Black Wolf Untitled

Will Black on the Holiday Liftoff

[This is the first time I have sat down to record anything since returning from the COVID shutdown in 2020 so bear with me as I sort out the details of audio engineering (at a very amateur level). There are some weird cuts in here as I removed a few instances of me rambling or not really contributing to the conversation. So each time you can hear a cut, just know I was doing you a favor]

Will Black joined the Black Wolf team of coaches a few weeks back. 

He brings with him a wealth of experience. From starting out under Jeff "Mad Dog" Madden at the University of Texas to being involved in his wife Janet's journey to 9 CrossFit Games appearances. 

But specifically he sat down to discuss the details on Black Label Barbell's Holiday Lift Off which are hosting here at Black Wolf CrossFit on November 27th.

Athletes can register through this link!  

Mask, No Mask for Launch: The Week Ahead 070520

Tomorrow, Monday 7/6, we are back with a full schedule. Here are the details on our return. 

Homer Britton on Being Black in America

Homer was kind enough to sit down with me and to share his perspective on the current social uprisings, the desired changes, and on living every day as a black man. 

As mentioned in the beginning, the purpose is to allow me (and the listener) an ever so brief glimpse into the life of someone who faces obstacles and expectations that are not naturally occurring in my own life due to the color of my skin. 

The Bloom Academy is the amazing charter school where Homer will be serving of chairman of the board this year. Check them out and donate if you are able! 

The video demonstrating privilege in the race Homer discussed can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5fbQ1-zps

Find Homer on Instagram at @HBritton_VI

Happy Friday: Scaled vs. Rx, Our Social Calendar, and Other Things

Happy Friday! The sun came out and it was a beautiful day. Y'all crushed "Nancy" (with Vanessa finishing the day with the fastest time at a blistering 12:13). 

After competing at Hammer & Chisel this past weekend, the question has come up, how do you pick whether you should Rx or should Scale. And who is responsible for keeping the integrity in those divisions? Things are not how they once were. 

Let me know your thoughts. 

Happy Friday: 20.5, Competition this Weekend, and 1 Thing Not All Things

Happy Friday everyone. I wanted to give my thoughts on 20.5 before y'all take it on tonight as well as some brief thoughts on the Open as a whole from the perspective of the affiliate. 

I also wanted to encourage y'all to come out to Hammer & Chisel at Atomic CrossFit to cheer on Summer & Steph, Angie & Morgan, Manny & Adrian, and Hunter & myself. The comp starts around 9:30am and will be done or at least have the "final WOD" (only one division) by 2pm. Short and sweet. You know we appreciate that (Keep it simple stupid). 

Finally, I leave y'all with my most recent mental exercise/struggle. One mistake does not have to lead to EVERYTHING being wrong. Though it certainly may feel like that. I talk about one mistake that has forced this business into an unsustainable position and how, on the tough days, that can mean I feel like it is all a waste of time. But this mistake (made twice in the last 5 years) is able to be remedied and, therefore, not worth dwelling on. Learn and move forward. 

Y'all are awesome. I look forward to getting more content out to y'all in the coming weeks including a sit down with one of our newest one year anniversary athletes, Elle Belle herself! 

Battle the Bullshit: Social media headlines and the impact on those truly affected

Today, July 17th, is Crystal's Birthday! Be sure to wish her a happy birthday on her Instagram page, @CrystalMarieWellness

24:12: The article in question written by science journalist Apoorva Mandavilli 

My Son Got Lyme Disease. He’s Totally Fine. Find the article here. 

23:44: Crystals first thoughts after reading this article 

31:10: Crystal reads Ben’s favorite quote that she introduced to him earlier this week

44:12: The importance of sharing YOUR story, no matter how humble you believe your journey to be

53:52: Who has a responsibility/obligation to share?

“Great news! It’s Lyme Disease! That’s the best thing it could be!”

1:06:47: “So in conclusion” 

1:07:35: Surround yourself with the right people who support and push you

Mindfulness: Our point of focus for July

Crystal Dunlap joined our team here at Black Wolf two months ago as the second coach in our Freestyle program, working alongside the amazing Kim Coble. 

Crystal's experiences developing coaches and programs around the world have positioned her to have a unique view on how to imprlment areas of focus into programs. We adopted this idea and now we roll out a theme for each month. 

This month we will be looking at mindfulness, introducing different practices and ideas each week in order to help all of us remain not in the past, not in the future, but here in the now. 

Resources: 

Of all of the resources available, my (Ben) favorite is episode 122 from the Tim Ferriss podcast. Here he lays out a few best practices that he has utilized to help him remain in the now. 

Another short post that was impactful to me comes from Ryan Holiday, author of Ego is the Enemy and The Obstacle is the Way on his blog

C&T Ep. 52: Completing one trip around the Sun

 

1:57- Joel begins to lay out the schedule for the teams traveling to Austin for The Fittest Experience this weekend. Joel and Miranda are on separate teams but competing Saturday and Sunday. 

 

4:20- The value of singing up for a competition 

 

21:05- The Fittest Experience is becoming the Texas version of Wodapalooza 

 

23:20- Ben thinks this years CrossFit games might just be a huge shit show

 

24:15- Cheating by CrossFit Games athlete in The Open? Here is a link from Morning Chalk Up catching you up on the controversy. https://morningchalkup.com/2019/04/24/elite-athletes-call-for-improvements-to-hqs-video-review-amid-devin-ford-controversy/

 

29:31- Quite a few CrossFit Games athletes are incredibly well educated and intelligent

 

33:10- We had 10 athletes compete at the Festivus Games hosted by CrossFit 1836 in Humble. And they all did awesome

 

34:05- Hey owners and coaches, Ben is sick of you teaching your athletes it’s ok to maintain poor standards of movement. We are done blaming the judges. This is on the affiliate and the local gym these athletes come out of. Why on earth is happening inside of your 4 walls? Take some pride in what you teach. 

 

38:45- The story of the Houston Area Affiliate Community criticizing an affiliate owner for pointing out rampant trash reps at a competition that was $100 per team. All he said was this is not right and the response from literally everyone was that he should mind his business………… 

 

41:30- Another example of how nobody can do a good deed without someone (many someones more often than not) having some shitty thing to say about it. Looking at you animal rescue “advocates.”

 

C&T Ep. 50: What's the WORST & BEST thing about coaching?

C&T Ep. 49: Do Less to Get More

The boys discuss Miranda's new passion project, The Strong Woman Project (sorry for the redundancy), why double days are not the way to go, and what hobbies actually fully serve the role of being a hobby. 

 

:50- Check out Joe Rogan's sit down with Kevin Hart. Here's a clip: It's Not Cool to be Positive

10:50- Things get serious. Miranda is about to crack some skulls and kick some ass. What got her blood boiling and why is she going to be delivering a message to the community on Monday?

25:35- So you like double days do ya? You like to hit CrossFit at 5:30 then some Freestyle at 6:45? Well, we have some thoughts on why this might not always be the best idea. 

28:55- Ben challenges you to do less in order to achieve more

37:05- What is your escape? Joel went for a bike ride around town and Ben completed a 2000 piece puzzle solo. What hobbies do you have or recommend?