Detached Attention

The rule today was that you can get on with the heavy/hard stuff after you completed 5 consecutive minutes of rope skipping with no misses.  My intention was to force people to spend more time working on a simple skill than they were accustomed to.  Can we agree that the simple ability to turn your wrists in time with performing a small hop, and to be able to maintain that rhythm ought to be something everyone can do?  You can argue that it... Read More

So whatcha want

A couple of years ago, a young woman who had trained with us for several months and who had made great improvements in strength, mobility, and body composition, explained her reason for quitting by saying, “I think I’m just a cardio kind of girl.”  Leon was there with me and afterward we looked at each other and shook our heads.  “You know,” he said, “we just didn’t get through to her.” It reminded... Read More

Egg Grenade

In conversation with Emily S. (trainer at Pine St) she casually mentioned something which stuck in my mind like an image from a dream.  I’ve found myself wistfully thinking about it at random times through my day.  Wondering.  She said that consumption of this ninja food has been widespread among her Clean Eating team. I forget what she called it, but after making it last week, I call it the Egg Grenade because it splatters hunger with... Read More

Coming back

The backstory: Mid-July of last summer I took a fall from my bike and jacked up my shoulder.  I’ll spare going into detail about the injury, but I got hit as hard as a person can be, just short of breaking bones.  I wrote about it in an earlier post and my thoughts about being on the recovery-side of things. I want to continue that narrative a bit because I know injury and set-backs happen to all of us.  I hate that they do, but the unfortunate... Read More

Chinese Massage

I have been struck with wanderlust lately.  I think it has to do with buying a house, but I’ve been fantasizing about living in Asia again.  One of the great things about Bangkok, aside from cheap delicious food for 75 cents (no joke), was getting a massage whenever the whim struck.  For about $7 we could walk into the neighborhood masseuse and get a 1 hour massage.  Awesome. Last night, Lisa took me to Zhongfu Massage at 3802 S Warner... Read More

Paleo, Chicks, Mud, Mud

Clean Eating Wrap-up On Saturday we had our wrap-up to the latest 30 day Paleo challenge. There were fewer participants than last time, which isn’t saying much since we had over 100 people sign up for it last time. The plus side was that we saw better results than previously. I have to give special mention to Nic for making such drastic improvements on his body composition and measurements. He also claims to have made a lot of performance gains... Read More

Habit Forming

It seems there have been a lot of Newbies lately.  I’ve found myself talking a lot about prioritizing effort during the first days.  The following are some of my observations over the last couple years on the topic of beginning Crossfit. Your first 90 days are critical.  If you’re still training regularly at the 90 day mark, you’ve made it.  Kind of.  90 days is sort of like the SIDS cut-off at 1 year.  If a new athlete makes... Read More

Happy Gut = Happiness

In his book The Second Brain, HarperCollins 1998, Dr. Michael Gershon, a professor of anatomy and cell biology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, dubs the entire gastrointestinal system the body’s second nervous system. “The brain is not the only place in the body that’s full of neurotransmitters,” says Dr. Gershon. “A hundred million neurotransmitters line the length of the gut, approximately... Read More

Kids on the Brain

I spent this weekend in a house with 6 kids under 7 years old.  It was 72 hours of squealing, running, jumping, falling, and laughing.  Not to mention what the kids were doing. In truth, I was quite subdued, it being a vacation and all, but I did observe some interesting things which spurred my thoughts in other areas.  Several of which have been condensed and bullet-pointed for your reading convenience. Kids seem to have enormous stores of energy,... Read More

The Perfect Athlete

What would our ideal member do both during their time at the gym and elsewhere? At the Gym 1. Come early and take extra time to work on areas of weakness. 2. Talk to coaches and other members to get feedback and guidance on their movement. 3. Share knowledge and experience with other members. 4. Work hard, but not stupid (would choose weights and movements that are appropriate, even if they aren’t prescribed for the day). 5. Take time at the... Read More