crossfitconductor

You Can Never Lose If You Don't Quit

Fri, 08 May 2026 18:55:43 GMT

Can't Win if you don't play

I’ve failed a lot. Not a little, a LOT.

More than most people probably realize.

I failed my CrossFit Level 3 exam three times before I finally passed it. Three times. Do you know how much that stings when coaching and fitness is literally your life?

I’ve owned, coached, and been kicked out of almost every gym in Central Kentucky. I’ve struggled with the gym I own right now. There are days I drive home, mentally exhausted, white knuckling the steering wheel, wondering if I should burn it all to the ground.

I failed my CrossFit Level 4 in-person evaluation a little over a year ago.

That one hurt. ☹

Not because I don’t know coaching, not because I’m not a good coach. Because I’m not chase good, I’m chasing Great! When you pour yourself into something and come up short, it punches you right in the gut, it’s embarrassing, and it makes you doubt yourself.

But here’s the thing, that’s all part of the process. So I licked my wounds, listened to all of the condolences, and got back to working on what needed to be improved. Then when the opportunity to try again came around, I signed up again.

The only way I truly fail is if I quit. Not getting the Level 4 on the first pass doesn’t mean I never will, it means I just have more work to do. Also, the process in my first attempt made me better. Not Great, but better, so I knew I needed to keep moving forward.

That’s it, that’s the whole secret. People think successful people somehow avoid failure. That they’re more talented, more motivated, more disciplined, or somehow mentally tougher than everyone else.

Maybe sometimes.

But most of the people I know who have been successful just refused to stop. I also don’t just mean material success; marriage, family, friendships, those all take work, the kind of work you can’t give up on.

These people keep showing up.

Even when it’s embarrassing.

Even when it’s painful.

Even when they doubt themselves. Especially then!

I think this matters even more as we get older.

At 48, things don’t work the way they used to. I can’t just roll out of bed and destroy workouts like I did in my 20s and 30s. I’ve had nagging shoulder pain, wrist pain, a calf issue. Random little injuries that seem to come out of nowhere.

There are days where I want to throw my hands up and say, “Getting old sucks.”

But honestly?

It doesn’t suck, it’s actually really fuck’in great! It’s just different. The workouts have changed. Recovery matter more. Mobility has become part of the process and I have to make sure my ego doesn’t get in the way.

When something hurts, and now a days, something always does. I don’t quit, I adjust. I improve what I can improve, put my big-boy panties on, and then I work toward getting back to where I was.

That’s the process, not perfection, not nonstop PRs, just refusing to stop moving forward.

I see this all the time in health and fitness. Someone tweaks their back, their shoulder starts bothering them, work gets stressful, their kid’s activities are never ending.

Life punches them in the dick, or whatever the equivalent for the ladies is.

And suddenly they start thinking maybe they should quit, maybe slow down a bit, take some time off. Then the thoughts start to creep in.

“Maybe I’m too old.”

“Maybe CrossFit is too hard.”

“I’ll come back when life calms down.”

Life never calms down!

There will always be stress.

There will always be setbacks.

There will always be reasons to stop.

The people who win aren’t the people who avoid those things.

The people who win are the ones who keep going through them.

Maybe slower, maybe modified, maybe frustrated, but always moving forward

That’s what winning looks like.

My dad always said, “you can’t win, if you don’t play” I have it tattooed on my chest as a daily reminder. One so I can see it every day, two to remind myself that I’m different. That I don’t want to be like everyone else. I don’t want to look forward to slowing down, to retiring. I want to remind myself that every day is a gift. “I want to get off my ass and find that fuck’in dog!”

Every failure teaches you something if you let it. No one ever got anything worth having without struggle.

Fail the test?
Study differently.

Injured?
Take recovery seriously.

Bad workout?
Better than no workout!

Gym struggles?
Keep showing up.

Life hard?
Good! (stole that one from my friend Jocko)

None of this is easy.

Some days I absolutely want to quit. I just say, not today, you can quit tomorrow, and then I repeat the same the next day.

Some days I question whether I’m good enough.

Some days I wonder if every is going to fall apart.

But I’ve learned something over the years.

Quitters quit and Winners keep going and eventually Win.

That’s it. Not because winners never fail, but because they refuse to stay down.

So if you’re reading this while dealing with an injury, or struggling with motivation, or frustrated that you aren’t where you used to be physically, hear me when I say this:

You’re not alone and you are not failing.

You’re only failing if you stop.

Scale the workout, take the extra recovery day, modify the movement, slow down, start over, but NEVER QUIT!

If you keep showing up, keep learning, and keep adjusting, YOU WILL WIN!!!

Maybe not on your timeline, maybe not in the way you originally expected, but eventually, you will win.

And honestly, that’s what this whole thing is about.

Not perfection.

Not beating everyone else.

Not pretending getting older is easy.

Just becoming the kind of person who refuses to give up.

The person that always wins. ��

Risky Business

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 21:38:51 GMT

honest risk over comfortable denial

Risky Business

I read an interesting article from USA Today

Weight-loss drugs draw thousands of lawsuits alleging serious harm

But let’s first talk about CrossFit.

Every time CrossFit comes up, someone eventually says:

“Isn’t CrossFit dangerous?”

“I heard people get hurt.”

“My physical therapist says CrossFit keeps them in business.”

“My cousin’s friend has a neighbor and their co-worker blew out his shoulder doing CrossFit.”

At the exact same time these conversations are happening, millions of people are jumping on weight-loss drugs and medical interventions with very little discussion about risk. But now, lawsuits are popping up and the headlines are changing.

Let me be 100% Clear, I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU CHOOSE!

If you decide to take a weight-loss drug, that’s your call.

If your doctor prescribes it and you feel good about it, go for it.

Just like it’s your call if you want to do CrossFit, run, lift heavy, do Pilates, yoga, bootcamp, or never exercise at all.

I don’t care about the choice.

What I care about is people making choices without actually understanding what they’re signing up for.

CrossFit Has Always Been Honest

Here’s what people get wrong about CrossFit.

We’ve never said it’s risk-free.

We talk about intensity.

We talk about load.

We talk about mechanics.

We talk about scaling.

We talk about recovery.

We talk about coaching.

We don’t pretend that pushing your body to produce adaptation comes with zero downside.

“In the pursuit of mitigating cardiovascular disease, you run the risk or orthopedic calamity.” ~Greg Glassman, Founder of CrossFit

Simply put, pursuing fitness, of any kind, comes with risk.

Ironically, Nobody Warns You About the Couch

You know what almost never gets labeled as risky?

• Losing muscle every decade after 30

• Weak bones

• Chronic back pain

• Metabolic disease

• Eating like a 10 year old

• Medications piling up year after year

• Feeling tired, stiff, and fragile at 50

That stuff doesn’t happen overnight, so no one panics about it. It’s quiet, slow, and gets normalized.

But it’s not safe.

Sitting on the couch for years is a risk.

Driving a car is a risk.

Crossing the street is a risk.

Drinking alcohol is a risk.

CrossFit just happens to make the trade-off obvious.

The Weight-Loss Drug Conversation Proves the Point

he issue with the recent weight-loss drug lawsuits isn’t “meds are evil.”

The issue is this, a lot of people didn’t fully understand the potential downsides until after they experienced them.

That’s the same mistake people make when they talk about CrossFit.

They hear a headline or a story, but they don’t ask better questions.

Good CrossFit Is Not Reckless or Random

At CrossFit Conductor, we don’t throw people into the deep end and hope for the best.

We coach movement.

We scale workouts.

We adjust volume.

We meet people where they are.

We play the long game.

We use CrossFit to improve Fitness and MetFix to address Nutrition, and when the two are combined, we produce Health.

Fitness = How much work you can do.

Health = Fitness over the years of your life.

Our goal isn’t to make workouts “safe” by making them meaningless.

Our goal is to make them effective without being stupid.

There’s a difference.

You Don’t Get To Avoid Risk, But You Do Get To Choose It

The truth most people don’t want to hear:

You don’t get to opt out of risk.

Y ou only get to choose which one you’re willing to live with.

The risk of lifting weights and learning to move well.

Or the risk of never building strength, eating like shit, and paying for it later.

The risk of EFFORT or the risk of DECLINE.

Final Thought

I’m not here to scare you into CrossFit.

I’m not here to shame anyone for taking a drug.

I’m not here to tell you there’s one perfect path.

I am here to tell you this.

I f you’re going to do something with your health, anything, you owe it to yourself to understand the risks, the benefits, and the long-term consequences.

CrossFit doesn’t hide that conversation.

We lead with it.

And I’ll take honest risk over comfortable denial every time.

In Strength,

Eric Karls, M.Ed.

CrossFit Conductor

Chief Awesomeness Engineer

CrossFit Level 3 Certified Trainer

(859) 494-9119

"You Can't Slip"

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 23:35:07 GMT

Get Yourself in position

“You Can’t Slip”

The other team has the ball, 3rd down and 5 yards to go. We’re playing our biggest crosstown rival who we haven’t beaten in years. It’s a close game and this is a big possession in the momentum of the game.

Sweep right and I’m the outside linebacker to that side. I shed my blocker, set the edge so the running back can’t get outside me. As he nears me, the rest of the defense forces him out to where I’m waiting, he makes a cut, and as I go to make the tackle, I slip on the rain soaked field. I’m only able to try and make an arm tackle, which against the best running back in the state, wasn’t enough. 6 yards, 1st down!

Myself and the rest of the defense had set up perfectly to stop this play. We just didn’t finish, I didn’t finish, I slipped.

The resulting 1st down play ended near our sideline. I got up off the ground to my coach right in my face,

“YOU HAVE TO MAKE THAT TACKLE!!!”

“I slipped”

“YOU CAN’T SLIP!!!”

In that moment, my 17 year old brain’s immediate thought was, “fuck you! I slipped, that’s not my fault.” We went on to lose that game by a more than we would have liked. That play was a big momentum shift, but again, I slipped, that wasn’t my fault, or at least that’s what I thought at the time.

In my opinion, football is the ultimate team sport. Though my years of playing didn’t do my body any favors, the lesson it’s taught me were invaluable. The biggest being,

“YOU CAN’T SLIP!”

I don’t recall how long it took me to realize what my coach meant at the time or even if it’s actually what he meant, but it has gone to guide almost every aspect of my life from that moment on.

It was a critical moment.

Did I want to make the play? Yes.

Did I want to slip? No.

Was slipping my fault? No, the field was wet.

Was slipping my fault? No, the running back made an amazing cut.

Was slipping my fault? The defense did their job and force him out, the field was wet, the running back made a move, I wasn’t in the right position, I slipped.

Was slipping my fault? YES.

In the moment, I blamed factors outside of my control, but the BIGGEST factor, the one in my control, my position, was what lead to me not making the play. Had I positioned myself better, there would have been no room to make that cut, the running back would have either been funneled back to my awaiting teammates, right into my tackle, or out of bounds. By my position being off by just a small fraction, there was just enough room to make a cut, and I slipped.

What went from “FUCK YOU! It wasn’t my fault” turned into “if I’m in the right position, I make the play.”

Was slipping my fault? YES! Yes it was, I wasn’t in the correct position.

I now apply that mentality to every aspect of my life. Am I in the correct position to make the play?

Am I in the correct position for:

My Marriage.

My Children.

My Family.

My Career.

My Health.

My God.

Every aspect of my life depends on whether or not I’m putting myself in the correct position to make the play. That’s life. You can’t control outside factors, but you can control how you position yourself to handle them. If you don’t like where you’re at, change your position. You must put yourself in the positions that will make you successful.

“YOU CAN’T SLIP!”

08-25-20

Fri, 03 Jan 2025 11:54:42 GMT

08-25-20

8-25-20

1 part alcohol, 3 parts water. The disinfecting spray bottles we use at the gym were low the other day and I filled them. While doing so, I noticed the date on the old milk jug I use to mix the solution, 08-25-20, and then one-by-one I fill the tiny spray bottles.

For the past 4 years, I’ve mixed this same solution, filled the same bottles, and then repeated about every 2 weeks. I’ve mopped the floors hundreds of times, vacuumed just as many. I’ve made sure the frig is stocked with drinks, kept the bathrooms cleans, restocked toilet paper and taken the towels home to wash. I’ve cleaned the windows, wiped off the mirrors, restocked the cleaning supplies, repaired holes in the wall, wiped down dirty equipment, and dusted the rowers and bikes. I’ve repaired countless broken items, ordered new ones, refilled chalked buckets, and ordered shirts and protein. I’ve removed old ceiling insultation, installed, moved, and reinstalled Big Ass Fans, I’ve laid 6000 sq. ft. of rubber flooring, I’ve replaced a garage door spring, I’ve installed a gas force heater, torn down walls, built a locker room, torn down a locker room, painted walls, refinished floors, and unclogged toilets. I’ve taken out countless bags of garbage, cleaned parking lots, hung TVs, and mounted pictures. I’ve erected rigs, installed pull up bars, hung ropes and rings, and then moved them all hundreds of times. I’ve left my house at 5am and returned at 7pm. I’ve had countless sleepless nights, anxiety over bills, and worried about everything.

I’ve also gotten to meet new people and make new friends. Friends of every size, shape, color, believe, and background. I’ve gotten support and encouragement through tough workouts. I’ve gotten to laugh till it hurts, gotten my heart filled, and been made to feel special. I’ve gotten support of my wife and family and been helped with every task written above. I’ve been surrounded by unbelievable coaches and witnessed unbelievable athletes. I’ve been told I’m doing a great job, to keep going, and that everything will be OK. I’ve seen people lose weight, gain muscle, become more confident, and do things they never thought they could. I’ve celebrated victories, learned lessons, and become stronger physically and mentally. I’ve seen people give for no reason, love big, and show up when they didn’t want to.

This gym continues to give more than its asks for and I feel like the luckiest person alive!

What is CrossFit?

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 13:19:11 GMT

This is a subtitle for your new post

What is CrossFit – Constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity.

“I don’t know what that really means, but I’ve seen CrossFit and it looks intense.”

Intensity is what makes CrossFit different and where it gets its results, but there are two important things to know. “High” doesn’t mean “maximum” and intensity is relative to each individual. So yes, the intensity is high, but it will be high in relation to each individual’s fitness level. So everyone can do it. “The needs of an Olympic athlete and our grandparents differ by degree, not kind.” ~Greg Glassman, Founder of CrossFit

“I’d love to try CrossFit, but I need to get in shape before I do.”

Everyone at CrossFit Conductor starts with a free intro session where they come talk to a coach and make a plan. This typically starts with 4 one-on-one session which we call OnRamp. In these sessions, people become familiar with many of the movements utilized in CrossFit, feel what the flow of a group class will be like, and get eased into the appropriate amount of intensity. Many people also start with Nutrition Coaching and start creating a new customized and sustainable way of eating that will support activity, but not excess body weight. After the completion of OnRamp, group CrossFit Classes start. From here, the goal is to create consistency which is made easier by being surrounded by a group of support individuals who are all on the same path towards better health and fitness. Alongside the BEST coaches in the business, each member has one task, just show up, we’ll help take care of rest.

“I love CrossFit, it keeps me in business.” ~Every Physical Therapist not doing CrossFit

Yes, with any activity beyond sitting on the coach, comes the risk of physical injury. We believe that risk is far outweighed by the risks associated with continuing to sit on that coach. Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease are both in the leading causes of death each year in the US and both are 100% preventable. CrossFit isn’t what you should be afraid of. What will happen if you don’t do CrossFit should be a far greater fear!

“I have bad (fill in the blank) and my doctor told me not (fill in the blank).”

Step One: Find a new doctor, preferably one that does CrossFit and knows the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle.

Step Two: Know that every CrossFit workout is scalable and the coaches are there to help you work around any limitations.

“I’m nervous I won’t be able to do it or I’ll be the worst person in class.”

Being nervous is expected and you should be nervous, you’re trying something new and exciting! There hasn’t been one single person who has walked through the doors of CrossFit Conductor and was told they couldn’t be helped. We know we look like the most intimidating place from the parking lot, but all we ask is that you put your big girl/boy panties on, walk through that door one time, and see we are the most welcoming gym you will ever come to.

GOOGLE REVIEWS

“CrossFit Conductor has a wonderful set up with really nice equipment. The class was run very efficiently and the coach was knowledgeable and able to help people of ever skill level. The community there is positive and encouraging.”

“Great staff and completely encouraging community. Highly recommend!”

“Great place with a great atmosphere to push each other and enjoy each workout.”

“I like what I’m currently doing and my trainer Bryce really knows what’s best for me.”

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. You like Bryce because he listens to your bullshit and lets you decide what to do. If you’re ready to get actual results, change your nutrition, and stop wasting your time and money, sign up for a FREE INTRO SESSION. Bring Bryce too!!!

In Strength,

Eric Karls, M.Ed.

CrossFit Conductor

Chief Awesomeness Engineer

CrossFit Level 3 Certified Trainer

Too Convenient?

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 10:44:49 GMT

Maybe Convenience Isn't Always A Good Thing

Too Convenient?

Sometime when I need some supplies for the gym, I walk to Lowe’s or Walmart. They’re both about a 10 minute walk and it gives me a few minutes to slow down during the day.

On one of my latest trips I noticed an area on the side of Walmart designated for online pickups. You don’t have to get out of the car. Order online, pull up, pop the trunk, they load it up, and you’re off. I couldn’t help but wonder if this is a good? Convenience sounds great, but is it?

The average American takes 3000-4000 steps per day which is considered sedentary. Over 40% over the age of 20 are obese and over 70% are overweight. Over my last 7 days, I’ve averaged 24,000+ steps each day. I mention this for 2 reasons: the first being so you know how great I am, and the second because this should be the normal.

There are now countless articles and social media posts about the benefits of walking. Well, NO SHIT!!! We shouldn’t need someone to write an article to tell us that not sitting on our ass all day is a good thing. We’ve been sucked into such a world of convenience that we can’t even think for ourselves. Move more and don’t eat like a 10 year old wants to shouldn’t have to come from an online fitness expert.

We don’t need cookies to be able to be delivered to our homes. At least in the past, if we wanted cookies, we had to physically get up and go get them. If we tip the driver an extra $5, will they feed them to us?!?!

“Man.
Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.
And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present;
the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;
he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

~Dalai Lama

Just because the convenience is available, doesn’t mean we need to utilize it. Take the time to make the majority of your meals. Start making a grocery list and actually go to the grocery store. Take the time to read labels and be an active participant in what goes into your body. Park at the far end of the lot, take your cart all the way back into the store when you’re done.

“If you don’t make time for your health now, you will be forced to make time for your illness later.”

What are some ways you can in some extra steps throughout your day?

Becoming a Gym Owner

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 15:40:04 GMT

No Plan, No Problem

Becoming a CrossFit gym owner started with a tall, skinny, insecure kid that picked up a Muscle and Fitness magazine in sixth grade. I didn’t know what I was looking at, but I knew it was what I wanted. I got my first set of Sear’s plastic coated concrete weights and never looked back, I was hooked! Bench and Bi’s, Back and Tri’s became my new religion.

Throughout high school and college I was always envious of everyone who always seemed to know what they wanted to do with their lives, the future doctors, layers, and accountants of the world. The ones who school seemed easy for and who had a path laid out for them. I all I knew was, I loved sports, wasn’t the best at school, and the only dream job I ever thought of was owning a gym. Gym ownership would always remain just a dream. The cost of treadmills, ellipticals, and pully machines was way beyond what one individual could afford. That was the world of the Globo gyms and individuals didn’t play there.

With no direction or sense of options, I continued my football career in college and maintained my academic excellence as a solid “C” student. At the end of my sophomore year, my counselor insisted I declare an intent of study and asked what I enjoyed doing. I replied “working out” and from there I officially become a Kinesiology major. At the time, I didn’t even know what the word Kinesiology meant, but neither did anyone else, so it made me feel special/unique when people asked what I was studying in school. They assumed it was something in the medical field and that my “C” average was probably someone where closer to the “C+” “B-“ range.

After 6 years and 3 universities, I did it! I received my bachelor’s degree and was off to start my career in the world of Kinesiology!!! Now all I had to do was go home and wait for them to send the letter informing me where I needed to show up for work! After a period not hearing anything and sharing my situation of waiting on my letter, I was informed there would be no letter. I had been misled by my own assumptions. No letter comes, no one tells you where to show up, and I would have to seek employment on my own. This couldn’t be correct, I had graduated college, I did what I was supposed to do. As confusing and obviously wrong as this seemed to me, I looked into what I was qualified to do. I could go to graduate school, which wasn’t an option because I had sworn I was done with school, or I could become a personal trainer. No degree required here, but I would have to go get a separate certification stating I knew what I was doing. That four year degree wasn’t enough, I needed more initials after my name. ACSM or ACE were required to show someone how to do a lat pull down to explain what a “super set’ was.

As you can probably guess, the decision was easy, I chose to go to grad school. I would go to get a Master’s in Education. I was going to be a Physical Education/Health teacher. Grad school was easy to get into, I only had to retake about half of my undergraduate courses at a local community college. Those “C’s” that I had originally showed up to class and blown farts to receive weren’t going to cut it. I eventually got into grad. school and took night classes while working full-time during the day. After 9 years of school and 2 degrees, I was ready to teach the future leaders of tomorrow the finer elements of the volleyball serve, the origin story of the family that created pickleball, and sex education. I was a teacher!!!

I loved teaching and found my niche with high school freshman. I loved that they seemed more confused than I was and I would help them in any way I could. I also coached football and volunteered my time as the off-season strength and conditioning coach. Can you believe they paid me for this?!?! They did! $28,000 a year, and then next year I would make $28,250, and the next $28,500. I could tell you how much I was going to make 10, 15, 20 years from then. Wait! WTF?!?! It didn’t matter what I did, how hard I worked, I would get paid the same or less than someone who showed up, rolled a ball out, and just made sure no kids died. As much as I loved teaching, I HATED the pay and the scale that went along with it. Summers off were nice. ��

Things were going great! I out kicked my coverage and had a smoking hot wife, we had our first of later to be 3 daughter, and I landed my dream job at Lane Tech High School in Chicago, IL. My wife was killing it in real estate, so my shitty pay wasn’t a big deal…until it was. 2008 hit and everything changed. The housing market came to a halt overnight and the difficulty of living off of a teacher’s salary became apparent very quickly. We lasted about a year until the economic reality of living in a major city with now two small children, forced a move we had been thinking about for quite some time. We packed our bags and moved to Lexington, KY, the hometown of my wife.

She could do real estate anywhere, and I could get a teaching job. The lower cost of living and a new start would help us get back on track. At that time teaching jobs weren’t as available as I had hoped and not knowing anyone didn’t help. I ended up taking a job in construction management, something I was loosely qualified for through working in the trades all throughout high school and college. The pay was good, but I hated it. I moved 400 miles to a place where I knew no one, left my family, and gave up a job I loved. It wasn’t the best, but it was what we had to do.

As a small consolation for making the move, my wife pushed me to rent a small warehouse space and open a gym. Around the time of the move in 2009 and before, I had been following the underground fitness movement of Gym Jones, RKC, and CrossFit. It had taken my training out of the Globo gym and into my garage. This training that started in Chicago by myself, in my garage, evolved into high school kids filling our back alley after school to come get destroyed with kettlebells, homemade sandbags, and oversized tires that we flipped. No one ever flips tires anymore, but we actually used to do it!

Now in Lexington, I rented about 200 square feet of warehouse storage space from my boss, built a rig out of plumber’s pipe, and set up my kettlebells, sandbags, and tires. A small group of people joined me for brutal workouts in a building with no A/C in the summer, no heat in the winter, and a bathroom that looked like a murder scene. I never though I knew what I wanted to do, but 20 years after reading that first Muscle and Fitness magazine, I was a gym owner, it was a shitty gym, but a gym none the less. I actually didn’t own anything, I had a space where I worked out, had crazy people that joined me and would throw a few bucks my way every month. It covered rent and allowed us to buy a new kettlebell every once in a while. It was AWESOME!!!

In 2012 I was approached by a group that were opening a CrossFit gym. My kids went to pre-school with the kids of one in the group and they had heard about my warehouse gym. They had a lot of passion for this new thing CrossFit, but only 1 coach among the 7. They asked if I was interested in joining them as a coach. I agreed on the spot, and a month later, my wife and I both took the CrossFit Level 1 course.

Joe DeGain was our Flow Master and at the time I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I wanted to be exactly like him and the other Seminar Staff Coaches. I feel in love with CrossFit!!! It was new, non-mainstream, hard as hell, and it incorporated my love of teaching, sport, and fitness. It was everything I was looking for!!! Mix in a group of new friends to do it with and the entrepreneurial aspect of being rewarded for the work you put in, there could be nothing better!

Since opening my first CrossFit gym in 2012 with a group of 8, I’ve either owned, coached at, or been kicked out of almost every CrossFit gym in Central Kentucky. I am now 4 years into my first solo venture and I am the proud owner of CrossFit Conductor! The workouts still scare the shit out of my, being an entrepreneur is the hardest thing I have ever done, and I love it! I am in awe of all the people that show up day after day and trust me and our coaches to take them on this fitness journey. I am excited about where myself, my gym, our community, and CrossFit has and is evolving into.

I never thought my journey had a purpose, I thought I was behind everyone else my age with their careers. I now know to trust the process and to understand it has just taken longer to prepare me for the journey God has planned for me. I have the HARDEST and BEST job in the world. Like the new black belt, I have put in years of work and preparation to be ready to start this journey. LFG!!!

MetFix + CrossFit Conductor

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 12:15:22 GMT

The Evolution of the Health/Fitness Revolution

MetFix + CrossFit Conductor

CrossFit Conductor has been chosen to be one of the first 100 gyms out of over 3000 that applied to become a MetFix Affiliate . This might not mean much to you now, but let me explain, it will.

MetFix is the evolution of the CrossFit methodology through the Broken Science Initiative . If CrossFit and the CrossFit Level 1 Coaching Course are 80-90% movement and coaching, MetFix is that but with Nutrition and Lifestyle. It’s going deeper and taking the foundation of CrossFit and sharpening it into a tool that can cut through the epidemic of chronic disease that is killing millions of people each year.

MetFix is an effort to reconstruct the fitness industry to not just use fitness to prepare people for the unknown and the unknowable, but to actively fight and reverse the world’s leading causes of death—diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

This is an effort where we won’t be waiting for people to get sick; we’re going to go after the causes of sickness and disease. Coaches will be more than trainers. Think of doctors as the lifeguards and coaches as the swim instructors. Nutrition education coupled with world-class exercise instruction will professionalize the personal trainer.

This will be a war against sugar, processed food, seed oils, sedentary lifestyle, and the chronic diseases that have been killing us slowly. We won’t be playing defense anymore. We will be equipping people with the knowledge to go on the attack and take control of their our health instead of being part of industry that prescribes to treat symptoms and turn a profit.

This will be the evolution of the health and fitness revolution. Keep an eye out for the unrolling starting in 2025.

Insanity

Wed, 30 Oct 2024 14:02:58 GMT

Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I’m not sure if that’s insane, but it sure is fucking stupid.

I want to lose weight, but I’m going to eat how I always do.

I want to get in shape, but I’m going to continue with the same routine I’ve always done.

I want my job/career/business to improve, but I going to put in the same amount of effort into the exact same things.

I want my relationship to improve, but I’m still gonna act like a dick.

None of this makes sense, but yet this is what we do. It’s much easier to stay in our old familiar habits, even when we know they aren’t serving us.

“The only way out is through.”

It’s also why we are so obsessed with pills and potions. They temp us with results we want while allowing us not to change.

“To heal the pain, you must feel the pain.”

We fall into these traps because change is difficult and many of us are taking advice from the wrong people, mainly ourselves. In order to make the change(s) we desire, it will take some outside guidance to see the correct path.

I think the key to this is to find someone who has or is what you desire. I always go back to the saying “never trust a bald barber” they have no respect for your hair and deep down, they don’t want you looking better than them.

Stop taking nutrition advice from your overweight friend who tells you it’s hard, that you’re in a season, that you’re doing better than most people your age. Fuck that friend! No shit its hard, and the season can’t always be winter. Stop always looking like you’re about to hibernate. I don’t want to be like other people and I’d like to put a swim suit on at some point. So I’m going to get the advice of someone who will help me navigate the hard and remind me that its always beach season!

Now that’s easy for me to say, I have a fitness routine, my nutrition is dialed in, my abs have abs, but my business isn’t where I want it to be. I have 12+ years of experience in the CrossFit space, but at times it feels like I have 1 year of experience, repeated for 12 years. This has gotten me to a certain level, but nowhere near where I want to be.

So I got some advice, “Everyday, do one thing to grow your business before you do anything else.” Great advice, but it does me nothing without knowing what the one thing to do every day is. It’s like someone telling you to “eat better” It sounds good, but what does that mean and how do I do it?

I now need to identify what that one thing or things I need to do every day are, and then create a plan to make sure it happens. Next week I’ll walk you through the process. Until then, go find the right person to give you the advice. Make sure it’s someone who will tell you what you NEED to hear, and not WHAT you want to hear.

Garbage

Wed, 23 Oct 2024 13:48:27 GMT

Change The World

Garbage

Last week I wrote about my take on “75 Hard” after 1 week. Something I left out was how much it was like CrossFit. Anyone doing either, talks about it constantly! I’m no exception. ��

Part of the challenge is 2 – 45 workouts every day, one being outside. The majority of my second outdoor workouts have been walks. I thought I was going to hate this, but I have come to actually enjoy and look forward to them. It just takes some planning/organization of my day to fit them in.

I started these walks by doing 200m laps around the gym, trying to kill two birds with one stone and post something on social media while walking. That didn’t go so well, so I expanded my loops and found myself all around the Fayette mall area.

During these expanded walks, I noticed garbage, garbage EVERYWHERE! What the fuck?!?! Now I have always noticed it to a degree, but walking by it daily and at a much slower pace than driving, makes it even more evident to how bad it is.

Two things then come to mind:

1. Who the fuck is leaving this garbage everywhere?

2. Who is responsible for cleaning it up?

I don’t know the answer to #1, or #2 for that matter, but what I do know is I hate when someone complains about something and does nothing to try and fix it. So, if I’m walking every day, I might as well pick up the garbage as I go. I bought a grabber tool on Amazon for $13, got me some garbage bags, and off I went.

The first day, I stayed within the complex where CrossFit Conductor is located and filled a garbage bag in less than 20 minutes. I had to stop and grab another. Over the days, I started taking 2 bags with me and on every walk, I can easily fill them both. The most common items, pop cans and drink cups. Just another reason to stop drinking that shit! It’s killing you and the sea turtles, you’re a monster!

I wrote about this for a few reasons. First to let you know that I’m better than you because not only do I take daily walks, but I’m simultaneously cleaning up my neighborhood and saving the planet. The other because if we want to save the World, start with your Country, and if you want to save your Country, start with your State, and if you want to save your State, start with your Town, and if you want to save your Town, start with your Neighborhood, and if you want to save your Neighborhood, start with your block, and if you want to save your Block, start with your Yard, and if you want to save your Yard, start with YOURSELF.

Now go out there and save the WORLD!!!

75 HARD - 7 Day Hot Take

Sat, 19 Oct 2024 10:59:07 GMT

75 hard - 7 day hot take

75 HARD – 7 Day Hot Take

Myself and a group of others recently just embarked on the infamous “75 HARD” Challenge.

75 days of:

· Two – 45 Minute Workouts, ! Outdoors.

· Take a progress picture.

· Read 10 Pages.

· Drink 1 gallon water.

· Follow a diet.

· No Cheat Meals, No Alcohol.

I’m 7 days in, and here’s my hot take. “THIS IS HOW WE SHOULD BE LIVING OUR LIVES”. Now the packaging of the challenge may make it a bit more challenging, but this should be our day to day.

Two – 45 Minute Workouts, 1 Outdoors.

Workout #1 - We should be doing some sort of exercising that strengthens our muscle and skeletal system, along with improving our cardiorespiratory system. Some of us can say we already check this box. It doesn’t matter if you go to a Globo Gym and workout on your own, do CrossFit, or hit up your local CycleColorG6 studio. This is workout #1.

Workout #2 – This is where most of us miss is the second workout and then get hung up that it’s outside. This packaging can make it seem difficult, but put into real life context, we should be moving more than our 1 hour daily gym commitment and we need to get our asses outside! We weren’t designed to move for 1 hour and then sit at a desk, indoors, under artificial light, for the other 15 hours we’re awake.

Take a Progress Picture.

Be aware of what you are or aren’t doing. Day 1, don’t like what you see? Do something to fix it. Ignoring your bills and bank account has ever made them better. Not looking at yourself in the mirror, putting on a swim suit, or getting on a scale has ever improved your health. Ignoring the situation doesn’t help fix it. Take a daily look at your life and fix what you don’t like. Stop self-medicating things away with food, alcohol, drug, or false affirmations from other people in your same situation.

Read 10 Pages.

For fuck sake! There’s no excuse for being dumb. Pick up a book, read, expand your thinking beyond your phone. Enough said.

Drink 1 Gallon Water.

Is it a lot? I don’t know, maybe. Do people not drink enough water? Probably. Can being properly hydrated improve several aspect of how you feel and function? YES! Drink water!!!

Follow a Diet.

Which one? I don’t know, but 2 things I do know when it comes to nutrition.

1. Eat REAL food.

2. Not too much of it.

Follow those 2 principles and it doesn’t matter if you want to be Vegan, Carnivore, or something in between. Just stop eating sugar and highly processed carbs.

No Cheat Meals, No Alcohol.

This is where people have a problem. It doesn’t mean no cheat meals or alcohol for the rest of your life. It just means none of these for 75 days. Most people’s every day is an alcohol fueled cheat meal. It doesn’t mean life isn’t meant to be enjoyed, it just means there needs to be some restraint. If you don’t think you can’t go 75 days without a certain food or alcohol, you’ve already uncovered a bigger problem. Figure out why you’re so dependent on these things and then fix it.

So is this challenge “HARD”? It all depends on how far from this you’re starting. If you don’t currently live with any of these disciplines, then yes, it will be next to impossible and needs to be started immediately. If you’re close on a few, the additional structure will do you good and could possibly get you through a plateau you might be in. If it isn’t far from your daily “norm” good for you, you’re kicking ass!

Death By a Thousand Cuts (2)

Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:07:05 GMT

This is a subtitle for your new post

There is a small group of us who will be starting “75 HARD” on October 1 ^st . A mental toughness challenge that spans 75 consecutive days and consist of the following each day:

1. Follow Nutrition Plan – Goal must be some sort of physical improvement.

2. Two – 45 minute workouts, one outdoors.

3. No Alcohol, No Cheat Meals.

4. Drink 1 Gallon of Water.

5. Read 10 Pages.

I’ve been intrigued by this challenge for a long time due to wanting to make myself a stronger person, both physically and mentally. I have a very grandiose vision of my future self and I figure in order for me to pull it off, I’m going to have to be the best version of myself at all times. Adopting these habits will give me the discipline and organization I need to do so.

With that said, I have contemplated giving up alcohol for years. I figure, if I want to be my best throughout a day, drinking the night before isn’t going to help in anyway. The typical routine I tend to fall in is 1-2 glasses of wine a night, a few days during the week and then anywhere from 3-5 drinks Friday through Sunday. I tell myself during the week it is a good way to relax after a long day and then the weekends are a reward for a hard week’s work put in. I never drink to excess, so justifying it is easy. It also helps that this is the routine of many people, so it must be OK. So, giving up alcohol remains just a thought, oh, and I really didn’t want to do it, I enjoy drinking and I’m good at it. This all helps keeping quitting to just a thought.

Another routine that I used to be committed to was read at least 10 pages a day. I have been giving myself the excuse that I have been too busy lately and not reading isn’t a big deal. Our mere existence should be looked at as a gift and the ability to acquire knowledge is a gift within that gift. We are required to do so in the first part of our lives and then we finish school and for many of us, the pursuit of knowledge ends. I see not continuing as an expression of not appreciating the gift.

While renewing my appreciation of that gift, I came across 2 passages in separate books that stuck with me.

(1) “You are only limited by self-imposed beliefs and ideals. God does not limit you-you limit yourself by immature and undisciplined thinking.”
~Above All Else, Greg Amundson

(2) “In its ability to provide short-term relief from depression, dreaming about the future works much like acoping mechanisms that help people deal with extreme pain. Thought processes and behaviors such as denying a problem’s existence or losing oneself in drinking or other drugs have been shown to engender more depression as time goes on. People fall into passivity and don’t actually do much about the cause of their pain; over time, it wears on their mood. Yet short-term alleviation of depression is no insignificant thing.
~Rethinking Positive Thinking, Gabriele Oettingen

# 1 Made me realize I make excuses or justifications for myself. The problem is then I justify not making changes or taking action which leads to me not progressing. Not progressing leads to frustration and anxiety about reaching the end of my life and realizing I just went through the motions and did not use the gifts God gave me to their fullest potential. We do not regret the things we do in life; we regret the things we don’t do.

#2 Even though my drinking is not in excess, or anything outside of social norms, it is acting like “a death by a thousand cuts”. I deal with stress and anxiety about the future with tiny band-aids. A drink covers the bleeding, but does not stop it. In fact, over time, I find myself with thousands of cuts, all needing band-aids. Covering up the stress and anxiety which then leads to bouts of depression, and if you’ve ever dealt with that, it’s no fun. It’s no fun for you and its definitely no fun for loved ones, they tend to get the worst of it.

“The ONLY way out is through”

Now the decision is easy. Change my thinking, create new habits, and stop making excuses. If I truly want the things I say I want, then hard things need to be done.

What are you using as band-aids? Alcohol? Drugs? Food? Relationships? Exercise? Porn? Gossip? Social Media? World Situations?

Respond back and let me know. If I can help in anyway, I will. Also, sometimes it helps just to know you are not the only one and talking to someone can be super powerful.

*Disclaimer*
I’m not going to tell you what you want to hear, I’m going to tell you what you need to hear. Quit listening to the people who tell you this is just a “season”, the ones that let you get away with your bullshit excuses. They say this because they are afraid to hurt your feelings or even worse, it’s their way of justifying their own excuses or coping mechanisms. This advice is for the people who are ready for it. Those that just got butt hurt, I’m sorry, enjoy your “season”, winter is coming.

“The ONLY way out is through,
The only way through is TOGETHER.”

In Strength,

Eric Karls
CrossFit Conductor
Chief Awesomeness Engineer
CrossF i t Level 3 Certified Trainer
(859) 494-9119

Cigarettes and Seatbelts

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 10:06:44 GMT

Become a monster and learn to control it

Cigarettes and Seatbelts

I heard this the other day, “America was built on the backs of men who smoked cigarettes, drove without seatbelts, and ate bacon for breakfast. Your gluten intolerance, slightly sore shoulder, or that you missed writing in your gratitude journal one morning isn’t what’s holding you back.”

That hit me so hard! We are soft, it’s just that simple! “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.

We live in a time of excuses, nothing is anyone’s fault, and it has made us soft! Before I go any further, this includes me. I am fighting against it, but I’m still guilty.

So what do we do? As with anything else, we first need to admit we have a problem. What are we making excuses for or about? My biggest excuse is that I’m already working hard. If I’m honest, I have it so easy. There are so many people that have it harder than me, and are still putting in more work. It would be one thing if I was where I wanted to be, but I’m not.

My second biggest excuse that I hide behind is fear. Fear of the what if, or what will they think, or what if I fail.

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

~Steve Jobs

After identifying the problem, the solution: “become a Monster, and then learn to control it.” ~Jordan Peterson

“Better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war.” ~Miyamoto Musashi

My goal is to make myself that Baddest, Hardest Mother Fucker in the room. This goes for every facet of my life; Health, Relationships, Faith, Finances, Discipline, Skill Sets, EVERYTHING. That might sound a bit aggressive, but aggressive is what motivates me, so that’s what I turn to.

I use so many quotes, because I look for the traits/skills/attributes of people that inspire me and then copy their habits. I don’t have a personal group of friends made up of Navy Seals and CEOs, so I created one. I found the people that I admire and I read their books, listen to their podcasts, and follow what they say.

Stop taking advice from people who you don’t want to be like. If your goal is to lose weight, stop letting someone who is overweight tell you how to do it. If you want to make more money, the broke guy isn’t who you should be turning to. If you’re looking to create discipline, your buddy at the bar doesn’t know the path.

“The more I listen to this, the better my life gets. If they don’t have what you want, don’t listen to what they say. There’s no greater waste of time than justifying your actions to people who have a life you don’t want.” Alex Hormozi

The other trap of these people is that they are too afraid to do it themselves, so they’ll actively help you stay where you’re at for fear of being left behind. They’ll help you justify inaction or even worse, justify the actions/habits that are holding you back. They’ll criticize others that are doing the things they were too scared to do and do it all while wearing a the disguise of being your friend.

“Decide what you want, make a plan, and work on that shit every day.” ~Conor McGregor

Oh, and shit is Hard, you’re gonna have to Fight!

In Strength,

Eric Karls, M.Ed.
CrossFit Conductor
Ch i ef Awesomeness Engineer
CrossFit Level 3 Certified Trainer
(859) 494-9119

Failing

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:49:55 GMT

Why Failing the CrossFit Level 3 Coaching Exam 3 Times was a Good Thing

Yep, you read that right, it took me 4 attempts to pass the CrossFit Level 3 Coaching exam. Also, for the record, that didn’t used to be an easy thing for me to admit.

At the time, in CrossFit there were 3 levels of coaching credentials, 1,2,3. Ranging from the Level 1, which is a CrossFit Coach’s invitation to the party. Get this and you are eligible to start coaching CrossFit. You might not be ready, but this is the starting point. The Level 2, a 2 day in-person gauntlet of small group coaching of one’s peers. You are put into small groups where you lead other coaches through movement explanations and then are critiqued on your performance. Last but not least, the Level 3, a 3-4 hour written exam that tests coaches on their CrossFit knowledge, ranging from methodology to seeing, cueing, and correcting movement mistakes. There is now a Level 4, I’ll save my experience with this for another day/article.

Let’s get back to me failing my first 3 attempts and why I now think it was the best thing that could have happened to me.

“Struggle is temporary, quitting last forever.”

Attempt #1 – Ego – I registered for the exam and thought to myself, “I’m good to go!” I’ve been coaching for years, I know my stuff, let’s do this.

Minutes studied - 0
Result #1 – FAIL

Attempt #2 – Excuses for the Ego – That must have been a fluke! How could I have failed? I must have just barely missed it, let’s try again.

Minutes studied - 30
Result #2 – FAIL

Attempt #3 – Sad excuses for a broken Ego - WTF! Maybe I’m not as good as I thought. Maybe the test is shitty. Maybe the format of the test isn’t geared towards my strengths. Eric Thomas “Maybe you just need to study” He’s right, maybe I need to look this stuff over. I start to read through the suggested study material online. Picking through articles and topics that I am the least familiar with. Now I’m ready, I’ve studied like I should have, let’s do this!
Minutes studies – 60 per week for about 8 weeks
Result #3– FAIL

Attempt #4 – Now I’m embarrassed, I want to give up, I’m doubting myself until a few friends give me some advice.

Jocko – “Good!”

Eric Thomas “Did you really study? Did you get help? Did you REALLY study?”

Jocko – “Good!”

David Goggins “You need get your shit together and put in the work.”

They are right, I didn’t look for help, I didn’t really study, I can make this a good thing. I look for help and find an article about a Level 3 Coach who says he studied for the Level 3 the same way he studied to pass his legal bar exam. I decide to do the same. Every day I print out one of the suggested study articles, read through it, highlight it, and go back through it. I start lesson planning all of the classes I coach and research coaching tips within the study material that pertain to that day’s workout. I accumulate a hard copy study guide the size of 2 large telephone books. I do this procedure every day, Mon-Friday, for 8+ months.
Minutes studied – 30+ minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 8 months = 4800+ minutes or 80+ hours + all of the coaching hours I was putting what I studied into action = 10-15 hours per week = 19,200 minutes or 320 hours for a TOTAL = 400+ Hours or 24,000+ minutes.
This is all slightly higher than my first 3 attempts.
Result #4- PASS

“There is no failing, only winning and learning.”

Failing the exam 3 times not only made me have to master the material and own it. It taught me a valuable lesson. When something doesn’t work, it’s not the end, it’s not time to make excuses, it’s time to find a different solution/answer to the problem. In the beginning, I made excuses to protect my ego. “It’s not my fault I failed”, “the test is poorly designed”, “who cares about getting a Level 3, it’s not that important.”
It was my fault I failed; I didn’t know the material.
The test was and is difficult, but it should be. Anything worth doing should be difficult. It’s what makes it special.
The Level 3 is important, to me and to what it represents - a higher level of mastery.

So yes, failing 3 times sucked, I hated going through it and the process took over a year, but in the end, it was the best thing that could have happened to me. Something not working, don’t give up, find a different path, it makes success that much sweeter.

In Strength,

Eric Karls, M.Ed.
CrossFit Conductor
Awesomeness Engineer
CrossFit Level 3 Certified Trainer
(859) 494-9119

Habits and Work

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 19:20:58 GMT

This is a subtitle for your new post

Habits and Work

You’ve set a goal or goals, you have your “WHY”, now the work begins. You have to become the person who has already reached where you want to be. Stop saying “I’ll do it when I get there”, that’s not how it works. You have to become that person now. What are the habits you need to become the person you want to be? Those will get you to your goals. Write them out and put in the WORK.

What does that mean? It means you need to plan the things that get done every day and DO THEM! You can’t get to where you want to go by waiting until you get there to do them, it’s how you’re going to get there.

I’ll use my personal habits as an example, but some of mine will apply to everyone.

Oh yeah, and these new habits you need to implement, they will be added onto the work you are already doing. Some of you may have just said, “but I’m already working hard” “I’m already tired” Don’t worry, I have the answer, “SUCK IT UP” because honestly, no one cares. No one cares that you’re tired, no one cares that aren’t to your goals, no one cares that you have been working for years and aren’t where you want to be yet.

No one cares, but YOU! And that’s all that matters. So, if you really want this, draw the line in the sand, make the habits and stick to them, EVERY day, no exception! Brushing your teeth once doesn’t keep cavities away, brushing them twice a day, every day, does. Working out once doesn’t get you in shape, working out consistently every day for a year(s) does. Habits don’t work overnight; they take time and need commitment and consistency to have an effect. My wife doesn’t know I love her because I said it one day. She knows because I have shown up every day for her the past 20 years. When things were great, I showed up, when they were bad, I showed up, and she showed up for me. That’s how we know we love each other. Sunshine and rainbows don’t make a marriage, being knee deep in shit together and deciding to keep going does.

“It’s not what we do occasionally, but what we do consistently that matters.”

Habit #1 – Get Up Early (Please don’t say you’re not a morning person because this is the biggest, “No one gives a shit” statement there ever was.
Set your alarm, count to 3, feet on the ground, get up! NO SNOOZE BUTTON!

#2 ALCOHOL/DRUGS - Master of my own domain (This one is personal to me) It demonstrates control to me over my habits and I have big goals. I need to be as sharp as possible at all times. I also ask myself, “what am I trying to escape from?” The thing about pain and discomfort is, you have to feel it to heal it. If you constantly just numb it, it never goes away.

#3 WORKOUT – EVERY DAY! Doing so makes it easier for me to stay consistent. I don’t let how I feel dictate when I workout, I just workout. This is easier for me to stay consistent. It might not be CrossFit every day, but it’s something physical and intentional. I’m also sick of hearing people saying they want to be realistic, they want to listen to their body, I’m good with where I’m at. Actually I love hearing people say that! Everyone is so content with being average, it makes being GREAT easy. “I love when things get hard, because I know no one will follow.”

#4 STRETCH – Every day, again, personal to me, but I think we could all benefit from this. This isn’t P.E. class static stretching, it's moving everything through its ranges of motion. If things don’t feel good, FIX THEM! If you don’t know how to fix them, go see Dr. Drew Sneeringer at Hidden Strength That’s a shameless plug for our inhouse performance specialist at CrossFit Conductor , but he knows his shit and will either get you in or keep you in the game.

#5 TAKE MINUTE – Focus on your breathing and relax. This is just taking some time each day to slow down, reflect, and remind yourself how fortunate you are. “Stress isn’t your problem, you making a problem out of your stress is your problem.”

#6 PRAY – Every morning and night. This is where I thank GOD for what I have, show gratitude, and then ask for help with getting me to where I’m going. I ask for Strength, Patience, and Wisdom.

#7 EAT CLEAN – I’ve said it a 1000 times, “stop eating like an asshole. This is the Turbo Boost to everything else. Stop trying to outwork shitty nutrition. Eat real food, nothing processed or with ingredients you don’t know. Also, please stop with the low or no cal/no fat foods. Fat doesn’t make you fat, snacking is unnecessary, anything out of a bag or a box is normally shit, and anything with no calories besides water, black coffee, or tea is usually a shit show (DIET SODA).

#8 READ – 10 pages a day. If done you will have read 18, 200-page books by the end of the year. Think you will be a different person if you do this? YES, you will!

#9 GO TO BED EARLY - Don’t try to burn the candle at both ends, it doesn’t work. If I’m going to get up early, I need to go to bed early. So, in order to do this, a bedtime routine is needed. After dinner, I put the phone/computer away. Nothing is that important that it can’t wait for tomorrow. I don’t avoid TV, but I don’t watch anything dramatic or action filled. This is normally a time when the family is together, so it’s usually a kid’s show or something on the Food Network. Nothing I would get sucked into or care about getting up and missing the end of and it gives us a chance to spend time together.

These habits don’t make my Family or Business goals come to reality, but they do make me the type of person who could accomplish those goals. I need to be strong physically and mentally to make the kind of goals I have a reality. No one out of shape, who eats like shit, drinks too much, and has a mind full of shitty thoughts can get to where I’m going.

Use this week to do the following:
Set GOALS
Create your “WHY”
Write out your personal Habits
Implement the Habits. Not tomorrow, not soon, NOW!

“This seems like a lot”

IT IS!!!

No one looked back on their life and was proud of everything they DIDN’T do. If they made a movie about your life, would you want to watch it?

BE THE HERO OF YOUR OWN MOVIE

In Strength,
Eric Karls
CrossFit Conductor
C hief Awesomeness Engineer
Certified Level 3 CrossFit Coach

Death By a Thousand Cuts

Wed, 21 Aug 2024 10:35:55 GMT

Stop making excuses for your shitty habits

Death by a Thousand Cuts
At the start of the year, I made a New Year’s resolution to make myself a stronger person, both physically and mentally. I have a very grandiose vision of my future and I figure in order for me to pull it off, I’m going to have to be the best version of myself at all times.

With that said, I continuously contemplated giving up alcohol. I figured, if I want to be my best throughout a day, drinking the night before wasn’t going to help in anyway. My typical routine was 1-2 glasses of wine a night, a few days during the week and then anywhere from 3-5 drinks Friday through Sunday. I told myself during the week it is good way to relax after a long day and then the weekends where a reward for a hard week’s work put in. I never drank to excess, so justifying it was easy. It also helps that this is the routine of many people, so it must be OK. So, giving up alcohol remained just a thought, oh, and I really didn’t want to do it, which helped to keep it just a thought.

Another resolution that I was much more committed to was read at least 10 pages a day to get back into my old routine of reading on a regular basis. I had been giving myself the excuse that I have been too busy lately and not reading wasn’t a big deal. *Side note, many of my new routines or resolutions, I start before Jan. 1 ^st , it gives me some time to test the waters and make any necessary adjustments.

During my reading, I came across 2 passages in separate books that stuck with me.

(1) “You are only limited by self-imposed beliefs and ideals. God does not limit you-you limit yourself by immature and undisciplined thinking.”
~Above All Else, Greg Amundson

(2) “In its ability to provide short-term relief from depression, dreaming about the future works much like a coping mechanisms that help people deal with extreme pain. Thought processes and behaviors such as denying a problem’s existence or losing oneself in drinking or other drugs have been shown to engender more depression as time goes on. People fall into passivity and don’t actually do much about the cause of their pain; over time, it wears on their mood. Yet short-term alleviation of depression is no insignificant thing.
~Rethinking Positive Thinking, Gabriele Oettingen

# 1 Made me realize I make excuses or justifications for myself. The problem is then I justify not making changes or taking action which leads to me not progressing. Not progressing leads to frustration and anxiety about reaching the end of my life and realizing I just went through the motions and did not use the gifts God gave me to their fullest potential. We do not regret the things we do in life; we regret the things we don’t do.

#2 Even though my drinking was not in excess or anything outside of social norms, it was acting like “a death by a thousand cuts”. I was dealing with stress and anxiety about the future with tiny band-aids. A drink would cover of the bleeding, but not stop it. In fact, over time, I found myself with thousands of cuts, all needing band-aids. Cover up the stress and anxiety which then leads to bouts of depression, and if you’ve ever dealt with that, it’s no fun. It’s no fun for you and its definitely no fun for loved ones, they tend to get the worst of it.

“The ONLY way out is through”

Now the decision is easy. Change my thinking and stop making excuses. If I truly want the things I say I want, then hard things need to be done.

What are you using as band-aids? Alcohol? Drugs? Food? Relationships? Exercise? Porn? Gossip? Social Media? World Situations?

Respond back and let me know. If I can help in anyway, I will. Also, sometimes it helps just to know you are not the only one.

*Disclaimer*
I’m not going to tell you what you want to hear, I’m going to tell you what you need to hear. Quit listening to the people who tell you this is just a “season”, the ones that let you get away with your bullshit excuses. They say this because they are afraid to hurt your feelings or even worse, it’s their way of justifying their own excuses or coping mechanisms. I know that may seem harsh, but this advice is for the people who are ready for it. Those that just got butt hurt, I’m sorry, enjoy your season.

“The ONLY way out is through,
The only way through is TOGETHER.”

In Strength,

Eric Karls
CrossFit Conductor
Chief Awesomeness Engineer
CrossFit Level 3 Certified Trainer
(859) 494-9119

Motivation...DISCIPLINE

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 10:25:25 GMT

Take Your pick

Motivation…DISCIPLINE

4 years ago, for a brief time, a lot of people’s wish was granted! The world shut down, and poof, we had more time! But then came the sad realization…we aren’t getting all those things done that were always neglected because we just didn’t have the time. We did however find time to eat more, drink more, and value our opinion’s a shit ton more.

So then the question. Is it really about how much time we have? Or is it more about what we do with that time?

Back when we were complaining about not having time to exercise or cook because we were always on the go. Driving kids to practices, games, recitals, or having work meetings/calls. This was all done by choice. No one signed our kids up for an activity every day of the week for us, we did it. No one forces us to devote too much time, energy, and attention to work, we choose to do it.

“Wait, you don’t understand, my job requires those hours and for me to be on call all the time.” Then unless you love it, get a different job. “Well I can’t” Yes you can! “I have bills, a family, responsibilities” These are all thing you created and all things that you are in control of. The bigger question is, if you’re unhappy and want these things to change, are you willing to do what it takes to change them?

I’m not saying it’s easy, but our lives can be prison cells of our own creation. If you aren’t happy with where you are at or the direction you are going, you are responsible for changing it! No one is coming to save you. Please know that I understand that this is easier said than done. But I hope you all know that I would never give anyone any advice that I have not or do not followed myself. I’m 46 and still in the process of building my career. It’s the hardest and scariest thing I have ever done and my finish line is nowhere in sight.

I used to think that so many people were more successful than me because they had been at their jobs/careers for so many years, had big fancy houses, drive nice cars. I now just think the process is taking me longer. On the hand, I can say that I do a job that I am crazy passionate about, I don’t have a boss, and the journey I’m on has and will continue to make me a better person.

If there is something you want, decide what it is, make a plan, and work on that shit EVERYDAY. Oh, and fuck your feelings! If you rely on how you feel, you’ll always be where you’re at. We live in a time where the edges have all been rounded and we think we were meant to be comfortable all the time. I love the Jordan Peterson quote, “become a MOSTER, and then learn to control it.” Monsters aren’t born they are created and It’s better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war.

Along those same lines, “Fuck” motivation, It’s fickle and unreliable and isn’t worth your time. Better to cultivate DISCIPLINE than rely on motivation. Force yourself to do things. Force yourself to get out of bed. Force yourself to work when you don’t want to. Schedule your workouts, plan your meals, and treat your goals like your life depends on it, because it does!

Motivation is fleeting, but easy to rely on because it requires no concentrated effort to get. Motivation comes to you, you don’t even have to chase after it, but it’s unreliable. HABITS and DISCIPLINE are reliable because you control them. They are the harder path, but they are the way. “Motivation is fleeting, FUCK motivation, stay HARD!” ~David Goggins

DAVID GOGGINS *WARNING* This may hurt your feelings

In Strength,

Eric Karls M.Ed.
Chief Awesomeness Engineer
Certified Level 3 CrossFit Coach
CrossFit Conductor

Fast Lane

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 19:25:19 GMT

Find a Good Mechanic

We’ve been trained to believe that it’s normal to be on a handful of daily prescriptions and that things are supposed to start hurting after the age of 30. This may sting, but that’s not normal. If you have high blood pressure or cholesterol, maybe change your diet and start exercising to bring it down instead of popping a pill(s). Type 2 diabetes doesn’t run in anyone’s family, eating like shit and making poor lifestyle choices does. If your car was running poorly because you pour sugar into the gas tank every day and the mechanic gave you 2 options on how to fix it, which would you choose? Better yet, which one have you chosen?

Option 1: Keep putting the sugar in.

If you do, then you’ll need to buy this daily fuel additive from someone who doesn’t know anything about cars and doesn’t take care of their own vehicle. It still won’t run great, but it will keep it going for awhile. It’s going to make your tires wear out supper quick, the A/C won’t work anymore, and it won’t drive over 25 mph. If it continues to drive poorly, there are a few other additives that you can also add. Make sure to read the warning labels on the additives. Eventually the car is going to explode and make sure to be super careful while out on the road, any tiny potholes you may encounter will severely damage the car, maybe even total it. The radiator may start to leak, the battery could stop holding a charge, and smoke may come out of your tailpipe along with some sort of drippy liquid. No worries though, there are additives for all of those things as well.

Option 2: Stop putting the sugar in.

We can introduce you to our mechanic who can show you how to fix the problems your car has. It will take some time, but we can get your car back to as good as the day you bought it.Once it starts running good again, we can then refer you to our driving instructor.They will show you what your car is really capable of. Did you know it can take jumps and has a top speed of180 mph! Also, don’t worry about potholes and other vehicles, they are almost non-existent, your car might as well be a tank! You’ll also be eligible for auto shows, as it ages, people love to see vintage cars that still look like the day they were driven off the lot.I know it’s a crude analogy, but it’s true. Stop avoiding taking your car to a real mechanic, or better yet, learn to fix it yourself. Stop living in fear that your car is going to break down.Get out there and do what it was made to do, DRIVE!

‍

Eric Karls, M. Ed.

‍ CrossFitConductor

‍ Chief Awesomeness Engineer

Level 3 Certified CrossFit Trainer

Building Decks

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 19:23:38 GMT

Go Build Your Deck!

About 9 years ago my wife and I decided to put a deck on our house. After I gave a long dissertation about how we were at a point in our lives where we needed to put a price on our time and that we work too hard not to hire someone for the job, we got 2 bids for the deck. I don’t remember exactly what those bids were, but I do remember promptly telling my wife I would build it. One problem solved, two more to figure out, (1) it would just be me and (2) I didn’t know how to build a deck.

The first problem was easy to fix, it would just take more time and a lot of trips to Lowe’s. The second took some time and research to solve, but I found out that decking building is no different than every other aspect of life, Principles are few, Methods are many. There are several ways in which a deck can be constructed, but make sure it is well supported, securely attached to the home, and square, the rest is just details.

My work crew of 1 is motivated, thank you Kelly, and I have game plan. Now all I have to do is execute. With a project like this, all I need todo is get started. Once I do, the size of project falls away, and I begin to focus on the immediate task(s) at hand.

Everything is going well and I’m about 2/3 of the way done. I’m feeling pretty good about where I’m at, the foundation and supports are solid, the ledger board is securely in place (I didn’t know what a ledger board was either), and my frame is square enough for the girls I date (that’s and old construction saying). Time for the decking!

I head to Lowe’s, trip 83 at this point, to buy roughly 75x16’ decking boards. That shouldn’t be that big of a deal, check each one to make sure its square and not full of knots, load it on cart, 3 hours later, done! Then the fun part, realizing that my truck bed is nowhere near long enough to hold boards of that length. Nowhere to go, but up top. This isn’t a big deal for an experienced deck builder like myself. The boards sit atop the roof of my car, bending down in front of my line of sight out the front window and do the same in back. This might have been a good time divide and conquer, 75 boards at once is too many, but again, I’ve been building decks going on three weeks now, I got this.

Last board gets loaded up, now time to strap’em down. Well shit, my ratchet straps are sitting on my garage floor at home. What am I going todo now? Where could I possibly get ratchet straps. That is me being sarcastic. A set of ratchet straps cost about $7 at Lowe’s, the place I’m currently at. So, I did what any experienced deck builder does. I grab some of the free twine they have by the front door and get to tying those board to the roof my car.

Does anyone see where this is going? I proceed to start on my 1.7-mile journey home, average speed about 12mph and things are going great! My knuckles are white, and people must have heard about my decking building, because several people have driven by honking and signing that I’m #1. I wouldn’t have guessed that I was the #1 deck builder so soon, but they seemed adamant. Driving by, yelling and holding up one finger! Word travels fast in Lexington.

So, there I am, sitting at a red light on the Nicholasville road bridge over the top of New Circle road. The light turns green, foot comes off the break, and then about 70 of the 75 boards slide off the top of my truck. I immediately flash back to several years prior. I’m standing knee deep in water of my flooded basement in Chicago with my smiling dad who has come over to help. When I ask him why he’s smiling, he says, “if you’re standing in shit, you can either be pissed or smile, it’s always your choice.” I take a deep breath, crack a little smile, and proceed to reload the 70x16’ board back onto the roof of my truck in the middle of NewCircle road. The praise of being the #1 deck builder in town continues as cars drive by, which at this point I appreciate, but still stand confused at how many people know that I am the best decker builder in Lexington. I get the last board loaded and eventually make home.

I am happy to report, the deck was finished, and we continue to enjoy it to this day. But the major point of the story is how many lessons building a deck taught me about life.

Make sure your foundations are strong.
Take time, do your research and make a plan.
Principles are few, methods are many.
Be patient, Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither are decks.
Ledger Boards are what attach the deck to the house and help make the rest of the deck square.
Don’t be cheap, but more importantly, don’t skip the small stuff(straps), it can have a large impact.
You always have the choice to frown or smile, choose the smile, everything will be OK.
The index finger is the sign for #1, not the middle finger.
A tremendous amount of pride can come from taking on a large task, learning how to do it, and following through.

What is the deck in your life that needs to be built? I might not know what it is, but I do know that the person you will become in the process is worth ever hardship you will face and overcome while doing so. Go build your deck!!!

In Strength,

Eric Karls M.Ed.
Chief Awesomeness Engineer
Certified Level 3 CrossFit Coach
CrossFit Conductor

Something To Ponder

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 19:21:58 GMT

Take a little time to think

SomethingTo Ponder ~ George Carlin

“The paradox of our timein history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, widerFreeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more,but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences,but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but lessjudgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little,drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read toolittle, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied ourpossessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, andhate too often.

We’ve learned how to makea living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’vebeen all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street tomeet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve donelarger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air,but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. Wewrite more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned torush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, toproduce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times offast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits andshallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce,fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposablediapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pillsthat do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there ismuch in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time whentechnology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose eitherto share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember to spend sometime with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind wordto someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon willgrow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warmhug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give withyour heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember, to say, ‘I loveyou’ to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss andan embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold handsand cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, givetime to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

And always remember, lifeis not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by those moments thattake our breath away.”

~ George Carlin

“Tryingto be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger bytaping sandwiches all over your body.”

"Most people work just hard enough notto get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit."

“Ifyour kid needs a role model and you ain't it, you're both fucked.”

"Everyone appreciates your honesty, untilyou're honest with them, then you're an asshole."

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making itcomplicated.”

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making otherplans.”

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to startto be great.”

“Barbeque Sauce”

“Run througha MotherFuckers Face”

In Strength,

Eric Karls M.Ed.
CrossFit Conductor
Chief Aw e someness Engineer

Certified Level 3 CrossFit Trainer

12,314

Wed, 03 Jul 2024 19:20:26 GMT

How Will Spend Your Days?

The average American male lives 78.1 years. I like to think of myself as above average, so I’m going to add 6.9 years to give me a total life of 85 years. I am then going to subtract 5 years for all of the stupid shit I have done thus far. I am 96 days past my 46th birthday. That leaves me with roughly 34 years or 365 days x 34 = 12,410 - 96 = 12,314 days left on this planet.

Now the question is, how am I going to spend those 12,314? How are you? What if you knew the exact number of days you had left? What if the number was 7000? Does that change your answer? What if was 90, 60, 30?!?! Am I (are you) willing to give up any of those days to being average? To being filled with anxiety? To being a victim? Unhappy? Broke? Unfulfilled? Fill in the blank. Or do you want to fucking kill it! Be the best version of you. For you and everyone around you. What will they say about you when your number hits 0?

I recently heard this on an Instagram post:

“In 100 years, none of us will be remembered.

We will be buried with our relatives and friends.

Strangers will live in our homes, which we fought so hard to build.

And they will own everything we have today.

All our properties will be unknown.

Our descendants will hardly know who we were, nor will they remember us.

How many of us know our grandfather’s father?

After we’re gone, we will be remembered for a few years, then only be portraits on someone’s library.

And a few years later, our history, our photos, our deeds, go into the dust bin of oblivion.

We won’t even be memories.

If only we thought differently.

Certainly, our approach, our thoughts would change.

We would be other people; we would have time for what really mattered.

We’d live and enjoy the walks never taken, the ungiven hugs, the kisses to our children and loved ones. The pranks we never had time for, those would be the moments to remember, they would fill our life with joy.

There is still time for us.”

Some of you have checked out, because no one wants to think about this stuff. Even worse, it reminds us that to create change, we need to change. Change our actions instead of numbing ourselves with the usual food, alcohol, prescriptions, social media, gossip, or your own creative cocktail of several of those combined. Have no fear though, no matter what path you choose, your days will keep counting down just like everyone else’s.

For some of you, this has gotten your wheels turning. Me too! I’m going make my 12,314count, in some way, everyday! I also might think about this a little differently than most. I don’t always focus on the end goal(s), which I have, but I like to focus more on the daily habits that allow me to get to the end.

Limit Alcohol – If I drink too much the day/night before, I sleep like shit, I feel like shit, and then I can’t give the next day the best version of me.

Sleep – My goal is 6-7 hours, see above about alcohol. I also need to be asleep by a certain time to get up at a certain time. I get up at 4:30-5am everyday, so I need to be asleep by 9-9:30pm. I don’t always love doing this, but Ido love feeling good the next day.

Fitness – I workout Monday- Friday, no exceptions, no excuses. Sleep like shit, I workout, run out of time, I workout, don’t feel like it, I workout. I take the “fuck your feelings” attitude when it comes to this. I use working out as metal therapy as much as physical, but don’t get me wrong, my goal is to be fuck’in jacked and tan. If I all of our days are going to tick down, I might as well look good while they do.

Nutrition – Simple, I eat Meat and Fish, Nuts and Seeds, Vegetables,Fruit, Starch, and NO Sugar. Am I perfect, no, but I try to be as close as I can. Doing so allows me to never have to count Calories or give a shit aboutMacros. I’m never hungry and I feel lean and never get that bloated feeling.This is small bit of discipline is a great trade off to me and I now prefer to eat this way over the alternative.

These few areas of focus allow me to do the things each day that make my days count.

How many days do you think you have left?!?!

MAKE IT COUNT

In Strength,

Eric Karls, M.Ed.
CrossFitConductor
Chief A wesomeness Engineer
CrossFit Level 3 Certified Trainer

Purpose Of A Goal

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 19:16:22 GMT

Purpose of a Goal

“The purpose of a goal is not to get it. The purpose of a goal is who you become in pursuit of it.” ~Tony Robins

Read the above quote and take a moment to think about it. Goal setting has nothing to do with the actual achievement of the goals, it has to do with the growth that takes place while in pursuit of those goals. It also has to do with shinning a light on the fact that if you can’t find happiness now, in the place you currently are, no goal achievement in the world is going to make you happy.

So what is your goal? If you haven’t found it yet, keep searching. You may actually have to put aside time each day to just sit down and focus on this task alone. We get so caught up in our day to day routines that we don’t take the time to think about the most important things. We spend more time planning our next vacation than we do planning our lives.

Let’s assume you do have your goal. Now we need to figure out what it is going to take to get you to that goal, or better yet, what habits and systems do you need to implement into your life to get you there?

“You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to thelevel of your systems.”

Below are my goals from 2020 along with why I wanted them.

GOAL for 2020: Open my own gym in Lexington, KY by June of 2020.

WHY:
It will fulfill a lifelong dream of mine.
It will provide me a career that I love.
It will provide me an income to support my family.
It will provide me an opportunity to be a good example to my children. Show them the power of setting goals and then working your ass off to achieve them.
It will provide me an environment to help others achieve their goals.
It will provide a place of employment for someone to be a FitnessProfessional.

So what did I need to get to my goal? Most people start to focus on the physical goal itself. In my case that would be securing finances, finding a space, buying equipment, and everything else to get the physical location up and running. The mistake here is that I’ve done nothing to address myself. The reason at the time I didn’t already own my own gym was because of a lot of past decisions that I had made out of fear. If I didn’t address my own shortcomings and ignore those fears, I would be opening a business that at best will struggle and at worst will fail.

So where did I start? I creating an image of the person I wanted to become and the business I wanted to run. I think it is helpful to remove ourselves from the vision momentarily because it helps to stop us from putting our own self-limiting beliefs on what our futures can and will look like. What does the person you want to be look like? How do they look physically, what is their day like, how do other people see them? What does their business or career look like, how is each hour of their day spent, what do their relationships look like? Create every imaginable aspect you can think of.

I have this in my phone notes and keep it as an ever evolving document. I add written descriptions, but because I’m a very visual person, I include pictures as well. Another idea I love and use is a vision board. Mine hangs on the inside of my closet door. The vision board is separate from my business goal, but they share the same framework for creation. Each picture represent an area of how I want my life to look. Have fun with this process and the sky is limit! No holding back here!

When the vision is set, then comes the habits and systems. Take the person you envision yourself becoming, what habits do they need to have that enabled them to become the person they are? I’ll give you an easy one that is universal, Reading! One habit you must add is to compile a reading list and add it to your daily routine. This can be through actual reading or audio version, it doesn’t matter, you just need to read.

Reading – Check! Now what is another habit? For me, my days are all over the place and split between ten different work responsibilities, time with my family(be a good husband and father), responsibilities with my family (kid taxi, making meals, household choirs), my own health/fitness, reading, and all the other areas that make up my life. So for me, getting up early is a must. Every day it is somewhere between 4 and 5am. This allows me the time to never have an excuse for not getting what needs to get done, done! “But I’m not a morning person” There is no more untrue statement than this. You just don’t have a goal paired with habits/systems that get you out of bed. Also, people who get up early don’t love it, it SUCKS, but it’s a must, so it happens. Now don’t get too butt hurt, I’m not advocating not getting sleep, actually the exact opposite. In order for me to get up that early, be productive, and not be a total asshole to my wife and kids becauseI’m exhausted. I had to create a sleep system. Mine includes putting the phone away at a certain time every night, no more “I deserve one(or two)glasses of wine” each night, and I get into bed every night at 9pm. Yep,I go to bed before or the same time as my kids.

Does it take disciple to get in bed that early and not zone out into social media or relax with Netflix, YES! But since I get up early, EVERYDAY, I’m actually tired at night and I’m also motivated by the task I need to complete the next morning to keep pushing myself closer to my goal. In the morning would I rather stay in my warm cozy bed? “YES” But when that alarm goes off, I count to three, get my feet on the floor and start my morning. NO SNOOZE BUTTON!

Other areas of my life that I created routines for include, nutrition, physical fitness, my relationship with my wife and kids, spiritual and mental health. These all are works in progress and will never be perfect, but ifI never try, they will always be the same.

So those habits and systems got me to where I am today. The gym has been open for 4 years, we just moved to a bigger location, we have an amazing coaching staff and community of members. So now the goal has changed and along with it, the habits and systems will need to change to get there.

New Goal for 2024: CrossFit Conductor is a Health Home for its members. I’ll go into detail about that means next week.

In Strength,

Eric Karls M.Ed.
CrossFit Conductor
Chief Awesomeness Engineer
C e rtified Level 3 CrossFit Coach

Lions, And Tigers, And Bears, Oh My!

Wed, 19 Jun 2024 19:13:47 GMT

Don't make little tings bigger than they are.

One of my absolute favorite parts of coaching, no matter if it’s fitness, nutrition, or awesomeness, is how much I learn from the people I work with. The biggest lesson, we are all the same! We all deal with the same anxiety, depression, stress, fear, and the list goes on and on. Now it may be too different degrees, but the biggest factor isn’t to what degree, but how we deal with it.

“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one” ~Bruce Lee

Dealing with it also isn’t always a matter of our coping skills, sometimes it’s our ability to control the level that we allow fear to get to in the first place. This is an excerpt from an article I wrote for Box Pro Magazine 8or 9 years ago. Heads up, the article was geared to CrossFit Affiliate owners, but the over-all point of the article applies to us all.

I was walking my dog the other day and out of nowhere a tigerjumped out from behind the bushes and tried to attack us. Cocois a 6-pound Yorkshire Terrier, so the tiger was no match, butit’s mentally draining to be on high alert because of the constant dangers ofthe outside world.
OK, I may have embellished that story slightly. The tiger may havebeen the neighbor’s cat that actually ran away, and Cocoprobably only weighs about 5 pounds, but the rest of it is dead onaccurate.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Mike Beldsoe and Markus Gerski of Barbell Business . My aspirations for the interview: Avoid the stock questions and hit them with a Tim Ferriss intellect and the conversational coolness of a Joe Rogan. I would provide them untold value in the article I subsequently wrote and leave them wanting more. I envisioned an invite out toSan Diego for a mobility session of clubs and maces followed by shooting the shit over mushroom tea.

What does walking my dog and high hopes for an interview have anything to do with each other? The over manifestation of fears and perfect scenario expectations leaves our ancestral danger eversion instincts to run wild. This coupled with a healthy dose of ego preservation can lead to paralysis and subpar performance. The two together is a recipe for anxiety, stagnation and lack of fulfillment. The same feelings many Box owners struggle with on a daily basis. Maybe not because of tigers or an interview, but you can fill in the blanks.

‍
So here’s how my day goes. First the tiger thing happens with my dog, I fuck up the scheduling with my wife, and I end up doing the phone interview from the front seat of my wife’s minivan in the parking lot of my 2-year old’s daycare. I’m in a less than positive mental place and have just enough time to do the interview, and then get in and grab my daughter before they send her to the room where all the kids have to go when their over scheduled parents forget to pick them up. Nothing catastrophic, but mix in a little self-imposed fear and a dash of ego preservation and I’ve created a scenario that seems worse than it is.

‍
So here we go, first question: “Tell me about Barbell Logic.” I can hear Homer Simpson’s “D’oh!” Not a stupid question, but also not one of the Ferriss or Rogan caliber questions I had envisioned. Markus and Mike go into a brilliant description of their product. The interview continues, and my fears and ego start to slip away and the conversation hits it’s stride. We explored how the key to success in business and life is the ever pursuit of personal growth. To grow we must face our fears, control our egos, and put attacks by tigers and minivan van interviews into perspective.

‍
See the tigers in your life as what they are— just cats. Turn your minivan into the ultimate sound studio with heated seats and back seat multimedia center. Use uncomfortable as a sign of growth and something to run toward and not away from. Make a paradigm shift to making comfortable the enemy.

The point is that fear is something we manifest in our own minds.

“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality”~Seneca

So the big question, “Why do we turn small thing into big fears?” I’m about4 years shy of a 4 year psychology degree, but the only answer I can come up with is “who the fuck knows?!?!” What I do know, is what we really should be afraid of. We should be afraid of not facing our fears, we should be afraid of playing it safe, we should be afraid of not taking the path less traveled, the hard way, we should be afraid of not taking chances. I’ve never heard anyone say at the end of their life, “I’m really glad I never tried, playing it safe was exciting, and not using all of the talent God gave me was good idea.”

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside ina cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming"Wow! What a Ride!” ~Hunter S. Thompson

In Strength,

Eric Karls M.Ed.
CrossFit Conductor
Chief Awesomeness En gineer
Certified Level 3 CrossFit Coach

Enjoy The Ride

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 18:06:36 GMT

Find happiness now

It’s about the journey, not the destination. I am 100% behind the idea of constant improvement. I actually have a lot of distain for anyone who doesn’t. I view it as though they are wasting the gift that they have been given. With that said, if you cannot find happiness in the exact spot that you are currently at, you will never find it.

Too many people think that they will be happy when they lose the weight, get in shape, have the successful business. Unfortunately, those goals have nothing to do with making you happy. You’ll find that once you reach them, you’re not thin enough, not in good enough shape, and that you still don’t make enough money.

“PEACE, IT DOES NOT MEAN TO BE IN A PLACE WHERE THERE IS NO NOISE, TROUBLE, OR HARD WORK. IT MEANS TO BE IN THE MIDSTS OF THOSE THING AND STILL BE CALM IN YOUR HEART.”

This is a quote from the book: Maybe You Should Talk To Someone ~Lori Gottlieb

I love this message because I think we focus on trying to avoid and eliminate hardships in our lives. All this leads to is crumbling under the pressure when those hardships appear. My good friend Rocky once told me that “life is a mean and nasty place, that it will beat you to your knees if you let it.”

Life’s beatings are inevitable and out of our control. What we do control ishow we react to them. We also control what habits we develop in the day to daythat help strengthen us and condition what those reactions will be.

Always remember what my other good friend Bruce L. said, “Don’t pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”

So how to embrace the journey?

Gratitude: I know, this is has been said at nauseam by every self-hep guru and tech-millionaire describing their morning routine, but it really is true. We live in the absolute best and easiest time in human history, it’s easy to loose sight of everything we have. Do you think people in the 1800’s bitched about what Susan said or had to take mental health days? NO! They were too busy working their asses of to survive and make sure they had at least one meal a day. Think of what you are grateful for. What in your life, if striped away, means the most? For me, my wife, my daughters, and my family. I am grateful for never having to wonder where my next meal comes from or if my home will be warm in the winter. I also grateful for the opportunity everyday to push myself to be better. I want to see everyday as a gift and never want to look back on my life and realize that I wasted that gift.

Embrace the SUCK: “The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.” Change your paradigm about how you view hardship. Instead of fearing it and constantly avoiding it, run to it. Know when you start to feel the squeeze, that it is a good thing. Pressure turns coal into diamonds, so know without it, you will never shine. Also, take a look at how you’re avoiding/coping with that pressure. Food, alcohol, drugs, and/or social media/TV. As stated before, we live in the easiest of times and it’s so easy to self-medicate our problems away. The problem is, they don’t go away, so we rinse and repeat those shitty habits and it leaves us with a life we aren’t grateful for.

Positivity: Read The 7 Day Mental Diet ~Dr. EmmetFox. It’s 22 pages and challenges its readers to only allow their thoughts to be positive for 7 straights days. It’s not easy, but if you can do it, it will change your metal outlook. It also makes any nutrition or fitness pursuit seem like child’s play in comparison. Also, no one wants to be around someone who complains all the time. 50% of people don’t give a shit about your problems and the other 50% are glad it’s happen to you and not them.It’s Ok to speak about your challenges, but only when you’re looking for a solution to them, not when you just want to complain.

Everything is serious, but nothing is: Work your ass off, become the absolute best version of yourself, and help as many others along the way as you can. But, always remember when things get too serious or stressful, we are just a bunch of hairless monkeys spinning around on a gigantic rock that is floating out in the middle of nowhere. God has a great sense of humor, everything is going to be OK.

Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. Philippians 4:6-7

Until next week, enjoy the ride!

In Strength,

Eric Karls M.Ed.
Chief Awesomeness Engineer
Certified Level 3 CrossFit Coach
CrossFitConductor

Do These Match?

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 18:04:43 GMT

Habits

It’s the start June and any New Year New Me mayseem like a distant memory. Take a minute to revisit them. Losesome weight, workout out more, eat healthier, improve relationships, betterbusiness. These are the typical things we say we want to improve. So whycome the middle of the year have we fallen back into the old routines that madeus want a change? We really do want these things, and we think we aretrying, but are we?

Do our actions match our desires?

I want to eat healthier, but I have sweet tooth.
I want to work out consistently, but I just don’t have the time.
I want the spark back in my marriage, but my wife never seems to pick up on the vibes I throw out when I watch Netflix in my old sweatpants and a stained t-shirt.
Business could improve, but I can’t seem to move the needle, which is weird, I’m doing exactly what I’ve done in the past.

Let’s break these down.

First off, if you have a “sweet” something, it doesn’t look like it’s your tooth. I’d be more likely to belief you if you said, I have “sweet ass cheek” or a “sweet gut”. Let’s stop blaming a tooth for eating like 10-year-old. Now, if you want to start eating better, start making your actions match your desire. Stop buying candy and other shitty snacks. If they aren’t in your house, you can’t eat them. You know what else is sweet? Fruit! I’ve never met anyone who said they are having a hard time losing weight because of their love of strawberries. Full disclosure, I like something sweet at night, but I make myself a protein shake. I leave the sweet treats for the kids. THAT’S A LIE, we don’t have that shit in our house and the kids don’t need that either. Stop blaming having that crap in your house because other members of the family need it, THEY DON”T!!!
What time do you wake up? Great! Wake up an hour earlier. I know, it’s that easy! Don’t like that idea? Go workout during your lunch break. Don’t like that idea? Buy a kettlebell and the book, Kettlebell Simple and Sinister ~Pavel Tsatsouline. Keep them both in the car and turn the parking lots of your kid’s dance, basketball, fill in the blank into your own mobile gym. The point here, don’t say you don’t have the time, say you aren’t making the time. We make time for our priorities, if it matters, you will make the time.
I want to have more sex with my wife. Should I complain to her about it and every other stupid thing I feel intitled to complain about? Should I act and dress like a slob? Should I never think about what her feelings/desires are? What women doesn’t see a man dressed in his business khakis complaining about his day while he tries to get that annoying sweet tooth to shut up and say to herself, “I just want to bang the shit out that guy”. I apologize if that got a little aggressive (I really don’t) but life isn’t a porno movie. We can’t just expect to walk into a room and our significant other is going to get so overwhelmed with desire that they just rip their clothes off. We need to put some work in. Be the person someone would be attracted to. See numbers 1 and 2, start making an effort to stop complaining, ask her how you can help her out, ask her about her desires, plan some dates, cook some meals, take care of the kids. Be the man women want.

Ladies, I haven’t forgotten about you! This advicegoes for you as well. Last time I checked, sex was best with two people. If youwant a man, you want to desire. Throw him a bone occasionally. Express what youwant, don’t just sit and wait for it. Help support each other and it might nothurt to upgrade your old sweatpants and grannie panties with holes in them.

Insanity – Doing the same thing and expecting different results. I want to do better in my business, but I’m already working hard. You’re not going to like this, but work harder, oh and it might not hurt to work a little smarter as well. Figure out where you want to go, what it takes to get there, and work on that shit EVERYDAY. “I make 40 calls a day and have 5 meeting.” Then make a 100 calls and schedule 10 meetings. The Disruptive Entrepreneur How? See #2 and figure it out. I don’t care what anyone says, we waste time during the day, figure out where you do, stop doing it, and get more actual work done. Do this EVERYDAY, not one or two, or a week, EVERYDAY! For how long? As long as it takes! There are no overnight successes. It’s about putting the work in. See War of Art ~Steven Pressfield

No one said any of this was going to be easy,but it will be worth it! There are enough average people in world, decideyou want to be more. “There are those that do and those that don’t. Those that will and those that won’t.” The only regrets people have at the endof their lives is the things they didn’t do.

In Strength,

Eric Karls, M.Ed.

CrossFit Conductor Chief Awesomeness Engineer Certified Level 3 CrossFit Coach

Failing To Plan Is Planning To Fail

Wed, 29 May 2024 18:02:06 GMT

Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail

I wrote the article below in December of 2019 and signed a lease to open aCrossFit, my first solo venture, in February 2020. Little did I know the world would shut down one month later. I talk about goal setting, planning, and creating a “why”. Fast forward to today, the gym has been open for 4 years, we have an amazing group of members, and I have some even more amazing people helping me make the gym “GO”.

I still believe in goal setting, planning, and having a strong “why”, but the biggest thing I have learned over these past 4 years is that you can do all of those things, but in the end, you just have to “DO”. All the planning in the world isn’t worth shit unless you add “ACTION”. It can be scary, but you just have to start! An imperfect plan done consistently, beats a perfect plan that is never executed.

The other big lesson I’ve learned is that goals and planning need to be adjusted along the way. If I continued to do the same things I did when the gym first opened, I’d still be where the gym was when it first opened. We just moved into a new location, which more than doubled our size. The VISION is to be the BEST gym in Lexington. To do that, I need to focus more on working on the business than in the business. I will need to rely more on the people who are helping me. During the move I was told, “we need you to be a CHIEF and not an INDIAN”.It was a reminder to let people help me do the work, but they need help knowing what work needs to be done.

"Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail."

98% of all New Year’s Resolutions fail by Feb. 1st. That is a shocking statistic that I just made up, but take a second to think about the last time you made one and followed through with it. So why do we start out with such good intentions just to fade back into the exact same place we started from only a few weeks or days after starting.

I believe it has a lot to do with planning, or better yet, the lack of planning. Waking up on January 1st with a solid hangover, a softer than we want belly, and the dread of another year in the same position we were in all of last year, whether it be our job, relationship, or any other, doesn’t make for the ideal headspace to create the year long decisions that will guide us to the life we are yearning for.

So what do we do? START PLANNING NOW!!! Use the month of December to set your GOAL(s) for the year. WARNING!!! A goal without a strong “WHY” has little chance of success.

“I want to lose weight” Why? What will you feel like if you do? What will you feel like if you don’t?

“I want to change careers” Why? How will your life be different if you do? What about if you don’t?

We need to answer these questions, to see if the “why” is there and if it is strong enough. You and I are 100% responsible for creating our current situations. If you don’t believe that, there is no goal you will achieve, because there is no “why” strong enough to keep you moving when things get tough.(and they will!) You’ll make an excuse for why its someone’s or something’s fault for you quitting. If you don’t like what I just said, stop now and read/listen to Jocko Willink’s book – Extreme Ownership. Then get back to your goal setting.

Here is my big goals for 2020: Open my own gym in Lexington, KY by June of2020.

WHY:
It will fulfill a lifelong dream of mine.
It will provide me a career that I love.
It will provide me an income to support my family.
It will provide me an opportunity to be a good example to my children. Show them the power of setting goals and then working your ass off to achieve them.
It will provide me an environment to help others achieve their goals.

*Just so you don’t think I was talking a big game earlier about being responsible for your current situation. Confession #1- I don’t currently own my own gym because of past decisions I’ve mad out fear. Fear I couldn’t do it myself, fear of not knowing how to do it, fear it would fail. Confession #2 – I still have those fears, but I also have a bigger fear, the fear of what will happen if I don’t do it. So fuck it, here we go!

So I have my goal, I have my “why,” and I have my healthy dose of fear to come along for the ride. Now I need to create the game plan for the coming new year that will enable me to make this goal a reality. Not only what are the steps I have to take to make it happen, but also, what are some of the daily habits that I need to create or reinforce that will make sure I am prepared to navigate all of the challenges (fear) I have ahead and then be successful moving forward as the gym opens.

I believe that there are 8 areas of life:
Physical
Emotional
Social
Spiritual
Financial
Intellectual
Occupational
Environmental
(I’ll define further what each of these areas are in the next email)

Some of these areas, you might already be killing it in, if so great! Others maybe not so much. This is where the work needs to be put in. If I open my gym, but my relationship with my wife is a mess, am I successful? What if I’m not giving my children any attention, have I succeeded? Does anyone want to follow the coach who makes excuses for not working out because they are too busy building their business? What if I open and I’m stressed all the time because the business isn’t making money? The point is, each area of our life requires attention, not always equal amounts, but you cannot try to do good in one while ignoring the other(s).

Take this week to brainstorm some goals and then give them the “why”test. If there isn’t anything strong, get rid of it and keep on thinking. Also, examine all of the areas of your life and identify which could use some attention. Next email, I’ll dive into my areas and how I’m going to address them.

Until then, 2 things:

#1 - No matter what your goals, one should be to read more. No one’s life ever got worse because they read. 10 pages read a day for a year equals18, 200 page books. Do you think if you read 18 books last year, you’d be a different person today? The answer is yes! So start getting your book list together. Here are 2 suggestions to get you started:
Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
War of Art – Steven Pressfield

#2
Check out this video for a little inspiration:

https://youtu.be/EvT5XS7j-Dc

*If you know anyone who might benefit from thes e email, please send them mywhile and I’ll add them to the email list. Thanks!

In Strength,

Eric Karls M.Ed.
Chief Awesomeness Facilitator
Certified Level 3 CrossFit Coach
Facilitator Fitness

Pool Guests

Wed, 22 May 2024 17:59:58 GMT

Who to invite to your pool

Week 1 we drained and scrubbed the pool clean.

Week 2 we filled the pool with fresh clean water.

Week 3 we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Not so fast! Who we invite to our pool matters.

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” - Jim Rohn

So now you need to ask yourself, “who is getting invited to the pool, and who needs to leave?”

The answer to this becomes easy if you ask yourself another simple question,“Who do I want to be like?” Is it Tony, your long-time high school friend who always comes over uninvited, leaves his used towels everywhere, and complains about how bad he’s got it the whole time? Or is it more likeSteve who lives down the street. You always see him taking walks with his entire family, doing crazy workouts in his driveway, and every time you talk, he doesn’t ask how you are, but simply starts the conversation by proclaiming what a beautiful day it is.

I choose Steve! We need to surround ourselves with the people whom we want to become, the ones who challenge us to be better than we are, and the ones who will call us out on our bullshit.

“The person that challenges you and holds you accountable loves you more than the person that watches you stay the same and settle for mediocrity.” – Unknown

Now comes the hard part. If you ask Steve to come over, you are going to need Tony’s pool chair, so you’re going to have to ask Tony to leave. This can be hard, because Tony isn’t always just our friend. SometimesTony is co-worker who we see all the time, but now need to distance ourselves from. Sometimes Tony is a close relative, who we still love, but cannot allow to drag us under their Eeyore rain cloud every time we talk. Here’s the thing, as hard as this may be, if we’re honest, we know Tony pees in the pool and checks out our wife every chance he gets. He’s got to go!
Now look what just happened! With Tony gone, Steve comes over, brings his own pool chair, notices Tony’s empty old chair and asks if he can invite his buddy Karl over. You say “yes” Karl comes over and check this shit out! Karl runs triathlons, you’ve been telling yourself for years that you want to get into triathlons. You start spending more time with Karl and before you know it, you’re training for you first race. During your training, you lose 10 pounds, gain a shit-ton of confidence, your boss notices and gives you the promotion, your significant other notices and starts giving you promotions all the time, and through Steve and Karl, you meet Jim, Susan, and Karen, all people who push you to be better in some way. All this, just by kicking Tony out and inviting the right people to your pool.

Book recommendation on this subject: Living with a Seal – Jesse Itzler

Who are your pool guests?

P.S. – I promise this is the last article about pools

Fill Your Pool - Clean Water Only!

Wed, 15 May 2024 17:57:25 GMT

Fill Your Day with Healthy Habits

Fill Your Pool - Clean Water Only!

Your pool has been drained, you’ve been scrubbing it forweeks/months, now it’s time to fill that bad boy up!

The water you fill that clean pool up with are your daily habits. Here are justa few:

Wake up early

No snooze button
Glass of water right after waking (pinch of salt/splash of lemon)
Sit quiet for 5 mins. (be grateful)
Read 10 pages (bible, book, No social media)

Schedule your day (You run the day, or the day runs you)

Meals – plan what you are having for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. If you don’t have a plan, you will fail here. Fuel your body with the best possible foods. Quality in, quality out, garbage in, garbage out! Formula one race cars use the absolute best fuel to get the absolute best performance out. Lawn mowers use the cheap shit. Do you want to be a race car or a lawn mower?
Workouts – stop saying you are going to workout more, when? Schedule what days and at what times. Be exact. Example, I workout on Monday and Thursday at 5:30am, Tuesday and Friday at 4:00pm, and I go for a run/walk on Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday. That’s right, something EVERYDAY!
Eat the frog first. What’s important? what can you do today to move the needle? Not just busy work, busy work is always there. If you don’t schedule in the things that will get you to where you want to go, you will end up always being where you currently are.

Kick Ass

Go through your day not being affected by the energy of a room but be the energy that effects the room. Quit going through the motions of the day and start living like the person you want to be. As far as know, we get one shot at this life. Why not give it your best shot?!?!

Give your family the best version of you.

Too often all of our energy and patience goes out during the day (which is good for those we interact with during the day) but make sure that same energy and patience is there when we get home and interact with the people that mean the most to us. In the end, family is the most important, give the people you love the most the best you have.

Feed your mind (every chance you get)

Read every day – If you read 10 pages a day, that will equal 18 – 200-page books in a year. Do you think you’d be a different person if you read 18 books last year? You would!
Listen to something that motivates you – stop wasting your time listening to music in the car. Audio books are an amazing way to chip away at that reading list. There are also millions of motivational videos on YouTube for free. Some of my favorites include Jim Rohn, Zig Ziggler, Eric Thomas, The Rock, David Goggins, Jim Carrey, Joel Osteen, Kevin Hart, Connor McGregor, and the list goes on and on. Whenever I feel my emotions are on a path that doesn’t serve me, I let one these greats help guide me back. Some days I need the encouragement of Rohn, other days I need the kick in the ass of Goggins, but I always need it. Motivation/Discipline is like bathing, effective if done daily.

Go to Bed Early

In order to do everything, we just detailed, you will need to be well rested and have the energy to win the day.
Stop with the phone, Netflix, or computer before bed. It sets you up for shitty sleep, which then set you up for a shitty day. Turn everything off 30-60 minutes before bed. Create a routine that will get you ready for a good night’s rest.
Grab that book from the morning
Do some light stretching
Take a cold shower
Talk to your spouse (not about work, kids, problems) talk them like when you were first dating, about dreams, goals, your next big adventure.
Have sex! What a great way to end a day of kicking ass (this is also a great way to start your day!) It’s also a great way to have a great middle of your day!

Until next week, keep filling those pool with fresh clean water, and remember,it takes a while to fill a pool, give it some time.

In Strength,

Eric Karls M.Ed.
Chief Awesomeness Engineer
Certified Level 3 CrossFit Coach
CrossFit Conductor

START SCRUBBING - Health And Fitness Takes Work

Thu, 09 May 2024 17:52:54 GMT

We can do it

Start Scrubbing

Pool water is drained, muck and other shit has been scooped out, and now we are ready to fill it up with fresh clean water. I wish it was that easy. Now comes the hard part, and I know what you’re thinking. Draining out the water and scooping the muck seemed hard, it’s going to get harder? Yep! If you haven't drained your pool yet, go back and read last week's article, Drain Your Pool .

Now we have to scrub and clean the whole pool. Draining the water and removing the muck was just identify what was dirtying up our lives; the milkshakes from Starbucks, spending money on useless shit, wasting time, and/or making excuses. You know what I’m talking about, you just emptied it all out last week. Now it’s time to scrub, and when I say scrub, I mean roll the sleeves up, grab the muriatic acid, and start scrubbing! This is literally going to take a while, good thing for you pool season is still a few weeks away, but we need to start now. If you start cleaning now, by time summer comes, all we’ll be doing is a little pool maintenance to keep things clean and life will be good.

Back to scrubbing! This is where we maintain not getting the Starbucks, drinking the pop (the ones you swear you only have 1 a day), going to gym, reading every day, and all of the other habits that will turn you into the person you want to become.

So where do we start? The first place is to start thinking that you are the person responsible for scrubbing the pool. Too many of us have gotten spoiled, dare I say soft, and don’t like hard work. We think it's someone’s else’s job to do it. “Can’t we just pay someone to do it?” or“there must be an easier way, isn’t there a pill we can get to just throw in the pool that will scrub it clean?” Side note, this is why I do CrossFit. I knew I had a hard job in front of me, so I looked for the best tool for that job. Now there are a lot of other tools that will get the job done, I just want to know which was the best. For my job it wasCrossFit, clean eating, and a focus on mindset. Also, remember, it isn’t easy for me, I drain and scrub and my pool every year and then perform daily maintenance to keep it clean.

No one can scrub for us or give us a miracle cleaner. We need to start looking at ourselves differently. We are the ones who we are hiring to do the scrubbing. Don’t know how? Find someone who will show you, not do the work for you, but show you how to do it yourself. Quit making excuses that you don’t know what to do or how to do it. We live in an age where information is at our fingertips. If you don’t know what to do, take the time to sit down and figure it out, just start scrubbing! I have no idea how to work on cars, but the brakes and rotors on my truck needed to be replaced. I watched about 10 YouTube videos, bought new pads and rotors, and replaced them myself. It took about a day’s worth of scrubbing, and you know what? When I was done, even after all that scrubbing, it left me feeling fucking awesome!

Stop thinking of the scrubbing as a negative, this is something we are fortunate enough to get to do, start with some gratitude for even having a pool, start thinking about how great it will be once the pool is ready to use, and get to scrubbing. You are the one for the job, not someone else, this is a job you get to do, and to be honest, if you want to enjoy the pool, it’s a job you have to do. If not, have fun sitting in your shitty blow up pool while you get to watch your neighbor enjoying their’s all summer, and what the fuck?!?! The neighbor’s pool has a slide!

Reach out to me if you need help learning how to scrub, I’m always willing to help!

In Strength,

Eric Karls M.Ed.

CrossFit Conductor
Chief Awesomene s s Facilitator
Certified Level 3 CrossFit Coach

CLEAN YOUR POOL - The Work Done Before Improving Health And Fitness

Thu, 02 May 2024 17:48:19 GMT

It’s May 1stand we are officially one month away from the start of pool season. Where areyou at with your “2024 is going to be my year” goals? Same spot you were at in2023 at this time?
Well, You’re in luck! The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago ortoday, and since today is all we have, it’s time to clean your shit up, we needto get the pool ready! Clean your pool! These are the steps everyoneskips over and the reason why goals seem to come and go. There’s work that needto be done ahead of time, some hard work! Most of us do zero planning,zero clearing the way for new habits, we just the add on new random shit thathas no chance of sticking/lasting because it’s piled on top of all of our oldshit. This leads to frustration and the eventual slide back into the oldroutines. The very same routines that had us frustrated and looking fornew ways of doing things.

So let’s start cleaning! If I was getting a pool ready for the summer, Iwouldn’t just go put a hose in, fill it up, throw in a cup of chlorine, andexpect it to be ready to go. I have to drain and clean that fucking thingfirst. Some of you might be saying “that’s a bit aggressive language fora pool analogy” Well if you’ve ever actually cleaned a pool, you know that’snot too aggressive, it’s a hard, gross, and a not so fun job. Cleaningyour “dirty pool” or your current lifestyle/habits will be no different. However, once done, it will make for a beautiful clean refreshing pool to swimin for the rest of the year. Also, remember, depending on where you’reat, even when the pool gets clean, some of you are still going to have to stayin the shallow end with floaties on for a while. No worries though, you’llbe swimming in deep end and going off the diving board in no time!

So let’s drain the dirty pool water. What in your life can you get rid ofthat is going to get in the way of your pool being crystal clear? Ifcleaning up your finances is a goal, what equals dirty pool water that cango?

Daily $6 Starbucks habit (will also clean up your fitness/health pool)
High cable bills (time and money waster)
Monthly re-occurring bills (when was the last time you sat down and looked if there were lower prices for all the stuff that pops up monthly? We saved over $2000 for the year alone just by switching garbage and internet companies)

*Now I’m definitely no financial expert, but I am an expert whenit comes to health and fitness.

Nutrition Pool Water

Starbucks again – lets be perfectly clear on this one, not only will you save money, but stop lying to yourself and saying you are buying coffee. Starbucks doesn’t sell coffee. Unless you drink your coffee black, like an adult, they are selling you caffeinated sugar.
Soda (EVEN DIET) All of you that thought you were off the Starbucks hook because you don’t drink coffee, you drink soda/diet soda. Well this is worse. Adults drink water and black coffee, they don’t drink soda. No one should drink soda, not kids, not adults, no one! Not regular, not diet, not in between, nothing, stop drinking soda!
Glass of wine or bourbon during the week (this is like peeing in your pool, you don’t need this, save the drinks for the hot tub (weekend) keep them to a minimum and stop drinking like you’re in college, be an adult.
“I have a sweet tooth” so does my 9-year-old. If you’re still eating chocolate eggs from Easter, it’s time to clean them out. This also applies to any other “treats” you have in your house, we are cleaning the pool and getting ready for summer!

Fitness Pool Water

· “I don’t know what to do” - Findsomeone that does. They should live and look how you want to. They should alsobe doing the fitness routine they are selling you! If Rick at Cycle ColorTheory is 22 years old and goes to a different gym to do his workouts andspends multiple hours a day to look the way he does, why would you waste yourtime and money with that person. *Disclaimer – I own a CrossFit gym. I dobecause it works! I follow the programing, workout 1 hour a day, and I am fitas fuck, not just look fit, I am truly fit.

· “I don’t have time” – Bullshit! Youdon’t make the time. Get up early, you don’t have shit going on at 5am. I knowit’s hard, but you have the time. Either choose to make the time for yourhealth and fitness now, or be forced to give up the time later when it’s toolate. Aging is inevitable, decline is controllable, it just takes work!

· “It costs too much” – If you think amonthly membership working with a professional costs too much, wait until youget the doctor’s bill because you didn’t invest the time and money in yourself.And what about the money you’re already spending? It isn’t normal to be onmultiple daily medications. You just think it is because the majority of peopleare. This is back to trying to put chlorine in dirty water, it masks thesymptoms, but never address the problem that your pool filter isn’t workingproperly. The goal should be to get off of all that shit, not to keep throwingdifferent chemicals into the pool until you find one that works

Now that the water is drained, what is left isbig pile of rotting leaves and muck at the bottom of your pool. This isall the bullshit that rattles around in your mind. This too must becleaned out.

I’m not good enough.
I’ve always been overweight.
This is hard.
I don’t deserve this.
Who am I to do this?

Oh shit! Is that a dead squirrel in all that muck? Those dead critters are allof the excuses, and yes, these must be cleaned out as well. You’re going toneed a shovel, a bucket, and possibly some help. These tend to be hard todeal with.

I have bad _______ and can’t do _______
My doctor told me not to _______
_______ runs in my family so I can’t ____________

All of this cleaning isn’t easy and is going to take some major elbow grease onyour part, but it must be done. Again, if you don’t, you’re just going tobe putting clean water into all the dirty. It might help it look a littlebetter, but it’s still going to be brown and have shit floating in it. Also, it takes time to clean a pool, be prepared to do some work, get some helpdoing it, and remember, even when the pool is clean, the water must be checkeddaily to make sure it stays clean, and the occasional leaves will need to beremoved. Oh yeah, those damn squirrels also fall in when the pool isclean.

Next, we’ll start to talk about how to get the pool ready once you’ve cleanedit. Until then, go put your work clothes on, this is a dirty job!

In Strength,

Eric Karls M.Ed.
CrossFit Conductor
Chief Awesomeness Engineer
Certified Level 3 CrossFit Coach