02 May 2013
Trevor ‘T-Bear’ Lindwall
After a debilitating back injury and subsequent back surgery, T-Bear found CrossFit Seattle in 2004 while working as an engineer with Johnson Controls.
“When I first started CrossFit,I could barely move, let alone dead lift any type of weight. I kept talking to Coach Glassman and more and more the CrossFit methods made sense to me,” T-Bear said.
T-Bear’s commitment to his own recovery is representative of his coaching style. “I am chameleon-like. I’ll adjust all the time to motivate, inspire and challenge my clients,” he said.
Often people use an injury as an excuse to not start a fitness program. Someone once said to T Bear, “Excuses are the purest form of psychological masturbation.” He agrees. “Trying is lying. Pick up the weight, put it overhead, repeat,” he urges.
T-Bear has the unique perspective of knowing first-hand how to recuperate and bounce back after a serious injury. His coaching can assist any dedicated and motivated individual to be successful in his/her personal goals through proven and progressive methods. His breadth of knowledge comes from great mentors and coaches, such as Greg Glassman, Mark Rippitoe, Kelly Starrett, Robb Wolf, and locals like Aaron Rizzardo, Teri-Lynn Fraser, and Dr. Jeff Almon.
The Bear is CrossFit’s “Kid at Heart” and he likes to make things fun, whether it is teaching handstand push-ups or just chillin’ with his favourite comfort items: espresso in the morning, anything Mac throughout the day, and a scotch or pinot to cool down.
Of coaching, T-Bear says, “For me, the best part of being a CrossFit coach is the pleasure of meeting and getting to know our community of athletes and their characters. I love it.”
His ideal vision of the future can be summed up this way: “A Big CrossFit facility with a golf course to the south, a beach to the west, a restaurant/bar/vineyard to the North, and my big pad with all of the amenities to take care of my ADHD,” he said.
02 May 2013
Tony ‘Prof’ Leyland
Tony is a senior lecturer at Simon Fraser University in the School of Kinesiology. Tony helps explain in definitive terms why Crossfit works. Tony writes articles for us and also contributes to the programming at Crossfit Vancouver.
02 May 2013
Craig ‘Patty’ Patterson
After leaving engineering and the corporate life to become a fitness trainer in 2004, Patty’s life has been transformed by the community he serves today.
And since 2004, his CrossFit Vancouver community has grown from being a one-man operation into a federally-recognized and provincially accredited vocational school for fitness – the first of its kind.
Everyone who works at CrossFit Vancouver is like family to Patty – one he even grew up with in Gaspe, Quebec, while he worked with another as an engineer 15 years ago. “They are a very special group and I am honoured to be their leader,” Patty said.
The ultimate goal for Patty and his family is to professionalize the fitness industry. “Our business model is designed to give opportunity to those who are bright and passionate about helping others and making a difference in the community, but above all it elevates those who display courage and character in the face of the realities of the free market,” he said.
He added: “Every one of our coaches has been put through the ringer, forced to prove themselves, and all have become independent contractors who own their own business, and their character has been shaped by the free market. Our coaches are not paid a salary or an hourly wage; they are paid based on their performance.”
Today, Patty’s coaches are living the vision that Patty laid out for them when he opened CrossFit Vancouver in 2004. “Our business is a fusion of a co-op and a law firm. Our top coaches earn six figure salaries, competitive with professional salaries; they work less than 35 hours per week and have at least 4 weeks of vacation per year,” he said.
This system is different than what is traditionally found in the fitness industry, where an average employee works as a personal trainer for 3 to 5 years, then quits and has to find a “real” career because he either doesn’t make enough money to ever afford a home and raise a family, or he is burnt out from his demanding schedule.
“We have been working to change that. Our school’s system is set up to train and mentor apprentices, so the knowledge they gain is passed to the next generation of coaches. We are also working with other affiliates from around the world, building a system and figuring out larger patterns across the industry in order to keep people motivated and keep them fit for their entire life. This continuity is the key to building excellence across the industry,” Patty said.
He added: “I am very proud of what we have accomplished so far, and it is just the beginning. My role is to constantly find ways to improve our product and provide opportunity for others in the fitness industry so we can transform the communities we serve into fit, healthy, and happy places to live.”
01 May 2013
The Godfather of Fitness
Jack Lalanne is the GodFather of Fitness and if he were alive today, I think he’d make a damn good CrossFit athlete. He definitely lived by the motto, “treat your body like a temple” and exercised every day of his life until he passed away in 2011 at the age of 96.
“I train like I’m training for the Olympics or for a Mr. America contest, the way I’ve always trained my whole life. You see, life is a battlefield. Life is survival of the fittest. How many healthy people do you know? How many happy people do you know? Think about it. People work at dying, they don’t work at living. My workout is my obligation to life. It’s my tranquilizer. It’s part of the way I tell the truth — and telling the truth is what’s kept me going all these years.”
Jack Lalanne was known for performing outrageous physical feats like pulling a 2500 lb. boat behind him as he swam across the Golden Gate channel or doing a 1000 jumping jacks and 1000 strict pull-ups in just over an hour. He did these kind of stunts to prove that you could do anything you put your mind to and that age is just a number.
Benny & Bill
Thursday’s Workout:
Warm Up: 2 x 10 lunges/10 jumping squats/10 cartwheels/10 glute bridges
Cartwheels will improve your back squat. It is known.
1#) 1 Rep Max Back Squat. Have this started by :10 past the hour.
Super interested in seeing peep’s numbers as we’ve all been working hard on the squat for the last two months. This will be the leaderboard.
2#) The Baby Beat Down
400 m Run
25 Burpees
x 3
Hit this hard. Coaches have it started by :40 past the hour.
Andy talked me out of the full Beat down which is 5 rounds. Be sure to thank him. He is merciful.
Cheers!
The House of Shepherd