Wrists and forearms can get very tight and uncomfortable after grip intensive work like rowing or high volume gymnastics. Jeremy Collum of Dark Horse Massage shows you how to use a lacrosse ball to mobilize your wrists and forearms. You can do this after or before a workout to make your next workout much, much better.

Your Comfort Zone

I love this graphic. Of all the things floating around the internet, this holds true. Things that are easy are not rewarding. Anything worth doing will be uncomfortable – health, wellness, relationships, selflessness, service to others, friendship. You name it. This does not mean that all uncomfortable things are worth doing, however.

Put into practice

Where I do take contention with this graphic is in it’s application. It’s often cited as the impetus for monumental, momentary change. Of drastic discomfort.

I know because I’m guilty. I used this mantra as an excuse to go traipsing all over the world doing things that I perceived as outside my comfort zone. Some sort of self-serving pilgrimage, seeking
out discomfort for it’s own sake – never reflecting inward.

An amendment.

Inward, lasting change will not be found by going on some elaborate international pilgrimage. It won’t be found by eating only spinach this week. It won’t be found by doing 15 training sessions this week. It WILL be found by a series of small, seemingly insignificant decisions made every day. Decisions that are just slightly outside your comfort zone. Deciding today that you will not allow an external factor to dictate your happiness in ONE instance. Then, next week, we’ll do that twice.

Maybe you’ll pack a gym bag the night before. Don’t even come to the gym, but just commit to that one, small habit that is outside your norm. In a year, you’ll look back on all those small dots outside your comfort zone and see meaningful, sustainable change.

I’m with the band

All you need is a band and a rig to have a great mobilization session.

You can become more flexible and resilient in just 10 minutes a day.

Here are a handful of stretches you can use to work out all your trouble spots:

The secret to mobilizing? Doing it.

You don’t need it till you need it.

I first heard the term “lagging indicator” sitting in a Poli Sci lecture hall. Used in economics, a Lagging Indicator is “A measurable economic factor that changes after the economy has already begun to follow a particular pattern or trend.” Most economists will say that a president, party, or congressional term’s economic changes will not have effect on economic health or detriment for up to 16 years after they’re in place.

Your health is a lagging indicator.

Humans are uniquely suited for adaptation. From frozen tundras to scorching deserts, our ancestors have always found a way to survive. Not only can we adapt to harsh conditions, but we can also adapt to sedentary conditions. Could I have a successful career, family, and wealth without ever achieving full range of motion about a joint? Of course I could. Could I navigate my environment with the use of modern technology while being morbidly obese? Absolutely.

But what kind of life do you want?

Yes, you can treat yourself terribly and potentially not immediately see the effects of your actions. Perhaps you’ll be one of the lucky ones to have employer-sponsored healthcare until you reach Medicare eligibility and never see the financial ramifications of ignoring preventative healthcare.

You may be one of the “my uncle smoked and drank everyday and lived ’til his 90’s.” Statistically, you probably won’t.

One thing we know for sure: Life is best lived moving functionally, eating healthfully, and in good company. There’s no rolling the dice on that lagging indicator.

Snatching in conditioning

The snatch is a complicated movement that deserves respect and takes a lot (a lot, a lot, a lot) of practice. With patience and humility, you can improve your snatch.

The snatch can be an effective conditioning tool in CrossFit.

In this video Coach Kyle lays out a template of techniques to improve your snatch in a conditioning setting. They are:

• Beginner: a traditional snatch to focus on proper technique and enhance carry over to the strength and power movement (low hips, includes jump)
• Novice: “easier” set up position to increase cycle speed with aggressive jump (high hips, includes jump)
• Intermediate: a muscle version of the movement to increase speed (low hips, muscle snatch)
• Advanced: a muscle version of the movement with high hips in the starting position

You will never perfect your snatch, but it can always improve.

#TBT: Set goals that work for you

We invite you to sign up for a goal-setting session with Coach Matt ASAP and check out these old school videos of Matt waxing philosophically about goals. He’s been talking about making goals work for you for years, and now it’s your chance to break off a piece of the magic.

Use practical goals to become more fit, lose weight and feel better.

You can learn more about the goal setting sessions on The Hill Radio.

You can learn about Coach Matt’s goals here.

You can sign up for your first goal-setting session here. 

“Just take a step through the door.”

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve said that, I’d never work another day in my life. My favorite thing about CrossFit is that, if you take one step through the door, our coaches can provide you with world class fitness. Maybe it’ll add 20 years to your life. Maybe it’ll add life to your years.

But why is it so hard?

I’m not going to lie – it’s frustrating. For less than 5 bucks a day & 5 hours a week, world class fitness, strength, mobility, longevity, networking, endurance, social interaction, fun, friends, and events are all available. It’s a value proposition I never anticipated defending to such infinite lengths.

But then I had a thought: What’s my door? Instead of beating this drum of “just step in the door,” how about I look in the mirror at my “just step in the door”?

“When you write a book…”

I’ll be honest, I didn’t even hear the rest of his sentence. Several months ago I was at a conference in Chicago when someone I greatly respect in fitness & business said this to me. I didn’t hear the rest of his sentence because I had already begun my list of reasons why that would be impossible:

• Don’t you know how scatter-brained I am?
• I’ve haven’t gone 120 seconds without my phone ringing, text message, Facebook message, or email since opening my affiliate.
• Where would I do this?
• How would I organize it?
• Why me? No one gives a damn what I have to say.

All reasons I couldn’t step through the door. It’s not hard to hammer out a couple hundred words. This took me 8 minutes.

So here it is, publicly. My door. I’ll hammer out something simple, stupid, or otherwise every week and share it with you. Not working toward any grand scheme, but just walking through the door.

What’s your door? Perhaps it’s the gym. Perhaps it’s saying “hi” to someone. Perhaps it’s packing a lunch tonight before bed.

Whatever it is, let’s both take a small step through that door.

Matt.