Adrian Bozman is the Director of the CrossFit Games and did the Open Test programming this year. Pat interviews Adrian about each of the 2023 CrossFit Open workouts & the programming process behind them.

- A VNR listener asked, “Does CrossFit make you less athletic?”
- The listener also asked how to program to get out of the up/down & forward/back planes we often train in.
- Pat & Adrian explore these questions.

- Should you pace a workout or just go full send?
- Is one strategy “better” than the other?
- Pat & Adrian dive into this question.

- Laurence Shahlaei has competed 11 times at the World’s Strongest Man.
- He won Europe’s Strongest Man in 2016, he was the Ultimate Strongman World Champion in 2016, he’s been Britain’s Strongest man twice & won UK’s Strongest Man in 2017.
- Pat & Laurence bridge the gaps between Strongman & CrossFit to find common ground.
- Laurence talks about training to be one of the strongest people on the planet & what it really takes.
- Pat & Laurence also discuss his successful journey to lose 100 pounds & improve his health & fitness.

- An interview with Dr. Nathan Jenkins.
- Pat & Adrian discuss the relationship between CrossFit & exercise science with Dr. Jenkins, who has a PHD in this field.
- CrossFit, exercise science, pros & cons of clinical studies, energy systems & much more is covered in this highly informative discussion.

- Big picture concepts regarding coaching & training Masters athletes.
- Things to consider if you are a Masters athlete.
- Should Masters athletes have different programming?
- One day everyone will stop getting Pr’s, what then becomes the point of training?
- Pat & Adrian tackle these topics & others.

- What are the key elements of an effective warm-up?
- What are the benefits of a warm-up?
- How should you create a warm-up?
- What are the key elements of an effective cool down?
- What are the benefits of a cool down?
- How should you create a cool down?
- Pat & Adrian walk through these topics using the hero workout “DT” as an example.

• Common arguments against CrossFit are discussed.
• The criticisms covered in this episode are: 
  • "CrossFit encourages sloppy form."
  • "CrossFit trainers are not qualified to coach people."
  • "Doing Olympic lifts for time is a disaster."
  • "GHD sit-ups are destructive to your back."
  • "The sumo deadlift high pull will injure your shoulders."
• Pat & Adrian talk about these topics & others.

- Someone posted a comment stating they only do kipping pull-ups because they will show up in the CrossFit Open.
- This comment sparked the idea of this episode dedicated to kipping.
- What is kipping? What is the point of it? Why would someone choose to kip a movement instead of doing it strict?
- These questions & more are covered by Pat & Adrian.

- A VNR listener posted the question, “How important is it for the coaches to understand the intended stimulus of a workout? When should an athlete scale the workout UP?”
- Pat & Adrian discuss intended stimulus, modifying workouts & scaling UP.