I’ve heard a TON of really inspirational transformation stories. My response has usually been some version of “nice work… you should be so proud of yourself!” Two years ago, I changed my approach to ask “what was the thing that finally made it stick?”

After diving deep into the psychology of behavior change, I learned that most adults will go through four to five attempts to lose weight or “get fit” before they settle into the thing that works.

Personally, I’m incredibly grateful for my weight loss occurring at a fairly young age — I got serious about it at 13 years old. I was pretty overweight, got made fun of a lot (low hanging fruit when your first name rhymes with “fat”), and I had no concept of what a healthy meal looked like. I’ll never forget the day a teacher mentioned that he was giving up soda to lose weight. I never had another Coca Cola after that day.

Life was easier then. Aside from showing up to school, doing my chores, and practicing music my responsibilities were pretty much nonexistent. Combine that with a new interest in girls and constant jabbing from my peers and you have a pretty simple recipe for behavior change. All the motivation was there even though much it was negative. Compared to most of my peers, I was given the gift of learning to say “no” to treats and “yes” to exercise two decades ahead of time.

Behavior change as an adult is a much harder endeavor. We’re talking about re-wiring decades of stimulus-response mechanisms with all the responsibilities and stressors of adulthood compounded with a media barrage telling us there’s a “secret” that we just don’t know about yet. Here’s the real secret: there is none.

Here are the three characteristics I’ve discovered by asking folks just like you “what was the thing that made it stick?”

1. They take the long view

Warren Buffett famously said about investing “be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” To use a recent example, the time to buy bitcoin was when everyone was afraid to buy bitcoin. Or, the time to pull your money out of real estate investment was when people were saying “this is going to increase in value forever!!!”

What does this have to do with weight loss?

In my example of losing weight at 13 years old, I had very important (to a 13 year-old boy) consequences staring me in the face every day — I wanted a girlfriend and to not be made fun of for being overweight.

As an adult, these consequences may not be as immediate or in-your-face from external sources. You probably have health insurance from your company. You probably have a car and a bed and a cell phone. You actually don’t need to be fit. 

Until you do.

The consequences of ignoring your health and well-being won’t be felt for 10, 20, or 30 years. If you’re experiencing a medical consequence due to poor nutrition and lack of movement, the preceding actions occurred decades ago.

2. They never say “I’m too busy.”

“I don’t have the time…” is an interesting thought. It’s one of the only objective measures that has vastly different feelings associated with it. I really started to notice this phenomenon at the gym. From students to surgeons, attorneys to bartenders — everyone is busy. But, objectively, are they all? That can’t be the case, can it? If one person starts their day at 4:30am and works until 6pm, they’re definitely busier than someone who works 8am-5pm aren’t they?

But the feelings are the same.

People who are successful at anything — not just weight loss — have a different feeling about time. They prioritize things that are important long-term despite how their schedule may feel. They know that they’ll never find time, so they prioritize time.

In the case of weight loss and fitness, prioritizing that time actually has a scientifically-proven benefit to your work and productivity. So you’re killing two birds with the same stone; by investing time you’re actually creating more of it.

3. They settle into discomfort

I’m not talking about SEAL training “Hell Week” discomfort here. It’s more of a low-grade doing the right thing when it doesn’t feel great discomfort. Things like:

• Packing a lunch the night before
• Getting a gym bag ready the night before
• Working out early in the morning if your afternoon gets busy at work
• Pushing yourself just a touch harder in your workouts

It’s nothing crazy, but it does require a crazy level of consistency. The average time it took all those people who lost over fifty pounds was nine months! These folks weren’t living in a monastery eating celery and drinking water. But they did all the small things to set themselves up for success.

It won’t feel pleasurable but it will feel good

The folks who make big transformations have — either consciously or subconsciously — settled into the idea that something doesn’t have to feel good in order for it to be rewarding. They’ve learned to separate pleasure from happiness. They don’t deprive themselves of pleasure because this is an amazing part of being human. They enjoy cupcakes because cupcakes are delicious and pleasurable, not because cupcakes are a way to feel happy. Lasting happiness comes from accomplishment. Think about all of your greatest accomplishments — they probably had more moments of discomfort than pleasure.

 

 

What feelings stir up when you hear “Partner Up”?

My guess is a reaction somewhere between woo hoo! sounds fun and oh-my-god this is 7th grade gym class all over again. Both are totally understandable reactions. There are a bunch of reasons to do partner workouts — most of which are simply a practicality.

Adequate rest period

On a strength day, your coaches prefer you to partner up simply to ensure you take proper rest between sets. Novice trainees especially like to do their 5 sets of 5 reps at a light load, very quickly. This will inevitably result in stalled improvement and less reps being performed under the caring eye of a coach.

Relative intensity

High-intensity interval training is — as far as we know with current evidence — the most time-efficient way to add lean muscle mass, reduce body fat, improve cardiovascular function, and reduce injury. It’s really effective stuff… IF you can get to your individual relative intensity. NOT match your neighbor’s but work to your own “redline.” Partnering up is a great way for someone to push their working intervals just a touch higher than they normally would knowing that their partner will pick up the work on the next working set.

Equipment and time

Frankly, this is the main reason the partner WOD exists. There are times throughout the week when most of you prefer to work out. Sure, we could do 8am, 9am, and 10am classes on Saturday morning but you and your coaches all have a weekend of well-earned rest to get to. So, instead of three 12-person classes like you’d see throughout the week, we’ll do a big group class in partners so you can get on with your weekend and your coach can safely keep eyes on half the room working at any given time.

Why the weirdness around partner WODs?

It’s OK to not like interacting with people. It’s OK to be an introvert. It’s OK to hate small talk. It’s OK to not want to interact with other people during your hour. These are all completely acceptable reasons to avoid the partner WOD and I applaud you for knowing yourself so well.

BUT IT IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE FOR YOUR NON-PARTICIPATION TO BE A RESULT OF YOUR FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY. 

Dig deep and ask yourself what your real hesitation is here. I’m only calling it out because I hear these things about 842 times a day.

“You’re gonna lift a ton more than me.”

“I’m going to hold you up.”

“You’ll gonna breeze right through this.”

“I’m going to need to scale/modify the rope climbs.”

Now, I’ve fielded a lot of complaints and “suggestion box” comments over the last six years — ranging from “huh, that’s a great point; never thought of it” (tampons, hair ties, and full-length mirror in the ladies’ restroom) to the absolutely absurd. In fact, I don’t believe that any suggestion or comment could surprise me at this point.

But, there is one comment I have never, ever received in the LAST SIX YEARS, 9,000 ATHLETES COACHED, AND OVER 5,000 PROGRAMMED WORKOUTS… wait for it… 

So-and-so lifted way less than me in the partner WOD. So-and-so held me up in the partner WOD. So-and-so had to modify muscle ups. NEVER. Not once. Not even a hint of a whisper of a thought in anyone’s head, ever about how their workout was somehow tainted by a partner with different abilities.

So why do you think you’ll be the first?

This probably gets to a psycho-social discussion that I’d prefer to not dig into now. But, really ponder the question — why do you think that you will be the first one someone is “held up by” or is looked down upon for not using the exact weight as someone else?

If you were really honest with yourself, you know the answer. You know that there’s a group of people that has a 100% track record of not judging someone based upon their current abilities. You know that your coaches modify workouts on an hourly basis for people with physical limitations that blow yours completely out of the water.

I’ve said it a million times – it’s your hour. If that means you don’t want to interact with other humans — totally cool. I can relate with that on a very deep level.

But your “I’ll hold someone up” rationale is BS. You know it is. It’s much easier to externalize onto someone else our own feelings of inadequacy. But, it’s in that vulnerability that we learn some pretty amazing things about ourselves. And it’s in that vulnerability that we grow.

Ah, the age-old debate. And one that — with a basic understanding of physiology — is beginning to look like the recent Flat Earth movement.

The answer to this question is NO. Definitively no. To even entertain this statement as true demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of strength training. 

(But in all fairness, lifting weights doesn’t make you stronger either)

Ask a better question.

More often than not, this debate descends into “but Rich Froning…” or “When I was doing ____ I was the strongest I’ve ever been.”

But these anecdotes don’t really answer the actual question. So let’s start with a better question:

“How do I get stronger?”

Answer: Recover from resistance training.

This isn’t a “recovery is more important than training” post. My goal is to help you understand the fundamentals of how your biology actually works.

When you run, jump, lift, do push ups, or ride your bike, you’re causing a bunch of tiny little tears in your muscle fibers, bones, and connective tissue. After you do this activity, you consume energy (food), breath oxygen, and rest. Through a web of interconnected organs and hormones, your body magically repairs those tears with a stronger bond than previously existed. Your body becomes stronger during the repair — or supercompensation — period of recovery. 

The bubble athlete

If I had unlimited resources to get someone as strong as possible, I would do a series of blood tests immediately prior to a training session to calculate the exact minimum effective dose. Notice I said minimum… not maximum. Remember, the goal from training is recovery which means WE ACTUALLY WANT TO MINIMIZE TRAINING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

Immediately after the training session, I would feed my bubble athlete a perfect combination of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Adequate carbs so bubble athlete has insulin in their bloodstream and adequate lean protein so the insulin can do it’s job of delivering amino acids to bubble athlete’s muscles to repair the damaged we just caused.

Bubble athlete would go back into the hyperbaric bubble to sleep, get massages, practice mindfulness, and get ready for our next minimum effective dose.

So where did the Lift then Sweat come from?

Lifting and then doing some type of sprint or plyometric exercise has been a mainstay in strength and conditioning for years. Then, CrossFit came onto the scene. It wasn’t too long before CrossFit became a full blown sport. And, just like strength and conditioning, what the pro’s are doing has trickled down to high school athletes (that’s us in this analogy).

In a day-long test of fitness, competitive CrossFit needed to measure strength, endurance, power, and speed in the same setting. CrossFit has never been interested in absolute strength, but relative strength. In essence: “Cool. You have a 500 pound deadlift. But can you run a sub-20 minute 5k?”

So athletes needed to train to be able to hit ~90-95% of their 1 rep max deadlift in the same day they do Fran. So, that’s how they started to train.

But they always knew that doing so meant that both their deadlift 1 rep max AND their Fran time would suffer as a result. The question of competitive CrossFit has never been “how do I get stronger?” It has been “how can I perform good enough on game day?” 

So competitive CrossFit coaches started getting their athletes ready for game day accordingly. And the programmatic effects have trickled down to those of us trying to be the fittest person in the cubicle bank.

So what’s the answer?!

The answer is simple: if you want to get stronger, you need to begin the process of recovery as soon after the lifting session as possible. Some of you may have experienced my weird, hippy breathing drills after hard workouts. This is an intentional signal to your body to begin to super-compensate – or recover.

But, yes, there are days where we’ll program a lift with a Metcon. Here’s another peak behind the curtain: we don’t do it because it is effective, we do it because it is efficient. Seriously… we have a discussion along the lines of “yeah… this isn’t ideal, but there’s a short WOD today and we want our athletes to leave feeling like they ‘got a good workout.'”

So… the answer: Lifting before a Metcon gets you better at lifting before Metcons. It does NOT make you stronger. 

This has a place, however. If you’re doing an exercise competition where there is a strength piece BEFORE a metcon, you should begin to train accordingly ~6 weeks out from competition. If the workout is Metcon – Strength – Metcon, you should also train that way.

The novice effect

The reason the “Lift, then WOD” has had a lot of us (including myself) getting stronger is due — almost exclusively — to the novice effect. This means that any stimulus — no matter how ineffective — will have favorable results. This has been the dirty little secret of the fitness industry forever. It doesn’t matter what you do for a reeeeeallllllllllly long time. And most gyms know that folks won’t stick around for long enough to move beyond the novice phase to where we actually need to start having the discussion of minimum effective dosing and recovery.

In the world of the barbell, the novice is generally someone with less than 10 years of consistent training. Consistency means uninterrupted, intentional practice. Those weird starfish power cleans with wrist wraps you did in high school don’t count toward intentional practice.

Do I need to WANT to get stronger?

This is the beauty of the entire thing – NO!!! We have a major rule amongst the coaching staff: we will never project our own goals onto you.

Does lifting before a WOD make you feel strong, powerful, and capable? Then freaking lift before your WOD! I will be your number 1 supporter. Just do so knowing that it is not the best way to get strong.

As I’m sitting here writing this, each of your coaches PR’d their deadlift today. We’ve each been under a barbell for a really loooong time. If you told me I could add more than 5 pounds a year, I’d be the happiest guy in the gym. Today, I PR’d my deadlift by 15 pounds! How? I lifted waaaay less (~24 reps per week) than I ever have and put all my focus into recovery.

If you’re still crushing PR’s left and right – don’t change a thing! If you love hitting the WOD each day and high-fiving your squad after – don’t change a thing! But if you feel like something is missing; that your “gainz” are stalling — holler at me! I’d love to take a look at what you’re doing and provide any guidance I can.

 

TL; DR: Our “Lifestyle” programming track is written as the most intense version of the WOD, the Development is written as the least intense, and the Strength Track written as the most intense FOR REGIONALS ATHLETES, but most of our athletes land somewhere between Lifestyle and Development.

Intensity Drives Results

The “performed at a relatively high intensity” piece of the CrossFit methodology is referring to the longest standing principle in strength and conditioning — the SAID principle. Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. In layperson’s terms, the SAID principle means that, in order to increase your 1-mile run time, you must run differently. Add sprints, run 2 miles, run a mile backwards, do some jumping — the world is your oyster.

The definition of SAID and the definition of insanity are somewhat similar: repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting different results.

Scaling should make things MORE difficult, not less.

We often confuse complexity with difficulty. Let me give you an example. “Fran” is written as 21-15-9 reps of 95 /65 pound thrusters & pull-ups.  The workout should be finished in about 2-5 minutes. If I saw that workout on the whiteboard, I’d be much more nervous than if I saw 21-15-9 reps of 155 / 105 pound thrusters and ring muscle ups. Why? The second workout is clearly more difficult.

I would argue that — for me — the second workout is actually less difficult. But, why? Well, first off, I can’t cycle 155 pound thrusters. So, those would be single repetitions done about once every 10-15 seconds. Compare that to the roughly 8 repetitions I would complete of the 95 pound version in the same amount of time. Secondly, I could probably push myself to do all the pull ups relatively unbroken in “Fran.” I would probably need to do my muscle ups in workout #2 in sets of 2-3 with about 10-15 seconds rest between each set. Workout 2 would take me in the neighborhood of 16-18 minutes whereas it would take an elite CrossFit Athlete about 7 minutes.

Believe it or not, my “Fran” would probably feel — to me — similar to how workout #2 would feel to Mat Fraser. This is the point of the Lifestyle track. 

Reframing things.

I’d be lying if I said I haven’t considered changing the name of the Lifestyle track to “Intensity” to trick you into achieving the desired stimulus. You’re an intelligent adult who can handle unbranded science. I know there’s a human tendency to create hierarchy. So, I understand why you’ve (incorrectly) felt Lifestyle = chill, gonna just get in a sweat and not push it and Strength = the most advanced, intense, athletic thing that I’ll never attain. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Since no one in our gym is on the cusp of a Regionals appearance, the truth is actually the other way around.

Lifestyle – the most intense track.

With the Lifestyle track we’re trying to adjust load, repetitions, and range of motion to achieve a stimulus. The question we’re asking ourselves is: How can we make the Lifestyle version of this workout FEEL like the strength track would feel for an elite, regionals-caliber athlete? YouTube 2018’s Regionals and ask yourself is that how I felt after yesterday’s WOD? 

Development – the least intense track.

You want to learn new skills – climbing a rope, doing a muscle up, learning a more efficient jerk. When acquiring a new skill, you’ll need to pump the brakes a little bit. This means dialing down the intensity to make room for some more focused practice work. For most of us, this means gymnastics and high-skill barbell movements.

So we dial down the load, decrease the reps, and create a little space for some intentional practice within the day’s WODs. Personally, I will opt for a Development version of the day’s workout during times when I have a little more mental energy and time in the day to focus on getting better at certain skills. If I want a “good, hard workout” I’m always doing the Lifestyle version.

“But Scanny… what if I can do Strength Track weights but not gymnastics?” Well, athlete, if you don’t want to get better at gymnastics, stay the course. If you want to get better — do what’s written. That may have come off as sarcastic, but I truly mean it. It is your hour. If that’s where you are in your training it’s all good! Your coaches are here with a roadmap – you’re behind the wheel.

The Development track shouldn’t leave you writhing on the floor in a heap of your own sweat and tears. That’s Lifestyle’s job.

Strength track – Lifestyle intensity for Regionals athletes (or somewhere between the two for you)

Strength Track is where it all comes together for regionals-level athletes. The intensity of Lifestyle combined with the complexity of Development. Notice I said Regionals Level Athletes. Strength Track is written in such a way that — if you achieve the intent with every workout in a given 4-week bloc of programming, you’ll likely make it to Regionals as a Masters Athlete (by Masters, I’m not referring to age per se but rather that you’re not a complete genetic mutant who is a full-time exerciser).

For most of us “normies”, Strength Track will be slightly less intense or difficult than Lifestyle. Remember, the point of scaling is to make the workout less complex, but more difficult. 

So where do you fall? Are you guilty of Lifestyle = Easy track?

Here’s a good self test: Think about a “Strength” athlete in the gym. Next time you’re in class with him or her, take a look at them after a tough workout and ask yourself “do I feel how they look?” That’ll be your indicator of whether or not you’re meeting the stimulus of the day.

CARING | HONEST | DRIVEN
These are the core values we hold as a team. Part 9 of our “Getting to Know The Hill” series..

This month we are getting to know our owner Matt Scanlon.

“Leadership not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in our charge.”
– Simon Sinek

Scanny is always looking out for the best interest of his athletes and team. Eager to develop them into the best version of themselves, he creates space for people to learn and grow. A true entrepreneur, it would take all day to list everyone he’s currently collaborating with, and  everything he’s working on. Matt is always developing business tools at the 321GoProject to benefit other gym owners, but the thing that excites him the most, is developing the talents and skills of his staff team at The Hill.

We are all lucky to have such a leader.  Let’s get to know more about Matt…

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? An Architect.

Where did you grow up? Salina, KS.

Favorite class or activity in high school? Woodshop.

Most known in high school for..? Definitely being the class clown.

Most interesting part time job? Probably telemarketer when I was 15 or working as a horse guide in CO.

Most Quotable movie? “Tommy Boy” for sure.

Got any hidden talents? I initially went to college to play drums. I also play guitar.

What do you like about KC? KC definitely has an entrepreneurial energy amongst 30-somethings. I’ve really enjoyed watching the development of the city since we moved here 7+ years ago.

Coaching: Your Job Title at The Hill. Owner.

How & when did you get connected to The Hill? At its founding in 2011-2012.

How long have you been coaching? I think I started coaching my first 1-on-1 client 12 years ago.

Why Coach? – what motivates you personally? When I first started coaching, I was really motivated by helping people “get healthy.” Nowadays I’m increasingly more interested in the change that occurs in athletes’ minds; seeing them become better humans as they practice making positive choices, helping others, and developing delayed gratification.

What do you love about your job? 100% the people I get to work with everyday. Our staff are easily the best coaches in Kansas City (and arguably the country) but moreover they are some of the best humans I know.

What certifications do you hold and which are you most proud of? I have my CF L1, CF L2, and Movement and Mobility certificates.

What continuing ed are you planning or currently doing? I’m increasingly more interested in getting more education on what motivates people. 

How would you describe your coaching style? It really varies with the athlete. Anywhere from “super positive-everything is awesome” to being a real hard-ass. It really depends on how much trust we have built and the headspace they seem to be in that day.

What’s something you wish everyone knew about health and fitness? Health and fitness is the simplest thing in the world. It is also the most difficult thing in the world. Simple, not easy. Breathe hard, move weight, and stretch – several hours a week. Eat real food, lots of vegetables, and adequate protein – but not too much. There is no magic pill, no “30 pounds in 30 days”, no “secret workout routine” you’ve yet to discover. Just years of consistent work, that is best enjoyed with friends.

What is something you are working on improving as an athlete personally? Having fun. I’m really working on working out hard, competing with myself, and being grateful for movement. As I get older, I realize that some of my best Olympic lifts may be behind me – and that’s OK. I feel super thankful that my body works well, that I can carry big Costco boxes up the stairs to the condo. And that I wake up feeling great.

What are you looking forward to in 2018? I’m excited to create opportunities for our athletes to begin to give back; to invest in one another and their communities. I feel that, through fitness and nutrition, people are learning real self-care for the first time. The continuation of that self-care is building up others along the way. I see great opportunity for that in our community.

Anything else you would like to share with The Hill family? The members at The Hill are the best people I know. I’m so thankful and happy to be able to see them on a daily or weekly basis. I don’t know of any other situation – ESPECIALLY in a “gym” – where each member would confidently refer one another personally or professionally without hesitation, and we see that everyday.