In this fitness business, the word coach gets tossed around more than a tithing bucket on a Sunday. Its important to recognize this overuse, because the word denotes a job, as well as a certain set of requirements. If the job description is not met consistently, then we are an industry with no standard. As such, our reputation and our ability to help people diminishes greatly.
Affiliate owners offer advice on how to handle the rush when January and February bring prospective clients with fitness goals for 2016.
New year, new younow at a discounted rate!
Its a phrase globo gyms around the world know well as they seek to draw New Years resolutioners who have pledged to get in shape.
Many CrossFit affiliates, however, take a different approach.
I learned from experience I cannot lower the price … because it attracts the wrong person, explained Juria Maree, owner of Reebok CrossFit Enduro in Singapore and a member of CrossFits Seminar Staff.
The same is true at CrossFit Meek in Mexico.
We dont do promotion, said affiliate owner Gabriel Garca Merlos. We feel like it will attract the wrong type of people.
Still, a new year brings new clients with goals of being more active. For Maree and Merlos, whats most important is ensuring new athletes are a good fit for the community.
When it comes to the New Years crowd, the bottom line is to be honest and understanding, affiliate owners said.
People really want to change, but sometimes its hard. … We have to realize that, Merlos said.
Welcome to our brand new weekend roundup, Three of the Best! Every Sunday, we'll post up Breaking Muscle's top three articles of the week. These pieces have caught your attention throughout the last seven days. So here they are in one place for you to consume, digest, and enjoy.
In my last article, I shared a phrase I like to use with all my lifting clients:
"Build a big foundation with your feet and you'll build a skyscraper of a squat on them."
Doctor explains how 48-year-old Pete Katz used diet and CrossFit to stop taking medications for diabetes, high blood pressure and anxiety.
Days before Pete Katz's visits to his primary-care physician, he would go on a diet. It was his vain attempt to nudge his health markers in the right direction. But the short-lived change had little effect on an increasingly grim reality.
"Pete was in a common situation for many patients in that his weight was not ideal. And early on he did not have significant health problems from that," said Dr. J. Harry Isaacson, Katz's physician of roughly 15 years. Isaacson is also assistant dean for clinical education at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine in Ohio.
"Many people end up crossing a threshold … where they start to accumulate different health problems from their weight," he said.
For Katz, that threshold was a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis at the age of 41. To treat the disease, the doctor prescribed oral medication. After three years, it wasn't enough. So Isaacson prescribed an injectable drug. This was in addition to Katz's treatments for anxiety and high blood pressure. Injecting himself with medicine and constantly monitoring his insulin put enough fear into Katz that he finally heeded the advice Isaacson had long been giving him: Change your diet and start exercising.
Before then, Katz had tried multiple diets and exercise programs over the years; nothing stuck. This time, he started following the Paleo Diet. About a month later--in November 2012--he had his first class at CrossFit Painesville in Ohio.
Six months after that, Katz was able to discontinue all of his medications.
"He's basically cured his diabetes with his attention to lifestyle," Isaacson said.
In this video, composer Chad Cannon offers a look into the creative process behind the music featured in "Fittest on Earth: The Story of the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games," co-directed by his brother, Heber.
"Since this is a film for CrossFit and there's a lot of energy in CrossFit, … I couldn't quite convey that without creating some type of new sound world that can engage with that type of energy level," Chad explains.
Cannon recalls hearing that the film would include music by Junkie XL, a music producer who worked on the soundtrack for "Mad Max: Fury Road" and remixed the Elvis Presley track "A Little Less Conversation" in 2002. Following Junkie XL's lead, Cannon decided to build his own percussion library by creating and recording unique sounds.
"My landlord collects all sorts of metal, so I said, 'Hey, John, we could make a lot of noise with your junk in your junkyard,'" Cannon says.
Using wagon wheels, oil barrels, old gasoline tanks and other scraps, the two set to work building their own musical instruments. Cannon then combined the new with the traditional to "make this original percussion sound" that would "capture the energy" of the CrossFit community.
"Fittest on Earth: The Story of the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games" premieres on iTunes Tuesday, Feb. 23.
Video by Heber Cannon.
3min 31sec
Additional reading: "CrossFit Inspires Singer's 'Fight'" by Kate Moran, published Jan. 20, 2012.
Sports coaches are constantly exposed to new, exciting exercises via Facebook, Twitter, and every sport-specific strength forum under the sun. But without a proper foundation, it's impossible to process all the information.
Nick Massie of PaleoNick.com takes his inspiration for this dish from the molcajete, a stone mortar and pestle commonly used in Mexican cuisine. Massie uses halved acorn squashes for his "mortars," piling them high with juicy carne asada, shrimp and tomatillo salsa and baking them until they caramelize and bubble.
First he toasts the garlic in olive oil, and then he adds the tomatillos, browning them to get some color for the sauce. Next, he cuts the squashes in half and removes the seeds with a spoon.
"You can save these seeds if you want to toast them up," he says.
After drizzling the squash halves with oil, he sprinkles them with Cheechako Tako and puts them in the oven until they're half-cooked.
The next step is to add water to the saucepan to finish off the tomatillos--ready when "they're kind of giving out their seeds and just soft to the touch," he says. At that point, the tomatillos can be blitzed with a hand blender or food processor.
Massie prepares the filling by seasoning the beef with Cheechako Tako and mixing in the shrimp and onions. Finally, he adds the salsa to the meat mixture, pours everything into the "molcajetes" and finishes them off in the oven.
To download the recipe for acorn squash molcajete, click here.
Video by Nick Massie.
4min 49sec
Additional reading: "Read 'Em and Eat" by Agnese Smith, published June 24, 2014.
Government and CrossFit affiliates fight against Big Soda in a nation where sugary beverages are part of the culture.
"The average family in Mexico (eats) breakfast with soda," said Pablo Romo, owner of CrossFit Lava in Mexico. "They eat (lunch) with soda, they eat dinner with soda. Soda all the time."
In 2011, Mexico led the world in soda consumption, with an average per capita consumption of 43 gallons per year. Unsurprisingly, the country also leads the world in adult obesity. As of 2014, more than 70 percent of adults in Mexico were overweight and 32 percent were obese, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The country has the world's highest death rate from chronic disease caused by sugary drinks, and Mexico City's secretary of health, Armando Ahued Ortega, expressed concern that the high rate of diabetes is causing Mexico's health system to collapse.
A few years ago, those concerned about public health in Mexico saw disaster looming and fixed their sights on soda.
Back when I first started training, things were easy. We read bodybuilding magazines because they were the only thing available, and followed all the routines in them. That usually meant picking a big exercise like squats, bench, or rows for the big muscle groups, followed by lighter accessory exercises.
Mike Warkentin reveals the real secret to thriving in the CrossFit Games Open.
"Everything is OK."
The words were written in black marker--large block letters about an inch tall running down the inside of her forearm from elbow to wrist.
My friend, an artistic, freethinking woman with an occasional affinity for "consciousness expansion," was very matter-of-fact when I asked her about the sentence staining her skin on a Sunday morning.
"I took mushrooms last night, and I needed a reminder in case anything got weird. When I started to panic, I just looked at my arm."
A psychedelic romp into the weird might seem unrelated to fitness, but it's become clear to me over the years that the CrossFit Games Open can be a mind-altering experience that causes paranoia where none is warranted.
With the Open almost upon us and 16.1 on the horizon, I'll offer the one thing you need to remember in order to bypass the tension and truly thrive in the Open:
Everything is OK.
Tom Robertson came to a hard realization as he approached his 70th birthday: He could no longer move around like he used to, and with a granddaughter on the way, he wanted to change that.
Robertson's son Kyle was worried about him.
"We all like to delude ourselves when we're losing capacity that we could still really do it if we had to," Kyle says.
Finally, Tom admitted to himself that he needed help. He was no longer able to get up on his own, and that scared him.
"I said, 'God, I need to do something … and I started CrossFit.'"
At first he was anxious about joining his son and daughter-in-law at CrossFit Santa Cruz, but then he realized the other members "are just regular people trying hard to get better." For Robertson, his personal improvement included doing a burpee for the first time--and celebrating the accomplishment.
"I don't have any doubt in my mind at all that if I hadn't been working for the last four years the way I have, I would not be doing what I can do today," he says.
Video by Dave Leys.
3min 32sec
Additional reading: "A CrossFit Grandma" by Mary Conover, published Oct. 1, 2004.
"Don't get too bulky." "If your shoulders get too big, you'll look like a man!" "You're too skinny, you need to eat!" "There's no way she's natural, she is definitely using steroids."
In this four-part series, Gary Roberts and Travis Cosentino make their rounds among the elite athletes of the Masters competition at the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games. Watch highlights from the events, interviews with the athletes, and footage of the trash talk and words of encouragement that motivate some of the Fittest on Earth to push themselves harder than ever.
In Part 1, veterans and rookies reflect on the differences between their plans and their performances. Robert Caslin, a competitor in the Masters Men 60+ Division, says the only thing he told himself before Triplet was, "Have fun and don't finish last." Caslin exceeds his expectations.
Less fortunate surprises are in store for Kim Holway, the 2014 Masters Women 45-49 champion, who has to withdraw early in the competition due to injury. Other athletes rally around her as she copes with the realization that the Games are over for her.
Some of the remaining athletes talk strategy and motivation. Diane Urban and Tracy Maceachern agree on a simple plan: "Go." You have to "go to the dark place," Urban says. Steve Marino says his only strategy is "chasing Will (Powell)," the 2014 Masters Men 50-54 champion and a new competitor in the 55-59 Division.
In Part 2, Powell describes the experience of changing age brackets in 2015.
"It's kind of cool because you're going in the younger guy," he says. But he admits that moving up also has its disadvantages: "The weight is lighter in this division, and my strength is lifting a little bit heavier loads … so I kind of lost that weapon."
Part 2 follows Powell and the other athletes into Long Chipper and Double Hanger, and the competition continues the next day. Follow the action in Parts 3 and 4.
Video by Gary Roberts and Travis Cosentino.
Part 1: 22min 7sec
Part 2: 16min 42sec
Additional audio: "CrossFit Radio Episode 284" by Justin Judkins, published July 14, 2013.
Welcome to our brand new weekend roundup, Three of the Best! Every Sunday, we'll post up Breaking Muscle's top three articles of the week. These pieces have caught your attention throughout the last seven days. So here they are in one place for you to consume, digest, and enjoy.
In this four-part series, Gary Roberts and Travis Cosentino make their rounds among the elite competitors in the Masters competition at the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games. Watch highlights from the events, interviews with the athletes, and footage of the trash talk and words of encouragement that motivate some of the Fittest on Earth to push themselves harder than ever.
Parts 3 and 4 cover the final day of the competition. On their way to the stadium, the athletes talk about what they did to stay fresh after the five grueling events of the previous days. Diane McKinney, a competitor in the Masters Women 55-59 Division, says, "Gotta eat. Gotta eat to perform."
Friends, family and fans cheer the athletes on as they head into the day's first event, The Sandwich, an 80-calorie row followed by 40 shoulders-to-overheads and 80 deadlifts for time. Upon completion of the event, only the top 10 athletes advance to the final.
Part 4 follows the top athletes in each division into the last challenge. Director of the CrossFit Games Dave Castro takes the competition floor for the big reveal: "You're going to do … the first event we ever did at the Home Depot Center."
During Amanda, the athletes fight for muscle-ups, work to stabilize tired shoulders for squat snatches and calm their nerves during the tight race to the finish. Afterward, Castro reflects on how the level of fitness at the Games has changed over the years: "I know there were individuals who in their 20s five years ago … did not do it in five minutes. That is something special."
Video by Gary Roberts and Travis Cosentino.
Part 3: 14min 34sec
Part 4: 14min 24sec
Additional audio: "CrossFit Radio Episode 117" by Justin Judkins, published Jan. 21, 2009.
Food-industry watchdogs: "Exercise is medicine" just a platitude designed to distance Big Soda from chronic disease.
At first blush, it seems like a harmless statement: "Exercise is medicine." Exercise, after all, is good.
"It's plainly true," said Gary Ruskin, co-founder and co-director of U.S. Right to Know, a whistleblower nonprofit targeting the food industry. "Physical and mental health indicators are improved through exercise. In general, it's a great thing."
Exercise Is Medicine (EIM)--registered trademark--as promoted by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), however, is not a great thing, Ruskin noted.
"ACSM is an organization that is somewhat aligned with Coca-Cola, so this is a part of Coca-Cola's effort to deny its responsibility for the epidemic of soda-related diseases that have plagued our country," he said.
EIM is one of the ACSM's major initiatives. The Coca-Cola Co. is the program's first founding partner, noted ACSM CEO and executive vice president Jim Whitehead in 2012.
Central to the EIM initiative is the notion of doctor-prescribed physical activity.
That is a problem, noted Greg Glassman, CrossFit Inc. Founder and CEO.
"When exercise is medicine according to Coca-Cola, then CrossFit is nothing short of medical malpractice," he told an audience on Nov. 12 at CrossFit Downey in Southern California when touring affiliates as part of the "California Invasion: Rally to Fight Big Soda."
Learning how to eat better is one of the keys to long-term health and happiness. It may even be the most important thing we need to do in order to kick ass for as long as possible. I am a huge fan of anybody trying to find their own way to a diet that nourishes them and their family.
As strength and conditioning coaches, most of us found our passion in the gym and on the playing field. We are masters of our physical craft, and can articulate the most complex training methodologies to anyone and everyone.
Welcome to our brand new weekend roundup, Three of the Best! Every Sunday, we'll post up Breaking Muscle's top three articles of the week. These pieces have caught your attention throughout the last seven days. So here they are in one place for you to consume, digest, and enjoy.
How are you ensuring a solid connection to the floor so you can move big weight in the squat? A large array of problems with the squat, such as heels rising, knees collapsing and chest falling forwards, can be remedied by simply concentrating on the feet and their relationship to the lift.
Just in time for Super Bowl Sunday! In this video, Nick Massie of PaleoNick.com shares his recipe for kickin' like Van Damme chicken, a dish he calls "the bigger brother" to his bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers.
Massie's kickin' chicken features a careful arrangement of chicken fingers on a bell-pepper base. That combo is topped with jalapeno slices and wrapped in thin-sliced bacon, and it's served layered over a creamy puree of parsnips.
In preparation for the dish, Massie performs a chandelier cut on a bell pepper to make the popper body. He then divides the chicken and jalapenos and starts stacking. After Massie wraps each stack in bacon using a "double tuck" technique, the poppers are ready to go in the pan.
This dish, Massie notes, is special because it uses parsnips for its carbohydrate. Parsnips, he says, are a sweet and minty "alternative to most of the carbs that we eat regularly."
Once the poppers reach an internal temperature of 165 F, they can be placed on top of the pureed parsnips. For a finishing touch, the chef adds some Massie Mayo and cilantro.
To download the recipe for Kickin' Chicken, click here.
Video by Nick Massie.
4min 57sec
Additional reading: "Roasting Virtuosity" by E.M. Burton, published April 11, 2015.
