Hooigracht Staircase

Woke up this morning and decided to use my apartment building for a workout...

Sandbag Carry up 5 floors

Bear Crawl down 5 floors

Sandbag Carry up 5 floors

Bear Crawl down 5 floors

Rope Climb up 5 floors

Took me 6 minutes to finish. This was really cool. I'm always looking to find a place where I can climb a rope further than 15 feet, and this definitely works for that. The hardest part was the sandbag carries. My legs got real heavy so that by the second time up, I was walking. The downstairs bear crawls weren't too bad. I think my body is used to these now. I've only got a month left in Leiden, much of which will be spent travelling, but I hope to utilize this staircase for further rope climbing practice. I'd love to see how far I can get without using my legs/how fast I can get to the top when I'm fresh. Maybe even do recovery intervals using the different floors as stop points. Anyways, it was a great way to start the morning. Here's the video...

Fitness is...

Exposure.

This more broadly includes the people we meet, the places we go, and the tools we use in our quest for health. More directly, and as it pertains to this post, it represents our respective abilities/inabilities when it comes to our physical/mental thresholds during exercise.

If we’re lucky, we discover more good things than bad, more strong points than weak. But that’s not reality. In this life, we’re not good at everything. In fact, we’re not good at most things.

Coping with the knowledge that mastery over a vast array of disciplines, skills, and challenges is beyond our capacity, is not a discovery that many are comfortable with making. More encouraging is the unearthing of a hidden talent or a secret strength, one that has been lying dormant all these years just waiting to be dug up. That’s the present we all want to find under the tree, the one that tells us how naturally wonderful we are.

While I write those words with trace levels of sarcasm, my intentions should not be misunderstood. Finding out that we’re naturally good at something is not a bad thing. It’s affirming, empowering, and, most of all, it’s easy. It let’s us know, from time to time, that we’re not completely hopeless, that everything doesn’t always have to be such a struggle.

Once past this initial burst of satisfaction, though, what real good is this discovery? What can we use it for, besides the occasional reassurance that there are some things we can do well?

From this perspective, and in my general opinion, discovering areas where we struggle can be far more instructive, for a number of reasons.

First, it targets our training. When I found out that I couldn’t do chest to bar pullups at the mid-Atlantic qualifier last April, you better believe I practiced them like crazy before getting to the Games. This was a movement I didn’t even really know about before going to Virginia Beach. Then I discovered how hard it was to do, how effective it was in building strength, and targeted my training accordingly.

Second, it questions our approach. A few months ago I did a metcon that prescribed 5 rounds of 3 OH squat, 6 front squat, 9 back squat (all using bodyweight on the bar), and 12 situps. It took 11 minutes, and I was sore for a week. I had expected it to be challenging, but not anywhere near the pain I felt afterwards. Looking back, I realized I had been training heavier squats on strength days, but never in a metcon format, explaining my body’s surprising reaction to the workout. This discovery exposed a hole in my program and, thus, enabled me to rectify it.

Third, discovering our weaknesses gives us the opportunity to improve. If we only did things we were good at, we would have no motivation to train and no knowledge of where we could get better. And the affirmation we receive from getting better is far more powerful than that from discovering natural talent. Most people know this from experience. Think about your first pushup, strict pullup, kipping pullup, handstand pushup, or muscle up. Think about the time you PR’d after being stuck at a certain weight or time for months. This type of empowerment only comes from improvement.

Lastly, and most importantly, realizing that we can improve is a discovery in itself. It’s the one thing we all have in common. While individuals are naturally bigger, faster, or stronger than each other, nobody is without weakness. In fact, in the history of time, nobody has ever been that good at any one thing that he couldn’t get better, let alone that good at everything. It’s a universal impossibility. This is one of the most important discoveries we get to make in fitness:

There is no ceiling.

It's hard to remember when we're getting beaten down by a program or a movement, but everyone's been there. Discovering how hard things can be, how long they can take, and how far we still have to go, these are common struggles, and they're worth enduring. These are the ones that test our ability and raise our threshold.

From Nov 28, 2009

Trans-Continental Challenge #3

Back at it today, and feeling the effects. Today's workout was 3 parts, with exactly 5 minutes rest between elements.

Part 1:

5 to 1

deadlift (160 kg/350#) no bouncing/open hands at the bottom

elevated handstand pushups (used two bumper plates)

Part 2:

2 k row

Part 3:

20, 15, 10

burpee

toes to bar with rotation

Overall, I found this sequence extremely challenging. Part 1 wasn't too bad, the deadlifts were tough by the last 2 sets, but the hspu's were pretty easy. I finished in 3:28. Therefore, Part 2 started at 8:28. This 2 k row started off fine. I made it to the 500 m mark in 1:43, then started to back off the pace a bit. By the 1000 m mark I think my pace had dropped to 1:50 or so and I was started to gasp pretty heavy. My hamstrings were really getting tired from the deadlifts and I was compensating by pulling with my upper body a lot. Ended up finishing the effort in 7:14, putting my total time at 15:42. At this point, I was completely exhausted. Everything hurt, and I knew I only had 5 minutes until the last element... which I did not want to do. Part 3 started at 20:42 and right away the burpees felt waaay harder than they should. My legs were quivering by the 10th one and my breath left me right away. The toes to bar were a great exercise, except I was forced to do them on a thick gauge square support beam on one of the cable machines at L.K.V. This made things much harder for the grip. Because the exercise requires you to pivot your body from left to right, the sharp angles really dug into my hands. I finished in 27:07, and I was done-zo. Realistically, with a regular pullup bar I may have been able to do this 2 minutes faster, but no more than that. I think 25 is a realistic time, but I was seriously crushed afterwards. I haven't heard how it went on the other side of the pond. Interested to see how Josh and the gang found it.

Supposed to join the guys at CrossFit FSF in Utrecht for the Lumberjack 20 tomorrow... we'll see how the body's feeling in the morning.

Rest Week

As I have now been training for 6 consecutive weeks, I'm taking a few days off. Hoping to do some mild stretching, maybe some yoga, and hit the hot tub this week to help recovery. Overall I feel great, but still think a week off is a good idea in the bigger picture. Planning on getting back into things Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, then heading back to the states on Wednesday for a few days with the old crew in D.C. Can't wait for that!

From Crossfit Basel

Featured on Mark's Daily Apple

Check it out:

-Mark's Daily Apple-

Day 3 in Switzerland

I arrived in Geneva pretty late Saturday night and was met by Jon Ingram, Co-founder of CrossFit Leman, at the train station. We walked to his apartment, where, after a nice conversation with him and his girlfriend, he informed me that we would be getting an early start the next day so it would be best to hit the sack.

We were up around 6:30, eating breakfast, and out the door by just before 8. CrossFit Leman is about 20 minutes from downtown and sits at the base of a mountain range overlooking Lake Geneva. The surroundings are stunning. The inside of the place gives the appearance of a lodge, with exposed wooden beams, big plate glass windows, and a lot of natural light. The space we trained in is actually only half of the facility, as Jon and his partner, Euan, have leased the adjoining room as well. When it's finished, this place is going to be incredible.

Classes were set to come in at 8:30, 9:30, and 10:30, and Jon suggested I train with the first group. The workout was as follows...

1.2 km trail run

DB farmers walks up and over the catwalk (I used 30 kg DBs)

10 tire flips (100 kg tire)

30 Push Press (60 kg)

50 Double Unders

1.2 km trail run

Digesting this workout, I thought it might not be enough. It turned out to be plenty. The trail run was short but technical, with lots of roots, rocks, and plenty of sharp turns. The farmers walks were tough because we had to climb and the descend two flights of stairs. Having never done this before, I had no way of knowing how much harder this would be from a regular farmers walk. Much, if you're wondering. The tire flips I found very easy, simply because the weight was much lighter than I am used to. However, the residual lower body impact from the run and the farmers walks made itself known during the push presses. 60 kg feels really heavy when you aren't getting much pop from your legs. I did 3 sets of 10, and barely made them. The double unders were fine, but kept me out of breath just enough to make the second run pretty challenging. I didn't notice the slight, but consistent grade as we wound along the river the first time through, but it's there. I ended up making it back in a total time of 14:38, and really had to keep pushing myself on the last run because a decent part of me wanted to slow down.

Afterwards, I helped Jon teach the later classes. I got to coach 4 kids how to properly do dumbell snatches, deadlifts, and walking lunges. This was a great time. The parents trained as well, in the other room with Jon, and I couldn't help appreciating the way this CrossFit box had carved out a family fitness niche within the community. They've only been open a month, but their membership is at 30+ already. It will be interesting to see how this place will grow in comparison with other boxes around Europe finding more individual clientele.

As we drove back from the gym, Jon showed me this old Roman road that goes from the bottom of the mountains to the top, approximately 5 km winding straight up the side. It's hard to imagine not wanting to be fit in an environment so full of natural challenges and beautiful scenery. A few hours later, I was on the overnight train to Leiden for another week at the library, feeling quite jealous of the circumstances I had left behind. Guess I'll just have to go back...

Day 2 in Switzerland

After a night of touring that lasted until 4 am (courtesy of my excellent host Dominque), I was swept away on a more thorough vetting of the Basel cultural scene during the daylight hours. We visited world famous swiss chocolate stores, sampled Basel's famous gingerbread biscuits, and had lunch at a place that has been brewing its own beer since the first half of the last millenium. All in all I really enjoyed the sights of this city. There was one house that has been standing since 1346! Incredible.

Afterwards, we headed to CrossFit Basel for another workout, this time a random WOD pulled from their hopper deck. Only one other soul was brave enough to come join me for the Saturday afternoon workout, and I greatly appreciated his presence. Josh had had an especially rough night out, so his effort just to get to the gym let alone do a tough workout was an inspiration.

The workout pulled from the deck was "Kelly." This consists of:

5 rounds for time of

400 m run

30 wall ball

30 box jump

I had done this workout once before, back in washington, and remembered it being pretty difficult and pretty long. My time back then was in the 21-22 minute range I think. The only difference in Basel was that the ball I used only weighed 12 lbs, rather than the standard 20. This certainly had a positive effect on my time, as I didn't have to split any of the wall ball rounds, but ordinarily I wouldn't split much even with a 20 lb ball. My time was 19:33, and it definitely felt good. I can really feel my ability to push harder without burning out increasing. Josh finished in just over 27 minutes. This effort nicely complimented the heavy strength work we had done the night before and put on the train to Geneva in good spirits.

Thanks so much to Dominique, his family, and the CrossFit Basel membership for being so inviting and gracious. Looking forward to seeing them all again soon.

Day 1 in Switzerland

I met with Dominique Stern, my local contact and host, after arriving in Basel and he took me to their box... 10 minutes on the tram from the city center. They've acquired a "dungeon," as he called it, in the basement of a building in an industrial complex. They're just off the end line of a set of train tracks, and the structures around them are massive. I don't know what kind of industry takes place there, but whatever it is, it's big.

I was introduced to Ramon, the other owner, and the group of individuals I was going to train with: Josh, Dino, and Claudia. Crossfit Basel's philosophy is strength based, due mostly to Ramon and Dominique's powerlifting backgrounds. I liked this because the expertise and attention to detail during the strength portion of our session was obvious and very beneficial. That portion consisted of:

Back Squat-

70% x 5

80& x 3

90% x max repetitions

Being that I have recently been rebuilding my squat from a full depth position, I wasn't sure what my max would be. A few weeks ago in Copenhagen I had done sets of 4 @ 130 kg, and it had felt pretty challenging, so I estimated a full squat max at 155 kg. This set my weights at 110 kg, 125 kg, and 140 kg, respectively. After the first set at 110 kg, I knew it was too light. The second set I did at 130 kg, and again felt it was below the correct weight. So, for my 90% set, I loaded 150 kg and went with that. I was able to get 4 repetitions with really good depth. The fourth rep was a big struggle about half way up, but I managed to get it.

After this, the 4 of us worked technical jerks with pvc pipes, then did this short met con:

7, 5, 3 press, push press, push jerk (50 kg)

with

21, 15, 9 pullup

Like an idiot, I screwed up the rep ranges, doing 7 press, 5 push press, and 3 jerks for each round, rather than 7, 7, 7... 5, 5, 5... 3, 3, 3... This wound up making the routine more difficult, because by the 3rd set, 7 presses was TOUGH. I still managed to finish in 3:14, and I was especially happy with the pullups. I didn't break any of those sets and my body felt light and fast.

After this, Dominique and I headed to his parents house for a traditional swiss dinner, cheese and bread. His mother also cooked some red cabbage and his father made eggs. This was such a fun time. This family is extremely educated, well traveled, and interesting. We spoke on all sorts of topics, fitness related and otherwise. I can't say enough about their hospitality and openness.

Tomorrow we will train again at Basel, then I will board a train to Geneva to meet up with Jon Ingram and the guys from Crossfit Leman. This is shaping up to be another memorable weekend.

From Crossfit Basel

From Crossfit Basel

Fitness is...

Personal.

Take it personally.

Your fitness is not the gym you join or the site you follow. It’s not the shoes you wear, the weights you lift, or the nutrition book you read. Fitness is not your yoga mat. It’s not the Workout of the Day.

An individual’s fitness is, essentially, his decision. And it goes beyond deciding to surround himself with the various tools mentioned above. They help, certainly. If I want to cut down a tree, I’m better off using an axe than an icepick. But I still have to go out and chop the fucker down.

Sadly, unlike in the lumber industry, we can’t hire someone to chop this tree down for us. Fitness depends on two things: agency and ownership, and they span disciplines. Look at any sport and compare athletes of similar natural ability.The engaged athlete following an average program will outperform the dispassionate athlete following an exceptional program. Every time.

I was at my gym last week, and I watched a guy do twenty-five minutes of triceps extensions, proudly flexing in the mirror between sets to evaluate his work. While most of me was screaming objections based on my belief in functional training, useable strength, etc., another part of me was humbly acknowledging his right to train his way, and respecting his effectiveness in doing so. He had pretty big triceps, after all.

Now, if I were to go up to this individual and say, “Listen, I know a better way to train. It focuses on the whole body, both structurally and cardio-vascularly. It will produce measurable gains in strength, endurance, recovery, flexibility, coordination, and balance, and it will contribute to you living a longer and healthier life.” He might say, “Wow, that sounds great. How do I do it?” Or, he might say, “What’ll it do for my triceps?”

This is an example of agency. I decide what is important to my fitness. I can be told a million times the best way to train my heart and lungs, seen over and over the correct technique for a deadlift, have listened to lecture upon lecture about the right food to eat; but if I don’t choose to put those ideas into practice, they will remain just that: ideas, and nothing more.

The second part is ownership. Gym classes, as a culture, have largely been created to avoid this very concept. Most people who consistently do step class, or spin, or body sculpt either don’t know what to do for their fitness, or they can’t motivate themselves to do it on their own. So, rather than taking ownership of the problem, finding the answers, and implementing them, they schedule and attend a series of weekly classes to diffuse the responsibility (This is not true for all situations. Some people have found they perform better in group situations and have actively chosen class settings as the best way to facilitate this performance. These people, however, are in the minority. Most do it because they don't want to face the fact that fitness is hard and no one will do it for them). Watch any one of these classes and it will become quite evident who is truly engaged and who is just there to punch the clock.

Yoga is a great example. Consider the individual who goes to a class because someone told him it was a good idea, and is now blindly following the directions of the instructor. He is the one looking around at everyone else, distracted by his sweat, forcing himself into positions that his body cannot handle. This person will not benefit in the same way as the individual who has internalized the teachings and taken ownership of the practice.

Now, granted, ownership is a process, and people need to learn skills somehow. Just be wary of the chronic user, showing up each week without fail, blindly following the leader, and offloading the responsibility for his fitness to a series of instructors and classmates.

This goes for Crossfitters as well. CrossFit, as a methodology, does not belong to a particular homepage, blog, or box. It is a philosophy that must be interpreted and implemented by individuals who are unique. The program, therefore, will also be unique. This is okay! Heard of the open source method? Experiment, discover, and own what works.

Fitness, in the end, is a result. It’s the byproduct of the interaction between me (my physical tools, my mental capacity, my personal creativity) and the resources at my disposal (information, food, weights, etc.). As should, by now, be clear, the me is integral to this equation. As soon as I lose agency or ownership over this process, fitness ceases to be personal, and it is no longer mine. This is when training starts to feel like a chore. It’s when you burn out, resent the program, or lose interest all together.

The truly fit individuals stay conscious of their motivations and are actively involved in, and take ownership of, their programs. They relish the fact that no one can do it for them, and use this fact to push themselves harder. Zoning out, getting into a routine, or going to a class for class’s sake doesn't make sense to these people. For them, “Just doing it” just isn’t good enough.

From Nov 21, 2009

The Video

Trans-Continental Challenge #2

Tonight was the second installment of the Trans-Continental Challenge with my friend Josh Courage from D.C. He will be attempting the workout on Friday with a group of other athletes in Washington.

The Workout:

100 m Farmers Walk (36 kg/ 79 lb DB)

100 Double Under

30 Clean and Jerk (85 kg/ 187 lb)

100 Double Under

100 m Farmers Walk (36 kg/ 79 lb DB)

I finished in 14:23.

I have to say that I found this much harder than the first workout we did a few weeks ago. But, all things considered, I'm pretty satisfied with how it went. The first farmers walk was no problem, but I did struggle getting into the rhythm on the first set of double unders. The clean and jerks I took methodically. One at a time, every time, only resting a few breaths between each. The worst part was making sure I had breath in my chest before each clean and each jerk. So I was a bit deliberate, but I didn't miss any and all felt really sharp. The second set of double unders was really tough and the last farmers were so hard to hold onto the dbs. I had to stop at 50 meters for a few seconds or else I would have dropped them and ruined L.K.V.'s floor.

Over all I thought this was a great routine. I love the heavy weight for speed because it forces you to concentrate on every repetition. If you don't you will miss it. The other elements really complimented nicely as well. Guess we'll see how good my time was in a few days...

Ballistic Cindy

For tonight's workout, I did a variation of Cindy (20 minute AMRAP of 5 pullup, 10 pushup, 15 squat). The pullup situation at L.K.V. is really bad, as I think I have described in previous posts. The best option is a free standing, combination dip/pullup apparatus. It's kind of like a cage and it rocks all over the place, so any real kipping is impossible, so just bear that in mind. The workout was...

20 minute AMRAP of:

5 x pullup + toe to bar

10 x pushup + glute ham raise

15 x squat jump to 8 foot target (really means just get your ass of the ground, no mini hops)

I was able to complete 12 rounds of this sequence in 2o minutes. I really liked all of the exercises, especially in this combination. The pullup + toe to bar is a natural progression, and I think if I had a bar I could kip on they would have felt much smoother. The pushup + glute ham raise is done from the knees with the feet hooked under a rack or with someone holding your ankles. The idea is to be explosive on the pushups and finish to vertical using the glute ham movement. No bending of the hips at all, ideally. The squat jumps just added the finishing touch. My legs actually felt really good all around.

Afterwards, I was DRIPPING with sweat. I can't explain why, because I didn't think this was overly difficult. Maybe it had something to do with the explosiveness of the movements. I can already feel my hamstrings tightening up a little bit, so tomorrow could be a bit of a gimpy day. Just one more thing to work on...

From Nov 24, 2009

AM...PM

In the morning...

I'll say it again. I hate rowing. Seems like no matter how often I do it, it just always sucks. This morning I went to L.K.V. and did some sprint work on the ERG, and could not have been more crushed afterwards. I started with 500 meters all out, trying to keep my stroke rate really high. This did not work. It seems that whenever my stroke rate goes above 33/34 I don't feel the catch until midway through my next stroke. Therefore I'm not getting as much on each pull though I'm doing all the cardiovascular work. My time was 1:31.2, 3 seconds slower than my last 500 meter sprint. This was because the entire last 100 I was toast. My pace dropped all the way to 1:36 by the end. Anyways, trial and error I guess.

Afterwards I did 5 x 100 meter sprints with 1 minute rest between. This went much better. I kept every sprint under :19 and felt that my recovery was adequate from one to the next.

In the evening...

I met up with Hank for some Olympic work tonight. We did the following:

Power Clean to Push Jerk

4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2

Front Squat

4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2

I did the entire session using the hook grip, which was a first for me. It was a little uncomfortable, but not too bad. I felt very strong on the power cleans to push jerks, doing my last two sets at 105 kg and not feeling too challenged. The cleans felt especially easy.

The front squats were good as well. I continued to work down towards full depth, and did the last two sets at 120 kg. It is obvious that this is the weak link in my game at this point. If I can reasonably power clean 115 kg (which I think I can), there's no reason I shouldn't be full cleaning 135-140 kg. The issue is the front squat. I may be able to pull that weight to a rack position, but there's no way its coming back up. This sequence tonight felt really effective in breaking down the movement. I like working the raw power of the pull, then concentrating on the strength in the squat.

Hopefully the weather is nice tomorrow so I can get outside for a workout. Ever since the farm, I just can't keep my mind off pulling that truck. I don't think that's going to happen in Leiden, but being in some fresh air couldn't hurt.

From Nov 21, 2009

Crossfit Farm Chipper Video

Dommelhoeve Farm

Today started with a true country breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, spinach, cheese, and a healthy dose of Tabasco sauce. Afterwards, my hosts and I took a walk around the property, which amounts to about 230 acres of land for planting, grazing, and hunting. It felt great to be in space, away from the city. While on our tour we threw around ideas and found some great stuff to use for a workout. Here’s what we came up with:

50 meters truck pull (1530 kg)

5 legless rope climbs (7 meters)

50 axe chops

50 meters wheelbarrow run (110 kg)

50 strict OH press (25 kg)

50 walking OH lunge (25 kg)

600 meters run

Niels’s family has a 1963 LandRover with thick mud tires and a front-end tow hitch. We wrapped a rope through the front loop and used a blanket to pad my shoulders. This was much heavier than the Volkswagon Beetle that I used to pull back in Washington. Was feeling like Quadzilla by the end of the run.

The rope we tied to a 7 meter branch just to the side of the driveway. This worked really well, but was super tough because of the height.

The wheelbarrow we filled with chunks of cement, stone, and steel grate that were lying around the farm. Added up, this weighed 110 kg.

For the overhead pressing and the lunges, I used a rib of an old sailboat that was built in 1804. How cool is that? Somehow this relic is still lying around a family farm, and these guys let me use it for a workout. It weighed just over 25 kg, but felt much heavier due to the awkwardness of the object.

The 600 meter run was across an offseason corn field, so the terrain was lumpy. But the main problem was that I was completely wiped out by this point. My lungs were burnt and my legs were heavy. It took me over an hour to feel totally recovered.

That said, this was one of the more fun WODs I’ve done in a while. So unique, creative, and effective. I’ll post the video when I get back to Leiden tomorrow.

Walk the Bag

This morning I got up and took my sandbag for a walk. No running, just walking. I alternated shoulders whenever I started to feel my posture starting to crumble. I wound up walking about 2 miles, and, honestly, it wasn't too bad. Almost all of the work was in my core and upper back, and I didn't find it as difficult to expand my lungs as last time. So, at mile 1.5 I decided to detour over to L.K.V. de Spartaan and do some extra strength work.

I alternated between incline presses for sets of 5 and hanging L sit holds for max time. For the pressing, my sets looked like this:

70 kg x 5

80 kg x 5

90 kg x 5

100 kg x 5

110 kg x 3

I took a slightly narrower grip than I normally would and really tried to control the descent. It's been awhile since I last did incline pressing and I was happy with my strength overall.

For the L sits, I can only estimate my times:

:30

:20

:20

:25

:15

On these I really felt that the limiting factor was my quadriceps. After the first 10 seconds each set they would start to cramp. Maybe I'm doing the exercise wrong, or I just need more isometric work. It's possible that the answer is a bit of both.

Heading to the countryside for the next few days with my Dutch friend and his family. Hoping to find some creative physical outlet while there.

From Nov 15, 2009_3

Back to Work

My body felt good and fresh today, so I decided to get active again. Went to the park by the river and ran 3 km just before the sun went down. I kept the pace fast the whole way and felt my legs going before my wind, leading me to think that my cardiovascular conditioning is in good shape. Hoping to participate in this 10k race down by the beach in January. They hold it every year in the dunes just east of Noordwijk, and it's supposed to be a pretty fun time. 10k is about my limit these days, so it could be a good challenge.

Got some good ideas for the next few days, gotta rest up.

From Nov 19, 2009

CrossFit's European Central Station

If there is a Crossfit capital in Europe, it’s Copenhagen. And if there’s one place that I would want to train, it’s here. In 72 hours, I visited four gyms, did five WODs, and left the city with a true appreciation for its people, culture, and fascination with fitness. They’re nuts for it! The members were strong, motivated, and welcoming everywhere I went, and the facilities were top notch. I really feel that this place has the opportunity to become CrossFit’s central hub for training, learning, and growth, not just for Scandinavia, but for all of Europe.

To give a better idea of the proliferation of the program in Copenhagen and its surrounding areas, here is a list of affiliates, memberships, and locations. Note that the oldest affiliate has been around for less than eighteen months, and that most have come into being within the last six. The numbers are staggering.

-Butcher's Lab Members: approx 600, First affiliate in Denmark (2008), Has hosted Crossfit challenges and weight lifting competitions for Crossfitters, Has hosted 1 CERT1 + 2 GYM CERT, Located: Copenhagen

-CrossFit Copenhagen Members: 800, Affiliated since June 2008, Hosted a local challenge in August 2008 + participated in the Affiliate Cup @ the CrossFit Games 2009, Hosting challenge in February, Located: Copenhagen

-CrossFit Denmark (Hellerup) Members: approx 100, Affiliated since 2008, Located: Hellerup, 8 km from Copenhagen

-Paideia CrossFit Members: 100, Affiliated since August 2009, Located: Copenhagen

-CrossFit Royal Danish Guards (military base affiliate) Members: approx 230, Affiliated since June 2009, Located: 20 km north of Copenhagen

-CrossFit Royal Danish Defense College Implementing CrossFit in the Danish military, Affiliated since October 2009, Located: Copenhagen

-CrossFit CTC Members: approx 500, including MMA etc, Affiliated since November 2009, Located: 50 km south of Copenhagen

-CrossFit OBBC Members: approx 300, Affiliated since November 2009, Located in Odense, 170 km from Copenhagen

-Aarhus CrossFit Members: approx 200, Affiliated since August 2009, Located in Aarhus, on the Jutland peninsula

-CrossFit Aalborg Members: N/A, Affiliated since 2009, Located in Aalborg, on the Jutland peninsula

Obviously, people here are drinking the Kool-Aid.

In addition to the sheer numbers that this area boasts, it also offers incredible diversity. Often, CrossFit gyms look pretty much the same. (There’s a reason why they’re called boxes) Typically built in old warehouses or office space, they tend to take on a similar shape: four walls, high ceilings, and floor space. They’re uncluttered, minimalist, and, many times, lack an individual character. Such is not the case in Copenhagen.

Of the four gyms I visited, none is comparable to the other.

Paideia Gym is on the ground floor of a large concrete building, accessible through the loading dock door. Inside it has two rooms (one for classes, one for general use); a unique multi-purpose steel grid for heavy bags, rings, etc.; two proper Olympic platforms and a power rack for heavy squatting; and tons of non-traditional fitness tools like sledges, maces, club bells, and sand bags. The walls are covered in artwork for sale, and the whole place has a very intelligent feel.

Crossfit Denmark (Hellerup)is in one of the wealthiest areas of Copenhagen. It exists as a world within a world, a CrossFit haven amidst the health and wellness aura of the fitness spa from which it rents space. Their “box” is glass, well lit, completely stocked, and exposed to the curious view of many a treadmill worshipper.

Crossfit Copenhagen operates out of a different place of worship, a church. Now affectionately called “the church of pain,” CC’s home is incredible. Two floors with very high ceilings give this place an enormous feel, and a very unique look. It’s really two boxes in one. They have tons of equipment, tons of space, and STAIRS. The fact that they use both floors in the same workout means you have to climb stairs constantly. I love it.

Butcher's Lab is, as the name would indicate, housed in an old butchery. It has a bunch of rooms, all of which have tile walls and big, hazy windows, giving this place a great raw quality that you can’t help associating with a slaughterhouse. Sounds morbid, but it works. They also use neon colors for their logo, so the place has flashes of bright green, pink, blue, and orange depending on which room you are in.

The uniqueness of these gyms gives them character and personality, thus differentiating them from other boxes. In my opinion, this gives their memberships a stronger sense of identity, ownership, and pride. These are qualities that hold communities more tightly together and serve to draw new members in.

More so than the number of members or the environments they train in, though, it’s the quality of the people that really makes Copenhagen a CrossFit Mecca. The owners and coaches are well-educated, thoughtful program designers that understand the importance of balance and variety. The athletes are eager, tough, and tuned in to the greater community. Perhaps the only area in which the city is lacking is the coordination between gyms. They’re all so close together, but it doesn’t seem like one community is interested in the actions or development of the others. This is too bad.

The exception to this is to be found in my host, Sarah Lindasdatter Troelsen Krarup. This woman is a machine. In addition to being a great athlete with a serious motor, she knows everyone, everywhere. It was through her connections and knowledge that I was able to experience as much as I did during my visit. While she has founded the Royal Danish Defense College affiliate and is an original member of CrossFit Copenhagen, she continues to train everywhere and maintain relationships throughout the community, essentially creating a link between parallel worlds.

Ideally, it would be great to see a truly cohesive network of affiliates, members, and owners that are tied loosely together by their common goal of building fitness in Copenhagen. Perhaps with cooperative challenges and events, and with people like Sarah continuing to connect the dots, this will become possible. In any event, Copenhagen has grown into a breeding ground for elite fitness in a very short amount of time. I can't wait to see where time will take it from here.

From Nov 15, 2009_3

Fitness is...

Failure.

Get comfortable with it. If you’re not failing, you’re not getting better. And if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.

This idea represents two important things to me.

First, intensity is everything. A properly balanced program will vary its workouts in terms of style, movement pattern, and volume, but not in intensity. Whether the focus is strength, endurance, or metabolic conditioning; whether you’re working deadlifts, overhead presses, or sprints; whether its Angie or Fran; the intensity has to be maximum. This is not to say that every workout must put you on the floor. Intensity isn’t necessarily about exhaustion. It’s about focus, will, and the commitment to a full effort, regardless of the challenge. For example, my grandmother is training to lose weight through a combination of cardiovascular training, group strength classes, and Pilates. Needless to say, her ideal post-workout position is not sprawled on the floor next to a trash can. Her approach to fitness should, however, mirror that level of physical intensity in her concentration and dedication to completing her routine with maximum effort. This attitude will force her to test her limits on hikes, with weights, and on the Pilates mat, ultimately pushing her to the point of failure in many respects. This is a good thing.

The same can be said for Crossfitters, just in a more obvious way. WODs are designed to test limits in a wide range of physical and mental capacities. So test them! The people that get the most out of workouts are not the ones who complete them easily, or those who zone out halfway through in an effort to “just get through it.” If you ever find this to be the case during a workout, you’re missing the point. One inarguable beauty of this program is that, regardless of ability, every WOD can be met with the same level of effort and focus, and thus can impart the same physical and mental effects. The biggest beneficiaries are the people who fail over and over and over during the course of a WOD, and then get up to fail some more.

The second concept failure brings to mind is fear. People are so afraid to fail. From a young age, it is something we have been taught to avoid at all costs. This fact, combined with the knowledge that failure is actually essential to our ultimate success, makes this fear one of the toughest paradoxes for our psyche to overcome. I, for one, know this emotion too well. Before football games I would get this deep, paralyzing self-doubt regarding my own ability. Every week, I was certain the defensive back opposite me was stronger than I was, faster than I was, and, in general, better than I was. This usually didn’t subside until the first major collision of the game, when the intensity level became so high that I no longer had time to doubt myself, only to act.

Interestingly, I see the same thing happen all the time in gyms and Crossfit boxes. As Sarah wrote the chipper on the board at the Butcher’s Lab this past weekend, different people softly objected to elements they were weak on, or complained that they would have to scale. In Halmstad for the Scandinavian Challenge, I heard stories of people dropping their names from the competition when the WODs got posted, mostly because they were inconsistent with their personal strengths. Every time someone is embarrassed to bench press or back squat next to a guy that can double his total, it’s the embarrassment over his relative failure that holds him back.

How to conquer this fear? Rather than focusing on the competition between individuals, focus on the competition with the workout. Again, this should be the competitive standard for all workouts anyway. Then, when you really need it, when you’re just about to quit, when you’ve been pressed to the brink of failure, that’s when you start looking for extra motivation. That’s when you use the intensity of those around you to will yourself to the next rep. That’s when the community leans on itself, pushes its collective limits, and builds itself stronger than before.

The bottom line is that fitness requires failure. Your body adapts to challenges it cannot meet in order to better prepare itself for the future. This process involves levels of fear and intensity that are typically uncomfortable, but absolutely necessary. If you’re not outside your comfort zone, you will not improve. And if you're not trying to improve, what exactly are you doing?

From Nov 15, 2009_3

Crossfit Copenhagen WOD

Here is a link to the video from the "Killer" WOD with Crossfit Copenhagen. Thanks to those guys for a great time and a cool video!

Killer WOD @ Crossfit Copenhagen