As Rx'd Blog

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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…

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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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.

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.

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

Most people who have been CrossFitting for a while are familiar with the “ten domains of fitness” that CrossFit seeks to provide competence in and for which we train. As a review, they are-

- Speed
- Strength
- Cardiorespiratory endurance
- Power
- Flexibility
- Balance
- Coordination
- Accuracy
- Stamina
- Agility

Decathaletes represent athletes that possess competence in all ten domains.

Most people would agree that each of these ten items is important, and that it would hard for someone to claim to be broadly fit without having some basic ability in each area. The definitions of each domain can vary, but in my mind they boil down to something like this-

Speed- the ability to do something quickly. Obviously important for sports and life.

Strength- the productive application of force.

Cardiorespiratory endurance- the ability of one’s body to gather and use oxygen. This is the domain that most people associate with “being fit”.

Power- the ability to generate force quickly. Perhaps the most critical element in sports.
 

Flexibility- the ability to take the body through its full range of motion. Implies resistance to injury.

Balance- being able to control one’s mass and center of gravity.

Coordination- the ability to control one’s movements.

Accuracy- the ability to generate a result close to the intended outcome; i.e. “can you hit a target?” Can you do it repeatedly? Closely related to coordination.
 

Stamina- the ability to continue to do work. Closely related to cardiorespiratory endurance but not the same thing. CE is about supplying oxygen to the body. Stamina is about the ability to use it and convert it to energy. If you start a workout with a barbell and can’t continue because you are gasping for air, that’s a CE issue. If you can “keep going” but can no longer lift it because it’s too heavy, that’s a muscular stamina issue.

Agility- related to coordination. How fluidly can you use your coordination? Can you do it at speed?

At this point the question becomes- to what extent should one focus on each of these individual areas? Or, is there a “perfect ratio” across each of the domains that you want as an athlete?

Let’s recognize that it is impossible to have complete mastery of all domains without giving something up. I like to think of human ability and performance as a gas tank. You only have so much energy and so much in the tank that you can devote to a task. If you spend energy on one thing it means you have less to spend on another endeavor. This just makes sense logically and practically, and is also supported by exercise physiology. Pure devotion to strength with no focus on speed will almost guarantee you produce a stronger, yet slower person. Singular focus on cardiorespiratory endurance (think marathon runner) produces results in that domain, but to the detriment of almost all the others. So, how should you split up your focus? Is there a “perfect ratio” as a CrossFitter?

A master of the strength domain, but probably not of stamina.


A master of the cardioresp endurance domain, but not of strength and power. 

Let me say right now I don’t think there’s a right answer. As with most things in life, “it depends”. In fact, a lot of it depends on each person’s current state and their weaknesses. Take as an example the person who wants to be truly well-rounded, but is lacking in strength. Well, that person is going to have to devote more focus to getting stronger simply to become “balanced”. Let’s throw out all the aspects that may call for more selective focus and just deal with the situation of wanting to be “balanced across the board”. Is there a correct ratio we can come up with?

The fact that there are 10 domains implies the correct balance is 10% focus or devotion to each domain, for a total of 100%. If you believe this that means you should be spending as much effort maintaining flexibility and accuracy as you would devote to stamina or strength. NO ONE I KNOW DOES THIS, and I don’t think that’s the right ratio.

If I were trying to create the “perfect” CrossFitter, I’d weight the domains like so-

Strength, cardioresp endurance, power, stamina, speed- 15% each or more

Flexibility, balance, coordination, accuracy, agility- 5% each or less

Here’s my reasoning:

Strength is necessary for power. Increased strength means you can do more work. You can see this from the physics definition of work, which is force (f) x distance (d). The only way to do more work is to increase your force (strength) or increase the distance you apply the force through (range of motion, more reps). Power is simply work (W) / time (t). If you do more work in the same amount of time, your power goes up. Power is directly related to intensity which as we all know is where we get most of the benefits from training. Thus, it makes sense to spend a lot of time working on these two domains. In addition, most people are WEAK when they start CrossFitting, whether from avoiding weights, a lifetime spent jogging, etc. and they need to spend more time gaining strength and power.
 

Cardiorespiratory endurance and stamina are no-brainers. Since 90% of what is asked of you in CrossFit has to be done repeatedly and for several minutes (or longer), you have to be proficient in both these domains. Similarly, the other component of power is speed. To increase your power output (W/t), you need to either do more work or do it faster, and speed is the main way you’d accomplish this. Of course, from a practical aspect since so much of what we do is timed (purposefully to force everyone to try and maintain a high power output), you’d want to accomplish tasks in as quick a manner as possible anyways.

Pretty much everything we do is for time.

So why have I “devalued” the other five domains? In regards to flexibility, there is such a thing as being “too flexible”. See my post on injuries for a more detailed analysis, but the gist is beyond the point of normal, healthy flexibility the potential for injury due to hyperflexibility/joint + ligament laxity goes up. One wants to be neither inflexible nor too flexible. Typically, most people’s flexibility improves simply by doing compound movements with correct form through a full range of motion as we emphasize at CrossFit Elysium. A certain amount of maintenance work is needed but it just doesn’t require the singular focus that one might need to put into strength.

As far as balance, coordination, accuracy and agility- those are all important, no doubt. It just doesn’t take much ability in any of those domains to be a competent CrossFitter. While you need a certain amount of each skill to be able to do a movement correctly, the fact remains that nothing we do in CrossFit is that complex. One does not need to have the accuracy of a championship marksman to be able to repeatedly lock a barbell out in the midline, or to know when one is squatting deep enough. The most challenging movements that we do that demand balance and coordination are probably the handstand walk, advanced movements on the rings, pistols, and overhead squats. I will be the first to admit I am no master of agility or balance, yet I have been able to master most of these movements with minimal effort (as have most of you). That alone speaks to the relative lack of demand CrossFit places on these domains.

Super-tough and skilled to be sure- way beyond what is required of most CrossFitters.

Now, if you’re training to be a competitive gymnast the equation changes tremendously, I grant you. Of course, a competitive gymnast would laugh at how easy the “hard movements” in CrossFit are. Thus, it doesn’t make sense to me to devote as much time or effort into domains that simply aren’t utilized as much as the others. Here are a few examples-

Grinding out a thruster is typically mostly dependent on strength and stamina/CE endurance if you’ve been going for a while. True, balance and coordination may make it easier or harder to keep the barbell in proper position, but they generally won’t be the “make or break” factors the previous domains are.

The Olympic lifts- these are obviously highly technical movements that demand many of the ten domains. However, for CROSSFIT’S PURPOSES they are less dependent on coordination, agility, technique etc. then might first appear. The end goal of CrossFit, right or wrong, is often “get the work done”. We don’t care how ugly that clean and jerk looked, if you lock it out overhead it counts. Would you be able to lift more if your technique was dialed in? Of course! It’s just that the vast majority of times the Olympic lifts come up in CrossFit, technique is not going to be the rate- limiting step. Think about the workout “Randy”- 75 75lb power snatches for time. The guy who can get the workout done the fastest wins, regardless of technique. One could even argue suboptimal technique may produce a faster time on that workout. Or how about every time 95lb, 135lb or 155lb movements come up in a workout? Most people can gorilla that weight around, even with craptastic technique. Lack of strength/stamina/power will prevent someone from doing those movements at that weight much more so than lack of agility/balance/coordination. 

Hopefully this has been food for thought for a lot of you, and helped give you insight as to why Coach Paul and I program the way we do (i.e., heavy strength bias, lots of emphasis on power output/high intensity, relative “lack” of mobility work, etc.). Of course, these are all just my opinions, and I’d love to hear yours. Post feedback to comments. Thanks!

Coach L

This post is a compilation of some truths that I have discovered since becoming a coach and taking my training seriously. I have tried to present them in a “point-counterpoint” type style, since there are usually two sides to every viewpoint or argument, and both can be correct. I hope you all find this entertaining and informative!

Coach L

Point- “Kipping pull ups are awesome!”

Who doesn’t love kipping? It’s taught at all the basic CrossFit certifications. It allows one to do more pullups in less time, which equates to more work/less time/higher power output. For many people, kipping allows them to get their first pull up, which is a huge milestone. A lot of us even rely on the kip to be able to do multiple pull ups- we wouldn’t be able to complete WODs without it.

Mastering the kip implies learning how to recruit your hip and “core” in coordinated fashion to translate horizontal momentum into vertical movement. How many of you remember how awkward and “hard” kipping was when you first were learning it? Now that it’s routine, think about how you have learned to control your body in space. You literally have become more coordinated and have better control of your body by learning to kip.

Personally, I think the assistance it provides newer athletes in getting their first pull up is the single best reason to learn how to kip. Crossing that milestone is so empowering for a lot of people that it becomes critical.  By keeping people motivated and feeling like they’ve accomplished something, kipping helps keep them coming back for more and opens the door to more advanced fitness goals.

Counterpoint- “kipping pull ups are the devil!”

Word association time- fill in the blank. CrossFit, kipping, _________. If you answered, “hand tears”, you’d be right. If you answered, “shoulder injuries”, you’d also be right. “Impedes upper body strength progress”? Ding ding ding!

 

Hand tears have become so common in CrossFit and are worn by some as a badge of honor. To a certain extent, they are unavoidable due to the fact that we use our hands so much in CrossFit and they naturally bear the brunt of the beating from the equipment (barbells, kettlebells, pull up bars, etc). However, kipping only magnifies this problem. Strict pull ups are much easier on the hands due to general lack of horizontal/rotational movement seen with a kip. More kipping = more hand abuse. As far as I’m concerned, hand tears are NOT COOL. In a competition, fine. Go for it- leave it all out on the table. As a daily occurrence in training? All they do is impede your training, cause you pain, gross people out and serve as an opportunity for a hand infection. Great. There’s something to be said for the mental toughness it takes to finish a WOD with a hand tear, but how is that any different than the mental toughness needed to finish a WOD in general?

The shoulder hyper-extension/external rotation, under load, while the athlete is swinging violently can really lead to overuse problems or outright injury. Keeping one’s shoulders tight and active through all phases of the kip will help to a certain extent, but will not remove the risk entirely. The larger and more violent the kip, the harder it is on the shoulders. Of course, the people that tend to use the biggest kips are the ones that generally have the least upper body strength and stability. In other words, needing a big kip almost implies the shoulder girdle doesn’t have the strength/stability to withstand that kind of abuse. I know of several athletes personally, and have lost count of the number of people I’ve heard of that have injured their shoulders due to chronic kipping.

Once someone gets their first kipping pull up, what’s the usual next step? Let’s aim for 5, or 10! Maybe let’s learn to butterfly kip- it’s so much faster and cooler! Typically, the next goals are to increase the NUMBER of pull ups one can do, rather than the quality of the pull ups. I’m talking about strict or weighted pull ups. Those are the movements that will seriously develop your upper body strength. How many of you can do strict pull ups? How many of you can do weighted pull ups with at least 25lb added? I thought so. Kipping pull ups can be great, but if that’s all you ever train you will be leaving a serious hole in your athletic development. I’ve heard of women who can do 20+ kipping pullups and ZERO strict. These people obviously lack the strength to do “real” pull ups and have become entirely reliant on the kipping “crutch”. In my mind that is completely unacceptable. Their coaches need a serious re-evaluation.

For my own purposes, I do the majority of my pull up work strict and weighted. It’s easier on my shoulders and much more beneficial to my upper-body development. I always kip or butterfly kip during WODs/when the goal is for time, but then again I’m more advanced than a lot of people, have significant shoulder strength and I TRAIN NON-KIPPING PULLUPS all the time. I have seriously considered outlawing kipping pull ups in any form at CrossFit Elysium, and instead only allowing or teaching the movement after one has demonstrated the strength and ability to do a STRICT pull up. For the beneficial reasons I listed earlier I decided against this, but it’s certainly food for thought. Give some serious thought to reducing your volume of kipping when you come in, and instead work on getting a strict pull up.

Point- I’m an awesome athlete.

In a couple years’ time, I have gone from being 30lb overweight, to losing that weight and being able to do all of the complex movements in CrossFit. My WOD times are generally competitive. I can knock out strict muscle ups, have taught myself to do passable double unders and have done a human flag. I am close to getting an iron cross, a back lever and a front lever. If you’ve never tried even a scaled version of those movements trust me- they are seriously hard. I have a double bodyweight back squat, can press over my bodyweight for 5 reps, have a 1.5BW clean and jerk, etc. Yep, I’m pretty awesome.


This is frickin' hard. I can almost do it. 

Seriously, all of you should remember what you were like when you started CrossFit and how much you’ve accomplished since then. Maybe you’ve lost a lot of weight. Maybe you couldn’t do pull ups J and now you can. Always remember what you’ve accomplished and think about how awesome it is. You have a right to be proud of what you’ve done!

Counterpoint- I suck as an athlete.

There are some serious beasts out there. I couldn’t even qualify for the CF Games regionals last year by a big margin. Just when I think I’m awesome, I look at the times/weights some other people are routinely putting up and I’m like “WTF”? These people are inhuman. I will NEVER be able to do what some of them can do. This is not being defeatist- this is me being realistic. I think about what I can back squat and I’m like, “that’s awesome” then I realize there are a ton of ladies out there that warm up with my 1 rep max.

 

It seems like every time my ego gets a boost from something I’ve done in CrossFit, along comes something else to knock it back down to earth. I’m realistic. I’m not the best out there, not by a long shot. Heck, I’m not even the best in our gym. So whenever you start feeling like you can rest on your laurels and that you’ve accomplished enough, remember- it doesn’t mean S!@#. Someone else is crushing you without breaking a sweat. So achieve things for yourself, and on some level forget about what everyone else is doing.

Point- I’m an awesome coach.

I know more about anatomy than most people. I understand the movements I teach. I can DO all of the movements I teach. I feel like I can explain things clearly and identify individual faults rapidly. I get along with pretty much everyone. All of these things and more make me a good coach. Plus, every day that I coach and every time I work with you athletes, I get BETTER.

Counterpoint- I suck as a coach.

I haven’t been doing this that long. There’s a TON of info out there, much of it flat wrong or misleading. I can’t coach consistently because of my job in the hospital. A lot of the things you athletes struggle with came really easily to me. All of these things make me suck as a coach.

What am I doing to fix this? Practice, practice, practice. Constant re-evaluation of my strengths and weaknesses. Continual reading and self-education to make myself better. None of us are perfect, but I’m going to try and get as close as possible.

Point- barbells/strength work makes you stronger, physically.

Duh. All I would add to this is “strength work” implies big, multi-joint compound movements such as the squat, deadlift and press. These are tried and true movements whose ability to get you strong is unquestioned. Sorry, but one cannot get truly strong with machines, Zumba, bosu balls or any of that other nonsense out there that passes for “good” movements these days. Those things will allow a seriously weak person to become slightly less weak, that’s all.


Coach Stacie. Strong? Uhh, yeah... 

Counterpoint- barbells/strength work makes you stronger, mentally.

Here’s what I think is the real benefit to strength work, even beyond the physical. It takes a certain kind of person to put iron on their back/in their hands day, after day, after day. It takes mental fortitude to grind out a heavy squat when every fiber is saying “stop”. The  mental changes we’ve seen in people who train with us for any period of time are WAY MORE IMPORTANT than the physical. People go from being unmotivated and ready to quit at the first opportunity to having a “never give up, never say die” attitude. Think of how that translates over to daily life, and just how important that is. I would bet every last cent I have that if you did a study comparing “life success” (job, happiness, etc) in people who lifted heavy crap regularly vs. those that didn’t, we’d see a clear trend towards the lifters being more successful in “life”, however you wanted to define that. Furthermore, I think that success would derive almost entirely from the mental adaptations those people have made, not the physical.

Put another way, I respect the person who has developed a 500lb squat, not only for the physical strength that takes, but more so because of the mental toughness THAT PERSON MUST HAVE to be able to get himself to that point.

Some serious mental fortitude-type stuff going on here.

Point- the #1 thing women need is strength, and to be comfortable with getting stronger.

Please see my excellent post (haha) titled “strength” earlier in the blog archives for a much more detailed analysis. In a nutshell, I feel badly for women these days. Society has so skewed what is supposed to be the feminine “ideal” that women are taught that it is ok to be weak, that being strong means being “big and bulky”, and that “firming and toning” are real terms with actual meaning. Along the way, this line of thinking has sanctioned osteoporosis, early nursing home admissions and a general idea that women are SUPPOSED to be weak, thereby helping to keep women down. I say screw that.

Ladies- you have a RIGHT to be strong. You’re supposed to be strong. Weight training will ward off osteoporosis, heart disease and fat. Plus, being able to squat more than the dude next to you is pretty damn cool and empowering, no? Getting strong will NOT make you look bulky- NOT being strong makes you look sickly and weak, or soft and flabby. Wanna know a secret? “Firming and toning” is code for “have strong musculature and low body fat percentage”. That’s it. Women do not possess the levels of testosterone that are needed to make them look like a GUY that lifts weights. Unless you take steroids and do specific exercises DESIGNED to make you look bigger, you WON’T LOOK BIG AND BULKY getting stronger. Instead, the look you’ll achieve is- curves in all the right places, fit, thin waistline, etc. HAWT.


Not hot.



Hot. 

Counterpoint- the #1 thing men need is to put their egos aside.

I think men more so than women are used to competition. We’re taught it’s socially acceptable, even desired as a male to be competitive. Men who shy away from trying to prove they’re the best are often labeled “weak”. Somewhere along the way, we’ve also picked up a nasty habit of taking too much pride in our accomplishments, and thinking anyone else even gives a damn.

Guess what dudes- the barbell doesn’t care that you THINK you can squat 300lbs. It will staple your ass to the ground no matter what you think unless you really can squat that weight. The half-range of motion “pullups” you did just to get a higher number or faster time? Yep, none of those counted so technically you didn’t even finish. Cheating reps to finish faster? No one cares- they’re too busy trying to finish their own workout without dying.

Men much more so than your average woman tend to be quite inflexible. Many of the basic movements in CrossFit, such as the overhead squat, push press or even an air squat can initially prove challenging. Yet, it’s always the guys that want to start adding weight, trying to overhead squat 135 when they can’t even get parallel with a PVC. Meanwhile, the women with great ROM sometimes have to be convinced to go heavier. Dudes, get the mechanics down first. ROM first, then consistency, THEN intensity/go heavy/whatever. Put the egos aside.


Fail. 

In practical terms, what this means for most guys is- train smart. If you can’t handle a given weight, bring it down a bit. If you can’t do a given movement Rx’d, THAT’S OK. Take the time to learn and build up properly. Listen to the coaches- we’re here for you. If you’re hurt, say so. And if you’re cheating reps- stop it. You’re only cheating yourself.

Point- avoiding injury is training “smart”.

Injuries suck all around. They impede your training, they hurt, and sometimes they mean you’re done COMPLETELY. Doing whatever you can to avoid an injury makes sense and can be thought of as training with your head. If you feel something is “tweaked” or at risk, LET A COACH KNOW. If you’re worried about something, it’s probably for a good reason. You should not feel obligated to continue if it will result in injury.

Take care of yourself. Get as much rest as you can, eat right, take your fish oil, stretch, recover, etc. Not doing these things is a set up for injury and shows you DON’T TAKE YOUR TRAINING SERIOUSLY.

If you need to, SCALE THE WEIGHT OR MOVEMENT. Don’t risk hurting yourself simply to be able to say you did a workout Rx’d. If there’s a question if you can do it, you probably can’t without a risk of injury.

Counterpoint- injuries are inevitable.

Yep. You heard me. If you work out long enough, you WILL GET INJURED. Of course, if you play sports you will also eventually get injured. For that matter, if you do anything remotely interesting or active, you run the risk of injury. As Mark Rippetoe once said, “injuries are the inevitable price you pay for leading a healthy, active lifestyle”.

Knowing this, the trick is to train smart (as above), knowing eventually something is going to happen. You WILL tear your hands at some point, or sprain a wrist, or tweak your back. It’s not the end of the world. Recognize it, deal with it and move on. The POTENTIAL for injury shouldn’t dissuade you from trying something- it just means you should do it intelligently. If you’re truly leading a lifestyle with zero risk of injury, then you’re probably shortening your life by decades, because the only way to do that is to sit on your couch all day, never leaving the house or engaging in any sort of physical activity. Even that isn’t a guarantee, because who hasn’t tweaked their neck/back/etc just lying in a funny position on the couch?! The point is, don’t live your life or avoid training simply to avoid the possibility of injury. Yes, it will happen. Most likely, it will not be serious (and probably much less serious if you’re physically fit). Life happens- expect it, deal with it and move on.

Something like this WILL happen at some point.

Point- excuses are for the weak.

No one cares about your excuses. We’ve all got them. Life doesn’t care you if you were up all night, or have “a lot of stress going on”, or whatever. You still have to go to work, dodge traffic, or lift that barbell. The weak use excuses to justify failure. The strong succeed IN SPITE of having excuses.


Courage Wolf makes a good point. 

Counterpoint- the weak always have excuses.

Ever notice that? Like no one else has ever had an alarm not go off, a car not start, or a dog eat their homework. Guess what- EVERYONE ELSE IS SORE TOO. We all have jobs too. Get over it. The weak always have excuses- the rest of us show up, go about our business and crush PRs.

Simply by coming to CrossFit Elysium you have proven you have already crushed most excuses in your life. Even so, we all can succumb to the weakness of excuses at times. Try to keep it to a minimum. Crush the excuses, not the other way around.

Courage Wolf rules.

Point- actions define a person, not their words.

How many of us have friends who “swear” they’re going to join or start working out “soon”? How many of those people actually ever put their words into action? It’s ok to talk about plans and have grand ideas, but at the end of the day if you don’t actually do it, it never happened. Put another way, talk is cheap. Actions are where things actually happen. Be a doer and not a talker.

Counterpoint- Mental strength and positive actions will ultimately determine whether you last at CrossFit Elysium, not physical ability.

It’s true. Anyone who has made it past their year “anniversary” with us has done so because of mental toughness, desire, and putting their words into action, not from physical traits alone. You can take the most physically gifted person in the world, but if that person has no mental drive they won’t be able to push themselves and come in day after day.

Coach P and I have seen a number of “good” athletes come and go. Often, these people don’t last because they simply don’t have the willpower to force themselves to keep going when things get tough. By contrast, all of you who have stuck with Elysium have proven you have the mental grit to “get it done”. I respect someone with mental strength MUCH more than someone with just raw physical talent.


Except for Danielle who's moved, EVERY ONE of the members pictured here, over 1 year ago, still trains at CrossFit Elysium. Mental toughness and actions define your character. 

I hope you found this post interesting, and hopefully it’ll generate some talking points. Thoughts? Post to comments. Until next time!

Disclaimer- title shamelessly taken from another blog post, dealing with the same subject matter...

It's time to get off your knees. Ladies, I'm mostly speaking to you, but this applies to anyone still doing push ups on your knees. I don't mean this to be insulting; rather, Coach P and I have decided we have allowed this scaling to hold back your athletic progress long enough. From here on out, scaling pushups by doing knee pushups will not be allowed. I'll discuss some other options at the end of this post, and the coaches can always find one for you before the WOD. Please read on.


This will no longer be allowed.

First, let's examine why one would need to scale a push up. A proper push up requires two elements of strength-
1. upper body (chest, tricep, shoulder girdle) strength
2. "Core" (abdominal) strength to stabilize the midline

This is the ROM of a proper push up.

If either of these two elements are lacking, a proper push up is not possible. It should be noted "proper" refers to full lockout at the top, chest (NOT belly/face etc) touches the ground, legs fully extended and the body rising as one unit. The push up is a basic measure of bodyweight strength and EVERYONE'S goal should eventually be to be able to perform multiple full ROM pushups. If you cannot do a full push up in a very real sense you lack basic strength and the ability to manipulate your body in space.

Lack of upper body strength will manifest itself by inability to go all the way down, or inability to push the chest up from the bottom. Most people actually have at least some of the strength needed for this component of the move. More common is a lack of core strength- this can be seen when someone pushes from the bottom, and the chest rises BEFORE the hips. A tight core is unable to be maintained which would hold the body in a rigid plank, so the chest rises first and then the butt "snakes" up off the ground. Anyone who has done enough pushups and is fatigued will naturally break down to something approximating this move.



This is a "broken" push up, with no midline stability.

How do "knee pushups" help? Why are they easier?

Doing push ups off the knees takes much of the load (the entire low body) essentially out of the equation, so there is less work for the upper body to handle. In addition, because the "hinge" of the movement is now the knees (tucked under the body) rather than the feet, core strength is ESSENTIALLY ELIMINATED from the move.

So, why are we eliminating knee pushups as a scale?

Doing knee push ups will help develop upper body strength, to a certain extent. Eventually, one will max out the benefits from this scale and it would be time to move on to full push ups. Unfortunately, YOUR CORE will never get developed by doing knee push ups. So, part of you might be ready for full push ups, but you'll still be stuck on your knees. There are much more useful scales available- specifically, doing pushups off a box or a bench. The higher the box, the easier the movement (ie, the more vertical your body is, the easier). By doing push ups this way, at least you'll get the benefit of working to keep your body in a plank and developing your core strength.


Inclining the push up takes load off the upper body and midline and makes the move easier.

How many of you are still stuck doing knee push ups after months of doing them? We're doing this for your athletic and physical development. So, expect to use a new, more useful scale the next time you come and do push ups, and look forward to eventually achieving the full movement! Until next time, get off your knees...

Coach L