Linchpin Conversations

In this episode we discuss how I made poor decisions during my early years of CrossFit regarding poor form and prioritizing getting a fast time. I use some workouts involving overhead squats to illustrate the point of attempting to move both well and quickly. However, when shoulder position goes from external rotation to internal rotation, the wise choice is to drop the barbell and recover...even though the clock keeps ticking. Poor movement is not CrossFit's fault, it is our own fault. Every time you begin a workout, you have decisions to make and items to prioritize. The smart, long term strategy should be to prioritize "how" you move, not "how fast you move". Mechanics, consistency and intensity is the established protocol for a reason...it's smart and it works. The choice is up to you.

To swear, or not to swear?...when public speaking. Does it matter is you use vulgarities? Does it affect your presentation and/or message? Does the audience find it engaging and funny, or distracting and unappealing? There are no single answers to these questions, but we explore them based on real life experience.

"The Fitness Stock Market". How to view your daily workouts as a long-term "investment" in your health and fitness. While stock market may go up or down on any given day, the goal is for the long term trend to go up and yield positive results. The same is true with assessing your fitness. How you are doing over the span of a few months is a better metric that any one singular workout. This topic is discussed to help provide nuance, context and perspective for athletes. We also talk about the difference between variance compared to working a specific weakness.

Mike Megrian is one of the owners & head coaches at CrossFit Woburn. He decided to use the Linchpin private track as programming at his gym. We discuss why he made this choice, how his trainers and athletes initially responded and how it has been going for more than 6 months. Mike's gym has been open for nearly 10 years and he has experimented with lots of different programming. He also shares a great story of one of his coaches putting this programming to the test at Wodapalooza 2020.

Does doing a workout "unbroken" matter? Does a workout ever need to be unbroken? Why or why not? Is this important or not? Real world examples are given. We also discuss understanding the "intent" of a workout so the athlete can make intelligent decisions if something needs to be modified due to gear, ability or environment.

How to do pull-ups with no pull-up bar & much more. We also discuss how to do the 03.18.2020 Linchpin workout of front squats, bar-facing burpees and toes-to-bar with literally zero equipment. A short talk about doing a workout "Not for time", as compared to doing it "For Quality" also takes place.

With many gyms closing because of COVID-19 we discuss how to workout whether you have a garage gym, limited equipment or literally no equipment. We also provide 50+ workouts that require little or no gear.

Do functional movements at LOW intensity have value? We answer a question from Ed, a member of the Linchpin community. He is 59 and has hurt his back, achilles and shoulder through mountain biking accidents. He has also put on 30 pounds of bad weight. Ed wants to know if doing the workouts with very minimal weight is still beneficial. We answer Ed's questions and we discuss scaling, injuries and how the choices you make early in life will come into play later in your life.

Is it okay to quit during a workout? The word "quit" has a negative connotation in our society, however, not all quitting is the same. We discuss "quitting" versus making an informed decision about what you do or don't want to pursue. Real life examples are provided from kid's sports, high school, Division 1 gymnastics, CrossFit and my time in the SEALs. Also covered is how "taking a break" from a certain activity is a smart thing to do before you get burned out. Taking breaks can be an intelligent decision and may help with long term compliance to any program, sport or activity.

If you can jump 2 inches off of the ground and move you hands...then why can't you do double-unders? We answer this through discussion of the 10 General Physical Skills from the October 2020 CF Journal article, "What is Fitness?". We talk about how some of the skills are organic, how others are neurological, and what that means. Training vs practice is covered, as well as why functional movements are challenging, yet essential.