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By Michelle Pohle There is a version of hybrid training that looks productive on the surface but quietly erodes progress underneath it. This version is built on good intentions, it adds running to improve conditioning, increase fitness, or simply “do more”, but without structure, that added work becomes noise. Running often sits too close to heavy lifting sessions, lives at the wrong intensity, and accumulates fatigue in ways that are hard to trace but easy to feel which caus

By: Kyle Spears “Sporting Performance depends heavily on psychological factors such as; motivation (to achieve certain goals), aggression, concentration, focus or attention, the ability to tolerate pain or to sustain effort, the perception of sensations and events in training and competition, the placebo effect, communicative skills, the ability to cope with anxiety or stress, attitudes towards events and participants in sport, attitudes towards winning and losing, learning a

By: Bri Siegert  Highly palatable and processed foods are designed to make us eat more. First, let's get it out of the way that most food is processed in some way. We can't avoid it and the word "processed" isn't necessarily a bad thing. If a food undergoes any type of change while it's being made it's technically "processed." Here, we are talking about foods like chips, sweets, cereals, breads, juices, etc.  Before we dive deeper here, it is important to note that competitiv

By: Michelle Pohle I’ve been running for 25 years, long enough to have done it wrong a lot. Long enough to have chased paces that didn’t matter, ignored injuries I shouldn’t have, and learned the hard way that longevity in this sport isn’t about who can push the hardest. I’ve also spent the last 13 years strength training, CrossFit, hybrid training, coaching athletes, and that completely changed how I view running. Because here’s the truth: Running alone didn’t make me better

By: Briana Siegert When athletes say, “My first round felt the worst” or “I just felt so tight”, I immediately think, “ ahh. So, we didn’t warm up well enough.” If you or someone you know is guilty of a less than adequate warm-up then this one is for you.  This one’s specifically for handstand push ups, but can really transfer to anything overhead: jerks, snatch, handstand walk, or even wall walks. And any of these might come up in 26.3 tomorrow given who our athletes are tha

Injury hits different when you’re a hybrid athlete. You’re not just lifting heavy or just running far. You’re asking your body to do both, often in the same session. So when something breaks down, it doesn’t just sideline one quality. It disrupts your strength, your engine, your identity, and your rhythm. But here’s the truth: Injury doesn’t end your competitive season. Poor transition planning does. The Hybrid Athlete’s Dilemma Events like HYROX and CrossFit Games demand str

By: Bri Siegert Every year, the Open rolls around and we see the same story unfold: athletes show up hyped, see the workout, hype themselves up… and then the clock starts. Two minutes in, dying and gasping on a 20:00 amrap. Sound familiar? The Open doesn’t reward bravado, it rewards pacing. Even more so, it rewards fitness and well-roundness, but that was a topic we’ve discussed if you go back to our recent blog posts. Today, we will be talking about pacing strategies.  Why P

As a hybrid athlete coach, I see a pattern over and over again. Athletes train hard, they stack miles, they chase PRs, and they jump into whatever challenge, program, or event is next. But many of them are unknowingly building on a fragile foundation.  Hybrid training isn’t about doing everything all the time. It’s about building a body that can handle everything for a long time. That requires a long-term approach to strength. Not just lifting heavy, not just “staying fit.” B

By: Kyle Spears The Art of Learning  by Josh Waitzkin was a very influential book early in my coaching career. In it, he discusses how cultivating deep focus and establishing strong processes enabled him to master both Tai Chi and chess. He emphasizes that the process should be the primary focus in any endeavor, rather than obsessing over winning. What often gets missed, however, is that on his way up in both disciplines, Waitzkin did  focus intensely on winning—and the proce

By: Briana Siegert For the last 10-15 years, we’ve been sold the idea that leaner is better. We can thank Fitspo for that. The thing is…most of those people that were selling this ultra lean body on the internet weren’t the healthiest. Many later came back with GI issues, hormones of a menopausal woman, despite being in their 20’s, eating disorders, and poor mindsets with food and body image.  The internet can put is in a vicious comparison cycle that makes us think we have t

By: Michelle Pohle From the desk of a professional online coach who loves ambition, but loves long-term progress more. If you’re a hybrid athlete, chances are you’ve said (or thought): “I want to do HYROX, The Tactical Games, Hybricon, a CrossFit competition, and maybe a marathon… this year.” You’re capable. You like training. You don’t want to be boxed in. But here’s the hard truth most athletes don’t want to hear: Trying to train for everything at the same time usually mean

Over the past couple of months, I have been having a lot of conversations about what could be called the second generation of CrossFit competitors and competing in that era. This would be the 2011–2018 time frame, starting with the introduction of the Open to the death of Regionals (RIP). This was really a special era of competitive fitness, and we saw a lot of athletes make a living for themselves and really set an amazing foundation for the sport. With the setup of the seas

It’s hard to know exactly what to expect in the CrossFit Open and every year (almost) we get a new implement thrown at us. The bones of CrossFit is preparing for the unknown so you have to go into it with a childlike wonder and excitement for something new. There are definitely movements we see each year, some we see most years, and some we expect to see and then don’t. Now that the Open is 3-weeks long, we don’t see as much variety in movement. I like to think of Quarterfina

One of the most common questions athletes ask when they first look at a HYROX race is: “How long do I need to train for this?” The honest answer is that it depends on what you already bring to the table. HYROX isn’t just a long run with some weights, and it isn’t a strength event with a bit of cardio sprinkled in. It demands repeated high-force pushing and pulling, muscular endurance under fatigue, a strong aerobic base that can recover between stations, and the ability to ha

A recent video surfaced discussing machines in the sport of fitness, noting that they are becoming over-programmed and that this is diluting the nature of CrossFit. In this post, we will examine this statement purely from a sport perspective, leaving the discussion of group workouts aside. We will explore why machines have become a staple in most competitive CrossFit programs and touch on why there was a heavy reliance on machines at the Games this year. However, one year of

By Bri Siegert What is it? There’s a very specific feeling athletes get right after a competition. It’s like being exhausted, but also wired. You start replaying every event and dissect where you could have pushed harder, what you need to work on and hammer before the next comp, and suddenly you’re more motivated than you were before the comp. You want to train. You want to fix things. You want to ride that competitive high right back into the gym and get to work. And honestl

Why your background shapes how you race and how you should train. Hybrid racing looks like it should favor one specific athlete type, until you realize every athlete shows up with a completely different engine, strength profile, and movement background. A CrossFitter doesn’t move like a runner. A runner doesn’t move like a powerlifter. And a true hybrid athlete has learned how to pull pieces from every direction. Understanding your athlete type is the first step to performing

Wanted to start this series off with exploring why the shape of handstands matter and a couple of fast ways to identify if you have room to grow on yours.   Handstand skills can be a pain in the ass quite literally, but after exploring some of these ideas laid out in this blog series.  “Let's get inverted exploring the intricacies of the handstand” I’'m hoping that pain shows up less frequently for you all.  Here's the truth, the shape of your handstand is super important whi

Intervals have been used in sport since its inception to improve multiple different attributes to athletes' profiles. While there are many different ways to write intervals, today we are going to be breaking down the essence of the most common, a split work and then rest ratio, specifically for the sport of Fitness. But how does one know the best way to attack an interval? Should we be consistent across all sets, should we come out hot and hold on or should we try to negative

By Michelle Pohle The CrossFit Open, or any major qualifier season, is one of the most exciting times of the year. Energy is high, PRs are flying, and adrenaline is through the roof. Unfortunately, with the increase in intensity and volume, pain and flare-ups can quickly derail weeks of training. The goal isn’t just to survive qualifiers, it’s to thrive through them pain-free. Manage Pain Early Pain during qualifiers doesn’t immediately mean you are weak or broken. It means y