Men will die for points.
- Greg Glassman
Reflecting
Time to register for the CrossFit Open where the entire community comes together in a test of resilience, determination, and strength. Early rounds are for everyone, then it gets incrementally more difficult as it goes on throughout the CrossFit season culminating in the Games.
As many rounds and reps as possible in 15 minutes of:
3 lateral burpees over the dumbbell
3 dumbbell hang clean-to-overheads
30-foot walking lunge (2 x 15 feet)
*After completing each round, add 3 reps to the burpees and hang clean-to-overheads.
♀ 35-lb (15-kg) dumbbell
♂ 50-lb (22.5-kg) dumbbell
Training
If you love mountains as much as I do but live in a flattish area, you’ll need to be able to train at home. My favorite combo is a weight vest plus ruck on the treadmill for an hour. I use 20 lbs. cast weights in my vest and a 45 lbs. plate in my ruck. My 25L Rucker 4.0 pack weighs 3 lbs. and my Tactec plate carrier weighs 2.5 lbs. for a 70.5 lbs. load. I also added both the hip belt and sternum strap which help for running.
The X24 has a 40% incline, which is far better than most alternatives for mountain training. The 40% incline does not mean 40 degrees (and isn’t even close). It means the ratio of vertical rise to horizontal distance x100, so their 40% is ~22 degrees. For comparison they’d measure an actual 40 degree incline as 84% which isn’t offered by any treadmill that I’m aware of.
“No sweat” desk exercise today included the OG grip strength exercise and test: Captains of Crush. I have a rack of all of them just to stay humble (currently on #2 for reps, #2.5 for max effort, and #3 for humility).
Fueling
I get a lot of my steak from Pat LaFrieda. Instead of supplementing with sodium, I just salt my steak. This is the salt that Pat uses and recommends.
Supplementing
Vitamin D is key to hormonal balance. Get free vitamin D from sunlight, get more from eggs, steak, and fish, and supplement to top it off.
Protein powder is under scrutiny for heavy metal contamination. The cleanest appears to be Puori whey protein powder, which I’m using in my coffee.
Measuring
A smart scale that measures your percent body fat instead of just weight is key to tracking health. If you don’t have one, get one. HumeHealth has a good app and costs less than comparable alternatives.
I get bloodwork done at One Medical every six months and feed it into ChatGPT (Grok3 fans claim that Grok3 is better for this purpose but it requires an upgraded/paid subscription). I use AI for everything these days and it is great here. I can cue it with my demographics and interest in both longevity and CrossFit performance. It is mostly happy with my numbers but suggested hydrating more. The test wasn’t done as rigorously as it should have been (I needed it for my telehealth scripts) – had just given blood, worked out, etc.
Recovering
Everything fun risks injuries. And what’s a possibility on a given day is eventually a certainty: athletes get injured. The next time I’m in injury recovery, I’m going to Resilient Performance Physical Therapy because they are aligned with my goals to heal but also to get back to the activities I love and to perform at the highest level possible for me. It can be tricky to find the right healthcare providers willing to blend a focus on longevity with performance. A good place to start is with docs and therapists who are athletes themselves.
Closing
As we approach the 2025 CrossFit Open, closing with Greg Glassman’s fitness in one hundred words:
Hello Chris,
Are you using a "smartwatch" to track metrics and other details? If so which ones have you tried and whats your preference?
Thank you.