Blog Archive

No.  It is not a crush.

Before I was a CF Coach or even apprentice, I was an 11am regular.  When you attend the same classes every week you form bonds with the other people from that timezone.  Our 11am crew included Panda, OMC, CJ, FancyPants, Conrad Rusnak, Christian, Sarin, Alisha, Crystal and Vince.  These were the people I trained with everyday.  The old 11am crew has long since dispersed to different time zones but they’re all still around.

OMC is up on the Wall of Respect.  Panda is a former MadLab champ.  FancyPants, CJ and I were among the first batch of CF Apprentice Coaches.  Christian and Sarin can still be spotted at 11ams.  Conrad, Alisha and Crystal seem to have adopted evening classes.

And Vince migrated to the mornings where I have had the opportunity to continue coaching him and observing first hand his astounding athletic development.   Our 11am crew are still around and representing but only Vince has climbed that leaderboard and staked out the top spots as his territory.

You can’t help but cheer for your peeps and Kid Flash is one of my original crew.  We went head-to-head often, encouraging each other to push harder and get fitter.  Difference was, in those days I had a chance of keeping up with Vinsanity.  While I’m a much better athlete than I was back then, my considerable improvement is nowhere near the leaps Vince has made.

The following is an example of the heights he has reached as a CFV athlete.  Since January 2011 Vince has been on a 15 month reign of terror and many of his weeks have looked a lot like the one that I chose to document.

A Week in the Life of Vince

True story!

Monday Feb 6^th knock 30 seconds off my Annie time for 4^th best CFV Annie score.

Tuesday Feb 7^th set PB on Helen and capture 5^th place on CFV all-time Leaderboard

Wednesday Feb 8^th Take day off to reflect upon my awesomeness

Thursday Feb 9^th Big man day.  Yuck!  Still split jerk well over my body weight.

Friday Feb 10^th shave 14 seconds off my 400m ball run beating Pete Kendrick’s previous record by 2 seconds for fastest ball run ever!

Saturday, now that I hold 5 spots on the CFV all-time leaderboard, contemplate what records I should smash next week.

Look up on the Leaderboard on the wall. Vince owns 6 spots up there. Only legendary Andy Sack has as many top 5 places. Kid Flash records: Helen 4th, FGB 4th, Filthy 50 2nd, 1 Mile Run 2nd, 5K Run 2nd, 400m Ball Run 1st!

Numbers don’t lie, Vince is incredible!  Thanks Vince for the inspiration, gonna miss watching you work that Kid Flash magic! (bet I beat you on today’s WOD though)

Warm Up: Burgener Warm Up

Tech: Snatch Tech

WOD: 2012 CF Games Open WOD#2
Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
45/75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
75/135 pound Snatch, 30 reps
100/165 pound Snatch, 30 reps
120/210 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible

Movement Standards
This workout begins from the standing position with the barbell loaded to the starting weight. In the Snatch, the barbell goes directly from the ground to overhead in one motion without stopping at the shoulders. This can be a muscle snatch, a power snatch, a squat snatch or a split snatch. A clean and jerk is not permitted.

Barbell overhead position. The barbell must come to full lockout overhead with the hips, knees and arms fully extended, and the bar directly over the heels.

Setup position with empty bar. If in a division that begins with an empty barbell, each repetition must begin with the barbell below the knees.

Setup position with load. The barbell begins on the ground. Touch and go is permitted. No bouncing.

Additional Notes
Please be sure to watch the entire workout instruction video above for full details. Each rep will be counted once the athlete clearly shows control of the barbell overhead. The athlete must be responsible for loading their own barbell to the appropriate loads during the workout. The same barbell must be used for the entire workout and they may not receive assistance when changing the loads. Using additional pre-loaded barbells is not permitted.

http://games.crossfit.com/workouts/the-open#tabs-2

I became a certified Level 1 CrossFit Coach June 1st 2008.  October of the same year I opened my own affiliate, CrossFit Empower.  I began training my 3 clients out of my friend’s massage therapy clinic in Surrey.

Before CrossFit, I had coached Judo since 1998 and had been running my own dojo since 2005.  As an elementary school teacher I also taught gym class from 1999 to 2001.  Besides the dojo, I had also run a staffing company in Surrey/Langley with my father.  So I had both business and coaching experience.

Nevertheless, as I started out, I thought it would be best to consult with Canada’s 1st CF affiliate owner and one of the most successful coaches in the CrossFit world.  I called up Craig Patterson and offered to buy him lunch in exchange for picking his brain.

In typical Patty fashion, he instead upsold me on attending CFV’s first affiliate training seminar.  The $1500 price of admission probably bought him several lunches (and a few drinks as well).  It was a worthwhile investment.

A weekend that would change my life.

Self Defense guru Tony Blauer instructs his coaches to become more than a ‘Subject Matter Expert’ who can parrot all the right answers but to instead strive to become a ‘Substance Matter Expert’ who can embody the principles they are teaching.

In the presence of Patty and his coaching team, I recognized them as Substance Matter Experts.  I also recognized that I was not. Not in CrossFit. Maybe not in any area of my life.

Instead of opening the CrossFit gym I’d planned on, I paid for a year’s tuition at CrossFit Vancouver and began training in earnest with the goal of embodying the standards of excellence demonstrated by the CFV coaching team.

As luck would have it, May 2009  saw the first trial of the CFV Apprenticeship program.  I closed my small Surrey practice and threw myself 100% into the apprenticeship program.

What this looked like for me is I stopped all other paid employment and began shadowing my coach at EVERY group class she taught and EVERY personal training session.  Every day. 

I watched other coaches give intros, teach group classes and coach clients.  I invited every person I could to attend a free CrossFit intro even if I knew they wouldn’t join, just so I could get practice reps.  I even agreed to attend network marketing sales presentations if the rep would first attend my CF intro.  I made one of my first sales this way.

Luck held and the departure of my coach left an opening in the group class morning schedule which I jumped to fill.  This meant I got to coach classes alongside Andy everyday and there is so much to learn from watching that guy!

Before any money began to flow, I was investing myself completely.  I attended every CF specialty cert and seminar I could (I think only Andy has attended more).  And slowly – ever so slowly – I began to grow competent.

I have spent less time at CFV than I did at university but it has been more character building.  It has demanded more, stretched me more and rewarded me more. 

The discipline of pursuing mastery has forged me into a man I could not have recognized 4 short years ago.

I called looking for business tips and received instead a lesson in becoming who I always hoped I could be.

Thanks Patty for the long lunch. 

Warm Up: Dot Drill

Tech: Assisted Muscle Ups
Sometimes hanging around watching other coaches can be educational and inspiring.  Saw Shep and the High-Performance athletes practicing this and remembered how great a progression it is and how many folks succeed at a muscle up this way.  Check the video:

WOD: Tag Team Angie
One partner working at a time:
100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats

Some birds just need more time in the nest.

After 4-years coaching effort on the part of the CFV coaching team, this little bird is finally ready to flap his wings and see what life outside the nest might hold.

As this will be my last programming week at CFV I intend to take some liberties with my coming posts in order to share how it really is for those of you who don’t yet know.

I will try to keep these posts from sounding like a series of love letters to Patty but it will be difficult. The Boss-man deserves a lot more credit than I can squeeze into 6 blog posts (but he’ll have to make do).

(If you are easily offended or tend to take everything you read seriously please skip the rest of this post)

Patty pushes all my buttons.
Can’t say he and I see eye-to-eye on everything.
Probably never will.

His rough brand of love would often be easier to enjoy if served with a heaping handful of KY.
He provokes me as much as he provokes you.
But that is where the coaching opportunity arises, isn’t it?

Fran leaves me feeling emotionally and physically wrecked too and she never fails to make me just a little bit fitter and a little bit better. So it is with Patty’s brand of coaching.
The love, growth and benefit is there for you if you are ready to face it.

I could have found a gentler coach or gone jogging on a treadmill but would that have gotten me the results I have experienced courtesy of Patty, Fran and CFV?

With Patty I used to think it was “love him or hate him” but over time I’ve learned that it is more accurate to say “love him, and hate him”.

He calls on me (and you) to be bigger people than we think we can be.
We’re not always ready to be confronted that way and we may hate it in the moment.
But it isn’t always the people who tell you what you want to hear who have your best interests at heart.

So, before I fly this crazy CFV coop, please bear with me if some of my posts sound too sappy.
I still chafe under the coaching but the love that underlies it is the greatest balm in the world.

Grease up and take the fucking coaching!

Love ya Boss.

Warm Up: Shoulder Stabilization Exercises courtesy of Canadian Olympian Christine Gerard

Check the video from this weekend’s fantasic seminar or ask one of the many apprentices/athletes who attended it.

Tech: OHS 3-3-2-2-1-1

WOD:
3 Rounds
10 OHS (85/135)
50 Double Unders
No racks for WOD.  Run heats if short on ropes.  Strong skippers first.

The Meadowlark

Some of you might of heard of these folks.

The Tarahumara People

They are a tribe in North West Mexico renowned for their running ability.

Check out this video on them. Super interesting stuff.

And check out the sandals they run in. Made out of an old tire?

Amazing!

Warmup: reverse tabata T2B

Tech: Hang Power Snatch/Hang Squat Snatch

Today’s Workout:
200m run (top of alleyway)
7 Hang Power Snatch (95/55lbs)
10 Push Up
Rounds in 15 min

Warmup: strict hollow position 30 seconds x5) recover between sets

Tech: Squat Cleans

Wod: The Badger
3 rounds for time:
95 pound Squat Clean, 30 reps 30 Pull-ups
Run 800 meters

HQ Hero WOD in honor of Navy Chief Petty Officer Mark Carter.

And a reminder that the Olympic Lifting Workshop is taking place on Saturday so the 10&11am classes are cancelled. Ana will be hosting a 5pm CrossFit class Saturday after the workshop, the workout is a mystery WOD so come in and face your destiny Haha;-) Who knows!

Saturdays warmup: 30 GHSU

I hope you all enjoyed the week, have a good weekend.
CFP