James Fitzgerald and myself

We started the cert at the ungodly time of 7am on BOTH days which required plenty of caffeine. The first day opened with a little ‘get to know you’ part where we all individually spoke about what we wanted to get from the course and a bit about ourselves. If I am honest I would have preferred if we just did a workout right up front so we could all get to know one another and break the ice (we did that at lunch time).

When I was asked whether I did any crossfit competitions I answered that yes I came 12th in the European Crossfit regionals last year but unfortunately in this year’s sections I let my vagina speak to me too much and failed to perform. Yes I know, it sounded funny in my head and it was greeted with deathly silence and a moving swiftly onwards look from James. Remember Dominic, you do fitness and health NOT funny.

Over the first day we mainly covered body fat testing which was really interesting and showed how particular body fat sites can reveal what’s going on with your hormone levels. He borrows directly from Charles Poliquin on this and was working with Charles long before he became a big name in the fitness industry.

Form there we moved on to physical assessment and movement analysis and I explain in the video below what that entailed. We finished the cert on Sunday with work capacity which, for me, was the most interesting part of the cert as it explained in detail what energy pathways we are trying to test and work in various levels of abilities. This part is critical as I see far to many fitness trainers and crossfit coaches just throw out a bunch of ‘stuff’ and tell their clients to jump right in. This is a fairly dumb idea for two reasons -

1) Chance of injury or drop out – most trainers do no testing what so ever with clients before they get them to do what they consider simple movements yet are surprised when the client gets injured. For example, why would you get a client to do bench pressing without firstly assessing upper body mobility and strength differences between their push and pull muscles? Think it’s a good idea to do high rep box jumps with clients that have shitty ankle mobility? Yes, it’s dumb so assess first, draw up your program and figure out what way you might have to change a workout to get what you want from that workout. Clients have to earn the right to move on to the more complicated and you are doing a disservice to continue to allow them to use poor range of motion on ANY movement. That being said I have worked with LOTS and LOTS of clients that simply WON’T do the basics first and want to move on to the more complicated because that always looks way cooler and sexy.

That looks so cool I want to squat with chains!! Dude you can’t even do an air squat correctly so take a step back and work the basics

2) What are you trying to train – the average trainee goes about their workouts as if it were a group-on deal i.e. this month they will do lots of running because their friend read the book run fat bitch run and lost some weight, next month it’s bikram yoga classes, the month after it’s a workout they picked up from a trainer that says all you need are a pair of water bottles and a complete lack of range of motion on any movement to get in shape.

All of these examples do not address what the individual needs to work on in regards to their ‘fitness,’ which can mean for some that e.g. you might have a good ability to run in a straight line for 30mins but can’t even do a press up yet complain that you have no muscle ‘tone’ or strength or you have decent strength levels yet continually pick up injuries or burn yourself out with badly programmed workouts.

Overall, this component (work capacity) made me think much more about what I want my clients to get out of each and every session and reinforced what I already do with my clients.

Here is a short summary of the cert -

If you are thinking of doing any certs or courses to further your development then I highly recommend OPT. I look forward to doing his other modules later on this year or next year and then using that info to help you look and feel your very best.

Thanks for reading and share with others you know would benefit from this now.

Over the past few years Crossfit has gone from strength to strength and you might have noticed how it’s principles and training methods have been adopted by many other gyms, trainers and sports teams. Crossfit will continue to grow world wide and I predict that the next twelve months will see a dramatic increase in not only the number of people that want to participate in functional training that delivers real results but it’s global awareness as people talk and share videos about it through social networking.

In my opinion the current commercial gym template is FINISHED and these facilities will have to change dramatically if they even want to compete for business in the future. Did you join a gym, get shown around all the fancy machines and told to do 15mins on the treadmill, 10mins on the stepper, instructed to use 5-6 machines for your chest, back, legs etc and finished with 15mins of ‘abzz’? You did. You do know that this is so far from ideal that I would go so far as to say it’s actually dangerous. This is not standard procedure in crossfit and you should be looking for a better gym or trainer.

Here is an example of how crossfit is going global as the crossfit games is currently being screened on ESPN 2 -

What to know how crossfit is changing people’s lives permanently? Have a watch and remember the honesty of the effort and commitment is central to your change.

Just a reminder that if you have not already read about my Crossfit journey then read that article also and look at the impressive before and after photos.

Some do not try at home stuff here but inspiring all the same and when is the last time you did something different and just plain fun in your workout?

What to know the history of the crossfit games? Then have a look here and I for one know from competing in the European regionals

Dominic in competition mode –

 this year that there are very few sports where your competitors cheer you on just as much as the fans.

Lastly, confidence.

Stop looking you have found the anwser.

Be guided by the best, become part of a global community and love the process of change to becoming the best you can possibly be in you fitness and health regarless of age or current ability

Here is a picture I got with John Welbourne and Ben – remember I am 14stone or 90kg, 6ft 2inches and I look tiny beside him.

There was a about 20 people in attendance and after completing the two days I really can’t undertand why there were not more. John started by saying himself and Ben were free to answer all and every question we wanted all weekend and he was true to his word as they were very open and candid about all things training, nutrition, programming, crossfit and life in general.

John opened with the origins of Crossfit football, his meeting with Coach Glassman, his participation in the 2008 crossfit games and it’s evolution through meeting the many and varied coaches he has worked with over his career e.g. Westside barbell guys,  Rob Wolff, Dr Romanov and the hundreds of excellent crossfit and non-crossfit people. He then went on to outline the Crossfit Football rules -

1. Train full body
2. Keep metcons to sub-15mins
3. Perform violent hip extension
4. Use multiple planes of motion
5. Train change of direction

I was delighted to hear all of the above and it’s one of the primary reasons I have been training using this type of protocol for years. From working with hundreds of clients year in year out I know full body workouts work best on either a single day or over the course of a week.

For example if you are a beginner here are a few movements you should be doing -

Excessively long metcons e.g. 15mins + (metabolic conditioning) are quite hard to recover from and should be used sparingly. You can train short and hard, long and easy but you can’t train long and hard or you will just end up getting burnt out really quickly. Even brief intense or high glycolytic workouts done too frequently can be harmful because if you push really hard in a metcon you need sufficent time to recover before you go to that intensity again. Cycling training intensity along with optimal recovery strategies is the ideal.

This is an example of a short, brief metcon that should not wipe you out (when performed correctly, making sure you are screened before so the movements are ok for you and with weights that are right for you) and allow you to train effectively the following days -

A violent hip extension e.g. kettlebell swing, sprinting, power clean, jumping, snatch etc is vital in all sports and life in general so I get clients to use exercises that promte this in all sessions.

Here is an example of a workout with violent hip extension (power clean and rope) and strength work (chin ups) -

Your body can move in multiple planes of motion e.g. hips can move up and down, tilt forwards and back, rotate etc so you should train those and put yourself in those positions. It is for this reason that you will notice on my youtube site many videos where my client’s or I am performing movements such as split squats, lunges, step ups, overhead lunges, deadlifts etc. The same is true for the upper body i.e. push and pull in all planes of motion. Don’t limit yourself to just squatting, deadlifting, pressing and pull ups.

Split squats with ring dips -

Finally, life is not all straight lines and you should train for changes in direction so you are prepared for that situation. We spent lots of time over the course of the weekend working on change of direction and foot position in many of the drills used.

This is an example of just some of the drills we did but please keep in mind that we did lots of ankle drills and mobility drills before we performed the sprints -

We revisited these five rules throughout the two days of the cert and John could have added the following two as he hammered them all weekend -

• Does it increase performance? – He told the story of getting an athlete ready for a Football combine test. This is a series of drills to check if you are good enough to be drafted to a pro team. However, John felt that he trained with lots of guys that could do a great combine but were rubbish on the field. A way of justifying the cost of the tests to the team owners maybe but a necessary requirement. Here is a video of a guy doing some of the the combine test but it’s really a highlight reel for him-

He had six weeks to get the guy ready for the combine and in the six weeks got him stronger, faster, more powerful, fitter etc  but on the day the guy froze and performed badly. Did John improve his physical performance? YES. Did it help the guy perform well in the combine? NO. So, the overall result is that the training did not improve performance for that individual as the mental aspect of his game was not addressed. This is something you need to be addressing in your own training i.e. is what I am doing getting me the results I want? If it’s not then stop what you are doing, make some changes, seek out some advice and move on from there. John spoke about the working with the guys at Westside barbell and how he agreed with some of what they did but not all of what they did. I asked him about the Functional Movement Screen which he has been tested on by the creators and did not agree that how you performed in their series of tests can tell you how you are going to perform at speed or under load. He also said that he felt he performed better second time around because he knew the test and knew what they were looking for. Added to that he said that EVERY movement you do is an opportunity to screen and use your coaching experience to evaluate a client which is something I 100% agreee with.

• Are you fixing your limiting factors – We went through at least two dozen mobility drills and exercises over the course of the two days and I honestly would say it was worth the money for that part of the cert alone. Using good form was constantly pushed and participants were told to use a lighter load if their form was breaking down in the workouts. For many people the limiting factor is inability to hold midline under pressure and poor mobility. Both factors cause you to leave strength on the table, strength you could have had but don’t. As Glenn Pendaly said “Do more good reps than bad in any one session.”

Over the course of the weekend we covered all the basic moements you should be doing and assistace work. The basic movements are -

• Squat
• Front squat
• Overhead squat
• Bench press
• Press
• Push press
• Push jerk
• Strict pull up
• Deadlift
• Power clean

If you missed my article on the 3 pillars to maximal strength you may want to start there asap. There was a big focus on making sure you aim to do double the number of pulling exercises to pushing exercises and the importance of doing posterior chain work for glutes and hamstrings.

Appreciation of the great posterior chain work

On the second day we went over programming which we had to have ready as homework from the previous days work. We went through what metcons were best scheduled and what movements to use and took into account the level of experience of the trainee e.g. a new person can make rapid progress as compared to an experienced lifter. He highlighted the importance of putting in some primal skill work like lifting odd shape objects, sandbags, sledgehammer strikes, carrying loads etc basic grunt work that you would have performed on a farm years ago really.

The Crossfit football approach to nutrition is very paleo influenced as John is good friends with Robb Wolf. He stressed the importance of saturated fats for sex hormones and as a good source of energy. He said you should aim for a diet that is broken down as follows -

• 2.2g protein per 1kg og body weight
• Carbs (non-grain based) 30% and mainly post workout
• Fats 45-50%

He also said something I have stressed before – earn your carbs!!!

If you function well on dairy then drink it otherwise avoid or stick to fermented dairy products

Here are the basics on paleo by Robb Wolf –

He also went into some detail on intermittent fasting which is covered in way more detial by the likes of Brad Pilon and Martin Berkhan so have a look there and throw in at least a 16hr fast once a week to start with.

Finally, regarding nutrition here is an answer to one of the most commonly asked questions regarding paelo and cholesterol and it’s link or non-link to cardiovasular disease.

To conclude, the crossfit football cert for me represents the future direction of crossfit as seen through the eyes of the typical person (elite or competitive crossfitters are a totally different breed) that wants to use crossfit as a tool to look and feel their best.

There is a huge emphasis on optimal nutrition, form, screening, building strength on a stable and mobilie foundation and backed up with programming that focuses on strength and power and they do not promote too frequent or excessivley long metcons or conditioning sessions.

Crossfit is NOT about grinding people down, crazy workouts, bloody hands, muscles that are so stiff  you can’t move the next day and not addressing your limiting factors. At times this is unfortunately how many people view crossfit as a program due to youtube videos (I am as guilty of this as the next person) but this will change in time as an increasing number of  crossfit trainers use a template that incorporates ALL of the features I have mentioned above to provide a program that improves performance, helps people feel and look their best while encouraging a helpful and always supportive community within their box.

I firmly believe we are now seeing the next stage in the Crossfit evolution so climb on board and take your body, training and health to the next level with this type of programming and enjoy the process.

“Success can be defined as the progressive realisation of a worthy goal”. Earl Nightengale

The events were broken up over three days of competition and tested all and every aspect of fitness with new areas like swimming, cycling and skill events. A full list of the events is availble on the games site here – workouts.

When the smoke cleared the men’s and women’s winners walked away with a cheque for $250,000 and the right to be called the fittest. Crossfit’s partnership with the sports company Reebok has come under come criticism over the past year e.g. are they going to destroy crossfit and try to control it too much, but in my opinion it has elevated the sport of Crossfit to global levels and benefits crossfit affiliates everywhere.

The men’s winner was Rich Froning Jr who just dominated from start to finish. He placed second last year and really showed how hard he has worked over the past year to shore up any weaknesses he might have had.

The ladies winner was Icelandic Annie or Annie Thorisdottir who has been making waves ever since the 2009 competition where she performed with guts and made her one to watch for the future. Having seen her ompete at the Crossfit European Regionals I knew she would be very tough to beat and again, like Rich Froning, she put in very consistent performances throughout the weekend and did it always with a smile on her face.

Here is a very short highlight video with both of them. Note the varied events they are doing and keep in mind the benefits of workouts that I have programmed for you or you can do that are done at a high intensity, are constatly varied and using functional movements -

It was a disappointing finals for previous winner Mikko Salo (2009) who came into the competition as one of the favourites but I am sure he will be back again next year stronger and fitter than ever. He has such a wonderful understated attitude that makes him a firm fan favourite. Here he is just doing a workout working up to a 255lbs push press!!

One of the standout performances for me was by Josh Bridges who came  second in the finals and completly crushed some of the workout. As a guy that is just 5ft 5inches and just 160lbs he put up super impressive numbers. He trains out of Crossfit Invictus which are a Crossfit affiliate in San Diego, California. I really love their programming and have been following them and a number of other Crossfit boxes that do intelligent training program design rather than just doing crossfit workouts for the sake of it. Here is a good interview with Josh and I love him even more knowing he is a true man that only drinks his coffee black -

As a trainer that programs crossfit workouts for my clients I know the benefits they have experienced through training this way. I always make sure that my clients keep their workouts vaired, am extremely careful not to burn them out with too frequent high intensity workouts and encourage everyone to get stronger on basic movements. All of this is backed up by constantly addressing each and everyone’s mobility issues (yes you have them too), how they handle stress, ensuring they are getting in good nutrition and adequate sleep. Events like the Crossfit games finals should encourage others to climb on board the Crossfit train because, as I have been saying for quite some time now – THIS IS HOW EVERYONE IS GOING TO TRAIN IN THE FUTURE, it’s one of the primary reasons I can get such good results with clients and it’s just way more fun and interesting than doing ‘cardio’ or going to the gym. Most gyms are filled with people that train with zero purpose and then wonder why they are not getting the results they are looking for. Crossfit is NOT about doing high intensity workouts or metcons all the time and it would be a mistake to train or be trained in that way. This is a  blunder I see many people make in their training with all to frequent high output sessions that result in them getting weaker, burnt out and showing no performance improvements. This leads me to my foundational principles of getting in ideal shape -

1. Good mobility/stability – mobility is something you need to address this daily through foam rolling, stretching or visiting a good physical therapist to get hands on work (highly recommend Nicky Green in Dublin – 086-3177718) . Start reading this article I did if you are new to mobility – Mobility and flexibility in lego language.  As regards stability it really comes down to making sure that in any movement you are using the muscles that should be doing the work otherwise it’s like trying to fire a cannon from a canoe i.e. everything is so unstable thay you have not a hope in hell for the movement to fire correctly or look right. This is not just about ‘core’ work as stability is required in many joints e.g. the hips need to be mobile so the back can do it’s job of being stable because if you have tight hips then you are asking your back to be mobile which it will not thank you for! There is an entire section on my site covering this topic - injury pre and rehab.

2. Optimal Nutrition – in two words, go paleo! Start with any of the articles I have done in my nutrition section or even this short article – going against the grain. You can’t out train a bad diet so stop kidding yourself and nail it down today.

3. Manage stress/sleep – training is all about how quick you can recover and if you are constantly stressed and not getting enough sleep then you are buring the candles at both ends. One of the first things I ask my clients is A) hiow did you sleep last night B) How is your body feeling today. There is zero point in doing tough, high intensity sessions if you are stressed out and have not been getting enough sleep. Trainers that are pushing their clients through workouts without addressing these vital areas need to get a better handle on basic physiology and in particular the endocrine system so they can be clear on when and how to better program workouts and intensity. If a client comes in tired and/or stressed out then I will get them to focus more on medium intensity strength work, mobility and maybe a very light, sort metcon if I think it’s right for them. Regarding stress, it would serve you well to start with something like the Power of Now or Why Zebras don’t get ulcers if you want to get a better handle on managing stress and the damaging effects stress can have on your body.

3. Build strength – every single client I have dealt with or currently work with needs to get stronger. Yes there is going to be a ceiling as to how much this can constantly go up but most people will never reach this level. If you are not getting stronger then you are getting weaker so make sure you are not trying for max efforts too often or the reverse – not trying to lift heavier ever! As I say to all my clients – if you are not getting better at the functional movements (squat, lunge, split squat, press, pull up, row, deadlift, plank etc ) then either change what you are doing of stop being a program hopper and changing programs every other week based on something you read of heard.

4. High intensity sessions – the problem with Crossfit is that it is often seen as that mad training that people do where they are throwing weights or themselves around at high intensity. This is primarily due to youtube as most people’s first introduction to Crossfit is through videos of people doing metcons and they then think that’s what you need to do in every single session. Take the workout in the video below as an example -

I did a variation of the above session on Saturday last (Shuttle sprint 30m, 30kg bag up and over wall, 5 burpees, back over wall, 60kg squat snatch 2reps x 8 rounds – 14.53mins). This is NOT a workout I would recommend for most and this kind of intensity should be programmed when looking at the entire week of training. If you are not structuring in this way then you are participating in sh1t soup training i.e. you are throwing lots of stuff together and hoping something will stick. The take home point regarding high intensity workouts is that they are highly effective but need to be programmed correctly. Remember Crossfit is all about constantly varied and that should also include varying the pace of sessions.

The above four fundamentals are what I teach and preach on a daily basis and the top Crossfit athletes in the world follow these points year round. You should to.

I really hope you enjoyed the games as much as I did and post up how crossfit has helped you in the comments section below.

Myself and fellow competitor Will Walshe arrive the day before the competition on the Thursday and were delighted to meet up with Justin Judkins who runs Crossfit Radio which is an excellent podcast dedicated to all things Crossfit. It really well worth having on your ipod while travelling or when training as you pick up plenty of tip and tricks from the very top crossfit performers and trainers.

We had an excellent meal in Nandos (plenty of chicken, sweet potato, peas, nuts and olives) which was the very best choice in a limited amount of good restaurants in Bolton. Justin just loves everything Crossfit and we had a great banter on our thoughts on the sections, events for the regionals and crossfit in general. From there it was back to the hotel for a good nights sleep and some stretching and rolling before bed.

Day one of the regionals ended up ok and I was placed 9th after the first day. The first event (1000m run, 30 hand stand press ups, 1000m row) went off ok for me but my hand stands really need to improve as I felt like I had to break them up too much – more thoracic mobility work for me! Still I finished the row strong doing the 1000m in 3.28m.

Honestly my shirt just fell off when I went to do the 30 handstand press ups!

The second event was over in a flash and it came down to do or die situation i.e. you either got the thruster up overhead or you didn’t. I ended up getting 225lbs (100kg) overhead and failing the 235lb. The olympic lifting I have focused on over the past four months helped here but I have way more to give on this type of event.

Game face for the thruster. Ended with 225lbs

We work up on day two feeling grand really as the previous day was not extremely taxing but two tough workouts were going to change that by the end of the day. The first workout of the day (21,15,9reps of 140kg deadlift and 30inch box jumps) favoured the strong guy so my plan of action was to break up the first 21 deadlifts into three lots, the same on the round of 15 and then get all 9 in a row for the last round. I figured I would just do the box jumps one by one and step down off the box on each rep. I now wish I had jumped down and tried to cycle these faster but hey hindsight is a great thing. I got a respectable time of just over 5mins for this workout and lower back felt pumped but not sore. I must say many guys and girls looked fairly terrible on this workout with excessively rounded lower backs which was going to come back to haunt them on the next workout – the 100 killer!!

The 100 workout (second of the day – there was about a 4-5hr gap in the workouts) consisted of  100 pull ups, kettlebell swings (24kg), double unders and 45kg overhead squats. This workout came down to the overhead squats and making sure that you employed a strategy e.g. doing 10reps of each, rest repeat, move on. Many of the people that completed the pull ups first really struggled with the overhead squats because they went out too fast. However, this did not apply to the really quick guys that went out fast and stayed out fast. This workout favoured the lighter guy but for many it came down to those 100 overhead squats where so many guys did not finish and others struggled with the depth or opening up the hips enough at the top. I wrapped it up in 24.24mins stringing together 10reps in a row at the end. It was possibly one of the toughest mental workouts I have done and everyone’s forearms were being plunged into ice barrels after the workout.

There was a cut for the final day so unless you were in the top 14 you did not progress on to the last day. Will and myself ended up in joint 13th! We were delighted to make it to the third day which was our original goal.

While warming up for the first event on the final day (Crossfit Amanda – 9,7,5reps of muslce ups and 60kg squat snatches) I was feeling beat up and even an ice bath the previous night did not halt the extreme stiffness in my legs. Will and myself went for it in the rain for this workout as the weather refused to co-operate and we both finished up neck and neck at around the 10.30mins mark. I could say I should have done this wayyyy faster but my body would just not respond.

By the time we went into the last event most people were shuffling about and just wanting it to be over – well that’s how I felt and I now know I should have shook it off and told myself it’s only another 10mins. The final workout was a mix bag or chipper – 20 calorie row, 30 burpees, 40 ground to overhead 20kg dumbbells, 50 toes to bar, 100ft walking lunge with 20kg plate overhead and a small run. I really should have cycled through the ground to overhead quicker as I felt fine on these but was thinking too much about the toes to bar. I ended up tearing my hands on the toes to bar which slowed me down some but carried on regardless.

Going overhead with the dumbbells.

Hands were a mess after the toes to bar!

The lesson learned on that workout was that you are going to be forced to take breaks on 50 toes to bar so take your rest then NOT on the previous movement.

All said and done I placed 12th (Will got 13th – a single point behind me) from an original placing of 28th going into the competition so pretty happy with that.  

Overall it was a wonderful experience and we made lots of friends and took home so very valuable lessons. I am back training hard again and as usual keeping the workouts varied and fun as shown by this wall workout I did last week -

I will be doing lots of the Crossfit Football workouts over the next while to build up my strength and power a bit more and I am also attending the Crossfit Football cert in Belfast in August which I just know will be amazing.

The Irish crew from www.crossfit.ie with former winner and possible future champion Mikko Salo

Thanks again for all the support and a special thanks has to go to my family who are just amazing to put up with my crazy training schedule. Behind every good man is a great woman. Remember to pass this on to others that might benefit and next time someone asks you can tell them you like to read the website of and be trained by the 12th fittest man in Europe.

I fly out today with Will Walshe (coach at Crossfit Ireland) and I can hand on heart say that I would not have made it to the regionals without the help of everyone at Crossfit Ireland. Another shout out has to go to the massive help I have gotten in the last four months on my olympic lifting from Wayne Healy at East Coast Barbell in Bray. I covered what they do and the coaches they have access to in this aticle – Glenn Pendaly Workshop.

Judging by what went down in four regionals last weekend it really promises to be a fantastic few days in Bolton. Here is a highlight video of those regions and our region will be covered in the same way so be sure to check this link for updates – http://games.crossfit.com/

Thanks again for all your support and there are going to be plenty of times in a workout where you want to just keep looking at the floor and think you can’t go on but success goes to the person that keeps on keeping on and gets up when they fall down. Keep up your own training and nutrition and never give up.

After all everything you need is already INSIDE you!

Running – how to, trends and improving your technique.

This time last year I also did another article that went down well on running which you might also want to check out.

The running season is upon us

Runners world recently ran an article on barefoot running which is a big step forward for them as they are typically pro using running shoes that can actually encourage heal striking. Here is the first part of the article -

Biomechanist Irene Davis, Ph.D., has been a leading researcher in the running field for more than 20 years. In recent years, she has particularly focused on demonstrating that runners can change their form–it was previously thought that running form was as innate and immutable as a fingerprint. She next hopes to show that proper running form can reduce risk of injury. Unlike some scientists, Davis is an unabashed promoter of barefoot running and barefoot-like running form.

The full article is available here – Barefoot running update

In further developments I was delighted to see Brian McKenzie who is runs the crossfit endurance program featuring on the cover of Competitor magazine and the full article is available here -

Super Running with B Mc

Finally, research published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine in April of this year investigated the oxygen consumption of running barefoot versus shod running (with running shoes on) on a treadmill and overground.

They concluded that -

“For the overground and treadmill conditions, recorded VO2 (oxygen consumption) while running shod was 5.7% and 2.0% higher than running barefoot. It was concluded that at 70% of vVO (2)max pace, barefoot running is more economical than running shod, both overground and on a treadmill”.
This was a small study but interesting to note all the same and I expect an increasing number of studies to show the benefits of barefoot running in a number of areas e.g. injuries, increased performance etc

I really hope you enjoy the articles and for all those runners out there that want to stay injury free and improve performance then these articles and my previous one mentioned at the top of this page are enssential reading.

Get out for a run but do it with better form, variance in training intensity and keep up your strength and mobility work

Crossfit Invite 7 mens winners!!

What follows are my tips on quicker recovery rates because really you are only as good as how quick you can recover. What I mean by this is that there is no point in just being able to put in 1-2 hard sessions per week or even per day and then being so stiff that you either can’t train again for a few days or can’t put in optimal effort into the following sessions. So here are the five most important things you need to do asap.

1. Foam roll – for the love of God if you are not foam rolling yet complain about feeling stiff and sore from a session then you really need  a good kick in the butt. Foam rolling will help massage out those stiff muscles and combine this with stretching so you are ready to rock the next day. I get a good deep tissue massage from a physical therapist (Nicky Greene) once a month as the foam rolling can only get you so far. This video will help if you are new to foam rolling -

2. Cool off – icing affected areas can also help as this can decrease the swelling which causes the pain from hard weights sessions, metcons or tough runs etc. I find jumping into the plunge pool at my gym for 30-60secs done 3 times (plunge pool, warm shower, plunge pool etc) really speeds my recovery. If this is not possible I also take a bath with epsom salts (get a 1kg tub from any pharmacy) and use 2 cup fulls. Epsom salts contain lots of magnesium that is absorbed through the skin. Magnesium helps promote the healing of torn muscles. Finally, do contrast showers i.e. hot shower, turn it down to cold, hot again etc. Do 45-60secs on each 3-4 times. I gurantee it will make you feel better

3 + 4 . Supplements + Juicing – my fave for quicker recovery are fish oils, glutamine and plenty of antioxidants (lots of damaging free radicals released in tough workouts). I take the fish oil intake to at least 10g/day and 20g+ of glutamine on the day and the day after a particulalry hard session. 

Get your fish oils here take one table spoon per day and use my promotion code for discount – DOM130. get some greens plus protein bars there while you are at it – yummmmmmm!!!

Both can speed recovery due to their anti-inflammatory and increased protein synthesis respectively.  For anti-oxidants I just juice more on recovery days.

I just take more juices using a mix of fruit and veg. Personal fave is celery, cucumber (mainly all of these), ginger, lemon and some carrot – a green godess!

I have been making juices regularly for over 10 years with my greenstar juicer. A total work horse and massively recommended. These juices are packed with antioxidants and I always take more when recovery from workouts or illness is needed. Juices are light on the digestive system and are such an easy way to get way more veg in your diet.

5. Take a day off - trying to push through workouts when you should be recovering is a recipe for disaster and a guarantee for injuries and burn out. As I always say when you are at a good level of training sometimes the hardest session to do is the one where you have to take a day off. No taking a day off  does not mean do nothing. I foam rolled and stretched at least 3 times today (5mins each time) and have been out walking with my daughter most of the day. Movement and stretching help lots so incorporate them into days off. When taking the day off keep reminding yourself of how much better you are going to perform in the NEXT session. If you are not doing this regularly yet keep picking up injuries or your performance in workouts is decreasing then you really need to listen up. I see way too many people adding too much to their training programs rather than just doing what is important and getting the hell out of the gym or where ever you train.

The workout time for all my workouts completed in the crossfit competition were as roughly as follows – workout 1, 2mins, workout 2 8mins, workout 3 8mins. Total training time = about 20mins. However, the amount of work completed in that time was massive and again points back to the rule that you do not need a long time to get fit/strong etc you just need to do more work in less time.

So please get cracking on your workout recovery as the sooner you employ these strategies the sooner you can get back to making further progress in your training.

Remember to post this up on your facebook and comments below. Thanks again for a great day at the event and all the great people that helped out and particiapated.

I was at the point two years ago where my gym workouts consisted of doing my best to avoid wanting to stop people doing some very silly stuff. The gym was filled with people prancing around doing endless biceps curls, bench presses, mindnumbing cardio and the guys spent more time looking at themselves in the mirror than most women would when getting ready to go out of a Saturday night. Correct me if I am wrong but things don’t seem to have changed much in recent times? I thought there just must be a better way. I already trained in a kind of crossfit manner (did weight circuits, intervals, focused on the big lifts etc) but crossfit gave me the structure to focus more on workouts that were  – constantly varied, functional movements done at high intensity.

Back then I was lean but come on 16yr old kids have six packs and think they are shit hot! For a time so did I and I even resorted to dressing like I was in some boy band just because I had abzzz and was defined! God I hope my wife does not have photos of that!

Dominic circa 2009

Dominic, May 2011

Like many, I started doing Crossfit workouts from the gym and in my local park. These mainly consisted of metcons (metabolic conditioning sessions) done 1-3 times a week and straight strength work on other days. The metcons focused on body weight movements e.g. Crossfit Cindy, Crossfit Barbara, Crossfit Helen, The Chief etc. As I did these workouts I quite enjoyed the feeling that I got a great workout and was increasing my work capacity/fitness at the same time. I discovered any time I did a Crossfit workout in the commercial gym I was a member of, people would just clear out of the area. I think they were more than a little frightened of a crazed six foot two guy grunting, throwing a kettlebell around and lying in a pool of his own sweat at the end. “That just looks like too God dam hard work”, some would say in passing. The ‘have I just farted effect’, was even more pronounced when I trained with my good friends Neil, Aiden and Marco. They all equally loved the feeling a good crossfit metcon gave them. We also had some guys/girls join us for workouts and I would like to think that those sessions opened their eyes to the fact that getting in great shape requires lots of hard work, focus and most importantly a good laugh after a tough session.

The real eye opener came when the guys I now work with daily (www.crossfit.ie) held their first Crossfit invite  in which I got a rude awakening. Those squats I thought were deep enough were not and double unders (skipping) were one of many skills I had yet to master. Overall, I left the competition feeling like I had so much work to do but enjoyed the experience. A few months later I entered their second Crossfit Ireland invite and after a tough battle with Scott Jenkins from the UK (currently ranked in the top 20 in Europe right now) I got burnt on not having consistent double unders – more lessons learned but I am sorry to say not enough to make me really nail down funtamental issues.

Stop looking up Dominic (2009) !!

Fast forward a few more months and I ended up winning two out of the following two invites that I entered and my confidence in certain movements was improving all the time e.g. the olymipc lifts, double unders etc. However, there were still plenty of holes in my game which brings me to entering the 7th crossfit invite that is on this coming saturday the 14th May. My preperation for this competition has really been the Crossfit sectionals (one workout every week for 6 weeks – I am 28th in Europe right now)) and lots of olympic lifting. I have been doing double and triple training sessions for more time than I care to remember so when someone says they want to get to the level where they can qualify for the Crossfit European regionals I have to say “are you asking or do you really want to know?” Your 5 step guaranteed transformation

Throught this two year journey I have been informed by many what Crossfit would and wouldn’t do for me or my clients. For example -

• Crossfit is dangerous and causes injuries – any injuries I have gotten over the past year (none serious) have been a direct result of lack of mobility in certain areas and being too eager to lift heavier weights.

• Crossfit will make you weak and decrease strength – I have NEVER been stronger than in any other part of my life and can report that I get the same response from my clients on a daily basis

• Crossfit is not the best way to increase fitness – my focus is on getting better for crossfit competitions. Being able to run in a straight line for 20-30mins does not mean you are ‘fit’. Fitness has many components and running, cycling, being strong, being mobile etc are all single features of fitness. Crossfit requires the full package. If you think you are ‘fit’ then come along and prove it

• Crossfit is not the best way to drop body fat – I gave up that ideal years ago as I was already quite lean and to be honest with my nutrition intake being pretty ideal I find it hard to not let my body fat get too low. Overall, I have no interest in six packs and getting ‘ripped’. I am a 35yr old man NOT a 21yr old kid that pumps his muscles endlessly because some bodybuilder does it or starts doing ’strongman’ training because they get to use new toys in training. To those people I say focus on improved performance NOT aestecics. Plus the chicks want a real man that could actually help her move house and do a bit of gardening NOT a guy that is afraid of a bit of hard work and sweat.

In about three weeks time I will do battle with the top 60 guys in Europe and next weekend I will compete in my fifth Crossfit Ireland invite. I still have plenty of holes in my game but maybe just less than others.

This video was taken August 2009 – a 95kg power clean (a max for me then) and 40inch box jump.

Today (May 2011) I did 90kg power cleans for 3reps, 7 burpees and 15 double unders. Starting a new round at the top of every 2mins. All done for 10 yes thats right 10 rounds. That’s progress!

Crossfit workouts can take your training to the next level, introduce you to amazing people and open you up you to a world wide community. It might not be for everyone but all I know are the amazing results it produces with myself and my clients.  My success stories are here.

That’s my journey and next month’s European regionals are a culmination of two years of highs and lows. 

As Tim Cahill the travel writer said “A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles”.

What journey are you on? Has my site and crossfit helped you along the way?

If you are looking to improve on any aspect of your health or fitness then it will always come back to consistently doing the simple things over and over again or as Malcom Gladwell puts it in his book The Outliers – get your 10,000 hours in early.

Dominic getting in some of his 10,000hrs of training

From the 3rd to the 5th of June next month I will compete in the European regionals of the Crossfit games in the Reebok stadium in Bolton which is just outside of Manchester in the UK. The purpose of the competition is to provide a proving grounds to find the fittest guy, girl and team on the planet. If you are unaware of the Crossfit games then this video will get you up to speed right away.

Over the past six weeks myself and my fellow competitors have completed one workout every week which has given me an overall ranking of 27th in Europe right now. As one of the top 60 guys in Europe right now I have constantly focused on simplicity.

Every week I make sure that I foam roll, stretch, maintain good mobility, strive to get a little bit stronger or more efficient at certain movements, get enough sleep and improve my work capacity i.e. can I get more work done in less time. However, go to ANY gym or open ANY magazine that discusses fitness or weight loss and the focus is NEVER on simplicity. It quite often focuses on ‘diets’ or overly complicated training programs that most people have not earned the right to do. When I deal with new clients I want to see that they can do the simple things well. Simple is doing a press up, swinging a kettlebell, putting stuff over their head, squatting, lunging, holding a plank position, jogging/running, skipping etc. Simple is also having good enough mobility that you can get into these positions safely and doing what you are told so you do NOT need someone like me standing over you in every single session holding your hand to do basic movement patterns.

An excellent trainer is one that can explain things simply and does not need to resort to the complex to help you understand where and what you need to work on. As the great trainer Mike Boyle said “there are too many intelligent asshole trainers (guys/girls who have great knowledge but can’t get the message across to clients) out there failing as trainer because they have no communication skills and make things too complicated.

The fitness industry just loves to make things comlex. Wheter its certain foods or nutrition approaches, training systems or weight loss products and want to make things scientific sounding so you the customer feel that you are missing out and THIS must be the answer to your weight loss problem. The harsh reality is that getting in good shape or heck qualifying for the Crossfit regionals comes down to doing the basics over and over again until they become part of what and who you are.

From a nutrition perspective I ask you – are you overweight and need to drop some or a lot of weight? Then the answer is staring you right in the face – your food quality is way off and you are eating too much. Everything I wrote in my Fat loss 101 article is there for you to read and help you finally nail down your nutrition. These rules are no different for me as they are for you and am I in the top 60 in Europe right now because my nutrition is better than others? I would say absolutely, yes. I’m going to optimize my recovery, my body fat levels will stay low and ideal nutrition allows me to fuel correctly for my multiple workouts.

Here is one of the top female competitors discussing her Crossfit experience. Note her comments on pushing herself because there are going to be lots of times you don’t wish to eat right or go train but you must remember that you only grow and develop in the hard times NOT the easy times.

I have about four weeks to the European regionals where I will do battle with guys that may or may not have focused on doing the simple things consistently and all I can do is focus on working on my weaknesses (of which there are many), staying injury free and enjoying training. To close I would like to share with you another inspiring Bruce Lee quote -
“Ever since I was a child I have this distinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential”.

Are you working on developing your potential and keeping things simple or are you looking for the answer in the complex and taking one step forwards and two steps back?