Sunday Story…Postures of Defeat

You’ve seen it numerous times…head down between the knees, hand on the thighs or cupping the face, struggling for breath, and maybe with tremors running throughout the entire body. Maybe it’s on the knees, face in the hands or seated with the head cradled in the arms of flat on your back gasping for air and rolling around in pain. They all symbolize the same thing…beaten. Beaten down by an opponent whether live and in person or by a work out or something else. Beaten.

When we assume the posture of defeat we are telling our mind, body, and spirit that we have been beaten, that our opponent has gotten the best of us, even if that opponent is just a workout. We often find ourselves in this position by default. It feels good, I will just get a couple of breaths and get back after it but you never come back with quite the zeal you had before. Somewhere in your psyche you have admitted defeat even if you don’t think you have.

And when you next face that opponent or that workout somewhere in the back of your mind will be a nagging doubt, a residual knowledge that this opponent owns you and not the other way around.

Even if the score board says you didn’t win, even if the white board lists you lower you must never assume the posture of defeat. That’s right…Never. You must always stand tall, breathing deeply, eyes forward and posture erect. You must tell your psyche that you win…always. The scoreboard only reflects the outcome of today’s contest, not whether you are a winner or loser. Losers assume the posture of defeat. Winners assume the posture of strength…unbowed, unconquerable, undefeated…every time.

Find your posture of defeat and eliminate it. Cut it out like a cancer…it is costing you points every time you go there. Points your psyche needs to win this time and every time. And thanks to C.J. Martin of Invictus for pointing this out and hammering the point home!

Get out and win. Or at least look like you won. It matters.

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on Facebook!

Sunday Story…Nutrition and the 5 Magic Bullets

Let’s be honest…we all want the magic bullet, the magic pill. We want that one thing we can do that will melt fat, build muscle, and improve performance.

Last weekend I had the pleasure and privilege to attend the Invictus Athlete’s camp. We were coached by some of the best in the CrossFit world, led by C.J. Martin whose vision has created CrossFit Invictus. C.J. has coached some of the best athletes in the CrossFit world including the 2014 Team Champions, Camille Leblanc-Bazinet the 2014 fittest woman, and Josh Bridges the 4th fittest man in 2014. I have been a remote coaching client for over 2 years and lay my success firmly on the programming C.J. and his team have provided.

Here are the 5 magic bullets C.J. gave us for success around our nutrition programs. Notice only one of them is what we would consider “traditional” nutritional advice.

#1 Eat a high nutrient density diet. This is best defined as follows: eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that support exercise but not body fat. This phrase comes from Gregg Glassman’s world class fitness in 100 words quote. If you are not eating this way all the supplements, all the proteins powders, all the tricks won’t help. This is the bottom rung of the ladder. If you don’t do this you will have a really hard time climbing very far.

#2 Chew your Food. Put your fork down between bites. Chew all the food in your mouth into a liquefied state before you pick up the fork again. I would add that you should be “mindful” during this process. In other words you are eating not texting or watching TV. This will make sure all the nutrients in the great diet you are consuming are available to your digestive tract.

#3 Hydrate. Drink water and maybe some electrolytes. If your urine isn’t almost clear all the time you are not drinking enough. Simple, not easy.

#4 Get Quiet. Take 5 -10 minutes every day in uninterrupted quiet time. Meditate, be silent, listen to the rocks move…whatever you want to call it just get into your head to get out of your head and let all the chatter fall away.

#5 Sleep. 7-9 hours every night in a dark, quiet, cool room. 7 is the bare minimum for an athlete and 9 is better. Set up a ritual before retiring that does not include electronics or other mental stimulation. Kill two birds with one stone and do your 10 minutes of quiet time before you retire.

There you have it. 5 magic bullets some of the best athletes in the world are using to maintain performance, keep energy levels up and look good doing it. Thanks C.J.!

If you need some help, call me!

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on Facebook

Sunday Story…Full Victory

Amanda Allen, who I met last year at the 2014 Reebok CrossFit games (and who was the 2014 champion for the women 40-44) recently, wrote an article about what it takes to go to the CrossFit games. You can read it here:
http://breakingmuscle.com/functional-fitness/do-you-have-what-it-takes-to-go-to-the-crossfit-games

The article is aimed primarily at the young among us. Those 20 something wanna-be fire breathers who think that with just a couple of tweaks in their training they could compete with the best in the world. As she so succinctly points out, that probably isn’t going to happen.

The article got me thinking and comparing her points to my own experience. I dedicated a solid 2 years to getting there in 2014. I have written about that process before. My journey here in 2015 has been even harder than those years.

There are younger men coming into the age group. I can’t do anything about that. Diet and nutrition is hard to maintain over long periods of time. What worked 2 years ago is not as efficacious as it was. I have been constantly injured in the 8 or 9 months since the games, including a broken hand that almost took me out completely.

I love to train. I love to pick up weight and move it around. I love to push (punish) my body to see how far I can take it. I love that feeling when the work out is over and you have gone into that dark dark place and come out the other side. That pain has me feel alive.

I know there are other athletes who want to go to the games, who want to earn their shot. But I am not willing to just throw in the towel. I like to win but most of all I like to compete. The win is not in the outcome or the podium place. The win happens every day, all alone in the gym, just a barbell, some weight and the voice in my head drowning out all the other voices telling me to stop or slow down. That voice is the one I choose to listen to. That voice says “You can”, “you will”, you must”. So I do.

“Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on FaceBook

Sunday Story…Compete

We all do it on some level. Even when we say we don’t, we do. You might be subtle about it or you might deny that you have the “competition gene” but you do.

As humans we are programmed for competition. But the further we move away from our primitive heritage the less appealing competition is to our sensibilities. Cooperation seems better suited to our modern world.

Yet we pay athletes obscene amounts of money to compete. We sit for hours watching other people compete at games we played as children. We create games our children play that mimic the games we watch other people play. Competition is in our blood.

I compete to be better. I compete to prove to myself I am better. Not better than the next person or the other competitors but better than I was a moment ago. Competing feeds my life force. Competing affirms that I am vital and alive.

Don’t misunderstand me. If I am in a contest I want to win. I like winning. But I don’t compete to win. I compete to improve, to affirm my human-ness, to know I am better.

I compete for myself. If it is a contest between us I want to win. But when it is over I will also win if I am better. Competing is a no lose proposition.

Be better. Compete.

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on Facebook

Sunday Story…Stress

Food, Rest & recovery, and Exercise are all components of a healthy lifestyle. There is another, however, that may be more important. Stress is the piece that will kill your efforts in every other area.

Stress occurs when our body thinks it is in danger. It is an ancient, primordial reaction to real or perceived threats to life and limb. Tens of thousands of years ago stress kept us alive through predator attacks, starvation, and other real dangers. In our modern world stress comes from other places and much of it is self induced. We can’t do much about real world stress from outside forces other than learning to stay calm and breathe through it. But things like traffic, finances, or relationship stress can be managed. Your body does not differentiate real stress from perceived stress. In other words your body is going to react the same way whether you are being chased by a bear or you get mad at the talking head on TV.

Some people manage by looking at the worst case scenario. What is the worst that could happen…this is a strategy I don’t recommend, personally…since the worst that could happen could be pretty bad and just give you more to worry about. I have never found it to be especially useful but some do. There is no right way to manage stress but there are some things that are not good…drugs, alcohol, and eating all come to mind. All of these things actually create even more stress in your body. This is an evil circle that will take you down the drain.

Manage stress through breathing, meditation, soothing music, exercise (endorphins) spending relaxing time with loved ones (endorphins again). A large part of this management process has to do with understanding that there is no “normal”, no perfect. These are all constructs we create designed to have us feel even worse about our performance or general being. Let it go. Worrying is a useless activity. If you can change it, change it. If you can’t change it don’t worry about it. I can’t change the traffic. I can’t change my arrival time. I can change how I feel about the traffic. Change that and relieve the stress you are putting on yourself.

So…relax, breath, and smile. You are in charge of your attitude. So take charge.

Breathing,

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on Facebook and My Fitness Pal

Sunday Story…Food (again!)

If you come to me and want to talk about nutrition the first thing I am going to ask you to do is to give me a 3-5 day food log. I can’t give you any valid feedback on what you should be eating if I don’t know what you are eating. Anything I might say will be based on general guidelines designed to elicit a response in a large population.

So…if you want that general advice…eat meat and vegetables, starchy tubers in moderation, a little fruit, some seeds and nuts, healthy fats all in quantities that will support activity but not store fat. Avoid sugar, alcohol, and dairy. Don’t eat processed food. If you don’t know how it was produced don’t eat it. If you must eat out do it in an establishment that prepares food in a healthful manner using quality ingredients. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store, not the inside aisles. Learn to cook and use Tupperware!

It’s been a while since I logged my food though, primarily because it’s kind of a pain in the neck. But I want to dial in my nutrition better to perform better so a couple weeks ago I started a food diary.

I started logging my food in My Fitness Pal. It’s on the computer and my phone. It has a way to add recipes I use at home and lots of restaurants have their menus posted on there. You can find me there under my name…Johnmariotti (no space). If you join me you can look at my diet and we can talk about it. And if you post your food I will look at it and make very specific suggestions. I know that when I log my food I often think twice before I eat something questionable.

We can also have our resident expert Whitney Reichlin start following you and she can help you as well.

80% of your results in the gym are found in the kitchen. If you aren’t eating right all your hard work under the weights and running your tail off will be akin to running uphill in a snowstorm…you might get to the top of the hill but it won’t be easy or fun!

Get on My Fitness Pal. It’s free. It’s pretty easy. And we can have a meaningful discussion about what you are eating based on facts and information…not the vague comment like “I eat pretty clean.” Really? Compared to whom? The guy in “Super Size Me”?

See you there!

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on Facebook and My Fitness Pal!

Sunday Story…Ohana

When you walk in my door you become family. When I say that I mean I become invested in you, your success both here in the gym and in life. When you aren’t here it shows up as a missing in my life.

Over the last few years I have watched people come and go. I have seen friendships forged and bonds created. I have had strangers become family. I have the good fortune of getting to do this in an environment I love. My work is my home, my home is my work. It isn’t a job. It’s my life.

I have seen people transform their lives not unlike a caterpillar to a butterfly. I have had the privilege to be the catalyst for that metamorphosis. I get to be the cheerleader and the shoulder to cry on, the firm disciplinarian, and the loving parent. It is an honor and gift to participate in your process.

I miss you when you aren’t here. I worry about you. You are never far from my thoughts. You may think you are just another warm body in the gym but you aren’t…you are part of the fabric of my life…even those of you who just now joined us.

I celebrate each and every one of you. I revel in your struggle, jump with joy for every PR, for every victory no matter how small, and look forward each day to discovering a little bit more about you and your life.

Thanks for being family!

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
Follow me on Facebook