Fourty-five minutes in. You're looking for your bike amid the crowd of hundreds of others. You're thankful that you've been practicing transitions - hell, you started thanking Mike after the first five minutes, when you realized that the course started slightly uphill. And since you learned POSE running, you eat climbs for breakfast.
Halfway up that BIG climb, you do what you never thought you would: you started being thankful for box jumps. As lactic acid starts pouring into your big quad muscles, the scraped shins of last week are no longer significant. All downhill from here, baby!
...and then, running again, quads shot, heart rate extreme: you're more glad than ever. You're GOING to finish. A personal best seems inevitable. While your age group crumbles around you, teetering and failing as their technique implodes with their comfort level, you move gracefully forward. You don't look like a pro...but you're not stopping, either. It's good to be you.
Victory will be defined differently by every athlete in that race. Achieve yours.
Duathlon Groups - Tuesday and Thursday evenings, starting July 6
Individualized Training Plans for all distances!
$179 includes coaching on the bike, run, and transition! Find out why the response to Catalyst running groups has been incredible!
Brothers know when to push. They know when to joke. They know when to just shut up and let their actions do the talking. And sometimes, they know when to rub it in a bit.
Right: Glen breaks Jimmy's long-held Rack Jerk record with a huge 245.
Walking to Day Two of Ontario Sectionals, we were all on edge; it was sleeting and freezing, and we were shivering more from the anticipation of a long chipper than from the cold. Josh was on the podium bubble, and was feeling the pressure. So Ray shared a funny little story about two bulls overlooking a field of cows. It was perfect for the moment, and we've been calling Ray "the old bull" for two weeks now. You've gotta love the older, wiser brother.
On the other hand, somebody's gotta paw the dirt a bit; somebody's gotta keep the other bulls ready to charge. We leave that responsibility to the youth.
The right mix of wisdom, piss, and vinegar is magical. That's why we train in groups. That's why we mix the bulls.
We also lift weights. It's good to be flexible; it's important to be coordinated; it's better to be strong. When you're strong, the rest comes more easily. When you're strong, you fight less. The more you can carry, the lighter your load.
If you're a CrossFitter, being stronger makes even the METCON more effective. Since the goal is total work (measured in Joules,) consider the wattage output of 'Fran,' using 75lbs or 95lbs, even though the heavier weight takes longer:
95lbs - Six minute Fran 75lbs - Five Minute Fran
56362.96 Joules 51799.3 joules
This isn't wattage, it's just plain old brute work. Will this apply to running, or pushing a wheelbarrow, or competing in a Strongman contest? Absolutely! The ability to do more total work is a blessing that's guided the leaders of our society from its primordial days. And now, it's time for YOU to pick up those reins. Everything in life is easier if you're strong. And strong is why we're here, after all.
Fraternity Barbell II starts April 14th! This round, you'll spend more time on OLY lifting, as well as some Strongman work mixed in. WODs will be a mix of CrossFit Strongman, powerlifting, and CF Football. Coaching by Tyler and Mitch. Blood, sweat, and progress: all your own.
Register here - 6 weeks for $80 (members) or $119 (non-members, includes a gym membership!)
In 1998, after finishing University, I started my education.
With a degree under my belt, I was still young enough to believe I knew everything - or that I could figure it out, at least. Twelve years later, I realize I'm still just starting. I scramble, every day, desperate for answers. Each new piece of research raises more 'why?'s than "a-HA!"s.
There exists a gap between a student's formal education and the readiness to apply practical knowledge. In more industrial fields, Apprenticeship programs bridge the distance. Sadly, in the fitness community, fresh-from-the-oven recruits are typically thrown into leadership roles with as little as a weekend of instruction. Ready? Fire! Aim!
Even with a four-year degree, I recognize now that I was in no way prepared to train people at an acceptable level; I thank my earliest clients for the start of my real education. I was blessed with a collective of very inquisitive teens (most of whom are now pursuing education in kinesiology-related fields) who quizzed me on every detail of their training.
Looking back further, had it not been for the hands-on immersion of high school co-op education, I'd be miserably fixing computers today, carrying even worse posture, nearing my first heart attack and shying away from carrying 'heavy' monitors. That gratitude toward employers willing to take on risk for no discernible benefit prompted us to accept 4 co-op students this semester, and it's been very rewarding.
One of the best things about the Catalyst Coaching Team: diversity. We're united by a common pursuit of excellence, but our backgrounds are very different. Exposure to each coach, in turn, will give a much broader perspective into excellence than any coach alone.
This summer, we're offering the type of program we wish we'd had during our formal education: hands-on, in-depth, and challenging. We'll be accepting five students to study with each coach on the Catalyst roster; assist in coaching groups; get their feet wet with individual programming; experience the endurance required to be a great coach; read and write research; coach and referee at events; and perform better, themselves, at individual skills.
We're asking each student for a small enrollment fee. The value of this program - including participation in Catalyst groups for free, a free membership, and some paid work time - exponentially exceeds the cost. That said, we don't want everybody. Students will be assigned a letter grade at the end of their residency. Not all students who pass through our Apprenticeship program will eventually be hired to work at Catalyst (in fact, most won't) but new Catalyst staff will come from this group.
Over the summer, students will:
Participate in coaching at both Sault Ste. Marie facilities;
Be enrolled in every Catalyst group offered at no additional cost;
Learn to operate the Park gym, in pairs and solo;
Write, read, and study more intensely than any University program;
Assist in coaching CrossFit groups;
Assist in coaching sport-specific groups
Assist in coaching for special populations
Assist in coaching teams
Become trained in the CAT Testing system;
Receive group training on professionalism, coaching, and client adherence strategy
Participate in coach-only meetings and clinics
Actually do the stuff that makes us great.
Prerequisites:
Enrollment in a College- or University-level exercise-science program
Confidence
Outstanding verbal and written skills (this sounds like a filler. It's not. If you can't write without correcting mistakes, save yourself the time.)
Experience in a wide variety of exercise philosophies, not just techniques
Ditto nutritional strategies
Ability to laugh at yourself
NOT be a perfectionist
"Beginner's Mind"
Familiarity with the CAT Testing system
Happy and smiley at 6am and 9pm - ideally, on the same day
You've got to care. "Liking the job" is not enough: if it wakes you up at night, you have the potential to be one of us.
Interested? Email chris@catalystgym.com for the Student Residency Package. If your email is your first contact with us, please tell us your story.
One year ago last weekend, I faced my first 5k run.
5k runs had popped up on CrossFit.com before, of course, but I'd always found an excuse to skip. The lizard brain was in full effect: I was still considering more Powerlifting meets, and was scared to drop weight. Realistically, I was just scared to fail, even if failure would be private. I would know.
I had the accoutrements of a runner: Christmas gifts from my sister (a real runner,) or little things I'd picked up along the way, to be ready for the "someday" when I'd finally do a 5k run. I had no idea what to expect, but I tentatively set a goal of 30 minutes to finish. I Google-mapped out different 5k options. I timed my meals all day (on a Sunday!,) checked with my wife a hundred times (are you sure you don't need me to re-hinge the cupboards today? Re-gravel the driveway? Check the shingles?) and finally set out. I told myself to go slow. At the turnaround, I knew I'd finish: I had to get home, after all. I walked a lot of the way back (there's a massive hill, about a mile long, at a grade of 6-12 degrees.) But I finished, just over 30 minutes. I was happy. And sore.
Training for last year's Ontario CrossFit Challenge, I was running 400m and 800m pretty regularly. I wasn't a better runner: I was still very up-and-down, with a long stride and a huge shock to absorb on every step. I'd finish runs exhausted, but just try to gut-out the lifts anyway. But when my quads started seizing during training runs, I started to worry: my legs would go numb, and the VMO (largest quadriceps muscle) would fire uncontrollably, as if it were attached to a car battery. I couldn't get my thighs to shut off. I DNF two workouts that I should have dominated.
Despite my years of training and coaching and study, I had missed something very simple: running is a skill. Like cleans and jerks and deadlifts and pullups. Technique matters.
After the Ontario CrossFit Challenge, I booked some private personal training sessions with Mike. His words: "You run like a hockey player." I was leaning back, with a heel strike way in front of my torso. He videotaped my runs and showed me; I was shocked. We practiced the POSE method three times, on the hot asphalt of the Industrial Park. First, I could hold my position for about four or five strides; then for a hundred metres; and slowly, over an entire 400m sprint. In July, I ran sub-25:00 at midnight, carrying a beer in my gut. I didn't win, not by a long shot (Beharriell shot by me around the 2k mark - he was already on his way back!) but it was a PR, and I knew I was onto something. My 800m times went from 3:45 to 2:55. My 400m times, even in the middle of a tough WOD, still dropped to 1:20s.
How many runners, I wonder, run for 20 years without a coach? How many read about running, follow the sport, watch the Boston Marathon...and never have their stride assessed? How many New Year's Resolutions die on the cold pavement on January 3rd out of pain and frustration?
Beginner's running groups in the Sault have always served a very important function: develop a running habit. Cough up some running germs, and let the running itch slowly kindle. Hope that the passion of the coach is infectious (and usually, at least a few would become runners for life.) But others became immunized: they'd tried it, found it painful, and given up forever. If your only exposure to something is painful and frustrating, after all, why would you continue?
It's now very obvious to us that technique coaching is critical for beginners. If we can make running easier, 'softer,' virtually pain-free......and you can get better, faster......you're more likely to continue forever. Maybe...you'll like running? It's not too much to ask.
We all need coaches. The more elite the athlete, the more it's expected they have a coach. But it's absolutely critical to use a coach when you're a beginner (or a second-time starter.) Let's do this right.
We've been hosting "Mondays With Mike" - part one and part two have already been published - to help folks learn to run better. Now he's making himself even more available to help: we'll be starting a morning group for beginners AND an evening group for beginners on March 9. You can sign up below. It's definitely the best running experience we've ever offered:
On-the-fly running coaching (he's out there with you!)
Whiteboard instruction pre- and post-run
Nutritional advice
Group runs (critical to building a habit)
8-week running program
When you're done, you'll run 5k. You'll love it.
Tuesdays and Thursdays with the coach, Saturdays with the group.
7am Group - readers of this blog: sign up online before March 1 and get 10% off!
7pm Group - readers of this blog: sign up online before March 1 and get 10% off!
Mike's beginner running group is unlike any other: coaching in skills, homework, group runs...you'll be a safer, better runner, and reach your goals faster.
Phil Mickelson is one of the greatest golfers of all time. But his collapse in the 2006 Masters Tournament is legendary:
Mickelson started his career 0-for-46 in majors, then changed his
approach. He dialed back the aggression and started making much better
course management decisions. And it paid off: He entered the 2006 U.S.
Open at Winged Foot going for his fourth career major and third in a
row.
And he almost got it. But then he reverted to his previous form. His
driver deserted him all day (he even hit into a trash can on No. 17),
yet he kept hitting it; and his decision-making deserted him on the
final hole.
Mickelson had a 1-stroke lead as he stood on the 18th tee. Despite
hitting only two fairways all day, he pulled the driver again. And
again, he missed - only this time badly, his drive hitting the roof of
a hospitality tent and bounding into the spectator area.
Mickelson had a decent lie, but a bad idea. Rather than advancing the
ball a short distance but getting it back in the fairway - where he
might make par the hard way, or, at worse, bogey to get into a playoff
in which he'd be the heavy favorite - Mickelson attempted a huge slice
under and around tree branches. It didn't work. The ball hit a branch
and stopped 25 yards in front of him.
He hit another big slice, but this one plugged in a back bunker, and
not even Mickelson's short-game magic could save him from there. He
double-bogeyed and finished one shot out of a playoff.
"I am such an idiot," he succintly said afterward.
“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations – we fall to the level of our training”
-Archilochus, Greek Soldier
What we're talking about here is internalizing a skill until it can happen subconsciously, without conscious thought. Is it coincidence that the "Canadian Sport For Life" website lists a minimum of 10,000 hours of practice before mastery can be reached?
Malcolm Gladwell sure doesn't think so. In his essay, "Outliers," he talks extensively about "prodigies" who simply had more practice than their peers. Mozart was composing symphonies as a child, yes. But his best work started to emerge in his early 20s - still young, but by that point, he likely had 10,000 hours of practice under his belt. Gretzky was the same. Tiger Woods, at age three, below:
Was he already hitting a ball straighter than some adults? Yes. Was this his first time holding a club? Nope.
The process of internalizing motor patterns takes repetitive practice. And skills must be practiced as close to perfectly as possible, not just wobbled through. Practice makes permanent. To become masterful, a child has to stop practicing a new skill when his form degrades, and resume when they can successfully coordinate the movement again.
In the graph at the to the right, we can see that virtuous performance in any sport or motor skill must start from a base of repetitive practice, and then be refined by comparison, competition, and challenge. Practice IS necessary, but so is competition, to evolve a skill. And each skill has to start out at the same level, but several can be learned concurrently; some will even help the development of others.
You simply can't 'skip' a level. Mastery must be achieved at the most very basic set of skills before they can be complemented with greater, better skills. For instance, if a child isn't taught how to fall and get back up on skates, they'll never progress to learning to stop properly. Likewise, if an adult isn't first taught how to squat properly, they'll never progress to a clean..... they'll probably defer to the Smith machine and blame their 'bad knees' on squats in general.
Add stress into the equation - good 'ol Lizard Brain!
- and the athlete will start to backslide, dropping levels until they
reach the level at which they've developed the most unconscious skill.
That's not a discouragement; rather, it shows that it's NEVER too late to learn brand-new skills. It's also a terrific illustration of the domain mastery trap: once someone is really, really good at a skill, it's tough to make them consider another. They'd have to restart at the bottom, after all. A comfort zone is just another name for quicksand.
Starting a child with a broad base of skills, including running, jumping, tumbling, skipping, calisthenics, ball sports, and weightlifting, ensures that they're starting from a higher level when they learn a sport later in life. Think Whit's grace in the clean and jerk is just something she's born with? That's years of gruelling dance rehearsal, plus two years of hard work and coaching. Think Ty's just one of those 'gifted' kids who are great at everything? Well, he DID everything. He established a solid motor base as a kid, refined it enough to play baseball at a University level, and is now developing parallel skills - but the broad base was there.
Development of the 'broad base' can happen at any age. To become more athletic - fitter, leaner, and able to do more of the good stuff - are you better to do CrossFit, or sit your way through a machine circuit?
Catalyst Crazies Brent Rose, Alecia Hemphill, Carolle Robinson, Allyson Schmidt, Nicole Gignac, and Joe Scott at yesterday's Polar Bear Swim.
IT'S FAMILY DAY! BRING A FAMILY MEMBER WHO'S NEVER DONE CROSSFIT TO ANY OF OUR GROUPS FOR FREE TODAY!
Today, we begin two new series: Mondays With Mike, a 5-part briefing on the way we coach runners. Our new methods get people running more consistently with less pain and faster progression - hard to beat that, right? ...and coming later today: our first of a week-long series of essays on kids and the absolute necessity of exercise. Parents: it's not optional. It's part of our history, anthropology, biology, chemistry, and critical for brain development. We hope to make that case, if you'll indulge us the time this week.
This was the mantra given to 17 women in our Barbell Bettys group on October 5. What started as a private instructional group for women on the ways of the barbell has turned into a loud scrum. Every Monday and Thursday night, women do the unthinkable:
They put chalk on their hands.
They lift weights that aren't even pink.
They - on purpose! - sometimes sweat. Right through their t-shirts!
And get this: they don't even wear gloves!
Yes, there are strong ribbons of femininity running through those layers of concrete: headbands, knee socks, lululemon. Stretchy pants and pink shoelaces come crashing up against loud music, yelling, and personal best deadlifts.
If women need anything in life, it's strength. This is true whether we prefer it to be, or not. To further paraphrase Coach Rip: Strong is why we are here.
Men are naturally stronger. But you've heard the old joke, right? About Grace Kelly doing everything Fred Astaire could do, but backwards and in high heels? Well, here's the thing, gentlemen: while you're thinking, "Gotta get this PR. Gotta crank. C'mon, grip and rip, baby!" a woman has to also think, "Would my grandma tell me not to lift weights? How does my butt look while I'm deadlifting? Is my hair going to fall in my eyes while that bar's going overhead? Is my boyfriend going to make fun of me again tonight? Are my muscles going to look too prominent? Should I care? What if I get calluses from this? Will I have to do the 'full shower' before returning to work, or can I get away without redoing my hair?"
All this, while lifting stuff that most men wouldn't attempt. In the last month, we've had a 300 deadlift; we've had a 185lbs back squat for 3 reps; we've had bench presses over 130lbs. Soon, the Bettys will be throwing Cleans around; bouncing Snatches off the platforms; locking Jerks overhead. Soon, they'll compete in their first Powerlifting Meet, live and on a world stage.
"Why are your players so much more fit than anyone else's?"
"What are you doing that's so different?"
"How can you get this kind of player without steroids?"
"Can you get this kid back to the way he was at his best?"
"This kid was the surprise of the draft. He earned his spot because he was so far ahead of everyone else at fitness testing."
These are all questions we've heard from OHL coaches since last fall. Different teams, different players, different coaches. Some during phone calls with Coaching staff, some via email.
The kicker: we're not doing anything that's top secret. Instead, we're constantly reviewing scientific research and applying it to our athletes. We write great programs, and excellent food plans, and make sure our athletes use them. Most of our players don't use any supplements at all; the others use only a basic protein supplement.
THE CATALYST DIFFERENCE:
Intense application of basic physical movement. First, we make our athletes experts at basic compound movements like squats, deadlifts, presses, and cleans. Then we take them to the next level through creative workouts that combine elements of weight lifting, calisthenics, sprinting, Strongman, gymnastics, kettlebells, and more.
Want an example? A typical (non-Catalyst) Trainer will split up an athlete's week into body parts and add a bunch of distance running. In contrast, we'll focus on movements like hip extension, explosive technique, and challenge-based workouts. By training MOVEMENTS, not individual MUSCLES by themselves, we make a better athlete.
In fact, athletes who train with us OFTEN KNOW MORE about exercise than any of their peers, and sometimes know more than their coaches! Junior-level coaches will even admit that their offseason program is only a rough guideline to be followed if there's no other option. In 2009, 3 OHL teams have already told their players to follow OUR program instead of their team's offseason handbook!
Parents: you'll be secure in the knowledge that if your son or daughter has to play in another city, they'll know how to take care of their own training safely and effectively. Because we first emphasize mastery of the basics, they'll always know how to exercise without risk of injury AND for maximum benefit in limited time.
MAKE THE CUT. DON'T LEAVE YOUR TRAINING UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE!
Our camps all include:
Membership to Catalyst Athletic - our Athletic Training Gym in the Industrial Park
Full Food Plan
Coaching by the best Trainers in Ontario
Exposure to exercises you'll NEED to know to play NCAA or OHL hockey - but CAN'T find anywhere else
Extra workouts
CAT Testing at the beginning and end of the program with detailed reports
