As Rx'd Blog

Gonna go threw a few announcements and things to bring up for the Elysium community.

• First off if you haven’t heard about or read about the gym competition we are having in June yet, you should go here to read about it and then go mark your calendar.

• A small announcement that some of you have probably already noticed, is that we now have recovery drinks in the front of the gym. We are carrying Mix1 recovery shakes. I tried them out a few times and after looking at the ingredients in them, I am stoked to have something to offer everyone after a tough class. Post workout nutrition is critical to recovery and development. There is a sign in sheet next to the cooler that you fill out when you grab a shake. You can drop cash in the box or you can opt to have us add the shake price to your monthly tab when we run your dues.

• Classes are still keeping busy and getting more filled week by week. Please continue to use the online sign up and reserve your spot in class as to help us maintain our class sizes to a manageable level. That way we can continue to provide an environment where you get the attention and the space you need to train.

To piggyback on the last mentioned point, I want to go over a few etiquette changes that we are going to start asking of the members at Elysium. As well as a few etiquette reviews we think are important around here.

• If there is an active class running and you get to the gym and park in the back. Please walk around the gym and come in through the front door. DO NOT walk through an active class. Maybe even jog around the building and consider it an extra part of your warm up. Many times people walk in when the prior class is in a met-con and end up getting in the way of people that are training. This is not cool. If someone has to stop swinging their kettlebell or stop doing toes to bars because you walked in front of them... that is your fault... and if they hit you... you are at fault on that one.

• As well, if there is a busy class and the met-con takes up the space over by the rowers under the mezzanine do not start foam rolling and stretching or warming up right infront of someone that is doing their met-con. The area under the mezzanine is active workspace, please respect it if the class is expanded under that area. Try to stretch on the Krav maga mats if the Krav people are NOT there. If they are there stretch on the mats that extend towards the showers. We will be re-arranging things so that if you need a foam roller or lacrosse ball you do not have to go through a class.

• Another thing that everyone can do to help classes flow a little easier is managing plates better. When there is 6-8 stations being used on the strength portion of class the smaller plates get taking pretty fast. This causes people to walk aorund and waste time trying to find a set of tens, fives or the 2.5’s. There is no reason for you to have three tens and a 5 on each side of your barbell, go switch them out for a 35lb plate.

This is not acceptable use of small plates!

• Last thing I want to touch base on is personal space when lifting. Again this is related to busy classes as well as the transition time between classes. Be aware of people that are actively lifting or moving when you are walking around. If someone is doing double unders and you walk in front of them and they have to stop because they think they are going hit you... YOU got in THEIR way (if they hit you, it is YOUR fault). If someone is doing muscle ups and you walk in their area when they are kipping up and they have to bail mid-move... YOU are in THEIR way. We have talked before in class about the “face-crotch alley” (when you walk in front of someone when they are in the deadlift starting position) when oly lifting and the “splash zone” (the space between/on the side of two lifting station). Personal space has duel responsibilities, the bystander needs to be aware of the people around them... as well the lifter NEEDS to communicate to their neighbors if they feel their space is being infringed on. Asking someone in a polite manner to watch out because you don’t want to drop a barbell on them, through a kettlebell at them or kick them in the face is not bad. If you feel weird about asking someone to move ask the coach to bring it up and the coach can remind the class to watch out.

That is all for today. I just want to remind everyone that we are always working to provide you all with the best experience possible here at Elysium. As we continue to grow with new members, classes and coaches... it is important to remember that the experience here is an effort on both the sides. Us, the coaches enforce and teach the habits and etiquette we want to see happening. You the members help by continuing and following them. The veteran members are our best help with assimilating the new members how our gym works. We want to maintain that small gym feeling to last as we expand Elysium. It is great to watch the new people welcomed and invited in by the senior members and brought into the fold. This is something that surprises most people when they first join, it is one of many things that makes our space so different from a “normal gym.”

Caoch P
 

We will be hosting another intra-gym competition on June 10^th! Here’s your opportunity to participate and compete with and alongside your fellow Elysium members in a team format. The last time we did something like this was a blast, and this year promises to be even better. Here are some of the details-

Date/time: June 10^th, TBD but likely from morning to the early afternoon

Format: This will be a team competition amongst CrossFit Elysium members only. The number of people who sign up will determine the number of teams, as well as the total members per team, so get signed up early so we can start planning! We will be balancing the teams so that everyone has a legitimate shot to win. The events will be programmed so that if you scale movements you can still participate and help your team.

In addition, we will be adding certain requirements (e.g., only two people per team for a certain workout, etc.) that will force each team to strategize and decide what the best way to approach a WOD would be, decide what their strengths and weaknesses are, and so on. The teams that best strategize and work together will definitely have success in this format.

Depending on the number of entrants, we may have a “coaches team” to compete alongside you athletes. I know a number of you have asked to see something like this in the past. The coaches’ team would be competing for fun only and would not affect the overall standings.

Entry fee: 20$, to cover cost of prizes/logistics.

Prizes: TBD, dependant on number of entrants.
Who remembers the "Rumble in Paradise" competition from Nov 2011? Here's another chance to compete!
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Look for sign up sheets and information around the gym very soon! If anyone has any questions feel free to contact one of the coaches.

Coach L

A while back I wrote a blog post called “Sharing a rack like a boss”.  You can re-read it .  I want to bring it up again based on some observations that I have made lately, especially since classes have been getting busier.  As you know, we usually have a barbell-based strength move for the beginning of class.  And as you may have noticed, it is getting more common that you will be paired up with someone of relatively the same strength on that barbell move, because classes are getting busier and there are usually not enough barbells or lifting stations for everyone to have their own (with the exception of the taller guys, who sometimes get paired up on the white rack due to height and not strength).

So what does this mean for you?  Well, I have noticed that for some people this means that there is a serious period of negotiation that happens when people are getting paired up.  I hear a lot of talking about “what weight do you want to use?”  or “Is it OK if I use X weight?” or even “I’m sorry for using [whatever] weight”.  To be honest, I don’t really understand why this happens, and I wish you would all cut it out.  

You may have noticed that I said that you will get paired with someone of RELATIVELY the same strength.  But this does not mean the SAME strength.  Naturally, you and your rack partner will be lifting different weights, proceeding through warmup sets using different jumps, and ultimately finding a working weight (or 1RM) that is different for each of you.  So there is NO REASON that you and your partner need to be using the same weights for each lift or apologizing for the weights that you’re using.  Even worse, sometimes I see people either a) lifting a weight that is under their potential because they don’t want to “bother” their rack partner with changing the weights (cough cough WOMEN cough cough), or b) making jumps that are too big and/or failing attempts because they are trying to keep up with their rack partner who is stronger than them (cough cough BROs cough cough).  If you’re doing this you are just lessening your chance of setting a pr for the day and maybe even increasing the chance that you’re going to hurt yourself.

Lets talk about these two examples a little more. In the first example (cough cough women), it is the stronger person typically, who holds back because they don’t want to make the other person feel bad about being not as strong. Guess what? Honey badger don’t give a shit if their rack partner isn’t as strong as them and neither should you. THERE SHOULD NOT be a full on conversation about what your partner “feels” they want on the bar. You tell them what you need and they do the same. Warm up and go for attempts that are appropriate for your strength. If you are the person on the rack that has to use less weight don’t feel bad about it, use that as motivation to get stronger. In all likelihood the person that is stronger has probably been here a little longer and has earned their strength. Now let’s talk about the second example, no cough cough on this one, it’s the dudes. You're NOT proving anything by failing a set that is 30lbs above your pr. Call for weights that fit YOUR ability level.

When you share a rack you can guarantee that there will be weight switching going on.  That’s part of the deal.  The other thing I talked about in my “like a boss” post was that sharing a rack means that you need to have better time management.  Instead of messing around talking about who wants to lift what weight and whether or not you think your rack partner is OK with whatever the eff you’re lifting, just know your numbers, tell your partner what you want on the bar, and lift it.  period.  It doesn’t matter if that means you’re taking on and off 45 pound plates or 5 pound plates each time. If you know your numbers and communicate with your rack partner you should have no trouble getting through the warmup and working sets in the allowed time.  If you don’t know your numbers, look them up in your training log before we start class.  If you don’t have your numbers written down, talk to a coach and then start writing them down.  That’s why we’re here.  And then write it down in your book so that you know for next time.  That’s why you have a training log.

Sharing racks is good because it helps our members get to know each other.  It can also help you pay more attention to your rest periods, since you’re cycling on and off with someone else.  And when you set that next pr you can be pretty sure that someone will be standing right there to see it.  Sharing racks does not need to be a painful or stressful experience for anyone, as long as everyone is responsible and handling their own business.

Tomorrow is our testing day for the back squat cycle. Many of you have been coming in on schedule working on the program. Hitting the heavy days and the pause squat days. Those were the training days. Tomorrow is the "game day." 

The question isn't, IF you are stronger.

The question is, HOW much stronger. 

When you show up tomorrow, you need to be ready to push weights that you haven't done before. It's gonna be heavy. You have to be ready to grind out the last half of the squat. You have to be ready to fight.  There are going to be lots of PR's set tomorrow and you need to have your name on the board with one. 

Watch this video. Is it kinda cheesy? Maybe you think so. I don't, I listen to this sometimes before I go a pr attempt and I am by myself. Whats your squat? If it isn't above 406lbs then shut your face and watch the video and come lift some heavy shit tomorrow. Consider "them" is your old PR.

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Coach P 

The back squat and muscle up cycle is wrapping up this week. Coach P and I are excited to see just how many of you are going to smash your old PRs. We also have already had FIVE of you achieve your first muscle up this month, with a few more very close and many people who already had muscle ups showing improvement as well. People who have gotten their first muscle up as of this writing-
- Nef, Monty, Soner, Vlad, Isaac, Sam? (he can get one, he got on top of the rings with his wrists COMPLETELY inverted, still in a false grip, I've never seen that before).

The testing days will be Thursday, Friday and Sunday of this week. Come in on any of those days to test your new 1RM back squat! Also, the Sunday 10:30 elite class will be open to everyone (as will every 4th Sunday at the end of every cycle). This will be your last chance to test the back squat this cycle. Afterwards, we will hold heats and judge one of our benchmark workouts in competition style, where everyone will be able to workout together, simulate the atmosphere of the recent CrossFit Games Open and hopefully get a new PR!



Upcoming cycle- clean and jerk and handstand push ups!

The next cycle will focus on the clean and jerk for the strength movement, and handstand push ups for the gymnastics skill. We will be addressing the fundamental components of both movements with plenty of scaling and instruction. As always, general training and conditioning will remain a major focus. Stay tuned! 

So this is something I have been thinking of for a little bit of time now and I decided to bring it up. Around Elysium we are starting to develop more and more strong & fast people. This past round of the CrossFit Open was fun. I got to watch many people set new records and perform beyond what they expected for themselves. As well, it was great to watch people really get competitive with themselves and with their fellow Elysium athletes. 

We started running our “Elite class” on sunday mornings several months back so we could give our more advanced members a time when they could compete head to head and to practice the more advanced lifts and skills. It has been great watching people attend and take part and get better at things that we can’t really program in the standard classes. Personally, it is fun for me because I get a chance to train with people who normally I don’t get to train with, since I normally coach when they train. 

Since the open has finished I have been looking forward to next year, because I think that Elysium has a lot of room to improve. I also think we have several members who are on the cusp of becoming some of our “competitive athletes.”  They show up very regularly, they spend time working on extra things before and after class and the give everything they have each visit. When they are instructed to make something more difficult they do it with little to no whining. Most of these people didn't come to Elysium as competitive level people, most of them joined and had to climb the ranks on the whiteboard like everyone else. 

One of the things that I want to make clear is that we don't want to change the environment of our gym into an agro competition gym. We like the “laid back but work your hardest” approach. If you don't want to be on the top of the board every day... that is a 100% cool. Just keep showing up and work to continuously do better than the day before. On the other hand, if you want to be the top lady or the top guy of the gym... If you look at coach Stacie or Coach P and think, “I want to beat them someday, I want to be that strong, fast or whatever,” then let's talk.

One of the best ways to start to speed up your progress is to scale up your warm-up. Many of the skills that separate people in the more advanced ranks are gymnastic movements. If you want to step things up, one way is to add the more advanced gymnastics skills to your warm-up: toes 2 bars, rings dips, handstand work, pistols and other such movements. Does this mean you might need to show up early for class sometimes or stay late? Yes, extra work is extra work - but if you look around you’ll see people doing this every day. Many people have a goal of getting a toes to bar or a pull up and they work almost daily to get closer.

If you still need to develop more strength in order to do more wod's at the rx'd weights, keep showing up and make sure you fight for every rep. What does it mean to fight for every rep? You might hear me yelling at people to “grind through” the rep. This means that when a rep gets sticky and the bar is barely moving you don’t just give up because it is hard. The people that fight for reps will hover in the middle of a squat for 10 seconds before letting it push them back to the floor. They take what seems like forever to push through the last 5 inches of the press over head. Ever watch Irene do shoulder press? That is fighting for your reps. If you are fighting for your reps you should be getting angry when you miss an attempt, you should be getting fired up to give it one more try. Instead of failing a rep and immediately telling yourself, “oh, I can’t do that.” 

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Some of you that have been to the sunday advanced class have probably seen me get this fired up from missing a pr before.This was my first attempt at getting 405lbs overhead ever. This is the kind of reactiion you should have when you miss a Pr attempt, becuase you want it that bad. After this attempt I went on the make the lift on the next attempt. 

On days that are heavier hitting, like squat, clean or deadlift days, make sure you are eating more fat and protein in order to help recover and repair better. Many of you that are training 4-5 times a week probably need to eat more, especially the ladies. Adding some extra fat and protein to your breakfast, having a post workout snack like milk, chocolate milk or some sort of protein shake will help recovery as well as having a solid quality dinner will increase strength faster.

Attending the Sunday class can also be a fantastic way to bump your training up a notch. However, the Sunday class is something that you need to ask about before showing up. If you aren't capable of most of the advanced moves and are not doing a majority of the wod's Rx'd then you won't be getting the real benefit of the class. Likewise, if you are someone who we have to continuously talk to about proper range of motion on basic movements, you probably aren't ready for the Sunday class. Like I said, the people at the Sunday class are there to compete against each other.

If you show up and think you win wod's all the time, but in reality none of your overhead lifts are actually overhead and none of your squats are legit, you should be prepared to be made fun of by everyone (not just the coach). If you are serious about attending all you need to do is talk with me and I can give you some specific goals you should be working towards in order to start attending.

If you are content with not adding extra work to your program when you come into class that is totally fine. Keep on showing up and following the daily class schedule. There is nothing wrong with that, you will continue to get into the best shape of your life. If you do want to bump your training up a bit and be able to learn some of the advanced skills and works towards being more competitive that is also great. Sometime in the near future I am going to be posting and making “extra work” posters that you can use to help guide you on what to add in based on what you need help with. 

Keep on attending classes, keep on giving it everything you got and if you want to give more we can let you know how. 

Coach P

I was coaching a few people the other day on when to take a rest day and one of them said there are probably other people who could use some info on when to rest. I thought it was a good point so I wanted to take a moment to throw some knowledge at you. 

Coach L wrote an awesome article on recovery a while back, if you haven't seen it you should check it out here. I am just going to touch base on when you should probably take your rest day or days.

This is something that is going to vary from person to person. Some athletes have a hard time making it in enough days a week becuase of their schedule. For them taking a rest day isn't much of an issue. For the members who have the ability to make it in practically every day and especially for those members that are a little more advanced/competitive then rest days may need to be planned out. 

Many people familiar with the CrossFit.com method of 3 days on 1 day off will think that is the gold standard of how to properly rest.  The fact of the matter is that this varies and depends on each person and their programming. Remember that one of the things that makes CrossFit work so well is the intensity of it. You should be showing up to class planning on giving it everything you got. If mentally you are beat down and it would feel like you are showing up just to go through the motions, then you should probably rest. 

When you are new to Elysium we normally tell you to push through being sore, that way your body can acclimate to the training and learn to recover faster. After a while you grow accustomed to "living sore," there is always going to be something that is stiff or sore when you CrossFit. That is one of the best things you can learn about this program. If you aren't sore from the workouts after a while, you probably aren't trying that hard. Keeping the intensity up is what makes you continue to progress and make gaines with us. If you feel like the trip to Elysium is just going to be a hang-out hour because "you are SO sore and tired" from the last 2-3 days in a row... DON'T come in. Why? becuase I don't want to hear your whining. Complaining about being tired and sore and how you are "going to take it easy today" will only get you made fun of in front of every one. If you are that tired, stay home!

One of the athletes asked me if the WOD should dictate whether they should rest or not... my answer was something along the lines of , "possbily." Some days the programming is more aggressive then others. A day with shoulder press and running isn' t as bad as a day with max effort cleans and "Fran." Knowing that a day is going to be beyond what you can put out is different. That is NOT "cherry picking," this is training smart. Seeing the wod and deciding you "don't want to do that" is cherry picking... and is effing lame. 

For myself it tends to be any where from 2-4 days in a row before I need a rest. The amount of days i can train can depend on the quality of my diet at the time, my amount of sleep and the programm I am following. I still get this wrong sometimes. Occasionaly I will ponder if I should rest or not, more often then not I will opt to train. Sometimes about half way through my workout it hits me and I think to myself , "I should of rested today." It can be a fine line of pushing yourself just far enough and a bit to far. 
Eventually you get better at reading your body and learning when a rest is needed. '

Coach P

What is changing? 

We are going to try something new with the way we program here at Elysium, we will be having a barbell and gymnastic focus every four weeks that will help us advance our athletes better in the strength department and at the same time increase our ability to handle some of the more difficult gymnastic skills. If you are someone that is interested in learning what exactly is changing please keep reading. For this first  month we will be focusing on back squats and muscle ups. Why did we pick these moves? Well the back squat is the king of the jungle when it comes to being strong with a barbell. If you have a great back squat that means your hips should have more power for a front or ohs... You have more drive for that push press or jerk. In general back squats make everything better. 

The muscle up should be a goal for every member at a crossfit gym. It represents a great level of strength and coordination. There are different aspects to the muscle up that present problems for different people. Some have the strength but lack the flexibility or coordination to pull it off.  While others understands the general movement but lack the power to do it. We will be working on different parts of this through out the month. As well as showing you how to add things to your daily practice to help you as well.  Hopefully we will get some more people into the "muscle up club!" 

If you would like to maximize the new program then continue to read. If you don't care about how to best take part then don't worry about, just continue to show up and do what you have been doing since you started. Just don't ask me any questions that could be answered by reading the following paragraphs, unless you just want me to make fun of you. 

How does this affect your experience here at Elysium? 

For the next month Monday and Thursday will ALWAYS be back squats. These days won't be max effort days like we normally do, you will be doing sets based off of a percentage of your one rep max record. The sets will move faster round to round - since you are not maxing out the way you keep the intensity up and progress is to keep the rest intervals shorter. That means while the sets are sub-maximal they will still get difficult.  At the end of the four week cycle we will have a test day where everyone will get a chance to see how much stronger they have become! Missing a day or two won't ruin the whole thing but planning your schedule and rest days to make it it on squat days would be best. 

The other days of the week will stay about the same as they are now, working on over head shoulder strength, skill work, oly work will still stay. The metcons should stay the same except for back squat days, on those days it may be a bit on the shorter side. Remember the back squat focus doesn't mean we are doing less met-con work. It just means it is being organized differently. I would suggest that in order to get the most out of the system, you plan on being in classes 4 days a week. Scheduling  your rest days accordingly might need a little more planning than usual. If you miss a some days it won't be the end of the word. 

This was just my brief and simple explanation. If you would like to know more details or if you have questions after reading this, just ask Coach L or myself next time you see us.

A quick rant on why we are changing things. 

Leon and I have decided to change things for one reason... we want to provide to you the best service and product. That is what you pay for and that is what you deserve. We have always thought that are programming was good, simple and reliable. We still think that it is. However we want to see if we can improve with some things we have learned in the recent past. Programming the strength differently and little changes to the met-cons in order to make all of you stronger and faster. With the CrossFit Open the past month we definitely learned a few things... we are decently strong around Elysium and with a good handle on complex moves, which is why our best event was the Snatch ladder. We also learned that our general conditioning can be a whole lot better, since the burpee wod was by far our worst performance. Overall we did pretty good and you can bet that I sure am damn proud of all of you for taking part and doing your best. We are a young box and with focus I totally believe that we could have a team being sent to the socal regionals in the future. This is now an opportunity for those of us who think it would be cool to be a part of the group of us working towards building that team. All you have to do is work hard at showing up on the important strength days and spending some extra time learning the skills it requires to be a little competitive. We aren’t going to turn into a super agro competitive gym, we will always be the Elysium that you all know and love. We just want to continue to improve as much as we possibly can!

 

Hi everyone! We've got some exciting changes and announcements in store for April!

Britt is great about using the online signup system. Are you?

1. Online signups-
PLEASE continue to use the online mindbody signup system. We want to preserve the small classes and personal coaching that make us unique in San Diego. As such, enforcing our class cap is going to become an issue as we continue to expand. As a reminder, 8 spots are reserved in each class for online signups. If you are debating coming to a class, we'd prefer you signup and cancel later, rather than not sign up at all. Online signups are the ONLY way to guarantee a spot in class.

4 spots are reserved for walk-ins, first come first serve. When you arrive as a walk-in, you MUST PUT YOUR NAME UP on the class whiteboard. The coaches will use these names to determine the order in which people arrived (and who might need to be turned away). This is your responsibility.

Anyone who is having issues with the system PLEASE let one of the coaches know. I have already fixed two people's problems- it can be done, trust me.


2. Friends and family day!
We will be holding another friends and family day on 4/16 and 4/18. Bring a friend to any of our regular classes for free, and show them what our community is all about! Any member who gets a friend to join us will receive a gift card to a local, tasty eating establishment. If you know you're going to bring a guest, please let one of the coaches know so we can plan accordingly. Thanks!

3. Cancellations-
effective immediately, Monday noon Yoga classes are cancelled. All classes Easter Sunday (4/8)  are also cancelled.

4. Programming changes-
We're excited about this one- it's big. Starting 4/9, we will be moving toward programming all classes in 4 week long cycles. Each cycle will focus on a specific lift (eg, back squat, clean and jerk). This programming should help beginner and advanced athlete alike make accelerated gains. We will be altering loading, volume and intensity over each week to help all of you achieve maximum results. Here's some specifics-
- certain lifts will likely occur on specific days of the week. Don't worry though, even if you miss some days you'll still make great progress. Also, even if a cycle is focusing on a specific lift (eg, back squat), there'll still be plenty of work on other movements
- each class will still follow our same basic template (skill/strength/metcon)
- there won't be any need to change what YOU do- just keep showing up and we'll take care of the rest. All we ask of you members is that you keep track of your own numbers. A lot of the work will be off of percentages of your own maxes, so make sure you know/record the work you're doing.

5. Future plans-
We've got another intra-gym competition lined up, as well as changes to the PR board (will likely become the "wall of fame"). Stay tuned!

Coach L 

Hi everyone! As we continue to expand and welcome additional members into our ranks, I wanted to remind everyone of some general “good citizenship” tips which will make everyone’s experience at CrossFit Elysium better.

1. Class reservations-
We have a class cap of 12. The vast majority of our classes will allow for 8 spots to be reserved up to one hour in advance online. The remaining 4 spots are reserved for walk-ins.

In the event of a class being full (a happy but unfortunately more common occurrence these days) all members who reserved their spot online will be GUARANTEED a spot. The remaining spots go to walk-ins on a first come first serve basis (i.e., show up early). If the class is full and you haven’t reserved a spot, you may be asked to leave. If the class is full and you haven’t reserved a spot online, and then someone who DID reserve online shows up, you may be asked to leave. Bottom line- use the online sign up system! For those who don’t know, the link is on the left of our website main page (“members click here” button). Once you get used to it it’s a snap.

I know several of you have said that no matter what you do, the Mindbody system won’t let you reserve a spot in class. If this applies to you PLEASE email me or Coach P and we will look into it.

 
2. Parking-

The lots directly in front of us are reserved for us M-F. After hours and on weekends they are first come, first serve for us, the Krav Maga guys and the dance studio down the street (previous agreement with the owner).

The lots in front of JT Enterprises are OFF-LIMITS from 7a-5p M-F. Please respect this, and remember the owner OWNS the building, and all the lots as well. We park by his good graces. Be respectful and do not give him lip when he asks you to move your car (apparently someone did that recently). They hold all the cards.

The lots in the back alley are also open to us, except for the one furthest to the right when facing the building (closest to the dumpster). Feel free to park in any of these spaces as well.

Thanks to everyone for continuing to make CrossFit Elysium an awesome place! Working together on this will help keep everything running smoothly. We appreciate it.

Coach L

I hate Yelp. I’m not alone. This post will be very low content in terms of fitness and training. I freely admit this is a rant, but I was thinking about this the other day and thought to myself, “you know, Yelp has screwed us (CrossFit Elysium) and a few other businesses over that I know of. Why not tell things like they are?” Maybe some good will come of this, I dunno. Maybe a few of you will stop using Yelp, or a few more positive reviews will show up about us, who knows. I guess every good thing has to start with baby steps anyways, and I can always dream.

Here’s the issue- Yelp is a for-profit site that has the ability to determine a business’ reputation, and thus potentially its success or failure. Fine. However, Yelp also filters reviews via an unknown “algorithm” that somehow always seems to leave negative reviews up and remove positive reviews at random, UNLESS the business is a paying, advertising customer.

Representatives of Yelp will even admit as much on the phone, when they apply their initial extortion tactics. When CrossFit Elysium first opened we were called on a near daily basis by a Yelp representative who wanted us to pay to advertise. I politely told her several times that as a new business, we weren’t in a position to advertise financially, but that I’d consider her offer (a polite way of saying thanks but no thanks). She then proceeded to explain how “as a paying customer, we can make sure that you only have positive reviews. However, if you’re not advertising with us, there’s no way of controlling negative reviews, and even one of those might really hurt your business”. I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds like a shakedown, pure and simple. So wait, if I pay you, you’ll make me look good, but if I don’t pay you, there’s a POSSIBILITY I might look bad, golly gee, what should I do? This went on for about a month before they finally got the hint and stopped calling.

Fast-forward a few months. We’ve been open for a bit, you guys are getting fit and having fun, reviewing us positively, etc. Stacie, in her role as Marketing Director, asks for those of you willing to review us on Yelp. Now, I personally would never ask you guys for a positive review. As far as I’m concerned, if you’re paying us to train you, you already think highly of us and I’m not worried about a negative review. Furthermore, if you do have something negative to say, it’s your right to do so and ASKING you not to do it is certainly not going to stop you. Of course, all of your reviews were positive which I expected and appreciated. Lo and behold, we get another call from Yelp a couple of days later inquiring about advertising, to which I again politely decline. Almost immediately, THE POSITIVE REVIEWS GOT FILTERED. Here is a small digression so I can explain what “filtered” means for those of you who don’t know-

- A filtered review has no “stars” associated with it. So say a business has 3 5-star (highest possible) reviews, and one 2-star review. The positives get filtered. The number of “stars” a business has? Two.
- A filtered review can only be read by clicking on a link, which then takes you to a page where you have to enter text to ensure you’re not a bot, and then to the review page. It’s a pain and must be done EVERY TIME you want to read a different business’ filtered reviews.
- Suspiciously, I have yet to see a NEGATIVE review appear in the filtered category. You’d think there would be just as many irrational, negative reviews which get filtered, but I have yet to encounter any of these (even reading about businesses that I KNOW most people hate). The only negative reviews I’ve ever seen have remained in the unfiltered category. I guess if you’re a paying member they make the negative reviews go away entirely.

Anyway, back to the story. You can go to yelp’s page for us and read all the filtered reviews. Note how many of them are from around August 2010. That corresponds to the period that many of you were reviewing us, and then the later filtering.

Yelp drama part II- as many of you know, during Dec 2011 and Jan 2012 we were closed for several weeks in a row. Go figure, those weekends corresponded to Xmas, New Year’s, and our Olympic Lifting Seminar. You may remember that we notified all the members and the public at large via the following ways-
- Website updates on front page
- Facebook updates
- Signs around the gym
- Signs on the front door

Anyway, on the weekend of the lifting seminar a random person came in, hoping to take part in the (cancelled) noon Sunday workout. I met him, and explained that we weren’t holding it on that day, apologized, and invited him to come back next week. He then asked where the notification for this was, and I explained that we put it on the door and our website. He then referenced the yellow sign we have attached to our front railing that says “free workouts every Sunday at noon”. I explained that that sign was not easily removable and for most of year was true so we elected to leave it up. He left, seemingly understanding.

Later, he leaves this one-star review on Yelp-

“I was excited to check this place out. Had heard good things about it. They advertise a free noon class on Sunday that I just went to. Found out the class was canceled for the day. I said its posted on the big sign out side. Was told I didn't read the paper on the door in regular font that the class was canceled. You can come back next week. Stupid me!”

I see the review, and respond with this-

“I am one of the owners of CrossFit Elysium and am responding to Joe K's review below on 1/8/12. First of all, I apologize for you being inconvenienced. The large sign you are referring to, which is visible from the road, cannot be easily removed by design. In general, we are open most Sundays of the year (40+) so it makes sense for us to advertise this fact. When we have our rare class cancellations due to seminars, the holidays, etc. we always post changes to our website and with additional signage on the door (the regular font you are referring to). It isn't easy for us to simply remove the large sign in these instances, and how much advance time should we take it down in? One week? Two? Again I am sorry that you were disappointed but we took reasonable measures to inform people that the class (which, after all, is free) would be cancelled.

I encourage you to give us a try if you're willing. The level of training and customer service we offer may change the "one star" rating you've given us. Thanks!”

This review immediately gets filtered. I fill out another response-

“OK so once again I am identifying myself as the owner of CrossFit Elysium. I wrote a response review to Joe K which may be visible in the filtered reviews. Of course, this review was removed by Yelp, along with TWO other 5 star reviews that had previously been up for months. This is ridiculous. Just b/c I do not wish to advertise or pay a fee to yelp at the current time does not mean I approve of extortion. I am sure this review/comment will be removed as well shortly. I will refrain from putting any stars (if I can) in the hopes this will stay up. Let the user beware.”

As you can see, I took all the steps I could to both a) be polite, and b) make it clear that I was the owner, attempting to make a response. I was not writing a glowingly positive review to try and make my business look good. I was simply trying to tell our side of the story. Yelp didn’t care, AND THEY REMOVED TWO OTHER POSITIVE REVIEWS WHICH HAD BEEN UP FOR MONTHS FOR GOOD MEASURE!

I’m definitely not alone in my opinion. A quick google search of the terms “yelp extortion”, and “yelp filter good reviews” reveals innumerable entries having to do with Yelp’s shady practices, attempts at extortion, and almost vindictive nature of its filter (when you’re not a paying customer). There are multiple class action lawsuits against yelp pending at this very moment due to these and other issues. I hope they win and crush those bastards into the ground.

Anyway, all these experiences have left me bitter and distrustful of yelp (and review sites in general). Prior to this, I would have happily used yelp to help me find a new restaurant to eat at, or a cool place to check out. Now, I have no idea if what I’m reading is truthful or not. What I’d like out of all of you readers, if you’re willing, is-
- Google review us! Google rocks. Make it positive or negative, I don’t care (actually I do and if you have something negative to say, I’d prefer you tell me first so I can try and fix it, but like I said I’m not going to edit what comes out of your mouth). Google makes the world go round. Each time you review us, our web relevance goes up.
- Be like me and boycott yelp. OK, that’s asking a lot. But seriously, if you’re willing… screw those guys.
- Pass this post on to any of your friends. Spread the word! They may disagree- that’s OK! Unlike Yelp, I can tolerate both unsolicited positive and negative feedback.

Coach L

For more info, google “the yelp incident crossfit”. It’s some really interesting reading and shows just how much disgruntled people on the internet can harm a business. The original write-up by CrossFit Albany owner Jason Ackerman has been removed, I think because he made up with the disgruntled yelper, but there’s still enough leftover content on the web that you should be able to piece the story together. Ask me about it in person if you’d like.

Addendum- comment from a friend after reading my post, cut and pasted verbatim:
"YELP IS THE DEVILS SPAWN. My family owns a small business in Nor Cal and Yelp has attempted to extort my family business for a very long time. Fortunately for us most travelers tend to use Travelinsider.com or other travel sites when booking hotels/motels and other travel needs. Yelp has called us attempting to sell ad space. When we declined, moments later positive reviews would be filtered and new negative reviews would pop up. We cross reference the name on the reviews with the guest who stayed at the hotel and none of the names match up. Whenever new positive reviews are posted, they automatically get filtered and coincidentally we receive another call from Yelp wanting us to advertise. This has been going on for a long time. Luckily for us, other sites such as travel insider do not use such tactics and most people who are booking vacations tend to use those sites. REGARDLESS, THIS IS JUST SHADY. I was very disappointed to hear that the class action lawsuit was thrown out because there wasn't enough proof available to prove all the charges. However I did hear that they would be refiling the case. YELP NEEDS TO GO DOWN!!! They have single handedly ruined small mom and pops businesses DOWN WITH YELP!!!!" 

Addendum # 2 as of 3/21/12- Multiples of our filtered reviews, including my responses to the person who complained we were closed are now UNFILTERED. It is almost as if someone from yelp read this post. Who knows; very weird. 

“You suck, you really suck! You should be able to do this! Anyone who has been CrossFitting as long as you have can do this better. So and so [insert name of any person on the board or who CrossFits at our gym] can do this better than you. You can’t do this well, you can’t do anything well. You’re not even good at working out… you’ll never be good at anything without having to bust your butt, never be naturally talented. This is such as waste of your time, you should just give up!”

This is just an excerpt of the thoughts going through my head today while I attempted (and in my opinion failed at) Isabel, tears flowing down my cheeks, cuss words coming out of me at a rate that would make a sailor blush. Yes, I had a pity party and its effect on my performance was disastrous.  I share this story with you because I am one of those people whose performance at the gym is hugely affected by my thoughts – I can both psych myself out of or into a great performance.

Thoughts have an undeniable effect on mood and performance (see the thriving field of sports psychology ). Actually, our thoughts are believed to be directly linked to our mood and behaviors in a causal manner. Many theories in psychology assume that our thoughts lead to our mood states, which in turn cause a response (behavior), which in turn will influence your thoughts and feelings; the cycle goes on and on at every moment of your life.

It is not surprising, therefore, that with negative thoughts like the ones I was having today my performance at the gym suffered. There was no way for me to succeed as long as I was telling myself I was incapable of success. There is no way to get under a bar while attempting a snatch if you tell yourself you cannot, no way to make a lift if you are picturing yourself failing at it.

Perfectionism, competitiveness and drive can be great characteristics when paired with positive and realistic thinking as well as realistic expectations and goals (clearly I am working on this).  As individuals who constantly push your physical limits, I encourage you to take note of your thoughts when you enter the gym, while you set up for a lift or get ready to start a metcon. Be mindful of the negative self-talk or lack of focus in what you are doing. Don’t move towards the bar if you are picturing yourself failing the lift. Make sure that before a metcon your thoughts turn towards success and strength, and you visualize yourself doing well. We all like to complain about our goats – who doesn’t like to whine about heavy thrusters of high rep wallballs? – but amidst the friendly commiseration about the WOD remember to clear your thoughts out. Many of you have heard me say that you should smile through the hardest part of your metcons, because science has shown there is a feedback loop between facial expression and mood (likely through the shift in thought process), frowning only exacerbates the negative feelings and thoughts.  This is just another example of how our thoughts impact performance... I only wish that I could have followed my own advice today. It would have both made for a better performance and a better overall experience.

Coach Leon is now offering advanced programming and athletic consultation. This series is intended for people who are serious about their fitness and training and are willing to go the extra mile to get results.

What: an initial intake session where we identify which goals you would most like to achieve. These can be almost anything fitness related, specific or general such as “I’d like to be able to do a pullup” or “I want a 300lb back squat” or “I want to lose 50lbs”.

If you have some goals which are outside of the realm of CrossFit, or for which I can’t help you- we can talk and if I can’t program for you/lack the knowledge to help you I won’t give you any BS. I’ll give you a refund and hopefully at least point you in the right direction. As an example, if you tell me you want to learn POSE running I probably won’t take you on board. I don’t know enough about that subject to teach you effectively, but we can establish all of this during the initial session.

Dependent on your goal, I will then program training specifically geared towards helping you reach that goal. If there is a need for dietary counseling that will also be provided. There will likely be several follow up sessions where I will be able to observe your progress and provide coaching and real-time feedback. The vast majority of the programming will run in the 4-12 week duration.

Why: I know there are a lot of people who I can help. I know there are a lot of people who aren’t getting where they want with their goals, or need a little extra work to get there. I love training and coaching, and especially programming with specific goals in mind.

Who: anyone can sign up, but the following is strongly encouraged-
- Membership at CrossFit Elysium. If you are not a member and would still like a consultation I’d be happy to provide that for you, but I most likely would only be able to do follow up sessions at CrossFit Elysium. If you are a member you’ll have a place to train and I will be around for many of those sessions. In addition, CrossFit Elysium members get a substantial discount.
- People who are “stuck” on a goal and aren’t making progress- make no mistake, our general programming at CrossFit Elysium is going to be appropriate for everyone and you will make progress. I am talking about people that want accelerated progress, or haven’t been able to make it past a sticking point in some time. If you are relatively new to Elysium and wonder if this is for you, talk to me. If the general classes are most appropriate for you I’ll tell you.
- Motivated people only- you will be doing a lot of training “on your own”. You might be training during normal Elysium operating hours, but likely will not be doing the same thing as the general classes. You may not have a coaches’ eye on you at all points. There may be major dietary modifications involved. Suffice to say YOU have to want this, and YOU have to put in the effort to succeed with any programming. I can point you in the right direction but I can’t help you without you helping yourself.

 

When: during any of the regular Elysium class times, with private sessions as needed when convenient for both me and the client.

Where: as mentioned, virtually all the training sessions will take place at CrossFit Elysium. If you are not a member and want this service, I’m happy to consult with you via email/phone/etc., but observed coaching sessions will take place at my gym.

My Qualifications:

- I’ve been a certified CrossFit trainer for 3+ years
- I’ve been an M.D. for almost a decade and am the Clinical Director of the Anesthesiology Dept. at UCSD despite only being on staff for 5 years. This may not seem like it relates much to coaching, but it should tell you that I GET STUFF DONE.
- I am constantly and continually reading training logs, theory, protocols and biomechanics to improve my knowledge base
- I “experiment” on myself and my family, and we only use what works. My family currently follows a paleo lifestyle. How did we adopt this? We educated ourselves about it, then PUT IT INTO PLAY and watched the results. They worked. Our training works the same way- I won’t have you do anything I haven’t already done to myself or have documented evidence that it will work for you.
- I actually care about my clients and want you to succeed. I don’t run CrossFit Elysium because I need the money. This is a passion for me, not a job.

How much?

Initial session- 150$ for CrossFit Elysium members, 200$ for non-members
This session will include-
- Identification of goals
- Coaching/athlete alignment (basically, let’s get on the same page with training, diet, etc.)
- Your programming and/or dietary regimen for the duration of the sessions (likely 4-12 weeks).

Follow up sessions- 75$ for CrossFit Elysium members, 100$ for non-members

These sessions by definition will vary in amount and frequency depending on your needs. I would expect almost everyone would need, and want, at least a few follow up sessions. Depending on your exact goal, these sessions might include-
- Direct coaching and observation of progress
- Follow up with meal plans
- Consultation sessions with Dr. Wall (nutrition and lifestyle specialist for CrossFit Elysium)
- Much more

Again, I want to stress that this is a service I am prepared to offer if you want to take your training and fitness to the next level. If continued general fitness is your goal, our general programming at Elysium will likely be the most appropriate. Contact me today ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) if you’d like to learn if this is right for you.

Coach L

Everyone’s got certain movements they love, and others that they hate in CrossFit. I’m no different. Here’s a list of my top 5 “Most hated” and “Favorite” movements, along with a brief explanation why. In some cases it’s because I’m good/bad at the move, and in others there’s a more in-depth reason.

Coach L’s top 5 Most Hated Movements

5. L- pull ups

I’m good at L-sits. I’m good at pull ups. Yet I hate L-pullups. There’s something about the particular level of torque on the shoulders, something about the grip, that means I just can’t stand the movement. I still feel like I could beat most people if this move came up, I just can’t stand it personally.

4. Kettlebell swings

The simple swing, one of the easiest movements we do, just destroys me. Almost nothing else can get my heart rate going so high so quickly. As a lighter person, a standard 53lb KB will tend to be a larger percentage of my bodyweight than for most people. Whatever. I can handle that. What I can’t handle is the feeling of absolute breathlessness that I have when I’m doing swings.

It’s not a strength issue either. When I first started CrossFitting the 2pood (70lb) KB would give me a lot of trouble. These days I can swing that reasonably well. KB swings are just a pure metcon kick in the nuts for me, out of proportion to most other moves. If they come up in a WOD I’m probably going to get dominated.

3. Wall balls

This is not a short person’s exercise. I am a short person. ‘Nuff said.

Here is why this is a tall person’s move-

Tall people have much less distance to launch the ball to hit a standard 10ft target. Imagine a 5 ft tall person; with their arms fully extended, they may reach up to 7ft. That leaves 3 ft left that they have to propel the ball through. Contrast that with a 6ft tall person. We’ll even pretend the 6ft person only has the same 2ft overhead reach that the short person has (which isn’t true). That still leaves only 2ft that the ball has to travel. Multiply that over 50, 75 or 100 reps and it really adds up. When you look at tall vs. short people doing wall balls the difference is painfully obvious- the tall person can generally stand up and casually “flick” the ball at the wall, while the shorter person is heaving the ball, like a huge basketball push pass.

These issues come up on the way down too. The tall person catches the ball much higher than the short person, meaning there’s less distance the ball travels = less time for the ball to fall = less gravitational acceleration and force that has to be controlled with each rep. Check out a tall person receiving a wall ball- it looks effortless. Then, look at me. It’s like I’m being hit with a sledgehammer on each rep.

Fancy way of explaning that wall balls smack into a shorter person with more force.

Sure, I’ve heard the argument that a tall person squats through a “longer ROM” than a short person. That’s not technically true. A tall person squats through the same ROM relative to their height that a short person does. A squat is a squat is a squat. Anyway, just like kettlebells, if wall balls come up in a WOD I’m going to get worked.

2. Thrusters

Good god. There is no other movement that can generate such pain, so quickly. Find me one person who likes thrusters and I will show you a clinically-insane person.

And, my number one hated movement…

Is this what long-slow-distance running makes you look like? Sign me up!

1. Running

Despise it. Loathe it. If CrossFit didn’t have running in it, I wouldn’t run. I cannot imagine a more monotonous, soul-sucking exercise. I can get my metcon punch in other ways, thank you very much. It doesn’t help that I run like a wounded water buffalo.

Coach L’s top 5 favorite movements

5. Butterfly kipping pull ups

Man, I love these. There’s just something about hitting a ton of butterflies that can’t be described. If you time things right, they’re almost effortless. The coordination required, the union of strength and timing, the demands on core control (butterfly pullups are essentially hip flexion/extension in a rhythmic pattern) make this such an elegant move.

Check out Chris Spealler doing butterfly pull ups. No one does it better. (Go to about 1:30 in)
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4. Handstand push ups

Yeah, ok, I’m good at these. Whatever, that’s a good enough reason in and of itself. If they come up in any reasonable volume in a workout I’m probably going to crush you. Beyond that, I think they’re a good test of upper body strength, especially strength to size ratio. It’s funny to see guys with 300+lb bench presses that can’t do one handstand push up.

3. Snatch

Although I’m not particularly good at the snatch, when you make the lift just right it feels effortless. Watching someone do a full squat snatch well is a thing of beauty.

2. The squat

Fact- squatting fixes everything. Powerlifters need to squat more. So do gymnasts. So do grandmothers and everyone in between. There is NO population that couldn’t derive benefit from squatting.

Squatting builds muscle. It causes fat loss and strengthens bone, tendon and joint. It gives girls the curves they need, and helps guys lose the gut they don’t need. Never mind the fact that the squat, and strength derived from it, forms the foundation of nearly every movement we do in CrossFit.

Some movements come and go like fads. A lot have limited utility and are at best, assistance exercises. The squat will always be here to stay, and should form the foundation of ANY well-designed fitness program. If you’re not squatting, you’re doing something wrong.

And, my number one favorite movement…

1. Clean and Jerk

This is the “king of lifts” for a reason. There is NO way to move as much weight from ground to overhead. This is definitely my favorite lift. Crushing a heavy clean and jerk can make your whole day. The demands on coordination, strength, flexibility, timing… Olympic lifts take it all. If I had a choice between getting a PR on the snatch or the clean and jerk, I’d take the clean and jerk every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Liao Hui, 198kg clean and jerk at 69kg bodyweight.
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Most of you know this about me- few things piss me off more than stupid people. Within this category, there’s a subtype that bothers me even more- stupidity in training and the fitness industry.

Most of you also know that I became a coach and got involved in the fitness industry relatively late in my life; most of my adult life has been devoted to becoming a doctor, then becoming an anesthesiologist, father, husband, etc. That being said, I like to think I’m a fast learner, and I do my homework. I am ravenous in increasing my understanding of physical fitness and training, and I try to learn something new about these endeavors on a daily basis. Call it self-improvement. Anyways, although I haven’t been a coach for very long with each passing day I think I can speak more intelligently on the subject, and I realize more and more that there is A TON OF STUPID CRAP IN THE FITNESS INDUSTRY.

As an aside, I would have liked to title this post “Silly Bullshit” but unfortunately Coach Mark Rippetoe beat me to it. Coach Rip has forgotten more about weight training than most of us will ever know, and is a somewhat cantankerous Texan who always speaks his mind. Suffice to say he is hilarious, and the man knows what he’s talking about. Read his article here.

Here’s my (at the moment) top 5 list of stupid concepts, ideas, and movements in training-

5. Bosu Balls

GOOD GOD PEOPLE. Use your head. These balls are supposed to “improve your balance”, “train your core”, and are regularly associated with “functional training”. Let’s start with the balance aspect. Sure, standing on a bosu ball is hard. I’m sure with practice your balance would improve by a bit. But you could make the same comments about standing up on a canoe, or hopping on one foot, or doing pistols. How many of you still can’t do pistols? Maybe, just maybe, your balance has something to do with that. I would argue practicing pistols or some other movement that isn’t so frickin’ stupid as using a bosu ball would confer much greater benefit to your fitness.

“Train your core”? I don’t even know what this means. Core or midline stability is defined as being able to control and generate/transmit power through your trunk. You know, doing things like sit ups, L sits, deadlifts, squats… like we do every day at CrossFit Elysium. The only actual reasonable use of a bosu ball that I’ve seen is for people to do sit ups or back extensions on them when they were INCAPABLE of doing those movements on their own (the ball acts as an assist device). So yes, I suppose if you’re too weak to do a sit up, or squat/deadlift the empty bar, then the bosu ball may have some value.
 

“Functional training”- sure, because standing on an artificially wobbly and unstable surface REALLY mimics the challenges you’ll face in real life. Give me a break. The worst offenses occur when “trainers” do anything with weights combined with a bosu ball. Lifting weights is done most optimally with, and almost by definition requires a stable surface to lift from- that’s why things like lifting platforms and squat shoes exist. It’s also why we don’t deadlift on rowboats. So let’s combine a modality that demands stability and then place it on an unstable surface- GENIUS! You should insta-run from any charlatan who uses this in their training, or alternatively you could mock them relentlessly. Either is fine.

4. Stupid devices and implements.

A new one of these comes out every two weeks or so. This would include things like that shaky-masturbation thingy, the elevation mask, and so on. Read a good review of elevation masks here. Oh, and the machines at your local globo-gym would fall right into this category. Let’s rename the category “things that we can sell for a huge markup, that won’t get you results, but we can market them like they’re the magic bullet you’re looking for so you’ll buy them”.

How many commercials have you seen for some random home-gym contraption that’s supposed to make you “shredded” in weeks? There are some ripped models using the device, all oiled-up, photoshopped and ready to go. Now, here’s the question- have you EVER met someone who used those devices and ended up looking REMOTELY like that? Have you ever met someone using the machines at the local globo-gym that actually look like they’re in shape and can play sports?

I gotta hand it to the people that can invent and market those devices though. They are better entrepreneurs than I am. Hell, I wish I invented that shaky-jackoff-thingy. I’d already be rich and could retire and train with non-shaky-jackoff-thingies every day (you know, barbells).

3. People who say squatting is bad for the knees.

I’m not talking about the layperson saying this. I can understand if they make a statement like this, because they don’t know any better and the media at large has taught them this. I’m talking about the moron trainers/media “experts”/doctors out there that are supposed to be dispensing useful information. Kill them all now. Here’s the deal- again, USE YOUR HEAD! All else being equal, whose joints are more stable- the person who can back squat 500lbs, or the bosu ball- training weakling who doesn’t squat? Whose musculature and ligaments are stronger? It seems to me that the person who can squat 500lbs has some pretty damn strong knees. If both people stopped squatting today, 30 years from now the former squatter will have less-strong knees. The person who never squatted WON’T BE ABLE TO WALK WITHOUT A WALKER. Or they might be dead, because squatting cures everything.

You know what’s bad for the knees? Not using them. Or doing squats improperly (e.g., using more weight than you can handle, doing high squats, doing “stupid crap”).

Gosh! Half-squats with 2lb dumbbells! Sign me up! 

2. People who dispense information despite having no useful knowledge or experience with the subject.

This is a broader example of the witch doctor/fitness “expert”/media idiot reference above. If you are going to talk about something as if you know about it, and you KNOW NOTHING, be prepared to eat your words. If I need surgery, I go to a surgeon. If I need my car fixed, I go to an auto mechanic. The one thing I do NOT do is go to an MD for exercise advice, when they have ZERO formal training on the subject. I am an MD and yet I am making this statement about 99% of my peers- think about that. If I want advice about barbell training, you know who I go to? I go to the people that have been training their whole lives and have gotten results. I want someone who knows what it means to put a barbell on their back day, after day, after day, to give me advice.

This is just common sense. Want to learn about gymnastics? Go to a gymnastics coach. Opening the latest issue of Men’s Health will NOT be helpful. Unfortunately talk is cheap and everyone is allowed to have an opinion (despite the fact that most people’s opinions are worthless). Don’t even get me started on how easy it is to become a trainer- in most cases, a weekend certification is enough (tongue in cheek critique of CrossFit here, but hey, I’m confident most of you actually think I’m a good coach). So some high school drop out can literally take a course and then is “qualified” to put you on a bosu ball with 300lb on your back- yeah, have fun with that. A colleague of mine and Anne Shapiro’s recently started “training” with one of these idiots. She was inspired by Anne’s progress at CrossFit Elysium, and decided… to join a non-CrossFit gym and do whatever BS they shoveled her for 100$/hr. And guess what? Yep, she got injured. Now she blames ME AND ANNE for her injury, because we inspired her to workout! WHAT?! Why don’t you blame the moron who knows nothing, and had you flailing around with pink 2lb dumbbells doing moves I’ve never even heard of? Or, blame yourself for not using your head.

Coach P can’t stand being called a trainer, for good reason. He knows just how easy it is to become a trainer and just how idiotic most “trainers” really are. He wants to be called a coach, because that’s what he is.

Here’s the quick summary in case you missed it- Most doctors don’t know ANYTHING about training or fitness, and should summarily be ignored. Most TRAINERS don’t know anything about training or fitness, and should likewise be ignored. NO ONE IN THE MEDIA KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT ANYTHING, and thus should be ignored. There- useful advice and I didn’t even charge you anything for it.

This "trainer" is probably making more money than you, for teaching THIS. Note use of bosu ball. 

And now, the # 1 thing that I hate in the fitness industry-

1. Partial Range of Motion (ROM).
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Watch the video, and then try and tell me you're NOT PISSED OFF. And on top of it there's some idiot high-school football coach getting PAID to mess up these kids' knees, and he's probably bragging about how big of a "squat" his kids have to anyone who will listen. 

I get an aneurysm every time I see this disease. Coach Paul and I are hard on you guys with ROM, for good reason. IT MAKES ME MAD. DON’T DO IT. I could make this post 1000 pages long with all the reasons partial ROM is bad. Here’s the shortlist.

- You don’t get the full stimulus
- You don’t train all your muscles equally, which can lead to injury. Classic example is the squat- high squats are very quad-dominant and don’t involve the muscles that stabilize the posterior part of the knee. Over time, the result? Chronic patellar pain. Know anyone that complains of this when they’re squatting? Ask them if they go deep enough.
- You don’t train all your muscles equally, which leads to stagnation.
- You can’t measure progress with partial ROM. What happens if you do 30 “half push ups”, then a month later do 50 half push ups? Can you really say you can do 20 more? How do you even know how deep you went if you didn’t go all the way down each time?
- It’s easier, and facilitates egos. The number of high school kids out there with 500lb “squats” is staggering. It’s funny to watch videos where they’re forced to go all the way down, and get stapled with 200lb.
- It’s NOT THE FULL MOVEMENT. It’s cheating- period.
- Every time you cheat a movement, god kills a kitten.

Thoughts? Liked/hated the post? Post to comments.

Coach L

Many of you have already seen this video. For those of you who haven’t, it’s worth watching. Pay particular attention starting at 4:10. The back story- this is at the OC Throwdown, a recent HUGE competition. Many CrossFitters travelled from all over the country to witness this event. The athlete in question is an affiliate owner. Pay attention.
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OK, what did you see? Here’s what I saw, and what happened in case you missed it-

- The guy attempted to cheat the WOD by allowing his barbell to bounce, catching it and cleaning it with assistance from the bounce. This is clearly NOT part of a movement that by definition starts with the barbell on the ground. There was also a similar incident in the 2008 CrossFit Games, with the same result- no rep.
- The guy’s judge did NOT no rep the first three reps. Then, a head judge (woman in yellow) calls the athlete out and no reps him.
- The athlete proceeds to argue and swear at the head judge. He then pushes her out of the way, and throws the barbell in her general direction twice.

I think we can all agree this is simply reprehensible behavior. Something like this is the antithesis of sportsmanship and the opposite of what most of us want to see in a CrossFit gym. I’m sure that most of you get just as much if not more out of the camaraderie at CrossFit Elysium than the actual workouts. Can you imagine if this idiot was working out alongside you? How about COACHING you? In any professional sport this kind of behavior would instantly be dealt with by a fine, a ban, or both. I won’t even go into the fact that the judge was a woman, being pushed by a chickens**t of a man.

Unfortunately, people like this are appearing in CrossFit more and more. It may be because as we reach a larger audience it is inevitable that a certain percentage of them are going to be tools (just as a percentage of the general population is). It could be that the competitive aspect of CrossFit naturally attracts competitive people, and some of these people will adopt a “win at all costs” mentality that will cross ethical boundaries most of us have. In general, the very nature of CrossFit selects against these people. After all, CrossFit demands hard work, honesty, integrity to keep showing up day after day and the ability to play nicely with your fellow man- all attributes that in general are not found in total a**holes. I think most of us have been shielded from it and unfortunately we’re going to start seeing it more and more.

So, what are we doing about the “a**hole phenomenon” at CrossFit Elysium?

Our first and main defense is all of you, our loyal members. You comprise a community of fun and friendly people that will not tolerate a jerk in your ranks. As quick as you all are to welcome a newcomer to our gym (which you should be, and thanks), I think you would be just as quick to ostracize someone who was acting like a jerk and making others around them hate their presence. That person would probably get the message pretty quick and just find somewhere else to be.

Secondly, as most of you are probably aware the waiver that you all sign when you first come in literally contains an “a**hole clause”. What this means is Coach P and I retain the right to terminate someone’s membership if they are being a jerk. Basically, if someone is too negative a force in our community, we can ask them to leave. I would rather have ten great members than one hundred tools working out in my gym. What many of you probably don’t know is that Paul and I have actually exercised the “a**hole clause” a few times. One person was an active member who was causing a lot of discord. This person had some personal issues and just didn’t fit into our community. Paul and I gave it some thought, but quite honestly not that much. Once we knew there was an unresolvable issue, this person had to go. Notice I said “unresolvable”. We tried to find a good middle ground but ultimately there wasn’t going to be a good compromise. I’m confident we made the right decision, and the small loss in revenue pales in comparison to the gains we achieved restoring the community of our gym.

I’d like to finish this post by saying on some level you are all ambassadors of CrossFit, and CrossFit Elysium. You represent us every time you talk about your workouts, and every time you wear our shirts. Paul and I are proud that you represent our community and we wouldn’t change a thing. Together, we’ll keep people like the tool in the video at the margins and keep building a great name for our fitness program!

 

Coach P

Hi everyone! We've got a couple of cool announcements for upcoming changes and want your input on the next round of apparel!

1. We are putting together another order for T-shirts and hoodies. Part of our order will be a "classic" design, but part of it will be more on the funny/irreverent side. Please fill out this anonymous survey here and give us your thoughts. Who knows? You may be able to come up with the new design!

Also, sign up with Coach P at the gym if you want a sweatshirt and specify what size. The cost will be 40$.

2. Class expansion!

We have changed/added to our afternoon and evening schedules, starting 1/23/12. The evening classes from that day on will be-
- 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30pm
- 7:30pm fundamentals.

All other class times remain unchanged.

Thanks! Coach L