MOTIVATED PEOPLE ONLY
By entering here, you agree to give 100% of what you have. There are no excuses or second chances. Every day, every moment is an opportunity to excel, to be more, to achieve your best. Do not squander your time going through the motions. Train hard and get results. At the end of the day, look in the mirror and ask yourself if you gave your all. If you don't have that level of commitment, don't waste your time or ours.
t
The sign upon entering Crossfit Elysium - Orange County California, copied and printed in T.J. Murphy's book- "Inside the Box, how Crossfit shredded the rules, stripped down the gym and Rebuilt my body"
Hello snowflakes,
Well, its here, Christmas. And last night, I spent most of the evening traveling from store to store, fighting tired and haggard crowds, but with a rather mild winter thus far, it wasn't all that bad. I can't say I enjoyed waiting in long lines, but knowing that I was getting presents for the people I love the most was, and is, a lot of fun. Although its amazing that when you are waiting, especially on a particularly long line, that the Andy Williams classic "Its the most Wonderful time of the year" comes on and blasts through the speakers, Andy's voice carrying such a punch that you can see people snapping all over the store. Last night, while at Dick's Sporting Goods, I saw this unfold right in front of me, as a mother with 3 young boys lost her mind as the song hit its highest note, just as 2 of the boys decided to wrestle over a piece of gum that spilled into the men's Under Armor section, setting the mother into orbit. While the youngest was swinging from her free arm she said, and not too quietly either "I swear to God, I am leaving you 2 here! I don't care if you get taken away by a stranger. I'd give you away! I'm not getting out of this GD line so go ahead and just kill each other b/c God would be doing me a favor!" I feared someone would call child services, however some very sharp employee, upon seeing this, ushered the woman and her kids to a register where she was able to check out and leave the store without too much damage. Man, I love the holidays. Just brings out the best in people.
Although its the holidays, I did want to end this year's newsletters discussing a topic that I think has been misunderstood, but is of critical importance - intensity. The quote above, one of my favorites, sits in the front of Crossfit Elysium and with good reason - its owners, Paul Estrada, Leon Chang have no tolerance for slackers or for the people who come there b/c its "the cool thing to do". They've kicked more people out of their gym than any other in the country because they understand one of the most important tenets of Crossfit - if you are a coach, you give as much, if not more of yourself, to every person in that gym than they give in class. That's what defines us. That coaches are more than just coaches; we are researchers, neophyte scientists, human experiments to push the bounds of health and fitness for those who entrust us with their health.
I don't know why I waited so long to read my friend T.J. Murphy's book; but it is truly a brilliant, honest and no holds barred view of his journey from Editor of Triathlete Magazine, Inside Triathlon Magazine, and Competitor Magazine, a broken down runner, and a on-the-verge of needing a knee replacement mid-forties male to author and now owner of his own Crossfit gym. Oh, he never needed to get the knee surgery. A little quality time with Kelly Starrett cleared that up. And a few very long and honest conversations with yours truly, got him to open his mind about finding a new way to get healthy. In November 2010, T.J interviewed me for Triathlete magazine, as he was doing a piece on Crossfit, talking to Brian MacKenzie about my rapid recovery from collarbone surgery, and improvement through rehabilitation instead of weakness. T.J. took a leap of faith, and his book discusses why it was all worth it.
More importantly, the book reveals the true nature of those who founded Crossfit, and Crossfit Endurance, as well as the direct descendants of their teachings. People like Estrada and Chang reminded me of something that I had forgotten - there are several who share the same mindset as myself, the desire to push the bounds of our knowledge, to push our clients to greatness through belief in them, even if they don't see it yet, and to always stay true to the cause - the importance of changing the world for the better. Fighting daily to break down stale, and useless methods of fitness and health that have left millions in the US alone, broken, sick and spiraling downward. The notion that I, or any of these men and women are angry is wholly inaccurate, and moreover, its offensive to us when we hear that's how we are viewed. Yes, we get torched on message boards, I've been called a "heretic" by former friends in the world of multisport, and I am informed daily, that another negative post about the use of CFE for my training has just popped up. I don't look at them, b/c I don't care, and I don't have the time. Engaging close minded people is something I encounter daily without the use of social media. I don't need an additional reminder that people think that what I am doing is all smoke and mirrors. Until we race head to head that is.
This isn't to say we are happy-go-lucky, we love everybody, tree huggers. What we really are is simply - intense. We wear that as a badge of honor b/c we were selected to pass along what we've learned from those who opened our eyes to the truth about how unhealthy 99% of America really is. Moreover, we were challenged not to simply take someone else's word for it, but to research for ourselves, to use ourselves as experiments first to see the changes. Would I suggest a Paleo diet to someone if I wasn't a staunch practitioner of it? No. Do I know for a fact, that the only way to really see change in health and fitness is to overhaul your sleep and diet as well as your training? Absolutely.
The belief that we somehow are only trying to speak to athletes or those chasing fitness is nonsense. We are speaking to everyone. The beauty of Crossfit is that you don't need to be an athlete or to compete to use it as a modality for fitness and health. True Crossfit speaks as much to nutrition and sleep, mental attitude and a sense of wellness as it does to the physical work. In truth, the work you do in the gym is the easy part- supported by others, the sense of community, of family so prevalent its easier to succeed. Its when you walk out the doors that things become harder. However, they shouldn't. If I say that I am here for each and every one of you, that means that I must be prepared to answer questions, provide advice, research, data, etc, to any of you who asks, at any time you ask. No one person is no more important than another to a coach. If one fails, we all fail. If someone fails or struggles b/c I didn't provide the requisite help, that's my failing as a coach. And that's not how I was taught. Conviction, therefore, must be and is at the forefront of my mind. A conviction to the greater good, that being your collective health and wellness.
Which brings me to all of you. My conviction, my intensity to your well-being is unquestioned. I openly discuss my research, my writings, my knowledge and share my time as much as possible. But as we all prepare to enter a new year, do you know what level of intensity you bring to your own health? How serious do you take it? And if you don't, if you joke carelessly about your addiction to sweets while taking medication for type 2 diabetes, hypo-thyroid, ADHD, or ADD, how can you NOT take it more seriously? Isn't living life at full volume worth it? Its not sacrificing, its survival. Think about this- 95% of runners, those who run at least 3 days a week, for 30 minutes at a time, are likely to suffer from hyperinsulinemia - basically the body becoming completely insulin resistant, and therefore, pre-diabetic. If we were to take said runner off of running for a month, and they kept their same diet - high carb, low fat, they would become a type 2 diabetic. When reading this how many of you just had the "oh shit that's me!" moment? I know a few of you should. Not to mention the work of Dr. Barry Sears and Dr. Robert Lustig who have discovered, in a study in 2011, that high carb diets are a direct link to cancer. That's right, the mystery of cancer's genesis can actually be traced to poor diet. But hey, have another Christmas cookie.
My reasoning for writing this is - maybe its time to stop looking at people like me, the guys from CFE, the coaches and faces of Crossfit, and start looking internally. Maybe, just maybe, we aren't the ones who are angry or crazy. When you meet someone who is a Crossfit Level 2 coach, or a CFE coach, do you see someone sickly or overweight? Unlikely. Conviction and intensity define us. We all show it differently, I for one practice something called "Body Armor" where once a week, I stand in my living room, take off my shirt, and close my eyes, allowing 2 friends, armed with bamboo sticks to hit my abdominal muscles at random intervals for over 5 straight minutes. Its my gauge of mental toughness and conviction. Brian MacKenzie cranks a treadmill up to 12% and runs intervals so hard he blacks out. He's experimented with recovery by transforming a pneumatic nail gun into a sports massage device. Crossfit co-founder Greg Glassman constantly challenges others and himself by developing workouts; for examply anyone reading done "Fran"? Thank Glassman. But our goal is the same - how do we make fitter, healthier people? How do we change someone's mindset? All the while, there is the underlying question - "how do I get my body to the place where I can run through a brick wall unscathed?"
Its December 24. You have 6 days until 2013. There are 2 huge holidays in between. I challenge you to start now with overhauling your body. Don't wait one more minute. Its too easy to use the holiday excuse. After that, its the post-holiday, left-over, bowl games, playoffs, Superbowl excuses. They never end. So start at the hardest possible time to do the best thing for yourself and your loved ones. TJ wasn't that different from any of you. Neither were the people he met on his journey who discovered a better way to live. Same goes for people like Chris Solomon, author of the article on CFE in Outside Magazine, currently on bookshelves. Chris spent some time working with Brian, while talking to me as he went from a broken runner, to a bullet-proof marathoner. My comments made it into the story, and I am humbled and thankful for the mention. More importantly, I am happy for Chris, now walking without pain, sitting without pain, and running without pain. Reading his article reminded me why I do what I do, and why I will never stop. B/c Chris's health was worth it to me. And I really didn't know him. But I call all of you family. So how much more important do you think I take your health and wellness? And if I do, why don't you? Why don't you make 2013 the year you stand up for yourself? See here's the deal, I've armed you all with enough to make better choices. If you enter 2013 continuing to make those bad decisions, that's fine, but you no longer get sympathy or assistance from me. That's my gift to all of you - tough love. I take what I do, what I teach,what I write and research extremely seriously. I take your wellness extremely seriously. Moving forward, if you don't, well, than neither will I. Think about it. Read T.J's book, and read the Outside Magazine article. For those who wonder why I scowl some days, think of this - when you wake up, there is an email that informs you that on 3-5 different message boards you have had people ask for your scalp, and 1-2 asking to have you cannonized. You have the choice to either make a blanket statement for all of them, or ignore all of them. But know, that every morning when you wake, that email will be there. But that doesn't make me angry, that fuels my conviction to do more, go further, explore my own boundaries. Time for all of you to do the same. You owe it to yourselves. Give yourself the real gift of health. And its not a shake weight.
Merry Tuesday. Enjoy your families
Stay strong,
Guy
