It’s kind of a cliche to get all into “goals” around January 1. Personally, I look at the beginning of a new year as the time to review what I’ve done over the past year, evaluate my current goals, set new ones and redirect or alter my life course as necessary. I work with my goals and with goal setting all year and often on a daily basis as I evaluate, re-evaluate and change and revise my goals. I don’t look at Jan 1 as a time to set goals and then forget them, I see it more as a logical time to increase my focus on my goals and I look at the beginning of the New Year as an ending of one time period and the beginning of another.

This year – 2012 – in particular seems to be shaping up to be particularly intense and productive in some really great ways – many old and unneeded or negative things are ending, many new, positive things are beginning, new goals and opportunities are coming into focus and positive change is pretty much pervasive in my life right now. That makes this New Year even more important to me and has me even more actively focused on the coming year. But, I do with my goals almost daily and think a very regular, year-round focus is the best way to get results.

This post gives you a number of different techniques and options for envisioning goals, setting them and creating something solid to review regularly to keep on track and check in on your progress. I’ve used all of these methods at one time or another and I still pretty much use all of them to varying degrees. My two favorites though, are the index cards and the MS Word document that I’ve talked about before.

Goal Setting – Going Multi-Media…

Something that I can get ridiculously excited about at times is this Web 2.0 world we live in. There are virtually ENDLESS opportunities to indulge our creativity when it comes to goal setting. You can pretty much find a picture or a video of just about anything you want to add to your goals…

Below is a new YouTube Playlist I started this morning. All you need is a user account to save the Playlist and you can create a collection (or multiple collections) of videos to watch when you need a little extra inspiration. Before working out is a great time to watch them…

If pictures are more your thing, you can search ONLY images with Google. Here’s just part of the results I got for “Strongman Training.” Plenty of images to cut and past into a Word document or print out on photo paper and add to index cards.

There’s also this site called Pinterest.com. You can create “boards” and “pin” pictures to them. You can also tag your pics so others can find the topics you’re posting on. You can also search for topics and see what others are posting and “re-pin” their pics to your boards. It’s a fun site and more and more of my Facebook friends are showing up on the site every day. I expect Pinterest to become a really popular and active site in the next year.

Of course, if you wanted to go “old school” you could just create an album on Facebook and put all your inspiration pics in there. You might even – GASP – print your pics out and keep them in a physical folder!

Community…

Speaking of Facebook, there’s this community called “Strong is the New Skinny” on there that can be inspiring and supportive every now and then…

Joking aside, getting yourself hooked into a good, supportive community is a GREAT way to share goals and stay on track. And the internet makes it ridiculously easy to find people who share your values and will support you in your goals. There’s no reason for anyone with an internet connection to go it alone – there are plenty of great groups and forums and other places online to find like-minded people 24-hours a day. In the past, I struggled with finding people who shared my niche and sometimes odd-ball interests. In the 21st Century though, there’s no reason to feel isolated because the people you encounter in your daily “bricks and mortar” world don’t share your values.

Reaching your goals and creating positive change in your life is very much dependent on having a good, supportive peer group that can encourage you, support you and that you can learn from. Humans are STRONGLY influenced by the other humans they interact with on both the conscious and subconscious levels. There’s a statistic that says we tend to earn within 10% one way or the other of the people closest to each other. I find this is usually the case. You can probably extrapolate that figure to fitness, health, happiness, satisfaction with life and almost any other life quality. You become like what and who you surround yourself with so be careful, be selective and be the kind of person other successful and positive people like to surround themselves with…

Word Processor Documents…

You can always go with a simple old word processor document in a program like MS Word. Here’s a video I did at the beginning of this year as part of my first blog post on goal setting called: “Creating a Fitness Vision and Training Goals for the New Year.”

With a Word doc, it’s easy to add and expand it, print it out, etc. I still have my master vision in a Word doc, but I’ve come to find the index cards a little easier and faster to work with every day. I like the cards for every day reading and review to stay on track and the word processor document for higher level, more formal goal setting and planning…

BTW, my MS Word vision doc is up to 167 pages of pics and text! It’s 6,361 words, too! It definitely describes my ideal life and lifestyle in detail!

What’s even cooler about the Word doc is that, when I go back through the older drafts, I find that many things have actually happened! They’re not always present in my life in exactly the way I wrote them, but many, many things have come to be in a similar – or better way – than they were written!

Books and Magazines…

“If a man empties his purse into his head no one can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

- Benjamin Franklin

I just LOVE books! I have literally hundreds and hundreds of books. Below are just a couple of the books I’m currently reading or picking through. It’s an eclectic collection for sure and I find that just reading a few pages in a book about something I’m currently working on as a goal or project can really stimulate my thinking, creativity and enthusiasm.

I’ve made it a habit for years now to “feed my mind” every single morning with a good book that inspires or educates me. My morning routine since somewhere around 2006 has been to get up and have coffee with a good book on something I’m currently interested in. I don’t think I could even put a value on what that practice has brought to my life in positive payoff…

I’ve had a real love for magazines since I was a kid. Pretty early on in life I learned that virtually any interest you could possibly have had at least one – and likely several – magazines devoted to it. Now, in the 21st Century that’s more true than ever. Things have become more and more “niched down” and there are magazines that cater to virtually every interest. Yes, it’s true that the mainstream journalism markets have taken a beating, but niche journalism is doing great! And, many print magazines blur the line between online and offline by posting additional content online that connects with the print content.

I routinely scan pics in magazines to my computer and print them out on good photo paper for use on my cards. This card has a pic of a truck that has a VERY specific set of characteristics I want to keep in front of me and in my head for my own truck project.

A good magazine is GREAT for giving you lots of pics to draw ideas and inspiration from and they can really help you find websites, products and other resources related to your interests that you’d likely never find through a search engine – because you wouldn’t know that they existed to look for them!

Making It Happen…

Two of the absolute greatest resources for goal setting and creating a larger vision for your life are the “Getting Things Done” books by David Allen and the CD set “The Time of Your Life” by Anthony Robbins. I recommend both very highly. I’ve personally worked with all these resources for years now. They tend to take on greater and deeper meaning for me as the years pass and I work through them over and over.

I consider “The Time of Your Life” by Robbins to have been an absolutely pivotal program for creating positive change in my life. EVERYTHING changed for me the morning I did the “Finding Your Vision” meditation on the second CD of Day 4. It was the first time I really “saw” and “felt” my life in the way I wanted it to be and in alignment with my deepest purpose and desires. Once I had a feel for that vision I began YEARS of positive changes that led me to end many things and begin many others. My involvement in CrossFit and Kettlebells, my career as a coach and trainer, my health and healing – as just a few examples – were a direct result of the work I did with that program…

Is There Achievement Without Striving, Struggling and Stressing?

Michelle and I were just in yoga class tonight. The instructor was talking about – what else – goals and New Years resolutions… Her take was basically that last year she had all these goals and she was all motivated to go after them in 2011 – and very few of them materialized. So, THIS year, her goal was to “let life happen” and not try to control things too much. My first reaction was to give her a copy of “Getting Things Done…” (Actually, my FIRST reaction was to throw a copy at her head! How very “yoga” of me…)

Michelle and I were talking about this after and the point came up about achievement without striving. My firm belief is that, when you’re on the path you need to be on and you’re aligned with your spirit’s deepest path and purpose, there won’t be a lot of stress and striving. Yeah there will be hard work, but it won’t have that frantic, caffeinated, stressful feeling to it – and it definitely won’t be draining and exhausting.

I can contrast my life now and the things in it – the great Strong is the New Skinny community on Facebook, all my martial arts friends, my great girlfriend, a successful eBook, etc. – with what things felt like when I was working a corporate job, doing graduate classes at night and trying to keep my too big and too expensive house afloat. Things flow pretty well for me now. I still have to work hard, but I don’t feel that exhausting and stressful pushing and striving like I once did when I was living a life that wasn’t aligned with who I am on a deep level. And, the places where I DO feel that negative striving and pushing feeling are actually the places where I’m cleaning up the mess that was my old life. They’re the things I’m working to settle and put to rest. The NEW stuff is flowing and unfolding pretty easily…

When you’re aligned with your TRUE purpose in life and you’re heading where you’re supposed to be heading, things have more of a tendency to flow…

I say the above just to provide some balance and insight. I truly belive that life IS NOT meant to be a struggle. If your life is an endless struggle – or feels like one more often than not – you should probably take a look at some of the deeper more spiritual levels of life like your path and your purpose.

As a little “bonus,” I’ll share a resource that had a profound impact on my life about 5 or so years ago. The resource is the CD Set “Prosperity – How to Apply Spiritual Laws To Create Health, Wealth, And Abundance In Your Life” by Randy Gage. If you’re interested in a spiritual – yet very down to earth and accessible – audio series on manifesting your goals and prosperity in your life, this set set is just awesome.

Now, Get to Work!

I’ve tried my best to give you plenty of options, resources, techniques and strategies for setting goals and staying focused on them. If you have others I didn’t mention, be sure to leave a comment to share it with me and the others who are reading this post.

That’s it for now. Good luck and may 2012 – and beyond – be a great time of positive achievement!

ttys

Adam

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…

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 – and my girlfriend – are CrossFitters.

Above would be my girlfriend Michelle – yes she’s a CrossFitter and CrossFit Coach, yes she agrees with me on what I’m saying in this post, yes she uses AND teaches great form and, yes, she’s a real redhead (I’ve checked ) . BTW, she also has a great – and heretical – blog here: Chalk and Chi. And no, Wild Gorillaman, I won’t send you a pic of her ass for the next “No Butts About it” Update… (SHE however, can send you as many as she wants – if she so chooses. Just make sure you spell my name right… )

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…

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

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.

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…

1. “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle
2. 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!
3. “Full Catastrophe Living” by Jon Kabat-Zin

I finally realized today that it DOES get better. If you put in the time and you put in the work it really does. I’ve always had FAITH that it got better, but today I could actually SEE that it DOES.

Every so often, my mom and I end up near this donut place in Niantic, CT. Mom has a “thing” for bakeries and that stuff, so she always stops and gets herself something. When we were there about 2 months ago, I was pretty stressed and miserable and I got about 6 of those glazed chocolate donuts I love. I ate them ALL at one sitting and had some of mom’s stuff as well. Needless to say I felt like complete SHIT the next day and even the day after…

Yesterday we were in Niantic again. Mom wanted to stop. Even though I wasn’t getting anything, I went in with her – this is after nearly 2 months of 100% clean eating. And you know what? I didn’t even want anything! Yeah, it all looked good, but my stomach started hurting and feeling sick just thinking about eating that stuff. There was NO WAY I was going to mess up my nice long stretch of eating clean with a bunch of crap and then feel like shit today. No damn way!

Building Momentum…

At the end of April 1011, I decided to do the entire month of May 100% clean and nearly all Paleo. I DID IT. And what did I want to do when I got to the end of May? KEEP GOING! I committed to doing the ENTIRE SUMMER 100% clean. And I’m doing it. It’s EASY too.

I have enough momentum built up that it’s easier to keep going along the track I’m on than to change gears and eat garbage. I have a good training schedule forming up and a bad day of eating will throw it off. Why would I do that? It would be stupid…

The momentum thing is becoming huge for me. The more momentum I build, the easier it is to build more.

It’s Really Just Physics…

I studied chemistry and engineering in college. In physics, when you get into 2-Dimensional motion, you learn that, for something to reverse direction, it has to slow down to the point that its speed and acceleration are ZERO in the original direction BEFORE it can start moving in the opposite direction. I think this is what trips people up in training and in life. If you’re heading in the WRONG direction and not getting where you want to go, you have to put in work just to slow and eventually stop your movement in the WRONG direction and then completely STOP before you start moving in the direction you want to go.

I think a lot of people give up too early because they “don’t see results.” Really, they ARE getting results it’s just that the early results are a slowing of movement in the wrong direction. You have to put in a ton of work to slow your movement toward where you DON’T want to go, THEN come to a complete stop and ONLY AFTER YOU STOP COMPLETELY do you start slowly moving in the direction you want to go in.

Of course, once you get headed in THE RIGHT direction, it’s just as hard to reverse direction as it was when you were headed in the wrong direction. It gets EASIER to stay on track and KEEP going in the right direction. You just have to hang in when it feels like you’re not getting results and keep making positive change and taking positive action.

BTW, when the Buddhists talk about “burning up negative Karma” or “Karmic debt” this is essentially what they mean. The negative stuff keeps coming even after you change your behavior to more positive and appropriate behavior because your “momentum” is still heading in that other direction…

But, You Have to Know What You Want…

Here was one of the keys for me: I had to get CRYSTAL CLEAR on what I wanted. And I mean CRYSTAL CLEAR. I’ve been doing a TON of work on my goals and my vision for my health, training and life lately and it’s paying off. It’s paying off because I weigh ALL my decisions against that vision when I’m making them. That’s why it was easy to pass on the donuts. “Will eating those donuts get me closer to what I REALLY want?” Of course, the answer is NO! Decision made, problem solved…

Here’s What I Want…

I want to achieve the best health and performance of my life. I want to compete in Jiu Jitsu and possibly Mixed Martial Arts and CrossFit. How bad do I want that? How about I ditched my entire old life and changed virtually EVERYTHING to build a life where I had the time and opportunity to train every day and obsess about my diet and rest.

Last week, when I was training with my friends at Modern Self-Defense Center, I realized that I was THERE. As in, I’ve gotten to the point where I can train as often as I need to and WHEN I need to. My life supports my goals and my training and my efforts. Yeah, there’s still a metric crapload of work to do, but I have the time and the energy and the OPPORTUNITY to do that work. Even just a year ago I didn’t…

Speaking of a Year Ago…

It still messes with my head when I think that, at this time a year ago, THIS BLOG DIDN’T EXIST. I was still trying to figure out what I was going to do and how I was going to do it. And my book “The Paleo Dieter’s Missing Link” was just a bunch of ideas in my head and a bunch of notes in MS Word. I had NONE of this a year ago. Strong is the New Skinny on Facebook didn’t exist until September 1, 2010. I wrote the original “Is Strong the New Skinny?” blog post just a few weeks before that. As of today, there are 19,084 friends following SINS on Facebook and the blog post that started the whole thing has been read 14,344 times.

That all happened in less than ONE YEAR. LESS THAN ONE FREAKIN’ YEAR.

That gives me one hell of a perspective. And it makes me think about what I can accomplish THIS year…

What can YOU accomplish in a year?

ttys

Adam

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.

Holly asked me two great questions on Facebook. Here they are:

“OK I’m still reading the book and unfortunately I’m only at about page 60. Couple questions – and forgive me if these can be found later in the book somewhere.

1. You talk a lot about foods that work well for certain people. Outside of having stomach issues after eating something, are there other signs I should be looking for to know when something doesn’t/isn’t working for me? OR..are there signs to know when something “does” work well. I very rarely have stomach issues (unless I’m just not paying attention to my body which is VERY possible because I’m definitely not very perceptive when it comes to my own body – probably because im constantly on the go. Hence how I’ve found myself 10-15 pounds heavier “all of the sudden”

2. I imagine you dont eat out a lot and plan your meals accordingly but IF you are traveling, or are out and in a bind on time – what are typical foods that you turn to when you’re in a pinch – whether they be fast food (gasp) or otherwise. I find that the times I make the worst decisions are when im pressed for time and can’t go home to eat as planned. My mind typically goes to “well, I need to eat something – one time probably won’t hurt” – which, i know, is a HORRIBLE mindset to have.

Holly”

Thanks for the question, Holly and thanks for buying my book!

If you have questions about Paleo diet or training, be sure to get them to me! Thanks for watching!

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.

This blog post is sort of a follow up to the discussion I had about yoga in this post: http://practicalpaleolithic.com/paleolithic-diet-blog/adding-yoga-to-a-strength-program

Yoga and meditation can have a central role in treating Adrenal Fatigue, depression, anxiety and a number of other disorders. The video above discusses some of these and points out a number of resources for further exploration.

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.

Today’s question comes from Tiffany on Facebook. Here it is!

“Hello Adam

I have been a follower of SINS for awhile now and would like to say thank you for the information, inspiration, and motivation that is put out there. If you have a minute, I was hoping you could give some advice or point me in the right directions?
I have been doing P90X for a year now and would like to move on to something new… I have been researching kettlebells for a few weeks. I just purchased an instructional video by Pavel and “The Kettlebell Goddess workout”. As far as an at-home workout, is this a good place to start? After reading the comments on the kettleworx infomercial I definitely do not want to make the wrong choice. I’m sure taking classes from a certified instructor would be better, but I cannot find any kettlebell classes in the Cincy area. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Tiff”

Thanks again for your question, Tiff!

Here are useful links that I mentioned in the video:

International Kettlebell and Fitness Federation

Dragon Door

Dr. Mark Cheng and Kettlebells Los Angeles

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.

Today’s answer is a follow up to Cara’s question yesterday and the great feedback I got from some of the MidCoast CrossFit girls and others. In this video, I give some firmer recommendations and talk more about implementing Westside or Wendler 5/3/1 into your CrossFit program.

Thanks again for your question, Cara and Maggie, Robert and Kristin for your feedback!

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.

A BIG thanks to Sonya Conrad for this pic – Sporting a SINS shirt on Mt Kosciuszko, the highest point in Australia! Thanks Sonya!

This answer is in response to Jennifer’s question below:

“Hi Adam,

I have been hearing a lot lately about over training, even my own trainer has insinuated that I am no longer changing my body because I am not allowing it to recover. I go to the gym 6x a week for an hour. I do the classes as I find motivation with others. I also see my personal trainer twice a week for a half hour. In the past, I noticed my body was changing but now I feel like I have hit a wall. Yes, I have other things to consider such as diet. I don’t think I eat enough actually do a hectic night job (I’m 5’5 122lbs). I’m thinking of chaning my routine and starting crossfit but working out less.
Anyhow, my question is how do you find the right balance over working out and recovery?

Thank you,

Jennifer”

Thanks again for the question, Jennifer!

Here are the two blog posts of mine I mention in the video:

Overtraining and Adrenal Fatigue

CrossFit Workouts and Becoming More Efficient

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.