Coach Blog

Enjoy The Process

 

In my very first post of the new Windy City Coach Blog back in January, I wrote about setting goals and enjoying the process.  I would like to touch on the latter a bit more in this post.  I truly believe that it's something that can impact your training, and more importantly your day to day life.

One of the things that people don't talk enough about, in my opinion, is what we can learn from our children. It's easy to think the joy in parenting comes in watching your children grow up.  But, if you take pause to sit and watch them, they can remind us of innate lessons that have been lost on many of us over the years.

My daughter Rhoda loves building.  Blocks, trains, card piles, you name it.  Now, she's only a little over two years old; however, I'll watch Rhoda sit and focus as she puts together a number of building blocks (think legos), becomes satisfied, knocks them all down, then begins again.  I've watched her do this over and over and over.  Same with her wooden train set.  

I watched this for quite a while before I wondered...

Does Rhoda even care what the final outcome looks like?  She must, to an extent, right? 

Does she need my approval?  No.  She definitely wants me to help (DADA COME BUILD THE TRAIN!), but she's not looking for approval.  

And this is when it hit me...

Rhoda just loves to build her blocks and trains.

She is truly engaged and enjoying the act.  She isn't concerned about impressing anyone...not even herself. She just loves to do it.  Period.  

It's truly inspiring to watch.  There is such simple joy in the process and such little worry about the product.

How rare is it in our adult lives that we enjoy the process of something as much as we look forward to acknowledgement of the finished product. 

Do you golf?  When is the last time you just truly enjoyed the round of golf independent of how you scored.  I mean really enjoyed being outside and swinging the club, not the Scotch you drank after the round in the clubhouse.  When was the last time you didn’t worry about the score at all?

How about cooking?  Ever truly enjoy the process of cooking? My guess is that you are only concerned with how the dish tastes at the end of the day.

Or, how about the CrossFit Open?  There's a time relevant topic.  Have you been enjoying the process, not getting too hung up on your "score?"  I hope so.  It's gotta be fun!

Learning to enjoy and appreciate the process and caring less about the end product can be a huge advantage when pursuing any goal. 

What would happen if you looked at your training like Rhoda does with building her blocks and trains?

You’d walk into the gym everyday excited to be there and for what that day held.

You’d be more focused in everything that you did in your training.

You wouldn’t be hounded by any of the self doubt that comes in the judgement of the finished product.

You wouldn’t wonder what’s next after you reached your goal because you’d just get back to doing what you loved…training.

And I would bet that your end product would be better without you even thinking about it. 

So put some thought into what your goals are and what end point you are shooting for. Then think about how focusing on the enjoyment of the process could change the game for you.  A more productive and enjoyable process might even enhance and improve your finished product.

And above all…

Be more Rhoda!

That is all.

-- Justin

Inspiration from CF Open 2015

The CrossFit Open is always an interesting time at Windy City. I'd like to share some of my observations and hear from you all as well. This won't be a critique of the programming, Dave Castro or the CrossFit methodology because The Open is exactly what it promises to be, random tests of physical fitness. I'd rather share some cool moments that may not have happened at Windy City if not for the CrossFit Open. 

Inspiration. 

As someone who is not participating in The Open, I can tell you that watching the effort put forth by our athletes every weekend has been truly inspiring. I've felt a push, a motivation, to be something more. My CrossFit competition days are over, but the inspiration to be more Sheena is the highest it has been in awhile. (please note the be more Cheston reference). We have a good chunk of athletes who have been training for The Open all year and we have a good chunk of athletes who simply want to experience the competition of The Open for the first time. When you walk into Windy City on Saturday's you can't tell the difference between these athletes based on their effort. Yes, skill levels vary from person to person, but the sheer amount of effort is consistent across the board.

Gwen Holtan inspired me when she refused to give into a 135lb Clean and Jerk after banging out 9 minutes of single toes to bar. 

Erik Michael inspired me when he stood up a 235lb clean after failing it twice. 

John Koltse crushing chest to bar pull ups. I don't think anyone saw him coming. His quiet confidence came through loud and clear. 

Carmen gets her first muscle up. Anyone who knows Carmen knows how much time and effort she has put into developing this skill. 

Keiko has done CrossFit for all of 2 weeks and is rocking out muscle ups, chest to bar pull ups and snatches with the technical proficiency of a CrossFit veteran. This gives me hope that I too can master the muscle up one day.

 

Ox put up a Clean & Jerk of 245lb after 9 months of "rehabbing" 2 herniated discs. He approached the bar with no fear and trusted his preparation and training. The mental strength this took cannot be overlooked. 

Collin Korab is our captain. No one loves CrossFit more than this guy. He shares his passion and offers his support and encouragement to ANY Windy City member who steps up to compete in The Open. I will always want to be Collin's teammate. 

 

Cheston hasn't "trained" for CrossFit in quite awhile, but somehow he always seems to step up. He makes a goal and creates a challenge for himself. Chet vs Bob Harper. He has a way of keeping The Open competitive and fun, something I have always struggled with. This is inspiring. 

Kelly Lydon, Michelle Markelz, Erin Foster, Alex Chudler and Louse Mettler are all competing in their first Open. They are some bad ass females who have a bright future in CrossFit. They have accepted everything that The Open has thrown at them. Weakness and strengths have been exposed, but they've each shown that they are ready and willing to turn their weaknesses into their strengths. 

 

The Open reminds me of why Windy City is such an amazing place. If you take the time to step back and observe the people surrounding you I have no doubt you can find someone just waiting to inspire you. 

Be more Cheston.

 

This week it's my turn to take a stab at explaining the importance of goal setting and share my new system of helping myself as well as my clients get what they want out of life.  I really loved the Reebok commercial I posted above!  I thought the imagery, music/sound design and words were brilliant from a marketing standpoint, but overall it resonated with me slightly different than I think the advertising executives had intended.  Since seeing this commercial for the first time, I've thought quite a lot about what it means to "be human".  Reebok implies that to be human you need to bleed, sweat, and get dirty.  The more you do those things, the more human you've become?  I'm not convinced that is entirely true.  I feel the message Justin and the rest of us at Windy City are attempting to spread is far closer to the truth of what it means to be human which is that we should be working to become better versions of ourselves.  To become the people we were meant to be!

The question I posed to myself at the beginning of 2015 was: "Who is the person I feel I am meant to be"?  How do I "Be more human Cheston"?  This is a very broad question, so I broke it down into 5 smaller questions to define my current state (I've included my personal answers below each):

1. How do I see myself? (list the 3 attributes that most strongly define yourself)
• Jack of all trades, Adventurous, Introspective
2. What am I known for? (list 3 attributes that people commonly tie to you)
• Photos/Videos, Piano, Bench Pressing
3. What do I do? (list 3 generalized descriptions of what you do)
• Build things, Solve Problems, Learn new skills
4. How do I interact with others? (list 3 ways you communicate and share yourself with the world)
• Share stories and anecdotes, humor, training at the gym 
5. How am I perceived by others? (list 3 ways you feel others see you, you can even ask a friend to help you here) 
• Goofball, work oriented, takes on more than I can finish

Question #5 in particular is important.  While we are constantly told not to care what other people think, in my opinion it is very important that we project ourselves to the world in a way that is consistent with how we want the people who matter to see us.  Now answer the same 5 questions by setting your sights high (goals) on who you want to become:

1. Who do I want to be?
• Someone who possesses an extremely wide range of skills, active and physically viable in a vast range of situations, 100% self aware
2. What do I want to be known for?
• Inspiring change in other people, creating lasting and positive memories through experiences I've organized, getting things done
3. What do I want to do every day?
• Be physical and adventurous, be creative, be positive
4. How do I want to interact with others?
• Creative and collaboratively (make things like music, photos, business), one-on-one (give personal time and listen), face to face (avoid technological curtains)
5. How do I want to be perceived by others?
• Fun (not goofy), well balance (not overworked), appreciated and appreciative 

If you have identified differences between the person you currently are and the person you want to be, then you need to immediately start acting and behaving more like the person you are meant to be!  In this exercise it's not the thought that counts... ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!  Take your answers to questions 1 through 4 on the list above and start living them immediately!  If I want to be creative, I need to do creative things.  If I want inspire change in others, I need to do inspiring things.  If I want to be known for being a good listener I need to start listening.  

I make it sound like personal transformation can happen instantly.  A lot can actually change quickly when you decide to take action, however don't expect the entire world around you to immediately understand or see you the way you see the new version of yourself.  

Occasionally use question #5 above as your barometer/gauge as to how effective your actions/changes are.  You don't want to obsess over what other people think, but it is important from time to time to make sure you are on track.  For example if I think I'm being inspiring, but the people who are important to me view me as a being a show-off, I am not truly becoming the person I want to be and I need to change my approach.

I will leave you with two quotes: Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try (unknown author).  You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great (Zig Ziglar)!  

-- Cheston  

PRIDE IN YOUR GOALS

A Sense of Pride

I interact with people a lot, it’s part of what I do. I am not a psychologist, but I have a way of reading and understanding people’s emotions and feelings towards certain issues and situations. I have taken notice over the past few years of one situation where people’s reactions seem to be the same each and every time. That situation is when I ask people “What are your goals?”

This question carries a lot more weight than just four words in text. It is asking a lot from anyone to tell you this information. Goals are scary to most, they indicate the potential for failure. Many bury their goals deep down inside and don’t want them to come out. When I get the chance to ask people what their goals are, the response is typically diverted eyes, internal reflection, and hesitation.  What I am asking them is to reveal their inner desires, dreams, visions, ideals. A lot comes with someone revealing their goals. I ask because I genuinely want to know, and I want to help them achieve their goals.

This is not the norm however. The norm in our society is for people to feel self-conscious about their goals, to not want to be laughed at, to not want to fail, our societies attitude leans towards “play it safe, be complacent.”

Well I don’t live in that world. I don’t believe anyone should ever feel hesitant or self-conscious about sharing their goals with others.

Consider this a call to arms to everyone who is a part of Windy City Livin’! Ask another person what his or her goals are! Who knows, maybe you can lend them some advice, some guidance, some encouragement. I want you to feel a sense of PRIDE in chasing down a goal, no matter how crazy, silly, big, or little you may think it is.

A lot of people carry regrets, dreams, aspirations inside and outside of the gym. When these things are kept in the dark they will never come to be. So start sharing, start talking, start spreading your goals with others. That is Windy City Livin’.

 

MY GOALS:

I want to have a big year in 2015. I’d like to accomplish some things that I either have never been good at, never got the chance to do, or desire to do now. I take PRIDE in sharing with you all my 2015 GOALS List:

1.)    Fitness Goal: Train to be more Athletic: I love playing sports. Football, basketball, baseball, surfing. My life revolved around them growing up, however I was a late bloomer athletically. I didn’t hit my growth spurt until 17 and by then my chance to play football in college was distant. I got injured my senior year and never played again. However when I got to college I started to learn how to move my body better. Well now I play recreational sports and I LOVE IT. It is the highlight of my week to get out and play and I want to be the best at it I can be. So I am training to be agile, to be fast, to throw far and accurate, and to be powerful & well conditioned. Training to be more athletic is my fitness goal for 2015

2.)    Personal Development Goals: be more clean/organized. I have a bit of a short attention span, which leaves organization, attention to detail, and cleanliness low on my natural abilities totem pole. I want to be better at this and I am making a conscious effort to improve weekly at this. I would also like to do something each month to develop and further my education. Each month I plan to Read a book or Invest into a Seminar to develop professionally and personally.

3.)    Career Goal: Help Build our gym community and help people to achieve their goals as best I can. The more people Windy City can Service, the more goals that will be accomplished.

4.)    Adventure Goal: Travel to Ireland with my girlfriend Bre. My family is from County Cork and we plan to explore the entire county by bike, train, and bus. More to come on this!

5.)    Spiritual Goal: Continue to practice my Catholic Faith and trust in God’s plan for me and everyone around me. Find a church in Chicago that I can call home.

I hope this encourages you to share your goals, and to hear someone else’s. Even if the individuals goals seem silly to you, offer your support, it can make a world of a difference.

-Coach Dan

Open Season

When I was in college, my Anthropology of Museums class scheduled a field trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo one Saturday morning.  I lived 11 miles away from the zoo and just for fun decided to run to class.  Having never run more than 5 miles, I didn't know if I could make it that far, so chose a route alongside a bus route that went to the zoo.  

 

About 7 miles in, I was feeling great (and proud of my new personal record)  but decided I gone far enough so I ran to a bus stop to hitch a ride the rest of the way, only to read that the bus ran M-F only.  This being the days before smart phones, I knew of no other way to get my destination besides running, so I ran the rest of the way.  I knew what I had accomplished was no record-breaking feat, but still I was amazed at not just how much I was capable of doing, but also how much MORE I had been able to do than I originally thought I could.  That was such an empowering feeling that elevated my training thereafter-- every time I got tired running, lifting, or playing Ultimate I reminded myself that I had more in me.      

 

Segue to the season that is now upon us: the CrossFit Open!  For those who have seen the signs up around the gym but are still slightly confused, allow me to give you the briefest of all summaries: it's a competition.  CrossFit headquarters writes workouts that CrossFitters across the country to do and submit their scores online.  The best advance to regionals, and the best of the best advance to the final competition.    

 

It's easy to look at it at face value and consider it too intimidating or too out of reach to even attempt.  It's easy to get caught up in what outrageous scores other people are getting or what impossible weights are being put up.  It's easy to think it shouldn't be tried or that it's not for you.  But that's losing sight of what is most important-- giving yourself the opportunity to surprise yourself in not only accomplishing a lot but also accomplishing MORE than you thought you could.  

 

The atmosphere in the gym on Saturday is CrossFit at its best; a community that encourages everyone to push beyond your limits!  The energy is charged and excited.  The day is transformed from an ordinary Saturday to Game Day: that kind of positive energy and spirit elevates everyone's performance.  No one cares about what you can't do.  Everyone cares about what you tried to do.  

 

All over the country, I am sure there are posts similar to this one being written by coaches and CrossFit athletes alike imploring people to sign up and that's simply because those of us who have tried want you put yourself in a situation where what could have been an ordinary workout turns into a workout you remember.  We want you to experience that moment of awe where you realize you are capable of so much more than you even thought possible.  

 

-- Meagles

 

 

An Active Lifestyle

Last week in this space, Justin asked us what we believe, and why. This post is about something I deeply believe in and have built my life around: being active.

I believe that we are meant to move--crawl, walk, run, jump, throw, catch, and play. Training is an important part of that, but what happens inside the gym cannot be the end of one's activity. You have to get outside and move, and it has to be part of your life. Three to five hours of working out will never make up for a hundred hours of sitting and staring at a screen. I feel completely connected and alive when I get out and move. 

I used to live in Los Angeles (you probably already know that seeing as I never shut up about it). The thing I loved the most about Southern California is that activity is built in to most everyone's lives on a weekly basis. Hiking in the Santa Monica mountains is a twenty minute drive away. The beach is nice for surfing, volleyball, and Hooverball year-round. Mountain biking, trail running, and other outdoor sports are huge parts of the culture. When I went back for a visit last month, my number one priority was to go for a hike in Malibu, which we did. As you can see above, the views were OK.

Traveling to a beautiful place is nice, but that's not what an active lifestyle really is. One of my goals for this winter was to do something active every week all winter. I am not going to let the cold stop me from having the life I want. Above you can see one of my recent trips to the dog beach with Dray, who does not need to be convinced that outdoor activity is a good thing. We walk the lakeshore every weekend, and no matter how much the cold wind whips at my face I always have a great time.

I sit writing this preparing for another active getaway: surfing in Barbados. I am beyond grateful to Justin and WCCF for helping me to make a dream come true. I wrote at length about what surfing represents for me last month. This trip is an expression of what I want my life to be: going on adventures, trying new things, and of course being active. The five days I spend down there will be an experience I'll never forget.

And when I get back, I'm putting on a jacket and going outside.

- Coach Sam

What do you believe?

What do you believe?

Why do you believe it?

About eight months ago as we had just started making plans for all the changes here at Windy City, a friend and guide asked me…  "Who are you?  What are you all about?  What do you believe in?”  

He was challenging me, as we thought through how to move Windy City forward.  Because, what I believe will help shape what Windy City is all about.  It’s one and the same.  

So, using Kevin Costner’s famous 'I believe' speech from Bull Durham as a  guide in my head, I sat down and wrote (rather typed) what I was all about.  No planning, no edits…off the cuff, in my gut, from my heart thoughts.  

I can’t recommend going through this exercise enough.  Once I had put it down, I was left with a genuine feeling of empowerment.  I felt centered, focused, ready to move forward.  My guess is that you will too.

So, without further adieu…  This (below) is what I believe.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I believe in passion.  Dreams.  Trusting your gut.  And Learning. That it's never too late...and you're never too old.  I believe life is short, the world is big and we are small; there's a lot to experience.  

Eight years in and I refuse to believe that functional fitness needs to leave me passed out on the floor after every workout. That my self worth should somehow be tied to how fast I exercise.  Or that there is one right way.  

I believe in all types of training.  I believe health, wellness and fitness begins with nutrition.  That we are what we eat...and I believe in grass-fed, free-range and pasture-raised.

I believe in the power of the group.  In being part of a like-minded community that supports you.  In sharing experiences. 

I love seeking challenges, setting goals and training.  I know that feeling when you finally accomplish something you've been training for.  It's powerful, emotional and addictive.

I believe in the journey.  I try to take small steps, celebrate the little victories and enjoy the process.  I try to take action.  I believe in living life...in being the person I was meant to be.

So now I challenge you.  What do YOU believe?

- Justin

Challenge Accepted - Winter Transformation Nutrition Challenge 2015 Summary

 

WCCF's first nutrition challenge was back in 2013. We've held the challenge every year since then and the "success" rates each year continue to impress me. As a coach and primary organizer or this event, I can report that I've learned something new from the participants each year and I will continue to try to improve upon the challenge every time we run it. For those of you who don't know much about the WTC, here's a quick break down:

 

When- Usually the first first week of January (post holiday madness) to the first weekend in February (end date is the Saturday previous to Superbowl Sunday) 

 

What-  A) Focus on eating WHOLE foods that provide nutrition to your body for 28 days 

            B) Remove common inflammatory foods from your diet for 28 days (Wheat, Sugar, Alcohol). 

 

Why-  to be more healthy, feel better, look better and have more energy 

 

How- Coach Sheena provides a 30+ page guide, daily blog with educational articles and discussions, daily checklist to keep you on track, and before/after photos as well as body composition analysis to track your progress. 

 

This year's WTC was the first year implementing our WCCF Daily Checklist.  Each participant was given the following daily tasks:

 

• Eat protein at every meal 
• Drink 100oz of water 
• Eat 5+ cups of vegetables 
• Limit fruit to 0-2 servings a day
• Limit dairy to 0-2 servings a day 
• Consume "starchy" carbs post workout (potatoes, rice, oatmeal)
• MOVE everyday (mobility, walking, workout)
• Mindful eating (chew your food slowly, get away from the TV)
• Sleep 7-9 hours 
• No caffeine past Noon
• No processed sugar 
• No alcohol 
• No wheat 

The goal was to complete as many tasks as you could every single day. Often, it is more effective to focus on what you actually CAN do instead of what you CAN'T. This is especially true when it comes to changing your eating habits. Our participants were proactive about finding foods and recipes that they COULD eat instead of focusing on what was "off limits". 

 

The WTC blog is my favorite way to stay connected and actively participate with everyone during the challenge. I try to find articles that I find interesting, educational and that provide some type of applicable message or strategy that can be used during our 28 days and beyond. Changing habits requires a change in thinking and understanding. I wanted everyone to understand why we advocate a food quality approach to nutrition. The ability to think critically about the foods we put in our body is very important and I think we too often just blindly follow the "advice" we hear (media, government) instead of taking the time to educate ourselves so that we can make our own informed decisions.

 

So how did everyone do? With their permission, I'd like to let some before/after photos speak for themselves! These are REAL results from 28 days of dedicated work with our 2015 Winter Transformation Challenge.

 

THANK YOU to following people for sharing their transformations with us. This is truly inspiring stuff! 

(note the general increase in happiness from before to after....) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jump Rope - The 8 weeks that come before your first Double Under

 

Interesting fact about Cheston you might not know: I was born with the magical ability to do double unders! Seriously… my first CrossFit WOD/day at WCCF had five sets of 30 double unders and I did them all unbroken (not to mention my max box jump was 1" higher than Tennessee's).  I had never officially done a double under WOD prior to that day, either.

 

How could that be?  Well, let me explain.  Prior to joining WCCF I trained boxing for an entire summer.  A big part of boxing conditioning is jumping rope and footwork.  The beginning of every training session included three rounds (3 minutes each) of jump rope with 1 minute of rest in between rounds... however, nobody ever took the rest.  Essentially, for four months (5 days/wk) I would jump rope for approximately 11 continuous minutes each day.  Out of boredom we would vary foot patterns, rope speed, amplitude (height of jump) and hand/wrist position.  This is not to mention we used the ropes the gym provided, so rarely did I have the same rope.   In doing so I became very comfortable on any jump rope and at any speed, amplitude or duration.  When I started boxing I sucked on the rope, but after several weeks I could jump the entire 11 minutes without a single miss!  

 

Fast forward to March of 2010, when Coach Will said “Jump once, spin twice.” Although I was not sure that I could accomplish that, I had no trouble making it happen.  I attribute that to my time spent on the rope during boxing lessons and not actually some magical "natural born" ability.  When CrossFitters ask me how I learned double unders, I always refer to the three main attributes of this skill that I've identified:

1. Rhythm/Consistency
2. Speed
3. Amplitude 

Below is my suggested 8-week training schedule to help you get ready for the double under.  Remember that jumping rope is a skill more than an exercise/workout.  You’ll want to approach each session as practice rather than simply exercise:

 

Weeks 1-4: Rhythm and consistency comes with practice and time on the rope.  For me, that was 11 minutes a day, 5 days/wk for 4 months.  If you want to be great (or even decent) with your jump rope, spend 5-7 minutes before every class warming up on a rope.  This isn’t 5 minutes of double under attempts, but just easy singles.  It is really important that you develop the comfort and control of the rope that you’ll need to master the speed and amplitude required for the double under.  I also recommend jumping with different ropes (this will help improve your control later on).  By weeks 3 and 4 you should be able to do the whole 5 minutes without stopping and will find yourself shifting weight from foot to foot, jumping single footed and maybe even experimenting with foot/wrist patterns!  The goal here is to become super comfortable on the rope.

 

Weeks 5-7: Next comes speed.  Once you’ve mastered the ability to jump for a solid 5 minutes without a miss, you can start pushing the speed of your rope.  I’m a big believer in near perfect practice… If you miss one out of three jumps you are only accurate 66% of the time.  That is not a very good rate of accuracy and you are still reinforcing a bad movement pattern one out of three times.  Aim for 98% accuracy. This means you must move at a speed where you are skipping 50 times before a miss!  The end goal in training for speed is to be able to do a “running single under” for 30 seconds straight moving as fast as your wrists can handle (you should be able to turn the rope over 100 times in 30 seconds).  At this point your rope will be moving faster than it will need to move for the double under.  During this phase of training you will want to try to jump a solid 5 minutes still, but gradually ramping up your speed until you are just starting to miss.  Once you miss, start again slowly and ramp the speed up again.  

 

Week 8:  The final stage/week is amplitude training, or adding height to your jump.  The power for jumping rope comes primarily from your calves and ankles and not at your hips and knees.  I sometimes see students attempt doubles for the first time and watch them bend their knees and land so far folded over that it is impossible to rebound into the next jump.  To train amplitude, you’ll want to slow down your rope and simply jump as high as possible in successive jumps.  Focus on relaxing the shoulders, keeping the legs mostly straight and generating a lot of power/explosiveness through your ankles/toes.  Alternate 5 normal height jumps with 5 high jumps, resting every 10 sets in between.  At this point in your training, you should have the rhythm, consistency, and speed control to easily adapt to the changing height of your jump (as well as some pretty good endurance from all your daily practice).

 

Once you’ve completed the three training phases, you will have all the tools and skills you'll need to string together double unders.  Stay tuned for my upcoming 8-week Jump Rope Program.  The goal is for everyone at WCCF to jump like this guy (hint... I'm not joking!): 

 

Coach Cheston-

 

 

 

 

If you rush it, it won't come

Flashback with me to 2012… the world was bright and sunny it was August in Miami, Florida. (To tell the truth it was so unbearably hot and humid that you could drink the air.)

I just turned 22 and moved to this foreign place, I was excited and nervous to start graduate school, to work in strength and conditioning, and to be on my own in a place where I don’t know anyone. I went for a ride with my new roommate who I had just met to the grocery store, driving down US-1 the light ahead turns green so we don’t slow down. We hear horns, we fly by traffic, and then we hit the truck. A huge suburban had blown the red light and was trying to make it across traffic before it started moving, and we hit it head on, some guy in a rush to get to his tee time at the local golf course. I don’t remember much of the impact, just not being able to hear, seeing white a bit, and feeling the impact of the airbags and the whiplash on my shoulder. I got out of the car and walked it off. Told the cops I was fine and went on with my day. Not the best idea to decline an EMT examination when you just got in a car accident, but I had a big meeting with my professor in an hour and I didn’t want to be late. 

So I go on with my day, attempt to work out that night and it doesn’t go so well. I got dizzy and had to leave after my warm up. I woke up the next day and went to the kitchen to get some cereal… and I went to reach for a bowl… and nothing. My arm didn’t move. I looked at it confused… I remember thinking ‘What is going on? Why aren’t you working?’ I tried to use my right arm to lift the left one that was hanging dead next to me, SHARP PAIN shot down my arm through my shoulder. Like I was being electrocuted! I began to tear up out of pain and fear. I had never felt anything like this before. I go to the clinic on campus and they send me to a specialist who informs me I have a tear in my infraspinatus, one of the 4 muscles in the rotator cuff. He proceeds to tell me no activity for 6 weeks, then I will be limited to 6 weeks of physical therapy. My response is “NO WAY! I just started school, we have active classes, strength and conditioning I have to move I have to use my arms … Elite conditioning class is hands on I will fail class I will be done for….” And on and on with every excuse as to why I couldn’t be injured. The only problem was that I WAS injured… I was just too stubborn to admit it. 

So I went on with classes, with workouts, and I babied my left arm quite a bit. Wincing when I would move to fast or hold too much tension but fighting through out of denial. I started Physical Therapy and that began to help, however I would re-damage the muscle once it was injured. Through all of this I began to over compensate and overuse my right shoulder during workouts, demonstrations, and exercises, which magically turned into an overuse strain in my right shoulder. 

So there I was, shoulder-less in a sense, trying to learn Olympic lifts, teach weight lifting and plyometrics, and learn proper biomechanical movements. Not a recipe for success, health, and longevity.

Fast forward I am now in Chicago with 2 fully functioning, stable rotator cuffs and shoulders. All it took was a full year of being stubborn for me to realize I was getting nowhere. I Rushed into using my shoulder before it was even close to ready and it left me in a bad state of joint health. I have worked rehab and prehab tirelessly over the last year, now feeling my shoulder is healthier than it ever has been before.

 

 So why did I just tell you that story? So I can then justify giving you these 5 tips that will guarantee success, health, and longevity:

#1. Check your EGO… everyone has one, they are necessary and hold their place, but it is not in the weight room. DO NOT think for one second that if your shoulder is bugging you or your knees or whatever joint it may be, that doing a prescribed percentage or weight on said joint is a good idea. Better to avoid using that joint and live to fight another day, do some mobility and isolated stabilization work on the damaged area and re-teach it how to move properly!

#2. Listen to your body… if your body is in pain, it is for a reason. You are probably doing something wrong in your form, or you are not flexible enough to properly perform the movement, or worse BOTH. Take the time to work on form, Stretch not only the muscle that is bugging you, but all of the muscles around it. Often strains and injuries can come from both inflexibility and overuse. Your body is one big working unit, if one thing breaks down, everything will break down.

#3. Take extra time to PRE-HAB… I had someone tell be the other day they had never been injured before… that is amazing… but they are one in a million. Most every one of us is susceptible to injury, to aches and pains, and other ailments; but the good news is that joint and muscle injuries can be pre-habilitated and prevented from happening repeatedly! Take time to loosen up, get your ankles ready for impact (ankle poppers anyone?), get your hamstrings and glutes stretched and activated to stabilize your knee, stretch your hip flexors and your groin ESPECIALLY if you sit all day!!! Work on Shoulder Stabilization and External Rotation of the rotator cuff before or after a workout! And last but not least STRETCH!!! Stretch your back, stretch your chest, stretch your legs, stretch your everything!!!

#4 There will always be another workout… I used to stress out over missing a workout… thinking I had to do 5 or 6 days a week to see results. But the reality is that your body makes the most progress when its sleeping. I have toned down my workout volume and increased my recovery time in 2013… and I have never felt better. If you don’t believe me, try it. 2-4 HARD workouts per week, with 3-5 recovery days… You’ll never want to turn back!

#5 Stop Stressing so much and have fun… When I got injured I worried myself sick making excuses and reasons I couldn’t be injured. My stress was through the roof already a week before school! I stopped enjoying workouts for a while, I was so limited and I got a little lost in my regiment. If you have an injury or a strain attack the rehab! Do other things that your injury allows for in the gym, create new challenges for yourself, and have fun with it! Don’t worry about anything but having fun with your fitness and everything else will fall into place!

 

A final note, if anyone ever needs help with Pre-Habilitation work or dealing with an injury PLEASE come to the coaches! We are always here to help!

- Coach Dan