What is TWC?

A huge thanks to Jordan Meserole of Rock Cottage Media for making this video to showcase our business to potential customers. I hope you enjoy the video and feel free to comment or sign up to follow the Train With Charlie YouTube page.

Breakfast of Champions

My breakfast everyday - 5 eggs (1 yolk), 1/2 of a Sweet Potato and 1/3 of an Avocado
Totals Calories = 378
Fat = 19 grams
Carbohydrate = 37 grams
Protein = 26 grams

Do you remember the slogan "breakfast of champions" by wheaties cereal? Well, if Wheaties (or any cereal) is your breakfast of choice you might find this post interesting and life changing.

The majority of our clients at TWC are 18-65 years old, so the days of Wheaties being the "breakfast of champions" are long gone. That might have application to kids, simply because it is better than a pop tart or a donut for breakfast. But it is still not ideal for a kid, there are better options.

Breakfast, and every meal, should be a balance of Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats...the three macronutrients that give your body energy (also known as calories). If you look at the nutrition breakdown above you will see just that - a balance of carbs, protein and fats. Also you will notice that the foods are "single ingredient items", meaning they are 100% natural....no additives or preservatives. Wheaties on the other hand has tons of ingredients.

I know it is weird at first to combine foods like this, but when you master the balance of the "macronutrients" at meal time you will wonder why your abs are showing and your waistline is shrinking. If you would like to learn more you can visit my 24 Day Nutrition Challenge Blog or sign up for the next 24 Day Nutrition Challenge starting in February.

3 John 1:2
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

First week of CFK

This was my first week to work with the new CrossFit Kids classes. I am teaching a pre-school class (picture above) that has a 5 year old girl, 4 year old boy and a sweet girl who is turning 3 at the end of this month. I am also teaching a kids class (ages 6-12) with 6 boys and 1 very brave girl :-)

The first week went great, on the first day of class (Tuesday) I wasn't 100% sure what to expect and was not sure if my planned WOD and class structure would go the way I planned. But it sure did, the kids loved it. And what was even better was that when they returned for their second class of the week they all knew what to expect and were enjoying it.

If you are curious how the class flow is for this age group here is an idea of how it goes:

1. warm up - this isn't as organized as our CSCF warm up and changes everytime. I incorporate a lot of jumping and keep the warm up to 2-5 minutes.

2. skill work - here I teach them a new skill, we will use this skill in the workout. This takes 2-5 minutes.

3. WOD (workout of the day) - just like CSCF we do a WOD, but our WOD is always well under 10 minutes. The pre school WODS are 3-5 minutes and Kids WODS might be a little longer.

4. the game - this is their favorite part! We always finish with a game of some kind and incorporate the new skill they learned or another exercise in the game.

Kids are a lot of fun to work with and they definitely will see the benefits from a consistent exercise program. CrossFit Kids is a fun way to get your child active and moving more. It is more like organized fun :-)

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Psalms 127:3-5

New Years Resolutions

We are approaching January and almost everyone is beginning to come up with a "new years resolution" or a few resolutions for 2011. These are specific goals or broad areas to improve upon. Well, with 2011 right around the corner I have set a few resolutions for myself.

I have heard and also read that if you make these public and write them down somewhere you are much more likely to achieve them. SO, I am going to do both - make it public and write it down by posting it on my blog :-)

I am breaking my new years resolutions into 3 categories - personal, business and fitness. These are 3 key areas for me that I want to improve on, each consume my attention daily and each I care about.

Personal
- love my wife and treat her as #1 in my life
- become more organized and improve in my time management
- walk with the Lord everyday and make all decisions based on His will

Business
- create a marketing plan for 2011
- complete my E-Myth business training and all of my worksheets associated with it
- develop a successful CrossFit Kids program

Fitness
- get stronger (400# squat / 425# deadlift / 200# press / 275# clean & jerk / 205# snatch / 205# overhead squat x 10 reps)
- 5:30 minute mile
- sub 3 minute "Fran" (21-15-9 thrusters/pull ups)

Alright, there are my 2010 new years resolutions, what are yours?

"Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established" (Proverbs 16:3).

The next generation - kids

Last week I traveled to California to attend Mindbody University (an online client/business management software we use) and the CrossFit Kids certification. First, let me start out by saying that for once, the weather here was better than the weather there. When I left it was in the 50's and 60's here and it was 97 degrees in Southern California! I was shocked, so were the locals, it was November and almost 100 degrees...we are used to that but not them.

This post is going to focus on the CrossFit Kids certification and the program. I was amazed how much I learned about training kids, ages 3-15 especially. Before this weekend I thought I knew how to work with kids but realized that I really knew very little about them. Training kids is not like training adults.....at all. Many parents and school teachers (like my wife) could tell you that kids are very different in their behavior, their attention span and how to get their attention. With an adult it is easy to keep their attention, and typically adults sign up for our program because they want to improve. With kids, most of them have little desire to "workout".....but what they do have a desire for is to "have fun".

The CrossFit Kids programs divides kids into the following age groups:

-CrossFit Preschool (3-5 years old)
-CrossFit Kids (6-12 years old)
-CrossFit Kids (13-17 years old)

*the ages are not set in stone, sometimes you will have a kid be in a teen class or a teen be in an adult class. It really has more to do with maturity and physical ability than age

Before this certification I would have found it nearly impossible to work with 3 and 4 year old children, but now I am confident and excited to offer these age groups a CrossFit Preschool program. To summarize the weekend, I learned that in order for kids to enjoy working out it has to be fun. That is how you keep them interested and that is how you keep them coming back. More importantly, if a 4 year old works out 2-3 times a week and loves it, and continues to do so at 9 years old....and 12 years old.....and 16 years old.....then, what will they do at 25 years old? And 35 years old? And 45 years old? They will work out! And they will do it because it is ingrained in them and it is something they have been doing all their life. This is unlike kids, teens and adults today, to whom working out is viewed as a "chore" or a "burden".


My new focus in the next 6 months will be to create a successful CrossFit Kids program in our business. I will work with these kids personally and hope to make a serious impact in their lives. I have an idea to offer a program to my wife's head start class (3,4 and 5 years old) for 6 weeks for no charge. To see how the kids respond and more importantly to see if my wife notices a difference in their behavior due to the consistent exercise. I intend on beginning a preschool, kids and teens program in January 2011. This could impact our community and change the direction of many kids lives. If you do not know my story, I grew up overweight and unhealthy until the age of 18 and trust me, I know what it is like to be the chubby kid at school and it is not fun.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
(Proverbs 22:6 ESV)

Weekends, Vacation and Days Off

I have been getting a lot of questions lately about how many days per week should you workout, what is too much and how I train personally so I thought i would post about it.

First, I think this depends on why you workout? Is it for looks? For health? For your sport? Because it is the right thing to do? I believe all of these things come into play when discussing the topic of "off days" or "rest days". We have recently changed our membership policy to an open model, where clients can train up to 6 days per week, which has allowed many of them to workout more often which is awesome.

Let's start with those of you that train for looks:

I think it is totally ok for you to train 5 or 6 times a week, but you definitely want to take at least one day off per week. You probably work pretty hard when you work out and you probably enjoy it, so you won't burnout mentally. If you want to take Saturdays and Sundays off that's fine, but get in Monday-Friday because if you are training for "looks" then you will definitely get more from 5 days a week than 4.

What about if you workout for your health?

To me this is a person who is not a fanatic about exercise and might be a little older, therefor mental burnout needs to be addressed. This person needs to train a minimum of 2-3 days per week and never take more than 3 consecutive days off. So if you take Saturday, Sunday and Monday off then you better be in Tuesday. Tuesday and Thursday is risky for this person because they might not stick with it and get all the benefits from their program. It is ok to start out 2 days per week but then you need to quickly up it to 3, after about a month. I see a 2 day per week person not really benefiting from exercise as they should and probably quitting. BUT....this does not mean it is not good, just make sure you do something on your own a third day, like jog, walk, bike or even swim. Three days a week is key to keep you consistent.

What about for your sport?

This is where it gets tricky. It really depends on your sport and whether or not you are in season. This advice is better to get from your personal coach but I will address CrossFit because it is my sport and I am a coach for it. First, be careful with over training. I have been guilty of this myself, primarily because it is something I enjoy so much. But most people who do crossfit competitively workout at such a high intensity all the time, especially if they train in a group. CrossFit HQ teaches that you should train 3 days on and 1 day off, this keeps you recovering on a set schedule which is great. However, most people like having a set schedule that relies more on a Monday-Sunday schedule than a 3 on/1 off schedule. So, my advice is experiment with different options but always listen to your body. If you train hard Mon-Wed and you wake up Thurs eager to workout and do the wod for that day, then do it and see how you feel Friday. The best advice I can give you is take at least one day off every week and recharge mentally and physically. Also, remember that you will always come back refreshed when you take a day off, so if you workout Monday and Tuesday, take Wednesday off, you will come back stronger Thursday.

And if you train because it is the right thing to do?

I would follow the same guidelines I gave up top to people who train for their health.

How do I handle days off?

I like to approach the week thinking I am going to workout everyday, then I take the day off that either I feel (physically feel) I need off or the extremely busy day (due to time) that does not allow me to take off. For example, this past weekend Alicia, my wife, and I were in Bastrop staying at the Hyatt Lost Pines enjoying some time away and together. Saturday we visited the outlet malls in San Marcos and I really never had time to workout. I realized that spending time with Alicia and enjoying the day was more important than working out, so I took the day off. My last day off before that was Monday because of it was such a busy day. You see how that works? That is just how I approach this, some people do it different.

In conclusion, I hope this post helps you out and if you have any questions feel free to comment!

Exodus 20:8-11

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

What is CrossFit?

Take the time to watch this video and pass it on to someone you know who asks you about CrossFit.