I'll forget 23

The coolest dude I've ever met.  Follow his blog @ Who Is Cove?

CrossFit:  Today was the first good day at the gym for me in what feels like a year.  People keep asking about the new space.  I'm not a liar so my answer is always we will be there when June '13 rolls around.  Really, whenever it gets done is when it will be here.  Patiently wait.  I'm going to try to blog (write) a few things I feel need to be addressed in the fitness world (aka GymFed CrossFit Community).  I'll try to be consistent.

Lately

Lately, strangeness all around.  Lots of writing.  Lots of reading.  Lots of sleeping.  Lots of working.  Lots of change.  Lots of early mornings.  I see the moon a lot.  I dream of a world that is black and white.  Decisions would be easier then.  Constantly striving to turn my thoughts into something more than just a subconscious notion.  Take care take care take care.

Choosing a CrossFit Gym

I suppose CrossFit has arrived. I'm seeing commercials of Chad Ochocinco head to head with Iceland Annie. There are 46,000 individuals registered for the CrossFit Open. It has come a long way since 2007 (the tipping point). I'm still sticking to my opinion that Mark Twight is heavily responsible for the growth of the sport. (If you don't know the background story, look it up - it's an interesting read). There were 350 affiliates in 07 when I was introduced. We are approaching 3000.

How do I choose a CrossFit gym? Luckily if you live in East TX, you don't have that many options. My buddy has 80 affiliates within 30 miles of his California home. There are 4 CrossFit Gyms in the Tyler area.

What you need to look for? You must find a gym that fits your schedule, budget, and convenience. Schedule: consistency is the key ingredient to CrossFit and if your gym's class schedule is not accommodating to your schedule(factor in family, work, extracurricular) chances of you sticking with it go down. Budget: You must be able to afford it. CrossFit is the medium between personal training and a gym membership. Prices range from (and this is what I've seen worldwide) $90 to $400 per month with the average typically being around $150 per month. Convenience: This is the least important of the 3 as we have athletes drive over an hour to train with us daily. But if you are the type of person that will easily blow off a hike across town to a gym, then you need to find something that is convenient as well. (Things like child care and showers also weigh into this category.)

Jeremy Thiel once said your CrossFit Gym should be like a mullet. Business in the front and party in the back. It's true. Even though I always viewed us as the anti-establishment and the underground, you still must bring a professional aspect to your business and you should look for that when selecting a gym.

Knowledge: CrossFit gets a bad rep sometimes because people go too hard too fast. Of course a program that is 100% safe is an ineffective program. (GG) Find a coach that will teach you the basics of human movement and follows the principle of:

1. Mechanics
2. Consistency
3. And then and ONLY THEN intensity

Ultimately it boils down to the fact that you will be the one getting the results. From Day 1 when a potential CrossFitter walks through the doors, we make this very clear. It's your journey. We are just guiding you along the way. "We will never be able to get you as good of results as you get yourself." Treat fitness as a lifelong journey. The ones who succeed the most are the ones who take things slow.

Last, please don't take this as a plug for my gym. Everyone can do CrossFit but CrossFit is not for everyone. The beauty of the CrossFit affiliates is that we are not franchises and we can run our gym however we please. I know for a fact the experience we offer does not suit every potential CrossFitter's needs. Nor will any gyms. The goal is to find the experience that aligns with your goals.

Hope this helps.

Bizness

What's the secret to a well run business? My two cents - you have to care. Let me repeat. You have to legitimately care.

I'm guiding a good friend through the steps of opening his own business. We've been hitting on a few concepts so I figured I would share.

1. Get them/Keep them - (KISS - keep it simple stupid) - everything I do in regards to business is funneled into one of these two categories. Get them should be a short list. Keep them should be long and extensive. If you can get and keep clients, you're doing something right.

2. You have to be special these days. People are too smart. Good doesn't cut it anymore. Great advertising and average products went out of style in the 90s. Ask yourself what separates you from the next person.

3. It's okay to be cool. Everyone doesn't need you and you don't need everyone. You want the right people. (if someone doesn't want your product it's not the end of the world.)

4. Be ethical. There's no greater poison to a business than dishonesty.

5. Have fun. Don't take yourself too seriously. And just like the sign says...leave your ego at the door.

Now I haven't mentioned CrossFit once. The reason I'm intrigued by small businesses is that no matter your craft... the important concepts are the same.

I know I'm late to the game on this one but it's still dope. #MoP rocking it at soju on Friday nights.

Style

"One thing you've got going for you, and trust me there's not much, is that we can basically redefine your wardrobe with 16 essential pieces." Russell Fedell on my apparently horrible style.

I've never been much into style or clothes. I basically try to walk the fine line between comfortable and presentable. I own 2 suits but wear them never. In fact as I type this, gymfed hoody, CrossFit SF shirt, athletic shorts, spandex pants, and black inov8's. Sweet huh? Quite a few guys tell me at the gym how I live the life never having to dress up and not having to give into the idea that most 8-5'ers have to play corporate dress up. But just like anything there is good and bad to both. When it comes time to have to dress up, I never feel comfortable.

Nonetheless, I have an older brother for a roommate who is changing all that. I feel like I'm a part of some science experiment and I'm the lab rat. Confession: Kind of enjoying it. Anyways here are a few websites I figured I'd share

Park and Bond

80's Purple

Revolve

Hugo Boss

Workout Today - 5x 10 Pullups (gymnastics kip minimal hip drive) - 10 bar dips - 10 stiff leg deadlift - #70 kb - not for time - recovery day.

Eats - This is a typical day - Breakfast - 3 eggs - peanut butter toast - 1/4 cup oj and emergen-C

Lunch - 5 oz steak/chicken fajita - 2 tortilla - 1 oz cheese

Dinner - 5 oz steak/chicken fajita - 2 tortilla - 1 oz cheese

Snack - Atkins Bar

Snack - Smoothie (my vitamix is dope)

Leading up to the concert, I'll post a video of AG Avalon on each blog.

3 Years

Is anyone keeping up with this solar storm? I've been trying to follow it a little bit. I read an interesting line:

"The radiation — in the form of protons — came flying out of the sun at 93 million miles per hour." - That is moving.

They are saying you will be able to see the Northern Lights in England tonight. That would be pretty dope.

Okay so why 3 years? Well tomorrow marks 3 years ago that I rescued Alex. Or at least I thought I did. Perhaps she rescued me. I was watching I am Legend (great movie) and decided it was time to get a dog.. Saw an ad in the paper for some abandoned black lab puppies that had been dropped off on the side of the road. Alex was the smallest so tried my luck with her. She's turned out to be a great dog. She's the gym mascot and is always there for moral support. I'm a firm believer that everyone should own a dog at some point in their life.

My workout today was much better than yesterday. 800M Row - 20 Toes to Bar - 20 Wall Ball - 400M Row - 15 T2B - 15 WB - 200M Row - 10 T2B - 10 WB - 10:28 Rx'ed

Down to 194lbs - Still getting in 6 meals a day but the zone seems to have me shedding weight. I'll try to post more about working out and eating healthy in the future.

To compete or Not

The CrossFit Games 2012 Open is starting at the end of February. I always seem to get a lot of questions on whether or not I'm going to give it a try. To answer the question without answering, my honest response is I have no idea and I would be lying if I said anything different.

When I was first introduced to the games, I always dreamed of qualifying for California. My friends and family encouraged me to go for it. I started training harder and more often. My training was starting to consume most of my time and effort. The harder I tried, the more frustrated I became. Eventually, I peaked around summer 2010 and it's been a slow and steady decline ever since. My work capacity is down, my strength, my cardiovascular. The only aspect of CrossFit I've increased since then is perhaps my skill in most of the movements.

Why am I posting this? What do the "scholars" say? Hindsight is 20/20. Although as pure as my intentions were, my training was focused solely on the end result and not the practice in itself. I only focused on the prize at the end of the tunnel and not the actual day to day grind that we all battle constantly. See the beauty is in the practice. If you can learn to appreciate the practice then you've achieved something most spend a lifetime searching for.

How can you apply this to your daily life? Are you the person that lives life looking forward to your next vacation or even the weekend? You weekend warrior you. Or can you find joy in the simple day to day grind that will probably be 90% of your existence. If you find yourself miserable Mon-Fri then you it's quite obvious you need one of two changes (perhaps both). Attitude or situation. Try enjoying Mon-Fri and "really" enjoying the weekends or vacations and you've got it made. Everyone has their calling where you can take joy in serving others. I delivered pizzas for 5 years before I found mine. (embarrassing I know)

To close - will I compete? Writing this has me feeling somewhat inspired right now. I will do the open and try my best. Whatever happens happens.

1 of my old favorite bands on Ocean Breathes Salty

One of my new favorite bands on Ocean Breathes Salty Cover