The 2018 CrossFit Open was slated to be a rather routine and uneventful step for OPEX Sponsored Athlete Austin O’Neal on his path to the South-West Regionals and ultimately, the CrossFit Games. In fact, much of his training was focused on the regionals competition rather than the Open. However, that all changed during the second workout of the 2018 CrossFit Open, 18.2.

Every year, Zen Planner produces a financial report compiled from surveys of all of the gyms in their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Information such as member size, rent expense, number of instructors, and types of classes offered is compiled and analyzed to benefit their community and the fitness industry as a whole. We can learn a great deal about the fitness industry, how to run a gym, and how to determine what success means by taking a look at this report.

Pacing, or tempo training, has been around for as long as we can remember. However, how do you incorporate tempo training while using mixed modal training? James Fitzgerald talks through how to build aerobic endurance and how to attack a mixed modal workout while using pacing throughout.

First things first, it’s important to define what exactly ‘Paleo’ means when you ask the question, because depending on who you talk to, you may get conflicting points of view.

When you’re thinking about quality of service, you have to think about what exact experience you want your clients to have. If you don’t know what you want them to do, feel, think on a daily basis when their thinking about their training or when they’re doing their workouts in the gym, you won’ t create it. You first have to map out the experience you want.

The flood of information out there about health can make living a healthy life very difficult and confusing. At OPEX Fitness, we often onboard a lot of clients and at

As a coach, the importance of recognizing emotional as well as physical constraints cannot be overstated.  I try my best to anticipate physical and emotional challenges before a client reaches them.  Being able to anticipate a specific challenge offers the opportunity to provide support to your client as they transition through the challenge and reach success or failure on the other side.  A couple of years ago I watched as a client practiced a routine muscle up transition and moments later left the gym with tears welling in her eyes.  I was barely able to ask if she was ok before she was out the door.  At first I worried she was physically injured, but within seconds I realized she was emotionally distraught.  This incident was my first exposure to the complexity of certain emotional challenges.

Tennil has 3 sessions today as she prepares for the CrossFit Regionals. In the AM she has some skill play, front squats, power snatches and some increasing effort work. Noon Tennil has some HS walk practice paired with ring muscle ups and pistols. In the PM a long walk in the elevation room.

This is how I see the proliferation of CrossFit testing across the board for masters and teens in particular. I mean why have Masters competitions? In reality it makes sense, as there is some truth in people getting older and not being able to “keep up” as hard as it is (speaking personally). From this comes variations in the competition to allow “these others” to play.

James FitzGerald has been a long-time advocate for creating quality and consistency within competitive functional fitness. Gretchen Kittelberger launched what is today the International Functional Fitness Federation, IF3, with the mission of organizing functional fitness and ultimately being invited into the Olympic Games. When IF3 launched FitzGerald immediately felt a deep connection to the mission, sport, and governing body.

I gave it a “chance”. Many others around me did not. As with all things I come into play with, I am patient and all consuming of it for a while before making statements as to its validity and truth. I dissect things to their depths before making truths happen. This was done through me, others, groups, reading, asking, and more importantly, time.

Train your mind as well as your body. Reading is critical to furthering your knowledge as a coach or pursuing your full potential as an athlete.

Murat Erbaytan is a masters athlete who started with OPEX HQ Head Coach Matt Connolly back in May.  He came to us with a partial labral tear, meaning he has certain limitations in shoulder movement.

Today the fittest woman in America has some upper strength work as well as some strongman training to keep her CNS fresh and ready for CrossFit Open 18.2

Coaches are imbued with unique authority and possess great responsibility in the realm of fitness. Clients and athletes come to coaches seeking guidance on their physical and athletic journeys. These individuals are entrusting you as their coach with their most important belonging, their body. They are bringing it to you so that you can help them improve their health and wellness.

Rice continues to be a staple carbohydrate around the world particularly of those chasing fitness and health goals. Though there are dozens of different varieties of this starch the most popular continues to be white and brown rice. However, brown rice has won universal acclaim as being the ‘healthiest’ option to use by numerous health experts due to its high nutrient content in comparison to white rice. So should we all stop eating white rice and make the switch to brown rice?

Carter is 74 years old and had a hip surgery 2 years ago.  For 2 years he was in pain, unable to golf.  Sought out multiple TPI physical therapists and strength coaches but never was able to golf pain free.  Referred to me from another coach who was unable to evaluate and assess his pain and movement.  He could only deadlift a 53# KB for one rep when I got him, and he felt discomfort in that.  Six months later, he can deadlift 190 pounds for 4 reps, golfs 3+ full rounds per week pain free, drives the ball 30 yards further, improved his swing mechanics, and spends a lot of time on the range now at Desert Mountain.

Absolute speed is a simple concept, it is the ability to access the full potential of speed. Football Coaches and Scouts are testing absolute speed when they are timing athletes’ 40-yard dashes. Absolute Speed may be developed through a combination of absolute strength, skill, technique, alactic, and specific absolute speed training. This narrow window of use limits absolute speed training to a very specific group of sport-specific clients. 

Our mission at OPEX Fitness is to bring honor back to the coaching profession. We recognize the need for professionalism in the industry and deliver coaches the education needed to professionalize their passion.

And there is some great truth in that—particularly when it comes to nutrition, and supporting your training and busy lifestyle with nourishing fuel throughout the week.