So I just recently saw a very nice clip of CF Endurance’s Brian McKenzie talk about the sodium potassuim pump and some science behind CrossFit Endurance.  It came at perfect time too because lately I’ve been getting alot of these comments or concerns from prospective clients or people from outside of the CrossFit community, particularly runners who think Crossfitting is bad or that it won’t benefit them or plainly just not for them etc..

Nothing can be further from the truth!  Of course it can benefit you!  But let’s not make a mistake here.  Let me back track a little.. I know generally the public’s opinion says or thinks if you can run then great you must be fit.  Even worse if you can run long distance you are more fit.  And the worst ever is thinking that a triathlete or ultra endurance athlete especially at the elite level are the fittest people on earth. This is just a very naive line of thinking.  Now let’s not get this thing twisted.  I’m not against running or endurance training.  Not at all, I love running, in fact I was once a runner.  My best half marathon is 1:24.. That’s an hour and 24 minutes roughly 6:24 pace for 13.1 miles not great but not too shabby either.  But the point i’m trying to make is this:  Endurance training in the most typical way has already gone past any cardiovascular benefit and has begun to deteriorate all the other attributes that make a person fit.  The issue in the ends becomes strength training or better put strength and conditioning.  Things like coordination, balance, flexibility, power, speed, agility, accuracy have all been compromised.  If your sole goal is to run in competitions and be competitive runner then I understand the sports specific training that needs to take place.  Yet still the role of strength & conditioning becomes apparent even in these specialized populations.

Nobody get’s sore “during” a 5k.. or a 10k or a marathon as McKenzie says and of course I agree.  You might get sore during a 400m or an 800m or even a mile OR Fran or Helen, Elizabeth etc..  I’m talking about the nasty burn in your legs, the buildup of lactic acid.  Well to make a long story short, it’s not lactic acid at all in fact lactate buffers that burning feeling and is a fuel to be used.  The problem is that we have a system in our bodies that really needs to be efficient in order to maintain a hard pace and not slow down.  Something runners don’t want to do.. slow down.  This system is the sodium potassium pump.. The more efficient this system is the more fit you are.  The more efficient you can become at using lactate as fuel the more fit you become.

The reason why a CrossFitter can go out and pop a 5k or 10k cold turkey and without much typical endurance training or without much of a slowing down significantly is because of the strength and conditioning training that took place while he or she was Crossfitting and in turn has made this system efficient.  We can do this by bringing the intensity way up and bringing down the overall volume.  We do this with every workout including the dreaded yet highly important power / strength workouts.  Let me ask a quick question, how long does it take you to recover from a 10 or 12 miler on the weekend?   1 to 2 days..? Yea.  Sore? Maybe.. and the reason why is an inefficient pump, it’s not because you couldn’t process oxygen anymore it was because your tissue broke down and needs repair.  How long did it take you run that 10 or 12 miler?  An hour and change?  Maybe a couple of hours..

I know I’ve been there too.. Holding a pace during a race then a few miles later my pace slows then towards the end it really slows before I muster everything I have left for a final kick.  Sound familiar?  That was  me back 4-5 years ago.  BY CrossFitting I’m able to hold a harder pace, keep it, not slow down as much AND most importantly stay injury free because I am not doing those long runs typical endurance training, WHICH consequently cause overuse injuries.  I am able to do this (and all CrossFitters are able to do this) because we have a more efficient system.  And usually a better kick in the end too because our pain threshold has gone waayyy up!  But I’ll leave that to another subject of the psychology of CrossFit.

For now, CrossFit makes you a better runner.  PERIOD.  Don’t believe me?  Try it!

Hello again folks..  Man it’s been a while but nonetheless here’s part II of “the truth” series on the blogspot. If you guys read the last post, I finished last time talking about commercial gyms’ involvement and not really understanding the essence of what CrossFit is and how it really works.   

So in this second part I’d like to discuss a couple of things and dig deeper into the local CrossFit craze.  What I really want to say in this “truth” is truth of education.  That’s all I really want.  From who, you ask?  From the community in this town but more importantly from the people who desire to start CrossFit.

On the education standpoint I want to ask out loud about why the general public refuses to ask questions anymore?  Are we really getting that lazy?  I mean those who are looking to start their CrossFit journey of fitness should always ask a few questions.  The reason why is quite simple, I’ll even go as far as to those who read this will, in the end know what questions to ask.  Basically my thesis statement for this segment is:  Stupidity is infinite.  Knowledge is limited.  People need to remind themselves to ask questions and consider the source.  Don’t take everything you hear as law.  And so with that it springs up immediately that you must put in some work.  Aww.. so sorry haha but trust me it’s always worth it.

I mentioned in part one that as a whole we have 4 CrossFit affiliates here in Laredo.  Yes that’s right 4.  In comparison San Antonio has 9 but has a population of 2.2 million people!  Here are some other stats, Dallas / Forth Worth has 8 affiliates but approx 6.4 million people, the central Houston area has 6 affiliates and it happens to be the biggest city in Texas and the 4^th largest in the U.S!  And here in Laredo with roughly only a quarter million people already have 4.  Wow!!  What do these demographics mean?  Simply that just like anyone can be president of the United States, anyone can pop up a CF affiliate.   This DOES NOT by any means say that they know what they are doing.  In fact there are a lot more ineffective and dangerous CrossFit affiliates than there are good.  Not let’s not get this thing twisted.  I am certainly not bashing the other affiliates in town, not at all, I’m simply stating that in this portion of the blog I’d like to help the general public open their minds to choosing the right place to go to but more importantly inform themselves.

Unfortunately most people reading this are current CFL athletes and that’s ok, we can still spread the message.  So let us begin.  Here are a few questions I believe everyone must ask when choosing a CrossFit box to go to.  Let’s face it, you have to do your due diligence if you are going to spend an upwards of 70, 80 even north of 100 dollars a month for your fitness facility.  Am I right?  Ok good.  I’m glad you agree.  You must ask first and foremost, who started this CrossFit thing in Laredo..  Answer: CrossFit Laredo.  Why is this question relative?  Because we started this craze in this town!  CFL knows what they are doing.  We’ve been in action since September 2008.   Yes we were the first.  DO NOT let anybody tell you different.  We have the biggest staff and the most experience.  That’s not being cocky or anything I’m just being like Dragnet’s Sergeant Joe Friday and stating “just the facts.”      

Another question..  Who are the owners and who runs the affiliate?  If these are two different people you might want to look a little deeper and question the ambitions of that organization.  Seriously you must ask this question.  Effective CrossFit boxes have always followed the pattern of owner/operator.  With this in effect it allows the person who calls the shots to make the correct calls based on client needs vs. wants vs. revenue.     

Here’s another.  What is the background of the owner and where did he/she learn about CrossFit?  I get this question a lot and I’m happy to answer it.  Basically what you are looking for here is the word CREDENTIALS.  What you should be trying to get here is making sure your BS detector is on and working.  If the story sounds like some elaborate, dramatic overly impressive account, then your little monitor should be beeping like crazy.  Once you hear the answers it’s perfectly ok to ask for proof and check to see if they are telling the truth. (There’s that homework again sorry)   

How many trainers are on staff and who are they?  I’m talking trainers not volunteers.  This is an important question.  After all who is taking care of you while you are working out?  Who’s coaching you and correcting you?  You have a right to know.  Are they even qualified might certainly be a straight follow up question.  Ask for proof too.  Ask how long they’ve been crossfitting.  Things like that.  Here are a few more questions to ask: 

What is the background of these staff?  Are these people businessmen, hardcore crossfitters, thugs, thieves, brawlers or gosh I hope not, all the above?  Are they educated, professional, respectful?  Have a conversation with the staff and you will get the answers quickly.

Investigate the facility and the overall attitude of the place.  This might very well be the clincher.  Pay attention to this one.  See the atmosphere of the place.  Look at the members and their attitudes and look at the trainers and their attitudes.  Being qualified is one thing, genuine want to help others is another.  Remember no amount of certifications or seminars attended can change the character of a person.  It might change their attitude but not their character.  They may know how to do things but it certainly does not make up for how they really are inside.  Like I said above all else, this might be the deal breaker.

Things of this nature are the deal breakers and they very well should be.  Price shouldn’t be.  Location shouldn’t be.  It’s the people you work with, how they are and how they affect your life.  CrossFit is not just about working out and getting insanely fit, it’s so much more than that.     

I know it may seem that I’m setting all this up so that CFL stays at the top and looks good.  That CFL is the greatest CrossFit box in Laredo.  Sorry if it does, but I’m asking you to be the judge not me.  I’m asking you to inform yourself and leave it up to you to make that distinction.  Trust me I’m not doing it on purpose.. No wait, of course I am!   

In the end again the idea is the same.  People need to know the truth.  I’m tired of the general public being lied to.  And I know they are because I get stories of this going on all the time even to this day!  It’s quite upsetting and the new client has no clue what’s going because CrossFit is so new to them.  People need to ask questions again and need to get educated.   

I leave you with this:

Ignorance isn’t bliss, its blind.  A lack of awareness prevents us from consciously focusing on what’s important.  Awareness colors our perspective.  Those values you keep foremost in your mind become the values you are most likely to live out.

Alright guys welcome back!  So it’s been a while since I last posted and I apologize for that but I’ve been so busy as CFL continues to grow it takes more and more of my time which in turn leaves me with very little time to get back on here.  And let’s not forget I work at the hospital too..  It’s getting very difficult to even train myself and even more difficult to blog.  Yup every minute is accounted for or like the title of the inspiring DVD from CrossFit HQ says “every second counts”.

In order to make up for it I’m going to provide a 2 part series on a very entertaining, rough, edgy topic that might offend or may not offend BUT nonetheless I think it needs to be said type of topic.  What is it?  I call it The Truth.  What truth?  Read on..

There’s been an uproar of CrossFit talk amongst the city.  Who’s doing this and who’s doing what all over the place.  In the past 2 years we’ve gone from 1 CrossFit Affiliate (the orignal = CFL circa 2008) please hold you applause, haha, to 4 boxes now.  In fact even commercial gyms want to start doing CrossFit Wow!  And so it brings me to answer a couple of questions and more importantly expose the truth.  What we are, what we are not, what’s happening in Laredo and what’s going to happen in the future with all this uproar.

Let’s get started on explaining the difference between a real CrossFit facility and the pretenders.  When I say pretenders I’m talking about commercial globo gyms jumping on the bandwagon of Crossfit, actually they are jumping on the CrossFit Laredo bandwagon.  In fact I don’t know where we’d be today if CrossFit Laredo had never been created… Hmm.  Ok ok you get my point.  No worries the story of CFL and it’s beginings will be posted at another time.

Back to the truth…  A true CrossFit facility will never survive much less thrive in a commercial setting.  It can’t and it won’t.  In fact CrossFit HQ from what I gather, is entirely against commercial gyms, clubs and their methodology and business model.  No real training can take place at these places.  Not if you are talking real fitness.  Here’s a few words from Coach Glassman himself, the founder of CrossFit:

CrossFit endeavors to lead a revolution in fitness training, a radical departure from the ineffectual, non functional prevailing bodybuilding model of the commercial gyms and leads towards the professional strength and conditioning model of the university, pro sports franchise, and military.  Your needs, regardless of your current fitness, differ from the professional or elite athlete’s by degree not kind.  It bears repeating: the commercial model is predicated on simple movements requiring little or no coaching and inexperienced staff.   The professional strength and conditioning facility requires different  and much less equipment BUT professional staff and instruction. 

The idea that commercial facilities decide or desire to offer CrossFit classes or CrossFit type workouts is just utter nonsense.  This is a weak and misdirected attempt to be competitive against the CrossFit affiliates in town.  Ain’t gonna happen, we are not in the same market.  CrossFit being done at these places will never be a profitable play (which is their primary reason for doing it).  You see I, along with the first crossfitters tried doing WODs at these places not only locally but out of town.  Have you ever tried it?  Friends and acquaintances of mine have tried too and the response is always same.  It’s not even close to the real thing.  It’s downright frustrating.    

At best what a regular gym is might get is retention of their current membership.. at best!  We know these places hurt financially and they will try anything to make dollars BUT the people of Laredo looking for the real CrossFit in every sense of the word from the environment, athletes, instruction, facility and equipment will look for CFL. 

The point I want to make is this; CrossFit is about real training not marketing strategy or wanting to make a buck or doing what’s “hot” right now.  CrossFit is not a trend, it’s a way of life, a way to longterm fitness and health.  The truth will always rise to the top and people will always seek, call out, and prefer genuine effort to help, enhance, empower and change people’s lives.  The way CrossFit Laredo has been doing for years.

Part II coming soon.

Injury… an athlete’s worse nightmare.. A crossfitter’s plague.  In reality it’s only a matter of time when a seasoned crossfitter is stricken with an injury or ailment that won’t let him or her workout.  The truth of the matter is, is that CrossFit has a side of it that seems more like a double edged sword.  On one end we have perfect technique and on the other extreme intensity.

We always talk about the 3 ways to success when it comes to the CrossFit movements at CrossFit Laredo.  The golden pathway that we practice.  What is it?  Well some of you have heard me say this many times and here it is again:  First learn how to do it right, second know how to do it right lots of times (repetitions), and third add some intensity and load, make it harder faster.

So the thing is that some of the magic about CF is that you must bring a high level of intensity for things to change.  For you to extract the most out of the CrossFit program you must for the most part be taking it to the edge sord of speak with your efforts.  All out effort!  One more step and you collapse or quit or throw up.  Right at the edge is where things happen, where the benefits take place.  On the flip side of this is technique and form and consequently while performing at the edge this will fall apart as well.  And that could turn into a big potential problem.  If you CrossFit long enough your body has certainly experienced a downfall of somekind.  After all CrossFit is our sport and not just any other strength & conditioning program.  So what are you to do?

The art comes in the balancing act of these two components.  Go hard enough during the workout that you are about to falter but not so hard that your technique is completely horrible.  Where these two lines meet is where you want to live.  I always tell my clients don’t be perfect but almost perfect.  If you have absolute perfect technique, you need to step it up a notch.  If you are going 100mph but your deadlift, clean or squat for example looks like you are bending over to touch your toes then you need to step back and refocus.

So what happens when you do fall apart and get injured?  Well let me tell you.. everything all of sudden sux!  You can’t workout, your body is changing for the worst, you’re depressed, moody etc etc.  But injury is not entirely bad.  That’s right I said it. It is not entirely bad. 

People who have been around me for a while know I’ve had my share of injuries and every single one of them has taught me a lesson and made me a better athlete, trainer, listener.  I mention listener because it’s important to listen to your athlete’s story of pain and frustration and what they are experiencing.  It’s also very important to really understand and sympathize with the athlete.  It is very usable knowledge from a trainer’s / coach’s point of view, as well as for the athlete to vent and decompress and share their emotions. 

The reality is that an injury brings forth some things that you may have forgotten.  Perhaps the athlete got hurt because he/she got sloppy on form, maybe he/she was moving weight that was way out of their capacity, perhaps the athlete was stubborn and didn’t ask for instruction, maybe just maybe their body wasn’t well rested..  Either way whatever happens you can take a lesson from it.

Injury stinks no doubt about it and I never wish that upon anybody at any time.  But if you are unfortunate to experience a downfall, reassess the situation and look for the lesson.  I guarantee there is one there.  IF you do, I guarantee you will return a better, smarter athlete.

Alright so here we are again as promised.  The next topic on the blog spot will be the topic of giving. Why you ask? Why in the world would we even talk about giving? Why is this important or even relevant to me? I think the answer is quite simple.  Here’s my take.  If you do not lead a life of service then it may not be a worthwhile life. 

Time and time again we hear so many people say to themselves I wish I could live a good life, or I wish I could have that person’s life, or wow that guy sure is lucky etc. etc.  I say Ok, you want your situation to change?  Then start giving.  Start giving and see how your perspective and opinion change.  Nothing speaks louder to one’s soul than the true genuine action of giving of oneself to others.  Not only does it say so much to the people benefitting from what you are providing but the true beneficiary is yourself.  Giving isn’t an occasional event though, true giving can only come from the heart.  When someone truly gives it touches every aspect of a person’s life – time, money, talents, possessions, everything.  

There is something you can do to start developing this type of lifestyle or attitude of this new habit of Giving.  Here are a few things to keep in mind.  One, be grateful for what you have, don’t ever take things for granted.  We hear this so much it’s so easy to forget it’s almost cliché-ish. Think about this if you are reading this blog, you don’t have it that bad.  There is just way too much to be thankful for. Number two, put wife, husband, kids, family, friends, co-workers first.  This is a simple unselfish move that could and should be natural.  Most people struggle with this and it’s understood.  That is why giving or the act of giving can happen immediately but the Habit of giving requires practice, it doesn’t happen overnight.  Three, now don’t get me wrong here with this one, it’s good to want things but don’t let material possessions take control of you.  More importantly don’t let the desire to want those things to take control of you.  Four, see money as a resource not status or privilege.  Seems like the entire population struggle with number four.  They get a little bit of money in their bank account and its straight to the cars or bigger home or expensive clothes.  The mentality of entitlement usually follows.  People in this situation really aren’t living great life and have much to learn. 

Ever met someone extremely successful?  They all have something in common.  They give and give and the cars and the house are not that big a deal.  They take on an attitude of been there done that and realize there is no substance in materialistic things.  It’s what you can do with that money that makes you rich.  It’s what you can do with those resources you have.  Five, continuously work on the habit of giving. 

The wonderful thing about this is that you can change your circumstances right now.  You don’t have to wait.  You don’t have to have millions.  You can start practicing your new habit of giving today.  What can you give?  How can you be of service beyond your job or career? 

Giving is the highest level of living.  – Period!

It would be interesting to see if we all adopt this attitude of giving.  How much better would this world be?  Better yet how good will your own life become?  You want that good life right… You know what to do.

The very first blog for our new Blog Spot today will be something I feel sets the tone for how we live our lives, it’s actually a philosophy..  I can’t even begin to describe how important this is and how it’s affected my life.  I’ve adopted this way of thinking this philosophy for quite some time now.  Several years in fact.  And let me tell you it has changed my life!  It wasn’t that it was so revolutionary, so out of this world that this philosophy shocked me because it isn’t.  In fact it’s the exact opposite, it was the simplicity of it. 

There are so many How To books out there with regards to philosophy and principles and how to live your life and there are some that are really good, but that really isn’t the problem, it never has been, it never will be..  it’s the DOING.  The information out there is plentiful but unfortunately that’s all it really is just information.  It’s being able to process that information and putting those principles of the good How To books to work.  That’s where your philosophy comes in.  How you think, a paradigm shift.  That’s what it boils down to.  - “The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level thinking we were at when we created them” – Albert Einstein.  In short, a paradigm shift. 

Think about this for a moment:  Your Philosophy creates your attitude, which in turn create your actions, your actions end up creating your results and those results will shape and create your life.  So it really comes down to how you think and how you hold on to what you think and what you do with those thoughts.  To change your way of thinking is easy to do and easy not to do.  This is not like the book The Secret, although a good book, not great, but good, that talks about thinking good thoughts and majical things will happen, obviously this won’t cut it, it takes a little more.  The philosophy takes things further because you are not only thinking you are doing.  You are reacting, responding.

Now this may come off as book report, but I don’t care.  It’s that important.  Nobody is here for a book report but the lesson within is just too big to dismiss and not talk about and discuss.  So book report or not, here’s my speal..

The thinking here goes as follows.  That everything we do every decision we make matters.  The most mundane unimportant decisions (especially at the time you make them) makes ALL the difference.  It will make the difference between success or failure, winning and losing, a positive lifestyle or a negative one, even life or death.  Take this for example: For those who smoke cigarettes, if you have one cigarette a day will it kill you?  Probably not.  Not today.  Not at the time you are smoking it.  If you eat unhealthy food say fast food, pasta, lots of candy, foods high in saturated fat.. will it send you to the hospital will it completely ruin your health forever?  Chances are the answer is no.  Not while you are having that meal or snack.  If you don’t brush your teeth, will you get tooth decay or gum disease overnight?  Nope.  (Worst case people won’t talk to you haha)  Not buckling your seatbelt, will it put your life in grave danger on the way to the store just 5 blocks away?  Umm probably not.  BUT all those simple errors in judgment compounded over time definitely will.  And that makes the difference.  It’s easy to do and easy not do.  This is the Slight Edge philosophy.  A philosophy that tells you that you are either on the upward, succesful, positive curve with every decision you make or you are going downward, unsuccessfully in the negative direction with every decision you make.

The problem with this philosophy for most people is that at the surface these decisions don’t seem to matter whatsoever.  The differences of the outcome are so Slight so insignificant that they don’t scream out “hey you are going in the negative direction pal” because you will not see the results of your bad decision making.  At least not when you make them.  It’s the principle of compounded interest that will get you in the end.  And trust me it will..   

Remember, simple errors in judgment compounded over time make ALL the difference.  It’s easy to do and easy not do.  Sucessful people do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.  They always make the slight edge work for them and not against.  Change your philosophy, change your way of thinking.  And when you do are you going to apply it to your health?  To your spiritual life?  To your family?  To your finances?

On what side of the slight edge are you going to be on?

For more: Jeff Olson “The Slight Edge”