Another cool photo from Thomas H.’s recent set
Perfection Is the Enemy of Good Enough
By David Osorio
Originally posted on 1.11.16
As the Look Feel Perform Better Challenge enters full swing, many of you are diligently working to count your macros and make better decisions at the checkout line and in front of the fridge. We commend your diligence and are here to support your efforts in the online forums, during the bimonthly nutrition lectures, and in person around the gym.
But a public service announcement, perhaps even a warning, is warranted at this early stage of the Challenge. This Challenge is three months long—about as long as a college semester—and the reality is that motivation can wax and wane over a period of this length. The New Year finds everyone on their best behavior, feeling impervious to temptation and carefully planning each and every meal. And then you know how it goes: things get complicated. Life happens. You’re starving after a long, brutal day at work and end up grabbing a couple slices of pizza on the way home.
Remember not to lose sight of the forest for the trees. What’s important is your cumulative effort. Overarching trends—not any particular day, night, and certainly not a single meal—will be the key to making sustainable changes and ultimately looking, feeling, and performing better.
Changing your nutritional habits is like practicing free throws. On different days, because of different circumstances, your success rate will fluctuate. A bad day where you missed 30 shots out of 50 doesn’t negate the next day, when you creep up to a 90% success rate. If you’re out there, practicing and putting in the work, the sum of your efforts will add up to a higher average success rate, which is what we all want.
Maybe you didn’t get any points today. Maybe you went over by 30 grams on your fat intake. Maybe you had a few slices of pizza and a couple of beers with your friends last night. The world won’t end! There are far more important questions to ask yourself. Are you eating cleaner overall and making more intentional decisions than you were last month? After a couple of weeks, is it getting easier to look at meals and assess how they’ll fit into the bigger picture of your goals? Do you have more “go-to” healthy meals that you enjoy and have become staples of your diet? Do you feel better than you did before you started the Challenge?
In these first couple of weeks, take a moment to remind yourself why you’re doing this and what you’d like to say you accomplished three months from now. It probably won’t be something like, “I didn’t eat a single grain of sugar.” It should be something more like, “I learned how powerful nutrition can be and can confidently say that I’m healthier and happier than I was before I started.”
Are you doing LFPB this year or have you done it in the past? If so, what is the biggest challenge and how did you deal with it?
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Yesterday’s Results Board: HSPUs / DBSSRDL | Double-Unders, Hand Release Push-Ups, Pull-Ups
We’d Love to Link You to This Website But It’s Impossible The Outline
Picking a Gym: Do They Respect You? Breaking Muscle
Wednesday’s Programming
Tempo Back Squat (30X1):
6 x 2
Heavier than last week. Should be challenging. Use spotters if you’re not 110% sure of your reps.
Post loads to comments.
Exposure 8 of 8
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For Time:
750m Row
21 Dumbbell Push Presses 50/35
500m Row
15 Dumbbell Push Presses 50/35
250m Row
9 Dumbbell Push Presses 50/35
Post time and Rx to comments.
AG
A.
2 sets for quality
5 hanging leg raises/knee raises
5 ea DB high pull@3012
5 ea heel touches
B. Kipping toes to bar Practice
C. For time @ 80-90% SE
25 Toes to bar
25 box jump overs, 24/20
40 cal row/bike/ski/air runner
rest walk 1:1
x2 sets
7am doing Monday w/Jess
After not trying any HSPU negatives since the first week, I gave it another try – and, hey! I could hold on to the negatives ANDDDD with Jess’s helpful cues (knees down towards elbows, back stays on the wall) I got my very first kipping HSPU!!! So overall I did –
Tempo HSPU negatives + kip attempts (got 1-2 more) 4 x 4
-Subbed in tempo seated DB press @ 22.5 x 5 for a couple rounds
DBSLRDL @ 35# x 8e x 4
WOD was a bit of a hot mess –
3rnds of 10DUs + 5 HRPU + 1 chin-up
5rnds of 20SUs + 5 HRPU + 5 jumping pull-ups from stool
2rnds of 10DUs + 5 HRPU + 1 chin up
Really wanted to get all 10 chin ups, but my arms said no. DUs promptly fell apart. But still happy about the HSPU so the day is not a loss 🙂
YAAAAAASSSSS Kate!
KIP KIP, HOORAAAYYY!
Awesome words David!
I did the challenge last year (but opted for a whole 30 this January).
I really enjoyed how the LFPB challenge awarded points to eating/sleep/water etc; it really helped me see “health” as a collaborative metric and recovery as its cornerstone. The point system helped me feel empowered to stay on track with relatively easy to control variables….I could always drink enough water, or take 20 mins for meditation (at the end of the night!) even if life interrupted and I didn’t hit ideal macros.
I’d also like to say thank you to Coach Fox for the info sessions he did during last year’s LFPB. I’ve been paleo-ish for the last 4 years and assumed that I was getting enough protein. Hearing him lay out macros (and helping me figue this out) gave me the confidence to attempt weighing and measuring my meals, which helped me find a protein deficit I didn’t expect to find. It’s only took a couple weeks to get a handle on what my plate should look like, and now I can say it’s basically second nature. Getting enough protein really effected my ability to recover from workouts; which translated into working harder with more consistency. It was the first year I can remember that I didn’t get the flu or strep! I know this evidence is anecdotal at best; but a definitive shift in how I feel and was powerful in my life. Best of luck to everyone doing it this year!!
6 AM with Jess
BSQ
155x2x3
160x2x2
165x2x1
Only a 5# jump from last week but felt invincible then (even with the pause at the bottom) and today, not so much…
Metcon done in 9:53 with 25# DB’s. Have to shout out Karina for encouraging me to row 2k meters at Sunday OG (actually she encouraged me to do it twice, which i less than politely declined) and giving me the tip to count strokes in increments of ten because (ideally) every stroke should be 10 meters. I have been looking for some kind of mental distraction when it comes to rowing for distance and this was it! Today’s metcon would have been a lot more daunting had it not been for that.
I believe your response to was “f*ck no get away from me” about the second 2000m.
and yeah the counting the strokes thing is the only thing that keeps me from succumbing to insanity.
Like I said, less than politely…
Next time try- f*ck no. Get away from me PLEASE!
BAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Yesterday 7:30pm with DO (solo!)
Press 45×5, then 50x5x4
SLRDL 50×5, then 55x5x4
Both of these felt surprisingly good. The SLRDL work is still mostly about range of motion for me – I see people going all the way to the floor with their DBs and I’m like O.o because I can’t get much past my knees.
Metcon EMOM scaled to 10 DUs, 7 HRPU, 2 pullups
This made me extremely happy: I finally managed to string together 10 DUs in a workout, and *in a consistent way* (did in multiple rounds). Finally finally finally after so much practice I can do some of these. What changed? Nothing in particular, nothing “clicked”, it was just repeated practice and muscle memory. The rest of the workout was terrible – push-ups were really bad by the end, and even doing 2 pull-ups was really bad for my sensitive hands. Feel like I’ve been doing lots of pull-ups every day for the past many days.
Right with you Daniel — on DUs not being a linear thing in terms of progress, that is. I tried for like two years, getting maybe twos and threes in a row, until suddenly one day I had them in 10s and 12s.
And now I have them in like 20s, except when I don’t. Some days I still trip over the rope every third double and I still don’t know why!
I remember mentioning this in AR and you saying “yeah it took me years”, which was pretty great to hear. Crossfit could be a lot less intimidating if we could all see how much each other struggled to be able to do things that look “easy” nowadays…
Totally. If it makes anyone else feel better, it also took me about 9 months of practice (not 9 months of CrossFitting; 9 months of practicing THAT MOVEMENT) to be able to kick up into a handstand. Ask Nick about his Remedial Skool for Kids Who Kant Do Hanstanz.
I learn things real good outside the gym, I swear…
I am kicking myself a lot today for not going harder. I let myself get psyched out by how heavy things felt in warmups.
Squats at 180. I had planned to do 185, but 165 felt heavy in warmup so I didn’t. And when it came time to do my work sets…yeah, not that bad.
WOD in 9:00 with 30# DBs. Again, the 35s just felt sooooo heavy in warmup, but during the WOD I ripped off a set of 12 with the 30s, no bigs. Which totally means I could have handled the 35s.
Oh well, onward and upward! Hoping to make it to AG tonight, in which case I can try to redeem myself.
I did make it to AG tonight! First time since September! It felt great to be back.
A gal got no rhythm though. Things to work on…
Tempo LBBS: 215 x 2, 225 x 2 x 5
In-between weight to gain some confidence; felt better as I kept going through the sets.
WOD: 8:55 Rx.
All push press broken into two sets.
After (did a mini-monday workout):
5 rounds (just over a min each – lots of transition time because of space):
20 DU
7 HRPU
3 Pull-ups
Sunday:
Jerk: Work sets at 153#.
WOD: Just under 7 rounds Rx. T2B always get me.
Stuck around for some AG – some mildly successful butterfly practice. WOD in 14:xx
7am doing Monday with Jess
Tempo seated DB press @ 20#, 5 x 6
DBSLRDL @ 30#, 6e x 4
Metcon scaled to 20 single-unders and…
Rounds 1-7 w/ 7 HRPU, rounds 8-9 5 HRPU (could feel my lower back “snaking” up), round 10 pushed for 7 HRPU
Round 1-4 one chin up, rounds 5-10 with 5 jumping pull ups. Focused on pulling!
First few rounds I finished around :45, somehow slowly got faster into the 30’s??
Just got around to reading the article. David, thank you so much for taking the time to write such an important reminder. One of the hardest parts of any personal challenges in the past has been cutting myself a little slack when I slipped up or when life got in the way. I would shame myself for messing up, but many aspects of joining CFSBK has actually helped to remedy that. Surrounding myself with other fitness-focused people (and people I strongly admire) that make the gym a priority but can talk enthusiastically about eating solely cheese and wine for dinner (a great question of the day!) makes me feel so much more NORMAL. Doing Murph and then eating tacos? Fight Gone Bad while drinking a beer on the Erg? Hell yeah! We’re celebrating accomplishments, people! It’s all about balance. This is the place that taught me what a macro even IS, knowledge I didn’t have even six months ago. Just a few months ago, I think I was eating MAYBE 50g of protein a day (now I eat 2x that). Had no idea what I was missing out on. Regardless of how much I’ve messed up or WILL mess up, I know I’m at a net positive.
A more specific challenge are co-workers who bring in unexpected treats. This happens probably 4 days out of 5. My desk is right in front of our designated “snack table,” so it’s been a struggle. I haven’t completely resolved this, but right now I’m just trying to leave a certain number of “contingency” carbs and fats to account for it. All advice welcome!
Eat one of the most bland of the snacks so it’s not that great and then you won’tfeel like you’re missing out after that?
Also, treats 4 days a week?!?! That’s nuts!
I’ve done fairly well avoiding coworker food (and most packaged junk food) by cultivating a certain level of snobbishness about treats. I won’t eat chocolate that’s sitting in the war room just because it’s free; I’d rather pay three bucks for one piece of Poco Dolce (the price = automatic portion control!) and really, really enjoy myself.
Sadly, this works only if your coworkers are bringing in, say, bags of Tostitos and not homemade goodies (unless they are mediocre bakers).
I participated in the challenge many years ago when it was still pretty paleo-centered… and through that process I learned SO MUCH about myself and my eating habits. In particular, I learned that cutting out grains, legumes, and going strict paleo just cuz everyone else was doing it at the time did not at all work for me as a non-meateater. Three weeks in, I had no motivation to get to the gym, no energy if I made it there, and generally felt low. I recall a quick conversation with Fox in which he was like … well, duh, you don’t eat meat. You might need to approach this a bit differently. It was a great experience in trying something new and then building the awareness that it wasn’t working for my body and I had to investigate/explore/play around with it myself!
A few things I’ve learned in the years since then (adjacent to the challenges and on my own) include:
-words like “good” “bad” “clean” “cheat”, etc. are not at all helpful or productive for me in regards to building good nutritional habits. language matters.
-focusing on quality protein intake at about 1g/1lb of bodyweight allows me to recover well and get stronger, which are important to me
-I can get lost in “hitting my macros” and end up eating lower quality and less nutrient-dense foods. so prioritizing veggies, colorful food, and satisfying meals is where it’s at.
-life is too short for me to not enjoy a cinnamon bun with my coffee on Sunday 😉
Training today:
-hip warm up… 1:00 clamshell hold, psoas march, squat int/ext rotations, etc.
FSQ: 8-6-4-8-6-4 @ 20×1
125×8, 140×6, 155×4
130×8, 145×6, 160×4
dead legs
the 130×8 felt amazing coming back down from the heavier weight. last rep at 160 was a reeeeeeeeal struggle. position overall better in second wave, more vertical bar, not shoving hips back so much. watch the eccentric speed…
peppered in some 100′ single arm OH carries (each side) between sets:
35#, 40, 45, 50 x 2
Every 3 min x 7 sets:
6 cal bike
7 TTB
11 double kb front rack walking lunges (12kg ea)
rounds started around 1:10 and got faster throughout. fastest 1:03. probably should’ve been 7 cal, 8 ttb. groovy.
lunges start and finish on L side every time for a little extra volume there. that was the hardest part of this.
No sleep last night, was dreaming about furniture I want to buy and was tossing and turning all night. Clearly, I live quite an exciting life outside of the gym, lol! Anyway, some more performance care and practice.
A) 3×10 DB external rotation at 7.5#
feels much easier. Left side is starting to get with the picture
B) 3x50M single arm DB OH walk, light weight
went with 25#, left shoulder feels amazing after getting some TLC at work last week. she was starting to stiffen up on me! First time I’ve had body work since July…
C) Sandbag practice w/ Kate E to make sure I knew what I was doing with this thing. Then worked on keeping a tight position with my butterfly pullups for few sets.
D) Tested 1 round of my Assault bike triple on Saturday:
*12 min time cap*
3 rounds:
4 muscle ups
12 power snatches @ 80#
15 assault bike cals
Finished the first round in 2:24. Key was to just go out a little bigger on the power snatches and feel out the aftermath. Did 6 and 6. Goal is to force unbroken muscle ups, 6/6 throughout, and then steady 65 RPM or so on the bike. Think it’s doable. My brain doesn’t want to hold on for 6/6, but i think my body can do it. We’ll see! That was a fast split. So goal is to finish this one in under 9 minutes. That would be dope.
10am class
BSQ
Up to 285, not quite as heavy as I thought I would go today.
Metcon Rx’d in 9:37 (I think)
Rows at about 1:50-55
DBPP in 12/9, 10/5, 9
330p power nap – whoa I’m really sleepy these days!
530p
LBBS
125#x2
135#x2 – 2 sets
140#x2
145#x2
150#x2 – went really smooth, still have some room in there to grow, psyched about this!
WOD with #30, for a split second I thought I could go Rx but I think this was smart and just about my edge
9:45
DB – 12/9, 8/7, 9 killer!
Group 5:30
Shocked myself and worked up to 2 reps of 195#. My 1RP (6 months ago) without tempo was 200, so I feel like 400 is right around the corner!
Metcon in 6:45 with 35# DBs. Should have gone heavier but wanted to go unbroken.
Strongfit at 6:30
WE LIFTED HEAVY THINGS AND GREW IN SIZE.
Great post David.
AG with Ro this evening was great as always; I need to prioritize going more even though the times are tricky. Was great to do T2B practice; I’m still not near getting that yet, but my leg raises are getting inches higher and I’m maintaining the kip a bit better for a bit longer. For time work: round 1 in 6:40, round 2 in 6:10 which I was happy about. Would like to get to a point sooner rather than later though where I don’t feel a need to rest on the erg.