Why I Do What I Do, Pics From Sunnyvale, and A Fish Oil Caluclator

 

Checking you out.  From EVERY angle

I wanted to go through a few points of why I do what I do when I'm coaching folks; on occasion I've been asked stuff like "Why are you standing there" or "What are you looking at?"  Well, here's some of the Why:

1) Why Are You Walking Around Me In A Circle?

•  What I'm looking at is obviously YOU, but from different angles.  A 180 degree from the side lets me see different things that a face-to-face.  Likewise, a 45 degree from the front-left lets me see different things than from a back-right.  

2) Why ARE You Looking At My Ass?!?

• Hey, you may be proud of that bubble butt, mister, but it ain't like that.  Yes, I might be staring at your glutes, or your chest, or the front of your pelvis, but there's always a specific reason.  Doing a bodyweight squat?  I'm looking to see if you are losing lumbar curve at the bottom.  Doing a deadlift?  I'm looking at your start position, to see where your hips lie in relation to your shoulders and knees.  A Sumo-Deadlift-Highpull (SDHP)?  I might be looking to see that you keep your chest (torso) upright and elevated.

3) Ok, Fine, But Why Are You Staring At Me From Across The Gym?

• At times, I can see things easier from a distance than I can at 3 or 6 feet away; I've often spotted clients doing something from 50ft away as I was trying to correct a client right in front of me.  If I come sprinting across the gym to tell you something out of the blue, THAT'S why. 

4) Makes Sense.  But Now Why AREN'T You Correcting Me In The Middle Of A Workout

• Good question!  Once fatigue sets in, technique is going to take a hit.  I don't like it, but it's like taxes and death, and it's the reason I much prefer simplistic movements in metcons to technically complex compound ones.  But back to correction:  I'd much rather correct you either before the WOD, in warmup, or early in the WOD.  If I'm yammering in your ear in the last set of the 5th round, chances are you're either stone deaf and just worried about taking your next breath, or you're so fatigued that verbal cuing won't help.

5) Hey!  Why Are You Touching Me!!!

• Well, first off, you won't ever be saying that.  Why?  Because I'll always ask before I do put my hands on you.  There's times when I'll want to adjust your hip height in a deadlift start position, or if your complaining of say, shoulder pain, I may ask if I can poke and prod around to get a better idea of where your pain is at.

6) Why Do You Want To Know How I Sleep, What I Eat, Or How I Feel?

• Well, I'm not collecting stalking data, for starters!  I'll usually ask this during warmup, because I'm trying to get a handle on how a certain WOD might have to be scaled for a certain client.  If you come in dragging your butt and unconsciously massaging your right arm, you're going to get some questions.  If I'm asking after a WOD, which I do frequently, I want to make sure everyone is intact and healthy when they walk out that door.  

 More Shots From Sunnyvale

Freddy Camacho of Crossfit One World chillin' during a break with Cory and myself.  Very cool and friendly guy!!

Cory getting some awesome coaching tips from Greg Everett.

3rd pull (aka "pulling under") of my 198 C&J.  Damn metric Oly plates and bars had me messed up, even as a Canuck!  I had two 20kg, two 10kg, and two 5kgs for 70kg (154lbs), plus what I THOUGHT was 45# for the bar.  Realized after that it was a 20kg(44lb) Werksan bar.  Regardless still doing 225# this year, hopefully at heavier than 165#BW.

Cory and myself with the legendary Dan John!!!

The Best Fish Oil Calculator EVER

The folks at Whole9, formerly Crossfit Whole9, formerly Crossfit 603 (long story!) have posted up a KILLER little app based on Robb Wolf's recommendations on fish oil intake.  I'm going to take the liberty of posting them here, but they are also include on the Whole9 page:

Maintenance Dose: 0.25g/10# BW(bodyweight) =  For healthy folks who have been on a higher dose of fish oil for at least 3 months.

Healthy Dose: 0.5g/10#BW = Training smart, sleeping well, eating no sugars, grains, dairy or legumes.

Banged-Up Dose: 0.75g/10#BW = Training smart, sleeping well, eating no sugars, grains, dairy or legumes.

All Banged Up Dose: 1.0g/10#BW = Sick/injured/obese, very stressed, eating a high carb, poor quality, Western diet.

Check The Whole9 Calculator Here.  

For a fish oil refresher, check my post here.

March 16th, CFLA, 1PM

After the seminar at Catalyst, I was stoked to Oly lift, so snatch day it was.  Kinda helps if you can snatch, though!
Olympic Lifts
Power Snatch(PS) 75#x3, 95#x3
Snatch 115#x1,1,1
Snatch 125#x1,1,1
Snatch 135#x0,0,1.  Bah, wtf.  I'm so terrible at this it's not even funny.
Overhead Squat 5-5-5, using 135#, 145#, 155#
MetCon
10 Minutes of "Cindy"
5 pullups
10 Pushups
15 squats
14 rounds; I surprised the hell outa myself here.  I don't know if it was the rest from training, High-Carbing it over the weekend with Big G (Glycogen, baby!), or a healthy(er) shoulder.  I was aiming for 13, with 12 and change being my PR.  After the 13th, I just threw the pain out the window and went for it. Squats slowed me down, probably due to the snatching and OHS.   I want 25 one day, but it's the NEXT 10 minutes of Cindy that matter.

March 17th, CFLA, 12PM

Thought I might have 12PM to myself, but my friend Jacob showed up a little after 12.  He was cool with me working out along side him (something I would normally NEVER do with clients), so we went through the Burgener warmup together, and then did a you-go-I-go with the deadlifts:

Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3

Worked up to 360#x3; very pleased with this, as I haven't worked my DL for a while.  360# felt pretty damn good, and contemplated busting out 5.
MetCon
20-15-10
Hang Power Cleans, 95#
Hip Smashers
3:40. This was a fast forearm burner, and didn't slow down till the last set of 10.