The Anticipation is Killing Me

We are about 2 months away from opening our first business, CrossFit Dark Athletics in Freehold, NJ and I can't tell you how anxious I am! Getting the gym prepared to open is an intense experience.  Between signing the lease and opening our doors, we faced a host of unforeseen expenses and timely delays.

I've been on the verge of a breakdown for the better part of a year, worried if I was going to make enough money to survive each month.  I've been eating away at my savings chasing a dream to become a better Coach and Educator in the fitness Industry.  I currently work training people out of my partner's garage and it has been a struggle to say the least, yet more preferable to the way I was living prior.

Before committing myself full time to coaching and fitness I was working in the restaurant business for 12 years.  I began working in the catering hall as a server and worked my way up to Production Manager.  It was a great experience and I learned a lot from it.  As head of production I was working 60+ hours a week and trying to use the remainder of my time to lift heavy weights... you can imagine how that went.  For the amount of hours I was working I wasn't earning that much and on top of that I was burning out.  I knew it was time for a change.  I quit in April of 2014 and began working for my coaches at South Brooklyn Weightlifting Club.  Unfortunately this didn't work out and I left shortly after.  Let's just call it a miscommunication on both our parts and leave it at that.  I am thankful that they gave me an out from the restaurant.  After I left there I was unsure how I was going to move forward.  I was intent on continuing my career in fitness and not return to the restaurant so I decided to set up my own gym out of my partner's garage.  It was not the best decision monetarily, but I was eventually able to acquire a decent amount of clients to train.  Some months were a struggle as I was making less than $500! If I didn't have the support from everyone around me I would have quit a long time ago.  I keep at it because I know the experience is worth more than the dollar I make for it.

We signed the lease in October and were hoping to hit the ground running, gathering all of the contractors necessary to complete the job as fast as possible.  Finally, I thought... I will be able to breathe for a while... nope.  We found out right away it was going to be a bumpy ride.  Permits, building codes and regulations, letters to city officials and more.  Even getting our business name approved took a few submissions.

As we get closer and closer to opening and as the end of the year creeps up on us, I've become more and more stressed out.  We were hoping for a January Opening, but we've been pushed back to February and possibly March.  This means more time spent waiting and biding our time until we can officially say, YES, WE ARE OPEN! I'm anxious to begin working, programming and meeting new people.  This by no means will be easy.  With all my fears and anxiety, I believe that if we can power through the first few months and endure the inevitable exhaustion of working morning to night, we will be alright.  Hopefully CrossFit Dark Athletics will be the light at the end of this very dark tunnel. (No Pun Intended!)

Pros and Cons of Lifting in a Garage in Brooklyn

For the past 15 months I've been primarily training out of my Garage.  There are definitely perks to be able to just walk outside and lift, but there is a downside.  The Garage has served has my home after I left my job at SBWC.  In there I was able to conduct business and survive over a year without having to wake up and "Go to work".  I had my own space, equipment and my own mini team that I was able to vibe with best I could given the situation.  The Garage if you are unfamiliar is a two Car set up and the useable gym space is about a 13' x 10' with enough ceiling height to go overhead.   It has all of the equipment necessary to lift, If I can do it anyone can, but there are definitely limitations. 

The benefits of having this space in a Garage were amazing.  I was able to set up a Mini- Gym designed for Weightlifting where people were able to drop weight and not have to worry about disturbing neighbors.  We could lift at anytime, but most people wanted to lift at the same time which became an issue.  In the Summer, weather permitted, it was great.  The doors were open, we were able to go outside and use the backyard area, even though you would be lifting on a slight incline.  It still served it's purpose.  In the Winter, when weather got really bad and all of the other gyms were closed, I would be able to go outside and lift.  The Garage was never really closed unless I wasn't there, which was rare.  It was private.  You came to the back, to the Garage and you had your own workout area. No one really stared or knew what was going on back there, which I guess could be a negative thing for me.  The benefit being the limited distractions of being around a bunch of other people always getting in your way weren't there.  Only about 4-5 people could be in there lifting at the same time and that's only if they were doing similar things.  2-3 was pushing it at most times.  Not exactly the way I envisioned it, but what are you gonna do?  It's what I had and I ran with it as best I could.  

What could possibly be bad about lifting in a tight Garage? The size of the space was a bit tight.  If the weight bounced the wrong way, the platform shifted on numerous occasions, the Garage door track would be hit when going overhead (sometimes), in the cold winter... brutal, 2 people at a time mainly (Any more would be crowded), if the weather was bad going outside was out so the exercises inside became limited for some of the General members.  Lifting alone sucks.  At some points I would be outside by myself and that caused me to be very unmotivated. I would get frustrated with lifting and then in turn get frustrated with things around me that I couldn't move.  Like I said before we were in the backyard so nobody knew what was going on back there and the turnover rate was pretty bad.  I had more people leaving than coming in.  I couldn't do much about that, most people actually left due to life and jobs taking them elsewhere.  I'm pretty sure nobody left because they thought I was doing a bad job, at least they didn't say that.  It was hard to keep people coming through the door where I was, but I did what I could. 

You have to be very creative when dealing with people who want to exercise and you have a limited number of things you can throw at them (especially if some of the things you want to do with them they nix right from the start.) I told them from the start what I was going to do with them.  This is not a personal training studio, this is my gym and I lift weights.  I told everyone, I will teach you how to Squat, Press and Deadlift and  throw some conditioning at you.  If what I was doing wasn't what they wanted I adjusted it to meet their needs, but the people that always came in saying, "OK, I trust you." saw the best results.   It kept me learning and guessing about how to keep them working.  I did my best to keep the people that came to me pushing themselves past where they were ready to handle.  If you do nothing regularly, doing anything will get you some sort of result, if you do it long enough, but what most people don't realize is that the amount of time you spent doing nothing or just working on one aspect of training it takes twice as long to change it and you have to work twice as hard to change your body.  It is not magic, I am no magician I cannot grant you wishes.  All I can do is show you what to do and how to do it, the rest is up to you to keep coming and push forward.  

These past 15+ months of being in the Garage were definitely Educational.  I spent most of the time learning how to train different people for different things.  I learned about how to organize times and with the limited space I was able to manage different things going on at the same time.  Everybody I had the privilege of working with has taught me something.  The people that stuck with me the entire time I thank you so much for your support and trust.  I'm certain you guys have seen the best results.  Honestly I am thankful for everyone who even tried the Garage.  It's a miracle I got anyone in that place.  Most people are always looking to try something different and I was realistic.  This was going to be a temporary situation for me, and I couldn't really expect the masses to come through.  But for those who spent some time with me, I hope you learned something about exercise and about yourselves.    There were some hard times, still are, but I've gotten through most of them.  If I had to do it all over again, I would.  I am grateful for the support and I look forward to the road ahead and the hard times to come.  

Trip to Cali

Long time no blog. 

Just got back from Sunny California visiting Erin's family and relaxing a bit.  Erin's family happens to be good friends with the Great Coach Mike Burgener of Mike's Gym so we got to work with him for a week while we were out there.  This is one of the most well respected individuals in the Crossfit Community and throughout the year him and his team will travel all over the country to do seminars for Crossfit coaches to help them become more well rounded coaches and athletes.  In his home he has 4 platforms with ample amounts of bars and plates and a spacious warm-up area with rowers and GHDs and anything you need to be a better Weightlifter.  He supplies you with all of the bells and whistles needed and will spend time working with you on drills and skill transfer exercises.  I got to see his signature, 'Junkyard Dog' warm-up in action as he employed it on a visiting lifter.  

One of the things I enjoyed the most while lifting out there was him working with other individuals.  The way he worked minor faults and corrected them was more educational than having him work on my own.  I was able to see how a master operates and bring that home to work on myself.  Little drills and corrections go a long way and if you have someone as experienced as he is working with you then it's safe to say you are in good hands.  Listening to him coach was more important to me because not only did he give you a drill, but he explained its purpose and had you explain it back each time.  Becoming robotic and mechanical is very important when doing a job.  Once you have a specific approach to your job (To Lift Weights) it will become second nature and when you understand why you are doing what you are doing without thinking about it your body will automatically do the right thing and you will get better and faster at doing your job.  Become robotic and become automatic that is the desired goal or at least should be in everyone's training.  I enjoyed his programming ideas and look forward to using some of them in my future training as well as with my athletes.  I would like to thank the Burgener Family for being so welcoming and accommodating this past week and for teaching me more about the art of Weightlifting.  

A Special thanks goes out to Erin's Parents for being just amazing people.  We had a great time with you guys and I can't wait to visit again and do some more cooking! It was a great week thanks again and I hope to see you soon!

Patience, and why you should have it.

Weightlifting can be frustrating at times. You will develop a Love-Hate relationship with the barbell and most of the time you are going to feel more hatred than love.  This relationship takes time to develop and does not come easy to anyone.  Ask anyone they will probably tell you the countless times they wanted to give up and never look at the bar again.  I know I have on more than one occasion been so frustrated I just wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.  (Last week included) Patience is the name of the game.  Have faith in the process of lifting.  If you are a novice and are trying to learn this craft on your own, I strongly encourage you to either find a training partner or find a coach, because you will get nowhere and give up faster than you started without at least one of those things.

If you have both a training partner and a coach and still find it frustrating, don't fret.  That happens as well.  No one said this is going to be easy and if you thought it was going to be, you are way off.  You have to spend time working on your weaknesses.  This can get demanding and very aggravating because who wants to work on things they suck at?  Unfortunately that's the only short cut to getting better.  Improve your weaknesses to gain Strength.  Take your time with your working sets and make sure you are executing every rep to precision.  Your training partner or coach should be able to tell you when you are ready to kick it up a notch or take it back because you aren't getting it.  Be Patient with this process as it can be very tedious and stressful.

One thing I constantly hear which I think is just laughable is, "If CrossFit was around when I was younger I would be so good! I would be a professional (Insert Any Sport) by now."

Let me tell you why that's BULLSHIT! 

CrossFit is a great way to exercise and has introduced a lot of people to various exercises and routines.  Because of it's randomness and surprising approach to workouts athletes are constantly tested to their limits with every WOD. That's great and I am very happy that CrossFit exists, but if it was around when you or I were younger (Which for these purposes I mean if CrossFit Style gyms were more available, clearly that style was around it's just a type of circuit training) You would have quit that also and clung on to another trending fitness regiment.  Think about it, most people that say these things were involved in some sort of competitive sport, me included.  I played baseball.  Baseball camps were around, coaches were available to me, information was around why wasn't I good at baseball? Or some of you were into something else. Soccer, Football, Gymnastics, Dancing... whatever it was, all of the information and coaching was available to you at the time you were doing it.  All you had to do was stick with it and have patience and maybe by now you would be professional, however CrossFit boxes weren't around so that's why you failed? Give me a break. Many people excelled and broke records well before Crossfit was even an idea.  If you had patience and stuck with one discipline for longer than a half an hour you may have gotten somewhere with it, but instead it got to a point where it became too difficult and you lost interest.  I admit I am definitely guilty of those feelings. They are perfectly natural.  The people that excel in one or more disciplines are the ones that take the time to embrace the sticking points and work through them to better themselves.  

Another Patience issue is constantly fumbling around with your program.  If you are constantly changing your program style up and not sticking to one idea, but jumping around your progress will most likely be put on hold.  Stick with one idea for a little while make progress and then reassess the ideas after a certain period of time.  If you are constantly saying to yourself, "I have to try this or that" then your body will be too confused to make gains.  Be patient. Pick one thing at a time to improve. Improve the most basic parts and move on from there.  Constantly fighting your program will halt your gains in the gym.  If you are on a program but in the back of your mind are questioning the effectiveness of the program it definitely won't work because you don't want it to.  You have to have a positive attitude going into this otherwise you won't ever be satisfied.  If you walk up to the bar and have the slightest bit of doubt that you will be able to lift that weight, guess what it's not going to go well for you! You have to be positive and know what you want out of yourself! Know what you want, be positive and you will achieve!

Another example of needing patience is You have been stuck on the same numbers for a while and you don't know what to do! You have been hitting the same weights for over 4 months and they don't seem to be moving better.  So now you feel worthless because you go to the gym all the time and you put in all this work and what's the point if I'm not getting better? If you want to get better work lighter and perfect your lifts.  Work at a point where it isn't too heavy where your form breaks down and hit doubles or triples and Repeat! If you are constantly failing at 400lbs and all you do is try to squat 400lbs maybe you shouldn't be practicing with 400lbs!!! Take the weight down and work at a weight where you can control the weight and build some confidence! Work on things you are bad at! Things that frustrate you are the most important things to work on because when you fix them you will no longer be annoyed at the gym and everything will become more fun! It's work! It is not something that will happen over night and it does take time... unfortunately. But keep at it and it will work itself out! Don't expect to be the worlds greatest because you watched a bunch of videos online and joined a gym... you still have to put in the work!

If you don't spend time working on the things you're really bad at you won't make the progress you need to.  Take time and have patience developing the skill to perform in order to increase your strength overall.  Trying to rush things never works out for anyone, ever.  You have to put in the work to Earn the Strength!

Wednesday

Still on my DeLoad week.  I hit some light front squats on Monday and I benched a little bit trying to feel out best positions.  I have been trying to work on my arch in the bench... boy is that tough.  I think I'll stick to Oly for a little while longer... ha. Going to Bro-Out the rest of the week with some Strict Press and Some Arm exercises just for fun.  I also have been challenged by a few friends to do a few Crossfit workouts. I have three to choose from:

1) King Kong
           - 3 Rounds
               • 1 Rep 455lb/207kg Deadlift
               • 2 Muscle Ups
               • 3 Cleans 250lbs/115kg
               • 4 Hand Stand Push Ups (I think I will put my hands on some plates for fun.

2) Some Floyd Bennet Field Workout.
     5-3-1
 365 Deadlift
Muscle Ups

     9-6-3
335 Deadlift
Strict Chest to Bar Pull Ups

    12-9-6
315 Deadlift
Pull Ups - In Crossfit is that weird butterfly kip thing.... Whatever Haha

3) Some Other Deadlift Workout

30s Work. 30s Rest
3 Reps Deadlift
135-185-225-275-315-365-405
After the last 3 at 405, rest 30s Rep out 405 for a minute.
(This is all from Memory I forget if this is accurate.)

The Second workout I don't want to do it's going to take too long and I don't wanna do that many pull ups. HAHA The Pull Ups are the hard part in that work out.  I have some work to do next week.

Lebo you need to get the Camera Ready for it! I'll try to get video of whatever I do. The King Kong workout is the only one I actively wanted to do because of the cleans and deadlift... The other deadlift workout seems ok.  Kind of boring, but whatever.  See what Happens. Ok Bro Week Here I come!

Tuesday

This past week really took it out of me.  I stressed out super hard with my training that I almost didn't compete.  I am glad I settled down and lifted this weekend, because honestly it was the best I have ever lifted, even though I missed both of my third attempts.  I think the black magic I got from Beth Terranova really worked because the lifts I did make felt and looked solid, aside from the Jerk on 135, that was a little weird but I held it together.  My snatches felt great, if I didn't push the bar away from me on 112 (my third attempt) I would have nailed it.  I let it get away just a hair and lost the lift.  I felt like getting right back on that bar and just hitting the lift, I wonder if anyone would have cared? On my third Clean and Jerk, I smoked the clean, but somehow lost consciousness when setting up for the Jerk and blacked out.  Damn YOU BLACKOUTS!!! It's all a part of the game, you only get three attempts and I used them all at that point.  No big deal because I had a great time lifting next to some great lifters and warming up with the coolest guy I know, Wilfredo de Jesus! It's not everyday you get to work next to a descendant of a prophet! He actually kept me calm and it was just a lot more fun when you have someone to lift with who you trust, so thanks Fredo, hopefully we will work together soon.  

Marc Chasnov was watching a bunch of people that day, there from 7AM til 9PM and I happened to be one of the lifters he helped out! Marc I know you don't read this but thank you so much for helping me out, I'm going make it to some practices with you in the near future! 

Team Celeritas was there in the Morning shift, the Man Dan Casey and Mike Gui Basciano lifted next to some tough competition.  They rocked it out in the early session and continued through the rest of the day.  Beth and Sam Perez hit some monster lifts in their session and the team as a whole looked very solid.  It was awesome watching them on the platform and seeing them do well!

I'm all over the place with this post, but I'm almost done wrapping it up.  The long day came to an end with two bad ass lifters, Frankie Murray and Donny Shankle.  Honestly when I heard Shankle's name called for the weigh in I was standing right next to him and as he walked by me I didn't think it was him.  I thought it was some guy that kind of looked like him and as he paced around the room just watching the competition it was surreal to see him live because we only know him through internet videos.  He lifted like a beast this comp, and closed out the show hitting 140/180.  It was a lot of fun to see him lift.  If you haven't checked out my videos of him and Frankie lifting, check them out but it doesn't compare to seeing him do it in person. Shankle is probably one of the most intense people I have ever been around.  It was kind of amazing to be next to him in the warm up area.  I hope it's not the last time. Maybe I'll get good one day enough to do it again.  One can only hope. Until then I'll just keep lifting as should you!

Wednesday

It has been a weird week and a weird cycle for me, I think I have made a bunch of mistakes that I hope to correct in the future. First off I'm going to stop training like a Psycho.  I think these past couple of weeks I have pushed myself way too hard and got it into my head that that was the smart thing to do.  Training to the brink of destruction every time usually means you are going to erupt and have a bad day or two soon! Which is kind of what happened this past week leading to this competition.  I have been stressing hard about my weight and my lifts and everything has suffered horrendously because of it.  If I can find a way to just relax and treat this competition like a glorified practice it will go a lot smoother.  I have done this before and I should just let go and see what happens.  It should be a fun time nonetheless and I sure learned something from this cycle.  I will correct it with the next one.  Be Positive and Positive things will come.

Secondly I think I will try to focus more on lighter weights this next cycle as opposed to keep trying to hit it heavy every practice.  Sometimes I get caught up in what everyone else is doing that I want to put up big numbers in practice and when I don't I go into my self diagnosed "Baby Mode".  It isn't pretty and usually costs me a bunch of money and my friends usually make fun of me for it.  Be reasonable about your goals and they will come if you expect to just put up a shit ton of weight all the time you better get on a stack or two because that shit just isn't reality unless you've absolutely earned it and took your time getting to that point.  Don't rush it! Develop the skills and the Gainz will follow! I just have to listen to my own advice!

Last I need to have more fun.  Weightlifting is fun and when you start taking things too seriously the dreams fade and all you see is darkness.  When you're not having fun with it nobody wants to be around you and when you are everything will be going your way more people will want to see you lift and you will put up bigger numbers because of it.  So have fun with your lifting.  I am not saying you can't ever be serious but train yourself to be smooth and take it easy on yourself.  The world won't end if you miss that lift so chill the fuck out and just have some fun.  It's a sport and it's supposed to be fun GODDAMMIT!!