Smoking crack and moving to a new house in the PAIN ZONE....

So my good buddy and phenomenal trainer Lex has convinced me that it is a good idea for him and I to go to the CrossFit games dirty south sectional next year...I'm not sure how much crack is bad for you but however much he is smoking is seriously bad...but I agreed...because having a goal is what this stuff is all about...even if you're goal is crack smoking crazy.....

So let's talk about me moving to my new address in the PAIN ZONE.....We have all seen these athletes after this weekend and now we are like hey I wanna do that...I wanna be unstopable and unconquerable...we all do...that's supposedly why we do crossfit....however it goes deeper than that...and its all about the pain zone....

There are amazing crossfitters who have written way better articles on this stuff than I am right now and you can find them on the journal and just about anywhere...but I thought I'd bring the info straight to you...I wouldn't want you to have to get up off your ass for anything...

I can still remember my first workout where I discovered the meaning of "living in the pain zone". It was at my level 1 cert 6 months after I started crossfit.  Now you might say to yourself "you did crossfit for 6 months without living in the pain zone!!! Impossible! I was living there day one!"  And I would say thats what you think.... shutup and let me explain...

Lots of crossfitters visit but they never move in....lots of crossfitters think they know but they don't... It took a team WOD in Atlanta, in the summer, 110 degrees to make me realize.  Because see during a team wod you can't stop...if you stop you let your team down...and for some reason I pushed myself harder for strangers than I ever did for myself....and I knew the meaning of living in the pain zone...when I got to that point where I couldn't pick up the kettlebell one more time I HAD to because my team would've lost...and I couldn't bear to think they were losing because I was "tired".  So I pushed and I wanted to die but I didn't and I got it done....this is the PAIN ZONE

I admit it takes practice to be able to get there and stay there.  It takes doing it over and over again.  It takes ignoring your entire body and just finding the strength within you to continue...its mental baby and it takes heart not mind or body...like a crossfit team who doesn't have rings attempting muscle up after muscle up and getting on their knees and letting their teammates stand on their backs..on the asphalt, 95 degrees, completely exhausted, and not stopping (San Francisco CrossFit)

Or a team that doesn't have ropes busting out 20 foot rope climbs even though one of them has a fear of heights and some of them never do rope climbs (Invictus)

Or a 140lb man cleaning 205 like it was his job and beating guys that have 60 lbs on him (Spealler)

These people are just people...they are...what makes them different is how they approach a workout...they don't freaking STOP! Not for water, not for injury, not for pain, not for their lungs, not for anything....and that takes heart not mind and not matter.  When you get to the point you want to/need to/ have to stop just keep going...I know its crazy and your body will fight you 100% and your mind will fight you 150%...but your heart will push you forward...don't just visit the PAIN ZONE..live there...be your own fucking hero....(sorry mom)

Turkish Get Ups...or as I like to call them "devil sons of bitches"

When you get to the gym and you see a 200 year old Russian weightlifting move on the board you should be scared....because your body is about to die...

Jeff Martone doing a TGU with a person.  He is the kettlebell HQ instructor for all the certs.  He is unbelievable.

Have you met a Russian? How about a Russian weightlifter? Anyone remembering Rocky IV? Yeah they are crazy....crazy strong...crazy good at drinking crazy amounts of vodka..

It has been said that the Turkish Get up was used as a training method for turkish wrestlers and adopted by the Russians.  You weren't allowed to move on to your next training skill until you could do 100lb get up...so what is a get up you ask? I'd rather not tell you so your shoulders can live a long happy life in ignorant bliss...but you will be weak and feeble without them...so you should know...

Have you ever been flat on your back on the floor holding a baby straight up above you playing airplane? Now put that baby in just one hand and stand all the way up with the baby completely locked out over head...now go back down to your back keep your baby straight up in the air.  That's basically it.  Oh yeah make sure your baby weighs 35.2 lbs.

So why do we do it?  Turkish get ups and basically anything with kettlebells will rock your entire body...talk about a core workout..jeezzzz.  And you are about to see kettlebell classes popping up all over the globo gyms because people see crossfitters and think they can get that body doing kettlebells.  And you can sort of.  If you do them properly and safely.  Holding 35 lbs straight above your face and standing up is dangerous.  If you're not trained you could end up having a totally different looking body from kettlebells...aka a smashed in face...which is ok, but in our society not very attractive.  So here is my point for today's post.  Working out for real can be dangerous.  You need to be properly trained.  You need to have a trainer.  This P90X bulls**** goes against everything real trainers believe in.  I stand over people all day long and have to literally drag them kicking and screaming through the workout and that is provided they actually even come in.  So to think you are going to get anything productive done by popping a dvd in, in your living room, by yourself, and following it is ridiculous.  I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying set yourself up for success by getting a personal trainer.  At least someone to get you started.

With that said, you can get a PT cert online in six hours.  It is ridiculous how ignorant trainers are.  I worked for Omni fitness before CrossFit and those people knew nothing and did not give a shit.  So be weary of big gyms that sell you crazy shit.  Like if the gym has a tanning bed..RUN.  If there are tvs in the gym RUN AWAY FAST.  You should not be watching tv while working out...if you are, you aren't doing anything worth a shit.  Your workout should take EVERYTHING out of you.  You should have to concentrate.  If you can find a trainer who likes to work you out outside, do that.  Its built in conditioning because its hot, its austere, and there aren't any machines or cables to do the work for you.  Choose your trainer wisely.  Or join a CrossFit gym.  Or email me and I will get you started.  Be careful at these Globos and please for the love of all that is holy don't waste your money on those dvds...get your ass outside...get a kettlebell..go to crossfit.com and start WORKING!  good luck!