Have we lost focus or have we found it?

I heard an interesting comment today, from a swedish naprapat who has had the pleassure of treating a fair number of CrossFit athletes from their "battle scars" from encounters with various WoD's! I happen to know a bunch of the people this guy has helped, and they are a mixed lot, representing everyting from the top tier competitors to the complete novices- you could say that the only thing these people have in common is that they have drunk to Kool Aid!

Anyways, this guy was not too impressed with CrossFit! He thought that we had all forgotten to strengthen and condition ourselves for the WoD's we do, before we dwelve into the insanity of high reps and high intensity! The consequence being that we had to compensate for our shortcomings by developing areas that were already strong, while increasing the gap to the muscles that were weak from the beginning? The result being a never ending line of injuries that would just continue to resurface?

What do you think? Is this guy just another hater, or is he actually on to something?



I know that I have had my fair share of injuries, and I bet I still have a lot more to come! However I happen to think that the problems I have had to deal with were more or less my own fault, and caused by pure breed stupidity- how convenient it would have been to be able to blame it on something else:-)

I would like to think that the weaker parts automatically catch up with the rest of the body when you spend a fair amount of time on doing functional movements, and I think that I have seen a couple of briliant examples of that were phenomenon, or have I just been dreaming?

Much love

Programming genius!

Most folks who do CrossFit get to a point where the brilliant idea of doing their own programming pops up on their radar! Usually they will press it to the back of their minds, but then after a while it just becomes too tempting, and they get on with it!
I for one love it when this happens, because it is like watching a child get into puberty! The world is at their feet and with all their wisdom and the revolutionary programming they are about to unleash on themselves they will be the fathers and mothers of a new world order!
When I have the opportunity to watch this process from a front row seat, I usually just lean back and watch the blend of complete disaster with pure genius, and blatant disregard of the experience so freely shared in the CrossFit Journal and online from thousands and thousands who have walked this path before, and maybe there is even one or two brights lights who actually paid attention at the level 1 cert, and remember what was said in the programming lecture! I love and thoroughly enjoy this enhusiastic disregard of knowledge gained, and the courage to dwelve into virtually anything they can come up with! Some really fantastic programming has actually come from this very process- I have nothing whatsoever against people who do this and try it on themselves! More power to you!

What I do have something to say about is the person who begins to program for others! Once you begin to program for someone other than yourself, you have actively taken responsibility for the success of that persons fitness regimen! This is a pretty big responsibility, and if you have not had some seroius thoughts about the depth of your commitment, then you should respectfully decline the opportunity to program for someone else...... If you feel fine about it and feel that you can fill these shoes without problems, then please do program for others!

One thing that I often see that really bothers me, is when the person who does the programming lets his/her own goals poison the programming of others! If you are a oly lifting freak, and find yourself programming for someone else, who ends up doing some sort of oly lift at least 4 days a week, but have never gone unbroken, or had to do a hero WoD! Then something is definately wrong and chances are pretty big that the athletes following this genius programming will never see the shaddow of their goals! The same can be said if your poison is kettlebells, running, gymnastics etc. You get the point!

Another one of the things that really gets me up in a knot is when the programming genius becomes convinved of his/her own genius, and falls into the trap of routine. When the athlete following this bright lights programming, wonders what is in the cards for the day, but already knows what the structure of the WoD will be like. They may not know what the specific details of the WoD but they know more or less what the workout is going to look like! When this happens, you know for a fact that the programming has become more routine than thought!

Author of the any ashole workout? This is the guy who just wants to knock the S%#T out of you and adds up all the worst exercises he can think of, and comes up with an insane rep scheme.... all designed to put you on your ass! There is no rhyme or reason behind the WoD other than making the author feel like a bigger man?? What do you think this ego massage is going to do for your overall fitness??




The list is long, so if you have been programming for others for a while, my advice to you is to seek help!
Let others program for the athlete/athletes you have been programming for, and follow that programming yourself!
Cruise other CrossFit boxes websites and become inspired! Look at other sites and see what they are doing!
Read the CrossFit Journal, and what it has to say on programming!
Do another Level 1 cert and pay attention to the programming lecture! Especially if Karl Steadman is the man in charge of it!
Never think that you have all the answers!

What advice do you have for people who program? What is your experience of people programming you? When programming for yourself, please knock yourself out my friends! When programming for someone else you need to take the responsibility that comes along with it!

Much love

Let there be light!

Lately I have been having all kinds of problems with my lower back, and as a result I have not been able to work out with the intensity that I would like to. This has forced me to spend more time on improving my weaknesses, and since the are a bunch of them, the process of choosing what to spend time on was actually easy! I could choose whatever!

The interesting part was that I had to actually sit down and make a list of things that I suck at and then prioritize! I decided that my mobility or lack thereof was probably the root of all the back pain. So after consulting some of the best sources I could possibly imagine, I ended up with a long list of exercises that would help me on my way to improved mobility! I have been doing these exercises for a while now and my mobility has gotten better... a lot better..... who would have thought that persistance pays of?
My back however is still giving me trouble, granted that it is not the same kind of trouble that I was experiencing before, but I am still inhibited by my lower back! So what could the problem be??
I was in complete darkness until a dear friend and collegue solved the riddle today!

I have spent countless hours on improving my posture, arching my lower back in the squats, maintaining the stabile midline through virtually every lift you can imagine. I have worked hard to be able to do this, and complemented with various exercises such as back extentions, hip extentions, box squats, good mornings and the list goes on and on! But how often have I actually spend time on my abs? The answer is never!
I have never spent any significant time on my abs, compared to how much time I have spent on my lower back! The truth is that if there was not an ab exercise in the WoD of the day I did'nt do ab work!
I did one single workout today with focus on midline stability, primarily through the abs, and tonight I am pain free... completely pain free for the first time in weeks!

So I am sitting at home wondering if I am the only one who has made the mistake of never putting the same amount of emphasis on my abs as I have done on my lower back, and as a consequence gotten far stronger in my lower back than in my abs?
I am not saying that I just found the holy grail to cure all back pain! But continuing on yesterdays topic, I think it is fair to claim that I had not found the best possible balance in my workout regimen, and as a result I have been having all kinds of trouble and have had to modify my training and cancel teaching at certs (one of my favorite things in the world).... Are you on your way to ending up in the same dead end, or have you been there?

I am thinking this guy does'nt have my problems due to weak abs!


Supremely happy that I am better, and may have found a way back into the light!

Much love

Oly lifting.. the bane of CrossFit?

I know it has been a while since I last felt like I had something to share with anybody on this blog, and so I have been quit for a while.. Someone taught me the lesson the hard way that silence is golden, and for once I guess I decided to listen!

But hey, guess what? I guess I'll just never learn! So here I go again!

Lately I have met a bunch of people who have all decided that the way to become better CrossFit athletes, is to spend more time, a lot more time, on oly lifling!
These are without exception all athletes who already have some capacity in oly lifting! However these are also athletes who will tell you that they still do not master pistols, buterfly pull ups, or a substantional amount of regular kipping pull ups, HSPU, front levers, MU and the list goes on. They are also athletes who will without blinking tell you that they still have a long way to go before they would even begin to consider themselves and their mobility to be up to par!

Those of you who were raised on the early CrossFit videos from the old Santa Cruz HQ, and the early CrossFit Journal articles. Those of you who read everything you could get your hands on, because the articles were still so few and far between, may just remember that there were 10 basic skills, that we were all attempting to improve! Do you also remember that the theory was that you were only as strong as your weakest link, and so we should always try to improve the things we dreaded the most and were least capable in! The theory was that raising the lowest markers would do more for our overall fitness, then becomming marginally better at the things we already good at!
Those of you who have done a level 1 cert should be nodding now, remembering that your flowmaster drilled this point pretty hard..... right!?


So if we have bought into the CrossFit theory, and truly believe that what we are being taught at the certs is more than just words to fill in the time before the group photo and the WoD- then why have we not embraced this fact? Why is it that more and more athletes are spending more and more time on the bar, and less and less time on making simple exercises a part of their exercise base?
What do you think would benifit these athletes more? Adding 5kg to their Squat clean, or snatch, or actually being able to do pistols?? I know where I'd put my money.. Where would you put yours?


Much love