The introverted crossfit coach

As a crossfit coach or trainer in general I would conclude that person would benefit from being extroverted as defined by wikipedia 

"the act, state, or habit of being predominantly concerned with and obtaining gratification from what is outside the self".^[3] Extraverts tend to enjoy human interactions and to be enthusiastic, talkative, assertive, and gregarious. They take pleasure in activities that involve large social gatherings, such as parties, community activities, public demonstrations, and business or political groups. Politics, teaching, sales, managing and brokering are fields that favor extraversion. An extroverted person is likely to enjoy time spent with people and find less reward in time spent alone. They tend to be energized when around other people, and they are more prone to boredom when they are by themselves.

To a certain extent I guess I play that role of an extroverted person in order to get my point across and demand attention of my athletes for however long I need to. on the opposite end of the spectrum I would classify myself as more of an introvert although most people fall into both categories:

"the state of or tendency toward being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in one's own mental life".^[3] Some popular writers have characterized introverts as people whose energy tends to expand through reflection and dwindle during interaction.^[4] This is similar to Jung's view, although he focused on psychic energy rather than physical energy. Few modern conceptions make this distinction.

The common modern perception is that introverts tend to be more reserved and less outspoken in groups. They often take pleasure in solitary activities such as reading, writing, using computers, hiking and fishing

for more check out wikipedia :)

As you can tell by the title I would consider myself more in the lines of an introvert.  I kinda have more fun sharing ideas and theorizing about strength, fitness, nutrition rather than small talk or going to parties etc...its an awesome feeling finding out things especially from others.  us introspective types are focused like a laser once we find something we are interested in which can make us half way decent at what we are good at. So when it comes to reading, analyzing, sharing theories I am strong there but at times the extroverted part of teaching, social outings, selling myself can be rough. But I have realized that I won't completely turn this around although I can learn to play this role in small portions.  

Ironically enough even though coaching is really tiring at times it is great.  Its one of the few places where I feel comfortable socializing because it is tied to something I study immensely.  If I was teaching a class on tailgating, I wouldn't have crap to say.I am not saying I have made myself an expert because I do not believe there is such a thing (I will comment on that in another post).  Admittedly I want to be a go to guy for information which i have not reached that point yet but continue to strive for it although I may never reach it, the idea is fun.  

A few strategies that help me stay energized:

1. I try to get to the box early when it is empty to help me get use to the space.
2. keep the conversations short but positive :)
3. only raise my voice if i need to.
4. outline or do prep work before you teach the class, its easier to teach if you are comfortable with the course material. 
5. Work my extroversion side in spurts. 
6. maybe if possible don't teach multiple classes. 
7. Build rapport on facebook with your athletes. 
8. You don't have to be the "rah rah" coach carry a quit confidence and people will see through that. 
9. tell some jokes but work it into the frame of teaching. 
10. Don't waste energy worrying about being introverted in the first place, play your cards.

bottled up

A closed bottle does not release the contents inside
I cannot taste the refreshing liquid
untwist that cap of air
uncork life, pour unto another.

The Black metal enthusiast..not talkin' about corpse paint

Let me start off by saying that I am a huge metal fan and not that pseudo heavy stuff with teens in skinny jeans with tattoos, and swooped hair.  I am an African American who started off listening to hip-hop and continue to do so.  Well Sometime in college I decided to give metal a try when i constantly saw a classmate of mine wear band shirts most notably being killswitch engage.  Mind you this is my first introduction into this type of music which I must admit was put off because some of the sub-genres penchant for gore, satan, and violence.  So i had a little research to do in what the heck i was listening to, what sound I liked, the lyrics, vocals (hardest part for people to accept).  I found out i like the band and even saw they had melodic parts along with their harshness, and the subject matter was just as regular and normal as anything else.

Research Phase 

I look at music in a few ways, do i like it or do i not and does it relate to my feelings and my life.  I found myself visiting every myspace page i could find and writing down band names that I was curious about, which let me tell you was quite annoying.  This was a  confusing process because there are a ton of different "cores" which i won't even list here.  But I eventually developed a liking to technical death metal, metalcore, stuff mixed with hardcore, forms of black metal, doom, grind, progressive etc...  My favorite band is meshuggah :).  I started to read blogs, reviews, interviews to get a greater sense of where these musicians were coming from.   It turned out some of these dudes were quite smart, but just decided to make music that reflected their subject matter in a non happy go lucky way.  I was always a thinker introspective type of guy and and honestly hip-hop didn't touch that heart string for me.  Metal brings the heat with musicianship combined with aggressiveness(not all ways) which is the opposite of  my even keeled temperament/personality. 

An observation 

As i looked at bands I appreciated the deep and thoughtful lyrics about depression, politics, literature, philosophy, atheism etc.  Although some bands will not be as thought provoking but i tend to gravitate towards the subject matters above.  Aside from connecting with what i stated above I couldn't help but notice that it seemed to be predominantly dominated by white guys, I am fine with this by the way, it is just something i noticed.  Over the years more and more whites have gravitated towards rap even in the late 80's early 90's.  But I have not seen this to the same extent from the black community over to metal. I know there are the jimi hendricks of the world, living color, motown era rock n roll, blues.  There are bands such as bad brains, fishbone as well that are awesome.  On the heavier side of things sepultura's vocalist is black, suffocation (death metal band) had two black band mates for a long time, Black Death which i just found out about while writing this :), blasphemy, oceano.  A couple of these bands are cool some are lame as I will always keep to the criteria above and not based on race.  

Now knowing these bands exist does make me feel slightly more connected to the genre.  

A good pair 

In the impoverished neighborhoods that I grew up in rap was prevalent, from gangster, to thought provoking conscious rap that asked its listeners to step up their thinking and knowledge, ostentatious formulas that is more prevalent today.  But once you dig deeper into the hardships of living in dilapidated areas of poverty, violence, fear, and eroded hope.  I am surprised this connection hasn't been more widely expressed, not withstanding i could be missing something with the thousands of bands out there.  Styles like Doom metal would definitely be a form of metal that could display desperation of unemployment.  death metal/black/hardcore-punk/grind could represent gang violence.  These would work as possible concept albums but in general coming from these areas a greater sense of rebellious harsh music that is metal should be a breeding ground in the african american community.  Maybe this is an exposure problem or the worry that their peers will not accept it.  or maybe they want to make it but there is no infrastructure to facilitate instrument usage.  Let me make this clear, I am not asking for all black bands although that would be cool, but just more of them opening up to the possibility of listening to it or playing it and showing up to shows. 

2+1(1)=stronger

Let me start off by saying that I love me some crossfit, I like my lifting, short to medium metcons long metcons are for people with the patience of a turtle.  I am quite fond of my Olympic lifts.  Barbells is what life is made of, gripping the bar with both hands before that pr lift is similar to being scared and happy all at once.  Gripping the bar with both hands bring me to the above equation 2 being bilateral work and 1(1) one limb each.  I am in no way generalizing when I am writing this as i know every box has its own way of doing things, i am speaking from experience mostly and feel crossfit needs a little more of of the unilateral stuff.

Double up

We do a great job at getting our athletes to use the barbell proficiently, with the right moves techniques coupled with the right intensity in most cases.  But these movements mostly involve two hands on the barbell at the same time, whether it be strict presses or back squats.  Ideally we would like our body to work at equally but that is just not the case all the time.  In most cases we lean to one side for better stability and the other for strength.  In my case for instance I am not as strong or stable on my left side even though that is my dominant side. But i have better coordination, and I bowl and throw on that side.  These differences are usually magnified when doing maximal effort work such as push jerks, strict presses for the upper limbs.  One side might be lower on one side than the other on the press/jerk.  One of your hips might feel more tight on back squats.  This can also show up during metcons as well.  Have you ever paid attention to how you feel after you finish high rep pull ups and one arm is more pumped than the other?  or check your self out in the mirror did you see differences in muscle definition? 

When one side is being over worked it could possibly be linked to injuries as well.  so we as crossfitters should probably do something about this so we can get better faster and prevent injuries. 

The case for 1(1) work

With bilateral work comes anterior overload which brings in the quads and not enough posterior work but that is another post.  Doing unilateral work combined with bilateral goodness will help decrease some of the deficiencies  in your game and actually bring you back to more asymmetrical wholeness.  as seen in this pubmed study it can actually give a different stimulus http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18438258

 the arm that is not being used is also working hard to balance things out.  I know in crossfit we preach functional fitness and doing movements that challenge uneven movement ranges are important as well.  This should be used as an added on tool rather than the rule but still vital to everyday application. 

If you think about your daily life for a second, how many things do you do perfectly with both limbs upper body, and lower body.  when you pick things up, you are more likely to do a one legged deadlift which requires foot/knee stability hamstring/glute activation and reaching out with one arm.  carrying groceries are usually uneven loaded farmer carries etc.  These are usually classic progressions in strength and conditioning and should be combined within a crossfit program from time to time.  

Another benefit that is forces you to flat out become stronger in your weak half of your body. which brings me to the strength portion.  You definitely build more of a stimulus of building strength carrying the heaviest load possible using both but you build better awareness, stability, technique by doing one limb at a time.

ill leave you with this random song, album dualism, song singularity......get it

life-death

Life
A random beginning caught in the fluidity of continued evolution
out of billions like a grain of sand you stood out like a pattern of stars
print of your existence is forever engraved, with double helix rareness.
ongoing formation of concentrated injected influence, flowing through veins
of the effected.

Death 
discontinuation of a live organism, broken down by gases, bacteria, and cellular failure
thoughts faded, but retained until its eminent failure.  Standing alone clinging to that clear
view of past memories.  They slowly become a blur but not to be taken for granted
long stretches of time composed by brain chemistry but not by a composer.  acceptance is forced
upon your reality that the end is near, leaving behind conscious humanoids that has invested
their existence in yours.  Great solace is to be expected if comforted by a continuation principle.
Freedom is granted in nothingness when the chapter closes.

Metal vs WOD comparison

I love metal, hardcore, and its various mash-ups/sub-genres.  So I like to listen to certain types of styles depending on what i'm doing. If I am doing something short and intense such as fran well i'm probably going with grind or death metal.  if i am doing slow lifts such as squats, then probably doom etc... so here are some examples, just in case you, well find yourself trying to find something rock out to when you going hard for the homies at your box.

Short and intense wods ala, fran, diane.

Brutal Truth...Grindcore

Well if it is a ME 5x3 heavy as f*ck kind of day i suggest something in this vein...slow plodding and heavy see :)

If you are caught in a long brutal Hero wod such as murph, and other hard ones, you need something that is calming, i suggest this.

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT STRENGTH

I HAVE BEEN PARTICIPATING IN CROSSFIT FOR ROUGHLY 3+ YEARS WITH NO PREVIOUS WORKOUT EXPERIENCE AS FAR AS RUNNING AND STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING GOES.  I THOUGHT THOSE GUYS AND GALS (ESPECIALLY) WERE STRONG, FIT AND JUST DOWN RIGHT CRAZY.  I COULDN'T BELIEVE THE AMOUNT OF SKILL THAT WAS PRESENT IN DOING SUCH SIMPLE MOVEMENTS LIKE DOUBLE UNDERS TO THE MORE COMPLEX ONES LIKE SNATCHES.  ON TOP OF THAT THE PROGRAM THROWS MAKES YOU INTO A HUMAN GUMBO.  I QUICKLY LEARNED THAT PAIN WAS JUST APART OF THE DAILY DOSE OF ANTI AWESOME FOR YOUR MUSCLES.

AFTER SPENDING SOME TIME INDOCTRINATING MYSELF INTO THE PAIN CAVE I COULDN'T HELP BUT REALIZE THAT I HAVE KNOWN THE STRONGEST PERSON WAS RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE.  MY GRANDMOTHER ROSIE.  SHE NEVER GAVE UP ON ANYTHING THAT I CAN REMEMBER, AND WAS NICE TO THE POINT OF PUTTING NUNS TO SHAME ;).  NO MATTER HOW TIRED OR HURT SHE WAS SHE WOULD TRY HER BEST TO GET LIFE DONE.  ALTHOUGH SHE DIDN'T WORK AS I WAS GROWING UP BECAUSE OF VARIOUS MEDICAL ISSUES, DEPRESSION, MILD PARKINSONS, BREAST CANCER (WHICH EVENTUALLY TOOK HER LIFE RECENTLY AS IT MORPHED INTO STAGE 4.  

BUT I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HER FOR THE STRENGTH SHE SHOWED, ESPECIALLY AFTER HER FIRST DIAGNOSIS OF BREAST CANCER 9 YEARS AGO.  I WATCHED AS CHEMO TOOK OVER BUT SHE STILL FOUGHT TO GET BACK TO AS CLOSE TO NORMAL AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT A COMPLAINT THAT I CAN REMEMBER.  

SO THIS BRINGS ME TO MY POINT, I'VE DONE MANY A PAINFUL CROSSFIT WORKOUTS BUT I CAN'T SIT HERE AND SAY THAT ANY OF THEM WERE THE EQUIVALENT OF THE PAIN SHE ENDURED OVER SEVERAL MONTHS/YEARS FROM VARIOUS MEDICATIONS,CHEMO TREATMENT POSSIBLY POOR DIET.  SO I DEFINITELY KEEP HER INT HE BACK OF MY MIND WHEN I'M SUFFERING THROUGH A WOD OR FEEL LIKE GIVING UP.  I DON'T HAVE A RIGHT TO DO THIS AS I SEE IT BECAUSE UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE ME COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW I SUCK AT THIS OR THAT DURING A CROSSFIT WORKOUT SHOULD BE ACCEPTED BY ME.  I'VE HAD THE STRONGEST PERSON IN MY CORNER FOR YEARS,  WHICH HAS EMERGED IN WAYS THAT HAS RECENTLY DAWNED ON ME THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.  I WROTE HER NAME ON MY OLY SHOES, DEDICATED A WOD TO HER 2 ROUNDS 16 WALL BALLS, 8 MUSCLE UPS, 16 BOX JUMP BURPEES, CARRY A #95 BARBELL 100M DO 21 OHS, CARRY IT BACK. 

OH AND AWESOME "FUCK CANCER" T-SHIRTS.  

I will try not to hold myself back and continue to fight through what comes my way in the gym...destroy, erase, improve.