CFit buzz

I love cupcakes. In particular, I love eating cupcakes while sporting pigtails. You should all love me for that too! Note: I happen to be sporting a green tea cupcake from Love at First Bite. If you know what's good for you, you'd run over and grab a cupcake there too. On to less delicious matters...

Freddy posted this article a few days ago. Basically, John Sheaffer aka Johnny Pain owner of Greyskull Elite Strength & Conditioning (formerly CrossFit Greyskull) withdrew their CrossFit affiliation and this post explains why. In part, Sheaffer explains (in his opinion) the rapid growth of CrossFit has equated to the decline in the quality of how CrossFitters coach, train, develop strength, etc. In truth, I completely understand where Sheaffer is coming from. It's hard to not get frustrated when you see how much CrossFit has changed (oftentimes not for the better). Yes, I'm glad someone said something. Lots of people have chimed in and here's my take on it. It begins with my:

fathlete confession: I'm positive that according to Sheaffer, I'm an embarrassment to the CrossFit community. To those who find me an embarrassment, I say f--k you and there's more of me than there are of you. With that, you can kiss my beautiful island ass.... In all seriousness, I understand that for many, CrossFit is about "forging elite fitness." Everyone has their opinions on what that is. For me, it's about the everyday struggle of getting myself to the gym and working through the WOD. There's a lot that I'm still terrible at. I admit this. I'm fine with this. But I've come a long way since last year when I re-committed myself to the system. For me, CrossFit is about the everyday. It's about getting through the WOD in hopes that I did better than before. For me, CrossFit is not just about my body. It's about my spirit. A lot of people forget this.

Here are some points that Sheaffer addresses:

Decline in the quality of CrossFit affiliates: Not all affiliates are created equally. It is true that with something as hot as CrossFit, there are those who jump on the bandwagon with no regard to the quality of their box. This is bound to happen in any industry. Apparently, it happens to be noticeable in CrossFit. Personally, I wouldn't know anything about this because I believe I attend one of the best affiliates around. I haven't visited anyone else's box. I will say that I've met some amazing trainers from other affiliates such as CrossFit Unlimited and CrossFit Santa Clara. These are people who embody the essence of what is great about CrossFit.

I agree that it's completely moronic to allow an affiliate to open when all you've done is the Level 1 certification. However, I think it was easy to open an affiliate when CrossFit was smaller because there was a lot of passion in the community. Unless you had that passion, no one really thought about opening an affiliate unless they knew they could live up to CrossFit standards. Now, things are different.

fathlete solution: CrossFit is growing and now needs to change things accordingly. I don't mind that doing a Level 1 cert allows you to be a trainer. Someone has to start somewhere. However, there should be some type of internship program that focuses on teaching CrossFit that one should go through in order to run an affiliate. This is where the CrossFit community becomes important. The internship program can be held with the support of other affiliates. I'm thinking of people who trained/coached at One World are now running successful affiliates and programs (such as Austin at Unlimited, Will B. who runs the program in Dublin, Mia in Fresno, etc.).

Decline in programming: I have nothing to say about this because I think the programming at One World is amazing. (Yes. Even when Chong does the programming.) I also see nothing wrong with the programming on the main site. If there are problems, it's that trainers/coaches are not scaling the movements according to the demands of the athlete. Again, education plays a part in this.

CrossFit arrogance: Arrogant CrossFitters came into CrossFit already arrogant. I don't think the system made them that way. It's the same if you're an asshole. You're just born with it. Seriously. If you're one of those idiots who wear the "Fit as F--K" shirts because you're declaring something as opposed to wearing it as a goal, then you're just a dumbass who has no life. Sadly, there are a lot of you arrogant f--kers out there. Clearly, I don't associate with you.

Strength training: I think CrossFit is about balance. A person cannot live on strength alone. I completely disagree with the article in this respect.

Information on nutrition: As a self proclaimed fathlete, I probably shouldn't say anything about this... But I will anyway. I do think it's wrong for people to live on 8 blocks a day on the zone while doing CrossFit. I agree with Sheaffer in that some of the nutrition advice isn't quite sound. In fact, I remember watching a fellow One Worlder living on 10 blocks a day while doing intense CrossFit training. I always thought it wasn't enough food for her. However, someone on the HQ team said it would be good for her. This is where I started to question some of the nutrition standards. Now, I think CrossFit has gotten better and CrossFitters have gotten more savvy about nutrition. In particular, I think Robb Wolf is interesting. I also think Mark's Daily Apple gives some great advice. In particular, I like that Mark thinks red wine and dark chocolate are okay;)

Personally, I'm a cherry picker when it comes to eating. I like Robb Wolf and Mark's Daily Apple in conjunction with the principles of Clean Eating and Intuitive Eating. For me, eating is a lifestyle. My focus is on health, sanity, and enjoyment - not unhealthy obsession. I'm always trying to work on my eating habits. This is what works for me. To each her own...

And that's my fathlete spiel on the CrossFit buzz. I hope you're all having a great weekend!

Warm-up
Greeting all the cool kids that I haven't seen in AGES! (Yup. That includes you Alex, Raz, and John W.)
Stretching

CrossFit One World WOD
Run 5K

Joanne's Final Time -37:35

Notes (to myself) about this workout: I've never run a true 5K for time. I've always run it with other people using the interval 4:1 method because everyone thinks running the 5K is daunting. It is. But daunting and impossible are different things. The first time I ran a 5k at One World, I ran it with Settie and Shannon. We finished in about 43 minutes. The last time I ran it was with Lori. I think we clocked in at 34 minutes, but Lori did admit she wasn't sure about the timer. Looking back, I think we did it more along the lines of 40+ minutes because my interval timer read that we ran eight 5-minute intervals plus the round we were currently on. So much for timer ma-le-functions.

I was aiming to run under 40 minutes, which would make my mile pace about 13 minutes. I reached my goal of (1) running without walking or stopping and (2) finishing under 40 minutes, making my mile pace well under 13 minutes. The last time I ran a half marathon, my mile pace was around 14+ minutes (using the 4:1 run/walk pace). I think I'm going to do the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon next year, but I'm trying to build a 4:1 run/slow run pace. fathlete confession: These strategies do not have to make sense to you.

Right now, I just wanted to say that it was a good run and I'm looking forward to setting my training calendar. Training starts in late October and consists of three running days per week, one of them being a long run day. Wish me luck!