A Begginers Mind

Been a while but I warned you didn't I.
Lots of things I want to write about but never enough time. Today though I had to get in a quick one.

This is about the beginners mindset. A concept that has become vry important to me in my coaching career and athletic career and a concept I was reminded of by a good friend.

She posted a status online that read.

" I hope I never think so highly of my opinion that I lose the ability to allow others to have theirs.I hope I never think so highly of my opinion that I lose the ability to allow others to have theirs."

I loved this quote the moment I read it. It seems that with the Interwebs and all the social media out there that what could have been a great platform for sharing ideas and information has been smothered by people who simply like to piss others off. I seems that so many people cannot let others post their ideas with out tearing them down with what they already know.
Weather the idea has to do with weightlifting technique, Religion or politics. Every one out there already knows that they are right and must convince everyone else of that fact as well.

Before I continue I believe there are universal truths, that are always true, and often times their is one right answer. This post is not about everyone finding their own truth. Instead it is about acknowledging the fact that I probably don't have the whole truth yet, in any situation.

Here are some things you should know about me, this things also serve as examples of how I use the beginners mindset in my everyday life. I will explain what I mean with "the beginners mindset a little bit later.

I coach CrossFit and own a CrossFit Box,
I have a degree in Sports Medicine from Pepperdine university
I also coach and compete in the sport of Olympic Weightlifting, I consider my self to be a pretty darn good coach.
I have had  success coaching any number of people to their goals, and would not hesitate to coach any one else no matter their goals ( in CrossFit or weight lifting, I don't know jack crap about skeet shooting)
I can write programming, coach technique, and motivate you to succeed.

However I hired an Olympic lifting coach to write my program and correct my technique.
I participate in and ask questions on different strength and nutrition forums.
I take classes, read how to's, and get different certifications.

When ever I attend a seminar or hire a coach ( for myself)  I enter into the class or contract,  with what I call a beginners mindset. That means I try to get rid of all my accumulated knowledge on a topic, and look at the information presented with new and fresh eyes. I do not compare it to what I have been told before, what I have done in the past or what someone else said. I ask questions to understand, I follow instructions as best I can and I attempt to approach these situations not as if everything I know is wrong, but as if I did not know anything else in other words with the mind set of the complete beginner. I try to hold on to this mind set for a long as possible before starting to attempting to mesh it with all other information I have acquired (for reference I usually try to give something new a full year before tweaking it)

Too often I see people attend a seminar and immediately try to tweak the information they acquired, when you do this you are not actually following their program or system but instead creating your own with out ever learning what the original system does for you. In other words you have no idea if the changes you made were for the better or if you are shorting yourself. I see it with people who I write programming for, and I see it with people who ask me for nutrition advice.


The beginners Mindset can apply to any discussion, class, seminar, internet forum, or facebook post on any topic. The next time something comes up try to approach it as if you are brand new and no nothing what questions would you ask then, what would it take for you to understand, what can you learn from that person or situation, and then apply that in its original form to your life, or training for a while. When you look back that 6 month or year long experiment will grant you an enormous amount of knowledge that will help you find the real truth of a matter.

Steroids in Sports.

Recently I have seen a lot of posts on the book of faces about a supposedly "serious problem in sports" , which we all know means PED's, commonly referred to as steroids ( though that is a slight misnomer). I am not looking to get into a moral or legal argument here. Any body who has spoken to me in person knows where I stand on the issue. However people bring this argument up all the time as a way to dismiss the achievements of these amazing athletes, and it makes me angry. Look do these drugs give you some magical ability to lift more or run faster just by taking a shot or pill. Absolutely not! You have to put in the work do they increase the effectiveness of the work put in, somewhat. But the reality is that the most effective drugs are those that aid in recovery. This means that I can train with super high volume at maximum intensity and still be able to recover to come in, sometimes just a few hours later and do it again. This is what I think people do not understand, those who take these drugs, and actually reach an elite status,  are putting way more hours of work than those who do not take the drugs, BECAUSE THAT'S HOW THEY WORK. This means those grueling training sessions that took every ounce of energy you had and could only tolerate every once in a while is what they do every day, multiple times a day. This requires dedication that most people cannot even imagine, so unless you are training multiple times a day 5-6 days a week, sacrificing friends, family, and fun in order to eat right sleep right and have time to train, then you do not get to dismiss or down play someone else's achievement just because you think( or even you if know, because you watched them take it) they are on PED's. Because the primary way these drugs work is by allowing them to give up more time with friends, lose more time with family, and spend more time in the gym going through gut wrenching workouts. Perhaps we should try to match the dedication of these athletes and stop worrying about the drugs.

Coaching = Progress

In my opinion every one needs a coach, even and perhaps most especially coaches. It is next to impossible to coach your self in my opinion. Dan John has a pretty good bit about it. Basically he says that each person has a finite amount of will power in the day and every decision you make eats into that will power eventually you are left with not enough to make yourself do the right things. However if you can turn that decision make process over to someone else then you are much more likely to succeed. If we no longer have to come up with the reason why we should do something but instead just decide to do with what coach says it takes far less of our will power and there fore we are more likely to stick with it. This is the main reason I hired someone else to write my weightlifting program. I wanted something specific to my goals and my life but I had been constantly talking my self out of what I had planned. This led to me changing direction all the time and getting absolutely no where. Now that I can do something just because "coach said so" i have made consistent progress on my goals. increasing my snatch and clean and jerk consistently over the last 10 months with the goal of snatching 300#, while decreasing my body weight on my way down a weight class and all the decisions were my coaches allowing me to pass responsibility and just decide to follow the plan and trust in it to get me where I want to go. This is the single best  piece of advice I have been able to give people who are not members of my gym ( I feel a little bad saying it to my own members as it is more than slightly self serving, even if it does work; and I have heard them members tell each other this anyways) is to "do whatever coach says". Seriously the consistency and peace of mind created by this approach works wonders. It also gives you someone to ask all your silly questions to. I try my best to be the type of athlete I would want. when i do not understand why I am doing something I ask, and then i accept that answer. Might I have done it a different way, sure but, I chose a coach who knows what he is doing and I choose to do what coach says. While I do not advocate blindly following any one, it does no good to ask a question and then argue about the answer you were given. When my coach says I am supposed to be sore and tired and hurting I say ok and do not worry about the mythical creature over training. When it seems like there is far to much work for the day I may ask about how long it should take me to finish or let him know I am not feeling up to the task but if he says go do it I will, because I do what coach says. I understand that my coach is the one with the plan, the one who is trying to make me better, he is the one with the big picture not me so if he says go then i go if he says stop then I stop. If I am feeling good and want to do extra I ask, sometimes he says no so I don;t do it sometimes he says go for it and provides some ideas. The point here is that when I turned over the responsibility for my program and reduced the responsibility to simply following the program I was presented with, my performance increased and progress has become a fairly consistent reality instead of a distant goal. If you really want progress then find a coach and have them write a personalized program when you have questions ask and be prepared for the answers you didn't want to hear, accept it and move on following the advice and direction they give you. The secret to being better is just doing what coach says, trust me, we coaches know what we are talking about.

www.CrossFitTulare.com

Strength

I coach CrossFit for a living, and I am pretty darn good at it. Having a background in exercise science certainly helps, as does the experience I have gained over the past few years. (experience being the greater of the two teachers ). CrossFit encompasses a number of traits and requires your to be excellent in a number of domains. If there was only one I could excel in I would choose strength. Perhaps it is because I am a big dude who is already pretty strong, (246 and a 575 dead lift). Or maybe it is because strength seems so straight forward to me. While the things I am about to say can be applied to basically any physical ability or skill you wish to excel at, strength is the one where people seem to be baffled the most. Or at least it is the one I get asked the most questions about ( perhaps just because of the way I look). Strength is very simple to attain, It simply requires that you consistency and a tolerance for pain. In mind the fear of that mythical beast "over training" is what keeps people from getting strong and maybe a fear of getting fat as well.

There are 4 basic lifts to use to get strong and two more you can use to add a does of athleticism.
All you need to do is :
Squat
Bench
Dead Lift
Over head press

you can also add
snatches
clean and jerks

these 4(6) lifts are literally all you need. Really just do those 6. Need more info? of pick two a day and work out 3 times a week and you have your self a stellar program. Still want more directions ? Start with a weight that allows perfect form for 5 reps then add 5 lbs ever time you do the exercise. What happens when you start missing reps well then just do 3 reps then start working up to singles. that should take you about a year or more to hit a true plateau. Here is the rub though this program is simple it is effective and it is super boring, i mean really really boring. One of the reasons I started CrossFit was because I have training A.D.D I get bored really easy and if I cant switch it up then I eventually stop. However strength is not acquired through variance but through consistency no amount of fancy schmancy "special exercises " will get your squat better than squatting will, there is a time and place for variance but unless you are squatting near 2x body weight you are probably not there yet. There is another problem with this program. It hurts, You knees elbows shoulders and hips will get sore, and tight, you will likely develop tendinitis in some spot or another and once you are able to move something that is actually heavy the pain will last all day long Most people give up at this point, but most people are not actually strong. Strength may be attained by following a simple path it is however not easy it is earned through suffering and discipline and constant push to be better. It is fought for and won by not listening to your body and striving to work through and around whatever ails you. The secret to strength is that there is no secret show up every day and lift more than you did before even though it hurts and even though it feels way to freaking heavy, you do it any ways, whether you feel like it or not, whether your body is at 100% (or even 60%) or not you just show up and lift it.

Stop searching for the magic pill, hard work, perseverance, and a little bit of crazy is all you need to become truly strong. Most of the time people answer their own questions when it comes to strength they are simply  either hoping for an easier path or they just need to hear some one else say it. If you want to get stronger first decide what that means to you. How do you measure your strength? is it by the bench, the back squat or the snatch. Then just do that.

When people ask me how to squat more ; my usual answer is to squat more. either more weight, more reps, or more often just do more. you must force your body to adapt and it will fight you on it but you must bend it to your will. There are no secret programs or special soviet exercises. Just put your head down and keep working.

This all comes with a caveat of course and that is that every one is different and minor tweaks to a program will be necessary but you are not qualified to know what those are for yourself. Even coaches need coaches ( I pay others to write programs for me and coach me and i am far better for it seriously check out BE STRONG ATHLETICS they are great). So if you are truly serious about getting stronger (or fitter) Find a coach and get to work.

Words

Words are powerful things. When used properly words carry with them meaning beyond their definition. English is perhaps the clumsiest and least specific language I have learned ( it is the only one I can actually still use, or understand). However even its words have a depth of meaning that is beyond our everyday slang use. The Proper use of words is in my opinion something being forgotten and lost in our society, Wants have become confused with needs, Like and appreciation have become things we love adore. Sacrifice has been confused with discipline.  All of this has corrupted our way of thinking and eroded our ability to express our selves in ways that carry any weight or meaning. If I mean the same thing by the two sentences " I love my wife and son" and "I love CrossFit" then I have put to much into one area or not enough in another; probably both. Is this the fault of the English language or just my own laziness. I am inclined to think the latter. i do not Love CrossFit I enjoy it, I have fun coaching and doing it, but the things I actually Love are small in number, while the things I like and enjoy are much more numerous. My Love is something I only give to a few select people. But even that differentiation is not enough. New testament greek had a number of different words for love, each with its own unique meaning. I have a small amount of friends whom I "love" but that is different then how I love my Lord and how I love my wife and How I love my son.

Think about what you mean when you use certain words, is what is coming out of your mouth really what you wanted to say. Could you choose your words more carefully? The kids in my youth group know that, I am big on Definitions and whatever we are talking about needs to be defined properly. Faith Hope and Love are important concepts in the New Testament as are Grace, Mercy and Justice, but our current usage of these words often distort the true meaning of what the authors are telling us.

It is my belief that our words in fact shape our thinking and not the other way around. If we are able to think and use our words in their true purpose, our mind and life can be more organized, things can be put in to perspective. When is comes to the gym, I often hear the excuse of  "I don't have time" I am told that this person "really wants to get in shape" or to get better but that somehow they do not have the time. Taken literally this says that everyone in my gym some how has more hours in the day than they do. We know this is not true every one has 24 hours in the day. What we truly mean is that "getting in shape" is not high enough on our list of priorities. We think we mean the same thing when we say it either way, however voicing or thinking the second changes what it actually means to us. It forces us to realize that we are actually making the choice to put other things before our health and before our stated goal. There is no cosmic force preventing us from doing what we want, instead we choose to put our time and efforts into other areas. The responsibility is on us. The choice becomes a conscious one; perhaps this is why we don't like it? Recognizing that I actually have a choice and I am choosing to be a certain way can be a hard thing, it is however a necessary thing. You may end up making the same choices but you will know why, you will no longer be able to say It is because you don't have time, but instead you choose to put your efforts elsewhere, honesty with yourself is a power full thing. Understanding the words you use and saying what you actually mean can give you control over your life. It is time to take control, be honest with your self and be deliberate with your choices. You have control of your path and where your life is headed it is time to take control and you can use words to do it.

CrossFit and Weightlifting

Any one ever been introduced to your spouse or current significant other by an ex or a crush? That is kind of how I feel right now when it comes to weightlifting. 

I started CrossFit in 2010 after having almost given up on Exercise, I had lifted weights in high school for sports and even went to the gym on my own in the off season. During College I had tried the body building routines and even training for a Triathalon, the first was ineffective and the second ended up injuring my knees. I was over weight and out of shape but I had to get an internship as a part of my degree and CrossFit Malibu had just opened up. 

So I walked in December 2009 just a couple days before I left on winter Break and went through my intro session. I was hooked almost from the beginning ( I say almost because it took me a while to be able to think coherently ) That January I started my OnRamp class and began learning about CrossFit and getting my self back in shape. Over the course of My CrossFit Training I was introduced to the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk and a coach by the name of Sean Waxman. 

Sean Waxman owner of Waxman's Gym was the first one who put the idea in my head that I might be able to be good at the sport. That got put on the back burner however because I was moving 3 hours north and opening up my own gym in my home town. A few years later I was introduced to Coach Charles Shipman of Be Strong Athletics, who became and is still my current lifting coach, I was given his information at the grand opening of another CrossFit Gym. Here is the thing, Right now i freaking love weightlifting. Perhaps it is because I am much better at, not great just better than I am at CrossFit. CrossFit was my gateway drug into the sport of weightlifting, it informs a whole lot of my training still but right now I am a weightlifter who does a little CrossFit instead of the other way around. 

Look I am still friends with CrossFit, I still introduce all my Friends to CrossFit and we hang out a little still, but I am a weightlifter I like to pick up heavy stuff and put it back down. 

First Post...

Who am I ? good question now that I think about it. I am still trying to figure that out a lot. Depending on who is asking my answer might change ( is that a problem? )  In short I am a 25 year old small business owner, Christian, Husband and Father, with manic depressive buipolar tendencies who uses fitness to moderate my mood. I love Jesus, my family, heavy weights, scotch, and cigars. Does that answer the question... Probably not, I guess I am still figuring out who I am, perhaps in 10 years I will have a better answer and hopefully i will be able to help my son figure it out sooner than myself. 

What do i have to say ? Ok question. the answer is nothing and at the same time quite a lot. There are two things I can't stop talking about. The first is my faith in the lord, the second is your health and fitness. other than that I really don't care to much what goes on.  

Why should you read this blog ? Dumb question to ask me; figure it out for your self. I do not even know what all i will be talking about. Let alone why it might interest you.

If you do decide to read this blog, be prepared for bad grammar, horrible spelling, run on sentences and a ton of rambling.