I’ve a collection of correspondence, again, that you might find helpful. Mostly these come from my chin-wagging adventures with Inner Circle members, and out of my desperation to be eloquent. One is from Facebook.
Q. Pat I’m doing CrossFit about 5x a week and still not getting the results I want. I’m working hard, and my diet is 100% Paleo. What gives? (Sheila, 33, Pennsylvania)
Since early youth I have taken an especial interest in the subject of the Canadian goose, and how I might someday kill them all. This omnipresent god of annoyance, this bastard creation of undignified existence, this thing that simply should not be, was no doubt inflicted upon society for the sin of Canada.
I do not mean to say that geese serve no purpose in the ecosystem; I simply mean to say that their purpose is not useful or relevant. Their existence is a reminder that not all animals plodding the turf of God’s green earth are born of necessity. Some were put here by accident, others to be simply a nuisance—like CrossFit.
Yes, but the principal annoyance of the goose is not the goose itself, it’s the goose’s poop; as the principal annoyance with CrossFit is not CrossFit itself, but the coaches. Both are ubiquitous, all-pervading, and everywhere.
Since young adulthood I have taken an especial interest in the subject of CrossFit coaches, and how I might someday live to see them all done away with by education.
Put simply, if a coach cannot get a client results without injuring them, or smothering them in metcon, then they can conclude with confidence that coaching is not what they were intended for, and should get along to moving pianos, or selling car insurance.
I took a great interest, initially, at the idea of CrossFit. The idea that one organization, namely one man, might educate all of America on Olympic lifting, gymnastics training, metabolic conditioning, and all other forms of wonderful movement and kipping pull-ups.
But I was also disquieted by this. America’s a big town. And most of us Americans don’t move very well. And so I feared for my country, and I was not wholly put at ease by the surging momentum of CrossFit and its ever-popular acceptance, but rather, was increasingly disturbed by the enlarging number of instances where people were not getting educated, but getting dead.
But I’m incurably inquisitive by nature, and to a degree even meddlesome, so I did not discard it completely on those grounds—people die all the time. As well I remained curious to the method—the idea of mashing everything together, and focusing little time on the particulars, and racing everything against the clock. It was a fascinating approach, and it held my interest for quite a while, but a number of worrisome questions came up in my mind.
Among them:
- At what point, when racing against the clock, does movement devolve into mush? And when it does devolve, what will be the consequence(s)?
- Is it prudent to do Olympic lifting for time? Is it necessary? Is it prudent to do box jumps for reps? Is it necessary? Is it prudent to do kipping pulls ups? Is it necessary?
- When people’s kidneys fail, in what fashion (or according to whose taste) do they pile the bodies, and does the time it takes to circumvent a carcass count fully against one’s Fran time, or is it fairly deducted?
Two of these questions I have answered satisfactorily for myself, but as for the last one I remain curious.
Q. Pat, I never heard you talk about warming up much. Are you against warming up? If not, what would be your best minimalist warm up routine? (Myles, 33, NC)
“How you going to warm up, when somebody punches you in the face?”, is what Brian Petty used to tell me. He was my first coach, and used words in an interesting way.
It was a fun point, exciting, too, but not entirely relevant. Currently, I am at no conceivable threat of being punched in the face. I’m too tall.
Jump up and down for a few minutes, to arouse the nervous system (skip rope, or mini-trampoline), and try to shake your muscles into fat. Then, hang from a bar, and just relax. Then sit in a squat for three minutes or so. Next, some hip-rocking, and four-point crawling. After that, I recommend some stretching—if something’s tight. Otherwise, let a few warm-up sets of whatever you happen to be doing be sufficient, and get on to business.
Q. Pat, I was wondering if you include fish oil capsules in your diet along with coconut oil, and if its beneficial or not? (Bryan, 47, Sioux Falls, SD)
Yes, I do, but pharmaceutical grade ones. Four capsules every 2-3 hours, totally 20 per day. People say that’s a lot, and I say so is twenty jelly beans, but nobody makes an ordeal of that.
When dosing fish oil, increase your load by five capsules per day until the contents of your toilet get funky—you’ll know what I mean once it happens. Then, back off 2 capsules a day until things get unfunky, and keep there.
Any more questions? Drop a note in the comment section and let’s chat.
– Pat
PS – So I was interviewed on Super Human Radio yesterday, and what good times I had! I talked about how to apply the 80/20 to fitness, so you can focus your efforts towards nurturing what bears the most fruit; that is, I talk about what you should be doing, specifically, to get the best results with the least amount of effort (always desirable, right?)
CLICK HERE to have a listen, I think you’ll enjoy it, and find the conversation useful.
Hi Pat
I can gauge your feelings about crossfit…how about metafit? I quite enjoy it as my HIIT component but was wondering your thoughts on it?
Thanks
Jill
Jill, to be fair, I have no idea what metafit even is. Usually I’m comfortably venturing an opinion without knowing anything about the subject matter, but…
A couple things to consider, when selecting what to do for HIIT/metabolic conditioning.
1. Is it safe? There is no reason, every, why anything you do for metabolic work should be unsafe or potentially injurious. This goes into…
2. Exercise selection. Are the movements well suited for metabolic work? Meaning, are they relatively “low-skill” (think swings compared to a barbell snatch) and do they hold up well under fatigue–AND, what is the margin of error; meaning, if form does breakdown how forgiving is the movement, what is the likelihood of injury?
Ah maybe it’a UK thing! It’s a fairly short class based on bodyweigh exercises, the routines vary from about 20 -30 min. I would say most routines contain about 6 exercises. They utilise various different types of squat and then other traditional bodywieght exercise such as the burpee and the mountain climber. The instructors do seem quite concered about maintaining the correct form, they would rather you took a break than continued on doing things badly. They show you a few variations of each exercise based on how fit you are, so that you are not trying to perform an exercise that is outwith your capabilities. The longest work period is I have come across is 40 seconds, followed by a 20 sec rest. I am fairly unfit at the moment and I have managed to come through the classes injury free. Thanks for your input!
Pat,
Minor detail, irrelevant maybe. They are actually Canada Geese, not Canadian. 🙂
Regarding the 5 day crossfitter, 2 words. Rest and Recovery.
Cheers!
Aware, but Canadian has a better ring. Cheers to you, Dominic.
I’m now going to spend all day fretting about how tastefully they arrange the rhabdo-cadavers. As ever, good sense delivered in a way that makes me chuckle!
Please pass along any discoveries. Strong ON, Pete.
I’ve recently noticed that when anyone criticizes CrossFit, they are subjected to personal attacks. What they said isn’t rebutted; just them personally. That should raise red flags for any thoughtful individual, no matter how you select your workouts.
This is common, Brad; and your point is a good one. Keep strong!
How true, I used to Crossfit, had to give it up due to shoulder inpingement, and curviture of the spine, I still strength train, but a lot of crossfitters, call me a wimp!
Hey Pat!
Great writing, as always.
While I don’t do crossfit, I am a fan of the UN-conventional workout.
{{ hence, kettlebells 😉 }}
So can you tell me what is “tire flipping”?
Also, is that fish oil story true? Sounds expensive.
Do you use Athletic Greens?
Thanks so much for all your instruction and insight.
Deborah Flowers
Yes, Deborah the fish oil story is true. You don’t have to take my MANNER seriously, but do take the MATTER with you. I don’t use athletic greens, no. Most green shakes are low-quality trash, and test poorly. I prefer HealthForce Nutritionals vitamineral green and elite green protein. Expensive, but worth it.
Great post. Goose poop indeed though that is what you may think you are finding in your toilet bowl after 20 or so grams/day of fish oil. Kettlebell training is an awesome thing and good in many ways. But would it still be awesome and good if you did it 20 hours/day? Moderation in all things Grasshopper (yeah yeah even in moderation)
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/993.html
MedlinePlus–Fish Oil
“Are there safety concerns?
Fish oil is LIKELY SAFE for most people, including pregnant and breast-feeding women, when taken in low doses (3 grams or less per day). There are some safety concerns when fish oil is taken in high doses. Taking more than 3 grams per day might keep blood from clotting and can increase the chance of bleeding.
High doses of fish oil might also reduce the immune system’s activity, reducing the body’s ability to fight infection. This is a special concern for people taking medications to reduce their immune system’s activity (organ transplant patients, for example) and the elderly.
Only take high doses of fish oil while under medical supervision.”
The problem with this on fish oil is it’s right, but it’s also wrong. The TYPE of fish oil must be examined. Most PUFAs including RANCID, low-quality fish oil are going to wreak havoc at the cellular level, and harm immunity. But a high quality, pharmaceutical grade fish oil is not like most PUFAs, and is not going to have the same deleterious effect, but rather, mostly beneficial ones–especially for a person on a low-carb diet. This is the limitation with many studies on fish oil–they study the WRONG kinds of fish oils, on the WRONG kind of people (indolent people, who are eating many other harmful substances, taking many other harmful medications, etc). Simply dig into any of the research against fish oils, and you will see it is mostly bunk. Not to say all research for fish oil is not equally bunk, it is; but I am a large proponent and believer in high-quality fish oils, and high doses of them for short periods to moderate periods of time IN CONJUNCTION with “everything else”, of course.
I’ve been taking twenty jelly beans worth of fish oil for quite a while. It seems I might be one of the few people in the planet that the studies quoted don’t apply to. 🙂
Like Pat you get what you pay for. You did say that Pat? Right?
If fish oil in any way scares anybody eat more wild salmon, or grass fed beef. Preferably venison or elk. It seems that the Omega ratios in that meet are way better than SAD’s model.
Taking high doses of fish oil under medical suerpvision usually means ‘none at all. Many Doctors are afraid to recommended it. Legal issues I guess!
I like the 5/w jelly beans protocol you mentioned Pat, until you hit whatever bothers you and back off.
Well spoken Otto. And yes, a person could simply eat more sardines and kippers if they’d like, or a couple of whales–whatever works.
Pat, what would you consider to be a regular “weight training” routine versus a high intensity kettlebell workout? I only have my one 24kg, so I’m just trying to figure out how I should break up my days. The armor building complex is high intensity, right? What would be a non-high intensity for the 4 days we’re supposed to just “weight train”
I’m experiencing a similar sort of toilet funk since adding a few spoonfuls of coconut oil to my daily diet . . .but I do feel squeaky clean, inside and out.
Sounds like this a little cleansing/healing-crisis going on. Stick it out; should reside in a few days.
Hi Pat
Good writing as usual.
Tha Quote about warming up make me recall an interview with Carlos Bilardo (former Argentine Soccer coach who train the Argentine Team Winner the Mexico Wold Cup 86, and also medical doctor. He said something like “…did you ever see a thief warming up and stretching before snatching away something?”
As I always say, an engine that takes a long time to startup is not efficient.. your warmups must be no different