Sunday Story…I’m In!

The Open is coming, the Open is coming! This will be my 13^th open. I still remember 12.1…as many rounds and reps as possible of…Burpees!!! I can’t remember any of the others, but I will never forget that one!

It was a cold February day in Fernley Nevada. I had been running a belt promotion test for my martial arts students all morning into the early afternoon. The Open was still an “underground” thing. Although I had gotten my Level 1 CrossFit two years earlier this was only the second year of the Open. I would have to do a video submission as I didn’t have access to a box. So, I pulled out a portable mat to cover the ice-cold concrete, set up a target six inches beyond my outstretched reach, got a clock and one of my black belts to count and judge and 3,2,1 Go.

When I finished, I had 88 reps. That placed me at #87 for that workout. In 2012 there were less than five hundred participants in the entire division. To contrast there were over 1500 participants in the 65+ last year!

Your place doesn’t matter, first or 100,000^th. What matters is you showed up, got judged, met the standards, and put a score in. There is an accountability piece, some community involvement, and a way to track your progress over the years. I can look back at every workout over the last 13 years and see my progress (or not). Having benchmarks keeps me focused on the actual data and results, not some vague memory of what might have happened.

My point is this: The Open is important on many levels. We are going to do the workouts every Friday anyway. So go ahead and sign up. There are scaling options that work for anyone.

So, what are you waiting for? I’m in! Join me!

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…The Health Summit

 

Recently, Ellie and I attended the first CrossFit for Health Summit. There were a great many takeaways from all the speakers. But the overarching message we got was the importance of community. Yes, the research showed that taking a hot sauna after exercising increased the efficacy of both the exercise and the sauna. Yes, exercise has been proven to improve mental health issues. Yes, the data shows that the CrossFit methodology has been proven to improve fitness. But repeatedly what came up was the power of community in getting those results.

This should be no surprise to those of you who have been reading this blog for any length of time. We know that one of the main components of healthy aging is having healthy relationships. Getting out of your house, talking to people, having people looking out for you, and knowing you are important and needed all add up to having healthy relationships.

This is what makes CrossFit different. Here at Odyssey, we care about your health and fitness, of course. But we want to see you. We want to participate in your Journey to Extraordinary. We want to celebrate all the big and small victories along the way. We want to hold your hand and commiserate when things aren’t going quite right. All of us here want you to be the best human you can be.

If you receive a call from a 775 number don’t delete the voicemail that got left! It’s me calling you for some reason! Maybe you haven’t been here in a while, maybe it’s your birthday, maybe it’s your CrossFit anniversary!

Get in here! Your friends, coaches, and Clyde, all miss you.

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com     

775-338-2412

 

 

 

Sunday Story…RPE and You

Recently someone asked me how hard they should be training every day. My answer surprised them. They expected me to say something like 10 every day. And honestly? That would have been my answer 15 or 20 years ago. Of course, that was also when I was training under the philosophy that it’s only a good workout if someone is bleeding at the end. Martial artists, what can I say!?

I like to think I am a little smarter than that today! RPE is your rate of perceived exertion. It is completely subjective and is going to vary from day to day and workout to workout as well as task to task. The basic chart is this: 1 is no exertion at all. You got out of the chair, opened the fridge, and sat back down. 10 is all out, nothing left complete and total effort. You are lying on the floor in a puddle of sweat (and maybe tears) unable to do anything but stay in a fetal position and hope someone got the number of the bus that just ran over you!

Your training should only be a 10 once in a great while and then usually in competition. Your usual training sessions should be in the 5.5 -8 range. Once or twice a month you should strive to hit a 9. Once or twice a week you might hit an 8 during a particularly challenging metcon. Your weight training sessions should rarely get above a 7, even when you are near your 1 rep max.

With the Open coming soon you are going to have an opportunity to get close to a 10. If you can get close to an RPE of 10 on an Open wod you will have achieved full effort.

Full Effort is Full Victory!

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…The Open and You

 

Since its inauguration in 2011, the CrossFit Open is an annual fitness test. Originally it was 5 tests over 5 weeks. The Open has shrunk over the past few years to 3 tests over 3 weeks. Every year many of us participate and many more of us don’t. The reasons why are myriad on both sides. It is my position that everyone should register and post a score. Here is my reasoning.

Every once in a while, you need to really stretch your boundaries. If we always stay in our comfort zone, we won’t grow past it. I have said that in our training we need to explore all the different time domains. We also need to explore the different “effort zones” as well. We don’t need to have 10 of 10 effort every day. It is counterproductive. Every workout is not a test. Every workout is not designed to test the edge of your fitness.

Having said that, here are some reasons to do those tests. First, to really find out what you are capable of when you take the brakes off. Can you find another gear when the pressure is on? Second, finding that single point of focus. That point where everything narrows down to just the work right in front of us. And third, to give yourself a benchmark to measure against. You only know how strong, how fast, and how good you are once you reach the edge of your performance cliff and jump.

I get that this can be scary. Committing to do your best, going as hard as possible, and trying to do hard things are all hard. And sometimes you should look a challenge in the face and decide to go ahead.

The 2024 CrossFit Open…Who’s in with me?

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

Sunday Story…Your Mental Health

The third pillar of health span is the relationship pillar. Having a strong and healthy relationship with myself is a great starting place. But it’s just a starting point. I need to have meaningful social interaction consistently.

When I think about this part of our lives I am reminded of my Nana. When she retired her world began to close in. She spent more time alone and in front of the television set and less and less time with people. It didn’t take very many years until she was in the throes of the downward spiral of dementia. I can’t help but think that if she had a strong social network her downward trajectory may have been slower and less severe.

This morning while on our 3-mile ruck someone mentioned that if you have 3 solid friends you are wealthy. It isn’t the number that is important, it is the strength of the relationship. People I can call and talk to, go to lunch with, watch a movie with, or share a meal with.

Another thought on this has to do with multi-generational households and relationships. Living with and around people who are younger and older than you are is good for you. The various and varied outlooks on life forces your mind and emotional status to grow and accept other outlooks.

What are you doing right now to cultivate and grow healthy long-term relationships? Remember, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is right now. Good, meaningful, long-lasting relationships take time to blossom. Plant those relationship seeds now.

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com    

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Your most important relationship

Is with yourself. In the third pillar of increasing and improving your health span, we talk about your relationships and how important it is to be connected to other people in the world.

But, just like when the flight attendants give their safety spiel, you must take care of yourself first before you can take care of anyone else. The same thing is true here. Your relationship with yourself is paramount. How will you have a healthy relationship with other people if you hate yourself? Self-loathing is never an attractive quality in a friend or mate. You need to get right with yourself and whatever trauma you may be dealing with.

How do you go about improving that relationship? The first thing to realize is that we all carry some sort of trauma within us. It could be big T trauma or little t trauma but it is there. The question is whether that trauma is preventing us from having a good relationship with ourselves or not. The way to find out? Just look at your life and see if there are behaviors you are participating in that help mask that pain. Drugs, alcohol, sex, food, work, and fitness are all examples of behaviors you may obsessively participate in that affect your ability to relate honestly with yourself.

Recognition is step 1. Step 2 is getting right with yourself. Maybe you need to sit and talk with a trained somebody. Maybe you need to sit down and have a talk with yourself. Maybe you need a more forceful intervention. It is up to you, but the bottom line is that it is going to take some ongoing work. It is not a one-and-done. But the juice is well worth the squeeze. So just like your fitness and your food, your inner landscape needs to be fit as well!

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com    

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com 

775-338-2412

 

Sunday Story…A Return to Eating (mindfully)

I recently heard Dr. Lillian Cheung talk about mindful eating. Dr. Cheung is the Director of Mindfulness Research and Practice in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Mindful eating is not a new concept. Simply put, it means to slow down and honor the food you are putting in your body. There are some very real health benefits to doing this. One of the important things to realize is that it takes 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain that it is full. By taking more time you are less likely to overeat.

Here are several ways to start your mindful eating journey:

Honor the people, plants, and creatures that made it possible for you to nourish yourself. Stay present while you eat. No phones or other distractions.

As you eat, engage all your senses…how does it smell, what color is it, what is the texture in your mouth, what flavors are you experiencing and how do they change as the food moves around in your mouth. Take your time to experience the full palette of your plate.

Use a smaller plate so you can have a smaller portion thus avoiding both food waste and overeating.

Take smaller bites and thoroughly chew your food. Too many of us swallow our food without completely chewing it first. Digestion begins in your mouth! And your digestion will work much better if you chew thoroughly before swallowing.

Mindful eating is not hard, but it does require commitment and effort. But then if you are taking the time to prepare good healthy real food doesn’t it make sense to take the time to really enjoy it?

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412