I’m what you might call an everyday CrossFitter. I’m never going to compete, go to the CrossFit Games, or even come in first in the class. This is my truth, and I am just fine with it.

Not everyone who does CrossFit is interested in going to the Games.

Why I Love CrossFit

I love CrossFit anyway. I love walking into the box every morning and reading the WOD written on the large whiteboard. I love how a lot of the workouts are named after women: Elizabeth, Nancy, Annie, Jackie. They have yet to name one “Carrie,” but I think that’s because it would mostly include standing around and chatting or occasionally dancing to the music. None of this is very CrossFit-y.

“[I]f I beat my old time for Fran or Grace, I get a little gold star next to my name in Wodify.”

I love knowing all of the other jargon, like AMRAP, EMOM, PR, and RX. I especially love how timing is everything – the way CrossFit is ruled by the clock.

I love the way we all stand behind the bars or grip our jump ropes or sit up straight on the rowers at the start of the workout, and when the clock counts down from ten, we take off like racehorses without a jockey.

I love measuring how long it takes to finish my rounds in an AMRAP, or a 2,000-meter row, or 75 power snatches with an RX of 55 pounds. And if I beat my old time for Fran or Grace, I get a little gold star next to my name in Wodify.

Life Beyond CrossFit

My other truth is this: I have five kids, and my second son, Jack, has autism. He is eleven. I struggle every day to make sense of this boy, his diagnosis, and his slippery spectrum disorder.

See, with autism, there is no RX. I don’t know how to set a personal record, and I wish someone would use a dry-erase marker to write some instructions on a whiteboard for me because many times, I am very, very lost.

Being mom to my five kids is my other reality.

Like when we were in the grocery store last week and Jack demanded we buy sixteen Renuzit air fresheners because all of a sudden he is obsessed with air fresheners. I said no and he screamed yes, and before I knew it, he was piling all these air fresheners into the cart and screeching that he had to have them. I just stood there, watching, while he frantically snatched a blue one and a green one and then another blue one from the shelf, cradling them in his arms like small babies.

“[W]ith autism, there is no RX. I don’t know how to set a personal record, and I wish someone would use a dry-erase marker to write some instructions on a whiteboard for me because many times, I am very, very lost.”

You could say I have the same relationship with autism that I have with CrossFit. I love it and I hate it and I work hard at it, but sometimes I have no idea what I’m doing. It makes my heart race and my stomach clench and, if we’re in the grocery store and Jack is piling up air fresheners, it makes me sweat.

But I show up, and I give it all I have. And at the end of some days – the days where the tantrums are really loud and he’s obsessing about what time he has to take a shower and it’s all I can do not to scream in his face that he doesn’t have to take it at exactly 7:00 he can take it at 7:02 – well, on those days, I just want someone to put a little gold star next to my name. 

Meet Matt

I usually go to the gym for the 6:30am class, and for a while now I’ve been working out with a guy named Matt. Matt is very quiet. He’s serious. He rarely cheers or claps, and I have never seen him dance, not even once. He is soft-spoken, and if you don’t pay attention, you’ll miss his quick comments.

Over the past few months, this is what I’ve learned:

• His wife is a Yankees fan.
• He is terrible at sit ups.
• He has a four-year-old son named Sebastian.
• Sebastian has cerebral palsy (his Easter Seals page is here). He doesn’t walk or talk. But he giggles. He laughs and smiles and he loves to lick the salt off of tortilla chips.

Matt’s four-year-old son, Sebastian.

Every evening after work, Matt lifts Sebastian from his wheelchair. He puts him in a walker and coaxes him to step forward, one foot at a time, until his son takes two hundred steps.

Last week in the gym, we had to do the “Cindy” WOD – a twenty-minute AMRAP of five pull ups, ten push ups, and fifteen air squats. When I got to the gym, the 5:30am class was filtering out. They looked sweaty and disheveled, and everyone was comparing how many rounds they got. The chatter turned to Matt, who is a master at Cindy.

Everyone started comparing notes and guessing how he would do. Twenty rounds? 25? Just as we were about to start, a guy named Andrew poked his head back in the door and said, “Good luck, Matt!”

“His sinewy limbs blurred as he transitioned from the bar to the floor and up again – pull ups, push ups, squats. Over and over, he passed me with another round, and another.”

All of a sudden, there was a quiet static to the air. Carefully, Matt laid his poker chips that we use to keep track of our rounds in a grid on the floor. The clock counted down and we jumped to the pull-up bars.

I watched him out of the corner of my eye. His sinewy limbs blurred as he transitioned from the bar to the floor and up again – pull ups, push ups, squats. Over and over, he passed me with another round, and another. 

Timing Is Everything

A few seconds might get you another pull up or enough time for one more squat. Two minutes can earn you another round and another chance to add a poker chip. Five extra minutes in the grocery store can turn into a huge meltdown over air fresheners.

In the space of a single moment, the littlest baby can feel as though the air around him has disappeared. And as he fights to fill his tiny lungs, the landscape of a family is forever changed.

A few minutes into the workout, I stopped thinking about rounds and pull ups and push ups and squats. With the music pounding in my ears, I thought about salty tortilla chips piled high in a bowl.

I thought about tenacity, fear, love, determination, truth, and hope. I thought about a dark-haired boy taking two hundred wobbly steps across the room, slowly propelling himself toward his father’s outstretched arms.

“I stopped thinking about rounds and pull ups and push ups and squats. With the music pounding in my ears, I thought about salty tortilla chips piled high in a bowl.”

I let Jack get three air fresheners in the grocery store that day. When we got home, he unpacked them from the bag one at a time. Then he marched upstairs into my closet with the green one in his hands. He put it down on the floor next to my sneakers.

“Here. I wanted you to have these. For near your shoes. So they smell good after the gym.”

(33. Matt got 33 rounds of Cindy that day.)

More Like This:

• I Will CrossFit Every Day
• When the Wheels Fall Off: Coaching Clients With Autism
• 4 Lessons Everyday Athletes Can Learn From Professional Athletes
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo 1 courtesy of CrossFit Impulse.

Photos 2 and 3 courtesy of Carrie Cariello.

Photo 4 courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Stacie’s Hardest Competition Moment

Last year, Stacie went in to CrossFit Games North Central Regionals strong and ready. The five-time CrossFit Games competitor knew what she was getting into – or she thought she did. She was ready for everything – except the punishing handstand walk that led to non-podium finishes for many of the other CrossFit Games hopefuls last year, as well. When asked what her hardest competition moment was, she simply said, “Not qualifying for the 2014 CrossFit Games.”

“She was ready for everything – except the punishing handstand walk that led to non-podium finishes for many of the other CrossFit Games hopefuls last year, as well.”

In the tradition of a true competitor, Stacie attacked her gymnastics training this last off-season and spent the remainder of 2014 upside down, improving her handstands and core strength, while enjoying the fact that this physical work was carrying over into improving her mental game, as well. She also emphasized her Olympic lifting training and feels both her gains and confidence have soared.

Her hard work as paid off and she currently sits in first place in the North Central region and she is ready to head into the arena this weekend with many other competitors due to the reorganization of the regionals format by CrossFit this season.

Why Compete?

Each athlete has her reasons for competing. Stacie is no different. She finds great reward in knowing she did absolutely everything she could to prepare. And, this preparation is further celebrated when the hard work pays off, especially with a podium finish. But Stacie finds motivation beyond the competition events. She believes that even when you’re not competing for a spot on the podium, you are still competing against the clock, the barbell, or an old personal record.

“Stacie is not easy-going when it comes to her training, and it is important for her to have a plan in place. Her current method of training is two days on, one day off, then three days on and one day off.”

Stacie is proud of her personal journaling and record-keeping obsession and recommends all athletes track their progress. She has found that personal data is a wonderful method to stay on track with your lifts, goals, and nutrition. Part of this attention to detail comes from Stacie’s history in athletics. She says that she “played just about every sport except soccer.” Her main focus was volleyball with track mixed in, and the tools she learned from playing volleyball in college have served her well in preparing for functional fitness competitions.

Stacie is not easy-going when it comes to her training, and it is important for her to have a plan in place. Her current method of training is two days on, one day off, then three days on and one day off. She did mention she will take rest days based on the needs of her body and on many of those rest days she truly and completely rests, without any active recovery methods.

Coaching and Consistency

As a coach and athlete, Stacie values the input of other coaches and acknowledges that consistency is key. She shared with me her coaches’ “Olympic toolbox” when it comes to those particular lifts:

My coach once told me that when it comes to Olympic lifts, I’ve got to think as if I’ve got an Olympic toolbox. There are so many moving parts to each lift and I’ve got the same tools to use each time. My set-up is the same, my footwork is the same, my bar path is the same, my catch position is the same, etc. If you perfect the fundamentals first and memorize those movement patterns, you’ll see a 300-pound snatch before the person who forgets about the tools needed and only worries about the numbers.

Discipline and Community

Growing up on her family’s Nebraska farm taught Stacie what a solid work ethic is all about and she employs that discipline in her daily life. Eating properly, getting plenty of sleep, and having the great support system of her parents, family, friends, her home CrossFit, sponsors, and God are the reasons she is able to do what she needs to do.

“I can speak on behalf of all our coaches at CrossFit Omaha, we genuinely care for our community and their families. I can’t think of a better place for someone to train and learn CrossFit.”

Stacie trains and coaches at CrossFit Omaha where she passes along her passion and helps create a supportive environment. “I can speak on behalf of all our coaches at CrossFit Omaha, we genuinely care for our community and their families. I can’t think of a better place for someone to train and learn CrossFit.”

A New Fan

I’ve done a great many interviews and spoken with and am honored to know many CrossFit Regionals and CrossFit Games athletes. I still cheer for each one of these athletes and now I am happy to say that Stacie is added to my list as I yell at my computer screen to cheer her on during the last Regionals weekend at the end of May.

More Like This:

• Investing in Fitness: Lessons From CrossFit Games Athlete John Pera
• Rich Froning – 2014 CrossFit Games Champion
• A Brief History of the CrossFit Games
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photos: ©2015 CrossFit, Inc. Used with permission from CrossFit, Inc.

The post CrossFit Athlete Stacie Tovar: Seeking Success After Disappointment appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

With Memorial Day fast approaching, it’s common that people start to think about one of my favorite workouts – “Murph.” I like Murph for a variety of reasons, but most of all because no matter how you slice it up, you’ll be well and truly tested by it.

The Workout

For those who don’t know, Murph consists of:

• 1 mile run
• 100 pull ups
• 200 push ups
• 300 squats
• 1 mile run

All done wearing a twenty-pound weight vest (or body armor if you happen to work in a job that has you owning body armor).

While I’m sure many know what constitutes good form, the people at Forged have put up video of exactly what a good rep should look like for each exercise. Please note, I favor not using kipping for the pull ups.

The SEALFit standard for Murph is 75-minutes. If you break Murph down into component parts, most people can run two ten-minute miles without exhausting themselves, leaving 55 minutes for the rest of the work.

A common way to perform the workout is to do 20 sets of 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, and 15 squats. If you did a round of that every two minutes, you’d actually wind up with a sixty-minute Murph.

However, that’s not what usually happens for most people. Most people break down on the pull ups no matter how hard they try. Most people can manage the push ups and squats, but the pull ups are what get nearly everyone. But I’ve got a solution for you.

3-Week Training Program to Crack Murph

Over the next three weeks you’re going to perform fractions of Murph three times each week.

On your spare days, you’ll run or ruck. It’s that easy. We’re going to follow the same heavy-light-medium approach I spoke of in my last article on programming so that we keep improving from one workout to the next.

Week 1, Day 1

• 3 x 1-2-3-4 pull ups
• 3 x 2-4-6-8 push ups
• 3 x 3-6-9-12 squats

Perform this as 1 x pull up, 2 x push ups, 3 x squats on a two-minute cycle. Rest for the remainder of the two minutes. When the timer goes off, perform 2 x pull ups, 4 x push ups, 6 x squats before again resting for the remainder of the two minutes. Continue in this fashion until you’ve done three full rounds.

Day 2

• 3 x 1-2-3-4-5 pull ups
• 3 x 2-4-6-8-10 push ups
• 3 x 3-6-9-12-15 squats

Complete this in the same manner as day one, but note that this workout uses more reps. Where day one had ten reps per pull up ladder, today’s session has fifteen – a 50% increase in volume.

Day 3

• 3 x 1-2-3 pull ups
• 3 x 2-4-6 push ups
• 3 x 3-6-9 squats

Following the heavy-light-medium sequence means that today’s workout needs to be the easiest as it follows our hardest for the week. It features only six reps per pull up ladder and represents a 40% effort compared to day two. Don’t try to do more. Trust me – you need these hard days as next week will take a step up.

Week 2

Stick with the same format as above, except this time you’ll do four full rounds of each ladder on each day.

In comparison to week one – where you did 30 reps of pull ups on day one, 45 reps on day two, and 18 reps on day three – this week, you’ll do 40, 60, and 24 respectively. That represents a jump of 130% from the previous week. Take advantage of those easy days because you need them to recover.

Week 3

Add another ladder to the process and perform five full rounds.

Looking at pull ups again, this week you’ll do 50, 75, and 30. In other words, your light day now has the same volume as your heavy day did only two weeks ago.

The one change for this week is to not do the light day. If you do the third workout day on either Friday or Saturday, you should be lining up to do Murph on Monday, so you should have a day off to allow yourself to fully recover. When it comes time to go all in on Memorial Day, you should be ready to kick some ass.

One final thing – if you are doing Murph on Memorial Day please consider signing up for the Murph Challenge.

More Like This:

• 5 Fitness Challenges That Will Strengthen Body and Mind
• The Proper Way to Do a Hero WOD and Honor the Fallen
• The Reality of Combat and Special Forces Training

Photos courtesy of CrossFit Impulse.

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