Blog Posts - FLOW Strength

Mirrors

3/6/2018

There are no mirrors in our gym because we don’t care what you look like.

In fact, we don’t care how old you are, or whether you’re male or female. We don’t care what color your skin is either. Or if you’re overweight or loaded with muscle. Or if you’re tall or short. Or blond. Or brunette.

We treat everyone like an athlete, and there’s no profiling here.

Traditional fitness facilities are loaded with mirrors. They’re everywhere. If you stand right in most facilities, you can see your rear delts and your pecs at the same time, or you can line yourself up with precision to surreptitiously check out the cutie around the corner. Very clever use of light and glass.

But the mirrors don’t lift the weight, and they don’t help you fix your form.

Try this: go stand in front of a mirror and go into the bottom of a deep squat. Look yourself in the eye. Then realize your neck is arched into a bad position. Then come to our gym and squat in front of a brick wall while we cheer you on.

We all want to look good, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If you look around the Internet, or our gym, you’ll find a lot of fit, athletic-looking people. Fitness and a great diet indeed have fringe benefits, and we’d be ignorant to ignore them.

But our gym isn’t about appearance. We’re about fitness, and if you improve your fitness, you’ll look better. Guaranteed.

But perhaps it’s best not to focus on that. Ultimately, appearance is a subjective measure that says nothing about your fitness. Some of the most beautiful people in the world are very unhealthy, and many of them will tell you that being judged on appearance isn’t very fun or good for mental health.

So we judge you on performance. Are you improving? Are you getting stronger? Are you getting faster? We write down what we lift and how fast we lifted it because that gives us a solid number that doesn’t lie.
Two hundred pounds went up five times. Fran was under 5 minutes. You ran our loop around the block under 3 minutes. You beat a personal record. You got stronger. Or faster. Or both.

You improved.

No mirror will tell you that

We’re actually have one mirror in the bathroom, but it’s not there for you to evaluate your appearance.

They’re there so you can look yourself in the eye and ask one important question:

Did you give your very best effort in the workout?

Wolfie

How to balance your life

2/13/2018

Are you stressed, tired, overworked, stuck in a rut, unfocused, not reaching your goals or down in the dump? If so, I can guarantee you are not balancing your time and energy in an effective way. I do my best to balance these 6 aspects of life and suggest that you take a look at what areas take up your time and energy. Each day, you have about 16 hours to prioritize your time. The other 8 or so should be spent getting restful sleep in your amazing bed (put as much money into a great bed as you can…you spend 1/3 of your life there). If a couple of days get away from you, read this and bring yourself right back to balancing what matters. Get rid of all the other stuff in your life.

1. Self-Care – Exercise, nutrition and any appointments (physical or mental). Spend time improving your health.

2. Fun – Doing things you enjoy and are passionate about. Things that make you feel happy and alive. Spend time improving your mood.

3. Relaxation & Rejuvenation – The stuff in life that makes you feel ‘ahhhhhh’. Relaxing with a significant other or a little quiet and alone time is what most of us need. Spend time just being and recharging.

4. Giving to Others – Doing things for others, supporting a loved one, or volunteering. Maybe you do this for a living or for your kids. Spend time improving the lives of others.

5. Growth – Reading, praying or learning something new. Spend time improving the quality of your education, spirituality or mindset.

6. Sh*t List – You’ve gotta keep attacking your sh*t list. This is that stuff that is flat out annoying. The things you hate and don’t want to do. The stuff that is not that much fun and probably uncomfortable. It is incredibly important to take care of this, because if not, it can bring major sources of complacency, stress, anxiety, etc.

I consider my work mostly as giving to others, growth or fun. That changes depending on what is going on. You will probably be able to put your work into one of the categories. If you consider your work, almost exclusively as part of your sh*t list, it is taking up too much of your energy. I would start by dealing with that issue first. Forty-something hours a week of sh*t, leaves very little time and energy for the rest of the pillars.
Each of these pillars can be done alone or with others (especially with people who enhance the experience like a family member, best friend or significant other). Attacking your shit list with someone who is fun, may help. Doing something fun, with someone who is shitty, will not.
At the end of the week, order the pillars based on where you are spending most your time and energy. Then make the necessary shifts in your priorities.

You can not give your best to your fitness or sport goals when your life is out of whack. It will catch up to you and negatively impact your training. It will keep you from results.

Too much taking care of everyone else, your own health will suffer.

Too much self-care and you aren’t giving to others.

Too much relaxation and you become stale.

Too much of your shit list, and that just sucks. Ignore it, then you become overwhelmed, too comfortable or anxious.

Too much fun, well that is kind of debatable. If other pillars are lacking, you need to refocus. Once you achieve a healthy balance, you will find that you are able to have fun in almost any scenario and that is when you are really winning the balancing act!

FLOW TRAINING PRINCIPLES

2/9/2018

Key Training Principles for Success at Flow

I have noticed a trend…..when people get competitive they do stupid things. It’s natural, and most of the time harmless. At Flow however, it could completely derail your training. This is because we program aggressively; aiming to challenge the fittest athletes with a workout. If athletes are not careful and do not take care of themselves by training smart…the results can become extremely negative.

The coaches at Flow have the difficult challenge of taking an average person and turning them into a competitive, hard charging, gut busting, lung burning, lactic loving beast. All while trying to maintain balance enough to keep them achieving consistent growth as an athlete.

We don’t always succeed.

What can, and has happened, is an injury, overtraining, burnout and other roadblocks that inhibit growth as an athlete. These are the results of neglecting some very key training principles, fundamental truths, really…..

Here they are:
1)    Eat well
2)    Rest
3)    Scaling
4)    Goals
5)    Documentation

Eating Well
Diet is like religion…..you don’t talk about it with friends. Otherwise, you may not be friends after the discussion is over. There is a simple fact, “You cannot out-train a bad diet”  If you are not eating foods that are good for you, your training will stagnate. Period. Some will try to train harder, longer, heavier and the result will be an athlete that is being crushed by little to no recovery due to lack of rest and subpar fuel and nutrients for recovery.  Your fuel determines your speed of performance and recovery. Just think of the classic car analogy and it makes sense. Still though, many believe that this is a myth and are unwilling to change this facet of training and OVERALL HEALTH. This is where you make the difference in just about every fitness goal you have.  FASTER,, STRONGER, LEANER all hinge on this fundamental truth. You are what you eat. If you want to make gains that few others are achieving, dial in your diet and everyone will wonder what the hell you are “taking”  Simple…yet so hard.

Rest
Everyone knows that gains are made while resting. Still our Flow culture demands that we WORK HARD and COMPETE. Last time I checked the Crossfit main site , every 4th day is a rest day. This is good advice. Most that struggle with this truth want the rush of the workout and don’t feel “right” if they don’t get a workout in….these people are at risk of overtraining that can lead to many weeks of unwanted rest due to overuse injuries and overtraining. News flash! This is not a globo-gym split routine we are doing here. These are workout designed to test the fittest humans on earth….sure you get used to the intensity, and you recover better than you did when you started, but the key to long term consistency is your rest cycles…

Here is a recommendation even for the fittest of us:
3 On/1 Off - 2 On/1 Off

This gives you 5 workouts a week. Plenty. Then every 6th week make it an “unload week” and scale the workouts down significantly and only do 3 workouts that week. Communicate your unload weeks to your coaches and we can program specifically for these “rest” weeks.

Scaling
This is tough considering the magical (Rx) next to your name and the indication that you are going hard and heavy!. We all love it and should strive for it. However, there are times to scale. I just mentioned unload weeks….also scaling should happen during rehab of an injury or a problem with technique. Make sure to understand that scaling is not an indication that you are not training hard. It is an indication that you are training smart if you are established as an “Rx” athlete. Make sure to understand the concept of scaling completely. Scaling can indicate alternate sets, reps and even movements in some cases. Always clear your scaling with the coach, and outline what your concerns are in the workout. This will ensure the best movements are used and your workout will be as effective as it can be….even when needing to scale.

Goals
You need training goals.  If you do not have these goals outlined. Do it now.  If you have a goal and have written it down, it should have several critical qualities:

Measurable, Quantifiable, Objective
Realistic
Performance based
Deadline

The classic goal of “I want ripped abs” is a goal of sorts, but not necessarily measurable, performance based or has a deadline as written. It definitely does not meet the goal qualities above. Here is an example of a well defined goal.
“I want to achieve a Flow Total Score of 700 or greater by 1 October 2018.” (Assuming you are not a 72 yr old, 102lb, female! ) This leaves little to chance when 1 October roles around and you are evaluating whether or not you reached your goal. Communicate your goals so we can include additional training advice and drills to assist with your achievement of these milestones.

Documentation
Everyone has (better have) a book on the shelf at Flow. Use it. End of discussion.How else can we track progress toward said goals? Guess work? Nope. CrossFit is about measurable fitness. Start measuring.

Finally,
I understand that we all have our own perspective of fitness and “what we are capable of” ….forget it…..become coachable and approach working out as a lifelong endeavor of health and fitness and maybe your perspective will change to include some vegetables and rest.

Otherwise, you have been educated in the principles of consistent success at Flow. If you choose to over-train, neglect your diet and ignore coaching recommendations regarding scaling and other facets of fitness, you do so risking the long-term efficacy of the program.

We want you to succeed.

Wolfie

Effort

2/5/2018

We grew up in a time when the constant motto was "you can accomplish anything you set your mind to." I'm actually a pretty big fan of this cliche, except for the fact that it's missing a huge piece of the equation: EFFORT.

You see, I'm in the business of helping people get what they want. That usually starts with wanting abs, then evolves into becoming a better person in many other ways. Yet, so many individuals I encounter spend too much time wishing and hoping for results that never come to fruition.

I have some breaking news to share. Are you ready?

While your trainer, coach, or mentor may be able to provide all the tools/resources/knowledge to guide you towards getting what you want, only YOU can take action. I don't have a magic pill, but I do have two words that I want you to repeat as often as possible: CONSISTENT EFFORT.

Those two words can be applied to practically anything that is to be achieved in the long term. You want to save for a house, change your body, master a trade or sport, create a new habit? All of these endeavors require practice and application.
Just think, if you had put in the effort during all that time of wishing and hoping...you'd probably have reached that goal already.

You may have to do things you don’t like or want to do. It may get in the way of something that could be more fun at the moment, but this is the nature of sacrifice.

The question is, do you REALLY want it?

Wolfie

Mental Toughness

1/31/2018

What does it mean to be “mentally tough”? There are times that we know we are able to lift a certain amount of weight or crush a WOD time, but something stops us. I’ve often used the expression “it’s in my head” to convey what I feel is stopping me from achieving something that I think is doable. At Flow, we engage in activities that toughen us up physically, but becoming mentally tough is just as important for our success. Here are a few tips for becoming “mentally tough” and going after those goals you’re setting for yourself.

1) Decide what you want to do and COMMIT to it — This may sound simple, but it’s tougher than you think. In fact, it can be one of the toughest things you’ll do. Once you say you’re going to do it and fully commit to it, you have to make a change. What’s that common saying? ”You’ll only go as far as you let yourself go”? Many times we know what we want, but we don’t want to commit because we know that there will be sacrifices. It’s easier to just want something instead of committing to it. So decide what you want and COMMIT to doing it. Once you get going, there’s nothing that can stop you.

2) Every decision you make, make it with the intent to become a better person — Be it at Flow, with your family, work, etc. When you make a conscious effort to follow through with your intentions, you’re setting yourself up to become a better version of yourself. And that in itself should be our ultimate goal.

3) Surround yourself with people who want to better themselves — misery loves company…but then so does success! Roadblocks will stop appearing as weaknesses, but rather as stepping stones to your goal. Stop looking at things like a burden, but rather a key to unlock the next door to your goal.

4) Have fun! – When you begin to develop that mental toughness by committing to your goals and becoming a better person, be sure to have fun. Without fun, there’s no point to it.

Wolfie

CONSISTENCY

1/17/2018

My Dentist's warm-up weight is probably your max.

Brushing your teeth for 2 minutes does absolutely NOTHING.

Brushing your teeth for 2 minutes, twice per day, EVERYDAY for the rest of your life pretty much ensures that you won't have any dental issues (there's even a link between good dental hygiene and heart health).

Do you still need to go to the dentist?

Of course... for regular check-ups.

But the only time you really NEED a dentist, is to patch up a cavity or perform a root canal.

But the 2 issues above can be avoided IF you brush your teeth everyday, twice per day, for 2 minutes.

It's the CONSISTENCY of habit of brushing your teeth everyday that will always prevent the need for the INTENSITY of having to go to the dentist for a root canal or a cavity.

And the INTENSITY is only necessary if you weren't consistent... if you didn't establish the habit.

Because... CONSISTENCY > Intensity

So you can train with balls-to-the-wall INTENSITY everyday for a month...

But try to sustain that intensity for longer and you'll probably burn out, lose motivation, get sick or get injured.

Achieving lasting results will only come from your ability to be CONSISTENT with your training habit over the months and years.

That means having more days of taking a workman's approach to training by working the plan doing "punch-the-clock" workouts knowing full well that if you need to, you CAN train balls-to-the-wall...

...but only when it's called for.

Like going to the dentist.

Can you miss a day and still get results?

Sure.

Missing a workout isn't a big deal because it's about playing the long game.

Because... CONSISTENCY > Intensity

"Consistency is the key to long-lasting change. Short term bouts of high energy will actually change nothing in the long run. They will create an influx of self-fulfilling feelings about what we've achieved, but the achievement won't last."
-Simon Sinek

Consistency and forming a habit isn't sexy...

...but it is necessary to achieve your goals.

And it's in building that strength habit...

...or that meditation habit;

...or drinking 1/2 your bodyweight in ounces of water everyday habit;

...or that early to rise habit;

...or that gratitude habit;

....That make the biggest difference in your life.

Wolfie

Training for Life..

1/9/2018

I've been training longer than most everyone in this group. In fact, I've been lifting weights for 35 years and participated in a myriad of intense activities since I was in college. How do you maintain longevity? Simple. I'll explain it to you. Do you remember the first time you tried to touch the flame of a candle when you were a little kid? Of course you don't remember. It hurt like a mother fucker so you instantly knew "never touch fire cuz it hurts." We lose that common sense as as we get older. Many newbie athletes are completely clueless. It's very easy to learn good technique with a good coach. You will also see some really big PR's quickly if you take your training seriously. The problem comes when you stop hitting the easy PR's and the real work has to start. Peeps don't lift smart. They think of adding weight only in 5# and 10# plate increments. (When I am strength training, I think of increasing loads by percentages and often its only 1-2%.) New people keep adding more weight, then when things hurt, as of course they will, they still continue trying to lift or train beyond their capability and want to find some easy fix to make the pain go away. They keep sticking their finger in the fire. I don't know anything about you *****, but my guess is you are lifting weight beyond what your knee joints are capable of AT THIS TIME. Take a few weeks off from squatting movements. Then, take a big amount of weight off the bar and see if you can squat without pain. If you cannot, go have your knees checked out to make sure there is nothing seriously wrong with them (unless you have tears, most knee injuries are not too bad). If you can squat the lighter loads pain free, increase your loads SLOWLY OVER A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME. It's all about patience brother. Patience and being smart enough to not to stick your finger in the fire.

Wolfie

Why I Train

1/2/2018

Yesterday someone asked me why I train. Caught off guard by the magnitude of the question, I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn’t. It wasn’t that I didn’t have the answer, it was that I had too many.

I train to become better. Life is too long and too short to settle. My body is whole; it doesn’t come in pieces. My body is my physical, mental, and emotional self. There is no separation. We come intertwined in an intricate meshwork where there is no end and no beginning. Anytime I improve in any facet of my being it’s only going to better the others. Unfortunately, vice versus… If one suffers, the rest of me suffers as well.

I train for proof that I am alive. As I lay on the black mat sucking wind, I value breath, I value life, I value that I have a life where I have the luxury of being able to focus on physical excellence, not just physical survival. I sweat and bleed by choice, I am lucky.

I train for challenge. I have no sport, no competition, no impending judgment day. In fact, I continue to seek avenues just to use my training. Challenge is the best way to figure out what I’m really made of. During strife, I lay every strength and weakness before me, my arsenal of weapons. Yes, even weakness can be a weapon; it’s a signifier for my focus. By knowing my weaknesses, I know where to improve, before something or someone can use it against me first. Challenge in the gym I can control, the gym is my training ground to learn how to deal with what may happen outside of its doors.

I train for accomplishment. At the end of the day, at the end of the week, the month, the year, my life… I want to know that I did work. We’re only guaranteed this very moment right now, no more, no less. I want to maximize every single one. Somehow 60 minutes on the elliptical doesn’t seem like a wise use of my ever fleeting moments, nor an accomplishment. Because if I’m not proud of me, it doesn't really matter if anyone else is or not.

I train for fun. I wish I knew the exact moment in life where movement goes from reward to punishment. If I could pinpoint this time, I’m pretty convinced the cure would be squats. As children we run, jump, throw, and climb, with no purpose other than to move. Movement = Play. In adulthood we grudgingly succumb to movement for our health and aesthetics. We have forgotten that this stuff is fun. If you’re not having fun, make changes to your program, make changes in your attitude. Don’t think about exercise as a necessary evil; something you have to do. Think about it as something that you get to do. Find the type of movement that’s going to bring you joy. I’m also convinced that there’s something out there for everybody, Flow or not.

As the moments lingered while I paused to formulate my answer, something became apparent. All of my reasons were not why I train, but why I train at Flow. For this answer, I knew the recipient was not ready. I reduced my answer to simply “Because I can…” And saved my true response for all of you.

Wolfie

The False Concept of Monday

12/27/2017

I find it slightly amusing that by the time Monday creeps around the corner, everyone thinks, “New week means new opportunities.” We get stuck in this mindset that somehow, Monday is much different from Sunday. The general consensus is that it’s “a day for new beginnings”. I guess it’s kind of like New Years. It gives people a chance to make things right, and to somehow recommit to something they failed at accomplishing the previous year, or the day before.

We’ve all gone out and gotten drunk off our asses for the 8th weekend in a row, promising that “next week I’ll give it up.” Everyone has had a little too much to eat for a few weeks, or maybe a few years, and promises that on Monday, they’ll “start dieting”.

But there’s no more of an opportunity to change on Monday than there is on Sunday. Monday never comes. Monday is just an illusion. A transitory savior fashioned by reluctant minds, to create some sort redemption from their short-comings of the day before. It’s an imaginary time where we commit to doing imaginary things that we wouldn’t actually have the discipline to do in reality, and that’s why living Monday-to-Monday never works. No one ever started dieting just because it’s Monday. No one stops binge drinking just because it’s Monday. No one finishes their growing stack of paper work just because it’s Monday.

My friends, Monday is a lie that you need to stop trying to believe in.

Improving is not something that can be decided to do on one day of the week instead of the other. If you constantly live with this concept in your mind that somehow once Monday rolls around everything is suddenly better, you’ll never get anywhere. What happens if you fuck up on Thursday? Do you figure, “Oh well, there’s only 3 days left to the week. I might as well enjoy it as my last 3 days before I do better on Monday!”

Every day, you have the choice to improve yourself, and to make things right. You have to choose to dedicate yourself to life-long commitments, and follow them closely on a daily basis. You can’t care so much about what the name of the day is, since doing so implies that one day is much different than the other. If we had no emotional attachment to the names for every day, we would have no “Monday” excuse to hide behind, and we might all be making a little more progress. If you can’t decide to do something TODAY there is little hope that you’ll suddenly decide to do it tomorrow. You’ll be like every other procrastinator at the beginning of every new week.

What it really comes down to, is not whether or not you have what it takes to succeed. Your progress is determined by how much you WANT to succeed. If you really wanted what you were after, you would never make an excuse to improve yourself. You wouldn’t wait until the next day; you’d start fresh the next minute.
When it comes to change, there is no Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. There is only TODAY. It’s more than just putting in some hours at the gym, or going to work every morning. Being dedicated to what you want to get done requires sacrifice, and if you are truly dedicated, you will not make excuses to postpone your progress. Who is to say that you won’t say the same thing for the next 5 months? What happens when every week becomes a new week to “start fresh”?

Always waiting until tomorrow is no way to live your life. And chances are, if you’ve already waited until today to get something done that you should have last week, you won’t get it done tomorrow either.

Wolfie

Workout maturity

12/26/2017

I remember when I first began working out, I refused to take a rest day. I loved it so much. And besides, it was only an hour a day. I started to notice a trend: by day four or five, I was lagging behind in the workouts; not performing as well as I had on workouts one, two, and three. I began resting every three days. Workout maturity…

I also used to insist on doing the prescribed weights. This was the case even if it meant the range of motion wasn’t desirable and it would take me longer to finish a workout than it actually should. I would round my back in deadlifts and press out heavy snatches. Then, I got injured. This is something I still struggle with at times, but usually, I remind myself to scale when necessary for my own benefit. Workout maturity…

I used to want to fix everything at once~get a heavier deadlift, snatch, get consecutive muscle-ups, rep out strict handstand push-ups, master the butterfly pull-up~ Then, I realized that I was driving myself crazy; never leaving the gym feeling accomplished. So, I decided to work on 1-2 goals at a time. Oddly enough, I began achieving more. Workout maturity…

I used to go like a bat outta’ hell at the “3, 2, 1, GO!” Pacing, what??? Blow my load in the first two minutes? Most definitely. Then, I learned my threshold. I learned how hard I could go, and how hard I could maintain. I learned to run the same pace for my first 800, and for my fifth. Workout maturity…

I used to mentally collapse when someone got ahead of me in a workout. Call it quits. Admit defeat. But then I learned, four rounds, five rounds, or twenty minutes is a long time…I’ll catch-up. Workout maturity…

You see, we don’t expect adolescents and teenagers to know everything, for they’re new at navigating through this life thing. Well, most of us are new to Flow (and even a couple of years is still new). Why do we expect so much from ourselves right from the get-go? Why can we not wait for our Workout maturity to naturally develop?

Sure, you should take advice from your coaches, the wonderful web-based world of twitter posting coaches, and other athletes that may know more than you, but, many times, you will learn things on your own.

You’ll mature…
Wolfie