Behind the Scenes with the Mad Scientist at Heart: Calvin Sun
Podcast by Invictus Intern Misbah Haque (The Airborne Mind Show)

Calvin Sun is a Senior Coach and Director of Informational Products at Invictus Fitness. He has coached athletes to 12 national championships in the sport of powerlifting. As a competitive powerlifter himself, he has won two national titles in the 181lb raw weight class and formerly held two national records. Calvin is the co-author of the best selling book, The Invictus Mindset. He’s also written a book that takes an evidence based approach called Post-Workout Supplementation.

This guy is a mad scientist at heart that can deep dive into almost any topic imaginable. In this episode, we chat about how the book came about, practices you can use to train mental toughness, ketosis, genetics vs training (from Dr. Andy Galpin’s recent presentation at Invictus – See Calvin’s 5 Key Ideas from that here), steroid regulation, and much more.

Check out the interview on the Airborne Mind Show here.

Also Check Out…

How To Build A Long-Lasting Habit Without Falling Off The Boat

The Math Equation That Can Help Us Prevent Injuries

How To Eat A Plant-Based Diet And Not Die Of Malnutrition

The post Behind the Scenes with the Mad Scientist at Heart: Calvin Sun appeared first on Invictus Fitness.

Workout Strategy: Plan First, then Execute
Written by Invictus Athlete Josh Littauer

How many of you show up to the gym with no preconceived notion of what the workout is or what all you may be asked to do? I’d probably see a good show of hands for that question. Now there are also plenty of you who would say the opposite, and you’re also likely the ones who refresh your Wodify app every minute after 8pm to see what the next day holds for you. Neither is necessarily right or wrong, but I’d like to provide a slightly different perspective on approaching your daily workout. What if I could teach you how to treat each workout like it’s own game? This is what I will try to accomplish here.

Treat Each Workout Like it’s Own Game

When approaching each workout like its own game there are multiple things that need to be taken into consideration. How long is the workout? What movements or movement patterns are there? Is there a high-skill movement? Are these movements I’m good at? Each of these questions will play a role in your ability to move well through a workout and achieve the best possible outcome.

We first need to provide some framework and look for the ultimate outcome of the workout. You may hear a coach mention the “desired stimulus” of a workout, this is essentially the intended outcome and how you should feel during or after a workout. The stimulus often determines the pace with which we attack a workout or decide how to scale a workout (more on scaling for a different post).

I’ll use several examples to help discuss this point.

In the case of Fran, 21-15-9 reps of thrusters and pull-ups, a workout designed to be a sprint and very fast (sub-6 is a pretty good time) should be done with a weight on the thruster that is easily maintained for unbroken sets and scaled on the pull-ups to accommodate your skill. Anytime you see the numbers 21-15-9 it can be reasonably assumed it is supposed to be a fast workout.

Another example would be Murph, the total opposite of Fran. Murph includes two miles worth of running, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, and 300 air squats; this is a very long CrossFit workout! In terms of pacing, Fran and Murph are polar opposites.

To Redline or Not? It Depends…

You may hear the term redline thrown around in a CrossFit gym as well. The term redline is a analogy to the tachometer in your car that tells you how many revolutions per minute the cam shaft or pistons rotate per minute. The dial in your car probably reads somewhere around 6000 RPM before hitting a red line and slowing the engine down to avoid blowing up. Your body has a similar red line that determines how quickly you can move, your power output potential, and how long you can operate at a near sprint pace before you also “blow up”. In the case of CrossFit which includes workouts with variable time domains, it isn’t always advantageous to hit the “redline” immediately in a workout, or even at all for that matter. When we look at the previous two examples, Fran and Murph, we can see that Fran requires you to redline right out of the gate, while Murph never requires you to hit the redline. It depends on the desired stimulus or outcome.

How to Consider Rep Schemes & Strategic Breaks

We also have to consider the rep schemes and movements in the workout. Let’s take Karen for example: complete 150 wall balls for time. Only the best of the best are going to go unbroken for all 150 reps, and the result is often devastating. It is still possible to get big sets done in this workout, but it may be smart to take strategic breaks. For example, what if instead of doing a max effort unbroken set right out of the gate you instead did 5 sets of 30 or maybe 10 sets of 15? This would allow for you to maintain good-size sets with minimal rest in between, instead of doing say a set of 75 at the beginning and then taking multiple 30 second breaks between the remaining sets of 10. This is one good example of how to approach breaking up large sets of a singular movement.

This can also be done for medium to high-skill gymnastics movements in a medium length workout. Lets use the example of 3 rounds of 15 pull-ups and a 200 meter run. If your best set of pull-ups is six, but you can maintain sets of three to four consistently, it would be smarter to stick with 5 sets of 3 for all 3 rounds then to try to do a max effort set each time. If you were to do a max effort set it would likely turn into resting 20-25 seconds between sets and doing sets of one to two. It would be smarter to go 5×3 with 7-8 seconds rest between sets. Applying this strategy can help take away some of the frustration of struggling with a skill as you can better break up a movement and take strategic breaks to help you move through the workout better.

This can be applied to running and rowing as well, although I would like to save that discussion for a future post.

Big Takeaways to Build these Habits

Learn the stimulus: if you can find out if the workout is supposed to be a sprint, medium length, or long, then you can determine how you approach each movement and the time frames you’re looking at.

Assess the skill level: for a low skill workout with movements such as burpees or kettlebell swings, you can determine to move a little quicker or keep bigger sets without resting, versus a workout with high skills (muscle-up, pull-up, handstand push-up, toes to bar, etc.) that may require you to break up the movement early to maintain a good pace throughout the workout.

Set time checkpoints and time your rest: setting up checkpoints throughout the workout will help break up the monotony of the workout and give you strategic goals as you go. Looking at the clock while you rest also gives you the ability to time your rest in order to minimize the time between sets as much as possible. This will help keep you moving without staring at the ground and contemplating life so much.

All in all, beginning to implement some of these ideas will help to change the way we look at workouts and hopefully help to keep you moving throughout. It may not come naturally at first but can definitely help improve overall performance on your daily workouts. Give it a shot and see if you can beat the strategy game to improve your fitness.

Also Check Out…

Invictus Athlete Spotlight: Josh Littauer

Volume Or Intensity?

Begin With The End In Mind

The post Workout Strategy: Plan First, then Execute appeared first on Invictus Fitness.

Workout Strategy: Plan First, then Execute
Written by Invictus Athlete Josh Littauer

How many of you show up to the gym with no preconceived notion of what the workout is or what all you may be asked to do? I’d probably see a good show of hands for that question. Now there are also plenty of you who would say the opposite, and you’re also likely the ones who refresh your Wodify app every minute after 8pm to see what the next day holds for you. Neither is necessarily right or wrong, but I’d like to provide a slightly different perspective on approaching your daily workout. What if I could teach you how to treat each workout like it’s own game? This is what I will try to accomplish here.

Treat Each Workout Like it’s Own Game

When approaching each workout like its own game there are multiple things that need to be taken into consideration. How long is the workout? What movements or movement patterns are there? Is there a high-skill movement? Are these movements I’m good at? Each of these questions will play a role in your ability to move well through a workout and achieve the best possible outcome.

We first need to provide some framework and look for the ultimate outcome of the workout. You may hear a coach mention the “desired stimulus” of a workout, this is essentially the intended outcome and how you should feel during or after a workout. The stimulus often determines the pace with which we attack a workout or decide how to scale a workout (more on scaling for a different post).

I’ll use several examples to help discuss this point.

In the case of Fran, 21-15-9 reps of thrusters and pull-ups, a workout designed to be a sprint and very fast (sub-6 is a pretty good time) should be done with a weight on the thruster that is easily maintained for unbroken sets and scaled on the pull-ups to accommodate your skill. Anytime you see the numbers 21-15-9 it can be reasonably assumed it is supposed to be a fast workout.

Another example would be Murph, the total opposite of Fran. Murph includes two miles worth of running, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, and 300 air squats; this is a very long CrossFit workout! In terms of pacing, Fran and Murph are polar opposites.

To Redline or Not? It Depends…

You may hear the term redline thrown around in a CrossFit gym as well. The term redline is a analogy to the tachometer in your car that tells you how many revolutions per minute the cam shaft or pistons rotate per minute. The dial in your car probably reads somewhere around 6000 RPM before hitting a red line and slowing the engine down to avoid blowing up. Your body has a similar red line that determines how quickly you can move, your power output potential, and how long you can operate at a near sprint pace before you also “blow up”. In the case of CrossFit which includes workouts with variable time domains, it isn’t always advantageous to hit the “redline” immediately in a workout, or even at all for that matter. When we look at the previous two examples, Fran and Murph, we can see that Fran requires you to redline right out of the gate, while Murph never requires you to hit the redline. It depends on the desired stimulus or outcome.

How to Consider Rep Schemes & Strategic Breaks

We also have to consider the rep schemes and movements in the workout. Let’s take Karen for example: complete 150 wall balls for time. Only the best of the best are going to go unbroken for all 150 reps, and the result is often devastating. It is still possible to get big sets done in this workout, but it may be smart to take strategic breaks. For example, what if instead of doing a max effort unbroken set right out of the gate you instead did 5 sets of 30 or maybe 10 sets of 15? This would allow for you to maintain good-size sets with minimal rest in between, instead of doing say a set of 75 at the beginning and then taking multiple 30 second breaks between the remaining sets of 10. This is one good example of how to approach breaking up large sets of a singular movement.

This can also be done for medium to high-skill gymnastics movements in a medium length workout. Lets use the example of 3 rounds of 15 pull-ups and a 200 meter run. If your best set of pull-ups is six, but you can maintain sets of three to four consistently, it would be smarter to stick with 5 sets of 3 for all 3 rounds then to try to do a max effort set each time. If you were to do a max effort set it would likely turn into resting 20-25 seconds between sets and doing sets of one to two. It would be smarter to go 5×3 with 7-8 seconds rest between sets. Applying this strategy can help take away some of the frustration of struggling with a skill as you can better break up a movement and take strategic breaks to help you move through the workout better.

This can be applied to running and rowing as well, although I would like to save that discussion for a future post.

Big Takeaways to Build these Habits

Learn the stimulus: if you can find out if the workout is supposed to be a sprint, medium length, or long, then you can determine how you approach each movement and the time frames you’re looking at.

Assess the skill level: for a low skill workout with movements such as burpees or kettlebell swings, you can determine to move a little quicker or keep bigger sets without resting, versus a workout with high skills (muscle-up, pull-up, handstand push-up, toes to bar, etc.) that may require you to break up the movement early to maintain a good pace throughout the workout.

Set time checkpoints and time your rest: setting up checkpoints throughout the workout will help break up the monotony of the workout and give you strategic goals as you go. Looking at the clock while you rest also gives you the ability to time your rest in order to minimize the time between sets as much as possible. This will help keep you moving without staring at the ground and contemplating life so much.

All in all, beginning to implement some of these ideas will help to change the way we look at workouts and hopefully help to keep you moving throughout. It may not come naturally at first but can definitely help improve overall performance on your daily workouts. Give it a shot and see if you can beat the strategy game to improve your fitness.

Also Check Out…

Invictus Athlete Spotlight: Josh Littauer

Volume Or Intensity?

Begin With The End In Mind

The post Workout Strategy: Plan First, then Execute appeared first on Invictus Fitness.

3 Variations of Toes-to-Bar
Video by Travis Ewart

This video reviews a few different variations for executing toes-to-bar. Every athlete needs to practice different variations of toes-to-bar so that they know which style they prefer based on the workout. The 3 variations in the video are:

1) Straight Leg Swing

Make sure your hamstrings are prepped for this! This style of leg swing will carry much momentum through the forward swing. It also won’t require as much lat engagement as some of the other variations so, for higher volume toes-to-bar, this is a great option.

2) Knees-to-Armpits Swing

Make sure your quads are prepped for this! This type of toes-to-bar makes for a quick cycle time but uses a ton of lat engagement. So, for workouts that are fast and are lower in toes-to-bar volume, try out this option.

3) Combo Swing

This swing allows an athlete to keep their straight leg for the majority of the swing but will transition to a short ‘flick’ to kick the toes to the bar. This is a great option if an athlete has good hamstring flexibility and wants to move through the toes-to-bar as quickly as possible, without fatiguing the lats as quickly as a knees-to-armpits style swing would.

Also Check Out…

3 Tips For Stringing Together More Toes To Bar

4 Reasons You Struggle With Toes To Bar

Midline Work To Better Your Toes To Bar

The post 3 Variations of Toes-to-Bar appeared first on Invictus Fitness.

Invictus Athlete’s Camp: January 27-29, 2017
Written by Nichole DeHart-Kribs

I am excited to announce that our first scheduled Invictus Athlete’s Camp for the 2017 season will be held at our brand new facility in San Diego, California! Our new facility is located in Sorrento Valley (just a 20 minute drive from the San Diego airport) on January 27-29, 2017. Please get yourself signed up as soon as possible!

Registration is simple…just click here: Sign Me Up For the Invictus Athlete Camp

The Invictus Athletes’ Camp

Invictus has established a reputation for excellence in preparing athletes for the sport of CrossFit. Invictus has qualified an affiliate team to the CrossFit Games eight consecutive years (one of only two gyms to do so). In the last eight years Team Invictus has finished in the top 5 at the CrossFit Games four times, and became the Affiliate Champions in 2014. Over the years, Invictus and coach C.J. Martin have coached 47 CrossFit Games individual athletes including, among others, Josh Bridges, Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, Valerie Voboril, Lauren Fisher, Rasmus Wisbech-Andersen, Alex Anderson, Jenny LaBaw, Michelle Kinney, Cheryl Brost, Kristin Holte and Maddy Myers.

The Invictus Athlete Camp is our opportunity to share with others the coaching and training principles we have found most effective in preparing our athletes for competition. The training and coaching principles presented will be geared toward individuals hoping to compete, at any level, in the sport of CrossFit. Whether you are looking to compete at a local competition, perform well in the Open, qualify for Regionals, or make it to the CrossFit Games, our coaches and athletes will have many lessons to share with you to help get you closer to your goal.

The typical schedule of events is as follows, and we always try to offer an additional benefit or surprise guest or two at every camp:

• Friday – 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
• Saturday – 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Sunday – 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Topics covered will include:

• Invictus Training Rules – Creating A Successful Training Environment (C.J. Martin)
• Program Design for Competitive CrossFit Athletes (C.J. Martin)
• Developing a Performance Mindset (C.J. Martin and Heidi Fearon)
• Tapping Your Potential – The Mental Edge (Heidi Fearon)
• Designing Workouts to Test Mental Toughness (C.J. Martin)
• Essential Elements of Movement Preparation: From Mobility to CNS-Prep
• Weightlifting – Snatch Skills and Drills
• Weightlifting – Clean & Jerk Skills and Drills
• Barbell Cycling and Movement Efficiency for Competitive Athletes
• Rowing Technique and Strategy
• CrossFit-Specific Gymnastics Skills and Drills
• Essential Upper-Body Accessory Work for CrossFit Athletes (Sam Dancer)
• Posterior Chain Development for CrossFit Athletes (Sam Dancer)
• Athlete Testing
• Training De-Brief: How to Analyze and Learn from A Performance
• Q&A with Panel of Coaches and Athletes

Coaching Staff: C.J. Martin, Nichole DeHart, Heidi Fearon, Sam Dancer, Shane Farmer, Maddy Curley, Lauren Fisher, and other special guests!

The Invictus Athlete Camp Coaches

C.J. Martin – CJ participated poorly as an athlete in the inaugural 2007 CrossFit Games and approximately two-thirds of the 2008 CrossFit Games before realizing that he was a much better coach than athlete. He skipped his final event at the 2008 Games to coach several San Diego athletes, and dedicated himself from that point forward to becoming the best coach he could be. Since 2009, CJ has designed programs for and coached more than two dozen CrossFit Games individual competitors, and has coached the Invictus affiliate team to the Games eight consecutive years – where they earned top 5 finishes four times, and finally earned the title of Affiliate Cup Champions at the 2014 CrossFit Games.

Nichole DeHart – Nichole is one of the first professional CrossFit athletes. Nichole earned a whopping $250 at the 2007 CrossFit Games for her first place finish in the CrossFit Total and her 3rd place overall finish. Nichole retired from individual competition after that, but has participated as a member of the Invictus affiliate team for four years. Nichole is not afraid of being great at every aspect of our sport. She can put heavy weight overhead – 84 kg Snatch, 105 kg Clean & Jerk – knock out clips of muscle-ups, or smash a named workout – 2:33 “Fran,” 1:40 “Isabelle.” Nichole is also a phenomenal coach who understands the Invictus principles as well as anyone. Nichole will be assisting at all sessions throughout the weekend.

Heidi Fearon – Heidi is known simply as the Invictus “Healer.” Heidi is an acupuncturist by trade, but her treatment of athletes ranges from sports psychology to pre-event massage. Words can’t describe the impact that she has had on Invictus athletes’ performance in the arena at the CrossFit Games. She is our secret weapon, and leaves the participants of every athletes’ camp with blown minds and a more clear sense of direction and motivation in their training for the Games season.

Sam Dancer – Sam is the owner of CrossFit QTown and one of the strongest competitors in the sport of CrossFit. Sam has a solid background in powerlifting and years of experience as a competitive athlete. He has combined his knowledge of strength development with his passion for helping others to create some of the most innovative methods for strength training the CrossFit community has seen. Sam enjoys and is particularly effective at finding ways to help CrossFit athletes address muscular imbalances to keep them healthy and performing to the best of their ability.

Maddy Curley – Maddy brings years of experience coaching and competing in gymnastics She has coached gymnasts from age 2 to 65 for over ten years. Maddy’s own gymnastics career began at age four; her competitive career at age six.  She is a four-time Level 10 National qualifier and won Elite Nationals in 1999.  She earned a full gymnastics scholarship to compete at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill where she was also a four-time Academic All-American and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.  Upon graduation, Maddy made her film acting debut in Disney’s “Stick It,” an April 2006 release from Touchstone Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment. Maddy’s first go at a CrossFit competition was at SoCal’s 2010 Sectionals where she placed 2nd.  The next year she went on to compete with her team at the 2011 CrossFit Games where they took 5th place! In 2012, Maddy placed 11th in the world at the Open and took another stab at competing as an individual, taking a laudable 7th place in SoCal’s Regional competition. She went team again in 2013 and 2014, placing 3rd at Regionals both times. Maddy will be leading all breakout gymnastics sessions.

Lauren Fisher – Lauren’s first appearance at the CrossFit Games was in 2013 with Team Invictus, helping them land a 4th place finish. She dedicated herself to training the following season and qualified as an individual for the 2014 Games, taking 9th place, then with another individual appearance at the 2016 Games. She has continued to make strides in her CrossFit career, as well as in her Olympic weightlifting career. She may be small but she is mighty, with a clean and jerk of 110kg and snatch of 84kg. She competed at the 2014 Junior Nationals, taking 1st place overall and winning best female lifter and lifting at the Pan Am’s where she took 4th place overall. She went on to place 10th at Junior Worlds in Russia for Team USA a few months later. At the age of 22, she has accomplished an incredible amount athletically and will be sharing her experiences as a competitive athlete, as well as assisting in our breakout sessions.

Here is what some of our past camp attendees had to say:

“The Athletes’ Camp truly exceeded every expectation. The variety of topics was perfect, and your coaching staff was absolutely amazing.” – Chad A.

“Thank you for the absolutely incredible, fun, challenging, inspirational weekend. I had an amazing time at the Invictus Athletes’ Training Camp. You and your staff are terrific!” – Jennifer S.

“Amazing Athletes/Coach camp this weekend at CrossFit Invictus. The amount of talent and knowledge in one room at one time is incredible.” – Travis F.

“I am truly a better athlete, but more importantly, I am a better person from this weekend’s experience.” – Jayson A.

Please click here to register for the camp: Sign me up for the Invictus Athletes’ Camp!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Photo Credit: Preston Smith; @prestonsmithphotography

The post Invictus Athlete’s Camp: January 27-29, 2017 appeared first on Invictus Fitness.

Athlete 101: Trust The Process
Written by Tino Marini

If you have been part of our community then you will have undoubtedly heard the title of this article stated over and over again. The question is, do you just read it, or do you actually believe it? Trust the process!

You Have to Believe

One of the key components in an athlete’s success is that they trust the program they follow and/or the direction their coach is giving them. No matter how good the program or coach is, if an athlete doesn’t believe in what he is doing, he will not make progress. It seems that one of the biggest stumbling blocks in being a successful athlete is the tendency to overthink the process and second guess everything they are doing. At Invictus, we are strong believers that an athlete’s job is to be an athlete, and a coach’s job is to be a coach.

This doesn’t mean that an athlete can’t ask questions, give feedback and make suggestions on what seems to be working and not working. It just means that the athlete shouldn’t have to think about the finer details of a program like progressions, energy systems, loading and volume. Too often we see athletes stress out because they aren’t seeing enough pulling or enough conditioning or the volume is too low, in their opinion. As soon as this happens they either stop putting the effort into their sessions because they think “what is the point in this” or they add in a bunch of unnecessary volume. If they think “what is the point in this” then intensity drops and progress will undoubtedly suffer. If they add in a bunch of volume, then they likely become overtrained and injured. Both are not ideal scenarios.

The Problem with Program Hopping

There are a lot of people who hop from program to program. They never really commit to a full program cycle. They do some of one program and add it to another workout they have seen a Games athlete do on Instagram. Before they know it, the Open has come back around and they are still the same athlete as they were the year before since they have just been “working out” for a year instead of working on weaknesses and building their strengths.

What you SHOULD Focus On

Our advice is to start by finding a program or coach who has produced good athletes. A good coach will always be judged by the athletes they produce and work with on a day-to-day basis. It’s pretty easy to write out a progression and send it to someone and hope that it works. The real test is to see if it works with the athletes you work with face to face, day to day.

Another extremely important aspect is communication. Whether it is individual or group programming, there must be a feedback loop. If the athlete or athletes don’t post results or communicate, how does the coach know if the program is working? It’s an extremely important element that people forget. Some think that just doing the program will make them better, but what happens when you can’t hit the numbers or percentages posted and you don’t communicate that? Well in a good progression you will likely increase in load the next week, but if an athlete or group of athletes are struggling, this needs to be communicated in order for the coach to adjust accordingly.

The Invictus Athlete Team puts a lot of effort into looking at results, replying to posts and reviewing video as we understand the importance of communication and accountability. It also shows that we care about the community and understand that in order to help athletes progress we need to build a relationship and community.

Becoming a great athlete isn’t as easy as following a program. There are so many factors that play into programming and a coaching relationship, but the most important for us is that you trust the process. That will only come from finding the right program and the right coaches that are best for you to surround yourself with.

If you need a coach to design a program specifically for you, hold you accountable and help you find your potential, email us at info@invictusathlete.com. 

Also Check Out…

How to Maximize Your Potential As a CrossFit Masters Athlete

Kenny Ochoa: Trusting the Process and Having a Plan

What Is Your Main Event?

The post Athlete 101: Trust The Process appeared first on Invictus Fitness.

A How-To for the False Grip
Video by Travis Ewart

Since the 2016 Regionals and the announcement of Regional Nate, strict muscle-ups have become a movement on many athletes radar. This can be a challenging movement to train as it requires a base level of strength as well as proper positioning on the rings to make for a smooth strict muscle-up. In today’s video, our gymnastics coach Travis Ewart goes over a couple of tips for how to get into a solid false grip when doing strict muscle-ups.

Also Check Out…

Strict Muscle-Up Progression
Upper Anterior Chain Opener: The Banded Scarecrow
Wall Slides: A Fantastic Exercise

The post A How-To for the False Grip appeared first on Invictus Fitness.

Attacking those Longer EMOMs
Written by Cat Blatner

If you follow the Invictus’ Competitor or Athlete program then you know exactly what I am referring to. The dreaded 30-minute EMOMs (every minute on the minute) that crush souls and make grown men flop on the floor at the 30-minute mark like they are dead, twitchy creatures that just completed an extended battle for their life. Sound dramatic? Well, you should see the aftermath.

You might ask..How does one push to that point? How can they look that miserable, be in so much physical pain and exhaustion but still push through?

Well, that is all in how you attack it. EMOMs are super mental but with a calm and collected mind you can make it through even the worst of CJ’s torture. Here is how to do it:

One Minute at a Time

If you are counting down the entire EMOM then you will just overwhelm yourself. Take each minute as it comes, focus on the movements and how much rest you get in that minute. For example, instead of thinking, “Ugh, I have 25 more minutes left!!” Try to tell yourself, “Ok, this minute all I have to do is 12 burpees and I can rest a bit.”

Be Your Own Cheerleader

As I said before, EMOMs are very mental to say the least. If you are constantly thinking about how hard it is or anticipating the challenge ahead, you will only demotivate yourself. Keep a positive mind and your body will follow with a boosted performance. Never allow self doubt or self destructive comments enter your mind. Ignore all negativity and replace those thoughts with encouraging reinforcement.

Find Your Resting Minute

Now, every workout is different, but often times you can find a minute that acts as your “resting minute.” For example, yesterday I did a workout that consisted of the following movements:

Min 1: 45 seconds of rowing
Min 2: 20 KBS
Min 3: 15 Burpees
Min 4: 12 Heavy Lunges
Min 5: 5 Strict Pull-Ups

Now, this workout is fairly simple to dissect. Looking at it you can see very clearly which station will be my “rest” and that will be the pull-up station. Knowing I had a minute where I could allow my heartrate to come down was very motivating as I completed each round. This also means you must make the most of this minute. If I hunch over breathing heavy or sit down and think about how terrible this workout feels, I won’t allow myself to rest in this minute. After finishing my 5 pull-ups, I stood tall and took big deep breaths with slow and steady exhales. As the next round approached, I walked calmly over to my erg to strap my feet in and prepared for my next round.

Know When to Push and Know When to Glide

Sometimes it is very important to push the pace on whatever task you have been given in order to fit all of the work into a minute and sometimes it’s better to work at a steady pace so you don’t spike your heart rate. Let’s take the above workout for example again. I know I must push the pace of the row because that is the point of that entire minute is max calories in 45 seconds. Because I know my heart will be racing when I come off of the erg, it will be important to go at a steady pace on the kettlebell swings. This will act as my “gliding” minute where I am not sprinting through the movement but just working at a moderate pace. I know that my next minute is burpees and I will need to move through those pretty quickly in order to give myself time to transition to my lunge. My lunge station will be very challenging because of the weight but because the rep count is fairly low I know that I can breath and move at a steady pace to finish the allotted reps in the one minute time period with plenty of rest before going into my “rest minute.”

The longer you do CrossFit, the more you will learn that mental fortitude is such an acquired skill. It takes lots of practice to lose self doubt and attack challenges with confidence and determination. Whether you are attacking a horrible metcon that just doesn’t seem to end or a challenge in your life, it is always important to focus on what you can control. Ease your mind by focusing on small goals throughout the workout and never try to bite off more than you can chew. A strong mind along with a solid attack plan can make all of the difference!

Also Check Out…

Breaking The Mental Barrier

Breaking It Down: How To Get Thru A Long Grueling Workout

How To Approach A Workout

The post Attacking Longer EMOMs appeared first on Invictus Fitness.

Reps for Rescue to End Slavery and Sex Trafficking
Video by Forward Film Co
Written by Melissa Hurley

Invictus is dedicated to help champion a small handful of causes each year and one that we are extremely passionate about supporting is Reps for Rescue, a fundraiser for International Justice Mission (IJM).

IJM is a non-profit organization that fights to protect the poor from violence in the developing world. The work they do to fight slavery and sex trafficking, all over the world, is what they are most well-known for. BUT they also crusade against police brutality, sexual violence, property grabbing, and human rights abuse in developing countries. Their main goal is to fight for justice for the poor and faceless people. IJM has also received a 4-star rating (highest possible) for the last 5 years from Charity Navigator. Charity Navigator rates non-profit and charitable organizations on their efficiency of contributions.

In addition to strongly believing in their mission, I also have personal ties to this organization as my uncle Gary Haugen founded it. Although some may say I support this because he’s my uncle, I wanted to share that I’m actually the blessed one. I am super proud of his work and even more proud of the person that he is.

Uncle Gary’s resume is quite extensive, please read his biography here. In addition to working as Director of the United Nations and the U.S. Department of Justice, he has authored a book called the Locus Effect and been featured on a TED talk called ‘The hidden reason for poverty the world needs to address now’.

Best of all, he’s a CrossFitter! Last year I had the blessing of helping him become a Masters Regional Athlete. His love for CrossFit and passion for justice were the basis behind Reps for Rescue.

When: December 10th 7:30am-12:00pm
Where: Downtown Invictus (1401 E Street, San Diego, Ca, 92101)
How: Register here

*Top fundraisers will get to partner up with a Games athlete for a special heat of the workout. At the Reston event, this part alone raised over $10K – enough to fund two rescue missions!

Here is some information about IJM and the event:

Also Check Out…

Resilience

I Am…Balanced

The Problem With Like-Minded People

The post Reps for Rescue to End Slavery and Sex Trafficking appeared first on Invictus Fitness.

Learning Made Simple
Written by Gaje McDaniel

When you perform a movement incorrectly and a coach approaches you and wants to help you understand what you may have done wrong, what is the most simple way for you to learn?

Do you learn by hearing cues or words?

Do you learn by seeing what you have done wrong, through example or video?

Do you have to physically perform something correct yourself or have a coach help you through physical cues?

People learn in three different ways – verbal, visual and physical. By understanding how you learn can benefit your fitness. When a coach approaches you and wants to help, you can always reply with: “show me”, “tell me”, or “help me”.

Here is an example: You miss a snatch because you didn’t get your head through fast enough and your turnover was slowed down because of it.

Verbal Coaching
You missed but you are unsure what you’ve done wrong, coach tells you to “punch up on the bar and get your head through faster”. You try again and do as coach has said and were successful, you understood what you head to do by a verbal cue.

Visual Coaching
When you’ve performed something wrong but don’t understand what coach means when he’s telling you something, simply ask for them to perform the mistake and then the correction for you. If seeing someone else do something correct is not enough, take a video of yourself and analyze what you’ve done wrong with a coach’s help.

Physical Coaching
If neither of the verbal or visual are enough, ask for help to get into position or help performing the movement. It can be as simple as one error you are doing wrong, that you need help doing correct to feel what you should be doing right.

Learning from all different aspects gives the best opportunity to be successful. If you can choose one that helps you understand easier, it may speed up the process. Sometimes not all aspects are prevalent, some people learn by telling them that they did wrong. You may have to use only two examples from above.

Make sure you understand why the correction was made, educate yourself and absorb someone else’s knowledge. I personally like to video my own lifts or movements and then will dissect it – with help – if need be. I learn through hands-on and visually, but that is not always the case for everyone. Find how you learn best and let your coach know.

Also Check Out…

The Four Stages Of Learning

The Machine And The Operator

Cues For Visual Learners

The post Learning Made Simple appeared first on Invictus Fitness.