPETING for an Olympic medal (or insert athletic competition), do whatever you want, you’ve earned it.
Cheat Meals
What is a cheat meal?
What is a cheat meal? Or a cheat day? Whatever you want to call it.
Here’s my definition of a cheat meal: You went against the rules of a competition that involves food.
Example: You’re in a hot dog eating contest. You get to the point where you have a “reversal of fortune”. Apparently, that’s the term used in the sport of competitive eating for vomiting. You can not do that. You will be issued a red penalty flag. You cheated. That's a cheat meal.
In my mind, there is no other instance where the phrase cheat meal or cheat day needs to be used.
Enjoy your food!
Want to have a burger? Maybe some fries? How about ice cream?
Go for it!
Do we want to do it every day? Probably not.
On a diet that doesn’t allow you to eat certain foods? Ask why. It’s possible there is a great reason for that. It’s also possible that there is no good reason at all.
I would rather see someone exercise/sleep/eat/breathe perfectly 70% of the days in a year, instead of being perfect for a period of 1 month before falling off the wagon for the rest of the year because of an unhealthy relationship with “insert thing”.
It can be really hard to love your body or love yourself with negative associations with an action, like eating certain foods.
Side note: “Reversal of fortune” is the most polite way I have ever heard to describe vomiting. I would like everyone to use that phrasing from now on. Thank you.
70%>100%
When is 70% better than 100%?
Yes that math doesn’t add up.
But what if the conditions for you feeling 100% are as rare as winning the lottery.
If you have 70% to give, give it. If you have 55%, give it.
If you aren't feeling 100%, that's ok! Who ever actually feels 100%?
If you wait for the perfect conditions, you will likely be waiting for a very long time.
Give what you have and you will set yourself up for progress.
Want to move the needle? You need to start somewhere. Wherever you are at is a great place to start.
Concept inspired by: @erinruppertfitness
Dehydrated After Sleep?
Learn why you may be dehydrated after waking up
Your first thought is likely that you should be drinking more water.
But what if you are already meeting (or exceeding) recommended water intake levels?
Maybe there is something you are doing while you are sleeping that is resulting in excessive water loss.
Now I doubt you are running marathons while sleepwalking. If so, that’s impressive.
So how are you breathing?
Mouth breathing can result in a net water loss increase of up to 42% when compared to nasal breathing during sleep.
This can lead to increased fatigue, vulnerability to inflammation, shallow chest breathing, and more instances of apnoea, arousals and awakenings.
We don’t want that.
To change this we need to reprogram the way we sleep. This takes time, effort and focus.
There are a few strategies people can use.
The simplest but likely the most challenging is to tape your mouth shut. Medical paper tape can do the trick. Duct tape is overkill.
Other strategies include ensuring nasal airways can be as open as possible. Simple solutions you could try if this is difficult for you include nasal irrigation, breathing aids, and steam from a hot shower.
📘: Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art - James Nestor
Stress Is Best
Is stress bad for you?
Is stress bad?
Stress is commonly associated with being a negative thing. But is it?
It’s fair for people to be confused with stress or to give it a negative association, as the definitions out there tend to be a bit confusing.
Definition 1 (Meriam Webster): a state resulting from a stress.
Well, that’s not helpful. Basically says “X is a result of X”.
Definition 2 (Meriam Webster): a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation.
Well, that sounds awful. Disease causation sucks.
Definition 3 (Hans Selye): Stress is the nonspecific response of the body to any demand.
Now, this is more helpful.
Demand>Response>Stress
Stress is positive when we have a positive response.
Stress is the reason people get stronger, fitter, more resilient, and reduce the likelihood of injury or disease. That improvement came out of adapting to that stress.
Stress is also the reason people can become burnt out, injured or sick.
It’s a double-edged sword.
So how do we improve this?
Recover. Stress our bodies to levels that we are capable of recovering from. If we are not recovering we are not adapting to the stress. Results require adaptation.
Improve stress responses. When you are feeling elevated levels of stress, how do you respond? Does your heart rate increase? Does your breathing change? Do you get sad, angry, quiet, loud? Does your response match the situation? Sometimes we respond in ways that may not be favourable.
Adjust what you can. Sometimes we ask or are demanded too much. This may require asking for help.
CrossFit: Let’s Do Better
CrossFit and its need for improvement.
CrossFit, we can do a lot better.
Recently I went through the process of preparing for and passing the Certified CrossFit Trainer (CCFT) test. Also referred to as the Level 3 test by many. I went through this process for many reasons. The main one being to make me a better coach, which I believe it did.
It is a very thorough test. While I do not agree with all of the content, there is still a ton of great information that can be beneficial to coaches and athletes.
Now the last year has taught me many things. One is that the fitness industry has a lot of work to do to be more inclusive and diverse.
This includes CrossFit.
From CrossFit's website:
"The Certified CrossFit Trainer (CCFT) credential is for an experienced individual who wants to demonstrate a higher level of CrossFit coaching knowledge and ability. The purpose of the CCFT is to ensure that an individual possesses the knowledge and competency required to train clients safely and effectively.
To attain this credential individuals must meet all eligibility requirements, pass the CCFT examination, and commit to a long-term standard of professional accountability"
This is the overview of the CCFT. As such, I believe CrossFit should also be held to very high standards of professional accountability.
In my studying of the content on the suggested reading materials list (I read or listened to everything except for the CrossFit Kids and Masters Training Guides), I noticed some items that I believe to be harmful. This includes misogyny and stigmatization of mental illness.
These are images of two articles included in the study material.
"Benchmark Workouts" - CrossFit Journal Issue 13 - September 2003 - Greg Glassman. Page 5
"Fooling around with Fran" - CrossFit Journal Issue 31 - March 2005 - Greg Glassman. Page 4
These are screenshots of the articles themselves. They are not edited as I have seen done by some web pages.
Now it's possible that you aren't sure of why I may have some objections to that content.
That logic for naming those workouts does not read well to me. That logic for naming storms doesn't read well either. It doesn't say to me "I see you, and I see you as an equal". It has a strong tone of misogyny.
Anorexia is an eating disorder and mental illness. What is the purpose of associating an eating disorder with scaling a workout? To me as a coach (and human), that sort of association is disrespectful and stigmatizes both individuals who scale workouts and individuals who have eating disorders.
This content and the CCFT test itself brought up a lot of questions for me. So I asked CrossFit's new DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Council about that content specifically. I also inquired about the complete lack of diversity (in race and body types) represented in videos shown on the CCFT test. Some responses included:
"I will ensure these concerns are expressed internally."
"We agree that these articles are not inclusive and do not reflect the views of the new leadership team. From our team to our content, we are focused on ensuring that CrossFit is inclusive going forward."
"As you might imagine, it will take some time to review the wealth of content we currently have and make updates or total replacements where needed. And, yet, we are committed to this work and will build addressing dated materials into our project plans. "
I think it's great that CrossFit now has a DEI team. And I can imagine they are busy and have multiple projects on the go.
However, at this time the next group of coaches preparing to take the CCFT exam are currently studying this material. That problematic content has been out since 2010. And I know I am not the first person to bring up concerns.
I have seen new "Girls" workouts be added instead of addressing the logic of those names being used in the first place. Amongst the wealth of content in the reference material, there is not one article about a coach’s role in fostering diversity, equity and inclusion, aside from a statement that the "aim of CrossFit has been to forge a broad, general, and inclusive fitness".
I hope they do have some great project plans. I want CrossFit to be successful because I believe in the community and the results people have achieved through CrossFit. I am very grateful for CrossFit and the opportunities I have within it. With my gratefulness comes criticism because I want it to succeed and for it to succeed I believe the fitness industry needs to be better.
Actions lead to progress. For progress to happen we need to address the future but also the past. If we continue to study problematic and harmful information we will continue to contribute towards the same problems.
I Don’t Know
Does your coach know everything?
How often do you hear this statement from people you trust? How about a coach?
Coaches don’t know everything. If they claim to know everything, I would question their credibility.
Sometimes answers to questions are out of the scope of the coach.
Sometimes answers to questions are outside the knowledge base of the coach.
Doesn’t mean they don’t want to help, or don’t want to know the answer to the question you have.
Find people who are full of truth instead of full of shit.
Sometimes the truth is “I don’t know, but I will look into that for you”.
What Do You Do The Most?
What activity do you do the most in a day?
When you add up all the seconds, minutes, hours, days, what activity do you do the most?
Is it working?
Sleeping?
How about breathing?
We breathe over 20000 times a day. Contrary to many other things, like working, sleeping, or eating, breathing happens without us thinking about it. It is controlled by our nervous system. And our nervous system is influenced by the events and activities that surround us.
Stressed at work? This affects your nervous system. This can affect your breathing.
Worried about the weight you are about to lift? This affects your nervous system. This can affect your breathing.
Favourite sports team just won the championship? This affects your nervous system. This can affect your breathing.
Because it is the thing we do the most, this likely means that it is an area that could be improved. Just because we do it a lot, doesn’t mean we are perfect.
The first step to improvement is awareness.
Are you a nose breather? Are you a mouth breather?
Does it change based on the activity?
Put it in the comments or send a message! Would love to hear.
Should I Exercise More?
Do you really need to exercise more?
So this is one of those “it depends” questions.
So let’s narrow it down and be a bit more specific.
Let’s assume exercise is already a part of your routine. It’s an important part of your day but you are not sure if what you are doing is enough. You see other people in the gym working out for hours and hours. You wonder if that should be you. But you also know that you have other responsibilities. Maybe you have a busy job. Maybe you are a student. Maybe you have kids.
So should you exercise more?
Probably not. Like I really doubt it.
Are you making progress? Are you seeing results?
If you answered yes then keep doing what you are doing! It’s working!
Now let’s say your answer is no.
Maybe something needs to be optimized. Maybe your sleep could be improved. Maybe the way you fuel your body could be improved. Maybe your stress could be managed more optimally. Maybe your training needs to be more specific to the results you are looking for. Maybe the results you are looking for will come if you continue the course.
Note that all of those possibilities do not require you to exercise more.
I believe that we live in a world where it is so easy to be influenced by others.
You see the gym member who trains 2-3 hours a day. But do you know why?
Are they trying to compete in a sport?
Is training their social time?
Is training their job?
You follow someone on social media who posts workout videos all the time.
Were the videos prerecorded?
Do they use workout videos to gain followers?
Do they use workout videos for personal accountability?
Another question you can ask when comparing your exercise volume to someone else's: Is that person like me?
In the world we live in it can be easy to want to do more because of the influence of others. But maybe the people we are comparing ourselves to are on a completely different path than the one we are on.
Any questions coming up from this? Ask away!