We’ve been on Vancouver’s West Side for more than a little while now.  And I’ve been coaching CrossFit even before that.  Every time we onboard a new coach I am reminded of starting out all those years ago and I cringe to recall just how bad I was.  Today me would not hire the me of yesteryear.  He would not have met the Empower coaching standards.

Lucky for me, coaching is a trainable skill.  We get better with practice.  I’m still getting better.  Or at least I hope I am!  I certainly look back on the me of last year or the year before and think “If I only knew then what I know now…”  I hope I get to keep on saying that.  I hope in two years from now I will look back on the present me and think, “Wow, that guy had so much still to learn!”

When people say, “You’ve changed man!” they do not always intend it as a compliment.  But if we didn’t change, we would not be able to improve ourselves or the world we live in.  The growth of Empower has required me to change in so many ways.  Not always comfortable.  And from some perspectives, not always for the better.  In some ways I liked the old version of me, poor, struggling gym owner running classes from open to close, better.  That guy was relatable.  Of course, he was too tired to be an excellent coach.  Perpetually exhausted, he didn’t always show up with the best energy for his members.  And that guy did not have the capacity to help other amazing coaches fulfil their dreams and potential.  Nowadays I get to help our extraordinary Empowr coaches build their own coaching careers helping many more members than I ever could on my own.  The guy working from home on his laptop isn’t as relatable as the guy hanging out in the gym all day but he is changing more lives than the other guy ever could.

When members leave Empower, their memory of us is frozen in time.  They assume who we were then, is who we are now.  It is understandable.  Sometimes even long time members stop listening, imagining they already know it all.  But how can they if I myself am still learning?

Recently I had an entertaining exchange with an old school Empower legend, the 6am founder, Music Man.  We have remained in contact through the years even after he relocated to Squamish and he still helps us out on the back end here regularly.  We are friends for life.  But it has been ages since I last coached him.

A little while ago, Music Man came to me to tell me about an innovative new strategy he learned at his current CrossFit gym.  “Remember how we used to scrape our shins bloody on rope climbs?” He asked me, “At my new gym we use athletic tape to protect our shins,” he shared, imagining he would rock my world with this revolutionary solution to an age-old CrossFit problem.

“Athletic tape?” I asked, thinking back countless years to the last time I’d seen that archaic method employed to safeguard shins, “Dude, we just slide our knee sleeves down to cover our shins, it works so much better!”

“How come you never taught me that?” Music Man demanded.

“Because you haven’t been here.”

So much has changed over the years.  As coaches we’ve developed so many more tricks, tools and strategies.  We’re continually learning and studying and integrating best practices.  It’s hard to even remember back to the time we taped shins, never mind the time before we used any tape at all. 

If you haven’t trained with us for awhile, you might be surprised at how different Empower is.  And I hope we continue to evolve.  If you’ve been with us for a long time and think you already know the routine, I hope you will keep your ears, eyes and mind open to changes so that you can benefit.  As a CrossFit athlete I am always innovating to improve my game and I try my best to deliver the skills I learn to help you improve yours.  But it only works if you stop listening to past ways of doing things and really tune into the present.  

Because, man, we have really changed!  And if all goes according to plan, we intend to keep on changing!

Friday Make Up Day

1) Empower Reset #37
1 min Breathing
30/30 sec Head Nods/Rotations

6 mins:
20 Deadbugs
10 Shoulder Bridges
10 Windshield Wipers

4 mins:
10 Glute Raises
10 Table Raises
10 Egg Rolls

3 Rounds:
1 min Rocking Chairs
1 min Bird Dogs

3 Rounds:
1 min Backward Breakfalls
1 min Sit Throughs

3 Rounds:
1 min Sideways Breakfalls
1 min Leopard Crawls

3 Rounds:
1 min Get Ups
1 min Cross Crawl March

3 Rounds:
1 min Roll Ups
1 min Slow Pull Up/Pull Up Negative

2) With a partner
At 0:00
10 rnds each
7/10 cal bike
Rest

At 12:00
5 rnds each
30 wall balls 14/20#

3) Muscle Snatch
1-1-1
Snatch Balance
1-1-1-1
Squat Snatch
1-1-1-1-1