Wednesday, September 18, 2013

CrossFit Misconceptions

I'm going to skip over some of the most obvious (and tangential) misconceptions that people who don't do crossfit have about crossfit, and instead explain a misconception that many people who DO crossfit have about crossfit that I think is at the core of these others.


I think the biggest misconception that people have about crossfit is that they look at specific workouts or lifts and say "ok, that is crossfit. This other stuff over here isn't crossfit because we don't do it at my box or on the HQ site."


At its heart, I think of Crossfit (and Greg Glassman and Dave Castro I think have both said this, so nothing insightful by me) as a methodology to develop physical fitness and wellness (yes, I know they consider them to be the same), not a static list of things that are "crossfit." My favorite example is the statement that if they found that hula-hooping and rollerskating were found to be effective at developing great performance, that's what you'd see on the HQ site. When something is found to work, you incorporate that into the system and keep refining, iterating, combining in different ways, constantly testing against first principles and measuring outcomes.


I think this is where the misconception of the cult comes in. People on the outside who don't get the point, or talk to crossfitters who don't see the dynamism of the system, just think that everyone follows "the leader." Some of the things about crossfit are fairly integrated throughout the system now that it is recognized that they work (I don't expect anyone to be discovering that eating high amounts of high glycemic load carbs and plodding along at a slow pace for 45 mins is going to be the way to go). However, this is a constantly evolving system that is fine with absorbing anything it finds useful (or parts of it, hello high rep olympic lifts) and building on that.

I would encourage anyone to look at the discussions and lectures on crossfit to see how they have developed over the years. You'll see definitions created (or chosen), objectives stated, metrics established, repeated testing of methods, measuring, and iteration. I think, at its heart, this is what I appreciate so much about crossfit. This is really an application of engineering on the human machine.


Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts | www.factumutah.com | Jiu Jitsu | Muay Thai | MMA | CrossFit | Wrestling | Salt Lake City, Utah

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

CrossFit or P90X

What is better? CrossFit or P90X


I have tried both programs and I am personally more drawn to Crossfit. Both P90X and Crossfit can be incredibly challenging if you really push yourself. I enjoy Crossfit more for a few reasons:


  • Working out in groups of highly motivated and intense individuals increases pressure, accountability and engagement.
  • The instructors I have worked with are highly skilled and can help you improve your lifting form.
  • Driving to the gym provides apt physical and mental separation from my place of rest whereas working out at home can be easier to push aside or delay.
  • High level muscle confusion: both P90X and Crossfit target a variety of muscle groups and use varied exercise techniques to keep the body evolving at a high rate. After doing P90X for some time, you begin to anticipate everything from the exercises to the words Tony says, which can lead to adaptation and sometimes boredom. I don’t know what Crossfit workout I am going to do until I get to the gym.
  • One of the most important factors is the inclusion of what I like to call the “Ancient Lifts” (squat, deadlift, clean and press, snatch, bench). It is hard to do these in your apartment, much less without the proper equipment.


Lastly, instead of looking at these programs as competitors, I like to use them in conjunction. A proper Crossfit routine can take a lot out of you, so you can train at home using P90X in your off days. This way, you are getting the best of both worlds.


In regards to the target audience for P90X and Crossfit, it is hard to determine which program is right for you until you do ample research, and perhaps try them both (you can find a variety of example videos on YouTube and the Crossfit website). P90X allows you to work at your own pace from the comfort of your home, but requires an investment in equipment and instructional DVDs. Crossfit requires that you have a sufficient working knowledge of the plethora of exercises and live near a gym with a Crossfit program. I think that P90X is excellent training for Crossfit, but feel that Crossfit will produce a more complete physique and lift portfolio. I have enormous respect for anyone who attempts either program, and find that in the end it is just important to push yourself.


If you are in the Salt Lake City area and want to try CrossFit, head over for Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts in Sandy, UT.

Disclaimer: Consult a physician before taking advice from anyone on the internet, do significant research on both programs, know your body and start slowly (focusing on form) and increase the weight after you know what you are doing.


Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts | www.factumutah.com | Jiu Jitsu | Muay Thai | MMA | CrossFit | Wrestling | Salt Lake City, Utah

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Can women fight pro?

In a word, yes


1) Women fighters tend to get paid more than male fighters at the local MMA level, and p.s., if you ladies actually want to learn how to defend yourself against an assailant, you've got to put in the time in an MMA gym. Your body won't protect itself.


2) I would also recommend staying focused on the Martial Arts that actually work in the UFC. Who was the last fighter you saw with a Aikido or Kung Fu background? Huh? It doesn't exist, those martial arts won't do anything for you in a cage (or elsewhere). Stick to wrestling, jiu jitsu and Muay Thai.

3) There are plenty of gyms all over the country that focus on MMA, wrestling, jiu jitsu and muay thai. If you're in the Salt Lake City check out Factum CrossFit and MMA, they will get you prepped for the cage







Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts | www.factumutah.com | Jiu Jitsu | Muay Thai | MMA | CrossFit | Wrestling | Salt Lake City, Utah

Friday, September 13, 2013

What CrossFit Program is right for me?

Every CrossFit gym is pretty different, as CrossFit HQ does not quality control it's product, it simply makes sure the instructors are certified, and the gyms are affiliated.


If you are just looking for a good WOD program, our gym is a hybrid Mixed Martial Arts/CrossFit facility, so if you are looking for a decent WOD to follow. Feel free to use our website as a reference.




We post our WOD's daily, and then leave them up. If you are training out of your garage, or high school weight room, you should be able to find this source use.

Finally, be careful just jumping into CrossFit without proper training. Take a foundations class at a local CrossFit gym, or watch technique online. There is no shortage of technique videos on YouTube, but that's only if you are pretty comfortable already with Olympic lifts, if you're not, it's best to have a pro check your form, otherwise, you are likely to get hurt.


Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts | www.factumutah.com | Jiu Jitsu | Muay Thai | MMA | CrossFit | Wrestling | Salt Lake City, Utah

Is CrossFit bad for you?

Is swimming bad for you because there is a risk of drowning?


If you push somebody in a pool who has no idea how to swim, bad things happen.


Likewise, push somebody into Crossfit box who is ill-prepared and bad things happen. That gets amplified when you have unqualified coaches (the overwhelming majority of Crossfit Boxes right now).


The definitive answer is that Crossfit can be bad for you at certain boxes under certain context and might otherwise be quite good for you at other boxes (especially if the alternative is doing nothing or training with bad habits), all depending on your current level of skill.


The danger in almost anything is associated with the context. In the context of Crossfit, if you are ill-prepared for the demands of Crossfit (and the majority of people are) then it is most likely bad for you. If you're generally already quite fit (mobile/strong in particular), then Crossfit might be a great outlet for you to pursue.


Smart boxes will know how to adjust programming to suit your current level of ability, but few in my experience (if you own a box, I don't necessarily mean you)  have great knowledge in this capacity still (it's hard to obtain in a weekend, even a few months worth of training would still make it difficult though). If I had to guess I would say less than 20% of Crossfit Boxes have adequate coaching, mostly due to the fact that their owners simply haven't had enough experience yet.


If you add really bad programming and stupid WOD's (just because you can program something, doesn't mean you should -- I'm personally appalled by some of the dumb WOD's I've seen over the years, even some of the official ones; though I've also seen a few finisher gems in there too) and you often have a recipe for disaster.


The thing is that most people don't have the appropriate structure for things like olympic lifting (there are other examples for the gymnastics component as well) and that's why it's not as popular as other sports, it's very hard and you have to have the right body type to be truly good at it. Applying it to people who don't have that body type in excessive volume or intensity often leads to bad things, nearly 1/3 of the population has a shoulder structure that doesn't like much overhead pressing, throw in the desk postures found in North America today and you have probably closer to 2/3's of the population that shouldn't be throwing olympic barbells overhead with any kind of frequency (this is not to say that olympic lifting is bad either, it isn't, it just needs to be applied correctly to the appropriate context). However, if you can't get your arms above your head in perfect alignment, why are coaches loading that movement in the first place?


If you can't get into the right positions first, laying strength over a faulty movement pattern is what often occurs, followed by injury eventually. The younger you are, and depending on your bodily structure, the more resistant you generally are to that, but it's only a matter of time. I spend a lot of my time as a coach, undoing bad movement, which takes a lot longer than just doing it right the first time.


The limiting factor with Crossfit is almost always in the coaching and what I generally view as generally bad high repetition programming (with exceptions of course). Most of Crossfit is skewed towards the WOD and most WOD's are energy system training at high volume and high intensity (meaning Crossfit is really skewed to conditioning as a base, when it should focus on good movement and strength), which can be applied together at the same time but should only be applied together infrequently and in calculated doses.


Personally if I owned a box I would do WOD's (in the context they generally appear) once a week at most, maybe once or twice a month even to benchmark the 'training' (more on that in a sec). The thing that isn't yet obvious to most in the community is that a WOD is the equivalent of a game in any other sport, you wouldn't (just) play soccer games 4-5 times a week and not expect your athletes to get injured. Or in the example of swimming and drowning above, you wouldn't slap a kid into swim meets right away, would you? Without first teaching them how to swim?


This is essentially what most crossfit boxes do, sign up for an onramp and from day one you do a WOD.


That's why we have this thing called 'practice' and 'training.' This same problem is rampant in youth athletics where kids spend way too much time competing and not nearly enough practicing and developing good skills that will aid them in future competitions.


Up until Crossfit decided to turn 'training' into a sport, you used to (and really you still should) go to the gym to 'train,' in order to get better at something (often a sport or something unrelated to being in a gym). Training means practicing, working on your weak skills, acquiring new ones that make you better at your sport and in the context of Crossfit I personally think they would be better served by placing a higher emphasis on the often short 'Skill Work' they place before WOD's (on occasion). If they merely switched the amount of time they work on skill development for the amount of time they spend on WOD's even, most people would be better off. For most of my athletes, I like to see them practicing/training at least 3-5x more than they compete.


i.e. for every competition they have they are in the gym or in a technical practice at least 3 times for every competition on average.


In the off-season I like to see more of that, which is another thing from conventional training that hasn't quite filtered its way into the Crossfit community (or the endurance sport community for that matter). You need an off-season, especially training at that intensity and at that volume of workload.


Anyways, I got off on a bit of a tangent there on ways I think it could be made to be safer overall.


I believe Crossfit has made a very positive change within the world of fitness. What I thought would be a fad 5 or more years ago, has the potential to be so much more than even it currently is. It doesn't look like the organization will be pushing for more regulation or more stringent licensing patterns though any time soon as that's how it makes money really (that and certifications). Based on that I think it will be up to the community to make the ideal changes. That, or somebody smart will come along and offer a similar but slightly smarter approach that builds upon what the Crossfit community has already done with better coaching, and more regulation and moves away from the elitism that is starting to shroud the brand a little bit.

It can be safe in the right box, with the right coach, and I'm secretly hoping for the day I can say that about the majority of their boxes. For a box that I assure you will keep you as safe as possible visit www.factumutah.com

Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts | www.factumutah.com | Jiu Jitsu | Muay Thai | MMA | CrossFit | Wrestling | Salt Lake City, Utah

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

How to not get hurt doing CrossFit


  1. Learn from someone who knows what they’re doing.  Do the instructors break down the movement before you do them? Does he seem erudite about it?  Does he check your form to make sure you are doing it right, or does he just repeat the word “nice” and “one-more”
  2. Scale
  3. Check your ego at the door, and don’t try to do the weight “the other guys are doing”
  4. Work on your flexibility
  5. Work on your coordination
  6. Work on your technique, a lot!!
  7. Work on your joint stability
  8. Keep your weight LOW if you don’t know the technique and haven’t done the lift before
  9. Stretch regularly and warm up properly (Dynamic and static)
  10. Listen to your body, if it is saying “ouch, that hurts”, THAN SCALE DOWN!
  11. Eat appropriately
  12. Recover appropriately (Eat, sleep and relax)

Check out Factum CrossFit and MMA for a box you won't get hurt at!

Does CrossFit work the entire body?

CrossFit absolutely works your entire body.  CrossFit believes in the fitness methodology "Constantly Varied, high intensity functional movements".  What does that mean?
1) Constantly Varied: Your workout today, should not look like your workout yesterday, or your workout tomorrow
2) High Intensity: Work Hard
3) Functonal movements: Full body motions that involve using coordination from you core to strengthen the lifts to your extremities.


For instance, lifting luggage into the overhead compartment is a full-body exercise that involves all of your muscles working together.  Most (if not all) CrossFit workouts involve full body "functional movements".  (i.e. Power Clean, Front squat, Sumo deadlift high pull, etc).


This being said, every CrossFit gym is not the same.  A lot of CrossFit gyms (or to use the CrossFit vernacular "boxes") focus on Olympic lift, while others are more focused on gymnastics, while others focus more on strength endurance.  A good "box" should be focused on varying these workouts.


At our CrossFit box, Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts, we train people for cage fighting and wrestling matches.  Most of our workouts are written to make sure you have power for the 1st round and stamina for the 3rd.  


Do your homework, but CrossFit is a phenomenal workout, and fantastic for a multitude of sports (in particular wrestling/mma).


If your in Salt Lake City, come check us out for a free workout Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts off the I-15 in Sandy, UT | www.factumutah.com

Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts | www.factumutah.com | Jiu Jitsu | Muay Thai | MMA | CrossFit | Wrestling | Salt Lake City, Utah


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Am I being taught Kickboxing correctly?



Am I being taught Kickboxing correctly?


No one kickboxing class is the same as the other.   At our gym, we have two different types of kickboxing classes.  One is our Muay Thai class, where we spend about half the class teaching technique (blocking, striking, clinching), then the other half of the class is spent doing some light sparring and the other is our Cardio Kickboxing class.


In the Cardio Kickboxing class we spend less time with technique and more time getting our heart rate up.  We do about 5 minutes of shadow boxing, followed by 5 minutes to teach the strike of the day, and then the next 50 minutes doing some kicking, kneeing, elbowing and punching.  These classes are a monkey-see-monkey-do type workout. The Factum kickboxing instructor will show a combo, followed by the students echoing the combination.  This happens while the instructor is screaming out key techniques "straight punches down the pipe", "Cross your shoulders on your cross", "get your elbow up on your hook", etc.  


Our cardio KB classes involve no sparring, while our muay thai classes involve full striking, so I guess, to answer your question, it depends how much sparring you want to do.


If you're ever in Salt Lake City and want to try our Kickboxing classes, we'd love to see you | Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts | www.factumutah.com


Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts | www.factumutah.com | Jiu Jitsu | Muay Thai | MMA | CrossFit | Wrestling | Salt Lake City, Utah


Monday, September 9, 2013

How much should I train before a fight?

First off, ask yourself, how far away is your pro or amatuer fight? If it’s more than 2 weeks away, feel free to spar/exercise to your hearts content. Don’t spar to the point where you constantly have nagging injuries, but spar to a point where you are winded and feel like you put in some work.


Some martial arts you can do more often than others.  Jiu Jitsu, wrestling and Judo, you can do fairly often, as your body/brain don’t take a tremendous beating.  Muay Thai and fingerless glove MMA on the other hand is another story. That being said, you need to spar Muay Thai and MMA if you want to be comfortable in an MMA pro fight. So find a sparring partner who knows how to throw punches quickly, but not powerfully, and don’t train with people who beat the hell out of you.  It’s the worst!


Two weeks away, start to taper off your MMA/Muay Thai. The last thing you need is a hurting rib or a recent concussion to spoil your win.  Focus more on cage grappling (most decent MMA gyms that train pro fighters have cages), getting your opponent there, and keeping him there or on the ground.  Start sparring with cut up water noodles.


Now we are within 5 days of the fight, workout a bit everyday, but no more than an hour a day, and make it gentle.  The day before a fight, keep your reflexes sharp by training with a sparring partner but only with water noodles or pipe insulator (6 ft of this can be picked up from home depot), this will keep your blocking reflexes sharp, and you can practice some counter punching.  No more than a small sweat the day before a fight (unless you are cutting weight, in which case make sure you hit weight).  


This is my formula for when we are training our pro fighters.

If you are ever in Salt Lake City, and are looking for some sparring, come check us out at Factum CrossFit and MMA in Sandy, UT.


Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts | www.factumutah.com | Jiu Jitsu | Muay Thai | MMA | CrossFit | Wrestling | Salt Lake City, Utah

Should I try Kickboxing?

Should someone try kickboxing?  Often to most questions relating to martial arts, my suggestion is almost always YES YOU SHOULD!


But let’s go through what your goals are first, as there are tons of martial arts out there, so picking the right ones is vital.


If your goal is to simply burn 1000 calories an hour while learning a new skill that could potentially save your life, than take a cardio kickboxing class.  Every city has gyms that have Cardio Kickboxing classes, I would find a gym that trains pro MMA fighters, they tend to be the best.


Plus, Cardio Kickboxing involves you hitting a bag, but the bag doesn’t hit back.  If you want to learn how to properly defend yourself (not just a tremendous workout), I would recommend something more integrated.


Kickboxing falls short, in that it doesn’t teach you how to effectively use knees/elbows or clinching in your fighting, it also doesn’t address what happens when you are taken to the ground in a fight, for that, you need wrestling/jiu jitsu.


I put a pretty heavy emphasis on using the Martial Arts that have proven effective in the UFC.  In my opinion, all martial arts have a place in the world, but because I fight professionally,  I feel I need to be versed in the hand-to-hand combat that has proven most effective amongst professionals.


These are most typically:
Brazilian jiu-jitsu: The art of submitting your opponent through chokes and joint locks
Muay Thai: "The art of eight points", de facto striking technique of the UFC, utilizes striking with fists, feet, knees and elbows, while also utilizing clinch work
Wrestling/Judo: The art of controlling your opponent through superior positioning


There is a reason these disciplines have proven most effective at the professional MMA level.  Other martial arts are okay to try, but I would stick to the martial arts that the professionals use.

Most cities have MMA gyms that train pro fighters, if you're ever in Salt Lake City, UT, I'd check out Factum CrossFit and MMA.


Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts | www.factumutah.com | Jiu Jitsu | Muay Thai | MMA | CrossFit | Wrestling | Salt Lake City, Utah

Sunday, September 8, 2013

MMA Classes - Large or Small Class size?

What do I prefer? One-on-one or larger class sizes?  Excellent question.


I suppose my answer would have to depend on what the goal of the practice is.  If you are looking to drill a move, I would say that a one-on-one private technique session would be very valuable.  Your instructor (if he's any good) will know not just a multitude of moves but also he will know every knook-and-cranny of the move.  


In a private class the instructor will show the move, and you will see the move, and then you will do NOTHING THAT LOOKS LIKE THE MOVE.  So the instructor will patiently break down everything "put your head there", "put your shoulder pressure there" etc.  


That being said, public or "open" practices with 20-30 students are definitely useful.  When you have classes of 25-35 students, the instructor will show the move, and you won't learn quite as much technique,  but then during the sparring sessions, you will have tons of people who are in your weight class and skill level.  You get to try the new moves you know, and old techniques you know against different opponents who react to your movements differently.  It's honestly, best to try moves on people who are worse than you, beneficial to get your butt kicked (because you learn from those who are better), and it's best to go with people your skill level.


All-in-all, I personally prefer larger classes, because I think you learn the most during live grappling/sparring sessions.


If you are ever in Salt Lake City and want to try Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, Wrestling or MMA feel free to swing by our gym | Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts | www.factumutah.com




www.factumutah.com | 25 years of MMA experience | 10 pro MMA fights | MMA gym owner

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Are there different kinds of Kickboxing classes?



No one kickboxing class is the same as the other.   At our gym, we have two different types of kickboxing classes.  One is our Muay Thai class, where we spend about half the class teaching technique (blocking, striking, clinching), then the other half of the class is spent doing some light sparring and the other is our Cardio Kickboxing class.


In the Cardio Kickboxing class we spend less time with technique and more time getting our heart rate up.  We do about 5 minutes of shadow boxing, followed by 5 minutes to teach the strike of the day, and then the next 50 minutes doing some kicking, kneeing, elbowing and punching.  These classes are a monkey-see-monkey-do type workout. The Factum kickboxing instructor will show a combo, followed by the students echoing the combination.  This happens while the instructor is screaming out key techniques "straight punches down the pipe", "Cross your shoulders on your cross", "get your elbow up on your hook", etc.  


Our cardio KB classes involve no sparring, while our muay thai classes involve full striking, so I guess, to answer your question, it depends how much sparring you want to do.


If you're ever in Salt Lake City and want to try our Kickboxing classes, we'd love to see you | Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts | Kickboxing in Salt Lake City

Factum CrossFit and Mixed Martial Arts | www.factumutah.com | Jiu Jitsu | Muay Thai | MMA | CrossFit | Wrestling | Salt Lake City, Utah