Misfit Podcast

Phase 2 starts October 26th. We’re taking the strength, engine, and skill work from Phase 1 and building toward the demands of the 2027 CrossFit season. But how much isolated work do you still need, and when should you start doing more CrossFit? That answer depends on the athlete. We break down the next eight weeks, including heavy squat cleans, power snatch cycling, bar muscle-ups, handstand push...

You finish a workout and immediately think, “I can do better than that.” Okay, but where? Faster transitions? Different sets? Did you actually pace it poorly, or did it just hurt? This week we're digging into the art of retesting workouts, from benchmarks you haven't touched in years to phase retests and the quick turnaround of an Open workout or online qualifier. We talk through how to review you...

You put real effort into your workouts. Are your habits before and after training helping you get the most out of that effort? This week, Drew and Paige break down how to arrive fueled and ready, build a strategy that fits the workout, and finish your session with a plan for recovery. From carbs, hydration, and caffeine to warming up with purpose, the conversation connects the details athletes oft...

Competition prep isn't just more training. It's a shift in how you train, recover, execute, and think like an athlete. In this episode, Drew and Paige break down how competition prep differs from the offseason, from building volume and intensity through Hell Week to eventually turning that fitness into pacing, strategy, and repeatable execution. We get into recovery, athlete IQ, competition simula...

The habits that drive progress are often simple. Executing them consistently is the hard part. This week, we explore why that difficulty sends us searching for new diets, supplements, and training programs before we’ve given the basics a chance to work. Starting with nutrition, sleep, and daily routines, we discuss why knowing what to do doesn’t always translate into doing it. Then we bring the co...

The offseason journey comes full circle. Drew, Paige, and Colin explore how accessory work, strength, gymnastics, engine training, intervals, and variance ultimately come together in the metcon, where athlete IQ, strategy, and execution turn fitness into performance. Misfit Athletics Programming: https://strivee.app/marketplace/p/misfit https://misfitathletics.fitr.training/t/misfitathletics/ Join...

Back-to-back CrossFit Semifinals athlete Lindsey Hoffman joins Drew and Paige to discuss the decade of work behind her rise from affiliate member to elite competitor. Lindsey shares how she found CrossFit, became a Misfit athlete, transitioned from teaching PE to running Blackfin CrossFit, and finally broke through to the Semifinals after years of steady progress. The conversation explores the con...

Every year, Misfit Athletics chooses a new rallying cry. This one has been hiding in plain sight for years. Drew and Paige unpack the arrival fallacy, why reaching the next goal never changes us for as long as we expect, and why athletes keep abandoning the proven path for the latest shiny side quest. They break down the 99 and the 1, how process creates proof and proof creates confidence, and wha...

The 2027 CrossFit season starts here. Phase 1 of Misfit Athletics is an eight-week training block built to establish the strength, skill, conditioning, and athlete IQ you’ll carry through the rest of the season. In this episode, Drew and Paige break down the structure of the phase, the Variable Training System, mandatory vs. individualized work, strength progressions, gymnastics, accessory work, m...

On this week’s episode of the Misfit Podcast, Drew and Paige answer questions from the Misfit community and cover a wide range of training topics as we wrap up Phase 0 and get ready for the start of the 2027 season. We dig into the balance between intensity and volume, force-based versus frequency-based endurance, how to prioritize gymnastics weaknesses, building strength and power without losing...

Phase 1: Basecamp marks the start of the next evolution of Misfit Affiliate. Drew, Hunter, and Paige break down the seven-week phase, including front squats, toes-to-bar, running, and daily conditioning, before digging into the new workout leveling and class plans designed to give coaches more structure without taking the coaching out of their hands. They also explain why Basecamp fits the moment:...

Drew and Paige break down all 20 events from the 2026 CrossFit Games, examining the movement selection, time domains, workload, strategy, and historical callbacks that shaped the competition. They discuss which events delivered as tests and spectacles, what the programming reveals about the evolution of elite CrossFit athletes, and how accumulated fatigue, adaptability, athlete IQ, mental toughnes...

Makenna Enslin-Mell joins the podcast to talk about the two injuries that brought her competitive seasons to an abrupt stop, the identity shift that followed, and what it means to keep showing up when training no longer looks the way it used to. Makenna, Paige, and Drew discuss the emotional reality of injury, rebuilding trust in your body, finding purpose in rehab, and maintaining an athlete mind...

The 2027 Misfit Athletics season begins July 27 with Phase Zero. Drew and Paige break down the five-week baseline testing phase, how to prioritize the 25 mandatory tests, when to establish new training maxes, and why this is the perfect time to increase your Zone 2 volume. They also explain how athletes should use their results to identify weaknesses, improve athlete IQ, practice competing, and ma...

In this coach-focused Q&A, Drew and Paige answer questions submitted by Misfit Athletics apprenticeship applicants and pull back the curtain on coaching, competing, programming, and the future of Misfit. They discuss why some athletes continue progressing while others disappear, how old-school CrossFit intensity compares to modern training, the importance of athlete IQ, and why more training i...

Getting stronger in CrossFit sounds simple: lift weights, add load, repeat. But athletes rarely get stuck for the same reason. In this episode, Drew and Paige break down four common strength archetypes we see in competitive CrossFit athletes: the GPP monster who hopes the barbell stays light, the naturally strong athlete who moves poorly, the one-rep-max strong athlete who can’t express it in work...

Kenzie Riley is back on the Misfit Podcast to talk about the messy middle between being all-in and being done. She joins Drew and Paige to unpack her return to the Masters competition season, the realities of training inside a packed life, motherhood, imposter syndrome, and why the competitive fire does not disappear just because priorities change. From technical difficulties and bike cool-downs t...

In this episode, Drew sits down with Paige Semenza and Hunter Wood to break down  The Compound Part 2 , Misfit Affiliate’s next seven-week training phase. The crew walks through the bigger picture behind the phase, including heavy back squats and overhead pressing, strict pulling, intentional conditioning, continued running, and the return of Engine Class Sundays. They also dig into the why behind...

What actually makes someone "fit" in CrossFit? In this episode, Drew and Paige break down the four components of monostructural conditioning and explain how they work together to build a complete engine. From Zone 2 foundations and aerobic capacity to anaerobic repeatability and power output, they explore how athletes can identify weaknesses, structure their training, and execute conditioning sess...

For years, Kyle Moline was just like a lot of Misfit athletes. He showed up, worked hard, chased progress, and slowly fell in love with the process. Fast forward to 2026 and Kyle found himself competing alongside Games veterans at the NorCal Classic in his first individual semifinal appearance. On this episode, Kyle joins Drew and Paige to talk about his journey from Division I swimmer to CrossFit...

Offseason Block 2 starts Monday, June 9. In this special programming deep dive, Drew and Paige break down the structure, intent, and athlete decision-making behind the second offseason phase of the year. The focus is on helping athletes choose between a strength bias, conditioning bias, or hybrid approach based on their current weaknesses, goals, and training history. Topics include: How to decide...

Episode 400 of the Misfit Podcast is here, and Drew and Paige celebrate the milestone by diving deep into one of the most misunderstood areas of CrossFit: pressing gymnastics. From wall walks and handstand push-ups to handstand walking, they break down the difference between chasing skills and actually building the strength, stability, and positioning required to sustain them in competition. The c...

What does it actually take to get better at gymnastics in CrossFit? In Part 1 of this series, Drew and Paige Semenza break down pulling gymnastics through the lens of the sport—not traditional gymnastics, not random drills from Instagram… but the movements that actually show up in the Open, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and the CrossFit Games. Inside this episode: Why your GPP may be the biggest limi...

This one has a little bit of everything. Drew and Paige break down the newly released Age Group Semifinals workouts, what they like, what has them scratching their heads, and what Misfit athletes should be thinking heading into competition weekend. They also recap two huge weekends at Magic City Throwdown and Del Mar , including Paige’s first experience coaching an athlete on the semifinal floor,...

The 2026–2027 Misfit Affiliate season starts now. In this episode, we break down  Compound P.1 , the first phase of the new training year, and the foundation everything else will be built on. We get into the structure of the phase, the thought process behind it, and how to communicate it to your coaching staff and members so you actually get buy-in. From heavy deadlift and bench progressions, to s...