Linchpin Conversations

Questions/topics from the Linchpin community answered were: 1. Why did I choose to keep Linchpin Athletics an official CrossFit affiliate? 2. What are my thoughts on Eric Roza purchasing CrossFit and being the new CEO? 3. Will Linchpin have in-person meet-ups in the future? 4. How to deal with a tight lower back. 5. How can accessory work be modified to specifically improve an athlete's engine? 6. Are there benefits of working out in a fasted state? 7. How and why should a weight vest be used in training?

How & why to turn a workout into a "skills day". We use the workout "Amanda" as an example. The workout involves ring muscle-ups and full snatches.

Questions/topics from the Linchpin community answered were: 1. Why are 1-arm dumbbell rows programmed so frequently for the Limited Equipment Option on heavy days? 2. Favorite song to push through a tough workout? 3. In my experience who are the coolest CF Games athletes to hang out with? 4. Ways to improve your engine and push harder in a workout. 5. Why are Thrusters with 50 pound dumbbells "harder" than with a 115 pound barbell?

I could be leaner, but I'm not. An honest discussion of how I eat to balance fitness AND happiness. We talk about a simple way to identify real food vs processed foods.(Classic CrossFit stuff) Typical breakfasts, lunches and dinners are explained.

This is from the "Ask Me Anything" we host every Thursday in the Linchpin Athletics private track Facebook group. Questions/topics from the Linchpin community answered were: 1. Who was an influential role model or mentor in my life and what did I learn from them? 2. Should athletes over 35-40 years old attempt to learn technical movements like muscle-ups, handstand walking, etc? Why or why not? 3. What are the benefits of short sprint intervals, like the 100m dash? 4. What nutritional strategies have I experimented with and how do I currently eat?

How intensely should you workout? How does CrossFit define and measure intensity? Should you workout as hard as possible every day and end up in a pool of sweat on the floor?

This is from the May 28, 2020 "Ask Me Anything" we host every Thursday in the Linchpin Athletics private track Facebook group. Members submit questions and other members upvote them. The most popular ones get answered live each week. Questions/topics from the Linchpin community answered were: 1. Would I consider being an analyst for the 2020 CF Games in Aromas, CA.? 2. Should everyone do the barbell snatch? 3. How to do Intermittent Fasting and CrossFit. 4. How to stay motivated & consistent working out at home. 5. How to gain muscle mass. 6. Things to consider/change working out when you are 50+ years old.

A true story from a member is shared to help reinforce the importance of having a strong and supportive community. Also, the evolution of the Linchpin private track over the last 2+ years is discussed.

This is from the "Ask Me Anything" we host every Thursday in the Linchpin Athletics private track Facebook group. Members submit questions and other members upvote them. The most popular ones get answered live each week. Questions from the Linchpin community answered were: 1. How do you know if you are getting fitter? 2. If you had 2 extra hours per week to spend on fitness, what would you do? 3. What is CrossFit Health? 4. Why don't we bench press more? And other things.....

No barbell? No problem. With minimal gear, maximum fitness is possible. Our "Limited Equipment Option" provides a daily workout using dumbbells. This will not just maintain your fitness, it can INCREASE your fitness. The benefits of dumbbell training include by are not limited to variance, functionality, stabilization and breaking through plateaus. People all around the world were forced to stay home and workout due to COVID-19. If you ever have to "stay at home" in the future, make sure you have the gear needed to get fit, stay healthy and have fun.

The Sickness-Wellness-Fitness Continuum & COVID-19. We dive into a 2002 CrossFit Journal article entitled, "What is Fitness?". Four standards for evaluating fitness are defined. We discuss the 4th standard, called the "Sickness-Wellness-Fitness Continuum". We explain what this is, what it means, how to pursue it and why it is critical during a crisis like COVID-19.

Working long hours & only doing 3 workouts a week. We answer a question from the Linchpin community. One of our members works an irregular schedule on a 3-week rotation. Most of their days are 10 hour shifts with an hour commute to and from work. They also have 2 kids and countless other responsibilities demanded by life. They usually eat dinner around 9pm and get whatever sleep they can. They try to get in 3-4 workouts a week and want to know what is the best may to make such a difficult schedule work. We provide guidance and recommendations.

Workouts are not programmed for you to set a Personal Best. We provide a real life, true story of an athlete that did the workout "Randy" on 04.25.2020 and got his slowest time ever. A discussion of strategy, human behavior, expectations, and "why" workouts are programmed takes place to fill in the details of this story.

A question from the community is answered regarding if it is possible to be fit and healthy without squatting or hinging at the hip. The individual who asked the question suffers from intensely painful tendonitis. We discuss doing sled drags, pulls and other options. The essential nature of squatting and deadlifting is also covered. Lastly, some straight talk and tough love is given regarding some people's lack of motivation to workout now that most gyms are closed due to COVID-19.

In this episode we discuss how I made poor decisions during my early years of CrossFit regarding poor form and prioritizing getting a fast time. I use some workouts involving overhead squats to illustrate the point of attempting to move both well and quickly. However, when shoulder position goes from external rotation to internal rotation, the wise choice is to drop the barbell and recover...even though the clock keeps ticking. Poor movement is not CrossFit's fault, it is our own fault. Every time you begin a workout, you have decisions to make and items to prioritize. The smart, long term strategy should be to prioritize "how" you move, not "how fast you move". Mechanics, consistency and intensity is the established protocol for a reason...it's smart and it works. The choice is up to you.

To swear, or not to swear?...when public speaking. Does it matter is you use vulgarities? Does it affect your presentation and/or message? Does the audience find it engaging and funny, or distracting and unappealing? There are no single answers to these questions, but we explore them based on real life experience.

"The Fitness Stock Market". How to view your daily workouts as a long-term "investment" in your health and fitness. While stock market may go up or down on any given day, the goal is for the long term trend to go up and yield positive results. The same is true with assessing your fitness. How you are doing over the span of a few months is a better metric that any one singular workout. This topic is discussed to help provide nuance, context and perspective for athletes. We also talk about the difference between variance compared to working a specific weakness.

Mike Megrian is one of the owners & head coaches at CrossFit Woburn. He decided to use the Linchpin private track as programming at his gym. We discuss why he made this choice, how his trainers and athletes initially responded and how it has been going for more than 6 months. Mike's gym has been open for nearly 10 years and he has experimented with lots of different programming. He also shares a great story of one of his coaches putting this programming to the test at Wodapalooza 2020.

Does doing a workout "unbroken" matter? Does a workout ever need to be unbroken? Why or why not? Is this important or not? Real world examples are given. We also discuss understanding the "intent" of a workout so the athlete can make intelligent decisions if something needs to be modified due to gear, ability or environment.

How to do pull-ups with no pull-up bar & much more. We also discuss how to do the 03.18.2020 Linchpin workout of front squats, bar-facing burpees and toes-to-bar with literally zero equipment. A short talk about doing a workout "Not for time", as compared to doing it "For Quality" also takes place.

With many gyms closing because of COVID-19 we discuss how to workout whether you have a garage gym, limited equipment or literally no equipment. We also provide 50+ workouts that require little or no gear.

Do functional movements at LOW intensity have value? We answer a question from Ed, a member of the Linchpin community. He is 59 and has hurt his back, achilles and shoulder through mountain biking accidents. He has also put on 30 pounds of bad weight. Ed wants to know if doing the workouts with very minimal weight is still beneficial. We answer Ed's questions and we discuss scaling, injuries and how the choices you make early in life will come into play later in your life.

Is it okay to quit during a workout? The word "quit" has a negative connotation in our society, however, not all quitting is the same. We discuss "quitting" versus making an informed decision about what you do or don't want to pursue. Real life examples are provided from kid's sports, high school, Division 1 gymnastics, CrossFit and my time in the SEALs. Also covered is how "taking a break" from a certain activity is a smart thing to do before you get burned out. Taking breaks can be an intelligent decision and may help with long term compliance to any program, sport or activity.

If you can jump 2 inches off of the ground and move you hands...then why can't you do double-unders? We answer this through discussion of the 10 General Physical Skills from the October 2020 CF Journal article, "What is Fitness?". We talk about how some of the skills are organic, how others are neurological, and what that means. Training vs practice is covered, as well as why functional movements are challenging, yet essential.

Questions from a gym owner are answered: A gym owner's members want to learn the technique for kipping pull-ups, chest-to-bar pull-ups, snatching, clean & jerk, etc. With only an hour to use for class each day what is the best way to accomplish this? His members feel it is not enough time. The owner wants to know how to approach this moving forward and would having additional workshops and/or clinics a couple of times a month be beneficial? We talk through a class, using the workout "DT" as an example. Also discussed are ways to make the most of your warm-ups so that you are practicing skills at the same time...like, using the Burgener warm-up.

How to be amazing at your job. We discuss basic recommendations to be professional and competent, regardless of your chosen profession. The topics are simple, easy to do and profoundly impactful. The good news is you can start implementing them immediately!

Special Operations Selection & Ranger School...your olympic lifts will not save you. I answer a question from someone preparing for Special Forces selection. He asked if he should be spending more time in the gym. This question is answered and the discussion evolves into what actually matters & leads to success when the going gets tough.

SEAL training, Masters athletes & scaling. A shout out to the "Committed Club!", these are people who log at least 3 workouts a week. Scaling / modifying workouts for Masters athletes. Understanding scaling is a critical part of your long term fitness journey. I also share some stories from SEAL training and how those lessons apply to every day life.

"Relative Intensity"...discussed & explained. What is the definition of intensity & how is it measured? What is the difference between mathematical intensity & relative intensity? Contrary to popular belief, high intensity does not mean maximal intensity.

The Monday Monster Mash. What is it? Where did it come from? How to use it?

How to assess the "believability" of someone or something. Sometimes it is difficult to know who to listen to because of all the wanna-be, self-reported "experts" and useless noise on social media. We discuss now to "Believability weight your decision making", as stated by the billionaire investor, Ray Dalio in his book, "Principles". Also, the CF Journal article written by Jeff Glassman entitled "Conjecture, Hypothesis, Theory, Law" from 2007 is relevant and used to support the same concept.

Real life, real talk. 3 days of poor sleep & how if affected my workouts. Deadlifts were far less than I wanted, running was slower than usual and I significantly scaled the Hero workout "Nate". However, life goes on and fitness was still achieved.

Tips to improve your public speaking. We all engage in public speaking every day, whether we earn our living from it or not. In this episode I share some lessons I have learned over the years from my experience as a professional lecturer at roughly 200 CrossFit seminars as well as the live television broadcasts I've been a part of for ESPN and CBS.

The 3 types of questions. After lecturing at about 200 CrossFit seminars around the world and interacting with roughly 10,000 people in the audience, I noticed a pattern of questions. Not always, but often, it seemed questions could be lumped into 1 of 3 categories. We discuss this topic.

With the arrival of 2020 we discuss goal setting. I lay out 4 areas to focus on: Physical goals, Intellectual goals, Spiritual goals and Social goals. Tips are given to help achieve them, keep you on track and get you back on track if/when you slip. I did not create these 4 categories of goals, they just happen to serve me well so I wanted to share them.

The decisions you make in sports, the military or the gym to "not complain & just suck it up" may catch up with you later in life. Every time you walk into the gym or open the fridge you have a decision to make. Remove ego and make beneficial long term decisions.

We answer a question from the community. Mike G. is a member of the Linchpin private track and asked if there was value in attending a CrossFit Level 1 Seminar even if he does not have an interest in being a trainer or opening a gym.

A discussion on how to program workouts. We talk about movements, rep ranges, loadings, time domains and much more. Questions from the community are also answered.

Extra lifting is not what most people need to improve their fitness. We discuss the "Theoretical Hierarchy of the Development of an Athlete" from the 2002 article, "What is Fitness?". What people want and what they need are often not the same thing. Assess your strengths and weaknesses honestly so you can make informed decisions on how to improve.

Just because you can do something does not mean you should. The definition of Fitness compared to the definition of Health.

Why it is okay not to time every workout you do. Tips for maintaining a solid pace in workouts. When and how to experiment with pacing.

I completely discuss all the benefits of the Linchpin private track for individuals and gym owners. A look into the nutrition track also takes place.

Part 2 of a 12 part series dissecting the CF Linchpin 12 Tests. In this episode we dive into Linchpin Test 2. The Linchpin 12 Tests, aka, the Dirty Dozen are 12 benchmark workouts we created to help athletes and coaches assess their fitness across a broad range of movements, loadings, rep ranges and time domains. All 12 Tests can be found on our website at www.CrossFitLinchpin.com I also answer a couple of nutrition questions, one specifically about the Zone diet.

I revisit an article I wrote in 2015 entitled "A Reflection on 10 years of CrossFit". The article lists 10 lessons learned. I review the article to see if I would change anything now that another 5 years have passed.

Questions from the community are answered: 1. What is the best way to get back into working out after traveling, specifically international travel? 2. What is the best way to get back into working out after being sick? -Tips for staying on track while traveling, staying in hotels and recovering from illness are provided.

We answer questions submitted from the internet: "How do you recognize the difference between your training helping you vs hurting you?" and "If a lack of strength is holding an athlete back, should they keep the rx'd loading & scale the reps, or is it better to scale the loading & keep the rx'd reps to maintain intensity?". And of course, we also went down a couple of wonderful rabbit holes.

Part 1 of a 12 part series dissecting the CF Linchpin 12 Tests. In this episode we dive into Test 1. The Linchpin 12 Tests, aka, the Dirty Dozen are 12 benchmark workouts we created to help athletes and coaches assess their fitness across a broad range of movements, loadings, rep ranges and time domains. All 12 Tests can be found on our website at www.CrossFitLinchpin.com

We discuss the 10 General Physical Skills from the foundational CrossFit Journal Article entitled "What is Fitness?", from October 2002. This topic was inspired by a question from a member of the Linchpin community who wanted to know about the various aspects we hope to develop when we work out.

Some people consider "Scaling" a bad word. Is it? Should another term replace the word "Scaling"? Should loadings be assigned to workouts, or should we only use words like "light, medium or heavy" and let people choose for themselves?

Should photos & videos of "less than ideal form" be reposted on social media? Why or why not?