Use Your HSA/FSA Dollars To Pay For Coaching

We’ve got some exciting news to share! You can now use your HSA/FSA dollars to pay for coaching—a game-changer that benefits both your health and your wallet!

We’ve partnered with TrueMed, a company that enables you to use these tax-free funds to cover your coaching payments, saving you an average of 30% (this varies based on your tax rate).

Getting started is simple. For existing clients:

• Just let us know you’d like to use your HSA/FSA account. Email HERE

• We will send you a link to complete a brief healthcare survey with TrueMed.

• If you qualify, you’ll receive a Letter of Medical Necessity, which will enable you to use your HSA/FSA funds to pay for fitness expenses.

As a token of our appreciation, we’d like to cover the $30 fee for this process on renewal of your contract. For us, this is a small investment considering the value you bring to your health and our coaching relationship. As soon as TrueMed has handled the administrative work, you can start making your HSA/FSA work for your fitness goals!

If you are not yet a client, click HERE to schedule a call and we will run you through all membership options and explain how you can use HSA/FSA dollars for coaching.

Stay healthy!

OPEX Remote Coaching

Deciphering Fitness: What Is It?

Here is a thought, a quote, and a piece of training to consider this weekend.

TQT

Thought

Fitness…as an exploration of understanding the natural order of learning and developing mastery in a discipline.

Fitness is far more than losing weight, gaining muscle, becoming more physically capable, or becoming more competitive. It gives us an opportunity to learn, and where there's learning, there's a possibility for mastery.

At its core, fitness is an exploration of the self, a journey towards self-discovery and personal mastery. It is a way to push past our limits, to challenge ourselves and develop new skills and abilities that we never thought possible. Learning is an essential part of this process.

The pursuit of fitness isn't just a means to an end; it is an end in itself. If you view it as such, it will always be a wellspring of growth and learning for all areas of your life.

Quote

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” - Socrates

Training

“Polarity”

1. 3 rounds @ EZ Pace:

15 Cal Echo Bike

10 Alt Prisoner Step Ups @ 24”

5 Slow GHDSU

1. RNT OHS @ 2121; 5 perfect reps x 3 sets - rest as needed

2. 3 Position Power Snatch x 1 complex 5 sets - rest 90 sec - light to moderate loading

3. Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat @ 2010; 12/leg x 3 sets - rest 1 min b/t legs - 1st set - EZ, 2nd set - Moderate, 3rd set - Tough

4. Glute Ham Raise @ 40X0; 5 tough reps x 3 sets - rest 2 min

This is the first session back for one of my clients after competing in the 2023 CrossFit Quarterfinals nearly 2 weeks ago. Last week was completely off. A planned rest for both the body and the mind. This week is what I call a “reloading” week. The intent here is to get them back into the gym doing some training, nothing intense, and getting ready for the first training cycle to begin the following week.

For some, 2-4 weeks of down time mixed in with easier training is preferred. I approach this on a case by case basis. The most important factor in this process is to ensure we don’t jump back into training too soon. A little more rest now will go a long way.

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 22: Adaptive Physiology with Michael Bann

Hey guys, welcome back to Crafting Fitness!

Today I have my friend and colleague Michael Bann back on for round 2.

In this conversation, we focus on the concept of Adaptive Physiology. This is a concept that undergirds a lot of Michael’s approach to coaching and how he solves problems with his clients.

We specifically dove into the following topics:

-The difference between Germ Theory and Terrain Theory

-Susceptibility to stress and sickness

-The 3 big levers: Physiology, Genes, and Mental/Emotional

-Top down vs. Bottom up approaches

-Emunctories

-Michael’s 5 pillars of performance

If you enjoy this episode, please like and share it with others as it helps us build our reach and be able share more great content with the public.

Contacting Michael:

Email - michaelbann@OPEX RC.coach

IG - @coach_michael_bann

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

Onward,

Coach Sam Smith

Confront Your Fears: Breakthrough

Here is a thought, a quote, and a piece of training to consider this weekend.

TQT

Thought

"One of the great gifts of sports is learning how to fail in public.

People never go to the gym because they're scared of looking stupid, never share their writing because they're scared of judgment, never open their heart because they're scared of rejection.

Sports train you to face your fear."

Life is too short to not act out of fear of failing.

Quote

“Rewards are sweeter when the road is long.” - Abi Hammond

Training

Sport Practice

2 sets @ 85-90%/High Effort:

3 min AMRAP:

6 Thrusters @ 95/65 pounds

4 BMU

20 DU's

-rest 2 min-

3 min AMRAP:

6 Power Snatch @ 95/65 pounds

7 Kipping HSPU

8 BJO @ 24/20”

-rest 2 min-

+

rest 5-7 minutes

+

2 sets @ 85-90%/High Effort:

3 min AMRAP:

8 OHS @ 95/65 pounds

6 GHDSU

7 Bar Facing Burpees

-rest 2 min-

3 min AMRAP:

20 DU's

3 Wall Walks

5 PC to OH @ 95/65 pounds

-rest 2 min-

This is an example of a perfect sport practice session for the CrossFit athlete. The goal here is to work on movement speed, transition speed, and movement efficiency. The repetition ranges are such that a capable athlete can move through these AMRAPs fast and smoothly without any issues. This becomes a perfect opportunity to continue learning how to power “dynamic contractions” more aerobically.

When giving this a go, focus on trying to find a flow state with your execution of each movement and each AMRAP. If needed, force yourself to “push” the pace a bit more than you’d like to test where the limits lie for your cycle speed and work rate.

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 21: 2023 CrossFit Quarterfinal Review with Austin Kapetanakis

Hey guys, welcome back to Crafting Fitness!

Today I’m pleased to be joined with my friend and client, Austin Kapetanakis. In this episode we discuss and review the 2023 CrossFit Quarterfinal events. I wanted to break down the events and was planning on doing it solo, but figured having someone who completed them would provide a bit more color to the conversation.

This was a jam packed episode covering many facets of training, competing, and testing.

If you enjoy this episode, please like and share it with others as it helps us build our reach and be able share more great content with the public.

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

Onward,

Coach Sam Smith

Pain, Reflection, Progress: The Cycle

Here is a thought, a quote, and a piece of training to consider this weekend.

TQT

Thought

The struggles and pain we face are our best teachers.

How do you react when in physical or psychological pain?

Where does your mind go?

What internal dialogue do you revert to?

Who do you become?

By examining how we respond, we give ourselves the opportunity to better understand where our fear comes from and how we can combat it.

How could you upgrade your default setting when in those stressful moments?

If we shift our framing, we can turn pain into possibility.

Quote

“Without struggle, no one will know what you are capable of, not even yourself.” - Seneca

Training

[Possible 2023 CrossFit Quarterfinal Event?]

For Time:

500m Row

50 GHDSU

1000m Row

30 GHDSU

2000m Row

20 GHDSU

This workout has been on the main site a few times over the past year. A classic combination: MG (mono-structural & gymnastics).

Rowing requires great postural endurance. When you pair it with a movement that will severely tax your midline and by extension your postural endurance, you have a great fitness test.

I would classify these as non-complementary patterns as they both fatigue each other. The structuring of the movements plays a part in the fatigue as well. As the fatigue is accumulating from the GHD sit-ups, you are rowing longer and longer distances challenging your postural endurance even more.

One final aspect of this test that I enjoy is the ascending nature of the rowing distance and the overall length. Ascending work bouts require a lot of self-knowledge around one’s pace and an ability to pivot on the fly depending on how fast or how slow fatigue is rising.

Whether or not it is an actual 2023 CrossFit Quarterfinal event, it’s a great test of fitness that can provide a wealth of insights into your current capabilities.

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 20: Should you be tracking your food?

Hey guys, welcome back to Crafting Fitness!

Today I sit down with Colleen Fotsch to discuss two questions she often receives:

Question 1:

Should you be tracking your food?

Question 2:

How to eat to perform?

We were both able to share our own personal experiences with tracking food and how we’ve eaten in the past to perform.

We looked at the pros and cons from our personal lens and from our coach lens to show how different seasons of life create different needs for the way we view and consume food.

Finally, we discussed the impact of one’s environment, social circles, and traveling regarding the decisions we make with food.

If you enjoy this episode, please like and share it with others as it helps us build our reach and be able share more great content with the public.

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

Onward,

Coach Sam Smith

Preparing for Life's Challenges

Here is a thought, a quote, and a piece of training to consider this weekend.

TQT

Thought

Life is challenging.

And if you accept that as true, then you must continually be equipping yourself with tools to handle the inevitable challenges.

There’s one tool that can provide enduring value far better than most:

Physical Challenges

They are one of the most powerful tools to wield. They force you to face the truth.

A lot of your life is squandered in your imagination where you suffer far more than in reality. When you expose yourself to physical challenges, you bring yourself back to reality; to what is real. And through these challenges, you build a resilience not found anywhere else.

Through the voluntary practice of physical challenges, you show yourself that you can work hard, struggle, and overcome “real” challenges. And through this exposure, you build a confidence in your physical body that extends to your psychological body.

The iron never lies.

Expose yourself to daily physical challenges.

See them as an opportunity to sharpen your sword.

Life is challenging.

But you will be ready.

Quote

“Build relationships so strong they can bare the weight of truth.”

Training

“Fitness Monitoring”

1. Snatch - Build to a max

2. Strict Handstand Push Up - AMRAP UB x 1 set - no pausing

3. 30 second Row, 30 sec Rest (stay strapped in), 30 second Row - for max meters

The tests are not to determine value but their current ability through easy-to-implement, repeatable, sports specific situations.

“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”

The scores will undulate and that is expected. The sole purpose is to see HOW the current training program is impacting the snatch, row, and strict handstand push ups; markers of strength, capacity, relative strength and endurance for the sport of Crossfit.

I leverage these tests quite a bit in my coaching practice with competitive Crossfitters. The frequency of use depends on their training age and experience level. For example: the higher the training age, the less often I’m using them.

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 19: Reviewing the 2023 CrossFit Open

Hey guys, welcome back to Crafting Fitness!

Today I review the 2023 CrossFit Open events and share my thoughts on each event and all 4 events as a whole.

I broke this episode up into 6 parts:

1. Initial Noticings

2. What’s being tested

3. Changes from previous years

4. How to improve work rate and strength under fatigue

5. Functional Volume

6. Strategy guides - are they useful?

If you enjoy this episode, please like and share it with others as it helps us build our reach and be able share more great content with the public.

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

Onward,

Coach Sam Smith

Actions Speak Volumes: What's Yours?

Here is a thought, a quote, and a piece of training to consider this weekend.

TQT

Thought

You don’t move a muscle without a motive.

Look at your motives to better understand your actions.

Psychology drives physiology.

Quote

“The truth is generally seen, rarely heard.”

-Baltasar Gracián

Training

Extended Sets:

Learning how to extend out your power

2 sets @ 85-90%:

45 sec Row Calories

45 sec Bar Facing Burpees

90 sec rest

45 sec Shuttle Run

45 sec Alt Pistols

90 sec rest

45 sec AB Calories

45 sec Double Unders

90 sec rest

+

5 min rest

+

2 sets @ 85-90%:

45 sec Row Calories

45 sec Bar Muscle Ups

90 sec rest

45 sec Shuttle Run

45 sec Power Clean to Overhead @ 105/155 - singles

90 sec rest

45 sec AB Calories

45 sec Box Jump Over @ 20/24”

90 sec rest

The progression I’m using with this tool is starting with 60 second intervals and extending it out over 4-5 weeks. For example:

Week 1 - 60 sec on, 60 sec off

Week 2 - 90 sec on, 90 sec off

Week 3 - 120 sec on, 120 sec off

Week 4 - 180 sec on, 180 sec off

Week 5 - 240 sec on, 240 sec off

The total volume and length of the progression will depend on the person, goals, and current capabilities. As a general rule, I aim to give people at least 15 minutes worth of work and up to 30-40 minutes worth of work in some cases with these intervals.

The goal here is to teach people how to work at higher, consistent rates for extended periods of time. This provides value with building confidence, muscle endurance, and movement speed. As you can imagine, the usage of this tool will require a respectable level of ability, self-awareness, and capacity to execute appropriately.

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 18: Pacing vs. Full Effort...which is better?

Hey guys, welcome back to Crafting Fitness!

Today I discuss the differences between pacing and full effort.

I recently listened to an episode of the Varied Not Random podcast with Adrian Bozman and Pat Sherwood where they answered a listener Q & A regarding which is better, pacing or going full-send with your workouts.

I wanted to add my thoughts to this discussion with the hope of providing an alternative way of looking at effort and training.

I broke this episode up into 4 parts:

1st - Defining the terms to be discussed and identifying what the underlying goals are

2nd - Designing appropriate training and how that plays a role in this discussion

3rd - The moderation between high-intensity and sustainability

4th - Reasons for Pacing and Full Effort

If you have questions or thoughts you’d like to share with me on the topic, feel free to send me an email: sam@OPEX RC.coach

If you enjoy this episode, please like and share it with others as it helps us build our reach and be able share more great content with the public.

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

Onward,

Coach Sam Smith

P.S. Not yet a OPEX RC client. Get all the info on both our Individual Design and Programs offerings here.

Language's Impact: Help or Hinder?

Here is a thought, a quote, and a piece of training to consider this weekend.

TQT

Thought

Your internal and external dialogue are frighteningly powerful.

“I’m not prepared.”

“I don’t know if I can do this.”

“I blew up here last time.”

“I’m not that fit.”

If you use language like this, don’t expect a positive outcome.

If you want to succeed, if you want to achieve something worthy, challenge yourself to “not say anything that makes you weak.”

Focus on speaking words that make you strong, capable, and confident.

Watch what happens.

Quote

“Stop saying those things that make you weak and ashamed. Say only those things that make you strong. Do only those things that you could speak of with honor.”

-Jordan Peterson

Training

CrossFit Quarterfinal Prep Events

AM-

[Gymnastic Muscle Endurance Test]

5 rounds for time:

6 RMU

12 Alternating Pistols

15 GHDSU

*15 min time cap

PM-

[Power Test]

2:30 min AMRAP:

18/21 Calorie Row

15 Thrusters @ 95/135

*in remaining time:

Bar Facing Burpees

-rest 2:30 min-

2:30 min AMRAP:

18/21 Calorie Row

15 Thrusters @ 95/135

*in remaining time:

Bar Facing Burpees

*Score is total burpees

Notes:

These two events come from the final day of the first quarterfinal simulation I gave to a cohort of my athletes. I wanted to highlight the differences between the two tests to show how important it is to ask yourself, “what is the dose I want from the test?”

If we start with that question, it becomes easier to select the appropriate time frame, movements, ordering of the movements, repetition ranges, and where we want to place it in the grand scheme of the simulation.

Part of these decisions will be guided on what we hypothesize will be the test to come at the quarterfinals this year. Since it could change from previous years, it’s always a roll of the dice. 

Give these tests a whirl. Pay attention to the following few items:

1. The fatigue points in the tests for you

2. The overall “feeling” of the tests

3. The cadence and how they differ

4. The recovery time after each of them

If you have the requisite ability to express both of these tests correctly, there ought to be a clear distinction between the both of them.

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 17: The Last Coach You'll Ever Need with Michael Bann

Today I’m honored to be speaking with my colleague Michael Bann.

For the past 15 years, Michael has been deep in the trenches of coaching.

In this episode, I wanted to pick his brain on his coaching philosophy and how he’s changed his mind on movement and coaching movement over the years.

The areas we covered were the following:

●      “The last coach you’ll ever need”

●      How his perspective on movement and movement asymmetries have evolved over the years

●      Saying “no” more often and how he teaches this to his clients

●      Learning to create space for clients to become more aware of themselves allowing them to upgrade their own understanding

●      Why coaching is an investment in yourself

●      Why a coaches job is to call people up and make them better

Below you can find the links to the books he mentions in the podcast along with how you can get ahold of him if you are interested in working with 1:1

Books:

When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Sensitive Nervous System

The Divided Mind

Contact Michael:

Email - michaelbann@OPEX RC.coach

IG - @coach_michael_bann

If you enjoy this episode, please like and share it with others as it helps us build our reach and be able share more great content with the public.

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

Onward,

Coach Sam Smith

Work vs. Outcome: Focus

Here is a thought, a quote, and a piece of training to consider this weekend.

TQT

Thought

If you know (and believe) the outcome you will attain will be a reflection of the work you put in, then there’s only one thing to do:

Start working, keep working, and stay the course. If you try to make it any more difficult than that, you are looking for an excuse.

Quote

“The results will be pretty close to what they should be.”

-Coach John Wooden

Training

Quarterfinal Simulation Test:

2 min AMRAP:

30 GHDSU

12 RMU

AMRAP Clean and Jerk @ 155/225

-1 min rest-

3 min AMRAP:

30 GHDSU

9 RMU

AMRAP Clean and Jerk @ 175/245

-1 min rest-

4 min AMRAP:

30 GHDSU

6 RMU

AMRAP Clean and Jerk @ 185/265

*Score is total CnJs

*You can power or squat the bar

*Have someone add load to your bar each round

I wanted to come up with a battery/strength test that also had roughly the functional volume requirements for GHDSU and Ring Muscle Ups (based upon the 2022 QF testing body). Being exposed to a test that demands multiple skill sets from the athlete can better determine who is more capable and well-rounded given what is being tested for at this stage in the competition.

I would categorize this as a very advanced style test where all movements are interfering with each other, requiring the athlete to show tremendous competency, efficiency, and strength in order to attain a great score. 2 things to notice in particular:

1. 1 minute is added with each successive AMRAP (partly due to fatigue creep and partly due to load being added to the bar each round)

2. The load on the barbell is increasing (this adds another wrinkle to the test as fatigue creeps. How efficient and smooth someone can be with the movements and the loading will further separate themselves from the rest of the pack)

Scores:

I haven’t had anyone do this yet (they will be performing it once you are reading this newsletter) but I’m going to say the top score will be 25-30 total reps. I figure 5 for the first one, 10 for the second one, and between 10-15 for the last one. I’d also expect females, on the average, to attain a higher score than men on this one.

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 16: Life After Competing with Colleen Fotsch

Hey guys, welcome back to Crafting Fitness!

Today I’m honored to be speaking with the newest addition to our OPEX RC team, Colleen Fotsch.

We had a wonderful conversation talking about her athletic career, stories from our time working together during her competitive days, and how she’s navigated the change in her identity from the athlete towards the next chapter of being a coach and data analyst.

Below you will find her bio and a few notes regarding her new program, OPEX RC: Perform!

Colleen is an elite athlete in multiple sports and an all around bad-ass human. She started out as a 5-time All-American swimmer at UC Berkeley, where her team won multiple NCAA D1 championships. After college, Colleen poured her heart into a new sport– CrossFit. She went on to compete at the CrossFit Games as both an individual athlete and in the team division. In 2020, Colleen was recruited to join the National USA Bobsled Team and added yet another impressive adventure to her athletic resumé.

Although she’s now retired from competitive athletics, she maintains her athletic spirit as a full-time data analyst putting in hours in the office while still training hard and enjoying life. While pursuing her masters degree, Colleen developed a passion for helping people balance effective training with all of the other facets of life– work, school, family, and friends. Colleen has taken her knowledge and experience competing at the highest level to develop OPEX RC: Perform.

OPEX RC Perform is our newest program aimed at crafting performance for life outside the arena.

You can use the link below to access her program and sign up today.

If you enjoy this episode, please like and share it with others as it helps us build our reach and be able share more great content with the public.

Contact Colleen:

Email - colleen@OPEX RC.coach

IG - @colleenfotsch

OPEX RC Perform - https://dashboard.coachrx.app/programs/sales/24169

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

Onward,

Coach Sam Smith

Colleen Joins the Team: Welcome!

I’ll get straight to it.

I’m very excited to announce that our good friend, great coach, and all-round awesome person, Colleen Fotsch has joined our coaching team.

Colleen comes with a wealth of knowledge and experience on both the coaching and client side.

Colleen's athletic career began with her being a 5-time All-American swimmer at UC Berkeley where her team claimed multiple NCAA D1 titles.

After college, she turned her attention to CrossFit and participated in the Games and Regionals several times as both an individual athlete and part of a team. A memorable moment in Colleen's CrossFit career was when she achieved first place in the 15.5 competition, finishing the 144-rep combination of rowing and thrusters in a time of 6:26, faster than any female participant in the world.

In 2020, Colleen was invited to join Team USA Bobsled, adding another outstanding athletic experience to her already impressive resume.

As well as her impressive athletic achievements, Colleen is a brilliant coach who lives and breathes the OPEX RC values. She brings her passion for fitness to every individual and program she delivers, and we’re incredibly lucky to have her joining our team

Starting today, Colleen will be taking individual design clients and leading her new program, OPEX RC: Perform.

OPEX RC: Perform is built to fuel the enduring athlete inside of you. Colleen brings her personal experience transitioning from competitor to pursuing fitness for life, with programming that will keep repping out the skills and lifts you love without sacrificing health and balance. You’ll train with an athlete’s mindset, chasing performance and new challenges for the thrill of it.

Check out OPEX RC: Perform and start training with Colleen here.

She'll also be taking individual design clients in the near future, so if you're interested in working 1:1 with her then just click here to join the waitlist.

If you aren’t already, head over to Colleen’s social, show her some love, and welcome her to the team!

Instagram

YouTube

Onwards,

Sam Smith

Intention's Significance: Unlocking Success

Here is a thought, a quote, and a piece of training to consider this weekend.

TQT

Thought

Intention is everything.

If you want to improve, you will find a way and work deliberately to achieve it.

If you want an excuse, you will find one and work deliberately to use it.

What intention are you bringing to things that matter to you?

Quote

“The integrity of your intention is the gatekeeper to your effort.”

Training

“The Truth Teller”

12 minute AMRAP:

10 Thrusters @ 65/95#

10 Chest to Bar Pull Ups

10 Bar Facing Burpees

Scores:

*Elite - 8+ rounds

*Good - 6+ rounds

There’s nowhere to hide with this one. You either have the volume and capacity built to push it from the start or you don’t.

I call it “The Truth Teller” simply because it asks, “how bad do you want it?” For the competitor, this is a great mental and physical test to push against before you have to do it for real.

Back in 2016, I did this as a 10 minute AMRAP and remember it being a really great challenge right before the start of the Open. It has a very classic old-school CrossFit feel: low skill complementary movements that can be turned over fast for those who have the capacity built. The total volume wasn’t enough with 10 minutes, so I’ve bumped it up to 12 minutes.

Tip: Use the first 3 minutes to find your tempo and settle in with the intent of pushing slightly on the final 3 minutes.

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 15: Work "Rate" - The KPI You Aren't Thinking AboutHey guys, welcome back to Crafting Fitness!

Today I go in-depth on a KPI in the sport of CrossFit that doesn’t get discussed very often or at all. I wrote about it a few years back and I called it, “rate.”

In this episode I go over the following with regards to “rate”:

●      What rate is, using data from past Open and Semifinal results

●      Why it is important in the sport

●      A framework for thinking about it and it’s progression as an athlete develops

●      How to test it

●      How to train and progress it

In the show notes you’ll find a link to the blog post I wrote that has specific numbers and progressions that I mentioned in the episode. Feel free to use them and test them out.

If you have questions or thoughts you’d like to share with me on the topic, feel free to send me an email at sam@OPEX RC.coach

If you enjoy this episode, please like and share it with others as it helps us build our reach and be able share more great content with the public.

Rate Blog Post:

https://www.OPEX RC.coach/blog/the-importance-of-rate-in-the-sport-of-crossfit

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

Onward,

Coach Sam Smith

Effort: A Non-Negotiable Commitment

Here is a thought, a quote, and a piece of training to consider this weekend.

TQT

Thought

Effort isn’t a choice.

Effort is downstream from the level of importance you’ve given the task before you’ve even begun.

You don’t get to choose the level of effort you give to the task.

You do get to choose the level of importance you bring to the task.

And the level of importance you bring determines what effort is made available to you.

Decide the level of importance.

The level of effort will follow.

Quote

“The task must be made difficult, for only the difficult inspires the noble-hearted.” - Soren Kierkegaard

Training

5 rounds for time:

7 Power Snatch @ 105/155 pounds

7 Kipping Handstand Push Ups

14 Alternating Pistols

Times:

Sub 8 minutes - good

Sub 7 minutes - great

Sub 6:30 minutes - elite

This is a classic mixed test that challenges non-complementary muscle endurance: all movements involve hip extension, thus they all play a part in fatiguing each other.

While the total volume is on the lower end relative to functional volume, this test is more about can the athlete express it with speed and efficiency?

Sometimes you want to give an athlete a piece of work that is long and arduous to see how well they can manage the grind. Other times you need to see if they can bring speed with great efficiency to a test that will challenge one’s ability to be fast. A similar test to the one above was the 2022 CrossFit Quarterfinal Event 2:

3 rounds for time:

30 Alternating Pistols

30 GHDSU

10 Ring Muscle Ups

The total volume of this test was not a lot for the caliber of athlete at the top in the field. What separated the elite from the rest was the “speed” at which they could perform this amount of work. As you ascend in your ability, your intention will need to shift towards, “how fast can I perform this work”? Until then, keep working on building efficiency, volume, and consistency. Ease always precedes speed.

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 14: 2023 Wodapalooza Event Review

Hey guys, welcome back to Crafting Fitness!

On today’s episode, Mike and I review the events from Wodapalooza.

This is one of the premier CrossFit events that took place from January 12-15th of 2023. I had one athlete compete in the elite male team division and one athlete in the upper adaptive division who ended up winning. Congrats to Casey.

In this episode we go over:

●      All 9 events

●      The breakdown of the events and their characteristics

●      Our thoughts on each event

●      And pieces we would potentially change if we were designing the events

If you have questions or topics you’d like for us to discuss on future episodes, feel free to respond to this email with that topic or email me directly: sam@OPEX RC.coach

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

Onward,

Coach Sam Smith

Reassurance's Futility: Insights

Here is a thought, a quote, and a piece of training to consider this weekend.

TQT

Thought

If you need to ask your coach, “How are my scores? Am I doing well?”

You have a long ways to go.

As you develop physically and mentally, you will also be developing a sense of knowing where you are at. You will know when you are on your edge and when you are not. You will more clearly know where you need to get to, what numbers those are, and where you currently sit in relation to them.

Asking someone else for reassurance is futile. There’s never enough of it and the outcome will always be uncertain. Instead, focus on the work, focus on the process. This is what you can control.

Quote

“What must ultimately motivate you is the work itself and the process. Public attention is actually a nuisance and a distraction.” - Robert Greene

Training

“F’ed up Fran”

For Time:

27 Thrusters @ 65/95 pounds

27 Pull Ups

21 Thrusters @ 65/95 pounds

21 C2B

15 Thrusters @ 65/95 pounds

15 BMU

9 Thrusters @ 65/95 pounds

9 RMU

Can you go sub 9 minutes?

Descending repetitions, ascending difficulty on the pulling patterns.

How well can you perform higher skilled movements as fatigue rises?

This one is just on the edge of functional volume. It does provide a great test to see what “rate” you can hold with movements that have a higher turnover speed.

Don’t know what “functional volume” or “rate” means?

I wrote extensive articles on both awhile back. Here are the links to both of them:

Functional Volume:

https://www.OPEX RC.coach/blog/what-is-functional-volume

Rate:

https://www.OPEX RC.coach/blog/the-importance-of-rate-in-the-sport-of-crossfit

I’m going to record a few podcast episodes in the near future detailing “rate” and “functional volume”. I see it “rate” one of the more important attributes for the CrossFit athlete that isn’t noticed nor intentionally worked on.

FREE Webinar - Designing Smarter Crossfit Workouts

⁠It’s not enough just to just do the daily WOD and think you’ll reach your goals.

You need to understand where you currently sit and what you’re trying to achieve. Then you can design the workouts to get you there.

That’s why designing smarter Crossfit workouts is the topic of my upcoming webinar. It’s essential to build the confidence and readiness you need before you step on the competition floor.

I will be sharing robust frameworks for analyzing workouts to better design and better Rx appropriate dose-response.

Subject: Design Smarter CrossFit Workouts - Thinking Beyond 21-15-9

Date: Wednesday, February 1

Time: 1 PM EST

Link: Register Now

Topics I will cover include:

●      Purpose

●      Sport vs. General Fitness

●      ⁠Characteristics of Testing Body

●      Thinking about Tension

●      Combinations

●      Dose Response

●     

Plus, bring your questions and join me for a live Q&A.

Spots are limited. Register now and secure yours.

[REGISTER NOW]

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 13: Is Being a CrossFit Games Athlete Healthy?

Hey guys, welcome back to Crafting Fitness!

Today I’m pleased to be joined by my colleague, Henry Torano. We both recently saw a post from Ben Bergeron saying that CrossFit Games athletes have healthy bodies. Henry and I both have differing viewpoints on this statement and wanted to share our thoughts on why we see sport and health being mutually exclusive.

Our aim for this discussion was to share an opposing viewpoint to the one stated and to add perspective on why we think sport sits outside of longevity and health regardless of what that sport entails.

If you have questions or topics you’d like for us to discuss on future episodes, feel free to respond to this email with that topic or email me directly: sam@OPEX RC.coach

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

Onward,

Coach Sam Smith

To Be or To Do: Decisions

Here is a thought, a quote, and a piece of training to consider this weekend.

TQT

Thought

Do you want to appear to be somebody, or do you want to do something?

Do you want to be strong, or do you want to look strong?

Do you want to be competitive, or do you want to look competitive?

“To be” = focused on appearances

“To do” = focused on action

Which one you choose will determine where you find your confidence: outside yourself or inside yourself.

Focusing on appearances will force you to find confidence outside yourself.

Focusing on action will force you to find confidence inside yourself.

“True confidence comes from within. External validation is fleeting and unreliable.”

Quote

“I don’t have talent, so I just get up earlier.” - Henry Rollins

And if you get up earlier, then you need to go to bed earlier. And if you go to bed earlier, then you need to wind down earlier…you get my drift.

Training

Below I’ve posted the events from this past weekend’s OPEX RC Quarterfinal Preparation Camp. I was going to only post 1 of the events but upon further thought, I decided to post all of them.

The intention behind the events was to create a body of tests that challenged characteristics we might expect in the Quarterfinals this year. The only event I wasn’t pleased with was event 4. It was too much. I wanted it to be a fatigue repeatability style test that challenged power more so than pure grit. If I kept the thruster load fixed and made the thruster repetitions ascending and the burpees descending, I think that would have been better. Otherwise, the tests went great given the equipment constraints we had and the ability level of our athletes.

If you decide to do any of them or give them to any of your own clients, feel free to email me back the results and any takeaways you had. I’d love to see them and hear them!

Day 1

Event 1

20 min clock:

Minute 0-6:

Max Clean and Jerk

Minute 6-14, 8 minute AMRAP:

27 DU's

3* Power Snatch @ 80/115

3* Hang Squat Snatch @ 80/115

3* OHS @ 80/115

*add 1 rep to each movement each round

*each barbell movement must be unbroken

Minute 14-20:

Max Clean and Jerk

1st Score:

Average Load Lifted

2nd Score:

Total Reps in AMRAP

Event 2

For Time:

15 T2B

1 x [1 Wall Walk + 2 Wall Facing Strict HSPU]

15 T2B

2 x [1 Wall Walk + 2 Wall Facing Strict HSPU]

15 T2B

3 x [1 Wall Walk + 2 Wall Facing Strict HSPU]

15 T2B

4 x [1 Wall Walk + 2 Wall Facing Strict HSPU]

15 T2B

5 x [1 Wall Walk + 2 Wall Facing Strict HSPU]

15 T2B

6 x [1 Wall Walk + 2 Wall Facing Strict HSPU]

*15 min time cap

Day 2

Event 3

For Time:

1000m Row

20 Shuttle Runs

100 Cal AB

20 Shuttle Runs

1000m Row

1 = 50' - 25' out and back

*20 min time cap

Event 4

For Total Time:

12/15 Ring Muscle Up

-into-

21 Thruster @ 65/95

9 Bar Facing Burpees

-1 min rest-

9/12 Ring Muscle Up

-into-

15 Thruster @ 80/115

15 Bar Facing Burpee

-1 min rest-

6/9 Ring Muscle Up

-into-

9 Thruster @ 95/135

21 Bar Facing Burpee

Day 3

Event 5

For Time:

60 Alt DB Power Snatch @ 35/50#

50 Alt Pistols

40 Kipping HSPU

30 Wall Ball Shots - standard weight

20 Box Jump Over @ 20/24” - no rebounding

10/arm SA DB OH Walking Lunges @ 50/70#

Event 6

For Time:

10 Snatches @ 125/185

40 Row Calories (30 for females)

10 Clean to Overhead @ 125/185

*6 min time cap

On my instagram account (@coachsamsmith) I posted each of these events along with a short write up on the intention and my thoughts behind each of them. Feel free to head there for further insights on these tests. Best of luck to those who do them!

The Crafting Fitness Podcas

Episode 12: Developing Dynamic Skills (Listener Q & A)

In this week’s episode, I tackle a listener Q & A.

The question revolved around how to develop dynamic skills. Most specifically: Toes to Bar, Chest to Bar Pull Ups, Ring and Bar Muscle Ups, Handstand Push Ups, and Handstand Walking.

Being able to do all of these movements is required in order to compete in the Sport of Crossfit. So, here’s how I go about helping people develop them…

Some of the pieces I covered are the following:

●      Potential for development

●      Strict Strength Requirements

●      Skill Development

●      Programming Considerations

Functional Volume Article [this was mentioned in the episode as a resource for understanding how much volume you need to build with skills for the sport]:

https://www.OPEX RC.coach/blog/what-is-functional-volume#:~:text=Functional%20volume%20is%20the%20requisite,events%2C%20and%20other%20various%20competitions.

If you have questions or topics you’d like for us to discuss on future episodes, feel free to respond to this email with that topic or email me directly: sam@OPEX RC.coach

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

Onward,

Coach Sam Smith

Motivation's Source: Find Yours

Here is a thought, a quote, and a piece of training to consider this weekend.

Thought

The immediacy of competition ignites motivation. Which warrants a moment of reflection to acknowledge:

What sits behind that motivation?

Do you have great clarity behind what drives you to compete, to test yourself physically and emotionally?

Are you clear on the value you gain from the self sacrifice?

How will it benefit you and your current life’s quest?

These are all great questions to sit and reflect on before you hear 3,2,1, go.

When you are maximally stressed, hard truths will be revealed.

The more clear you are on what is driving you, the more willing and enduring you will be in the face of maximal stress.

The integrity of your intention is the gatekeeper to your effort.

Quote

"One of the great gifts of sports is learning how to fail in public.

People never go to the gym because they're scared of looking stupid, never share their writing because they're scared of judgment, never open their heart because they're scared of rejection.

Sports train you to face your fear."

Training

20 minute AMRAP:

25 Box Jump Step Down @ 24/20”

25 Alt DB Power Snatch @ 50/35#

25 Burpees to 6” OH

25 Thrusters @ 65/45#

Intention:

With the CrossFit Open being roughly a month away, this is a perfect piece to test your sheer work capacity. The simplicity in movements along with low load allow for work capacity and a desire to succeed to thrive. The main pieces I’m looking for in this test are the following:

1. Work Capacity (Low Skill & Low Load environment)

2. How bad do you want it? (You can always do 1 more repetition with these movements; no forced rests necessary)

3. Sport Specific Volume Tolerance

4. Movement Efficiency

The low skill and low load environment allows for a better opportunity to showcase one’s work capacity. As such, you inevitably will face the question, how bad do I want it? In order to push for a great score, a firm disciplined cadence must be held throughout. This will get uncomfortable. The volume of work falls within sport specific volume for all movements. Combining them will add another layer of fatigue and challenge and gives us great insight on how well someone can handle this amount of volume with these movements. And as I’ve discussed before, one’s ability to express high levels of work capacity will be dependent on movement efficiency (economy requires efficiency and vice versa).

Top scores: 4 rounds

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 11: How To Turn Your Arms Into Legs (Listener Q & A)

In this week’s episode, I tackle a listener Q & A.

The question revolved around how to turn your arms into legs, meaning, how do you make your arms very enduring and very strong for the sport of Crossfit?

I briefly spoke about this idea in a previous episode where I said the higher you climb in this sport, the more important your arms become.

Some of the pieces I covered are the following:

●      Potential for improvement

●      Limitations

●      Strategies

●      Training Principles

●      Programming Considerations

If you have questions or topics you’d like for us to discuss on future episodes, feel free to respond to this email with that topic or email me directly: sam@OPEX RC.coach

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

Onward,

Coach Sam Smith

Systems Trump Goals: Why?

TQT

[I’ve got a new format for this newsletter that I believe you will all find interesting. A “thought” from me, a “quote”, and a piece of “training” with a short excerpt discussing its value and relevance.]

Thought

[Talking about how creating systems are superior to setting goals seems to be all the rage currently, so I’m going to throw my hat in the ring on the topic]

“If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead.”

I find this to be a powerful statement. The follow up provides further strength:

“Winners and losers have the same goals.”

And if they have the same goals, then the goal cannot be what separates the winners from the losers.

So what separates them?

Systems.

A system can be defined as the following:

“A set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or interconnecting network.”

The system used to move toward the goal is the determiner of the outcome.

It’s not about what you want to achieve, it’s about what you are going to do each day to inch you closer to achieving it that matters.

Fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves.

Quote

“The ultimate failure is success without fulfillment.”

Training

Part 1:

4 sets - each for time @ high effort:

4 rounds:

7 Thrusters @ 65/95#

7 C2B

-rest 2 min-

*Goal - 2:00-2:30 across

Part 2:

4 sets - each for time @ high effort:

4 rounds:

7 Deadlifts @ 155/225#

7 Kipping HSPU

-rest 2 min-

*Goal - 2:00-2:30 across

Intention:

With the Crossfit competitive season closing in, these pieces are great testers to assess a multitude of performance characteristics:

1. Sport Specific Volume Tolerance

2. Movement Efficiency

3. Movement Speed

4. Fatigue Repeatability

5. Dampening of Contractions

4 sets on each equates to 112 repetitions of each movement. This falls within “functional volume” for these movements but must be considered when prescribing it. If I don’t want the cost to be too much on an athlete, for any particular reason, I’ll drop it down to 3 sets for each. This can still allow for a potent training dose without a huge cost on the system.

Top end times on these are sub 2 across all sets!

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 10:  2022 Legends Championship Event Review

In this week’s episode, Mike and I review the events from the 2022 Legends Championship.

This is one of the premier Crossfit masters events that took place from December 8-11th of 2022. We both had athletes compete in the competition and decided a review of the events and programming would be fun to discuss with our audience.

In this episode we go over:

●      All 9 events

●      Our thoughts on each event

●      And pieces we would potentially change if we were designing the events

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

Happy New Year,

Coach Sam Smith

2022 In Review: Reflecting Back

How can we review the past year to better inform ourselves as we start the next one?

This seems to be the question on everyone’s mind this time of year.

“What can I take away from this past year?”

“What’s the best way of reflecting on the year?”

I’ve personally tried many different approaches and none have seemed to work very well.

So, this year I wanted to try something different.

I take a tremendous amount of notes. I use the note application on my iPhone and computer daily. It’s become almost a diary of sorts.

As I am writing this, I have 3,409 total notes. Don’t worry, I have various categories and subcategories to help organize them so it’s not a chaotic mess. I will admit, it could be more organized but it’s getting better.

I wanted to go through all the notes I took this past year and pull out the ones that had real sustenance. I saw this as an opportunity to highlight the bigger themes I wrestled with and wrote on over the past year.

I came away with 58 quality ones worth sharing. I broke those 58 notes down into 3 categories with 2 sub-categories for easier reading. These notes are composed from a wide range of sources:

●      Quotes

●      Book excerpts

●      My own thoughts on various topics

●      Frameworks for coaching and program design

…and more

I hope you find value and insight that can be applied to your life within these notes.

The Categories:

The Coach

-Training Related

-Practice Related

The Competitor

-The Mind

-The Sport

The Human

-Non-Book Knowledge

-Book Knowledge

*One note worth mentioning: If you see a black “bullet” that signifies a new “note.” There are a few pieces, like the very first one, where there are more than one “bullet” for the same note.

The Coach

Training Related

●      Capacity = Hardware

○      Heart, Lungs, Muscles

●      Efficiency/Economy = Software

○      Awareness, Perception of Effort, Movement Smoothness, Motivation, Dampening/Pacing

●      Think about how Energy System Training might not be real, rather great lifestyle and nutrition + skill practice + “playing the sport” is what leads to maximal potential

●      What are some “Truths'' you believe you have discovered with regards to training for Fitness (i.e. developing strength, power and endurance)?

(My Responses)

The initial point to make is, there must be a desire/highly motivated reason to get stronger or improve endurance. The underlying intention will, in large part, drive how well they adapt to the given goal.

Adaptation rate to either strength or endurance will be dependent on the person. This will drive the approach taken to improve those targets. Some will require more volume/exposure on a weekly and cycle basis while others will require less exposure with potentially higher intensity to maintain or improve that characteristic.

Preserving the CNS is key for strength/power expression and adaptation. Understanding someone’s essence helps inform how easily you can tap “into” their CNS/stress it. The easier it is to tap “into” it the more infrequent touches they will need for strength training in the traditional sense. The harder it is to tap into their CNS the more frequent touches they will need for strength training to maintain or improve their metrics in this area.

Volume accumulation is the overarching goal of any training program geared towards the sport of fitness. Being able to handle more volume over time shows an improvement in recovery, tolerance to stress, and dampening of intensity. Building endurance requires a progressive increase in training volume whereby improvements are made indirectly through handling more work. This begins to translate towards improvements in handling more sport specific training volume.

●      There was a time when I would design certain training pieces that I knew principally were sound, but I wasn’t completely sure why that was the case or how it fit into the bigger picture. And that is fine. It’s actually more than fine, it’s necessary.

○      For a coach, a large part of the learning process is rooted in the exploration of ideas that you’ve downloaded but don’t quite have access to the software, yet. The key here is maintaining the willingness to continually ask yourself, “what is going on with that ‘protocol’? Why am I using it and why is it working?”

○      The ongoing desire for a deeper understanding is only where you will discover the answers you seek. But, not knowing the answers does not mean your work is fraud. Rather, it is expected, and needed, at times in order to push the boundaries.

●      Uncomfortable Truth: Program design isn’t hard.

Understanding how to progress training with a complex human in mind is hard.

Practice Related

●      “One way to serve the community is to see it as a market and solve one of its problems. When people choose to buy something, it’s ostensibly because the thing you sell is worth more to them than it costs. And so value is created”

●      The results will be pretty close to what they should be

○      If you know (and believe) the outcome you will get will be a reflection of the work you put in, then there’s only one thing to do:

○      Start working, keep working, and stay the course. If you try to make it any more difficult than that, you are looking for an excuse.

●      Schoolteacher and suffragist, Alice Moore Hubbard, on how people learn:

"Teaching is successful only as it causes people to think for themselves. What the teacher thinks matters little; what he makes the child think matters much."

●      If you want to separate yourself from the rest, become the coach who is able to give people the opportunity to overcome their own challenges. When you are able to show them that they have the answers they are seeking, you radically change their lives for the better.

○      Are you a transactional coach or a transformative coach?

○      What lasting impact are you wanting to leave on your client?

Coaching principles:

Slow before fast

Long before short

Less is more

Ask don’t assume

Listen before you speak

Know what you want the end to look like

It’s not your job to fix people.

It’s your job to show them how to fix themselves.

Be intentional (have great intent)

Be inquisitive (ask great questions)

Be grounded (have humility)

Be observant (pay attention)

●      A framework for creating change with clients:

Step 1. How did YOU get here? (Acknowledge responsibility)

Step 2. How do you want your future self to look? (Subjective perspective)

Step 3. What’s the number (on the scale) and what are the strategies? (Objective perspective)

●      [Thinking about your coach-client relationship] The 3 main questions to wrestle with:

Question #1:

“When my client leaves me, what do I want that to look like?”

Question #2:

“What expectations am I setting during the initial consult? Am I setting the tone that my client will be actively learning throughout this process and reach a point where I’m not needed anymore?”

Question #3:

“Am I speaking the same language as my client? If not, how am I going to cover that gap?”

●      We transcend the finality of our lives through the passing on of our experience and wisdom to those who are beginning or in the midst of their own journey: mentorship.

●      Program design isn’t the end all be all, but don’t let your newfound understanding of behaviors and knowing your client cloud your ability to write great programs. At the end of the day, you still need to deliver a great program that’s unique to the client. Fixing behaviors can only do so much for a shit design.

[Thinking about the coach-client relationship]

●      As you evolve and your understanding changes you are also responsible for ensuring the other half of the relationship (the client) is making positive growth as well. If one half of the relationship is growing and evolving while the other is staying still this will lead to a point of contention, which could harm the relationship or even terminate it. Both parties are responsible for helping each other grow, update, and evolve throughout the process.

○      Change is certain; making that change with another is not certain.

The Competitor

The Mind

●      What is the end state (not outcome) you want to reach in your athletic quest?

●      "When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running."

●      The longer the time frame for results, the less you need intensity and the more you need consistency.

●      Consistency isn’t willpower, which is finite.

Consistency is a system that allows for easy iteration due to little to no “activation energy.”

If you want advantageous divergence, you have to have a system that easily allows for the preferred behavior every day.

●      Winning requires luck.

Getting into a position to win requires work.

And work always comes first before any luck is involved.

Get to work. Luck may find you.

●      As the competitive season approaches, it’s important to pay attention to how your system is reacting.

How are you handling the arrival of a competition? As the day draws closer, where is your mood and energy moving towards? Fear? Excitement? Anxiety? Calmness?

The way in which your body and mind move around events of higher importance can give you insights that are worth paying attention to.

Utilize the feedback to notice:

-How you are responding?

-Why might you be responding that way?

-What will you put your focus on as the event draws even closer?

This approach can be helpful in order to better understand your nerves allowing you to corral that energy to pull forth your best effort.

The Sport

●      How to win at the Sport of CrossFit:

Be more efficient and economical in your execution of the movement than the person next to you.

●      The elite respond to the contractions aerobically.

○      You are not trying to work harder. You’re trying to work less hard by being more efficient, allowing you to recover faster so you can do more work.

(“A range of mechanisms are identified supporting the proposal that an external focus promotes movement efficiency in line with energy and effort conservation.”)

-Less muscle contraction through improved efficiency and effort conservation -> more efficient movement leading to less “hard” contractions

●      If you try to “recover” in a workout you aren’t expressing it. True expression of the test is being able to maintain the mentality of “attacking” throughout.

●      Does your engine need work or do you need to learn better pacing to use your engine more effectively?

The Human

Non-Book Knowledge

●      Is it not up to you to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.

○      You are here to do something of consequence. You are not here to just enjoy yourself. (A burden and a blessing)

○      If you believe your life has a purpose, then frivolous things ought to be ignored as they will pull you away from your purpose, from your work.

●      “When you see someone doing something that doesn’t make sense to you, ask yourself what the world would have to look like to you for those actions to make sense.”

●      “Boring as a strategy is the approach that Apple and a large number of famous brands have taken. As you cross the chasm, the bulk of your new customers don’t want innovation at all. They want promises kept, a lack of surprises and reasonable prices and efficiency. Shipping your improvements on a regular schedule and bringing predictability to your offering allows you to reach more people and make a bigger impact. Small innovations allow an organization to avoid falling too far behind innovative competitors, and it can take decades before the gap is big enough to matter. And then you become Yahoo. Or Chrysler. Or Carvel.”

●      "Good marketing can sell once, but only a good product can sell twice.

In the long run, your performance reverts to the value you provide."

●      We seem to do really well when we’re operating under a structured organization where we know what is expected of us. When we have to create our own goals and our own way we bump into more obstacles. It requires us to create our own structure and take on the responsibility of determining what the path is going to be and what the priorities in the day will become in order for us to attain the goal.

●      Be careful what you wish for.

You might not get it.

But as you pursue this wish, you’ll change what you do, what you see, who you connect with and the sacrifices you make along the way.

Our wishes change us.

●      “Our obsession with extracting the greatest future value out of our time blinds us to the reality that, in fact, the moment of truth is always now—that life is nothing but a succession of present moments, culminating in death, and that you’ll probably never get to a point where you feel you have things in perfect working order.”

●      “One of the most practical life skills that no one talks about is turning discipline into consistency. Discipline will only take you so far. It’s hard to be consistently disciplined.

The power of rituals can be easy to overlook because they seem so simple. Rituals include habits, systems, and even group traditions.

Once started, rituals are hard to stop. Think of rituals as anything structured that creates inertia. Not all inertia is positive. Your rituals can work for you or against you. And their mechanical neutrality is key to using them to your advantage.

What looks like skill is often just consistency. While you can’t snap your fingers and become more talented, you can create your own talent. Consistency creates talent. And you won’t be consistent if you only do things when you feel like it.

When people seem uncommonly disciplined, look for a powerful ritual hiding in plain sight. It’s not that they have more discipline than you or I, but they were able to turn that discipline into consistency with a ritual. Short-term results come from intensity but long-term results come from consistency. Turning intensity into consistency unlocks a powerful asymmetry.”

●      “Virtually all negatively valenced emotions are not rooted in the present.”

The inability to recognized how distracted we are is one of the greatest drivers of misery

Seneca - imagination (greater suffering than reality)

Shakespeare - nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so

Pascale - distraction is the only thing that consoles us of our miseries yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries

●      Do you believe life is about answers or about struggles?

●      The way someone else perceives what you do is a result of their own experience (which you can’t control), their own preferences (which you can’t predict), and their own expectations (which you don’t set).

Book Knowledge

●      Win Friends and Influence People

○      Handling people:

1.     Don’t criticize, condemn, complain

2.     Give honest and sincere appreciation

3.     Arouse in the other person an eager want

How to make people like you:

1.     Become genuinely interested in other people

2.     Smile

3.     Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language

4.     Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves

5.     Talk in terms of the other person’s interests

6.     Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely

●      Drive

○      By offering a reward, a principal signals to the agent that the task is undesirable (if the task were desirable, the agent wouldn’t need a prod).

○      Pay your son to take out the trash—and you’ve pretty much guaranteed the kid will never do it again for free.

●      Antifragility:

1. Beware those who do not live or act as they preach

2. Every risk taker needs to have some skin in the game – Hammurabi’s code. No opinion without risk. This is becoming rare in today’s world where bankers and politicians can make decisions which affect millions but they themselves don’t pay if they’re wrong

3.     Lindy effect- books that have been around the longest will survive the longest (Time is the ultimate decider)

4.     Stoicism is extremely robust. Possessions make us worry about the downside and make us fragile. Mentally adjust for the worst before it happens and everything positive from then on will seem like a bonus. Stoicism about the domestication and not the elimination of emotions. Invest in good deeds as things can be taken away

5.     Never ask people what they want as people’s preferences can change instantly. Like Jobs, show them what they want

●      Deep Work:

○      If you can’t learn, you can’t thrive.

○      If you don’t produce, you won’t thrive—-no matter how skilled or talented you are.

The two core abilities just described (learn hard things and produce at an elite level) depend on your ability to perform deep work.

To learn hard things quickly, you must focus intensely without distraction.

●      Seasons of a Man’s Life:

4 psychological functions:

Thought

Feeling

Intuition

Sensation

Only a few will be developed by the late 30’s, the neglected ones must be addressed in order to lead a more balanced life.

(Jung’s idea of individuation)

The life structure evolves through a relatively orderly sequence during the adult years. It consists of a series of alternating stable (structure-building) periods and transitional (structure-changing) periods. (These periods shape the course of adult psycho-social development)

●      Stable Period (Make firm choices, rebuild the life structure, and enhance one’s life within it) / 6-7 years in length, no more than 10 years

            -The primary task of every stable period is to build a life structure: a man must make certain key choices, form a structure around them, and purse his goals and values within this structure. (Building the foundation to support the challenges)

            -The winding down of the stable period is signified by a recognition that the life structure that has formed the basis of stability comes into question and must be modified.

●      Transitional Period (Evaluate current structure and move toward a new and more satisfactory one) / 4-5 years in length

            -The primary tasks of every transitional period are to question and reappraise (evaluate) the existing structure, to explore various possibilities for change in self and world, and to move toward commitment to the crucial choices that form the basis for a new life structure in the ensuing stable period.

            -A transitional period is required to terminate the past and start the future

●      The Practice

The practice is the output; only thing we can control

Routine precedes action

If you want to change your story, change your actions first

Good process repeated has a better chance for good outcomes than lazy process

Good decisions: what we know about the options and the odds. Good outcomes happen or they don’t; it’s a consequence of the odds. Reassurance is futile-focusing on outcomes at the expense of process is not ideal

Confidence - when we imagine we have control over the outcome; commitment is under your control, the end result can’t be.

“So far” and “not yet” are the foundation of every successful journey.

Build trust over time - trust earns you patience

●      4,000 Weeks

There will always be too much to do.

Why don’t you make this one task all that matters.

See what happens.

“We labour at our daily work more ardently and thoughtlessly than is necessary to sustain our life because to us it is even more necessary not to have leisure to stop and think. Haste is universal because everyone is in flight from himself.” - Nietzsche

●      “You teach best what you most need to learn.” - Richard Bach

●      “Results aren’t everything. Indeed, they’d better not be, because results always come later—and later is always too late.”

●      3 principles of patience:

-Develop a taste for having problems

1. Life is an unending supply of problems. If it wasn’t you wouldn’t have anything to do. Be ok with having them and allow yourself the space to work through their unique challenges.

Give each one (problem) the time it requires. No more, no less.

-Embrace radical incrementalism

1. When thinking about habits, the key isn’t to do a lot of it at once, but a little each day until it becomes a part of who you are and what you do. Patience requires the same perspective. Setting a finite amount to do before leaving the rest for the next day.

1. If you’ve decided to work on a given project for fifty minutes, then once fifty minutes has elapsed, get up and walk away from it. “The urge to push onward beyond that point…includes a big component of impatience about not being finished, about not being productive enough, about never again finding such an ideal time.”

-Originality lies on the far side of unoriginality

1. In any pursuit, there’s a lag effect before reaching the realm where originality comes to life. The early stages require trial-and-error, copying others, learning new skills, and accumulating experiences. This is the doorway to your unique perspective. And it requires patience to “stay on the bus.”

The well-trodden path is the gateway to the other side of the mountain where you are able to see how many different paths you can take only once you are on the other side. But, the only way you can get to this point is through that initial trek.

The Backbone of Progress

Today’s topic of discussion: The Backbone of Progress

But before we get to it, if you haven’t already: Click here and register for the free webinar I’m hosting on December 28. The topic is Prepare to Compete and I’ll be speaking about a training tool that’s essential for comp prep in 2023.

Last week I spoke about progress. In the post-script, I made mention of something that had been left out in the conversation. I called it the “backbone” of progress. So today, I will reveal what I meant by that and let you decide if you believe it to be the actual “backbone” of progress, as I do.

The “backbone” of progress can be defined as the following:

You have to look like a fool in the short-term to become a king in the long-term.

Said another way,

●      Incompetence precedes competence.

●      First-order negative, second-order positive.

●      Short-term pain for long-term gain.

Progress requires a struggle. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. And when we struggle, we place ourselves in a position to fail and fall short many times over. This is the challenge we must face to gain progress.

Seth Godin has a fantastic definition of learning that applies perfectly to progress (I view learning and progress synonymously):

“Learning is serial incompetence on our way to getting better.”

He’s asking us, do we care enough about making progress such that we are willing to look incompetent in the short-term?

And the only way we progress and learn is by doing.

Doing the work, failing, learning, upgrading, progressing, repeating…

Another term that you might have seen in the mainstream, which ties in nicely here, is delayed gratification. Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset, was a popular resource for bringing to light this term and unveiling a truth behind Epictetus stoic proverb,

“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.”

This is why delayed gratification is one of the OPEX RC Competitor Tenets. It speaks to a truth inherent to the human condition:

The decisions we make each day have a ripple effect on our lives.

Part of us wants to seek comfort and pleasure as a means of escape from the challenges we face; escape from the hard work that doesn’t pay off immediately; escape from the possibility of looking temporarily foolish.

And this places us at the fork in the road with the true test lying before us:

Can we delay the gratification we instinctively seek? Can we accept the possibility of short-term failure for long-term success?

We must slog through our blunders before we can dance on the edges of our mastery.

We must continually grapple with this struggle when it comes to making progress.

And if it matters enough to you, you will allow yourself to be vulnerable enough to do it.

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 8: In-Season Anaerobic Training for the CrossFit Athlete

In this week’s episode, Mike and I discuss In-Season Anaerobic Training for the CrossFit Athlete. (We refer to it as pain training throughout the episode)

This is part 3 of our 3 part series on In-Season Training for the Crossfit Athlete.

In this episode, we discuss:

●      How we define “pain” training

●      Why perform “pain” training

●      How “pain” training differs from the in-season vs. the off-season

●      Considerations when designing “pain” training

●      Length of use and structuring of “pain” training

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

One last thing before I go. We’re currently offering your first month of individual design remote coaching for free. If you or someone you know has been thinking about hiring a coach then please share this link with them to learn more: https://program.OPEX RC.coach/december-optin

Happy holidays,

Coach Sam Smith

The Secret to Getting Better

Today’s topic of discussion: Getting Better

I spoke about this idea a few months back where I talked about progress and small improvements. Today I want to expand upon this idea from another angle.

(Worth noting, I’m going to use “progress” and “improvement” interchangeably here.)

We are obsessed with getting better. We NEED to know that we are climbing each and every day.

This is in part why people are drawn to CrossFit: there are a plethora of skills you must develop such that getting better becomes a part of your daily training experience.

This was an aspect of the Sport of Fitness that drew me in as well. And this also ties into one of the OPEX RC Competitor Tenets:

●      1% better every day

Maybe a better way of looking at the idea of small daily improvements is to think about it in the following:

Define your “better” every day

How can you become better today? If we can clearly define what that looks like, today, we have a much greater chance of succeeding and building the momentum we need to reach the big improvements we all seek.

Let’s tie the idea of improvement to our training.

How do we make improvements in our training?

2 words:

Training Consistency.

The only way you can improve and progress is through consistent training. Moreover, you can only progress something if you have something to build upon.

Progression builds upon itself.

The more training you miss, the more stagnant your progress will become.

The more deviations made to the training, the harder it becomes to appropriately progress the training.

The less able you are to progress the training, the fewer improvements you will see.

So, how can you cultivate training consistency?

Here’s what you need:

1. Belief in your training

2. A life that supports your training

3. Time

If you want training consistency:

●      Believe in your training and the purpose it serves

●      Set up your life to support your training

●      Give it the time it requires in order to progress and improve

Here’s another way to look at it:

Training Compliance leads to Training Consistency which leads to Continual Progress.

Getting better requires progress. And progress requires us to define what we can do today to build the practice that will open the door to consistency and the momentum progress requires.

The secret to getting better?

Define your “better” every day, then consistently execute.

P.S. - There’s an element missing here that is the backbone of progress. Do you know what it is? Stay tuned for next week where I’ll discuss it in detail.

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 7: In-Season Aerobic Training for the CrossFit Athlete

In this week’s episode, I will be going solo discussing In-Season Aerobic Training for the CrossFit Athlete.

This is part 2 of a 3 part series on in-season training. Stay tuned for our final installment.

In this episode, I cover:

●      The difference between aerobic potential, what I call your ceiling, and working underneath that potential, what I call your efficiency and economy

●      How you can assess someone’s predisposition for aerobic training

●      The value in Aerobic Training

●      The differences in design for In-Season vs. Off-Season Aerobic Training

●      Examples showing differences in both cyclical and mixed pieces of work

●      How manipulating constraints and chaos play a vital role in the progression and development of one’s aerobic potential inside the sport of CrossFit

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

See you next week,

Coach Sam Smith

Embracing Failure: A Path to Growth

Today’s topic of discussion: Failure

Have you given yourself permission to fail?

It’s ok to fail, to fall short. And you have to give yourself permission to do that.

This doesn’t mean you will fail. Rather, it allows you to let go of the outcome. And when you do, it will put your goal in perspective. It will highlight the bigger purpose it is serving for you.

Your goals serve far more value than simply being a means to an end.

They transform you.

(Mike and I discussed this in greater detail on a recent podcast episode, Why You Need Goals.)

Letting go of the outcome and being able to recognize the bigger purpose inside your goal ties into two of the OPEX RC Competitor Tenets:

●      Control the controllables

&

●      Be proud of your effort

When you focus on controlling the controllables, you acknowledge there are pieces inside your control and pieces outside your control. The outcome happens to always fall outside your control.

When you accept this, you recognize that your effort becomes the one thing you can affect in all circumstances. This allows you to focus your energy on something you can influence.

By doing so, you will extract greater value from the task, while also reinforcing the ability to let go of the outcome and focus on your effort instead.

Control the controllables and be proud of your effort.

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 6: In-Season Strength Training for the CrossFit Athlete

In this week’s episode, Mike and I discuss In-Season Strength Training for the CrossFit Athlete.

This is part 1 of a 3 part series on in-season training, so stay tuned for more to come.

In this episode, we cover:

●      How to assess someone’s absolute strength potential

●      What is required for absolute strength expression

●      What role does absolute strength play in the sport of CrossFit and how often is it tested

●      The differences between in-season and off-season absolute strength training

●      Examples of both of them highlighting there differences

●      The intentional aspect of absolute strength expression that is often missed.

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

See you next week,

Coach Sam Smith

The OPEX RC Competitor

Today’s topic of discussion: The OPEX RC Competitor

I posted about this idea on my instagram a few weeks back.

I’ve been spending a good amount of time thinking about where we (OPEX RC) can be invaluable in the fitness space. And I continually come back to us being the guide for driven competitors who need a plan to reach their competitive potential. Competitors who not only want to reach new heights both physically and competitively, but in all aspects of their lives.

The OPEX RC Competitor is someone who sees that our lives are not solely the outcomes of our physical endeavors; there’s more to them.

The exploration of the physical opens the door to a side of ourselves we could not find elsewhere. We bump up against who we think we are with who we are born to become. And through this physical exploration in the gym and on the competition floor, we better understand ourselves and become more whole.

We at OPEX RC create the space that is required for this transformation to occur. And we believe that these tenets (listed below) speak to the principles that are rooted in being a OPEX RC Competitor.

The OPEX RC Competitor…

Trains Different.

Prepares Smarter.

Competes Better.

Through these shifts, the OPEX RC Competitor is able to gain a level of fulfillment through their physical quest that they couldn’t gain otherwise.

At OPEX RC we…

Guide driven competitors who need a plan to reach their competitive potential.

And through that plan, they become what we call a OPEX RC Competitor, embarking on a fulfilling physical quest that will transform them for the better.

The OPEX RC Competitor Tenets

●      Control the controllables ⁠

●      Process oriented ⁠

●      Delayed gratification⁠

●      Patience and consistency trump all⁠

●      Work hard with great intent⁠

●      1% better every day ⁠

●      Take full responsibility for the outcome⁠

●      Win with dignity, lose with humility ⁠

●      Know yourself⁠

●      Get comfortable with being uncomfortable ⁠

●      Be proud of your effort⁠

I look forward to sharing more thoughts and insights on this new outlook with you all. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you your thoughts regarding the “OPEX RC Competitor”, the “Tenets” or the overall aim that I spoke about above.

Feel free to email me back any thoughts you may have. All are welcomed.

The Crafting Fitness Podcast

Episode 5: How to Fix Your Shoulder and Knee Pain with Dr. Will Trujillo

In this week’s episode, Mike and I have a great discussion with our fellow colleague Dr. Will Trujillo.

In this episode, we learn about:

●      Will’s sport and academic background

●      His thoughts on young Crossfit athlete development and the principles that are often missed inside their program design

●      Gaps he sees in performance coaching & program design from his Physical Therapy lens

●      How his Physical Therapy lens has limited him at times with training progressions

●      The 2 biggest movement issues he sees in the CrossFit space, why that might be the case, and how to manage both of them

●      What he’s changed his mind on in the past year with regards to program design

Click here to give it a listen.

Please help us out by rating and sharing a review on the podcast app. Thanks!

See you next week,

Coach Sam Smith