S03E123 Unboxed: Masters Fitness Championship 2023 with Daniel Coda and Kevin Yurchak

Ever wonder how athletes recover and strategize during a high-level, three-day fitness championship? Coaches David Syvertsen @davesy85 and Sam Rhee @bergencosmetic unbox the trials, triumphs and strategies of two seasoned competitors and special guests - Daniel Coda @dannehnj and Kevin Yurchak @yurchak_cfwe_life - in the thrilling Masters Fitness Championship, Sept 29 - Oct 1, 2023 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, IN.

They take you behind the scenes of the grueling workout and their practices for load management, but the episode isn't just about brute strength. It's about the mental game too. Hear about the athletes' approach to the various workouts as well as adapting to sudden workout changes and how it affected their performances.

But it's not all blood and sweat. Join us as Daniel and Kevin reflect on the friendships forged, the mental battles, and the exhilaration of completing these punishing routines. Get their take on what went right at the Championship, as well as areas for improvement - all from the perspective of the athletes on the ground. If you're into competitive fitness or merely curious about what it takes to compete at the top echelons, this episode is your ringside seat to the action!

@crossfitbison @crossfittraining @crossfit @crossfitgames #crossfit #sports #exercise #health #movement #crossfitcoach #agoq #clean #fitness #ItAllStartsHere #CrossFitOpen #CrossFit #CrossFitCommunity @CrossFitAffiliates #supportyourlocalbox #crossfitaffiliate #personalizedfitness

0:05 Masters Fitness Championship Recap and Recovery

9:45 Swimming and Preparations for a Competition

21:32 Mental Approach to CrossFit Workout

27:24 High-Volume Gymnastics and Barbell Workout

35:41 Workout Critiques and Complaints at Competition

43:59 Workout Changes and Athlete Complaints

50:09 Contemplating Changes and Final Workouts

57:33 Athlete Feedback on Masters Fitness Championship

S03E123 Unboxed: Masters Fitness Championship 2023 with Daniel Coda and Kevin Yurchak

[00:00:00] David Syvertsen: Welcome back to the herd fit podcast. I'm coach David Syvertsen. I'm here with my co host doctor and coach Sam Rhee on the other side of the table. And we have two guests. That's why we're so far apart today. Sam, I miss you, man. But we have two very special guests today. Guys, two guys that just competed in the master's fitness championship out of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

This was last week, last week at this time, they were almost. Wrapping up the three day competition that had nine events? Seven. Seven events. And we're going to go over them, but I have with me a friend of the podcast, a multiple time appearance, guest appearance, Daniel Kota, who just competed in the 40 to 44 division.

And long time friend, um, also fellow competitor, I've competed against this guy, uh, former gym owner and current Bison Beast, Kevin Urchak. Fellas, how we doing?

[00:00:49] Kevin Yurchak: Good, really good. Yep. Do well. Thanks for having us. Who goes first?

[00:00:52] Daniel Coda: Oh my gosh.

[00:00:54] David Syvertsen: Usually, usually it's pretty easy to figure out who's going to talk when it's just one guest.

But I will do my best to facilitate how we go through that just so it doesn't get awkward like a zoom call. Uh, but guys, thanks so much for coming on. We're going to dive right into this. We're going to have these guys on for a couple of episodes and, uh, we're going to really break down the masters fitness championship.

Those guys. Have put a ton of effort, time, energy, investment into providing an opportunity for Masters to compete, just like Legends. And, I don't know if those guys are friends or competitors, I don't really care either. Uh, but the two of them have done such a good job giving the Masters a platform to really put themselves out there and compete.

And I want to get their story out there, their workouts, the good and bad and ugly of the competition and break these workouts down, break the event down, from two guys that I've known for a long time, have a lot of respect for as people and as athletes. Um, and they're both very smart, they're just smart people and I think they have a lot to offer both to the Masters Fitness Championship staff and also Masters competitors out there.

Sam, opening thoughts on these two Masters Fitness Championship before we dive right in.

[00:01:59] Sam Rhee: These two are some of the best athletes, maybe among the best like top two or three that we have at our gym. Like, I watch them move for years now and they, uh, have a long history of competition, of excellence, of athletic performance.

So, I... You know, their opinion, what they think, matters a lot to me because they represent, I would say, some of the highest achieving plus highest mentally, sort of, um, people that we have here, uh, at

[00:02:33] David Syvertsen: CrossFit Bison. So, Dan, you're, you're, this is your second time competing at Masters Fitness Championship. It used to be called Masters Fitness Collective.

Yeah. Alright. Um. How are you feeling a week out after that competition of seven events? A couple of really nasty workouts too that we will dive into. Are you fully recovered? Are you ready to train again? Where's your head at? Where's your

[00:02:57] Daniel Coda: body at? Yeah, this was a, um, definitely very challenging, uh, weekend.

I think it was harder than last year, and, uh, last year was pretty hard. Um, a week out, I'm finally starting to feel like a human again, I would say. Like, like, seven days. Yeah, yeah, the, um, I would say the immediate, that night, on the plane, going home, the next, like, two to three days, it was a really... Just feeling down and like just out of it like nothing.

There wasn't like nothing was Fueling that fire, you know, I was just like yeah, I just want to be home I want to I don't even want to work out which is very rare for me. Yeah I took you know two days where I did absolutely nothing I sat in front of my computer and worked and didn't did like even working was a little bit hard like Focusing everything was just a little bit harder for two to three days.

I started just moving again on day three And by day four, I started feeling basically my mood shift, which was, uh, you know, I've, I've done a lot of competitions and I would say this, this three day one is, is a much harder, uh, on your body, on your mind, on everything. And so. Uh, now a week out, I'm finally feeling kind of back to normal, nothing's hurting anymore.

It's, it's a little wild, but I finally, I finally feel good again. Awesome.

[00:04:20] David Syvertsen: Now, Kev, this is, Kev competed at the CrossFit Northeast Regionals in 2011, and do you know, off the top of your head, is this the first time you've done a three? We'll edit that out.

[00:04:34] Daniel Coda: No, we won't. That's too much work.

[00:04:39] David Syvertsen: Um. Is that the first time that you've competed for three days consecutive since then?

I was actually thinking about that

[00:04:44] Kevin Yurchak: today. Uh, yes, I believe so. Um, and actually, I was talking to my, uh, friend Brendan Lynott, who I competed with in 2011, and we were joking that it was the last time we did a three day competition, and then... We remembered we got cut in the last day of regionals, so. So I do believe that was only a two day, or maybe two day, maybe one in the morning.

Got it, alright, so this is maybe your first day. So I do believe this is the first time that it was that long. And there was definitely, there's definitely a difference. I mean, getting up, we were joking a lot when we were there. We're like, this feels like, it starts to feel like Groundhog's Day. It's like you're going.

You're working out, you're going to the place, it's like, you know, then it's like we come back and like the second you can get out of there, you want to get out because you want to come back, you want to try to eat something, you want to try to sit down, you know, get in the ice bath, throw on the Normatec boots, whatever it is, but it's like, and then it's like that anxiety kicks in because you're like, oh, I got half hour, we got to be back at the place.

So it was definitely, it's definitely a lot, you know, it comes at you quick. Yeah.

[00:05:35] David Syvertsen: So let's break that down, the recovery components between workouts, and then we'll start breaking these workouts down. For those on the outside looking in that want to do this someday, and they like to train, they love CrossFit, they're capable of qualifying for something like this, and they want to go spend 3 4 days and invest some money and do something like this.

You know, you can train for the competition, you can break down the workouts, come up with strategy, you know, I think that the amount of time, effort, energy put into the recovery components between days and between workouts is vital. How long, Kev, did you guys have in between events on an average basis and what did you do?

To accelerate some of your recovery that was needed in between.

[00:06:19] Kevin Yurchak: So typically we would, uh, have an event about every four hours. So on, I think Friday it was 12 and four, uh, Saturday was our longer day and we had three events, so it was 12, four and seven. And then similar on Sunday was I think 11 and three.

So it was essentially like a four hour window. So, you know, what was good for me, I'm not typically somebody who works out early in the morning like a lot of you guys. So for me, that 12 o'clock time was the perfect time to start, wake up, have breakfast. I kind of felt like it was a good thing. I kind of go for a walk, just get moving a little bit.

Um, get out in the sun. I just something that, that, uh, works for me and then it was, you know, essentially go to the workout and it was, it worked out well for both of us because we were in back to back heat. So given the division that we were in, it was, uh, uh, Dan would go and then I would go. So we were able to kind of be there, support each other.

I was able to, I was mostly warming up and he was, I was able to see a little bit, get a quick like word in with him. Hey, how'd it go? Like little things, little tips, which was very helpful for me. Um, but then essentially the second the workout ended, it was like, we, Sprinted over to the ice bath that was there.

Um, there was one of the vendors that was there. It was Michael Phelps uh, uh, ice bath company, whatever it was. So I mean, we literally would hop right in, and then it was, let's get out, let's get home. We stayed very close to, um, the, uh, the Coliseum at the Airbnb, and we would get home. And the hardest part was like trying to eat something, trying to get something in your stomach, um, you know, to kind of like refuel a little bit given how much time you had.

What was your go to? I mean, my go to is, I'm very weird with what I eat, I eat the same thing at all times. As I found out, I had groceries delivered, um, while I was on the airplane coming here. Also, what

[00:07:51] David Syvertsen: else did you have delivered to your Airbnb?

[00:07:53] Kevin Yurchak: Uh, an air fryer, so I had about, what, eight, ten pounds of beef delivered.

Oh my god. I had rice, fruit, honey, and I, like I said, I had the same thing whether I'm at home, whether I'm there, that's just kind of who I am. That's awesome. So for me, it was, it's one less thing to think about. So I knew it was, it was ready. What happened in like, you know, cook it up, eat it. And it was really just kind of getting down as many calories as you could at that point.

Um, uh,

Um, and it was really just kind of taking turns in that and, and just kind of trying to just like get out of the... The craziness that's there, the noise, the loud, you know, for me it's like just get into a calm and then think about what, you know, what's

[00:08:33] David Syvertsen: up next. I'm huge on that. Just get into that calm environment, even if it's an extra car trip or two.

It's great to be away from all the commotion. Uh, the question would be if it's you have an event every two hours, you really don't have the time to do that. So you almost prefer the bigger gaps. Yeah in between events. Dan the recovery last year compared to this year Did you do anything different this time around as compared to 2020 too?

[00:08:55] Daniel Coda: Yeah, um a lot actually So last year I stayed in the hotel that was right across the street from the venue. Um, so convenience wise It was great. We could walk over it took 10 minutes. I could drive it take two two minutes Um, but I didn't have um Yeah, I didn't have a kitchen. I didn't have all that extra, um, just like comfort there.

So this time we had the Airbnb, um, which was just hugely helpful. Like I, I got there actually early. I went, um, early Thursday so I could have the full day to kind of just settle in. Um, I went food shopping myself after check in, just hung out in the hotel, um, coming in the Airbnb, uh, I worked on a lot of hydration, um, so like, I know on, on the plane, um, you start to dehydrate a little bit, even though it's not super long, um, you know, I was taking element packs and getting my hydration in that day, because I knew it was just going to be a little bit harder, just trying to eat as much as I could that Thursday, you Um, knowing that it was going to get harder and harder to eat as I went

[00:09:55] Sam Rhee: along.

How many calories did you count?

[00:09:57] David Syvertsen: Um, I was counting,

[00:09:59] Daniel Coda: uh, right up till that, till that day before I left. Um, and I think I was around 3, 000 calories. Um, and, uh, for that, that last, like, week leading up to it, we, we amped it up. I've been working with, um, Kelly Cabot about it. Um, she's an awesome nutritionist. Um, and, um.

And so, other than that, like, the, this year, I, this, I've jumped on the Ice Bat Wagon. Yeah, let's go!

[00:10:24] David Syvertsen: Whatever.

[00:10:25] Daniel Coda: Uh, I love it. I love it. I, I, it's great.

[00:10:28] David Syvertsen: When, what did you do? Did you bring one out there or did you have a bathtub?

[00:10:31] Daniel Coda: Uh, I thought about it actually, but, um, I saw early on that they had a sponsor there, um, in, in the venue.

Okay. To have ice baths Unlimited. Um, actually on day one we were, uh, one of the later ones to go. We, it was like four heats after us and we were done for the. And they were packing up, and I went over there, and I'm like, Can I just jump in real, real quick? And she's like, Nah, we're closed. I'm like, I just did 90 squats, and my legs are gonna die.

Can I please, like, I begged her out. How do you, how do you say no to that pretty little kid face? Yeah, she let me in. She let me in. Ah, you win, nice. Um, but then, um, Taf didn't get in, so. I didn't get in, that was the first phase, apparently. Take off your shirt for her, Kevin. Yeah, we went to, uh, a gas station, got a bunch of ice, threw it in the ice, ice at home, in the bathtub at home, and, uh, I went in a second time, cause I, That first, that workout, when we get to it, just join me.

Last

[00:11:21] David Syvertsen: question about that ice bath, and then we'll get into these workouts. The, I don't care that much about this, but I know some do. A sponsor has ice baths there, you guys aren't showering before you go in. Is it just like, hey, grit your teeth together, and you are now the 19th person after a sweaty workout getting in there?

You just do, I mean, at the end of the day, you're trying to cool your body temperature down. Yeah. You don't care, they're not like, emptying these things and putting them back in, right?

[00:11:46] Kevin Yurchak: At the end of the night, they did, but obviously not during it, no. I mean, you're just kind of, you know. At that point, you just don't care that much.

You really don't care, you're in a huge open coliseum.

[00:11:54] David Syvertsen: I was curious, because I saw you guys, your pictures. A, those ice baths look sick. Yeah, they were. What company was that? Do you remember? I

[00:12:00] Daniel Coda: think it's called GOAT. It's Michael Phelps's company. All right. Give them a shout. Yeah. And, uh, yeah, they were awesome.

And they, um, the, their, those systems are very expensive. They have filtration systems in there. They actually go hot or cold, whatever. Wow. Really? Yeah. Um, but they were down like in like 40, 44 and it felt like so good.

[00:12:22] David Syvertsen: That's awesome. Good. So speaking of water, you guys started off this competition in a pool.

You know, the first event was a 500 meter swim for time, and if you're a swimmer, that doesn't scare you. If you're not a swimmer, you might as well put someone to drop in the middle of the ocean and tell them to come home. Because that's not a short distance. That is 7 to 8 to 9 to 10 minutes in the water.

Were you guys, did you have to go the entire time back and forth? Were you allowed to rest at the end of a pool? Was there anywhere to stand? What was that like, that event, Kev? Yeah, I can

[00:12:57] Kevin Yurchak: start out. Um, so, for me, I don't have any swimming experience. Um, I grew up in Legapakon, so I've swam, but not swimming as far as, you know, competitive swimming.

Even, you know, properly, you know, getting your head under water, breathing, all that type of mechanics. So, for me, this was something that was entirely new. You know, I definitely put it off a little bit, and it was really going, maybe, was it two weeks out or so, they announced the workouts, and, and, you know, what they had done in previous year, which we kind of knew there was going to be a swim, it was more of a sprint, they did like a knockout style, where they would have everybody go, and each, each time, down and back, they would eliminate, you know, four people or whatever, so something like that, you can kind of get away with it, you can be like, you know what, I can just, Go really far underwater, just, you know, kick as hard as I can and hope for the best.

Um, but this was not the case. As you mentioned, there's a 12 minute cap and the workout was essentially broken up into, you know, people that knew what they were doing, that were swimming six, seven minutes, that were head down the whole time and go. Then there was the people and I kind of fell into that second range where it was I developed the proper technique But I couldn't continuously be going back and forth the whole time and then there's the people that were like I just don't want to die and I want to make it to the next time So there were there was more of that than probably what you you know what you'd expect But I mean for my for myself and Dan was on a different level of it than I was but it was swim down Turn around, hold on to the wall, give it a breath or two, and then come back and try to just maintain basically like, you know, it was down and back ten times, so it was like, can I do this continuously with only a couple breaths in between, try to do it under a minute as we go back and forth, and kind of just, and kind of just hope for the best.

[00:14:33] David Syvertsen: Dan, what gets fatigued the most in a swim like that? Is it the breathing, or is it the lats?

[00:14:39] Daniel Coda: Yeah, no, I think that the breathing is the scariest part of it all because, like, you're underwater and if you need to take a breath, you can't. Um, there's moments where you kind of get that, like, painfulness where it's like you feel like the extra c tick does, um...

Like carbon dioxide build up and like, you wanna take a breath, but you can't mm-hmm. . Um, so the, the lasts do fatigue, but that's something that is not like, you can push through that. That's not really an issue. It, it's people, it's, I think what scares people, what's causes, makes people stop is, is the breathing okay?

Um, so like I was a lifeguard growing up. I never swam competitively, but I, I fish in the water, so I love it. You're built well for swimming too. Yeah, yeah, so that was an event that I was going into, like, I want to win this thing. Like, there's not, if there's not a college level swimmer here, like, I have a chance.

Yeah. It's funny, it's

[00:15:25] David Syvertsen: like you said, the gap between like a real swimmer, like a Nick Squire and us, even if you're like, It's night and day. You know, it's like, it's like a scratch golfer and I try to break a hundred when I golf. It's just a completely different ball game. Oh yeah.

[00:15:38] Daniel Coda: I was working with, uh, with Nick just getting pointers and tips of like what to do, how to get better.

What like little tricks, uh, from a, you know, college level swimmer. He's like, yeah, it should take you like six minutes. And I practiced the first time I tried it out. I was like nine minutes. I'm like, all right, no, this is a totally different thing. Um, but, uh, but it was good because the guys who were right around my level.

Um, I was able to kind of, uh, like make them go a little harder than they wanted to, like I talked to a couple guys who were next to me afterwards, and they were like, Ah, I was trying to keep up with you, and I totally fell off my pace, um, and so that was something that, it was, it was, I was strong, strong in that

[00:16:14] Sam Rhee: one.

Why do you think they just programmed a straight swim event as opposed to, say, we've seen at the games where they mix in some sort of, like you said, SkiErg or something else along with it, like, is it just to test swimming fitness, that's it?

[00:16:27] Kevin Yurchak: I mean, I was going to say, I think part of it from, from their end, if, if I were running the event, I would be worried about people getting in and out of the pool, doing something else, you know, liability, that, that type of stuff.

I don't know what all went into it, but if I had to guess it was, it was a little bit on that end. I think if you mix anything else with the level of swimmers that were there, it would have been, it would have been pretty difficult because people were having a hard enough time just kind of getting by as well.

Really? Yeah, yeah. I mean, there, yeah, there was, there was more people that were near the cap then it was, there was a 12 minute cap. Did people like, resort

[00:16:59] David Syvertsen: to like, breaststroke, doggy paddle tight? You saw

[00:17:02] Kevin Yurchak: everything. Okay. You saw stand, stand. So you were allowed to stand. So literally you're allowed to stand if, you know, obviously they don't want you to drown.

So for safety, I mean, the guy next to me and I, I, you know, this was not an event where I was looking around trying to figure out what anybody's doing. It was like just trying to breathe and survive. And I would go back and forth every couple times and I would just see somebody standing in the middle of the pool next to me.

Oh, it was shallow enough? I'm like, I'm like, well, I beat one guy. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah. It was, it was like four or five feet. Yeah. Well, it wasn't

[00:17:29] David Syvertsen: very deep. That's gotta be a stressor for guys that run these comps is, you know, high level CrossFit, swimming's involved. Period. And you hear guys like Kashub talk about, if you can't swim, you don't belong at the games.

I know this is not the games, but we talked about these guys might be the replacement for the games someday. And I think it's important for them to put themselves in that experience of running a competition that has swimming. Accept the liability that Kevin said. Um, I've seen a qualifier for Legends, the Masters comp, they did a 21 15 9 Dumbbell Thrusters with swimming in between.

Like, that's a different level of, that's a different kind of swimming, right? And you could say it's dangerous. And I, I would always say that for Masters swimming, we're not pro athletes. You know, we don't train this all year round. It's gotta be in a pool. You can't put these guys in a lake or a beach, like that's when you, were there even lifeguards there?

Do you remember? Okay, a couple. So, um, that, that's a really interesting way to start the off the, uh, off the comp. The good thing I like about it, in regard to Masters, it doesn't physically beat you up. Like, you're not walking out of there with sore quads and lats and torn up hands and everything. It's just, it's a test of fitness that does kind of keep the playing field even the rest of the weekend.

What was the fastest time that you guys saw there? Uh, I think

[00:18:39] Daniel Coda: Low Sixes. Really? Yeah, and those were college swimmers. They were Yeah, I went up to talk to them after they

[00:18:44] David Syvertsen: were done. Yeah. Uh, yeah, swam at the Olympics. Yeah. Yeah. Alright, cool. Uh, second event, okay, that I thought was really well programmed. Uh, Thousand Meter Ski Erg was their score.

Uh, was the time, was the task they had to

[00:18:59] Daniel Coda: complete. Oh, that's, that's, um... Bjorn Dahlin. Different order. Alright,

[00:19:03] David Syvertsen: well, we'll just go over them. Okay. We don't have to do them in order. Okay. So the one I have right here, okay, is Thousand Meter Ski Erg. Okay, that was your task. However... Every minute on the minute, including at the start, you have to do 20 crossovers with the RX Marker Smartgear Free Row Rope Jump Rope.

Is that the beaded jump rope? Yeah. Okay, so a beaded jump rope. They supplied it for you? Yeah. So basically you guys have to row a thousand meters on the ski, which is not easy. Okay. A lot of upper body fatigue, shoulder tricep fatigue after swimming. Um, and then do these. Kind of like new slash trendy competition jump rope, uh, test, and it's the crossover.

Man, 20 crossovers, single unders. Yes, single unders. Yeah, so you're not doing the double unders. Um, Dan, you had this last year. You had these crossovers last year. That was the first time we saw them at a competition of this caliber, right? Because I think the games programmed them as well that year. And, you know, like anything, the first time you do them...

You start freaking out because you can't figure it out. You think, you know, you spend all these years trying to get the double unders and now it's... Crossovers, like what's next? Triplunders, you know, which is probably gonna be the case. Uh, you've made us, you're awesome at them. You know, if I had to pick three people in the gym that dominate them, you're on that list.

What was your key to getting better at them over the course of the past year?

[00:20:24] Daniel Coda: Um, yeah, I mean, I think that just getting your, you know, getting practice on it, just like any new skills, like it just, once or twice a week after class, I would just take out the rope, just keep practicing it, keep trying it, get a lot of back whip marks, because those are way worse than double unders, because when they cross, it really gets you, um, but I think it's, yeah, it's just, you got to just put the time and focus into one specific thing.

Um, so kind of like I've built up over the years, any specific movement, I just Didn't try to like, there's just so much in CrossFit to do. Um, and luckily I'm at a stage where I've, I've nailed a bunch of the skills. So taking on a new skill is just, it's just focus. Like

[00:21:04] David Syvertsen: anytime. Kev, you're not as fluid as them.

You're kind of like with me, like you, you needed to work on them over the past year. You tried a bunch of different robes. What were you like on this workout and what was your mindset like? Because you're really good on the machines. You've always been good on the machines. So the skier doesn't bother you that much.

But if you keep tripping up on these crossovers, that really kind of takes out that strength. What was your mental approach going into it? A, knowing the workout ahead of time and B, you have seen progress with the crossovers. What's your input on that?

[00:21:33] Kevin Yurchak: So. For me it was the first thing was this was announced obviously a little bit before so it was get the rope that we're going to have to use in the event so I went on Rogue, ordered the rope and it was alright get used to it figure out you know like you know the length of it how you're moving it where your hands are going um you know again I had practiced it you know before as it's kind of been you know coming up here between singles and crossovers and everything that's you know now come out so getting as comfortable as I could on the rope was my number one thing saying alright I mean this is the rope I'm taking out there I'm going to use it and you know let's just really Take the time to, uh, you know, as Dan said, a couple minutes after your workout, it's really not difficult to practice.

It's not overly fatiguing. You're not trying to build strength. It's just something where if I say, let's hit the clock for Tabata and say, I'm going to do 20 seconds of this and then rest and do it again. And for me, what I found that once I got the rope started, I would generally be okay, I wouldn't, it was the first one where I would, if I was going to, you know, trip, it was, it was that it was going to be on that first rep.

So, um, going into it, this was the most nerve wracking workout for me because it's so, it was so short. It was, it was, if you trip once, you trip twice, it could affect, you know, the minute you finish into the next minute and that could just have a huge, uh, you know, a huge impact on your, on your, on your ranking in that workout.

So that was my number one thing, was just focused on, even if I'm not doing them, I jump higher than probably what I need to, but I was like, you know what, I just don't want to trip because that's going to save me a little bit. And looking back at the video, I could see some of the guys next to me were going faster, but I just kind of had to rely on.

You know, for me, like you mentioned, I have like long, um, uh, wingspan. I'm taller than some of the other athletes, so I can pull and make up some ground on the skier as I'm going. But it was just, just don't trip, just don't trip, which is not, the don't is not the best thing as we mentioned. As you want to think about going into a workout is not messing up, but it was really like just get through that and then just rip the, you know, the skier as hard as you could.

How long does

[00:23:20] Sam Rhee: it take to do 20 crossover single unders? On average,

[00:23:23] Kevin Yurchak: I believe we were getting on the ski around like 18, 20 seconds. That sound about right, Dan? Yeah. Yeah. So it's, it's really not that long. It's just a matter of, you know, again, if you're starting it right at the start of the minute and then, and then going, so it's, it's really, it's really quick because you know, it's, it's crossing one, the single counts is two.

So you're going back and forth. It really wasn't that long. So you're really crossing 10 times. Correct. Yeah. So you have

[00:23:46] David Syvertsen: about

[00:23:46] Sam Rhee: 40 seconds of skier every time.

[00:23:49] Daniel Coda: Yeah, this, this is a workout that, um, when I think back on and make, this is the one where I get angry because this is, was where my, um, this was an execution mistake on my end.

Uh, this cost me the podium, I think a hundred percent because in practice I had nailed this. I was, you know, I was, I finished it in the five minute, um, Imam window. Um, I was pretty confident that I could push a little bit more on the ski and I. in practice was very, um, relaxed on the crossover. And so that, that's a big part of actually key to it.

When you start doing skill, especially on the ropes, this is double unders as well. You really need to relax your body. Once you start tensing up, you're starting to, um, shorten your, your motion. You're starting to, everything's starting to go off a little bit. And so I was, I was in a position, um, on the end of day two where I was kind of starting to crawl back up the leaderboard.

And I was thinking to myself, I need to do well on this. I, and I put it in my head a little bit too much pressure on myself. And I tripped up just like Kevin said, a few too many times. And I had, and I moved into that sixth minute with like, I had 25 cows left, I mean, uh, meters left. I pushed that last one.

I was pulling 128 on the speed and everything I had to stop to do it because I had tripped twice in that last minute. Um, uh, and so yeah, so sometimes like you just got to remind yourself to be calm.

[00:25:11] David Syvertsen: One of the biggest skills in competing is knowing, staying smooth, right? Smooth is fast, but also there are workouts where there's urgency, right?

I just call that, that's an urgency workout to me. I've been programming some things like that for other people, like, just different machines combined with wall balls, blah, blah, blah, right? And it's titled Urgency. And Urgency does not mean stress out. Urgency in a competition is you simply need to go, it's a 80 90 percent effort, but maintaining the quality of movement.

And if you can't maintain the quality of movement, you have to dial it back. And it's really hard to do that stuff in the moment. It's a learning experience, but it's almost something you have to go through. Yeah. To really fully understand.

[00:25:47] Sam Rhee: Well, that's kind of weird because you have to really sort of empty the tank on their skier and then relax Yeah And just execute on these single under or crossovers Which is like and then you have to empty

[00:25:57] David Syvertsen: the tank again and then relax and with interference fatigue like the skier right jump rope And now the same one and like you said, this is so

[00:26:04] Sam Rhee: fast that you know Once you you can't And the mental part of what Kevin was saying about not messing up, like that's such a hard thing to think about when, you know, cause that's when I mess up every time is like when I say,

[00:26:18] David Syvertsen: don't mess up.

Remember at the games, uh, TIA's last, not this past year, 2022. They had to do 50 unbroken single on this. It's the same exact thing. You can't screw up. If you screw up, you gotta go back to zero. And that was, that's, that's You know she can do 50 single on theirs unbroken. Why does she keep tripping up? Like, even the best have those mental hurdles.

It's tough. Really good job by the programmers for their Masters Fitness that they programmed this. I thought, the one thing I give them, they, they're creative. They do things outside the box, and you could always argue is it too outside the box, but, you know, I really give them a lot of respect for trying some things that are new, trend setting, and getting away from the norm, because I do think it's a part of CrossFit that we get away from as we go deeper into it.

Alright, let's talk about the workout that you guys might still be having some nightmares from, okay? It's called Triple Threat. 50 back squats, 40 toes to bar. 30 shoulder to overhead, 40 front squats, 30 pull ups, 20 shoulder to overhead, 30 overhead squats, 20 chest to bar pull ups, 10 shoulder to overhead.

So basically it's just a bunch of back and forth between gymnastics and barbell. High volume, high capacity, a lot of repetitive movement patterns. The RX barbell, the guys there in the RX division had 135. 95. The elite division had 155. 115. Um, I did have someone ask if we could program this one for Bicep.

Please don't. Um, his, his first name is, uh, starts with an A and ends with an X. So you guys can figure that out. Who that is. Um, but guys, this was the workout. This was day one? Yeah. Okay, second workout? Yes, so this workout sticks with you the rest of the weekend. No matter who you are, what you do, how good you are at it.

And, you know, that's a discussion for another time, should you program this early in the comp, but, you know, what do you even do with Kev? When you look at a workout like this, are you breaking down reps per minute? Are you trying to come up with where I should be pushing, where I should be dialing it back a notch?

Is this even finishable? Like, what's your mindset when you look at a workout like this, considering that you have so much to do after?

[00:28:28] Kevin Yurchak: Yeah. So we did have a conversation with, with all of us saying, you know, uh, when the workout came out thinking, all right, kind of, how do I attack this? What, uh, you know, like you said, reps per minute, but it's, you know, it is very different because reps per minute on obviously like, you know, your, your 50 back squats versus then going on to the pull ups and, you know, it was just so barbell intensive that.

You had to kind of look at it in terms of how do I get through each movement? How long is it going to take me? So I did a, I did kind of a. I don't want to say like 80 percent maybe like dry run, um, earlier on just to get an idea of how far I was actually going to go. Cause in my eyes I'm like, nobody's finishing this.

And that ended up being right.

[00:29:05] Daniel Coda: No one finished? No, no. 16, 16 minute cap. No.

[00:29:09] Kevin Yurchak: And I think maybe I, I don't know what the best score in my, in my heat was, but I believe it was like, you know, maybe 10 reps, 15 reps into the overhead squats. And that was that guy won by quite a few reps. So really not even that close to finishing.

No, no. So it wasn't there. So for me, it was kind of a right. How do I, again, how do I, how do I manage all the squats? How I knew for me, the front squats were going to be the worst part of it. So, you know, you have to do the 50 back squats before you get there. So everybody's like, you know, all right, we, we, we're going to do all 50 unbroken.

And it's like, it, it really, I don't think helps you out to do that at all. So you kind of had to stick to your own plan on this. I mean. There's guys that, you know, for me, it's just squatting is not my strength. So I know that there's people that are just going to hold on that barbell and go. But for me, that's not going to be something that's going to, that's going to help me.

So it was really just kind of, it was, it was kind of just, you know, load management thinking, all right, how do I get through each movement? You know, what's kind of my time frame when I get to each one? You know, what's my, you know, what's my plan? Uh, the gymnastics were there and they sound like big numbers, but they're really not in terms of you go from 50 squats, uh, 40 toes to bar and then right back on, you know, the barbell for, for the, for the push jerks and the, and the front squats.

That's really just kind of, you know. You're, you're thankful to be over there. And honestly, you don't want to finish the reps cause you're like, I don't want to get back on this barbell. Right, right. So it was really just, you know, trying to figure out how to manage each one, knowing that it just progressively, it just progressively gets worse.

You know, like the, the push jerks I was joking were almost like strict press cause I just had nothing in my legs when it got to

[00:30:34] David Syvertsen: the end. So much interference on this workout. Dan, this was a workout that we discussed prior to, it definitely was, it would freak me out. And I, you could tell just in the way you were talking about it.

I wouldn't say, I wouldn't use the term, you were not worried about it, but you knew this would be what we call damage control, right? Not your strength, same thing, we're all three of us, we're not like the greatest volume squatters in the world, right? And it takes a long time for us to recover, but we can hang on the, on the rig.

You know, what was your mindset going into this knowing that you could dominate these big sets of gymnastics, probably only spend 30, 40, 50 seconds there, and then you're back to the barbell. You know, what was your approach on it?

[00:31:12] Daniel Coda: Yeah. Um, it was, for me, it was 100 percent get through the squats, uh, because I'm very confident in the gymnastics, very confident on the shoulder to overhead.

Um, uh, at this point in the competition, I didn't, I didn't know my competitors yet and, and, um, I didn't know what they were capable of and what was, and it definitely a hundred percent damage control. Let me get through as far as I can without. Destroying my body. Um, I didn't do that. Uh, uh, the back squats, I came out, I think that I did 30, 10, 10, uh, which wouldn't be so bad, but I tried to move, move fast and like, it's such a difference in The volume when you're moving fast versus nice, steady, controlled pace.

Um, I could feel the lactic acid really start to get there early on in the workout. Um, my heart rate exploded early on in the workout. And then 16 minutes is a long time to try to get your heart rate down. Yeah. You redline pretty quickly. Yeah. It doesn't, it doesn't come back. Especially

[00:32:13] David Syvertsen: everything on here with the bar, but it's high effort.

Yeah, and it's

[00:32:16] Daniel Coda: 95 pounds. Yeah, and that first run, I felt pretty good. I was in a good spot. I think I got to the front squats probably like fifth. And I was like, Oh, okay. I'm, I'm pretty good. I, I picked up the bar. I did five front squats and like my life, my body just shut down. It was like, Nope, you're done.

Yeah. And I was like, Oh, the, uh, the announcer who was calling it before the workout comes up to me, she's like, you're going to win this. I was like. Yeah, as I'm, as like, I pick up the bar my second time and do five more I just can't and I'm 40 to go and in my head now My, my, my head's like, oh you're done Like you're gonna live your whole work your old competitions over like all these negative thoughts are coming in the announcer goes Come on, Dan.

What are you doing?

But Uh, Dave Lancelotti, before the workout, came up to me and was like, Listen, the front squats are like quicksand. Everybody is just stopping there. And that's where the whole thing slows down. And I really should have processed that a little bit more. Because I think if I had pulled back and done tens in the back squats, did like, uh, the toe to bar, I went hard because I wanted to try to gain a little bit of...

Um, like a little bit of time on people knowing that I could do big, big chunks. I think I did 25, 15. Like I was off that without any time. That was a mistake because I didn't allow my body to recover for that barbell. Um, so really if I had taken an extra, let's say 90 seconds to get to the front squats, like there were some people who did this, I would have passed up a bunch of people and.

Um, luckily I got through them and I was able to get back to the, to the rig and undo where the, it was just 30 pull ups. I knew that was a strength of mine. I did 10, 10, 10, push through as hard as I possibly could, uh, passed up like four or five people there to get myself back in a decent spot. I think I ended eighth on that.

Um, but the top guys were, I think almost finishing their front squats. Um, I mean their, their overhead squats. Um, they were, they were pretty, they were really good.

[00:34:25] David Syvertsen: Okay. Sam, any thoughts on this kind of workout being on day one?

[00:34:32] Sam Rhee: Well, then you would have smoked their legs, uh, for the rest

[00:34:35] David Syvertsen: of the workouts.

Well, it was day one. Oh, it was. Yeah,

[00:34:38] Sam Rhee: so it smoked them for the rest of the workouts. I think, you know, that kind of volume. I saw Dan do

[00:34:43] David Syvertsen: a half workout in

[00:34:45] Sam Rhee: prep, like on some Sunday. And I watched it, and I was like, dude, you're smoked.

[00:34:51] David Syvertsen: Like,

[00:34:51] Sam Rhee: after even just half of the volume that you did, your legs are shot.

Like, I couldn't imagine going on. I mean, this is why you guys had to recover. With the ice bath, with all the other stuff, because, um, I think if you program this for a regular workout, like, nobody's gonna be able to move for three days. Like, literally, even if you cut down the weight and the reps,

[00:35:15] David Syvertsen: like, This, there's, it's just a little, it's a little painful.

Yeah. So I don't, my, my, you know, my two cents on that kind of workout is I don't think you can ever say it doesn't have a place at a comp like this. You could always put a workout like this, especially if you cap it, because then not everyone's doing all the volume. So that that's part of it too. But. I think for the best of the competition and the competitors, it's okay to test it, but I would always either put this towards the end, I would say either halfway or towards the end, because it really does have an impact on the rest of the weekend, and I know you're, you know, the tough guys out there will say, hey, well, that's part of what this is, I agree, you know, a big part of competing over the course of three days is how well you recover, fact, but you can test that so many different ways.

And I think no matter what you do, day one, it's gonna be hard and it's gonna test the recovery component. But the workout that, on paper, is by far the most difficult workout, in my opinion, should be at the halfway point or the back half of the workout. Just so that you can preserve these guys as much as possible and really see who can take on the rest of these tests at a high level.

That's only my, only critique of the workout itself. I mean, also, these are

[00:36:21] Sam Rhee: not, these are old people. They're

[00:36:24] David Syvertsen: like masters. Like, you're really beating the crap out of them. That's part of it. So, day two started off with this, the shuttle run, right? Yeah. Okay, let's make sure I have that right. This was a workout these guys did not know until the day of, or the day before, two days before.

Um, there was, it seemed that there might have been a logistical issue. There was going to be an air runner involved in this, and they took them out. So... You know, the, don't love this, that they, they replaced that with the shuttle run. And the workout is 32 burpee shuttle runs, which is basically burpee, run down and back, burpee, down and back, right?

32

[00:36:57] Kevin Yurchak: times? It was two burpees, so it ended up being like 16. So you did two burpees, ran, came back, so a total of 16

[00:37:03] David Syvertsen: on that burpee. Okay, cool. Okay, so that's what the burpee shuttle run is. 12 sandbag ground to shoulder and carry, 24 shuttle runs, burpee shuttle runs, 8 sandbag ground to shoulder and carry, 12 burpee shuttle runs.

And then four sandbag ground, two shoulder, and carry. Guys 150 pound pa Guys 150 pound bag, ladies 100. The elite was 200 pounds for the guys, 150 for the girls. Holy mother. The thought of doing this after the workout that we just talked about is, is just unbelievable. How long were the shuttle

[00:37:33] Kevin Yurchak: runs? It was, I believe it was, was it 40 feet?

50 down, 50 down.

[00:37:37] Daniel Coda: 50 down, 50 back. Okay. That's

[00:37:39] David Syvertsen: not, that's not a short distance. That's far. I'll say this about the shuttle runs. I, I know the word run is in there. It's not even close to the same as running on the air runner. Whatever the distances was, whether it's 400 meters, 800 meters, don't really care, um, If, if something like that happens, Legends had that happen, uh, in San Diego a couple years ago, an issue with, I think, air runners came, didn't get delivered in time, so they changed the workout to a row.

That is what I think they should have done. Either put a bike or a row in there. Even though I know those, those machines are in the comp later on, you know, running on an air runner for X amount of distance and not turning around and not doing burpees, that really tests that, that part. The fact that it's a shuttle run, that's not a, that's not a run test.

It's just not. It's not a conditioning test either. It's about quickness and turning around fast and again, you know hindsight 2020 I do think that they the results of that workout would have been different if it was a long machine Why did why did then I put

[00:38:32] Sam Rhee: a run in why did they sub the burpee shuttle run in?

Yeah,

[00:38:35] Daniel Coda: I mean as far as I know Like six months out. They had announced that they were that True Form was gonna be a sponsor and that basically Let your minds go. Basically, it's going to be a workout with Trueform. And, um, and so when the workouts came out, and they're like, there's one unannounced that you'll find out there.

I was like, alright, well that's definitely the Trueform. Um, you know, I spent a lot of time, you know, running on, I have an AirRunner at home. Just a lot of time on that getting good at, on the AirRunner. I was really excited about it. I have gotten... Way better at running in general. Um, there's something that because of, uh, Achilles issues in the past I didn't like to do on pavement.

Um, but the Air Runner really allows you to get past that and like, doesn't beat you up as much. Um, and I guess the, the sponsorship fell through. There wasn't really any communication about that. Um, I guess the, the fact that it's unannounced, they don't really want you to know anyway. Um, but I'm assuming that because the sponsorship probably fell through, they just didn't, they didn't do it.

[00:39:39] David Syvertsen: Kevin, any input on that with, you know, just changing something up on like, cause you're a logistical thinker like that. You're very good at it. Very analytical, a lot of experience too. You know, do you say like, Hey Dave, you got to roll with the punches. That is what you got to do. Or do you think that there's something that could have been a little different that would have created a different result for that workout?

[00:39:57] Kevin Yurchak: Yeah. I mean, they probably could have done a little bit better job of communicating that one. I do know that they want to keep. You know, from our end, we thought they wanted to keep it as a surprise. Obviously, behind the scenes, I'm sure there's a lot more that was going on that, that dictated that. Um, and you know, as you, as you, you know, as you mentioned, what they ended up switching it out to be, I mean, it ended up being a good score for me, so I was happy with it.

But I do agree that something else could have been there. You know, I don't know if it would have been, you know, logistics, if they could have done some sort of run, there was, you know, doors that we could have run out, you know, you know, something like that. But it would have been an entirely different workout.

If it had been some sort of, you know, run involved, that was, that was actually a run. Um, and then at that point, you know, as you mentioned, you know, I think they had, they had the rowers there because they were in a different part of the workout, but, um, there was two floors going on. So with what they actually had to use, I mean, you know, if they didn't have the runner, if they could have used a bike, but, um, you know, it's a little bit difficult saying from RM because we don't know all the details, but it definitely did change.

It definitely did change, you know, the idea of the workout. I would have really liked it. You know, to try it with an air runner. Cause I, I hadn't had a lot of experience on it. Um, as Dan mentioned, he had one. So I popped in his garage one day when he was working and I just started riding on the thing. Um, and you know, it's.

I, you know, I'd like to, you know, see, you know, similar. I did enjoy running on it. I'm like, this could be something that would just be, you know, a different, a different challenge for the people that were there. What was the sticky

[00:41:18] Sam Rhee: point of that workout anyway? Was it the sandbags? Was it the shuttle runs?

[00:41:22] David Syvertsen: Yeah,

[00:41:22] Daniel Coda: this is actually, um, for me was, I mean, in a good way that I learned a lot about myself and what, what maybe I need to work on moving forward. Um, and it's stuff that's come up in the past, but the, definitely the workout the night before had a big. big influence because my legs were just shot. So, so the sandbag, 150 pounds is heavy.

Um, and it's so different than a barbell. You know, we had barbell cleans at 155 later on the weekend that felt totally fine. Um, but really getting into good position, getting into, you know, to the shoulder, um, slowly my legs started getting that same kind of acid buildup from that. Just that quick, powerful movement, which I'm not, I'm not a very powerful guy.

So. I rely more on the slow twitch, but that gets so affected that after doing, um, you know, my lat, my 12th clean and doing these, these carries, my legs didn't want to move. So, like, getting to the shuttles, I had to start walking fast because I just couldn't run. My legs wouldn't

[00:42:20] Kevin Yurchak: do what my brain

[00:42:21] Daniel Coda: wanted.

[00:42:22] David Syvertsen: Um, yeah, that, that, that is a rough workout.

The, the, the next two I want to dive into kind of together, um, just so we don't run out of time here, but also... There's a common theme between the two of these and it has to do with the fact that, you know, workouts being changed, um, after they're announced for the reason that we think, again, don't know all the details of people that want to use the word complaining, but kind of giving some feedback about, Hey, this is not doable for a lot of us.

So I'm just going to give both workouts and then we'll kind of break them down. And then also just like really the macro level of. If you sign up for a competition, do you have the right to complain about a workout? So here's the first one, um, against a three minute running clock, 300 meter row, 200, 250 meter row for the girls, three deadlifts, 275, 205, three rope climbs, two rope climbs for the girls, 150 foot handstand walk.

That is three 50 foot segments and 10 foot increments. Basically you do that for three minutes. You get a one minute rest and there's three intervals to this. So again, to break that down even more, row hard, deadlift kind of heavy, get some rope climbs done, and then you get to handstand walk as much as you can until the clock runs out, rest for a minute, go back to the start, and then once you get to that 150 foot handstand walk, your workout is complete.

Workout for both you guys, I would say, is very good. You're both good at rope climbs, you're both good at rowing, you're both good on your hands, and you can deadlift that barbell, touch and go. How many, how many deadlifts? It was three. What changed about this workout? Let's talk about that first, then we'll go to the next one that changed.

[00:43:53] Kevin Yurchak: Uh, sure. So on this one, originally what they had said was that the handstand walk had to be a 25 foot unbroken length. So on that, it does, it does change it quite a bit. Um, obviously saying, and it ended up going down to 10 feet. Um, so. For us, when they announced it, me and Dan, you know, we're listening to our athlete briefing.

I think I was in bed putting one of my kids to sleep, and I'm like, Oh wow, I'm like, you know, everybody starts complaining about it. And I'm, me and Dan are like, I'm texting him saying That, you know, this is good. If people are complaining, that means they can't walk 25 feet on their hands, and that's something that, like, we figure, you know, we could do well, and obviously, you never know, like, going back and forth, but at the same time, that's, you know, it would be a good thing for us, um, so that there was just a lot of chatter on that.

Um, I don't ultimately know what ended up in the decision. Um, the only thing I can say is that because the window was short, I did feel like 25 feet was a long way because as you got on your hands and the actual time spent walking, um, there was a good chance that you could have been stuck in the middle of the segment when time expired.

So if it were three rounds of it, just going straight through, I think a hundred percent doing it 25 feet would have been definitely the way to go. But, um, they definitely went back to 10 feet, which, you know, I don't know, you know, all that, all that went into it, but, um, it definitely, I don't want to say lower the scale a little bit, but it made it a little bit more of a sprint.

You were able to take. Um, you don't have to worry about taking as much of a chance, you know, towards the end of that, that, that time segment for your 30 minute window. It's a good point. And

[00:45:14] Daniel Coda: I'm just on the floor itself where they set it up. I guess they didn't realize the way they would ultimately have the final layout.

But they only had 25 feet, I'm sorry, 20 feet of walking space. So it went from a 25 foot to a, to a 20 foot. Um, and so you had to go back and forth a few more extra times. Um, and for someone who is bad at handstand walking, that might be good because it gives you a little bit extra time to break, but I would, like, I, in practice, originally on paper, it said there would be a 50 foot length that you would be able to walk.

Got it. I just went, first one, 50 foot unbroken. Wow. And I was like, I'm gold here. I'm going to, I'm going to pass up a bunch of people. I felt really confident in it. So I think that, um, the, the shorter lengths ultimately helps people, uh, helps the more people do it.

[00:45:59] David Syvertsen: Now, speaking of changing a workout to help people out the, the hunter becomes the hunted.

This was, I believe the final day. Okay. Three rounds for time, 25 Cal bike. Ladies 15 on the Rogue Echo bike. Ugh. 5 bar muscle ups for the guys, 3 bar muscle ups for the girls, or 20 chest to bar. We'll talk about that in a sec. And then 50 foot single arm overhead kettlebell walking lunges, 53 pounds for the guys, 35 for the ladies, 10 foot segments.

Alright, what changed about this workout, Dan?

[00:46:29] Daniel Coda: Yeah, so it's, uh, it was rings, um, in the briefing, there was, I mean, I'm not saying everyone, there was a lot of chatter on there, a lot of complaining about, well, we're not in the elite division, we're in the RX division, we shouldn't have to do ring muscle ups, that this is too many, um, and...

You know, the event organizers that day were like, Listen, you're signing up for an elite competition regardless of the division. This is still the best of the best in the, you know, in the country. They're coming together. You should be able to do this. And if you can't, it's a good opportunity to try to get better.

Uh, I'm a hundred percent on board with that. Um, they ended up changing it to bar muscle ups to seven bar muscle ups per round for the RX division. Um, which, I mean, for me, it was a good thing. Like I'm, I'm way better at bar muscle ups, but I think that I'd rather, I'm going to these events also, like, just like they said, like, to push myself to do more, to be better, to find out more weaknesses, to, you know, push myself to another place that, hopefully immensely, I maybe didn't think I could go.

So, it was, it was a little, um, you know, I was a little, a little, Upset that they made that change, but

[00:47:36] David Syvertsen: you get it, you know now when it says or 20 chest bar people out to do that

[00:47:41] Daniel Coda: You have to declare beforehand and you would be below like that. It's basically scaling it. Got it Okay, so every even if you did one bar muscle up you were still better than the people got it.

[00:47:49] David Syvertsen: Okay, that makes sense I like that then Ledger said that to one year where I think handstand walks if you couldn't do it you could overhead carry a plate But your bet, your score was going to be below anyone that did a single handstand walk. Did they announce this workout before you guys got there?

Yeah.

[00:48:04] Sam Rhee: So you thought it was ring, and you practiced ring, and then you

[00:48:07] David Syvertsen: got there and they changed it to bar? Oh, they changed it Oh, oh, during the aft

[00:48:11] Daniel Coda: oh, early. After the brief. Oh, okay. Yeah, we had like, maybe five days, five or six days before. Okay.

[00:48:17] David Syvertsen: So you still did train the rings though. Here's one thing that can pretty easily combat this.

Because I, I really don't like that, that changing workout like that because people complain. Because it's like It's like, uh, like Brock, like a three year old, right? Like, the second you start giving in to what they want, they're gonna just keep pushing that needle. What else can you give me? What else can you give me, right?

You should have, in written text, prior to anything, prior to the qualifiers, here are the movements that you're going to be expected to do at the championship if you qualify. And if you don't want rings in Rx because there's a lot of people in Rx that can't do the rings, that's fine, but that should be stated prior to.

This should not set up this, this platform or this opportunity for people to say, Hey, I can't do, what would I say, I can't do pistols very well, right? So, I'm a Masters, I should not have to do pistols. Like, that's only for young kids. If there's a lot of us that think that way, do we get pistols out of a competition?

Or do I say, look in the mirror and say, That's, that's on me. I need to get better at them, and I do think that's a big part of these big competitions. We're not going down the road, like Dan said, Dan pays a lot of money, invests a lot of time, effort, energy into training for a competition like this. For an athlete to actually hourly complain and get kind of like a band of people together to do that, I don't think you should be competing at a competition like this.

I really don't, and it's one event. You know, it's not like you're going to their six events and you can't do all of them. It's one movement in one event that you're not good at. And the response to complaining I think is, is, is very poor. I think the

[00:49:47] Daniel Coda: biggest

[00:49:48] Sam Rhee: issue really is, is like you said, people change events, uh, for a variety of reasons, but if you're changing it specifically because of the negative feedback you're getting, that's such a slippery slope.

It is. And you should never do that. I feel Now if it's

[00:50:02] David Syvertsen: logistics, like Yeah! Or safety. Like, hey, like 50 feet, we don't have the 50 feet, we don't have the 25 feet. Or the scoring, what Kev brought up. It's easier to score 10 foot increments. Right, right. That the sponsor

[00:50:13] Sam Rhee: drops out. That's fine. But if they, I mean, if that is true, that they changed it from ring to bar because the RxDivision complained enough to change

[00:50:21] David Syvertsen: that?

Yeah, and I mean, to the guys that want to run Masters Fitness Championship, if you guys want to come on, I would love to talk to them about that. And just see like, alright, is there another side to the story? Um, is there something that they dropped the ball on? Or is it something that... It was communicated early on, but it just wasn't followed through.

Like we'll see. There's always two sides to the story, so I don't want to come down on them hard, but as Sam said, if you change it because people complained,

[00:50:46] Sam Rhee: slippery slope. And this one is also because I suck at ring muscle ups, personally, and I

[00:50:52] David Syvertsen: would have been like, yay, awesome, bar muscle ups, but I would have known deep inside

[00:50:57] Sam Rhee: it's because...

My skill level wasn't up to

[00:51:02] David Syvertsen: what it is. You're trying to find the best athletes, like you said. Right.

[00:51:04] Sam Rhee: So, ring muscle ups are part of any elite or good athlete's regimen. Like, I worked my ass off when I had to do them so I could pull out a couple in the open when they came through. And that was a huge challenge.

So,

[00:51:18] David Syvertsen: why wouldn't you

[00:51:19] Sam Rhee: do that because you're trying to find the best

[00:51:22] David Syvertsen: athletes out there? That's a great point. Here's another way of angling this, is you could have... What do you guys think about this? You know how they said if you did 20 chest bar, you had to declare your score, no matter how well you do, is going to be below someone that does one bar muscle up.

If you do bar muscle ups, guys, fine. You can't do rings, that's fine, but your best score is going to be one below every single person that does a ring muscle up. What do you guys think about doing that? Would that, would that have made you, what would you have done, actually? Uh,

[00:51:50] Daniel Coda: I mean, I, I have... Uh, ring mail stuffs well enough that I Yeah.

To get through those. I could've gotten through it. Yeah. Um, I mean, I ultimately, I was happy I won that workout. , , I can, can't complain really too much about it, but, um, but I, I think if that was the case, um, that might've been a better solution to keeping the skill level very high. Mm-hmm. Um, yeah,

[00:52:11] Kevin Yurchak: and I just kind of felt for, you know, there were, there were, there were multiple age divisions there and it went up to, I believe like 65 plus.

So I don't know where it started to differentiate between, you know, rings and whatever, and. You know, in my eyes, I just felt like art, like my, my division, Dan's division, up to, you know, whatever you want to say is a, is a cutoff, I think rings are expected. So, it, like, to me, it just seemed like it's something that should have stayed in there, and of course, like, you get to maybe...

You know, 55 or 50 or whatever age division you feel like is appropriate to maybe bring it down because you're worried about, you know, people might not be able to do them or lower the count. I can understand, but I think for the people that are out there looking to compete in the division, the age group that we were in, it just seems like, you know, I couldn't imagine any of the guys that I was competing against wouldn't have had a problem doing those.

[00:52:55] David Syvertsen: Yep. I mean, I really do feel this about Kevin Dan that... You know, had they been, they could have been in the elite group there. No matter, like, no question to me, like that just comes out to programming and qualifier, right? Like I could probably tweak the workouts two ways and they both be an elite, right?

Like they, they are elite caliber athletes. So in that RX division, you're not talking about. You know, it's not a scale division. It's a very high level athlete division. Dude, look at these workouts. Yeah, no, no. I mean, come on. So, to really, you know, if you have an intermediate division or a scale division, then yeah, don't put the rings in there.

I communicated prior to, but that's just one thing that kind of left a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Very well programmed comp, no question. That's like the one asterisk. I'm like, ugh, I wish they could have gone back and done that. But I'd love to hear some feedback from them if they want to reach out.

Let's talk about the final workout, guys. Um... Every second counts 20 burpee box jump overs, 10 cleans, 16 burpee box jump overs, 8 cleans, 12 burpee box jump overs, 6 cleans, 2. So basically you're doing twice as many burpee box jump overs as cleans. Barbell was 155 105 for the RX. It was 205 135 for the Elite.

Holy cow, that's a big difference. Holy cow. Any kind of clean was acceptable. Power squat, for you guys, this is capable of going touch and go, but this is a ton of burpee box jump overs. This is a burpee box jump over workout. I like putting something like this at the end of a comp because it's a lot of grit, effort, low skill.

I know you guys are tired and beat up. I'm not having you do like squat snatch or overhead single dumbbell. Overhead squats, right? Um, you guys at this point are spent. You know you're gonna be on a plane in a few hours going home and have to work tomorrow. It's, you know, where's the head at? You guys are both really close to the podium placing at this point.

Did you, what did you have left in your system, Kev, to really push through probably the highest effort part of the

[00:54:51] Kevin Yurchak: weekend? Yeah, I mean, you know for this one I think that there was definitely a, a boost that happened with me and Dan right after that, uh, that first workout Sunday Um, he mentioned he won the workout I came in second and it was all of a sudden it was like we're, we're right there and, um, you know As I mentioned with the, the crossover one, it's all, all this skill.

Am I gonna mess something up? Am I gonna, you know What, you know, what's gonna happen? There was nothing to this. This is, you know, get in front of your box, do your, do your burpee box jumpovers, do your power cleans. You can't, you know, you said it's not a squat snatch. You can't mess anything up. It's just, it's just go.

So it was at that point in the competition where it was like, all right, you know, let's do whatever, let's do whatever we can. We were checked out of the Airbnb at that point. So it was like, we kind of just went outside and then. Me and Dave ended up, we sat in Chili's and I, like, I was like, I'm like, I can't eat anything anymore.

I just, I didn't have it in me. So I'm like, I just trying to get hydrated, just sitting there, just trying to get in cool air and being like, this is just going to be, this is just how much you want it, how hard can you go? Um, and you know, and that one, he was, you know, that's what it was. I knew the guy that.

That I had to be to get in third. And, um, unfortunately I think we got to like the 12 Furby box jumps and I'm like, this just isn't happening. So, uh, you know, but again, it was just, it was just lay it all out there and just, you know, kind of go for it. Um, I had idea of pacing going into it and, um, you know, there wasn't.

That kind of just went out the window. It was like, there's one guy you have to beat and if you can't beat him, nothing else matters. So just, just, just kind of go for it. And, uh, unfortunately it kind of, you know, just fell a little short on it, but, um, it was something where, like, you know, I just mentioned it was, it was just go, you just turn your brain off, just go as hard as you can.

[00:56:21] Daniel Coda: Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, it's interesting what he was talking about in, in recovery. Now, this was like the, the moment of the weekend where everything, all the pressure buildup, everything's like. On the line for one workout, we were in a position like I was in third place. I could even move up to second. It was really close points.

Um, at the beginning of the day, you know, Dave, you texted me like, you got nothing to lose saying in my mind, I just put that in there. And I was just like, kept telling myself, you have nothing to lose. Let it all go. Whatever you got left. Um, I was really riding high after taking first. Um, again, the announcers are now calling my name in the, as I'm, as I'm working out, like Dan Kodak, who put on a great performance, this one, he comes up in the third, can he keep it?

Can't look at him. Um, and, uh, yeah, I, I, before the workout, I couldn't eat anymore. Like it just, everything started. My body just started like nervous system. Yeah. Yeah. It's just like, didn't want it like mentally. It was a battle to. Like part of me was like, man, why, why do you do this to yourself? Yeah. You know?

So it was like trying to switch my focus back on before the workout. And, um, you know, every, the guys there were all really cool. That's like another part of the whole experience that people might not think about, but you become friends with your competitors. Everybody's really cool. Like ultimately.

You're trying to beat everybody, but you're just gonna you're trying to do your best So there's like nothing you can think no one's gonna push you out of the way You know to lose or anything, but it's the same thing I had one guy I needed to beat and I and I could hear like I could I PR'd that workout like I did better and in my practice, which is great at the end of the weekend, you know I'll take that with me but that as I hear the guys named who I needed to beat pass me up and finish the workout and I have like I think four burpee box jumps and two cleans left.

It was like a bit, it was like, I got punched in the stomach in that moment. You know, I was like, I just told myself, finish the workout, get through it. And, um, it was like, everything just like all the pressure, everything just kind of let off my body and it was like, I just wanted to lay down.

[00:58:32] David Syvertsen: One of the best feelings I do is like, once you finish that last rep and that last workout, it is.

It's such a utopia type feeling. It's like, Oh, thank God I'm done. You know, then you get into some of the reflection stuff after, but, um, you know, closing this episode up, you guys can come back for us for, for one more, if we have the time, um, we'll talk after, but do you, I want you guys to give me one positive.

And one critique of Masters Fitness Championship, just from the athlete experience perspective. What did they do really well? Something that you were really impressed by? And what do you think could have enhanced the experience a little bit? Who wants to go first? Sure,

[00:59:12] Kevin Yurchak: I can start. Um, yeah, I mean, I feel like just the, you know, the, the overall experience, I mean, to me, just, you know, the venue, um, having, you know, the access to the pool, um, you know, just seven events, being able to really test yourself over the course of, you know, all different kinds of tests.

I mean, we get into the programming and what we liked, what we didn't like, and ultimately over seven events, you just, you're able to test so much, um, that I thought they just did a great job of that. And like I said, you know, having, having the pool, having the Coliseum where there was like unlimited space for us to, to warm up.

Um, the facility was clean, all that was just, you know, again, just done really well. Um, you know, as far as like, cheek or something, you wish you could have done a little bit better. Um, the one thing I can say is, as far as like on some of the workouts, you see it happen often when you watch the games and you hear Castro talk, and a lot of it becomes, okay, if I'm doing...

You know, take like the burpee box jump example where I'm in my round of 20 and then the round of 16 and it's 12 and eight and four and all the way down is it's difficult to tell over 20 lanes who you're competing against and, and, and who you are. So they weren't having you move up the boxes or anything?

No, no. And, and, and again, I know that there's, you know, there's, there might be a lot of issues with that that I'm not thinking of. I mean, in one of the workouts, we did move it up on that squat one where, or the barbell one, where it was kind of move into like a segment a little bit as you go, but, um, it's difficult with 20 people.

You don't know who the people are. I mean, if I'm a CrossFit Games competitor, you know, I know who Roman is, I know who Pavel, I know who I'm looking at. Um, these people, you know, we're walking in and we're holding up our name tags and I'm like, oh, that's the guy. And it's like, you really don't know until you get into it a little bit more.

But, um, if there's any chance for them to do something like that as far as just logistics, I'm sure it would help the people watching that are there. Not that that matters as much. But, um, but just for us kind of looking over to say, Hey, this, this person is in the lead. Um, and honestly that, that was super helpful to me to have Dan and Dave that were there to kind of chirp like, okay.

There was one time I was running in the, um, uh, that landscaper one, which was the, the sandbag one and they were calling out somebody's name and I'm like, I was like, I was like, who the hell is that guy? And they're like, that guy down there in the pink shirt. I was like, all right, good. Now, and it, and it gave me that, you know, a little bit of advantage, but, uh, that's just something that if they could, they could do in the future, it'd be helpful.

Awesome.

[01:01:20] Daniel Coda: Yeah. Um, so being there last year, I saw, um, huge overall improvement. Um, they had a lot of issues last year with judging, with volunteers. And I think they were. They see that they didn't have enough volunteers for what they were trying to do. They were, the volunteers were overworked, really, really tired and upset.

And by day three, I think like maybe half of them had just left because they were just tired. Like they weren't getting what they were promised. I, this is what I heard anyway. Um, and they had to change a workout and change the time. Like the, on day three, they were like, Oh, this is a 12 minute workout. Now it's a six minute workout or, you know, whatever it was.

Yeah. Lack of resources. Yeah. Um, so this year they did such a good job with, um, the volunteers, getting everything in, in place, the overall experience. It, honestly, I've not been to the games, hopefully one day. Uh, but, um, it, it's as close to a, an experience of, of a games level that, that I picture in my head.

Okay. Um, you know, you get there, there's a really cool check in process where they're giving you all this cool stuff. Um, they, uh, the venue just looks really big and really cool. And the workouts are a high level. Um, I went, I went up to the organizers after just to thank them for, for doing this, cause I know they're not making, I don't know if they make any money on it.

They're probably not making much if they do. Um, but the fact that they put this on for us every year is so awesome. And to give us the people who are not quite at that level. At that games level, an opportunity to shine like this. Absolutely. Really awesome. Yeah, it's huge. Um, I know like some people complain about the lack of, um, uh, a stream, but like that's like, that's been kind of a hot topic this year with the, with the games as well.

Um, I think that's just. There's just, there's not that, um, it's more, it's more expensive than you think. It's just so expensive for them to do. I work in television. I know how expensive things like this can be. Um, and I don't think, I think they were smart to take those resources and put it back into the competition itself.

Um, even like the way they laid out the floor, there was less. Um, I heard Brian Friend talking about this, there was less, um, uh, bleachers set up, which is just more expense, but they're really, the bleachers were never full, like, there was never a lot of people there, like, most people were there, they're friends and family, and they're watching right up close, um, so like, I thought that was all really, really well done, really well organized, um, as far as the critique goes, I, um, I mean, honestly, I have a hard time For Coming up with something right now.

That's awesome. That did a good job. Yeah. Yeah. I think that in what I'm hearing from legends, um, I think, I think there is a little bit of competition going on between them, which I think is healthy and good, and it's going to only going to make it better. Yep. Um, I, I, I am hearing a little bit more of. This, that, this, this, the schwag that you get, and I mean, like, like, Legends is doing four outfits.

They're probably gonna be a little bit, like, this was the, the, the shirt we got. It's just a generic shirt. T Y R. Um, yeah. Yeah, it's like, we, we had to print our, we paid to get our names printed on it if we wanted it. Okay. Just like that. So, like, little things like that can make you feel just a little bit more like you're, like, this amazing athlete, um, that's not available.

How about the location? Fort Wayne, Indiana. Oh, yes. A hundred percent. Uh, I know that this is, uh, I think they, you know, one of the organizers is from there. Probably has some sort of connection and Fort Wayne probably wants, wants you there. Um, but it is such a pain to get to. How

[01:04:48] David Syvertsen: is it really? I to say something positive.

Oh, no, no. How'd you guys get

[01:04:54] Daniel Coda: there? I had to fly into Detroit and then take a two hour car rental and two hour drive to get to Fort Wayne. You could do that. Kevin went into Indianapolis. Same thing.

[01:05:07] Kevin Yurchak: Yeah, another, another two hours. So, I mean, it's, you know, it's just, you know, kind of, kind of part of it as, you know, as you, as you mentioned, and I, I'm sure there's a connection with the organizers and, and, and the facility.

I mean, the facility is great once you're there. And, um, I was telling Ashley before when, when we were talking, when we got here, it's like, once you're there, it, it, it doesn't matter where you are. You could be in Hawaii. And I mean, I literally, we were back and forth and the, you know, the whole time. Right.

Yeah. But, you know, It's, you know, it's kind of is what it is. Once you get there, you're just, you know, focus on what you're doing, but it's definitely not the easiest place to, uh, to get to. I know, uh, my wife, Rana was like, can you do, you know, the one in Arizona? Maybe like, we'll get everybody to go, but like,

[01:05:42] Daniel Coda: I'm not, I'm not going there.

[01:05:46] David Syvertsen: Alright guys, so Sam, any closing thoughts on this? Uh, just on the competition itself, coming from a Masters athlete as well. Um, you know, these guys performance, what they did, but also just, you know, how well Masters Fitness Championship did to serve the Masters community. I'm really

[01:06:00] Sam Rhee: interested. MFC's done a great job with this.

Legends is doing a great job. Let's see what happens. I think there are going to be some big changes in the future, and I think you guys are going to be on the cusp of it, and you guys are seeing

[01:06:09] David Syvertsen: it. Yeah. Awesome. Alright, thanks guys. Uh, we'll see you next week.