Domin Munnely

“Weakness is a crime so stop being a criminal” Bernarr McFadden.

The quote above comes from the father of physical culture – Bernarr McFadden. He said it over a hundred years ago when the fitness industry was just starting out. The idea that we should keep our body physically strong is not a new one and even back when Socrates was around he encouraged people to stay physically fit -

“No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training…what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” Socrates

Every week I deal with new clients looking to get ‘fit’ and more ‘toned’ and one of the primary lessons they all learn is that they MUST get stronger. Just yesterday I was listening to another excellent crossfit radio podcast in which Justin Judkins (the host) interviewed Julie Foucher who finished 5th in the past two crossfit games finals (med student also). In the interview Julie tells the story of how weak she was when she first started and with the help of her local crossfit box (Crossfit 810)built her strength up to become one of the fittest women on the planet.

Julie Foucher getting her overhead squat on

Added to that it was interesting that when asked about the programming she used she replied “I just do what my coach tells me to do!”

Here she is in a Reebok promo as she is now a sponsored athlete

So one of the top crossfit women in the world simply does what she is told and listens to her coach. There is so much value in this that I think you might miss it so let me make this a little more clear.

Do what you were asked to do. Do it with as much passion and energy as you can muster and then keep on doing it.

It really is that simple. People fail to achieve their weight loss, muscle gain etc goals primarily because they do not stick to the plan (kind if helps if you have a good plan so you might want to contact me on that). This is not just the training plan but the nutrition also as otherwise you are again trying to out-train a bad diet. If you want to feel and look your best then stick to the plan of becoming very proficient at body weight movements like press ups, squats, chin ups or loaded movements like deadlifts, kettlebell swings etc if you are not getting stronger and better at these movements then you need to practice more or use a better plan.

Finally, I always find a good crossfit related video quite inspiring before I go and work on my own strength so I will leave you with this highlight video and some great background music.

Remember to share and link the post especially to those that think getting stronger is just for the guys.

The 2011 Crossfit Games – Sail