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Not much by way of logistics this week folks. Just like last week(s).

1. Sign up for class
2. Show up on time or early
3. We will run 2-3 groups depending on how many folks sign up for each class.
4. We will warm-up as a group in class
5. Don’t forget we will be cooking burgers afterward and playing 3 on 3 basketball! {Details}

Finally I’d I just want everyone to know that I’m incredibly proud of you for attacking the Open this year. There have been many firsts and so many of you have taken a step outside your comfort zone achieving things you never thought possible. So be proud of all that’s been accomplished these last 5 weeks, and celebrate those accomplishments!

Above all else, constant and relentless effort moves us forward and I’ve seen so much of that effort these last 5 weeks. Thanks to all of you for inspiring and pushing me and everyone around you to be better!

Yay Thrusters!

– Coach Wes

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. – Albert Einstein

Time. Work. Money. Family. Staying Fit. A Social Life. Nutrition. Dating. Sometimes I do a great job balancing my priorities. I feel in control and successful and proud of myself…and then… sometimes I feel like this…

Sometimes I just want to be a kid again, when life wasn’t one big balancing act. And, learning to ride that bike was my only priority. Most of us are committed to a number of things that must get done on a daily basis, but let’s face it, sometimes it gets tough to keep peddling.

So how do you find balance? What’s the secret?

Balance isn’t something you find. Balance is something you create.

Let’s get one thing straight, I am a type A personality, a perfectionist, and I love being on a schedule (most of the time). In other words, I like balance. During the week I do a pretty good job of creating that balance. I do a bang up job teaching most days, eat right, train hard, talk to the family, hang with friends, catch a few tv shows, read, and fall face first into my pillow. I have a solid routine when it comes to food prep which keeps me on the straight and narrow as far as nutrition goes. I am lucky enough that I also get to play every day. Yes, as in recess! I have also learned to leave most of my work, at work, even if that means staying after school a little longer and spending a couple hours at school on Sundays. My students also come with a lot of emotional baggage that I mentally have to leave at school.

I go straight to the gym from school (because if I went home first I would probably crash on the couch). Then there is the social life. I’m not going to lie, my social life was a lot more hip before I met crossfit, but that is because my priorities changed. My happy hour is now spent “lifting a bar”. I can kill two birds with one stone. Also, I’m older and hangovers suck! Most of the people I surround myself with now have the same goals too, which helps. Not to mention we have an amazing community of wonderful people.

Part of the draw of CrossFit is that it allows us to tackle anything life throws at us (mentally and physically). Unfortunately, if your balance is off, performance will suffer both at the box and in the rest of your daily activities.

No one is perfectly balanced. I surely am not. There are days that I am fully focused on my job and my students and could care less about anything else that needs to get done. Sometimes on the weekend I just want to eat and drink and not worry about my nutrition. There are times that I can’t make it to the gym. And my gosh, when was the last time I went on a date? So does that mean I am losing my grip and becoming a little wobbly on my bike? No, not necessarily. I am just shifting my priorities for a while.

Of course there are those days when you have to slam-on-your-brakes, and you might go flying over the handlebars. It happens. And so does the STRESS that comes with it!

When your balance is thrown off completely it can be hard to get back in the swing of things. Wipe off those knees, and climb back on that bike…Acknowledging that these things happen and choosing whether to let them work for or against you is a mindset. If you feel off balance, check your priorities. What is it that you are working towards or want to achieve? And are you leaving other priorities in the dust?

Tips for creating balance:

Keep moving CFA!

-Stacey Magnesio

I posted this a couple years ago but to piggyback off of Genevieve’s post re: healthy feet and its own personal fascia, figured this would help attack things on a more global scale.

So, we’ve seen them at one time or another in the gym.  You know, the long, circular, white or black foam rollers. We know they must be beneficial, because so many people use them. You might have tried using one, only to be left scratching your head and wondering why you were rolling around the floor.

Foam rolling can be very beneficial to your routine, if you know what you’re doing. I know what you’re thinking…. “If everyone else is doing it must be working?” Although your mama probably warned you about following the crowd, foam rolling is for everyone—Crossfitter or sedentary Joe!

Let’s start with the physiological aspects (nerd alert) of foam rolling.  It’s a form of self-myofascial release therapy (SMRT) used to break down scar tissue and adhesions that form on soft tissue after repetitive use.  “Myo” is Greek for “muscle” and “fascia” is a web of connective tissue found throughout the body. Myofascial release is stretching of the muscle and fascia.

We all have a pretty good idea as to what a muscle is but sometimes I lose my audience when I say “fascia.” To really understand the importance of foam rolling, we have to understand what fascia is and how it works. Fascia is the connective tissue surrounding our muscles, which as a whole is known as the myofascial unit.  Picture a sandwich (the muscle) wrapped in saran wrap (the fascia).  The saran wrap holds the sandwich together and they move as a unit. Since these two are interconnected, if we stretch our muscles, we stretch the fascia surrounding them. The same concept applies for injured muscles.  If we damage or tear them, we have damaged and torn the fascia.  Thus, we can’t “tear” into the sandwich (the muscle) without “tearing” through the saran wrap (the fascia).

So now you know if you tear muscles, you tear fascia. What you don’t know is every time you work out, you are tearing muscle fibers. It’s nothing to be scared of as that’s how you build strength.  However, both the muscle fibers and the fascia become tighter and shorter each time.  Picture your body as a chain.  When there is a kink (shortened muscle fibers and fascia) in the chain, it causes stress in other parts of the chain.  Will a kinked chain still be able to perform its function of let’s say holding up a large speaker over a football stadium?  Sure!  But over time, the added stress on the chain from that kink will cause the chain to break, dropping the speaker onto the stands…ouch!
Our body is durable but it’s not invincible.  Breakdown happens when we get out of shape, and develop more “kinks,” making us more prone to injuries.

Foam rolling alleviates these kinks, by breaking down scar tissue and the adhesions that form on the soft tissue after repetitive use.  These scar tissues and adhesions are formed from the micro tears we create daily from not only Crossfitting, but also our lifestyles and habits outside of Crossfit.  The micro tears eventually build up onto each other and lead to bigger problems.  Imagine your torn muscles and fascia (after tightening up) as dough balls and the foam roller as your rolling pin.  We smooth out dough balls to form wonderful, light pastries.  Similarly, the foam roller stretches and lengthens your distorted myofascial units back into a functional state so that your body works more efficiently.  If you can be consistent with it, foam rolling not only prevents these “dough balls” from hindering your fitness or lifestyle goals but also helps:

• Relieve pain
• Increase range of motion
• Increase long-term flexibility
• Prevent injury
• Improve strength

Moral of the story?  Start to incorporate foam rolling into your daily regimen.  Come in early and knock it out before a workout.  Long day at work?  Get on that roller and release the stress your body is carrying.  It may not look pretty and it’s definitely not one of the most flattering things to do in public! But if you’re looking to see gains in your 1 RM snatch or kipping pull-ups, you won’t until you work out your kinks, lengthen those dough balls, and finally gain the flexibility needed to realize your body’s full potential.

Remember these rules of foam rolling:
1. It will hurt.
2. Pain is good, it means you’ve found those dough balls (aka trigger points) needed to release the tension.
3. Once you feel pain, roll over that spot until you feel some relief.
4. BE CONSISTENT…see it as corrective, preventative, restorative, and daily maintenance. The more consistent you are with foam rolling, the less pain you will feel in the long run.
5. Make it a part of your life!  Embrace it and all of its glory…yes, even the awkward positions you may have to get into in order to roll out tight areas.
6. Foam rolling is FUN.  Much more fun than watching others train while you sit out because you injured yourself.

-Coach LeGare

In addition to being a superstar CrossFit athlete and coach at CFA. Leigh is a Certified Recovery Specialist and Practice Development Manager for Airrosti Rehab Centers.

First of all congratulations! After tomorrow we’ll officially be over half way done with The Open. Although our weekly article is called “Logistics for 15.3”, frankly there’s not much to consider logistically this week.

So here are your logistics for 15.3

1. Sign up for class
2. Show up on time or early
3. We will run 2-3 groups depending on how many folks sign up for each class
4. We will warm-up as a group in class

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about the workout itself. It’s no secret that folks are disappointed about either the muscle-ups in the Rx version, or the singles in scaled version so let’s put those concerns to bed. The scaled version of this workout is not “easy.” For anyone that’s done the workout “Karen,” you should know that 50+ wall balls is a lot of things, but “easy” isn’t one of them. Secondly, I’d encourage you to approach singles as an opportunity to improve on a few things that may not be apparent at first look. Ask yourself these question after you finish:

How well did I actively recover between sets of intense strength endurance efforts?

Could I control or lower my breathing rate while moving at a consistent pace?

Could I adapt to the rhythm of a new movement that I haven’t been practicing?

Could I maintain a challenging pace through a 14:00 workout?

These are just a few interesting things that came to mind for me when I looked at the scaled version of the workout. All of that said, have a good attitude with this version. You can either complain and make excuses or you can get better. You can’t do both.

The second big question is this, “Should I go Rx?” Or, for some the question is “Should I spend 14:00 trying to get my first muscle-up”. Hopefully this quick interview with fake people will help you make that decision.

Q: Should I scale if I have multiple muscle-ups.
A: No go Rx.

Q: Should I scale if I have 1 or 2 muscle-ups.
A: No go Rx.

Q: I’ve been working diligently on muscle-ups but still haven’t gotten my first one.
A: Give Rx a go. Nothing like a little bit of excitement and good pressure to get that first one. If it doesn’t happen you can alway do the scaled version on Monday.

Q: I wish I had a muscle up, but I never practice them. Should I try to get my first one today?
A: No, do scaled and commit to practicing and learning a new skill.

Q: I don’t have a muscle-up, multiple strict pull-ups, multiple ctb pull-ups, or multiple strict ring dips, but I don’t scale workouts no matter what. Should I just flail around on the rings for 14 minutes?
A: No you should check your ego at the door and scale. You should also realize that the number one thing holding you back is your attitude.

Ok so I think I’ve made my point, and to all of you that don’t want your heart to drop into your throat when Dave Castro announces the muscle up workout next year, check out this article I wrote a few years ago:

Training on the edge

To quote myself from that article:

“It’s easy to stay comfortable or to pretend that you should be able to magically do something instead of working for it. It’s hard to commit to a long-term or, even better, a lifelong pursuit of being a little tiny bit better everyday.”

Enjoy 15.3 folks!
-Coach Wes

Over three years ago I wrote a blog post for the CFA community chronicling my first-ever 30-day challenge. Though I’d made a shift in my nutrition starting in 2010, I’d hovered around 80/20 forever; I’d honestly never done a 100% compliance. The difference was truly incredible and I was excited to share the support others. With our new website re-design, that post is lost to the internets (whew), but I wanted to revisit a few points now as we reach the end of the Whole Life Challenge.

My post included the usual tips about strategizing food replacements and food prep, but this is old news, all you Challengers are pros by now. But even so, you may hit a speed bump or two, so here are two other valuable strategies I’d like to share…

The first is my favorite; it’s so important, but easy to lose sight of:

“The “WHY” becomes really important when times get tough. A piece of advice I got from a blogger was: Write down why you are doing this. I took this important step before I started and it was paramount to my success. Instead of reaching for that brownie, I re-read over my “WHY.” Sure, one sweet treat is not really the end of the world, but I wasn’t doing this to see if I could follow a list of rules. My “WHY” was much deeper than that.”

Part of my ‘why’ was that I didn’t want to be a slave to sugar; I wanted to break out of that addiction. I also didn’t want my emotions to rule what I ate. So while making (and eating) paleo-friendly brownies might have fit the “rules,” I knew in the back of my mind it wasn’t the best decision, and it wasn’t going to help me reach my goals.

So, when you hit a rough spot, revisit the reasons WHY you decided to participate in this challenge in the first place, it just may get you over that bump.

In case you were thinking you would just avoid any roads with bumps, think again. For example, I initially avoided eating out. The idea of being surrounded by temptation and having to make a series of decisions was daunting (Perrier instead of wine, pass on the bread, sub veggies for pasta, and so forth). But here’s how I got over it:

“I read an article about addiction recently that stated the obvious: the more you use a muscle, the stronger it gets. Using a new muscle (to make a new decision) will feel very difficult at first; this is why old (a.k.a “strong”) habits are hard to break. The recommendation was to continue to put yourself in situations where you have to flex a new muscle, i.e., make a different decision. So, instead of avoiding situations (restaurants, parties, the break room), I decided to face them head-on and flex the “muscle,” so that over time it would get stronger. The decisions became easier and I personally felt more awesome each time I made a decision congruent with my goals.”

Whenever I think of that nugget of advice it totally changes my perspective. Don’t shy away from difficulty, embrace it, heck, seek it out! Sure, Fran isn’t the most fun ever, but you still come in and get after it, right? I encourage you to attack nutrition (or any other area of your life you are seeking to change) with the same gusto.

For those participating in the Whole Life Challenge, or for anyone facing any sort of resolution or challenge, I hope reconnecting with your WHY and taking initiative to make a new and better decision is helpful in your journey.

-Coach Walker (Fenz) Palecek