Varied Not Random

- A VNR listener asked Pat & Adrian to give their thoughts & opinions on working out “For Time” versus “For Quality”. - Another VNR listener asked what to do when some gym members refuse to do certain movements due to philosophical reasons or a fear of injury.

- A VNR listener who is a Police Officer wanted to know how to design a proper fitness test for 1st Responders. - Evaluating the requirements of the profession, programming considerations such as equipment, ease of judging, & much more are discussed.

- A VNR listener wanted to know why some movement standards (like box jumps & wall ball target heights)  seem to be based on gender instead of the individual athlete.  - Pat & Adrian give their thoughts on this topic.

- Working out & nutrition go hand in hand, but is one more important than the other? - Pat & Adrian give their thoughts on this topic.

- Hannah, a listener of the VNR podcast, asked if it is possible to get “burned out” on CrossFit & what you can do to move past that feeling. - She has been doing CrossFit for 3 years, but now does not seem to be getting PRs or learning new skills. - She is also recovering from a torn meniscus & just wants to find a way to start enjoying the gym again. - Pat & Adrian give their thought...

- Diane, a listener of the VNR podcast, asked if it is possible for members to learn & improve skills by only attending class, or is additional work outside of class required? - Pat & Adrian give their thoughts on this topic.

- Jackie, a listener of the VNR podcast, plans on opening a gym. They want to know if they should post the upcoming workouts on their website or keep them a secret until the members show up for class? - Pat & Adrian give their thoughts on this topic. - Pat shares the opinions of Nicole Christensen (owner of CrossFit Roots) & Scott Panchik (owner of CrossFit Mentality) on this subject as we...

- What should a coach do if a member is intentionally doing fewer reps to get a faster time on a workout? - Pat & Adrian give their thoughts on this topic. - Pat shares the opinions of Nicole Christensen (owner of CrossFit Roots) & Scott Panchik (owner of CrossFit Mentality) on this subject as well.

- What was the original intent of the CrossFit methodology? - What occupations found CrossFit very useful? - What does preparing for the “unknown & unknowable” really mean? - Pat & Adrian take a walk down memory lane regarding how CrossFit began.

- How many days a week should you work out & what should the schedule be? - Is 3 days working out & 1 day of rest better than 5 days on & 2 days off? - Pat & Adrian answer a question from a listener of the VNR podcast on this topic.

- If a box jump is too high for an athlete should they keep the height & do step-overs or should they reduce the height & jump? - Pat & Adrian answer a question from a listener of the VNR podcast on this topic. - What are the benefits of box jumps & why should someone try to include them in their programming?

- Pat & Adrian interview retired USMC Major Brian Chontosh, aka. “Tosh”. - Tosh talks about mental toughness, the benefits of challenges/adversity & the program he created to help veterans.  - Tosh has completed in ultramarathons up to 238 miles in distance, mountain biked for 24 hours, he has done 9 expedition adventure races & rowed across the Atlantic Ocean. - During his time in the...

- Haley Adams started CrossFit when she was only 14 years old.  - Now, at 22 years old she has competed at the CrossFit Games 7 times. - Haley discusses how being one of the top competitors in the world was not all glory & success. - She openly shares with Pat & Adrian her struggles to deal with the pressure she put on herself as well as her battle with an eating disorder. - Haley explains...

- Joe Pangallo is one of the owners of CrossFit Spring Hill. - Joe tells Pat & Adrian how he used episodes of Varied Not Random to help keep two members from quitting.  - Pat, Adrian & Joe discuss these stories, but they also explore many other topics & challenges faced by affiliate owners.

- Pat interviews Dale King, the owner of PSKC CrossFit. - Dale uses his gym as a way to help addicts during their road to recovery.  - Pat & Dale discuss the opioid crisis & how CrossFit is making a positive impact in the lives of people trying to overcome substance abuse issues.

Adrian Bozman is the Director of the CrossFit Games and did the Open Test programming this year. Pat interviews Adrian about each of the 2023 CrossFit Open workouts & the programming process behind them.

- A VNR listener asked, “Does CrossFit make you less athletic?” - The listener also asked how to program to get out of the up/down & forward/back planes we often train in. - Pat & Adrian explore these questions.

- Should you pace a workout or just go full send? - Is one strategy “better” than the other? - Pat & Adrian dive into this question.

- Laurence Shahlaei has competed 11 times at the World’s Strongest Man. - He won Europe’s Strongest Man in 2016, he was the Ultimate Strongman World Champion in 2016, he’s been Britain’s Strongest man twice & won UK’s Strongest Man in 2017. - Pat & Laurence bridge the gaps between Strongman & CrossFit to find common ground. - Laurence talks about training to be one of the strongest peo...

- An interview with Dr. Nathan Jenkins. - Pat & Adrian discuss the relationship between CrossFit & exercise science with Dr. Jenkins, who has a PHD in this field. - CrossFit, exercise science, pros & cons of clinical studies, energy systems & much more is covered in this highly informative discussion.

- Big picture concepts regarding coaching & training Masters athletes. - Things to consider if you are a Masters athlete. - Should Masters athletes have different programming? - One day everyone will stop getting Pr’s, what then becomes the point of training? - Pat & Adrian tackle these topics & others.

- What are the key elements of an effective warm-up? - What are the benefits of a warm-up? - How should you create a warm-up? - What are the key elements of an effective cool down? - What are the benefits of a cool down? - How should you create a cool down? - Pat & Adrian walk through these topics using the hero workout “DT” as an example.

Common arguments against CrossFit are discussed. The criticisms covered in this episode are:  "CrossFit encourages sloppy form." "CrossFit trainers are not qualified to coach people." "Doing Olympic lifts for time is a disaster." "GHD sit-ups are destructive to your back." "The sumo deadlift high pull will injure your shoulders." Pat & Adrian t...

- Someone posted a comment stating they only do kipping pull-ups because they will show up in the CrossFit Open. - This comment sparked the idea of this episode dedicated to kipping. - What is kipping? What is the point of it? Why would someone choose to kip a movement instead of doing it strict? - These questions & more are covered by Pat & Adrian.

- A VNR listener posted the question, “How important is it for the coaches to understand the intended stimulus of a workout? When should an athlete scale the workout UP?” - Pat & Adrian discuss intended stimulus, modifying workouts & scaling UP.