Sweet, rest day!

That was bold of Mark to release that letter to us. In a sense I'm glad that he did that. The only time to see CSCS now-a-days is in Men's Health.

Enjoy the rest everyone!

OW! Damn you "Linda". I'm SO sore. I didn't do the workout and could barely move around today.

Went to CFSBK with my Momma today. I had to sit down while I trained her which I really wasn't happy about. She's so cute. My first CrossFit workout had 65# deadlifts and today she did 65# deadlifts. She's all excited and she's determined to be lifting 245 like me in 14 months ;)

Ethan Boo is getting excited about the gym too. I think it was really overwhelming for him at first with the loud music, dim lighting, big people throwing stuff around and grunting.. Today he had run of the place while everyone was outside doing Griff. It gave him a chance to explore and play. He found a kids jump rope that someone must have left behind and started swinging it around. My Mom started calling him Buddy Lee and then picked up a jump rope too and tried her best Buddy Lee impression. It was pretty darn funny. I taught EBoo how to do thrusters and deadlifts with a pvc. Everything that my mom did he said "hey can I do that too?". So of course we had him doing DLs with the pvc while my mom did hers and he did baby push-ups (his baby butt was up in a pike position) when my mom did them.

So awesome. After every workout my sweaty mother has been running over and hugging me and saying thank you over and over. I feel like I should be the one saying thank you to CrossFit for teaching me how to make my family and myself stronger.

So ... Thanks!

I let my CSCS run out day i received my CF level 1. The CrossFit Journal, Performance Menu, Rip and Kilgore's books as well as the community at large have provided me with more applicable information than the NSCA could ever hope to.

It's really great to have little ethan and Diane at SBK.

congrats go out to my bro' who just got his level 1 cert out in cali' watch out for sean kepler... the sky is the limit!

Mark Rippetoe should start his own certification. I'd get Rippetoe certified

I am saying a prayer in thanks for this rest day!

Squat therapy focused on keeping heels on the ground with chest up. 1 set of 10 assisted pull ups with green band, ab mat sit ups, and learned about hip, back and hip/back extensions. Warm up also included working on dead lift with PVC pipe and 45# for awhile.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
deadlift with 65#
modified pushups
13:00

I feel amazing! Thank you David, and to everyone at Crossfit South Brooklyn, and everyone here on Crossfit.com for welcoming me!

Way to be Rip!
Not nearly as noteworthy I let mine expire in 07'.

I second the Rippetoe certification. I just hope wit isn't on the test.

Wow, Way to go Rip, I too am considering letting my CSCS expire...pretty worthless to date. hmmm.

Taubes is such a hack.

Sounds as though Dr. Bray is just another academician with his head up his ass when it comes to the real world. We see it every day in the practice of medicine, besides the fact that his argument allows another group of Americans (the obese) to shirk their responsibility for their lot in life, looks like another intellectual is lost in liberalism.

Tiburon,

I'm still not sure if you're a troll or not. You seem to lack the dedication of a troll. Let's just assume you're genuine. Your posts do your stated cause more harm than good. I'm grateful you and I don't share perspectives on much, you'd do my cause harm. I find myself hoping you don't like CrossFit.

Mark,I admire you and your stance!  I know youare not show boating or grand standing and it is this that I admire more so about your public vision where your passions lie in the world of strength training and personal fitness.  Keep the faith!Best Regards,tucker

Shane B, David,

Rip does have his own certification. It's called CrossFit.

Hello?

Lookin good Miguel!

I'm not a professional or anything but I'm pretty sure that Taubes is missing some points there. Calories, otherwise known as "energy," must be used otherwise its conserved, in the human body as the 3 letter cuss word. Thus, more calories in less energy out, more FAT! DUH! There's a reason why I'm 255 folks (down from 275 i might add :)), it ain't because I spent the majority of my younger years in the gym, but in the pizza parlor.

As for the idea that Obesity is a disease. I think that the medical field called it that so that they could pitch to the drug companies to make some sort of miracle cure and charge all the naive fat people an arm and a leg(which they would probably more than be happy to give up) for it. I know that even when I was in the Army I wanted to get rid of my fat, but couldn't give up my Pizza, Ice Cream, Burritos, Cheese burgers, Pizza....did I mention Pizza, I like that one.

Obesity is not a disease. Its a condition. It's a condition that one can over come. I fight it every day. It takes discipline and determination to get rid of it. These people that sit there and think "I can't do anything about it, its in my genetics," make me sick, because then I see them loop the Walmart parking lot six times to get the closest parking spot and then get in the electric scooter to cruise the store because they're winded for walking 30 feet. Put down the triple cheeseburger and walk around the frickin store 6 or 7 (hundred) times.

Rip, glad to see that some people in this world have the integrity that should be the cornerstone of this country. I whole heartedly stand by you and your beliefs. Besides, your squat and dead lift technique showed me how to do the exercises without back pain. WHOOOHOOO and HOOAH!

Schwartzie out!

My bad I meant Bray in my rant not Taubes.

Gotta love the Rip! Thanks.

Applause should be given to Mark Rippetoe for standing up for what he believes is important, and having the fortitude to follow his gut instinct on the matter of relinquishing his CSCS Certification. He's quite a role model because of that. Furthermore, I appreciate Mark Rippetoe's contributions to the strength and crossfit communities. His books and videos have helped me as a trainer AND as a Crossfit athlete.

I am actually going for my CSCS in September. CSCS is a recognized certification, and is actually difficult to attain, unlike a crossfit certification. I know much of the info isn't conducive to what a crossfit minded instructor is hungry for, but the material of a CSCS course and certification is still just about the most professionally beneficial certification one can get as a personal trainer with a broad array of clientele.

I got my level 1 Cert in May of this year. Don't get me wrong, I am proud to be CF level 1 certified, but I mean really, for the Level 1 certification, all you are required to do is pay $1000 and then show up for a weekend of non-tested info, much of which is rushed through, and you get to do a couple of benchmark workouts... then BOOM, you're "certified"? Crossfit certifications should be much more involved and tough to earn, just as the workouts are hard to make through. The certification should reflect the intense nature of its training.

BTW, I think a Rippetoe Strength Specialist Certification is a great idea.

Haven't posted in about two years. Anyhow, check out this link. We should all show up in Crossfit shirts and kick their a$$es. Then take all their clients!

http://www.goldsgym.com/games/

Shane B, David,
Rip does have his own certification. It's called CrossFit.
Hello? -Coach

I knew as soon as I posted that Rip should should start his own certification someone would tell me it's the barbell cert(crossfit). haha. your right tho

The Goldsgym games look really hard. I mean Leg pressing my bodyweight is tough.

Mark Rip.
I passed cscs wayyyyy back in 1991 i let it lapse when i realized it was worth nuthin,,i currently got a big stable of trainees at bledsoes "OVEN" ....i will get crossfit certd when i can get away for a weekend....cscs is too yesterday... periodization was their last hurrah

Rip- Thanks for everything you contribute to the CF community. I am reading your book and it rocks my world. I never imagined two years ago that I would LOVE weightlifting and really care about it. I'm teaching all my friends at work (Starbucks) how to squat correctly. It's awesome!

As someone who has read Taubes' book, watched his video lecture and is continuing to follow his citations to follow up on his research (sorry I'm a nerd) what impresses me most is that he's just reporting the facts as he sees them. I had some preconceptions that have changed. I really respect his work and I recommend the book to read.

BTW- minus the leg press the Goldsgym games sound like a CrossFit warmup to me.

Glad for the rest day, never realized running backwards could be so hard.

Just arrived home from the San Diego Level 1 Cert. What an amazing weekend I had! I learned so much and met so many great people. Tony, Jolie, Dutch, Dave, CJ, Rach, Stephane, Jimi thank you for all the great information. Alot of hard work is put into these certifications and I just want to express my appreciation. I also want to express my respect to the Glassman's. What an amazing program you have developed. I share it with everyone I talk to.

An excellent retort by Taubes.

I'm not as aware of the NCSA/CSCS faults as I perhaps should be. So I don't know what to think of Mark's decision other than that I'm glad he's making a choice, that although perhaps professionally difficult, is one he believes in.

Coach Rippetoe, I admire your integrity and thank you for posting your letter here for all to see. I am looking forward to attending your certification this fall and meeting you in person! Thanks for all you have done for this community!

Comment # 11

I was thinking the same thing, that guy doing the lat spread looks more like a BB contestant than a Crossfitter. I believe a "haunch" was the term you used...

Comment # 22

I believe that I understand what you are trying to say concerning the Level 1 cert as being a "gimmee," however I think there is more to it.

First, if you read (which I'm sure you did when you attended) the level 1 cert course description, is states that it introduces the student to CF fundamentals and addresses the basics, which they certainly did when I attended.

In my understanding, the level 1 cert is meant to be an effective means of getting the largest amount of instructors "out there" to provide assistance to the ever increasing number of clientele walking in to Crossfit facilities. As big as CF is to us, it is still not considered "main stream" (which in itself gives me great pride), and therefore is in need of "CF disiples" to help lay down a foundation and provide quality instruction to those new to our fitness passion. Enter the level 1 cert...

Remember the it is called "level 1" for a reason, and to obtain the higher levels the "bottle-neck" will grow ever smaller to make sure those that make the grade are qualified to provide instruction at that level of expertice.

That isn't to say level one is a "papermill" by any stretch of the imagination. Think of all the people who take the NSCA course; they run the gammit of fit and dedicated individuals like yourself, all the way to the: "what the hell is that guy doing here." I know, I have a cert through ISSA and see the same thing. Then take the CF cert. Not to many fatties showing up huh? Because the people who take the CF course are by and large dedicated and fit individuals who are already taking part in CF WODs, the cert is more to correct deficiences and fine-tune biomechanics and ROM to provide better results, in shorter time, in the safest way possible. In my view, the level one cert meets that goal.

I'm reading Bray's review of Good Calories Bad Calories, or at least starting the review. I got about two lines in and ran into this quote.

Bray writes in summary of Taubes:
Gary Taubes’s tenets related to obesity can be summarized in four statements (i) He believes that you can gain weight and become obese without a positive energy balance; (ii) He also believes that dietary fat is unimportant for the development of obesity; (iii) Carbohydrate, in his view, is what produces obesity and (iv) Insulin secreted by the carbohydrate is the problem in obesity.

What? Now Carbohydrates secret the insulin and not my pancreas? For a medical research doctor in this field he sure isn't very exact in phrasing his ideas, or at least his putting them on paper. If the rest of his review is as sloppy as his summary this may be a farce of a read. But taught to not judge too quickly, I just wanted to point this out because it stuck out like a giant caution sign.

-TripMN

#11 BeHumble and @ 31Jason-BOS:

I met the guy you're talking about and the guy crouching down in front of him a few days ago when I was doing Linda. Those two came from very far away to get CrossFit certified. I think they're from Finland but I'm not 100% on that. Something like that.

They're going to start an affiliate and seemed pretty excited about it.

They were really cool and didn't seem like meatheads at all.

Didn't yo mommas ever tell you not to judge a book by it's cover?? They are in a CrossFit cert group photo after all. Actions speak louder than big flexed lats.

Proud to be CrossFit Barbell Certified. I often tell people I am "Basic Barbell Certified by Mark Rippetoe". I don't even need to tell them who that is, they can tell by my tone it is something worthwhile.

Rip and Coach are luminaries, we are very fortunate to be associated with them.

What a great way to mix up middle distance running!

#33 Allison

I agree to some extent. You are right about "actions speak louder" This guy is displaying an "action." Regardless of whether he is a "meathead" or not, his "action" of striking a pose for the photograph says that he wants to show off, even for that brief millisecond of time. Forget the pose and let your "actions" during the WOD's show who you really are. Then, be humble and put your arm around the person next to you for the photo op.

Few things to say.

#1: Herm @ CF Los Altos, CA. Very intelligent comments to add on the CSCS and CF lv 1 cert. Trying to obtain both well net you knowledge you didn't have before and that is always a good thing.

In the end however, both are just pieces of paper that simply tell people I have this kind of knowledge. They don't make you a better trainer, coach or exercise professional. All they do is make your bank account smaller for a bit and then give you a piece of paper. What you do with that piece of paper is what determines it's worth.

A guy like Mark has no need for a CSCS being that he is Mark Rippetoe. I am not. I am Erik and no one knows me yet so I need some fancy acronym after my name for a little while to tell people that I am not Joe Blow off the street and that I have some idea of what I am doing. People put too much stock in certs in general rather than knowledge that is obtained. Get your piece of paper but, don't make that your driving goal and think you're done. You are never done learning.

One final comment, I was actually at the NSCA conference just about a month back in Vegas and in many of the seminars some cracks were taken at Crossfit and it's various methodologies and I was wondering if Mark's reactions are in any way related to NSCA not liking Crossfit.

#23 - thanks for posting this.
I really have to commend Golds for opening up a competion like this for members and non-members alike. It suggests an openness to those in the fitness community - crossfitters - who might bring their business model into question. I think this is a great opportunity to spread the Crossfit message. I really can't imagine the typical affiliate firebreather not dominating this competion in the overall part.

#36 Be Humble

I counted at least 10 guys with their shirts off in that picture. Can you be sure that guy is flexing? Did you consider that's just how his body is? When I met him it looked like he was packing some serious stuff under his t-shirt.

You don't know anything else about that guy or how he is at the end of a workout. He demonstrated that supportive CF spirit you described by showing up at a random gym in NYC to meet some CrossFitters who were about to face off against one of the nastiest CF girls.
You're judging him by the way his body looks and the only person that reflects on is you.

Knock it off. He's a CrossFit Certified trainer now and is going to have his own affiliate where he'll change the lives of lots of people. Those are the actions you should be focused on. Who cares about his lats.

Stop talkin smack! It doesn't do anyone any good ;)

I wish I was better with names so I didn't have to keep calling him "that guy".

Made a bad typo in post #37. That first number should say #22 not #1. Sorry for that.

First waking thoughts are solely pain from the pullups... and from the static arabic music blasting through the alarm clock.

Excellent rebuttal by Taubes.

Schwartzie (#19), I suggest you do a lot more reading.

Good on Coach Rip - he has more knowledge in his pinky than those giving the test put together.

I must say I noticed the guy doing the lat spread right away-even in the small photo before I enlarged it. I thought it was a little odd, as you don't usually see that in a Crossfit cert photo. However, I cannot judge him as I have never attained that level of muscle mass. Who's to say what I would do. I might cut the sleeves off all my shirts and strut around if I was as big as that guy (probably not). Anyway, he's from Europe and they do things a little different there. I wish him luck with his affiliate...

Wondering what was the final straw for Rip to take this action. He is not the first person or group of strength professionals to voice their concern w/direction of the NSCA. (see link below)

http://www.cscca.org/about.php

I am a CSCS & also have followed crossfit for some time. Both are great organizations/communities. Wish Rip the best of luck & I will continue to read all of his work

#37: It wouldn't surprise me if his giving up of his certification was based on them not liking crossfit. Many of you may remember a while ago when Dan John was pretty much removed from the community for not furiously defending crossfit. Although I think that Rip would only do something of his own accord, and not just to satisfy other people.

#28, Gina:

You rocked the cert girl! Congratulations!
Not only did the trainers give the cert their all, each participant did too. The heart shown during those workouts and the support given were true crossfit, it was awesome.

Well done all!

juli

The Zone Diet at work and making records...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7510018.stm

We just got back from the KB Cert in PA and it was great. If you have thought about attending Jeff's KB training, definitely worth it. I wasn't a huge fan of KB going in, and don't do much with them other than the WOD, but found myself having a lot of fun with them and look forward to working more and more with KBs and passing the knowledge along to our athletes. Thanks Jeff!

#36 BeHumble
I agree with Allison, why are you hatin'. Besides it is a photo everyone in it is posing, what is the point of killing ourselves if it doesn't make us look good. Ha Ha.

12:47 sunday WOD. Running backwards is very tough after doing 225 SDHP's and 54 85# thrusters.

yo giddey up in Virginia Beach. I like how in the pic all the crew at the Va Beach cert is crackin caps and the crew in San Diego has their water bottles. I just got my department convinced to send me to (and pay for) Tony Blauer's SPEAR camp in two weeks down in Va Beach. I'll be lookin forard to crackin some with you guys then.

Tim J, #37

Dan John wasn't removed for "not furiously defending crossfit", he was criticized for making profoundly misleading statements about his involvement with CF, and our influence on his professional work, and then passed up for a much more accomplished lifter and coach, Mark Rippetoe. It was all nettlesome, yet I'd do it again if circumstance presented itself similarly.

Hi. Run a total of 1,500m. Aprox. 600 fwd. +150 bkwd. X 2 runs in 07:30.
No WU. Cash out just 10 pushups. Plenry of sand coming from Northern Africa.
Still coughing. I hate you all. No pain no gain.
Signature

35/M/6.0/215#
Started CF on Jul/28/08
In Madrid, Spain, and looking for Crossfitters

#48 MikeB: re: the bbc article

Great article- I have never actually seen an article that mentions the zone which includes an unbiased viewpoint- until now. Might be because he has apparently lost over 400lbs in one year. I wonder how many blocks he has to work with per day?

I hope the NSCA listens to your issues and takes your actions as a wake up call.

I think it is important to have an organization outside of CrossFit to provide additional support/education for the field of strength training. It would be nice if it was NSCA, but they clearly "don't get it" right now.

Studying for and taking the CSCS was/has been more helpful than actually being a member. I think the irony is that most of the information in the Essentials of Strength and Conditioning supports (maybe not the diet information) programs like CrossFit and provides the details of why they work. I am confused by some of the NSCA coaches comments regarding CrossFit, but I think after they start seeing videos from The Games and the standards for the events that they will start to get a better understanding of what we are doing.

Congratulations Edmonton!

Re: Gold's Gym Games (Comments #23, #25, #27)...
Did it stand out for anyone else that according to http://www.goldsgym.com/games/ the competition is spread out over two weeks, with one event per day (and only three days of competition per week)?

12:20 on Griff from yesterday. Didn't remember my time from the last Griff, but I'm sure it was an improvement.

I messed up my back a couple of weeks ago, and it seems to just keep getting re injured from things such as KB swings and deadlifts, also makes fran and OHSs a pain in the... back.
Sal pointed out that my heels were coming off of the ground when I was doing squats, weighted and air... After seeing that I practiced having my knees trace out over my feet, and it REALLY helps keeping the heels down. It is like a whole different movement now! I can feel new muscles in my legs getting worked, and I feel less pressure in my back, hopefully this will end up with me being able to do more without getting hurt!

Allison NYC and Behumble,

The gentleman in front of me in the VA Beach Certification is from Iceland, and I don't care if he's flexing. I watched him and his friends turn out sub 5 min Frans after TWO DAYS of Crossfit. They're coming from a diverse strength and conditioning background of olympic level personal training. Anyone there will tell you they've earned the right to flex whatever the hell they want! That being said, I've seen smaller lats on cattle. I'm seriously considering spending a considerable amount of time in Iceland!

VA Beach Cert. AAR

I've been training Crossfit off and on for about two years now, at varying levels of intensity. I've been to a wide range of affiliates, from the very, very best, to the average, tried my hand at the Globo gym environment, and finally on my own. I've trained the core movements and been well trained on the advanced skills. That being said, I STILL got my money's worth out of a level 1 cert. The previous posters are right when they say you're not there to "earn" something, you're there to get a comprehensive foundation in the fundamentals and a beginners insight teaching the skills to groups. If you're looking for it to be 'hard" or a gut-check, or some other right of crossfit passage, you're going to be disappointed.

I can't say that I ever felt "rushed", but time was definitely a constraint. Certain things like nutrition, weren't covered to the depth I would have liked, but I would gladly sacrifice them for more time on the hard skills like overhead squat. I get the feeling that each affiliate and trainer brings their own flavor and mix to the basic Crossfit education. As one observant poster noticed, the VA crew was all to eager to crack beers after our Fran!

Our Cert was very LEO/MIL centered, as one would expect at Blauer's facility. That was a positive for many people, but may have been a negative for others, I don't know. I, and many others were less then pleased with the pull up bar setup. At some point you can blame almost any performance gap or failure on the client, but I saw too many torn up hands for it to be all about callus grooming, and not about bar texture. I saw too many athletes kip off the bar for it to be about grip strength and not bar diameter. About 50% of the athletes were satisfied with the bars. The one unconditional recommendation is bolt them suckers to the floor if it's going to be a permanent part of a facility.

Sweat control is a big problem. Rags, towels, some kind of sanitizer would have been awesome. It's a non-climate controlled facility and it was HUMID in there. By the end of Fran the third and forth heats found the bar very slick. By the end of FGB the wallballs were nigh uncatchable. Let me just say, it's a particular brand of suck catching a wet, sweaty, slippery dynamax in the face. If that doesn't make you shiver just a little, you should think about competing on fear-factor.

Final shot: I'm obviously not a representative of Crossfit Inc, but I figure if they will transfer your tuition from one cert to another if you fail to meet the standard, they probably will accommodate someone if they feel that they were in any way unsatisfied with the instruction they received at a particular cert. I for one was very pleased, I had a great time, and I can't wait to apply the lessons and tools that I've learned. My congrats go out to Pete, Andy, Chris, Andrea, Andrew, Jeff T, and EVERYONE who helped make this such a wonderful and motivating weekend!

#37, Erik B. : "One final comment, I was actually at the NSCA conference just about a month back in Vegas and in many of the seminars some cracks were taken at Crossfit and it's various methodologies and I was wondering if Mark's reactions are in any way related to NSCA not liking Crossfit."

I haven't attended an NSCA convention in many years, and I am unaware of -- but not at all surprised by -- NSCA members' animosity towards CrossFit. I have not been a member of the NSCA for 18 months, and have had no communication with them other than this recent exchange that would have lead me to believe there was any animosity towards CrossFit. So that did not play a role in my decision. Had I known, it would have hastened my actions, but my decision was made several months ago. But the bottom line is that the NSCA, for quite a few important reasons, no longer serves my professional needs, and my decision was based solely on this.

Had an awesome weekend at the San Diego Cert. this weekend. Just wanted to thank all the trainers: Jolie, Nick, CJ, Rach, Dave, Tony, Stephane, DUTCH and Jimi!!! It was an honor to be trained by the best of the best. See you all real soon. Z, Lamarr and Bandit

Guys,

I'd like to share my news with you if you don't mind. On Friday me and my husband picked up the keys to what is going to be the first CrossFit gym in Northern Ireland. Over 4,000sq ft in total!
To say we're pleased is an understatement. Discovering the CF website back in December is what has propelled us to the stage we're now at. Jonny has already left his job in globo gym and I'm soon to leave mine (Gov worker).
I've reached some milestones during the past 6 months (kipping, o/h squat, wods as rx'd etc), but to be in the position we are now is by far the best feeling. Thank you to Coach and HQ and everyone who posts. I scan your comments every day, always looking for times I can use as a benchmark/comparision for my own scores. I always notice when YOU'VE improved... The support, not just on this site, but affiliate-wide is unmeasurable. I hope that if yous ever visit N.Ireland you'll come and say hi because we are already friends.

But you know what, even with everything I've accomplished so far what really pisses me off?

....

I still throw like a girl.

HE's flexing his TRAPS for god sake people, HIS TRAPS, OMG I couldn't stand it anymore.....

ahhhhhh (sighs in relief)

Congratulations Coach Rippetoe you did what was right for you and I know alot of folks feel the same way. I still experience a lot of the Gary Gray crowd and while I feel that there is a lot of knowledge out there and knowledge is neither good or bad the certifying bodies as a whole are lacking in many many ways.

Crossfit provides such a powerful resource I believe it may be the standard to which we can hold other certifications.

I applaud Mark for being true to his beliefs and values. My own experience in the Fitness Industry as a 15-year Certified PT has been pretty much the same. My company only accepts the certifications of organizations who are following a Physical Therapy model, forcing its trainers to fall into line. NSCA is included in that list. Now, rookies and younger trainers must assess and "fix" a client's posture and various "distortions" before moving on to "working out", often, in SPITE of that client's goals or desires. Because that is the new world order.

Lats, Traps, delts and whatever, that dude was frickin' scary ripped. I apologize for my anatomical mixup but what really mattered to me was in the end was that he was an awesome guy, an amazing athlete, and both him and his friends were a pleasure to train with. I'll go back to my remedial anatomy and physiology!

Comment #33

Allison-NY,

Good points concerning not judging. Just playing around.

Anyway, believe me when I say I wasn't judging his CF abilities or the level of LBM he has developed (more than I could hope for), just his choice of pose. But like you said, maybe that's just how he stands normally. Either way I don't really care, just thought it was a funny observation at the time.

No NY - BOS fueds here. We are all CF'rs after all.

Nice Facility Edmonton! Dig the video or some hard work. And great music by the way. I miss the Guano Apes.

Just a note to tell you what a good teacher and regular guy Jeff Martone is. We just hosted him in Allentown, PA for a Level 1 CF Kettlebell certification, and the entire experience was great.

Having that kined of attention to detail, to ensure that not only are the exercise being performed correctly and safely,but also can be taught and coached correctly....was a valuable experience.

Thanks, Jeff, and thanks to all who attended!

Much needed day off, my whole body is grateful. It is weird though that I still have a desire to "play around" on the rings. This program has made me more active on the rest day than I used to be on Chest-tris day. Thank you again for the totally free chance to be fit and challenged?

Any other crossfitters in the upstate SC area?

That letter from Rip was awesome. Hell of an integrity move on his part. This just capped off a hell of a weekend with CrossFit. The Level 1 Cert in VA Beach was fantastic. Great instructors and a hell of a motivated crowd. Thanks for pushing me all weekend. Today's rest day is needed.

Look I love Crossfit, but let's cut back on the cool aid a litte.
I am sure Mr. Rippetoe is a great person and coach, but all this happy handed congratulations for a professional decision is embarassing.

I don't understand what the reason for posting Rippetoe's letter. If the purpose is to state that a CF cert is "better" than a CSCS I think that's silly b/c they are completely different. I firmly believe that CrossFit is the best program for developing the most well-rounded and highest levels of fitness. Furthermore, the strength and conditioning gained from CrossFit ties in perfectly with combative sports such as wrestling and MMA, and can even play a small role in conditioning for more traditional sports. However, the focus of the CSCS is not "universal scalability" with the goal of helping the general population become fit and healthy individuals. The CSCS prepares coaches/trainers to address the needs of athletes (this includes injuries and possible injuries that are inevitable with training for sports and the sports competition (not the sport of fitness, but actual sport)) Most sports are very specific and it's imperative as a S&C coach to understand the specific demands of any sport, including the specific demands of the various sports positions within each sport and develop a program accordingly. A strength coach's job is not to develop the most well-rounded fitness program for a shotputter, the goal is to get the athlete to throw the shot as far as possible. Most sports aren't like law enforcment/first responders where you have to be prepared for absolutely ANYTHING.

The two certs. are different, and it's okay for them to be different. Each of them address a different niche. I know the die hard CF followers feel that CF is the best program out there (as far as developing overall fitness I agree!) and they have a hard time giving credit to any other methodology or organization, but to compare the two of these and say one is "better" than the other is just silly.

#26 Dave-
To say that "CSCS is too yesterday" sounds like you validate a certification or training method much like a teenager validates the latest clothing trend.
And to say that "periodization was their last hurrah" surely isn't a statement from anyone who actually understands what periodization really is. Do you think periodization just goes away after a couple of years like Miley Cyrus hopefully will? Do you think Olympic Lifters don't periodize? There are many forms of periodization, CrossFit even uses a form of random periodization.

good morning. I know someone has mentioned it on here before, but what might be a relatively "Zone friendly" beer that's out there so I can still enjoy a few here and there when I start up on the Zone in the next week or so?
Thanks for any suggestions

Greg G #49

A little revisionist history?

My arms ACHE....Bicep tendons and forearm tendons have been screaming for two days...anyone else going through this agony? Any thoughts on making it go away? I'm afraid coach is gonna hammer us with more pullups tomorrow.

I need the rest day today.
All that I can say is that as an alterative health professional (Chiropractor), I have a slight "man-crush" on Gary Taubes. The man is brilliant and bringing the (in my mind) correct health paradigm ever closer to mainstream. He is an extremely smart, well versed author, and I love his work. Like Coach says people will follow excellence, and Taubes might excrete excellence in lieu of excess insulin. I love anything that slaps the old (ignorant) Cals in-Cals out/horrendous food guide pyramid in the face, obviously if that worked we wouldn't be the fattest country in the world.
On a second note, I have also been debating letting my CSCS expire! Rock on Rip-once again you state plainly and effectively what we all wanted to hear!

Roden # 68-
Happy handed congratulations? Coach Rip was one of the founding members of the CSCS professional designation and has carried the certification for a few millennia. The fact he feels inclined to DROP this designation means something. If you need me to draw you a picture of the significance, let me know.

The problem with energy surplus analisys is we are dealing with the human body, not a calormiter. Sure I'll agree that if you don't get enough energy you cannot make fat. However how much is enough varies in too many ways.

If I lift say 50 lbs from the ground to over my head it is a simple high school physics problem to figure out how much energy is now in the bar that wasn't before. However how efficiant were my muscles in lifting? How much was lost there?

When I'm at rest how much energy is my body using to keep warm?

How good is my body at getting energy from food (the rest comes out the other end sometime latter)?

Two years ago my brother did a lot more physical activity than I. Yet he weighed (and still does) twice as much as me, and is only slightly smaller. He rarely ate more than one small meal a day, and often went more than one day without eating. At the same time I ate 3 meals a day and impressed people with how much food I could eat. Our bodies were different, I was getting about 6 times more calories yet we were both maintaining our weight!

hamstrings are the worst for me, i like how crossfit finds my weak points then attacks them! addressing weaknesses is exactly what i want from a training program, thanks coach

That's it; after reading his letter, and reading people's posts, I am ordering Coach Rippetoe's book Starting Strength right now. I should have done it a long time ago, but crap, it's one of those things that keeps getting put off. NO MORE!

And also, guys, you really should play nice on here regarding the pictures and stuff. If you want to pick on someone or make fun of them or whatever, sheesh, do it out of earshot, aka. no reason to attempt embarrassing someone in a public forum. I'm lucky enough not to have been caught picking my nose or something when they took the picture for the Ann Arbor Cert.

Also,
Not to beat a dead horse, but Bray's article straight angers me. One of the most influential doctors in manual medicine, Dr. Janda is quoted as saying "the only bad doctor is the doctor that does not adapt with the growing knowledge base", and I could not agree with him more, and no offense to Dr. Bray, but the only new articles that he sites are HIS OWN!!!! Many of his cited afflictions with Taubes are from the early part of the 20th century-old knowledge. Grow and learn-Crossfit, Paleo, Zone and be the most of your genetic potential... Sorry, ignorance in the fields I love fires me up.

I'm already jones-ing hard to go to a level 1 Cert (working Dad, 2 small boys-tough to do) and every time I see one of these photos posted I want to go even more!

The fact that everyone gets to drink beer at the end is icing on the cake :-)

Robb, #74

I can easily grasp the significance, but every decision does not need to be applauded for it to matter...

First time posting...LOVE the site and have been doing crossfit for a year now...and training for the marine corp marathon in October (thanks Brian and XFit Newport Beach).

Wanted to say in response to some points made here and on previous posts that Crossfit will NEVER BE MAINSTREAM!!!! Don't read that as a rip on crossfit. It isn't. I love crossfit and all its done for me...but high intense, mentally and physically tough workouts will never be popular with the majority of people. Most people want to look good and feel good (obviously) but few really want to put in the work or time or make it happen. THey would rather reach for "Exercise in a Bottle", or some other miracle cure....they will look for anything other than hard work. Sadly, this seems to be the way the country is leaning.

I think everyone should feel proud that they have what it takes to stay with XFit...because it is not for everyone...and never will be.

My 2 cents...

Sounds like most of y'all "get it" regarding the obesity discussion and Dr Taubes' rebuttal to the critique masquarading as a book review is well thought out. It concerns me, however, that many responses in this forum are more passion based than critically thought out.

In fact, Dr Bray is correct(and must be, if we believe in the first law of thermodynamics) when he points out that excess caloric intake leads to weight gain. It is noteworthy that Dr Taubes' response acknowledges this. The problem comes when we try to apply this simple law to the very complex system of a human organism - not in an experimentally controlled setting but rather in the reality of day to day life. The law applies but does not speak to complex human behaviors/drives affecting hunger, satiety, pleasure etc. Further, one arm (the energy-out arm) is dependent on basal metabolic rate (which is in turn affected by dietary compensation and body compensation) and activity level (which has indeed decreased for the majority of the non-Crossfitting population over the past couple of centuries). Lastly, the presumption that every KCAL consumed is metabolized and utilized just like any other KCAL is probably false. There is an energy cost of digestion and certain caloric sources are utilized less efficiently (therefore, contribute less to the energy-in arm of the equation). A simple example of this...dietary fibers, when burned in a closed system, release as much energy molecule for molecule as any other CHO. However, our digestive systems lack the enzymes necessary to break the carbon bonds in fibers and release that energy. Therefore, burning a log in your fireplace releases abundant heat but subsisting on a diet of wood bark would lead to caloric starvation.

Read the Crossfit article on big and little box gyms last night. Couldn't help but think about an MTV interview I saw years ago with Dave Stewart of the Eurythmmics. He was shown in various pieces of Nautilus gym equipment describing how he used them. "In this one I think about being in a Star Wars TIE fighter and shooting down the enemy." "In this one I close my eyes, relax, and think about memories from my childhood." Dave was so ahead of his time.

To bill (#72), I'm having trouble getting my arms above my head due to tricep tightness after the pseudo-muscle ups I pushed out on my total gym. Obviously worked some unused muscles there. Glad for the run, though I received one memorable look as I ran down my street backwards!

--c

Amen, Coldbore...

I was doing Fran immediately behind our Icelandic friend. While I was having my own issues with the bar and VO2 "min", this guy was up and down like a friggin' piston. Got a chance to briefly talk to him and his buddy... very motivated and approachable guys. Not to mention shredded.

Flexing? If so,... so what? How many of us aren't willing to walk around more often with our shirts off since we've been crossfitting?

On another note, I must say beer is much more satisfying after Fran. I think I've stumbled upon a new tradition...

Awesome week-end. I attended the Olympic Lifts Cert. in Flowery Branch GA. It was just amazing. Coach B is terrific.We worked hard,but we had fun.
Coach has the ability to inspire and motivate you while giving you some confidence BUT let you know at the same time...YOU HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO. I attended just for myself. I am Mom in Alpharetta GA and I would reccomend to anyone who can to attend this seminar. I learned that Oly Lifts have much, much, much more about them to do than to just be strong. Whew. Grat job to everyone who attended. Coach gave us 100% and I think we did the same!Thank you Crossfit and thank you Coach B.

Thank you to all the instructors at the CFSD cert class. Stephane, loved the way you broke down the "snatch" looking forward to the first time haha. Jolie, Nick, CJ, Rach, Dave, Tony, Dutch and Jimi, you all made it a great weekend, thanks for sharing.

A tip of the cap to you Rip. A beer with milk chaser awaits you any time you come our way.

Anyone else think it odd that the crossfit mentality is opposed to mirrors and exercises that isolate muscles and yet so many pictures and workout demos are with guys with no shirts on? Certainly many of the guys are buff/cut but that apparent dichotomy is bizaare to me.

AMRAP (20 minutes)

3 Tire Flips (650lbs)
15 Decline Pushups (feet on tire)
10 GHD Situps (feet anchored in tire)

8 rounds

Brad J #88. I think what people are opposed to is admiring themselves in the mirror instead of actually doing some training. I see too many people staring at them selves while "resting". Do some work! Yeah pose afterwards, after all they have worked hard and earned those abs.

Coach Rip:

I read your posted NSCA letter and started working through Starting Strength just last night. I've also studied the videos in which you've appeared for the last year and a half. Obviously I am interested in your approaches to training. I would also like to know more about your specific disagreements with how the NSCA operates.

How are they failing to "address the actual processes by which athletes are made more strong and conditioned"? Do you feel that too much stress is on lighter joint-stabilization movements? Do you think your preferred approach would reduce the number of ACL tears by female athletes? (Admittedly, a bit of a tangent there)

Well-informed critiques are a great way to get perspective on something. Have you laid out your criticisms of the NSCA before, or if not, would you be willing to do so sometime soon? In any case, thanks for standing for your principles.

#44 Juili,

Thanks Juili and you also gave it your all. What a great motivator you are and thanks for coaching me through Fran! What a great opportunity to meet you. Looking forward to hearing about your progress. My best,

Gina

Drew - #70:

I saw a Coors light in a Crossfit video somewhere, but since I'm in Germany right now, i'm not going anywhere near an American beer, hehehe.

Seriously, stop hating the beautiful Icelandic man! He works his ass off to look that way and he's earned the right to walk around/work out without a shirt! ( God bless him) I really wish that Crossfit could expand the mind and not just the frickin' lats, traps and everything else. Brad J. who gives a shit what the suppossed "Crossfit mentality" is?! Where the hell is that written? You want a Crossfit mentality to live by? Do/be your best in every workout, everyday and when you're done, celebrate yourself in whatever way you see fit. Maybe that looks like walking around/working out without a shirt. Maybe it means having a beer. You and every other Xfitter is allowed to be proud of what they do and hating on someone else for that is not only shallow and immature, but counterproductive to your own growth. So take off your own F^&*ing shirt already and strut with pride. You earned that shit dude. you're a crossfitter, so give a little love to your brothers and sisters of the flock...

where can i get the bands that are used for dip training?...any special kind?

Just to further a point, if you want to not wear a shirt, by all means do it, youve earned it. I know since I started crossfit I wear one less cuz I know I look good and ive worked hard for it. So shout out to everyone else who doesnt wear a shirt. Hoora!!

And yesterday
20 mile bike
2 CFWU
Griff
12:51
PS-I did this on our public field, without a shirt.

#82 Dave

Regarding Dr. Bray's comments on the Laws of Thermodynamics. Who cares? He was asked to do a book review and all he did was defend his own skewed beliefs about obesity. Tuabe's rebuttal adressed that very well. Bray, like many of his colleagues in "modern" medical academia have lost the ability to be objective, may times driven by the stipends thay receive from the pharmaceutical industry. If Bray believes obesity is simply a disease needing pharmaceutical treatment, he has his head in the aforementioned orientation!! (see comment #12)

#88 & 92

Mirrors are counterproductive for a CrossFitter in that they decrease ones ability to develop the higher level of proprioception required to do multijoint functional movements. These neuromuscular signals are developed through coaching, practice, and time. If you're looking in a mirror while doing a heavy snatch, you're gonna break your neck!!

I love it when we get a Gary Taubes link on rest day. I finished reading GCBC about a week ago, and frankly I'll never eat the same way again. I was wondering if anyone else has decided to try a "GCBC diet" and what the results are.

Presently, I'm eating a daily regimen of 8 foods: Whole milk, eggs, cheese, almonds, fish, pork sausage, beef steak, and blueberries. I made a rough guide for portion sizes to get me 2500 calories, but I don't restrict myself to that. While my weight has been stable, it does appear that I'm shedding a bit of belly fat (which was my original goal). Hopefully after a few more weeks I might be able to see my abs for the first time!

My energy levels stay pretty constant, and I rarely feel hunger. I also seem to be sleeping much better. I usually cheat a lot on the weekends though (I like beer too much) but even then my hunger seems to stay minimized. It would appear that my basal insulin levels fall throughout the week while eating high-fat low-carb, and then when I go splurge on pizza and beer I find I can barely consume half of what I used to before I'm full. Perhaps it's also an effect of reduced insulin resistance.

Anyways, as I said before, Taubes has converted me, and I'm never looking back.

Am I just a little "slow" or is there no more link to workouts from last month or any previous months? I need your help!

24 hours as rx

I should have pushed harder

Herm #20,

Where do I start? Let's go!

Rip has a "strength specialist certification" and it is called "CrossFit's Basic Barbell Training Certification". It handsomely fulfills any charter I could have hoped for in a strength cert. Do we need larger fonts on our offerings?

You state the obvious in offering that the CSCS cert is hard to attain and the CrossFit L1 easy, but in so doing you're missing something as profound a goof as missing Rip's cert. The CSCS cert is hard to get and is fundamentally irrelevant to training people. You could master everything offered through the CSCS certification and come away with not even the vaguest idea of either how to deliver workable, effective, programming or how to teach the most rudimentary of human movements. The NSCA wants it to be hard to get certified, we want to make better trainers, who earn more, and have greater impact on their clients. We've both achieved our aims.

Do you think you could pass the CF L2 Cert? Step right up, Kid. Approximately half do not. The pass rate for the CSCS cert is much, much, higher. The pass rate for CSCS holders of our L2 is much lower than 50%. We deliberately lowered the threshold for teaching fitness, and the decision was wise and successful beyond our wildest dreams. We're putting an army of qualified trainers in the marketplace who are making a profound contribution to peoples lives while earning a professional income. Both income and impact are far beyond traditional NSCA CSCS career paths. The CrossFit affiliates' and trainers' incomes are in breathtaking ascent. CrossFit trainers and affiliates are making great livings because the marketplace has come to recognize the value of CrossFit training and trainers. CrossFit has ignited a firestorm of value creation for trainees and this is at the heart of our commitment to the professionalization of training, and the CrossFit L1 cert is the first step in the process. What are the prospect of a CSCS holder for making several hundred thousand dollars annually? Bleak is the answer. How about a CF trainer? Excellent is the answer. Tap into what's going on in affiliate land and you'll see first hand what I'm talking about. And one more thing, you say the CSCS Certication is "recognized", but take into account that approximately a fourth of our L1 attendees are doing so because they were required to by a State, Federal, or foreign Mil/LEO agency. We have a growing international recognition and acceptance.

I impacted my clients far more profoundly than their accountants, orthodontists, lawyers, and physicians, I deserved an income commensurate with theirs. We found a way to make that happen. The NSCA was squarely in the way, and still is, for way too many people. Their handling of our industry has been a shocking dereliction of duty and abnegation of responsibility. The NSCA model is weak physiologically and professionally. They have more than any other entity made the science of strength and conditioning perfectly irrelevant to sport and training. This is exactly why Rip is leaving the NSCA. You cannot love Rip's contribution without recognizing that it was the NSCA that has kept him from having the impact he now has and that CrossFit has brought Rip out of the shadows of obscurity. We met him at a CrossFit L1 cert, by the way.

Additionally, the corpus of the CrossFit Certification material, all extant issues of the CrossFit Journal, is treasure trove of pertinent and authoritative reading that all NSCA publications combined cannot begin to match.

In summary, this statement, "the material of a CSCS course and certification is still just about the most professionally beneficial certification one can get as a personal trainer with a broad array of clientele" is patently, blatantly, false. You have it perfectly wrong, Sir. Rip's leaving the NSCA is premised on the errors of your assessment.

I've got a reading assignment for you and anyone else considering becoming a trainer or wanting to escape the career potential (earning minimum wage baby sitting clients on selectorized equipment and impacting them at 30% of the training potential) of the NSCA:

http://www.crossfit.com/journal/library/41_06_Scaling_Prof_Training.pdf
http://www.crossfit.com/journal/library/41_06_Prof_Training.pdf

Coach is dominating the comments today, I love it!
Coach Rip, I admire the statement you have made by relinquishing your certification. That's bold. As far as your own certification goes, I think that if there were a written test at the end of the basic barbell cert where we had to memorize 10-15 "RIP-isms" or quotes that would suffice.

with amazement I find that I hate rest days. despite years of daily Army PT I never looked forward to it and usually half-assed it. 6 months of crossfit and now I'm planning how to sneak over to the park or the gym at lunchtime to practice pullups or squat cleans.

So I've been slowly building a garage gym over the last couple of months...adding equipment a little at a time. It started out just me going at it solo, then I got a workout partner...then another, now I've got people at the office asking to join us for WODs. The problem is, I don't have enough equipment or space to house everyone at once, it's just a standard 2 car garage.

Anyway, the point is this: If you build it, they will come. I've got to get certified and start getting paid for this :-)

Coach,

When is the book coming out?! Those article links you posted were awesome. Would love to learn more about CrossFit history, how it started, how it grew, how you met some of the "superstars" we see in all the videos, what your plans are for the future. I found your site in April '06 and the growth in the last two years has been incredible. Although I primarily train out of my well stocked garage gym, I do drop in at affiliates from time to time and find the group setting is much more intense and competitive, just as you describe in your article. Initially I thought the cost of an unlimited membership rather steep (often $150 per month, discounts for active duty and first responders) however after learning what CrossFit is all about, I understood the price was well worth it. Reading your articles also brough that home. I wish I had to time to train daily at an affiliate, but I plan to dedicate once a week for a "drop in" workout.

I did attend a Level 1 cert also. I went not because I plan on starting an affiliate, I went to learn for myself what I would at an affiliate, since I train at home. The price is rather steep, especially for those of us with "government" jobs, and I appreciated the discount I received. (I am also going to attend the O lifting Cert in San Diego at the end of the month, and plan on going to one of Rip's certs) My one critique would be that I wish I could have walked away with some type of material that I could refer back to. We were very busy with all the workouts, and participating in the movements. As a result, there was not much time for note taking. It would be helpful to have some of the "ques" that the trainers would give during the movements we learned over the weekend. Even if it was just a basic outline, I would definately find a value in that.

Anyway, thanks for your contributions and your dedication. I know CrossFit has changed my life.

Gina

#72 I feel your pain. I've been mostly worthless the past two days.

Big props to whoever it was that responded to my question yesterday regarding post workout soreness. The active rest day really helped out and put me on the road to wholeness. Your the man whoever you are.

As a holder of both certifications I must say reading this message board is a lot of fun.

When I was finishing my graduate work we saw the future of the NSCA, a downward trend to its' athletic training philosophy 8 years ago. Many of the Strength and Conditioning professionals (Collegiate Coaches)started their own organization, and wisely so. The emphasis of the NSCA has diverted away from the pure strength industry.

The NSCA is really all the strength researchers have. It is their organization. Many of the strength researchers I have worked with (Stone, Haff, Schilling, and O'Bryant) do not necessarily like the changes but it is what they have and it is what they have known.

From the pure training aspect the NSCA does not and cannot compare to CrossFit. The philosophies are different, but Crossfit does a much better job of defining trainer to client relationship than does the NSCA, whether it be monetary or not.

Mark
www.alabamacrossfit.com
www.kettlebell-strength.com

#81 pete i totally agree with you, most people want to be fit, healthy and look it but not put the work in. Thats why crossfit wont get as mainstream as either bodybuilding type training or just dabbling now and again, both of which just isnt as taxing!

just did Griff for the first time....man oh man. that hurt, both physically and emotionally since it was a crowded track! haha nothin like weaving through old people backwards...

12:00 flat

m.23.5'6.155

So, is anyone else's forearms and biceps just absolutely shot from Saturday's WOD (225 SDHP)?

I can't straighten my arms all the way.

Pain feels good....

p.s. Count me in on the RipCert.

#31 & #37 Allison NYC and others -- The guy in question is from Iceland. He was my buddy at the cert. As you know Allison, he's a good guy with a knack for wanting more knowledge and instruction; something that all of us should inherently be. It's all to easy to make an assumption on someone based off of a meager picture. Oh, and Allison, if you want his name, just e-mail me (I didn't know if it was appropriate to drop it on this public forum).

For the record, he did have pretty big lats, and carried himself in accordance. I'm so amused that with everything else to talk about, THIS is a conversation topic.

#56 -- For the record, our Iceland friend in question had a Fran time in the range of 6:00 minutes, which is still great considering that WAS their first exposure to CF. I know his time because my friend PR'd a time of 6:10 and was pleased at beating him!

#91 -- You can see some of Coach Rippetoe's views of the NSCA on his Q&A Board. There is a wealth of information on that forum.

#101 Coach -- Well said. Continue the spread of knowledge.

Did CFT today because I have never done one. Only been doing Crossfit for a few weeks now.

Squat 330
Deadlift 315
Press 140

m.6'1.215.23

Are these decent numbers? What can I expect if I continue with the WODs?

Absolutely a fantastic cert in VA Beach this weekend. The dedication of the trainers, most of which flew across the country to train us, is phenomenal, especially considering half of them are active duty military. Thank you again to Pat and his crew.

Only disappointment: Some of you - you know who you are - didn't even crack the CFJs sent to you as study materials prior to your arrival. Tsk tsk. Hopefully though, everyone is digging through them now....

Oh wait, that wasn't the only disappointment. I crashed and burned on the Fran and found out that my mechanics on squats SUCK.

Seriously though folks, the Level 1 cert is perfect for those of us at the 6-8 month mark. The appreciation and perspective you bring at that point is exactly where it needs to be: we love it, wonder how far we can go, and we know enough about CrossFit to be dangerous to ourselves. The demonstations, group work, and practical applications are great for any level of CrossFitter, and having several CF trainers look at your mechanics to allow for a safer and more efficient execution of the exercises is priceless.

What I found truly great was to be in a facility with over 100 fellow CrossFitters. Our group at West Point is 3-6 depending on the day. To share my experience over the last 7 months of CrossFitting with others, and to hear their experiences, gave me a great appreciation for the large demographic that make up the CrossFit community.

Go Army!
Dave Maxwell

I too hold both certs. I agree with Rip in that the NSCA has provided a decreasing benefit to the strength & conditioning coaches. Entirely too much emphasis has been placed on the results of dozens of poorly designed "scientific" studies of untrained college students performing some artificial workout program for a period of 8 weeks. The only thing these studies have proved scientifically is that untrained college students will improve on any program, at least for the first 8 weeks.

I might add that William Kraemer's prominent role in the NSCA has been indicative of the direction of the NSCA. Dr. Kraemer is what I would call the "King" of the 8 week study of untrained college students. The NSCA awarded him the "Sports Scientist of the Year" for "applied exercise and sports science" but frankly I see very little of his CV being in "applied exercise" when compared to the likes of Coach, Rip, and Burgener.

Some say the turning point for the NSCA was the introduction of the Certified Personal Trainer program, which significantly lowered the criteria for achieving a NSCA certification. In that the fitness industry is enormously larger than the target trainees of a S&C coach, the NSCA is now numerically dominated by big-box fitness trainers with no more than a high school diploma.

Coach is correct in stating that the CSCS does not prepare one to train clients. It provides a base knowledge of physiology, anatomy, energy pathways, etc. but it is quite weak on programming.

31/m/190

Did this WOD with Team Elite Fit (thanks for the workout Amy D.)

5 Rounds for time:
Dead lift, 10 reps @ 1.5 x body weight (285)
Run 400m
Burpees, 25 reps

32:57

That was an incredibly hard workout!

Row 1000m
65# thruster x21
15 pull ups
Row 750 m
65# thruster x18
Pull ups x12
Row 500m
65# thruster x15
9 pull ups

= 21:23

Set up was sketchy on this one as it was all over the gym. They have some kind of kids camp going on and middle-schoolers are swarming the weight section with no clue what to do and tend to hang all over everything so it was crowded. The gravitron was used by them so many I did strict pull ups which I can really only do one at a time. So I spent a great deal of time with the pull ups.

**Question for anyone who can answer:
While on vacation the gym there had a rack bar I could jump up and reach and the bar was slightly thinner than the bar at my gym. I was able to kip two at a time with ease and if I could “push off” at the top of the kip, I would have been able to string several more together. Back at my gym, I’d sooner get a brain aneurism for trying to do this. I can’t get close. Why would this be?? Grip issue? Does the bar width make that big of a difference?
Erin

Not usually one to post, but I feel like a should in this case, so here I go:

As a graduate with a BS in kinesiology and multiple training certifications (which I personally think mean nothing, but acquired so that I could get a job), it is my observation that one the biggest problems with the NSCA and other similar governing bodies of exercise is that these organizations are preaching to their masses a "sport specific approach" to strength and conditioning. There are a number of major problems associated with this philosophy.

The first problem that I find is that this philosophy blurs the line between strength and conditioning, and sport related skills. It is my experience both as an athlete and a trainer that their are no "functional exercises" that are going to make you a better ball handler in basketball, or that matter increase your ability to catch a football. These examples are endless and can be derived from the skills necessary to compete in any sport. The bottom line is that to be better at a skill, a person has to practice that skill and condition the neuromuscular response to be efficient at performing that particular skill. One more related example that can be taken from Crossfit is the ability to do handstand push ups. I can train the shoulder press and overhead pressing power and strength movement until I am blue in the face, however, no matter how strong I am, unless I practice handstands and handstand push ups all of that strength won't be good for much because I don't have the neuromuscular wiring and proprioception necessary to perform the skill.

Second, and this point stems from the first is that since no particular exercises are going to make you a better performer at a specific sport skill, why is it bad then to follow a generalized strength and conditioning program that promotes well-rounded fitness? The answer to this question is that it is not bad! In fact it is beneficial. Again, from my experience in athletics and training, though specific programs and exercises will not make you better at a sport, "functional movements" such as those advocated by the Crossfit methodology will increase athletic performance capacity. All that this means is that I person that has a generally well-rounded and well-wired neuromuscular system and well developed body awareness will have a better aptitude in learning sport specific skills faster and will be able to perform these skills with greater proficiency when compared to a less fit individual with a similar natural athletic ability. This is an important concept, because every sport requires proficiency in more than one skill. For instance, a quarterback in football is mostly thought to throw the football. So is it correct to say to be a better quarterback, and individual should only practice things related to throwing a football better? No, because the qualities of a good quarterback also include being able to run, move around in limited space, have the body awareness to realize their own relationship to their surroundings, and occasionally throw a block or two. The above description of the physical job of a quarterback requires multiple neuromuscular and proprioceptive stimuli for every play. Thus, knowing this it would be a good idea to train the neuromuscular system in a broad and general fashion so that the afore mentioned quarterback to react to any situation that may arise during a play.

The third problem, which arises from problem number two is that because organizations such as the NSCA promote such a narrowly focused training of the neuromuscular response, when competitors in sport are approached with a situation that their training has not created a response for their body is left frozen or without physical reaction. This can be seen in many sports on any given day. Think about how many times you have seen a football game where on a given play the quarterback's protection breaks down and he is left unprepared to handle the situation. The typical physical response seen in this situation is that the quarterback stands there and gets crushed and often injured. My point is that when training with this narrow or specific stimulus approach, strength and conditioning coaches leave their athletes unprepared and the result is that these athletes get injured more frequently. The response by the NSCA (and this is reflected in Mark Rippetoe's letter) has been to increase the promotion of physical therapy type exercises in hopes that this will decrease sport related injury. The problem with this is that this approach will never work due to the reasons laid out in the previous paragraph. Poorly prepared athletes will always have a higher suscepability to injury than well rounded and properly prepared athletes. No amount of physical therapy type exercises will ever change that.

In conclusion, the point of this post was to be informative, but also stimulate thought on proper training philosophy. The Crossfit methodology and philosophy are absolutely wonderful, and I would love to be able to go to a certification, but I just cannot afford it... maybe one day, however, it often angers me when I see hostile responses or postings that have no empirical support. Though Crossfit does break away from what is considered the accepted empirical evidence for proper exercise programming, that does not mean that their is no scientific support for why Crossfit works. There is, and anyone that does Crossfit should feel the obligation to learn why it works because it is absolutely amazing! Now that I am done with my rant, I encourage people to comment on my thoughts and would really love to know what Coach and Mr. Rippetoe feel about my comments.

Thanks for the time and as always to the best pursuit of your endeavors,

Torey

On Taubes, Bray and GCBC

First, Dave #82, Gary is not a doctor, he is a brilliant journalist.

More importantly, however, Bray like many other scientists I have discussed this, seems to miss the fundamental point of GBGC. This may be in part because GGBC covers such a wide range of topics and includes so much detail.

The fundamental point is that we accept that a positive calorie balance is associated with obesity. The question is whether positive calorie balance induces obesity or whether obesity induces a positive calorie balance.*

Moreover, though I think Gary doesn't say this enough, I don't think it is controversial that obesity can be STUNTED with a low calorie and perhaps sufficiently low fat diet.

Just as vertical growth or muscle growth can be stunted with a sufficiently low calorie or low protein diet.

This is somewhat different than asking what "causes" obesity.

Said another way, a relatively high level calories consumed seems a necessary condition for obesity to proceed but is it a suffiecent condition to induce obesity.

Can we overfeed anyone with anything and get obesity? It seems the answer is no.

Can we overfeed anyone with refined carbohydrates and induce obesity. So far the evidence is that we can. Therefore, it seems that carbohydrates may play some role in the cause of obesity.

I would like to write more but work calls.

*Some third factor could be inducing both but I don't think that is a common current hypothesis.

On this rest day, I justed wanted to salute one of the great figures of the 20th century, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who died yesterday.

Hey folks,

Lot of stuff to talk about today, but I want to talk about the VA Beach certification seminar I just attended.

I've always been impressed with the teaching videos that are up on the site when CF trainers are giving presentations, and the trainers at this cert were awesome. The presentations were crisp, obviously informative, and entertaining enough for the type of person that may have trouble focusing in a class setting (assuming someone had that problem at the seminar, which I would have trouble understanding).

I loved how the trainers had what I like to call "the switch". Usually I associate that with someone "getting down to business" yet able to flick the switch to "hang out" or "shoot the bull". These trainers seamlessly made that transition from professional to buddy without a problem. A fine, impressive job indeed.

To continue with the emphasis on the trainers, they are all absolutely passionate about CF. They do the workouts religiously, they are consistent with a diet that maximizes their potential, and they revel in those spectacular moments of busting ass in a CrossFit workout. I vividly remember Andrew watching someone with eyes wide do a butterfly kip with their chest (not just chin) coming over the bar on their first set of pull-ups during Fran and saying, "Oh HELL yeah!" I also remember Jeff yelling something along the lines of, "I -expletive-ING LOVE THIS!" during Fight Gone Bad the next day. There were plenty of stories similar to those two.

The point is that they all have an absolute passion for CrossFit and every one of them is knowledgeable in ever facet. While Pat did the nutrition class, I saw Jeff doing some chalk talk with someone during a lunch break. He also helped others with pull-ups during a break the day before. The guy absolutely loves him some CrossFit.

That's appreciative from my standpoint, because I feel the same exact way, and this cert seminar was one of the first steps of many for my official involvement with CrossFit.

All of the trainers (Pat, Andy, Andrew, Jeff, Chris, Thomi, Andrea, Steve – hopefully I didn’t leave anyone out) made this cert enjoyable and ultimately a learning experience. It was a reiteration of all I have read and learned about CrossFit this year, but I learned firsthand how they carry themselves both in a classroom setting and a training/coaching setting. I saw different, yet all effective, training styles for teaching the fundamental movements to groups of people, and took an absurd number of mental notes on how to better my craft.

Here is my personal thank you to all of the trainers. I look up to you guys and hope to see you all again in some capacity in the future, hopefully sooner than later. Don’t be surprised if you get a call or an e-mail from me to pick your brain. Andrew: keep making your jokes, but only if you keep kicking ass in what you do. Steve and Co.: thanks for the extra motivation on Fran/FGB. I don’t think I can say enough about this group.

Now to very few negatives about the cert (which were environmental). As with most CF facilities, it was a hot and humid environment. As they said, “PR’s aren’t normally set at that facility.” Since the facility is shared with the Tony Blauer’s company, I don’t know if they could bolt those pull-up bars into the floor, but that would probably help the slight rocking.

A combination of me not being able to get a lot of straight bar pull-ups in general, and not many pull-ups leading up to the cert helped me tear my hands apart during Fran on Saturday. For the record, I didn’t have giant calluses that I didn’t take care of (I was asked multiple times). I chalked up well, but by round two I was bloody (I went ahead and kept going because we were at the cert, and no sense in regretting the opportunity to not finish). Some theories attributed it to the humidity softening the skin, but I attribute it to not toughening up my hands prior with limited pull-up time, and the very slight and soft knurling on the bar (may have been better had there not been that slight knurling? Who knows). For the record, the diameter of the bars was A-OK (any bigger would have lowered grip strength).

The next day we did FGB, and the Dynamax balls were completely soaked in sweat. This made wall-ball damn near impossible (I’ve never used a Dynamax in that condition before), and was a hell of an irritation. It would slip from my grip on the way up, and slip on the way down when trying to catch it. It’s funny now how pissed I was at the time, but it did limit my score (Rule #76: No excuses. Play like a champion).

Those are the only two negatives from my time at the cert seminar (ripping my hands/sweaty balls…c’mon, I had to). The trainers told us repeatedly to critique the cert on the comments today, so I wanted to give it my full attention. I know this is a LONG post, so to summarize:

-The trainers were great and made this a fun, successful, and worthwhile experience.
-To future attendees, BRING A TOWEL (probably 17 to 38 of them), because you’ll be sweatin’ if you’re workin’.
-A few more boxes of chalk would have helped so people didn’t have to scramble for it (especially with the humidity/sweat on the bars).
-Thanks to everyone, attendees and trainers. Stay in touch; my e-mail is linked with my name on this post. Good luck to you all!

Anyone else receive the latest issue of ESPN the magazine and see Coach's son in there. I assume he is going to Bejing? What an accomplishment. I will look for him during the coverage. If that is not the best testimonial of crossfit and what coach believes I don't know what is!!!

#115 - in8girl, a fat bar is harder on your grip, while the skinny bar is a lot easier to hold on to. Either way, both allow you to increase different parts of the workload, grip or reps. I think it's good to vary it.

On the subject of GCBC, I am a big fan of the paleolithic diet. My principles are if I can't kill it, find it, or brew it, it doesn't go in my body. Yes, I said brew. God I love my beer...

The big factor I try to stress on my overweight family members is HFCS and other refined sugars. Cut all of them out. Do more work, move your body more. Play with the kids, go to the pool, walk the dog. It's a start, right?

Once my obese uncle had said to me, "but it's so easy for you."

Wrong buddy. You try getting a sub-5 Fran! It's hard, every day, all day. It takes discipline, dedication, and intensity. It bleeds into other aspects of my life too.

It was bound to happen. $110/hour to play Nintendo at the gym!

"between treadmills and elliptical trainers, gym members already are accustomed to working out with machines while staring at TV screens..."

"I use it in what we call 'active recovery time,' during which normally I would have them do a wall sit," she [a trainer] said. "But this is like a reward."

and my favorite from a gym client: "I was not really prepared - it kicked my ass"

Here's the link: w/f/s. http://www.nypost.com/seven/08042008/news/regionalnews/gyms_wii_zy_money_122934.htm

Keith #71,

The good thing about the Internet, OK, the bad thing for you, is that we don't have to dicker; there's a public record.

The entire Dan John fiasco occurred in public. That is, in fact, something I took some criticism for. Your characterization is flat out false.

Maybe you don't remember, more likely you weren't paying attention, but at any rate my criticisms were made on these very pages and that record is indisputably in sync with my comments today.

Maybe you have claim to my motivations beyond the public record of my statements, but I find that ludicrous.

Do a little homework and come back and explain to us the source of your confusion. It would be interesting to see.

22/M/150lbs/5'6"

Did the NavySeals WOD

Many rounds as possible in 20 mins of:

20 Kettlebell Swings (25lbs)
5 Burpees
5 Sumo Dead-lift High Pulls (65lbs)

Total Rounds- 12 w/ 5 KB swings

USMC OCC-Class199

Dave #82,

Well conceived response, but you also missed the point just like Dr Bray. Mr Taubes does not acknowledge that excess calorie intake LEADS to weight gain, he acknowledges that the two are associated. Association is not causation, although even respected scientists and researchers make that logical fallacy at times. In fact, Mr Taubes uses quite a bit of ink to drill that very point into his readers' heads in the book.

People who are overweight eat more calories than they expend. Why? Because they have elevated insulin levels, which causes their bodies to preferentially store calories as fat. Thus, with more calories going into fat cells and fewer nourishing tissues, the body signals that it is hungry and the individual eats more.

To use a very simplistic mathematical example, suppose a normal person has insulin levels which result in 10% of all calories entering fat cells. Their basal metabolism and activity level requires 1800 calories to sustain at equilibrium. Thus, they would eat 2000 calories a day, since 200 of those calories (10%) would go into fat cells and be unavailable to other cells for use as energy. On the other hand, an overweight person may have elevated insulin levels which cause 20% of all calories to go straight to the fat cells. This person, even with the same caloric requirements, would naturally eat 2250 calories a day, since 450 would be locked in fat cells (20%). Thus, we see how a hormonal imbalance which controls fat storage (the cause) would create overeating (the effect).

This example oversimplifies the biology, but I think it is a good illustration of how excess caloric intake (overeating) could be an effect instead of a cause.

On a different note, Gary Taubes and his book are a frequent rest day topic for Crossfit. I've seen quite a few posts which discuss personal "beliefs" on diet and weight loss as though it were some metaphysical concept, and these posts tend to ignore the book or dismiss it as one in a long line of diet/health books which have done nothing to alleviate the public health problems of the modern world. There is a very good reason why Coach chooses to post these links, and I think it is because Mr Taubes has struck gold with his book. I suggest all of you who care enough to participate in these discussions read it if you haven't already.

m/35/220ish/5'11

Didn't do WOD as Rx'd :)

Worked on BackSquat form with the bar.

On a small, nonjudgement note, the gentleman with the lats is impressive. I, however, applaud the ladies who do crossfit. Nice job!

Wow, after reading today's postings, I got geeky and threw down the 100 burpee gauntlet to my co-workers. They've accepted the challenge...

100 burpees everyday for time for 100 days; CrossFit Games style. I've committed to completing my task first thing in the morning.

See what happens when Coach posts online? He should be more responsible than that; he inspires with such ease...

Coach and RIP,
Sirs thank you for all that you have given to the Crossfit community. I don't know much about the NCSA, but I know this. I've been doing crossfit steadily for the last four months and the strength and endurance gains my friends and I have experienced are great. As a previous slave to Globo Gyms with a prescribed day of arms, chest, back or legs I was bored and often going to the gym alone. Now my friends and I frantically hit the refresh button to see what madness has been prescribed for the day hoping to come close to the times posted by CROSSFIT MONSTERS. Can't wait for tomorrow and really looking forward to attending a level I Certification. Thanks again.

The 2-star wants to outfit a new gym w/ CF equip at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. If anyone has an equipment template for (scaled) outfitting by either # of athletes or floorspace, please email me & I'll forward it to the Navy Capt making it happen. I'm guessing it'll be a mixed use facility, therefore making the best use of floorspace will most likely be a priority.

Thanks

#122

That article was crazy!!! $110 to play a video game??? Am I missing something? Why not just buy the game system and do it at home?

"I decided to give it a try to break up the monotony - I just felt like I was in a rut," she said. "But I was not really prepared - it kicked my @$$."

Yeah, I remember being in a rut. I tried this crazy little thing called Crossfit. And I've been doing it ever since.

#120 -

This is an ongoing point of confusion that should be clarified. Casey Burgener is an Olympic weightlifter and trains accordingly. He does not do CrossFit workouts. Were he training other individuals (non-weightlifters), would he use CF methods? Likely. But understand that CF is a GPP program, and that Casey is very much a specialist - his achievements are the result of many years of specialized weightlifting training with extremely minimal GPP work (and definitely none that could be considered metabolic conditioning).

There may be other Olympians who do rely on CF for portions of their training, but Casey is not one of them.

Gym membership - $35
Gym bag - $20
Workout clothes - $45
IPOD (1GB) - $50

Knowledge and training from Crossfit - Priceless

:)

Workout of the Day (WOD)from the Archives

http://www.crossfit.com/cf-archives/Archived_workouts/arc_aug/today010804.html

Today

Clean and Jerk 21-15-12-9-6-3 and 1 reps.

Notes:

1) Add weight to each set. Rest two minutes between sets.
2) Total loads for all 7 sets.
3) No rest on ground during sets. Touch and go at ground.

CnJ
85lb 21rep
95lb 15rep
115lb 12rep
125lb 9rep
135lb 6rep
145lb 3rep
155lb 1rep

I like the video.

It is nice to see some humans working out instead of the usual super-heroes.

Obesity is multifactoral, develops over time, and manifest differently among individuals. I define it as a relapsing, chronic neurochemical disease. No specific dietary regimen can change that. We must accept the fact that we cannot cure obesity with diets.

Since we don’t fully understand the causes of obesity, we should take the patient’s responsibility out of it. Rather than focusing on the gluttony, sloth, and moral issues, it is far better to address the neurochemical imbalance and why it occurs. [In other words, let's give them drugs.]

WTF?

This guy actually holds professorships and has written published scientific articles? Diet can't change obesity? Maybe he's right? Maybe we should stop telling people to put down the remote and potato chips? After all, chunky people don't need exercise?

Bray says,

>>Why is a high-fat diet conducive to the development of obesity? First, fat has a higher energy density than do other foods. Second, metabolic adaptation to a high-fat diet requires a longer time than to a high-carbohydrate diet

First, energy density does not determine calories in. And the second reason seems doubtful. Man has a dual digestive system to survive on fat rich bone marrow or bananas. Homo sapiens is a slow species, but had two hands free to carry tools. He was last to the kill, when only bones were left. But he brought his stone knife.

Mostly, Bray should be ignored because of his reliance on the Marxist worldview, perfected by Democrats, of victimhood. Obesity is a disease to which fat people succumb. The electorate comprises innocents and have-nots -- victims of George W. Bush, or whichever Republican is in office.

Regardless, Bray is wong. Eades is wrong. Taubes is wrong.

One of the first things taught in thermodynamics is to draw an imaginary envelope around your system, and then account for everything that goes in and goes out. The fate of energy in is not just avoirdupois + body heat lost + work done on the environment. Missing in this equation is the caloric value of the stool.

The assumption that the caloric value of stool is zero must be as wrong for humans as it is for oxen. The assumption that whatever the caloric value is, it must be the same for all people, and all diets, must be proved.

We need to know the caloric value of stool as it depends on the proportions of fat, carbohydrate, and protein in the diet. When that is determined, we might be able to characterize individual metabolic types. Only in that framework, can we begin to make useful models for diet and body fat on which we might find some agreement. So let's revisit models of overweight and diet when the stinking homework is done.

Thermodynamics is she who must be obeyed.

P.S.

Re sport specific fitness. CrossFit is training for a malevolent society. That's one where you train for the shot put, but when you get to the meet they throw you in the pool.

Concerning CSCS response:

This is timely. I just received Rip's/Kilgore's _Practical Programming_ today, in which Rip signed: "Grow, dammit." Classic Rip!

I have a CSCS and haven't been able to attend the Level I cert yet. Also, I haven't yet been able to read Rip's .pdf because my work filter won't let me.

I don't disagree at all with Coach and am sure he is spot on, this is why my NSCA text is shelved and I am devouring the monthly CF Journal, _Pose Method_, _Starting Strength_, _Practical Programming_, _Strong Enough?_, and _Basic Barbell Trng._ all at the same time.

However, please let me offer this: let's recognize the NSCA and the CSCS for what it is. Flawed though it may be, it continues to be the current industry standard, and for good reason. They successfully established a firm foundation for the fitness industry to build from. They, and not Crossfit, established an internationally recognized, peer-governed, board certification that has allowed the fitness industry to achieve the respect and professional status that is enjoys today. The NSCA is also ultimately responsible for an international peer-reviewed, empirically driven research journal that continues to build autonomy and respect within the medical community. They, more than anyone else to date, have demanded a minimum-level of competence concerning anatomy, phyisology, biomechanics, energy systems, programming, and yes, even strength and conditioning.

I am CSCS certified, and (sadly) not yet CF LI certified. Yet there is no question in my mind that CrossFit is vastly superior. However, just as the medical community evolved from bleeding, humors, and unsterile environs, so too the fitness industry is currently suffering under severe labor-pains as a result of the birth of the FrankenFitness monster that is CrossFit.

Consider: Sir Rip was CSCS certified. He is no longer. BUT, you cannont escape the fact that the initial bootprints of his journey as a fitness-industry leader have "CSCS" in the heel. Rip has moved on. Fitness is moving on. I am currently packing to move on, but without my CSCS, to this day I STILL may not have heard about Crossfit (I don't have television or get the local newspaper). Like it or not, the _whole_ truth is that all three (me, Sir Rip, and CrossFit itself, and many, many others, have their foundations with CSCS. Coach Glassman, simply put, is an oracle at least a decade (if not two) before his time, who has come to heal the sick and make the blind see. And the gospel is this: the CSCS has outlived it's usefulness, and the indulgences paid to the NSCA are doing little more than making it's Magesterium fat.

YES. You (and soon I will be able to say "WE") are better. Far and away better. However, like it or not, your success is ulitmately a result of the hundreds of thousands of hours of work, testing, research, training, and studying that even more thousands of sincere and devoted students and scholars of fitness poured into the engine that is the NSCA.

I am, now and forever, a CrossFit Disciple. I will raise the banner of CF _every_ _time_ when confronted by my NSCA peers. I merely and humbly offer a word of warning: careful where you swing that ax. You may come to find one day you are attached to the very roots you so wish to sever.

Now, if you will excuse me, Coach has some homework I need to get through.

Last night, while flying home from the RKC at UCLA, this was posted on the site here. My daughter, Kelly, by the way is now Kelly John, RKC:
Tim J, #37

Dan John wasn't removed for "not furiously defending crossfit", he was criticized for making profoundly misleading statements about his involvement with CF, and our influence on his professional work, and then passed up for a much more accomplished lifter and coach, Mark Rippetoe. It was all nettlesome, yet I'd do it again if circumstance presented itself similarly.

Comment #49 - Posted by: Coach at August 3, 2008 10:38 PM

Later, Keith made a comment and this is the response:

Keith #71,

The good thing about the Internet, OK, the bad thing for you, is that we don't have to dicker; there's a public record.

The entire Dan John fiasco occurred in public. That is, in fact, something I took some criticism for. Your characterization is flat out false.

Maybe you don't remember, more likely you weren't paying attention, but at any rate my criticisms were made on these very pages and that record is indisputably in sync with my comments today.

Maybe you have claim to my motivations beyond the public record of my statements, but I find that ludicrous.

Do a little homework and come back and explain to us the source of your confusion. It would be interesting to see.

Comment #123 - Posted by: Coach at August 4, 2008 1:08 PM

So, to “do a little homework,” I would actually go back to the discussion concerning Josh Hillis. This was the conversation that began to make me worry about certain things. (I realize there is a lot missing from just quoting your response, but it is the response that is the key here.)
Josh Hillis,
You are making everything worse. Much worse.
“CrossFit was being slammed because you are known for attacking people personally when they disagree with you”
This is pure bull-shit. I attack the character of people for being unethical shitbags. It’s now your turn. I attacked one of your KB friends/elites for his racist comments and abuse of a young Pararescue trainee all for being black and wearing a CrossFit T-shirt at Pararescue jump-school where he is the bus driver. I attacked another guy’s character for taking a thread on CrossFit private sending G-Mac an email claiming to have secret knowledge of a gaggle of CrossFit-injured NSW personnel. G-Mac and the Doc’s at NSW know it’s a lie. The guy didn’t know of our work or contacts at NSW. He was suggesting, hell stating, that the NSW personnel considering CrossFit ought to come train with him and stay away from dangerous CrossFit. If ANYONE knows of an entire group hurt CrossFitting and can only talk about it privately they are being unethical. We all have an obligation to share first with the purveyor and then with the public any injuries endemic to any regimen. I couldn’t share all the details because G-Mac asked me not to let the dude know that he’d sent me the email. Shortly thereafter G-Mac released me from my promise. I challenged the guy to publicly deny my accusations of his unethical behavior. He never did.
You can't come up with an example of me attacking someones character for disagreeing with me. I can’t even imagine doing that. Most people disagree with me on most things and I don’t spend very much time attacking anyone. You are an asshole for saying so. Let’s be perfectly clear – I AM ATTACKING YOUR CHARACTER.
“The Dragon Door crew was hammering that you weren’t a good Coach because you don’t work out.”
Where did my not working out come from? It came from the NYT. Cooperman asked if I did the WOD every day. I said, “no, I’m usually experimenting on myself and others with protocols that will quickly be abandoned and it would be unethical to spread them to the community at large adding that most of what we monkey with will never make it to wider audience.” I also let her know that locally we only rarely do the WOD because I have better options, trainers, and equipment than does the cyber community of CrossFit. I also told her I had a penchant for bicycles that kept me from being as fit as I might. I was the original CrossFitter and I can, at 49, still outperform more CrossFitters than not.
And now I’m attacking your character for repeating the absurd charge. Note: not for you disagreeing with me but for your total lack of character in repeating that baseless NYT nonsense at DD and here. That it is coming from such incredibly weak performers as Jack (super-obese), you (9:40 70 lb, Fran), Stephen (26 minute Fran), and the rest of the best of the DD crew who perform at less than half the output of CrossFit women while also claiming CrossFit to be of limited efficacy (Here you’re innocent) makes me nauseous. Nearly all of the DD elite have either come to CrossFit and folded (very publicly collapsed and given up, come in last of 60+, been crushed by our women, rhabdoed) or hide behind nonsenical theoretical objections (e.g., adaptations are cyclic, not linear, therefor CF sucks, I'd like to see these CFers in 50 years, etc) and I have protected the reputations of all those who folded by never mentioning their limited fitness.
Poke fun of my limp as a friend – we’re cool. I’ve thicker skin than you’ll ever be able to understand. But when it comes from someone who falsely accuses me of routine character assassinations and stupidity, and sees fit to repeat NYT charges as fact, it becomes making fun of disability.
We have a therapy for injuries here at CrossFit called STFU. It’s your turn to take some. One more peep from you, Josh, and I'm going to ask and then follow Lynne Pitts recommendation on dealing with you. I'd take the STFU.
Comment #131 - Posted by: Coach at January 8, 2006 6:24 AM

As many people know, I like Josh and I find his insights concerning the training of women to be absolutely on the money. I have purchased his books and continue to find great training materials in his blog. So, I found it difficult to see this in a public space, especially as Josh has the CFT certifications.

About two weeks later (Jan 20, 2006?), I don’t have access to the forums during 2006 so I can’t use the discussion forum here at Crossfit to reference things, TC wrote an article over at t-nation.com including a line about crossfit:

“Oh yeah, and screw Crossfit and their like. What, you have so little imagination that you need a website for housewives and pampered stockbrokers to give you your daily, completely arbitrary workout?

Friday's workout:

Run 400 meters

Do 20 push-ups

Dance like a cast member of the Broadway musical Cats for 15 minutes

That's a workout! You're all winners!

Jesus!

A program needs progression. A program needs to be cycled. Oh yeah, a program needs weights, too, and bars, and cages. Going to the park and jumping around like a poodle dog with a peach pit up his butt is not going to make you look much better.”

Getting ready for a very large workshop the next day, I got an odd email from someone…and I wish I would have kept it…to “explain my training” or something. I wrote this at t-nation:

“Hey, since I got called out...and I am no way stepping in to any of this. 

Steve Cotter is coming to my school tomorrow to do a five hour kettlebell (among other things) workshop. 

I just finished doing an "okay" Squat Snatch workout then went for a Heavyhands walk with my wife and my dog...the dog does Heavyleash. 

I was at the TestFest weekend last week and set up meetings with a noted chiropractor, a famous powerlifter, and a bunch of guys who understand hypertrophy from experience. 

I worked with a shot putter, a discus thrower and a javelin thrower today at different workouts. In other words, it would be a rare issue that I wouldn't agree with at some level in the world of T-Nation. 

Okay, I make fun of swiss balls and step aerobics. I can't help myself...”

As I tried to explain at the time, Greg…and you didn’t return my emails or telephone calls as you might remember, but kept it on the public orums…I was hosting a seminar, didn’t read the article, and only after getting calls from family and friends did I realize how far it had gone.

You wrote:

“Whether a quirk of my character or just another facet of the political gulf that divides us, I think that a man should maintain the same face publicly that he does privately with respect to principles and friendships, and that financial incentives, especially trifling ones, shouldn’t cause wholesale sellout of those who’ve long supported all of your interests.

Someone behaving in such a manner calls to serious doubt any prior notions I may have held of their being “obviously good” (#133) and rapidly erodes even the “highest respect” (#131) I may have held for them.

Dan’s significant contributions to this community were for most of our leadership related to his charisma, charm, and humor and the values that he so openly claims and not his technical understanding of movement or his coaching prowess, so this is doubly insulting and damaging to our relationship.

A simple, “I’ve met many of these soldiers at several CrossFit events, and, like them, I use CrossFit in my professional work” would have been honest and mildly courageous. Instead, on being conjured-up to attest to our legitimacy/authenticity, he bowed out and then took the opportunity to lapse into self-promotion mode.”

Comment #135 - Posted by: Coach at January 22, 2006 8:55 AM

You wrote earlier in the day:

“4. Dan John called me to explain his writing for T-Nation as "whoring" himself and something about the kids and college coming up and money. This is after asking if he could use my CrossFit Journals as the textbook for his new "Dream Job". I GAVE him rights to our most valued IP to which he was very effusive in his thanks ("Thank you, thank you, thank you,.." was the phone message). And today he cannot muster a single word in defense of CrossFit when publicly called to? I understand whoring, kind of, what I don't understand is cowardice. Sad display of values, Dan.

This is not fun for me. It's profoundly saddening, even sickening.

I am so proud of this community, who we are, who we're not. Thank you, everyone. I'm made better by serving you.”

Comment #116 - Posted by: Coach at January 20, 2006 8:29 PM

For the record, I met with the assistants and my Department Head. We tossed the copies of the Crossfit Journals that we had copied for my assistants and moved on. And, when you look at it on black and white, “whoring” was a bad choice. It was an attempt at humor. I explained that to TC both in a letter and a telephone call. For the record, these events in January 2006 had the effect of ruining some of the dreaminess of my “Dream Job.”

As I pointed out at the time, by keeping this private, at some level might have been a wiser course.

I remained a member in good standing on the forums for a long time. If you recall, I started received “BCC” emails that were long “multi-forwarded” attacks on my character and skills. I put one of them up in the Community area of the board and it was instantly deleted. I think that is about the time I was banned.

This morning, I was given a little note that you have finally explained your position concerning me. I welcome that and I can understand the confusion, as I had no clue either.

Our relationship began when you linked my website. Later, I think during the weekend of the Modesto Relays, I gave a talk at your Santa Cruz facility. After that, you joined my family for dinner here at our table on the way to Colorado and we had two fine weekends at the Colorado Patrol. (Even though on the second trip, I allowed a small infection in my finger to nearly put me in the hospital, as you might remember. It was a good lesson in hygiene and the dangers of cardboard cuts.)

I can’t comment on this: “then passed up for a much more accomplished lifter and coach, Mark Rippetoe” beyond the fact that I just spent three days in the shadow of the John Wooden Building on UCLA’s campus and I am uncomfortable trying to even use the phrase Coach after acknowledging his achievements…not only on the court but the impact on a generation of teachers. In 2004, 2005 and early 2006, I did not hear about Mark. I have great respect for him and his mentor, Bill Starr. Starr was nearly a lone voice against HIT back in the 1980s.

I’m not sure I ever had a professional relationship with crossfit. So, being “passed up” would have been natural. You paid for lunch when I gave the workshop in Santa Cruz and my rooms in Colorado. I am pretty sure I paid for flights and I’m sure that we shared drinks and a meal. I gave workshops that were popular enough to still be referenced and used by the crossfit community and I notice that some things like “Slosh Pipes” and “Goblet Squats” have been used by many members here. In fact, I noted not long ago that the inventor of the Slosh Pipe, Greg Henger, is often forgotten when the affiliates give credit to this fun inexpensive occasional training tool.

In reading my articles and listening to anything I have to say anywhere, you will note that I consistently give credit to those who influence me in my career. I think one merely look at the booklet I made about the training philosophy of Dick Notmeyer, the constant mention of my “Wooden,” Ralph Maughan, and the stories I tell of people big and small that influenced my coaching and athletic life. When we met, I had been coaching since 1979 and your comment, “our influence on his professional work,” has to be seen in the light of an athlete who competed at a NCAA Division One school (and High Point Man for the team) and trained with the best and brightest in elite athletics. So, the influences on my professional work are many and any credit not given to you by me is an error, but hopefully you can see that our time together is part of this puzzle that leads to superior athletic performance.

I appreciate your honesty and candor on this post as it clears up much for me. Since we didn’t discuss this in January 2006, perhaps there was no need to bring it up, but, as the cliché goes, “it was broughten.”

I continue to dialogue and enjoy time with many members of this community. For that, I am grateful.

Sorry, I can't seem to shut my brain off right now.

A few more thoughts:

As an AF physical therapist, I search through the NSCA's "Strength and Conditioning Journal" for research articles pertinent to CF's methodology in an effort to bolster CF's claims and athlete results with empirical evidence. Why? Because commanders, first sergeants, and anyone in a position of authority to deploy troops in support of the Global War On Terror (GWOT) begin asking questions about empirical efficacy/evidence/relevence concerning fitness improvement, especially when I start serving up kipping pull-ups, box-jumps, and 55lb KB swings.

IMHO, we throw rocks at the glass NSCA house at our own peril. While horribly flawed, they have an army of sincere and dedicated PhD types conducting very beneficial research, peer-reviewed and scientifically rigorous, that Crossfit is decades away from duplicating if we intend to attempt to do it independently (which again demonstrates Coach's prescience).

I don't need, nor do I even WANT, Coach and Rip to bow at the altar of the NSCA. Their success IN SPITE of their irreverence for the fitness industry says it all: CF is IT. Bar none.

However, when CF gets serious in its efforts to begin building a research base (and maybe that will never be a focus?), or, IOW, when CF opens a can of empirical whup@$$ on Big Fitness, a lot of the reference articles supporting our work, as much as we hate to admit it, are going to come from the NSCA's S&C Journal.

Or maybe not.

Just my $.02.

Scott

*****VB Level 1 Cert*****

Congrats to all the new level 1's. You guys were the most motivated crowd I have ever had the honor of teaching. Thanks for all your energy!

To all my trainers, thanks. You all make my job easy.

To all the people who ripped their hands open on the wonderful pull-up bars (and I know there were a lot of you!), I don't know what to say. I work out in the CrossFit Training Center all the time, no AC, hot & humid as hell. I like it. It makes the WODs even harder! :)

I have never ripped my hands open on the bars. I don't know if I'm just lucky or if I have ripped enough skin off over the years that my palms are leather now. Either way, I saw some great rips! Blood was running down people's hands and all they would do is grin, chalk up and hit the bar for the next set!! You guys and girls fired me up all weekend! Thanks again!

I attended the Level 1 cert at VaBeach this weekend, and I'd like to echo what #113 Dave and #119 Justin wrote in their posts. I can't thank the trainers enough for their organization, execution, and enthusiasm throughout the weekend.

Two aspects of the weekend that I'd like to touch on are the quality of the instruction and the group atmosphere.

The trainers know their stuff cold, and there is no doubt in my mind that they genuinely want to help you understand it. I recognized information during the lectures that I had read in the CFJ and seen online (kudos to CF's open-source model), but to get it in person from someone who commands a superior understanding of the information and to be able to ask questions is a whole other ball-game, and vastly added to my understanding of CrossFit(and everything that encompasses). Then, to have those experienced trainers critique your form, and explain how they approach their own clients, was a satisfying, albeit challenging, learning exercise. A certificate does not a good CrossFit trainer make; that takes knowledge, experience, patience, and a passion to teach, all of which the guys and gals instructing at the cert had in buckets.

The group atmosphere was a huge part of the cert experience for me. The difference between CrossFitting alone in my globo-gym and being part of a huge group Fran and FGB is immense. The community aspect of CrossFit, that which I had been lacking, was one reason I went to the cert, and I was not disappointed. It was refreshing and elevating to interact with and workout with people from different backgrounds, locales, and focuses, but all who share the drive and priorities that propel us headlong into CrossFit. I am envious of those of you whom have affiliates close by, because that community aspect, while to some degree replicated online, is an integral part of forging elite fitness.

Thank you again, trainers.

Hey,

I just saw that John Welbourn just got signed by the Pats. Just thought that I would say congrats to the big guy on being signed.

Jeff:

I am not really sure how the stool hypothesis contradict Gary's work?

Let's assume that the caloric content of stool is not a linear function of calories consumed. How does that affect the basic question of whether caloric imbalance induces obesity or the other way around. Certainly it upsets the simple overeating hypothesis but does it upset the carbohydrate hypothesis?

Jeff:

I am not really sure how the stool hypothesis contradict Gary's work?

Let's assume that the caloric content of stool is not a linear function of calories consumed. How does that affect the basic question of whether caloric imbalance induces obesity or the other way around. Certainly it upsets the simple overeating hypothesis but does it upset the carbohydrate hypothesis?

Thanks for the clarification Josh. I know Casey must do more than just crossfit. Did he get any of his early teaching on the olympic lifts from Coach?

Don't know all about the argument between Dan John and Coach, but don't get me started on John Wooden. One of the biggest cheaters of all-time, but all the media does is deify him.

My wife and I just got home from the level 1 cert in VA. Hats off to the crew, you were all awesome! I have zero complaints. I think I learned more in a 2-day Crossfit seminar than I did in 2 YEARS of exercise science grad school!! I will also let my CSCS expire : ) Thank you Pat, Andrew, Andy, Steve, Thomi, Andrea and Jeff for a great weekend!

#145 -

I'm the other Everett - Greg. And no, we're not related. If you mean by "Coach" Coach Glassman, no. Casey's father, Mike Burgener, has been an Olympic weightlifting coach for 30+ years, a national level competitor himself, I believe still holds the press record at Notre Dame (400 lbs), and is a USAW senior international coach who has produced numerous national champion weightlifters and trained numerous Olympians in other sports such as volleyball. Casey learned from him. Coach Burgener didn't become involved with CF until I think early 2004 or so - at that point, Casey was already a national record holder and multiple time jr and senior national champion, pan am and world team member. Coach B does use CF with many of the students and athletes he trains, but not with weightlifters.

Hi everyone,
My name is JC Veggie and I am a CrossFit addict. I've been addicted to CrossFit for about 6 months now. The first time I tried CrossFit it was just for fun. All my friends were doing it and I just wanted to fit in. I tried it a couple of times and I liked the way it made me feel. It was fun and I thought I could stop whenever I wanted. But I found out that I couldn't help it. Soon I was working out three days in a row before being able to pull myself away for a day of rest. Even then I would look at the site, watch videos and post on the site with all of the other addicts. Now I find that I am hiding Zone Perfect bars around my house and in my desk at work and I sneak away to watch WOD demo videos in the middle of the day just to give me a shot of adrenaline and to try and quench the hunger that I have for the workout that I will be doing that day. I thought no one could tell how addicted I was but now I have people telling me all the time how fit I look. I hope my dealer keeps up the fantastic work and keeps suppling me with my daily dose of WODS. I look forward to a lifetime of addiction.

Congratulations to CrossFit Edmonton.

Congratulations to Matt and his team at CrossFit Brisbane Australia, who opened the doors of their own CrossFit box for the first time last Saturday. I wish you every success!

Jim M

QUESTION

I have developed some nasty ring burns on my wrists from the false grip for muscle ups, is there a certain way to tape the rings so I can prevent this? Do you realize how much of a wuss I turn into when I put peroxide on my my wounds?? Any help is appreciated.

S/W/M/6'1/195/Enjoys pr's and food

Snatch work:
Burgener Warmup w/ bar
Burgener warm up with 65#
Power Snatch x3 at 85#
Snatch Balance x3 at 85#
Heaving Snatch Balancex 3 at 85#
overhead sqaut x3at 85#
Power Snatch x3 at 105#
Snatch Balance x3 at 105#
Heaving Snatch Balancex 3 at 105#
overhead sqaut x3 at 105#
Snatch double + 3 OHS at 105#
Snatch double at 125#
Singles:
135 x 3
145 x 2
155 x 1 (f)

I have a question on hand rips. I've been to a few affiliates and have yet to rip open my hand. I would be very concerned of disease or contraction of somebody's blood-borne problems.

Do you who rip their hands open at a cert or an affiliate continue on not worrying because of the low likelihood of contracting something or do you stop?

Just a curious question. I honestly don't know what I'd do. Though, halfway through a WOD, I'm sure I'd be super pumped to ravage through the rest of it with blood dripping down my forearms.

#150
I have tape on my rings but I find that taping the wrist up onto the base of my hand along with copious chalking to be the only way to prevent torn blisters from the false grip and muscleups.

I reposting my blog entry for today here, as it relates to VLCDs and CF

http://crossfitzonediet.blogspot.com/

Sunday, August 3, 2008
Atkins Induction Day 13
Even eating as much as I felt like yesterday, I still ended up with a caloric deficit of 2,147 calories (I'm very active). I felt ground down, and did not complete the two of the last three WODs. I'm chalking it up to the diet and considering it a sunk cost to have missed them. I am much closer to my weight goal for the quarter though (165, 11% bodyfat by Oct. 4th).

July 24th: 179.5 18% bodyfat (147 lean)
Aug. 2nd 171.5 14% bodyfat (147 lean)

- size 34 pants fit (barely) again.

The weight loss on Atkins seems to be as advertised, I seem to have low "metabolic resistance".

The mental/performance/physical benefits claims seem vastly overblown at least for me. I did experience some exercise-induced euphoria (perhaps the runners high occurs when the body is totally depleted of glycogen and has to use fat as fuel?). My performance overall was affected as follows:

Phospholytic: Strength/muscle mass; not affected
Glycolytic: Stamina; down perhaps 20%
Aerobic: Endurance; totally compromised, perhaps on the order of 50%

Conclusion: a VLCD is fantastic for reducing bodyfat without losing muscle mass. In addition, there is NO hunger on such a diet, which seems to reinforce Gary Taub's hypothesis that hunger causes fat accumulation and storage and not the other way around. A VLCD does not, however, seem to enhance performance, at least for me. Coach has stated that a diet much under 40% carbohydrate will not support CF-type metabolic loads, so this was not unexpected. Being able to loose 8 lbs of pure bodyfat in less than two weeks with no loss of muscle mass is pretty amazing, and this might be a great diet to pair with a two-week strength cycle at some point.

Danny,

Sorry about offending your friend Josh. I'm glad he's your friend and not mine. (For reasons stated)

I never got any phone calls and emails from you after our spat. I've heard the claim repeated by others but saw neither email nor heard phone msg. Why don't you resend the email(s) you sent? I'd like to see it/them.

I did see posts from other sites where you accuse us of taking things from you and not giving credit. One of these was regarding the slosh pipe which a) was not your idea b) we didn't get from anything you did, and c) we had no idea as to the inventor. I took your comments here to be nothing less than lies. Maybe it was more humor. Another concerned Tabata Squats - another lie or humor, I'm confused now.

As for the original dispute it had nothing to do with Josh. It was about your total silence regarding charges made by the guy at T-Nation that you knew damned well to be false. I thought that was a spineless act on your part. You threw your friends under the bus for a silly little job on a supplement site. I was floored. I'd have bet money that you'd not have done that. I'm smarter for the experience and can thank you for that.

As for the "passed up" comment I'm merely referring to our rejecting your offer to teach the lifts at our certs and my asking you to instead of instructing at the events to "deliver a homily" be the "chaplain of the event". You told me, "I know these lifts too" to which I told you, "I know just take it easy". This occurred twice. Long before our spat.

I trusted you, I found you funny. I enjoyed drinking with you. Your family is beautiful. I was shocked by your failure to defend this community in front of your new friends.

Your insult to this community was tacit yet very powerful. It was a shock to all of us at HQ. I'm willing to let it go, and truthfully I have, but my memory and opinion as to what constitutes decent behavior have not changed.

I'm going to try and call you.

171 - fixed (ignore)

08.08.04
Row 500 m
21,15,9 of:
back extensions
sit ups
OHS
pull ups
13:35

I finally got some time to comment on the Va Beach level 1 cert. Without wasting a lot of words and time it was AWESOME!!! -well beyond what I had expected. Trainers, thank you!! All of you are truly gifted instructors and your knowledge and passion are truly appreciated. I to have zero complaints.

Thanks also to everyone who stood up for our Icelandic buddies. They are truly amazing athletes that we have not seen the last of.

I just spoke to Dan John. He's my friend. The spat is over. We'll be getting together as soon as schedules allow. This was unfortunate and I regret my obvious part in allowing the row to start and continue.

JC # 144

Hey dude, it was 93 degrees outside and the humidity was through the roof. We were in a dog-gone concrete and metal box, so it was probably 100 degrees in the facility, and we just finished doing a Fran.

But it was FUH-UH-UN!

JC # 144, See above comment from Max. They literally just wrapped up all the rounds of Fran and the heat and humidityn was through the roof in that place. Enough said. Stop hating so much, you sound like a jerk. It was a great weekend, and probably the most motivating CrossFit experience of my life to this point. All the attendees and instructors kept the intensity, fun, and learning to a MAX. Could not be beat.

Coach - Or course Dan John was banned for not defending crossfit when the T-nation article came out. This was very clearly stated by yourself and the board administrator. It's in the archives if it hasn't been purged.

Coach,

Thanks for, once again, setting the example.

Your dedication to the community is appreciated.

Scott

wow
big day today.

what can i substitute for rows?

30 min jumprope warmup
10 push ups
10 bench dips
10 squats
stretches
*******************
making up sunday and sat WOD
Griff on Treadmill
2 degree incline (continuing to try to do pose)
5.8 forward
3.0 backwards (about 15 min for wod
did total back and forth 2.5 miles approx 30 min total workout
*********************
Did
sdhp sub 45#bar 21
15 45# bar thrusters
pull ups gravitron @100#
4:00
(2 min rest)

18 sdhp sub 45#
18 45# bar thrusters
18 pull ups gravtron 85#
(approx 5:00)

(2 min rest)

15 sdhp sub 45#
15 45# thrusters
15 pullups gravitron 85#
(approx 7 min)

total messed up numbers but finished workout

box jumps
started with 4 steps and step bench
added 2 step height after each 20 reps
max height 9 steps with step bench approx 24- 28"
(Need to take measuring tape to gym)
3 sets of 25 reps situps with 25lb plate
w/down
stretches

Warmup with jumping MU's and hspu practice then Griff: As Req 12:15

Had an hour of mandatory PT before including 1.5 run and cal's...def slowed me down a bit, but a good workout. Really gained confidence on the second backward 400.

anyone notice that whenever there is a seminar picture, there is always one person holding a beer?

havnt commented in a while (back to long and painful summer hours in the sun) i can only train maybe twice a week if im lucky so i either cherry pick or make my own. Tonight i got home early so I made a new workout thats pretty serious I suggest you try it. 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 HSPU/burpee time;10 34. Ill be back in december 100% crossfit good training guys n gals.

Brian #162,

Dan John was not banned for anything related to the quarrel I had with him - nothing whatsoever. He ran afoul of Lynne's rules on the message, as I recall.

He most certainly was not "removed for not furiously defending CrossFit". That is false. He remained on the boards for quite awhile after our spat.

Point to the place in the archives where it says that Dan John was "removed for not furiously defending CrossFit". You cannot it; it doesn't exist.

If you cannot see the difference between that claim and my statements, I need to ban you for stupidity. If you can point to where it says he was banned for not furiously defending CF, I'll apologize. If not you're banned for stupidity - that's a first!

Did Griff today:
14:28 as rx'd on local high school track.

I didn't think this was going to be too hard, but it was 90 degrees out there. I wouldn't even lean back against my car seat on the way home, it was disgusting.
Running backwards was a good break-up of the 800m runs, but it licked me.
Good workout Coach.

Karl Smith #141,

Gary’s work is as a science reporter, not a researcher. His reporting includes the following:

>>6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter, any more than it causes a child to grow taller. Expending more energy than we consume does not lead to long-term weight loss; it leads to hunger.

>> 7. Fattening and obesity are caused by an imbalance – a disequilibrium – in the hormonal regulation of adipose tissue and fat metabolism. Fat synthesis and storage exceed the mobilization of fat from the adipose tissue and its subsequent oxidation. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of the fat tissue reverses this balance.

Excerpt: Good Calories, Bad Calories, 9/27/07. http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3654291

He doesn’t define “excess calories”, and that might be a problem. However, his opinion is that the excess calories (in #6) does not turn into fat because of reason (#7). He might be correct, but he doesn’t account for the unmetabolized calories. The question is too obvious to ignore, and the stool is an equally obvious omission from the energy balance equation. Taubes should have asked his sources where the missing calories went before he published his condensation.

Taubes may be correct, but the excess calories must be found. That is not a contradiction, but a gaping hole in his science reporting and possibly in dietary research. It needs to be closed before anyone uses any weight control diet as a matter of public policy.

Wow, I just got back from the VA Beach level one Cert and it was incredible. I PR'd on Fran, did my first muscle-up, and met some great people. I just want to thank all the trainers for letting me pick their brains the entire weekend. They are incredibly knowledgeable and very personable which makes it very easy for a shy guy like myself to ask questions. The trainers were in short... Phenomenal!!! I just want to thank you for such a wonderful experience... so thanks

Wow. If true, best day in a long, long time.

Aye, David. Life is short. It's good to see this.

Greg #162

Is this how you relate to people face to face or is this just an your internet persona? I hope it is the latter.

As far as your earlier post. I have an excellent memory of the whole fiasco. I do not want to read your posts about DJ again, because I found them very offensive the first time.

As far as Mark Rippetoe replacing Dan John. Do they even coach the same lifts?

Keith,

That's what I thought. You don't need facts because you've got "an excellent memory". Problem is your memory is squarely at odds with the facts.

You'd find me even worse in person.

And...yes they teach the same lifts.

David, bingo,

I agree. Its a long time coming.

Had an awesome time at the cert! Learned a lot about things I thought I knew everything about. Those guys from Iceland were f***ing FIREBREATHERS. One of them did a 303 Fight Gone Bad and it was his 4th CrossFit workout. Unbelievable....I'd say they earned their right to flex in the group photo. To all the trainers, thanks for a great weekend!

Dear Crossfit friends,
First, a big thanks to Pat and his crew for a constantly varied, highly functional and intense Level 1 cert in VA Beach this weekend. Very professional and passionate performances by all the trainers (my favorite was Andrew for his rough love of his students, good humor and excellent ability to communicate his teaching points to an overseas crowd). Thanks also to Taylor, Neal and other participants that supported me during some intense moments in Fran and Fight gone bad.

Now please allow me to introduce myself: I am the "third" Icelander that attended the seminar this weekend, (look for a pink, sweaty, topless 38 year old kneeling in the middle of the front row (right behind the three trainers).

I've sometimes wondered myself about this apparent paradox between the absence of mirrors and frowning towards vanity in the Crossfit program on one hand, and the number of topless guys in pictures and videos posted on the Crossfit website on the other hand. Why are these guys so eager to take their shirts off, I've asked myself, if not just to show off their bodies. Well, now I know one good reason. Coming from a climate where it makes the national news if the temperature goes above 70F, going topless vas a desperate act of survival for me when attempting Fran in the 90F+, humid warehouse on a Saturday afternoon, after a day of intense technical work and a Tabata squat with "active rest" between sets. The picture in question, as some people here noted, was taken immediately after the workout (which I hopes explains my pink, wet and desperate appearance as well as why some of the guys' lack of t-shirts.

Another valid reason I can think of for removing your clothes when doing Crossfit workouts concerns the primal nature of our intense struggle with these workouts. Mirrors or no mirrors, there's simply and definitely a certain amount of extra energy released by ripping of your cotton t-shirt and attacking the barbell (or kettlebell or medball or whatever) in our bare skin, just like our cavemen ancestors did. Now, for some of us it can easily become a little awkward finding yourself topless in the middle of a gym once the adrenaline levels have decreased a bit and the brain function approaches normal again, but so what, just put on your t-shirt again and look forward to the next opportunity (WOD) to let your primal instincts loose for a while.

Concerning today's hot topic: What Arnar's (the Icelander who made the headlines today and a future competitor of mine for Crossfit clients in the Reykjavik area) motive was for being topless on the picture I don't know, since I hardly know the guy (just met him on the weekend). But keep in mind that a) he had (like everyone else) just completed min Fran, b) he's pretty much built like that whether posing or not, c) he seemed to be a decent knowledge-seeking guy that came to the cert with good intentions only, and d) he was very recently exposed to crossfit and therefore is perhaps not quite familiar with the unwritten codes of the crossfit community such as the: "thou shall not stand in such a way on the official Crossfit cert picture that your lats or any other musculature may be unecessarily exposed to the common public".

So, on his behalf I want to thank Alison and others that stood up for him and let him have the benefit of the doubt.

Finally, I want to share with the Crossfit community that my affiliation application was accepted Friday, so after I have taken care of some paperwork and gotten the website up and running you will have at least one (and perhaps two) Crossfit affiliates to visit when you stop by in Iceland.

Leifur Geir

***Big thanks to all the trainers at CFSD’s Level 1 Cert this weekend***

They presented an enormous amout of information in a clear, concise manner without it being overwhelming. I've been Crossfitting for 6 months now but this was my first time in a CF gym. Working out in a true box definitely brings CF to a whole new level. Thanks!

Did the Bionic workout at Crossfit Santa Clara today with Jason Khalipa. 5 rounds of 7 pullups, 7 thrusters 95#, 7 ring dips, 7 burpees. I turned in a 10:35 and it was TOUGH! Jason impressed as expected by blowing us all out of the water with an astonishing 5:18. It really is amazing to watch him and I encourage anyone in the San Jose area to come on by and train with us at Crossfit Santa Clara.

m/22/185/5'9"

Re: Comment #159 - Posted by: Coach at August 4, 2008 5:12 PM

Good on you Coach, not that you need my approval but you have shown yet another reason why I consider you to be a shining light, a good example for the rest of the fitness community in general and the CrossFit community in particular.

Echo Bingo.

Back squat
255 x 3
265 x 3
285 x 3 (called for depth)
270 x 3
270 x 3
270 x 3

AMRAP in 15 minutes
10 Power Snatch, 95#
150 M overhead carry, 95#

Just under 5 rounds

a most auspicious day.

Late post. Didn't take the rest day to make up for the pull ups on Michael earlier in the week.

M/31/5-10/255

750m Row for time - 8:15

+

50 50#KB swings
40 Situps
30 Push Ups
20 Pull Ups (really I did 20 real pull ups-kipping but I did them, then puked....good times)
7:34

AS a former CSCS from back in the day I hold hartley agree with M.R. position as stated in his letter. I found also that the CSCS is now a money driven machine. Any college student with a exercise science major or the likes can sit for the exam and pass. Then upon graduation become a CSCS. Along those lines the CSCS Journal has become a Ivory Tower. Most of the articles are like old science "Square Earth Theory". Anyway that is why there are different choices out there and I choose CF for its proven success in changing everyday people lives with real world fitness.

Mike Walker
www.crossfit121workout.com

Wow. That's all I can say.

Keith:

Coach and Danny have obviously mended fences; why do you need to presume you know better about their relationship than they do?

This is the part that always got to me about "l'affaire de Dan John" - people presumed to know what the expectations in that relationship/friendship were. Relationships come with many, many expectations and assumptions on the part of both parties. Some are natural and justified, other times they're not. It's when one party doesn't live up to the other's expectations/obligations (reasonable or not) that things go "awry". But very, very few of us, except those particularly close to the origins of that relationship, are in a position to know who's "right" and who's "wrong". Recognizing that and stepping aside (and having a nice warm cup of STFU), rather than choosing sides would probably make these things, particularly when they happen publicly, a lot easier to fix in the long run.

My best to all parties involved. Truly auspicious day.

S/F
Dale

Certification this past weekend went awesome - everyone that presented information was really knowledgeable and helpful. I learned a ton, and super sore from the weekend.

Just looking back, and I discovered I made a critical mistake in my post yesterday: My brother is bigger than me. I stand 5'11, he is about 6'1. He is bigger than me in pretty much every way.

He still eats significnatly less than I do, and he does exercise (not crossfit, but I don't know anything more about it so I can't comment). I can still eat as much as I want and not gain weight, he almost never eats and still struggles with his weight. So calories in cannot be a significant factor.

As for crossfit: As crossfit is now I like it. I've been burned too many times in the past when a good thing lost vision and went wrong to say I will be here for life.

my brain, I wrestle with it all the time, but I find it attractive neither in myself or others.

I view the citizens of our nation and the people I work with differently. I deeply believe that if offered a means to real fitness with a reasonable cost/benefit profile, these people will take it and make their lives better. My notion is supported, in my admittedly unscientific analysis, by the many we meet here on the boards; folks who have suffered the frustrations of the recent workout fads and felt like failures - then they found CF and realized it was the previous methodology that failed them, vice them failing themselves. The success of the CF affiliates, cited by Coach above, I will claim as support for my perspective. The stories of normal folks who use CF coaches and CF to transform their lives are a powerful testament – I can think of Mary Conover’s story, Wahoocat, and numerous others from the CF Affiliate boards and from this board. It’s so common it could be boring – but to me, it never is, it’s always inspiring and powerful.

That's not to say that CFers are not a special breed. CF gives us a medium to effectively express our passion for productive hard work. That door is open and many, many other wise ‘normal’ people embrace the opportunity to use CF to change their lives. Perhaps it is true that we’ll never see 50% or more of Americans passionately pursuing Elite Fitness via CF, but I see no benefit whatsoever in counting these folks out as yet. I see them as fertile ground, awaiting the CF planting … and I’m excited to be able to bring this to them. Paul

If possible, pls delete my half pasted post #188 - this was the intended paste:

Comment #108 - Posted by: Tom

Tom and Pete, I understand the moralizing, but consider an alternative narrative. Suppose you have a finite amount of time/energy to give to being fit, and being fit and looking good are not as important as, for example, 15 other aspects of your life. You try the diets that are govt approved and universally recommended, don't lose any weight, feel like dirt, and revert to 'see food diet' while perceiving yourself a failure. You also spend a bucket load on a gym membership, train three days a week on machines and 'doing cardio to burn calories', just like the the govt recommends and your 'personal trainer' advises (while he/she moves the pins on your machines). You make some gains but it seems to have no impact in your daily life - and you still don't look much different. You start to go to the gym less and less, because no matter how often you tell yourself "this will work, the govt says it will" it does not work. 3-6 hours per week of training, frustration after feeding yourself with a measly few calories, mostly carbs like a cow in the stock yard, and you got nothing to show for it. You feel like a failure because you cannot live up to your commitment on either effort - diet or training.

Is that person lazy? I say, "no." That person is poorly informed. Unconsciously, that person knows the goofy govt approved diet and fitness programs are not effective, and the proof is in the way their body responded (didn’t respond) to the investment of life energy in suboptimal programming. If you spend hours to eat a way that isn't satisfying, and training in a way that produces no results, are you lazy to quit? No, you are rational to quit. That time would be better spent in other ways.

If you are right, and the masses are lazy and don't like to work and cannot be saved from their own character flaws, then CrossFit has little to offer them. This thesis, if true, would be very flattering to you and every CFer as part of the few who have the grit and gumption to do it right. This kind of arrogance is inscribed into my brain, I wrestle with it all the time, but I find it attractive neither in myself or others.

I view the citizens of our nation and the people I work with differently. I deeply believe that if offered a means to real fitness with a reasonable cost/benefit profile, these people will take it and make their lives better. My notion is supported, in my admittedly unscientific analysis, by the many we meet here on the boards; folks who have suffered the frustrations of the recent workout fads and felt like failures - then they found CF and realized it was the previous methodology that failed them, vice them failing themselves. The success of the CF affiliates, cited by Coach above, I will claim as support for my perspective. The stories of normal folks who use CF coaches and CF to transform their lives are a powerful testament – I can think of Mary Conover’s story, Wahoocat, and numerous others from the CF Affiliate boards and from this board. It’s so common it could be boring – but to me, it never is, it’s always inspiring and powerful.

That's not to say that CFers are not a special breed. CF gives us a medium to effectively express our passion for productive hard work. That door is open and many, many other wise ‘normal’ people embrace the opportunity to use CF to change their lives. Perhaps it is true that we’ll never see 50% or more of Americans passionately pursuing Elite Fitness via CF, but I see no benefit whatsoever in counting these folks out as yet. I see them as fertile ground, awaiting the CF planting … and I’m excited to be able to bring this to them. Paul

I was at the cert this past weekend and it rocked! I have several other certs and this was my first crossfit cert. I learned more in this one weekend then at all of my other certs combined. I will be signing up for every crossfit cert I can! All of the instructors were clearly passionate and knowledgeable about everything crossfit. Andrea brought such great energy to her teaching but still saw every flaw in your form so you got the most from her instruction. I have to give a special thanks to Thomi. I have been working on my kipping pullups for over a month and had other people watch me trying to figure out what was wrong. Thomi looked at me for about 20 seconds and not only pin pointed the problem but also fixed it and gave me some tips for how to practice on my own. Thank you everybody!!!!

Coach, you are incredibly inspiring in so many ways. Thanks!

dude.... Paul (Apolloswabbie); the more i read your posts the more i appreciate everythin unique, grand, subtle, kickazz, humble, inspiring, uplifting, and extraordinary about this wonderful phenomenon of a community/fitness program/way of life called CrossFit. great write up in the latest CFJ too! thank you :-)

The crossfit certification at the CrossFit Training Center, Virginia Beach was professional, informative, and very motivating. The crossfit instructors were some of the best instructors I have encountered and those with military backgrounds were especially noteworthy in their excellent representation of the US military. It was also exciting to see so many people from the military attending the seminar. Crossfit is definitely helping the military improve fitness and readiness. Thanks again to all the crossfit instructors and crossfit hq.
Sincerely,
Peter Jensen
Major US Army
Command and Genenral Staff College, Intermediate Level Education, Fort Lee, VA
Crossfit Level I certified

I have been unable to excercise for the last couple of days, so I didn't want to rest. I tried the following WOD (made it up myself)

Three rounds of 21 15 and 9 of:

225# deadlift.
Burpees clapping overhead.
Pull Ups.

My time was an unimpressive 13:05. Deadlifts take my air like nothing else!

I have been an NSCA cert trainer since 1997. Use to go to all the conferences, talk like the NSCA was god bla bla. But for last 5 years, I too have seen the shift, & stopped going to the regurgitated seminars & receiving the journals. In reality any good "test taker" can get NSCA certified & become a trainer, which means SWEET BUGGER ALL. If u don't have the practical knowledge your useless. That is why Crossfit has the right process to becoming a good trainer because they TEACH you how to exercise. There might be some tweaking that needs to be done, but all in all, it is the best program out there & everybody else knows it, thats why THEY hate us & are afraid to step into the light & realize the effectiveness of the system. Anyways u get my drift.

Shawn- CF South Surrey

sammy lugo's ducati

17m +

Jeff G,

I agree with your assessment irt to the 'science' being too immature for govt policy, fwiw.

That still leaves a bunch of us trying to make a recommendation to those who want to know what to eat in order to feel better and be healthier. This set of articles is helpful in that regard (as would reading GCBC, when I get to that) because it gives us the necessary info to provide the countervailing arguments to "it's simple - just eat less than you burn." We may not have a lock stock scientific case, but we are getting enough info to be able to burn their purported certainty (as with AGW).

While we await the maturity of the science, we have our experience of what works for ourselves, our families, our friends, and for some, our clients. This is admittedly not scientific, but it is useful information nonetheless. These dialogues, by providing different viewpoints from which to interpret our experiences (data plus one theory leads to one set of conjecture, data set plus another theory leads to another; which conjecture seems worthy of additional analysis and testing?) contribute to learning (for those inclined to knowledge!).

I don't think I'm arguing with you. I don't think I'm even saying anything you don't already know. I'm just making the point in this forum for the contextual reference for the dozen or so that will read it from this point forward!

Seems like another unanswered part of the energy in/out equation is the cost of digestion - do some foods require greater energy expenditure/calorie extracted (is this expenditure already accounted for by the doubly weighted water thing Bray keeps bringing up)? And/or, if using a Atkins state one style VLC diet, is more energy consumed by the process which results in removal of the ketone body from the protein molecule (or is the fat molecule?) which creates the needed glucose for optimal brain function?

If I read his 'review' correctly, it appears that the primary flaw in Bray's logic is he assumes that he knows how many calories are going into the system by how much energy is expended (or accumulated/dissipated in/from adipose tissue) by the system (which he assumes he can measure by the doubly weighted water method, about which I know nothing).

By assuming that the inputs can be measured by the measurable outputs (apparent discrepancies to this approach are accounted for by his conviction that food diaries are inherently inaccurate), he is in effect assuming his conclusion.

If I got that part right, the test for his approach is to run a study in which the participants only get what has been measured and given to them (known inputs), preferably with three to four variations of macro nutrient balances, multi gender, multi ethnicity, a variety of levels of body composition, and with the results measured not just in changes in mass but in changes in body composition (mass seems to be nearly useless data for our purposes), and continued for about 60 years to evaluate longevity of the participants as well as changes in body comp.

Since that whole construct seems impossible to execute given the present commitment to getting the answer right, I don't expect to see one that complex any time soon. Perhaps a simpler version would be enough to put Bray's seemingly erroneous assumptions to rest. Perhaps it already has?

One of the issues that troubles the ‘science’ of diet is the way the assumptions of the experimenters affects how the experiments/studies are set up (is this already covered by GCBC?). If I assume ‘calories in = +/- fat – calories of energy expended, then I need not record the macro nutrient composition of my diets. If I measure only BMI (has a less meaningful stat ever been embraced by a professional community?), the test cannot account for changes in lean body mass, only total mass, which might also include losses in lean body mass, which is a seemingly significant variable. It seems to me that omissions such as this render a large amount of the research unusable for ‘my’ side of the inquiry – why do diets with moderate amounts of low glycemic index carbs seem to work the best for performance, health and body composition?

Amongst all the other goings on today, the diet discussion has taken a deserved back seat. Leave it to Coach to check in and stir things the f$$k up! Paul

I think this is a valuable discussion.

I'm new to Crossfit, but not to the debate about diet and nutrition. I was a bodybuilder in the '80s when the official dogma for weight loss was high carb, low fat.

Also, eggs were bad. (Actually that was the first time the NIH got invovled in a national ad campaign which later had to be retracted, 'cause they were wrong. Remember the later ads with eggs getting our of jail?)

We bodybuilders knew the key to getting lean was not to eat a high carb low fat diet. We knew that if you combined high carbs with calorie restriction you'd get skinny and stringy and feel like crap. (Well, to be honest bodybuilders are also fat phobic so we did feel like crap, even though we ate the right amount of protein, but that's the subject of another post.)

I have a couple of points to make:

1) Anecdotal evidence has value. Especially in answering a complicated question (how to be lean and strong?)that relies on so many variables that it simply doesn't lend itself well to the typical reductionist science model.

2) I has become obvious to me that the thermodynamic equation is only a starting point. If I eat 1500 kcals per day of predominantly carbs I feel hungry and weak. If I eat 1500Kcals per day taking care to get a certain amount of protein and fat at each sitting, I feel fine. That means I am much more likely to be successful at staying lean and strong over time.

3) By that same token, I can imagine that the macro (Pro, Carb, Fat) and micro (vitamins and minerals) nutrients I take in may have a profound effect on my basal metabolic rate (how many calories my engine burns throughout the day). This will always be where most of your caloric needs are (as opposed to the relatively low numbers you need to support exercise). Again, this is not something that reductionist science works great to study.

4) I feel amazing eating a paleo/zone diet. Really, I feel great every day, my digestive system is in good health and I have more energy than ever. I'm a 47 year old woman who should statistically be seeing the beginning of all sorts of disease. I get straight As at the doctor. This is not in my head.

So really, I don't have to get into the debate about what the science supports. I've been working in the lab of my body for 25 years and I know what works.

What we need is an epidemiological study of paleo/zone crossfitters, vs. something more mainstream (weight watchers). Why aren't those done? Because they require the collection of very good information and food intake is a subject about which people lie.

Until then I'll be eating my paleo/zone diet and watching the rest of the world struggle with fat loss...

Wow, crazy, intense day. I'm currently a CSCS and have been considering relinquishing mine as well. I'm 26yrs but have been in the field over 8 yrs and crossfit truly is the end all be all. I actually teach for another cert, and have been incorporating as many crossfit principles as possible in my workshops. Most current cert's have little or know hands on in their testing procedures...you can't be a good trainer if you can't actually work with people. Books are easy, you don't have to watch their posture or worry about what kind of mood they are in that day. My dream is to open an affiliate and possibly teach for Crossfit. My hat it off to Mr. Rippetoe and to Coach. Thank you for all you have done.

I just started to read the comments regarding the cert. in Virginia Beach. I was there. I saw the comments about the guy posing...so what. He is indeed from Iceland. Hey, if we were in Russia and would have smiled...we would have been "weird." Both those guys were very nice.

What a great time I had. I left satisfied. I learned better technique and how to teach better technique.

I left highly motivated. When people see the intensity of a CrossFit workout and make smart comments as to why they wouldn't train like that. I don't think they are smarter..I just think they are wimps! (to put it nicely). The trainers didn't just talk the talk, it was obvious that they lived it. Whether it was the SEALS, the Marine, the fireman, etc...all the trainers were the real deal. I enjoyed rubbing elbows with like minded guys/girls.

The Zone Diet information has already shown a difference in me. I feel good and the fat is melting away, fast.

Gonna have to train hard and practice to get that level 2 cert now!

I just wanted to post my appreciation to all of my instructors and fellow classmates from the August 3, 2008 in Virgina Beach.

The knowledge base of every instructor was very thorough and stimulating. I left with many questions answered and a thirst and drive to apply the methods learned. Due to the organization and instruction of classes I feel safe in saying all that everything that I have learned I could and have safely and effectively applied to all of my clients. All of my instructors made the experience the most educationally enriching, engaging and relevant training seminar I have really ever been to.

It was an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. Through the involvement and encouragement of fellow Crossfiters I received more lessons in comradeships, intensity, and drive in a fitness setting than I ever could have imagined in any "fitness club/gym" setting. To you all I thank you for reviving my tenacity to spread knowledge on how fitness can be fun, safe, and effective...even to the point of exhaustion.

Be safe all...L8r...;-)

-Vyron