I’m knocking on the door of 30 hours of goal setting.

Everyone’s goals fell overwhelmingly into one of three categories: Skill Acquisition, Body Composition Change, and adopting productive habits around health. I’ve written, podcasted, and video’d ad nauseam on that last point, so figured it’d be a good time to chat about the first two.

Skill Acquisition – Generally speaking, everyone would like to to acquire some new skill – double-unders, pull-ups, handstands…and the list goes on. Here’s the problem: when the rubber meets the road, it’s a win to just walk in the door. Most of us are so exhausted at the end of the day that we just want a coach to tell us what to do. It’s much more difficult to expend that mental energy for 5 minutes a day on a pull-up program.

Body Composition Change – You’ve probably heard Coach Josh say at some point: “Intensity Drives Adaptation.” With intensity enters time – on several levels. Your intensity will differ at 2 minutes and 20 minutes. Your strength gains will differ by allocating 15 minutes vs. allocating 50 minutes to hypertrophy training. But, you don’t need to overthink it. There are 4 basic “Time Zones” you work in: 1) 2-6 minutes, 2) 8-15, 3) 20+, and 4) Strength Training. By focusing in on each of these adaptations, you’ll see an accelerated positive body composition change. Furthermore, time spent in class on one adaptation – by nature (remember: time is a zero sum game) – will reduce time in others.

For the next 4 weeks, you’ll notice a slightly different class structure. This is intentional.

More is not better. Better is Better.

STOP! – Read Part I here: http://crossfitmemorialhill.com/im-proud-of-you-pt-1/

I’d like to say that this is the end of the story, but life and mental illness are more complicated than that.

I finished my residency successfully, but lost the time and energy to continue CrossFIt. I gained back the weight I’d lost and then some. The physical endurance I’d developed failed. But I did not forget the great feelings that I’d had at CrossFit. After I graduated and moved to Kansas City, I started looking for an affiliate right away. Matt Scanlon emailed me back almost immediately.  I started out with Fundamentals and gradually transitioned to regular classes. I formed a tight bond with a few fellow athletes and made fast friends with many more. I hurt myself—walking across the gym floor, of all things—and had surgery and spent months recovering. People rallied around me, celebrating small successes. Kyle helped me learn to get off the floor with my revamped knee. Brianna checked in regularly. Josh coached me back into a squat. I started learning to pace myself, to control my breathing. I competed in The Hill Games. I hit PRs and increased my work capacity. I started running again. Most days were good days. I learned to be more vulnerable. I learned how to be strong. I participated in WODs to raise awareness, to raise money, to raise spirits and found a sense of purpose and meaning beyond myself. I was proud of myself and the progress I was making.

Then one day I noticed it: the fatigue, the bleakness, a little less motivation to go to CrossFit, a lot less joy while I was there.

Unlike the episodes before, I was able to identify the trouble myself right away. My depression often manifests itself initially in physical and cognitive ways. These were easier to identify as I was more physically active. I made a plan, setting tiny goals for myself. I reached out for help—to my doctor and to my community. I rallied the troops.  I called friends. I emailed my coaches. I spent time with family. TheHill was a strong safety net of peers and I used it. I asked for encouragement and accountability and I got it. Coaches and fellow athletes called and texted, agreed to meet me at the door, gave me extra hugs and high fives, touched base frequently about how things were going. In a thousand little ways, they kept me buoyant. I was able to catch this episode of depression quickly and turn it around. And I believe the community and activity at CrossFit Memorial Hill played a big role.

I don’t mean to oversimplify things—it continues to take a combination of medication, therapy, and lifestyle modification to manage my depression. While some people have a single episode in their lifetime, for many of us, depression is a chronic disease. But the ugly truth is that most of us struggling with this illness—a treatable, manageable conditions—don’t get the help we need. Sometimes it’s lack of recognition on our part. Often it is unwarranted shame. Shame that we feel sad when we SHOULD feel grateful. We are gripped by anxiety, when really, life SHOULD be going pretty well. We are reluctant to share these feelings with anyone else because we think that it makes us weak. We ignore the reality that depression is a condition that develops much like diabetes: there are some genetic components, some life circumstances, some luck. Just like diabetes, depression can be managed a variety of ways: with life style modfiications, with medication. Just like diabetes, some depression is easier to manage than others. And just like diabetes, there should be no same in acknowledging depression or its treatment.

Much research has indicated a positive role for exercise and social support for both protecting against and treating depression and anxiety.

For me, CrossFit has become an important part of my mental wellness. I still can’t do a handstand. I’m still having trouble getting in for the WOD every day, and sometimes more than just “real life” gets in the way. But things are getting better. I recently went to Saturday morning WOD. I eyed our equipment set-up and reviewed our scaling plan. “I think we’ll be okay.“ I said, cautiously. “Are you kidding me?” My partner said. “We’re going to be awesome. We ARE awesome.” Yes, we are. I pick my friends well. High-five, sister. I’m proud of you.

I share my story as one of your fellow athletes and peers. I seek to open the dialogue about and decrease the stigma around mental illness diagnosis and treatment. While community support and exercise such as CrossFit can play a tremendous role in supporting mental wellness, there is no substitute for evaluation and management by a licensed medical professional. More information about signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses can be found at the CDC website. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Snatch Grip Essentials

Find a grip that is safe and works for your levers.

We’re thrilled to bring you another series by our very own Christina Crumpecker, MD. For those that missed it, Christi brought us “Finishing Last” – a 10 part series documenting her beginnings in CrossFit – a story many of us can relate to. In this series, she tackles a very real issue – mental health. As part of an ongoing dialogue at The Hill, this is a theme we aim to de-mystify and de-stigmatize in the coming year. Please join me in thanking Christi for her fabulous writing, courageous exploration, and candor.

“Watch me.” Jay kicked up into a handstand and took a couple of wobbly steps across Meg’s room.

He was not a small guy, though he was significantly more fit then when I’d last seen him. He had driven more than 6 hours to do party tricks for me. Because I’d asked him to. I pick my friends well.

Just a few days before, I’d started a month-long leave of absence from medical residency. The combination of unrelenting stress, sleep deprivation, unhealthy life habits, and a personal predisposition had led me straight into an episode of major depression. Though I appreciated the opportunity to put my training on hold to take care of myself, the sudden lack of structure left me reeling. It was a cold and lonely December. I moved in with Meg who made sure that I ate and slept. I set an appointment with my primary care doctor. I started medication and therapy. I called Jay.

I was gloomy and irritable at best, paralyzed by grief and anxiety at worst.

Jay coaxed me into taking long walks with him in the brisk afternoons. He had graduated from residency the year before and understood the challenges I struggled with. And now here he was, walking on his hands. He had started something called CrossFit. I’d heard of it before and knew it wasn’t for me—my mental image, beyond the handstands, was of people running with sandbags on their shoulders and flipping over gigantic tires, when I could barely heave myself off the couch to take a shower. Bu something captivated me about Jay’s physical changes, his confidence, his calm strength. His walking on his hands. Jay found a CrossFit for me in Columbia, MO. He cajoled me into registering for the On Ramp. “You can’t feel any worse than you do now,” he said. I’d like to say that walking into CrossFit Fringe was an act of great courage, but it was simply the path of least resistance for a woman who felt she couldn’t fight anymore,

CrossFit was everything I feared—full of college athletes in their off-season, booming music, people so cheerful and friendly that they just seemed to highlight my misery.

I moved at about half the speed of the other On Ramp participants and took twice as long to learn new skills. I was so far behind on the warm up runs that they sent a second coach to trudge through the cold and dark with me. He kept up an encouraging prattle. I hated it. But yet, I kept going. It gave a rhythm to my days.  I was a mascot of sorts for my class—finishing last in highly-scaled versions of the WODs. They cheered me on enthusiastically. I would pause, fighting to breathe, my single thought being “I don’t want to die.” I had been reduced to this.  Lying on a gym floor, gasping, definitely sure that I wanted to keep living. Somehow the combination of physical exertion and camaraderie sparked something for me. I began to look forward to the total commitment and utter exhaustion the WODs brought. I forgot my psychological misery in the midst of physical torment. The cheering seemed to change tone, too—the sweaty high-fives emphasizing that I was capable and improving. A coach caught me on the way to the car one night. “I’m proud of you,” he said. The fog of depression lifted while I was at the gym and lasted for hours afterwards, eventually stretching into the next day.

I improved enough to continue my medical training.

Stay tuned for part II next week…

I share my story as one of your fellow athletes and peers. I seek to open the dialogue about and decrease the stigma around mental illness diagnosis and treatment. While community support and exercise such as CrossFit can play a tremendous role in supporting mental wellness, there is no substitute for evaluation and management by a licensed medical professional. More information about signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses can be found at the NIMH website. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Better Know a Coach – Sabrena from TheHillKC on Vimeo.

Freestyle mobilizations

Make more of your mobilizations by doing more.

Rigorous Honesty

I’ve co-opted this term (and, frankly, quite a bit of the ideas found in here) from the Recovery community. When applied to recovery, Rigorous Honesty is introspective. For our purposes, I’d like to use the idea as a way of determining what it actually takes to _________. 

We’re in the middle of Resolution Season.

I don’t want to poo poo resolutions. It’s probably become just as popular in this industry to prey on resolutions as it is to crap on them. My goal is to do neither. My goal here is to really evaluate what it takes to achieve those resolutions – to approach those resolutions with rigorous honesty. Let’s do an experiment:

Want to go the CrossFit Games Regionals? Ask those athletes what their days look like – multiple workouts, family sacrifices, careers put on hold, and very specific dietary needs. We haven’t even touched on genetic potential.

What about a more realistic resolution we’ll see a lot of this year? Getting in shape.

So, what does this look like? Probably working out 4-5 times/week, eating reasonable food, and exercising a minimal amount of discipline and consistency. Will work be busy? You bet. Will family get in the way? For sure. Will you get fired for working out? Of course not (if so, you need a new job). Will your family enjoy the new, vibrant, in shape you? Probably so.

My point is this: we’re very quick to make declarations of changes without making declarations of process. The mundane stuff. The things you do even though you don’t “feel” like it. Because – and I PROMISE you this: In 8 weeks you will not feel like sticking to your resolution but you can most certainly be honest about and live the process of your Resolution.

The secret to the burpee: use your hips.

Please don’t join a gym this New Year.

Alright, alright. That was a cheap ploy to grab your attention. But, seriously, let’s explore this a bit.

Last year, NPR’s Planet Money put the fitness industry on blast.

Here it is in a nutshell:

• Most gyms can only service around 5% of their membership. In other words – if you don’t show up, you’re their best customer
• Gyms prey on New Year’s Resolutions to attract people who are motivated to sign a contract, but won’t stick around for the duration.
• If people actually went to gyms, they’d be way more expensive. Like 20x more expensive.

Yes, there are plenty of gyms out there that are co-invested in your success. You may not be ready to join one. That’s cool.

So, I’ll make you a deal.

We’re constantly trying to change the face of our industry. We despise long-term gym contracts and know many people will get wrangled into one at the first of the year.

So, we’re offering FREE workouts. It’s simple: Couch to CrossFit is a free, 12 workout program that can be completed by anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Our challenge is that you complete the 12 workouts, then join a gym. You’ll probably start to see some results and get past that initial motivation hump. Then – if you choose to sign a contract somewhere – you’ll at least have some momentum behind you AND some workouts to do. Cheers.

Try Couch 2 CrossFit Free