Varied Not Random

- 9 weeks ago Pat had a total hip replacement surgery. - Week by week he has been building himself up. - This episode explores the unique process Pat created to expedite his road to recovery. - Adrian interviews him about his journey, thought process, lessons learned & struggles.

- What are tips & tricks to create workouts while traveling? - A VNR listener is planning a 10 day trip to Mexico & wants to make sure his fitness does not suffer. - Pat & Adrian have spent extensive time traveling the world, living in hotels & creating workouts with limited equipment. - They explore this topic & share their lessons learned.

- Will a Cold Plunge improve your performance and/or recovery? - Are certain things popular for a while & then fade away, like compression gear & physio tape? - Before you experiment with these things it is important to be doing the fundamentals well, like sleep, nutrition & workouts. - Pat & Adrian tackle this topic.

- What if you’re so fast on a workout that you may never set a new PR on it ever again? - What should you do the next time it gets programmed? - Should you do it? Should you skip it? Should you modify it? - Does it still have any training value? - Pat & Adrian tackle this topic.

- A VNR listener has been a member of several CrossFit gyms. - At their old gym, the majority of the members could do the daily workout “Rx’d”. - At their new gym, only the same 3-4 people can do the workout “Rx’d” every day, & one of them is the gym owner who writes the programming. - This listener wants to know what should be taken into consideration when determining what will be considered...

- A VNR listener, who is a member of a CrossFit gym, wrote into the VNR team with two questions. - First, if the coaches always utterly destroy the members on workouts, is that motivating or demotivating? - Second, does the whiteboard still have a place in CrossFit? - Pat, Adrian tackle this topic.

- Pat created a definitive step-by-step guide for programming intentional, effective Strength & Conditioning workouts. - This free e-book is 52 pages of highly useful information. - It covers the creation of a 4-week block of training from start to finish. - It is jam packed with charts & tools to help people eliminate biases & identify priorities. - Pat & Adrian discuss the book.

- A VNR listener, who is also a coach, is struggling with their athletes on Heavy Days. - Their athletes do not seem to understand the importance & value of dedicated rest periods. - This coach is hoping to get some insight, guidance & suggestions for improving this situation. - Pat, Adrian tackle this topic.

- Dr. Sean Rockett has been an Orthopedic Surgeon for 20+ years. - He is also an active member of the CrossFit community.  - Dr. Rockett discusses tendonitis, rips, tears, arthritis & more. - He gives his opinion on when to simply rest vs seek out medical attention. - Pat, Adrian & Dr. Rockett tackle these topics & more.

- What if you only have a pair of dumbbells, can you get fit? - What if you only have a single dumbbell? - How should you modify barbell workouts for dumbbells? - How do you replace barbell Heavy Days with dumbbells? - Pat & Adrian tackle these topics & more.

- A VNR listener is struggling with arthritis.  - Her doctor told her to stop doing CrossFit. She is seeking advice. - Pat is actually dealing with a similar issue & is scheduled to have a total hip replacement. - Pat & Adrian discuss arthritis & the various options for managing it.

- Do supplements actually work? Are they worth the money? - EC Synkowski is the owner of OptimizeMe Nutrition & is a subject matter expert on this topic. - EC, Pat & Adrian discuss Multi-vitamins, BCAA’s, Fish Oil, Creatine, Protein Powder, Caffeine, Powdered Veggie Drinks & much more.

- After repeating benchmark workouts several times it can be fun to modify the workout to make it a new experience for athletes. - Pat & Adrian discuss how to put a fun twist on benchmark workouts. - They describe how to accomplish this through general principles, as well as provide specific workout examples. 

- Gerald Parker is a husband, a father, a CrossFitter & he is also a Judge serving on the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Bench (General Division). - This Division hears all adult felony criminal cases &  civil cases.  - Judge Parker has been instrumental in creating programs that use physical fitness to help people get their lives in a positive direction & avoid prison.  - He dis...

- Dave Durante is a multiple time USA gymnastics national champion and was part of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Team as an alternate. He helped coachStanford University to an NCAA Team Title in 2009. Dave was a lead coach with the CrossFit Gymnastics L1 course from 2013-2015. He also wrote and developed the CrossFit Gymnastics Advanced Course. Dave is co-owner of Power Monkey Fitness and Power Monkey...

- David Osorio is the owner of CrossFit South Brooklyn.  - This gym was established in 2007 & has undergone countless evolutions. - David shares some of the best practices he has developed over the years to optimize CrossFit in a group setting. - David does not assign an “Rx’d” load for his gym’s workouts. He also has 2 days a week when members have the freedom to choose parts of their workout...

- An athlete has bad shoulders & has undergone multiple surgeries. Overhead movements such as the push jerk seem to do more harm than good. - The athlete feels the movement should be avoided, but their coach believes otherwise. - When, if ever, is it appropriate to stop doing certain movements? - Pat & Adrian discuss this topic.

- A rowing athlete was told by their coach that in order to improve they needed to spend more time rowing. - This same rowing coach also told the athlete there was no benefit in strength training or high intensity training. - Pat & Adrian explore the validity of this claim.

- What are good substitutions for pull-ups if you don’t have a pull-up bar? - What are the differences & similarities between pull-ups & chin-ups? - Is one movement better than the other?

- If you have an occupation, like a 1st responder, that requires you to be ready to work at any time, with no warm-up how do you adequately prepare for this? - Should people in this line of work modify the manner in which they train? - Pat & Adrian discuss this topic & more.

- A VNR listener is concerned the programming at their gym is bad & wants to know how to fix the situation. - Pat & Adrian discuss how to evaluate programming. - They talk about the various aspects one should consider when discerning the effectiveness of a program.

- We’ve all had workouts where the weight felt extra heavy or it took much longer than expected. - Bad workouts can negatively affect your confidence, fill you with doubt & have you questioning your training. - What should you do after a “bad” workout to help get yourself back on track physically & mentally? - Pat & Adrian dive into this topic.

- Pat & Adrian discuss a CrossFit Journal article entitled “Foundations”. - This article was published in April 2002. It is full of useful information & explanations of methods that hold true even though 20 years have gone by.

- Chris Hinshaw  is widely considered one of the top endurance coaches in the world.   - He is a 10x Ironman Competitor who has coached 34 CrossFit Games Champions as well as 50+ CrossFit Games Podium Athletes. - Pat & Adrian talk with Chris about the benefits of running, why it works & various strategies to improve your performance. - Chris & Pat created the VNR 1.5 Run Program &...

- A VNR listener wants to know if working out will correct poor posture? - This VNR listener says he has poor posture in his neck & shoulders.  - He wants to know if he should fix his posture before he begins doing CrossFit? - Pat & Adrian discuss this topic.