First some personal history. I have been a casual rock climber for a number of years. Being a self proclaimed student in the art of mastery, I know full well that dabbling in any sport is no way to progress. It was with pure serendipity that a number of events happened to allow me to not only put some old fashioned effort into training, but also gather some wisdom about taking care of your tools that I would like to share. As fate would have it, I had recently opened a CrossFit affiliate in a huge 5000sqft facility with 18ft ceilings (in 2009 when I opened, my gym would have been one of the largest in Canada). A few months...

I’ve spent the last three weeks trying to convince athletes at my gym to sign up for the Open. The two biggest reservations I hear are, “I don't think I’m good enough,” or “Competing is too nerve-racking.” I always tell them, “That’s the point. It’s supposed to be both humbling and nerve-racking. It's about conquering those feelings. Even the top athletes feel stress.” To this I generally receive skeptical glares. Well, here’s proof: Many of the top Canada West ladies admit they will never totally escape the Open anxiety. Veteran Games competitor Angie Hay, who always looks like the most calm athlete on the floor says that even though the Open is further down on her priority list than normal...

With the Open one week away, people everywhere are making predictions. Will this be the year of the bar muscle-up? The handstand push-up? The pistol? Will it be heavier than normal? The amount of time we waste thinking about it is actually insane because the truth is nobody knows exactly what Dave Castro will throw our way.  But despite the unknown surprises that are sure to come, there are a couple things I’d put money on: 1. Chest-to-bar pull-ups in high dosage 2. Considering how competitive this year will be with only 20 regionals berths on the line, repeating workouts will be more likely than ever this year Combine both of these theories, and this means hands must be ready...

Damborg is a mainstay in the CrossFit community—his obvious passion unmatched by few. So it was no surprise when Damborg announced he was opening his own gym. Knowing how drastically CrossFit had improved his own life, Damborg’s passion has always been to help the “Average Jo” get fit. 

“When we started, my goal was to appeal to everyone else—not just to competitors,” he explained. “I tailor to the ‘everybody else’ crowd,” he laughed.

Brett Marshall of CrossFit Calgary has found a way to run a competitor's program that's helping both his business and his athletes, all the while keeping his community cohesively intact.

How do handle elite CrossFit athletes at your box? Do you allow self-programming? Do your top athletes train together in a group during specific time slots? What do you charge them for a competitors program? Do you even charge them for a competitors program? What do you charge them for individual programming? Do you treat your elite athletes like heroes? Do you consider them an investment for your business? Do you make considerable revenue off their services, or are they a cost? The opinions on the topic are as diverse, to say the least. In this series, I plan to look at different philosophies on the topic, but I’m debuting this series with my perspective as both an competitive athlete and a coach. Here goes:

Part 1: Make Them Pay!

You learn a lot about the athletes you compete about when you team up with them for a competition, like I did with Brittany Brown at the CrossFit Fort Vancouver Invitational two weeks ago in Vancouver, Washington. 

In short, what I learned about Brittany is that she has mastered the art of maintaining a cool, casual, calm demeanour while she competes fiercely.

Have you ever seen someone post a picture of their overcooked steak or their burnt toast on Facebook? How many status updates have you read that say, “Mother fucker: I Didn’t get a personal best today!”  I don't imagine very many. People don’t boast about their fails. They post pictures of their perfectly-cooked poached eggs and bacon sitting atop a bed of fresh greens, topped with delicious-looking guacamole and a pinch of paprika. And in the idealized Facebook world, every single person on your newsfeed seems to have just set a new personal best. Meanwhile, in the real world, you’re at the gym pissed off that you haven’t hit a personal best back squat in six months. The truth about...

  T’Was the night before Christmas And there was only one small glitch The athletes were in stinging pain Ripped hands are a bitch!   They tossed and turned, raw wounds stinging in their beds While visions of thin, smooth calluses danced in their heads And I with my polysporin that got smeared all over my cap Had reluctantly settled down for a messy winter’s nap   When near the pull-up bars there arose such a clatter It was obvious to all nothing was the matter Santa Class had RIPT kits for all hands to be tamed And he whistled and shouted and called the products by name:   Now Daily Dose, now Quick Fix, now Grind Stone too! On bees...