May 18, 2011 WOD

Your workout for today is to exercise your brain and read this:

A few thoughts for today:

CrossFit is "open source." The spirit of CrossFit as put forth by its founder Coach Glassman, is that the best practices and methods of training are to be shared, as this leads to a community that mutually benefits from the collaboration. In this spirt, I post every single workout that we do at SeaCity CrossFit. Anyone, anywhere can use this information or try out these methods. All I ask is that if you copy an original workout, show enough honesty and respect to give credit where it's due and not try to pass it off as your own. That's called plagiarism. By the same token if I use workouts from other sources I give them credit.
    With that being said there are gyms and coaches, sadly, who take the attitude of trying to hide their methods, and are reluctant to post workouts. This goes against the concept of "open-source" practices. If you have something great, and you're a confident coach, you'll freely share it, without fear. A good coach who is confident in his or her skills and ability knows there is no downside to sharing, it benefits everyone.  What makes a good coach is his/her ability to communicate, to listen, to insist on proper movement and not be lazy about seeing flaws and correcting them. A good coach is engaged, focused and pro-active. Hiding or guarding all your methods and practices is not a sign of greatness or expertise. It's a sign of small mindedness and paranoia.

      On a similar topic, CrossFit has become very popular and much more mainstream over the past few years. It seems everyone has at least heard of it and many have tried it. Inevitably there are a lot of knock-offs, imitators, and wanna-bees, late to the party, and trying to cash in without paying their dues. Be sure you are getting the genuine article. If a gym is offering CrossFit classes and they are not an affiliate, they can be, and often are sued. Go to a legit affiliate who has the right training, knows what they are doing and has paid their way to offer you something great. It's fine to do some CrossFit in your garage gym with your buddies but if you're doing it at your local "personal training" studio, that's not ok. That would be like me opening a burger king or a mcdonald's and advertising it without becoming a legit franchisee. The odds of getting hurt, being exposed to poor or incorrect training, developing bad habits or movement flaws, or simply getting inferior training are colossally higher if you're dealing with a non-certified, non-affiliated, imitator.

Final note: If I'm evaluating a fitness trainer or coach, there are a number of criteria I look at. A few of these would include overall expertise, background of training, proven track record, testimonials of clients, certifications and education, friendliness and approachability, communication skills, and perhaps most important of all is a deep genuine passion for health and human performance.  Last but not least I would expect that individual to embrace the active fit lifestyle that they are supposed to be teaching to others. I remember when I was a kid, my dad loved Tom Landry and Roger Staubach. We'd always watch the Cowboys play. I asked my dad if Tom Landry was a good athlete in his day. His observation was that often the best coaches are mediocre athletes, and often the best athletes are horrible coaches. I have found this be a very true statement.  But at the very least I would expect my fitness trainer to "walk the walk," or it would severely damage his or her credibility. I would have a hard time listening to a CrossFit coach, or any fitness trainer who is out of shape, but with no injury or reason to account for that, other than complacency. There are many outstanding coaches who are past their playing prime, and may not participate directly in all the movements due to age and physical limitations, but even these have their own workouts and maintain the best physical fitness they possibly can. How can I, as a coach, claim to possess a true passion for an active fit lifestyle, while I myself am either unwilling, complacent, or too lazy to embrace it myself?

Now exercise your body and let's do some snatches.

Today's WOD

SNATCH