Sunday Story…Making Meaning

As humans, we are meaning-making machines. We want the events and the occurrences in our lives to have meaning. Yet over the course of our lives what had meaning when I was 25 may have no meaning whatsoever at 50. And at 70 I may not even remember what happened that seemed so important then.

 

We are all writing our autobiographies every day. What we choose to focus on, the things we replay in our minds, and the stuff we worry about are all things that make up our story. These are the chapters of our book.

 

The story I tell myself shapes who I am and who I will be. What I make the things in my life mean has me living my life in particular ways. Some of these stories are deeply ingrained in us. So deep that we often forget the actual happening and are only left with the pattern of behavior and reactions that I do and have. Unfortunately, our lives can be ruled by decisions we made when we were 11 or 17, or 23. Decisions that may no longer serve who you want to be today.

 

It may be time to edit your autobiography. It’s your story, you get to decide what it says about you and your life. If you step back and look objectively are your decisions today being made by the you that has culminated years of wisdom and experience or are they being made by a version of you that no longer exists.

 

Your story is yours. Tell the one you want the rest of us to hear.

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com 

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…Beyond Fitness

What do you want to be able to do when you are 60-70-80-90-100 and beyond? We could set up objective measurements…a bodyweight bench press or a double bodyweight deadlift, for instance. But really, do those even matter other than a way to measure over a larger population. How about the ability to pick up a 5-gallon bucket of water and carry it 50 feet, pick it up to your chest and dump it into a waiting receptacle? Or move a wheelbarrow with 100# of dirt in it? How about getting down on the floor and crawling under the bed to get a lost item?

 

Lifting weights in the gym is great but what is great is what lifting those weights allows you to do with the strength you have. Need to clean your aquarium? Carrying water might be important. Working in your yard? Moving dirt and supplies would be necessary. Cleaning your house may require both mobility and strength.

 

What are you doing right now, today, this week, this month, this year to be able to do those things you may want to do down the road? The time to prepare to do those things is now. If you think it’s hard to do them now imagine how hard they may be in 10 years…IF you continue doing what you are doing now.

 

The best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago. The second-best time is right now. Take care of your fitness now so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor later.

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

Sunday Story…Rest

Not Rust

While at the 2022 CrossFit Games a few short weeks ago I had a conversation with one of my fellow athletes, Will Powell. Will is a year or two younger than I am and a very accomplished athlete among other things. The topic of discussion was retirement. Now understand that we are standing around getting ready to compete surrounded by 30 or 40 of the fittest people on the planet in their respective age groups. Some of them are no longer working for a living, and some are still hard at it. Both Will and I are still hard at it…except we aren’t. We are both doing what we love and not doing it feels like a missing in our lives.

Neither of us wants to stop helping people be more fit, realize their health dreams, and create a world where people move and enjoy life the way nature intended us to. Yet we both see the need to rest. Rest does not mean stopping. It may mean slowing down a bit. It may mean taking a break in order to refresh and rejuvenate. But it does not mean quitting. It is not a decision to put down the gauntlet of transformation and focus. It is not the beginning of the slide into the grave.

 It is a chance to take a breath and enjoy the present moment. It is a moment to savor the accomplishments and a chance to sight in on new goals. It is a time to grow. Taking time to rest is taking time to become more.

 Resting is not rusting.

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

Sunday Story…Safety, Efficacy, Efficiency

These are the three pillars we start with here at CrossFit Odyssey. If you can’t do it safely, at the desired speed and/or weight you need to stop and re-assess. Better movement pattern? Less weight? Slower? Different exercise? Getting hurt, especially a severe injury is nothing to sneeze at, and the more mature we are the longer and harder it is to recover and get back up to snuff. Now nothing is without risk and the risk of doing nothing may be higher than you realize. Make sure you are doing it right and doing it in a way that will drive the adaptation you desire.

 

Which leads us to efficacy or the power to drive or produce and effect. Doing is right is going to be more efficacious than doing it wrong, yet fast or heavy. What is the adaptation you are trying to drive? Stronger? Faster? Fitter? All the above, I hope. But to get fitter, faster and stronger we need to also be smarter. We know that stronger people are harder to kill but it takes some smarts to get stronger!

 

And lastly, efficiency. Doing the most we can do, moving the largest load the longest distance safely and with efficacy is efficient. I want to drive the most adaptation I can using my time and energy in the most efficient manner. The ways to do this include proper movement pattern and range of motion and the correct application of intensity (load, speed, and time).

 

That is your prescription for long term success and longevity in the gym and in life.

 

As Dr. Spock said…” Live Long and Prosper” or as we say around here…Live Longer Better!

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Joining LLB

You may remember we ran a couple of cohorts last summer using Log Slow Distance training. Here are a couple of comments from people you may know:

From Mandy Waller:

“Although I was very skeptical at first, LSD training has greatly increased my cardiovascular endurance and efficiency. I am now able to work faster with a lower heart rate over a longer period of time with much quicker recovery.”

And

From Jonathan Dubroc:

“For my entire life, I thought the harder you go the better. Now I realize it’s about the right mix of strength, HIIT, and LSD. LSD improved my fitness and the focus on a targeted heart rate helped me listen to my body while working out!”

 

Look we know this works. Just like we know CrossFit works. Just like we know you will live longer better if you lift weights, keep your cardio fitness up, and hit some short hard workouts. We know you don’t have to kill yourself in the box every day to live longer better and as a matter of fact, killing yourself in the box may be counterproductive to that goal. You’ll still look better naked…and you’ll look better longer!

If you choose to go this route here's the program:

We will assign you a coach who will help you design your week to include 2 straight strength classes (already programmed) combined with either a short met-con or 1 of your 3 LSD sessions and a long met-con. You can use our rower, bike, ski-erg, or treadmill for your LSD sessions, or you can use your own. This is a guided program using our already programmed workouts. The monthly charge (introductory price!) is $299.00 a month. If you are interested let me or Ellie know, and we will get you hooked up.

We also have a personal training option using the same ideas but most of the work will be done off-site and not in class.

Here is another testimonial from David Savage:

John & Ellie are valuable coaches.  When John described his success and the impact of Long Slow Distance (LSD) it sounded like a funny acronym, but it’s a serious training tool!  I come to CrossFit from long distance running, and slooowing down during long runs from “race pace” has been hard. I typically end up 10-15 bpm above my Zone 2 rate after 15min of running, but over a period of a few months I made some improvement. I recently traveled to Africa and spent 9 days on a trek up Mt Kilimanjaro - I am convinced the LSD training helped immensely! Only 5 of our group of 11 adults made the summit, and I did not struggle with cardio at all.

 

So…you get to live longer better and do the stuff that lights you up for as long as you can! Sounds like a win to me!!!

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412