Pump up the Volume!

Track night at 6:30 tonight, including the Q&A about the marathon training program!

Three rounds for Quality of:

3 Squat Cleans

Handstand Walk 20 feet or 20 Shoulder Taps

Rest as needed, then perform

Four rounds for time of:

Run 400 meters

95 pound Thruster, 15 reps

15 Pull-ups

Austin Malleolo 10:40, Janece Katona 15:26 (65lbs)

here.  I have been using it as the jump off point for many discussions on health and training.

The mentality of the woman in the email is not abnormal, but the fact that she is older makes it more stark.  She is the manifestation of our culture’s obsession with weight, and for women to be skinny.  I mean, she is 60 something years old, what does she care if she is at an “ideal” weight!!  The main thing she should be worried about is how long she will be able to take care of herself!  My neighbor is a perfect example, I would guess, between 65 and 70 years old and she just fell down taking the garbage in last week.  She broke a bone in her knee and is now on a walker.  She also lives by herself and I can almost guarantee she hasn’t picked up anything heavy in a while or performed much by the way of exercise, although I have heard her say the doctor wants her to lose weight.  Her recovery is going to be a challenge, but there is still hope!  The point of all of this is that none of those things we tend to talk about when we talk about health really matter.  I mean, cholesterol, weight, blood pressure, the size of your muscles.  The ONLY thing that matters is what you can do.

I love listening to Zeb talk about the 90 something year old dude that is great with the ladies, will stomp on your throat if you fuck with him at a bar, did a CrossFit workout this morning and is robbing a bank fleeing from the cops by afternoon in his bright red convertible.  Can you picture this guy?  Do you give a shit what his cholesterol is?  The guy is 90 and a badass!  What about the 90 something that has perfect bloodwork, cholesterol is great, blood pressure is that of a high school athlete, but the guy is in a nursing home with dementia.  All that matters is what you can do!

This is never something you hear when discussing our health, ever!  Doctors will tell you to exercise, but why?  To get better cholesterol or to lose weight?  We should be doing these things BECAUSE WE CAN!  We need to stop thinking in these terms that get us no where.  We need to approach our lives with the belief that we are all meant to be athletes and capable until the day we die.  Life is not over when we get old.  We don’t need to take a pill to silence our bodies.  We need to wake up.

Ladies, that means you have to accept whatever body you were born with, that if you develop muscles that are not in line with your former vision of feminine beauty, so be it.  Change your views, be able to do a muscle up, lift something heavy and get a little beat up every now and then.  Don’t look back at the other ladies making faces, they won’t be around long anyways.  Be strong and we will love you for who you are.  Men, don’t worry about being called a pussy for being on a “diet” and changing your priorities to become a better athlete.  I promise you, the others are jealous deep down and dream of being young and athletic again.  Well, guess what, high school is gone and you’re not getting any younger, you’ve got to stop watching from the couch and come play before its too late.  All that we have is what we are capable of.  We should allow it to lead our lives.