CrossFit

Strong Keeps Getting Stronger…

April 30, 2013 by Adam 8 Comments

BOE 2012 Girl

Happy 100,000, Strong is the New Skinny!!!!

Strong is the New Skinny on Facebook just passed 100,000 followers!

Holy. Crap.

**Strong is STILL the New Skinny…**

Just last week I was talking to a close female friend. She’s beautiful and strong and muscular and quite a badass CrossFitter. And she was lamenting that she wasn’t “mainstream pretty” enough. Apparently, she’d even had a good cry over it the night before.

My advice? I told her to “be a Purple Cow” and sent her my “Is Strong the New Skinny?” blog post from 2010.

Here’s what I wanted her to see:

“…I say, to use Seth Godin’s term, be The Purple Cow. Now, I know women and the term “cow” shouldn’t really be used together, so before I get pummeled I’ll explain. A “Purple Cow” is something remarkable. In a world with more and more advertising “noise” and where there’s someone already filling virtually every need and every niche, a Purple Cow is something that stands out. A brown cow is boring, but a Purple Cow is REMARKABLE.

“If you’re a muscular woman, go after mainstream exposure. Let’s take muscular women out of the bodybuilding subculture and put them in the mainstream…”

- From my post: “Is Strong the New Skinny?“

A few minutes later she texted back: “YES! A Purple Cow!”

The message in that post still rings true. Probably now more than ever…

Stumbling Into Meaning and My Life’s Path…

Summer of 2010 I had no idea. No idea about anything, really.

My life had been falling apart for the few years before – arguably for the 10 years before – and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do next.

But, I was passionate about strength training, CrossFit and Paleo eating and living. And I was also passionate about writing.

Besides that, I’ve always felt that strong was the way to be – for women AND men…

I started blogging that summer with the crazy notion that I was going to make a living at it and write a Paleo Diet book besides. Everyone I knew thought I was out of my mind and needed to be “more realistic” and think about getting a “real job.”

Even crazier than thinking I would make a living at blogging was thinking that somehow my writing and work would “make a difference.”

I started this blog and spent that summer writing and Facebooking like crazy.

And, everyone thought I was nuts for spending so much time on Facebook. “Facebook is stupid!” “I don’t care what someone is having for lunch!” “It’s a waste of time!”

And CrossFit…

I had sold my CrossFit Affiliate earlier that year. But I was still training and most of my friends were CrossFitters. And, CrossFitters love Facebook…

So, many of my Facebook friends were CrossFitters. The CrossFit community was SMALL back then. A lot smaller than now. We’d basically friend request anyone with a profile picture that included anything CrossFit or Kettlebells.

Somewhere toward the end of the summer, I was inspired by a pic my friend Marsha posted of a shirt she made on Spreadshirt.

“Strong is the New Skinny, huh? That’s sort of cool. I bet there’s a blog post in that somewhere…”

There WAS one in there “somewhere…”

It took a few weeks before it came together in my head though. It came together after a run one morning and “Is Strong the New Skinny?” was written. I posted it and thought nothing more of it – I’d been “blogging for no one” most of that time. No reason to think that post would be different.

But it was…

Stacie Tovar

Going Viral…

Over the next few weeks I saw that post pass by in my Facebook feed here and there. I thought, “Cool – someone shared my post…” Then I started seeing it pass by more and more. And more. And more.

In its first two months on the web, “Is Strong the New Skinny?” was read and shared like crazy. Today, it has almost 25,000 views and over 7,900 shares. Wow.

It went “viral” as they say…

And, “Strong is the New Skinny” the Facebook group was born…

100,000 Middle Fingers at Stereotypes

I gave stereotypes the finger when I wrote “Is Strong the New Skinny?“ That summer I was into giving pretty much EVERYONE and EVERYTHING the finger. If it was status quo and mainstream, I was pissed off at it. That post was angry and ranty – and not even very well written now that I look back on it…

But there was raw passion and emotion in that post and I think that’s why it resonated with so many people.

Strong Keeps Getting Stronger…

I say “Strong Keeps Getting Stronger” because that’s exactly what’s happening here.

In 2009, “The Paleo Diet” had about 20,000 monthly Google searches. In 2010 when I started blogging seriously, it had about 80,000 monthly searches. Today it has over 600,000 monthly searches.

And, CrossFit is on ESPN. ESPN. And all the major fitness magazines – the ones that either dismissed CrossFit as a dangerous fad or just didn’t mention it at all – now have special CrossFit sections and features every issue. All of them.

I mention Paleo and CrossFit because both of those communities supported and were supported by Strong is the New Skinny (or SINS) on Facebook in the early days. I see this all as the rise of intelligence in training, eating and role models and stereotypes.

Adam Farrah and Carrie - Strong is the New Skinny

Me and my awesome friend Carrie Chase at CrossFit Relentless in West Hartford, CT.

The world is changing rapidly and dramatically and thinking about eating, training, health and what a “fit” or “attractive” body is for a male or a female is changing right along with it.

Strong is Everywhere…

Here’s a video from CrossFit HQ called “Beauty in Strength.” It’s from September 2012. Not gonna say Strong is the New Skinny is what inspired it… But I won’t say we didn’t…

This is a great video of Christmas Abbott that’s made it’s way around the web. Nothing skinny about her…

And this is a post on TheAthleticBuild.com featuring the 20 best bodies in CrossFit – 10 male and 10 female. Not a skinny body in sight…

http://theathleticbuild.com/the-top-20-fittest-bodies-of-crossfit/

Gabe Subry OHS

Julie Foucher

And the guys aren’t left out either. Here are my thoughts from a while back on men and changing male stereotypes: “Body Image, Food Addiction and I’m Not Good Enough.”

The CrossFit and Paleo Connection…

Most of my best CrossFit and Paleo friends were made on SINS. And, my friends from the CrossFit Relentless family of gyms here in Connecticut were all around in the early days. They bought a lot of the first shirts and shared a lot of our early posts.

Through SINS I’ve heard from a lot of women who changed the direction of their lives with CrossFit, Paleo eating and the embracing of a strong and athletic ideal over a “skinny” one. Some of these women confided that they’d struggled with bulimia or another eating disorder.

Combine the “strong” ideal with CrossFit and Paleo and lives are shaped and changed.

A difference IS being made.

Strong is What You Build…

In the post “Strong is What You Build” I discussed at length the deeper meaning behind strong and building it. To me, strong is something you build over time. It’s about work and achievement and building character.

Strong is about self-definition. Deciding who you want to be and doing it and being it.

And strong women are becoming more and more mainstream…

I walked by Victoria’s Secret at the mall the other day. Here’s what was in the window. A workout top on a model with muscle. Mainstream. That’s an actual deltoid muscle!

Strong, muscular women are becoming more and more mainstream every day…

Now, I know she’s not going to deadlift 405lbs or rock a sub-4 minute Fran, but she’s got muscle and she’s showing it off. This wasn’t happening even a few years ago! It’s a Victoria’s Secret model!

YUP! That’s an actual shoulder muscle on a Victoria’s Secret Model…

And, on this same trip to the mall there was an Athleta store going in – right across from VS. That’s the first one in Connecticut. An entire store devoted to workout clothes for women. You can bet that a big company like Athleta has done their homework and knows it’s a growing niche. Corporations don’t gamble on stuff like that and they don’t build a new store in a new state if a market isn’t expected to grow dramatically. Especially in this economy.

In “Is Strong the New Skinny?” I actually said:

“I wanna see a girl with some muscles in the Victoria’s Secret catalog in the next few years. What do YOU think? If you agree, pass this blog post around and get busy!”

(BTW, I was actually attacked by a few feminist bloggers over that statement… Sigh…)

Lo and behold, a woman with muscles in the Victoria’s Secret catalog…

SINS Has Been About Learning and Growing…

We’ve all grown and changed in the past few years. I have. Marsha has. The Paleo Community has. CrossFit has. SINS has. You have too.

I’ve seen friendships and relationships come and go. I’ve had my successes – like a book publishing deal, two regular columns in Paleo Magazine and a lot of other great stuff. And I’ve had some pretty significant failures. I have plenty of regrets and things I wish I could do over. I’ve been hurt by people I thought were on my team and I’ve been supported by others who have always been on my team. And new and great people have joined my team and supported me. I’ve seen what’s real and who’s real and who isn’t.

But, “Strong is What You Build” and we’re all building and growing and changing. We’re all learning and we’re learning from each other. That’s the beauty of the community – or the communities that intersected on Facebook to create “Strong is the New Skinny.”

Less than 3 years into its existence, “Strong is the New Skinny” on Facebook has 100,000 followers. 100,000. I still remember when it was 10,000, then 25,000. 50,000 was a huge milestone.

Every single one of you voted with the “Like” button in favor of being strong, strong women, carving your own path and following your passion. It’s huge. HUGE.

Here’s to 150,000 and beyond.

And, A Personal Thank You…

Finally, this is a personal, heartfelt and very emotional thank you – to everyone.

The SINS community changed my life for the better. I’ve “met” and talked with hundreds of you. I’ve even met a few of you face to face. (Torrey!)

Me and Torrey at BOE 2011

All the likes and shares and comments and words of encouragement changed me, my writing, my life and even my self-image. All for the better. I’m grateful for all of you and I wouldn’t have missed even ONE of the conversations, messages or comments. The line between an “online” friend and a “real” one has blurred into nonexistence for me.

You’re 100,000 of my closest friends.

ttys

Adam

It’s Up To You – Are You Ready?

February 9, 2013 by Adam 8 Comments

Kristin Doing a PR Over Head Squat

“…If you had one shot, or one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted, one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?”

-Eminem

Here’s a question for you: Where are you not giving and living 100% in your life right now?

What are you waiting for? Can’t you do better?

Here’s another: Do you have work to do on yourself or in your world that will make your life a better place in 6 months or a year?

Why aren’t you doing it? Whatever reason you have, valid or not, fix it. Now. Go.

And, finally: What can you commit to and start – today – that will make your world a dramatically different place over the course of this new year?

You know what you need to do. It’s no secret to you. Each of us knows where we can be doing better in our lives.

This stuff isn’t easy, though. This blog is all about fitness and training and Paleo eating and healthy living. These topics are – by necessity – about change and growth and making changes in our lives and our habits. Sometimes the changes are difficult and uncomfortable. Very often we learn a lot about ourselves in the process of making the difficult and uncomfortable decisions.

Paleo Diet Seminar at CrossFit Relentless in West Hartford, CT

“Ready When You Are, Bro…”

I’ve returned to CrossFit. I needed to. I needed community and I needed hard training. I needed to be around like-minded people. I needed motivation and support. I needed the energy and passion that comes with CrossFit and I needed a great place to train.

I’ve been friends with Merle Mckenzie from CrossFit Relentless since 2008 – before CrossFit Relentless itself even existed. The Relentless family of gyms is quite a force here in Connecticut. I can’t think of a place I’d rather be training or a CrossFit family I’d rather be a part of.

Now, Merle has a serious “no bullshit” attitude. Those who know him know what I’m talking about. I reached out to Merle because I needed help. I needed help with my training and I needed someone who would push me to do what I said I was going to do. Trust me, you don’t want Merle busting your balls about your lack of training motivation or not doing what you say you’re going to do. Maybe that’s where the “Relentless” name came from…

Now, I KNOW everything I need to train myself to a high level. I have a training and certification resume a mile long. But I wasn’t doing it. My motivation was virtually nonexistent. I was, basically, depressed. I was in a hole and couldn’t get myself out. I was doing great coaching and inspiring others, but I was earning an “F” in self-motivation.

I told Merle I needed help getting my fitness shit back together. His response?

“ready when you are, bro”

Typical Merle. No bullshit. Nothing fancy. No caps or periods either. That one line cut through it all.

It was about me being ready. I had all the resources and support I needed. It was all waiting for me. The question was, was I ready to take the opportunity to do what I said I wanted to do?

Me Push Ups

No more excuses…

All my BIG excuses and distractions excited my life last year and January of this year. I could have laid on the couch for another 6 months sucking my thumb with my stuffed animals, my cuggie and some Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, but I wasn’t sure I’d be too excited about myself and my life this summer if I did that.

No one would have necessarily blamed me if I was still depressed and exhausted after the stress of the last two years, but I would have blamed myself. No matter what it took, I was going to get myself out of the mud and get moving again.

“ready when you are, bro”

That was it. It was up to me to decide where I was going to take this…

Choose to Focus on the Positive…

Throughout 2011 and 2012 I did too much waiting and too much living in the future. I blamed myself for – and took responsibility for – the behavior of others way too often. What’s even more sad, is I spent a lot of time accepting others for who they were and how they were showing up in the world while some of these same people criticized me for who I was and how I was showing up.

All that’s over now and I’m working to show up in the world with more strength, courage and integrity.

I WILL show up in the world with more strength, courage and integrity.

It’s time to get serious about building the life I want to live and live it. I think you should do the same if you’re not now.

The lesson I learned over the past few months is that I can live my dreams as soon as I’m ready. Everything I need to live and thrive and be healthy, successful and fulfilled is within me and it’s within the world I’ve created for myself.

I have all I need. It’s within me and it’s within the world and the friendships and relationships I’ve spent the past 5 years creating and nurturing.

It’s not “out there” and it’s not dependent on a specific person or situation being in my life or not being in my life.

My success and happiness is dependent on me. It’s not dependent on what the non-starters of the world choose to think of me or how they choose to act in my life.

Loose the Non-Starters…

I spent the past year putting 80% of my effort into losers, non-starters and dead-end relationships. I was so drained by negativity and bullshit that I was showing up in the GOOD relationships in my life with too little to give.

Worse, I was showing up FOR MYSELF and for MY OWN life with little vigor and too little to give. I gave some of my best away in places where it didn’t matter and wasn’t appreciated.

Live in the Present…

Here’s a hint for you. Live in the present and evaluate your relationships mainly in the present.

Every time I go to one of the Relentless gyms I’m happy to be there, happy I went and I leave having pushed my limits and improved. I feel good in those places and with those people. I’m inspired to improve myself and bring more of myself to the world when I’m there and after I leave.

I’m not “waiting” to feel good “later.” I’m not waiting for it to get better there. It’s good there now.

Don’t wait for things and people to change. Stop making sacrifices. Stop sacrificing your values for others. Stop living your life halfway.

Stop living in the future.

Live now.

If things aren’t flowing in certain parts of your life now, it’s very likely you need to make some changes. They might be difficult and uncomfortable changes, but you probably need to make them.

Sometimes it’s hard to do what’s best for you and what will serve your long-term goals.

But, where will you be in 6 months, a year, two years, five years or a lifetime if you keep doing what you’re doing? Better make a change sooner instead of later…

Make This YOUR Year…

Can you step into your power RIGHT NOW and live the way you want? I bet you can at least start.

I’m going to make this my year. The past two years have been very difficult. A large part of them were spent cleaning up the mess that resulted from my leaving my old life behind so I could live the life I wanted and had envisioned for myself.

I’ve now got a blank canvas to create the life I want on. It took more than two years, but I HAVE that blank canvas now. It’s up to me. Life’s waiting on me now.

“ready when you are, bro”

I’m going to live that life now. I’m going to step into it and live it and make this my year to finally start living. I’m inviting you to do the same with me…

I want to be better. I CAN be better and I WILL be better. I want to bring more of myself to the world. I want the world to be a better place because I’m in it.

I’m ready.

ttys

Adam

It’s Broken…

June 21, 2012 by Adam 5 Comments

Seth Godin is a really smart guy. At least I think so. A few other people do to, which is why he’s one of the top business authors out there.

Seth’s ideas are decidedly different, though. He writes little stream-of-consciousness books with names like “Purple Cow,” “Poke the Box,” “We Are All Weird” and “Tribes.” And he says things that tend to upset the status quo pretty regularly. That’s why I like him. It’s also why the stuff he says make a lot of people REALLY uncomfortable.

Here he is saying some profound stuff about the future of pretty much everything we know. It’s good news or bad news depending on which side of the fence you sit…

A lot of the things he says don’t just apply to business. They apply to other important things too. If you’re sitting on our side of the fence – the Paleo, ancestral health, functional movement, healthy living side – the stuff Seth talks about is good news.

The Industrial Revolution is Over…

What does it mean that the Industrial Revolution is over? For us fringe wackos (I embrace being a fringe wacko…), it means that we can connect with each other and share ideas and insights and information. It also means that we can amplify our ideas and our voice and make an impact. That wasn’t possible 20 years ago – at least, it wasn’t as easy as it is now…

The Assembly Line and the Factory System…

As the Industrial Revolution ends, I think we can start to see some of the absurdity in applying the ideas of interchangeable parts – and interchangeable people – to, well, everything… It’s like that old saying about the hammer: “If your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

The Assembly Line model applied to… An Assembly Line.

The Assembly Line model applied to… Cars.

The Assembly Line ideal applied to… Education.

The Assembly Line applied to… Work.

The Assembly Line model applied to… Working out.

The Assembly Line applied too… Coaching.

The Assembly Line idea applied to… Medicine.

The Assembly Line applied to… Farming.

The Assembly Line ideal applied to… Food.

I could continue, I’m sure, but I think you get the picture…

So, where’s the problem?

The problem is, YOUR BODY ISN’T A MACHINE! It’s just NOT!

As the Industrial Age unfolded, here’s how some were thinking about the human body – and I’ll argue that this is how we got into the health mess we’re currently in…

The Body as a Machine

Fritz Kahn Body as Machine

You can admire the use of metaphor and the observation of similarities and connections in Kahn’s work, but I also think it needs to be taken for what it was – idealizing of the Industrial Age. And that’s an age that’s not applicable to where and who were are as a world, as a species and as living beings. At least not anymore…

Leave it to the Germans to systematize and “mechanize” the systems of the body into mechanical processes, huh? Sigh…

What IS the mess we’re in?

We’re in a big mess. I’ll ignore the economy and business stuff for now and just focus on our health and our body, mind and spirit.

The Medical Establishment is all about “The Factory.” You have a huge building with a a bunch of expensive machines, a Standard Operating Procedure for EVERYTHING and a cookie-cutter, factory-processing approach to it all. This disease gets this medicine, that disease gets that one. If you’re depressed it means your brain is broken. If you have a digestive disorder its not related to what you eat and take this pill. It goes on and on and IT’S INSANE. And, God forbid your illness doesn’t fit into a neat little box and a have an appropriate Standard Operating Procedure for its treatment…

So few doctors are doing “art” right now. Art as in, seeing the patient as a human being instead of an unrelated collection of “parts” that are working or broken. And, what’s happening? More and more people are tossing the old model and going more and more for alternative therapies.

Medicine is in a “Race to the Bottom” AND a “Race to the Top.” At the top will be the doctors who actually care and see people as people and not a collection of mechanical “stuff” to be manipulated by drugs and surgery only. At the bottom will be more of the same – 10 minute office visits, insurance ruled treatment, more and more pills and procedures and less and less health. And, of course, diet won’t have anything to do with any of it…

Here’s a rant I wrote a few weeks ago regarding a New York Magazine article talking up Xanax as some great wonder drug for our times…

The point is, we need to – and we WILL – be returning to simpler and, at the same time, more complex treatments and models for medicine, healing and the body. We’re already seeing this happening and it will continue…

What’s Next…

We’ve systematized the crap out of everything. We “won” that race to the bottom and we’re paying the price – we have fake, assembly line food, ineffective, assembly line medical care, assembly line globo-gyms…

But, everywhere, small things are growing and thriving. A single person with a blog can change everything. Small and local can now have global reach. It’s all flipped upside down – the “big guys” are spending more and more and being listened to less and less and the “little guys” are spending virtually no money and shaping a new world.

If Seth Godin is right – and I have a feeling he is – we’ve entered the era of the “artist:”

“Making Art“

“My definition of art contains three elements:

Art is made by a human being.
Art is created to have an impact, to change someone else.
Art is a gift. You can sell the souvenir, the canvas, the recording… but the idea itself is free, and the generosity is a critical part of making art.

By my definition, most art has nothing to do with oil paint or marble. Art is what we’re doing when we do our best work.”

- Seth Godin

Small is the New Big…

“Small is the New Big” is yet another book by Seth Godin. He coined the term and here’s how I think it’s going to play out in our little corner of the health and training sphere as the 21st Century unfolds:

The small, artisan warehouse-style gym will continue to become more and more important and influential…

CrossFit was the main force in popularizing the non-gym gym for sure. But you can see how CrossFit HQ has become a lot more “assembly-line like” in the past few years – churning out more CrossFit gyms, more Level 1 trainers, more, more, more – and at an ever lower quality. Thus, the backlash in the community and the defection of many of the best and brightest – the artisans – in the CrossFit community.

The warehouse gym and the one-of-a-kind trainers – the ones who care and are passionate about what they do and who would do it whether they got paid or not – will continue to expand and thrive.

These artisans will continue to create their art – many under the CrossFit banner and many not…

And CrossFit will continue its race to the bottom as it churns out more and more trainers, more and more gyms and more and more injuries… (I talked about some of the issues with the CrossFit/Reebok thing in this blog post: “CrossFit Goes Globo-Gym.”)

A Warehouse Gym

Small, Local Food Producers Will Thrive and Grow…

Farmer's Market

More and more, the smaller operations will thrive. It will be more about the “art” of our foods and those who grow and produce it.

And, Niche Ideas and Niche Publications Will Thrive…

Despite the cries about journalism being dead, there are lots and lots of new niche ideas and journalism spreading. Paleo Magazine is doing great and so are other niche publications like RECOIL and New Pioneer Magazine.

More writing, resources and communities around more and more niche, heretical and revolutionary ideas…

Speaking of Niche Ideas…

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”

- Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (1788 – 1860)

I’d like to go on record as saying that Paleo – or, more accurately, an “Evolutionary Perspective” on health, healing and life – will be THE lens we view all things health and wellness through in 10 years if not 3-5 years. There. I said it…

Everything We Care About Will Get Smaller – and Better…

As the mainstream of everything continues to race to the bottom – and smaller niche ideas that had it right for a while try to race to the mainstream and lose what innovation they had – we’ll see more and more niches open up. More revolutionary ideas, more niche products we love, more and more of less and less and smaller and smaller distinctions.

For now, let’s stop thinking of the body – and our care for it – as something we can mechanize, replicate and write down in a manual. Let’s approach or body and our health from the standpoint of artists and lets find and support the artisans who can help us in that…

ttys

Adam

Here’s a Bonus…

Here’s more Seth Godin. This is one of the best talks I’ve heard from him in a while. It’s long, but worth a watch if you like his message…

SINS Angel – Kristin Jekielek…

February 11, 2012 by Adam 6 Comments

February 2012 - What a Paleo diet and CrossFit once or twice a week can accomplish!

I’ve known Kristin for a while now – on Facebook anyway! She’s been doing a lot in the Paleo community and there’s even a pic of her and her sister with Mark Sisson in Mark’s new book.

One thing I wanted to mention – something you guys hear from me all the time and something I hear more and more the more people I talk to – is that Kristin is taking charge of her health by reducing her stress and changing her lifestyle. It’s not just about “Paleo” as a diet or going to “CrossFit,” she’s working on the WHOLE PACKAGE to get where she wants to go and nurture her body…

But, I digress.. Here’s Kristin’s story in her own words along with some Questions and Answers at the end!

Kristin Jekielek…

My Primal journey doesn’t have a dramatic before & after story. I don’t have a fat pants photo. I didn’t recover from a debilitating disease. All that happened on the outside was a few pounds lost with hardly any effort (while eating bacon, cream, and red meat). On the inside, though, I felt BETTER…. I can’t think of another way to put it simply. My thoughts were clearer, I was more energetic, I liked the way I looked, my skin cleared up, my food cravings disappeared, I learned what it meant to be hungry again (and not just tired), and I came to LOVE cooking. Everything just kinda got….better. This all happened in July 2009 when I first learned how to work WITH my body instead of against it by eating a Paleo diet. Six months later I joined a CrossFit box and fell in love with Olympic Weightlifting. The positive changes I saw increased exponentially.

Paleo Just Makes Sense…

The Paleo lifestyle just makes sense. This has become more true for me as I keep learning about our bodies, food, health, and illness. It gives the greatest results for the least amount of effort once you get over the learning curve. Fats and protein work WITH my body to let me know when I’ve eaten enough, and I no longer experience hunger-inducing insulin crashes from gag-inducing low-fat whole grains.

I have become passionate about providing new, useful Paleo tools that help others. For when you’re on the go, I created PaleoGoGo as an iTunes & Android app that provides recommendations on what to eat at chain restaurants. For when you’re at home, I partnered with James Gregory to create FastPaleo, a paleo recipe sharing site where anyone can upload and share a recipe, no blog required. I also give Paleo nutrition seminars at CrossFit gyms across Philadelphia and work on-on-one with clients. I really want to see people succeed with this lifestyle.

A Twist to the Story…

However, my story does come with a twist. I gave myself an iodine deficiency. Your thyroid is dependent on the stuff, so methodically removing all dietary sources of it over the course of a year and a half causes it to misbehave. This is bad because your thyroid impacts all sorts of little things like metabolism and hormone regulation.

So what happened? Since I was eschewing processed foods, eating strictly grass-fed/pastured animals at home, and cooking 90% of my food with sea salt instead of table salt, I was unknowingly omitting all iodine from my diet. The very first day I supplemented with iodine I saw a remarkable recovery. It seemed like an easy fix, and I continue to supplement with iodine daily.

Several months down the road my condition had improved to where I was about 75% better and eating 95% primal because cheating still made my symptoms worse. More blood work identified yet another thyroid problem. I was diagnosed with autoimmune Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, a disorder that causes hypothyroid symptoms while the immune system slowly destroys the thyroid. It’s likely that I’ve had it for years and that it was exacerbated by the iodine deficiency. Hypothyroid symptoms include extreme fatigue, difficulty concentrating, brain fog, acne, change in body composition, depressed mood, sleeping a lot more than normal, zero libido, and more.

Kristin Doing a PR Over Head Squat

I see it as a blessing that my Hashi’s was brought to light at this point. Otherwise, it would have continued to destroy my thyroid for years and may not have been diagnosed until there was very little left of my thyroid. Right now I have the chance to actively manage my condition and try to preserve my thyroid for as long as I can. It turns out that staying Paleo is a crucial aspect of this, along with stress reduction, stress management, drastically reducing high-intensity workouts, and getting 9 hours of sleep every single day. If you want to read more about my experiences with diagnosing and managing Hashimoto’s, I wrote a blog post about it here: http://fastpaleo.com/what-the-doctors-didnt-tell-me/.

Kristin Jekielek at a Tough Mudder event

May 2010 at a Tough Mudder event - YES, that's FIRE in the background

Learning, Growing and Changing…

I have had to completely change my life to accomplish my goal of managing Hashi’s. It has been unbelievably difficult, but it’s my only choice since I have made health my top priority. I don’t go out nearly as often as I’d like because I need my sleep. When I do, I have to make sure to keep alcohol consumption to a minimum or I’ll be laid out with hypo symptoms the next day. I changed jobs because the stress was causing me to relapse, with a huge decrease in pay. I can’t work out often because my body just can’t handle that added physical stress, so I go to CrossFit about once/week. I’ve learned how to ask for help from others, and more importantly, I’ve learned that I can’t and shouldn’t always try to do everything on my own.

My dedication to overall health has really paid off. While many women with hypothyroidism experience uncontrollable sugar cravings and weight gain, my body has maintained itself at a fairly consistent body composition even though over the past year I’ve lost 10 pounds of muscle because I can’t work out like I used to. I have less definition and a little extra flesh, but it’s not a drastic change. Eating Primal has even helped me to retain a surprising amount of strength during this time. This experience has really driven home the saying that “body composition is 80% diet”.

Is my body where I ideally want it to be? No. Do I think I’m doing really well for the circumstances of the past year of my life? Absolutely. We have to look at the big picture if we want the motivation to truly succeed. Because of this, I will continue to put my health first and make a strict, clean diet my priority.

I’m currently in a transformative phase. I’m beginning to feel like myself again after a year and a half of serious health issues that kept me from being able to think and act normally, but I still have to take it day by day. I can’t set my expectations too high for each day because sometimes the hypothyroid symptoms come back with a vengeance, leaving me weak and unfocused. I have instead learned to be grateful for each good day I have, to get the most out of each day, and to be kind to myself so that I can have more good days. The future holds many possibilities, and I will continue to focus on my health so that I’m in the best place possible each day to take on new challenges.

Some Q and A…

You’ve been really active on Strong is the New Skinny on Facebook for a while now. What does “Strong is the New Skinny” mean to you?

At the heart of the message is empowerment. To me it means taking back the definition of female beauty. Instead of following the cultural norm and spending time, money, and energy on attaining the warped ideal of “skinny”, women are using their bodies to the fullest extent to create bodies that are truly works of art. Instead of hating their bodies for not conforming, women are taking action to make their bodies into powerful forces that uplift their spirits and self-confidence. Women are taking pride in what they can do, and they’re showing us that they can do a whole hell of a lot more than they ever thought possible.

Where do you see yourself physically, mentally and health-wise in the next few years?

This is a difficult question for me to answer. Living with Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism requires that I release my expectations day to day because sometimes I am physically unable to exercise. However, within a few years I hope to be in a place where I’ve nurtured myself back to my full potential and am off the Synthroid. I want to be CrossFitting 4 times each week, mixed with a nurturing exercise like yoga. I understand recovery time and mobility are essential for continued strength gains. I’ve started to incorporate relaxation tapes and meditation into my daily routine, and I expect to have these formed into a solid habit by then.

My ideal state of being is active and focused while being mindful and calm.

[A note here for Kristin and anyone else who might be interested in guided relaxation/meditation is that I LOVE Hypnotica's Yoga Nidra Mediation as well as his other work. Definitely check his stuff out on CD Baby!]

You’re really active in the Paleo community and CrossFit communities online. Do you have a vision for where you want to see these communities in a few years?

Both communities are set to explode in the next couple years. CrossFit is really gaining popularity through the Reebok sponsorship in addition to word of mouth, and the knowledge of the Paleo diet will spread with it. However, Paleo is also spreading to other demographics based on its own merit. We’re already seeing greater acceptance of Paleo principles in mainstream media. The results are real, and we’ll see more attention being drawn to this.

The Paleo community is absolutely thriving online. There are small groups already doing this across the country, but I’d love to see more in-person meet ups happening. The power of numbers will go a long way towards getting better food options at local stores and restaurants, which will clearly help people day to day.

And… Back to Me…

Thanks SO MUCH for being a SINS Angel and for ALL that you do in the Paleo and CrossFit communities, Kristin! Good luck and I’ll see ya on Facebook!

ttys

Adam

One Serious Beast of a Weekend…

October 19, 2011 by Adam 3 Comments

Fitness Culture is Alive and Well in Connecticut…

Wow! What a weekend! Honestly, I’m still recovering from The Beast of the East Fitness Festival that happened October 8 and 9th, 2011 on the Durham Fair Grounds in Durham, CT! It was a GREAT time! Besides all the CrossFit craziness at The Beast, it was the first year for me promoting and running the IKFF East Coast Kettlebell Beast Competition. The turnout for The Kettlebell Beast was excellent – 16 athletes – and spectator and coach turnout was just good!

Banner and logo for the IKFF East Coast Kettlebell Beast Competition

CrossFit Athletes Arrive at The Beast of the East Fitness Festival

If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a great highlights video from The 2011 Kettlebell Beast that I posted on YouTube:

BTW, if you want to see ALL the action from The Kettlebell Beast, check out the event’s dedicated YouTube Channel where I’ll be sharing individual competitor videos very soon!

So, what happened? Here are the scores, reps, etc from everyone who competed at The 2011 IKFF East Coast Kettlebell Beast Competition:

2011 IKFF East Coast Kettlebell Beast Competition Results (Click on the image for a larger view!)

There were some really outstanding and inspiring performances!

The top lifter in Men’s Biathlon was Will Metcalf who nailed 115 reps in the Kettlebell Jerk with a pair of 24 kg Kettlebells, followed an hour later by a Right and Left total of 180 Kettlebell Snatches with 24kg! You can see some of Will’s great work in the pic below as well as the videos! Will’s wife, Melissa also put in an outstanding Biathlon performance with 140 reps in the Jerk and 148 in the Snatch with a 12kg Kettlebell! (BTW, if you’re not completely clear on how a Kettlebell competition works, here’s a blog post that should explain it!) A pic of Melissa is also below…

Will Metcalf Kettlebell Jerk in Biathlon at 2011 IKFF East Coast Kettlebell Beast Competition

Melissa Metcalf Kettlebell Snatch at IKFF East Coast Kettlebell Beast Competition 2011

In the Women’s Long Cycle (Clean and Jerk), there were a bunch of outstanding performances including Donna Sheridan with 69 total reps in the Long Cycle with a 16kg Kettlebell for Women’s Best Lifter of the meet!

Another performance worth a mention is Scott Tighe’s AWESOME set of Kettlebell Jerks with TWO 32kg bells. Scott nailed a full 56 reps in the 10:00 minute time limit!

There Were Plenty of AWESOME First Time Performances Too…

And, there were a bunch of first time competitors too. This is something I LOVE to see! Kettlebell Sport has so many great aspects to it and seeing it spread to new people with a competition like this is a huge thrill…

Doug Whitney Kettlebell Biathlon at IKFF East Coast Kettlebell Beast Competition 2011

Scott Tighe competing in Biathlon at the 2011 IKFF East Coast Kettlebell Beast Competition

Kids eye view of the IKFF East Coast Kettlebell Beast Competition

The Weekend Wasn’t ALL About Kettlebells, Though…

I made a ton of new friends at The Beast and reconnected with some old ones! Our Facebook friend, Torrey, came out from Dirty Jersey (aka, New Jersey ) and CrossFit 908 to hang out. She even brought me and Michelle T-Shirts!

I had a great time meeting everyone and signing books! Thanks to everyone who stopped by! Oh yeah, and my “neighbors” at my booth from Beast Bars were cool too! Look them up on Facebook!

Adam Farrah with Michelle and Torrey at the 2011 Beast of the East Fitness Festival

And, Finally, BIG Thanks to…

Merle McKenzie and Glenn Perra, Jr. from CrossFit Relentless and CrossFit 033

Terri Parker from Red Barn Fitness

Bryce Graskoski from CrossFit Religion

Ken Blackburn and IKFF

BTW, You Can STILL Get a Kettlebell Beast Shirt Here On Spreadshirt…

Shirts and sweatshirts are right here in the Practical Paleolithic Kettlebell Store!

ttys

Adam

My Personal Journey to Paleo…

August 3, 2011 by Adam 43 Comments

Drag Sled on Dirt Road

At the urging of a new friend who started reading my book “The Paleo Dieter’s Missing Link” a few days ago, I’ve decided to post the preface of the book here on my blog. My journey from where I was to where I am was long and difficult and full of setback, disappointments, shady characters and people who were all to willing to push me into accepting less for myself, my life and my health. Here’s how I got from where I was to where I am…

My book, “The Paleo Dieter’s Missing Link“ is a book I knew I was going to write for a long time.

In the fall of 2004 I owned a big house with a big mortgage, worked a high-stress corporate biotech job, slept fewer than 5-6 hours a night and had just started an evening MBA program. I drank tons of coffee. Everything about my life was rushed and stressed. Of course, everyone would have expected me to remain healthy despite the schedule and the stress – after all, I was working out all the time, jogging almost daily and eating a “very healthy” diet of chicken breasts, protein shakes, whole grains, protein bars, granola bars, name brand yogurt and taking plenty of vitamins and supplements.

I soon found out I was far from healthy.

After nearly dying from Ulcerative Colitis, I began a long battle with digestive illness, chronic fatigue, depression and a lot of other health issues. Of course, I (at the time) and anyone in the mainstream establishment I knew, attributed my problems to “bad luck.” All the conventional doctors I saw (save for one) couldn’t – and wouldn’t – do anything but medicate symptoms with drugs that usually made things worse or caused other problems. I was told over and over again: “There’s no known cause for your illness and no known cure. All we can do is ‘manage your disease’ with drugs. Diet has nothing to do with it.” I even had the head of Gastroenterology at a major university hospital recommend I eat “bread” because my diet of only raw fruit smoothies and steamed vegetables – which seemed to be making me feel better and reduce the pain of digestion – wasn’t of adequate nutrition and nutrient “deficiencies” might result without bread. Bread…

I also made the rounds to various alternative medical people. All of them proved useless as well and were only interested in selling high-priced supplements or advancing their own dogmatic ideas. None had any answers, but all were more than happy to accept money in exchange for a useless opinion, some tests and some useless bottles of crap that didn’t help or made me feel worse.

I spent years sick and exhausted. My usually boundless creativity and energy were gone. I had all I could do to drag myself in to a job that I hated so I could sit at a desk and collect a paycheck. I still worked out and did Karate, but my training was lackluster and always interrupted for various time periods by digestive problems from moderate to severe. I made more than one trip to an emergency room due to dehydration, anemia and sever inflammation of my intestinal tract. Each time it was the same story: “Diet has nothing to do with it. You’ll need to be on medication for the rest of your life to ‘manage your disease’.”

That’s me, sick and miserable sitting at a desk doing a job I hated. The company I worked for was failing and I was surrounded by difficult and negative people…

Adam Farrah, Sick and Misureable in 2006

My grandfather once said about me: ”Adam is over-confident and over-optimistic, but he usually turns out to be right.” Looking back it was pretty crazy – I stopped taking the prednisone and other crap they were loading me up with, stopped going to anyone for help and began reading everything I could get my hands on and experimenting. I experimented with all sorts of diets, fasting, positive thinking, meditation and everything else that had even a remote chance of helping me. Every so often, I’d show up in an emergency room because things got out of hand. I’d do just enough conventional treatment to get back on my feet and get back to my still-stressful job and resume my dietary research and trial and error.

This was all nearly 7 years ago. It’s relatively easy to talk about, but the day to day process I went through was excruciating. Over that 7 years I examined every aspect of my diet, my past, my goals, my thinking, my friends, my relationships, my work and my life. It was a battle and I was literally fighting for my life. And not just my “life” as in not dying, my life as in having a good one that I enjoyed and actually wanted to live. I have no doubt that the doctors could have kept me alive – but I’m certain the life I would have had under their care would have been a living hell.

I reached the point where I was determined to regain my health and live the life I wanted or die trying. There would be no lifetime of drugs and surgeries and emergency rooms and gastroenterologists who could barely speak English. They all told me I would die if I didn’t take their medications and do what they told me. They told me that nothing I did with my diet or lifestyle would help. It was a risk I was willing to take. Life on my terms or death, those were my options. At times, I really didn’t care which one it was.

Things began to really turn around in 2008, even though I was working yet another stressful and miserable corporate job and still had plenty of negative people and situations in my life. I was doing relatively well on a diet of meats, fruit, vegetables and goat yogurt and had been eating that diet for years. I was still far from healthy, though. At this time, I still thought my training days were over. I was too tired and too out of shape to want to do much of anything. I used to be big and strong and fit and live in the gym. College, then corporate life and then illness changed all that. I had lost all of the muscle and strength I built from a lifetime of weights and training. And now, the diet I needed to be on to stay healthy wasn’t anything like the one I “needed” to be on to get strong and train again. Or so I thought.

Like most, I was deluded by marketing and mainstream nonsense. I thought there was a specific diet you ate for each health problem, a diet you ate to build muscle, a diet you ate to burn fat, a diet you ate for psychological health, a diet you ate to run marathons and on and on. Special diets and special supplements. Like everything else in our modern world, everything was specialized and fractionated as far as I could tell. Something Paul Chek’s work helped me realize is that there’s a basic, foundational way to eat for health – and that health is a foundation you build on for specific needs. Eating to heal a digestive illness may have been my priority at one time, but it was entirely ignorant of me – and of our culture in general – to think that the diet that healed my digestive system wouldn’t be the diet that would help me achieve strength and performance or psychological health or any other goal I had. Certainly the application of certain principles or foods might change, but a healthy diet is a healthy diet regardless of goals or specific circumstances.

A healthy diet is a healthy diet and is universal.

Let me say that again in a different way:

There are solid, unchanging principles that make up a diet that is healthy for humans. This is a fact. There is a right and a wrong way to eat.

Yes, there is latitude within the context of “what is a healthy diet to eat” and there will be differences and variations depending on goals, individual health, tolerance for certain foods, genetics and a million other details, but the question of what to eat is not as complex as many would like us to believe. In fact, science tells us – with absolute certainty – what is healthy for us to eat and what is not healthy for us to eat. It’s just that the science that tells us this isn’t medical science. The science that gives us the answers to the questions we ask about what to eat is anthropology and the related disciplines. To see our way to a healthy future we need to use science to look at the past.

The idea of this diet vs. that diet, the 1000’s of diet books, the experts and doctors and pundits and arguments and conflicts on The Dr. Oz show and most everything else within the commercial diet landscape are nothing but distracting nonsense, bullshit, hype and manipulative marketing efforts.

Evolution tells us how to eat and how to live. History shows us what we were designed to eat and how we were designed to live and history shows us how we’ve declined as a species the further we’ve drifted from what is natural to us. The future of health and of medicine is in this evolutionary concept and it will someday be the commonly accepted way to understand and treat health and disease.

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“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”

- Arthur Schopenhauer

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Everything changed for me in 2009 when I read Randy Roach’s book “Muscle, Smoke and Mirrors. Volume I.” In this outstanding history of bodybuilding and Physical Culture, Randy showed the diets and nutritional philosophies of the strongest and healthiest from the 1800’s and early to mid 1900’s. This is before modern medicine was what it is now, before marketing and medicating symptoms were what they are now. The early strongmen ate the things we eat now and consider “Paleo” in many instances.

For the first time, I was aware of athletes who were capable of moving weights I couldn’t have dreamed of in my best training days – and they were doing it long before anabolic steroids, “advanced” protein shakes and bars, pre-workout drinks and stimulants and all the equipment “advances” we’re told we need to be strong and be healthy. Many of these men drank raw cow or goat milk, ate foods straight from the farms they were grown or raised on and practiced a lot of the “strange” things I read about in many of the very fringe books I was reading about health and healing. Many of them fasted, they obsessed about food quality. Many avoided grains. Most avoided alcohol. This is the first time I really saw the connection between eating for health and eating for strength and performance.

I also saw the connection between lifestyle and health or the lack of it. Once I started making these connections, things started to really pick up momentum and change in my life. I quit jobs and ended relationships. My friend Chris Wright-Martell let me start training clients as a strength coach out of his school, Modern Self-Defense Center in Middletown, CT. He had a few kettlebells at the school and I started using them. I got hooked. A few months later I got certified as Kettlebell Teacher by Steve Cotter and Ken Blackburn from the IKFF. I started training harder and feeling better.

It wasn’t too long after this that I found my way to the CrossFit community when I taught a kettlebell seminar at CrossFit Relentless. I became good friends with the owner, Merle Mckenzie, and he encouraged me to get into CrossFit. I did. And that’s when I came full circle. CrossFitters were eating Paleo and doing it for performance. I started following Robb Wolf’s work.

In 2005 all my friends and coworkers wanted to know when I would be able to eat “normally” again. Girlfriends were annoyed and frustrated because there was “something wrong with me” that kept us from taking day trips to Sturbridge Village to eat fried seafood and ice cream. They wanted to stay out all night and drink in loud clubs and I wanted to be home sleeping at 10pm – because there was “something wrong with me.”

Today, I’m healthy. I’m happy. I live in the tiny beach cottage in Old Saybrook, CT that my great grandfather bought for the family as a summer home. I run at the beach. I feel good. I eat good local foods. I do yoga in the yard in the sun with humming birds flitting here and there. I go to bed early, I get up early and I lift heavy things in a little barn behind the house. I write constantly. I actively avoid negative people and places and practices. There’s nothing “wrong with me” anymore…

And this is me NOW (Summer of 2011) – Strong, happy, healthy and doing what I LOVE…

Adam Farrah and Carrie - Strong is the New Skinny

Me and my great friend Carrie.

In truth, there never was anything “wrong with me.” There was – and still is – something wrong with a culture where health isn’t a priority, foods we’re told are healthy by “experts” aren’t, disease is rampant, lifestyles are out of control with stress and strife and no one will look at the facts, tell the truth, drop the politics and create change. Misinformation in the diet and health fields is ubiquitous. Almost no one tells the truth. Almost. Change is coming and there will be many established power structures that suffer and disappear when it does.

The “Paleo Dieter’s Missing Link” is my contribution to creating change in the way we think about health and diet and the way we eat and live. Some of the things I say in the book are risky and unpopular. It’s a Paleo diet book but, as I’ll show you, Paleo is a diverse diet genre. It’s not a single diet made up of black and white principles to follow without question or individualization. I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to help you understand Paleo and related approaches in a way that they’re not typically presented or explained. I want to empower you to make your own decisions, ask your own questions and find your own answers. I want to make connections and integrate knowledge from different places and different historical periods. I want to help you understand health and diet on a much deeper level than it’s currently presented.

I had to understand diet, health and lifestyle to heal and live again. I understand it on a very deep level because of the stakes I was playing at. I had to because I couldn’t have turned that mess of a life I was living around any other way. Many people still don’t get me or my lifestyle or my diet, but that’s really OK. I don’t care. I’m living my life the way I want to live it and that’s what’s important. I’m living life on my terms…

ttys

Adam

CrossFit – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Kettlebell Swing…

July 31, 2011 by Adam 25 Comments

Sigh… What a week… A Wise Ape once told me if I wasn’t getting hate mail, no one was reading my stuff. Well, people are definitely reading my stuff… This past week, I leaned heavily on my faith and asked myself many times WWTGD? (What Would The Gorilla Do?).

I think I’ve turned a corner on Practical Paleolithic – I think this blog – and my blogging – has evolved beyond the raw rants I was doing last year and become more intelligent. Sure, the sharp sarcasm remains and my usual brilliant and charming wit , but the ranting just isn’t as fun as it was. Or, maybe all the yoga and the uber-spiritual, hippie-in-remission girlfriend are just making me go soft… Either way, I think my writing and YOUR reading on this blog evolved beyond the pseudo-negativity of the massively sarcastic rant. Time will tell though…

Either way, CrossFit is seriously taking off and, IMHO, some really important parts of it are getting left behind. This happens. It reminds me of the Ninjutsu boom that happened in the 80′s or the Kenpo Karate boom the decade before. Remember how there were Martial Arts guys in black masks in EVERY movie, TV show and Cartoon back then? That happened because there was an explosion in popularity and fascination with the Ninja and their Martial Art. So, Ninjutsu went from being this devastatingly effective combat art with a pragmatic Buddhist spiritual side to being something that showed up on Cereal boxes and Saturday morning cartoons. From there, there ended up being all sorts of arguments about who the actual Grandmaster of the art was (it was and is Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi) and if he was even for real, if his technique was any good and on and on…

Then new “Masters” showed up and opened competing schools (Sounds kind of like the “bootcamps” that are popping up everywhere to take some of the CrossFit popularity spillover, huh?). It got to the point where everyone was a “Ninja Master” and there were “Ninja Schools” everywhere. Then people started saying Ninjutsu wasn’t a “real” art. All sorts of arguments started about “effective” martial arts and who’s “Ninjutsu” was better. There were arguments that Ninjutsu “didn’t work” and counter-arguments that it was the most effective fighting art known to Man. This kind of stuff has been around in Martial Arts for a LONG time and you can actually make a case for these arguments being the basis of the original UFC events in the 90′s. In fact, I think there was a “Ninja” in the first UFC and I’m pretty sure he got his ass kicked…

CrossFit Relentless Bootcamp Sign

Just like in Martial Arts, I think the TEACHER and the SCHOOL are everything when it comes to CrossFit. In CrossFit the teacher is called a “Coach” and the school is called a “box,” but it’s the same thing. At this point, the name “CrossFit” doesn’t necessarily indicate guaranteed quality anymore. At the same time, NOT seeing the name “CrossFit” on a “warehouse-style” gym doesn’t automatically mean it’s NOT a good gym either. It could be one of the many former CrossFits that either lost it’s affiliation or chose to disaffiliate. Some of those “original” CrossFit people like OPT, Melissa and Dallas from Whole 9 and Robb Wolf would make OUTSTANDING coaches if they were near you – regardless of whether or not it says “CrossFit” over their door.

Yes, I hate CrossFit and, yes, this blog is about YOU…

You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain
I’ll bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you?

- Carly Simon

I guess the 21st century version of that song is “You probably think this blog post is about you…” The point is NO I don’t hate CrossFit and NO I didn’t write this post about any gym or anyone in particular. No more than writing that I eat some brown rice or goat yogurt once in a while means I hate Paleo and Robb Wolf…

If I routinely quote Glassman and have been saying we lost our way from stuff he said back in 2002, I’m probably not a CrossFit hater now, am I? In fact, maybe I should call myself a CrossFit Fundamentalist and run around thumping old reprints of CrossFit Journal…

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: CrossFit is an AWESOME methodology and community. It’s done some great things for training and it’s connected a lot of great people. Some of my best friends are CrossFitters.

Those NEW to CrossFit, take note…

I believe CrossFit should ALWAYS be about Elite Fitness. Not so much always elite PERFORMANCE, but always Elite Fitness. What is “Elite Fitness?” Well, as it happens, Glassman wrote an OUTSTANDING paper called “What is Fitness?” back in 2002. I’m routinely amazed at how many “CrossFitters” haven’t read that incredible article and how many “CrossFitters” don’t even know who Coach Glassman IS…

It doesn’t really matter where you START when you come into CrossFit. The point is: where do you go and what’s your attitude? If CrossFit truly IS Elite Fitness – and is going to remain so – the people involved in the sport need to check their motivations. Yes, CrossFit changes lives and it’s great that it can scale and be accessible to all. I’m all for diverse groups of people seeing the benefits of CrossFit. But I think that CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT is a cornerstone of what CrossFit is all about.

************************************

“Master Chen was renowned for his skill in Taijiquan, perhaps the greatest teacher of his day. At the end of a long life, surrounded by students, Chen lay dying. Chen gestured for his chief student. The student approached and kneeled by Chen’s bed.

‘Yes, Master,’ asked the student.”

‘It is a pity,’ whispered Master Chen. ‘I was only just learning how to punch.’”

************************************

(Thanks to my awesome Facebook friend Robert for digging up that quote for me!)

Here’s the thing: I’ve been a coach for a while now. Something I feel I’m exceptionally good at is seeing the potential someone I’m training has – even if they can’t see it themselves – and moving them toward that potential. All of us can always be better than we are today and it can be surprising how small the daily changes are that add up to BIG changes over months and years. (This is true in LIFE, not just training, BTW…)

But what about the people aren’t pushing the edge of their potential? What about the people who don’t care about pushing the edge of their potential? Or, what about the people who would push the edge of their potential if they had a coach who could help them do it and lend them some vision for who they could be? And, beyond that, what about the coaches who need to be pushing their OWN potential on TWO fronts – their own training and athletic ability AND their coaching ability?

Far from saying I think we should exclude new people from CrossFit or have some massive performance standards, I ACTUALLY think new people should get MORE coaching and MORE attention and A LOT MORE encouragement to SLOW DOWN until they’re ready to go faster and move bigger weight. As coaches or just those who have been in CrossFit for a long time (and training for an even longer time), we have a very big responsibility to teach people stuff the right way right from the beginning.

Everyone is Watching and There are No “Do Overs…”

I’d like to see our community continue to be elite – IN QUALITY – and not have us start looking like a bunch of clowns in knee socks and Vibrams pounding the shit out of ourselves with bad form and too much weight way too often. The truth is, I think there’s a fork in the road and some of us are going one way and some of us are going the other… Time to choose a direction, folks…

There’s a REAL danger of CrossFitters being the 21st Century version of the Ass Clown Gym Guys in the stupid pants who EVERYONE thinks of when you say “bodybuilder.” (Credit to Alysha for the “Ass Clown” terminology…) I sure as hell don’t want THAT to happen. If we’re going to avoid that though, we need to make sure our community stays on track and doesn’t get swept away and wrecked by this latest popularity surge. The world is watching us CrossFitters (Paleo people too…) and we need to step up and do the right thing. We need to show the world our BEST…

Gym Mullet Bodybuilder Pants

CrossFit is MORE than MetCons…

One of the big factors that drew me to CrossFit back in 2008 was that it incorporated so many different disciplines AND had fast and effective methods for teaching them. CrossFit incorporates running, Powerlifting, Gymnastics, Olympic lifting and a WHOLE LOT of other cool stuff. But the fundamentals in those disciplines take YEARS to develop…

Maybe not years in CrossFit, but years in training them. A runner coming into CrossFit is going to be AWESOME at running and likely have not-so-great barbell skills and be lacking a lot of other stuff. A Powerlifter or bodybuilder will have (hopefully) some really good barbell skills and probably not be able to run to his car and back to get his whey protein recovery shake. The beauty of CrossFit is that it is AWESOME at exposing your weaknesses and showing you where you suck currently. But, once you know where you need to improve – PLEASE start systematically working on improving!

One of the things that’s happened in CrossFit – and I started seeing it when I ran my own affiliate – is that people think the MetCon IS CrossFit. They expect – and demand – that every workout crushes them and leaves them in a pool of sweat and vomit at the end. As a coach, you walk a line because you can be seen as “soft” if you dial people back and make them hold back some adrenal capacity and recovery. I’ve actually used a Gymboss Timer to enforce longer time between sets in the Powerlifts with people. As in, Max Deadlift for 5 sets of 5 reps with 3 MINUTES between sets. You should see everyone go NUTS wanting to grab the bar after about 30 seconds! Three minutes feels like an ETERNITY to a CrossFitter who’s been doing a ton of Metcons…

My point is, a “CrossFit Workout” can be skill work with the Barbell Snatch followed by a few singles with 60% of max. It can be a WALK with a weight vest. It can be an hour or two of rolling in Jiu Jitsu. YES, the crazy MetCon stuff is COOL and it DOES increase your capacity (as long as you don’t drastically exceed your capacity and then come back for more before recovering – and then take a two mile run after coming back before recovering…).

What I’m starting to see is a lot of newer people coming in to CrossFit and thinking it’s ALL about the MetCon. There is a tremendous amount of complexity and depth and BEAUTY within CrossFit that has NOTHING to do with MetCons and vomiting in chalk buckets. But, people see stuff on YouTube and think the MetCon IS CrossFit. Then they want to “do CrossFit” so you end up with people running before they can even walk.

If you can’t do a technically VERY GOOD Barbell Snatch or Clean and Jerk, you really have NO business doing those movements in a MetCon with high reps and a focus on speed.

Specializing in not specializing isn’t the same as specializing in sucking…

As far as I’m concerned, CrossFit is like a Martial Art in that it involves – and demands – constant practice, refinement and learning. First off, you better have an EXCELLENT coach is committed to lifelong learning and improvement herself or himself. Second, YOU need to take personal responsibility for your training and learning and improvement. The thing about “not specializing” is another VERY misunderstood deal in CrossFit…

Even though CrossFit doesn’t “specialize” in anything, this doesn’t mean there’s no point in being good at anything. Here are the three standards of fitness in Coach Glassman’s own words from “What is Fitness?”:

“CrossFit makes use of three different standards or models for evaluating and guiding ﬁtness. Collectively, these three standards deﬁne the CrossFit view of ﬁtness. The ﬁrst is based on the ten general physical skills widely recognized by exercise physiologists. The second standard, or model, is based on the performance of athletic tasks, while the third is based on the energy systems that drive all human action.”

Here, he expands on the First Standard:

“There are ten recognized general physical skills. They are cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, ﬂexibility, power, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. You are as ﬁt as you are competent in each of these ten skills. A regimen develops ﬁtness to the extent that it improves each of these ten skills. Importantly, improvements in endurance, stamina, strength, and ﬂexibility come about through training. Training refers to activity that improves performance through a measurable organic change in the body. By contrast improvements in coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy come about through practice. Practice refers to activity that improves performance through changes in the nervous system. Power and speed are adaptations of both training and practice.”

Note the use of the words “competent,” “training” and “practice. The sports and activities CrossFit draws from are diverse and we don’t “specialize” in any one of them. But we do – or should – strive to be very, very good at any of the training modes we use as CrossFitters. This requires time and practice.

And, here, Coach expands on the Second Standard:

“The essence of this model is the view that ﬁtness is about performing well at any and every task imaginable. Picture a hopper loaded with an inﬁnite number of physical challenges where no selective mechanism is operative, and being asked to perform fetes randomly drawn from the hopper. This model suggests that your ﬁtness can be measured by your capacity to perform well at these tasks in relation to other individuals. The implication here is that ﬁtness requires an ability to perform well at all tasks, even unfamiliar tasks, tasks combined in inﬁnitely varying combinations. In practice this encourages the athlete to disinvest in any set notions of sets, rest periods, reps, exercises, order of exercises, routines, periodization, etc. Nature frequently provides largely unforeseeable challenges; train for that by striving to keep the training stimulus broad and constantly varied.”

Here again, Coach is saying “performing well at any and every task imaginable.” Performing tasks “well” isn’t the same as just barely being able to perform them – or not being able to perform them at all without being injured. And, if someone can’t perform a task somewhat “well,” they have no business performing that task in a timed workout (MetCon). At least not with the Rx’ed weight…

Bringing this all together, Glassman goes on to say:

“Our ﬁtness, being ‘CrossFit,’ comes through molding men and women that are equal parts gymnast, Olympic weightlifter, and multi-modal sprinter or ‘sprintathlete.’ Develop the capacity of a novice 800-meter track athlete, gymnast, and weightlifter and you’ll be ﬁtter than any world-class runner, gymnast, or weightlifter.”

But, remember, the “capacity of a novice weightlifter” is still pretty high in both technique AND raw poundage. Even if we aren’t at this level, it’s at least a level we need to aspire to in our training and in setting our goals.

The Martial Art of fitness…

My martial arts teacher, Chris Wright-Martell, told me recently that his core purpose in running his school is to touch everyone who comes to train there in as positive a way as possible, for as long as possible. That’s what HIS teacher taught him because that was his teacher’s ideal as well.

So, I’m not advocating we become a bunch of elitist douchebags who don’t respect or nurture the improvement of EVERYONE who comes to train with us. But I DO expect that we – as coaches – instill rock-solid fundamentals and safe training habits in those we train. If you spent 5 nights a week at a martial arts school I’d expect you to have a good grasp on some basic fighting and self-defense techniques after 6 months. If you told me you were training MMA kickboxing for 6 months and, when we squared off to spar, you had your chin up and out (a nice way to get knocked out) and kept dropping your hands (leaving your face and head open to get hit), I’d wonder about who your coach was and how serious you were about your training. It can be the coach, the student or both.

This really IS Elite Fitness and we really DO need to have a higher standard. I don’t think that’s a raw performance standard as much as it’s a standard regarding heart, commitment, desire and attitude. Some part of that – in my opinion – is a commitment to constant learning and improving in everything your chosen athletic activities entail. One of the things I LOVE about CrossFit is that it can scale and virtually ANYONE can get a great workout that challenges them mentally and physically. But scaling is very different from having lousy form.

If the WOD is Grace (30 Clean and Jerks for time), I’m going to expect – and enforce – outstanding form. And I’m going to drill a whole bunch of movements that are foundational to the Clean and Jerk in the warm-up – Deadlift, Clean, Front Squat, Strict Press, etc. – so that we all know the weak points in each student’s lift and so that I know the weight everyone needs to do the WOD with. If you can do the Rx weight, fine. If you can’t do the Rx weight – with strong form – then you need to use the weight that WILL allow you to use exceptional form so you can start training in proper movement patterns. THAT is scaling. Too much weight with lousy form is bad for everyone – the coach, the trainee AND CrossFit as a community AND as a business.

I wrote this article about coaching my friend and the wife of my Jiu Jitsu teacher through her first run-in with Grace. That workout was after a few MONTHS of working her Clean, her Rack and her Jerk to the point that I could put her on the clock and push her with regard to the weight. CrossFit – especially the weighted and barbell stuff like Snatch, Clean and Jerk, Kettlebells, Strongman, etc. – IS NO JOKE! You CAN get hurt and you CAN mess yourself up long-term doing things wrong. You may not feel it today and you may not feel it tomorrow, but you WILL feel it sooner or later and it likely won’t be pretty.

Incidentally, I STRONGLY believe the COACH should be setting the weights for each individual when getting ready for a WOD as opposed to the athletes – particularly in the beginning. I’ve had people train with me who were choosing their own weights almost immediately – with maybe some gentle suggestions from me – and I’ve had people who I ALWAYS prescribed weight for based on form, strengths and weaknesses, what they were working on currently, how tired they were, number of workouts that week and a bunch of other stuff. And, it wasn’t always about going LIGHTER either. Some people need to be encouraged to go HEAVIER once their form improves – in that case, it’s about “lending them your vision” as a coach and seeing where they can go.

It’s time to raise the bar…

CrossFit is really something great and unique in the athletic world. The fact that it’s spreading and growing and reaching the mainstream could be a really good thing. And I think it’s up to EVERYONE in the community to keep the standards high and make the community and the methodology accessible to everyone who comes into it. It’s also up to us to keep CrossFit from becoming another “Everyone is doing it, no one does it anymore” kind of thing. We’ll know it’s over when Spencer Gifts is selling CrossFit T-Shirts right next to the UFC and Tapout stuff. If that happens, I’m out…

Some people have gotten pissed and said I made it sound like CrossFit (or me personally) doesn’t want new people to come in. Absolutely not. But, at this point, you need to be DAMN careful about where you train. Check out as many CrossFits as you can in your area and don’t commit to one until you’ve really gotten a good look at it. AND, check out the videos on CrossFit.com so you know what GOOD form is on a lot of the exercises and see if people are doing that same form at the classes you’re checking out. Someone just coming into CrossFit with little past experience doesn’t know what a good rack looks like in the Clean or not to round out their back in a Deadlift. They shouldn’t get 10 minutes of instruction and then feel pressured to go as fast as possible with as much weight as they can handle. THAT’S NUTS!

In fact, if you’re new to CrossFit – or not so new – you should be LIVING on CrossFit.com. There’s more information on there than you could consume in a lifetime or two and there’s some really educational and awesome stuff to be found. I’ll never forget when I first got into CrossFit with my friend Merle McKenzie from CrossFit Relentless‘ encouragement. I stayed up half the night reading “What is Fitness?” and a bunch of other stuff from CrossFit Journal. One of the things I loved about CrossFit – and that made me decide to jump into it – was that it offered exposure to so many diverse training modes. Instead of having to “choose” to specialize in Powerlifting, for example, I could train the power lifts within a more broad program. It meant I could train to be good at a wide range of stuff while still having a single overarching training methodology AND a great community of like-minded people around me. Sold!

Put it this way, if you buy a guitar and take three music lessons, are you a musician? No. And would you really want me to throw you on a Moto GP bike after a few quick rounds of “here’s the clutch, that’s the front brake, don’t lean over too far, look where you want the bike to go…?” Of course not. This stuff is HARD! You don’t get good at it overnight. It takes a while!

“CrossFit” on the sign above the door IS NOT an automatic indication of quality training and coaching the way it used to be. Beyond that, it’s very important to realize that EVERY CrossFit gym will have a different culture and feel. Just like one Jiu Jitsu school can be VERY different from another right down the road, some CrossFits are GREAT and some are not so great. You might need to drive an extra few miles to get a GREAT one, but it’s worth the trip…

So, for all the new people who flamed me about making CrossFit sound “uninviting” or “elitist,” the CrossFit I’m proposing would actually be the best place for new people. They’d get A LOT more instruction on form and they’d be encouraged to train at a pace and load that was appropriate for them. Really, who would you rather train with: Someone like me who has devoted the last several years of his life – full time – to learning everything he can about coaching and training CrossFit and Kettlebells or someone who thought CrossFit looked fun and lucrative and went off and got a Level 1 a few months ago instead of doing that online Certified Personal Trainer course they were thinking about.

Look into the people who own and coach the gyms you’re looking at and thinking about investing your time and money in. Read their blog posts (hopefully they HAVE a blog) and make sure you like their ideals and ideas.

Incidentally, when I was coaching full time, MY affiliate was where a lot of people came AFTER they got hurt at another box and realized they needed more hands on instruction with form and technique. I heard that story a bunch of times during the initial consult… (A little quality time with Google will tell you what kind of gym you’re getting involved in ahead of time.)

Elite fitness isn’t just about going “fast” or “heavy.” It’s about great form and technique, health on all levels, building a healthy and sustainable lifestyle and strengthening your body for the long term. It’s not about grinding the hell out of your joints and endocrine system for a few years and then suffering for the rest of your life. As coaches we have a responsibility to teach people how to do stuff RIGHT and we have even more of a responsibility to know what RIGHT is.

Where’s the fun if no one is getting hurt?

Something I’ve learned from Robb Wolf and Dr. Mark Cheng (among others) is how fragile the human body can be when it’s not fed well and moved properly. I think there is A LOT of underestimation of the damage we can do to ourselves with poor movement patterns and bad dietary practices and lifestyles. And a lot of this damage doesn’t show up until it’s too late and there isn’t a lot we can do about it or it’s a lot of work to correct.

I don’t want CrossFit to be associated with bad form, funny looking shoes, people getting hurt and some fad “low-carb” diet. It’s as simple as that.

ttys

Adam

10 Things That Will Make Your Training BETTER…

June 21, 2011 by Adam 53 Comments

A big part of my personal journey recently has been about improving my training. I’ve come at this goal from a bunch of different directions and used many different tools and ideas from a wide range of disciplines and areas to make it happen. Not everything I’ll suggest is typical, but it IS something that’s improved my training on some level and that I think can improve yours too…

1) Set Goals – I talk a lot about setting goals. And I think goal setting is a HUGE step in the process of improving your fitness and improving your life. One of the best programs I’ve ever worked through on goal setting is “Time of Your Life” by Anthony Robbins. It literally changed my life. If you want to see the method I use to keep track of and refine my goals, check out this video blog I did on goals and creating a fitness vision. You don’t need to take it quite to that level – though I think doing so will greatly improve your results AND your life – but the process is something you can use to get yourself on track and get a vision for where you want to go that’s bigger than where you are currently.

2) Add Some Active Recovery Training – This can really be anything from yoga to basic stretching to joint mobility work to committing to using a foam roller regularly. Currently, my active recovery stuff is yoga, meditation and walking around the beaches here in Saybrook Manor (sometimes with a few pounds in my weight vest). The point is, you NEED to “put something back in the tank” when you’re training hard regularly and pushing your limits. I’m always amazed when I see people – particularly CrossFitters – who train themselves nearly to death in their workouts and do virtually NO recovery stretching or “body maintenance” type stuff to help the body recover and improve flexibility, range of motion, etc. If you need some suggestions for this area, check out “Yoga for Dummies” and “Yoga on the Edge” by Sara Ivanhoe and also mobilityWOD.com by Kelly Starett. BTW, things like yoga and mediation have some massive additional benefits that I talk more about in number 10…

3) Learn and Refine a Sport – For me, this is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and, to a lesser extent, Mixed Martial Arts. It can really be anything you want and are interested in though. I have a few friends who are into cycling, lots of friends who do martial arts, some who are into Olympic lifting or Powerlifting, etc. The point is, when you choose an area to focus on that has a “constant improvement” or “competitive” aspect to it, all sorts of good things happen. It also helps focus your training because now you’re training for performance in a specific area – it gives you “yardstick” to gauge your progress. If CrossFit or “Sport of Fitness” is your sport, you can still choose a “sub-division” to train, refine and specialize in for a period of time. Find a CrossFit cert that’s interesting to you or nearby and commit to training that particular area for 6 months to a year. For example, you could do a Rowing Cert, Running Cert, Oly Lifting, etc. and then train the techniques you learned. Either way, when you start really training yourself in a focused and specific area, your body and mind respond in a way that’s different from when you’re just “training to get in shape…”

4) Periodize Your Training – This one is HUGE for me. Like most “exercise addicts,” I LOVE to train. I feel weird and depressed when I don’t train and that makes it really hard to take rest days and cycle my training in a way that works LONG TERM. CrossFit is a place where this is particularly important because the usual idea is to “go hard” all the time. My opinion – and guys like Robb Wolf will back me up – is that you need to cycle your intensity by scaling workouts or changing the “perceived intensity of effort” in a regular way. If you look at the Powerlifting world as an example, you’ll see that NO Powerlifters train all out, all the time. In fact, they usually only “peak” their training poundages a few times a YEAR with an absolute maximum effort. Look at the Westside Barbell program by Louie Simmons or Wendler 5/3/1 to get a better understanding of what I’m talking about. Both of these programs cycle intensity and take a very long-term approach to progress. I’ve also talked about this topic at length in my blog posts “Strength Training and CrossFit” and “CrossFit Workouts and Becoming More Efficient.”

5) Clean Up Your Diet – This one is just SO important. By now, everyone probably knows I’m pretty much sold on some interpretation of Paleo. But, seriously, if you haven’t tried REALLY cleaning up your diet for 30 or 60 days – and I mean 100% CLEAN – you’re cheating yourself. I recently recommitted myself to eating 100% clean for a month and you know what happened? I felt so good when the month was over I committed to doing the ENTIRE SUMMER 100% CLEAN. I’m not even going to have a birthday cake for my birthday in July – I’d rather FEEL AWESOME on my birthday and the days after! Clean up your diet and you’ll see that commitment and focus expand into other areas of your life – and you’ll feel great besides. BTW, if you need some REAL WORLD information on diet – Paleo or just healthy eating in general – check out my eBook “The Paleo Dieter’s Missing Link.” It’s over 160 pages of unbiased, hard-hitting, no BS information on eating for health!

6) Choose a Short-Term Focus Area – I touched on this one a little bit above. Choose an area you’re going to focus on for a 3, 6 or 9 month period and work it HARD and CONSISTENTLY. It could be Pull-Ups, Double Unders, Gymnastic Skills, Running or a certain technique in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu like Arm Bars or Side Mount. This particularly effective when it’s something you currently SUCK at. The point is, if you “drill down” into a specific area or two, you can likely become nearly expert at it in a relatively short time period. It’s just a matter of focusing your efforts. When you focus on a technique or skill or two like this for a time period you’ll actually make much faster progress than if you try to train “everything” for the same period.

7) Choose a Long-Term Focus Area – This one is different from what I was talking about above. You need to also decide on your LONG TERM training focus. This is your MAJOR area of focus and is probably going to be the area you’re most passionate about, the best at and the most committed to improving over a lifetime. Especially when into “everything” like I am and lot of others are, you have to decide what you’re going to become OUTSTANDING at. For example, if you’re a Martial Artist and you’re into Kettlebells and CrossFit, you might decide that Martial Arts are your lifetime focus area where you commit to becoming world class over the course of your lifetime, kettlebells are something you excel at and CrossFit is something you enjoy the benefits of because it improves your other training and makes your Martial Arts better. I talked about this topic in detail in my post “You’re Only as Strong as Your Foundation.” The point is, you simply CAN’T be awesome at everything you do and you need to choose where to focus your limited resources. I think it’s also really important to take Seth Godin’s advice and choose an area that you can actually become THE BEST IN THE WORLD AT. Read his incredible book “The Dip” for more on this and check out this tiny little post by Seth called “Make the World Smaller.”

8 ) Do Technique Work – This goes along with 3, 6 and 7 and has a lot to do with the blog post I mentioned in 4, “CrossFit Workouts and Becoming More Efficient.” It blows me away when I see people training movements like the Powerlifts or Olympic Lifts and they have ZERO understanding of the technique fine points. Do you REALLY think – because your “trainer” or “coach” showed you how to do a movement for 10 quick minutes as part of a warm up before the WOD – you actually “HAVE” that movement and don’t need to practice and refine it? Some athletes spend AN ENTIRE LIFETIME perfecting movements like the Front Squat, Deadlift, Clean and Clean and Jerk. A freakin’ lifetime! There is ALWAYS room for improvement. If you don’t believe me, check out this short little article by Coach Glassman called “Fundamentals, Virtuosity and Mastery.”

9) Create Hard Deadlines – This is a great one to put positive pressure on yourself to really deliver over the short or medium term. This can be anything you want. Enter a local CrossFit competition, commit to a 30 0r 60 day Paleo Challenge at your box, enter a Powerlifting competition or whatever. I just recently did this when Jason Lambert from the UFC was coming to teach a seminar at Modern Self-Defense Center last month. I committed to eating 100% clean and being in the best possible shape I could be in for the seminar – and I organized my training for the 5 weeks leading up to the seminar accordingly. When you have a hard deadline to be in shape and feeling good, you make different decisions and you bring a greater intensity to your training.

Adam Farrah with Jason Lambert from the UFC

Me with Jason Lambert in May of 2011

10) Learn to Quiet Your Mind – This might be one you weren’t expecting. I’ve been working with the concepts in Eckhart Tolle’s incredible book, “The Power of Now,” for over a year – and they CONSTANTLY take on new meaning for me and lead me to deeper and deeper understandings of myself, my spiritual side and so many other things. If your mind is constantly “chattering away” and you’re not in control – or at least conscious – of your behavioral patterns, motivations and, particularly, the places where you screw yourself up, you’re going to have a really hard time making progress. Beyond that, I think TRUE HEALTH happens on EVERY level – Physical, Emotional and Spiritual. There’s a lot more to being healthy – things like having a life you love and being able to function in your work, your friendships and intimate relationships. Health isn’t just about having abs and a good Fran time…

That’s if for now. Below is a little bonus for you if you feel like picking up a new book or two this week.

ttys

Adam

Three Books (That Have Nothing To Do With Training) That Will Improve Your Training…

“The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle
Some good fiction like “The Dresden Files” series by Jim Butcher – I first received the advice of reading fiction at night to wind down from Tim Ferris in “The Four Hour Work Week.” I am a HUGE fan of light fiction reading at night to reduce stress and improve sleep!
“Full Catastrophe Living” by Jon Kabat-Zin

It Probably Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does…

June 19, 2011 by Adam 4 Comments

I’m on another emotional and spiritual growth spurt. I HATE these! I mean, I love them, but I hate them too. It’s great to grow and evolve – constant growth and evolution is really a foundational principle of my life. But, sometimes it would just be nice to coast for a while and enjoy the progress I’ve made. It seems every time I feel like I’m at a place where I can rest a little and enjoy the fruits of my labor, God or the Universe or whoever decides I need to grow. Again. Oh well…

Besides my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, CrossFit and Westside Powerlifting training, I’ve been doing a lot of yoga and meditation. I’ve also been reading some good books like “Emotional Alchemy” by Tara Bennett-Goleman and using some self-hypnosis stuff by Hypnotica like “The Attractor Factor.” All this yoga and “New Agey” stuff tends to stir stuff up and make you think about stuff differently…

It Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does…

Yesterday, I had a pretty startling realization: The meaning I give to certain aspects of my training – and probably certain aspects of my LIFE – aren’t really accurate. Something I’ve been working with over the last few weeks is slowing down my thoughts and watching them – using “Mindfulness” in other words – and trying to identify what my internal dialog is. You know, the stuff you say to yourself when you probably don’t even realize you’re saying anything…

What I realized when I slowed down my thoughts and heard what I was telling myself is this: I have the erroneous belief that my “lack” of performance in certain areas – whether it’s getting pounded by one of my friends at Modern Self-Defense Center on the mat in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or having Bryce from CrossFit Religion FINISH Fran when I’m still working on the 15 part – means more than it really does. I caught myself thinking I was lacking something fundamental in ME and THAT was why I wasn’t as good at rolling in BJJ or as fast in a classic CrossFit workout as I “should” be.

But, what it REALLY means is I just need to put in more time. More time, more learning, more repetitions, more dedication and MORE WORK. That’s it. It just means I haven’t done everything I need to to get there yet. It’s just about time and focused and intelligent training. That’s it…

The Limits Are WAY Beyond Where You Think They Are…

I spent several years deeply immersed in the – for lack of a better term – “self-help” community. I traveled from Connecticut to Boston every week or two, had several mentors who were more experienced than me and I mentored a few younger guys who had less experience than me. A thinking technique I learned during those years was called “Reframing.” Reframing is a way of changing your perspective or the “frame of reference” you’re using to look at something.

I’ve been following the CrossFit Regionals on Facebook this weekend and, in particular, my friends from CrossFit Relentless who were competing. I just found out today that the CrossFit Relentless team finished 6th overall for the Regionals!

And I didn’t even know that my friend Brenda was on the CF Relentless team until I saw these pics of her…

Sure, they’re great pics. But here’s Brenda just about a year ago in a post on the CrossFit Relentless Blog…

If THESE pics don’t make you want to go out RIGHT NOW and train I don’t know what will! I’m more inspired to train and make great progress today – because of Brenda’s example – than I have been in a long, LONG time!

So, here’s the Reframe: Next time you’re thinking that you have to be a natural athlete or younger or have started training sooner – or that you have to be anyone other than WHO YOU ARE at this moment to make the progress you want – think about the above example and all the other success stories like Brenda’s. There’s no secret. It’s about HARD work, good coaches, sacrifice and dedication. That’s about it. I remember a time when Brenda couldn’t do a Pull Up! A few years later she’s competing at the Regionals!

So, the next time you’re down on yourself about your “lack of talent” for CrossFit or whatever sport you’re into and you’re thinking the big performers in the sport have something you don’t, just ask yourself this: “Do I know of anyone who started off without the best foundation and without the best performance and made MASSIVE progress over the course of a few years?” And now, you can say that you do…

So, get to work on your goals and MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN in the weeks and months ahead! I’m going to!

ttys

Adam

Does The Paleo Diet Work?

May 27, 2011 by Adam 1 Comment

Today’s question is a great one from Jennifer! Here it is:

“Adam,

I have a question for you. I have been following Paleo for about a year pretty closely. I have been pretty frustrated lately and maybe your book will help me figure things out. I read/see peoples transformations and they seem to drop tons of weight/inches in 30-60 days. I started out doing pretty good but it seems like the more I get strict with Paleo the less I lose! I don’t have a lot left to lose so maybe its just it, but want to. Just wondering if they are the norm when it comes to Paleo or am I? Are those that are featured on blogs etc extreme cases? Or is that what should happen and I am doing something wrong?

I have watched some of your videos where you answer questions. In the one about fat burn pills, you talked about working out in the morning on an empty stomach and maybe with coffee. I was doing that when I saw the the biggest drop in inches. The past couple months I have been working out in the evening and then eating dinner after – 7:30ish. I know this is not good and have gone back to the 6am class. Your video reinforced something I knew and got me back to that early class. Its not as convenient but I was thinking that may have been part of my issue. Thanks for the video! It was just what I needed!

Blessings,

Jennifer”

Thanks for the GREAT question, Jennifer!

Here’s a link to a video I did in answer to another question where I talk more about taking a long-term heath focus as opposed to focusing just on scale weight and inches:

http://practicalpaleolithic.com/paleolithic-diet-blog/health-fitness-paleo-and-crossfit-a-long-term-view

ttys

Adam

IMPORTANT! Adam Farrah is not a doctor or medical professional. This information is based on my own opinion and is not meant to be medical advice or to treat, diagnose, cure or prescribe in any way.

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