How many times have you had a friend tell you, “I can’t tomorrow. I have a doctor’s appointment.” Or maybe they are taking a parent to the doctor. What about the person at work who is always missing because they have to go to the doctor or are sick. Too many times, I have received an email saying, “Hey Rich, I need to start on something asap. The regular gym has never worked for me, but I need to get going now; at my yearly physical, the doctor told me my XYZ’s were all out of whack, and if I continue down this path, it won’t be good.” We do this to ourselves. We eat like crap and never set foot into a gym. We complain that CrossFit is too hard on our body as we put more trash into our mouths, sit around more, drink more, smoke more, and...

We all start exercising to make ourselves better, but at some point, we get tired. Some people are just motivated to exercise because they want to. Others need a reason. I use to be one of those people that just could not wait to get to the gym, but since I have stopped competing in CrossFit and weightlifting competitively, I just haven’t had the want like I used to. So lately, I have been trying to do more competitions so that I have a reason to hit a workout each day. Some do not want to compete, so they need another reason to show up to the gym each day. The main reason anyone should workout is their health, but even with a global pandemic, people still do not care about their own health all that much. It is common to think that taking supplements or following gimmicky diets is...

We are two weeks away from the start of the open!  In CrossFit, these workouts are some of the toughest, both mentally and physically, that most of us will do. Every single one is memorable, and every single one will test you in ways that you haven’t been tested before. The open is a global competition that takes place in CrossFit gyms all around the world. It is the first stage in the process of qualifying for the CrossFit Games.  In years past, the games’ qualification went through three-stages: the open, regionals, and the games. The second and third stage were some of the most exclusive competitions in the CrossFit community. Regionals only qualified the top .001% of all participants from the open, and the games qualified the top .15% from regionals. Qualifying past the open meant you were one of the fittest people in the world.  To qualify for...

One thing that makes good CrossFit gyms different is the memories. I can tell you one memory that almost every CrossFit person has: their first class. For most, it is virtually always “One of the hardest workouts they’ve done.” They’re tired and probably, sweaty and happy. But for those that truly fall in love with the program, the methodology and the lifestyle remember more than just how tired they were. I remember my first CrossFit workout at an actual CrossFit gym. I had been doing CrossFit-ish workouts on my own for a while, cherry-picking workouts from the main site and a few other places, but one day a buddy of mine invited me to work out gym he coached at. I remember the people there, and I remember the workout, I remember the smell, I remember the conversations. I loved it. My second first class was at the first CrossFit...

To be a good coach, you do not have to be a good athlete—end of story. I think ego holds many people back in the sports world, and especially in the fitness. Many athletes will turn their nose up at a coach that is not as fit as them. Ego prevents them from an opportunity to learn from someone. It puts them at a disadvantage. I think there is some validity to being fit and coaching CrossFit. I think it shows the people you are training and putting yourself through the same challenging workouts. You should be a good example of what the program can do for your clients. But by no means does someone have to top the leaderboard to give quality coaching. In fact, the most fit person I’ve ever trained with regularly, could do everything well, better than almost anyone, but had a very hard time transferring...