Chasing Excellence

Is comparison the thief of joy? That's the question we pose at the start of this week's episode, talking about intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation, what a true competitor looks like, and how to use our ambition for good. Find us on Social: Ben | Patrick

We're getting into some best practices for delivering effective GPP programming. We're talking about programming for horsepower, why 18-minute WODs shouldn't be considered "long," and why we offer three different programming tracks to our members. Find us on Social: Ben | Patrick

We're revisiting one of our most popular conversations from the early days of the podcast, talking about why I prefer to keep my nutritional advice simple, the value of getting blood work done, & why both quality & quantity matter. Find us on Social: Ben | Patrick

HopperTalk is back this week. Patrick and I talk through the adult problems nobody prepared us for, whether Tia is the most dominant athlete in CrossFit Games history, things from the 90s that we miss, and more. Find us on Social: Ben | Patrick Questions Answered: 02:05 - What's a quote that's permanently changed the way you look at things? 11:10 - What is something free on the internet that everyone should take advantage of? 24:00 - What benchmark workout should appear in the CrossFit Games? 28:40 - What is the worst minor injury? 31:50 - What is an "adult problem" that nobody prepared you for? 37:50 - Is Tia Clair Toomey the most dominant athlete the CrossFit Games has ever seen? 40:50 - What has no right to be as difficult as it is? 54:00 - What is a simple, painful fact that people need to just get over & accept? 59:05 - What's something from the 90s that you miss? 63:54 - How many fist pumps are acceptable in a training session?

We're talking through my experience at the 2021 CrossFit Games - from NoBULL's first year as the sponsor, to my thoughts on the programming, CompTrain's overall performance, and the young guns making a run for the podium. Find us on Social: Ben | Patrick

The 2:00 Drill is back, featuring your questions on the chasing excellence approach to dating, why we don't program strength-only days at CrossFit New England, choosing whether to go to the gym early or sleep in, and more. Find us on Social: Ben | Patrick Questions Answered: 02:10 - Approaching dating with an attitude of chasing excellence 04:20 - Differentiating one-upping and trying to relate 06:40 - Determining whether to go to workout early or sleep more 08:50 - Spending $65 a week on groceries 10:50 - Giving marketing tips to personal trainers 13:00 - Handling life when your significant other isn't down with CrossFit 14:40 - Breathing better during metcons 17:15 - Adding a strength portion to daily programming 20:55 - Working with a member with bad body odor 23:00 - Preparing yourself to work at the CompTrain Academy

In this edition of our 3x3, I'm talking through some of the small things that CrossFit New England does well, how I think about building stronger relationships, and ways to make our lives simpler. Find us on Social: Ben | Patrick

We're revisiting one of our most popular conversations from the early days of the podcast, talking about why it's important to determine our level of discipline and then never break the chain of daily success. Find us on Social: Ben | Patrick

We talk all the time about the five factors of health, but how do they apply to our kids? We're diving into that question, talking about how I ensure that my kids are eating well, how we set up the house to reduce food conflict, and more. Find us on Social: Ben | Patrick

Your questions are back in the spotlight. We're answering questions about programming when you have limited time and equipment, why I don't think we need to establish a VO2 Max threshold for Games athletes, dealing with CrossFit skeptics, and more. Find us on Social: Ben | Patrick Questions Answered: 01:45 - Dealing with comparing ourselves to others 04:30 - Increasing coaching skills with limited time 06:40 - Moving from living to thriving 10:40 - Determining VO2 Max for CrossFit athletes 12:00 - Training for physique and health 14:45 - Programming for limited training time 18:30 - Communicating patience for members looking for progress 21:45 - Seeing women become Navy SEALs 24:00 - Surviving as a gym without social media 28:45 - Taking cold showers in the morning and hot ones at night 31:50 - Running faster by running faster 34:35 - Dealing with CrossFit skeptics 43:00 - Moving the CrossFit Games out of the USA

Greg McKeown is the author of Essentialism and Effortless. He joins us to discuss why easy things aren't always trivial, having faith that the process will work, working backward from our optimal max, and a whole lot more. Find us on Social: Greg | Ben | Patrick

This week, we're republishing a conversation I had with Chris Williamson on his podcast, Modern Wisdom. We go deep on what it means to live a life of excellence, the hierarchy of mindset, living for the remembering self, and a whole lot more.

HopperTalk is back! This time around, Patrick and I are giving our thoughts on normalizing naps, what we'd change about CrossFit's early days, whether we think first impressions are usually accurate, our favorite Games events, and more!

Dr. Jonathan Fader is a performance psychologist who's worked with pro athletes in the MLB and NFL. He joins us this week to talk about earning trust, getting our mental reps in, why he sees life as a sport, and a bunch more.

Our 2:00 Drill is back! We're answering your questions about learning how to relax without guilt, helping athletes fulfill their dreams, understanding the difference between discomfort & pain, & lots more!

Modern medicine might define health as the absence of disease, but that's not a good enough definition for us. So we're offering our own, in a format that many CrossFitters will recognize. (See full episode description for text.)

Michael Jordan didn't pay Tim Grover to be his trainer. He paid our guest to not be anybody else's trainer. The author of the new book, Winning, joins us to talk about why showing up is not half the battle and so much more.

This rendition of our 3x3 has us talking through tips for creating useful BHAGs in our businesses and lives, ways to remember that we're all going to die, and my recommendations for improving mobility.

We've got some more great questions on this month's 2:00 Drill. We're talking through low intensity for CrossFitters, constructing a useful warm-up, what to say to an athlete right before a performance, and more!

Peter Rahal co-founded RXBar inside of a Chicago CrossFit gym, eventually selling to Kelloggs. He joins us to talk about the original vision of the business, the power of dyslexia, building culture, and the messy process of figuring out what's next.