0:05

Hey everybody , welcome to the Herdfit Podcast

0:07

with Dr Sam Rhee and myself , coach

0:10

David Syvertsen . His podcast is

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aimed at helping anyone and everyone looking

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to enhance their healthy lifestyle through fitness

0:16

, nutrition and , most importantly

0:18

, mindset . All

0:22

right , welcome back to the Herdfit Podcast . I'm Coach

0:24

David Syvertsen . I'm here with my co-host , dr

0:26

and Coach Sam Rhee , and

0:28

we both just got done with our Sunday morning

0:30

training session . I'm not going to talk to Sam

0:33

about his workout so that he doesn't get mad at me as

0:35

we start off this

0:37

wonderful podcast . This morning we

0:40

just wrapped up the 2024

0:42

CrossFit Open and next week we

0:44

are going to kind

0:46

of reflect on the open , the workouts , the

0:48

overall program and macro , micro , and

0:51

then what you can do , what

0:53

you can take from that open into

0:55

your next 11 months of training . If

0:57

the open is a goal for yours which

0:59

we are pretty adamant that it

1:01

should be at least a little voice in

1:03

your head throughout the year in terms of

1:06

planning out for your goals

1:08

to 2025 CrossFit Open . So

1:10

we will kind of help you guide you in terms of what

1:12

to take from the open in your training . But

1:14

I want to get something out there first and that

1:16

is in regard to the CrossFit quarter

1:18

finals . We are essentially

1:21

three and a half weeks away , if

1:23

I have my dates correct when

1:25

this comes out , and I

1:27

want to talk about how

1:29

to prepare for the quarter finals

1:31

, and I think it's really important

1:34

for a couple of reasons

1:36

. Number one there

1:38

are a lot of people

1:40

that are doing this for the first time because

1:42

the CrossFit HQ

1:45

expanded quarter finals

1:47

from 10% to 25%

1:49

and pretty

1:51

much last year we had 24

1:54

people . This year we have , at CrossFit bison

1:56

, 73 athletes that

1:58

qualified for quarters . I

2:00

don't know , actually I know for a fact not all of them

2:02

will be doing it . A few have already told me they won't

2:05

be doing it , but you

2:07

are talking about times three . The

2:09

amount of people that qualified is times

2:11

three and just this gym alone . So

2:13

the vast majority

2:16

of these athletes 50 plus have

2:18

never done this before . And I'm

2:20

the one telling them some of them , hey , you made it . And they're like

2:22

wait , what ? What did I make ? What is

2:24

it ? So

2:27

? With that , I have gotten a lot of questions

2:29

ready . What do I do ? How do I get ready ? What should I do ? Should I do

2:31

actual workouts ? Should I do two days ? Should

2:34

I work on my muscle ups , my pistols and heavy lifting

2:37

. I want to make sure that we don't get overwhelmed by it , so

2:39

I'm just going to give some pretty clear cut what

2:41

to expect , what you can do , what you should

2:43

do , what you should not do in

2:45

the next three , three and a half weeks preparing

2:48

. So , sam , this is your . Let's

2:50

see if I can do the math real quick . I think this

2:52

is your fifth next stage

2:55

that you made so it used to be the age online qualifier

2:57

, then it turned into quarter finals . No

2:59

matter what , you've been in it five years in a row

3:01

.

3:03

I made it by the skin of my teeth this year

3:05

again . So that's , by the way , sam

3:07

, to you I think you were

3:09

what top what 200

3:11

this year , right around it , yeah , right

3:13

around it In the world . So that's pretty impressive , congratulations

3:16

, thank you . You mean I'm going

3:18

to have to learn how to handstand walk in the next three

3:20

weeks , because I don't know if I'm going to be able to do that . You're going

3:22

to have to give me some guidance on that one .

3:25

Yeah , there's

3:28

. This could go in so many different directions

3:30

and I want to try and not to , because

3:32

it's an overwhelming concept

3:35

for a lot of people to take in , and

3:37

so I'm really going to kind of take you step by

3:39

step what I think you can do Now . Hey

3:41

, if you're listening and you haven't made quarter finals , there's

3:43

two things you can do with this , All right . One

3:46

maybe you will someday , Maybe you want to someday

3:48

, and the sooner you get this information into

3:50

your head , the better . Two you

3:52

might have some friends that are have made

3:54

quarter finals and you're going to try to support them , or people

3:56

from your gym or your coach , right , People that

3:59

you know take this serious and they want to put a lot into

4:01

it . I think , as a friend , as

4:03

a community member , it helps you

4:06

, help them to know what's going

4:08

on in their head and what's coming their way , Because

4:11

if you're on the outside of it and you don't care

4:13

that much or just haven't really put

4:16

a lot of attention on it , you might view this as

4:18

like hey , this is not a big deal To some . This is a very

4:20

big deal , I promise you discussions I've

4:23

had over the past few years . This weekend

4:25

is in the CrossFit calendar

4:27

. The biggest deal . To a lot of

4:29

people , this is like . This is their world series

4:31

. This is it . This is what they've trained for

4:33

for 11 months . So I think it's

4:35

a really important for you to be cognizant of what's

4:38

coming their way and then , frankly , you

4:40

might sign up for a competition , a local comp

4:42

, someday . What

4:44

I'm going to tell these quarter finalists to do in the next

4:46

three and a half weeks is very similar

4:48

to what I would tell someone that's a month

4:50

away from their first ever CrossFit competition . So there's

4:52

a lot you can take away from this . So , number one

4:54

, what is your goal , athlete

4:57

? What is your goal ? Do

4:59

you want to have fun ? This was

5:01

the goal I wanted to make quarter finals . Do

5:04

you have a certain threshold ? Are you trying

5:06

to hit top 100 , top 200 , top half

5:08

, top 25% of this group ? Whatever ? Are

5:11

you trying to make semifinals ? You

5:13

need to know that answer yesterday

5:16

. I don't want you to think about

5:18

it for a week or two . You need to

5:20

know it yesterday . That's a way of saying

5:23

you need to already know . So right now , if

5:25

you're listening to this , if you're a quarter

5:27

finalist and you have no idea

5:29

what your goal is to get out of quarter finals

5:31

. Figure it out ASAP

5:33

, because that is going to dictate pretty

5:36

much every answer to every

5:38

question I'm going to ask you within this podcast

5:40

. So let's talk , Sam

5:42

and I . I think that

5:45

it would be smart for us to reflect on our

5:48

answers to these questions so

5:50

that those out there can

5:52

get that

5:54

perspective and it might help shape theirs

5:56

if they don't know . Sam , what is your goal for

5:59

quarter finals ?

6:00

My goal is not your goal for sure

6:02

. My guess

6:04

would be your goal is to make semis . Mine is

6:06

. First of all , I just am

6:08

recovering right now from doing

6:10

the open for three weeks . That was stressful

6:13

. Yep , I'm sorry I

6:15

forgot how bad five weeks

6:17

was , because even three weeks now is

6:20

rough . The adrenaline , the

6:22

thinking about it , the worry

6:24

, the really pushing myself , optimizing myself

6:26

for that workout . After the third workout

6:28

I was just like ooh , and I just took a big

6:31

step back and just even

6:33

now , thinking about quarter finals , I'm like oh my God

6:35

, that's coming up . And

6:37

I was like , do I even want to think about it

6:39

right now ? And I'm like , all right , I'll start thinking . But

6:42

for me , every year quarter finals has been

6:44

these have been

6:46

really challenging tests . I mean tests

6:48

that have been sometimes

6:51

beyond my physical capability , and

6:54

so I realize that I

6:56

don't have designs , other

6:58

than maybe the first year I was doing it

7:01

. I don't have designs in making it farther

7:04

or further . I can't remember

7:06

which one is the right way to say it , but I will say

7:08

you're just talking to a cross-exchange , I'll believe

7:10

whatever you say , doctor . I

7:13

do want to enjoy myself , I

7:15

want to stay safe and

7:18

I want to test myself , because

7:20

sometimes I have surprised myself

7:22

on some of these workouts and I've been like I did a lot better

7:24

than I thought I was going to do , and

7:27

so I feel like , especially

7:30

this year more than any other , I'm

7:33

going to see some things that

7:35

I hope will be

7:37

in my wheelhouse , that I can really challenge

7:39

myself or do something

7:41

that I haven't done before . After

7:45

a couple of years , you figure out some stuff a little bit

7:47

and maybe

7:49

I can make myself proud

7:51

a little bit .

7:53

So Sam's in that state of mind

7:55

and situation within the sport

7:57

that out of the 73

8:00

people in our gym , I would say 60 plus

8:02

are in that spot where they

8:04

don't really have the goal

8:06

of advancing to the semifinal or games

8:08

level . All right , that again got realistically

8:11

. There's probably only 2%

8:14

of people that are in quarterfinals that have a

8:17

credible shot at that . So what do you do ? And

8:20

I think what he said is perfect Make

8:22

it a goal to do all the workouts so

8:24

, a don't get hurt , and

8:27

we'll talk about how to do that , how to avoid

8:29

that . B if you

8:31

get to do all these quarterfinal workouts

8:33

, that means you are a fit

8:35

mother effort . Because

8:37

if you look at some of the history of quarterfinal

8:40

workouts , there are multiple

8:42

workouts where the first rep of that workout

8:44

a lot of people cannot do this

8:47

year is different in that the age

8:49

group workouts masters and teens are

8:51

the same workouts as the Open Division . So

8:54

the workouts that Tia's doing to

8:56

make it to the semifinals we're doing , you

8:59

know , and it is crazy

9:01

, and

9:03

I don't ever want to put pressure on

9:06

personal relationships that I have with people

9:08

that are in CrossFit that already know

9:10

what the workouts are , and

9:12

I would never want to ask them something

9:14

that is not already publicly out

9:16

there . I just I would never . A that's cheating

9:19

, and B I don't want to make them feel uncomfortable

9:21

. So one thing I did find out

9:23

, that is out there Dave Castro was on Savon

9:25

last night , was saying the same exact thing . Boss has said this

9:27

in the past , but maybe you guys haven't listened

9:29

. So here you go . I was told that the

9:31

workouts are going to be affiliate friendly

9:34

. Good , and they can

9:36

be done in class settings Great

9:38

, all right , so that does to me . There are

9:40

a few things in that that make me think we

9:42

won't see a GHT sit up , rope

9:45

climb maybe , but I am thinking about affiliates

9:47

that have classes . There

9:50

just won't be that many gyms that can do

9:52

that . So don't take my word for it

9:54

. But those are a couple of things that , if

9:56

you really understand logistics mapping

9:58

things out multiple people in a class

10:00

in a gym doing the same workout I

10:04

think you can start to kind of get a picture of what

10:06

won't be in

10:08

the quarter finals . But

10:10

you have to keep in mind what I just said earlier

10:12

Tia is doing these workouts

10:15

. The semis . Crossfit wants Tia

10:17

in the semifinals . They can't

10:19

. I just told Rams in this I'd be stressed

10:22

out programming these because I wouldn't want to make

10:24

it so affiliate friendly

10:26

that some 10%

10:29

or somehow got in front of the

10:31

top 1% because it wasn't heavy

10:33

enough , it wasn't high , skilled enough . So I think

10:35

one thing programming wise , to expect

10:37

I'm going to tie this back to can you get all these done

10:39

is there's

10:42

probably going to be multiple workouts

10:44

where the difficulty aggressively

10:48

ascends in the workout , meaning

10:51

like a cutoff a cutoff , or

10:53

it starts at this weight and then it

10:55

goes to that weight and most of us can't do that

10:57

weight Did you see that where the

10:59

10%ers went above the

11:02

games , athletes and the open workouts

11:05

, there were a few right , there were a few

11:07

high like scorers

11:10

out there that were , and I think the athletes

11:12

took it a little less seriously . Yeah , I

11:14

think part of it is not every games athlete goes after

11:16

these open workouts with full aggression , but

11:18

they have to for these quarterfinals . For quarterfinals

11:21

there's a lot less marks Like that . Yeah , you're

11:23

at the right . They have to peak , basically , at quarterfinals

11:25

. The top of the top can probably

11:27

peak at semifinals , like Noah Olson

11:29

. I remember last year he did all the quarterfinal

11:31

workouts with them 24 hour period and that's

11:34

still one first place . So

11:36

to me that's not peaking , that's just like . He's just really fit

11:38

. But yeah , if you're kind of like on

11:40

the bubble semifinalists or on the bubble even

11:42

games athlete that is expected to make some eyes

11:44

, there needs to be workouts

11:46

where they separate themselves , and the

11:48

best way to separate themselves , in my opinion , is

11:51

you ascend weights deeper into the workout to

11:53

the point where a lot of us just can't do it anymore . You

11:56

ascend gymnastics throughout the workout . So you

11:58

start off with pull ups , chest bar , ring , muscle ups right or

12:02

handstand pushups , strict handstand pushups , wall facing

12:04

handstand pushups or ascending

12:06

reps . That is something that I've

12:09

always noticed over the year . The best

12:11

athletes like let's say it's

12:13

, let's create a workout three , six

12:15

, nine , 12 , 15 , 18 , 21 , strict

12:17

handstand pushups , heavy dead lifts when

12:20

we can all start it , you know . But

12:22

you get to that set of nine , 12 , 15 , we're all

12:24

like , okay , one or two at a time , they're unbroken

12:26

still . So those are things I think

12:28

we can expect to see , and I think that is

12:30

going to tie into . We will

12:32

likely have a larger capability

12:35

of doing all these workouts , at

12:37

least starting them . Yeah , that's what I mean . I

12:40

mean , we've seen this in the past , sam , I don't know

12:42

if you remember . There have been multiple quarterfinal

12:44

workouts where it started off

12:46

with a 185 , 125 snatch , yeah

12:49

, or overhead squat , yeah , overhead squat , yeah

12:51

. And people just can't do it . Yeah , I was like

12:53

what ? Yeah , I think

12:55

a strength lift one year was an overhead squat . We had some athletes

12:57

in this gym that can't overhead

12:59

squat literally at all , so

13:01

they didn't get to do the workout . Then they're like screw

13:04

this , I'm out , or they run the risk of getting

13:06

seriously hurt . So I think that's

13:08

a great goal to hey

13:10

, can you do all these workouts ? Another reason why

13:13

I like that workout or like

13:15

that goal . In

13:17

my opinion , the quarterfinal workouts are

13:19

going to give you a much more accurate

13:21

standing on where you stand

13:24

in the sport . I see Open

13:26

kinda , but the credibility

13:28

of these tests , with these judges , with

13:31

this difficulty , I think you're gonna

13:33

get a really good gauge and I really want people that

13:35

are in quarterfinals to get that .

13:38

What is your goal in quarters ?

13:40

So my goal would be make semi-finals

13:42

. So I think most age groups , I think it's top

13:44

200 in the world advance to the next stage and

13:47

you got a shot . I got a shot which

13:49

adds a layer of stress to it , and

13:52

there's gonna be a few people in the gym that need

13:54

to do this , and this is what I'm gonna get into on the next

13:56

part of prepping

13:58

for quarterfinals Mapping

14:00

out your week , okay For

14:02

that week , and I'll tie into

14:05

if you're pursuing semi-finals . This is gonna be pretty

14:07

important , okay . So what is this

14:09

week ? Like everyone , we , I believe

14:11

I actually don't know this for a fact , but in the past we

14:13

get the workouts on Monday or

14:16

we used to get floor plans . Is it Wednesday

14:18

or Monday that we're gonna get these ? Well , we got floor

14:20

plans on Mondays and then they would release the workouts

14:22

Wednesday . So it's possible we won't see the workouts to

14:24

Wednesday . I see it used to be

14:26

Thursday , so they're giving us a

14:29

day early , okay , and

14:31

now they're saying the date ends

14:34

on Monday , so that's

14:36

an extra day . So this is now two extra

14:38

days of quarterfinals , okay

14:40

, and I think

14:43

the first , most important thing

14:45

that people need to know , especially if you're at a gym

14:47

where a lot of people have qualified . You

14:49

need to figure out with your coach , with

14:51

the owner of the gym , what is the

14:53

schedule going to be , because

14:56

, as many people have

14:58

advanced to quarterfinals , the

15:00

gym's still operating , we still

15:03

have classes . The vast majority of those

15:05

gym did not qualify . We're not going to push

15:07

them to the side because you made quarterfinals

15:09

. So that

15:11

needs to be kind of put out there

15:13

. If you're an owner and a coach or you're in charge of that stuff

15:15

, you need to get that stuff out ASAP Because

15:18

, especially dealing with people

15:20

that have kids , they need to know now

15:22

what their schedule's gonna be like . And jobs

15:24

, yeah , exactly jobs . So

15:27

let's pretend we know this just

15:29

based on history . There's probably gonna be five workouts , maybe

15:32

six because of the extra day . It's

15:35

likely they're gonna give submission windows , meaning

15:37

you have to have the first two workouts done , for

15:40

example , by Friday noon

15:42

or by , let's say , thursday night

15:45

, and then you have to have the next two

15:47

workouts done by Saturday night and then

15:49

the next two workouts done by Monday night . That

15:51

is what my guess would be for

15:53

the quarterfinal period . Maybe that won't be the

15:56

case , I don't know . But now

15:58

that you know that , I think

16:00

you as an athlete , you need to figure out

16:02

in that five day window how to get to the gym

16:04

, probably four days Now

16:07

. Can you just show up whenever you want ? You

16:09

can't why ? Because you need

16:12

an actual registered judge . So

16:14

here at Bison we're telling these guys tonight

16:16

on our Zoom call that made it . If

16:18

you want to participate in quarter-finals you

16:20

have to pass the judges course and it's

16:23

not for any reason other than we got to help each other

16:25

out . We don't have enough people in this gym that can judge

16:27

73 athletes , six workouts

16:29

that's over 300 workouts

16:32

that need to be judged .

16:32

You're also creating some buy-in on the athletes . Yeah

16:35

, so you're forcing the ones that may not

16:37

be as committed , because

16:40

it takes about 90 minutes

16:42

maybe .

16:43

It can't be done in an hour . I have been the top , but

16:45

yeah , assume 90 minutes if you break it . I was

16:48

slow .

16:48

I couldn't figure out the double under so

16:50

it took me a little longer . But , yes , somewhere

16:53

around at least an hour of your

16:55

life and $10 .

16:57

And quarter-finals is $50 . So

16:59

this is what Sam

17:01

said there's going to be buy-ins to this . So

17:04

once you get that set up , you

17:06

have to figure out when is the gym going to be open for

17:08

you to do your workouts ? I've already had someone had

17:10

asked me can I

17:12

come in and do these workouts at my normal 5 , 6 am

17:14

? The

17:16

answer is a hard no and I'm sorry

17:19

. I genuinely am sorry , but that

17:21

can happen . Well , we have like 30 people

17:23

per class in the morning , yeah , and it's just like

17:25

we don't know what you need . You need to get a judge

17:27

. What if you need all the space ? And this

17:29

is where , as an owner , this gets really tough

17:31

. You can't put

17:34

these people that quote

17:36

, are the

17:39

best athletes in the room on a pedestal

17:41

to the point where everyone else is getting pushed to the side

17:43

. I would be really uncomfortable if a

17:45

class of 30 was working in the front corner

17:47

so that I could have the back side of the gym so I could do

17:49

shuttle runs for my quarter-finals that I'm not even

17:51

trying to qualify for semifinals for . You

17:53

know , this gets really . It does get

17:56

sensitive . So

17:58

find that out . And

18:00

then you , if you have a job , if

18:02

you have kids . If you have both , don't

18:05

wait till the week of Like , start

18:07

lining this stuff up now so

18:11

that you can just focus on the workouts

18:13

, because I've made this mistake in the past where you're

18:15

trying to figure out this stuff on the fly

18:17

and also warm up , also

18:19

workout , also judge the heat after you

18:21

, and you actually will perform

18:23

worse and would increase your

18:25

odds of getting hurt . Agreed , All right

18:28

. Yeah , other

18:30

things to consider . Are you

18:32

going to repeat any of these ? I

18:34

would say don't , unless you are

18:37

trying to qualify for the next stage and

18:39

you really think you're that close and you really think

18:41

you need those extra reps . How many have you ?

18:43

repeated in the past for quarters .

18:44

I've only repeated only one

18:46

. It was funny , it was a workout

18:49

. I did it at 8.45

18:51

. Then I came back at two o'clock and did it again and you got

18:53

better . Yeah , Yep

18:56

, I just yeah , I screwed something up and again that

18:58

was like a logistical . I just screwed something up pacing

19:00

wise and I fixed it .

19:01

So that was actually in between classes . So 8.45

19:04

was after the last morning , oh yeah , and then

19:06

2.45 was before afternoon

19:09

classes . So you fit your schedule around

19:11

the class schedule .

19:12

Yep , yep , you have to do it . That's

19:15

the stuff you got . And here's another thing I

19:17

lied up . My brother came and did my taping for

19:19

me . Alan G was here . Alan G is the

19:21

superstar of this place . When we need

19:23

some help , he came and judged

19:26

me . I think it was him that came and judged me . But

19:29

you know , your friends , there's a big

19:31

, big part of the quarterfinals

19:33

that I love , where there's like a crew

19:35

of people that they train together throughout the year

19:37

open gym , the same classes that both made

19:40

it . They push each other . I'm all about

19:42

trying to get to do these workouts next

19:44

to each other . I really am , and if we can

19:46

make it happen , we will . I can't guarantee it because

19:48

of equipment , yeah , but you

19:50

know , if you can just line all

19:53

that stuff up , it helps

19:55

. A rest day I was talking

19:57

to Kevin Yurchak about this . He was like , yeah , you know

19:59

, saturdays are really tough for us , like I don't know what we

20:01

should do . And Mike wrote you're not going

20:03

to work out for five days straight . There's

20:05

probably going to be a day where you're going to do two of them Pick

20:09

. I think all of us should pick at

20:11

least a day in the middle somewhere where it's

20:13

a rest day . So if you

20:15

can bang out like Wednesday , thursday , friday

20:18

, takeoff Saturday , sunday , monday , let's

20:24

do it . Or you go all the way through Saturday , wednesday

20:26

, thursday , friday , saturday , and then you

20:29

wait until Sunday , monday to see how you feel

20:31

. Like , if you're beat up Sunday or your hands

20:33

are ripped up Sunday , wait until Monday to do the last

20:35

one . I would just

20:37

try to line those things up now ASAP

20:40

. Without knowing the programming , it's really

20:42

hard to gauge , like how your hands are going

20:45

to feel , how your quads are going to feel , where's

20:47

the lift at . But

20:50

that's kind of what I would

20:52

do . That now is just kind of line up

20:54

your logistics as best as possible . All right , so what

20:56

is your goal and what is your schedule

20:59

logistics going to look like ? Now here's

21:01

the most important part of this podcast

21:03

. I know and I've been there , all

21:05

right , and a lot of these things that we gave

21:07

you a device on it's mistakes that I've

21:10

made in the past . All right , this is

21:12

where this one's coming from . You

21:15

met , you qualified for this , you're excited

21:17

and you just want to train , like

21:19

you want to come in and just do all the movements

21:21

. You want to work out , then work out again , then come

21:23

back and work out again , and come back and work out again

21:26

and do the muscle ups and do bar muscle

21:28

ups , then lift heavy , then go for a run and

21:30

then do a burpee E-mon , because

21:32

like you're motivated and it's awesome

21:35

to work out when you're motivated like there's no

21:37

better feeling , where , like you just have that like tunnel

21:39

vision that you're locked in , you're ready to go . Don't

21:42

do it , don't , don't

21:44

, don't , do not do it . Now I

21:47

am going to give real physical workout

21:49

advice that you can do . I'm not telling you

21:51

stuff to go put yourself , wrap yourself in a sleeping

21:53

bag on your bed and recover . I'm not . I

21:55

am going to tell you to train but don't

21:57

all of the sudden start adding

22:00

and adding and adding volume , because

22:02

this is my line that I use every

22:04

time we're close to competition . The

22:07

most likely thing you're

22:10

not that to happen between now quarter finals

22:12

is you will get hurt . You will

22:14

not get fitter , you will not get

22:16

better across fit . You can get hurt

22:18

. I want that to scare

22:20

you a little bit that if you all of a sudden

22:23

start training extra volume if

22:25

you liked odds the odds are you'll get

22:27

hurt . You're not going to get better .

22:30

It was more of a temptation when there was

22:32

a bigger gap between open

22:34

and quarter finals . There was like a two to almost

22:36

three month gap , one year right when it was like March

22:39

, May or something like that , yeah , you guys

22:42

did .

22:42

you and Kathleen qualified in October

22:44

. Yeah , that October open , oh right

22:46

. And then , right before COVID , you did the

22:48

in March it was like literally a week before

22:50

.

22:51

Dude , that was awful . You know how many mock weekends

22:53

he ended up doing .

22:54

How much volume we added in . So and

22:56

that is fun , it's fun to sign up . Sign up , qualify

22:59

for something months ahead , because you can get a lot better across

23:01

it in a three month period . Three weeks

23:03

is not enough to do anything , it's just not . But

23:05

there is something you can do

23:08

that can

23:10

get you better for the weekend . All

23:12

right , it's not sexy . Make

23:15

your lifestyle as perfect as

23:17

you can . I promise , if

23:20

you sleep , eat

23:23

perfect when I say perfect , like you

23:25

don't have a cheat snack until this is over

23:27

, all right , none of this . Saturday , sunday

23:29

, shit right . You don't drink alcohol

23:32

All right . You put a lot

23:34

of time , effort , thought , energy into your

23:36

recovery post workout . You get extra

23:38

mobility sessions in you , extra rolling

23:40

out sessions , extra accessory work

23:42

sessions and

23:44

you try to avoid

23:47

stress , those those

23:49

factors your lifestyle factors bring

23:51

up reset , all right . Hydration

23:54

, alcohol , sleep , exercise , all the stuff

23:56

. If you are dialed into

23:58

that stuff between now and quarter finals

24:00

, that will do more for you

24:02

than anything you do

24:04

in the gym because we're just too

24:06

close to it . I will

24:08

give you some physical things you can do . So don't worry , I want

24:11

you to work out , I want you to train , because I think that's

24:13

mentally important as just as it is physical

24:15

. But if you are going to

24:17

try to get the most out of the quarter

24:19

finals three and a half weeks from now , all

24:22

right . Step one's , two , three , are lifestyle

24:24

based , not workout based .

24:25

You should have told me before this weekend , because I really

24:27

don't go food wise Now

24:30

I'm going to have to start eating clean now

24:32

.

24:32

Well , Sam , this podcast doesn't come out till tomorrow

24:34

, so you can do whatever you want today , but

24:37

the second you actually hear this podcast tomorrow

24:40

you're right , though that does

24:42

make a difference . I will do that I do

24:44

know this reset that leads

24:46

up to the open . I see people changing

24:48

mentally , physically , in their workouts , just

24:50

like the look in their eyes after two , three

24:52

weeks of reset , because everyone's

24:55

motivated , you're perfect , you have seven

24:57

great days in a row , 14 great days in a row

25:00

. You start looking different , you're confident

25:02

, right , that can happen between now and

25:04

quarter finals . So

25:06

I want that to be the number

25:08

one focus . So , once you figure out your schedule

25:11

, your logistics , you

25:13

talk to your coach , you talk to your gym owner . Now

25:15

the lifestyle . So let's

25:18

talk about what most people do want to talk about

25:20

the physical component . What can you do physically

25:22

between now and quarter finals

25:24

? I don't want to scare you , like I

25:26

said earlier , into just getting hurt . What

25:29

can I do ? Skill

25:32

work , high intensity , speed

25:34

, load and a mock weekend . So

25:37

my first thing I would think is most important is

25:39

skill work . So everything across it to me is a skill

25:41

. A bar facing burpees is a skill . So

25:44

, no matter what day you come in , no

25:46

matter what the movements are in that day , I

25:48

want you to view every movement as a

25:50

skill . What can you do to make

25:52

it more efficient so that , when you are in

25:54

a hard workout . The efficiency

25:57

can help you last longer . What

25:59

are some skills , sam , based on things

26:01

that you've done in the past , in quarter , finals

26:03

or , let's say , any stage beyond the open ? That

26:07

man , I wish I had

26:09

worked on this movement a little bit more

26:11

, and usually

26:13

the movements that you're worst at are the ones you can

26:15

make the biggest gains at . So what

26:17

are a couple of things that you just remember , looking back on like all

26:19

right , if I work on this more , this

26:21

workout will go better next year .

26:24

You know , I was just thinking about the high box jumps , the

26:26

high box jump overs , like even that is a skill

26:28

that I'm really

26:30

bad at . That I know , if I practiced

26:33

a little bit I could get better at In

26:35

terms of foot placement , repetition

26:38

, economy of motion

26:40

, like all of those things . I

26:42

remember I had not practiced

26:44

any of those and it felt really like

26:47

after I did the workout I was like , wow , I could have

26:49

made that a lot better if I had just practiced it .

26:51

Yeah , and yeah . That's a great example

26:53

because it's not something that you need a seven

26:55

week progression on . Like sometimes

26:57

like I'm watching people out in the gym right now do dumbbell

26:59

thrusters , and like to me that's a skill

27:01

. How do I hold it ? What's the difference ? How do

27:03

I get it to my shoulders ? Can I squat and thruster it

27:05

Right ? The first couple of times

27:07

you do them they feel like crap

27:10

, but the second time you do them it's just more

27:12

natural because you have developed skill right

27:14

. Skill is only developed by repetition

27:16

. It's not by thinking , it's not by watching videos

27:18

. You have to go out and do them . So just think

27:20

about a movement that you're not comfortable with a high box , jump

27:22

over which I don't like either A wall

27:25

, walk a wall facing shirt

27:27

hands and push up right , and then you can

27:29

get into some of the hardest up bar muscles , frame muscles . It

27:31

doesn't need to be , they feel good right now

27:33

. It's just like every little session you put

27:36

in it's going to develop the skill a little further

27:38

so that on game day you are just a little more

27:40

proficient with it Every

27:43

day you come in . The movements on the board

27:45

are a skill that you can work on

27:47

Now high intensity , speed

27:50

and load . Okay , I

27:53

would , instead of coming into every

27:55

bison wad and trying to get my

27:57

best time and trying to beat

27:59

this person , I would try

28:01

to look at it as like quadrants of a workout

28:04

, like you know , four sections of a workout

28:06

. Or

28:08

, if the number game is not for you , look

28:11

at it as like how am I starting , how am I finishing

28:13

? And try to really practice intensity

28:15

. Example we have a workout

28:17

on Tuesday this week . It's going to be the hardest

28:19

workout of the week . In my opinion . It's got muscle

28:21

ups , pogo burpees and

28:24

a lot of wall balls . Instead

28:26

of being like , can I get this workout done under the cap

28:28

? Can I beat this person

28:30

? I would look at it as how fast

28:33

can I get a round done and then go rest a minute

28:35

? I don't care , Rest 30 seconds . And

28:37

that intensity I think needs

28:39

to be practiced between now and

28:42

your quarter final weekend

28:44

is practicing the speed in which you need

28:46

to be at . It's not just about can I

28:48

do it five rounds in a row . That's something you have to train

28:50

throughout the year . But can I actually move at

28:52

this speed within a round ? And what do I feel like after

28:54

that round ? Because a lot of times

28:57

in a competition setting , an open

28:59

setting , a quarter final setting you move faster

29:01

than you probably think you're going to Because of the adrenaline

29:04

. You're pumped up . You're like , fuck

29:06

pacing , I'm going for it . You should practice that

29:08

. How fast does

29:10

that heart rate get to a point you just can't breathe anymore

29:13

? Those are things that I think that you can

29:15

. When I say high intensity , my

29:17

favorite format you can't really do this in a class setting

29:19

, but you could try is equal work

29:21

rest ratios . So I did something

29:23

similar this morning where I went really hard

29:25

for three , four rounds , faster than I would ever go to work

29:27

out , and then , whatever amount of time

29:29

it took me , I would rest that much time and

29:32

then I would try to do it again , and then do it again , and

29:34

then do it again . That is like practicing

29:37

really fast movement . Thoughts

29:39

on that .

29:40

Yeah , I , this

29:42

is something I haven't really done

29:45

so much of , but I

29:47

think that makes sense . I think , if you

29:50

some of that is imagining that when you're doing

29:52

that , that you're actually in the quarterfinal

29:54

workout , like pretending in your mind

29:56

that always gets me the adrenaline

29:58

pumping a little bit more . If I'm like , okay , I'm going

30:01

to imagine this is like my quarterfinal workout , I gotta

30:03

do this at the intensity , at the speed

30:05

, at the way I'm going to be moving for it

30:07

, it always adds a little bit of extra

30:10

adrenaline to it .

30:11

Yeah , and it's like Wednesday's workout we have

30:13

a run kettlebell swing , handstand pushup , kettlebell

30:15

swing , handstand pushup Like you could be like , all right , I'm going to

30:18

jog these runs because I don't really care about my time in the workout

30:20

. But when I'm going to get to the kettlebells and handstands

30:22

I'm going to try to get that section

30:24

of it done as fast as I can , just to practice

30:26

the speed . And then I'll go after my second run

30:28

. I don't really care that much and I get a rest . Like those

30:31

are little things that you could do . You could find one movement

30:33

of a workout . We're like hey , I'm doing these

30:35

, I'm broken , I'm going as fast as I can . The other stuff

30:37

I'm just going to kind of jog through . I think

30:39

there's a lot of value in that Lifting

30:42

heavy . So high intensity is not just

30:44

how fast , how many reps , it's lifting heavy . I

30:46

would definitely try to get some heavy days in . Should

30:49

you go for a max ? The professional coaches

30:51

do have a lot of times . Have their coaches hit max

30:53

lifts the week before or about

30:55

10 days before the CrossFit Games ? On

30:59

our level I'd be a little careful with that . I would probably

31:01

stop yourself at 90% of any

31:03

lift you do between now and quarter

31:06

finals , I would not go above 90% . That

31:09

brings me to the last part of what you could

31:11

physically do , and it's the mock weekend . Sam

31:14

did 11 of these . It

31:16

felt like a few years ago

31:18

when we had months to work with and just

31:20

turn these guys into mutants but a

31:23

mock weekend . So

31:25

what is a mock weekend ? We

31:27

basically create five to six

31:29

workouts that you do over the course of five

31:32

to six days . It is basically what

31:34

you will be doing quarter final

31:36

weekend . So I can say this right now at

31:38

bison we will be doing this I

31:41

haven't told everyone yet , but

31:44

not this upcoming week . So

31:47

I have to keep remembering when this podcast is coming out . Not

31:50

this week , but next week . Thursday

31:53

and Friday , bison wads will be mock quarter

31:55

final weekend workouts Not

31:58

gonna tell you what they are yet and then I am

32:00

gonna open up the gym at 11 am Saturday

32:02

after the Saturday classes and do

32:05

another workout , and then I'm gonna try to get people

32:07

here on Sunday . And then I'm not

32:09

sure what I'm gonna do with the following Monday , because now we're

32:13

I don't know if it's necessary , but basically the

32:15

purpose of this is to put you in

32:17

this competitive mindset

32:19

I just told you guys to come up with your logistical

32:21

plan . What are you gonna do ? All right

32:24

, let's pretend that you're a morning workout

32:26

person and because of logistics , you're

32:28

gonna have to come in at night and do these workouts . That

32:31

Thursday , friday you should be coming in at night , and

32:34

how does your body respond ? Why do I care

32:36

how you do the workouts ? Nope , not even a little

32:38

bit . If you crush it , don't care . If you get

32:40

crushed , don't care . I want you to figure

32:42

out your flow . So if you are

32:45

a morning person and now you're coming in at night

32:47

, what are you eating for breakfast ? Are

32:49

you gonna come in in the morning and just maybe move your body

32:51

? All right , to kind of keep yourself in that routine ? What

32:54

are you eating at lunch ? What are you eating at four

32:56

o'clock ? If you're working at six o'clock ? Because , again

32:58

, if you don't figure that out until the day of

33:00

, you're throwing a

33:02

dart at a dartboard with a blindfold on

33:04

and you're hoping for the

33:06

best . And

33:09

it's okay if you make a mistake

33:11

, mark Weekend , because if anything , you kind of

33:13

want to make a mistake . What

33:17

is it like to do these repeated high intensity

33:19

efforts ? Do you last ? I'll say this I think

33:22

some people shouldn't do it because they're afraid of getting

33:24

hurt or they're tweaked up right now . But

33:26

I would say this if you're , that's

33:29

fine . If you make the decision not to do it , you don't want to get hurt

33:31

, that's fine , but if you get hurt this weekend , it just probably

33:34

means you'll get hurt quarterfinal weekend and

33:36

this is probably a safer environment

33:38

to do that in and that might

33:40

be a decision that you shouldn't do it because you're just not ready

33:42

. I know a very good athlete right now that's probably not doing

33:44

it because he's not bouncing back from workouts

33:46

and he's afraid of getting hurt , and that would be an incredibly

33:49

smart and hard decision . Sam

33:52

, give me some feedback on some of these mock

33:54

weekends that you've done . Do you like them ? Do you think they're

33:56

important ?

33:57

I think they're important , I think they're helpful . I

34:00

think there is a skill

34:02

to knowing how your

34:04

body responds when you do a high intensity

34:07

workout and then you do another one and your recovery

34:09

time is short and you have to

34:11

be able to figure out how you recover and

34:14

perform again . Yes

34:16

, this is verging from fitness

34:19

into the competitive aspect of things , but

34:21

most of us straddle that line to

34:23

a certain degree . We want to see how

34:26

competitive we can be and

34:28

we don't do this every week or every

34:30

month or every year . But that's what competitions

34:33

are for , and this is the

34:35

big one . This is the big competition , this is quarterfinals

34:37

. This is in your local comp at XY gym

34:39

. This

34:43

is where you're ranked up against everybody else

34:45

in your age group , in the country , in the world

34:48

. So if

34:50

you want to see how you do , you

34:52

must replicate that environment

34:54

, you must see how you do , you

34:57

must dry run it , you must pre-vis , like

34:59

visualization . I have never

35:01

heard anyone on any

35:03

level of high level success

35:05

and I've just been interviewing and talking

35:07

to a bunch of people . Everyone

35:10

pre-visualizes everybody

35:12

for success . If you ask anyone athlete

35:15

, successful person in life , they're like I

35:17

visualize what I do before I do it . Well

35:20

, this is the perfect way of visualizing

35:22

what you're going to be doing for quarterfinals Working

35:26

out at night , eating

35:29

, getting ready , hitting it again the next

35:31

day . I remember

35:33

we would do one and then we'd have

35:35

to wait a couple hours and then do another one , like

35:38

how your body responds to that and

35:41

how you manage . That is how

35:43

you're going to manage it in quarterfinals

35:45

, and so , if anything , it's

35:47

worth taking that time to do it . Is

35:49

it risky ? Like you said

35:51

, there's always risk when you're chasing

35:54

a relatively high intensity stimulus

35:57

in a workout . But you

35:59

have to be smart and you also have to listen

36:01

to yourself and you also have to see what you can do , and

36:04

that's what being an athlete's all about

36:06

.

36:07

Yeah , I mean it is risky . So

36:09

is pre-season football . You see it every

36:11

year Guys get hurt for the entire season because

36:13

they got hurt in a meaningless we to

36:15

pre-season game and then like , oh , we should cancel pre-season

36:18

. You know what

36:20

Sam said earlier . It hit the nail on the head . This is

36:22

sport . You might get

36:24

hurt , mock weekend , and

36:26

if you can't accept that , just don't do

36:28

it . That's fine . But also question what

36:31

you're doing , Like you know what's the first

36:33

thing . We said what is your goal ? Right

36:35

, if your goal is to have fun and

36:37

this was the goal to make quarterfinals , it's probably

36:40

not as important to come in and

36:42

do the mock weekend if you're afraid of getting hurt

36:44

. But if you have a pre I want to hit this

36:46

metric , or I really want to see where I stand

36:48

, so next year I can go after this , or I want to make semi-finals

36:51

. I think it's

36:53

important that you put some effort into

36:55

getting to at least some of these . I'm

36:57

more into what is the ? What is it like

37:00

if you have to switch up your workout times ? Like for

37:02

the Sunday session , it's gonna be after

37:04

open gym , so you're not coming

37:06

at eight , you're coming at 9.30 to warm up

37:08

. How do you warm up on your own ? That's

37:11

something that a lot of athletes don't have any experience

37:13

with . You know , we're not doing a group warm up at any

37:15

of these quarterfinal workouts . So

37:17

what are you gonna do ? You know , like , how do

37:19

you warm up ? Do you know how to you should ? You

37:21

know if you've been doing CrossFit for a few years , so

37:24

you can view it that way . It's just like what is this

37:27

gonna be like ? Because , again

37:29

, we have 50 people that have

37:31

never done this before , so

37:33

there's a significant

37:35

advantage to those that have done this before . You know exactly

37:37

what's coming . So

37:40

that's the purpose of the mock weekend . If you can't make it

37:42

, don't stress out . Okay , really don't stress

37:44

out . It's not gonna move the needle that much . Lastly

37:47

, okay , focus

37:49

on elements , not your scores . Okay

37:51

, don't get obsessed

37:54

and don't get upset if

37:56

you have a bad few workouts , If this

37:58

person beat you , if you couldn't RX

38:00

this , if you couldn't go level one here . So

38:02

oh , I suck . No , focus on elements

38:05

in your workout , right ? Your pacing , your

38:07

breathing , your mobility

38:09

, your ability to keep

38:11

, stay mentally clear in a workout

38:14

. You know , like , the more I talk to

38:16

Rafi , the more I'm working with him , like that

38:18

. That's a PED , that is

38:21

a performance-enhancing drug . If you are

38:23

really good at avoiding those

38:25

negative thoughts in the workout

38:27

, it literally makes you better and

38:29

I have a couple examples I might bring up down the

38:31

road with him still

38:34

working through some stuff , but I've

38:37

noticed significant difference in my workouts . Where I'm

38:39

really tuned into my mental state , good

38:41

and bad , Like if I forget it or I let it

38:43

kind of spiral out of control , my workouts

38:45

get worse . So focus on that , Like what are some

38:47

things you have to practice it ? Just like you practice your Olympic

38:50

lifts , you have to practice your headspace

38:52

in a workout . Sam , do you get like

38:54

get into ?

38:55

that or not really Absolutely . I just was

38:57

thinking about this morning's workout

39:00

you were not happy with it I wasn't , and

39:02

you know the workout

39:04

was not fun . But what

39:06

I hated was that

39:08

I tapped out mentally in the middle of the workout

39:11

, which really bothers me . So I'll be here Thursday

39:13

for that workout . That doesn't make me feel better

39:15

.

39:15

I will be here . I will be here because I know I

39:17

don't want to be here , so it's important

39:19

that you did the workout , though I'm saying you should give yourself

39:21

some credit .

39:22

Okay . But the issue is like , for example

39:24

, it's one where there's no rest . It's very briefly

39:26

, it's 100 burpee pull-ups Every

39:28

minute . It's either eight box

39:30

jumps or the other minute it's eight step

39:32

ups , and so you're not resting and

39:35

there's a 20 minute cap . And so I

39:37

didn't know , going in , where I was going

39:39

to score with it . But going in it was pretty clear

39:42

, like I thought well , if I did my

39:44

burp , like my box to work

39:46

, my box work within 30 seconds , I could do five

39:48

burpee pull-ups in the remaining 30

39:50

seconds and I'd get done by time cap . And

39:53

it turns out that I'm very slow and

39:55

I cannot , and I was getting maybe 40

39:57

, but that , and so maybe I'd get like

39:59

two or three burpee pull-ups . And once I

40:01

figured out I'm not going to finish

40:03

, my mind just fell apart

40:05

and instead of saying you know what , let me at least

40:08

get a goal here , three to four burpee

40:10

pull-ups per round , or whatever it is

40:12

, you know , try to finish I

40:14

just kept slowing down and slowing down , and so

40:16

what became ? And the

40:18

wheels just totally fell off and I got such a

40:20

horrible number , at least for what

40:22

I thought I could do . And Susan

40:25

, who was next to me . She

40:27

knew she wasn't going to finish either , but she just kept going

40:29

Like she had a much . It's very mentally tough

40:32

. Yeah , she had a very good mental attitude

40:34

and she kept moving and she kept moving and she finished like 20

40:36

plus burpee pull-ups over

40:38

me , wow . And I , susan , and

40:42

so in retrospect I was like I

40:44

did not help myself by giving

40:47

up , and that is the kind

40:49

of mental challenge that any

40:51

of these workouts you have

40:53

to look at . Like you said , it's not the score

40:55

, because I knew I wasn't going to finish Right , it

40:58

was . Did I do what I could

41:00

do ? And I did not . And so

41:02

I think that that's where every workout , every

41:04

focus should be on like

41:06

, listen , if you don't get the score that you want

41:08

, what is it that you could take

41:10

away from that workout that you did right

41:13

so you can become better ?

41:15

I mean what Rafi would say in that

41:17

instance . I don't want to speak for him , but

41:19

what he has said to me is I've reflected on similar

41:21

struggles with him in a few sessions 23.2

41:26

in particular is he

41:28

goes the fact that you can say

41:30

that so soon after your workout to like

41:33

he goes , like that's it , like that's

41:35

. That's the reflection you know

41:37

, like that is what you want , because

41:39

if you can reflect on that so

41:43

soon after a workout , I bet it helps

41:45

you in a future workout and that's

41:47

what we want . So , like in these workouts

41:49

coming up whether they're great for you , whether

41:51

they're terrible for you , can

41:54

you really be present with what your thoughts

41:56

are in the workout ? Can you reflect on them ? And then

41:58

can you be honest with yourself and

42:00

ask yourself did I do even worse

42:02

because of my , my inability

42:05

to control my negative thoughts ? And

42:07

if the answer is yes , which ? If you're listening to

42:09

this , the answer is yes . A lot of

42:11

your bad workouts are because you were in a bad spot

42:14

mentally . All right , and

42:16

we're empathetic . We feel bad , we'll try to

42:18

help you out , but you are the one that's going to fix

42:20

it , it's not somebody else

42:22

. So now that we know this , can

42:25

you reply this to a future workout ? Can

42:27

you come back in the next day or

42:29

whenever you train again ? Sam , the next time

42:32

you train , can you come in with a better mindset if

42:34

things start to go off ? Because now what just

42:36

happened today is now it's a positive . You

42:38

hit adversity , something went wrong , and

42:41

now it's making you better . That is the purpose

42:43

of things that go wrong . They should make us better

42:46

. So we really shouldn't be that upset when

42:48

bad things happen . So if you struggle with the wall balls

42:50

on Tuesday and you get hit in the face , you got to break them

42:52

up right . Let's reflect on it . What

42:54

could you do different ? Was it your mind ? Was your

42:56

body ? Was it both ? Now we have some

43:00

. You have to acknowledge the issue and then move forward . That's how you're

43:02

going to get better at them . It's not going to just be punch the

43:04

wall ball every time there's wall

43:08

balls . So that's where I just want you to wrap

43:10

up the prep for quarterfinals . I know

43:12

most of this was not

43:15

workout based , but I

43:17

really I feel strongly about this

43:19

. There are little things you can do , but I

43:22

would say 90% of your prep for

43:24

quarterfinals is between your ears . It's

43:27

not sexy , but we're three and a half weeks

43:29

and you need a deload right

43:31

After that block weekend that I just talked about

43:33

. We are 10 days away and

43:35

I'm going to suggest come

43:37

workout , stay in your routine , but no more really

43:40

high effort stuff . You

43:42

got to kind of preserve as much energy , as

43:44

much fuel as you can eat

43:47

, sleep , all this stuff . So

43:49

just be aware that that's

43:52

what comes after the mock weekend , that's what comes

43:54

about seven to 10 days prior to your

43:56

big event is less working out , more rest

43:58

, and so you're

44:00

really looking at just two and a half weeks

44:02

of prep , really not

44:05

even that much . So if you

44:07

guys can just dial into the mental side , I think it's going

44:09

to help you out as much as anything . See how many closing thoughts . No

44:11

, that's it , let's get after it man , let's do it baby

44:13

. Thank you guys . See you next week .