My Story

Before stumbling into CrossFit, my entire life had been a long journey spent doing nearly everything possible wrong. My sport of choice as a child was soccer (one of the most dangerous sports, measured by injuries per hour played), leaving me pretty tyrannosaurus rexish (all leg, no arms). Numerous knee and ankle tweaks later, my legs were also prone to injury, despite their size. I compounded that with ultimate frisbee in college, more running (and shin splints, and twisted ankles, and sore knees)! Let's not even begin to talk diet. I ate like a power-lifter trying to pack on muscle, but without doing any of the work.

Mmmm.... nom nom nom. Sta-puft marshmallow man lurvs ice-cream cake!

I made excuses for myself, that although I was heavy, I was strong. And while that was true, it didn't make me feel any better about my body. I couldn't hang with the team when they went on their warm-up runs, and whenever the shin splints acted up (almost constantly), I was relegated to the sidelines, calling out plays, maybe subbing a point or two to let someone in better shape catch their breath. That point's worth of play would usually leave me panting for 15-20 minutes...

Out of college, responsible for my own shopping and food intake, I ballooned up to 230+ pounds. The one upshot was that I was still pretty strong, especially through the legs. Need someone to lug the drummer's bin of hardware into the club? I got it. Need someone to dance and jump around playing bari sax? I got it. At least for one song... However, I was even MORE unhappy with how my body looked and felt.

My first attempt at fixing the mistakes of the past was to go on Weight Watchers. In fairly rapid order, I dropped about 40, maybe 50 pounds (from 230+ to 180+), but again, without doing any work in the gym (or at home). I shed fat, and for damn sure I shed muscle. By the time I was done, if I ran into someone I hadn't seen in a while, the question I was asked was "Wow, have you been ill?" Yeah, that was the goal... The weight went right back on when I fell off the wagon.

Skinny sax man. Strong? Kinda. But not as strong as yesterday... 

I was finally introduced to CrossFit around 2008 or so. I started picking and choosing workouts off the main site WoDs, eventually bringing in CrossFit Football and Endurance WoDs that looked fun, or (more usually) played to my strengths. However, as the workload increased, so did my food intake. I got stronger, I got faster, but I also got bigger. I tried to eat clean, but was nowhere near what could be called "paleo." Pasta was still a staple, milk still made its way into my smoothies (which were based on whey protein anyways...). I also learned that programming is an art, both for a single workout AND in the log term. I co-created, with the guy who introduced me to CrossFit, a plyometric-based Tabata workout we ended up calling 'Beef Tips Gone Bad.' A funny reference ('Friends') for a workout that basically crippled me with a scorching case of Patellar Tendonopathy (or patellar tendonitis... I never had it officially diagnosed... I just had a lot of trouble walking up and down stairs for about a year...)

After a stressful move to Connecticut, which involved LOTS of time in the car on weekends, time away from my family during the week, the utter inability to find a move-in-ready house in a good school district (with one daughter prone to allergen-triggered asthma-like symptoms, and another little one on the way, there was NO thought of a fixer-upper)... I joined Elm City CrossFit, and have never looked back. Suddenly I had coaches fixing all my self-taught stupidities. Suddenly I had a given WoD to do, and couldn't pick what I wanted from the past week or so. Suddenly, I started seeing real improvements in my strength and endurance. Both are still completely shot from the Weight Watchers era, but they're coming along...

 Along the way, my wife has joined the box and fallen in love with CrossFit, both with the exertion AND the community; my daughter is a constant at the Elm City CrossFit Kids classes, which I co-run and co-coach; and the littlest one, now nearly 2 years old, runs around the gym with a 1# dumbbell throwing down squats like a champ. I've started trying to shed my multiple layers of accrued insulation, and trying to regain the strength I so casually took for granted in my youth.

In the run up to the 2014 CrossFit Open, ECC provided programming specifically designed to make us bigger, stronger, and faster. Opting into the program meant I was at the gym nearly twice as much for my own workouts, not even including coaching the Kids classes. Instead of a few hours a week dedicated to my own fitness, it was nearer to 10+ hours a week. More strength work, more olympic lifting, more endurance, more of everything. I tried to maximize rest time as well, but that part was harder with the kids and work schedule to work around. No child cares how much time you put into the gym that day, or how much rest you need, when they wake up from a nightmare at 3am. And neither do you... until the real alarm clock goes off, and its back to the gym, this time on 3-4 hours of sleep, rather than the intended 6-7 (which would still not be enough...)


The Open came, and for each workout I tried to map out a goal (with good, better, and best outcomes included) for each. I surpassed many of my own goals, got crushed on at least one workout, and in general felt better than I have in years. I certainly look better than I EVER have. Its nice to finally have pecs, rather than moobs (man-boobs), pushing out my shirts. I very nearly have abs showing, so THAT'S exciting. I don't think I've ever had visible abs! The weights are still going up, the cardio/endurance capacity is still inching up little by little. All in all, its been a good ride.

Additionally, the gym also hosted a Paleo eating experiment: three months of strict paleo, requiring food logs, before and after pics, benchmark WoDs, the whole nine. While I most likely would have fallen off the wagon pretty quickly left to my own devices, I managed to sign the wife up for the challenge, too. She was absolutely my salvation. When the smoke had cleared and the final scores were tallied, we had tied with another couple in a four-way tie for 2nd place! I can't speak for too many other Epic Eating Experiment participants, but we've kept our diets as clean as possible, and are continuing to see Epic results. I just recently bought a few new pairs of shorts, as the potato sacks I *had* been wearing were getting to the point of looking ridiculous. With a waistline reduced by three inches, and still setting PRs in all the major lifts, and just getting stronger and healthier, I'm in better shape in my late 30s than I was in my teens and 20s!

The upshot of the early part of that story is this: I own every part of my fitness now. The coach isn't responsible for my gains or struggles, I am. The person doing the programming is doing it for the entire gym population, not just for me. If I have a weak-point (goat), its up to me to address it. The complaints about CrossFit are myriad, and some actually carry a fair amount of water...if you're lazy and just do what you're told to and don't bother to take responsibility for your own goals and performance. You have to take responsibility for your own rest and recovery. You have to make sure YOU'RE feeding you enough calories so that you're building (or at least preserving) muscle while burning the fat. It all comes down to you. The best program in the world won't work for someone who doesn't OWN the process... and someone who
OWNS even the worst program will probably still get solid results out of it. Its all down to you, just as its all down to me.

No one can make you do it, and no one should waste their breath trying to make you. Either you're happy with your life, or you need to work to improve it. Everything else is inertia, self-deception, and laziness.

What's it gonna be, punk. Do you feel lucky?

Recommended reading:

•  CrossFit's What Is Fitness? - Greg Glassman
•  Strong Enough? - Mark Rippetoe (This may be the greatest fitness article ever written. EVER. You might need to "subscribe" to the Journal to read it, but its free now, so no worries there.)
•  Be Alive. Be VERY Alive. - Mark Rippetoe (yes, I man-heart Rip.)
•  A Letter to Young Jim Wendler - Jim Wendler
•  A Way of Life - Dave Tate
•  Armor Building - Dan John

Other crucial authors: John Welbourne, Martin Rooney, Zach Even-Esh, Robb Wolf, Greg Everett, Tim Ferriss, Kelly Starrett, and probably a BUNCH more I should be including here.

12-03-03: CrossFit Open WoD 12.2: Too Many Snatches

CrossFit Open WoD 12.2: Too Many Snatches

Camille Leblanc-Bazinet snatches with a full depth squat (ie, awesome) (or overhead squats... stupid still frame... and stupid me for not bothering to do any research into that question.) CrossFit Games

Dave Lipson and Josh Everett go head to head, 30 snatches for time at 135#.  in a little workout called 'Isabel.' See below for how such workouts are viewed OUTSIDE the CrossFit community. And from within it. Still, very impressive feats!

That's more weight than I can deadlift. Seriously.

Note the speed on the bar in the second frame, and the depth of the squat in the third. Both things I need to work on.

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As many reps as possible in 10 minutes, following the sequence:

• 75# Snatch, 30 reps
• 135# Snatch, 30 reps
• 165# Snatch, 30 reps
• 210# Snatch, as many reps as possible

OK. If there's one thing Olympic lifters have good cause to grouse about with CrossFit, its the use of those Olympic lifts in workouts that guarantee that form breakdown will be real, and the cost could be severe. Its nice to see HQ putting absolutely NO stock in those reservations, and actually creating a workout that highlights that issue. Sweet.

Going into this workout, my plan was to hit between 30 and 60 reps, with the stretch goal of getting into the 60s. Why those ranges? Well, my one rep max on a strict snatch (with a full depth squat at the catch overhead) is only 125#, so right off the bat, those 135# reps were going to be near my capacity (I can power and muscle snatch way more than I can squat snatch right now, something I hope to reverse as my skill and experience with the full lift increase). So, I knew that 30 reps of a weight that I consider to be "really heavy" were not going to go quickly or easily. I did want an attempt or two at the next weight up (165#), but also knew that making those attempts while completely gassed from the previous 60 reps was going to be iffy.  Turns out I didn't even need to worry.

The first set at 75# was nice and easy, and pretty quick. Though I think I could have kept all thirty reps unbroken, I opted to stop for a breath after 20. I didn't want to charge so hard through the "easy" reps that I gassed myself out too early. After banging out another quick 10 reps, it was time to change weights, pulling off the 25# plates and putting on 45# in their place. Suddenly, it was a whole new workout. I was no longer able to just fling the weight up and stand up under it as it kept going up. Now the bar was stopping a lot lower, and though I was still not doing ANY sort of job squatting under it (aka "using "proper" technique"), I had to work a LOT harder to get control of the bar.
ECC CrossFit Open WOD 12.2_Athletes from Larry Jones on Vimeo.

I'm the guy in the bandanna who starts out to the far right. As should be abundantly clear, my technique by that point in the day was utter garbage. I can only imagine the number of burpees Coach Burgener would assign if he was there for that pile of crap. That said, I was way outside of my comfort zone, gassed, and just willing the bar overhead by that point. All told, I did as well as I thought I would, I hit my goal, and that's all I can ask for. If I were more comfortable working while exhausted (a key ability in the CrossFit Games), I could have nailed a few more reps, but as it was, I was taking the time I needed to feel that I would be safe under the bar, and more, that the people around me would be safe. Having watching one nearly disastrous bar dump from almost-overhead in an earlier heat, I was keenly aware of my shortcomings in the snatch, and didn't really feel like having those issues injure me or anyone else. By the final minute, I was done. I made three failed attempts, with the first two stopping more or less at the top of the deadlift position, arms extended, legs extended... no way to raise the weight at all. I was just too tired to transition from the yellow light, slow, deadlifty part of the movement into the green light, GO!, explosion part that drives the weight overhead. After taking about 10-15 seconds to really recover, I tried to get to 50 reps, and got the bar to about face height, but again, just couldn't manage to get *under* it. Time expired, and I was at 49 reps, exactly where I planned to be. Not too shabby!

Weight	Reps
75#	30
135#	19
165#	0
210#	0
Total Reps	49

11-12-19: 1RM Cleans and Front Squats

Elm City CrossFit WoD for Monday, December 19th, 2011

The clean. Floor to shoulders, using just about every muscle in the body EXCEPT the arms (other than just for control). If you're using your arms a lot, you're doing it wrong.Note pictures 2-3... the weight hasn't moved much, only the lifter has. And his arms are STRAIGHT in the 2nd pic.

Brett Marshall (AFT) demos awesome front squat form. The weight is out of the hands and riding on the delts. Knees are out, feet are flat on the floor. Perfection. (crossfit.com)

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Strength: 1 Rep Max

• Clean
• Front Squat

Pretty simple prescription: Work up to 1 rep maxes on the clean, then on the front squat (ie, NOT in the same move; a full clean (which includes catching the bar in a full squat) does NOT count as the front squat attempt.) After a good amount of warm-up and review with empty bars, we set to work. Despite all of my recent complaining and whining about my own shortcomings and goats, especially the olympic lifts, including cleans, today felt really good. I felt like I was really popping the bar up to my shoulders using mostly the triple extension of hips, knees and ankles, and I was having some pretty good success dropping under the bar, rather than just relying on firing up to full standing height in a power clean. So that was all good.  As I climbed up in weight, I just trying to keep my head fully in the moment, only worrying about the deadlift "yellow light" portion of the lift, then the explosive pop, then the catch, and not getting all flustered by dealing with everything at the same time. 

After a few warm-ups at 95#, I started moving up in weight. I had two good lifts at 115# and 135#, then matched my previous PR at 155#. That felt so good with my improved form, I shot to 175# and nailed it, setting a 20# PR. After taking a few minutes, I tried for a final attempt at 185#, but didn't quite get under the bar properly, causing it to "stack up" on my left wrist wrong. Though I was able to shake it out in time for the front squats, it definitely made me bring my clean attempts to an end!

For the front squat, I picked right up at 185#, banging out two reps easily. I again started climbing, this time gunning for my previous PR of 215#. After a rep at 205#, I went to 225# and nailed it. I tried a rep at 235# and nailed it, putting me at a 20# PR on front squats, too. After nearly deciding to quit (it was time for the next class to come in), I opted for one more lift, this time at 245#. I nailed it, inking in a 30# PR on front squats for the day. Not a bad start to the week, and a welcome change from my usual bitching and moaning, at least in recent posts. Progress. Getting stronger. THIS is why we do this. No, its NOT always fun, but on days like this (or when I got to the top of the climbing rope, or broke 300# on my deadlift), its totally worth it!

One other thing I thought of later: I had NO problems with my grip on this workout. Granted, I didn't do any high reps on the front squats, so there wasn't a lot of time for fingers to slip out.  I also did some triceps work during the warm-up, which I think definitely paid off. Interesting. 

11-12-09: Clean and Jerk complex

Elm City CrossFit WoD for December 9th, 2011


The inspiration for today's workout. Damn, this guy is strong!

Natalie Burgener clean and jerks. She's kind of awesome. Comes with being a Burgener, I guess. ;)

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WoD:

• 1 Clean*
• 2 Front Squats
• 1 Jerk

Repeat until failure
*Start @ 70% Max C&J and increase by 5% each cycle. End @ 90%

First time back to the gym in over two weeks (holidays, a death in the family, work overload, capped off with a fun case of food poisoning... cue my 'world's saddest violins,' please!), and crap, was it a rough re-entry. Not just a day requiring strength... but a day requiring a great deal of skill, too, and NOT skills that I had locked in before. While I wasn't cleaning at weights that were too much of a stretch, it also never felt that great. I realized fairly far into the workout that I was power cleaning (not on purpose) so much, I was catching the bar without having moved my legs out, and with my knees straight. As high up as I possibly could, in other words. Doofus.

The front squats were easy as pie, again not being anywhere near my max weights, and the grip wasn't too much of a problem... until it came time to transition into the jerk. My grip/forearms aren't flexible enough to keep all my fingers under the bar... and as the pinky and ring finger slipped out, I was completely screwed trying to prep for the jerk. The only weight I was successful at was my starting weight of 115#. After a few reps of that in my first work set, I moved up another 5% towards my C&J max of 155# (set on another day when I was struggling with the exact same grip issues), to 125#. After several failed attempts, all at the jerk, and all because of trying to get my grip re-situated, I dropped back to 155# to at least get some work done going overhead. For the final few minutes of the workout, I made a few more attempts at 125#. Failed all of them at the jerk. Effin' grip.

So, I clearly need to work on the transition, and on my forearm/grip flexibility. It's no good having work that you can do, strength-wise, be completely undermined by something "small" like that. Of course, that's not entirely true, as most olympic lifts and their variations are equally dependent on strength as technique... but still...

The one "upshot" is thatI got my re-entry out of the way early. Had this workout gone fairly smoothly, like I hadn't missed a beat, only to have a train-wreck the next time... bah. Best to have it out of the way now. I guess. Dammit.

11-06-15: Oly lifting

Elm City Crossfit WoD for June 15th, 2011

Click to embiggenate. Natalie Burgener is just _awesome_. That third pic? The full squat while receiving the bar on the shoulders? I couldn't even BEGIN to get there today.

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Power:
Clean & Jerk 1RM – 15 min cap

WOD: 3 Rounds

• 15 Power Clean @ ¾ BW
• 200m Row/Run

Each round timed separately

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(Warning: Here's where I start whinging about how much I lost when I ended up taking a month off. Feel free to surf on if this bores you. It bores me, but it bears dealing with. As much as I try to put as good a spin as possible on my accomplishments, I think its even more important to try to analyze those things that don't feel like they came together, to hit it harder (and smarter) next time.)

After a nice warm-up, we walked through the finer points of the clean, and then of the jerk. It felt freaking ALIEN to me. I could search through this blog and find the last time I C&J'ed, but it doesn't really matter. It was too damn long ago, and I've forgotten most of what I ever learned/taught myself about it. I could NOT make the full extension make the weighted pvc feel weightless, and forget completely about hitting the receiving squat position. If I ever had it, its gone now. Admittedly, in trying to follow ECC's programming, and going at 5:30 in the morning, I'm not taking the opportunity to review and relearn tips and techniques via the ever-increasingly awesome Crossfit Exercises and Demos page. The only part that felt comfortable today was the jerk, using a split jerk technique. This isn't that shocking, since one of the most recent videos in the Crossfit Journal was Coach B (Natalie's dad, from above) coaching Dave Lipson on the jerk. While I still had coachable points in need of improvement (wider split, allowing me to get further under the bar, so I wouldn't have to jerk it as high), I had a starting idea of what I was doing, and a good concept of how those improvements could be implemented. The clean felt like I was trying to learn how to fly while stapled to the ground.

That said, I did realize (well after the fact) that I come equipped with my own re-training regimen. Tomorrow (and probably every day I workout for the foreseeable future), I'm going to work on my med ball cleans. These are what got me cleaning with a bar correctly the first time, back in the day. Actually, it couldn't have been that long ago, since I only just learned the med ball variety this past December. So, hopefully that means my bar clean and jerk can't be too forgotten, since I only started getting THAT dialed in some time after December, right? One can hope.

We were tasked with finding our 1RM for the day in 15 minutes. Spending more time working on form rather than pushing the envelope, I hit a max of #125. If I could have put the form together, I could have been lifting a lot more than that. For the metcon, it was 3 rounds of 15 power cleans at 3/4ths body weight, followed by 200m of rowing or running. Given my form struggles, I opted to drop a little weight, down to #115, and keep it there. As Rx'ed, I should have been at 155# or so. I wish. The wod was, unsurprisingly, murder, though a somewhat easy variety. I tried to focus on hitting better technique on the cleans, since now the squat was removed from the equation, and had some success. I ended up rowing on the 1st and 3rd rounds, and running for the 2nd. As always, the cardio aspect just devastated me. While I had some muscle-fatigue from about rep 10 of the first round, I never really recovered from the first row, and nearly crapped out on the run. The final row was just an attempt to finally finish the workout... hopefully within 30 seconds or so of the second to last person.

While there wasn't a huge emphasis on time (so we could focus on form on the power cleans), it's still never fun coming in last. But, there's a line from Christopher McDougall's Born to Run that I've always loved: "It's easy to finish first. It's hard to finish last." But you still have to finish it. It's not about the race anyways, at least not with anyone ELSE. In the race against myself, I came in first. And last. And sideways. I gotta work on my form.

EDIT: I just updated my Personal Records page. Turns out I set a 10# PR on the C&J today, and did the WoD at my former PR. I guess that actually makes me feel a bit better. It doesn't change the fact that I was struggling with form at every weight from an empty bar on up... but hey, I put 10# on that Personal Record! ;)