For the roar of the crowd...

“If you don’t invest very much, then defeat doesn’t hurt very much and winning isn’t very exciting.” 

-Dick Vermeil.

What can we say of competition?  Of Challenge?  Of risk?  I would argue that in and of itself it is the axis point of a life well lived, and one that is squandered.  Curiosity of who the best is, and is it me?  Of course, finding out that we are not the best does not end our lives, unless we are Gladiators, rather, it is a way to quench an un-ending desire to fulfill our purpose, whatever that may be, and to whichever end.  

I had the privilege of being close enough proximally to CrossFit Football's first ever Occupy Strength tour this past month.  With an appetizer of BCAA's and the total destruction of one Renaissance Inn toilet, the main course was an event to find an athletes highest poundage in the Power Clean, Back Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift.  One must attempt 3 single efforts at each, in the specified order, and then add up all #'s to get their CFFB Total.  Afterwards, a cruel metabolic burner would be the dessert to cook the big boys who'd rather nap with an IV of meat slurry than do sprint repeats after a heavy squat session.

 I decided to sign-up and see how my little peon numbers would stack up against some big boys in the arena.  Seeing that I have been slamming heavy weights, crushing whole milk, sucking pig and beef ribs clean of their meat, and on a whole absolutely trashing my body as hard as possible for the last 7 months, I felt that no matter the outcome, I would undoubtedly PR my lifts, and at the very least, be inspired.  

Inspired I was.  I missed him at first, but the innovator of CFFB, John Welbourne, was sitting 10 yards from me as I came out from the weigh-in.  I thought that a planet had somehow landed inside the gym, but no, it was John Welbourne.  The man weighs the equivalent of a sherman tank loaded with gold, his hands might be confused for bear paws, and he towers somewhere in the 6.5 foot range - eclipsing the sun even as hit sits down.  I can see why he was useful in the NFL for 9 years, and I can tell, by his mass that has acquired a gravitational pull, he has been squatting since he was 13.  

Not only that, but he is one of the most educated and articulate thinking minds in the strength and power arena today.  That is why I follow his programming, read his blog, and eat what he tells me to.  Not exclusively, but mostly.

Back to the event....  The CFFB total took 6 fucking hours.  I don't give a damn who you are, that is a helluva long time to try and stay fucking jacked to set a PR for a single effort across 4 different lifts.  Here was my toolset for the day:  Death metal, BCAA's, forced hatred of failure, coffee and espresso blacker than the blackest black X infinity, and death metal.  I did set PR's in 3 of 4 of the movements, and felt like I was sandbagging on 2 of them, but the real accomplishment laid with my affiliate partner, Mike, his better half, Jess, and my friend, Matt, who all crushed the fucking earth with weights harder than Mike Tyson's hate for right ears'.  Mike took 2nd in the Men's LW class, which is bodyweight under 187#.  He power cleaned 303#.  Fact.  He also Deadlifted 510#.  Fact.  Jess, who when she finishes destroying an animal and eating it weighs in at 109# power cleaned 167#...the highest in all weight divisions for women that day.  She will fucking kill you.  She also squatted 240# and DL'ed 260#.  My good buddy, Matt, who is probably nicer than your grandma, is one of my favorite guys to lift with...he just does amazing things.  Matt Power Cleaned 319, Squatted 545, Benched 335, and Deadlifted a house at 575.  

I have no background in lifting heavy weights prior to 7 months ago when I began following CFFB.  I have found the Power athlete training template to be one of the hardest, most fulfilling endeavors I have even undertaken.  When I began in August I failed to squat 260#, power cleaned 175# at most, could inconsistently lift 450# in the Deadlift, and benched a shitty 200#.  At the meet I scored as follows: PC 230#, BS 335#, Bench 215# (Not a PR), and DL 485#.  

I also set a PR on crushing a half gallon of whole milk as we left Chicago.  We stopped at BP in Cabrini Green (not advised) and it was gone by the first toll station.  This is not an easy feat.  Fact.

In sum,  1) Get your ass in gear and compete.  At some point in life, you will be asked to compete at an unknown place and time, and having the experience is well worth it.  2) A serious thanks to John Welbourne and the CFFB crew that help push this stuff onto the masses.  God knows they need it.  

Coffee and Squats!!!!

Struggle Harder

Do you ever find yourself seeing other people react to something and saying to yourself,

I wouldn't have gotten so excited

I wouldn't have started crying

I would have held my shit together

I would have told them what I really thought!

and so on...

How accurate is that perception?

Let's take it to a place we're familiar with, the gym setting.  Here's the scenario, you are fried from two HEAVY days of conditioning, but need another workout to satisfy your weekly goal.  You go in and its [insert worst fear movement #1] plus [insert worst fear movement #2] and rowing for calories (everyone hates fucking rowing for calories).
What happens?  First, if you haven't handled it already, you probably take a trip to "the office" for a quick read-through of todays paper.  Next, you mull around warming up like a jackass, trying to avoid anything resembling "getting your head in it" because that would only cause you to have to resort back to the first thing you did.
So, there you are, cold muscles, head in the clouds, fearful of your upcoming personal kryptonite workout, and 3, 2, 1...you're fucked now!

It's basically the same thing as watching someone REACT poorly to some external stimulus.  They have some thing that triggers their emotions, usually fear, and from that thing they are now its servant.  They have given up control of their lives to an idea, an object, a person, etc.

Here's my point, we all know things will come up from time to time that are just going to be flat out awful for us to go through.  But therein lies the opportunity.  The problem, as they say, is the solution.
It begins by holding yourself accountable to yourself.  Just because rowing for calories pops up doesn't mean you are no longer great at [insert favorite, most elite-ly performed movement here], it just means you get another shot to fix a part of something not-so-great, and you aren't going to let a movement dictate your ability to struggle and learn a bit.  Accountable to the fact that YOU ACTUALLY SUCK at something.  As I have gone through the last 3 years of training I am more in tune with things that DESTROY me than the things I can pursue with no thought.  I can list 10 things I suck at the drop of a hat.  Its because to get better at them takes tons of focus and awareness that I can tell when I make even the slightest of improvements.

It is very easy to say "I'll never be good at pushups.", it is a REACTION.  That immediately takes the blame off of YOU.  But guess where that blame needs to be?  In order for you to want to be better you have to reject where you are.  If you blanket yourself with the attitude "What's the point?" you will never see the point in trying.  In fact, you will continue to perform shitty warmups (literally) and let opportunity slip past you every time something awful arises because you are afraid of revealing your truest, most inner self.  You are fearful that deep down, you just aren't good enough.  You are afraid that you will be exposed, humiliated, laughed at.

You fear.

I'm here to tell you, it's ok.  You fear, but we all fear.  You will be exposed, but in good company.  You will be humiliated briefly, but will gain humility.   Through the trials you will gain an understanding about yourself that previously eluded you.  And from that confidence will spawn.  As you notch the belt of effort, you will soon see how the buckle will clasp, and hope will fill your heart.

Reaction is for the weak.  Strength comes to those who place one foot in front of the other and learn what it takes to gain footing.  The next time a Death-WOD comes up, embrace it.  Warm-up with purpose.  Take your time seriously and plan a way to make progress.  There is always a way.  Use the unsettled feeling in your stomach and throat as drive, and passionately slaughter your weakness.

Definitely working their weaknesses.