Month: June 2016

Utilize Those Around You

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I’m sure many of us remember walking into our first gym or CrossFit box, or whatever it is that you do for fun. You’re the newbie, with no friends, and you’re awkward as hell, right? I WAS. Sometimes, it takes a few tries to find the place where you belong, because, nowadays, gyms aren’t just gyms, they’re communities that create a home away from home.

I took me five gyms to find my home. I’ve been to some other good gyms and some not so great ones, but fifth times a charm, right? Every gym is different and sometimes, you have to find what works best for you. For me personally, I was looking for a level of coaching that I was unable to find anywhere else. Some coaches are really gifted and they work hard investing their time both into learning new things and investing time in their clients. They really have a knack for understanding the way in which an athlete learns and accepts feedback. THAT is what I was looking for and that is exactly what I found at Long Branch CrossFit.

No, this isn’t an add, I’m actually relating gyms and coaches to another vital member of the healthy lifestyle family–nutritionists. What is a solid machine, without proper fuel? Nothing. As high level athletes, that’s exactly what we are–machines. Just like proper coaching, proper nutrition is key in an athlete’s well being and performance.

I’m sure a bunch of you have seen some of my latest posts about how weightlifting is so hard and I’m so tired and blah blah blah and I’ve been stuck in this plateau forever. Instead of trying to fight through on a daily basis (I’m always fighting), I decided that the beat down I give myself on the regular can probably be helped by properly fueling myself. If I don’t feel well and perform well, the least I can do is eat well. I do actually eat really well, but I don’t want to only eat whole foods to live a healthy lifestyle; I need to eat the proper whole foods in the right portions to provide my body the nutrients it needs to do the things I do. You guessed it–macros.

I’ve never really counted my macros before, but just a few weeks ago, I decided to do a six week Primal Precision challenge with The Girl With The Butter, otherwise known as Kristin Kaschak. Kristin is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, or a miracle worker. Either or is fine and fits the title. But the best thing about Kristin is that she not only handed me a template with my numbers, but she genuinely wants her clients to improve. She does this stuff because she wants to make a difference. To her I’m not just another dollar sign. Yes, I’m incredibly lucky, because I do see her on a daily basis and she knows all the things I do and what times I eat and what my training schedule is like, but if you have someone at your gym, or a close friend who does this stuff, you’d be stupid not to utilize them. BECAUSE THEY CARE.

There’s a ton of huge companies out there doing the same damn thing. You pay all the money and they send you a template, but that template isn’t personalized. That person who created that doesn’t know what you do on a daily basis. They don’t know what time of the day or work out, and let’s be real, do you think they give a shit? FUCK NO. They know that they’re disseminating a few general templates that may work for most people and that’s the end. There’s no caring involved. Where’s the support in that?

This really gets me because everyone is about “buying local” yet so many friends and fellow athletes utilize these big companies, becoming another dollar sign at the end of the month. That’s essentially what this is. Kristin is our local NTP. She offers numbers AND the support to match. And the small price she chargers pays her bills and other adult-like things.

When tapering my training last week, I texted Kristin asking if I should be doing anything differently. DUH. After a few questions on her end and a few minutes, I had new numbers to hit on single session days. WOW. It sounds like she cares.

I’m really appreciative for the support system that I have over at Long Branch CrossFit. Between Rob, with his incomparable coaching, and Kristin with her nutrition skillz, we have a solid local team of coaches who care. And although it might not sound like a big deal, it is.

So friends, if you’re on some lame nutrition program, do yourself a favor and head over to thegirlwiththebutter.com to find out more about Kristin. You don’t have to be a number anymore.

^ That last sentence was really dramatic, but really, go check her out!

Barbells and Books

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Barbell: (n) a bar that is used with adjustable weights in the sport of weightlifting.

Book: (n) a written or printed work consisting of multiple pages that have been bound together with covers to relay information to its readers.

What do they have in common? Nothing, you say? Everything, I say. While reading a book, you’re either on the prowl for information or reading a story. And that is exactly what weightlifting is: a story. From the moment the athlete’s hands grasp the bar, their story is alive. You can read an athlete by the way they lift. Whether they’re ferocious or timid, the way in which they carry themselves carries over into the bar.

What you think, you do.

My name is Katie and lifting and books are two of my favorite things. I’m often asked how my interests arose. Well, I’ve known for a while that I wanted to go to school to work in either archives or special collections ever since I helped create a library exhibition for my senior project as an undergraduate at, what is now, Stockton University.

Ever since I was younger, I knew I wanted to do something with reading and writing because I thoroughly enjoyed both of those things and growing up, my parents taught me to do what I love and to do it well. I carry that into all aspects of my life. Can you tell?

Shortly after graduating, I learned that there’s no sense in doing any of the things that you don’t like. Because why waste your life being miserable? I’ve learned that life is all about priorities and my priority is being happy. And I must say, since being laid off and starting grad school, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, probably in my entire life. I plan to stay this way.

The other thing that I love so much is weightlifting. I know. Crazy. I’m 5’0, I’m roughing 105 lbs, and I love weightlifting. I’ve been an athlete my entire life: from gymnastics, to dance, to softball, to cross country, to field hockey, to track, and lacrosse. You name it, I did it, besides basketball and soccer, because having huge balls flying at your head doesn’t seem fun to me, and did I mention I’m 5’0? I’ve already had the competitive drive before I started CrossFit almost four years ago. Time flies. And what is a huge part of CrossFit? You guessed it: weightlifting. So, I learned the lifts years ago, not well I might add, as I was horrified of dropping under the bar in the snatch and weights over my head just seemed impossible.

When snatches were programmed, I’d skip class. That’s how much I despised the Olympic lifts. But then Rob does this thing called coaching and, he does it really well. I backed off the weights, swallowed both my pride and my ego, and relearned the lifts from the beginning. Was it easy? Fail after fail after fail. No. I used to be a crier in the gym. Yeah I was that girl. There’s nothing worse than a crier. And then I learned how to MTFU (man the fuck up) and learned how to appreciate my mistakes and fail forward. This was a super difficult process, but I must say I loved every second of it. I still do. I mean that’s why we’re here right now.

The things I learn in the gym on a regular basis like learning from failure and welcoming challenges can be carried over into my everyday life. I tarnished my 4.0 this past semester, earning a B+, but I learned how to balance all the important things in my life. GOOD, I’ll get all A’s next semester. There were errors in my online exhibition for Princeton, GOOD. They won’t be there next time. Failure says a lot about a person and the way in which they handle it says more. Learning how to fail forward has made me both a happier and better person. And like I said before, I’m all about being happy.

This is only one of many blog posts, but I thought I’d start here, with two of my favorite things teaching me about life and how to be a better person. In the future, I plan to write more specific blogs about current issues involving library/CrossFit/weightlifting related topics, but for now, I just wanted to share why I loved these things enough to start a blog. Let’s be real, if you can name it, there’s a blog about it.

More to come next week! Have a nice weekend, friends!