We're answering three of your questions this week:

📍 Can a CrossFit athlete's performance become worse due to running, and if so, how much running is too much?

📍 Why is it important to stay informed about the news and politics, even if it can be seen as mostly entertainment and outside of our control?

📍 How can one build a relationship with oneself after spending many years focused on being who everyone else wanted them to be, especially after a divorce and at a young age?

PLUS:

📍 We're talking about when Ben went to prison to learn more about a program bringing CrossFit to inmates.

📍 We wrap up with another round of our Recommendation Roundup, where we talk about what we've been reading, listening to, and enjoying lately.

✦ THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS ✦

LMNT: https://www.drinklmnt.com/excellence 

FEEL GOOD LAB: https://thefeelgoodlab.com/ (use code: BEN)

✦ GET A QUESTION INTO THE SHOW ✦

Drop Patrick a DM: https://www.instagram.com/pscummings/

We're talking through 4 listener questions this week:

📍 As an aging CrossFit athlete, are there resources available to help me push myself to be better while ensuring that I am doing so safely, especially when it comes to knowing when to push through an injury and how to monitor my heart rate effectively?

📍 How can you determine the appropriate food intake to support exercise without promoting fat gain?

📍 As a firefighter working 48-hour shifts and living in a different time zone, should I play catch up on sleep during my off days or stick to a normal 8 hours? And when on shift, should I try to go to bed at my normal time in my home time zone or the same time for the work time zone?

📍 How can I continue to use positive language to help my children understand that eating healthy and exercising are about being strong and healthy, rather than valuing being "skinny" for the wrong reasons, given my past struggle with an eating disorder?

Plus, we'll be recapping the 2023 CrossFit Games to close the episode out.

Thanks to our sponsors: LMNT | Shopify | Momentous

Get a question in the queue:

🔗 Send Patrick a DM with your Five Factors questions!

This week, we discuss making strategic long-term decisions, embracing challenges, and prioritizing long-term goals. We emphasize the importance of structuring a training plan that prioritizes function and progress without causing injury, as well as the benefits of functional movements in CrossFit for maintaining strength and mobility as we age. Additionally, we’re talking about the challenges of being an affiliate owner and parenting.

Expect to learn:

• The optimal training schedule for most people.
• Why we focus on functionality and longevity, rather than just looking good on the beach or bodybuilding.
• How to recognize our own triggers and take responsibility for our reactions to communicate with our kids better.

Thanks to: 🔗  Policygenius 🔗  LMNT 🔗 Ice Barrel

In our last Benchmark of the summer, we’re throwing it back to August of 2018 and a conversation about how to be more competitive in the sport of CrossFit. Topics include getting better at muscle-ups, tips for improving your double unders, and Ben’s best advice for athletes who don't have a coach.

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OUR SPONSORS: 

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🔗 Lifeforce 

🔗 Momentous (code: excellence) 

🔗 Betterhelp 

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GET A QUESTION IN THE QUEUE: 

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🔗 Send Patrick a DM with your Five Factors questions! 

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ABOUT US: 

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📍 Ben Bergeron is a best-selling author, coach to 7 CrossFit Games champions, and founder of CompTrain. Find him on Instagram.

📍 Patrick Cummings is a long-time CrossFitter and podcaster. Find him on Instagram.

This week, we’re discussing whether pursuing excellence is selfish, the point of health, playing infinite games, and much more.

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EXPECT TO LEARN

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📍 Whether we need to worry about recovery drinks

📍 The difference between (and value of) stretching, mobility work, and yoga

📍 Why how you read a book affects what you get out of the book

📍 Some recommended reading for parents

📍 Ben’s favorite CrossFit Games events (so far)

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OUR SPONSORS

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🔗 Lifeforce

🔗 Momentous (code: excellence)

🔗 Shopify

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GET A QUESTION IN THE QUEUE

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🔗 Send Patrick a DM with your Five Factors questions!

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ABOUT US

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📍 Ben Bergeron is a best-selling author, coach to 7 CrossFit Games champions, and founder of CompTrain. Find him on Instagram.

📍 Patrick Cummings is a long-time CrossFitter and podcaster. Find him on Instagram.

In this episode, first published in November of 2019, we take a 10'000 foot view of how to make better decisions, discussing how to factor in our principles, priorities, & purpose to make sure our lives are headed in the right direction.

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OUR SPONSORS:

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🔗 LMNT

🔗 Eight Sleep

🔗 Policygenius

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GET A QUESTION IN THE QUEUE:

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🔗 Send Patrick a DM with your Five Factors questions!

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ABOUT US:

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📍 Ben Bergeron is a best-selling author, coach to 7 CrossFit Games champions, and founder of CompTrain. Find him on Instagram.

📍 Patrick Cummings is a long-time CrossFitter and podcaster. Find him on Instagram.

This week, we’re talking about how the 5 Factors of Health look across the spectrum of Sick, Well, and Fit, why we want to make sure we don’t let ourselves get distracted in our pursuit of health, and much more. Also: listener questions about wall walks, charting your own path in life, feeding kids, and athletes who no-rep themselves to the top of the leaderboard. 

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OUR SPONSORS: 

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🔗 BetterHelp.com (code EXCELLENCE)

🔗 Lifeforce

🔗 OneSkin.co (code EXCELLENCE)

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GET A QUESTION IN THE QUEUE: 

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🔗 Send Patrick a DM with your Five Factors questions!

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ABOUT US: 

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📍 Ben Bergeron is a best-selling author, coach to 7 CrossFit Games champions, and founder of CompTrain. Find him on Instagram.

📍 Patrick Cummings is a long-time CrossFitter and podcaster. Find him on Instagram.

In this episode first published in April of 2017, we talk about why happiness doesn't live on the other side of achievement, gratitude, & why relationships matter more than money.

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OUR SPONSORS:

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🔗 LMNT

🔗 Eight Sleep

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GET A QUESTION IN THE QUEUE:

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🔗 Send Patrick a DM with your Five Factors questions!

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ABOUT US:

=========== 

📍 Ben Bergeron is a best-selling author, coach to 7 CrossFit Games champions, and founder of CompTrain. Find him on Instagram.

📍 Patrick Cummings is a long-time CrossFitter and podcaster. Find him on Instagram.

What do we do when we find ourselves working a job with people who don’t align with the healthy, meaningful life we want to lead? That’s the listener question we’re answering this week, talking about how to measure the strength of our relationships, why it’s so hard to prioritize, the importance of balance, and more.

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📍 If focusing on fitness now (eventually) leads to health issues later in life 📍 The difference between the coach and the critic in our minds 📍 How to deal with folks who have strong opinions about health that you disagree with 📍 How few men claim to have close friendships (and why that is) 📍 A couple books and movies we’ve been enjoying lately

===========  OUR SPONSORS:   ===========

🔗  Timeline Nutrition

=========== GET A QUESTION IN THE QUEUE: ===========

🔗 Send Patrick a DM with your Five Factors questions!

=========== ABOUT US: ===========

📍 Ben Bergeron is a best-selling author, coach to 7 CrossFit Games champions, and founder of CompTrain. Find him on Instagram.

📍 Patrick Cummings is a long-time CrossFitter and podcaster. Find him on Instagram.

In this episode, first published in September of 2021, we talk about putting our ladders up against the right walls and about the system Ben uses to chase fulfillment, accomplish big goals, and stay focused every day.

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OUR SPONSORS:

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🔗 LMNT

🔗 Eight Sleep

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GET A QUESTION IN THE QUEUE:

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🔗 Send Patrick a DM with your Five Factors questions!

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ABOUT US:

=========== 

📍 Ben Bergeron is a best-selling author, coach to 7 CrossFit Games champions, and founder of CompTrain. Find him on Instagram.

📍 Patrick Cummings is a long-time CrossFitter and podcaster. Find him on Instagram.