Rucking is defined on the official Go Ruck website as:  RUCK•ING [VERB] // Walking with a weighted rucksack (aka backpack). It implies action, energy, and purpose. Rucking requires strength, endurance, and character — and builds it, too. Rucking is a common military exercise but has moved into the civilian world as a fitness program. Ruck training, in general, is done to prepare soldiers for marches or hikes where they’d have to move their gear and equipment from point A to point B.   Rucking has been shown to increase your exercise capacity by merely walking with a loaded backpack. The weight-bearing exercise forces your body to stabilize and support the weight over extended periods. You will burn significantly more calories as well as build some serious core strength in the process.  We already have a handful of members who have been Rucking at BayWay CrossFit, and many were affiliated with other...

This weekend I got to go to Katy, Texas, to watch a group of our members take on the Katy Team Classic, and it had me missing the old competition days. First, the Katy Team Classic was a well ran the event. All the workouts for us were on time, and all the volunteers and staff worked tirelessly to keep us safe. There were limited people there as well as masks and social distance regulations. All in all, it was a great competition and one that I would like to see us do again. Competitions are great, especially when you are doing them with a good group of people. When I joined my first CrossFit gym, CrossFit Deer Park, I felt like we were going to a competition every month, and many of us benefited from this. Almost all the people participating in the competitions back in 2011,12,13 are still...

Squatting is one of the essential exercises anyone can do. We need the strength from the glutes, quads, and hip flexors in almost every movement we make throughout the day, so why are they avoided in traditional exercise programs? I have had many people come in that are avid exercisers or are even coming from another functional fitness program who have not been taught to squat correctly. Many people tell me they cannot squat, but after a few months, they are squatting and doing it well. People have been told that squatting is bad for you, and it can be if you are not taught correctly. Many trainers have their clients avoid them completely because they are afraid to teach them. To me, teaching the squat is easy. I am trying to get my athlete to do a couple of things. Set up well, hit the proper range of motion,...

Last week, I was at the grocery store when I heard someone talking about their fitness camp that they attend, and I heard them say, “It’s CrossFit-ish.” I have been training people for ten years, and let me tell you this, if you are not in a CrossFit gym, you are probably not doing CrossFit. CrossFit has many variations and can be done with minimal equipment, but it is different at a CrossFit gym. Most ‘CrossFit-ish’ workouts are missing is the “Evidence-Based” practice of fitness that makes CrossFit, CrossFit. The three most important and interdependent facets of any fitness program can be supported only by measurable, observable, repeatable facts. The CrossFit methodology’s implementation starts by defining what we are looking for by creating absolute metrics in every workout. In layman’s terms, each workout has movement standards so we can accurately retest. If everyone is doing a different type of squat...

I’ve been doing CrossFit since 2009 when a buddy of mine in the military introduced me to it, and I will be honest with you, I have had some knocks and injuries. Now 2009, I mostly did bodyweight workouts and a little barbell and kettlebell work tossed in while I was still playing college soccer, but I got deep into CrossFit in the fall of 2010. Since then, I have at minimum done five CrossFit workouts a week, and at times 2-3 workouts a day. In the last ten years, I easily have close to 3,000 workouts or more under my belt, 20-30 outdoor soccer games a year, and who knows how many indoor soccer games. I’ve competed in all types of fitness competitions, from different races to functional fitness comps, and along the way, I have had to take some time off going 100% due to one thing or...