America Peals

From across the pond, I am delighted to share with you an interview I had with Steven Shrago, coach and co-owner (with Andrew Stemler) of CrossFit London. Given that this year of CrossFit research has yielded wonderful insight and humor from Boxes all around the States, I decided to spread my omniscient net toward Europe and snared Shrago from CrossFit London. (What Shrago doesn’t know is that is he hosting me when I visit.)

So first, I promise to not make any redundant jokes about the difference between Americans and Brits; Ricky Gervais does a far better job. I will not presume Sean Connery is from England (the Scots hate that) nor will I ask Shrago if Prince Harry has been to CF London ( I hope he has).

Amanda: Steven, tell me a  little history about yourself and how you came into CrossFit.

Steven:I’m an ex-rugby player who had to retire in my early 20’s due to a neck injury. I had always been sporty (specifically proper, British sports!), but after rugby I didn’t have any real reason to train. Used to spend hours in the gym doing the classical weight training/cardio stuff, but there was no real goal behind it. Slowly I drifted away, and work pressures (or perhaps the temptation of Macdonalds right next to the office…) ended up with me seriously out of shape. I stumbled across CrossFit through some videos through Scott Bird’s, Straight to the Bar website. Liked the look of it, searched for crossfit in London, and found Andrew and the CrossFit London i-Course.

Then at one point in the middle of last year, in between kettlebell, gymnastics and oly lifting certs we had a curry and decided to open a ‘proper’ box. I’m still not sure exactly how we got to that point…

Amanda: I had an interesting conversation the other night w CF Gymnastics coach, Jeff Tucker. He noted that in England in the 70″s, gymnastic classes were beginning to wane in schools. Is this true? If so, how much do you as a couch value the gymnastic module of CF?

Steven: ‘Tis funny Tucker should mention that, because I fairly sure that this was exactly the same point that Andrew made to him when we attended the Gymnastics Cert! From a coaching point of view I really enjoy the gymnastic elements of CrossFit. I particularly like the body awareness aspects; being able to control yourself through all three dimensions when dangling from the rings. Also the courage that it takes some people (even some really tough people) to get upside down. Like the saying goes: do something that scares your every day!

Amanda: Continuing with the gymnastic model, how do you coach a woman who has never exercised how to begin a hand stand? Or a muscle up?

Steven: Andrew is probably in a better position to answer this one than me. Put short, we work through the same set of progressions with everyone, be they an accomplished athlete, or a middle aged women getting back into exercise for the first time in years. We start slowly with some gentle kicking up drills from a sprinter’s stance. And for some people, just the idea of having their head lower than their shoulders is enough. In time we bring in both legs (still kicking up), before taking it to the wall with some spotting.

As for the muscle-up (which we do programme for everyone) we use the Tucker progressions. Once again, for some people it is enough just to train the muscle memory of the motion before adding any load.

Amanda: What makes CrossFit an opitimal choice for women wanting to get in shape? Most women want to get skinny and do a class or two at a globo gym. How do you sell: This may make you puke and it damn well never gets easier.

Steven: Funnily enough, we play down the puke element of the training! On reflection we probably have more women members than men at the moment. I think out lot really enjoy the skills work, as well as being pushed in the workouts. I think there is a underlying sexism in the gyms in the uk that runs something along the lines of: women should not do weights; head over to the cross trainer and swiss ball, and away from the free weights area. We find that after few sessions with the barbell learning new skills, adding some weight, keeping a note of personal records, and we have people hooked. Some of the most memorable sessions that I have run have been with the women in the gym when they surprise themselves with the weight that they can shift!

Amanda: Note any fundamental differences in CF between England and the States?

Steven: Interesting question…I did my Level 1 cert in the States so got to meet a few East coasters. The impression that the videos online and people that I met gave is the CF is crossing over into the mainstream. There are hundreds of affiliates in the States, and some are huge! In the UK, I think we are running at around 30-ish and most are fairly small. We are still viewed as the odd ones, but not yet seen as a threat to the national gym chains.

As for outlook, it is difficult to say. We are not big into thrash metal or music at all in the box (we like the sound of our own voices too much!). We seem to spend more time on technique that some of the visitors from overseas are used to (so they tell us).

I suppose we probably speak with funny accents too…

Amanda: Paleo or Zone?

Steven: Paleo. No question. The only ‘diet’ that I have ever done that a) I can actually stick to, and b) enjoy! I like the idea of focusing on quality over quantity (at least at the beginning). I am not even nearly disciplined enough to weigh and measure – plus it would screw with my meal planning.

Amanda: As this is a blog about newbie crossfitters, how do on ramp a new crossfitter who has never deadlifted, done a handstand or a clean and jerk. All movements are sooo nuanced and require great internal balance. In other words, do all people with the right attitude have the ability to b/c a legitimate CrossFitter?

Steven:We run a monthly one day workshop for people new to or curious about CrossFit; think of it as a Level 1 Cert without the lectures, but with more gymnastics work all crammed into a single day! We do our best to engage everyone at all ability levels by teaching the progressions for many, many moves. What we try and do is create an atmosphere where people feel safe being ‘brave’ i.e. they trust us enough that they will try new things, and get outside of their comfort zone. And perhaps that is the key to success?