C.R.A.P...A Key to The Secret to Success

The Secret is out...

Rest Day Quote

Happy Memorial Day!

Thank you armed forces for everything you have done for our country.

"You can't do these workouts unless you're driven by purpose. Purpose is ultimately the well spring of all happiness."
- Greg Glassman

REST Day/Quote Day

Perhaps the two biggest enemies of success, happiness and personal fulfillment, are first the Path of Least Resistance and second, the Expediency Factor. ~Brian Tracy

What's Your Expectation?

Stretching Time at CF 818

For your life?
For your career?
For your health and FITness?
For completing goals and tasks you set out to do?

One of the most common things I've seen during my time CrossFitting and coaching has been the propensity for little things to derail people's journeys toward elite fitness. Small injuries, busy work schedules, family issues, or relationship strife are all reasons one might stop paying attention to their fitness... but they usually aren't good reasons. We've talked about excuses and the fact that your fitness at CrossFit 818 consists of just a few total hours of week. Each of you have made a commitment to yourselves to show up and not quit, so don't let anything get in the way of that! 

-taken from CrossFit 818

When roadblocks and crisis happen in our lives you will find it can bring out the best in us or the worst.

Which side of the fence are you on?

I love it when people 'try' to let themselves off the hook and want to 'put their membership on hold' or not want to continue to keep coming, because of blah blah blah!

My attitude and approach with people like that is, "What has changed from the 1st day you walked into the gym (excited, motivated, ready for a challenge, goal driven, etc...) to NOW?!?!

If they are going to quit, they have to want to quit more than me. And for those of you that know me, I don't go down without a fight. I am 100% sure I am going to win that argument. The only way they are going to win is if they are 101% sure they want to quit.

Examples of 101%:
-I lost my job and I have a wife and 3 kids to provide for...okay you win.
-My child is in the hospital...okay you win.
-I am moving out of state...okay you win.

Example of 99% of less:
-I can't afford it...REALLY?!...Why? Didn't I see you at the bar last weekend? Are you still smoking and buying cigs? You still have cable TV?...I WIN!
-I have no time to workout...Not likely....168 hrs in a week, and YOU only need 3hours minimum for this...less than 2% of your time...I WIN!
-I injured myself....We can work around it. I have trained people with surgically repaired shoulders, a broken foot, ripped hands, chin splints, bad backs/hips, feet, etc... Hell I broke my foot and was in a cast for 6 weeks and still didn't miss a workout...I WIN AGAIN!

There are people out there that have less time, $$$, more obstacles, fatter, no car, and less support that are getting it done better than all of us.

You want results for your life...RAISE YOUR EXPECTATIONS!

P.T.S if you have worked through obstacles that life throws at you and how did you deal with it.

Related blog post: Do You Drop the Bar?, It's Always YOUR Fault,



Don't be this guy...

Your CrossFit Story...

April 2009...

I WANT SOME PARTICIPATION ON THIS ONE...

My CrossFit journey began 4 years ago. I was living in Anaheim, CA working as a trainer for 2 different globo gyms at the time. I had been a trainer for over 6 years at that time. As passionate as I was about helping others reach their personal fitness goals as a trainer, I was bored out of my mind with my personal workouts and training, my workouts and results were at a stand still. Doing chest and tri's on Monday, Legs on Tuesday, Back and Bi's on Wednesday and then repeating that again before the end of the week day after day and year after year had became more than redundant.

My Back Story...Growing up I have always been the tall skinny guy (and ladies, guys know that being a tall and skinny dude is no different than a fat chick). I first was introduced to working out when I was 16 years old. My goal was to make the varsity basketball team next season as a junior. I was 6'3" 160lbs. I approached the assistant varsity football coach in the spring of my sophomore year and asked if I could take part in the varsity off-season lifting program to gain strength, size and get physically prepared for the season in the fall. During the training we lifted HARD, INTENSE, with LOUD music, and with a big group of teammates (sound familiar). After training under the program for 10 weeks I gained 12lbs of muscle and much more confidence. Needless to say it helped me tremendously. I felt stronger, more confident, had higher self esteem, and the friends I made during the training was priceless. It was my first experience ever working out and I wanted more of it. I was addicted. I began to read fitness magazines, try different training programs and wanted to learn and learn. That experience was the reason why I got into the fitness industry.

In July of 2007, my brother was training to become a firefigther and he told about this website called, www.crossfit.com and said that I would be interested in it. Later that day I checked out the site and was intrigued right away. It reminded me of being back in high school as the only basketball player to par take in the off season lifting program with the football team. When we used to do cleans, pull ups, good mornings, squats, etc... Everything that I loved and got away from working at a commercial gym for 6 years. I immediately went to the gym and tried one the of workouts of the day (I think it was 7 rounds of 7 knees to elbows, 7 pullups, 7 front squats and 7 burpees). I thought I was going to die! And I loved every minute of it.

Then...

August of 07 - I moved to Santa Monica and joined CrossFit LA.
June of 2008 - I received my Level 1 certification.
October 2008 - Moved to Sioux Falls, SD to open a box starting at 0 members
January 2009 - Opened the doors to CrossFit Sioux Falls, the 1st affiliate in South Dakota
December 2010 - Sold CrossFit Sioux Falls with 188 clients to one of our members to move back to Cali
Febuary 2011 - Met Zareh through a friend, we hit it off and the rest is history.

CrossFit works! Everyday of the week. But the coaches you are fortunate to be surrounded by pushes and educates you to YOUR VERY BEST! Being a CF coach is the greatest job in the world. The connection I make with each and every member/student is priceless. I am ever grateful to continue to develop current relationships and meet that next CF’er.

April 2011

CF 818 has an amazing cast of coaches to draw from. Each bringing their experience, passion and personality to the table. This group that are YOUR coaches are those coaches that will take each and everyone of YOU to YOUR BEST.

Last week we talked about how you explain CrossFit to your family/friends/co-workers...


Now I'd like to hear how you found out about CrossFit originally.

And where has it taken you to today?

Mental WOD #8: Good Habit vs. Bad Habit

Pullups are good for you KS:-)

I am a NBP (Natural Born Procrastinator). It drives me nuts!!!

Over the weekend I believe I learned how to finally combat this unhealthy habit for good.

My mind runs at 160 mph for most of my waking hours. They say the human brain has about 1,500 thoughts in a minute. I think mine is more like 5,000! For as ambitious and motivated I am, I feel I can just as easily get distracted and that leads to procrastination.  

If you mind moves fast like mine, it can not only hard to keep up with it but also accomplish the tasks you need to throughout the day. I find myself adding so much to my 'to-do' list that it can get overwhelming and important things that need to get done, don't, because of distraction/procrastination.

The key to minimizing and eliminating procrastination is pre-planning your day the night before.

When you pre-plan your day in advance:

-It helps your mind see that next day in advance.
-It helps you create a positive future vision, because if have already been there in your mind it is more likely to manifest itself in a positive way. You feed my mind future success, you can see victory, you can see achievement.
-When you pre-plan your day you don't have to work so hard focusing on making your day great. Because it is already planned you can focus all your energy on following your pre-plan and go through the motions.

This week's Mental WOD is to identify 1-3 current habits that you need to change in order to successfully achieve your goals. I've discovered the best way to develop new, healthy habits is to identify ones that are not working for you and do the opposite.

Here are mine:

-Current Habit: Procrastinating on projects, ideas, workouts, preparing, etc...
-New Habit: Pre-Planning for the next day, the night before.

Rest Day Quote

“A coach is someone who tells you what you don't want to hear, who has you see what you don't want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.” --Tom Landry

A Great Way to Clarify What YOU Want Out of Life...

Don't drop or else!

At Stanford University they teach an exercise in their creative thinking part of the business faculty called, "2010 exercise". And that is imagine if you have 20 million dollars in the bank (you inherited it, you won the lottery, you just got the $$$). But simultaneously you have an incurable illness and you only have 10 years left to live.

If you had 20 million dollars and only 10 years left to live...

What choices would you make for your life?

And that begins to clarify things. You start to become clear and think, "Well if I had that money, and only a limited amount of time. There are certain things that I would want to do and certain things that would not be that important."

Through that kind of thinking you can start to really narrow down what are the things you need to be moving towards and focusing on.

Go For It!

P.T.S.

What Changes?

Easy to say...Hard to do

Working out and eating healthy works. If you do it, it will work everytime. It is the law of cause and effect. The people that abide by it are successful and the people that resist don't.

If we know upfront that it will work...Why doesn't everyone succeed?

We all start a program and are very motivated.

What changes?

What is the difference between those that 'do it' and those that don't?

P.T.S!

Quote Day/Rest Day

"Health is the first muse, and sleep is the condition to produce it." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mental WOD #7: Eat the Frog

Old School CFSF early 09

I'm a Procrastinator...There I admit it...I do it!

Point in case, I am writing Monday's blog at 9:55pm PST.

Procrastination happens to the best of us. The best way I have found over years to overcome the P-word is to Eat the Frog! And it works...

For this week's Mental WOD everyday you must start your day with doing the hardest, the toughest and the worst thing first. Whether it is working out, making that phone call you've been avoiding to make, cleaning your house, or something you have been continuing to put off.

The problem with not doing it right away is it will take over all your thoughts and weigh on you heavily (the more important the heavier it weighs). And we all know the longer you wait the harder it gets. I have noticed from personal experience when I do Eat the Frog not only do I feel much better, I am a lot more productive and pleasant to be around. The other thing like most positive habits is when you begin to make Eating the Frog a daily habit you will begin to break your procrastination habit and raise your overall motivation in all other areas of your life.

Do it! I Double Dogg Dare YOU!

P.T.S!

Rest Day/Quote Day

" Fatigue makes cowards of us all." — George S. Patton Jr.

Are you a Moderator or an Abstainer, When Trying to Give Something Up?

Lunch Time...Yummy in the Tummy

We feel so great when we:

-Exercise regularly 

-Eat Healthy

-Keep a promise to ourselves

-Wake up early to get to the gym

-Get out of debt

One of the great mysteries of happiness is: why don't we do the things that we know will make us happy? Why do we skip exercising? Why do we eat two doughnuts for breakfast? Why do we buy that thing we don't really need? Etc.

A piece of advice I often see is, “Be moderate. Don’t have ice cream every night, but if you try to deny yourself altogether, you’ll fall off the wagon. Allow yourself to have the occasional treat, it will help you stick to your plan.”

I’ve come to believe that this is good advice for some people: the “moderators.” They do better when they try to make moderate changes, when they avoid absolutes and bright lines.

For a long time, I kept trying this strategy of moderation – and failing. Then I read a line from Samuel Johnson: “Abstinence is as easy to me as temperance would be difficult.” Ah ha! Like Dr. Johnson, I’m an “abstainer.”

Taken from: Happiness Project

Which one are you?

You’re a moderator if you…

-- find that occasional indulgence heightens your pleasure 

– and strengthens your resolve

-- get panicky at the thought of “never” getting or doing something

You’re an abstainer if you…
-- have trouble stopping something once you’ve started
-- aren’t tempted by things that you’ve decided are off-limits

-RECCO Time-

What about changing your perspective?! How about switching a bad habit with a good habit? More Water Less Soda...Turn off the TV and open a book...Stretch vs. Sit.

Instead on focusing what YOU are giving up. Focus on what YOU are going to do instead.

It cracks me up when Lent rolls around and people focus on what to give up for 40 days...How about what to add for 40 days???

Or how about when YOU are about to start a Paleo challenge and YOU freak out because YOU 'HAVE' to give up this and give up that?! And YOU go PIG OUT the week before!!! Not that there is anything wrong with that...HA!

Whew...okay got that out of my system:-D

What is the best approach that keeps you on track with your goals?

P.T.S!

Check YOUR Engine Light...

4 HIGH Performance Women after a 10k

A great way to explain how health and nutrition works for someone who is not 'getting it', or to help put things in proper perspective is to make an analogy.

Do you treat your body like you treat your car???


Think about it?

When you were a teenager (or if you are) your body is no different than a brand new car. You could slam on the brakes, drive fast, not have to change the oil exactly at 3k miles and you could get away with it. But as you age, it's no different than your car aging, and you can't get a way with the bad things you 'used' to be able to get a way with.

So how do you treat you body?

Most of us UNDER FUEL + BEAT-UP + DESTROY it completely without even really thinking about it.

When you put a lot of miles on your car, its no different then the stress we put on our bodies when we workout HARD (i.e. CrossFit). This stress is a good thing as long as you are taking car of yourself in 3 areas.

Taken from SHORELINE CROSSFIT

FUEL: Are you eating properly; especially before your workout? You cannot expect to feel 100% if you are under-nourished.  You will feel weak, dizzy and eventually not be able to finish your WODs.  You must eat PRE and POST WOD.  If you have questions regarding what you should eat, talk to one of your coaches.  If you are not feeling good during your WODs, there are variety of  factors that can be adjusted, but my suggestion would be to examine your FUEL first.

KEEP YOUR FORM TIGHT: As a teenager, my desire to drive fast and chat with friends left the body of my vehicle destroyed. I was so distracted, that I hit everything in sight.  Are you sacrificing form in lifts and movements in order to move faster?  With intensity comes a slight depreciation of form, but if this is happening more than 20% of the time, you WILL destroy your body.  Slow down, stop “side-swiping” every parked car and snow bank in sight.

DON’T OVERTRAIN: You can compare your recovery to changing your oil.  Without this, you will “sizzle your engine”, so to speak.  Your rest days are more important than your training days.  Without them, you will physically and mentally breakdown.

So, the responsibility is on you to fuel, maintain form, and recovery so that you can keep your “Mustang” shiny and new!

Train Smart.

P.T.S!

Mental WOD #7: Gratitude Is The Best Policy

You can even thank your coach during a WOD...not that it will be easy:-)

People appreciate being thanked. You appreciate being thanked. Doesn't matter if you are a coach, biz exec, mom, etc...

People don't care about how much you do, people care about how much you care.

This week's Mental WOD is to reach out to someone and give them a sincere note/message. But to be accepted you must follow these rules:

1. It is unexpected. Never underestimate the element of surprise. When is the last time you received a note/msg of thanks from someone that you didn't expect? If so, how did you feel? If not, how do you think you would feel? When an expression of gratitude comes from an unexpected source, it amplifies an already pleasant experience.

2. Sincerity. This is an obvious one.

3. Specificity. Rather than stop with a perfunctory "thanks for all you do", be specific with your message and point out specific things.

4. It is spoke to the heart. This message was sent to me 6/10/09 and it still re-fuels my fire...Thanks Jimmy Leyse.

what up?!

ya know....i think sometimes we get so focused on ourselves and rely on the encouragement of our pastors, instructors, etc...to keep us on track.  I always try to approach my pastor on occasion just to let him know that he is doing a great job and is appreciated.  I just wanted to pass on some encouragement to you my friend.  you are GREAT instructor and i just wanted to let you know that you are very much appreciated.  Keep up the good work my friend.  you are changing lives!!!!   jim

Take a look around. Who do you know that could benefit from a sincere and specific note of thanks that's both unexpected and from the heart?

P.T.S!

Act As If...

Visualize, think it, be it, get it

The key responsibility of leadership is to think about the future. No one else can do it for you. - Brian Tracy




I first heard this phrase years ago when I was watching one of my favorite movies, Boiler Room.

The senior broker in the movie was referring to when a new recruit was making cold calls. He was explaining that you could be whatever/whoever you wanted to be on the phone. At the time he was training Giovanni (the new recruit) with the goal of to get him comfortable on the phone and building confidence with his sales skills. When he "Acted As If", he stopped worrying about what he wasn't saying correctly and just began to say it correctly and started closing sales.

I took the phrase for what it was worth. Until recently it HIT ME!

You see, we are all in the position we are in because of how we have acted in the past and what our current thoughts are.

So if you continue to do and think the same as you are, then you will continue to get the same result.

And if you want to do better and get more outta life, you MUST begin to "Act As If".

A true and recent example:

I was helping a member with her diet at CrossFit 818. We were going through a series of questions about what, how, and why she eats the way she eats. Her goal was to lose a significant amount of weight as soon as she can.

Working out and eating healthy is very black & white/a matter of fact/cause & effect.


*You move LARGE loads -> long distances -> faster = YOU get FITTER
*You eat the foods your body requires for fuel -> YOUR body uses it and doesn't store it -> YOU get FITTER.
*The problem is our emotions add the color to our life and 'can' create obstacles in our way to make everything more difficult.

She went on to tell me that she knows how to eat right (yeah, but I think most of us know how to eat right). The problem is her relationship with food. She explained that she eats improperly because of how she feels. When she is unfulfilled, work sucks, $$ is tight, she is lonely, she used food as the 'fix' to fill the hole in her heart. When she is fulfilled and everything is bright and dandy, she does great!
She couldn't figure out how to overcome how she feels currently (which is not good currently) to get her eating better and moving towards her goals. As we uncovered more options and ideas to help her get moving in the right direction, it HIT ME!

"Act As If"

Life is HARD! For some crazy reason we like to make it harder on ourselves. When things in our life get tough we can easily trap our thoughts into focusing on everything that is going wrong and not know how to snap out of it.

I asked her:
What will your life look like when YOU have hit your goals and are FIT and healthy?
What does each day look like for you?
How will you feel about yourself?
What will your thoughts be?
How will you act?
What will be inside your fridge?
What is your breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Bottom line is, where ever you WANT to be, you need to start acting like it...RIGHT NOW! Visualize when you are at your goal weight, goal income, accomplishing the things you dream of. Who will you be? And how will you think?

Start doing that now and you will start moving in that direction today. If you continue to focus on the things that are stopping from moving towards where you want to be...then you will do exactly that, NOT move forward.

When you start to focus on what life will look like, feel and be like when you hit your goals and dreams you will start to take the right steps towards getting there.

We all have the power to change things for ourselves and its going to take more than just what you WANT to do...It takes HOW you are acting/thinking about what you want, that is going to get your there.

P.T.S.!

Rest Day Quote

Attitude and personality are as important as experience and ability. Choose wisely. -Brian Tracy

Happy Hump Day Question??? Excuses...

No Excuses Here...

"I don't have enough time"

"I need to get in-shape before I CrossFit"

"Its too expensive"

"I'm too old"

"Its too hard"

"I don't want to get BULKY"

"My wife won't let me"

What is favorite excuse?

What is the funniest you've heard?

What is the excuse YOU use?

What is the most ridiculous?

P.T.S!!!

If YOU Expect...YOU Will Regret

What do these 2 Armenian's and 1 White Guy Have in Common? We are really good lookin' and we have great habits:-)

So many of us have lofty goals.

So many more of us wish, hope or feel entitled to get what we want. And you won't get any where if your habits are not in place to move you forward.

Habits are the FUNdamentals of success. The better the habits the BIGGER YOU can dream and achieve.

Here is a list of the habits YOU must adopt to get there:

Be a constant leader. Seek out information that you can learn and teach to others.

Encourage others and help them get what they want.

Express gratitude. "Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions," Ziglar says. "The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for."

Recognize the value of relationships and their role in creating balanced success.

Be consistent in your words and actions. "When you make a promise, keep it."

List found from Success Magazine.

Make it Happen!

P.T.S!

Mental WOD #6: Tune Out to Tune Back In

Dr. Lindsey doesn't have a TV...so we can be friends:-)

Lets cut to the chase on this one. We all watch waaay to much TV. And if you think you don't...your wrong, YOU do! (Still don't believe me, keep reading and look at the stats below, stats don't lie)

I do. I noticed a big difference when I was recently moving and cut the cable early. I had so much more time on my hands. I was always early for everything. I had time to spare to clean, cook, fold, walk the dog, read, etc... I distinctly remember thinking to myself, "What should I do now?" Wow! It was crazy.

This week's Mental WOD is to cut (at a minimum) half the time you watch TV and a max out effort of turning it off completely.

What about the NBA playoffs?
Desperate Housewives?
American Idol?
My reality TV shows?
Bahhh!

Think of TV like you cheat meals. Use in moderation. The less you watch the better you will become.

From Whole9 site. For the FULL read click HERE

Television can just as easily fill the same psychological need as food. You turn on the TV for comfort, as reward, for “company”, for some perceived “human” connection. You turn it on because, well, it’s there. And you let it run, assailing your brains with messages you can’t control, for hour upon hour every single day. When that TV is on, you are not present – not for yourself, nor for those around you. The television turns you into a spectator, not a participant in your own life. And the worst part is that you’re not even aware of what you are doing, and what you are missing as a result.


How many of us have turned down the opportunity to interact with a real, live person because we have to watch our show? How many of us have blown off spouses, children, friends – people standing right in front of us – because we are too distracted by the characters on our TV screen? How many of us know more about our favorite American Idol contestant or sitcom actor than we do about our next-door neighbor?

Average Viewing Habits

• Time the average American watches TV each day: 4 hours
• Time the average 65-year old has spent watching TV: 9 years
• Number of hours per day that TV is on in an average U.S. home: 6 hours, 47 minutes
• Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66
• Percentage of Americans who say they watch too much TV: 49

TV and Children

• Number of minutes per week parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 3.5
• Number of minutes per week the average child watches television: 1,680
• Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours
• Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500

What we are watching

• Number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school: 8,000
• Number of 30-second TV commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
• Percentage of local TV news broadcast time devoted to advertising: 30
• Percentage devoted to stories about crime, disaster and war: 53.8
• Percentage devoted to public service announcements: 0.7

YIKES! P.T.S.!!!