Thanks for waiting…  Here is what I did to recover from last year:

From early 2012 all the way to late 2013, my brother and I took a break from handling my programming due to being busy with so many other things.  Looking back now we realize we made a big mistake. We took the easy route and it showed. When we realized that I had stalled out we took my programming and training back into our own hands. We went back to the basics.  We identified what my biggest weaknesses were and made a plan to attack them.  What was even more frustrating is that the weaknesses we identified were the same ones I have struggled with since starting CrossFit. It’s funny how easy it is to go so long ignoring the hardest things to improve on.  The specific weakness training was something I did separately from my workouts and I took an extremely focused approach that attacked them from all different directions. The reality is I spent 3-5 days a week working on those weaknesses.  Toes to bar, pulling strength, pushing strength, etc.

From late July until mid January, I really focused on getting stronger through powerlifting.  I would powerlift 3 times a week, hit workouts only 3 times a week, Olympic lift twice a week, and work on gymnastic movements twice a week. From January until now I have upped my workouts to 4 times a week, switched my lifting focus to 3 days of Olympic lifting specific strength and skill work, and I also added endurance work with running and rowing repeats 4 times a week.  Another big realization I made is that I have performed at my absolute best at a much lower bodyweight than what I was competing at. I have dropped down from 217# in October to a much lighter 189#.

All of these changes to my training regimen were a big part of my turnaround. It was more focused on what I personally needed to do and it was much less volume. It changed everything as far as the time and energy I now have to put into the things that matter most to me. I get more time with my wife and boys. She gets to train more and improve as an athlete. I can give more attention to my gym and do what I love, changing more lives through proper nutrition and CrossFit. Most importantly it has allowed me to enjoy life and focus less on me and more on others. I can credit a lot of my success to these changes that allowed me to get back to having fun this year.  At CrossFit Kinnick I do all the programming for the competitors and the group classes.  For the first time in around 2 years I started working out in group classes.  I would program the gym workout and then make a competitor version that would usually include more advanced versions of movements and mix in heavier weights.  And my athletes were beating me on workouts.  My wife, Giermaine Kinnick, would beat me some days. Nick Robles, Daniel O’Brien, Chris Nicholson, Elyse Persico, Melody Sanchez, Christine Navarro, Sariah Veirs, or Andrew Perry might best me on others.  It was awesome because it pushed me.  Some days I would program workouts that I knew were strengths for other athletes and use that as an opportunity to try to beat them at something in their wheelhouse. Other days I would program to my strengths and try to lap them. The competitive drive was there but we were all having a blast working out together and pushing each others limits. I came to realize that in strictly following outside programming and pouring everything into my own training I had lost sight of what makes CrossFit so fantastic…the community.  Hitting workouts alone or separate from my athletes was a grind.  I needed a change but I couldn’t see it.  Even though I overhauled my training program and changed my focus, I truly think the biggest change this year is that the fun is back…