Train For A Great Life
A Great Life doesn't happen by accident.
I'll share my own experiences, thoughts on training, mindset, life and how to build a great life of your own.
Train For A Great Life
The Type of Fitness CrossFit Builds
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Strength Makes Life Easier
Speaker 1Hello and welcome back to another episode of Train for a wearable and honestly , it's a lot more powerful than most people realize . Okay , so we're gonna start off with strength . We are in a strength progression phase of a couple of lifts at the gym . We've done a few different cycles recently and I'm feeling particularly strong . Right . We're working through a squat and bench press right now , at 41 years old . This week I squatted 335 pounds for eight reps it's almost double body weight and 225 pounds on the bench press for eight reps , both of which are I'm more than happy with right now .
Speaker 1This isn isn't about like oh , look at my numbers there . Whatever the point is , do I need that much strength in my daily life ? No , but that's exactly the point . You know I've been training for a long time and you know I've had higher numbers than this lifetime numbers , but it's it's . That doesn't matter . It's all about where it is now . If I can handle that kind of load in the gym the rest of life like carrying my kids , hauling groceries , moving furniture , who knows some sort of thing where I need to use a little bit more strength it becomes effortless . It's like over-preparing for a test so that the real life version feels easy . Okay , strength is something that is going to make all of the things in your life easier , lighter , okay .
Wearables Miss CrossFit's True Impact
Speaker 1Flipping to the other side of the spectrum endurance , training and conditioning Okay . If you've ever worn a Garmin or Apple watch or something similar , you'll notice that they give you they love giving you lots of numbers and data vo2 max , fitness , age , heart rate thresholds . These numbers are useful but they don't really tell the story of crossfit , the train car . Crossfit training is mixed modal . It's barbell work , gymnastics , cardio , whatever blended together . It's not steady heart rate that you'd get from , like just running or cycling or swimming , so these wearables do not do a good job of capturing it at all . Like , I don't even try to use my Garmin watch for a CrossFit workout . If we're doing a running heavy workout , I might wear it just to see the paces .
Speaker 1Okay , that said , I am signed up for a High Rocks race in about a month and I've started to add a little bit of running back in outside of the gym . I don't normally do that , but I was walking my dog on the weekend and I thought to myself you know what ? I'm gonna be pissed with myself if I don't run a little bit leading into this thing and just do as well as I know that I can . Okay . So this is all to say . I've started running again this week . Okay , two , two runs . So far , that's it .
Speaker 1Normally , my Garmin sits at around . It tells me a 51 or 52 VO2 max , which is pretty good , okay . Here's the interesting part , though because it only has so much data . It tells me I have half an hour of intense effort a week , and that's not even close . So I went for two runs this week 6k and 3k and because I'm actually feeding it the kind of data that it understands steady pace , steady effort , with distances , um , like , um , it's the word .
Building Fitness That Transfers Everywhere
Speaker 1I'm like measurable distances along with it .
Speaker 1All of a sudden , the watch is like oh , you're super fit . My vo2 max on day one jumped from to 53 and then on day two jumped to 54 . My threshold pace got faster , my heart rate metrics improved , even my fitness age dropped right . Nothing magical happened these two runs . I didn't get fitter in 48 hours . What happened is the .
Speaker 1The watch finally got a glimpse into the fitness that I'm building all along in CrossFit .
Speaker 1Okay , it just needed to see it expressed in the right context . That's what makes CrossFit special You're building strength to the point where life feels lighter . You're building an engine that can show up , whether you're running , rowing , biking , hiking , grinding through workouts with barbells , whatever it is , and even though the metrics don't always capture it , the reality is you're developing both sides of the equation strength and endurance at the same time , all while building in , like you know , fun , new skills and challenging things . Things are even harder to measure , right ? How would you measure walking on your hands on a watch , right ? And that type of stuff keeps you coming back . It keeps it not boring , okay , so you know , when people ask what kind of fitness does CrossFit actually build , that's the answer it builds the kind that transfers
The Real Value of CrossFit
Speaker 1everywhere . It's not just lifting , it's not just endurance , it's about having strength and capacity to do whatever life throws at you . And you know , if you've been doing it for a while , maybe even making it look easy , I'll see you in the gym .