David Slayed Goliath

"The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel, are things that Endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur." new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'profile', rpp: 4, interval: 6000, width: 250, height: 300, theme: { shell: { background: '#d1d1d1', color: '#000000' }, tweets: { background: '#ffffff', color: '#000000', links: '#ff0000' } }, features: { scrollbar: false, loop: false, live: false, hashtags: true, timestamp: true, avatars: false, behavior: 'all' } }).render().setUser('I_am_DK').start();

[davidslayedgoliath]

Purpose...Outcome

Purpose Is Stronger Than Outcome

Clarity is Power

Ok, so The Holidays are coming up, the sun is rising later, the weather is cooling down, etc. All this usually results in a slight reduction in the drive to train. That is UNLESS you have a strong enough purpose or enough reasons as to why you came to us to and embark on your fitness venture. Before I continue on with purpose, I want to take you guys to a bit of what I do when I sit with folks for a life coaching session. Each and every one of you seeked out our professional guidance to reach a goal. You may still be on your journey to get to this goal, you already got there and are starting on your path to a new goal, OR Maybe, your goals are not very clear. If this is is you, then you must get clear on what you want and get clear ASAP.  That is Step 1 to getting to your goals Results - What do you want? You need to know EXACTLY what you want. The moment you are clear and precise about what you it is you want, the more your your mind will find a way to get there. When you decide whats most important to you, your brain WILL go after it.  SO KNOW WHAT YOU WANT YOUR RESULTS TO BE FIRST Step 2 PURPOSE - Why do you want it? This always tends to happen. As soon as you come up with The Goal, obstacles will come up. It's GOING to happen.  You just got swamped with work You have to travel for work You have to find ways to tighten your budget Kiddos' schedule just got really hectic with band practice, cross country, tennis, etc The list goes on SO here is what I have to say to you. Unless you got the emotional drive to get through that, you wont get to your goals. Getting through those obstacles requires PURPOSE. You have to have enough reasons why you are doing what you're doing. Why you are training. Why your health and fitness is important. More important than any excuse or osbtruction that will come up and important enough to budget it now so you dont pay for it later with health complications.  Again, WHY? What is your purpose? Your self esteem, your children, fulfillment, etc, Last thing Step 3 - Have an effective Plan This is where we come in. Contact us to schedule a time to setup a massive action plan. The holidays are coming and our guidance will get you through it.  Remember You must live in an extraordinary state to have an extraordinary life. In order to do THAT you have to condition your body and mind to be at its best. In its best state. Keep grinding. Stay Focused. Show Up. DONT QUIT In Health DK

[davidslayedgoliath]

Fitness Now VS 10 Years From Now

Nowadays I hear that creating the most fit people requires one to do “Constantly Varied Functional Movements at High Intensity” or CVFMHI. For years I agreed and still somewhat agree with some components of that principle. I have realized that CVFMHI, aka CrossFit, is not be the best approach for everyone. This is based on my continued learning and years of experience. Crossfit’s definition of fitness doesn’t quite match what we need to do as professionals for people that seek us for help.

I meet with folks daily who are looking for an action plan to get to their fitness and health goals. More often than not, I hear “I want to be fit...”. Years back I would say, “Ok, so you want to be fit. This is what we need to do...” Was this the wrong response? Not entirely, I would get clients to do what I thought was fitness. More specifically - CrossFit’s definition of fitness. As I dig deeper into my clients’ goals, wants, needs, current fitness level, and lifestyle, I’ve realized that maybe CVFMHI is NOT what is going to get them to their goals of being “fit”. It is not going to get them to THEIR definition of fitness.

You should decide what fitness means to you. As you discern this, you must take into account one important factor, longevity.

So what if you are fit (like CrossFit Games fit) at one point in time, but your quest for that one moment means you won’t be fit or healthy 15 years from now. Is that important to you?

What if what you are doing for fitness right now means you wont be fit at all in the future?

What if we realize that what we are doing for fitness right now is costing us our future health? Yes, we go into the future and our future self says we were wrong.

Will your definition of fitness hold true for your entire life?

I do know this. I have spent time asking elders who are in phenomenal shape what they did for fitness back then. It was not that daily ass kicking. Does this mean there is zero intensity? No, but it does mean they were not constantly destroying themselves with high rep Olympic Weightlifting and Tremendous loads of volume while eating Paleo. Remember what I have said before, the right dose of intensity is key.

Earlier I said that the latest craze may not get people to their fitness goals. Based on science, what we have learned from the past, and elders in fitness, the intensity that many crave and receive daily is doing more harm than good. Your daily stress is high, you are sleeping 5 hours a night, and not eating right. So the answer to you losing weight is...MORE STRESS?!!!

So what is the right answer? Well, it depends. There are a lot of factors that play into answering this question for you. First you have to spend a moment and decide what being fit means to you and align it with your goals.

Last thought.

Am I telling you to stop doing high rep Olympic Weightlifting and lower your intensity and volume?

If you want to compete in Mixed Modal Training Competition/Human Performance Racing/CrossFit, NO.

If you just “need to get your ass whooped”, NO.

Just know that it could be costing you your fitness 10, 15, 20 years down the road and/or taking you further away from your health.

If you are constantly training like this you will more than likely get hurt or have achy joints.

At the end of the day sit back and ask yourself, “Do I really enjoy being in constant pain and is it worth your health later?”

Do not just take what someone says is fitness and take it as your own. Come up with your own definition. 

In health

DK

[davidslayedgoliath]

It doesn't matter who you are or what you do. There is 1 of 3 things happening in your life. You are either on your way to a storm, you are in the middle of it, or you are coming out of the storm. The question one needs to be asking IS "Is the storm the subject or are YOU the subject?" If you got heart then it doesn't matter where you are. As long as you got heart, you are going to be able to rise above it all.

[davidslayedgoliath]

Constantly Varied??

“It’s the best, we NEVER do the same work out, never. Sometimes we run, sometimes we lift heavy weight, sometimes we do bodyweight, but we never do the same work out.”

“It keeps the muscles confused”

“It prevents you from plateauing”

and so on, and so on, and so on…

The latest trends in fitness have really screwed up the fitness industry. Intelligent and educated trainers/strength coaches find themselves battling trends and methods that are not scientifically supported. My aim is to get the population really thinking about these trends and question their validity. This week’s topic trend I am talking about today is “constantly varied”. Now before I get any further understand that variation is good when prescribed adequately and WHAT you vary is very important.  However, I don't see the right kind of variation in blogs or “boxes”, I see a lot of  randomness. I see variation for entertainment only purposes. I see a lot of random variation.

Here is an example of random variance I pulled of The web. There are plenty more, just pick a blog.

Day 1

Complete as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of: 15-foot rope climbs, 2 ascents 20 wall-ball shots, 20-lb. ball Run 200 meters

Day 2  

5 rounds for time: 5 handstand push-ups 10 one-legged squats, alternating 15 pull-ups 155-lb. deadlift, 12 reps 155-lb. hang power clean, 9 reps 155-lb. push jerk, 6 reps

Day 3 

Rest

Day 4

3 rounds for time of 20-lb. medicine ball cleans, 50 reps Run 800 meters

Day 5

Snatch balance 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Day 6 

6 rounds of: 1 minute of rowing 1 minute of burpees 1 minute of double-unders 1 minute rest

Day 7

3 rounds for time of: 25 GHD sit-ups 205-lb. clean and jerks, 5 reps

They say their training is not random and they are varying energy systems and movements, but thats not the right kind of variance NOR is it even true. The claim is also that this “variance” (I call randomness) will put folks on the road to high levels of general physical preparedness. I disagree. We can pull a group of folks together and have them go through these work outs and each will get a different response, but thats a something for a later topic. 

Back to variation. I said the right kind of variation is good and necessary, but why do we want variation? Well it’s to continue to progress and to continue getting the right response. The thing is its taken overboard and EVERYTHING changes day to day. Here is the secret your body will not adapt in a week or a month or 3 months, and for some even a year. It depends on your training age and current fitness level. You can do a squat, front, squat, power clean, shrugs every Monday for a month and still not see a “plateau”. All you have to do is vary The intensity, volumes, and loads. Yes, I said vary the intensity. See it’s the right type of variance and based on the individual. Olympic caliber athletes do not change their routines every week. NO, they do the same movements every monday for a month sometimes longer depending on the athlete and phase they are in. These are athletes with a training age that is over decades old and they do not constantly vary. They vary volume and load something that isn't quite taken into account by most folks that are “pulling a work out out of a deck of cards”. 

How you choose to vary your workout  is very important.

The way boot camps and crossfit affiliates, insanity, etc constantly vary is bad because:

-There is no plan to progress. They insist there is a plan but, the way their program is set up tells a whole different story.

- There is no plan to build on previous gains. How can you? You do something TOTALLY different EVERY DAY.

- They do not balance or strategically target your work outs. 

The initial changes in this constantly varied model occur because the folks that generally do them did nothing before, and anything will work for the first few months when you’ve been sedentary. By then the boot camp will have already taken your money or your 6-12 months will be over. What happens next? When its no longer new, you get stale, you completely stop progression, you get injured, OR the body gives in and fatigues. Now there is nowhere to go. Once fitness gains flat line no amount of “pushing through”, or will power, or your training partners yelling at you will get you to progress. And since there is no actual training plan in line, just randomness, then you will get frustrated or worse fall into adrenal fatigue. 

NEXT ARTICLE…”You can get your ‘cardio up’ by lifting weights fast rather than your conventional aerobic training”

[davidslayedgoliath]

Cortisol, CrossFit, Kryptonite

You just got out of work, its been a hectic, stressful day. You get to your box get warmed up, set up your stuff and its “3,2, 1, GO!!!” You take off like a bat out of hell because you “Compete Every Day”. One round in, 2 rounds, 3 rounds, and on until you finish. You finish and fall flat on your back. You give it all that’s left in the tank. It was a great work out…high fives all around and you head home. Now you are headed home in a rush, gotta head home to see the family and hopefully there’s food ready otherwise you are headed towards the nearest market…So you finally get home, you're exhausted and hungry. If you have kids, you help them with your homework, make sure they get cleaned up, all while prepping dinner. Finally you eat, and try to get to bed hopefully before midnight. 

Your day may not be entirely like this, but its probably similar! We all have things that occur daily that may cause some stress. Your dog ran out the door as you left for work…you snoozed too much, you forgot to pack your lunch or the coffee line took longer than expected. Maybe its finals week, or maybe you just like the night life and get 5 hours of sleep every night. Reminder being out late and getting “turn’t up,” is still stress on your body.

SO WHAT’S the point? The point is that your body doesn't differentiate the kind of stress you put yourself through. So whether it be physical or mental, relationship or career, school or lack of sleep, your body’s response is the same. This stress causes a spike in your cortisol levels. And let me clarify, ANY stressful incident or constant stress provokes a spike in your cortisol levels.  

Why is this important? Well, before I begin to vilify cortisol lets understand that the actions of cortisol can be life saving. It helps us when our life is being threatened. For example, when we are injured or fighting. HOWEVER, health can diminish greatly if these conditions are not present and levels stay high over time. It can increase blood pressure, slow down digestion, suppress growth hormone, and lower sex hormone production. 

As a matter of fact, cortisol can affect almost every system in the body. 

Elevated Cortisol can: 

reduce the ability to fight off colds

increased risk of cancer

IBS-type symptoms

low energy during the day

disrupt ability to sleep

loss of muscle due to suppressed growth hormone production

more prone to plaguing of the arteries

Another sign of chronic stress and elevated cortisol can be reduced sex drive. Lowered production of sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone in women, and testosterone in men, with an increased cortisol level…not very desirable is it?

As I stated earlier, your body doesn't differentiate the kind of stress you put yourself through. So coritsol spikes occur whether it be intense exercise or a stressful job, but it will also drop after the incident. However, it can be very hazardous for your health if you have repeated incidents of stress. Here is what happens. If you have too many incidents that cause your cortisol to spike and drop, it stops spiking and in time cortisol levels just stay high. If these incidents persist, your adrenal glands become way too stressed and cortisol production stops completely. This is not good at all. Remember cortisol’s actions can be life saving. It is essential to proper body function, but it is all about balance when it comes to cortisol in your body. So, after many habitual incidents production stops or slows down significantly. This leaves levels low, chronically low. Many refer to this as adrenal failure.

Studies have shown very clearly that when people exercise it raises *adiponectin (a protein hormone that modulates a number of metabolic processes, including glucose regulation and fatty acid oxidation) and testosterone levels. Both are great for weight management and fitness. Very intense exercise raises cortisol levels. Normally this is ok if you give yourself time to allow those levels to drop again. This is how we get FIT. Now if you have very intense training session or sessions i.e. your classic CF Metcon, incorporated into your daily routine and other parts of your life are also loaded with stress (lack of sleep, inadequate nutrition, stressful job, relationship problems, hectic schedule, etc), then you are on track to a dead halt and a rude awakening in your fitness development and the results you are expecting in your body composition changes. You will be spinning your wheels hard and the wheels will fall off sooner or later. It all depends on how resilient you are and how much stress you're putting yourself through.  For some this could take years. 

This is why intelligent program design along with good sleep, adequate fueling, and proper stress management is so important if you wish to create long lasting change in your health and fitness. I am a huge advocate for good solid programming that forces adaptation while also allowing cortisol to return to normal, and muscles repair and build. This might be hard to admit for the adrenaline junkie that just wants a rush (very unhealthy by the way) or the long time CrossFit junkie that thinks the daily metcon after his/her strength work and gymnastics work (typical WOD routine) is supreme. Both are very wrong. At The Lab, progress, long term progress, this means continued progress after years, is very important. This is also, why we provide lifestyle coaching to help you balance everything and ensure long lasting health. 

Its hard to get out of that way of thinking given what has been happening in the fitness industry over the last decade. Everywhere you look you see some sort of intense training promising to make you into Superman. This is why many people that embark into The Boot Camp and CrossFit method drop weight the first few months, then get stuck. This explains the lack of consistent results. Not sleeping well, digestive symptoms, low mood, not recovering as quickly from workouts, not getting the same response to workouts, etc. I’m sure many have been taught to “just push through it”. This was probably instilled back in high school. Yeah of course your life is arranged the EXACT same way as high school right? Fast forward and NOW of course, you're a CrossFitter, get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable, Don't be a little baby, etc. Hey, I’ve been there, but I have told you what happens with constant elevated cortisol so do I need to continue to emphasize how incredibly unhealthy this is?

Let me just identify exactly what I mean by “hard training” or “intense training”. This is the kind of training that leaves you flat on your back after finishing, CrossFit classifies these as MetCons.

So what am I saying? Am I saying don't ever train at high intensity? NO! I am saying it depends. I am saying think about your goals, your current level of fitness. I am saying based on your goals, it may just be better to do some resistance training and aerobic training separately. I am saying doing congruent training/mixed modality training/metcons should be integrated intelligently and depend on where you are at in your fitness. I suggest you upgrade your training. Find a competent coach and a competent place with smart program design. If you are in a good place, listen to your coach just as you would listen to your doctor or your accountant in matters of their expertise. If you are seeing a “For Time” every day and finishing flat on your back day in and day out then begin to question the program. Don't let your “Daily WOD” will be your Kryptonite.

Final point for those trying to lose weight

First, change your thinking get out of your mind, we went to school for this and we are the experts. You don't have to redline every time. 

If you are out of shape, being sedentary for a long time, or untrained, we recommend resistance training and aerobic training separate. Incorporate concurrent training/mixed modal training/CrossFit intelligently and sparingly. The resistance training alone will increase testosterone without spiking cortisol. The aerobic training will help with fat burning. Intelligently adding concurrent training/mixed modal training/CrossFit in a monthly training cycle will result in optimum results and long lasting health which ultimately, the goal is to live a long, fulfilling, healthy life. 

If you find yourself recovering slowly, always fatigued, getting injured easily, getting sick frequently, or any other of the symptoms I discussed earlier feel free to contact us on how you can upgrade your training. We want to get you back to feeling the best your ever felt in the current life you are in.

Ready to talk about your fitness goals? email us at [email protected] to request a free fitness consultation.  Or call 915.307.2710 to schedule your time today!

  Yours in fitness,

David Kneip

Health and Fitness Educator, CSCS Coach, CrossFit Level 2

[email protected]

[davidslayedgoliath]

Clean find 1 RM...I'll take the progress, but I understand that still got a ways to go and so I will continue to improve.

Watch me do me...

S/O to my Coach, Michael Fitzgerald and to my Lab mates for the support.

[davidslayedgoliath]

I have never been this disappointed with my performances. I did not perform to my full capabilities nor my expectations this last year.

I kept hearing from folks “don’t be so hard yourself”, “you did what you could”, “you did get hurt…” Fortunately, I have not let myself listen to any of that. The honest truth is I performed like a scrub. Like a rook, like an ill prepared individual. I expect more from myself. I didn’t step it up when I needed to. I belong on the regional stage. I could go on with more explicit language, but I'll stop here. It’s this harsh and honest analysis, this recognition that has led to some serious introspection. This self analysis has led me to a serious conscious change. An important change. I got disturbed with myself and only then my failure became useful.

“Progress requires ruthless self-assessment. If it is inaccurate (due to insensitivity or outright dishonesty) all that follows is wrong.” -Gym Jones

[my-own-sword-deactivated2014010]

..be water.

[davidslayedgoliath]

Like water

[thiscrossfittinglife]

When you saw Dave Castro announce Open WOD 13.4...

[davidslayedgoliath]

Ha!

[animalsnaps]

[davidslayedgoliath]

Preach

[fuckyeahcrossfit]

people who lie about their reps

[davidslayedgoliath]

"Only those willing to risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go"

Eric Thomas

[davidslayedgoliath]

What gives you the right?!

What gives you the right to say you can coach and program for olympic lifting or any athlete of a specific sport?! What gives you the right to say you can do sports specific training? WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO CALL YOURSELF 'ELITE'?!

I dont know about other CSCS Coaches, USAW Coaches ...wait I do. I KNOW why CSCS Coaches, USAW Coaches, Collegiate Kinesiology professors, and other coaches of high caliber are and have been fed up with fitness trainers (that have a weekend cert that goes over the power snatch and SDHP) saying they can train athletes with sports specific needs. LISTEN, having a CrossFit cert DOES NOT mean one can now train much less program for non-CrossFit athletes. I'm not even sure one can it give you the right to train CF Athletes. Oh and being in the fitness industry for decades doesn't necesarily mean one is an expert either. Here is what it means, IT MEANS YOU CAN INSTRUCT A CLASS and teach a few momvements. Much like instructing a Zumba class. AT LEAST the zumba instructor isnt trying to sell sports specific coaching and programming, olympic lifting coaching and programming, powerlifting, etc. Coaches should know how to assess work capacity at different energy systems, how to analyze/assess movements, and human anatomy (they're not called trapezoids!)

Most have not earned that right, yet, IF EVER...Dont be fooled

[davidslayedgoliath]

This is the last quarter and I gotta give it everything I got...

[davidslayedgoliath]

Remember this is The Grind...

Our training is painful and there are absolutely no shortcuts. We push each other harder. This is NOT for everyone

S/O to The Proper Gents for another awesome vid!!

[beabarbelle-blog]

Barbelles is back beginning February 4th!!! This program is for LADIES ONLY designed as a training program for body sculpting.

Schedule includes training 3 times per week by Denisse Kneip with mandatory homework on off days to complete 5 days of training with nutritional monitoring:

Monday-6am, 9am, and 6pm

Tuesday-Conditioning HW

Wednesday-6am, 9am, and 6pm

Thursday-6am, 9am, and 6pm

Friday- Crossfit class

Space is Limited classes are capped; a 3 month commitment to Barbelles is required.

Human Lab Members- $250/month (diff of membership paid)

NON-Human Lab Members $300/month

Contact me to register

[email protected] or call/text [phone]

For updates and media follow at [email protected]

[davidslayedgoliath]

So proud of Denisse and The Barbelles. Y'all look great!

[beabarbelle-blog]