As you write the book of your life, chapters continually pile up, each different than the last. A new chapter doesn’t erase previous chapters, nor deem them obsolete. We all learn and grow as we march on.
A new chapter has begun in our little garage gym. For a number of reasons, we have shed the CrossFit (TM) affiliation and have a simplified, focused purposed. We’ve renamed our gathering to “Murhpy’s Barbell Club” with a handful of founding members who understand our vision and support each other in our training. We simply exist to help others in any way we can. Young and old, black and white, rich and poor. We have learned the hard lessons of an indulgent lifestyle, and are paying the piper. We have discovered the better way to eat and train, and have set our path forward with those things in mind. Our qualification to do this for others lies solely in our experiences and modest training. Coaches are not taught, they are born. Coaching either comes naturally, or it’s awkward and ineffective. The roles of our core group are based on our abilities and experiences.
We wouldn’t be where we are without the mentoring of many coaches and trainers, most of which we have met through CrossFit (TM). Our departure from CrossFit (TM) affiliation is not a condemnation of those coaches and trainers, as they continue to be dedicated, qualified professionals whom we personally and professionally respect. Our departure from affiliation speaks only to our desire to move on from a corporate explosion that we feel catered too much to the Games athletes, Certification trainers and HQ Staff, and not enough on affiliates who need a lot of help. There is a growing sentiment that we were losing too much quality as gyms pop up everywhere, and I agreed. I understand CrossFit (TM) HQs position of letting the “cream rise to the top” but I disagree whole-heartedly. There is a regular parade of information in this internet age that too often highlights poor movement, dangerous execution, and a complete lack of coaching. We have a fundamental difference in opinion and feel that if a gym is going to carry our name, it better live up to our standards. We no longer wanted to be associated with haphazard, foolish gyms. But such is life, and a new chapter has begun.
Murhpy’s Barbell Club remains dedicated to some very core principles that the founding members support and strive to adhere too. We are all 100% human, and have struggled with diet, training, dedication and consistency. We all are full-grown adults who have a past that is riddled with bad health education and poor nutritional choices, by our own or that of our parents. We can all say that our parents didn’t know any better. The wealth of information available today has been stifled for decades, and what was known 100 years ago to be fattening, suddenly was no longer evil. High-carb, low-fat diets of the 70′s and beyond has sent this country (and us) into a downward spiral of obesity and all the diseases that come from an inflammatory diet riddled with fake food. The fitness industry has been pushing machines and dance classes, nothing functional. I applaud CrossFit (TM) and the affiliates who have recognized the magic in functional movement and has brought it to the masses. Nobody can discount what CrossFit (TM) has done to the fitness industry.
Our core principles are as follows, in a loose order of significance (very loose):
- The first step towards a healthy lifestyle is drastically changing the foods we eat. Period. End of story. We embrace the “Paleolithic Diet” at Murphy’s for all of it’s natural goodness.
- Humans are designed to be strong. We embrace power-lifting and Olympic lifting for this reason. And because it is so much fun!
- Kids should exercise more, and play less organized sports. Pick one, be good at it. The rest of the time, get strong and stick to a regular workout program.
- Teaching your body to move safely and efficiently through it’s natural range-of-motion, in all extremities, is the key to preventing injury and advancing your fitness goals.
- We believe powerful metabolic conditioning 3-4 days a week on top of a regular strength program is a sound, sustainable approach to long-term fitness and health. We still believe measuring these workouts is essential to tracking our progress.
- Your diet and fitness program should be a means to an end. It should allow you to live your life to the fullest, whatever that is for you. It should not “be” your life.
This list could go on, but those are the basics. We will build from here with a holistic approach to health and wellness. Greg Glassman of CrossFit (TM) was correct when he defined fitness and health as two parts of the same thing. We want you to be healthy and fit. Fit and healthy.
~Coach Bob
