Monday, March 31, 2014

Why I did the 2014 CrossFit Open

Now that the CrossFit Open is over, I’d like to reflect on why I actually decided to do the Open from a hindsight perspective, so here are my 10 reasons why I did the CrossFit Open.

1. I have been doing CrossFit on and off since the Fall of 2012 and while I have had my issues with consistencies and injuries, I finally feel like I have a solid grasp on a lot of the movements and wanted to see where I am.

2. I finally have the opportunity to. During last year’s Open I paid attention but wasn't able to do it. There Isn’t space or equipment necessary to do it at school, but now that I’m interning at CrossFit DoneRight I’m finally able to do it.

3. I saw incredible achievements. I witnessed people getting their first muscle up, first chest-to-bar pull up (I was really hoping that’d be me, maybe next year), and one person pulled their 1RM deadlift for multiple reps during 14.3. The coolest thing of all was when I was on spring break visiting a gym out in LA, I witnessed a 16 year old do 10 unbroken muscle ups during 14.4. The open just makes people work that much harder to where they can do things they never thought possible.

4. I can compete with everyone. I may not be the fastest/strongest/fittest person but I was able to compete right along with the best athletes in the world. It is a cool thing to know that I’m doing the exact same workout as Rich Froning, Jason Khalipa, Dan Bailey and more.

5. It is a great way to track my progress. While this may be the first year I've done the Open, I know exactly where I placed and next year when I do it, I can see if I have progressed based on my placing. While it is only one way of tracking progress, it is a fun way of doing so in a competition setting that you don’t get everyday.

6. I am one of 209,585 people to sign up for the Open and that is just really awesome. Plus, with all those people, I was able to see where I stood up, and after 5 weeks, turns out I’m the 67,574 fittest person in the world. That’s top ⅓ in the world and I’ll take that any day.

7. You have to push yourself to do something that you may not think possible or that you wouldn't otherwise try. For the average person, they wouldn't have thought they’d be able to do a lot of these workouts as prescribed or they wouldn't for whatever reason. For example, for me if I were doing 14.2 as a regular workout, I wouldn't have programmed it as chest-to-bar pull ups because I don’t have them, I would have done regular pull ups so I could move farther in the workout and get a better metabolic effect from the workout. Instead I had to really push myself to go after those pull ups. Granted, I didn't get any (Jay said he would have given me a couple, but I didn't actually feel them hit my chest) but I still was forced to work as hard as I possibly could.

8. It’s your chance to experience a completely unbiased programming. In some programming, you’re able to hide your weaknesses. In the Open, there is no hiding at all, and once your weaknesses are exposed you are forced to work on them to become fitter.

9. It displays the epitome of the CrossFit community. In a regular workout, people are working hard and cheering for each other. During the Open though, you are going as hard as possible and people are screaming at you to get you to do as much as your body can handle. Regular workouts are a great display of community, but the Open is on a whole different level.

10. While it may seem cheesy, I simply just wanted to. It is fun, and only costs $20. It is the only real chance that I get to do a competition and it is really fun.

I loved doing the Open. If you did the Open, I hope you enjoyed it, and if not, I highly suggest you do it next year because you will not regret it at all.

Monday, March 24, 2014

The Best Training Program is the One You Follow

Working out is hard, there is no denying that, that must be why it is called work. I mean you get sweaty, smell bad, and you hurt. What happens though when you don’t even know what it is you’re doing, you use all that effort and don’t even get much out of it. That is why people will follow a program, whether it is by their design, a blog, a coach, or something they read out of a magazine, people are following a program. Now if you are someone who is following a program that someone else is designing, you have to do one thing...follow and believe in it!

If you are following a program but always questioning what it is you’re doing or you’re picking and choosing what to do then you won’t see as much progress as you should see. That is why if you are offered the greatest, most personalized training program that is perfectly suited to you and written by the best coach, but if you still don’t believe in it and only do parts of it, then you won’t see many benefits. If on the other hand, you follow a program that is written for a general population and isn’t tailored to your needs, but you follow it and believe in it, then those benefits will be great.

A lot of people forget about the mental component of exercise, and if they think about it, they underestimate its power over your success. That’s why if you believe, you will achieve. Now everyone, go find a program (or if you are already following one, stay on that program) and follow it. If you can find one that represents similar goals to yours, that’s even better. I promise you won’t regret it.

Monday, March 10, 2014

How to Stay in Shape on Vacation

Vacations are some of the happiest times of the year, you get to go somewhere different and relax and have fun. They are much-needed breaks from the real world when you can get them. However, they can also kill your fitness. All that relaxing and the “vacation diet” are not a great combination for keeping fit for when you get back home. I’m going to have to deal with this myself from 3/14-3/23 when I am on spring break and going to Los Angeles. Here are some tips that I have learned from previous experiences as well as from friends and family.

1. Don’t do nothing.
You don’t necessarily have to hit the gym or visit a different box while you’re away, although it makes it a lot easier, but you can do things as simple as some push ups, sit ups, air squats, and burpees in your room. Combine those movements in different ways and I assure you, you’ll be feeling some burn. You can also go out in the landscape and go hiking, swimming, skiing, or whatever is local to that area. That is the key though, don’t do nothing.

If you do plan on visiting another CrossFit gym while you’re away though, plan ahead and email them at least a week in advance to work out any logistics. I’ve already figured out where and when I’ll be going, as well as have planned some cool hikes in the area.

2. Treat yourself to local delicacies and allow 1 big meal a day.
You’re going to want to splurge and eat everything in sight because you may not be able to have that food again; don’t do it! Most of the food you’re going to want to eat is the exact same as what you eat on a regular basis, but is just worse for you. However, if there really is something that is local to that area, go ahead and eat it. It is a vacation and you should allow yourself something fun to eat, so have that fun food. If you like splurging on vacations as well, don’t do it each meal. You’re allowed to one meal/day at the very most, otherwise you’re going to spend too much time eating and not enough time exploring the area.

3. Have fun with good people.
Trying to stay in shape on vacation is nearly impossible, and if you’re all by yourself on that it will be even harder. If you’re with good people who are willing to help you out and be supportive, that helps tremendously. Also, if you’re having fun, then the stress won’t build up and you will do better at keeping in shape.

All in all, it is very tough to stay in shape while on vacation. You’re going to lose something, it is bound to happen when you’re no longer in your normal routine, but if you can stick to these 3 things, you will do a lot better in keeping as much of your fitness as possible, and set yourself up for success when you get back. 

Sunday, March 9, 2014

You Should Never Skip Squat Day

There are a lot of people who just don’t like squatting at all. It is hard, tiring, and makes you sore. Why would anyone want to do something that has those affects? They would because squats are the king of all exercises.

Squatting is the king of all exercises for many reasons, but it all stems from the fact that squatting to full depth works your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and your hips, the biggest muscles in your body. By working the biggest muscles in your body, you will see great benefits.

Some of the biggest benefits from squatting are increased muscle mass, which in turn means a faster metabolism, which can lead to increased fat loss. There is also an increase in mobility and flexibility in your hips, hamstrings, quads, and ankles.

Squatting not only has the previous benefits, but also translates to just about everything else. By being stronger, you also are able to exert a greater amount of force, you’re faster, and can jump higher. Squatting not only makes you stronger in your squat, but it makes you better at everything else.

While squats are phenomenal for your body, there is also a great mental affect from squatting, and squatting heavy. Regularly subjecting yourself to heavy squats can build incredible mental toughness by giving you the ability to really fight against something hard. Doing that can also build great confidence; handling heavy weights on your back (or front rack or overhead) makes everything else feel and seem easier because there isn’t anything as hard as having to get out of the hole with big weights. Squats are also very humbling, there is nothing like sitting in the bottom of a squat with a lot of weight and not being able to stand up, but then after some work being able to sit in the bottom of the squat with that weight and somehow get back up. Squatting humbles you and teaches you hard work.


Squatting is not only the king of exercises for its ability to improve everything physically but also teaching mental toughness. Squatting may not always be easy, but if you’re able to still go at it, you will see amazing results. So now go out and when you see that squats are part of the plan for that day, go squat, squat heavy and I promise you won’t regret it.