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Let’s talk about supplements.  

First point – and the most important point supplements are just that … Supplements.  

They are not meal replacements. 

They are not a substitute for poor nutrition.  

They are supplementing – or adding – to you plan for fuel and nutritional support. 

Eat real food first.  

Eat quality food first.  

Then figure out where you need to  

The first place I advise people to start is for post workout.  

There is a very short window for recovery fuel after your workout.  

The optimal window is 30 minutes, then it falls off to an hour, and drops precipitously after that.  

You workout hard in CrossFit. 

You lifted some heavy weight. 

You hit that WOD with some serious intensity. 

You want to benefit from that workout? 

Feed your body! 

Your workout has primed your body to accept and process nutrition to rebuild. 

Your body is depleted, and crying out for replenishment.  

In these kind of posts I don’t want to bury you in a dissertation on the science of nutrition or volumes of research.  

Everyone and their brother have done that already. 

Let’s cut to the chase: 

During that 30 minutes post workout you need protein, amino acids, and a little bit of carbs.  

This is the time for a recovery supplement shake.  

I don’t know about you, but I am barely on the road within 30 minutes of my workout. 

Let alone all the way through traffic and home in time to eat a real meal within that critical time window. 

Let’s also admit it… 

As we have gotten older, recovery is a little harder. 

We need all the help we can get. 

As we get older – let’s get smarter and benefit from the giants who have come before and proven this over and over. 

Such an easy thing to fuel our body. 

Get it ready to hit it hard again tomorrow.  

This is how we improve. 

Make it a habit, make it a part of your workout routine. 

You are making a commitment to yourself to workout. 

Make a commitment to yourself to fuel yourself for recovery. 

Let’s talk about the supplement itself.  

I have been doing this for a very long time. 

I have tried A LOT of protein powder. 

There is a lot of shit out in the market.  

Read the ingredients.  

Don’t just look at how many grams of protein. 

Most of the protein powders out there use low quality protein and a ton of fillers. 

They are trying to make it taste better with as cheap of ingredients as they can use. 

You are investing in yourself through your gym membership and your time working out.  

Don’t cheap out on the most critical aspect! 

Would you hire a master Mason and pay him a fortune to build you a house with cheap crumbling bricks? 

After your workout, your cells are sucking up everything you give them during that 30 minutes.  

Give them quality. 

Plan for success. 

Prepare for success. 

It’s really not that hard. 

We have all been there. 

“My story will be different.” 

Those other people’s stories don’t apply. 

“It won’t happen to me!” 

I said that. 

I was wrong. 

It happened to me. 

All the other gym owners said they started losing their fitness.  

They started gaining weight. 

They spend more time in the gym. 

But less time working out. 

I used to go in early to get my extra back squats in.  

Now I go in early and put stuff away. 

Or fold towels. 

Or fix a billing problem. 

Or take a phone call. 

Or clean up the plates.  

Or… 

Now my back squat has suffered. 

And my abs are hiding … 

I need this challenge just as much as you do. 

I am here to help you, and you can help me. 

Let’s do this together. 

I am getting dunked today.  

Now I have a number. 

Now I have a goal. 

Let’s do this! 

Hold me accountable and I will hold you accountable. 

No cheating and no lying to ourselves or each other.  

The past no longer matters.  

Where are we going from here? 

I know where I am going – do you? 

I’ll be there right beside you. 

It’s not us, it’s you. 

People have been telling us more and more lately how we have built a great community.  

To be honest, it makes us cringe just a little.  

We did not build it.  

Jeff and Jackie built it. 

We just nurture this place where the community can thrive.  

It’s not us, it’s you. 

You make the community great.  

When you show up with a smile. 

When you share your problems and celebrate your achievements.  

When you come in the morning to start your day off with energy and empowerment. 

When you come at lunchtime to recharge and refresh before going back to work. 

When you come at the end of a long day to disconnect from work and pivot your mood before going home. 

You make the community. 

You talk to each other.  

You push each other and congratulate each other. 

You listen when a friend had a bad day. 

You give each other tips before the coach even can. 

You make the community. 

When you show up to an event. 

When you share your story on Facebook. 

When you retweet something stupid Coach Alec said. 

When you bring a friend in to workout. 

When you tell your Mom how great your workout was. 

You make the community. 

You are why we are here. 

You are why CrossFit is so successful. 

Our coaches are awesome, but you make the community. 

Thank you – You make this the one place we always want to be. 

Winter of 2011.  

Minnesota.  

It was cold and dark, I was sore and frustrated. 

I wanted to quit. 

After a year of CrossFit, I still sucked.  

Usually things came pretty easy to me.  

I had convinced myself that I was in good shape, a decent athlete for a guy in his late 30’s. 

Then I found CrossFit. 

And CrossFit humbled me.  

I was originally determined to improve. 

I had no idea how far I had to go. 

It is tough to maintain that determination long term. 

I had the worst overhead squat in the entire gym. 

My snatch looked like a bronc trying to buck his rider. 

My pull-ups looked like a drunk orangutan swinging from an electric fence.  

I was a mess.  

I wanted to quit. 

Why was I doing this to myself. 

I should go back to running – I was good at that. 

Laura inspired me to stay.  

All she had to do was look me in the eyes and ask me if I was going to quit.  

That made it real instead of in my head. 

Would I admit to her that I can’t do this? 

Would I let my daughters see that I don’t have the determination to improve? 

Nope, that would hurt more than Helen ever does. 

That would set the tone for my future.  

I don’t quit. 

I turned that corner and never looked back.  

CrossFit became a representation of my life, my spirit. 

I don’t quit.  

Ever. 

Three months later. 

More than a year of CrossFit training. 

I finally did Nancy with women’s Rx weights.  

Five rounds for time of: 

400 meter run 

65 pound Overhead squat, 15 reps 

We did Nancy again last week.  

As I rep’d out the men’s Rx 95 pound OH squats, the memories of my first year flooded back. 

I still fight for that overhead position. 

But when I really work at it – I can get it now. 

This is a journey.  

For some of us it is a long journey. 

Stay on the path.  

Trust your coaches. 

There is a lot to learn.  

About the workouts, and about yourself.  

Keep an open mind. 

It’s ok to want to quit.  

It is not ok to actually quit.  

Use that moment to look inside and decide what you want to be made of.  

That is when you CHOOSE what you will be made of. 

Choose to start. 

Choose to stay. 

Or Choose to quit. 

But admit that you Chose.  

Set goals and give them a place to live a  

Not just wake up and hope 

Be the architect of your words, not the victim of it.  

Don’t play the Victim of what life happens to you 

I’d like to share a secret with you. 

Just one thing. 

This is the one thing that will make the biggest difference in your fitness. 

And your life. 

Consistency. 

That’s it. 

Be Consistent 

Show up. 

Do the work. 

That’s the difference between being successful and not. 

Some days we don’t have 110% to give. 

But we still need to show up. 

Reduce the scope, but stick to the schedule. 

Scale. Row. Work on a goat.  

Stick to the plan. 

Trust the consistency. 

Get to the gym. 

Eat real food. 

Consistently. 

This is a commitment to yourself. 

This is about the discipline to follow through. 

No excuses.  

Don’t play the victim of what life throws at you. 

Don’t let shit get in your way. 

The secret to success. 

Inside the gym and out. 

Show up. 

Do the work. 

Then do it again tomorrow. 

Consistently. 

That’s it. 

I never said it would be easy. 

But it’s not that hard. 

Scaling is how we get better.  

It takes more self-knowledge to scale appropriately, that it takes to just do Rx 

Scale down, scale up, scale left, and scale right.  

If you don’t know how to scale the workout, ask your coach.  

That’s why they are there. 

If your coach asks you what you are doing when you scale and modify, tell them your plan.  

They are asking because they care about you and they want to help, not to judge or deny. 

They are coaches because they care.  

Some people think that we coach because we want to tell people what to do.  

I’ll tell you a little secret, those coaches don’t last.  

People don’t like to be told what to do.  

Those coaches learn quick that it is not satisfying and they move on.  

Our coaches care.  

They are here because they care about you getting better.  

They care about you being safe.  

They care about you.  

Period.  

When a coach takes weight off your bar – swallow your ego and trust them. 

When you find out halfway through a workout that you bit off more than you can chew, modify the WOD. 

When you spend more time staring at the bar than lifting it – remember why you are here and make a change. 

There is a reason for the workout.  

A planned stimulus response.  

Scale the workout to get the right response. 

The CrossFit Open is for YOU. 

A lot of people are intimidated by the workouts they see the big dogs doing in the CrossFit Games.  

These people are super-human and doing crazy hard stuff. 

That is not the CrossFit Open. 

Remember before you started CrossFit? 

How you thought CrossFit was beyond your reach? 

The workouts and the people were scary? 

Now that you are here you know better.  

Now that you are part of the CFB community you see that CrossFit if for Everyone. 

The CrossFit Open is for Everyone too! 

We don’t care if you don’t sign up officially at HQ, or just intramurals.  

We don’t care if you miss an Open event or two because you are going to Jamaica on spring break. 

Though I do care if you are going to Jamaica – we just ran out of Jerk sauce, can you pick me up some? 

We don’t care if you choose a different weight for the WOD 

If you are not officially entering scores, the weights don’t matter. 

Scale the workouts, most people do. 

From a WOD perspective, you can treat this like any other WOD, that’s all it is. 

There is a difference though. 

The Open is our biggest community event of the year. 

We get together. 

We workout. 

We support each other. 

We celebrate each other’s achievements.  

We sweat together. 

We laugh together. 

We cry together.  

Pretty much just like every other WOD 

Just all together on one day 

We all get more out of it because we are all together at one time – which is an amazing opportunity. 

Morning and Evening people meet and mingle. 

Spend time chatting with people you are usually too busy grunting to talk with. 

Drink some coffee, meet our awesome PT friends, try some SFH products, learn a new trick. 

Then scream until you are hoarse 

Cheer on that person doing their first open who just got their first toe to bar.  

Feel the excitement of knowing that your heat is up next and this is your chance to get yours. 

Know the feeling of adrenaline coursing through your veins when you discover that you really do have it in you! 

Finish your workout and high five fifty people to celebrate being done. 

Slam your protein shake. 

Sit against the wall. 

Smile. 

Soak up the energy of the room. 

This is your community. 

This is why we are here. 

All of it.  

Everything that defines CrossFit, in one room, on one morning, with the people who share your love. 

Then we fire up the grill, pop some tops, and complain about how much that sucked. 

With huge smiles on our faces. 

Sign up on the whiteboard at the gym. 

And remember – Team Tini has beer and bacon 

 

People dream about one big event that changes their life. 

The project that launches their career. 

The idea that opens a new business. 

The vacation that rekindles their marriage. 

The diet that makes them lose the extra weight. 

The four week program that gets them in shape. 

You all know better, and that is what I love about CrossFitters. 

It’s the grind. 

It putting in the work. 

Day after day. 

Month after month. 

Year after year. 

Diligence is excellence in the ordinary. Make your ordinary tasks excellent and watch your life change. “The Diligent prosper.” 

-Dave Ramsey 

“Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”  

– John W. Gardner 

‘What we must try and do is get at the ordinary, and so work that without any suspicion of deterioration … out of the ordinary … we bring excellence, without elitism.’  – Peter Blackman 

Learning to embrace excellence in the ordinary will make you a better CrossFitter. 

More importantly, it will bring success to your life. 

This is real life.  

It does not happen in a month, or even a year.  

Put in the time and effort in the gym, and it WILL roll over into the rest of your life. 

Do the ordinary things extraordinarily well and I guarantee success.  

Practice this in all areas of your life. 

Choose each morning to be EXTRORDINARY. 

Starting at the gym. 

A sloppy pushup will get you a better time, but it will not make you better. 

Make that pushup EXTRORDINARY! 

Take it to the dinner table. 

Eating “Not too bad” will keep you from your goals. 

Be EXTRORDINARY in your meal plans. 

Then to your relationships. 

One “great date” and then a lack of ongoing daily affectionate attention will dull a relationship. 

Be an EXTRORDINARY lover by telling them that you love them and think of them daily. 

Now go to work. 

Wasting time sucks the momentum out of your career. 

Make that spreadsheet EXTRODINARY, provide EXTRORDINARY customer service, weld an EXTRORDINARY joint. It will get noticed. 

Are you EXTRORDINARY?  

Just get to the gym at least three times a week.  

Put in the work. Intensity with Integrity. 

The coaches are on you about movement standards, because we are improving your LIFE, not just your workout. 

Teaching you to do the ordinary EXTRAORDINARILY well. 

This is what makes us different.  

This is what makes us successful.  

POSTED 

My father had shared something similarly with me.  

But at a different time and in a different way.  

He taught me to swing a hammer, and to use math. 

He taught me to repair an engine, and respect my family. 

He taught me to love poetry and to do pushups every night.