#spealler

Surprised. But Saw It Coming.

When I saw Web Smith‘s Tweet this weekend, I knew something was up…

@CrossFitGames #Spealler

— Web Smith (@web) May 28, 2012

I KNEW Chris Spealler would be on the Update Show, but I didn’t think he would be on Saturday’s. For some reason, I just knew. I knew what was coming.

Here’s the full show for you junkies:

But if you want to skip to the #spealler segment, go here. If you just want the “big announcement,” click here.

And My Prediction Was Right

Between the crazy weights increasing each year at the Games, running his box and new business 321Go Project, and spending more time with his family, I had a feeling this would be Spealler’s last CrossFit Games as an individual…

…for now.

I’m not gonna lie…part of my heart sank when I found out. Yes, all the hints at the “big announcement” on this Update Show made things seem really obvious, but it still hit me like a pile of bricks.

Yeah, I did write about 4 things we can learn from Chris Spealler and his performance in the South West Regional. However, I just want to stress upon the fact that he was one of my main CrossFit inspirations since the beginning.

While Rob Orlando was really the first CrossFitter I looked up to with his videos on YouTube and all, it was Spealler who I identified with right away. It was most likely the height factor haha.

Then His Influence Was More Than That

The guy is one of the most efficient mofos out there. If you want to learn the right form in almost anything CrossFit, watch #spealler. Just check out any of his YouTube videos. The guy’s squeezing out the most from his 150ish pound frame and is competing head-to-head with the big dawgs out there.

It’s through Chris that I learned to take a “work smarter, not harder” approach to CrossFit. Of course, I’d still work hard, but a lot of the time, going RAMBO on a WOD right off the gate won’t work in your favor. Thinking like him has helped me focus on things like pacing during a WOD, not Rx’ing to get the desired effect from a workout, and CONSTANT GAINS.

Like with all the good things in life, progressing in CrossFit is like a marathon, not a sprint. Sure, there are some naturally gifted athletes who can become Games-worthy within only a few months of training, but for everyone else out there, like myself, shooting for consistency is key.

More importantly, this “working smarter” approach has carried on to other aspects of my life.

For almost ALL my life, I tried accomplishing EVERYTHING…meaning, I had to do well in this, that, and EVERYTHING. What a scattered approach…

It stemmed from my approach to schoolwork and studying. Okay, back in elementary/middle school, there wasn’t much material, so I could do really well just by memorizing everything. Then about halfway through high school, I realized…shit. I can’t do this anymore. This was basically my approach to everything else in my life.

As expected, I’d get overwhelmed by many things. STRESS allll around…not fun.

Just from watching Spealler perform and through his instructional videos, I really embraced overall efficiency in my life. And the cool thing about making these changes? They really only involve little tweaks. Small tweaks to make BIG changes. Now that’s a HIGH return on investment 🙂

This approach/mindset has made my life more manageable and enjoyable. I’ve accomplished so much inside and outside the box in the past 2 years. Rather than try to succeed in everything I WANT, I’ve learned to cut the fat and focus on the things in life I NEED.

Chris, I just want to say thanks 🙂

Kip it real, my friends.

Oh You Didn’t Hear? This Blog DIED.

Sucks, Right?

Yeah, for DAYS…jack shit was posted. You might’ve thought I died. You might’ve messaged me, thinking something was wrong (thanks for caring!). You might’ve believed this blog was…

…DUNZO.

Fuck that.

This blog has resurrected. I’m alive and well folks! 😀

Between handling some stuff in the background for this site along with other projects, I just couldn’t find time to write. For that, I apologize.

Then with the comments, messages, and RANDOMMMMM Google searches…

…I knew I HAD to write.

So What’s Happening In My CrossFit World?

Great progress! I’m feeling better than ever. My asthma seems to be dying gradually.

Running for me has gradually been getting better. My lifts have been improving a lot thanks to my pair of New Balance Minimus MX20’s. Gotta love the stability.

Oh…and my pink jump rope? Shit…my dubs are as smooth as butter now. I no longer have to worry about tangles and stretching out my cable.

With the lighter cable, while I DO have to use more of my wrists, there’s less shoulder fatigue in my double unders. However, as I said before, don’t start out with the RX Jump Rope. Get some cheap speed rope to start off.

So yeah…overall, things are pretty damn good.

North East Regional

Mannnn…I wanted to go so bad to see my box kick ass (still keeping that on the low key), but I already bought tickets to see the Dave Matthews Band this weekend…monthssss back.

What can ya do?

I wish my team the best of luck!

As for my performance this weekend? It’ll involve some “bear pong” and hitting cans of beer against my head. My CrossFit performance will suffer come Monday…but forget that. I haven’t see Dave Matthews in 2 years. It’s gonna be worth it.

If any of you happen to be going to the concert, you can probably find me and my friends in the parking lot doing nonsense like this:

As I said…good luck to my box! WOOOOOOO!

Where Do We Go From Here?

I’m honestly not sure if I can blog daily as I did before…but shit…I love you guys way too much. And even though I’m not the best writer, I enjoy blogging about CrossFit.

The sport’s one of my constants in life. Noon. Monday through Wednesday. Friday and Saturday. I’m at the box, making myself a better person.

It’s one of the few things I can totally count on to making my day awesome. Yes, some lactate training will make me hate life during the WOD, but I feel like a motherfuckin KING afterwards.

Let’s play things by ear 😀

Kip it real, my friends.

Have You Ever Felt Like Pissing At The START Of A WOD?

I Have

Numerous times. You don’t want to be THAT guy or THAT girl (think the Shit CrossFit Girls Say vid) holding up the class. You wonder…”If I hold it in, will I accidentally piss myself at some point? Maybe it’ll get me to work out faster?”

I’m sure you’ve had this happen to you before. It sucks, cause it tends to happen RIGHT when the WOD starts.

For this WOD, I was inspired by that Days In The Life Of Rich Froning vid to UPPPPP things a bit. Yesterday’s WOD really put my New Balance Minimus MX20‘s to the test with:

800m run
30 SDHP’s (135#/95#)
600m run
20 SDHP’s
400m run
10 SDHP’s

Got 15:52 w00t!

Coach said with the SDHP weight, you should be able to do around 5-6 reps at a time, although that would get a lot harder later on. Normally, I would’ve gone for 115#. Nah…fuck that noise.

I went for 125#

What About The Run?

Of course, I was worried about my asthma, so I really thought of pacing my running just enough to leave gas in the tank for the SDHP’s.

All these thoughts, these numbers, and all these random details kept going through my mind. I was worrying more. I was feeling a bit nervous. I had to piss. BAD.

Oh well.

Before I knew it, my weights were set, Coach started the clock, and all that nonsense going through my mind disappeared. I was in the fuckin zone.

Sure, the big dawgs in my class Rx’d this WOD at like 13:00-14:00ish. Still, I was pretty damn happy about my performance. For once, I didn’t stop running. I was making sure I was controlling my breathing properly all throughout the workout. That made a HUGE difference and made my asthma my bitch.

The SDHP’s were roughhhh for the initial set of 30. And although I wasn’t too happy about my reps (could’ve improved my form), I managed to fix things up as I put more emphasis on the hip drive. Seriously, for almost 2 years, I was doing SDHP’s with mostly my back and arms. Way to set yourself up for injury, man…

…once I started thinking of the hip drive like a clean, then the heavy reps yesterday in this WOD were manageable.

Do The Games Athletes Go Through This Too?

I’ve always wondered if the Games athletes ever had to piss during a competition WOD…generally, I use the bathroom before or once I get to the gym to be safe, but the constant drinking of water while warming up or during a strength session can really get to you.

These elite of the elite are definitely smart enough to prepare going into a WOD, especially one of the longer ones, but they’re human too. Shit happens. When I do get a chance to interview Games competitors, this’ll be one of the first questions I ask them.

Have you ever felt like this before? What did YOU do? Hold it in? Hold up the class?

Or did you piss yourself and embarrass yourself in front of the class, scarring you for life?

Let’s get some comments rolling 🙂

No Wonder Day 1 Felt Like A Rest Day…

You Need To Watch This Vid

Yeah, on the Games site, it’s titled “Days in the Life of Rich Froning”, but there’s also a good junk of Dan Bailey in there.

Even if you don’t have the time to watch the ENTIRE vid, catch some of it. Skim through parts.

Source: games.crossfit.com

Let’s just get a few things out of the way…first of all, the half-assed face censoring was a waste and made the vid look ridiculous in the beginning. Second, the interviewer was annoying as fuck. Gotta give Rich and Dan props for handling that assclown well. It just shows they’re legit guys.

So yeah, as I was watching this earlier today, I couldn’t help but think about their WORK CAPACITY. Holy shit. It’s one thing to work out multiple times in a day. It’s a whole ‘nother story when you’re dealing with heavy and intense loads every time.

Now that I look back at that post-workout interview at the end of Day 1 of the Central East Regional, Rich was serious about his “rest day” comment. He wasn’t trying to sound like an cocky guy. He wasn’t trying to show off. He was just telling the truth.

Yeah, the edits on that interview (the rewinds, etc.) for the Update show made him seem like an ass. It’s easy to put a lot of emphasis on that one line he said. Now, I believe it. Rich and Dan are truly on another level.

It makes me wonder what the “Silent Assassin” Graham Holmberg does for his training.

For serious…watching this made me want to work out. Gotta wait 12 hours for that…shit…

This FATASS Wasted My Time

Or So I Thought

As I was catching up on the Killing The Fat Man series by the CrossFit Journal, I realized…shit…I could just be taking action right now.

Eating healthy. Working out. Doing something productive.

Why am I watching this guy’s story?

Then, as each episode was going by, I was getting even more inspired to step things up. To think that this guy started out of shape and overweight, to a new man getting hit on by strangers and nailing kipping pull ups within 5 weeks.

Damn, Gary. You’re really kicking ass. I was thinking about when I finally got my kipping pull ups down, and it seems like it took me 6 months to stop doing pull ups with the band. Doing WOD’s like that just didn’t feel right, so I knew I had to step things up.

Gary’s progress was easily the fastest I’ve seen of anyone starting from the bottom. Sure, there are instances where people from solid athletic backgrounds would start tearing shit up after CrossFitting for only a few months, but this was something different.

It Was Gary’s Attitude

Seriously. Despite all the negativity coming from his wife, daughter, and other family members, he IGNORED all that noise and just focused on becoming a fuckin boss.

If anything, watch episode 1 to see where Gary’s journey started, then watch episode 8:

This ep hits home for so many different reasons. As I was saying, Gary’s positive attitude was what carried him this far. He seriously looks like a new man, inside AND outside.

That’s the kind of shit that CrossFit does to ya, right?

Another reason I really enjoyed this ep was the part with Gary’s dad. My dad comes from basically the same type of background – blue collar guy who worked his ass off for many years to support my mom and myself. Unfortunately, his health has suffered because of this. That’s why I only wish my dad would try eating somewhat healthier and being more active.

The guy’s pretty damn stubborn, and no matter how much I try to show him how CrossFit and eating healthy has changed my life, he just can’t give up the delicious food he loves to make and eat. Can’t blame him…my dad’s an awesome cook 😀

I can only do so much…

A New Flame Was Lit

After catching up on these vids, I’m seriously more inclined to shatter my goals. Right now, my performance has been pretty damn good. It’s actually better than it was before I left for my 3 weeks in the Philippines.

Soon, I’ll surpass my Paleo Challenge conditioning from over a year ago…with the strength to boot.

But yeah…if Gary can pull that kind of progress in a little over 2 months, I KNOW I can get it done this summer.

How will I pull it off?
1) Get my nutrition down – as I’ve said many times, this has ALWAYS been my problem. Now, things are a lot better, but I need to kick things in high gear. It’s the main thing holding me back.
2) Up my WOD weights – for strength portions of a workout, going heavy for 1-5 reps is fine. I hope to hit Spealler-like numbers with those soon…butttt…I crap out too soon with WOD weights. For this, I need to gradually increase my weight, hitting Rx weights when I feel it’s right.

I’m seriously all fired up now. Thanks, Gary!

By the way, my only dislike with these vids are the discussions of Gary and his wife’s sex life. I’m happy for you guys and understand that’s part of the 3 H’s, but ummm…we’ve heard enough.

Kip it real, my friends.