Linchpin Conversations

Justin Carter, PH.D. is a professor at the University of North Alabama & a member of the Linchpin Private Track. His area of expertise is understanding the psychological factors that influence an individual's performance in different areas of life. He has created a study & is looking for volunteers from Linchpin to participate.

Unique aspects of Linchpin. | Programming. | Data, studies & research. | Box squats. | Improving strict pull-ups.

Every workout has a purpose & was intentionally designed to achieve a specific training need. This video covers the workouts from August 21-26, 2023 & dives into "why" they were programmed.

How many times a week should you squat? | My rules for physical & mental health. | Intermittent fasting. | How many burpees equal a 400m run? | Practicing skills.

A woman emailed me several questions & concerns she had about joining Linchpin. I believe the topics she raised are applicable to many people & therefore I decided to share my responses here for everyone.

Should we train rotational movements? | Can you maximize fitness doing bodyweight movements? | Bulgarian split squats vs lunges. | Working with Chris Hinshaw. | Goal times. | I only do strict movements, is that ok?

Every workout has a purpose & was intentionally designed to achieve a specific training need. This video covers the workouts from August 7-12, 2023 & dives into "why" they were programmed.

My favorite part of the 2023 CF Games. | Fitness Trackers...necessary or not? | When to use sleds & prowlers. | Heavy Days at a high heart rate. | Training Days vs Testing Days.

Phil T. has been working out his entire life & has been doing CrossFit since 2007. His first workout was "Linda" & he puked. His local gym shut down during the pandemic & that's how he found Linchpin. He shares his story & lessons learned during this interview.

What's my favorite Games event? | Details on the 1.5 Mile Run program with Chris Hinshaw. | How to let people know CF is for anyone. | How to modify workouts when short on time. | Wrapping your thumbs around the pull-up bar. | If you can only do 3 workouts a week, which should you do?

Our community has doctors, lawyers, first responders, stay-at-home moms & dads, teachers, physical therapists, software engineers, farmers & everything else you could think of. Here is a discussion of what people do.

How do you know if you're really pushing yourself in a workout? | Training in a Gym vs At-Home. | Should "intensity" drive decisions to scale workouts? | "Want vs Need" regarding training volume. | My conditioning needs work, what should I do?

Can you be too strong? A discussion about a polarizing topic.

The best coaching cue I ever got. | Do I prefer competition or wellness? | Strategies for Deadlift day. | I will never be good at gymnastics...help me! | How to use the VNR cycles. | Deload weeks. | Is there a point where you're "strong enough"?

Ben M. is a husband, a father & a Linchpin member. He has had a bad back most of his life & fitness has helped alleviate some of his symptoms. He also had a serious knee injury many years ago that causes him to scale & modify workouts. He has found a great path of making long term decisions to improve his health & fitness. This is his story.

A deep dive into programming. | Why do people hate running? | Are dumbbells enough for fitness? | Subbing jump rope for running. | How to stay fit as a new parent.

Michael is a husband, a father of two children & a Linchpin member. When his first child was born 2 years ago he stopped working out. When his 2nd child was born he found a way to make fitness happen during this very hectic period of life. This is his story.

As people get fitter do I make the workouts harder? | How important are goal times & intensity levels? | Working out in heat & humidity. | A replacement for GHD sit-ups. | Training vs Testing. | Smoothies. | Doing your own workouts from time to time.

Progressive Overload & Social Media influencers. | Miss a workout or make it up? | Make it to the Games on 1 workout a day? | V-ups, T2B, K2E, GHD sit-ups, etc. | Zone 2 training. | Fitness with a new baby. | Protein sources. | How to avoid being super sore.

Paul S. is a husband, a father, a businessman & Linchpin member in Amsterdam. He played football all his life & that lead him to CrossFit. He followed competition programming for a while until it started causing him injuries. During the lockdown he found Linchpin & has never looked back. This is his story.

Geoff G. is a husband, a father & a Linchpin member. He came from a serious running background & his best marathon time was 3 hours & 7 minutes. He fell into the "more is better" trap of doing too much volume & weight. Then he found Linchpin & started making better decisions with his training. This is his story.

Swapping workout days & sore legs. | Healthy vs unhealthy competition with others. | New running program update. | Strict vs kipping pull-ups. | Improving HSPU's. | Do you need to PR workouts to be fit?

Linchpin Conversations "Greatest Hits", Part 4. This episode covers our most popular episodes between shows 151 through 200. Enjoy!

Should we do a Spartan Race? | How to know if you are pushing yourself too far? | What does fitness look like for older people? | What to do if you do not like a gym's programming. | SDLHP vs power clean. | Best grip style for deadlifts. | Are high level CF athletes healthy? | How to do a % based workout of you don't know your 1RM.

Nathan G is an elementary school teacher who realized in his early 20's that his health was heading in a terrible direction. He was drinking too much, smoking cigarettes, eating poorly & leading a sedentary life. He completely turned his life around & shares his story in this interview.