Hip Mobility Videos

Posted on March 2, 2013 by glen

Hey everyone…I stumbled across some great hip mobility videos from Gold Medal Bodies…

Here is a nice 7 minute video to follow to help out with your hip flexibility.

And, here is one for people like me who spend a ton of time sitting

Enjoy…

Getting Your Crossfit Affiliate Noticed By Google

Posted on February 27, 2013 by glen

Lisa was flipping channels the other night when she
stumbled across the Crossfit Games on ESPN.
After watching for about 5 minutes, she knew Crossfit was exactly what
she was looking for. So, she grabbed her
phone and typed in Crossfit Ames as she lives in (you guessed it) Ames, Iowa.

This is what she saw.

Isn’t this awesome? The ESPN broadcast is
responsible for a new Crossfitter.

This is awesome…for Crossfit West Ames. Not so awesome if you are Crossfit Ames.

What you see above is the result of Google’s local
pages. There are two ways for your
Crossfit Affiliate to have a local page:

1.
Your business was around when there was
this thing called “The Yellow Pages”. If
it was, then you likely have a local page already.

2.
You have created and claimed the Local
page for your business.

You might be thinking, do I really need another
piece of online real estate to manage? While I understand your reluctance:

1.
It won’t take you a lot of time.

2.
Creating and claiming a Google+ Local
page for your local business adds tremendous authority and credibility to your
place profiles…i.e. big impact on local search rankings

Here’s how.

1.
First, set up a Google account (http://google.com/accounts) or sign-in if
you already have one.

2.
See if you already have a page.

a.
Go to Google Maps.

b.
Search for your affiliate name

3.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PAGE SKIP TO STEP 7

4.
Click on More Info to see your page

5.
You’ll be prompted to re-login to your
Google account, or pass a validation test before continuing (either accepting a
call at the published number Google has, or receiving a post card in the mail
with a PIN number on it).

6.
Once you complete the validation,
you’ve claimed the page and can begin to manage it.

a.
Add as many details as possible…especially
photos, hours, and a URL. Reviews are
incredibly helpful as well. However, note that review “stuffing” will be penalized by Google.

7. For those without a Google+ Local Page

1. Go To Your Google+ Account and Click on Pages

2. Click Create New Page

3. Choose Local business or Place and enter your Phone Number and Country

4. Select your Business if it appears or Add Your Business to Google

5. Add your business name, address, and select a category (note you will be able to add multiple categories later)

6. Add your website and agree to terms

7. Add an image (or 2 or 3) and click finish

8. You will be sent an email to verify you own this business. Once you complete the verification, you are ready to go.

So, there you have it. In a matter of minutes, you can have a dramatic impact on your Google rankings. This is a simple thing that becomes more important as other boxes enter your market.

Let me know how this works out for you and how it does impact your rankings.

Until next time…don’t forget to check out the best affiliate program on the planet for awesome Crossfit Training Journals.

March 2013 Crossfit Competition Listing

Posted on February 5, 2013 by glen

Obviously the big daddy of them all – The Crossfit Open – starts in March…but there are still plenty of other options to get your throwdown on.

IntensityHead.com

Northamptonshire’s Fittest	March 2, 2013	CrossFit Northampton	UK
Femme Royale	March 2, 2013	Orange Coast Crossfit	CA
March Mayhem	March 2, 2013	Crossfit Rockkore	TX
CROSSFIT OPEN	March 6, 2013	Crossfit Games	ONLINE
Friday Night Lights	March 8, 2013	Crossfit Scottsdale	AZ
WeHo YAL Crossfit Comp	March 9, 2013	West Hollywood Youth Athletic League	CA
Big Run for the Big House	March 16, 2013	Crossfit Black Knights	AL
Rookie Rumble	March 16, 2013	Hercules Crossfit	CA
St. Patrick’s Crossfit Comp	March 17, 2013	Phoenix Multisport	CO
Combat for The Cure	March 30, 2013	Altamonte Crossfit	FL

The Method – Week One, day 1

Posted on February 3, 2013 by glen

ABOUT THE METHOD

For the next while, I will be following a 3 ON 1 OFF split. At a high level Day 1 will be Snatch day, Day 2 Squats, Day 3 Clean & Jerk, Day 4 rest, day 5 OverHead Squats & Hang Snatch, day 6 Squat & Clean, day 7 Deadlift / posterior chain day, and rest on day 8.

I will also be experimenting with an AM training session with the main goal being to move. So it will generally consist of a row (running will be added when the snow goes away), some body weight push & pull, some mobility, and a little light technique work if I have the time. As I mentioned in my first post, I fight against a sedentary job that has me in front of a computer. So, I am trying to see if adding the AM session with some light movement & some mobility will have an impact on being able to move better. Only time will tell.

Now on to the details for Day 1.

Image From LiftBOOK for Crossfit available as an e-BOOK & hard-copy journal

Morning Session

- 3 x 5 minute row / row easy 3 minutes between sets

- Catalyst Warm-Up

- 3 sets of 5 reps (Ring Dips / Ring Rows)

- Burgener Warm-up with PVC

Main Session PM:

WARM-UP

Quick Pace – about 75%-80% of Max Effort

3 sets of 7: OHSQ (light) / T2B / DU (21 reps for DU)

Snatch Specific Warm-Up -

7 x 1 of Tall Snatch + Heaving Snatch Balance (light…focus on zero arm bend)

STRENGTH

Snatch – 5 x 1 (80%) , 5 x 1 (90%) , 5 x 1 (80%)

CONDITIONING

50 HSPU for TIME

Will post my results tomorrow along with Day 2.

The Best Crossfit Competition Programming

Posted on February 1, 2013 by glen

With the open just around the corner, you should have a good sense of how you will do before the first event is released. The work that you have put in since the last Crossfit Games with either be enough or it won’t.

So, for some of you the 2013 open will be the start of your preparation for the 2014 Crossfit Games. What better time than this to talk about some of the best competition programming out there.

First, the best Crossfit Games Programming would be done by your own personal coach refining your snatch technique, scheduling some goat work and generally programming for what you specifically need. However, you may not have the access or the means (i.e. cash money).

Second, take an honest look at yourself…how close are you to making waves at the Open, the Regionals and ultimately the Crossfit Games. Can you handle the necessary volume? Do you have the focus? Do you truly have the potential to ‘make it”?

If your answer is yes, here are just a few great places to start:

Crossfit Invictus Competition Training Programmed by CJ Martin who has worked with several top athletes including Josh Bridges and Camille Leblanc Bazinet.

Outlaw Programmed by Rudy Nielsen. About a billion athletes following Outlaw qualified for regionals last year and Rudy programs a boatload of Olympic Lifts.

Crossfit New England’s Competitor WOD Ben Bergeron is well known in the Crossfit community for having one of the most successful affiliates, sending a strong team to the games every year and coaching a whole pile of top dogs.

MisFit Training Not as well known as the guys above, but worth a look. The programming looks to be well thought out. The cool thing about these guys is that they have built in scaling options for the volume of work (i.e. each day has mandatory components as well as optional pieces for those with the time)

MaxFit USA Has several distinct streams for Crossfit competition, powerlifting, and olympic lifting.

OPT Big Dawgs Blog Arguably, James “OPT” FitzGerald is the OG of games competition and the original Crossfit Games champ.

On the surface, it would tough to go wrong following any of the programming listed above. However, look critically at the programming and evaluate them for how well thier focus lines up with your things that you have to work on. For example, Outlaw would be a good option for a solid crossfitter that needs to work on thier O-Lifting.

Critically evaluate where you are in your Crossfit Development and whether adopting Crossfit Competitor programming is the best way to get there. In my humble opinion, the athletes who will benefit most already have built a solid base of strength, capacity, and technique.

Whatever you choose, don’t make the mistake of bouncing from program to program when you don’t PR by 50 pounds in your first week. Choose a path and give it time. That being said, it is still important to measure and track your progress in a detailed Crossfit Training Journal. Blindly following a path without success is just as counter-productive.

Are There Too Many Crossfit Affiliates?

Posted on January 9, 2013 by glen

Like many of you, I wasted some internet time reading the banter between a few well-known affiliate owners and HQ regarding restrictions on where a Crossfit affiliate can open (i.e. ensuring that an affiliate doesn’t get a surprise next door neighbor). Entertaining only because I am not an affiliate owner, but I can certainly empathize with both perspectives of the affiliates and HQ.

It all started (or maybe just boiled over) when Freddy Camacho posted a quick Facebook update regarding HQ allowing Crossfit affiliates to open up next door to each other and that it gives you the perception that HQ is just interested in making money (I’m paraphrasing to the best of my memory…my apologies for not having the exact quote…wasn’t able to find it on Freddy’s page). To which Russell Berger replied with this response.

A Little Aside on The Money

This Crossfit making money thread always makes me laugh a bit. Critics all claim Crossfit HQ are greedy bastards (note, I am not saying that Freddy claimed this…however, his comments were perceived this way) and Crossfit vehemently denies this because “don’t ya know” they lose money on the Games every year.

Well, of course Crossfit is interested in making money. But, this does not automatically make them greedy bastards. If you deliver something of value, you deserve to make profit from that value. Period. If you love Crossfit, you should want HQ to be profitable. This ensures that Crossfit, The Crossfit Games, and everything you love will be here to stay. History would suggest -to the unbiased observer- that Crossfit’s decisions are not driven solely by profit. They understand (better than most companies that I have worked with) that if you focus on delivering value, the profit will take care of itself. Making decisions that benefit the health of HQ does not automatically make them evil. Using a financial loss on the Games & turning down Anthos to defend their motives however only gives fuel to the haters.

A simple admission that they are interested in making a profit but that they have demonstrated their first priority is delivering value first. The Journal & all the free content on Crossfit.com demonstrates this better than anything. And, if affiliates didn’t think they were getting value for their fees…they would de-affiliate.

Back to “Are There Too Many Affiliates?”

Affiliate Fee is a Bargain

CrossFit’s affiliate model is a great example of a Free Market (certainly as close as we can come to a Free Market in 2013), and affiliates have been given a great opportunity to enjoy some of the benefits of a franchise without many of the costs or drawbacks.

Your affiliate fee gets immediately gets your business the recognition of an international brand and from that perspective is a wicked deal.
The Crossfit affiliate model ripped down the barriers for a young fitness entrepreneur to own their own gym. In the traditional fitness model, you need a million dollars in capital just to begin the discussion.
The growth of the Crossfit brand delivers a new affiliate immediate credibility (arguably much more than the early affiliates) and a boatload of marketing tools at very little cost.

Affiliates get a great deal for what they receive in exchange from Crossfit HQ for your affiliate fee. So, should all the affiliates just stop their bitching and be grateful for what they have. Not exactly.

The Strong Will Survive

Berger’s contention that the affiliate HQ “want to allow free markets to both punish poor services and training, and reward those with the best services and training” is a bit of a cop out in my humble opinion. Essentially, if your great at what you do, you’ll be OK…the strong will survive.

This assumes that being a great coach is enough to differentiate yourself. It ain’t. What if the new affiliate owner is a comparable coach…you likely trained them and payed for their certification. So, if you did your job as an affiliate owner, you’ve likely created a strong competitor
Will the competition make you both better? To a point. I don’t believe that you need competition to force you to be the best coach. You either have the passion to want to be excellent or you don’t. A competitive environment is also not the best one for sharing and learning which will ultimately have more of an impact on your quality. Competition is a good thing, but I am not sure if the model of competing within was what Economists had in mind.
This assumes an informed consumer. The average new Crossfit client is simply not informed enough to choose between two comparable affiliates. A well developed brand communicates everything a client needs to make a decision. The very well developed Crossfit brand essentially identifies the two boxes as equals in the consumers eyes. That credibility is exactly what helped you when you were starting out your box and unfortunately is also what might hurt you when competing with the new box
This assumes the market for Crossfit is infinite. While Crossfit can be done by everyone, Crossfit is not for everyone. There is a unique subset of the population that will pay up to $200 a month to enjoy the suffering that we do. There are plenty of those people out there for even more affiliates than there are now to make a great living, but we still need to recognize that it is still a small segment of the population.

In short, competition is great when you have the ability to differentiate on quality and value. When you are competing with your own brand that inherently communicates homogeneous quality and value for all affiliates, price can become a very powerful differentiator…which is great for the consumer but not a great thing for any affiliate.

There is no question that limiting your competition from other crossfit boxes enhances the value you get from the Crossfit brand. So, should there be a mechanism in place (and is it HQ’s job) to protect the value you get from the Crossfit Brand by limiting the number of affiliates in the area.

Is this even possible?

HQ’s Dale Saran added to Russel’s post that putting limits on where an affiliate owner could open would move HQ towards a Franchise model that would require higher affiliate fees and a large bureaucracy to police. This at least is a valid point to discuss.

Do you think HQ should limit where a box can open, effectively protecting the value of your collective brand? Are you willing to pay more? How much more?
Are you willing to give up some of the autonomy that will come with the franchise model?

I am going to go out on a limb and say that most of you would prefer that things stayed the same with the exception of adding a little common sense to the location of new Crossfit affiliates. For example, it surprises me that a new affiliate would choose to open up close to (I’ve heard right next door in one case). So, what about adding a little due diligence on the part of a new affiliate owner which I think would benefit both old and new affiliates.

How about adding a section to the affiliate application that requires the new affiliate to identify all affiliates within a certain radius with some best practices guidance on the form that they try to ensure a population density of X for the best chance of success.

Something little that may or may not be effective. But the point is that maybe there are solutions that benefit everyone involved that do not interfere with the spirit of the affiliate model. But even solutions require a civil dialogue from both sides.

While I understand, that Freddy Camacho’s Facebook initial post was not the best way to start a civil discussion (or facebook not being the ideal place to continue the discussion for that matter). However, several respected affiliate owners’ (including Camacho & Andy Petranek) posts seemed to be met with defensiveness. While I can understand this response to crossfit haters, it is a little more concerning when the same response is delivered to successful affiliate owners who genuinely have the best interest of Crossfit in mind.

NOTE: Interestingly, this topic is far from new. Russell Berger penned an article way back in 2008 when there were only 1,000 affiliates and the sky hasn’t fallen yet.

For the average affiliate owner, it simply comes down to what value you feel you get from your affiliate fees. If you feel (and hopefully have some metrics to support that feeling) that value is more than what you pay, this whole thing is likely just noise. However, as some point as the density of Crossfit boxes increases in your area, the value of the brand will be impacted…for better for worse…who knows.

I think it is an important discussion to have though. I don’t know a lot, but I know both sides of this discussion love Crossfit and want what’s best for Crossfit. If they can all agree on that and start a civil dialogue, maybe there are some simple solutions that will benefit all.

Thanks for reading.

MetCon5 Training Journals.

An Open Letter to The Crossfit Hate Bloggers

Posted on January 6, 2013 by glen

For the 2 or 3 people that read this blog (4 if my wife would ever read it), this blog post might come out of left field. For whatever reason, I feel compelled to write an open letter to all the Crossfit Hate Bloggers who’s sole purpose is to point out fault with everything Crossfit.

Let me start by saying that I am far from a Crossfit apologist. I don’t believe that Crossfit is perfect.

There are many things that Crossfit HQ staff does that has made me cringe
I do not believe that Greg Glassman is the Fitness Messiah
Whatever is said publicly, (in my opinion) Crossfit Inc is interested in bottom line profit. That being said, I also see nothing wrong with that. They deliver a product that people value…they should profit from that.

I do however believe that Crossfit HQ does everything that they do with passion and conviction. And, they are taking that passion and trying very hard to have a positive impact on peoples lives. So, you or I may agree or disagree about whether they are accomplishing these goals or whether Crossfit is the right way to have that positive impact. However, I can assure you that consistently looking for something to crap on is not making anyone’s life better.

Which takes me to the Crossfit Hate Blogs (you don’t need me to mention you by name…it doesn’t look like you need my 2 readers based on the number of likes on your facebook pages).

I have a sense of humor and have even laughed out loud at some of your posts. However, how long can you ride the “Crossfit Effin’ sucks” comedy train. It’s pretty easy to point out fault; we all have plenty. As a quick reminder though, no one is forcing you to visit crossfit.com, watch competitions, etc. Surprisingly though, you seem to know more about Crossfit than anyone I know. Something doesn’t add up. It’s like me telling everybody that I hate Honey Boo Boo, and then sitting alone in my basement on New Year’s Eve watching a Honey Boo Boo marathon on TLC.

If you truly hate Crossfit as much as it would seem by your blogs, why waste so much of your time on Crossfit. Go workout however, wherever, and whenever you see fit…or, don’t even workout at all. How much people love or hate crossfit will not have any impact on your deadlift. I promise.

I’m gonna give you all the benefit of the doubt and assume that you are all reasonably bright people. So, instead of taking the easy way out and always looking to point out the negative, what if you spent your energy offering something positive to your readers. Instead of being the constant contrarian, every once in a while you can write about the genuinely positive things that crossfit coaches are doing all over the world without even having to give Glassman & Crossfit any of the credit.

Look, we are all complicit in this; I’ve even read the blogs that I am complaining about. We’ve all at times found it easier to complain about something all the time than to take action to change things for the better. All I am saying is if you don’t like Honey Boo Boo, just turn off the damn TV.

Butterfly Pullup Video Collection

Posted on December 23, 2012 by glen

If your goal is to get through the pullup portion of your WOD as quickly as possible, the butterfly pullup is the way to do it. Following is a collection of videos from some of the best to help you take your butterfly to the next level.

To start, we have Chris Spealler showing you how it is done.

Next we have Ben Bergeron doing his thing.

Finally, another take that does a nice quick job of breaking things down piece by piece.

Hope you enjoyed the videos…don’t forget to pick up your MetCon5 training journal for 20% OFF…

12 – 23 – 2012 – Day 1 / Week 1 of 8 – The Method

Posted on December 23, 2012 by glen

WARM-UP

BODYWEIGHT / SKILLS

5 rounds / 5 reps each round – good pace, but not all out

Chest to Bar Pullups / Handstand Pushups / Wall Ball

STRENGTH

Overhead Squat

5 x 3 – moderate weight

SNATCH

5 x 1 @ work up to 85%
5 x 1 @ 90%
5 x 1 @ 85%

SQUAT

5 x 5 – work up to last set at near 5RM

CONDITIONING

10, 9, 8 … 3, 2, 1

Thrusters

Box Jumps (24″)

- cool down with 10 minute easy spin on stationary bike.

Crossfit King Kong – The Evolution

Posted on December 14, 2012 by glen

Crossfit’s King Kong WOD is the heaviest – widely known – Crossfit Workout that I know about. Rudy Neilsen of Outlaw Crossfit designed King Kong as something “nearly impossible for anyone to do” that didn’t have “the combination of strength and skill” that one of his firebreathers had…which was not a whole lot of people.

Crossfit’s King Kong workout consists of:

3 Rounds

1x 455lb Deadlift
2x Muscle Ups
3x 250lb Squat Clean
4x Hand Stand Push Up

Only a few short years ago, just completing King Kong would get you your “I’m a Bad Ass Souvenir T-Shirt”. So, Josh Everett’s 2:31 back in 2008 would’ve had him upgraded to the I’m a Bad Ass Souvenir Hoodie screen printed on Reebok Crossfit’s $90 Hoodie (assuming they had the $90 hoodie in 2008).

In 2009, David Morgan did a heavier version of King Kong bumping up the deadlift to 500 pounds and adding 25 pounds to the Squat Clean. He completed it in 2:04 in addition to driving to the WOD in a smart car with a hilarious graphic on the side. The car alone should give him a 20 second bonus or penalty depending on your reaction.

Fast forward to present day, where Danny Nichols knocked out a 1:50 King Kong which rumor says is the official record.

Danny’s 1:50 was not the impressive part that inspired me to post; even though it is definitely pretty effin’ impressive. The most impressive part is that in 2008, King Kong was something a lot of crossfitters wished they could do. In 2012, East Valley Crossfit built a competition around the workout and had 17 competitors – I assume just from the local area – killing it.

Pretty damn cool.

Don’t forget to grab your MetCon5 Training Journal to track your way to a sub-2 minute King Kong. DECBOOKS12 gets you 20% off.

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