Linchpin Conversations

A true story from a member is shared to help reinforce the importance of having a strong and supportive community. Also, the evolution of the Linchpin private track over the last 2+ years is discussed.

This is from the "Ask Me Anything" we host every Thursday in the Linchpin Athletics private track Facebook group. Members submit questions and other members upvote them. The most popular ones get answered live each week. Questions from the Linchpin community answered were: 1. How do you know if you are getting fitter? 2. If you had 2 extra hours per week to spend on fitness, what would you do? 3....

No barbell? No problem. With minimal gear, maximum fitness is possible. Our "Limited Equipment Option" provides a daily workout using dumbbells. This will not just maintain your fitness, it can INCREASE your fitness. The benefits of dumbbell training include by are not limited to variance, functionality, stabilization and breaking through plateaus. People all around the world were forced to stay h...

The Sickness-Wellness-Fitness Continuum & COVID-19. We dive into a 2002 CrossFit Journal article entitled, "What is Fitness?". Four standards for evaluating fitness are defined. We discuss the 4th standard, called the "Sickness-Wellness-Fitness Continuum". We explain what this is, what it means, how to pursue it and why it is critical during a crisis like COVID-19.

Working long hours & only doing 3 workouts a week. We answer a question from the Linchpin community. One of our members works an irregular schedule on a 3-week rotation. Most of their days are 10 hour shifts with an hour commute to and from work. They also have 2 kids and countless other responsibilities demanded by life. They usually eat dinner around 9pm and get whatever sleep they can. They try...

Workouts are not programmed for you to set a Personal Best. We provide a real life, true story of an athlete that did the workout "Randy" on 04.25.2020 and got his slowest time ever. A discussion of strategy, human behavior, expectations, and "why" workouts are programmed takes place to fill in the details of this story.

A question from the community is answered regarding if it is possible to be fit and healthy without squatting or hinging at the hip. The individual who asked the question suffers from intensely painful tendonitis. We discuss doing sled drags, pulls and other options. The essential nature of squatting and deadlifting is also covered. Lastly, some straight talk and tough love is given regarding some...

In this episode we discuss how I made poor decisions during my early years of CrossFit regarding poor form and prioritizing getting a fast time. I use some workouts involving overhead squats to illustrate the point of attempting to move both well and quickly. However, when shoulder position goes from external rotation to internal rotation, the wise choice is to drop the barbell and recover...even...

To swear, or not to swear?...when public speaking. Does it matter is you use vulgarities? Does it affect your presentation and/or message? Does the audience find it engaging and funny, or distracting and unappealing? There are no single answers to these questions, but we explore them based on real life experience.

"The Fitness Stock Market". How to view your daily workouts as a long-term "investment" in your health and fitness. While stock market may go up or down on any given day, the goal is for the long term trend to go up and yield positive results. The same is true with assessing your fitness. How you are doing over the span of a few months is a better metric that any one singular workout. This topic i...

Mike Megrian is one of the owners & head coaches at CrossFit Woburn. He decided to use the Linchpin private track as programming at his gym. We discuss why he made this choice, how his trainers and athletes initially responded and how it has been going for more than 6 months. Mike's gym has been open for nearly 10 years and he has experimented with lots of different programming. He also shares a g...

Does doing a workout "unbroken" matter? Does a workout ever need to be unbroken? Why or why not? Is this important or not? Real world examples are given. We also discuss understanding the "intent" of a workout so the athlete can make intelligent decisions if something needs to be modified due to gear, ability or environment.

How to do pull-ups with no pull-up bar & much more. We also discuss how to do the 03.18.2020 Linchpin workout of front squats, bar-facing burpees and toes-to-bar with literally zero equipment. A short talk about doing a workout "Not for time", as compared to doing it "For Quality" also takes place.

With many gyms closing because of COVID-19 we discuss how to workout whether you have a garage gym, limited equipment or literally no equipment. We also provide 50+ workouts that require little or no gear. 

Do functional movements at LOW intensity have value? We answer a question from Ed, a member of the Linchpin community. He is 59 and has hurt his back, achilles and shoulder through mountain biking accidents. He has also put on 30 pounds of bad weight. Ed wants to know if doing the workouts with very minimal weight is still beneficial. We answer Ed's questions and we discuss scaling, injuries and h...

Is it okay to quit during a workout? The word "quit" has a negative connotation in our society, however, not all quitting is the same. We discuss "quitting" versus making an informed decision about what you do or don't want to pursue. Real life examples are provided from kid's sports, high school, Division 1 gymnastics, CrossFit and my time in the SEALs. Also covered is how "taking a break" from a...

If you can jump 2 inches off of the ground and move you hands...then why can't you do double-unders? We answer this through discussion of the 10 General Physical Skills from the October 2020 CF Journal article, "What is Fitness?". We talk about how some of the skills are organic, how others are neurological, and what that means. Training vs practice is covered, as well as why functional movements...

Questions from a gym owner are answered: A gym owner's members want to learn the technique for kipping pull-ups, chest-to-bar pull-ups, snatching, clean & jerk, etc. With only an hour to use for class each day what is the best way to accomplish this? His members feel it is not enough time. The owner wants to know how to approach this moving forward and would having additional workshops and/or clin...

How to be amazing at your job. We discuss basic recommendations to be professional and competent, regardless of your chosen profession. The topics are simple, easy to do and profoundly impactful. The good news is you can start implementing them immediately!

Special Operations Selection & Ranger School...your olympic lifts will not save you. I answer a question from someone preparing for Special Forces selection. He asked if he should be spending more time in the gym. This question is answered and the discussion evolves into what actually matters & leads to success when the going gets tough.

SEAL training, Masters athletes & scaling. A shout out to the "Committed Club!", these are people who log at least 3 workouts a week. Scaling / modifying workouts for Masters athletes. Understanding scaling is a critical part of your long term fitness journey. I also share some stories from SEAL training and how those lessons apply to every day life.

"Relative Intensity"...discussed & explained. What is the definition of intensity & how is it measured? What is the difference between mathematical intensity & relative intensity? Contrary to popular belief, high intensity does not mean maximal intensity.

The Monday Monster Mash. What is it? Where did it come from? How to use it?

How to assess the "believability" of someone or something. Sometimes it is difficult to know who to listen to because of all the wanna-be, self-reported "experts" and useless noise on social media. We discuss now to "Believability weight your decision making", as stated by the billionaire investor, Ray Dalio in his book, "Principles". Also, the CF Journal article written by Jeff Glassman entitled...

Real life, real talk. 3 days of poor sleep & how if affected my workouts. Deadlifts were far less than I wanted, running was slower than usual and I significantly scaled the Hero workout "Nate". However, life goes on and fitness was still achieved.