While the profession of coaching is an eloquent struggle, you shouldn’t be struggling to survive. If you happen to be a coach who is struggling just to get by in the profession, there may be something wrong with your system.

James FitzGerald explains the story behind an OPEX shirt and the importance of the Airdyne to fitness training

Growing up, your mom probably encouraged you to eat a variety of foods—not just Mac & Cheese and chicken nuggets, or Goldfish crackers and Fruit Roll-ups—but maybe things like broccoli and carrots, chicken and pork, sweet potatoes and strawberries. In other words: Variety.

As many reps as possible in 20 minutes.

Team OPEX and athletes represented at the Granite Games last weekend in St. Cloud, Minnesota, proving that all the work they have been doing in the gym is paying off.

This session is similar to Tuesday’s AM session. Upper gymnastic strict / positional work followed by upper pushing and pull strength and accessory pieces. Nothing intense or overly tough here on the eve of the Crossfit Open workout.

If you’ve ever used the AirBike you’ll know what a versatile, reliable training tool it is. Before incorporating it into your client’s program, there are a few energy system principles you’ll need to learn.

If you are going to the Games, YOU are an athlete no doubt, and it takes some serious hard work and dedication to keep you going. In order to reach an the elite level, also requires more than just training in the gym. Food choices, sleep, recovery methods, mobility, and stress all play a vital role in the supernatural abilities of many athletes.

This past three weeks has been some of the most fulfilling time I’ve ever spent as a coach.  I had a new client sign on who is the most beginner’ish of any client I’ve ever worked with.  At 50 years of age, his training age is 0.  Never even been in a gym.  Ever.

The last thing you want to do is accelerate out of the start and fatigue in your shoulders and calves way to quickly. Pace yourself throughout 18.3. You should consider partitioning reps into sets instead of trying to do everything unbroken.

If you're looking to improve your muscle ups within a competition piece or event, then you need to practice it in a variable of settings. Here James discusses how to work muscle ups into a couplet piece.

Trying to get better in fitness requires tackling a number of different modalities. James Fitzgerald of OPEX talks about bringing up your aerobic capacity.

Proper preparation for an event like 18.5 actually starts way before it even begins. Ideally, an athlete should be accumulating volume in movements likely to appear in the CrossFit Open, like Chest to Bar Pull-ups and thrusters. We know this may sound a bit like an oversimplification. However, you should be tackling these movements in a structured manner to allow you to reach your full potential in the CrossFit Open.

Two more days before Tennil is on the competition floor at the CrossFit Regionals. Today she has some snappy hang power cleans and then some breathing work. Are you looking forward to regionals starting this week?

New tech has a habit of changing the way we interact with each other and live our lives. It’s also stirring things up in the fitness industry.

Breathing is imperative when it comes to rowing, whether it’s holding a pace or going all out, sucking wind is part of the process.  Learn how to better breathe, pace and row your way into a more aerobic person.

Planning for your business is about taking bigger concepts or ideas and boiling them down into smaller components. You also need to establish your personal beliefs as well as the purpose of your business before you can plan effectively.

Like a lot of people, landing too wide on the third pull has become a problem for Alex and has limited him from reaching his potential at current strength/speed. We implemented drills like scarecrow cleans and cleans w/ no jump (change of foot position) to help dial in movement and force speed under the bar. He’s seeing great improvements by addressing these in a non-fatigued state. With skill days, we’ve found he responds better to less overall work and just taking the time to work through the elements in a given training session.

Goals are an important part of accomplishing anything, this is especially true in fitness. Without goals, there is nothing to work towards. Truth goes along with this, in order to accomplish goals, there needs to be a level of truth. This starts with the relationship between the client and the coach. If the relationship is not built on truth it cannot be successful. Conducting an OPEX Assessment is the first step in building that truth.