To be relevant, or not to be relevant?… that is the question! – 150623~cpj

I read some very interesting stats the other day (on the Opex blog).  James was kind of reflecting on his CrossFit experiences… he was the very first Fittest Man in 2007, which is when I started dabbling in CrossFit.  By 2008, we were one of the only affiliates in the state, and stood alone our area of Northwest NJ.  Back then, the CrossFit.com WODs were very much strength first… conditioning second.  As the sport progressed, and The CrossFit Games became more glamorous… the .com WODs started changing… catering more toward the elite athletes… conditioning started to dominate strength in the programming. (the shift in strength WODs to more elite conditioning WODs were the stats I mentioned above)

At that time, I can specifically remember wondering what happened to James (aka OPT)?  When he disappeared from the CrossFit scene, but was still qualifying for the CrossFit Games, I thought something was up.  He knew something that we didn't… or maybe we did know it, but were afraid to implement it!!  I can also remember a conversation I had with an old college rugby teammate who was contemplating his own affiliate in Colorado.  Part of our conversation went like this…

Emilio- "How did you know it was time to burn the boats and live on the island of passion, Pat?  I mean, this stuff is nothing like what we learned in college."

Pat- "I don't know Emilio, I just kinda knew it was the right thing to do, the right chance to take… I know it's not what we learned in school, but you can't argue with results.  The cool thing is that you can make it yours… you can teach CrossFit how you think it should be taught."

Now Emilio has one of the best CrossFit gyms in the Denver area… and we (RedShed) are still relevant in a somewhat saturated market, where we once stood alone.

Why?  Because we evolved.

When I say it's not what we learned in college… what I mean is that there are underlying strength and conditioning principles that we learn in school…  There needs to be balance in strength and conditioning… strength first, then conditioning.  Training, then testing; then more training then retesting.  80-85% of your training should not be tests and 20:00 AMRAPs at 100% effort.

So when we hit the point where I heard comments like, "I am not getting any stronger", "Why am I getting slower?", "I feel beat up"… I decided it was time to figure this out.  I found out where James was and what he was doing.  Along the way, it became clear that in order to create CrossFitters, we had to stop doing CrossFit ALL OF THE TIME!!    

Look around… we don't have regional athletes in the shed.  We don't have top 100 athletes in the shed, relative to The Open.  But The Open doesn't define who we are!  It's our ability, as a coaching staff, to understand who you are and meet you where you're at; that's what defines us… it makes us relevant as a strength and conditioning program.  However, it is that awareness and evolution in our approach to training that doesn't make us relevant in CrossFit.  Why?  Because we train for health, wellness, longevity and happiness… not for The CrossFit Games! 

I write this today because I believe in my heart that we are on the right track!  We have figured out how to keep CrossFit a safe and effective means to create better health… through fitness based on a solid foundation of principles!

It is not a simple thing to program balance for 100 people with 100 different goals, 100 different strengths and 100 different weaknesses.  Yet, our coaches have figured out how to present that to you so you won't regress!  But those goals on the wall… you know the ones you wrote up there… in order to reach those goals you will need some direction… a plan… maybe some 1-on-1 sessions?  I say that not to drum up business… but because it is a simple fact!

I know that many of you visit here and read my words… some of you are our coaches, some are aspiring to be coaches… other are athletes, or aspiring to be better athletes… some are lurkers from other gyms (yes, I know you're out there!).  Regardless of who you are, coach or athlete (or creepy lurker), you know that in order to reach a specific goal, you need a plan and/or some help or direction.  So ask yourself how important those goals are to you, then ask yourself if you're ready… because when you're ready, we're ready to help!!  Just ask!!